what I may whilst I have a being amongst the Sons of Men to the glory of his Name for ever And this is the state of the true Disciples of Christ that cannot feed of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge although in your Journey and Travels dear Vessels of the Lord you see the Tree of Knowledge to be good where it stands in its place but the Fruit is not good to eat and feed upon because Knowledge puffeth up but Grace maketh humble Therefore dear Brethren and Sisters born of God who cannot live in any enjoyment but as you enjoy the Life and Presence of God from whence every good and perfect gift comes And dear Lambs although some of you be in your own Eyes the meanest amongst the People of the Lord yea at sometimes your Trials is so great that you are ready to account your selves unworthy to be numbred amongst the People of the Lord and yet you dare not disobey him neither can you live without his presence Oh you dear Children of God! lift up your heads over all Temptations and Accusations of the Enemy for your Groans and Cries are entred into the Ears of the Lord God who in the Bowels of his Love and Mercies doth constrain me to proclaim the day of the tender compassion of the Lord to all you who are truly poor in your Spirits Oh blessed are you among the Children of Men for yours is the Kingdom of God. Therefore be not weary of waiting upon the Lord for in his own time he will turn your Sorrows into Joy and give to you the spirit of Praises for the spirit of Heaviness as he hath done to many who have endured the like Temptations Tryals and Sufferings under which you wait this day for Deliverance and the Lord will be the same to you therefore be of good comfort for as the Serpent was lifted up in the Wilderness so is the Son of Man lifted up in the Light and Covenant of Life to heal your Wounds and save you from Sâ—n and to give you Victory over the Enemy in all his appearances so that you thorow Faith in the Name of Christ make War in Righteousness and fighting the good Fight in keeping the Faith you will he made more then Conquerors thorow his Love that he will shed abroad in your Hearts which will cause you to speak of his goodness and praise his Name for all his Mercies And all dear Children of the Lord who do witness in measure that you are truely baptized into his Death â—nd so are made partakers of his Resurrection as is before written which is the Life that worships him according to his own Will and so is truly accepted of him watch and pray that you may be guided in the power of his Spirit in all your ways And be careful that not any be hasty to utter words before the Lord neither suffer any sighs or groans or any thing to be heard to pass thorow you but as you have the seal of the Spirit of the Lord that he requires it of you this I am commanded to lay as a charge upon you that so all Flesh may be truly silent before the Lord and not any voice to be heard but the living Spirit of the Lord speaking in his People which you that wait in the fear of the Lord and minds his leadings may truly know as it is written so doth his Children witness He that hath my Word saith the Lord let him speak my Word faithfully Is not my Word like a Fire and a Hammer that breaks the Rocks in pieces Therefore all mind to feel the Word of the Lord speaking in you that the pure burning Life of the Spirit may be tasted and felt in whatsoever you be exercised in that so you might be fully assured it is not your own work as Man speaking of God but the Lord alone uttering his own voice in the forcible power of his own Spirit in what you are exercised in whether it be to pray in Sighs or Groans or in words or to speak in Exhortation or Praises you are not to quench the Spirit of the Lord in this his day â—hat he is come and doth appear in giving divers gifts unto his People in his appearance as he did amongst his Disciples who waited at Ierusalem for the pourings forth of his Spirit from on high but they that were strangers to the work of the Spirit could not taste the Life that spake in them but said They were mad and full of new Wine c. but the Lord justified them it being the work of his own Spirit and although he gave unto them various gifts yet all in the unity of himself in which they sacrifice in returning to the Lord his own with advantage to the glory of his great Name as his Children doth at this day blessed be his Name for ever that forth of the Mouthes of Babes his praise is declared in their measures as it is with those of higher growth in the Lord and so do the faithful Labourers reap the Fruit for which they Travel that all the People of the Lord may be filled with his Spirit and in the exercise and leadings thereof become a Body of living Ministers and a Family of Prophets the strong leading the weak by the Hand and in tender Love building up one another in their most holy Faith which gives the Victory over the World to Reign in the Heavenly Dominion which causeth the Children of the most high in the Authority of the Lord to say to the greatest Persecutors Oh man do what thou hast power the God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of thy Hand but if he will not we are resolved in his strength to suffer what he permitteth Man to do and this is the holy resolution of all that are Born again and cannot hide your Heads in the time of Persecution because you are Born of the Royal Seed and have overcome the beggerly cowardly earthly-spirit through the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of your Testimony and no more to love your lives to Death And all dear chosen Vessels of the Lord seeing he hath manifested his Grace so largely to you with all diligence be obedient in walking answerably to his Love and Mercy received that as living Witnesses for God you may shine forth in the beauty of Holiness in all your ways and be careful in keeping your Meetings at the time appointed every one endeavouring to be the first at the Meeting that so not any give way to a careless spirit as some have done and so come to Meetings when others have been a considerable time together and so becomes a burden to the diligent and obedient Servants of the Lord and so the Meetings are not so profitable to your comfort as when you meet diligently at the time waiting in the fear of the Lord to feel his sweet Presence which will keep you awake in the Life of his own Spirit to
Field and confessed to the Truth and received it and after some time he did testifie to it and in 1653. he came into the North into Westmerland Cumberland and Lancashire and declared the Truth both in Steeple-Houses and Meetings and underwent great Sufferings Beating c. with the rest of Friends for the Truth and then after was Imprisoned at York and also at Northampton in 1654. And when I was brought up a Prisoner to Oliver Cromwell I got leave of him that brought me up to see him in that Prison and after that he Travelled up and down a great Part of the Nation declaring the Truth and went under great Sufferings with the rest of Friends who went in great hazard of their Lives declaring the Truth of Christ. And in his latter Days he was long Imprisoned in Warwick but after he was set at Liberty he came to Visit Friends at London where he bore a faithful Testimony for Love and Unity and against the Spirit of Division and after went back and finished his Course and laid down his Head at Warwick in Peace with the Lord in 1688. George Fox London the 16 th of the 10 th Month 1688. Here Followeth some Expressions of his amongst a few Friends near a week before his Departure this Life BEing met together rising from his Bed in great weakness of Body he said to them my God hath yet put in my Heart to bear a Testimony in his Name and blessed Truth and I can never forget the day of his great Power and blessed Appearance when he first sent me to Preach his Everlasting Gospel and proclaim the Day of the Lord to all the People and also he confirmed the same by Signs and Wonders and particularly by a Lame Woman who went on Crutches where I with my Dear Brethren George Fox nnd Richard Farnswarth were cast and as I cryed mightily unto the Lord in Secret that he would signally Manifest himself at that time amongst us and give witness of his Power and presence with us R. F. in the Name of the Lord took her by the Hand and G. F. after spoke to her in the Power of God and bid her stand up and she did and Immediately walked streight having no need of Crutches any more therefore Friends be faithful and trust in the Lord your God for this I can say I never since played the Coward but joyfully entered Prisons as Palaces telling mine Enemies to hold me there as long as they could and in the Prison House I sung praises to my God and esteemed the Bolts and Locks put upon me as Jewels and in the Name of the Eternal God I alway got the Victory for they could keep me no longer than the Determined time of my God and Friends this I must once again testifie to you in the Name of the Lord God that what I saw above thirty Years ago still rests as a Testimony to leave behind me That a Dreadful terrible Day is at hand and will certainly come to pass but the Time when I cannot say but all put on strength in the Name of the Lord and Wait to feel his Eternal Power to preserve you through the Tribulations of these days that approach very near in the sence of which I have often been distressed and bowed down in Spirit with Cryes and Tears to my God for the preservation of his Heritage and this I have further to signifie that my departure draws nigh blessed be my God I am prepared I have nothing to do but Dye and put off this corrupt mortal Tabernacle this Flesh that hath so many Infirmities but the Life that dwells in it transcends above all out of the reach of Death Hell and the Grave and Immortallity and eternal Life is my Crown forever and ever therefore you that are left behind fear not nor be discouraged but go on in the Name and Power of the Lord and bear a faithful and living Testimony for him in your day and the Lord will prosper his Work in your Hand and cause his Truth to flourish and spread abroad for it shall have the Victory and no Weapon formed against it shall prosper the Lord hath determined it shall possess the Gates of its Enemies and the Glory and the Light thereof shall shine more and more until the perfect Day so concluded in Prayers to the Lord with servent Breathings and Supplications for all his People every where but more especially for his dearly beloved Friends assembled together at the Yearly Meeting at London where he had intended to have been if the Lord had given him Health his dear Love was to all Friends that should enquire of him He departed this Life the 17 th of the 4 th Month at Warwick and was Buryed the 18 th 1688. This is the Word of the Living God to his Church he hath called and chosen out of the World to place his Name into order and guide in his pure Wisdom to his praise and glory who alone is worthy God over all blessed for ever THat in every particular Meeting of Friends Servants and Children of the most high God that there be chosen from among you one or two who are most grown in the Power and Life in the pure discerning in the Truth to take the care and charge over the Flock of God in that place and this is the Word of the living God to you who are chosen To watch over the Flock of God to whom I commit the charge and care to take the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready minde I charge and command you in the presence of the living God not to rule as Lords over Gods Heritage but rule in the Power of the Spirit in all purity to be Examples to the Flock and to see that order be kept in the Church in constant meeting together according to the Rule that hath been given forth once a week or more if it may be beside the First-day Meeting and to have a general Meeting with other Friends near to you once in two or three weeks as the Lord orders and makes way Be not slack and backward but faithful to the Lord in improving every opportunity for Friends to meet and to lay the charge and care of some Friends that is the most grown in Truth in every Town where Friends are scattered to see they meet together to wait on the Lord three or four hours as the Lord orders one night or two in a week and to watch over one another with a pure single Eye to see those that come amongst them walk orderly according to what they profess and if any walk disorderly for them to whom the care and charge is committed or any other which discerns them and is moved to speak to them to deal plainly with them in reproving them and ministring to the pure in the Conscience for the restoring of them and if they will not reform acquaint two or three
being moved of the Lord the twenty fourth day of the fourth Month being the first day of the week to go to the Steeple-house in Wellinborrow where the Priest Thomas Andrews and the people were meet together he there peaceably standing in silence the Priest commanded those he called Officers to take him forth of the Steeple-house which was done at his command before half of the Sermon as it s called was ended and by one Henry Henfnan called Church-warden was he had forth to an Alehouse and set watch over him until the Priest had done then the Constable sent to tell him that if he would not come at their Steeple-house in the afternoon that he should be set free he replyed that he should not make such a promise to them for he knew not what the Will of the Lord was to do with him but after a season they let him go And about nine days after Thomas Fox Constable came to his Masters shop where he was working and took him forth without shewing any Warrant or order for his so doing and carried him before Thomas Pentlow called Iustice and though not any evidence came against him that he speak one word in the Steeple-house or made any disturbance there yet the said Thomas Pentlow did send him to the common Goal in Northamton Michael Petteson living in the Town before written being moved of the Lord the first day of the week being the first day of the fifth Month to go into the Steeple house in Wellingborrow and there in silence stood peaceably until the Priest Tho. Andrews had done and people going away then he was moved of the â—ord to ask Thomas Andrews this question Friend canst thou witness this to be the Word of the Lord that thou hast spoken here before the people but the Priest instead of answering to the question he commanded the Officers to take him away and then Iohn Brown Constable took him forth and had him to an Alehouse and set watch over him and the next day the Constable abovesaid carried him with the other Friend before written before Thomas Pentlow aforesaid without shewing him any Warrant and when he was brought before him no Accuser appeared to prove that he had transgressed any Law neither did he read him any Law that he had transgressed but the Priest Thomas Andrews sitting by Thomas Pentlow did move that a Mittimus might be made to send him and the other Friend to the House of Correction for he said the Goal was not Punishment enough for them but Thomas Pentlow not answering him in that did make a Mittimus and sent them to the common Goal in Northampton where they are for a Testimony against the unreasonable proceedings of these unreasonable Men in patience waiting until the Lord deliver them by the Arm of his mighty Power This is said before that of God in all Consciences that all may judg what Spirit guides these Men that hath proceeded against those two before mentioned for while they lived in Pride Pleasure Scornfulness foolish jesting and mocking spending whole nights and days in running after Fidlers Dancing and spending their precious time in Wantonness and Vanity the one of them above Twenty two Years and the other above eighteen Years and all the time that they lived in Vanity they did go to the Steeple-house which the Priest calls a Church and he did own them as his hearers and did not speak to any to hinder them or to take them away but after the Lord in the riches of his love sent the Messengers of his Truth whom the World in scorn call Quakers whom they did hear the fourth day of the tenth Month 1654. that Word which they then heard delivered was to them Power and Life that did their Understandings enlighten and Consciences awaken wherein they did read in the Book of Conscience the evil of their doings until that time they see they had lived without the fear of God and the power of the Spirit which shewed them the evil of their Hearts constrained them to depart from it and to wait on the Power of the Lord to guide them in obedience to the measure of Light received and in obedience to the Light and Power of God they were moved to go into the Steeple-house as before written and though one of them spoke not one word and the other Propounded but one question to the Priest after he had done which is not the breach of any Law of this Nation yet notwithstanding they cast them into Prison as what is before written makes manifest He that hath an Eye to see let him see and an Ear to hear let him hear A Discovery of the Ground and Manner of the Persecution of Thomas Goodayre who is Imprisoned in Northampton by the Magistrates of that Town UPon the thirteenth day of the fifth Month in the Year 1655. he was moved of the Lord to come to Northampton to visit some of his Friends which were cast into Prison there by the Magistrates of that County and when he came there he went to the Prison door but could not be suffered to see his Friends for the Goaler had received order from those called Justices that none should come at them who are in scorn called Quakers which he went to visit and as he was going from thence along the Streets of that Town he met the Mayor and several others some of which are called Aldermen and he was moved to speak to them these words or to this effect Men see what is the fruits of the Ministry of this Nation and what it hath brought forth for Persecution and Wickedness abounds and he declared that those who say they are Christian Magistrates and do Persecute the Innocent are Heathens and know not God and he told them that they could not produce one Scripture to prove that ever any Christian Magistrate did Persecute any Man as those had done that cast his Friends in Prison then one of them called an Alderman stroke off his Hat in the Street and said he would learn him better manners then to stand and talk before the Mayor with his Hat on and some of them spoke to the Mayor to bind him to good Behaviour and the Mayor and the Aldermen consented together and required Sureties for his good Behaviour or else they said he should go to Prison but he told them that he was bound to good Behaviour by the righteous Law of God and he refusing to find Sureties they did immediately send him forth of the Streets to Prison without Mittimus or further Examination and did not make known to him any National Law that he had transgressed neither hath he to this day had any further Examination or Tryal but is content to rest in the Will of God in whom his confidence is who will deliver him out of the Hands of all wicked and unreasonable Men. TO all you Rulers and Judges of the Earth who combine together against the Lord and against his
that hath resisted the God of Israel DEar Friends let the Love of God constrain you to trust in him and feel the Birth of the Seed of God born up over all to eat and feed of the Bread of Life that out of time and place and over all visibles you may live and rejoyce over all hardships that would appear and wrath that arises all keep the word of Faith in the Power of God the Mountains shall fall before you more and more and you shall tread down the Pride of the perverse and froward Generation in the patience and dominion of God forever and let the strong bear the Burthen of the weak that all in the unity of the Spirit in the Power of the Love of God grow up an holy Preisthood offering up the Souls and Bodies a living Sacrifice in faithful Obedience to do the will of God. In whose Name it is declared unto you Dear Friends in vain is it for Man to strive to limit the holy one of Israel or his Spirit in his People for if they were as the Sand upon the Sea shoare that seek to oppress and destroy you that love God more then any thing in the World yea then Life it self fear not comfort your selves in the Light of his Countenance for he will arise and scatter in his wrath as dust before the wind all those that resist his Spirit and his righteousness will he establish in the Earth for ever And O Sion thy God reigneth and thou shalt seethy Enemies come bending to the soles of thy Feet and thy renown which shall go more and more over the Earth thy leaves shall heal the Nations which shall walk in thy Light and you shall be known in all the Earth to be the City of the most high God yea the righteous Seed which the Lord hath blessed when the Faces of thine Enemies shall be covered with shame the Mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it Let this be sent abroad amongst Friends with understanding in the Fear of God. W. D. York Tower the 19th 12th Mounth 1660. Dear Brethren ANd Suffering Members dwelling in the Power and Life glad your Hearts in the unlimited Power of God that in his strength you reign over all the Powers of Darkness in your keeping the word of Patience in the Lord Jesus who will plead your cause in his righteous Judgments when he will clear your Innocency in the Faees of all his Enemies to your eternal comfort and the Glory of his Name forever lift up your Heads this is the day that hath been proclaimed in your Ears which our God hasteth to finish and cut short in righteousness for his Name sake the mighty God of Power keep you faithful to the end Amen W. D. 19th 12th month 1660. DEar faithful Friends in God who hath known the day in your Travels that not any thing hath been dear to you not Life it self that you might enjoy the Light of the Countenance of God which he hath now manifested in the everlasting Covenant of his Light in Christ which now constraineth in the Power of our Royal Life born of the noble Seed to stand out over and above all flattering Tongues and all threatings and wrath of Men which will be more and more manifest before this day of tryal be over and what wrath ever the Lord suffers to arise in the Powers of the Earth without he moves do not any seek to stop it let God have the glory the wrath of Man turns to the praise of God and the remainder he will restrain while the royal Babes in Meekness and Patience stand still and gives glory to God in faithfull obedience with Life to Death if the Lord call for it who hath blessed the labour of all he called into the Vine-yard of God in whom my Bowels is enlarged in the strength of the Life I have received of the Father Oh feel me for I am with you filled with joy in the Lord that his royal Birth is brought forth and the Captive set free the Tongue of the Dumb loosed and the living Power of God raised to offer up living praises on the holy Altar of God in the Asemblies of his Saints Oh lift up your Heads be glad in the strength of the Lord in this day of gathering the good ripe Fruit in the Vine-yard of the Lord now doth the Vines abound with Vertue laden with Clusters of the purest Grapes full ripe which drops abundantly with the Wine renewed in the Kingdom of the Father Oh fill your Cups be not straitned in your Spirits to receive of the fulness of God in whom I am constrained to say unto you in the Light drink drink abundantly let the Thirst of the immortal Birth earnestly in the Light reach forth it self to draw more and more the infinite Life that it may comprehend you in the Power of it self that in its strength your Hearts may be set free over all below and your Spirit in the Light and Life raised in the Heavenly Harmony to praise and glorifie the Name of the Lord in eternal unity to the astonishment of all that know not God whose Hearts shall fail before the Life of God which keeps all that abide in it with what ever he gives low in his fear that neither Heights nor Depths Tribulations or Distress Persecution or Famine or Nakedness Peril or Sword Life nor Death things present nor things to come can never separate the royal Birth from its faithfull obedience to Christ Jesus the Light and dwell out of time and place and over all Creature enjoyments in the unlimitted Power to guide that your words be few and savory at all times whether in Bonds or out of Bonds to minister Grace to the Hearers and be tender affectionate one towards another in the pure chast Love of God all to lye down together in the eternal unity one in the fulness in the most high God over all blessed for ever Farewel your Brother W. D. From the Tower in York the 25 th of the first Month 1661. Let this go abroad amongst all the afflicted and wounded in Spirit with care send this to them DEar Child which Crys over all the World and beyond all the Pleasure Pomp and Vanity therein for the enjoyment of the Light and Countenance of God fear thou not neither be thou discouraged because of the violent assaults of the Enemy who seeks to draw thee into the carnal reasonings of thy Spirit and in it to kindle a fire to thy self and causâ—s thee to walk in the Light of the sparkes that thou hast kindled and this thou hast at the hand of the Lord in thy going from his Counsel thou lyes down in sorrow few knows thy great distress but to the Lord it is known and them that has walked in the same Pathes Oh thou Dear and afflicted Soul who lives in the deep sence of the working of the evil one in thy mind and many times is ready to
known to the Lord in these things c. Oh feel the Seed of Abraham in its Dominion in you which is the Bride the Lamb's Wife and in true love to him doth offer up the dearest Isaac into the Will of God that a perfect Sacrifice our God may have Soul Body and all that we have in this day He hath called us to be the first Fruits unto the Lamb and in our Testimony in this our Tryal we are called to preach to all Nations Kindred Tongues and People in their own Language for the Witness in all their Consciences will feel us and give them to understand that we are not of this World but are the Redeemed of the Lord whom he hath called in the Patience of the Lamb to suffer for to gather the Seed that is scattered in the Earth that our Brethren may be brought from far and our Sisters from the outmost parts of the World who cannot come until we have drunk this Cup of which I was sent to declare to you in years past and now to your comfort I declare when it is finished according to the pleasure of the Lord which he is hastening and will cut short in righteousness for the Seed sake then wo wo to the Enemies of Sion for our God will plague them and cause them to cast all their glory down before him and they shall come bending to the soles of the Feet of his People and shall conâ—ess that you are the Children of the most high God the righteous seed which the Lord hath blessed and this certainly will come to pass the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Through your Brother and Companion in the Tribulation and Patience of the Lord Iesus Farewel W. D. Given forth in the the County Goal of Warwick the 26 th of the 6 th Month 1664. This for Dear Friends in London and them that are Aboard the Ship in order to Transportation or elsewhere all abarod DEAR and Valiant Children of the most High your faithful standing in the meek Spirit to bear your Testimony for the Lord in what he calls you unto is a sweet perfume in the Presence of the Lord and a great refreshing to the Hearts of his People Therefore abide in the pure meek Spirit and receive your blessed reward you faithful Lambs the blessed Crown of Glory is yours forever Oh feel the earning of Bowels towards you and the breakings of Heart that is before the Lord for you Oh can we remember you and not our Eyes water with Tears in compassionating of you in the simpathizing Spirit that indears and unites us one unto another in our God to whom my Soul breaths Oh Lord sweeten the passage of thy People and make their Cups pleasant thou suffers to be given them to drink that thy mighty Power may be manifest in all them that love not their lives to death to do thy will this day and plead their cause in hastening their deliverance to the confounding of all Sions Enemies and the renown of thy great Name forever and ever Dear Brethren and Sisters in the meek Spirit of our God my Life goes and abides with you with the forcible love of the whole Church of the first born Oh lift up your Heads and let not the fear of the Sickness or any Representation of any Evil enter you but all in staidness in the Light Life Thought and Will of God which is perfect in it self and abiding as is written God will keep every one of you in perfect peace all your days in every condition and will keep you in sweet peace and unity one with another to the praise and glory of the Name of our God whose presence is with you and will sweeten your passage in whatever you are to go through to the Praise and Glory of the Name of the Lord forever who will arise more and more and plead our Cause in the sight of a mighty People whom he will make to conâ—ess that you that are faithful are the Children of the most High God the righteous Seed that the Lord hath blessed and it will be well every way with all the faithful and suffering People and the blessing of God shall be upon us and our Children forever that love the Lord Jesus this day And the hundred forty four Thousand shall stand upon Mount Sion where some of the number is already established and they shall sing the new Song that not any shall learn but those that are redeemed from the Earth who shall make the Ears of all the Enemies of God to tingle and their Hearts shall fail and paleness gather into their Faces for dreadful will be the vengeance of the Lord upon Sions Enemies and great fearfulness shall surprise them they shall run to and fro like Vagabonds as Cain did and not know where to hide their Heads for where ever they are the Lord will find them out and banish them from place to place until he hath gotten his glory upon them in laying all low that withstands his arising for he will dash the potsheards of the Earth to pieces and they shall lament and cry out and gnaw their Tongues for pain when you faithful beloved ever honourable Children that endure unto the end shall Shout and Sing Praises and Magnifie the Lord and say Oh how righteous are thy Judgments Oh thou King of Saints for thou hast pleaded our cause and turned our Sorrows into everlasting Joy and hast over-thrown all thy Enemies that withstand the rising of thy Glory that a door may be opened to gather our Brethren from far and our Sisters from the ends of the Earth Therefore will we Sing of thy Goodness with Praises Praises Hallelujahs and high Praises for thou art worthy over all forever and ever Amen My dear Companions with me Salutes you all in the dearest love of our God where neither Sea nor Land can seperate but in the bowels of love will we imbrace one another in the chast Life where no Vulters Eye can behold our Joy and Felicity in the Lord our God In whom fare you weâ—l fare you well saith the Soul of your dear Brother in the Name of the Lord forever both you that are for Transportation and you that stand in a faithful Testimony in that City where the Lord hath sent his destroying Angel to execute the pleasure of his will. And in the tender Bowels of the Love of God I desire you all in this Gloomy Dismal Dark Day that 's come upon that City put you on the shieâ—d of Faith and in the Light of the Covenant stand single before the Lord to be cloathed with the Garment of Eternal Salvation that you may reign over all fearfulness and unbelief that every particular may stand as Saviours on Mount Sion in the midd'st of a desolate People for this is the Harvest of the great God in that City wherein he is Reaping Threshing and Winnowing the Chaff from the Wheat and making a short work
Testimony for him in the pure meek peaceable Spirit of our Lord Jesus with the hazard of the loss of all outward substance dear and tender Wife and Children and beloved Husband and tender Children to be rent from their dear beloved Parents and also with the hazard of your Liberty and Transportation out of your Native Country and not at all love your lives to death to seal your Testimony with your Blood in the Word of his Patience if the Lord require it at your Hands and when you have done the Will of God in what is before written your love is so large to the Lord Jesus that you abhor loath and detest and trample upon every appearance of the arrogant self-pridâ—ng and self-inriching boasting Spirit in what you have done or suffered for the Testimony of the Truth of our God and in true watchfulness and pure attendancy to the Light and Counsel of the Lord Jesus you are always kept in a true sensibility of your own nothingness cloathed with the Garment of everlasting humility where you sit at the feet of Jesus as Mary did chusing the good part that shall never be taken away casting your Garments of all self-righteousness upon the ground that Jesus may tread upon them and the cumbred disposition of Martha that would complain of the innocent Life or that would have any eye to self and rob him of his Glory and for this you Children of the most high is your daily waiting that the Lord Jesus may take you up into him and cause you to rejoyce and sing Hosanah to the highest and to bless him that comes in the Name of the Lord to cover you with his own righteousness and marry you to himself as his chosen and beloved Bride in his own faithfulness and give you perfect Victory in overcoming through the Blood of the Lamb and the word of your faithful Testimony in the pure meek holy healing Spirit of the Lord our righteousness in whom you shall be as Pillars in the Temple of our God and shall go no more forth but shall grow as Trees of Righteousness in the midd'st of the Street of the City of our God bringing forth acceptable Fruit to him in due season and your Leaves shall be for the healing of the Nations where-ever the Lord suffers you to be cast for the Testimony of his glorious Name yea the Prisoners of hope will be refreshed at the sound of your coming and the Mourners will rejoyce in your arising for the Tongue of the learned shall be given unto you all in your measure to speak a word in due season to every condition for you and all the Companions that can read and understand in the true experience your state as here written shall stand as Saviours upon Mount Sion which can never be removed because yoâ— have not any eye to self in what ever you do but it is your delight to be ordered by the holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus and in your resignation into his pure will you shall be translated more and more into the angelical glory and by your holy conversations words and works which hath the love of God stampt upon them you become Preachers of the mind of God to the Nations and as ministring Angels shall reap in his harvest to the gathering our Brethren from far and our Sisters from the ends of the Earth and all the Nations shall confess that you are the Children of the most high God the righteous Seed whom the Lord hath blessed and the Hearts of the People shall be changed in the day determined by the Power of the mighty God who turns the Hearts of men as a River of Water and the People of the Nations in the Earth shaâ—l more strive in their fervent desires for you suffering Innocent Lambs to live amongst them then they now strâ—ve and endeavour to send you away from them the Mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it through your Brother in the Lord Jesus whose life hath been of no esteem to serve you with my faithful Brethren who in true self-denial through the almighty Power of God indured the heat of the day that you might be gathered and established to indure the tryals which were of the Lord determined of which I was sent in years past to proclaim in your Ears and in the same word which speaketh thorow me to you of which neither jot nor tittle shall fall to the ground till all be fulfilled I declare to you this day Therefore dear and honourabâ—e Brethren and Sisters from the highest growth to the lowest stature in Jesus let not any consult with Flesh and Blood but all in the perfect Light and Life of Jesus lift up your Heads that your Souls may be inlivened with his quickening vertue in that eternal Hunger which nothing can satisfie but the Lord of Glory in this day of separation between the precious and the vile between the true birth and the false birth as it was in the days of old when they confessed unto him and followed him beyond the Seas but when the Lord said Except ye eat my Flesh and drink my Blood you have no Life in you All that were the false birth that stood as the high-way ground stony and thorny ground Hearers foolish Virgins that had no Oyle in their Lamps they said this is an hard saying and who can bear it and they went back and left the Lord of Life and followed no further Then the Lord said to the Children born of the true birth will you go away also They answered nay thou hast the words of eternal Life and whither shall we go Oh dear Child canst thou leave the Father that begot thee or canst thou â—eed of any thing but the bread he hath prepared for thee Though thou mayst be beset and compassed about as Bees with the Enemies of thy Souls peace that would hinder thee from walking with thy God yet can they keep thee from him nay assuredly thou hangest upon him as a Child upon a Father Though thou be as a little Babe thou abhors all things that would hinder thee from following the Lord Thou saist of thy riches of this World thou shalt be no snare to me and to the tender Wife weep not for me give me up for I must forsake thee when the Lord requires me neither regards the Crys and Tears of the mournful Children thou comfortest them in what thou mayst but thou freely leavest them for the Glory of thy God and thus is it with Wife concerning tender Husband and Children concerning their dear Parents in this day of rending one from another Assuredy I cannot but commiserate your condition and simpathize with you being sensible of the earnings of Bowels whilst I have been drinking this cup for many years And now Oh ye Babes born of the royal birth you are the chosen Jewels let no care be upon your Hearts for any thing in this World for you seeking Gods Kingdom and the
shall reign with him who suffer with him and they that are dead with him shall live with him it is the dead that hears the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live arise thou that sleepest in the dust of the Earth securely in thy earthly serpentine Wisdom thy mind feeding upon the dust of the Earth created objects which will perish arise stand up to Judgment that Christ may give thee Life this is required of thee O Man to do justly love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God examine thy Heart and deal justly with thy own Soul There is a Light in thy Conscience which Light is of Christ minding it it will let thee see the mystery of Iniquity that lodgeth in thy Heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked and this Light in thy Conscience which discovers unto thee the evil of thy Heart is of the eternal Word of God and was from the beginning according as it is written in the outward Testimony of the Truth In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word is God and the same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made in him was Life and the Life was the Light of men and the Light shineth in Darkness and the Darkness comprehends it not Every one arise out of your earthly wiâ—dom and mind the Light in thy Conscience and wait on the Power of the Lord in it and it will bring thee to Judgment before the Throne of the Lamb where the righteous Law will be opened in thy heart that will cry through thy earthly heart for Righteousness and Judgment and the Book will be opened in thee where thou shalt see all written that thou hast done in the Body and shall give an account for every idle word and receive thy reward for what thou hast done and thy reward is Wrath and Condemnation which will pass upon thee from the Presence of the Lamb for thy disobedience and breaking of the righteous Law which must be fulfilled and what way soever thou turnest to get Life in outward Forms and Observations the flaming Sword which is the righteous Law that goes out of the Mouth of the Lamb it will turn every way and meet thee and cut thee down and cast thee into Hell where there is Weeping and Wailing for want of the presence of God and thou canst do nothing to pacifie the Wrath of God which is gone out against thee Now wouldst thou hide thy self as Adam did when he appears in thy Heart thy Fig-leafed Garment of Prayers Tears Forms outward Observations according unto thy comprehension of the Letter will not cover thy Nakedness it served to cover the Nakedness from the sight of Men but now when the Lord appears in thy Heart thou canst not stand before him now comes Cain in thee to be driven from the Face of God to be a Fugative and a Vagabond in the Earth notwithstanding all his Sacrifice and Esau in thee Repâ—obated never to have the Blessing though he seek it with Tears and the bond Woman and her Son cast out and the first Adam now slain with the sharp Sword that goeth out of the Mouth of the Lamb and art made to give up thy Soul to God whose it is to do with thee what he will if he destroy thee forever he may and if he save thee from eternal Death it is his free Love now art thou Baptized with Christ into his Sufferings and Death where thou liest sealed down under the eternal Judgment of God and there perisheth for ever for any power or help thou hast in thy self and this is the Administration of Moses where thou liest condemned for ever under the righteous Law without any help or hope until the Administration of the Prophets that prophesie of a Christ that hath satisfied the righteous Law of God for thee who art lost and condemned under the power of the Law of Moses and now there is a secret hope raised up in thy Soul and thou lookest up from under the condemning power of Moses for a Saviour and the Prophets are until Iohn and of all that were born of Women there was not one greater than Iohn for he is a burning and shining Light that lets thee see the filthiness of thy Heart and the Law shines in its purity to condemn the earthly Man in thee but he streghthens the hope in thee that was raised up by the Prophets to see the beauty and excellency of Jesus Christ which ravishes thy lost condemned Soul that thou art willing to sell all for him the Scripture now being fulfilled in thee who witness this From the days of Iohn even until now the Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force now is every Mountain and Hill laid low in thee and crooked ways made strait and the rough way in thee made smooth and thou waitst in the Wilderness and lost condition of thy self for the Salvation of God to be manifest to thee in Jesus Christ and in the appointed time of the Father the Son of Man comes to thy Soul as a Thief in the Night as the lightning from the East to the West so is his appearance in thee and causes thy dead Soul to hear his Voice which witnesses to it eternal Life freely through his own Blood and thy Soul hears his Voice and by the Word of his Power is made to live and art sealed up by the holy Spirit of Promise the Spirit of God bearing witness with thy Spirit that thou art his Child now comest thou to witness the second Adam to be a quickning Spirit and Isaac the promised Seed to be heir for ever and that the wages of sin is death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life and that by Grace thou art saved through Faith in the Lord Jesus not of works least any should boast and he that hath hope in him purifies himself as he is pure and the Love of Christ constrains thee now who can witness this work of Regeneration manifest in thee to follow him whithersoever he goes no more to obey him for Life as thou didst when thou wast without seeking him in Forms and Observations but now the Love and Life thou enjoyest in Christ Jesus constrainâ— thee to deny thy self and take up thy cross daily and follow him Now art thou come into the beginning to live in the Lord guided by the powerful word of Faith the Light that shines in thy Heart which is the Light of the City New Ierusalem to which thou art come to Worship the Father in Spirit and Truth and all that are come to walk in the Light of the City New Ierusalem are the true Israel of God that are taught of God to whom the New and everlasting Covenant is made
or lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you But these your Merchants have no Scripture for their Merchandize which they sell to you enslaved Captives for so many Hundreds in the Year and is paid in the Nation or elsewhere For these Observations they tell you you must observe or else you cannot come to the Kingdom of Heaven though they are contrary to the Scripture as they are practised by them there is no Scripture that witnesseth their call to the Ministry by humane Wisdom Not many great not many Noble not many Wise after the Flesh. There is no Scripture that any that Jesus Christ sent forth made a Bargain with the People for so much a Year as these do that profess themselves to be sent of Christ. This is the call of the Ministers of Christ Paul an Apostle of Iesus Christ neither of Man nor by Man but by the Revelation of Iesus Christ. I send you forth saith Jesus Christ as Lambs among Wolves into what Town or City ye enter enquire who is Worthy and if they receive you there abide eating such things as is set before you the Labourer is Worthy of his Meat freely ye have received freely Minister Those whom Jesus Christ commits the Word of eternal Life unto and calls them forth to declare it unto others the love of Jesus Christ which is sealed up to their Souls through his own Blood constrains them to give up themselves to death in witnessing forth the eternal Life they enjoy in Christ as it was it is the Love of Christ constraineth me to Preach the Gospel saith Paul But these your Merchants are they which have forsaken the right Way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam the Son of Bezor who loved the Wages of unrighteousness And as there is no Scripture for their call to the Ministry by their humane learning nor making Bargains with the People for so much in the Year so there is no Scripture for these Observations they call the Ordinances of God as they are practised by them There is no Scripture that Christ or any that he sent forth did take a Child and sprinkled Water on its face and said in so doing they Baptized it into the Church of Christ. Suffer little Children to come unto me saith Christ and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of God for whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little Child shall not enter therein he sets the Child as a type and a figure to shew forth to every one that they must become as a little Child depending upon the Will of God before they enter into the Kingdom of God he took them up in his Armes and put his hands on them and blessed them but that he sprinkled Water on their Faces and said He Baptized them into this Church thâ—â—e is no such Scripture Another Observation your Teachers tell you you must observe is hearing these studied Sermons in taking a part of Scripture and adding to it their wisdom calls it the Word of God which is contrary to the Scripture but they say They have Christ for an Example There was delivered unto him the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and when he had opened the Book he found where it was written The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to Preach the Gospel unto the Poor he hath sent me to heal the Broken-hearted to Preach deliverance to the Captives and recovering the sight of the Blind and to set at liberty them that are Braised to Preach the acceptable year of the Lord And he closed the Book and sat down and he began to say unto them This day is the Scripture fulfilled in your Ears and all bear him witness and wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his Mouth he was the substance of the Prophecy which was then fulfilled in him This is no ground for any to take the Saints words and add to it their wisdom and call that the Word of God. The Prophet that hath a Dream let him tell a Dream he that hath my Word let him speak my Word faithfully What is the Chaff to the Wheat saith the Lord Is not my Word like a Fire and like a Hammer saith the Lord that breaks the Rocks in pieces All to whom the Word of the Lord is committed can witness it to be as a Fire within them and as a Hammer that breaketh the Rocks in Pieces subjecting all in the Heart under the power of it self so it alone rules and guides him that he is what he speaks that if he had never seen any thing that the Saints have declared without him he had known what is manifest in him and he to whom the Word is thus made manifest is a true Minister of Christ who is called to speak the Word faithfully But these that call themselves your Teachers and make Bargains with you for so much in the Year they never witnessed the Word of the Lord in them as a Fire and like a Hammer that breaketh the Rocks in pieces so they never had any thing to have spoken of the Lord but as they have stoln it from the Testimony of the Saints so they speak a divination of their own Brain a Riddle to their own Hearts and whilst they speak to others themselves are Cast-aways And the Lord testifies against them Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that steals my Word every one from his Neighbour Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that use their Tongues and say He saith Behold I am against them that Prophecy false Dreams saith the Lord and to tell them and causes my People to err by their Lies and by their Lightness yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit the People at all saith the Lord And this fruit is made manifest of the Ministry that hath been in England Another Observation your Teachers tells you to observe which is contrary to Scripture as it is practised by them in singing of Davids Psalms in Metre taking Davids words who was a Man after Gods own Heart and putting words into the Mouths of poor Ignorant People to sing that which they never knew and so causes them to Blaspheme the Name of God saying Let us sing to the Praise and Glory of God as O Lord I am not puft in mind I have no scornful eye I do not exercise my self in things that be too high for me When they never knew any change wrought in their minds and so causeth the people to Lye. And causing them to sing Davids Prayers as O Lord Rebuke me not in thy wrath neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure for thine Arrows stick fast in me and thy Hand presseth me sore for my Iniquities are gone over my Head as an heavy Burthen they are too heavy for me to bear my Wounds stink
his Counsel the measure of his Spirit in you to guide you in his holy Fear that you may be Heirs of his living Mercies through your holy Conversations then will he come upon you in the fierceness of his Wrath and break you to peeces like Potsherds and get his Glory over all your Heads in the Revelation of his righteous Judgments wherein the Rider of the pale Horse shall execute the pleasure of his own will as he did the last Year upon thy Inhabitants Oh thou City of London so now art thou warned through the Constrainments of the Spirit of the Lord through him that could have no rest till he signified unto thee what is here given forth what the determination of God is Therefore Wo Wo unto the Wicked for it shall go ill with them But Oh blessed be the Faithful Lambs happy are you dear precious and blessed Vessels your Faithfulness to God in your watching waiting in the Light of the Son of Righteousness for whom you have stood as Pillars in the strength of the Almighty Ah your tenderness and love to God and one unto another in the days of great Calamity that hath been amongst you is recorded in the Book of Eternal Remembrance of the living God and in the Hearts of his Righteous Generation never to be forgotten Oh take your Crown of everlasting Blessings you innocent Lambs and Children of Light in the City of London Oh be valiant and keep your state with God that his pure saving sanctifying Spirâ—t may guide you all in purity of Life and Conversation and in the aboundings of the Pure Holy Love to God and one unto another the mighty Jehovah will shew himself for you in the day of great Tribulation you shall rejoyâ—â— when the wicked shall Howle yea you shall tryumph in the Pure Dominion of the Lord of Glory when the wicked shall be turned into Hell and all that forget God the Mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it Through your Brother in the Tribulation and Kingdom of Patience of the Lord Iesus W. D. Given forth in Obedience to the Lord the 10 th of the 3 d Moneth 1666. Blessed are all who are united to God in the Lord Jesus yea happy are the People that have the Lord for their God. A General Epistle given forth from the Spirit of the Lord to be Read in his Fear in the Assemblies of the Church of the First-Born gathered in these Northern-Countries and in all Countries and Islands where-ever the People of the Lord are scattered over the Face of the Earth Dear Friends CAlled in the Light of the Lord Jesus to stand living Witnesses for him upon the Earth amongst the Children of Men Oh! the Bowels of the Love of the Lord that is in my Heart to you that when I was nigh unto death to the sight of all that saw me as to the outward Man and scarce able to speak I was constrained to give forth the substance of what is now sent amongst you for a perfect discovery of your conditions seeing that many are called and few chosen and many convinced that are not converted therefore are these lines written that you may truly know whether you be born again and redeemed from the Earth yea or nay And in order thereunto let every Man and Woman search their Hearts with the Light of the Lord and it will truly manifest whether you be born again and so feed upon the Tree of Life or otherwise you rest in outward formal conformity to the Tturh and the heart in the Earth and that Spirit will turn against Truth and hath done And some others are drawn to delight their Hearts in the Gifts Parts and knowledge which the Lord hath given them more then in the Lord the Fountain from whence they come and so abuse the gift and feeds upon the fruit of the Tree of Knowledg which puffeth up and maketh Man wise in his own eyes and say in his Heart I am wise and rich sees and wants nothing when they are Blind miserable naked and wants all things and whatever any profess as to the Service of God that is in this condition they have an end to themselves in what they do which grieveth the Spirit of the Lord when Men and Women in a discoursitive Spirit takes upon them to declare the Truth when the Lord neither calls them nor speaketh by them so are the Children born of the Royal Seed burthened for such have turned against the Truth and the Children born of it whom the Lord hath and will ease in the day determined when all mouthes shall be closed in silence but who are opened by him and not any Voice be heard but his own Spirit speaking in and thorow his own Children born of him who alone seeks his Glory and not any thing for themselves which must be denied Therefore seeing the Enemies wiles are great and many let all dread the Lord and who have been led astray wait in the heart-searching Light to see the Mystery of Iniquity where it led them forth and return to the Light to judge down proud exalted self which hath turned against the Truth and bring into true Poverty and abhoring of self to wait at the Throne of Grace for the Lord to raise you up in the Resurrection which raised up Jesus from the dead and in this Life contentious Self is buried in death and the true unity is known where the Lord alone is exalted in purity joy love and peace in all his from the least to the highest growth and all Flesh abased before him who is worthy of all Obedience Praise and Glory for ever Amen And all dear Friends and Brethren that love the Light and rejoyce in the Judgments of the Lord to have subtil Self buried in the true Death that what gifts of the Spirit soever the Lord gives unto you and the Enemy tempt you never so strongly to puff you up in a self-priding spirit in what you have received of the Lord yet his fear is so minded by you which keeps you in a true sence of your nothingness and emptiness in your selves which causes you to wait in true self-denâ—aâ— for the daily assistance and renewing of your strength in the Resurrection of Life in the Lord Jesus and the more he manifests his Power with you the more empty and nothing you appear in your own Fyes And so is the true Birth known which makes Self of no repuration that the Lord may be exalted in his unlimitted power in manifesting himself in the poverty emptiness and nothingness of his people who are born of him that not any Flesh may glory before him but all in truth to say the Lord doth all in me and through me and the Lord shall have the Glory and I will sit in the dust at his feet with all my Brethren and Sisters to serve him and his People through whom we are raised up to sit in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus in
against them and notwithstanding all thy Wickedness and Rebellious walking before me in love to thy Soul I have preserved thee to this day and still doth wait upon thee to be Gracious and Merciful to thee if thou wilt still return to my Counsel and diligently hearken to it the Light in thy Conscience which witnesseth against the pride of thy Heart and loftiness of thy Spirit and calls of thee to perform thy promises thou madest to me in the day of thy distress in speedily taking away the Unrighteous Laws by which my People are Persecuted that are guided by my Righteous Law in their Conscience that they be no more given up as Sheep to the Slaughter for declaring my Word and Mind to the People as they have been and are in this Nation but that they may have free Liberty and no more be Persecuted by any outward Law for declaring what I make known to them by my Spirit Which if thou dost return to me that I may guide thee by my Power as is declared then will I heal thy Backslidings and deliver thy Soul forth of the Pit of Corruption and bring it into my Banqueting-House where thou shalt drink of the Rivers of pleasure that is in my presence where thy Soul shall be for ever with my dear Children in the purchased Inheritance that shall never fade away and this shall be the Portion of thy Cup. I once more tender to thee if thou wilt speedily return while my Arm is stretched forth in this day of thy Visitation to imbrace thee and if thou wilt not hearken to my Counsel but like proud Pharaoh still hardens thy Heart against it and continue in thy Pride and Obstinacy as thou hast done know this my Spirit shall not always strive with thee but I will hasten the day of my Righteous Judgments upon thee and the Arm of Flesh which thou trusts and leanest upon to uphold thee and protect thee where thou art shall be to thee as the broken Reeds of Egypt that shall break to peices and Torment and Wound thee and I will get my glory upon thee in breaking thee down in my Wrath and fierce Displeasure and none shall deliver thee out of my Hand which will speedily perfect my Pleasure upon thee for the time is not long ere I accomplish what I have spoken except thou Repent and thou shalt know thy Destruction is of thy self and thy Blood shall be upon thy own Head and shall confess my Judgments to be true and righteous to all that hear of it that they may be warned by thee to fear and walk humbly before me in the day that I do this saith the Lord of Hosts The Word of the Lord I was commanded by him to writ to thee and after it was written was taken from me by one Thomas Pentlow called Justice of the Peace at the Town called Willby in Northampton-Shire yet notwithstanding in the love of God to thy Soul I am again ordered by him to make known his Counsel to thee that thou mightst not be Ignorant of his mind towards thee what he hath made known to me who am a lover of thy Soul and known to the World by name William Dewsbery Prisoner in Northampton Goal for the Word of God and Testimony of Jesus Christ. From the Common Goal in Northampton the first day of the Tenth Month 1654. The Mighty Day of the Lord is comming in which Christ knocks at the door of the Heart of Kindreds Tongues People and Nations who desire to know the only true God and Iesus Christ whom he hath sent to be the Light of the World and Salvation to the Ends of the Earth to all that obey him but a stumbling Stone and a Rock of offence to all that resist his Counsel whom he will take in their own Craft and overturn in their own Devices to the shame and confusion of their Faces but they that believe in him shall never be ashamed This was given forth in the common Goal in Northampton the 7th day of the 11th Month 1655. by William Dewsbery there Prisoner for the Word of God and Testimony of Iesus THe mighty day of the Lord is comming to you People whose natural Birth and Generation was in the Northern Islands whom the Lord of Heaven and Earth hath placed where he hath suffered you to be scattered into Barbadoes Virginia New-England and other Islands there away and Countries elsewhere and to every Kindred Tongue and People and Nations in whom there is desires raised to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent to be the Light of the World to guide the Feet of those that sate in Darkness into the Light and Way of Peace To you People the mighty Day of the Lord is coming and in his Power is appearing amongst you in raising desires in some of you towards his Name which desires cannot be satisfied with any outward Observations and Traditions of your Fathers but above them doth your minds rise in true Hunger and Thirst towards the living God for refreshment from his presence prize the Love of God to you in whom he hath raised desires towards him and look not forth at any that teaches to hearken to the Teachings of Men without who draw you to seek Christ and God without and to come to the knowledg of the Kingdom of God in outward Observations with which the knowledge of God comes not the Kingdom of God is within and as the Lightning is from the East to the West so is the coming of the Son of Man in his day whose appearance is within but you People in the day of Darkness and Ignorance that have been over the whole Earth have been deceived in looking forth at teachings of Men without and for the Kingdom of God to come in outward Observations that men have set up in their vain thoughts Wicked and carnal Imaginations of the Saints condition which is Recorded in the Scriptures of Truth but they not regarding the motion of the Spirit of God within which taught and guided the Saints they are Strangers to the Saints Life though they speak great swelling words of the knowledg of God and with them deceive the simple with the inticing words of Mans Wisdom and boasting in other Mens Lines made ready to their Hands but they themselves are natural bruit Beasts living without the fear of God in Pride Covetousness Dissimulation and Hypocrisie full of self-Love making their Bellies their God delighting their Hearts in the Creature enjoyments and visible objects and are Men-Pleasers having their Persons in admiration and them respecting for advantage and these Men who are Ignorant of the only true God you have followed to teach you to come to know God who hath drawn you to Worship an unknown God in the ignorance of your minds so have they destroyed your Souls and the Souls of many and you People perish for want of Knowledg Hosea 4.6 In being caused to err with
Lord God and great shall be the peace of my Children and â—his here declared the Scriptures witness and I witness the Scriptures fulfilled in me praises praises Hallelujah and eternal praises be unto the Lord God almighty who hath taken unto thee thy great Power to sit upon thy Throne and to the Lamb for evermore It being charged on me my Imprisonment to be just until I give a reason of the hope of my calling and that I am unwilling so to do To stop the lying Mouth of the false Accusers and to clear the Truth from the lies laid on it as is before written and in love to the Souls of the People that they the Truth may know as it is in Jesus Here I have declared the work of the mighty God in revealing his Son in me who led me on my journey through the dark World where I passed through great tribulations as formerly written until I came to the end of the World over it to rejoyce in the Power of my God 1 Cor. 10.11 upon whom the ends of the World are come whom the whole World that lies in wickedness hates and persecutes but to the pure single Eye that is not of the World I lay this before which is written that all which it minds may see the Truth I bear Testimony of is not any Popish Tenet though I was questioned concerning them at the general Assizes holden at Northampton the tenth and twelfth dayes of the first Moneth called March 1654. neither is it Seducing nor Blasphemy nor prejudicial to the Truth of the Gospel or peace of the Nation but according to the truth of the everlasting Gospel and sound peace of the Nation for which Testimony I am still kept in Bonds in the common Goal in Northampton numbred amongst the Transgressors in the low Prison with these arraigned for Fellony and Murther waiting in rest and peace till the Sufferings of the righteous Seed be fulfilled And all you that are Enemies to the Truth of God persecuting it under the names as formerly written calling the preaching of the Truth seducing this I declare and confess unto you in the presence of God after the Way you call Seducing do I worship the Lord God of my Fathers and witness fulfilled what is written in the Law and the Prophets he that can receive me let him W. D. Dear Friends whose minds are turned to the effectual Light that comes from Christ all mind your own measure and be content in what the Lord hath committed to you with the Light judge that which would draw your minds to look forth at others conditions and in impatiency to covet what the Lord hath given to them before it be manifest to you be faithful every one in your own measure and in patience wait in the Light for the unlimitted Spirit of Christ your Life to open the Seals of the Book and make known unto you the mystery of eternal Life which he will daily reveal in you that are faithful in your own measures to follow the Lord in what he makes manifest to you whom he hath called into his Vineyard at the nineth and eleventh hour be faithful to the Lord in walking in obedience to him in the Light he will make a short work in the Earth for his Seeds sake and your Reward shall be Rest and Peace in the presence of God in Christ with those that came into the Vineyard the 3d and 6th hour and laboured the heat of the day God almighty be with you his chosen Servants and Children and all in your measure keep in his eternal power bold valiant and faithful unto the end and crown you with eternal glory in Christ one Judge Lord and King God over all blessed forever Amen To all you that Rule in England from the highest to the lowest whom the Lord hath intrusted with power to see the Peace be kept and to judge the Cause of the People He hath given you Power their Causes to judge with Righteous Judgement the Evil-doers to Punish and the Righteous set Free out of the Hands of those that oppress them This is the Word of the Lord God to you THat you lend not your Ears to the counsel of your own Hearts or to the counsel of any without you that tempt you to draw your minds from the pure Counsel of God which is the Light that comes from Christ Jesus and calls on you in your Consciences to judge with Righteous Judgment as you will eternally answer before the pure powerful dreadful God take heed of abusing your power he hath intrusted you with in establishing any Law which is contrary to Scripture and the righteous Law of God in the Conscience as those did whom the Lord drave out and destroyed before you in his wrath and overturned in his fierce displeasure which if you uphold those Laws they made in their will or any other which is contrary to the righteous Law of God in the Conscience and rule according to those Laws and exercise the power committed to you to bind the Laws upon the Consciences of the Children of the Lord whom he hath chosen out of the world and made them his Jewels to fear an Oath in obedience to the righteous Law which saith Swear not at all which if you by these unrighteous Laws take advantage against the righteous Seed concerning the Law of their God them to ensnare under your power that you on them may satisfie your wills This I declare to you from the eternal God of Heaven and Earth it is hard for you to kick against the pricks for what is done to his people he takes it as done to himself and better a Milstone were hanged about your neck and you cast into the Sea saith Christ then to offend one of these little ones that believeth in his Name and obeys his Command who saith Swear not at all and now is manifesting his power in his People that all them may know between those that Swear and them that fear an Oath which if you them that fear an Oath oppress this knowâ— the Lord God will plead their Cause as he did the Cause of all his people in all Ages and destroyed those that oppressed them as in the time of Pharaoh and in the time of Nebuchadnezar and in the time of Hamon in the raign of King Ahasuerus and in the time of King Herod whom he smote in his righteous Judgments and consumed him with Worms Acts 12.23 for persecuting his people and robbing him of his glory the righteous justice of God he manifested upon the Enemies of his People is left upon record you to fore-warn that you touch not his chosen anointed People nor do his Prophets no harm for whose sakes he Kings rebukes and all that oppress them as is recorded in Scripture of truth And you Rulers of England who promised to the Lord God if he would deliver those that oppressed his people into your hands and
give you power over them you would take away all Laws that burthened the Consciences of his people and they should have free liberty to worship him in Spirit and in Truth according to his Law written in their own hearts and according to your desires the Lord appeared while you in his counsell stood and gave all into your power according to the desires of your own hearts and now is the time of your tryall wherein the Lord is trying you all this day whom he hath put power into your hands which if you now forget the Lord God who appeared to you when you were little in your own eyes in the day of your distress and deny to perform your Promises you made to the Lord when he delivered you out of the hands of those that sought your lives but contrary to all your Promises abuse your Power you are intrusted with to build up again what you seem'd to destroy which cost the price of so much blood in establishing Laws which are contrary to Scripture and the righteous Law of God in the Conscience and by them think to scatter the power of the holy people and to weary out the Saints of tlle most high God in turning Judgment backward and keeping Justice afar of that Truth falleth in the Streets and Equity cannot enter so he that departeth from Evil maketh himself a prey to your wills and the Lord God seeth it and is displeased with you that there is no Judgment for his People Therefore to you this is the Word of the Lord that abuse your power you are intrusted with in perverting judgment as before-written thus saith the Lord God The Pit you dig for my people ye shall fall into it your selves and my people I will deliver by the Arm of my mighty power and according to your deeds I will to you repay and recompence fury and vengeance to you my Adversaries and will you sweep away with the Beesom of my wrath except you repent and your blood shall be upon your own heads and you shall not escape but come to your End and none shall help you He that hath an Ear to hear let him hear And be fore-warned now in this day of your Visitation wherein the Lord hath to you sent you to forewarn of the evil that is a coming upon you that you may speedily to him return and lay your Crowns in the dust at the Feet of Jesus Sions King and in his Counsel stand which is the Light in the Conscience that in you witnesseth against every vain thought and wicked imaginations and in the Light wait his Power you to guide to perform your Promises and to take away all Laws contrary to Scripture and the righteous Law of God in the Conscience that the righteous Law of God may be your Guide which is the Guide of all the Children of God then will the Lord God of Heaven and Earth be with you and with the Arm of his mighty Power destroy all that Plot or rise up against you before whom he will make the unrighteous Powers of the Earth to shake if you abide faithful in his Counsel and will make you a terrour to the Evil-Doers and a praise to them that do well and will bring you into the eternal Peace and Rest he hath prepared for his People but if you reject his Counsel and cast his righteous Law behind your backs as you have done and follow the counsel of your own hearts all that have an Eye to see read and understand Prov. 29.1 He that hath been often reproved and hardeneth his Neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy And in that Day I shall be clear of your blood who in love to your Souls hath not hid the Counsel of God from you which he hath made known to me that you may be left without excuse in the day of the Lords Anger when he doth perform what he hath spoken Then shall I be remembred whom the World knoweth by Name William Deusbery and by some of you that profess to minister justice cast into Prison and there kept in the common Goal in Northampton for the Word of God and Testimony of Jesus Christ. From the Goal in Northampton the 25 th day of the 4 th Moneth 1655. O England England over all in thee I lament who Persecutes the Sons and Daughters of the most high God he hath to thee sent thee to forewarn of the evil day that is coming upon thee O That thou in this day of thy Visitation did know the things belonging to thy Peace which the living God tenders to thee in this day of his mercy wherein he waits on thee to be gracious unto thee and to make thee the glory of all the Nations of the World and in all thy Straits for thee appeared and in his mighty Power hath destroyed all that did secretly Plot and Rise up against thee to establish unrighteous Laws and them bind upon the Consciences of those that feared the Lord in thee and walked humbly before him according to the measure of Light received and now hath he appeared in the day of his mighty Power in thee O England to exalt the Kingdom of Christ in the Hearts of his Saints and hath sent them to Preach his everlasting Gospel in thee to turn the minds of the People from Darkness to Light which comes from Christ in it to wait for his Power to guide out of all Sin and Uncleaness into union and fellowship with the Father of Light which many of you People in England seemed to desire above all things and content to give up your lives to withstand them that did appear to bind any unrighteous Law upon you and by it to take advantage against you concerning the Law of God which you professed to love and to delight in your liberty in it more then in your nearest and dearest Relation or Life or any outward enjoyment and all you in that day who were faithful to the Lord according to the measure of Light manifest in you the Lord God did appear for you and in his mighty Power hath scattered those that stood up in enmity against you to bind Laws upon your Consciences which is contrary to Scripture and the righteous Law of God in the Heart and the Lord hath given you power over all those your Enemies and now have you free liberty which they cannot take from you to worship God in Spirit and in Truth according to the desires you seemed to manifest in the day you cryed to the Lord when you were in distress and now is the Lord come to visit you in his tender mercy and hath sent his Ministers to Preach his eternal Word freely without Money or Price in season and out of season to reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine which many of you People in England who promised the Lord to worship him in Spirit and Truth now his counsel reject and turns to the Teachers you have
Conscience towards God and Men and fear not Man whose breath is in his nostrils who stands up to oppose the Lord in this mighty Day of his Power wherein he is exalting Christ Jesus the Light to be King for ever in his Light be faithful to the Lord and though you be haled before Rulers Governours and Kings for a Testimony against them take no thought what you shall say but keep within staid in the Counsel of God it will be given you in the self-same hour my Heavenly Father will in you speak and his Enemies confound before his mighty Power in you and the Hearts of the great and mighty Men of the Earth shall fail and paleness shall gather into their Faces the dread of the holy God will be with you who faithfully give up to be guided by his Counsel in the Power of his Spirit one shall chase a Thousand and five put ten thousand to Flight the decree is gone forth Christ shall be King over all the Nations of the World and all the Powers of the World that him withstand he will break them with his iron rod and dash them in pieces like a potters Vessel so shall they become as dust before his breath the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it who is giving the Kingdoms of the World to his Son and to you that wait for his apperance the living â—ound is come that doth witness that not any weapon formed against him shall prosper in this day of his appearance in the Hearts of his Saints In the presence of the Lord I you Warn and Charge stand fast in the Counsel of the Lord Jesus Christ the Light in the Conscience and according to the measure you have received be faithful in walking with God in perfect obedience to his Will freely giving up your Bodies to finish your Testimony in sufferings if the Lord call you for it is not given only to believe in him but to suffer with him and they that suffer with him shall Raign with him and the Son of Man is perfect in sufferings and you that are faithful to the Lord he will lay no more upon you then he gives you strength to bear with the Angel of his presence he will you guard and campass you about with Salvation for Walls and Bulwarks and you shall know this is to you the Word of the Lord God The Day will declare it ALL People who dwell upon the Earth from the highest to the lowest fear the most high and living God who hath Created Heaven and Earth and the Fountains of Waters all return to his Counsel the Light of Christ that witnesseth for God in the Conscience against Sin in its appearance in the secret of the Heart and diligently encline your Ear to the Counsel of Christ the Light that he may guide you by his Spirit least through your disobedience you perish before him in this mighty Day of the Lords Power in which he is coming with Fire and Sword to plead with all Flesh and not any that transgresseth his righteous Law in the Conscience shall escape his righteous Judgment in this his Day He is bringing down the loftiness of Man and the haughtiness of his Spirit laying low and exalting his Son Christ Jesus to be King over all to Rule The Heathen he will give him for his Inheritance and the uttermost Parts of the Earth for his Possession and the Kingdom he will establish to his Son whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and of his Dominion there shall be no end Come down ye Kings Princes and Rulers in the World who in the Throne sit in Pride exalted to rule in your Wills contrary to the pure perfect Law of God the Light of Christ in your Consciences to which you must come and own your Condemnation for your Pride and Disobedience and to his Counsel the Light in your Consciences return in subjection to Christ the Son of God and at his Feet your Crowns lay down and Honours in the Dust before him and wait on him in his Counsel the Light that he may guide you by his Spirit in the fear of God to walk humbly before him in your Places to Rule for God to break the Bonds of iniquity and let the Oppressed go free that the glory of the most high God alone you seek and not great things for your selves as you have done and in this day of darkness while you have lived without the fear of God not regarding to be guided by his pure perfect Law the Light of Christ in the Conscience let the time past be sufficient you have lived to your selves without God in the World and with all diligence obey the Word of the Lord which is to you declared in this day of your Visitation wherein the Lord tenders eternal Salvation to you in Christ the Light in whom the Father is well pleased with all that obey him which if you be obedient to Christ and wait on him to guide you by his Counsel the Light he will you lead in the strait and narrow way of self-denial and daily Cross into the holy City new Ierusalem the Light of which all Nations that are saved walk therein and the Kings of the Earth shall bring their Glory and Honour unto it where your Souls will be refreshed with the living mercies of God in Christ the Light to praise him for ever in the beauty of Holiness but if you his Counsel reject and walk in Pride self-self-Love delighting your Hearts in the glory of the World and the pleasures therein and so slight this day of your Visitation then the things belonging to your Peace will be hid from your Eyes and sudden Destruction as a Whirlwind shall overtake you for Sions King whom you disobey will break you with his Rod of Iron and dash you to pieces like a Potters Vessel and you shall be cut down and slain with the Sword that proceeds out of the Mouth of him whose Name is called the Word of God. Now while you have time to him submit and kiss the Son in obeying his Counsel the Light in the Conscience least you perish in the way for if his anger be kindled a little Blessed are all they that trust in him Remember you are warned in your Life-time he that hath an Ear to hear let him hear The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall Raign for ever and ever Rev. 11.15 He that can receive it let him Dear Friends BRethren and Sisters in the Eternal Light of Christ Jesus whom my Heavenly Father hath gathered you to wait upon him that you might be the holy Presthood and Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus every one in particular mind your calling in the Light and watch diligently in the Light the Life to feel a raising you up in the pure being with God in Christ your Souls to delight in the pure Fellowship with the Father in the Lord Jesus and
Consolation her broken Cisterns hath failed her What shall we do in this day she shall be spoken for which is come upon us though at present she cannot draw near but Mourns at a distance and Cries in secret for want of the enjoyment of the God of our Saâ—vation Oh let your Bowels open to her and let your Hearts breath unto the Lord that he may seal his Counsel unto her and cause her to walk in the Light of the Lord with us whom he hath raised to be the first Fruits amongst many Brethren to bear his glorious Testimony over and above the Heads of all the wrath of the Children of Men that withstands the Appearance of God who will cause them to bow before his Glory in the day he will clear the Innocency of his beloved people which shall smite the Hearts of them that know him not neither by Sword nor Spear nor strength of the Arm of Flesh but with the breath of his Mouth and the brightness of his comming which shall spread his Fame over the Nations to gather our Brethren from far and Sisters from the ends of the Earth yea the mighty shall bow to his Scepter and the Nations that are saved shall walk in his Light with us whom he hath made as dear unto himself as the Apple of his Eye and though a Woman may forget her sucking Child yet the Lord will not forget any that fear him but he will lead through all Tribulations with Joy in his heavenly Power untill we have finished our Course with gladness to the glory of the Name of the Lord forever And this is the Portion and the Lot of thy Inheritance thou beautiful Bride the Lambs Wife against whom every Tongue that is lifted up shall fall into Judgement and the Weapons formed against thee shall not prosper for the Lord hath made thee a burthensome Stone to the Nations and the praise of the whole Earth and the desires of the people shall be to the Name of the most high God who dwells in the midd'st of thee and hath displayed his Banner of Love over thee and hath turned his fury away from thee and never any more shalt thou want the fresh Springs of Life who loves the Light and bathes thy Soul in the Ocean of his inexpressible Mercies The Lord will keep thee in the safety of his Power and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against any of the Sons and Daughters who waâ—â— in the Light of thy City O Ierusalem in whom there is no more Curse but the Throne of God and of the Lamb is in thee and his Servants doth serve him and they do see his Face and his Name is written in their Fore-heads and there is no Night there neither need of Candle nor Light of the Sun for the Lord God giveth them Light and they do Reign forever as the Lord hath spoken Through your Brother and Companion in the Tribulation and Kingdom of Patience in the Lord Iesus W. D. Given forth in York Castle the 19 th of the 1 st Month 1663. Let this be sent abroad to be read in the fear of the Lord in the holy Assemblies of the Church of the first born where she is scattered to the ends of the Earth The Breathings of Life To God's Spiritual Israel Through A faithful Follower of the Lamb in the Regeneration and Kingdom of Patience and Tribulation and now a Sufferer in Bonds for the Testimony of the Lord Jesus known to the World by the Name of William Deusbury DEar Children and Chosen Vessels of the Eternal Everliving God whom he hath plucked as Brands out of the Fire and hath manifested his heavenly powerful operating Spirit to lead you in his holy fear to wait upon him in the way of his Judgments which hath buried and 〈…〉 in the Death that you could not find â—ny Comâ—ort or Satisfaction unto your hungry thirsty Sâ—â—ls but in lying down in true subjection to the Judgments of the Lord manifest in the Light until the Lord broke in upon you when your wills were subjected with his tender love and bowels of free mercy which caused the Dead to live the Lame to walk the Deaf to hear and the Dumb to speak forth the wonders of the Lord. Oh you dear Companions in the Tribulations and Patience of Jesus when I remember you my heart is broken and as a man overcome with the Compassions of the Lords love that flows out towards you in which my Soul exhorteth you to dread the Lord and fear continually before the heavenly Majesty of our God and be faithful upon your watch that the Enemy which you know goes abroad as a roaring Lion to devour you that he may be trampled upon and never get Entrance to stain your pure Garments which you know never could be washed but in the blood of the Lamb And all take heed of giving way in the least measure to what you know would intangle you in any bondage do not rely upon your own strength though you have and do reign in the glorious dominion standing in the Light yet if there be the least hearkning to the Enemy to tamper with him though you may think you may be able to subject the disposition of nature he works upon if he draw you from the Light you will be insnared and distress and sorrow will come upon you as an Armed man and under Gods Judgments you must lye until the Lord raise you up again in the renewings of his mercy in the Light of his own Covenant Therefore dear Children of the Immortal birth I cannot but say once more unto you Watch watch with all circumspection and diligence stand faithful upon your watch that in the Light of the Lord the eye of discerning be kept open in you that you may discern the Mysterious workings of the subtil Enemy of your souls peace And take heed of taking any liberty to your selves in any thing but what you know stands approved in the Light Power and Life which hath so freely manifested it self in regenerating and renewing you in the spirit of your minds let your souls continually prize the Light and the Sin-condemning power to love it above all things that you may stand in the Marriage-union in the power which destroys the works of the Devil and keeps the Soul in pure freedom to walk with the Lord rejoycing in the daily Cross where Self is crucified and the Soul set free in the pure Liberty in the love and life of the most High to magnifie and praise his name in the beauty of holiness forever and ever Oh beloved ones look not at Self nor at any storm or tempest that ariseth through temptation or tryals of what nature soever as to vail you from beholding of the lovely countenance of Jesus the beloved of our Souls Oh lift up your heads all that love the Light for the Lord our God in the bowels of everlasting compassions will draw near you more and more and
guide them forth of it in the Light to have union and fellowship with the Father of Light in Christ to whom you are come to be your Wisdom and he will establish your Souls in righteousness and peace that give up your selves to be guided by him Dear Friends Let the love of God that hath pluckt you as Brands out of the Fire and hath counted you worthy to be as the first Fruits of the Lamb constrain you to be faithful upon your watch to wait in the Light of Christ to dwell in his power that in it you may grow up in his Life and pure discerning to know the Deceit in all appearances and the Beast in his lying Wonders who keeps all in a Form of Truth that lends an Ear to him but out of the Life but in the Light of Christ you may know him he leads into a Form of words when the Life speaks not so the Soul doth not enjoy what the Mouth speaks and the Beast which is the Will is at Liberty from under the Yoke and out of the Cross painted with the Saints words and with you sits deckt a painted Beast above the Cross of Christ working lying Wonders in â—â—rming Sights and Groans when the pure Seed of God is not regarded which is in Prison the sighing and groaning of that the Lord hears and he will deliver that which Sighs and Groans to him for deliverance with groans that cannot be uttered and the Deceit also will work violently in you whose minds are turned from the pure Light to form and immitate the true Power that did pass through you from the Life but being faithful in your watch in the Light of Christ you may know him in his deceitful working in the mind he leads out of the Fear of God into a formality to appear before men so into Pride and Emulation which is to be thrown down and condemned with the Light of Christ. This is the word of the living God to you his dear and chosen Children in the Light all meet often together and take heed of lending an Ear to the Adversary the Devil who goes about like a roaring Lyon to tear you from the Light and to Sow the Seed of Enmity to watch over one another with an evil Eye to spie out one anothers weakness and to declare it to others behind their backs and to lay open their infirmities and discover their shame and uncover their nakedness thou who practises this art turned from the pure Light into Hams cursed nature which the wrath of God is to and is to be condemned with the Light of Christ in which thou must wait and own the condemnation upon that nature and to blind and pluck out that evil Eye and to open the pure single Eye to judge the deceit and guide thee in Obedience to the Light least thou perish in thy disobedience Dear Friends in the pure Light Power and Life dwell and take heed of speaking words in the sight and visions of the Truth when you are not in the Life and Power all mind the Union in the Power which will be manifest in all that wait in the pure fear in the silence of your Spirits in the Light for the living Power of Christ to declare it self in you and even through you to the praise of his Name who is worthy for this is the Word of the most high God to you his Sons and Daughters whom he hath chosen in his eternal love to watch over one another in love with a single Eye as over your own Souls and if you see any of the Children of Light through the Subtilty of the Devil prevailed against and turned from the Light take heed of laying open their infirmities to discover there Shame in uncovering there Nakedness to others but thou that discovers their conditions in tender Bowels of love minister to the pure in the Conscience to raise up the Witness to restore them again with the Spirit of Meekness then wilt thou save their Souls from Death and hide a multitude of Sins and here is Christ and his Disciples serving one another in love washing one anothers Feet in ministring to the pure to wash away the filthy nature and bearing one anothers burthens so fulfilling the Law of Christ who did bear the Burthen for us when we were Enemies he died for us and in fulness of time hath manifested his mighty power in you in raising up his Seed that you might be of the first Fruits in him to grow Trees of Righteousness in his Vineyard to bring forth Fruits to the praise and glory of his great and glorious Name who alone is worthy God Blessed forever God Almighty be with you his dear and chosen Children and his powerful and dreadful Spirit accompany you in all your ways and his eternal Power establish you in Vnity of the Spirit and Bond of Peace that in it yâ—u may stand over all the World and the troubles thereof within you and without you in his Power stand fast and unmoveable in the will of God where I am present with you saluting you in the Bowels of tender love in the eternal Vnity W. D. Dear Pretious and Beloved Friends CAlled in the Light of the Lord to stand living witnesses for God in the midst of a crooked wicked perverss and untoward Generation Dear Friends all in the Light and pure meek Spirit of the Lord enter into the Chamber of Rest which God hath prepared for you in his unlimitted Power to dwell there to stay your Minds and keep your Confidence and hold fast your Faith that so the door may be shut that not any thing enter which would cause feebleness of mind faintness of Spirit or in the least measure would cause you to stagger at the promises of the Lord who hath promised he will never leave us nor forsake us that what tryal soever any of us be called unto who love the Lord and have given up our names unto him he will not suffer one hair of our Heads to perish but what shall be for the Glory of his Name and the Comfort of our Souls forever as many of us are witnesses of the faithfulness of our God in making our passage pleasant through all Tryals and Suffering that hath been unto this day which is now manifesting it self as was proclaimed amongst you in times past Therefore I beseech you all dear Friends put not the day of the Lord afar off for a general Tryal will go on all that make mention of the Name of the Lord that it may be known who are truly born of God and who are not that so his pretious Jewels may be made up which doth and shall more and more shine forth in the brightness of his Glory being established in his Light Life and Love which the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against because the Lord is the strength of all that is born again and for their sakes he is making a short work in the Earth and to