an Enemy to him tho' the Creature may not know it but may think it is doing God service it being got above the suffering Seed in themselves would scatter and devour it in others And this Spirit the Lord hath shewed me and its end and hath redeemed me from it by the Spirit of the Lamb and I shall never join as Head or Tail therewith but shall earnestly pray to the Father that a deep Search of Truth may seriously pass through the Hearts and Reins of all Contenders that all that are guilty herein may speedily come to Repentance left they be hardned therein and there come a time when they would give whatever is dear to them for one Hour's Society with the People of God and cannot obtain it then with lamentable Wo shall the Wrath of that be known that is now trampled on without the true Fear of God or Life of his Love And having at length received this Favour of the Lord I have taken this time in the tender Bowels of Love as one wounded therewith to warn you hereof Beseeching you all for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake that you all search low for the Bowels of him who loved you and suffered for you when you were his Enemies and put them on towards all Men but especially towards one another who have been called by one Spirit into one Truth that so the holy Spirit be no more grieved nor Satan get any more advantage whose Work is to sow Dissention even among Brethren And the Lord God of Love give us all to see that whatever our Gifts or Powers be yet if we have not the Life and Power of Love it avails not with God though Men may esteem of us never so high For only he that dwells in Love knows God and lives in him the rest knows not what Spirit they are of And this I feelingly declare from that dear Love of God in me begotten to all his People whereby I am so far from taking delight in troubling the People of God that their growth in Peace and Truth upon the Foundation laid already was never so much desired and my Love to them is daily increased beyond what I can here express yet the Lord knows it and whence it is whether it be receiv'd by Men or no yet the Seed snall feel it in God's time to which it is and in whose Peace only I have Peace and I hope in the Power of that Love God will so strengthen me that nothing of Shame Loss or Reproach shall ever be too hard to take up for the advancement thereof as God shall shew and lead me therein without whom I dare do nothing lest I deny his Work or confound it with my own And concerning you the tender Plants of my Father who have suffered through me or with me in what the Lord hath done with me in this time of great Tryal and Temptation the Almighty God of Love who hath numbred every Sigh and put every Tear in his Bottle Reward it a Thousand-fold into your Bosoms in the Day of your need when you shall come to be tryed and tempted and in the mean time fulfil your Joy with his Love which you seek after The Lord knows it was never in my Heart to cause you to mourn whose Sufferings is my greatest Sorrow that ever yet came upon me for you are innocent herein But the Envious One hath taken his advantage which the Lord will turn to his disadvantage and utter ruine in many Souls and in this believing is all my rest in my great trouble of heart concerning you or my self and in Patience I wait to see it when the Man of Sin hath had his time to be revealed For I have seen the good Hand of God all along working in it whose End is good to all that love him else had I been destroy'd e're this such hath been the Violence of the Enemy of my Soul But he hath numbred my Hairs and not left me in the Fire or Water when none else was with me thou wert my Comforter O that I may never hide thy Praise by covering my Sin or Shame God forbid By a way unexpected did the Lord open a way to declare these Words all other means of writing being taken from me Blessed be He on whom I wait further to see his Will that I may do or suffer it The Presence and Peace of the Almighty comfort his People whom I salute in the Bowels of Love James Naylor I beseech you all that can to receive it even as you would be received of the Lord and for the rest the Lord give me Patience to suffer till the Lord make up the Breach A Testimony to Christ Jesus delivered to the Parliament who Persecuted him as a Blasphemer written in the time of his Imprisonment in Bridewell CHrist Jesus the Immanuel of whose Sufferings the Scriptures declare him alone I confess before Men for whose sake I have denied whatever was dear to me in this World that I might win him and be found in him and not in my self whose Life and Virtue I find daily manifest in my mortal Body which is my Eternal Joy and Hope of Glory whom alone I seek to serve in Spirit Soul and Body Night and Day according to the measure of Grace working in me that in me he may be glorified whether by Life or Death and for his sake I suffer all things that he alone may have the Glory of my Change whose Work alone it is in me Even to that Eternal Spirit be Glory and to the Lamb for ever But to ascribe this Name Power and Virtue to James Naylor or to that which had a beginning and must return to Dust or for that to be exalted or worshipped to me is great Idolatry and with the Spirit of Christ Jesus in me it is condemned which Spirit leads to Lowliness Meekness and Long-suffering So having an opportunity given with readiness I am willing in the Fear of God the Father in Honour to Christ Jesus and to take off all Offences from every simple Heart this to declare to all the World as the Truth of Christ is in me without Guile or Deceit daily finding it to be my Work to seek Peace in Truth with all Men in that Spirit James Naylor J. N's ANSWER to the FANATICK HISTORY In Relation to himself AS for thy Charge against J. N. through the Everlasting Mercy of my God I have yet a Being amongst the Living and breathe to answer for my self though against the Intents of many Bloody Cruel Spirits who pursued my Soul unto Death as much as in them lay in that Day of my Calamity when my Adversary was above and wherein I was made as a Sign to a Backsliding Generation who then would not see nor hear what now is coming upon them but rejoiced against this piece of Dust and had little pity towards him that was fallen into their Hands wherein God was just in giving me up for my
over and we have not found help from Man as to all the Powers that have been till this Day since we were a People nor do we speak this because we look for help from Man nor indeed can we expect that from Men until Men own the same Principle of God to Rule in them to which we are subject which is the Son of Righteousness and leads all into Righteousness Truth and Peace that his Light doth follow who is known to us to be King of Kings and Judge of the Judges though Flesh and Blood sees not his Kingdom And now O King as we have been moved of the Lord in Bowels of Love and with much Plainness of Speech after the Spirit of Truth and not with vain Complements to lay these things before all the several Powers that have risen hitherto with several other Evils which our God hath sent us to testifie against both in Rulers Teachers and People so we have done and for that we have suffered also for a Witness against them as it is at this Day So the same God hath now after a while put into our Hearts to lay these things before thee O King that thou mayst not be Ignorant to what we are called and for what we suffer And in this we rejoice That we feel love to thy Soul even while we are thus doing and if many should be moved hereto of God take heed of being wearied therewith nor count it Clamour or Trouble as they that was before thee did and so let up Prejudice and Evil Thoughts in their own Hearts against the Innocent for this we say unto thee and affirm in the Name of our God that the more any are truly moved by the Eternal Spirit to warn thee of these Things or any other Evils that may any way grieve his Holy Spirit so much doth the Lord of thy Life and true and Everlasting Peace double his Love unto thee and shew his Willingness to stay thee from that which hath removed Kings and broken Kingdoms And this we know to be in God and by him in us towards thy Soul and Eternal Welfare And though we cannot Swear and Unswear Covenant and Uncovenant with every Change that comes as Men do that know not the Everlasting Covenant and Decree of God yet this hath God fealed in our Hearts To seek the Good of all Men Plot against none but study to live quietly and Exercise our Conscience faithfully towards whatever Government our God shall set up desiring that all Men in their Day may so use their Power as they may give Account to God with Joy and not leave their Names for a Curse and Reproach among Men for this we know That God is now at Hand to give a speedy Reward to every Man as shall be the Work of his Day Wherefore O King seek the Fear of the Lord and not Pleasure do Justice and Judgment in this thy Day Relieve the Helpless Oppressed and break the Yoak of Bondage that lies upon the Poor and bring Judgment into the Gates and let not Justice be sold least the Meek of the Earth Cry to God against thee Verily God is nearer this Nation to avenge than many can believe though the hath done Wonders in this Generation that many Generations have not seen and he is trying all Sorts of People with the Testimony of his Appearance Blessed are they whose Eye is open to discern the Signs of the Times for a Work is God working in the Earth and he will cut it short in Righteousness for his Elect sake which Daily hath waited upon Him that is Blessed for ever O King spend not thy time in Fleshly Pleasures neither strive after that Glory which will fade away but apply thy Heart to God and wait to feel his Spirit in thee giving thee Light and Understanding to guide thy ways before him for only Blessed is he who Rules by his power and who is taught of God shall be Established in Righteousness and be far from Oppression and only such shall be called the Blessed of God to all Generations read and remember the Righteous and the Wicked From one of those whom the World calls Quakers JAMES NAYLOR Written the 3d Day of the 4th Month 1660. FINIS LONDON Printed in the Year 1660. To all the Dearly Beloved PEOPLE of GOD Mercy and Peace THere is nothing dear and percious to me in this World but God's Truth and his Life of Righteousness for which I have forsaken all the World and whatever was dear to me therein I have hated and counted it as an Enemy that I might obtain Christ the Fountain and Spring of that Eternal Life of Truth the Beauty whereof I cannot express as I see it and feel it The Loveliness thereof to my Soul hath so dearly united my Spirit to all that bear the Image and Life of it that there can be no Separation but my Life suffers thereby and I can truly say that there is no other thing whatsoever that can unite me as one with any Creature living but this Image and Life where I see it born up or breathing to Life but in whomsoever it be without respect of Persons that I see the least appearance of this Seed of Life is I can by that Power of Love the Father hath begotten in me lay down my Life to serve for the Seed's sake And wherein I have come short of this formerly and have respected the High more than stood only in this Seed I have been judged of the Lord and my evil Thoughts therein condemned yea and I do condemn them before all the World to be of that which favours Self and not the Things of Christ And the lower God doth bring me and the nearer to himself the more doth this Love and Tenderness spring and spread towards the poor simple and despifed ones who are poor in Spirit meek and lowly Suffering Lambs and with those I choose to suffer and do suffer where-ever they are found and I bear my Testimony against that Spirit by which they suffer where-ever it is found and this lies upon me from the Lord Hearing and feeling a Spirit of Enmity having got head by what the Lord hath done with me and now doth exercise its Power against the Peaceable Meetings of the Lord's People the Burthen whereof lies heavy upon me and I suffer under it and have long waited with Prayers and Tears of Sorrow Night and Day to receive Counsel from the Lord what to do in it in that Condition I am now in at present God knows I Lye not for there is nothing of all my Hardships that hath lain and doth lie upon me like this that any of the Flock of God should be offended or suffer through me therefore I have not ceased to warn as God hath opened to me such as I could speak to to live in Peace and Love to suffer but not to act Strife and Violence and have denied that Spirit not to be of the Lamb but
Disobedience for a little moment as a Father to correct yet should not they have sought to aggravate things against me as thou dost For it was a Day of deep Distress and lay sore upon my Soul and the pitiful God saw it who though he was a little displeased yet his Thoughts was not to cast off for ever but extend Mercy as it is at this Day Glory be to his Name from my deliver'd Soul eternally And in that Day there was many Spirits flock'd about me and some whom while my Candle shone upon my Head I ever judged and kept out from me who then got up and acted and spoke several things not in the Light and Truth of God by which they who sought occasion against me then was strengthned to afflict this Body and he that watches for Evil in thee and some others makes use of still against God's Truth and Innocent People whose Mouths the God of my Mercy stop and so finish the Trouble of my Heart as to that thing For my Soul hath long dwelt among Lions even among them that are set on Fire whose Teeth are Spears and Arrows and their Tongues a sharp Sword speaking mischievous things to shed Blood But O Man or Men whatever you be whose Work it is to gather together the Failings of God's People in Time of Temptation or Night of their Tryal and aggravate them and add there to the Wickedness and mischievous Lyes of your own Hearts as thou hast done in thy Book and then come out with those against God's Everlasting Holy Truth it to Reproach I say you are set to work by an Evil Spirit and you do but shew your selves to be Enemies to God and his Children And it is our Sorrow that any of us should give such Spirits occasion to blaspheme and it hath been Trouble of Soul to all the People of God that have ever loved Righteousness when they have thus occasioned the Joy of the Wicked or to feed that Man that watches for Iniquity and feeds on Mischief Yet know this you that are of that Brood God will not cast off his People though he be sometimes provoked to correct them even before their Adversaries which is a Sign to them yet is his Anger but for a moment and his Favour shall return as Streams of Life Then shall the Food be taken out of the Mouth of the Viper and the Prey from between the Teeth of the Devourers and God shall feed them with their own Vomit and the Poyson that hath long lain under their Tongues shall be bitter in their own Bowels Thus will God certainly plead with Zion's Enemies as he bends her Sons for himself and God will make up her Breaches And this hath my Soul seen Jacob's Captivity restored and the Diggers of the Pit are fallen therein Neither hath he smitten him as he smote them that smote him or is he slain according to the Slaughter of them that are slain by him but this is all his Fruit to purge away his Sin So he that had long waited for my failing then got advantage against me yet had I then Power to bear his utmost Envy through Christ Jesus whom I then confessed before Men who then was my support in all and under all and who is over all blessed for ever of all who have proved him in the depth But that which was and is the Sorrow of my Heart is the advantage the Enemy then took against the Name of Christ his Truth and his despised People in that time of Temptation which is that which thou art now pursuing with Hatred and Lyes as that I had a Woman in Bed with me the Night before I suffer'd at Bristol When there was Six or Seven Persons in the Room that Night and a Man to wit Robert Rich in Bed with me But this and several other false things thou hast written in thy Book of which I am clear before the Lord so they touch me not at all nor shall I here mention them against thee in particular But to God alone I look in his time to be cleared from all Offences in his sight who only knows my Heart in this thing in whose Presence I can say that nothing is more odious and burthensome to my Soul than that any of that Glory or Worship which belongs to God or to Christ should be given to Flesh and Blood in my self or others And how it was with me at that Day many talk of but few knows so the Judgment of such I bear Desiring that none in Judging me might have Condemned themselves in God's sight whose Counsels are a great Deep and the End of his Works past finding out till he himself reveal them but in the End he will be justified of all and in all he doth that all Flesh may be silent before him And however my self or any others may be left to themselves to be tryed in the Night yea should any utterly fall or whatever may be acted by any Man or Woman that is not justifiable in God's sight yet in vain dost thou or you gather up Sin or watch for Iniquity to cast upon the Light which Condemns it in every Enlightned Conscience and there will clear himself to be no Author nor Actor therein And I know by the Spirit of Jesus which I have received and which worketh in me that this is not his Work nor his Seed nor in him that loves thy Enemies thou art not but the old Accuser of the Brethren it is that worketh strongly in thee and in the Light which thou Reproaches art thou seen to be the Man that makes Lyes and carries Tales to shed Blood Ezek. 22. 9 12. Another Paper added THere is a Spirit which I feel that delights to do no Evil nor to revenge any Wrong but delights to endure all things in hope to enjoy its own in the End Its hope is to outlive all Wrath and Contention and to weary out all Exaltation and Cruelty or whatever is of Nature contrary to its self It sees to the End of all Temptations As it bears no Evil in it self so it conceives none in Thoughts to any other If it be betrayed it bears it for its Ground and Spring is the Mercies and Forgiveness of God Its Crown is Meekness its Life is Everlasting Love unfeigned and takes its Kingdom with Intreaty and not with Contention and keeps it by Lowliness of Mind In God alone it can rejoice though none else regard it or can own its Life It 's conceived in Sorrow and brought forth without any to pity it nor doth it murmur at Grief and Oppression It never rejoyceth but through Sufferings for with the World's Joy it is murthered I found it alone being forsaken I have Fellowship therein with them who lived in Dens and desolate Places in the Earth who through Death obtained this Resurrection and Eternal Holy Life J. N. London Printed in the Year 1660. TO ALL THE People of the LORD EVERY WHERE Gathered or
Father of all Pride and Self-exaltation you bear the Image of the Serpent you speckled ones who have Painted your selves in the various Colours to make your selves seem Glorious in the Eyes of others that they may Bow to and Worship you Woe unto thou that hast set thy self in the Seat of God thou art Weighed and found Wanting thy Pride is for the Fire and thy Honour for the Dust for now isthe Lord coming to Enquire after his Wool and Flax which he gave to Cloath the Naked of all sorts with which thou hast Decked the Serpent and spent it upon thy Lusts thereby to set thy self in the Seat of the Almighty Woe Woe Woe unto thee thou that art exalted as high as Heaven yea as into God's Throne but thou shalt be cast down to Hell the Lamb is Risen to Rule the Nations Woe unto the Covetous Cruel Oppressors who Live upon Dust you Grind the Face of the Poor and Oppress them that are Fallen your Measures you have filled and you have heaped up abundance against this Day of Wrath. The Fire of the Almighty is kindled and it shall never be Quenched till it hath Devoured and Burnt up you and your Heaps and made you a Curse to the Generations that shall come after Woe unto the Evious Serpents that seek to Devour the Innocent that make a Prey upon them that depart from Iniquity you are the. Head of the Serpent that must fulfil what is spoken of you and you now shew the Enmity that God hath put between the two Seeds now thy Rage is come the Seed is come whose Heel thou art Bruising who shall Bruise thy Head thy Time is as short as thy Rage is great Rejoyce all you that Suffer it that the Scriptures may be fulfilled Woe unto you Scorners you Sons of Hagar you Sons of Bondage to the Works of the Devil Scorning Backsliding False Accusing Slandering and Evil Speaking you are brought forth by the Egyptian Woman and are in Egyptian Darkness and you cannot see that you are in the Works of the Devil and by him you are put on to Act against Christ in his Saints But now is the Son of the Free-Woman brought forth to whom the Heritage belongs and you shall be cast out among the Heathen and Ungodly and Judgment is coming upon you in which you shall not be able to Stand. Woe unto you Swearers and Lyars under whose Tongues lies the Poyson of Apses which you vent out as you are moved by your Father the Devil against the Holy and Dreadful Name of the Almighty the Land is filled with this Generation and hath long Mourned because of you Who can pass in Streets or Markets that Fear the Lord and their Hearts not be Broken to hear it Do not all places abound with Vain Oaths and Lying Idle Words Never was Nation like to this in these things so that any who will not use these Idle Words and Oaths is known in the Streets as they pass and not esteemed worthy to Live in the Nation and thus not only with all the Common sort but also with many that are in place of Authority to Punish such things and yet those are not afraid to call themselves Christians Shall not the Lord be Avenged on such a People as this Woe unto you that Live upon Deceit in your Weights and Measures by your Slighty Words arising from the Serpents Wisdom which makes a Prey on the Simple and when you have got great Estates you say God hath given you them you are set up above them who are made Poor by you now is the Lord come to search you out and you shall Restore for your Theft Four-fold Woe unto you that have had Power in your Hands to restrain these things but instead of using the Sword to scatter the Works of Iniquity have turned the Edge of it against such as the Lord hath called out of these things and sent them to call others out least they partake of the Plagues that are to come upon those who are found in them Woe Woe unto you Blind Guides who have called your selves Christ's Seeds-men and now that the Lord of the Harvest is come to look for Fruits here is no better Fruit to Reap but such as these and that among such as you call Saints and the Churches of Christ And now that the Heir is Appearing you are stirring up the Powers of the Earth how to Destroy him lest you be called to Account for your great Care to feed your own Bodies and heap up Carnal things and the little Care for the Souls of Christ's Flock Now shall you not Escape your Day is near at hand Who could have Believed that England would have brought forth no better Fruits than these now after such Deliverance as no Nation else can Witness Oh! tell it not among the Heathen least you strengthen the Hands of the Enemy and occasion the Wicked to Blaspheme the Name of the God of Hosts who is reported to be amongst us and Subdued all our Enemies and hath Delivered us thus far Awake Awake all sorts of People can you say you have not had Power in your Hands against these Abominations But now that you have not proved Faithful in your Promises to the Lord in the Day of your Fears therefore is the Lord coming to call to Account all sorts of Dissemblers and Oppressors and by his own Right Hand to get himself the Victory And now Woe unto you that have known to do Well and had it in your Power but have not done it Woe unto you that have taken Counsel at your own Wisdom and Multitudes and not at the Spirit of the Lord and have Strengthned your selves by your Riches Woe unto you Fruitless Trees you have long been Digged and Pruned but no Fruits brought forth you have long cumbred the Ground Woe unto you that are at ease in Sion Howl Woe and Misery Tremble ye Women that are at Ease Strip you make you Bare put off your Pride and put on Ashes turn your Musick into Wailing your Feasts into Fasting and Bitter Lamentation and meet the Lord if there may be Hope for your Souls in the Day of his Fierce Wrath that is coming upon the Earth While you have time improve it J. N. THE END Printed in the Year 1654. TWO EPISTLES OF JAMES NAYLOR's An Epistle to several Friends about Wakefield JAMES a Prisoner of Jesus Christ unto all that love the Appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ every where Grace and Peace be multiplied from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ My dear Hearts you whom the Lord hath manifested so much Love unto as to call you out of Sin and Death and the World all the Delights and Pleasures of the World which Fades away up to himself where is Joy unspeakable Pleasures and Riches that endure for Evermore Dear Friends Watch and be Sober that you may hear the voice of your Beloved when he calleth and let not the