for God in their Professions p. 163. 17. A True Relation of the cause of his Imprisonment by the Magistrates at Harwich p. 193. 18. His Faith touching 4. Particulars Demonstrated 1. Concerning Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World 2. Concerning Justification 3. Concerning the Resurrection 4. Concerning Everlasting Glory and Eternal Misery p. 208. 19. Englands sad Estate and condition lamented p. 212. Several Epistles to Friends who are gathered into the Light of Life 1. A General Epistle and tender Greeting sent unto the Flock of Christ Pag. 230. 2. An Epistle to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity p. 241. 3. To the Called of God who believe in the Light of the Lamb. p. 245. 4. The Breathings of true Love from the Immortal Seed in the Prisoner for the Lord unto his People p. 250. 5. To the Tribulated Fock of Christ in Bonds or elsewhere Salutation p. 263. 6. Touching compelling of Engagements p. 267. 7. That none can hinder the Determined Will of God p. 269. 8. Concerning his laying down the Body p. 270. 9. For the Common-wealths men both in the Parliament and Army p. 272. COMPASSION TO THE CAPTIVES WHEREIN Is shewn unto them the Way of God Which is but one which is not known in the many Sects and Opinions that are in the dark World but in the Light which comes from Christ which condemns the World with its deeds So they that live in the many Sects and Opinions their wayes are seen and denied by the Children of Light who dwell in Him who is the Way the Truth and the Life With something in plainness to the Officers and Souldiers of the Armies in General in England Scotland and Ireland Also a strong and terrible Alarm sounded out of the Holy Mountain against the Inhabitants of the Earth Given forth for the Innocent Seeds sake which is scattered abroad in the dark World By me who suffers for the Testimony of Jesus and keeps the word of his Patience in the common Goal of Edmonds Bury in the County of Suffolk where I have suffered above forty nine weeks through the envy and cruelty of Sions Oppressors I am known to the world by the name George Fox the Younger London Printed for Robert VVilson at the Black-spread-Eagle and VVind-Mill in Martins le Grand 1662. Compassion to the Captives Wherein is shewn unto them the Way of God which is but one which is not known in the many Sects and Opinions which are in the dark World But in the Light which comes from Christ c. THerefore this is unto you in whom there is any desires to know the way of the pure God who are scattered abroad in the dark World and are yet groping in the dark in the many Sects and Opinions Jam. 4.3 You ask and receive not because you ask amisse you have been wandring from Mountain to Mountain and from Hill to Hill but yet you have found no resting place for you have sought in your own wills and have run in your own imaginations and have not at all considered what it was that guided you but in darkness ye have walked and ye know not whither 1 John 2.11 and ye have joyned some with one Sect and some with another and in your own wills have contended each of you for your Opinions and yet ye have not been satisfied in your minds many of you whither that was the Truth that ye contended for or not for doubtings have oftentimes arose in your minds and you have been many times struck with fear and then you have sometimes in tenderness desired that you might know the way of God aright and ye have been some of you brought somewhat down and then you have been afraid to run into those evil Practises which formerly you have acted and delighted in Yet this hath been but for a time for ye knew not what that was that struck you but in your Imaginations you have consulted and then in your own wills you have sate down and said within your selves that you would never act such wickedness again but this being in your wills you have not found Power to resist the Temptations of the wicked one Neither have you found any Power over your lusts for by them you have been drawn away Jam. 1.14 and so have run into the same wickedness again and then some of you have been ready to despair and other times you have accounted God an hard Master as the slothful servant did Mat. 25.18 24 25. for you are yet in the same Nature and Practice that he was in for your Talent also is hid in the Earth and your earthly minds are above and rule and you are subiected by the Powers of the Earth so that those weak desires that yet remain in you towards â—he lâ—â—ing God are greatly oppressed by the Earth and kept in Bondage and Captivity by the Powers thereof and Leanness and Barrenness is in your Souls now while you continue thus striving in your own wills or imaginations profess what you will you cannot have any true Peace nor rest in your minds neither can you receive any satisfaction to those desires which are real after God I say while you thus act Therefore consider your wayes speedily and hate not the Covenant of God nor contemn his Promise any longer Now this is the Promise of the Lord speaking of his servant whom he hath chosen even the Son of his Love saying I will give him for a Covenant to the People and for a Light to the Gentiles that he may be my Salvation to the ends of the Earth Isa 42.6 49.6 And Christ Jesus the Son of God saith I am the Light of the World John 8.12 And John who was a true Minister of Christ and bore witness of him saith He lighteth every man that cometh into the world John 1. chap. 9 v So you have all received a Light from Christ and this Light shineth in Darkness but the Darkness cannot comprehend it And this is the Condemnation of the World that Light is come into the World and men loved Darkness rather than Light because their deeds were Evil And he that doth Evil hateth the Light neither will he bring his Deeds to the Light lest it should reprove them John 3.19 Therefore you that desire to know the Way of the Pure God be not high-minded but repent and come down to the Light of Christ in your Consciences that is the Light which shews you Sin and Evil and this the Way Christ Jesus the Light he is the Way to the Father and no man cometh to the Father but by him Joh. 14.6 Therefore as the Light appears in you to shew you the Evil of your doings take heed to the Light and wait in it that you may see Condemnation pass upon that which hath led you into the Evil of the World and that you may come to be sensible of a guide to your minds to guide you out of the Evil that so the Cross
things that is of this world for the Tryal will be great unto such Dear hearts I know that some of you have suffered the losse of much for his Name sake already oh faint not neither be weary for all your Sufferings are known unto the Lord and he will not alwayes so try you but he will sufficiently recompence you if ye abide to the end Therefore watch unto Prayer and Pray in the Spirit as it moves you thereunto that you may be kept through Faith unto the end of the Tryal that you may be prepared and made fit for the deliverance which must come by an outstretched Arm and when you are tryed deeply either in Prisons or otherwise oh Friends murmur not but feel the Lord's strength to support you that you may not bow to the Enemy in any wise whose day is but short and therefore he is wroth and rages for such as bow to any thing but the Name of our King verily their torment and perplextty will be exceeding miserable when the Lord shall deliver his chosen who kept their integrity and loved not their estates nor lives but gave up all for his Name sake Therefore dear Friends hearken you to the voice of the Lord and keep you to the leadings of his Eternal Spirit and let his Dread fill you hearts And you that feel but little Sufferings and Tryals take heed of a wrong security and of a false ease and Liberty least the day of the Lord come upon you at unawares and a violent storm unlookt for and you that are in deep Sufferings and Tryals be not you cast down but know that the Tryal of your Faith is exceeding precious and if you keep your minds stayed upon the Lord then will you learn much in such a time and you will feel the presence of God and the virtue of his Power inwardly refreshing you and you will feel the Power of his Majesty giving you Authority sutable to the Condition you are in So as all Friends are kept in that which gives you the sence and feeling of your conditions that Principle of Life will work your minds and hearts into contendedness with the Will of God which is your Sanctification So let the bond of Peace be minded in all things for it is comely amongst Brethren And now the God of Life and endless Virtue and Power watch over you and Minister unto every one of you that which is sutable to your present conditions and the Lord God Almighty preserve and keep you Low Humble Meek Tender Innocent upright Faithful and valiant out of the Snares of the Enemy and give you Peace in all your Tryals and let the Patience of his Lamb be increased in you that you may stand unmoveable upon the Rock of Ages and retain the Life which quickens in your understandings And the Lord God open and keep open your discernings that by no meanes the subtilty may beguile the similicity in this the day of Tryal Eternal Father unto thee I commend all thy Flock that thou Father may fill them with Wisdom Strength and Courage that to thy Glory they may be preserved in their several places and measures to whom be Dominion and Glory everlasting for thy endless riches for thou Lord art worthy to Reign over all Even so come Lord God and take thy Kingdom I the Prisoner for the Lord salutes all you who loves the appearance of Christ in that love which abides for ever GEORGE FOX the Younger Lambeth House the 14th of the 5th Month 1660. SUrely it was thee O Lord that gave bounds unto the Sea that the floods thereof could not overwhelm thy chosen thou canst let forth the winds and suffer a storm and thou canst make a Calm when thou pleasest have thou the Glory of all Thou King of Saints thou Saviour of Israel thou canst do whatsoever thou pleasest therefore will we trust in thy Name neither will we fear what man can do unto us because thou wilt not forsake us but thou wilt plead our Cause in the sight of our adversaries and they shall know that thou art our God who art able to save to the uttermost O Lord our Righteousness we will praise thy Name for thy Mercies indure for ever our eyes O God are unto thee for we have no other helper our Faith O Lord standeth in thee who canst not forget thy People Thou hast revealed and brought up Jacob who wrestleth with thee and prevails as a Prince therefore must the Blessing come O Lord the Birth the Birth cryeth unto thee thine own Elect which long hath been Oppresseâ— â—hou canst not deny thy self therefore have we Faith and Hope which maketh not ashamed Oh Lord 〈◊〉 unsearchable are thy wayes Thou hast even amazed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the depth of thy Wisdom thou onâ—ly wiâ—l have the Glory of their deliverance and therefore 〈◊〉 thou suffered these things to come to pass 〈…〉 Righteous in all thy Judgements onely preserâ—e thy People which thou hast gathered and will gather unto thy self in the day of Tryal that so they may sing of thy Power and Magnifie thy Name in the Land of the Living George Fox the Younger The Breathings of true Love from the Immortal Seed in the Prisoner for the Lord unto his People DEear Friends Brethren and Sisters in the Light called to be a People loved of God the Father in the Lord Jesus Christ Grace Love and Peace be multiplied amongst you through the abundant manifestation of the Spirit of Life proceeding from the Father and the Son My Children and beloved Friends the God of all Truth hath appeared unto you in the Everlasting Covenant of Light and Life visiting you in an acceptable Day and Time making known unto you his Eternal Truth by the Revelation of his Mighty Power in your Mortal Bodies whereby he brought you indeed to feel and know the miserable Estate and Condition that ye were in and he hath also given you to see him upon whom help is laid and you have received him who is the Salvation of God through the drawings of his Mighty Power and you are brought to know and believe That Salvation is not to be had in another yea many of you have received the Covenant of God and do indeed know that your sins are washed away in the blood thereof for you have the witness in your selves and the word of reconciliation is felt and known in your hearts whereby abundance of Peace and Joy unspeakable is witnessed and the Kingdom is come of which there is no end and some of you are placed together therein in Christ Jesus and many others of you the called of the Lord are travelling thitherwards through the Righteous Judgements of the Lord in the Spiritual Warfare and in the Faith and Patience of the Lamb. Now my Friends Be you stedfast in the Truth of God received you have been a suffering People most of the time since the Lord hath brought you in any measure into the obedience
of Heavens cannot contain him Glory to him in the Highest GEORGE FOX the younger Honest Upright Faithful and plain dealing with Thee O Army of the Common-wealth of England so called without flattery in true unfeigned Love to Thee with something more particularly unto the Officers of the Army and those that joyn with them in the outward Government of this Nation Wherein Truth Uprightness and Equity is declared for and Deceit Wickedness Oppression and Tyranny is declared against AT your first going forth there was a true honest Principle which stirred in the hearts of many of you which convinced you of sin in the particular and it also shewed you the desperate Wickedness Cruelty Tyranny and Oppression which was upheld by unjust and unrighteous Laws and Rulers whereby the honest People were much Oppressed and in several of you there arose a true Zeal against this Abomination and then I know your lives and what you had were not dear to some of you but were freely given up to do your Nation service in breaking down that Oppression and Tyranny which was brought upon it by the Enemies of God and it and then a mighty courage and boldness arose in many of you against Oppression and Oppressors and the Lord appeared with you against them because they were his Enemies and sought to destroy the very appearance of Truth and then many of you were low and tender and the hearts of such People as had honest desires in them and breathed for Liberty they were much affected with you and the Cause you declared for and vowed and engaged to be true and faithful unto and then the Lord appeared with you in the field giving you mighty Victories over your Enemies that so he might make way for his living Truth to be spread which was then stirring in his People and the Lord weakned his Enemies before you and ye saw his mighty hand therein and his mighty Work in overturning those his Enemies prospered in your hands for he made you instruments therein until he had scattered his Enemies and then he gave you power and opportunity to accomplish that you had vowed and engaged to do and which his Light in your hearts had shewed you that you ought to have done But you not keeping to that which first appeared in you and made you sensible of the Oppression that was upheld by the unrighteous Laws Lawyers and Rulers an earthly selfish Spirit got up in many of you which exceedingly encreased Covetousness and Pride in you and then the greatness of your Pay and the spoyl of your Enemies and idleness and the fulness of the Creatures began to be more delightful to many of you than the Liberty you once declared for and then some among you began to see how deceit and hypocrisie crept in amongst you and appeared against it but you whose hearts went after your covetousness and self-seeking soon stopt them either by threatning them or by advancing them into greater places or by turning them out of the Army and thus you began to back-slide and then deceit began to wax strong among you and several of you began to settle your selves in the Earth and in your Enemies Estates and then you little regarded the Oppression that others suffered under you being at ease your selves and thus the Enemy beguiled you and deceit wrought in you even as it did amongst some of the Sects and Opinions for in many of them there was a true Principle of God stirring once which convinced them of their own sins and also shewed the cruelty wickedness and deceit of the Bishops and Prelates and others and caused them to witness against such but they not keeping to the measure of God in them a worldly carnal deceitful Spirit encreased in them and then they soon began to settle themselves in another form without the Life and Power of God which was as bad in the nature and ground of it as that they had witnessed against only it had another Name And in the same manner have ye acted for ye going from the measure of God in you which shewed you the cruelty of the Oppressors which ye had fought against ye soon began to settle the same thing in the nature and ground of it among your selves which you had sought against in others only in deceit and hypocrisie you gave it another Name And then truly great Wickedness encreased among you which made the hearts of the righteous sad even the same as abounded among your Enemies whom God overthrew for their Wickedness yea for then many of you ran into Hunting Hawking Bowling Horse-racing Drinking and other vain Games and Sports and Lusts and Excess and Pride both in your Diet and Apparel and your behaviour was grown so lofty many of you that you became a burden to all honest-hearted People who once had an honest love going forth towards you but this your Wickedness caused their love to wax cold towards you and many who were true Friends became ashamed of you because of your back-slidings And you raised up the spirit of enmity and bitterness in your Enemies more and more against you by these things which you ran into yea you gave them great advantage by your back-slidings and some of you saw these things many times with God's Witness but ye not keeping to God's Witness in you deceitful fears arose in you which stopt the mouth of Truth in you when you should have witnessed against the Wickedness that was amongst you and your fears were lest you should have been turned out of your Places and upon this account deceit was grown so strong among you and treachery that ye durst not speak your minds one to another for fear ye should be betrayed one by another and so turned out of your places And thus deceit and a slavish spirit possest ye even until you had lost your Dominion and Authority over your Enemies and then many of you became afraid to do that which was just many times lest your Enemies should be more displeased with you and in deceit ye bowed many of you even to your Enemies and sought more to please them than to do that you had engaged to do and then you turned out many of your Friends and took in many of your Enemies and mixed your selves with them yea you turned out many of your faithful Friends only for coming into the Life and Obedience of that which many of you professed in words and pretended once that you fought for the Liberty of O Army this is plain Truth to thee without flattery and thus falshood overspread you until the honest Principle that once stirred in you was almost destroyed and then ye little regarded the sufferings of the Innocent nor the Oppression that was in the Land but ye rather sought to establish your selves in the honour and fulness of this World but poor creatures ye could not settle your selves in a peace there for your Enemies dayly plotted against you and had
any that took his Part leave that unto the Lord who will reward every one in Righteousness according to their deeds done in their Bodies And consider how far Christ was from seeking or desiring Revenge when they murdered him as concerning the flesh who said Father forgive them for they know not what they do Oh mind that Spirit and consider he was greater than thy Father and he was free from all Transgression and wherein thy Enemies did evil in any thing against thy Father or Thee and those that took your Part freely forgive them and render not evil for evil unto any man but overcome evil with that which is good O King this were the way for Thee to be established in peace and so to end thy dayes Oh that thy Heart were thus inclined that Mercy and Righteousness and Peace might be found to reign in Thee and that Mercy might Triumph over severity then might'st thou prosper and many of thy Enemies and also of those that are called thy Friends might be converted unto God and so ye might be united in true love one unto another and this were better than conquering by force And consider this there are many that acted against thy Father and Thee whom the Lord intends good towards though I know that several of them through Covetousness and Envy have done exceedingly wrong in many things Yet consider how Christ taught his to pray Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And I do verily believe that if they turn unto the Lord and truly humble themselves under his hand and believe in the Light of his Son and obey him that he will freely forgive them all their Transgressions But if thou resolvest to avenge thy self and those called thy Friends which have suffered and to keep under those which are now fallen under Thee by a heavy yoke either in matters of Worship or otherwise I know it will exasperate the spirits of many against Thee and it will raise up the desperate aggravating part in man and so the thing may kindle again in the murdering Spirit And the Lord may suffer it to break forth into blood which if it should it may be the sadest time that ever thou yet sawest for this I know and do stedfastly believe that after God hath tryed his People he will assuredly bring an overflowing scourge upon this Nation and many shall fall and perish by an eminent hand and judgement of the Lord except they repent speedily And verily there is but a little space given to prevent this great Judgement and Destruction because the Lord hath already born long and his patience hath been exceeding great and he hath sent many of his Servants and Prophets to warn this Nation and others and many thousands have believed us and are gathered into Peace with us notwithstanding they see a great Judgement to come upon the Earth and though many have believed us yet alas the far greater part hath either beaten or imprisoned or scoffed at or slighted and rejected us or the Testimony which we hold and some have spoyled our goods and imprisoned some of us to death and some of us have been killed for the Testimony of Jesus and the Word of God And so many in the Nations are waxed worse and worse And when the Lord hath smitten some they have revolted more and more and when he hath raised up others and given them prosperity they have then fed themselves without fear and forgot the Lord and waxed wanton against him Therefore seeing people will neither hear the Prophets of the Lord nor regard the Light of his Son in their Consciences which checks and reproves for sin and evil in secret nor turn to the Lord when he smites them nor regard his Truth when they have prosperity the Lord will leave striving with such a People and bring sudden destruction upon them and deliver his chosen as he did just Lot So we are given up to the Will of the Lord and do patiently wait for his mighty appearance to deliver us who have long been a suffering People who have suffered both by Parliaments Army Protectors and by those called thy Friends also yea we have suffered and been most cruelly entreated even by Rulers Priests and People Professors and Prophane because we could not joyn unto the evil in either but we have been made to reprove them for it and to exhort them unto that which is good and so we must yet do so long as we find the Lord requiring it at our hands though for it we be hated and persecuted unto death yet knowing that it is without cause on our part when we suffer we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ in all our sufferings and our lives are not dear unto us that we may finish our course with joy and our Testimony for the Lord which he hath given to bear though it be sealed with our blood for we certainly know that the Lord is our reward in whatsoever we do or suffer for his Names sake And now O King as thou expects the Blessing and Presence of the Lord with Thee in thy Government Fear and Dread his Presence by standing in awe of his living Witness the Light which he hath placed in thy Conscience to guide and direct Thee in all thy wayes that his wrath may be turned away from Thee that so this Scripture might not be fulfilled upon the People of this Nation God gave them a King in his anger and he took him away in his sore displeasure But if it should prove so I shall have peace for I am clear of thy blood in as much as in plainness I have let Thee see how things have been and how they may or shall be and wherein thy danger stands and how that Righteousness only establisheth the Throne And my desire is if it be the Will of God that thou mightest consider them in the Principle of Life and Wisdom and thereby come to be preserved and saved from that Destruction which in God's Eternal Light I see Thee in great danger of Thus in Innocency and Truth and in Uprightness and Sincerity of heart I have freely declared unto Thee what was laid upon me and it is in true tender and unfeigned love both to thy Soul and Body And that this is true God is my Witness and the Witness of himself in thy Conscience shall answer unto it unto which I leave and commend Thee from which thou canst not hide thy thoughts So to the Lord God of Life be Glory and Dominion and everlasting Praises over all to whom it doth belong Amen Given forth in Harwich Goal in Essex the 16. day of the 3d. Month called May 1660. Where I suffer for the Testimony of Jesus through the envy of the Devil who is the false accuser of the Brethren POSTSCRIPT THough this Treatise was more especially laid upon me to write it unto the KING and therefore to him was it directed
not for Conscience sake satisfie his covetous and unrighteous desire but chose rather to suffer than to come forth by yielding to such a horrid oppression yet were we willing to have given him to the full value of all the things we made use of in the Chamber and it being the highest room in a lofty Tower and all the Windowes open it was not fit for men to Lodge in by reason of the Wind and Rain beating in until we had gotten them Glassed without any charge to the Sergeant and we had so little of his in our Chamber that we offered this to wit that if two reasonable men would prise the things we would pay him for them and give him the Things also or if he would not stand to that then we would give him two shillings and six pence a week for the time we had been there We also told our Keepers that if we denyed to give them any thing that they could recover by Law the Law was open but they ought not according to their own Law to keep us upon that account but to tutn us out and then take their course at Law And so we demanded our Liberty several times but notwithstanding all this the Sergeant detained us still And the day before the PARLIAMENT Adjourned our Names in a List with other Prisoners in his Custody was given in to the Parliament who notwithstanding their Act of Indempnity and Oblivion and their former Order for our being forthwith Released and set at Liberty they made another Order That it should be Referred to the Kings Privy Counsel to consider of us and to give such Order touching us as to our Liberty or to continue under constraint as they should find Consistent with the Publick Peace and the mean time we are to remain in the Sergeants Custody so by this Order we are still detained and nothing is yet done by the Privy Council touching us Now let the Reader consider how unreasonably and contrary to Law we have been used who have been kept seventeen Weeks in this Prison and never brought to any examination Besides the time that I was kept in Harwich Now if the PARLIAMENT had rightly weighed and considered the matter when they Ordered the thanks of the House to be given to the Mayor and Magistrate of Harwich for their care in that business touching us truly they might have found more cause to have reproved them for their folly than to have given them thanks For if it had been true that we had made some Disturbance at Harwich as it is said in the Order for our Release yet if the Magistrates of Harwich had rightly understood their duty and if they had not been blinded with the mad zeal of Persecution they might have seen that it belonged to their place to have ended the matter of a disturbance and not to have troubled a Parliament with such a frivilous thing But it is certain that Persecutors in all Ages were blind And what a thing is this cannot three Justices of the Peace so called nor a Parliament determine in the matter of a Disturbance if it had been so that we had made one which we did not but that such a thing â—s that must be turned over to the Kings Privy Council to be considered of or is it because they would keep the innocent in Prison and are ashamed to bring them to an examination having nothing justly to charge them withal I leave this to be answered by that of God in all who shall read this And seeing there have been many false Reports touching the cause of our imprisonment and also that some of our enemies have reported that we may come out of Prison if we will it was upon me to publish the manner of our Imprisonment and of our being kept and by whom that the truth of the matter may plainly be seen which being truly considered People may see that it is even now as it was in the Prophets dayes of old For Judgement is now turned backward and Justice standeth afar off Truth is fallen into the Streets and Equity cannot enter yea Truth faileth and he that departeth from Evil maketh himself a prey and the Lord hath seen it and it displeaseth him because there is no true Judgement Isaiah 59.14 15. and as they did in the dayes of Amos even so do this Generation yea They now turn Judgement into Wormwood and leave off Righteousness in the Earth they hate him that rebuketh in the Gate and abhor him that speaketh uprightly Therefore will the Lord break forth like fire Amos 5. Lambeth-house the 21st of the 7th Month 1660. G. F. HIS FAITH Touching Four Particulars DEMONSTRATED I. Concerning Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World II. Concerning Justification III. Concerning the Resurrection IV. Concerning Everlasting Glory and Eternal Misery Written for the satisfaction of some tender consciencious Persons who had heard false Reports of Him and others of his Judgement touching the things above Written First AS concerning Iesus Christ that was supposed to be Joseph the Carpenter's Son who as concerning the Flesh was Crucified and put to Death at Jerusalem between two Thieves upon the Cross at Mount Calvary I do believe he was the Son of God and that that very Body that the Souldier pierced was the very Body that was prepared by the Father for Christ the true Saviour to come in to do the Will of the Father that sent Him And I do believe that by the Grace of God he tasted Death for every man that as many as believe in and obey him whose Soul was made an Offering for sin might have Eternal Life through him who gave his precious Life a Ransom for many Secondly I do believe that no man can be Iustified by the Works of the Law nor by any VVork of his own but He or She that is Iustified in the sight of God it is freely by his Grace through Faith in Christ Iesus who creates such unto Good VVorks which God hath ordained that they that are justified should walk in Now God through his Free Love hath made Me a Witness of true Iustification And I testifie in the Lord That it is not my Works that Iustifie me but it is the LORD alone who worketh my Works in me and for me according to his own good pleasure who loved me before I loved him and manifested his Love to me in the Covenant of Light whereby he drew me after himself and gave me strength to obey and follow him in the manifestation and drawings of his Love which whilst I did reject I was justly condemned of the Lord and could not witness Iustification in that State although I sought it and talked much of it as many Professors now do but GOD who is rich in Mercy and Love shewed me how he had given me Power and Ability to receive his Truth in the Love of it through which I am now Saved and Iustified Thirdly Touching the Resurrection It is a
A Collection Of the Several BOOKS AND WRITINGS Given forth by that FAITHFUL SERVANT OF GOD and his PEOPLE GEORGE FOX the Younger LONDON Printed for Robert Wilson at the Sign of the Black-spread Eagle and Windmil in Martins Le Grand 1662. The EPISTLE to all true friendly READERS LEt the Works and Words of the Lord wrought in and spoken by and through his holy Servants be of everlasting Memory to all Ages and Generations to come that the Lord God which formed all Mankind may have glory in all the Works of his Hands even for ever and ever Surely Friends for sundry righteous Causes my Spirit could desire a Recordance of the ensuing Writings One in that they are the Fruits of the Labours of a Valiant Souldier yet Meek Follower of the Lamb of God who through Travels Trials and Exercises in divers manners in Faithfulness Boldness Courage and Undantedness Persevered in the Power of God Kept the Faith to the End and Finished his Course in that which the Lord Almighty accepts of and now Rests in Glory with the Lamb and his Troops of Angels which I signifie unto you as is sealed unto me by the Spirit of Life and Immortality Another is in that the Work it self to euery true understanding Heart may plainly appear to be of God In one respect by his Prophesies certain of which became fulfilled whilst yet he bore the Body about him in another respect by his plain pure clear candid and righteous dealing with all sorts without respect of persons to whom he directed his Sayings viz. Thunders to the Rocks and Mountains and Streams of sweet milk wine and honey to the Blessed Living Babes of the Blessed living God Yet not by this do I appear before any clear Eye as a person promoting a person in the seat of the hearts of People for alas the dust is already returned to earth again and the Spirit to God who gave it but though the Creature is fallen flatted and converted to its proper center I cannot but in remembrance of that Spirit which once bore it as its Tabernacle in that Vessel to walk and wade through many trials afflictions and sorrows for the seeds sake of its own Father since it s now entred into the Bosom of the Father as a Life lept out of a lump of clay I say I cannot but in a Recordance of it and in a Concordance with it even in the self same substance say though the Name of the Wicked shall rot yet let the Memory of the Righteous live let his day be as a blessedness in every eye and the testimony of his Life a rejoycing in the hearts of the upright Surely I need not study a Motto nor dive into Invention to fetch up an Inscription to be engraven on the Tombe since the Names of the Faithful are in the Book of God and their glory is in him for ever But this I may say to the livers and as yet remainers in the Power of the same testimony which he with others have held as a Pattern and Example to those which follow after to the end He that hath finished his Course in faithfulness hath this advantage of him that yet remaineth and hath his Testimony to finish viz. In that he is redeemed from all causualties which might happen by temptation or otherwise yea and from all possibilities of losing the Crown of immortal Life and Reward of the Kingdom of everlasting Glory and Joy being already possessed of the unchangable Inheritance even where causualties and temptations reach not the which causualties and temptations are incident in some respect or other to the pure upright and faithful whilst yet in the body of flesh or tabernacle of clay where it can be felt and senced And therefore to all such I say fear and dread the living God to the end of your days that in the same life you may all finish a testimony for God as he that is gone before you Yea again I say fear the same God whilst yet you bear a Testimony for him lest by any means you should fall from the Life of the Testimony and the last of your day become the least glorious unto you And I in the fear of my Father do live in the love to you which often breatheth forth my heart in the Spirit of supplication and prayer constraining me to put up requests to the Throne for you the which as the Spirit breaths is desired may also by you be done in the behalf of your Brother in the innocency of the Lamb J. P. A TABLE Of the Principles Heads contained in this Book 1. COmpassions to the Captives wherein is shewed that the Way of God is but one pag. 3. 2. Something in plainness to the Officers and Souldiers p. 13. 3. A strong and Terrible Alarm to the Inhabitants of the Earth pag. 21. 4. A Visitation of Love unto all People p. 26. 5. An Exhortation to all Families p. 42. 6. The words of the Everlasting true Light p. 47. 7. A word to the People of the World who hate the Light with a few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light p. 57. 8. Honest Upright Faithful and plain dealing with thee O Army of the Common-wealth of England so called p. 73. 9. A few plain words to the Army and others about the choice of a Parliament by the voyces of the People p. 92. 10. His Message predicting the down-fall of the Parliament directed to the Parliament and their Army so called p. 101. 11. A Noble Salutation and faithful greeting unto Thee Charles Stuart c. Wherein is contained First several wholsome sound Exhortations and weighty things opened unto thee O King p. 105. 2. Concerning the Overturning of thy Father c. Pag. 108. 3. Concerning thy coming so far into Power again c. p. 113. 4. Concerning the great danger thou art in p. 115. 5. Concerning Religion and the Spirit of Persecution p. 121. 6. Concerning what Government and Governours the People of the Lord called Quakers stand for and what they stand against p. 124. 7. How we resolve in the strength of the Lord to stand for that which is Righteous and against that which is Unrighteous p. 125. 8. Concerning a Government and Governours wherein there may be something seen to be good and something bad p. 126. 9. Concerning Plotting or using a Carnal Weapon and from whom we expect deliverance p. 227. 10. Concerning Revenge p. 129. 12. Honest plain down-right dealing with the People called Episcopal men and Presbyterians p. 135. 13. A Few Queries to the Teachers of the Espiscopal Society p. 140. 14. The Testimony of God To those Rulers Teachers and People of this Present Age where the Headship of the Church is given to man p. 143. 15. The Dread of God's Power uttering its voyce through man unto the heads of the Nation p. 155. 16. A Message of Tender Love unto such Professors as have retained any true Sincerity Simplicity and Zeal
to shake terribly the Earth the noise of a Trumpet goeth before him which soundeth an Alarm Strong and Mighty is he there goeth a Sword out of his mouth and a Threshing instrument is in his hand wherewith he will cut down the tall Cedars and thresh the Mountains to dust A fire proceedeth out of his mouth also which shall devour and burn before him and none shall be able to quench it And the breath that cometh forth of his Nostrils shall scatter the Earth as the VVhirl-wind scattereth the dust yea terrible and dreadful will he be unto you wicked who live in the Earth you shall not be able to behold nor stand in his presence Therefore weep and howl and lament for the misery that is coming upon you for a total destruction is at hand yea the Lord hath decreed an utter overthrow of the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof for now shall his overflowing Scourge pass through the Earth and the Besom of his destruction shall sweep you away for your VVhoredoms and Murders and Idolatry and Drunkenness and Swearing and Lying and VVantonness and Prophaneness is come in remembrance before the dreadful and terrible God who will be avenged on you at once Rejoice ye Saints who are clad with Zeal and shout for joy you Sons of the most high God and sing ye Heavens and you that dwell therein for the Lord is risen ye are Witnesses thereof behold he cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to Iudge the Earth in Righteousness and to execute his Judgements upon his and our Enemies The Vials of his VVrath are made ready to be poured out upon them and his Indignation is waxen hot against them which shall burn and slay and consume them unto the end Glory Glory Honour and Dominion and Praise be given unto our King who liveth for ever for he is worthy to reign over all who was dead but now is he alive and liveth for evermore And he hath redeemed us from the Earth and hath brought us above the Earth to reign with him up the Earth Eternal Praises to our King for evermore who is above all and over all who was before the VVorld was and hath brought us to be before the VVorld to reign with him eternally above the VVorld and our Enemies are to be plagued and tormented in our presence and we shall rejoyce over the smoak of their torment which ascendeth for ever Now here is the joy and cause of our rejoycing who have followed the Lamb through great Tribulation and are brought above the Tribulations to dwell in the presence of the living God this is joy unspeakable and full of Glory which shall never have an end Hallelujah to our King for evermore Edmonds-Bury Common Goal the 22. day of the 7th Month 1656. By me George Fox whose natural Birth and outward being was at Charsfield in the said County of Suffolk A Visitation of Love unto all People in whose hearts there are any true honest tender desires begotten towards God and his Righteousness In what Sect or Opinion or Profession soever they be who are not in the Light especially unto such who have felt something of the workings of the Life and Power of God in them and yet notwithstanding have been led by the subtilty of the Serpent from the Life and Power of God into many Sects and Opinions and Forms which are without the Life and Power of God and herein the subtil workings and devices of the Serpent whereby he deceives the hearts of the simple is clearly made manifest Friends GOd the higher Power unto whom the soul is to be subject he only hath immortality and dwelleth in the Light and he is Light And he hath freely given his Son into the world by whom the world was made for a Covenant of Light and he is the true Light which lighteth every one that cometh into the world that all men through him might believe who is the VVord of God in whom is Life and that Life mark is the Light of men and the pure Grace of God which bringeth Salvation by which the Saints are freely justified hath appeared unto all men yea the the Eternal God of Truth hath appeared unto you in his Son Jesus Christ the true Light and with this Light hath God made manifest unto you your sin and evil deeds and with the measure of the Light of his Son in you sometimes hath he appeared in his mighty Power whereby he hath smitten you for your sins and evil deeds and he by his Power hath broken you into tenderness and brought you down into lowliness for a time and then by his unresistible Power thus working in you did beget a holy Seed from whence pure desires and breathings after God hath often arose in you which seed could not nor cannot be satisfied without Gods living presence Now ye not standing in the Power which convinced you and smote you and broke you into tenderness and brought you down and then begot a holy Seed in you from whence a pure unfeigned love to God hath oft sprung mark you not minding the workings and movings of this Power in you nor waiting in it for to receive counsel you entered into reasonings and thoughts which the subtilty which is the Devil presented in you and so ye hearkned not to Gods voice the power which had wrought so in you but you entred into reasonings with the subtilty which abode not in the power and this begot a questioning in you what that should be which had so appeared in you and broken you into such a tenderness and had wrought such a sudden change in you which you were not able to resist And ye going into the reasonings in your minds thus you turned from the pure Power of God and then sin which separateth from Gods presence which he by his Power worketh in you had in measure smitten and brought down in you arose again and got the Dominion in you and so you going thus from the Power wherein ye should have waited to have been preserved in the tenderness ye soon lost the tenderness and fear which the Power had wrought in you and then hardness of heart soon grew in you again and then the Seed which God had begotten in you which cannot be satisfied without his presence that began to be sorely oppressed in you by the sin which separates from Gods presence which got up more and more in you through your turning from the Power which ye once felt manifested and working in you against sin And then a grievous weight or burden came upon the Righteous Seed in you and then it began to groan and cry to God from under the burden and weight of iniquity that was upon it and then the Light appeared more brighter in you again for the Seeds sake which suffered in you and shewed you that you were wrong then the Light judged you for the wrong and then trouble came upon you and encreased in your minds and then
Gods appearance within you by drawing your minds into the visible changeable things and yet the Lord in love to his own Seed hath spared you so mind the Lords long patience and forbearance which hath been great towards you for his Seeds sake in you which breathes and thirsts after his Righteousness and cannot be satisfied without his life and presence And truly friends my love is exceeding tender and large towards you in whom there is such a pure tender Seed stirring and my desire is who have seen the emptiness of all Profession without the life that you might come to witness the Seed satisfied in you with the Pure Power and Life and Virtue of the Living God which hath suffered long in you and hath not been satisfied by reason of your disobedience unto the Light Therefore in Tender Bowels of Love and Compassion unto you I do freely declare unto you all The New and Living way which hath been from the beginning which is CHRIST JESUS the true Light which lighteth every one which cometh into the World whereby every one of you believing in the Light may come to receive a particular satisfaction from Christ from whence the Light doth come Friends The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withall but you have transgressed and gone from the manifestation of Gods Spirit in your own particulars and so it is impossible for you ever to profit in the things of God or come to receive a particular satisfaction until you come to own that and believe in that which you have transgressed and gone from which was given you to profit withall and to lead you into the substance which giveth satisfaction Now the manifestation of the Spirit doth shew unto you your runings and willings and actings and strivings that ye have been in whereby ye could never obtain satisfaction unto that in you which breathes to do the Will of God now you must mind that which makes manifest these things unto you and as you take notice of that which is the Light and wait in it you will come to feel it drawing you into stilness and coolness and quietness of spirit and then with the Light you will come to discern the subtilty and the motions thereof which have oft beguiled you by drawing you from quietness and stilness into the Airy imaginations whereby he hath tossed and unsetled your minds and as you waite in that which doth make manifest which is the Light and believe in it you will come to feel something arising in you in Power to Judge and condemn the subtilty as that stirs in you to draw you from waiting upon God and then you will come to know and feel the spirit of Judgement and burning placed in you to purge you and as you wait in the Judgement in patience and stilness you will come to hear the still voice that is spoken of in the Scriptures saying This is the way and shewing it unto you and when you see the way as you wait in that which shewes it unto you then you will come to hear the Command in Power saying unto you walk in it and then you will come to know your Teacher which cannot be removed into a corner and so here the path of the just ye will all come to know and witness in your selves which is the shining Light which shineth more and more until the perfect day for as you all wait in that which calls for stilness and silence to the flesh and the motions thereof ye will come then to see more Light and so ye will come to witness what David spoke to be true who said to God In thy Light shall we see Light and then the just which hath been long oppressed and burthened in you will begin to spring and as you believe and wait in the Light your minds being staid in it you will come to feel God's Living Power working and opperating in you condemning and removing that in you which hath oppressed and burthened the just and so by God's pure Power as you wait and continue in it you will come to feel and witness the just holy Seed raised up in you from under that which did oppress and burthen it and here you will feel the captive come out of captivity by the Gospel which is the Power of God and the Prison door set open and the Prisoners set at Liberty And then as you wait in the Light you will come to feel God's pure Powerful Presence and Life and Virtue runing through you which will refresh the Seed which is tender and give satisfaction unto it and so as you all wait low in the fear of God watching in the Light that nothing may get up in you to boast and glory which is not of God you will then feel your love exceedingly encreased towards the Pure Living Truth of God and your whole delight will be to walk in the Truth in Righteousness and Holiness without which no man shall see the Living God and as you all walk in the Light obeying it you will come into the Pure Fellowship and Communion and Unity of the Saints and then you will feel the Life which is the Blood of Jesus Christ cleansing you purging and purifying you from all Sin and so as every one of you abide in the Faith feeling it and standing in the Power of God that will purifie your hearts and give you victory over the World and then you will come to receive a particular satisfaction from Christ the Power which is the Author and ground of the Saints Faith and you will feel God's Spirit and Power and Life as you dwell in it drawing and leading you into whatsoever he requireth you to do and as you all wait and are still in that which doth discern the thoughts and the intents of your hearts and makes them manifest unto you you will clearly come to discern the Subtilty and the motions thereof which would draw you to act such things as the Lord doth not require you to act So all take heed to that which discerns the thoughts and intents of your hearts for this is a measure of the Word of Life which is quick and powerful and as you all wait in it you will feel it to be so for you will feel it dividing the precious in you from the vile and this is the Ingrafted Word which is able to save your Souls So this is not written to feed the carnal mind in any but it is written for your sakes who are truely breathing and thirsting after God's Righteousness and cannot be satisfied without it that so you may all come into the true Light wherewith you are enlightned and that you with it may come to see how you have been tossed and tumbled up and down by the Subtilty of the Serpent in those things which could never give you true peace nor satisfaction and that now through believing in the Truth and Obedience of the Spirit you may all
bring ye to know and remember your Creator in the dayes of your youth and it will reveal God's Power and Wisdom in ye whereby ye will be kept in true order So suffer not your minds to follow vanity neither walk in stubbornness towards your Parents nor others I warn ye in God's fear lest he shorten your dayes and cut ye off by his righteous Judgements but mind his fear and wait therein that ye may feel his Grace and be taught by it and be obedient unto it and then ye will feel the Mercy and Blessing of the Lord. And all ye that are Masters and Dames wait in the true Light that ye may feel Christ the Power and Wisdom of God to be your Master that so ye may rule in your Places in his Fear and Wisdom and lay no more upon your Servants than ye would be willing should be laid upon you if ye were in their places and conditions Mark that and forbear threatning them and be not hasty to turn them away if they be willing to abide with you but in Patience and Meekness shew them their Place and Service and therein teach them if they know it not and let them have for their Service that which is convenient just and reasonable that they may have no just cause to murmur or complain and keep out of covetousness lest that hinder you from giving them sufficient liberty who desire it for going to the Meetings of the People of the Lord and if in the Wisdom of God ye see freedom to turn any away give them sufficient warning that they may provide themselves other wayes for this is just and reasonable and be not hasty nor rash with them nor run into jangling with them but if ye have cause to reprove them let it be in the Fear and Wisdom of God in the Freedom and Authority of the Truth and that will reach unto the Witness of God in them so be not High-minded but fear and be patterns unto them in the lowly meek and quiet spirit and bear with the weak and forgive them that trespass against you and render not evil for evil to any but overcome evil with that which is good and live in that which overcomes evil that so the Truth of God may be exalted over all And all ye that are Servants live in the Fear of the Lord and wait in his Light and be obedient thereunto and also be obedient in your places unto those that are your Masters and Dames according to the Flesh not onely to the good and gentle but also to the froward serving them in Faithfulness and Uprightness of Heart doing what ye do for them as diligently faithfully and willingly as ye should do any thing to the Lord for this right in the sight of God and take heed that none of God's Creatures be lost or wasted under your hands through your neglecting them or slothfulness in your places do not falsly accuse any or speak evil behind any one's back thereby thinking to get the favour or love of any or upon any other account for that is evil and be as diligent in your places when your Masters or Dames are absent as when they are present for this is just and right and be not stubborn nor wilful neither use many words to your Masters or Dames and if you know not well how to perform your service aright then in true humility be willing to learn and take heed of High-mindedness and Pride or of being wise in your own eyes and when you have any spare time allowed ye being free from outward imployment see that ye spend it in the fear of the Lord in waiting upon him in his Light that so all vain talking corrupt Communication foolish jeasting and all vanity may be kept out of and give ye not way to that mind which is unstable which would be oft shifting and going from place to place for this is not right in the sight of God but wait in the Light that ye may be staid and setled in your minds and if ye see freedom in the fear of God mark that to go to another place then give your Masters or Dames sufficient notice of it and if any of you who know the Truth come to be moved of the Lord to go to any place in his service be faithful to the Lord and when your service which he required of you is done then return to your places again except it be otherwayes ordered in the Fear and Wisdom of God and be diligent in your places doing the same that ye would others should do unto you in the like condition and mind the Lord in all things and above all things and be faithful unto him and he will be your reward And all ye Fathers and Mothers and Children and Masters and Dames and Servants who have the Creatures of God to buy or sell or to Exchange live in the fear of the Lord that ye may feel his Wisdom to guide you in your trading and do not speak better or worse of the Creatures then you know them to be thereby to get the greater gain for that is Idolatry it arising from Covetousness but wait to feel God's Spirit to bridle your tongues and use but few words in your trading and if ye ask a question therein do it in simplicity and keep in the Light which is equal that when ye offer or ask a price for the Creatures it may be in equality and let that be your rule and not the price of the Market except that be equal that so ye may reach the equal principle one in another and then stand to your word and here your yea will be yea and your nay will be nay and so you will be kept in the Doctrine of Christ with his Light out of all Evil and ye abiding in the Light it will bring ye to do to every one as ye would be done unto and take heed that ye stir not up the impatient crooked disorderly Nature one in another with your words or actions but bear one with another and forgive one another and when ye tell each other of a fault do it in the Fear and Wisdom and Meek Spirit of God's Lamb that so ye may restore each other therein and when ye have any convenient time assemble your selves together in the Name and Fear of the Lord and wait every particular in the Measure and Gift of God in you which is given ye to profit withal and all wait together in the Light and believe in it that ye may be Children of the Light and therein watch unto Prayer and one over another and this will beget ye into unfeigned love and walking in the Light ye will have true unity and fellowship one with another and the blood which is the Life of Jesus Christ you will feel cleansing you from all Sin and so ye will come into the unity with God Also to feel his Word his Power and Wisdom in you by
which all things were created and made and are upheld that therein ye may be ordered in the particular and that therein ye may use and order all God's Creatures to his Glory and then all false Weights and Measures and Wayes and Worships will be destroyed and then shall Truth Equity Righteousness and true Order and Mercy prosper and run down as a River So let your Faith stand in Christ Jesus the Light and Wisdom and Power of God and then true Worship true Weight true Measure shall be set up and established and then shall the Lord be exalted over all the works of his hands and so ye will feel his blessing unto him belongeth the Dominion and Honour for he is worthy of it for evermore Amen By George Fox the Younger The Words of the Everlasting and True Light Who is the Eternal Living God and the King of Saints which he gave unto me his servant to declare unto the Inhabitants of the Earth and unto all such as have any true tender desires in them after Righteousness and Truth HEarken O ye Nations and give ear ye Inhabitants of the Earth Thus saith the Lord God of Heaven and Earth whose Name is the Light I am the Lord and there is no other that can save I the Light Created all things and formed and made you all of the dust and I breathed into you my Light my Life that ye with it should have been guided and led in my Wisdom to have ordered all things which I have Created and to have ruled over them all that I in you might have been honoured and exalted over all the works of my hands which I the Light Created But from me the Light ye have departed and ye have hearkned unto the Subtil Serpent which is the Devil who abode not in me the Light the Life the Truth which Created all things whom I have cursed above all the Beasts of the Earth who is the Seed of Enmity and ye hearkening unto him he hath begotten you into Enmity against me the Light and so hath begotten and led you into the Curse and so he is become your Father and Leader whom I have cursed and all that ye bring forth and act in him I have cursed because it stands in the Enmity against me the Light yet I the Light have looked upon you and pittied you because of the loss that ye are come into and the darkness that is come upon you all through your departing from me the Light And I the Eternal God have sent him who was glorified with me before the World was by whom I made the World who is not without me nor I without him but he is in me and I in him and He and I and the Spirit that proceed's from Us are one Being and Substance Mark I the Eternal God have sent him into the World who was glorified with me before the World began and he is called my Son because he is the Express Image of my Glory and bears my Name the Light the Life the Truth which is but one and he is my Love unto you the World and that is he that lets you see the Enmity and darkness that ye are in and how years departed and gone from Me the Life and for this end I have sent him a Light that ye all through him the Light might believe that so he who shews you your Sins your Enmity your Darkness ye believing in him might receive power to come out of it and that he might save you from the curse which ye went into when ye hearkned to the Serpent whom I have cursed who is become your Leader But I have sent you the Light to be your Leader to lead you from the Serpent and out of all that which he hath led you into Mark out of Enmity against me out of Darkness and so out of all unrighteous words and deeds and thoughts And I the Eternal God have given my Son the Light power to plague and to judge to condem and to destroy all those that will not hear him the Light who makes manifest unto you your unrighteous words deeds and thoughts which the Serpent hath led you into and because ye live in these I cannot have fellowship with you nor reveal my secrets unto you but my anger is kindled against you but if ye would hearken unto my Love the Light which lets you see all that ever you have done and own him to be your Leader and receive him and give up your selves to be guided by him then you shall feel his Power in you which I have given him to lead you out of Enmity and Darkness and the curse and out of all Sin which was the cause of the curse and so to destroy that Nature in you which the Serpent hath begotten ye into and to beget you again into the Nature of himself the Light in whom I am well pleased and then my anger would be turned away from you and I should have fellowship with you again as I had in the beginning and the Serpent's head ye should come to witness bruised who drew and led you out of me the Life the Tree of Life which I shut you from because of your disobedience ye should come to know it and to feel it and to feed upon it again and I should delight to do you good But O ye disobedient ye are from this because ye despise Me my Son my Spirit who are one who are Light and Life which is not far from you for I the Light give unto every one of you Life and Breath and you and all things are upheld by me the Light whose presence filleth Heaven and Earth and I have long spared you and my patience and long-suffering towards you hath been exceeding large but you in your imaginations have put me a far off and ye will not own me the Light the Life in you because my appearance in you hath been and yet is to make manifest Sin and Evil in you and to check and reprove you for it and to call you out of it and therefore you are offended at me and you whom the Serpent the Prince of the Power of the Air hath led out of me into airy imaginations you scorn me the Light in you and count me a low poor weak thing not worth the taking notice of because I have been patient towards you and have tenderly meekly and lovingly made manifest unto you Sin and Evil in its appearance and hath reproved you for Evil gently therefore you have disobeyed me and dishonoured me and called me a Natural Light and ye have said I the Light am not able to save those that believe in me and many of you have got my words which I the Light spoke in my servants of old and ye in the Enmity give other meanings to my words and so with my words mixed with your own meanings and imaginations ye fight against me the Light and Life within you and so against my
to resist all that which is contrary unto me and I will destroy all the works of the Serpent in you and bruise his head and I will purge out all your iniquities and forgive all your trespasses I will change your nature and I will make you new Creatures if ye will hearken unto me and obey me the Light in you and I will make you partakers of my Divine Nature and I will judge and condemn and consume all that in you which is contrary to my Nature if ye will abide in the Light and I will take away all Darkness and earthly-mindedness and I will reveal my secrets and mysteries unto my Seed in you and I will cause you to delight alone in me the Light of Life and I will feed you with the Bread of Life and ye shall drink of my Life and ye shall be satisfied and I will manifest my Power more and more in you and if ye will be faithful unto me and obey my voice and wait upon me the Light then I will make the crooked wayes strait before you and the rough wayes smooth and I will destroy the Power of Darkness within and without you and if ye will follow me I will lead you out of the World and Worldly cares into patience into meekness and into stilness and quietness of spirit and whatsoever you suffer for my Names sake I will be your exceeding great reward and I will be your dread and ye shall be the dread of Nations I will be your Glory and ye shall be the Glory of Nations and I will reign over you and ye shall reign over all the World in my Light and Life and Power and if ye continue in me the Light I will give you Dominion over all your Enemies within and without you and I will make them all bow before you and I the Lord God of Light and Life will be your Redeemer and Saviour your Rock your Shield and your Defence and if ye will wait in my Life it shall be your Life and I the Life will destroy the destroyer within and without you and I will bring you out of all trouble and restlesness and dissatisfaction and I will be your peace and your rest and your satisfaction and ye shall lie down in me the Light of Life and none shall make you afraid These things shall you come to witness in the work of your regeneration and much more than is here expressed if ye be faithful unto me the true Light in you who have no fellowship with any thing that is Evil and then I wil purge all Evil out of you and even as I am so shall ye be also yea I will work this work and perfect it in you if ye continue and abide in me the Light Now if any should say that here is nothing spoken of Christ in what I have here written I answer what I have here written is the words which the Father who is one with Christ the Son gave unto me to write in which words the true Christ is owned and a Testimony given of him and no other But further in the Fear and Wisdom of God for the satisfaction of the simple I do declare in plain words That I do believe in the true Christ the Lord of Life who was glorified with the Father before the World began and I do believe that he was in due time made manifest in that body of flesh who was called Jesus and that in him the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily who was supposed to be the Carpenter's Son whom the Jews Crucified without the gates of Jerusalem and I have remission of Sins through his blood who is the Lord of Life and he was buried but he is risen and Ascended and sits on the right hand of the Majesty on high This is the Christ I own who also was and is Crucified in Sodom and Aegypt by the rebellious yea he is Crucified afresh and put to open shame now by those that trample the blood of the Covenant the Light of Life under their feet and count it an unholy or a natural thing and such act despightfully against the Spirit of Grace and such Murther the Seed which keeps the commands of God and such will God the Light overthrow and burn to ashes as he did Sodom and Gomorrah but all that love and obey the true Light which is the fire shall be saved and preserved by it and shall remain unhurt but all that hate and disobey the Light in them that is their condemnation the Light These are faithful and true sayings and things also that must shortly come to pass and he witnessed Postscript READER WHo ever thou art be moderate and take heed of disobeying and despising the true Light for if thou dost thou disobeyest and dispisest the True and Eternal God who is Light and that is his Name whereby he is and will be known in this Age and Generation Therefore stumble not at the Light which lighteneth every one which cometh into the World for if thou doest thou stumblest at God his Name at Christ the Word by which all things were made and are upheld at the Door the Way the Truth and the Life at the Rock at the Elect Stone and these all are but one and if thou stumble at these what ever thou art thou shalt be broken But they that obey and believe the true Light they shall be made Children of the Light and shall be taught of God and shall walk in his Light G. F. A Word to the People of the World who hate the Light to be witnessed by the Light in them all VVherein is shewed unto them what the Light is which is the condemnation of the VVorld with its deeds and what the Spirit of Truth is and what it leads them into who are led by it and what the Spirit of Error is and what it leads them into who are led by it And also they are here exhorted to repent whilst they have the Light to believe and walk in the Light lest darkness come upon them and they into it be cast where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Also a few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light the Word the Kingdom and Spirit of God within and tell People that none can be free from sin in this Life and yet say that they own the Scriptures LIght is come into the VVorld and the VVorld hates it Joh. 8.12 and the whole World lyeth in wickedness 1 Joh. 5.19 And this is the Condemnation of the VVorld that Light is come into the VVorld and men loved the Darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil saith Christ Joh. 3.19 20. And every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his deeds should be reproved But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light for whatsoever doth make manifest is Light Eph. 5.13 and Christ Jesus he is the true
of Tythes and forced Maintenance which hath cost some their lives and many a great part of their Estates who for Conscience sake have been made to witness against it Undo every Heavy Burden and break every Yoak and let the Oppressed go free And let Christ Iesus the everlasting King have the preheminence in all things Col. 1.18 for these things the Lord will have to be accomplished and brought to pass and if you will not submit to him in this his work he must and will remove you And this further consider Oh! take heed that none of you upon your Beds or elsewhere devise Cruelty and Oppression and how to avenge your selves upon your Enemies and then when you are assembled together confirm it by a Law because you have power so to do for the Lord abhors that who is appearing to give to all men according to the fruits of their doing and he will not respect any man's person Now if by your Strength you can hinder the Sun from rising and setting in its season and if you be able to stop the Thunder and Lightning from having its operation or to hinder the Wind from blowing and the Rain from descending then may you hinder the Decree of the Lord and by your Strength you may stand in Power and Peace and flourish for a long Season though you serve and avenge your selves to the full and though you rebel against the Lord and oppress his Heritage Lambeth-House the 28th of the 5th Month 1660. Written as moved and given by that eternal Power which only can preserve and deliver the righteous by a Prisoner for the Lord who am given up to his Will in all things G. F. the younger A MESSAGE OF Tender Love Unto such Professors as have attained any true sincerity simplicity and Zeal for God in their Professions Or who after their Backslidings and Apostacy from the former appearances of God unto them are now in this the day of Tryal which is begun brought to feel any fresh Desires and living breathings and thirstings renewed in them towards the Lord. OH ye Professors who have tasted of the Word of God's Grace in any measure and who have formerly had any true Tenderness in you and Zeal for God Oh friends in Bowels of much Tenderness and Love am I drawn forth to write unto you yea my soul breaths mightily to the Lord for you who have now any true hungrings and thirstings renewed in you after his Righteousness and in whose hearts there are any true simple desires retained to know the Will of God and to do it Friends The Eternal Being which giveth being to all his Creatures hath largely manifested his love unto the World in giving his onely begotten to be the Light of the World who doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World that all through him might believe and inasmuch as he in the fulness of time sent forth his onely begotten full of Grace and Truth into the World in a body which he had prepared him therein to do his will which body the onely begotten of the Father freely gave and offered up for a Sacrifice for Sin and so according to his Grace he tasted Death for every man and by his offering himself once for all he hath put an end to all the Sacrifices and Offerings mentioned in the Law which could not make the Comets thereunto perfect nor those that offered them as appertaining to the Conscience So Christ the one Offering is become the Propitiation for the sins of the whole World who wrought Eternal Salvation for all them that obey him And here is the one Offering which perfects for ever them that are sanctified And he having accomplished the Will of the Father in that body which was prepared him of the Father in which he came into the World he again left the World he not being of the World and ascended unto the Father from whence he proceeded and sate down on the Right Hand of the Majesty on High and is now Glorified with the same Glory that he had with the Father before the world began yea the same that descended into the lower parts of the Earth is also the same that ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things and being one with the Father and in the Father and the Father in him his presence filleth Heaven and Earth and being the Son in the Father he hath Power as the Father to quicken whomsoever he will that all men might honour the Son as the Father by whom all things were made that were made in whom we live move and have a being and he hath a Name given him above every name to which all things must bow which is called The Word of God or Jesus because he is a Saviour and saveth his People from their Sins This is he that is given to be the Head of the Body which is the Congregation of the Righteous the fulness of him that filleth All in all that he in all things in whom all fulness dwells might have the Preheminence being the express substance of the Father's Glory the very vertue of his Being one with him in Nature and one in Name for as the Father is Divine so the Son is also Divine and as the Father is called the Light so the Son is also called the Light the Father is called The Mighty God so is the Son also Yea the Son's Name is called Wonderful The mighty God the everlasting Father mark that the Prince of Peace of whose Government there shall be no End Now in the Father there is Life and in the Word the Son there is Life and this is one and this Life proceeding from the Father and the Son is that one Eternal Spirit which is not to be limitted Yea God is a Spirit and Christ is the Lord that spirit yea he is the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit by whom the free gift is come upon all men to justifie them that believe in the Life and he that believeth not he is condemned by the Life which is the Light that doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World so the gift that is come upon the unbeliever that condemns him because he believeth not in the Light but loves the Darkness better Now Friends This is he the Light who giveth you a Being and upholdeth all things by the word of his Power and hath been near unto you ever since ye have had a Being and he hath beheld all your actions yea he hath discerned all your thoughts none of them could be hid from him for he knew them long before This is he that telleth unto man what his thought is and The Lord of Hosts is his Name This is he who hath reproved you and set your sins in order before your eyes Oh! How oft hath he brought you into a sensibleness of your Conditions How oft hath he smitten you for Sin and broken you into Tenderness by his
with you and give you up wholly to follow the deceit of your own hearts for the Lord will not alwayes strive with man But the day shall come wherein the Lord will withdraw himself from the Rebellious and he that is filthy let him be filthy still Oh Friends I see a day which will be terrible unto the Disobedient For when the Lord hath tryed his People and gathered the sincere hearted out of all Forms unto himself he will then sweep away the refuge that will not be gathered in the day of their Visitation with a mighty Destruction And the day hastens in which this shall be accomplisht by the mighty Arm and Power of the Lord which is now working in secret Therefore wait to be led and taught of him and heed not the Rage and Cruelty of man neither bow to his Perverse will but know that the Lord hath given bounds to the Sea that although it roar Rage and swell and cast up mire and dirt yet it cannot go beyond its bounds Therefore be Patient and commit your Cause unto the Lord and seek not to avenge your selves but leave it unto him who will avenge the Cause of his People And wait in the feeling of the Truth in your selves that so you may feel the pure Life of Christ to be a stay to your minds in all your Tryals and Temptations Oh poor hearts this is a precious thing to come to be sensible of the true stay and guide to the mind O keep to that which maketh your Temptations and thoughts manifest and believe and wait in that and then you will feel that to be a stay to your minds and you will feel the Lord's secret strength revealed in you enabling you to stand in whatsoever Tryal or Temptation he shall suffer to come upon you or to be presented unto you yea as you are faithful to the Power that he commits unto you you shall not be tryed beyond your strength but you shall feel the Lord supporting you and by his Power he will work your minds into contentedness with his will in all things And if you will follow the Power of the Lamb which is that which moves against Sin and taketh it away you will come to feel your hearts and minds drawn and Redeemed out of the Earth thereby and you will be made willing to give up and to part with all and to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Now if your spirits come to be brought into this frame then whatsoever man can do unto you it will not be able to move you Oh! that you would wholly give up your selves to wait upon the Lord in the pure manifestation of his Spirit and cease contending and pleading for those things which the Spirit of the Lord requireth not at your hands Oh! that you would now mind to obey the pure requirings of the Life of Jesus in your selves and that would bring you into lowliness of mind and meekness of spirit into true love to God and one towards another and not only to love your friends but even to love your enemies also and to forgive and pray for them that despightfuly use you and then you would indeed bear the Image of the Lamb and witness his Kingdom set up in you and this would bring you in patience to wait until he arise to plead the cause of his People and to avenge himself on his and their enemies and to make the Kingdoms of this world his and the People subject to his Government which shall certainly be aceomplished in its Season and the day draweth nigh So the Lord God Almighty manifest himself more and more unto you all in whose hearts there are any true sincere honest desires to know and do his Will and who are willing to follow him as he appears to lead and draw you and the Lord of Life manifest his strength unto you and gather you by the Power of his Christ into the everlasting Covenant of Life Rest and Peace This is the sincere desire of my Soul whose bowels yearn towards you whose souls are breathing and thirsting after the endless Life of Righteousness And this is Message of true love unto you in which it is sent forth among you according to the instructions of the Almighty yea for your sakes is this written whose Souls are panting after the Lord in what form or society soever you be in who are willing to follow the leadings of his Life and to submit to his will as it comes to be made manifest unto you and many of you in whom there be such honest desires I see are now in a bewildred condition in this cloudy and dark day which seems to approach not knowing well what to do or which way to take or where to find rest or safety by reason of the want of the knowledge of a true guide to your minds I say for the informing of your understandings and for the strengthening of those desires in you which are sincere towards the Lord was I drawn forth in much tenderness and bowels of unfained love to write unto you that you might be brought to be sensible of the gift of God in your selves and to know what that is that is to guide your minds and in what you are to wait to receive the true Teachings that so your minds may come to be stayed upon the Lord and that may be gathered into his Name wherein the true help and safety is and that you may avoid whatsoever would be a hinderance unto your growth in the simplicity of the Truth Therefore I exhort and warn you to take heed of following your own thoughts and imaginations any longer but freely give up to be led by that Principle of Life which cannot consent to Sin but appears to call and draw you out of the same You need not fear that that will deceive you but whatsoever would draw you from that Life that is the Deceiver And hearken not any longer to such Teachers as are greedy of filthy lucre for such make a prey of you and cannot profit you at all And take heed of hearkening or joyning to such Teachers or People as will turn to and comply with any worship or thing that may be for their advantage as they account and that they may save themselves from sufferings for such are Luke-warm and the Lord will spue them out and their shame and filthiness shall appear and they shall become loathsom both in the sight of God and man Therefore avoid them And as there are few Teachers amongst the Professors whom I believe for Conscience sake dare not turn back and lick up that which they formerly were made to vomit out and deny so also there are many that would willingly turn to any thing for their bellies if they might be received that will not now be accepted of and these that see they cannot keep their places by their turning they will appear zealous especially in secret against those things that they
the 〈◊〉 God for they shall call but their God shall not answer and they shall fret themselves and fear and terror shall sieze upon them and many shall joyn to and fall under that which they have called and esteemed Babylonish But there is a remnant yet to be gathered both from among the Professors and Profane Therefore dear hearts let your circumspect walking in the Life of Righteousness reach the Witness of God in all Consciences and let your soberness and patience smite your Enemies And you that are strong in the Lord and in the Power of his Might are Able to endure much bear ye with the weak and encourage and strengthen the feeble and let your tender love and care be over such as ye feel have true breathings after the Lord though they have had little of a knowledge of the Declaration of Truth and let your words to and before them and all men be seasoned with Grace that ye may minister unto the Grace in the Hearers And ye that are weak and yet have a true Love begotten in you towards the Lord all wait in the feeling of the Truth in your inward parts that your minds may be wrought into subjection to the Lord through the working of his eternal Power in you and when you are tempted heed not the temptation but heed the Light that makes manifest the temptation and believe in the Light and keep to it and ye will feel the Lord's presence and strength breaking forth to deliver you and to make a way for you to escape the temptation and if at at any time ye be overcome by the subtilty of the Devil and then the Light arise in you to make manifest the Transgression and to judge you for it then joyn to the Light and love the Judgement and Will not but be still until it works through and breaks forth into Victory and if ye see Iniquity abound then take heed that your Love wax not cold and if ye see some fall from the Truth and turn back with the Dog to the Vomit and with the Swine that was washed to the wallowing again in the mire and if ye see some for fear of persecution start aside or for the love of this World depart from the Faith or turn from the holy Commandment which was delivered unto them upon any account whatsoever let none of these things move or trouble you for such things will come to pass but blessed are they that are not offended with the Light but suffer and endure all things unto the end for they shall be saved But this know Friends that the Lord God will try you and you must pass through Perils and Tryals not only among the open prophane ones but also among such as have known the Truth and turn from it yet know my Friends that God will not try you further than he will give you strength to endure the Tryal if ye be faithful unto him Therefore watch and be sober and wait in the Life that ye may have salt in your selves to savour withal and be not weary neither faint in your minds nor let not in distrust but hope to the end and be confident that God will appear and work deliverance for his People but if it be his Will that ye must yet be further tryed and that he will yet suffer the wicked to flourish and spread forth themselves as a green Bay-Tree and that ye must yet bear your Testimony for the Lord by greater sufferings Oh Friends murmur not but hold fast your integrity and know certainly that whatsoever any suffer for the Lord they shall not lose their reward Therefore all Friends be valiant and strong and bold for the Truth upon earth and walk humbly with the Lord and wisely before your Enemies that so ye by doing the thing that is right in the sight of God may put to silence the foolish and ignorant for this is the Will of God And Friends walk patiently towards all men knowing that ye sometimes were ignorant and foolish and disobedient therefore let your pitty and patience towards them that be disobedient be known and wait that ye may be ready to shew them the thing that is Good and to instruct them concerning the way of Righteousness or if you have not words given you then let your Conversation Preach forth Righteousness that so haply God may give some of them Repentance and that ye may be made instruments for the bringing them unto the acknowledgement and knowledge of the Truth and live in the VVisdom and Power of God that so your Enemies may have nothing against you justly but if they will persecute you for any thing appertaining to a good Conscience be not dismaid or if they falsly accuse you and falsly swear against you and so ye become reckoned among the Transgressors by them be not troubled but be patient and keep to the VVitness of God for thus the wicked served your Master who gave his back to the smiter and his cheecks unto them that plucked off the Hair and the Servant is not greater than his Lord So let nothing be too dear to be given up for the Lord and bow not to any thing but to the Name of Jesus whose Name is called the VVord of God by which we must overcome and break through all this ungodliness Oh the Lord keep you faithful and patient in your Tryals for much have we to pass through and to overcome through the patience and long-suffering of the Lamb. So let none be exalted above their measures nor cast down by letting in of fears but all dwell in the living Nobility of the Immortal King of Righteousness and keep in subjection to his Government and meet together oft in his Name though the Sea and the Heathen Rage and the People imagine vain things and though the Kings of the Earth and the Rulers rise up together and take Counsel against the Lamb and his followers and though the rude multitude may persecute you and the VVhore may drink some of your Blood yet be not dismaid neither fear ye at all for in vain do they strive for the Lamb shall get the victory glory to him in the Highest And so Friends keep your garments unspotted ye who have washed them in the Blood of the Lamb and be exceeding tender toward such Professors as have a tenderness in them towards God in what Sect soever they be in for poor Creatures they are to be pittied and the Way of Truth is to be shewn unto them and this day will bring some of them unto the Principle of God in themselves and they must come unto that before they can find a true stay to their minds and them that come not to that and keep not to that will wither as the grass upon the house top Oh Friends I can even rejoyce and sing for joy notwithstanding the rage and strength of the Enemies for I see the day that approacheth will be exceeding good for Truth and
of his Glorious Truth and Gospel which is the Power of God and you have abode in his fear and singly given up to his will you have mightily been preserved and you have felt the hand of a tender Father upholding you and giving you Peace and content when you have lost much of this world and the honour and pleasures thereof for his Name sake Oh Friends He hath not been wanting unto you he hath seen your sufferings and hath looked upon your afflictions and hath ministred strength proportionable thereunto that you might not faint nor be weary Oh! let not his Mercies and Fatherly care and loving kindness be forgotten by any of you but let them for ever be had in remembrance so shall the reward be witnessed Now Friends the Lord hath suffered a Cloud and a Mist as it were to spread it self in these Nations whereby an evil savour is gone forth which by fire must be taken away in which he will yet further try his People that they may be as gold separated clearly from the dross and that they may indeed be truly gathered and redeemed from the Earth and all earthly things and that they may wholly look unto him for deliverance and know that he indeed is the alone refuge and hiding-place in the day of distress Therefore let all who know the Power of God retire inward and watch in the Light of the Lamb that you may feel the movings of the Life in your own Vessels and be kept in obedience to its drawings and leadings in this day of Tryal Temptation and Darkness which is spreading it self for a Moment mark that lest any of you be scattered for the Enemies work is anâ— will be to seek to draw you from your strength and true guide which where he attains it great will be the sorrow and loss of such Therefore my dearly beloved Friends who have tasted how good the Lord is in the tender bowels of Christ I beseech you be fervent in love to God and one towards another and be watchful in the Light and therein watch one over another and strengthen and comfort and encourage and build up one another in the work and service of the Lord And if any through the temptation of the Enemy hath at any time spoken or done any wrong to another even as God in Christ forgave you so freely forgive ye one another and be ye plain-hearted one to another and â—e ye reconcilâ—d in that which destroys all prejudice and purges out all hard thoughts that so the Unity may be witnessed in that Love which thinks no evil and the one Head and Master over all submitted unto and let the gathering be unto him alone that so the blessing may be multiplyed in and amongst you unto the Glory and Praise of him that gives the encrease And be diligent in Meeting together whilst you may in the Name and Power of the Lord and be watchful in the measure of the Life of God that you may feel your strength renewed and encreased in the inward man For Friends this is a day which will try every one's strength therefore dwell in the Power in which the true gathering is that ye may not scatter abroad for he that gathers not scatters abroad and he that goes from the drawings of the Power gathers not Now Friends as ye keep in the drawings and springings of the Invisible Life ye will be knit together in one Life and there will be no striving who shall be greatest but every one will be serving the Lord in their several places and measures and one another in Love and as this is abode in the weak in somethings and at sometimes may help the strong and the stronger in other things may help the weak Oh Friends be as Children of one Father dwelling in Innocency and Love together helping one another Be ye indeed as Members of one Body knowing that the nourishment to the several Members thereof comes frome one Head and considering that every Member hath not the same Office yet of exceeding Service as each moves and acts in true Love to the Body and therefore ought to be born and owned in their respective places and if any Member would act any thing that might hurt the Body or any part of it either through being out of the sence what is of Service to the Body or otherwise then if another Member or Members be made sensible of the same it or they are bound in Love to the Body to seek to hinder the same and in tender love to restore the erring Member that so the Body may be kept in true Order and every Member seeking the good one of another Oh Friends consider how the Members even of the true natural Body serve one another in Love how does one cover another how does one bear and strain and labour for the good of each other to help one another and how much more ought these things to abound in the Spiritual Body of which Christ is the Head And now that which chiefly lyes upon me at present to you is this That ye all in the feeling of the pure Life and Power of God may keep and that where there hath been any watching for advantage by any among you against one another or strife of words or prejudice or striving to Lord it one over another or strangeness one towards each other that these things be utterly laid aside and resisted for where these things or any of them take place they eat as doth a canker and devour the Babe which should inherit the Promises and receive the Blessing and that in tender Bowels of Love ye receive and embrace one another and that all whatsoever hath tended to the contrary in any may dye and be forgotten as if it had never been that so the Birth Immortal which hath been quenched in some may spring and grow in the Vertue of the Father that its strong cryes both in the Male and in the Female may pierce through the Clouds and reach unto the Father of Life and Power and wrestle with him until the Blessing be given abundantly yea until he make bare his Arm in the sight of his Enemies that the Oppressor may cease and the Land may be swept of evil doers that so a way may be made for the further spreading of his everlasting Name and Truth and for the exalting of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus over all the Kingdoms of the World Ah Friends the Unity the Unity in the Spirit the Love the Love from a pure heart is exceeding precious the yearning of Bowels one toward each other in the Lord the Faith the Patience the Watching and Breathing and Groaning and Sighing and Praying and Crying in the Spirit and Power of Emanuel is able to astonish the Heathen and to confound Armies and Powers that withstand the Kingdom of the Lord Christ and to cause Vengeance to come upon such as will not Repent and turn to the Lord in the day of
is and hath been very much wrong among people upon that account for many thereby are begotten into strange lying wonders and some into questionings and fears in their minds and some into false joys and foolish expectations and some into prejudice one against another because false reports have been received and reported again Therefore that you may be clear of these things be you very mindful watchful and careful that you report not any thing but as you have a certain ground for the Truth of it and as you may see a service in speaking thereof or else you had better be silent to those things and let them dye that so Truth Unity and Peace may be lived in and abound amongst you in all things London the 8th of the 8th Month. 1660. I am your endeared Friend and Brother in the Bowels of Christ whose Life is freely given up to answer the Will and requirings of the Father travelling for Unity and Peace and Righteousness amongst men where its wanting and greatly rejoycing with all those in whom it abounds and is felt and witnessed George Fox the Younger Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity TO THE TRIBULATED Flock of Crhist In BONDS or elsewhere SALUTATION AH my indeared Tribulated Brethren Sisters and Friends both in Prison and out of Prison Sufferers in Body Estates or otherwise for the holy powerful Eternal Truth as it is in Jesus O blessed are you ye Lambs of my Father's Fold who are faithful to him in the Testimony he hath given you to bear your Reward is great which in no wise shall fail Dear Babes drink in the Life abundantly which Emanuel hath placed in you and feed at the Table that my Father hath Richly spread for you with food sutable for you in your several growths Oh! the Word the Word of Eternal Life is appointed for your food feel it in your selves and go no more out Oh! how strong are the drawings thereof and how pleasant is the Virtue of it How are they overcome with the love of it that abide therein Oh! my Brethren and Friends our strength our safety our Peace and Satisfaction is this therefore let it for ever be the Habitation of your delight O this day is Glorious to all that stand given up in the Fathers will whose heatts and minds are drawn and Redeemed out of all those things that perish with the using Oh! ye Babes how strongly do I feel you in the Power of love who are Retired out of all fading changeable ending things into the Eternal Invisible unchangeable endless Life of Righteousness verily when I think upon you and behold you in your Habitation I am even Raised with Joy and Love Oh you that keep your Garments pure and clean in the Life of the unspotted undefiled Lamb how are my tender Bowels refreshed in you verily I cannot Express the Love that is in me to you ye Lambs of my Maker hold fast hold fast the word of his Patience it shall Crown you it shall Crown you in the End by it shall you overcome through Faith yea by it your Enemies shall be brought under you and in it shall you be Exalted over your Oppressors Oh! who can declare the Glory of the Lord as it shall be manifested in this Age for verily he will work wonders in the Earth and in the Heavens till he hath brought to pass the thing that is in his heart in vain do all the Potsheards of the Earth strive against the Former and Upholder of all things for he will Exalt his Son and his Righteous Kingdom and establish it in Righteousness over all the Kingdoms of the World and they must bow thereunto Therefore my Indeared ones be still in the Light and Life of the Lamb that you may behold the going forth of the Lord in his Glorious Power in this Day wherein he is Sifting Winowing Purging and trying that nothing but the Wheat and the Gold may be left Oh Babes dwell in love and Peace together in the powerful anointing which the Father hath poured forth upon you as a full gift and placed in you as a true Teacher and a Leader and let all keep to the holy drawings thereof and Answer the Requiring of the same O! blessed are you that bear the Testimony therein and quench not the Springs and arising of it neither go without it but simply and innocently obey its pure leadings and as you are kept in this if any are not able to bear you you will be able to bear them for you will have nothing in your Precious Eye and Mind but nakedly and simply the Honour and Glory of your Tender Father who will cause Bowels of Love to open in you one towards another in the merciful forgiving forbearing healing Spirit which will fill your Precious immortal Souls whereby you will be able to gather and allure others into the same Oh! my Friends dwell out of all mortals in the Immortal Power and Love of the Father and know the Birth that inherits the blessing and abides in Covenant with God which breaks and disanuls death's Covenant and brings over death and its Power into the Tryal and Dominion of the Lamb. O ye Innocent Babes and Plants who in Prisons holes and Dungeons are cast because you dare not grieve the Spirit of the Lord your God in obeying man's unrighteous Decrees my Father's love is exceeding great to you your Righteous Iust Cause he will fully Plead therefore leave it wholly to him and in the overcomings of his Power and Tender Love solace your selves and quietly lie down in his will till he bring you forth in his own Dominion Oh! you are Precious unto me who cannot defile your Testimony for any outward enjoyment my Bowels my Bowels are filled with the streams of Love and Life and Compassion which flow forth to you O my Prayers groanings Breathings Reach unto the God of Life both day and night for you Oh my beloved ones watch watch one over another in tender Bowels and bear the weak and feeble in your Arms and Bosom of love and let Mercy and Peace fill your Habitations and God shall work your Deliverance for you in his appointed time O Friends you are witnesses of that Truth which must spread over all the world and never be extinguished more but to the brightness of its rising many shall come And all of what degree soever that set themselves against it shall fall before it yea they shall not prosper the Lord hath spoken it onely Remember he will thorowly try his gold that it may be manifested unto all So the Precious Life Power Peace and Virtue of my Fathers ' be multiplyed in and among you till you all come to the Stature of the fulness of Christ in God Eternal Amen From Westminster Palace Yard Gate-house the 2d of the 1st Month 1661. Your dear tender and loving Brother in the humble melted broken contrite Spirit of
and singleness and uprightness of heart in that love which thinks no Evil even in obedienae unto the Spirit of the Lord which also saith Try all things and hold fast that which is good Friends IN several of you I know there hath stirred and doth oft stir a pure true living Principle of God which hath begot and doth beget true honest and upright Desires and Breathings in you after Righteousness true Liberty and Freedom and loathings of Oppression and Tyranny and it hath been in the hearts of some of you and much upon you to break down Oppression and Tyranny and to remove Oppressors and to make void all such Laws as make provision for Tyranny and Oppression whereby the Oppressors have long been strengthened in their Oppressing the People of this Nation and some of you have felt the weight and burden of Oppression and Tyranny under which the Innocent suffer and it hath been much in your hearts to set up Righteous Laws whereby all People might have Equity and Justice done to them and for them by such as you have had thoughts to put in Authority which would do just and equal things between Man and Man without respect to persons These things the Lords witness in you hath shewed unto you that they ought to be done by you and some of you have breathed and desired much to do these things when ye have owned the pure movings and stirrings of the measure of the Life and Power God in you which hath stirred and moved in you towards Righteousness Equity Mercy and Justice But hitherto ye have been much hindred in this work And truly Friends there are many things yet remaining in and among you mark that which hinder and stop you in this work of true Reformation and they will stop you therein mark that so long as they bear rule in and among you and are consented to and regarded by you many of those things are as followeth First There are many that pretend that they are of you mark that which have joyned unto you in some outward appearance but it is more for fear of loosing their places and the riches and honour of this world than for to the Cause of Equity Justice and true Liberty And these are in the Priests nature who for covetousness and self ends can change with the times and Governments and pretend they are for them so long as they will hold them up and such are neither true to God nor their Country for they can lay down their Religion which they have pretended to stand for and deny the Cause of their Country if it will make most for their own Gain and then say it was the Lords doing and they are satisfied in it though it be quite contrary to that which they have formerly contended for and of this sort there are many among you which stop the work you ought to do And several of you also in whom the Truth of God hath stirred against Oppression and Tyranny verily your minds are yet so much in your Commissions and Places and in the love and honour and Wisdom of this World that this stops you in the work ye ought to do And some of you have so many relations mark that that have such a great gain in those very things which greatly Oppresse the People of this Nation and also some of your selves are concerned in these things that so ye cannot tell how to take away Oppression wholly without taking away their and your own gain and these things being looked at by you they exceedingly stop you in the work you ought to do because herein private self ends and respect to Persons by you are preferred before the general good of all Now Friends whilst your minds and thoughts and hearts run into or after any of these things They with the Enemy of your Souls will not suffer you to do that which is equal no further to be sure then it will stand safe for the upholding and preferring of yout relations and your own private particular self ends Therefore all wait in that which is pure and living of God in you which will shew you all Deceit if ye keep to it that so by it your minds may be redeemed out of all self and respect to Persons that so all particular private self ends and respects to Persons may be denyed and utterly trampled upon by you and that the general good and freedom of all without respect of Persons may be minded and acted for by you that so ye may serve the Lord God and your Generation in singleness and uprightness of heart and then the Lord will honour you and he will be your sufficient reward Verily it is a mighty thing and it is highly to be prized by you especially ye of the Army that ever the Lord God should make use of you again and again put an opportunity into your hands to do that which you formerly promised and vowed unto the Lord and your Nation to do seeing ye so slighted mark that the former opportunities which the Lord God gave you and acted so Treacherously and Deceitfully as ye did in your back-slidings and if ye should slight this opportunity also do not expect another be not deceived God will not be mocked therefore consider these things and mind to answer the Lords love yet continued unto you But if ye look out at or suffer your minds to run into mark the greatness of your Places or after your gain or the honour of the World or if ye look out at love or hatred of your Friends or known Enemies or at any particular self end whatsoever These things will strangle the Principle of God in you which moves to do that which is equal and just unto all and then the tender Seed in you which feels the weight and burden of Oppression that will be murdered and then the deadness and hardness of heart will come upon you more and more and ye will settle deeper and deeper in the death and verily if ye should do thus ye would become even as Sodom and Gomorah unto the Lord and he would overturn you with a great and mighty destruction as he did them therefore remember you have been warned So look at none of these things but look ye to the Lord God and mind the movings of his Life in you and be obedient thereto and as Oppression and Tiranny and Injustice is made manifest unto you by the Light of the Lord in you in the Power of the Lord committed unto you break it down and overturn it and set up and establish Righteous Laws Equity Mercy and Justice and true Liberty in its Place and then you neeâ— not fear what Man can do unto you for the Lord will then be your preserver So the Lord God hath once more tryed you Now if you love Father Mother Wife Children Houses Lands Commissions Honours of the World or any particular self end whatsoever more then the work of the Lord or if ye
prefer any of them so as thereby to stop the Lords work or if you do the Lords work negligently which he hath once more put into your hands verily ye shall not be counted worthy to be the Lords workmen So remember Saul who was made an example that others might take warning who slew but part of that which was to be distroyed and saved a part alive and therein he was stubborn and disobedient Now if ye should destroy but part of the Trranny and Oppression which is utterly to be distroyed mark that and preserve part of it take heed lest the Lord rent you from your places for your stubborness and disobedience as he rent Saul from his Kingdom for his Therefore Awake Awake and wait in the Light to feel the Lord's strength that therein your zeal and courage for him may be renewed and linger not in things as ye have done but dwell in the Power of the Lord ye who have felt it and do not abuse it or resist it any longer and in his Power act for the Freedom and just Liberty of all his Creatures this will bring honour unto the Lord that so ye in whose hearts there is a singleness an honesty an uprightness unto the Lord may keep your selves from being defiled with the corruptness of others and so be preserved in his Wisdom and Power in the Breakin gs Overturnings or Purging â—nd Separating that yet must be in the Nation And Friends in the Army when will the Spirit of â—â—â—hteousness and Equity be clearly manifested among you to rule you thus that so long as ye bear an outward Sword it might be onely turned against Evil Doers and not for the upholding any Oppression whatsoever but for the breaking down of all Oppression and Tyranny wheresoever it is found and for keeping the outward Peace whilst equal and Just Laws be established whereby the Just Liberties and outward Freedom of the Nation might be enjoyed and not to make a trade of using your Swords to enrich your selves by them by heaping up outward riches and to feed your lusts But whilst ye use your Swords to be content with such wages as might but even find you things necessary and convenient for your Places Now if this Spirit lead you then self denyal will be manifested in you indeed and they that called you a mercenary Army then should be ashamed for if Tyranny and Oppression were destroyed and Equity true outward Liberty and Freedom were established and the Enemies of it so brought to nought that so there were no need of you this Spirit if it ruled you would make you as freely willing then to lay down your Places and Swords as ever any of you were made free to take them up and then to fall upon improveing the Creation in the fear and Wisdom of the Lord and to be content to enjoy an equal proportion and share of the Liberty with your fellow Creatures which you have fought for and if it were thus then ye might truly be called the Common-wealths Men or servants But if ye carry a Sword expect and desire still to carry or uphold a sword to make a Trade of mark that then I know you will not utterly bring down Oppressors and Oppression and firmly establish outward Liberty though ye could lest your Trade should fall Now if you do not act singly for your Nations good stand out of all self ends whatsoever but still continue making a Trade of using your Swords then you cannot truly be called the Common-wealths servants but such as serve your selves and such as are their Masters though you receive wages of them And Friends there are many things done lately in the name of the Keepers of the Liberty of England Now mark ye should first make England a free Nation and set it at Liberty from all its Oppression and bondage that it is in befoâ—e ye take such a name upon you and then in the fear and Wisdom of the Lord see to preserve and keep its Liberty and then ye might truly be called the Keepers of the Liberty of England But if ye do not first set it at Liberty and then keep it and ye be called the Keepers of the Liberty of it ye will be but like unto those which had a name that they lived and yet were dead and like the false Christians who are puffed up with a name but are out of the nature which belongs to the name This from me who have a tender love going forth unto all both in Parliament Army and others who have any true Breathings or Desires in them after Righteousness Truth Equity Mercy Justice and true Judgement which I wait to see set up and Establiâ—hed And I honour the higher Power and am subject thereunto where ever or in whomsoever it doth appear which Power hath made me a watchman unto you to warn you to watch for your Souls and for Peace And in obeying this Power I am clear of and free from the blood of all men Given forth by Geo. Fox the Younger The Ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the Wise He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own Soul But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding Friends the reason why this comes last is because a Copy of it could not be obtained till such time as the foregoing writings were Printed otherwise it had come in order with the Rest of his Books THE END * Since the writing of this before it could be delivered we have seen a Declaration put forth by Thee by which in part this is answered which as this and the rest comes to be fulfilled the Lord will bless prosper Thee †This Abomination have I beheld several times out of my Prison Window * So that none shall be able in the day of the Lord to plead or say Lord because our first Parents fell from thee and became dead unto thee and so were driven out from thy presence and we being brought forth in this unreconciled state there was no way left unto us to approach or come near unto thee to lay hold of the Grace that thou offerest unto all by reason of thine Anger I say none shall be able thus to plead For Christ the Fathers Love hath consecrated a way by his freely giving up himself a Propitiatory Sacrifice which appeaseth God and therefore it is said that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing sin unto them So he that perisheth it shall be for his own sins not for his parents but because he believed not in Christ who hath freely made a way for him to come unto God and by the power of his life visiting him puts him in a capacity to receive the free grace which bringeth salvation which to all men hath appeared * As for the Government and Ministry of the Town of Harwich their streets like Sodom have shewn its effects And the Angels and Lot might as justly have been charged with making a disturbance in Sodom when the ungodly thronged Lot's Door as RG and I in Harwich as the sober Reader may see Also when I was in Prison there I have seen out at the Window many go staggering with Drunkenness in the street and both in the day and in the night they have come to the Gate and cursed me bitterly and stammered our Oaths by reason of Drunkennes and then cryed God save KING CHARLES saying He would hang the Quakers and the Anabaptists and these have gone unpunished But when sober People have come to the Gate to hear the Truth declared them the Goalors Company hath thrown water upon and the MAYOR hath come and commanded them to depart from the Window and the Goalor hath come and shut it up and threatned me