and the excellency of it is of him and not of us and to him we give the glory and honour for to him it is due for ever who by his Light which he hath caused to shine in our hearts hath given us to see them and their false Doctrines and false Worships and Wayes and now he hath given unto us Christ his Son his Covenant of Light to be our Teacher and this is that Way which once we did not know And God said unto man Thy Teacher shall no more be removed into a Corner but thine eye shall see thy Teacher thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying This is the way walk in it And we can say Experimentally through Gods mercy that that which in times past came behind us to call us out of Evil when we were gone into Evil even than same hath led us out of Evil and so that which formerly we were turned from we are now turned to again so that which followed us and condemned us when we did Evil that is come before us and leads us into those things which is well-pleasing to the Lord our God and so Christ Jesus the Light in us is become our Shepherd and we do hear his Voice in us and we do follow him and he doth give us Peace in our inward parts which neither the Devil nor Wicked men can take from us if we abide faithful unto him And so we are set down under him who is the true Vine and we are Branches in him and so we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in the Son of God Christ Jesus and this is the true God and Life Eternal and he is our Teacher Bishop and High-priest and Lord and King and we do believe that he shall no more be removed out of our sight nor hearing but we shall for ever see him and he shall Live and Reign for evermore and he said Because I live ye shall live also and we know what he said is true and he said I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and he that liveth and believeth shall never die and these things we do stedfastly believe And as for those Priests and Professors who say Revelation is ceased and there is no immediate teaching to be received in this Age and those that say they have not an infallible Spirit as the Apostle had as for those that hate the Light wherewith Christ Jesus hath enlightned them and loveth darkness which is of the Devil that cannot reveal the things of God and his Kingdom unto them and we know that those who hate the Light and will not hearken to the Light nor obey the Light they can have no immediate testimony to bear for God unto others and we know that there is no infallible Spirit but the Spirit of God and Christ and so they who do not believe in that measure of the Spirit of God and Christ which he hath placed in them to instruct them they have no infallibility but they fail of their Duty toward God and one towards another and so they are unprofitable Servants and wholy useless in the worship of God For if any man have nor the Spirit of Christ he is none of his now it is certain that the Spirit of Christ is infallible it did never fail to fulfil the Will of his Father and the Apostle said God had sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby they called him Father and we do confess to the Glory of God that he hath sent the same Spirit of his Son into our hearts by which we can experimentally call him Father and in and by this we have the things of God and his Kingdom revealed unto us and are immediatly taught by this and this is infallible and doth not fail to lead us into all truth if we do in Faithfulness follow it and so it is our Comforter who love it and obey it but it is and will be the Torment and Condemnation of all those that hate it So the way of the Wicked is Darkness they know not at what they stumble Destruction and Misery is in their way and the way of Peace they know not The Priests and Professors who cry Revelation is Ceased and there is no immediate Teaching to be received in this Age and say that they have no Infallible Spirit These People say that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament is the Revealed Will of God unto them I say the Scriptures was given forth by the Inspiration of God which gives understanding and they do not stand and remain Open and Revealed unto any man or woman but unto such who comes into the Spirit of God and Christ which is infallible for when the Son of God opened his mouth and spake unto the World he spoke in Parables and they could not understand his words because their minds was out from that of God in them for Christ told the unbelieving Jewes that they did neither know the Scriptures nor the Power of God And now all People whose minds are out from that of God in them they can no more know the Scriptures then the unbelieving Jewes could for it is that from which they were at first given forth which must give People the true understanding of them for Christ said unto his Disciples unto you it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom but unto others who were in the unbelief he did speak in Parables even the same words which to unbelievers seemed Lyes and madness even those words was made plain unto them And their hearts did burn within them when he opened unto them the Scriptures after his Resurrection and I say the Scriptures is a book sealed from all People who hath the Light and will not own it to be their Teacher and they are jangling and quarrelling about the meaning of the Scriptures and so are fighting and striving one with another about the Shaddow and Outside of things and never comes to Christ the Substance for said Christ to the unbelieving Jewes Search the Scriptures for in them ye think you have Eternal Life But ye will not come unto me that you might have Life He did not say you cannot come unto me but he said you will not come unto me that you might have Life so Reader thou mayst see they had a Stubborn will who would not come unto Christ God said unto man in the daies of old I have set Life and Good before thee and Death and Evil and God did not nor doth not say unto man Choose Death that thou mayest dye but he did say and doth say choose Life that thou mayest live Paul said I will that Prayers and Supplications be put up for all men in as much as God would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge
evermore Amen even so Amen saith my Soul Written the 18th of the 11th Moneth 1667. William Gibson A Tender True and Faithfull Salutation unto all People who in VVords profess God and Christ in what Form soever Friends IN true unfained Love I have had you in Remembrance and a tender Pitty and Compassion hath risen in my heart unto you and tender desires are in my heart unto the Lord my God for you all 2 Cor. 4.6 7. that your minds might be brought down unto the Eternal true Light wherewith Christ Jesus the Son of God hath enlightened you all which shineth in your hearts Joh. 8.12 12.4 6. and there convinceth you of Sin and reproveth you when you commit sin that by it you might all come to be led out of sin which is the Devils work And this I say unto you all in dear Love unto all your Souls if you believe not in the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you Joh. 3.19 20 21. which checketh you and troubleth you when you do evil I say if you believe not that God hath placed that in you to lead you out of the evil it Condemneth you for then you will never be led out of it but you will dye in your sins and then it will be with you as it was with the unbelieving Jewes and Pharisees in their daies for said Christ the Light unto the Pharisees If ye believe not that I am he ye shall dye in your sins John 1.9 1 Joh 1.5 6 7. and whither I go ye cannot come Mark if they did not believe that he whom they despised and set at nought was the Son of God and the Light of the World and the Way and the Truth and the Life and the Door of the Sheepfold as he declared himself to be Joh. 14.6 then he said they should dye in their sins and if they dyed in their sins whither he went they could not come these sayings of his are true so because of their Unbelief they were shut out of the Kingdom of God and this I say unto all People Joh. 8.21 22 23 24 if you do not believe in that measure of the Spirit or Grace or Light of Christ which is but one in its nature Mat. 11.27 28 29 30. though the names are divers wherwith he hath enlightened every one that is come into the World then you will certainly dye in your sins and out of the Kingdom of God will you be shut because of your unbelief even as the Pharisees was because of their unbelief for God is no respecter of persons Joh. 10.7 8 9. For God so loved the World that he sent his only begotten Son a Light into the World that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life so all who believe in the Light of the Son of God wherewith he hath enlightned every one that is come into the World Joh. 1.4 and dwelleth and walketh in that Light in that Light they have Eternal Life as it is written In him was Life and that Life was the Light of men and it is written He that hath the Son hath Life but he that hath not the Son hath not Life but the Wrath of God abideth on him so he that believeth in the Light and Spirit of Christ and walketh in it it is his Life it is his Crown it is the true Living Way unto him Rev. 22.16 and it leads him up to God of his nature it is and it leads all people unto him who do beleeve in it and in faithfulness follow it it is the bright and morning Star unto all those that do believe in it and it doth arise in their hearts and as they abide in it it shineth in their hearts more and more until it hath led them out of the thick Night of Darkness and Blindness which remained over their hearts while they did not believe in the Light 2 Pet. 1.19 and so the Day-star which did arise in their hearts when they did believe in the Light and took heed unto the Light it did lead them out of the thick Night of Darkness and Blindness which had been over their hearts while they did not believe and the vail hath been taken away off the hearts of all those who have believed in the Light 2 Cor. 3.14 15 16. and doth walk in it and so the Light which hath enlightned every one that is come into the World it is of the Divine Nature of God Who is Light and in whom there is no darkness at all and so it being of the Divine Nature of God it leadeth all unto God who doth follow it but they that do not believe in it nor love nor obey it it is their Condemnation as it is written This is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World Joh 3.19 20 21. but men love Darkness rather then Light because their deeds are evil Mark that He that doth evil hateth the Light and will not bring his deeds unto the Light because he knoweth the Light will condemn him for his evil deeds which he hath done But he that doth Truth bringeth his deeds unto the Light that they may be made manifest that they are wrought in God But as it is written Pro. 4.19 Psal 82.5 The way of the wicked is darkness who hate the Light and because they hate the Light which would give them the knowledge of God if they did believe in it and love it therefore are they dark and blind and stumbles and knows not at what Friends these things are of great weight for you to consider while you have a little time and do not content your selves with a bare profession of God and Christ without you at a distance from you and from thence to draw a vain and dead hope that it will be well with you in the World to come for I say If ye die in your sins whither he goeth ye connot come and in dear love I say unto you those sayings of his will certainly be fulfilled upon you as they were fulfilled upon the unbelieving Jews if you do not believe in and obey the Light wherewith he hath enlightned you For I say consider the Jews they looked for the coming of the Messiah because they had the Writings of Moses and the other Prophets who prophesied of his coming yet when he was come they would not believe that it was he Christ but when he did the Works that no other could do then they said he had a Devil and by Belzebub the Prince of Devils he cast out Devils Now consider how came they to be thus deceived and thus to judge of him seeing they had the Prophets Writings which foretold of his coming Well Friends this I say they were expecting him to come in an other manner then he did come for they reading that he should be a King and Prince c. they looked for him to come in great
of your Fathers ye Serpents ye Generation of Vipers how can ye escape the Damnation of Hell Wherefore behold I send unto you Prophets Wise men and Scribes and some of them you shall Kill and Crucifie and some of them you shall Scourge in your Synagogues and shall Persecute from City to City that upon you may come all the righteous Blood shed upon the Earth from the Blood of Righteous Abel unto the Blood of Zacharias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar And now Oh all ye Professors of all sorts who will not believe Christs words which he hath left upon record in the Holy Scriptures and yet say you do believe in him you are judging and condemning the Jews for slaying Christ and his Apostles and you imagine and say if you had lived in the dayes of the Jews who slew Christ and his Apostles you would not have been partakers with them in the Blood of Christ and of his Apostles Oh consider if Christ were now walking up and down in these Nations called Christendom in such a low and mean Appearance as he appeared among the Jews in that Age in which he suffered death among the Jews and should pronounce Woes against those who calls themselves Christians and say they do believe in him and love him would not they be angry at him and fret at him and cry away with him Oh consider it if he should tell the Proud and Covetous and Envious Priest and Professors who calls him Lord and calls God their Father that they were of their Father the Devil who was a Lyar and a Murtherer and if he should call them Serpents and a Generations of Vipers would they not chase and fret at him and would they not cry Away with him and would they not desire to have him shut out of their Countrey Oh consider of these things and lay them to heart ye persecuting Priests People and Professors of all sorts if you are Christians you are Christ-like now Christ is meek and he saith Learn of me I am meek and lowly in the heart and you shall find rest unto your Souls so all you persecuting Priests People and Professors of all sorts come to the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you all and believe in it and obey it and it will open your Hearts and Understandings to know and understand that Christ is the Light of the World and hath enlightened every one that is come into the World and that all that believeth in that Light wherewith he hath enlightened them shall not die and perish in their Sins but by Christ the Light within they will come to be led out of their Sins and so to have Everlasting Life in him the Light For it is written In him was Life and the Life was the Light of men and the Light will let you see that Christ spiritually within men and women is unto them the way to God the Father and the Truth and the Life and the Door of the Sheepfold and if you believe in the Light it will open your hearts to understand that no man or woman upon the Earth can come to get any entrance into Gods Everlasting Kingdom but by Christ spiritually within for he saith I am the Light I am the Way I am the Truth I am the Life I am the Door of the Sheepfold he that enters by me the Door shall go in and find Pasture but he that climeth up another way is a Thief and must be cast down and none can ever enter into Gods Kingdom but by Christ spiritually within even the same Christ which the Jews cried away withal who was Crucified without the Gate of Jerusalem yea I say the same Christ and not another I say if ye believe in this Light it will open your hearts to understand these things to your own everlasting comfort and satisfaction and it will give you an entrance into Gods Everlasting Kingdom and if you do not believe in the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you then you will continue in blindness of mind and hardness of heart and will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived and you will continue fighting against the Lord God who Created you and you will continue fighting against the Lord Jesus Christ in his Members persecuting his tender and dear Servants who are as dear unto him as the Aple of his Eye and if you do it had been better for you that you had not been born for said he Whosoever shall offend one of these my little ones that believe in me Mat 18.5 6 7. it were better for him that a Misstone were hanged about his Neck and he were cast into the Sea 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 13. and if you continue in so doing then these are the words of Truth unto you all you are of the same Seed and Spirit that they were of who slew the Prophets and Christ and the Apostles and if you be found in the same work the Holy and Just God will give you the same Reward So remember you are warned now in your life time Mat. 25. from vers 32 c. to the end so prize your time and all of you labour to amend your doings which are evil in the sight of the Lord God And believe in the Light that you may be the Children of God who is Light and in whom is no Darkness at all And now unto all people in all Forms who profess the Scriptures of Truth to be your Rule to walk by and denieth the Light Grace and Spirit of God which is but one wherewith he hath enlightened you to be a sufficient Rule or Guide for you to walk by and calleth it a new Way and calleth it False Doctrine to direct people to the Light within them I say in Coolness and true Moderation in the Fear of the Lord God consider and take diligent notice of Peter's Doctrine to the Saints Know this said he that the Scriptures came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God gave them forth as they were moved by the Holy Spirit or Ghost So I say in the Fear of the Lord God take notice there were Holy men before there were Holy Scriptures and it was the Holy Spirit or Light of God and Christ in men that made men holy and was their Guide and their Rule by which they were led and guided to do those things which did please the Lord God before there was any outward Writing or Printing Abel was a Righteous man and was beloved of God and was Guided and Ruled by the Spirit of God within him before any part of the Bible was written and Abel offered unto the Lord and the Lord accepted of his Offering but Cain was a wicked man and a Vagabond for he was wandered and ravened from the Spirit of God within him and when he was ravened and wandered from the Spirit of God within him and his Soul had
and Wisdom of God words which they left behind them and after their decease Grievous Wolves did arise who was ravened from the Spirit and was gone out from the Apostles in the Apostle John's dayes saith he 1 Joh. 2.18 19 20 26 27. They went from us that they might be made manifest they were not of us For said he if they had been of us no doubt they would have continued with us and Paul when he wrote unto Timothy he said I know that after my decease grievous Wolves shall arise who will not spare the Flock so before the true Apostles of the Lamb laid down their heads there was False Apostles and Deceitfull Workers crept in among the Saints who spoke perverse things and did draw disciples after them but while the true Apostles remained in the body they watched diligently over the Flock over which the holy Spirit had made them Overseers and they were a terror to deceit and kept back the work of the Devil in the false Apostles and deceitfull Workers for then they were already entred into the World and then it was the Last Time as John said Fifteen or sixteen hundred years ago Brethren 1 Joh. 4.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. as you have heard that Antichrist shall come even now are there many Antichrists and false Prophets in the World whereby we know that it is the Last Time So all People take notice that Antichrist and the false Prophets were entred into the world before the Apostles decease and they have remained in the world ever since and this was before the name Quaker was given unto us by the Scorners yea this was before we were born so that it is plain that the Priests and Professors in all that called Christendom who have said that the false Prophets and Antichrists and Deceivers and Seducers came but when those people they called Quakers came have all erred in their Judgments and so have judged with evil thoughts and so they must all bear the Judgments of the Lord God for their false and unjust Judgment upon those they in scorn call Quakers for Antichrist and the false Prophets were entred into the World in the Apostles dayes Rev. 17.2 6. and after the true Apostles were put to death and were taken away from amongst men then the false Apostles work went more swiftly on Rev. 18.3 and they being ravened from the Life and Power and Spirit within they took the words of Christ and the Apostles which they had written in the motion of the Spirit of God in them and had left upon Record and they professed them and they being ravened from that measure of the Spirit of God from which the Scriptures was given forth then they wrested the Scriptures and gave meanings unto them they having lost the Key of Knowledg and then they went into the Liberty of the Flesh and so drew people after them and then the Night of Apostacy grew in fast and the Beast and the false Prophets made war against the Lamb and the Saints and they slew the Lamb and slew many of the Saints and so overcame them and then Antichrists Kingdom did increase fast and then the false Church which was not in God but in the Dragons power who had slain the Lamb and the Saints it grew great and then began the false Christians to be increased and the number of them to be many and so the false Christians who have taken upon themselves the bare name but are out of the Life and Nature of Christ they are spread over many Nations and are become a great and large people And so it is easie for people now to take the name Christian upon them in England and other Nations for now the whole Nation of England doth profess Christ in words and several other Nations so that if a man will profess Christ without him as they do and live in deceit and ungodliness as they do and turn and conform unto one Invention and Tradition of man after another as they do then they will not persecute him for professing of Christ without him as they do but if he be one who hath believed in the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened him and so is come to know Christ in him to destroy Sin in him and that Christ hath already led him out of the Sin which they live in then they will persecute him and as it was in the Apostles dayes so is it now He that is born after the Flesh persecutes him that is born of the Spirit and they that do live godly in Christ Jesus do suffer persecution It is evident that the Apostles and Saints in the Ages past witnessed Christ in them and so were made new Creatures by the working of his mighty Power if them for it is written If any man be in Christ Jesus he is a New Creature Now consider the thing in the fear of the Lord God who searcheth all Hearts Rev. 21.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. and tryeth all Reins who will assuredly reward every one according to their deeds done in the Body If any man be in Christ he is a new Creature Old things are passed away behold all things are become New Mark Old things are passed away Now in the Fear of the Lord God 2 Cor. 5.17 I say consider the thing well for it is weighty What was the old things which were passed away from the Saints Eph. 4.22 23 24. in that Age in which they lived upon the Earth was it not Sin yea assuredly it was Sin for Sin was and is the Deeds of the first Adam and all who are in his state are dead in Trespasses and Sins Joh. 1.29 but said the Apostle to the Saints You have put off the Old man with his deeds which is corrupt Joh. 8.34 and you have put on the New man Christ Jesus and Paul said That as many as were Baptised into Christ Jam. 1.12 13 14 15 16 17. they had put on Christ and so they were in him and he in them had destroyed the Works of the Devil and so had led them out of Sin and so had saved them from their Sins Gal. 3.27 28. for that is the work which God hath given him to do for the Sons and Daughters of men and all who comes to believe in his Light in their Consciences and obeys it they come to feel these things wrought within them and not without them for it is a plain Truth and cannot be denied by any sober wise and truly understanding man or woman the pure and holy God of Life and Power of Heaven and Earth he will not be reconciled to any people under what Name or Profession of Religion soever upon the Face of the whole Earth while they are in their Sins that is while they are in the practice of Evil-doing rebelling against the good Spirit of God in them Isa 63.10 which he hath placed in them to instruct them
hath opened our understandings and we do clearly see that they have not the Living Bread to seed upon themselves and so hath it not to deal unto others for we do see and know them to be proud covetous envious men and we do see know that the Lord God never made use of such to feed his Sheep for the greedy earthly and envious man is of the Wolvish nature and he is is not a fit man to be made a keeper of Gods Lambs for he is more like to devour them then feed them with the Bread of Life but now Glory to the Lord God for ever he hath opened an Eye within us by which we are come to see them and to know them and they cannot do any good to our Souls with their Preaching and Praying that we do certainly know and so we have no need of them for we have no need of that which will do us no good but hurt for we are able to prove that they do not stand in the Counsel of God Jer. 23. from verse 21 to 32. and therefore the people that follow them are not turned from the evil of their wayes and they have not been sent of the Lord therefore he hath not blessed them and their Labours for they have been Preaching and Praying for many years and it hath been a frequent practice of theirs to sell their Sermons Hosea 6.5 and their Prayers to those that would give the most Money for them and when they had been preaching unto and praying for a People several years and hath had from those people it may be One hundred pounds by the year yet when they have heard of it may be an hundred and fifty pounds to be had by the year at another place then they have left their Flocks which had paid them an hundred pounds by the year for their hire and hath gone unto those that would pay them an hundred and fifty pounds by the year for their hire Micah 3.9 10 11. and so they have shifted from one place to another to sell their preaching and their prayers at a dear rate and those covetous Hirelings have striven one with another Isa 9.13 14 15 16. who should have that place where there was most Money to be had for their preaching and praying Isa 56.10 11. and they have gone to Law one with another to get great places where there is much hire one from another they have been bad Examples to their Flocks they have lived in Pride and in Covetousness Jer. 5.30 31. and in these things they do greatly abound at this time and they are haters and persecuters of those that fears God Jer. 6.13 14. and verse 10. and are taught of God who cannot buy their Merchandise any more and although such who are taught of God do deny them and their preaching and their praying Jer. 14.14 15. and doth not come to hear them preach and pray yet they do demand wages of them for whom they do not work and because such who are taught of God cannot not dare not give them any thing because they know they are not sent of God and therefore doth no good unto peoples Souls with their praying and preaching but hurt yet when such who are taught of God will not give them hire Ezek. 13. read it through then they Sue them at the Law and take from them it may be three or four or five times as much as they demanded to be their due and thus they are more unreasonably wicked and unlike God then any other Tradesmen so these covetous Tradesmen of Great Mystery Babylon the Mother of all Harlots they are altogether unlike the true Ministers of Christ which he sent forth who said unto them Freely you have received freely give Mat. 10.8 9. c. to the end of the Chapter and they did as Christ commanded them and they went into the Towns and Cities and Countries and Nations to enquire who had a desire after the Knowledg of God and who was willing to receive the Kingdom of God and they preached the Gospel freely without Money and without Price yea without the price of One hundred pounds by the year yea the Ministers of Christ in former Ages and the Ministers of Christ in this Age fulfilled and doth fulfil that which the Spirit of God in Isaiah the Prophet called for when he said O come ye to the Waters Isa 55. from verse 1 to 10. come buy Milk and Wine without Money and without Price why will ye spend your Money for that which is not Bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not I say the Apostles Ministers of Christ in their dayes preached freely without money and without price and they brought people to the Free Gift of God in themselves to the anointing which was in them which was sufficient to teach them Rev. 22.17 1 Joh. 22.27 28 29. vers 26. and they needed no man to teach them but as the same anointing did teach them and this Testimony which John the Minister of Christ did bear was truth and no lye and Paul who was a Minister of Christ he brought people to the Free Gift of God in them he turned their minds from the darkness which was in them unto the Light of Christ in them which was the free gift of God unto them given unto them to teach them and Paul the Minister of Christ he said The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men Tit. 2.11 12. and it taught him and the rest of the Saints who had believed in it to deny and forsake that which was unlike God and when they lived in it made them unlike God worldly Lusts and this free Grace of God taught them to live in the likeness of God in which likeness man was created and Paul when he writ unto the Saints he did commit them to God Act. 26 18. and the Word of his Grace which was in their hearts which he said was able to build them up and give them an inheritance and Paul said Ephes 2. read it through By Grace ye are saved and not of your selves for it is the Gift of God and we say the same if people believe in the Grace and obey it then it saves them from their Sins and so they are saved not by their own works but by the free Grace of God which bringeth Salvation which hath appeared unto all men but if they do not believe in the Grace then they are not saved by it but it is their condemnation and Jude in his Epistle saith the Wicked turn the Grace of God into Laciviousness and so denied the only true God Jude 4. and our Lord Jesus Christ Now Professors of all sorts consider they could not have turned the Grace of God into Laciviousness if it had not been manifest in them and unto them but it was manifest in them and they