Thy coming so far into Power again c. NOw observe the hand of the Lord in thy coming so far into Power again and those who took part with thy Father Thee First consider the cause of it in the fear of the Lord and thou wilt find that it is because they unto whom God gave such Power over you were not faithful unto God as hath been said before but grieved the Spirit of the Lord with their hypocrisie from day to day talking for Liberty but behold they brought forth Oppression and so became worser than you that went before them who did not Profess so much for Liberty in words And this I know that if they had been faithful unto the Lord thou and those called thy Friends could not have come over them thus as ye have done Therefore let no man deceive thee by perswading thee that these things are thus brought to pass because the Kingdom was thy own proper right and because it was with-held from thee contrary to all right or because that those called Royallists are much more righteous than those who are now fallen under thee For I plainly declare unto thee that this Kingdom and all the Kingdoms of the Earth are properly the Lords and that he may and doth give them unto whomsoever he pleaseth and whensoever he please he may take them away again and give them unto others and when he doth thus it is not contrary to right And this know that it was the just hand of God in taking away the Kingdom from thy Father and Thee and giving it unto others and that also it is now the just hand of the Lord to take it again from them and bring them under Thee though I shall not say but that some of them went beyond their Commission against thy Father when they were brought as a rod over you and well will it be for thee if thou becom'st not guilty of the same transgression now thou art brought over them and this consider that those who are call'd thy Friends who were conquer'd have humbled themselves but little under the hand of the Lord but are still found to be in great transgressions and also consider the manner how this thing hath been wrought and carryed on concerning the bringing in of thee again that so there may be no fleshly boasting for the thing is plainly discerned by them whose eye is single and I shall declare it unto thee Mark The Army having acted so deceitfully the lusts and gain of the world blinded their eye and they having so far provoked the Lord untill his Decree was sealed against them and he had determined that they should be broken after they had split among themselves and turned from one thing to another and knew not where to rest and the Lord suffered some of them to rise up from among themselves to deceive the rest and so they through dissimulation in professing to stand for those who had so eminently stood against thy Father and Thee got Power to weaken and turn out those that were really against thee as disturbers of the Good Old Cause as they termed it and so by little and little strengthened those that stood for thee and thus the deceived blind men provided a Rod for themselves and so by little little wrought themselves under it and it is just upon them For the rod is for the fools back So let this be considered that this was not carryed on by the stoutness of those that stood for thee nor yet by a visible plain down-right dealing but rather through the hidden mystery of deceit which was suffered to work against those whom God had determined should be broken that so by the same way whereby they had deceived others which was by pretending to stand for that which they did not intend I say even by the same way they in the end should be deceived themselves So let none glory in what is done concerning this thing as if it were done by their Valour or Wisdom though I can truly say the hand of the Lord hath permitteed these things and that for the Cause before mentioned and he will be glorified in all these Overturnings IV. Concerning the great danger thou art in in thy coming in c. ANd also consider the danger that thou art in in thy coming in as King of these Nations for it is exceeding great as things stand and this hath been much upon me to lay before thee and it is in tender love both to thy Soul and Body for I plainly see that if thou shouldst come in upon the account of the People called Presbyterians if thou shouldst refuse to bow to what they would set up or if thou shouldst not satisfie the ungodly covetousness of their Priests there is several of them would be ready to serve Thee as they did thy Father if they were permitted And if thou do come in upon the account of those People called Old Royallists Mark truly though I do believe they would abhor such a thing as to sell Thee yet the iniquity of many of them is so great and there is so much Swearing lusts and vanity amongst them that except they repent they are not like long to prosper but the hand of the Lord will assuredly break them also And furthermore consider there are a deceitful People in these Nations for there are many thousands that now appear highly for Thee in words that if they could see a likelihood of a change they would appear as much or more against Thee Therefore consider thy standing and be not high-minded but fear and take heed lest thou fall and never go about to Engage the People unto thee by Oaths lest thou cause many to forswear themselves for truly this People a great part of them are a perfidious People as they have manifested themselves who one while have sworn for a King and Parliament and shortly after they have sworn against a King single Person or House of Lords and shortly after they have sworn or Engaged for a single Person again and called one another Lords and a little after they have turned against that Government and cryed up a Parliament again and now the same People are generally crying up a King again And truly those Rulers who have imposed so many several Engagements upon the People they have done exceeding evilly therein And how abominably have these dirty deceitful covetous Priests acted in all these changes O it is hard to utter their deceit who one while they have prayed for a King Parliament and when they saw the King was likely to fall and that he was no wayes likely to maintain them then they turn'd against him and prayed only for the Parliament and asserted their Authority and cursed them that would not go out to help against the Mighty And shortly after when Oliver Cromwel had turn'd out the Parliament and set up himself then they cryed up and prayed for him and many of them began to
of Christ may be known and submitted unto by you and that through the Cross Righteousness may be learned and obedience brought forth unto the living God For as you wait in the Light ye will see what that is that hath oppressed your Souls and as you come to own that which appears in you to cross your own wills and wait in it you will come to see Death pass upon that which hath kept your Souls in Death and your Souls will be refreshed and your desires which are real and simple after God will be strengthened but you must wait in the Light which makes all things manifest Eph. 5.13 and it will let you see that your way to Peace is through the War and through the Judgment and Christ's words you will witness to be true who said I come not to send send Peace on the Earth for as you come to wait in the Light ye will see the Earth disturbed and the Thunders of the Lord ye will come to know and the Earthquakes and the Famine and the War and the Pestilence and these are the beginnings of sorrow Mat. 24.7 8. but all these things must come to pass and blessed are they that are not offended in him Mat. 11.6 for the Fire and the Sword you must all know and come through before you come to know the Peace which is in the Lamb of God for by Fire and Sword will the Lord plead with all Flesh and what cannot stand there must be consumed But at these things be not troubled but wait in the Light which makes them manifest and in it believe and the Power of the Lord you shall find present with you as in patience you wait upon him to carry you through whatsoever he calls you unto And this I declare unto you all The way is strait that leadeth to Life and few there be that find it Mat. 7.14 For except you stand in that Power which God hath given you and in it deny your selves and take up the Cross ye cannot be Christs Disciples Now your Power is in the Light which comes from Christ who hath enlightned you waiting in the Light with it you will come to see the emptiness of all the Profession that is in the world And you that have followed the Priests as you come to own the Light and wait in it with it you will see them to be the Deceivers and to be in the steps of those that the true Prophets Christ Jesus and the Apostles cryed against and you will see them to be such as commit the horrible and filthy thing in the Land and so in the steps of those which the Lord sent Jeremiah to cry against Jer. 5.30 31. and they are such as Preach for hire and Devine for money Mic. 3.11 and feed with the fat and Cloath with the Wool and make a prey upon the People Ezek. 34.3 8. and they seek for their gain from their quarters Isa 56.11 and while you put into their mouths they cry Peace unto you but put not into their mouths they will prepare War against you Mic. 3.5 for if you give them not Tythes they will sue you at the Law such as were in these Practices Micah Ezekiel and Isaiah cryed against such stand praying in the Synagogues have the chiefest Places in the Assembles and Greetings in the Markets and are called of men Master and such Christ cryed wo against Mat. 23. 6 7. And they are such as go in Cain's way in envy and run greedily after the way of Balaam and such Peter and Jude cryed wo against 2 Pet. 2. 14 15. Jude 11. they having hearts exercised with covetous practices being proud boasters heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God having eyes full of adultery which cannot cease to sin and for Doctrin they teach that their Hearers cannot be free from sin in this Life and so plead to uphold the Devil's Kingdom and through their subtilty beguile unstable souls leading silly women captive laden with sins and carried away with divers lusts ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth 2 Tim. 3.2 4 5 6 7. and through covetousness and feigned words they make merchandize of the People having a form of Godliness but denying the Power thereof 2 Pet. 2.3 and of such the Apostle bad beware and from them turn away And you that have left the Priests and are got in your own wills and carnal imaginations somewhat nearer the Saints practice imitating what they did who were in the Life of what they professed as you come to own the Light and wait in it with it you will see that which you have acted that it was but the self-separation and that you took it from the Letter and never received a Command from God for it but what ye did it was as ye imagined to imitate those who had a Command once from God for what they practised But they knew when those things which stood in the figure were to have an end and to pass away and they knew the end of all things to be at hand and they grew into him who is the fulness of all things Eph. 4.13 but these things you never knew who have been acting in your own wills and imaginations for you never yet came to know the Life of Truth and so that Joy and Delight which you had at any time in the hight of your Profession it withered and your practises in your Profession which stood in the beggarly Elements and carnal Washings and Observations wherein some of you have been exercised they have waxen-old and wearisom unto you These things as you come to Believe and wait in the Light you will see to be true and that yet you are ignorant of him who hath established the Law of Commandements contained in Ordinances and you will see that you have been the Theeves and Robbers who have been climbing up another way than by the Door CHRIST JESUS and you will see in his Light as you wait in it that you must come to loose what you have gathered in your own Wisdom and Imaginations and that your Building must fall because it was not builded upon the Rock and you will see how you have been daubed with untempered Morter and that your Labour hath been in vain because ye were not builded by the Lord and that your Wisdom must be turned into Foolishness and so to the Beginning you must all come to the Light of Christ in all your Consciences and to learn to wait in it that a true and a sure entrance into the way of God you may find thaye henceforth be no more tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrin by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive you but that you may now come to know the Teachings of God and to be subject to his Teachings and to obey his Voice and to know
it not been just with the Lord to have suffered your Enemies to have destroyed you because of your grievous back-slidings and wickedness O consider it consider it while ye have time and prize the Lord's loving kindness that he should yet spare you and yet give you time to repent And seeing the Lord hath shewed you your back-slidings with his eternal Witness in you and hath begun to frustrate the designs of those that would have cut you off in your back-slidings and ye confess some of you that you are willing to take shame also to your selves wherein you have back-slidden therefore seeing it is thus all mind that of God in you which sheweth you your back-slidings and believe and wait in that to feel that nature judged and destroyed in you wherein all this Wickedness and Deceit hath lodged and keep in the fear and dread of the Lord God that so ye may receive his pure Wisdom whereby ye may be ordered in the particular and that ye in God's Wisdom and Fear may come to Rule in your places for God to be a terror to evil-doers and an encouragement to them that do well And take heed of a selfish earthly spirit in the particular and of the Honour and Glory and Gain of the World for that the Lord is against Oh! there is a strong deep root of it in many of you which the Spirit of Judgement and burning and the Ax of God is to destroy therefore wait to feel its Work in you O Army in thee was I several years together in which time I saw the mighty appearance of God with thee even in the time of the outward War and when the War was ended I left thee in obedience to the appearance of the living God unto me who called me out of thee by his Powerful Word in my heart through which he hath sanctified me and hath brought me into the life of that Truth which I and many of you in the Army professed in Words And I can truly say in the Fear of the Lord That my love hath been and yet is tender towards you for the good of your souls and I have seen your conditions and have considered them in the Spirit of the Lord and I cannot flatter any of you but must deal plainly and truly with you and all People Truly in many of you there is an exceeding lofty proud covetous deceitful nature and in others of you there is a lofty proud lustful devouring wanton vain nature though many of you I know have felt a measure of the Power of God yet verily ye have so back-slidden that iniquity hath gotten a strong hold and root in most of you therefore ye must keep down to the Witness of God in you which searcheth your hearts and will let you see what is there that so the Lord 's righteous Judgement ye may all feel and own it upon that nature in you which is contrary to the living God for if ye keep not to the Spirit of Judgement I know whatever you have declared in words that a selfish Spirit will get up more and more to act in you And verily Friends if you keep not your minds to the measure of the pure God in you a secret boasting will be ready to get up in you of what you have done and then you will soon forget where you are and your minds will run further and further into your Commissions and into your great Houses and Lands which many of you have got and others minds will run into your Souldiers places and ease and idleness and these things will beguile you if take not heed and you will soon forget the Oppressions then that others suffer under and if ye should do thus verily the Lord God would soon overturn you and break you to pieces Therefore all wait in the Light which shews you sin and evil that so by it ye may be brought to deny your selves and to come out of the loftiness that ye have been in into the true humility which goes before the true honour and come into moderation both in your Diet and Apparel and in all things and this would answer the Witness of God in all People and that being answered it would beget again a love in them towards you which you lost when you went into the excess Therefore be sober and watch in the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ which he hath enlightned you withal and believe in it that so ye may be preserved by it out of the deceitfulness of this World and that ye may be kept faithful in your places for the preserving of the outward Peace and Liberty of the Nation while ye feel a Freedom in that which convinceth you of evil for the bearing a carnal Weapon and know the manifestation of God's Spirit in you and wait to feel the motions of it and be obedient thereto and this will bring you to do violence to no man nor to accuse any falsly but it will bring you out of all such things if you keep to it and it will make you to be content with such wages as may find you Food and Raiment and things necessary and convenient for your Places and this you would then be worthy of So know the Lord hath a mighty Work to do therefore wait in his Light that ye may be kept truly sensible of your Places and go not beyond them but keep in the Fear of the Lord and wait to know what God requireth of you in your places lest the Lord cast you out So remember you are warned and it is in tender love to your Souls This following more particularly concerneth the Officers of the Army and Rulers of this Nation than the Army in general Take heed of raising or continuing War with other Nations in your own wills for to get your selves a Name and to get their earthly Treasures as some of you have been instruments to do for the Lord's hand hath been and yet is against that and he will not prosper you therein therefore be you warned and know that this is a warning unto you from the Lord God and seek peace and eschew evil and learn to do well that the Blessing of the Lord ye may come to feel and that this destroying of Creatures about Religion and the Honour and Gain of this World may cease And take heed how ye meddle with Religion for that hath split and broken many Rulers before you therefore set not up one Sâ—ct and throw not down another by an outward Law and force for that is wrong and the Lord is against that but wait in his Light to receive his Counsel that so ye may be kept in God's Wisdom and that therein ye may be instruments in the hand of the Lord for the keeping of the outward Peace of these Nations which are under your Command And take heed of hearkning unto such who in the King's time cryed him up and ran to him to give them a Law to settle them
for nothing but flattering words so betrayed your own integrity and the Cause of your Country now you have power again do not abuse it serve not the lusts nor the self-interest of any man or men whatsoever but serve the Lord and your Generation faithfully Mark if you consent to deceit and make an agreement with death through fear or any self-end whatsoever God will break that agreement and bring shame upon you for it And Friends there is a lofty proud self-seeking Spirit yet amongst many of you which if you cease not from it will be the cause of your destruction and truly if you provoke the Lord to break you it will be more heavy and terrible than the breaking of those that were before you therefore let the Lord be minded and linger not about things but be valiant and act faithfully for the just Liberty of all without respect of persons and let revenge be forgotten and this will overcome your Enemies and make you truly honourable in the hearts of all People This is your day prize it and let your deeds make it manifest to the People that you have not sought your selves in this which you have done but the general good of all and then you will need the fewer words to prove your Enemies lyars who have accused you to be self-seekers And now wo is coming both upon Teachers Rulers and People that are in the good words but out of the good deeds and Life and the Eternal God who is the Light will break shatter confound and overturn untill the good Life come up and be set on the top of all and now the name of Truth only will be too narrow a covering for it is the nature of Truth it self that will be able to cover and to be a sure hiding-place in this the day of the Wrath of the Lamb. From a lover of the Truth of God and all his Creatures GEORGE FOX the Younger For the PARLIAMENT of England and their ARMY so Called YOur day into darkness is turned the Sun is gone down over you you have had a large day and Power given unto you to have done the Will of God but you have abused the Power and slighted your day and you have refused to do the Lord's work and have sought to serve your selves and not the Lord Therefore in Justice and Righteousness is the day wherein you might have wrought for God taken from you and the thick dark night of confusion is come upon you wherein you are groping and stumbling and cannot work the Decree is gone out and sealed against you and it cannot be recalled you are not the men as ye stand in whom God will appear to work Deliverance for his People and Creatures and yet deliverance shall come but nor according to mans expectation But as for you ye have rejected the Counsel of the Lord and grieved his Spirit and he hath long born you yea you are departed from the Lord and his presence is departed from you indeed he hath hewed with you and if you had been faithful to the End he would have honoured and prospered you and would have been your sufficient reward ye were his Ax but you have boasted your selves against him therefore as you have Beaten and Hewed and Broken others Even so must you be Beaten Hewed and Broken for you have grievously provoked the Lord And if he should now suffer that Tree which ye have cut to fall upon you and to break part of you it were just O ye Treacherous Wilful Proud Self-seeking People who have despised the Counsel of the Lord and would not take warning though he hath sent his Prophets and Servants early and late among you some of whom you have imprisoned and despitefully used what will ye do now whom will ye now flee unto for help seeing ye are departed from the Lord are now rending and tearing biting and devouring one another for proud ambitious self ends Mark if ye would now build again the thing that you once destroyed That shall not be able to hide or shelter you from the wrath of the Lamb that way whereby you think to strengthen your selves thereby shall you make your selves much weaker and help forward your own destruction you are now but a rod remember your end which hastens greatly now breach upon breach insurrection upon insurrection overturning upon overturning heaps upon heaps division upon division shall there be until he come to Reign whose right it is and all Nations must bow before him else he will break them with his Iron Rod. They that trust in or lean upon you for help it is as if they leaned upon a broken Reed which is not able to help it self nor others indeed you have been made to do many good things but you would not go through with the work which God will have accomplished and therefore are these things come upon you Therefore tremble and dread before the Lord ye who have been as strong Oakes and tall Cedars for now shall your strength fail you and you shall be weak even as the weakest of men but if you would yet believe in the Light and truely submit to God's Righteous Judgements many of you might come to witness your Souls saved in the day of the Lord though many of your bodies are to be thrown by because of your grievous backslidings as not counted worthy to be the Lord's workmen There is a small remnant yet among you for whom my Soul breaths who may be winnowed out and if they will own the Judgements of the Lord and truly and throughly deny themselves and follow his leadings he will heal their back-slidings and purge them that so they may be instruments in his hand But they that will continue with you in your sins shall partake with you of your Judgements The Rod of the wicked shall not alwayes rest upon the back of the Righteous yet even as gold is tryed so shall they be that they may be White and without Spot before the Lamb but God will avenge their cause and wo then will be to their Oppressors and then shall the Majesty and Glory of the Lord fill his People who have long been troden under and they shall be the dread of all Nations the zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this A Copy of this in Print was given to each Parliament Man before General Monck came into London with his Army from Scotland And it is now reprinted that People may see that the Lord hath fulfilled already many of the words which he gave unto his Servant and Prophet to declare unto them and that they may see that there hath been a true Prophet's Message among them and that People may take heed that they slight not the Lord's Prophets as they did whom he hath now broken 11th Month 59 From one who am made willing both to suffer and to Reign with Christ even to follow him whithersoever he goeth George Fox the
Younger A Noble Salutation And a Faithful GREETING Unto THEE Charles Stuart Who art now PROCLAIMED KING OF England Scotland France and Ireland I. Several wholesom sound Exhortations c. LET thy Moderation be known unto all men for the Lord is at hand whose presence filleth Heaven and Earth and let such a Nobility appear in Thee as to try all things and to hold fast that which is good and either to read or to hear with patience before thou judgest for Wisdom becometh a King and true Reason Solidness and Patience him that is a Ruler of the People Mark The God of Heaven hath put into my heart to write unto Thee and in tender love both to thy Soul and Body to lay before Thee several things whereby thou mayest come to see and consider how the mighty Hand and Justice of the Invisible God hath been in these overturnings and changes which have happened in these Nations of late years therefore consider these things The Mighty God the Everlasting Father He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and the whole Earth is his and the fulness thereof and he Ruleth over the Kingdoms of men and giveth them unto whomsoever he pleaseth Yea he pulleth down one and setteth up another and there is no overturning or changing the Kingdoms but it is either by his Commission or Permission and the Lord doth not do any thing neither suffereth he any thing to be done unto persons or Kingdoms without a Cause though he may do whatsoever he pleaseth and who shall call him to an account Yet all his doings are righteous and his wayes are just and equal altogether And it is for the unrighteousness sometimes of a King or Kings and sometimes of a People and other times of both that the Lord doth break or suffer a Nation or Nations to be broken and when he determines to break a People or to change Governments or to suffer such to be done in vain do men strive to preserve or uphold them and the Lord may and doth make whomsoever he pleaseth his Instruments for to do his determined Work and when they have done his Work then he may do whatsoever he pleaseth with them and many times his Instruments when they begin his determined Work appear very contemptible unto many Yet such speak foolishly and without understanding who say That such Instruments are too weak and cannot prevail seeing all power is in the hand of God who can give Wisdom and Strength and Courage unto whomsoever he pleaseth Yea so much as may accomplish his Work and he very oft-times by that which appeareth foolish weak and contemptible confoundeth and bringeth to naught that which appeareth to be Mighty and wise that no flesh should glory in his presence And when his Instruments have done his Work and he determines to break or suffer them to be broken again let them appear never so Wise Bold and Mighty yet vainly do they speak who say Such a Wise Bold and Mighty People cannot be broken seeing the Lord can do whatsoever he pleaseth who suddenly can turn man's Wisdom into folly his strength into weakness and his boldness into dauntedness of Spirit Now such things as these O King come oft to pass and none of them without a Cause and they that are truly Wise learn further and get understanding through all these things Therefore is true Wisdom better than Strength and a right Understanding is better than an earthly Crown Therefore O King wait to feel the noble Principle of Wisdom which God hath inspired Thee withal for there is a measure of it in Thee though it hath been hid and that measure is the Light which Christ the Wisdom of God hath enlightned Thee withal which Light in Thee is that which never had fellowship with darkness in Thee or its deeds nor concord with the Devil or his Works but makes manifest and reproves all such things which Light being received in the love of it and believed and waited in man becomes a child of it and so it gives him a good understanding and opens an eye in him whereby he comes to see the hand and workings and appearances of the invisible God and this Light is the free Gift of God which is come upon all men which being rejected and a man not liking to retain it in his knowledge he profesing himself then to be wise becomes a fool and brings condemnation upon himself for rejecting that which should minister all things unto him pertaining unto Life and Godliness Therefore O King give all diligence to receive the Gift which God hath placed in thy heart that so thou mayest be acquainted with Wisdom and that thou mayest be filled with moderation gravity and patience and come to a right understanding and discerning that so thou mayest rightly look upon things past present and to come and see them as they were are and shall be II. Concerning the overturning of thy Father c. COncerning thy Father and those that took his Part There was an eminent hand of God in breaking them down and bringing them under and God did it not without a Cause for the Iniquity in them provoked the holy God to anger and the hight and pride of their spirits grieved and pressed the Spirit of the Just God and after he had a long time born with them and warned them with his Eternal Light in their Consciences yet they repented not but still grieved his good Spirit by many provocations and waxed higher and higher against him in disobedience his anger then was kindled against them and his indignation waxed hot and he arose in the fiery spirit of his jealousie to ease himself of his Adversaries and avenge himself of his Enemies and because the Living Wise Eternal God who made all the Nations of the earth of one blood and is no respecter of persons saw that those that took part with thy Father were generally according to outward appearance accounted the wisest richest noblest and stoutest men mark and that they did glory in their Wisdom Riches Nobility Stoutness and Strength and vaunted themselves over those that were made of the same Blood He the living God did then appear in contemptible Instruments as to outward appearance as in Trades-men Plough-men Servants and the like with some others whom I know thy Father's Party made a mock at and even scorned them as it were and thought it too low and too base a thing to engage War with such a contemptible People yet in such I say did the Lord appear to carry on that Work which he had determined even to bring down the loftiness of man and to stain the pride and glory of flesh and that thy Father's Party might have come to see that they were but men made of the same earth and blood that others were And the Lord God appeared mightily in those his Instruments giving them Wisdom Courage and Strength to mannage a War against a far more Mighty and Wise
to pass of late it is exceeding righteous and just with him to suffer those things to be effected for truly as you know he was much provoked thereunto and his patience towards many of you was very great yea he spared you long and yet many of you whom I now hope are brought to see your brck-slidings regarded not his goodness but walked very carelesly and some of you wantonly before him yea many of your minds ran into the earth and its pomps and vanities again after a tenderness had been begotten in you towards the Lord and a loathing of such things and Covetousness and Pride encreased among you and so lusts and fulness and ease was then delighted in and the honour of this World sought and received one of another and not that which cometh of God onely and those that could not give you that honour that perisheth such by some of you were hated and mocked at and yet you professed much of Religion in words But alas the hearts of many of you were removed far from the Life of Truth in which the Lord is worshipped and so the Sincerity and Zeal which once appeared in some of you for God and the love which had sprung in you to him and one to another in the day when you were low and tender grew cold and died in you as you departed from the measure of the Life of God And thus the Lord became grieved and pressed with your back-slidings and his Soul loathed your Sacrifices and he then saw that a day of Tryal would be better for you than a day of Prosperity So in Righteousness as from the Lord is this day brought upon you and also in love to your Souls and so it shall prove unto you if ye will now turn unto the Lord with all your hearts and humble your selves under his Mighty Hand Yea some of you who lately have had the enjoyment of great Estates and outward Liberty and Honour and Companions and have now lost them or part of them I do believe that you will be made to confesse to the Glory of God that it is his love to you in suffering them to be taken from you yea some of you will come to see that the Lord is just and merciful unto you in suffering your Idols to be stript off taken away For you will see how some of you have Idolized men the World and its honour and glory and Forms without the Power of an endless Life Oh Friends I have a secret hope for a Remnant of you that the Lord by this kind of dealing with you will bring you near unto himself and that a day shall come wherein you shall be made to say that It was good for us that we were Afflicted But Friends you that come this to witness you must mind the free Grace of God that bringeth Salvation which to all men hath appeared yea ye must own and receive it in its pure Teachings and wait in the Virtue of it to receive Power to deny and forsake the Ungodliness and Worldly lusts which it will make manifest unto you that you have been addicted unto and must wait to feel it drawing you into Godliness Righteousness and Soberness and into Patience and Contentedness with the Will of God which is a precious thing Truly they they that do not wait to come into and to be kept in Patience in this day of Tryal their sufferings will be great And if the fretting impatient murmuring Nature be given way and leaned unto that will aggravate the Sufferings exceedingly and beget Torment in the mind Therefore you who desire to come into and to be kept in true Obedience unto the Lord in this the day of Tryal be watchful in the Light and abide in the pure Fear of the Lord which is the beginning of Wisdom and take heed of the subtilry of the Serpent who will seek more and more to beguile you and to lead you aside from the way of God Verily Friends if you do not retire your minds inwards unto the Life of Jesus which is the light of men you will be deceived yea if you do not receive the spirit of Truth to be your guide and Leader and obey the same you will still run into those things which cannot profit you and the renewed desires in you towards the Lord will be strangled Now I know some of you have formerly found the Lord's Leadings and Teachings in some measure in the day when he drew you out of Episcopacy so called and raised up a zeal in you against the Lording spirits in the Bishops and against the dark way of their imaginary Worship and if you had kept low in the pure Fear of the Lord I know he would have further appeared unto you But here was the loss of many of those that the Lord had appeared unto Mark they did not abide in his Tender Fear neither did they continue waiting upon him for Teaching in the measure of Life in which he had appeared unto them but many of them going from his Witness in themselves they soon began to imagin another Form of Worship which is called Presbitery and many sate down and setled in that and did not mind the Leadings of the Life which had appeared and in some measure quickened them and so much Deadness and Barrenness came upon such as would not be subject to the drawings of the pure Life of God But those that kept their integrity in any measure and waited upon the Lord the pure Life opened things further unto them as they were able to bear and they were drawn a little further and a fine Freshness and Tenderness and Love appeared in them for a time But so soon as they had settled themselves in another Form which is called Independency then many of them not willing to follow the Leadings of the Life any further then the Articles which they had drawn up and agreed upon would admit of whereby the freshness that had appeared in some of them began to wither Yet some who still desired to go on according to the Leadings of the Life the Life opened things further unto them and they left the other but they not continuing in the true waiting upon the Lord to be led by him several of them also ran into another Form called Anabaptism wherein many began to settle But some of them I do believe took up that far more simply than others for they being pressed outwardly to it by their Teachers and also finding in the Scriptures that the Saints of Old Practised such things they letting in reasonings and not waiting in the pure Life that had stirred in them to be led by that in all things their eye became vailed whereby they could see no further but looked upon that to be their duty to wit to go in the water and so durst not omit it But the pure Life which had visited them sprang up afresh and wrought mightily in some of them and shewed them the
Life and Power and Vertue of it you might be saved and cleansed from your sins Oh Friends if you ever come truly to be made free it must be by the Truth if ever you come to be sanctified it must be with the Truth Now the Word is the Truth and the Word is very nigh you even in your mouths to shew you your evil words and also in your hearts to shew you the deceit and thoughts thereof yea its Vertue goeth through all things and its Power upholdeth all things in it is Life and that Life is the Light of men Oh that you would believe in it that you might be made the children of it This Word is Immortal and it is able to destroy the Devil and his Works and to save your Immortal Souls Oh Friends though its appearance in you be in judgement yet resist it not neither turn from it in any wise but when it convinceth you of any evil and begetteth any love in you towards its judgement Oh then abide in that love and then you will see how Christ comes for judgement into the World to judge the Prince of the World and to cast him out and to make blind that eye which hath been open and hath seen in the worldly carnal Spirit and to open that eye which hath been kept blind by the God or Prince of the World Yea as you wait in the righteous Judgements of Christ you will feel him opening the eye of the understanding part with his Invisible Light whereby you will come to see into the Invisible things of God Oh Friends you must own Christ the Word of God in the way and ministration of his Judgements yea you must own him in the Spirit of Judgement and Burning before you can truly witness that you are reconciled unto God Oh! wait to hear the Voice of Christ in your inward man and be content to bear his yoak and wait in stilness that patience in you may have its perfect work and if any of you see with the Life of the Word that your hearts are hard and rocky keep but in patience and wait in that Life which maketh you sensible of your condition and you will feel the pure operation of the Word smiting as a hammer which will break your hard hearts into tenderness Yea you will feel them dissolved melted and changed by the Power of the Word as ye believe and wait in the same and then you will know experimentally that the Word of the Lord is as a Hammer and as a Sword and as a fire and as Fuller's sope for you will feel it breaking and cutting down burning up and washing out all the hard fruitless defiling nature and then you will come to know Christ's Fan in his hand for you will feel him Purging the Floor by separating the Chaffy dirty nature from the tender Seed which delighteth to do the will of God Now as you come to feel this within you come to witness his Baptism with the Holy Spirit and with Fire yea here the washing in the Regeneration and the renewing in the Holy Spirit comes to be witnessed And here Christ's work comes truly to be felt and known which is to destroy the Devil and his Works to blot out Transgression to take away Sin to cause the old things to pass away and to make all things new Oh Friends wait to feel and witness this work and think not that your saying Christ hath done all for you will profit you while you live in the old fleshly Birth for verily verily I say unto you That except you be born again you can in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God Therefore wait to feel this inward work that so you may know Christ formed in you his Mind his Spirit his Disposition his Nature and then you will come to the new Creature and to witness the Election which avails and obtains And here the Circumcision without hands you will come to know which is the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the Circumcision of Christ And this brings to be the Jew inward whose praise is not of man but of God and here 's the true Israel of God upon which the mercy comes and here 's the true Elect Seed unto which the Promise is and they that come to this are born from above and are Members of Christ's Body of his Flesh and of his Bones and they are come to the Riches of the Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations which is Christ in them the hope of Glory Oh Friends These things are not written unto you that you should feed upon the words and seek to get a Rest there but these things are written in tender bowels of Love unto such of you as truly hunger and thirst after the new Life That so as the Lord's witness ariseth in any of you to witness unto the Truth of them and to give you any understanding in the same you may joyn to his witness and believe and wait in the same to feel these things fulfilled in you So as you wait in the Invisible measure of God you will come to be sensible how far you are changed in which Birth you live in which Birth your minds are centered and so of which Birth you are for as it is written even so will you see it to be that That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit And they that are after or of the flesh do mind the things of the flesh But they that are after the spirit do mind the things of the Spirit And that they that live in the flesh cannot please God And as you mind that Life which oft-times ariseth in you and makes you sensible of your Conditions you will plainly come to know it in your selves that to be carnally minded it is death but to be Spiritually minded it is Life and Peace For you will see if the enemy of your Souls can get your minds into Carnal things at any time that then deadness and death cometh over you and you become dead as unto God until his witness ariseth in you to quicken you again But as your minds are kept in obedience to the Spirit of God you minding the things of it which it openeth unto you ye will feel Life and Peace springing in your Souls and that from the presence of the Lord. Therefore be diligent in this the day of your Visitation which yet in mercy is continued unto you as the Lord maketh manifest unto you that any of the Forms that you have been or are yet in are empty and dead and then appear in spirit to draw and lead you out of them O be not like stubborn Rebellious wilful Children that will not follow their father any further then may please their own wills but hang back murmure I say take heed of giving way to such a spirit least the Lord leave striving
with you and give you up wholly to follow the deceit of your own hearts for the Lord will not alwayes strive with man But the day shall come wherein the Lord will withdraw himself from the Rebellious and he that is filthy let him be filthy still Oh Friends I see a day which will be terrible unto the Disobedient For when the Lord hath tryed his People and gathered the sincere hearted out of all Forms unto himself he will then sweep away the refuge that will not be gathered in the day of their Visitation with a mighty Destruction And the day hastens in which this shall be accomplisht by the mighty Arm and Power of the Lord which is now working in secret Therefore wait to be led and taught of him and heed not the Rage and Cruelty of man neither bow to his Perverse will but know that the Lord hath given bounds to the Sea that although it roar Rage and swell and cast up mire and dirt yet it cannot go beyond its bounds Therefore be Patient and commit your Cause unto the Lord and seek not to avenge your selves but leave it unto him who will avenge the Cause of his People And wait in the feeling of the Truth in your selves that so you may feel the pure Life of Christ to be a stay to your minds in all your Tryals and Temptations Oh poor hearts this is a precious thing to come to be sensible of the true stay and guide to the mind O keep to that which maketh your Temptations and thoughts manifest and believe and wait in that and then you will feel that to be a stay to your minds and you will feel the Lord's secret strength revealed in you enabling you to stand in whatsoever Tryal or Temptation he shall suffer to come upon you or to be presented unto you yea as you are faithful to the Power that he commits unto you you shall not be tryed beyond your strength but you shall feel the Lord supporting you and by his Power he will work your minds into contentedness with his will in all things And if you will follow the Power of the Lamb which is that which moves against Sin and taketh it away you will come to feel your hearts and minds drawn and Redeemed out of the Earth thereby and you will be made willing to give up and to part with all and to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Now if your spirits come to be brought into this frame then whatsoever man can do unto you it will not be able to move you Oh! that you would wholly give up your selves to wait upon the Lord in the pure manifestation of his Spirit and cease contending and pleading for those things which the Spirit of the Lord requireth not at your hands Oh! that you would now mind to obey the pure requirings of the Life of Jesus in your selves and that would bring you into lowliness of mind and meekness of spirit into true love to God and one towards another and not only to love your friends but even to love your enemies also and to forgive and pray for them that despightfuly use you and then you would indeed bear the Image of the Lamb and witness his Kingdom set up in you and this would bring you in patience to wait until he arise to plead the cause of his People and to avenge himself on his and their enemies and to make the Kingdoms of this world his and the People subject to his Government which shall certainly be aceomplished in its Season and the day draweth nigh So the Lord God Almighty manifest himself more and more unto you all in whose hearts there are any true sincere honest desires to know and do his Will and who are willing to follow him as he appears to lead and draw you and the Lord of Life manifest his strength unto you and gather you by the Power of his Christ into the everlasting Covenant of Life Rest and Peace This is the sincere desire of my Soul whose bowels yearn towards you whose souls are breathing and thirsting after the endless Life of Righteousness And this is Message of true love unto you in which it is sent forth among you according to the instructions of the Almighty yea for your sakes is this written whose Souls are panting after the Lord in what form or society soever you be in who are willing to follow the leadings of his Life and to submit to his will as it comes to be made manifest unto you and many of you in whom there be such honest desires I see are now in a bewildred condition in this cloudy and dark day which seems to approach not knowing well what to do or which way to take or where to find rest or safety by reason of the want of the knowledge of a true guide to your minds I say for the informing of your understandings and for the strengthening of those desires in you which are sincere towards the Lord was I drawn forth in much tenderness and bowels of unfained love to write unto you that you might be brought to be sensible of the gift of God in your selves and to know what that is that is to guide your minds and in what you are to wait to receive the true Teachings that so your minds may come to be stayed upon the Lord and that may be gathered into his Name wherein the true help and safety is and that you may avoid whatsoever would be a hinderance unto your growth in the simplicity of the Truth Therefore I exhort and warn you to take heed of following your own thoughts and imaginations any longer but freely give up to be led by that Principle of Life which cannot consent to Sin but appears to call and draw you out of the same You need not fear that that will deceive you but whatsoever would draw you from that Life that is the Deceiver And hearken not any longer to such Teachers as are greedy of filthy lucre for such make a prey of you and cannot profit you at all And take heed of hearkening or joyning to such Teachers or People as will turn to and comply with any worship or thing that may be for their advantage as they account and that they may save themselves from sufferings for such are Luke-warm and the Lord will spue them out and their shame and filthiness shall appear and they shall become loathsom both in the sight of God and man Therefore avoid them And as there are few Teachers amongst the Professors whom I believe for Conscience sake dare not turn back and lick up that which they formerly were made to vomit out and deny so also there are many that would willingly turn to any thing for their bellies if they might be received that will not now be accepted of and these that see they cannot keep their places by their turning they will appear zealous especially in secret against those things that they
not for Conscience sake satisfie his covetous and unrighteous desire but chose rather to suffer than to come forth by yielding to such a horrid oppression yet were we willing to have given him to the full value of all the things we made use of in the Chamber and it being the highest room in a lofty Tower and all the Windowes open it was not fit for men to Lodge in by reason of the Wind and Rain beating in until we had gotten them Glassed without any charge to the Sergeant and we had so little of his in our Chamber that we offered this to wit that if two reasonable men would prise the things we would pay him for them and give him the Things also or if he would not stand to that then we would give him two shillings and six pence a week for the time we had been there We also told our Keepers that if we denyed to give them any thing that they could recover by Law the Law was open but they ought not according to their own Law to keep us upon that account but to tutn us out and then take their course at Law And so we demanded our Liberty several times but notwithstanding all this the Sergeant detained us still And the day before the PARLIAMENT Adjourned our Names in a List with other Prisoners in his Custody was given in to the Parliament who notwithstanding their Act of Indempnity and Oblivion and their former Order for our being forthwith Released and set at Liberty they made another Order That it should be Referred to the Kings Privy Counsel to consider of us and to give such Order touching us as to our Liberty or to continue under constraint as they should find Consistent with the Publick Peace and the mean time we are to remain in the Sergeants Custody so by this Order we are still detained and nothing is yet done by the Privy Council touching us Now let the Reader consider how unreasonably and contrary to Law we have been used who have been kept seventeen Weeks in this Prison and never brought to any examination Besides the time that I was kept in Harwich Now if the PARLIAMENT had rightly weighed and considered the matter when they Ordered the thanks of the House to be given to the Mayor and Magistrate of Harwich for their care in that business touching us truly they might have found more cause to have reproved them for their folly than to have given them thanks For if it had been true that we had made some Disturbance at Harwich as it is said in the Order for our Release yet if the Magistrates of Harwich had rightly understood their duty and if they had not been blinded with the mad zeal of Persecution they might have seen that it belonged to their place to have ended the matter of a disturbance and not to have troubled a Parliament with such a frivilous thing But it is certain that Persecutors in all Ages were blind And what a thing is this cannot three Justices of the Peace so called nor a Parliament determine in the matter of a Disturbance if it had been so that we had made one which we did not but that such a thing â—s that must be turned over to the Kings Privy Council to be considered of or is it because they would keep the innocent in Prison and are ashamed to bring them to an examination having nothing justly to charge them withal I leave this to be answered by that of God in all who shall read this And seeing there have been many false Reports touching the cause of our imprisonment and also that some of our enemies have reported that we may come out of Prison if we will it was upon me to publish the manner of our Imprisonment and of our being kept and by whom that the truth of the matter may plainly be seen which being truly considered People may see that it is even now as it was in the Prophets dayes of old For Judgement is now turned backward and Justice standeth afar off Truth is fallen into the Streets and Equity cannot enter yea Truth faileth and he that departeth from Evil maketh himself a prey and the Lord hath seen it and it displeaseth him because there is no true Judgement Isaiah 59.14 15. and as they did in the dayes of Amos even so do this Generation yea They now turn Judgement into Wormwood and leave off Righteousness in the Earth they hate him that rebuketh in the Gate and abhor him that speaketh uprightly Therefore will the Lord break forth like fire Amos 5. Lambeth-house the 21st of the 7th Month 1660. G. F. HIS FAITH Touching Four Particulars DEMONSTRATED I. Concerning Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World II. Concerning Justification III. Concerning the Resurrection IV. Concerning Everlasting Glory and Eternal Misery Written for the satisfaction of some tender consciencious Persons who had heard false Reports of Him and others of his Judgement touching the things above Written First AS concerning Iesus Christ that was supposed to be Joseph the Carpenter's Son who as concerning the Flesh was Crucified and put to Death at Jerusalem between two Thieves upon the Cross at Mount Calvary I do believe he was the Son of God and that that very Body that the Souldier pierced was the very Body that was prepared by the Father for Christ the true Saviour to come in to do the Will of the Father that sent Him And I do believe that by the Grace of God he tasted Death for every man that as many as believe in and obey him whose Soul was made an Offering for sin might have Eternal Life through him who gave his precious Life a Ransom for many Secondly I do believe that no man can be Iustified by the Works of the Law nor by any VVork of his own but He or She that is Iustified in the sight of God it is freely by his Grace through Faith in Christ Iesus who creates such unto Good VVorks which God hath ordained that they that are justified should walk in Now God through his Free Love hath made Me a Witness of true Iustification And I testifie in the Lord That it is not my Works that Iustifie me but it is the LORD alone who worketh my Works in me and for me according to his own good pleasure who loved me before I loved him and manifested his Love to me in the Covenant of Light whereby he drew me after himself and gave me strength to obey and follow him in the manifestation and drawings of his Love which whilst I did reject I was justly condemned of the Lord and could not witness Iustification in that State although I sought it and talked much of it as many Professors now do but GOD who is rich in Mercy and Love shewed me how he had given me Power and Ability to receive his Truth in the Love of it through which I am now Saved and Iustified Thirdly Touching the Resurrection It is a
and for you do I oft Pray to the Father of Life that ye may be kept stedfast in that Life which ye have felt and tasted of and that nothing may move you from that hope and confidence which God hath begotten in you by the working of his mighty Power Oh dear Babes let the Love of our God break and melt you into the meek tender Spirit of the Lamb and let the consideration of his Mercy and Grace which to you he hath shewn overcome you and make you sick of Love Oh how can I express his Goodness for it is beyond utterance yea his loving kindness to you-ward hath been exceeding large who in an acceptable time hath appeared and visited you with his tender Love the Light of the World and by his unresistable Power hath he caused you to feel the day spring from on High even the breaking forth of Light in your hearts and inward parts yea this did he do for you who were as Sheep without a Shepherd scattered upon the Mountains in the cloudy and dark day Oh Friends how did his Love reach unto you when ye were Enemies unto him how plainly did he shew unto you the evil of your wayes which had separated you from his presence and how tenderly did he hold forth his hand of Love to lead you out of that which had made you miserable and how did he give you strength to walk when ye were lame and inclined your hearts after that which he shewed unto you to be Good and how did he manifest his eternal Power and Righteous Judgement in you against the body of sin and how did he beget and quicken a Righteous Seed in you which cannot live but in his presence and how mightily hath he opened the eye of your understandings by his eternal Spirit that ye are brought to see the false Wayes and Worships of the World wherein ye were once intangled and he hath also given you to see the Way to himself and the Worship which he regards in the Spirit of Truth wherein you are come to know that which only can give satisfaction and make you eternally free Oh let the unexpressable Love of the Father never be forgotten by you my dear Friends but all keep to and dwell in that eternal Immortal Power of an endless Life which ye have felt and tasted or and let your minds be kept to the workings and operations of the same that so none of you may be daunted by the enemy within or without but all wait in the eternal Light the Foundation of God which can never be shaken that so your minds may be girded up and you kept upon your watch and your ear kept open to the Lord that so when he calls ye may answer and when he teaches ye may observe and obey that so your souls may live and that ye may see his eternal Will in all conditions and be contented therewithal then will you feel the peace which none can take away And Friends give all diligence to obey the Word of Wisdom that ye may be known to be its Children and that ye may feel and witness your growth into the nature of the Immortal Seed whose Kingdom is not of this World that so your Redemption from the earth and all earthly things you may know through the blood of the unspotted Lamb of God which blood is the Life which he gave a Ransom for many which Life is manifested in your mortal bodies that through Faith in it ye may be saved And know this my Friends henceforth you are not your own for you are bought with a price and you are called with an holy calling that you might glorifie the Lord in your Bodies and Spirits which are the Lord 's Oh my Friends let not your delight be placed in the things of this World for then will you be intangled but wait in the feeling of the pure Power of the Lord God that ye may be kept and preserved thereby that so ye that marry may be as if you married not and that ye that have of this world as if ye possessed not and that ye may be kept in the living Wisdom of God in the ordering of all things that are given unto you that so the Glory of God and the honour of his Eternal Truth may be minded in all things and that your minds and hearts may be drawn out of all created things and ye kept single and chast unto the Lord that so if it were his Will that ye should be separated either from Wife or Husband outwardly or Children or Houses or Lands or any outward thing for his Name sake that ye may be kept in that temper and frame of mind and Spirit that ye may resign up all freely without murmuring that so ye may be known to be followers of the Lamb whithersoever he goeth for my Babes it is given unto you as well to suffer for his Names sake as to believe and hereby shall the World know that ye are redeemed from the earth if ye in patience and innocency give up to the Will of God in all things Therefore dear hearts wait in the Power and Life of God that ye may feel your strength and courage and boldness for the Lord increased that when you are tryed ye may stand in that Spirit of Life and Meekness which will give you eternal Peace in all your sufferings and Tryals for the Lord will try you that ye may see and know him alone to be your strength and that the world may know that ye are a People saved by the Almighty God And this know that ye that are faithful shall not be proved beyond your strength for the Lord will be with you in all your Tryals and the more that you are persecuted for his Name the greater shall his power be felt in you and the more your Enemies afflict you the greater shall be your joy and this shall torment your Enemies So Friends let patience have its perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing for the Lord will make up his Jewels and he will take away all the dross and nothing shall remain but that which will abide the Tryal in the fire for the Lord hath been loaded with the sacrifices of many who have professed his Name but have not been subject to the leadings of his Spirit but have grieved it from day to day Therefore will the Lord God try all Professions and the chaff shall be blown away and all false coverings shall be stript off and men shall appear as they are yea the chaff which some time seemed to joyn to the Wheat shall be driven to and fro until the fire consume it or until it mix it self with the mire where the Swine wallow but God will have regard unto his Seed which is weighty And Friends a day of Calamity will come upon â—hem who have worshipped and do Worship 〈◊〉 â—â—known God at a distance and pretend the Worship of