feel and enjoy the thing it self which the words declare of and that which satisfieth the true thirsting-soul comes clearly from God to the refreshing of the inward parts of man and filling of the empty barren hungry spirit which cannot be satisfied without Gods in-dwellings and thus the Disciples were led along and at last in a foolish way to the great Professors they waited among them in Jerusalem and the Lord had regard unto them and senâ— his own Spirit unto them and then they were filled with the Holy Ghost And the secret invisible hand of God whose Power was and is felt in my heart having out of the sight of flesh and blood in the hidden counsel of his secret Wilâ— led me by the vertue of the operation anâ— drawings thereof through those thing which thereby I come to leave behinde and to receive and feel that which noâ— goeth before and is my Leader in whosâ— Covenant of Life Eternal my soul is noâ— satisfied and so by good experience oâ— the Lords leadings and from an experimental knowledge sensible feeling anâ— present enjoyment of the incomes of thâ— Spirit of Truth and Life which filled the inward parts with the Holiness of iâ— self and giveth power to do the thing required before of God even from thâ— right and good understanding thereof iâ— this written That where it meets with the like condition in a weary Traveller iâ— may answer its own and be helpfull to thâ— weak and feeble that such may not givâ— over pressing forwards nor faint in their long travel though many Mountains on which they did nourish themselves for a time will not yeeld them Bread now yet that they may with me and the rest of the Followers and Friends of Christ past and present always continue following the Spirit as it leads until the inward man be filled therewith and so power and strength from God come to be known and received in every particular For thus it is with Christs Followers now they are not satisfied until they are filled with that which they have heard of and their souls thirsted after and so it was with them then and they were filled with what they wanted before and then from that which they were filled with they spoke forth and so they did teach the Nations and brought People under the Power of God and baptized them into that and dipt them into the Name of the Father and brought them under that which saveth from Sin and plunged them into the holy Spirit and as they teach'd they did this baptizing as they did teach and plunging them as their doctrine went forth into that which washeth and purifieth the Conscience from the filth and guilt of Sin of which the outward Baptism waâ— a figure of this which saveth and so their Doctrine was from an inward Life and proceeded from that which was invisible and so reached to that which wanted life in the Hearers and so brought up the Power of God over them and them under it and into it for the Word is Into and they were to bring people into the Name not Water and they were to bring or baptize them into the Name as they did teach Go ye and teach baptizing into Baptizing is in the Present Tense when they did teach and so here the spiritual and inward Baptism goes along with the Preaching of the Word of Life which is inward and brings man into an inward enjoyment of God being baptized into his Name which is a Strong Tower which preserveth from the power of the Devil and we all who are brought into this and are come in here are all by one Spirit baptized into one Body and so worship God in the Spirit having the heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience by the washing of Regeneration in the Ministration of the Gospel of Peace whereby there is a drawing nigh to God being brought into his Name and a free access to the Throne of â—hat Grace which saveth from and out of â—ll filthiness of flesh and spirit Humphrey Smith The Discovery of Mans return to his first Estate by the Operation of the Power of God in the great work of Regeneration ALL Men and Women behold and see in what estate you were created And God said Let us make Man in our Image God created Man in his own Image and in the Image of God created he him male and female created he them And the Lord took Man and put him in the Garden of Eden to dress and keep it And the Lord God commanded the Man saying Of every Tree in the Garden thou mayst freely eat but of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for iâ— the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surâ— dye the death The Serpent was more subtile than 〈◊〉 beast of the field which the Lord God bâ— made he said unto the Woman Ye shall nâ—â— surely dye for God doth know that in the dâ—â— you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened aâ— ye shall be as God knowing good and evil And when the Woman saw the Tree wâ—â— good for food and that it was pleasant unâ—â— the eyes and a tree to be desired to make 〈◊〉 wise she took the fruit thereof and did eaâ— and gave also to her husband with her 〈◊〉 he did eat And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig-leaves together and made thâ—â— Aprons And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his Wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the Trees of the Garden and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him Where art thou And he said I heard thy Voice in the Garden and was afraid and because I was naked I hid my self and he said Who told thee that thou wast naked hast thou eaten of the Tree wherof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat And the Man said The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the Tree and I did eat And the Lord God said unto the Woman What is this that thou hast done The Woman said The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat And the Lord God said unto the Serpent Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all Cattel and above every Beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life And I will put enmity betwixt thee and the Woman and betwixt thy seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel And the Lord God said Behold this Man is become as one of us to know good and evil and now lest he put forth his hand take also of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken and he drove out
of what thou comprehendest to be Truth from the Letter of the Scripture under what form name or title soever thou be thou art a dead man and a dead woman and the wrath of God abides on thee though thou see it not Rom. 7.9 there Paul witnesseth saying I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed Friends every one in particular deal justly with your hearts see what you can witness of your death with Christ by the powerfull Word of Truth which enlightens the Conscience and condems sin in the flesh for every one would ascend with Christ to be partakers of the Life and Glory with him but he becomes a stumbling-stone to be baptized with him into his Sufferings and Death to descend with him into Hell and this thou must witness before ever thou come to sit with him in heavenly places for it is they and they alone that shall reign with him who suffer with him and they that are dead with him shall live with him It is the dead that hear 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 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 will let thee see the Mystery of Iniquity that lodgeth in thy heart which is deceitfull 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 thâ— 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 comprehendeth it not Every one arise out of your earthly wisdom 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 shalt 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 't 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 pacify 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-leav'd garment of prayers tears forms outward observations according to thy comprehension of the Letter will not cover thy nakedness it served to cover thy 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 Fugitive and a Vagabond in the Earth notwithstanding all his Sacrifices and Esau in thee reprobated 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 for ever 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 perishest 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 John and of all that were born of women there was not one greater then John 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 strengthens the hope in thee that was raised up by the Prophets to see the beauty and excellency of Jesus Christ which ravisheth thy lost condemned soul that thou art willing to sell all for him the Scripture now being fulfilled in thee who witnesseth this from the dayes of John even until now The Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force now is every Mountain and Hill laid low in thee and crooked wayes made straight and the rough way in thee made smooth and thou waitest 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 causeth thy dead soul to hear his voice which witnesseth 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 is 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 quickening 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 lest any should boast and he that hath Hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure and the love of Christ
faces thitherwards FEar not ye Mourners in Sion the Lord waits on you to be gracious unto you and though he give you the Bread of Adversity now and the Water of Affliction yet shall not your Teachers be removed into Corners any more but your eyes shall see your Teachers and your ears shall hear a voice behind you saying This is the Way walk in it when you turn to the right hand or the left Therefore every one of you mind the Light which is of Jesus Christ in you that judgeth the unrighteousness of your hearts give up to be guided by the pure Light in you which is your Teacher the Counsel of Jesus Christ and it will bring Judgement forth unto Victory and whatever he makes manifest to you to be his Will Wait on the Lord in his Counsel and he will give you power to obey and when you have obeyed his Will take heed of departing from the Counsel of the Lord which is the Light within you to hearken to the counsel of your own hearts which will draw your minds to look back at your obedience and the experiences you have passed through so will the Beast which received a deadly wound with the Sword the Righteous Law that goeth out of the mouth of the Lamb in you his deadly wound will be healed and sits a painted Beast above the Cross of Christ working lying wonders in your hearts and imitating the operation of the Power of God who is purifying his Sons and Daughters with the Spirit of Judgment and the Spirit of Burning and the Beast in you that tasted of the Power of God when he received his deadly wound under the Justice of God now can imitate the same in deceit and cause fire to come down from Heaven in the sight of men intimating the operation of the Spirit of Burning and so deceives himself and all that dwell upon the Earth he is made manifest to all that dwell in the heavenly Light in their hearts All Friends mind your Watch for the Adversary the Devil goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour abide in the Counsel of the Lord which is the Light in you and you will discern between the Beast which is Antichrist in his lying Wonders and the Lamb Jesus Christ in the opperation of his Power so you will come to try the spirits whether they be of God yea or no all that are guided by the Beast have their life in speaking and acting in outward opperations what they once experienced and what they comprehended to be truth speaking that they enjoy not and is exalted in pride the heart returned into the Earth But thou that art guided by the Lamb the Light in thy Conscience the righteous Law cries through thy earthly heart and brings it to Judgment and thou canst find no life in the opperation of the Power of God nor in thy obedience but whilst the Presence of the Lord is with thee in it and when thou hast done the Will of God in obeying what he hath made known unto thee thou seest thy self to be an unprofitable Servant and hast need of Patience that thou mayest receive the Promise where thy Life is hid with Christ in God to save thee freely for his Name sake or else thou perishest and to carry thee on by his Mighty Power or else thou fallest so thou hast nothing to glory in but in the Lord. And as they that are guided by the Beast which is Antichrist speaks of the Truth a riddle to their own hearts not knowing the Power and Life of what they speak adding to the Word of the Lord and the plagues and curse of God will be added unto them But thou art guided by the Lamb Jesus Christ thou knowest when the Word of the Lord is committed to thee If any have my Word saith the Lord let him speak my Word faithfully Is not my Word like a fire saith the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rocks in pieces Thou canst witness the Word of the Lord to be as a fire and as a hammer to break the Rocks in pieces in thee and bring down all in thee in subjection to it self and it alones rules in thee and thou that canst witness the Word of the Lord thus manifest in thee thou art a true Messenger of the Lord let not the deceit stop thy mouth for the Word of the Lord that calls thee to speak shall perfect his Work for which he is sent All Friends stand fast in the Counsel and Will of God be faithfull in following the Lamb daily through the Cross and none be discouraged in temptations be content look up to the Lord to keep you in the hour of temptations for it is no sin to be tempted but to yeeld to the Tempter and when the Lord delivers you from the power of the Tempter watch that your will get not from under the Cross but sink down into the Love of God and every one be content in what the Lord hath made manifest to you and be faithfull according to your Talents and more will be communicated to you and none look forth at others conditions for if you do the Enemy will cause you to stumble and you will come to a loss in your own condition wait patiently in the Counsel of the Lord the Light in you for he is making a short work in the Earth that you that come into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour shall receive as much as they that came in at the third hour and have laboured in the heat of the day All ye children of the Lord lift up your heads behold your King riding in Majesty and Power upon the wild Ass Colt which is your wild nature subjecting it to himself that you may enter with him through the Gates of the City into the New Jerusalem where there enters nothing that worketh abomination and maketh a lie but what is written in the Lambs Book of Life and there you shall dwell in the Banqueting-house of the Lord for ever seeding upon the feast of fat things rejoycing in the Eternal Love and Mercy of your Souls in the free Covenant of Life in the Blood of Christ who is the Lord of lords and King of kings God blessed forever who is riding on in majesty and in power conquering and to conquer all the powers of darkness in the hearts of his Saints that they may reign as people upon the Earth to the praise and glory of our God who is taking unto him his Great Power to reign in his Saints for evermore To whom alone be all honour glory power and eternal praises for ever W. D. A Word of Consolation unto the Child of Light that yet sits in Darkness being deeply afflicted and wounded in spirit through ignorance of Salvation in the New Covenant in Christ Jesus the Light DEar Child of the Birth of the Immortal Seed which cries over all the World and beyond all the Pleasures Pomp and
endeavours to blind the mind not the brain-knowledge but the hearty-feeling sence within in the mind lest the Light within should so shine as God should heal them and all the buslings of Satan with his gifts are but to blind the mind within lest God should heal the soul that complains to him from the true sight and sence of his Misery as in himself By this Grace and Gift within we believe That to Vs though in the world there be Lords many and Gods many there is but ONE GOD the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ witnessed within man only by the Spirit of Truth that manifests both the Father and the Son and yet these three are one and agree in one and he that honours the Father honours the Son that proceeds from him and he that denies the Spirit denies both the Father and the Son and is Anti-Christ but he that believes in the Spirit and is led by it is the Son of God Rom. 8.14 As many as are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God We believe The Scriptures bare witness unto and testifie of Christ but they say The Witness of God is greater than them The Spirit it self bearing witness with our spirits that we are the Sons of God for it is not the Scriptures without the Spirit nor the Spirit contrary to the Scriptures but the Spirits discovering the Will of God in the heart or opening of the Scriptures in its own time and way and not in or by the will of man but as it self pleaseth who searcheth all even the deep things of God and manifests them unto the Soul which giveth the perfect sound and saving knowledge for said Christ The Spirit shall take of mine and shew them unto you And as holy men gave forth the Scriptures 2 Pet. 1.21 so holy men and they only come truly to understand them and not proud and ungodly men because their hearts and lives do not answer the hearts and lives of those that gave them forth aâ— face answereth face in a Glass And this we believe to be the reason why so long preaching by men of corrupt minds who have and do handle the words deceitfully for selfish ends and filthy lucre sake hath brought forth so little fruit and been to so little purpose except to their Purses and Bellies for had they believed and thereforâ— spoken and stood in Gods Counsel they shoulâ— have profited their Hearers Jer. 23.21 22 23 to the end Through this Gift we believe Thaâ— Christ Iesus the Son of God was manifest in the flesh in the fulness of time And this we know by the same Spirit by which our Fathers believed he should come and Abraham saw his day by the same we do believe he is come and do see his day as also by the Prophets and Apostles Writing which twofold Cord is not easily broken We believe also according to the Scriptures of Truth That this same Jesus hath God highly exalted and given him a Name above every name that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life and that there is not another name whereby man can be saved than this Name of Jesus Christ nor is Remission of Sins to be preached by any other name But as we do not believe that the outward Letters and Syllables are that Name that is to be bowed to by the outward knee no more than the Letters or Syllables in the words God or Spirit seeing the Scripture saith Vnto God who is a Spirit every knee shall bow Isa 45.23 but the Name which saves is the Power and Arm of God that brings Salvation from Sin and makes every Soul that names it to depart from Iniquity This is that Name which was preached and which is preached through Faith in which Name Remission of Sin is obtained Therefore was the outward word Jesus given him as his outward name Thou shalt call his Name JESVS for he shall save his People from their Sins Mark for he shall save c. So that which saves is the Name which is to be believed in which is that Arm of God that brings Salvation when no eye pitties neither is there any to help the Power of God that then saves is that Grace that comes from the fulness of Christ the Saviour And without this virtue Christ and Jesus are but empty names 1 Cor. 12.3 No man can say that Jesus is the LORD but by the holy Ghost We believe also That this Jesus died for or because of Sin and rose again for the Justification of those that believe in him as well as to manifest to all the world that he was the Son of God and that he thereby spoiled Principalities and Powers and triumphed over them openly and led Captivity captive in his own person yet we believe and know by his Grace in our hearts that as his Name Jesus without Vertue and Power is but an empty word so his Dying without man's Conformity to his Death or being planted into the likeness thereof or being crucified with Christ as saith the Scripture Rom. 6.2 3 4 5 6. Gal. 2.20 will not profit man as to the Salvation of his Soul no more than the naming of his outward name Jesus doth at this day make people to depart from Iniquity For we believe and are sure that man must dye inwardly as well as Christ died outwardly and must be put to death in his flesh as Christ was in his for he that is in the flesh cannot please God Rom. 8.8 neither cease from sin but he that is dead is freed from sin Rom. 6.7 And yet mans dying unto Sin and the Root and Principle of it in himself is so far from making void Christ's Death in his own person that it establlsheth it to all those ends and purposes for which it was intended of the Father As the Cures which the Physitian doth manifest and establish his skill and ability so doth mans dying unto Sin and Self and living unto God manifest and establish the Vertue and Power of Christ's Death for as man manifests his being risen with Christ by his seeking the things that are above Col. 3.1 2. so doth he manifest his knowledge of the Death of Christ by his being crucified with Christ and bearing about in his body the dyings of the Lord Jesus for as it is not an outward belief gathered from the Letter that will change the heart and life though the Judgment and Opinion it may so it is not a belief from the History or Letter only that can give man a saving-knowledge of the Death of Christ but he must have the same Glory and Power of the Father in measure working in him there to beget Faith in his heart that he may believe unto Salvation from his own filthiness and righteousness as well as confess with his mouth Rom. 10. and must have that Spirit in him quickning his mortal body as well as to believe that it was in Christ and raised
and justifies the Soul through thâ— virtue of this Blood received into the hearâ— by this living Faith which receives all itâ— power and virtue from Christ in whom 〈◊〉 abides as its root and object whereby Justification is witnessed from Sin not in Sin Rom. 6.22 But now being made free from Sin and become servants unto God you havâ— your fruits unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life We believe That Justification and Sanctification are distinguished but not divided for as he that sanctifieth and justifieth iâ— one so do these go together and wheâ— the Soul hath the greatest sence of Justification upon it through the vertue of thâ— Blood of Jesus by the Living Faith theâ— is it most in love with Holiness and at thâ— greatest distance from Sin and Evil and whenever there is a failing in Sanctification there is also some eclipse of Justification in the eye of the Soul until Faith hath recovered its strength again which iâ— lost by sins prevailing For as the farthest and clearest sight is in the brightest day so is it with the Soul when it is most in the brightness and beauty of Holiness its Justification appears most glorious and its Union and Communion most sweet and lasting and so like two Twins as they are much of an age so they are like one to the other And what God hath joyned together let no man put asunder We also by this Light believe That Acceptance with the Father is only in Christ and by his Righteousness made ours or imputed unto us not by the creaturely skill but by the applicatory act of Gods gift of Grace whereby the Soul feels the difference between self-applying by its own Faith and God applying by its Spirit and so making Christ unto the Soul Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption So that we believe and are sure that there is a great difference between Imputation as it is the act of mans spirit and as it is the act of Free Grace without mans forcing And so we distinguish between Imagination and Imputation between reckoning or imputing that is real and reckoning or imputation that is not real but a fiction and imagination in the creaturely will and power And because we are against the latter we are clamoured upon as if we denied the Imputation oâ— Christ's Righteousness when it is only unto those that are not made righteous by it to walk as he also walked For as the Scripture saith It is not he that saith he is righteous by the imputation of Christ's Righteousness but he that doth Righteousness iâ— righteous even as Christ is Righteous 1 Joh 3.7 he that believes otherwise is deceived And yet it is not Acts of Righteousness as done by us nor as inherent in us as acts by which we are accepted of God and justified before him but by Christ the Author and Worker of those acts in us and for us whereby we know that we are in him and he in us and we hold him as our Head into whom alâ— things are gathered together into one even in him We further believe That God is only to be worshipped and not any likeness that man makes unto himself of God from any view sight and knowledge that he hath had of him but in every act and service man is to know what substantially as well as whom speculatively or notionally he worshippeth as is is written John 4.22 Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for Salvation is of the Jews And he that thus worships the Father honours the Son by the same Spirit which is one with the Father and the Son in which Spirit only God is worshipped according to the form of its own chusing and manifesting of himself in and by according unto the good pleasure of the Father who is a Spirit and limits man unto the Spirit 's Form but allows not man to limit the Spirit unto his form though it be not of his inventing originally but of the Father yet man must no more limit God unto it then he could command God to appear in it at first For as he chose it himself so he hath reserved liberty to leave it at his pleasure who works all things after the counsel of his own Will which he hath purposed in himself that the Gift of the knowledge of the Mystery of his Will might for ever be acknowledged to be of his Grace and for the riches of the glory thereof according to Ephes 1. and man be bound but God free Man bound to wait in the Light for Gods Movings but God free to move in whom to what and when he pleaseth then man is to go when he saith Go and come when he saith Come and such Servants do serve him And then there is no more Curse as in the dayes of Will-worship and voluntary Humility but the Throne of God and of the Lamb Col. 2.18 23. Rev. 22.3 4. And they shall see his Face and his Name shall be on their foreheads We believe also That this Worship is spiritual and not carnal in all its Parts and Ordinances and not to be imposed by any outward force but performed by the inward leading of Gods holy Spirit according as the holy men of God were led and guided in the days past who gave forth the Scriptures all impositions of Worship outward being only enjoyned under the first Covenant that made nothing perfect until the time of Reformation spoken of Hebr. 9.10 But Christ being come there is an end as well of such Impositions as of the Meats and Drinks and divers Baptisms and carnal Ordinances they being all but temporary and in order unto an end but all to vail to Christ the sum and substance of all the first pointed at by all and the last ending of all the Amen And he that thus worships God in Christ his Ordinances are spiritual and not carnal and his Faith carries him beyond his Works with righteous Abel and preserves him that he is not drowned in the Form like Cain neither falls he short of the glory of God nor of his assurance of Acceptance with him We believe There is one Baptism necessary to Salvation Ephes 4.5 One Lord one Faith one Baptism And this Baptism is Spiritual of which John's Water was but a figure John 1.31 That he should be made manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with Water saith John and 1 Pet. 3.21 The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us not the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the Reâ—urrection of Jesus Christ This one Spiriâ—ual Baptism into the Name of Jesus Christ â—s that which saves the Water being but a figure that Christ might be manifest to Israel who had divers Baptisms imposed on them untill the time of Reformation but Christ the Substance being come the Shadows flee away And yet where-ever any are commanded now by the same Spirit that commanded the Believers to
same Spirit that the sum of all Religion according to the Truth and the signification of the word Religion is Man not at liberty in his will but bound again unto God by his having given to him by the Light of Christ within the true sight and knowledge of himself as in himself as lost and undone foâ— ever and from this sight a true sence to ariâ—â— upon and remain with him from wherâ— spring unutterably groans and cryes untâ— God under the weight of the burthen anâ— wretchedness by reason of the body oâ— Sin and Death and then when there waâ— none to help or pitty in this state then 〈◊〉 Mercy shewed in Christ the Arm of Goâ— which is revealed as an help neither seeâ— nor known where how or when to coâ—â— at it or meet with it And this begets iâ— the heart of that man or woman in anâ— unto whom it is thus revealed thanks anâ— praises unto God for this Gift and Revâ—lation of his Son in this needfull timâ— whom the Soul sees to be the Gift of Eteâ—nal Love And we believe and know upon thâ— Love and Faithfulness of God is foundeâ— built and established the Everlasting Covâ—nant whereby not only all men may bâ— saved for its ability but some shall be sâ—ved because for its prevalency which is 〈◊〉 like to the Covenant he made with our Fâ—thers And although all mankind is not sâ—ved yet it is not because either of insuâ—ficiency in this Covenant or because of tâ—â— weakness of the Grace that appears in and unto all men but because of mans will loving death and chusing his own delusions whereby his destruction is of himself and God clear of his blood in the free tender of his Grace Gift and striving of the Spirit within him For we know assuredly according to the Scriptures of Truth and Experience of all souls that ever were truly converted to God that though by Grace man is saved not of himself but by the Free Fift yet as the old World did and those rebellious Jews spoken of Acts 7. who as did their Fathers so did they alwayes resist the holy Ghost so do men now And yet in the tender of this Grace and striving of his Spirit the Lord is a God so hiding himself in the management of this Striving and Ministration of his Spirit as if it wholly depended upon mans choice and consenting that mans will as to him is as it were free in rejecting or accepting Life and Death being set before him whereby in the Wisdom of God the propensity of his Nature as it came out of the hands of his Maker hath an advantage by this dealing of God to put forth it self so that man is as free in the choice as he is in the refusal of the tender of Mercy and help and that with an equal indifferency as it appears to him in this state notwithstanding afterwards in the furtheâ— growth in this Grace and Knowledge oâ— Christ he sees clearly and convincingly that the Grace that wrought hiddenlâ— from his sight and knowledge in the firâ—â— working tender and ministration of Goâ— towards him gained his consent througâ— its own prevalency in the Love of God bâ— which sight and sence self comes to be abhorred and the free Love so admired thaâ— he knows from first to last all was of Grace and that free that self is not able to challenge any thing as due from what it haâ— done but all of gift and yet as before with such an equal indifferency on manâ—… account so that God may and will appeaâ— to be just both in condemning and saving and the Justifier freely of all that believe iâ— Jesus the Light of the World Therefore let all take heed how they dislike this Ministration of God and striving of his Spirit in their Hearts and Consciences under colour and pretence of its insufficiency and therefore they will not come to him because his drawings and strivings are not so strong as they would have them to be looking for such an overpowring and irresistibleness as they are not able to withstand and gainsay lest such perish through a wilfull neglect and for want of stretching out their hand when the Lord holds out his and so they perish in the ditch with a vain expectation of further power or cry in their mouthes Lord have mercy upon us and so with the Sluggard while they cry Yet a little more slumber and folding of the hands to sleep their Garden is overgrown with weeds and their backs cloathed with rags and they beg in harvest whilst others that have sown in tears not fainting do in due time reap in joy and not despising the crums that fell from the table nor the day of small things witness the presence of their Beloved come down into his Garden and walking among the Lillies Let these things be truly considered pondred and weighed in the true Ballance of Light and Righteousness lest any Soul perish through the false weight and measure so shall my soul rejoyce that any have escaped the Net of the Fowler through the discovery of the true Light and God have all the Glory unto whom alone it belongs and man ashamed confounded his moutâ— stopped and he laid in the dust forever anâ— then shall my end be answered in writinâ— these things John Crook Concerning Perswasions in Matters of Religion THere is the Natural man and the Spiritual man and there are the Perswasions of each in and about Matters of Religion There is the Perswasion of Reason and the Perswasion of Faith The Perswasion of Reason is that Belief which man receives into his mind or heart from the exercise of the Reasoning Faculty and this Perswasion in Matters of Religion is but mans Opinion or Judgement which how certain or infallible so ever it appears to him yet may be shaken by a demonstration or evidence of a higher kind of nature The Perswasion of Faith is that Belief which the New-Creature receives into the renewing-Mind from the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit which openeth and manifesteth the things of the Spirit unto that mind which is begotten and renewed by it And this Perswasion is certain and infallible however it may be struck at and battered by the reasonings of the wise earthly part even in that very man whose heart is thus perswaded by the Light of the Spirit of God concerning the things of Gods Kingdom Now the lowest Perswasion of Faith is higher and of a more noble nature then the highest Perswasion of Reason because Faith is of an higher Principle and of a deeper nature and ground then Mans Reason is But this because it appears not in mans sphear but rather out of it and is contrary to the line and reach of his wisdom is accounted by him foolishness and madness Thus is the Wisdom of God and the Children thereof judged and condemned by man in his day And how can it be otherwise How can the wisdom of man but judge that as
to receive the Spirit by it then to be led into all Truth and so being first led into the Truth then in the same Truth to worship God in Spirit who is a Spirit And whether there be now any true Worship standing which God accepteth but only this And whether this alone be not agreeable to Moses Christ and Scriptures And whether all other Worships now upheld be not contrary to this true Worship of God and contrary to Moses Christ and Scriptures and indeed chiefly opposite to the Spirit of God whereby he is grieved And if so whether all such Worship Way Practice Performances Duties and Ordinances so called be not better left undone then performed until Gods Spirit be received to guide therein Thirdly Concerning the Ministration of the Spirit which abideth for ever MOses and his Ministry were visible and Christ in the form of a Servant and so like unto Moses was visible and so were his Miracles and that which is visible to the natural eye the carnal mind can come to profess and contend about but the blessed eye which God openeth with the light cometh to see the one done away and the other finished by Christ the Light and Life And the Spirit is that which first moved and yet moveth and moved unto and led through the visible Ministration and this Spirit is invisible as it is written the invisible only wise God whom no eye of flesh hath seen or can see and this moving invisible Spirit of God which is without limit or end is that which all people should be led unto by all its outward visible appearances ministrations and dispensations and this Spirit was that which gave forth and ordained the Ministration of the Law which was glorious in its time though to be done away but how much more glorious is the Ministration of that Spirit of Life it self from which the Ministration of the Law came which Spirit abideth for ever And the second Adam is made a quickning Spirit and the Spirit which is the Word was with God and was God before the body of flesh was made and that Spirit abideth for ever as is heard out of the Law He shall abide for ever And this is that which ever liveth to inâ—ercede And this for ever blessed invisible Spirit was before time and is to be when time shall be no more and is without limit an eternal lively Substance giving life from it self and secretly covering it self from the carnal part of man not seen nor understood but by such as by its secret motions come to be led to see through that which shadows it forth and by the image form shadow or figure to discern the Substance which is the Life where Immortality dwelleth for in the most innermost and secret of all is the Life of all being covered over with that in which it lies through which it breaking forth in any discovery of it self is that whereby the beholders might be drawn through the discovery unto it self which in the discovery broke forth for the discovery was still too short of that from whence it came and that which was discovered forth in any shadow form or image was not to be idolized nor set up for the very thing or substance of Life from whence it proceeded and herein hath been much mistake by such who came not by that which opened in the visibles to that from whence it came in that to have their understandings opened and thereby to be made sensible of that which is eternal by it to be brought in where its indwellings abide for ever whose breaking forth in the visible which was to draw to that invisible refreshed the soul invisibly in an unexpected manner and time but being after sought for in the visibles and not in the eternal withdraws it self out of the visibles and out of the sight and reach of that which seeks it there that thereby that which is to live for ever with it may come through all that which it appeared in unto the very thing and invisible Substance it self which is the Life of all and the true Center of the living Motion which moveth of it self and gave forth all things good as they proceeded from it by vertue of its gradual and various motions and this being come opens it self in them that find it and live therein and this maketh Darkness Light before the people whose dwelling is with God and the crooked comes to be made streight by the thing it self and dark sayings of old come to be opened and secret things revealed But to write more plain for the sake of the weak of this glorious indwelling Spirit which in the fulness of time cometh forth in flesh laying hold of the Seed of Abraham the most glorious Appearance that ever was being thus appeared was the express Image of God who dwelleth in his People whose bodies are flesh and earthly tabernacles but by the operation of the sanctifying cleansing Spirit which the Father sendeth are made fit habitations of God and so Coheirs with Christ and Members of his Body Flesh and Bones which Spirit quickneth to God and being thus received and obeyed is felt to live for ever though the shadowings-forth of it be done away and this is Eternal and never endeth but abideth with such for ever and the Ministration of it is Life it self to the soul and more to be valued and desired than all that ever was seen before it And as the Lord took of that Spirit which was upon Moses and put it upon his Brethren the Elders of Israel whereby they might rule and judge with him so saith Christ The Father shall take of mine and give it unto you even of that Spirit of Love Life Power Valour and Virtue which was upon and in him that was like unto Moses is ministred into and put upon such as are truly his Brethren and Friends whereby with him they thus gifted sanctified and qualified judge the World for all Judgment is committed tâ— the Son and of that which the Son hath and is committed to him doth the Father give unto his Members and so from Christ the Head they come to receive power over the World and its Way Worship and Fashions and over unclean spirits And that is an unclean spirit which will lead into any sin and it is an unclean spirit in which sin standeth and which pleadeth for the continuance and upholding of that which is unclean and that is of the world which the Saints judge And as those Elders of Israel who were of the Church in the Wilderness were not made fit to Judge or Rule in outward matters by all the writings and words of the Law though received by disposition of Angels until the Lord himself took of that Spirit which was upon Moses and put upon them So those that profess to be Elders in the Church now or any other person whatsoever are much less made fit to Rule or Judge in spiritual matters by all the reading
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 constrains 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 powerfull word of Faith the Light that shines in thy heart which is the Light of the City New Jerusalem to whom 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 Jerusalem are the true Israel of God that are taught of God to whom the New and Everlasting Covenant is made according to the Promise of the Lord This is the Covenant I will make with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah after thâ—se dayes saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall teach no more every man his Neighbour nor every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them I will be merciful unto their unrighteousness and their Sins and their Iniquities will I remember no more And in this City there is no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it which are borrowed lights outward dispensations and teachings of men for the glory of the Lord God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof And the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light of it and the Kings of the Earth bring their glory and honour unto it and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie but they ever which are written in the Lambs Book of Life And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there for the Lord God giveth them Light and they shall reign for ever and ever Hallelujah to the Highest To all revolted Souls who have departed from the Councel of the Lord and are made drunk with the wine of the wrath of the Fornication of the Whore bewitched with the Mother of Witchcraft to return into spiritual Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is Crucified WHoever thou art in whom the righteous Law of God Jesus Christ the Light in thee hath cryed through thy earthly heart for Righteousness and Judgment and there thou didst stand arraigned before the Throne of the Lamb where the Book was opened in thee and written therein all the deeds thou hast done in the body and the Sentence of Wrath and Judgement passed out of the mouth of the Lamb on thee for every idle word and all that thou hast done and in this thy condemned estate thou rann'st to and fro to hide thee from the Wrath of the Lamb in reforming thy wayes and strictly observing what thou wast convinced of to be the Will of God but what way soever thou turnedst in thy obedience towards God to get life thither the flaming Sword turned that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lamb and cut thee down and cast thee into Hell where thou layest weeping and wailing under the Wrath of God sealed down under his eternal Judgment for evermore for any help or power thou hadst in thy self until Jesus Christ manifested eternal Love and Mercy freely to thy poor lost condemned soul and raised thee up to a lively hope and sealed thee up in the Covenant of Life with his own blood Now after the Witnesses have sealed up their Testimony the Beast which is thy will that ascends out of the bottomless Pit of thy deceived heart which is deceitfull and desperately wicked hath made war against the Witnesses Christ in thee and slain them and they lie dead in the spiritual City of Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is crucified and thou art made drunk with the Wine of the Wrath of the Fornication of the Whore and bewitched with her Witchcrafts who now tells thee Whom he loves he loves to the end and To the pure all things are pure thou art no more under the Law but under Grace and all things are alike that when thou disobeyest the pure Law which once had power over thee and it witnesseth against thee secretly crying in thy heart Use thy liberty but not as an occasion to the flesh thou regardest not the Counsel of the Lord but hearkens to the Mother of Harlots in thee and causeth thee to wrest the Scriptures to thine own destruction and tells thee the Law hath no power over thee thou art under Grace it is but the Law in thy members that wars against the Law in thy mind the acting of the humanity which acts in its place that the Grace of God may appear more gloriously God sees no sin in thee for it is no more thou but sin that dwells in thee and the former misery thou wast in under the Wrath of God for the disobeying of the Righteous Law thou now treadest under thy feet and lies slain in spiritual Sodom and Egypt in thy heart yet not put in grave but lies in thy sight and lets thee see the evil of thy doings and vexes and torments thy earthly and carnal heart in the midst of all thy joy but the Whore in thee tells thee that the former trouble thou wast in it was through the ignorance of God but now thou art grown up to a higher stature in Christ to see nothing but Love in whatsoever thou dost and now thou knowst nothing but to eat and to drink and be merry for the Children of the Bride-Chamber cannot mourn while the Bridegroom is with them time was thou didst mourn but it was when the Bridegroom was not with thee but now the Winter is past and Summer come and singing of Birds is heard in thy Land and now wash thy face and anoint thy head with Oyl that thou appear no more before men as thou didst when thou wast a Pharisee Now to be a friend to Publicans and Sinners and become all to all that thou mayest win some and whatever thou dost it is God that acts thee for thou art not stronger then he to resist him and if he would have it otherwayes how couldst thou hinder it so it is as it must be and it cannot be otherwise Thus the subtil Serpent windes into the mind of man and causes him to wrest the Scriptures to his own destruction to draw back into Perdition Wo wo unto thee thou backslider in heart who chargest God who is Purity it self to be the author of Sin and the actor of thee in all thy filthy and unrighteous walking and hast turned the Grace of God into wantonness
God As O Lord I am not puft in mind I have no scornfull eye I do not exercise my self in things that be to high When they never knew any change wrought in their minds and so causeth the People to lye And causing them to sing David's 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 and are corrupt because of my foolishness I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long And may be none of you in all that place can witness the condition and so blasphemes the Name of God who will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and this is the rule given out from him If any be afflicted let him pray if any be merry let him sing Psalms And there is none merry but the Ransomed of the Lord who returns to Sion with joy and singing and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away All people may search the Scriptures and see how you have been deceived by your Teachers who have caused you to seek your lost God in carnal and dead observations which they have not any Scripture for all cease from them for the Lord complains of them The Leaders of my People cause them to err saith the Lord of Hosts and now are these Scriptures fulfilled in these men which the Apostle prophesied of This know also That in the last dayes perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous proud boasters blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankfull unholy All people see are not your Teachers so self-lovers before they come at you they must know what they must have covetous griping for much and if you will not give them so much as they can have in another place they will not come at you here is self-love and covetousness manifested without natural affection Truce-breakers false-Accusers Traytors heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power thereof from such the Apostle exhorts to turn away All People behold and see all these Scriptures are fulfilled in your Teachers they speak against Pride and live in it against covetousness and live in it they teach by words to be naturally-affectionated one towards another and they walk contrary causing poor people to pay to maintain them in pride and high ranks in the Earth who can scarce get bread for their bellies and clothes for their backs yet they force them to pay to them being void of all natural affections and they are Truce-breakers breaking all Bonds and Covenants if they can get more money in another place Thus they shew forth to all the world that they are lovers of Pleasures more then lovers of God and have a form of Godliness in words but deny the power thereof from such turn away for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sin and divers lusts These Scriptures are fulfilled in your Teachers every one hath his particular house to creep into where none must come but themselves or whom they please which is contrary to the practise of Christ or any that he sent forth they went through the Countries Towns Cities Villages according as they were guided by the Spirit of God to declare what he gave them to speak and your Teachers lead silly women captive laden with sin and led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth Do not they tell you to look for Christ's coming in such Observations as they set up which is nothing but the inventions of their brains for Christ tells you The Kingdom of God comes not with observations but is within you But many of them deny that the Light in your Conscience which makes manifest the evil of your hearts is the Kingdom of God calling it the light of a corrupt conscience so shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men and will neither enter in themselves to be guided by the pure Light of the Kingdom of Christ within them nor suffer them that are entring in to enter as the Scribes and Pharisees did Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do these men resist the Truth men of corrupt minds Reprobates concerning the Faith but they shall proceed no further for their folly shall be made manifest to all men as theirs also was and no man shall buy their Merchandize any more All you enslaved Captives in the Kingdom of Babylon why will you lay out your Money for that which is not Bread and your labour for that which satisfies not hearken diligently unto Jesus Christ the Light that lets you see the evil of your hearts to be guided by it and you shall eat that which is good Encline your ears saith Christ and come unto me hear and your souls shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure Mercies of David Mind the call of a powerful and tender Father in the Lord Jesus who calls Come forth of Babylon my People and touch no unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Fath r unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord God Almighty Friends prize your times slight not the day of the Lords Mercy for he waits to be gracious and saith I stretch forth my arm all the day long to a backsliding and gainsaying People Every one mind your conditions deal justly with your own hearts see what your hearts have fellowship with and guide your minds for the Kingdom of Christ is within you it is not in observations as your Teachers tell you for they deceive you therefore Christ forewarned us for looking forth at those which would come in the latter dayes that would say Lo here is Christ lo there is Christ as it is in these our dayes some say Lo here is Christ in the Presbyterian practise the Independants say He is there and the Anabaptists say Lo he is here But Friends mind what Christ saith unto you believe them not look not forth the Kingdom of Christ is not in any of those nor in any other outward observations but be warned the Kingdom of Christ is in you and that is the Light that lets you see the evil of your hearts and Christ compares it to a grain of Mustard-seed the least of all Seeds and it grows up above all other herbs and becomes a Tree that the Fowls of the Air lodge therein and he compares it to a little Leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of Meal and it leavened the whole Lump These are earthly parables and figures which Christ layes down speaking to the
earthly and carnal heart of man that he might read his condition within Therefore despise not the day of small things but mind the Counsel of the Lord Jesus the little Light that shines in thy dark heart look upon the figures the parables The little Leaven which is hid in three measures of meal it changeth the whole lump into the nature of it self So the little Light that shine in thy dark heart is the powerfull Word of Faith which was in the beginning by which all things were created and without him was nothing made this Word is Life and the Life is the Light of men and Light shines in Darkness and the Darkness comprehends it not This Light is the Word of Faith the Apostle exhorted to take heed unto Say not in thy heart Who shall ascend up to Heaven to fetch Christ down or down into the deep to fetch him up the Word is nigh thee in thy heart and n thy mouth and this is the Word of Faith which we preach the Vnction of the holy One given of the Father whereby we need not to teach one another but as the Anointing teacheth us which is Truth and no lye which is the sure word of Prophesie whereunto ye do well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your hearts All People return within give up your selves freely to be guided by that Light that discovers to you the evil of your hearts and none be discouraged because you see an evil heart but prize the Love of God that discovers it to you and whatever the Light makes manifest to you to be evil Wait on the Lord for Power and he will give thee power to obey and in being faithfull in a little more will be communicated from the Lord so will the Righteous Law be set up in your hearts that will cry through your earthly and carnal hearts for Righteousness and Judgment and so will bring you to an account for every idle word and all deeds done in the body Look up unto the Lord against whom you have sinned and he will arm you with power to what he layes upon you with patience to undergo his Will until all the Powers of the Earth in you be famished and slain under his righteous Judgments then will Judgment be brought forth into Victory that you can no longer live without the loving kindness of your Father in Christ Jesus Now is the Parable fulfilled the little grain of Mustard-Seed grown up above all herbs and the little Leaven hath leavened the whole Lump and the Prodigal starved for ever if his Father receive him not freely into his house Thou that canst witness this condition stand still in the Will of God he will raise up his Seed in thee to trust in his Name and to delight in the Eternal Covenant of Love and Life he hath made with thy soul in the Lord Jesus Christ and will guide thee by the Word of his Power in a way thou knowest not forth of Babylon where thou wast an enslaved Captive under the power of the filthy Beast which is thy will and the Whore the Mother of Witchcrafts which is thy wisdom which enthralled thee under the powers of Darkness to satisfie the Lust of thine own heart which led thee to destruction up to Sion to live by Faith in the Lord Jesus which will purifie thy heart and set thy soul free from under the powers of Darkness into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God where thou shalt sing the Songs of Sion Hallelujahs and Praises for evermore unto the Lord God that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever W. D. To all enslaved hard-hearted and unbelieving Jews in this Nation and elsewhere who are made drunk with the wisdom of the Whore and bewitched through the abundance of her Sorceries to put the Day of the Lord afar off looking for Christs coming in the Spirit as the hard-hearted unbelieving Jews in the Letter did for his coming in the Flesh according to the Promise but they limitted the Holy-One according to their carnal wisdom expected his coming in great pomp and glory and when he came in that poor despised way contrary to their expectations they stumbled at him and would not own him to be their Saviour but rose up against him and put him to death Mat. 27.1 to vers 50. BEhold you hard hearted and unbelieving Jews do you not look for Christ coming in the Spirit according to his Promise as they did for his coming in the flesh but you limit the Holy One as they did expecting Christ to come in power and glory according to your own fancies and so put the day of the Lord afar off you in rejecting and despising the Counsel of Jesus Christ the pure Light in your Consciences which lets you see every evil thought word and action and cries behind you This is the Way walk in it but you disobey the Light and hearken to the counsel of your hearts as the Jews in the Letter did who put Christ to death and so you slay the Witnesses in Spiritual Sodom and Egypt in your hearts where our Lord is crucified in not regarding the Counsel of Christ which is that Light that shines in your dark hearts which knocks at the door according to his Word I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my Voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me Oh thou enslaved Soul under the power of Babylon in thee Come forth mind the Light in thee which is the sure Word of Prophecy whereunto you do well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts stand not out against this secret Counsel of Christ in you lest you perish in your gain sayings for if his Anger be kindled a little blessed are all they that trust in him All give up give up freely to be guided by the Counsel of the Lord the Light in you believing in his Power that is present with the Light he will lead you daily through the Cross in the streight way of his Sufferings and death where the old man will be put off with his deeds and so you shall have right to the Tree of Life and shall enter with him through the Gates into the City New Jerusalem where you shall have communion with the Father and the Son and an Inheritance with those that are sanctified in Christ Jesus and shall reign as Kings upon the Earth to the praise and glory of the riches of the Grace of our heavenly Father to whom alone be all Power Dominion Honour and Glory for ever and ever W. D. A Word from the Lord to all that are waiting on the Lord in Sion and to those that are weeping and are seeking the Lord their God asking the way to Sion with their
Vanity therein for the enjoyment of the light 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 cause thee to walk in the light of the sparks that thou hast kindled and this thou hast at the hand of the Lord in going from his Counsel lyest down in sorrow few knows thy great distress but to the Lord it is known and to them that had and walked in the same paths Oh thou beloved Babe who liest in the deep sence of the working of the evil-one in thy mind and many times art ready to say Never was any like unto me neither any sorrow like unto my sorrow and in this languishing despairing mournings of thy soul all things made bitter unto thee as the waters of Marah thus art thou driven from all comfort as a Child without a Father and a desolate Widdow without a Husband and as a Stranger that no eye pittieth in thy apprehension sometimes saying in thy heart in the heat of the temptation and the fire that thou hast kindled O that I had been any Creature but what I am or if it were the Will of the Lord that he would shorten my dayes that I might not be any longer on Earth to sin against him for in thy own sence and feeling thou walking in the sparks thou hast kindled in carnal reasonings thou deservest not any thing but Wrath Horror Misery and Distress on every side and great languishings that thy dayes were shortened secretly crying out in thy heart O that I were alone in the Wilderness or any Cave or Den in the Earth that I might never set nor hear any of the Sons of men any more but in the secret retiredness even roar and mourn out my dayes until I die O thou Royal Child of the birth of the morning of the pure eternal Day of the God of Israel hearken no longer to the enemy who saith There hath none travelled where thou art nor none drunk of the Cup that thou art drinking he is a Lyar who goes about to destroy thy precious soul In the Word of the Lord God I declare unto thee I drank the same cup with my faithful Friends who are born of the Royal Seed every one in their measures travelled in the same path and have endured the same temptations and walked in the light of the same sparks and laid down in sorrow in the sence of the same misery as thou mournest under this day no longer lend an ear to the enemy and the thoughts of thy heart Arise arise in the Light of the Covenant stay thy heart and the Lord will throw down the Enemy of thy peace destroy the carnal reasonings of thy mind put out the fire that thou hast kindled and he will deliver thee out of the horrible Pit and set thy feet upon the Rock of Ages and thou shalt tread down the enemies of thy soul in the sensible feeling of the Love of the Father who will manifest himself to be a Father to the Fatherless in thee and a Husband to the mournful Widdow and a Comforter to the Immortal Babe that mourns in thee in the uprightness of thy heart to do the Will of the Living God so in the power of his Might stay thy heart and tread upon all doubts fears dispairing thoughts questionings reasonings musings imaginations and consultings arise over them all in the Light of Christ he will lead thee into the Banqueting-house of the Pleasure of our God where thou shalt sit down with me and all the Redeemed of my Father who are born of the Immortal Seed and have passed through great Tribulations have washed our Garments and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb therefore do we now stand before the Throne of God praising him day and night in his Holy Temple And this shall be the portion of thy Cup if thou diligently hearken to the Counsel of the Lord which calls thee to trust in him he will embrace thee in the arms of his Love and thou shalt praise his Name for ever God Almighty in his Light and Life raise up thy soul and establish thy heart in his Counsel stedfastly to wait in his Power to lead thee in the Cross out of all unbelief and cause thee to lie down at rest in obedience to his Will where thou shalt drink the Cup of Salvation for ever Farewel William Dewsbury THE END
up him from the dead Rom. 8.11 And this man whoever he be bond or free that thus believes the Death of Christ and its satisfaction to God as well as its usefulness to man cannot make it void nor divide it and its vertue upon the Soul that thus knows it but will say Here is a dying man witnessing the Death of Christ and nevertheless the same man living with Christ and concluding if Christ had not died man must have perished in his sin this being the way found out by God to recover him whereby he knows Christ and Him Crucified and what the preaching of the Cross of Christ is which is foolishness to them that perish but to them that are saved the Wisdom of God and the Power of God 1 Cor. 1.18 By this Gift of God in our hearts we further believe That Christ Jesus rose again from the dead according to the Scriptures and sits at Gods right hand in a glorious body And we believe that our low estates and humble bodies shall be made like unto his glorious Body through the working of his mighty Power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself and that this mortality shall put on Immortallity For though we believe that Christ Jesus hath lighted every man with his Light whereby man may come to know himself lost and undone as before is said yet therefore is not every man saved though the Grace that appears to all men is sufficient in it self but some have the Grace of God bestowed upon them in vain not liking to retain God in their knowledge though something within them shews them what is good But they reject the Counsel of God within or against themselves to their own destruction Luke 7.30 see the Margent and yet it doth not follow that the Grace is insufficient of it self no more than it follows that Christ's Death is insufficient because he tasted death for every man and yet every man is not saved Neither doth Regeneration or the believing in the Light of Christ within make void the Death and Sufferings of Christ without at Jerusalem no more than believing the Scripture-testimony without concerning Christ's Death makes void the work of Regeneration and Mortification within but as the Apostle saith in another case so I say in this For as the man is not without the woman neither is the woman without the man in the Lord even so is not the Death and Sufferings of Christ without at Jerusalem to be made void and of none effect by any thing within neither doth the Light within make that of none effect without but both in the Lord answers his Will For though there is and may be a knowledge and belief of what Christ did and suffered without the Gates in his own Body upon the Tree and yet Sin alive in the heart and the work of Regeneration not known yet it cannot be so where the Light within is believed on and obeyed so as to have its perfect work in the heart to regenerate and make all things new and to be of God this man can never make void what Christ hath done and suffered without And yet this New-birth or Christ formed within and dwelling in the heart by Faith doth not limit or confine Christ to be only within and not without also but both within and without according to the good pleasure of the Father to reveal and make him known for he fills all things and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him and yet is he at Gods right hand far above all Heavens in a glorious body And we also believe the Resurrection of the Just and Vnjust the one to Salvation and the other to Condemnation according unto the Judgment of the great Day and then shall every seed have its own body according to 1 Cor. 15.36 37. which we verily believe For if the dead rise not we are of all men most miserable But because we dare not be so foolishly inquisitive as to say With what bodies shall they arise therefore do some say we deny both the Resurrection of the body of Christ and of all that are or shall be dead But this also is false for every man shall be raised in his own order but Christ the first fruits 1 Cor. 15.23 And we believe they shall be raised with the same bodies so far as a natural and spiritual corruptible and incorruptible terrestrial and celestial can be the same We further believe according unto the Scriptures concerning Faith That thiâ— Faith is only true which is God's Gift and hath Christ Jesus the Power of God for its author and object and is distinguished from the dead faith by its fruits For though in description and definition they may carry a resemblance yet in nature are as different as a living man is from a dead which wants not form or shape but life and power So saith the Apostle James As the body without a spiriâ— is dead so is Faith without Works even so is that Faith which stands in the wisdom of words and not in the Power of God By the one man is kept in captivity to the world and the things of it but by the otheâ— he hath victory over the World 1 Joh. 5.4 and the Seal and Witness thereof in his own heart whereby it is purified and God is seen for the pure in heart see God Matth 5.8 This Faith differs men now and their worships as it did Cain and Abel For By Faith Abel offered up a more excellent Sacrifice then Cain Hebr. 11. By this living Faith Abel saw beyond the Sacrifice unto Christ the first-born of God beyond the firstling of the Flock which he offered and therefore God had respect unto Abel and his offering but God rejected Cain and his offering though he had Faith to belive it to be his duty yet sticking in the Form and not flying on the wing of Faith unto Christ the One Offering he missed the Mark as all have done ever since that have gone in Cains way of worshipping as well as killing men about Worship But we believe that Faith to be only true and saving that flies over self-righteousness as well as filthiness unto the Fountain of Life in Christ which Faith hath nothing of man in it but is as the breath of Life by which the soul lives not a bare assent of the truth of a proposition in the natural understanding but the souls cleaving unto God out of a naturalness between Christ and the Soul and so live rather by relation than bare credit or desperate adventure and hazard Not looking at its doing to commend it but God's Love and Bounty in Christ the Light to receive it and yet holiness is its delight and he can no more live out of it than the Fish upon the dry Land We believe That this Faith keeps thâ— mind pure and the heart clean througâ— the sprinkling of the heart from an evil conscience by the Blood of Jesus which remiâ—… the Sin