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 lusts who are enemies to the faith of Christ which presents perfect to God by working out such evils All which I came to see not by man but in the revelation of Christ as in his Faith I learned him growing into his Faith into him and his life therein made manifest in my body So I see what is his in truth as the truth is in Jesus and what is the worlds and but called his to oppose him And I see that which loves the things of this world to be none of his love nor that his joy that takes pleasure in visible things nor that his liberty which is in the works of the flesh nor that his peace that is in sin nor that his patience that seeks its own revenge nor that his glory that 's in pride nor that his worship which stands in carnal things nor that his honour that 's sought of men nor that his knowledge that 's after the flesh nor that his fear that is taught by his precepts of men these are in the world and not in him but have onely got the name to be his but are enemies to his life and were never begat of his Father nor learned in the Son all which and much like stuff I came to see the deceit of by that truth and simplicity I found in Christ contrary to the will of man And so in the life of Christ I have learned to know the growth of the Faith of Christ and the riches of it and the end of it which is Christ Jesus in all its working and I also know the worlds faith its uncleanness whose end is not to attain the holiness of Christ in life but would live in the worlds delights and have Christ for a cover and be saved by the righteousness of another which they have no minde to walk in themselves and so that faith works not by love which loves not the life of Christ but are enemies to his Crosse minding earthly things and this is the earthly faith but the living Faith works by love to holiness of life and therefore purifies the heart and the mystery of it stands in a pure conscience within themselves that have it and not in telling and comprehending what was in another for the Devils believes the holinesse that was in Christ and can preach it but cannot inherit it because they love not to live the life of it and by this I know them both for ever and all that prove them in the life of Christ shall witnesse with me the end of the one is the life of Christ in which himself walked and the same obedience of the same Spirit to the same Father by the same power according to the proportion of Faith received from God which Faith is from above and so layes hold on heavenly things for its strength and so brings forth heavenly fruits The other professeth and promiseth great things but ends in the world and mindes earthly things and doth not purifie the heart nor believes ever to attain the life of Christ his stature or fulness but counts it an error in such as presse after such attainments and so the end of the conversation of one is Christ Jesus to hold forth in Life and Power the same yesterday and to day and for ever The end of the other is a liberty to sin here while they can take any pleasure in it and sanctification and salvation when they are dead and according to the end of each faith so it works for its impossible for him that cannot believe holiness to work holiness but according to each mans faith so must he inherit in this world and that which is to come And in the workings and attainments of this living powerful faith I have found several measures according to my growth therein from the Word of the beginning of Christ or the first Principle of Christ and the fulness age and stature of Christ as betwixt a Babe a man grown in strength much working in spirit I found betwixt faith received of Christ Jesus and Christ learned in me for though I received the faith of his fulness in what he was at Jerusalem in his flesh there at once yet had not I so learned him in Spirit life in my mortal flesh nor put him on at once but in the light of Faith I saw I was so to run as to win him before I could put him on wherein I came to see and know my self begotten again in him by faith towards God who is the way to God in which way I came to see the begotten of the Father manifeâ—â— in measure in me in the pure image of a Holy Child separate from the fleshly sinful seed or Christ formed in me as the Scriptures witness and when I did behold his pure image and his pure mind and nature so far contrary to my own yet then was not he in his Kingdom nor all things put under his feet nor could I say that Jesus was then Lord in me but by the Spirits working by this Faith I had received and in hope thereof was I made to endure the loss of all things and to deny all things that ever this holy Spirit did War against in me which might any way oppresse this holy plant or hinder its growth owning his judgment in the light upon what ever was in my heart or affections but him alone though never so much gain in my account in the world which judgment being owned consented to against my self and all my self lovers therein was I parted from them in judgment and so then was they subdued by the powerful workings of that Spirit and put under his feet and I set free from them to arise with him above them being brought from under them and this was not done all at once but in order as he appeared in the light to manifest every particular evil And as that Faith I had received wrought by love to him a consent in my spirit to his just judgement upon them and I made willing to give them up to the fire and to come out of them and joyn to him in the execution least he should consume me with them as it must have been had I stayed in them and here I found the benefit of the light which goes before his face to prepare his way and the salvation of Faith which saved me through hope of him that I was not destroyed in my sins which Faith and hope gave me an entrance within the vail or a hiding place in him while the indignation was over which was to pass upon the man of sin And so a voice was heard in the wilderness calling out of sin into a way I knew not but as the light of his Covenant led me in the spirit of Elias turning my heart towards him that he might not smite the earth with a curse at his coming in which wâ—y ere I came into the Kingdom of Christ my pure rest I met with many hardships
serving Christ with real actual obedience And so his birth is a meaning instead of the life of Christ and this he sets to oppose that life least it should be born into the world as for instance when Christ saith in Scriptures Him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer him the other and him that sues thee and takes thy coat forbid him not thy cloak also and him that takes away thy goods ask them not again resist not evil but overcome evil with good and love them that hate you and many such like Commands which Christ means really and indeed and led an example in himself and who ever receives the same Spirit it moves to the same things as it grows in any and being obeyed will bring forth the same fruits to glorifie the Father thereof to all Generations which Spirit waxeth not old nor in its fruits barren where it is really received in the Faith thereof and obeyed But saith this other faith in the earthly spirit Christ did not mean as he spoke you must not take him litterally those words must have a spiritual meaning and this spiritual meaning of his is to devour the life of this obedience both in Letter of Christ and Spirit of Christ and to set up a subtle meaning without the life of Christ and contrary to his example and this he will have to take place in all both against the plain words of Christ â—iâ— example in his walking and the working of his Spirit in others if he cannot destroy this faith and fruit before it be brought forth then his work is to render him a high Blasphemer in whom this Child is born and brought forth to light and counts it high presumption for any to witness the life of Christ in him by bringing it forth into the world yet himself will preach Christ in him and the Life of Christ in him and the Spirit of Christ in him and his body the Temple of God c. Because he finds these words in Scripture but if any worship in that Temple so as to believe and obey unto life openly that he cannot own without a meaning instead thereof and so he sets the form to deny the Power and Christs Words he wrests to deny his coming And how long this faith hath professed him to come and his Life and Glory at his coming in its own carnal Comprehensions many may witness but is never like to receive him in the same Life and Spirit and Power in which he ever appeared and so to that generation is he ever to come but never present further then to make a cover for sins past and present and an encouragement for sin to come and thus the devouâ—er 〈…〉 s the best of things into a lye in all that believes him that he may keep Christ and the Soul from their present union which he could not long do but by consent of the Creature there being that of God in every one which daily draws towards him where it is not quenched by believing lies whereby such as receive not the Truth in the love of it comes to be damned as it was in the dayes of old and a strait passage I have found into the way of Truth and life which misseth all his subtile pretences and I have seen his words true who saith Few there be that find it the enemy being every way ready to meet them that seek with a shadow meaning or some deceit to believe in stead of the substance handling the Words of God deceitfully using the gifts of God to withstand the life of the giver and turning grace into lacivious liberty And thus have I learned in the light of the world that in my turning towards him at his reproof when I knew him not and believing in his light whom I had not seen I found that Faith given which did declare the righteousnesse of God in him wherein he perfectly walked upon earth both in doing and suffering which being turned towards I found the propitiation that God had sent forth through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remitting of my sins past that God might be just who could not have past by my sins past had he not accepted his sufferings nor I have had liberty from sin past to have followed him nor could I have been accepted therein but in the faith and hope of the same righteousnesse so God was full in justifying and his forbearance magnified towards me therein and in turning to this righteousness of his declared in the light of faith and hope my face was set towards righteousnesse in Christ Jesus to be attained for life and salvation for time to come to walk in and so being turned towards God all my sins past was behind me and Gods righteousness before me and so from henceforth was I to be found in Gods righteousness walking in a measure of it and in the faith and hope of the fulnesse of Christ and attainment of God for mine inheritance And this great Redemption I found in Christ Jesus at that day was in such things as these following As first his calling of me with his light his holding forth to me his life and suffering which was so holy that I could not but confesse to them his turning me towards the same in hope thereof by believing his begetting a mind in me towards that same life and the increase of his light that way to lead me and the setting of me free from the wrath of God for all my sins of ignorance past which else had laid upon me as a weight or chain binding me that I could not have walked the way of his light c. But I do not say that if I turned to commit sinne again that that sin was cast behinde my back also I learned otherwise I found that sinne then before my face greater then the rest and stood in my way to God and stopt me from following his light or growing in his life that I could no way escape it but by repenting of it and receiving the just sentence of condemnation in my self and bearing his indignation till he that wounded me for it healed me again which I never found but as I turned from the evil with my whole heart and accepted the punishment till the advocate did arise to intercede whose blood I had trampled on and whose precious life I had pierced and his holy Spirit grieved by turning away from his leadings Nor do I say that all my sinnes which formerly I had committed of which I had been convinced by the light of the ☜ world when I was in the world before I believed it to be sufficient that they was wholly taken away as my sins of ignorance was for this I found that God in this was just and merciful merciful in that he did not lay them all at once before me lest they should have prest me down that I could not have followed the light nor gotten any strength but
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
is their strength and here they take comfort to themselves against all Reproof witâ— in or from without though living openly in the greatest Whoredomes against the Spirit of Holiness Carnal or Spiritual that can be mentioned even at a distance from Christ in his whole life yet they believe Christ came to save sinners of which they are chief and they that are whole need not the Physician c. And so the greater their wickedness is the nearer to Christ they believe And by this Faith he that came to save People from sin and to lead out of sin both by Example and Spirit is made a cover for all filthiness of flesh and Spirit and to strengthen the heart of wickedness against the life of holiness some in one sin some in another but with this Faith do all sorts strengthen themselves and hardens their hearts against the light of Christ and that Spirit which reproves the World of sin and convinceth of it and would lead out of it and hence it is that the witness of God that is holy in all is trampled under foot in all and little regarded in any but by this Faith believed on in none to be the way to the Father though the world have no light but it nor is there a Promise of Life in any other And this to me appears to be that Faith of the Devil or dead Faith the Apostle speaks on James 2. Though more hardned in it against Gods fear for the Devils when they believe tremble at it So this Faith I leave being judged already by its fruits with the light of Christ in every honest heart that loves holiness And of that Faith I shall speak something in which I have found a measure of the Life of Christ made manifest in my mortal Body in which life alone is the True and Eternal union and atonement with the Holy God into whom no unclean thing can enter And this is not a notion of what was done in another generation past or to come hundreds or thousands of years distance but that which leads to the beginning of the work of a new Creature at this day and a new birth spiritually begotten and born and brought to light without which none can see the Kingdom of God nor enter therein And this Faith doth not work by the comprehensions of brain-knowledge that because I could here conceive or declare of Christ Jesus from the beginning to the age thereof in words or thoughts that therefore I have learned him or know him as I ought to do or am grown up in him to a perfect man and so to deceive others by declaring and boasting of what God hath not wrought in me as a man may easily do and deceive his own soul and bewitch others also by leading them out of their measures of Gods present work in them But of the living Father wâ—h now worketh powerfully in spirit by love thereto the mystery wherof is holden forth in a pure conscience working out the old leven purifying the heart making all things new judging and killing and crucifying with Christ in spirit the works of the flesh and casting out every thing in me that is not of God and renewing in me the things of God in their order by his mighty working in me in which the soul is raised out of the grave and the dead restored to life actually and not in conceit Of the Grounds and Workings of this Living Faith I shall speak something And though the foundation of this Faith or beginning of it was that I did really believe in that which Christ did and suffered at Jerusalem and that there in that vessel he bare the sins of the World and satisfied the wrath of God for sins past and overcame death hell and the grave and made way for the Seed to arise in all through the whole World who would believe in his light which then shined through him to all men wherein he might be seen to be the Way the Truth and the Life apparent openly triumphing over all that had passed above the Seed And much more might be said of him there finished all which I did believe according to â—cripture which was an opening of me to receive him from Heaven in the same spirit and power without which I could not have received the gift of that holy Spirit God having so purposed from the beginning that the Covenant of Eternall Life and power should be received no other way but by faith in him who in the fulness of â—ime was there manifest in flesh for the taking away sins past and making a way for the Resurrection of life over all to save from sins for time to come The effect of which Faith when in the 〈…〉 ight I first received it did turn my mind out of all my sins past and took my mind out of them and turned me towards God and holiness of life I then believed to attain in that faith and receive power therein to grow up in him to his fulness and stature which then I see no less faith could save me then the perfect Faith of the Son of God which before I had not received but then received with such gladness of heart that it set my face and delights out of all sin towards the perfection of Christ in which I then believed which was the Joy then set before me yet was not the work done and finished in me already though I having received the Faith and Hope of the Son of God and was turned from all my former sin and my own righteousness so that if I had departed this Body I had died in no less Faith then the Holy Faith of Christ Jesus and so being turned to his Spirit out of the works of the Flesh I was turned from my sin and so from condemnation yet was there a great work to do in me before I could witness freedom from the body of death and the root and ground of evil removed and the seed raised to reign and the soul brought into the holy City the resurrection of the dead and fellowship in the Father and the Son c. And that glorious liberty of the new Creature and all things to be of God in me as the Scriptures do witness so this faith did not work me into a conceit of my self glorying in knowledge and so to become a Teacher of others what I had conceived below the life but it led me down into the obedience of the Spirit of Light to wait therein for the Resurrection of Life and I came to see in that Light that the motions of sin did still work from the old ground and root and that must be removed by the power of Christ working in spirit and my obedience and watchfulâ—ess therein was required and that without obedience to this faith I could not come to perfect victory over the enmity nor the glorious liberty of the Sons of God for though this faith had turned my heart towards Christ
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
that faith saves not the soul from the pollution of the world through lust and so is but a conceit of salvation and not the power of salvation as saith the Scriptures Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even your faith and the faith which works not thus is like a body without a spirit which is dead but the living faith that stands in Christ Jesus that spirit purifies the heart and conscience and makes toward God in Christ the example in all good things overcoming whatever would lett the appearance of Christ in his temple or hinder the bringing forth his vertues which is believed to be in him to the utmost of whatever he hath received of the Father for such believers who believes not in a lye but in the truth and power of God as it is in Christ Jesus and hath been declared in Scriptures not for a discourse but for an inheritance of life of whose fulness we all â—eceive according to our Faith till his coming and we be compleat in him and he in us and so not come short of the glory of God the end of our Faith and Conversation that to the world he may be manifest in life and power to be the same that ever he hath been though he have appeared in several forms in the flesh yet one in Spirit to make a compleat body And therefore we finde those who were of this Faith witnessed Christ present which the worlds faith could never receive under any form or profession but counted it blasphemy and that spirit the spirit of the Devil And so Isaiah witnessed this Childe born to them that so believed in his time who was the mighty God the everlasting Father c. Whose Name they knew to be Immanuel and this was before he appeared in that Temple at Jerusalem and Ezekiel was called the Son of man before that time also and Paul said he was revealed in him and spoke in him and wrought in him and in his flesh that which was behinde of the afflictions of Christ was to be filled up for the bodies sake which is the Church and to whom he forgive any thing in his time he forgive it in the person of Christ and many more might be noted who confessed the same Christ in them present both before and after his time at Jâ—â—â—salem which testimony could never be received by the wisdom of the world in his Temples before nor then nor since to this day for the god of this world being king in the heart and having blinded the eye of the minde that should see his spiritual glory through the light of the Gospel he perswades the world that he is either past or to come but never present and as many as are brought to confess him before men finde it so at this day who are hated of all men for his Names sake that the Scriptures may be fulfilled and his testimony finished And this faith which confesseth him present is that which the world cannot bear nor receive who will preach him themselves at a distance what he was and will be but this faith cannot reach his coming at present in any measure to grow to his appearance now nor will this faith ever give an entrance into his kingdom upon earth nor the holy rest nor is this the Faith of Christ that puts him thus afar off which fills with all the fulness of God And by what I have learned this is clear to me for ever without any more Controversie That the faith that admits of sin is not Christs Frith nor hath any share or possession in him that faith which is not holy came not from God and so cannot build up to God that is not saving Faith that doth not save from sins but is deceiving faith which deceives the Soul and suffers lust to defile it and destroy it and so brings it under condemnation by believing lyes and so letting in sin upon the Soul by consent perswading that it cannot be otherwise and so gives the Devil victory and the world victory and the flesh victory and sin victory over the Soul which should give the Soul victory over all And what greater deceit can there be to the Soul then this is And therefore for ever that which I have seen and learned do I declare openly that this is the deceiving faith and indeed rather unbelief then the Faith of Christ which makes way for the god of this world to reign and act in things contrary to the life of Christ in the Creature and the life of the Soul and that faith which gives way to the least sin is not the Faith of Christ whose work and coming is to destroy the works of the Devil and redeem the Soul from sin and the least measure of that Faith that stands in his life overcomes the world and sin in that measure and he that commits sin goes out of that Faith and acts against it and a lying faith I have found that to be which perswades the soul of freedome from condemnation but gives it not freedom from sin which is the cause of Condemnation and all shall witness this with me now or hereafter that where sin hath power here death hath power and the Grave and Hell and Condemnation hath power also for these are the wages of sin then shall yon say you were deceived who believed the contrary And may not such truly be said to be past feeling indeed who can commit sinne and feel no Condemnation for it already And this is the effect of their false Faith to harden themselves against the faithful witness of God in their own Conscience and the seared Conscience hath made shipwrack of the Faith of Christ and the doctrine of devils preaches the faith of devils to give way to the works of the Devil which all sin is from the least to the greatest and he that pleads for it is a Father to it and he that commits it a servant and may look for the wages thereof if he repent not notwithstanding he believe the contrary And many may feel this truth at this day who have a long time believed with this faith deceiving their own souls day uâ—ter day believing they shall not be condemned when they are condemned already iâ— their own hearts and feel the weight of sinne daily pressing their Souls and burthening the pure Conscience and the fear of death and sinne keeps their Souls still in bondage and lies upon them all their lives and yet they will force themselves to believe contrary to Holy Faith and a good Conscience that they are saved and redeemed and thus make shipwrack of saving Faith and a good Conscience by believing a lye contrary to their own daily feeling no other thing to encourage them therein but this perswasion which suits well with such as take pleasure in unrighteousnesse which perswasion comes not of God but condemned by that of God in themselves and this
must needs have perished under them had he not spared And just I have found him also for as they were not committed all at once against the light of his Spirit so he hath at one time or other visited for them and laid them before me yet not all at once nor no way so heavy as those committed after I believed and gave up my self to follow the light and yet to an account he hath brought me for them and coming to feel the terrours of God I have learned to fear and love and have found the ground and rise and deceits of that Faith that believes Christ to have taken away the sins of believers past present and to come with which many at this day make merry over the witnesse of God and the just slain in them and that Scripture I have learned without a meaning if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remains no more sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation to devour the adversary though none know how but he that comes to it in the fulfilling and then shall be seen he that 's born of God sins not and he that believes is born of God but he that sins turns his back both on the Faith and Birth that 's towards Christ and becomes adverse thereunto in his work whatever he sayes he believes and this I have found an everlasting truth whatever men believe or imagine that no longer then a man keeps his face towards the light of God no longer is his sins cast behindâ— his back whether they be sins past present or to come but if he turn from Gods righteousness his own iniquities will rise and mee him both new and old and in vain doth such believe they are then blotted out of Gods fight whose eye shews him his way in which he then walks and condemns him for it in his own heart Now was the ground and root of sin removed so soon as my minde was turned by the light from sin towards God but the motions thereof I found and the lust seeking to go forth to its objects to bring in to conceive sinne again afresh that ground was but removed as I grew in Christ and he in me and as I came to learn him that was in the beginning before sin was who was learned in faithful following serving of his Spirit in watching in fastings in prayers and in all spiritual wrestlings as I came to be led into with the light in which warfare I came to see the hardship of him that will be a souldier of Christ Jesus and the baptisms into his death the slothful servant and the faithful and their reward and the parables and figures of the Kingdom opened as that â—pirit grew in me which interprets the Scriptures in the life and opens the sealed mysteries thereof in their season as they come to be fulfilled and so I came to the gift of the Scriptures by inspiration which onely profits to the perfecting of the man of God which the man of this world not having learned wrests to his own destruction getting the words of them in the earthly part before they be fulfilled in his heart through the Spirit and such receive them not by inspiration nor the gift of the Holy Ghost And in this journey I have seen the slothful servant overtake with a 〈◊〉 which he had once cast behinde him and never intended to joyn to again of which the diligent servant is kept free and I have seen the wages of each servant according to his diligence in that which he hath of God betrusted in him and not by his own strivings in the thoughts of himself his worth or wisdom and in diligent hearkening and obeying of the Spirit have I found the right fâ—rthfulness towards God though getting knowledge be highly esteemed with men and I have found that as I have the Spirit manifest in me to profit withal so the times of my profiting is onely in his hand and my waitings upon him when he moves not is my reasonable service and a profiting time to me as if he moved though I see it not and this I found a great crosse to my hasty will which indeed is the true worship in Spirit which when I knew not this Spirit to hearken and bow to and obey and observe in all things as his will leads I worshipped I knew not what and my fear towards God then was taught by the precepts of men and I was not taught of the Lord not being born of that Spirit and so all the children of the Lord are taught of the Lord and as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God these Scriptures I then could read and understand without meanings not by that which my wisdom taught me but which the Holy Ghost taught me and the Scriptures thus learned and received was no more a notion to be lost but a possession and I came to have an inheritance therein amongst them that are sanctified in all ages and no subtle â—an could either steal them or change them or any way beguile me of the truth of them by wresting them nor take away my comfort I had in them my comfort and fellowship therein being in the same Spirit life that gave them forth and the word of God thus grew and endureth for ever and the Spirit of truth that leads into all truth endures for ever and the Seed of God is one therein to all generations and that is one which perfects the Spirits of all just men and God himself is Judge over all and leader of all by his own begettings in all that enter into this rest of the faithful which remains to all his Children out of which false Faiths and Disobedience shuts themselves And that which declares the righteousnesse of God for remission of sinnes past and for an inheritance against sin for time to come have I found to be Faith without falshood which righteousness though in the Faith and Hope beyond declaring yet inherited but as the vertues that are in Christ Jesus comes to be received in the life of them And that faith which hath not that righteousness for its ground and end and the vertues and several measures of the growth of Christ for its life and increase that I have found upon tryal to be a fained fancy after mans minde and not after Gods measures And he that saith he hath faith in God and is without the hope of this righteousness for his inheritance Or saith he hath Christ further then he hath his Vertues for his life and growth towards this inheritance when he comes to be weighed with Truth will be found too light to stand in judgement or abide the fire or to dwell with everlasting burnings the tryal of that Faith will leave him without faith then shall it be read as it is written When the Son of 〈◊〉 comes shall he finde
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
righteousnesse meekness and peace Ah blind people that have eyes and see not What is become of your profession of Names your Forms and Ordinances and how is God departed out of all as to you and your house is become desolate and where light truth and peace should dwell it s become a habitation of devourers a place of Owls and Dragons and Night-birds and beasts of prey such spirits rule in all your holy things in which you trust You cry the name of Christ but see not nor is your eye anointed You cry the name of Jesus but are not saved from your sins You cry Christ is your King but have not peace You cry great is the Lord with your lips but the Devil prevails in your hearts and carries you captive at his will contrary to the will of the Lord. So you have got the words of Saints but the life you have lost Sheep in words but Wolves in nature and so are in the gall of bitterness against such as retain the power of what you profess Now are not these vain words you trust in which doth not save This is the deceiver you tell on who makes people believe in a lie and now he is found in your own bosom blessed be the day which hath brought his works to light glory to God for evermore Wherefore let not your own thoughts deceive you and lead you to cast upon others that which in your selves sound but leave your vain and evil thoughts of others and judge your own selves with the light of life and measure your works with truth and not with thoughts Did not they that persecuted the Prophets think they did God service And they that persecuted Christ thought the same and they that persecuted the Apostles and Saints of old knew not that they persecuted Christ Jesus but thought they did well to punish Hereticks and Blasphemers and they that flew the Martyrs were of the same spirit and so of the same mind And now come to your selves and your thoughts in this your work which is the same at this day and many of you have the same thoughts though some of you act clearly against what you sâ—e and so exceed all your fore-fathers and now see who are Deceivers and Blasphemers and where the Lamb is led to the slaughter Ah you teachers of these Nations should you thus have used your liberty you had given of God from under the dark power that ruled in part in the Bishops under which some of you suffered Was it not then in your hearts that if you had but liberty you would go on to the rooting our of the reliques of Popeâ—y and Idol-worships and Perfecution Should you not have gon on with singleness of heart as you had liberty to the end Then had you been faithful to God and the Nations then had you been as openers of the holy paths for men to walk in and breakers of oppression and men should have called you the blessed of God then had you not inherited this cursed thing set up by your fathers the old persecusors and oppressors whose children you are now found to appear then had you uot been at this day found fighting for their fat Benefits which spued them out suing your people for Tithes Pigs Geese Smoke and such like trash haling poor people to prison and spoiling their Houses and lands for your bellies you had been at this day in a more honourable work than raking in these Dung-hils The Lord should not have needed to have called your own hearers from under your elbows and sent them against you into your Meetings to declare your shame openly and to cast this dung in your â—aces laying open your deceitful works and worships which falls so heavie upon you that you have not strength left to stand before the guilt thereof nor have any defence but either to flie or cry out to the earthly Powers to help you against him who is now become your Adversary It was not thus with you while you were sufferers for standing faithful to what you then knew of Gods new work I appeal to that of God in your own Consciences if then a silly boy or girl or man or woman had asked you a question concerning your Doctrine or Manners if you would have used either your feet to flie or your hand to â—mite oâ— cried Away with him Officer take him to prison Magistrate make a Law against him Queen Maries Acts were then abomination to you you had then another weapon even a measure of the Spirit to inform the weak with meeknesse and to convince gain-sayers But then you were sufferers your selves for your Conscience and so the case is changed with you and the Spirit also as far as the sufferer is from the persecuter onely here the Deceiver keeps you blind in that you keep the old form you then had but prossessed with another spirit So your sticking in the form hath deceived you of the suffering Spirit and the power of meeknesse which had you been led by the Spirit of the Lamb you had been at this day in the fellowship of his sufferings not tormentors of those that are Have not I heard some of you in publick declare That if a Church had persecution in it for Conscience sake upon any account whatsoever it needed no further Trial to prove it to be of the Devil and not of the Church of Christ But since the same person though no mean one of account amongst the finest sort of Teachers have commanded them to prison who came but into the Synagogue and spoke not one word Alas for your Souls how are you fallen under the cursed thing that you should be they who are left to fill up the measure of what the Bishops came short of Ah! how are you to be pitied Will not your cutting them off rise against you And will not God avenge their bloud upon you who have condemned their persons but justifie the things for which they were cut off by adding manifold thereto in the same nature God is Judge this day and his light in your hearts how you have dealt with him and his inheritance by which you should have been led out of these things going before you into the Kingdom of God but are now found in the work of gain-saying such as are coming out of darknesse into light neither entring your selves nor suffering them that would So let truth for ever stand upon the head of the deceiver and blasphemer and let such as are seduced by them be therewithall delivered And blessed be the Lamb for ever whose Life is this day become a light to divide the Sheep from the Wolves that he may come to Judgment A MESSAGE FROM THE SPIRIT of TRUTH Unto the Holy Seed To the Reader YOu lovers and followers of the Light to you is this message sent in it abide that the glory of the only begotten of the Father you may behold and be changed from glory to glory fill
not your heads but feel the life of what in this followings paper is declared For though the Thief the Boaster the proud and exalted ones have or may cover themselves with like words yet this birth never was is or shall be brought forth but by the espoused Virgin pure chaste and spotlesse true and abiding innocency far distant from all feigned purity which many being puffed up in their vain minds have or may intrude into things they know not and so deceive the simple by a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels these hold not fast the head which gives the life to every member he that is without beginning of days or end of life by whom and for whom all things were made to him shall every knee bow who filleth all in all of whose fulness he hath received grace for grace who in these following lines salutes the whole elect of God every where plentifully giving forth of the great Mystery of godliness hidden from ages and generations now made manifest to the meek and upright in heart who in the unfeigned love abide which endures for ever R. T. DEar friends Brethren and Sisters of the Seed of Abraham partakers with him in the holy call and who in his faith wait for that glory and inheritance immortal which every one of you shall receive at the appearance of the great God and his Son Jesus Christ to you all be peace truth and love increased wherein you may be established to the end of your calling That which is set before me in the Spirit of truth and for which my soul travels and breaths after in the whole Creation but especially in you who are already called thereunto I am moved to impart unto you thereby to stir you up earnestly to press on towards the appearance of that to which you are called in one which is no other then what hath been holden forth from the beginning even the only begotten of the Father filled with grace and truth for the obtaining whereof you that are faithful have denied the delights of this present world and do daily undergo the enmity thereof Of whose appearance many of you have received a certain hope which cannot be shaken and a measure of him some are come to in the same Spirit who have seen felt and handled of his appearance and have received of his fulness wherein alone you excell and are able to hold forth that life iâ— the power of obedience meeknesse and fear which no form nor knowledge without is able to bear or bring forth which is that alone wherein I rejoyce in you and not onely so but find cause in heart to magnifie that goodnesse and glorious power of God already manifested in you and through you to the world whose praises will daily increase as his vertues appear in you which that you and all the number of called ones may increase and grow to the age stature and full appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the full desire of my soul and that which will give us an assured joy and perfect peace in one when knowledg will vanish and that which is in part shall be done away Wherefore you that have received the Spirit of Prophecy and that light out of darknesse which lets you see what manner of one the Son of God must be at his appearing in Spirit and power holiness and great glory I beseech you that none of you sit down at rest in this sight nor be you puffed up therewith as though you had already attained lest thereby the Enemy prevail to assault you above what is meet and so others lesse in wisdome who are more lowly in spirit step in before you and obtain that Crown and glory to which you were called and so while you feed on the knowledge you loose the life but that every one waite in the light to feel the power and life of the Son of God manifest in your bodies giving you victory over your own spirits and raising you up out of death into the life of the Prophecies that you may all know the true worship in Spirit and what you bow unto that henceforth you may be servants of righteousnesse begotten and not made which only hath food able to satisfie your thiâ—sting souls that you may all feel the onely begotten of God in vertue and power working mightily the work of the Father and destroying the work of the devil in every particular for hereunto were you first called that you should inherit eternal life and power the true riches of grace in righteousness and to receive a Kingdome that cannot be moved but that is able to keep you against all assaults of the enemy which â—iches is Gods onely begotten in whom is received of the perfect fulnesse of God which is only able to satisfie all fears and supply all wants in all who attain to his appearance And further I beseech you that you satiâ—fie not your selves onely with a feeling of this working in you but that you diligently attend an entrance thereinto that you may put him on whom the Father begetteth and formeth in you that you souls may be bathed and anointed therein And not only so but that you bring him forth before all men even him the only begotten Son of God in meekness long-suffering in patience in righteousness in godly holinesse and all his vertues the living image of him by whom he is begotten that it may appear to all men whose you are and who possesseth the vessâ—l and what he is that appears therein that it may be seen and confessed that God is in you of a truth revealed in his only begotten For this is he to whom at his appearance every tongue shall confesse and every heart be struck with fear though the form of his beauty and visage of his glory hath amongst false Births and fained professions been more marred then any mans who instead of bringing forth into the world the only begotten of God to convince and condemn the world of all ungodliness and save them from it have brought forth the conceivings of their own brains and the child born to them is no Saviour but their birth hath left them in the world and one with it who are now turning the words of Christ against his works and their power to withstand his appearance in others who is the same which was and is and is to come to all generations So that instead of holding forth that spiritual power of perfect Redemption from above to save his people from their sins and set them at liberty from the bondage of corruption to serve God in the new man the Son of Righteousnesse of peace and holinesse Gods image there appears the Son of wickednesse in every form at liberty and pleaded for the Image and power of all unrighteousnesse and ungodlinesse preached and set up so that the very faith and hope of Gods appearance in this generation is destroyed So these not waiting in faith single