is the Rule of a Christian not an outward literal Command as the Jews had To exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees is to be clean within as in outward Acts. Jews and Turks better than Christians who transgress Christ's Law when they will not Moses's nor Mahomets The clean Soul of a Christian is the House of God and so the House of Prayer whose Body is his Temple Disciples did greater Miracles than Jesus when Christ was risen in them Every Man living in the state of Grace is a perpetual Miracle so our Water is turned into Wine Christ's Father and Mother are not Carnal but Spiritual Adam's Sin nor our natural Infirmities not imputed to us neither are our actual and malicious Sins our Infirmities Vertue conduces infinitely to the length and content of our Lives and Vice the contrary 'T is a vast Sum that will pay the Debt of Intemperance and Lust Though most deny Scripture to be an Allegory yet all Men in most things use it so and it is then rightly used when by Inspiration we see the Heavenly through the Earthly and the Spiritual through the Carnal I also lately read a worthy Treatise writ by Mr. Edw. Fowler of North-hill in Bedfordshire printed Anno 1671 holding forth the Principles of certain Moderate Divines of the Church of England in which they declare That the design of Christianity is to work real inward Righteousness and that love to God and Goodness is the highest Principle and that true Righteousness is the New Creature in us And that John the Baptist Christ's Forerunner's Work was to preach Repentance and to cleanse and purify the Heart and Soul Mal. 3.1 3 4. Acts 10.35 Dan. 9.24 that Christ may enter in and bring forth everlasting Righteousness I have likewise read a Sermon preached before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London by Mr. John Sharp upon 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness is profitable c. wherein he most excellently sets forth the happiness and profitableness of a vertuous Religious Life even in the straitest Paths of Repentance and putting off the Old Man with his Deeds of Darkness and afterwards to put on the New Man begot by the Word and Spirit of Grace in the Heart God's Covenant of Light to all the World read Deut. 30.6 11 to 15. with Rom. 10.6 8. Jer. 31.31 32 33. with Heb. 8.8 Isa 42.6 49.6 Luke 2.30 31 32. John 1.4 9. 3.16 Rom. 12.3 1 Cor. 12.7 Tit. 2.11 the which teacheth and enableth every one that will receive him to deny Ungodliness and worldly Lusts and to live soberly and religiously in this present World Which certainly as saith the Preacher is the most profitable happy and blessed Life both for Soul and Body imaginable Likewise I have read a Sermon preached before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London by Mr. Joseph Glanvil upon 1 Pet. 1.2 See that ye love one another Wherein are delivered most excellent Truths both Catholick and Apostolick his desire is to unite all Perswasions into this Principle of Love in which Work my Soul hath long travelled In which Discourse he also saith Love is extensive to all Mankind and the more General the more Christian and like God To love for Opinion sake that is self-self-Love but to love the Principle and Image of God as Christ loves the Poor the Blind and Ignorant though his Enemies is God-like Also that Love is the Image of God pourtray'd and lively drawn on the Regenerate Soul Love is the Bond of Christian Union and when that breaks all goes into Confusion both in Church and State Christ Reigns when all unite in the Principle of Love and a holy Life which will be the fall of Antichrist Vertue and Goodness is to be owned in all Parties and Opinions and if they were practised it would reconcile all Men to each other True Religion is not to fill Heads with Notions and Opinions but to sow in the Mind the Seed of Vertue to direct to govern Passions and to destroy Self-will Christian Love is necessary but agreement in Opinions is neither necessary nor possible In eager and passionate Disputes Charity is always lost and Truth seldom or never found To give evil Names to Dissenters is Persecution Likewise I have read a Discourse concerning the Knowledg of Jesus Christ and of our Union and Communion with him made by Mr. William Sherlock who wrote an Answer to some new opinionated Doctors as he calls them which teach That by being acquainted with the Person of Christ and rouling themselves on him and believing the History of his Life Death and Resurrection that this Faith alone is imputed for Righteousness to them without having any thing that is good wrought in them by Christ or they doing any thing that is good and righteous in themselves That we are saved by Grace though we be disobedient to the Spirit of Grace God's Talent given to every one to profit withal Also they teach That God hath elected some to Salvation and others to Reprobation without regard had to Man's Obedience or Disobedience to the Gospel of Christ Jesus which Gospel is Christ the Word in the Heart as saith Rom. 10.6 7 8. To which and much more of this nature Mr. Sherlock maketh answer That the Person of Christ will never save those whom his Gospel the Word in the Heart and their own Consciences condemn who walk contrary to his Grace the Spirit of Light That Christ's Kingdom is erected by conquering Mens Minds by his Spirit to the Obedience of God such he pardons their sins and raiseth them unto an immortal Life For this end God sent his Son the Word in the beginning into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil to regenerate and redeem Man to the Obedience of Christ the Word And that nothing avails with God but the New Creature which is Christ in the Saints that came to be our Example and Guide to Heaven as well as our Mediator and Advocate and therefore we must imitate his Life if we would enjoy the benefit of his Death and Intercession God in the first Creation designed all Men for happiness and certainly in the second Creation he would have all Men saved and come to the Knowledg of Christ the Truth the Word in the Heart by yielding Obedience to Christ his Gospel and Spirit of Grace That nothing can be the happiness of a reasonable Creature but conformity to the Divine Nature That the great Mystery of the Recovery of Mankind out of the Fall consists only in repairing the Divine Image As in the first Creation we were made after God's Image so in the second we are renewed in the Spirit of our Minds after his Image which by Disobedience we lost and is recovered no other way than by obedience True expressions of Love to Christ is Obedience to his Laws writ in the Heart And that the Soul and Mind of a good Man or regenerate Man is the Palace or Temple of God That
and highest Profession we were but as sounding Brass and as a tinkling Cymbal c. Holiness and Love to God are but two Names for one Thing Love to God and to Man are like Soul and Body that are separated no way but by death Sin is hardly known in its secret Root till Men have tasted the bitterness of the Fruit. In a word I have long seen that envious Wisdom what-ever it pretends is not from Above but is earthly sensual and devilish and that where envy and strife is upon a Religious Account there is Confusion and every evil Work That which killeth Love killeth all Grace and Holiness and killeth Souls that which quencheth Love quencheth the Spirit a thousand-fold more than the restraining of our Gifts of Utterance doth That which banisheth Love banisheth God that which is against Love is against the Design of Christ in our Redemption and therefore may well be called Antichristian the White Devil is a Love-killer as well as the Black he is as mortal an Enemy to Love who backbiteth another and saith he is prophane or he is an empty Formalist or he is a Lukewarm temporizing complying Man-pleaser as he that saith he is a peevish factious Hypocrite Believe it it is Apostacy to fall from Love your Souls die when Love dieth To preach without Love to any that differ from your Sect O what a loathsome Sacrifice is it to the Lord of Love When the Papists had murdered so many hundred thousands of the Albigenses and Waldenses who would have thought but that they had done their Work When the French Massacre had murdered thirty or forty thousand and dispatcht the Leaders of the Protestant Party who would have thought that they had but strengthened them When the Duke d' Alva had done so much to drown the Belgick Protestants in Blood he little thought he was but fortifying them Queen Mary's Bishops little thought that their English Bonefires were but to light Men to see the mischief and badness of their Cause and like firing of a Beacon to call the Land to take them for the Enemies of Mankind When the Irish had murdered two hundred thousand they little thought that they had but excited the Survivery to a terrible Revenge I will come no nearer but you may easily do it your selves If we bite and devour one another we shall be destroyed one of another c. These and the like faithful and true Sayings the Book is full of which are well worth the reading with due Consideration had thereon And as Mr. Baxter intimates That he which suffers for his Religion sheweth he hath the better Religion than those that cause Sufferings And our patient Martyrdom and Suffering by them may tend at last to open their Eyes and turn their Hearts and save their Souls for the Blood of Martyrs hath ever bin the Seed of the Church which Seed hath ever encreased the number of the Sufferers Many other good Instructions and Directions both to Ministers and People hath he in this Book set forth for uniting in Love and Amity different Perswasions into one Principle of Love well worth the taking notice of And now my dear Brethren as I am a Priest unto God by having Christ Jesus the Eternal Spirit of Truth in me I am thereby enabled to hold forth an Exhortation to all of you which in the Bowels of the extensive Love of God towards you I earnestly pray you may receive I know there is amongst you a Worthy Righteous and Sober People who I can bear you record have a Zeal of God according to the several Administrations of your outward Forms and Worships whereby you are distinguished Nevertheless I have a few things against you namely That you have the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ amongst you with respect of particular Persons outward Forms and carnal Observations Hence arise all those Strifes and Contentions those bitter Revilings and evil Censures that have abounded amongst you both towards each other in your divided Forms and also toward all others that are not concerned with you as under your distinct Attainments But I testify and declare to you and to the whole World That if any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature and as many as walk according to this Rule of the New Creature Peace be upon them as upon the Israel of God and in every Nation Sect Form and Opinion He that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him 'T is neither here nor there in this nor that neither in the Mountains of Form and Worship that you have raised to your selves nor at Jerusalem that God will be now worshipped but every where in Spirit and in Truth is the Worship that he accepts Give therefore the Spirit of God his due Scope and Latitude to blow where when and how it listeth in every Man 'T is the great Controversy that God hath with the World at this day That he alone may reign in the Consciences of Men by the just Measure of his own Light in every one And till this Royal Prerogative be setled upon Him there will never be Peace on the Earth but Men shall rend tear and devour one another and those that lead into Captivity must themselves go into Captivity herein will the Patience Love and Charity of the Saints be exercised and encreased Allelujah Wherefore let your Moderation be known to all Men the Lord is at hand Be not O be not found smiting your fellow Servants in the day of his Appearance The Spirit of God which hath sealed you to the day of Redemption is a tender Spirit O do not grieve it in your selves nor endeavour to quench it in others If thus you can come forth amongst Men you shall be a blessing in your Generation a Light to them that sit in darkness and a Refreshment to the Mourners of Zion who languish in the Breaches and Divisions that have bin made upon her Inhabitants In which Universal Spirit of Love to Truth and Righteousness I Rest a Friend to you and the Souls of all Men in any Sect or Opinion of Religion whatsoever whilst I am and when I am no more Robert Rich. An Epistle for the most pure Amity and Unity in the Spirit of Life and Love of God in all sincere-hearted Souls amongst the People called QUAKERS And as to them so unto all or any other Sort or Sect of People that own and follow the Light of Christ Jesus wherewith every one is enlightned ROBERT RICH sendeth Greeting in our Lord God Everlasting Allelujah IN the Year 1666 feeling the Babe of Grace the Word in the Heart to wax strong in the Love of God shed abroad in my Heart I sent to the Poor of your People Thirty pounds which after some of your Leaders had received to wit John Bolton Gerad Roberts and Amos Stoddard and given under their hands accordingly 't was denied to be received and about a Year after returned to me again with many
they account not themselves responsible for every particular Passage or Notion of the Author's especially as it may be distorted either by weak or malevolent Spirits but judg that they have sufficiently discharged their Duty by communicating his own Thoughts according to his desire to the World J. W. Our Saviour saith In his Father's House there are many Mansions and in the Christian State there be three Degrees Incipientis Preficientis and Perfecti each State may find what is sutable to them to that joy Capiat qui Capere potest Per R. B. Ph. An Abstract of a Letter and Directions of Robert Rich to Mr. John Raynes for the distributing of his Benevolence to the Seven Churches in London Mr. John Raynes THese may inform you That in the month of December 1666 by the way of Ireland we received the sad and deplorable Intelligence of London's Destruction by Fire wherewith the Beauty and Glory of that City is like Sodom turned into Ashes which when I had understood and throughly pondred I did impart my thoughts to your Brother Mr. Fr. Raynes to this effect viz. That this Calamity would be so universal and extensive that multitudes must of necessity be cast upon great extremities of Want and Misery and that now was a fit opportunity for all to hold out a hand of Charity towards their distressed Brethren To which purpose I had You upon my Heart to write unto you when our Fleet went which hath bin detained until now to dispose of the 210 l. in your hand Now Sir as touching your proceedings in this Business of my Request that these Seven Churches with all others might more fully discern the mind of my Lord in this figure of Love and Amity to them I think it meet to let you know that I have something already written to each of those Seven Congregations which in the fulness of time may be presented to their view Holding forth the Everlasting Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Christ in us the Saving Health and universal free Grace of God ready to be revealed to all Nations Sects and People Together with a Declaration or Testimonial of that dear Love and Vnity which my Soul hath to all that fear God and work Righteousness and not only to such but likewise to the Rebellious Disobedient and worst of Sinners Also something I have to offer concerning the New Creation God's Workmanship in Christ Jesus that which mine Eyes have seen and Hands have handled of the Word of Life of things that now are and must shortly come to pass when the Son in Man the New Birth shall more abundantly be revealed which as yet is a great Mystery to many and hath bin long hid from Ages and Generations of formal Professors of Godliness that have wanted the Power of Love or Christ Jesus that Spirit working all their Works in them and for them but is now making Himself manifest in all that are born again of his Spirit and baptized with that Water of Life which regenerateth and keepeth clean the heart That Chast Virgin that only bringeth forth the Man-Child and Second Adam who is Heir of all Things and the Saviour of All that believe and follow Him Who enlightens every one with the knowledg of Good that cometh into the World This is He that was and now is and is yet to come to all succeeding Generations of whom all the Prophets from Moses until John bare Record Allelujah Whose Day Abraham saw and rejoiced as do all that have Christ the Unction in them who only and alone openeth Mysteries and doth teach to sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb Allelujah Whose Star of old led as his Spirit doth now lead all the wise in Heart both to find and also to worship him acceptably according to his Law Mind and Will written therein even Him that is the Rock of Ages whose Body and Blood our Fathers did in the Wilderness as at Jerusalem taste of and which we their Children that are Heirs of the same promised Spirit do now eat and drink the Bread from Heaven which is not carnal but nourisheth the Soul into a Life and Kingdom that fadeth not away but endureth for ever Allelujah And now having in part acquainted you with the reason of my intended Proceedings my next care is what I can to lessen your trouble to which end I think it the best way to propound three of each sort of People chief amongst them as Overseers of the rest Men of good Report into whose hands the 30 l. may be delivered as a sign of my Love and by them be distributed amongst those of their way who are in Need Sickness or any other kind of Adversity A Note or List of Direction to Mr. John Raynes after what manner to dispose of the 210 l. in his hands I. THirty pounds to the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion Enquire I pray on the Exchange for Mr. Daniel Arthur or Mr. Thomas Wise Merchants they can inform you who are the chief Confessors and Teachers in Queen Katharines or in the Queen Mother's Chappel and give the Mony to three of the chief of them as a sign of my dear Love intreating them to bestow the said Mony on those that are in Need Sickness or any other kind of Adversity amongst them II. Thirty pounds to the Episcopal Protestants Give to Dr. Thomas Pierce Dr. Pearson Dr. Peter Gunning Dr. Robert Pory Dr. Britten Dr. Dukeson of St. Clements Danes to any three of them or any other three you judg more convenient as a sign of my dear love entreating them c. III. Thirty pounds to the Presbyterian Professors Give to Doctor Spurstow Dr. Manton Mr. Richard Baxter Mr. Thomas Case Mr. Samuel Clark or any three of them or to any three of that way you judg more convenient as a sign of my dear love c. IV. Thirty pounds to the Professors of Independency Give to Dr. Owen Dr. Dell Mr. John Goodwin Dr. Thomas Goodwin Mr. Thomas Brooks Mr. Feak to any three of them or to any other three of that way you judg more convenient as a sign c. V. Thirty pounds to the People called Anabaptists Give to Mr. Thomas Lamb Mr. John Rogers Mr. John Cooper Mr. Kiffen Mr. Vavasor Powel to any three of them or to any three of that way you judg more convenient as a sign c. VI. Thirty pounds to the People called Quakers Give to Amos Stoddard Simon Dring John Bolton Samuel Newton Gerand Roberts Henry Clark to any three of them or to any other three of that way you judg more convenient as a sign c. VII Thirty pounds to the Church of the First Born who worship God in Spirit and have their Conversations in Heaven Give to Mr. Robert Bacon Mr. VVilliam Rawlinson and to Mr. Blackborow My request to them is That they would receive this 30 l. of you and therewith provide a Dinner or Supper which I chiefly do for the
raising of my dear Friend Lazarus viz. The Love of God which hath bin long pining away through a tedious famine of Contention and Strife even unto Death and invite to this Entertainment of Joseph's Love and as his Passover from the Death of Enmity to the Life of Love unfained such as they shall apprehend to be born again into the new Life of Love so as to have peace with God therein and good Will towards each other which is a Life and a World as yet to come to many who with one Heart and one Soul can meet and break Bread in the singleness of their hearts and behold my Spirit is with you from the beginning to the end even with all or as many as shall meet together in the Name or Power of Love the Father and of Love the Son and in the pure Innocent powerful loving Spirit thereof even with all that feel the Joy of the Lord their Strength or that have Christ Jesus the Love of God shed abroad in their Hearts all such are but one Bread which the Father giveth for the Light and Life of the World O eat and drink abundantly thereof my beloved Friends Allelujah After the Receipt of the forenamed Letter and the Mony disposed as was therein directed this attempt was made by R. B. towards the Feast of Divine Love an Invitation was sent by him to several Persons to afford their presence at his House in order to the end aforesaid Accordingly several of the said Persons on the first of September in the Year 1668 did there meet where after he had spoke something suitable to the occasion some Entertainment was made according to the directions of the foresaid Letter One of the Persons invited being necessarily absent made his Apology to the said R. B. in the ensuing Letter SIR THough Providence had otherwise ordained it that I could not be present at the Feast to which you so friendly and solemnly invited me yet this is to let you know I no way slighted it though it was but a Type for I am in my very Soul a real Friend to all that have a good will to that Catholick Love which was in the beginning and will be when all middle walls that are come in through Man's fall are removed The Lord prepare us all for that Feast of fat things that in the Mount of Sion is made ready that is the Mount in which the Lord will destroy the Covering cast over all flesh into which we enter after the Consummation of all Types in celebrating the Passover with our Lord Jesus in the like death to which we must be conformed that so the Vail being rent we may enjoy the most holy Things and inherit the essential Love for ever But this is a great Work and the attaining it the greatest Wonder To which the Lord bring us all Your true Friend in the Love of God T. B. The several and respective Acquittances given for the Receipt of each Thirty Pounds 1. By the Roman-Catholicks REceived the 23d day of December of John Raynes by the Appointment and Order of Mr. Robert Rich Senior of Barbadoes the Sum of 30 l. Sterling which we promise to dispose of to such as are in Need Sickness or any other Adversity We say received by us Tho. Godden Treasurer of her Majesty's Chappel G. Stapylton D.D. Chaplain in Ordinary to her Majesty Hen. Latham Chapl. in Ord. to her Majesty at St. James's 2. By the Episcopal-Protestants REceived the 14th day of January 1667 of John Rayns by the Appointment and Order of Mr. Robert Rich Senior of Barbadoes the Sum of 30 l. Sterling which we promise to dispose of to such as are in Need Sickness or any other Adversity Benjamin Whichcot John Wells Thomas Grigg 3. By the Presbyterians REceived the 8th day of January 1667 of John Raynes by the Appointment and Order of Mr. Robert Rich Senior of Barbadoes the Sum of 30 l. Sterling which we promise to dispose of to such as are in Need Sickness or any other Adversity Lazarus Seaman Tho. Manton Robert Francklin 4. By the Independents REceived the 13th day of January 1667 of John Raynes by the Appointment and Order of Mr. Robert Rich Senior of Barbadoes the Sum of 30 l. Sterling which we promise to dispose of according to his Order to the Poor and such as are in Adversity amongst us We say received by us Thomas Brooks Matthew Barker Corn. Helme 5. By the Anabaptists REceived the 15th of January 1667 of Mr. John Raynes by Order of Mr. Robert Rich Senior of Barbadoes the full Sum of 30 l. which he ordered unto us for to dispose amongst the Poor and Distressed of the Baptized People We say received as before per Thomas Lamb Hanserd Knollys Tho. Cooper 6. By the Quakers REceived the 9th of the 11th month call'd January 1667 of John Raynes of London Merchant the Sum of 30 l. by the Order and Appointment of Robert Rich of Barbadoes Senior which he ordered to be disposed of to the Poor amongst us We say received by us John Bolton Amos Stoddart Gerard Roberts 7. By the Church of the First-Born REceived the 9th day of December 1667 of John Raynes by the Appointment and Order of Mr. Robert Rich Senior of Barbadoes the Sum of 30 l. which we promise to endeavour to dispose of according to his Order We say received by us Robert Bacon Will. Rollinson William Blackbororow Memorandum The several Sums above-mentioned were not all received by the particular Persons mentioned by the Author in his Order of Directions aforegoing partly because the said Persons could not conveniently be spoken with and partly also because liberty was left by him to dispose of it to any other three of each Class respectively A Salutation to the Seven Churches assembled by Order of Mr. Robert Rich at his Feast of Love As also a Descant on his Gift to the said Churches By J. S. Doctor of Physick WHen in Professing Europe Lust and Pride Conceiv'd and brought forth then Religion di'd Whence sprang a viperous Brood amongst the rest Strife War Division Falshood Interest All which our peevish Church-men did imbibe Picking for Self and not for God a Tribe Thus strung like Beads Men on their Centers move But the true Center of Religion's LOVE 'T is pure and undefiled to Do well All beside That is only Husk and Shell Wherein America now supplies our Lacks The fairest Preacher dwells amongst the Blacks Thus Jonah found both Priests and Confessors In a dead time ' mongst Heathen Mariners Thus Abr'ham Sarah Heads o' th Faithful Sect Were taught reproved by Abimelech His Love is greatest now when we have none Like Gideon's Fleece bedew'd from Heaven alone And as Heaven's Blessings Light and Rain do fall So is his bounteous Kindness general From Head to Feet the Oil of Aaron came The Skirts of 's Garment did partake the same Thus Holy Jacob on the Tribes let fall His Goodness round he blest
to withstand the Pride Usurpation Avarice and Tyranny of the Court of Rome and that gain-said such Doctrines and Practices as were brought in by the Apostacy contrary to the New Covenant and Gospel of Christ Jesus more savouring the things and Institutions of Man than the Commands of God I have read in Story That the Pope as he is Head of the Church usurps Authority over the Lives Estates and Consciences of Emperors Kings and People to set up and pull down whom he thinks meet witness the Emperors of Germany King John of England Henry the Third and Fourth of France and the Pope's Bull against Queen Elizabeth and that it is no sin to kill Hereticks nor to Absolve Subjects from their Oaths to their Soveraign and therefore they Commissionate Indulge Pardon and open Heaven Gates to such as are imployed in these Services And if you say Those things were acted and done for advancement of Religion called by you Pious Frauds I answer and say That he that doth evil that good may come of it walks not in God's way but in the Counsel of the ungodly and bears not the least similitude or likeness to a True Christian or the True Catholick Church of Christ but carries the Image of the False Church the Beast the Whore and false Prophet which leads to the Chambers of Death and is not the way to Life Eternal Allelujah And is not this to apostatize and to fall from the Faith Was the saying of Pope Pius the Fifth That neither Faith nor Oaths are to kept with Infidels more like a Christian or a Heathen And when did Popes undertake to absolve Subjects from their Oaths to Soveraigns as Pope Alexander the Third discharged Thomas Becket c. And is it not recorded how that Popes who swore to Emperors and Kings c. seldom kept their Faith with them And doth not Story inform that there have bin many Schisms and Heresies in the Church of Rome even in the very Head thereof Pope against Pope and Popes against Councils and Popes against Emperors and Kings fighting destroying and excommunicating each other Were not Pope Formosus's Orders annulled by his Successors And what Divisions have there bin betwixt the Bishops and the Monastick Orders and what Quarrels have bin betwixt the Regulars and Seculars in England as at this day in France betwixt the Jansenists and whole Gallican Church and Theological Faculty in Paris against the Jesuits who taught that the Pope was Infallible and could not err c. So endeavouring to bring the Church of France in subjection to the Court of Rome which thing had it taken effect would not only have wrought a great Schism in the Gallican Church as it hath done in other Kingdoms but also bred a great Division in the State betwixt the King and his Subjects in which Division Caesar would have lost much of his due by the subtilty and encroachment of the Court of Rome contrary to Christ's Example and Commands read Mat. 22.21 John 18.36 who would have his Followers not to mind earthly things but submit to the Civil Powers even in things contrary to Law to every Ordinance of Man in Civil things for the Lord's sake or for Love and Peace sake as did our blessed Saviour Mat. 17.26 27. Phil. 2.5 1 Cor. 2.16 Rom. 12.16 with 13.2 1 Pet. 2.13 14. Thus to follow the Example and Command of Christ in giving Caesar his due in things Civil and Temporal and Caesar in giving God his due to Rule in the Hearts and Consciences of his Subjects in things Spiritual and Eternal not imposing with Carnal Weapons will most certainly bless the World with much happiness Allelujah And did not St. Cyprian and Eusebius say That when the Pastors were got into Worldly Pomp and had lost Piety and when their Chalices were of Gold they had but Wooden Priests in which estate the Gates of Hell prevailed over the Church And when Constantine gave much to the Church whether a Voice from Heaven was not heard to say Now is Poison cast into the Church And whether all those great Revenues given to the Church by King Pepin and Charles the Great were not re-given by Pope Leo the Eighth to Otho the Emperor And were it not better for the Church of God that Priests should minister freely the Things of God as all Christ's Ministers did and not for Hire or filthy Lucre or compulsive Maintenance as the World's Ministers made by Man do I leave to the Witness of God in all to judg What Differences have bin betwixt the Bishop of Constantinople and the Bishop of Rome And was not Pope Honorius condemned by a General Council for Heresy And have there not bin great Divisions betwixt the Clergy the Souldiers and Citizens of Rome about chusing of Popes and was not the right for Confirming Popes in the Emperors till Anno 683 And were not Bishops and Priests in the Primitive Time one and the same and of like Authority Whether the Pope be more Vicar or Lieutenant of Christ than the Church and People that chose him And whether Emperors and Kings did not at first set up Popes long before Popes came to be so potent as to set up Kings and Emperors and to displace them at pleasure Did not Popes get their Dominion over Princes by Policy Force and Excommunications And when Princes were at Discord one with the other did not Popes come to Reign over them by that means And was it not the Policy of Rome to engage the Temporal Sword to maintain Spiritual Religion and when by this means Emperors and Kings grew weak then were they necessitated to take in with the Popes which made Rome grow more strong and powerful and themselves weaker and weaker But when Emperors and Kings shall cease assisting the Spiritual with their Temporal Swords whether then the Pope will have more Authority in Christendom than now at Constantinople or than Jack Cade and Wat Tyler in England or John of Leyden at Munster And whether it was wisdom in Princes to admit the Pope to Rule both Swords the Temporal and the Spiritual And whether this hath not bred great troubles in Christendom the day that is approaching will make manifest Lastly Whether Prescriptions and Impositions of Popes Prelats and other the Clergy the People yielding Obedience thereunto have not taken away all sense of Conscience towards God as also of Christ's Commands in Spirit And whether this be not to Apostatize from that Faith once delivered to the Saints I leave to the Witness of God in every Man to judg and determine Allelujah Certainly it was a true saying of that good Pope Sylvester when Constantine the Emperor endowed the Church with great Riches Now said he is Poison cast into the Church Which since hath so proved for what hath bin given and what themselves have taken by Carnal Weapons and Worldly Policies hath enabled them to give greater Troubles to the State Temporal and Civil than any Difference
meerly Worldly and Carnal hath caused betwixt Prince and Prince And doth not this plainly shew that such a State or Church as hath brought so great a Curse over God's Creation where-ever it hath bin received is not Christ's Church whose Church and Kingdom is not of this World who loved his Enemies and came to save Mens Lives and not to destroy them So by their Fruits all Men may know the True Church from the False the Church of Christ from Antichrist's Church As I am a Priest of God after the Order of Melchisedeck who was of the Order of the Holy Ghost and born of the Spirit without Carnal Father or Carnal Mother I say as I am a Priest of God ordained by having Christ Jesus in me my Priest my Prophet my King I have something from God my Father to the high and mighty Men of the Earth in whose hands the Almighty God hath placed the Rule and Government of things Terrestrial as his Vicegerents in all the Earth to them I humbly make this Request First That they would look up unto him who bestowed on them this great Honour and Glory and acknowledg him God of Gods King of Kings and Lord over all Lords Allelujah Next that they would seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof which having found I most humbly intreat them to adore worship and serve the Lord our God therein and therewith which Worship only stands in the Spirit of Truth the Spirit of Grace given to every one to profit withal which Worship the Omnipotent Lord God will accept and no other Service nor Worship but what proceeds from a pure sincere Heart to the Commands of Christ in Spirit the Word in the Heart And that none may be ignorant what this Kingdom of God is and wherein it doth consist and where it is to be found I most humbly offer and say The Kingdom of God stands not in any outward Observation of Man's prescription but is placed within every Man a Light to lighten the Gentiles and to be God's Salvation to the Ends of the Earth which Light is called the Word in the Heart Christ the Vnction the Messiah the Anointed of the Lord which God in his great Love to the World hath given to and in every Man a Talent to profit withal that so every Man in it might work out his own Salvation the which as it is received and obeyed giveth power to repent and forsake Sin and leadeth into Truth and Righteousness and thereby we become the Sons of God being led by his Spirit This Talent in Scripture is also called by divers Names viz. The Grace of God which appeareth to and in every one teaching those that love his appearance to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts c. It is also called A Measure of the Spirit given to every Man to profit with also Truth in the inward Parts the Word in the Heart Christ the New Birth and New Creature God's Covenant of Light and Life to all the World who is the Light of the World and doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World and so is God's Salvation to the Ends of the Earth the way to God and Godliness that whosoever believeth in him and followeth him faithfully shall have Life Everlasting Allelujah Read Deut. 30.11 c. with Rom. 10.6 c. Isa 42.6 49.6 57.10 54.13 60.3 Jer. 31.3 c. with Heb. 8.8 c. John 1.9 1 Cor. 12.7 Tit. 2.11 And this Light of Life the Kingdom of God within every Man is compared to many things in Scripture He is the Lamb of God not the Pope's Agnus Dei that taketh away the Sins of the World the Lord our Righteousness the Spirit of Truth that leads into all Truth and the one thing only needful is that we hear and obey the Spirit of Truth and our Souls shall live Allelujah This Kingdom of God is likewise compared to a grain of Mustard-Seed sown in the Heart of every Man by God the Seed of Abraham which Seed is Christ the Light of the World also the Kingdom of God is compared to Leaven placed in a Man's Heart sufficient to leaven the whole Lump from the leaven of Malice and Uncharitableness into a lump of Truth and Love to Righteousness which Leaven is the Bread from Heaven which nourisheth the Souls of true Believers into Eternal Life Allelujah Thus you see what the Kingdom of God is where it is to be found and the blessed Effects it produceth in all that receive God's Heavenly Gift and are found walking therein and when ye know and feel this Kingdom of God in the movings thereof to be within you in the next place my most humble request and advice is That you would thenceforth seek the Righteousness thereof and walk in the same all the days of your Life in which you will find Peace with God Joy in your own Spirits and good Will from and to all Men but as you do undervalue this Small Seed the true Light and Spirit of Grace the Gift of God and prefer this present evil World Man's Prescriptions Traditions and Impositions above it then a Woe and a Curse from God to your Souls and Bodies in your Basket and in your Store but walking in the Righteousness of God's Kingdom you will know how to give God his due and to please him in things Spiritual and Temporal If you leave the Conscience of your Subjects to God alone for him to rule and guide which is God's due then will God give to Caesar his due viz. the Hearts of his Subjects to obey their Soveraigns in all things Temporal Natural and Civil then will Unity and Concord spring up Righteousness Peace and Love will kiss each other And then God will give his Blessing bless us in our Bodies and in our Souls in our Basket and in our Store in our Wives and in our Children in what we eat and what we drink and in whatsoever we set our hands unto both Prince and People Rulers and Ruled all blessed and happy and so will all the ends of the Earth fear the Lord our God bless and magnify him for ever Allelujah The Contents hereof I most humbly and heartily recommend to your most holy Father the Pope of Rome and his Clergy as they will answer it at the Day of God's Tribunal that they communicate these Matters to the Emperor and to all other Kings Rulers and Princes over whose Souls God I hope by his blessed Spirit of Grace hath made them Overseers who being born of the Spirit and having Christ Jesus the new Man in you the only begotten Son of God the Father in you go and preach Him to and in all the World a Saviour to all that believe in him and that follow him who is the Light of the World and doth enlighten every one that comes into the World Yet know that no Man can preach truly to the converting of Souls neither can turn any from
and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of the World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh and that he shall keep God's Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of his life I say it would be inquired into Whether those God-Fathers and God-Mothers do perform and keep this Oath Promise and Vow themselves If not then why should they undertake for another what they perform not themselves And if I mistake not it is a Tenent of the Church of Englands That we cannot live free from sin so long as we live in this World If so were it not far better never to Swear and Vow than afterwards to break them Is not this to add Sin unto Sin and so bring a greater condemnation on our selves As I am a Priest to God by having Christ Jesus in me I declare That Infant Baptism is no Ordinance of Christ's neither is John's Baptism with Water Christ's Baptism Christ's Baptism is to be baptized into the Name Nature and Spirit of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost which Baptism of the Spirit is the one Lord one Faith and one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all through all and in us all that are born of and baptized with the Spirit of Grace This Baptism is that alone which saveth by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and not by putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God And this Baptism of the Spirit which followed John's Baptism of Repentance is that only which can initiate into the Church of God make a Child of God and give an entrance into and an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven Allelujah And I query Whether Infant Baptism were not the Invention of Man rather than the Command of God brought in by the false Church for advantage-sake in the long dark night of Apostacy after that the True Church was fled into the Wilderness there fed and preserved of God whilst the Whore the Beast and false Prophet ruled who set up Shadows instead of Christ the Substance the Letter above the Spirit Man's Baptism which is with Water instead of Christ's by Fire which is the Holy Ghost And instead of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ the New Man which is the Saints Righteousness they put on a white Linnen Surplice to make them seem outwardly Holy that inwardly were full of Sin and Uncleanness full of self-Self-love Hypocrisy and Pride full of Covetousness Hatred Malice and all Uncharitableness And instead of bowing at the Name of God which is the Command of God Isa 45.23 that every knee should bow to him you bow at the Name of a Man not greater than is Immanuel which is the Name God himself gave the Virgin 's Birth Isa 7.14 who is the only begotten Son of God in all the Sanctified that saves his People from their Sins And your bowing at the Name of Jesus rather than at the Name Immanuel doth it not demonstrate you to be worshippers of Angels rather than the true God And for you to bow down to any Letters or Syllables joined into a Name of God or Man is this think you to worship God in Spirit and in Truth as he requireth And for any to bow down and worship any Thing or Name that is not purely God alone is most certainly Idolatry and false Worship And be not ignorant that the Name of God is his Power his Love shed abroad in our Hearts his Immanuel a strong Tower whereinto the Righteous flee and are there in Peace Rest and Safety Allelujah Holy Days Holy Days both Fasting Days and Feasting Days were they brought in by the Command of God or prescribed and imposed by Man Was not St. Paul afraid of his Galatians that he had bestowed his labour on them in vain who instead of setting up and forming of Christ the Day-Star in their Hearts fell to the observation of Days and Months and Times and Years setting up of Meats and Drinks what to Eat and when to eat and what and when to forbear respecting of New Moons and Sabbath Days one day more holy than another all which in the first Covenant were but shadows of good Things to come which the Saints possess and enjoy in the second Covenant which is Christ in them the end of the first Covenant their Hope their Crown and Glory Allelujah In the fourth Commandment you pray That God would incline your hearts to keep this Law which is to keep holy the Seventh day according to God's Command to the Jews Thus by your Traditions ye make void the Law of God and change the Truth of God into a Lie and by bringing in the Old Covenant which stands in divers outward Observations which maketh nothing perfect ye have thrust out the New Covenant Christ the Word in the Heart the Saints Teacher which perfecteth for ever those that are sanctified Allelujah The Lord's Supper The Lord's Supper I humbly declare to be a great Mystery not rightly understood by Man in the Fall It is not Carnal Bread and Wine neither Carnal Flesh and Blood as unregenerate Men apprehend and imagine Christ's Words and Works are more Spiritual than for Carnal Men to understand them it is the Spirit that quickneth and the Inspiration of God alone that giveth to man understanding in the things of God The true Supper of our Lord is when Christ stands at the door of our Hearts and knocks that we then open to him and he comes in to us and sups with us This is the right Supper of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus who is the First and the Last the Alpha and Omega of all our Graces and Mercies Wherefore my dear Hearts Open O ye Gates and be lift up ye everlasting Doors that Christ the King of Glory may come in and sup with you Allelujah So the Flesh and Blood Bread and Wine that comes from Heaven is Christ's Spirit of Light his Body which he gives for the Life of the World this is Meat indeed and Drink indeed that feeds and nourisheth the Soul up to Eternal Life which Cup of the New Testament is the saving Health of all Nations that dwell upon the Face of the whole Earth O my dearly Beloved take and receive eat and drink abundantly of this Cup of Salvation it is the new Wine in our Father's Kingdom a Fountain of Life that can never be drawn dry Allelujah Behold I shew to you a Mystery the Word in the Heart the Love of God shed abroad in our Hearts is the Leaves of the Tree of Life St. John speaks of in the Revelations given for the healing of the Nations for the uniting of all Sects and Opinions in Religion into the one true Religion both Jews and Gentiles Barbarians and Scythians as well as Christians of all Sorts or Names whatsoever whether called Roman Catholicks Episcopal Protestants Presbyterians Independents Baptists Quakers Seekers Socinians Arminians or
can hold forth the blessing of Peace and Establishment to the World and I am perswaded God hath fitted you for such a Work as this therefore I beseech you suffer a word of Exhortation Be faithful to the Testimony of the Lord with which he hath inspired you stand forth in the Name and Power of that Spirit which dwells in you lay by all carnal Ends and self Interests and come forth in the nakedness and simplicity of the Love of God in which you will breath out the blessing of Peace amongst us O let not Sion be built up any longer with Blood nor her Mourners wander about in the Defarts to seek for shelter and safety let the searchings of your Hearts and the yearnings of your Bowels be for the Breaches and Divisions that are among the People of God 'T is You that the great expectation of many of the Lord's People in this Nation is now towards Our Wounds Breaches in the Circumstantials of Religion are too wide and extensive for a formal outward and literal Ministry to heal and cement We have languished in Divisions too long already under these Physicians 't is only a Spirit-Ministry with evidence demonstration and power that proceeds from an innate Principle of the Love of God shed abroad in our Hearts that can compose all our Differences satisfy all Parties and Interests and settle us upon a sure Foundation of Peace Rest and Happiness If there be therefore any Consolation in Christ if any Comfort of Love if any Fellowship of the Spirit if any Bowels and Mercies fulfil ye the Joy of the People of God in these Nations that ye come forth with the like Mind and Spirit in your Ministry amongst us and in the Power of the same Love preserve the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace I know there is wisdom and largeness enough in the Love of God to accomplish these noble Ends and the witness of this upon your Hearts must necessarily strengthen your Faith in this Ministry for certainly that Love so ample that can redeem the World when and where 't is witnessed by the Spirit will appear large enough to cover all our Infirmities abate all our Contentions and quiet all the Clamours that abound among us If thus you can appear and stand forth this day as indeed Priests unto God and true Ministers of Christ Jesus you shall worthily be called The Healers of our Breaches and the Restorers of our Paths to dwell and walk in with love and pleasantness one towards another In which Spirit of Universal Love and good Will I Rest a Friend to you and the Souls of all whilst I am and when I am no more R. R. To all Teachers Preachers and Dispensers of the Word and Sacraments under the Dispensations of those called Presbyterians Independents and Anabaptists ROBERT RICH a Servant of Jesus Christ called to be an Apostle separated unto the Gospel of God which Gospel was promised and preached by the Holy Men of God ever since the Foundation of the World was Laid as in the Scriptures of Truth you may read Gen. 3.8 15. 12.1 3. with Gal. 3.8 Deut. 30.11 12 13 14 15. Rom. 10.6 8. Jer. 31.31 to 35. with Heb. 8.8 to the end Isa 52.7 with Rom. 10.15 Isa 61.1 with Luke 4.18 9.6 Mark 16.15 2 Cor. 4.4 6. 2 Tim. 1.10 1 Pet. 1.12 25. In the power and strength of which Gospel the Word in the Heart or Love of God shed abroad in our Hearts doth R. R. send Greeting in our Lord God Everlasting Allelujah TO you that are Regenerate and born again of the Spirit who have Christ Jesus the New Man in you and are Members of his Body Spiritual through Sanctification of the Holy Spirit of Grace you in him and he in you made perfect in one to you Grace Mercy and Peace be multiplied from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ Amen Allelujah In the Year 1656 feeling the Birth of God in me by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost wherein I was made a Member of Christ a Child of God and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven which Spirit of Light begat Christ Jesus the New Man in me by whom I obtained Reconciliation and Peace with God and good-will towards his Creation Which Spirit of Love moved me in the Year 1666 to send to the People called Presbyterians Thirty pounds to be distributed amongst their Poor that were in Need Sickness or any other kind of Adversity The like Sum I also sent to them called Independents As likewise to those called Anabaptists to be distributed to the Poor that were amongst them Not as Judas that betrayed his Master into the hands of Sinners for Thirty pieces of Silver but from one that witnessed the Resurrection from the Dead one who had long crucified the Lord of Life in my Self and by many and often Transgressions had slain the Witness of God his Holy Spirit of Grace and Light which oft cried in me Why wilt thou die Return to me the Light and Life of the Soul and thou shalt live At length I hearkened to the Voice of the Son of God in me in obedience to which Voice my Soul came to live in whose Life I have Rest Peace and Joy in the Lord my Saviour Allelujah Thus by the Incarnation or indwelling of the Life of Christ Jesus in my mortal Flesh I came to inherit Life Eternal by and through him that is the Regeneration the Resurrection and the Life Allelujah By which Spirit of Grace and Revelation of Christ in me I came to see what Peter saw Acts 10.34 35. Matth. 16.17 That of all Nations and Religions those that feared God and acted righteously towards Man are accepted with him Also by the same Revelation of God's Spirit I understood the great Love of God to the World that in all Ages and Times he hath sent and given his only begotten Son his Spirit of Light to be the Life of the World his Everlasting Covenant of Light and Life wherewith every one is enlightned both Jew and Gentile that cometh into the World that so all Men might be saved by believing in him and by following of him who is the Way the Truth the Life and God's Salvation to the ends of the Earth Allelujah As you may read Isa 42.6 49.6 Deut. 30.11 to 15. Jer. 31.31 c. with Rom. 10.6 8. Heb. 8.8 to the end John 1.4 9. 8.12 12.46 2 Cor. 4.4 6. Which Spirit of Light Life and Truth in the Inward Parts the Word incarnate in the Heart moved on the Face of my Deep and shining on my Tabernacle which Tabernacle God pitched in me in whose Light I saw Light which gave me freedom to look into all manner of Opinions and Religions which Light opened my Understanding so as to know Good from Evil Right from Wrong and Truth from Error In which Spirit of Light I read many Books writ by Presbyterians Independents
evil opprobrious Names which makes me say That I went to my Own but my Own would not receive me but sold me into Egypt by their many false Reports And poor Joseph found no greater Enemies than his Brethren were Nevertheless the Lord my God did not forsake me but found me out in the Innocency wherewith he had cloathed me and appeared to me in all my straits and was my Strength my Joy and Crown of Glory and at length brought me forth of Prison to stand before Princes assisting and carrying me with much Courage and through great Opposition to bear and finish my Testimony to Christ in the Saints And being cast out from my Brethren the Lord my God took me up and became my Teacher under whose Teachings I felt more of the Love of God and increased more in knowledg of the Things of God than when I sat under the Teachings of Men by whose Teachings I grew in Wisdom and in Stature unto the Measure of a perfect Man in Christ Jesus then I came to know that out of Egypt God hath called his Son to whom he hath given not only the Heathen but the whole World for his Possession and Inheritance In which Spirit of the Son I call to mind the sweet Union and Communion I had with the Quakers when they preached Christ the Light in every one that cometh into the World the Way to God the Father of Lights which Light sprang up so strongly in my Heart that with St. Paul it struck me down to the Ground where I felt the Root of the Matter in my Self so that I needed no Man to teach me but as the Unction that small grain of Mustard-Seed grew to a great Tree on whose body did hang all my Sins my Weaknesses and Infirmities which Seed of the Kingdom begot in me a new Heart and placed within me a right Spirit the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding fill'd with the Love of God Allelujah In the day when the People called Quakers were small in their own Eyes I dearly loved them who did not only preach Christ the Truth and Light in every one but with much boldness and courage and through great Persecutions defended the same living in much Love and Amity one with another which to me was a most lovely sight to see till there came to be a difference between J. N. and George Fox then G. F. by reason of his Enmity and Self-exaltation envied and persecuted J. N. and begat a most bitter wrathful Spirit in all his Friends against J. N. and all that stood by him in his Sufferings Thus G. F. was the Father that begat all those Divisions Rendings and Tearings that were then amongst the Quakers and since to this very day which with great violence lasted till J. N. took all the blame on himself and made himself of no reputation who was circumcised in Heart and Soul in which Circumcision he lived and died a true Israelite indeed But G. F. and his Party continued acting in another manner of Spirit for I have seen those pull hale and carry out of their Synagogue at the Bull and Mouth one Richard Freeman and the chief in this work was John Bolton with divers others At this time I perfectly saw that God had divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel and that a separation was making betwixt the Precious and the Vile amongst the Quakers And was it not the same bitter persecuting Spirit in G. F. that writ against J. Perrot's Book called Vnity and Amity For did not G. F. say This Book was writ with Cain 's Spirit Crying against his Sottishness and Ignorance affirming That a Cloud had compassed him that he went in the way of the false Prophets that his Spirit would give up the Children of God to Persecution Further alleaging That J. P. is one of Ham's Stock and that his gross Lies proceeded from a devilish hellish Spirit and that none that are in the least Truth will believe him and that he is a Liar and a Deceiver And the great Offence G. F. takes at this Book is that J. P. owns the Spirit of God's Grace and Light to be in Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists Seekers and others also that he hath Unity and Amity with all that walk therein the which G. F. denying and calling it a Lye c. plainly shews he is an Enemy to all that will not bow down to him and call him Master or Father of their Spirits and that he is turned from the Faith once delivered to the Saints and that he is removed to another Gospel than what at first himself had preached and also writ against J. P. that he was like a Dog snarling and biting such as are in the Life of Truth and so like a Dog thinks he will die This and much more hath G. F. writ against J. P. pursuing and hunting him as Saul did David like a Partridg on the Mountains from Country to Country from Region to Region and from City to City whithersoever he went these venemous Arrows were shot against him At this time I perfectly saw a Star fall from Heaven called Wormwood or the Dragon's Tail with which he drew to the Ground a third part of the Stars of Heaven then I saw a War in Heaven a Religious War the Dragon against the Lamb Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon and his Angels Which bitter Spirit of the Dragon did write or indite John Bolton's Book printed 1670 intituled Judas and his Treachery c. In which Book he saith The thirty pounds Robert Rich sent to the Poor amongst the Quakers was the price of Blood and Judas his Treachery That Robert Rich is a Vagabond on the Earth one that hath not an Habitation in the Living God That he is a Contender against God's Blessed and Holy Way the Way of Life with whom Robert Bacon is joined That they were Idolaters and judged them to be the Whorish Spirit and that the Mystery of Iniquity in R. R. and R. B. was brought forth to open view And all along his Book is full of the like Expressions not only against R. R. and R. B. but the same Railing Accusations are also against Innocent J. N. and J. P. and for no Evil said or done against any one of them as in their own Consciences they well know To all which Railing Accusations R. R. saith The Lord rebuke thee About the same time another Book was writ against R. R. and R. B. by Ger. Roberts Geo. Whitehead and E. H. intituled Impudency and Ranterism rebuked in which they call the Spirit of R. R. which sent thirty pounds to their Poor A drunken ranting Spirit a fained Love and the Gift they call Cain's Sacrifice Balack's Reward and Balaam's Wages Judas's Oblation and a Superstitious Idolatrous Gift Also that R. R. is a wandring Star a raging Wave of the Sea that he is a Sow wallowing in the Mire a Dog casting up his Vomit that he is that Fool which
saith in his Heart there is no God and bray a Fool in a Mortar and he will never be the wiser and that this folly hath bin with him ever since the days of J.N. All this and much more for nought else than for R. R. his Gift to the Poor of their People Which Language let G. F. and his Friends well consider whether it proceeded from the Spirit of the Lamb that loves Enemies or from the Dragon that casts his Floods after the Man-Child to devour him who is the only begotten of God in the Saints he must rule and reign though G. F. and his Men of War never so much rave and rage I say that the only begotten of God by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost in the Saints the Virgin Daughter of Sion whose Name is Immanuel must surely rule reign Even so Amen Allelujah What had you against J. N. more than that God had taken away his Judgment from him and then led him into the Wilderness to be tried and tempted by G. F. and others and to suffer by that Spirit that then ruled in the Children of Disobedience who in all meekness and patience did bear and suffer the enmity and cruelty of all his Persecutors as a good Example And what had you against R. R. more than that he stood by J. N. in his Sufferings and for pulling off his Hat at the Command of the Lord as a sign of Love to them that understood that sign better than if he had saluted after your mode and fashion in giving the Hand Also that he pulled off his Hat which was to testify that the Hat might be made an Idol both in keeping it on and in pulling it off And what had you against J. P. more than for owning the Light of Christ in Presbyterians Independents Baptists Seekers and others even in all that believed in it and followed it And is not the Light of Christ in every one the Ensign to gather together all of every Sect and Nation those that follow it into Unity with the Lord and Amity one with another And why was G. F. so bitter against J.P. for declaring that no such beggarly Element as the Hat off or on is any part of God's Worship And if G. F. must be obeyed in these things rather than the Light of Christ in our selves whether then G. F. and his prescribed and imposed Forms be not the greatest Idol that ever was set up by a Professing People let the Witness of God in every one be Judg. I have lately read a Manuscript subscribed George Fox writ to all that would know what those People called Quakers are and shewing their Experiences which they have seen and gone through to Priests and Professors Which Paper contains fifty Paragraphs In the first and second G. F. saith We thought it a hard thing for Cain to kill Righteous Abel but when we look'd within our selves we saw that envious wrathful Man that slew every appearance of God within and ready to slay the Righteous without Then G. F. goes on speaks against Adam's Fall and against Joseph's Brethren for selling of him into Egypt c. and tells Priests and Professors That if they look within they shall find this Nature in themselves And I tell G. F. that he need not go so far to seek this evil Nature in Priests and Professors Let him look but within himself and consider his own Actings against his Innocent Brethren and he will find Cain's Nature there and Cain's Sin to lie at his own Door and will know him that sold Joseph into Egypt c. And this Spirit was the Cause of G. F's own Fall who was once an Angel of Light and had a place in Heaven but is fallen from thence like Lightning and is now become an Angel of the Bottomless Pit where he rules and governs over all that have not their Names written in the Lambs Book of Life continuing their forms of Godliness their long Preachings and long Prayers from the Comprehension of Truth but not with the Life and Power thereof thus ye suffer that Woman Jezebel which calls her self a Prophetess by good Words and fair Speeches to seduce and deceive the Innocent amongst you keeping them always learning but can never come to the Knowledg of the Truth as it is in Jesus unless they cease from man's Teachings and come to the Teachings of God in themselves which alone truly teacheth the way to Life and Salvation Allelujah I have also read a Testimony from the Brethren met at London the third Month 1666 subscribed by eleven of your Ministry Also from a Meeting at Bristol the 27th day of the 7th Month 1669 subscribed by 36 Persons Also from a Meeting at Ellis Hooks the 12th of the 4th Month 1677 against John Wilkinson and John Story subscribed by 66 of your Ministers All which in general contain very bitter Censures and high Condemnations against many of your own People who have divided from the Body of Friends so called by your selves wherein you testify That those ingaged in the Spirit of Separation ought not to have any Rule or Dominion in the Church of God whereof the Holy Spirit that was poured forth upon you as you say hath made you Overseers But your Fruits will make you more manifest than your Words Also That all that are joined to that Spirit of Separation who stand not in Vnity with your Ministry their Judgments ought not to be regarded amongst Friends And further You declare your selves the Witnesses and Ambassadors of the Vnchangeable Truth and the Elders of the Church of God who of right having kept your Habitations in the Truth ought to judg of things which differ and this your Judgment to stand good and valid amongst Friends against all that oppose it Also that if any pretending to be of your Membership will not admit to be tried in case of Controversy by the Elders and Members of this your Body but oppose it as the Judgment of Man you then testify in the Name of the Lord against them that he or she with all those that countenance these Refusers are to be rejected as joined in one with Infidels and Heathens These together with G. F's Paper in vindication of Prescriptions dated the 4th Month 1678 imposing upon the Consciences of Men as also the particular Invectives against John Wilkinson and John Story both importing the same Spirit of Dominion and Rule over the Conscience which is the proper Heritage of God I have both seen well-weighed and considered and while I contemplate your present State by comparing it with the Principles with which you were first inspired I cannot but take up that Lamentation concerning you which the Prophet of old did concerning Israel How is the Mighty fallen How is the Gold become dim the fine Gold how is it changed Even the Sea-Monsters draw out the Breasts and give suck to their young Ones but the Daughters of my People are become cruel like
acknowledg Can you yet be so vainly confident as to perswade your selves that nothing of this Evil shall come near your Borders whilst the Arrows of God's Judgments fly so thick in the World and stick so deep in the Hearts and sides of all both Civil and Religious Interests Are you and your Imposing Tribe the only Men that must escape when the whole World is to be set on Fire yea the very Heavens of Professors are to be burnt up and nothing to be left alive in us but what can lie down in those Flames Is there nothing think ye in or amongst your People that is for Judgment Or is this a time for you to build and raise a Name to your selves when God is destroying to contend for outward Rule and Dominion over others when God is pleading his own Royal Prerogative to sit in judgment over the Consciences of your Brethren when the Judg stands at the Door Or are ye so regardless of the prints and footsteps of the Almighty in his present Providences that ye say in your Hearts with that Evil Servant The Lord delays his coming and fall to smiting your fellow Servants with the Tongue and Fist of Wickedness wounding and reproaching them with your bitter and severe Censures thinking with the evil Husbandman therewith to kill and slay the Heir the Seed of God in Man that must rule and reign Surely my Friends the tempestuous Storms of Wrath and Indignation that you see falling upon the World do earnestly call for a more mild and sober Spirit amongst you than this Let therefore your Moderation be known to all Men the Lord is at hand If you would be a blessing to the World in your Generation learn first to judg and condemn your selves Cast off your Judging Censuring and Imposing Spirit and give the Witness of God in every one its just Right its due Scope and Latitude and usurp not Authority over it Take not upon you to be Lords over God's Heritage let the Bowels of your Love and Tenderness be drawn out and extended towards the measure of God in all Men of every Religion in forbearance and forgiveness to the whole World follow Peace in the Spirit of Love with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see God Give Christ his Prerogative in Spirituals He must and will have it Give Caesar his due in Temporals who may of undoubted right challeng it Thus if you can commend your selves to God and the World ye shall be the Joy of this Generation all good Men will be drawn out in an earnest imitation of your Purity while the violent and wicked shall stand mute and be struck dumb at your modest Patience and Meekness you shall never want either inward Peace or outward Freedom but ye shall enter into Peace and Rest in your Beds each one walking in his Uprightness This my dear Friends is the Testimony in which I long to meet you and which will justly provoke the hearty embraces of Your true Friend in Love to serve you R. R. To the Birth of God in all the Sanctified the Church of the First-Born whose Names are written in Heaven who are born again not of the Will of the Flesh but of God's Holy Spirit You to whom is given the White Stone and the New Name that none knows but he that hath it who as living Stones are laid in the Walls not of the Jerusalem that now is and is in bondage with her Children but of the New Jerusalem that is Above in the Heart and Throne of God which is Free and is the Mother of us all To you however you are divided or where-ever ye are lodg'd and held in the Clifts of the Rocks in Dens and Caves of the Earth or secret places of the Stars under all your divided Tribes ROBERT RICH sendeth Greeting in our Lord God Everlasting Allelujah Dear Brethren BEing moved in my Spirit in the Year 1666 to salute the Seed of God the Seed of the Promise in all Men and in particular the Seven Churches of Christendom namely the Roman the Episcopal Protestant the Presbyterian the Independent the Baptist the Quaker and the Church of the First-Born to each of them I gave Thirty pounds to be distributed amongst the Poor of their People as a sign of my dear Love to the Seed of God in all which I saw lay crucified dead and buried in some and in others risen and reigning into Life that is Eternal That which principally moved me to this general Salutation was the sad and serious apprehension of the Straits and Limits by which I saw the Seed of God held in Bondage and these several sorts of Professors to value themselves and also condemn one another in reference to those Modes and Methods of Worship and Obedience in which they are divided and distinguished My Salutation intended a cheek to this unkind severity amongst them and according to the inward Testimony from God upon my Spirit if possible to let them understand that our gracious God is no respecter of Persons Sects or Opinions but of every Nation those that fear God and work Righteousness are accepted of him and that all those that walk in the Light of the Lord wherewith he hath enlightned them are saved Allelujah In the Heavenly Revelation of this Blessed Vision wherein I felt and found my self in a through Reconcilement to all Sorts and Sects of Men I have begun and now finished my Epistles to these Seven States of Christians which I recommend to the Children of Light to read and to consider what the Spirit saith to the Churches And because in the Travels of this Testimony upon the Soul I have met with several Celestial Pilgrims journying towards Sion with their Faces thitherward by whose sprinklings in many of their Books and Papers I have bin often refreshed and comforted I cannot but commend both their Names and Labours to the sober Enquirers after Truth as well knowing that though these Witnesses are dead and gone yet their Spirits and Testimony remain and still speak to us At this time I read many Books writ by the Divine Spirit in which I took great delight some few whereof I find freedom to expatiate on First Cebes the Theban Philosopher his Table writ in Greek since translated into English who lived Anno Mundi 3553 which Table was hung up in the Temple of Saturn This Table consisted of three Parks or Inclosures at the Gate of the first stood the shape of an Old Man called Life's Genius afterwards True Instruction which I understand by interpretation to represent the Light and Grace of God which appeareth to and in every one This Light or Life's Genius taught and instructed all how they should lead their Lives according to those Rules he directed both to avoid temptations to Vice and to imbrace all those Divine Vertues that lead to Beatitude I have read the Imitation of Christ writ by Thomas of Kempis Also Cardinal Cusanus his first
that he is now exposing to the light That surely God hath a glorious Design to carry on in the World even the building of David's Throne to all Generations I know a Day of Deliverance for Sion will come not with confused noise of the Warrier and Garments rouling in Blood but with burning and fuel of Fire in the Consciences of Men. Men they may fight against but this they can never fight against The Day approaches wherein God will decide his Controversy with the World not by outward Might and Power but by the Spirit of the Living God 'T was an usual saying with him Come what would every thing was upon the right Wheel in the wise contrivement of God for the accomplishing of his Righteous Designs in the World And speaking to his Children saith Regard not the Reproaches that are fallen on your Father say or do Men what they will Abraham's Faith will find the Blessing Abraham found These and many more of His as of Others I take to be true and faithful Sayings meet to be considered by all that wait for and expect Redemption Consolation and Salvation from the God of Israel Allelujah You will not blame me that I have enlarged upon the Testimonies of these Holy Men that have finished their Course kept the Faith and are gone before us into the Eternal Mansions of Glory who having quitted their Mortal Fabricks are flown into the World of hidden Wonders The Spirits of these Just Men made perfect are now upon you ye are come up to them and in the harmonious Fellowship of that Spirit which is now one and the same amongst all the Sanctified I have a few words of my inward Breathings to communicate to your holy Experiences In a deep sense thereof of my endeared Love towards that Royal Seed that richly dwells in you I here salute you and give you to understand That my Soul is firmly knit and united to that Principle of Life in which you stand bearing your Testimony for the Truth before God and Man amongst a crooked and perverse Generation who only dwell upon the out-side talks and pretences to God Religion and Christianity but hate even to Blood and Violence all those that are the free-born Seed of the Promise whose Faith and Obedience stands not in the Will Work or Wisdom of Man but in the Power and Spirit of God mightily working in their Hearts and Consciences whereby they are indeed purified washed and cleansed from dead Works to serve the Living God And so much the more is my Heart inflamed towards you when I consider you in refeference First To the Nature of your present Station And secondly To those great Designs that God hath prepared you for First For the Nature of your present Station I behold you not as Moah Jer. 48.11 12 c. but as a People standing in a more inward nearness with God than the rest of the formal Tribes of Religious Proselytes in the World a People that have bin scattered from all your fleshly Comforts and Confidences in all those Joys Hopes Helps and Establishments wherein you have trusted below God You have bin led into the Deeps of God's Wonders while others have bin only wading in the shallow Streams of a literal and formal Profession Unto you it is given to know those Mysteries of the Kingdom of God which lie hid from others in dark and obscure Parables you know that the Son of God is come and hath given you an understanding to know him that is True and that ye are in Him that is True which is the very God and Eternal Life You cannot be deceived with the tinkling Noises or glittering Baits of Loe here or Loe there for the Kingdom of God is within you In a word there is nothing below Spirit Power and Substance that can either crown your longing Expectations or reward your holy Breathings after Truth with a plenary and full satisfaction Thus as the Lord's Lillies among Thorns so do you stand among the formal Daughters being preserved in your Station upheld in your Principles and as Beacons flaming with the holy Blazes of a free and universal Love serve to enlighten the World into the way of Truth and direct their Feet into the Paths of that Peace Amity Union Rest and Security to which as yet they are so much estranged And this leads me to the other Consideration of the Great Work and High Designs which God hath prepared you for And surely glorious Things are spoken of thee O thou City of God! You are not only as Mount Sion beautiful for Scituation but also the Joy of the whole Earth for those humble gentle lovely and pleasant Aspects by which you shine upon the whole World with the inviting and astonishing Charms of a divinely inspired Love and Affection You are a People fitted above all others to be a Blessing to the World the whole Creation seems to groan and travel in pain with a longing and languishing expectation to be delivered into the glorious Liberty wherein Ye stand O how hath the form and out-side of Religion mixed with Carnal Interest exposed the World to Extremities of Horror and Confusion as at this day What indignity and reproach doth indelebly stick upon the Skirts of Profession and Christianity through that fiery and mis-guided Zeal those Feuds and bitter Animosities that Strife and Debate that Blood and Violence which abounds amongst those that walk under the glorious Names of Gospel-Professors and True Christians How insipid lifeless and unsavory is the whole state of formal Profession grown who while they cry up a Christ that died for them and contend for an Historical Faith of his Death and Sufferings hoping to be saved by a bare Imputation of a Righteousness wrought without them and yet know nothing all this while of any inward change or renewedness of Mind and Heart but totally ignorant of the inward active and real Righteousness which should commend them to the World in an healing saving comforting and refreshing Spirit And certainly the higher People are advanced in a literal and carnal Knowledg of God and Christ the more rough bitter and severe will their temper be towards all others that differ from them in the least Circumstances of Religion it being natural to that Knowledg and Wisdom to swell and puff up the Mind in the lofty and high conceits of a self-Righteousness rather than sweeten and soften the Spirit in that Charity which edifies Behold this is the distracted Station wherein the Children of Form are truly presented as Pharaoh's lean Kine tearing and devouring each other in this day of Wrath for now is the Judgment of this World and what may quench these Flames what may quel these Disorders what may repair these Breaches or allay these Distempers is the main thing that would be most desirable to know We see that neither the Prudence of Princes nor the Policies of Government the Prescriptions of the wisest Reformers nor the best esteemed
Regularities of the most magnified Authors and reverend Fathers are capable to accomplish this Reconciling Work Nay the Sacred Oracle of the Scripture it self is so far short of obtaining this blessed End that all different Parties do endeavour with the greatest industry imaginable by warping and winding the Text not only to suit it to the occasion of their present Differences but also thereby to justify their mad blind and uncharitable Zeal towards each other What Remedy then is left us in this Distress Is there no Balm in Gilead Yes certainly for although the extent of our Wounds and Breaches are too wide and great for the most ample Wisdom and Righteousness of Man to heal and cement there is yet largeness enough in the eternal and universal Love of God to accomplish this great Work and to make his Jerusalem a Praise upon the Earth And 't is my dear Brethren by the ample and large manifestations of this Universal Love shed abroad in your Hearts that this great Design of God must be accomplished and oh how the Consideration of this Glorious Work in and by you to be brought forth doth draw out my Spirit towards you Awake awake then put on thy strength O Sion put on thy beautiful Garments O Jerusalem thou Holy City stand forth thou Virgin Daughter clothed with the strength of the Divine Majesty and proclaim the Glory of your Principles by the beauty of your Practices to the World There is Majesty enough in that Love which fills and feeds your Souls to confound the Cruelty of all your Opposers to shame and astonish the World into silence and stilness and of this let us be confident that how-ever the over-flowing Tides of common Calamities blown up by the raging breath of formal and carnal Interests may swell as a Flood upon the World yet no Weapon that is form'd against Love to Truth and Righteousness shall prosper the Heathen may rage and the People may imagine a vain Thing The Kings of the Earth may Plot Conspire and take Counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed yet the Lord hath set his King upon his Holy Hill of Zion and he shall and doth Rule and Reign in the midst of his Enemies Let it therefore appear to the World whose Subjects ye are whose Banner ye are under and what Motto it bears which is Glory to God in the Highest on Earth Peace and good Will towards Men. O how beautiful will those feet be upon the Mountains which are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace How beautiful are thy Feet with Shooes O Princes Daughter Cant. 7.1 How amiable and pleasant will your Lives and Testimonies be among Men when you come forth in the largeness of that Love Meekness and Humility in Forbearance and Forgiveness which are the proper Ornaments and most natural Instances of a true Gospel-Profession In the Name of God arise then and shew your selves in his strength to be that in Power and Life which the World are only in Pretence and Notion let it be known by the lively and active demonstrations of the Spirit of God in you That greater is He that is in you than he that is in the World Your Principles I am sure are more noble extensive and generous do but draw them forth and shew them to open view and you will be a Blessing in your Generation The several Tribes and Languages shall fasten on your Skirts and say We will go along with you for the Lord is amongst you Nay even the Kings of the Nations shall shut their Mouths at this appearance of God in you Isa 52.14 15. For that which had not bin told them they shall see and that which they had not heard they shall consider As Pharach said of Joseph Where is there a Man in whom the Spirit of God is Gen. 41.38 c. Finally my Brethren Be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his Might put on the whole Armour of God for your Work and your Warfare requires it and ye know that nothing below that can enable you to finish this your Testimony Ye wrestle not against Flesh and Blood neither are the Weapons of your Warfare Carnal but mighty through God to subdue every high Thought and vain Imagination All those Principalities and Powers and those spiritual Wickednesses in high Places which have captivated the Royal Seed of the Promise and exalted themselves against the free Breathings of the Spirit These my dear Friends are the powerful Enemies over which ye must be more than Conquerors through him that loves you and when in the strength of this Love you have subdued the World calm'd and quieted that wild and furious Spirit of Wrath that is let loose among Men and prepared the way for the Kingdom of God and of his Christ to be establish'd in us and amongst us what remains but that in a holy denial of your Selves and Services your Gifts and Graces your Love and Enlargements your Faith and Patience your Sufferings and Perseverances you offer up the Son of the Promise and cast down these your Crowns at the feet of Him that sits upon the Throne joining in Consort with the Celestial Quire of Saints and Angels in the Sacred Hymns of Divine Praises and Allelujahs Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power to the Lord our God Rev. 19.1 to 10. Not unto us Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be the glory of all thy wondrous Works Sing Zion shout O ye Inhabitants of the New Jerusalem Judges 5.1 to 14. Awake Deborah awake awake sing to the Lord Arise Barak take the Harps of God in your hands ye Heavenly Victors and in your most strenuous Notes sing aloud with Moses and the Lamb upon your Chrystal fiery Floods Rev. 15.2 3 4. Great and marvellous are thy Works Lord God Almighty Just and true are thy Ways thou King of Saints who will not fear thee O God and glorify thy Name for thou only art Holy all Nations shall come and worship before thee for thy Judgments are made manifest And again Allelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth and is manifest to be All in All all Vnity in all Variety Thus to ascribe to God All in all and to the Creature-Nothing is the top-Stone of God's Building to which we cry Grace Grace Allelujah For His is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen Allelujah THE END