A Faithful Warning & Exhortation TO FRIENDS: To beware of Seducing Spirits; And to keep on the armor of Light, in Simplicity and Sincerity, as their best armor in all trials.  
Written by a Lover of Sincerity, and Traveller for Sion's Redemption, and for the removing of all Oppressions from off the Souls of them who have believed, Steven Crisp.  
LONDON, Printed by John Bringhurst, at the Sign of the Book and Three Black-Birds, in Leaden-Hall Mutton-Market, 1684.   

A Faithful Warning and Exhortation to Friends.  
DEAR FRIENDS:  
YOu know how that God in his infinite Love hath visited us with a very glorious Day, in which his Son of Righteousness is so risen upon us, that the Heavenly Warmth thereof hath quickened and enlightened us, and made us to stand up and serve him in our Day and Generation; and the virtue of that blessed life in Christ Jesus being revealed in the Souls of them who have truly believed, hath given them great power over Death, and hath made them able to grapple with Satan in all his divers appearances, and to overcome him; so that which way soever he hath hitherto sought to eclipse the glory and brightness of this great and notable day of the Lord, he hath hitherto been frustrated in his purpose, and his Instruments have been made ashamed of their work: for all that are true Children of the day, do find that their standing is by Faith, and not by Knowledge, and are by their Faith kept in a holy dependence upon the power of him that can overcome all things, and bring them under; so that whatever doth arise against the Truth, the faith of them that are in it lets them, even in the beginning of it, see to the end of it. and gives them a Certainty in themselves, by which they are settled in patient and quiet waiting to see the thing they believe brought to pass; and this is their Victory even their Faith, and who dwells in this Faith are not weary-neither do they faint in all the various Exercises they meet withall by the way, but can endure Contradiction without Discouragement, knowing that whatever it is that riseth up against the power and purpose of God shall in time be laid low.  
And this is the same Faith that was once delivered to the Saints in the Primitive days, when Christ the Resurrection and the Life was preached unto them, in whom they believed, and by whom they were enabled both to do and to suffer what his will was, and to withstand the Torrent and Sea of Contradictions they then met withall, and the Word of God grew mightily, and their Zeal and Courage grew for the Name of God, so that no stratagem devised against them could prosper, as long as they kept in the simplicity of the Gospel, and held their Faith which they had in a pure Conscience; here were their great Fortifications, that made them so prevalent and immutable viz. Simplicity and Cleanness of Mind; and as long as this continued, they continued of one Heart and Mind, glorifying God, and building up one another, and comforting one another, and were as Epistles written in one anothers Hearts.  
Now when the Devil saw that it was impossible to stop this glorious work of God by all he could do, by stirring up the Priests and Rulers against them, but their Strength was in the Lord, they standing in their Simplicity and pureness of Mind; then the Adversary sought out ways, means and Instruments how to disturb their progress, by drawing one or other among themselves from that simplicity of the Gospel of Christ in which they had been of one Heart, and had believed and practised the same things without vain Disputations, and having found some unstable Souls fit for his purpose, he wrought powerfully in them to move Questions, which had a tendency to draw others forth to striving about the Question, then one would have it Thus, and the other would maintain it to be So, neither of them minding whether the Question itself tended to the use of Edifying the Church; but a great stir was quickly raised and that about some few Jewish Rights, and about some right or wrong descents of Geonologys, one would prove it Thus, and the other So; and here was a door opened to let in the Carnal Wisdom, to be the Weapons of this War, by which the pure innocent Minds of many were corrupted, and some whole Housholds subverted; which when the Devil had thus far prevailed, he went on further, and gave Courage to some of these his High-minded, Heady, Unruly Servants to go abroad through the Churches, and Preach up these his Questions as Doctrines, and to seduce and draw away who they could from the simplicity of the Gospel, and these were so prevalent as to bewitch and betray many; so that they were emboldened to withstand the true Apostles in that glorious work in which Christ Jesus had employed them; so that now a great deal of their work was to warn the Poor Flock of Christ of these Wolves in Sheeps clothing, and to give out Testimonys of their own sincerity, and against these deceitful Workers, and to open and unfold the mysterious working of that Evil Spirit, and how it wrought cunningly to make voided the offence of the across, that they might carry on the Name and outward Profession of Christianity, with more Reputation and less Reproach then at the first, for this was the design to get the Christians into a false Liberty, and to loosen their Hearts from that sincerity and watchfulness which was taught them in the Beginning, and to what a height the subtle Serpent carried on his work, in that day, you may red at large in the Scriptures of Truth, and what sad and woeful work it made in Corinth, in Galatia, in Smyrna, in Thiatira, and in Laodicea, and also in Achaia, and what sorrow and labour it cost the good Apostles, and how the good Spirit was grieved by these things, and the Hearts of the Righteous made sad thereby.  
Yet the Enemy had in those days another Stratagem as bad as all the rest, whereby he sought to lay wast the work of God; for after the Gospel came to spread abroad and many were convinced both Jews & Gentiles, many Greeks also came to aclowledge the Truth, who had been great seekers after natural Wisdom, and had sought to Fathom natural causes and effects, and had studied many curious Arts, and philosophic strains and methods, which suited well with their Heathenish Worship and Religion, for them to endeavour to find out the benevolent or malevolent Influences of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, or the other of the Gods whom they worshipped; but when they came to the acknowledgement of the one only true and living God, the Creator of all, and of Jesus Christ whom he had sent, then they found their curious Arts, Needless, and their Books fit for nothing but the Fire, and burnt in one City as many as were worth 50000 Pieces of Silver: But alas! the Spirit that made use of them was not burnt in several, but wrought cunningly to bring many of those their tricks and quirks in among the poor Believers, and endeavoured to make them believe they were such knowing Men, and had such rare things to acquaint them with, far beyond the Apostles, and then they went to work with the Opposition of Science( as they falsely called it) and then every thing must be questioned and disputed that had not a philosophic or Natural Reason, to demonstrate to the Senses or Understanding; and hereby was the Faith of some made voided, and many were spoyled of their sincerity and uprightness by these vain deceits, and then came in looseness in Conversation: then a Nicholas with his Ranterisme; a jezabel with her Pretended Loose and wanton prophecies; a Balaam with his covetous design upon the People might find some to side with them; for the holy tie and Covenant of their Religion of bearing a daily across that was broken; but alas! alas! the effect of these things was very lamentable.  
And Dear Friends, having briefly touched at these things, and set these proceedings of Satan against the Truth among the Primitive Christians before you, I now come to tell you in great plainness and sincerity what hath for some Months lane upon my Mind relating to this Subject, and concerning the day in which we live, and the dispensation of that Everlasting Gospel which is now Preached again unto us, in which we found the very same blessed Effects as they did; for when we had believed therein, it brought us into great Simplicity, and into cleanness of Mind, and into an unfeigned Love and Unity one with another; and from what parts or Countrys soever we came, we all spake the same things, and the Quirking, Querying, Disputing Wit was brought down, and cast out from among us, though we could Query and Dispute the Opposers that were without in defence of the Truth, yet we had then no such occasion among them that Professed Truth; for we were of one Heart and Mind, and judgement, and in that universal Love we laboured to build up one another in our most Holy Faith, and to publish and make known the Blessed Name of Jesus, in whom we had believed, and many were daily added to the Church, and came to partake of the same Faith, and of the same Love, and and grew into the same Simplicity of Mind, wherein we found a harmonious rejoicing in Spirit when ever we faw one another: In this state did the Truth preserve us, and our Faith was firm in that Name and Power by which we were called, that the Lord would go before us and prosper us in his Blessed Way, in which he caused our Souls to take great delight, and take up the daily across cheerfully, and deny ourselves for the sake of him that had called us.  
But the Old Enemy of Truth envied this our tranquillity quickly, and began to work in some where he found a ground to work in, and sought to led them from the Simplicity of the Truth, and to exalt their Minds in the sight of things opened by the Truth, and so did not abide in the tender Fear of God, and in the humility of the Innocent Seed, but flew up in Airy Notions and Imaginations, some into a false Liberty, and others into strange Imaginations of their own growth to some high state, and so grew heady and unruly, and were hardened against Exhortations: rather judging themselves fit to teach, then to be taught, and these drew several after them through an affection that was not subject to the across, and became an occasion of Offence and Stumbling to many who were inquiring after the Way of the Lord, and a great Exercise and Sorrow to such as kept in the Travail and Labour for Zyon's Redemption; but those that abode in the Faith, knew that the power in which they had believed would arise, and crush down and bruise under that lofty airy Spirit, and all that abode in it, and did not repent and return to their First Love, and do their First Works, and according as we believed, it came to pass, and their works with which they sought to amuse and astonish the Nations; were confo●nded and brought to nought; and divers that did adhere and cleave to that Spirit, were lost and scattered, and grew into profaneness and Uncleanness, and striven against the Power of God that wrought in his People, to reclaim and regain them, till at length the very power of God turned against them, and cut them off who had been the Troublers.  
Yet did not the Serpent leave of attempting to betray the Innocent, but found out other Instruments fit for his purpose, whom he raised up under pretence of some New Discoveries, accompanied with a Voluntary Humility, and a seeming self-denial, when indeed the design was to Exalt Self and Mans Work, wit and Reason above the Eternal Power of God, and through feigned pretences to obtain a Dominion over the Heritage of God, and to impose and obtrude upon them things which were not taught by the living Spirit Christ Jesus in themselves, nor had received by Doctrine nor Message from the true Spiritual Labourers in the Gospel, by which means the Minds of many were betrayed, and they were exercised in contending about some outward signs or Tokens of their separation till the weighty matter they should have minded, viz. How to be kept in the love of God, and in the Heavenly Unity, was in a great many lost and forgotten, and instead thereof a secret Root of Bitterness grew up, and a hatred against the Prosperity of the Church of God, and the Faithful Servants and Ministers of it, in so much that they lost the very sense of Gods Blessed Presence amongst us, and reckoned he had forsaken us, and thereupon many of them also forsook us, and were as another People, and were puffed up with great Expectations of our Downfall, and their own Exaltation, and began to spread their design of separation into other Nations to the Hurt of many who were deceived by them; so that the tender Love of God, that had wrought in the Hearts of the Faithful Labourers and Ministers of the Gospel to the gathering them out of the World, now wrought again effectually, to gather many of them out of this Self-separation, and with great Patience and long-suffering did we travail and labour with many, and the Lord beholded our sincerity and care, and blessed his Work in our Hand, so that the Eyes of many were opened to see the Crafty Snares by which they were entangled, and power was given them of God to break through and testify against the crafty wil●ss of them that had deceived them, and the Lord arose in his great and mighty Power in and among his People, and set an Eternal judgement on the Head of that Spirit and its work of dissension and separation, that it had wrought, and it could then proceed no further, but withered and came to nought; and those who wil●ully resisted the Offers of the Love of God, and of his People, they grew more and more corrupt, and perished wholly from the way of the Lord, and the society of his People, and turned back, some into the Worlds Worship and Religions and others into the gross pollutions that are therein, and the Churches of Christ who stood faithful and true to the leading of his Spirit, came to have rest from that extreme labour and travail which they had lain several Years under, by reason of these things; and God fulfilled the prophecies of divers of his faithful Servants, who by their Faith had seen, and by the Spirit had testified at the beginning of that Spirits work, what the end of it should be; for many there were who saw, That it was from the Earth, and thither it would return; and there it was swallowed up, and all its substance; and as many as denied to be warned, perished with it: Then did the Souls of the faithful give glory and honour to God, in whose hand is Power and Dominion, and he reigns on high in his Strength, and is Kign of Saints, and the defence of his zion, now henceforth and for ever more.  
These Exercises put and stirred up all the Faithful to great vigilence and watchfulness, for the keeping the Enemy out for the future, at least, as much as in them lay; and those that were faithful and ancient Friends, both Men and Women, sound it inc●mbent upon them to meet together to watch over the Flock, and to see to the Conversations of them who professed the Truth, that it might answer their Professions; and where the contrary appeared, to deal with them, and to reclaim them if possible, or else to deny them, and to clear Truth and Friends of them, and their disorderly courses; and in this good work the Lord blessed them, and shewed his Presence among them, and gave them Wi●dom and Understanding; and they took Care of the Widows and Fatherless, of the Poor and Afflicted Families among them, and had the care upon them concerning Marriages, that none might come together in a disorderly manner, but that all things might be clear on either side, and the consent of Parents might be obtained before Marriage, and that all things might be kept in good order & savoury in the sight of God and M●n: And divers Epistles were written from several Elder Brethren for their Encouragement and Direction in this good work; for we knew it was Gods work, and would tend to the limiting of loose and unruly Spirits, who sought Liberty more then Sincerity; and Sensuality more then Christs Government and their Subjection to the Divine Power of God. And when some Exalted Spirits came to see unto what this work would tend, they took Offence thereat, and sought to weaken the Hands of the Faithful Friends in this good work, under pretence, That all must be left to the Witness of God; and if People did not find judgement in themselves for what they did, they must not be judged by others, being themselves gone from Truth's judgement and hardened, then they cried out of Innovation and Imposition, and such like.  
And hereupon were many again Seduced, and Subverted, and drawn away from their steadfastness in the Truth, and began to appear against the good Order of the Lords People, and to reflect upon the Godly Care that lay upon them, with unhandsome and unsavoury Speeches and Writings; till a secrect Root of Bitterness and Enmity got into several that had been Convinced; and in this Root the Enemy wrought with great Craft and subtlety, to draw them from the Blessed Unity that is in Christ Jesus, the true Head of the true Church, and begot them into many Jealousys and groundless Fears of an apostasy, while in the mean time he drew them so far to apostatise from their first Love and first Works, that they proceeded to expose Friends both in particular and in general, to the Reproach and Scorn of the World, as much as in them lay.  
All which was born and suffered with much Long-suffering and Patience, and a great travail lay upon many to endeavour the reducement of them that did thus oppose themselves, for we knew our Sincerity, and knew that the Lord would stand by us, and bless our Work and Labour of Love, and blast their Work of Enmity, and that their striving against the Lord and his blessed Work in the Hand of his Innocent People would not nor could prosper, we doubted not at all, but he that had stood by us and helped us from the beginning would still stand by us, and give his Truth and People the Victory over every Tongue and Pen that rose up in judgement against us, as he hath done to this day and their work is manifest, and they can proceed no further, Blessed be his Name for ever.  
Now Dear Friends, I have made this brief Relation of the forementioned Passages, that they that are young in the Truth may see, and they that are Older may be put in mind, how the Old Adversary of Truth hath already wrought in this our day, and what hath been the end and tendency of his Work in all his various Appearances, even as in the Primitive days, to stop the bright shining of the Gospel, if he could; and whereas he is not able to do that, his next work is to see whom he may devour, that is, whom he may so ensnare and entrap with his subtle Baits and 'gins, as that he may, first, Draw them from the Simplicity of the Truth; next, Into an Exaltedness in Knowledge; then, Into Prejudice and Enmity against those that stands in the way to hinder their Exalted Notions; & by this time he hath taught them to break the Law of Charity, and to think evilly of the Upright, and to disesteem the blessed Unity and Fellowship that is in the Truth, and then they are fitted for schism and separation upon one specious pretence or another: Therefore how Watchful ought every one to be, for the keeping out this destroying Spirit, which hath brought several already to that pitch of Enmity and defiance to the Truth and People of God, that if it had been  told them in the days of their tender Convincement, they would have been ready to say with Hazael, Is thy Servant a dog that he should do these things?  
And Friends, know this for certain, that Satan is still working, and seeks to winnow you; and where there doth remain after a long Convincement, a Lightness and an Airyness in any such are easily driven with his pernicious Winds; and to this purpose he hath stirred up some in several Citys & Countrys such as he knows are fit for his purpose, who never knew a real Mortification upon that Earthly Sensual Wisdom that's from beneath, but have too much saved that alive in themselves, which God did in their first Convincement pass a Sentence of Death upon; and these, as they cannot reach to a partaking of the Life of Truth in themselves, no more can they reach nor attain to the hidden Mystery of the Unity that the Lords People have one with another in that Life of Truth, but another Life and a Power they have, and in it they grow Head-strong and Fierce Despisers of them that are born of the Spirit, yea, they grow in Wisdom from one degree to another, but itis neither Pure nor Peaceable, Gentle nor easy to be entreated, by their Fruits ye may know them; for from this Wisdom are they often found starting, some subtle and abstruse questions, to amuse the Minds of the simplo, and to cause the Weak in the Faith to Err, and to draw away unstable Souls after them, as if they had brought forth some new Discoverys, and then here's work for Disp●●ting wits, by all which the Minds are drawn farther and farther from the true Watchfulness, that becomes those that have such an Enemy to deal withal.  
Hence it is that all those Janglings are sprung about the Forbidden Fruit, what it was, and whether good for Food, or not good for Food; upon which some have closed with that primitive and first Error, with which Eve was ensnared, & have judged it, good for Food; yea, and have fed upon it too, till their Knowledge hath grown greater in the Evil then in the Good. Hence it is that another starts Questions about the Mortality or Immortality of the Soul. Another Of the state of the Soul after the Death of the Body, whether it abides a singular Essence, or ceaseth to have any singular Essence or being. Another about the state of the Body after Death. Another about How many Bodys one and the same Soul may or must have at sundry times. Another How long the Wicked Men or Angels must endure the Wrath of God for Rebellion. Another comes forth and says, There is no such thing as Wrath or Anger in God, and all that is written thereof in the Holy Scriptures is but metaphorically spoken: and many more such like Fantasys and doting Questions, doth this Birth bring forth for the trial of your Faith and steadfastness in the Truth, by which the Enemy is, as I said, trying and winnowing, to see where he may meet with his own and may deceive and draw away some from the Faith and Unity, and teach them some other Way and Doctrine besides the Narrow Way of Regeneration.  
Now my Dear and well beloved in the Lord, you are Witnesses unto this day in how great Simplicity and Plainness of Speech we have Preached the Word of God among you, from the day the Lord sent us forth to this day: we came not unto you with inticeing Words, we needed not Logical nor philosophical Demonstrations; for our Testimony had the Demonstration and Evidence of the Spirit of Truth in your Hearts and our Words, or the Word of God in our Mouths, hath not altered nor changed unto this day, but remains the same as it ever was. The great Doctrine of the Gospel was and is Regeneration, without which there's no entrance, the only means and way to attain it, was and is that Light and Grace that comes by Jesus Christ, and sanctifys, and purifys, and brings to him, by whom the entrance is ministered into the Kingdom; these things have we declared, and these things ye have believed, and in this Faith are many of our Faithful Brethren fallen asleep, and their precious Souls are at rest with the Lord: And herein if ye abide steadfast to the end, ye shall do well.  
And as concerning all such who seek to trouble any of your Minds with the things above mentioned, or any other such subtle and crafty Questions, keep you your Habitations in the Power of God, and you will daily come more and more to discern the tendency of them, how it is a Spirit that works against the across, and seeks to cause the Offence of it to cease, that they might bear a Profession of Truth, and live in a Loose Conversation without control or judgement; and you will see them come to nought like others before them.  
And for the carrying on this kind of Libertisme, all these strange Notions are hatched and spread about to corrupt the Minds of whom they can; for the Devil who is the Author of them, knows well how to apply them to the advancement of his own Kingdom, and for the easing or rather hardening the Consciences of such who receive these things, that they may thereupon shake of the Sense which sometime they had of the Righteous judgement of God, and slight the judgement of his People, and give the Reins to their Lusts and Passions; and yet all the while make a Profession and Outside Appearance among the Innocent People of God. Oh Friends! these are the Blotts and spots that are among us; these are they by whose means the holy Name of God is Blaspemed, and his blessed pure way Evil spoken of by many, and the Hearts of the Upright made sad from day to day; These are such as cost the Apostle tears when he writ, I  told you of them before, and now tell you weeping; they are Enemys to the across of Christ. These cause the Feet of some to stumble and others to perish from the way of the Lord, and yet all the while carry a secret Bolster under them to bear themselves upon having let in a belief or Supposition, either that there is no such Wrath and judgement to expect from the Hand of God, as hath been largely spoken and written of by the Prophets Christ and his Apostles, and all the faithful Ministers of the Gospel unto this day: Or if there be Wrath and judgement to be revealed, it will be but for a time, and then they shall be restored to Glory and Happiness, or if they fall short of a due fitting and preparing for the Kingdom of God on this side the Grave itis no great matter, for they shall have other oppertunitys even in this World hereafter, when they shall be born in other Bodys.  
Some few secretly bolster themselves up and endeavour to possess others with the Supposition or Notion of the finite Punishment of Wicked Men and Devils in the World to come, as where the Holy Scriptures mention, viz. Everlasting Fire, the Sin against the Holy Ghost never to be forgiven in this World, nor in that which is to come, Eternal judgement, Vengeance of Eternal Fire, The smoke of their Torment shall ascend up for ever and ever, &c.( as plainly declared by Christ and his Holy Apostles and Gospel Ministers) these they limit only to Ages.  
Another he bolsters himself up with a belief, That if he doth Evil, his Hell is only here in his own Conscience, but when he leaves the World all things will be as if they had not been, and the Soul shall die with the Body, and suffer an Annihilation as well as the Body, or shall be swallowed up out of all particularity, as a drop of Water into the Sea, and so then what matter. And this is the Evil Seeds Man, sowing these cursed Seeds of Fleshly, Liberty and Ranterisme, even in our day, and hath prevailed upon some to their Destruction, and they that are seduced, as the Apostle saith, do wax worse and worse, seducing whom they can by these their pernicious ways, the consequences whereof are woeful and Lamentable to consider, and hath cost me and many more great Sorrow and Grief; and truly Friends the weight of these things was heavy upon my M●nd for some time, and it lay upon me to give a Warning to all that have an ear to hear, lest they suffer their minds to be corrupted by the subtle laying in wait of Satan and his Instruments; for though I know there's many Thousands who knows the price and value of their Immortal Souls, and many who have truly traveled for the Redemption of Souls, who do not stand in need to be warned of these subtle designs, but do live in that which comprehends the Devil and his Crafty working, yet I am drawn forth in true Love and Tenderness to the Weak, and such as are not yet grown to a Stability in the Everlasting and Elect Seed of God, to exhort them to take heed to-themselves and to be stirred up to faithfulness and Diligence, and to Approve their Hearts in the sight of God in Sincerity and lowliness, that so they may feel his secret preserving Power to keep them from these 'gins and Nets of the Cunning Hunters who lie in wait to beguile and betray whom they can.  
And Friends, to you who have not known the depths of Satan I have a few things to offer to your serious Consideration, First, You know in what manner you were Convinced, and how your Understandings were opened & you brought to the acknowledgement of the true h; Was it not by the shining of that true Light of Christ Jesus in your souls, which by its inward working shewed you that your souls were made subject to a power of darkness, that had defiled them and made them unfit for God to dwell in & to take delight in; then you saw what a Contrariety and disproportion there was between the pure Light and your Impure Souls, whereupon judgement from God was manifest for the kerbing, limiting and destroying that power that had thus defiled the Minds and Consciences; and when ye came to believe this judgement to be the very judgement of God, ye submitted to it, as right and due unto you; and as ye thus submitted to it, ye quickly found some power to withstand the Temptations of the dark power that had captivated you: and did you not then feel your Souls somewhat eased, and a hope raised, That as ye abode faithful unto that Light, you might obtain power to withstand your Souls Enemy in all his Appearances; so that the Faith that was delivered unto you in the beginning was, that your Souls should be so sanctified, fitted and prepared, as to become a Habitation for God, and that he would so strengthen you, that ye should be able to stand against the Devil and his Power, who sought to defile and destroy the Soul. And they that have been diligent and kept this Faith, have found it to be a Shield and a Defence in the times of their trials and Tempations; so that they have found Victory by it, and their Souls have come to know a Deliverance from under the Enemys power, and have received Ability to serve the Lord, and have felt the blessed Freedom and Liberty in the Truth, which they so much desired and longed for.  
Now, wherefore hath all this work been to redeem the Soul, and to convert it, and change it from under the dark power, and to bring it under the Heavenly and glorious power of Christ Jesus? I ask them that have known this work; Was it only for a few days or Years that we are to continue here in these Bodys? Or was it not the effect of the Eternal Love of God in Christ, that in him our Souls might be Eternally happy? I know such as have truly known this travail, do know the Soul to be more worth then the value and worth of the whole World, and they are not liable to the Seducements of such as would undervalue the Soul. But alas! there's too many that never knew what it was to travail for Souls, neither in themselves nor in others, but have received a Sight and Knowledge of things at a distance, in a speculative way, as lookers on, and these having grown up into a Profession by a sight, wi hout a real work in themselves, are very ready to be Seduced, and to seduce others, and wanting the substance that never waxeth old, are always itching after some new thing, which for a time seems to be delightful to them, till a newer thing is presented, and then they are for that also, and so are always gadding and changing their ways, till at last they are by the mastering subtlety of their Souls Enemy( who hath power in such unstable Minds) lead back again into the World, or into divers Sects, Heaps and Opinions, that are of the World; and a false Liberty gets up in them, in which they grow Heady and Stubborn, and look upon every one that seeks to reclaim them as their Enemy, and let in hard and bitter Thoughts against them, and the Enemy fills them with prejudice, and in that state they seek for the failings of others, and feeds upon them as Bread to strengthen themselves, and so grow more and more estranged from the Innocent Life that is in Jesus, and that he hath given for Food for the Children of the Kingdom.  
Oh! this is a sad Condition; and I have often with deep sorrow lamented the state of some to whose hands peradventure this may come, when I have seen what a Good Beginning they have made in the way of God, and have been as pleasant plants, and hopeful to bring forth much fruit to the Honour of God and comfort of his People, and especially to the Comfort and Salvation of their own Immortal Souls: And yet after some good Progress made in the Lords way; for want of a diligent watchfulness and keeping close to the daily across, and the Self-denial have laid themselves open to the spoilers, who have cunningly got an entrance into them, some in the Affectionate Party, some in the Wise Reasoning Party, some through Sowing the Seeds of Prejudice, and some one way and some another, and have beguiled them of the Simplicity, and drawn them from the Sincerity that is in the Truth; and so they have both lost their First Love and their First Work also.  
And of these some are so far Dead, that they have lost all Sense and Feeling of that Love of God that worketh in the Hearts of his People, for the regaining of them; and to such I shall say little, but tell them, My Soul shall mourn for them in secret, until the Lord easeth my Spirit concerning them: But for the rest who yet do retain something of a Love to the Lords People, and have sometimes an Ear yet open to hear council, to these I say, God hath put it into my Heart to warn you, that ye strengthen those things that are ready to die, before the Lord appear against you for your hard Words and hard Thoughts, and come down into Humility, and feel after the first Tenderness and Brokenness of Heart which once you felt, and hold a fast to the Lord; feed no more upon your Carnal Reasonings, harken no more to those Seducers that have drawn you from your steadfastness in Christ Jesus, and your place in the Body; for be ye assured, as your Food is, so will your Life be; and if ye will still feed upon the Airy Notions of that Carnal Wisdom; into an Airy, Light and Wanton Life you will grow, and if your Food be to lick up the dirt and foulness that you can find here or there, and to feast thereon, and then be liable to vomit it up again, as some have done; this will nourish nothing but the Serpents life, which the Power of God will overcome. But Dear Hearts, sink down, sink down, while yet an Arm of Love is reached out to you to receive you, and wait in lowliness to be brought into that Heavenly House, where there is meat indeed, and drink indeed, and remember that express sentence of our Lord, who said, Except you eat my Flesh, and drink my Blood, ye have no Life in you: This is the Holy Nourishment that nourisheth up the Heir of the Kingdom, into which many are entered, and many of the Dear People of God whom ye count lightly of, are traveling to obtain an entrance.  
And Friends, let me use yet one Argument more with you, to persuade you to turn into the Unity and Fellowship of the Truth and Power of God, in which ye sometimes took delight with us to walk in it, and that is an Argument from your own Experience, to wit, the feebleness that hath fallen upon many of you, since ye departed from the Heavenly Unity with your ancient Friends and Brethren; what a decay of strength and Courage in the bearing forth the several Testimonys for the Name of Christ, as they were received from the Beginning, and by the faithful Followers of him, are to this day kept and accounted of, as of more worth then a little Outward Liberty or Estate, or such like.  
But Oh! my Friends, how is this tie loosened? and how is Fleshly Reasonings gotten up to shun the across and the Sufferings that attends the Gospel, and an unreadiness in many to give up for his Names sake, so that they are as if they had lost their Spiritual armor, and their fervent Zeal and Love to the Truth, and the Testimonys of it; which once were dearer to them then they're all in this Transitory World, And it is indeed impossible that the love to God and his Truth should remain in its former strength, when the love to the Brethren decays, They came together, and they will go together: And the want of this Love to God and to his People, is the ground of declining Truths Testimony, and using indirect ways to shift and shun the Sufferings that comes for Truths sake, by which the hands of Truths Enemys are strengthened, and many Stumbling-Blocks have been laid in the way of the Weak, I beseech you to consider these things, and lay them to Heart while there is a day and opportunity to return to your first Love, and to your first Zeal for the Truth.  
And Dear Friends, I might go into particulars to lay before you, wherein this decay of Love and Zeal for God and his precious Truth is manifest in many, But I spare you, knowing there is a faithful and true Witness for the Lord, that will( if you mind it) show you more particularly wherein any hath failed, and to that Witness of God I do recommend what I have written to you, which will testify that I have written in true love to your Immortal Souls, And whosoever sleights this tender Warning, and Exhortation sent unto them in the Love of God, will but harden their own Hearts more and more, and lay themselves open to the Seducing Spirits, to be carried away by the wil●ss of subtle Men, who seek to draw from the Foundation that God hath laid, and to bring you again to trust to Uncertainties, and to fill your Minds with Unnecessary Things, and to neglect the weighty matters, and the one thing needful.  
Therefore Friends, wait to feel the daily renewings by the Holy Spirit in yourselves, and that will renew your love to God and to his Truth and the Testimonys of it, and to the Brethren that have laboured in it for the good of your Souls, and to all the faithful Followers of the Lamb of God every where, and that will renew your Love and Zeal to the Truth, and to the Testimonys of it, and keep it fresh, and give you a sense of the exceeding great value of it, and then you will see that the service of all that is given you, is but to serve the Lord in his Truth, and in the Holy Faith you will have a sense of the Reward of all in your own Bosom, that ye loose and suffer for the Lords sake, and in this you will have an Inheritance with all the Sanctified Children of Light, which that ye all may possess and none fall short of, is the Eearnest Desire and Prayer of your faithful Friend in the unchangeable Truth,  
S. C.  
THE END.