to resist all that which is contrary unto me and I will destroy all the works of the Serpent in you and bruise his head and I will purge out all your iniquities and forgive all your trespasses I will change your nature and I will make you new Creatures if ye will hearken unto me and obey me the Light in you and I will make you partakers of my Divine Nature and I will judge and condemn and consume all that in you which is contrary to my Nature if ye will abide in the Light and I will take away all Darkness and earthly-mindedness and I will reveal my secrets and mysteries unto my Seed in you and I will cause you to delight alone in me the Light of Life and I will feed you with the Bread of Life and ye shall drink of my Life and ye shall be satisfied and I will manifest my Power more and more in you and if ye will be faithful unto me and obey my voice and wait upon me the Light then I will make the crooked wayes strait before you and the rough wayes smooth and I will destroy the Power of Darkness within and without you and if ye will follow me I will lead you out of the World and Worldly cares into patience into meekness and into stilness and quietness of spirit and whatsoever you suffer for my Names sake I will be your exceeding great reward and I will be your dread and ye shall be the dread of Nations I will be your Glory and ye shall be the Glory of Nations and I will reign over you and ye shall reign over all the World in my Light and Life and Power and if ye continue in me the Light I will give you Dominion over all your Enemies within and without you and I will make them all bow before you and I the Lord God of Light and Life will be your Redeemer and Saviour your Rock your Shield and your Defence and if ye will wait in my Life it shall be your Life and I the Life will destroy the destroyer within and without you and I will bring you out of all trouble and restlesness and dissatisfaction and I will be your peace and your rest and your satisfaction and ye shall lie down in me the Light of Life and none shall make you afraid These things shall you come to witness in the work of your regeneration and much more than is here expressed if ye be faithful unto me the true Light in you who have no fellowship with any thing that is Evil and then I wil purge all Evil out of you and even as I am so shall ye be also yea I will work this work and perfect it in you if ye continue and abide in me the Light Now if any should say that here is nothing spoken of Christ in what I have here written I answer what I have here written is the words which the Father who is one with Christ the Son gave unto me to write in which words the true Christ is owned and a Testimony given of him and no other But further in the Fear and Wisdom of God for the satisfaction of the simple I do declare in plain words That I do believe in the true Christ the Lord of Life who was glorified with the Father before the World began and I do believe that he was in due time made manifest in that body of flesh who was called Jesus and that in him the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily who was supposed to be the Carpenter's Son whom the Jews Crucified without the gates of Jerusalem and I have remission of Sins through his blood who is the Lord of Life and he was buried but he is risen and Ascended and sits on the right hand of the Majesty on high This is the Christ I own who also was and is Crucified in Sodom and Aegypt by the rebellious yea he is Crucified afresh and put to open shame now by those that trample the blood of the Covenant the Light of Life under their feet and count it an unholy or a natural thing and such act despightfully against the Spirit of Grace and such Murther the Seed which keeps the commands of God and such will God the Light overthrow and burn to ashes as he did Sodom and Gomorrah but all that love and obey the true Light which is the fire shall be saved and preserved by it and shall remain unhurt but all that hate and disobey the Light in them that is their condemnation the Light These are faithful and true sayings and things also that must shortly come to pass and he witnessed Postscript READER WHo ever thou art be moderate and take heed of disobeying and despising the true Light for if thou dost thou disobeyest and dispisest the True and Eternal God who is Light and that is his Name whereby he is and will be known in this Age and Generation Therefore stumble not at the Light which lighteneth every one which cometh into the World for if thou doest thou stumblest at God his Name at Christ the Word by which all things were made and are upheld at the Door the Way the Truth and the Life at the Rock at the Elect Stone and these all are but one and if thou stumble at these what ever thou art thou shalt be broken But they that obey and believe the true Light they shall be made Children of the Light and shall be taught of God and shall walk in his Light G. F. A Word to the People of the World who hate the Light to be witnessed by the Light in them all VVherein is shewed unto them what the Light is which is the condemnation of the VVorld with its deeds and what the Spirit of Truth is and what it leads them into who are led by it and what the Spirit of Error is and what it leads them into who are led by it And also they are here exhorted to repent whilst they have the Light to believe and walk in the Light lest darkness come upon them and they into it be cast where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Also a few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light the Word the Kingdom and Spirit of God within and tell People that none can be free from sin in this Life and yet say that they own the Scriptures LIght is come into the VVorld and the VVorld hates it Joh. 8.12 and the whole World lyeth in wickedness 1 Joh. 5.19 And this is the Condemnation of the VVorld that Light is come into the VVorld and men loved the Darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil saith Christ Joh. 3.19 20. And every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his deeds should be reproved But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light for whatsoever doth make manifest is Light Eph. 5.13 and Christ Jesus he is the true
of God the Light by the Gift we are brought to bring forth these fruits which are contrary to those which the Spirit of Error leads the Children of disobedience to bring forth Gal. 5.22 23. For although we the Children of Light are accounted to be in Delusion and Errour Gal. 5.22.23 yet it is but by you who bring forth the Cursed fruits which the Spirit of Errour leads you to bring forth so in the Light Life and Power of God we stand over all false Accusations and Reproaches and Persecutions and in the patience of Gods Lamb we bear them all and our love goes forth to your Souls who wilfully oppose your selves and we declare unto you that the long-sufferings of the Lord towards you is to draw you to Repentance Rom. 2.4 and I have directed you to that which will shew you what you ought to repent of Therefore consider your wayes speedily all you that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Psal 50.22 for verily this I declare unto you in the presence of the Lord that if you go on and continue in stubbornness and Rebellion against the Pure God and despise his love and reject his counsel and still refuse to hearken to the Light of his Son in your Consciences which reproves you for Sin and is freely given to you to lead you out of Sin unto God if you wilfully do not resist it Mark when the measure of your iniquity is filled up then will he arise upon you at unawares in his fury Wrath Indignation Mat. 24.50.51 and his eye shall not at all pitty you but he will bring his Plagues and Righteous Judgements upon you which shall consume you both root and branch if you will not be gathered in the day of his long patience and forbearance which is the day of your Visitation wherein you may come to know the things belonging to your peace if you do not wilfully resist the Power that is offered and committed unto you But if you resist the Power then the Lords righteous Judgements will assuredly come upon you and you will receive to your selves Condemnation and if you continue in your wickedness until the day of your visitation be past then shall the Light in all your Consciences which hath oftentimes shewed unto you your evil deeds arise and witness to the Judgements of God that they are just Zek. 2.7 so whether you will hear or forbear Remember you are warned in your Life time By a Friend to your Souls and a Lover of the Creation of God GEORGE FOX the Younger A few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light the Word the Kingdom and Spirit of God within and tell People that none can be free from Sin in this Life and yet say that they own the Scriptures 1. Qu. ARE not all by Nature Darkness and doth not the Light shine in Darkness yea or nay 2. Qu. Can any come to see themselves to be Darkness but with the Light which shineth in the Darkness yea or nay 3. Qu. Is there any way to come out of Darkness and Death and to receive Life and to be made Children of the Light but by believing in and following of Jesus Christ the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World yea or nay 4. Qu. Must not all be turned from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to the Power of God before they can receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified yea or nay 5. Qu. Can any come into the true Faith which purifies the heart and gives victory over the world without which none can please God but by hearing the Word of God yea or nay 6. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the Word of God and is not Christ the Light the Author and Finisher of the true Faith which saves and justifies yea or nay 7. Qu. And is not the Word nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart that men may obey it and do it and is not Christ the Light the Word that Prophet which all that hear him not are to be cut off yea or nay 8. Qu. And is it not Christ the Word which discerns and reveals the thoughts and intents of the heart and is not he the ingrafted Word which is able to save the Soul and is not he the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation and is sufficient which hath appeared unto all men and is not he the Word of God's Grace which is able to build up and keep from falling which People are to be commended unto yea or nay 9. Qu. And is not God Light and is not the shining of him in the hearts of People which gives them the knowledge of himself in the face of Jesus Christ yea or nay 10. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the hope which purifies as God is pure which Anchors and stayes the Soul to be known within are not People tossed like a Ship in a tempest without an Anchor till Christ the Hope be felt within to stay and Anchor them and is not Christ within the Hope a Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations and are not all they in the reprobate state who know not Christ within them yea or nay 11. Qu. And is not God's Kingdom Light and is it not like a little leaven that is hid in Meal and as a grain of Mustard-seed that is sown in the Earth and like a Pearl hid in the Field or like good Seed sown in the Field both on stony thorny high-way and good ground and is not the world the Field where the Seed of the Kingdom is sown and is not the world in mans heart so is not Gods Kingdom within men yea or nay 12. Qu. And is not the manifestation of the Spirit given to every man to profit withal and do any worship the Father of Truth aright but those that worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth and is not the Light the Truth yea or nay 13. Qu. And is not Christ the Light that Word which reconciles to God and is it not he that must open the understandings of men before they can understand the Scriptures and are not People in Errour and in jangling and strife about the Scriptures till Christ the Light the Spirit of Truth the Power of God from whence Scriptures were spoken be known and owned to guide and lead them yea or nay 14. Qu. And is not this the Cause of so many Sects and Opinions and Divisions as are and of such strivings as are about Scriptures and Religions because People know not or own not the Spirit of Truth from whence Scriputures were spoken forth to lead and guide them and is it not like that People should run into Sects and Opinions and Divisions and Strife if they know not or own not the Spirit of Truth to guide and lead them and if the Spirit of Truth were known and owned to
guide and lead them would it not lead and guide them out of Sects and Opinions and Divisions and Strife and would it not bring People to be of one heart and of one mind and into Unity with God and one with another and with the Scriptures yea or nay 15. Qu. And doth not Christ the Light the Spirit of Truth for Sin Condemn Sin in the flesh and must not that be owned which makes manifest reproves and Condemns Sin in the flesh before the Ministration of Life and Peace can be witnessed yea or nay 16. Qu. Is not the Unity of the Spirit the bond of Peace and must not People come into Unity with the Spirit before they can come into true Peace and doth not the Spirit of Truth reprove men for Sin who live in it so must not People come out of Sin before they can come into Unity with the Spirit and so into true Peace or hath the Spirit any Unity with Sin or is there any true Peace to the wicked who live in Sin yea or nay 17. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the Word the Rock of Offence and the stone of stumbling unto the disobedient in whom the Prince of the Power of the Air ruleth but is he not Elect and precious to them that believe and obey him and is it not he that ruleth in them and leads and guides them in the way of Peace yea or nay 18. Qu. Do not as many as believe in the Light receive Power to become the Sons of God and are not those the Sons of God who are led by the Spirit of Truth and are not those that do not believe in Christ the Light nor are guided by the Spirit bastards and not sons and are they not condemned already who do not believe and is not the Light their Condemnation yea or nay 19. Qu. And shall not Darkness yea great Darkness come upon them who do not believe and walk in the Light and shall not they stumble and fall and be broken yea or nay 20. Qu. And shall not they who believe and walk in the Light be made Children of the Light and be kept from stumbling and falling and shall not they have fellowship with the Father and the Son from whence the Light comes and one with another and doth not the blood of Christ cleanse them from all Sin yea or nay 21. Qu. Can any have fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Saints in Light but those that walk in and are guided and led by the Light of Christ Jesus which he hath enlightned them withal yea or nay 22. Qu. Can any deny themselves before they see themselves and can any man see himself but with the Light which Christ hath enlightned him withal which makes manifest Self and can any be Christ's Disciple but he that denies himself and takes up the Crosse and comes after Christ the true Light and are not all they thieves and robbers which come before Christ the Light and are not such enemies to the Crosse of Christ and is not the Crosse of Christ the Power of God and is not the Crosse and the Preaching of it foolishness to the wise of this World and is it not a stumbling block to such as in words professe they know God but in works deny him yea or nay 23. Qu. And they that commit Sin and cannot cease from Sin are not they of the Devil and are not they the Servants of Sin and so free from Righteousness and have they not eyes full of Adultery who cannot cease from Sin are they not adulterated and whored from the Life of God and though they promise liberty to themselves and others yet are not they servants to corruption and do not they live in the flesh and are they not dead while they live and so out of the true Faith and can such please God yea or nay 24. Qu. And they that believe in and obey Christ Jesus the true light doth not their faith stand in the Power of God and doth it not purifie their hearts and give them victory over the World and do not they who witness in the Life the manifestation of the Son of God also witness that he destroyes the works of the Devil and takes away their Sin and makes an end of transgression and changes their Nature which was subject to Sin and makes them partakers of his Divine Nature and throughly purges and sanctifies them with his Living Truth and doth not that make them free from Sin and so make them servants of Righteousness and doth not that make vessels of honour fitted for the Masters use and are not such dead unto Sin and alive unto God and can such live any longer in Sin and having mortified the deeds of the Body through the Spirit shall not they live but not to themselves but to God and are not these Christ's and have they not crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof yea or nay 25. Qu. Shall any man see the Lord without Holiness and ought any to name the Name of Christ but those that depart from Iniquity and is that the Faith of God's Elect which doth not purifie the heart nor give victory over the world but is without the works or is not this dead Faith and but the Faith of Devils and shall any be saved or justified by this Faith yea or nay Consider of these things ye Professors who stumble at the Light and tell People that none shall be free from sin in this Life 26. Qu. And when is the time and where is the place and what is the name of it if not in this Life that men shall be made free from sin answer plainly that I may see how much ye differ from the Papists in this particular or do ye believe that corruption and that which is imperfect shall enter into Heaven and inherit in corruption yea or nay Answer these Queries in plainness according to the Scriptures if ye be able if not then submit unto the true Light which will let you see your thoughts your darkness your unstableness and ignorance of the Scriptures and repent and believe and wait in the true Light that you may come out of your thoughts and darkness and unstableness and ignorance into that which the Scriptures declare of to feel Christ the Saviour from whence the Light doth come to redeem and save ye from sin and to keep ye out of your own thoughts inventions and imaginations that so your minds may come to be stayed and settled in the Power of the Lord which moves against sin By one who witnesseth God Christ the Light the Word the Spirit of Truth and these are one and the Kingdom of God within me and so am come to the thing that the Scriptures testifie of which was before Scripture was in whom the Scriptures ends and the Tabernacle of God is witnessed with men and his presence is felt which filleth Heaven and Earth and the Heaven
Children which bear Testimony of me the Light who lighteth every one that cometh into the World and these your iniquities I have long born and you have grieved my Spirit which haah long strove with you and I the Life have been oppressed in you and by you But verily my Spirit shall not alwayes strive with you neither will I the Light alwayes bear your iniquities for verily I the Lord God Almighty who am the Light which have made manifest your iniquities unto you which some of you call Natural and say that those who are led and guided by me the Light within which makes manifest Sin that they are guided by a spirit of Error and Delusion Mark I will make you know your blasphemy and you shall know and feel to your Everlasting destruction if you speedily repent not that I the Light which le ts you see Sin and reproves you for it am Spiritual and am the Spirit of Truth who leads all those that receive me out of all Error and Delusion into all Truth and I 'le make you know that I the Light am a consuming fire which none can quench for now will I the Light and Life arise who have so gently reproved you for sin and called you out of it and have so long suffered in you and by you as a Lamb yea I will arise and ease my self of my adversaries I will not spare any that will not own me the Light but I will overturn you all without respect of Persons and I will give to every one according to the fruits of their doings I matter not what name ye are called by whether it be King Protector Prince Duke Lord Iudge Iustice Parliament Priest Lawyer gathered Churches Army Gentry mean Men or Beggars Mark I the Light made you all of one blood I formed you all of the dust I breathed into you the breath of Life I gave you the Light to lead you to order you and that ye in it should have walked and ordered all things to my Glory but many of you have slighted me the Light in you would not take Counsel of me nor be ordered by me but have chosen to follow your own hearts lusts and have taken counsel of the Serpent have chosen him to be your Leader in his Wisdom ye have walked and by him ye have been ordered and by him ye have ordered things to the dishonour of me the Light whom many of ye call Natural Mark I the true Light will arise and will plague and torment all you that disobey me and will not turn at my reproof I will bring such heavy judgements upon you as have not been felt I will be a swift witness against all the wicked I the Light will stop the mouths of vain talkers I will confound the wisdom of wise men I will make diviners mad I will bring down the high lofty spirits of men I will make ye bow unto my Name the Light you shall feel it is not Natural nor weak as some of you have said of it for it shall break you to pieces and all your Profession and Wisdom which is out of the Light I the Light in you will confound it all I 'le break all Sects and Opinions and gathered Churches so called which are not in me I the Light in you will take away all Peace from the Earth yea I 'le bring you to your wits ends I 'le burn your Heavens all your Joy your Peace your Righteousness which stand in the Power of Darkness I the Light in you will consume it all I 'le burn Heaven and Earth I 'le burn within in and without I 'le strike with astonishment with fear and amazement with madness and destruction I 'le bring Plagues within and Plagues without until I have consumed all you mine Enemies who will not own me the Light within I the Light will overturn Kingdoms and Nations and Rulers of all sorts and Armies and gathered Churches which will not own me the Light in them to guide and lead them Wo unto the Murtherers Whoremongers Thieves Cheaters Swearers Lyars Hunters Gamesters Vain-talkers and all workers of iniquity who hate me the Light who have made manifest your abominations and reproved you for them I have been pressed with your iniquities but I the Light will arise upon you and if ye will not hear and return speedily I 'le fall upon you and grind you to Powder and all both high and low rich and poor Professors or not Professors and all time-servers who will not own me the Light in you and return to me the Light I will make no difference of you because of your names or places but I will break you to pieces like a potters vessel I 'le tread you like mire and clay in the streets and I 'le make you know that I the Light which lighteth every man which cometh into the World that all through me should believe am the true Eternal God which Created all things and that by me the Light all things are upheld and that there is not another beside me that can save for I will famish all the Gods of the Heathen and destroy them and those that worship them and will not repent and turn unto me the true Light I 'le make a short work I will cut it short in Righteousness and I the Light will be exalted over all the Earth and I 'le prove my self to be stronger than all in this Generation And all you who are scoffers and scorners who scoff and scorn at my children who in this the day of my Power have trembled at my Word Mark I 'le make you assuredly to tremble and quake yea you who have despised me the Light and have scoffed at my workings in my People I the Light in you will make you to drink the cup of Trembling and ye shall not be able to resist it and then ye shall know that I the Light am he that will work and none shall be able to stop me yea I the everlasting light will wound none be able to heal I will kill and none shall be able to make alive Therefore consider what I say before the day of your visitation be wholly past and return unto me the light in you and repent lest my long patience come to an end and so I destroy you utterly Now all people in whom there are any true tender desires after Truth and Righteousness I the true Light in you did beget them and if ye will hearken unto me the Light in you I will let you see all that which doth oppress those desires in you and I will not onely shew you that which doth oppress those desires in you but I the Light if ye will receive me and learn of me will teach you to deny and to resist all that which is contrary unto me which doth oppresse that which I have begotten in you and if ye will believe and wait in me the Light I will give you Power
through Him might believe Mark through Him who lighteth every man that cometh into the World John 1.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. and God is Light 1 Joh. 1.5 and God and Christ are One Joh. 10.30 1 Joh. 5.7 So you that be turned from the Light which shews you sin and evil mark what you are turned from you are turned from the Way and from the Truth and from the Life and from the Covenant of God and from the Power of God and from the Word of God and so from God and Christ from whence the Light doth come and into the Darkness you are turned and gone and the Prince of Darkness ruleth in you Eph. 2.2 that so you cannot find any power over your own perverse Wills nor over your Lusts nor over any Sin there being gone from the Light in your own particulars in which Light if you believed and waited in it you would receive power to overcome sin but you not believing in the Light you believe in him who leads you from the Power of God into sin and there he perswades you that you must live in sin so long as you live upon the Earth and you have believed and received this Doctrin of him and you teach it to others and so are become the Devils Ministers and so you deny the end for which the Son of God was made manifest which was to destroy the Works of the Devil and to take away sin 1 Joh. 3.8 Mat. 1.21 and yet many of you feed your selves with hopes of Life and Salvation but your hopes are vain and will perish be not deceived God will not be mocked for such as you sow such shall you reap Gal. 6.7 8. Ye that live after the flesh fulfilling the lusts thereof you shall surely dye if ye repent not speedily Rom. 8.13 and you that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption The day of the Lord hasteth greatly wherein you must give an account unto him who will judge you righteously and reward you according to your deeds done in the Body and all you who have been slothful and have hid that in the Earth which the Lord gave you to profit withal you will be turned into utter darkness Mat. 25.30 John 12.35 Therefore while you have the Light believe and walk in it lest thick darkness come upon you even such darkness as may be felt the day of your Visitation prize lest the things that belong to your peace be wholly hid from your eyes Consider there is a time when the Candle is lighted and when you may see if you search with it what is in the house but mark this time will not alwayes continue with the wicked for the Candle of the wicked shall be put out Prov. 24.20 Yea the Spirit of the Lord shall not alwayes strive with man Gen. 6.3 Therefore cease from your dark imaginations which several of you have got into for whosoever followeth the imaginations and thoughts of his own heart which all who believe not in the Light do they run on in darkness and know not whether they go and such are under the wo putting darkness for Light Light for darkness calling the Spirit of Truth the Spirit of Error and the Spirit of Error the Spirit of Truth Isa 5.20 as all the world do who lye in wickedness and hate the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the Word which Light reproveth you for your wickednes and this Light you call a Spirit of Delusion and Error and you say that those who are guided by it are deluded and led into Error Oh! take heed of Blasphemy against the pure God who is Light Mark the Spirit of Error what it is and what it leads into it is that which abode not in the Truth and it is a Murderer and was so from the Beginning and they who walk not in the true Light they walk and are guided by this Spirit and some by it are led to murder some to steal some to be drunk to swear to lye to cheat and cozen one another to fight to game and some it leads into vain laughter foolish jesting corrupt communication cursed speaking wantonness lust whoredom fornication and into covetousness which is Idolatry into pride variance strife railing back-biting envy wrath and malice false accusing the Innocent and into all manner of ungodliness into feigned love self-seeking dissimulation hypocrisie and feigned flattery and to hate the very appearance of Truth Eph. 4.29 and 5. Gal. 5.19 20. Now examine with that which reproves you for sin in secret and it will let you see that you bring forth many of these cursed Fruits before-mentioned and so are deluded and guided by the Spirit of Error now the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World comes from the Spirit of Truth and that is the Truth and it witnesseth against all these evil deeds before-mentioned which are out of the Truth and they who believe in the Light which makes manifest sin and evil and wait in it they receive power from him from whence the Light came John 1.12 to abstain from evil and to overcome sin and evil and this I witness and that Spirit which tempts the Creature to evil is the Spirit of Error So we who believe in the true Light which is the manifestation of the Spirit of Truth which is given to every man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 we by it are led out of Error and Delusion into the perfect Truth of God and to act those things which are well-pleasing in his sight Mat. 11.29 they being learned and wrought in the Light which comes from the Son in whom the Father is well pleased Joh. 3.21 and this true Light in us is our Guide and Teacher and this brings us who wait in it to understand the Scriptures of Truth which was given forth from the Spirit of Truth and it brings us into that which the Scriptures speaks of into the Life and Power of God and to witness that which the World talks of for they will talk of Faith in Christ Jesus though they witness not what they speak but we who believe in the Light are made by the power of God Children of the Light and we witness Faith in Christ which Faith purifies our hearts and gives us victory over the World Act. 15.9 1 Joh. 5.4 and the Light leads us into meekness into soberness and love unfeigned into holiness and uprightness into sound and pure Judgement into Mercy into Patience when we are reviled and persecuted and at all times into long-suffering and Truth in the inward parts to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us yea it leads us who abide in it into all Truth Joh. 16.13 and this is not of our selves for it is the free Gift of God who freely gave his Son for a Covenant of Light which ligheth every man that cometh into the World and we who have received the Gift
Power when you have seen your loathsom state Oh! how oft hath he begotten true Tender desires and breathings in you after the Knowledge of his Will And how hath he appeared unto you and shewed you the Darkness Ignorance and Idolatry that many of you were formerly in And how oft hath he begotten loathings in you against those things that you saw with his Light to be evil And how oft hath he kindled a zeal in many of you against the works of the Devil And how have you felt his Tender Love sometimes opening your understandings and drawing you into that which is good Oh! How hath he sometimes brought some of you into lowliness of mind and given you to see the vanity of this world And how hath he opened a door of hope unto you given you a measure of faith sometimes concerning your Eternal Salvation And how have some of you then felt a willingness begotten in you to deny your selves and the glory and vanity of this world and to take up that and to bear that which appeared to cross your carnal minds and to do unto others as ye would they should do unto you And how did the Pride and Glory and vanity of this World become a burden to many of you in that day Oh! How have some of you cryed out and said you had rather cease to live than not cease to Sin Oh Friends This was a good beginning and some of you came further than others in the way that was good yea surely a good sweet Presence of God was among many of you in the day when you were low and tender and several of you were sensible of his love in that day while sincerity and simplicity abode in your hearts Oh! How did the Lord hear your cryes in that day when many of you cryed unto him for deliverance Oh! How did he overturn your Enemies before you which oppressed your consciences And how did he give you outward rest and peace and Liberty to worship him according as he had made himself manifest unto you But Oh Friends there hath been a sad day of Apostacy among many of you and many of your Teachers have caused you to err for as they went from the simplicity and Tender Life in themselves that once had stirred in some of them against the worship of the Beast they then ran into many words out of the Power and Life that had stirred in them and so lost the simplicity and true zeal they once had for God And then they also drew you from that Tender Life and Power that had visited you into many words of other men's Conditions and so the true simplicity that had been in you soon decayed And as you were drawn from the Life and Power and Spirit of God in your selves the subtilty within and without drew your minds after the Tree of Knowledge and as you reached forth to that and received and fed of that you dyed as to God and became more and more alive unto sin and grew rich in knowledge and that puffed many of you up and so poorness in Spirit and the hungerings and thirstings after the Life of God which sometimes in you had been felt you lost And such of you were oft sent empty away from your Worships mark empty of the vertue and refreshments and sweetness which the Lord fills such with as are poor in Spirit and lowly in mind and hunger and thirst after his Righteousness But others among you I know went oft from your Worship full though it were but of the declaration of others conditions and their own conceivings and a false joy And several of you who had seen the Lords mighty hand and had been witnesses of his Power both within and without when you got into outward ease and peace you soon forgot his goodness and some of you growing great in the Earth were lifted up in your minds you then turned back and licked up that which you had formerly vomited out and then hardness and dryness came upon many of you and then that which the Lord had wounded in many of you to wit the lustful nature which should have been crucified by the immortal Power revived and became healed again And then a false liberty you run into and so into excess and then several of you become Oppressors and Despisers even of such as the Lord by his mighty Power had gathered from your dead Forms and Wayes And many of you provoked the Lord unto anger several wayes for which cause he hath now sent a rod to scourge the back-sliders and them that were more faithful must also be proved by the same Oh friends much might truly be said unto many of you concerning your great Apostacy and your bringing of this Day of Tryal or causing it to be brought upon you But although I may hint something unto you concerning those things yet that is not the thing which is chiefly upon me at this time But this is that which lay much upon me to wit to bring to your remembrance something of the former loving kindness of the Lord unto you and to exhort you who have back-slided to return to the first love that was begotten in you towards the Lord and to keep to that Principle of Life which did begin a good work in you to strengthen and encourage you to go on in the work of the Lord. For as concerning your Apostacy I hope many of you are convinced of that in a great measure by the witness of God in your own Consciences and it is not my desire to upbraid you with that which I hope in some measure is already become loathsom unto your selves neither would I add to your sufferings in whom there is now a true tenderness towards the Lord in this the Day of Tryal for I believe many of you have or will have as much of them as you can well bear but my tender desire is that you may be brought to feel so much of the Power of God in your selves as may support you and keep you in patience in all your Tryals until such time as the Lord shall make you fit for deliverance Now I do believe that some of you have retained a greater integrity and simplicity in your Profession than others and have not so deeply Apostatized from that which God made known unto you of himself as others have done and some of you I know have long been burdened with the Apostacy that others among you have fallen into And I know several of you also have long gone under a burden even concerning your own deadness barrenness and unprofitableness you being made sensible thereof by the VVitness of God in your own Consciences And when ye have heard others rejoycing and telling forth their experiences as they called them which was much of it the Saints experiences of old which these had not attained unto any otherwise but by gathering their words out of the Letter or from man then hath
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
fetched over some of our Friends to the Meeting but the Officers would not suffer them to go over but charged them in the King's Name to come back and carried them before the Magistrates who commanded that they should forthwith be set in the Stocks and they were so and there were kept for some hours And thus the Magistrates of that Town encouraged the rude People against Us by their unjust proceedings Now it is usual with the Magistrates of that Town to suffer such as come to their Steeple-house-worship to come or go over the water upon the first Day of the Week And about a Month before on the first Day of the Week the MAYOR being informed that some of our Friends were coming over he with some other Officers of the Town went down to the water-side being bent against the Innocent but when the Boat came on shore it appeared that they were other People who were going about their occasions and when they saw the Mayor they said unto him We made bold to come over he answered them It was well enough I thought said he you had been QUAKERS and thus did he manifest his partiality in the sight of many in that Town so notwithstanding the Rulers cruelty in causing about forty of our Friends to be forced back and setting two in the Stocks as afore-mentioned we that were in the Town peaceably assembled our selves together in the fear of the Lord to wait upon him and for near about the space of two hours I had liberty to Preach the Gospel to the People being filled with the Power of the Lord but within a short time after the space afore-mentioned there came a great company of rude Sea-men with others of the Town and the house being filled before with peaceable People these rude ones could not easily get in but when they saw that they could not get well to me because of the press of People some of them then cursed me bitterly biding that they call the Pox and Plague upon me others crying out hang him Rogue hang him and another conspiringly said Let us get a Halter which is a long Rope and therewith pull down the House upon the Rogues others cryed out The King is coming now who will hang or banish you all it being a little before his coming Now when I heard and saw this great ungodliness the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon me and I was filled with his unresistable Power in which I was made to utter these words saying Wo wo unto the Rulers and Teachers of this Nation who suffer such ungodliness as this and do not seek to suppress it then went some of the multitude and accused me to the Magistrates who presently came and commanded the chief Constable and some others to fetch me out who forthwith pressed in and in the King's Name commanded me to go with him and so he brought me out of the House into the Street where the Rulers stood amongst the rude multitude then he that was MAYOR said hastily Which is he which is he some answered This is he pointing towards me then said the MAYOR to the Constables Take him and put him into Prison then said I to him if I have done any thing worthy of death or bonds I shall not refuse either but I desire Thee to shew me what Law I have transgressed if thou be able which thou oughtest to do before thou sendest me to Prison that I may know for what thou sendest me thither he said I should know that afterward but he would neither let me know my Accusers nor could he shew me any Law I had broken neither would he tell me for what cause he sent me to Prison nor did he at all examine me but commanded the Constables to take me away so I was forthwith haled to Prison without a Mittimus And Robert Grassingham whose outward being was at Harwich being at the Meeting out of which I was haled he innocently in tender love went along with me to Prison and as he went in the street he seeing the rude multitude thronging me said to the Constables You ought to see the Peace kept and not to suffer the rude People to abuse the Prisoner or words to this effect So some time after I was imprisoned there was a Mittimus sent to the Goalor signed by Miles Hubburd Mayor Anthony Woolward and Daniel Smith wherein I was falsly charged with causing a tumult in that Burrough and disturbing the Peace thereof and thus they sought to cover their Persecution by false accusing of the Innocent whom the Lord acquits but the rude cursing tumultuous Peace-breaking People whom they had let up and strengthned by their unlawful proceedings had nothing done unto them but were let go free yet all this did not satisfie their persecuting Spirit but they further proceeded in their cruelty and accused both me and Robert Grassingham to the PARLIAMENT Now as for R. G. I know nothing that they could pretend against him except they were displeased with his going with me to the Prison as afore-mentioned nor did they in the least charge him to his face with any thing but the MAYOR some time before that did say unto him in the hearing of several Friends If I could but get you out of the Town then could I deal well enough with the rest of the QUAKERS but the Lord hath a Seed in that Town which fears not the rage of man though one of their Brethren through the cruelty and unlawful proceedings of those Rulers be taken From them at present So the PARLIAMENT upon the receiving of their false Information issued forth an Order for the bringing up of R.G. and Me A true Copy thereof is as followeth Munday May the 21th 1660. The House being informed that two QUAKERS that is to say George Fox and Robert Grassingham have lately made a disturbance at Harwich and that the said George Fox who pretends to be a Preacher did lately in his Preaching there speak words much reflecting on the Government and Ministry to the near causing of a a Mutiny and is now committed by the Mayor and Magistrates there Ordered That the said George Fox and Robert Grassingham be forthwith brought up in Custody and that the Sheriff of the County of Essex do receive them and give his assistance for the conveying of them up accordingly and delivering them into the charge of the Sergeant at Arms attending this House Ordered That the thanks of this House be given to the Mayor and Magistrates of Harwich for their care in this business William Jessop Clerk of the Commons House of Parliament So after they had kept me ten nights in Harwich Prison the Sheriff of Essex with several armed men came for me with the Order afore-mentioned so a great company of men with Halbards fetched me out of the hole wherein I was put which was not four Yards long nor so broad as long and these men would not suffer me to speak with the
in your Forms without Power neither Flee the Cross any longer but wait in the True Simplicity to feel God's hand of Tender Love which he reacheth sorth to and manifesteth in you to lead and guide your minds into his Pure Worship which is in the Spirit and in the Truth Oh People This is the Worship that he will set up He will be LORD and LAW-GIVER in the Consciences of his People and those that will not be content that EMANUEL should Reign over them he will Slay them with the Sword of the Spirit The words of his Mouth Oh! Hearken hearken a little and stand still that you may hear the voice of the True Shepherd in your own hearts who calleth for Truth in the Inward Parts he will discover what lodgeth Within and He will shew you the Way wherein you should walk and he will let you see what the Cross is unto and He will teach you when you are alone in your Beds or where-ever you are if you will receive Him who giveth you Life and Breath whose gentle Reproofs and Instructions are the Way of Life Therefore you in whom the Breathings and Desires after the Lord are Consult not with Flesh and Blood neither reason against the Cross but submit to every Appearance of God's Power in you which appeareth to Crucifie the Fleshly Birth and Nature which hath stood and doth stand in Rebellion and Emnity against the Pure and Precious Life and Requirings of the Lamb of God that so that Mind which is at enmity against God and that Nature in you which is Disobedient to his Commands in Spirit may come to be Crucified that so there may be a Change Inwardly felt and witnessed by the working of the might Power of Christ in your Inward Parts and then the Desires and Breathings which are Begotten in you after Righteousness they will be strengthned and the Teachings of the Almighty will be truly known and you believing in the Power you will receive Power to obey and Practice whatsoever the Lord shall make known unto you by his Spirit to be his Will and Requirings Oh People Let the Dread of the Lord Seize upon your Spirits in this the Day of his Power wherein he is Trying Sifting and Winnowing the Nations and wait to feel that Life arise within you which beareth Testimony against all evil within and without that so ye may become more and more acquainted with the Teachings Drawings and Leadings thereof that thereby you may be drawn and led out of those things which have kept your Souls in the Death hindred you from enjoying the Pure Peace of God And this know and consider that all that come to witness their Souls raised out of Death and brought to enjoy the Peace of God they must Believe in the Life of the Quickning Spirit which is the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven who for Sin Condemneth Sin in the Flesh and appeareth in the Inward Parts of man to work out Sin and Transgression which hath Separated from God and so to make clean the heart and inside of Male and Female Oh People This is the Work of Christ the Son of God even to make manifest and destroy the Works of the Devil and so to reconcile man unto God by the Virtue of his own Life which he gave a Ransom for many and blessed are all those that believe in the Life of the Son of God and feel and know it manifested in their mortal flesh for they shall witness the Power of it to make all things new and so their Souls will come up in the hand of God and his Peace will be Received and Enjoyed Oh People Wait to know and feel this Work of Christ within you that so you may be made able to Stand in the Judgement and to Endure the Tryal and that you may be Hid from the Wrath of the Lamb which is nigh to come upon the Rebellious Oh! Consider this Those that are his Followers they come thorow many Tribulations and their overcoming their Enemies is by His Blood not by a talk of it but by the Virtue and Power of it sprinkled in their Hearts which washeth and maketh them White Clean and without Fault before God Oh People my Bowels yearn my Bowels yearn towards you whose Desires in any measure are after the Lord O that you would now Return with all your hearts unto Him and obey the Voice of his Power in you then should you be made able to stand and endure the fiery Tryal which is come and coming Oh! the Day hastens wherein all Profession that is not grounded in the Life and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ whatever the shew of it be it will be so shaken that an utter Blasting and withering shall come upon it and for that cause the Lord doth and will yet suffer great Tryals to come both upon the Professors and Possessors of his Name that so his Children the Possessors may be manifested unto all and discerned from all that are but Professors though never so fair and seemingly Covered For all Coverings but what is of the Power and Spirit it self shall be too Narrow and all that are not Covered with the Spirit and Power of Emanuel their Shame and Nakedness shall appear more and more This is the Testimony which the Spirit and Word of Truth giveth therefore He that hath an ear to hear let him hear before the day of his Visitation be wholly past and the things belonging to his Peace he hid from his Eyes For yet a little while and the Voice shall be He that is filthy let him be filthy still For the Spirit of the Lord shall not alwayes strive with Flesh but his Plagues and Indignation shall be poured out upon such as will be gathered in the Day of his Patience long Forbearance and Free-Love and He or She that Loveth Father Mother Husband Wife Children House or Land Liberty Honour or any Thing more than the Life of the Lamb shall be counted not worthy of him and plainly manifested so to be Read this who can and he that can receive it let him For the Time draweth nigh that these Sayings must be fulfilled Printed the 13th of the Second Month 1661. GEORGE FOX the Younger SEVERAL EPISTLES To FRIENDS Who are GATHERED into the Light of Life A General EPISTLE and a tender Greeting sent unto the Flock of Christ who meet together to Worship the Father and the Son in the Spirit of Truth to be read in the Fear and Wisdom of God amongst them DEAR and tenderly beloved Friends and â—hildren of the most High God who have felt and tasted of his eternal Word of Life and have been acquainted with the workings and operations thereof whereby you are begotten again unto a lively Hope and are brought to know that Life which you were alienated from and that Covenant of Promise which ye were strangers unto Oh Friends unto you is my Love in the Lord Jesus Christ exceeding great