A Guide to the Blind Pointed to Or a true TESTIMONY TO THE Light within Wherein some men are reproved others counselled and encouraged but all who are ignorant of their true Guide directed to the path of Life With a Friendly CALL to all Notionists and high Professors of Religion in what Form soever To come speedily down from their Pinacles lest they fall into temptation Also some Queries to the persecuting Ministers of the Church of ENGLAND VVritten for the Truths sake by T.F. The darkness is past the true Light new shineth 1 Joh. 2.8 See therefore that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Eph. 5.15 London Printed for the Author and are to be sold by G. Calvert at the Black-spread Eagle near the west end of Pauls N. Brooks at the Angel in Cornhil 1659. THE PREFACE READER ALthough I have bin for many yeers a true seeker of the kingdom of Heaven yet had I been one who had sate in the seat of the scorner or been disobedient unto the Light or motion of Gods Spirit upon those Waters in me which had neer over-whelmed my Soul I should have remained as most men still do in darkness even until now or else been like unto those who are a sleep in sin neither knowing nor beleeving any other state attainable in this life who yet notwithstanding are bold to say They see But blessed be the Lord God I am not of their unbelief but of that faith which overcomes the World Sin and the Devil Friend If thou art such a one to wit a sinner and beleevest thou canst not be otherwise here and yet will presumptuously say Thouseest Know thou That Christ Iesus came to make thee blind and that those who are blind and sensible of it might see And thou who art a sleep in sin and dead whilest thou livest Arise and listen thou to the voice of Christ and to his knock in thee if thou wilt live to God open the door of thy heart unto him betimes He it is who calls to sinners to be pure and to be perfect as our heavenly Father is He it is who cryed out to Jerusalem to be gathered under his wing and he also if thou will be gathered would gather thee O refuse him not for he it is who hath called me out of darkness into light and caused me to listen to his still voice within me and he it is who calls to thee also to return and live saying to thee as he did to Israel Why will ye die O House of Israel Now that thou mayest know I am none of those that cry Lohere Or Loâ—hers nor of the many Sects and divided Judgments in this Nation I shall briefly tell thee how many by-wayes I have past through and how restless I was in them all till I came to own the light of Christ in me First As to my Education I must tell thee it was such a was in the fear of the Lord into which I admonish thee to hasten and therein continue all the dayes of thy life for I assure thee there is no safety but in that state and in the pure life of innocency from which all men by disobedience are fallen It 's not talking of the holy life but living it that can give thee an entrance into Paradice for the flaming Sword is turned against the transgressor so that he cannot touch the tree of life much-less eat thereof but with the Serpent must feed upon dust all the dayes of his life O Make haste Friend to the life of Obedience and come down from the barren Mountains lest thou die for there is no bread to be had there Consult no longer with the Serpents carnal reasonings in thee nor with his numerous and busie Agents without thee perswading thee that purity is not to be attained here Oh! that thou wouldest consider that the Soul which sinneth must die and that as the tree falls so it lyes that there is no Repentance in the Grave nor any other Way to life but by keeping the Commandments of God Friend Thy Enemy is within thee therefore look at home keep the Watch well there and if thou canst pray that thou enter not into temptation for the Devil now goes about roaring like a Lyon and is seeking whom he may devour Oh! beleeve not those that say The best of Gods Children cannot be free from sin in this life for I declare to thee they are all of the black Army of Satan and for the support of his kingdom are they come to fight and to make War with the Lamb and his followers who walk with him in white Remember thou That without holiness no man shall see God and that the pure in heart and they only can see him And thou who art flown high in thy comprehension of aiery Notions without life thou must descend and dwell in the Low-valley where once thou hadst some sooting for thy safety is there and no where else Come thou into the cool of the day and hear Gods voice unto thee who chargeth thee with eating of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil Thou hast lost thy state of happiness by hearkning to the Woman thy fallen Reason who is not to speak in the Church for thou hast suffered to be marr'd the holy Creation of God in thee and there is no way lest now for thee but to come to Christ Jesus the light of the world and life of man He it is though thou hast despised him because his appearance is low in thee who must repair the breach between God and thee but if thou reject him who is thy light and who would be thy leader thy stare is worse then fallen Adams was thou art now one with the Angel of false light Darkness will be thy portion as it is his for evermore Friend What I have further to say in this Preface may give thee some light of the crooked-wayes thou art not to walk in and therefore shall proceed to give thee an accompt of my wandring steps which the Lord hath now brought to my remembrance even from my Child hood The fear of God I say was before me even from my Youth so that when I was but a School-Boy I durst not omit my Morning and Evening Sacrifice of Prayer to God upon any pretence whatsoever Never did I swear an Oath but once since I was born and that was upon great provocation by a lewd Boy when I was about twelve yeers of age But such was the goodness of God to me then that presently after I had spoken the word I found trouble in my Conscience and condemnation for it many yeers after My Companions were mostly such as were sober and freest from scandal and I can truly say I remembred my Creator in the dayes of my Youth and was a true seeker of the Kingdom of Heaven from such time as I had an understanding to believe there was such a Kingdom to be sought after And when I
came to be about 16. yeers of age I then began to Pray out of my usual Form as finding nought but deadness in my Form of Prayers which I had got so that by little and little I Prayed by rote and I encreased in yeers I applyed my self to Reading Sermon-Books and often to Hear and Write Sermons after the choicest of the Presbyterian-Way whom I conceived then were most Orthodox Early did I rise to Read and Meditate of God whom I then look'd on at a distance from me as most men do but he was in this place and I knew if not the Lord was with me in all my crooked-wayes and preserved me but I saw him not nor what it was that breathed in me after God I did not know it was the seed of God which was in bondage and groaned to be delivered into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Often did I with Tears beg for pardon of my sins and assurance of my Salvation which I prized above all the world and did often say within my self That if I could but gain Assurance of that I could be content to be miserable in this World as long as I should live in it Company was many-times a burthen unto me and to be retired and much alone was my great delight that so I might freely breath forth my Soul to God for the assurance of his Love and to be freed from everlasting burnings The consideration of Eternity was often in my mind and many-times would this voice sound in me Arise ye dead and come to judgement But alas What hope of Assurance could I have of my Salvation whilest I gave Faith to such Teachers as affirmed That the best of Gods Saints cannot be free from sin in this life and in the same breath also said That the least sin deserved the torments of Hell fire for ever May not a poor Soul who presseth after holiness truly say They are miserable Comforters Oh! who can be assured of his Salvation or gain Assurance thereof that beleeves false Doctrine to be true and instead of living the Holy life believes it is not attainable Can any man be assured of his Salvation whilest he is a sinner surely no and if no Assurance then surely no Salvation for the Soul that sinneth must die and without holiness no man shall see the Lord By this and such like Doctrine was my life made very uncomfortable and though I knew little by my self to deserve the torments of Hell being alwayes of a sober life and free from the gross pollutions of this world Yet the fear of Hell was a contimsa 〈…〉 torment unto my mind insomuch that I often wish'd I had never been born or that there had been no God to punish me Yet I can truly say Religion was my chief businss and my great delight was in hearing Sermons receiving the Sacrament as they call it to be often conversant in Fastings and frequent in outward Worships and carnal Ordinances all which perish with the using so that I never could have enough of them Tears was my delight and mourning in secret was a refreshing to my Soul and when I could not weep I prayed and when I could not pray I wept and sometimes I prayed and wept till I had wept my self to silence before the Lord and when I neither could weep nor pray then trouble and perplexity seized on my Spirit and I should begin to fear the danger of a hard heart and that the Spirit of Prayer was taken from me Blasphemeus thoughts would sometimes surprize me and the terrors of Hell get hold upon me and how to escape I knew not No comfort could I receive from any of my Teachers for when by the best of their marks and signs I judged my self in a safe condition yet the witness of God would rise through all that false peace which they had spoke to me and accuse me of being a sinner And this was my case for many yeers and my condition was very unsafe as all theirs is who are yet in Egypt leaning upon men and forsaking the Lord But the Lord God after long seeking to him in secret seeing my integrity and that the desire of my Soul was after him and to be holy as well as happy He mercifully brought me out of Egypt and delivered me from those cruel Taskmasters Builders of Confusion and set me at liberty to travel towards the Holy Land for in all the Land of Egypt I found no outward Guide to lead me out of my Egiptian darkness though something within me would often groan and say Return unto thy rest O my Soul thus I say the Lord pitying my soul pardoning my sins winking at my ignorance and bottling up my tears set me free from bondage That being delivered out of Egypt and journying towards Canaan I met with divers sorts of Travellers with whom I had converse acquaintance As first with those of the Independent-way but finding after a short time that there was little difference between them and the others and that the path they went in was too broad and would not bring me to rest I forsook them and travelled forward towards those men of the Baptized-way who for some season I heard and observed but finding that the main stress of their Argument that their Way was right was because they submitted to the Ordinance of Baptism pleading difficulty if not impossibility for any to come to Canaan unless they were re-baptized I search'd into the Doctrine of Baptisms also wherein I found That Water-Baptism or Johns Baptism was but onto Repentance which was effected in me already and that it could not wash away my inwardâ—ilth and therefore must decrease And I considering that the Apostle saith There is now but one Baptism to wit that of the Spirit and that that is the only Baptism for every Christian to be Bapized with if he will be cleansed and purged from sin And considering that Iesus himself Baptized none and that Paul saith he came not to Baptize but to Preach the Gospel And that this Ordinance was only Apostolical and not relating to Christians now I left them and their Water and travelled towards those called Notionists with whom after I had travelled a while I began to conclude them to be the men that I must walk with and so followed them as seeing more of truth to wit in the Notion of it then in any I had met with before and was much enlightned but after I had been with them a while I found I could not Pray as I was wont to do and so began to fear I was now further from the right way then ever I was before and being now come to the red Sat I had a lingring and secret longing to the Garlick and Onions of Egypt again yet the Lord kept me from going back into Egypt where was no light at all but I walked in the Wilderness to and again for many yeers together filling my
at Jerusalem must live in us and we in him and so must we know him even to lead and guide us out of all error sin and vanity into all truth righteousness and stability if we ever know him to salvation I know your minds have been abroad and peradventure yet are as mine was but I never knew my Saviour whom I sought without until I turned my mind inward and found him there No more can ye If them art still abroad wandring upon the barren Mountains O come down for I am well assured there is no food there for thy hungry soul The day I say is far spent and the night at hand wander no longer in the coasts of Egypt and Land of darkness where no Light is nor true Guide to lead thee but hasten into the low Valley search deep into the bottom of thy heart come to Meekness Patience and humility of spirit and there O there wilt thou meet with thy true Guide and that Light which alone can lead out of darkness all the faithful followers of it Reproof to him that faith the Light within is natural and that the Light of Christ was carnal and darkness as some have affirmed THou knowest not what thou sayest O man that sayest the Light is natural carnal or insufficient nor whereof thou affirmest Hast thou been a Teacher or Hearer in England for many years and a professor of Religion and yet knowest not Jesus Take this for thy portion thou who despisest the riches and goodness of the Lord in his Son Christ The Light or Talent which thou now hast shall be taken from thee and thou the unprofitable servant cast out into outward darkness vvhere shall be nothing but weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth because thou hast rejected the Light within which is Gods Witness in every man and hast judged and denied it Know this That thou by it shalt be condemned for ever I say the day of Grace and long-suffering of the Lord which would now lead thee to repentance will not alwayes last the Light or Candle of the Lord in thee will not alwayes shine but the night of darkness in which thou shalt ever remain will overtake thee where thou shalt be shut up in Chains for evermore then oh then it vvill be too late to vvish thou hadst not slighted the light in thy conscience and called it carnal darkness and insufficient for it now is and then will be more then a thousand Witnesses against thee The Light of Christ I say is not carnal is not darkness is not insufficient to lead blind man out of darkness into the marvelous light of the Lord for by it and it alone have I been lead from the one into the other and can set to my seal of a truth That God is light and Christ is light and that his light is in every man and it is and will be the condemnation That Light is come into the World but men love darkness rather then light because their deeds are evil and ful of darkness Friend This I am bold to declare as in the Light of the Lord That there is no other way to be saved from eternal darkness but by coming unto Christ the light of the World and walking in his light if so thou do as he is in the light then and not till then shalt thou have fellowship with the children of Light and the blood of Jesus will cleanse thee from all sin Some Queries to them that say Revelation is ceased and that the Saints must not now expect such glorious manifestations as were in the primitive times and that say no man hath the infallible Spirit now MAny there are who in this state of darkness do believe and say That Revelation is ceased and that the infallible Spirit is not now known amongst the Saints and that they are not to expect such glorious manifestations now as were in the primitive times The ignorance and gross darkness of such I cannot but bewail and for the opening of their understandings shall propound unto them some Queries As first Whether is not Christ the same to day yesterday and for ever and the holy Spirit the same and as operative quick and powerful now as ever Or hath it lost its powerful operation now Is the Lords love to his Saints less now then before Or is his hand shortned that he cannot save to the uttermost as well now as ever Where is it said which ye so boldly affirm That Revelation is ceased or shall ever cease from the Saints or Spouse of Christ Hath not the Lord promised that in the later dayes he will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh and his sons and his daughters shall prophesie And hath not John said That the light of that day shall be as seven dayes and that there shall be no need of a Candle nor light of the Sun for the Lord God shall be the light thereof What is it that in the night of darkness when thou art lying upon thy bed of Adultery and carnal pleasure sporting thy unsatiable soul in the lusts of the flesh discovers and reveals the wickedness of thy heart unto thee What is it that in the day time checks thee for thy wanton eye and pride of life when none without perhaps dares accuse thee What is it that discovers unto thee in thy Chamber of Imagery the secret Adultery of thy heart when no outward eye sees thee What is it that brings to thy remembrance things past as if they were but yesterday and sets thy secret sins in order before thee What is it that tells thee thou hast committed the sin against the Holy Ghost and for which thou canst never receive pardon when committed Oh! how is it that thou shouldst suffer the instruments of Satan to work such a belief in thee and so far to put out the eye of thy Faith and of thy reasonable soul also as not to see thy self in a delusion when the Scriptures do positively say That no man knows the Father but the Son and him to whom the Son wil reveal him Matth. 12.27 Tell me poor soul whether thou canst be so ignorant of the Scriptures as not to know this That he that worships the Father must worship him in spirit Dost thou not know that the holy spirit is a spirit of Revelation wheresoever it is Dost thou not know that that is its work in man and that if thou hast not this Spirit of Christ thou art none of his Friend it 's an infallibly sign thou deniest the spirit that sayest Revelation is ceased it being its proper Work And thou that sayest No man hath the infallible Spirit now Let me ask thee also Hath the Lord no people in this Age to bear testimony to his Truth Do none know the Lord novv And are none in the Way of Truth Is this thy Faith Then knovv thou for certain thou art led by a spirit of delusion and whilest thou thus believest thou canst never
and that as long as they live they cannot be free from corruption and these sit down without hope and shall never enter But yet notwithstanding there is encouragement enough for the faithful Traveller when he remembers that there were two to wit Caleb and Joshua who were true Spyes and that notwithstanding the multitude of false Spyes that went forth to view the Land these as faithful Witnesses For God brought in their Testimony and said Let us go up at once and possesse it for we are well able to overcome it And these for their faithfulness to the Lord notwithstanding the false Spyes ill report of the good Land were brought to possess the Land which flowed with Milk and Honey but the rest perished in the Wilderness for their unbelief and their children were wanderers there fourty years Now Friend It is observable and very remaakrble That Caleb and Joshuah who did enter had another spirit then the false Spyes had and followed the Lord fully to wit the Spirit of Faith which overcomes the World and all the Enemies therein to the soul of men so that the Believer and his Seed shall possess the holy Land when all the unbelievers shall perish in the Wildcrness Numb. 14. And as for the glory of this holy Land or New Jernsalem of which Canaan was a Type and the Riches thereof none wil doubt but all Will confess the Land is good though some say too good to be obtained here or possessed in this life I say as to this I cannot but bring in my testimony and declare They are all false Spyes and false prophets that say the Enemies of mans soul are not to be overcome in this life and that the holy life is not attainable for he that gives Victory over one sin which I witness will give victory over all sins if I and thou be faithful Warriers in the Army of the Lamb I say our Captain is able to make war wth the Enemy and not onely give us victory but also an entrance into the Holy of holies within the vail here where no false prophet can enter but him who is the Priest for ever after the order of Melehizedeck Therefore friends go chearfully on your way in believing the Enemy is as well before as behind look not back neither turn to the right hand nor to the left but press forward and in due time you shall reap if you faint not 'T is the Faith of the Saints which overcomes the World and all difficulties which the honest Traveller shall find in his Journey towards the holy Land And that none may be discouraged that he meets with troubles and tryals let him remember The greater his tryals are the stronger had his Faith need be and the bitterer his Travels are the sweeter will his Rest be If some of the Servants of the Lord have through experience said That the sufferings of this present life are not worthy the glory that shall be revealed what will they be able to say when in is revealed It is better to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Therefore let us proceed on our journey with unwearied minds and in the strength and power of the Lord make war against all the Enemies of our Souls following our Leader and in the end we shall be more then Conquerors And because there are many pretenders to holiness who with fair speeches do deceive the hearts of people and by enticing words of mans Wisdom seduce many a well-meaning and honest-hearted Traveller who is ever and anon ready to question whether his way be right I do advise thee as thou lovest life and tenderest the true rest of thy weary soul keep close to thy Leader whose voice is low speaking in thee saying Go not forth wander not for this I declare That whilst thou art unturned to thy Guide within thee or art listening to the loud Voice and found of big Words without as I have been thou canst finde no rest though thou travel hard to obtain it A Word concerning the Resurrection THE Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared unto many among whom I am come to give you notice though a most unworthy Messenger That he is now come to exalt his Son in his saints and set him upon his holy hill glory for evermore But many there are who with Martha do look for the Resurrection at the last day without and so put the day of his Resurrection in them far from them as believing no such thing and saying How can this be when in the mean time Christ lyes slain in some of them and others are so far from the holy Life of Christ that they are dead in trespasses and sins and some twice pluckt up by the roots neither knowing their Saviour within them nor Without them Art thou one that knowest nothing of the resurrection of Christ in thee then know that thou art not to look out to a day without thee for the resurrection of Christ but in Spiritual Sodomand Aegypt where he lyes still crucified art thou to expect his resurrection to wit in thy own wicked heart Christ before his resurrection from the Grave told Martha and said I am the the Resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and that he that liveth and believeth in him should not dye Dost thou believe this Arise then thou that art asleep in thy grave of sin fleshly ease or carnal delights and hearken to the voice of the Son of God in thee live for he who called Lazarus out of his grave of earth being naturally dead to life again will raise thee also and call thee out of thy spiritual grave of sin and denth if thou hearken to his Voice and obey his Call in thoe Christ Jesus after his resurrection appeared unto many of his Disciples with out them and they knew him not he being spiritual and after he had by many signal Testimonies made himself known unto them to be Jesus a Cloud received him out of the sight of those that stood looking after him Whereupon it was told them by two men who were in white that said To men of Galilee why stand ye here gazing The same Iesus which hath been taken up from you into heaven shall in like manner come again to wit in a Cloud for so he went up Now this Friend is a Mystery to the wise and learned men of this World oh that they knew it That the light of the World and life of men should come in a cloud but so it is and they are utterly ignorant of this mysterie though to the children of Light it is made manifest and revealed by the Spirit They can tell you that as Christ's first appearance to the World was in the flesh and the fleshly eye saw him so his second appearance is in Spirit and no fleshly eye can behold him he being now a spirit You
them not with mild perswasions but with cruel and merciless stripes upon their naked bodies with stockings stonings beatings long and tedious imprisonmets and other bitter usage which for shame I cannot mention And as if this had been too little I have caused some of them to be scourged twice or thrice for not bowing to my corrupt Will and worshipping me with their Hats off or for speaking to our blind Guide who calls himself a Minister And all this I have done contrary to the Law of the Land too and when I have so done I have with Passes sent them away as Vagabonds and Wanderers not suffering them though sufficient men and of good Estates near us to have a place in our quarters to dress their sore stripes deep wounds which my bloody Executioners have made upon their innocent and harmless bodyes nor yet a place wherein to rest their aking heads except in stocks dungeons close holes of little ease or filthy and stinking Goals amongst thieves and murtherers where many of them have finished their testimonies by death Now saith the guilty Magistrate This is the truth of my condition and thus have I served the Embassadors of Christ Jesus whom the malicious World cannot accuse of evil and my case is lamenable and the worse because what I have done was through the instigation of our Gospel-Minister as he called himself â—nd to please him who otherwise would not suffer me to be at rest crying out against them that they will undo us and our generation after us and render our Gospel to be Antichristian and our selves false Prophets as indeed we are and will make our nakedness and ignorance appear to all sober men if they be tollerated But that which is more considerable then all this I am afraid I have sinn'd the sin against the Holy Ghost which can never be forgiven and how shall I escape the damnation of Hell Friend Is this thy case indeed And art thou guilty so deeply as this in truth makes thee 'T is sad indeed Yet consider and for thy comfort I have this to say unto thee St. Paul was as great a Persecutor of the Saints as thou possibly hast been and as mad against them as the most of you have been or can be yet when the Light appeared to him and struck him from his horse or beastly nature of persecution he presently fell to the earth and with trembling and astonishing said Lord what wilt thou have me to do He did not as the blind Guides of this age say That the Light of Christ was natural and insufficient to guide him out of his darkness but he became obedient to the Light immediately though he saw no body consulting neither with flesh nor blood nor yet running to Gamaliel a great Doctor under whom he had been brought up for counsel but forthwith ceased from the sprit of persecution and obtained mercy So he being obedient to the Light became a true Disciple of Jesus and Preacher of the everlasting Gospel Acts 9. And now oh Magistrate know this That though thou hast been the greatest persecutor of the Saints amongst thy numerous Brethren and hast persecuted them until death as many in England have been for conscience-sake within these few years under a pretence of maintaining the Popish and Antichristian Law for Tythes and suppressing of Hereticks yet there is some hopes of mercy for thee also if thou canst in truth say That what thou didst then hast done ignorantly But if this be not thy case but hast wilfully transgressed and rebelled against the Light in thy conscience then O then â—hy condition is sad indeed and thou with the blind Guides art of all men most to be pittyed Examine therefore â—y own heart in secret and if thou findest that thou hast been a wilful Persecutor of Gods Servants cry mightily unto the Lord that the iniquity of thy heart may be forgiven thee and possibly thou mayest find hopes upon thy unfeigned confession and resolution to turn to the Lord and obey the Light within thee to obtain Mercy Cease I say from that Spirit of Persecution and become obedient for the future if peradventure thy fins may be blotted out A view of false Doctrines Or A Word of Reproof to false Teachers who boast that that they have the Original and yet are ignorant of the word of life FRiends to you all I speak who disown the Light of Christ within and count it a low thing a wo is pronounced unto you for your light is turned into darkness and your sweet into bitter and for the present see not your way before you the whole World lyes in wickedness and darkness is upon the faces of all who are led by you who preach for hire and divine for money contrary to the prophets phets and true Ministers of Christ you preach false Doctrine and practice persecution and therefore are you none of the children of Light nor Ministers of the everlasting Gospel You say That the best of Gods servants cannot be free from sin in this life whereas the holy Scriptures say Without holynesse no man shall see the Lord Christ himself hath preached perfection and hath commanded his Disciples to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect but you say No perfection is not to be attained here You say many of you That the Light of Christ in the conscience is natural not considering that he himself is spiritual and that his Light must of necessity be so too You say Revelation is ceased not considering this That no man knows the Father but the Son and him to whom the Son will reveal him You say No man hath the infallible Spirit now not considering That he that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his For where-ever the Spirit of Christ is it must needs be infallible and you that have not the infallible Spirit you are none of Christs and if so then consider with your selves whose childrern you are and what spirit guides you and whither for it cannot lead you into all truth nor any part thereof Some of you have been heard to say That the Devil is the Power of God and that the Gospel is not the Power of God no more then a Rose Cake and further That the Light of Christ Jesus is carnal and darkness Friends I hope better things of many of you but assuredly this Doctrine is damnable and pernicious to the souls of men And therefore I warn you to forbear preachihg in the Name of the Lord whilst you are of this Faith which I affirm is of the Devils and not of the Saints whose faith overcomes the World and who believe they must be holy as God is holy and perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect in their several measures They know that the Son of God is the Light of the World and life of men and is not darkness carnal natural or insufficient to lead them to purity as you declare And because I wil not
you whilst you are crying up Learning and humane Wisdom and despise the still and low voice of Christ in you which speaks not in the Words of mans Wisdom Oh ye men of Learning in all the Wisdom of this World When will you cease to tumble over your many and dusty Volumes of corrupted Authors to find out that Truth which lyes buryed within you Oh cease a while from searching into them and try whether you can find your Names written in the Câ—mbs Book of life if not mourn and â—â—â—â—â—nt for your condition of all others is most to be pittyed in regard of the great loss that is to come upon you you having much to lose Now that I may not leave you without hope as those who perish in their sins my advice to you is To turn to the light in your consciences and be obedient unto it for unless ou so do you can never come to the Key of David which opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens Wait at Wisdoms Posts which is the true fear of the Lord from which you are all departed who are gone from the light within and are seeking Salvation in outward things for the least Babe of Light sees thorough you and can discover your darkness A Direction for all such as wait for the coming of their Saviour in spirit and how they may know him when he appears CHrist's first appearance to the World was in flesh and the fleshly eye saw him but his second appearance is in spirit which no fleshly eye can behold and live for as the Lightning cometh from one part of Heaven to lighten another part under Heaven so shall the coming of the Son of man be and blessed are all they who wait for his second coming to wit without sin unto salvation for his second coming is to put an end to sin to finish transgression and to bring in everlasting righteousness He that hath an ear to hear let him hear Now if thou wouldst plainly know the signs of his coming unto thee in particular then know this That when he comes 't is to convince thee of sin and to make a separation between thee and thy former Lovers be they who or what they will be there is not a darling or dalilah to be spared though never so dear or near unto thee but all must be crucified yea and thy own life must be lost too if ever thou wilt find it in God Friend the life of a Christian is hid with Christ in God and there is no finding of it but by going out of self for know this That before Christ Jesus proclaims peace to the soul he sets the man at variance with himself and makes him war against the Enemies of his peace within him not without him To thee then who art at ease in the flesh hugging the spirit of self-love and of this World which lyes in wickedness and art courting the great men thereof for private respects as honor and preferment or the like know thou thou art not yet come to the spiritual Warfare nor dost thou know the coming of Christ to thee as a Saviour which every man must witness before he can be a true Souldier in the Army of the Lamb or witness redemption from the Spirit of Bondage My direction then unto thee is To watch for the coming of Christ who cometh as a Thief in the night that when he comes thou mayest not be found sleeping in sin nor snorting in the vain delights and pleasures of this life which are but for a moment Christ stands at thy door and knocks O give him entrance and suffer not his Locks to be wet with the dew of the morning Suffer not I say the evil one to make such a noise in thy soul as to drown the low voice of Christ in thee who saith I am meek and lowly of heart learn of me Let it not be said of thee He came unto his own and his own received him not Encouragement to the weary Traveller whose Journey is towards Canaan to follow the Light and Lamb of God to the Holy Land of Rest but not to go before it VVHosoever thou art that art come out of Aegypt the land of darkness where the blind lead the blind and hast a purpose and good will to travel to the holy Land thou must gird up the loins of thy mind and with a holy Resolution be content to pass through all the fiery tryals thou maist meet with and never sit down until thou shale arrive at perfect rest in God And that thou maist not loosethy Way be thou advised to follow thy Guide and go not before him for no longer then thou art a follower of the Lamb canst thou go aright or walk in safety Many there are who be come out of Aegypt and have made some progress towards Canaan but because the Guide to rest makes no haste he being meek and lowly and is a gentle Leader of his Lambs and those that are with young therefore it is that many times the followers go before their Leader and through haste lose their Way Be thou warned therefore who art but a young Traveller and follower of the lamb that thou leave not thy true Guide nor wander from him lest thou come into Aegypt again as some have done and so peradventure never find thy Guide more Friend if ever thou thinkest to be victorious thou must follow the Lamb for assure thy self the Enemy will assult thee on every side and endeavour thy destruction for know thou That 't is through sufferings and often conflicts with the Enemy that thou must pass yea and become a Conqueror too befoer thou must come to reign The daily death thou must witness and the daily Crosse must be born before the Crown of Victory can be obtained I say Thou must follow thy Leader and Captain of Salvation through all difficulties if thou wilt be victorious And for thy encouragement be assured of this He will never leave thee nor forsake thee In the light of the Lord then and as faithful followers of the Lamb let us jurney towards our Land of Rest with unwearied minds for assuredly The Land is good and will abundantly reward the Traveller upon his arrival there above what he could ask or think Many there are whom I believe are gone forth with an honest intent to travel ehither and finding the Way strait and the journey long and the Difficulties many have sate down by the way but let such know there is no truerest on this side Canaan Others there are who have gone forth to view the holy Land and as the false spyes of the Land of Canaan did so have these even brought up an evil report upon the good Land and have told people There is no attaining of it in this life for that the Cities are walled the Enemies are mighty and numerous and too strong to be overcome These have told people the holy life is unattainable
say Eat O friends drink abundantly O beloved Go no more forth But you who are still upon the Mountains you must come down and dwell in the low Valley before you can find safety You must walk in the narrow path which leads to life before you can come to rest and to the spirits of just men made perfect you must be joyned Peradventure some of you may say you are now upon the Mount with Jesus and have seen his transfiguration and do say in your hearts It is good to be here if so yet boast not For you must all come down from the Mount as the Disciples of Christ and as Christ himself did and live here below Nay though you have been wrapt up into the third heaven as Paul was and heard things unutterable yet the cross must be born and the Thorn in the flesh felt by all who are lifted up above their measures To your measures herefore of the gift of God all come Boast not of any thing which you have â—t attained through the death of the Cross for if you do you will suffer loss â—any of you have set your selves at the â—pper end in the room Oh be sure you be not without your wedding garments left the Master send you forth as unworthy guests you seem to be eager to tast of the Supper of the Lord and some of you are giving and taking it in beggarly elements All such are to know they are not yet past the shadow be their pretence what it will be much lesse come to the substance of all things which puts an end to types and shadows The voice in me cryes keep low abide in the fear of the Lord for there is the beginning of true wisdome High words will no longer beguile the true Israelite for in him there is an eye open which sees and can discern spirits and an ear that can hear the shepherds voice from the stranger The stranger or false messenger's voice saith I comprehend all mysteries I am past the first second dispensation to wit the fear and the faith and I am arrived at the third which is Love I have born the crosse and now wear the crown Is this thy voice indeed then know thou art the Antichrise whom God will destroy with the breath of his mouth whosoever thou art that cryest up one dispensation by way of boasting and sets it against another thou art doing the Devils work and endeavouring to make a rent where nothing but unity and peace ought to be for one mans state in Christy though but the babe is not to be set against another no more then Christ is to be divided But now on the contrrary the true Shepherds voice saith I am meek and lowly of heart learn of me and be little in your own eys This voice calls out of the world it stills the waves when they rage it binds the strong man in chains and Nobles in fetters of iron by its meekness patience gentleness and long-suffering Therefore friends come all down into the true fear of the Lord where this is to be witnessed and no where els Your knowledge in misteries and large comprehensions of divine things unlesse your practice be answerable doth but fit you for the scourge with many stripes I say while you are upon your Pinacles the inward beauty of the Temple you can never behold nor see the glorious presence of the Lord who fits therein Hasten therefore to the porch where wisdomes voice is to be heard and become Doore-keepers therein which keeps out sin and vanity that so an entrance may be made unto you into the holy of ho-lies For this I declare to you all That no more of the true knowledge of God have you attained then what you have learned and known through the death and daily cross of Christ Jesus And now to thee who hast been once enligtened and hast tasted of the heavenly gift and been made partaker of the holy Ghost and tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come Content not thy self with these refreshments nor feed thou upon them for they will passe away as the lightning but live thou upon the bread of life it self from which these refreshings have proceeded for that 's it and it alone which can nourish the Soul up to eternal life I say again keep low and patiently run the race that is set before thee and through perseverance thou shalt gain the Crown Some Queries to my old friends the Ministers of the Church of England FRiends I come not now to question you as to my self nor yet your Faith and Hope in God being fully satisfied concerning you and your Ministry and also of your Call thereunto having well known and heard the chief amongst you for many years together Yet for the sakes of those heaps of people that pin their faith upon your sleeves and take all for granted that you declare unto them for truth believing your lives also to be unblameable I shall mildely propound unto you these ensuing Queries charging you as you would be accounted Ministers of Christ and are willing to observe the Apostles direction of rendring a reason of your hope to every one that shall ask you to make it appear in your answer by what fruits you may be known 1. VVHether was your Call to your Ministry from God yea or no as the true Ministers of the Gospel ever was and will be Or was it not a place of preferment to a comfortable maintenance as you call it and to get a Trade to live by that called you And whether if that maintenance were removed you your selves would not soon come to silence and your Ministry quickly fall to the ground 2. Whether or no did ever the true Ministers of Christ or any of them go to the Arm of Flesh for aid to uphold their Doctrine and force a Maintenance from people contrary to their consciences as you do 3. Whether are you not respecters of persons honouring and fawning upon those men most who can promote you to the greatest Benefices And do you not remove from one quarter to another where the greatest gain is to be had often leaving your flock when you are assured of greater wages from other Masters or because you may not sheer them to their very skins 4. Whether do you not rend and tear mens Goods from them to the value of ten times more then your unreasonable and Antichristian demands are under a pretence of a Popish Law for maintenance and trebble damages and yet come forth and say you are Gospel-Ministers and the workman is worthy of his hire though the true Husbandman never set you to work 5. Whether is the spirit of cruel and bitter perjecution in which many of you are found and which none of you that I hear have declared against be the sprâ—â—â— of a true Minister of Christ or the spirit of Antichrist 6. Whether have you not stirred up the Beast â—nd