B 478784
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1
PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY
OF THE
UniversITY
OF
MICHIGAN
BY
MR. WILLIAM J. HOWARD
IN MEMORY OF HIS LATE WIFE, MRS.
HALLECK KELSEY HOWARD, A
ANNIE
GRADUATE
OF THE LAW DEPARTMENT,
CLASS OF 1880.
APRIL 8, 1902.
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THE
WORKS
1
OF THE
Long-Mournful and Sorely-Diftreffed
ISAAC PENINGTON,
1
WHOM
The LORD, in his tender Mercy, at length Vifited and
Relieved by the Miniftry of that deſpiſed People called
QU
AKE
R
R
S;
1616-79
AND IN THE
SPRINGINGS of that LIGHT, LIFE, and HOLY POWER in him,
which they had truly and faithfully teſtified of, and directed his
Mind to, were theſe things written;
AND
Are now publiſhed as a thankful Teftimony of the Goodneſs of the LORD
unto him, and for the Benefit of others.
They alſo that erred in fpirit, fhall know understanding; and they that
murmured, ſhall learn doctrine. ISAIAH XXIX, 24.
VOL. I.
THE SECOND EDITIO N.
LONDON:
Printed by SAMUEL CLARK,
}
For JOHN and THOMAS KENDALL, Bookfellers, in Colcheſter.
M DCC LXI.
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THE
CONTENTS
T
OF THE
FIRST VOLUME.
HE Way of Life and Death made manifeft, &c.
The Scattered Sheep fought after,
Some Propofitions concerning the Only Way of Salvation,
The Fundamental Principle of the Gospel,
Page 1
72
78
82
A ſhort Catechiſm for the fake of the Simple-hearted.
85
Babylon the Great deſcribed,
102
The Sins of Babylon,
116
The Judgment of Babylon,
126
An Objection anſwered,
131
Some plain Queries out of the Book of the Revelations,
Some Confiderations helping out of Babylon,
An Exhortation to the preſent Powers,
136
138
141
The Jew Outward,
152
The Axe laid to the Root of the Old Corrupt Tree,
Some Affertions concerning Faith,
184
A neceffary Warning concerning adding to, and diminiſhing from,
the Scriptures,
189
196
A brief Hiſtory of the State of the Church,
206
An Exhortation relating to the Workings of the Myſtery of Iniquity,
and the Myſtery of Godliness,
A brief Account of fome Reaſons, &c.
Some Confiderations propoſed to the City of London, &c.
to the Diſtracted Nation of England,
to the Army,
A Queſtion to the Rulers, Teachers, and People of England,
[A]
212
218
221
223
227
228
The
CONTENT S.
The Root of Popery ftruck at,
Page 238
Somewhat concerning the Ground of Error, and the Way to Truth
and Unity,
252
An Examination of the Grounds and Caufes which are faid to induce the
Court of Bofton to make that Order of Baniſhment againſt the
Quakers,
Examination of the Appendix to J. Norton's Book,
Anſwer to another Paper,
The Authority which Chrift excluded out of his Church,
Some Confiderations concerning the State of Things,
A Warning of Love from the Bowels of Life,
Where is the Wife, where is the Scribe? &c. I COR. i. 20.
258
296
311
314
325
334
341
The New Covenant of the Goſpel diſtinguiſhed from the Old Covenant of
the Law,
An Epiſtle to fuch as obferve the Seventh Day for a Sabbath,
349
364
Some Queries anſwered,
367
The Firſt Letter anſwered,
377
Second Letter anfwered,
381
A brief Explication of the Mystery of the Six Days Labour, and
Seventh Day's Sabbath,
384
Some Confideration propounded to the Jews,
388
Some Queries concerning the Work of God in the World,
394
An Advertiſement to the Powers and People of this Nation,
397
1
The Confideration of a Pofition concerning the Book of Common-
Prayer,
401
A Warning of tender Bowels to the Rulers, Teachers, and People, 417
Of the Kingdom, Laws, and Government of Chrift in the Heart and
Conſcience,
42 I
An Anſwer to that common Objection againſt the Quakers, that they con-
demn all but themſelves,
425
A Loving and Faithful Advertiſement to the Nation, and Powers
thereof,
429
The great Queſtion concerning the Lawfulneſs or Unlawfulneſs of Swearing,
under the Gospel,
433
Somewhat
CONTENT S.
Somewhat Spoken to a Weighty Queſtion concerning the Magiftrate's
Protection of the Innocent,
Some Confiderations for the Serious and Wife in Heart,
443
450
A brief Account of what the People called Quakers defire, in refer-
ence to the Civil Government,
453
A few Words to fuch as have felt the Power of the Endleſs Life
drawing
A few Words about the preſent Work of God in the World
Concerning Perfecution,
455
456
459
A brief Account of that Stubbornness which by many is objected
againſt the People called Quakers,
477
Some Directions to the Panting Soul,
482
Concerning the Worſhip of the Living God, which he teacheth Ifrael His
People,
490
Some Queſtions and Anſwers relating to Converfion, and to Tenderneſs
of Confcience
:
494
Natural,
Ifrael,
Redemption
Some Queſtions and Anſwers for the Opening of the Eyes of the Jews
497
for the Direction, Comfort, &c. of God's Spiritual
509
conducing towards the further Opening of the Path of
518
Some Queſtions and Anſwers fhewing Man his Duty, &c.
535
concerning the Seed of Ifrael and the true Church 545
To all fuch as Complain they want Power,
Some Queries to the Strict Profeffors of this Age,
552
563
Some Obfervations on Romans xiv. 20.
567
Three Queries to the King and Parliament,
572
A Salutation of Love to the Commiffioners of the Peace for the County of
Bucks, &c.
582
A Weighty Queftion propounded to the King and Parliament,
585
Some of the Myfteries of God's Kingdom Glanced at,
Some Queſtions and Anſwers of deep Concernment to the Jews,
593
611
Some
CONTENT S
}
}
Some Queries concerning the Order and Government of the Church of
Chrift,
Some Deep Confiderations concerning the State of Ifrael,
Concerning God's Seeking out His Ifrael
617
629
641
An Epiſtle to Friends in England, Ireland, &c.
658:
One more Tender Vifitation to the Men of this Generation,
666
Concerning the Church, or of the Church State under the Goſpel,
Some Queries to the Profeffors of Chriftianity
669.
681
Some Obfervations on the Eternal Judgment, expreffed Matt. xxv.
3.1.
682.
Concerning the Subftance of our Religion who are called Quakers, - 685;
Concerning Chriſt, and Reading the Scriptures Aright,
Of the Goſpel Miniſtration
Of Chriſt's being Manifefted without, and alſo within,
A few Words concerning the Principle of Truth,
Some Things of Great Weight and Concernment to All,
6.90€
693
694+
696,
699
THE
[i]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
GEORGE FOX,
1
CONCERNING
ISAAC PENINGTON.
C
ONCERNING our dear friend and brother Ifaac Pening-
ton, who is lately deceaſed, and whom the Lord hath lately
taken away from among his people, and from his wife and
children; he was a ferviceable miniſter of the Goſpel of falvation,
and of the Word of Life, which did ſpring through him often, to
the refreſhing and comforting of the church of Chrift, and to his
own comfort, and to the praife and glory of the Lord God. Amen.
And now all muſt be content with and in the will of the Lord
God, who giveth and taketh at his own pleaſure; who hath all
breath and life, and the length of days in his hand. And fo he
is well in the Lord; bleffed be the name of the Lord, who is over
all for ever. For, as JOHN faith; Bleffed are the dead which die
in the Lord, from henceforth: yea, faith the Spirit, that they
may reft from their labours; and their works do follow them.'
You may fee what a cloud of witneffes the apoftle fpeaketh
of, which died in the faith, and obtained a good report; which
holy and divine faith is the victory. In this faith they pleaſed
God; and by this faith, the gift of God, they had access to God,
and
[ it 1
[it
and fo died in the Lord, and have his bleffing from him, the foun-
tain then and now. And fo all true Chriftians are to live, that
Chrift may •
be magnified in their bodies, whether it be by life or
death,' as the apoftle faith, PHIL. i. 20. And the fame apoſtle faith
to the faints; None of us liveth to himſelf, and no man dieth to
• himself; for whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whe-
ther we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore,
or die, we are the Lord's.' Rom. xiv. 7, 8. And Chrift faith,
Whofoever liveth and believeth in me, fhall never die. Believeft
thou this?' JOHN xi. 26. For they are grafted into Chrift by be-
lieving in his Light, which is the Life in him.
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•
The memorial of the juft is bleffed: Even the Lord God of
hofts, the Lord is his memorial.' Hos. xii. 5. But the name of
the wicked fhall rot.' PROV. x. 7. and his memory ſhall be
cut off from the earth.' PSAL. cix. 15. So ye may fee the me-
morial of the juft is recorded by the juft in Holy Scriptures of
Truth. But my defire is, that all may fee their names written
in the Lamb's book of life, before the foundation of the world,
and rejoice in that; and praiſe God that their life is hid with
• Chrift in God.' CoL. iii.
•
&
3.
Precious in the fight of the Lord is the death of his faints.' PSAL.
cxvi. 15. Therefore live the holy and righteous life, that
the death of the righteous.
ye may die
It is now above twenty years fince Ifaac Penington came among
God's people: and fince that time he hath gone through many exer-
cifes, and trials, and temptations, and fnares; both by them that
were without, and falſe brethren; befides all his fufferings, and
cruel and tedious impriſonments, and perfecutions, for the name
and life of Chrift Jefus and true Chriftianity; which in the end,
fome years before his death, the Lord, in and with his power, fet
him free from; and gave him dominion over all, and eſtabliſhed
him
upon his living rock and foundation, to praiſe his holy name in
his church, and among his faints and people, in the Lord's freſh
living Power and Spirit. And he did freely minifter of his living
bread and water, which he had received from above, from the
living God and his Son, to the comfort of them that feared the Lord,
and kept their habitation in the Truth, in meeknefs, and in hu-
mility.
I do
[ i ]
I do know that he is well in the Lord, and in peace with him
through the Lord Jefus Chrift. Such as are puffed up, and do fwell
in their notions, may rejoice and be glad that he is taken out of
their way;
way; and they may think they will have the more liberty; be-
cauſe that he, being a living ſtone, and member of the living head,
had no fellowſhip nor unity with ſuch as were full of high fwelling
words, without the life of Chrift, the heavenly and ſpiritual man;
but did reprove fuch, and admoniſh them: but fuch their gladneſs
and joy will be turned into bitterneſs and forrow and mourning
in the end. Therefore let all fuch take heed and be warned, left the
hand of the Lord do fuddenly turn againſt them. For I could defire,
that all were in that innocent life that he departed out of this world
in: and I know that he died in the Lord, and is bleffed. So let
his works follow him, who is well, and at his reft with the Lord
Jeſus Chriſt, who is the reſt of all his faithful people. To him be
glory and honour, thanks and praiſe, now and for ever.
Amen.
ነ
á z
!
THE
1
1
[ iv ]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
WILLIAM PENN
CONCERNING
ISAAC PENINGTON.
A
S the memory of the juft is bleffed, ſo to me there feems a
bleffing upon thoſe that have a right remembrance of them :
wherefore, to the memory of this juft man, my dear friend and
relation, Ifaac Penington, I do, with a fincere and religious affection,
dedicate this enfuing teftimony.
And firft, give me leave to fay fomething of his manly capa-
city: the beſt comes after.
He was well defcended as to his worldly parentage, and born
heir to a fair inheritance; his education was fuitable to his quality
among men, having all the advantages the ſchools and univerfi-
ties of his own country could give him, joined with the converfa-
tion of fome of the knowingeft and confiderableft men of his own
time. But his natural abilities, the gifts of his Creator, they ex-
celled: he was a man quick in apprehenfion, fruitful in conception,
and of a lively wit and intelligence, all adorned with an extraordi-
nary mildness; that as other men are wont to fhew their pregnancy
by ſharpneſs, he manifefted his with an engaging fweetneſs.
His father's ftation in public bufinefs gave him pretence enough
to a ſhare of the world's greatnefs; but, which brings me to his
better and religious capacity, he, with bleffed meek. Mofes, refuſed
the Egyptian glory of the world, and chofe rather a life dedicated
to
[v]
to an enquiry after God, and holy fellowship with him and his
defpifed Ifrael.
Very early did the Lord vifit him with a more than ordinary ma-
nifeftation of his love; and it had that good effect upon him, that
it kept him both from the evils and vain worſhips of the world;
and he became the wonder of his kindred and familiars for his
awful life, and ſerious and frequent retirements, declining all com-
pany that might interrupt his meditations; and by giving himſelf
over to a life of mourning and pilgrimage, he was as unpleaſant to
them, as the world was to him. Nor did this forrow flow from a
fenſe of former vice; for he was virtuous from his childhood; but,
with holy Habakkuk, from the dread he had of the majesty of God,
and his defire to find a refting-place in the great day of trouble.
Nothing in theſe exerciſes gave him eafe or comfort, but the fmiles
of God's countenance upon his foul; and that it was he thirſted af-
ter with a perpetual folicitation; firft, How fhall I appear? and
then, O that I may appear before God!
His inward exercifes and enjoyments being of a very peculiar
nature, made him take little comfort in any of the religious fo-
cieties then known to him. He was as one alone; for he faw fo
much of that uncircumcifed and uncrucified fleſh (which is as grafs)
profefs the myſteries of the heavenly kingdom; I mean people but
under ordinary convictions, that had never known Jacob's troubles,
nor the fear and trembling with which the true falvation is
wrought; and that the ſpirit and abilities of man took up fo great
a part and ſhare in religious duties among them, and the Spirit of
the Lord fo little, if any at all; that he felt them of little or no
uſe to him. On the contrary, he was often burdened with them,
and preffed in ſpirit to lay open their carnal ftate under a Chriſtian
profeffion; and though they held the notions of the Truth, it was
not in the precious and experimental fenfe of the holy virtue and life
of the Truth; infomuch that he found it his duty to endeavour to
break their falſe peace, and bewilder their lofty wiſdom and pro-
feffion; rather approving of a ſtate of humble doubting, than hypo-
critical confidence; and that waiting for the Lord's coming in
Spirit, without fin, to the falvation of the foul, that people may
truly know the Lord and his work, and from thence ipeak forth
his praiſe to others, than profefs the enjoyments of other faints, that
had been obtained through great tribulations, when they had never
know a
[vi]
known any ſuch thing in themſelves, and ſo had no true ſenſe of
God's inward work, nor the true facrifice of God's preparing to
offer to him, which only is accepted with him.
This drew reproach upon him, as a man fingular and cenforious,
from the worldly profeffors; particularly the clergy (that common
eclipſe between God and the fouls of people); yet thofe that with
him waited for the confolation of Ifrael, and the coming of the
Son of man in power and great glory, they found him out, valued
and honoured him, and fweet was their fellowſhip to him; who
boaſted in nothing more than that they had nothing to boast of,
whilſt the Laodicea of their age thought ſhe wanted nothing: and
in that emptinefs they waited to be filled of him that filleth all
things at his coming and kingdom, that they might be the wit-
neffes of his refurrection and appearance. Some of them died be-
fore that bleffed time came; fome faw it, and were glad, and
with good old Simeon departed in peace: and others lived to fee
the glory of that bleffed day both dawn and break forth upon them,
to their admiration and comfort; among whom my dear father-in-
law, Ifaac Penington, was not the laft, nor leaft of note.
About the year 1657, it pleaſed the Lord to fend him a Peter to
declare to him, that the time of the pouring forth of the Holy
Spirit, and breaking forth of the heavenly work of God in the fouls
of men and women was come; and many Aquilas and Priſcillas
came after, who inftructed him in the way of God more perfectly.
And however he was advanced above many in his knowledge of
Scripture, and had formerly received many heavenly openings of
Truth's myſteries in his foul; yet did the Lord's way of appearance
diſappoint his expectation; and when the light broke forth in his
heart, which his fincerity longed for, he found a great mixture,
and that he had much to lofe and part with, before he came to be
that bleſſed little child (that new and heavenly birth) which inherits
the kingdom of God; which made him cry, Narrow is the way,
⚫ and ſtrait is the gate indeed that leads to life.'
But to the glory of the living God, and praiſe of this juſt man's
memory, let me fay, neither his worldly ſtation, the moft confider-
able of any that had cloſed with this way, nor the contradictions
it gave to any former conceptions, nor the debaſement it brought
upon his learning and wiſdom, nor yet that reproach and lofs that
attended his publick efpouſing of it, did deter him from owning,
and
[ vii ]
!
C
66
C
and cordially embracing of it; but with an humble and broken
fpirit he fell before this holy appearance of Jefus, that true light
of men, whofe power and life he felt revealed in him, to the
faving of his foul; and boldly owned and confeffed this fpiritual
coming of the great Meffiah, that was able to teach him all things:
to his name his knee truly bowed, and the Scripture was in him
fulfilled; with Nathaniel he cried, Thou art the Son of God!
• thou art the king of Ifrael!' Now he faw clearly between the
precious and the vile in himſelf, between that which was truly of
God, and that which was merely of man in his former exercifes;
and he was not ftiff nor ftout in defence of his own building, and
former conceivings: no; but fold all for the pearl, and became
willingly a poor man in fpirit, that fo he might enter into the king-
dom of God.' Thus parting with all he had not received of God,
he received a new ſtock from heaven, wherein God profpered him;
the dew of heaven refted upon his branch and root, and he grew
rich and fruitful in all heavenly treaſure; full of love, faith,
mercy, patience, and long-fuffering; diligent in the work of the
Lord, and exemplary in his duty to God and men.' Infomuch
that I may ſay he was one of a thouſand ; zealous, yet tender;
"wife, yet humble: a conftant and early comer to meetings, and
"watchful and reverent in them: one that ever loved power and
"life more than words; and as for that he waited, fo would he
"be often deeply affected with it, and made to utter fuch teftimo-
"nies as were greatly to the help of the poor and the needy, the
weary and heavy-laden, the true fojourners and travellers to
"the eternal reft and city of God." To this his writings as well
as miniſtry tended, as his enſuing worthy labours will abundantly
witneſs; wherein it will be eafy for the reader to obſerve his реси-
liar and mighty love to the great profeffors of religion in thefe
kingdoms, whom carnal apprehenfions, or unjuft prejudices, have
hindered from clofing with the bleffed Truth, as it is known and
felt amongst us; and his fervent labour to remove thofe obftructions,
with fuch tenderneſs, yet great clearness, that I may venture to ſtyle
him their apoſtle; for as in almoſt every meeting, fo in every book,
the bent of his ſpirit was towards them, that thoſe who made a more
than ordinary profeffion of God, not without fome antient touches of
the divine grace, and experience of God's vifitation (tho' much ex-
tinguiſhed with human and worldly mixtures) might come to know
66
what
[ viii]
what that was they once tafted of, how they loft it, and which
is the way to recover the living and full enjoyment of it, even the
inward knockings and appearance of Jefus the Saviour, to the falva-
tion of their fouls: and I pray God they may anſwer his love (for
he was much ſpent on their account); that fo his miniſtry, writings,
travels, and tears may not be matter of charge and evidence againſt
them in the day of their judgment.
As his outward man grew in age, his inward man grew in grace,
and the knowledge of our dear Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift; for
the excellency of which, he had juftly counted all things elfe but
as drofs and dung: for it was obfervable among them that rightly
knew him in his declining time, when the candle of his natural
life burnt dimmer, his foul waxed ſtronger, and, like a repleniſhed
lamp, fhined with greater luftre; and truly he had a double portion
of the Spirit upon him, and was anointed with judgment and zeal
for the Lord, which appeared in two eminent refpects:
Firſt, that he was very urgent that all thoſe who knew any thing
of the heavenly gift of miniſtry unto others, would always wait in
their ſeveral exerciſes to be endued with matter and power from
on high, before they opened their mouths in a teftimony for the
Lord; and that at all times, as well out of meetings as in them,
they might live fo near the Lord, as to feel the key of David open-
ing the myſteries of the heavenly kingdom, and by experiencing the
depth of the heavenly travail, and the trials, deliverances, and con-
folations of it, with that dominion and victory that in the end, by
perfeverance, are obtained, they might be as true faviours on Mount
Zion, the falt and lights of the world, thoroughly furniſhed to every
good word and work, and mafter-builders in God's houfe; that "a
pure and living ſtream of miniftry might be continued and con-
veyed to the generations to come; that they might not only hear,
"but taste of what we have known of the word and work of life
"and redemption in our age." Herein he was very careful.
46
But his excellency in the fecond refpect, was his fervent love
to the heavenly union of brethren; and whatever ftruck at that,
though under ever fuch fpecious pretences, he no fooner perceived
it, and the fubtil but miſchievous workings of it, than with deep
wiſdom he detected, and with his whole might encountered and
oppoſed it,
And
[ix]
up
And though by nature he was fuffering to a degree of letting
his mercy to others almoſt wound his own foul; yet fo deeply
did his love to the Lord and his people, and to that comely or-
der God had ſettled them in, engage his foul, that he was as bold
as a lion, yea, as warlike as a champion, againſt that ſpirit that went
and down to ſow jealouſies, to ſmite and reflect upon the holy
care of the brethren, carnally interpreting their tender love and
great pains, as if what was done by them were not intended to the
edification of the body, but exaltation of ſome particular perfons
over it. This ingratitude and injuſtice his ſoul abhorred, and often
mourned for fuch as were fo feduced; as if it were the defign of
thoſe that had from the beginning laid out themſelves in the ſervice
of God and his people, to bring them at laſt to a blind and unwar-
rantable ſubjection, that they might the better exerciſe dominion
over them. This evil eye he helped to put out; and, in his op-
pofition to this wandering and deſtroying fpirit, that leads out of
the love and unity of brethren, he approved himſelf a valiant of
Ifrael, a Phineas for the God of his falvation; and the rewards of
heaven were poured into his boſom; for his holy miniſtry mani-
feſtly increaſed in life and power, and his peace flowed as a river,
and many were the witneffes of his enlargements. Let thofe that
have loft their firſt love, and are gone from their antient habita-
tion, rage, and imagine vain things,' if they will: furely the
travails and teftimonies of this bleffed man will be a witneſs againſt
them that will not eaſily be filenced, and a burthen upon their backs
that will not be eafily taken off. But becauſe he defired not their
deftruction, but prayed earnestly to the laft for their return, let
not me, whilſt I am writing of his character, fall fhort of his
compaffions; no, I
pray God alfo with my whole ſpirit that they
may repent, be contrite in heart, and faithfully return; at which,
if the angels in heaven, certainly the fpirits of the juſt that dwell
in heavenly places, will abundantly rejoice too.
Theſe two cares were chiefly and almoft continually before him.
Thus he drew near to the grave, and I now draw to an end; but
becauſe this ſervice is never to be done again, let me fay, that as
he was a light in the church, fo he was a bleffing to his own
family: "A moſt chaſte and loving husband, a very tender and
prudent father, and a juſt and kind mafter." I will add,
I will add," and a
good neighbour, and a moft fecret and firm friend;" of all
VOL. I.
b
66
unapt
[ x X
]
unapt to believe ill, but never to report it, much lefs to do it
to any a man that ruled his tongue, fwift to hear, flow to ſpeak:
but, when he did fpeak, he was ferious, yet fweet, and not un-
chearful. What shall I fay, but that great and many were the
gifts God honoured him with, and with them he truly honoured
his profeffion. Being thus fit to live, he was prepared to die, and '
had nothing elfe to do when that fummons was ferved upon him,
which was in the fixty-third year of his age; at what time it
pleaſed the Lord he fell very fick, under a ſharp and painful diſ-
temper, which haftened his diffolution: however, the anguiſh of
that bitter exercife could give no ſhake to internal peace, fo well
eſtabliſhed before it came; but he died, as he lived, in the faith that:
overcomes the world; whoſe foul being now releaſed from the con-
finements of time and frailties of mortality, is afcended into the
glorious freedom and undiſturbed joys of the juft, where, with his
holy brethren the patriarchs, prophets, apoftles, and martyrs of
Jefus, he for ever bleffeth and praifeth the God and Father of
the righteous generations by Jefus Chrift, God's Lamb, and our
heavenly Redeemer; to whom with the Father be all honour,
glory, might, majefty and dominion, through all the ages of his
church, and for ever.
Weftminfter the 12th of the
42th month, 1680-81.
Amen..
a-
WILLIAM PENN.
1
1
THE
[ xi ]
+
THE
TESTIMONY
?
O F
GEO. WHITEHEAD,
CONCERNING
ISAAC PENINGTON.
Precious in the fight of the Lord is the death of his faints. PSAL. cxvi. 15.
F
HAT the Lord God, who is the Father of mercies, is truly
good unto all that wait for him, and diligently feek after
him, hath been fignally manifefted and experienced in our days, as
in former ages; and that he fails not to anſwer the defires and tra-
vail of that foul that hath fincerity towards him, however it be for
a time clouded and bewildered under various profeffions and no-
tions: fincerity and honeſty of heart in inquiring after the knowledge
of truth, ſhall not be diſappointed, nor mifs of its bleffed end. I
hope I ſhall not need to write an apology for this man's many
writings; but let the fincere meaning and honeft intent thereof,
and the lines of true fenfe and good-will therein, fpeak forth the
Chriſtian mind and ſpirit of the author. Nor is it altogether proper
for me to apologize in fuch a cafe, having not read all thefe his
books and writings now to be expofed to publick view, though fome
of them I have at times formerly converfed with, as opportunities
have admitted: which, as I have perceived the teftimonies and in-
ſtructions thereof to be both favoury and experimental, fo I charitably
believe and hope of the reft. But in this-I can be more general and
abfolute concerning the perfon; that he was a man that fincerely
b 2
fought
[ xii ]
fought after the knowledge of the Lord God and his holy Truth;
and that accordingly the Lord did vouchfafe gracioufly to anfwer
the fincere defires of his foul in due time, to the fettling of his
mind, and ſtaying his foul in a fecret fenfe and feeling of his living
Truth, Power, and Spirit, to his confirmation in that most precious
and living faith, which was once delivered unto the faints in
light and as God opened his heart to the tender reception of his
holy Truth and Gofpel of peace, and embracing the faithful mef-
fengers thereof; fo he wrought both immediately by his Spirit,
and inftrumentally by his meffengers, for his confirmation in that
light and grace, from whence he had often before received many
true difcoveries, fights, and openings; having alfo often heard the
found of that divine breath, or Spirit of life, which moved in his
heart, before the immortal birth thereof was brought to light, or
the man-child (for which his foul travailed) was brought forth into
the world. He was not willing to obfcure his divine difcoveries,
nor to put his candle under a buſhel, nor hide his talent in the earth;
but was induftrious on the Lord's behalf, in telling and fhewing
to the fons of men what diſcoveries he had made to him of the
way of life and falvation from one degree to another. His inward
exercife of mind and attention upon our Lord Jefus Chrift in his
light, was ſerious, and his converfation innocent; for he knew the
preſence and bleffings of God were only to be enjoyed in fuch a con-
dition. The remembrance of his zeal for the holy Truth in the
improvement of his gift is never to be extinguiſhed, nor the re-
cord of his integrity and faithfulneſs ever to be obliterated: his ten-
derneſs and compaffion towards the mifled captives was fuch, that
he was not wanting in his induftrious endeavours for their de-
liverance out of their darkneſs, and ſpiritual blindneſs of thraldom.
He earneſtly laboured with the barren profeffors under various
notions, and the fleſhly Chriſtians of our times, to invite them to
the true light, life, and ſpirit of Chriſtianity, that they might not
ftick in their empty forms, and literal profeffions, fhort of the
power of godlinefs. For his eye was to the principle of life, the
true feed wherein the bleffing is, and to the fpiritual immortal
birth, that breathes to God, and receives life, nourishment, and
ftrength from him, and lives to him, as knowing that the fleſhly
birth muſt not inerit the promiſe, nor the fon of the bond-woman
be
[ xiii ]
be heir with the fon of the free. He truly esteemed of the Holy
Scriptures, and ſeriouſly and frequently converfed with them: his
eye being to that divine Light and Spirit of Chriſt Jeſus, which
opens them, and gives the true underſtanding and experience of
them; for he preferred the true and fpiritual knowledge of the Holy
Scriptures before all literal knowledge and underſtanding, exalting
the ſpirit above the letter, the power above the form, the ſub-
ſtance above the fhadow; as knowing that the Holy Spirit and
power were the foundation and caufe of Scriptures, and form of
godlinefs. His patience and innocency have been well known,
even towards fuch contentious and prejudicate profeffors, as evilly
requited his labours of love (for their good) by perverſely expoſing
him in print: but he well knew that truth and innocence would
out-live all envy and evil-mindednefs. It was given to him not
only to believe, but alſo patiently to fuffer for the name of Chrift;
he patiently fuffered by reproaches, contradictions of evil men, per-
fecutions and impriſonments. I cannot forget the fweet com-
munion and fociety in the Truth which we have often had to-
gether, efpecially of latter years; being fully fatisfied, that it was
a real earneſt of that glorious communion we ſhall eternally enjoy
together in reſt and glory, where the precious and fincere foul is
entered with the Lord and all his faints and angels, and ſpirits
of juſt men made perfect, who are written in heaven,, having ob-
tained a part in Chrift Jefus, the refurrection and the life, where
the ſecond death hath no power. And to this glorious end and reſt
from our labours, others of us yet furviving are travelling and
haftening; glory and triumph for ever!
Now, ferious reader, in love to the Truth and thy foul, I would
leave this caution with thee in relation to the books and writings
of this our deceafed friend and brother, that if thou meeteſt with
any thing therein which thou doſt not underſtand, cenfure it not;
be not prejudicate in any cafe, but wait till the Lord come, who
reveals fecrets, and unfolds myfteries. And if any thing (efpe-
cially of what was early written, as in a time of infancy) feems
doubtful, or not fo clear to thy underſtanding, let it have fuch
charitable conſtruction as becomes a Chriſtian ſpirit towards an in-
duſtrious, honeft-hearted, and well-meaning fervant of Chrift in
his life-time, who was and is ever bleffed of the Lord, and now
gone
[ xiv 1
!
gone to his reft from his labours; the general tenor and import
whereof clearly evinces his pious endeavours for the good of the
children of men, and proclaims his Chriſtian defign and induſtry to
promote truth and righteouſneſs in the earth, pure religion, and
Chriſtianity in ſpirit and life among men. The Lord of the
harveft fend forth more fruitful labourers into his harveſt and
vineyard! for the harveſt is great.
London, the 28th of the
6th Month, 1680.
}
G. W.
}
1
7
:
:
THE
[ xv ]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
SAMUEL JENNINGS,
CONCERNING
That faithful Servant of the LORD, and our
dear Friend,
ISAAC PENINGTON,
Whom God hath lately removed from us, and fixed
in his Eternal Reft.
ST
TRONG and powerful is that excellent arm of the Lord,
which hath been revealed and made bare in this our day;
and very effectual hath been the operation of it for the gathering of
many into a nearness to the Lord, and leavening of them into the
nature of its own purity; amongſt whom God hath numbered this
our dear Friend, and dignified him with that honour. And fince
God hath impreffed upon our fouls fuch a fenfe of him, I could
not be clear, in reſpect of my duty to God, and love to him, to
fhut it up only in my own bofom, without giving this publick
teftimony of him. Although I know I can add nothing to him,
as to his immediate enjoyment, yet let it be as an evidence of the
eſteem I had of him when with us, and of his memorial now
removed from us, which God will perpetuate among the righteous,
when the name of the wicked fhall rot.
Asi
[ xvi ]
As to the innocency of his converſation in general (which is the
moſt evident token of the indwellings of truth and fincerity) I
have this to ſay upon my own obſervation of it, I know none that
did exceed him; for in that God made him an adorning to the
doctrine of the Gofpel. To mention particularly thofe divine gifts
wherewith he was eminently endued, would be too large; yet I
cannot wholly omit them; wherefore I fhall first mention that which
had the firſt and chiefeft place with him; namely, his deep travail,
labour, care, and defires for the profperity of that weighty and
bleffed work, which God is carrying on in the earth; to wit, the
gathering of loft man to himſelf, and bringing him to know falva-
tion in him; in which labour God bleffed him with fuccefs, and
gave him the tongue of the learned to ſpeak a word in due ſeaſon,
fitly comparable to apples of gold in pictures of filver: and by the
force of this word he reached to many, to the turning of them from
the evil of their ways; which remains as a crown upon him, and
fhall cauſe him to fhine as a bright fixed ftar in the firmament of
God for ever. And how many living witneſſes are left behind, of
the uſe and fervice that God made him to be of to them, who are
deeply affected with the fenſe of their lofs in him, yet dare not com-
plain, becauſe the Lord hath done it! O how hath my foul, with
many others, been confolated with him, in the communion we have
had together with God, when the Lord hath opened his mouth in
wiſdom, and cauſed his doctrine to drop as the rain, and his ſpeech
to diſtill as dew on the tender plants!
Q my
dear brother! (or rather to many of us waft thou, in God,
a father) my foul is often pained, in the ſenſe of thy abfence, for
our fakes: yet greatly comforted and fatisfied in God for thy fake :
for our lofs (though great) doth not equal thy gain. O how often
haft thou been opened, and thy ſpirit fweetened, and in that ſweet-
neſs drawn forth to miniſter to thoſe that were Ifraelites indeed,
when thy words were fofter than oil, fweeter than honey, and
more refreſhing than the pureft wine; but to the wicked and de-
ceitful as penetrating arrows. And although it were fo contrary to
his nature to touch with ftrife (being of fo meek a ſpirit), yet God,
that guides the meek in judgment, did fometimes concern him in
a dreadful, yet true teftimony againſt all that would divide in Jacob,
and ſcatter in Ifrael. Yet how intire was his love to all thoſe who
had a right value of, and abode in, the unity of the pure Truth,
againſt
[ xvii ]
againſt all the contemners and invaders of it! How affectionately
and reverently have I heard him ſpeak of thoſe, who were the mef-
ſengers of glad tidings to us, and publiſhers of that peace which he
is now in the certain poffeffion of, as the reward and end of the juſt
and upright! But eſpecially great was his regard to, and efteem of,
thoſe who have faithfully borne the heat and burthen of the day;
whoſe arrows the Lord directed to the wounding of the man of fin,
and who yet remain as a bow that abides in its ftrength, and wax
yet ſtronger and ftronger: thoſe he did account (as indeed they are)
worthy of double honour. And although (through the infirmity of
his nature, and weakneſs of his conftitution) he was made unfit for
much hard and publick travel; yet his conftant practice did declare
he had a vigorous and active mind, truly bowed to the ſervice of
Truth, as may appear by the many private and ſeaſonable viſits he
made by writing, unto thoſe whom he had no other opportunity of
being helpful to; and much ſervice he had of this kind, beyond
what many were fenfible of. Many young, and tender, and dif-
treffed ones will lament their lofs in him, who was fo eafily touched
with a feeling of their exerciſe, from the ſenſe and remembrance he
had of his own; and was very ready, and alſo fit, to contribute ſome-
thing to their relief: for as he was once a man of forrows, and well
acquainted with grief, ſo this benefit did he reap by it, to learn ex-
perience by the things he fuffered; and all the tribulation he met
with did but make way for the fuperabounding of his confolation
through Chriſt.
J
-
What he was in his family, and eſpecially to his dear and tender
relations (whom he left weeping behind him, though not without
hope) I ſhall not need to fay much of; knowing they themſelves
cannot be without a larger teftimony than mine concerning the mat-
ter: only this I fhall fay, I would to God there were more fo fit for
our example in each relation.
Having thus far fincerely diſcharged my duty, in giving this teſti-
mony, I am willing to confine myſelf to as much brevity as I can;
though much more might be truly faid of him, and it is hard to
fay fo little. Yet, for further fatisfaction to any concerning him,
that are defirous of it, I refer them to his writings, now publiſhed
together for common benefit: only let me give the reader this ad-
vice, that as God gave him wiſdom to divide his word aright, fo do
thou read it in the fame wifdom to receive it aright; for in that only
VOL. I.
canft
C
[ xviii]
canft thou take a right meaſure of him, or have true fellowſhip with
him. I have only this to add, as a caution to all, that as Truth hath
many enemies, fo this our dear friend, for Truth's fake, had fome
alfo; concerning whom I have a feeling, that they will be ready to
grudge and take offence at this our innocent and juftifiable practice,
to preſerve the remembrance of the faithfulneſs of thoſe who have
faithfully finiſhed their courſe, and, through the power of Chrift,
have had victory over the laft enemy. There can be no other ground
for this, but envy or ignorance; and therefore, to prevent fo ill an
effect (let it ſpring from whom it will) let fuch know, that it was
once not only allowed, but commanded of God, to write the dead
bleffed that die in the Lord, as well as to eſteem them fo. And
fince it is undeniably the mind of God that the juft fhall be had in
• everlaſting remembrance;' what can be more effectual to it, than
by our written teftimony to commend their memorial to our pofte-
rity, that they may glorify the God of their fathers, and, after their
example, walk in his way; in which the Lord, who gathered us
into it, preſerve us to the time of our death, that, with the wor-
thies of the Lord that are gone before us, we may receive the
crown of life.
6
¿
<
SAMUEL JENNINGS.
}
THE
[ xix ]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
AMBROSE RIGG E,
Of the LIFE and DEATH of
ISAAC PENINGTON.
TH
HE Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and the fountain of love
and life is open in my foul, and freely floweth towards all my
dear brethren and fellow-labourers in the great harveſt of our Lord
and Maſter, who are yet in the body; and the renewed remembrance
of them whoſe earthly tabernacles are diffolved, and have put on
immortality, is often with me in endeared love; in which at this
time I behold dear Ifaac Pennington, in laſting union with us, tho'
abſent in body; whoſe work and labour of love in his day is not
forgotten of God, nor his people. He was brought to the true
fold in an early hour of the Goſpel day, as it broke forth in our
times, and a reft was prepared for him in a weary land; and the
Lord heard the cry of his foul in the deep, and prepared a deliverer
for him, out of the great fea of waves, troubles, and uncertainties;
and he came to the rock with joy when he ſaw him, and he built
upon him, and was eſtabliſhed and fortified againſt every ſtorm and
tempeft of the boisterous feas, which lifted up themſelves againſt
him; and they were not a few, nor of fmall confequence: his trials
were great, both inward and outward, in which he quitted himſelf
as a valiant champion in the Lamb's war. The Lord was with him,
and delivered him out of all his troubles, and filled his cup, and
often cauſed it to overflow, to the refreſhment of many; and freely
C 2
he
[ xx ]
op-
he dealt his bread to the hungry, and his cup he handed to the
thirſty: many widows and fatherleſs were relieved by him; his life
flowing forth as a fountain moft clear, both to the freed and im-
prifoned feed: a man of a contrite and humble fpirit, in the inno-
cency of a little child, by which he had entrance into the kingdom
of immortality; where he now refteth, out of the reach of the
preffor. He was a man of forrows, and acquainted with griefs;
his life was a pilgrimatory paffage to eternity. Who can fay he op-
preffed them, or was chargeable to them; though part of his out-
ward fubftance he loft for the Truth's teftimony? He was a man
filled with the Power and Spirit of the Lord; who, both in word,
writing, and converfation, gave teftimony to the world that he
fought a city whoſe builder and maker was God. He was a faith-
ful witnefs for the faving Truth, againſt all bad fpirits and unfound
members, unmeet for that body which God hath now prepared to
do his will: and his manufcripts left behind proclaim him a wit-
neſs againſt all falfe hirelings, and their unrighteous practices and
deceitful doctrines, whereby the earth both is, and hath for ages
been corrupted; and the minds of young and old filled with unfound
principles and beliefs in the weighty things relating to another
world; and give a true and lafting teftimony to the ſtrait and nar-
row path of life and righteouſneſs. He was endowed with wiſdom
to diſcover the living child's mother, and give her the poffeffion;
for the ſpirit of difcerning and of a found mind was in him, and
the fecrets of the Lord were upon his tabernacle. His upright
Chriſtian ſpirit rendered him lovely to the upright, and formidable
to the wicked. My heart is full of tender love to his life, who died
in the Lord, and his works follow him; and therefore doth my foul
believe him bleſſed with the righteous in his death. He was a man
of a retired ſpirit, and little minded the things of this life; but
loved juſtice, and delighted in mercy. The products of his life
were the fruits of the Spirit of Truth, therefore he is recorded
amongſt the living as one of the Lord's worthies, whoſe remem-
brance fhall live to generations to come. His teftimony he kept
to the end, and finiſhed his courſe with joy; ſo, on his behalf,
let the living praiſe the Lord, as doth my foul at this time; even fo
for ever.
Gatton in Surry, the 22d of
the Tenth Month, 1679.
AMBROSE RIGGE.
THE
[xxi ]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
THOMAS ZACHARY
FOR
ISAAC PENINGTON.
A
H! my dear and antient friend! what fhall I fay of thee?
Thou hast been a long traveller, even from thy youth, thro'
Egypt and Babylon, and therein defolate, ſeeking reſt, but finding
none; till the Lord God, the fhepherd of Ifrael (who heard thy be-
moanings) found thee out, and gathered thee by his fhepherd's
crook out of and from all the barren mountains and wild obfcure
places, wherein thou waft wearied and loft; even in the wilderneſs
did the Lord allure thee, and bring thee out to his own flock, to
hear and know his own voice from the voice of all ſtrange ſpirits,
and to feed among his lambs in the paſtures of life; whereby thou
greweſt ſtrong in the living word of power, and hadft wherewith to
miniſter of the words of life plentifully to others, through the di-
vine prefence and overflowing life of the Father in thee and with
thee; whereby many have been awakened, ftrengthened, and com-
forted in the Lord alone, and the very joy of God's falvation hath
reached to the mourners of Ifrael. Ah! a true labourer haſt thou
been in God's vineyard; and fowed, in much brokenneſs of heart
and tears, the precious feed of God's kingdom, and waited in the
faith and patience for the coming up thereof, and haft feen the
defire of thy foul anſwered; and now is thy work, labour, and tra-
vail over; and as thou haft fowed in the Spirit, thou art now reaping
of
[ xxii]
of the Spirit, life everlaſting, and art releaſed out of this ſtrait and
troubleſome world, wherein thou wert long a ſtranger and fufferer,
and hadſt no reſting-place in it; for thou earneſtly foughteſt for a
city that had foundations, whofe builder and maker was God
alone; and now thou haft found it, and art gathered into it, in-
heriting thy own manfion of peace, reſt, and joy, which the God of
the juft hath provided for thee.
O bleffed and praiſed be the God of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob,
who is not the God of the dead, but of the living! and from the
living aſcend heavenly praiſes and hallelujahs to him for ever and
for ever.
THOMAS ZACHARY.
1
}
THE
[ xxiii ]
1
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
ROBERT
JONES,
ISAAC
IN
CONCERNING
PENINGTON,
N the remembrance of my dear friend deceaſed, I had fomething
lived with me, to give in as in a way of teftimony, according to
the knowledge and fenfe I had of him. He was a man very tender
in fpirit, and of a broken heart before the Lord, as I often had a
living fenfe thereof; the fenfe of the power of an endleſs life being
often upon him, which did affect many, breaking them down in
great tenderneſs. His teftimony for the Lord and his bleffed Truth
was very found and weighty, to the reaching the confciences of
many. His labour in writing was in great tenderneſs, to the ga-
thering of the fcattered, to the building up of the convinced, and
to the comfort and confolation of the broken-hearted; for great
were the bowels of mercy in him, even to all, eſpecially to fuch who
had breathings in their hearts after the Lord, and the way of his
holineſs; his travail was greatly for fuch; and by his tenderneſs in
the Lamb's ſpirit he had an influence upon many, by reaching to
the good in them: for his bowels were moved for them. Well! his
reward is with the Lord for ever. In his family he was a man of
knowledge, and of true watchfulneſs, that all thoſe that were un-
der his care might be kept favoury in all things; being as a weaned
child from the world, and thofe things that perish with the
ufing. His moderation in all things was well known to many.
What fhall I fay? he was a man wholly devoted in his heart to
ferve the Lord his God; yea, I am perfuaded it was his delight to
do his will. I have had knowledge of him near twenty years, eſpe-
cially in fuffering; for it pleaſed the Lord fo to order it, that our
lot fell together in prifon feveral times; and I may fay it was well
it
[ xxiv ]
it was fo; for being made willing by the power of God (that did
attend him) to ſuffer with great patience, chearfulneſs, contented-
neſs, and true nobility of ſpirit, he was a good example to me and
others. I do not remember that ever I faw him caft down or de-
jected in his ſpirit in the time of his clofe confinement, nor ſpeak
hardly of thoſe that perfecuted him; for he was of that temper as
to love enemies, and to do good to thofe that hated him; having
received a meaſure of that virtue from Chrift, his mafter, that
taught him ſo to do. Indeed I may ſay, in the prifon he was a
help to the weak, being made inftrumental in the hand of the
Lord for that end; with much more than at preſent I ſhall expreſs.
O the remembrance of the glory that did often over-fhadow us in the
place of confinement! ſo that indeed the priſon was made by the Lord
unto us (who was powerfully with us) as a pleaſant palace! I was
often, with many more, by thoſe ſtreamings of life that did many
times run through his veffel, greatly overcome with the pure pre-
fence and overcoming love of our God, that was plentifully ſhed
abroad in our hearts. If I fhould look back and call to remem-
brance my knowledge further of him, I could write much; but
this ſhort teftimony readily fpringing up in my heart was with me to
give forth in the behalf of my dear friend. And this further I have
to add; indeed when I heard of his departure, it came near me;
but confidering how it was him, being fully perfuaded he was fitted
for his change, in the will of the Lord I was fatisfied, counting his
ſtate happy; having faith in God that he had laid down his head
in peace, and entered into endleſs glory, where forrow ſhall be no
more; having done the work his maſter (Chriſt the Lord) gave
him to do. He kept the faith to the end, and has finished his.
courſe with joy, leaving a good favour behind him. With his ſpirit
my foul has union. At the writing hereof, my heart is broken
into tenderneſs, and mine eyes run over with tears. Oh! let
us follow after him in faithfulneſs, fulfilling what is behind of our
teſtimony for the Lord and his Truth, being faithful to the death,
as our brother that is gone before us was (who has left a good ex-
ample behind him); fo will the crown of life be our portion for
ever! That it may be ſo with my own foul, and with the fouls of
all my tender brethren and fifters every-where, is the cry of my
heart to the Lord my God; and I hope it will be fo till time ſhall
be no more with me in this world.
ROBERT JONES.
[ XXV ]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
THOMAS EVERNDEN,
CONCERNING
ISAAC PENINGTON.
C
ONCERNING our dear friend and brother Ifaac Pening-
ton, I have a teſtimony riſeth in my heart.
I, with many thouſands more in this our age, day, and genera-
tion, have cauſe to admire, blefs, praiſe, and magnify the name
of the Lord God of heaven and earth, in that he hath fo largely
manifested himſelf in the hearts of male and female, to the ten-
dering their hearts, and enlightening their underſtandings; and to
the gathering them out of the empty profeffions, and by-ways, and
crooked paths of this world, and to the purifying and fanctifying
their hearts by his powerful word; and giving them a good under-
ſtanding in the knowledge of himſelf, and the deep myſteries of
his heavenly kingdom; and enabling many of them, in the openings.
and motion of the fame life and power, to ſpeak and write, to the
anfwering unto the witnefs of God in many, and for the joy, com-
fort, and eſtabliſhment of others. I can truly fay, dear Ifaac Pe-
VOL. I.
d
nington
[ xxvi ]
nington was one of that number; for after full feven years travail
and deep exerciſe of mind amongſt the empty profeffions, and that
God had fhewed me mercy in drawing a little nearer to me, and
fhining by his glorious light into my confcience, whereby I came to
fee the formality of profeffors, and the emptiness of all forms and
profeffions that ſtood in man's will, and the vileneſs of my own
heart, and the neceffity of being faved and fanctified; and that
there was no other way, but through and by the light of Chrift
Jefus, that had wrought thus powerfully to convince me; then
did fome of this good man's writings come to my view, which an-
fwered to the light, life, and truth, which was raiſed of the Lord
in my heart, as face anfwers face in a glafs; I can truly fay, to
my joy, and comfort, and confolation, and eſtabliſhment in the
Truth. So that the life and teftimony of him was and is truly
precious to me, and to all the faithful; and he fhall be had in
everlaſting remembrance; who in the time of his life was a true
fubject in the kingdom of Jefus, and a faithful labourer in his
vineyard, and fufferer for the Truth, in the patience of the Lamb;
whoſe delight was to devote himſelf to retiredneſs, and to wait
upon God, to feel his powerful love to abound in his tender heart
(this he accounted his greateſt glory and riches); by which he was
made intirely to love and have a good efteem of his faithful bre-
thren in the Truth; and was a man of peace and love to all, and
greatly delighted in the love and unity of the brethren; and where
the contrary appeared, it grieved his tender heart. And glad I am
that it was my lot to be with him the two laft meetings that he
was at; the firft of which was in the city of Canterbury, I being
at that time very weak in body; and it lay upon me from the Lord
to go to the meeting, where I found him, together with friends,
waiting in filence upon the Lord; and when I had fat down with
them, O the mighty power of the Lord God that deſcended upon
us! fo that I could fay the fountain of the great deeps was
opened! and O the powerful, pleafant, and cryſtal ſtreams, how
did they abundantly flow into our hearts! And his cup was made
to overflow, to the watering and refreſhing of the tender-hearted
fo that God did make me a witneſs of the feal of his teftimony,
with many more, at thofe two laft meetings, as at fome other
times, where the life and power of God did abound in him, and
fweetly flow from him. And fully fatisfied I am that the Lord hath
taken
[ xxvii ]
1
taken him in a good time, and from the evil to come; and that
he hath laid down his head in reft and everlaſting peace with
the Lord, where he is "at reft from his labours, and his works
"follow him ;" and is in a full and perpetual enjoyment of life
and glory. And although his body be in the duft, yet his life
fpeaks, and his name is precious, and fhall be had in everlaſting
remembrance.
Farewel, dear Ifaac! bleffed man of peace and love;
Thou art i'th' glorious reft with God above.
And this upon my heart the Lord hath feal'd;
For by his Spirit to me it is reveal'd.
་
d 2
THOMAS Evernden,
THE
[ xxviii ]
THE
TESTIMONY
OF
CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR,
FOR
ISAAC PENINGTON.
B
LESSED be the God of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and
of all his holy ones, from the beginning of the world until
now; who hath kept all his by his mighty power and terrible name;
who in all ages and generations, and under all miniſtrations and
difpenfations, have feared and ferved him: glory be to his name for
ever. And he hath been a God of eternal love unto them, and it
hath been his banner spread over them, and is at this day, and
hath been in all ages, and they have faithfully ferved him, and of-
fered holy offerings unto him, in his pure fear and reverence, from
the ſenſe of his living and pure ftreaming love; and the blefling of
God hath been and is with them, and his glory he ftill puts upon
them, that they may bring forth unto him; and in the end, when
they have faithfully ferved the Lord in their day and generation,
they may return to their long home, and be at reft with God for
ever, their portion for evermore.
Of this number was dear Ifaac Penington; a worthy man in his
generation, dearly beloved of his God, and preferved by him; fo
that many can fay how dear he was unto them, whilft he lived
amongst them! And tho' dead, he yet liveth and fpeaketh in thoſe
pure
and holy teſtimonics he hath borne unto Truth, both in word
and writing; fo that many hearts can testify and bear witneſs that
he
[xxix ]
he was truly ſent of God to publiſh his moſt bleffed and holy name g
for he was a tender-fpirited man, and dear to the Ton
i
unto his heart, where he tenderly lived and breathed, this
things he might do his facred will. Ah! dear Ifaac Pennington was a
man near and dear unto my foul, as he was unto many others, be-
cauſe of his inward tender-fpiritedness! And methinks I feel him
ſtill in the courſe of his life, fince I have of late years more eſpe-
cially known him. He was a man truly endued with humility; and
when we have been together, and he would open his heart unto me,
it would ſo anſwer my own life, and the exerciſes of my own con→
dition, that my heart would be fo affected with joy, that with
melting bowels of God's eternal love we have often met and faluted
each other; and I may fay, dear brother Ifaac Penington, thou
liveft indeed, and my foul lives with thee. And what happineſs is
it, that though dear and tender friends may be outwardly parted,
yet are they dearly united together in the Lord, Jefus! And my foul
at this time is overcome, melted, and broken within me, at the
dear remembrance of thee. O dear Ifaac liveth, and his life is with
us, and not ſeparated from us. And I pray God that every one who
now profeffeth the holy name of God may live as he did, in the
fingleness of their hearts; intirely, above all things, preffing to be
united unto the holy power of God alone! His cries were daily to
God, that all Truth's profeffors might be really poffeffors of eter-
nal life; and his miniftry was accompanied with a holy, heavenly
zeal, in the opening life of God's eternal power and wifdom; fo
that the true birth within would many times leap at the ſweet ſaluta-
tion of his life; and the tender power of God, that ſpoke through
him, would precioufly raiſe the life in others to a fweet har-
moniouſneſs, livingly to praife God: for what he innocently and
humbly aimed at, both in his words and writings (I can teftify
with many others) was God's pure glory. An intire innocent man
he was, without guile in his heart; a true Nathaniel indeed; a
lovely inftrument in God's hand to the turning many to righteouf-
neſs, both by word and writing; a true tender friend to all that
waited for God's falvation every-where; and fuch who laboured un-
der inward exercifes and travails of foul, he travailed with and for,
and miniftred unto many fuch, both by word and writing, that they
might come to be led by the fpirit of true fanctification, and know
God's falvation.
About
[ xxx ]
1
About thirty years fince, as I remember, in the North of Eng
land, I met with a book of Ifaac Penington's, which had this ſcrip-
ture following, as the ſubject whereof he treated: JOB XXXviii. 2.
"Who is this that darkeneth counfel by words without know-
ledge?" This fcripture, and the matter of his difcourfe upon
it, in that book, at that time I was affected with; for at that
time I, with others, had precious openings of many heavenly things;
being then fenfible that no man could be a minifter of Chriſt Jefus
without the work of regeneration wrought in his own heart; and
not only fo, but he muſt be ſent of God to publiſh the everlaſting
gofpel, in the alone evidence of his power and Spirit, without the
mixture of his own will, and obſerving his own time when to ſpeak,
and alfo to be filent; fo that we believed and were convinced it was
to be a ſpiritual miniſtry, and to be diſpenſed in the motion and evi-
dence of the fame Spirit, otherwiſe it was " a darkening of coun-
"fel by words without knowledge." This was my condition,
with many others at that time, becauſe we ſpent many precious
openings upon our own wills, and the wills and lufts of others.
••
Now this I bring to fignify that dear Ifaac Penington, in thoſe
days, had precious openings of Truth, and was a man waiting for
the kingdom of God, to be further inftructed therein, and came to
attain the end of his divine breathings and heavenly defires. And
thoſe that honeſtly, in the fear of God, read his writings, may fee
how clearly he hath writ concerning the things of God's kingdom;
that ſo both ſmall and great, profeffors and profane, may, as in a
glafs, fee their conditions; and thofe that as yet have not repented,
may conſider betimes, and repent, left they periſh.
CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR.
THE
[ xxxi ]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
THOMAS ELLWOOD,
CONCERNING
ISAAC PENINGTON.
A
gra-
LTHOUGH I am not ignorant that many weighty and
living teſtimonies have been already given in by true and
faithful witneffes upon the fame occafion, which might well feem
fufficient to excufe mine; yet am I not thereby clear, but find a
preffing upon my ſpirit to write a few lines alfo concerning this
my dear deceaſed friend; to which, I confefs, I am induced, and
in fome fort engaged, by the double obligation of affection and
titude. Love him I did, and that intirely, and fure I am very de-
fervedly; for he was worthy indeed of love from all men, but more
eſpecially from me, to whom he had been abundantly kind: for in
the day wherein it pleafed the Lord to awaken my foul, and call
me out of the pollutions of the world, with refpect alike to worship
and converfation (for which I became the derifion of my country,
the ſcorn and contempt of my familiars and acquaintance, and in
a manner an outcaſt alſo, expofed at it were in the world to ſhift
in it) how welcome was I then to him! how affectionately did he
receive me! how regardfully did he take care of me! how tenderly
and like a father did he watch over me, that I might not be drawn
back, or any way be betrayed from the fimplicity of Truth, as I had
received it! And can I ever forget his love, or let his manifold
kindneſs flip out of my mind! Oh no; the remembrance of him is
pleafant
!
[ xxxii ]
pleafant to me, and I think not of him without delight: for as a
friend, I truly loved him; as a father (for ſuch his care of me ren-
dered him to me) I reverenced him; as an elder, I honoured him,
and that (as he right well deferved) with double honour. My fpirit
was truly united to his; yea, my foul was linked and knit unto him
in the holy covenant of life, which death hath not been able to
diffolve. Bear with me therefore a little, I intreat thee, whoever
thou art, under whofe eye thefe lines may chance to fall, if I take
liberty to expreſs my fenfe of this my beloved friend; wherein if I
feem fomewhat particular, know that my acquaintance with him
was fo.
He was naturally furniſhed with a ſharp and excellent wit, and
that well cultivated and polished with an ingenuous and liberal
education; his difpofition was courteous and affable, free from
pride and affectation. His ordinary difcourfe chearful and pleaſant,
neither morofe nor light, but innocently fweet, and tempered with
fuch a ſerious gravity, as rendered his converfe both delightful and
profitable.
And
From his childhood (as I have heard him occaſionally ſay) he was
religiouſly inclined, and fought the Lord in his tender years.
although the way of Truth was not then fo caft up unto him, as
fince, through the goodneſs of the Lord, it was; yet that he had
then, at times, fome true touches and taſtes of life; fome openings
and fights of heavenly things (though not fo clear, unmixed, and
abiding as after), the treatifes which he then wrote do manifeftly
declare. And albeit, at the firft manifeftation of Truth unto him
in this preſent diſpenſation, he was not without doubts and jealouſies
concerning it, as himſelf relates; nor free for fome time from
diſputes and reaſonings againſt the meannefs of its appearance; yet,
after it pleaſed the Father, in the riches of his grace, to reveal his
Son in him, thereby giving him to fee, and certainly to know,
what was that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God; O
how joyfully did he receive it! how willingly did he bow unto it!
how readily did he yield his neck to the yoke of Chriſt! and how
conftantly and delightfully did he wear it! Did he then regard the
pleaſures of the times, or value the preferments and honours of the
world, though living at that time in the favour and affluence of it?
No, no: he turned his back upon it all; eſteeming the reproach of
Chriſt greater riches than the treaſures of Egypt; and caſting down
his crown at the foot of Jefus, he willingly became a fool to the
world,
[ xxxiii ]
world, and to the wifdom thereof, that he might be made truly
wife to God. And furely he obtained his defire herein; for as he
honoured the Lord, and preferred him above all; fo the Lord did
highly honour him, and gave him liberally of the true and heavenly
wiſdom, adorned with humility; fo that he was learned, and
yet humble; full of knowledge (heavenly knowledge) yet not puffed
up thereby. And as he had freely received of the Lord, fo did he
freely and readily communicate thereof (as the following fheets do
witnefs) unto fuch as ſtood in need of counſel, advice, information,
or direction in their travel to the heavenly country. To which fer-
vice he was fitted and very well furniſhed by the experiences of his
own travel; for the Lord had led him through many a ftreight and
difficulty; through many temptations, trials, and exerciſes, by which
he had tried and proved him. Not only through the Red-Sea and
the Wilderneſs had he paffed, but the bottom of Jordan alfo had
he feen, and the upholding delivering arm of the Lord through all he
had known and felt; whereby he was able to fpeak a word of in-
formation to the bewildered paffenger; a word of encouragement
to the weary and fainting traveller; a word of comfort to the af-
flicted foul, and of confolation to the wounded fpirit. And O!
how ſweetly have I heard it flow from him! How has it dropped
like the dew, and diſtilled like the gentle rain! Ah! how tender,
how compaffionate, how full of bowels and feeling fympathy was
he! Surely his words have been many times as apples of gold in
pictures of filver. For of a truth the Lord was with him, and
his heavenly power did often fill his temple; and the Spirit of the
Lord reſted upon him, and the fruits thereof were plentifully brought
forth through him, in love, in joy, in peace, in long-fuffering, in
gentleneſs, in goodneſs, in faith, in meeknefs, and in temperance;
fo richly did the Word of the Lord dwell in him. His delight was
in the fervice of God, to which he was wholly given up, and in it
ſpent most of his time, either publickly in meetings waiting upon
God, or privately in vifiting and miniftring unto thoſe that were
diftreffed, or any way afflicted in mind or body; and when at home,
he was frequent in retirements, and very inward with the Lord.
Very fervent he was in prayer, and very frequent; for the Spirit of
grace and fupplication was plentifully poured upon him, by which
he often wreſtled with the Lord, and not in vain. The holy fcrip-
tures he read much, and with great delight and profit: for he made
VOL. I.
e
it
[ xxxiv ]
power.
it not a curfory or formal bufinefs, nor fought to pick out the
meaning by his natural wit or learning; but, with a great compofed-
nefs of mind, and reverence of fpirit, waited to receive the true
fenſe of them from the openings of that divine Spirit, by which
the penmen of them were infpired. Great and ftrong was the tra-
vail of his fpirit for the converfion of others; and in a more eſpe-
cial manner did his love flow and bowels yearn after the profeffors
of religion, for whom he continually and earneſtly laboured, both
by word and writing (not ceafing to feek them to his dying-day),
that they might be brought off from the fhadows, and come at
length to inherit fubftance. And bleffed be the Lord, by the
powerful operation of the Spirit of God, through his miniftry, many
were turned to the Truth, and many confirmed in it for the Lord
was with him, and fpake by him; fo that his teaching was with
divine authority, in the demonftration of the Spirit, and of
To the world, and the affairs of it, he was very much a ſtranger;
but deeply experienced in the things of God: for his affection being
fet on things above, his converfation was in heaven, and his life
hid with Chriſt in God. He was but a pilgrim on the earth, and is
now gone home. In his family he was a true pattern of goodneſs
and piety; not only by his grave example, but by his favoury
inftructions and exhortations to godlinefs. To his wife he was
a moſt affectionate husband; to his children, a loving and tender
father; to his fervants, a mild and gentle mafter; to his friends, a
firm and faſt friend; to the poor, compaffionate and open-hearted;
and to all courteous and kind. Very zealous he was for the Truth,
unwearied in promoting it, bold and undaunted in the defence of
it, faithful in his teftimony to it, patient and chearful in his
fuffering for it. A right good and pious man indeed was he; one
that truly feared God, and warily efchewed evil.
How great and various his exercifes were in the times of his
former profeffions; how earnest and preffing his ſpirit then was
after the pure enjoyment of God; how ftrange and admirable the
dealings of the Lord were with him; and how far he came at length
to ſee the travail of his foul, and to be fatisfied; as himſelf of all
men beft knew; fo he hath occafionally ſcattered here and there a
hint thereof, in ſeveral pieces of the following books: which, for
the reader's fatisfaction, I had once thought to have collected and
prefented here together; but finding, amongſt his looſe papers, a
fummary
t
[ XXXV ]
fummary account thereof, written with his own hand, above a
dozen years ago, when being in bonds for Chrift's fake, he was
fick near unto death, I choſe rather to tranſcribe that hither, and
refer the more curious and induftrious reader to the feveral books
and papers of the enſuing volumes, wherein he hath touched the
fame fubject; as namely, The Way of Life and Death, &c. in the
Preface, and in the Poftfcript. Babylon the Great defcribed, &c.
The Scattered Sheep, &c. An Examination of the Grounds, &c. and
A Glass for Profeffors. Where is the Wife. Obfervations on Rom. xiv.
20. Of the Church in its first and pureft State. The holy Truth and
People defended. Not to enumerate each particular.
The account he gives of his ſpiritual travail is as followeth :
"A true and faithful relation, in brief, concerning myſelf, in
"reference to my fpiritual travails, and the Lord's dealings
"with me. I fay true and faithful, becauſe it is of the Truth,
"and not given forth in my own will, but in the Lord's will
"and requirings of me at this time, for his fervice. The
"relation is as follows:
"I have been a man of forrow and affliction from my child-
"hood, feeling the want of the Lord, and mourning after him;
ſeparated by him from the love, nature, and fpirit of this world,
"and turned in fpirit towards him, almoſt ever fince I could re-
"member.
66
"In the fenfe of my loſt eſtate, I fought after the Lord; I
"read the Scriptures; I watched over mine own heart; I cried unto
"the Lord for what I felt the want of; I bleffed his name in
"what he mercifully did for me, and beſtowed on me, &c. What-
"ever I read in the Scriptures as the way of God to my underſtand-
ing, I gave myſelf to the faithful practice of; being contented to
"meet with all the reproach, oppofition, and feveral kinds of
ſufferings, which it pleaſed the Lord to meaſure out to me therein.
"And I cannot but fay that the Lord was good unto me, did viſit
me, did teach me, did help me, did teftify his acceptance of me
many times, to the refreshing and joy of my heart before him.
"But my foul was not fatisfied with what I met with, nor in-
"deed could be, there being further quickenings and preffings in
.
66
""
e 2
my
[ xxxvi ]
в
my ſpirit, after a more full, certain, and fatisfactory knowledge;
" even after the fenfe, fight, and enjoyment of God, as was
"teftified in the Scriptures to have been felt and enjoyed in the
"former times: for I faw plainly that there was a ftop of the
“ſtreams, and a great falling fhort of the power, life and glory
"which they partook of. We had not fo the Spirit, nor were ſo
"in the faith, nor did fo walk and live in God, as they did. They
were come to Mount Sion, and the heavenly Jerufalem, &c.
"which we had hardly fo much as the literal knowledge or appre-
"henfion what they were. So that I faw the whole courfe of re-
ligion among us was, for the moſt part, but a talk, to what they
"felt, enjoyed, poffeffed, and lived in.
66
66
66
"This fenfe made me fick at heart indeed, and ſet me upon
"deep crying to God, clofe fearching the Scriptures, and waiting
"on God, that I might receive the pure fenfe and underſtanding of
"them, from and in the light, and by the help of his Spirit. And
"what the Lord did beftow on me in that ftate, with thankfulneſs
"I remember before him at this very day: for he was then my
"God, and a pitier and a watcher over me; though he had not
pleaſed then to direct me how to ftay my mind upon him. And
"then I was led (indeed I was led, I did not run of myſelf) into
66 a way
of feparation from the worship of the world into a ga-
"thered fociety: for this both the Scripture and the Spirit of God
"in me gave teftimony unto; and what we then met with, and
"what leadings and help we then felt, there is a remembrance
" and teſtimony in my heart to this day. But there was ſomewhat
wanting, and we mistook our way: for whereas we ſhould have
preffed forward into the fpirit and power, we ran too much
outward into the letter and form: and though the Lord in many
things helped us, yet therein he was against us, and brought
"darkneſs, confufion, and ſcattering upon us. I was forely broken
«and darkened, and in this darkened ſtate ſometimes lay ftill for
"a long ſeaſon, fecretly mourning and crying out to the Lord
night and day. Sometimes I ran about, hearkening after what
might appear or break forth in others; but never met with any
thing whereto there was the leaſt anſwer in my heart, fave in
"one people, who had a touch of Truth; but I never expreffed
"fo much to any of them, nor indeed felt them at all able to reach
my condition.
46
46
*
66
66
66'
" At
1
[ xxxvii ]
<<
66
<<
66
""
CE
"At laft, after all my diftreffes, wanderings, and fore travails, I
" met with ſome writings of this people called QUAKERS, which
"I caft a flight eye upon and difdained, as falling very ſhort of
"that wiſdom, light, life, and power which I had been longing
"for, and ſearching after. I had likewiſe, ſome
I had likewife, fome pretty diſtance
"of time after this, opportunity of meeting with fome of them;
" and divers of them were by the Lord moved (I know it to be ſơ
fince) to come to me. As I remember, at the very firft they
"reached to the life of God in me, which life anfwered their
"voice, and cauſed a great love in me to ſpring to them; but ſtill
"in my reaſonings with them, and difputes alone (in my mind)
concerning them, I was very far off from owning them, as fo
knowing the Lord, or fo appearing in his life and power as
my condition needed, and as my foul waited for. Yea, the
"more I converfed with them, the more I feemed in my under-
ſtanding and reafon to get over them, and to trample them
"under my feet, as a poor, weak, filly, contemptible generation,
"who had fome fmatterings of Truth in them, and fome honeſt
"defires towards God; but very far off from the clear and full
underſtanding of his way and will.
and will. And this was the effect
"almoſt of every diſcourſe with them; they ftill reached my
“heart, and I felt them in the ſecrets of my foul; which caufed
"the love in me always to continue, yea fometimes to increaſe
"towards them: but daily my underſtanding got more and more
over them, and therein I daily more and more deſpiſed them.
"After a long time I was invited to hear one of them (as I had
"been often, they in tender love pitying me, and feeling my
"of that which they poffeffed); and there was an anſwer in my
"heart, and I went with fear and trembling, with defires to the
"Moft High, who was over all, and knew all, that I might not
"receive any thing for Truth which was not of him, nor with-
"ſtand any thing which was of him; but might bow before the
appearance of the Lord my God, and none other. And indeed,
"when I came, I felt the preſence and power of the Moft High
among them, and words of Truth from the Spirit of Truth
reaching to my heart and confcience, opening my ftate as in the
"prefence of the Lord. Yea, I did not only feel words and de-
"monftrations from without, but I felt the dead quickened, the
* feed raiſed; infomuch that my heart (in the certainty of light,, and
"clearness
66
cx
want
!
[ xxxviii]
6%
* clearness of true fenfe) faid, This is he, this is he, there is no
"other: this is be whom I have waited for and fought after from my
childhood; who was always near me, and had often begotten life in
my heart; but I knew him not diftinctly, nor how to receive him, or
dwell with him. And then in this fenfe (in the melting and
breakings of my ſpirit) was I given up to the Lord, to become
his, both in waiting for the further revealing of his feed in me,
" and to ferve him in the life and power of his feed.
66
46
66
66
66
1
"Now what I met with after this, in my travails, in my waitings,
"in my fpiritual exerciſes, is not to be uttered; only in general I
may fay this, I met with the very ſtrength of hell. The cruel
oppreffor roared upon me, and made me feel the bitterneſs of his
captivity, while he had any power: yea, the Lord was far from
my help, and from the voice of my roaring. I alfo met with deep
"fubtilties and devices to entangle me in that wisdom, which
"feemeth able to make wife in the things of God; but indeed is
"fooliſhneſs, and a fnare to the foul, bringing it back into cap-
tivity, where the enemy's gins prevail. And what I met with
outwardly from my own dear father, from my kindred, from my
fervants, from the people and powers of the world, for no other
"cauſe but fearing my God, worshipping him as he hath required
of me, and bowing to his feed, which is his Son, who is to be
"worshipped by men and angels for evermore, the Lord my God
knoweth, before whom my heart and ways are; who preferved
"me in love to them, in the midst of all I fuffered from them,
"and doth ſtill fo preferve me; bleffed be his pure and holy
66
66
❝ name.
66
"6
66
"But fome may defire to know what I have at laſt met with? I
" anſwer, I have met with the Seed. Underſtand that word, and
"thou wilt be fatisfied, and enquire no further. I have met with
my God; I have met with my Saviour; and he hath not been
preſent with me without his falvation; but I have felt the heal-
ings drop upon my foul from under his wings. I have met
"with the true knowledge, the knowledge of life, the living
knowledge, the knowledge which is life; and this hath had the
“true virtue in it, which my foul hath rejoiced in, in the prefence
"of the Lord. I have met with the Seed's Father, and in the
"Seed I have felt him my Father. There I have read his na-
“ture, his love, his compaffions, his tenderneſs, which have melted,
6c
❝ over-
[ xxxix ]
←
1
:
·
« overcome, and changed my heart before him. I have met with
the Seed's faith, which hath done and doth that which the faith
❝ of man can never do, I have met with the true birth, with
"the birth which is heir of the kingdom, and inherits the king-
"dom. I have met with the true fpirit of prayer and fupplication,
"wherein the Lord is prevailed with, and which draws from him
"whatever the condition needs; the foul always looking up to him
in the will, and in the time and way, which is acceptable with
>
him. What ſhall I fay? I have met with the true peace, the
"true righteoufnefs, the true holiness, the true reft of the foul,
"the everlaſting habitation, which the redeemed dwell in: and I
"know all theſe to be true, in him that is true, and am capable
"of no doubt, difpute, or reafoning in my mind about them; it
abiding there, where it hath received the full affurance and
"fatisfaction. And alfo I know very well and diftinctly in fpirit
"where the doubts and difputes are, and where the certainty and
"full affurance is, and in the tender mercy of the Lord am pre-
"ferved out of the one, and in the other.
6-6
66
Now, the Lord knows, theſe things I do not utter in a boaft-
ing way; but would rather be ſpeaking of my nothingneſs, my
emptinefs, my weakneſs, my manifold infirmities, which I feel
"more than ever. The Lord hath broken the man's part in me,
" and I am a worm, and no man before him. I have no ftrength
"to do any good or fervice for him; nay, I cannot watch over or
•
preferve myſelf. I feel daily that I keep not alive my own
"foul; but am weaker before men, yea weaker in my fpirit, as
"in myfelf, than ever I have been. But I cannot but utter to
"the praiſe of my God, and I feel his arm ſtretched out for me;
"and my weakneſs, which I feel in myſelf, is not my lofs, but
advantage before him. And theſe things I write, as having no
"end at all therein of my own, but felt it this morning required
"of me; and fo in fubmiflion and ſubjection to my God have I
given up to do it, leaving the fuccefs and fervice of it with
"him.'
66
"
Aylesbury, 15th of Third Month, 1667.
I. P.
A
Neither to him was it given only to believe, but to fuffer alfo for
the fake of Chrift. His impriſonments were many, and fome of
them
[ xl ]
them long, which with great conftancy and quietness of mind het
underwent. But becauſe fo general an account may perhaps not
anſwer the expectation and defire of the reader, I will here fubjoin
a more particular; but that as contracted and ſhort as may be.
His firſt impriſonment was at Aylesbury gaol, in the years 1661
and 1662, being committed thither for worshipping God in his
own houfe; where, for feventeen weeks, great part of it in winter,
he was kept in a cold and very incommodious room, without a
chimney; from which hard uſage his tender body contracted fo
great and violent a distemper, that for feveral weeks after he was
not able to turn himſelf in his bed.
His fecond impriſonment was in the year 1664, being taken out
of a meeting, where he with others were peaceably waiting upon
the Lord, and fent to Aylesbury gaol, where he again remained a
priſoner between ſeventeen and eighteen weeks.
His third impriſonment was in the year 1665, being taken up,
with many others, in the open ftreet of Amersham, as they were
carrying and accompanying the body of a deceaſed friend to the grave.
From hence he was again fent to Aylesbury gaol; but this com-
mitment being in order to banishment, was but for a month, or
thereabouts.
His fourth impriſonment was in the fame year 1665, about a
month after his releaſe from the former. Hitherto his commit-
ments had been by the civil magiftrates; but now, that he might
experience the feverity of each, he fell into the military hands.
A rude foldier, without any other warrant than what he carried in
his fcabbard, came to his houfe, and told him he came to fetch
him before Sir Philip Palmer, one of the deputy-lieutenants of the
county. He meekly went, and was by him fent with a guard of
foldiers to Aylesbury gaol, with a kind of mittimus, importing,
"That the gaoler fhould receive and keep him in fafe cuftody
during the pleaſure of the earl of Bridgewater;" who had it
feems conceived fo great, as well as unjuft, diſpleaſure againſt this
innocent man, that although (it being the ſickneſs year) the plague
was fufpected to be in the gaol, he would not be prevailed with,
by the earneſt importunity of a perfon both of confiderable quality
and power in the county, only to permit Ifaac Penington to be re-
moved to another houſe in the town, and there kept prifoner until
the gaol were clear. Afterwards a prifoner dying in the gaol of
the
[ xli ]
the plague, the gaoler's wife, her husband being abfent, gave leave
to Ifaac Penington to remove to another houſe, where he was fhut
up
about fix weeks: after which, by the procurement of the earl
of Ancram, a releaſe was ſent from the faid Philip Palmer, by which
he was diſcharged, after he had fuffered impriſonment three-
quarters of a year, with apparent hazard of his life, and that for
no offence.
By that time he had been at home about three weeks, a party of
foldiers from the faid Philip Palmer (by order of the earl of Bridg-
water, as was reported) came to his houſe, and feizing him in bed,
carried him away to Aylesbury gaol again; where, without any
caufe fhewed, or crime objected, he was kept in priſon a year and
a half, in rooms fo cold, damp, and unhealthy, that it went very
near to coſt him his life, and procured him fo great a diftemper,
that he lay weak of it ſeveral months. At length a relation of his
wife's, by an habeas corpus, removed him to the King's-Bench bar,
where (with the wonder of the court that a man fhould be fo long-
impriſoned for nothing) he was at laſt releaſed in the
year 1668.
This was his fifth impriſonment.
His fixth impriſonment was in the year 1670, in Reading gaol,
whither he went to vifit his friends that were fufferers there for the
teftimony of Jeſus. Of which notice being given to one called Sir
William Armorer, a juftice of the peace for that county, and living
in the town, he was forthwith fent for before him, and committed
to the gaol, thereby becoming a fellow-ſufferer with them, whom,
being ſufferers for the Truth, he came to vifit. Here he continued
a priſoner a year and three-quarters, and was brought under the fen-
tence of premunire; but at length the Lord delivered him.
Thus through many tribulations did he enter into the kingdom;
having been exercifed, tried, proved, and approved by the Lord.
Long was he in the warfare, and, like a good foldier, manfully
endured the fight of afflictions: but having fought the good fight,
and kept the faith, he hath now, in the Lord's good time, finiſhed
his courſe, and is gone to poffefs the crown of righteouſneſs laid
for him, and all thoſe that love the bright appearance of the
Lord. A faithful labourer he was in the Lord's vineyard for many
years; but now hath he ceafed from his labour, and his works fol-
low him. He walked with God, and is tranflated. To the Lord
he lived, and in the Lord he died, and by the Spirit of the Lord he
is pronounced bleffed: bleffed for ever be the name of the Lord
therefore.
up
VOL. I.
f
THE
[ xlii ]
}
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
ALEXANDER PARKER,
CONCERNING
ISAAC PENINGTON.
H
AVING feen and read many lively and freſh teſtimonies of
ſeveral of my dear brethren concerning our dear friend and
brother Ifaac Penington, deceaſed, I did fatisfy myſelf with what
was written by them, being fo full and large, and anſwering my
own ſenſe, that I did acquiefce in my own mind, not intending to
appear in public in this matter; but of late hearing a teftimony
read, written by his dear wife M. P. it did fo revive the remembrance
of him, that the fenfe of that love and endeared affection which
I always had for him, did fo work in my mind, that I could not
be clear without cafting in my mite amongſt the rest of my brethren,
having known him from the early days of his convincement of the
bleffed Truth, in which he lived, and for which he fuffered; and
"in the faith of which holy Truth he finiſhed his courfe." The
first time that I faw his face was at Reading in Berkshire, in the
twelfth month, called February, 1656. And though at that time
he had not the outward garb and appearance of a QUAKER, yet
did mine eye behold an inward beauty and hidden virtue of life in
him; and my foul, in the bowels of the love of Truth, did cleave
unto him, and I could have embraced him in the fenſe thereof;
but in thoſe early days we were cautious, and laid hands on no
man fuddenly. He did not haſtily join in ſociety with us; but for
fome
[ xliii]
fome time did reafon about many things. Though he owned the
principal doctrines of Truth, yet the inftruments that declared it,
and their way and manner, ſeemed very contemptible to him, until
he heard that faithful fervant of God G. F. (who was the firſt
man that proclaimed the goſpel of life and falvation amongſt us) at
a meeting at J. Crook's, in Bedfordshire, at the time called Whit-
funtide, in the year 1658. At which meeting the myſtery of ini-
quity was fo opened, and the mystery of the gospel of peace fo
plainly manifefted, that he was fully fatisfied; and from that time
gave up himſelf to the obedience of Truth, and took up the croſs,
and became a diſciple and follower of Chriſt, and ſuffered with us
for the name and teftimony of Jeſus, and bore the ſcoffings and re-
proaches of the ungodly with much patience, accounting it his
riches: and in much love did he embrace and receive the meffengers
and fervants of God into his houfe; where were many precious
meetings, and many were convinced and brought into the of
life, amongſt whom he was a good pattern, and an help unto them;
and when they were bowed down in fpirit, and afflicted in mind,
he was a great help and comfort to fuch, having himſelf travelled
through various and deep exercifes, through which the Lord
brought him, and eſtabliſhed him in righteouſneſs.
way
"He was a
"man of a quick apprehenfion; and when any ſpark of light did
"ariſe from the coals of God's altar, it quickly kindled in him a
" flame of holy zeal for God and his Truth; even in the morning
"of his convincement, and in the freſh openings of life, many
"living teftimonies were given forth by him," as in his writings
may be ſeen, to which the reader is referred. His heart and foul
were much drawn forth unto the profeffors of religion of all per-
fuafions, having a deep travail for them; and in "much bowels of
"love and tender compaffion did he intreat and befeech them to
"turn to the true Light," that they might be converted and
healed. But few did regard his deep travails for them; which-
doubtleſs will riſe in judgment as a teſtimony againſt them. And
I do defire that thoſe, whoſe day is not over, may yet confider, and
take a farther view into his writings, and fearch into their own
hearts, that with the light of Jefus that ſhines there they may come
to a true fight of their fins, and fo to a godly forrow, which may
work repentance unto life, that they may find mercy with the
Lord, and peace to their immortal fouls. In all his writings and
declarations
£ 2
[ xliv ]
66
declarations he ſtill pointed to life, and preffed "all to mind the
power of godlineſs," and not to fettle or content themſelves in the
letter or form of religion. This, oh! this, was the very bent of his
mind; and the ſtrong cries of his foul to the Lord were, that all might
66
partake of life, even the life of Jefus," in their mortal bodies,
"which he, through the death of the croſs, was made a partaker
of; in which life he lived unto God, and was a lively pattern of
humility, walking uprightly, in innocency, before the Lord. He was
a man weaned from the world, and redeemed from the earth, his
mind being daily exerciſed in things of an higher nature, drinking
daily of the water that Chrift gives; which was in " him a well of
living water, fpringing up unto eternal life, which filled his veffel,
"and cauſed his cup to overflow." Much might be faid of this
good man; but words are too fhort to fignify the depth of his in-
ward life. I write not theſe things to exalt or fet up man; but to
exalt and magnify the grace of God, which was in him; which
was fufficient for him; by the power of which he was carried on
through all his troubles and exerciſes; by which he was taught to
deny ungodliness, and all the evil lufts of this wicked world; and
to live righteouſly, foberly, and godly in this world; in which godly
life he perfifted to the end of his days. And as he lived in the
Lord, even fo he died, laying down his head in peace, and liveth
with the Lord in the enjoyment of his love, where there is " joy
"and felicity for ever," and his memory is ſweet and bleffed. O!
that every one that profeffeth the holy Truth" may fo run, that
they may obtain the crown of eternal life." This is the travail
and the earneſt defire of him who feeketh the good of all mankind.
66
London, the 5th of the
2d Month, 1681.
66
ALEXANDER PARKER.
D
THE
[ xlv ]
THE
TESTIMONY
O F
MARY PENINGTON,
Concerning her dear HUSBAND
ISAAC PENINGTON.
WH
(6
I
HILST I keep filent touching thee, O thou bleſſed of
the Lord and his people, my heart burneth within me.
muſt make mention of thee, for thou waft a moſt pleaſant plant of
renown, planted by the right-hand of the Lord, and " thou tookeſt
deep rooting downwards, and ſprangeft upward." The dew of
heaven fell on thee, and made thee fruitful, and thy fruit was of a
fragrant fmell, and moſt delightful. O! where fhall I begin to
recount the Lord's remarkable dealings with thee! He fet his love
on thee, O thou one of the Lord's peculiar choice, to place his
name on! Waſt not thou fanctified in the womb? Thy very babifh
days declared of what ſtock and lineage thou wert. Thou defiredſt
after "the fincere milk of the word, as a new-born babe," even in
the bud of thy age. O! who can declare how thou haft travelled
towards the Holy Land in thy very infancy as to days! O! who can
tell what thy foul hath felt in thy travel! O! thou waft gotten to
be in the mount with the Lord, and his ſpiritual Mofes, when the
princes and elders ſaw but his back-parts, and feared and quaked to
hear the terrible thunderings in Mount Sinai. The breaft of confola-
tion was held out to thee early, and thou fuckedſt thy fill, till the
veffel could no longer contain; for thou couldſt not in that fulneſs
"fee God and live” in this tabernacle: fo that thou befoughteſt the
Lord
}
[ xlvi ]
Lord to abate this exceeding excellent glory, and give thee fuch a
meaſure as was food convenient. O! the heavenly, bright, living
openings that were given to thee many years paſt! His light fhone
round about thee, and the book of the creatures was opened to thee;
and his myfteries (made known to holy men of old, who fpoke them
forth as they were inſpired by the Holy Ghoft) were made known
to thee to diſcern. Such a ftate as I have never known any in, in
that day, have I heard thee declare of. O! this did it pleaſe the
Lord to withdraw and fhut up as in one day, and fo leave thee de-
folate, and mourning many a day; weary of the night and of the
day; poor and naked; fad, diſtreſſed, and bowed down. Thou re-
fufedft to be comforted, becauſe it was a time of night, and not
day; and becauſe he that was gone was not come. His time of
manifefting his love was not at hand; but he was as a ftranger, or one
gone into a far country, not ready to return; and thou wouldst ac-
cept of no beloved in his abfence, but teftifiedft that he thy foul
longed for was not in this or that obfervation, nay nor opening; but
thy beloved, when he came, would fit as a refiner's fire, and would
come with "his fan in his hand, and thoroughly purge his floor."
No likeneſs, or appearance, or taking found of words, or vifions,
or revelations, wouldst thou take up with, inſtead of him that was
Life indeed. O! the many years thou putteft thy mouth in the
duft, and wenteſt ſoftly and bowed down, and hadft anguiſh of
foul, weeping and groaning, panting and fighing! O! who can
tell the one half of the bitterneſs of thy foul! Becauſe fubftance
was in thine eye, all fhadows did fly away from before thee. Thou
couldft not feed on that which was not bread from heaven. In this
ſtate I married thee, and my love was drawn to thee; becauſe I
found thou faweft the deceit of all notions, and layeft as one that
"refuſed to be comforted" by any thing that had the appearance of
religion, till He came to his temple, who is " Truth, and no lye."
For all thoſe ſhews of religion were very manifeft to thee, fo that
thou wert fick and weary of them all. And in this my heart cleft
to thee, and a defire was in me to be ſerviceable to thee in this de-
folate condition; for thou waft alone and miferable in this world,
and I gave up much to be a companion to thee in this thy fuffering.
O! my fenfe, my fenfe of thee and thy ftate in that day, even
makes me as one dumb; for the greatnefs of it is beyond my capa-
city to utter.
This
[ xlvii ]
66
This little teſtimony to thy hidden life, my dear and precious one,
in a day and time when none of the Lord's gathered people knew
thy face, nor were in any meaſure acquainted with thy many for-
rows, and deep wounds and diftreffes, have I ftammered out, that
it might not be forgotten that thou waft in the "land of the living,"
and thy freſh ſprings were in God," and light was on thy Goſhen,
when thick darkneſs covered the people. But now that the day is
broken forth, and thou wert fo eminently gathered into it, and a
faithful publiſher of it, I leave this bright ftate of thine to be de-
clared of by the" fons of the morning," who have been witneffes
of the rifing of that "bright ftar of righteouſneſs in thee," and its
guiding thee to the Saviour, even Jefus," the Firſt and the Laſt :”
they, I fay, who are "ftrong, and have overcome the evil-one,”
and are fathers in Ifrael, have declared of thy life in God, and have
publiſhed it in many teftimonies here to the glorious faving Truth,
that thou wert partaker of, livedft and paffedft hence in, as in a
fiery chariot, into the eternal habitation with the holy faints, pro-
phets, and apoftles of Jefus.
Ah me! he is gone! he that none exceeded in kindneſs, in ten-
derneſs, in love inexpreffible to the relation as a wife. Next to the
love of God in Chrift Jefus to my foul, was his love precious and
delightful to me. My bofom-one! that was as my guide and coun-
fellor! my pleaſant companion! my tender fympathizing friend! as
near to the ſenſe of my pain, forrow, grief, and trouble as it was
poffible. Yet this great help and benefit is gone; and I, a poor worm,
a very little one to him, "compaffed about with many infirmities,"
through mercy let him go without an unadviſed word of difcontent,
or inordinate grief. Nay, further; fuch was the great kindneſs the
Lord ſhewed to me in that hour, that my ſpirit aſcended with him
in that very moment that his ſpirit left his body; and I faw him
fafe in his own manfion, and rejoiced with him, and was at that
inſtant gladder of it, than ever I was of enjoying him in the body.
And from this fight my ſpirit returned again to perform my duty to
his outward tabernacle, to the anſwer of a good conſcience.
This teftimony to dear Iſaac Penington is from the greateſt loſer
of all that had a fhare in his life,
This was written at my houſe at Woodfide,
the 27th of the 2d month, 1680, between
12 and 1 at night, whilft I was watching
with my fick child.
MARY PENINGTON,
[ xlviii]
ji
THE
TESTIMONY
OF
JOHN PENINGTON,
I
To his dear and deceaſed FATHER
ISAAC
PENINGTON.
IVE me leave alfo, in a few words, to exprefs my ſenſe of
Ghim, Teeing I have been no mall in los of
him, feeing I have been no ſmall ſharer in the lofs. A man
that had known the depths of Satan, and had a ſtock to loſe before
he could embrace Truth in the fimplicity of it; yet came forth in
clearness which is the more remarkable, inafmuch as few came
near him in thoſe bright openings and piercing wiſdom he was en-
dued with in thoſe days; whereby he ftruck at all falſe foundations
and profeffions, and faw their fhortnefs, and the very thing they
wanted. So that when I have taken a view of his former writings,
and beheld the glory he once had, and withal reflected on his pre-
ſent condition, on his poverty, on his nothingneſs, on his felf-denial
and ſelf-abaſement; how little he eſteemed all his former know-
ledge, and fights of the heavenly things themſelves, in compariſon
of the more excellent knowledge he afterwards received, and how
he could be a fool for Chrift's fake; the thing hath affected me, and
not a little, many times. O! he was not one that could deck him-
ſelf, or defired to appear before men, or his very brethren; but ever
choſe to be more to the Lord than to men. And when any have
been deeply reached through his tender, yet fearching lively teſti-
mony, O how great was his care that none might look out too
much at the inſtrument, or receive Truth in the affectionate part!
He
[ xlix ]
He was alſo a meek man, and very loving; courteous to all; ready
to ſerve his very enemies and perfecutors; of whom ſome, from an
ill opinion of him, were gained to love and eſteem him. And
where-ever he entered into a friendſhip with any, he was conftant.
Whatever provocations he might afterwards receive from any of
them, he could not let go his hold; but ever retained a good-will
towards them, and an earneft defire for their welfare. I have alfo
obferved, where he hath been engaged on Truth's behalf to rebuke
any fharply, who were declining from their firft love, and deviating
from the Truth as it is in Jefus, it hath been with fo much re-
luctancy and averfenefs to his natural temper, as I never difcerned
the like in any; and herein I am not alone. So that it
may be
fafely faid he never ufed the rod, but with bowels to reclaim; and
in the love was drawn to fmite what the pureft love could not fuffer
to go unrebuked. What he was in the church of God for ex-
emplarinefs, for deep travail, for found judgment, and heavenly
miniſtry, I know not a few are very fenfible of. And have not I
feen his cup many times overflow, and him fo filled, that the veffel
was ſcarce able to contain! Oh it was delightful to me to be with
him (as it was often my lot) in his fervice on Truth's account! And
my cry is, that I may walk worthy of fo dear a parent, fo unwearied
and earneſt a traveller for mine and others eternal well-being, and fo
faithful and eminent a labourer in God's vineyard; who is now gone
to his reft in a good day, having firft feen the effects of the travail
of his foul, and been fatisfied in the Lord. But he hath left us,
his children, behind, for whom he hath often prayed, and be-
fought the Lord with tears," that we might walk in his ſteps, and
"our father's God might be our God, and that the bleffings of our
father's life might defcend upon us." And we are ftill, after much
weakneſs, upon the ſtage of this world; which, that it may be fo
rightly improved, that we may walk worthy of the manifold vifita-
tions we have had from him in particular, and many faithful la-
bourers in general, is the inceffant defire of
(Him that hopes, with thankfulneſs to the Lord, to reverence
his memory, as well as that he honours him in the relation
of a dear and tender father)
The 9th of the 3d month, 1681.
VOL. I.
JOHN PENINGTON.
POST
[1]
}
:
It
POSTSCRIPT.
T pleaſed the Lord to remove him from us, and take him to
himſelf, on the eighth day of the eighth month, 1679, between
three and four in the morning, at one of my dear mother's farms in
Kent, in the pariſh of Goodneſtone, called Goodneſtone-Court.
They had been among their tenants in that country, and in their re-
turn home ſpent fome time here; but the day appointed for my
dear father to return, he was vifited with this fickneſs, whereof he
died, having lain juſt a week. His body was conveyed thence
(fome of his relations and London friends accompanying it) to
London, thence into Buckinghamſhire to his own houſe, and fo to
the burying-place of Friends belonging to Chalfont-Meeting (called
Jordan's); where he was honourably buried, being accompanied by
fome hundreds of friends and neighbours.
1
THE
THE
WAY of LIFE and DEATH
Made MANIFEST, and fet before MEN.
WHEREBY
The many Paths of DEATH are impleaded, and the ONE
Path of LIFE propounded, and pleaded for.
I N
SOME POSITIONS
CONCERNING
The APOSTASY from the CHRISTIAN SPIRIT and LIFE.
WITH
Some PRINCIPLES guiding out of it.
AS ALSO
An ANSWER to fome OBJECTION S, whereby the
Simplicity in ſome may be entangled.
HELD FORTH
In tender Good-will, both to PAPISTS and PROTESTANTS, who have
generally erred from the Faith for thefe many Generations, fince the
Days of the Apoftles; and with that which they have erred from are
they comprehended.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
[ liííí ]
THE
PREFACE.
MY
Y foul hath ſtill in remembrance the grievous ſhakings and
rendings that have been in this nation, which entered deep
into the bowels of it, and made every heart ake, and every heart
aftoniſhed. This nation was fettled in religion and outward peace,
in fuch a way as was pleafing to moft; but yet there was a fpirit
within, which had been long groaning under oppreffion, whofe
fighs and cries entered into the ears of the Lord: and he roſe up
in his fury and jealoufy, and rent the heavens, and rent the earth;
fo breaking the very foundation of both, that men generally were
amazed, and wondered what would become of all. The former
religion was almoſt buried in confufion, and in danger of being
utterly loft. A long-fpun corroding war were we entangled in,
which adminiftred no hopes nor likelihood of peace. The hand
of the Lord reached through all theſe dominions; magiftracy, mi-
niſtry, the common peeple, the people of God (both fuch as were
accounted fo, and fuch as were indeed fo), the line of confufion
was ſtretched over them all; they did all reel and totter like a
drunken man, as if they had been fo to fall as to rife up no more.
But behold how fuddenly and unexpectedly was there a fettle-
ment of all again! the nation fettled in peace, magiftracy ſettled,
miniſtry ſettled, the common people fettled, and thoſe which were
fhaken in their fpirits got into their feveral ways in religion, and
fettled again. Thus there was a general healing of all again, fave
only of a few, whoſe ſpirits God had fo reached, that their wound
was incurable; and unleſs ſomewhat of God had been brought forth,
which the world cannot know (nay, the religious fpirit of man
which
[ liv ]
which is below, can no more reach it than the common ſpirit of the
world), they had remained miferable, loft, ſcattered, and con-
founded to this day. But the Lord hath in infinite mercy viſited
them in the ſeaſon of diſtreſs: and there hath a little fooliſh thing
broke forth (at which all the wife and religious in the ſpirit of this
world cannot but ſtumble), which hath adminiftred relief, and
diſcovered the foundation whereon they alſo can fettle. So that
now there is as it were an univerfal fettlement, as every creature is
gathered into the center which is proper and fuitable to its ſpirit to
bottom on.
Now this I have to fay to all; Let every one look to his
foundation; for the Lord can arife again; yea, and will arife
again, and ſhake once more; and then the heavens and the
earth, which have not a true foundation, cannot but fall. If
the earth be not founded upon and fettled in righteouſneſs, its pre-
fent eſtabliſhment will not ftand. If the heavens be not founded
upon and ſettled in Truth, they will melt and paſs away before
the fire of the Lord. There is a ſpirit that mourneth deeply to the
Lord, groaning inwardly, and his ears are open to it, and he will
plead the cauſe of his feed; and the churches and religions wherein
the feed of the ſerpent can live and flouriſh, ſhall wither and come
to an end. Duft is already become the ferpent's food. The ſpirit
of man, in all his exercifes of religion, knoweth not the bread of
life; but the dead feed upon the dead, and the dead fpirit of man
loves to have it fo. But this cannot continue; for the Lord hath
been at work all this while; and when he brings forth the people
which he hath been forming, and their religion, the religion of
man will appear what it is; and ſhame and forrow will be the por-
tion of all who have pleaſed themſelves therein, and trifled away the
day of their vifitation.
Be wife now therefore, O ye wife-ones! be religious, O ye reli-
gious-ones! open the eye and ear that have been fhut; fhut the eye
and ear that have been open: ftumble no longer, leſt ye fall and rife
no more. I know ye cannot fee; for the wrong eye is open, and
the Lord hath defigned to hide his wifdom from that eye. If it
be poffible for you, become poor in ſpirit; leſt
in fpirit; left ye at laſt
be the rich, whom the Lord will fend empty away. Sell all apace,
that ye may have wherewith to buy the pearl. Ye have not known
the appearance of the Lord; but in your wifdom have difdained it,
prove to
and
[ lv ]
and he hath diſdained to make uſe of you in this great work; but
it hath been pleaſant to him to lay ftumbling-blocks before you,
that ye might fall and be broken. The children, the fools, the
blind can ſee the way, and enter into life; but ye that are men,
that are wife, that have both your eyes, that can judge in religion,
and determine what is orthodox, and what erroneous, ye cannot,
O hear, that your fouls may live! Ye know not how fhort your
time is; the day of your vifitation paffeth away faſter than you are
aware. The cry hath long gone forth, Behold, the bridegroom
cometh, and his ſpouſe hath been preparing for his bed. Ye muſt
off with your old garments, and have the new on. Ye muſt have
the true oil in your lamps, or the door of the kingdom will be ſhut
upon you, and there will be no entrance for you. In plain terms,
you muſt part with all your religion which you have gathered in
your own wiſdom, which hath grown up in the apoftafy, and which
only can make a fair fhew in the dark; but cannot endure the
fearching light of the day of the Lord; and ye muſt purchaſe the
true religion, the true righteouſneſs, the true innocency and purity
of Chrift. The old muſt be done away, truly done away, and the
new come in the place. So that fleſh and felf may be quite de-
ſtroyed, and nothing but Chriſt found in you, and you found no-
where but in Chrift, if you enter into his kingdom; for no unclean
thing can enter. Therefore put away pride, and paffion, and en-
mity, and fleſhly reafonings, and feek out that which is pure, and
enter into it, and take up the croſs againſt all that is contrary, that
fo you may be wrought into it, and found in it. And turn from
all imaginings and conceivings about the meanings of fcriptures in
the uncertain and erring mind, and come to that which is infallible.
And know the filencing of the fleſhly part, that the fpiritual part
may grow in the wiſdom, that fo ye may learn in the Spirit, and
know the Word of God, and be able to ſpeak it.
My bowels are towards you, and in bowels hath this been written,
not to anger or fhame you, but to provoke you to jealouſy againſt
that dark and evil ſpirit, which leads you to deſtruction under the
guife and appearance of a light and good fpirit. Nor is it to glory over
you; for my foul lieth down in fhame and forrow before the Lord,
and the reproach of mine own apoftafy, and feeking relief from the
world (turning from the Lord, who had wounded me, to earthly
vanities for eafe) will not eaſily be recovered.
The
[Ivi ]
The Lord hath been kind to me in breaking of me in my re-
ligion, and in vifiting me with ſweet and precious light from his
own Spirit; but I knew it not. I felt, and could not but acknow-
ledge a power upon me, and might have known what it was by its
purifying of my heart, and begetting me into the image of God;
but I confined it to appear in a way of demonftration to my reaſon
and earthly wiſdom, and for want of fatisfaction therein, denied
and rebelled againſt it; and fo, after all my former miſery, loſt my
entrance, and fowed feeds of new mifery and forrow to my own
foul, which fince I have reaped. So that I have no caufe to boaſt
over others; but to lie low in abafement of fpirit. And what I
write is not in any dominion and authority of mine own; but to
bring others into that dominion and authority which it is good for
me, and for every one elſe, to be ſubject to. The Lord ſtrip us of
our own underſtanding, and of that righteouſneſs which is but
ours (though we have called it his), that fo we may be gathered into,
and receive his underſtanding, and be cloathed with his righteouf-
nefs, and feel his reft and peace! And happy is he that lofeth all to
gain this; but he that keepeth what he hath too long, fhall in the
end loſe all, and yet not gain this neither; therefore be no longer
wife in the eye of flesh, or according to what man calleth wiſdom;
but be TRULY wife.
THE
[ x I
]
THE
WAY of LIFE and DEATH
Made MANIFEST, and fet before MEN.
SOME
POSITIONS
Concerning the Apoftafy from the Chriftian SPIRIT
and LIFE.
POSITΙΟΝ Ι.
That there hath been a great apoſtaſy from the Spirit of Chriſt, and
from the true Light and Life of Chriſtianity: which apoſtaſy be-
gan in the apoſtles days, and ripened apace afterwards.
T
HAT the apoftles and Chriftians in their days had the true Spi-
rit, the true Light, the true Life, I think will not be denied. We
know that we are of God, and that the Son of God is come, and
hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true; and we are
in him that is true, in his Son Jefus Chriſt. This is the true God, and eternal
life. 1 John v. 19, 20. They were truly born of God, and knew the Son
of God come, receiving from him a true underſtanding, and the true light
and knowledge in that underſtanding; and both the underſtanding and
knowledge was rooted and feated in him that is true, where their fituation
and abiding was (we are in him that is true), where they met with the true
Spirit, the true God, the true Life, even life eternal. That they had
the true Spirit from God (because ye are fons, God hath fent forth the Spirit of
his Son into your hearts. Gal. iv. 6.) that they had the true light from God
: VOL. I.
A
(God
2
The Way of Life and Death
i
(God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, bath shined into our
hearts, &c. 2 Cor. iv. 6.) that they had the true life from and in the Spirit
(if we live in the Spirit, let us alfo walk in the Spirit. Gal. v. 25.) is generally
acknowledged concerning them.
1
Now of an apoftafy from this, beginning even in their days, and to be
completed not long after, the ſcriptures alfo make mention. The apoſtle
Paul ſpeaks exprefly of the thing, that there muſt come a falling away, and
a revealing of the man of fin, the son of perdition. 2 Theff. ii. 3. Chrift, the
man of falvation, had fhewed and declared the path of life; had diſcovered
the true church, which was the pillar and ground of truth, againſt which the
gates of hell could not prevail; had fent the true Spirit, which could lead
into all truth, and preferve in the truth: but there muft fpring up a man
of fin, a son of perdition, who in a myſtery fhould work against this, and
caufe a falling from this to another thing. And this the apoftle did not
only give a touch of here in writing, but he had likewife told them of theſe
things by word of mouth, to which he refers them, verfe 5. This were
enough to an eye opened; but for farther illuftration to the thick under-
ſtanding of man, which is furrounded with fogs and mifts of darkneſs, fome
more evidences of fcriptures may be given.
Chriſt foretold of falſe prophets, Matt. vii. 15. Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep's cloathing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
The Lord fent true prophets under the Law, and gave them true vifions to
declare: Chriſt ſent true apoſtles and miniſters under the Goſpel, and gave
them the truth which they fhould preach and propagate: but then there
were falſe prophets, falfe apoftles, and minifters to come after, who never
were fent by Chrift, nor never received the truth from his Spirit. Now
thefe do not come to gather into the life and truth of Chrift, but to ſcatter
from it; and fo either to begin or uphold an apoſtaſy. And, faith Chrift,
beware of them; for they come very fubtilly; they come in fheep's cloath-
ing: they get the garment of the ſheep upon their backs, even that very
garment which the ſheep did wear; but they have not the nature of the
fheep, but the nature of the wolf, which is ravenous after the life of the
theep. Mark where there is the garment without, but not the nature
within, where there is the form of godliness, but not the power; where there
are fcripture words and practices, but not the fpirit of life, from which they
came; there's the falfe prophet! there's the wolf! there's the apoftate!
there's the feducer from Chrift.
Again, Chrift foretels of many falfe prophets, Matt. xxiv. 11. And many
false prophets ſhall riſe, and ſhall deceive many. And verſe 24, For there fhall
arife falfe Chrifts, and false prophets, and shall fhew great figns and wonders;
infomuch that, if it were poffible, they ſhall deceive the very elect.
And as Chrift himſelf, fo his apoſtles alfo after him, by the fame Spirit,
foretell of the fame thing.
The
¦
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
3
The apostle Paul ſpeaks of ſeducing ſpirits in the latter times, and of
doctrines of devils, which ſhould prevail to cauſe a departure in ſome from
the faith. I Tim. iv. 2. And if in thoſe days the power of feducers was fo
great, as to draw from the truth, which was then fo manifeft and living,
how eaſy would it be to keep from the truth afterward, when it had been
long loft, and out of remembrance, and thereby deceit got into the place
and name of it.
The apoftle Peter alfo foretold of false teachers, who fhould privily bring
in damnable herefies, even denying the Lord that bought them: and that they
ſhould ſo prevail, that their pernicious ways fhould be followed by many,
and the way of truth evil ſpoken of. 2 Pet. ii. 1, 2.
Again, Paul, in his 2d Epiftle to Timothy, fpeaks of the laft days, that
the times therein fhould be perilous; chap. iii. Chrift had faid, The love of
many should wax cold, and iniquity abound. Matt. xxiv. 12.
And Paul fhews
how the times would prove very perilous, by the abounding of iniquity. In
the last days perilous times fhall come; for men fhall be lovers of their own
felves, covetous, boafters, proud, blafphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, falſe accufers, incontinent, fierce,
defpifers of thofe that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleaſure
more than lovers of God. 2 Tim. iii. 1, 2, 3, 4. Behold what kind of fruit
fprung up from the falfe doctrine of the falfe teachers in the apoftafy from
the truth. And yet all this under a form of godliness; Having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof. verfe 5. Chrift fent the power of
godlineſs into the world, to fubdue the root from whence all this fprings;
to kill the evil nature inwardly: but in the apoftafy the evil nature is not
killed, but the power denied which fhould kill it, and the form kept up
to cover the evil nature with: the inwardly-ravening nature, which de-
vours and deſtroys the ftirrings and fhootings-forth of the juft-one in the
heart, that gets the ſheep's cloathing, the form of godlinefs, to cover itſelf
with. Look any-where among the apoftates from the apoftles fpirit and
doctrine, and fee; Is felf-love killed? is covetouſneſs killed? is boaſting
and pride killed? is the love of pleaſures killed? are perfecutors and
preffors killed? and is your honour and glory laid in the duft? Nay; they
are but covered with the form; their life is ftill in them; the power
wherewith they ſhould be killed was at firft denied, and now is loſt and not
known. Where there is the life, there is the power; and where there is
the power, the evil nature is killed. But where the evil nature is not killed,
there is only a form of godlinefs, a covering, a painted fepulchre, but rot-
tennefs within.
op-
Now thofe laft days and laft times were not far off, but began then: for
the apoſtle exhorts Timothy to turn away from fuch, verfe 5. From fuch turn
away: intimating, that even then there were fuch to be turned away from.
And he faith, verfe 8. that they did then refift the truth, like Jannes and
Jambres; who with a likeneſs of what Mofes wrought, but without life, did
A 2
ftrive
4
The Way of Life and Death
1
1
ftrive to refift the life and power that was in Mofes. And this is the work
of all deceivers, to get their own fpirit into the likeneſs, and then to make
uſe of the likeneſs to oppoſe and fupprefs the true life and power. So that
they were come even then, when the apoſtle wrote this epiftle to Timothy.
And Jude faith, that ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lafciviouf-
nefs, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jefus Chrift, were crept in
already. Verſe 4. of his epiſtle.
And the apostle John fpeaks very exprefly, 1 John ii. 18, 19. Little
children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrift fhall come,
even now there are many antichrifts, whereby we know that it is the laſt time.
They went out from us, &c. Chrift, inftructing his difciples concerning the
laft times, tells them there fhall ariſe falfe Chrifts, with great power of de-
ceit, Matt. xxiv. 24. Now, faith John here, there are come many anti-
chrifts, whereby we know it is the last time. Mark: There were many
antichrifts to begin and lay the foundation of the apoftafy, and make way
for the great antichrift, who was to be their fucceffor in the apoftafy, and
not the fucceffor of the apoftles in the truth: and thefe did not abide in the
doctrine of the apoftles, who preached the everlaſting gospel, nor in the fpirit
and principle which they were in; but went out from them, from their ſpirit
(from the anointing to which they kept, and by which they were kept) into
another ſpirit, and preached another gofpel; a gofpel which was not the
power of God to kill the earthly, but confifted in fuch a dead literal know-
ledge of things, as the earthly might be fed and kept alive by. And as
the great antichrift was to come, ſo theſe antichrifts who were to make
way for him were already come, and were already laying the foundation of,
and beginning the apoftafy. So that the ſpirit of antichrift (that very ſpirit
wherein antichrift fucceeded, and in which he grew up, and perfected the
apoftafy) was then in the world, as this apoſtle faith yet more manifeftly,
1 John iv. 3. This is that ſpirit of antichrift, whereof ye have heard that it
Should come, and even now already is it in the world.
Nor was it idle, but it was at work, working itſelf into the form of god-
lineſs, that it might eat out the power, drive out the true fpirit, and make
a prey of the life. The mystery of iniquity, faith the apostle Paul, doth already
work, 2 Theff. ii. 7. This fpirit did work in a myftery of iniquity to eat
out the myſtery of godlinefs, and to fet up this myftery of iniquity in the
world, inſtead of the myſtery of godlinefs. And it did prevail to wind itſelf
in the form, and get poffeffion of the form, and alfo to trample upon and
keep under the life. It gained the outward court (for when that fpirit had
corrupted it, the Lord did not regard it, but gave it up to it) and it trod
down the holy city. Rev. xi. 2. And this myſtery of iniquity did not begin
to work many ages after the apoftles; but even then, in their days, already:
The mystery. of iniquity doth already work.
And look now into the eftate of the churches then, according to what
the ſcripture records of them, and the ſymptoms of its working will plainly
appear.
1
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
5
appear. The church of Ephefus (among whom fome of the grievous wolves
had entered, Atts xx. 29.) had left their firft love, Rev. ii. 4. The churches
The church at
of Galatia were bewitched from the gofpel, Gal. iii. 1.
Colofs was entangled, and made fubject to the rudiments of the world, and
ordinances (which perifh with the ufing) after the commandments and doc-
trines of men, Col. ii. 20, 22. Mark: When once one comes to be fubject
to the commandments and doctrines of men, to perishing ordinances, and
worldly rudiments, which men teach and command, the true ftate is loft,
and the apoftafy is entered into. Here the wrong teacher is teaching, and
he teacheth the wrong thing, the wrong doctrines, the wrong command-
ments; and the wrong ear is hearing, which hears the wrong voice, and
knoweth not the true; and fo the more it heareth and practiſeth, and the
hotter its zeal groweth, the deeper it ftill runs into the apoftafy. The
church at Corinth alfo was haunted with falfe apoſtles, 2 Cor. xi.. 12, 13.
infomuch that the apoſtle was afraid left that church ſhould be corrupted by
them, verſe 3. The church in Pergamus had them that held the doctrine
of Balaam, Rev. ii. 14. The church in Thyatira fuffered the woman Je-
zebel, which called herſelf a propheteſs, to ſeduce and bring forth children
in the apoftafy, Rev. ii. 20. 23. The church in Sardis had a name to live;
but was dead, Rev. iii. 1. having defiled her garments, verfe 4. The
church in Laodicea looked upon herſelf as rich, and increaſed with goods,
and as having need of nothing; but was wretched, miferable, poor, blind
(fo then the eye was put out) and naked, wanting the gold, wanting the
raiment, wanting the eye-falve, Rev. iii. 17, 18. And lastly, all the Gen-
tiles were warned by Paul, in his epiftle to the church at Rome (whereby
that church might look upon herſelf as more particularly concerned therein)
to look to their ſtanding; left they, falling from the faith, from the truth,
from the life, into the apoftafy (as the Jews had done) might alſo feel the fe-
verity of God, as the Jews had; chap. xi. verſe 20, 21, 22.
Thus it is evident that the apoftafy had got footing, and began to ſpread
in the apostles days: and the apostle John, in the Spirit, beholding the fu-
ture ftate of things, fees it over-fpread and over-run all; all nations drunk
with the cup of fornication, Rev. xviii. 3. The way of truth had been
evil ſpoken of long before, 2 Pet. ii. 2. and the rock of ages, which alone
can eſtabliſh in the truth, had been forſaken, and all became as a ſea; and
up gets the beast (which could not rife while the power of truth ftood) and
the woman upon the beaft, with the cup of deceit, and of error from the
life, in her hand; and this the gives all the nations to drink, and they
drink, and are drunk with it. So that all nations have been intoxicated with
the doctrines and practices of the apoftafy. They have took that for truth
which the whore told them was truth, and they have obferved thoſe things
as the commands of God, which the whore told them were the commands of
God. And by this means they have never come to be married to Chriſt,
to be in union with him, to receive the law of life from his Spirit, and to
know
3
6
The Way of Life and Death
:
know the liberty from the bondage of corruption; but have been in the bed
of fornication with the whore, and have pleafed, glutted, and fatisfied the
whoriſh principle in themſelves with this fornication. And thus corruption
did over-ſpread all the earth; for taking in a corrupt thing inſtead of the
truth, it cannot purify the heart, but corrupt it more. A corrupt profeffion,
corrupt doctrines may paint, and make a man to himſelf feem changed;
but the corrupt ftill lodges within, which a fpiritual eye can eafily difcern,
though he that is in the corruption cannot. The Pharifees feemed glorious
to themſelves; but Chrift faw through them. And every fort of people
now, in their ſeveral ſtrains and forms of apoftafy, feem glorious to them-
felves; but the Spirit of Chrift fees through them all, to that which lies un-
derneath (in whom it reigns), and there it finds corruption increaſed and
ſtrengthened in its nature by the form, though outwardly painted with it.
Doth not fornication defile and corrupt? fo doth the fornication of the whorish
ſpirit: the earth was corrupted with it, Rev. xix. 2. So that this hath been
the univerſal ſtate of Chriſtendom fince the apoftafy; the error, the deceit,
the fornication of the whore, hath corrupted them, and with-held their eyes
from the fight of that life and truth which hath power in it to purify them.
People, multitudes, nations, tongues, have been all waters: weak, un-
ftable, without any foundation in religion, but fit to be fwayed and toffed
up and down with every wind or breath of the whore, of whofe cup they
had all drank, and by whoſe ſpirit they were all guided; for the whore fat
upon them, Rev. xvii. 15. The whore, which had whored from God, and fo
was not the true church, fat upon people, multitudes, nations, and tongues. She
fat
upon them; fhe had them under her; ſhe ruled and guided them by
her cup of fornication, and with her fpirit of fornication, as a man would
guide the beaſt whereupon he rides. So that all that the nations do from
henceforth in religion, is under the whore, according to her guidance, by
virtue of the wine that they have drank out of her cup.
And though God reſerved to himſelf a remnant to worſhip him, and give
fome teſtimony to his truth all this time; yet the beast (which was managed
by the whore) had power over them: power to make war with them; power
to overcome them, Rev. xiii. 7. The beast had power over all kindreds,
tongues, and nations every-where; to overcome the faints, and fupprefs
the truth they at any time were moved to give teftimony to; and to
fet up the worship of the beaft, and make all the earth fall down
before that, Rev. xiii. 7, 8. And the ſecond beaft had, and exerciſed, all
the power of the first beast, and fet up his image, and gave it life, and
cauſed men generally to worſhip it, Rev. xiii. 12. And he caufed all, both
fmall and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive his mark fome way
or other, either in their right-hand, or in their forehead, verfe 16. And
fuch as would not receive his mark, nor worſhip him, he had power to per-
fecute and kill, and he did kill them, verſe 15. And the whore drank
their blood, chap. xvii. 6. And God required it at her hand, chap. xix. 2.
Though
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
1
}
Though the made the hand of the beaſt execute it, and would ſeem to
waſh her own hands of it.
So that now, fince the days of the apoftles, even all this is of the
apoſtaſy, ſince the man-child hath been caught up to God, and was not to
be found in the earth (which makes it ſeem ſuch a ſtrange thing for people
to ſay Chriſt is in them) and the woman hath been in the wilderneſs, and
not in the habitable part of the world, Rev. xii. 5, 6. if all this time any
one will look for the true religion, for the true church, for the true know-
ledge and worſhip of God, he muft not look on any nation, or any people,
or among the tongues, which are cried up in nations and people for the
original, and as the chief interpreters of the original; for they are all drunk
with the whore's cup; they are under the power, dominion, authority, and fer-
vice of the whore, who rides upon the beaft, to whom power was given over all
kindreds, tongues, and nations. But look among the nations who were per-
fecuted, whoſe blood was drank, whom the powers of the nations made
war againft; there alone the teftimony of Jefus is to be found, Rev. xii. 17.
There alone are the witneffes againſt the prefent idolatry and corruption,
and to fome truths or other of Chrift, which God enlightened them with,
and whereto he ſtirred them up to give their teftimony, though with the
lofs of their eftates, liberties, or lives.
Now, by what hath been expreffed, is it not manifeft to every eye that
hath room but to let in the letter of the fcripture, in fimplicity and plainneſs,
that there hath been a great apoftafy from the true knowledge of Chriſt,
and an univerſal corruption and power of death fprung up, inſtead of the
power of his life and grace? The grace of God, which bringeth falvation, hath
difappeared; and the abomination of defolation hath took up its place, and
filled it with deadly venom againſt the truth, and againſt the life: ſo that
enmity againſt God, under a pretence of love and zeal to him, hath reigned
generally in the hearts of men, from the times of the apoſtles to this pre-
fent day. And as the light breaks forth, and their eyes come to be opened,
they will fee that they have been and are haters of God, and of his life
and fpirit; but lovers of the world, and of fuch a religion as fuits the
worldly ſpirit.
POSITION II.
✔
That in this great apoftafy the true ftate of Chriſtianity hath
T
been loft.
HIS muft needs be; for if there was an apoftafy from the thing,
there could not be a retaining of the thing about which the apoftafy
was. If they apoftatifed from the fpirit, from the light, from the life;
then they were gone from it; they loft it.
Now it may be inſtanced in every particular how the ſtate of Chriſtianity
was loft; but that would be too vaft and tedious: it may fuffice therefore
to
8
The Way of Life and Death
to inſtance in fome confiderable ones, which may lead into the diſcovery of
the reſt.
1. The true rule of Christianity, or the rule of a Chriſtian, which is to direct,
guide, and order him in his whole courfe, was apoftatized from, and loft.
What is a Chriftian's rule, whereby he is to ſteer and order his courfe?
A Chriftian is to be a follower of Chrift, and confequently muſt have
the fame rule to walk by as Chriſt had. A Chriſtian proceeds from Chriſt,
hath the fame life in him, and needs the fame rule. Chrift had the fulneſs
of life, and of his fulnefs we all receive a meaſure of the fame life. We are
members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Ephef. v. 30. Yea, we
came out of the fame fpring of life from whence he came: For both be that
fanctifieth, and they who are fanctified, are all of one; for which caufe he is not
afbamed to call them brethren, Heb. ii. 11. Now what was his rule? Was it
not the fulneſs of life which he received? And what is their rule? Is it
not the meaſure of life which they receive? Was not Chrift's rule the law of
the Spirit; the law which the Spirit wrote in his heart? And is not their
rule the law of the Spirit; the law which the Spirit writes in their heart?
How was Chrift made a king and a prieſt? Was it by the law of a carnal
commandment? Or by the power of an endleſs life? And how are they
made kings and priefts to God? Rev. i. 6. Is it by the law of a carnal com-
mandment? Or is it by the power of the ſame endleſs life? Lo, I come to
do thy will, O God, faith Chrift, when he cometh into the world, Heb. x. 5. 7.
But by what rule? By what law? Thy law is within my heart, Pf. xl. 8.
And the fame Spirit who wrote it there, is alfo to write the new covenant,
with all the laws of it, in the heart of every Chriftian, from the leaſt to
the greateſt, Heb. viii. 9, 10. Yea, the fame Spirit that dwelt in Chrift's
heart, is to dwell in their hearts, according to the promife of the covenant,
Ezek. xxxvi. 27. This was Paul's rule, after which he walked, The law
of the Spirit of life in Chriſt Jefus, Rom. viii. 1, 2. This made him free from
the law of fin and death. Where is the law of fin written? Where is the law of
death written? Is it not written in the heart? And must not the law of
righteouſneſs and life be written there alfo, if it be able to deal with fin and
death? The Spirit forms the heart anew, forms Chriſt in the heart, begets a
new creature there,which cannot fin (He that is born of God fins not.) And this
is the rule of righteouſneſs, the new creature, or the Spirit of life in the new
creature, Gal. vi. 15, 16. In Christ Jefus, neither circumcifion availeth any
thing, nor uncircumcifion; but a new creature. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them. Mark There is the rule; the new creature,
which is begotten in every one that is born of God. If any man be in Chrift,
he is a new creature; and this new creature is to be his rule. And as any
man walks according to this rule, according to the new creature, accord-
ing to the law of light and life that the Spirit continually breathes into the
new
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
9
new creature, he hath peace; but as he tranfgreffes that, and walks not
after the Spirit, but after the fleſh, he walks out of the light, out of the
life, out of the peace, into the fea, into the death, into the trouble, into
the condemnation. Here then is the law of the converted man, the new
creature; and the law of the new creature is the Spirit of life which begat
him, which lives, and breathes, and gives forth his law continually in him.
Here is a Chriftian; here is his rule: he that hath not the new creature
formed in him, is no Chriftian; and he that hath the new creature, hath
the rule in himſelf. Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all
things, 1 John ii. 20. How came they to know all things? Doth not John
fay, it was by the unition? The anointing was in them, a fountain or
well-fpring of light and life, iffuing forth continually fuch rivers and ſtreams
of life within, as they needed no other teacher in the truth and way of
life, verfe 27. The Comforter did refreſh their hearts fufficiently, and led
them into all truth. Search the apoſtles epiftles, and ye fhall find them
teſtifying of the Lord's fending his Spirit into the hearts of Chriſtians;
and exhortations to them not to grieve or quench the Spirit, but to follow
as they were led. They were to live in the Spirit, and to walk in the Spirit,
Gal. v. 25. And the Spirit was to walk, and live, and bring forth his own
life and power in them, 2 Cor. vi. 16. And what can be the proper and
full rule of God's fons and daughters, but the light of the Spirit of life,
which they receive from their father? Thus God did advance the ſtate of
a believer above the ſtate of the Jews under the Law: for they had the
Law, though written with the finger of God, yet but in tables of ftone;
but theſe have the Law, written by the finger of God in the table of their
hearts. Theirs was a Law without, at a diſtance from them, and the prieſt's
lips were to preſerve the knowledge of it, and to inftruct them in it; but
here is a Law within, nigh at hand, the immediate light of the Spirit of
life fhining fo immediately in the heart, that they need no man to teach
them, but have the fpirit of prophecy in themfelves, and quick living
teachings from him continually, and are made fuch kings and priefts to
God, as the ſtate of the Law did but repreſent. The Gofpel is the ſub-
ftance of all the fhadows contained in the Law. A Chriftian is he
that comes into this fubftance, and lives in this fubftance, and in
whom this fubftance lives; and his rule is the fubftance itſelf, in which
he lives, and which lives in him. Chrift is the fubftance, who lives in the
Chriſtian, and he in Chriſt: Chrift lives in him by his Spirit, and he in
Chrift by the fame Spirit: there he lives, and hath fellowſhip with the Fa-
ther and the Son, in the light wherein they live, and not by any outward
rule, 1 John i. 6, 7.
But what is the rule now in the apoftafy?
Among the Papifts, the rule is the fcripture, interpreted by the church
(as they call themfelves) with a mixture of their own precepts and tra-
ditions.
VOL. I.
B
Amongst
ΙΟ
The Way of Life and Death
Amongst the Proteftants, the rule is the fcriptures, according as they
can underſtand them by their own ftudy, or according as they can receive
the underſtanding of them from fuch men as they account orthodox. And
hence ariſe continual differences, and heats, and fects, one following this
interpretation, another that.
And this is a grievous apoftafy, and the root, fpring, and foundation of
all the reft; for he that miffeth in his beginning, he that begins his reli-
gion without the true rule, how can he proceed aright in any thing after-
wards?
Object. But are not the fcriptures the Word of God? And is not the
Word of God to be a Chriftian's rule? If every one ſhould be left to his own
fpirit, what confufion and uncertainty would this produce!
Anfw. The fcriptures are not that Living Word, which is appointed by
God to be the rule of a Chriftian; but they contain words fpoken by the
Spirit of God, teſtifying of that Word, and pointing to that Word which is
to be the rule. Search the fcriptures, for in them you think to have eternal
life, and they are they which testify of me; and ye will not come to me that ye.
may have life, John v. 39, 40, The fcriptures are to be fearched for the
teſtimony which they give of Chrift; and when that teftimony is received,
Chrift is to be come to, and life received from him. But the Pharifees
formerly, and Chriftians fince (I mean Chriftians in name) fearch the ſcrip-
tures; but do not come to Chrift for the life, but ſtick in the letter of the
fcriptures, and oppoſe the life with the letter, keeping themſelves from the
life by their wiſdom and knowledge in the letter. Thus they put the fcrip-
tures into the place of Chrift, and fo honour neither Chrift nor the fcrip-
tures. It had been no honour to John to have been taken for the light
his honour was to point to it: nor is it any honour to the fcriptures to be
called the Word of God; but their honour is to diſcover and teftify of the
Word. Now hear what the fcriptures call the Word. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, John i. 1.
And the Word was made flesh, verfe 14. This was the name of Chrift, when
he came into the world in the flesh, to fow his life in the world. And
when he comes again into the world, out of a far country, to fight with the
beaſt and falſe prophet, and to cleanfe the earth of the whore's fornication
and idols, wherewith fhe had corruptedit, he ſhall have the fame name again;
bis name is called The Word of God, Rev. xix. 13. So Peter calleth that the
Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever, 1 Pet. i. 23. And this
Word that liveth and abideth for ever, was the Word that they preached,
verſe 25. And they that believed did not cry up the words that the
apoſtles fpake for the Word; but received the thing they fpake of, the in-
grafted Word; which being received with a meek, quiet, and ſubmiſſive
fpirit, is able to fave the foul, Jam. i. 21. This is the Word of faith that is
nigh, in the heart and in the mouth, Rom. x. 8. This is the Word that ftands
at the door of the heart, and ſpeaks to be let in (Behold, I stand at the door
and
1
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
II
and knock): and when it is let in, it fpeaks in the heart what is to be heard
and done. It is nigh; it is in the heart, and in the mouth; to what end?
That thou mighteſt hear it, and do it. The living Word, which is quick and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged fword, divides in the mouth, and
divides in the heart, the vile from the precious; yea, it reacheth to the very
inmoſt of the heart, and cuts between the roots, Heb. iv. II. and this thou
art to hear and do. Thou art to part with all vile words, the vile converfa-
tion, the vile courfe and worship of the world outwardly, and the vile
thoughts and courfe of fin inwardly, as faft as the Word difcovers them to
thee, and to exerciſe thyfelf in that which is folly and madneſs to the eye
of the world, and a grievous croſs to thine own worldly nature; yea, when
the Word reaches to the very nature, life, and fpirit within, from whence
all that comes, that ftrong wife root of the fleshly life in the heart muſt not be
fpared, nor that fooliſh weak thing (to man's wife eye) which is brought
inſtead thereof, be rejected: which, when it is received, is but like a little
feed, even the leaſt of feeds; and when it grows up, it is a long while but
like a child; and yet keeping in that childiſhneſs, out of the wifdom, it en-
ters into that kingdom which the greateſt wiſdom of man (in all his zeal-
ous ways and forms of religion) falls fhort, and is fhut out of. This is the
Word of life; this is the true living rule, and way to eternal life; and
this is the obedience; this is the hearing and doing of the Word. He that
bath an ear, let him hear. Examine yourſelves whether ye be in the faith:
prove your own ſelves. Know ye not your own felves, how that Jefus Christ is
in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Are ye in the faith? Then
Chriſt is in you. Is not Chrift in you? Then ye are in the reprobate
ftate, out of the faith. Is Chrift in you, and fhall he not hold the reins,
and rule? Shall the living Word be in the heart, and not the rule of the
heart? Shall he ſpeak in the heart, and man or woman in whom he ſpeaks
run to the words of fcripture formerly ſpoken, to know whether theſe be
his words or no? Nay, nay, his fheep know his voice better than fo. Did
the apostle John, who had feen, and tafted, and handled, and preached the
Word of Life, fend Chriſtians to his epiftles, or any other part of fcrip-
ture, to be their rule? Nay, he directed them to the anointing as a fuf-
ficient teacher, 1 John ii. 17. He that believeth on me, as the fcripture bath
faid, out of his belly fhall flow rivers of living water, John vii. 38. He that
hath the fountain of life in him, iffuing out rivers of living water con-
tinually, hath he need to go forth to fetch in water? The kingdom of heaven
is within you, faith Chrift; and he bids feek the kingdom. Light the candle,
ſweep thine own houfe, feek diligently for the kingdom; there it is, if thou
canft find it. Now he that hath found the kingdom within, fhall he look
without, into words ſpoken concerning the kingdom, to find the laws of
the kingdom? Are not the laws of the kingdom to be found within the
kingdom? Shall the kingdom be in the heart, and the laws of the kingdom
written without in a book? Is not the goſpel the miniftration of the Spirit?
B 2
And
12
The Way of Life and Death
And ſhall he who hath received the Spirit run back to the letter to be his
guide? Shall the living Spirit, that gave forth the ſcriptures, be preſent, and
not have preheminence above his own words? What is the proper intent of
the letter? Is it not to teſtify of the Spirit, and to end in the Spirit? The
law, the prophets, John, led to Chrift in the fleſh; and he was to be the in-
creafing light, when they fhould decreaſe. Chrift's words in the flesh, the
apoftles words afterwards, and all words fince, are but to lead to Chrift in
the Spirit, to the eternal living fubftance; and when the words of Chrift,
of the apostles, or any words fpoken from the fame Spirit in theſe days,
have brought to the Spirit, to the feeling and fettling of the foul in the
living foundation, and to the building and perfecting of the Man of God
therein, they have attained their end and glory. But to cry up theſe, not
underſtanding their voice, but keeping at a diſtance from the thing that
they invite to; the words hereby are put out of their place, out of their
proper uſe and fervice, and fo attain neither their end nor their glory. And
though man put that upon them which feems to be a greater glory, namely,
to make them his rule and guide; yet, it being not a true glory, it is no
glory, but a difhonour both to them and to the Spirit, who gave them to
another end.
Now for the other part of the objection, that if men fhould be left to
their own ſpirits, and fhould follow the guidance of their own fpirits, it
would produce confufion and uncertainty: I do acknowledge it; it would
do fo. But here is no leaving of a man to his own ſpirit fpoken of or
intended, but the directing and guiding of a man to the Word and Spirit of
life; to know and hear the voice of Chrift, which gathers and tranſlates man
out of his own ſpirit into his Spirit: and here is no confufion or uncer-
tainty; but order, certainty, and stability.
The light of God's Spirit is a certain and infallible rule, and the eye that
fees that, is a certain eye); whereas man's underſtanding of the fcriptures is
uncertain and fallible; he having not the true ear, receiveth fuch a literal un-
certain knowledge of things into his uncertain underſtanding, as deceives
his foul. And here man, in the midft of his wifdom and knowledge of
the ſcriptures, is loft in his own erring and uncertain mind, and his foul
deceived, for want of a true root and foundation of certainty in himſelf..
But he that is come to the true fhepherd, and knows his voice, he cannot
be deceived. Yea, he can read the fcriptures fafely, and taste the
true ſweetneſs of the words that came from the life, but man who is out
of the life, feeds on the huſks, and can receive no more. He hath
ga-
thered a dead, dry, literal, huſky knowledge out of the fcripture, and that
he can reliſh; but fhould the life of the words and things there fpokem
of be opened to him, he could not receive them, he himself being out
of that wherein they were written, and wherein alone they can be under-
ftood. But poor man having loft the life, what fhould he do? He can do
no other but cry up the letter, and make as good fhift with it as he can;
though
I
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
13
though his foul the mean while is ftarved, and lies in famine and death, for
want of the bread of life, and a wrong thing is fed.
The Scribes and Pharifees made a great noife about the law and ordi-
nances of Mofes, exclaiming againſt Chriſt and his difciples as breakers and
profaners of them; yet they themſelves did not truly honour the law and
ordinances of Mofes, but their own doctrines, commandments, and tradi-
tions. So thoſe now who make a great noiſe about the fcriptures, and
about the inſtitutions of the apoſtles, do not honour the fcriptures, or the
inſtitutions of the apoftles; but their own meanings, their own conceivings,
their own inventions and imaginations thereupon. They run to the fcrip-
tures with that underſtanding which is out of the truth, and which never
fhall be let into the truth; and fo being not able to reach and comprehend
the truth as it is, they ſtudy, they invent, they imagine a meaning; they
form a likeneſs, a fimilitude of the truth as near as they can, and this
muſt go for the truth; and this they honour and bow before as the will of
God; which being not the will of God, but a likeneſs of their own invent-
ing and forming, they worſhip not God, they honour not the fcriptures,
but they honour and worſhip the works of their own brain. And every
ſcripture which man hath thus formed a meaning out of, and hath not read
in the true and living light of God's eternal Spirit, he hath made an image
by, he hath made an idol of; and the reſpect and honour he gives this
meaning, is not a refpect and honour given to God, but to his own image,
to his own idol. Oh how many are your idols, ye Chriftians of England, as
ye think yourſelves to be! How many are your idols, ye gathered churches!
How full of images and idols are ye, ye fpiritual notionifts, who have run
from one thing to another with the fame mind and ſpirit wherewith ye be-
gan at firſt! But the founder of images has never been difcovered and
deſtroyed in you, and fo he is ftill at work among you all; and great will
your forrow and diſtreſs be, when the Lord's quick eye fearcheth him out,
and revealeth his juft wrath againſt him.
In my heart and foul I honour the fcriptures, and long to read them
throughout with the pure eye, and in the pure light of the living Spirit of
God: but the Lord preferve me from reading one line of them in my own
will, or interpreting any part of them according to my own underſtanding,
but only as I am guided, led, and enlightened by him, in the will and un-
derſtanding which comes from him. And here all feripture, every writing
of God's Spirit, which is from the breath of his life, is profitable to build
up and perfect the man of God; but the inftructions, the reproofs, the
obfervations, the rules, the grounds of hope and comfort, or whatever
elfe which man gathers out of the fcriptures (he himſelf being out of the
life), have not the true profit, nor build up the true thing; but both
the gatherings and the gatherer are for deftruction. And the Lord will eafe
the fcripture of the burden of man's formings and invention from it, and
recover its honour again, by the living prefence and power of that Spirit
that
I
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The Way of Life and Death
that wrote it; and then it ſhall be no longer abuſed and wrefted by man's
earthly and unlearned mind, but in the hands of the Spirit come to its
true uſe and ſervice to the feed, and to the world.
2. The true worship was loft.
The true worship of God in the goſpel is in the Spirit. The hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers fhall worship the Father in Spirit and in
truth; for the Father feeketh fuch to worship him, John iv. 23. The true wor-
ſhip is in the Spirit, and in the truth, and the true worshippers worſhip
there; and fuch worshippers the Father feeks, and fuch worſhip he accepts;
but all other worſhip is falfe worſhip, and all other worshippers are falſe
worshippers; fuch worshippers as God feeks not, nor can accept their wor-
fhip. Did God refuſe Cain's facrifice formerly? and can he accept any fa-
crifice or worſhip now that is offered in that nature? Why he that worſhips
out of the Spirit, he worſhips in that nature; but he that worships aright,
muſt have his nature changed, and muſt worſhip in that thing wherein he
is changed, in that faith, in that life, in that nature, in that Spirit whereby
and whereto he is changed. For without being in this, and keeping in
this, it is impoffible to pleaſe God in any thing. He that is the true wor-
ſhipper is a believer, and in his worſhip he muſt keep to his rule, the law
of faith, the law of the Spirit of Life in him, the law which he receives
by faith freſh from the Spirit of Life continually. He must hear and ob-
ferve the voice of the living Word in all his worship, and worſhip in the
prefence, and power, and guidance of that, as that moves, and as that car-
ries on, or God is not worshipped in the Spirit. I fhall inftance only in prayer.
Praying always with all prayer and fupplication in the Spirit, Ephef. vi. 18.
Mark, all prayer and fupplication must be in the Spirit; yea, it muſt be al-
ways in the Spirit, which fpeaks in the heart to God, and makes the inter-
ceffion, or it is no prayer. If a man fpeak ever fo much from his own
fpirit, with ever fo much earneftnefs and affection; yet it is no prayer, no
true prayer, but only fo far as the Spirit moves to it, and fo far as the Spirit
leads and guides in it. If a man begin without the Spirit, or go on without
the Spirit, this is out of the worfhip; this is in his own will, and fo will-
worſhip; and according to his own underſtanding, and fo fleſhly worship;
both which are to be crucified, and not to be followed in any thing under
the gospel. We are the circumcifion, which worship God in the Spirit (here are
the true worshippers, the circumcifion; and here is the true worſhip, in the
Spirit; and they have no bounds and limits in the flesh, wherein their
ftrength and confidence is broke) and have no confidence in the fleſh. If a
man addreſs himſelf to any worſhip of God without his Spirit, hath he not
confidence in the flesh? If he begin without the moving of his Spirit,
doth he not begin in the fleſh? If he go on, without the Spirit's carrying
on, doth he not proceed in the ftrength and confidence of the fleſh? But
the worſhip of the Spirit is in its will, and in its time, and is carried on by
•
its
Made manifeft, and ſet before Men.
15
its light and power, and keeps down the underſtanding and affectionate
part of man, wherein all the world worſhip, and offer up the unaccepted
facrifices, even the lame and the blind, which God's foul hates.
Now this worſhip, as it is out of man's will and time, and in that which
continueth, fo it is continual. There is a continual praying unto God.
There is a continual bleffing and praifing of his name, in eating, or drink-
ing, or whatever elfe is done. There is a continual bowing to the ma-
jeſty of the Lord in every thought, in every word, in every action, though
it be in worldly things and occafions; yet the Spirit of the Lord is feen
there, and the tongue confeffeth him there, and the knee boweth to him
there. This is the true worſhip, and this is the reſt or fabbath wherein the
true worshippers worſhip. When the creation of God is finifhed; when the
child is formed in the light, and the life breathed into him; then God brings
him forth into his holy land, where he keeps his fabbath. They that are
in the faith, which is the fubftance of the things hoped for under the
law, are come from all the fhadows and types of the law, and from all the
heatheniſh obſervations of days and times in the fpirit of this world, where
the ſpirit of man is hard at work, into the true fabbath, into the true reft,
where they have no more to work, but God works all in them in his own.
time, according to his own pleafure. We, which have believed, do enter into
rest, Heb. iv. 3. And he that is entered into his reſt, bath ceaſed from his works,
as God from bis, verfe 10. He that hath the leaſt taſte of faith, knows a mea-
fure of reft, finding the life working in him, and his foul daily led farther
and farther into life by the working of the life, and the heavy yoke of his
own labouring after life taken off from his fhoulders. Now here is the
truth, here is the life, here is the fabbath, here is the worſhip of the foul,
that is led into the truth, and preſerved in the truth.
But what is the worſhip now in the apoftafy?
Among the Papifts, a very groſs worſhip; a worſhip more carnal than
ever the worſhip of the law was: for that, though in its nature it was out-
ward and carnal, yet it was taught and preſcribed by the wiſdom of God,
and was profitable in its place, and to its end; but this was invented by
the corrupt wiſdom, and ſet up in the corrupt will of man, and hath no
true profit, but keeps from the life, from the power, from the Spirit, in
fleſhly obfervations, which feed and pleaſe the filefhly nature. Look upon
their days confecrated to faints, and their canonical hours of prayer, and
their praying in an unknown tongue, with their faftings, feaftings, faying
of Ave-Marys, Pater-nofters, Creeds, &c. are not all theſe from the life, out
of the fpirit, and after the invention, and in the will of the fleſh? Ah!
their ſtink is greater than the fleſh-pots of Egypt.
And the worſhip of the Proteftants comes too near them: for their wor-
ſhip is alfo from a fleſhly principle, and in their own times and wills, and
according to their own underſtanding and apprehenfion of things, and not
from the rifing up and guidance of the infallible life of the Spirit in them;
for
16
The Way of Life and Death
for that they will quench. They alfo obferve days and times, and perifhing
ordinances, and are not come out of the flesh into that Spirit where the
worſhip is to be known, and to be in
3. The faith, the true faith, which was loft.
The faith which gives victory over the world; the faith which feeds the
life of the juft, and flays the unjuft; the faith which is pure, the myſtery
whereof is held in a pure confcience; the faith which gives entrance into
the reft of God; the faith which is the ſubſtance of things hoped for, and
the evidence of things not ſeen; this hath been loft, and is not yet to be
found among thoſe who go for Chriſtians.
For thoſe who challenge the name of Chriftians, and fay they believe in
Chriſt, and have faith in him, cannot with their faith overcome the world;
but are daily overcome by the world. Where is there a Chriſtian, but he
is either in the honours, or in the faſhions, or in the cuſtoms, or in the
worſhips of the world, if not in them all? He is fo far from overcoming
thefe, that he is overcome with them; yea, fo-overcome, fo drunk there-
with, that he hath even loft his fenfes, and thinks he may be a Chriftian,
and in a good ſtate while he is there.
And the life of the juft is not fed by their faith, but the unjuſt nature
is fed, and the righteous witnefs, which is raifed up and lives by the true
faith, is kept down, and cannot bring forth his life in them, becauſe of
their unbelief; for that is the proper name of their faith; for being not
true faith, it is not faith, but unbelief.
And the faith of Chriftians (fo called) is not a myſtery (they know not
the myſtery of it, which is held in a pure conſcience), but conſiſts in believing
an hiſtorical relation, and in a fleſhly improving of that, and can be held in
an impure conſcience.
Neither are they entered into reft by their faith: for they know not the
fabbath in the Lord, but are ſtill in a fhadowy ſabbath.
Neither is it the fubftance of what they hope for; but the fubftance of
what they hope for is ftrange to them. They are not come to Mount Sion, to
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerufalem, to the innumerable company of
angels, to the general affembly and church of the first-born, to God the judge,
Christ the mediator, and the blood of fprinkling, and fo to unity and certainty
in the life; but are in opinions, ways and practices fuitable to the earthly
fpirit; which may eaſily be fhaken, and muſt be ſhaken down to the ground,
if ever they know the building of God, and the true faith.
4. The love, the true love, was loft.
The innocent love, which thinks no ill, nor wiſhes no ill, much leſs can
do any ill to any; but fuffereth long, and is kind, meek, humble, not
feeking its own, but the good of others; this love is loft. The love un-
feigned is baniſhed; a feigned love, fuch a love as enmity and violence
proceeds
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
17
proceeds from, is got in the place of it. The true love loves the enemy,
and cannot return enmity for enmity, but feeks the good of them who
hate it but this love can perfecute and hate that which it calls the friend,
nay, the brother, becauſe of ſome difference in opinion or practice. The
love that was in Chrift, taught him to lay down his life for his fheep; and
he that hath the fame love, can lay down his life for his brother. But the
love that is now amongft Chriftians tends rather to the taking away of life.
What is the love amongſt the Papifts? See their inquifitions, their wraths,
their fire and faggot, &c.
What is their love in New-England? Is it not a love that can imprifon
or baniſh their brother, if he differ but a little from them in judgment or
practice about their worship? Yea, they can whip, burn.in the hand, cut
off ears, juſt like the bifhops of Old England. If one had told them, when
they fled from the perfecution of the bishops here, that they themselves
ſhould have done fuch things, they would have been apt to reply, with
Hazael, What! are we dogs? But they fled from the crofs, which would
have crucified that perfecuting ſpirit, and fo carried it alive with them;
and being alive, it grew by degrees to as great an head there, as it did in
the biſhops here.
And what is the love here in Old England? Is it not a love that whips,
ſtocks, impriſons, ftones, jeers? Yea, the very teachers (which fhould be
patterns of love to others) they will caft into prifon, and diftrain the goods
of their brother, even almoſt to his undoing, for maintenance, according to
the law of the land made in the apoftafy. See the Record of Sufferings for
Tythes in England, which may make any tender heart bleed to read it, and
is like to lie as a brand of infamy on the magiftracy and miniſtry of Eng-
land to fucceeding generations. Is this the love of the righteous feed? Or
is it Cain's love, which is in profeffion, in word, in fhew, but not in deed
and in truth? And how can theſe love God? Nay, if the true love of God
were in them, this enmity could not ftand, nor fuch fruits of it ſhoot forth.
But they have not ſeen the Father or the Son. And that life of them which
appears in the earth, the evil ſpirit in man ſeeks to deſtroy, that he may
keep up his own image and fhadow of life, which the nature of the true
life in its appearance fights againft. By this fhall all men know that ye are
my difciples, if ye love one another. And by this may all men know, that
thoſe that now go for Chriftians are not Chrift's diſciples, in that they do
not love one another. They are not at unity in the light, and fo cannot
love one another there; but are only in unity in forms, in opinions, in pro-
feffions, in practices; fo any difference there ftirs up the enmity, caufing
rifings in the heart againſt them at leaft, if it proceed not further. The
true love grows from true union and fellowſhip in the light; where that is
not known, there cannot be true love in the Spirit, but a feigned love in
the flesh.
VOL. I...
C
5. The
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The Way of Life and Death
1
5. The true hope, joy, and peace are loft.
The true ground of hope is Chrift in the heart, and the true hope is
that hope which arifeth from this ground, from the feeling of Chrift there;
Chrift in you the hope of glory, Col. i. 27. What is the true Chriftian's hope?
It is Chrift in him; he hath eternal life abiding in him; and he knows that can-
not but lead to glory. But what is the common Chriftian's hope? He
faftens his hope upon the relation and his belief of an hiftory. He that be-
lieveth fall be faved. I believe; therefore I fhall be faved. And thus, as
he bath got up a wrong faith, and a wrong love, fo he gets up a wrong
hope. And this hope will perifh; for it is the hope of the hypocrite, or
an hope in the hypocritical nature, which complies with fcripture-words,
but is not in union with God, nor with the life of the fcriptures; and fo
being without the anchor, is toffed in the waves of the ſea.
And the true joy is in the Spirit, from what is felt, and enjoyed, and
hoped for there. But the common Chriftian's joy is from things which he
gathers into and comprehends in his underſtanding; or from flashes which
he feels in the affectionate part, from a fire and fparks of his own kindling,
from whence he fetches his warmth and comfort.
And the true peace ftands in the reconciliation with God, by having that
broken down which caufeth the wrath, and to which the wrath is, where-
ever it is found. The lamb of God breaks down the wall of ſeparation in
the heart; the blood of Jefus, wherein is the life, cleanfeth away the fin
there, maketh the heart pure, uniteth the pure heart to the pure God: here
is union, here is fellowship, here is peace; but the common Chriftian's
peace is from a miſunderſtanding of fcriptures, while the wall of feparation
is ftanding, while wickednefs lodges in the heart. They reafon themſelves,
from fcripture words, into an apprehenfion that God is at peace with them,
and that they are in union with him; while that of God which is in them,
witneſſeth againſt them, and checks them, and wars with them; and they
are not one with it, nor cannot be, in that nature and underſtanding wherein
their life lies, to which belongs no peace.
6. The true repentance, converfion, and regeneration have been loft.
The true repentance is from dead works, and from the dead principle
whence all the dead works proceed: but thefe have not been repented of,
but cheriſhed in the apoftafy. The praying, the ftriving, the worfhipping,
the fighting hath been from the dead principle. The building up and
whole exercife of religion in the apoftafy, hath been in that underſtanding
which is to be deſtroyed; and the will, which fhould have been crucified,
hath been pleaſed and fed with its religion.
The true converfion is from the power of Satan to God, from the dark-
nefs to the light: but in the apoftafy, men have not known God or Satan,
the light or the darkneſs; but have miftook, taking the one for the other,
worſhipping
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
19
worſhipping the devil inftead of God, Rev. xiii. 4. and following the dark
conceivings of their own and other mens minds concerning fcripture, and
calling them light.
Regeneration is a changing of man, whereby the birth is born of the
Spirit; the ſtripping of the creature of its own nature, of its own under-
ftanding, of its own will, and forming it anew in the womb of the Spirit;
fo that the old creature is paffed away, and comes forth a new thing, which
grows up daily in the new life towards the fulneſs of Chrift. But men have
been fo far from being born of the Spirit, that they have not fo much as
known the gift of the Spirit in them; but to this day are enemies, and at a
diſtance from that of God in them, which is pure. And if they could but
open their eyes, they would fee that their birth is flefhly, and confifts, at
beft, but in fuch a conformity to the letter, as the old nature may imitate
and attain; but the immortal feed is not ſprung up in them, nor they dead
to the mortal, or alive to the immortal.
7. The true wiſdom, righteouſneſs, ſanctification, and redemption are loft.
The true wiſdom ftands in the fear of God, and departing from evil:
this thoſe that are taught of God learn, and thereby are made wife unto
falvation. But most that are called Chriftians are not come to the fear of
God; and many are got above it, looking upon it as legal, and not ap-
pertaining to the gofpel; but the goſpel ſtate is love, which cafteth out
fear. Doth the love of God refufe or caft out the fear of God? Nay, it
cafts out the fear that brings bondage; the fear that came in by tranf-
greffion; which fear is ftirred up, and diſcovered by the law. And this is
a fear of fin, or a fear arifing from fin, through the law's manifeftation of
it, and the wrath againft it, which caufeth both the fear, and much bond-
age from the fear: and this the gofpel (which difcovers the love, the mercy,
the grace, the power, and unites to them) frees from, and cafts out. But
then there is a fear of God; a fear wrought in the heart by his Spirit;
a fear which is part of the new covenant (I will put my fear in their hearts,
and they shall not depart from me); a fear which is part of the everlaſting gof-
pel, Rev. xiv. 6, 7. and endureth for ever, Pf. xix. 9. And this fear is not
bondage, but liberty; it is indeed bondage to the unjust, but liberty to the
juft; for where this fear is, fin is departed from; it fets free; it delivers
the feet out of the fnare of iniquity: there is true liberty. Can fin prevail
in that heart, where the pure clean fear of God is placed by God to keep
it down? The love of God doth not caft out this fear, but keeps in this
fear; and this fear keeps the heart clean from the evil which defiles, and
preferves the love from the enmity, which ſprings up where this fear is not.
Now this fear in the apoftafy was loft, or elfe what needed there an efpecial
miniftry to be raiſed up to preach it again, Rev. xiv. 6, 7. And the eſtate of
Chriſtians every-where doth manifeft this lofs; for their hearts are not kept
clean, which theweth that the fear (which doth keep clean where it is) is
C 2
wanting
20
The Way of Life and Death
t.
wanting in them. There is pollution, there is filth, there is deceit, there is high-
mindedneſs, felf-conceitedneſs, and love of the world, and worldly vanities, and
many other evils to be found in the hearts of thoſe that go for Chriftians; and
the purity of heart (which comes from the fear, and ftands in the wiſdom)
is not known. They are wife to do evil; but want the knowledge to avoid
the evil, and do the good. They are wife to get and enjoy the world; but
know not the true riches. They are wife to gather together many fcripture-
words againſt fin, and yet ftill keep the nature and life of it in the heart,
and it is as a fweet morfel under the tongue. They are wife to apply pro-
miſes to comfort themſelves with (when fometimes they receive a juft
wound in their hearts from the righteous-one); but know not that nature, or
that eſtate and condition, to which all the promiſes are made; but are yet in
that nature, and in that eſtate and condition, to which the curfe appertains.
The true righteoufnefs ftands in the faith, in hearing and obeying the
Word of faith. How comes the righteouſneſs of the law, but by hearing
and obeying the voice of the law? And how comes the righteouſneſs of
the gofpel, but by hearing and obeying the Word of faith, who is preached,
and the preacher of righteoufnefs in the heart? The apoftle Paul makes this
compariſon, Rom. x. The righteoufnefs of the law fpeaketh on this wife,
The man that doth these things, fball live in them. But how fpeaketh the Word
of faith? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart; he that doth
that, he that heareth that, fhall live in that. The hour is coming, and now
is, when the dead fhall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear
fball live. Difobedience to the law is unrighteoufnefs, and brings death
and diſobedience to the living Word is unrighteoufnefs, and cannot be jufti-
fied, but condemned; and obedience to it cannot be condemned, but jufti-
fied fo that when the foul hears, believes, and obeys, then it is juſtified;
then its former fins are forgotten, and this is imputed to it unto righteouf-
neſs. But when the foul will not hear, will not believe, will not obey, this
unbelief is judged in him, and his fins retained, and not remitted. Now
is not this a juft and equal way of juftification, O ye fons of men! Is not
your way unequal? Shall a man continue in the unbelief and rebellion
againft Chrift, againſt the light, againſt the faith, and yet be juftified by
Chrift, by the light, by the faith? This cannot be; God's way of imputa-
tion will ftand; but man's invented way of imputation, which ſprung up
in the apoftafy, will not ftand. If we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, the blood cleanfeth; but not otherwiſe. If we walk after the Spirit,
and not after the fleſh, there is no condemnation; and not otherwife. The
true baptifin is the plunging down of the old thing, with all its filth, and
the railing up of a new thing; and it is the new thing, the circumcifion,
the baptifm, which is juftified. God juftifieth his Son, and man only fo far
as he is found in his Son.
The true fanctification confifts in the growth of the feed, and its ſpread-
ing, like a leaven, over the heart, and over the whole man. By faith
· Chrift
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
21
Chrift is formed in the heart; the hidden man in the myſtery is formed
there; and as this feed, this leaven, this man grows, fo he makes the man
holy in whom he grows. The feed of life, the kingdom of heaven, is an
holy thing; and as it grows and ſpreads, it purgeth out the old leaven, and
makes the lump new; but now, in Chriſtians that have grown up in the
apoſtaſy, this feed is not known, this leaven is not ſo much as diſcerned;
but their holiness confifts in a conformity to rules of fcripture, received into
the old heart and underſtanding. And what a noife hath this made in the
world, all this night of the apoftafy! as if this were the heir, and fhould
inherit the kingdom. Nay, nay; the heir hath appeared (by whoſe pre-
fence it is ſeen, that this is not the heir), and ye fhall not be able to kill
him; but he ſhall live to enjoy his inheritance, and the inheritance ſhall
`not be yours.
Redemption confifts in being bought, by the price of the life, out of fin,
out of death, out of the earth, out of the power of the devil. It is a caſting off
the ſtrong man out of the heart, with all that he brought in, and a delivering
from his power. It is a diffolving of the work of fin, which the devil hath
wrought in the heart, and a fetting the foul, which is immortal, at liberty,
free from fin, and free unto righteouſneſs: this is the true redemption. But
this redemption in the apoftafy is a feigned redemption, wherein falvation
from fin, and the devil, and his power, is not felt; but the ftrong man is
ftill in the heart, and keeps the foul in death, and brings forth fruits of
death daily.
The Chriſtians formerly (in the firſt day of the breaking forth of God's
power) had Chriſt in them, the livingWord; they opened their hearts to him,
received him in, felt him there, found him made of God to them their
wiſdom, their righteouſneſs, their fanctification, their redemption, 1 Cor. i.
30. They had the thing that theſe words fignify and ſpeak of, and knew
the meaning of the words by feeling of the thing. But Chriftians now, in
the apoftafy, have got feveral apprehenfions from the words, without feeling
the thing the words ſpeak of; and there lies their religion. And now the true
heir being come, holding forth the thing they have been all talking of, all
fects upon the earth are mad against him, and would fain kill him. They
would not have the living ſubſtance, which is the heir, live, and nothing be
eſteemed life but that; but they would have their dead apprehenfions from
the words live, and their dead forms and practices owned; and the heir of
life muſt come in their way, in the way that they have hoped and waited
for him, or they will not own him. Awake! awake! O ye fons of the
apoftafy, and of the night! rife up out of the fleshly wiſdom, out of the
dead fleſhly interpretations of fcriptures, out of the dead invented forms of
worſhip, and bow to the heir; kiſs the Son, left ye feel the force of that
dreadful fentence, Thofe mine enemies, which would not that I ſhould reign
over them, bring hither, and lay them before me. For of a truth the great
prophet is riſen, and fpeaks in the heart, and his fheep hear his voice
(there
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The Way of Life and Death
(there are many faithful witneffes thereof); and he that will not hear his
voice, must be cut off; there is no avoiding of it: for the two-edged fword
is in his hand, and he will cut down the tranfgreffor...
8. The church, the true church, was loft.
The true church was a company gathered out of the world into God,
begotten of, and gathered into his life by, the living Word, and fo had a
true place and habitation in God. The apoftle Paul, writing to the Theffa-
lonians, ftiles them a church in God. A church under the gofpel is made
up of true Ifraelites, gathered out of their own fpirits and nature into the
meaſure of the Spirit of God in them, as Chrift was into the fulness. They
are fuch as are begotten of God, born of his Spirit, led by him out of
Egypt, through the wildernefs, to Sion the holy mount; there they meet.
with the elect precious corner-ftone which is laid in Sion; and they, being
living ftones, are built upon it into Jerufalem the holy city, Pet. ii. 5, 6.
Heb. xii. 22. This is the true church. Every one that believes in Chrift
is a living ftone; and being a living ftone, he is laid upon the living foun-
dation, and fo is a part of the building in the temple of the living God.
Yea, his body and ſpirit being cleanfed, he himfelf is a temple wherein God
dwells, appears, and is worthipped. And the gathering of any of theſe
together at any time in the life, in the name of Chrift, is a larger temple,
and fuch a temple as Chrift never fails to be in the midft of. But the great
temple, the full church, is the general affembly of the firft-born.
the unerring pillar and ground of Truth: this always bore up Truth; Truth
never failed here; but when it was at any time loft in the world, it might
from hence be recovered again when God pleafed, and as far as he pleafed.
Indeed the law of the Lord hath always gone forth from this Sion, and the
living Word from this Jerufalem.
This is
But what hath the church been in the apoftafy? A building of ftone,
fay fome; and that not only among Papifts, but here in England alfo.
Many have called the old mafs-houfe a church, a temple, the houfe of
God, pleading for it to be a holy place; and have fhewed it by their
practices, keeping off their hats while they were in it.
Others fay, not the ftone building, but the people that meet there, is
the church; whereof many are openly profane; yea, fo far from being ga-
thered into the Spirit, and fo ignorant of his motions, that they are ready
to fcoff, if they hear a man fpeak of being moved by the Spirit. What
are thefe? Are thefe living ftones, whereupon the true church alone can
be built? Are thefe children of the day? Nay, thefe are children of the
night; children brought up in the apoftafy from the true light, the true
life, the true rule of Chriſtianity, the true worship, the true faith, the true
love, &c. and fo are dead ftones in that building; but not true living ftones
in God's building.
Other
3
i
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
23
Other forts feparate from theſe, and gather congregations out of thefe;
but ftill in the fame fpirit, in the fame nature, being not themſelves ga-
thered out of the apoftafy from the Spirit into the Spirit again; and fo they
build but with the fame ftones as were in the old building, and not with
the new and living ftones, and fo are but a more refined appearance of a
church; but not a true church, not a church in God, and by the gathering
of his Spirit; but of their own gathering, after a form, according as they
have imagined from their reading and ftudying of the fcriptures.
9. (Which may be the laſt inftance) The miniftry, the true ministry, bath been loft.
The true miniftry was a miniftry made and appointed by the Spirit, by
the gift of the Spirit beſtowed on them, and by the Spirit fending of them,
and appointing them to their work. Chrift bid his apoftles and difciples
wait at Jerufalem for the promife of the Spirit, and when he had given them
the Spirit, he gave them to the church for the work of the miniftry,
Ephef. iv. 11, 12. Ats xx. 28. And if none can be a member of the
true church but by being begotten out of death into life by the Spirit,
furely none can be able to minifter to him who is fo begotten, but by the
fame Spirit. So thefe receiving their miniftry of the Lord Jefus, s. xx.
24. and the gift of the Spirit from him, they were made able minifters of the
New Teftament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. 6. They were
able in God to minifter from his Spirit to the fpirits of his people; and
they did not minifter a literal knowledge of things to the underſtanding of
man, but they led men to the Spirit of God, and minittred fpiritual things
to that fpiritual underftanding which was given them of God. Neither
did they make uſe of their own wifdom and art to tickle the natural car;
but fpoke to the confcience, with the demonflration of the Spirit in the
fight of God, as it pleafed the Spirit to give them utterance.
But how have minifters been made in the apoftafy? By orders from men,
fet up in their own wills, after their own inventions. And how have they
been qualified, but by human arts and languages, which have been of
high efteem in that which men call the church, fince the language and
kill of the Spirit of God hath been loft. God, who choſe in his own
church, doth not chooſe here who fhall be his minifters; but any man can
appoint his fon to be a minifter, if he will but educate him in learning, and
fend him to the univerfity, and fo bring him into that way of order wherein
men make miniſters, and then he is able to minifter unto man the things
of man, according to human fkill, and this, in the dark night of apoftaly,
must go for a true call to the miniftry of God. Indeed they are as true
minifters as the church is to which they minifter; but they never were, nor
never can be thus made minifters of the church of God: but as God alone
can form and build his church, fo he alone can fit and appoint the minifters
thereof. And though others, having feen the groflinefs of this, make their
minifters by a call in their church; yet neither is that out of the apoftaly,
but
24
The Way of Life and Death
but only a ſtriving of man to get out of it; which man cannot poffibly do
till he meet with the Spirit of God to lead out of it. So that that miniftry
alfo is but an invention of man made by man, and comes not from the
Spirit, nor is able to minifter fpirit to the fpirit.
Object. But hath there been no true religion fince the days of the
apoſtles? No true rule, no true worſhip, no true faith, no true love, no
true hope, joy, or peace! no true repentance, converfion, and regenera-
tion! no true wiſdom, righteouſneſs, fanctification, and redemption! no
true church, no true miniftry! What is become of all our forefathers?
Did they all perish? And hath not this miniftry converted many to God?
Were not ye yourſelves converted by it? Nay, have not many of them
been martyrs, and witneffed to the Truth of God? And though fome of
them are bad, yet are not many of them zealous and confcientious preachers
of the Word at this day? By fuch reaſonings as theſe the wiſdom of man
much ſtrengthens and hardens itſelf againſt the Truth.
Ans. The rule in nations, the worſhip in nations, the faith, love, hope,
joy, peace, repentance, converfion, regeneration, &c. which have been
cried up in nations for the Truth, the churches in nations, the miniſtry in
nations, all theſe have been corrupted, and never recovered their true ſtate
to this day. There have been changes from one thing to another; but the
reſtoration hath not been known. The whoriſh ſpirit hath been hunted and
purſued, and ſo run out of one form into another, traverfing her way, and
changing her ground and garments; but hath not been taken and judged
to the death: and the true ſpirit hath not been able to find the bed of her
huſband; but hath wandered from mountain to hill all the time of this
cloudy and dark day, forgetting her refting-place.
fet
Yet, though the whole earth was corrupted, and falſe doctrine and worſhip
up ever-where among the nations, which continued the fornication and
whoredom from the Spirit of life in the public ways and national worſhips;
notwithſtanding this, even all this while God referved a feed to himſelf,
which he cauſed to ſpring up in a remnant, and which he moved and
carried on to witneſs againſt ſomewhat of theſe corruptions, in their ſeveral
ages and generations. And as faft as the beaft killed and knocked down
theſe, God raiſed up more: yea, though the whoriſh ſpirit, in ſome nations,
painted herſelf curiouſly, leaving fome of the grofs doctrines and worſhips
of popery, and got into a more refined way; yet God raiſed up witneffes
againſt her there alfo, and ſtill doth, into what form foever ſhe gets: for
though of late fhe hath decked herſelf very pleaſingly, as fhe thinks, and
covered herſelf round with fcripture words and profeffions, and practices as
like as ever ſhe can form them to the practices of former faints; yet quick
and lively is the Spirit of God that fearcheth after her, who hath found her
out, and raiſed up witneffes against her there alſo.
Now this feed, this remnant, though they were not able to recover the
poffeffion of the life and power that was loft; yet they had a true taſte of
it,
1
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
25
, and their teftimony which they gave out from that tafte was true: and
fo far as they kept to this teftimony in the faith and in the patience
which they had learned and received from God (though but in a low mea-
fure) they were accepted of him. So that all were not loft in this night
of darkness; but fuch as feared God, and knew and hearkened to his
voice, had the teſtimony of his prefence with them, and tafted of his life
and power in meaſure.
in meaſure. God was not an hard maſter to them; but tender
and gentle, and contented to reap what he fowed. But the appearance of
God in this dark time was weak and low, and eafy to be made a prey of.
And this is very obſervable, that ſo long as the fimplicity ran pure, it was
preferved; but fo foon as ever the fpirit of man was tempted either into
any old, or into any new-invented form, the wiſdom of the fleſh got in
with it, grew up more than it, and when it had gathered ftrength, cor-
rupted the veffel, betrayed the fimplicity, and loft the life. There was a
precious thing ftirring in queen Mary's days, the life whereof was more
hurt and fuppreffed by that dead form of epifcopacy fucceeding afterwards,
than by the foregoing perfecution. The perfecution did clear and brighten
it; but the fleshly form of epifcopacy brought death over it. Thus many
precious beginnings and buddings forth of life have been betrayed in theſe
late days; and the forms of Prefbytery, Independency, and Anabaptifm, have
been little leſs than graves to bury and keep down the life. How many
fpirits, that had a precious favour in them at their entrance into thofe forms,
did foon become fleſhly, earthly, and very unfavoury, lofing the quickneſs
and freſhneſs that was in them before, and falling into the deadneſs of the
form, withering with it.
And as touching the miniſtry, though in itſelf it was evil, being in the
degeneration from the true miniftry all this time of the apoftafy; and the
perſons therein, for the moſt part, very corrupt, being brought up to it as a
trade, and making uſe of it as a trade: yet I do believe that there was a fim-
plicity of heart in fome perfons among them, which did cauſe them, in fome de-
gree of faithfulneſs, to feek the Lord, his fervice, and the good of fouls. And in
the time of ignorance and darkneſs, it pleaſed God to wink at and overlook the
evil, and to cauſe good to paſs from the good in them to the good in others,
through the evil that hung about both. And this was the great tenderneſs of
the Lord, in pity to his poor creatures, who were very deftitute of help in the
thick night of darkneſs, and fhould not now be made ufe of to justify and
keep up the evil. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O fooliſh people and un-
kind! becauſe his mercy and goodneſs extended to you, notwithstanding the
evil which might have hindered, will ye make that an argument to keep up
the evil, and to oppofe the light which diſcovers it? Becauſe God caufeth
light to fhine through the darkneſs, and viſiteth man in the dark, will ye
therefore fet up the darknefs as his proper way of miniftration? The cor-
rupt way, call, and exerciſe of the corrupt miniftry could not keep out the
tender love of God; but he had refpect to the fimplicity of fome who
VOL. I.
*
D
were
26
The Way of Life and Death
were found in it, and to the fimplicity of others who waited on him for
inſtruction there, and did pleaſe to give fome anſwer to both. And will ye
make this ungenerous ufe of it, to interpret it as his approbation of that
miniftry, which ſprung up in the apoftafy from him, among thofe that
were apoftatifed, and is a great diſhonour to him, and the abhorring of his
foul? A miniſtry of Chriſt, a miniſtry ſet up by his Spirit, is precious; but
a miniſtry made by man, according to his will, and miniftring in his wif
dom, the foul of the Lord beareth as a burden, and is preffed with it; and
as he raiſeth up his own life, will eaſe himſelf of it. And what do they
miniſter from, but the literal part of the ſcriptures, which killeth, and can-
not give life. And what do they minifter with, but their own underſtand-
ing part; what meanings they can invent, what deductions their wifdom can
draw from the fcriptures; but do not fee the true meaning in the infallible
and unerring light: And what do they miniſter to, but the underſtanding
part in you? Whereas there is fomewhat elſe to be miniftered to by the
true minifter. And what do they miniſter to you, but food for the under-
ſtanding; food for the ferpentine wiſdom, which always fed upon know-
ledge, but never upon the true bread. And hereby another thing is fed in
you, and not your fouls; but they are kept in leanneſs and barrenneſs,
under death and the bondage of corruption (which Paul cried out upon as
a wretched ſtate, and could find no eaſe, reft, or freedom from condem-
nation there), and without the true life and redemption. I do not deny but
ye may there meet with fome kind of warmth in the affectionate part,
which may be heated by a fire and fparks of man's kindling and blowing
up; and this may go for life with you now: but in the preſence of the
Truth, where the eye is open, it vaniſheth; yea, the Spirit of the Lord
hath fo blown upon it, that it is even withered in the fight of a more in-
ferior eye in many people.
POSITION III.
That there is to be a recovery, a true recovery, out of this ſtate of
apoftafy, into the true ſtate of Chriſtianity again.
OD will not let the defolations of Sion remain for ever; but he will
Gagain
again build
build up Sion, and appear in his glory. He will fet his king upon
his holy bill of Sion. The new Jerufalem ſhall again come down from heaven.
The man-child, which was taken up, fhall come down again, conquering and to
conquer; and the lamb fhall get the victory over the whore, and over all her
apoftatifed nations and churches, that have a name and not the life; and he
fhall rule them with a rod of iron, and make them a defolation, which have
made his holy city defolate, and trample them down which have trampled
upon it. The lofty city he will lay low; he will lay it low, even to the ground:
be
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
27
:
be will bring it even to the dust: the foot shall tread it down, the feet of the
poor,
the steps of the needy. The whore fhall be judged, with the beaft whereupon
fhe rode. The Life, which they trod upon, fhall rife up in the mighty
power of the Lord, and overturn them. The everlasting gofpel fhall be again
preached to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, and
tongue and people, Rev. xiv. 6. Mark: the goſpel that was preached to
the nations all the time of the apoftafy, was not the everlafting gofpel; that
gofpel did not bring life and immortality to light; but they were hid
from mens eyes, and men had only a found of words inſtead of the thing.
And thus poor nations, kindreds, people, tongues, were every-where be-
witched with a form of things; with an outward knowledge, a periſhing
knowledge in the perifhing part; a vain, traditional, invented worſhip,
which ftands in the wiſdom and will of man; but had no union and fellow-
ſhip with that which is everlaſting. And thus all the nations, in the ſmoke
of the bottomleſs pit, ran into the pit from whence the ſmoke came. But
the Lord hath a time to pity the poor nations, and to fend forth his true
everlaſting goſpel again, to deliver the nations from that witchery, and
forcery, and ſpiritual inchantment which got up in the dark. And as this
everlasting light fprings up, then down goes Babylon; down go all in-
vented doctrines, all invented forms, all invented worſhips, and that wif-
dom and evil ſpirit that raiſed them up. Babylon is fallen, is fallen! that
great city! becauſe fhe made all nations drunk of the wine of the cup of her for-
nication, Rev. xiv. 8. And now the new wine of the kingdom, which is
tafted of in the everlaſting gofpel, purges out the old wine; and the
drunkenneſs which thereby came upon the nations, waftes. And they that
have tafted of this life, and know this life, can never be bewitched back
again, by the whorifh fpirit, to dead forms and likeneffes without life.
Nay, when Babylon falls, fhe can rife no more. Though the life fall
often, it can rife again; but when the witchery from the life is diſcovered
and caft into the pit, it can get out no more.
Indeed the beaft hath had
all the ſtrength of the nations, and the whore hath had all the wisdom,
all the eſteem, all the honour. Who can make war with the beaft? Who
can fhew miracles and wonders like the falfe prophets? Who can teach but
the wife, learned, orthodox men, that have the arts, and know the origi-
nal? Yea, there is another that can make war, and a prophet that can
preach better than they; one that can preach life; one that can preach
the everlaſting gofpel, and knows the original of it; one that is wifer and
ftronger than the whore, and by his wiſdom and ftrength is able to judge
her, and caft her out of the nations, though fhe has got very ſtrong pof-
feffion, Rev. xviii. 8. Now learn wiſdom; know the parable of the fig-tree;
come to the life that is arifen, and abide not in the death that is paffed
and paſſing away. Ye have heard the voice of the whore, ye have drank
of her cup, ye have been bewitched, ye have fet up her inventions; but
have wanted the thing which cannot be invented, and which the inventing
under-
D 2
1
28
The Way of Life and Death
understanding cannot comprehend. But if the force of the wine fhall re-
main upon you, fo that ye cannot hearken after, or let in that which is
everlafting, affure yourfelves, as the life rifes, ye will meet with plagues.
and wraths from it, inftead of the refreſhments it brings to others; and
know what it is to fit down under the dead talk of, without feeling, the
living power of redemption. Therefore be wife, and know the times and
feafons. That will not be borne with now, which was borne with formerly;
but as the love and power of God to falvation have more appeared, fo the
feverity against thofe who now refift will appear more alfo; and death fhall
have its fting, which they that will love darkness, and hate the light, fhall.
feel..
POSITION IV.
That they that are in thoſe things which have been fet up in the
times of the apoftafy, are not yet come to the recovery from.
the apoſtaſy..
T
HEY that are in the doctrines and bodies of divinity which have
been formed fince, are not in the true doctrine.
They that are in the rules of life which, wife churchmen, or fynods, or
councils have given, or which they themselves have gathered by their in-
duſtry out of the fcriptures, are not in the true, living, and everlaſting
rule.. They that are in the worship, or under the miniftry, or of any
church: which hath been fet up fince by the power of man, or from the in-
venting wifdom (though this. wifdom hath founded its inventions upon the
fcriptures) are not in the true worſhip, in: the true church, or under the
true miniftry. They that are in the faith, which has. fince been gathered.
into the underſtanding, and did not fpring up from the myſtery af life in the
heart, are not in the true faith. The fame may be faid of love, hope, jay,
peace, and all the reft mentioned before; yea, and all other things in re-
ligion; for all hath been corrupted, even the inward part.. And while here
hath been a great contention about the forms of worship and church go
vernment, the power of godlinefs,, and the government of Chrift in the
heart, have been loft..
Obferve diligently what we have now to fay. When the apoftles, who
had the true miniftry, preached the gofpel, they ſtirred and raiſed up the
power of God in the heart, and the power of fin, corruption and deceit.:
funk down, and was under foot, and trampled upon by the power. But.
when antichrift and the: falfe prophets arofe,, they raiſed up the corruption:
again, and fed it with doctrines, of deceit.;, but the:
but the power, funk down,, and.
was not felt, but buried all that time of the prevailing of the corruption
and deceit.. Now the power was not loft all this while in itſelf; but only
loft to man, fo that he knew not where to find it.. Yet this power,, in this
time:
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
29
<
time of lofs, did ftir and move, and make them in fome degree fenfible of
the lofs, cauſing them to pant and ſeek after the living Truth. And this
was good; this was of God. But then there was an evil fpirit, which was
near to the good, and lay lurking in the ferpentine wifdom of the heart,
and that drew the mind (which was bent toward the feeking of a right
thing) a wrong way, that cried, lo here! lo there! look into the fcriptures;
the church was fo and fo; go, get into ſuch a thing; the Chriftians there
did fo and ſo; go, do fuch a thing; there is the way; there thou ſhalt
meet with the life and the power. And thus it drew from that which
ftirred within, into an imitation of a form without, and there they came
to a loſs. I dare appeal to all honeſt hearts, was there not a good thing
ftirring in you, when ye went into your church forms? Were ye not led
in fimplicity, hoping to meet with life and power there? Nay, did ye not.
lofe it there, and become deader? Did ye meet with the life and power-
there? I know, if ye have not forgotten the taſte of life, ye will confeſs.
to me, that that which now ye have is not life, but far fhort of that which
ye had when ye entered into your form. Ah! poor hearts, the whore be-
witched you. The harlot in your bofoms, and the falfe prophets without,
helped to increafe the witchery, crying, lo here! and lo there! but ye
knew not that the kingdom of heaven was within; from whence that
ftirring of life was in you, where ye fhould have kept, and not have gone
forth: but now ye are dead, and buried in your graves, lying there without
fenfe, and are now got into the fpirit of the world, and into the enmity
againſt that life in others, which was then your own life. And do ye know
where ye are, and what ye are doing? Can ye bear to hear it.
Of a truth ye are in the fnare of the enemy, in the inchantment from
the life, in the whore's bed, in the ftrumpet's bosom, and not in the bo-
fom: of our beloved.. And your practices are branches of the fornication,
parcels of the whoredom, inventions which have been gathered in by that
underſtanding, and fet up by that will, which whored from God. They are
the effects and products of the whore's cup, which gets new dreffes, new
habits, news forms, new ways to cozen and deceive the fimple with; but
ftill fhe remains the whore, and thoſe who are feduced by her are led into
her whoredom. For when God diſcovers and hunts her out of one form,
then ſhe decks herſelf with another, perhaps more feemingly fpiritual, more
fcripture-like, and fo more likely to take with the fimple heart and then
the lies in wait for the young man to entrap him again, faying, Come in
hither, this is the true way of God without doubt. Did not the faints meet.
with life. here formerly? Come thou hither alfo. Here is the bed of thy
beloved; take thy fill of life, thy fill of love. And thus the poor,, honeſt,
fimple heart follows her, going like a fool to the correction of the ſtocks,
not knowing that it is for his life, until he come to feel the loſs of life.
And then, if the find the cannot keep him there, but fresh ftirrings of life
oring up in him again, and withdraw him from that which had deceived:
î
him
30
The Way of Life and Death
!
him, then ſhe paints again, and lies in wait for him again, to catch him in
fome more refined appearance, or in fome elevated notion, or at leaſt in
the ſhadow of that which is true: for the whore hath not only art and
power to invent forms and likeneffes of that which is true, and makes
idols and images of them; but it hath power alfo given it over the out-
ward court; fo that that which is found there it can make idols and images
of; that which is corruptible, it can get into and corrupt, and make an
enemy to that life which lived in it before it was corrupted; and when it is
corrupted, then there is no more truth or life to be found there, but the
idol and the idolatry.
The apoſtle John, who forewarned of antichrift, and gave a mark whereby
it might be known, namely, by his not confeffing Chrift come in the fleſh,
1 John iv. 3. (which he that fetteth up any thing of the old covenant, or
any invention or imitation of any thing therein, doth not) bids alſo beware
of idols: Little children keep yourſelves from idols, 1 John v. 21. Now what
is an idol? The apoftle Paul faith, An idol is nothing in the world. An idol
is no true thing in its place; but a falfe thing fet up inftead of the true.
A falſe conception of God in the mind is an idol; a falfe church or temple
is an idol; a falfe minifter, who is not made according to the appoint-
ment of God, and by the gift of his Spirit, but came in another way, by
the appointment of man, is an idol fhepherd; and, the worſhip in this
church, and by this miniſtry, is public idolatry; and all the worſhip in fa-
milies which has been erected after the fame manner, without the guidance
of the Spirit of God, is private idolatry. Were the heathens temples,
altars, priefts, facrifices, and other inventions of theirs (in imitation of the
Jews) idolatrous? And are not the inventions of the heathenifh fpirit, or
antichriftian nature in man, are not they alſo idolatrous?
Object. But is praying idolatry, preaching idolatry, finging idolatry, bap-
tizing of infants idolatry, breaking of bread idolatry?
Anfw. The praying which God appointed is not idolatry: praying in the
Spirit of God, when he moves, and according to the will of God, which
is only known in the Spirit, is not idolatry; but thy praying in thine own
ſpirit, and at thine own times, and according to thine own will (perhaps
in way of imitation of the Jewish morning and evening facrifices) this is
idolatry. This is that which thou haft fet up, inſtead of that which God
fet up; and fo it is not the true thing which God fet up, but an idol of
thy own making: and fo thou worshippeſt not God therein, but that
ſpirit which helped thee to invent and fet up the idol. The fame might
be faid concerning preaching, finging, wafhing with water, breaking of
bread, and whatever elfe is practiſed in religion upon theſe terms.
Object. But doth not the fcripture mention theſe things? And did not
the faints practiſe theſe things? Surely they were not idolaters! Can I be an
idolater in practifing that which they practiſed?
Anfw.
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
31
}
Anfw. Nay, thou art miſtaken; they are not the things which they
practifed. The ſtreſs of their religion lay in the life of it, in the prefence of
the Spirit of God in it: it was his breath made it the truth. Now, if thou
couldſt have the fame things that they had, yet without the fame living
breath, they would be but dead things; but idols. But thou haft not the
true form of things neither; thou haft not the true church, the true miniſtry,
the true ordinances according to the form; but things ſet up in their ſtead,
by the invention of man, in the time of the apoſtaſy from the true things;
and what can theſe be but idols?
Be-
The world wondered after the beast; and they worshipped the dragon, which
gave power unto the beaft, and they worshipped the beast, Rev. xiii. 3, 4.
hold what was worshipped at the time of the apoftafy! that which arofe
from the beaſtly invention of man, and not from the true Spirit of life.
And the inventing and fetting up of thefe, and worshipping accord-
ing to theſe inventions, is worshipping the dragon (for he getteth in, and
lodgeth in man's inventions), and not the living God. And therefore God,
at the end of this apoftafy, raiſeth up a new miniſtry, to recall the nations
from worſhipping the dragon to the worship of God again, ver. 6, 7. of
that chapter, What the Gentiles facrificed of old, they facrificed to devils, and
not to God, I Cor. x. 20. And what the late Gentiles facrifice (I mean
Chriftians in the heathenifh nature, Chriftians to whom the outward court
was given, Rev. xi. 2. and who have a profeffion of the faints words and
practices, but without life) they facrifice not to God neither; but to that
ſpirit that helped them to invent and form a likeneſs or image of the
Truth. Tranfgreffing the principle of God within, they go from God, and
from his worſhip, and the devil, who went out from the Truth, gets in,
and they go into his power; and whatever they perform in worſhip there,
is to him; for when they go from the principle of God in them, the devil
gets into their hearts, and God goes out; and his true life, power,
and worſhip are not known, but an image or likeneſs, which the devil
fets up inſtead of the true thing. So then, in that ftate, let men confider
what they worſhip; for there they cry up ordinances and duties, and kill
one another about them, thinking that they worship and honour God
thereby; but know not, nor are come to, that wherein God alone can be
worſhipped and honoured.
I know the blafphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, faith
the Spirit, Rev. ii. 9. Is this blafphemy? For a man to call himfelf a
Chriſtian, who is not, what is that? To call that a church, which is not,
what is that? To call him a minifter of Chrift, who is not, what is
that? To call thofe the ordinances of Chrift, which are not, what is
is that? To call that faith, which is not, that juftification, which is not, &c.
what is that? Can ye fpy out the blafphemer? Ye have made a great out-
cry again him long; are ye willing now he ſhould be put to death? The
Lord hath lighted his candle, he is fearching for him, and he will find him
out: and as we have defired, ſo it fhall be; the Lord will not ſpare him.
1
O be
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The Way of Life and Death
O be awakened, be awakened, ye heathenish Chriftians! Open the eye
that can fee, and behold where ye are, and what ye are doing, and how
faft ye are running into the pit. Ye have forgotten God; ye have loft the
true line of judgment; ye have loft the key of knowledge; and the light
that is in you is darkneſs, and leads to darkneſs, though ye cannot poſſibly
believe it. Oh! come back to the remembrance of God,and to true holiness,
without which no man fhall fee him. For the wicked fhall be turned into
hell, and all the nations that forget God; and ye have forgotten him days
without number.
POSITION V.
That the only way of recovery out of the apoftafy is by returning
to, and keeping in, that Spirit from which the apoftafy was.
THI
HE apoftafy came by leaving the Spirit of God, and running after
another fpirit; and the recovery muſt be by leaving that other ſpirit,
and returning to the Spirit of God again. How did Chriftians formerly
begin their religion? They began in the Spirit, Gal. iii. 3. And fo they
were to go on to perfection, and not to intermix any thing of the flesh.
And had the anointing been kept to, antichrift and the myſtery of iniquity
had been kept out; and where that is returned to, the antichriftian fpirit is
purged out by degrees, and the ways thereof diſcovered and forfaken.
Therefore know the whorifh ſpirit in thyfelf, which is buſy to form like-
neffes in thy mind to feduce thee, and to make thee fall in love with the
likeneffes which the hath formed in other mens minds, and let her not
deceive thee with her paint and gaudy appearances; but know likewife the
little feal of life, from which Truth fprings up in thee, and in which the
Spirit of Truth dwells, and is to be found; and take heed, left the ſerpen-
tine wiſdom teach thee to defpife and turn from it. From this fpring it
was that Truth fprung up in the witneffes all the time of the apoftafy;
for they had their teftimony from the Spirit of prophecy, Rev. xix. 10.
far as they kept to that, they gave a true teftimony; 'fo far as their own
pirits mixed with it, they corrupted it. But to abide in that was very
hard; and there was need of much affliction and perfecution to keep the
fleſh down, and to preſerve the life pure. But as the life fprings up more
ftrongly, and overcomes that fpirit inwardly (I mean the wife fleſhly ſpirit),
there will be lefs need of outward afflictions or perfecutions; yea, or in-
ward either: but there will be a fafe entrance into, and abiding in, the joy,
the reft, the peace, where the whore within (which feduced from the life,
where the power is, into fome form where the power is not) is burnt.
Learn then, and know in thyfelf that Spirit of prophecy which ſpoke in
all the martyrs. Hear that, come to that, keep to that; feel the union,
the fellowſhip, the fpreading of that in thee. When that bids thee go,
So
go;
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
33
1
1
go; when that bids thee come, come; when that bids thee do this, do it.
But the flesh is grown ſtrong, and ſtrongly refifteth this Spirit, both inwardlly
and outwardly; and will not fuffer him to rife up in the heart, or to rife
up in the nation; but at any time when he ftirreth, and offers to ſpeak, or
lead to God, there is a reaſon riſes up in the fleſhly wiſdom that knocks
him down, and denies his voice, and hearkens to another voice inſtead of
his. Thus they firſt give way to the fleſhly wiſdom, and fupprefs the
truth in themſelves, and then they would go forth and fupprefs it in others;
and they think them mad, and their rage rifeth against them where the
Truth is fuffered to grow, and man's reaſon or fleſhly wiſdom denied. And
thus is the Lord of glory evilly intreated, and flain at this day by this
generation of Chriftians, as he was by the Jews flain formerly in the pro-
phets, in that his appearance in a fleſhly form, and in his apoſtles: and his
blood will be required; for the earth fhall not always drink it up and cover
it, nor the adulterous woman be always able to wipe her mouth, and ſay
ſhe hath done no wickednefs. Ye have faved alive the unjuſt, and killed the
juft. The murdering nature is alive in you, O ye Chriſtians; but the
Holy One is flain, and lies buried in your graves: and ye have painted your
graves, and ſpeak good words of him; but ſtill keep him down, and let
another riſe up and live in you. Ye cry up that appearance of Chriſt in the
fleſh, and the words he then fpoke, and the words of his apoſtles, and
think that if ye had lived in thofe days, ye would not have killed either
him or his apoſtles; and yet ye reſiſt and oppoſe the fame life in yourſelves
and in others, with fuch a kind of wifdom in the letter as the Pharifees
had. O what will ye do! the uncircumciſed ear is got up in
and ye
you,
cannot hear; and the uncircumcifed heart, and ye cannot underſtand; but
when this is told you, ye deſpiſe and wonder, and go on in the perifhing
ſtate. My bowels! my bowels! I am pained at my bowels! O England!
England! thou that killedft the martyrs in queen Mary's days; thou that
perfecutedft the Nonconformifts afterwards; thou that wouldft not fuffer
the people of God to meet together, to ſeek him with an honeft heart; but
wouldft confine them to thy grofs formal ways of worſhip! though the
Lord hath appeared, and broken the horns of the oppreffors; yet the per-
fecuting fpirit is not broken in thee; but thou ſtill hunteft after the pre-
cious life of the feed, and wouldft not let it fpring up in the nation. The
ſpirit of enmity is ftill up in thee, which knows not the Lord of life; but
by a natural instinct oppofeth him, and would fain keep up fome grave or
other, it cares not what, fo it might but thereby keep down the life: for
thou canst now bear with any form, and cherish it; and thy only en-
mity is against thoſe who are ſent by the Lord to gather out of all forms
into the life. How often would the Lord have gathered thee! but thou
wouldft not: and yet feeks to gather thee; but ftill thou wilt not: but, as
if the former laws, made in queen Mary's days, were not fufficient, defireft
new laws, to infnare and intangle the innocent. What will become of thee,
E
VOL I.
or
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The Way of Life and Death
or what wilt thou fay to the Lord, when he ariſeth to plead the cauſe of the
innocent? For that Spirit which he raifed up to witneſs againſt the whoriſh
ſpirit (which lies hid in thy forms of worship and religion, and appears in
all thy laws, councils, and ways of government, fo far as they were
formed, and fo far as they are guided, by the wiſdom of the fleſh) is in-
nocent: even as that Spirit. which witneffed formerly againſt popery and
epiſcopacy was innocent before the Lord, though accufed by them as
guilty of error in itſelf, and of diſturbance to the public peace, as this is
now by thee.
SOME PRINCIPLES
Guiding out of the APOSTASY,
To the CHRISTIAN SPIRIT and LIFE again.
"T
HAT there is no falvation but by the true knowledge of Chrift. The
Jews had received the ordinances of God, and knew of the Meſſiah
to come, and believed it, and were very zealous in their worſhip, in obſerva-
tion of circumcifion, the paffover, new moons, and fabbaths, &c. (Wherewith
Shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?) and yet God
complains of them by his prophet, My people periſh for lack of knowledge.
And the ſtate is the fame under the antichriftian apoftafy, wherein the
whore hath made all nations, kindreds, tongues and languages drunk with
the
cup of her fornication. The true knowledge and worſhip have been loſt;
though the eyes of them that have been in the apoſtaſy, and drunk with
the cup, could not fee it, no more than the Jews could in their day. But
to come cloſe to the thing.
A man
The knowledge of Chrift is not literal, traditional, or flefhly, nor can
it be received by the natural understanding; but it is fpiritual, and the
underſtanding must be given by God which receives it. He hath given us
an understanding, that we may know him that is true, I John v. 20.
may read fcriptures, hear fermons, &c. and thereby gather a knowledge
into the old underſtanding: but neither this underſtanding into which the
knowledge is gathered, nor the knowledge itſelf which is gathered, is fpi-
ritual, but fleſhly, and fo cannot fave. He that comes once to receive an
underſtanding from Chrift, and to have the knowledge of Chrift poured
forth from Chrift into his heart, knows the difference between that and the
underſtanding into which he gathers things. The knowledge of Chrift
after the letter (and a faith in him anfwerable to fuch knowledge) will not
fave:
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
35
fave: but a man muſt know him in that Spirit, life, and power wherein
he lived, if he groundedly hope to be faved by him, 2 Cor. v. 16, 17.
..
2. That Chrift faves by the new covenant: not by any thing got into the
mind by the oldnefs of the letter; but by a life begotten, which is new.
There are two covenants made mention of in fcripture, one whereof is
called the old, the other the new. The old belonged to the Jews, which
is done away, with their ceremonies, ftate, and polity. The new, which is
better than the former, Chrift is the mediator of, Heb. viii. 6. By mediating
between God and the creature, or by bringing them together in, and ac-
cording to, this covenant, he faves. Man, by his difunion and diſtance
from God, perifheth: by being brought again to God, he lives again;
which thing Chrift effecteth by the new covenant. So then he that is not
led by Chrift into that covenant, is not in the ftate of falvation.
3. That the new covenant is written in the heart; or there is no other way
of coming into the new covenant, whereof Chrift is high-prieſt and me-
diator, but by having the laws of God written in the heart. This is the
covenant, &c. I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their
hearts, &c. They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, faying, know the Lord: for all ſhall know me, from the least to the
greatest, Heb. viii. 10. 11. He is fpeaking of the covenant whereof Chrift
is mediator, ver. 6. which he calls a new covenant, ver. 8. and faith it is not
like the old, ver. 9. inftancing in two main particulars, wherein it is very
unlike. 1. The old was written outwardly in letters, to be read by the
outward eye;
but this is written inwardly in the heart and mind, and fo
can only be read by a ſpiritual eye. 2. Under the old they needed teach-
ing from men; the prieſt's lips were to preferve knowledge, and they were
to ſeek the law at his mouth; but now they ſhould have the law fo near
them, fo clearly written in them, that they fhould need none to teach them.
From the law is the knowledge of God; the law is in the heart; and from
the law in the heart ſprings up the knowledge of God in the leaſt and in
the greateſt that are within this covenant, that they need not fay, know
the Lord. This is the ftate of the new covenant, which the Chriftians
came to in thoſe days, 1 John ii. 27. But it hath been a ſtrange thing in
this dark night of apoftafy, and is yet a ſtrange thing to many. But let
fuch confider, can a man be a Chriftian, and be out of that covenant
whereof Chrift is the mediator? Can a man be brought back again to God
by Chriſt, and yet be out of that covenant whereby Chriſt brings men back
to God? O how hath Satan deluded poor fouls in this thick night of dark-
nefs, to make men believe they have faith in Chriſt, and ſhall be faved
thereby, while they are quite ignorant of, and ftrangers to, that covenant
whereby Chriſt the mediator faves. They shall all know me, from the leaſt to
the greatest. Mark there is not the leaft in this covenant but hath the
law fo written in his heart, that he need not feek out for knowledge.
4. hat the Spirit of God alone can write the covenant in the heart; or that
Chrift writes the covenant by his Spirit. Man, by all his wifdom, cannot
attain
E 2
36
The Way of Life and Death
attain it. Man is driven out from God, and cannot find the way back
again to him, without the teachings and leadings of God's own Spirit. It is
not the being educated in any way of religion from one's childhood, or the
leaving of that, and running into any fect afterwards, that will avail any
thing hereto; but the alone hearkening to the true voice of the true Spirit.
It is written in the prophets concerning the children of this covenant, that
they ſhall be all taught of God: And all thy children fhall be taught of the
Lord. It is the Lord alone, who by his Spirit teacheth them to come to
Chriſt, and to receive the new covenant into their hearts from Chrift: for
man is in an incapacity to know or receive Chrift, or his covenant, until
the Spirit hath fitted and taught him, John xiv. 17. But when he hath pre-
pared and fitted his heart, then with his own finger he writeth the pure law
of the nature and life of Chriſt therein; by the receipt whereof he cometh
out of his own dark ſpirit and nature into the true knowledge of God, and
union with him. I will put my Spirit within you, Ezek. xxxvi. 27. This
is part of the covenant, and indeed that part whereby all the reft is
wrought.
5. Therefore the first proper step in religion, is to know how to meet with
God's Spirit. There is no progrefs, no true progrefs, to be made in the
true religion, till a man comes into the covenant; and there is no coming
into the covenant but by the Spirit: therefore the firſt thing that is ab-
folutely neceffary to be known in religion, is the Spirit, his writing, or at
leaſt his motions and ſtirrings, in the heart. It may further be evidenced
thus all things in religion, acceptable to God, flow from the Spirit: all
knowledge is to come from him; for he alone hath revealed and can
reveal Truth, and is appointed by Chrift to lead into all Truth. All wor-
ſhip is to be offered up in him: they that worſhip the Father, muſt worſhip
him in the Spirit and in the Truth; for the Father feeketh fuch to worſhip
him; but rejecteth all other worshippers and worſhip, how glorious foever their
worſhip may ſeem to them: particularly praying is always to be in the
Spirit, Ephef. vi. 18. Jude xx. fo finging, &c. yea, the whole life and con-
verfation is to be in the Spirit, Gal. v. 25. The mortifying of all corrup-
tion is to be done by the Spirit If ye, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of
the body, ye shall live, Rom. viii. 13. Indeed a Chriftian is nothing, and
can do nothing, without the power and prefence of the Spirit of God in
him. So then, if nothing in religion can be done (with acceptance to God)
without the Spirit, then the Spirit is the firſt thing to be looked after, by
him who would be truly and well-groundedly religious.
6. The first way of meeting with the Spirit of God, is as a convincer of fin.
Here is the true entrance; this is the key that opens into life eternal; he
that can receive it, let him. It is not by foaring aloft into high imagina-
tions and forms of worſhip; but by coming down to this low thing. This
is the firft and moft proper work of the Spirit of God toward fallen man,
whereby he makes way toward the writing of God's law in the heart;
namely,
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
37
namely, to convince of fin. And where fhould man look firft to meet
with him, but in his firft work upon him? When Chrift promiſed the
Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, he ſaid this concerning him, that he ſhould
convince the world of fin, John xvi. 8. They who are created a-new in
Chriſt, and become his difciples, receive comfort from the Spirit; but what
is he to the world? Or how may they feel any operation of him? Why he
is to them a convincer of fin, and they may find him checking them for,
and convincing them of, their fins. So that the great work for man, while he
lies in the darkneſs (for when he is tranflated into light he will be eaſy) is to
diſtinguiſh the movings and ſtirrings of the Spirit of God. And this is the
beſt way for man in this ftate to know them by: That which diſcovers
that which is evil, THAT is good. That which diſcovers that which is fpiritually
evil, THAT muſt needs be ſpiritually good; for evil is darkneſs, and cannot
make itſelf manifeft. That which diſcovers that which is undoubtedly pure,
and inclines to it, THAT muft needs be of God. Now to know this, and
be joined unto it, is a joining of the creature unto God, by ſomewhat of
him that comes from his Spirit, and fo is a true beginning of life eternal.
7. That whereby the Spirit of God convinceth of fin, is his light fhining in the
confcience. Fallen man is darkneſs; the light fhines in the darkneſs, and
fhews man the evil, which otherwife would lie covered in him. Man fell
from God, loft the image of God, and became wholly darknefs; but the
Spirit of God is light, and fhines in the darkneſs, and ftrives with man to
reduce him back again to that light from which he fell. God, who com-
manded the light to shine out of darkneſs, bath ſhined in our hearts, to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God, &c. 2 Cor. iv. 6. Where did the
apoſtles and Chriftians in thofe days meet with the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in Chrift? God fhined in their hearts. He that made
the light to fhine out of the dark deep, Gen. i. 2. by his Spirit, he by the
fame Spirit made the light of the knowledge of life fhine in their dark
hearts; and there it is alfo that the work of conviction is wrought by the
fame Spirit. He that perfects the good work in the heart, the fame is he
that begins it there; and his beginning is, by reproving and convincing of
fin, and ſo turning the heart from it unto God, and unto the obedience
of that righteouſneſs which he makes manifeft. And he that meeteth not
with the Spirit in the beginning of his work, or flinketh back, and goeth
not on with him, but fmothereth his reproofs, not forbearing that, or part-
ing with that for which he is reproved, is never like to meet with him in
the end. And then it will be too late for him to blame that religion
wherein there was only a dead form, but not the living power of God. He
that will come to life eternal, muſt be tranflated out of his dead under-
ftanding, and all his dead ways and worships, which pleaſe that under-
ſtanding, into a living principle, and keep in that principle; and then he
fhall know life indeed, and the true food of that life, and the true wor-
ſhip and fervice from that life, and the reward belonging to all.
8. That
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The Way of Life and Death
8. That this light convincing of fin, fhineth in every confcience. He hath
Shewed thee, O man, what is good, Micah vi. 8. The life, which was in
Chrift, was the light of men, John i. 4. Chrift is the light of the world,
John viii. 12. God, as he loved the world, ſo he manifeſted his love to
the world, by fending his light into it, to enlighten every man that cometh
into the world, that with the light they may fee his Son; and as many as
receive him, to them he gives power to become the fons of God. As God
would have all men to be faved, and come to the knowledge of the Truth; ſo he
hath given that light to all, which may bring to the knowledge of the
Truth which faveth. He is the true light, which enlighteneth every man that
cometh into the world, John i. 9. The grace of God, which bringeth falvation,
hath appeared unto all men, &c. As the enemy got poffeffion of every
man's heart, by filling it with darknefs; fo Chrift purfueth, and feeketh
to difpoffefs the enemy, by the light which he fendeth after him into every
man. And this is the condemnation of man: not that he wants a light
to witneſs againft, and draw him from, the enemy; but that he loves the
enemy, and chuſeth to be one with the enemy; but hates light, and turns
from it, John iii. 10. 20. He hearkens to the reaſonings of his mind againſt
the light, and fo fmothers and choaks it; but does not turn to the light,
to have all the reaſonings of his mind fubdued by it, and fubjected to it.
9. The true way to life eternal, is by believing in the light of the Spirit,
which shineth in the confcience. Man is in darknefs, which keeps him in
death; and there is no way to come out of the death, but by coming out
of the darkness; and there is no way to come out of the darkneſs, but by
following that light which diſcovers it, and calls forth from it; and he
that doth follow that, cannot remain in the darkneſs, but muft needs come
out. There is an evil principle in man, calling for evil; and there is a
good principle calling from the evil to the good: now he that followeth
the good, cannot follow the evil, but departs from it. I am the light of the
world (faith Chriſt); be that followeth me ſhall not walk in darkneſs, but ſhall
have the light of life, John viii. 12. But this is that which undoes man;
he loves the darknefs, he loves the world, the courfe of the world, the
worſhips of the world: he loves his own underſtanding, and his own will,
and fo hates that light which croffeth theſe, and which would teach him,
by the denial of them, to crucify that nature from whence they ſpring,
and to which they are fuitable. And from hence it comes to paſs (the love
to fin within being ftrong, and Satan, the ſtrong man, keeping the houſe)
that the motions of God's Spirit are eaſily overborne, either by reafonings
of the underſtanding, or by perverfenefs of the will: but if man durft truft
himſelf to them, he would quickly find of what nature they were, by the
ſtrong oppofition of the ftrong man against them. It is indeed a ſtrait and
narrow way, into which no flefh can enter and walk; and yet it is the
only way for there is no life in God, no peace with God, while the enemy
lives in the heart. But when the light is received and turned to, then the
power
•
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
39
power begins to work, which flays the enemy in the heart; and that being
done, there is no more war, but peace. Then the true peace, which
paffeth underſtanding, fills and refreſhes the heart; whereas the peace
which was in the foul before, was but the peace of the enemy, and will
abide no longer than the enemy is fuffered to keep poffeffion quietly.
10. That believing in the light of the Spirit, which shines in the confcience,
unites the foul to God, and opens the fprings of life to it. Belief in darkneſs
(which is unbelief towards God) difunited the foul, and cloſed up the
fprings of life from it. Belief in the light, which is fent to lead from the
darkneſs, unites again, and opens the fprings again. God is light; he
dwells in the light, and there enjoys the fulneſs of life: and he gives a
meaſure of his own light to draw from the darkneſs: and he who believes
and follows this, is led by it unto God, from whom it came: and being
come out of the darkneſs unto him, he begins again to feel the ſprings of
life, the freſh ſprings of life, which are in him. He that believeth is come
to the well of falvation, and draws living water out of it, and drinks of
the living water continually, fo that he can thirft no more; yea, out of his
belly flow rivers of living water. This is the fruit of the true faith; but this
is not the fruit of the faith of the apoftafy; but there the foul remains
ftill difunited to God, and united to the darknefs, and drinks out of the
living ftreanis, but drinks dead water. The fountain of pure life is not
open to it; but the fountain of iniquity: and that blood which cleanfeth
and taketh away the fin is not known. There is only a dream of theſe
things in the dark night of apoftafy; by which dream the confcience is a
little quieted for the prefent; but when the witneſs awakes, and the light of
the day fhines, the foul, which is lean, will find itſelf in the hands of the
enemy, in the bonds of fin, and feel that it never knew that power that
could redeem it; but the fubtil ferpent deceived it with a name, inſtead of
the thing.
This is the true way, the narrow way (I can, in the preſence of the living
God, fet my feal to the truth of it) which it hath pleaſed God to diſcover,
and make manifeft again, after the long dark night of apoftafy. And we
come not to it by hearing or receiving any new notions or apprehenfions of
things; but by feeling that which puts an end to all creaturely notions and
apprehenfions; and we grow in it by the increaſe of that thing in us. The
feed to which the promife was made; the feed which was before Abraham
was, is felt, and his day is feen and rejoiced in; and by the light thereof
the darkneſs is diſcovered, and the kingdom of darkneſs is affaulted. And
as it daily falls in many particulars, fo it fhall at length fall in the general;
and the kingdoms of this world fhall become the kingdoms of the Lord,
and of his Chrift; and he ſhall reign upon the earth, where fin and anti-
chrift have long reigned, and kept him down. And though there be a
great rage and outcry among the people and heathenifh profeffors; yet the
decree is gone forth, and Sion's king ſhall reign in the holy hill of Sion,
1
and
40
The Way of Life and Death
"
and the hills and mountains fhall melt before him, and the earth ſhall ſhake
round about him.
Therefore gather yourſelves togther, mufter up your ftrong forces, O ye
feveral forts of carnal profeffors. Let all your differences one againſt an-
other fall, and join together againſt him who is againft you all. Improve
the ferpent's wiſdom, and form arguments out of the fcripture thereby
with the utmoſt ſkill and underſtanding of flesh; get the kings, rulers, and
magiftrates of the earth on your fide too; handle all the weapons of the
fleſh ſkilfully; difpute, reproach, revile, whip, ftock, impriſon, ſtarve,
nay, put to death. See if you can uphold your kingdom; for there is a
mighty-one come forth against you, who will take the vineyard, the king-
dom, the inheritance from you, and give it to another; and on you ſhall
come that death and darkneſs, that mifery and deftruction which ye have
put far from you, and flighted as the portion of others. Therefore con-
fider your condition in the fear of the Lord; and if you feel not yourſelves
able to fight it out, make your peace betimes, and let your greateſt crowns
(your choiceft wiſdom and ſtrength in the flesh) be laid down at the feet of
Chrift, at the loweft appearance of his light in the confcience. Let not
the leaft check of his Spirit be flighted there; but efteemed above the
higheſt notions of light that ye have gathered in, or can gather with your
fleſhly underſtandings. And indeed it is no leſs than its due: for this
which runs freſh from the Spirit is more living in itſelf, and more proper
to that man's prefent eftate to whom it comes, than whatever he himſelf
by his underſtanding can gather from the letter.
There hath been a precious feed of God long ftirring in this nation;
but it hath been oppreffed, and kept in bondage, by the fpirit of Pha-
raoh and his wife Egyptians, who would fubject it to their laws and wor-
ſhips, and not let Ifrael go out of Egypt at God's call, to worſhip him in
Spirit and Truth; but would keep him in forms and ways of man's in-
vention. The Lord hath poured out his plagues upon this ſpirit, and more
and more wrought out the liberty of his people: but as the plagues ceaſe,
this ſpirit hardens itſelf, and effays the reducing of Ifrael into bondage
again. And as Pharaoh renews the bondage of Ifrael, fo God renews the
plagues on Pharaoh and his Egyptians. Pharaoh hath a ſtubborn will,
and a great wiſdom and power, and is loth to let Ifrael go; but the Lord
alſo is wife and ſtrong, and hath a will more righteous than Pharaoh's; and
by his wiſdom and ſtrength will he effect his will, and Pharaoh's ſhall not
ftand.
Who is ſuch a ſtranger in Ifrael that hath not obferved, that as God be-
gan to raiſe up the feed in this nation, and call it into liberty, fo the
fpirit of the wife Egyptians rofe up againſt it, exclaiming of error, herefy,
blafphemy, new ways, new lights, &c. And doubtless many tares have
fprung up; but the aim of the enemy was not fo much to pluck up
thefe tares, as to deſtroy the one good feed of wheat. Herod did not aim at
killing
·
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
41
killing all the infants in Bethlehem; but he would rather kill them all,
than have Chrift live. What preaching on the one hand! what running
to the magiftrate on the other hand! and all to deftroy this young babe.
When any different way of worſhip did appear, as of Independency, Ana-
baptifm, or of feeking and waiting for the Truth, how did they make
an head againſt them, and cry out againſt them, for fear the young child
fhould be born and appear there! And now they fee their own image
brought forth there, they are at peace with them. And having diſcovered
that where no part of the image or mark can be received, but there is
another nature in life and truth brought forth, and no form without life
will go down; now they know where to fhoot all their darts; now they
know againſt whom to invent and ſpeak all manner of evil, and againſt
whom to direct all their envy, rage, and outcries, and to prepoffefs all forts
of perfons every-where with all manner of prejudices, that the Truth may
not ſpread any where, but be oppofed every-where. And all perfons minds
are now fo filled before-hand with the venom of the ferpent, that Truth
cannot come any-where, but it finds the enmity already ſtirred up, and
prepared to withſtand it.
This is a new way, a new light, fays one; we knew a religion before
this came up, and we will keep to that, let who will run after theſe new fects
and ways. A natural light, the old light of nature, faith another, or the
corrupted light of Adam, which hath run along through all his poſterity.
Another outcry is, that it makes the fcriptures void and ufelefs. Others cry
out, that it teacheth things contrary to the fcriptures; that it fets up free-
will; that it leads to a covenant of works; that it breaks down relations,
laws, governments; takes away due refpect from magiftracy and fuperiors,
and turns the world upfide-down. Thus the worldly fpirit is every-where
up in arms, and a zeal kindled every-where to keep it out of every heart,
and out of every place and country.
Now theſe are not real things; but fuch kind of flanders and reproaches
as always have attended Truth. The prophets of God, Chrift, and his
apoſtles, though they have been ſpoken well of afterwards, yet they have
ever been hated, fpoken ill of, and perfecuted by the generation of pro-
feffors of their age. The Scribes and Pharifees could not with fo great ad-
vantage have perfecuted Chrift and his apoftles, without a feeming zeal for
the law and prophets; and yet it was the fame fpirit that ſo vehemently
cried up the law, the prophets, the ordinances of Mofes, that perfecuted
the Spirit and life in Chriſt and his apoftles, from whence the law, the
prophets, and ordinances came. And thus it is at this day; though the
fpirit is as blind now as it was then, and cannot fee through its own cover;
though it be as weak and narrow as theirs was. The guilty chargeth the
innocent, that it might hide its own guilt, and keep its covering. The
guilty Jews, and the guilty Scribes and Pharifees, charged the prophets,
Chriſt, and his apoftles, that they might not be found guilty by them, and
VOL. I.
¡
F
have
42
The Way of Life and Death
have their formal covering rent from them. And thus it is at this day;
Truth is rifen to make manifeft mens falfe coverings, and the guilt and
hypocrify that lie hid underneath. Now to fave themfelves, they are pre-
pared beforehand to lay that charge againſt Truth, which Truth hath
againſt them.
Search thine heart, refift not the light, thou that haft charged the Truth
with any of theſe things, and thou wilt find it thine own condition. The
Truth is no new light, or new way; and they that hold it forth, do not
hold forth any new way, or new light; but it is thou that haft left the good
old light, the good old way, which was before the apoftafy, and haſt fallen
in with fome new light, fome new way, invented and fetup fince the apoſtaſy.
It is thou again that fetteft up the natural light, the fallen wiſdom, the wif-
dom which is out of the life, and in enmity with the life; with this thou
feedeft that underſtanding which is to be brought to nought; and when
thou hast done this thyfelf, then thou calleft the fpiritual light, wherewith
God hath purſued it in all ages, a natural light. It is thou that with this
wiſdom fearching into the fcriptures, and gathering the oldnefs of the
letter into the old underſtanding, makeft the fcriptures void and uſeleſs to
thy foul, and canft not meet with that life and power which they ſpeak of;
but art ftill alive in thy fins, and dead unto God; and then thou crieſt out
againſt that which comes to diſcover this to thee, and to bring thee out of
this dead knowledge into the life of the fcriptures; thou crieft out againſt
this, as if this made the fcriptures ufelefs. And when thou haft fet up a
whole body of knowledge, religion, and worſhip, quite contrary to the fcrip-
tures, which the Truth comes to make manifeft, then Cain's nature rifeth
up in thee, and thou takeft up Cain's weapons, and fain wouldst thou kill
thy brother, becauſe his facrifice in the faith teftifies againſt thine, which is
out of the faith, and contrary to the true teftimony of the ſcriptures.
Again; for free-will and a covenant of works, thou haft fet up a religion
in the old will and works; not according to the new covenant of life, but
according to the old covenant of death. And by this thou preacheſt that
will to be free, which is in bonds; and fetteft up the works of man's
righteouſneſs, and conformity to the letter, for the works of the new co-
venant. And for governments and laws, that which is according to God,
which is a terror to the evil, and a praiſe to them that do well; that which
is liberty to the juſt, and a curb to the unjuft; this thou art againſt, and
crieft out daily for the turning of the magiftrate's ſword againſt the innocent,
becauſe they are a light to difcover thy deeds of darkneſs, which are out of
the light, and diſturb thy peace and thy fettlement in that which is fleſhly,
and of man, and not of God. So for relations, and honour to magiftrates;
the tranfgreffing nature hath brought up a wrong thing, a fleshly thing, an
honour and a duty which is of the fleſh, and pleaſeth the fleſh, and is not ac-
cording to God. And this is not honour indeed; not an honour that
will ftand; not an honour that will be juſtified in the fight of God; but it
is
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
43
is a ſhame to them that give it, and a fhame to them that receive it; dif-
covering that they are fervants to the flesh, giving to and receiving from
the fleſhly part that which the fleſhly part (which crucifies the life) calls
for, and is pleaſed with.
All that the light doth to theſe things, is to diſcover and condemn them:
and the end of its difcovery is, that they might be removed, and truth
and righteouſneſs brought in the ftead of them. But man's evil heart,
which is the cauſe of them, cries out againſt the light, as if the light
brought them. Whereas if man could be quiet and ftill, and fuffer the work
of the light upon him, he would find that the fame light which diſcovereth
them, would alſo purge them away, and leave neither root nor branch of
iniquity, either in mens hearts, or in relations, or families, or towns, or
cities, or laws, or governments; and there would be no want of honour.
Now though the ferpent's wiſdom is irreconcileable, and that underſtand-
ing which ſtands there cannot be fatisfied, but must be confounded and
brought to nought, 1 Cor. i. 19. yet becauſe underneath all this there is
a fimplicity in fome, which is betrayed; for the relief of that, fomewhat
further may be ſpoken in anſwer to theſe things.
Object. 1. To the firſt objection, that this is a new way, or new light, I
anfwer:
Anfw. It is new indeed to them who have lain long in the apoftafy, and
fet up another light; but it is not new in itſelf, but the fame that was
in the beginning; yea, and before the beginning alfo. Chrift was the
fame yeſterday, to-day, and for ever; and the light that comes from him is
like him; that alfo is the fame yeſterday, to-day, and for ever. It was the fame
under the law, the fame before the law, the fame fince the law. As the dark-
nefs all along hath been the fame, fo the light all along hath been the fame alfo.
It was the fame in the Jews, and the fame in the Gentiles. It was this God ex-
pected obedience to from the Jews; and the prophet (in the name of the
Lord) difdains their facrifices, and brings them to this; Micah vi. 8. He
bath fhewed thee, O man, what is good. And what doth the Lord require of
thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Their eye was upon facrifices and oil; but the prophet points them to that
which would bring them to the right facrifice, and to the true oil. And the
Gentiles, fo far as they were obedient to this, were accepted, and excufed
in their own confciences; the faithful witnefs whereof is of God, and will
ftand in the day of Chrift, Rom. ii. 15, 16. That which was from the begin-
ning, faith the apoftle John, declare we unto you, I John i. 1.
And this is
the meffage which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all, verfe 5. And the end of preaching
this meffage, is to draw out of the darkneſs into the light; to bring men to
the feeling of the light of God in them, and fo to union with it; which
being turned to, draws out of the darkneſs. God, who is light, is nigh
to every man, who is darknefs; though man's fenfe is very thick, and can
hardly fee or feel him. And a light from him ſhines in man's darkneſs; but
F 2
man's
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The Way of Life and Death
man's darkneſs comprehends it not. So that this light is not new in itſelf,
but only new to the old fpirit, which hath long lain hid in the region of
darkneſs and death, and hath not known the light of life.
Objection 2. That this is a natural light, or the light of old Adam's
nature.
Anfw. It is in one fenfe a natural light; it is of the nature of him from
whom it comes; of the nature of God, and of his Chrift, whom it ap-
pears for but it is not of the nature of corrupt Adam, whom it always
reproved, and againſt whom it ftill ftands a witneſs, and condemns all cor-
ruption. Man is darknefs; and when Chrift comes to redeem him, he
finds him darkneſs: and Chrift finds no light in him to help him to dif-
cover fin to him; but all the difcoveries of fin that are made in the heart,
are by the light of Chrift, and not by any light of man's nature. The
Lord is the fearcher of the heart, and he ſearcheth it with his own candle,
and not with any left in man's nature. Man fell into darkneſs, and knew
not where he was; but the Lord cometh after him with his candle, and dif-
covereth his ftate to him. It is the light from which man fell, and againſt
which he fins, that is alone able to make his diſobedience manifeft to him.
We know, faith the apoftle, that the law is fpiritual; but I am carnal, Rom. vii.
14. The law is the loweft part of the light; and yet that is fpiritual, and
of Chriſt's nature, and not of Adam's nature; we know it, faith the apoſtle.
Such as know the nature of that which manifefts fin, know it to be ſpiritual.
It is the fallen man from the light, the man in the darkneſs, that calls the
light darkneſs but that which diſcovers the darknefs, and reproves the
darkneſs, and wars againſt the darkneſs, is not darkneſs, but the light of
life. And thoſe who are ſpiritual, and feel the nature and power of it in
their ſpirits, know it to be fo. But man hath fet up a light of his own;
hath raiſed up a light by his ſtudy and invention, in the ftrength of the
fallen wiſdom and now fetting up this for light, he muft needs call the
true light darkness, as the Pharifees did Chrift.
Objection 3. That it makes the ſcriptures void and uſeleſs.
Anfw. It came from the Spirit that gave forth the ſcriptures; it is of
the fame nature with the light that fhone in them that gave forth fcrip-
tures; it ſpeaks the fame thing with fcriptures, it leads to the fame thing,
and it opens and witneffes to the words which the fcriptures fpeak; and fo
it brings the fcriptures, which have been long abuſed, into their true uſe.
Indeed it puts an end to the corrupt ufe of fcriptures, to man's inventing
and forming things out of them, and brings them into their true ufe and
fervice. It takes the fcriptures out of man's hand, who hath flain the life
by them, and puts them into the hands of the Spirit, who makes the
words again pure, and quick, and living; purging away man's defiled and
dead conceivings and interpretations of them.
A man muſt know the Spirit, come to the Spirit, be joined to, and be
in union with the Spirit, before he can have the true underſtanding of the
fcriptures.
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
45
fcriptures. The fcriptures of Truth are the words of God, or various ex-
preffions of his mind; which he that fearcheth into, before he hath his
Spirit, cannot know: and fo man, in this ftate, can only guefs and imagine
at things, but cannot ſee the Truth. And from hence it is that fo many
fects and heaps are ſprung up in the world, according to the variety of
their imaginations. One fort of men cry this is the way, this is the
Truth, this is the church, this is the worship. Another fort cry, this
is not it; that is fuperftition and error; but this it: and fo a third and
fourth, &c. So about fcriptures, one faith this is the meaning; another
faith it is not fo, but this is the meaning. The Papifts fay, the church
muft judge of the meaning of ſcriptures; and the Proteftants, who take
more ſcope, how do they doubt and differ, and oppoſe one another, about
the interpretation of fcriptures? Which plainly fhews that they do not plow
with the right heifer; for then there would be unity and certainty. They
let their own reafonings and imaginations loofe, and there is no foundation
of certainty. But had they waited for the Spirit to begin with, and gone
on no farther than he opened to them, all thefe doubts and diffentions
would have been choaked in the birth, or womb, or not have come ſo far
as either birth or womb. Yet do I not altogether deny the reading of fcrip-
tures, even in this ftate, if man read with fear and trembling: not fetting
up his own underſtanding, or the underſtanding of any man elfe; but wait-
ing for the Spirit, which can alone give him an underſtanding to receive the
true knowledge. But this I dare boldly affirm, that mens reading of the
fcriptures in their own wifdom and ſelf-confidence (or confidence of what in-
terpretation others have given) doth them no good at all, but much harm,
tending to the building up of that which God will again deftroy. But he that
begins with the Spirit of God, giving himſelf up to that light which comes.
from him, comes to true union with God, and to the feeling of his life, and
fo to a true growth and knowledge of the Spirit of God, whereby he comes
to know and underſtand the fcriptures, which came from the fame Spirit;
and hereby alſo he comes to be able to meaſure the deceit of his own fpirit,
which formerly led him afide, and alfo to fee and meaſure the ſpirits of de-
ceivers. But he that is in the deceit, in the imagination, out of the true
knowledge, he cannot know the deceit of his own fpirit, or the fpirits of
deceivers; but calls the truth deceit, and the deceit truth.
Objection 4. That this light teaches things contrary to the ſcriptures.
Anfw. That light which comes from the fame Spirit which the fcriptures
came from, cannot teach things contrary to the fcriptures. But man, who
hath took the tools of his underſtanding, and formed images and like-
neffes out of the fcriptures (I mean invented meanings and fenfes, and
judged theſe agreeable to the ſcriptures) he muſt needs judge that which
is contrary to thefe, as contrary to the fcriptures: whereas the Truth is one
in itſelf, and agreeth with whatfoever is true in this age, or in former ages;
and differs only from that which is not true. And we know that there is that
true
46
The Way of Life and Death
true unity with that Spirit from which the fcriptures came, and with the
fcriptures, and with one another, in that light which the wifdom of man
cannot but defpife, as hath not been in any age fince the apoftafy until
now.
Objection 5. That this fets up free-will. When perfons are exhorted to
embrace the light, to let in the light, and told that condemnation comes
for not believing or receiving the light, then they cry out, Can man be-
lieve? Can man receive the light? Hath man free-will?
Anfw. The will of man is bound; but there is liberty, power, and
freedom in the light which vifits man, and comes to unbind and fave
him. And man feels this power, taftes of this liberty, feels fomewhat dif-
engaging him from the evil, and drawing him from it: but he being in
love with the evil, draws back from the drawing, fhutting his ears againſt
the wiſdom of the light, and opening his ears to the reafonings of the fer-
pent; and then the liberty and power which was in the light, withdraws
with the light, and the bonds are ftrengthened upon him. And this is
the condemnation; not that there was a want of power from God, but
that he choſe the power of the enemy, not loving the light, wherein the
power of life lay. God knows the ftate of man in the fall, and knows the
ftrength of the enemy; and the Saviour that he fends hath fufficient power
againſt him; and the light that the Saviour fends is ftronger than the dark-
neſs, and can overcome the darkneſs, and cannot be overcome by the dark-
nefs. And if thou join with the darkneſs, and wilt not yield to the draw-
ings of the Father, but yield up thyfelf to the drawings and reaſonings of
the darkneſs; yet the ftrength of the light remains in itſelf. And though
for the preſent thou haft ftruck it down and flain it; yet it will rife up a
ſtrong and living witneſs 'againſt thee, and the darkneſs to which thou haft
joined. When a man goes from the light, he goes into the will volun-
tarily; then takes and chooſes in the flesh. When a man follows the light,
the will of the flesh dieth in him, another will rifeth up, and. chufeth for
him. There is the true liberty.
But as for your ſpeaking of free-will, ye do not know what ye ſpeak of:
for the will, with the freedom of it, either ftands in the image and power
of him that made it, or in a contrary image and power. While it is in the
image and power of him that made it, it is free unto good, and not to
evil; while it is in the image and power of him who corrupted it, it is
free unto evil, and not to good. The will is not of itſelf, but ftands in an-
other, and is fervant to that in whom it ftands, and there its freedom is
bound and comprehended. For there is no middle ſtate between both,
wherein the will ſtands of itſelf, and is free to both equally; but it is a
fervant, and under the command, of one of theſe powers. If it be un-
der the command of fin, of the power of darkneſs, it is free from righteouſ-
nefs; and if it be under the command and power of righteouſneſs, it is
free
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
47
free from fin; but fuch a free-will as men commonly fpeak of, is mere
imagination, and hath no foundation in the true ftate of things.
And this may anſwer another objection, which lies as a great block in
the way of many, who feel a conviction, but are withheld from obedience,
under a pretence of wanting power; whereas the power lies in that light
which convinceth, and is received in the obedience, and in the crofs. As
the power of the enemy creeps in, in hearkening to him; fo the power of
Truth is received in hearkening to, and receiving the reproofs of Truth.
That which checks the evil; that which ſtands againſt the mind, fmiting it
in it its courfe of vanity and pleaſure in the fallen ftate, in that is the
power. That comes from the power, goes forth in the power, and the
power is in it, and cannot be fevered from it. So he that lets that in,
lets in the power; and he that fhuts that out, fhuts out the power. And
in this ftate a man may complain all his days for want of power, and not
meet with it for how can he, when he refuſeth it in the way wherein the
power feeks him, and waits for it in a way wherein it is not to be found?
The appearance of the power at firſt is ſmall, and contemptible to the
eye of the fleſhly wisdom; and it is not received in any fuch great over-
powering way (though that alfo is known afterward) as man is apt to expect;
but all lies in one little feed, where the day of ſmall things is known. The
light, the life, the power, the purity, the wifdom, &c. lies hid there; and
in receiving that little thing, all is received; and in the growth of that, all
grows up. But by being tempted by the enemy to neglect this, and wait
for fome great power and appearance of God, the foul is held in the
bonds of iniquity, and kept from the life, as ftrongly as by the groffeft
form.
Objection 6. That this fets up a covenant of works; for a man is bid
to do, bid to obey the light; and when he does, when he obeys, he las
peace; and when he obeys not, he has not peace.
Anfw. This fets not up the works of the law; but it leads through the
works of the law to the righteoufnefs of faith. When the commandment
came, fin revived, and I died, Rom. vii. The apoftle was alive in his worſhip
and Jewiſh ftate, till the law came: but when the law came, it flew that
life that he had there, and he became dead, both to that life by which he
lived before, and to the law that flew him; and then there aroſe up a
life in him which anſwered the law, and could fulfil it, and lead to a
righteouſneſs beyond it: and then his life and righteoufnefs were not
any works of the law, but of faith, and in the faith, Gal. ii. 19,
20. But yet there is no paffing to this, but through the adminiftration
of the law in the heart, in the hand of the Mediator. And when the
life is rifen and received, yet even then there is no peace but in the
obedience to the life. The peace lives in that which brings the peace;
and if there be a departing from that, there is a departing from the
peace. Any fleſhly thought, any fleſhly motion, as it is out of the
life,
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The Way of Life and Death
life, fo it is out of the peace; and the mind joining to it, feels the death
and trouble of it. Thus faid the apoftle, Gal. vi. 15, 16. Neither circum-
cifion nor uncircumcifion availeth; but a new creature. And as many as walk
according to this rule, peace be on them. The peace comes to the new crea-
ture, and to man walking according to the rule of the new creature: and
the condemnation is not to them that walk not after the fleſh, but after the
Spirit, Rom. viii. 1. But if there be an hearkening to the flesh, and a
fulfilling the unrighteoufnefs thereof in any thing, God is righteous, and
he cannot ſpeak peace to the wicked, or to him that joins with the wicked.
Therefore where there is true peace, there must be a coming from the
wicked nature, and a living out of the wicked nature, in him who is the
life, the righteoufnefs, the peace. I know there have been curious fa-
bricks in mens minds about the covenant of grace; but they have not
known the nature of it, and of the works that flow from it, and fo are
apt to call the works of the new life, fpringing from the covenant of life,
the works of the old covenant. But wifdom is juſtified of her children,
and they know her birth; and in the true light the true nature of things
is feen, and the true name and defcription given, which he that is out of
the light cannot receive, but ftumbles at: and the wiſer he is, in his own
devifed way and knowledge of things, the more ftumbling-blocks he has,
and the more he ftumbles.
Objection 7. and laft. That it breaks down relations, laws, governments;
takes away due reſpect from magiftracy and fuperiors, and turns the world
upfide-down.
Anfw. Iniquity hath reigned, unrighteouſneſs hath winded itſelf into, and
twiſted about every thing. And now the Truth comes to diſcover and
purge out the iniquity, the ftrong man, who hitherto hath kept poffeffion
of the houſe, cries out, as if the deftruction of the thing were aimed at.
Nay, it is only the evil that is aimed at; but the thing itſelf is not to be
deſtroyed, but to be fet free from the evil, and preferved. Relations are
good, laws are good, governments are good, of God; but the unrighteouſ-
nefs of flesh, the pleafing of the flesh by the pretence of thefe, the giving
liberty to the unjuft, this is not good. And is it not thus in relations, in go-
vernment, in the execution of laws? If a man will be fleshly, and walk
in them according to the fleſh, the law takes not hold of him, his relations are
not offended at him; but if he come once to feel the power of God, and
withdraw from the evil, and ſtand a witneſs for God againſt it, then relations,
and powers of the earth, and laws, all ſtrike at him: and the reaſon is,
becauſe they are in union with the evil, and fo cannot bear the rending
of the evil from the thing. And from hence it is, that where-ever the
goſpel comes in power, it kindles a flame round about, fetting father
againſt ſon, and fon againſt father, huſband againſt wife, and wife againſt
huſband, &c. Yea, it goes cloſer than fo; it fets one part in man
againſt another; and the fight is very bitter and fharp, till one of theſe
1
be
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
49
1
be fubdued, and then there is peace; fleſhly peace, if the wife fleſhly part
prevail; fpiritual peace, if the weak foolish thing (to the world) in the
heart, which is of God, prevail.
And for honour to magiftrates and fuperiors, it is not denied; but fleshly
honour, corrupt honour, honour from the fleſhly part, and to the fleshly
part, this cannot but be denied by them which are of God. That which
is born of God, is not of this world, nor can it give honour to that which
is of this world; but it honours all men in the Lord. Whatever is of
God in magiſtracy, it honours; whatever is in fuperiority according to God
(as a father, an huſband, a mafter is) it honours with true honour. Chrift,
the only begotten of God, could not receive honour of men, nor could
he give honour to men: and he faith to the Jews, How can ye be-
lieve, which receive honour one of another, and feek not the honour that
cometh from God only? The receiving of honour from man, cannot ſtand
with the true faith (when ye know the faith, ye will know it): he that re-
ſpecteth perſons, committeth fin, and is a tranfgreffor againſt the law of
faith, which leads to the life, which ftands in God, out of the world's ho-
nours, worſhips, cuftoms, and whatever elfe which is not of faith, but of
the world. Mordecai did not bow to Haman; nay, he fat in the king's
gate, where Haman was to pafs, and yet did not ftand up, move, or bow
to him. What an affront was this to that high, proud, lofty fpirit! and
yet it was of the Lord. This was a type (as the Jewiſh ſtate in general was
typical) of what God would do in the world, and is now doing. The Lord
hath raiſed up Mordecai's nature, and he hath diſcovered Haman's nature,
and hath given the command to Mordecai, that he fhould not bow to
Haman. And if ye could fearch your hearts, ye would find, that it is
not that of God in you which is offended for want of that which ye call
honour; but the Hamanifh fpirit, the fleſhly pride and loftinefs, which
the Lord will lay low; and he alone will be exalted in this day of his
mighty power; and man fhall only be honoured as he comes from him,
and as he is found in him: but the honour which the fleſhly part hath
fought and gained in the tranfgreffion, fhall fall with the tranfgreffor, whom
the Lord hath furbiſhed his fword to fmite.
And for turning the world upfide-down, it is acknowedged: the power
of the Lord is come forth to do it. That which is high, that which is
wife, that which is ftrong, that which is rich, that which is full, that which
is fat, the Lord will lay low, make fooliſh, weak, poor, empty, lean; for
it lies in wickedness. He will feed the fat and ftrong cattle with that
judgment which ſhall make them lean and weak. And the humble, the
foolish, the weak, the poor, the empty, the lean, he will raife up, and
make wife, and ftrong, and rich, and full, and fat, with the true honour,
the true wiſdom, the true ftrength, the true riches, the fure and living
mercies of David; who fets his feet on the top of the high places of the
earth; of whom Chrift came according to the flesh.
VOL. I.
G
Thus
i
50
The Way of Life and Death
1
Thus I have in plainnefs of heart, and plainneſs of ſpeech, fet the
Truth and the error before you, and lent my hand toward the removing
of fome blocks which lay in your way, in love and pity to your fouls.
Now if any, in the reading of this, feel a fecret touch upon their hearts,
ftartling them, and giving fome teftimony to the Truth, though very ſmall,
and through a thick dark covering, there is that to which I fpeak; there
is the witneſs within the veil; and there is the teftimony rifing up, which
leads to life, if given heed to. Keep to this, and this will prick and wound,
judge and condemn the contrary nature, though ever fo ftrong. And
when it doth prick and wound, keep the wound freſh and open, as thou
loveft thy life, till thou meet with the true healer. For the falfe prophet will
rife up in thee, and fill thee with reafonings, and perhaps multitudes of
promiſes and comforts from fcripture, fkinning over the wound, and crying
peace, peace, when there is no peace. And when thou haft thus got over
the trouble, then the falfe prophet, which brought thee this peace, will ftir
thee up againſt the witnefs, exalting the wiſdom and reaſonings of the fleſh,
and making merry with thee over the witneſs, which witneffed againſt thee
and him, and over the trouble which came thereby; and this will bring
thee to that hardneſs of heart which is for deftruction. And when thou
haft flain the witneſs in thyfelf, and exalted thy fleſhly reaſon and under-
fſtanding over it, then the falfe prophet which feduced thee will kindle a
zeal in thee againſt the witneſs in others; and thou wilt prove a perfecutor
of the life, under the name of deceit, error, herefy, and blafphemy;
whereas thou thyſelf art fallen into the deceit, into the error from the life, and
into the blafphemy againſt it, and art in Cain's nature, and wouldſt fain be
handling of Cain's weapons to deſtroy it.
Therefore take heed of the fleſhly wiſdom; take heed of thine own un-
derſtanding; take heed of thy reafoning or difputing; for thefe are the
weapons wherewith the witneſs is flain. That wifdom muſt be deſtroyed,
and that underſtanding brought to nought, and thou become a child, and
learn as a child, if ever thou know the things of God. Where is the wife?
Where is the Scribe? Where is the difputer of this world? Did they ever, from
the beginning of the world to this day, attain the knowledge of the things
of God? Where are the councils? Where are the great convocations?
Where are the fynods? Where are the affemblies of divines? What is
become of them all? What have they done? Have they been ever able to
lead cut of the apoftafy from the Truth into the Truth again? Nay: that
wiſdom is curfed; it is of the earth, and fixed in the earth, and is the
grand enemy to the wisdom that is from above: and where that wiſdom
ftands, there is no entrance for the other. This made it fo hard for this
fort of perfons, in all ages, to own Truth. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge
hath perverted thee. This made the whoriſh ſpirit fo able to uſe forceries
and inchantments from the life in all ages. And it is eaſier for publicans,
harlots, drunkards, fwearers, and all forts of finners to own Truth, and enter
into
'
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
51
into life, than for thefe. For it is eaſier to empty them of their profane-
neſs, than it is to empty thefe of their fettled conceited religion and de-
votion: and yet thefe, with their religion and devotion, cannot enter, no
more than the other with their profanenefs. Ye have a knowledge, a
righteouſneſs, an hope, a faith, &c. founded by your pretence to fcrip-
tures. Who can ſhake down theſe, ſay you? And yet theſe muſt fall, before
ye can build upon, and grow up in, the life that the fcriptures came from.
For the ſcriptures were not given for men to gather out of, and lay a foun-
dation of faith there, by their own wills; but to diſcover and teſtify of the
foundation. And he that comes thither, and is built there, knows the
Truth; not becauſe the fcriptures fay fo, but becauſe he feels the thing,
is founded upon the thing, grows up in the thing, and the thing in him,
whereof the fcripture fpeaks. And this knowledge fhall abide, and this
faith, and this righteoufnefs, and this holiness, and this redemption;
whereas the other is but a name, put upon that which is not the
thing.
Theſe are precious and faithful words (though through a veſſel weakened,
and weak beyond meaſure); and happy is he that hath an ear to hear them;
but woe from the Lord to that eye that is clofed, to that ear that is fhut,
to that heart that is hardened, in the inventions and imaginations of man's
fleſhly mind, againſt the Truth of God. Let the witneſs of God in thee
ftir and fpeak, it fhall anfwer me now: but if thou, through the ftrength
of the flesh, and the vain imaginations which thou huggeft in thy heart,
ftifle the voice of it now, yet I know it ſhall anſwer me one day; but then
it will be too late for thee to hear it.
The Lord is now gentle and tender, purſuing thee with his love, and
following thee up and down with his light. And though thou run from
him into fin and tranfgreffion, and hearken to the wifdom of the fleſh;
yet his voice comes after thee to reclaim thee: and if thou wilt hear, and
but yield thyfelf to him, he will not put thee to do any thing; but ſubdue
all thy enemies for thee; yea, he will flay the ferpentine wiſdom in thee,
with all its inventions, and dafh all the children of Babylon againſt the
ftones, without pity to them, though with great pity to thee. But if thou
refufe, and chufe the pleaſure of the flesh, and the grofs flesh-pots of Egypt,
and turn thine ear from his voice, giving way to the reaſonings of the
fleſh, and keeping down the witnefs, the day of wrath and feverity, which
all the fcriptures have ſpoken of, will come, and thou wilt have thy portion
with hypocrites, who in all ages have covered themfelves with a form of re-
ligion, pleafing to the fleſh and the world; but have withheld their hearts from
the power of life. Therefore prize the love of God to thee in giving thee this
warning; and be not uncircumcifed in heart and ears, as this generation of
profeffors have always been; but let Chrift reign in thy heart, and let him
trample all man's invented forms of knowledge and worship under his feet,
G 2
and
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The Way of Life and Death
and give up thyſelf to be led by him into the true knowledge and worſhip
in the Spirit and in the Truth.
And now you who find your hearts touched and convinced of the Truth,
and find any defire kindled in you after the living God, and an hungering
and thirsting after his righteouſneſs, take notice of theſe three things,
which I have upon my heart to ſay to you, by way of advice:
1. Know and take up thy cross, the cross of Chrift, the daily croſs of Chriſt.
The cross of Chrift is that which croffeth the natural; and this is the power
of God to deliver from the natural. How ſhould the earthly underſtanding,
the earthly will, the earthly affections, with the elementary nature (which
have had their fwing in the earth) be crucified and flain, but by the croſs
of Chrift? He therefore that will have a religion to pleaſe himſelf in any
thing, muft not come hither; and he who after he is come hither, ad-
mitteth of any thing pleafing to the earthly, and ſtarteth from the croſs,
which would deny and turn from it; fo far as he doth fo, he goeth back-
ward, and not forward. It is no wonder that there is ſuch an enmity in all
forts againſt the Truth; for it ſtriketh at their life, yea at the very root of
their life. If there were any new way or form of religion held forth, mens
underſtandings and affections might by degrees be wrought up to it, and
find pleaſure in it; but this is direct death to that nature and fpirit that hath
lived in any form of religion, and to the whole courfe of that nature and
fpirit; yet through this death the true life fprings up, in thoſe who receive
the ſtrokes of it. Therefore be willing, and learn to die daily, and bring
every thing which is contrary to Chrift to the crofs. Deny felf in every
thing, take up the crofs in every thing, follow Chrift in every thing.
This is the way which Chrift himſelf preſcribes to become his difciples by
If any man will come after me, let him deny himſelf, take up his crofs daily, and
follow me. Seek not eafe in the flesh, no not in the leaft; but take up
the croſs every day, in every thing, till the earthly be flain; till the wiſdom
and ftrength of the flesh be wholly fubdued, and then the wisdom and power
of God will become natural.
2. Keep to the fenfe, keep to the feeling; beware of the underſtanding,
beware of the imagining conceiving mind. Theſe cannot be for God, nor
bring forth any thing for God, until they be new caft, and new moulded.
The one feed of life lies in the invifible, in the hidden man of the heart,
among multitudes of feeds of death; all which have their growth up into,
and ſtrength in, the corrupted natural. So that this feed cannot ſhoot up
into any part of the natural, but the other feeds fhoot up with it, and en-
deavour to choak it. Now the other feeds fpring up two ways, either
in a way of oppofition againſt the true feed, or in a way of fimilitude. There
cannot a good thought, or defire, or beam of light, enter into the under-
ſtanding or will, but multitudes of evil thoughts, evil defires, or fleſhly
reaſonings againſt it, will ſpring up with it, and ftrive to overbear it. And
if the enemy be at length overcome, by the power of God fighting with
him
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
53
!
him and vanquishing him, then he hath his garment of light; then he
brings in thoughts and defires, and motions like God's, which eaſily pafs
for good, if the foul keep not cloſe upon the watch. The forward
underſtanding is apt preſently to own them, and the forward will to em-
brace, and the forward affections to let themſelves forth into them, until
the foul come to feel a lofs in life, and miſs the power and prefence of God,
and find the enemy ſtrong again. Yea, the enemy hath yet a more ſubtil
way; namely, to raiſe motions like the motions of God's Spirit, and fud-
denly, before the light hath given the difcerning of them, to raiſe oppoſi-
tions and reaſonings againſt them; that fo by the oppofition, which is ma-
nifeftly evil, the motion itſelf, which is alfo evil (though good in appear-
ance) might be the leſs fufpected, and ſwallowed. Now the only way of
fafety is to keep out of the natural, whereof the enemy hath poffeffion,
and where his ſtrength lies, and to keep in the ſenſe and feeling of the in-
vifible feed, and only to come forth with him into the natural, in that ſenſe
and feeling. And when he comes, he will come with ftrength, above the
ftrength that the enemy hath in the natural, and by degrees conquer him.
But by no means reſt or abide in the natural, but retire with the Lord (who
will not dwell there until it be cleanfed) into the refting-place. Theſe words.
may be hard to you at prefent; but hereafter (as you come into the exer-
cife) you will feel them. And this is the reaſon why the formal and out-
ward part of religion doth fo commonly eat out the life, becauſe things
there are fuitable to, and exercife, that part wherein the ftrength of the
enemy lies; and there can never be perfect freedom and fafety until that
part be fubdued, and all that belongs to that part removed. The Lord is
rifen to ſhake, that the kingdom which cannot be fhaken may appear; and
happy are they who are fhaken by his hand in all that is outward, and
eſtabliſhed in the inward life, power, and reft, which remaineth for ever,
and cannot be fhaken.
3. Wait patiently the Lord's leifure. Be not hafty after life and falvation
in the will of the flesh; but leave the Lord to chufe his own feafon for the
ſhowering down of his mercy and bleffing. The Lord will not prefently en-
tertain that ſpirit which hath adulterated from him (proſtituting itſelf to
ftrangers, and defiling itfelf), into his bofom; but there must be a time
of forrow, a time of purifying and cleanſing. The foul muſt know and
feel that it hath been an evil thing and bitter, that it hath forſaken the
Lord, the living fountain of living mercies, and hath fought life from va-
nities, and among dead idols. And all the idols muſt be thrown away, and
the heart waſhed from that nature that ran after them, and become a pure
virgin, to bear and bring forth the living feed; and by faithfulneſs to that
feed, and waiting in that feed, in the Lord's feafon it fhall receive the
mercy, and the bleffing, and the inheritance which belongs to that feed.
The huſbandman doth not preſently reap, but waits long, even till the
feed be grown up to maturity. Jacob, the type of the feed, faid, O Lord,
I have
54
The Way of Life and Death
por-
I have waited for thy falvation. It is the election that obtains: it is to the
feed, and for the feed's fake, that the mercy is beſtowed; and there muft
be a waiting till the feed be grown up to age, and able to defend his
tion from his elder brother, who otherwife would be ready to feize on it,
and waſte it upon harlots again. Therefore lie ftill, and bear the indigna-
tion of the Lord againſt that which hath tranfgreffed, till he judge it, and
deliver from it, and lead into the innocency and righteouſneſs, and then he
will find a time to arife, and plead the cauſe of the innocent, and give the
crown of immortal life to that which he hath prepared for it. Therefore
think not the race long, nor the battle hard, nor be weary of the afflictions
and chaſtiſements in the way; but follow the captain, the guide, the leader;
whofe light, ftrength, courage, and wiſdom, will overcome all, and bring
the foul which abides in it into his own throne.
Now as you thus wait, taking up the crofs, and keeping in the feeling;
fo the corrupt natural, the mortal, wherein Satan's throne and power hath
been, will wither, decay, and grow weak daily; and the tender plant of
God, the immortal feed, will fhoot up, and gather ftrength daily; and you
will come to a will in God, and an underſtanding in God, and that which is
of God will manifeft itſelf; and you will come to know, and defire, and
take delight in the things of God: then the foul, which is immortal, will
come to hear, and receive, and feed on the immortal Word, which is the
bread of life, and which alone is able to preferve and nouriſh up to eter-
nal life. Then ye will know what it is to tremble at this Word, and to
have all the powers of nature melt and fail before it. Then ye will
know the faith which gives the victory, and the knowledge which lets into
life, and the fear which keeps the heart clean, and the hope which anchors
the foul immortal in the immortal God, and the patience which wins the
crown. And ſo ye will come to witneſs the ſeveral conditions of the faints
in fcripture as ye grow up into them, and will not need men to give you
meanings of fcriptures from their brain-ftudies, and acquired arts and un-
derſtandings; but will know the meaning from the thing itſelf in your
own hearts, and hear the words from the living voice of that Spirit that firſt
fpake them, who alone is able to interpret his own mind, and open the
words which he himſelf ſpake. And then ye will know and love life, and
need no more exhortations to depart from all dead, corrupted, and cor-
rupting forms, which ever were, and ever will be, enemies to, and betrayers
of, the life. And fo the peace of God, the reft of God, the true fabbath
of God, the everlaſting light and life of God, will come to be your own,
and enjoyed by you, paſt all gainſaying or diſpute in you; while the natural
underſtanding in others is reafoning, contending and difputing about them,
but can never know, while they are from the thing within: for that mind
is not the heir, nor muſt it inherit the kingdom of God.
POSTSCRIPT.
;
Made manifeft, and fet before Men. 55
POSTSCRIPT.
To thoſe who have had a ferioufnefs and depth in their religion,
who could not fit down in empty forms and fhadows of things,
but have been preffing after the living fubftance; and miffing of
that, thro' error of judgment (the true eye being not fixed in the
head) have come to a lofs; and fo are returned to, overgrown
with, and hardened in, the old nature; and have taken up a piti-
ful reft and center in the earth, having let fall the purſuit of their
fpirits after the true center of reſt in the life: a word to fuch
from the love in the life.
HERE was a fpirit, foul, or image of God brought forth, and
ſtanding in his life, before the fall.
THE
This foul was brought into death, under the burthen and bondage of
corruption, out of its proper center and reſting-place, by the fall.
Now as there is in this ftate a true lofs, fo there is in this ſpirit a ſenſible-
nefs, a groaning under the burden, a feeling the bitterneſs of the captivity,
and panting after redemption and reſtoration to its former ftate.
Now though the whorish part, which feduced from the life, make a
great noife in the fleſh about faints words, and tempt to pleaſures of the
outward part, and pleaſures in the mind, and draw into forms and religious
worſhip, and frame deep centers of fatisfaction in the underſtanding (per-
haps from true openings of the life, quenching it) and fo feek to quiet
the foul, and ſtill the cry; yet the loft ftate remaining, the foul being not
truly redeemed, but a falfe reft taken up by the way, in the falfe part,
this will fail, and the fenfe be again renewed in the day of trial and fore
trouble. For the foul, by any imagination, or notion, or feeling of a
center in the corrupt mind, cannot be healed or reſtored; but only by
having the true life raiſed up again in it, and itſelf brought into its proper
place and manfion in the fountain of life.
There have been in the fhakings of this nation great ſtirrings, the feed
fpringing up, and great opening to the feed; the Spirit of prophecy hath
been enlarged in us, above what many of our forefathers felt; but the way
into the fpring of life hath not been known, where the preſervation is: fo the
whorish part, the corrupt part, the underſtanding which was not purified,
and brought into fubjection into the Truth, this harlot caught the open-
ings and prophecies of the true Spirit, conceived with them, and brought
forth children to the flesh; bringing forth a more inward apprehenfion of
things, a more fpiritual kind of knowledge, as of God to be all, all to be
good, and in God, and all fin and evil done away there, &c. And ſo ſuch
as
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The Way of Life and Death
!
as center here, form the fleſhly mind, as it were, in him, as it was not known
before. And now the redemption is forgotten, the pantings after life flain,
and the fleſh can lie down quiet in the unredeemed eftate, and fay, it is
his will, it is good; and it can reft fatisfied there in that will of his which
is good. Thus the great abomination from the fubtil fleſh fprung up,
which made many hearts defolate of very precious fpringings-up and bud-
dings-forth of the true life and power of God.
But after this great lofs and betraying of the life in them, it hath pleaſed
God to raiſe it up in others, and to difcover the hammer, the fword, the
fire, which can knock down, cut down, and burn up this whoriſh part;
and thither the whore is brought, when fhe comes to betray again, and
the ſpringings-up of life fhrink back, and lie fafe in the center, while
the whore is burning. And as the whore is burnt, the heir comes up, and
the Spirit (which is the portion of his inheritance) defcends and refts upon
him; and by this he is known; and that which is in union with him knows
him. Therefore, if you will live, come to that hammer, that fword, that
fire which fleſh dreads, and let the fleſh be delivered up to it: and do not
deſpiſe the day of ſmall things, waiting for fome great appearance; but
know it in its loweft knock: for its power of redemption is as truly there,
as in its greateft appearance. He that hath an ear let him hear, and his
foul fhall live.
Let thoſe therefore whom this concerns confider their ways (as the grace
that appeared to me hath taught me to do) and try this foundation, upon
what they ftand; and that they do not kill what is opened, and live in the
flain openings, and fo in the end become dark, airy, dry, withered, wheeling
about, and turning into the earth, it becoming their reft and foundation
again, and fo lofing the joys which formerly the opener did open. This, with
me, many of you may witnefs; for whom my defire is, that they may alſo
witneſs the return to that which then opened, and live in the opener, and
be preſerved by him from abufing his precious openings any more.
For though I had a true taſte of life and power from God; yet not know-
ing the foundation, there could be no true building with it: and fo the
Spirit was quenched, the life wafted, the portion fpent upon harlots, the
true bread loft, and chaff and huſks fed upon, without the leaft fatisfaction
to the foul; the fenfe whereof, when the Spirit of the Lord awakened me,
did almoft overwhelm me. Yea, the bands of death were fo ftrengthened
upon me, and the fpirit of the world had taken fuch hold of me, that I
found my return very difficult: yea, when living words of hope were men-
tioned to me, to draw me back to that principle of life from which I had
gone out, I could receive nothing; but cry out, Impoffible! impoffible!
impoffible! I felt myſelf like a tree twice dead, plucked up by the roots,
without the capacity of life, fenfe, or motion in the eternal being any
more. But at length it pleafed life to move in a low way in the midſt of
the powers of darkneſs in my heart; and by finking low out of the wif
dom,
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
57
1
dom, out of the reaſon, out of all high imaginations, and truſting myſelf
to it; though dreadful ſtrokes and oppofitions were felt from the powers of
darkneſs; yet at length there was fome appearance of the deliverer, in fuch
a poor, low, weak deſpicable way, as could never have been welcomed, had
not the foul been firſt brought to diſtreſs, and the loftinefs of the imaginary
part brought down. And then coming out of that into the feeling, in an-
other part, there was a feed fprung up into a child; and as the child grows,
and feeds on the milk of the immortal Word, I live, and am ftrengthened
in him, and daily weakened in that part which lived before. Theſe are
true words, from an honeft heart, for the relief of thoſe who may have been
entangled in the fame fnare.
A TESTIMONY of great Concernment to all that call
themſelves Chriftians, but have not known the true
Church, of which alone the true Chriftian can be
born.
TH
HERE hath been a great war between the woman and her feed, and
the harlot and her feed, from the beginning to this day; and they
have each had their prevailings in the war. The woman and her feed have
been made ſtrong in God, to conquer fome of the territories of death, and
to ſet up their life in the world. Thus, in the Jewiſh ſtate, God prepared
an heaven and earth for the woman and her feed, and when that heaven
and earth were ſhaken, he prepared a more glorious heaven and earth in
the Chriftian ftate. Now no fooner was the church and her feed feated
in either of theſe, but the dragon made war againſt her, and in the war
had power given him to recover her feat from her. Thus the devil got
poffeffion of the Jewiſh ftate, fo that there was no room for the true
church there, but all was in idolatry and corruption; and the Lord was
not ſerved by their ceremonies, by their facrifices, by their fabbaths,
by their new moons, by their temple-worſhips, &c. but the devil. And
the devil alío got poffeffion of the heaven and the earth in the Chriſtian
ftate; fo that in their ordinances, and in their worfhips, in their duties, in
thoſe which they call their churches, God hath not been worshipped in the
Truth, but the devil, for theſe many ages. For mark: who was it that
got into the temple of God? Was it not antichrift? Was it not the ſpirit
of Satan? 2 Theff. ii. 4. And who was it that was worshipped in all the
world, that had power given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and na-
tions, and whom all that dwell upon the earth worship? Was it not the dra-
VOL. I.
H
gon?
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The Way of Life and Death
gon? Rev. xiii. 7, 8. Did not all the world wonder after the beaft, and
worship the dragon which gave power unto the beaft? ver. 3, 4. of that
chapter. The woman was affaulted here, her ftrong-holds taken from her,
fo that fhe could not ftay fafe in that heaven and earth which God had
made for her; therefore there was another place prepared for her by God
in the wilderneſs, and fhe had wings of an eagle given her to fly thither;
but the dragon got into, and held poffeffion of, the heaven where fhe was
before, Rev. xii. So that none hath known the church all this time but
he that hath been born of her in the wilderneſs; which was a place the
world never dreamed of, but looked for her in the heaven and in the
earth, which the devil had got poffeffion of. And here they cry up the
ordinances! the ordinances! duties! the church! the miniftry! &c. (as
the Jews did the temple of the Lord! the temple of the Lord!) not knowing
in whofe hands thefe were, and whom they worshipped hereby. Now con-
fider this, O ye Chriftians: I fpeak what I affuredly know, that God could
not be truly worshipped in any of thefe, while they were in the devil's
hands; but the whorish fpirit and her feed worſhip here: and the wor-
ſhip of the church, and her feed, was a wilderneſs worſhip, or a wor-
fhip which the learned of God in the wilderneſs. Mark now, and confider
my teftimony, O ye Chriftians: I deny all the worſhip, all the ordinances,
which were taught the Chriftians of old, now practifed by the whorish
fpirit; for the devil had gained it, and corrupted it; and having corrupted
it, God could not be any more worshipped in it; but the antichriftian
ſpirit fat there, giving forth thoſe things as his laws. He fat in the temple
of God, and there made ufe of the veffels and ordinances which he had
carried captive into his Babylon; and I deny it to be poffible to have any
true uſe of theſe till the time of the recovery. And now the time of the re-
covery is come, and the reftitution begun; people know it not, but cry up
the old heaven, and the old earth, which Satan had corrupted, fetting it
up in oppofition against the new, which God hath new formed, and is
bringing forth in true beauty and glory.
Now in this war, though the devil, though the harlot and her feed got
the woman's feed from her, and banished her feed as it were out of the
earth; yet they were not able to touch the woman, nor to overcome the
life of God in her feed, but only to kill their bodies; but the life was ftill
conqueror over them, and not fubjected to them. They could raife up
churches, and ordinances, and miniſters, and duties, and cauſe all that dwell
on the earth to worship in fome part or other of this Babylon; but they
could never make the feed bow to any of their images; nor could they
hurt the woman hereby who was in the wilderneſs, out of the reach of all
thefe; and there fhe did eat the bread of life with tears, mourning over
her defolate eſtate, and her lofs of children. And here alone was the true
bread of life, which was not to be known or tafted of in any of the ordi-
nances
1
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
59
nances of the apoftafy. Ye will all one day acknowledge this to be a true
teftimony, held forth to you in true love: it were good for you that ye
could fee it now.
A brief Account of what we are, and what our Work
is in the World.
WE
E are a people whom God hath converted to himſelf; a people in
whom God hath raiſed up the feed of his own life, and caufed it
to reign over the earthly part in ourſelves; a people whom God hath di-
vorced from the ſpirit of whoredom, and joined to his own Spirit. We,
many of us, fought truly and only after God from our childhood; our
confciences bear us witnefs in the fight of God; but the honeſty of our
hearts was ſtill betrayed, and we led afide by the whoriſh ſpirit, and knew
not how to turn to that of God in us, which inclined us towards God. By
this means we came to great diftrefs and mifery beyond all men. Not but
that all men were in as great a want of God, his life, power, and prefence,
as we; but the ſenſe thereof was not fo quickened in others as in us. Now
it pleaſed the Lord at length to pity us, and to inform our minds towards
himſelf; to fhew us where life lay, and where death lay; and how to turn
from the one and to the other, and he gave us his helping hand to turn
us and by being turned to him, we have tafted of the Truth, of the true
wiſdom, of the true power, of the true life, of the true righteouſneſs, of
the true redemption; and by receiving of this from God, and tafting and
handling of it, we come to know that that which the world hath fet up in the
ftead of it, is not the thing itſelf. Now mark, we are not perfons that
have fhot up out of the old root into another appearance, as one fect hath
done out of another, till many are come up one after another, the ground
ftill remaining the fame out of which they all grew; but that ground hath
been ſhaken and ſhaking, deſtroyed and deſtroying, removed and removing
in us; and the old root of Jeffe hath been made manifeft in us, and we have
been tranfplanted by the everlafting power of life, and a real change
brought forth in us out of that ſpirit wherein the world lives and worſhips,
into another Spirit, into which nothing which is of the world can enter.
And here we have met with the call of God, the converfion to God, the
regeneration in God, the juftification, the fanctification, the wifdom, the
redemption, the true life and power of God, which the world cannot ſo
much as bear the name of. And what we are made of God in Chrift, we
know to be truth, and no lye; and when we teſtify of this to the world, in
the meaſure of the life of God in us, we fpeak truth, and no lye; though
the world, which knoweth not the truth, cannot hear our voice.
}
H 2
Now
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The Way of Life and Death
Now our work in the world is to hold forth the virtues of him that hath
called us; to live like God; not to own any thing in the world which God
doth not own: to forget our country, our kindred, our father's houſe, and
to live like perſons of another country, of another kindred, of another fa-
mily: not to do any thing of ourſelves, and which is pleafing to the old
nature; but all our words, all our converſation, yea, every thought in us,
is to become new. Whatever comes from us, is to come from the new
principle of life in us, and to anſwer that in others; but we muſt not
pleaſe the old nature at all in ourſelves, nor in any elfe. And walking
faithfully thus with God, we have a reward at prefent, and a crown in the
end, which doth and will countervail all the reproaches and hardſhips we
do or can meet with in the world.
We are alfo to be witneffes, for God, and to propagate his life in the
world; to be inftruments in his hand to bring others out of death and
captivity into true life and liberty. We are to fight againſt the powers of
darkneſs every-where, as the Lord calleth us forth. And this we are to
do in his wifdom, according to his will, in his power, and in his love,
fweetneſs and meeknefs. We are not to take ways according to our own
wiſdom (but there muſt be a ſtrict watch fet in the life, left that get up
again); nor muſt we ſpeak fuch words as man's wiſdom would call wife,
nor may we go in our own will to feek any; but the Lord muſt go be-
fore: nor may we make ufe of our own ftrength, but feel his arm in our
weakneſs: nor may we go forth in that love, fweetneſs, or meeknefs, which
is pleafing to the fleshly mind; but we muſt be true to God, handling the
fword ſkilfully and faithfully, judging and cutting down the tranfgreffor
in the power and authority of God: and when the meek, the lowly, the
humble thing is reached and raiſed, then the true love, the ſweetneſs,
the tenderneſs, the meeknefs muſt go forth to that. The Lord God is
rough with the tranfgreffor, and all along the fcripture heweth and judgeth
him; and if we come forth in the fame fpirit, we fhall find the fame
leadings where we meet with the fame thing: for the Lord God will never
be tender there; nor can that which comes from him, lives in him, is led
by him, be tender there, where he is not.
Now the very root of this feverity is good, and of God, and hath love
and ſweetneſs at the bottom of it; yea, in pity, love, and bowels do we
uſe the fword. It is in pity to the poor captived creature, that that might
be cut down which keeps it in bonds and captivity. And though we ſeem
enemies to all forts of men for the Lord's fake; yet we are not enemies,
nor could do the leaſt hurt to them any way; but are true friends to their
fouls, and bodies alfo: and our only controverfy is with that which captives and
makes them miſerable; for we fight not at all with fleſh and blood, but with
the principality and power which led from God, and rules in it againſt God,
to the poor creature's ruin and deſtruction. Yea, if we had all the power of
the earth in our hands, we could not fet up our own way (if, after the
manner
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
61
manner of men, I may fo call it), or fo much as difturb others in their
way thereby; but fhould wait in patience till God gave us an entrance by
his power.
Now let not men run on in heats againſt us; but let them feriouſly
confider whether we be of God or no: and let them confider not with the
reaſon and underſtanding which is alienated from God; but with the witnefs
which lies hid in the heart. There is one great palpable argument that we
are of God, which is this: all the world is againſt us; the worldly part
every-where fights with us; the worldly part, in every fort and fect of men,
oppofeth us; the rage of men every-where rifeth up againſt us: but thoſe
that are fo hot againſt us, if at any time they become but meek and calm,
patiently confidering our cauſe, and confulting thereupon with the teſtimony
that they find in their own hearts concerning us, they foon become paci-
fied, and fee that we are no man's enemies, againſt no righteous law, not
againſt relations, not againſt governments, not against any thing in the
world that is good; but only againſt that which is evil and corrupt. And
of a truth, the corruption of things God hath fhewn unto us, and daily
calls us forth after an immediate manner to witneſs againſt.
Therefore let men be fober, and take heed what they do, left they be
found fighters againſt God; for the reproaches, the fcoffs, with other per-
fecutions, which feem to be caft at us, light on him. It is not as we are
men, but as we are obedient to him, as we ftand witneffes for him, that
we meet with thefe things. Now as it is not we ourſelves that do thefe
things, but the life and power of God in us; fo it is not we that are
ftruck at, but that life and power: if it were not for that, we might be as
acceptable as other men. It is becauſe we are not of the world, but God
hath called us out of the world, that we are ſo hated of the world. This
is the true caufe; though the world will no more now acknowledge it,
than it would in former ages. Yet I do not fpeak this for my own fake,
to avoid my ſhare in the crofs: for the reproach of Chrift is our riches;
yea, far greater treafure than is to be found in the palace of Egypt. Yea,
the prefence of God, the fweet power of life, makes up all our loffes; fo
that we have no caufe to complain. It is very ſweet, pleaſant, and
fitable for us to be found fufferers for God; but we know it will not be
pro-
profitable for you to be found perfecutors: and this is told you in true
love and good-will, by one who wiſhes no evil to you, for all that evil that
ye have exerciſed toward the dear and precious people of God for thefe
many years. O that God would open your eyes, that ye might fee whom
ye have oppofed, and againft whom ye have hardened and ftrengthened
yourſelves, that ye might bow to him, and receive life from him, and not
perifh in your gainfaying and oppofition.
An
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The Way of Life and Death
An Addition concerning the Doctrine of Juftification.
BE
ECAUSE the doctrine of juftification is of great concernment, and
the enemy of mankind hath exceedingly endeavoured to corrupt it,
and in the apoftafy hath greatly prevailed; and the darkneſs which ſprings
up in the fleshly wifdom is exceeding thick at this day concerning this thing;
therefore, in true love to fouls, it is laid upon me to fearch into that fcrip-
ture which chiefly fpeaks thereof, and from thence to clear it up to fuch
who are not yet come to the life that gave forth the fcriptures.
The apoſtle Paul doth largely and fully treat of it, in his epiftle to the
Romans, and lays down feveral things concerning it; which, if well heeded,
may daſh mens prefent apprehenfions about it, and bring them to wait for
the opening of thofe fcriptures to them in another light than they have yet
known.
1. He affirms that juftification is not by the deeds of the law, Rom. iii. 20,
If a man could fay, with the young man, All theſe things have I done from
my youth; or as Paul, That he was, as touching the law, blameleſs; yet
could he not be juftified thereby.
And the apoſtle gives a mighty reaſon; for by the law is the knowledge of
fin. Now juftification is not by the making of fin known; but by that
which faves and delivers from it. The knowledge of fin may put a man
upon feeking out for juftification; but it cannot juſtify him, but rather
condemn him; but that which delivers him from the fin, which the law
makes known, that juftifies him.
2. He affirms that the righteousness of God (which is the juftification) is
manifefted without the law, v. 21. The law makes fin known, and fhews
the finner the need of juftification; but the juftification itſelf is not there-
by, but is manifefted without it. The law commands the nature to act
that pertains to fimilitudes, figures, types, and fhadows, to the obedience
of them; but the feed takes away the nature that pertains to fimilitudes,
ahd ſhadows, and the works of the law. So to the obedience of thoſe
things the law commands, there is juſtification by the law in the obedience
to the works it commands; but the juftification, Chrift, removes the na-
ture that pertains to thoſe things the law commands: fo that juftification,
the law, ends in Chrift.
3. That this righteouſneſs or juſtification is witneſſed by the law and the
prophets, ver. 21. The law, though it is not the juftification, nor can the
juftification be bý obedience to it, or by the deeds of it; yet it gives teſti-
mony to the juftification: for the fubftance of what the law and all the
prophets witneſs is, that nothing can juſtify but the righteouſneſs of God.
4. That this righteouſneſs or juftification is by the faith of Chrift, ver. 22.
by believing or entering into that which juftifies. As condemnation was
by
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
63
}
by unbelief, by joining unto, and entering into the ſpirit of enmity; fo
juftification is by joining unto, and entering into the Spirit of love, by
true union with Chrift in the Spirit; which union is by the faith which comes
from Chrift.
5. That this juftification or righteoufnefs is upon all that believe, ver. 22.
He that receiveth the faith, believeth; and he that believeth, hath righteouf-
nefs; and he that believeth not cannot have the righteoufnefs; but the con-
demnation and wrath abideth on him.
6. That this juftification is freely by the grace, ver. 24. There is no
way to come to this righteoufnefs but by the gift of grace; which gift is
given freely. Therefore, if ever man will be juftified, he must know
the grace, and the gift which comes from the grace, and receive it; and
receiving it, he cannot mifs of juftification; and not receiving it (but
either being ignorant of it, or refifting of it), he cannot poffibly be
juftified.
7. That this juftification is by the redemption of Christ, ver. 24. Chrift
is the redeemer; the redemption (wherein is the juftification) is in him, and
there is no way of meeting with the juftification or redemption but by receiv-
ing of him in whom it is; and he who hath him, hath the juftification, and is
made partaker of the redemption; and he who hath not him, hath it not.
Mark then, the juſtification or redemption is not by believing of a thing
done without man (though that alfo is to be believed) but by receiving
him into the heart. For the virtue of all Chriſt did without, is within him :
and I cannot be made partaker thereof by believing that he did ſuch a
thing without, or that he did it for me, but by receiving the virtue of it
into me, and feeling the virtue of it in me. This is that which faves me,
and makes that which was done without to be mine.
8. That Chrift is the propitiation, ver. 25. or that which pacifies and
makes way for finners to God; fo that he that truly receiveth Chrift hath
the atonement; but he that hath not received him, only dreameth of
with God; but ftill remaineth in the enmity, and is liable to the wrath,
having the bond of iniquity over him, and is in the night.
peace
9. That this propitiation is by faith in the blood, ver. 25. There is no-
thing pacifies God but the blood of his Son; and there is nothing feels the
blood but the faith, and that which is in the faith. A man may read
fcriptures, and gather notions about juſtification, and think he believes
aright, and fhall be juftified; but he never comes to feel the blood, nor
the life which is in the blood, till he receive the faith, and then he knoweth
the true propitiation, and the true peace, which before he did but talk of
10. That this faith is the righteousness; faith is the gift of God, and
this gift juftifies; this gift is the juftification; this is that which God im-
puteth for righteousness, chap. iv. ver. 3, 5. The faith is in the blood, and
the blood in the Son; and in the true receiving of the Son, both the faith
and the blood are known and felt. Thefe are true words, though hard to
the
64.
The Way of Life and Death
the fleshly ear. Do not ftumble in the wifdom, but calmly wait for the
revelation of the Spirit, and then thou wilt fay, the price of this knowledge
is not to be valued; and if once thou come to tafte Truth here, all thy
knowledge in the letter will be but drofs with thee. Ye are come to the blood
of Sprinkling. O do not reft in an outward way of believing, an out-
ward thing; but feek out the way of coming to the blood of ſprinkling.
II. That the juftification is of the ungodly, ver. 5. He whom God
maketh righteous, was ungodly before he made him righteous. There
was nothing but unrighteoufnefs could be imputed to him in tranfgreffion,
before he gave him his Son, and made him righteous in his Son; for
nothing is righteous with God but Chrift, and man only as he is taken into
his righteouſneſs; which is done not by a believing from the bare letter,
but by a receiving of faith in the life.
12. That the juftification of the ungodly is, by believing in him that
juſtifieth, ver. 5. The gift of faith goes forth from him, and is received into
the heart. Now both by the gift itſelf, and by the exerciſe of it, is the
juftification; by receiving of the gift is the perfon juftified; by the exer-
cife of the gift are all his actions juftified. Chrift being let into the heart,
juſtifies the heart into which he is received; and Chrift being in the heart,
juſtifies every motion and action that comes from his life; and any other
motion or action is not juftified; for it is out of that which is juftified, and
is in and from that which is condemned.
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteouſneſs,
ver. 3. God promiſed him a feed; he believed God. God bid him facri-
fice this type; he believed. This was it which was imputed unto him for
righteouſneſs. Now if he had not believed; if he had not received the
gift, or not exerciſed the gift, could he have been righteous? So that
Abraham was not juſtified by any work he did, or could do, but by re-
ceiving and exercifing the faith in the feed: by going out of his country,
kindred, and father's houfe, not of himſelf, but by faith,, and by living
to God, and obeying his voice in that land to which he was led; not in
his own will or power, but in the faith. And by hearing the call of God,
and receiving the faith, and living out of felf, out of a man's own under-
ftanding, will, and power, in the faith, and living power, and wiſdom of
God, is the juftification now: and they that do thus are children of Abra-
ham, born of the free woman; when-as they who take up practices from
the letter, without being ingrafted into the life, are but children of the
bond-woman; but fuch children of Abraham as the Jews were (if fo
much); and cannot inherit that promiſe which belongs to the fpiritual feed,
while they live in that ſtate.
13. That where the faith which is imputed unto righteouſneſs is found,
there fin is not imputed, but covered; which is a bleſſed ſtate, ver.
Sin cuts off from God, who is life and bleſſednefs. Sin lays open to the
wrath of the Creator, which is too great for the creature to bear. Wo and
69
7,
8.
miſery
?
Made manifeft, and fet before Men.
65
mifery will be his portion to whom God imputes fin; but happy is he
who has his fin covered! This is a happy condition, life and immortality
will foon be opened to him. Now this bleffednefs cometh not by the
works of the law, for they cannot remove the fin; but by the righteouſneſs
of faith, which is able to cover the fin even from the pure eye of God.
O Chriſtians, Chriftians! do not imagine yourſelves covered from fin ;
but know it, feel it; never reft till ye are fo made partakers of the true
righteouſneſs, that, by its virtue in you, ye may be paſt all doubt that it is
it. Believing from the letter without you that ye are juftified, may eafily
deceive you; but if once you come truly to feel in yourfelves the thing
which juftifies, and fo find the power and life of it in you, above the
power of all that which condemns, cafting out the condemned thing, and
the condemner, with all his works, out of your hearts; this cannot de-
ceive. The virtue of life was loft in the apoftafy; and that which was
living did not fo much enjoy life as mourn after it; and the power and fafety
of life did then appear moft in mourning; but now the apoftafy draws to-
wards an end, and the virtue begins to fhoot up again; and he that will be
a Chriſtian now, muſt be fo, not by retaining his old notions, but by feel-
ing this new virtue, and by growing up in this new-fprung life and power
of the Lord, whofe appearance is new to us, who have not been acquainted
with it, but have been brought up in the darkneſs of the apoftafy, and
lived in the waters where great leviathan ruled, and who was able to make
war with him there? But he that feeketh, is joined with, and keepeth to,
that power which drieth up the waters, and putteth an hook into the nof-
trils of the leviathan; fhall find the world, with the whole courſe of it, end-
ing in himſelf, and the beginning and growth of an endleſs life; and in
whom that life lives, they fhall live alfo; but where death keeps the power
of life down, fuch fhall not live, or know the bleffing, but abide under
the curfe of miſery and death, and under the powers of darkneſs. There-
føre look about you, and make a wife choice; for his fervants ye are whom
ye obey, whether the prince of darkneſs, in his invented forms of godli-
nefs, or the Prince of Light, in the living power; and your reward fhall
be according to your choice and work, either death in the death, if ye
chufe and join to that; or life in the life, if ye join to that. He that hath
an ear to hear, let him hear.
VOL. I
THE
•
3
t
1
?
THE
SCATTERED SHEEP
SOUGHT AFTER.
FIRST,
In a LAMENTATION over the GENERAL Loss
of the Powerful PRESENCE of GOD in his People fince the Days
of the APOSTLES; with a particular Bewailing of the Withering
and Death of thoſe precious Buddings-forth of Life, which ap-
peared in many at the Beginning of the late Troubles in theſe
Nations; with the proper Way of Recovery for ſuch.
SECONDLY,
In fome PROPOSITIONS concerning the ONLY WAY OF
SALVATION; where is an ANSWER given to that great OB-
JECTION, That the Light which convinceth of Sin, is the Light
of a natural Confcience; and a brief Account rendered of the
Ground of Mens underſtanding Scriptures.
THIRDLY,
In expofing to View the FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE of the GOSPEL,
upon which the REDEEMED SPIRIT is built.
71
FOURTH LY,
And in fome QUESTIONS and ANSWERS (by way of CATECHISM,
for the fake of the Simple-hearted) directing to that Principle, and
fixing in it.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
When Ephraim fpake trembling, he exalted himſelf in Ifrael; but when he offended in Baal,
he died. And now they fin more and more, &c. therefore they ſhall be as the morning
cloud, as the early dew, &c. Hof. xiii. 1, 2, 3.
Yea, his ſpring ſhall become dry, and his fountain ſhall be dried up. Ver. 15.
We have all been as sheep going aftray; but bleſſed be the everlaſting arm which hath gathered
any of us to the shepherd and bishop of our fouls.
O come to the fold; O fcattered sheep, come to the fold. Wander no longer from mountain
to hill, but remember your refting-place, the old refting-place of Ifrael, even the mountain
of the Lord's houfe, where Ifrael may lie down and feed in peace, and no ravenous beaft can
disturb.
O house of Jacob, let whoredom, wine, and new wine no longer fteal away your hearts; but
come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
1
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1
[ Ixix ]
ས
THE
PREFACE.
M
Y people have committed two great evils; they have for-
faken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them
out cifterns, broken ciſterns, that can hold no water. This was
ever and anon the complaint of the Lord concerning Ifrael, from. the
beginning to the end. The Lord did delight to beget, nouriſh, and
bring up that people for himſelf; but they were almoſt continually
revolting from him, and rebelling againſt him. He did mighty
things for them; but they ftill forgot him. He redeemed them by
his out-ftretched arm; he fed them, he defended them; but they
knew him not, ISAIAH i. 3. but decked themſelves with the
ornaments which they had from him, and then lift up the heel
againſt him, EZEK. Xvi. 7. and DEUT. xxxii. 15. In plain terms,
they got what knowledge they could from him into their own vef-
fels, and then they would ſet up for themſelves, live of themſelves,
without freſh bubblings up of life from the fpring, from whence
their knowledge came. The prieſts ſaid not, Where is the Lord?
but could handle the law, and teach the knowledge of it without
him ;
and the prophets could prophefy by another ſpirit, JER. ii. 8.
And thus the Lord God of life lived not in them; but they lived
upon fuch things as once came from the life; but, being ſeparated
from the fpring, were dead, and nouriſhed but the dead part in
them, the eſtranged from God. And thus, though their profeffions
were great, and they multiplied prayers, facrifices, and faſts, and
drew nigh to God with their lips, yet their hearts were far from
him. They had forfaken the fountain; they drank not of the
waters of the ſpring, of the rock that followed them; but they
drank
Ixx
PREFA C E.
drank of the waters of their own cifterns. They fet up that know-
ledge of the law for their light which they had hewed out with the
tools of their own underſtanding, without the Spirit that wrote it.
This was Ifrael's error of old: they drank very zealouſly of the
waters of the law; but they drank it not from the fpring, but out
of the cisterns which themſelves had hewed.
And as it was thus with Ifrael of old, fo hath it been with Ifrael
fince. The Chriftian Ifrael hath been always backfliding, always
forgetting the Lord! ftill getting what they could from him to live
of themſelves, but refufing to live on him: getting what knowlege
they could from the fcriptures without him; getting what they could
from their exerciſes and experiences; but neglecting the fpring of
their life. And fo this Ifrael alfo dies; this Ifrael likewife withers,
and becomes a fcorn to the heathen. For though they ſpeak great
words of their God; yet they themſelves are but as the heathen ;
uncircumciſed like them; unacquainted with the virtue and power
of life like them; always ftriving against fin in that which cannot
conquer; and fo they alſo are flaves under their lufts and corruptions,
like the heathen, and know not the Truth, which makes free in-
deed.
and
Exceeding great hath been the apoftafy of this age! Mighty was
the appearance of God inwardly in his people's fpirits! Mighty
was the appearance of God outwardly in the nation! Many ways
great hopes there were of a thorough reformation. But how fuddenly
was the pure Spirit of the Lord forgotten, and departed from, and
his work overturned both within and without; inwardly in his peo-
ple's fpirits, and outwardly in the nation, whofe revolting was but
a type of the inward! And how hath the Spirit of the Lord mourned
after his people, often reproving them for their backflidings! But
they have been (as Ifrael of old) like the deaf adder, juftifying
themſelves, and complaining againſt the witneffes of God (as Ifrael
did againſt his prophets) who from the Lord teſtify againſt them.
And it cannot be otherwife; for the dead waters in Ifrael's hewn
ciſterns will never agree with the waters of the living fountain,
but will withſtand their teſtimony.
How ſhall the charmer charm wifely enough to make apoſtate
Ifrael hearken to his voice! I have not backflidden, faith one in
one form; I have not backflidden, faith another in another form:
I have not backflidden, faith one in one notion; I am not back-
flidden,
PREFACE.
Ixxi
flidden, faith another in another notion: I am believing, hoping,
and waiting in what the Lord hath already revealed, and following
on to know him. This hath been thy manner from thy youth,
that thou obeyedft not my word; but ftill haft been juſtifying thy-
felf as if thou hadft obeyed. And yet your backflidings are written
upon your foreheads, as with the point of a diamond. For who
among you retains his freſhnefs? An evident demonftration that
ye
are departed from the ſpring, and hold your knowledge, experiences,
and hopes in the dead part; and your choiceft prop of comfort is
the remembrance of what ye once had. Ah poor, barren, dead
fouls, is this your beſt ſupport! Return, return; enter into the
houſe of mourning, and let the living lay it to heart.
THE
[ 72 ]
THE
SCATTERED SHEEP
SOUGHT AFTER.
A LAMENTATION; with a Call to Mourning and
Lamentation, &c.
O
ISRAEL, the royal feed, the plant of renown, the living offspring
of eternity! O daughter of Sion, who didft once fhine with the
beauty and glory of life, what is become of thee! How art thou
held captive, and chained up in Babylon! How doft thou lie fullied among
the pots! How are the wings of thy dove clipped! How art thou covered
and polluted with the filth of the whole earth!
O take up a lamentation, weep O Ifrael! mourn O daughter of Jerufa-
lem! bewail thy widowhood, thy defolation, thy lofs of huſband, thy fad
captivity, thy baniſhment out of thine own land, and thy thraldom in the
land of thine enemy!
What is become of thy God, the mighty God of Jacob, whofe out-
ſtretched arm hath been able to fave and redeem his feed out of bondage?
What enemy hath been able to ftand before him? What wild boar out of
the wood, or wild beaſt out of the foreft, was able to break into his vine-
yard, while he kept the fence? Where is that arm that ſmote Rahab,
and flew the dragon? Where is that hook that he was wont to put into
the noftrils of the leviathan? Pharaoh is alive, the wife Egyptians have
power, Egypt holds the feed in bondage; Gebal, Ammon, and Amaleck,
the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre, are all able to fmite Ifrael,
and to ſtop up the well-fprings of life. Awake, O arm of the Lord! and
awaken Ifrael, that thou again mayft become his faviour in the fight of all
the nations; and let all the houſe of Ifrael, being awakened, mourn in the
Spirit of the Lord after the Lord.
What
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
73
What is become of thy Meffiah, the Lord's anointed, the captain of
the Lord's hoft, the angel of the covenant of life; who was wont to go
in and out before thee in fighting the Lord's battles; who was thy prince
and faviour in the land of peace and reft; who walked in the midſt of the
candleſticks; who was thy king, thy fhepherd, thy temple wherein thou
worshippedft, and the eternal light of thy life in the land of the living?
What is become of that holy Spirit which quickened thee to God, and
which lived in thee being quickened, which kept thee alive in him that
liveth, and made thee tafte the ſweetneſs of life continually? Where is
the anointing which fuppled thee all over with the oil of gladnefs and fal-
vation? Where is the comforter that refreſhed thy fpirit continually, and
led thee into all truth, teaching thee all the things of God according to
thy meaſure of growth in the life? Where is the fpirit of thy father, which
ſpirited thee with thy father's nature, which begat and brought forth the
life, power, glory, majefty, eternity of thy father in thee?
What is become of Sion, the holy mount, whereon thou waſt built? Sion,
the fortress of holiness, where is it? What is become of Jerufalem, the
holy city, thy mother, whereof thou waſt born? What is become of that
covenant of life, in whofe womb thou waft begotten and brought forth, and
by whoſe milk and breath thou waft afterwards nouriſhed and brought up.
Where are all the fruits of the Holy Land; the pleaſant grapes, the ſweet
figs, the precious olives that yielded wine and oil to make the heart glad,
and to refreſh the countenance of the Lord of life? Where is the joy in
the Lord, the obedience to the Lord, the praying, the praifing, the living,
the walking in his Spirit, the entering into and bringing forth fruit in his
pure underſtanding, and in his holy and unſpotted will, and moving in the
purified heart?
Alas, alas! Babylon has prevailed; her king hath reigned; Sion hath
been held in bonds; and that which hath ſprung up under her name, hath
been the filthy offspring of Babylon, the feed of the mother of harlots;
and theſe have brought forth four fruit, loathfome fruit, finely painted to
the view of that eye which cannot fearch into it, but loathfome in its na-
ture. This has been the ſtate of the apoftafy fince the days of the apoftles,
wherein that which hath not been of God hath reigned, and that which
hath been of God hath fuffered, and been reproached as if it had not been
of God, and hath panted and mourned after the fpringing up of the ſpring
of its life, and its gathering into it.
The deep fenfe of this hath afflicted my foul from my tender years; the
eternal witneſs awakening in me, and the eternal light manifefting the dark-
nefs all along unto me; though I knew not that it was the light, but went
about to meaſure its appearances in me by words which itſelf had formerly
fpoken to others, and fo fet up my own underſtanding and comprehenfion
as the meaſure, although I did not then perceive or think that I did fo.
Thus continually, through ignorance, I flew the life, and fold myſelf for
VOL. I.
K
a thing
74
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
a thing of nothing, even for fuch an appearance of life as my underſtanding-
part could judge moft agreeable to fcriptures. This the Lord blew upon,
though its comeliness was unutterable (the life ftill feeding my fpirit un-
derneath, from whence fprang an inward beauty and freſhneſs). Then fuch
a day, or rather night, of darkneſs and diftrefs overtook me, as would
make the hardeſt heart melt to hear the relation of; yet the Lord was in
that darkneſs, and he preferved me, and was forming of me to himſelf;
and the tafte I had then of him was far beyond whatever I had known in
the pureſt ſtrain of my religion formerly. And the Lord powerfully fhut
up my underſtanding, and preferved my life from the betrayer; but yet
that was not perfectly deftroyed in me upon which the tempter might work:
and the Lord fuffered him to lay a fnare, and my feet were entangled un-
awares, infomuch as the fimplicity was betrayed, and the fleſhly part grew
wife, by thoſe exerciſes wherewith the Lord had tried me.
This poifoned
me; this hurt me; this ftruck at the root of my life, and death inſenſibly
grew upon me. The devil, the envious feedfman, cozened me with the
image of that, which before I had had in the Truth, opening my under-
ſtanding-part (by the fubtilty of temptation and deceit) which the Lord had
been deſtroying; and letting that in, which the Lord had fhut out and
then the Lord took away and fhut up from that part that which before he
had opened to the feed, whereby the way of life became ſtopped, and the
way of death opened in a myſtery. And then I could talk of univerfal love,
of fpiritual liberty, &c. and wait for the glorious appearance of life, hav-
ing loft that which formerly gave me the fenfe of its nature; yea, at length
I could feek to the creatures for what they could yield, and ſtrive to rub out
the time of my mifery without the immediate prefence of the life of the
Creator. And as for this defpicable people, whom I now own in the Lord,
I could meaſure them, I could fathom them, I could own their ſtanding;
and yet fee their fhortnefs; and could, with fatisfaction to my fpirit, write
death upon them, as the end of that diſpenſation of life into which I faw
them enter, and in part entered. Here was my ſtanding when the Lord
drew his fword upon me, and fmote me in the very inmoft of my foul; by
which ſtroke (lying ſtill a while under it) my eyes came to be opened; and
then I ſaw the blindneſs of that eye which was able to fee fo far, and the
narrowness of that heart and ſpirit which was fo large and vaft in compre-
hending and my foul bowed down to the Lord to flay this, to ftarve this,
to make a fool of this; yea, my defire was, to prefent fenfe, as great after
the death of this, as after the enjoyment of life in the Lord.
And now this hath opened a freſh fpring of forrow in me, a mourning
over the Juſt-one, which hath been flain by me. O how cruelly, how
often have I murdered that which came to give me life! How often have I
fought to have my own underſtanding, my own comprehenfion, my own
will and affections in religion live, and the righteous, pure, immortal prin-
ciple die! though I did not then call it my own, as other men do not now;
but
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
75
For I alfo
but took it to be of God, and to be the thing that was to live.
was deceived, and thought the baſtard (which was a falfe conception) was
to inherit; not knowing him to be the baftard, but taking him for the
right heir. And my foul is exceedingly enlarged in me towards thofe
who at this day lie under the power of the fame deceit; who have ſlain the
Lord of Life as well as I, and in whom the contrary nature lives under a
covering; who cannot poffibly fee that this, which now lives in them, is
not the heir, until the fame eye be opened in them.
The life that was ſtirring at the beginning of the trouble of theſe nations
was very precious. It did unite to God; it did unite to one another; it
kindled an univerfal fenfe of the captivity, of the bondage, of the great
oppreffion of Ifrael, and a joint cry went up to God for deliverance. And
God heard the cry, and aroſe to deliver, and did begin to break the yoke,
both outwardly in the nation, and inwardly in peoples fpirits.
But the tempter did alſo fet himſelf on work again to entangle Ifrael.
For this end he brings forth likeneffes of that which Ifrael defired, and was
feeking after. He brings forth feveral forms of worship, to allure fome with;
ſeveral ſorts of notions, to allure others with; feveral freſh appearances of
life, of love, of liberty, to tempt the people of God afide from following that
Spirit which roſe up to deliver. Thus comes he forth, and prevails; he di-
vides in Jacob, and ſcatters in Ifrael; drawing one part to this form, another
part toward that form; one to this notion, and another to that notion;
one to this inward image, another to that fpiritual idol; and all from the
life, all from the power, all from the Saviour, all from the deliverer, and
fo the work ftops. It stops in the nation, and it ftops in peoples fpirits;
and men generally wheel about and enter again, and apply themſelves to
make images like the images they had deftroyed: and fo the captivity re-
türns; Ifrael is turned back into his bonds, and the fpirit which oppreffed
him before, cruſheth him again, and rules over him. And fo great hath
the breach been upon Ifrael, that the fpirit of the world is become hardened,
and thinks there is an end of this work of God; and now they may venture
again to ſettle both church. and ſtate upon the old principles of that wiſdom
which the Lord was fhaking.
And now where is the people whom the Lord was redeeming? Where is
the praying people, the panting people, the mourning people, the people
that could have travelled from fea to fea to have had the will of God re-
vealed? Are they not run into the earth? Is not the fpirit of the earth
come over them? Are they not dividing the fpoils? The inward Jew, the
renewed nature is funk, loft, made a prey of; the Gentile, the heatheniſh
ſpirit hath rifen up, and feated itſelf in a form of worship, or in fome
high notions of knowledge, on which that fpirit, which knows not the tree
of life, loves to feed. Some are ftark dead, no fenfe at all in them, but
life quite fwallowed up of death: Others perhaps are ftill preffing towards
the kingdom; but in the wrong nature, in that which fhall never obtain:
K 2
and
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76
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
and they may there meet with fome enjoyments; but not enjoyments
from or of the true thing, but the likeneſs which the enemy hath painted to
deceive them with. And they may alſo wait and hope that the kingdom
will come, and yet be out of that which knows its coming, and can alone
prepare the heart for its appearance. Yea, fome are got fo high, that they
are even in the throne. They have the love, the life, the liberty, the joy,
the peace of the kingdom, as they imagine. They can reign as kings
without us, without that nature and principle wherein our life lies. But
theſe mighty-ones, theſe princes, the Lord will pull from their feat, and
raife up the humble, the meek, the low in heart, the beggar from the
dunghill, and give to him the throne of his glory.
Now this my life in love faith to you all, as the proper and only way of
your recovery and redemption, Come to that which can judge you. Sion 13
to be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. If Sion be
redeemed, if the feed be again raiſed, that ſpirit which hath got up above it,
and keepeth it down, muſt be judged, and brought under by judgment.
How was Ifrael of old to be recovered from her idolatries and whoredoms,
but by owning and coming to that light in the prophets which manifeſted
and judged them? Ye alfo have worshipped idals; ye alfo have run a whoring
from the Lord, and have been inflamed with idols under every green tree.
Every new idol, every freſh appearance, every lively likeneſs hath tempted
you aſide from the living God. When one way of worſhip hath been dry
and barren, ye have left that: when fome notions of things have appeared
empty and ſhallow, ye have been weary of them; but the next new idol,
under the next green tree, hath drawn you aſide into the bed of whoredom,
where ye have loft true fellowſhip with the true God of life, and have been
betrayed of the feed of life, which he began to quicken and raiſe from the
dead. Now come to that which judgeth the idol, the idol-maker, the
whorish fpirit, which tempteth afide from the true hufband, and that fpirit
which is liable to be tempted; and let theſe be cut down by the judgment,
and then the true feed of life will fpring and flourish again. There is no
other way; be not deceived: that muſt be awakened in you which can
judge you, and muſt bring forth its judgment in you unto victory, if life in
you ever rife and get the dominion over death. And that ſpirit which now
rules in you, and keeps the life down, knows this very well, and therefore
endeavours all it can to keep you from owning judgment. He would fain
keep the light in others from judging you. Do not judge, faith he; all
judgment is committed to the Son. True; but fhall not the light of the Son
judge? Shall not the light of that candle which the Lord hath lighted in
one heart, diſcover and judge the darkneſs in another heart? Light doth
make manifeft, and its manifeftation is its judgment. The uttering of the
words is but the declaration of what the light in the heart hath done be-
fore, and cannot but do: for as long as it is light, where-ever it comes,
it will and cannot but difcover and judge the darkneſs it meets with; though
the
Է
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
77
the darkneſs cannot own either its diſcovery or its judgment, but muſt needs
except againſt it. Now if he cannot do this (which is utterly impoſſible
for the dark fpirit to do) then, in the next place, he fortifies and har-
dens the heart as much as he can from receiving the judgment, by perfuad-
ing him to look upon it as the judgment of another ſpirit like his own,
and not as the judgment of the light. And fo what Paul faid concerning
man's judgment (that it was a ſmall matter to him to be judged by man's
judgment), the fame will he fay concerning this judgment. And yet, as
the greateſt judgment of man, in the higheſt ftrain of the comprehending
part, fhall fall; fo the loweft judgment of the light in the weakest child
fhall ftand and all the exalted ones of the earth fhall in due time fall be-
rife
fore it; though now, in the preſent elevation of their minds, they may
high above it, and trample it down. Therefore be not afraid to judge de-
ceit, O ye weak-ones! but be fure that the light alone in you judge; and
lie very low in the light, that that part which the light in you judgeth in
others get not up in you, while the light is making ufe of you to judge it
in others.
:
And now, ye poor loft fouls, who find the need of judgment, and any
willingneſs within you to embrace it, wait firſt for the rifing of the judge of
Ifrael in your hearts, and in the next place wait for the joining of your hearts
to him; both which are to be done by his eternal light, which manifefts
and gives his life. In the loweft fhining of this light there is the judgment,
and there is the king himſelf, who is not fevered from the leaſt degree or
meaſure of his own light. Bow down to him, kifs his feet, know the na-
ture of the thing, and be fubject to it: worſhip him here in his humiliation,
receive him in his ftrokes, in his fmitings, and obferve and turn from that
in yourſelves which fmites him, and ye fhall one day fee him in his ma-
jefty, in the power of his love, in his everlaſting healings and embraces.
And know affuredly, that that which will not worship him here, will not
be fit to worſhip him there, nor fhall not; but fhall only tremble at the
dread of his majefty, and be confounded at the fweetnefs of his love, but
not be able to bow down to it in the true life. For that fpirit which is out
of the life, is ſhut out in its higheſt defires, hopes, attainments, enjoy-
ments, feemingly fpiritual reft, univerfal love, liberty, and peace, as well
as in its darkeſt and groffeft paths of pollution. Therefore wait to know
the nature of things, that ye may not be deceived with the higheft, choiceft,
and moſt powerful appearances of death in the exacteft image of life, nor
ſtumble at the true life in its loweſt and weakest appearance. And this ye
can only attain to by a birth of, and growth up in, the true wiſdom, which
flays that ſpirit which lives on the fame things in the comprehenſion, and
gathers a ftock of knowledge and experiences in its own underſtanding-
part. Theſe are words of tender love, and they will alſo be words of true
life, where the Father's earth opens to drink them in; to whofe good
pleaſure and bleffing my foul commends them.
Some
78
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
Some PROPOSITIONS concerning the ONLY WAY of
SALVATION.
"TH
HAT there is no way of being faved from fin, and wrath eternal, but
by that Chrift alone which died at Jerufalem. There is no name, vir-
tue, life or power under heaven given, by which loft man may be ſaved,
but his alone.
2. That there is no way of being faved by him, but through receiving him
into the heart by a living faith, and having him formed in the heart. Chrift
faves not as he ftands without at the door knocking, but as he is let in;
and being let in, he brings in with him that life, power, and mercy, which
breaks down the wall of partition, unites to God, and faves. The Jews
could not be ſaved formerly by the belief of a Meffiah to come, with the ob-
ſervation of all the laws and ordinances of Moſes; nor can any now be ſaved
by the belief of a Chriſt already come, with obfervation of all that the apoſtles
commanded or practifed; but alone by the receiving of him into the heart,
who there works out the falvation.
3. That there is no way of receiving Chrift into the heart, and of having him
formed there, but by receiving the light of his Spirit, in which light he is and dwells.
Keep out the light of his Spirit, keep out Chrift: let in the light of his
Spirit, let in Chrift: for the Father and the Son are light, and are alone
known and received in the light; but never out of it.
4. That the way of receiving the light of the Spirit into the heart (and
thereby uniting with the Father, and the Son) is by hearkening to, and
receiving its convictions of fin there. The firft operation of the Spirit to-
wards man lying in the fin, is to convince him of the fin; and he that
receives not the convincing light of the Spirit, the work is ftopped in
him at the very firft; and Chrift can never come to be formed in him,
becauſe that light whereby he fhould be formed is kept out. And then he
may talk of Chriſt, and practiſe duties (pray, read, and meditate much),
and gather comforts from promifes, and run into ordinances, and be ex-
ceeding zealous and affectionate in all theſe, and yet periſh in the end. Yea,
the devil will let him alone (if not help him) in all this, knowing that he
hath him the furer thereby, he being (by the ſtrict obſervation of thefe)
kept out of the fear of the danger of his condition, which otherwife per-
haps he might be made fenfible of.
Object. But I may be deceived in hearkening to a light within; for while I
think that I therein bearken to the light of the Spirit, it may prove but the light
of a natural confcience.
Anfw. 1. If it ſhould be but the light of a natural conſcience, and it
draw thee from fin, which feparates from God, and fo prepare thee for the
under-
1
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
79
!
underſtanding, believing, and receiving what the fcripture faith of Chrift;
this is no very bad deceit : but if in the refult it ſhould prove to have been
the light of the Spirit, and thou all thy life time haft took it for the light of
a natural conſcience (and fo haft deſpiſed, or at leaſt neglected, if not re-
proached it), thou wilt then find that this was a very bad deceit.
2. I can fhew thee by exprefs fcripture, that it is the work of the Spirit
to convince of fin, John xvi. 8. And again, that the law, which is fpiritual,
manifefteth that which is corrupt and carnal, Rom. vii. 14.
But where
canft thou fhew me from fcripture, that a natural confcience can convince
of fin?
3. Let any man give heed to the light in his heart, he fhall find it to
diſcover his moft inward, his moft fecret, his moſt ſpiritual evils; which a
natural light cannot do: for that which is natural cannot diſcover that
which is fpiritual.
4. The apoſtle faith, that it is the grace which hath appeared to all men,
which teacheth not only godlinefs, but alfo fobriety and righteoufnefs, Tit.
ii. II, 12. The light of the fallen nature is darkneſs, can teach nothing
of God. What any man learns now of the true knowledge of God, he
learns by grace, which fhines in the darkneſs of man's nature, to leaven it
with the true knowledge; though man, being darkneſs, can by no means
comprehend it, and fo cannot give it its true name.
Therefore take heed, left (through ignorance) ye blafpheme the holy
light of the pure Spirit; calling that natural (looking on it with the carnal
eye) which, with the fpiritual eye, is feen to be fpiritual. For thou that
doft this wilt be alfo erring on the other hand, calling thy carnal meanings
and conceivings, about the mind of the Spirit of God in fcripture, fpiritual.
And he that thus puts darkness for light, muft needs put light for dark-
nefs; and then call evil good, and good evil: and fo err from the Spirit
of God in the whole courfe of his religion, even in the moſt inward exer-
cifes of it.
Man, by nature, is dead in trefpaffes and fins; quite dead, and his con-
fcience wholly dark. That which giveth him the ſenſe of his death, and
of his darkneſs, muſt be another thing than his nature, even the light of
the Spirit of Chirift, fhining in his dark heart and confcience. It is the
feed of the woman which not only deftroys, but alſo diſcovers, all the deeds
of the ferpent. Now this feed, this light, is one in all, though there have
been ſeveral difpenfations of it. One to the heathen; in whom it fprings
up after an hidden manner, even as it were naturally; from when it had
the name of the light of nature (though it be the myſtery of life and falva-
tion hid in them, Col. i. 27, this mystery IN the Gentiles; it is ill tranſlated,
among). Another to the Jews, in whom it was more rigorously stirred by a
law given; who by types and fhadows, and righteous exercifes according
to the law, were to be awakened to the living principle, Mich. vi. 8.
Another to the Chriſtians, in whom it was livelily brought forth to light
and
80
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
and life, by an eſpecial difpenfation of grace; infomuch as that which was
the mystery in the Gentiles, and vailed from the Jews, being opened in them,
was found to be Chrift the hope, Col. i. 27. But under all theſe diſpenſations,
the generality of men have fallen fhort of the glory of God, and miffed of
the ſubſtance. Therefore the Lord God is now bringing forth the ſub-
ftance itſelf, but under fuch a vail as hides it from the eye of man's wifdom,
under what difpenfation foever he be, and how high foever in that difpen-
fation. To fome it feems natural; to others legal; to fome it ſeems from
the power of Satan (or at leaſt they pretend fo); to others it ſeems the mini-
ſtry of John Baptift. Thus men gueſs at it in the wiſdom of their com-
prehenfions, wanting the true line and plummet to meaſure it by.
Now, to you who have not waited to learn in the wiſdom of God the
names of things (which there are given according to their nature); but, in
the forwardness of your fpirits, from your gathered knowledge, without the
living power, have ventured to call that natural, which in the eternal wif-
dom is feen to be ſpiritual (and which hath been able to effect that, which
all that knowledge which ye call ſpiritual could never do), let me propoſe
the confideration of one ſcripture to your confciences, in the fight of God.
The ſcripture is, that in Job, xxviii. 12. to the end. Where shall wif
dom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not
the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth
faith, It is not in me; and the fea faith, It is not with me.
It cannot be gotten
for gold, neither ſhall filver be weighed for the price thereof, &c. Whence
then cometh wisdom, and where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is
hid from the eyes of all living, and kept clofe from the fowls of heaven. De-
Struction and death fay, We have heard of the fame thereof with our ears:
God underftandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof, &c. And
he faid unto man, Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart
from evil, is understanding. Now confider well,
First, Is this natural wifdom, or fpiritual wiſdom, that is thus precious?
What is this, that deftruction and death have heard the fame of? Is it the
wiſdom of nature? Or is it Chrift, the wiſdom of God?
Secondly, Where is the place of this? Where doth God point man to find
this wiſdom? He points him to the fear. Unto man he ſaid (he hath fhewed
thee, O man! what is good) Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wiſdom;
and to depart from evil, is understanding. Go to the fear; there it is taught;
that is the wiſdom: learn by the fear to depart from evil; that is under-
ftanding. This is it which is fo precious, which nothing can equalize or
value; here is the place of it, thus it is to be learned: fin overſpreads all
the land of darkneſs; there is no fear of God before mens eyes there; there
is no learning of the fear there; all the wiſdom that man can come by,
cannot teach it: he that learneth to fear God, to depart from evil, muſt
learn of Chrift the wiſdom of God, and muſt deny all the varieties of the
wiſdom of man; which undertakes to reach it, but cannot.
Thirdly,
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
81
Thirdly, What is that in man, which teacheth the fear? which teacheth
what
to depart from evil? Every man hath in him an eye that ſees the evil;
is that eye, which the God of this world doth fo ftrive to blind, and doth ge-
nerally blind? Every man hath in him an enemy to evil; one that never
confented to it, but ftill reproves it, and fights againſt it, even in fecret:
What is this? This is no leſs than a ray from Chrift, the wiſdom of God,
out of the feat of the fear in every heart, to lead into the fear, where the
law of departing from iniquity is learned: and fo this ray, being hearkened
unto, and followed in the fear, brings up into the love, into the life, into
the light, into the wiſdom, into the power. Do not fhut your eyes now, O
ye wife ones! but open your hearts, and let in that which knocks there,
which can and will fave you being let in, and which alone can fave you.
For it is not a notion of Chrift without (with multitudes of practices of ſelf-
denial and mortification thereupon) which can fave; but Chrift heard knock-
ing, and let into the heart. This will open the fcriptures aright; yea, this
is the true key, which will truly open words, things, and fpirits: but he
that opens without this key, is a thief and a robber, and fhall reſtore, in
the day of God's judgment, all that he had ftolen: and woe to him, who,
when he was ſtripped of what he hath ſtolen, is found naked.
The ſcriptures were generally given forth to the people of God; part to
the Jews, part to the Chriftians. He that is born of the life, hath a right
unto them, and can read and underſtand them in the Spirit which dwells in
the life. But he that is not born of the Spirit, is but an intruder, and doth
but ſteal other mens light, and other mens conditions and experiences into
his carnal underſtanding; for which they were never intended, but only to
be read and ſeen in that light which wrote them. And all theſe carnal ap-
prehenfions of his (with all the faith, hope, love, knowledge, exercifes,
c. which he hath gained into his fpirit hereby, with all his prayers
tears, and fafts, and other imitations), will become lofs to him (for he muft
be ſtripped of them all, and become fo much the more naked), when God
recovers his fcriptures from man's dark ſpirit (which hath torn them, and
exceedingly prophaned them with his conceivings, gueffings, and imagin-
ings) and reſtores them again to his people. The prophets and apoftles,
who wrote the ſcriptures, firft had the life in them: and he who underſtands
their words, muft first have the life in him. He that underſtands the words of
life, muft firft live in himfelf. And the life, from which the words came,
is the meaſurer of the words, and not the words of the life. And when the
fcripture is interpreted by the life and Spirit which penned it, there is then
no more jangling and contending about it: for all this is out of the life;
from and in that fpirit, nature, and mind, where the luft, the enmity, the
contention is; and not the unity, the love, the peace. But this is it which
undoeth all; the dead fpirit of man reads fcripture, and from that wisdom,
which is in the death (not knowing the mind of the Spirit), gives mean-
ings and from believing and practifing the things there fpoken of (which
VOL. I.
death
L
82
The ſcattered Sheep fought after.
death may do, as well as fpeak of the fame) gathers an hope that all
fhall be well at laft for Chrift's fake; though it feel not the purification,
the cleanfing, the circumcifion, which cuts off the body of fin and death
here (for it is not to be cut off hereafter), and fo gives an entrance into the
everlaſting kingdom, where the King of Righteouſneſs is feen, known, and
worshipped in fpirit.
•
The Fundamental Principle of the GOSPEL.
1 JOHN, i. 5.
This then is the meſſage which we have heard of him, and declare unto
you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
TH
HIS was the meffage which Chrift gave his apoftles, to make way
into mens hearts by: this is the first thing that is proper for the mind
to receive, which lies in the darkneſs; namely, that there is no darkneſs in
God, nothing but light. Darkneſs is excluded from him, and the mind
that lies in darkneſs cannot have union or fellowship with him. Therefore
he that will be one with God, and partake of his life, muft come out of
the darkneſs, which hath no place with God, into the light where God is,
and in which he dwells.
The work of the Son is to reveal the Father, and to draw to the Father.
He reveals him as light, as the ſpring of light, as the fountain of light,
and he draws to him as light. When he gave to his apoftles the ſtanding
meffage, whereby they were to make him known to the world, and where-
by men were to come into fellowſhip and acquaintance with him; this is it,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Chriſt Jefus, the Son of God, he is the image of his fubftance, the exact
image of this light, the light of the world, who is to light the world into
this fubftance. So that as God the Father is to be known as light, fo
Chriſt the Son alfo is to be known as light. He is the only begotten of
the Father of lights, the only image wherein the eternal fubftance is re-
vealed and made known. And he that receives this image, receives the
fubftance; and he that receives not this image, receives not the fub-
ftance.
Now there is a breath or ſpirit from this fubftance, in this image, which
draws to the image; thus the Father draws to the Son; and the image
again draws to the ſubſtance; thus the Son draws to the Father. And fo
hearkening to this breath, the mind and foul is led out of the darkneſs,
into the image of light (which is the Son), and by the image into the fub-
ſtance:
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
83
tance: and here is the fellowship which the Gospel invites to. Joining to
this breath, being transformed by this breath, living in this breath, walk-
ing in this holy inſpiration, there is an unity with the Father and the Son, who
themſelves dwell in this breath, from whom this breath comes, in whom
this breath is, and in whom all are, who are one with this breath.
This breath purgeth out the dark breath, the dark air, the dark power,
the myſtery of death and darkneſs; and fills with the breath of light, with
the breath of life, with the living power, with the holy pure myſtery.
Now, as the Father is light, and the Son light; fo this breath, this Spirit
which proceeds from them both, is light alfo. And as the Father, who is
light, can alone be revealed by the Son, who is light; fo the Son, who is
light, can alone be revealed by the Spirit, who is light.
He then who hears this meffage, that God is light; and feeleth himſelf
darkneſs, and in darkneſs, and is willing to be drawn out of the darkneſs
into fellowſhip with God, who is light; this is requifite for him to know;
namely, how he may be drawn out, who is it that draws, and which are
the drawings; that he may not refift or neglect them (waiting for another
thing) and fo mifs of the true and only paffage unto life. Wherefore
obferve this heedfully.
None can draw to the Father, but the Son; none can draw to the Son,
but the Father and both theſe alone draw by the Spirit. The Father, by
his Spirit, draws to the Son; the Son, by the fame Spirit, draws to the Fa-
ther and they both draw by the Spirit as he is light, as he is their light
lighted to that end. For as the Father is light, and the Son is light; fo that
Spirit which draws them, muſt be light alfo. He is, indeed, the breath of
light, eternally lighted, to draw to the eternal image of light, and then to
the eternal fubftance, which eternally dwells in that eternal image.
Queſt. But how may I know the Spirit, and its operations; that I may fol-
low him, and be led by them, both to the Son and to the Father; and fo come
into the everlasting fellowship?
Anfw. The Spirit is to be known by thoſe motions and operations which
are proper to him; which flow alone from him, and from nothing elſe.
Queft. What are they?
Anfw. Convincing of fin, and reproving for fin; which nothing can
truly diſcover and reprove, but the light of the Spirit. Darkneſs cannot
make manifeſt darkneſs, but whatſoever maketh manifeft is light. All the
diſcoveries of darkneſs, in the hidden world of the heart, are from Chriſt
the fun of righteouſneſs, by his Spirit, what name foever men may give it;
who know not this fun, nor its light, nor the true names of things in the
light; but have named even the things of God in the dark, and according
to the dark apprehenfions and conceptions of their own imaginary mind.
But this I fay to fuch, who are ſo ready to beat their brains and difpute,
leave contending about names; come to the thing, come to that which re-
proves thee in fecret, follow the light that thus checks and draws; be dili-
L2.
gent,
84
The Scattered Sheep fought after.
gent, be faithful, be obedient; thou fhalt find this lead thee to that,
which all thy knowledge out of this (even all that which thou calleſt ſpiritual
light) will never be able to lead thee to.
And when thou art joined to this light, it will fhew thee him whom thou
haft pierced (even ſo as never yet thou faweft him), and open a freſh vein of
blood and grief in thee, to bleed and mourn over him; and work that re-
pentance in thee, which thou never waft acquainted with before; and teach
thee that faith, to which yet thou art a ſtranger; and teach thee that ſelf-
denial, which will reach to the very root of that nature which yet lives;
even under that, and by means of that, which thou calleft fpiritual light;
and will lay fuch a yoke on thy neck, as the unrighteous one is not able to
bear; yea, fuch an one as the hypocrite (which is able to hide it under con-
feffions of fin, and forms of zeal, knowledge, devotion, and worſhip) fhall
be daily tormented and wafted with. And then thou fhalt know what it is
to wait upon God in the way of his judgments, and find the powers of life
and death ſtriving for thy foul, and daily floods and ftorms encompaffing
and attending thee, under which thou wilt affuredly fall and periſh, unleſs
the everlaſting arm of God's power be ftretched out for thee, and be con-
tinually redeeming thee. And then thou wilt feel and fee how fin is par-
doned, and how it is bound; how death brake in upon Adam, and how it
daily breaks in upon mankind; and what that ftandard is, which the Spirit
of the Lord lifteth up againſt the powers of darknefs. And then thou
wilt come clearly to perceive, how that which thou haſt called religion for-
merly (which flowed not from this principle) hath been but the invention
of thine own imaginary mind (though thou fatheredft it upon the fcrip-
tures, as moft men do moft of their inventions about doctrine and wor-
ſhip), wherein thou hast been in a dream of being changed, and yet re-
maineſt ſtill the fame in nature: and haft had a name that thou haft lived,
but art ftill dead; a name of being fanctified, but ftill unclean; a name
of being juftified, but ftill condemned by the light in thine own confcience;
which is one with him who is thy judge, and who will judge according to
it and fo, as that which is real taketh place in thee, fo that which hath
been but imaginary will pafs away.
i
A SHORT
[85]
A SHORT
CATECHISM
For the SAKE of the
SIMPLE-HEARTED.
Ο
UEST. What is the estate and condition of all men by nature, as they
are begotten of the feed of the evil-doer, and come out of the loins of the
firft Adam?
Anfw. A ftate of fin and darkneſs; a ftate of death and mifery; a ſtate
of enmity againſt God; a ſtate accurfed from God; expoſed to his wrath
and moſt righteous judgments, both here and hereafter.
Queft. What brought Adam to this eftate? and what keeps the fons of Adam
in it?
Anfw. Feeding on the tree of knowledge, from which man is not ex-
cluded to this day, though he is from the tree of life.
Queft. How came Adam at first, and how come men still to feed on the tree
of knowledge?
Anfw. From a luftful appetite and defire after the forbidden wiſdom,
ſown in their hearts by the envious enemy of their fouls; who is continually
twining about this tree, and tempting men and women to eat of it, per-
fuading them that the fruit thereof is good for food: and indeed it is
very defirable to their eye, and promiſeth fair to make them everlaſtingly
wife, but ftill faileth.
Queft. What is the forbidden fruit?
Anfw. It is knowledge without life; knowledge in the earthly part; know-
ledge acquired from below, not given from above. This promiſeth to make
men as God, and to give them the ability of diſcerning and diſtinguiſhing
between good and evil, which is God's peculiar property. Eating of this
fruit undid Adam, undid the Gentiles, undid the Jews, undid the Chriſtians;
they all feeding on the tree of knowledge, and departing from the life in
their ſeveral difpenfations.
Queſtion. How doth this fruit undo man?
Anfw. The wiſdom and knowledge, which they thus gather and feed
upon, perverts them; makes them wife in the wrong part; exalts them
againſt the life; dulls the true appetite, and increaſes the wrong appetite;
infomuch as there is not fo much as a defire in them after God in truth;
but only to get knowledge and wifdom from what they can comprehend..
By
86
A fhort CATECHISM.
By this means, whatſoever was afterwards ordained to life, became death to
man. Thus the Gentiles liked not to retain God in their knowledge, but
fell by their difpenfation; provoking God to caft them off, and give them
up to the vanity of their imaginations. And thus the Jews, whom God
then choſe, fell likewife by their difpenfation; God for this caufe giving
them up to their own hearts luft, and rejecting them from being a people.
And the Gentiles, whom God ingrafted into the true olive, in the Jews
ſtead, they alſo, after the fame manner, fell by their difpenfation. Thus
each of theſe fell by gathering wifdom from the letter, but miffing of the
life in every of thefe difpenfations.
Queft. What is the food which man fhould feed on?
Anfw. The tree of life; the word which liveth and abideth for ever,
which is in the midſt of the garden of God; which word was made fleſh for
man's weakneſs fake, on which fleſh the living foul feeds, and whoſe blood
the living ſpirit drinks, and ſo is nouriſhed up to eternal life.
Queft. But bad Adam this food to feed on? and was this to be the food of
the Gentiles, Jews, and Christians, in their feveral difpenfations?
Anfw. God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a liv-
ing foul and nothing less than life itfelf could fatisfy his foul at firſt, nor
can to this day. Every word of God that cometh fresh out of his mouth,
is man's food and life. And God fpeaketh often to man, fhewing him
what is good: but he cannot reliſh or feed on this, but defireth ſomewhat
elſe, through the error and alienation of his mind. And what God fpeaketh
now to man (if that be man's life) Adam had much more of it before his
fall. And for the Jews, Mofes tells them the word was nigh them, in their
heart, and in their mouth: and Paul alfo tells the Chriftians fo. So that
the word is not far from any man, but mens ears are generally ſtopped
againſt it, by the fubtilty of the ferpent which at firſt deceived them.
Queft. But did not the Jews feek for eternal life, in reading and studying
the fcriptures under their difpenfation? and do not the Chriftians now ſeek for
life, and to feed on life?
Anfw. Yea they did, and do in their own way, but they refuſe it in
God's way. Thus Adam, after he had eaten of the tree of knowledge, would
have fed on the tree of life alfo; but he was fhut out then, and ſo are
Chriſtians now. And if ever they will feed on the tree of life, they muſt
lofe their knowledge, they muſt be made blind, and be led to it by a way
that they know not.
Queſt. This is too mysterious for me; give me the plain literal knowledge of
the Scriptures.
Anfw. Is not the ſubſtance a myſtery? Is not the life there? The letter
of
any diſpenſation killeth: it is the ſpirit alone that giveth life. A man
may read the letter of the fcriptures diligently, and gather a large know-
ledge therefrom, and feed greedily thereon; but it is only the dead fpirit
which
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which fo feeds, but the foul underneath is lean, barren, hungry, and unfa-
tisfied, which when it awakes, it will feel.
Queſt. But may not the dead fpirit as well imagine myfteries in every thing,
and feed thereon ?
Anfw. Yea it may; and the error here is greater than the former: but in
waiting in the humility and fear, to have the true eye opened,, and the true
myſtery revealed to the humble and honeft heart, and in receiving of that
in the demonſtration of the Spirit, out of the wiſdom of the fleſh, here is
no error; but the true knowledge, which fprings from life, and brings
life.
Queft. How may I come at this mystery?
Anfw. There is but one key can open it; but one hand can turn that
key; and but one veffel, but one heart, but one ſpirit, which can receive
the knowledge.
Queft. How may I come by that heart?
Anfw. As thou, being touched with the enemy, didft let him in, and
didft not thruſt him by, with the power of that life which was ftronger than
he, and nearer to thee; even fo now, when thou art touched and drawn
by thy friend (who is nigh), and thereby findeſt the beginning of virtue
entering into thee, give up in and by that life and virtue, and wait for
more; and ſtill as thou feeleft that following, calling, and growing upon
thee, follow on in it, and it will lead thee in a wonderful way out of the land
of death and darkneſs, where thy foul hath been a captive, into the land
of life and perfect liberty.
Queft. But can I do any thing toward my own falvation?
Anſw. Of thyſelf thou canst not: but in the power of him that worketh
both to will and to do, thou mayft do a little at firft: and as that power
grows in thee, thou wilt be able to will more, and to do more, even un-
til nothing become too hard for thee. And when thou haft conquered all,
fuffered all, performed all; thou fhalt fee, and be able underſtandingly to
fay, thou haft done nothing; but the eternal virtue, life, and power, hath
wrought all in thee.
Queſt. I perceive, by what is faid, that there is a Saviour; one which hath
virtue, life, and power in him to fave; but how may I meet with him?
Anfw. Yea, he that made man pitieth him, and is not willing that he
fhould perifh in the pit into which he fell, but hath appointed one to draw
him out, and fave him.
Queft. Who is this Saviour?
Anfw. He is the tree of life I have ſpoken of all this while, whofe leaves
have virtue in them to heal the nations. He is the plant of righteouſneſs,
the plant of God's right hand (haft thou ever known fuch a plant in
thee, planted there by the right hand of God)? He is the refurrection
and the life, which raifeth the dead foul, and caufeth it to live. He is the
fpiritual Manna, whereupon the quickened foul feeds. Yea, his flesh is
}.
meat
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A fhort CATECHISM.
up in
meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed, which he that is raiſed
the life feeds on, and findeth the living virtue in them, which ſatisfieth
and nouriſheth up his immortal foul.
Queft. But bath not this Saviour a name? What is his name?
Anfw. It were better for thee to learn his name by feeling his virtue and
power in thy heart, than by rote. Yet, if thou canft receive it, this is
his name, The Light; The Light of the World; a light to enlighten the Gen-
tiles, that he may convert and make them God's Ifrael, and become their
glory. And according to his office, he hath enlightened every man that
cometh into the world; though men neither know the light that cometh from
him, nor him from whom the light comes; and fo, notwithſtanding the light
is ſo near them, remain ftrangers to it, and unfaved by it.
Queſt. Why dost thou call him. the light? Are there not other names every whit
as proper, whereby he may as well be known?
Anfw. Do not thus fet up the wife and ftumbling part in thee; but mind the
thing which firft puts forth its virtue as light, and fo is thus firft to be known,
owned and received. Yet more particularly, if thou haft wherewith, con-
fider this reaſon: We call him light, becauſe the Father of lights hath pe-
culiarly chofen this name for him, to make him known to his people in this
age by, and hath thus made him manifeft to us. And by thus receiving
him under this name, we come to know his other names. He is the life,
the righteouſneſs, the power, the wiſdom, the peace, &c. but he is all
theſe in the light, and in the light we learn and receive them all; and they
are none of them to be known in Spirit, but in and by the light.
Queft. How are the other names of Chriſt known in and by the light ?
Anfw. Letting in the light (which convinceth of, and warreth againſt fin)
the life ftirs and is felt; and the life leads to the word which was in the be-
ginning, and giveth the feeling of that alſo. And in the word, the
righteouſneſs, the peace, the wiſdom, the power, the love is felt; and he is
made all theſe to thoſe who are led into and kept in the light. And when
the powers of darkneſs appear with mighty dread, and there is no ſtrength
to withſtand them, this lifts up a ſtandard againſt them, and calms all the
tempefts, and cures all the wounds and diſeaſes of the foul, anointing it
with the everlaſting oil; fo that now I can fenfibly, and with clear underſtand-
ing, call it my Saviour, the captain of my falvation, my Chriſt, or anointed,
my huſband, my king, my Lord, my God.
Queft. Where doth this light fhine?
Anfw. In the darkneſs at firft; but when it hath vanquiſhed, expelled,
and diſperſed the darkneſs, it fhines out of it.
Queft. What is that darkness wherein the light fhines?
Anfw. Man: man's heart, man's confcience, man's fpirit. This is the
world, which Chriſt, the Son of righteouſneſs, is the light of, in every part
where he cauſeth the rays or beams of his light to fhine at his pleaſure;
though
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89
though in no part the darkneſs can comprehend the leaft fhining of his
light.
Queft. How then can it ever be converted thereby?
Anfw. The darkneſs is not to be converted. Every man in this ſtate is
reprobated, and the wrath abideth on him. So that the darkneſs is re-
jected, and man in the darkneſs; but man touched by the light, made
fenfible of it, and following it in the life and power which it begets, is
drawn out of the horrible pit, and faved.
Queſt. How may I do to find the light in the midst of the darkness of my heart,
which is so great, and this feed ſo ſmall?
Anfw. By its difcovering and warring againſt the darkneſs. There is
ſomewhat which diſcovereth both the open and fecret iniquity of the corrupt
heart, following it under all its coverings of zeal, holiness, and all manner
of voluntary humility and felf-righteoufnefs, with which the true light never
had unity; and ſometimes may cauſe fecret miſgivings that all is not well,
but there may be a flaw found in this covering, and in the end it may prove
too narrow for the foul. This which thus warreth againſt the darkneſs, to
bring people off from all falſe foundations to the true and living foundation,
this is the light, and thus thou mayft find it, at fome time or other, at
work in thy heart, if thou mind it.
Queft. Having found the light, how may I come to feel the faving virtue and
power of it?
Anfw. By believing in it. For the virtue and power ſprings up in the
heart that believes in it.
Queft. How can I believe in it? Am not I dead?
Anfw. There is a creating, a quickening power in the light, which be-
gets a little life, and that can answer the voice of the living power.
Queſt. Yea, if I could find any fuch thing begotten in me, then I might be
drawn to affent that that (though never fo fmall) might believe; but furely my
dead heart never can.
Anfw. Haft thou never found a true honeft breathing towards God?
Haft thou never found fin not an imaginary, but a real burden? This was
from life: there was fomewhat begotten of God in thee, which felt this.
It was not the fleſh and blood in thee; but ſomewhat from above. And
if this had known the fpring of its life, and not been deceived from it by
the fubtilty, it would have fed upon, and have grown up in, the virtue and
power of the ſpring from whence its life came.
Queft. Why then, by this, all men have power to believe.
Anfw. In the light which fhines in all, and vifits all, there is the
power; and
this power ſtrives with the creature to work itſelf into the creature; and where
there hath been the leaft breathing after life, there hath been a taſte of the
power: for this came from it. But the great deceiver of fouls lifts up mens minds in
the imagination to look for fome great appearance of power, and ſo they flight
VOL. I.
and
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and overloook the day of fmall things, and neglect receiving the beginning
of that, which in the iffue would be the thing they look for. Waiting in
that which is low and little in the heart, the power enters, the feed grows,
the kingdom is felt, and daily more and more revealed in the power.
And this is the true door and way to the thing; take heed of climbing
over it.
Queft. What is it to believe in the light?
Anfw. To receive its teftimony either concerning good or evil, and fo
either to turn towards or from, in the will and power which the light begets
in the heart.
Queſt. How will this fave me?
Anfw. By this means; that in thee which deftroys thee, and ſeparates
thee from the living God, is daily wrought out, and the heart daily changed
into the image of him who is light, and brought into unity and fellowship
with the light, poffeffing of it, and being poffeffed by it; and this is fal
vation.
Queft. We thought falvation had been a thing to be bestowed hereafter, after
the death of the body; but if it be thus, then falvation is wrought out here.
Anfw. So it is, even in all that are faved; for there is no working of it
out hereafter, but here it is wrought out with fear and trembling; and
the believer, who is truly in unity with the life, daily changed from glory
to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Queft. But fhew more particularly how faith, or believing in the light, worketh
out the falvation.
Anfw. First, it caufeth a fear and trembling to feize upon the finner.
The Lord God Almighty, by the rifing of his light in the heart, caufeth
the powers of darkneſs to ſhake, the earth to tremble, the hills and moun-
tains to melt, and the goodly fruit-trees to caft their fruit, and then the
plant of the Lord fprings up out of the dry and barren ground, which, by
the dews and fhowers from above, thrives, grows, and fpreads till it fills
God's earth.
2. In this fear and trembling the work of true repentance and conver-
fion is begun and carried on. There is a turning of the foul from the
darkneſs to the light; from the dark power to the light power; from the
ſpirit of deceit to the Spirit of Truth; from all falfe appearances and ima-
ginations about holiness, to that which the eternal light manifefteth to be
truly fo. And now is a time of mourning, of deep mourning, while the
feparation is working; while the enemy's ftrength is not broken and fub-
dued, and while the heart is now-and-then feeling itſelf ſtill hankering after
its old lovers.
3. In the belief of the light, and in the fear placed in the heart,
there ſprings up an hope, a living hope, in the living principle, which hath
manifeſted itſelf, and begun to work. For the foul truly turning to the
light, the everlaſting arm, the living power is felt; and the anchor being
felt,
སངས
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91
1
felt, it ftays the foul in all the troubles, ftorms, and tempefts it meets with
afterwards; which are many, yea, very many.
*
4. Faith, through the hope, works righteoufnefs, and teaches the true
wifdom; and now the benefit of all the former trouble, anguish, and
miſery begins to be felt, and the work goes on fweetly. All the un-
righteouſneſs is in the darkneſs, in the unbelief, in the falfe hope. Faith in
the light works out the unrighteouſneſs, and works in the righteouſneſs of
God in Chriſt. And it makes truly wife, wife in the living power; even
wiſe againſt the evil, and to the good, which no man can learn elſewhere.
5. In the righteoufnefs, and in the true wifdom which is received in the
light, there fprings up a love, and an unity, and fellowſhip with God the
Father of lights, and with all who are children of the light. Being begotten
by Chrift the light, into the nature of the light, and brought forth in the
image, there is an unity foon felt with God the Father, and with thoſe
who are born of the fame womb, and partake of the fame nature. And
here is a willingneſs and power felt in this love, to lay down the life, even
for the leaft truth of Chrift's, or for the brethren.
6. Belief in the light works patience, meeknefs, gentleness, tenderneſs,
and long-fuffering. It will bear any thing for God, any thing for mens
fouls fake. It will wait quietly and ftilly for the carrying on of the work of
God in its own foul, and for the manifeſtation of God's love and mercy to
others. It will bear the contradiction and reproach of finners, ſeeking their
good, even while they are plotting, contriving, and hatching miſchief;
laying many fubtil fnares, and longing thereby to entrap the innocent.
7. It brings peace, joy, and glory. Faith in the light breaks down the
wall of darkness, the wall of partition, that which feparates from the peace,
that which cauſeth the anguish and trouble upon the foul, and fo brings into
peace. Chrift is the fkilful phyſician; he cures the diſeaſe by removing
the cauſe. The unfkilful phyficians they heal deceitfully; crying peace,
peace, when there is no peace, while that which breaks the peace is ftand-
ing but Chrift doth not fo, but flays the enmity in the heart by the blood
of his croſs, ſo making peace. And this is true peace, and certain peace.
Now finding the clods of earth removed, the enemy, the diſturber, the
peace-breaker trodden down, the fin taken away, the life and power pre-
fent, the foul brought into the peace; here is joy, unfpeakable joy! joy
which the world cannot fee or touch, nor the powers of darkneſs come near
to interrupt. Here is now no more crying out, O wretched man! and
who fhall deliver! &c. but a rejoicing in him who hath given victory, and
made the foul a conqueror; yea, more than a conqueror. Wait to feel
that, thou who art now groaning, and oppreffed by the merciless powers
of darkness.
And this joy is full of glory; which glory increaſeth daily more and
more, by the daily fight and feeling of the living virtue and power in Chrift
M 2
the
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A fhort CATECHISM.
the light; whereby the foul is continually transformed, and changed more
and more, out of the corruptible into the incorruptible; out of the uncir-
cumcifion, the fhame, the reproach, into the circumcifion, the life, the
glory.
Queft. Doth the light do all this?
Anfw. Yea, in them that turn towards it, give up to it, and abide in
it. In them it cleanſeth out the thickneſs and darkneſs, and daily tranſ-
formeth them into the image, purity, and perfection of the light. And
this nothing can do but the light alone.
Queft. What makes men generally fo averfe from the light?
Anfw. Their unity with the darkneſs, which the light is an enemy to,
diſcovering and diſturbing it.
Queſt. But wife men, knowing men, men who are looked upon as having
moft light, they alfo are enemies to this light, and fpeak hardly of it.
་
Anfw. Was it not always fo? Did any of the rulers, or wife fcribes and
teachers of the law, believe in him formerly? And is it any wonder if
fuch believe not in him now ?
Queft. What may be the reafon why the wife men formerly have not, and now
cannot, believe in the light?
Anfw. There are two great reaſons for it.
1. Becauſe they cannot comprehend it. They can comprehend the
knowledge which they can gather out of the book of nature, or out of the
books of the law and prophets, or out of the books of the evangelifts and
apoſtles but they cannot comprehend the light which all theſe teſtify of..
So that fuch a kind of knowledge they can receive; but the light they can-
not; for it is not to be comprehended; but gathereth into itſelf, and com-
ehendeth.
2. Becauſe it is an utter enemy to them. It will not wink at the cloſeſt
of their evils, nor ſpeak peace to them therein. Their own gathered know-
ledge may ſpeak peace to them; but this will not. Thus the Jews could
ſpeak peace to themſelves, from temple, ordinances, and facrifices; though
they walked in the ſtubbornneſs and uncircumcifion of their hearts, refifting
the checks and motions of the Holy Spirit there. And thus the Chriſtians
can ſpeak peace to themfelves, from a belief and hope through Chrift's
dying at Jerufalem (though they know not him in them, and are at a dif-
tance, and not one with that in their hearts which is of Chrift, and in his
power and authority checks and reproves for fin); but the light will not
fpeak peace fo, but only where the virtue of the living blood is felt, cleanſing
away fin.
Queft. But there are many profeffors, strict profeffors, who without doubt
have once tafted of the living virtue; what makes them fuch enemies to the light?
For there are none fpeak more against it than they.
Answ
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93
Anfw. Becauſe they are fallen from what they once had; for if they
were in that living principle, which once gave them a true taſte of life
through the ſcriptures, they could not but know and own the light, which
was the thing which gave them the tafte, and would have preferved their
reliſh, had they known how to turn to it, and abide in it.
2. The light is a witneſs againſt all their knowledge and religious prac-
tices, and imitations from the fcripture, which they hold and practiſe out
of the light, in the unrighteouſneſs, even in that part which is not to know
or be the worſhipper. And can ye blame them, that, when the light is
fo great an enemy to them, they all turn head againſt it? How is it poffible
that, having flain and murdered the Juft-one in themſelves, they ſhould ac-
knowledge and give him his due honour in others?
Queſt. But have the ſtrict profeſſors, who pretend great things in honour of
Chrift, murdered him in themſelves?
Anſw. Yea, verily, as really as the Scribes and Pharifees and people of
the Jews put him to death at Jerufalem: for what they do to the leaſt ap-
pearance of his light in their hearts, they do it unto him. Yea, our Lord
Chrift, at this very day, is as really crucified in their fpiritual Egypt and
Sodom, as he was without the gates of Jerufalem. And his righteous
blood cries as loud againſt the profeffors of this age, as ever it did againſt
the Jews and they are hardened againſt him by a conceited knowledge,
which by their imaginations they have gathered from the ſcriptures, juft as
the Jews were; but the eye in them can no more fee it, than the eye in the
Jews could.
Queft. Surely if they knew the light to be the only living way, they would not
be fuch enemies to it.
Anfw. Yea, I believe concerning them (as was faid concerning the Jews)
that if they knew it, they would not crucify the Lord of glory; for I bear
many of them record, that they have a great zeal, though not according
to knowledge. But at prefent very fad is their ftate; for the God of the
world hath blinded the eye in them, which alone can ſee the truth; and
with that eye wherewith they now ſtrive to fee, they fhall never fee with
comfort. Yea, fo exceeding grofs and thick are many of them become,
and their hearts ſo fat, that inſtead of feeling the want of the Spirit of God
in themſelves, and mourning after it, they can mock at the appearance of it
in others; and fpeak contemptuouſly of a light within,where Chrift faith the
light is: For, faith Chrift, take heed that the light which is in thee be not
darkness; for if, &c. Luke xi. 33, 36.
Queft. But will not they reply, that they do not oppoſe (much leſs mock_at)
the light of the Spirit, but only that which ye ignorantly call the light of the
Spirit ?
Anfw. If we have found it to be the light of the Spirit, and to work that
in us and for us which no other light ever could, do not blame us for
giving
94
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giving in our teftimony that it is that light. And take heed how ye re-
proach us with ignorance, feeing many of us have paffed though all that
which ye call knowledge; but our light is a new and ſtrange thing to you,
and ye are not yet able to judge it.
Queſt. But may not men obtain eternal life by reading the fcriptures, without
knowing or owning this principle of the light.
Anfw. The true end of mens reading the fcriptures, is to turn them to
the light. The fcriptures contain meflages concerning God, concerning
Chriſt, concerning the Spirit; the end whereof is to turn men to the power
and life, which can do the thing for them; which God, which Chrift,
which Spirit, fill all things, and are within in the heart, as well as without.
The word is nigh thee in thy heart, and in thy mouth, faith Mofes to the
Jews, faith Paul to the Chriftians. And to what end do they tell them it
is there? But that there they ſhould wait upon it, to hear its voice, and to
obey it. Now mark; though men could practiſe and perform all things
mentioned in the fcriptures; yet not being turned to this, they are not in
the way of falvation for the way of falvation is not a peculiar path, or
courſe of ordinances and duties preſcribed in the fcriptures; but it is a
new way, a living way, a way that the wifeft profeffors out of it never
knew (I will lead them in paths they have not known). So that while men
know not, nor are turned to, the light and power whereof the fcriptures
teſtify, all their reading of the fcriptures, praying, and practiſing ordinances
and duties there mentioned, are but in vain, and in the end will prove but
a falſe covering, and not the covering of the Spirit.
Queft. But how did men do formerly? for this is but a late notion about the
light. Have none ever been faved that have not embraced this notion?
Anfw. I fpeak not of embracing a notion; but of turning to the thing
itſelf, without which none ever was, or can be faved: for it is that alone
can fave, and it faves only them that are turned to it. Now if any man fo
read the ſcriptures, as thereby to learn to turn to this, he may feel that
For as
which will work falvation in him, though he know not its name.
darkneſs, being turned to, works death in a myſtery, though its name be
not known, but it may appear and be taken for light; fo light, being
turned to, works life in a myſtery, although he in whom it works fhould
not be able to call it by its name.
Queft. Then by this a man may be faved, though he ſhould not know the
literal name Jefus, or the literal name Chrift, &c.
Anfw. The names are but the fignification of the thing ſpoken of; for
it is the life, the power (the being transformed by that) that faves, not the
knowledge of a name. And Chriſtians mightily deceive themſelves herein :
for they think to be faved by believing a relation concerning Chriſt, as he
appeared in a fleshly body, and fuffered death at Jerufalem. Whereas
Chrift is the fame yeſterday, to-day, and for ever; and the faving know-
ledge
A fhort CATECHISM.
95
ledge reveals him, not only as he was then, but as he was the day before,
and will be for ever. And this knowledge is alſo revealed in the ſcripture;
but they are fo drowned in the letter, wherewith the carnal part is fo filled,
that the ſpiritual eye cannot open in them to fee: fo that which was ordained
for life, becomes death to them, and they periſh; they periſh juſt as the
Jews did; for their eyes are withheld, by a wifdom which they have grown
up in from the letter, from the beholding the myſtery of life in the Spirit,
which alone can work out and fave from the myſtery of death.
Queſt. But did not God formerly work life in men by their reading of the ſcrip-
tures, and by the preaching of fuch godly minifters as are now defpifed, and ac-
counted antichriftian?
Anfw. When men read the ſcriptures formerly, in the times of thick
darkneſs, and when fome of thoſe (who were not made minifters according
to the order of the gofpel) preached in the fimplicity of their hearts, ac-
cording to the beſt light of their feeling and experience, the Lord pitied
the fimplicity of their hearts, and fecretly refreſhed this principle in them
by fuch reading, and by fuch preaching. But now this principle is made
manifeft, their reading and fetting up a knowledge of the fcriptures without
this (which was the thing even then from whence they had their life), yea,
in oppofition to this, this increaſeth their death and bondage, and fhuts
them out of life.
Queft. Well, I will keep to the fcriptures, and wait for light there, let who
will follow this new light.
Anfw. Wilt thou keep to the fcriptures, in oppofition to that light, which
alone can give the knowledge of the fcriptures? What kind of knowledge
wilt thou gather from the fcriptures? Not a knowledge which will humble
thee, and cleanſe thine heart; but a knowledge that will puff thee up, and fit
thee for the flaughter. While thou art from the light, thou canst not know
the fcriptures, nor the power of God; but art exalting thine own imagina-
tions, conceivings, and reafonings, without the fenfe of fcriptures. And
this thou wilt one day know with forrow, when God calls thee to an account
for thy boldneſs, in putting fenfes and meanings upon his words without his
light.
Queſt. I am almost startled.
Anfw. Many have fallen, and more muft fall; for the ſharp axe of the
Lord is prepared to cut down every profeffor, with all his profeffion and re-
ligious practices, and imitations from fcripture, which ftand not in the
pure life. Happy art thou, if thou now fall by that hand, which now
ſtrikes at many in great loving-kindneſs and mercy, that he might raife
them up again, and fix them firm on the true foundation: but miſerable
are thoſe whoſe eyes are withheld till the day of their vifitation be overflipt,
and fo they continue keeping their corrupt ftanding, and confidence in their
fleſhly knowledge of the fcriptures: for they alfo muft fall; but their fall
will be otherwife.
Mind
96
A fhort CATECHISM.
Mind therefore this my fingle-hearted advice:
Let thy religion be to feel the pure principle of life in the pure veffel of
life; for the eye muſt be pure that fees the life, and the heart that receives
it. And faith is a pure myſtery, and it is only held in a pure confcience.
Know that in thee that purifies thee, and then thou knoweft Chriſt, and
the Father, and the Spirit; and as that lives and grows up in thee, ſo fhalt
thou know their dwelling-place, and partake of their life and fulneſs.
}
#
{
:
{
BABYLON
*
BABYLON the GREAT defcribed,
The CITY of CONFUSION,
In every Part whereof ANTICHRIST reigns;
Which knoweth not the Order and Unity of the SPIRIT, but
ftriveth to ſet up an Order and Uniformity according to the
Wiſdom of the Fleſh, in all her Territories and Dominions.
Her SINS, her JUDGMENTS.
With fome plain QUERIES further to diſcover her; and fome Confidera-
tions to help out of her Suburbs, that her inward Building may lie the
more open to the Breath and Spirit of the Lord, from which it is to receive
its Conſumption and Overthrow.
Alfo an ExнORTATION to the POWERS of the EARTH.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find out? I and mine heart compaſſed to
know, and to fearch, and to feek out wisdom, and the reafon; and to know the wickedness
of folly, even of foolishness and madrefs. And I find more bitter than death the woman
whofe heart is fnares and nets, her hands bands. He that is good before God ſhall eſcape
from her; but the finner ſhall be taken by her. Ecclef. vii. 24, 25, 26.
He that is born of the pure immortal feed, and lives in the anointing, efcapes the golden cup of
fornication, and all the painted beds of fornication, and is not defiled with women.
Rev. xiv. 4. but remains chafte to the bridegroom.
Lo this is the city which is built up of and filled with images and likeneffes of the ways
and truths of God, without the life and power.
On her outſide there is the likeneſs of a church, the likeneſs of a miniſtry, the likeneſs
of the ordinances, duties, and ways of holinefs.
On her infide there is the likenefs of the good knowledge, the likeneſs of repentance
and converfion, the likeneſs of faith, the likeneſs of zeal for God, the likeneſs of
love to God and his faints, the likeneſs of the lamb's meeknefs and innocency, the
likeneſs of juftification, the likeneſs of ſanctification, the likeneſs of mortification,
the likeneſs of hope, peace, joy, reft, and fatisfaction, &c. but the fubftance, the
truth, the virtue of all theſe is wanting to her; and ſhe herſelf is found perſecuting
that very thing (where it is found in truth) the image whereof ſhe cries up.
This, this is the woman that hath bewitched the whole earth for theſe many genera-
tions, and is ſtill changing her dreffes and paints, that ſhe might ſtill bewitch people,
and fit as a queen reigning over their confciences; but bleffed be the light which is
arifen to diſcover, and the power which is able to overthrow this ſtately, this lofty,
this mighty city, and all that take part with it.
The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth in Sion; and antichrift, with his city Babylon,
falleth. Sing praifes, fing praifes, O inhabitant of Sion! to him who fubjecteth
Babylon, with all her glory, under thy feet.
For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city he layeth it low; he
layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the duft. The foot ſhall
tread it down; the feet of the poor, the fteps of the needy. Is A I. xxvi, 5, 6.
VOL. I.
N
THE
$
[xcix]
THE
PREFACE.
T'
HERE hath been in me a zeal for God from my childhood,
and a moſt earneſt ſearch into the fcriptures (which my foul
deeply reliſhed, and my heart honoured and loved, and ſtill doth)
for the revelation of the mind and will of God. Two things did I
earneſtly ſearch and beg for: the one was for the diſcovery of the
outward way of worship; the other for the inward life, virtue, and
power, which I looked upon the outward as the proper means to
lead me to. At the beginning of the troubles in theſe nations,
there was a lively ſtirring in me, and an hope that God was bring-
ing forth ſomewhat. I likewiſe felt the fame ſtirring in many
others, at which my heart was rejoiced, and with which my foul
was refreſhed; but I found it ſoon begin to flag and wither, which
forced me to retire, and to feparate from that where I found the
life and power dying and decaying. In my feparation the Lord
was with me; my foul remembereth it right well; and he had re-
gard to the fimplicity, honeſty, and integrity of my heart, which
he himſelf had kindled in me. And though I fell too foon into a
way of church-fellowſhip and ordinances; yet he had regard to me,
and pitied me, and refreſhed my life even there. But at length the
form overgrew us, and the fweet and precious life in us began to
die. Then the Lord found out another way to refreſh us (namely,
by a ſenſible relating of our conditions, and of his dealings with us,
and workings in us), which was very fweet and precious at firft;
but the enemy crept in there alſo. Out of this ftate I never made
any change; but here the hand of the Lord fell upon me, ftriking
at my very root, breaking all my life in funder, and trampling my
N 2
crown
C
PREFAC E.
crown in the duft. Then I became a man of forrows (being ftrip-
ped of all my life, faith, hope, joy, comfort, in one day) not know-
ing which way to look, nor what to defire.
to look, nor what to defire. Sometimes there were
breathings ftirring in me, but they were preſently judged: fome-
times a little glance of refreshment from a fcripture prefented to
me; but fuddenly taken away, and my death and darkneſs increaſed
thereby. Then fhould I wifh, O that I might appear before his
throne! for furely my confcience is clear in his fight, and I have
not wickedly departed from my God, but was broken in pieces by
his hand, even while my foul was earneſtly feeking after him. O
how my foul did mourn, to fee how I was fit to be made a prey to
every ravening ſpirit! and many did feek to devour me, but the
hand of the Lord was with me, preſerving me, though I knew it
not. And though I was wholly broken, and defolate of all that I
had called, or could call, knowledge (infomuch that I could not
call any thing either good or evil), yet the Lord, by a fecret inſtinct,
preſerved me exceedingly out of that which was evil, and kept my
heart fecretly panting after the fountain and well-fpring of good.
Yea, when I was at length (through deep defpair of ever meeting
with God any more in this life) captivated by the world, and be-
trayed by the love of it (which at laft rofe up in me, and gained
upon me, by perfuading me that my preſent eſtate and condition
did require the free ufe of it, and the enjoyment of all it could
afford), yet the Lord followed me, and often was I vifited with fecret
loathings of the world, and turnings from it, and pantings after the
fpring of my life: but thefe were dreaded by me, and fuddenly quench-
ed by the evil part, for fear of that mifery and unutterable anguiſh
which I had felt hereby; the remembrance whereof was freſh in me.
In this my courting of the world, and eſtrangement from the
life, the reaſoning part (which the Lord had been long battering,
and had laid very low) gathered ftrength in me; and I began to
grow wife again, and able to judge of the things of God, and to
hope and wait for fome great appearance, wherein at length I might
be vifited, and meet with that which I ſo vehemently defired, and
ſtood in fuch need of. Thereby the enemy deeply deceived me,
pleafing me herewith, and keeping me hereby from unity with
that which alone was able to give me the fight of him, whenever
he ſhould appear. And in this fleſhly wiſdom I judged and defpifed
the true life in others; as weak, low, and not able to bring them
Mou
to
1
'
1
I
PREFA˚C E.
ci
to that which I ſtood in need of, and waited for. Yea, the more
I-confidered and reafoned in my mind, and the more I converfed
with them (hoping thereby to find fome clear ground either of own-
ing or turning from them), the further off ſtill was I; till at length
the Lord powerfully touched, and raiſed up the life in me (which
by all theſe reaſonings and confultations, all this while, I flew); and
then by degrees (waiting upon that), I faw, I felt, I tafted, I
handled, as the Lord pleafed to open to me here, that which was
ſhut out from me in my narroweft fearch and clofeft reaſonings.
Thus the Jew in me was caft off, and the Gentile called: but who
can read this? I am fure the eye of man's religious wiſdom cannot.
Hereby my eyes have been opened, and I have ſeen the fetters,
whereby I have been held captive from my life all my days: yea,
many of the ſtreets and chambers of Babylon hath mine eye beheld
(in the pure life), wherein the witch dwells which enchanteth from
the Life: yea, I have heard the tongue of the falſe prophet, which
ſpeaketh fo like the true prophet, as no fleſh can diſcern or diſtin-
guish between them: yea, I have ſeen the Dragon in the temple,
worſhipped there for God, by the ſtrictest fort of profeffors. And
now, in tender bowels, in the true light of Life, from the pure
movings of the eternal Spirit (as the Lord pleaſeth to guide and
direct) do I come forth to vifit my poor fellow-creatures and
captives in Babylon. And what I have feen and known, I teſtify
for the relief of others, that if it be poffible (by the mercy and
good hand of God) they may eſcape that mifery wherewith my
poor foul hath been overwhelmed, and may come out of that filthy
abominable city which God is making defolate; where the pure
life, the conquering faith, the fuffering love, the purifying hope,
the putting off of the body of fin, the putting on the living gar-
ment, is not nor cannot be witneffed, but men are only dreaming
of theſe things in Babylon; where all the ſatisfaction they have, is
from the pleaſure of their dream; but when they awake they will
find leannefs, and penury, and nakedneſs upon their fouls.
[102]
A
DESCRIPTION
1
O F
BABYLON,
For the SAKE of the
DAUGHTER of SION,
Which at preſent dwelleth in the midft thereof.
Now, though the world be deaf and blind (even all forts of worldly
profeffors, from the higheſt to the loweſt), yet open your ears,
and hear the joyful found; open your eyes, and fee the city of
defolations, and of all the abominations of the earth (both of .
fleſh and ſpirit); and feel in yourſelves what it is which is to be
led out, and what is to lead
you; that your feet
may be guided
to, and fet firm upon, Mount Sion; where the life rules over all
her enemies.
ABYLON is the fpiritual fabrick of iniquity; the mystical great city
Bot
of the great king of darkneſs; built in imitation of Sion, painted just
like Sion, that it might be taken for Sion, and be worshipped there, in-
Stead of the true eternal ever-living God, and king of Sion.
This is the feat of the man of fin: where there is a building framed in
any heart, or in any fociety of men, like Sion; there he lodges, there he
lives, there he fits as god, there he reigns, there he is worshipped, there
he
Babylon the great defcribed.
103
1
he is exalted above all that can truly be called God in that heart, or in
that ſociety.
1. It is a city. This is a proper parable, to diſcover the myſtery of ini-
quity by in this ftate; it is juft like a city, in its kind it is a city. In a
city there are ſeveral ſtreets; in the ſtreets, houſes; in the houſes, feveral
rooms, to which families and perfons appertain; and to all theſe there are
laws and governments. Thus it is here; there are many ftreets in this
city of Babylon, many houſes in every ſtreet, many rooms in every houſe;
and the houſes and rooms have their feveral families and perfons appertain-
ing to them; and they have their laws and governments, their knowledge
of God and Chrift; their order, their worſhip, their diſcipline in which they
walk, and by which they order themſelves in their ſeveral fervices, places,
offices, and employments, under the king of Babylon.
2. It is a fpiritual or myftical city. It is not an outward building of
earthly materials, but an inward building of inward materials. As the out-
ward Sion, the outward Jerufalem, is paffed away in its uſe and ſervice;
fo the outward Babylon is out of date too. (Ye need not look fo far for
it). And as God hath built up an inward city, a fpiritual building; fo
hath the king of darkneſs likewife. (He could never have tempted from
the city of the living God, from the city of the myſtery of life, but by the
city of the myſtery of deceit). And as God builds his city of hewn
ftones, of ſquared ftones, of living ſtones; ſo alſo hath the king of dark-
nefs his hewings, his fquarings, his preparations, his qualifications for his
buildings. If the light break forth, and make it appear too grofs to have
the whole nation a church, or to admit an whole pariſh to ordinances, he
will gather a church out of the nation, and ſelect foine of his choicer ſtones
out of the pariſh; yea, he may grafp in fome of the ftones of the true
temple, if they come within his reach and circle; that is, if they look
abroad, if they ſtep forth, and keep not cloſe to the anointing within,
which is the great and only ordinance of the faints prefervation from anti-
chrift's power: for if they ftep forth but fo much as into a prayer againſt
antichrift, out of this, they are caught in his fnare, and are ſerving him in
that very prayer, which they may ſeem with great earneſtneſs and zeal to
put up against him.
It is a great city; An overfpreading city, a city that overfpreads the earth.
As Sion was a vaft city, a city that did overfpread the nations (how did the
faith of the goſpel over-run the world in the apoftles days!) fo this city
hath alfo over-run the world. Indeed it hath taken up the whole territories
and dominions of the other city (and hath enlarged itſelf further), and
Sion hath been laid in the duft, and trodden under-foot. And though
many witneſſes, prophets, and martyrs, have mourned over her, yet none
have been able to raiſe up the tabernacle of David, which hath fallen down,
nor to recover Sion to this day; but Babylon hath had the power over her.
Look with the true eye, and behold how all nations,, kindreds, tongues,
and
104
Babylon the great defcribed.
and languages, have been drunk with fome or other of the mixtures of this
falſe woman's cup (fome of them over, and over, and over again), and
have been inhabitants of this city, crying her up (though not all in her
grofs habit, but fome in her more refined fhapes and transformings) for the
true church, for Sion; whereas, alas! fhe hath only Sion's drefs, Sion's
fhape, Sion's outward garment (which is the likenefs wherein fhe lies in
wait to deceive), but not Sion's fpirit.
}
4. It is a city of iniquity, of hidden iniquity. That which is hid in this
city, it is not the life, it is not the righteouſneſs, the holiness of the faints; but
iniquity, fin, tranfgreffion of the life. Look into any of the ſtreets of Baby-
lon, into any of the houſes, any of the rooms, any of the chambers of
darkneſs; there's fin there; there's unrighteouſneſs there; there's not one
cleanſed heart to be found there; not one pure eye to behold the God of
life is to be found there; but in every heart fin in a myſtery, iniquity in a
myſtery, unrighteouſneſs in a myſtery. They feem to be for God and
Chriſt, and to be cleanfed by them; but uncleannefs lodges in them, and
fin rules in them againſt God, and againſt his Chriſt in a myſtery; which
their eye cannot fee, and ſo muſt needs miſtake their ſtate. Yet this is the
true ſtate of Babylon, in all the parcels of it; it is the unclean city, where
purity of heart and life cannot be known; but though it be waſhed and
transformed ever ſo often outwardly, yet ftill it remains inwardly polluted;
that which defileth keeping poffeffion and dominion there in a myſtery.
The living water, the living blood, runs not in any of the ſtreets of this
city, fo that there can be no true cleanfing there. Nay, fuch ftrangers
are the choiceft inhabitants of Babylon to the fountain of life in Sion, to
the river that cleanfeth and healeth, that they cannot fo much as believe
that there is a poffibility of cleanfing and perfect healing, and making found
and whole here, while on earth. There is great talk of theſe things (of
the water, the blood, the cleanfing) in all the regions of Babylon (which
hath heard of the fame, and forms to itſelf a likeneſs); but the thing itſelf
is not to be found there, and fo the virtue, which comes from the thing
itſelf alone, cannot be felt there.
And here, in this there is a great difference between the veffels of Sion,
and the veffels of Babylon. The veffels of Sion, they are weak, earthen,
fooliſh, contemptible to the eye of man's wiſdom (which cannot look for
any great matter of excellency there); but the treaſure, the liquor of life
in them, is precious. The veffels of Babylon make a great fhew, appear
very holy, very heavenly, very zealous for God and Chrift, and for the
fetting up of his church and ordinances all over the world. Thus they
appear without; but they are fepulchres; there's rottennefs within: under
all this there lodgeth an unclean, an unfanctified heart; an heart unfubdued
to the ſpirit and power of the Gofpel, while it makes fuch a great ſhew of
fubjection and obedience to the letter.
5. It
Babylon the Great defcribed.
105
་
5. It is the city of the king of darkness, of the great king of darkneſs, of
the prince of the power of the air, who rules univerfally in the darkneſs, in
the myſtery of iniquity throughout, even in every heart. Where-ever is
fin, there is Satan's throne; and there he hath his laws, his government,
his power, in every heart of his dominion. And where there is the leaſt
fubjection to him, he is yet a prince; his building is not as yet there wholly
As long as
thrown down; he is not there as yet difpoffeffed and caſt out.
there is any thing left wherein he may dwell, he knows his own, and
keeps his hold of it. It is his right, and he will not loſe it. All fin, all
darkneſs, is properly his: it is his feat, and he hath the government
there. Man is the land where thefe two kings fight; and whatever is good
and holy belongs to the one King, and whatever is evil and unclean be-
longs to the other; and there is no communion or peace between them;
but each keep their own, and gather of their own unto themſelves. And
where the fight is once begun between thefe, there is no quietneſs in that
land, till one of theſe be difpoffeffed: but then there is either the peace of
Babylon, moſt commonly under a form of holiness; or the peace of Sion,
in the ſpirit, life, and power.
6. This city was built (and is daily built) in imitation of Sion, painted
just like Sion. The intent of its building was to eat out Sion, to fupprefs
Sion, to withdraw from the truth by a falfe image, and to keep her inha-
bitants in peace and fatisfaction, under a belief and hope that it is the true
Sion; and therefore it muſt needs be made like Sion, elfe it could no way
fuit theſe ends. Every ftreet muſt be like the ſtreets of Sion; every houſe
like the houſes of Sion; every tribe and family like the tribes and families
of Sion; every perſon like the perſons in Sion; all the laws, ordinances,
&c. like the laws and ordinances of Sion; the worſhip like the worſhip in
Sion; the faith like the faith of Sion; the painted Chriſt like the Chriſt
of Sion; all that go for truths like the truths of Sion; they would not
deceive elfe; Babylon would be foon feen through elfe, and become quickly
defolate and forfaken, did ſhe not lay her paint very thick, and with great
art and ſkill. Now here's the wiſdom, here's the true eye tried, to fee
through all the paints of this city, in all the fhapes and forms of it; to
turn from every ftreet, every houfe, every chamber, every image and falfe
appearance of truth; every falfe appearance of ordinances and ways of
worſhip; every likeness of things which this fpirit forms from the letter;
every duty that it thus calls for; every promiſe of ſcripture which it endea-
vours to apply to that to which it belongs not, that it might lull the foul
aſleep, and cozen and deceive it of the thing promiſed: here, I fay, is the
true eye tried to turn from all this, and to wait for the raifing and redeem-
ing of the true feed of Sion, and for the fpringing up of the true life and
power in it and from it: for as long as this fpirit can deceive you with any
likeneſs, ye fhall never know the truth, nor come to the worſhip of the
true living God, which alone in the Spirit, and in the Truth.
VOL. I
о
7. The
106
Babylon the Great defcribed.
*
1
7. The end of all this, of Satan's building up this city, this great city
(thus accurately in the power of deceit, and in the very likeneſs of Sion)
was, and is, that it might be taken for Sion, and be worshipped there as God,
and that without jealoufy or fufpicion. And he hath attained his end; his
city hath deceived and doth deceive, it paffeth current for Sion among all
the inhabitants of Babylon; almoſt every fort of people cry. it up for Sion,
in one appearance or other, though all do not cry up the fame appearance;
but their own image, way, and worſhip, every one extolls; their own
image of the truth for the Truth; their own way of worship for the way;
their own church and family for the church and family of God. And wor-
fhipping here, they worſhip him, and not the Lord; for the Lord cannot
be worshipped in any part of Babylon; but the king of Babylon is wor-
fhipped in Babylon, and the King of Sion alone in Sion. Ah! how deeply
do men deceive their fouls! they think they believe in God, they think they
pray to God, and hope to be owned at length by God, and yet are ſo far
from coming out of Myſtery Babylon, that it was never yet fo much as
diſcovered to them; but they have either walked in the way of religion
and worſhip they were brought up in, in the apoftafy, or perhaps have re-
moved out of one or two of the broad ftreets of it, and fo thereby think
they have left Babylon; when-as the fame ſpirit hath fat down in another
ſtreet of the fame city, building up another houſe by the direction of the
king thereof, and there worshipping the fame fpirit as they did before; but
their fouls never knew the Fire in Sion, and the furnace in Jerufalem; by
which the very inwards of their fpirits muſt be cleanfed, before the pure
eye of life be opened which can fee Sion.
Now, becauſe ye are more able to receive things from fcripture-expref-
fions, than from the nature of the thing itſelf, fpoken as it is felt in the
heart (concerning which much more might be faid, were ye able to bear
it) confider a few fcriptures.
Babylon is called a great city, Rev. xvi. 19. and a great and mighty city,
Chap. xviii. 10. O the power of deceit in that city, to bewitch from the
life! O the multitude of lying wonders that are there fhewn in the heart,
to make a man believe that he is in the life! to perfuade men that the
king thereof is the King of Sion! and that the laws and ordinances of
worſhip there, are the laws and ordinances of Sion! that the prayer there,
is the prayer of the true Child! that the believing there, is the true faith!
the love there, the true love! the hope there, the true hope, &c. Some
parts of Babylon, fome likeneffes of truth there, are fo taking, that none
but the elect, by the opening of the eternal eye, can efpy the deceit.
And it is a fpiritual city, a myftical city, a city built by the working of
the mystery of iniquity, 2 Thef. ii. 7. whereupon fhe is called mystery, Rev.
xvii. 5. It is not a city of plain wickedneſs, but a city of fin hid; of fin
keeping its life under a covering, under a form of godlineſs; of fin reign-
ing in the heart under zeal, under devotion, under praying, believing, wor-
shipping,
Babylon the Great defcribed.
107
1
fhipping, hoping, waiting, &c. Where fin lies hid within under thefe,
there is Babylon, there is the myſtery of witchcraft; there is the painted
throne of Satan; there is fpiritual Egypt and Sodom, where the Lord of
life is daily crucified. This is the city, the myftical city, the ſpiritual city,
Rev. xi. 8. And here is building up and throwing down continually.
She builds; the Spirit of the Lord confounds, then down goes her build-
ing; then up with another, then down again. This is her courfe without
end, when the Spirit of the Lord diſturbs her; for otherwife ſhe can ſettle
in any form of knowledge or worship; though in her ordinary courſe fhe
hath alfo many changes and turnings, one while this or that being a truth,
another while not; one while this or that being the fenfe or meaning of
fuch a ſcripture, another while not. Babylon is hardly ever without this
kind of building up, and throwing down.
And this city is a great city, a city ſpread over all the earth. She made all
nations drink of the wine of the cup of her fornication, Rev. xiv. 8. The
Woman, which is this city (Rev. xvii. 18.) fat upon peoples, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues, Rev. xvii. 15. She fat upon them as queen, as
princeſs, guiding them in their knowledge and worſhip of the king of Baby-
lon. And thofe that once hated her, and made war with her, and burnt
her fleſh with fire, fhe cozened them with a new paint, got them into her
new bed of fornication, and made them worſhip the king of Babylon again,
Rev. xvii. 12, 13. and ver. 16, 17. and there they lay committing whore-
dom with her, till the time of her laft burning and utter defolation: but then
they forfook her, for fear of her torment, when they ſaw the ſmoke of her
burning, Rev. xviii. 9, 10.
J
In the temples of this city (for in all the ſtreets thereof, yea in every
houfe, there are temples) antichrift fits as god, and is worſhipped, 2 Thef.
ii. 4. He, as God, fitteth in the temple of God, fhewing himſelf that he is God.
He hath cloathed himſelf like God, he appears like God (like the holy pure
Spirit of life and power), he appears in the temple of God, he fits there,
he rules there, he gives forth laws and ordinances of worſhip and devotion.
Yea, if
any one will queftion his godhead, or his right to do thus, he will
prove it, he will make it manifeft in the very temple of God, that he is
God: He, as God, fitteth in the temple of God, fhewing himſelf that he is God.
He hath exalted himſelf into the throne, above all that is called God; he
hath got into the temple, he fitteth there as God, and there he maketh it
manifeft to all his worshippers that he is God; infomuch as, among all the
inhabitants of Babylon, he is acknowledged and worshipped, and the true
Spirit of life is hid from their eyes, and denied and crucified. He bath
hewed himself that he is God; he gives demonftrations of his godhead,
which that eye which is out of the life cannot but acknowledge and take to
be true. There is none can fee and acknowledge the true God, the true
Chriſt, but thofe that have the true eye, the true anointing (no man can
fay that Jefus is the Lord, but by the holy Spirit, 1 Cor. xii. 3.); and yet
02
how
108
Babylon the Great defcribed.
,
how many can ſpeak great words of God, and of Chrift, who know not
what belongs to the anointing? Alas! alas! all nations and forts of pro-
feffors, out of the life, are cozened with the devil's demonftrations, with
antichrift's demonftrations, with the whore's demonftrations, with the falſe
prophet's demonftrations, which are undeniable to that wiſdom wherein they
ftand, and to that eye wherewith they look to fee.
Now mark this: antichrift's coming, when firſt perceived, was very mighty,
exceeding ſtrong. 2 Theſſ. ii. 9, 10. Whofe coming is after the working of
Satan, with all power, and figns, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteoufnefs, &c. Weigh the thing well. Satan ufed all his art, and
all his ftrength, to conceive and bring forth this mystery of iniquity, fo
like the myſtery of godlinefs, that it might pafs for current in the world,
and he rule as God in it. With all power, &c. no power of deceit wanting;
he did not ſpare for figns, and lying wonders; yea, he gave power to the
beaſt to do wonders and miracles, even to make fire come down from heaven
on the earth, in the fight of men (which was the fign and wonder whereby the
God of Ifrael was diftinguished from Baal; power to work this very fign
Satan gives to the beaft, to confirm the godhead of the dragon and anti-
chriſt with). Rev. xiii. 13, 14. Thefe are the things men look for; fee
but great power, figns, miracles, they are fatisfied. The whole world ſtands
ready to be deceived with this. Yea, and if the eye be not opened in per-
fons, which can diftinguish of power, they muft needs be deceived. Signs,
wonders, and miracles had their place in the firft covenant, and were to
that part to which the firſt covenant was; not to them that believe, but to
them that believe not. Now after the full demonftration of the truth by
figns and miracles, the power of Satan rifeth up; and by lying figns, won-
ders, and miracles overturneth the truth. Now the unbelieving part in
man expects and calls for figns and miracles, and fays they will determine
the controverſy, and fettle the ſtate of the church again; but that part is
not to preſcribe God his way: yea, he will ſteal as a thief upon thee, whofe
eye is abroad, and looketh for demonftrations without.
And as antichrift got up thus, fo antichrift will go out thus. He will
raiſe up this power, and what lying figns, wonders, and miracles he can,
to defend himſelf with, now the Spirit of the Lord is rifen up to difpoffefs
him, and caft him out of the houſe which he hath long lodged in. And
he that can be cozened with power, with figns, with lying wonders (which
are lying becauſe they come from the fpirit of deceit, with an intent to
deceive, though they may come to paſs, and appear true to man's eye,
Deut. xiii. 1, 2, 3.) or with any of the deceivableneſs of unrighteouſneſs,
ſhall never come out of Babylon; but only be tranflated into fome of the
more refined chambers of it, and fed with fome more freſh likeneffes of
truth, where he ſhall ſtill remain an inhabitant and worſhipper in ſome image,
perhaps of univerfal love, life, and liberty, and yet be out of the life, out
of the love, out of the liberty of the truth, which ſtands in the power and
4,
preſence
!
Babylon the Great defcribed.
109
{
preſence of the Spirit of God, and not in the moft refined image or like-
nefs.
All the world wondered after the beast, and they worshipped the dragon which
gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, Rev. xiii. 3, 4. The
dragon is the devil; the beast is that ſpirit of the earth which he raiſeth up,
and feeds in men with a form and appearance of truth; to which he gives
his power, his feat, and his authority: and every man hath a meaſure of
this according to his ftate and condition, place and fervice in Babylon.
And now what a man doth here in religion, be he ever fo devout and
zealous, and frequent in ordinances and duties, is the worſhip of this ſpirit,
and of the dragon who fits and rules in this ſpirit. I am run into hard ex-
preſſions, very hard, becauſe the nature of theſe things is hid from mens
eyes, and they are in the mift of antichrift's raifing, in the fmoke which
comes from the pit, where there is no opening of the true eye, nor no true
fight of things; but truly if ever you efpy the dragon, the beaft, antichrift,
the whore, the falſe prophet, ye muft look at home, and read within; and
there having found the thing, and feen it in the true light, ye will be able
to read it certainly abroad alſo. Now do not go about to diſtinguiſh theſe
things in the notion of the underſtanding; but come to feel the life, to
unite with the life, and the eye will open which can ſee into the nature of
things, and will behold ail in its feafon; for that eye which is fo eager to fee,
ſhall never ſee theſe things; but that eye alone which waits in ftilneſs and
quietnefs on the pleaſure and good-will of the opener.
Now all this time, while Babylon ſtands, while antichrift fits in the
temple, while Satan reigns over all the antichriftian world, the true and
living God hath not been known, feared, nor glorified; but mens know-
ledge hath been of a falſe god they have fet up, and him they have feared,
and given the glory to, in their worſhip. Nay, the goſpel hath not been
preached; the true goſpel, the everlafting gofpel, the gofpel wherein is the
light and power of eternal life, to turn men from all antichriftian forms of
knowledge and worſhip to the true life and power: but when Babylon falls,
and Mount Sion begins to appear again, then the gofpel is to be preached
again, even by an angel, who receiveth it from God himſelf, Rev. xiv. 6, 7.
for man could never recover it again: it requires a new infpiration. The
law is to go forth out of Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerufalem. And
this goſpel is to be preached to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and
people, ver. 6. Mark: there was not one nation, not one kindred, not one
tongue, not one people that kept the everlaſting goſpel; but it was laid
up in Sion; it was carried with the church into the wilderneſs, and there
it hath been hid all the time of the apoftafy, fince the days of the apoſtles.
But now Sion is redeeming, the true woman bringing back again out of
the wilderneſs, fhe brings back the true everlaſting gofpel with her; and
there is an angel chofen in the power of the Lord (even in the fame power
and ſpirit that firft preached it) to preach it again to every nation, kindred,
tongue
TIO
Babylon the Great defcribed.
tongue and people. And the Lord hath ſo ordered it, that he will have
the voice of this angel as deſpicable to the wife in religion, to the zealous
in devotion of all forts in this backfliding age, as the former preaching was
to the wife and devout both among the Jews and Greeks. So that whofo-
ever is wife in religion according to the fleſh; whofoever is wife in expecta-
tion and waitings for the kingdom; whofoever is wife in reaſoning about
it, and can tell the foregoing figns of it, &c. fhall not know the voice:
but he that can fhut his eyes by the leadings of the pure life, and enter
into the hidden womb of wiſdom, where the light of life is fown, he ſhall
be new formed, and come forth a child out of the womb of wiſdom, with
the new eye, the new ear, the new heart, the new underſtanding and
fenſes; and keeping in the childish fimplicity, out of the wiſdom, zeal,
and devotion which deceived him before, he ſhall receive and enter into the
everlaſting kingdom.
Therefore all people wait humbly for the candle of the Lord, that there-
with ye may ſearch out Babylon, and may come to fee what of her treaſures
ye have gathered; that ye may throw them away fpeedily, and give up
your ſhips and veffels (wherewith ye have trafficked for thefe kind of wares)
to the fire of the Lord's jealoufy; that ye may receive the durable riches
that ye may hear the joyful found of the everlaſting goſpel, and know the
true Chriſt which it alone reveals; and come to fear, and worſhip, and glo-
rify the true God; and not go down into the pit or lake with the dragon,
the beaft, the whore, and falfe prophet, which will be the portion of the
moſt zealous falfe worshippers. And when your eyes come once to be
opened in the true light, ye will blefs the Lord for giving you theſe warn-
ings, and not be fo angry at us (who have paid dear for them) for our
willingneſs, if it be poffible, to fave you fome of the charges they have coſt
us: however, at leaſt to preſerve your fouls from that ruin and dreadful de-
ſtruction which all the paths of Babylon lead to.
;
The SINS of BABYLO N.
Although, in the foregoing deſcription, fome of the fins of Babylon
have been touched at; yet I find my ſpirit further drawn forth
(in a way of fervice to the Lord and his people) to take a further
view, both of them, and ſome other of her fins.
HE fins of Babylon, by the Spirit of life (which hath righteouſly
meaſured and knoweth them) are referred to theſe two heads, fornica-
tion and abomination. She allureth the ſpirit of the creature into a ſtrange
bed, and there it acts filthily and abominably with this ftrange fpirit. Now
of
Babylon the Great defcribed.
117
of theſe there are two forts; firft, fome more open and manifeft; fecondly,
ſome more hidden and fecret, hard (yea, utterly impoffible) to be diſcerned,
without the ſhining forth of the pure light of life.
All forts of men are eſtranged from the life; -under the whole heaven
is the Lord God forgotten, and his holy and pure law and way of life; and
filthineſs and abomination is committed every-where. Now all this filth
(even the common filth of the earth) ſprings out of Babylon, hath its riſe
from her womb. Were it not for her, the found of life would be heard
even among the heathen, and they would not be fuch ftrangers to him that
made them; nor would they act fo contrary to thoſe leadings and teachings
of the Spirit of God (who is the God of the whole earth), which the darkeſt
parts are not without. It is the which withdraws their minds from the
pure glimmerings that riſe up in them, fetting up another god in their eyes,
and heatheniſh fottiſh ways of fear, worſhip, and devotion: and under this
ſhe makes them filthy and polluted, unclean in their minds and in their
bodies, brutiſh in their knowledge and in their practices; for fhe is the mo-
ther of harlots, and abominations of the earth, Řev. xvii. 5. Look what
of pride, of vanity, of cruelty, of envy, of wrath, of luft, of covetouſ-
nefs, of idolatry, of blafphemy, &c. is to be found any-where among men
upon the earth, fhe is the mother of it all. All the common filth and
ftench of the earth fprings out of this womb, this fecret womb, this hid-
den womb for though, in this her open and vifible appearance, ſhe
be manifeft to the eyes of many; yet to thofe children of hers who are
thus conceived, brought forth, and bred up by her, fhe is a myſtery of
iniquity, and they perceive her not fo much as here, and fo cannot eſcape
this her openly polluted bed.
Secondly, The whore hath more fecret fornications and abominations.
Where the can paſs thus, fhe need not paint either herſelf or her ware;
but where need requires, the hath her paint, fhe hath her delicates for the
curious eye, Rev. xviii. 3. She hath her cinamon, odours, ointments and
frankincenfe, for the nice fcent; fhe hath her fine flour and wheat, &c.
for the fine palate; and gold, precious ftones, pearl, and veffels of ivory,
and all manner of veffels of moft precious wood, for the more ſtately wor-
fhipper; as well as of brafs and iron for the more common, Rev. xviii.
12, 13. She can paint both herſelf and her ware, fo as to make them
taking to the eye of all fleſh. She can fo mingle her cup, as fhall pleaſe
every palate but that which is truly living; and caft fuch a colour upon
her abominations, as no eye that is without can fufpect; but takes with
every young man that is hunting abroad, and knows not the fpring of life
in himſelf. So that all the deceits in religion, all the feveral forms and
ways of knowledge and worship, all the ordinances, duties, and devotions
which the fpirits of moft men take pleaſure in, are of her. And herein
is her pride and glory, in fubjecting thefe, in ruling over thefe, in blinding
the eyes of theſe, and oppofing the true life and power by theſe. She doth
not
112
Babylon the Great defcribed.
not value whole territories of the other fo much as the congregation of
thefe. For mark:
The great mafter-piece of the whore was to paint herſelf like the Lamb's
wife, and fo to withdraw from the true church, and fet up a falfe church;
which, by reafon of its paint and likeneſs to that which once was the true,
ſhould paſs up and down the world, and be taken for the true: and here
lies her beauty, her glory, her majefty, her life, her heart, even in the
deceivableneſs of this appearance. Therefore her great care and endeavour
is to keep her poffeffion and dominion here. She often reneweth and changeth
her paint, nearer and nearer to the image and former likeneſs of truth, that
the might make it paſs inſtead of the truth, and fo keep that which is indeed
the truth down ftill under reproach, contempt, and perfecution, as fhe hath
done theſe many ages.
Therefore the hath her forts of paint by her, her
varieties of forcery, of witchery, of inchantments, whereof her cup is full,
and wherewith her wine is made ftrong, to make the inhabitants of the
earth drunk thereby; that being thus befotted, being not themſelves, but
their ſpiritual fenfes bound up (as the wine doth very effectually, where..
ever her cup is drank off) the might lead them up and down from one
thing to another, from one chamber to another, from one bed to another,
from one practice and way of worſhip to another, and ftill keep them from
the true living thing which their fouls ſeek.
For were it poffible for perfons who did but fo much as read in the fcrip-
tures concerning the power of life the faints formerly enjoyed, the living
miniſtry and ordinances, their fweet walking and fellowship in the light,
the preſence of the Spirit in their worſhip, and in their whole courſe, their
fincere love in the Spirit, and tender bearing with one another's weakneffes,
doubts and differences, which he that reads fingly cannot but pant after;
and the ſtate of the goſpel was not to be a decaying and dying in theſe
things, or a loſing of them, ſo that the power of the Spirit, and the reve-
lations thereof ſhould ceaſe (as the whoriſh fpirit, which hath gone out from
the life, pleads); but to grow and increaſe, and the laſt times to abound
moſt of all with the power and glory of Truth; I fay, were it poffible for
perfons who ſhould read and entertain the leaſt taſte or favour of theſe
things, to be ſatisfied with any of thoſe dead ways and forms which the
whore hath fet up inftead of them, unless they were wholly betwitched,
and altogether deprived of their fenfes, being made dead drunk with the
whore's mingled wine in this dark night of apoftafy? Yea, profeffors are
drunk, they have deeply drank of the cup, and are forely overtaken, and
their hearts overcharged with ftrong liquor; which makes them even mad
to draw others into their beds of fornication, and to ftand up themſelves
in great rage, and call alſo to the magiſtrates for the defence of them. Yea,
like the clamorous woman, they make a great noiſe about ordinances, du-
ties, miniftry, church, &c. (I have decked and perfumed my bed, faith the
lewd woman, the fubtil-hearted woman, Prov. vii. 16, 17.) but do not fo-
berly
}
Babylon the Great defcribed.
113
-
We have run on
berly confider which are painted ones, which the truth.
headily after theſe things too long; it is now time to ſtand ſtill a while, and
wait for the purging out of the wine wherewith all our brains have been
overturned, that we may come into ſoberneſs, and into a fit temper to be
led by the Spirit of life out of the bed of fornications, and out of the ways,
worſhips, ordinances, and duties of fornication, into the bed of the unde-
filed Spirit. Now he that worſhips God aright, muft feel life within, and
that life raiſed and ftrengthened by him who begets it; and this will favour
death; and, faithfully following its guide, will come out of the land of
death; even that land wherein all the falfe worshippers inhabit, and wherein
all theſe falſe ways and worſhips, duties, ordinances, miniſtries, &c. are ſet
up and flouriſh.
Now theſe fecret fins of Babylon are the fame with the more open and
grofs; the great difference is their fecrefy, their not appearing like fins,
their paint, their colour, whereby they are ſwallowed down for holy and
good. As for inſtance:
There is fornication (or adultery from the life) in the fineft, in the pureft
way of worſhip man can invent or imitate: but the fornication doth not fo
plainly appear here, but they who have drank of the cup take theſe things
for the ways and appointments of God. Thofe that fet up the whore's
church, do not call it fo, nor perhaps think it to be fo; thoſe that ſet up
the whore's miniſtry, or ordinances, do not give them that name, but call
them the miniftry and ordinances of Chrift: yet this is as truly, as really
fornication from the life, as the groffeft ways of heathenish worſhip. O
mark it! mark it!
If thou haft read the fcriptures, and thruſt thyſelf into any practices thou
there findeft mentioned, without the raiſing up of a living thing in thee,
and without thy following by the guidance thereof, thou haft done this by
the whore's advice; and in this thou art committing fornication, and erring
from the life: for the true worſhip lies in the Spirit and in the Truth, and
it is the new birth that God ſeeks to worſhip him; but the ſpirit of man
thrufting itſelf into theſe things, the Lord abhors and rejects. And this
ſpirit never can be thus cleanſed and fitted to enter into Chrift's bed; but
only gets a paint from fcripture, and enters into the painted bed and bofom
of the harlot, where it remains unrenewed, unchanged, unmortified, in
the midſt of all its great talk and profeffion of theſe things. And thus the
fcriptures, the holy fcriptures of truth (which were given forth from the
pure Spirit of life) the whoriſh ſpirit maketh uſe of to eftrange from the
life. For what fort of perfons, which have fornicated from the life, but
make uſe of the fcriptures to maintain their whoredoms by, and to bewitch
others into their whoredoms with? Every fort cries up their own way and
worſhip to be the way and worſhip according to the fcriptures; and if any
be gathered out of thefe witcheries into the power of God, then the be-
witched fay that fuch are bewitched.
VOL. I.
P
Then
114
Babylon the Great defcribed.
Then as for all the abominations of the earth, all the filth that defiles
the heart, it is to be found on the fkirts of the whore, even in her moſt
refined dreſs for her religion, her worſhip, her profeffion, her practices, do
not reach to the purifying of the confcience, but only to paint over the old
fepulchre, where rottennefs ftill lodgeth within. The fore was never
thoroughly fearched; the heart was never thoroughly circumcifed or bap-
tized; the old man was never put off, or the new man put on; the blood
of purifying (which truly waſheth away the fin) was never felt in its virtue
and power, but only an apprehenfion and talk that they are cleanſed in
Chriſt, from a notion they have ſtolen out of the fcriptures; but not from
the fenfible feeling of the thing in life and power in their confciences. And
fo the evil nature ftill remains, the evil heart of unbelief is ftill to be found
in them, and they want the life, they want the power, they want the ſpirit,
they want the love, they want the humility, they want the meeknefs, they
want the patience, they want the innocency and fimplicity of the lamb
and dove. And when the Lord comes to provoke them to jealoufy by the-
fhining of his light, and by the appearance of his power in fome whom they
defpife, then the pride, the paffion, the envy, the heart-burnings, the hard
fpeeches, the falfe furmifings, with the reft of the enmity which ſtill abides.
with them, ftirs and riſes againſt the life and power, and their hypocrify is
made manifeft. Yea, fome of the ftricteft among them can fcoff and jeer
at the appearance of life; fo ftrong is the evil and unmortified nature in
them, and fo conceited are they in their ways and practices,, becauſe of
their cover, under which all this iniquity, for the most part, lies hid from
their eyes. But, for all that, it is there; the Lord's candle will fearch it
out, and thine own eye fhall fee it, and find in thyfelf bloody Cain, fcoffing,
Ishmael, profane Efau, the uncircumcifed Jew, who is angry that his bro-
ther's facrifice is accepted, and his not; who difdains and derides the true
feed of life, the living heir; who hunts abroad for food pleafing to that na-
ture which is to be famifhed; who crucifies the Lord of glory becauſe of
his meanneſs, and becauſe he appears not in that way of devotion and holi-
neſs wherein they expect him. Neither will he appear fo; but to overturn
all that which ye have fet up, and to fet up that which ye difdain. This is
the Lord's work, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
Now there are feveral fins which the Spirit of the Lord hath charged
Babylon with, and which he will reckon with her for, and with all that
partake with her therein; fome whereof I may mention. As,
1. Her deep fornications from the life, under a pretence of honouring and wor-
fhipping of it. (Be not offended that I begin with it again, feeing it is alfo
mentioned among other particular fins of hers, Rev. ix. 12.) She fpeaks.
fair words; fhe calls to have the worſhip of God ſet up, and a godly mi-
niftry, and the ordinances of God in a nation; but the thing is not fo in
the fight of God, but in all this fhe feeks the advancement of her own
whoredoms, And this was, and this is, the very way of antichrift's rifing;
he
Babylon the Great defcribed.
115
ด
he gets into the form, he cries up the form; and by the form which he
cries up, he eats out the power. If antichrift fhould fpeak directly againſt
the power (without firft creeping into, and fetting up a form, and crying
up that) he would foon be detected: but, under a form and profeffion of
truth, he hides himfelf, and covers his fpirit of enmity and perfecution
therewith; and here he can fecretly and fafely fmite the innocent, and
fight againft that very ſpirit, life, and power, which he himself, in his form,
makes a profeffion of being ſubject to. And this is the wolf in the fheep's
cloathing, which, by this fair appearance of the ſheep's wool on his back,
covers his ravenous nature from the eyes of the beholders.
Now there are three ways of fornication, one of which this fpirit is always
guilty of, fometimes of them all.
1. By inventing things which the Lord never commanded, or adding to that
which the Lord did command. The mind of man is very bufy, and full of
inventions; and where the heart is touched with devotion and zeal towards
God, the inventing part exceedingly exercifeth itſelf this way, either in
imagining and forming fomewhat which it thinks may be acceptable to
God, or in adding to thofe things which it finds commanded. In this way
of fornication the popish church abounds, being filled with ceremonies of
their own inventing, and of additions to fuch things as are found mentioned
in the fcriptures. The common Proteftants alfo have been too guilty
here.
When a
2. By imitating of those things which were commanded to others.
man finds in fcripture the things which fome others did, or which they were
commanded to do; and fo he is venturing upon them before he feel the
leading of that Spirit whereby they were led thereunto. Now in this he
errs from the life; he goes without his guide; he doth that which was a
good thing in others (who were led by the Spirit thereto), but in him it is
fornication. This man is a thief and an intruder; he fteals into the out-
ward knowledge and practice, without the inward life and power: he in-
trudes into that into which others were fairly led; not coming in by the right
door, for which entrance he fhould have waited, and not have run on
headily of himſelf. This way of fornication the ftricteft among the Proteftants
have generally been infnared in, who have run on further and further to fearch
out the pureſt way of worſhip, the neareſt pattern to the primitive times,
and fo have applied themfelves diligently thereto, not knowing what they
And
were to wait for to be their guide, and give them the entrance.
here now, thinking themfelves to be in the right, they have contracted a
lofty ſpirit (and held forth their conceptions of the way as the only way),
and fo have loft the meeknefs and fimplicity, which was fresh and lively
in ſome of them before; which fets them a great way back, and makes the
entrance into the kingdom very hard to them. Whereas if that fimpli-
city and tenderneſs were freſh in them, the Lord would fhew great regard
to that, eaſily pardoning this their error, and, in mercy to them, vifiting
that
P 2
116
Babylon the Great defcribed.
that evil ſpirit with his judgments, which ſtood nigh them, and was the
cauſe of their error. But they are grown high, they are grown wife, they
are become confident, they know the way already, and can maintain it by
undeniable arguments (as they think) to be the way; fo the Lord, with his
teachings, is at a great diſtance from them; that lying very low in them,
which the Lord alone will teach.
3. By continuing in practices, to which they were once led by the Spirit, with-
out the immediate preſence and life of the Spirit. For the whole worſhip, the
whole religion of the gofpel, confifts in following the Spirit, in having the
Spirit do all in us, and for us: therefore whatſoever a man doth of
himſelf is out of the life, it is in the fornication. If a man pray at any
time without the Spirit, that prayer is fornication, and is not either ac-
ceptable to God, or profitable to himſelf; but grieves the Spirit, hurts the
life, and wounds the foul. Now this way of fornication have they efpe-
cially fallen into, who have been acquainted with the true leadings and
openings of the Spirit, and have afterwards run to them for refreſhment,
and fo by degrees forgot the Spirit that opened. And by this means was
that life, which was precious and very favoury in the Ranters (before they
were feduced by the fpirit of deceit into that way of ranting) overturned.
And thus they alfo (who deeply faw into the myſtery of whoredoms, and
into the more inward ways of fornication above others), even they alſo
were deceived with the whore's cup, and drank afreſh of that wine of for-
nication which the whore very cunningly had new mingled for them; and
they alſo are become a reproach to the inhabitants of Sion, who find a living
habitation in that Spirit of life which they turned from.
Now if there be a true eye opened in any in the reading of this, how
eafily and manifeftly will he fee whoredom, fornication, adultery, generally
in mens religious practices, in their churches, in their miniftries, in their
ordinances, in their prayers, in their whole courfe! O how, think ye, doth
the eye
of the jealous God behold theſe things! but your eyes, who are held
captive here, cannot fee it. The God of the world, with his miſts, hath
darkened you; the great whore, with her forceries, hath inchanted you;
and ye are her flaves, ye are drunk with her cup; and how can ye judge
foberly either of your own eftate towards God, or concerning your practices
in religion?
2. Her notorious blafphemies. Having fornicated from the life, and from
the Spirit, then the blafphemes the life, and the holy pure power and
movings of the Spirit. The woman which fat upon the Scarlet-coloured beaft
(with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of
the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication) was full of names
of blafphemy, Rev. xvii. 2, 3. Yea, the beaft which carried her, which
had many heads, horns, and crowns, he alſo had on his heads names of
blafphemy, Rev. xiii. 1. And there was given to him a mouth, speaking great
things, and blafphemies, ver. 3. And he, with the whore together (for he
did
Babylon the Great defcribed.
117
**
did it by her fpirit and inſtigation, by virtue of the wine he had drank out
of her cup) opened his mouth in blafphemy against God, to blafpheme his name
and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven, ver. 6. This hath been
the work of the tongue, in every head of the beaft; namely, to blafpheme
the life, to blafpheme the true living power, in all ages and generations,
fince the apoftafy from the life and Spirit of the apoſtles.
Now there is a twofold blafphemy, which the whore, and the
the earth that ſerve her, are guilty of.
powers
of
1. There is a ſpeaking well of the ways of their own invention, or the
of
ways which they have imitated without the life. To call theſe the ways
God, the true ways of life, is blafphemy. I know the blafphemy of them
which fay they are Jews, and are not, but a fynagogue of Satan, Rev. ii. 9.
There were even in the apoſtles days, perfons who pretended to be Chriſ-
tians, and pretended ftill to be of the church, though they had loft the
life; and this the Spirit of the Lord faid was blafphemy. And what is their
gathering into a church, who were never gathered into the life, and fetting
up ordinances, and paſtors? What is this? What is it for him to call him-
felf a Chriſtian, or inward Jew, who never had the fore-ſkin of his fleſh cut
off by the circumcifing knife of the Spirit? what will the Lord fay this is,
when he comes to judge?
2. There is a ſpeaking evil of the truths of God. The true knowledge,
the true fear, the true worſhip, the true faints, the true God, the true
tabernacle, the true temple, the true heaven, (all which is in the Spirit, and
is alone revealed and feen there) theſe are reproached, theſe are miſrepre-
ſented (and the true fight and acknowledgement of them called error,
herefy, and fectariſm) by all the blafphemers of Babylon.
Ifrael, who had the law and the prophets, the true ordinances and the
true priefts, yet they called evil good, and good evil; they put darkness for
light, and light for darkness; they put bitter for fweet, and ſweet for bitter,
Ifa. v. 20. They were fo wife in their own eyes, and ſo prudent in their own
fight; they were fo mighty to drink wine, and men of ſuch ſtrength to mingle
Strong drink (juftifying the wicked for reward, and taking away the righteousness
of the righteous from him), that there was no convincing of them by the
LIGHT of GOD, fhining from the prophets, of their cafting away the law of
the Lord, and defpifing the word of the Holy One of Ifrael, ver. 21. to 25.
Nay, they were obfervers of the law, and hearkened to the prophets and
prieſts of the law, Jer. v. 31. Therefore, when the overflowing Scourge
came, it should not come near them: Yea, when the true prophets of the
Lord threatened them with his coming with dreadful vengeance, and his
Strange work, they in the height and confidence of their fpirits could reply;
Let him make Speed, and baften his work, that we may fee it, Ifa. v. 19.
How blind were they from feeing their blafphemies; their calling of evil
good, and good evil, &c. Yea, in the very days of the apoftles, the way
of Truth was evil ſpoken of, and ſynagogues of Satan ſetting up, and blaſ-
phemies
118
Babylon the Great defcribed.
phemies growing up apace from thoſe which held the true form, but de
nied the power, even while the pourings forth of the Spirit, and revela
tions from the Spirit, did abound: how can it be expected it fhould be
otherwiſe now, when the Spirit is grown fuch a ſtrange thing, that to men-
tion fuch a thing as being moved by the Spirit, or acted by the Spirit,
is become ridiculous? and the very teachers of the nation (who must speak
by the Spirit, if they fpeak the word of God) cry revelation is ceafed, and
count it a reproach for a man fo much as to pretend to fpeak by the mov-
ings, and in the power, of the Spirit.
Now this double blafphemy neceffarily follows the fornication: whoever
is fornicated from the life, he blafphemes the life, in all his knowledge, in
all his worſhip, in all his religion. He calls that prayer which is not prayer;
that an ordinance which is not an ordinance; that a church which is not a
church; that a minifter which is not a minifter; and that which is indeed
the prayer, the ordinance, the church, the minifter, he denies and blaf-
phemes; and cannot do otherwife, until the righteous judgments of the
Lord purge the whore's wine out of him, and he be led back to that life
and Spirit again, from which (in all theſe ways of worſhip, inventions, and
imitations) he is gone a whoring.
The whore, for theſe many ages, hath been laying blafphemy to the
charge of fuch, as, in any degree, have been led by the Spirit of the Lord
from her whoredoms; but now the Lord is taking it off from them (who
have long been unjustly charged therewith) and charging it upon her, and
ſhe cannot eſcape his judgment: for though the put on ever fo fine dreffes
and appearances, like the ſpouſe and church of Chrift, yet the Lord can
diftinguiſh and find out his fpoufe, though naked in the wilderneſs, and
without her attire; and can alſo efpy the whorifh fpirit, though cloathed
with the church's attire; and can charge her blafphemies (against him, his
tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven) upon her.
3. Grofs or more refined idolatries. Little children, faid John, keep yourſelves
from idols, i John v. 21. He faw antichriftianifm breaking in apace,
many antichrifts being already come; and now (faith he) keep to the anoint-
ing, and keep from idols. Without a very ftrict watch, without a mighty
preſervation by the anointing, he faw idolatry would even creep in upon
them, who had tafted of the true power and virtue of life. But how fhall
they keep from idols who know not the anointing, but think the revelations
thereof are ceaſed? He that buyeth not the tried gold of Chrift (Rev. iii.
18.) how can he avoid buying untried gold of antichrift, or filver, or brafs,
or wood, or ftone, which his merchants traffique for, and make idols of?
Rev. ix. 20. If thine eyes be anointed with the true eye-falve, thou mayeft
fee and read the parable.
Idolatry is the worshipping of God without his Spirit (that is the plain
naked truth of the thing). To invent things from the carnal mind, or to
imitate things, which others, who had the Spirit, did in the Spirit, by the
command
1
Babylon the Great defcribed.
119
command of the Spirit, for thee to imitate and practife thefe without the
Spirit, is idolatry. An invented church, an invented miniftry, an invented
worſhip; an imitated church, an imitated miniftry, an imitated worſhip
without the life, without the Spirit, all theſe are the work of mens hands,
and are idols, and all that is performed herein is idolatry, Rev. ix. 20.
This is a religion without life, a worſhip without life, a fabrick for idola-
try; and the whole courſe of worſhip and ſervice in it, is idolatry. For the
living God, the Lord God of endleſs life and power, is alone worshipped
by his Spirit, and in the truth of that life which he begets in the heart;
and all other worſhip (though ever fo feemingly fpiritual) is idolatrous. Ah!
profeffors, profeffors! if ye knew how many idol-prayers and fervices ye
have loaded the Lord with, and how ye have been whoring from him,
while ye have ſeemed to be drawing nigh to him, ye would hang down your
heads and mourn! For whatever ye have done, in the worſhip of God,
without the leading and preſence of his Spirit, it hath been idolatry. For
the worſhip of God, under the Goſpel, is in the Spirit and in the Truth, and
required of them who are in the Spirit and in the Truth, and not of others,
John iv. 23. For them alone the Lord feeketh to worſhip; and the Lord
will admit of none to his worſhip, but fuch as he ſeeks. And if any elſe
will thruſt themſelves into his worſhip, it is not accepted; nor do they
worſhip the true God, but they worship they know not what; and their whole
ſtate and courſe here is a ſtate and courſe of idolatry.
4. Sorceries, witchcrafts, divinations, and inchantments (I do not mean
outward forceries or witchcrafts; they are but the fhadow or figure of the
inward myſtery of deceit of this black dark ſpirit, which appears as an
angel of light, that he might bewitch and deceive). Neither repented they
of their forceries, Rev. ix. 21. This falfe church, this adulterous woman,
fhe hath her golden cup, and her wine mingled; and with this cup fhe
bewitches the eye, with this wine fhe inflames the heart, and intoxicates
the brain. She invents ways and worſhips like to the true, or fhe imitates
the true ways and appearances of life; and when the poor fimple young
man is fingly feeking after God, from fome true touches of his life, before
he comes to know the Spirit of life, before he can come to be married to
the Lamb, fhe comes with her golden cup, and with her tempting wine,
and bewitches the poor heart therewith, and fo leads it afide into her painted
bed. Wouldst thou enjoy God, faith fhe? Wouldst thou worſhip him
aright? Wouldit thou have fellowship with him? Lo, here is the way; here
is the church; here are the ordinances; here is the miniſtry; here are the
means. Thou muſt wait upon God in the uſe of the means, and thefe
are they. Did not the faints formerly do thus? Did not they meet with
God here? Did not they ferve and worship God thus? Come thou hither
alfo; do what they did, enjoy what they enjoyed. Yea, but thou whoriſh
woman, did ever God appoint means without his Spirit? Thou leaveſt the
main, yea, indeed, the only thing behind thee, which itſelf alone is ac-
cepted,
120
Babylon the Great deſcribed.
cepted, and without which nothing is accepted. And this is the courſe of
the whore; in all her transformings, in all her baits, in all her temptings,
ſhe ſtill leaves the Spirit behind her. She may perhaps fpeak of the Spirit,
to hide herſelf the more (becauſe the letter of the fcripture is ſo expreſs
therein); and teach people to look and wait for the Spirit, but fo as it never
is to be obtained: for he that begins in religion either to pray or worſhip, or
feek the knowledge of God, without the Spirit, fhall never meet with the
Spirit fo; but that way of knowledge, religion, and worſhip of his, muſt
firſt be broken down, and he become a fool, and receive the Spirit as a
fool (out of all his religious knowledge and wiſdom which he had gathered
before); and afterwards, following the Spirit which is thus received, he
fhall be led into the true wiſdom. Now mark that which follows, ye that
have a defire to underſtand.
This ſpirit of deceit, this whoriſh fpirit, this fpirit of divination and
witchcraft (which by her forceries deceived all nations, Rev. xviii. 23.) came
forth curiouſly decked at firft, with all manner of deceivableness of unrighte-
ouſneſs. It had the exact form of life (the true form of godlinefs) and a
lively fpirit in it: it had the form of knowledge, and the form of worship,
and with theſe it came to tempt, and draw away them from the life and
from the power, who were in the life and in the power; and it did prevail
upon fuch as kept not cloſe to the anointing. But after it had overcome,
and gained the church's territories, then it might fafely corrupt the form
and fo it did, and went into multitudes of inventions and fopperies (as at
this day may be feen amongſt the Papifts). Now theſe are eaſily diſcovered,
and feen through by any fimple, plain, honeft eye, upon a little breaking
forth of the light. Therefore the whoriſh ſpirit, when the perceives her-
felf found out here, fhe changes her fhape and attire, and comes back
again by degrees (as need requires) to the forms of knowledge and wor-
fhip, wherewith fhe was arrayed when the deceived at firft: yet ſtill ſhe is
the fame, and doth this to keep poor fimple hearts ftill in her bands,
from the life and from the Spirit. And thus painted, thus decked, thus
holding forth ſcripture-knowledge and fcripture-ways of worſhip, ſhe is the
more fubtil witch, the more fubtil forcerefs, and is able to deceive any
eye, but that which is opened in the light. With her Lo bere Chrift,
and lo there Chrift, fhe would deceive the very Elect, if it were poffible;
but it is not poffible: for they are taught by the Spirit not to go forth,
and the anointing within preferves them. And he that knoweth not this
preſervation, is bewitched by her; and his fear of God is fuch as may be
taught by the precepts of men, and practifed without the knowledge of the
law of the Spirit of life in Chrift Jefus, which is the faints rule, guide,
and prefervation. For as the apoſtles were able miniſters, not of the letter,
but of the Spirit of the New Teftament, 2 Cor. iii. 6. fo they that received.
their miniftry (or that which they miniſtered) received not the letter only,
but the Spirit; and were preſerved not by the letter, but by the Spirit, and
'
were
Babylon the Great defcribed.
121
.✔
were made able to try words, things, and ſpirits, not by the letter, but by the
Spirit. But this the whoriſh ſpirit is departed from, and bewitcheth others
from; firſt poffeffing them that the Spirit is not to be looked for, and then
perfuading them to make as good fhift as they can without it: and then
(having thus prepared people) The brings forth her wares. Look ye, faith
fhe, this is the way; thus and thus the faints practifed; do thou thus alſo.
But thou muſt receive the faint's ſpirit before thou either know or worship;
or thou knoweft and worſhippeft out of it: and in that path of forcery
and witchcraft from the life, thou shalt never meet with the life; but the
further thou proceedeft therein, wilt be more and more eftranged from it,
and become ſtill a greater and greater enemy to it, and more and more in
love with the whore, and her whorish paths and pleafing ways of devotion,
whereby the falfe fpirit in thee is raiſed up and nouriſhed; not with the
bread of life from the hand of the Spirit, but with words, or forms of
knowledge, or ways of worſhip invented, or imitated; which do but tickle
the underſtanding, or affectionate part of man, but reach not the life; fo
that that which fhould ferve the Lord, is there not raiſed, but ftill bound
over with the bond of iniquity.
5. Luxury, excefs, and pleafure. She is rich with her merchandize, and
The enjoys it to the full, fhe takes the pleaſure of it. She builds coftly
houſes, wears rich apparel, fares deliciouſly (read fpiritually with the fpiritual
eye). She is rich in knowledge, rich in ways of worship, rich in duties,
rich in religious performances and practices. And as the gained theſe in
her own will (without the leadings of the life), and by her own fearch and
wiſdom; fo fhe can make uſe of theſe in her own will, and according to
the direction of her own wiſdom. She can faft when ſhe will, give thanks
when ſhe will, preach when the will, pray when the will, fing when ſhe
will, meditate when the will, bring forth her knowledge to others when ſhe
will. Look on the Papifts; how rich are they in outward buildings, in
gorgeous ceremonies, in times of worship, in ways of mortification and
penance, in fafts, in feaits, &c. Look on the feveral forts of Proteftants;
they have their riches in their kind too; their churches, their buildings,
their arts, their fciences, their languages, their bodies of divinity, their
cafes of conſcience, &c. They can open the whole body of religion, re-
folve all doubts, expound all fcriptures, &c. The great city was cloathed in
fine linnen, and purple and Scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious fiones,
and pearls, Rev. xviii. 16. And fhe fat thus on the throne like a queen,
living deliciouſly, and taking her pleaſure, to which her torment and for-
row afterwards is proportioned, ver. 7. Yea, fhe had treaſure and coftli-
nefs enough to make all her merchants rich that would trade with her,
ver. 19. What knowledge, what delicate food, could the wifeft or greateſt
of the earth defire, which ſhe had not ready for them? (fee ver. 3. and
ver. 9.) But Sion, all this while, hath lain in the duft, and been defpifed:
fhe hath had no building, no fence, but hath been trampled under-foot by
VOL. I.
е
every
122
Babylon the Great defcribed.
every unclean breaft: her witneffes have been cloathed with fack-cloth (z
garment which all the lofty inhabitants of Babylon diſdain): her fare hath
been hard in the wilderneſs, only a little manna (which, with the fleſhly
Ifrael, who luft after rich and large knowledge, is counted light bread, and
their fouls foon loath it): nor had fhe this in plenty, but only a fmall pro-
portion daily, from the hand of the free-giver, fufficient to keep life in her
in the wilderneſs, and to furnifh her with ftrength to give in 'her tefti-
mony againſt Babylon, ſo far as the Lord faw good to call any of her feed
thereunto. Now what profeffor can be willing to fare thus with her at
prefent? and to wait for her future riches, fulnefs, beauty, and glory!
Nay, nay; they have fo long lived richly, and fared deliciously in Babylon,
that they know not how to eat the bread of affliction, and drink the water
of affliction, with fad and defolate Sion: and yet this is the only way and
paffage out of Babylon into Sion. That which hath been rich and fat, and
full-fed there, muſt become poor and lean, and feel hunger, and have
none of the bread of life adminiftered to it; no, not fo much as hufks nei-
ther. And in this fad day, and ſtate of mifery, the poor are viſited, which
receive the Goſpel; and the dead raiſed, which receives the life.
6. Worshipping of the devil. All the world wondered after the beaſt, and
they worshipped the dragon, Rev. xiii. 3, 4. Now the dragon is the Devil,
Rev. xx. 2.
There is no other worſhip of God under the New Teftament, but in
Spirit and truth; and he that worſhips otherwife, worſhips not God, but
that spirit which teacheth to worship out of God's Spirit, and out of the
truth. Every prayer is not a prayer to God, but only that prayer which is
from and in the Spirit. Every ordinance, or duty, is not an ordinance of
God, or a duty performed to God; but only that which the Spirit leads
into, and guides and preferves in. This is the way that all the earth have
departed from the Lord; namely, by erring from his Spirit. They cry up
practices in religion; duties, ordinances; the means, the means; a church,
a church (as the Jews did the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord); but
they find the church, before they have found the Spirit of the Lord; and fo
they find not the church that is in God, the church that is of his build-
ing; but they, poor hearts! frame up a building as well as they can, ac-
cording to the pattern they find in the fcriptures; and fo they are not an
habitation for God in the Spirit, but are eſtranged from the life and Spirit
in all their worship; and fo are not found by the Spirit (which fearcheth
them and their worship) worſhipping of God, but the works of their own
bands, and devils, Rev. ix. 20. For that charge holds good againſt all the
inhabitants of Babylon, even to the higheſt and ftricteft of them all, whe-
ther in forms, or out of forms. There are many men who are very zealous
and devout in their ways of worſhip, who were never taught by the Spirit
the way of worſhipping God, nor do at all know how to worship in the
Spirit: thefe my foul exceedingly pities. They have received into their
underſtandings, from the letter of the fcripture, that God is to be wor-
ſhipped
Babylon the Great deſcribed.
123
Thipped in Spirit, and that God will give his Spirit to them that afk it.
They have afked, and they hope that they have the Spirit; but poor de-
ceived hearts! they know not what fpirit they are of, nor in what ſpirit
they act, nor what ſpirit they ſerve; and fo periſh for lack of knowledge,
the key whereof hath been hid from them. Now let fuch confider;
1
There are but two fpirits; the Spirit of God, and the ſpirit of Satan :
one of which guides all men in their devotion and religion, and one of
which they ferve therein. He that is led by the Spirit of God; he ferves
God, he worships God: he that is led by the fpirit of Satan; he ferves not
God, but that ſpirit which appears in the temple of God, like God, and
gives fuch demonftrations that he is God, as no fleſh can deny, 2 Thef. ii.
4. Here now is the great deceivableness. In profaneneſs, in manifeft wick-
edneſs, Satan is eaſily feen; and men that are found here, it is granted
that they are ferving the devil: but that he fhould fit as king in gathered
churches, in duties, in ordinances, in ways of felf-denial and mortification,
and be worshipped here, this is hard to be feen: yet any of theſe which
the Spirit of the Lord leads not into, or which are performed at any time
without his Spirit, he is worſhipped in. Confider this, ye that are wife in
religion, and are diligently reading the fcriptures, and gathering know-
ledge, and rules of worſhip, and applying promiſes, &c. Do ye this in
the life and Spirit of God? or in your own wifdom, and according to your
own underſtanding? Doth not the wisdom of that fpirit, which is out of
the Truth, guide you in your fearchings after Truth? O do not ferve that
fpirit which the Lord hates, but come back to that, from which in all this
ye err, and which in all this ye cannot ferve and worſhip. And let not
your religion any longer confift in mere practifing what the faints formerly
practifed (for that ye may do without the fame Spirit), but in yielding up
to that life, power, and pure Spirit that they were led by. And when ye
are joined to this, then do not preſcribe the Lamb the way that he ſhould
go, but follow the Lamb, whitherfoever be goeth. Do not tell the Shep-
herd (by your gathered wifdom) the way that he muft lead you in; but
know the voice and follow it: for this I can truly teftify, that if once ye
come in faithfulneſs and true light to follow the Lamb, he will lead ye in
paths ye have not known, and out of the paths ye have known.
7. Compelling of others to worship, Rev. xiii. 15, 16. The falfe woman
and the beaft fet up a worship in the will, and they do not know why any
in the will alſo may not be fubject and fubmit to it. They can give them
reaſons, they can give them arguments from fcripture; and if they will
not yield to theſe, they are to be looked upon as ſtubborn and refractory,
and to be compelled by outward force. This hath been the courſe generally
throughout the land of Babylon; but theſe ſhew hereby that they themſelves
are erred from the Truth (and therefore very unfit and unlikely to teach it
others) for that which God works upon is the conſcience, which he con-
vinceth by the light of his Spirit; and no other light can truly convince it.
Q 2
That
124
Babylon the Great defcribed.
of
That therefore which would have a man yield to any practice, or way
worſhip, till he be truly convinced, is of the devil. My fon, give me thy
beart, faith Chrift, the wifdom of God: Come not to me with oblations and
facrifices, but give me thy heart. My fon, give me thy knee, give me thy
obedience to the ways I have fet up, give me thy conformity, faith anti-
chriſt, faith the adulterated wiſdom : and if any refuſe, fhe endeavours to
compel them. Thus, like Jeroboam the fon of Nebat, fhe makes (that
which fhe calls) Ifrael to fin: or, like Nebuchadnezzar, ſhe ſets up an idol,
and cauſeth all her children to bow to it. Thus the load of the iniquity of
multitudes lies upon that fcarlet whore, who forces her cup of abominations
and filthineſs upon all fhe can, Rev. xvii. 4. caufing all, both ſmall and
great, in all her territories, to receive her mark, and worship her image. The
work of the minifter of Chrift, is to keep the confcience tender, that the
voice of Chriſt may be heard, and the law of his Spirit of life (which makes
obedient to the God of life) fpring up there: but this is the image, here is
the way, bow, conform, fay the minifters. of antichrift. But we are not.
convinced in the fight of God that this is the way, fay poor fouls. It is
your own fault; ye may be convinced if ye will, fay the minifters of anti-
chrift; we are ready to give you arguments and fcriptures to convince you;
how is it ye are not convinced? Ye muft be convinced, otherwiſe the ma-
giſtrate muſt deal with you. Thus they endeavour to harden the conſcience,
that they may fit upon it and ride it, and terrify it from its fubjection to its
only true and lawful King. O the havock that hath been made of fouls by
this means! the Lord is requiring it of this generation.
But let me put this queftion to all the learned and wife, in all the regions
of Babylon, under what painted form or way of worſhip foever. Can any
worſhip God aright, before they be truly convinced of his will and way?
Can any be convinced without his light and Spirit? Were it good and ac-
ceptable in the fight of God, for any perfons to run into that way, where-
of thou fayeft thou art convinced that it is the way, before they themſelves
are convinced? If it be not good and acceptable, what is that which goes
about to compel them? Away with thy carnal weapons; and if thou wilt
draw to God, draw by that which is fpiritual: but if thou wilt ftill be uſing
outward force (running to the laws of men, and power of the magiftrate)
the Lord hath opened an eye, which diſcovers thy nakedneſs herein, and is
able to make it manifeft in the fight of all people; and thou shalt not long
cover thy fhame. The Lord's people fhall be a willing people, to follow him
in the day of his power; but all the Lord's people have been unwilling to
follow thee in the day of thy power, which is near an end; and the very
fountain of thy deceit (and tyranny over the confcience) is opening and
making manifeft.
8. Perfecution of ſuch as ſhe cannot compel to her worſhip. She fets up
her form of knowledge, fhe fets up her way of worſhip, and thoſe that will
not be drawn to own the one, and practiſe the other, fhe fets her brand
upon
Babylon the Great defcribed.
125
3
upon them for erroneous perfons, fchifmaticks, hereticks; they muſt not
buy or fell, Rev. xiii. 17. They muſt be baniſhed or impriſoned, or per-
haps put to death; for fhe is hardly fatisfied, till fhe hath drunk the blood
of thoſe, who, in any eminent degree, are the witneffes of Chrift againſt
her, Rev. xvii. 6. This was a thing wondered at by John, with great ad-
miration; to ſee this woman, this great city, out of which all the venomous
darts are fhot againſt the faints and martyrs of Jefus, under a pretence of
zeal for the church and ordinances of Chrift. For this is the engine, where-
by the dragon makes war with the true woman's feed (which keep the com-
mandments of God, and have the teftimony of Jefus Christ), even by this falſe
woman which rides on the beaft, by whofe power and ſtrength fhe over-
comes the faints. She fets up a way of doctrine, a way of worſhip in a na-
tion, and gets laws made for the defence of it, and againſt them that will
not fubmit to it; and here fhe is too hard for the faints; by this means
the overcomes the martyrs and witneffes, and keeps the truth down, and
keeps up her way of deceit; which without this prop would foon fall.
This whoriſh ſpirit fcents the Spirit of the Lord; fhe knows it will foon
be her death, if ſhe cannot make it appear odious, and ſuppreſs it: there-
fore the hunts this fpirit, fhe hunts the life and power of what ſhe herſelf
profeffes (eſpecially if it appear vigorous and ſtrong in any); fhe feeks ad-
vantages againſt the fervants of the living God, reprefenting them to the
earthly powers as perfons of dangerous principles and bad practices, invent-
ing all manner of what can be called evil againſt them, and ſpreading it
among the people, that the truth may ftart up no-where in the earth, but
every-where be knocked down by the violence of the multitude, or by the
fword of the offended magiftrate. Now what is the matter of all this great
noiſe and fury? Why this; A Lamb is rifen up in the innocency; the pure
harmless Spirit is appearing in the earth; the true life (which difcovers the
hypocrify, and dead forms and ways of the whoriſh ſpirit) is breaking forth:
therefore ſhe makes a great outcry: Awake, people! awake! the church is
in danger: Arife, magiftrates! magiftracy and miniftry will down, if this
Lamb-like fpirit be fuffered. Nay, nay: thefe fhall ftand, but Babylon
fhall fall, and her mystery of iniquity be diſcovered, and her deceivableness of
unrighteouſneſs made manifeft; and the true life and Spirit fhall ariſe and
take poffeffion of the hearts of people, and make them a clean and fit
habitation for God: and people that are ſubject hereto, ſhall feel it, and
enjoy it; though the merchants of Babylon fay, men fhall never be made
clean while they live, but muft ftill have a body of fin and death hanging
about them. But how fhall they put on Chrift, who have not put off the
body of fin? Shall thoſe who are made kings and prieſts to God here on
earth, miniſter in their filthy garments?
Theſe are ſome of the fins of Babylon, that painted harlot, which is ſub-
til in heart, and lies in wait to deceive, in the abſence of the true church,
whoſe cloathing and reſemblance ſhe takes
up, and
appears in.
And
126
Babylon the Great defcribed.
And when the hath done all this; when, like Egypt, fhe hath kept the
feed in bondage in all her territories and dominions, in every church the
hath fet up, and by all her miniſtries and ordinances; when, like Sodom,
fhe hath filled the whole world with filthineſs, uncleannefs, and all manner
of ſpiritual abominations; when, like old Jerufalem the bond-woman, ſhe
and her children have fcoffed at the Spirit in every appearance all the time
of her reign, and have trampled upon and domineered over them, who
have but ſpoken of the coming of the Juft-one in his people, ſporting her-
felf in her own deceivings; yet, after all this, he wipes her mouth, and faith
She bath done no barm; the hath been for the gofpel, and church, and mini-
ftry, and ordinances, and the faith once delivered to the faints, and only
againſt deceivers, feducers, blafphemers, and hereticks. But the Spirit of
the Lord cannot be thus deceived; nor fhall the nations be always thus de-
ceived, and fuffer her to fit as a queen upon their confciences; but ſhe ſhall
fee forrow, and they fhall tafte joy at the found of the everlaſting gofpel, when
once again it cometh to their ears, Rev. xiv. 6. and chap. xix. 6, 7:
B
The JUDGMENT of BABYLON.
ABYLON the Great, this great city of abominations, which hath
reigned over the whole earth, which hath bewitched all forts of pro-
feffors with the golden cup of her fornications, which hath fubtilly led from
the life, and held all forts captive in the witchery of her deceit, and hath
triumphed over the holy feed, making Sion their mother defolate, who fat
in the duft, and was trampled upon by her: this great city, this glorious
city, this rich city, this mighty powerful city, this queen of the earth
(which knows not what belongs to Sion's mifery, forrow, poverty, and
defolation), with antichrift her king and huſband (who hath cloathed himſelf
with the garments of light, and appeared in the likeneſs of the king of
Sion, and hath long been fo acknowledged and worshipped), is to be
judged by the Spirit of life, which arifeth up out of the duft of Sion.
And though Babylon the great whore (who in all her transformings hath
ftill remained an enemy to the life) hath great power and great wiſdom, and
can ſhift very ſubtilly to fave herſelf by both; yet strong is the Lord God
who judgeth her, and he alfo is wife; and ſhe ſhall not eſcape his hand, but
he will purfue her with his voices, with his thunderings, with his hail-
ftones, with his earthquakes, with his woes, with his plagues, with his
cups of indignation, till he hath made her manifeft, till he hath broken her
in pieces, till he hath crumbled and laid her in the duft, till he hath
brought her down to the very pit, where the feet of Sion fhall trample upon
her for ever. Sing, fing, O inhabitant of Sion! doft thou not behold the
crown
Q
Babylon the Great defcribed.
127
crown of pride going down apace? The decree is fealed againſt her; fhe
cannot eſcape; yea, fhe is fallen, ſhe is fallen; fhe is already taken in the
fnare; the eye of my life feeth it, and rejoiceth over her in the living
power.
The plagues of God Almighty, from the fierceneſs of his indignation,
are vifiting her whole territories, and paffing over all her land. Nothing
can help her to avoid his ftroke; no paint will ferve, no cover will hide, no
profeffion, no practice, no duties, no ordinances, no church, no miniſtry,
can avail to conceal her; but that fpirit is purſued by the Spirit of the
Lord, and found out every-where, and plagues are prepared and pouring
out upon her. Nay, though the leave all her forms, and pretend to wait
and feek for the Lord; yet the is found out there alſo,
Now what is her judgment? Deſtruction and utter defolation from the
hand of the Lord; to be an hiffing and reproach throughout all genera-
tions; to be brought down (by pourings forth of the wrath and vengeance
of the Almighty) into the pit, and there to drink the fulneſs of his wrath
for ever.
Sion fhall be exalted; Sion fhall drink the cup of life, the cup
of bleffing, the cup of love, the cup of falvation for ever: but Babylon the
cup of fury, the cup of indignation for ever and ever. Sion fhall fing; but
Babylon fhall howl and all that faw any beauty, or took any pleaſure in
her, fhall mourn over her. Alas, alas, for her! fhe who hath fo many
ages gone for the church, is now proved to be the whore; thoſe who
have been taken, in their feveral transformings, for the true minifters, made
manifeſt to be the falſe prophets; their ordinances and duties, but thefts and
imitations; things which they have ſtolen from what they read in the ſcrip-
tures, but never received from the hand of the Spirit.
The wrath of God, the dreadful cup of his fury, and jealous indignation
for the cauſe of Sion, is to go over her whole land, over her fea, and all
the ſhips that trade therein, and all her merchants, with all her precious
traffick and merchandize. All her doctrines which fhe hath ftolen out of the
fcripture, all her diſciplines, all her experiences, all her performances (even
thoſe which are moft like the performances of the former faints); nay,
though ſhe may ſpeak the very words of truth, yet as they come from her
mouth, they fhall be thrown by and judged, and be of no fervice or eſteem
in Sion. The precioufeft of her ware fhall be drofs and dung in the land of
life, where there fhall be no fea, nor no fuch kind of merchants, traffick,
or trading for ever.
Her earth alfo fhall be made defolate, and burnt up, with all that is
found therein; all her fettlements fhall be fhaken; all her fruit-trees fhall
be rooted up; all her fruit fhall wither, rot, die, and perish. All her con-
verfions of people to God (as fhe calls them) ſhall come to nothing: yea, and
if the have yet any more dreffes, or fecret coverings, wherein fhe would ap-
pear like the church again, and bring forth again, yet fhe and her children
ſhall immediately be diſcovered, her fleſh burnt with fire, and her children
dafhed
*
128
Babylon the Great defcribed.
daſhed againſt the ſtones. Every ſtreet in her city, every houſe and idol in
every ſtreet, every room in every houſe, with every inhabitant, fhall drink
of the cup of aftoniſhment, and ftumble, and fall, and rife no more. Thou
haft long triumphed over me, O mine enemy! because I have fallen, and have
long fat in darkness; but rejoice no longer, for I fhall rife again, and the Lord
fhall be a light unto me; but thou shalt rife no more, and thy light fhall be put.
out for ever. Glory to the meek fuffering Lamb, even to him that fits upon the
throne of life for ever.
Her air alfo fhall be darkened. The Lord fhall enlighten my darkneſs
but the light of Babylon ſhall be darkneſs for evermore. The light of a
candle fhall be feen no more at all in thee. Many lights hath Babylon fet up
in the dark night; but the rifing of the fun of righteouſneſs fhall extinguiſh
them all for ever, and Babylon ſhall be fhut up in utter darkneſs. Yea, all
that have retained to Babylon, all that have walked by the light of any of
her candles, that have cried up any of her falfe ware for orthodox, that
have given up their names to her under any of her dreffes or appearances,
or that have received any of her marks, they fhall partake of her ſhame,
of her miſery, and of her torment, from the hand of the Lord God. Yea,
her throne alſo fhall be vifited, and the feat of antichrift in every heart fhall
feel the wrath.
Rife up from the duft, and fhout forth with joy, O captive daughter of
Sion, who haft long dwelt under oppreffion, in the midft of the daughter
of Babylon. Behold! Babylon's king fhall be no longer judge over Sion;
but thy king fhall be judge, and he fhall judge the king of Babylon: and
let all the powers and potfheards of the earth ſtrive to their utmoft; yet,
faith the Lord, have I fet my king upon my holy bill of Sion, and he fhall rule
in my people, and rule over Babylon.
Learn, therefore, O inhabitants of the earth, great and ſmall, meekneſs;
learn righteouſneſs; learn the fear of the Lord; kifs the Son; harden
not yourſelves againſt him, calling him a deceiver, a blaſphemer, a ſeducer,
an heretick (for what ye do to the leaft that appear in his life, ye do to
him); but hearken to the word of his everlaſting gofpel, which faith,
FEAR GOD, AND GIVE GLORY TO HIM, FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDG-
MENT IS COME; and ye cannot eſcape his hand by that fear which is taught
by the precepts of men, or by traditional knowledge out of the fcriptures;
nor while ye ſeek that honour which came out of the earth, and is of the
earth, and to that which is earthly. Therefore let your hearts learn to
know him, and your tongues to confefs him, and your knees to bow to
him;
which if ye do, ye muſt forget all that knowledge, and thofe con-
feffions and bowings which he have learned in Babylon; for though ye
may have confeffed fome true things, yet (having learned this in Babylon)
ye have confeffed falfely; even as the Jews, who faid, the Lord liveth, yet
fwore falfely, Jer. v. 2.
#
Now
1
Babylon the Great defcribed.
129
Now confider, ye miniſters of ſeveral forts, and ye feveral forts of pro-
feffors: we may appear great enemies to you, becauſe we witneſs againſt
your ways, and tell you what the end of them will be; but are we enemies
to you indeed, whoſe defire it is to fave you from this great wrath, which
hath already entered into the earth, and ſeized on ſome? Should we footh
you up, and not witneſs theſe things to you (which we infallibly know)
how fhould we anfwer it to the Lord our God, or to your fouls, when we
ſhall appear before him? If we were in your condition, would we be con-
tent to be let go on, and to be overtaken with this great deftruction? We
cannot be filent. Ye muſt be filent; but we cannot. We know ye muft
be filent; for that which now ſpeaks in you, hath been filenced in us, and
is not to miniſter the things of God. But the Spirit of the Lord muſt
not be quenched in us, notwithſtanding all our weakneſs; but the treaſure
muſt iffue forth from the earthen veffel, for the relief of the poor in fpirit, who
alone receive the goſpel. Therefore, tho' ye hate us, tho' ye perfecute us,
tho' ye ſpeak all manner of evil againſt us, and uſe us ever ſo hardly; yet
there is love rooted in our fouls toward your fouls, yea, and toward your per-
fons alfo and having both felt the wrath, and tafted of the mercy, we can-
not but warn you of the one, and invite you to the other. And oh! that
ye might find a fhelter under the fhadow of his wings in the ftormy fea-
fon, when wrath fhall be ſhowered down without mercy!
And this we cannot but tell you, that the feveral ways of religion in the
Chriſtian world are but fo many feveral coverings; and that that which is
covered with them is the whorish fpitit, which the Spirit of the Lord is
hunting; who will ſtrip her, and make her naked, and ſhe ſhall appear to
have been the whore under them all. Now that which lieth beneath this
ſpirit in you, which is defpifed and trampled upon as a thing of nought,
which is burdened and daily ſlain by your multitudes of ordinances, pro-
feffions, and religious practices; this is the heir of life; and by the raif-
ing up and living of this in you, may ye come to life, and no otherwife.
And all religion without this (even the moft inward) is but the deceit of
the whore, who makes a great fhew of worſhip, and of zeal toward Chriſt, his
ordinances and miniftry (as fhe calls them); but by all theſe, and under all
thefe, holds the life in bondage, and ſtrives by all means to flay the heir,
that the inheritance might come to her fon. But Cain the facrificer
Ishmael, the fon of the bond-woman; Efau, the hunter abroad after ve-
nifon; the Jew, full of profeffion, zeal, ordinances, and worſhip; fhall not
inherit: But flain Abel fhall be raiſed to life; Ifaac (who was born of the
dry and barren womb) fhall have the promiſe; plain Jacob the bleffing;
the out-caft Gentile be fought out. Thus it fhall be; Can ye read it?
Yet it is the defire of our fouls that a remnant of you may be faved, and
now is the gathering. Therefore feek humility, feek poverty of ſpirit, ſeek
the fuffering feed, the meek, innocent, harmleſs, dove-like nature, even
the love which doth no ill, nor thinks no ill; for this is the fpirit which
VOL. I.
R
;
is
130
Babylon the Great defcribed.
is to be gathered: but the high and lofty, the wife and knowing, the fat
and ſtrong, the rough and confident in their wiſdom, and in their duties,
churches, ordinances, &c. (which they have gathered and ftolen from the
fcriptures out of the life) are with all theſe to be rejected, and to be fhut
up in blindneſs and hardneſs of heart. Seeing, they are to fee, and not per-
ceive; and bearing, to bear, and not understand; left they should be converted,
and healed. Yea, it is this fpirit which is to fret under its pain and torment
from the woes and plagues; but cannot repent, but paffeth on with Babylon
to ruin and deſtruction, Rev. xvi. 9, 10, 11.
Babylon is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every 'foul Spirit,
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Come out of her, my people, that
ye be not partakers of her fins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, Rev. xviii.
2. 4.
This is the cry concerning Babylon juft upon her fall. Her iniquity is
full, her filth overflows, the pure feed is gathering out of her, and nothing
but devils and foul ſpirits, and unclean hateful birds, remain in her. And the
call ſtill is to the people of God, from one remove to another, from one part of
Babylon to another, to travel on, and paſs away ſtill, till they come quite out of
it all. To come out of one part of Babyloniſh worſhip, that is not enough; or
to come out of fome pieces of Babyloniſh knowledge and wiſdom, will not an-
fwer the call; but ye muft come out of it all. Depart ye, depart ye; this is not
your reft, for it is polluted. Stay not in any part of the unclean land, O child of
the pure life! but be feparate, and touch not the unclean thing, if thou wilt
have the Holy-one to receive thee. Not only the feveral dreffes and forms.
of the whore are polluted; but her ſpirit alſo, and all her inward fabrick of
religion, out of which thou muſt alſo come, if ever thou be joined to the
pure life. Thy faith, thy hope, thy love, thy patience, thy joy, thy peace,
thy juftification, thy fanctification, thy mortification, thy ability to pray, to
give thanks, to wait, &c. all muſt down, all muft fuffer lofs, all muſt
become drofs and dung to thee, that thou mayſt know the building of true
life from and in the Spirit. For the Lord will not own any of thefe, nor
receive thee with any of thefe which the whore hath touched; but if thou
wilt have the pure life, both within and without, thou muſt part with the
corrupt life, both within and without. This is a faithful and true teftimony;
but who can receive it? Will not both the houſes of Ifrael be offended, and
ftumble at it? But if any of the people of God will abide ſtill in Babylon,
and not hearken to every call of the Spirit of the Lord, to follow its guidance
out of every part of her, they shall receive (from the impartial hand of the
Lord) of her plagues, and have torment and forrow proportionable to the
glory and pleaſure they have had with her. Therefore, if after one, two,
three, or many removes out of fome parts and practices of Babylon, the
voice ſtill follow, crying, Come out of her, my people (the ſpirit of antichrift
is yet among you, the wine of fornication from the pure life is not yet
purged out of you), do not ſtop your ears, thinking this belongs not to
you, becauſe ye have forfaken fome paths which are antichriftian; but hear
and
!
Babylon the Great defcribed.
131
and follow; for it is your life, and your way to reft and peace in the land
of the living, and your fure preſervation from anguiſh, perplexity, and
mifery in the hour of Babylon's judgment and fore diſtreſs.
*
An OBJECTION anfwered.
OW there is one thing which lies as a great block in the way, to hin-
NOW
der this teſtimony from entering into the hearts of thoſe to whom it
is directed, or at leaft to weaken the Spirit's demonftration of it to their
conſciences (for exceeding fubtil is the whorifh fpirit to keep every one of
her fubjects from the fight or fufpicion of her in themſelves, and to darken
every beam of light, whereby it pleaſeth God to make any way for the dif-
covery of her in them), which is this:
Object. But hath all our religion, for theſe many ages, been Babyloniſh,
and whoredom from the life? All our churches, all our ordinances, all our
duties, all our miniftry, &c.? We can never be drawn to believe this.
We are fure we have felt lively touches from God many a time, and en-
joyed ſweet communion with him in them. God hath often met us there,
and refreshed our ſpirits; which he would not have done, had they not been
of himſelf.
Anfw. There hath been a fimplicity and fincerity of heart, ftirring in
fome people towards God, in all ages; even among the heathen, under all
their idols; and among the Jews, in the midft of their great apoftafy:
which fimplicity is of God, and acceptable with him, notwithſtanding all
the load of filth that may hang round about it. Even in the midſt of Egypt,
or in the midſt of Babylon, if Ifrael groans, the Lord hears, and may re-
turn ſweet anſwers to Ifrael, even there. When Ifrael was a child, I loved
him, and called my ſon out of Egypt. The loweft breathing of true life to-
wards God is the voice of his Son, and enters into his ears from the darkeſt
part of Egypt or Babylon.
Now in this nation the fimplicity hath more ſtirred than in other nations;
the feed of God in this land hath been exceeding precious and dear to him.
And at the beginning of thefe late troubles, the ftirring of the fimplicity
from the pure feed was more vigorous and lively than it had been in many
ages before; and accordingly the anſwers of God to it were more freſh
and fweet; and there was a tafte of him, and fellowship with him, and
fweet hopes and refreſhments to the foul. Though the way of praying,
preaching, and worſhip, either publick or private, was not right before
him; yet he overlooked that which his foul hated (winking at the time of
ignorance and antichriftian darknefs), and met with that which he loved.
And if the fimplicity had grown and thriven, communion with God, and
R 2
life
132
Babylon the Great defcribed.
life from him, would have increaſed, although the pure path of the fanctuary
had not yet been made manifeft.
But this was it deftroyed all; another thing got up under a cover, and
the fimplicity funk; and fo the life withdrew, and God hath grown ftrange
to his people. He miffed that which he loved, and came to vifit; he found
that thruſt upon him for his, which his foul cannot own or unite with; and
ſo he became but as a wayfaring man, that turneth afide to tarry for a night,
Jer. xiv. 8. Enter into your hearts, O ye backſliding children! is it not
thus? You who had ſweet taftes of God, is he not become a ftranger to
you? You that had ſweet, freſh, lively breathings after God, are you nor
fet down in a form (or under fome pleaſing notions), and have got a cover-
ing, but loft the fimplicity of your life, and the fweet taftes of God, and
refreſhments from him? Thus it hath been in all reformations. There was
commonly a pure, fingle, naked beginning; but an evil thing foon got
dominion over it, flaying the pure living ſtirring by the form which it
raiſed up, under a pretence of preferving the life thereby, and of ſerving
God more uniformly and acceptably therein. Ah! the precious feed that
was fown at the beginning of thefe troubles! What is become of it? How
is every one turned afide from the pure life, into fome idol or other of
his own heart! fome into one way of worship, and fome into another;
fome into one notion, and fome into another; and all joining together to
keep the feed in bondage, endeavouring either to bring it back again to
Egypt (to make it ferve there), or to deftroy and bury it in the wilderneſs.
But the Lord hath viſited this poor defolate feed, and hath been gathering
it from all quarters; from amidst all empty forms on the one hand, and
all vain high notions on the other hand; and he will preferve it, overturn-
ing all his new enemies, as well as his old.
This then is the fum of the anſwer.
1. No way, or particular act of worſhip, under the New Teftament, is
acceptable to God, without his Spirit.
2. All invented or imitated ways or acts of worship, to the performing
whereof the moving, prefence, and power of his Spirit is not neceffary (but
men can perform them without it), are Babylonifh, and whoredom from
that Spirit to which the true Chriftian is joined, and in which all that he
doth is performed.
3. Under this antichriftianifm, under this whoredom (even in the land of
Babylon, where the true Ifrael is captive), a true fimplicity towards God
may fometimes be ſtirring.
4. When this at any time is ftirring towards the Lord, the Lord pities it,
the Lord loves it, the Lord accepts it. When this calls, the Lord hears,
and waits that he may be gracious, and return anſwers of grace to it.
5. Though the Lord accept of this in the midſt of Babylon, and in the
midſt of the whorish ways of worſhip that have been learned there; yet this
doth
Babylon the Great defcribed.
133
1
doth not make Babylon, or her ways of worſhip, acceptable; nor are they to
be made uſe of (nor cannot) by any that fears God, to juftify them.
6. Where they are fo made ufe of, and the Babyloniſh ways and forms
of worſhip cried up (becauſe of God's vifitations and tender mercy to
his feed under them), God is provoked, his prefence withdrawn, life loft,
and wrath prepared againſt thofe forms and ways of worship, which will
reach to the very bowels of thoſe who are found there.
And let this word come home to your hearts, O ye that ever knew what
belonged to ſweet communion with God! If God was fo tender to you in
Babylon, when he ſtirred up in you a pure fimplicity and zeal there, what
would he have been to you, if ye had come out of Babylon? Ah! ye have
loft the ſubſtance for a fhadow; and that not a right fhadow neither, but a
fhadow of your own forming! and now ye are angry with them, who will
not alfo leave the fubftance to cry up your fhadow. Ah! enter into your
fecret chambers, and let fhame cover your faces; ye who would propa-
gate that apoftafy from the Lord, which your own hearts have too far entered
into, and are fo deeply involved in. O that the eye were opened in you
which can fee it! Do not your hearts a little feel it? O mourn after the
Lord, and mourn after the lofs of that which once (in fome meaſure in you)
was true to the Lord. O that the loft ſheep might be fought out, and that
which hath been ſcattered (in the day of your loftinefs, and feeking domi-
nion and great things) might be gathered again to the Lord! for great is
the wrath and feverity that is towards you, and he is become exceeding
jealous for his feed's fake; and judgment muſt begin with you, who cry
out against antichrift in one grofs fleſhly appearance, and yet are ſerving
him yourſelves, fome of you in other forms, fome in fpirit.
This is a ſtanding truth; Whatever is not of the Spirit of God in reli-
gion and worſhip, is of the fpirit of antichrift. Whatever the ſpirit of man
hath invented or imitated, is not the thing itſelf, is not the true worſhip;
for the true worſhip is only and continually in the Spirit, and never out of the
Spirit. The true praying is in the Spirit; the true finging in the Spirit; the
true preaching in the Spirit: whatfoever is out of it, is of antichrift in man.
Now therefore give up all your religion, your knowledge, your worſhip,
your practices, which are out of the Spirit; and return unto the Lord, and
wait for his raifing of that feed in you, which once began to fpring, but
is now flain, and lies in death and captivity under all theſe; and the earthly
part (wherein all this religion and thefe practices ftand) covers its blood, fo
as ye cannot fee how ye have flain, and daily do flay, the Juft-one.
Oh the blood, the blood, the innocent blood, that daily cries to the
Lord againſt you! How can the Lord accept any of your fervices, while
your hands are full of blood! while the pure fimplicity is flain,, the love
grown cold, the life loft, and the whorish way and path (wherein and
whereby it was loft) cried up for the way of God. Shall not the Lord viſit
for theſe things? Shall not his foul be avenged on fuch a nation as this?
Yea,
134
Babylon the Great defcribed.
1
Yea, his wrath is kindled, the fierceneſs of his wrath is kindled againſt the
profeffors of this age, and wo is from the Lord towards them. Wo to the
Proteftant congregations, wo to the felect churches, wo to their paſtors,
who have helped them to wander from the life to dead idols, which cannot
profit: wo to them who are exalted in notions and high knowledge. Ye
have judged and condemned the Papiſts, and the Lord hath found the
fame ſpirit of idolatry in you! But turn from your idols, return to your
fimplicity, put away your adulteries from between your breafts, and re-
turn to your first love, and the Lord will receive you, though ye have wan-
dered after many lovers, and have been inflamed with the love of idols un-
der every green tree: but in theſe your church-ways and worſhips the foul
of the Lord abhors you, and all your former zeal and fimplicity is blotted
out and forgotten; and in your preſent adultery and idolatry fhall ye die,
unlefs ye hear the voice of the Lord recalling you, and turn at his reproof.
Now in tender bowels to help you a little, confider that which follows:
The fame ſpirit that ſtealeth away the true fimplicity, raiſeth up and
ftealeth in a falſe image thereof; which there is no perceiving at prefent,
unleſs the foul lie very low, and be kept open and clear in the pure light.
1
And as in the true fimplicity, the true light, the true knowledge, the
true faith, the true hope, the true love, the true meeknefs, the true zeal,
the true poverty and humility, &c. fprings up and is nourished; fo in the
falſe image of fimplicity (which the devil fecretly conveys in, when he ſteals
away the true) there is a likeneſs of all theſe ſpringing up and growing.
And here is the beginning of Babylon in the heart; here are the inward
riches and treaſures thereof. What can Sion pretend to, which Babylon
hath not in the reſemblance? Is there fimplicity of heart in Sion? And is
there not fimplicity of heart among the inhabitants of Babylon? Yea, a
falfe image. Is there light in Sion? And is there not alfo light in Babylon?
Yea, there is the light of the fun, and the light of the moon, and the
light of the ftars which fell from heaven, and the light of many candles
fhining in Babylon. Is there a true knowledge in Sion? There is know-
ledge, falfely fo called, in Babylon. A falfe knowledge of the croſs of
Chrift; a falfe knowledge of his death; a falfe knowledge of his blood,
without feeling the living virtue thereof, which truly wafheth away the fin.
So for faith, hope, love, meekneſs, zeal, humility, &c. there are falfe
images of all theſe in Babylon, and of whatever elfe is wrought in truth in
the inhabitants of Sion.
Now when the truth is loft, and the falſe image crept in (both which are
done at unawares, while the huſbandman is afleep, and fo he perceives it
not, but thinks in his very heart that it is ftill the feed of truth that is
growing up in him), then begins the myſtery of fornication, idolatry, witch-
craft, and all manner of fpiritual wickedneſs and deceit to work in the
heart. Thy believing, thy hoping, thy love, thy zeal, thy praying, thy
waiting, &c. all here is abomination; it is from a falfe root; it is of a
falfe
Babylon the Great defcribed.
135
1
falfe kind; it is not of the true feed: the enemy hath ftolen away that,
whilſt thou waft negligent and flumbering; and all this arifeth in thee from
the feed which he did fow inſtead thereof, and is the fruit of the land of
Babylon.
And having thus committed inward whoredom in thine own heart, then
thou ſeekeſt and fetteft up outward ways of whoredom alfo. Having firſt
fet up an inward image of the inward life of the faints, thou then ſeekeſt and
ſetteſt up another image of their outward worſhip; an image of a church,
an image of a miniftry, an image of ordinances, an image of praying, an
image of finging, an image of preaching, an image of baptifm, an image
of the faints communion. And thus thou art defiled within and without;
and art mad with envy and rage that thou canst not bewitch the inhabi-
tants of Sion (who are kept pure from all theſe defilements, and referved as
witneffes againſt thee) into thy bed of whoredoms. And thus, while thou
thinkeſt thou art the chief worſhipper, thou art all over polluted; the whole
bead is fick, and the whole heart faint; there is no cleanneſs, no foundneſs
within or without, but wounds and bruiſes, and putrifying fores, which have
not been clofed, neither bound up, nor mollified with oil: but the hurt of the
daughter of my people hath been healed deceitfully, by phyficians of no
value, who had not the oil. Ifa. i. 5. 6. and Ezek. xiii. 10.
This is generally the ftate of profeffors of this day; but they cannot fee
it for they have put out the eye of the fimplicity (wherewith alone God
will fuffer the things of life to be feen), and God hath blinded the eye of
their wiſdom, that they fhall not fee, nor be converted and healed that
way. So that exceeding miferable is their eftate: they will not ſee God's
way, and God will not let them ſee their way. So that though there be
line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little; yet it is that
they might ſtumble, and fall, and be fnared, and broken, and taken. For as dif-
coveries of truth grow more clear and manifeft; fo they grow more har-
dened againſt it. And as they, on the one hand, increaſe in walking con-
trary to God; ſo God, on the other hand, proceeds in walking contrary to
them; delighting more and more to ftumble the wife difputing part,
which would fo fain know, but muſt be made blind, that the eye of the
babe may be opened, which fees that in the childiſh fimplicity, which the
other eye can never reach in the moſt manly wiſdom.
Therefore put away all your images and likeneffes of Truth: put away
your falſe faith (which can never overcome the worldly nature and ſpirit in
you), and your falfe hope (which can never purify your hearts), and your
feigned humility, and felf-willed fafts (which can never bring down the
lofty exalted nature in you), and your falfe love (wherewith ye can never
love the brethren in the truth, but only the brethren in your own notions,
or fome fuch other likeness of the truth), and your falfe zeal, meeknefs,
holinefs, &c. (all which fpring and grow up from the wrong feed, in a
ſeeming fimplicity): and all your praying, reading, preaching, &c. which
ye
136
Some Plain QUERIES.
ye have taken up and do practice in your own wills, which fhould be cru-
cified; and wherewith no fervice, worship, or performance, can be pleafing
to God; and wait for the raiſing of the true feed of life, in the true fim-
plicity, whereby ye may ſerve God acceptably here, and be faved hereafter.
And be not mockers, left your bands be made ftrong; for the confump-
tion is determined againſt you by that Spirit of life whoſe breath will wafte
you. All flesh is grafs, and the glory thereof as the flower of the field! Surely
this people is grafs, and their zeal, and profeffion of God, like the fading flower.
Some Plain QUERIES,
Drawn out of the Book of the REVELATIONS, for all
forts of profeffors of this age to anſwer between GoD
and their own ſouls; that they may fee whether they
have received that Light from him, which his Spirit
judged neceffary to give forth, to keep people chafte
to him, and to preferve them from the feveral painted
beds of antichrift's fornications and whoredoms from
the Life.
Bleffed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this pro-
phecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the
time is at hand, Rev. i. 3.
The time of deceit was then at hand for antichrift (with his falfe church,
and falſe prophets) to get up, which were to laft till the hour of judgment,
Rev. xiv. 7, 8. Haft thou read? haft thou heard? haft thou kept the
things written in this book? then happy art thou? But haft thou not
read in the Spirit? haft thou not heard the true found of theſe things
from the Spirit of life? haft thou not kept the things written therein?
Then thou hast been deceived with the myſtery of iniquity, and muft
ſmart with the whore in the hour of her judgment.
I.
The QUERIES are thefe which follow.
WHA
HAT woman was that which was cloathed with the fun, and had
the moon under her feet, &c. Rev. xii. 1. Whether it was
the true church or no?
II. What that wilderneſs was whereinto fhe fled; where fhe had a place
prepared of God, that they ſhould feed her there 1260 days? ver. 6.
III. How
Some Plain QUERIES.
137
III. How long thoſe 1260 days did laſt? and whether they be yet expired?
and whether the true church is any-where elſe to be found all the
time of the 1260 days, but in that place in the wilderneſs?
IV. What are all the churches, the miniftry, the ordinances, that appear out
of the wilderneſs all this while, while the true church is there?
V. What was that beaft which came out of the fea; to which the dragon
gave his power, his feat, and great authority? which all the world
worshipped? Rev. xiii. ver. 1. to 5.
VI. What is that fea, and thoſe ſhips, wherein and wherewith the merchants
of the earth traded with Babylon, and were made rich by their traf
fick? what were thoſe merchants? what their merchandize? and what
kind of riches was this? Rev. xviii. ver. 15. to 20.
VII. What was that name of God, and that tabernacle, and thoſe inhabi-
tants of heaven, which were blafphemed by the beaft that arofe out of
the fea, all the time of the 42 months? Rev. xiii. ver. 5, 6.
VIII. What is the Lamb's book of life? and where is it? and how are the
names of any fo written in it, as to preferve them from the worſhip of
the beaft? Rev. xiii. 8.
IX. What is that beaft that came up out of the earth, with the horns of a
lamb (as if it came up in the Lamb's power) which doth great won-
ders, and juſtifieth his facrifice, by making fire come down from hea-
ven in the fight of men; who both caufeth men to make an image to
the firſt beaſt, and alſo putteth life into the image which men make?
Rev. xiii. ver. 11, &c. So that here is not a mere dead image, but
there is life in the beaft's knowledge, ordinances, and worſhip: yet
with God all this is dead, for it is not the true life.
X. What is the beaft's mark, his name, his number? (Rev. xiii. 17.) For
if I do not infallibly know this, I may have received his mark; I may
help to make up his name; I may be of his number, and be (unknown
to myſelf) a worſhipper of him and his image, and fo be liable to
partake of the torment of the fire and brimſtone threatened to fuch;
Rev. xiv. 9, 10.
XI. What is that fong, which none could learn but the 144000 which were
not defiled with women, but remained virgins? Rev. xiv. 3.
XII. What was that other woman, which took and kept the place of the
former woman, after fhe had fled into the wilderneſs, and enlarged
her territories in nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples? Rev. xvii.
4. and ver. 15.
XIII. What were the purple and fcarlet colours, and the gold and precious
ftones ſhe was decked with? ver. 4.
XIV. What was the golden cup the had in her hand, which was full of abo-
minations, and filthinefs of her fornications; in the midſt of all her
glorious appearance of zeal, devotion, humility, and holiness? ver. 4.
VOL. I.
XV. What
S
j
138
Some CONSIDERATIONS, &c.
*
XV. What kind of drunkenneſs was it, wherewith the kings and inhabi-
ters of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of this cup
Rev. xvii. 2.
XVI. How may thoſe who have hated the whore, and made her defolate
and naked, and eat her fleſh, and burned her with fire, yet after all
this, give their kingdom again to the beaft? Rev. xvii. ver. 16, 17..
How may this be done? and how often may it be done?
Theſe are plain fimple Queries, not to entangle mens minds, or fet their
brains on work (for that way fhall they never be able to refolve them) but
to awaken the fimplicity in them, which will readily let them fee what the
Lord hath revealed to them herein, and in which they are to wait for the
knowledge hereof, that they may eſcape or come out of the fnare. And in
the mean time not to boaſt, as Ifrael of old did (when the prophets from
the mouth of the Lord accufed them) that they had not polluted themſelves,
they had not gone after Baalim (Jer. xxii, xxiii. and ver. 35.): but wait,
O back-fliding Chriftian! and thou shalt fee thy way in the valley. And
though thou haft often traverſed thy ground to change thy path, gadding
from one form to another, from one notion to another; yet all this hath
been out of the life, out of the pure power, and ſtill in the whoredom..
Open the weak fick eye in the weak heart (for how weak is thy heart, while
thou hast done all this!), and let the languifhing fimplicity be my witneſs:
for (under all thy wiſdom, thy zeal, thy knowledge, thy worſhip) that faints,
that fails, that is not what it was in the beginning. Though thou art grown
much higher, wifer, and greater otherwife, yet there thou haft loft: and
happy wilt thou be, if all thy gains ever fince may become lofs to thee for
the recovering of this.
Some CONSIDERATIONS,
Helping out of the fuburbs or out-ſkirts of Babylon,
that her inward building may be the better come at,
and lie more open to the axe and hammer, which are to
batter it down, and to cut it up for the fire.
F
IRST, Confider what it was the church fled out of, when the fled into
the wilderneſs. Was it not out of that church-ftate or building,
which the Spirit of God had raiſed up for her here in the world, to which
her ordinances, and way of church-worship belonged? Was it not here that
the
·
Some CONSIDERATIONS,
139
&cC.
.
The dragon affaulted her, and from whence fhe fled into a defolate place
and ftate?
Secondly, What ſpirit entered into thefe, when fhe fled out of them?
Were not theſe the conqueror's fpoils? Did not antichrift get poffeffion of
the form? Did not the whore get the fpoufe's attire? Did not the wolves
gather up the ſheeps cloathing, and cloath themſelves therewith? Was not
the outward-court (what is the outward court under the Gospel, but the
viſible church-ſtate, with the viſible ordinances thereof?) given to the Gen-
tiles, who trod under foot the holy city, all the while they were worshipping
in the outward court? Rev. xi. 2.
Thirdly, What ſpirit is it directs men to theſe, fince the true church hath
been fled out of them? And to what intent? Is it not that ſpirit which
would keep men from the life, that they might not be born of the barren
womb in the wilderneſs, but be born of fome of the fruitful wombs of
the viſible churches; while the true church is inviſible, and hath no viſible
place in the earth, but remains in that place in the wilderneſs which God
prepared for her, and where the receiveth her food all the 42 months?
Rev. xii. ver. 6, 14.
I have ſmarted deeply for theſe things, and have been taught by the
briars and thorns of the wilderneſs, whereby my ears came to be opened,
to hear the found of the everlaſting Gofpel, to which they were before
through ignorance ftopped. For I alfo did believe and expect great things
in a church-ſtate and way of worſhip; and in fimplicity of heart did I
enter into it, and walk in it, and was not without knowledge, warmth,
and experiences there. But all this the Lord broke down by a ſtrong hand,
in one moment; and hath taught me fince to throw away all my gains
here, and elſewhere, and to count them but drofs and dung, for the excel-
lency of the knowledge of Jefus Chrift my Lord. And having taſted, hav-
ing ſeen, having felt, having handled, I cannot but commend the life; and
diffuade all men from all knowledge, all worſhip, all religion, all ways and
practices (though ever fo taking, pleafant, and promifing) out of the life.
And this is to know Chrift; namely, to know the life: and this is to obey
Chriſt, to obey the life: and this is the kingdom of Chrift which is to come,
to have the life reign in power and great glory. But the knowing or
believing of an hiftory concerning Chrift, this is not the knowledge or the
faith: antichriſt all along the apoftafy, in all his various forms and dreffes,
hath known and believed thus: and this kind of knowledge muft pafs
away further than it can find a place and fervice in the life. Be not angry
at my teftimony; it flows from pure love, and comes forth in great good-
will to your fouls.
Yea, if it be poffible that I might be a little ferviceable to you (for my
foul travails for the redemption of profeffors from the witchery of the
whoriſh ſpirit, even of fuch as are ready to revile that which alone can re-
S 2
deem
140
Some CONSIDERATIONS, &c.
deem them), in the meekneſs and coolneſs of your ſpirits, out of the fiery
falſe zeal, conſider yet a little further theſe few things following:
1. The ftate of the Gofpel is an invifible ftate, a ſtate confifting of invi-
fible things (as the law was a vifible ftate, or a ftate confifting of viſible
things); the light inviſible, the life invifible, the power invifible; that
which converts invifible, that which is converted invifible, that which it is
converted to invifible, and the whole courfe of fpiritual life lies invifible.
2. This inviſible ſtate hath a viſible way of appearance to the world, by
garments which it wears, by motions and exerciſes which the life chooſeth
for it to appear in.
3. Theſe garments are fubject to corrupt, and to be worn by that which
is corruptible and corrupted. That which hath not the life, may put on
the garment; and that which hath loft the life, may ftill keep the garment.
4. The prefervation of the life lies not in the garment, or in the obfer-
vation of any thing wherein the life did once appear; but the prefervation
of the garment lies in the life. And the life may change its garment at its
pleaſure, and may refuſe to wear thofe any more which the whore hath
worn, but as the life again leadeth.
5. When the life is at any time loft, the only way of recovery is by re-
tiring to the inviſible, and keeping there, and growing up there; and not
coming forth in the vifible further than the life leads, nor ftaying there any
longer than the life ſtays.
Now this is the miſtake of perfons generally; they look for the finding
the inviſible life in viſibles. They run to corrupted ordinances and ways
of devotion, and think to find God there: but do not wait to feel him in
their hearts, and to be led by him into what he pleaſeth; and to ſtay no-
where any longer than while he ſtayeth there, but to follow the Lamb
wherefoever he goeth.
Some others miſtake in running to that, and waiting there where they
once felt life, but do not know the way to wait on the life itſelf: and fo
they are running to an image, waiting at an image, worshipping of an
image, and the living God will not meet them there. But throw away
your images; let Ephraim, the dear child, fay to his idols, Get you hence;
thruft away your adulteries which provoke the eye of God's jealoufy, re-
ceive the fore-runner (the fevere purifier) into your bofoms, and let the
fire of his jealouſy cleanſe your hearts, and the pure will foon come after,
and lodge again between your breafts.-Can ye hear this found; That
which is born of the fame wifdom, cannot but hear it; but the other birth
muſt have its ear ſtopped.
Now hearken to this advice. When the inviſible life is felt and known,
do not difdain to follow it into whatever viſible thing it leads. Let not
thy wiſdom be judge what the life will lead into, or what the life is to be
followed in; but let the life itſelf be judge: and let the child, which is
born of the life, follow it fingly, without murmuring, without difputing.
The
An Exhortation to the prefent Powers.
141
The life hath fooliſh ways (to the eye of thy wiſdom) of breaking the wif-
dom in thee, which is contrary to it, which thy wiſdom will be reaſoning
and diſputing againſt ; and if that wiſdom be hearkened to, the life is over-
turned in its courfe, and the head of the ferpent remains found in thee,
which the fooliſh and weak things (which the wisdom of God chooſeth to
croſs and diſturb it by) would help to break and cruſh.
B
An EXHORTATION to the preſent POWERS.
ABYLON the Great, the myſtery of iniquity, which hath deceived
and held captive the whole Chriſtian world for theſe many generations,
under forms and appearances of godliness and devotion, is at length come
into remembrance before God, who is ariſen to judge her, and overturn her
feat. The
The army hath been preparing, and many foldiers have been drawn
forth; the trumpet hath founded, the battle is begun, and blood hath been
fhed on both fides; the blood of the creature on the one fide, the blood
of the whoriſh ſpirit on the other fide.
1
The whore (with the power of the beaſt on which fhe rides, and by whoſe
ftrength and affiſtance ſhe makes war with the Lamb) is mighty and dread-
ful; and it hath long been faid, Who is able to make war with the beaft?
(whoſe ſtrength is hers). But the Lord God (who hath riſen out of his
holy habitation to judge, and hath begun to judge her) is more mighty;
by whoſe arm and ftrength fhe fhall fall, and the beaft fhall not be able to
carry her up and down any longer; nay, nor to uphold her in her ſeat of
government over the confciences of men.
Be wife now, therefore, and confider the prefent ftate of things; and if
ye find not hearts to help the Lord againſt the mighty, yet take heed of
helping the mighty againſt the Lord. The veffels wherein the life arifes
and appears, are poor and very contemptible, and ye may eafily trample
upon them but the life which rifeth up in them is very precious, and too
ftrong for the powers of earth or of hell. The Lord did not appear for-
merly among you, or of late begin to raiſe you up again, that ye fhould
become enemies to him, or aiders of his enemies againſt him; but that
might let his feed go forth to worship him in the wilderneſs (for in this dark
land of Egypt they cannot). Therefore break the yokes, and take off the
burdens, and let there be no new fnares laid; but leave the confcience
(where the Lord chufeth to appear, and which he delights to draw out of
the world to himſelf) free to the Lord.
ye
The Lord hath kindled, and is kindling, the fire with which he is burn-
ing, and will burn, the flesh of the whore. Come not near to help her,
lett
1
142
POSTSCRIPT.
left ye feel the flames. Stand afar off and fee her burning, and at moſt
pity her, but help her not.
We fight not againſt the flesh and blood of creatures, but againſt that
evil spirit which captivates and makes them miferable: nor do we fight with
carnal weapons, but with fuch weapons as are able to reach that fpirit.
Now if ye interpofe with your carnal weapons, and fmite the veffel which
the Lord is pleaſed to make uſe of in this warfare, his hand will be upon
you: yea, if ye endeavour to bear off the ftroke from the whore, it will
light upon yourſelves, and the Lord's hand (and his ftrokes in this day of
his jealouſy and vengeance) is very heavy.
Do what ye can, ye fhall not be able to hinder the Lord's victory (who
will overcome, even by this very people, whom the wife of all forts de-
ſpiſe). All that ye can do in taking part with the enemy, is but to bring
wounds and judgments upon yourſelves, and to fhorten the days of your
government. But the work of the Lord will go on and profper; and this
painted harlot (which pretends to be the fpoufe of Chrift, and has decked
herſelf ſo pleaſingly with her ſtolen knowledge of fcriptures, and lays claim
to his miniftry and ordinances) fhall be ſtripped naked, and her fhame feen,
and every child in the life fhall be able to point at her; and the fong of
triumph over the dragon, the beaft, the falfe churches, and all the falfe
prophets (who are not made, nor prophefy not, by the anointing) fhall be
fung in righteouſneſs, even to the Lamb, who daily getteth, and will get,
perfect victory for to him it is given over all his enemies.
TH
POST SCRIPT.
HE redemption of the foul is by the Spirit of the Lord; which he
that would enjoy from it, muft know its appearance and operation
in himſelf, and not quench or limit it, but univerſally be ſubject to its
guidance and leadings. All man's inward mifery ariſes from man's inward
rebellion, which is as the fin of witchcraft (fpringing from the fpirit of
witchcraft). His recovery and happineſs is in the faith and obedience to
the pure power, movings, and operations of the Spirit in him.
The Lord God, who made mankind, who is the Lord of all, he is re-
deeming a people to himſelf by his Spirit. And this Spirit will not be
limited by the powers of the earth, but will break nations in pieces, and
trample upon princes as mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay, till it hath
made its way through them.
O! open the eye, the inward eye, which can difcern the feaſons. It is
not now the time for antichrift to prevail, or for proud fleſh to riſe in
its heady will, to ſtop the out-goings of its Maker. This feafon is paft;
up
and
POSTSCRIPT.
143
and the ſeaſon of the prevailing of the life and power of the Sun of righte-
ouſneſs is now come.
Therefore lift up your heads, O ye weak and faint of the flock! for
iniquity and oppreffion muſt fall both within and without; and the tender
God of everlaſting love will turn back the captivity of his people, and of
his creatures. Be not therefore affrighted at the inward power of fin in the
heart, nor at the outward oppreffing powers of the earth: for the Redeemer's
ſtrength is above all, and he is ftretching forth his mighty arm to fave: in
the true and living faith of the Elect it is felt.
And O ye potfheards of the earth! ftrive not with your Maker, limit
him not, for he will affuredly break through you. Think not to ſubject
him to your laws; but learn his law, come under his yoke, and be bound
by him, that ye may taſte of his liberty. Wash your lips and kiſs the Son,
and be not angry at his various appearances fo contrary to your wifdom;
but fear his dreadful name, and his threſhing inftrument which hath teeth;
and feek an hiding place under the fhadow of his wings, againſt the ſharp
ſeaſon of the breaking-forth of his wrath, and jealous indignation for the
cauſe of Sion, which haſteneth apace.
He hath long let the Spirit of Babylon have its liberty, and his hath
been filent: now is the time for his Spirit to fpeak, and for Babylon's to be
filent. Will ye ftill force him to filence, and open Babylon's mouth? Will
ye not fuffer him to fpeak, but according to the laws and orders of Baby-
ion? Muſt that counterfeit queen ftill fit on the throne among you, and the
true princeſs be made her fervant? O let it not be grievous to you, to fee
the Spirit of the Lord ariſe, and make Babylon appear Babylon! Her wif
dom, her knowledge, her unity, her uniformity, her order, her comeli-
nefs, her beauty; is but folly, confufion, diforder, and deformity before
the Lord.-Happy is the eye that fees it, and the foot that turns from
her.
Therefore awake, arife, and ſtand up from the dead. Come out of the
thick dark land, where the pure God of life is not to be found: Come out of
Babylon, and touch not the unclean, that the pure life may receive you into
unity with itſelf: but the fpirit that is unpurged from its Babyloniſh wor-
fhips and practices, the Lord will not fuffer to come near him. Therefore
ſearch what is Babylon, and of Babylon, in all your ways and worships;
and wait on the Spirit of the Lord to be redeemed out of it, and feparated
from it, or ye muft remain feparated from the Lord, and not partake of
his life and virtue, from which that city, with all her inhabitants, is ſhut
out for ever.
The Lord hath had a fore controverſy with this nation (with her rulers,
her teachers, and people) for his feed's fake, which he hath been begetting
to himſelf, and calling forth to worſhip him (according to the pure law of
his Spirit of life) out of the ways, worſhips, and heathenish customs of the
earthly fpirit.
Ifrael
144
POSTSCRIPT.
Ifrael is his firſt-born, whom he will not have any longer kept in bon-
dage. They are his own, of his own begetting and forming, of his own
nouriſhing and bringing up; the plants of his own right hand, whom he
watereth with the dews of heaven, and with the fhowers of his everlaſting
mercy and loving-kindneſs; whom he hath gathered by the arm of his
power, and whom he leadeth and defendeth by his cloud and pillar of fire;
over whom he is tender as of the apple of his eye. They are his anointed
ones, whom he will not have touched, but rebuketh kings and parliaments,
armies and councils, for their fakes; faying, Touch not mine anointed; and do
ny prophets no harm.
Have ye not ſeen, how no ſtrength nor council hath been able to prevail
againſt them? They have had no fence, but the arm which hath gathered
them. What plottings and contrivings have there been againſt them.
How are they, as fheep appointed for the flaughter, deftined to be de-
voured, cruſhed, and trodden under foot; what divinations and enchant-
ments have been uſed againſt them, even to blot out their name and re-
membrance from the earth?
J
But why do ye ftrive and contend thus with the God of Jacob? Can ye
profper? He that made the earth, will not ye let him have room therein for
his people? Muft they be fubject to your wills? Muft they bow to your
image? Shall not the God of the fpirits of all fleſh have the command of
the ſpirits of his own people? Can ye ftop the Spirit of God from breath-
ing upon them? Or will ye fall foul upon them, if they be obedient to the
breathings and movings of his Spirit? May it not fuffice that they are in-
nocent and harmleſs among you in their converfations and practices, but
will ye ſtill lord it over their confciences? Will ye put the Lord to it, to the
very laft, to try it out with you, whether he can defend his people, and
make way for their liberty?
Well! If peace be taken from you; if your rulers, laws, and govern-
ments be broken in pieces; if his hand be ſtretched forth againſt you; if
he curſe your very bleffings, whom can ye blame? Why do you provoke
him againſt your own fouls? Are ye ftronger than he? If ye be ſtronger and
wifer, ye may prevail: but if he be ſtronger, and will put forth his arm,
his people fhall be faved and find a ſhelter in him, in the midſt of all that
wrath which is pouring down upon you. Your peace hath been lengthened
out for their fakes. If it had not been for their fakes (for the remnant which
the Lord hath had to gather) ye had ere this been as Sodom, and like unto
Gomorrah. The land is full of filthinefs, which the Lord's foul loaths; and
inſtead of drawing forth the fword againſt it, ye draw it forth againſt his
witneffes. There is liberty enough for fin and vanity, for excefs and riot-
ouſneſs, for images and idols: but to worship God in fpirit, to obey his pure
movings; this kindles your rage, and thefe are the people who are a bur-
then to you. Ah! how fain would ye eaſe you of this people! (Sion is in-
deed a burthenfome ftone, and will fall heavy on all that meddle with her).
But
POSTSCRIPT.
145
1
But the Lord will eafe himſelf of the adverfaries of his life and Spirit, and
he will bring forth his righteouſneſs which he hath prepared, and fet it up
in the earth, and none ſhall be able to ſtop him. Therefore gather your-
felves together in battle; affociate yourſelves, that ye may be broken in
pieces; take counſel together, it fhall come to hought; fpeak the word, it
fhall not ftand: but the Lord's counfel fhall ftand, and he will fulfil all his
pleaſure, and will delight himſelf in his people, and raiſe them up by the
fall of their enemies: and then ye ſhall ſee againſt whom ye have plotted
and contended, and what ye have helped to bring about by all your fecret
plots and defigns. If the Lord had not been on our fide, now may Ifrael fay;
if the Lord had not been on our fide, what had become of his poor peo-
ple! Ah! poor worm Jacob, how often would the foot of pride have
trampled thee down (again and again), had not the everlaſting arm been
ftretched out for thee! But fear not, worm Jacob, nor be follicitous for thy
prefervation, but truft that arm which delighteth to preferve thee.
Ah! foolish people and unwife! who ſtrive againſt your own mercy; who
ſee not on what hinge all your mercies hang, but make it your work to
break down the wall that defends you!
Jerufalem is the city of the great King, which is coming down from
heaven; and Ifrael is his people; and both muſt have a place in the earth.
The Lord hath determined it, and who can withſtand it? What prejudice
can Jerufalem, or the inhabitants thereof, bring unto you? They are ene-
mies, indeed, to this earthly ſtate of things, and would have all brought into
fubjection to the life and power of their king, and all that ftands in oppo-
fition to God brought down, and made pliable to his Spirit; and this the
unyoked earthly fpirit cannot bear. But this is the intereft of your fouls,
and the way to unity with that life which is their happineſs, peace, and reſt
for ever. For if ye could paſs through the fire, and bear the burning up
of your drofs, ye alfo might become veffels for the finer, and might dwell
with them in their everlaſting habitation.
The faints formerly had an entrance miniftered to them into the ever-
lafting kingdom, and came unto Mount Sion, which cannot be removed;
and to Jerufalem, the city of the living God, Heb. xii. 22. where the blood
of fprinkling, the peace that paffeth underſtanding, the everlaſting righte
ouſneſs, and the joy unſpeakable and full of glory, was witneffed in the
renewed ſpirit, which receiveth the kingdom which cannot be ſhaken, and
entereth into the everlaſting reft.
And it is again revealed, and the witneffes fhall afcend into heaven in the
fight of their enemies; even into the new heaven and the new earth, where
righteouſneſs dwells; and the old heaven and old earth (with all their inhabi-
tants) fhall be burnt up: and then it fhall be ſeen that righteouſneſs be-
comes, and belongs to, the houſe of God for ever. And his city fhall be a
quiet habitation, free from all the noiſe and hurry of Babylon; where the
pure river of life runs clear, free from all the mud and mixtures of Baby-
VOL. I.
T
lon;
146
POSTSCRIPT.
lon;
and the Lord God of infinite fulneſs will not difdain communion with
his creatures, but will tabernacle among them, dwell with them, fup with
them, walk in them, and take them into his holy habitation, and they ſhall
dwell with him, fup with him, and walk in him.
But who fhall abide in his tabernacle? who fhall dwell in his holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteouſneſs, and fpeaketh the
truth in his heart, &c. he who contemns the vile perfon (how great and
high foever), but honoureth them that fear the Lord, be they otherwife
what they will. This man fhall dwell on high, above the reach of all low,
creeping, dark ſpirits, even in that holy habitation of life and power, which
nothing can touch or annoy.
I fhall now conclude with a few words concerning the prefent eftate of
this poor diſtracted nation.
This nation hath long lain wounded and fick: fhe hath had may phyfi-
cians (on whom the hath ſpent much) who have promiſed her fair, but have
not effected her cure. Of late her wound hath been much enlarged; yea,
ſhe is become fick at her very heart, and in great danger. Many are ſpend-
ing their judgment upon her; fome thinking a king would help all, fome
a parliament, and fome hoping for good from the army; but every eye
fees her cafe to be very defperate. Ah England, England! Thou ſtriveſt with
thy Maker, and he overturns thy ftrength and councils. The life and
wiſdom which thou defpifeft, is that which alone can heal thee. Thou
ftriveft to keep off the ftrokes from the enemies of God, and fmiteft his
dear ones; how can he fpare thee? Hand ftill joins in hand to keep the
Lord's ftroke from reaching Babylon, which he hath directed at her heart,
and will not mifs her, but will pierce through every thing that ftands in
his way. Though the cry hath long been, hurt not the tender confcience, it
is that on which God works, and wherein he chufeth to appear, and with
which he is pleaſed, and pities. Many promiſes have been, touching
liberty of conſcience; yet ftill the meek of the earth, the innocent lambs.
of Chrift (thofe that are faithful to the light of God in their confciences)
are perfecuted and fuffer. What canft thou plead, O England! why the
Lord fhould not break thee all in pieces, and fave his people himſelf, by
and in the midſt of thy ruins? The Lord will have the victory over thee
in this particular, about which he hath ſo long ſtriven with thee. It would
be better and eaſier for thee to yield unto, than be forced by, his hand.
Therefore, at length hear his voice, which hath fo often and fo loudly cried
unto thee, Let my people go, that they may ſerve me..
}
1
THE
THE
1
JEW OUTWARD:
BEING A
GLA A S S
FOR THE
PROFESSORS of this AGE.
WHEREIN,
If they Read with Meekneſs, and in the true
LIGHT, fuch of them as have not overflipped the Day
of their Vifitation, may ſee their own Spirits, to their
own everlaſting Advantage and Comfort, by learning
Subjection to that which hath Power in it to deſtroy
the evil Spirit in them.
1
CONTAINING
Some EXCEPTIONS and ARGUMENTS of the JEWS
againſt CHRIST's Appearance in that Body of Fleſh in their
Days; which the prefent PROFESSORS may view and compare
with their Exceptions and Arguments againſt his Appearance in
Spirit in this AGE; that they may fee and confider which of
them are the more weighty.
t
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
[ cxlix ]
THE
PREFACE.
T
HE Lord God of infinite goodneſs, who hath ever dearly
loved mankind, yet could never fo appear to them fince the
tranfgreffion, as to be owned by them, till the veil was taken from
before their hearts. Ifrael in Egypt hearkened not to Mofes, be-
cauſe of their anguish and bondage. When they were led out,
they were ever and anon murmuring, and picking quarrels againſt
him. Samuel they rejected (as the Lord lays to their charge); tho❜
they might excuſe themſelves, and ſay they had juſt exceptions
againſt his fons. Elijah, that mighty man of God, the great re-
ftorer of Ifrael, and pleader againſt Baal by fire, his life was fought
for. And though there be not a particular record of their uſage
of the prophets about thoſe days, yet in general he complains that
Micaiah was
they were all flain but himſelf, I KINGS xix. 10.
fmitten on the cheek, and jeered by the falfe prophet who fmote
him, and faid, "Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to
fpeak unto thee?" And he was commanded to be put in priſon, and
fed with bread of affliction and water of affliction. Jeremiah was
put into the dungeon, even to the danger of his life and by thoſe
few that were left, that ſeemed fingly to enquire by him concern-
ing the will of the Lord (JER. xlii. 2, 3.), difdainfully rejected,
Chap. xliii. 2. Why fhould I ſpend time in particular inftances?
What prophet can I except? for though all their bad dealings with
them are not related in fcripture, yet Chrift teftifies that they did
deal badly with them all; fome of them they ſtoned, ſome of them
they fcourged in their fynagogues, fome of them they killed and
crucified, and others they perfecuted from city to city. "Yea," faith
46
Stephen,
cl
PRE FAC E.
1
-
pro
Stephen, which of the prophets have not your fathers perfecuted?
"And they have flain them which fhewed before of the coming of
"the Juft-one." Ye make it fuch a ftrange thing, that if Chrift had
been a prophet, ye fhould not own him; why which of the
phets was owned? Ye have ſtill fome exception or other against us,
that we are not the prophets of God; and againſt our meffage, that
it is not the mind of God. Ye take arguments from one prophet's
words to oppoſe another prophet with; and from one prophet's man-
ner of coming, to oppoſe another prophet's manner of coming. If
John come neither eating nor drinking, ye reject him for his auftere-
nefs if Christ come both eating and drinking, ye reject him for his
liberty and freedom in the life. Now what is the reaſon of this?
Chriſt himſelf gives the reaſon? MAT. xi. 19. "Wiſdom is juſti-
"fied of her children." Ye are not the children of wiſdom, ye are
not begotten of the life, of the Spirit of the prophets, and ſo cannot
juſtify that Spirit. Ye have got the letter of the prophets, ye are
born of that; but ye are not born of the life, ye are not born of
the wiſdom. And fo whoever comes forth in the fame birth from
the letter with you, him ye can own; but if any prophet come
forth with that fame Spirit, him ye cannot own.
He that is born
after the fleſh, cannot but perfecute him that is born after the Spirit.
Jerufalem was all along the perfecuter of the prophets, from the
beginning to the end.
Q
And is this nothing to you, O ye profeffors of this age! Search
and fee who have been the perfecuters among you, but they who
have had the name of the church and her prophets? Who have
flain the witneffes? The church of Rome hath flain the witneffes
againſt her, and the Proteftants have flain the witneſſes againſt them.
About the beginning of theſe troubles, if a man were never fo truly
zealous, yet if he could not conform to the Common-prayer-book
and ceremonies, how was he perfecuted? A Non-conformist, a Se-
paratift, a Brownift, an Anabaptift, though owning the fame Chrift
in his very heart and foul; yet, becauſe his practice was a teftimony
againſt the falſe church-worſhip of the common Proteftant, muſt be
hunted up and down to courts, impriſoned, fined, banished. And
to this day the Lord can bring forth no birth of his Spirit, but the
zealous profeffor hates, reviles, and feeks to deftroy it. If the Lord
lay any law upon the confcience, if it be not ſuitable to their appre-
henfions from the letter, how do they reproach, difdain, revile,
and
PREFAC E.
cli
and endeavour to render fuch odious to the magiftrates, and to the
people!
But why ſhould we wonder at theſe things? There is no new
thing under the fun. The ftate of the world is juſt as it always was.
The power of Truth in every age hath been ſtill oppoſed by thoſe
who cried up the form. It were a wonder if it ſhould be otherwiſe.
I ſhould much more wonder, if the teachers and profeffors of this
age fhould own Truth, than that they fight againſt it, and perfecute
Well, friends and brethren, be strong in the Lord, and faith-
ful to his Truth, in the power of his might: bear the reproach,
the afflictions of this age, the perfecutions of this your day. Verily
your eyes fhall fee that there is a reward for the righteous, and your
hearts ſhall be fatisfied with it, when the children of the kingdom.
(of this age, as well as of Chrift, and all former ages) fhall be ſhut
out in utter darkneſs, where fhall be weeping and wailing, and
gnaſhing of teeth.
it.
THE
[152]
:
JEW
1
THE
OUTWARD.
.
Some EXCEPTIONS and ARGUMENTS of the JEWS againſt
CHRIST's Appearance, &c.
T
HE Jews were once the only outward vifible people of God, who
were choſen by God for a peculiar people, who had the promiſe of,
and expected, the Meffiah; whofe faith and hope of falvation was
in him; yea, and at that very time they were looking for him, yet, when
he came, he was a ftone of ftumbling, and a rock of offence to them, and they
could by no means receive him. They were full of reafonings, and doubts,
and contendings about it; but could never, with all their wisdom from the
letter, determine that was he. Though he lived as never man lived;
though he ſpake as never man ſpake; though he did what never man did;
yet ftill fome exception or other they had from the letter of the fcriptures,
to which his manner of appearance, his converfation, and his doctrine, did
not fuit in their judgment; and fo, after many diſputes and debates, they
at length delivered him up to death, as a blafphemer, a deceiver, a feducer
of the people.
Many exceptions and arguments they had againſt him; againſt his de-
fcent, his doctrine, his practices, his miracles, his followers, &c. which I
fhall refer to heads, to make them more obvious.
1. They excepted at his deſcent and kindred. Is not this the carpenter's
Son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Fofes, and
Simon, and Judas? And his fifters, are they not all with us; Mat. xiii. 55, 56.
(What! this that glorious Meffiah! the great king of glory, of whom all
the prophets prophefied and ſpoke great things! Surely it cannot be.) And
they were offended in him, ver. 57. It was this made them they could not
receive that heavenly doctrine of his, which otherwife might have been
life to them, when he taught them that he was the bread of life that came
down from heaven: but they murmured becauſe of it, and faid, Is not this
Jefus, the son of Jofeph, whofe father and mother we know? How is it then
that
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1
that he faith, I came down from heaven, John vi. 41, 42. So again, John vii
27. We know this man whence he is; but when Chrift cometh, no man knoweth
whence he is. This was a clofe argument, and was raiſed up to eat out a
deep impreffion of his being the Chrift, as may appear from the foregoing
verſe. He ſpeaketh indeed boldly, and deep things, &c. as if he were the
Chrift; but how can he be he, ſeeing it is known from whence he comes.
2. At his country, or place of his education and refidence, which was
Nazareth of Galilee. Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
John i. 46. Shall Chrift come out of Galilee? John vii. 41. Search and
look; for out of Galilee arifeth no prophet, ver. 52.
3. At the time and ſeaſon of his coming. He came (as to their ſenſe) be-
fore Elias. With this argument they pinched the diſciples, as is fignified
in that query of theirs to Chrift, Why then fay the Scribes, that Elias muft
first come? Mat. xvii. 10. This could not but be a fore argument in the
mouth of the Scribes, who might reaſon with the difciples on this wife:
What poor, ignorant, fottiſh, deluded people are you, to own this man for
your mafter, and take him for the Meffiah? Elias muft first come, and
reftore all things. If this man preached ever fo heavenly doctrine, and
did ever ſo many miracles; yet, if he pretend to be the Meffiah, he can
be but a deceiver: for the true Meffiah comes not before Elias; and every
one knows that Elias is not yet come, nor his work of reftoring all things.
fo much as begun.
;
4. His doctrine adminiſtered abundance of offence to them, and they
were continually ftumbling at it. That heavenly doctrine, mentioned a lit-
tle before, that he was the bread of life, they murmured at, John vi. 41.
When he did but fay God was his Father, they prefently flew out upon him,
and ſaid, he made himſelf equal with God, John v. 18. When he ſaid, De-
troy this temple, and in three days I will raiſe it up, they miſunderſtood him,
and brought it forth as an argument against him at the time of his fuffer-
ing, Mat. xxvi. 61. and caft it as a jeer in his teeth, Mat. xxvii. 40. When
he did but ſay to the man fick of the palfy, Son, thy fins are forgiven thee
the Scribes and Pharifees preſently exclaimed againſt him, Who is this that
Speaketh blafphemies? Who can forgive fins but God alone? Luke v. 21. and
chap. vii. 49. When he preached very powerfully againſt covetoufnefs, the
Pharifees derided him, Luke xvi. 14. Yea, when he did but preach a pa-
rable or two about the widow of Sarepta, and Naaman the Syrian (it coming
a little cloſe to their ftate) all they in the fynagogue were fo filled with wrath,
that they rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of
the hill, to caft him down headlong, Luke iv. 28, 29. At his faying that
Abraham rejoiced to fee his day, and he faw it, and was glad; the Jews replied,
Thou art not yet fifty years old, and haft thou feen Abraham? John viii. 57.
How abfurd and impoffible was this to them, that a man of not fifty years
fhould fay, that Abraham (who lived fo many ages before) faw his day!
And inſtead of giving them an argument to demonftrate it to them, he
VOL. I.
only
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only returns them a more confident affirmation, Verily, verily, I fay unto you,
before Abraham was, I am, ver. 58. Which fo enraged them, that they took
up ftones to caft at him, ver. 59. New mark: the life fpeaks what it fees
and knows, and fo its gives forth its teftimony. The wife profeffor, not
being in the life, cannot know or receive the teftimony; but calls for ar-
guments and demonftrations to his wife eye. The life refufeth to anſwer
him; but inſtead thereof, only affirmeth the thing more ftrongly and con-
fidently. This (being fo far from that which he looks for, and requires to
fatisfy him) kindles difdain and rage in him: and he looks upon the life,
for this way of proceeding, as worthy to be ſtoned. What when they
fhould lay before Chrift a fair argument, whereby they might plainly con-
vince him by evident reaſon that he could not fee Abraham's day, and he,
inſtead of anſwering it, fhould only bring forth a more confident affirma-
tion, would not mens wisdom, in this age, even hifs at fuch a thing? Yet
this was the way of the life then, in that day; and the life may, at his plea-
fure, take the fame way again now, to offend the wife and knowing.
When he ſpake of his being the good Shepherd, and of his laying down his
life for his sheep (and of the hireling's flying, in time of danger, to fave
himſelf) John x. 11, 12. many of the Jews faid, He bath a devil, and is
mad. Why hear ye him? ver. 20. Many of them that were then the people
of God (the feparated people; for the Jews were a people feparated from
the world, and ftudied the law, and obferved the ordinances of Mofes)
looked upon Chriſt as a man not fit to be heard fpeak; but as a mad-man,
as one that had a devil, as one that might have great power of deceit from
the devil, to bewitch men from truth; Why bear ye him? What good can
ye expect from him? He hath a devil, and is mad.. O how defperately will
bold fleſh venture to judge of the life and power of God, when it hath
got a little knowledge from the ſcriptures, and a way of worſhip, duties, and
ordinances !
When he ſaid, I and my Father are one, John x. 30. they took up stones
again to ftone him, ver. 31. and made no queſtion but they did well in doing
of it, as appears by their answer to his demand, for which of his good
works they ſtoned him? They replied very confidently, For a good work we
Stone thee not; but for blafphemy; and becauſe thou, being a man, makeft thyſelf
God, ver. 32, 33. And when he faid, If a man keep my faying, he shall ne-
ver fee death, John viii. 51. then ſaid the Jews unto him, Now we know thou
haft a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, Who makeft thou
thyself? ver. 53. Were not Abraham and the prophets holy men? Had
not they the ſayings of God? And did they not keep the fayings of God?
Yet they are dead. Such a kind of ſpeech as this muft needs be from
the devil. Now thou makeſt manifeft from what ſpirit thou fpeakeft. Now
we know that thou hast a devil. And indeed how could the profeffors of that
age digeft fuch things, being fo contrary to what appeared to them to be
certain truth in the fcriptures.
And
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And there were many other things as hard to them; though the excep-
tions which might or did arife in their minds, are not particularly men-
tioned ; as when he ſaith, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came be-
fore me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them, John x. 7, 8.
How offenfive muſt this doctrine needs have been to them, going carnally
to underſtand and reaſon about it? What! were all the prophets and holy
men before thee thieves and robbers? Did the truth never come till thou
broughteft it? What became of our forefathers in former ages? Were
they none of them God's fheep? Did none of them find the door? For
thou ſayeſt thou art the door, and thou haſt been but of late. And whereas
thou fayeft the fheep did not hear them; that is utterly falfe; for they
did hear Mofes, and they did hear the prophets; and we have their writings,
and will keep to them for all thee, let who will be thy ſheep. When he
faid, that he came not to fend peace, but divifion, Mat. x. 25. how readily
might they reply, that his own mouth diſcovered him not to be the Mef-
fiah, the Saviour, the Peace-maker; but the worker of divifions, the cauſe
of breaches in families, fetting three againſt two, and two againſt three?
Luke xxi. 51. When he faid, Whosoever committeth fin, is the fervant of fin,
John viii. 34. might not they well except againſt this, as condemning the
whole generation of the righteous, and making null the way of facrifices,
which God had appointed for fins committed at any time by his people,
which could not but pre-fuppofe their commiffion of fin? Did not Abra-
ham, Iſaac, David, Mofes, and the reſt of the prophets, all commit fin, and
were they the fervants of fin? He taught alſo that the children of the kingdom
fhould be caft into utter darkneſs, Mat. viii. 12. Oh how harſh would this
found in the ears of the zealous profeffing Jew, who was waiting and
hoping for the kingdom! So in his doctrine there feemed many contra-
dictions to the fleſhly underſtanding: for one while he faid, I judge no man;
for I came not to condemn the world: and yet was not he continually
judging and condemning the Scribes, the Pharifees, the Prieſts, the Lawyers,
and that whole generation of profeffors? So again, he came to feek and
fave that which was loft; to preach the gofpel of peace and yet another
while he faith, he came not to fend peace, but a fword, and to kindle
a fire, and to ſet men at variance, &c. Again, one while he ſaid, I and
my Father are one; another time, My Father is greater than me. One while
he bid men do as the Scribes and Pharifees taught; another while he bid
men beware of the leaven or doctrine of the Pharifees and Sadducees,
Mat. xvi. 12.
+
But to what purpofe fhould I heap up any more inftances? O thou that
readeft this, wait to know in thyſelf the ear that cannot hear Chrifl's doc-
trine; while thou condemneft the Jews, do not run into the fame error of
unbelief and gainsaying; but wait to know the voice of Chriſt in this day,
and to receive the ear that can hear it for though thou ſhouldſt be willing
to hear, yet thou canst not till thy ear be opened. Nicodemus, who could
acknowledge
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acknowledge Chrift a teacher come from God, yet could not receive the doc-
trine of the new birth from him, John iii. 4. And there were many things
the diſciples themſelves were not able to bear: for when, at a certain time,
he fpake of giving his flesh to eat, not only the Jews, John vi. 52. but they
alfo, ftumbled, ver. 61. And who is there among profeffors that can now
bear it, or receive Chrift's own interpretation of it? who faith, that the flesh
(which they underſtood) profiteth nothing; but the fleſh which he meant was
Spirit and life, ver. 63.
At his practices and converfation. How is it that he eateth with Publicans and
Sinners, Mark ii. 16. Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber; a a friend
of Publicans and finners, Luke vii. 14. This man, if he were a prophet,
would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him;
for ſhe is a finner, Luke vii. 39. At the Publicans and finners drawing
nigh to hear him, the Pharifees and Scribes were offended, and murmured,
faying, This man receiveth finners, and eateth with them, Luke xv. 1, 2. And
when he went to Zaccheus's houſe, they all murmured, faying, that he was
gone to be guest with a man that is a finner, Luke xix. 7.
Again; becauſe he healed on the fabbath, and juftified his diſciples in
plucking of ears of corn on the fabbath, they were filled with madness, and
communed what they might do to him, Luke vi. 3. and took counſel how they
might destroy him, Mark iii. 5, 6. Another time, the ruler of the ſynagogue
fpake with indignation about it, Luke xiii. 14. Yea, the Jews did perfecute
Jefus, and fought to flay him, becaufe he had healed a man, and bid him take up
his bed and walk, on the fabbath-day, John v. 8. 16. And fome of them
made it a ſtrong argument againſt him, This man is not of God, becauſe he
keepeth not the fabbath-day, John ix. 16. What! come from God, and be a
breaker of ordinances? Can theſe two ftand together? Read and confider.
What more ftrict ordinance of God under the law than the fabbath? What
one ordinance more conducing to the honour and worſhip of God? Did not
their whole religion and worſhip much depend upon it? How could this
poffibly but be a great offence to them in that ſpirit, and literal wiſdom from
the fcriptures wherein they ftood? Yet Chrift, in his fleſhly appearance,
was Lord of the fabbath; and in his fpiritual appearance he doth not lofe
his dominion.
Again; they excepted againſt him, that he did not teach his difciples to
faft and pray, as John did, Luke v. 33. but could fuffer them to tranf
grefs the traditions of the elders, Mat. xv. 2. He was not ftrict after the
Jewiſh way of devotion, nor ftrict after John's way neither; but againſt the
traditions of the godly elders of the Jewish church; againſt ſanctifying of
the Lord's fabbath (juſtifying his diſciples in plucking ears of corn thereon;
whereas their forefathers the Jews were not fo much as to gather manna
on that day); againſt faſting and prayer: for he juſtified his difciples in
that they did not faft and pray as John did, faying, How could they mourn
while the bridegroom was with them? Mat. ix. 15. And confider which way
the
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the Jews (in the ſtate they ſtood) could underſtand fuch an anſwer as this,
to reft fatisfied therewith?
6. They excepted against his miracles, partly becauſe he did them on the
fabbath-day, John ix. 16. whereupon they concluded he could not be of
God (for if he had been of God, he would have obferved the day which
God commanded); and if he wrought them not by the power of God, by
whoſe power then muſt he work them? So they concluded, He cafteth out
devils by the prince of the devils, Mat. ix. 34. He hath Beelzebub, and by the
prince of devils cafteth be out devils, Mark iii. 34. And having thus con-
cluded in themſelves, there was no ear open in them to hear any thing that
might be faid to the contrary. And again, partly becauſe he did not an-
fwer their wills, in giving them fuch a fign as they required: for this was
ſtill their tone, Maſter, we would fee a fign from thee, Mat. xii. 38. What
And
fign fhewest thou to us, feeing that thou doft these things? John ii. 18.
they more particularly exprefs what fign; they would have a fign from
heaven, Luke xi. 18. What fign fhewest thou, that we may fee and believe
thee? John vi. 30. We are ready to be convinced, we are ready to be-
lieve, if thou wouldst give us fufficient ground of believing in thee. As
for all thy healing people, and cafting out devils, Beelzebub, the prince of
devils, may furnish thee with power wherewith to deceive and bewitch
us from the law and ordinances of Mofes, which we are fure are of God;
but fhew us a fign from heaven, or elfe blame us not for not leaving Mofes
to run after thee.
:
1
7. They excepted at the teftimony which the Spirit of God in him gave con-
cerning him. When he ſpake the inward teftimony, which the Spirit of God
gave from within, faying, I am the light of the world; he that followeth me
fhall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life, John viii. 13. they
prefently cried out, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true,
ver. 14. Mark his anfwer: It is written in your law, that the teftimony of
two men is true; I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that fent
me beareth witness of me, ver. 17, 18. How would fuch an anſwer paſs now
in theſe days, though the fame life fhould fpeak it? Would not the wife
profeffors of this age even whoot at it? Yet the thing is known at this day,
even the life which the Father begets, and the Father's teftifying of it, and
with it. And thou that readeft this, mighteſt know it, couldft thou wait
in the loſs of thine own life, wiſdom and knowledge, for it.
8. They excepted against his difciples and followers, which were women,
publicans, and finners; the common people, yea, the meaneft, the pooreft,
and moſt ignorant (in their account), who were fitteſt to be deluded and led
away. Are ye alfo deceived? Have any of the Rulers, or of the Pharifees, be-
lieved on him? But this people who know not the law are accurfed, John vii.
47, 48, 49. The common people, the ignorant people, the unfettled
people, fuch as know not the law, fuch as underſtand not the fcriptures,
they run after him, and cry him up, but which of the fettled ones, which
of
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of the truly zealous ones, which of the wife men in the knowledge of the
law and prophets, which of the orthodox Scribes and Pharifees, who keep
cloſe to Mofes, which of thefe believe in him? Whom of them can he de-
ceive? As for the heady people, who (for want of knowledge from the
fcriptures) are ready to run after every new fangle, they are not worth the
minding, they are accurfed; and therefore no marvel, though God give
them up to follow this deceiver, and to cry up his new light, and forſake
the good old light of Mofes and the prophets.
9. They excepted againſt him, that he did not rebuke his diſciples, and
the multitude (fpreading their garments, cutting down branches from the
trees, and ftrewing them in the way) with the children that cried Hofanna
to him, as he rode on the afs's colt to Jerufalem; but he rather juftified
them, Luke xix. 31. and Mat. xxi. 15, 16. What a ridiculous and vain-
glorious piece of pageantry would this feem to the fleshly wife eye?
10. That he did not fhew fufficient authority for what he did. By what
authority dost thou theſe things; and who gave thee this authority? &c. Mark
xi. 28. Thou takeft upon thee great authority over the people ofGod,
over their teachers, yea, over God's temple, fabbath, and ordinances; but
where is thy authority fo to do? Shew us that, &c.
11. They excepted when he ſpoke of his fufferings and death. We
have heard in our law that Chrift abideth for ever; and how fayeft thou the Son
of Man muſt be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man? John xii. 34. Surely he that
is to be lifted up cannot be the Chrift that is to abide for ever, and not to
die! So that here, in one breath, thou haft overthrown all that thou hast been
fetting up by thy preaching and miracles. Now which way could they under-
ftand this thing? Nay, the very difciples themſelves could not fwallow it, but
were ſtartled at it; and Chrift was fain to hide it a long time from them.
And yet if there be any thing held forth now in thefe days by the fame Spirit
(as concerning light and perfection, or other truths which are feen in the
Spirit), becauſe men cannot apprehend them with their carnal under-
ſtanding, and make them agree with their carnal knowledge of the ſcrip-
tures, what liberty do they take to themſelves to ſpeak both againſt the truth
itſelf, and alſo against them who have ſeen theſe things in the Spirit, and
1peak them from the Spirit? Now whofoever becomes a difciple, muſt wait
in the obedience to know the doctrine, and not think to enter with that
wiſdom and carnal reafoning from the fcriptures, which the Scribes and Pha-
rifees, and Profeffors of that age were fhut out with.
There were many other things which they could not but except againſt;
as at his anſwers to their questions, to which fometimes he was filent, and
gave no anſwer at all; at other times, he anſwered not directly, but in
parables: (and how offenfive is this to man's wiſdom, who requires a pofitive
and direct anfwer?) And fometimes his anfwers might feem quite from
the thing, as John xii. 34, 35.
His
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OUTWARD.
His not giving refpect to perfons (for it was a known thing of him that he
regarded not mens perfons, Mat. xvii. 16.) could not be very pleahng to
them, who loved greetings, and fought honour one of another. He fhewed
not reſpect to Herod the king; but fpake contemptuoufly of him, as men
would account it: Go, faith be, and tell that fox. He did not fhew refpect
to the reverend and grave doctors of the law; nay, nor to the high prieft
himſelf. Nay, he did not fhew refpect to his own difciples; but faid to
Peter (when he mildly and affectionately defired his death might be avoided)
Get thee behind me, Satan. How harſh and rough a reply might this feem!
If Peter had erred, through his affection and tenderneſs to his mafter, a
meek ſpirit would gently have informed him; but to call him devil, and
fay, Get thee behind me, what kind of ſpirit doth this favour of? would
that profeffing Jew fay, who knoweth not the true meekneſs, but feeks af-
ter a fleshly meeknefs, which is a fervant to the fleshly wifdom and pru-
dence, but not true-born. Nay, he did not fpeak refpectfully to his own
mother (as man's fpirit, by its rule of reſpect, would judge and condemn
him); but faid, Woman, what have I to do with thee? John ii. 4. And in
a manner denied all his relations, Mat. xii. 48.
Laftly (to inftance no more), at his harsh cenfures of all the profeffors
of that age (who obferved the law of Mofes, and Ifrael's ftatutes), with all
their laborious and godly teachers; juftifying none but himſelf, and what
he taught, and a few of his followers. He told them, that they had not
the love of God in them, John v. 42. Did not this, think ye, feem to them
a very harsh charge? And why not the love of God? Becauſe they did not
follow him and his new doctrine? Yea, would they be ready to fay, they did
love God, and kept his commandments, fabbaths, and ordinances, which.
he tranfgreffed.
He laid this alfo to their charge, that they did not believe Mofes,
John v. 46. What an unjuſt charge might this feem, when they were fo
zealous for Mofes; and their very diflike of him, and controverſy againſt
him, was for the fake of the law and ordinances of Mofes ?
Another charge he laid to them was, that they were not the children of
Abraham, or of God; but of the devil, John viii. 39. 42. 44. What a raſh
cenforious man might they account him, thus to fpeak of them, who were
the human feed of Abraham, who were fuch ftrict obfervers of God's laws
and ordinances (which is the property of his children), and fuch enemies
to the devil, that they would not be drawn from the truths and way of
worſhip taught by Mofes and the prophets; no, not by all the miracles he
could work!
He called them a faithless and perverfe generation, Mat. i. 17, 18.
He told them that they did not know God; though they faid with con-
fidence that he was their God, John xii. 54, 55. How could they bear
this? They had been ſtudying the law and the prophets, and had a great
ftock of knowledge from thence, and were ftrict and exact in worship
(fome
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(ſome of them, as well as Paul, might be, according to the law, blameleſs)
and now to be told they did not know God? Nay, he that aboundeth in
knowledge, devotion, and worſhip, yet not being in the life and pure power
of the Spirit, hath not one dram of the true knowledge.
He told them that they ſhould die in their fins, John viii. 21. (O hard
word, and fevere judgment !) And yet he had told them a little before, that
he judged no man, ver. 15. Yea, they did think themſelves exceedingly
wronged by him; and thought that no man that had any thing of God in
him could speak fuch things, but only one that was an enemy to the people
of God, and led by the fpirit of Satan. To this effect they exprefs them-
felves, ver. 48. of that chapter, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan,
and haft a devil?
Yea, when Chrift charged them with going about to kill him, they ſeemed
to themſelves fo clear in their own confciences, that they anſwered, Thou
haft a devil. Who goes about to kill thee? John vii. 29. How eaſily might
they cloſe up the controverfy, and by this very thing conclude him to be a
falſe prophet? He fays, we went about to kill him; when (God knows)
there was not fuch a thing in our hearts. Can this man be a true prophet?
Yet Chriſt knew the profeffing Jew to be the murderer, and in and for his
religion's fake ftill feeking to flay him. And there is no fuch murderer of
Chrift (the life) upon the earth, as the zealous profeffor and worshipper out
of the life. He that is in the life cannot perfecute any man; he that is
out of the life cannot but perfecute him that is in the life. Hereby the
true and falſe Chriſtian may be diſcerned by the weakeft, fimple and ſingle
eye.
And then for their teachers and expounders of the law, how exceedingly
bitter did he ſeem againſt them? and how heavy things was he continually
laying to their charge? He called them blind guides, hypocrites, painted
fepulchres, graves which appear not, and pronounced woe upon woe againſt
them. Read that one place, Mat. xxiii. 33. Ye ferpents, ye generation of
vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? What! fpeak thus of our
zealous teachers, who ftudy the law, are ftrict in practifing of the ordinances,
and take fuch pains to inftruct us in the mind of God from Mofes and the
prophets? Was ſuch a man as this fit to live? Nay, and he does not ſhew a
gofpel fpirit. Mark how ſharp and bitter his words come from him (for
indeed a fharper fpeech, with greater vehemency and indignation of ſpirit,
can hardly be ſpoken); and they might feem to aggravate this fharp con-
demnation of his from his own confeffion. He himſelf had confeſſed that
they fat in Moſes's chair. Now he might have fhewn fome honour to
Mofes's chair, and to their office, which was of God, and doubtless good,
and not have gone about to make them thus odious in the eyes of the
people. Nay, he himſelf had bid men do as they faid, but in ver. 3. of
that chapter. Now was it likely that ever men fhould mind what they
faid, or obferve their doctrine, when he had thus repreſented them as op-
preffors
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preffors of the confcience, ver. 4. as devourers of widows houfes, and making long
prayers in hypocrify, ver. 15. as making their profelytes more the children of bell
than themfelves, ver. 15. as neglecters of the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith, ver. 23. as appearing righteous to men, but full
of hypocrify and iniquity, ver. 28. as of the fame generation that killed the pro-
phets, ver. 31, 32. as deceivers; as fuch as led into the ditch; and bid men be-
ware of their leaven; were not theſe good kind of encouragements for people
to hear them? Yea, he charged them with shutting up the kingdom of heaven
against men, and not going in themselves, nor fuffering men to enter that were
going in, ver. 13. How could they obſerve what they taught without hear-
ing them? And would Chriſt wifh any to hear fuch men as theſe? Yet for
all this, without doubt they were not without their juftifications againſt
Chriſt in theſe reſpects; and alſo had their charges, on the other hand,
ready againſt him. Now how did they fhut up the kingdom of heaven
againſt men? Did not they teach the law, and direct men to the ordinances.
of God, and open the prophets words to them? Was this fhutting up the
kingdom of heaven? and would not they fuffer men to enter? Why their
work was to win people to their profeffion; they would compaſs fea and
land to make a profelyte. How ftifly might the Jews have pleaded againſt
Chriſt, that he did flander their godly minifters, who were very painful and
zealous in opening the fcriptures, and teaching the way of God? Nay,
himſelf could not deny but they taught well; for he himſelf faith, What-
foever they bid you obferve, that obferve, and do, Mat. xxiii. 3. But mark
now, that ye may underſtand the thing. It is thus: any teaching or ex-
pounding of fcriptures out of the life, fhuts up the kingdom: for the life
is the kingdom, and words from the life yield the favour of the kingdom;
but words out of it, though ever ſo good and true, reach not to the life
in another; but only build up a knowledge in the contrary wiſdom, and
teach to hold the truth in the unrighteouſneſs, where Satan's kingdom ftands,
and where he hath the dominion over all that is brought thither. And fo
this kind of teaching and knowledge fhuts up the door and way of life, and
muſt be loft, before the kingdom can be found.
This
They fhut up the true kingdom; but they opened another kingdom;
they opened the kingdom another way (which was in truth fhutting of it);
and they had difciples and children of the kingdom, whom they tickled with
the hope of life, and fed with promiſes and comforts; but thefe the Lord
would fhut out. Many fhall come from the east and west, and fhall fit down with
Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children
of the kingdom fhall be caft out into utter darkness, Mat. viii. 11, 12.
is true at this day in the preſent difpenfation, as it was then in that diſpenſa-
tion; though men make it a great accufation againſt us, charging us that
we fay none are the people of God but ourſelves, and as if all were damned
Theſe are mens harfh and unfavoury expreffions; we ufe not to
Speak after this manner, but foberly open the ſtate of the thing as it ftands
VOL. I.
X
but we.
in
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}
in the truth (and as it hath been revealed unto us by him who is true, and
cannot lie); which is thus:
That through which men are faved, is the difpenfation of Truth in their
age. The meaſure of light which God gives forth in every age, that is the
means and proper way of falvation in that age: and where-ever men get or
profeſs of the knowledge of Truth declared in former ages, yet making uſe
of that to withſtand the preſent difpenfation of Truth in their age, they
cannot thereby be faved; but may thereby be hardened againſt that which
fhould fave them. And this we are affured of from the Lord, that as the
Jews could not be faved by the law of Mofes (making ufe of it in oppofi-
tion to the fhining of the light of God in the prophets in their feveral ages)
nor afterwards could be faved by magnifying and obferving both the words
of Mofes and the prophets, and their belief from thence of a Meffiah to
come (making ufe of thoſe things to oppofe that appearance of Chriſt in the
fleſh, which was the difpenfation of their day then); no more can any pro-
feffors be faved now by the belief of a Chriſt come, or any thing which
they can learn or practiſe from the fcriptures, making uſe thereof to oppoſe
the difpenfation of this day; which difpenfation is the immediate and power-.
ful breaking-forth of the light of the Spirit in the hearts of God's people (who
have earneſtly fought, and in much forrow and perplexity of fpirit longed and
waited for him), after this long dark night of the antichriftian apoftafy.
There remain yet fome other exceptions against him, about the time of
his fuffering death, with his hard ufage, which ſhould not wholly be paffed
over. As,
1. His difrefpectful or irreverent anfwering of the high-prieft, as it
feemed to them, when he afked him of his doctrine, John xviii. 19. his
anſwer was, that he spake openly in the world, not in fecret; Why aſkeſt thou me?
Afk them that heard me. Whereupon one of the officers ftruck him, faying,
Anfwereft thou the high-prieft fo? ver. 22. The plainneſs and fimplicity of
the life (which bows to God, and cannot regard man in the tranfgreffion)
feems rude and unmannerly to the lofty fpirit of the world.
2. His filence at the teftimonies brought against him, and to the high-
prieſt when he queſtioned him, Mark xiv. 60, 61. Indeed either the fpeak-
ing or filence in the life, is offenfive to the carnal profeffor, who knoweth
not the law of the life in this particular; but can either ſpeak or be filent,
according to his own will. This is the difference between the true and
the falfe Chriftian; the falfe Chriftian's knowledge and religion ftand in
his own will, in his own underſtanding; he ſpeaks in his own time; both
which are crucified in him that is born of the Spirit.
3. When he did ſpeak the truth himſelf, the high-prieſt rent his clothes,
and charged him with blafphemy, Mat. xxvi. 64. And thofe that were by
fell in with the high-prieft, and faid, he was guilty of death, ver. 66. Then
they spit on his face, and buffetted him, and fmote him, and mocked him, and
blindfolded him, and struck him on the face, bidding him prophefy who fmote
him, Mat. xxvi. 67, 68. and Luke xxii. 63, 64.
When
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When they brought him to Pilate, they would have Pilate take it for
granted that he was an evil-doer, and worthy of death: for when Pilate
afked for their accufation againſt him, they anfwer, If he were not a male-
factor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee, John xviii 29, 30. Pi-
late refufing fo to proceed in judgment, ver. 31, they begin to bring in
their charges: We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to
give tribute to Cæfar, faying, that he himself is Chrift, a king, Luke xxiii. 2.
Pilate examines him herein; but profeffes he can find no fault in him at all,
John xviii. 38. Then the chief priests accufed him of many other things,
Mark xv. 3. and were more fierce, faying, He ftirreth up the people, teaching
throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. (This indeed was
his great offence, he taught with the authority of the Spirit, and not as the
fcribes). Then Pilate fent him to Herod (where the chief priests and fcribes
ſtood vehemently accufing him), who queftioned him much; but he anſwered
him nothing. And Herod, with his men of war, fet him at nought, and mocked
bim, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and fent him back to Pilate, Luke
xxiii. 9, 10, 11. Pilate profeffed that he could not find him guilty of this fe-
cond charge, neither of perverting the people, ver. 14. therefore chaſtiſing
him, he would releaſe him, ver. 18. but the people, by the perfuafion of
the chief priests and elders, cried all at once, Away with this man, and re-
leafe unto us Barabbas, ver. 18. but let him be crucified; Crucify him, crucify
him! ver. 21. &c. Now when Pilate had fcourged him, and the foldiers
had ſtripped him, and put him on a ſcarlet robe, and had put a crown of
platted thorns on his head, and a reed in his right-hand, and had bowed the
knee to him in mockery, and ſpit on him, and fmote him with a reed, he
brings him forth to them again, hoping this might appeaſe their malice,
and they might be content to ipare his being crucified. They tell him they
have a law, and by their law he ought to die, becauſe he made himſelf
the Son of God, John xix. 4. 8. (See how they turn and wind every way
to make the innocent an offender, and to make fome law, of one kind or
other, take hold of him!) But when all their accufations would not pre-
vail with Pilate, but ftill (from the ſenſe of his innocency) he had a mind to
releaſe him, they uſe another fubtil artifice, telling him, If he let this man go,
be was not Cæfar's friend, John xix. 12. This carries it with Pilate: now
he diſputes no farther; but delivers him to their will, Luke xxiii. 5.
Now thou who readeft this, take heed of judging the Jews for all this
wickedness, while the fame nature is alive in thee which did all this in
them for affuredly thou (in whom that nature which did it in them is not
fubdued) wouldft have done the fame thing, hadft thou lived in thoſe days.
Thou that difdaineft and perfecuteft the appearance of Chrift in this age,
wouldſt have difdained and have perfecuted his appearance in that age. Do
not deceive thy foul.
The Jews did as little think that ever they ſhould have put a prophet,
or any good man, to death (much leſs the Meffiah) as thou canft: yea,
X 2
they
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they could blame their fathers for killing the prophets, and fay, If they had
lived in thoſe days, they would not have done it; and yet doft thou not
read what they did? The perfecuting fpirit was ever blind, and could in no
age read its evil and bitter nature, and its enmity against the life and power.
Be not thou blind in thy day, as they were in theirs; and an enemy, under
pretence of being a friend.
4. Another exception or argument against him, about the time of his
fuffering death, was, that he did not put forth his power to fave himſelf
from the croſs: He faved others, let him fave himſelf, if he be Chrift, the
chofen of God, Luke xxiii. 35. Is it likely that this is the Son of God, and
that he did fo many miracles by the power of God, and cannot now fave
himſelf from the crofs? This his fuffering death on the crofs did a little
ftumble ſome of the difciples, as may appear, Luke xxiv. 20, 21. and was
enough to have overturned the faith of any which ſtood not in the Spirit,
and in the power. The foldiers alfo could mock, and manage this argu-
ment againſt him, faying, If thou be the king of the Jews, fave thyself, Luke
xxiii. 37. And they that paffed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and
faying, Thou that destroyeft the temple, and buildeſt it in three days, fave thy-
felf. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross, Mat. xxvii. 39, 40.
Likewife the chief priefts, with the fcribes and elders, mocked among
themfelves, faying, Ile faved others, himself be cannot fave. Let Chrift, the
king of Ifrael, defcend now from the cross, that we may fee, and believe, Mark
xv. 31, 32. One of the thieves alfo railed on him, faying, If thou be the
Chrift, fave thyself and us, Luke xxiii. 39. And when he cried out to his
God, Eli, Eli, &c. they derided him: This man calleth for Elias; let us
fee whether Elias will come and fave him, Mat. xxvii. 47. 49. And after he
was dead, the chief priefts and Pharifees fpake of him as of a known de-
ceiver, ver. 63. and feem, in a pious zeal for the church, to take care that
there be no further occafion, after his death, for the reviving and fpreading
of his deceit and errors, ver. 64. Thus the Holy One, the Pure One, the
Juft and True One, in whoſe heart and mouth was no guile found) was
numbered among tranfgreffors, accounted a deceiver, and put to death as
a blafphemer, by the zealous prieſts and profeflors of that age, who were
fo confident of the righteoufnefs of their caufe (on the behalf of the law of
Mofes, and their fabbaths, temple, &c.) against him, that when Pilate
waſhed his hands, as clear of his blood, all the people anſwered, and faid,
His blood be on us, and on our children, Mat. xxvii. 25.
Now let men confider what the great exceptions are, which they have
againft the living appearance of Chrift in his Spirit (now towards the clofe
of the apoftafy) and againſt us his witneffes, whom the Lord hath called
forth to teftify his name. Many exceptions men have againft our perfons,.
our doctrine, our practices, for want of miracles, &c. Is this generation
more wife or juſt in their exceptions than the former was? Confider the
main ones a little.
Their
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Their great Exceptions againſt our Doctrine are;
1. That we preach up a light within, and that he that receiveth that light,
receiveth a perfect gift; and growing up in it, groweth up to perfection, which
in this life (through faith and obedience to this light or perfect gift) may be at-
tained, and the body of fin put off, and the new man Chrift put on.
Anſw. Indeed we cannot but preach up the light within, and declare
unto men how great things it hath done for us; even that which we could
never by any means meet with from any light without. And this is per-
fect, and tends to make perfect, carrying on its work daily. Now he that
feels its virtue, cannot doubt of its power. He that feeth the body of fin
daily going off, cannot doubt but he may be ftripped. Indeed, if a man
ftrive againſt fin in his own will, and by his own gathered knowledge, he
cannot get much ground, and fo it is hard for him to believe perfection.
But he that feels unity with that which is perfect, cannot but acknowledge
that it is able to perfect him, and in faith and patience is encouraged to
hope and wait for it.
2. That we deny that Chrift which died at Jerufalem, and his imputed righte
oufnefs, and fet up an inherent righteoufnefs.
Anfw. We know no other Chrift than that which died at Jerufalem,
only we confefs our chief knowledge of him is in Spirit. And as Chrift
faid in the days of his flesh, that the way to know his Father, was to know
him; and he that knew him knew the Father alfo; fo we now witnefs,
that the way to know Chrift is to know the Spirit; and that he that knoweth
the Spirit, knoweth Chrift alfo; with whom Chrift is one, and from whom
he cannot be feparated. And as for imputed righteouſneſs, it is too pre-
cious a thing to us, to be denied by us. That which we deny, is mens
putting of it out of its place, applying it to them who are not in the true
faith, and walk not in the true light: for in the true light (where the fellow-
fhip is with the Father and the Son) there alone the blood cleanfeth, 1 John
i. 7. And there alone the righteoufnefs is imputed to him, who is cleanfed
by the blood in the light, and not to him who knows it not.. And as for
inherent righteoufnefs, we meddle not with that word, but this we fay; That
our life exceedingly lies in feeling the righteouſneſs of Chrift wrought and
revcaled in us; and we wish men could come out of the reafoning about
it, into the feeling of the fame thing with us: for then we are fure they
would not fo fharply, nor fo long contend.
3. That we deny the ordinances, and means of falvation.
Anfw. We deny nothing that the apoftles and Chriftians formerly practifed;
nor do we deny any thing that any now practiſe in the light, and in the
faith; but the fetting up fuch things in the will, that we deny; or the imi-
tating theſe without the command of the Spirit, that we deny alfo. And
this we teftify, that antichrift crept in here, and that they are his great
cover to keep men from the life; and therefore warn men to mind the life,
and
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and to take heed they be not kept from the fubftance by the fhadows,
where antichrift lies lurking, to bewitch from the fubftance. And we are
fure that thefe, in antichrift's hands, are not the means of falvation; but
keep from the fight of the holy city, where the life and falvation is. And
we read that the outward court was given to the Gentiles; who trod under
foot the holy city, Rev. xi. 2. And we have found by experience, that
while we ourſelves were crying up the outward court, we did trample under
foot the city, though we then knew it not.
Their exceptions againſt our perſons are, that we are ignorant, illiterate,
and alſo unſettled perfons (who have ftill been ſeeking up and down, &c.)
Anfw. What perfons are fitteſt for God to make uſe of, towards the re-
covery of his people out of the apoftafy? Doth not God chufe that which
is weak, and mean, and contemptible, that his glory might the more ap-
pear ? Is not this a more likely way for him to ſteal upon the world, than if
he appeared in the wife and learned ones? And among whom is his
appear-
ance to be expected? Among thoſe who are fettled upon their lees in the
apoftafy? or among thoſe who have mourned, panted, and fought to come
out of it, and could not be fettled without his appearing to them, and fix-
ing of their feet upon the rock. But have we been unfettled, fince God
hath faſtened us on the living foundation? Nay: here is no more going
out; but he that abides faithful, remains a pillar in the houſe of God.
Men except likewife againſt our practices, as that we fhew not reſpect to
perfons, and that we are not ftri&t (after their manner) in duties, &c.
Anfw. We have heard that voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, Rev.
xiv. 7. (not only as it is written there, but in Spirit): and where the Lord
is exalted, the glory of the creature falls; read Ifa. ii. how all falls in
that day, that God alone might be exalted. And we cannot, in this mighty
day of the Lord, any longer give to man that honour which he hath gathered
in the fall, and which pleaſeth the fallen nature, and not that which is born
of God. And for duties, we have bewailed, in the fight of the Lord, our
former running into duties without his Spirit: and we muft confefs, we can
only pray in the Spirit; fing in the Spirit; wait in the Spirit; fpeak in the
Spirit (as that gives utterance), and not of ourſelves, or when we will; but
as we ſee life, ſtrength, and power from on high, leading and affifting us.
And our religion confifts neither in willing nor running, but in waiting on
the Spirit and power of the Lord, to work all in us and for us. All theſe
things we look upon to be our duty, and practiſe them.
It is likewiſe excepted against us, that we do not work miracles.
Anfw. We point to that which wrought all the outward miracles formerly,
and which now worketh great inward miracles in Spirit; and we are ſure
the fame power, which we have received the Goſpel in, is of the fame
healing virtue. But that power worketh according to the purpoſe of its own
will, and not according to the will of man (yea, though Paul had the gift
of healing, yet he left Trophimus at Miletum fick, 2 Tim. iv. 20.); neither
was
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;
was the will or wifdom of man fatisfied in all thofe miracles which Chrift
and the apoftles wrought. It is enough for us to feel and live in the mov-
ing of the power; in which we rejoice, and are more fatisfied (that by it our
names are written in the Book of Life) than we could by any fuch out-
ward and viſible appearance and manifeftation of it. But if we did work
outward miracles, yet if thou hadft not an inward eye to ſee them with,
thou wouldst not be able to diftinguiſh by what power they were wrought.
To what purpoſe fhould I mention any more particulars? Is it not e-
nough? Oh! fear before the Lord! and do not loſe the prefent diſpenſation of
life through miſtake (or becauſe ye cannot have things ſuited to your cor-
rupt wills); but know the Goſpel, which is an inward difpenfation, and doth
not confift in outward fhadows, but in inward virtue, life, and power: For
the kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Come to wait for that, to feel that, to unite there; and then we ſhall not
differ about that which is outward. But it is antichrift's way, by the magi-
ftrates power, to force an agreement about the outward, which deſtroys
that tendernefs of confcience which preferves the inward.
cry-
And now let me put one queftion to you; Where is the deceit of the
ages after Chrift to be expected? Did the Jews deny Mofes and the pro-
phets writings, or ordinances? Nay, were they not very zealous for theſe?
And were not theſe their cover, under which they perfecuted Chrift, and
vented all their malice againſt him? So can it be expected now, that the
deceivers of this age fhould deny the apoftles writings, or the practices
therein mentioned? Or is it not rather to be expected, that under their
ing up of theſe, they ſhould hide their enmity againſt the life? Search and
fee, hath not every after-age of profeffors took up the words and practices
of them who were perfecuted in the foregoing age; and under the profeffion
of thoſe words and practices, have hid their ſpirit of perfecution? There is
a remnant only among profeffors to be faved; the generality of them have
ftill been perfecutors, creeping into the form, getting that for a cover up-
on their backs, and then fighting againſt the life and power. Oh! wait on
the Lord in his fear, that ye may be found worthy to know the perſecuted
truth on the one hand, and the perfecuting fpirit on the other hand, in this.
day of large profeffion, and alfo of bitter perfecution!
Now what might be the cauſe, or how could it come to paſs, that the
zealous worſhippers of that age fhould thus err in their zeal, and be thus.
heady and rafh againſt him, whom they looked for to be their Saviour?
How came they thus to err in vifion, and ſtumble in judgment, in ſo weighty
a matter? Shew unto us the cauſe, that we may fee whether the ſame cauſe
be not in us: for undoubtedly if it be, it will produce the fame effect, and
ſo we may ignorantly draw upon our heads the fame heavy wrath in our
day, that they did in their day.
Anfw. The caufes were very many; I may mention fome few of the
principal ones; which if they be feen into and removed (by that power
which
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which is able to do it) fuch as are of a more inferior influence, will not be
able to ftand.
1. One cauſe of their blind zeal, and bitterneſs againſt Chriſt, was,
Their ignorance of the fcriptures, and of the power of God. If they had
known the fcriptures in the true light, they could not but have known
Chriſt, from whom the fcriptures were given forth; and if they had known
the power of God, they could not but have known him who came in the
power; yea, who was the power. They had knowledge enough of both
theſe one way; that is, in the letter: they knew the words of fcripture (they
could make large expoſitions of them), they knew what was faid in fcripture
concerning the power of God, but they knew not the thing itself; and fo
turned againſt it, and made uſe of the words (which came from it, and
teftified of it) against it.
2. A fecond cauſe of this their fad mifcarriage in their zeal, was, Their
putting the law and ordinances, and writings of the prophets, out of their proper
places. They exceedingly magnified and cried them up, in that carnal way
wherein they apprehended and practifed them, but underſtood not the right
end and uſe of them. And by theſe means, practiſing the ſhadows in the
carnal mind, they loſt the ſubſtance, which the proper uſe of the ſhadows
was to have pointed them unto.
3. Their high conceits of the goodness of their ftate in relation to God, and of
the certainty of their knowledge of the truths of God from Mofes and the pro-
phets. They were confident they knew God aright, and that he was their
Father, and that they were his children and people. And fo Chrift appear-
ing in a feeming contrariety to theſe (notwithſtanding all his powerful
preaching and miracles) they made no queſtion but they might boldly con-
clude him not to be of God.
4. Chrift's coming in a way that they looked not for him. They had con-
çluded from the fcriptures how Chrift muft appear; and he coming in a
far different manner, they could not own him, but looked upon him as a
deceiver, one that pretended to be Chrift, but was not like to what the
fcripture faid of Chrift. So what the fcripture faith of Chrift's fecond com-
ing, is hid as much from the carnal eye of profeffors in this age, as what
was faid concerning his firft coming, was hid from them in their age; and
he will ſteal upon them as a thief, at a time, and in a way, and after a
manner that they expect not.
5. (Which is the main one, and the cauſe of all the former) Becauſe
they were from the light within, from the true light in their own hearts and
confciences. The light within is the great ordinance of God, and the pro-
per means to give the knowledge of him (2 Cor. iv. 6.); without which it
was never received under any difpenfation: for the light that fhines abroad,
or from without, can alone be known and received by the light that ſhines
within. Chrift himſelf opens this in a parable; The light of the body (faith
he) is the eye; if therefore thine eye be fingle (clear, without beams or motes)
thy
The JEW OUTWARD.
169
thy whole body shall be full of light, Matt. vi. 22. But if that be evil, if
that be dark, if that be clofed by the god of this world, all Mofes's words,
all the prophets words, yea, all Chrift's and his apoftles words, cannot give
thee light. Can I fee the light of the fun, moon, or ſtars, or of any fire
or candle, if I have not a natural eye, and if that natural eye be not open
So neither can I fee the light of any difpenfation of life, if I have not an
eye within me open, wherewith to fee it. So that that which gives me the
fight of the things of God, is the eye which God hath given me. By that
may be read the eternal power and God-head in the creatures, in the books
of Mofes and the prophets, in the writings of the evangelifts and the apo-
ftles, as the Spirit leads and opens. Yea, the fame Spirit that opened to
theſe without books, may again open to any of us without books at his
pleaſure (and will not be limited to books), and we then may read alío as
they did, even within in the Spirit, and in the immediate life; but without
this, can none of the things of God be read aright. Now the god of this
world had blinded this eye in the Jews; yea, they themſelves had stopped
their ears and cloſed their eyes, &c. they would not fee this way, they would
not be converted and healed this way. They would keep up the know-
ledge which they had gathered from Mofes and the prophets, without this
eye; and with that they would fee, or not at all.
Thus being from the light within, they could not fee the place of life
within, where life is to be received: they could not fee the womb of wif-
dom, which is within, and fo could not enter into it, and be born again.
And being not born of the wiſdom, how could they juſtify the wiſdom?
Being not born of the light, how could they know or own Chrift, whoſe
coming and appearance was in the light? For that appearance of Chriſt the
life, in that body of fleſh, could not be difcerned by all mens wiſdom in
the letter (the diſciples themſelves came not fo to know it); but my Father
which is in heaven hath revealed it to you. And mark it: the difciples who
were illiterate, and not fo knowing of the fcriptures that were written of
Chriſt, yet they knew Chrift: but the fcribes and Pharifees, who were
very ſkilful in the letter, could not know him. What was the reafon? The
reafon lay in the difference of the eye, or light, wherewith they looked: the
one looked with an outward eye, the other with an inward eye. And a lit-
tle inward light will do that, which a great deal of outward light will not
do. And this I can certainly affirm, that all the light that men can gather
from the fcriptures, cannot give them the knowledge of Chrift as he hath
appeared in this age; nay, nor as he hath appeared in any age, ſince the
days of the apoftles: but a little true inward light will give the knowledge
of this thing, and open thofe fcriptures infallibly (in its feafon) which all
the generations of wife and learned men have been controverting and dif
puting about, in that wisdom and fearching fpirit which is never to under-
ftand them. This then is the main and full reafon of this deep error of
the Jews, and their defperate fplitting upon the rock, which would have
VOL. I.
faved
Y
170
The JEW OUTWARD.
faved them. They were begotten of the letter, which was given forth in former
ages; but not of the life, which was raiſed up in their age: and fo they knew
not how to turn to the light within, which alone was able to give them the
true and certain knowledge of the things of God.
;
Now confider theſe things well, O ye profeffors of this age! and take
heed that ye do not fall after the fame example of unbelief. Be not high-
minded, but fear. Be not fo confident of what you have gathered by your
wiſdom for truth from the fcriptures (after the manner that they were, of
what they had gathered by their wiſdom); but fear left ye ſhould be mif-
taken as they were: and wait for the opening of that eye in you, which
was ſhut in them; even the true eye, in the true light, by the holy an-
ointing; where there never was, nor can be any miſtake. The Jews fell by
unbelief. Unbelief of what? They believed the fcriptures, they believed
according to that knowledge they had gathered from the fcriptures: but
they did not believe in the living word. They had a knowledge abiding in
them, which they had gathered from the fcriptures, but they had not the
living word abiding in them; and fo their faith was but unbelief (for the
living faith ſtands in the belief of the living word in the heart, which the
fcriptures direct to; without the knowledge of which, all knowledge of
words is vain; and without faith in which, all faith is vain alfo). Now
faith the apoſtle to the Gentile-Chriſtian, Thou ſtandeft by faith, Rom. xi.
20. By what faith? By faith in that word in the heart, which they neglect-
ed and turned from, Rom. x. 8. For Moſes had taught them, after the laws
and ordinances about worſhip and facrifices, that the word that they were
to obey and do (the word that could give them life, and make them obe-
dient to all the commandments without) was in their heart and mouth,
Deut. xxx. 14. And fo the prophet Micah, when they propoſed facrifices
and oil, to pleaſe God with, brings them to this which was given to
them in common with mankind, Mich. vi. 8. For all ordinances, and laws,
and obſervations, and practices without, are but to bring to the life within,
which is to be found again there, where it was loft, and ſtill lies flain and
hid (even in the field or houfe where it was loft). And he that ſeeks
abroad, never finds it; but when the candle is lighted in his own houſe,
and he ſearches narrowly in the field, in his own heart, and the eternal eye
begins to open in him; then he cries out, God was in this place, and I
was not aware of it. Ah! how the enemy bewitched me, to run from
mountain to mountain! and from hill to hill! and hath hereby covered my
eye from beholding the mountain of the Lord's houfe, and from feeling the
fpring of my life, which I further and further ran from, all the while I was
feeking abroad. Therefore, O ye profeffors, be not fo conceited like the
Jews, and running after them into their defolation and miſery, but learn
wiſdom by their fall! Do not you fet up your ordinances and fcriptures,
after the manner that they ſet up theirs; for this is your danger: for this I
clearly, in the light of the Lord, teftify to you; that if ye gather a know-
ledge
The JEW OUTWARD.
171
ledge and wiſdom from the letter of the fcriptures, after the manner that
they did, without knowledge of the word within, and without a light
within from that word, ye lofe the living faith, ye are but dead branches ;
and all your knowledge of fcriptures, and practices, and faith, and duties,
&c. that ye here hold and obferve, are but for the fire; and the flames of
eternal wrath ſhall kindle more fiercely upon you becauſe of them, than
upon the Jews; for ye ftumble at the fame ftumbling-ftone at which they
ſtumbled and fell, and it will fall upon you alfo. And as you have more
ſcriptures than they had, and the experience of their fall to warn you; fo
your deftruction will be exceeding dreadful if you neglect fo great falvation;
whereof at this day there are ſo many living and powerful witneffes, as they
are known and owned to be in the light of the Lord, though deſpiſed in
your exalted and conceited wifdom.
Now to help any honeft and fingle hearts among you over this great
ftumbling-block of a light within, confider theſe few things.
1. That all the knowledge, all the true knowledge, that ever ye had of
God, was from a light within. I do not deny that ye might receive your
knowledge through the fcriptures (and fome warmth formerly in thoſe
things which ye call ordinances and duties); but that whereby ye received
the knowledge was the light within; the eye that God fecretly opened in
your fpirits. This was the way ye then came by it, though ye perhaps
might feel the thing, but not know how ye came by it: even as a babe
may fee truly, but doth not underſtand its own eye, or know how it fees.
2. While this eye was kept open in you, your knowledge was true in its
meaſure, and ſerviceable to you, and did draw you nearer to God, making
you truly tender, meek, fweet, humble, patient, loving, gentle, and of pre-
cious breathings towards God, and after righteoufnefs. Oh! how lovely
were you to God in this ftate! When Ifrael was a child, I loved him. God
remembreth at this day the kindneſs of your youth, and is feeking after
you. Oh! why do ye fo harden your hearts againſt him!
3. That where-ever this eye is fhut, the virtue of the true knowledge
is loft, and the fweet fruits thereof wither. The outward part of the
knowledge may be retained; yea, perhaps much increaſed, but the life is
gone, and the pure fweet favourineſs (to God) vaniſhed. And if this eye
were but a little opened again in you, your death and unfavourineſs might
be ſoon ſeen and felt in you, in all your knowledge, duties, ordinances;
yea, in
your very graces and experiences. You have a faith ftill; yea, but
it wants the favour of your former faith: ye have fome kind of love, gen-
tleneſs, and meeknefs; yea, but it is only a thing formed by the fleshly
wiſdom and reaſoning, but not natural from the living fpring, not fuch as
ye once felt, &c. for the true and living eye being fhut, that which is then
kept beft (or afterwards attained) is held but in the dead part, and ferves but
to feed death.
Y 2
4. The
172
The JEW OUTWARD.
4. The great work and defign of the enemy of your fouls, is not to ſteal
away the bulk of your knowledge, or to draw you from ordinances or du-
ties; but to fteal the life out of your fpirits. This I have experimented
from my childhood: I might ftill have knowledge enough of any kind; but
that which I wanted was life; and I was ftill fick under all the forts of
knowledge that ever I met with, and under all ordinances and duties, for
want of life. The Lord had given my foul a taſte of true life, whereby I
became unfatisfied without it, and no manner of knowledge or enjoyment
could take me up by the way: yea, when through extremity I ſeemed
willing to be content with any thing; yet ftill my heart was fick after that
one thing, which alone could truly eaſe and fatisfy it. Now if the enemy
can prevail herein, to blind the inward eye, and fteal away the life within,
he hath enough. Then abound as much as thou wilt in knowledge, in zeal,
in duties, in ordinances, in reading fcriptures, praying, meditating, &c.
thou art the furer his hereby, and fo much the better fervant to him: for
how much the richer thou art in knowledge, experiences, hopes, and affu-
rance, without the life of power; fo much the more acceptable, and ho-
nourable, and uſeful, art thou in his kingdom.
Therefore fee where ye are. Is the inward eye open in you? Do
? Do ye know
the light within? (Surely he that fees by a light within, can hardly ſpeak evil of
it!) Or hath the enemy, by fome of his artifices, drawn a veil over that eye,
wherewith once ye faw in fome meaſure? Oh! be not flight in a matter of fo
great weight! Oh! pleaſe not yourſelves with the eye of the periſhing wif-
dom, with death's eye, and with death's knowledge of fcriptures and of
the Son of God; which ſpeaks great words of the fame of true wiſdom, but
is a ſtranger and enemy to the thing!. Oh! life is precious! eternal life is
precious! To have the word of God abiding in the heart, and to feel the
true light give the true life, who can fet a value on this! Ah! do not lofe
your fouls for a trifle; for a little fuch knowledge of the fcriptures as the
earthly part can gather! This I cannot but exceedingly defpife, although
the ſcriptures I truly honour, for their teftimony of that whereby I live. If
ye fee not the way of life by the inward light, which alone can fhew it, ye
lofe your fouls. If the god of the world hath blinded that eye in you, what
are all your treaſures of wiſdom and knowledge? What are all your hopes?
And what will become of you? All theſe ſparks of your own kindling
from ſcriptures will not fecure you from the bed of forrow. O ye feveral
forts of profeffors, why will ye die with the uncircumcifed? Why will ye
go down into the pit, among them that know not the Lord?
But what ſhall I fay to this generation? The ſpiritually-wife foreſeeth the
ftorm, and hideth himſelf; but the fpiritually-foolifh run on headily, and
are puniſhed. The clouds have long been gathering; but the fick eye
cannot diſcern the figns of the times and feafons; and fo becauſe judg-
ment comes not as men expected, they grow hard, and wear off the fenfe
wherewith they were fomewhat affected at the firft threatening of it: but
affuredly
}
The JEW OUTWARD.
173
•
1
affuredly both judgment and mercy haften, and they will come, and will
not tarry.
For the fame Lord God Almighty, which confounded the Heathens Babel,
(when their fins and vain confidence were ripe) which they built to prevent
any future flood (for though they once had the true knowledge of God
from an inward light, Rom. i. 21. yet they foon left that, not liking to retain
God in their knowledge, verfe 28. but running out into imaginations, and
fo building a Babel, whereby their foolish hearts became darkened to the
light which God had made to fhine in them; which fhewed what might be
known of God unto them, ver. 19.); yea, the Lord God which overthrew
the Jews Babel, which they had built from their knowledge of the laws
and ordinances of Mofes, and the fcriptures written to them (they running
out into imaginations alfo); whereby they likewiſe thought to prevent the
overflowing Scourge from coming near them, Ifa. xxviii. 15.; the fame God
will overthrow the Chriftians Babel, which they have built from the prophets
and apoſtles words (by their own imaginations and conceivings in the
high-mindedneſs, out of the fear), whereby they think to eſcape the deluge
of eternal wrath. (For their city alfo fhall be thrown down with violence, and
hall be found no more at all, Rev. xviii. 21.) And the great work of this
day is to diſcover the rottenneſs of their wall, and the untemperedneſs of the
morter wherewith they have daubed it. He that readeth, let him under-
ftand; but the uncircumcifed in heart and ears cannot.
THE
1
THE
AXE LAID TO THE ROOT
OF THE
OLD CORRUPT TREE;
AND THE
SPIRIT OF DECEIT ftruck at in its NATURE.
FROM WHEN CE
All the ERROR from the LIFE, among both PAPISTS
and PROTESTANTS, hath ariſen, and by which it is
nouriſhed and fed at this Day.
IN A
DISTINCTION between the FAITH which is of MAN, and
the FAITH which is of GOD.
AND
In fome ASSERTIONS concerning TRUE FAITH; its NATURE,
RISE, &c. its receiving of CHRIST, and its abiding and growing
in his living Virtue.
WITH
A WARNING Concerning Adding to and Diminiſhing from the SCRIPTURE
in general, and the Prophecies of the REVELATIONS in particular.
Diſcovering what it is, and the great Danger of it; with the only Way
of Preſervation from it. Whereto is added, A fhort Touch about the
USE of MEANS.
AS ALSO
A Brief HISTORY concerning the STATE of the CHURCH fince the
Days of the APOSTLES.
With an EXHORTATION to the PRESENT AGE.
By the Movings of the Life, in a Friend to the Living Truth of the Moft High GOD;
but an utter Enemy to the Spirit of Error and Blafphemy, where-ever it is found, as
well in the ftricteſt of the Proteftants, as among the groffeſt of the Papiſts,
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
[ clxxvii ]
THE
PREFACE.
T
HERE was a glorious day, and bright appearance of Truth,
in the times of the apoftles. They had the true Comforter,
who led them into all Truth, and kept them alive in Truth, and
Truth alive in them. By this Spirit, they, as living ſtones, were
built up a ſpiritual houſe, founded upon Sion, the holy mount ;
into Jerufalem, the holy city, which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and ground of Truth. And here they had their
converſation in heaven, with God, the judge of all; with Chriſt,
the Mediator; and with the ſpirits of juft men and the holy angels,
which always behold the face of God. They lived in the Spirit,
they walked in the Spirit, they prayed in the Spirit, they fung
in the Spirit, they worshipped in the Spirit, and in that under-
ſtanding which the Truth had made free, and had God dwelling
in them, and Chrift walking in the midft of them; and, by the
prefence and power of his life in them, were truly dead unto fin,
and alive unto God; they being not ſtrivers againſt fin with man's
legal fpirit, but by the power of grace, which made them more
than conquerors through him that loved them. This was part of
the glory of that ſtate, in the day of the ſunſhine of the goſpel.
But, behold! a thick night of darkneſs overſpread the beauty of
this! Some falfe brethren went out from the true church into the
world, getting the fheep's cloathing, making a great outward ap-
pearance, and drew the world after them; yea, and fome from the
very churches themſelves. (How hard was the apostle Paul obliged
to plead with the Corinthians about his own apoſtleſhip and doctrine,
that he might preferve that church from the falfe apoftles!) And
VOL. I.
Z
when
clxxviii
PREFACE.
when they had gathered a fufficient party in the world, they made:
head against the true ſheep and lambs of Chrift, fought with them,
and overcame them. And when they had overcome them that had
the living teftimony of Jefus, and the true power and prefence of
the Spirit among them, then they fet up their own dead form,
making a cry all over the nations of the earth, Revelation is ceafed!
there is no looking now for fuch an infallible Spirit, and ſuch imme-
diate teachings as the Chriftians had in the apoftles days, who had
the anointing to teach them all things; but they pointed men to
traditions, to the church, as they called it (which title the whore
hath engroffed fince the days of the apoftles), or to fearchings of the
fcripture, and reading expofitions upon it, and bodies of divinity,
formed by the underſtanding-part in man to inftruct the under-
ftanding-part. Thus the whole courfe of religion, and of the
knowledge of God, came to be out of that Spirit and life wherein
it first came forth (and wherein it firft ftood), and confifted in
doctrines of men, and a form of worſhip and knowledge which the
wiſdom of man had framed, in an imitation of that which formerly
ftood in the life.
And now men being gone from the life, from the Spirit, and his
immediate teachings, into an outward form of knowledge and wor-
ſhip of God in the wrong nature, antichrift is got up, and the dra-
gon fits in the temple, appearing there as if he were God, giving
out laws and ordinances of worſhip in public, and putting men upon
duties and exerciſes of devotion in private, and he is obeyed and
bowed down to in the obſervation of theſe; but the true living God
is not known, nor his fecret ftill voice (which calls out of thefe)
heard; becauſe of the great noiſe which the dragon makes in his
temple (for fo it is now, he having gained it, though it was once
God's), about his laws and ordinances of worſhip, which he would
have all compelled to, and none fuffered to teftify againſt them that
they are his, and not the Lord's.
up
Yet it pleaſed the Lord, all the night of this darkneſs, to raiſe
fome witneffes againſt the dragon, and all his invented forms of
worship; though they were ſtill hunted, perfecuted, knocked down,
and their teftimony cried out againft, as error, herefy, fchifm, and
blafphemy; and the ways, worſhips, and ordinances of the whore,
the beaſt, and dragon, ſtill cried up as the truth. Thus the Pa-
piſts cried out againſt the Proteſtants as hereticks and fchifmaticks,
who
I
PREFACE.
clxxix
!.
who were witneffes againſt them; and the Proteftants cried out
againſt the Non-conformifts, Separatifts, and Browniſts, who were
witneffes againſt them; and every fect cries out moſt againſt them
who are led further from the apoſtaſy, and raiſed up by the Lord
as witneſſes againſt them, against their fitting down in their form,
and not purfuing the guidance of that Spirit, which would lead them
quite out of the darkneſs, and not have them fit down by the
way.
up
Now the Lord God, in theſe latter days, hath not only raiſed up
witneffes againſt the whore, the dragon, the beaſt, the falſe pro-
phets, with all their inventions which they have fet inſtead of
the truth; but hath affayed, and begun to deliver his people out of
this Egyptian darkneſs, and to bring them back to the light of the
land of Canaan. And now great enemies have appeared; the fons
of the night exceedingly ftrengthening themſelves to keep out the
day-light, every one crying up his own form, and all joining hand
in hand againſt the power: yea, and that ſpirit which firſt tempted
from God, is exceeding buſy to cauſe thoſe whom the Spirit of the
Lord hath been drawing out of the land of darkneſs, to make a
captain to return to Egypt; or at leaſt to fit down in fome form, or
fome pleaſant notion of things by the way, and not to follow the
Lord through all his intricate leadings in the vaft howling wilder-
neſs, till he bring them into the poffeffion of the true reft. What
a work was there to quench that ſpirit which ſtirred in the Pro-
teftants againſt Popery, and to fix them in epifcopacy, and in the
ufe of the Common-prayer-book? When that was detected, and
turned from, the Presbytery endeavoured to take its place, and to
bring in its directory; but the purſuit of the Lord was fo hot againſt
that, that it ſtunk preſently, and his mighty hand would not ſuffer
it ſo much as to ariſe. Much about the fame time Independency
and Anabaptiſm appeared, and contended; and there was a more
fimple and honeft thing ſtirring there, than in the other: and ac-
cordingly the bleffing of the Lord (which was not to the form, but
to the life which was ſtirring within) did appear more among them.
But they fixing there, loft the life and fimplicity to which the blef-
fing was, and met with the death and the curfe, which is the
pro-
per reward of the form for any form, out of the life, kills the
life; and its reward is death to itſelf. The form kills the life, which
ſtirred underneath, and made it appear with fome freſhnefs; and
Z 2
when
clxxx
PREFACE.
when the life, from which it had its feeming beauty and luftre,
dies, then it foon withers and dies alfo: fo that the living princi-
ple being once flain, there remains nothing but the dead ſpirit, feed-
ing on the dead form. There was one more pure appearance, and
nearer to the kingdom than all thefe; which was of Seeking and
Waiting but death overcame this alſo, making a form of it, and
ſtealing in ſome obfervations, from the letter of the fcriptures, con-
cerning the kingdom, whereby their eyes were with-held from be-
holding the inward principle and feed of life within, to look for
fome great appearance of power without (fuch as was among the
apoſtles), to fet things to rights; and fo they were held captive by
the fame fpirit, in their feeking and waiting, whereby the others
are held in their forms. Thus have perfons generally miffed the
following of that good Spirit, which began to lead them out of
Egypt, the dark land; and, lofing their guide, have fixed fome-
where or other by the way; refting in fome form, or in fome notion.
or expectation of things (according as in their wisdom they have
imagined from their ſkill in the letter) fhort of the life itſelf. Thus:
have their carcaffes fallen in the wilderneſs..
the
Now this I have to fay to you all: All you who reft in any form
whatſoever, or reft in any notion or apprehenfion of things ſhort of
the life itfelf, ye had even as good have ſtayed in Egypt, as to fix by
way, and to take up a reft in the wildernefs, fhort of Canaan.
In plain terms, ye had as good have abode in Popery or Epifcopacy;
ye had been as acceptable to God there as here. Not that I fay
your forms of Independency, Anabaptiſm, or Seeking, are as bad
as Popery, Epiſcopacy, or Presbytery: nay; they are all fomewhat
nearer, and the laft of them very much nearer: but your fixing there,
and the dead ſpirit feeding there on the dead thing, is as remote
from life as if it had gone quite back again. And this dead fpirit is
as hateful to God here, as it is among the Papiſts; yea, and in one
fenſe more, becauſe it makes a pretence beyond them.
And the truth is, ye have gone back again, though not in the
direct form, yet into that very ſpirit wherein Popery's ſtrength and
kingdom lie; and fo are become one of the beaft's names; and
your rength and defence lies in the beaft's horns, either in the
outward powers of the earth, or in that inward knowledge of things
and wiſdom from the letter, which is out of the life, and fo are
not yet come out of the city of Babylon. For mark: the fpirit
that
PREFA C E.
cxxxi
cup
that fixeth in a form ſhort of the life, is the fame that whored from
the life: And the ſame ſpirit is the whore ftill, in what form foever
fhe be. The Spirit that roſe up in the life, againſt the death and
corruption whereof Popery wholly confifted, was a good Spirit;
and this Spirit would paſs through all forms, till it meet with the
far
life. It is the other ſpirit that fays to thee, Thou haſt gone
enough; and fo tempts thee to ftay by the way. And he who
hearkens to this ſpirit, and ſtays any-where by the way, is caught
with the old whore in a new drefs, and is drinking the of for-
nication afreſh. And then, like the Papiſts, he runs to the powers
of the earth, to defend his form againſt the witneffes of God (and
that is his cover under which he perfecutes, and there he lies hid),
or at leaſt to his own wiſdom and reaſon, to ſtrengthen himſelf with
arguments for fixing here, and againſt going any further. And
then he grows wife in the flesh, and cries againſt them who are ftill
led by the fame Spirit to preſs on further, as weak, filly, giddy, un-
fettled, feduced people, that can never know when they are well.
Thus the wife Epifcopalians reviled the fimple-hearted Non-confor-
mifts, who purſued further than they. And the Non-conformiſts,
when they loft their fimplicity, and began to ftick, reviled thoſe
that purſued beyond them. And thus at this day, thoſe who are
preffing on in the Spirit, are difdained by thoſe who have taken up
their ſtation in the flesh; and with their two great horns, of earthly
power and earthly wiſdom, are they puſhing at them.
Look about ye, look about ye, all forts of devout profeffors; fee
where ye are! Are
you not dead in your forms? Is not the good old
Puritan Principle (wherein once was true life in its meaſure) dead.
and buried there? Confider with yourſelves; hath that grown in
your forms? Or hath it been flain there? Speak the truth in your
own hearts; can ye truly fay, from a fenfible feeling in the life,
that that principle is ftill alive in you? If it were fo, ye could
never be drawn to perfecute, no, nor fuffer perfecution, ye that
have power to hinder it: but if that feed be choaked, then ye may
well connive at, if not further the enemy, and plead for him, and
join intereſts with him. While Abel lived in you, Cain could not
rife up in his dominion; but now the right feed is flain, the mur-
thering nature appears.
O haften out of this fpirit! Haften out of Babylon! Caft off the
fpirit of Popery: Return to the old Puritan Principle: Do not cry
it
el xxxii
PREFA GE.
it up in deceit, to oppoſe the prefent appearance of truth, which is
grown up further in it; but fubject that dead formal earthly ſpirit
to it, which is fallen beneath it. And when ye are come to a true
touch of life there, ye may be able to own the fame truth in its
growth to a further meaſure. But while thou art in the dead un-
derſtanding, and from the power and life of truth in thine own
particular, doſt thou think to be able to meaſure truth aright in
others? Nay; thou meaſureſt by a falfe appearance of things in the
fallen underſtanding, and in the wifdom which thou haft gathered
there, fince thou thyfelf felleft from the living principle: And
this muſt needs commend that moft which is nearest to it, and not
that which is neareſt to truth. And this is the great error of this
age; men, with a gathered knowledge from ſcripture words, with-
out the true faith and life, go about to meaſure that life and know-
ledge which comes from the faith; and becauſe it ſuits not with
the apprehenfions which they have taken into their minds, they
condemn it. And thus, being in the ftumbling wifdom, and
of obfervation to which truth was never revealed, but was ever an
offence, they ſtumble at it: and fo men generally dafh and fplit
themſelves againſt the fame rock now, as the Pharifees did of old.
Now this underſtanding muft perish, and this wifdom in men be
brought to nought, before that can be raiſed up which can judge
àright.
way
Hearken therefore to my exhortation, as ye love your fouls;
Come out of Popery in deed and in truth: Come out of the SPIRIT
of Popery: Burn the whore, in her new forms as well as in her
old: Caft off all thefe new names of the beaft, under which the
old ſpirit has made a prey of the life in your own particulars, and
lies lurking to make a prey of the life in others, and to force it in
to its own deceitful forms of death, and flay it. Leave defending
your faith and church by the beaft's horns, and come to that faith
and church which is received, gathered, and defended by Chrift,
the One Horn of Salvation. Leave your reafonings and difputings
in that wiſdom which has flain the life, and come to that wisdom
which come from the life, and fprings up in the life; and ye will
find more certainty and fatisfaction in one touch of true life, than
in all the reaſonings and diſputes of wife men to the world's end.
The ground wherein mens religion grows (even the moſt zealous)
is bad; even the fame ground wherein the Pharifees religion ftood
and
PREFA C E.
clxxxiii
1
and grew; and it hath brought forth fuch a kind of fruit; namely,
fuch a kind of conformity to the letter as theirs was; which ftands
in the underſtanding and will of man, rearing up a pleaſant build-
ing there, but keeps from the life, and from building in it. But
the true religion ſtands in receiving a principle of life; which, by
its growth, forms a veffel for itself; and all the former part, where-
in fin on the one hand, or felf-righteouſneſs on the other hand,
ſtood and grew, paffeth away.
Theſe things following ſtrike at the king of Babylon himſelf;
yea, even at the very root of the antichriftian fpirit in every man;
which he that can mildly receive the ſtroke of, may feel the true
Spirit of life (which lies underneath) fpring up in him, and give
life to his foul which, when it is delivered, will be able truly to
know, and rejoice in, the Lord his Saviour. And when the root
of that ſpirit is cut down (which never brought forth fweet pleaſant
fruit unto life; but only four fruit, finely painted and dreffed for
the eye and palate of death), its body, branches, leaves, and fruit,
will wither and die daily, and truth come to grow fafely.
1
}
THE
A
[184]
THE
A XE LAID TO THE ROOT
OF THE
OLD CORRUPT TREE.
A DISTINCTION between the FAITH which is of MAN, and
the FAITH which is of GOD: One whereof is the Faith of
Sion, the other the Faith of Babylon: The one laying hold on
Chriſt, as he is revealed the King of Life in Sion; the other lays
hold on an Hiftorical Relation of Chrift, the Fame whereof hath
founded in Babylon.
T
HERE is a faith which is of a man's felf; and a faith which is the
gift of God: Or a power of believing, which is found in the nature
of fallen man; and a power of believing, which is given from
above. As there are two births, the firft and the ſecond, fo they have each
their faith; and each believe with their faith, and ſeem to lay hold on the
fame thing for life; and the contention about the inheritance will not be
ended, till God determine it. Cain will facrifice with his faith, and he
believes he ſhall be accepted: if he had not believed fo, he would not have
been fo angry when he found it otherwiſe: and the Cainiſh ſpirit in man,
the vagabond from the life of God, which hath not an habitation in God,
nor the eternal life of God abiding in him, is bufy with the fame faith at
this day, and hath the fame expectation from it as Cain had.
This is the root of the falfe religion; of the falfe hope; of the falfe peace;
of the falſe joy; of the falfe reft; of the falfe comfort; of the falfe affurance;
as the other is of the true. In this faith, which is of man, and in the improve-
ment of it, ftands all the knowledge, zeal, devotion, and worſhip of the
world in general, and of the worldly part in every man in particular: but
the true knowledge, the true zeal, the true devotion, the true worſhip, ſtands
f
in
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
185
in the faith which is given of God, to them which are born of the immor-
tal feed; which lives in God, and in which God liveth for ever.
Now it deeply concerns every man, to confider from which of thefe his
knowledge, religion, and worship proceed, and in which of them they
ftand. For if they proceed from, and ſtand in, the faith which is of man,
they cannot pleaſe God, nor conduce to the falvation of the foul. But tho'
they may tafte very pleaſantly to man's palate now, and adminifter much
hope and fatisfaction to him at prefent, yet they will fail at the time of
need: for, as Chriſt ſaid concerning the righteouſneſs of the ſcribes and
Pharifees, fo may I concerning this faith; Except your faith, with the works
of it, exceed that faith, and all the works of it (even to the utmoſt improve-
ment thereof) which is to be found in man's nature, it will never lead you to the
kingdom of God, nor be able to give you any right to the inheritance of life.
For he that will inherit, muſt be the right heir, muſt have the faith of Abra-
ham, the faith of Ifaac; which ſprings up from the root of life in the ſeed;
and this leads the feed into that fpring of life (out of which it ſhot forth as
a branch) which is the inheritance promiſed to the feed. And here is
Chriſt, Alpha and Omega, in every particular foul where life is begun and
perfected, running its courfe through time, back to that which was before
the beginning.
Therefore obſerve, and confider well, what this faith, which is of a man's
felf can do; and how far it may go in the changing of man, and in pro-
ducing a conformity of him to the letter of the fcriptures. And then con-
fider where it is ſhut out, what it cannot do, what change it cannot make,
what it cannot conform to; that fo the true diftinction may be let into the
mind, and not a foundation laid of fo great a miſtake in a matter of fo great
concernment.
1. A man may believe the hiftory of the fcriptures; yea, and all the
doctrines of them (fo far as he can reach them with his underſtanding)
with this faith which is of man. As by this faith a man can believe an
hiſtory probably related to him; fo by this faith he believes the hiſtories of
the fcriptures, which are more than probably related. As by this faith a
man can receive doctrines of inftruction out of philofophers books; ſo by
the ſame faith he may receive doctrines of inftruction out of the fcriptures.
Reading a relation of the fall of man, of the recovery by Chrift, that
there is no other way to life, &c. this faith can believe the relation of theſe
things, as well as it can believe the relation of other things.
2. This being believed from the relation of the hiftory of theſe things,
it naturally fets all the powers of man on work (kindling the underſtand-
ing, will, and affections) towards the avoiding of mifery, and the attain-
ing of happineſs. What would not a man do, to avoid perpetual extremity
of mifery on foul and body for ever, and to obtain a crown of everlaſting
bleffedneſs? This boils the affections to an height, and fets the under-
ſtanding on work to the utmoſt, to gather all the rules of fcripture, and to
VOL. I.
practife
A a
1
186
The Axe laid to the Root
practife all the duties and ordinances therein mentioned. What can the
fcripture propoſe to be believed, that he will not believe? What can it
propofe to be done, that he will not do? Muft he pray? He will pray.
Muſt he hear? He will hear. Muft he read? He will read. Muft he
meditate? He will meditate. Muſt he deny himſelf, and all his own
righteouſneſs and duties, and hope only for falvation in the merits of
Chrift? He will feem to do that too; and fay, when he has done all he can,
he is but an unprofitable fervant. Does the fcripture fay he can do nothing
without the Spirit? He will acknowledge that too, and he hopes he has
the Spirit. God hath promiſed the Spirit to them that afk it; and he has
afked long, and aſks ſtill, and therefore hopes he has it. Thus man, by a
natural faith, grows up and fpreads into a great tree, and is very con-
fident and much pleafed; not perceiving the defect in his root, and what
all his growth here will come to.
3. This being done with much ſeriouſneſs and induftry, there muſt needs
follow a great change in man: his underſtanding will be more and more
enlightened; his will more and more conformed to that to which he thus
gives himſelf up, and to which he thus bends himſelf with all his ftrength;
his affections more and more warmed; he will find a kind of life and growth
in this, according to its kind. Let a man's heart be in any kind of ſtudy or
knowledge, applying himſelf ſtrictly to it, he gathers underſtanding in his
mind, and warmth in his affection: fo it is alfo here. Yea, this being
more excellent in itſelf, muſt needs produce a more excellent underſtand-
ing, and a more excellent warmth, and have a greater power and influence
upon the will.
4. Now how eaſy is it for a man to miſtake here, and call this the truth!
Firſt, he miſtakes this for the true faith; and then he miſtakes in applying
to this all that which belongs to the true faith: and thus entering into the
ſpirit of error at firft, he errs in the whole courſe of his religion, from the
beginning to the end. He fees a change made by this in him; and this he
accounts the true converfion and regeneration. This leads him to aſk, and
feek, and pray; and this he accounts the true praying, the true feeking,
the true aſking. This cleanfeth (after its kind) his underſtanding, will,
and affections; and this he takes for the true fanctification. The juftifica-
tion which is to the true believer, he alſo applies to this faith; and ſo he
has a peace, a fatisfaction, a reſt here, and an hope of happineſs hereafter.
Thus he receives what is already revealed; and he waits for what may be
further revealed, which he can embrace and conform to, turning ftill upon
this center, and growing up from this root.
from this root. And he that does not come
hither in religion, falls fhort of the improvement of man's nature, and of
the faith that grows there (which naturally leads all the powers of nature
hither, and fixes them here), which is but dead. And now this man is
fafe; he is a believer; he is a worſhipper of God; he is a Chriftian; he is
an obferver of the commands of Chrift: when the overflowing fcourge
comes,
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
187
comes, it fhall not touch him: all the judgments, plagues, threatenings,
in the fcriptures, belong not to him, but to the unbelievers; to them that
know not God; to them that worſhip not God; to them that obferve not
the commands of Chrift. Thus, by his untempered morter from his falſe
faith, he has built up a wall againſt the deluge of wrath; which wall will
tumble down upon him when the wrath comes. The growth of this faith,
and great ſpreading of it into all this knowledge, zeal, and devotion, hath
not changed the nature of it all this while; but it is the fame that it was at
the beginning, even a power of nature in the firſt birth; and all theſe fruits
are but the fruits of the firft nature, which is ftill alive under all this. All
this can never kill the principle out of which it grows; but feeds it more,
and fattens it for the flaughter.
Thus far this faith can go: but then there is fomewhat it is fhut out of
at the very firft: there is fomewhat this faith cannot receive, believe, or
enter into. What is that? It is the life, the power, the inward part of
this. Though it may feem to have unity with all the fcriptures in the
letter; yet it cannot have unity with one fcripture in the life: for its nature
is fhut out of the nature of the things there witneffed. As for inftance: it
may have a literal knowledge of Chrift, according as the fcripture relates;
of his birth, preaching, miracles, death, refurrection, afcenfion, intercef
fion, &c. Yea, but the thing fpoken of it knoweth not. The nature of
Chriſt (which is the Chriſt), is hid from that eye. So it may have a literal
knowledge of the blood of Chrift, and of juftification; but the life of the
blood which livingly juſtifieth, that birth cannot feel; but can only talk
of it, according to the relation it reads in the ſcripture. So it may have a
literal knowledge of fanctification; but the thing that fanctifieth, it cannot
receive into itſelf. So for redemption, peace, joy, hope, love, &c. it may
get into the outward part of all thefe; but the inward part, the life, the
ſpirit of them, it is fhut out of, and cannot touch or come near; nor
can it witneſs that change which is felt and known here. And here is
the great contention in the world between theſe two births; the one con-
tending for their knowledge in the letter, and the other contending for
their knowledge in the life: the one fetting up their faith from the natural
part, calling it fpiritual; and the other, who have felt the ftroke of God
upon this (and thereby come to know the difference), fetting up the faith
of the true heir: which faith hath a different beginning, and a different
growth from the other, and will be welcomed into the land and kingdom
of life; when the other will be manifeſted to be but the birth of the bond-
woman, and be thruft forth with its mother to feek their bread abroad: for
the feed of the bond-woman is not to inherit with Ifaac, the feed of pro-
miſe.
Queft. What then is that faith which is the gift of God? And which is diftinct
from this?
A a 2
Anfw.
188
The Axe laid to the Root
Anfw. It is that power of believing which fprings out of the feed of
eternal life; and leavens the heart, not with notions of knowledge, but
with the powers of life. The other faith is drawn out of man's nature, by
confiderations which affect the natural part, and is kept alive by natural
exerciſes of reading, hearing, praying, ftudying, meditating in that part;
but this fprings out of a feed of life given, and grows up in the life of that
feed, and feeds on nothing but the fleſh and blood of Chrift; in which is
the living virtue, and immortal nouriſhment of that which is immortal.
This faith, at its first entrance, ftrikes that part dead in which the other
faith did grow, and by its growth perfects that death, and raiſeth up a life
which is of another nature than ever entered into the heart of man to con-
ceive. And by the death of this part in us, we come to know and enjoy
life; and by the life we have received, know, and enjoy, we come to fee
that which other men call life (and which we ourſelves were apt to call life
formerly) to be but death. And from this true knowledge, we give a true
teftimony to the world of what we have feen and felt; but no man re-
ceiveth our teſtimony. It grieves us to the heart to fee men fet up a pe-
riſhing thing as the way to life; and our bowels are exceedingly kindled,
when we behold an honeft zeal and fimplicity betrayed; and in tender love
do we warn men of the pit, into which they are generally running ſo faſt;
though men reward us with hatred for our good-will, and become our
bitter enemies becauſe we tell them the truth, and the moſt neceffary truth
for them to know; which they can bear neither in plain words, nor yet in
parables. Yet be not rough and angry; but meekly wait to read this
following parable aright, and it will open into life. The parable is briefly
this:
!
That which fold the birth-right, feeks the birth-right with tears and
great pains; but ſhall never recover it. But there is one which lies dead
(which hath the promiſe), which ſtirs not, which feeks not till he is raiſed
by the power of the Father's life, and then he wreſtles with the Father, pre-
vails, and gets the bleffing from him. Therefore know that part which
is up firſt, and is fo bufy in the willing and in the running, and makes
fuch a noiſe about duties, and ordinances, and graces, to keep down the
life which it hath flain: and know that feed of life which is the heir, which
lies underneath all this, and muſt remain flain while this lives: but if ever
ye
hear the voice of the Son of God, this will live, and the other die. And
happy for ever will he be, who knows this! But mifery will be his portion,
who cannot witnefs a thorough change by the almighty power of the living
God, but hath only painted the old nature and fepulchre, but never knew
'the old bottle broken, and a new one formed, which alone is able to re-
ceive and retain the new wine of the kingdom; whereas the other (Pharifee-
like) can only receive a relation of the letter concerning the kingdom.
Some
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
189
Some ASSERTIONS concerning FAITH, its Nature,
Rife, &c. with its receiving of CHRIST, and what
follows thereupon; namely, a growing in his living
Virtue; with a Knowledge of the true, living, un-
erring Rule, and Obedience to it in the Life.
TH
ASSERTION I.
HAT the true faith (the faith of the gofpel, the faith of the elect,
the faith which faves the finner from fin, and makes him more than
a conqueror over fin and the powers of darkneſs) is a belief in the nature of
God; which belief giveth entrance into, fixeth in, and caufeth an abiding
in that nature. Unbelief entereth into death, and fixeth in the death:
faith giveth entrance into, and fixeth in the life. Faith is an ingrafting
into the vine, a partaking of the nature of the vine, a fucking of the juice
of life from the vine; which nothing is able to do but the faith, but the
belief in the nature. And nothing can believe in the nature, but what is
one with the nature. So then faith is not a believing the hiftory of the
fcripture, or a believing and applying the promiſes, or a believing that
Chrift died for finners in general, or for me in particular; for all this may
be done by the unbelieving nature (like the Jew); but an uniting to the
nature of God in Chrift, which the unbeliever ftarts from, in the midſt of
his believing of theſe. Yet I do not deny that all theſe things are to be
believed, and are believed with the true faith: but this I affirm, that they
alfo may be believed without the true faith; and that fuch a belief of theſe
doth not determine a man to be a believer in the fight of God, but only
the union with the nature of that life from whence all theſe ſprang, and in
which alone they have their true value..
II.
That the true faith Springs from the true knowledge, or comes with the true
knowledge of the true nature of God in Chrifl, which it believes in. He
can never believe in the nature of God, who hath not firſt the nature of
God revealed to him. If a man fearch the fcriptures all his days, hear all
that can be faid by men concerning God, Chrift, faith, juftification, &c.
be able to diſpute about them, and think he can make his tenets good
againſt all the world; yet, if he hath not received the true knowledge of
the nature of theſe things, all his profeffed faith in them cannot be true.
III. That
190
The Axe laid to the Root
III.
That the true knowledge is only to be had by the immediate revelation of Chrift
in the foul. No man knows the Father but the Son, and be to whom the Son
reveals him. The dead fhall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear
fball live. There is no raiſing of a dead foul to life, but by the immediate
voice of Chrift. Outward preaching, reading the fcriptures, &c.
may direct
and encourage men to hearken after and wait for the voice; but.it is the
immediate voice of Chrift in the foul, which alone can quicken the foul to
God and till the light of life fhine immediately from Chrift in the heart,
the true knowledge is never given, 2 Cor. iv. 6. Therefore they that never
yet heard the immediate voice of Chrift, are ſtill dead in their fins, and
have not yet received the true living knowledge, but a dead literal know-
ledge, which gives a falſe ſhining of things in the dead part, but kills the
life. Indeed the proper ufe of all means, is to bring to the immediate
voice, life, and power; and till this be done, till the foul come to that,
to hear that, to feel that, to be rooted there, there is nothing done that
will ſtand; but men ſtick by the way, crying up the means, and never
knowing, tafting, or enjoying the thing which the means point to. But
he that knows God, comes into the immediate prefence; and he that daily
lives in God, lives in the immediate life; and the true faith leads to this,
giving the foul fuch a touch and taſte of it at firft, as makes unfatisfiable
without it. By this Chrift cuts off the Jews, with all their zeal and know-
ledge, John v. 37, 38. Ye have not heard his voice at any time, nor feen bis
Shape; and ye have not his word abiding in you. There is the hearing of the
voice, the fight of the fhape, and the having the word of God abiding in
the heart, which gives both the hearing of the voice, and the fight of the
fhape, and keeps the foul quick, and living in the life. The voice gives
life, the fight of the fhape daily conforms into the image, which is beheld
by the eye of life; and the word abiding in the heart nouriſhes and feeds
the living foul with the pure bread of life. But the Jews knew not this;
but were crying up their fabbaths, the law of Mofes, the ordinances of Mo-
fes, the temple of God, the inftituted worſhip of God, and fo were ſhut out
of the thing itſelf which thofe things ended in, and out of a capacity of re-
ceiving it. And thus many zealous-ones at this day, not having come to
this, no more than the Jews did, but ſticking in the letter of the gofpel, as
the Jews did in the letter of the law, ftumble at the prefent difpenfation of
life, and cannot do otherwiſe.
IV.
1
That Chrift's immediate revelation of the nature of his Father is to his babes.
Not to the wife, not to the zealous, not to the ſtudious, not to the devout,
not to the rich in the knowledge of the fcriptures without but to the weak,
the fooliſh, the poor, the lowly in heart. And man receives not theſe re-
velations
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
191
velations by ftudy, by reading, by willing, by running, but by being
formed in the will of life, by being begotten of the will of the Father, and
by coming forth in the will, and lying ftill in the will, and growing up in
the will, here the child receives the wiſdom which is from above, and daily
learns that croſs which crucifies the other wiſdom, which joins with and
pleaſes the other will, which loves to be feeding on the fhadowy and huſky
part of knowledge, without life. Therefore, if ever thou defire to receive
this knowledge from Chrift, know that eye in thyfelf that is to be blinded,
which Chrift will never reveal the Father to: read at home, know the wife
and prudent there, whom Chrift excludes from the living knowledge. And
if thou canft bear it, that eye that can read the fcriptures with the light of
its own underſtanding; that can confider and debate, and take up fenfes
and meanings of it, without the immediate life and power; that is the
eye that may gather what it can from the letter, but ſhall never fee into the
life, nor tafte of the true knowledge; for Chrift, who alone opens and gives
the knowledge, hides the pearl from that eye.
The true knowledge is only poured into the new veffel. It is the living.
foul alone that receives the living knowledge of the living God from Chrift
the life. The old nature, the old underſtanding, is for death and deftruc-
tion. The wiſdom of the fleſh (though painted ever fo like the ſpiritual
wifdom) is not to be fpared any-where; but that wiſdom, with all its zeal,
and growth, and progrefs in religion, muft perish. All mens knowledge
of the fcriptures which they have gathered in that part will profit them no-
thing, but hinder them. Every building which the leprofy of fin hath
overſpread, is to be pulled down; therefore he that hath only the old houſe
fwept and garniſhed, never received the true knowledge (from whence the
true faith fprings), but his life lies in the oldneſs of the letter (in the con-
formity of the dead part to that), and he knows not the virtue of the know-
ledge of God in the newneſs of the Spirit (the veil being over his heart)
which is only given to the new underſtanding.
V.
That this faith (which ſprings from the true knowledge) is God's gift, and
is not that power of believing which is to be found in man's nature; but
of another nature, even of the nature of the giver. And when man is
called to believe, he is not called to put forth that faith wherewith he be-
lieveth other things; but to receive and exerciſe the gift of faith, which is
from above. That which is to be believed in is ſpiritual; and that muſt be
fpiritual which believes in it. Man, with all the powers of his nature, is
fhut out; it is another thing, diftinct from man, which is let into life, and
which lets man in. For man receiving the faith, entering into the faith,.
and becoming new-formed in the faith, then he alfo may enter; but till
then he is fhut out, and knoweth not the life, let him believe, and read,
and pray, and hear, and exerciſe himſelf in that which he calls duties and
ordinances
192
The Axe laid to the Root
ordinances ever fo much; for all thefe, fet up in the wrong part in man,
only feed the wrong part; and that, with all its food and nouriſhment,
falls fhort of the life. Therefore the true entrance into religion is to feel
that power which flays man's natural ability and propenfity to believe, that
fo the gift of the true faith may be received: for there is no rifing up and
living of the fecond, without the death of the firft, with all his natural
faculties and powers.
VI.
That by this faith alone which is the gift which is from above (and not that
faith which grows either in the wilderneſs or garden of the old nature, and
is fed by the oldneſs of the letter, and not by the newneſs of the Spirit) is
Chrift received. For Chrift can be received by the faith alone that comes
from him; and that faith which comes from him cannot but receive him.
Man's faith refuſeth him; it receiveth a literal knowledge of him from what
it heareth from men, or from what it readeth related in the fcripture con-
cerning him; but refufeth the nature of the thing. And it cannot be
otherwife; for man's faith not being of the nature of it, cannot but re-
fuſe it. But this faith, which is given of God, which is from above, being
of the fame life and nature with Chrift, cannot refufe the ſpring of its own
life; but receiveth him immediately. There is no diftance of time; but fo
foon as faith is received, Chrift is received, and the foul united to him
in the faith. As unbelief immediately fhuts him out, fo faith lets him in
immediately, and centers the foul in him: and the immortal foul feels the
immortal virtue, and rejoices in the proper fpring of its own immortal na-
ture. But the faith of man never reaches this, never receives Chriſt, but
only a relation of things concerning him; and with that faith which ſtands
in the letter, oppoſes that faith which ſtands in the life. And here is the
ſpirit of antichrift; here is the myſtery of iniquity, working out of one form
into another for antichrift does not directly deny Chrift, or deny the letter;
but cries up Chriſt, cries up the letter, cries up ordinances; but ſo as
they may feed the faith of his own nature, and maintain an hope there.
And thus the ſpirit of man is at unity with what will feed his own, with
what interpretations his own underſtanding can gather out of the fcriptures.
And thus can he cry up Chrift, and fay he hopes to be faved by him, while
the ſpirit of enmity againſt the nature of Chrift lodgeth in his heart. This
is antichrift, where-ever he is found; and this is his faith, and great is his
knowledge, and many are his coverings; but the Lord is fearching him out,
who will ftrip him, and make his nakedneſs appear.
VII.
That Chrift is received as a grain of muſtard-feed.
as every eye, but the eye of this faith, defpifeth.
wiſdom of the builders, in all ages, hath rejected.
Chrift is fuch a thing,
He is the ſtone which the
They look for a glorious
Meffiah;
1
193
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
Meffiah; but they know him not in his humiliation, in the little feed, out
of which he is to grow up into his glory and fo miffing of the thing,
they build up only with high imaginations in the airy mind concerning it.
As when God fent Chrift in the fleſh, there was no form nor beauty in him;
the Jews, whoſe hope and expectation lay there, yet faw no manner of
comelineſs, no defireableneſs in him; even fo it is now: when God comes
to offer him to thoſe that think they place all their hopes in him, they fee
no lovelineſs in him, but refufe him daily. What! this little thing, fmall,
like a grain of muſtard-ſeed, can this be the glorious Chrift which the fcrip-
tures have ſpoken ſo much of? Why we know the deſcent of this (its fa-
ther, mother, and kindred are with us), we find this in our own nature.
Thus, like the Jews of old, they make a great noiſe about Chriſt, but re-
fuſe the thing itſelf. And this for want of the true eye of faith: for if they
had that eye, they would ſee the virtue in the little feed, and receive him
in his humiliation in their hearts, where he knocks daily for entrance, and
be content till this grain of muftard-feed grew up into a great and glorious
tree. But for want of this eye, they keep him out, and let in the painted
murderer, who dwells in them, and covers himſelf with a knowledge, a
zeal, a faith, and hope, &c. in the old nature, in the old veffel, in the old
underſtanding: and thus they give God and Chrift good words, while the
evil ſpirit has their heart, and dwells there, bringing forth his own old evil
fruit under an appearance of devotion and holineſs. Hear now, ye wife in
the letter, but ftrangers to the life! there is a twofold appearance of Chriſt
in the heart; there is an appearance of him as a fervant to obey the law,
to fulfil the will of the Father in that body which the Father prepares there
for him and there is an appearance of him in glory, to reign in the life
and power of the Father: and he that knows not the firft of theſe in his
heart, fhall never know the fecond there. And he that knows not theſe
inwardly, fhall never know any outward vifible coming to his comfort.
For if Chriſt ſhould come outwardly to reign (as many expect), yet to be
fure he would not reign in thee, whofe heart he hath not first entered
into and ſubdued to himself; which is only to be done by his appearance
there, firſt as a fervant, then as a king. But what eſtate are Chriftians (fo called)
now in, who know not him in them who is able to ſerve the Lord; but are
ftriving and fighting in that nature where fin hath the power, and which
can never overcome, being not in union with, but ftrangers to, that life
and power which is the conqueror! Therefore let all confider in the depth
of their hearts; for this is infallibly true: they that never received the feed
of life in their hearts, never received Chrift; and fuch fhall never be free from
fin while they live: for having not received the Son, who makes free, how
can they be free indeed? Or be free from wrath when they are dead?
For that faith concerning Chrift will not fave them hereafter, which did not
bring them to receive Chrift here.
:
VOL. I.
Bb
VIII,
194
The Axe laid to the Root
VIII.
That this feed being received, groweth up into its own form; or is formed
in that creature into which it is received. It there groweth up into the
body in which it is to ferve the Lord, and which body is to be glorified
when it has finiſhed its fervice. As a feed caft into fitted earth, or the feed
of man or beaſt ſowed in a fitting womb, receiveth form and groweth into
a plant, or living creature; fo it is with this feed in its earth. Open the
true eye, O ye Chriftians! and begin to read the myſtery of godliness.
IX.
That this creature, or the Spirit of life in this creature (which it is in union
with, and which is never ſeparated from it) is the Chriftian's rule, Gal. vi.
15, 16. 1 John ii. 27. Heb. viii. 10, 12. The Son is never without the
Spirit of the Father; no, not in the feed; and the Spirit of the Father is
the Son's rule. Outward rules were given to a ftate without; to men:
who were not brought to the life, but were exerciſed under fhadows. and
repreſentations of the life: but the Son who is within, who is the ſubſtance
of all, who is the life, who is one with the Father, whofe proper right the
Spirit is, he is not tied to any outward rule; but is to live and walk in the
immediate light of the Spirit of his own life. And he that hath the Son,
hath this rule; and he that hath not this rule, hath not the Son: and he
that hath not the Son, hath not the true faith (which immediately receives
him) and fo is no Chriftian; but hath ſtolen the name from the letter,
having never received the nature from the Spirit, to which alone the name
belongs.
X..*
He that hath Chrift, or the feed of eternal life, which is Chrift, formed in
him (which feed the Spirit always dwells in, and never is abfent from, which
is the fame Spirit which gave forth the ſcriptures), he is in a capacity of under-
Standing thofe fcriptures which that Spirit gave forth, as that Spirit leads him
into the understanding of them. But he that hath not received that which is
like the grain of muſtard feed, and fo hath not Chrift, nor his Spirit (what-
ever he may pretend to), he, by all his ftudies, arts, languages, reading of
expofitors, conferences, nay, experiences, can never come to the true know-
ledge of the fcriptures; for he wants the true key, which alone can open.
He may have got a great many wrong keys, none of which can open; but
he wants the true key, of the true knowledge, and fo is fhut out of that;
and only let into fuch a kind of knowledge as the wrong key can open
into. And with this kind of knowledge the merchants of Babylon have
long traded; but their day is expiring apace, and their night of lamentation
and howling hafteneth.
XI.
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
4
195
XI.
Though he can understand the fcriptures, as the Spirit leads him into the know-
ledge of them, and can fet his feal to the truth of them, yet he cannot call them
his rule: For, having received the life for his rule, and knowing it to be ſo,
he cannot call another thing it. He that hath received the new covenant
into his heart, with the laws of the life thereof written there by the Spirit
of life, who doth write them there, even in the leaſt of all that believe, as
well as in the greateft, he knoweth that this living writing is his rule. The
fcriptures give relation where the covenant and law of life is written; and if I
will read it, thither muft I go, whither the fcriptures point me.
I must go
to Chrift the book of life, and read there with that eye which Chrift gives,
if I read the things of life. And the fcriptures are willing to furrender up
their glory to Chrift, who was before them, and is above them, and fhall
be after them. But there is a falfe fpirit, which hath feated itſelf in a
literal knowledge of the fcriptures, and hath formed images and likeneffes
of truth from it (every one after the imaginations of his own heart); and all
theſe fall, if Chrift the life appear: and fo this fpirit cries up the fcriptures
now in a way of deceit, juft as the Jews cried up Mofes. It was a good
remove, to withdraw the ear from the falfe church, and to liften to the true
teftimony which the fcriptures give of Chrift: but it is the feducing fpirit
which tempts to ftick by the way, and to rear up buildings and forms of
knowledge from the letter of the fcriptures, and not come to feel after,
unite with, and live in Chrift the life. And unleſs ye come to this, your
reading of the fcripture is vain, and all your gathering rules of practice,
and comforts from promiſes, will end in vanity: for until ye know, and
have received the thing itself, ye are at a diſtance from that to which all
belongs. A lively and glorious teftimony of truth hath God held forth in
this age, at which all that ſtick in the letter cannot but ftumble; and
there is no poffibility of knowing or receiving it, but by feeling the true
touch of the inward life of it. Wiſdom is justified of her children: but they
that are not born of her, cannot juftify her womb or birth.
To the Jews who were an outward people, there was an outward rule
given, a law of commandments, ftatutes, judgments, and ordinances, pro-
per to that ftate wherein they were, and to that thing to which the mini-
try was: but all this was to be done away, and to end in that which all
this repreſented. So that to Chriftians, Chrift the fubftance being come,
which is the end of all theſe fhadows, the true Jew being raiſed in the im-
mediate life, now there is a neceffity of the immediate life for the rule.
To them under the Gofpel, to them who are come to the fubftance, to
them who are begotten and born in the life, there can be no rule pro-
portionable to their ftate, but Chrift the fubftance, Chrift the life. Here
he alone is the light, the way, the truth, the rule; the Spirit is here the rule,
Bb 2
the
196
The Axe laid to the Root
the new creature is the rule, the new covenant the rule; all which are in
unity together, and he that hath one of them hath them all, and he that
hath not them all, hath none of them. So that directions taken out of
the fcripture, cannot be the rule to him who is the true Chriſtian; but the
meaſure of grace, the meaſure of the light, the meaſure of the Spirit, the
meaſure of the gift received into the living foul from the fpring of life, this
is the alone rule of life. But Chriftians in the degeneration have loft this,
and ſo have taken up words for a rule (which were not given to that
end); and fo with deductions by the earthly part, they feed the earthly part.
What is fed by mens fcripture-knowledge, but the earthly underſtanding?
The earthly will heated; the earthly affections warmed? And of the fruits of
this earth they bring facrifices to God: and they are angry that God hath
raiſed up Abel, their younger brother, who offers up the Lamb of God to
God, and ferves the living God, in his own living Spirit, and with the
faith which comes from him. Abel's religion ftands not in that part wherein all
other mens religion ftands, but in the death of that part;, and in the raiſing
up of another part, wherein life fprings. Can ye mildly receive thefe
gentle leadings.? Do not provoke the tender heart of the Lamb againſt you,
who alſo hath the voice of a lion, and can roar terribly out of his holy
mountain againſt the enemies of his life and Spirit.
A Neceffary WARNING,
And of very great Importance to all that call themſelves
CHRISTIANS, and hope for a Share in the Book of
LIFE, and the eſcaping the Damnation of Hell;
which is their Portion whofe Names are written in the
Book of Death, and blotted by GoD out of the Book
of LIFE, though they hope to find them written
IT
there.
HEAR and CONSIDER.
T is recorded, Rev. xxii. 18, 19. If any man shall add unto theſe things,
God fhall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if
any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God fhall
take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book.
Great
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
197
Great are the plagues that are written in this book, even the pouring out
of eternal wrath without mixture; torment day and night, in the prefence of
the Lamb, &c. As the growth and fulneſs of the myſtery of iniquity are
ſpoken of in this book, fo the meaſuring out of the fulneſs of wrath to it,
is ſpoken of alſo. And great is the life and bleſſedneſs that is here promiſed,
to thofe that fight with, and overcome, the myſtery of iniquity; and receive
not any marks or names of the beaft, nor are fubject to any of his horns,
though he puſh ever fo hard with them. Now to meet with all the plagues
here threatened, and to mifs of all the bleffedneſs here promiſed, is it not
a fad ftate? Why, he that addeth to theſe things here fpoken, or diminiſh-
eth from the words of this prophecy, the Lord hath faid this fhall befall
him. Therefore, in the fear of that God who hath ſpoken this, and will
make it good, let every one fearch who is the adder, who is the diminiſher?
י
Now mark, fee if this be not a clear thing. He that giveth any other
meaning of any fcripture, than what is the true proper meaning thereof, he
both addeth and diminiſheth; he taketh away the true fenfe, he addeth a
ſenſe that is not true. The Spirit of the Lord is the true expofitor of fcrip-
tures; he never addeth nor dimifheth: but man, being without that Spirit,
doth but gueſs, doth but imagine, doth but ftudy or invent a meaning,
and fo he is ever adding or diminishing. This is the fenfe, faith one; this
is the fenfe, faith another; this is the fenfe, faith a third; this, faith a
fourth another that is witty, and large in his comprehenſion, he ſays they
will all ftand; another, perhaps more witty than he, fays none of them
will ſtand, and he invents a meaning different from them all. And then,
when they are thus expounding them they will fay, take the ſenſe thus, it will
yield this obfervation; or take it thus, and it will afford this obfervation.
Doth not this plainly fhew, that he who thus faith, hath not the Spirit of
the Lord to open the fcripture to him, and manifeft which is the true fenfe,
but is working in the myſtery of darknefs? And yet this very perſon, who
is thus working with his own dark ſpirit in the dark, will in words confeſs,
that there is no true underſtanding or opening of fcripture, but by the Spirit
of God. If it be fo, how dareft thou fet thy imagination, thy fancy, thy
reaſon, thy underſtanding on work, and fo be gueffing at that which the
Spirit doth not open to thee, and fo art found adding and diminiſhing?
Now he that is the adder, he that is the diminiſher, he crieth out againſt
the Spirit of the Lord, and chargeth him with adding and diminiſhing:
for man being judge, he will judge his own way to be true, and God's to
be falfe. That which is the adding and diminishing, he calls the true ex-
pounding of the place; but if the Spirit of the Lord immediately open
any thing to any fon or daughter, he cries this is an adding to the word.
The ſcripture is written; there are no more revelations to be expected now;
the curfe, faith he, is to them that add. Thus he removes the curfe from
his own ſpirit, and way of ſtudy and invention, to which it appertains; and
cafts it upon the Spirit of the Lord. And man cannot poffibly avoid this
in
198
The Axe laid to the Root
in the way that he is in; for having firft judged his own darkneſs to be
light, then in the next place he muft needs judge the true light to be dark-
nefs. He that hath afore-hand fet up his own invented meaning of any
fcripture to be the true meaning, he muft needs oppofe the true meaning,
and call it falfe, and fo apply himſelf to form all the arguments he can out
of other ſcriptures, to make it appear falfe. Thus man, having begun
wrong in his knowledge of the fcriptures, ftands engaged to make ufe of
them againſt the Lord, and againſt his own foul; and yet really in himſelf
thinks that he makes a right uſe of them, and that he ſerves the Lord,
and that he is not oppofing his truth, but oppofing error and herefy; while
he himſelf is in the error, and in the hereſy, and againſt the truth; being
a ſtranger to that Spirit, in whofe immediate life and prefence the truth
grows.
Did the Lord, in theſe words of forbidding to add or diminiſh upon fo
great a penalty, lay a reftraint and limit upon his own Spirit, that it ſhould
no more hereafter ſpeak in his fons and daughters; or did he intend to lay
bounds upon the unruly ſpirit of man? Did God leave man's fpirit at liber-
ty to invent and form meanings of his words, and bind up his own Spirit
from ſpeaking further words afterwards? When Mofes faid, thou shalt not
add or diminiſh, was this to be any ſtop to the prophets, in whom God
ſhould ſpeak afterwards? Is not this one of the fubtil ferpent's inventions,
to keep up the eſteem of man's invented meanings as the true ſenſe, and to
make a fortification againſt the entrance of that Spirit, which can diſcover
all his falſe interpretations of the true words of God, and to make him ſee
that he is the adder and the diminiſher, and that his name will not be found
in the book of life, when the true light is held forth to read by.
But this is general, extending to all fcriptures; my drift is more particu-
larly concerning adding to the things, or diminiſhing from the words of the
book of this prophecy.
There are two things chiefly ſpoken of in this book; Myſtery Sion,
Myſtery Babylon; the true church, the falſe church; the Lamb's wife, the
whore; the hiding of Myſtery Sion, the appearing of Myſtery Babylon in
her place; the flying of the church out of her heaven into the wilderneſs,
leaving all behind her which ſhe could not carry along with her; even all
the ordinances and inftitutions of Chrift, wherein once the appeared wor-
ſhipping and ſerving God; and the ſtarting of the falfe church into her
place; taking up all that fhe had left, even all the ordinances and inftitu-
tions of Chriſt in the letter; thus covering herſelf with the form of Godli-
nefs, with the ſheeps cloathing, that fhe might pafs the better for the true
Church and the dragon, who managed the war againſt the woman and her
feed, raiſeth up firſt one beaft, and then another, and fets this whore on the
top of them; who with the cup of fornication makes all the earth drunk,
all nations, peoples, kindreds, tongues, languages. And the beaft has
his horns every-where; his marks every-where; his names every-where;
and
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
199
and alfo his image in every part of Babylon. And who will not worſhip
him, he fights with; yea, fuch as are led by God to rent from the whore,
he calls fchifmaticks, hereticks, blafphemers, and perfecutes them as per-
fons not worthy to live. Thus the ftate of things is quite changed, the
power of truth loft, the form fet up without it; thofe that feek after the
power hated, perfecuted, and blafphemed; but thofe that lie ftill under any
of the beaft's forms, go for good Chriſtians; for members of the viſible
church, ſo called by them.
Now mark he that calls any thing the church, but what this book calls
the church, he adds: he that doth not know the wilderneſs, and own the
church in the wilderneſs, he diminiſhes. The church of Rome is not the
church in the wilderneſs; the church of Scotland is not the church in the
wilderneſs; and the church of England is not the church in the wildernefs;
the ſeveral gathered churches are none of them the church in the wilder-
nefs: all theſe have fprung up fince the church's flight, and have appeared
in her abſence, ufurping her name, appropriating it to themfelves; but God
(who gave it to the church) hath not given it them; and fo they muſt loſe
it again, when God brings back the church out of the wilderneſs. So he
that calls thofe, which formerly were the inftitutions and ordinances of
Chrift, which the woman left behind her, and which the harlot hath got
and attired herſelf with, which ſhe now appears in, and wherewith the dra-
gon is now worſhipped, he adds to this book, which fays the outward court
was given to the Gentiles, and the true church had nothing left her but
the inward temple, wherein alone the true worshippers worſhipped; and they
that worship elſewhere, are the falfe worshippers, worshipping in falſe temples,
in temples of the whoriſh ſpirit's building; take it either outwardly or in-
wardly, for it holds true in both. He that makes the beaft's names fewer
than they are, or his marks fewer than they are, or his horns fewer than
they are, or his image leſs than it is, he diminiſhes. And the danger hereof
is not fmall; For if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his
mark in his forehead, or in his band, the fame ſhall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation,
and be fhall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the prefence of the holy an-
gels, and in the preſence of the Lamb: and the fmoak of their torment afcendeth
up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the
beaft and his image, and whofoever receiveth the mark of his name, Rev. xiv.
9, &c.
Now this I affirm: Whofoever has not the name of Sion, the mark of
Sion, which he received of her in the wilderneſs, where the living God is
with her, and where he is taught by God the laws of the wilderneſs-worſhip,
and in fome meaſure to teftify againſt all the corrupted ordinances and in-
ftitutions which have the beaft's mark, and go now abroad in the world un-
der the beaſt's name: I fay, whoever has not the true mark of Sion, it is
impoffible for him to avoid the mark of Babylon. And he who avoids not
the
200
The Axe laid to the Root
the mark, cannot eſcape the plagues. But he that hath the mark of Sion,
is, by a fecret inward inftinct of true life, led from the marks of Babylon;
and (if he faithfully follow the guidance of it) from out of all the names,
and from under all the horns.
It is not enough to rent from Popery, and fit down under the power and
government of the fame ſpirit in another form; or to rent from Epifcopacy,
and the fame ſpirit fit down in Prefbytery; or to rent from Prefbytery, and
the fame ſpirit fit down in a form of Independency, or Anabaptifm; or to
rent from theſe, and the fame ſpirit fit down in a way of Seeking and
Waiting, and reading of words of fcripture, and gathering things from
thence without the life: but the true religion confifts in knowing and fol-
lowing a true guide to the church in the wilderneſs, and there to receive
the mark, the living mark, which will preſerve out of all invention, and
further progreſs of the dead fpirit.
Now therefore look about you; know the ſpirit of whoredom, and fee
how ye have been begotten in the adultery, and born of the whore, and
have ſerved the dragon, and worſhipped his dead idols, and not the living
God. And be not ſatisfied with changing of forms and dreſſes (which are but
the feveral deceitful appearances of the whore), but put off that ſpirit; left when
ye have hated the whore, and burnt her fleſh as ſhe appeared in one form,
ye give yourſelves up to her again, when ſhe appears in another form:
for the plagues are not fo much to the form wherein the whore appears,
as to the whorifh fpirit: and whofoever is found under her dominion, in
any of her territories, under any of her forms, with that mark of hers
upon them which belongs to that particular form, though ever ſo curi-
ouſly painted, he ſhall drink of the unmixed cup of wrath.
Therefore tremble all forts of people! pluck off your falſe coverings;
ſee the ſhame of your nakedneſs, while it may be for your advantage fo to
do. The angel is gone forth, the corn is reaping and gathering into the
garner, many lambs are brought into the fold of everlaſting reft, Sion is
redeeming, the true life is rifing, the whorifh fpirit is judging, the door of
life is yet open. Do not lie fecure in the whore's wifdom! Do not lie flum-
bering, and reaſoning, and difputing from the letter of the fcripture, till
the gathering be finiſhed, till the door be fhut, till the eternal flames feize
upon you, and ye find yourſelves in the bofom of hell unawares, and fee
the children of the kingdom in Abraham's boſom, but yourſelves ſhut out,
and left to weep, and wail, and gnafh your teeth.
Queſt. But how may I avoid adding to the things, and diminishing from the
words of this prophecy, and of other fcriptures; that I may not meet with the
weight of this curfe, or miss of the bleffing?
Anfwer. Doft thou afk this queftion from thy heart, in the fimplicity,
out of the fleſhly wiſdom? Then hearken with that ear, and thou shalt fet
thy feal to mine anfwer.
•
1. Wait
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
201
!
1. Wait for the key of knowledge, which is God's free gift. Do not go
with a falfe key to the fcriptures of Truth; for it will not open them. Man
is too hafty to know the meaning of the fcriptures, and to enter into the
things of God, and fo he climbs up over the door with his own underſtanding;
but he has not patience to wait to know the door, and to receive the key
which opens and fhuts the door; and by this means he gathers death out
of words which came from life. And this I dare pofitively affirm, that all
that have gone this way to work have but a dead knowledge; and it is death
in them that feeds upon this knowledge, and the life is not raiſed. Con-
fider now the weight of this counſel in the true balance: there is no open-
ing of the fcriptures but by the true key, nor is there any coming at the
key till the Lord pleaſe to give it. What then is to be done, but only to
wait (in the filence of that part which would be forward, and running be-
fore-hand) till the key be given, and to know how to receive it, as it is
offered in the light; and not to wait in the will, or expect to receive it ac-
cording to obfervations in the fleſhly wiſdom from the letter.
2. Let not thy underſtanding have the managing of this key, when it is
given; but know the true opener, the fkilful ufer of the key, the hand
which can only turn the key aright; and let him have the managing both
of his own key, and of thine underſtanding. Do not run in thine own
underſtanding, or in thine own will, to fearch out the meaning of fcripture;
for then thou feedeft with the fcripture that which it is the intent of all
words of life to deftroy: but as thou waitedft for the key at firſt, ſo con-
tinually wait for the appearances and movings of the ufer of the key, and
he will ſhut out thy underſtanding and will continually, which would ſtill
be running after the literal part of fcriptures; and let thee into the life both
of the prophecies and doctrines thereof. Man, when he hath received a
true gift from God, he would be managing of it himſelf, and to be fure
he will manage it for himſelf (for the gratifying and pleafing of himſelf, and
not for God); and then God, being provoked, takes away the fubftance,
and leaves him the fhell. Therefore he that hath received a gift muſt be
very watchful againſt that which would betray, or he may eaſily lofe it:
for though the gifts and calling of God are without repentance; yet if that
lay hold of the gift which was not called, and to which it was not given,
the Lord will thruſt that by, and take away his gift from it.
3. Do not graft any of the fruit of the tree of life upon the tree of
knowledge; for it will not grow there an appearance, a likeneſs of the
true fruit may grow there: but the true fruit itſelf will not. My meaning is,
do not make a treaſury of knowledge in the understanding-part, which
is to perish; but know the true treaſury of all the things of life, which is
in the life itſelf, and in that underſtanding which is formed, kept, and
lives in the life. Lay no manna by to feed upon in the old ftore-houſe
(left the fleſhly part ſhould be running thither, when its fleſhly appetite is
kindled after food); but daily receive the continual bread from the hand of
VOL. I.
C c
life.
204
The Axe laid to the Root
Prayer; that is generally taken for a means: Afk, and it shall be given you;
feek, and ye shall find; knock, and it ſhall be opened to you. If parents, which
are evil, know how to give good gifts to their children; how much more fhall the
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that afk him? This therefore is
an undoubted thing, that prayer is a means.
Anfw. True; there is a prayer which is a means, and there is a prayer
which is not a means. There is a prayer which is an ordinance, and there
is a prayer which is an invention. There is a prayer which is the breath of
the true child, and there is a prayer which is the breath of the fleſhly part,
a breath of the whorifh fpirit. There is a prayer of the firft birth, and
there is a prayer of the fecond birth; both which cry and weep to God for
the fame thing. Now the one of thefe is the true means, the other not:
one of them is Chrift's ordinance, the other is antichrift's ordinance. Now
the queſtion is, which of theſe thy prayer is? Whether it be thine own
breath, or God's breath? Whether it come from the renewings of the
Spirit of life, or from thine own natural part painted? For accord-
ingly it is either the true means, or the falfe means. If it be the true
means, it fhall have the thing; the Spirit, the life, the kingdom it prays
for: if it be the falfe means, it can never obtain it. Papifts, they pray;
Proteftants, they pray; fome in forms, fome without forms; fome me-
ditating before-hand, fome not meditating. Are all theſe the true means;
or are any of them the true means? The birth of the true child is the
only true prayer; and he prays only in the moving and in the leading
of that Spirit that begat him: and this is a prayer according to the will, in
the life, and from the power. But all mens prayers, according to times
they ſet to themſelves, or according to formings of defires in their own
minds, which they offer up to God with the nature and heart that finneth
againſt him, theſe are falſe means, and may fatisfy the drunken fpirit erred
from the life, but are no means to the truth.
Canft thou pray? How cameft thou to learn to pray? Waft thou taught
from above? Or didft thou gain the ſkill and ability by the exerciſe and im-
provement of thine own natural part? Didft thou begin with fighs and
groans, ftaying there till the fame Spirit that taught thee to groan, taught
thee alſo to ſpeak? Waft thou ever able to diſtinguiſh the fighs and groans
of the Spirit's begetting, from the fighs and groans of thy own natural and
affectionate part? And hath that part, with all its fighings, groanings, de-
fires, endeavours, &c. been thruſt aſide, and the feed immortal raiſed by
the Spirit of eternal life, which teacheth to cry and mourn, and at length
to ſpeak to the Father for the preſervation and nouriſhment of its life? If
it hath been thus with thee, then thou haft known that prayer which is the
true means; but if otherwiſe, though thou pray ever fo long, and with
ever ſo great affections, and ſtrong defires, this is all but the falfe means,
with its falſe warmth, from the falſe fire; this is but the means which the
whoriſh ſpirit (which is not in union with the life and power, but keeps the
feed
of the Old Corrupt Tree.
205
feed in bondage) has fet up inftead of the true means. And this can never lead
to truth, but keeps alive God's enemy under this pleaſant covering. Nei-
ther is this the worſhip of the living God; but as it is from another fpirit,
fo it is to another ſpirit.
Oh learn to be fober! come out of this drunken fury, and confider things
mildly and ſeriouſly. Do not make a great outcry of ordinances, ordinances!
the means, the means! This is the voice of the clamorous woman, who
with her loud noiſe would fain keep you from liſtening after the ſtill voice of
true wiſdom, which cannot be heard in the midſt of this great noiſe and
hurry in your ſpirits; but confider which are the true ordinances, which
are the true means; which are the likeneffes man has framed, and which is
the true thing itſelf. And if ye could once be mild, gentle, and calm, and
turn from your own wiſdom and fleſhly knowledge of things, it might
pleaſe God to remove your ftumbling-blocks, and to open that eye in
you which can ſee the antichriſtian nature, and difcern between the co-
verings which it hath formed to hide its deceitful ſpirit under, and the
true garment and cloathing of life. But the feed of the kingdom is
little, and ye are great; how can ye enter into it? The pearl lies hid in the
field, and ye are gazing up to heaven; how can ye fee it? Chrift is de-
fcended into the lower parts of the earth, and ye are ufing means to
afcend upwards in the wrong nature; how can ye meet with him? The
goſpel hath been hid; the fun hath not ſhined; it hath been night, and ye
have got many falfe candles; which way can ye acknowledge the little glim-
mering of the day-ſtar, who have ſuch ſatisfaction in the warmth of your
falſe fires? Ye are far from the true light, who have not yet received ſo
much of it as to diſcover the darkneſs of the night. Ye are too high, too
wife, too knowing for Chrift, or for the fight and acknowledgment of the
true means which lead to life. And if ye could once come to fee this, there
might be ſome hope; but in that wiſdom wherein your life and knowledge
ſtand, ye are ſhut out, and ye are reaſoning and ftumbling at the ftone:
while others (who are broken in ſpirit, and in meekneſs and humility led to
try) find it a fure foundation, even a foundation of eternal life, for the true
feed of life; and are built into the living city, which is made without hands,
and without any of the tools of man's wiſdom.
A Brief
206
A Brief Hiftory
A Brief HISTORY of the STATE of the CHURCH fince the
Days of the APOSTLES, with the living Seal to it;
which he that hath eternal Life abiding in him, can
read and witneſs; but that Wiſdom, Zeal, and De-
votion which is in the Death cannot.
A
FTER the univerfal degeneration and corruption of the Jewiſh ſtate,
and the putting an end to the fhadows thereof, by the appearance and
fucceffion of the fubftance, it pleaſed God to diffolve that people, ftate, and
policy; and by the power of his life (without either the wiſdom or ftrength
of man) to fet upon the heathenifh world, which he fubdued and brought
under the power of his life. By his apoftles and meffengers, who preached
the everlaſting goſpel, the word of eternal life, he gathered affemblies up
and down the nations, whom the nations by all their perfecutions could not
fubject; but they reigned over them in the power, authority, and dominion
of God: for they were kings and prieſts to God in the fight of all the na-
tions, and they did reign upon the earth: infomuch as the heatheniſh ſpirit
of man obferving their order in the Spirit, and the wiſdom and power of
the Spirit among them, who by his living light was able to ſearch the hearts
of thoſe who came to obſerve them, could not but acknowledge that God
was in them of a truth.
Now the next thing to be expected, is Satan's oppofition againſt this
power of life, and his ftratagems to undermine it. He withftood the growth
and ſettlement of the church all that he could by open force, making uſe
both of the heathenifh devout worshippers, who fought for their Jupiter,
their Diana, and other gods and goddeffes; and of the Jewiſh devout wor-
fhippers, who fought for their temple-worſhip, with the laws and ordinances
of Mofes, which were now expired. But neither of theſe would do; but
the church in the power of life gained ground upon him, and did rather
thrive and increafe, than diminiſh by this oppofition. Therefore now he
falls to his ftratagems; he gets fome falfe brethren out of the church (they
went out from us); thefe he cloathes as angels of light, puts the ſheeps
cloathing on their wolviſh nature, makes them appear as like the apoftles
as may be, endues them with an excellent taking knowledge of life and
fpirituality in appearance; forms in them an image of the Truth, and in-
fpires this image with the fpirit of his own life; and with theſe he goes forth
into the world, and gathers the world about him. Now the world was
preſently taken with this (the world went after him); for this is that the
world
of the State of the Church.
207
world would have, an appearance of religion, an image of Truth, but
their own ſpirit in it. The worldly fpirit, that flies off from the life, from
the power, can readily clofe with this, becauſe it is its own. Bring forth
ever fo high notions of religion and fpiritual wifdom, the world will hug
them, the world will feed on them, the world will cloathe itſelf with them.
The world can fwallow and digeft any thing but life; any pleaſant picture
of things in heaven will down with the world; but the nature, the life, the
Truth, the Spirit, Chrift in his true and living croſs, this will not down
with the world.
Now the devil having thus fet up his falfe image in the world, and ga-
thered a party after him, then he fets upon the church, and the battle
goeth very hard, life ftriving to defend, and death to overcome. How
?
hard did the apoftles ftrive in their day to keep their converts to the fimpli-
city of Truth, and to the way thereof (which even then began to be evil
ſpoken of); writing epiftles to the churches, warning them of the falfe
apoftles, and wiſhing them to ftand their ground! Yea, Chrift himſelf
writes feveral epiftles from heaven to fome of them, checking their back-
flidings, and encouraging them to renew their zeal and ftrength, putting
them in mind of the crown which attended the victory. But at length the
devil with his ftratagems prevails, gets the poffeffion of the church's terri-
tories, and the church is fain to fly for her prefervation; and fuch of her
feed as are left behind her, the enemy makes war againſt, ſlays, and drinks
their blood.
Now here is an end of all the glory of that ſtate: now the devil hath gained
the world again: the fame fpirit that loft it under the heathenifh power
(for there he was conquered) recovers it under an antichriftian appearance,
fetting up the fame wickednefs, and the fame courfe and current of death,
under forms of antichriftian religion, as he had done before under forms of
heathenish devotion.
Thus the devil being conqueror, having gained the field, he divides the
ſpoils among his army: he takes whatever was the church's, and makes his
own, and ranks them in his way of antichriftian religion and devotion;
fo that henceforward thofe things which were once Chrift's and the
church's, are now all his, and diftributed by him among his followers.
He gives the name church to the whore which he fets up; he gives the
name Chriftian to his difciples; he preſcribes baptifm and the fupper (which
he calls facraments) and praying, and preaching, and finging, which he
calls public ordinances; and he preſcribes private duties and exerciſes of
devotion; and he gets the letter of the fcriptures, and forms multitude
of meanings and expofitions, and has lying figns and wonders for fuch as
need them, that he might keep all the feveral brigades of his army quite
under his pay, and might have fome pleafing wares of traffick for every
fort of his merchants in his Babylon. For this is the city of that king,
which he built after his conqueft over the life, and which he hath enriched
with
208
A Brief Hiftory.
with the ſpoils from the life. And here all his ſubjects fhall have contènt;
they fhall have what they will, if they will but be faithful to him in the
main. Call for what likeneſs, what invention, what appearance of truth
they will, they fhall have it, fo that they will but be content without life.
No notion about the Spirit will he deny them, fo they will be content
with the notion, without the prefence of the living Spirit. They fhall have
light in their underſtandings, warmth in their affections, joy, peace, hope,
comfort out of the fcriptures. They fhall apply as many promifes to them-
felves as they will, have what they will, do what they will, fo they keep
out of the feeling of the living principle; but if once that ftir, and there
be any hearkening after that, then he begins to fhew his tyranny, on the
one hand, to force them back; and his ftratagems, on the other hand, to
tempt them afide from it.
The devil having thus gained the form, and enriched himſelf with the
church's fpoils, and flain them which had the living teftimony, then he
falls to corrupting the form: for that filthy fpirit, though he can cloathe him-
felf with the form to deceive from the life, and abide there to keep down
the life; yet he does not much love it; he loves his own form better and
when he is out of fear and affaults from the life, then he returns to his
own form again, or patches up a garment more fuitable to his own nature,
taking in ſomewhat of the other with it, to make his own pafs the better;
for if he fhould have returned to the direct heathenifh forms of idolatry
and falfe worſhip, he could not fo have lain hid; therefore he makes a
mixture of ſomewhat which was preſcribed to the Jews, with fome things
found practiſed among the Chriftians. Thus he brought in inventions of croffes,
and images, and beads, and pictures, and reliques, and ceremonies beyond
number: infomuch as not only the life and power was loft; but the true
likeneſs alfo; even fo loft, that it is impoffible for all the wiſdom of man to
recover the knowledge of the likeneſs again. Men have ſtriven much;
but they never could form a true likeneſs of the primitive church, and the
way thereof.
Now though it is the defire of the devil to keep men in the groffneſs of
darkneſs; yet, rather than lofe them, he will let them have fome part of the
form again: nay, he will tempt them with a gaudy appearance of the
form, to keep them from meeting with the power and life, when he per-
ceives true fecret inward ftirrings in them, which will not be quieted with-
out fomewhat. Thus, when there was a ftirring againſt Popery, he tempted
afide into Eſpiſcopacy: when that would hold no longer, then to Prefbytery:
when that will not ferve, into Independency: when that will not keep quiet,
but ſtill there are fearchings further, into Anabaptifm: if that will not do,
into a way of Seeking and Waiting: if this will not fatisfy, they fhall have
high notions, yea, moft pleaſant notions concerning the Spirit, and con-
cerning the life, if they will but be fatisfied without the life: yea, they
ſhall have all the liberty in the creatures they can defire (the beſt-painted
liberty),
of the State of the Church.
209
liberty), if they will but be fatisfied without that liberty which ſtands not in
the creatures out of the life, but over the creatures in the life. And he
that turns aſide to any of theſe, he is ftill under the dominion of that
fpirit; and there he holds knowledge, and there he performs his worſhip,
and there he has his unity, his liberty, his life, his reft, his peace, his joy,
his hope. Now no man can worship God till he comes out of every part of
this Babylon, and his feet touch Sion; though there may be a fecret pant-
ing, and an unknown fafety, and an acceptation of the poor mourning
foul in the paffage. Yea, all forts of people, here ye were accepted in your
ftirrings after life, in hearkening to the leadings of life from out of the
Babyloniſh ſpirit; but your turning afide to the Babyloniſh wiſdom in a
new drefs, and fitting down in a new form of her inventing, hath brought
you to a loss of life, and hath made you hateful to the living God, who
hath drawn his fword against you, and hath prepared his vials, his thun-
ders, his plagues, his woes: and ye muft drink of his cup with forrow,
as ye have drank of the whore's cup with pleaſure. Ye that have found
a bed of pleaſure in any of your forms, or in any of your notions, and for
have found eaſe in the whore's painting; ye muſt be caft into the bed of
forrow, and know the fire in God's Sion, and the furnace in his Jerufalem
if ever ye become an habitation for God, or expect to feed on his holy
mountain.
The condition of the church all this while (all this time of Satan's reign
in forms of knowledge and worſhip) hath been very lamentable, and is ex-
preffed in fcripture by parables and reſemblances of a fad ftate. She hath
been as a city pulled down, like a ruined city, which needs rebuilding be-
fore ſhe can come to be a city again (when the Lord fhall build up Sion). She
hath been as a wilderneſs, barren, undreffed, unregarded. She hath been
like a mournful widow, whofe huſband hath been rent from her, and her
children flain. She hath loft all her ornaments, all her garments, all her
ordinances, all her appearances, and ways of life, infomuch as the ways of
Sion mourn. But Babylon, the mother of harlots, fhe has got all the beauty,
all the glory, all the church's attire, all the church's ordinances, and all the
trade and traffick runs thither, and fhe is cried up for the true church;
and if any dare ſpeak a word againſt her, and for the true church indeed,
they are exclaimed againſt for fchifmaticks and hereticks, and war pre-
pared againſt them, and ſome or other of the beaſt's horns puſhing at them.
Thus it has gone all the time of the apoftafy; the whore has flouriſhed
with the name of the church, making great merchandize of fouls, felling
their formal ftuff for money; and abundance of children hath the whore
brought forth, and nouriſhed with her milk of deceit; but the true wo-
man, the Lamb's wife, with her feed, and the living food from her living
breaſts, have had no place on the earth.
But this ſtate of things is ended in part, and ending apace.
God of life is arifen out of his holy habitation to affault the
VOL. I.
D d
The Lord
dragon, to
diſcover
1
210
A Brief History
diſcover and ſtrip the whore, to recover a poffeffion for his life in the earth,
to make room in the world for his church, which he is bringing out of the
wilderneſs. The battle is begun; the territories of antichrift are affaulted;
the Lamb hath appeared on his white horſe, and hath gathered many of
his called, faithful, and chofen about him; the enfign is lifted up; the
light (which fearcheth the inwards of the enemy's dominions) hath appear-
ed, and his inmoft power and wifdom is not feared; but the Lord God is
feared, and the dragon's arm withers, and the head of his policy (whereby
he enfnared and entangled from the life; is crufhing. Glory to the endleſs
power of life, for ever and for ever.
Be wife now therefore, and lofe not your fhare in the immortal crown.
Take heed how ye be found fighters againſt the Lamb, in the wifdom and
power of Babylon which is to fall. Painting will not pass now: that blood
of the Lamb is felt, which washes off the whore's paint; even all her
painted notions of the blood of Chrift, and of fanctification and redemp-
tion, &c. the whorish nature being diſcovered underneath all theſe. Ye
have got the name of church, the name of Chriftians, the name of ordi-
nances, &c. by the whore's help; but the nature of life ye want: and the
living power is come to recover the name from you; and we, his living wit-
neffes, teftify to your faces, that ye fhall not enjoy it; but the name and
the thing fhall go together; and he that hath not the thing, ſhall alſo loſe
the name. Yea, your
Yea, your eyes fhall fee that ye have been the facrilegious ones,
who have ftolen holy names and titles, which ye never received from the
hand of God; but the whorifh ſpirit (which is out of the life, and an ene-
my to the life) hath handed them to you. And this is told you in dear
and tender love, that ye might not perish, but have eternal life abiding in
your hearts, and the new name written by the Spirit of life on your fore-
heads, which all that know the writing of the life, may be able to read
and acknowledge.
There are feveral touches of theſe things in divers of the epiftles of
the apoſtles: but the full relation is given forth in that book of the Reve-
lations, which was penned by the Spirit of God, to be read in the light of
the Spirit, and fo to be a preſervative againſt the overſpreading contagion of
Antichriftianiſm. And it is faid, at the entrance into it, Bleed is he that
readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things
which are written therein. But men having loft the Spirit, have not been
able to read it; and having loft the right ear, they have not been able to
hear the words it ſpeaks: and how then could they keep the things writ-
ten therein? He that doth not underſtand what he is warned againſt, how
is it likely he ſhould be preſerved by the warning? The Spirit of God judg-
ed this warning neceffary, but the fpirit of deceit cries, it is a deep thing,
not to be meddled with. Now this is a plain demonftration, that men ge-
nerally are overtaken with the whoredom, and drink of the whore's cup,
and fubmit themſelves to the beaſt, and exalt his horns, and receive his
mark,
of the State of the Church.
21I
mark, and ſome or other of his names; becauſe they have not the know-
ledge of that which diſcovers theſe things, and was given by the Spirit of
God to forewarn, and fo to preſerve out of them. He that knoweth not
the myſtery of iniquity working under a form of godlineſs, may not he
eaſily be deceived with the myſtery of iniquity? He that knoweth not what
is become of the true church and miniftry, and where to look for them,
may not he eaſily own a falſe church and miniftry? He that knoweth not
the Spirit of the fcriptures, which the church carried with her, when fhe
left the letter behind her, may not he eaſily ſet up the letter for his rule?
He that knoweth not the living mark and name of a Chriftian, with which
the Spirit of life feals all the lambs of Chrift in the life, may not he eaſily
give this name to himſelf, and to others who have not this mark, but the
beaft's mark? He that knoweth not the true faith, the true love, the true
hope, the true joy, the true peace, the true reft, the true confolation in
Chrift the life (the true meeknefs and patience of the faints, &c.) may
not he eaſily ſet up fhadows or likeneffes of theſe (which he gathers from
the letter of the fcriptures and the promiſes thereof, receiving the know-
ledge of them into the wrong part, and applying them to the wrong
thing) inſtead of theſe? Ah poor hearts! the book of the Revelation is
eaſy to that Spirit that wrote it: and it was not given forth to be laid by as
uſeleſs; but to be ferviceable in the hand of the Spirit, for the ages after
the days of the apoftles; and in the true light it is eafily read: and they
that can read it, can fee that in it, which they that cannot read it, cannot
believe. And this is plainly feen; that there is but the Spirit of truth, and
the ſpirit of deceit: but the Lamb's wife, and the whore (which hath
whored from the Spirit, which hath made uſe of the letter, to run a whor-
ing from that Spirit that wrote it): that there is but the true church and
the falfe church, but life and death; but form and power; but Chriſt the
myſtery of godliness, and antichrift the myſtery of iniquity; but God
and the dragon; God in the church or temple in the wilderneſs, and the
dragon in the world's churches and temples, appearing there as if he were
God, giving forth laws and ordinances like God; and all the world falls
down before him, and worships him as if he were God; and hopes by this
worſhip which they perform to him, and by their faith and hope which
they receive from him, to be faved at laft. I fay there are but theſe two :
and he that is joined to the one of theſe, is not joined to the other. Let
him that readeth underſtand; which he may eaſily do by the wiſdom of the
Spirit, but never can by the wifdom of the letter. For though we know
how to join theſe two in the life, yet there is a neceffity of feparating them
at prefent, till the letter be gained out of the hands of the whorifh fpirit,
which hath built up feveral forms of knowledge, religion, and worſhip in
Myſtery Babylon, by the letter without the life; all which muft fall with
Babylon.
Dd 2
An
'
212
An
An Exhortation to the prefent Age.
EXHORTATION,
Relating to the Workings of the Myſtery of INIQUITY
and the Myſtery of GODLINESS in this preſent
AGE.
A
LL people upon earth who love your fouls, and have any true fecret
pantings after God, look to the nature of your fpirits, and look to
the nature of thoſe things ye let into your minds; left ye take death for
life, error for truth, and fo fow to yourſelves corruption, and rear up a fa-
brick in Myſtery Babylon, which will be turned into defolation and utter
ruins, by the power of life from Sion.
Strong is the fpirit of deceit that is entered into the world, and glorious
and very taking are his images and likeneſſes of truth; which will deceive
all but the very Elect, who were chofen from the foundation of the world,
and whoſe eyes are opened to fee the foundation of life, which was before
the foundation of the world.
It hath been an heavy dull time for many ages: there have only been
witneſſes hitherto raiſed againſt antichrift, and he hath found it an eaſy mat-
ter to knock them down, and keep up his ways of prophaneneſs, and
of formal fuperftitious kinds of devotion, up and down all the nations.
But now it is a quick time; the Spirit of the Lord God hath ariſen, the
fearching eye is opened, the purfuit after the very fpirit of antichrift is be-
gun; yea, very quick and freſh is the fcent of that Spirit which hunteth
the whore; and now fhe goes forward and backward, traverfes her ground,
changes her paint and colours often, fhifts her garment continually, and
ufes all the art ſhe can to fave her life. Now the king of Babylon opens
his treaſury, brings forth all his likeneffes, all his images, all appearances;
with fome or other of them (if it be poffible) to tempt the fimple foul,
and keep it ſatisfied therewith, in fome of his chambers of darkneſs and
imagery, out of the life and power.
Therefore now be warned and look about you, and be not cozened with
any of the wares of Babylon, where the merchandize and traffick is for
fouls, and where all the wares of deceit are, which are proper to cozen
fouls: but feek for the nature of that thing, which the inward pantings of
your heart at any time have been after; and wait for the opening of that
eye, which can fee, through all manner of paint, to that nature; and keep
low in the life, fimple and honeft-hearted, and then gaudy appearances will
not take with you; for they are only temptaions to the afpiring part, which
is
An Exhortation to the prefent Age.
213
is lifted up above the pure, low, humble principle: and if that part were
brought down, ye would be fafe; but while that ftands, ye will not be out
of the danger of temptations. Now this know;
There is nothing whereof Sion is built, but the likeneſs of it is in Baby-
lon; and the likeneſs is very taking, even more taking to that eye which
is open in men, than the truth itſelf. The truth is a plain fimple thing;
it is not gaudy in appearance; its excellency lies in its nature: but the ap-
pearances of truth which Satan paints, are very gaudy, very glorious, ſeem-
ingly very ſpiritual, very pure, very precious, very fweet; they many
times even raviſh that underſtanding, and thofe affections, that are out of
the life. Oh! what fhall I fay! Shall I fpeak a little of the wares of Baby-
lon? Where is there an ear which can hear me? Yet he that opens my
mouth, can open thine ear: therefore let me ſpeak a little plainly.
1. There are many glorious falfe births in Babylon. There is no inherit-
ing the kingdom, but by being born again. This doctrine the king of
Babylon preacheth; he is fain to do ſo, elſe the letter of the ſcripture would
overthrow his kingdom. Now, therefore, to keep from the true new-birth,
he hath his images of the new-birth, his ſeveral falſe births. A great while
outward baptifm, and a formal knowledge, was enough to make a man a
Chriftian; but now, fince that is difcovered and will not do, he brings forth
better births; he hath inward changes of the mind (multitudes of them)
fit for every one who is feeking after the life, to be tempted from the life
with; and he tempts every one with a proper bait, with that which is tak-
ing to him in his prefent eſtate. What changes any kind of knowledge by
virtue of the notion (with the devil's quickening power added to it) can pro-
duce in any man, the devil can transform man into. Yea, many are theſe
changes; and he that doth not know the nature of the true birth, may
eafily be deceived with that which is juft like the thing he looks for. A
man looks for a new birth, for an inward change: he looks for a know-
ledge to change him; he fhall have juft the very likeness of that which
his heart defires, the lively likeneſs; the devil is ready at hand to furniſh
him with it which way can the man, who never faw the true thing, efpy
the cheat?
А
2. There are many glorious defires in Babylon, many pantings, many
breathings after that which this birth of Babylon takes to be life. The
devil hath theſe wares, theſe images in his fhop too; as he hath a falfe birth
in imitation of the true, fo he hath falſe breathings for his falſe birth. If
his child could not ſeemingly breathe towards God (as if he were a natural
child of God) he would foon be detected; therefore he inflames him with
defires of growth, with defires of enjoyment of that which he calls life,
with feeming defires of ferving and glorifying God; and here come in the
prayers of the fleshly birth, which are many times carried on with exceed-
ing great earneſtneſs of the fleſhly part, to which alſo the father of this
birth gives anſwers. And now which way can deceit be fo much as fuf-
pected
į
214 An Exhortation to the prefent Age.
pected here? And yet here alſo the deceiver lodgeth, and herein he work-
eth, raifing ſtrong defires in that part wherein he dwells, that he may allay
thoſe pure defires, which otherwife would be arifing from the life under-
neath, and which (notwithſtanding all this) fometimes do arife, eſpecially
when the foul is in anguiſh.
3. There is falfe food in Babylon, falfe knowledge to feed this wrong na- -
ture with; there is knowledge, falfely fo called. There are feveral appearances
of all the truths in Sion. There is outward knowledge of the letter, and
there is inward myftical knowledge; and each of theſe have their warmth,
and their freſhneſs, and do nouriſh up this child, and cauſe it to grow. Yea,
what knowledge and experience (which at firft fprang from the true life)
this fpirit makes a prey of, and daily brings into his Babylon, therewith to
feed and fatten that which is born of him, and to cover the old deceitful
nature under, which is not flain thereby, but daily lives, and moves, and
puts forth itſelf; this is certainly felt by that which is made fenfible in the
life, but hard to be ſpoken, becauſe the deceived heart is ſo groſs, and the
ear ſo heavy. Now here the painted whore, which hath dealt treacherouſly
with the life, fits as a queen, and fays fhe fhall fee no forrow: this know-
fedge is certain to her, thefe experiences fhe hath had the feeling of, and
knows they can never be ſhaken. But O thou princeſs of Babylon! the
Lord will ftrip thee, the Lord will unbare thy inwards, and thine own eyes
fhall fee thy nakedneſs, which fhall be for a perpetual reproach among all
the inhabitants of Sion: and then thy dark deceitful ſpirit fhall have no
more to ſay againſt thofe, who now fee through thy covering, to thy nature,
in the light, and judge thee, not of themſelves, nor in their owns wills and
underſtandings, but from the true power, and in the true guidance of the
life, whofe work it is to purfue, overtake, and judge death, even to death.
For all this knowledge, all theſe experiences in thee (though thou feeft it
not, nor canft fee it with that eye wherewith thou lookeft to fee), are held
captive by that which tranfgreffed and hath erred from the life, and are
made uſe of to keep thy foul in bands: and as they are thus held, death
and the curfe muft overtake them, ere that life in thee, from which they
firſt ſprang, can poffibly arife. Grafp not after the knowledge of this in
the underſtanding part, but wait for the ſenſe of it from that life which lies
flain underneath thefe, and by that part which exalts thefe.
4. There are falfe keys to open the feveral chambers of imagery in Baby-
lon. This food man cannot gather of himſelf, it must be given to him:
this knowledge man cannot get into by himſelf, but as this fpirit leads
him, and opens to him; for he hath the keys of death, and opens into the
treaſures of death. Now this hugely confirms a man in the deceit, with-
out the leaſt fufpicion of it. Why, faith he, I had not this knowledge
from myſelf, I came not to it by mine own ſkill or underſtanding, but it
was given me, it was opened to me; and it came in freſh, and warmed in
my heart, begetting ſweet and pure defires in me, and hath made me eye
the
1
An Exhortation to the prefent Age.
215
the glory of God, and not myſelf. Yea, it might come thus in the like-
nefs, and work the likeneſs of this in thee; and yet itſelf not be truth, nor
be able to work the truth of this in thee; and this is proper to deceive thy
very heart, and make thee a pleaſant inhabitant of Babylon, and a joyful
worſhipper of the king thereof, whom, through this deep deceit, and moſt
fubtil falſe appearance in thy heart, thou miſtakeft for the King of Sion.
5. This falfe fpirit hath his falfe croffes, his falfe combats and fightings,
The very Papifts have not only their wooden and ftone croffes, but they
have alfo their ways of felf-denial, their ways of croffing the natural part,
of refignation to the Divine Will (as they call it), of fighting againſt cor-
ruption, &c. It is manifeft that a man muft deny himſelf, or elfe he can-
not be a Chriftian (his own will muft not, cannot live, if he truly give him-
felf up to Chrift): therefore that fpirit, which lieth lurking to deceive, hath
feveral ways of felf-denial to teach (all which muft have fome hardneſs in
them to the natural part, or elfe they could not pafs); and thefe may pro-
duce great and conftant conflicting in the flefh, and yet the fleshly nature be
ftill kept alive under all theſe conflicts and exercifes of felf-denial. He
hath a circumcifing-knife, which cuts off a great deal, but always fpares
the nature; and as long as the nature is fpared, the devil ftill hath that
wherein he can dwell.
6. He hath his falfe love to God and man, and his falfe zeal for God.
Love and zeal are two diftinguiſhing things. All men conclude that love
determines a man to be a Chriftian, and fo they take up fome appearance
or other of love, ſomewhat that fatisfies themſelves that their love is right,
both to God and man. The very Papifts, who are full of blood and cruel-
ty, yet pretend to love; they have an image of love which contents them.
But there are far higher images, even images of univerfal love and fweet-
nefs, which no eye can perceive, but that which knows the truth. And
take one word from me, ye to whom it belongs: all ye that cry up uni-
verfal love from the ſweet ſenſe of its image, ye fhall one day know, that
one act of particular love from the true nature, exceeds this in its utmoſt
extent.
7. He hath his falfe life. The devil hath not only a dead formal reli-
gion, but he hath a reſemblance, an imitation of the quickenings of the
Spirit. The devil puts his life into his image, where need requires. He
hath not only a dead literal knowledge, but he hath paintings of the life; he
draws a thing to the life; he makes his dead image of truth as like the
living fubftance of truth as poffibly he can; infomuch as his images of life,
at a diſtance, without being beheld in the true life, cannot but be taken
for living. Now here is the depth of deceit, when the devil's images of
life in the heart are taken for the living thing, for the life itſelf.
8. He hath his falfe liberty. There is a glorious liberty in the Gofpel:
there is a perfect freedom in the fervice of the life; there is a liberty in the
power of the life over all the creatures. God made all things for man, and
he
216
An Exhortation to the prefent Age.
he denies him nothing; he being in fubjection to him in the life, and
ufing all in the dominion of the life. Now the devil paints a liberty like
this; yea, a liberty that feems greater than this, even a liberty wherein the
fleſhly part (whofe very nature is eternally fhut out of the nature of true
liberty) hath ſcope; which liberty is not furrounded, nor cannot be fur-
rounded by the power of life, as this is; and in this painted liberty, that
Spirit which painted it lives; which paint the true liberty takes off, flaying
that which calls it liberty, and gathering in the name of liberty from this
falſe appearance, to that which is liberty indeed. And by the way, he
that can read this, let him. The perfection of the true liberty lies in the
perfection of bonds, in the perfect binding down of that which is out of
the life; for the true liberty is the liberty of the life, and of nothing elſe;
and when all that is contrary to the life is perfectly bound down, then the
life hath its full ſcope, without the leaſt controul of the fleſhly part; and
when the life lives, then that which is joined to the life lives alſo.
Now here is the myſtery of iniquity; here is the inward kingdom of
darkneſs; here is the glory of Babylon! Here is he that contends for the
kingdom, for the inheritance! Here the fon of the bond-woman (thus
dreffed, thus furniſhed, thus filled within and without) will have it go for
granted that he is the right heir and yet all this while wants the nature of
that which is to inherit, and cannot poffibly receive that nature into him-
felf, but only fuch images afore-mentioned. And if, in tender love to his
foul, from a clear fight of this thing, we warn him, and bid him look
about, he cries do not judge. He really thinks he is right in the main,
and he feems willing to refer it to the day of trial. Ah poor heart! the
eye is opened which can fee; that which hath judged the deceit in us, can
alſo judge the deceit in thee. Cannot the fpiritual eye fee things in its
kind? To what end hath God given it? Canft thou fee and judge natural
things in the natural part? So can they fee and judge fpiritual things who
are in the light, and who live in the life; yea, we fhall continue judging
thee in the fear, and in the humility, till God open that in thee which can
feal to our judgment.
Object. How difficult do you make the way to life, if not utterly impoffible?
If all this be true, Who can be faved?
Anfw. The way to life is very difficult; yea, and impoffible to that part
in man, which is fo bufy in willing and running towards life; but it is as
eafy on the other hand, to that which the Father begetteth, raiſeth
up, and
leadeth. The wayfaring man (though a fool) ſhall not err. The wiſeſt and
richeſt merchants in Babylon cannot fet one ſtep in it; the leaſt child in
Sion cannot err there. Therefore know that in thyfelf to which it is fo
hard; and know that which God hath given to thee, which will make it
eaſy.
Thou haft a living talent given thee by God; let not thine eye be drawn
from that; but join to that, keep there, and thou art ſafe; and that will
open
1
An Exhortation to the prefent Age.
217
1
eye
open thine
to ſee all deceits, juft in the very feafon and hour of temptation.
For thou muſt expect to meet with all theſe temptations, as thy growth
makes thee capable of receiving them. And as they come, the true eye
being kept open, they will be feen; and being feen they will eafily be
avoided in the power of life; for in vain the net is fpread in fight of the
bird. Therefore that thou mayſt be ſafe;
1. Know the light, the eternal light of life, the little glimmerings and
fhinings of it in thy foul. This comes from the rock, to lead thee to the
rock and if thou wilt follow it, it will fix thee upon the rock where thou
canſt not be ſhaken.
2. Keep in the light, keep within the hedge, ftep not out of thine own;
keep out of the circumference of the fpirit of deceit; the power of whoſe
witchery and forcery extends all over the regions of darkneſs.
3. Love fimplicity, love the nakedneſs of life, ftand fingle in the honeſty
of the heart, out of the intricate fubtil reaſonings, and wife confultings
about things; for by theſe means the ferpent comes to twine about and de-
ceive thy foul; but in the fimplicity of the movings of life, in the light
lies the power, the ftrength, the fafety.
4. Lie very low continually, even at the foot of the loweſt breathing and
appearances of the light. Take heed of being above that wherein the life
lies; for the wiſdom, the power, the ftrength, yea, the great glory lies in
the humility; and thou muſt never be exalted, thou muſt never come out
of the humility, but find and enjoy the honour and glory of the life in the
humility.
5. Mind the reproofs of the light; for that will ftill be fetting thee to
rights. That will ſtill be bringing down that which would get up above;
and there lies the prefervation. Oh the chaftenings of the light, the ſweet
chaſtenings of the love by the light! Thefe are healing flripes. This brings
down the exalter, and that in thee which loves to be exalted, and to be
ſeeking the honour of the ſpiritual riches, before the humility is perfected.
Thus, in love to fouls, have I poured out my ſoul before the Lord, and
held forth gentle leadings, even to the moſt ſtubborn and ftiff-necked.
VOL. I.
E c
A Brief
}
218
A Brief Account, &c.
A
BRIEF ACCOUNT of fome REASONS
(Amongst many that might be given)
Why thoſe People called QUAKERS cannot do fome
Things on the one hand, and forbear doing of fome
Things on the other hand; for which they have fuf-
fered, and do ftill fuffer, fo much Violence from the
People, and fuch fore Perfecution from the Teachers.
and Magiftrates of thefe Nations. Whereby it may
appear to all, who are willing to take any fair Confi-
deration of their Caufe, that their Sufferings are for
Righteoufneſs Sake, becauſe of the Integrity of their
Hearts towards GOD, and void of any juft Ground of
Offence towards Man..
This account was drawn up thus brief, for their fakes who want
either time or patience to confider of it more at large; and an-
fwers to the heads of their ſufferings, in a particular declaration
to the PARLIAMENT.
I.
W
HY we go into meeting-places, or markets, or other-where, to teſtify
to the truth, and against deceit.
Reafon. Becauſe we are moved of the Lord ſo to do. We are his; and
where he bids us witneſs for him, and againſt deceivers and their deceit, we
muſt do it: woe unto us (from the Lord) if we do it not. If any man do
any fuch thing in his own will, we witneſs againſt him, and the Lord will
require it of him. Now this is no more than the apoſtles and fervants of
the Lord have done, as it is recorded in ſcripture.
2. Why we cannot pay tythes.
Reaf. Becauſe tythes were not a maintenance appointed by Chrift for his
minifters, but were fet up by the Pope (as the maintenance of his miniſters)
fince
1
!
A Brief Account, &c.
219
fince the days of the apoftles. And this maintenance by tythes, Wickliff
and others bore a teftimony againft, and divers of the martyrs in queen
Mary's days fuffered for; as by the articles charged againſt them, and the
teſtimony that they held forth, may appear.
3. Why we meet together on the First-days of the Week, and at other times.
Reaf. Becauſe we find the Lord drawing of us, and his prefence among
us in our meetings, and receive refreſhings to our fouls thereby.
4. Why we cannot fwear.
Reaf. Becaufe Chrift our Lord (who is greater than Mofes, who gave the
law about fwearing) hath faid, Swear not at all; and his apoftle (who abode
in his doctrine) faith, Above all things, my brethren, fwear not; neither by bea-
ven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath. Now mark the drift of
Chrift, which is not only to forbid profane and unlawful oaths (for if that
were all, Chriſt had ſpoken nothing further nor fuller than Mofes had done,
which is contrary to all the inftances of the like kind, whereby he straitens
all that had been ſaid by Moſes of old time), but all fwearing without ex-
ception, as may further appear by the inftance immediately foregoing, in
the cafe of divorce, where he expreffeth an exception in theſe words, Sav-
ing for the cause of fornication: But here is no exception added by Chrift;
and the putting in of an exception by man's wiſdom, deſtroyeth Chrift's
words, making his command no ſtraiter than the law of Mofes, which for-
bad all profane and unlawful ſwearing, Levit. xix. 12.
5. Why we cannot put off our hats to men.
Reaf. Becauſe it lifts up that in man which God will deftroy. It is fuit-
able to that nature which is of the earth, and feeds it. It is pleafing to the
fleſh; and that which is an enemy to the flesh, cannot give it that which
feeds and pleaſeth it. If we ſhould pleaſe men, we could not be the fer-
vants of Chriſt. This is the true ground whereupon we cannot do it; and
not in contempt to authority, or any man's perfon. Neither can we reſpect
mens perfons; for in fo doing we ſhould commit fin, as faith the apoſtle.
And let men confider what it is in them that cannot bear with it; it being
done in fimplicity of heart upon this account.
6. Why we cannot justly be looked upon as vagrants or sturdy beggars.
Reaf. Becauſe we beg not, nor pafs up and down in any idle way; but
either about our civil employments and occafions, or about the work of
our God; nor are any way burthenfome to the nation. If to be from our
dwellings about the work of our God, be accounted the breach of a law,
would not the fame law have taken hold on Chrift and his apoſtles, if it
had been in their days?
7. Why we visit friends in prison.
Reaf. Becauſe they being impriſoned for their obedience to Chrift, what
we do to them, we do to him; and we are afraid, left he ſhould ſay to us
at the great day; I was fick and in priſon, and ye vifited me not. Now they
E e 2
that
220
A Brief Account, &c.
that are ſo far from doing this themſelves, that they puniſh others for doing
it, when God fhall call them them to account, what will they answer?
8. Why we cannot contribute towards the repairing of the steeple-houses, or
pay clerks wages,
!
Reaf. Becauſe they are places which were erected for popish and idolatrous
worship; and where a worſhip not differing in its nature and ground (but
only in form) is continued in this day; and the root from whence all this
idolatry grew, is not fo much as difcovered, much lefs purged out of theſe
dominions, by them who formerly declared againſt it in words. Now as we
will anſwer it to God, we are to give no countenance or furtherance to ido-
latry. And for clerks, they were officers invented by the falfe church
(fince the apoftafy), never appointed by Chrift in his church, and fuch we
dare not help to maintain. Was it not folemnly covenanted with the Lord
againſt fuperftition, for the plucking up of epifcopacy root and branch?
And muft not thofe that are faithful to the Lord perform their covenant,
though to their hurt?
;
Now any man that fhall in the fear of the Lord read this, may fee that
theſe things bear a weight upon our hearts; and what we do herein, we
do for confcience-fake, in obedience to the Lord; and not out of ftubborn-
nefs, or rebellion (as by fome we are charged), nor out of any delight that
we have to diſturb or difquiet others; but fingly to the Lord, that we may
ftand clear in his fight. We know whom we obey therein, and are fure we
do that which is pleafing to him. Therefore let men take heed how they
perfecute us, left they be found fighters againſt him who will be too ftrong
for them. For theſe many ages, fince the days of the apoftles, deceit hath
got up, antichrift hath fat in the temple, the true worſhippers have been
impriſoned and martyred. The Lord will avenge the fufferings and blood
of his faints, and in due time will plead their cauſe againſt the oppreffors,
on whom his hand will then fall heavy, and the rocks and the mountains
ſhall not be able to hide them from the prefence of the Lamb; and that
day who will be able to abide? Though now men put it far from them.
Some
Some Confiderations, &c.
221
*
:
Some CONSIDERATIONS
Propoſed to the City of LONDON, and the Nation of
ENGLAND, to calm their Spirits, and prepare them to
wait for what the LORD is bringing about, that they
may not run headily into their Ruin and Deſtruction;
and, by this extraordinary Heat of their Spirits, kindle
that Fire which will foon devour them.
With a ſhort Exhortation to them relating to their true Settlement,
and the Removal of that which hinders it.
TH
HE Lord God Almighty, who made heaven and earth; who up-
holds them by the word of his power; whoſe they are, with all their
inhabitants; he ruleth in the kingdoms of men; eſtabliſhing or overturning
laws, governments, and governors at his pleaſure, Pfal. lxxv. 5. &c. Dan.
iv. 25, iii. 5.
2. That the Lord hath had an eſpecial hand in the ſhakings and changes
of this nation; and hath fome great things to bring about, which he or-
dereth all unto. And though many of the tranfactions and paffages (as
relating to men) have been very blameable; yet the Lord hath been juſt and
good in them all; and can, in his own good time, recover the ground
which he hath ſeemed to loſe, and advance both the good of his people,
and of the nation, by all their fufferings, loffes, difcouragements, and dif-
advantages.
3. In this late revolution, there may be more of God than man is aware
of. God, in his infinite wiſdom, might fee that this parliament was not fit
for work, and fo might fuffer fuch a thing to fall out between them and
the army (heightening their ſpirits on both fides) as might occafion the re-
moval of them out of the way. Yea, and this prefent change may be but
a paffage to another, unleſs the Lord find thefe very faithful and diligent in
his fervice, and not minding themſelves and their own intereſts.
4. If this late revolution was of God, and he faw it good to bring it
about, for the further carrying on of his work, he will be able to maintain
it; and thoſe that oppoſe him therein ſhall not be able to ftand before him.
They may bring ruin upon the nation and themſelves; but they cannot fet
up what God throws down, nor raiſe up any thing elſe in the ſtead of it,
according
222
Some Confiderations, &c.
according to their wills; but that which he, by his providence and difpofing
hand, appointeth to fucceed, muſt have the time of trial which he allot-
teth it.
Therefore let men fear the Lord God, whofe eye is upon us, and whoſe
power is over us; and let us take heed of being found fighters againſt him.
The cauſe hath long lain a bleeding; yet there is at length a true reviving
of it: and thoſe whofe hearts the Lord hath ſtirred up to feek it faithfully,
the Lord will be with them, and he is ready to pardon their former mifcar-
riages. But oh! that they could lay themfelves low, and forget their own
interefts, that the cauſe might rife up clear and manifeft above them! Re-
member this faying, O ye great-ones! the Lord did not throw down the
former greatneſs of the nobility for you to rife up in their places; but ye
ſhould have lain low, and remained little, and have let the Lord been great;
and it is your true intereft to defcend and become little again. And if it
were once manifeft that ye did not ſeek yourſelves, but the cauſe of God,
the good of his people, and of the nation, that every part and fort of men
might feel their oppreffions broken, and their juft rights and liberties re-
covered and preferved for them; this would draw the hearts of all the ho-
neſt-hearted people to you as one man; and thoſe which have been ſcat-
tered, would be again united; and our very enemies (feeing our integrity,
and righteouſneſs, and true reformation by the wiſdom and guidance of
God), would magnify that work of God, which, as yet, cannot but be a
reproach.
Therefore, O England! fear before the Lord, and wait upon him: and let
thine eye be taken off from man; for he is very vanity. Neither thy good
nor thy harm arifeth this way; but out of thine own bowels. What have
all theſe afflictions done towards the refining thee? Art thou not yet what
thou waft? O England! wilt thou not be made clean? When ſhall it once
be? Murmur not againſt the rods wherewith the Lord feeth good to chaf-
tife thee; but mourn over thy wickedneſs, thy pride, thy deceit, thy ex-
cefs, thy cruelty, thy oppreffion, thy falfe worſhip, and idolatries, &c. and
over thy enmity againſt that which is of God, where-ever it appears.
At the beginning of thefe troubles thou couldft bear with no form of
worſhip but thine own. Now thou art come thus far, that thou canft al-
moſt bear with any form. Nay, but that will not ferve; the Lord will have
room for the power of godlinefs, and he will not always fuffer thee to ſmite
his fervants for their obedience to his Spirit. This is his controverfy with
thee, and the cauſe of all thy miſery: when mifery, diftrefs, and ruin have
opened thine eyes, thou wilt fee it. Oh! that thy day of calamity might
paſs over thee! If thou couldſt indeed humble thyſelf before the Lord, and
not walk any longer thus contrary to him, in the work which he is refolved
to bring about, the Lord might pity and ſpare thee; for he delighteth in
mercy but if thou continueft to walk contrary to him, and wilt be fettled
afore his time, and in a way, and by fuch means as he approves not, the
ſteps
T
Some Confiderations, &c.
223
fteps of his power againſt thee will overturn thee. Therefore fear, and be
humble and meek before him; for therein lies the wifdom which can pre-
ferve thee: but ſtrive not to withstand his foot-fteps, left he trample down
thy crown, thy ſtrength, thy hopes, thy peace, and all that is defireable in
thine eyes.
This is in tender love, as a gentle warning to you, that you may take
heed of giving way to that fierce fpirit, which is the fore-runner of
miſery and defolation;
From him who is a dear lover of this city, and of his
native country,
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
Some CONSIDERATIONS
Propoſed to the diſtracted Nation of ENGLAND, con-
cerning the preſent Deſign and Work of God therein;
upon their fubmitting whereto doth their Settlement
alone depend, and not upon any Form of Govern-
ment, or Change of Governors, as that Spirit which
ſeeketh their Ruin tempteth them to believe.
I
"TH
HAT God, in great mercy, broke the bonds of the Romish yoke,
which lay hard upon the neck of this nation, and was very weighty
upon thoſe confciences wherein the true reforming light did arife in any
meaſure; and who were in any meaſure true to that light which the Lord
cauſed to break in upon them.
2. That the reformation out of Popery was not prefently perfected (nay,
was never yet perfected), but was very weak and low, many things therein
favouring very much of Popery (the nation being hardly able to bear at that.
time what was done); fo that there were many things ftill continuing, which
could not but be burdenſome to the upright-hearted, and to the tender
confciences, as the light which began their reformation did grow and in-
creaſe in them.
3. That the Lord God (who in fuch great mercy had delivered this na--
tion from the yoke of Popery) could not but expect that the reformation:
fhould
1
224
Some Confiderations, &c.
ſhould grow and increaſe until it were perfected; even until nothing were left
which arofe from that fpirit from whence Popery fprang, and which might
(in its proper tendency) be ferviceable to that fpirit; but that all his people
in this nation might have free liberty at leaft (if not encouragement) to re-
turn to the pure worſhip of him in Spirit and in Truth'; even as in the
days of the apoſtles, before the apoftafy from the Spirit and from the
Truth.
4. That the reformation out of Popery was not purfued as the Lord ex-
pected it ſhould! but a dark way of worſhip eſtabliſhed in the land, and a
dark church-government (both like that of Rome); whereby thoſe that
were truly confcientious, and in whom the reforming light did further and
further arife, were reproached, nick-named, hated, perfecuted, &c. info-
much that there was a bar fet up against the proceeding of the reformation
any further, and a formal way of church-government and worſhip erected;
which was pleafing to the looſe and carnal ſpirit; but ſharp, cruel, and
burdenfome to the ftricter fort, and to fuch as were tender-hearted toward
God.
5. That under this church-government and way of worſhip there was a
going backwards towards Popery again, inſtead of going further from it.
Things grew every day worſe and worſe; ceremonies daily abounding, and
were more and more ſtrictly injoined; wearing of furplices, bowing at the
name of Jefus, railing of the communion-tables, and making ſteps up to them;
calling them high altars (bowing thrice at their approach to them) having
corporaffes over their bread, ſaying ſecond ſervice, &c. And the chief end
of their vifitations was to eſtabliſh fuch things as thefe; and to fupprefs
lecturers, and confcientious preachers (among whom fome freſh life did
fpring up, for the relief of the needy and defolate); and to curtail preach-
ing (and praying before and after fermons); yea, and catechizing too,
which by authority was appointed in the place of the afternoon-fermons,
when they found it exceed the limits they intended. And this proceeded
fo far, that there was very little difference between us and the Papifts, fave
only the name; the worſhip in both becoming dead, and formal, and pleaf-
ing to the fleſhly part, but empty of that which ſhould feed and refreſh the
fpirit. Only the Lord hath referved to himſelf a remnant, who could not
bow to theſe things; but groaned under them, and witneſſed againſt them,
mouruing bitterly to the Lord under the load and weight of them.
6. That when the wrath of the Lord aroſe againſt this form of church-
government and worſhip (as indeed it was high time for the Lord to ap-
pear; for the power and life of religion was even expiring), and he brake
down all that ſtood up in the defence of it, and gave much liberty to the
oppreffed fpirits and confciences of his people: yet this was not pleaſing to
the nation; but fain would they have had either the fame form up again,
or at leaſt ſome other fuch-like in the ſtead of it; whereby the looſe fpirit
of the nation might be fettled in fome way of formal worſhip, and the
growing
Some Confideratioas, &c.
225
growing reforming light fnibbed in the fpirits of the tender-hearted towards
God.
Look back with a ſingle and honeft eye. Hath it not been thus? Hath
there not been a fharp contention between God and this nation concern-
ing this thing? The Lord hath rifen to remove the yoke from off the op-
preffed, that he might cauſe the powers of this nation to let the oppreffed
confcience go free; but the nation would have them bound. It is ftill
crying to the powers and authorities in being to lay the yoke on again.
When one power is broken down (becauſe it is not faithful in the Lord's
hand, but ſtarts afide from the Lord's work, for which it was chofen, to
another of its own chufing), it feeks to have another harder power fet up
(I mean harder to the tender confcience); yet God overturns that alſo;
and what can ftand before him, who is rifen to fhake terribly the earth,
and to make the oaks and cedars thereof to fail, totter, and fall? O Eng-
land! will nothing ferve thy turn but the enflaving of God's heritage?
That tenderneſs of confcience which God hath begotten in his people is his
own; is that which he will inherit. It is that which he brought out of the
Egyptian darkneſs of Popery, and which he is now redeeming, and deliver-
ing out of the relicks thereof: and if theſe three nations fhould for the ge-
nerality join together as one man; yea, and though other nations fhould
join with them, yet will they fall ſhort of power and wiſdom to prevent the
Lord of bringing to paſs his intended work.
Was it the generality of the nations God redeemed out of Popery? Or
was it a poor perfecuted remnant, for whofe fakes he did it, and whom he
chiefly had reſpect unto? And is not the Lord able to carry on this work
further and further? Did he ſuffer them always to be ſtopped in their pro-
grefs, and held in bondage by the powers fet up? Nay, did he not at
length break them down at their cries, for their fakes? And do ye think he
will now ſuffer the line of Prefbytery to be ftretched over them, to keep
them down from rifing up any further in obedience to the pure law of life
in their fpirits? O England! in the zeal of the Lord of hofts I could bid
defiance to all thy counfels and ftrength, though I ſhould ſee thee encompaſs
round his poor fuffering feed (who are very weak and fooliſh as to that
kind of ftrength and wiſdom), becauſe mine eye feeth the Almighty One
(before whom, in thy greateſt ſtrength and height of confidence, thou art
as nothing) engaged against thee; but I rather chufe to mourn over thee,
and to wait for the opening of thine eyes, by the anointing of the true
eye-falve, which alone can unbewitch the nations. Yea, in bowels of ten-
der love and pity to thee, I do befeech thee, O England! confider thyself;
do not undo thy happineſs and proſperity; fight not againſt the Holy One,
the Mighty One of defpifed diftreffed Ifrael; be not tempted to follow
Ifrael into the wilderneſs (where they now are, and whither the hand of the
Lord hath led them), to bring them back again into bondage, becauſe thou
feeſt them entangled in the ftraits, and nothing appears able to deliver out
VOL. I.
Ff
of
226
Some Confiderations, &c.
of thy hand. Remember what befel Pharaoh and all his hoft. This Ifrael,
whom thou hunteft, is dearer to the Lord than ever that Ifrael was: for
that was but a fhadow of the true feed; but the true life itſelf is begotten
and brought forth in many of theſe; and the power and preſence of the
Lord is mightily with them, and amongst them; though thou, in the un-
belief, canft not fee it. There is now an hour of temptation upon thee;
there appears a fair opportunity to thee to be revenged on them, and bring
them under. Take heed what thou doft, left he, who hath the power over
all, bring thee under, and fet them on the top. Seek righteouſneſs, ſeek
the good of all, feek true reformation, and the Lord will bless thee: but if
thou think to obtain the ſetting up of old forms, and ways of worſhip and
government, or any new ones like to the old, under which the righteous
cannot but groan (though the wicked and loofe fpirit may rejoice), thou
wilt be deceived, and thy miſtake may prove very dangerous and bitter to
thee. Our earneft defires to the Lord for thee are, that thou mayeft be
ſpared as much as poffible (and that the fufferings of God's people, from the
very firſt rent from Popery till this day, may not be laid to thy charge); but
iniquity is ſo twiſted into thy bowels, that with much tearing, which will
cauſe great pain to thee, it can hardly be feparated from thee. Thou art
too wife and wilful; this is the caufe of thy forrow. If thou couldſt fear
before the Lord, and patiently wait for the revealing of his will, and of his
guiding thee by his wifdom, and not be fo enraged againft inftruments,
but fee through them to his hand (who hath afflicted thee), and humble
thyſelf before that, how ſweetly and eaſily might his work go on in thee!
But alas! haft thou not fet thyſelf againſt it from the very firſt? And
now thou art much pleaſed with a feeming probability of turning it back-
ward. Ah poor land! what will this ftiff fpirit (which hath all along theſe
times of trouble repined at and oppofed the work of the Lord) bring thee to?
The time of reformation is come; the work of reformation is begun by
that power which is able to carry it on; and that which now ftandeth in
the way thereof (how high and mighty foever) will be overturned. And
although (as to what men have done) the cauſe and work of reformation
may juſtly become a reproach; yet the foundation of reformation which
God hath laid is glorious: and in theſe troubleſome times is he rearing up
the building of his New Jerufalem, which when he hath finiſhed and brought
forth, will dazle the eyes of the whole earth. O England! be not high-
minded, run not out into parties and breaches, in the heady will; but fear
before him whofe power is over thee (who comprehends all thy counfels,
ſtrength, deſigns, and hopes, as with a fpan, and when they are at the
height, can moulder them to nothing with the touch of his finger); for
his will muſt ſtand, not thine.
Written the 19th of the
11th Month, 1659.
This is from him, whom, in the day of thy diſtreſs and
bitter calamity (which thy preſent courfes lead apace
unto), thou wilt confefs to have been thy true friend
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
[227]
TO THE
A
R
M
Y.
FRIENDS,
DⓇ%
O ye not fee how often ye have been betrayed? The Lord hath done
great things for you, and by you, and put great opportunities into
your hands; but ftill they have been loft, his work fallen to the ground, and
his name become a reproach over all the earth, through your means.
Oh!
be abaſed before the Lord, and lie very low, and confider how juſtly he
may lay you aſide from being his inftruments, in that great and glorious
work he hath to bring to paſs. If ye defire to ſtand, look up to the Lord,
to keep your ſpirits very low, and poor, and meek, and ready to hear. Oh!
wait to know what hath betrayed you hitherto! for affuredly that lies in
wait to betray you again: and if the Lord mightily preſerve you not from
it, will make you forget him, and cauſe you to mind and feek yourſelves
afreſh, ſo ſoon as ever your fears are over. Therefore, in the day of your
profperity, the Lord watch over you, and keep you cloſe to the ſtirrings
and honeſt movings for publick good, that have ſprung up in your hearts
in the days of your adverfity; and take heed, left the fubtilty in the wife
fleſhly-reaſoning part deceive you; but fear the Lord in your reaſonings,
and beg earnestly of him to keep the fimplicity alive in you, that the fleſhly
wiſdom get not maſtery over it. For the evil counſellor is near you, even
in your own bofoms, and he lies lurking in plauſible and fair-feeming rea-
fonings. Therefore keep cloſe to the fimplicity, and let your reafonings
be fervants to it, and not mafters over it. Ah! remember how often ye
have ſtarted aſide like a warped bow: become now at length upright to the
Lord, carrying faithfully to the mark thoſe his arrows which he is fhooting
at the regions of Babylon,
This is from one who waits for what the Lord will effect, and hopes at
length to fee an inftrument in his hand wherein his foul will delight.
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
Ff2
4
A QUESTION
}
1
[228]
A
QUESTION
Propounded to the Rulers, Teachers, and People of the
Nation of ENGLAND, for them fingly to anſwer in their Hearts
and Confciences, in the Fear and Dread of the mighty Gon of
Heaven and Earth; whofe mighty Arm of Power is ftretched out
in this Nation, firft to overturn what ftands in his Way, and then
to eſtabliſh (in the Place thereof) what he hath purpoſed in his
Heart. And this is the thing which the LORD hath determined
to do, both particularly in Perfons, and generally throughout the
Earth; namely, to pull down the Mighty from their Seats, and
to exalt the Humble and Meek (who are made fuch by the Pre-
fence and Power of his Life in them), that he alone may be
exalted in the Spirits of his People, and throughout the Earth.
And this Work hath the LORD begun already; for his great and
notable Day hath appeared, and breaketh forth apace; though
the Eye which is clofed cannot fee it, nor the benumbed Senfe
feel it. But he that hath an Ear, let him hear the Sound of
the LORD's Trumpet, which faith, in the mighty Breath of his
Spirit of Life, Awake! ye Dead, and ſtand up to Judgment;
for the Day of Recompence is come; the Day of the eternal
Vengeance of our GOD, and the Day of his everlaſting Mercy
and plentiful Redemption. The Queſtion is as followeth.
WHEN this nation was rent from Popery (in part I mean: for wholly
it was never rent, but did ftill remain in the fame fpirit; though by
the magiftrate's fword it was forced from that form and way of worship
which the pope had eſtabliſhed) did it wait on the Lord for the guidance of his
Spirit and power, thereby to build up a true church and habitation for God in
the Spirit? Or did it take fuch materials as were ready at band, and frame up
a building as well as it could, wherewith the confciences of many (that were
tender-hearted towards God) were even then diſſatisfied, and felt in the eternal
life of God the reformation not to be right in its beginning?
This is a weighty queftion: for an error at firft, an error in the founda-
tion, is great, and the caufe of many following errors. If the Spirit of God
was not then confulted with, and waited upon; if he did not raife the fa-
brick, furely the building was not right. It was the Spirit of God which
rent
1
A QUESTION.
220
}
rent men from Popery (fo far as they were acted upon pure and honeſt prin-
ciples), fhewing the blackneſs and darkneſs thereof, and kindling defires in
them after a more inward and fpiritual way of worſhip. Thus far was of
him. But if men did then confult with their own wifdom, for the ordering
and carrying on of the reformation, and fo upon politick grounds and
reaſons did raiſe up a building, and not wait on the Lord for his light and
power to build with; then furely that building was not of God, nor could
he be honoured thereby, nor his truth preferved, nor the integrity and con-
fcientiouſneſs of his peoples hearts towards him cheriſhed; but all this
would fuffer and be in danger by this building, and a contrary ſpirit be
pleaſed with it, and thrive under it. And hath it not been fo? Were not
the Non-conformists to it (though known to be precious perfons in the fa-
vour and life of God) looked upon and dealt with as enemies, while fuch
Conformists as were known to be looſe and ſcandalous, yet could flouriſh
well enough, and make a fair fhew in this national church, and be zealous
contenders for the way of worship and government in it? Yea, thofe that
have been ftrict in their lives and converfations, and truly zealous towards
God in their fouls and fpirits, preffing after righteoufnefs and purity; fuch
as theſe thought they might conform; yet were they not hated, nick-named,
in fcorn called Puritans, and fnares laid for them to intrap them? And
how could it be otherwife? For if the building was not right, if the con-
ftitution and government of this church was not of God, then it could not
favour and cheriſh that which was of God, then it could not nouriſh or be
pleaſed with obedience to his pure life and Spirit, but rather with obedience
to its carnal form. For fo it is in truth and reality before God; this church,
with its whole conftitution, government, order, and way of worship, was
either of God's Spirit, and fo fpiritual; or of man's wifdom, and fo carnal.
If of God's Spirit, then it will be a friend to that which is fpiritual, and an
enemy to that which is carnal; if of man's wifdom, then it will be a friend
to that which is carnal, and an enemy to that which is fpiritual. And this
is a true mark of the true church, and of the true church power and go-
vernment; it begets and preferves that which is fpiritual, it beats down the
carnal; whereas the church power and government which is carnal, pre-
ferves that which is carnal (a carnal unity, a carnal uniformity in worſhip,
&c.) but checks, fnubs, fmites, and perfecutes that which is fpiritual: and
for fuch a kind of power and government to be fet up, the carnal part in
every man contends and cries out. And fo long as there is any change made
in this church by the fame wiſdom, it will never be otherwife; it will be
from carnal to carnal, and fo ftill againſt that which is fpiritual. Therefore
look back fingly, and confider what the building was, and how it was
reared up; and fee whether it was of God or no: or whether it was built up
in the forwardnefs of man's fpirit, by carnal reafonings and confultings,
accommodating things to the prefent ftate of the nation, and not to the
plain and clear meaſure of God's truth.
First,
230
A QUESTION.
First, See what the materials were whereof this church was built. Were
they materials fit to make up a true church of? Was it built up of a peo-
ple truly converted to God? Of perfons changed in heart? Of perfons
fenfible of the foregoing idolatry; and turned in their fouls, minds, and
fpirits from dead idols towards the living God? Or was not rather the heart
of the nation ftill inclined towards Popery, even while it was turning into
a Proteftant church? And was it not chiefly made a Proteftant church by the
force of the civil power, which wound in by degrees a Proteftant intereft;
the heart of the people ftill remaining unchanged, and hankering after
Popery; but at length, in tract of time, feeing they knew not how to help
it, won over to Proteftantifm with the fame heart and fpirit that they came
out of Popery with? Confider feriouſly in the fight of God (who looketh
both forward and backward upon things with a true eye), whether it hath
been thus or no?
Secondly, See what kind of miniftry was then fet up. Was it a new mi-
niftry (as John Hufs, that famous Bohemian martyr, prophefied fhould ariſe,
and as Luther ſaw the neceffity of, utterly diſclaiming the deriving of or-
ders from Popiſh biſhops), or was it the fame miniftry which was derived
from Rome? It is a fore ftrefs the minifters of England have been put to;
namely, to plead for the truth of the miniſtry of the church of Rome, that
thereby they might defend their own. Now mark this thing following;
there aroſe falſe apoftles, falfe prophets, falfe teachers in the apoſtles days;
whom Satan cloathed like true apoftles, like true prophets, like miniſters of
righteoufnefs. Thus they appeared, thus they feemed to be; but they were
not of God, but Satan; not fent of God, not infpired by God; but in-
ſpired and fent by Satan. Thefe falfe apoftles, thefe falfe prophets, fought
against the true church, and true miniftry of Chrift. And though they
were oftentimes difcovered, by the Spirit of Chrift in his church, and the
church preſerved from them, yet we find related in fcriptures, that at
length they did prevail, infomuch as the third part of the true miniſters
were ſhaken, and ſwept down from their place and ſtanding by them, Rev.
xii. 4. yea, and at length the church herſelf (as to the truth of her out-
ward ſtate) overcome, and fled into the wilderneſs, ver. 6.-14. and a falſe
church got up in her ſtead, which hath a cup of fornication to make peo-
ple fpiritually drunk; and to bewitch them from the true worſhip of God,
into imitations and likeneſſes, Rev. xvii. 4. and thoſe who will not acknow-
ledge her likeneſſes and imitations to be the truth, but in the word of the
Lamb's teftimony witneſs againſt them, fhe drinks their blood, ver. 6.
Now can any man of any manner of ſeriouſneſs and ſobriety of ſpirit (who
is not drunk and overcome with this whore's wine) believe, that after falſe
prophets had got the day, and fet up the falfe church, that they would fet
up the true miniftry in it? O how blind have men been, that they ſhould go
about, and take fuch pains, to derive a fucceffion of the true miniſtry from
the miniſters or prophets of the falſe church !
Thirdly,
A QUESTION.
231
Thirdly, What kind of maintenance was fet up for this miniftry? Was it
a Goſpel maintenance? Was it that they fhould live of the Gofpel, which
cannot but open mens fpirits to the true minifters thereof? Or was it a
maintenance forced from the people, by that outward power which fet up
the church? And was this maintenance like unto, or the fame with, the
maintenance which the Popish miniftry had before in this nation, for their
idolatrous fervice?
Fourthly, What kind of worſhip was it, which was fet up? Was it the
worſhip of the Goſpel, which is in Spirit and truth? Or was it a form of
worſhip invented by man, and fo accommodated to the preſent temper of
the nation, that they might with the more eaſe and willingneſs ſtep out of
Popery into it, becauſe of its nearneſs and likeneſs thereto ?
Fifthly, What kind of church government was fet up? Was it a pure
fpiritual government? Was it put into the hands of the Spirit? (For nothing
is to govern, or can rightly govern over the fpirits of Chrift's people in
fpiritual things, but the Spirit of Chrift.) Or did men frame up a church.
government by their wiſdom, and put it into the hands of fuch as might
exerciſe it without, yea and againft, the Spirit?
Sixthly, What kind of order was fet up in this church? Was it the true
Goſpel order? Was it the order of Chrift's Spirit, whereby the carnal wif-
dom of man might be quenched, and his Spirit have fcope? Or was it a
carnal order, whereby the carnal wiſdom, learning, knowledge, and arts of
man might have ſcope, and the Spirit in its motions be quenched ?
Seventhly, By what wiſdom was the Common Prayer-Book compiled and
fet up; and furplices, croffes, and other ceremonies injoined? Was it by
the wiſdom of God's Spirit, for the building up of the fpirits of his people
in the faith? Or was it for the pleafing and fatisfying of the carnal part in
people? And what fort of perfons were they who did moft contend for,
and were moſt pleaſed with theſe? Were they, for the generality, the
ftricter, or the loofer fort?
Eighthly, How came it about, that the fupreme magiſtrate of this nation
was made chief head and governor of this church under Chrift? Was this
from Chriſt's inftitution, or of man's wiſdom and invention? If of man's
inventing wiſdom, then againſt Chriſt, then of antichrift's fpirit, who ex-
alteth that which is not of Chrift, to fit and govern in his temple..
Oh! weigh theſe things; look about thee, O England! O rulers,
teachers, and people look about you! And if it plainly (upon a naked
ſearch) appear that there was, at the very firft, a foundation laid of fuppref-
fing the true worſhip, and the witneffes to it; do not ſhut your eyes. Have
not the people of God ftill been miſreprefented, had reproachful names
caft upon them, and in fome degree or other been perfecuted from the be-
ginning of the reformation? And though names change, and rulers change,
and the teachers change, and the people alfo change in their religion and
worſhips, yet is not the perfecuting ſpirit ſtill the fame, and the perfecuted
fpirit
232
A QUESTION.
1
•
ſpirit ftill the fame alfo. The perfecuting fpirit changeth its cover often,
but ſtill retains its nature, hunting after the life and pure power of the
Spirit, in the children which are begotten of God. Are not the people of
God in every change a defpifed people, and their integrity towards God
ftill ftruck at? When the Lord began a little to wipe off the reproach from
them, at the beginning of theſe troubles, and the perfecuting ſpirit could
not ſo conveniently hunt them any longer under the name of Puritans,
then other names were invented for them, whereby the fame fpirit fought
to make them appear odious again, under a new reproachful title, that fo
it might be perfecuting the fame thing afreſh? Oh how mightily hath the
Lord ſtriven to keep the powers and people of this nation from falling up-
on his people! and yet ftill, fo foon as they come to any peace, and feel-
ing of power, they are at it again. O England! thy perfifting in this can-
not but bring wrath upon thee. What wouldst thou have of us? Shall
we not fear the Lord? Shall we not obey the Lord? Shall we not worſhip
the Lord our God, who hath redeemed, and is redeeming, our fouls from
death? Shall we not be Proteftants in truth and uprightneſs of heart be-
fore the Lord? Shall we not teftify against the Popish fpirit, and Popish
practices, and all new inventions of the fame ſpirit (though they get ever
fo fine a covering) in the church of England, as well as againſt them in the
church of Rome? The Lord is our witnefs, we would not offend thee, O
England; no not the meaneft perfons of the whole nation: but from out of
Popery we are called (and from whatever elfe the fame nature and fpirit
may take up in the ftead of it), to follow the Lord our God towards the
land of the living; and follow him we muft, however thou deal with us.
O England! If it had been fo that thy rulers had built up a true church,
yet the evil spirit, the unclean fpirit, would have endeavoured to pollute it,
to provoke the Lord to remove his candleſtick (which is an inward act of
his Spirit) the outward building might ſtand notwithſtanding, and then thy
houſe muſt have been left defolate, and the fame Spirit would then have
called his people out of it. But if thy building hath not been fpiritual, and
in the Spirit, how can the Spirit of the Lord fuffer the children begotten
by him to lodge in it! Oh! when wilt thou have an ear to hear, that the
Lord's wrath may affuage towards thee; which kindleth more and more, and
is entering apace within thy bowels! This, this is the Lord's charge againſt
thee: Thou art for the Proteftant Name (it is now become thy intereſt, and
a goodly covering in thy eyes) but against the Proteftant Spirit; which the
Lord calleth to follow him further and further from all the things of Popery,
and from all the things like Popery. And the Lord will put a difference
between the Proteftant Name and the Proteftant Spirit; between them that
ſerve him in the fear which he begets in the heart, and them that ſet up
that kind of fear which is taught by the precepts of men.
O England! we are now feemingly in thy hands (who haft long handled
us very roughly); and we have no ftrength againſt thee, nor no hope of
deliverance
t.
I
POSTSCRIPT.
233
deliverance from thee, but in the Lord our God; and there we are at reſt,
waiting upon him, in the innocency and integrity which he hath begotten in
our hearts, until he plead our cauſe. And in that day thou wilt ſee that
we have not been thine enemies, and then thou wilt mourn over that mift
of darkneſs, which hath with-held thine eye from difcerning what true
friends we have been to thee, and how we have endeavoured, and fought
with our hearts to prevent thy drinking of that bitter cup, which is to go
round the nations. And if thine ear could have been opened, thou mighteſt
have been fpared.
T
POST SCRIPT.
HE gofpel is free; the grace and mercy thereof free; the Spirit a
free ſpirit (freely given of God, and freely miniſtering for God); the
church a ſpiritual building, built in the freedom and liberty of the life of
the Spirit; the order and government of the church is from and in the
fame free Spirit, guiding a people whom God makes willing in the day of
his power; the maintenance of the miniftry a free maintenance; the whole
obedience and worſhip free, in the free Spirit, and in the truth which is
begotten in the heart by the free Spirit. The head of this church is Chrift,
the living Spirit, who hath appointed none to be head under him here on
earth, nor hath given power to any to make any laws concerning his king-
dom, or the government thereof; concerning his miniftry, or the main-
tenance thereof. (Is it not thus? Doth not the leaft child of light ſee it
to be thus?) But the church of England was a church built by force
fettled by force; her miniſters maintained by force; her order, unity, uni-
formity, and government, forcible; and the free pure Spirit of life can have
no ſcope in her, but according to the wills of her rulers, teachers, and peo-
ple: if it move otherwiſe, if it appear otherwiſe, it is fure to be nick-
named and perfecuted. O England! England! can God always fuffer
theſe things? Will not his hand at length be ftretched forth againſt thee?
The 14th of the 12th
Month, 1659.
Given forth by ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger,
in the fear and dread of the Moſt High.
;
REMARK.
G
VOL. I.
[234]
#
REM AR K.
3
THE day of the Lord fo cometh as a thief in the night. For when they
fball fay, peace and fafety; then fudden deftruction cometh upon them, as
travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not eſcape, 1 Thef. v. 2, 3.
And when the Lord cometh, woe to him who is found beating his fellow
ſervant, and endeavouring to force the confcience (which God hath made
tender and pliable to the voice of his Spirit) from its obedience and fubjec-
tion thereto.
THE
THE
4
ROOT of POPERY ftruck at;
And the True
Ancient Apoftolick Foundation diſcovered,
IN SOME
Propofitions to the PAPISTS,
CONCERNING
FALLIBILITY and INFALLIBITY,
WHICH
Cut down the uncertain, and manifeft the certain Way of receiving
and growing up into the TRUTH.
ALSO,
Some CONSIDERATIONS concerning the True and Falfe CHURCH
and MINISTRY; with the State of each fince the Days of the
APOSTLES.
HELD FORTH
In true Love and Pity to the Souls of the PAPISrs, that they may Hear
and Confider, and not Miſtake and Stumble at the ROCK OF AGES,
whereupon the PROPHETS, APOSTLES, and whole FLOCK of GOD
throughout all Generations, have been built.
There is likewife fomewhat added
Concerning the GROUND of ERROR, and the Way to TRUTH and
UNITY, for the Sake of fuch as are more Spiritual, and have been more
inwardly exerciſed in fearching after TRUTH.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
In vain do they worship me, teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men, Mat. xv. 9%
[ ccxxxvi ]
THE
PREFACE.
T
HE myſtery of iniquity (which overfpread the earth under the
ſhape and appearance of holy church, and holy worſhip) did
begin to work in the apoftles days, 2 THES. ii. 7. And this was
the way whereby the god of this world did deceive; he endeavoured
to blind mens minds, to put out their right eye, 2 COR. iv. 4. to
draw from the Spirit, from the anointing, I JOHN ii. 26. to rob of
the eye-falve wherewith the eye muſt be anointed to fee the things
of God, REV. iii. 18. And now when he hath done this, how
eafily may his falſe ware pafs for true! His fynagogue (built in the
likeneſs of the true church, REV. iii.9.) for the true church! An-
tichrift, his fon (fitting in the temple like Chrift, 2 THES. ii. 4.)
for the true Chrift! His doctrines, for the true teaching! MAT. xv.
2. His feigned, formal, dead, earthly traditions, for the true ever-
lafting goſpel! REV. xiv. 6. His Gentiles, or Heathens (who are
fo in nature, and Chriſtians only in name) for the true Chriftians !
REV. xi. 2.
"The light of the body is the eye," faith Chrift, by way of pa-
rable, MAT. vi. 22, 23. Now if the eye be dark, "if the light
"which is in thee be darkneſs, how great is that darkneſs! How
fhalt thou ſee the gofpel, the church, the Spirit, the things of God?
But if that eye be clear, who shall be able to blind thee? The devil
may come with his deceits, his falſe church, his falſe gofpel, his
falfe power, &c. yea, tho' his ſpirit creep into the very true form of
godlinefs, thou wilt be able to diſcern him there. But if thou ſee
with another's eye, thou mayft eafily fee amifs, miſtake Chriſt, mif-
take the church, and fo believe as the falfe church believes, and fare
as the falfe church fares.
Oh! who ſhall redeem the deceived nations back to the Spirit?
Who ſhall preach to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, the
everlaſting
PREFACE.
CCXXX
Ccxxxvii
everlaſting goſpel? Who fhall open the eye in them which hath been
fo long blinded? Who fhall take the golden cup of fornication from
their lips, and loofen their hearts from the forceries, flatteries, and
enchantments of the falſe woman?
The everlaſting bowels of the Lord roll toward his poor cap-
tivated feed, and towards the poor deceived nations; and he is now
preparing to build the ruins of many generations. He is bringing
forth that power of Truth, that demonſtration of his Spirit in the
He
ſpirits of his people, as no paint ſhall be able to ſtand before.
will rend the veil of the covering from off all nations, and the De-
fire of all nations fhall be feen by the eye which he opens and
anoints; and that which hath deceived, and deſtroyed, and led from
the Truth, building up a myſtery of unrighteoufnefs in the ftead
of it; even the beaſt and falſe prophet (which wrought miracles,
with which he deceived them that had the mark of the beaft, and
them that worſhipped his image), fhall be taken and caft alive
into the lake, REV. xix. 20. Then captivity ſhall be led captive;
and thoſe which have been led captive fhall creep out of their dens,
and out of their holes, into the light of the living, and worſhip the
true and everlaſting king, when the king Abaddon is deftroyed,
REV. XV. 2, 3, 4.
Oh! who ſhall be accounted worthy to be taught by the Lord
where to wait for this? To whom will the Lord difcover the place
of wisdom (the place where wifdom is learned, her voice heard,
and her inſtructions to life received), which is hid from the eyes
of all living? JOB. xxviii. 21. Whom ſhall he teach knowledge?
And whom ſhall he make to underſtand doctrine? They are them
that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breafts of the
falſe woman, ISAI. xxviii. 9. and Chap. lii. 15. They that are
turned from man, from the fleshly wifdom in themſelves, towards
the ſpring of life, they may hear the voice of this wiſdom, which
begins in the living fear and power; which effectually turns the
heart from death and darkneſs towards the living God; to worship
him in Spirit and in Truth, according to the pure living teachings
thereof; and not after the inventions, imaginations, and traditions
of men: and he that is once come hither, as he is true and faithful
to the light of life, doing the will as it is made manifeft to him,
ſhall know more and more of the doctrine, JOHN vii. 17. and have
his feet infallibly guided into, and preſerved in, the way of peace,
THE
[238]
L.
THE
ROOT of POPERY ftruck at.
T
PROPOSITION I.
HAT councils may err (if I fhould add, and have erred, it might not
be impoffible to prove it).
Firft, In that they are men not perfected in the knowledge, faith, and
obedience of the Truth, it neceffarily implies a capacity of error, both in
relation to the knowledge, to the faith, and to the obedience.
Secondly, Their doubtful difputation of things, and long canvaffing, im-
plies an uncertainty, and poffibility of erring.
Thirdly, Their way of determining things at laſt (which is by a vote of
the major part) is an uncertain way of determination; for it is not impof-
fible but the major part may be over-fwayed by by-ends, and in relation to
their own advantage and intereft, againſt the righteoufnefs and equity of
the reaſon of the leffer part: fo that the way of determining things by a
council is not a certain way in itſelf; but becauſe men know not well how
to find out a better and more probable way of deciding controverſies, they
judge it neceffary to acquiefce therein. But the votes and determinations
of men concerning a thing do not conclude a thing to be true or falſe in
itſelf, they only fignify their opinion, judgment, and teftimony concern-
ing the thing, the validity whereof depends upon their knowledge of the
thing; which if it be not clear, full, and certain, their teftimony, opinion,
or judgment, is of little value. Truth remains the fame in itſelf, though
all the wife men in the world ſhould teſtify againſt it, calling it error, or he-
refy; and falfhood can never become truth, though ever ſo many wife men
ſhould teſtify for it, putting the fairest habit and appearance of truth upon
it that they can.
PROP. II. That the pope himself may err.
The pope hath not greater freedom from fallibility in judgment or doc-
trine than Peter himſelf had. Now. Peter had not only a capacity of error
in him, but he did err in that doctrine which he taught the Gentiles, of
living
The Root of Popery ftruck at.
239
living after the manner of the Jews; for he did not only do the thing itſelf,
Gal. ii. 12. but he compelled the Gentiles to do the fame thing, holding it
forth as a practice which ought to be obferved by the Gentiles, ver. 14. for
which carriage of his, Paul withftood him to the face, and faid, he was to
be blamed, ver. 11. And the council of Conſtance, depofing pope John,
and advancing the authority of councils above the pope, did plainly imply
that the pope might err; which might further be confirmed by what the
council of Bafil determined concerning pope Eugenias. f
PROP. III. That every man may err in his interpretation of Scriptures, fur-
ther than he hath a certain and infallible opening of them to his ſpirit, by
that Spirit which gave them forth. The Spirit knoweth his own mind in
every word which he hath ſpoken; but no man knoweth his mind, nor the
meaning of his words, but as he reveals them, I Cor. ii. 11. So that God
is true in all his fayings in the fcriptures; but man is a lyar in all the mean-
ings he gives of his fayings, according to his own gueffings, reafonings,
and imaginings, without the Spirit's infallible opening of his own words to
him. So that the Spirit itſelf is the ground and foundation of all true
light and knowledge of the things of God.
PROP. IV. That if there be any light to be found any-where fhining from
God, that light cannot err: for God is pure; and that which comes imme-
diately from him cannot but be pure. All the knowledge which man ga-
thers, or can gather, into his veffel, he may pollute; but what iffueth from
the fpring is pure, and of a perfect nature, James i. 17.
PROP. V. That there must neceffarily be fuch a light communicated to all men
fince the fall, that they may believe thereby, come to the knowledge of the
Truth, and be faved: which I prove thus ;
I
1. From the will of God. The apoftle faith exprefly, that God would
have all men to be faved, and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth, 1 Tim.
ii. 4. Why then there muſt neceffarily be fomewhat difpenfed from God
to all men, fufficient to bring them to the knowledge of the Truth, that they
may be faved.
2. From what is found in man. There is found in man a light fhin-
ing in his darkneſs, John i. 5.; a light diſcovering the darkneſs, and draw-
ing from it; fomewhat which checks and reproves the finner, but never
confented to the evil of his heart and ways. This is of God; this is from
God; this is pure; this is fpiritual; not of the fleſhly, not of the natural;
for then it might be drawn fome time or other to confent to fome of the
corrupt defires of the natural; but though the confcience be ever fo much
defiled, yet the light in itſelf can never be defiled. Indeed a man may fet
up that for light in his confcience, which may be darkneſs; but God's
light, God's witnefs there, can never be bribed, but will ſpeak truly (when
God at any time awakeneth, or raifeth it up), witneffing for him, both
againſt the evil of the man, and againſt the fearednefs, hardnefs, and un-
faithfulneſs of his confcience towards God..
PROF
240
The Root of Popery ftruck at.
it
PROP. VI. That this being let in, believed in, and obeyed, fhineth more and
more unto the perfect day; even until it hath wholly brought out of the error into
the Truth. Every way of it is infallible, and every step of the creature af-
ter it is infallible. Indeed the creature's reafonings and confultations about
may be fallible; but the light is infallible in itfelf: and fo far as there
is a pure, fimple, naked thing begotten by it (for it is of a begetting na-
ture, James i. 17, 18.) fo far there is an acknowledgment of its certainty
in the creature. There are fome things that all the men of the earth cer-
tainly know to be evil, by means of its fhining; and fome things alſo that
they certainly know to be good; and at fome times there is a will begot-
ten in them towards the good, and againſt the evil: now if they did honeſtly
wait in the finglenefs of this will, breathing to the God of power to have it
brought to victory in them, the light would fhine more and more from his
prefence; and in the light, the power and faving arm would arife; which
would effectually lead out of the death and captivity, into the fellowſhip
and freedom of the life.
PROP. VII. That nothing less can lead unto eternal life than an eternal light in
man's fpirit, where the darkneſs is; which is to be diſcovered there, ſub-
dued there, and to be led from. This was the apoftles meffage (who re-
ceived and came with the meffage of the gofpel) that God is light, and in
him is no darkness at all, 1 John i. 5. And this they preached to bring
men into fellowſhip with this light, ver. 3. that they might walk with God
in it, and there be cleanſed by the blood of Jefus through it, ver. 7. Which
that they might obtain, they muſt firſt be turned from darkneſs to it, Ats
xxvi. 18. and from the power and kingdom of Satan to the feed of the
kingdom of God, Mat. Ìxxxiii. 31. which Chrift told the Pharifees was
within them, Luke xvii. 21. And the apoſtle Paul told the Hebrews, that
the laws of the covenant, whereof Chrift was the minifter and mediator,
were, by the tenor of the New Covenant, to be written in the heart and
mind by the Spirit; and not to be written outwardly, as that covenant was
which God made with the Jews by Mofes, Heb. viii. 6, &c. which was not
the eternal covenant itſelf, but a fhadow of it; which made nothing per-
fect, but only made way for the hope of a better covenant, by which be-
lievers draw nigh to God, Heb. vii. 19. Yea, Mofes himſelf tells the
Jews, that the commandment of life, the Word Eternal (according to faith
wherein, and obedience whereto, they were to live or die eternally) was
within them, Deut. xxx. 14, 15. And Paul tells the church at Rome, that
this was the word of faith which they preached; that it was alſo the cove-
nant of life and death under the goſpel, Rom. x. 8. Chrift is the light of
the world, John viii. 12. or the Eternal Word, John i. 1. which Light or
Word ſpeaks within every man's confcience. He that believes in it, brings
his deeds to it, and obeys it, is juftified by it; but he that hates its re-
proof, is condemned by it, John iii, 20, 21. and not only fhut out of life,
but
The Root of Popery ſtruck at.
241
but out of the very ways to it; for the reproofs of the inftruction of this
wiſdom are the fole way or path of life to the finner, Prov. vi. 23.
Now behold the true certainty of the everlaſting foundation, and behold
your own uncertainty. See the rock of ages, whereupon the prophets,
apoſtles, and all the faints have been built. See that which indeed is infal-
lible; and ceafe from man, who is vain, and fubject to vanity and error.
The church of the Jews did err; the churches of the Gentiles alfo did err,
even in the apoftles days; infomuch as their candleſtick was threatened to
be removed, and was foon removed; yea, the apoſtle particularly foretold
the faints at Rome concerning the Gentiles, that their ſtanding was by faith;
and that if they continued not in God's goodneſs, they alfo fhould be cut
off, as the Jews were, Rom. xi. 20, 22. Now there was not a ftanding in
the faith, but a general backfliding and falling away from the faith; and
then the man of fin was revealed, and Chrift and his Truth withdrawn;
ftrong delufion, deceit, and falfe appearances of Truth ftarting up inſtead
thereof, 2 Theff. ii. 3. 11. For the Lord God, upon the great defection
and apoftafy of the Gentiles, feparates the outward court from his temple,
altar, and ſpiritual worshippers; which temple was his true church, which
he reſerved for himſelf, giving the outward court to the Gentiles, Rev. xi.
I, 2. And then the true church fled into the wilderneſs, where he had
a place prepared of God for her; and fo the Gentile-Chriftians could
built up their falfe churches in the cities or palaces where the true church
had been built by God, and appeared before. And theſe falſe churches.
may eaſily become much larger than the true church ever was; for while
the Lord built the church by his Spirit, he built only of ſpiritual ſtones,
1 Pet. ii. 5. adding to it fuch as he firſt converted, Ats ii. 47. For fuch
alone are fit to worſhip him in Spirit and Truth, and fuch alone he feeks
out to makes up his church of, inſtead of the Jews, whom he had caft off
from being a church and people to him, John iv. 23.
But when man
comes to build, he takes in more largely than God allows; he may gather
in or force a whole city or nation to become a church, by perfuading or
compelling them to receive the doctrine and traditions which he preſcribes,
and by fetting up an outward knowledge, policy, and government, accord-
ing to man, and in the wiſdom of man, which the human part will anſwer
to, and be fatisfied with. To make this a little more manifeft to fuch as in
fimplicity of heart defire to know the mind of God in this refpect, and the
true ſtate of the church fince the days of the apoftles, confider theſe things
following:
1. God, in thoſe days, ſent his true apoſtles and miniſters with the ever-
lafting gofpel, which was the word of faith which they preached, to ga-
ther men of Jeruſalem, Judea, and all nations, into the obedience of the
faith, Rom. i. 5. that he might have a ſpiritual houſe, a fpiritual people,
to worſhip him, inftead of theſe outward worshippers whom he then caft
off, John iv. 23.
VOL. I.
Hh
2. That
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2. That this gathered people in Judea, at Jerufalem, at Corinth, at
Ephefus, at Colofs, at Philippi, at Rome, &c. were his feveral churches
or congregations; and not the city of Jerufalem, not the city of Corinth,
Ephefus, Rome, &c. None of theſe were churches; but only a felect
remnant gathered out of theſe.
3. That the devil, after he had ftirred up the Jews every-where, and
the heathens as much as he could, to cry out againſt the Truth, and fuch
as God had converted to the faith, for herefy and a fect, and to perfecute
them and it, yet could not prevail that way; then he tried another way,
fending his meffengers abroad, cloathing them as angels of light; teaching
them alſo to preach Chrift, and the doctrine of the gofpel; and ſo tranf-
forming themſelves under this colour, fecretly to fow the feeds of divifion,
error, and herefy in the church.
4. When this would not do, but theſe were diſcovered and judged (by
the power and prefence of the light of the Spirit in the church) for falfe
Jews, falfe apoftles, deceitful workers, minifters of Satan, &c. Rev. iii. 9.
and chap. ii. 3. then they feparate themſelves from the church, Jude xix.
make up a body of their own, go out into the world, preach there, gather
a company there, get the greater number, and then fet upon the church,
fight with her, overcome her and her miniſtry, and get up their own falſe
church and miniftry. Thus the fynagogue of Satan and his miniſtry got
footing in the world, even in the very fame cities and places where the
church had newly had dominion before. And now, whereas before there
was a church at Jerufalem, a church at Rome, a church at Ephefus, &c.
when the fynagogue of Satan is fet up, and hath got the dominion there, the
whole city of Jerufalem, or the whole city of Rome, &c. can then become
a church. To make this yet more manifeft, obferve and weigh theſe
things following in the balance of the true fanctuary :
1. The falſe prophets, the falſe apoftles, which had crept into the church,
Jude iv. which ſtrived to feduce the church, 1 John ii. 26. theſe went out
from the church, ver. 19. and went into the world, 1 John iv. 1.
2. When they went out into the world, their intent was to leaven the
world with their doctrine, and to gather people after them. They preached
to gather people to them, and their doctrine, and form of godlinefs, as the
apoſtles preached to gather people to God, and his living Truth.
3. The world heard them; they hearkened to their doctrine; were wil-
ling to be gathered by them, owning their falfeiniftry, and their falfe
church, or fynagogue; even as thofe that were of God hearkened to the
apofcles, and owned the truth, 1 John iv. 6. So that here were now two
diſtinct bodies in cities and places where the gofpel had come: a body of
the true faints and true apoftles; a body of the falfe apoſtles and minifters,
of the deceitful workers, who fhewed miracles and wonders, and had all
manner of deceivableneſs of unrighteouſneſs on their fide, 2 Theff. ii. 9. 10.
Thus there was a great divifion and breach in the places where the goſpel
:
had
The Root of Popery truck at.
243
1
had been preached, and had reigned in power: for he that was of God
heard the true apoftles, and kept to the true church; but thofe that were
not of God, but of the worldly fpirit, heard the falſe apoſtles and falſe mi-
nifters, and ſo joined to the fynagogue of Satan, 1 John iv. 6. where Satan
had his feat and dwelling, Rev. ii. 13. even as Chrift dwelleth and fitteth.
in his temple the church.
4. Thefe falfe apoftles and minifters, with the help of the world, which
they had gathered in unto them, joined together against the true church
and her feed (as where-ever the two contrary fpirits and principles appear,
they cannot but contend and fight against each other; the one for the faith
and truth of the gofpel; the other againft that which is true, and for a
counterfeit of it); fo, Rev. xii. there is Michael and his angels fighting on
the fide of the true church; there is the dragon and his angels fighting for
the falfe church. Now mark who prevails: the true church, Michael and
his angels, prevail one way; the falfe church, the fynagogue of Satan, the
dragon and his angels, prevail another way.
Queft. How doth the true church prevail?
Anfw. Thus fhe keeps all the fpiritual, inviſible, holy things of God
from the paw of the dragon, and of all thofe falfe worfhippers. The invi-
fible Jew, the invifible life and power, that whereof God had built up his
church, is preferved by him; and againſt his life and Spirit, and his church
(which he builds by his Spirit, and preferves in it) all the powers of dark-
nefs cannot prevail, but do they all what they can, the man-child is caught
up to God; and the church, by God's help, flies from the face of the
dragon into the wilderneſs, where fhe is fed forty-two months, or twelve
hundred and fixty days, which is the time of the dragon's prevailing out-
wardly, by his falfe church and miniftry, Rev. xii.
Queft. How doth the dragon and falfe church prevail?
Anfw. By putting the man-child and true church to flight; by gaining
the church's ground, fetting up his fynagogue (or falfe reprefentation of the
true church) where the true church had ftood before. For the true church
being fled into the wilderneſs, the field was left to him; and there he fets
up his falfe fynagogue, in the fight of the world, calling her the true church,
and her feed the true catholicks; but cafting a flood of reproach after the
woman, reviling her (who indeed was the true church) for a ftrumpet, and
all her feed for feducers, fchifmaticks, hereticks, &c. even fuch as were not
fit to be fuffered in the earth, but to be made war with, both by the ſpi
ritual and civil fword, Rev. xii. 15. 17.
•
Thus then was the victory on each hand: the true church and temple
(with the inward power of life) was preferved by God; who caufed it, by
the wings of his Spirit, to fly out of the fight of falfe worshippers and imi-
tators, as far as that is from the fight of men in a city, which flieth out of
the city into a wilderneſs. And to the other is left the outward court to
worſhip in; the profeffion, the attire, the garments, the vifible obfervations
Hh 2
and
244
The Root of Popery ftruck at:
1
and practices wherein the church before 'had appeared, and in which the
did once truly and fpiritually worship: for the church did acceptably wor-
ſhip in the outward court, before it was meaſured and divided from the
inward temple, and given to the Gentiles, Rev. xi. 2.
Queft. Now how long was this falfe church to stand?
Anfw. Till the church's coming out of the wilderneſs in the fame Spirit
and power wherewith fhe fled into the wilderness. When Chrift comes
with the fiery breath of his mouth, and with the brightneſs of his eternal
light, then this falfe image of the church melts and diffolves away, 2 Theff.
ii. 8. But till then fhe keeps her feat on the beaft; on whom ſhe rides,
and by virtue of whom fhe fits upon the waters, even upon peoples, mul-
titudes, nations, and tongues, Rev. xvii. 15.
Object. But did not Chrift fay the gates of hell fhould not prevail against his
church?
Anfw. No more they did not: for fhe had wings of an eagle given her,
to fly into the wilderneſs; into the place prepared of God for her; into
which he did fly, and was there fed and preferved, do all the powers of
darkneſs what they could. So that the dragon and his angels prevailed not
againſt the woman; but ſhe was hid from the face of the ferpent, and from
all his ſpite and power, who could not come within the bounds of her hea-
ven in the wilderneſs, but was caft out into the earth, and his angels with
him, Rev. xii. 8, 9. But Chrift did not ſay that the gates of hell fhould
not prevail againſt her outward eftate; but the contrary, in this very pro-
phecy of John, is here declared; to wit, that he was fo far prevailed
againſt the true woman, who was cloathed with the fun, and had the moon
under ber feet, and was crowned with a crown of twelve stars, was to fly
away, and give place; and a falſe woman to ſtart up in her ftead; who,
with the golden cup of her fornications, was to deceive and bewitch all na-
tions, kindreds, tongues and languages, forty-two months, or twelve hun-
dred and fixty days, which was the full time the church was to remain in
the wilderneſs: but after that time the falſe church, with antichrift her huf
band (who all this while fat in the temple) were to be revealed, judged,
and deſtroyed, and the true church return again out of the wilderness into
her own place.
Queſt. Why would God fuffer his church thus to be prevailed against,
thus to be banished and driven out of the building which his Spirit had reared for
her, into a wilderness; and a mystery of deceit and falfhood to be fet up in her
name and stead?
Anfw. Firſt, As a juft judgment upon the world (who flighted the day
of their vifitation, and would not come into the vineyard to work), God
brings the night upon them, wherein they could not enter into the vine-
yard, nor work if they would ever fo fain, John ix. 4.
Secondly, As a juft judgment upon fuch, who though they could not
but own and acknowledge the truth; yet did not love it in their hearts, but
loved
The Root of Popery ftruck at.
245
loved their unrighteouſneſs, their darkneſs ftill; therefore God removes
the power of his Truth from their eyes into the wilderneſs; and lets out a
power of darkneſs and deceit upon them, wherewith they were deluded, in-
ftead of the Truth itfelf, 2 Theff. ii. 10, 11.
Thirdly, That fuch as were approved, might be made manifeft in the
Spirit to be pure gold indeed. They that held the living Truth, and
could not be drawn afide, with all the pleafures of this world on the one
hand, nor with all the dangers from it on the other hand; no, nor yet with
all the deceivableneſs of unrighteoufnefs; thefe did ſhine indeed in the light
and power of the Spirit, and were a great honour and crown upon the
head of their maſter.
Fourthly, That darkneſs might have its day, or hour, or ſeaſon of ma-
nifeſtation to the full. There hath been no day of any diſpenſation hitherto,
but it hath had a night coming after it. There was an antichrift to be revealed
in the power of darkneſs, as well as Chrift (the eternal light of life) in the
living power. Now as long as the true church ſtood, and as long as the
man-child was found dwelling here with her, in the habitation which God
had built up for them, the man of fin could not be revealed, but the pure
power of life would foon difcover him. Therefore at length, when the
full time and ſeaſon of his diſcovery came, God removed that into the. wil-
derneſs which ſtood in the way; and then he and his ſpouſe, the falfe
church, made a fair fhew in the world, 5 Theff. ii. 7.
Fifthly, That the Lord might make the name of his Son, with the glory
of his Truth and power, to fhine, by overcoming the dragon and this falfe.
church, after fo long a time of thick darkneſs, and after fuch an univerfal
prevalency of the powers and deceits thereof. Was it not a great glory
and honour to the Lord, to overcome the heathenish world, and Jewiſh
church and worſhip, by the power of his Truth fhining through a poor
deſpicable company of fiſhermen and mechanicks? And will it not be as
great (if not a greater) glory to him to overcome the antichriftian world
(after it hath taken fo long and fo deep root, and is become fo ftrongly
founded) by as poor contemptible inftruments as they were 2
Queft. But how was it poffible that fo great a deceit should get up in the
world ſo near the apostles days, or rather in the very days of the apostles, as this
Seemeth to be?
Anfw. The falfe apoſtles and minifters came with all deceiveableness of un-
righteouſneſs, and with all power, and figns, and lying wonders, 2 Theff. ii.
9, 10. And the power of miracles in the true apoſtles might well ceaſe:
for the end of miracles was but to teftify to the world, to be a fign to the
unbelievers, 1 Cor. xiv. 22. But now their work towards the world was
well nigh finiſhed, and judgment was to come upon them for neglecting,
and defpifing the day of their vifitation. So that the power of deceit was
let up in the falfe apoſtles, and the power of Truth did draw inwards in the
true apoftles, which made it very eafy for deceit to prevail. Befides, the
falte
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The Root of Popery ftruck at.
falfe apoftles appeared in an higher appearance than the true apoftles did,
with more glorious diſcoveries; fo that they could hold forth all that the
apoſtles did (as to the form and outward doctrine), and more too, and could
ſhew wonders to confirm what they held forth further. And now how
could they chufe but prevail over all that kept not cloſe to the anointing,
which diſtinguiſheth and difcerneth not by any outward manifeftation or ap-
pearance, but by the favour of the ointment? Yea, fo great was the power
of deceit in them, that they drew the third part of the ſtars of heaven from
their place, into this earthly building; fo that they fell from the true mi-
niftry, and the true church, into this falfe church and miniftry, Rev. xii. 4.
How many then of the inferior and common fort were then drawn afide!
Queft. Hath there been no visible true church-ftate in the world fince that
time?
Anfw. It is impoffible for any to build a true church for God, but his
own Spirit. And if God removed the church which he built, into the wil-
derneſs, it is impoffible for all the men of the earth to build up another true
one, all that ſeaſon that God appoints his church to abide in the wilderneſs.
Several forts of men may attempt it, and each may build up their different
images of the thing; but none can recover the thing itſelf, till the Lord by
his Spirit (who firft built, and then pulled down) pity the duſt of Sion,
and raiſe up the tabernacle of David again; Pfal. cii. 13. Ifa. ii. 2. Rev.
xxi. 2, 3.
Queſt. What is the wilderness? Tell us; that the fimple-hearted, who long
after the truth, may know where to look for, and how to find the true church.
Anfw. It is not an outward place, into which the bodies of perſons might
flee; but a parable to exprefs fomewhat inward by. And it is under the
feet of all the falſe worſhippers, who are worshipping in their ſeveral build-
ings in the outward court. That which they trample upon, keep down,
and defpife, is the holy city, Rev. xi. 2. And the place where the true
church all this while hath been (and yet in a great part is) is there.
Queft. But if God's church hath not been in a built ftate, but lain defolate in
the wilderness ever fince antichrift and the falfe church got up, what hath the
eftate of his people been ever fince?
Anfw. A ſtate of witneffes, Rev. xi. 3. In every age God hath had two
witneſſes (which was a fufficient number to confirm his truth by), to wit-
neſs to the power of his truth; againſt the emptineſs and corruptions of the
forms which antichrift had brought in, inſtead of the living power; which
witneſſes were cloathed with fack-cloth, giving forth their teftimony with
tears; while they of the antichriftian party were rejoicing in the glory,
riches, and beauty of their falſe church, as they could flay, fuppreſs, and
keep down the witneffes, Rev. xi. 10. and chap. xviii. 7. 9.
Queft. What did the dragon do after this victory, after he had got his build-
ing up in the outward court (for after he had prevailed to corrupt it, the Lord
gave it to his worſhippers the Gentiles, Rev. xi. 2. thoſe that made a pro-
feffion
1
The Root of Popery ftruck at.
247
feffion of his truth, but were not true Jews, Rev. iii. 9. not of the in-
ward circumcifion, Phil. iii. 3.) and had got the holy city under the feet of
his worshippers?
Anfw. He purſued his victory against the woman, and the remnant of her
feed. As for the woman, he caft a flood of inflamy, of reproach after her,
that he might never be able to lift up her head again in the power of truth;
but what the cauſed to ſpring up, might ftill be reviled for falfhood and
herefy; and that nothing might henceforth go for truth, but what this falſe
woman ſhould determine to be fo: and as touching the remnant of her feed
which ſtill remained true to God, keeping his commandments, and having
the teſtimony of Jefus, he applies himſelf now to wage the war againſt
them, Rev. xii. 15. 17.
Queft. How doth he wage the war against them?
Anfw. He raiſeth up a beaſt out of this fea of confuſion and wicked-
nefs (which enfued upon this great battle and victory on his fide), to whom
he gave his power, his feat, and great authority, Rev. xiii. 2. He had
hitherto kept his feat in his fynagogue, where he had been flaying the faith-
ful martyrs of Jefus, Rev. ii. 13. and had put to death fuch as loved not
their lives unto death, Rev. xii. II. Now he finds it more for his advan-
tage to raiſe up this beaft, and to give his power, feat, and authority to
him. This was the Roman power; which, till it was thus depraved and
enſlaved by Satan, was not a beaft, but more noble and juſt in government
than the corrupted Jews were; but now it becomes a beaft: and this beaft
he ftirs up againſt the very name and form of godlinefs, that he might
root out the very appearance of Ifrael from off the earth: for he got but
into the form, to eat out the power; and now, ſeeing the power is re-
moved, it is for his advantage alfo to corrupt and deftroy the memorial of
the true form.
Queſt. Doth he effect this, and prevail likewiſe against the witneſſes?
Anfw. Yea; as he effected the other. He overcomes the witneffes after
the manner that he had overcome the church (to wit, by captivating the
outward man, and killing with the fword; but they overcome him by pa-
tience and faith, in their teftimony and fufferings, Rev.. xiii. 10.); and
this in all kindreds, tongues, and nations; and fo all the publick worſhip
of the earth is given to him, ver. 7, 8.
Queft. Why would God fuffer him to do thus, feeing he hath all power in
his bands, and could have restrained him if he had pleaſed? ·
Anfw. This was greatly needful to the prefent eftate of his people; for
by this God raiſed up that which was good and pure in any, and kept life
in it; which otherwife might have perifhed in the eftate of that corrupt
form, which then had prevailed, and had gotten dominion outwardly over
the true power.
Queſt. But did not this tend to destroy Satan's kingdom alfo? For this ftroke
going
1
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The Root of Popery ſtruck at.
going against the very name of christianity, and profeffion of godliness, might
light upon his carnal gofpellers likewife.
Anfw. They could eafily fave themſelves, turning about to avoid fuffer-
ings, and crying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with
him? Rev. xiii. 4. Being already one with him in fpirit and principle,
they would not eafily differ from him, and fuffer about a form; efpecially
ſeeing their maſter's intereft and ſervice ran now another way.
Queft. What became of this beaſt?
Anfw. The Lord did rend and tear him outwardly by his plagues, famines,
peftilences, wars, &c. infomuch as one of his heads was wounded as it were
to death; and inwardly, by the innocency and power of his truth appearing
in his witneffes, which fcorched and tormented the adverfary; fo that this
engine of the dragon grew faint and weary, and unfit for this fervice, as
he ftood in this capacity.
Queft. What doth the dragon do then, to carry on his war against the wit-
nelles?
Anfw. After this tempeftuous fea was over, he raifeth up another beaſt
out of the earth, with another kind of power, even with borns like a lamb,
Rev. xiii. 11. but he spake as a dragon, exercifing all the power of the firſt
beaft, ver. 12. fo that he is the main in power henceforward; yet he fet-
teth up the firſt beaſt alſo, caufing the earth, and them that dwell therein, to
worship the first beast, whofe deadly wound was healed. And thus theſe two
join together, to fet up an image to be worshipped; and all that will not
worship this image (but the living God alone in his pure life and Spirit),
this latter beaft hath power to cauſe to be killed, ver. 15. and fuch muſt
not ſo much as buy or fell, who will not receive the mark of the beast, or his
name, or at least the number of his name; to which number the higheſt
growth and perfection in religion and worſhip, after the wiſdom of the flesh
(or man's wiſdom), is to be reckoned, ver. 17, 18.
Obferve now diligently the place of the true church, and her eſtate,
and the eſtate of her children, all the 42 months. Her place of habita-
tion is a wilderneſs; her eſtate an eſtate of widowhood; a city unbuilt, trod-
den under the feet of the Gentiles; her feed witneffes, reproached, perfe-
cuted, and ſlain, by the falſe woman and her feed. Obſerve likewife, the
place and eftate of the falfe church and her children; fhe rears up a glori-
ous building as to the outward; fhe is a city built and richly adorned; fhe
hath a golden cup of doctrine and difcipline, of ordinances and worſhip,
to hold forth to the kings and inhabiters of the earth; in all nations, peo-
ples, kindreds, and tongues; fhe is arrayed in purple and fcarlet colour,
and decked with gold, and precious ftones, and pearls, Rev. xvii. 4. and
all her daughters (who though they may deny her, yet partake of her
ſpirit, and learn to rear up buildings of churches like her) they alſo flouriſh
in their degree and meaſure. None is poor but Sion; none is defolate but
God's Jerufalem, but his church, which fled into the wilderneſs, to abide
there
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there all the time of his appointment; and her witneffes are cloathed with
fackcloth, teftifying to God's defpifed and reproached truth, with mourning
and grief of ſpirit; and not with that fleſhly joy, wiſdom, and confidence,
wherewith Babylon and her merchants vent their wares; but only in the evi-
dence, demonftration, and affurance of the Spirit in their hearts, which all
the wife and confident builders and inhabitants of Babylon trample upon
and deſpiſe.
Now it behoveth all to confider what this Babylon, what this woman is,
ſpoken of, Rev. xvii. which came in the place of the other woman ſpoken
of, Rev. xii. what this built city is, which the wrath of the Lord will make
defolate; what this beaſt or falſe prophet is, which appears like a lamb
(and fheweth fuch miracles to deceive the earth), and yet is fierce and
cruel to fuch as witnefs for God, Rev. xiii. 13, 14, 15. For dreadful are
the plagues, woes, vials of wrath, thunders, &c. which God hath prepared
for her; even the cup of the Lord's indignation without mixture; torment
with fire and brimſtone, in the preſence of the holy angels, and in the pre-
fence of the Lamb, Rev. xiv. 10, 11. and chap. xviii. 8. And who would
not fear thee, O thou King of Saints! when thou comeft with thy cup of
fury and indignation, to empty into the bowels of this woman, which hath
been fo long drunk with the blood of thy faints and martyrs, Rev. xvii. 6.
Confider theſe things, O ye Papifts! Wait on the Lord in his fear and
dread; that he may vouchfafe to make known to you what, and where,
this city Babylon is; and that fuch of you as belong to him may hear his
voice calling you out of her, that ye may efcape this bitter cup, Rev.
xviii. 4.
The great judgment is already begun (This we know, who have tafted of
it). It hath begun at God's houſe, and is ſpreading further; yea, even
over the nations which have difowned you, and yet have learned of you to
build up a church and worſhip after the manner of your whoredoms.
Theſe the Lord will judge firft; he will plead with the daughters who have
difowned their mother, and yet have gone on in her ſpirit of whoredoms,
worſhipping the works of their own hands, and adminiftering and magnify-
ing the beauty of the churches which themfelves have formed. Now is
your time to confider; now is the time for the fimple-hearted among you to
flee from Babylon, before the wrath of the Lord befiege her. There are
three things in general (befides many particulars) which the Proteftant na-
tions and churches have learned of you, which will coft them dear, ere
they be made willing to part with them.
Firft, Their taking upon them authority over mens confciences, commanding
them what they ſhould believe; which the apoſtles never did, but faid ex-
prefly, they had not dominion over the faith of others, but were helpers of
their joy, 2 Cor. i. 24. They could not command any to believe their
doctrine; but fpake in the demonftration of the Spirit, waiting till God
opened the heart, 2. Cor. iv. 2. and would not have men profeſs, believe,
I i
VOL. I.
or
250
The Root of Popery ftruck at.
2
But
or practiſe from their words, but by a feeling of the power, 1 Cor. ii. 5:
And when men did believe fome things, and came into the unity and fel-
lowſhip of the faith, they did not require them to believe all that the church
taught or held forth as true, but waited till God pleaſed to reveal further,
Phil. iii. 15. Indeed they could command obedience to the faith: what
truths the Spirit of the Lord revealed and taught any man, they could
charge him in the name of the Lord to be faithful to, Rom. i. 5.
they knew it was God alone who could ingraft the truth into the heart and
confcience, and alfo give the increaſe of it; and fo from him alone they
expected it; waiting in patience on the ſtubborn and perverfe, till God ſhould
pleaſe to work upon them, 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25. and likewife on thoſe that
were convinced, and had fubjected themſelves to the faith, for his increaſe
of it, 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7.
2dly. Their abridging mens liberty in things wherein God hath left them free,
and preffing an uniformity in things which they themſelves confefs to be in-
different. Now the apoftle (who had the care of all the churches, 2 Cor.
xi. 28.) though he knew certainly how to determine about meats and days,
as himſelf confeffeth, Rom. xiv. 14. yet he telleth the church at Rome
exprefly, that Chrift was the Lord and Mafter of every diſciple, to whom
he muft ftand or fall herein, ver. 4. and that every man ought to do as he
is fully perfuaded in his own mind, ver. 5. Nay he is fo far from preffing
a neceffity of uniformity in fuch cafes, that he preffeth a neceffity of bear-
ing on each hand, ver. 3. So that, in the apoſtle's judgment, the church
hath not power to lay commands on the confcience, but muft receive the
weakeft in the faith, ver. 1. leaving him to the liberty of his conſcience,
and to his fubjection to his own Lord and Mafter; to whom every believer
muſt give an account of what he receives, and of what he obeys and per-
forms, ver. 10.—12.
3dly. Their fetting up a church-building, government, and difcipline, by the
magistrate's power. This the apoftles no-where taught nor practifed. They
converted men by the power of the Spirit; they cut down errors, herefies,
feducers, and hereticks, by the fame word; and they found the weapons of
their warfare fufficient, 2 Cor. x. 4. they had no need of running to the
magiftrate. But that church, thofe doctrines, that government and difci-
pline, which is fet up by the magiftrate's fword without and againſt the
Spirit, that ha h need of a carnal fword to defend it againſt the Spirit, and
to cut down God's witneffes (whom he raiseth up to teftify againſt it) for
fchifmaticks and hereticks, or its nakednefs, will foon be made manifeft,
and its ruin approach.
Now when the Lord hath judged all the daughters of Babylon for theſe
things, then will he at length begin to plead with their mother, Babylon
the Great, who hath gone a whoring from the Spirit, and built up a gaudy
church without the Spirit, which the hath defended by violence and blood,
drinking the blood of the faints, who have been inſpired by the Spirit to
teitify
!
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The Root of Popery ftruck at.
25x
againſt her, Rev. xi. 7, 8. and hath taught all her daughters to do the
fame; to wit, to drink the blood of the witneffes againſt them, even as fhe
hath drunk the blood of the witneffes that have teftified against her. And
though, becauſe ſhe hath had an half day more given her, after her time
ſeemed to be even expiring, and after judgment and defolation was be-
ginning to enter upon her, though, becauſe of this, fhe thinks the bitter-
nefs of death is paft, and fhe fhall now fit as a queen, a lady, a glorious
church for ever, Rev. xviii. 7. yet for all this is the come again into God's
remembrance, Rev. xvi. 19. and the fhall ſee widowhood, and be caft into
a bed of torment, and all her children into great tribulation with her; and
fhe fhall be defolate, and naked, and drink of the cup, and not repent
that the might eſcape it, Rev. xvi. 11. ix. 20, 21. This is her portion,
from the hand of the Lord. Oh! happy is he whofe eyes the Lord fhall
open, to flee out of her for life! For the Lamb is ariſen to make war, and
his ſpouſe is making herſelf ready for his pure bed of life, and his anger
is kindled againſt all the kings and powers of the earth that ftand in his
way; and though they fight ever fo refolutely againſt him and his meek
ones, they ſhall not prevail, but the Lamb will overcome all; for he is King
of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and they that are with him in this battle of
his Spirit, are Called, and Chofen, and Faithful, Rev. xvii. 4. And though.
this woman (the falſe church, in her various dreffes) is fo ftrong, every.
where getting the earthly powers and authorities on her fide, that now it
may be faid concerning this beaft, in the feveral appearances of it, as was
concerning the former; Who is able to make war with her? yet there is an
inviſible power ſtronger than fhe, who will call her to judgment, Rev. xviii.
8. and make her give an account of all the faints blood which fhe hath
drunk herſelf, and which fhe hath taught her daughters to drink. And
falvation, glory, honour, and power, fhall be afcribed to the Lord, for his
righteous and powerful judging of her, Rev. xix. 1, 2. And he that
hath any glimmering of this in the eternal light of the Lord's pure ever-
living Spirit, let him even now fay, Hallelujah to him who is ariſen out of
his holy habitation, and hath already begun this work, who will not fail to
perfect it. Amen.
Ii 2
SOME-
[ 252 ]
1
SOMEWHAT
Concerning the GROUND of ERROR,
And the Way to TRUTH and UNITY; for the Sake
of fuch as are more Spiritual.
TH
HERE is no way to become an heir of the kingdom of God, but
by being begotten and born of his Spirit; which blows upon the
ſpirit of man, breathes life into him, and forms him in the eternal image,
John iii. 8. Gal. iv. 19.
.
There is no way of having this work of God preferved, but by turning
to the Spirit which begets, ftanding and keeping upright in that which is
begotten, and taking heed of the fleshly wiſdom, which ftands near to cor-
rupt and deſtroy the work of God; tempting and leading afide from the
truth itſelf, into fome image and reſemblance of it. And if this prevail,
there is fuddenly a departing from the living God, and a running a whore-
ing after the inventions of the fleſhly wiſdom, which appears in the like-
nefs of the true wisdom, that it might the better deceive..
•
Now when man is firſt breathed upon, and begotten towards God, there
is but a little life, a little fimplicity, a little light, a little power, a little of
the wiſdom of the true babe; but a great body of death, deceit, darkneſs,
power, and wiſdom of the fleſh, ſtanding: and all theſe apply themſelves
to overturn and deſtroy the true work of God, by raiſing up a falſe image
of it, which is eafily done; but abiding and prefervation in the truth is
difficult, and alone maintained by that power which at firft begat.
Now the power preſerves through keeping out of the fenfual and reaſon-
ing part (where the corrupt one hath his lodging), in that poor, low, little,
childiſh ſenſibility of the life, which the Father hath begotten. Here is the
entrance into the truth; here is the growth, here is the prefervation and
fafety; which makes it ſo hard for thoſe that are wife and ftrong in the
reaſoning and comprehending part, either to enter in, or to abide and grow
in the nakedness, fimplicity, and feeming folly of the truth of the Gof-
pel. Oh! what a deal is to be brought down, before they can be truly
reached and convinced by the fooliſh and weak things which God chuſeth
to effect his great works by, 1 Cor. i. 27, 28. What a work hath God
with them to batter their wisdom, and bring down their underſtanding;
which the larger it is, the more it ſtands in the way of his light, 2 Cor. i..
19. And if they be convinced at any time, what an eaſy and natural return
unto
Somewhat concerning the Ground of Error, &c. 253
unto them doth their own wiſdom find, by fome fubtil device or other, to
draw them back from the plainnefs and fingleneſs of the Truth, into an
holding it in the wifdom and fubtilty of the underſtanding-part, where the
fimplicity is foon loft, 2 Cor. xi. 3.
In the Spirit which begets, and in the Truth which is begotten by it, is
the true unity. Feeling that in one another, is that which unites us to
one another. Every one keeping to that in his own particular, is kept
to that which unites; and that is kept alive in him which is to be united :
but departing from that, there is a departing from the true unity into the
error and ground of diviſion.. And then that which hath erred and departed
from the true unity, ftrives to fet up a falfe image of unity, and blames that
which abides in the Truth, becauſe it cannot thus unite: for that which
abides in the Spirit, and in that which the Spirit hath begotten and formed,
cannot unite according to the flesh; as that which is run a whoring from the
Spirit, into an image of the fleſhly wifdom's forming, cannot unite accord-
ing to the Spirit. Confider this, O ye profeffors of this age! Ye blame us
for departing from you; for withdrawing from unity with you. We blame
you for departing from the living principle, wherein our unity with you
formerly ſtood, and wherein alone we can again unite with you; and not
in fuch things as uphold a fleſhly and falfe image of the true unity.
Oh! that ye could hear the Lord's voice, who crieth aloud to the pro-
feffors of this age to ceafe from man! Ceaſe from man in thyfelf, O thou
who haft ever had any tafte of the pure grace and power of God. Ceafe
from thine own underſtanding, thine own affections, thine own zeal, thine
own gathered knowledge and wiſdom from the fcriptures, with all the
fparks of thine own kindling; that God may be all in thee, and his eternal
habitation be raiſed up in thee, and perfected, and thou fwallowed up and
comprehended in it for ever. Oh! what a work hath God to drive man's
reafon and wiſdom out of his temple, out of his fcriptures, out of all his
holy things! He that hath an ear, let him hear, for the fake of his foul's
eternal peace. Alas! alas! how many ftumble at, and blafpheme that, which
alone can ſave the foul! There have been many difpenfations of, but there
is but One living Truth; but One Subftance; but One Arm of Salvation.
And he that ſtumbles at the thing itſelf, how can he be faved by it? It is
eafy miſunderſtanding a former difpenfation, reading it in the letter; and
fo to miſs of the falvation hoped for by it.
The Jews owned the Meffiah (according to the Scriptures, as they
thought), but rejected him in the way he came to fave them in. Now if
Chriſtians have gathered fuch a kind of knowledge from the letter of the.
fcriptures as they did, how can they avoid the fame error; namely, of
owning Chriſt according to the fcriptures, as they think, but rejecting him
as he comes to fave them; rebelling againſt his living miniftry, and the
pure power and demonftration of his Spirit, becauſe it appears weak and
low;
A
254 Somewhat concerning the Ground of Error, &c.
low; becauſe it doth not appear the fame thing to them which they expect
to be faved by, according to their apprehenfions of the fcriptures? Thus
reading the fcriptures in another ſpirit and wiſdom than that which wrote
them, they muſt needs conclude and gather another thing from them than
what is written in them, and fo make that a means to them of erring from
the life, which was written to teftify of, and point to, the living principle
from whence life and falvation ſprings, and where alone it is to be had.
•
1
AN
1
A N
EXAMINATION
OF THE
GROUNDS or CAUSES
Which are faid to INDUCE the
Court of BOSTON, in NEW-ENGLAND,
TO MAKE THAT
ORDER OF LAW of BANISHMENT, upon Pain of DEATH,
or
QU
AGAINST THE
A KE
KER S.
AS ALSO OF
The GROUNDS and CONSIDERATIONS by them produced, to
manifeft the WARRANTABLENESS and JUSTNESS both of their
Making and Executing the fame; which they now ftand deeply
engaged to DEFEND, having already thereupon put Two of them
to Death.
AS ALSO O O F
OF
Some further Grounds for juſtifying of the fame, in an APPENDIX to
JOHN NORTON's Book (which was printed after the Book itſelf,
yet as Part thereof); whereto he is faid to be appointed by the General
Court.
AND LIKEWISE OF
The Arguments briefly hinted, in that which is called, "A true Relation
"of the Proceedings against the QUAKERS, &c."
Whereunto fomewhat is added
About the Authority and Government Chrift excluded out of his Church;
which occafioneth fomewhat concerning the true Church Government.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
The ftone the builders refufed, is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes. Pf. cxviii. 22, 23.
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, becauſe thou haft hid these things from
the wife and prudent, and haft revealed them unto babes. Even fo Father ; for ſo it ſeemed
good in thy fight. Mat. xi. 25, 26.
[celvi ]
TO THE
RULERS, TEACHERS, and PEOPLE
O F
NEW-ENGLAN D.
MA
ANY a weary ſtep hath my poor foul fetched, and many difficul
ties and hardſhips hath it met with in its purfuit after Truth. The
immortal feed hath deeply fuffered in me through the miſts of darkneſs,
and various ftratagems and powers of the enemy, which have often encom-
paffed me, and diftreffed my ſpirit exceedingly. I have known many bat-
tles, received deep wounds; yea, and have been in deaths and graves often,
where the living feed hath languiſhed for want of the living fpring. Yet
this thing, to the praiſe and glory of the Preſerver of Ifrael, may I ſpeak; the
fenſe of God, and the favour of his Spirit, was never wholly taken away
from me; though many times I knew it not, but was too apt to diſtruſt
it, being ignorant of the way of its appearing in me. The ſcriptures I al-
ways exceedingly prized, and a deep knowledge of them, from an expe-
rimental ſenſe of the things they fpake of, was beſtowed on me: but I knew
not what it was which gave me the knowledge, nor how it fprang; but
went about ſtill to fix it in the letter, and fo gave away the glory from the
Spirit, which fhines above and beyond the letter, and ought fo to be ac-
knowledged.
Before this defpifed people appeared, I was even quite worn out, and
faid, My hope is cut off from the Lord; there is no fuch appearance of
him to be looked for as my poor diſtreſſed foul wants. Live without the
preſence of his Spirit I could not; where to meet with his Spirit could I
hear no news; and that precious knowledge which I had through the opera-
tion of God upon my heart from the living fpring; the fame hand which
gave me, alfo brake in pieces, and pulled down that inward building which
was reared up in my ſpirit.
What a man of forrows I became hereupon, how I mourned all the day
long, and roared out after my God all the night-feafon, is not to be uttered.
And if it might be the Lord's pleaſure, oh! that my mifery might end with
me,
To the Rulers, &c. of New-England.
cclvii
J
me, and that this might be the iffue of all my ſufferings, to fit me to be a
faithful inſtrument in the hand of the Lord for the preferving of others there-
from!
Now this was it which undid me; namely, the getting up of the fleſhly
wiſdom and understanding; which, though God had broken in me mightily
feveral times, yet it ftill had fome fecret device or other to creep in again
into me, and to twine about my fpirit, undifcerned by me: but this effect
ſtill attended it; by degrees, like a canker, it eat out the ſweetneſs and
freſhneſs of my life and fpirit; and exalted that part in me which God
hides the myſteries of his kingdom from.
At firſt acquaintance with this rejected people, that which was eternal of
God in me opened, and I did immediately in my fpirit own them as chil-
dren of my Father, truly begotten of his life by his own Spirit: but the
wiſe reaſoning part preſently rofe up, contending againſt their uncouth way
of appearance, and in that I did difown them, and continued a ftranger to
them, and a reaſoner againſt them, for above twelve months; and by
weighing and confidering things in that part, was ftill further and further
off from difcerning their leadings by the life and Spirit of God into thoſe
things. But at length it pleafed the Lord to draw out his fword againſt
that part in me, turning the wiſdom and ſtrength thereof backward, and
to open that eye in me again, wherewith he had given me to fee the things
of his kingdom in fome meaſure from a child; and then I faw and felt
them grown in that life and Spirit, which I, through the treachery of the
fleſhly-wife part, had been eſtranged to, and had adulterated from. And
now what bitter days of mourning and lamentation (even for fome years
fince) I have had over this, the Lord alone fully knows. Oh! I have known
it to be a bitter thing to follow this wiſdom in underſtanding of fcriptures,
in remembering of fcriptures, in remembering of experiences, and in many
more inward ways of workings, that many cannot bear to hear. The
Lord hath judged me for that, and I have borne the burden and condem-
nation of that, which many at this day wear as their crown.
And now
what am I at length? A poor worm! Whom can I warn effectually?
Whom can I help? Whom can I ftop from running into the pit? But tho'
I am nothing, I muft fpeak; for the Lord draweth and moveth me: and
how unſerviceable foever my pity be, yet my bowels cannot but roll, both
towards thoſe that are in mifery, and thofe that are running into mifery.
Read in the fear, and in fimplicity, what was fo written; and the Lord
open that eye in you which can ſee the way of life, and diſcover the paths
of the mystery of iniquity in its moſt hidden workings in the heart; that
ye fleep not the fleep of eternal death, and fo at laft be awakened in the
bowels of that wrath and fiery indignation, which that ſpirit which erreth
from and tranfgreffeth the life and light within, can neither bear nor eſcape.
鼎
​VOL. I.
Kk
AN
[258]
1
A N
EXAMINATION
}
OF THE
GROUNDS or CAUSES, &c.
T
HAT in New-England there hath been a law. made of baniſhing
the Quakers, fo called, and of death in cafe of return, is well
known in theſe parts; but what induced them hereunto, and what
juſt grounds and reafons they had for it, many are not acquainted with, but
are very much diffatisfied concerning their proceedings therein, fearing
that they have diſhonoured God, brought a reproach upon the name of
Chriſt and his Goſpel, exceeded the limits of their power, given an ill ex-
ample of perfecution, laid a foundation of hardening their hearts againft.
God, and of drawing his heavy wrath upon them; all which they cannot
but be guilty of, in cafe it fhould be proved that they have been miſtaken,
and that theſe people (upon a further fearch) fhould appear to them to be
of God, as they have already to very many, who have been exceedingly
prejudiced againſt them, till they came more meekly to hear and confider
their cafe. For there are many here in Old-England, and in other parts,
who once reviled, reproached, and thought they could hardly do bad enough-
againſt them; who now, in the fingleness of their hearts, can bleſs God
for raifing up fuch a people, and that they themselves were not cut off in
their blind zeal againſt them; but in the rich mercy of God had a way
made for the removing of their prejudices and hard thoughts, and for the
opening of their eyes, whereby they came to fee that theſe are indeed a
precious people of God; begotten, brought forth, and guided by his
power; and that it is his living truth, which they (in obedience to his liv-
ing power) are drawn to bear witneſs to, and to hold forth unto the world.
And one fuch teftimony for them is of more weight and value in a true
ballance, than thouſands of teftimonies against them from fuch who are
prejudiced, and have not patience to confider things in equity and upright-
nefs of heart, and alſo whofe intereſt lies another way.
Now
An Examination of,
259
&c.
C.
Now meeting of late with a paper beginning thus: At a general court
held at Bofton the 8th of October, 1659. (wherein, by way of preface, there
is firſt an account given of what induced them to make this law of baniſh-
ment and death, and then grounds and confiderations laid down to clear it
to be warrantable and juft), it was upon my heart to confider and examine
theſe, to ſee whether they did arife from the feed of God, and from the true
knowledge of the ſcriptures by his Spirit, and fo were weighty to the con-
fcience which fingly waits upon God for fatisfaction about Truth; or whe-
ther they did arife from the fleſhly part, and from fleſhly reafonings upon
fcriptures, and fo were but chaffy, and not able to fatisfy the weighty con-
fidering ſpirit, as in the fight of God.
And this I was the more induced to do, becauſe I found bowels rolling
towards them, and a ſenſe of what might eafily be their fnare, which hath
overtaken and entangled many: for many who have blamed others feverely,
and really thought how well they themſelves would have amended things, if
ever they came into place and power; yet have failed, and run into the
very fame error, when they have come to the trial. So theſe perſons, when
they were formerly perfecuted in England, no doubt thought and intended,
if ever they came to be free from it, to lay a foundation againſt it: yet
when they came to the point, and felt their condition changed, infomuch
as it was now in their hand to determine what was the way of worſhip, church-
government, and order, there lay a great temptation before them to fet up
what they judged to be right, and to force all others to a conformity to it.
Yea, now was their great danger, and time to beware, left the fame perfe-
cuting fpirit did get up in them, which their being perfecuted was a pro-
per means to keep down: and if fo (if the fame fpirit which perfecuted
them got up in them), then they who were once perfecuted could not pof-
fibly forbear perfecuting; for that ſpirit will perfecute where-ever it gets up.
And having laid its foundation of perfecution under a plaufible cover, then
by degrees it more and more veils the eye, hardens the heart, and takes
away the tenderneſs which was in the perfons before, while they themfelves
were perfecuted. Now I cannot but pity thoſe that fall into the ſnare of the
enemy: eſpecially thofe who are taken in fo great a fnare, and come to
fo great a lofs of their tendernefs towards God, his truths, and people,
and run fo great an hazard and danger of the lofs of their own fouls.
;
Kk 2
The
260
An Examination of
The Grounds or Cauſes expreffed of their making that
Law of Banifhment, are in Subftance theſe three.
I. HE coming of the QUAKERS from foreign parts, and from other colo-
nies, at fundry times, and in feveral companies and numbers, into the
jurifdiction of the Maffachufets.
Anfw. This, of itſelf, is far from any warrant; for the earth is the Lord's,
and the fulneſs thereof. And though they claim a propriety in it, yet it is
ftill more the Lord's than theirs; and he may fend any one of his fer-
vants into it at his pleafure, upon what meffage or fervice it feemeth good
unto him. So that the great queftion to be determined here is this: "Whe-
"ther theſe perſons came from the Lord, in his will, and at his appointment;
or whether they came of themſelves, and in their own wills?" For if
they came by commiffion and appointment from the Lord of heaven and
earth, their warrant was without doubt fufficient. But if they came in their
own will, and upon their own defigns, then they went out of the Lord's
counſel and protection, and muft bear their own burden. Now confider whe-
ther ye were tender in the due weighing of this, before your imprifoning and
dealing hardly with them. For if, at their firft coming, ye impriſoned
them, and engaged yourſelves againſt them, ye thereby made yourſelves
unfit for an equal confideration of the caufe; and God might juftly then
leave your eyes to be cloſed, and your hearts hardened againſt his truths and
people, for beginning with them fo harfhly and unrighteoufly, and not in his
fear.
2. Thofe leffer punishments of the house of correction, and imprisonment for a
time, having been inflicted on fome of them; but not fufficing to deter and keep
them away. Why do ye omit cutting off of ears? Are ye afhamed to men-
tion that amongst the reft? Indeed the remembrance of it ftrikes upon the
fpirits of people here, and perhaps in New-England alſo.
Anfw. They that are fent by the Lord, and go in the guidance of his
Spirit, cannot be deterred from obedience to him in his fervice and work,
either by leffer or greater puniſhments. Puniſhments deter the evil-doer;
but he that doth well is not afraid of being punifhed; but is taught, and
made willing, and enabled to fuffer for righteouſneſs-fake, Phil. i. 29. And
ye will find your greater puniſhments as ineffectual to obtain your end, as
your leffer. For they whofe lives (in the power of God) are facrificed up
to the will of God, are no more afraid of death, than they are of whips,
prifons, cruel ufage in priſons, and cutting off of ears. Surely it had been
a ſweeter, a more Chriftian and ſafer courſe, to have weighed the thing in
God's fear and dread, before ye had begun any of your punishments. But
your own late relation confeffeth, that ye began with them upon reports:
from
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
261
from Barbadoes and England; from good hands, ye fay; and fo they of
Damaſcus might have faid, if they had received the letters from the high-
prieft, or relations from zealous and devout Jews. And I have heard re-
Ïated from many hands (which, having drank in prejudices from reports,
and begun with impriſoning of them, might eafily follow) that they were
never afforded a fair hearing; but at your courts, queftions were put to in-
trap them, and they not fuffered to plead the righteouſneſs and innocency
of their caufe, but endeavours uſed to draw them to that (and a watching to
catch that from them) which would bring them within the compafs of fome
of laws. Your confciences know how true theſe things are, and will
your
one day give in a clear and true teftimony, although ye fhould be able to
bribe them at preſent.
3. That their coming thither was upon no other grounds or occafion, for aught
that could appear, than to ſcatter their corrupt opinions, and to draw others to
their way, and fo to make disturbance.
Anfw. Chrift faith to his diſciples, Ye are the falt of the earth, and the
light of the world: and they are not to lie ftill, and keep their light under a
bufhel; but to lighten and feafon the world, as the Lord calleth and guideth
them. And if the Lord doth fee that New-England, notwithſtanding all
its profeffion and talk of the things of God, hath need of his falt to favour
it with, and of his light to enlighten them with, and fo fendeth his nef-
fengers and fervants among them, they have no reaſon to be offended with
the Lord for this, or with his people, or with the truths they bring. They
have long had a form up, and it may have eaten out the power, that they
may not be fo favoury now in their eafe and authority in New-England, as
they were under their troubles and perfecutions in Old-England: and God
may, in kindneſs to them, ſend among them a fooliſh people to ſtir them
up and provoke them to jealoufy. Now their coming thus is not to "fcat-
"ter corrupt opinions; " but, by the power of Truth, to fcatter that which
fcatters from the Lord. Nor is it to draw to their way, but to the Lord,
to Chrift, his living way; which they are exhorted to try, and feel, and
certainly to know, before they receive. Nor doth it make any "difturbance,"
but only to that which is at eafe in the fleſh, and fleſhly forms of worſhip.
And Ifrael of old was often thus difturbed by the prophets of God (though
they ſtill could not bear it, but were enemies to the prophets for it), not-
withſtanding they had received their way of worſhip certainly from God's
hand. How much more may the Lord take liberty, by his fervants and
meffengers, to diſturb theſe who never fo received it, but have formed up
a way out of the fcriptures, whereof many that are truly conſcientious
doubt whether it be the way or no; even as they themſelves doubt, and
are ready to contend againft, the ways that others have formed?
Now thofe that pick a quarrel with Truth, and feek matter againſt it to
perfecute it, do not call it Truth, but error, corrupt opinions, the way of
a fect, the making of diſturbance, or fuch-like. And perfecutors, for the most
part
26 2
An Examination of
part do not only fay this, but bring forth their ſtrong arguments; infomuch
as the perfecutor is commonly juft in his own eyes, and the perfecuted is
blamed as the evil-doer, and caufe of his own fufferings. Were the bi-
fhops without their plea? Nay, did not he that was called Dr. Burgeſs (in
his book) feem to carry the cauſe clear againſt the Non-conformifts? And
why the Biſhops might not eſtabliſh their way by authority, or the Preſby-
ters their way, as well as thofe accounted Independents their way (not re-
garding the Diffenters, or tender-confcienced) I confefs I fee not; but
that they have juftified the bifhops by their practifing the fame thing, and
fo unjustly condemned them in words.
But how can ye fay, for aught that could appear?" when ye were ſo
unfit (through receiving of prejudices and reports, and beginning fo roughly
with them) to confider what might be made appear, and alfo fo far from
giving way to them to make what they could appear, as is before expreffed?
And doth not this alfo imply that there may be a juft, righteous, and war-
rantable cauſe of their coming, in relation to God and his fervice, though
it doth not yet appear to you? And in a meeker and cooler temper, when
another eye is opened in you, ye may fee and acknowledge that caufe, who
are the Lord's fervants; whether they come in his name or no; whether
they are his Truths or no, which they bring with them. Theſe are things
God opens to the humble, to the meek, to fuch as fear before him, and
wait for his counfel therein: but thofe that can determine things by in-
telligence before-hand from other parts, and impriſon perfons as foon as
they come, and fo proceed on with a ſtiff refolution againſt them, how are
theſe in any capacity to feek or receive counfel from God in a cafe of fo
great concernment? So that at laft, even when they have drunk their blood,
they muſt be forced to fay, " for aught that could appear," this was their
only end, work, and intent; but whether it was fo or no, they do not cer-
tainly know.
Thus far is in anfwer to the account they give, by way of preface, to
what led them to the making of this law of baniſhment and death. Now
the grounds and confiderations themſelves, which they held forth to clear
this to be warrantable and juft, follow to be fcanned, which are in num-
ber fix.
1. The doctrine of this feet of people (fay they) is deftructive to fundamen-
tal Truths of religion.
Anfw. For the making of this argument forcible, two things are neceſ
fary; if either of which fails, it falls to the ground.
1. It is neceffary to make manifeft, That perfons, for holding or propa-
gating doctrines contrary to fundamental truths of religion, are, by Chriſt's
inſtitution, puniſhable with diſmembering, baniſhment, or death. For Chriſt
is the head, king, and law-giver to his church: it is he that is the founda-
tion of religion, and the giver-forth of fundamental Truths of religion: and
he is the proper judge of what puniſhment is fit for fuch as either will not
receive
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
263
1
receive his fundamental truths of religion, or afterwards ftart back from
them, and broach doctrines contrary thereto. Now it is required (in
his name and authority) of fuch powers as will take upon them to inflict
thefe kinds of puniſhments upon fuch kind of offenders, Chrift's inſti-
tution for this thing. Chrift was as faithful in his houfe as Mofes; and
if fuch a courfe had been neceffary for the prefervation of his church,
furely he would not have withheld it. But Chrift overcomes the devil's
kingdom by his Spirit: by that he wins fouls, and gathers into, and
builds up, his church; and by that he is able to defend them. By his
Spirit he preacheth the Truth, and foweth the feed of the kingdom; and
by his Spirit he upholds and maintains it. This is his way of overcoming
all the mifts of darknefs and falfe doctrines; and not a magiftrate's fword.
The weapons of our warfare (faith the apoſtle) are not carnal; but mighty
through God, to the pulling down of strong-holds, 2 Cor. x. 4. Are there
ftrong-holds of darkneſs? Are there falfe doctrines broached againſt the
Truths of Chrift? Who are the warriors against thefe? Are they the civil
ftate, the magiftrate, the earthly powers? or are they the minifters and fer-
vants of Chrift? And what are the weapons that are mighty to overthrow
theſe? Are they ſtocks, whips, priſons, cutting off of ears, baniſhment,
death? Or are they of a fpiritual nature? The fpiritual weapons are fancti-
fied by God to this end, and are mighty through him, able to effect it
thoroughly whereas the carnal weapons are weak and unfanctified, and.
can reach only the carnal part; but the ftrong-hold remains untouched by
theſe. And it is only the carnal part which defires to have the uſe of fuch
carnal weapons in the church: the ſpiritual man would conquer by his own
weapon, or not at all. Chrift came not to deftroy mens lives, nor never
gave order to have men killed about his Truths. If his people be difobe-
dient, and broach doctrines ever ſo contrary and deftructive to his kingdom,.
he hath a ſpiritual way of fighting with them now, and hath appointed his
fervants to have his mighty fpiritual weapons in a readinefs for the revenge-
ing every disobedience, 2 Cor. x. 6. And he hath likewife a time of dealing
with them hereafter; but he hath no-where appointed that his fubjects (if
they could get the command of the fword in a nation or country) fhould kill
fuch. Abundance of blood hath been fhed upon this pretence, which the
Lord will make inquifition for: it ſhould at length be ſeriouſly inquired
into, what truth there is in this bloody doctrine? for under this cover all
the perfecutions and fheddings of the faints blood fhelter themſelves. Oh!
confider at length, how cruel and bloody, men have made the goſpel of
peace by this principle; and what an advantage it gives to the carnal part
in thoſe that are perfecuted, if once they can get the command of the out-
ward fword, to forget their own fufferings, and fuddenly turn perfecutors.
of fuch as differ from them, though upon as weighty grounds (if not more
weighty) than they differed from others upon. But this they that are up-
permoſt
264
An Examination of
permoft will not yield to, that the grounds of fuch as differ from them are
fufficient; even as thoſe that they differed from would not yield that their
grounds were fufficient. Thus ftill they whoſe arguments go forth under
the fhelter, or by the command, of the prefent authority, are looked upon
as most weighty; and the others caufe is trampled upon, though ever fo
just, innocent, upright, and weighty in itſelf, and the meek of the earth,
the humble-hearted, the tender-conſcienced towards God, are ftill made
the offenders and fufferers: and their enemies are ſtill made their judges.
I do think thefe of New-England would have once thought it hard meaſure,
that Conformifts, whom they differed from, fhould have been the judges
whether their grounds were fufficient or no; and yet they (ever fince they
have had the power in their hands) have taken upon them to be the judges
of the fufficiency of the grounds of fuch as differ from them, and have as
freely condemned all that differed from them, and been as fore a curb
upon the tender confcience, as ever the biſhops were.
So that it is plain,
that which they fought was their own liberty (they did not like to be op-
preffed and inthralled contrary to their judgments); but not the liberty
of the tender confcience towards God, but rather the yoking and inthral-
ling of it to their judgments, and arguments, and interpretations of fcrip-
ture, which he that differs from, muft be an offender with them, even
as they were once accounted offenders for differing from the Conformiſts;
and fo are all become tranfgreffors of the law of God, in doing that to others,
which they would not that others fhould do to them.
2. It is requifite alfo to make manifeft, that the doctrine of this fort of
people is deftructive to the fundamental truths of religion. For if it be
not ſo, then they are injured and mifreprefented; and both their baniſh-
ment and death, and all other puniſhments inflicted upon them on this ac-
count, will prove to have been unjuſt.
There are four inftances given, or four particular fundamentals men-
tioned, to which their doctrines are faid to be deftructive. Firſt, The Sa-
cred Trinity. Secondly, The Perfon of Chrift. Thirdly, The holy Scriptures
as a perfect rule of faith and life. Fourthly, The doctrine of perfection.
Now for the making of the thing clear and manifeft to every fober
mind, it is requifite firſt to confider what the QUAKERS hold in theſe fe-
veral particulars; and then whether that which they hold in theſe reſpects
be contrary to the truth of theſe things, as they are plainly related in the
fcriptures for if that which they hold be contrary to the naked voice and
proper intent of the fcriptures, then they are not to be blamed; but the
blame will light on their accufers, who might eafily be found guilty of in-
juring both them and the fcriptures, both in theſe and many other things,
were they not judges.
1. Concerning the Sacred Trinity. They generally, both in their fpeak-
ings, and in their writings, fet their feal to the truth of that fcripture,
1 John v. 7. That there are Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word,
L
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
265
Η
Word, and the Holy Spirit. That theſe three are diftinct, as three ſeveral
beings or perfons: this they read not; but in the fame place they read,
that they are One. And thus they believe their being to be one, their life
one, their light one, their wisdom one, their power one: and he that know-
eth and ſeeth any one of them, knoweth and feeth them all, according to
that faying of Chrift's to Philip, He that hath feen me, bath feen the Father,
John xiv. 9. Three there are, and yet one; thus they have read in the
fcriptures, and this they teſtify they have had truly opened to them by that
very Spirit which gave forth the fcriptures, infomuch that they certainly
know it to be true, and own the thing from their very hearts: but as for
this title of Sacred Trinity, they find it not in fcripture; and they look upon
fcripture-words as fitteft to exprefs fcripture-things by. And furely if a
man mean the ſame thing as the fcripture means, the fame words will fuf-
fice to exprefs it: but the Papifts and fchool-men having miffed of the
thing which the ſcripture drives at, and apprehended fomewhat elſe in the
wife imagining part, have brought forth many phraſes of their own inven-
tion to express their apprehenfions by, which we confefs we have no unity
with; but are content with feeling the thing which the fcripture fpeaks of,
and with the words whereby the fcriptures exprefs it. Now whereas they
call this a fundamental, we do not find it ſo called in ſcripture; nor do we find
the diſciples themfelves underſtanding therein, but knew not the Father,
John xiv. 8, 9. And Chrift going about to inform them, does not tell
them of another diſtinct being or perfon: but hast thou not ſeen me? And
believeft thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? ver. 10. And
fo the believers at Ephefus had not fo much as heard there was an Holy
Ghoft, Alts xix. 2. So that if ye will make this a fundamental truth,
yet it is fuch a fundamental as true faith did ftand without, both in be-
lievers afore Chrift's death, and in believers after. This is the great fun-
damental, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all, 1 John i. 5. and
the great work of the miniftry is to fhew men where this light is, and to
turn men from the darknefs, wherein is the power of Satan, unto this light,
wherein is the power of God, Alts xxvi. 18. And he that comes into this
light, and into this power, is owned in the light and in the power, wherein
is the life of all the faints, and the true fellowſhip both with the Father and
the Son, and one with another, John i. 3. 7. And the true trial of ſpirits is
not by an affent to doctrines (which the hypocrite may affent to on the
one hand, and the true believer may ftartle at on the other hand); but by
feeling of them in the inward virtue of the light, in the Spirit, and in
the power. This was the apoftle's way of trial, 1 Cor. iv. 19, 20. I will
know, not the ſpeech of them which are puffed up, but the power; for the king-
dom of God is not in word, but in power. A man may ſpeak high words con-
cerning the kingdom, and get all the doctrines about it, and yet be a ftran-
ger to it, and quite ignorant of the power: and another may want divers
doctrines concerning it (perhaps fome of thoſe which men call fundamen-
VOL. I.
L1
tals),
266
An Examination of
•
•
tals), and yet be a citizen of it, and in the power. But now, under the
antichriſtian apoſtaſy, men wanting the feeling of the life and power, wherein
the true judgment is, they own or difown one another upon an affent or dif-
ſent to fuch and fuch doctrines, and fo fall into this great error of diſowning
many whom Chrift owns and if they find perfons not affent to, or dif-
fenting from, any of thofe things which they call fundamentals, then they
think they may lawfully excommunicate and perfecute them. So, by this
miſtake, they cut off that which is green; they perfecute that wherein is
the living fap, and cheriſh the dry and withered. That which is moſt ten-
der towards God, and moſt growing in the inward fenfibleneſs (which cauſeth
it to ſtartle at that which others can eafily fwallow) lies moft open to fuffer-
ing by this kind of trial.
1
2. Concerning the perſon of Chriſt. They believe that Chrift is the eter-
nal light, life, wiſdom, and power of God, which was manifeſted in that
body of fleſh which he took of the virgin: that he is the king, prieſt, and
prophet of his people, and faveth them from their fins, by laying down
his life for them, and imputing his righteoufnefs to them; yet not without
revealing and bringing forth the fame righteouſneſs in them, which he
wrought for them. And by experience they know, that there is no being
faved by a belief of his death for them, and of his refurrection, afcenfion,
interceffion, &c. without being brought into a true fellowſhip with him in
his death, and without feeling his immortal feed of life raiſed and living
in them. And ſo they difown the faith in Chrift's death which is only re-
ceived and entertained from the relation of the letter of the fcriptures, and
ſtands not in the divine power, and fenfible experience of the begotten of
God in the heart.
Now they diſtinguiſh, according to the fcriptures, between that which is
called the Chrift, and the bodily garment which he took. The one was
fleſh, the other Spirit. The flesh profiteth nothing (faith he), the Spirit quick-
eneth; and he that eatet! me, ſhall live by me, even as I live by the Father, John
vi. 57. 63. This is the manna itſelf, the true treaſure; the other, but the
viſible or earthen veffel which held it. The body of flesh was but the veil,
Heb. x. 20.
The eternal life was the fubftance veiled. The one he did
partake of, as the reft of the children did; the other was he which did
partake thereof, Heb. ii. 14. The one was the body which was prepared
for the life, for it to appear in, and be made manifeft, Heb. x. 5.
other was the life, or light itfelf, for whom the body was prepared, who
took it up, appeared in it to do the will, Pf. xl. 7, 8. and was made ma-
nifeſt to thoſe eyes which were able to fee through the veil wherewith it
was covered, John i. 14.
The
Now is it not this found according to the fcriptures? And is it not a good
way to know this by unity with it, by feeling a meaſure of the fame life
made manifeft in our mortal fleſh? 2 Cor. iv. II. This we confess is our
way of underſtanding things; and likewiſe of underſtanding the ſcriptures
which
1
the Grounds or Cauſes, &c.
267
which ſpeak of theſe things. And we have found it a far furer kind of
knowledge; namely, to underſtand the fcriptures by experience of that
whereof the ſcripture fpeaks, than to gueſs at the things the fcripture ſpeaks
of, by confidering and ſcanning in the earthly part what the fcriptures
fpeak of them. Such a kind of knowledge as this, a wife man may attain
to a great meaſure of; but the other is peculiar to him who is begotten of
God, whoſe knowledge is true and certain, though it ſeem ever fo diffe-
rent from his who hath attained what he hath by the fearch of his wiſdom.
3. Concerning the holy fcriptures being a perfect rule of faith and life. The
new covenant is the covenant of the Gofpel; which is a living covenant, a
ſpiritual covenant, an inward covenant, and the law or rule of it cannot
be written outwardly. Read the tenor of the new covenant, Heb. viii. 10.
I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts. If God
himſelf ſhould take the fame laws, and write them outwardly; yet, ſo
written, they are not the new covenant: at moft they would be but an out-
ward draught of laws written in the new covenant. And mark; this is one
difference given between the new covenant and the old; the laws of the
one were written outwardly, in tables of ftone; the laws of the other were
to be written in the heart. That is the book wherein the laws of the new
covenant were promiſed to be written, and there they are to be read. So
that he that will read and obey the laws of the covenant of life, muft look
for them in that book wherein God hath promiſed to write them; for tho❜
in other books he may read fome outward deſcriptions of the thing, yet
here alone can he read the thing itſelf. Chrift is the Way, the Truth, and the
Life. What is a Chriſtian's rule? Is not the way of God his rule? Is not
God's truth his rule? And is not the truth in Jefus, where it is taught and
to be heard, and to be received even as it is in Jefus? Ephef. 4. 22.
Is
not he the King, the Prieft, the Prophet, the Sacrifice, the Way to God,
the Life itſelf, the living Path out of Death; yea, All in All to the be-
Jiever, whofe eye is opened to behold him? The fcriptures teftify of Chriſt,
but they are not Chrift; they alfo teftify of truth, and are a true teftimony;
but the truth itſelf is in Jefus, who by his living Spirit writes it in the
heart which he hath made living. And fo a Chriftian's life is in the Spirit:
If we live in the Spirit, let us alfo walk in the Spirit, Gal. v. 25.
The
whole life and courfe of a Chriftian is in the volume of that book, as the
Lord opens the leaves of it in him. The gift of God, the measure of faith
given him by God, that is his rule; that is his rule of knowledge, of pro-
phefying, of obedience, Heb. xii. Rom. i. 4.-xii. 6. If he keep there,
if he walk according to the proportion of it, he errs not: but out of the
faith, in the error, in all he knows, in all he believes, in all he does.
The new creature, that which God hath new created in the heart, in which
life breathes, and nothing but life breathes, which is taught by God, and true
to God from its very infancy; that is his rule whereby he is to walk, the
apoſtle exprefly calls it fo, Gal. xvi. 15, 16. That which is begotten by
L12
God
268
An Examination of
God is a Son; and the Son, as he is begotten by the breath of the Spirit,
fo he is preferved and led by the fame breath; and fuch as are fo led, are
fons, and none elfe; for it is not reading of fcriptures, and gathering rules
out thence, that makes a fon, but the receiving of the Spirit, and the be-
ing led by the Spirit, Rom. viii. 14, 15. And being the whole worſhip of
the Goſpel is in the Spirit, there is a neceffity of receiving that in the first
place; and then in it the foul learns to know and wait for its breathings
and movings, and follows on towards the Lord in them. The Spirit can-
not be with-held from breathing on that which he hath begotten; and that
breath is a guide, a rule, a way, to that which it breatheth upon. Now
this is moft manifeft, even from the fcriptures themfelves, they exprefly
calling Chrift the Way, the Truth, &c. the new Creature, the Rule, the
Faith, Grace, or Gift, given to be the Rule, teftifying the heart to be that
which God hath chofen to write his laws in; but where do they call them-
felves a perfect rule of faith and obedience? They are they (faith Chrift)
which teſtify of me; and ye will not come to me, that ye might have life, John
v. 39, 40. Life cannot be received from the fcriptures, but only from
Chrift the fountain thereof; no more can the fcriptures give the rule, but
point to the fountain of the fame life, where alone the rule of life, as the
life itſelf, can be received. The fcriptures cannot ingraft into Chrift, nor
give a living rule to him that is ingrafted; but he that hath heard the
teftimony of the fcriptures concerning Chrift, and hath come to him, muſt
abide in him, and wait on him for the writing of the law of the Spirit of
life in his heart, and this will be his rule from the law of fin and death,
even unto the land of life. Now if men have miſtaken in the night of
darkneſs, and put the fcriptures out of their place (even in the place of
the Spirit) and fo have become minifters, not of the Spirit, but of the
letter, whereas the apoſtles were made able miniſters of the New-Teſtament,
not of the letter, but of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. 6. let them not be offended
at the Spirit of God for teaching us otherwife, nor at us for learning as
the Spirit of God hath taught us; the fcriptures alfo teftifying that this is
the rule, but no-where fetting up themſelves for the rule. And it is the
fame Spirit, which would now fix men in the fcriptures, to keep men from
Chriſt the living rule and only way to life eternal, as formerly kept them by
traditions from the fcriptures; though it is hard for them who are entangled
in this deceit, to fee it.
Now for the proof of theſe things thus barely here charged, the reader
is referred to Mr. Norton's (as they ftile him) Tractate against the Quakers.
Concerning the validity whereof, I refer the reader to Francis Howgill's an-
fwer thereto, wishing him to read both in the fear and dread of the Almighty,
waiting for his counſel to guide him in the true difcerning which of them
favours of man's wifdom, and which of them writes from acquaintance with
the truth itſelf. In which anfwer of his, he recites fuch errors of that Nor-
ton, as would make a great found againſt the Quakers, if any fuch could
juftly
;
the Grounds or Causes, &c.
269
justly be charged upon them. I fhall mention only two or three of them,
viz. That God is a diftinct fubfiftence from the Son and Spirit; and that
the Son is a diftinct fubfiftence from the Father and the Spirit: and be-
cauſe it is faid, the Father shall give you another comforter, this another he
faith is intelligible of the effence. (Are there then three diſtinct infinite
Effences or Beings)? That the Spirit of God without the letter is no Spirit.
(He was before the letter, he was never limited to the letter, he will be
after the letter, and he is what he is without the letter). That Christ's
words, John xvii. 21. give an uncertain found. (Where have any of the
Quakers caft fuch a blemiſh upon any portion of fcripture ?) Surely this
man had more need to feek to have his own veffel cleanfed, than to accufe
others of errors or blafphemy. And if he have no other way to overthrow
them, than by maintaining fuch kind of things as theſe againſt them, he
will never get victory over them any other way than by the outward
fword: but by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of his teftimony,
and not loving their lives unto the death, they will eafily overcome all fuch
kind of champions.
4. The fourth and laſt inftance which they give of the deſtructiveneſs of
their doctrine to the fundamental truths of religion, is, That opinion of theirs
of being perfectly pure and without fin, which (fay they) tends to overthrow
the whole Gospel, and the very vitals of Christianity: for they that have no fin,
have no need of Christ, or of his fatisfaction, or blood to cleanse them, nor of
faith, repentance, &c.
Anfw. That the Lord God is able perfectly to redeem from fin in this
life; that he can caft out the ftrong man, cleanſe the houſe, and make it
fit for himſelf to dwell in; that he can finifh tranfgreffion and fin in the
heart, and bring in everlafting righteouſneſs; that he can tread down Sa-
tan under the feet of his faints, and make them more than conquerors over
him; this they confefs they ſteadily believe. But that every one that is
turned to the light of the Spirit of Chrift in his heart, is preſently advanced
to this ſtate, they never held forth; but that the way is long, the travel
hard, the enemies and difficulties many, and that there is need of much
faith, hope, patience, repentance, watchfulneſs againſt temptations, &c.
before the life in them arrive at fuch a pitch. Yet for all this, faith Chrift
to his diſciples, Be ye perfect; directing them to aim at fuch a thing; and
the apoſtle faith, Let us go on unto perfection; and Chrift gave a miniftry
for the perfecting of the faints: and they do not doubt but that he that be-
gins the work, can perfect it even in this life, and fo deliver them out of
the hands of fin, Satan, and all their ſpiritual enemies, as that they may
ſerve God without fear of them any more, in holiness and righteouſneſs be-
fore him all the days of their lives.
Now how is this doctrine, or how is this people, becauſe of their believ-
ing and holding forth this doctrine, guilty of all this great and heavy charge
that is laid upon them here; as that they have no need of Chrift, his fatis-
faction,
270
An Examination of
faction, his blood, nor of faith, repentance, growing in grace, God's word and
ordinances, nor of watchfulness and prayer, &c.? Let us confider the thing a
little further.
Firſt, The doctrine of perfection, if it ſhould be granted to deny all this,
yet it cannot be ſuppoſed to deny the need thereof, until the ſtate of per-
fection be attained. Nay, they that truly believe that fuch a ſtate is attain-
able, cannot deny the uſe of thofe things which are proper to lead to that
ftate, but will confcientiously apply themſelves thereto, and prefs all others
thereto, who defire to attain that ſtate. And they that have either heard
them ſpeak, or read their writings with any equality of mind, may abun-
dantly teftify for them againſt the unrighteoufnefs and injury of this charge.
Their life lies in Chrift, their peace in his fatisfaction for them, and in a
fenfible feeling of his blood ſprinkled in their confciences, to cleanſe them
from fin; and by that faith, which is God's gift, they feel, and wait further
to feel, the righteoufnefs of Chrift imputed to them for juftification. And
as for being perfectly just in themselves, it is a very unrighteous charge upon
them; for their juftice and righteoufnefs is in Chrift for ever, and not of
themſelves; but in the denial and crucifying of felf are they made par-
takers of it, which is beftowed by the free grace, mercy, and power, of
him who hath mercy on them, and not by any willing or running of theirs.
And as for repentance, they feel the need of it, and find a godly forrow
wrought in them, and a bitter mourning over him whom they once pierced,
and ftill pierce, fo far as they hearken to the tempter, and follow the mo-
tions and lufts of the tranfgreffing nature. And they do both watch and
pray againſt fin, and feel what a bitter thing it is to have the watch fo
flackened, whereby the temptation prevails, which would lead to fin.
as for purifying themfelves daily, and putting off the old man, and putting on
the new; it is that which their hearts delight to be continually exercifed.
about; and all this with an hope that it may be effected, that the veffel
may be made holy to the Lord, a fit fpiritual temple for him to dwell in,
that he may diſplay his life, glory, power, and pure prefence in them. But
if the belief that this may be attained, in the way wherein God leadeth
them towards it, and an hope to attain it, with an acknowledgment of it
fo far as it is attained; I fay, if this make them guilty of fo great a charge,
then they are indeed guilty; for they cannot but believe it, wait for it,
hope for it, and acknowledge it, fo far as they feel it wrought in them.
But how can this poffibly make them guilty of denying theſe things, feeing
the exerciſe of theſe things not only ftandeth with, but is increaſed by,
fuch a belief and hope?
And
Secondly, The ftate of perfection itſelf doth not exclude theſe things,
in fuch a way as this charge feems to intimate. For in the ftate of per-
fection, the blood is not laid afide as ufelefs, but remains to keep pure for
ever. It is the blood of the everlasting covenant, Heb. xiii. 20. both the
covenant and the blood laſt for ever, and are uſeful even to them that are
perfect.
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
·271
if
perfect. And there is need and ufe of the faith in the blood, to believe
the preſervation. As the covenant itſelf lafts; fo that which lets into, and
keeps in the covenant, lafts alfo. That which unites and ties the foul to
Chrift the life, abides in the foul for ever, even as the union itſelf abides.
And there is a growing in the life, even where the heart is purified from
fin, even as Chrift did grow and wax ftrong in Spirit; for a ſtate of
per-
fection doth not exclude degrees. And fo there is alfo a need of watching
againſt temptations in a perfect ftate; for Adam was perfect, and yet he
needed a watch and Chrift was perfectly pure and without fin, and yet he
did both watch and pray. So that if any were brought to the perfect ſtate
of a man, even unto the meaſure of the ftature of the fulneſs of Chrift,
which the miniſtry was given to bring all the faints unto, Ephef. iv. 11,
12, 13. if any were taught and enabled fo to walk in the light, as to be
cleanſed by the blood from all fin, and to have fuch fellowſhip with the Fa-
ther and the Son, as might make their joy full, 1 John i. 3, 4.—7.
any were brought to that ftate of glory, as to be chafte virgins, 2 Cor. xi.
2. without fpot or wrinkle of the fleſh, but holy and without blemiſh,
Ephef. v. 27. if any fhould be made perfect in every good work to do
his will, which was a thing the apoftle prayed for, Heb. xiii. 21.
if any
ſhould have ſo put off the old man, and have put on the wedding garment,
as to be made ready and fit to be married to the Lamb, Rev. xix. 7. yet
this would not exclude faith in the blood, or prayer, or watchfulneſs, to
keep the garment pure, &c. nor growth in the life. And this we are not
afhamed to profefs, that we are preffing after, and fome have already at-
tained very far, even to be made perfect as pertaining to the confcience
being fo ingrafted into Chrift the power of God, fo planted into the like-
nefs of his death and refurrection, fo encompaffed with the walls and bul-
warks of falvation, as that they feel no condemnation for fin, but a con-
tinual juſtification of the life, being taught, led, and enabled to walk, not
after the fleſh, but after the Spirit, Rom. viii. 1.
From what they have faid concerning this opinion of perfection (as they
call it) they draw an argument against their other doctrines in theſe words.
Such fundamentals of Christianity are overthrown by this one opinion of theirs,
and how much more by all their other doctrines ?
Anfw. To which I fhall fay this: if their grounds and proofs againſt any
other doctrines of the Quakers, be no more weighty and demonftrative,
than thoſe they have here brought forth againſt the doctrine of perfection,
they may fpare entertaining prejudices againſt them and condemning them;
and in the first place weigh them in a more equal balance than they have
done this. And I dare appeal to any naked and unbiaffed fpirit, who ſhall
fairly confider what is above written, whether the doctrine of perfection be
fuch an hideous error as they have repreſented it? Nay, whether it be not
a precious truth of the Gofpel of Chriſt, and a great encouragement to
him who ſhall follow the command of Chrift; who faith, be ye perfect; to
believe
272
An Examination of
believe that (in the way of faith and obedience) he may be wrought up to
fuch an eſtate by the free-grace, mercy, love, and power of God? Yea,
let me add this word more; he that feeleth the everlaſting arm working one
fin out of his heart, cannot but believe that the fame arm can work out all,
and pluck up every plant which the heavenly Father hath not planted;
which hope and belief cauſeth him with joy to follow this arm through the
regeneration. But if I did believe there were no perfecting the work of
redemption in this life, but I muft ftill in part be a flave to Satan, ftill cry-
ing out of the body of fin and death, and never have my heart purified
for the Holy One to inhabit in, but remain in part unconverted, unchanged,
unregenerated, unfanctified; Oh! how heavily fhould I go on! I am fure
it would be as a weight upon my ſpirit in refifting of fin and Satan. This
is not the glad tidings of the everlasting Gofpel, but fad news from the
borders of death, which would keep the creature not only in the bonds of
death, but without hope of deliverance in this life; and refer the hope to
that day wherein there is no more working out of redemption, but the eter-
nal judgment of the tree as it falls.
Now, having after this manner proved that the doctrines of the Quakers
are deſtructive to the fundamental truths of religion, they lay down their
argument whereupon they conclude that it is lawful for them, nay their
duty, to put them to death, in theſe words. Now the commandment of God
is plain, that he that prefumes to speak lies in the name of the Lord, and turns
people out of the way which the Lord hath commanded to walk in, fuch an one
must not live, but be put to death, Zech. xiii. 3. Deut. xiii. 6.-18, 20.
!
Anfw. 1. By what hath been faid againſt them, it is not manifeſt that
they have ſpoken lies in the name of the Lord. Nay, if they themſelves
who thus charge them, could but foberly and mildly, with a Chriftian
fpirit, weigh the thing, would it not rather appear, that they in thus falfly
charging them, and managing fuch untrue and unrighteous arguments
againſt them, have ſpoken lies, both concerning them, and againſt the
Lord and his truth? And as for turning men out of the way, that cannot
be juſtly charged on them, who turn men to Chriſt the living Way, and
deliver the fame meffage the apoſtles did, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all; and who point them to that place where God hath ſaid
this light is to be found, which is the heart, where God writes the new co-
venant, and the laws thereof, Heb. viii. where the word of faith is nigh,
Rom. x. Surely they that direct hither, do not turn men out of the way.
But they that point men to guefs at the meanings of fcriptures, and to
gather knowledge, and form rules to themſelves out of them by their own na-
tural wit and underſtanding, which can never reach the mysteries of the
kingdom of God, and which God hides the true knowledge of the fcrip-
tures from, theſe are thofe that turn men out of the way. For they that
rightly underſtand the fcriptures, muft firft receive a meaſure of the Spirit
1
to
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
273
to underſtand it with; even as they that wrote any part thereof, did firſt
receive a meaſure of the Spirit to write it by.
2. It is not manifeft by theſe places quoted, that the governors of New-
England have received authority from the Lord to put the Quakers to death,
if their doctrines were fuch as they accuſe them to be. That of Deut. xiii.
6. is a manifeſt cafe concerning one that fhould tempt to the following of
other gods, of the gods of the people round about, nigh or far off; in fuch
a cafe the offender was to be ftoned to death, ver. 10. but is this applica-
ble to cafes of doctrine? That of Deut. xviii. 20. gives a clear note how
the prophet may be known that ſpeaks a lie in the name of the Lord, and
what kind of lie it is, for which he is to be put to death, ver. 22. but it doth
not fay that every man in the commonwealth of Ifrael, that holdeth any
doctrine contrary to what fome of them might call the fundamental doc-
trines of the law, fhould be put to death. That of Zech. xiii. 3. is a pro-
phecy, not a command, and is not to be underſtood in man's wifdom, not
to be fulfilled in man's will. It were better to wait for the true open-
ings of prophecies in the Spirit, than to let the carnal part loofe to gather
fomewhat out of them for the fatisfying of the fleſh, and making its thirſt
after the blood of God's lambs appear more plaufible. I would but put
this queſtion to your confciences in the fight of God, whether in a con-
fcientious fubmiffion to the will of God in this fcripture ye put them to
death; or whether from this fcripture ye feek a fhelter and cover for the
thing, having already done it, or fully purpofed to do it?
So that the cafe is not here the fame with any of the cafes mentioned in
thoſe ſcriptures: for if fome of their doctrines were lies (which ye have
been very far from proving), yet it was not for fuch kind of lies that death
was appointed in the commonwealth of Ifrael. And yet there is a large
difference between what was lawful to be done in the kingdom or common-
wealth of Ifrael, and what is now lawful to be done. The kingdom or
commonwealth of Ifrael was a ſtate outwardly repreſentative of what was
inwardly to be done in the ſtate of the Gofpel, by Chrift the king thereof.
He is the king and law-giver to his people, and he is their judge concerning
their receiving or rejecting them; concerning their obeying or diſobeying
them; concerning their holding the faith, or their letting go the faith; and
maintaining things contrary thereto. And he doth judge his people here
in this life, fo far as he thinks fit, Heb. x. 30, 31. referving alfo what he
thinks fit for another time of judgment, Alts xvii. 31. And who is he
that ſhall take his office out of his hand, and judge one of his fervants in
the things of his kingdom? Rom. xiv. 4. Is not this an intruding into
Chrift's kingly office? He gave authority to, and command for, the doing
of fuch things outwardly before his coming, as might repreſent what he
would do inwardly after his coming; but where hath he given authority
fince his coming, to do fuch things any more? Doth not the typical king,
VOL. I.
M m
with
!
274
An Examination of
with his typical government, ceafe, after that king with his government
which is figured out, is come?
O governors of New-England! to take away the life a man is a weighty
thing; and the Lord will not hold him guiltlefs, who either doth it in a
violent manner, or who maketh an unjuft law to do it by. But how pre-
cious in the fight of the Lord is the death of his faints! Oh! how will ye be
able to bear the weight of their blood, when the Lord maketh inquifition
for it! Ye had need have a very clear warrant in this cafe. Oh! how
will ye anſwer this thing at the judgment-feat of Chrift! Alas! fuch argu-
ments as theſe will ſtand you in little ftead: but ye have done it, and now
muſt maintain it; and it is exceeding hard for you (being thus deeply en-
gaged in the fight of the nations) to come to a fober and ſerious confidera-
tion of the ſtate of the cafe, as it ftands before the Lord.
2. The fecond ground or confideration which they hold forth to clear
their law of baniſhment and death againſt the QUAKERS to be warrantable
and juſt, is this: Becauſe they are far from giving that honour and reverence
to magiſtrates which the Lord requireth, and good men have given to them; but,
on the contrary, fhew contempt against them in their very outward gesture and
behaviour; and fome of them at least fpare not to belch railing and curfing
Speeches, &c.
Anfw. That we do not give that honour and reverence to magiftrates.
which the Lord requireth, deferves a weighty proof. For what we do or
forbear in this kind, we do as in the fight of the Lord; as perfons who are
not only liable to fuffer from men, but alfo to give an account to HIM at
the laſt day. Now towards magiftrates our carriage is thus, as in the pre-
fence of the Lord.
1. We obſerve their commands in all things that are according to God.
We ſubmit ourſelves to the government that is fupreme, and to the go-
vernors under the fupreme, for the Lord's fake, who in their feveral places.
ought to be for the puniſhment of evil-doers, and for the praiſe of them
that do well, according to 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14. This is God's ordinance, and
here magiftracy is in its right place, namely, in puniſhing the evil-doer
for his evil deeds; but not make a man an offender for a word, or for a
gefture, which is neither good nor evil in itſelf, but as it is done. He
that pulleth off his hat or boweth in flattery, or to pleaſe man, in him it is
evil: he that forbeareth to do it in obedience to God, and in the fear of his
name, in him it is good.
2. When any magiftrates puniſh us for well-doing, for our obedience to
the Lord's Spirit, though we know God never gave power to any magiftracy
to puniſh therefore; yet we patiently, fuffer under them; referring our
cauſe to him that judgeth righteouſly, and waiting on him for ftrength to
caary us through our fufferings for his name's fake.
3. When we appear before them, we appear as in the Lord's prefence,
defiring his guidance, that we may give due honour and reſpect to all that
is
the Grounds or Causes, &c.
275
:
is of him in them; and may be kept from honouring or pleafing that which
is not of him, and which he would not have us honour. This is the tem-
per of our fpirits, and accordingly is our carriage as in the fight of the
Lord, whatever men deem of us.
But the great matter is, becauſe we do not pull off our hats, and bow
to them, or that we uſe plain language to them (as thou and thee to a par-
ticular perfon), which fome of them will needs interpret to be contempt;
though others of them, who are more fober and confiderate, can clearly
difcern that it is not at all in contempt either to their authority, or their per-
fons; but in a mere fingle hearted obedience to God. Now to drive this a
little towards a fair trial, confider in meeknefs, and in God's fear,
I.
1. What kind of honour this is which is thus much ftood upon? Is
it the honour which is from above, or the honour which is from below?
What part ſprings it from in man; from the new-birth, or from the earthly
nature? And what doth it pleaſe in man? Doth it pleaſe that which is be-
gotten of God? Doth it pleaſe the meekneſs, the humility, the lowlineſs,
the new nature? Or doth it pleaſe and help to keep up the old nature, the
lofty fpirit, even that part which is prone in every man to be exalted out
of the fear of God? For this I may freely ſay, that whatſoever is of the
earth, hath an aptnefs in it to feed the earthly part; and particularly this
of outward bowing to the creature, is apt to hurt him that receiveth it.
In man's giving and receiving honour, God hath been forgotten. They
have forgotten God, who have been giving honour to one another; and
they have forgotten God, who have been receiving honour from one an-
other. And what if the Lord, who hath made us fenfible of the evil
herein, hath laid a reſtraint upon us? Can any forbid the Lord from lay-
ing fuch a thing upon us? Or is it lawful for any to go about to hinder.
us from obeying the Lord therein? Thou who art thus eager in contending
for honour, art thou fure it is not the evil part in thee which doth defire
it? If it be the good part in thee, thou wilt defire it in meekneſs and
gentleness; yea, and wilt be able to bear the want of it with joy, where it
is denied thee upon fuch an account, that it may run more purely towards
the Lord.
▼
Now if it be earthly honour, it is of a perifhing nature: it is not always
to laſt; but is one of the faſhions of this world which is to paſs away (how
long a time foever it hath had); and God may call his people from it at his
pleaſure; and if he call from it, they must leave it off, though the earthly
nature and power be never fo angry thereat. The Lord hath let men have
a long day, wherein man hath been lifted up, and appeared great, by re-
ceiving that honour which is of the earth, not of the faith: but at length
the Lord will bring forth his day, wherein he will be great, and have every
knee bow to him, and every tongue confefs to him: and then man fhall
be little, and his honour fall, and the Lord alone be exalted, Ifa. ii. 17.
Mm 2
2. Doth
276
An Examination of
2. Doth not the image of God grow up into the likeneſs of God? Doth
God reſpect mens perfons? Did Chrift regard any man's perfon? Did not
James fay, If ye have respect to perfons, ye commit fin, and are convinced of
the law, as tranfgreffors? James ii. 9. Of what law? Of the law of faith,
which exalteth the new-birth, and layeth flat the creature in its tranfgreffing
nature, eſtate, and honour. For faith Chrift, who received not honour
from men, nor gave honour to men, How can ye believe, which receive bo-
nour one of another? John v. 44. That which receiveth earthly honour,
is of the earth, and cannot believe; and that which giveth earthly honour,
is of the earth, and ſo not of the faith. The faith is a denying of the
earth, a taking up of the croſs to the earthly honour, which is as a block in
the way of faith. How can ye believe, when ye cheriſh that
part in you
which is againſt the faith? The immortal feed of life, in the day of the-
goſpel, grows up out of the earth, leaving it, with its cuſtoms, faſhions, ho-
nours, and its nature and worſhip too, behind it.
So that look into the ground of the thing with the eye which feeth over
the tranfgreffing ſtate, and over all things which have fprung up from the
tranfgreffing part, and which pleaſe that part which is out of the faith, out
of the life and power, drawn from God into the earth, and it will be ma-
nifeft that earthly honour hath its root, foundation, and fervice there;
but falleth off like a fhackle from man's fpirit, as the life rifeth in him,
and as he is redemed out of the earth.
Now as for Abraham's and Jacob's bowings, &c. thofe things had their
feafon under the law (which made nothing perfect), as other things had;
but now God calleth every man to bow to the Son, and will not permit fo
much as a bowing to an angel, who is far more honourable than any ma-
giftrate. And the Son calleth to honour the Father, and to feek the ho-
nour which cometh from God only: and he that will be his difciple, muft
take up his croſs to the earthly part, and follow him, who neither gave
earthly honour, nor received earthly honour, but condemned it, John v.
44. Therefore let men confider the ground of the thing, and the different
ftate between Jews under the law, and Chriftians under the gofpel; and not
think the bringing of inftances from them of old time can excufe us from
following Chrift according to the law of faith, who gave us this pattern
of not receiving or giving honour to mens perfons; and let not the weight
of our plea (it having fo great impreffion on our hearts) be defpifed by any
that pretend relation to our Lord and mafter, which I fhall briefly thus.
recite.
1. It is the fingle and fincere defire of our hearts to give all the honour
and obedience to magiftrates, which is due unto them according to the
fcriptures.
2. It is manifeft that we are careful of obferving all juſt laws; and pa-
tient in ſuffering through unjuſt laws, or where the magiftrate doth perſe-
cute us without or againſt law.
4
3. This
•
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
277
3. This kind of honour of pulling off the hat, and bowing to the per-
fon, we do not find commanded in fcripture; but we find Chrift's command
againſt it, who faith, follow me; who both denied to receive it, and did
not give it; but condemned it. And we find its rife to be from the earthly
part, and to the earthly part it is given; which it pleaſeth, being given to
it; or is offended at being denied it: and this part we are taught by the
Lord to crucify in ourſelves, and not to cheriſh in others.
4. The bowing of perſons under the law (which was an earthly ſtate,
wherein many things were permitted, which are not permitted under the
goſpel) doth not bind Chriſtians under the goſpel; nor doth not limit the
Spirit of God from taking of any one or more, or all of his people, from
giving that which the earthly part calleth honour, to that which is of the
earth.
5. We do appeal to the Lord our God (who is our judge and law-giver)
that he hath laid this upon our ſpirits; and hath ſmitten ſeveral of us, when
there hath ariſen fo much as a defire in us to pleaſe men in this particular:
and in the fear of his name, and in obedience to him, we do forbear it; and
not either in contempt of authority, or of the perfons in authority.
6. We find, by much experience, that the forbearing of this is a fervice to
our Lord and mafter, and an hurt to his enemy. It offendeth the paffionate,
it offendeth the rough, it offendeth the proud and lofty; that fpirit is foon
touched and ſtirred by it: but that which is low, that which is meek, that
which is humble, that which is gentle, that is eaſily drawn from valuing
and minding of it, and findeth an advantage therein. And of a truth the
earthly ſpirit knows, and feels, that God is taking the honour from it, and
giving it to the meek and humble; which makes it mufter up its forces and
arguments to hold it as long as it can.
Now what moderate man (much more any Chriftian) could not forego
the putting off of an hat, or the bowing of a knee, upon fo folemn and
weighty an account as this. If this were thine own cafe, wouldst thou be
forced, impriſoned, fined, or have this made an argument against thee to
baniſh thee, or put thee to death? Thou doft not know how the Lord
may visit thee by his Spirit, and what he may require of thee. He may
call thee alſo to give forth thy teftimony (and to fight under the banner of
his Spirit) againſt all the faſhions, cuftoms, honours, yea, and worſhips of
this world. That which is born of God, is not of this world: and as it
groweth up in any earthen yeffel, fo it draweth the veffel alfo more and
more out of this world. Ye are not. of the world (but called out of the world),
therefore the world bates you. That which can pleaſe the world, that which
can bow to it and honour it, that the world loves; but the immortal feed
which cannot bow, but teftifies againſt the world's honours, that they are
not of the Father, but of the world, this feed the world hates, and the vef-
fels in whom it bubbles up, and through whom it giveth forth its teftimony
againſt the world.
•.
Object..
278
1
An Examination of
. Object. But in the New Teftament Luke ftiles Theophilus most excellent; and
Paul, fpeaking to Feftus, faid, most noble Feftus; which are terms or expreffions of
bonour and reverence.
}
Anfw. Chrift did promiſe his diſciples and minifters that he would be with
them, and give them what to fay. Now if nobility and true excellency did ap-
pear in any perfons, and he led them by his Spirit to acknowledge it, this is no
fufficient warrant for men to do the like in their own wills; or to give ſuch
titles to perfons being in authority, whether they be fuch perſons or no.
Luke knew Theophilus to be excellent, and he was led by the Spirit of God
to ftile him excellent; for by the Spirit of God he wrote the fcripture,
Luke i. 3. wherein he fo ftiles him. And for Feftus, he that fhall ſtrictly.
obferve his carriage, will find it to be very noble, in that he would not be
won by the importunity and informations of the high-prieft and chief of the
Jews, and of the multitude alſo, againſt Paul, but applied himſelf to an
upright confideration of the cauſe, AƐs xxv. 2. 24. to the end. The fame
Spirit which fhewed the unworthy carriage and ignobleneſs of the high-
prieſt and zealous profeffing Jews, might move Paul to fet this mark of
honour upon Feftus. The Lord loveth truth in the heart, and truth in
words, and the following of the guidance of his Spirit into truth: but to
give a man high titles, merely becauſe he is great and high in the out-
ward, without difcerning that he is fuch, and without the leading of God's
Spirit fo to do, this is of the fleſh, according to the will of the fleſh, out of
the faith, and not according to truth and righteoufnefs: and in the fear
of the Lord there is a watch fet over our fpirits in theſe things, left we
ſhould eſteem and honour men according to the will of the fleſh, and not
in the Lord. Titles of office, or of relations, as maſter, father, &c. we
find freedom to give; but titles which tend towards flattery, or exalting
man out of his place, and the lifting up of his heart above his brethren,
we have not freedom in the Lord to ufe. And Elihu alſo found a reſtraint
upon him in this refpect, Job xxxii. 21, 22.
J
Object. It is noted as a brand and reproach of false teachers, that they de
fpife dominion, and speak evil of dignities, 2 Pet. ii. 10. and Jude viii. Now
it is well known that the practice of the QUAKERS is but too like thofe falfe
teachers, &c.
Anſw. It were worth a narrow fearch and inquiry what the dominion and
dignities (or glories) are, which the falfe teachers ſpeak evil of, or blaſ-
pheme, &c. Search the fcriptures: where do ye find the falſe teachers
fpeaking evil of earthly authorities? Nay, they ftill cling cloſe to them, ex-
alt them, get them on their fide, and cry them up, and will be fure enough
never to fail in pleafing the magiftrate with cringing and bowing, or any
thing of that nature. But there is the dominion of the Lord Jefus Chrift
in the heart; there is the rule of his Spirit over the fleſhly part; and
there is the Truth in the inner man; there are fpiritual dignities (or glo-
ries); theſe the falfe teachers, in all ages, did defpife, and were not afraid
1
to
!
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
į
279
!
to ſpeak evil of; though they ſhould have feared to ſpeak evil of the move-
ings, and guidings, and loweft appearings of the Spirit of God (which ex-
cel in nature and worth the greateft earthly dignities); yet they have not;
but have blafphemed the holy life and appearances of God in his people:
nay, they have not ſpared his more eminent breakings-forth in his very
prophets, holy apoftles, or Chrift himſelf. Mark what they ſpeak evil of;
they ſpeak evil of the things they know not, ver. 10. What were the things
they knew not? The inward movings and virtue of his Spirit; the inward
power, life, glory, and dominion of truth in the heart, they knew not: it
was againft Chrift in his people their evil deeds and hard fpeeches were,
ver. 15.
But as for the high and great-ones, the dominions and dignities
of the earth, they knew them well enough, and did not ſpeak evil of them;
but had their perfons in admiration, becauſe of the advantage they had by
them, ver. 16. They have always had a double advantage from theſe, both
of gain to themſelves, and of overbearing the lambs of Chrift by their
great fwelling words. The Lord hath ftill fo ordered it in his wifdom,
both before the coming of Chrift, at his coming, and fince, that the falſe
prophets and teachers fhould ftill have the advantage of the outward au-
thorities, and his people be a poor, afflicted, deſpiſed, perfecuted remnant,
whofe glory is inward, and cannot be diſcerned by the outward eye, no not
of God's Ifrael. See the dignities particularly expreffed, Rev. xiii. 6. The
name of God, his holy power in his people: the tabernacle, which is fancti-
fied and made honourable for him by his Spirit; them that dwell in heaven,
who are redeemed out of the earth, and have their converſation above:
theſe are dignities which the earthly authorities, nay, the falfe teachers.
themſelves, never knew the worth of, and fo they are not afraid to blaf-
pheme them. The firſt beaft on which the falfe church rode, with the fe-
cond beaft, which are of the very race of theſe falfe teachers, making an
image to the firſt beaft becauſe of advantage, all join together in blafpheme-
ing thefe dignities, Rev. xiii. and chap. xvii.
1
To open this a little further; John faid in his days, that it was then the
laft time: for there were many antichrifts then come, 1 John ii. 18. From
whence came they? They went out from us, faith he; but they were not of us,
ver. 19. They were fenfual; they had not the Spirit, and fo could not abide
the prefence, life, judgment, and power of the Spirit; but feparated them-
felves, Jude xix. But whether went they, when they went out from the
true church? Why they went out into the world, 1 John iv. 2. They got
the form of godlinefs, which would ſtand well enough with the lufts and
eaſe of the fleſh, and went and preached up that in the world. And now
fpeaking the things of God in the worldly fpirit, the world could hear
them, ver. 5. Thus having got a great party into the form of truth, now
they blafpheme the power; now they mock at the movings of the Spirit,
the leadings of the Spirit, the living name, the true tabernacle, the true
inhabitants of heaven, who have their converfation above in the heavenly
nature,
280
An Examination of
nature, in the heavenly principle, in the pure Spirit of life (for as they are
begotten by the Spirit, fo they live in the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit).
This the falfe teachers (who have got the form of doctrine and the form of
diſcipline, holding it in the fleſhly wiſdom, where they may hold their lufts
too) mock at and blafpheme, Jude xviii. And this hath been the great way
of deceit fince the apoftafy; God gathered a feparated people from the
world; the falſe teachers get the form of godlinefs from them, and fet it
up in the world, and then turn againſt the power, and deny it, ſpeaking evil
of, or blafpheming the Spirit, which is the dominion, and his miniſtrations
(in the fpirits of his people), which are the dignities or glories of the New-
Teftament, which excel all earthly dignities, and alfo the miniftration of
the firſt covenant, 2 Cor. iii. 7, 8.
So likewife for railing Speeches. The falfe prophets can ſpeak ſmooth
words; fpeaking in the fleshly wiſdom, they can pleaſe the fleſhly part in
their very reproofs; but he that ſpeaks from God, muft fpeak his words,
how harſh foever they ſeem to the fleſhly part. And he that fſpeaks in his
name, Spirit, majefty, and authority, is exalted high above the confidera-
tion of the perſon to whom he ſpeaks. What is a prince, a magiftrate, a
ruler, before the Lord, but clay, or duft and afhes? If the Lord bid any
of his fervants call that, which was once the faithful city, harlot; and fay,
concerning her princes, that they are rebellious, and companions of thieves,
Ifai. i. 21. 23. what is the poor earthen veffel, that it ſhould go to change
or mollify this fpeech? And fo for the falfe prophets and teachers: if the
Spirit of the Lord (in the meaneft of his fervants) call them idol-fhepherds,
hirelings, thieves, robbers, dogs, dumb-dogs, greedy dumb-dogs, that can-
not bark (though they can fpeak fmooth pleafing words enough to fleſhly
Ifrael, and the earthly great-ones), generation of vipers, hypocrites, whited
fepulchres, graves that appear not, &c. who may reprove him for it, or
find fault with the inftrument he chufes? Now man, judging by the fleſhly
wiſdom, may venture to call this railing; and the prophets of the Lord
have been accounted rude, and mad, and troublers of Ifrael; and ſo it is
at this day but the Lord, being angry with the tranfgreffor, may ſend a
rough rebuke to him, by what meffenger he pleaſeth; and what is the poor
creature that he ſhould gainfay his maker, and defire the meffage might be
ſmoother? But now theſe falfe teachers, who can speak fmoothly to the
fleſhly part, flatter the great-ones, and the profeffors which fall in with
their form of doctrine and difcipline, they deny the power, and blafpheme the
movings and goings-forth of the Spirit of God in his people; and if any
be drawn by the Spirit to feparate from their formal way, and to ſeek af-
ter the life and prefence of the power, him they cry out of as a fectary,
a blafphemer, an heretick; and fo bring railing accufations againſt that
life and Spirit by which he is drawn, and of him for following the drawings
of it: and thus they become guilty of ſpeaking evil of what they know not,
Jude x. They that are drawn out of the world's worſhips, know from what
7
they
!
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
281
they were drawn; but they that remain ſtill in them, do not know the
power which drew out of them, nor into what it drew; but looking on it
with a carnal eye, it appears mean to them, and fo they readily difdain it,
and think they may fafely ſpeak evil of it, though in truth they know it
not.
And as for curfings; there are children of the curfe, as well as of the
bleffing: and the Spirit of the Lord may pronounce his curfe againſt any
children of the curfe by whom he pleaſes. Curſe ye Meroz: curfe ye bit-
terly the inhabitants thereof, Judges v. 23.
And yet Meroz did not per-
fecute, but only not come to the help of the Lord againſt the mighty. ˆ So
the profeffing Jews, with their rulers and teachers, were curfed by the
Spirit of the Lord, Pf. Ixix. 22. &c. So Judas was curfed, Pf. cix. 6. &c.
For Peter applieth it to him, Alts i. 20. Now if the curfe be caufelefs, it
fhall not come, Prov. xxvi. 2. And well will it be with him whom men
caufelefly curfe, Mat. v. 11. Although they were the higheft, devouteft,
and moſt zealous profeffing Jews, with their priests and rulers in thofe
days; and although they fhould be the higheft, moft zealous, and devout
formal Chriſtians, with their rulers and teachers in theſe days, who may
have got this form, as well as they got that form, and yet hold the truth
in unrighteouſneſs, and deny the power, as falfe teachers formerly did, who
held the form, 2 Tim. iii. 5. But the cafe of Shimei is not at all proper to
the thing in hand, becauſe he did not pretend to curfe in the Lord's name
and authority; but, manifeftly out of the fear of God, curfed the Lord's
anointed in his low ftate. Neither were theſe two QUAKERS put to death
for curfing. So that if Humphry Norton were never ſo blameable, yet that
reacheth not to them, but is to be reckoned to him that did it, who is to
ſtand or fall to his own mafter therein. Yet this I may fay, becauſe it is
fo extraordinary a cafe (we having not known the like) that if he had not
the Lord's clear warrant for what he did, furely the Lord will feverely
judge him, for fpeaking fo peremptorily and prefumptuoufly in his name,
if not required by him.
And fo as touching contemptuous carriage. When there is not contempt
in the heart, it is not eafy to fhew contemptuous carriage; but the fleſhly
part miffing of the honour which is pleafing to it, and being offended there-
by, is ready to apprehend that to be ſpoken and done in contempt, which is
ſpoken and done in the humility and fear of the Lord.
3. A third ground or confideration to juſtify their law of banishment and
death of the QUAKERS, is drawn from Solomon's confining of Shimei, and of
putting him to death for breach of his confinement; whereupon they argue, that
if execution of death be lawful upon breach of confinement, may not the ſame be
faid for breach of banishment; banishment being not ſo ſtrait, but giving more
liberty than confinement ?
Anfw. The queftion is not whether the magiftrate upon no occafion may
baniſh upon pain of death; but whether the banishment of the QUAKERS,
VOL. I.
Nn
upon
282
An Examination of
upon pain of death, was juſt or no? If it were ever fo manifeft that a magif-
trate might baniſh, and put to death in cafe of not obferving his law of ba-
niſhment; yet that doth not prove that every law of baniſhment is juft,
and that the death of fuch as do not obey their law is juft alfo. He may
make a law in his own felf-will, pride, paffion, refolvedneſs, and ſtiffneſs of
fpirit, and fo draw the fufferings of perfons under that law (either of baniſh-
ment or death) upon his own head. Now the QUAKERS Coming in the
name of the Lord, by his commiffion, and upon his work (whom all the
magiftrates of the earth are to reverence and bow before), if magiftrates
will preſume to make a law to baniſh them upon pain of death; yet if the
Lord require them either to ſtay or return, they know whom to fear and
obey, which delivers them from the fear of them who can only torture and
kill the body and they had rather die in obedience to the Lord, than feel
the weight of his hand upon their fouls for their difobedience. It is not in
this cafe as it is in ordinary baniſhment upon civil accounts, where it is in
mens will and power to abftain from the place from which they are ba-
niſhed; but they muſt fulfil the will of their Lord, not at all regarding what
befals them therein.
4. The fourth ground or confideration to juftify their law of baniſhment
and death againſt the QUAKERS, is drawn from the right and propriety which
every man bath in his own house and land, and from the unreasonableness and
injuriouſneſs of another's intruding and entering into it, having no authority
thereto; yea, and when the owner doth exprefly prohibit and forbid the fame.
And that if any preſume to enter thus, without legal authority, he might justly
be impleaded as a thief or ufurper; and if in cafe of violent affault he should be
killed, his blood would be upon his own head. Whereupon it is argued thus:
that if private perfons may in fuch a cafe fhed the blood of fuch intruder, may not
the like be granted to them that are the publick keepers and guardians of the com.
monwealth? Have not they as much power to take away the lives of fuch, as,
contrary to prohibition, fhall invade or intrude into their publick poffeffions or ter-
ritories? And that the QUAKERS do thus invade and intrude without autho-
rity, they urge thus: For who can believe that QUAKERS are conftables, to
intrude themſelves, invade, and enter, whether the colony will or no, yea, con-
trary to their expreſs prohibition? If in fuch violent and bold attempts they lose.
their lives, they may thank themselves, as the blameable caufe, and authors of
their own death.
Anfw. It is no invafion, nor intrufion, for any meffengers and fervants of
the Lord to enter into any part of his earth at his command, upon his
errand, and about his work. And if any ſhould be fo fent to the houſe of
a particular perfon, to deliver a meffage from the Lord, and the owner of
the houſe, inſtead of hearing and confidering his meffage in meeknefs and
fear, whether it were of God or no, fhould be rough and violent with him,
and command him off before he had delivered his meffage, and either upon
his not immediately going off, or his return with another meffage (for the
Lord,
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
283
Lord if he pleaſe may ſend him again) ſhould fall upon him and kill him;
upon whoſe head would this man's blood light?
Kill-
How
2. If men will needs have it go for an invaſion, it is an invaſion of a
ſpiritual nature, and the defence from it cannot be by carnal weapons.
ing of mens perfons, is not the way to fupprefs either truth or error.
have the Papiſts been able to defend their kingdom, or fupprefs the truth
by their bloody weapons? They may prevail in their territories againſt mens
perfons for a feafon, but the truth will have a time of dominion, and will
in the mean time be getting ground in mens minds and conſciences, by the
fufferings of the witneffes to it. Nay, my friends, if ye will defend your-
ſelves from this invafion, ye muſt get better weapons.
3. Is this your rule concerning any that ſhall come in the name of the
Lord; that if they be not conftables, or other earthly officers, ye will baniſh
them and put them to death? Is the Lord of heaven and earth limited to
fend none but conftables among you? Well! ye may judge by your law
while your day. lafts; but the Lord in his day will clear his fervants and
meffengers, though they have not been conftables, and lay it upon the head
of them who have unrighteouſly ſhed it.
5. The fifth ground or confideration, whereby they juſtify their law of
baniſhment and death againſt the Quakers, is this. Corruption of mind and
judgment is a great infection and defilement, and it is the Lord's command that
fuch corrupt perfons be not received into the house; which plainly enough implies
that the boufholder bath power enough to keep them out, and that it was not in
their power to come, if they pleafed, whether the boufholder would or no. And
if the father of the family must keep them out of his house, the father of the
commonwealth must keep them out of his jurifdiction (they being nurfing fathers
and nurfing mothers by the account of God). So that what an houfholder may
do against perfons that are infected with the plague or peftilence (who may kill
them, if otherwife he cannot keep them out of his houſe), a magiftrate may do
the like for his ſubjects. And if ſheep and lambs cannot be preferved from the
danger of wolves, but the wolves will break in amongst them, it is easy to fee
what the shepherd or keeper of the sheep may lawfully do in fuch a cafe.
Anfw. It is granted, that corruption of mind and judgment is defiling
and infectious; and therefore every heart that knows the precioufnefs of
truth, is to wait on the Lord in his fear, in the uſe of thoſe means which he
hath appointed for preſervation from it; but that killing the perfons is one of
the means God hath appointed, this is ftill the thing in controverfy, and is
ftill denied to be either proper in itſelf, or fanctified by God to this end.
The apoſtle fays, There must be hereticks, that they which are approved may
be made manifeft, 1 Cor. xi. 19. but he doth not fay, Hereafter, when there
are Chriſtians magiftrates, they muſt baniſh or cut off the hereticks, as fafl
as they fpring up; but God hath uſe of theſe things for the exercifing of
the fpirits of his people, and the truth gains by overcoming them in the
faith and power of the Spirit. And fo, as touching wolves, the apoſtle
Nn 2
Paul
4.
284
An Examination of
Paul called the elders of the church of Ephefus, and told them, that after
bis departure, grievous wolves ſhould enter in among them, not sparing the flock,.
Acts xx. 28, 29.-31. The Lord hath put into the hands of his thep-
herd a fword, which will pierce to the heart of the wolf; he ſtanding faith-
ful in the power of God, in the life of righteoufnefs, need not fear any
wolf, but by the power of the Spirit, and prefence of the truth, fhall be
able to preferve the confciences of his flock pure to God. What kind of
ſhepherd is he, that cannot defend his flock without the magiftrate's ſword?
But take away that, the wolf breaks in, and preys upon his fheep. Surely
the true fhepherd, who knows the virtue of the fword God hath put into
his hand, will never call to the magiftrate for his fword of another nature,
which cannot touch the wolf, the heretick, the feducer, but only fleſh and
blood, with which the minifters of Chrift never wreſtled nor fought. And-
this is not the way to preferve the hearts and confciences of the flock (it
may perhaps ſtrike terror into the fleſhly nature); but their confciences are fo
much the more apt to be wrought upon by the doctrines, patience, and
fuffering of thoſe who are thus dealt with. The magiftrate's fword being
thus ufed, doth not at all preſerve that which is tender, but hurts it, dif-
engages it, ftirs up a witneſs in it againſt thoſe that thus go about to defend
that which they call truth, that build up their Jerufalem with blood, and
govern their flock with force, affrighting them from that which they call
error, and affrighting them into that which they call truth, with an out-
ward fword; whereas the true temple is built in peace, governed in peace,
maintained in peace, defended by peace; and error and hereticks difpelled
by the power of the Spirit, manifefting the deceit to the confcience; and
not by the fword of the magiftrate, dealing with them as with worldly
malefactors. Now this I fay as before the Lord; The true fhepherd, who
hath received the fword of the Spirit, and hath tried the virtue of it, can-
not diſtruſt it, cannot defire the magiftrate's help by outward force againſt
errors or herefies; he that looketh upon it as infufficient, and calleth to
the magiftrate for his fword, plainly diſcovers that he hath not received, or
knoweth not the virtue of the true one, and diſhonoureth both his Maſter's
work and weapon.
For that place of 2 John x. It is one thing for a man not to receive a
man into his houſe, and another thing for him to kill that perfon who offers
to come againſt his will. Do ye believe in your hearts, that the apoſtle's
intent was to direct the Chriftians to whom he wrote, to keep them out by
violence, and to kill them if they could not otherwife keep them out?
Though the parallel is not proper; for God hath often fent his fervants
into countries, cities, and places of refort, againſt the will of the rulers,
prieſts, and falſe prophets, but never to break violently into any man's
houfe.
The magiftrate keeping in his place, cannot but be a nurfing father to
the church; for let him draw out his ſword againſt that wickedness which is
proper
+
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
285
proper for him to cut down, it will exceedingly help to nurſe up the
church; but where hath the magiftrate commiffion to meddle with any of
the ſpiritual ſhepherd's work? Nay, his fword was never appointed to cut
down errors, or herefies, or hereticks; but the fword of the Spirit, in the
hand of the fpiritual fhepherd. God hath fet up an hedge between theſe
two powers, which he that breaketh down layeth both wafte as to their true
ufe, virtue, and order; and this antichrift hath long done in many appear-
ances. The bringing of theſe two to rights, fetting each in its proper
place, will give fuch a wound to his kingdom, as he will not be able to re-
cover. And mark this by the way; antichrift hath all along made uſe of
the magiftrate's fword to flay the lambs, under the name of hereticks, fecta-
ries, wolves, blafphemers; but Chrift comes with the Spirit of his mouth to
flay antichrift, 2 Thef. ii. 8. That is the ſword all the hereticks, feducers,
and falſe prophets were flain with in the apoftles days before the apoftafy;
and that is the fword that antichrift (who hath made ufe of the other fword
againſt Chriſt all along the apoftafy) fhall be flain with after the apoſtaſy.
When Chrift comes to fight againſt antichriſt (who hath cruelly torn, rent
and butchered his people under the name of wolves) he will take his own
fword, which is the word of his mouth. That did the work at firft; that
muft do the work again. But in the midft, between theſe two ſeaſons,
there hath been bad work made with the magiftrate's ſword; the witneſſes,
upon every appearance and breaking forth of God's truth in them, having
been liable to feel the ſmart of it.
6. Their fixth and laſt ground and confideration, whereby they juſtify
their law of baniſhment and death againft the Quakers, is this. It was the
commandment of the Lord Jesus unto his difciples, that when they were perſe-
cuted in one city, they should flee unto another; and accordingly it was his own
practice, and the practice of the faints, who when they have been perfecuted, have
fled away for their own fafety.
This (they fay) reafon requires, that when men have liberty unto it they should
not refuſe ſo to do; becauſe otherwife they will be guilty of tempting God, and
of incurring their own hurt, as having a fair way open for the avoiding there-
of, but they needlefly expose themselves thereto. Whereupon they argue thus.
If therefore that which is done against the Quakers were indeed perſecution,
what ſpirit may they be thought to be acted and led by, who are in their actings
fo contrary to the commandment and example of Christ and his faints in the cafe
of perfecution, which theſe men. ſuppoſe to be their cafe? Plain enough it is, that
if their cafe were the fame, their actings are not the fame, but quite contrary.
So that Christ and his faints were led by one Spirit, and thefe people by another :
for rather than they would not shew their contempt of authority, and make dif-
turbance amongst his people, they chufe to go contrary to the express direction of
Fefus Chrift, and the approved example of his faints, to the hazard and peril of
their own lives..
Anfw
286
An Examination of
Anfw. Afflictions, tribulations, trials, perfecutions are not to be fled
from, but to be borne and paſſed through to the kingdom, into which the
entrance is through many of thefe, Ats xiv. 22. and Chrift faith, he that
will be his diſciple, muft take up his crofs daily and follow him, Luke ix.
23. Now perfecution for Chrift is part of the croſs, which the diſciple muſt
not run away from, but take up, and follow Chrift with. Yea, the apoſtle
is very exprefs, 2 Tim. iii. 12. Yea, and all that will live godly in Chrift
Jefus fhall fuffer perfecution. It is the portion of all, and all muſt bear it.
The world hateth and perfecuteth (in fome degree or other) all that are not
of the world; and all muſt be content with their daily portion thereof, wait-
ing on God for ftrength to bear the croſs, not flying it; and the apoſtle
commends the Hebrews for enduring the great fight of afflictions, Heb. x.
32, 33, 34. The Jews were zealous for the law and ordinances of Moſes,
and grievous perfecutors of the Chriftians (eſpecially of fuch as had been
of them before): now the Chriftians are commended for ftanding the ſhock,
for bearing the brunt, for not fearing the lofs of name, goods, life, or any
thing, but eyeing the heavenly treaſure. So Chrift, warning of perfecu-
tion, bids the church to fear none of those things which she should fuffer, but
be faithful unto the death: and he that thus overcometh, fhould not be hurt
of the ſecond death, Rev. ii. 10, 11. and the apoftle Peter fays, if ye fuf-
fer for righteousness fake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither
be troubled, 1 Peter iii. 14. and the apostle Paul bids the Philippians
Stand faft in one Spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the
gofpel, and in nothing terrified by your adverfaries, which is to them an evident
token of perdition, but to you of falvation, and that of God. And the fame
apoſtle who commended the Hebrews, as having done well in bearing the
great fight of afflictions, encouraged them to go on ftill, and not to be
weary or faint in their minds, but refift even to blood, eyeing Chrift, who en-
dured the contradiction of finners to the very laft, Heb. xii. 3, 4. And he
practifed as he taught, for he was not terrified with bonds or afflictions, nor
accounted his life dear unto him; but that which was dear unto him was
the ferving of his Lord and Mafter, in preaching and witneffing to his
truths, as his Spirit led him, Acts xx. 23, 24. trufting in the Lord to up-
hold him in enduring of them, or to deliver him out of them, as he
pleaſed, 2 Tim. iii. 11. but that which he, and the reſt of the apoſtles and
faints of Chriſt, applied themſelves to in cafe of perfecution, was to ſuffer,
1 Cor. iv. 12. And whoever they are that will be Chrift's faithful diſciples
now, muſt look to meet with the fame croſs as they did, not only from the
prophane world, but from the worldly profeffors alfo for there were not
only zealous worldly profeffors in that age, but the fame ſpirit hath re-
mained in every age fince, which ſtill gets into the beſt form it can (when
need requires) to oppoſe the power thereby. And they that are in the
Spirit and in the power, muft expect to be perfecuted by fuch; and they
are to bear it, and not to flie from it, unleſs by a particular call and dif-
penfation
the Grounds or Caufes, &c..
287
penfation from the Lord for a particular fervice; which is not the rule (as
it is here made) but rather an exception from the rule. So Chrift fending
his diſciples in hafte to preach the Gofpel, bids them not falute in the way,
Luke x. 4. nor be ſtopped by perfecution, but haften to publiſh the found
of Chrift's coming in the cities of Ifrael, For the harvest was great, but the
labourers few, Mat. ix. 37. and yet notwithſtanding all the hafte they could
make, they ſhould not have gone over the cities of Ifrael, before the ſon of
man come, Mat. x. 23. There is a time to fuffer perfecution, and a time to
flee from perfecution; and both theſe are to be known in the Lord, and to
be obeyed in the leadings of his Spirit: but to lay it down as a general
rule for Chriftians to obferve, that when they are perfecuted, they ſhould
flee; this is exprefly contrary to the ſcriptures afore-mentioned, which fhew
that Chriſtians are not generally to flee, but to ftand in the ſervice and
work to which they are called; bearing witnefs not only by believing and
publiſhing, but also by fuffering for the teftimony of the truth. They are
Chriſt's foldiers, and their duty is to ftand in the battle, and bear all the
fhot and perfecutions of the enemy: if God call them off to any other
fervice, that is a fufficient warrant for them; but flying upon other terms
may prove a great difhonour to their Mafter, and to his caufe and truth,
and may be the occafion of a great lofs to their fpirits, who are fo tempted
to flee. Neither is this bearing the brunt of perfecutions, and ſtanding in
God's work and fervice (notwithſtanding them all, even unto death) any
tempting of God, but an obedient taking up of the crofs according to his
will and command. And whereas you plead that reafon requires it; what
kind of reafon is it which bids avoid the crofs of Chrift, and flee for fafety?
And what kind of fpirit is that, which preacheth this doctrine; laying it
down as a general rule, for Chriftians to flee when they are perfecuted?
Is it not that ſpirit which would fain be at eafe in the flesh, infomuch as it-
felf will rather perfecute, than be diſturbed in its flefhly liberty, though
it is very unwilling to bear the reproach of being accounted a perfecutor?
Ah! how did the Jews cry out against their fathers for killing the pro-
phets, and verily thought if they had lived in their days, they fhould by
no means have done it: and yet the fame ſpirit was in them, though they
faw it not, but thought themſelves far from it. That which blinded them
was a wrong knowledge of the fcriptures, and a great zeal and devotion
about their temple, worſhip, and ordinances, without a fenfible feeling of
the guidance of God's Spirit. The fame fpirit that deceived them, layeth.
the fame fnare in thefe days, and men fwallow it as greedily, and with as
great confidence as they did; the zealous profeffors of religion, for the ge--
nerality, ftill becoming perfecutors of the prefent appearance of truth, not.
knowing what they do.
Thus in the fear of the Lord God, and in love to your fouls with a
meek and gentle ſpirit (not being offended at what ye have done, but look-
ing over it to the Lord, who bringeth glory to his name, and advantage to
his
288
An Examination of
his truth, by the fufferings and death of his faints) have I answered your
grounds and confiderations; and in the fame fear, love, and meeknefs,
have I fome things further to propofe to your confiderations, which are of
great concernment to you, and deferve to be weighed by an equal hand in
the equal ballance, without prejudice or partiality.
1. Confider meekly and humbly, whether the fcripture be the rule of
the children of the new covenant? For if the fcripture was not intended by
God for the rule, and ye take it to be the rule, then ye may eaſily miſtake
the way to eternal life, and alfo err in your underſtanding and ufe of the
fcriptures; making fuch an ufe of them as they were never intended for,!
and fo miffing of the true ufe and intent of them.
'Now that the fcripture was not intended, nor given forth by God to be
the rule of the children of the new covenant; befides our faithful teftimony
from the fight of the thing in the true eternal light, weigh our arguments
from the fcripture; many are mentioned in our writings; confider at pre-
fent of theſe three.
1. The fcripture is an outward rule or law; but the fcripture faith, the
law of the new covenant fhall be an inward law. It is written in the pro-
phets, that all the children of the new covenant, or new Jerufalem, fhall be
taught of the Lord, Ifa. liv. 13. who teacheth them inwardly by his Spirit,
and writeth his law in their hearts, Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. and after this man-
ner did the Lord take his people into covenant with himſelf, and teach
them in the apoftles days, 2 John ii. 27. The covenant is inward, the
teacher inward, the writing inward, the law inward: and there it is to be
read, learned, and known, where the Spirit teacheth and writeth it.
2. Scripture (or the writings of Moles and the prophets) was not the
law of the children of the new covenant (as fuch), not in the time of the
old covenant. The law of Mofes was the rule of their outward ſtate, it
was the rule of the outward Ifrael, but not the rule of the inward Ifrael;
no not then in thoſe days.
. In Deut. xxix. 1. Mofes makes a covenant with Ifrael by exprefs com-
mand from God, befides the former covenant which he made with them in
Horeb. And he faith, the commandment of this covenant is not to be
looked for where the other was written, but in another place, in a place
nearer to them; even in their mouth and in their heart; there they were to
read, hear, and receive the commandment of this covenant. For this com-
mandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is
it far off, Deut. xxx. II. it is not in heaven, ver. 12. neither is it beyond
the fea, ver. 13. but the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy
heart, that thou mayst do it, ver. 14. and this was the way of life then, ver.
15. See (faith Mofes) I have fet before thee this day life and good, and death
and evil. Here thy eternal happineſs depends; obey this word and live; dif-
obey it and die. And if they had kept to this word, they would alſo have
walked in obedience to the law; but neglecting this, they could never keep
the
the Grounds or Cauſes, &c.
289
the law, but ftill came under the curfe of it, and miffed of the bleflings.
They thought to pleaſe God with facrifices, and oil, and incenfe, and ob-
ferving new moons and fabbaths, wherein the Lord ftill rejected them, for
want of their obedience to this word: and the prophets ftill guide them to
this word, bidding them Circumcife their hearts, which alone can be done by
this water. Yea, after much conteft between the Lord and them, when
they feemed very defirous to pleaſe the Lord with what he fhould require,
whether burnt-offerings, calves, rams, or oil, in great plenty; the prophet
lays by all that, and points them to the obedience of this word, as the way
to pleaſe God, and as the only thing that he required of them: He bath
fhewed thee, O man! what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah.
vi. 8. All this is written in thy heart, O man; read there, obey that word,
that is the thing that God requires. So David's law was the word written
in his heart; he faw through facrifices and burnt-offerings, to the inward
writing, and this made him wifer than all his teachers, who were bufied
about the outward. The outward law was but a fhadow of good things to
come, it made nothing perfect; but David knew a perfect law, The law of
the Lord is perfect, converting the foul, Pfal. xix. 7.
3. The fcriptures of the New-Teftament never call themſelves the rule,
but they call another thing the rule; they call the writings of God's Spirit,
in the hearts of his people, the laws of the new covenant, Heb. viii. 10.
They call Chrift the Way, the Truth, the Life, John xiv. 6. (The Way
is the rule, the Truth is the rule, the Life is the rule) They call the new
creature the rule; walking according to which, the peace and mercy is re-
ceived and enjoyed, Gal. vi. 16. They refer to the comforter, as the guide
into all truth, John xvi. 13. yea, as the compafs of all truth, wherein the
believer is to have his whole life and courfe, Gal. v. 25. Live in the
Spirit, walk in the Spirit, follow the Spirit; keep within that compafs, and
ye cannot err. A man may err in underſtanding and interpreting of fcrip-
tures; but he that hath received the Spirit, knoweth the Spirit, followeth
the Spirit, keepeth to the Spirit; fo far as he doth fo, he cannot poffibly
err.
So faith John, writing concerning feducers, warning againſt them,
1 John ii. 26. Ye have received an anointing, which teacheth you of all things.
Keep to the teachings of that in every thing, and ye are fafe. But may we
not be deceived? Nay, the anointing keeps from all the deceit in the heart,
and from all the deceits of feducers? It is truth, and no lie, ver. 27. and
it leads into all truth, and out of every lie; and this will teach you to abide
in him. In whom? In the word which was from the beginning, which is
ingrafted into the heart of every believer, and into which the heart of
every believer is ingrafted; and fo he truly is in the vine, and the fap of
the vine runs up into him, which makes him fruitful to God; he abiding
in the word which he hath heard from the beginning, and the word which
was from the beginning abiding in him, ver. 24. And the apoſtle Paul
VOL. I.
faith
Oo
290
An Examination of
faith exprefly, that the righteouſneſs of faith cometh by the hearing of this
word, making the fame word the rule to the children of the new covenant
now, as Mofes faid was the commandment of God to them, quoting this
place of Mofes for it, Rom. x. 6, &c. So that Paul, indeed, taught no-
thing but Mofes and the prophets; pointing to the very fame word and com-
mandment of eternal life, as Mofes had done. This is the word of faith
which we preach; that word which Mofes taught, which he faid was nigh
in the heart and in the mouth (no man need aſcend up to heaven, or go
down to the deep, or feek any-where elſe for it) that is the very thing we
point you to; that is the word of faith, that is the commandment of life..
And with what zeal would Paul (were he now alive in the body) declare
againſt ſuch, who fhould overlook or deny this word, and fet up his writing,
with the writings of the reft of the apoftles, for a rule inſtead thereof? Yea
I could fhew yet further, how the Spirit of prophecy, or teftimony of Je-
fus, or living appearance of God in the heart, hath been a rule to the wit-
neffes againſt antichrift's deceit, all along the night of apoftafy, Rev. xi. 3.
-xix. 10. though they themſelves, being in the night, diftinctly knew not
what was their rule; but by a fecret breath of life were quickened, guided,
preſerved, and in it accepted: but theſe things will open of themſelves, as.
the mift is expelled, and the veil rent which hath overfpread all nations,
and covered profeffors generally in this night of antichriftian darkneſs, and
univerfal apoftafy from the living power.
A
2. Confider whether the fcripture be your rule or no? That is, whether
in ſingleneſs of heart ye wait on the Lord, to open the fcriptures by his
Spirit, and to keep out your carnal reaſon from thence (which cannot un-
derſtand them, but will be wrefting them, and making them fpeak as it
would have them); or whether ye take fcope to fearch into them with that
part, which ever was fhut out from the right knowledge of them. The
natural man understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of
the Lord alone underſtandeth the meaning of his own words, and he alone
gives the underſtanding of them, which he gives not to the wiſe ſearcher
and diſputer (nor to the prudent profeffor, Matt. xi. 25.) but to the babe
which he begets, to which he gives the kingdom, and opens the words
which the fcripture fpeaks concerning the kingdom. The wisdom of the
flesh is enmity against God; and if that fearch into the fcriptures, it will gather
only a knowledge fuitable to its enmity. Thus the Jews were great ene-
mies, and ſtrong enemies, by the knowledge which they had gathered out
of the ſcriptures written to them; and the ſame ſpirit hath alſo wound it-
felf into the ſcriptures written fince: and as then that ſpirit fought againſt
Chriſt and his apoftles, with thofe very fcriptures which the Spirit of Chrift
had formerly written; fo the fame fpirit fights now againſt the lambs of
Chrift, with the fcriptures which were written fince. Yea, the great ftrong-
hold of antichrift at this day, is fcripture interpreted by the fleſhly wiſdom:
for antichriſt comes not in a direct denial of Chrift or ſcriptures (he is too
cunning
the Grounds or Cauſes, &c.
291
cunning to be found there), but bends them afide by the fleshly wiſdom
to ſerve the fleſhly will, and thus undermines the Spirit, and exalts the fleſh,
by a fleſhly underſtanding and interpretation of thofe very fcriptures which
were writen by the Spirit againſt the flesh. And through this miſtake it is
that fome innocently cry up things practifed at the firft fpringing up of
truth, not ſeeing of what nature they were, and upon what account they
were done, and what of them were caft off by the fame Spirit which before
had led to the uſe of them, though fcripture exprefly teftifieth thereof. For,
Rev. xi. 1, 2. there was the meaſuring of the building which God's own
Spirit had built, part whereof was reſerved for God, part given to the Gen-
tiles, or uncircumciſed in heart, who are now the Gentiles, fince the break-
ing down of the former diftinction betwixt Jew and Gentile. That which
God referved for himſelf was, the altar, the temple, the worshippers therein;
all theſe are inward. The outward court was given to the Gentiles, to thoſe
who would be worshippers under the goſpel, and yet had not the circum-
cifion of the gofpel; to them the court which is without the temple is
given; and this they get and cry up, and tread under foot the holy city,
trampling upon the inward, and undervaluing it. Chriſt within, the Spirit
within, the law within, the power within, becomes a reproach; and this
they have power to do, even to keep down the inward, and cry up the out-
ward, all the time of the forty-two months; and to perfecute and flay the
witneffes whom God raiſed up to teſtify for the inward, and againſt the out-
ward (as it is now in the Gentiles hands, and made uſe of by them to
keep down the inward); and fo the building being thus taken down, the
church flies out of it into the wilderneſs, where fhe had a place prepared of
God for her, Rev. xii. 6. Mark: fhe is not where the was before; that
building was meaſured, taken down, and difpofed of by God: but the hath
been, and is all the time of the forty-two months, or twelve hundred and
fixty days, in another place, prepared by the Spirit of God for her, whither
fhe fled, and where fhe was nouriſhed from the face of the ferpent, who
was feeking after her, and making war with the remnant of her feed,
ver. 14, &c. And they that feek for her now in her former building, will
mifs of her, and may meet with another woman, which (in feveral appear-
ances and difguifes, and practifing of ordinances appertaining to the out-
ward court), blafphemes the holy city, the true temple, altar, and wor-
fhippers. Happy is he that can read this; for it is the myſtery of this
book, fealed from all the Gentiles and worshippers in the outward court.
Many forts cry up the fcriptures for their rule; but which of them is
taught by the Spirit to keep the carnal part out of the fcriptures? Which
of them keeps out their own will and underſtanding, receiving their know-
ledge of fcriptures from that Spirit which wrote them? Do not men rather
gather a knowledge in the fleſh, and then grow ftrong, and wife, and able
to difpute, and confident in their own way, and become fierce deſpiſers of
thoſe who cannot own their interpretation of thefe fcriptures? And thus
002
the
292
An Examination of
the mind of God, the true meaning of the fcriptures, is not their rule
but an image which they have formed out of it; a meaning which their
wit hath ſtrongly imagined and fenced with arguments, and the real mind
and intent of the Spirit is hid from them. So by this means many
both
deceive their own fouls, and help to deceive the fouls of others, miffing of
the plainnefs and fimplicity of the Spirit, and gathering fenfes in the wit and
fubtilty of the fleſhly part, where the ſerpentine wiſdom lodgeth, and twines
about the tree of knowledge. Now what do theſe men do? Whom do
they ferve? And whither do they run themſelves, and lead many other
poor fouls, whom they pretend to be helpful to fave?
(
3. Confider whether ye did not flee from the crofs, in your tranfplanting
into New-England, and ſo let up that part in you there, which ſhould have
been kept down by the cross here, and gave advantage to that ſpirit to get
ground in you which you outwardly fled from? The fafety is in ftanding in
God's counfel, in bearing the crofs, in fuffering for the teftimony of his
truth; but if at any time there be a fleeing of the croſs (whether the in-
ward or the outward) without God's direction, the evil fpirit is thereby let
in, his part ftrengthened, and the life weakened. That ſpirit which would
fave itſelf from the crofs, is the fame with that which would perfecute that
which will not fave itſelf. Mark how ſharply Chriſt ſpeaks to Peter upon
this account, when he would have tempted him to avoid the croſs: Get
thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me: for thou favoureſt not the
things of God, &c. Mat. xvi. 23. The feed offers up all to God in his fer-
vice, will fuffer any thing for his name's fake, even the loſs of liberty, goods,
yea, life itſelf, for the teftimony to the leaſt truth. Now that which fays to
the feed, when fufferings come for the teftimony of truth, avoid it, fave thy-
felf, let not this be unto thee, or the like, that is Satan: and if Satan be not
caft behind, but that counſel hearkened unto which leadeth from the croſs,
Satan is followed. And if
And if ye fled your proper croſs, in your removal from
hence unto New-England, though ye meet with many others there, yet
hereby ye loft your proper advantage of ferving and honouring God in your
generation; yea, ye loft that which would have kept your fpirits tender,
and open to the voice of God's Spirit; and then no marvel if afterwards ye
grew hard, and fit to perfecute, who firft had fhewed yourſelves unfit and
unworthy to fuffer. Ye might meet with many croffes afterwards, which
might neither be able to humble you, nor keep you tender, having once
loft that croſs which was appointed of God to do it: for all croffes do not
break, humble, or keep the heart low and meek; but ſuch as are ſent and
fanctified by God thereunto.
4. Confider, when ye came to New-England, whether tenderneſs grew
up in you, and was abundantly exerciſed towards fuch as might differ from
you; or whether ye were as eager for the way that ye thought to be the
right, as the Conformifts you fled from were for the way they thought to
be right? When Ifrael came out of Egypt into their own land, they were
tq
the Grounds or Cauſes, &c.
293
4
to be tender even towards an Egyptian, much more toward their own bre-
thren. Now when ye were out of danger of being perfecuted yourſelves,
did ye lay a foundation of tender ufage towards all that fhould differ from
you; or did you lay a foundation of perfecuting fuch as differ, and would
fuffer none differing from you, but perfecute them, juſt as the biſhops per-
fecuted you? Did ye flee the having of yourſelves perfecuted; or did ye
flee the perfecuting fpirit? For if ye did flee only your own perfecutions,
and not the perfecuting ſpirit in yourſelves, no marvel though it fell a per-
fecuting fo foon as the fear of your own perfecution was over. In this fleſhly
part there is a perfecuting ſpirit, which if it be not kept down by the
power of God, though it loves not to be perfecuted, yet will foon be per-
fecuting.
5. Did you feel yourſelves grow in the inward life, upon coming into
New-England; or did that begin to flag and wither, and your growth
chiefly confiſt in form and outward order, in which ye might eaſily be mif-
taken too? For many who have given a true teftimony, and have been faith-
ful in helping to pull down, yet have erred when they came to build up.
That ſpirit which is kept low by perfecution, and gives forth its teftimony
againft things in fear and trembling, is many times exalted when it is out
of perfecution; and can weigh, debate, confider, and refolve things in that
part which cannot build for God. Ephraim, under the rod, fpake trem-
bling; but the rod being off, he could exalt his own wiſdom, and offend
in Baal. That worſhip and way of government and order which a man
takes up in the fleſhly reaſon, and which falls in with the worldly intereft, he
ferves not the true God in, but Baal. This it is that deſtroys and eats out the
life of religion in many; namely, the mixing of it with their worldly inte-
reft: for then the offence of the croſs ceaſes to them, and they begin to be
offended at others on whom the croſs is ſtill laid by God, thinking that they
may comply with them in joining their religion and worldly intereft toge-
ther, and fo avoid the croſs as well as they. Nay, he that will follow
Chriſt, muſt take up the daily crofs, even that crofs which God daily lays
upon him, who will ſtill be requiring fomewhat which is contrary to his
own fleſhly part, and contrary to the fleſhly part of thoſe with whom he
converſes. And as this croſs is taken up, the wordly part is offended, and
the life grows, cutting down worldly interefts and ways of religion daily;
but as worldly interefts are followed and kept up, the fleſhly part thrives,
and the life decays and fuffers, even till at length it come under death, and
then death hath the dominion.
6. Confider whether your chief ftrength of fetting up your church-
government and order at firft, and of bringing perfons into it, and of pre-
ferving them in it, lie in the Spirit and ſpiritual weapons, or in the fleſh
and carnal weapons. If in the Spirit and ſpiritual weapons, then ye will
be able, in God, to perfuade mens confciences to it, and to preſerve them
by the fame virtue and ſtrength which perfuaded them; and this ye will ftill
have
¡
294
An Examination of
have the main recourſe to: but if in carnal, then ye will have recourſe to
the carnal; and there will be your main confidence of keeping up your
church. For if it was built by that power, it. muft be upheld by that
power; fo that take that away, it falls. This is antichrift's ftrength; he
fets up a form in the wiſdom, and maintains it by the outward fword. Take
him off from this, and put him to gaining ground by the demonſtration
of the Spirit to mens confciences as in the fight of God, or to preferving his
ground fo, here he is at a loſs, and his kingdom daily falls, even in the
moft refined parts of it. Let every church and people that nameth the
name of Chrift depart from the ways of antichrift, and make the Spirit of
Chrift their ftrength: for that is indeed the only ftrength of the true re-
ligion, both of the inward and outward part thereof; in that it begins, by
that it is preſerved, and there alfo it grows, and is perfected.
7. Confider (for it lies upon me to prefs it yet farther, and lay it more
home to you for your good) whether the perfecuting ſpirit did not take its
advantage of affaulting you, upon your getting from under the croſs here, into
New-England; and whether it did not foon find a place in you there, and
grow up in you, and bring you from ſtep to ſtep to that degree of hard-
nefs, that ye could at length even drink the blood of the faints?
That it was then the proper time for the perfecuting fpirit to feek to
get an entrance into you, is very manifeft; but whether it did get en-
trance or no, that belongs to you narrowly to fearch and examine. When
ye were under the hatches, while ye yourſelves were perfecuted, then there
was little room for that ſpirit in you; then was not a proper time for
your entertaining of it: but when ye were at liberty to chufe a way and
form of worſhip, then was a proper time for this temptation to prevail with
you, of fetting up your own way, as the chief or only way; and, under a
pretence of zeal for God, to perfecute the breakings forth of his light in
others. For it could not be expected that that ſpirit fhould directly tempt
you (who had fuffered fo much by perfecution) fuddenly to become perfe-
cutors of others; but to hide its bait under a cover; and, under a pre-
tence of zeal for God, his truths, and way of worſhip, to blind your eyes,
and draw you aſide into that which is indeed perfecution of it. Sin is very
deceitful, and feeks covers; and of all fins perfecution has the moſt need
of covers, it is of fo contrary a nature to the tender fpirit of the gospel.
Now when fin hath got its cover, then by degrees it hardens the heart,
both from and againſt the truth. Take heed, &c. faith the apoftle, left any
of you be hardened through the deceitfulneſs of fin, Heb. iii. 12, 13. And
And per-
ſecution moſt hardens of any fin. How cruel, how bloody doth it make!
it even unmans men. Prifons, whips, cutting off of ears, banishment,
death, all is little enough, if not too little. And what reviling doth it fill
mens pens and tongues with, making them fo hot and paffionate, that they
cannot equally confider the caufe; but miſunderſtand it, mifrepreſent it,
and ſtrive to make it appear another thing, both to themſelves and others,
•
than
:
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
295
"
than indeed in plain truth it is. Look over your writings, confider your
cauſe again in a more meek and upright fpirit, and ye yourſelves will eafily
fee how in your heat ye have miſtaken, and dealt more injuriouſly with.
others, than ye yourſelves were ever dealt with.
There is a time of righteous judgment, wherein the moſt inward covers
ſhall be ripped off, and the finner appear what he is; and then the perſe-
cutor fhall bear that ſhame, that burden, that mifery, which is the portion
of that fpirit. It is but a fmall advantage to it to cover its iniquity for a
little moment. If ye could make all the world believe that ye are not per-
fecutors, what would this profit you, if in the day of the Lord ye fhould be
found fuch? But having proceeded thus far, it is hard for you to confider
and retreat. That fpirit hath too great advantage over you, to make you
accept of any cover it can now offer you to hide yourſelves under. Óh!
that ye could ſee how ye have wreſted ſcriptures, and what ſtrange kind of
arguments ye have formed, to make that which ye have done paſs with
your own hearts, and to make it appear fomewhat plaufible to others.
Yet all this will not do; the eye of the Lord fees through you; and that
light which ye reproach, makes you manifeft to be at preſent in fubjection
under the bloody dark power, who will hold you as long as he can, and
furniſh you with fuch weapons as he has, againſt the Lamb and his fol-
lowers.. But ye come forth to the battle in a bad day: for the light is ariſen
to conquer, and is not now to be overcome with the darkneſs. And though
ye meet the woman and her feed with a flood of reproaches and perfecu-
tions, yet that will not ftop her from coming forth out of the wilderneſs to
fhew her beauty and innocency again in the earth. Confider theſe things,
and come out of this hard fpirit into tenderneſs (if it be poffible), that the
ftill, meek, gentle Spirit of life may be your leader from under all falſe
covers into the truth itſelf; where there is a gentle lying down with all
that is of God, and not fo much as an offence becauſe of
any difference
(much leſs heart-burnings and perfecutions); but a fweet waiting on the
Lord for every one's growth in their feveral ranks and ftations.
}
¡
;
Since
296
An Examination of
"
Since my waiting on the LORD for the Prefence and
Guidance of his Spirit, in the examining the forego-
ing Grounds and Confiderations, there came forth an
Appendix to JOHN NORTON'S Book, wherein are laid
down fome further Grounds by way of juftifying of
their Proceedings; which, for their fakes, and like-
wife on the Behalf of the Truth and People of GOD,
I may alſo ſay ſomewhat to.
*.TH
1.THEY infinuate an argument concerning the not fuffering of evil,
which (they fay) is common to all that fear God, with themselves.
Anfw. Evil is to be refifted; but in God's way, according to God's will,
and not according to the will of the flesh. Spiritual evils are to be refifted
(by and in the faith) with fpiritual weapons, which God hath appointed and
fanctified thereto. Earthly evils, outward evils, tranfgreffions of the juſt
law of the magiftrate, are to be refifted by the fword of the magiſtrate.
Here are the bounds which God hath fet; which he that tranfgreffeth finneth
againſt the Lord and his own foul. But the believer is not to ſtep out of
God's way to refift the magiftrate's evil, nor the magiftrate to ftep out of
God's way to refift fpiritual evil; but both are to wait on the Lord for his
bleffing on the means he hath appointed; and it is better for each of them
not to refift evil, but let it grow upon them till the Lord pleaſe to appear
againſt it, than to overcome it by an unrighteous weapon. Wo to them that
go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horfes, and truft in chariots, Ifa. xxxi. 1.
2. A fecond argument is taken from the fole cause of their tranfplanting,
which they fay was to enjoy liberty, to walk peaceably in the faith of the gospel,
according to the order of the gospel.
Anfw. That there was an honeft intent in many of them in tranſplanting
into New-England, I do not doubt; though whether they had a fufficient
warrant from God to tranſplant, was doubted, and objected againſt them by
many of their confcientious fellow-fufferers here in Old-England, who teſti-
fied to them that they did believe it to be their duty not to fly, but ſtay and
bear their teftimony for God and his truth by fuffering: and this had been a
better way of refifting that which was manifeftly evil, than of refifting by
the fword that for evil, which in due time they themſelves may fee and ac-
knowledge not to have been fo. But if they did truly defire liberty, did
not the enemy tempt them to be ſelfiſh, to ſeek it fo far as might com-
priſe
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
297
priſe themſelves, excluding fuch as might differ from them, upon as juſt
grounds as they themselves differed from others? Did not they fet bounds to
the truth, and bounds to the Spirit of God, that thus far it ſhould appear,
and no farther? Whereas God hath degrees of diſcovering and leading out
of the antichriftian darkneſs: and he that oppofeth the next diſcovery of
truth, the next ſtep out of Babylon, is as real an enemy and perfecutor, as
he that oppoſed the foregoing. In that they teftified againſt the bishops,
they did well; but if they will now fet up a ftand, either to themſelves or
others, and not follow the leadings of the Lamb, their life may be withered,
and they may perifh in the wilderneſs, while others are following the guide
which they left (when they ſet up their ſtand) towards Canaan.
And as for walking peaceably; that they might be free from the fear of
outward powers, having liberty to try whatever pretends to be of God;
and if it appear error, be out of danger of having their confciences forced;
this is a great mercy. But if they would live fo peaceably as that no difco-
very of God further fhould ever ſtart up among them, nor the Lord himſelf
be fuffered to fend any of his fervants with any further diſcovery of light
unto them, this is not a peace which God allows to any man, nor which his
people defire; but only the carnal part, which loves to be at eaſe, and not to
be at the pains of trial in the fear of the Lord, of what comes forth in his
name. And who walk thus, walk not in the faith, nor in the order of
the gospel, which doth not fuddenly reject any thing, but firſt thoroughly
tries both doctrines and fpirits, whether they be of God or no.
He that
rejects that which is of God, cannot thrive or profper in his Spirit; and he
that tries in the haſtineſs of the fleſh, and not in the patience or meeknefs
of the Spirit, is in great danger of rejecting whatever of God appears.
But can they not enjoy their own liberty, and walk in the goſpel, and
manage the fword of the Spirit againſt errors and ſpiritual enemies (according
to the order of the gofpel), which is mighty through God to cut down the
fleſh, unleſs they get the magiftrate's fword to cut down every appearance
of truth (and every perſon holding forth any truth) but what they themſelves
fhall own? Cannot the Spirit of God lead into further truth than they were
led into when they went into New-England? And may not the Lord take
his own time to diſcover it to them, and to lead them into it? So that
when firſt it appears, it may be hid from them: and will nothing ferve them
but the magiftrate's fword to cut it down fo foon as ever it appears? Did
not the bishops of England think theirs to be the gofpel-order, and cried
againſt the Non-conformifts that they could not live peaceably for them,
but they diſturbed the order of the church, and drew mens minds from
matters of faith and edification? Surely the defire of fuch a kind of peace
(as may ftop the breaking-forth of light to the people of God for their fur-
ther leading out of Babylon) is not good. This is rather a fleſhly eaſe,
than true peace, which the Lord hath not allotted to his people; but they
are to wait for the pouring down of his Spirit, and the opening of the deep
VOL. I.
myfteries
F P
<
298
An Examination of
myfteries of his life in the latter days, and to try what comes forth in his
name, whether it be of him or no, that they may not loſe the good as it
breaks forth, nor be deceived with the evil, as it gets into and appears in
the ſhape and likeness of the good.
Now the drift of the argument lics in this, that this liberty they cannot
enjoy without a non-toleration of others. Toleration of any but themfelves,
and their own way, difturbs their peace, their faith, their order.
Anfw. The true liberty, the true faith, the true order of the gospel,
was enjoyed formerly, without this power of fuppreffing others by carnal
weapons, and violent laws. Yea, this power of fuppreffing others, and of
compelling to a way of religion and worship, came up with antichrift; and
that power which came up with antichrift, is not of Chrift. The dragon
gave his power to the beast, Rev. xiii. 4. and another beaſt riſeth up with
borns like a lamb, ver. 11. and this beaft compelleth, ver. 12. Mark: the
beaſt which appeared with horns like a lamb, as if it had Chrift's power,
and maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the fight of
men (and who can deny theſe to be of God, that can do fuch things!)
this very beaſt compelleth, or caufeth to worſhip, as ver. 12. So this
beaft, which appears like a lamb, joins with the firſt beaſt whom it had ſet
up under another appearance, and both compel to the worshipping of an
image of the truth (of fuch an image of the truth as they think good to
advance), and feduce from the truth itſelf. And he that will not be deceived
with their image, with their likeneſs, with that which they call the truth
and way of God, or order of the gofpel, and fo fhall refufe to bow thereto,
he fhall not be permitted either to buy or fell, ver. 16, 17. There is no
living as men within their bounds, unless they will bow to their image.
But the true Lamb doth not compel, but calls to wait on the Father's
drawings, till the Father by his Spirit make willing. And though by the
Lamb kings reign, and princes decree justice, Prov. viii. 15.; yet they never
had any commiffion from him to force men to that way of religion and
worfhip, to which the Spirit of the Lord alone can make them willing, nor
to fall upon them becauſe they were unwilling. This is from the dragon,
where-ever it is found.
This then is the great matter of controverfy you account it your liberty
not to tolerate; and here ftands your peace and religion (which was a
liberty the true Chriftians never had), and you cannot with patience bear
any to teſtify againſt you: and fo ye now fall upon any that come to witneſs
againſt you, even as ye yourſelves once fuffered when ye were witneffes. But
how can ye manifeft that God fhall reveal no truth but what he reveals to
you? Or if he do, that ye have liberty not to tolerate it, or the perfons that
hold it forth? Wherefore confider ſeriouſly whether this be a right liberty
ye have aimed at: for if your aim hath been' at a liberty which is not
granted of God, at fuch a liberty as will not ftand with the liberty of his
Spirit in his people, no marvel though ye have run into indirect means to
attain
the Grounds or Causes, &c.
299
1
attain it and fo from ſtep to ſtep have been led to the utmoft degree of
violence and perfecution; and being engaged in it, are now forced to feek
for arguments to maintain it. This argument is further inforced, by pro-
poling the inconfiderableness of the QUAKERS fuffering of a non-toleration,
compared with a manifeft and greatest hazard of toleration unto the country;
their abfence from hence is no detriment to them, their prefence here threatens no
less than the ruin of all to us, &c.
Anfw. As for outward detriment, the QUAKERS do not confider that, in
cafes of this nature; but that in them which is born of God, hearing and
receiving his command, preſently obeys, waiting for his prefence and power
to carry through, and doth not at all mind the hardships to be met with.
But the inward detriment, arifing from difobedience to God, is very great;
even the lofs of his fweet prefence, life, and power at prefent, befides the
utter hazard of the foul: for that which draweth back from obedience to the
Spirit of the Lord, the Lord hath no pleaſure in: and they have known
the terrors of the Lord to the difobedient; therefore they may not pleaſe
men in forbearing to go where he fends them; nor (ftanding in his coun-
fel and power) do they fear them which can kill the body; but they ex-
ceedingly dread the death and lofs of their fouls, and him who hath the
power thereof.
And as for their prefence threatening the ruin of all to you, that is but a
miſapprehenfion. It may indeed be ruin to that part in you which is wife
and ſtrong, without the prefence of the life of God; but the elect, which is
built upon the rock, cannot be ruined by any appearance of God; nay, nor
by any appearance of the powers of darkneſs againſt God; for the gates of
hell cannot prevail against the true church. And there is great advantage of
errors and herefies to the true church; for the life grows and gets ground
by a fair trial and overcoming of them, and the approved are thereby
made manifeft, 1 Cor. xi. 19. Now what kind of church is yours, which
is in fuch danger of being ruined by that whereby the true church was ad-
vantaged? So that to plead that either you muft fuffer your religion, your
fouls, your liberties to be made a prey of, or take this courfe to defend them,
is very inconfequent; and a ſtrong argument againſt you that yours is not
the truth, which needs fuch a defence as the truth hath not been uſed to
have; but hath grown up, been preferved, and thriven not only without
it, but againſt the ftrength and force of it. So likewiſe thoſe confidera-
tions of the shepherd's defending the flock from the wolves, and of the keeper of
the vineyard's maintaining the hedge against the wild beafis, &c. are not proper
to the thing in hand: for the fpiritual fheep, the foul, the liberty of the
church, the true religion, the true vineyard, are not outward, nor to be
defended after an outward manner; but the defence is according to the
nature of the thing which is to be defended. To truft or look after an
outward power for defending thefe, is to betray the faith, which is the
fhield. Therefore let them confider whether, in looking out too much at
thefe,
P p 2
300
An Examination of
+
theſe, they have not loft the true weapon, and the fight of the true thing
which is to be defended, which the arm of the Lord alone gathers, and
the arm of the Lord alone preferves.
This argument is yet farther preffed from the prefent ftate of your own
people, too many of them being perilously difpofed (as ye fay) to receive their
doctrine, being already too much difaffected, if not enemies to order, &c.
1
Anfw. Alas! alas! have you had your order, your church-government
fo long up, and are the multitude among you yet ſo ready to be fhaken?
Behold what a weak unſtable ſettlement ye have attained to all this time by
your outward force! But fearch honeftly, and fee who they are that are
fo ready to be fhaken. Are they the difcontented and unconscionable multi-
tude (as ye ſpeak): or are they the moft fimple-hearted, moft confcientious,
and zealous towards God amongft you? (For it is experienced here in Old-
England, that the ground they gain is not upon the unconscionable, but the
confcientious). If it be thefe that are fomewhat touched with the fenfe of
their doctrine, it may make you fear that there is more of God therein
than you are aware of. Therefore do not proceed to argue thus violently
against a thing, before ye have tried it: but come to a deep, ferious, in-
ward confideration of the thing between God and your own fouls: not in the
pride, loftinefs, and felf-willedneſs; but in the honefty, humility, and meek-
nefs of your fpirits: and then perhaps ye may fee beauty, and the life of
your fouls, in that which ye now fo revile and perfecute. And though ye
matter not how ye imagine and ſpeak all manner of evil falfely against us,
yet do not alſo wrong the best among yourſelves, by terming them difcon-
tented and unconscionable, becauſe their fpirits are not hardened by your
form; but yet retain fome tenderness towards God, his truths, and people.
But why do ye charge following the light within fo deeply as to be a
giving up of mens felves to their own inclinations, and that it immediately ca-
nonizeth them for faints, diſchargeth them from ſubjection, both civil and facred,
and from the fcriptures as the rule of life; and by virtue of this their faintſhip,
intitles to the eſtates and dignities of all who are not of their minds, &c.
Anfw. Surely if ye were guided by the light within, ye would be pre-
ferved from fuch kind of injuriouſneſs both to perfons and principles. Are
your tongues and pens your own, at liberty to ſpeak and write any thing
that will make for your advantage, how manifeftly falſe foever? If it were
but a natural light, yet, being of God, it would not deſerve this deep
blame. Have ye ever tried it, as we have done? If not, why do ye yet
ſpeak ſo againſt it, before ye have tried it? We can upon much experience
teſtify, that it is againſt our inclinations; that it diſcovers them, calls from
them, and is a daily crofs to them; upon following whereof we feel the
bitter dying of the earthly part, and the inclinations thereof pining away.
And from true fubjection to that which truly is of God, it never diſcharges;
but leads to obedience to what is lawfully commanded by authority, and
to patient ſuffering under what is unlawfully inflicted. And as for the fcrip-
tures,
1
i
the Grounds or Caules, &c.
301
tures, it opens them in the life which gave them forth; it fulfils them in
us; it makes them our own; it makes us able to fet our feal to the truth
of them in the fight of God; and to receive that for the rule which the fcrip-
tures ſay is the rule, the living word, Chrift the living way, the word in the
mouth and in the heart, Rom. x. the law in the mind, the law of the Spirit of
life in Chrift Jefus, which is the word ingrafted into their hearts, who are
created a-new in Chrift. And this is the honour which we give to the fcrip-
tures, namely, to receive that which they teftify of; to live and walk in
that Spirit which they call to us to live and walk in: to take heed of paint-
ing the old nature, and letting the old ſpirit live upon its imaginations,
which it gathers out of the fcriptures, reading them in the oldneſs of the
letter, and not in the newneſs of the Spirit. And we profefs nakedly that
we believe the truth of God, not merely becauſe the ſcripture hath ſaid it
(for that which is out of the truth may thus believe); but alſo becauſe, in
coming to the thing, and receiving the truth as it is in Jefus, we have found
it to be juſt as the fcriptures fpeak of it.. But what do ye fpeak as if follow-
ing the light did intitle men to the eftates and dignities of all who are not of
their mind? Nay, the light teacheth not to covet, not to defire, earthly
dignities or eftates. Let it be looked at over Old-England: which of us
fo much as mind theſe things? Nay, the Lord knows that the love of theſe
things is daily rooted out of our hearts more and more, and we are a peo-
ple whom the world cannot charge with covetouſneſs, or love of the world,
wherewith all forts of profeffors hitherto have been too juftly chargeable.
O rulers of New-England! why do you thus overturn the caufe of the inno-
cent? If we were a bad people, yet to lay things fo notoriouſly falfe to our
charge, and to charge that principle in us with it, which powerfully leads
us from it, this is not right nor juftifiable in the fight of God, Ah! take
heed of reviling, perfecuting, and fpeaking all manner of evil againſt us
falfely, for his name's fake whom we are called to ferve, and whom we do
ſerve in following and obeying the light of his Spirit in us, which hath led
us to the true knowledge of God, and to life and peace with him.
About the cloſe of this argument, for the further ftrengthening of it, it
is ſaid, duty is not oppofite to duty: paſſiveneſs for the truth, and activeneſs againſt
the enemies of truth, are both duties in their feafon.
Anfw. Every kind of activeneſs againſt the enemies of the truth is not
duty; for fome kind is finful. There is a lawful fighting, and an unlaw-
ful fighting. Such a kind of fighting againſt an enemy as may hurt a
friend, and cannot hurt the enemy, is unlawful. Now the magiftrate's
fword may hurt a friend, may affright the tender confcience from its duty
towards Chrift; but it cannot reach the falfhood which lodgeth in the heart,
nor draw the party from that, but rather hardeneth him in it: fo that it is
not a duty to have the magiftrate's ſword drawn out againſt that for which it
is not proper, where it may do hurt, and not good. The houfholder would
not permit his own fervants to gather up the tares, left they ſhould root up
the
302
An Examination of
the wheat with them, Mat. xiii. 29. Did Chrift deny his difciples that
liberty, and doth he grant it to the magiftrate? Is the magiftrate out of
danger of hurting the wheat, while he is fmiting at the tares? Nay, is he
not in danger of fmiting and rooting up the wheat inftead of the tares?
Surely this is the magiftrate's duty, to keep in his place, and not to extend
his fword beyond his commiffion, and beyond what it is proper for. And
let me put this to all the magiftrates of the earth, who have been drawing
out their fword againſt tares (as they might think); are ye fure that ye never
touched any green thing? Rev. ix. 4. did ye never pluck up any wheat? Ye
muſt give an account of this to Chrift one day. Here in Old-England, in
the biſhops days, they were liable to be excommunicated and weeded out of
the church, and alſo be ſtruck at by the magiftrate: how it hath been in
New-England, I leave it to your confciences to confider of. Do not flubber
it over, but make up a juſt accompt.
What Mofes did, Levit. xxiv. in cafe of blafphemy, he did by immedi-
ate direction from God, ver. 13. and he was a type of Chrift, who inward-
ly and ſpiritually fulfills all his outward fhadows." And Chrift doth not ſay
that every blafphemer under the Goſpel ſhall be put to death, but all blaſ-
phemy or ſpeaking againſt the ſon of man ſhall be forgiven; but there is a
kind of blafphemy which he will not forgive. And the church, by his
Spirit, are to try and deal with blafphemers, even to the cutting of them
off, by the ſword of the Spirit, that they may repent and learn not to blaf-
pheme, 1 Tim. i. 20. but the magiftrate is not now appointed to cut them
off in their blaſphemy, and fo to take away that time of repentance from
them, which Chriſt hath allowed them. Chriſt's ordinances and inſtitu-
tions do not claſh one with another; he doth not bid the church cut off a
perfon from the unity, with the fword of the Spirit, that he might feel the
lofs of life, and be made fenfible of what a condition his blafphemies have
brought him to, and fo come to mourn and repent. I fay Chriſt doth not
do this on the one hand, and on the other hand bid the magiftrate baniſh
him or cut him off with the fword, and fo take away his time of repentance
from him. Nay: this device fprung from the falſe church, to make her
excommunication outwardly terrible and dreadful, which hath no inward
virtue, or cauſe of terror and dread at all in it.
So as touching Nehemiah, he was both extraordinarily ftirred up by God,
and his time was under the law; fo that the argument from his example
is not valid to them, who have not fuch a warrant as he had (for he faith
himſelf, that God had put in his heart what he had to do at Jeruſalem,
Nehem. ii. 12.). and where the ſtate and miniftration is changed. The
prieſts did that under the law, which is not now to be done; but typified
what Chrift the unchangeable prieft was to do; fo likewife the kings, judges,
and governors of that people, did that under the law towards them, which
is not now to be done outwardly towards any, by any king, ruler, or magi-
itrate; but typified what Chrift was inwardly to do in the fpirits of his peo-
ple,
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
303
ple, and how he would gather, preſerve, and defend his church, and wound
and fubdue his enemies, even by his rod and fcepter, which is the fword of
his Spirit, the word of his mouth.
And as for Ephefus and Thyatira's not fuffering falfe apoftles and the
woman Jezabel; we do not ſay that any errors, or erroneous perſons, are to
be fuffered by the church, but to be dealt with in Chrift's power and au-
thority. But the delivering up of theſe to the fecular power, we know. to
have been an invention of antichrift's, and a great diſhonour to Chrift (as
if his rod and fcepter were not fufficient to defend his fubjects and king-
dom, and to beat down his enemies), and alſo a ground of much affliction,
perfecution, and blood-fhed of the faints; yea, and of fuppreffing the truth
of God for a feafon. For the perfecutor having once gotten his cover,
then he can do that openly and boldly, which otherwife he would bluſh and
be aſhamed of. To perfecute Chrift, to put his people to death, and that
for profeffing and publiſhing his truths; God forbid, faith the antichriftian
ſpirit (in every form and way of religion), that we ſhould do this: but in
every age calls the witneffes to the truth (of that age) blafphemers, wicked
perfons, perfons that by their tenets overthrow the fundamental truths of
the Gofpel, and their doctrines deftructive, &c. And now what zealous
people or minifter, or what Chriftian magiftrate, can fuffer fuch as theſe?.
By this artifice the fufferings of the faints come to abound in every age,
and their blood is made havock of: and what is thus done, eaſily paſſeth
as an act of juſtice againſt offenders, and not (as indeed it is) perfecution of
the truths and people of God. The after age can fee what it is, and cry
out againſt it but ftill it is the fubtilty of the perfecuting ſpirit to hide:
the perfecutions of the prefent age, under an appearance of zeal for God,.
and of juftice againſt offenders,
3. In the next place it is faid, on the QUAKERS behalf, that they are the
lambs of Christ..
Indeed this is a confiderable thing; for if they be Chrift's lambs, then:
they are innocent, and cannot be the caufers of their own fufferings; but
that will reft upon the perfecutors, though they uſe ever ſo much art to
make the lambs appear guilty, and themſelves guiltless; their ſpirit, nature,
manner of fighting (which is with lamb-like weapons, which hurt not fleſh
and blood), their whole courfe and converfation, and manner of fuffering,
&c. manifefts them to be lambs; this is of much more force than a bare
faying they are lambs. None of this is mentioned on their behalf, but
only that they fay they are lambs. But let us fee how fairly that is over-
thrown.
Againſt this, that place, John v. 31. is alledged; If I bear witness of
myſelf, my witness is not true: whereupon it is faid thus, Had not Christ been
God, the reafon of the Jews had been good against him:
Anfw. Doth not the Spirit of God dwell in the fons of God? And doth
not the Spirit of God bear witnefs in them that they are his children? And
is
304
An Examination of
is not this witneſs true? John faith, We know that we are of God, 1 John
V. 19. Was not this witnefs true in John, becauſe John was not God?
Was not the prophets teftimony true (that they were his prophets, and that
God had fent them, and that it was his meffage which they brought), be-
cauſe they were not God? Shall the Spirit of God work wonders in the
heart? and fhall he not teftify concerning his own work at his pleaſure?
Ah! friends, how do ye underſtand fcripture, and raife inferences from it,
thus to condemn the generation of the righteous? Search the fcriptures;
Do not the prophets ftill teftify that the Lord fent them, and that it was
his word which they ſpake? though they themſelves were not God, but per-
fons moved by the Spirit of God; who ftirred in his fervants under the
law, but dwelleth, refteth, and abideth in his people under the Goſpel; and
what he teftifieth is true, though fleſhly-wife Ifrael (who feem to themſelves
very ſkilful in the law and letter of the fcriptures) could not receive his tef
timony either then or now. Ah! friends! ye had need take heed and
conſider, left the baſtardly birth in you hath taken up an habitation in the
letter, without knowing the mind of the Spirit, whofe prefence killeth the
carnal part, and ſhutteth out the wisdom of the flesh from meddling with
the fcriptures.
And whereas you feem to refer all to the trial of the fcripture, both ftation,
doctrine, and practice; furely if ye had done fo in truth, ye would have
more patiently heard their teftimony according to the fcriptures. Every
man pretendeth fcripture, but none truly honour it, but they who are
guided by that Spirit which it teftifieth of. And they who are not guided
by that Spirit, walk not according to the fcriptures, but according to rea-
fonings of the fleſhly part, which windeth itſelf into the letter of the fcrip-
tures, that by fome conformity thereto, it may avoid the dint of the Spirit.
And this is the way of antichrift's prevailing, by getting the form, crying
up that, winding his own flefhly fpirit into that, and fheltering itſelf under
that. Thus the Jews cried up the temple of the Lord, the fabbath, the
law of Mofes, and writings of the prophets; and under this cover, with
great zeal perfecuted Chrift; he was looked upon as a blafphemer, as one
againſt God's temple, his fabbath, his ordinances, &c. And fince the days
of Chrift, the antichriſtian ſpirit fpeaks great words of Chrift; his death,
reſurrection, afcenfion, interceffion, &c. and of church-order, and diſci-
pline, that under this cover it may fight againſt the comforter, the Spirit
of truth; who alone can lead into truth, and which is the proper way of
God's miniftration fince Chriſt's aſcenſion. And this hath been the way of
oppofing truth ever fince, and ftill is and here is the antichrift, he that
holds theſe in the wrong part, and by theſe fights againſt the true Spirit.
But if there be any truth in this, that ye are willing to be tried by the
fcriptures, let it yet come to a fair trial this way, and let them have free
liberty to manifeft among you, what they have to ſay from the fcriptures;
why your church, your miniftry, your order and government, your whole
:
way
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
305
way of teaching and worſhip is not of God, nor according to the fcriptures,
but an invention and imitation, fet up in the way of refemblance of what
once was truly fo. If this cannot be made good againſt you, ye will have
much advantage of fhaming them, and of fettling your people much firmer
than by prifons, whips, cutting off of ears, banishment, and death; which
no man's heart (ſeriouſly confidering it in true foberneſs) can poffibly be-
lieve to be the proper engines of fettling or preferving the Gofpel of peace.
But that the fcripture is the rule of trial under the Gofpel, I read not in
fcripture; but that the things of the Spirit are to be known in and by the
Spirit, 1 Cor. ii. 12. The apostle John, fpeaking of antichrifts, feducers,
and erring ſpirits, which were to be tried, doth not bid them try them by
the words which he wrote, or by the other apoſtles words, or by the pro-
phets words; but by the anointing; which keeping cloſe to, they need
fear no feducers, 1 John ii. 26, 27. The word which was in the begin-
ning being received, abode in, and kept cloſe to, tries all words and fpirits.
That which begets to God is the Spirit; the great gift (which is given to
him who is begotten) is the Spirit; and this (being given) is to become
the fountain of life to the believer, John vii. 38. And in this fpring of
life he is to live, and receive milk and knowledge; and here he is to walk,
and here he is to try all other waters, even by this water. And this is
more to a believer, and more enableth him to try, than all the words of
truth that ever were written; though he that hath this cannot deſpiſe or
undervalue any thing that the Spirit ever wrought: but yet the Spirit itſelf
is more to him, and more certain, than any words concerning the Spirit.
Men may make falfe gloffes, and mud, and make void the fcriptures, by
their reaſonings, and interpretations, and traditional apprehenfions; but this
water ever runs freſh and clear, and no foul fpirit can defile it. Mofes
gave the law, which directed to, and ended in, Chrift: Chrift in the fleſh
finished the work which the Father gave him to do, and directed to the
comforter to be the leader into all truth; yea, the fpring of life to the be-
liever; and here the believer is fafe: but the antichriftian fpirit ravening
from this, cries up the letter in the ftead of this, and doth not fee how the
letter points to and centers in this. God hath made us able minifters of the
New-Teftament (faith the apoſtle); not of the letter, but of the Spirit, 2 Cor.
iii. 6. He overlooked the letter: that was not the thing he was chiefly to
minifter, but the Spirit, the power, to turn men from darknefs to light,
that they might feel him that is true, and have the life eternal abiding in
the heart but now, in the antichriftian darkneſs, the Spirit being loft which
is the Goſpel-adminiſtration, they feemingly advance and cry up the
letter, putting it into the place of the Spirit. Yet in truth it is not the
fcripture neither, in its naked fimplicity, which is thus cried up, but man's
wife reaſonings about it. The fleshly will, the fleſhly underſtanding, the
fleſhly ſtrength getting a feat there, having formed a building out of it,
and reared ftrong-holds in that part which can be wife and live without the
VOL. I.
Qq
Spirit;
1
306
An Examination of
Spirit; now its life, its intereft, lies in the fcripture thus believed, thus
underſtood, thus practifed: thus therefore it cries it up, not as it came at
firſt out of the hands of the Spirit, nor as the truth of it is now ſeen in
the fimplicity and nakedneſs of the Spirit, but as the wifdom from below
hath formed meanings and apprehenfions concerning it. And here every
fort of men are wife in their own eyes, and ftrong and prudent in their own
conceivings and reafonings, but know not the bringing to nought of that
underſtanding, which precedeth the opening of the eye of the babe, which
hath that fight of the things of God given it, which is out of the reach of
all the wife and ftrong ones.
It is true, under the law they were to try by the law and teftimony,
Ifa. viii. 10. but yet not in an uncertain way, according to their own
gueffings, imaginations, and reafonings, but according to a certain inter-
pretation and knowledge thereof; and in cafes of difficulty the judge was
to have recourfe to the prieſt,. Deut. xvii. 8, &c. And the prieſts, in cafes.
of doubt, had an ordinary way of enquiring by Urim, Numb. xxvii. be-
fides the way of enquiring by prophets, which was very common with them
alfo, 1 Sam. ix. 9.-xxviii. 6. But now the Jews having forfeited theſe,
and filling their minds with a gathered knowledge from the law and pro-
phets, trying Chrift and his truths by this, judged amifs both of him and
them. Now the law was a fhadow of good things to come; not a fhadow
of another outward law or rule, but a fhadow of the inward rule, of the
law of the new covenant written in the heart, of the Spirit put within,
Heb. viii. and by this law is the true believer fully as able to try, as they
were by the former; but without this, a Chriftian's trial of things is not
fo certain as theirs was under the law.
The force of the fourth argument is to this effect, That the dictate of
confcience is not a fufficient plea in cafe of meer and fingle ignorance, much less
in wilful and affected ignorance.
Anfw. The dictate of confcience is not made a plea by us, but the an-
fwering and obeying the light of Chrift in our confciences, is that which
keepeth them void of offence, both towards God and towards men. Now
it is one thing for a man to act evil, and plead it is his confcience; and it
is another thing for a man to be guided by the infallible light of the Spirit;
or if he be not come fo far, yet to be made tender in his heart towards
Chriſt concerning his practices in religion. In this laft cafe we fay, that in
things whoſe good or evil chiefly depends upon the knowledge and perfuafion
of the mind, which Chrift alone can do, here Chrift is the fole lord and judge
of the conſcience, Rom. xiv. 4. and not either minifter, church, or magi-
ſtrate. Chrift giveth knowledge, Chrift increaſeth knowledge, and Chrift
requireth obedience according to the knowledge given or increaſed. That
is many times required to be left, upon a farther degree of knowledge
given, which was not required to be left before; and fo alfo upon the fame
terms may things be required to be performed, which were not required to
be
the Grounds or Causes, &c.
307
be done before. And this, indeed, is the very fum of the true religion
(fince the death of Chrift, and his finiſhing of his work here), either to
worſhip in the Spirit, or to wait for the Spirit. He who hath not received
the Spirit, he is to wait for the Spirit. He who hath received the Spirit, he
is to wait in the Spirit for the movings and outgoings thereof, and to be
obedient thereto. And Chriftians are to take heed, not only of a wrong
fpirit, but alfo of quenching the movings of the true Spirit in themſelves
or others. If the erring mind hath miſtaken about worship, and through
its miſtake fet up a wrong way, the Spirit in the tender plants will be mov-
ing againſt it, which the wife reaſoning fleſhly part will be knocking down;
and fo the birth, which is after the flesh, will be getting advantage of per-
fecuting and keeping under the immortal feed. Now fupprefs evil to the
utmoft, but take heed of quenching the good in any; take heed how ye
ftop that in its courſe of diſcovering evil (in your worſhips, or otherwiſe)
which eafily paffeth for good, until the Spirit begin to make it manifeft.
Ah! friends! if the carnal wiſdom had been crucified in you, and the Spirit
of God had had more ſcope in manifefting evil among you, what might ye
have grown to ere this day! But if the magiftrate upon every doubt, or
difference, or ſtartling of the tender conſcience, ftep in with his fword, how
is the way of the breaking forth of truth ſtopped up! And that which is
truly of God, and moft tender towards him, is moft liable to fuffer this
way. And this is that which makes the QUAKERS fuch a fuffering people,
becauſe they have found the benefit of keeping the confcience tender to-
wards God, and ſo prize it above all things; and this mercy have they re-
ceived from the Lord, fenfibly to diftinguifh (in this tenderneſs towards
God, and in the fear of his name) between the dictates of conſcience, and
the voice of his Spirit there. Now it is not at all pleaded by us, that un-
der a pretence of confcience, ye fhould fuffer all manner or any manner of
evil: but firſt, Puniſh not good for evil: do not puniſh the good in others,
to defend the evil in yourſelves. Secondly, That which is manifeftly evil,
punish it by fuch hands and means as God hath appointed; the fpiritual by
fpiritual, the temporal by temporal; and do not make puniſhing of evil a
pretence of perfecuting good in others, and of upholding the evil in your-
felves.
But as touching your diftinction of meer and fingle ignorance, or wilful
and affected, we can blefs the Lord who hath delivered us from them both,
by the day-ſpring which he hath cauſed to ariſe in our hearts; and we can
with a farther meaſure of the fame Spirit bear this from you, with a mea-
fure whereof ſome of the Non-conformifts bore this from the Conformifts,
who would caſt this upon them, that their ignorance was affected, they
were refractory, but might have been better informed if they would.
And we wish with all our hearts, that there were not too juft caufe of re-
torting both parts of this diftinction back upon you; for if ye had not been
very grofly ignorant, ye could never have thus put darkneſs for light, and
Qq 2
light
308
An Examination of
light for darknefs, cafting fuch odious reproaches upon the truth, to make
it appear what it was not. Had ye not been ignorant of the fcripture, ye
would have known the movings of the life and Spirit of it in others; but
through ignorance of the eternal power, and from your dark reaſonings and
conceivings about the letter, ye are ready to call Chrift Beelzebub; not
knowing the anointing in the members, no more than the fcribes and Pha-
rifees did in the head. And had not your ignorance alſo been too much
affected, ye would have taken more pains about the trial, and not have run
into fuch miſtakes all along, both about them and their doctrines, as ye
have done.
That Chrift referred himſelf either to Pilate's or the Jews trial of him
by fcriptures, is a grofs miſtake at beft. The Jews did try him by fcrip-
tures; and according to their underſtanding thereof, found him a fabbath-
breaker, againſt Mofes's law, and that he could not be the Meffiah, John
vii. 27.52. and xii. 34. but by their law ought to die, John xix. 7.
There is no trying of the things of God, by confidering of fcriptures in
the carnal mind, in the wife reafoning part; but in the Spirit which wrote
the fcriptures, in the underſtanding which God gives, 1 John v. 20. in
the wisdom which is beſtowed on the babe (who lives in the fimplicity and
pure innocency that is in Chrift) there the truth itſelf, and alfo the fcrip-
tures which teftify of it, are clear. Now Chrift did not refer himſelf to
them to be tried by the fcriptures (for he knew what was in man, and he
knew after what manner they would try him thereby); but he bid them
Search the Scriptures, which teftified of him, that fo they might come to
know and receive him, John v. 39, 40. and none knew him, but thoſe to
whom the Father revealed him.
So the cafe of Paul's appealing to Cæfar doth not prove that Cæfar was
a proper judge in cafes of confcience; but he was at that time a proper de-
fence againſt the malice of the Jews, who moft unconſcionably perfecuted
Paul, under a pretence of zeal for God, and defence of their church and
ordinances. And were ye not in power, but an equal heathen magiſtrate
over us both; the QUAKERS durft refer their cauſe to trial, that they have
done you no more injury, than Paul did the Jews. Indeed Paul preached
that which was the end of the law, and the overturning of the Jewiſh
ſtate and if their prieſts and rulers had had him to judge, they would have
made him as great an offender as ye now make the QUAKERS. Now if your
religion ftand upon fuch a bottom as theirs did, and not upon the rock,
in the faith, and by the Spirit, ye may well fear us; it is not without a
cauſe for this we certainly know, that all profeffions of God and of Chriſt,
imitations and practices from the letter, which ftand in man's will and wif
dom, will not be able to abide the breath of this fuffering feed, who love
the teftimony of Jefus, and fervice to his name, above their lives.
And as for an erring confcience, there lies the difpute whoſe conſcience
errs, yours or theirs? Ye fay they have erred from the letter, the order,
and
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
3.09
and ordinances of the gofpel: they fay ye have erred from the Spirit, and
therefore muſt needs have erred from the letter alfo (and this they are ready
to prove according to the ſcriptures, if ye dare ftand to a fair trial.) And
alſo that ye are in a knowledge, faith, worſhip, wiſdom, &c. which ſtands
in the will and carnal part, and keeps the carnal part alive. This deferves
a meek and ſerious confideration in the fear of him who can deftroy the
foul; and not ſuch a bloody and fiery trial, as your proceedings and writings
too much favour of.
5. That a regular defence of the truth by the godly orthodox magiftrate, and
others refpectively, is not perfecution.
Anfw. To bring the fword of the magiftrate into the work of Chriſt's
Spirit and power, this is irregular; and it doth execution irregularly, cut-
ting down the perfon, and not the fin; whereas the fword of the Spirit
cuts down the fin, that the perfon may be faved. Chrift came not to de-
ftroy men's lives, but to fave; and if any man receive him not, or ſpeak
againſt him, he calls not for fire from heaven, or for a magiftrate's fword,
but waits to be gracious, and by the power of his Spirit (having once con-
vinced and gathered) doth he defend his truths and people. Let but the
magiſtrate ſtand ſtill with his fword, the Spirit of Chrift will foon get the
victory over error; and a fweeter and better victory than the magiftrate's
fword can effect. Truth fprung up without the magiftrate's fword; yea,
againſt it. So it grew; fo it conquered. The magiftrate's fword here (tho'
ever ſo favourable to truth) doth more hurt than good, putting the true
fword out of its place, and keeping down that tenderneſs of ſpirit, wherein
the truth alone can fpring.
That coercion was inftituted for reftraining of evil, we grant (this is the
fame with the firſt argument): but he that appointed two kinds of coercion,
fet each their limits, which they are not to tranfgrefs. See the anſwer to
the firſt argument.
But whereas ye fay, that Tares and ill weeds need no more than being let
alone to over-run and spoil the corn; that is directly contrary to Chriſt, who
faid exprefly, Let both grow together until the harvest, Matt. xiii. 30. Surely
he would not have his wheat in danger of being deftroyed all the time till
harveft; but he judged that plucking up the tares would more endanger
the wheat, than letting them alone, verf. 29. Man may eafily miſtake,
and pluck up an ear of wheat, inſtead of a tare; and better it were to let
many tares alone, than pluck up one ear of wheat. Ye have long been
bufied in New-England about plucking up of tares. Are ye fure ye never
plucked up any wheat? Nay, have ye not weeded out the wheat, and left
the tares ſtanding? Undertaking a work fo directly contrary to Chriſt's di-
rection (and fo without the guidance of his Spirit) ye might eafily thus err.
Now what the tares are, is afterwards expounded; they are fuch perfons
as grow among the wheat, but are not wheat; but are to be gathered
from
310
An Examination of
from the wheat with Chrift's fickle, and bound up in bundles for the burning
in the day of his harveſt.
Your compariſons of a gangrene, and the like, I wifh you knew how to
apply. The power of God's truth in the ſpirits of his people is no gan-
grene; but the form without the power is a gangrene, and, like Pharaoh's
lean cattle, foon eats up the fat. And he who has loft his own tenderneſs
and freſhneſs, foon turns perfecutor of fuch as remain tender, and feek to
preferve their freſhneſs.
In the days of the apostles there was a king in Ifrael; then the church
was well governed, in the meeknefs and fweet authority and power of
Chriſt's Spirit, which hurts not creatures, but ftrikes at Chrift's enemy in
creatures. Since that time, the Papiſts have had a long day of doing what
was right in their eyes; the Epifcopalians, a day after them, of doing what
was right in their eyes; and fo the Prefbyterians and Independents, &c.
But it were better for them all to lament after the right king, than to fet
up an ufurped authority in his abfence. Carnal reafon, the wisdom of the
fleſh, hath got his feat, giving forth his meaning of fcripture, and fo (un-
der a colour of them) ruling over his flock with force and cruelty, and
not with the meek, gentle, righteous fcepter of his Spirit, which alone is
appointed of Chrift to govern them.
So then the magiftrate's puniſhing of the QUAKERS is not regular by any
inſtitution of Chrift; but only by a law of their own making, as it is fur-
ther explained, p. 95. of this Appendix; the grounds whereof have been al-
ready examined, and found infufficient to warrant them therein; which I
leave to themſelves, and to every man's confcience, to confider of, in the
dread of God, the judge of all.
Upon the reſult of all, it may not be amiſs to ſtate the cafe between the
governors of New-England and the QUAKERS, which is briefly thus:
If the governors of New-England had juſt cauſe to make fuch a law
againſt the QUAKERS, and had a true rightly-derived power fo to do from
God, who is the fpring of all juft power; and if the QUAKERS had liberty
from the Lord to chufe or refufe obedience to it, then their fuffering death
is justly to be imputed to themſelves.
But if the governors of New-England had not a juſt cauſe of making
this law, nor authority and power from God fo to do; and the QUAKERS
had not liberty to chufe or refuſe coming thither, but had an indifpenfible
command from Chrift their Lord; then their fufferings and blood will reſt
on the heads of the governors of New-England, and will ſtick cloſer to
them than to be wiped off by fuch kind of arguments and reaſonings.
All depends upon your firft ftep of proceeding. If that was with-
out due ground, not in the fear of the Lord, without Chrift's allowance
and direction; without having duly weighed the thing in the true unerring
balance, but rather in the haſtineſs and ſtiff reſolvedneſs of the fleſh; then
all your proceedings fince have been but aggravations of your fin; and God
might
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
311
might juſtly let you go on thus far, to fhame you even in the fight of the
very heathen, among whom the fenfe and abhorrence of this cruel and
peace be-
bloody ſpirit cannot but make your profeffion of the goſpel of
come a reproach.
The QUAKERS came to you in the name of the Lord, to diſcover from
him to you the evil of your ways; to convince you by his light of your de-
your fuffer-
parting from that which was perfecuted in you in the times of
ings in Old-England: but ye would not meekly hear and confider of what
they had to ſay to you from the Lord; but prefently impriſoned and ſent
them away; and fo proceeded further and further againſt them, till at
length ye came to drink their blood. So that in truth their teſtimony is
the cauſe of their death; and judge in your own hearts whether this be not
a perfecution of a deep dye. It were better for you to charge it upon your
own hearts, than to have the Lord charge it upon you when you come to
ſtand before him to be eternally judged.
There remains yet another Paper (printed here in Eng-
land) called, " A True Relation of the Proceedings
"A
againſt certain QUAKERS, at the General Court of
"Maffachufets, holden at Bofton in New-England,
"October 18, 1659."
TH
HE arguments therein, whereupon they would have their proceedings
pafs for juft, and not be accounted perfecution, are thefe: The autho-
rity of this court, the laws of the country, the laws of God, and their gradual
proceedings.
Anfw. Perfecutors are very feldom (if at any time) without theſe pleas for
themſelves. Had not the bifhops as fair a right to this plea, to cover their
perfecutions of the Non-conformists with? Could not they, in their day,
have alledged the authority of their courts, the laws of their country (per-
haps fome not made directly to intrap neither, as yours were), and had
not they as confident a pretence to the law of God as theſe? And did, they
not alfo proceed gradually? He that doubteth, let him read HooKER'S EC-
clefiaftical Policy, and other writings of the Conformifts, and fee whether
their ſpirit was not more mild and Chriſtian-like, and their arguments
more weighty by far, than thoſe which theſe have uſed against the QUAKERS.
Nay, have the very Papifts themſelves been without theſe arguments? Did
they not proceed gradually in queen Mary's days againſt the martyrs? Yea,
what pains did they take to convince them of their herefies, and to bring
them
312
An Examination of
them into the unity of the true church, as they accounted it! But thefe
arguments did not juftify the Papifts or Conformifts in the fight of God
(though they might juftify their proceedings in the eyes of their own party);
nor will they juſtify them to have gone one ſtep beyond the Conformifts.
But as the ſpirit of perfecution entering into the biſhops and Conformifts
was the fame fpirit, as well when it was in them as in the Papifts; fo the
fame ſpirit entering into the Non-conformists, is the ſame ſpirit ſtill in them,
as it was in the biſhops and Conformifts. And the plea of the authority of
their court, the laws of the country, with fuch a kind of pretence to the
law of God, and their gradual proceedings, is no more in truth and reality
a fhelter for them, than it was for the other; though they, in their day,
look upon it as a good and fufficient cover, even as the bifhops did in their
day, and the Papifts in their day. Had they wanted this cover, the na-
kedneſs of their zeal and profeffion would have appeared to every eye: yea,
their own conſciences could not but have flown in their faces, had they put
them to death fo foon as ever they had come over, without any foregoing
proceedings. But this is the nature of the perfecuting fpirit; firft it feeks a
cover to stop the mouth of its own confcience, and to hide its blood-thirſty
actions from the eye of the world; and then its feet are ſwift to fhed the
blood of the innocent. But the fame Lord God of truth and righteouſneſs
who hath unmaſked the Papifts, and unmaſked the biſhops, will unmaſk
theſe alfo, and their nakednefs fhall more appear than the others, who
would hide themſelves and their own cruelty with that covering, which they
themſelves have judged in others. It is not therefore any of theſe, but the
grounds of their proceedings muft manifeft them to be juft; or elfe, not-
withſtanding the pretence to juftice, their whole courfe of proceedings will
prove in truth (and according to righteous judgment) but perfecution.
Now the Grounds of their Proceedings they mention to
be theſe:
1. Their having received intelligence from good bands from Barbadoes and Eng-
land, of the pernicious opinions and practices of the QUAKERS.
2. Their profeffed tenets (how well you have acquitted yourſelves herein,
let all that fear God judge).
3. Their turbulent and contemptuous behaviour to authority.
4. Their defigns to undermine and ruin the order and peace here eſtabliſhed.
Anfw. He that is willing to receive fhall never want intelligence againſt
the truths and people of God, even from fuch hands as he will be ready to
call good (It is a remnant only that receive truth; the generality of profeffors
in all ages are ſtill ready both to fend and receive intelligence againſt all the
living appearances of it, and of God's witneffes to it). Nor can he who
hath already entertained prejudices ever want matter againſt their tenets,
behaviour,
the Grounds or Causes, &c.
313
behaviour, or to charge them with defigns. Have not theſe reproaches
always been caft upon every appearance of God? Are not the veffels he
chufes to hold forth his truths by ftill reprefented as perfons of pernicious
opinions and practices, their tenets charged to be wicked, and they looked
upon as turbulent and contemptuous, &c.? Were not the Non-conformists
themſelves looked upon as perfons that would undermine and ruin the or-
der and peace of the church; who for fuch trivial things would make fuch
great rents and breaches, marring the beauty and difturbing the unity,
order, and peace of the church of England? Surely they cannot yet forget
this, befides that common charge against them of contumacy against au-
thority. Theſe are but the old weapons of the old ferpent (only a little
new furbiſhed by you for your own uſe), even the weapons which the bi-
fhops wrefted out of the hands of the Papifts, and which ye have wrefted
out of the hands of the biſhops, and they are no better in your hands than
they were in theirs. They were good in their hands, fo long as they had
authority to make them forcible: and they have no more virtue in your
hands, than what outward authority and power adds to them. England
was once overflown with this flood of reproaches; but now at length (this
afflicted people waiting in patience on the Lord's will) they have much va-
nifhed, the earth helping the woman: and perfons generally who are any
whit fober, and come to confider things in fear and meekneſs, find no
fuch matter againſt them; no fuch opinions, or practices, or tenets, but
the truths of God received and held forth in his fear; their carriage and
behaviour meek and humble, void of turbulency, and contempt towards
any, and they freer from defigns againſt authority and orderly government,
than any fort elfe whatfoever. This is well known in England, and it can-
not be denied by the authorities and powers thereof, how we have ſtill been
like lambs fuffering from all, not contriving, or fo much as defiring, the hurt
of any. The Lord knows the defire of our fouls to be after truth and
righteouſneſs, and our expectations for the eſtabliſhing thereof to be fixed
on him alone, and not on any perfons whatſoever, but as he pleaſeth to
appear in them, and work by them; and whatſoever happens in the mean
time, is received as from his hand, who ruleth on high over all: fo that
our fpirits do not fo much as rife against any authority or inftruments that
perfecute us; but we wait on the Lord our God, to advantage his truth,
and bring about good to us thereby; and we pity and pray for all who
know not what they do, bleffing the Lord our God, who accounteth us
worthy to fuffer for his name's fake, in bearing teftimony at his command
to any, though it ſhould be but the leaft of his truths. Therefore take heed
of going on in the hardneſs of your hearts; but know what a people (in
the juft judgment of God upon you) your lot hath been to perfecute;
whofe blood will ſtick the clofer to you, and lie fo much the heavier upon
you, by how much the dearer they are to God.
VOL. I.
Rr
And
314
An Examination of
And though ye plead the fafety of the people, as being the fovereign law;
yet the Lord God knows whether ye have aimed at the fafety of the peo-
ple among you in uprightnefs of heart, or whether ye bring this in alfo as
a further cover. There is a double fafety the people may justly challenge
from you. First, The fafety of their confciences in a tender fearching after
truth, and further removing out of Babylon. Secondly, The fafety of their
eftates, perfons, and liberties in this fearch. They did not fly from England
to be perfecuted by the prevailing part among themſelves; but to enjoy
freedom of conſcience in inquiring after the Lord, his truth, and way
of
worſhip; and not to be tied and bound up in a form, exalted and eſtabliſhed
according to the opinions and refult of the reafonings of the major part.
Now whether ye have preferved theſe liberties for them, and really fought
their ſafety; or whether ye have perfecuted or made a prey of them for
their confcience fake (beyond whatever was done to you here in England,
or beyond whatever they had been like to ſuffer, had they ſtaid here in Eng-
lan), the Lord, in his day, will righteouſly judge. Ye have judged be-
tween cattle and cattle; the Lord alſo will judge between cattle and cattle:
and in that day ye will fee, that as his choice have been your out-cafts, fo
your choice is rejected by him; and that as his Spirit is the abomination of
your eyes, fo
formal way
your
of worſhip is the loathing of his foul. Oh!
that ye had eyes to fee it! that your hearts might not be utterly hardened.
againſt the Lord, his truths, and people, even to your utter and eternal
deſtruction! Little do ye fee, poor deceived hearts, what a narrow ſtep there
is between you and the pit!
The Authority and Government which CHRIST excluded
out of his Church, &c.
MAT. XX. Ver. 25, to 29.
But Jefus called them unto him, and faid, Ye know that the princes of the Gen-
tiles exercife dominion over them, and they that are great exercife authority
upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whofoever will be great
among you, let him be your minifier: and whosoever will be chief among you,
let him be your fervant. Even as the Son of man came not to be miniftered unto,
but to minifter, and to give his life a ransom for many.
H'
}
ERE Chrift cuts off that power and authority which grows up in
the corrupt nature of man, which was ever and anon fpringing up
even in the difciples. Here he wholly excludes it out of the church, and
fays exprefly he would have no fuch thing among them; no fuch kind of
greatneſs,
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
315
:
greatnefs, no fuch kind of authority. Among the Gentiles there are great-
ones, there are princes; and theſe great-ones, theſe princes, they lord it
over the inferior ones, exercifing authority and dominion over them; but it
fhall not be fo among you.
The Gentile ftate was a fhadow, even as the Jews ftate was a fhadow.
The one of death, the other of life; the one of darkneſs, the other of light.
The one was the image of Satan the prince of wickedneſs, the other of
Chrift the prince of righteouſneſs and peace. They were both veils, under
which the two kingdoms were hid.
Now in the Gentile ftate there were nations, princes, laws, governments,
dominions, authorities, &c. but all in the fall, all in the darkneſs, all in the
tranfgreffion from the life. The whole ſtate was corrupt, and there muſt be
no imitation from hence, no likeneſs of any fuch thing in the kingdom of
Chrift, no fuch kind of law, no fuch kind of government, no fuch kind of
authority, no fuch kind of anger with perfons that tranfgrefs, no fuch kind
of dealing with any, no fuch kind of detriment or hurt to any. There is no-
thing to hurt in the mountain of God's holiness; but there is a righteous fcep-
ter, a ſweet ſcepter, a fpiritual ſcepter, which reacheth the ſpirit in the
power of life, but toucheth not the outward man.
Two things are here excluded by Chrift, from whence all the miſchief
arifeth in the church (all the tyranny and oppreffion of mens confciences,
and of their perfons, eftates, and liberties, for confcience fake): firft, great-
ness; ſecondly, the exercising dominion and authority by thofe that would be
great therein.
Such a kind of greatneſs as is in the world, is the deftruction of the
life of Chrift; and fuch a kind of dominion and authority as is among the
nations, is the direct overturning of the kingdom of Chrift. It fets up an-
other power than Chrift's, another greatneſs than Chriſt's, another kind of
aathority than Chrift's; and fo it eats out the virtue and life of his king-
dom, and makes it juſt like one of the kingdoms of this world.
It shall not be fo among you. This ſpirit must be kept out from among
you; this afpiring fpirit, this lofty ruling fpirit, which loves to be great,
which loves to have dominion, which would exalt itſelf, becauſe of the
gifts it has received, and would bring others into fubjection; this ſpirit muſt
be ſubdued amongft Chrift's difciples, or it will ruin all. The Lord gives
grace and knowledge for another end than for men to take upon them to
be great, and rule over others becauſe of it. And he that, becauſe of this,
thinks himſelf fit to rule over mens confciences, and to make them bow to
what he knows or takes to be truth, he loſeth his own life hereby; and fo
far as he prevails upon others, he doth but deftroy their life too. For it is
not ſo much ſpeaking true things that doth good, as ſpeaking them from
the pure, and conveying them to the pure: for the life runs along from
the veffel of life in one, into the veffel of life in another; and the words
Rr
2
(though
WEST FOR
316
An Examination of
S
(though ever fo true) cannot convey life to another, but as the living
veffel opens in the one, and is opened in the other.
Queſt. But how ſhall this ſpirit be kept out, or kept down, that it may not,
hurt the difciple in whom it arifeth; or if it do, that the hurt may remain to
himſelf, and may not prejudice the church?
Anfw. When this fpirit begins to arife up in any, fo foon as ever he per-
ceives it, in that which diſcovers it he is to fight againſt it; laying himſelf ſo
much the lower, by how much he finds this evil fpirit raifing him up.
He is to hearken to that which prefents the crofs to it, and fo to come
down and fubject himfelf in ferving and miniftring to thoſe who are little in
his eyes. Inſtead of reigning over them, let him lie beneath them: let
him watch and know the life even in the meaneſt, and ſerve it; for that is
his place. That which would rule is to ferve; that which would be great is
to be little; and the little-one is to become a nation. That which is low
is to riſe; and thou art not fit to rife with it, further than thou canft ferve
it, both in thyfelf and others. Therefore if ever thou beeft afpiring, if
ever thou have a mind to rule, if ever thou think thyfelf fit to teach, be-
cauſe of what thou haft received, fink down, lie low, take up the crofs to
that proud ſpirit, make it bend and ſerve, let the life in every one rife
over it, and trample upon it; and afterwards that in thee may arife which is
fit to teach, yea, and to rule in the Lord: and fo long as that hath the
dominion, thou mayſt be ferviceable to the Lord, and to his truth and
people; but if ever the other get up again, thou muſt preſently come
down again, or the wrong fpirit will get dominion over thee, which with
force and cruelty will rule over the life both in thyfelf and others. Thus
if a man be faithful to Chrift, this evil afpiring fpirit, at its firft appearance,
may be dealt with, and kept down; but if it be cheriſhed, given way to,
and once let up, it will be hard bringing of it down afterwards. There-
fore the difciples, or the church of Chrift, are to watch over every
fuch ſpirit, to beat it down, to teftify againſt it, to turn from it, to lay it
flat, to put it in its proper place; that is, beneath all, to miniſter to all, and
fo not to fuffer it to rife; fee ver. 26. Let him be yourminister. This is his
place, this is his work, by the authority of Chrift. He that would be
great, he that would rule, let him minifter. Own him there; if he will
lie low there, if he will be faithful there, ye may have unity with him. But
in that his aſpiring temper, in his ruling, in his teaching by what he hath
gained, or what hath been given to him formerly (if out of the prefent
life) he is to be denied, and turned from.
If this rule of Chriſt's had been kept to, antichrift's power could never
have got up: nor the poor innocent lambs fo often have been worried by
the wolves. Ah! poor hearts! how fimply do they come thither, where
they once taſted refreſhment, to find wholeſome advice, not ſuſpecting what
is got up there fince, but give the dominion to a wrong thing, and fo take
directions from a wrong fpirit, and betray their own fimplicity.
Chrift
the Grounds or Caufes, &c317
C.
.
Chriſt urgeth this upon his difciples from his own pattern, even as the Son
of man came not be ministered unto, but, &c. ver. 28. If any had right to be
great, furely Chrift; if any had right to exerciſe authority, furely Chriſt;
if any was to be advanced becauſe of any gift received, or becauſe of any
prefence of the Spirit with him, furely Chrift: yet Chrift took not upon
him this kind of greatneſs, nor did exerciſe this kind of authority; but he
was a fervant; he made ufe of the gift of the Spirit, of the power of life
wherewith the Father filled him, to minifter and ferve with. He did never
lord it over the confciences of any of his difciples; but did bear with them,
and pity them in their infirmities. (What! can ye not watch with me one
bour? The Spirit (ſaid he) is willing, but the flesh is weak). He did not
hold forth to them whatever he knew to be truth, requiring them to believe
it; but was content with them in their ftate, and waited till their capacities
were enlarged, being ftill fatisfied with the honefty and integrity of their
hearts in their preſent ſtate of weakneſs. Nor did he ſtrive to reign over
the world, or call for fire from heaven, when they would not receive him,
or expreſs indignation when they deſired him to depart out of their coafts,
or pray for twelve legions of angels when they came to betray him, and
moſt unrighteouſly fought his life: but the life he had received of his Fa-
ther he gave up as a ranfom for his difciples, yea, and for his enemies.
Mark: he did not make uſe of what was given to him, to raiſe himſelf up
above others, to make his word to ftand for a law, and be received; but he
waited till that was opened in his diſciples, and in the people, which was able
to receive his teftimony; and he made ufe of his power of life, and the
fulness of the Spirit, to inable him the more abundantly to ferve, and to
wait in patience for the fulfilling of the will of the Father. And though
Ifrael was not gathered by him, yet was he meek, and patient, and at
reft in the will of him that fent him; and inſtead of reigning over all,
could ſerve all, and give that life (whofe due it was to reign) a ransom for
many, ver. 28.
His kingdom was not of this world, nor did he feek any greatnefs or autho-
rity according to this world, neither over the Jews, nor over the Gentiles,
nor over his own difciples; but he ferved all, he fought the good of all:
the life in him which was to reign over all, yet here ferved all, ſuffered for
all, and from all, and that was his way to his crown; who having finiſhed
his courfe, fulfilled his fervice, perfected his fufferings, is fet down at the
right-hand of the majefty on high, where now he reigns over all, and is
made a king by God in righteouſneſs. And this is the pattern which all
his difciples are to walk by. The more life they receive, the more they are
to minifter; the more they are to ferve. They must not lift up themſelves.
by their gifts; they muſt not hereupon lord it over others, or hold forth
their knowledge or doctrines, and think to make others bow thereto; but.
wait in their fervice, till the Lord make way into mens hearts, and plant:
his
318
An Examination of
his truth there; and upon him alfo muft they wait for the watering and
growth of it.
Queft. But is there to be no greatneſs, no authority among the difciples of Je-
fus, or in the church of Christ? Is every one to do what he will, to be fubject to
his own fancies and imaginations, to the inventions of his own corrupt heart?
What a confuſed building will this be? Surely this will not long remain a Zion;
but foon become a Babylon, even an heap of diſorder and confufion.
There are
Anfw. There is to be no fuch kind of greatnefs, no fuch kind of autho-
rity; yet there is both a greatneſs and authority fuitable to the ftate of dif
ciples; fuitable to that kind of kingdom whereof they are.
laws, there are governments, there are governors, there is ruling, and
there is fubjection: but all in the Spirit, all fuitable to that which is to be
governed; but no government of, or according to, the flesh. As Chrift's
kingdom is not of this world, fo the government of his church and peo-
ple is not according to this world; but as that which gathers is his Spi-
rit, and that which is gathered is fpiritual; fo that which is governed is
the ſpirits of his people, and they are to be governed by his Spirit, and ſpi-
ritually, and not after a fleſhly manner.
Thus Chrift himſelf, though he miniftered to his difciples, yet he alſo
was their Lord and mafter, and in the Spirit and life of the Father ruled
over them. And thus the apoftles and other minifters of Chriſt had like-
wife, in the Spirit, the care of the churches, and authority in the Lord,
by his Spirit, to govern the fpirits of his people: not to govern after a
fleſhly manner, by their own wills: not to preſcribe to them in a lordly way,
either what they ſhould believe or practife; but, in the light and in the power
of the Spirit, to make their way into every one's confcience in the fight of
God, miniftering to every one in the Spirit according to their capacity and
growth, and waiting patiently for God to convey the food and nouriſhment,
and to build their fpirits up in the faith thereby.
The Spirit of the prophets is fubject to the prophets. Here is the government,
here is the law of rule and fubjection in the life. Every one feeling a
meaſure of the Spirit in himſelf, is thereby taught to own and be fubject to
greater meaſure of the fame Spirit in another. He that hath no meaſure
of the Spirit of God, he is not of God, he is none of Chrift's: and he
that hath received a meaſure of the Spirit, in the fame Spirit feeleth an-
other's meaſure, and owneth it in its place and ſervice, and knoweth its
moving, and cannot quench it, but giveth way to it with joy and delight.
When the Spirit moves in any one to fpeak, the fame Spirit moves in the
other to be ſubject and give way: and ſo every one keeping to his own
fo
meaſure in the Spirit, here can be no diforder, but true fubjection of every
fpirit; and where this is wanting, it cannot be fupplied by any outward
rule or order fet up in the church by common confent: for that is fleſhly,
and lets in the flesh, and deftroys the true order, rule, and fubjection.
1
The
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
319
The apoſtles and miniſters of Chrift come from Chrift with a meſſage of
life and falvation, with a teftimony concerning the good-will of God, and
his love to mankind; pointing out the way from death to life, from bon-
dage to liberty, from wrath and deftruction to peace and falvation. What
they have ſeen, what they have felt, what they have taſted, what they have
handled, what they have found redeem and deliver them, that they declare
abroad to others, as they are moved, as they are fent, as they are guided
and affifted.
Now that which they preach to is mens confciences in the fight of God.
They open the truth which they know; they give their teftimony in the
moving, leading, and power of the Spirit, and they leave it to the fame
Spirit to demonftrate it to mens confciences as it pleaſeth. They are no-
thing, they can do nothing, they cannot convert any man to God; but the
power that ſpeaketh by them, the fame power worketh in other mens con-
fciences at its pleaſure. And here is the beginning of the government of
Chrift in the heart; when his truth carries conviction with it to the confcience,
and the conſcience is drawn to yield itſelf up to him, then he lays his yoke
upon it, and takes upon him the guiding of it; he cheriſheth it, he cleanſeth
it, he comforteth it, he ordereth it at his pleaſure; and he alone preferveth
it pure, chafte, gentle, meek, and pliable to the impreffions of his Spirit.
And as the confcience is kept fingle and tender to Chrift, fo his government
increaſes therein; but as it becomes hard, or fubject to mens wills, fo an-
other ſpirit gets dominion over it.
Therefore the great work of the miniſter of Chrift is to keep the con-
fcience open to Chrift, and to preferve men from receiving any truths of
Chrift as from them further than the Spirit opens; or to imitate any of their
practices further than the Spirit leads, guides, and perfuades them. For per-
fons are exceeding prone to receive things as truths from thofe whom they
have an high opinion of, and to imitate their practices, and fo hurt their
own growth, and indanger their, fouls. For if I receive a truth before the
Lord by his Spirit make it manifeſt to me, I loſe my guide, and follow but
the counſel of the flesh, which is exceeding greedy of receiving truths, and
running into religious practices, without the Spirit. Therefore the main
thing in religion is to keep the confcience pure to the Lord, to know the
guide, to follow the guide, to receive from him the light whereby I am to
walk; and not to take things for truths becauſe others fee them to be
truths; but to wait till the Spirit make them manifeſt to me; nor to run
into worſhips, duties, performances, or practices, becauſe others are led
thither; but to wait till the Spirit lead me thither. He that makes hafte to be
rich (even in religion, running into knowledge, and into worſhips and per-
formances, before he feel a true and clear guidance) fhall not be innocent:
nor the Lord will not hold him guiltlefs, when he comes to vifit for fpiritual
adultery and idolatry. The apoftles were exceeding tender in this point:
for though they certainly and infallibly knew what was to be believed;
yet
320
:
í
An Examination of
yet they were not lords over mens faith, but waited till he who is Lord of
the faith, would open the way into mens confciences. They did not take
upon them to be able to turn the key, to let in truth and conviction into
mens fpirits (as men in theſe days have been too apt to undertake); but
directed them to him who had the key, there to wait for the conviction and
illumination of their minds, and fo to receive in, as they found him give
forth to them.
Let every man, faith the apoftle, be fully perfuaded in his own mind; take
heed of receiving things too foon, take heed of running into practices too
foon, take heed of doing what ye fee others do, but wait for your own
particular guidance, and for a full perfuafion from God, what is his will
concerning you. Though I know this to be a truth, yet do not ye re-
ceive it, till God make it manifeſt to you; receive truth from his hand, ſtay
till he give it you. Indeed the main matter in religion is to keep out the
wrong part, the forward part; the baſtardly birth from running into duties,
catching of openings, and laying hold of promiſes; and to feel the heir born
of the immortal feed, to whom all belongs; and that the other birth never
afterwards get up above him, but be fubdued and brought into fubjec-
tion.
Again, faith the apoftle, take heed of doing any thing doubtingly; be
not forward, be not hafty; wait for the leading, wait for the manifeftation
of the Spirit. Be fure thou receive what thou receiveft in faith, and prac-
tiſe what thou practiſeft in faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is fin, being
an error from the principle of life, which is to guide; and thereby thou
loofeft ground, and difhonoureft Chrift, and comeft under condemnation.
And ſo the apoſtle warns believers, to take heed of drawing one another
on too faſt, or of judging one another in fuch things as fome of them might
have light in, others not. He that eateth, not to judge him that did not
eat; and he that did not eat, not to judge him that did eat. Yea, in mat-
ters of worſhip, he that obſerved a day, and kept a fabbath, not to judge
him that obſerved not a day, or kept not a fabbath; for the Jews which
were truly converted, were yet hard to be drawn off from the obfervation
of their fabbath, and could hardly bear with the believing Gentiles, who
were never taught to keep their fabbath with them, but were taught to
eſteem every day, and fanctify it to the Lord, Rom. xiv. 5. And thofe who
eſteemed every day, and dedicated it to the Lord (ceafing from fin, and
refting to him: for under the gofpel we are not to fet up a new type, but
to enter by faith into the true reft, which is the fubftance of what the other
fignified) could hardly bear with them who obferved a day. Even in the
apoſtles days, Chriftians were too apt to ſtrive after a wrong unity and uni-
formity in outward practices and obſervations, and to judge one another un-
righteouſly in theſe things. And mark; it is not the different practice from
one another that breaks the peace and unity, but the judging of one an-
other becauſe of different practices. He that keeps not a day, may unite
in
the Grounds or Causes, &c.
321
in the fame Spirit, in the fame life, in the fame love with him that keeps a
day; and he who keeps a day, may unite in heart and foul with the fame
Spirit and life in him who keeps not a day; but he that judgeth the other
becauſe of either of thefe, errs from the Spirit, from the love, from the
life, and fo breaks the bond of unity. And he that draws another to any
practice, before the life in his own particular lead him; doth, as much as
in him lies, deſtroy the foul of that perfon, ver. 15. This was the apoſtle's
rule, for every one to perform fingly to the Lord what he did, and not for
one to meddle with the light or confcience of another (undervaluing his
brother, or judging him becauſe his light and practices differed from his,
chap. xiv. 10.) but every one to keep cloſe to their own meaſure of light,
even to that proportion of faith and knowledge, which God of his mercy
hath beſtowed on them. And here is the true unity in the Spirit, in the
inward life, and not in an outward uniformity. That was not neceffary in
the apoftles days, nor is it neceffary now; and that eye which fo dotes up-
on it, overlooks the one thing which is neceffary. Men keeping cloſe to
God, the Lord will lead them on faft enough, and give them light faft
enough; for he taketh care of fuch, and knoweth what light, and what
practices are moft proper for them); but for men to walk on fafter than
the Lord holds forth his light to them, this overturns them, raifing up a
wrong thing in them, and the true birth hereby comes to fuffer, to fhrink,
and be driven back. And oh! how fweet and pleaſant is it to the truly
fpiritual eye, to fee ſeveral forts of believers, feveral forms of Chriftians in
the ſchool of Chrift, every one learning their own leffon, performing their
own peculiar fervice, and knowing, owning, and loving one another in
their feveral places, and different performances to their Maſter, to whom
they are to give an account, and not to quarrel with one another about their
different practices! Rom. xiv. 4. For this is the true ground of love and
unity, not that fuch a man walks and does juft as I do, but becauſe I feel
the fame Spirit and life in him, and in that he walks in his rank, in his own
order, in his proper way and place of ſubjection to that. And this is far
more pleafing to me, than if he walked juft in that track wherein I walk :
nay, fo far as I am fpiritual I cannot fo much as defire that he fhould do
fo, until he be particularly led thereto, by the fame Spirit which led me.
And he that knows what it is to receive any truths from the Spirit, and to
be led into practices by the Spirit, and how prone the fleſhly part is to make
hafte, and how dangerous that hafte is, will not be forward to prefs his
knowledge or practices upon others, but rather wait patiently till the Lord
fit them for the receiving thereof, for fear left they ſhould receive and prac
tiſe too foon, even in that part which cannot ferve the Lord. And this I
can truly fay concerning myfelf, I never found my fpirit forward to draw
any, either to any thing I believed to be true, or to any practice or way of
worship I obferved or walked in; but defired that the power and leadings
of life might go before them, and was afraid left men fhould receive things
VOL. I.
Sf
from
322
An Examination of
}
from my hand, and not from the Lord's. Yea, and this I very well remem
ber, that when I walked in the way of Independency (as it hath been com-
monly called) I had more unity with, and more love towards, fuch as were
fingle-hearted in other ways and practices of worſhip (whoſe ſpirits I had
fome feeling of in the true fimplicity, and in the life) than with divers of
fuch who were very knowing and zealous in that way of Independency, in
whom a wrong thing in the mean time had got up, which had caufed them
to fwerve from the life, and from the fimplicity.
So that the true church-government being in the Spirit, and over the con-
fcience as in the fight of God, the great care must be to keep it within its
bounds, that nothing elfe govern but the Spirit, and that the government
be extended only unto that which is to be governed.
Firſt, Care must be had that nothing govern in the church of Chrift,
but the Spirit of Chrift: that nothing elfe teach; nothing elfe exhort; no-
thing elſe admonish and reprove; nothing elfe cut off and caft out. Every
miniſter in the church is to watch over his own fpirit, that it intrude not in-
to the work of God, that it take not upon it to be the teacher, the exhorter, the
reprover, &c. And every member is to wait in the meaſure of the Spirit
which he hath received, to feel the goings forth of the Spirit in him who
teacheth and governeth; and fo to fubject not to man, but to the Lord;
to receive from the Lord, to obey the Lord. Not to know any minifter
according to the flesh; but to receive, and fubmit to what comes from the
Spirit, in the Spirit. Not to know Paul, or Apollos, or Cæphas, but the
Spirit miniftering in them. Paul may err, Apollos may err, Peter may err
(and did err, when he compelled the Gentiles to live as the Jews, Gal. ii.
14. for which Paul withſtood him to the face, ver. 11.) and Barnabas alſo
did err, ver. 13. But the Spirit cannot err; and he that keeps to the
meaſure of the Spirit in himſelf, cannot let in any of their errors, if they
fhould err; but is preferved. For the leaft measure of the Spirit is true,
and gives true judgment; but he that receiveth ever fo great a meaſure of
the Spirit, yet if he keep not low therein, but lifteth up himſelf becaufe
thereof above his brethren, may eaſily err himſelf, and draw afide others
into his error.
Secondly, Care must be had that the confcience be kept tender, that
nothing be received but according to the light in the confcience. The con-
fcience is the feat of faith; and if it be not kept clofe to the light which
God lighteth there, faith is foon made ſhipwreck of. Chriftianity is begun
in the Spirit, which keepeth out the flefhly part, with all its flefhly wiſdom
and reaſonings about fpiritual things; and as the beginning is in the anoint-
ing, fo muſt the progrefs be. As the Spirit begins in the confcience, by
convincing that, by perfuading that, by fetting up his light there, and
leading the foul by that light; fo that light muft ftill be eyed, and ac-
cording to its growth and manifeftation in the confcience, fo muft the foul
ftand itill, or go on.
The
the Grounds or Caufes, &c.
323
!
The great error of the ages of the apoftafy hath been, to fet up an
outward order and uniformity, and to make mens confciences bend thereto,
either by arguments of wiſdom, or by force, but the property of the true
church-government is, to leave the confcience to its full liberty in the Lord,
to preſerve it fingle and entire for the Lord to exerciſe, and to feek unity
in the light and in the Spirit, walking ſweetly and harmoniouſly together in
the midit of different practices. Yea, and he that hath faith, and can fee
beyond another, yet can have it to himſelf, and not diſturb his brother with
it, but can defcend and walk with him according to his meaſure; and if his
brother have any heavy burthen upon him, he can lend him his fhoulder, and
bear part of his burthen with him. Oh! how fweet and lovely is it to fee
brethren dwell together in unity, to fee the true image of God raiſed in per-
fons, and they knowing and loving one another in that image, and bearing
with one another through love, and helping one another under their tempta-
tions and diftreffes of fpirit, which every one muft expect to meet with.
If thou art a Chriſtian in deed and in truth, preſerve thy confcience pure
and tender towards God; do not defile it with fuch religious practices, du-
ties, ordinances, &c. as thou doft not feel the Spirit leading thee into; for
all fuch are idols, and exceedingly pollute thee. And be tender alfo of thy
brother's confcience, and be not an inftrument to draw him into any thing
which the Lord leads him not into; but rejoice if thou find him in fimpli-
city of heart ftartling at any thing; for if he abide here faithful, his guide
will in due ſeaſon appear to him, and clear up his way before him; but if
he be too hafty, he may follow a wrong guide, and that guide will never
lead him aright towards the kingdom, but intangle him further and further
from it.
Oh! how many have run a whoring from the Lord! How many have
firſt loft the guidance of his Spirit, and then drowned their life in religi-
ous performances! How many have drunk of the cup of fornication from
the life, at the hands of the fleſhly wiſdom! How many have filled their
fpirit with New-Teftament idols and images! How many have even har-
dened their hearts and confciences, by following the doctrines of men,
their imaginary meanings of fcriptures, and the imaginations and dreams of
their own hearts! Is it not time for men at length to turn back towards
the Lord, to wait for the vifitation and light of his Spirit; from whom they
have gone a whoring, and whom in all things they have grieved? And if
ever any feel and enjoy the guidance of God's Spirit, their confcience muft
be kept tender to it, and ready to hear and follow his voice, who ſpeaks in
Spirit to that which is born of him, which infallibly knows his voice, and
(being kept clear) cannot doubt concerning it. My sheep hear my voice,
faith Chrift: they know it, and the voice of the ftrange ſpirit they know not
fo as to follow it, but turn from it, both in themfelves and others. But
that which is not the fheep, but hath only got the fheep's cloathing, cries
out; how fhall we know the voice of the Spirit? We may be deceived.
Sf 2
Nay:
324
An Examination of, &c.
Nay that which is born of God, that which is the elect of God, cannot be
deceived. Wait therefore for the birth of the Spirit, to which the Spirit
is given for a guide, who infallibly guides it out of deceit. All deceivers
are out of this birth, out of this Spirit; perhaps in fome birth or other
framed from the letter, and living in the imitation of fome practices and
ordinances from the letter (under which cover they lie in wait to deceive),
but ſtrangers to the life and power, and to that wiſdom which begets and
bears to God. Thus the Jews erred, and deceived their profelytes before
the coming of Chrift: thus the Chriftians (in name) have generally erred
all along the apoftafy; and indeed, for the generality, have not been true
Chriftians, but only a perfecuted remnant amongſt them; whofe life hath
been nouriſhed and preſerved, not by doctrines and obfervations which
they have been taught by the precepts of men, nor by the knowledge
which they themſelves have gathered, but by a little bread daily handed to
them from the Father of mercies out of the wilderneſs; that was the thing
which nouriſhed their fouls up to God, though many of them knew not
diſtinctly what it was that nouriſhed them, nor how they came by it.
Object. But is not uniformity lovely; and doth not the apostle exhort Chriftians
to be of one mind; and were it not a sweet thing if we were all of one beart
and one way?
Anfw. Yea, uniformity is very lovely; and to be deſired and waited for,
as the Spirit of the Lord, which is one, leads and draws into one. But
for the fleſhly part (the wife reafoning part in man) by fleſhly ways and means
to ſtrive to bring about fleſhly uniformity, which enfnares and overbears
the tender confcience; this is not lovely, nor fpiritual, nor Chriftian. And
the apoſtle who exhorts Chriftians to one mind, yet doth not bid them
force one another into one mind, but walk together fweetly fo far as
they had attained; and wherein they were otherwife minded, God in
his due time would reveal more to them, Philip. ii. 15, 16. He that
hath, to him fhall be given. And the intent and work of the mini-
ſtry (with the ſeveral miniftrations of it) is to bring into the unity, Ephef.
iv. 13. as perfons are able to follow: and not to force all men into one
practice or way; that is the way to deftroy the faith, and the true unity,
and at beſt can introduce but a fleſhly appearance of unity, in fuch a form
of worſhip and godlinefs as eats out the power. And for being of one
heart and one way, bleffed be the Lord, this is in meaſure known and wit-
neffed. The way is one; Chrift the truth of God; and he that is in the
faith, and in the obedience to that light which fhines from his Spirit into
the heart of every believer, hath a taſte of the one heart, and of the one
way; and knoweth that no variety of practices, which is of God, can make
a breach in the true unity. This is the one way, for every one to be ſub-
ject to that light of Chrift's Spirit which he hath received from Chriſt;
and every one keeping here, there is alfo one heart kept in the midſt of
all
Some Confiderations, &c.
325
all the variety, and diverſity of practices. And the unity being thus kept,
all will come into one outwardly alfo at length, as the light grows in every
one, and as every one grows into the light; but this must be patiently
waited for from the hand of God (who hath the right way of effecting it,
and who alone can do it); and not harfhly and cruelly attempted by the
rough hand of man.
Some CONSIDERATIONS
Concerning the State of Things, relating to what hath
been, now is, and fhortly is to come to pafs; warn-
ing all People to look about them, and to wait on
the LORD for the unerring Light of his Spirit, that
they may know the Times and Seafons, and the Work
which GOD is now about in the World, which is
Great and Wonderful; and fo may not be found
Fighters againſt GOD, his Truths, and the Witneffes,
of this Age and Generation; more particularly La-
menting over and Exhorting ENGLAND. With a
faithful Teſtimony concerning the QUAKERS.
I.
TH
HAT the fpoufe of Chrift, the true church which God built in the
apoſtles days by his Spirit, the church againſt which the gates of
hell could not prevail; the church which was the temple of the living God,
the pillar and ground of truth; the woman which was cloathed with the
fun, who had the moon under her feet, and was crowned with a crown of
twelve ftars, &c. this church, at the clofe of the fight between Michael
with his angels, and the dragon with his angels, fled into the wilderneſs, in-
to the place prepared of God for her, Rev. xii. 6. having two wings of
a great eagle given her, that fhe might fly thither to her place; where the
was to abide, and be hid from the face of the ferpent, and to be fed with
the living nouriſhment from the hand of the Father all the time of anti-
chrift's reign, which is faid to be a time, times, and half a time, ver. 14.
or one thouſand two hundred and fixty days, as ver. 6. or forty-two months,
as chap. xi. 2. And ſhe was accordingly gone out of fight, infomuch as
the ſerpent could find her no more, but went to make war with the remnant
of
326
Some Confiderations
of her feed, which kept the commandments of God, and have the teftimony of
Jefus Chrift, Rev. xi. 17.
2. That the true church cannot come out of the wilderneſs, till the time.
of her abode there (the fet time appointed by God) be ended, nor then
neither, but by the out-ftretched arm of the Lord, Pfa. cii. 13.
She may
mourn over her defolate wilderneſs-ſtate, but ſhe cannot fly out of it, with-
out the help of the wings of the fame eagle, which were given her to fly
into it. The Lord muft pity the duft of Sion, and, by his everlaſting
ftrength and compaffion, raiſe up the tabernacle of David, which is fallen
down, or it can be reftored no more, ver. 16. Rev. xxi. 3.
3. That the ftate of the people of God, all this time of the true church's
abfence, hath been a ſtate of captivity. The feed hath been in bondage in
Egypt the dark land, in Babylon the land of confuſion (for ſuch all the
church buildings, order, and government have been, in compariſon with the
true order and government of the church by the Spirit, which was known
and enjoyed by the people of God, before this her flight); where they have
mourning under the chains of darkneſs, and lamenting over their mother;
for Sion hath been laid wafte, and Jerufalem, the holy city, hath been
trodden under foot by the Gentiles; to whom the outward court was given,
when God took down his building, and fecured his temple, altar, and the
worſhippers therein, Rev. xi. 2. And in this ftate God finds his people,
when he comes to overthrow her (to bring death,' and mourning, and fa-
mine, and fire upon her, Rev. xviii. 8.) and to redeem them; for then
the voice goes forth from the Spirit of the Lord, to the fpirits of his peo-
ple, Come out of her, my people; that ye be not partakers of her fins, &c. ver. 4.
Why? were the people of God in her till now? Yea, till the very hour of
her judgment, and are many of them in great danger of ftaying there,
even till they feel her plagues? They that fit down in any church building,
taking it for Sion, before God's feafon of building his Sion, fit down but in
Babylon, it is no other; though they who have drunk of the falfe woman's
cup (new mixed for them, and fo are inchanted afresh into fome new fine-
painted bed of her fornication), cannot believe it to be fo.
4. That when God redeems his people out of Babylon, he brings them
not immediately unto Sion (not immediately into a built city), but into the
wilderneſs where the church lies unbuilt, where they are prepared and fitted
for the holy land, and circumcifed in fpirit before their entrance. There is
a long travel from Babylon to Sion; wherein the hafty fpirit, the rough
fpirit, the exalted fpirit, the murmuring fpirit; the felf-will, felf-worship,
felf-wiſdom, knowledge, and righteoufnefs (all which are of great price in
Babylon) is cut down; and the fpirit broken, emptied, made poor, deeply
humbled, and fo prepared for God's holy hill. When a Babylonifh build-
ing or way of worſhip is diſcovered, man would fain have another ready,
to put in the place of it fo foon as it is pulled down. Thus man's wifdom
would order it, but the Lord will not have it fo; but there muſt be a fea-
;
fon
f
concerning the State of Things.
327
1
ſon of deſolation, of ſtripping, of nakedneſs, of being uncloathed of all
the purple and ſcarlet dye of Babylon, Rev. xvii. 4. A pulling off the or-
naments of all the knowledge, worship, ordinances, duties, experiences, &c.
which are held and practifed out of the pure life. And in this ſtate of
mifery and fore diftrefs, the Lord lays the foundation of the new heavens,
and of the new earth, in the ſpirits of his people; which, when it is finiſhed,
then at length he faith to Sion, Thou art my people, Ifa. li. 16.
Obferve therefore the error of the reformations fince the apoftaſy. They
have been ſtill building too faſt, and not waiting on God to be hewn and
fquared, and fitted for his building. The reformed churches have ſtill
been built of ftones before they were made ready for the building. They
have not waited their time of preparation in the wilderneſs, nor have they
waited for God's building them up into a temple, nor for the time and
ſeaſon wherein it is God's pleaſure to build. So that though they did
well in feparating from that which was corrupt and manifeftly evil; yet
they did not well in making hafte into another way of their own forming,
but fhould have waited for God's manifeſtation of the good, and for his
leading of them by his Spirit into it. And by this means it has come to
paſs, that though there hath been a pure thing often ftirring towards re-
formation; yet by an over-forward haftening to build, the good hath been
quenched, and the evil hath again (under a new cover or form of worſhip)
overgrown it, and then hath been ready to revile and perfecute the good in
others but this the eye which is overtaken with the appearing beauty of its
building (having concluded it to be according to the will of God revealed
in the ſcriptures) cannot diſcern.
5. That when Sion is rebuilt, when the church its heaven is again
ftretched forth (wherein fhe was feated before fhe fled into the wilderneſs,
Rev. xii. 1.) thofe that are God's faithful witneffes (into whom the Spirit of
life hath entered, and whom he hath cauſed to ſtand upon their feet) ſhall
afcend up to heaven in a cloud, which their very enemies fhall behold,
Rev. xi. 12. And this was done in the time of a great earthquake, wherein
the tenth part of the city fell, ver. 13. The fhaking at this time is very
great in this nation; let them mark what will be the iffue, and obferve whe-
ther (notwithſtanding all the feeming contrarieties) the Lord God doth not
fo order it, as to bring a confiderable part of Babylon down, and of the
powers that uphold her.
The people of God, all this time of antichrift's reign, have been a fuf-
fering people. The tender-hearted every-where (whofe fouls could only
bow to the Lord, who could not receive doctrines from men, or fall into
worſhips and practices at the will of man) have lain open to church cenfures
(as they call them), and to the magiftrates indignation, under the names of
heretics, blafphemers, feducers, and difturbers of the peace both of church
and ſtate and indeed fo far as any have tafted of the true light and power
of Chrift, and have been called forth by him to be his witneffes, they could
not
328
1
Some Confiderations
not but be difturbers of the carnal peace and fecurity of the antichriftian con-
gregations againſt whom they witneffed. When the true church fled into
the wilderness, the ferpent caft a flood after her: fhe was reproached and
blafphemed for an harlot, a ftrumpet, one that was not the Lamb's wife, as
the pretended, Rev. xii. 15. For the dragon which perfecuted her (having
now gained her ground) had fet up another woman for the true church,
and had decked her richly, Rev. xvii. 4. infomuch as fhe was admired for
her beauty by all the kings and inhabiters of the earth, ver. 2. but fhe
which was indeed the true woman, was trampled upon and deſpiſed,
even by all the outward worshippers in the outward court all over the
world, Rev. xi. 2. And if thofe of the fynagogue of Satan could con-
tend to be the true Jews, and the true church, even while the true
church was ftanding, Rev. iii. 9. no marvel though they carry it clear
in their ſeveral forms and difguifes in the time of her flight and ab-
fence, eſpecially they appearing both in the place where the once was, and
in her very dreſs: and here is the eye of God's Spirit, and of the wiſdom
he gives to his babes tried, even to difcern and fly from her there. Let
her paint ever ſo often, change her dreffes in every hour of reformation, come
nearer and near into the likeness of the true church; yet that which is born of
the truth efpieth her; and the young man whofe ear is kept open to the
voice of wisdom, which uttereth itfelt in the immortal feed, eſcapeth her
bed, and is not defiled with the great whore, nor with any of her women
or daughters, who are born of her after her fpirit, though they deny her, and
feem much to differ from her according to the flesh, Rev. xiv. 4. Enter
into the myſtery of life (from out of the reach of the ſpirit of witchcraft) and
read me here, that in the true eternal light of all the living, thou mayeft per-
ceive the myſtery of deceit, and eſcape as a bird from the fnare, and live.
Now the true church being thus fled, what becomes of her feed? They must
needs be ſcattered; they can no more be found in a body as before; there
is now but a remnant left which keep the commandments of God, and have the
teftimony of Jefus Chrift, and thefe the dragon applies himſelf ſtill to manage
the war againſt, Rev. xii. 17. And the beaft (to whom the dragon gave his
power, Rev. xiii. 2. and upon whom the falfe church was found fitting even
to the very laft, Rev. xvii. 3.) did not only make war with the faints, but
alſo overcame them: and this power was given him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations, ver. 7. of chap. xiii. So that the holy city was to be
kept down and trampled under foot by the falfe worshippers, under one form
or appearance of church-worſhip or other, all the time of the beaft's reign,
Rev. xi. 2. And as the beaft did kill them, fo the woman that fat upon
the beaſt drank their blood, Rev. xvii. 6. For mark; the dragon, the firſt
beaft, the fecond beaft with the falfe church, are all in unity together,
and drive on their war and defign, under diſguiſes and appearances of truths
and church-worſhip, and diſcipline, againſt the Lamb and his followers;
againſt every appearance of Chrift in his truth and people. And every-
where,
concerning the State of Things.
329
where, where he can get into any form without the power, there he ma-
nageth his war by the form againſt the power. Thus in Popery, by cry-
ing up holy church, he knocks down all the fpringings up of truth there;
fo in Epifcopacy, by crying up that form, how did he knock down the
buildings up of the true life and power there alfo! And if he be driven
out there, then he ſtands ready to enter into the next form, either of Pref-
bytery or Independency, that he may not want the advantage of a cover
to keep his war on foot ftill againſt the faints and the truths of Chrift: and
here lies his ftrength; and the liker his form is to that which once was
true, the better it ferves to cover him; and he has better advantage of
fighting under it againſt Chriſt, his truths and people, than under another
which is not fo like. But antichrift's reign (who hath taken the name
upon him without the nature, and fo perfecuted the true nature, being co-
vered with the name) is to have an end; yea (bleffed be the Lord) it is in
part ended, and the Lamb's day is already begun, the out-ſtretched arm of
the Lord's everlafting power is revealed, and revealing more and more:
yea, Babylon is already difcovered, her waters are dried up, her nakedneſs
under all her covering is ſeen, her very life and ſpirit is ftruck at, her king-
dom totters daily; the ſtakes alſo of Sion's tabernacle are ſtrengthening
daily, and the Lord is ftretching out her curtains, and inlarging her terri-
tories and the wrath iffues out more and more from the throne, and
dreadful woes and plagues are prepared for them, who are either up-
holding any old likeneffes of what once was true, or fetting up any new
ones in this day of God's power, wherein he is redeeming and bringing
forth the life itſelf.
Is it not plain that the beaſt (or antichrift, who fat in the temple of God,
ruling there as a beaft by outward force, without the inward life and power,
2 Theſſ. ii. 4.) had power given him to continue his war againſt the faints,
till the very expiration of the forty-two months? Rev. xiii. 5.
And was
not this power given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations?
ver. 7. Did not the falfe church, or falfe woman, till the very end of this
time (in one appearance or other, under fome form of worfhip or other;
fometimes in a groffer and more loathfome, fometimes in a finer and more
taking dreſs) ftill go for the true church, being upheld by the kings and
inhabitants of the earth, who all drank of her cup of fornication? Rev.
xvii. 2. 4.
Was not the holy city (or the true church) trod under foot all
this while in every kindred, nation, &c. by the heatheniſh ſpirit of the anti-
chriſtian chriſtians therein, who made a great fhew of zeal and worſhip in
the outward court? Rev. xi. 2. For while the holy city is to remain un-
built, he that will worſhip in it muſt fink into its ruins, and lie defolate
with it; but he that will be building before God's time, rejects the corner-
ftone, which lies hid in the ruins of this city, and fo builds up a Babylon,
to which though he gives the name of Sion, yet it is not fo in truth; but
VOL. I.
Τι
Sion
;
330
Some Confiderations
!
Sion lies underneath, in the duft, trampled upon, and fet at nought by
him and his building. Now fhall the forty-two months never have an end?
And ſhall the holy city never riſe again from under the feet of the anti-
chriſtian profeffors and worshippers of the outward court? Shall the walls
of Sion never be built more? Or is it to be expected, when the Lord be-
gins to build her up, and bring her forth, that ever any of the falſe churches.
fhould own her? O fear therefore before the Lord! every one entering into
that in his own heart, which (being hearkened unto) teacheth the fear,
and breaketh the pride, loftinefs, and conceitedneſs of the high-imagining
mind, which firft builds up with apprehenfions about the church, and worſhips
without the ſpirit, and then is offended with that which cannot bow to thoſe
images. But be it known unto you, O nations and powers of the earth,
that the Lord hath raifed up a people, whofe knees can alone bow at the
name of Jefus, and whofe tongues can alone confeſs to him. And if Ne-
buchadnezzar's ſpirit ſhould heat a furnace of affliction feven times hotter
than it hath yet been heated all this day of the cruel fufferings of God's
dear people, and threaten all with it that will not bow to the image or
form of worſhip which he fets up; yet this we know affuredly, that the
Lord hath begotten a feed which he can deliver, and which we do not doubt.
but he will deliver, let antichriſt's ſea and waves roar ever ſo loud againſt
them. But, however, bow to any image they cannot : for they have tafted
of the living truth itſelf, which hath made them free from fuch images and
idols wherein they were before intangled; and the Spirit of the Lord calleth
aloud to them to ftand faft in the liberty wherewith Chrift hath fet them
free, and not receive any more the yoke of bondage upon their necks, but
to draw under the fweet gentle yoke of his Spirit,
O England, England! how fad is thy ftate! how great and mighty things.
hath the Lord done for thee! but thou ftill overlookeft his hand, and art
offended with the work of his Spirit, becauſe it fuits not with thy fleſhly de-
fires and intereſts. O England, England! what will become of thee?
The Lord hath kindled his fire, and thou addeft fuel daily. The Lord is
arifen to make inquifition for the fufferings and blood of his people; and
thou, inſtead of repenting of what thou haft done, art greedy of more.
Thou haft deeply drunk of the whore's cup of fornication, and that makes
thee thus thirſty after the faints blood. Thou crieft out againſt thoſe that
put the martyrs to death, as the profeffing Jews did againſt thoſe that put
the prophets to death; and yet perfecuteft their Spirit where-ever it appears
in further proſecution of the work of reformation at this day, even as the
Jews did perfecute the Spirit of the prophets in Chriſt and his apoſtles.
O mourn to the Lord to open thine eyes, that thou mayeſt not thus ftand
any longer in his way! Let him bring forth his church, let him fet up his
truth, let him advance his people, and do not thou go about to limit the
Spirit of the Holy One in them. There is none of theſe will harm thee,
but
concerning the State of Things.
331
i.
譬
​but bring bleffings upon thee. Let thy governors keep within their bounds,
and be a defence upon all people in their juſt rights and liberties, and ſee if
from that day he do not bless thee. But if there be one thing in the Lord's
heart concerning his people, and another thing in thine; if he reſolve to
bring them forth to his praife, and to give them their liberty in their
obedience to his Spirit, and thou refolve they fhall come under thy yokes
and bonds, how can ye agree? Your wrath by this means must needs be
kindled againſt each other, and he that hath moft ftrength will carry it.
For as the day of your wrath is come, to ſee the people of God fo in-
creaſe, grow bold in his truth and power; fo the day of his wrath is come,
to fee his people fo reproached, hated, hunted, and perfecuted, for his
name's fake, Rev. xi. 18. And take heed, left upon that fpirit which in
this generation ftill continues perfecuting, the fufferings, perfecutions, and
blood of all the faints and martyrs (fhed all the time of antichrift's reign)
be not required. The blood of all the prophets, from Abel to Zacharias,
was required of that great profeffing generation of the Jews, who fpake
fuch great words of Mofes and the prophets, but perfecuted Chriſt and
his apoſtles, Mat. xxiii. 35. And the blood of all the fouls that lie under
the altar, crying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, doft thou not judge and
avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth? They were bid to reft a
little feaſon, and then the blood of all that ever were flain fince the apoftles
days is to be required of that generation of profeffors, which are found
even to the very laft in the perfecuting fpirit, Rev. vi. 10, 11.
I do not write this to reproach any fort of profeffors; but in true love and
bowels of compaffion, that ſuch among them as ever had any tafte of God,
and of his fweet meek Spirit, but are now grown hard, and found fmiting
their fellow-fervants, may (if it be poffible) hear the Lord's voice, which yet
tenderly calls after them, that they may not be cut in pieces, and receive
their portion of wrath with Babylon, Mat. xxiv. 49, 50, 51. Rev. xviii. 4.
As for me, I am poor and weak (a worm, and no man), one who hath been
a mourner and wanderer in a ſtrange land all my days; yea, I have
been that fool, who though I have often been very near, yet ftill knew not
the way to the city of my God, Ecclef. x. 15. And at prefent I am very
unworthy and unfit to be the inftrument in the Lord's hand for the reclaiming
any man from his wanderings. Yet this I can in truth and uprightnefs
fay concerning the Lord's gracious dealings with me, that in the bowels of
his mercy he hath vifited me, and turned my face toward his Sion; and his
life and Spirit (as he pleaſeth to keep me fresh and open) I know both my
way and my leader; and alfo that which is mine enemy, which continually
endeavoureth to betray and devour me. And I fpeak the truth in Chrift,
I lie not.
I know alfo what I have felt wrath and mifery upon, and what the
Lord hath fo long and fo feverely fmitten in me, he will not fpare in others.
Oh! that men could hear, and avoid my bed of torment, where I fuffered a
of
Tt 2
moft
332
Some Confiderations
{
moſt dreadful and terrible hell for many years (bear with me, for I cannot
call it lefs), though without either guilt upon my fpirit, or fear of wrath,
being juſtified before God in my own confcience (till afterwards,under long
continuance of mifery and thick darknefs, fome guilt was contracted), and
having a fecret root of hope concerning good from God, if once I might
appear in his prefence to plead my caufe there. Who can poffibly believe
the mifery I endured (if it were related)! and yet it had not the leaft mixture
of either of theſe in it for a long time. But after this, through the igno-
rance and thick darknefs wherewith I had been long overwhelmed, not
knowing what had been, and ſtill was, preſent with me, the tempter by his
fubtilty got in, and led out my mind from what had vifited and fought af-
ter me all my days, to wait and hope for fome great appearance to fet me
to rights and here my lofs was very great, my foul being hereby removed
far away from the prefent feeling of the fpring of my life, and drawn to
neglect the little dawnings of that light which fhineth more and more to
the perfect day; having concluded in myſelf that no leſs would fuffice to
heal me, than its breaking forth in its full ftrength, even at noon, upon
me. Thus I defpifed the day of fmall things, and was feduced into a gaping
after, and waiting for that, which is never ſo to be received: but the little
feed of light being received, and finding good and honeft earth, groweth
up therein even to perfection, and then knoweth and receiveth the light of the
day in its full ftrength. And although there was fuch a favour of God
left in me, that upon the first converſe with this people called QUAKERS,
I could own the voice of God in them, and ſet to my feal (as in the pre-
fence of God) that it was the true life and power of the Moft High whereof
they were born; yet I could not but defpife it as a weak and low appear-
ance thereof; yea, and ſtarted back from it, as being fuch a kind of difpen-
fation of life and power as was to pafs away; and the paffing away whereof.
from me had made me fo miferable. And now I am as one born out of
due time, and come lagging behind; feeling myſelf altogether unworthy
to be numbered amongſt them, or to bear a teftimony to that truth and
power of life wherein they flouriſh, and by which they are redeemed and
bought out of the earth with the price of the living immortal blood of
Jefus, by which (together with the word of his teftimony) they cannot but
overcome all the powers of darkneſs (with all the powers of the earth,
which ſtand in the darknefs, and fight under the darknefs), being taught
thereby not to love their lives unto the death. But the fcoffing conceited
profeffor will be ready to fay, What! are those the only people? Others befides
them are as dear to God as they.. There are many in forms equal to them, and
many out of forms far beyond them. Whereto I anſwer thus; Yea, there
are fo in the ſcale of man's judgment: but not fo in the meaſure of the
fanctuary. Theſe are the only redeemed people that my foul knows of.
There is a feed befides them, not yet gathered, but in Babylon, whom
the
}
concerning the State of Things.
333
་
the Lord (in his due feafon) will gather into the fame light, life, and power;
but there is no other Saviour but that light eternal which hath given them
life, and dwells in them; who is rifen in them, come to them, and hath
taken them into himſelf; in whom they are, even in him that is true, who
is the Son of God, the true God, and the life eternal, 1 John v. 20. who
hath poured forth his Spirit upon them, in which they minifter and ga-
ther up to God thoſe who have an ear to hear the voice of his Spirit. Be-
ware, therefore, O ye nations and powers of the earth, what ye do againſt
his people! for ye cannot prevail by any inchantment againft theſe whom
the Lord, hath bleffed, but the more ye ftrive to vilify and fupprefs them,
the more the Lord will magnify and exalt them. And the life which God
hath raiſed up in them muft reign, do what ye can againſt it. O abafe your-
felves, and kiſs the Son, O profeffors and powers of the earth! that ye be
not cut off: for the Lord's hand is lifted up, and in his jealouſy he will
fmite home for the fake of Sion; for his ear hath heard the cry of the poor
and needy, whom no man regardeth, Ifa. xxxii. 10, 11.
:
1
7
:
A WAR N-
[334]
!
A
WARNING of LOVE,
}
FROM THE
of LIFE,
BOWELS
L S of
TO THE
Several GENERATIONS of PROFESSORS of this AGE;
That they may awaken and turn towards the LIFE, to be truly
cleanſed and faved by its powerful living Virtue, before the Storm
of Wrath break forth, and the overflowing Scourge overtake
them, which will ſweep away the ſtrongeſt and moſt well-built
Refuge of Lies; and fink thofe Souls even into the Pit of Mi-
ſery, which are there found when the Storm comes.
Held forth in Four PROPOSITIONS, ASSERTIONS, or CONSIDERATIONS,
Concerning MAN in his LOST STATE, and his RECOVERY out of it.
T
PROPOSITION
I.
That MAN is fallen from GO D.
HERE is an everlaſting, infinite, pure fountain, and well-fpring of
life, from whence all creatures came; from whence their life, being,
motion, virtue, and reft flows; in which they all have a place and ſtanding
according to their nature, eftate, temperature, and courfe of operation in
his eternal counfel, who made all, difpofeth of all, ruleth in and over all
eternally whofe everlaſting kingdom and dominion (which was before all,
and will be after all) cannot be excluded by any power or dominion which
arifeth after it; but only fo far as itſelf hath pleafed, it hath given way to
that power of darkneſs, which is contrary to it: which how it fprang up,
what it hath to do, and how it is to vanish, is not for man's comprehenfion
to fathom.
In this ſpring of life, man had an eſpecial place and ſtanding. The
Lord had created and placed him fupreme, under himſelf, over the works
of
the Bowels of Life, &c.
335
:
of his hands; gave him his kingdom here on earth under him, gave him
his image to rule in, even a fufficient meaſure of that eternal wiſdom in
which he formed him, to which he was to be fubject himſelf, and by which
he was to reign over and order all with delight, joy, and comfort in him-
felf, to the praiſe and glory of him who formed all, and had given him do-
minion over all. Here was the fweet eftate, the fweet peace, the ſweet
liberty, the fweet uniformity of all; all being kept and preferved in that
life, virtue, wiſdom, goodnefs, power, and love wherein they were made;
the creatures naturally becoming ſubject to, ferving and obeying man (man
ufing them and ruling over them not in the tyranny, not in the luft, not in
the vanity, not in the excefs; but in the righteoufnefs, in the love, in the
meekneſs, in the moderation, in the divine wiſdom, in the pure power and
virtue of the life); man likewiſe naturally veiling to his maker, walking in
his light, living in his life, fhining in his beauty, conquering and triumph-
ing over all that might affault, in his ftrength, and continuing perfect and
ſtreight before him in purity and cleanneſs of the creature (not degenerated)
towards his creator and preferver. Now what could man want, having the
fpring of life fo near him? What could he defire, in the purity, in the life,
which the Father of life could have with-held from him? Had he afked in
the Spirit, could the Father have denied him? And had he ſtood ſtill a while
in the life, out of the luft, could he have forborne aſking in the Spirit?
Had he not fo fuddenly been tempted to the tree of knowledge, furely he
had eaten of the tree of life, and had lived for ever.
But man being in honour, lodged not one night (HE FELL THE FIRST NIGHT,
read me who can), but became like the beasts that perish. He loſt the divine
image, and then had at beft but the natural; but that depending upon
the divine, the beauty thereof was loft too. He loft the eternal wiſdom,
he loft the fpring, he loft the godhead, he loft that which was to reign over
the creatures, and then he became but as the creatures; nay worſe than the
creatures. What he henceforth knows of God (as he ſtands in the dege-
neration) he knows naturally, like brute beafts (even by the natural exerciſe
of his mind, with the faculties thereof, even as the beafts learn and know.
by their nature, after their kind); and in what he thus knows, he corrupts
himſelf worſe than the beafts. Let the Lord try him ever fo much, ever
fo often; drop down of the dew of heaven upon him, fend him line upon
line, precept upon precept, now a little and then a little, yet he ftill remains
brutish, both in his underſtanding, receiving, and in his making ufe of it
all. Still he forgets the truth, and loſes himſelf in the image; gets a no-
tion, an imagination, a comprehenfion of fomewhat into his natural part
(which changes him not inwardly, but ſtill he is the fame in his root, ground,
and nature), but the life, the eternal virtue, he is ftill eftranged from,
and fo is brutish in all his knowledge and apprehenfions of God and his
truths; brutiſh in his worſhipping of him, brutiſh in his belief and hopes,
and his immortal foul periſhes under all. Outward Ifrael was a true and
full
✓
0
336
A Warning of Love from
full refemblance of him, who had many teachings, a pure law of worſhip
and facrificing, many prophets to reduce and reftore them to the right
path of holiness and obedience, but ftill they were erring in their hearts
from the Lord and his pure law of life, not knowing their owner, or their
maſter's crib, fo well as the ox or afs did theirs, Ifa. i. 3.
PROPOSITION
II.
That man, by all the imaginations that can enter into his heart, and by all the
means he can use, or courfes he can run, cannot return back to God again, or
So much as defire it.
HE fall of man from God is fuch, that it hath benumbed all his
ſenſes; yea, ſo bereft him of them, that he cannot feel his own eſtate.
He is dead, fpiritually dead; and can no more feel his death, his fpiritual
death, than a man naturally dead can his natural death. He is bewitched
into a fool's paradife, where he hath a new life, a new virtue, a new wif
dom, a new kingdom, a new dominion (which is indeed but death); with
which he is fo tranfported, that he forgetteth the old; and in this new fpirit
and eſtate, cannot fo much as defire after it. Men fpeak of the reliques of
the image which the firſt man had: Ah! poor deceived hearts! What re-
liques of life are there in a dead man? What reliques of purity in a man.
wholly degenerated and corrupted? Nay, nay; the fpiritual image, the di-
vine image, the eternal life, the pure power and virtue, is wholly loft; and
there is nothing left, but what is captivated and deftroyed through the de-
generating power. There is nothing at all of the eternal kingdom, of the
fpiritual image, of the divine life, to be found in fallen man, but a little
feed; and that feed not fo much as fown in his earth, as he ftands in the
degeneration; for the fowing of it is the beginning of the work a-new.
And now, who can read this riddle? The kingdom is within every man, and
yet not ſo much as fown in any man, till the springing up of the eternal virtue,
according to the eternal pleasure: nay, the earth is not so much as prepared to
receive the feed, until the Lord fend his plough into the heart. So that it is
impoffible for fallen man to attain to fo much as one true breathing or de-
fire after God again; this muſt arife from the
this muſt ariſe from the grace, from the mercy, from
a new begetting (by the free gift) towards life, towards the divine image
again; which was flain in man (and the impreffion of it on him wholly loit)
ever fince the foundation of the world in his heart, which God hath fet there,
ever fince he chofe it. And, indeed, fallen man, degenerated man (would
the Spirit of the Lord let him alone, and not difquiet him) likes his own
eftate well enough. The world being written in his heart, his thoughts
and defires are centered there, and of themſelves reach no further. Might
he but have the enjoyment of the creatures without, and the enjoyment of
ſuch a kind of earthly knowledge and wiſdom within, as he now afpires
after,
the Bowels of Life, &c.
337
after, he would fit down in Egypt and Babylon, reſting fully fatisfied with
Egyptian knowledge and wifdom, and with the Babylonifh treaſures (might
he have enough of them); and never think of Sion, and the pure holy land
of life any more.
But when the eternal ftirs in him, when the pure light opens at any time,
then he has fome little glimmerings of his eftate, then he has fome ſenſe
of his fallen condition, and ſome deſire to remedy it: What doth he then?
Then he beftirs himſelf to get fomewhat to cover him, then he gathers
ftones and makes mortar to build up a wall and raiſe a tower, that he may
not lie open to the deluge of wrath; for, by this ftirring of the life, he
hath fome little talte and fight that he is not one with the life, but departed
from it. The foul, being awakened by the opening of its own fpring in it,
begins to feel the want of its fpring. It wants the true virtue, the true
peace, the true joy, the true comfort and refreſhment, the true reſt, the
true liberty, the true life, the true light; and for want of this, its eftate is
miferable; and in the ftirring of the fpring, it feels this mifery; and in this
feeling it groans, it mourns, it pants, it cries out, and the creatural earthly
ſpirit can have no reft becauſe of it. What therefore doth the creature do
to ſtill this cry? Why, it joineth, as it were, with the foul; it uſeth all the
means it can to attain that which the foul fees the want of: it inquireth
after God, hearkeneth out after thofe that know him, ftudieth the law,
obſerveth the ſtatutes and ordinances, performeth the duties, believeth,
prayeth, hopeth, waiteth; nay, what is it which the creature will not fet
upon in this diftrefs (efpecially if the convictions of the eternal light purfue
and follow him cloſe) to ftill the cry of the ſoul, and to attain the price of
the eternal inheritance, which is fet before the foul; which the ſoul can never
be at reft or fatisfied without fome affurance of, and progrefs towards. But
all this will not do. Man in all his own obedience, as well as in his dif-
obedience, is ſhut out. There is a flaming fword which turns every way, to
keep the way of the tree of life; infomuch as man can by no means come at
the way to the true life, nor enter into the ftrait and narrow path that
leads thereto, but as he is cut to the heart, his life let out, and as he dies,
and comes into unity with that which flays him, and keeps the way from
him. So that man, in his running to God, is thruſt by; as well as in his
running from him: in his willing and defiring after him he is rejected, as
well as in his willing againſt him. It is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that fheweth mercy. Mark; there is a birth of
bloods, a birth of the will of the fleſh, a birth of the will of man, John i.
13. all theſe will, all theſe run (fome of them very hard); but they are all
thruſt by, and diſregarded by the Lord, both in their willing and in their
running. There are many found running the race, but one obtains the prize,
which one is he that is born of God; to whom, when God gives the prize,
he will fay to all the other births (notwithstanding all their willing and run-
ning, their believing, hoping, praying, &c.) Depart from me, I know you
VOL. I.
U u
not,
338
A Warning of Love from
not, ye are the fruit of a ſtrange womb, not of my ſpouſe, and fo muſt not
inherit my kingdom. And as all thefe will be cut fhort of the inheritance.
at laft; fo all that they do at prefent is loathfome to the Lord's foul. The
facrifice of the wicked is abomination; how much more when he bringeth it with
a wicked mind? Prov. xxi. 27. His facrifice, his worſhipping of God, his
praying, his reading of fcriptures, his meditating thereon, and of God and
his works; his believing, hoping, waiting, fearing of threatenings, and
applying of promifes, &c. all is abomination. The wicked man, he whoſe
heart is not circumcifed by the Lord's eternal Spirit, whatſoever he can, or
doth, facrifice to God, the Lord loathes, and it cannot profit his ſoul.
Object. Yea, when he does them in hypocrify, fo they are.
Anfw. Nay, more then fo. When he doth them with an evil heart,
they are much more abominable; How much more when he bringeth it with
a wicked mind? But let him bring it with a good mind, with that which he
calls the good heart (for the circumcifed heart, the heart of the true new
birth, is only the good heart; not that heart which every falfe birth is apt to
call good); let him bring it with that heart which he takes to be the up-
right heart; with an honeft intention, fo far as he knows; take his facrifi-
ces at the very beſt, at the very pureft he can attain to; yet then they are
abomination.
And the reaſon hereof is plain and manifeft. The fountain is unclean, the
root in him is corrupt; And who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
Make the tree good, and his fruit will be good: but while the tree is bad,
the fruit cannot be good. Now can the holy God be pleaſed with that fa-
crifice which comes from the unclean fpring? Can God own or approve that
knowledge of himſelf, that faith, that love, that obedience, that integrity,
or uprightneſs, that induftry or diligence, thofe prayers or breathings,
which man pumps up out of the old ciftern? Nay, all theſe muſt into the
pit, with the common filthinefs and pollutions of the earth; and when the
Lord takes theſe afide from the feveral forts of profeffors, what will be left
in them? Oh! how many have builded up a wall, daubing it with un-
tempered mortar, which will not ftand in the day of trial, nor fhelter them
from the eternal flames? Oh! what yelling and roaring will there fhortly
be in fuch, as by no means will be warned, but would be juſtifying of
themſelves in their falfe knowledge and practices, and referving their fa-
bricks of religion to the trial of the day! and the day will try them indeed ;
even to the bitter perplexity and anguifh of their hearts, when they come.
to ſee that there is now no way of efcape; but they muſt lie down in the
bed of eternal forrow, mifery, and torment; and in utter feparation from
that wherein they thought they had a large and unquestionable ſhare.
PROPO-
the Bowels of Life, &c.
339
PROPOSITION III.
That all profeffions of God and of Christ upon the earth; all knowledge and be-
liefs whatſoever, with all practices of duties and ordinances of worſhip, ſave
only fuch as proceed from, and are held in, the pure life, are but as fo
many fig-leaves, or deceitful plaifters, which may fkin over the wound, but
cannot truly heal it.
T
HE wound of man is deep by the fall: he hath really loft God, he
is fhut out of his commonwealth; yea, in that eftate, he is altogether
without hope (for the hope fprings from God's vifitation of him with his
light, and from the living promiſe).
That which recovers man, is the eternal virtue, the endleſs power, the
life immortal, the Chrift of God.
Now, whatever knowledge man gathers (whether from the book of the
creatures, or from the fcriptures, or any other ways) or whatever man pro-
feffes, or whatever man practiſes out of this, it is but a cover of his own,
but a formed thing; but his own image of truth, of knowledge, of faith,
of love, of obedience, of worſhip; it is not the living truth, the living
knowledge, the living faith, the living love, the living obedience, the living wor-
fhip and fo it is but mortal, but flefhly; and when it comes before the
eternal flames, it will not abide them, but vaniſh. All flesh is graſs; all
the knowledge, the faith, the love, the worſhip, the obedience, the righte-
ouſneſs, &c. which man (who is ignorant of the leadings and power of the
life) can come at, is but grafs; yea, the flower of it, the feeming beauty
and goodlineſs of it, the very choiceft of it in any fort of profeffors, is but
as the flower of the field: it may make a fair fhew there, but when the Lord
cutteth it down with his fickle, and when his fun rifeth upon it with its
burning heat, it will foon wither, and his fire will foon devour it, fo that
its very place fhall be found no more. What will become of all the fruit
that fleſh hath borne, when God maketh bare, and cutteth down the root?
What will become of all mortal knowledge of the fcriptures, mortal wor-
ſhip; the faith and obedience which hath its root, growth, and fpreading in
the mortal part, when the Lord heweth at it with his immortal axe? Do not
deceive yourlelves; there is nothing will ſtand but what is immortal, and
that which is gathered into it, and fo one with it. No knowledge, no faith,
no love, no obedience, no worship, no hopes, but what fpring from the
feed, are gathered into the feed, and live in the feed. This will abide,
when all that ſprings from man, and hath its place and refidence in the mor-
tal part (and not in the true treafury) will come to an end, and diſappoint all
who have their hopes of the inheritance there.
Uu 2
PROPO-
340
A Warning of Love from
PROPOSITION IV.
That the living feed of eternal life, which God hath bid in man underneath his
earth, bath in it the living virtue, which alone can heal man, and restore him
to God.
Th
HAT which heals of the death, is the tree of life, whofe rind or
bark, whofe leaves, whofe bloffoms, whofe fruit, whofe boughs and
branches, whofe bulk or body, with the whole fap thereof, is all healing,
and there is nothing elſe can heal. Let man catch all the knowledge that
ever ſprang from the life; if he could believe (I mean in the man's part)
all that ever the life fpake, if it were fo that he could perform all that ever
the life called for, yet this would not heal him at all: whereas the leaft vir-
tue from the life, fpringing up into, and livingly retained in, the life's veffel,
truly refreſhes and heals. The feed in all its ſpringings up, and ſhootings
forth in the heart, lets out of its healing virtue. Let but in a reproof, a
conviction, a judgment, a condemnation, which wounds that part which
hath erred from the life, yet even in that there is a fecret hidden healing of
fomewhat elſe. The fmitings of the righteous principle are as balm, and its
reproofs an excellent oil. Thy rod and thy staff comfort me. Light is fown
for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. In all the tearings, fmite-
ings, and rendings of the earthly part (with which the feed alfo fuffers) and
the faith in which theſe are received, is the preſent ſubſtance of the heal-
ing from the eternal virtue hoped for.
Now, who will be wife? Let him become a fool in the flesh. Who
will be ftrong? Let him become weak in the man's part. Who will be
faved by the eternal power? Let him ceafe from the man in himſelf. Who-
ever would be able, in the life, to do all things, let him fink into that in
himſelf which is not, that it may bring to nought all things in him that
are; that ſo it alone may be: and he by it being brought to nothing,
will eaſily become all in it. This is the true way of restoration, of redemp-
tion; firit to be loft, to be overcome, to be drowned, to be made nothing
by that which is not; that that may come to BE in him, and he be quicken-
ed, raiſed up, and perfected in that, and ſo become poffeffor of the full-
nefs. The race is not to the fwift, nor the battle to the ſtrong; but he that
daily loſeth his ftrength, and his ability to know, or ſo much as to will or
defire (even till at length he become nothing at all) in him is the corrupt
at laſt deſtroyed, and the mortal ſwallowed up of the life. He that feels
the pure feed fpringing up, and by the growth of that is daily begotten,
quickened, raiſed, juftified, fanctified, circumcifed, baptized, fed in one
part, and ftarved in another. When the work of begetting, quickening,
raifing, regenerating, juftifying, fanctifying, circumcifing, baptizing is
finiſhed in him, and he is thoroughly begotten into the life, quickened by
the
the Bowels of Life, &c.
341
the life, raiſed in the life, regenerated, juftified, fanctified, circumcifed,
and baptized through the life, he fhall have the kingdom, wear the crown,
enter into the joy of his Lord, weilding the ſcepter of righteouſneſs with his
Lord in his kingdom for ever. Now this work is to be done in the heart,
on this fide the grave; for after death comes judgment for the things done
in the body; and the tree is to be difpofed of, according as it is found at its
fall, either to the fire, or to grow and flourish in the land of life. There-
fore be not ſlothful, but watch unto the movings of the living feed, that its
work may be perfected; that it may arrive at its ftature, and come to its full
growth, and may finiſh its fervice and teftimony, that fo it may enter into
its habitation, and receive you with it into its everlaſting manſion, where
every
fervant and conftant fufferer with the feed fhall be welcomed of its Fa--
ther, and remain a partaker of their joy and fulneſs for ever.
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
Where is the wife? Where is the fcribe? Where is the
difputer of this world? Hath not God made fooliſh
the wiſdom of this world? I COR. i. 20.
THE
F
HESE have always been the enemies and oppofers of truth, and
fetters up of falfe images thereof in all ages; the wife, the learned, the
great difputants. To theſe truth has ftill been mean and contemptible,
their eye hath ftill overlooked it, and their imaginations have ftill out-run
it, finding out ſomewhat elſe in the ftead thereof; for which they have been
ſtill able and vigorous to contend, and againſt the truth itſelf. And indeed
how can the wife eye fee that, how can the learned eye acknowledge that,
which comes quite out of the way of its knowledge and learning, even in a
path that it is not at all acquainted with? Wisdom is juftified of her children.
Thoſe that are wife to falvation, thofe that are learned in the Spirit, thofe
that can difpute in the power of the life and demonftration of the Spirit,
thefe know her habitation, and her out-goings, and can own her in every
age, and in every difpenfation and coming forth: but the wife and learned
of this world are fhut out of this wisdom, and in all their fearches after
truth cannot find her; and if at any time they do find and taſte fome-
what of her, yet they cannot keep her; but the wifdom, and learning,
and ftrength of the earthly part in them, foon betrays and makes a prey of
the fimplicity that is in Chrift, and of his pure gofpel; which cannot be
comprehended, nor will take up a dwelling-place with this wiſdom, but
brings
342
A Warning of Love from
brings it to nothing, tramples upon it, and keeps it down for ever, where
it abides.
Three forts of enemies, of the wife, the learned, the great difputants,
truth hath always had. Firft, Of fuch as have denied the true form of
knowledge and worship. Secondly, Of fuch as have owned the form, but
withſtood the power. Thirdly, Of fuch as have had a tafte of the power,
but afterwards erred from it; and fo held that, which they had once a true
tafte of, in the unrighteous part, and likewife added to it by their own
imaginations.
•
When Ifrael was in Egypt (that poor illiterate company of brick-makers)
in bondage under that wife people; the Egyptians, with all their wiſdom,
could not own their God, or their worſhip; but their God was an unknown
being to all that wisdom Ex. v. 2. and his worſhip and facrifice the abomina-
tion of their eyes, Ex. viii. 26. And Jannes and Jambres, with other wife
magicians, withſtood the appearance of God; and Pharaoh and his people,
with their wisdom, thought to have kept God's Ifrael from multiplying,
Exod. i. 10. and to have held Ifrael ftill under their fervitude, after the Lord
was risen to ftretch out his arm for their deliverance, Exod. v. 8, 9. And
how did all the wife nations ftill watch to make a prey of God's Jerufalem!
how did they count the towers! how often did they think to divide the
fpoil! Judg. v. 28. Iſa. xxxiii. 18. how did Senacherib and Rabſheka make
her their own! and when the Lord did at any time give Jacob for a ſpoil,
and Iſrael to the robbers, how did they think to keep her under for ever!
The wife Affyrian, the Moabite, the Ammonite, the Edomite, the Philiftine,
the Amalekite, the wife Babylonian or Chaldean, thought to keep her un-
der, as Pharaoh had done, even till their wifdom and knowledge perverted
them alfo, Ifai. xlvii. 10. and the prince of Tyre, who was wifer than
Daniel, Ezek. xxviii. 3. he alſo could infult over Jerufalem, and rejoice at
her downfal and captivity, chap. xxvi. 2.
But to come cloſer; come to Ifrael itſelf. That people, by all the wiſ-
dom it could gather from the law, by all the experiences it had had of God's
power, by all the faith that was wrought in them upon deliverances, yet had
not eyes to fee, nor ears to hear, nor hearts to perceive; but were a peo-
ple that did always err in their hearts, and did not underſtand the way of
truth and peace. The prophets among them were ftill fools; yea, the fpi-
ritual man mad, Hof. ix. 7. The priests were generally ignorant of the
Lord (for though they had the ark of his prefence, his tabernacle, his tem-
ple, altar, facrifices, worship, &c. yet they did not know where he was,
nor did inquire after him, but contented themſelves with a form of know-
ledge and worſhip). And they that handled the law, knew not him who
gave the law, and was the fole true interpreter of the law; but the paſtors
tranfgreffed againſt him, and the prophets prophefied by another fpirit,
Fer. ii. 8. They were wife, and did abound in their own meanings, gueffings,
and gathered knowledge; but they knew not the truth, no not of the let-
13
ter
1
the Bowels of Life, &c.
343
•
ter according to the law, and according to that light which God fometimes
cauſed to ſhine among them from his prophets. Hence it was that that people,
with their rulers, their teachers, their priefts, their prophets, were generally
enemies to the prophets whom God raifed up, hating, perfecuting, impri-
foning, ftoning them, &c. The prophets of God (that fpake his truth in
his wisdom, in his life, in power, in the demonftration of his Spirit) they
could not away with: theſe were fools with them; theſe were madmen
with them, 2 Kings ix. 11. Jer. xxix. 26.; theſe were poor illiterate herdf-
men and ploughmen: they had learned men, that were brought up at the
fchools of the prophets, that could prophefy divine things, fweet things,
that could open the law learnedly: thefe prophets and thefe prieſts the
rulers cheriſhed, and the people loved, Jer. v. 31, and xxiii. 26, 27. Ezek.
xiii. 3, &c.
Yea, among that people, fuch as had a taſte of the truth, as Korah, Da-
than, and Abiram might have (for furely it was not a fmall matter that
could fo lift them up to oppofe Mofes and Aaron in that manner, and to
ſtand out the conteft with them even in the Lord's prefence, Numb. xvi.
18. but an apprehenfion of God's being on their fide, from fome appear-
ance of his to them), and as Balaam had, whofe eyes were opened to fee
the beauty of the tents of Jacob; yet thefe, through the prevalency of the
fleſhly lufts and wifdom, become enemies, and try always to prevail over
Ifrael, even over the truth, and over the power. The apoftle Jude com-
pares fuch to the angels that kept not their firft eftate. The angels that
fell had a place and ftanding once in the truth; but they kept it not (they
abode not in the truth) but fell from it, and fo became devils, enemies to
the truth from which they fell: fo thofe that fall from the truth, from the
power, from the living virtue whereof (they once tafted, from the true wif
dom which once appeared to them, and began to feaſon and favour them,
in their fallen wiſdom they become the greatest enemies, the greateſt ac-
cufers, the greateſt oppofers, and the ftiffeft maintainers of a falfe image
of that truth which they once had fome knowledge of, and fome unity
with. Thus it was in the Jewifh ftate: now come to the apoftles days.
First, They had all the wife men of that age againſt them; all the wife
Greeks, all the wife Jews, the learned men, the able difputants of all forts.
The Greeks could not find wifdom in that knowledge of Chrift which they
held forth, nor the Jews could not find power in it, I Cor. i. 22. and fo
one accounted it fooliſhneſs, the other ſtumbled at it, ver. 23. There were
many forts and fects of wife men among the Jews; but not one fort could
own the truth, though they were looking for it, fearching the fcriptures
about it, and difputing concerning it. The very thing then in agitation
and inquiry among them was, when the kingdom of God fhould come.
king hinfelf directs them where it was, that they might know where to ex-
pect and wait for it, Luke xvii. 21. and in many parables opens it to them;
but it was ftill hid from the eye of that wiſdom wherewith they did ftrive
The
to
344
A Warning of Love from
to fee, underſtand, and comprehend it. So that all the feveral forts of
wife men of that age, even thoſe who were admirers of the law and the pro-
phets, yet were ftrangers and enemies to the truth, becaufe they joined to
that wiſdom, and to that learning and comprehenfion of the fcriptures, out
of the fight whereof it came.
Secondly, For fuch as did own Chrift after the flesh, fuch as were con-
vinced by his miracles (as Nicodemus and many of the honeſter ſort of the
Jews were), yet Chrift did not commit himſelf to them, John ii. 24. He
knew this faith and this owning of him, which was founded upon the wif-
dom and ingenuity of the creature, would fail; and fo he would not own it.
in Nicodemus; but bids him look after the new-birth, John iii. 2, 3. Nor
in fuch as followed him up and down, upon this or any other fleſhly ac-
count; but fometimes withdrew, and hid himſelf from them, Luke v. 16.
John vi. 14, 15.; and fometimes preached doctrines which ſtumbled them,
and made them withdraw from him, John vi. 66. And fo in the apostles days,
there were many could get the form, and gain advantage thereby to the
fleſhly wiſdom, to withstand the power, 2 Tim. iii. 5. 2 Cor. xi. 13.
Thirdly, There were fuch as had tafted of the heavenly gift, and of the
powers of the world to come, and yet fell away, Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6. There
were fuch as denied the Lord that bought them, 2 Pet. ii. 1. Such as fell
from the love of the truth to the love of their vomit, and of the mire of
the world again, ver. 22. 2 Tim. iv. 10. Such as had a ftanding in the
church's heaven (like the angels which fell) but kept not their habitation,
but were ſwept down from thence to the earth by the dragon's tail, Rev.
xii. 4. theſe are the nobleft champions (in the earthly wiſdom, and for a
corrupted eſtate and falſe image) of all the reft.
Now as the prophets of God among the Jews had theſe enemies, and as
the apoftles alfo had thefe enemies, fo all along the apoftafy theſe enemies
have been rife. The witneffes have had a wife fort of direct oppoſers among
the Papiſts, a wife fort of fecret underminers among the Proteftants, and
alſo another wife fort of fuch among themſelves as had fome taſte of the
truth, but departed from the power of it into the earthly wiſdom, into the
earthly underſtanding; and this laft fort fight more furiously and more
vehemently againſt the truth, and are more fubtil to affault it, and grapple
with it, than the other two. Oh! there is no fuch bitter deadly enemy
to Chrift and his Truth, as he who once had fome taſte of the virtue of it,
and is now turned from it into the earth, into the wiſdom and love of the
world, and yet ſtill holds fome of the notion of that truth (whereof he once
felt the power) in the earthly part.
To come yet clofer. There is in every man (not thoroughly fanctified)
that wiſdom which is not of God; that wiſdom from which God hides his
precious truths; which wifdom lies ready to catch every diſcovery and reve-
Ïation of truth to him, that it might improve it, and grow rich and wife by it.
Now this wiſdom cannot attain to the knowledge of any of the things of God:
neither
}
·
$
the Bowels of Life, &c.
345
neither can this wiſdom keep the true knowledge; but whatever this wif
dom catcheth, it prefently corrupts. The true wifdom, the true light,
the true knowledge of Chrift, is like the manna in the wildernefs; it daily
comes down from heaven, and muft daily be gathered fresh. The true
light ſprings from the life; and it muſt be held in the life, in the veffel which
the life forms, in the new bottle, in the new underſtanding; not in the
fleſhly part, nay, not in the natural part: for as the natural man cannot re-
ceive the things of the Spirit, 1 Cor. ii. 14. fo neither can he retain them.
The old ſtorehouſe, into which earthly things were gathered, muſt be
burnt up, and not made a treaſury for the things of God; but the new un-
derſtanding, which is given by him that is true, I John v. 20. which new-
forms and preferves, and is all in the natural. Sink out of the earthly
part, and read me, that thou mayeſt be able to ſay within thyfelf, and con-
cerning thyfelf, Where is the wife? Where is the fcribe? Where is the
diſputer?
The wife part, the knowing part, the reaching part in every man, will
be putting forth its hand to gather of the tree of life; but what hath it ever
been able to gather? I know men may gather notions of any kind, of any
fect, of any fort of profeffion, of any appearance or diſpenſation; but who
is able to come near the life, to touch the power, the truth, the everlaſting
ſpring, or any ſtream or drop of water that iffues from it? And he who
hath a true touch or tafte thereof given him, can his wiſdom add to it?
Nay, can he ſo much as retain it? David had a true fenfe and experience
of this, who cried out, O continue thy loving-kindness to them that know thee,
and thy righteoufnefs to the upright in heart. Indeed if he like not to retain
the thing itſelf in his knowledge, he may improve the notion, and bend
that to the temperature and difpofition of the earthly part in himſelf and
others; but this is not truth, but a dead image, or a dead remembrance of
what once was truly living. Oh! how doth the foul that is begotten of
the divine breath, that is born of the living power and virtue, depend upon
God for his continual breathings! There is nothing that hath fo much from
God, and yet nothing is fo little able to live without him. If he with-
draw from it, it preſently hangs down its head: nay, if he do but fo much
as hide his face, it is troubled, and all the fulneſs, which it immediately
before had from God, is not able to keep up its life one moment; but it
pants, and fails, and flags, and withers, until a new fupply of refreſhment
be adminiſtered to it. And he that knows this in any meafure will not
wonder at the diſtreſs and mifery of fuch for want of God's prefence; and
at their cryings out after the ſpring of their life (even as the hart brayeth
after the water-brooks) though they fhould have fulneſs of all outward
things, yea, and alfo fulness of knowledge in things of religion, even con-
cerning all conditions and eítates. The thing that I wanted in my great
mifery, it was not outward knowledge, it was not experience of God's
mercy and goodneſs; but this I wanted, the iffuings forth of his freſh life,
VOL. I.
Xx
adi
346
A Warning of Love from
and livingly to know where to wait for it, and livingly to know it when
it appeared: for it was ſtill near me all the time of my darkneſs, and did
preferve me, and appear unto me; but I livingly knew it not, but thought I
would be wiſer than others: for I faw many deceived, and fo I would not
own it in fuch a way as it then appeared in me, left I alfo fhould be de-
ceived like others; but waited for fuch an appearance as could not be
queftioned by the fleshly wiſdom. And he that waits for that, and fo
deſpiſes the day of fmall things, cannot but refuſe the little feed; and ſo,
not being received into his earth, it can never grow up in him into a great
tree; whereby the glory of the kingdom will be hid from him, and he
fhut out of it, when others enter into and fit down in it. Therefore, he
that will be wife, let him become a fool, that he may be wife; let him receive
that for his light, his king, his guide, which man's wiſdom never did, nor
never will, own. He that ever looks to enjoy the Comforter, let him re-
ceive the Reprover, the Convincer of fin, and wait for his law of judging
him throughout the whole courfe of his finful ftate and nature, paffing
along with him through the whole condemnation, until he arrive with him
at the juftification of the life, which the fleshly wiſdom, nor any of his
knowledge of the things of God (as they are held in the fleſhly part) muft
never arrive with him at.
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
The wiſdom of this world is precious in the eye of the world; and the
wiſdom of God in his poor, weak, defpifed earthen veffels is ftill fooliſhneſs
with them; but the Lord fo orders it, that he ftill juftifies his defpifed wiſdom
in his deſpiſed veffels, and makes the wifdom of the world appear fooliſh
to all the fingle and upright-hearted, who thirst after and wait for the re-
velation of his truth. Now two ways efpecially the Lord makes the folly of
this world's wiſdom appear.
Firft, In that by all their wifdom they cannot find out the true know-
ledge of God, ver. 21. The world by wiſdom knew not God. Though there be
an exceeding defire kindled in them to know God; though they take all
the ways that heart can imagine to attain their defires; though they ſtudy
and meditate ever fo hard; though they get ever fo many arts and lan-
guages; nay, though they read the very fcriptures ever fo diligently;
though they labour in the very fire; yet what they get, what they gather,
what they underſtand, what they comprehend by this wiſdom, it is all but
very vanity, Heb. ii. 13. It reaches not the immortal, it nouriſhes not
the immortal, it fatisfies not the foul, it refreſhes not the feed; but only
feeds and pleaſes the earthly part, the earthly underſtanding, the earthly
mind, the earthly defires and affections; even the man's part, the man's
fpirit, the man's nature; which, though elevated and raiſed ever fo high, is
ftill but earth.
Secondly, In that all their wiſdom cannot teach them to come down to,
to fubmit to, to come into God's way of having their wifdom crucified, and
that
the Bowels of Life, &c.
347
that raiſed up in them which might receive the truth. This they can never
learn in the fleſhly wiſdom. They may indeed come thus far, even to
fee that there is no way of entrance but by death; and to feek death (that
they may enter into the life), but they cannot find it. The feed of Jacob, in
his feeking, miffes not; but this feeker never fincs; to this afker it is never
given, and to this knocker it is never opened: and that is it which makes
this wiſdom in every appearance, in every fort of profeffion and fect of pro-
feffors, fo rage at the feed of Jacob, even becauſe it finds itſelf ftill fhut out
of the life, into which an entrance is adminiſtered to the feed. And how
can that which would fain have the kingdom, but rage againſt that which
takes the inheritance from it? How can every fort of profeffors but ſtrive to
ſlay the heir, that the inheritance may be theirs? Were it not for the living
feed, and the living power and virtue, which breaks forth in them and among
them, the religion and worſhip of the firſt birth might paſs for current; but
this is it which darkens the glory of all profeffions and profeffors upon the
earth, even that living thing which God hath begotten in his people, and
his living preſence with it, and bleffing upon it. At this all the zealous
facrificers, teachers, and profeffors, out of the life, rage and are mad, and
would break the cords and bands wherewith this ftrives to bind them unto
God's altar.
Now look over all ages; Could the wife heathen ſtoop to God's difpenfa-
tion to the Jews? Was it not fooliſhneſs and abomination to them? Or
could the wife Jews ftoop to the law within, to the word in the heart (al-
though directed thereto by Mofes, Deut. xxx. 14.) to learn there to do juſtly,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God? Mic. vi. 8. Could
they wait there to have their hearts circumcifed by that word of power, and
fo to be waſhed and made clean? Nay, were they not drowned in the out-
ward facrifices, temple, incenfe, new-moons and fabbaths, and fuch kind of
obfervations, and could not hear the truth of the Lord as it was delivered
by Mofes, nor as it was opened by the prophets, Ifa. i. 11.
II. So that this
people, ſeeking to know the Lord from the letter by this wiſdom, could
never come to the knowledge of him; but the place of his light and wif-
dom was hid from them.
Again, when Chrift came, and the kingdom was preached, and the ever-
lafting way of redemption and falvation made manifeft, could the wife eye
in the Greeks, or the wife eye in the Jews, fee it? Did not the Greeks fhut
themſelves out by a wiſdom above the letter (as they thought), and the Jews
by a knowledge and wifdom which they had gathered out of the letter?
How wife were they from the letter to reafon against the king of life? This
man cannot be of God, for he is a breaker of his fabbath. He is a Nazarite,
and can any good thing come out of Nazareth? He faith the Son of man must be
lifted up; but we read that Chrift abideth for ever. He is against God's tem-
ple, against God's day of worship, gives his diſciples ſuch ſcope and liberty, as nei
ther the Pharifees nor John gave their difciples; but reviles our ftritt and godly
teachers
X x 2
348
A Warning of Love from, &c.
M
teachers and expounders of the law, calling them bypocrites, blind guides, &c.
And mark with what a rough fevere fpirit be reproves them; whereas they call
bim mafter, and speak mildly and gently to him. Oh! what Jew in that nature,
in that wiſdom, in that fpirit, could but find matter and occafion of ftum-
bling at Chrift, even from the law and the prophets !
And as they ftumbled at the true Chrift, fo have all the generations of
wife men fince the apoftafy, all the learned men generally (their councils,
fynods, convocations, and affemblies) ftumbled at the true church, look-
ing for fome fuch-like building as had been in the apoftles days, and not
underſtanding or obferving how the Lord took down that building (as it
had been ſet up in the world), and how he prepared a place in the wilder-
nefs for his true church, unto which he gave her wings to fly, Rev. xii.
And how afterwards the falfe woman, or falfe church, got up in her ftead,
who with a golden cup of fornication bewitched the kings and inhabiters of
the earth, Rev. xvii. 2. (even peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues,
ver. 15.) fo that they miftook her for the true church, and went into her
bed of whoredoms. Which of all the learned men, which of all the coun-
cils of the Papifts, have feen this? Nay, which of the Proteftant councils,
or convocations, or affèmblies, have beheld the ftate of the true church?
Nay, have not every fort and feet of the Proteftants endeavoured to build
up fome image or likenefs of the true church; not fo much as fufpecting
that ſhe was fled into, and was to abide in the wilderneſs for a time, times,
and half a time? Oh! what darkneſs hath covered the earth? Oh! how
hath God befooled the wife men of every fort! the wife men of every
age! the wife Proteftants, as well as the wife Papiſts! the wife Indepen-
dents and Baptifts, as well as the wife Epifcopalians and Prefbyterians !
and how blind and fottiſh are nations, and peoples, that ftill they think to
find out the truth by having a fynod, affembly, or convocation of the
wife men gathered together! Indeed they are fitteft to rear up an image
to pleaſe the earthly part of man, and the earthly powers and intereſts
with; but truth never came in by that way, but the wife and learned have
ftill been fhut out from it, and have proved enemies to it. And whofoever
comes out of the apoftafy from the Spirit and from the truth, to the Spirit
and truth again, fhall find nothing fo great an enemy as the wifdom in him-
ſelf, and directions from the wifdom in others: for that which God leads is a
fimple, a weak babe, a child to the wisdom of the world; and he leads it
in a path which is wholly out of the line of this world's wifdom and know-
ledge of the fcriptures, as the path God chofe in Chrift's and the apoſtles
days was out of the line of the Jews knowledge of the fcriptures. Such is
the recovery out of the apoftafy: it is hid from all the fleshly-wife men of
this age, even as the entrance into the truths of the kingdom was hid from
all the fleſhly-wife men of that age. Happy is he who ceafeth from ſtriving
after the knowledge and comprehending of the things of God in this world's
fpirit and wiſdom, and waiteth in the humility and fear of the Lord, firſt
to be made a fool, that afterwards he may be made wife unto everlafting life.
I. P.
THE
New Covenant of the GOSPEL
Diſtinguiſhed from the
Old COVENANT of the LAW
AND THE
Reft or Sabbath of BELIEVERS, from the Reft or Sab-
bath of the JEWS; which differ as much from each other, as
the Sign and Shadow doth from the Thing fignified and ſhadowed
out.
IN ANSWER TO
SOME QUERIES of W. SALTERS, tending to enforce upon
CHRISTIANS the Obfervation of the JEWISH Sabbath, which
was given under the Law to the JEWS for a Sign.
AS ALSO TO
Some other QUERIES fent in Writing, upon Occafion of an EPISTLE
directed to all fuch as obferve the Seventh Day of the Week for a Sab-
bath, now under the GOSPEL. As likewife fome LETTERS to the
fame Purpoſe.
With a Brief Explication of the Myſtery of the
Six Days LABOUR, and Seventh Day's SABBATH.
1
Whereto are added
1
Some CONSIDERATIONS propounded to the JEWS, tending towards
their Converſion to that which is the Life and Spirit of the Law.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
We which have believed, do enter into reft, Heb. iv. 3.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new
moon, or fabbaths; which are a ſhadow of things to come, but the body is Chriſt, Col.
ii. 16, 17.
[ cccl]
THE
--
PREFACE.
TH
iii. 6.
HE apoſtle Paul faith, "That God had made them able minifters of
"the New-Teftament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit," 2 COR.
After the diſpenſation of the law, which was a fhadow of good things to
come; and after the difpenfation of the prophets, who foretold of better
days, and of a better ſtate to come, than the days and ftate under the law
were; it firſt pleaſed God to fend the fore-runner John the Baptiſt, in the
fpirit and power of Elias, to prepare the way for the King and his king-
dom; and then to fend the King himſelf, in the fulneſs of his Spirit, to ga-
ther diſciples to him, and to furnish them with a competent meaſure of the
fame Spirit, to raiſe up a fpiritual feed to him, in whom he would fet up
his kingdom, dwelling, walking, and reigning there; caufing his light to
fhine from thence round about the earth, as from his holy city, founded
upon his holy hill of Sion.
1
Now thoſe diſciples or minifters whom he chofe to raiſe up this holy feed
unto him, he made fit and able to minifter his new covenant, by which it
was to be raiſed; yea, he furniſhed them with fuch a power of his Spirit,
that they were able through him to minifter, not in the letter, as the old
covenant was miniſtered (which left the people ftill dead; nay, becauſe of
the tranfgreffing nature, made the offence abound, and fo increaſed death
upon them) but in the quickening Spirit, which raifeth from death, and
bringeth into the light of the living, to walk with the living God towards
the land of eternal reſt and peace. So that that which they miniſtered was
Spirit, and that which they miniftered to was fpiritual. By the power of
the Spirit, in preaching the living word of faith, they reached through the
veil to that which lay in death; they ftirred up a living principle, and mini-
ſtered life to it through the Spirit, GAL. iii. 5. And fuch as were born of
this living principle, they taught to live in the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit,
to be made perfect by the Spirit, and not to run back to the miniftration of
the
PREFACE.
cccli
:
$
the letter (as was proper for the Jews in their day) after the manner of the
former difpenfation, but to keep in the living principle, to grow up in the
feed, into the eternal life and immortality of the gospel.
Mark well (O ye Chriftians, who defire eternal life), the different way
of miniſtration between the law and gofpel! The law was a miniſtration of
the letter, in which they were to wait for affiftance from the Spirit, by which
they might be kept in the faith of, and be made obedient to, the law,
NEHEM. ix. 20. The goſpel is a miniftration of the Spirit, wherein they
are to begin with the Spirit, and to go on with the Spirit; not to gather
outward rules out of the letter, from what is written or fpoken, but to keep
to the living principle, and feel refreſhment to that, in reading or hearing
what is written or fpoken by the Spirit. And thus the fcriptures being
read, or any one ſpeaking from God being heard, it is mingled with faith,
and becomes profitable, feeding and refreſhing the young tender plant, the
living principle, and cauſing it to grow up into God: whereas whatever is
underſtood, or received, or held out of this, feeds but the earthly, and
doth but thicken the veil over the living feed; to which the kingdom be-
longs, and to which the gospel is fent to be preached, to raiſe it, that it might
live, and thrive, and grow up into its ftature, that fo it might inherit.
"The kingdom of heaven is at hand," faid John the Baptift, MAT. iii.
2. "It is come unto you," faid Chrift, MAT. xii. 18. that power of
life which was made manifeft in him, was it; " and this kingdom is alfo
"within you," faith Chrift to the Pharifees, LUKE xvii. 21. The Phari-
fees demanded of him when the kingdom of God fhould come? It cometh
not, faith he, with outward fhew or obfervation; it cometh not that way
you look for it; to wit, by the manifeftation of an outward glorious king,
to reign outwardly in the commonwealth of the outward Ifrael; but the
kingdom is within you. How was it within them? Chrift explains to them
in another place; it was in them like a grain of muftard feed; it was the
leaft of all the feeds in their hearts. There were many great feeds of dark-
nefs there, but yet there was alſo one little feed of light. It was there as
well as the reft (though lefs than them all) and did fometimes caft fome
glimmerings of light, and of its fhining in the darkneſs, though the dark-
nefs could not comprehend it. This feed was alfo likened to leaven, which
being received by faith into the lump, would leaven the whole lump, and
bring it into the favour and dominion of the kingdom. Now the miniſtry
of the apoftles was to turn men from Satan's kingdom to this kingdom;
from his large compafs of dominion in the heart, to this narrow feed; from
his great territories of dark nefs, to this little principle of light; from his
great power of death, to this little weak thing of God; wherein the eter-
nal power and godhead is made manifeft, as this comes to be opened and
increaſed by the Spirit. Here light is fown for the righteous, and joy for
the upright in heart; where it is to grow up, and from whence it is to be
reaped after its growth to perfection.
Oh!
1
ccclii
PREFACE.
Oh! how long have Chriftians (fo called) wanted the Spirit! How have
they wearied themſelves, in running to and fro about the letter, to find out
the mind of God, and are ftill unfatisfied concerning it, and even drowned
in fleſhly imaginations and contentions about it! They ſeek to have that
fatisfied which is not to be fatisfied: they feek to have that know which is
not to know they offer to God the fervice, faith, and obedience of that
which he will not accept; and keep that from him which he calls for.
They ſeek for the Spirit in the letter, according to the manner of the law;
but wait not to feel it in the feed, quickening the feed, raifing up the feed,
and dwelling in the feed, whither Chrift and his apoſtles directed to wait for
it. They look for that knowledge, that faith, that life, that Spirit, from
words written, which the apoftle preached was to be waited for from the
word in the heart. And by this means they raiſe up feveral buildings, and
get various kinds of knowledge, each according to his underſtanding and
apprehenfions of the letter, every fort being very confident concerning their
own apprehenfions that they are the right; and thus they wander from the
city of the living God, and from the living knowledge; building up images,
fome outwardly, fome in their minds; fome more grofs, fome more re-
fined; but all more or lefs, who are not acquainted with the living know-
ledge and truths of God, but have gathered apprehenfions with the wrong
tool from the letter, have ſet up fomewhat elſe inſtead of the true life and
power (the knowledge of the true God, which is life eternal) the knowledge
of the true Chrift (whom no man can indeed call Lord, but by the Spirit)
the knowledge of the everlafting gofpel (which alone is read in the Spirit)
the knowledge of the Spirit (which alone is read in the feed). Theſe are ſtrange
things to the feveral generations of the Chriftians of this age, who com-
monly know no more of them, than according to the apprehenfions they
have taken in concerning them; even from that wiſdom and underſtanding
which hath not a capacity in it to receive them, but must be deftroyed be-
fore theſe things can be understood aright, 1 COR. i. 19. Oh! that ye
could read in the eternal light of life! Oh! Chriftians, Chriftians! Oh!
that ye could fee how your underſtandings and knowledge from the letter
ſtand as much in your way, as ever the Jews' did in theirs; and muſt be
broken down as flat as ever theirs was, before the foundation of the king-
dom can be laid, and the building of eternal life reared
up in
your hearts.
Be not offended at my zeal for the Lord my God, and for your fouls. It
hath coft me very dear, what I teftify to you in the fimplicity and integrity
of my heart; and this I know to be moft certainly true, that that fpirit of
man, which, without the leadings of the eternal light, hath neftled itſelf in
the letter, got a feat of wisdom and knowledge there, raifed up a building
from thence, either of inward or outward worſhip, will be diffettled and
driven thence, even by that very Spirit which gave forth the letter. And
when this is done, and God's Spirit again openeth the letter, Oh! how
fweet, how profitable, how clear, how refreſhing will it be, being read in
the
PREFACE.
cccliii
the light of the Spirit, and in the faith which is in Chrift Jefus, which is
begotten in the heart by the word of faith, which is nigh there. From
that light, from that fpring (as the Lord pleafed to open, enlarge, and
fill the veffel) all the words of the holy men of God came; and in that
alone they have their ſweetneſs, freſhneſs, virtue, and fulneſs; but how to
read the words outwardly written, keeping to that, and underſtanding them
in that (and how to keep out the natural man, with his natural under-
ſtanding, which knoweth not the things of the Spirit, nor can know or re-
ceive them, I Cor. ii. 14.), is a myſtery to them who have not been turned
inward to this word, nor have known or heard his voice. The Lord is
recovering the myftery of life; and as that appears, the myftery of death,
under all its paint (under all its painted faith, painted love, painted know-
ledge, painted obedience, painted duties, ordinances, and worship), will
be made manifeft. Happy is he whoſe inward building will ftand, whoſe
gold will abide the fire and everlaſting burnings of the jealous God, whofe
eye-falve was bought of the true Spirit, whofe raiment is right fpun; but
exceeding hard will it go with that man whom the Lord (when he cometh
to ſearch him) fhall not find a right inward Jew, as he took himſelf to be,
nor truly circumcifed by the Lord's eternal Spirit with the light thereof, but
only by fuch a circumcifing-knife as he himself had formed out of the let-
ter of the fcriptures. This is the great mifery of Chriftians; the veil lies
over their hearts, even the fame veil which covered the letter of Mofes from
the Jews and they are groping after the mind of God in the letter; but
the life is hid from them, even as it was from the Jews: and becauſe they
alſo ſay they fee, and that they have the life and the Spirit, therefore the
veil remains, and the caul of iniquity furrounds them, fo that they cannot
fee into that which makes free from it, but remain yet in captivity and.
bondage to the enemy.
THE
VOL. I.
Y y
1
[354]
ΤΗΕ
New Covenant of the GOSPEL
Diftinguiſhed from the
Old COVENANT of the LAW.
i
!
Some QUERIES of W. SALTER'S, tending to inforce upon
the Obfervation of the Jewiſh Sabbath, anſwered.
Query 1.
W
Chriftians
HETHER the fourth commandment, expreſſed Exod. xx.
be not moral and perpetual, as well as the other nine be,
yea or no?
Anſwer. That covenant which God made with the Jews at Mount Horeb,
when they came out of the land of Egypt, was not to be perpetual; but to
make way for that covenant, priefthood, law-giver, and law, which were to
be perpetual. That law, fo given forth, made nothing perfect; but was a
continual hand-writing of ordinances againſt the Jews; and the very falva-
tion of the Jews was by another covenant, and by the laws thereof, Deut.
XXX. 11. by which covenant, and by which law, they might be made per-
fect, and come to the better hope. Which other covenant is the covenant
of grace, or the law of the Spirit of life in Chrift Jefus, or the word which
is nigh in the mouth, and in the heart, and ſpeaks life to them that can
hear and believe the joyful found of it.
Now that this former covenant was not to abide, but to give place to the
other, ſee Heb. viii. which treateth of the new covenant: for God's ſpeak-
ing of a new covenant importeth that he himself hath made the firft old,
ver. 13.
It had had a long continuance among that people of the Jews;
but now againſt the coming of Chrift, who was to be mediator of a better
covenant, ver. 6. even a new covenant, ver. 8. as it had been long decaying
and waxing old, fo now it was ready to vaniſh away, as ver. 13.
And
The New Covenant, &c.
355
And indeed it was neceffary it ſhould pass away; for it was not faultleſs.
How! not faulilefs! Was there any fin in the holy law and miniftration of God
by Mofes ? Can there any juſt blame be found in any thing that proceeded from the
Lord? Nay, furely the miniftration of Mofes was holy, and without blame;
but it was weak through the fleſh, Rom. viii. 3. and therefore God would
lay that aſide, ſo far as it was weak, and fuited to the weakneſs of a fleſhly
people, and bring inſtead thereof a miniſtration of the law in the Spirit,
which fhould be lively and powerful, and effectual in the fpirits of his
people.
That which God aimed at in a covenant, was to keep him and his peo-
ple together. Now this covenant was weak on the people's part; they
continued not in it, and fo, according to that covenant, God difregarded
them, ver. 9. Now God finding this covenant not able to effect his pur-
poſe of love towards his people, he finds fault with it, bringing forth an-
other or fecond, which this gives place to, ver. 7. And this other cove-
nant, or new covenant, is not according to that. How not according to
that? Why thus: it was not written outwardly, as that was. Not accord-
ing to that which I made with their fathers, when I took them by the band to
lead them out of the land of Egypt, ver. 9. For I will put my laws in their
mind, and write them in their hearts, ver. 10. And here they fhall learn the
knowledge of God, every one from the leaſt to the greateft, ver. 11. So
that all the children of this covenant ſhall be taught of the Lord, and learn the
law from his mouth; not as it was given at Mount Sinai (which miniftration
was to the children of the old covenant), but as it goes forth out of Sion,
and from the Jerufalem which is above, which is the mother of all the chil-
dren of the covenant, and nouriſheth them, not with the law of Mofes,
but with the milk of her own breafts.
Now if any think to reftrain this to the types and fhadows of the law,
they therein err: for the main covenant was the law of commandments,
which they ſtill broke, worfhipping other gods, making images and like-
neffes, taking his name in vain, prophaning his fabbaths, and fo of the
reft. It is true, the first covenant had a worldly fanuary, a tabernacle wherein
was the candlestick, &c. but the chief matter of the covenant was the ten
words; therefore the tables wherein it was written were called the tables of
the covenant, or the tables wherein the covenant was contained, Heb. ix.
4. Yea, the ten words are exprefly called the covenant itſelf, Deut. iv. 13.
Obferve therefore diligently theſe few things following in the fear of the
Lord :
Firſt, The ten commandments given by Mofes from Mount Horeb were
the covenant which God made with the Jews, when he took them by the
hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
Secondly, That covenant God found fault with, becauſe it was not able
(through the weakneſs of the flesh on their parts) to keep them to God.
Y y 2
Thirdly,
350
The New Covenant
Thirdly, Againft Chrift's coming God provideth a new covenant, a bet-
ter covenant for him to be mediator of; which covenant was not outward,
like the former, but inward, put in the mind, writ in the heart. As the
people was inward, the fanctuary inward, the ark inward, the tables of the
covenant inward, fo the covenant itſelf, and the writing of it, was inward
alfo. And this covenant, as it is only written in the Spirit, and in that
which is fpiritual, fo it cannot be read in the letter.
-
Fourthly, That where-ever this new covenant cometh, the other waxeth
old, whether to a perfon or people. Where-ever the law of the Spirit of
life is made manifeft, the law of the letter is fwallowed up in it, and is
known no more, but as it is comprehended, and is brought forth in it.
And he that is in the Spirit, and hath received the law of life from the
Spirit, knoweth not Chrift after the flesh; how much lefs Mofes ? But
taking the whole miniftration of Mofes in the Spirit, not only the ten com-
mandments, but all the facrifices, and other types alfo, here they are
owned and received, even in Chrift the fubftance: but the ten command-
ments, fo far as they were a fhadow, pafs away before the Son of righteouf
nefs, as well as the other types and fhadows of the law.
Objection. But was there any thing of the ten words a fhadow? Do they not
all command abiding things?
Anfw. Mofes's whole miniftration (as it ftood in the letter without) was
but a fhadow of the fulness and perfection of that miniftry of the Spirit
which was to come, and to be fet up by the Son in his houfe, Heb. iii. 5, 6.
Mofes's people but a fhadow of the fpiritual people; Mofes's priefts and
facrifices but a ſhadow of the fpiritual prieſts and facrifices; Mofes's law in
the letter miniftered from Mount Sinai, but a fhadow of Chrift's law in the
Spirit to be miniſtered from Mount Sion, 2 Cor. iii. 10, 11. The law itſelf
which was given by him, but a fhadow of the grace and truth which came
by Jefus Chrift, John i. 17. Of whofe fulneſs every believer receives a por-
tion of the fame grace, even grace for grace, ver. 16.; which grace is to be
his teacher, both of what he fhould deny and turn from, and how he ſhould
live and carry himſelf both towards God and man, Titus ii. 11, 12. Look
particularly on the commandments, and fee if there will not appear fome-
thing of a fhadow in them.
The first commandment to that people, That they should have none other
gods (like the heathen) but him only whofe powerful arm had brought them out
of Egypt. This is a fhadow of the fubjection of the fpiritual Ifrael fingly in
Spirit to the Lord of fpirits, who by his mighty arm redeemeth them out
of ſpiritual Egypt. Now muſt they bow to other lords no more, Ifai. xxvi.
13. as they did bow in the land of Egypt (Oh! who can read this!) but
bow alone at the name of Jefus, and be fubject to the arm of his power
in their fpirits alone for ever.
The fecond commandment, That they should not make any images or like-
neffes of things in heaven or earth, or bow down to them, is a fhadow of what
God
diſtinguiſhed. from the Old.
357
God requires of ſpiritual Ifrael in the inward, where all likeneffes, in-
ventions, imitations, refemblances of what they have feen in the Spirit
above, or beneath in the earthly nature, they muſt not make themſelves,
nor bow to fuch as any others make.
And they must not Take the name (of the Lord their Redeemer) in vain,
pretending to the living power when it manifefts not itself in them; pre-
tending to meet in the living name, and to worship in the Spirit, when
they are gone a whoring from it, and become ftrangers to it. What fhould
I mention any more? It is eafy to obferve how the other commandments
were fhadows of the inward innocency and purity which the believer receives
inwardly into his heart from the powerful operation of the law of the Spirit
of life in him.
Object. But may any of these laws be broken? If they may not be broken,
then they are perpetual.
Anfw. The reaſon why they may not be broken is not becauſe that the
diſpenſation of them is ftill in force, but becauſe the difpenfation of the law
of the Spirit comprehends all the righteouſneſs of Mofes's law: and the
end of Chriſt's diffolving that covenant was not that any might have liberty
to do any thing which is there manifefted to be unrighteous; but that the
righteouſneſs of it might be fulfilled in them who receive his law in the
Spirit, which never could be fulfilled by receiving of Mofes's law in the
letter, Rom. viii. 4. And mark this diligently, ye that have been exerciſed
in the Spirit towards God: The law of fin is nearer to us than any law of the
letter can come; the covenant of death and hell (with the laws thereof)
are written within by the finger of Satan; and that which blots them out
muſt be as near, even an inward covenant, an inward writing from the
eternal Word in the heart, by the law of his eternal Spirit of Life.
This then is my anfwer: Mofes's law in fubftance remains, as it is taken
in by Chrift, and adminiſtered by him in Spirit; but not as it was given in
the letter to the Jews: for fo it was a fhadow, making nothing perfect;
but making way for the better hope, for the covenant eftabliſhed upon
better promiſes, for the inward law of the Spirit of life in Chriſt Jefus;
which effects that in the fpirits of his people, which Mofes's law could by
no means do.
Queſt. But what is the fubftance of the law which abides?
Anfw. The fubftance of the law is love: to love God above all (above
all without, above all within) and to love one's neighbour as one's felf. To
receive this love from God, and to bring it forth in his Spirit, this is the
fubftance of the law; this is the thing which the law drove at in a fhadow.
The law is fulfilled in this one word Love; but that love must be received
from God, which fulfils the law. A man may ftrive to love abundantly,
and ſtrive to obey in love, and yet fall fhort of the covenant; but the
Lord muft circumcife the heart before that love can fpring up which fulfils
the law, Deut. xxx. 6.
Objection.
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The New Covenant
>
Objection. But doth not the apostle Paul fay, that by the law is the
knowledge of fin; and that he had not known luft, except the law had faid,
Thou shalt not covet; plainly referring to the tenth commandment, which
faith, Thou shalt not covet.
*
>
Anfw. By the law outwardly was the knowledge of fin outwardly to the
people of the Jews; by the law inwardly is the knowledge of fin inwardly
to the fpirits of difciples. Now a little confider and wait on the Lord, to
know what adminiftration of the law it was that Paul knew fin by; whe-
ther it was by Mofes's adminiftration of the law in the letter, or by Chrift's
miniftration of his law to him in the Spirit? It is rendered in our laſt
tranflation, Thou shalt not covet; but it might more properly be rendered,
Thou shalt not luft: for if rupia be properly rendered luft, then ¿½ è7:-
Oupogós may as 'properly be rendered, Thou shalt not luft. And he that hath
received the adminiftration of the law in the Spirit, knoweth it thus to iffue
forth from the Word of life into his Spirit. It diſcovers the lufts and
affections of the flesh, which draw from the yoke and fubjection to the Spi-
rit; and then, by a command from the living Spirit, it hedgeth up the
way after the other lovers, faying, Thou shalt not luft. And as the law of
the fleſh arifeth, kindling defires after vanity, and after flefhly eaſe and
delight; fo the law of the Spirit arifes in the inner man, forbidding,
pricking, ftopping, and limiting that which would be at liberty out of the
life and purity of the holy law. And here begin the bitter fights and ter-
rible battles and conflicts between the two feeds, wherein all the powers
of heaven, earth, and hell are engaged.
Now becauſe the interpretation of Paul's words may ſeem ſtrange and
uncouth to perfons who have drank in another apprehenfion, and have
taken it for granted that Paul there refers to the tenth commandment,
confider the place yet farther, and perhaps the Lord may pleaſe to open
it to you from the very letter, even as he hath opened it to others imme-
diately by his Spirit, by caufing them to feel the thing which Paul felt, and
to receive the law as he received it.
Paul (in that feventh of the Romans) fpeaks of three ftates which he had
known.
Firft, A ftate of life before the law: I was alive without the law once,
ver. 9.
Secondly, A ftate of death after the commandment came: Then fin re-
vived, and he died. When the word of life came with its living command-
ment to ſet upon fin indeed, then fin would dally no longer; it would no
longer lie as dead, and let Paul live in his zeal and worſhip as he had done
before; but it flew him, it fhewed its power in him, fometimes deceiving
him, and ſometimes forcing him from that which was holy, fpiritual, juft,
and good, and to that which was unholy; infomuch as he did do what he
hated, and could not do what he loved, and found himſelf a wretched
man,
difiinguished from the Old.
359
man, and in miferable captivity, becaufe of the body of death, and the law
of fin in his members, ver. 23, 24.
Thirdly, A ftate of life, after the commandment had done its work in
thoroughly flaying of him; when that was removed which the law came
againft, then he was married to another huſband, then he could bring
forth fruit unto God, Rom. vii. 4.; then he could walk freely with God,
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, chap. viii. 4. and rejoice in the
life and the peace, inſtead of roaring out becaufe of the death, which came
from the carnal mind, ver. 5.
Now when was the time when Paul was alive without the law? Was it
not when he was righteous, when he was whole? Then he had no need
of the phyſician; then he had not received the wound, even the terrible
wound which Chrift then gives the foul when he calleth to it by his Spirit,
and giveth forth the commandment, Thou shalt not luft. When he had con-
fidence in the flesh, being circumcifed the eighth day, of the ſtock of Ifrael,
of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law,
a Pharifee; concerning zeal, perfecuting the church; touching the righte-
ouſneſs which is in the law, blameleſs, Phil. iii. 4, 5, 6. Here was a living
man; and his exact receiving the miniftration of the law in the letter was
part of his life; yea, but he had not received the commandment yet that
flew him. Paul was alive yet, and could flouriſh in the freſhneſs of his life,
zeal, and abundant knowledge under this adminiftration of the law: but
when God, who caufed the light to fhine out of darkness, fhined in his
heart; when God began the work of the new creation in him by his living
light; when the commandment came fresh from the Spirit (the command-
ment which was ordained to life, Rom. vii. 10. which the miniftration of
the law in the letter was not, no not to the Jews, but another, Deut. xxx.
14, 15.) then Paul began to feel the fting of death, and the power of fin,
which now aroſe up in its ftrength to retain one of its fubjects, and to
keep the ſtronger man than he from difpoffeffing him, if he could. And
now how was poor Paul rent and torn, and haraffed by the enemy, and
made to fee and feel his miſerable captivity, until he had paffed through
the death, and was redeemed from under fin, and confequently from un-
der this bitter miniftration of the Spirit, by his holy, pure, and fevere law
againſt fin! For the man being dead, the law hath no force against the
feed, nor againft that which is one with and lives in the feed: and this it
is he ſpeaks to the Romans concerning, who alfo were acquainted with the
miniftration of the law, as ver. 1. of the viith chap. Now is it not very
manifeft that Paul knew not fin fpiritually by the miniftration of the law in
the letter, but was alive without it, until he felt the miniftry of it from
Chriſt in the Spirit? And that foon ftruck at his life, and by degrees flew
it, killing the body of fin in him, with its members, and fo preparing him
for the marriage to another huſband.
Object.
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The New Covenant
Object. But by this then a man is not only freed from the law of the letter,
but alſo from the law of the Spirit: for if this law be ministered to him till death
pass upon him, and till he be married to Chrift, then after death is paſſed upon
him, and he is baptized into death, and rifen with Chrift, and married to him,
the law paffeth away likewife.
Anfw. There is a double miniſtration of the law of the Spirit; a fharp
miniſtration against fin, and a ſweet miniftration in the renewed Spirit. The
miniftration againft fin paffeth away, as the fin is wrought out; but then
the ſweet ſpiritual current and law of its holy and pure life in the renewed
Spirit is more vigorous and full. So that the law of the Spirit remaineth
for ever; but its convictions, its reproofs, its chaftifements towards the
worldly part, diminiſh and pafs away as the worldly part is wafted; and its
fweet comforting prefence, pure peace, frefh joy and life, increaſe as the
new man grows and flouriſhes.
Query 2. Whether the fcope and drift of that fourth precept be not to perfuade
us to lay by the works of our calling one day in feven, that we may on that day
wholly give up ourselves to wait on the Lord, in the performance of duties of
piety and mercy, for our attaining of, and growing in, fanctification and bo-
liness?
!
Anfw. The fcope and drift of the fourth commandment was to injoin
the Jews to keep the fabbath ftrictly as a fign, by forbearing all works, and
fanctifying it as a day of reft to the Lord according to the law, Ezek. xx.
12. But the fubftance being come (Chrift, who is the body, Col. ii. 17.),
the day and reft of the Spirit being known, the fign is at an end, and
the thing fignified taketh place. So that the reft is now in Chrift, through
the faith, by his Spirit, where the worſhip is. And this in the goſpel com-
prehends the time of worſhip, the place of worſhip, and the worship itſelf
(which are ſpiritual), where, in fubftance, all is known, enjoyed, and fo-
lemnized, which was figured out in fhadows under the law. The fanctifi-
cation being come, the reft being come, the Lord of the fabbath being
come, fhall not the fign of the fanctification, the fign of the reft (which
reft the Lord of the fabbath was to give, and lead the fpirits of his people
into), paſs away? Exod. xxxi. 13.
Query 3. Whether the fourth precept do not as ftrictly bind us to keep boly
the feventh day of or from the creation, as it bindeth us to the obſervation of a
Seventh day?
Anfw. The fourth commandment did not require the obſervation of a
feventh day in general; but of the feventh day in particular, of thoſe of
whom it required it: for what the law required, it required of thoſe who
were under the law, and not of others, Rom. iii. 19.
Query 4. If the feventh day's fabbath be not moral and perpetual, then how
comes it to pass that it was inftituted or appointed from the first creation, when
men by guilt stood in no need of a Saviour, nor yet of fuch a ceremony? Gen.
ii. 3.
Anfw.
diftinguifbed from the Old.
361
:
Anfw. That it was inftituted or appointed from the firſt creation, or that
God intended to require of man the obfervation of it had he abode in
innocency, is not manifeft in the fcriptures; but that God did then bleſs
and fanctify it (in relation to the fervice he had for it), that is expreffed
in fcripture, Gen. ii. 2, 3. And that this was one end for which he did
fanctify it, namely, that it might be for a fign unto that people of the
Jews (which were the people he chofe to fet up his figns and figures of the
invifible things among), the fcripture alfo teftifies, Exod. xx. 11. But what'
further meaning there is in it, and what relation it hath to all the redeemed
of the Lord, in whom God brings about the new creation, with the reft
thereof (as he did the old), it is better to wait to know and feel in the
Spirit, than to be prying into with the curious, ſearching, fleſhly under-
ftanding.
Query 5. If the feventh day's fabbath be not moral, and belonging both to
Jews and Gentiles, then how comes it to pass that it was given to all men in
Adam, when there was no difference between Jew and Gentile, and was obferved
by command from the beginning, as appears by comparing together Gen. ii. 3.
and Exod. xvi. 18, to 31.
Anfw. That it was given to Adam in innocency, or to all men in Adam,
I do not find, nor do thefe places quoted make it manifeft; but its being
practiſed before the giving of the law doth not prove its perpetuity, or that
it was not given for a fign: for circumcifion was inftituted and obferved
long before the giving of the law, Gen. xvii. and facrificing long before
that, Gen. iv. both which were ſigns of the inward, and not perpetual as
to the outward obſervation of them.
Query 6. If when our Lord Jefus faith (Mat. v. 18.) that till heaven and
earth paſs, one jot or tittle fhould in no-wife paſs from the law; if he there meant
not the law of the ten commandments, expreffed in Exod. xx. then what law did
be mean?
Anfw. By the law is meant the whole miniftration of Mofes; as by the
prophets (ver. 17.) the whole miniftration of the prophets: and that it is
not to be reftrained to the ten commandments, is manifeft by the inftances
which Chrift gives, more of which relate to other parts of the law than to
the commandments: for there are but two inftances out of the ten com-
mandments; but there are four inftances out of other parts of the law, as
may be ſeen, ver. 31. 33. 38, and 43. of that chapter. So that Chrift doth
not only take in the ten commandments, but he takes in the reſt of Mo-
Yes's miniftry in the Spirit, not one jot or tittle whereof is to paſs till it be
all fulfilled; but was to ftand in the letter to the Jews till full ſeaſon, and
then in the Spirit till all be finiſhed there alſo.
The law and the prophets were until John; from that time the kingdom
of God began to be preached, Luke xvi. 16. and both the law, prophets,
and John himſelf were to decreaſe, and Chrift and his kingdom to increaſe.
Chrift, in this fifth of Matthew, had been preaching the kingdom, de-
VOL. I.
claring
Ꮓ Ꮓ
!
362
The New Covenant
claring to whom it appertained, and the bleffedneſs of fuch. Now this his
manner of preaching might feem to derogate from the law of Mofes, and
from the prophets, whofe doctrine and difpenfation hereby he might feem
to deſtroy but Chrift taketh away the occafion of fuch a mifapprehenfion,
bidding them not think he came to deftroy the law, or the prophets for
he was not come for that end, but to fulfil. Wherein he doth theſe two
things:
Firſt, He eſtablifheth that miniftration of the law and prophets for its
feafon, till it fhould be fulfilled by him the ſubſtance, who was to fulfil all
the righteouſneſs of it. It ſhould laft out its whole day, and ſhould not fail
in the leaft tittle of it (as he himfelf explaineth it, Luke xvi. 17.); till the
heaven and earth of the Jews paffed away, Heb. xii. 27, 28.
Secondly, He taketh in the fubftance of it into his own miniftration,
and layeth it more inwardly, and clofely, and largely upon the fpirits of
his difciples than Mofes had done in the letter upon his difciples: but he
doth not give it out in full, but only giveth a taſte to his diſciples how
raitly he would minifter it to them by his Spirit as they came under his
yoke, Mat. xi.. 29, which yoke is the Spirit of the law thereof, as Mofes's
yoke was the law of the letter.
Now mark yet further: Chrift does not give out the letter for his law,
as it was delivered by Mofes; but requireth fomewhat of his difciples,
which comprehends the letter. As now when he adminifters the law againſt
revenge, from whence murder proceeds, he doth not fay, Thou shalt not kill,
as Mofes had faid to them of old time; but faith, Thou shalt not be angry
without a cauſe, nor give thy brother any provoking language, ver. 22. Nor
does he fay, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but, Thou fhalt not let out a
Juſtful look, nor let in a luftful thought, ver. 28. And had he fpoken
here about the fabbath, would he have adıniniſtered it in the letter, or
would he have commanded the obfervation of the true fabbath, where no work
is done, no fire kindled (nor fo much as any fticks gathered to make a fire
with) nor no burden borne; but the man-fervant, the maid-ſervant, the
ox, the aſs, and every creature refts in the feed. The Son of man is Lord of
the Sabbath. It is true he fubjected himſelf under the law; but yet he was
ftill Lord; and he maketh all his, kings and priests to God! who being
once baptized into his death, know alſo his refurrection and reign.
Object. But all the other commandments are to be kept according to the let-
ter; for although it should prove fo, that believers are not bound to obferve them
by virtue of Mofes's miniftration in the letter, but by virtue of the miniſtration of
the Spirit, yet the commandments themselves are kept; but take away the outward
obfervation of the fabbath, and this commandment hath no fulfilling at all accord-
ing to the letter.
Anfw. This arifeth from the different nature of the thing: for the other
commandments require or forbid that which is either good or evil in its own
nature; but this is but good or evil by inftitution or command. To keep
a day,
diftinguished from the Old.
363
a day, or not to keep a day, is not good or evil in itſelf, but as it is com-
manded, or forbidden, or left at liberty in the Lord, and according as it is
done or forborne by him who received the command or prohibition, or is
let into the liberty of the goſpel, Rom. xiv. 6. So that if the nature of
the thing required in this commandment, had been alike with the nature
of the things required or forbidden in the other commandments, it would
have been as durable after the diffolution of that covenant, as the other
things therein contained were; which vaniſh not in themſelves upon the dif-
folution of that covenant, but only paſs into an higher way of difpenfation,
where they retain their full virtue and ftrength, even according to the letter,
though not by virtue of the adminiſtration of the letter; another higher
and fuller adminiftration of a better covenant challenging and taking its
own place.
Que. 7. If the Seventh day's fabbath be not moral, but an abrogated ceremony,
now fince the death of Chrift; then wherefore should our Saviour inftru&t his be-
loved apostles, that they must instruct the Christian churches to pray, Matt. xxiv.
20. that they might not flee on the fabbath, knowing that their flight would fall
out more than thirty years after his death?
Anfw. Great was the hardfhip the Jews underwent in the fiege of Jeru-
falem, by that apprehenfion of theirs that they ought not to do any work.
(not fo much as of defending themfelves) on the fabbath; which hardship
fuch difciples of Chrift among the Jews, as could not eafily be drawn off
from the law and Jewifh obfervations, but ftill were for circumcifion and
keeping of an outward fabbath, might be liable to. Now Chrift, and the
apostles after him, were not hafty to draw them from fuch things, but for
a time bore with them therein; infomuch that Paul circumcifed Timothy,
and became to the Jews as a Jew; and to them that were under the law,
as under the law himſelf alfo. But the ftrength of the Query feems to lie
in this, That it should bear the name of fabbath from Chrift's own mouth, in
relation to fomewhat which should happen on it more than thirty years after it
fhould ceafe to be fabbath. To which my anfwer is plain, that that may as
well bear the name of fabbath, as Jerufalem, or the temple, bear the name
of the holy place, ver. 15. of the fame chap. For Jerufalem and the tem-
ple did as much ceafe to be the holy place above thirty years after thofe
words were ſpoken, as the Jewiſh ſabbath could ceaſe to be the fabbath.
Now for the fakes of fuch as have been truly exercifed in their ſpirits
by the Spirit of the Lord (and have felt the powerful work of his grace,
and a building raiſed up by him) and may yet be further exerciſed, I thall
add this. Jerufalem was a type of an inward building in the fpirits of God's
people; both in its rearihg up, in its fituation, in its ftanding, in God's
dealing with it all the time of its ftanding; and laftly, in its downfal and
utter defolation. There is an appearance and building of God in the fpirits
of his people, which is to give way to, and be fwallowed up in, a fuller
and higher appearance. But the fleshly fpirit, getting into this building,
Zz2
will
364
An EPISTLE.
will not give way to the further and more inward and fpiritual appearance
of the Spirit, but will have the firft building ftand as the building, and will
entertain no further appearance of God, than as it can comprehend it, fub-
ject it, and afford it a place in the firft building. Hereupon God diftreffeth
Ariel, even the city which David built (faying within his heart; furely that
which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted will I
pluck up, even this whole land, fo he cauſeth the overflowing scourge to pafs,,
even over Thy whole land, O Emanuel). Now when the enemy enters with..
in the holy city, and within the holy temple, it is time to flee, and exceed-
ing great diftrefs will befal that difciple, whofe flight is either in the winter.
or on the fabbath day. Do not imagine at this; but if the Lord, open it
not at preſent, wait his feafon; for the thing is true and fealed, both by
the openings of the light eternal, and by fenfible exerciſes and experiences.
from that light.
Thus I have anſwered fuch of the queries as concern. the feventh day's
fabbath. Such as feem to argue the unwarrantableneſs of obſerving the
firſt day of the week for a fabbath, I leave to thoſe to whom they are ten-
dered (and of whom an anſwer ſeems fo confcientiouſly and zealouſly defired,
as I do not fee how it can be reaſonably neglected or denied), that by
weighty evidence of fcripture he may be reduced, if he hath erred; but if
not, but it be truth which he hath therein held forth, the Lord may be
honoured in mens bowing and fubjecting to every truth of his, by what
inftruments foever it pleaſeth him to make it manifeft.
A N
EPI STL E
то
All fuch as obferve the Seventh Day of the Week, for
the SABBATH of the LORD.
IN
FRIENDS,
N true love to your fouls, and in the fear of the Lord, I have a few
things to lay before you, that the fimplicity in you may not be deceiv-
ed, and ye err from the way of life, while ye may be eagerly feeking and
preffing towards it: for notwithſtanding that, if with the wrong eye ye be
ſearching into fcripture, ye muft needs mif-read, mif-underſtand, and mif-
practiſe;
An EPISTLE.
365
practiſe; and fo thereby will ſtill be running further and further from God,
even while ye think ye are drawing nigher towards him. Be perfuaded,
therefore, ſeriouſly to confider (out of the wiſdom from which God hides,
in the babiſh fimplicity of his begetting, where the true life ſprings) theſe
few things following.
1. That the whole law of Mofes (the ten words, as well as the inſtitu-
tions about ſacrifices and worſhip) was added becauſe of tranfgreffion, Gal.
їй. 19.
2. That the whole law (the ten words, as well as the facrifices) was re-
preſentations, figures, or fhadows, of fomewhat relating to Chriſt the feed;
fubfervient to the promiſe, not making perfect, but pointing to, and mak-
ing way for, the bringing in of the better hope, Gal. iii. 21. Heb. vii. 19.
The law of the commandments, or the ten words, did no more make per-
fect, than the other fhadows or facrifices did, but with them made way for
the better hope, towards which they were to lead their ſcholar, or diſciple,
as fchool-maſter.
3. That the whole difpenfation of the law was given to the Jews, and
not to the Gentiles, Rom. ix. 4. And fo not any thing there written bindeth
the Gentiles (as there written) but only the Jews. God had another way of
making his mind known to the Gentiles, Rom. i. 19.-ii. 15. Accord-
ing to which he would judge them, ver. 12. And not by the law written,
which was given to the Jews, which ſpake not to the Gentiles, but to the
Jews who were under it, Rom. iii. 19.
4. That the duration of this difpenfation of Mofes's law in the letter, was
till Chrift, the feed, fhould come and fulfil it, Gal. iii. 19. and 24, 25.
Mofes's family, with all the laws thereof, were to prepare for Chrift the
feed, and to give way to him when he came; for when that difpenfation,
which was figured out, is come; then that difpenfation which did figure it
out, is at an end, Heb. iii. 5, 6. Chrift came to do the will, to keep and
fulfil the whole law, and fo to put an end to that difpenfation of it, Pja. xl.
Rom. x. 4. And fo he taketh away the firft adminiſtration of the law,
which was in the letter, that he might eſtabliſh the fecond, which is in the
Spirit, Heb. x. 9. 2 Cor. iii. 7-II.
This then is the truth, as it is in Jefus, concerning this thing; That
Chriſt coming in the fleſh, and fulfilling all the righteoufnefs (as well of the
ten commandments as of the facrifices) puts an end to that difpenfation
wholly; fo that henceforth both Jews and Gentiles are to come to him, to
hear his voice; This is my beloved Son, hear him. And Mofes foretold, that
when that prophet came, he was to be heard in all things; whofe whole mi-
niſtration was but to figure out what the Son was afterwards to fulfil in
Spirit, Heb. iii. 5. who would be faithful to give forth the entire law and
fubftance of life to his houfe or family of believers, as Mofes was faithful
to give the entire fhadow to his houſe or family, of that nation of the Jews,
ver. 6. So that here, in the gofpel, Chrift being come, the new covenant
and
366
An EPISTLE.
and law in the Spirit takes place, and not the old covenant or law in the
letter. And this law is more inward, more full, more cloſe, more fpiritual,
and more lafting, than the miniftration of Mofes's law to them of old time
was, Gal. iii. 25, &c. And it is the miniftration of this law of the Spirit,
which is not to pafs away from the difciples of Chrift, until all be fulfilled;
but is to remain a fword againft every luft and defire of the flesh in them,
until they all, with the very root of them, be thereby cut down, Matt. iii.
Heb. iv. 12. Matt. v. 17, 18.
12.
Queft. But what were the ten commandments a figure or shadow of?
Anfw. The tables of ftone were a repreſentation or figure of the fleſhly
tables of the heart, wherein the new law of the covenant of life is written.
The writing of the law of commandments in the tables of ftone, was a
figure of the writing of the new law by the finger of God's Spirit in the heart.
The outward writing in the outward tables, was a figure of the inward
writing in the inward tables.
The law itſelf of commandments, which was written in thofe tables, was
a figure of the law of life which is to be written in thefe tables.
And this law thus received, thus written, is eafily fulfilled; whereas the
law in the letter, becauſe of the weakneſs of the flesh, was very hard to be
fulfilled, and generally proved an hand-writing of ordinances againſt the
Jews: for he that was guilty of one, was guilty of all, and fo upon every
tranfgreffion had the force and ſtrength of the whole law againſt him. And
whofoever now runs back to the law in the letter, to take up any command
as held forth in it, and fo making himſelf a debtor thereto, will be found
a breaker thereof in fpirit, even one that hath more gods than the Lord, a
-maker of images, or likeneffes of things in heaven, or things in earth, if
not of both; a taker of the name in vain, a prophaner of the fabbath,
&c. For he that hath not received the law of the Spirit of life in Chrift
Jefus, knoweth not the Lord of life to be the only true God, but maketh
images in his mind, and taketh his name in vain, not feeling the living
power thereof; nor can keep his fabbath (ceafing from fin, forbearing his
own works, his own willing and running, and entering into the reft of the
gofpel): for there is but one day of reft holy to the Lord; all the fabbaths
of the law were but figns of it, having but a fignificative or reprefenta-
tive holiness; but the day of redemption which the Lord hath made, Pfa.
cxviii. 24. (in which his redeemed rejoice, and reft to him) that hath the
true holiness. This was it which came by Chrift, the other came by Mofes,
John i. 17. Mofes's family or children were to keep that day (that was the
day for the fervants, who were to be exerciſed under the fhadows), but the
believers are to keep this day in the Spirit, to enter into this reft by the
faith, Heb. iv. and to worthip the Father in it, in the Spirit and in the
truth, on the mountain of his holiness, John iv. 23. whereof the other
mountain, temple, worſhip, and day was but a fhadow.
Now
Some Queries anfwered.
367
Now the fum or fubftance of this law of the Spirit may outwardly be
fignified in divers fhort words; as Love, that comprehends the whole of it:
fo doth Fear; there is the whole wifdom and courfe of the life compre
hended alſo; or thus, Thou shalt not luft (thus it was adminiſtered to Paul,
Rom. 7.), or thou fhalt keep the fabbath, or believe in the light, follow the
light. The obferving of any one of theſe in the Spirit, is the keeping of
the law; for every breach of the law is out of the love, out of the fear; a
luft of the fleſhly ſpirit, a tranfgreffion of the fabbath, or fpiritual reft to
God; out of the light, and out of the faith. But if ye will read this in
the Spirit, and come to the true righteouſneſs of the faith, which is re-
ceived in the obedience of faith to the law of the Spirit, ye muſt come to
the word of faith; to which Paul directs, Rom. x. 6. by the hearing where-
of is the juftification, and not by a bare believing that Chrift's blood was
fhed; for it is the virtue of the blood which faves; which virtue is in the
living word, and is felt and received in hearing, believing, and obeying that
word, thereby bringing into unity and conformity with him, both in his
death, and in his refurrection and life. This is the only way to life; be not
deceived; there is not, nor ever was, any other. Oh! wait on the Lord in his
fear! that it may be opened to you, and that flain in you which cannot bear
the ftreightneſs thereof, and with which there is no erring.
From a Friend to your Eternal Peace,
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
Some
QUERIES
Sent in Writing (upon Occafion of an EPISTLE direct-
ed to all fuch as obferve the Seventh Day of the Week
for a SABBATH),
Query 1.
It
ANSWERED.
F the whole law of Mofes, the law of the ten commandments, as
well as the law of facrifices, were both added upon one and the
fame account for tranfgreffions; then why doth the Holy Spirit in the fcriptures
lay forth fuch an antiphitical ufe of them (I fuppofe he means anti-typical)
the one that fin might abound, Rom. v. 20. the other facrificing for fin?
Heb. ix. 7, 8, 9.
Answ.
368
Some Queries anfwered.
!
Anfw. That the law of Mofes was added becauſe of tranfgreffion, is ma
nifeft from that ſcripture quoted by me in my epiftle, as well as from other
fcriptures; and one end why it was added in relation to tranfgreffion, was,
that the offence might abound, which would make the facrifice of propiti-
ation for fin appear more neceffary and more acceptable. And the facrifices
alfo relate to the finner, fome referring to the fin committed, others to the
thankfulneſs and acknowledgement due for the peace, mercy, and bleffings.
of God towards his poor, finful, erring creatures; both which were to laft
till the time of reformation from the fin, Heb. ix. 10. Gal. iii. 19. (But that
they were both added upon one and the fame account, that I did not affirm
that is wrongfully put upon me).
Now though both thefe were added becauſe of tranfgreffion, yet they had
not both the fame uſe and ſervice in relation to tranfgreffion, but the one
was added to diſcover fin, and to make it appear exceeding finful, Rom.
v. 20. the other to blot it out, to take it away, to make atonement for it;
which the facrifices did, making the finner upright and perfect as relating
to that outward ftate and capacity, though they could not as pertaining to
the confcience, Heb. ix. 9.
Que. 2. If the whole law, the ten commandments, as well as the facrifices,
were repreſentations, figures, or ſhadows of fomewhat relating to Chrift the feed;
then what did they in general, or either of them in particular, reprefent, figure,
or fhadow forth, before they were written in tables of ftone, or fince they were
written in tables of stone, more of Christ then than now?
Anfw. That the ten words were fome of the precepts of Mofes, and ap-
pertaining to the firft teftament or covenant, all which precepts were fprinkled
with blood, cannot be denied. And the apoftle diftinguisheth the precepts
of Mofes under the law, which were fprinkled with the blood of the facri-
fices under the law, Heb. vii. 19. from the precepts of Chrift which he
writes in other tables, chap. x. 16. which alſo are ſprinkled with blood, but
not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his own blood; and he that
receives any of theſe precepts out of the blood of Chrift, cannot truly and
fpiritually obey them, though he may ftrive much to form his fpirit into
the obedience thereof. Now the time and feafon of their fignification was
the time which God allotted them under the law, wherein was the uſe of
figns; but the goſpel is a ſtate of fubftance, of bringing the life and im-
mortality into the heart, and into the poffeffion of believers, which the ftate
of the law fhadowed. So that they are not figns fince the goſpel, ſince
Chriſt put an end to the law-figns, fhadows, and figures, nor yet before
the law to believers, fo far as they were in the new covenant: (for as the
thing fignified cometh, fo that which fignifieth it paffeth away) though that
was a mixed ſtate, wherein God gave a tafte of both covenants, before his
perfect diſpenſing or bringing forth of either.
Que. 3. If the whole difpenfation of the law was given to the Jews, and
not to the Gentiles, and fo the Gentiles not bound to that law, but another way
for
J
Some Queries anfwered.
369
for them to know the mind of God. Then whether that law cited, Rom. ii. 15.
which the Gentiles fhewed the work of in their hearts, be another law contrary
to that law that was given to the Jews, even the ten commandments ?
Anfw. The law which is the fubftance, is not contrary to the law which
is the fhadow, but is the comprehending and fulfilling of it. The law in
the Spirit (written by God's power and prefence in the heart and mind) is
not contrary to the law in the letter, but is an higher and more glorious mini-
ftration of it. The one commandment which God gave by Mofes to the
Jews, Deut. xxx. 11. which was the commandment of life and death, as
relating to their inward and eternal ftate, ver. 15. was not contrary to the
ten commandments, which God had commanded them before by another
covenant, which he had made with them as an outward people, and which
was to be their rule as to their outward ſtate; for they were chofen by God
to be an holy people outwardly, and fo an outward rule of holiness and obe-
dience was preſcribed them; but by all their obedience thereto, they could
not be juftified, but only by hearing, believing, and obeying Chrift, the
word nigh in the heart, and by feeling in the fpirit the blood of that one
offering.
Que. 4. If the Gentiles were not bound under that law that the Jews were,
which carried the curſe with it; then which way have the Gentiles redemption by
Jefus Chrift? Seeing all that are redeemed, are redeemed from the law, and the
curfe thereof, Gal. iv. 5.-iii. 13.
Anfw. As they were under the curfe outwardly, by tranfgreffing that out-
ward law or covenant, and fo miffed of the outward happineſs of the holy
land, and ſtill met with wrath and judgments, and at laſt utter cutting off,
as to their outward ftate, and as to all their hope from that covenant; fo he
that comes to receive the miniftration of the law of the Spirit, will find the
curſe as abundantly inwardly, even till that he be cut down by the fword
of the Spirit, which the curfe is to; and that brought into dominion, to
which is the promife and bleffing. So that the Gentiles find as great need
to be redeemed from the curfe inwardly, which the inward law brings upon
the tranfgreffor, as the Jews did outwardly; yea, and find a more heavy
burthen and load than ever the Jews did outwardly. Paul, when he was
alive in the outward adminiſtration of the law, not being acquainted with
the inward, he knew little of the curfe; he was according to it blameleſs,
Phil. iii. 6. but when he came to receive the living light of the fpiritual
adminiſtration of it into his fpirit, then he felt the burthen, and weight,
and mifery of fin, and the curfe indeed; and cried out, O wretched man,
who shall deliver!
Query 5. If the duration of the diſpenſation of Mofes's law in the letter was
till Chrift the feed fhould come and fulfil it, and the difpenfation of Mofes's law
(fo ftated without diftinction) between that that was perpetual, and that that
was ceremonially vanishing, and ſo in the fulfilling of it befides, then what law
or commandments that or they were, which, while Mofes's difpenfation was in full
VOL. I.
A a a
force,
370
Some Queries answered.
force, is faid to be perpetually fure, to stand fast for ever and for ever, as Pfa.
x. xi. 7, 8. and when Chrift the feed was come, and had fulfilled all that the
Father had appointed him to do, was eſtabliſhed, Rom. iii. 31. and not one jot
or little of it to pass fo long as heaven and earth remain? Matt. v. 18. and
Luke xvi. 17.
Anfw. That diftinction between fomething in Mofes's law being perpe-
tual, and fomething ceremonial, is not found and proper in this place; for
all that was under Mofes's law was but a fhadow, as in that diſpenſation;
and that teftament was dedicated with blood (with the blood which was a
fhadow) which related to every precept, Heb. ix. 18, 19. and it was all fub..
ftantial and perpetual in what it fignified and related to. The facrifices
were fubftantial in that facrifice which they fignified, as well as the law and
precepts were ſubſtantial in the law and precepts which they fignified. And
as the firſt covenant pointed at a fecond covenant, fo the laws of the firft
covenant pointed at the law of the fecond covenant, the miniftration where-
of is from the Mediator of that covenant, and they come into the heart
ſprinkled with his blood. Now the law or commandment, which even un-
der that diſpenſation was to be perpetual and laft for ever, was the word in
the heart, and the laws thereof, Deut. xxx. 14. which Mofes by eſpecial
order from God, and according to the tenor of another covenant, directed
the Jews to, ver. 4. For the law, as adminiſtered by Moſes, in the letter
is not perpetual or eternal; but as it comes from the Spirit, and is admini-
ftered in the Spirit, fo it is fpiritual and eternal. That adminiftration was
fitted to that people; and, we know, the Lord, if he had pleaſed, could
have given a fuller adminiftration of his law in the letter than that was, as
Chriſt plainly intimates divers times, Matt. v. But if it had been ever fo
full, yet the adminiſtration of it in the letter is to give place to the admi-
niſtration of it in the Spirit; fo that the adminiſtration of it in the letter is
not perpetual, but for the time which God allotted it; but the adminiſtra-
tion of it in the Spirit is eternal and perpetual, and there it remains an eter-
nal light, witneſs, and fword againſt fin and the tranfgreffor. And thus it is
eſtabliſhed in the hands of the Spirit, after the feaſon of that miniftration of
it in the letter was ended; and thus not one jot or tittle of it was to pafs
away, after the other miniſtration, with every jot and tittle of it, was
ended.
Query 6. If the coming of Christ in the flesh; and his fulfilling all the righte-
ouſneſs of the law; and being foretold by Mofes to be that prophet that was
to be heard in all things (which is not denied by us); but if by theſe he put an
end to the law of the ten commandments, and gave forth another law to his
boufe or family; then what law that is, and whether it be contrary to that law
that he with the Father gave forth, as Deut. xxxiii. 2. with Pfa. lxxx. 17.
which now is in gospel miniftration holy, just, good, as Rom. vii. 12. and
Spiritual, ver. 14.
Answ.
Some Queries anfwered.
371
Anfw. It is the law of the Spirit, or the light of the Spirit in the heart,
which diſcovers fin (not only in the outward acts, but in its principle, rife,
firſt motions, and inward nature), giving forth his living commands againſt
it. This is the law now, in which the believer is to begin, Gal. iii. 3.
and according to which he is to go on to perfection. For as the believer is
begotten of the Spirit, and born of the Spirit, fo he is to receive the mi-
niftration of his law from the Spirit, and in the Spirit: he receives a gift
of faith, a meaſure of faith from the eternal ſpring of life, and that is his
law. His law is the law of faith. The light of life, which he receives in
the faith, opens the mind and will of Chrift to him in the Spirit, fhewing him
both fin, and alſo the things of God more fully than the law of Mofes could,
though opened by the Spirit; for it is a fuller, a deeper kind of miniſtration,
and fo opens the things which it minifters more fully than a miniſtration of
an inferior nature can. Yet it is not contrary to Mofes's law, but comprehends
all the fubftance, all the righteoufnefs and equity of it (as I faid before),
which it as a fhadow reprefented, and commanded to that outward or
shadowy people the Jews. But the law which Paul fpake of, Rom. vii.
was the law of the Spirit, or fuch a miniſtration of the law as Paul knew
not, all the while he was under the miniftration of Mofes's law blameleſs;
but this law found out fufficient blame in him, ver. 14, &c.
Query 7. If Jefus Chrift, as he is the Son, gave forth another law to his
boufe or family; and that law contrary to that that the Father gave forth;
then whether there are not two lawgivers, when the fcriptures fay there is but one,
James iv. 12.
Anfw. The fubftance, when it is fhadowed out, or when it is nakedly
difpenfed, is one and the ſame thing; fo that whenever it comes, it cannot
be another thing than what the fhadow reprefented it to be. Mofes's dif
penfations and Chriſt's are one in Spirit; and when he cometh in Spirit, he
doth not deſtroy either Mofes or the prophets, but comprehends them; fo
that the law is but one, although the difpenfations of it have been various :
but the proper difpenfation of the law now to Chriftians is Chrift's difpen-
fation, not Mofes's difpenfation; and Chriftians are now to look for light
and knowledge of it in the tables where Chrift writes it, according to his.
Covenant. So that there have not been two laws given out, but the one
law of God hath been variously difpenfed; in and according to the letter
by Mofes to the Jews; in and according to the Spirit by Chrift to his difci
ples.
Query 8. If the tables of stone, the writing of the law of the ten command-
ments in the tables, and the law of the ten commandments itſelf which was
written, were figures or reprefentations; then whether the finger of God's
Spirit doth write the law of God two ways, in the inward table (ſo called)
namely, in the heart of Christ's family; in one way whilft Mofes's difpenfation
was on foot, Pfa. xxxvii. 31. For the Pfalmift fpeaks in the prefent tenfe
Aaa 2
(which
372
Some Queries answered.
(which was under that difpenfation): now is it another way in this latter dif
penſation expreſſed, 2 Cor. iii. 3.
Query 9. If two ways, then how doth the finger of God's Spirit write them
theſe ways?
Anfw. The eternal covenant was the fame under the law as under the
goſpel; and its tables were the heart then, as well as now; and its way of
writing the fame then as now, even by the finger of God's power or eternal
Spirit: and thither the Jews were even then referred for the inward writing
of the law, Deut. xxx. 14. So that they who truly hearkened even to Mofes,
were to wait on this word, which was nigh in the heart, for the write-
ing of his laws there. And they that hearkened to this law, which en-
dureth for ever, knew the writing thereof in their hearts: whereas the
Jews, who were very diligent to get the law into their hearts from the letter,
could never thereby attain the writing of it there; but were ftill found
breakers of it, and under that curfe which belonged to the breach. Abra-
ham, Ifaac, and Jacob, David and the prophets, knew the inward Jew, who
becomes fo by the inward covenant, and by the inward difpenfation of the
law in that covenant; and the law which was after the promiſe could not
difannul the promiſe which was before it: but it ftcod good and firm to the
children, even to all the fpiritual feed, the whole time of that outward dif-
penfation of the law.
Query 10. If not, then how doth the writing of the law in tables of stone
repreſent the writing of the law in the tables of the heart; ſeeing the tables of the
heart were wrote upon by the finger of God's Spirit, whilst the tables of stone
were in full force, and the difpenfation had not ceafed?
Anfw. Though the tables of ftone, or law thereof, were in force to that
outward people of God, the Jews; yet this did not deftroy his inward
people, nor his inward tables in their hearts, nor hinder him from writing
his inward law there; but the inward and eternal covenant ran underneath
to them inwardly (even all the time of their outward difpenfation) whereby
they were made inwardly righteous and obedient to God. And as God had
particularly directed, by Mofes, to the word and commandment of that cove-
nant, fo he would not fail to write it thereby in the hearts of fuch as turned
to the word and commandment. So that this was the law which God wrote
in the heart even then, and was always the inward ſubſtance, while-as Mofes's
difpenfation was but an outward fign thereof.
Query 11. If the law of the ten commandments itſelf, which injoined love and
duty to God, and love and duty to man, as Mat. xxii. 37, 38, 39, 40. was or
is a figure of another; then what law that is that is the anti-type of this law,
which in fucceeding of it, injoins not love and duty to God, and not love and duty to
man?
Anfw. This query arifeth from a great miftake, as if the law in the let-
ter and the law in the Spirit could not require the fame thing; whereas they
do require the very fame thing in fubftance, but feveral ways, according to
the
Some Queries anfwered.
373
the difference of each adminiſtration; to wit, the one literally, of a literal
or outward people; the other ſpiritually, of a fpiritual or inward people;
the one requires love according to the tenor of the letter, the other accord-
ing to the Spirit.
Query 12. If the owning of the ten commandments, as they are plainly laid
down in the letter, be a breaking of them in the Spirit, and especially thofe con-
tained in the first table; then how doth the truth of God written, which is
life and truth, Acts vii. 38. and Eccl. xii. 10. and the Spirit which is given
forth, meet together; feeing the Spirit leads and guides into all truth?
Anfw. I do not know any who hath faid, that the owning of the ten com-
mandments, as they are plainly laid down in the letter, is a breaking of them in
the Spirit; but he that hath the Spirit owneth the difpenfation of the letter
in its place and ſeaſon: but the Spirit doth not teach them to run from his
own diſpenſation (where it is livingly adminiſtered to fuch as wait on the
eternal Word in his covenant of life for it) to that difpenfation which was
appointed for, and given forth to, others. But that the truth, as it is
written (outwardly), is life, I do not read; but otherwiſe, 2 Cor. iii. 6.
where Paul faith, the letter killeth (fpeaking of the letter of the New Teſta-
ment). The Spirit indeed guides into all truth; but it is the living foul
whom he fo guides, and it is the living truth into which he guides in the
new covenant; though it was he alfo who gave forth, required, and was
able to lead into, the letter of the old covenant.
Query 13. Whether, when Jehovah gave forth the ten commandments plainly
as a law in the letter, he did intend, by the obfervation according to the letter, the
breach of them by the Spirit ?
Anfw. The Spirit doth not teach to break the commands in the letter ;
but fuch as are under the miniftration of the letter, to obſerve them ac-
cording to the letter: and fuch as are under the miniftration of the Spirit,
to fulfil the righteouſneſs of them in the Spirit. Yet the Son of man is
Lord of the fabbath; and if he bid a man take up his bed and walk, which was
bearing a burden and doing of work on the fabbath-day, it is no breach of
the fabbath. Now this is moft righteous; that as the Son's reft ſhould be
entered into under the goſpel, fo the day of reft fhould be kept by his dif-
ciples and family.
Query 14. Whether to fay, the keeping the law of God according to the let-
ter is a breaking of it in the Spirit, be not a charging of God, that gave it forth
to be kept, and the Holy Spirit that incites us ſo to do now in this adminiſtration,
James ii. 8. and fays they do well that do fo; and yet thou fayeft they break it in
Spirit: but tell us by any one fcripture, how a man, affifted by the Spirit to own
Jehovah alone to be his God according to the letter of the first commandment, doth
break the command in the Spirit? Or fo the like of any other of them.
Anfw. This Query is altogether from a miſtake; for it was not faid by
me, that the keeping the law of God according to the letter is a breaking of it
in the Spirit; but that he that runs back to the law in the letter, to take up any
command
374
Some Queries anfwered.
command as held forth in it, will be found a breaker thereof in Spirit. And
for this, the Jews in general, and Paul in particular, may be my inflances;
who was exceeding ftrict according to the letter of the law, but yet was
a grievous breaker of it in Spirit; and did not love his neighbour as him-
felf, but in a blind zeal was a bitter perfecutor: and if the Jews had taken
that direction of Mofes, Deut. xxx. 14. the obfervation of the law in the
letter might have been more eaſy to them. So that the turning towards,
and receiving the word in the heart, from whence the letter came, is the
only way to fulfil the letter; and the law is not fo much as to be known,
much less fulfilled, by running to the letter of it in the first place. And
this I certainly know, that there is no coming to the Lord of life, nor no
keeping chafte to him, but in the new covenant, and in the light of the
Lord, as it is there diſpenſed: and till then, the mind cannot forbear make-
ing of images and falſe repreſentations of him to itfelf; though being from
the light of this covenant, it cannot difcern that it doth fo, no more than
Paul, by the letter of the law, could difcern that he was a breaker thereof
in his violent perfecutions.
Query 15. Whether the prophets, Jefus Chrift, or the apostles, by their keeping
the law according to the letter (that they did fo is evident) did break the law
in the Spirit?
Anfw. The prophets were under the law as to their outward ftate; though
inwardly not without feeling the virtue of the new covenant. Chrift-alfo
was made under the law, and took upon him the fulfilling of that difpenfa-
tion of Mofes, that he might bring the believing Jews from under it into
the liberty of the Spirit; that they might receive the adoption of fons, and
the free miniftration which was appointed for the fons, and might not be
held under that miniftration of bondage which was appointed for the fer-
vants. And the apoſtle bids believers to ftand faft in the liberty wherewith
Chriſt had made them free, not making themfelves debtors to the law, Gal.
V. I. For they were children of the promife, children of New Jerufalem,
the free woman, children of the new covenant, and not children of Mount
Sinai, the old covenant, the law in the letter, chap. iv. 15, 16.
Query 16. If there be but one day of reft holy to the Lord, and all the fab-
baths of the law were but figns of it, that is faid to be the day of redemption
which the Lord hath made: then whether that day be a day natural, one of the
feven days of the week, which either respects the day on which our Redeemer fuf-
fered, or that on which he rofe again from the dead, or any other?
Anfw. As the gofpel is not natural, but fpiritual; fo its day of reft is
not natural, but fpiritual likewife. Yea, I may add this alſo, the fix days
work in the new creation are not natural neither.
Query 17. If not ſo, but that it should be intended applicable to the day or time
of the gospel adminiſtration from the time that Chrift fuffered in the flesh unto the
end of the world; then whether this day, that is intended as a fabbath, is one
with
Some Queries anfwered.
375
with that day that the fcriptures intend and call a fabbath, which Chrift himself
gave his difciples charge to have refpect unto in their flight, Mat. xxiv. 20.
Anfw. The fuppofition here put, demonftrates that thofe that put it have
no acquaintance with the goſpel-fabbath; but propoſe another outward time
for it, even the time from Chrift's fuffering in the flesh to the end of the
world. Now if any ſhould ſo affirm, it were as juftly to be excepted againſt,
as preffing as the obfervation of the Jews fabbath is. That which fignifieth
is outward or natural, and fignifieth to that part which is without: that
which is fignified, is inward and ſpiritual, and is known, entered into, kept,
and enjoyed in the Spirit. It is a ſpiritual fabbath, not a natural, which
God hath inftituted for his fpiritual people, after he hath led them out of
fpiritual Egypt, and teacheth them to worship him in Spirit and in truth.
Query 18. If they intend one and the fame fabbath-day, then how impoffible
was it for the difciples of Chrift to escape fleeing on that fabbath-day, though ever
fo fervent in prayer, in regard that this fabbath ſpoken of began when Chrift bad.
fuffered, and put an end to the difpenfation of Mofes's law: and the flight Spoken.
of by Chrift, which refpects the Lord's fabbath, was not until many years after
Christ's fufferings. The fuppofed fabbath being before denied, the founda-
tion of this Query fails.
Anfw. Chrift's fabbath is not an outward time or day in the flesh; but a
day in the Spirit; even a day of reft from all the labours of the fleſhly part.
But this was fpoken to before, in the anfwer to the laft of W. Salter's que-
ries, whereto I may add this: Chriſt ſpake to his difciples of things as they
were able to bear them. Now as they underſtood not his death, fo then
they underſtood not the aboliſhing of thofe things which were to paſs
away after his death: fo that Chrift might very well call Jerufalem the holy
place, and the feventh day the fabbath, fpeaking to them in that ftate.
Query 19. If they intend not one and the fame fabbath-day, then which are
the difciples of Chrift to have respect unto; whether that that Jefus Chrift in-
joined his difciples to have respect unto, or that that Ifaac Penington would in-
join the difciples to have refpe&t unto?
Anfw. This query hath very little in it, fave to fhew the unfavourineſs of
the ſpirits of them that put it, and their want of acquaintance with the mi-
niftration of the Spirit. They that know the gospel-fabbath (which is the
fubftance of the law-fabbath) can tell who injoined it them; and can alſo
tell that he hath not required of them the obſervation of the Jews fabbath.
But they that are born after the letter have been always fubject to revile and
reproach the truths of the Spirit, and thofe that teftify thereto.
Query 20. If the Lord's holy fabbath be that day which we may ſuppoſe is
intended, by this paper fent unto us, to be the day that contains the time of goſpel-
adminiftration; then whether that fabbath doth probibit outward labour, as well
as abſtaining from fin? If not, then which way muſt this fabbath be kept? See-
ing that they that did and do obferve the weekly fabbath, did and do it in the
Spirit,
376
Some Queries anfwered.
Spirit, and rest by faith in Chrift, worshipping the Father in Spirit and in
truth.
Anfw. The gofpel-fabbath begins not in the obfervation of outward time;
but as it is fpiritual, fo it hath a fpiritual beginning, increafe, and per
fecting, wherein there is a reft to the ſpirit from fin, and from the creature-
ly works, and a worſhipping in the Spirit; even as on the outward ſabbath
there was a bodily ceafing from labours, and an outward worſhipping. And
he that heareth the joyful found of deliverance from fin and felf-working,
and entereth into the faith (beginning to ceafe from his own works and
working, and to wait in the Spirit on the power for its working in him) hath
a tafte of the gofpel-fabbath, and beginneth to fee that day which the type
pointed to, and ends in.
Query 21. If that that was ministered to Paul, Rom. vii. Thou shalt keep
the fabbath, or believe in the light, follow the light, and the obſerving of either
of theſe in the Spirit, be a keeping the whole law; then how are the fcriptures ob-
Served, if the keeping of one commandment be a keeping the whole law, when the
Holy Spirit in Scripture fays, that he that offends in one point, is guilty of all?
James ii. 10.
Anf. I did not fay, that the keeping of one commandment is the keep-
ing of the whole law; but that the obferving in Spirit any one of thoſe
there mentioned by me, is the keeping of the law: which was not barely
faid, but demonftrated; becaufe no part of the law can be broken, but
every one of theſe muſt be broken. He that commits any fin, breaks the
gofpel-fabbath, which is a refting from all fin and ſelf-works; errs from the
law of love received in the Spirit, which fhuts out all enmity and tranf-
greffion both againſt God and man; departs from the fear, which keeps
from departing from God by any iniquity; and enters into the luft, where is
the womb of fin, out of the compafs of which womb fin cannot be con-
ceived, much lefs committed. So that Paul, in that law received from the
Spirit, Thou shalt not luft, faw the whole body of fin ftruck at; whereas be-
fore, under the miniftration of Mofes in the letter (according to which he
faid he was blameleſs) there was not fo much as the life of one fin ftruck
at; but for all his exact anſwering of the law according to that miniftra-
tion, he was alive ftill. To decide this controverſy, let it be put to trial;
let any one fingly wait on the Lord for the adminiſtration of his law in the
Spirit, and if the Lord give forth that command to him, Thou shalt not
luft, in the clearness of the light of his eternal Spirit let him try, if, con-
tinuing in obedience and ſubjection thereto, he can commit any one fin
whatſoever. I do not fay, that a man's propofing to himſelf that he will
not luft, or his ftriving of himſelf to love and fear the Lord, or his apply-
ing himſelf to keep the fabbath or reft from fin to the Lord, will do this:
Nay; this is but an adminiftration in the letter, and will prove weak
againſt the inward ftrength of the enemy; but receiving the law in its
pure living adminiftration in the Spirit, and from the Spirit, here comes
ftrength
..
Some Queries anfwered.
377
1
trength against the enemy, which is too hard for him, while it is abode in
And this the apostle Paul taught the Galatians, who were running backward
toward the law, and not forward in the Spirit: he bids them walk in the
Spirit, Gal. v. 25. And fo doing, as they fhould not be under the law,
ver. 18. fo neither fhould they be breakers of the law for within thoſe
bounds fin enters not, but is kept out; not ſo much as a luſt againſt the
law being there known, much lefs any open tranfgreffion againſt it: and
againſt fuch as thus keep within the bounds of the Spirit there is no law,
ver. 22, 23. but againſt all that make themſelves debtors to the law of the
letter, there ſtands in force both the law of the letter, and of the Spirit
alfo; and they cannot in that ftate be free from the condemnation and
curſe thereof, whatſoever they may imagine concerning themſelves, and
their own ftate, from a miſunderſtanding and mifapplication of the fcrip-
tures.
T
The First Letter anfwered.
HERE is a double miniftration of the law: a miniftration in the
letter, and a miniftration in the Spirit. The miniſtration of the letter
was by Moſes, from Mount Sinai, in tables of ſtone, to that outward people
the Jews: the miniſtration of the Spirit is by Chrift from Mount Sion, in
tables of flesh, to believers, or his difciples. Now this is it which the
Lord hath made manifeſt to me, that the diſciples of Chriſt, or believers,
are to have recourfe to their adminiftration for the receiving of the law
from the Spirit, and not to run back to that miniftration which was literal and
outward, and fitted to a literal and outward people. This was more fully
fet down in my epiſtle in ſeveral particulars. Now in oppofition to this, it
is faid,
Firſt, That all written in that epiſtle, makes no more at all againſt a goſpel
Spiritual obferving in love the feventh day fabbath to the Lord, than they make
against a gofpel fpiritual obferving of the other nine commandments.
Anf. My epiftle ſtriketh not at a gofpel ſpiritual obfervation of any thing:
but he that will obey fpiritually, muft receive his command from the Spirit,
in that way which the Spirit hath chofen to diſpenſe it to him. Now the
fame Spirit which wrote his law in the letter under the old covenant,
writeth his law in the hearts of believers under the new covenant, Heb. viii.
10. which is a better covenant, and of which covenant Chrift is the Me-
diator, ver. 6. and Chrift is as faithful to give forth the laws of his Spirit
in the hearts of his people, as their condition requires them, as Mofes was
to give the law written in the tables of ſtone to his houſe, Heb. iii. 5, 6.
And as Mofes pointed his diſciples to Chriſt coming in the fleſh, ſo Chriſt
VOL. I.
pointed
Bb b
378
Some Queries anfwered.
pointed believers or difciples to the Comforter, the Spirit of truth; first to
wait for him, and then to receive light or his law of life from him and this
is gofpel, or new covenant, even that which the Spirit fpeaks or writes in
the heart: and this hath power in it, and faveth; whereas the letter killeth.
Now confider ferioufly, whither fhould a believer go for thefe laws? To
which covenant? To Mofes's covenant, or to Chrift's covenant?
Secondly, That all thefe commands being holy and good, are to be loved, and
in love to be obferved, &c.
Anfw. All the ftatutes, and judgments, and ordinances, and precepts of
the Lord are holy and good, and are to be loved; but each is to be obe-
dient to that which God requires of him, and to have recourfe to that mi-
niftration for the law of God to him, under which God hath fet him. He
that believes, he that hath received the Spirit, is to have recourfe to the
law of faith, and to the Spirit, for his light or law: he who was under the
law of Mofes, was to have recourfe to the law of Mofes; for the law of
Mofes fpake to them who were under it in his family, giving forth the
precepts, or the commandments of that difpenfation, to them who were un-
der his teftament, Heb. ix. 20. And Chrift fpeaks to, his family by his
Spirit, whom his difciples are to hearken unto, and not to grieve him, or
quench his motions, or defpife his prophefyings; but give diligent heed
thereto, until the day dawn, and the day-ftar arife in their hearts.
Now to obey in love doth not make the diftinction of the miniftrations;
for love belongeth to each miniftration. The Jews, in their day, were to
obey the law in love, and to have it in their hearts, Deut. vi. 5, 6. But
this makes the difference, the Jews were to feek to the letter for it; the
difciple is to receive from the Spirit; for he is to begin in the Spirit, Gal. iii.
3. whereas the Jew's beginning was in the letter. And this is obedience in
the newneſs of the Spirit, when the law is received freſh from the Spirit,
who both writes new things, and brings to remembrance old things
livingly and powerfully but to go to Mofes's miniftration, and learn it
there, and get it into the heart from thence, that is according to the old
miniſtration or covenant, which was given in the letter to the Jews, as may
appear in that place laſt cited, Deut. vi. 5, 6.
Thirdly, That in the fame Spirit and love that we have the Lord for our
God, &c. in the fame we are to remember the fabbath-day to keep it holy.
Anfw. The Lord teacheth believers to know him to be the only true
God, &c. by the law of the covenant of life in Chrift Jefus, which he mi-
niſters to their ſpirits in the Spirit; whereby he teacheth them ſo clearly and
effectually, that they need not run back to the tables of Mofes's covenant,
from thence to teach one another to know the Lord; but they fhall all
know him from his teaching, from the leaft to the greateft: yea, and I
may add this; this covenant by its miniftration teacheth more clearly than
the miniftration of Mofes's law in the letter could teach, Heb. viii. 10, II.
They that have been with Mofes, and have learned the law of him, under
the
Some Queries anfwered.
379
the miniftration of his covenant, have yet need of coming to Chrift; but
they that have been with Chrift, and have learned the law of his Spirit,
by the teachings of the new covenant in their hearts, have not need of
being fent back to Mofes. Mofes pointeth forward to Chrift; but Chriſt
(even in the flesh) ſendeth not his diſciples from his own diſpenſation back
to Mofes (though he alſo eſtabliſhed the difpenfation of Moſes for its ſeaſon),
but pointeth them forward to the Comforter, or to his appearance in the
Spirit. And this is the mark of a Chriſtian, which it is the intent of the
letter to direct him to, and not for him to fix in the letter, as men have
done fince the apoftafy from the Spirit.
This argument is further inforced thus, becauſe be that faid the other, faid
this, in the fame law and Spirit.
Anfw. It is true, he that faid the other by Mofes to the Jews, faid this
alfo to them, and they were ſtrictly bound thereto; but that which binds
the diſciple is the miniftration of the new covenant, where Chrift writes this
law in the minds and fpirits of his people, by which they are bound; and
fuch as are out of that, the Lord, when he cometh to examine them con-
cerning their faith and obedience, will fay to them, Who hath required this at
your hands? Were ye children of the new covenant? Did ye receive the Spirit?
Had ye a meaſure of faith given you? Were ye new creatures? Why did ye not
keep to your rule? Why did ye not wait on the Spirit, and receive the law from
the New Jerufalem, from whence it iffues forth to the family of believers? The
Jews were to be taught by precepts and judgments from Mofes; but all
thy children fhall be taught of the Lord.
It is faid yet further, So that if thou keepeft the other, and not this, thou
art a tranfgreffor of the ROYAL LAW of LIBERTY.
Anfw. What is the royal law? What is the law of liberty? Was the
law as it was adminiſtered by Mofes, the royal law? Or is it the royal law
as it is adminiſtered by the Son, who is the king of faints, and writes his
law in their hearts, as their king? Again, was the law, which Moſes ad-
miniſtered to the Jews, a law of liberty, or a law of bondage? Did not the
miniſtration on Mount Sinai gender to bondage? Gal. iv. 24. But in the
miniſtration of the law by the Spirit is life and liberty, ver. 26.. and 2 Cor.
iii. 17. And this very law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, is royal,
and a law of pure liberty, and there is no bondage in it thus adminiftered
but let any man now read it in the letter, and ftrive to obey it to the ut-
moſt he can, he fhall find it weak through the flesh, accufing and imbon-
daging him. And this is the reafon that Chriftians fo mourn in their
prayers, even as perfons in bonds, becauſe they know not the royal law
of liberty; becauſe they feel not the love which the Spirit begets, but
ftrive to get the letter into their hearts, and to anſwer the commands in
the letter with what love and obedience they can come at ; and this (through
not feeing into the true covenant and miniftry of Chrift) they call obeying
in the Spirit. The teftimony of Jefus, Rev. xii. 17. is the Spirit of pro-
Bbb 2
phecy,
380
Some Queries answered.
phecy, chap. xix. 10, and his commandments come fresh from that Spirit
of prophecy, which are to be taken heed to till the day dawn, and the day-
ſtar ariſe, and then a fuller miniftration is witneffed than that of prophecy,
even the fhining and appearing of that which was prophefied of, which
every believer is to wait for in the prophecies of the Spirit, and in obedi-
ence to thoſe commands, which come livingly into his heart from the Spirit
of prophecy.
Fourthly, That the fourth command is to be in love kept by all believers.
Anfw. All the commands of Chrift's covenant are to be kept by be-
lievers, according as he pleafes to difpenfe them under his adminiſtration
in the new covenant: but the laws of the old covenant are not the laws
of the new covenant, as fo difpenfed; but only as they are comprehended
in the righteouſneſs which is taught and required by the Spirit, which is
fuller, ftricter, and exacter than that which the law of Mofes required..
Nor do I hereby go about to teach any to break the leaſt of Chriſt's com-
mands; but the way to fulfil them; which is by keeping to the certain
knowledge and obedience of them, in that miniftration where Chrift hath
promiſed to difpenfe and make them known to believers, which is under
the miniftry of his own covenant, writing them in their hearts and minds
by his Spirit. And here the keeping of all Chrift's commands is poffible;
yea, this is the only way to have the righteoufnefs of the law fulfilled in us;
for he that keeps the eye which the Spirit hath opened in him cloſe to the
Spirit, fhall not be able to break any law of righteoufnefs, but the righte-
ouſneſs even of Mofes's law fhall be fulfilled in him.
Chriſt is the reſt of the goſpel (as he is alſo the holy land): believing is
the entering into this reft; here is his fabbath, and the keeping of it. Keep
in the faith, the gofpel reft is kept. Parting with every luft that he makes
manifeft, obſerving every thing that this king calls for by his Spirit, and
waiting for the further manifeftation or fhining of the light of his Spirit in
the heart: here is the obedience of the faith, and the holy and ſpiritual
life and ſubjection of the living foul to its living king. Here is the be-
ginning of a true Chriftian, his growth, his perfection; but as for times,
places, perfons, &c. thefe are of another nature, to another part; even to
that part in man which is to be done away, as he comes into the faith,
and into the reft. Let that which is invifible, whofe habitation is out of
the reaſoning part, feel and read me in that which is invifible: for I do not
make void the law by faith, or through publiſhing the miniftry of the
Spirit; but eſtabliſh it in its miniftration in the Spirit to the difciples of
Chrift; who keeping to the Spirit, cannot tranfgrefs the righteouſneſs of
it, though they may there learn not to eſteem one day above another, but
to eſteem every day, no days having ever had any real holinefs in them
one above another; but only a figurative, or reprefentative, which the ſub-
ſtance, Chriſt and his gofpel, fwallows up for as his day dawns, thoſe things
which were the fhadow of it fly away.
The
Some Queries anfwered.
381
I
The Second Letter anſwered.
Object. 1.TT is faid to be dangerous ſo to hold forth the ſpiritual ſabbatiſm,
as to deny the weekly fabbath, wherein our Lord Jefus Chrift reſted,
&c. and which he bleffed and fanctified to Adam and his pofterity, &c.
Anfw. The goſpel is a ſtate of fubftance, of fulfilling the types and ſha-
dows of the law, by bringing believers into the poffeffion of that which
they ſignified of. Canaan was a type of Chriſt, who is the land of the living,
in whom every believer hath an habitation at prefent, according to the
proportion of his faith: and the fabbath is the day of reft, which every be-
liever is to celebrate to Chrift in this holy land, which he doth by believing
and obeying his Spirit in the Faith, which keepeth him out of the fin, the
unbelief, the unreft. But that the fabbath of the law, the reft thereof,
which pointed to the faith, is ftill to be held up in the times of the goſpel,
I know no ſcripture which ſo teacheth, and I know fomewhat which teacheth
me otherwife. The day is dawned, bleſſed be the Lord God Almighty;
the eyerlaſting day is dawned, and the fhadows of the law are flown away.
Object. 2. It is faid, 'that Heb. iv. ſpeaks of three refts, the feventh day,
or fabbath reft, Ifrael's reft in Canaan, and a remaining reft, whereof David
fpeaks, Pfalm xcv.
Anfw. I grant it: there were two refts under the law, which were ſigns of
the one reft under the gospel. The two under the law were outward and
natural, the one under the goſpel inward and ſpiritual, anſwerable to the
ftate of the gofpel. David was not only acquainted with the law ftate, but
with the free ſpirit, (Pſalm li.) and the eternal law thereof. He knew the
new creation, the creating of a new fpirit (with its travel through the law)
and alſo the new reft. He knew the circumcifion of the heart, the ſpiritual
facrifices of a broken heart and of praife; he could take the cup of ſalva-
tion, and fing the fong of praife to the Lord, which none can do in the
ftrange land, nor on any other day but the day of reft. And he incites
Ifrael to this reft, that they might not harden their hearts againſt it; but
in the day of their vifitation enter into it, by hearkening to the Word which
was nigh them, which gives the entrance through the faith. To-day, if ye
will bear his voice, harden not your hearts, &c. There is a reft ye are now
called to enter into, as your fathers were called to enter into the land of
Canaan: harden not your hearts as they did; but hear the voice, hear the
word which calls to this reft, believe and enter. This reft remains, fays
the apoſtle; the others were types of it under the law ſtate, which was to
paſs away.
Object
382
Some Queries anfwered,
Object. 3. It is faid, ceremonial figns are done away, but the ten commands
under the mercy-feat are of another nature: and that there are figns which are
not yet abolished (as the rain-bow, fun, moon, and ftars) but ftill remain for us
to make good ufe of.
Anfw. The mercy-feat under the law is done away, and the fubftance
thereof is come; and will ye not give him leave to write his law in the
tables which he fhall chufe, where his difciples may read it with the eye
which he gives? Is his law now to be read in the fhadow, or with the
outward eye, or to be looked for under the old mercy-feat of the outward
tabernacle? Or is it to be read with the eye of the new creature, with the
eye of faith, with the eye of the Spirit, in the everlafting gofpel, where
the life itſelf is read, and in other books or writings without, but tidings
or relations of the life? Here Chrift, here the Spirit, here the eternal life,
here the love, the joy, the peace, the reft, the purity, which is eternal, is
feen, is felt, is handled, is enjoyed: for the true faith is indeed the fub-
ſtance of the things hoped for, giving victory over the enemies which
diſturb, and a quiet habitation in him who is the reſt.
And as touching figns, I do not ſay that figns are fo done away as that
there is now no good ufe to be made of them; but in reading the law, and
fhadows thereof, the Lord may pleaſe, by his Spirit, to enlighten the ſpirit
of him who reads in his fear to fee through them: but this I do not find,
that ſo much as any one fign or fhadow under the law was to be continued
in that way of ſervice under the gofpel; (for indeed to what end fhould it?
When that is come which it fignified, is not its work at an end?) And that
that fabbath was given for a ſign (as well as any other fabbaths of the law) I
find exprefly, Exod. xxxi. 13, to 18.
Object. 4. It is faid, That though Chrift's law be a new law; yet it is alfo
old, given of old to the Jews.
Anfw. Yea, it is older than fo; for it was written in Abel's and the other
holy mens hearts, long before this covenant of the law in writing was made
with the Jews. And confider well which is now to ftand in the times of the
gofpel, the writing of the law by the Spirit in the hearts of believers, as it
was written by virtue of the promiſe before the law was given, or the
outward and viſible writing under the law, which was done for the fake of,
and as a fuitable difpenfation for, that outward people. It was not thus
from the beginning; but after a long time: for when God chofe an outward
people, he chofe alfo this way of writing to fignify fomewhat by; which
fignification is concerning another ſtate; in which ftate, that which was fig-
nified is to be fet up and advanced, and not the fhadows which were fignifi-
cant of it.
It is further faid, That the Lord writes thefe things new in his peoples hearts,
to know the Lord, as their God, and as the God and Father of Jefus Chrift, and
as their Father in him; and to love their brethren as Chrift loved them. And he
writes
Some Queries anfwered.
383
writes this law also in their hearts, Thou shalt have no other gods but me;
make no image, exalt my name, keep holy the fabbath, &c.
Anfw. If God write theſe things in the heart, are they not to be read
there? If God write them in the new covenant, and in the new tables, fhall
not I read them there? And if I can read there in this living book what
God writes in it by his Sprit, is not this nearer to me and clearer, and read
by a more certain eye, than what I can read with my outward eye in tables
of ftone? Oh! do not turn the believer out of his way: do not hinder him
from reading in the book, which is clear and infallible, the clear and in-
fallible things of God. Will God write in my heart, and will he not give
me an eye to read? Shall he give me an eye to read, and fhall I not read
therewith? Thou haft here confeffed this to be the new writing, and the
new writing belongs to the new covenant; both which are proper to the gof-
pel ftate, and to Chrift's mediation, who is Mediator of the new covenant,
Heb. viii. 6. And in that he faith, a new, he hath made the first old. Now
that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away, ver. 13.
Object. 5. It is faid, That love being the fum and fubftance of the law of the
Spirit, makes no more against the fourth commandment than against the reſt.
Anſw. Love is the ſubſtance of them all, and they are all fulfilled in it;
but they are not after this manner fulfilled; to wit, that a man ſhould
ftrive particularly to keep them in his eye, and fo labour to fulfil them in
love; but rather thus, in waiting on the Lord, to receive love from him,
and to be kept by him in the love; in this love received they are all ful-
filled, and cannot be broken, and this is an eafy yoke. This is the new
birth, and the path thereof; the other is but the old creature, with its
ftriving after the path and inheritance of life. And as this love is the ful-
filling of the law, fo the heart is the tables of this love, wherein God.
writeth both the whole and all the parts of his law. Now I am not againſt
any man, who in fingleneſs of heart applies himſelf to the letter; yet it is
but the old way, and a converfing with Chrift after the manner of Mofes's.
difpenfation; but I must confefs that I am for the new covenant, and for
the miniftry of the Spirit, which is far beyond the letter: and though I
have known Chrift and the laws of his life after the flesh; yet henceforth
my defire is not after knowing him ſo any more, but to know him in the
eternal life of his Spirit, and to drink of the fruit of the vine, new with hin
in his Father's kingdom.
A BRIEF
[ 384 ]
A
BRIEF EXPLICATION
Of the MYSTERY of the
SIX DAYS LABOUR,
AND
SEVENTH DAY's SABBATH,
For fuch to behold, the Eye of whofe Spirit is opened
by the Pure Anointing; and who are not fo drowned
in their Conceivings and Reaſonings about the Senſe of
the Letter, as moſt of the Profeffors of this Age are.
MATT. xi. 28, 29, 30.
Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give
you reft. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart, and ye shall find reft unto your fouls; for my
yoke is eafy, and my burden is light.
E that hears the joyful found of the ever-living power, calling him
Hby the voice of
by the voice of his eternal light out of the darkneſs, out of the
death, out of the mifery, out of the dominions, territories, and deep ſlavery
of Satan unto himſelf, and cometh unto him in the virtue and power of that
life which calleth, he hath a taſte given him of the eternal reft, and a pro-
mife of entering into it.
But the entrance into the fulneſs thereof is not preſently; but he hath a
long journey to take from Egypt, the dark land; from Sodom, the filthy
land; from Babylon, where all the veffels and holy things of God have been
defiled, through the Wilderneſs unto Canaan, and many battles are to be
fought with enemies by the way, and alſo with the enemies which poffefs
the holy land; and many hardſhips to be undergone in following the cap-
tain,
1
A brief Explanation of the Myftery, &c.
385
tain, who alſo leadeth his Ifrael by a pillar of cloud by day, and by a pillar
of fire by night; and there must be a circumcifion and baptifm in the
cloud and in the fea, and the falling of all thoſe carcaffes in the wilderneſs,
which are not to enter, nor fo much as fee, the good land, before the en-
trance be miniftered to the feed, and to that which paffeth through the
water and through the fire with the feed. In plain terms, there muſt be
a taking up of the yoke, and a learning of Chrift under the yoke, till the
proud, the ftiff, the ftubborn, the wife, the wilful, the ſelfiſh ſpirit, the
hard ftony heart, be wafted and worn out by the crofs, and nothing left
but what becomes one with the feed, and fo is fit to be married to it, and
to enter with it into the everlaſting kingdom.
Now this bearing the yoke, this taking up of the crofs, this following of
Chriſt in the wilderneſs, through the corrections of the Father, through
the buffetings and temptations of the enemy, in the midst of all the weak-
neffes and frailties of the fleſh, going when he bids go, ſtanding ſtill where
he ftops, fighting when he prepares to the warfare, bearing the repulfe,
when he fuffers the enemy to prevail, and hoping, even beyond hope, for
his relief and victory in due feafon: here is the labour, here is the travail,
here is the working under the life, with the meaſure of grace and power
received from the life. So that, firft, the day-ſpring from on high viſits;
from that viſitation there is light entered into the heart; by clofing with
that light there is grace received; with this grace received there is work to
be done for God; his talent is to be improved all the fix days, by all that
will reft with him on the ſeventh, and that defire to ceafe from their la-
bours in the fruition of the faith, the life, the power; the power living,
becoming, and performing all in them. And he that doth not improve
the talent; he that doth not follow on in the pure light, but either fits
down by the way, or is deceived with an image of what once was true in
him, he can never arrive at the land of reft (though perhaps he may arrive
at that which he may call fo), but when the eternal witnefs awakes in him,
he will find the want of it, and bitterly bewail his grievous miſtake.
Now in this hard travail and grievous labour under the cloſe laws and fpi-
ritual commandments of the life (hard I mean, yea, very hard, to the un-
renewed part, though eaſy and natural to that part which is renewed and
born of God), it pleaſeth the Lord now and then to give a day of refreſh-
ment, caufing his life fo powerfully to fpring up, that it even fenfibly is
and doth all in the heart. This is a fabbath, wherein the foul reſts in the
powerful movings and operations of the life, and doth not find any ſtreſs
of trouble, or hardſhip, or labour upon it; but fits ftill in the power, is at
eafe in the life, in the eternal virtue, which lives, and moves, and is all in it;
and no pain, no trouble, no grievoufneſs of any command is felt; but to
it all is eafy, all is natural, all is purely pleaſant; the life (to which all its
own laws, ftatutes, ordinances, judgments, ways, and paths are eaſy) per-
forming all it calls for, even as faſt as it calls for it. And here not only a
fabbath
VOL. I.
Ccc
386
A brief Explanation of the Mystery
fabbath of days, but alſo a fabbath of weeks, yea, fometimes a fabbath of
years (befides the everlaſting jubilee or year of perfect redemption itſelf)
are known and witneffed by fuch as have waited on the Lord in ſingleneſs
of heart, under the yoke of his Spirit, for the bringing down of the rough
and untoward nature, and for the railing up of the meek and lowly heart.
But here it is exceeding eafy running out, and ftarting afide; it is eafy
running out from under the yoke, to avoid the bitterness of the hardship to
the earthly part; it is much eafier running out on the day of reft, and fo
lofing the truth in a joy and rejoicing, even fuch a one as might have a true
ground. Oh! who can but think the bitterneſs of death is paſt, when all
enemies are vaniſhed, and there is nothing left but the Lord and the foul
embracing each other! And who can but be unwilling to come back again
to his labour, and to the refidue of his hard travail afterwards? And yet it
is far better to return to the work in the vineyard, and to fuffer again with
the feed, than to keep up the reft in a notion, and fo to loſe the life and pure
preſence and virtue of the feed, when it returns unto, and calls back to the
labour. Oh! how many have periſhed here! ſuffering a divorce from that
which led them into the reft, not being willing to go back again with it to
fill up the refidue of its fufferings, which were yet behind, and fo have kept
up a falfe, dead, notional reft, after the true fabbath was ended.
Now there is no way for fuch, but to wait to feel the living breath, the
quickening virtue, the day-fpring from on high, which by the brightneſs of
its rifing can diſcover this falfe reft, this dead reft, this notional reft, this
eafe in the earthly, in the fleshly, in the understanding part, which they
uphold by things they have formerly gathered from the Scriptures, or from
their own (perhaps once living) experiences; but now hold out of the
feeling and poffeffion of the life in the dead part. But that it is thus with
them they can never fee, until the light from which they have erred ſpring
up and difcover it to them; and when the light doth arife and difcover it,
they will find the way of return, and the path of redemption, much more
difficult to them than it was at firft: yet it is better to part with the eaſe of
the fleſh, and to undergo the pangs of a new birth, than to mifs of the in-
heritance in the good land.
There are three fteps or degrees of the bleffed eſtate: Firſt, there are
defires, thirſtings, and breathings, begotten after the life. Secondly, there is
a labouring in the fervice (under the yoke) by the virtue which springs from the
life. Thirdly, there is a reft, or fitting down at eafe in the life. By the
ftirring of life in the foul, defires after life are kindled. He in whom the
defires are kindled, and who feeleth the eternal virtue, cannot but be run-
ning the race; he whom the Spirit of the Lord findeth faithful in running
the race, it pleaſeth the Lord ever and anon to be giving him a taſte of the
reft. Thus the fpring ftirring, the foul cannot but move towards its center;
and as it entereth into and fixeth in its center, it partaketh of the reft.
Now to know the leadings of the Spirit forward and backward into thefe,
into
!
ཀ
of the Six Days Labour, &c.
387
into defires, when he pleaſeth; into the labour and fervice of the life, when
he pleaſeth; into the fweet reft and perfect repofe in the life, when he
pleafeth; here is the fafety and fweet progrefs of the renewed fpirit. That
man who is born of the Spirit, is to wait for the movings, breathings, and
kindlings of the Spirit in him: and when the fun arifeth, he is to go forth
to his labour in the light thereof, and in the night and withdrawing of the-
fun to retire; and when his ſeventh day of reft comes, he is to receive it
from, and enjoy it in, the Spirit; and afterward to be willing to begin his
week again, even till his whole race and the full courfe of his pilgrimage
be finiſhed. Yet if it were poffible for man, after he is come to Chriſt, to
abide perfectly with him, tó ceafe from luft, to keep within the faith, to
draw naturally in the yoke, to bow in the Spirit continually to the Father of
fpirits, there would be a continual fabbath kept in the paffage, even before
the great, full, and perfect fabbath in the end. The hardneſs and uneaſi-
neſs of the labour, is becauſe of a part contrary to the life, which, when
it is worn out, there will be no more labour; but the yoke will become the
reft, and all the motions and operations of life will flow forth naturally in
the reft. And here is the patience and faith of the faints, to wait under the
yoke, under the daily croſs to that part which is to be brought and kept
under, till all the bonds of captivity be broke through by the life, and the
veil of fleſh rent from the top to the bottom (the remaining of which is that
which ſtops the free current of life), and then ſhall the foul enter into the
holy of holies, obtaining the full poffeffion of the everlaſting inheritance,
and of the eternal redemption, and know forrow, tears, bonds, fickneſs,
death, captivity (no not fo much as grappling with them, or travelling out
of them) no more; but the enjoyment of the plenty and fulneſs of the
life, reaping all the pleafant fruits of life in the rich land of life for ever-
more..
Ccc 2
Some
[ 388 ]
Some CONSIDERATIONS
J
Propounded to the
E
W
S,
That they may Hear and Confider, and their Hearts at
length may be turned towards that which alone is able
to Convert them to GOD; that they may once more
become his People, and enter into an Everlaſting Co-
venant with him that may not be broken; that fo they
may abide in his Love and Covenant of LIFE, and
remain his People for ever.
Confideration. I.
Wh
HAT great love, mercy, and kindness God fhewed to
that people, above all nations and peoples under bea-
ven! Of his own free love he fet his heart upon them, chufing them to be
a people to himſelf. He brought them out of Egypt, by a mighty hand
and outſtretched arm; he mightily preferved them in, and led them through,
the wilderneſs. He entered into a covenant with them to become their
God, and betrothed them unto himſelf for his own lot and inheritance. He
gave them righteous laws, judgments, ftatutes, and ordinances, both of wor-
Thip towards him, and of an upright demeanour and converfation among
themſelves and towards all men. He drove out the heathen from before
them, and gave them a pleaſant land to poffefs, even the glory of all lands,
a land flowing with milk and honey. He built an habitation for himſelf
among them; firſt a moving fanctuary or tabernacle, afterwards a more
ſettled abiding place or temple (which Solomon built) wherein was the ark
of his prefence, where he was to be fought unto and enquired of by them,
and towards which their prayers were to be directed; and there was a mercy-
feat, whereof they had large experience, and he ever and anon fent pro-
phets among them, to reprove their errors and backflidings, and to fet
them to rights again. He raiſed up judges likewife to defend them; and
although they were weary of his government, defiring a king after the man-
ner of the nations fo vehemently, that they even forced a king from him,
yet he took him away from them, and after him chofe a man after his own
heart,
Some Confiderations propounded to the Jews. 389
beart, to feed Jacob his people, and Ifrael his inheritance; who fed them accord-
ing to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the fkilfulness of his hands.
What ſhould I fay more? What was wanting of love, of care, of good-
nefs, of kindneſs, of mercy, of gentleness, of any thing that a people
could defire of their God? I fay, what was wanting of all this on God's
part? What could he have done more for his vineyard than he did do?
Nay he emptied upon them all the goodneſs, all the mercy, love, favour,
&c. that that covenant would hold to the full; yea, and more too; for he
bare with them more than that covenant required him to bear, and re-
deemed them oftener than that covenant engaged him; yea many times turned
be his anger away, and did not ftir up all his wrath, as he might often have
done according to the tenour of that covenant. Yea, in all their afflictions
he was afflicted, and the angel of his prefence faved them: and he was ſtill
ready to ſay in his heart, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie
at length they will fee their error, repent, and be true to me; infomuch as
he was never weary of faving them, of trying them again and again; of
ftirring up his bowels of love and pity to redeem them; of fending his fer-
vants and prophets among them to warn and reclaim them, even till at laſt it
was manifeft that there was no remedy but he muſt caft them off, and pro-
voke them to jealoufy by a foolish nation, Deut. xxxii. 20, 21. drawing
them nigh to him, who had been worſhipping ſtocks and ftones; making
them become a people, who had long been no people; and cafting theſe
out of his fight, making them become no people, who had fo long been
his chofen peculiar people, in covenant with him, and nigh unto him above
all the families of the earth.
Confideration II. What conftant rebellion and ſtiffneſs of ſpirit that people
all along expreffed towards the Lord! What wild four grapes they ftill brought
forth to him; four love, four obedience, four worſhip and facrifices, fuch
as the pure palate of the Lord could find no reliſh nor favour in: but as
Mofes had told them, that it was not for their righteouſneſs God chofe
them to give them the good land to poffefs, for they were a rebellious and
ftiff-necked people, Deut. ix. 6, 7. fo it was not for their goodneſs that
God continued his love to them, for they were all along provoking him,
Jer. xliv. 4. When God came to fhew that great mercy to them of re-
deeming them out of Egypt, and bid them caft away their idols, they
would not caft away their idols, Ezek. xx. 7, 8. neither did they regard
that mercy of redemption from the houfe of bondage, and from the iron
furnace, but ſaid to Mofes, it was better for them to ſtay in Egypt, and
to ferve the Egyptians, Exod. xiv. 12. Again in the wildernefs, how did
they provoke him all thofe forty years of mercy; how did they err in their
hearts from his pure fear, and from love to him, and from faith and con-
fidence in him! How did they murmur against him, and againſt Mofes and
Aaron their leaders! How did they forget his works and his wonders con-
tinually! When they came near the land, and fhould have gone in to poſſeſs
1
;
it,
390
Some Confiderations propounded to the Jews.
it, then they would not, but repined and rebelled becaufe of the tallnefs
and ſtrength of the enemy, and of their cities; and when they were for-
bid to go, then they would go and fight with them. What fhould I men-
tion the time of the judges and of the kings; how often the Lord made
them ſmart by their enemies in their own land; how often he gave them
up to captivity out of their land, even till at length that great captivity of
Babylon befel them, and fince that a greater captivity and defolation than
that of Babylon ?
Confideration III. Whether God, having tried this people even to the utmoft,
by that covenant which he made with them by Mofes in Mount Sinai, may ever
pleafe to try them so any more: or if there yet remain any mercy or love from
God towards them, whether it is not to be expected another way, and upon an-
other account? This is very neceffary and profitable for them to confider,
that they may not be looking that way for mercy and favour from God, in
which it is never to come, and fo have their eyes and hearts diverted from
that way according to which it is to come; for this muft needs put them
back exceedingly, if their eyes be looking out one way, and the love of
God hath choſen another channel to run towards them in. This may make
them refuſe the very mercy, love, and redemption, when it comes, fufpect-
ing it not to be it, becauſe it comes not in the way, and after the manner
that they look for it. Now God hath exprefly faid, that when he fhall be
pacified in them, and fhall look again upon them with an eye of favour,
to do them good, it fhall not be by their covenant (which could never laſt,
but was ftill broken on their parts) but by his own everlaſting covenant,
which he would eſtabliſh to them, Ezek. xvi. 60, &c. It fhould therefore
diligently be enquired by them, What covenant it is which is called their co-
venant, ver. 61. And what covenant it is which is called God's covenant,
ver. 62. That they may withdraw their eyes and hopes from the one, from
whence their redemption, recovery, and mercy cannot come, towards the
other, from whence it is to come? To which Query, for their fakes, it is in
my heart to return this anſwer.
Anfw. Their covenant is that which they entered into with God, the co-
venant that their hearts choſe to unite with God by: and that was to this
effect, That if God would shew them his will, they would obey it. Go thou
near (faid they to Moſes) and hear all that the Lord our God fhall fay, and
Speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God ſhall ſpeak unto thee, and we
will hear it and do it, Deut. v. 27. Thus they thought, but the Lord
knew otherwife: For Oh! faith the Lord, that there were fuch a heart in
them, &c. ver. 29. and Mofes knew otherwife, he knew that they would
corrupt themſelves, and that evil would befal them in the latter days, Deut.
But God's covenant was the free covenant he made with Abra-
ham, Ifaac, and Jacob, the covenant of his grace, the covenant of his free
love, whereby he was able to reach them in Egypt, upon the cry of the
feed in them (in the midſt of their idolatries, and to bring them out and
xxxi. 29.
do.
Some Confiderations propounded to the Jews. 391
do them good, notwithſtanding their ftubbornneſs and ftiff-neckedneſs) even
before the other covenant was made; this covenant of love was God's co-
venant. This is the covenant God remembered to them in the days of
their youth, while they were young and tender, and not yet grown up to
be a people under the other covenant; and this is the covenant which lafts
for ever, which is not founded upon their obedience, but on God's free
love to them for his own name fake, and for their Father's fake with whom
he freely made it.
Queft. What doth this covenant contain?
Anfw. Putting his fear in the heart, writing his laws in the mind, pour-
ing of pure clear water upon them to wash away the pollutions of their
inward parts, circumcifing the filth of the heart, healing the backfliding
nature by creating of a right fpirit within, and keeping of the created fpirit
right by the preſence of that Spirit which created it; fee Jer. xxxi. 31, 32.
Ezek. xxxvi. 25, &c. Hofea xiv. 4. This is God's covenant, this is the
new covenant, which is to be made with the houſe of Ifrael and Judah
when God redeems them; and they can never be redeemed but by this co-
venant, but are to remain defolate, until the Spirit be poured out from on
high upon them, Ifa. xxxii. 15. until their hearts be circumcifed to love
the Lord their God, until his fear be placed there, and they thereby cauf-
ed to walk in his ways. As therefore they receive the Spirit, are brought
into the fear, have the law written in their minds, and become fubject
thereto, fo will they tafte of this covenant, be brought into redemption by
it, and become a glory inwardly, and outwardly alfo upon the earth.
Queft. What is the way for them to have the fear of God put in their hearts,
to have their hearts circumcifed, to receive the Spirit and his laws into their
minds, and fo to come into this covenant ?
Anfw. There is no other way but that to which Mofes himſelf directed
them, after God had made the other covenant with them, and tried them
long by it, together with many temptations, figns, and wonders, both be-
fore and after it, and feeing by all theſe they had not had an heart to per-
ceive, nor eyes to fee, nor ears to hear, Mofes at length directs them to
another covenant, the word whereof would give them eyes to fee, and ears
to hear, and an heart to underſtand. Which covenant was a covenant be-
fides the former, Deut. xxix. 1. and was indeed the covenant concerning
life or death eternal, chap. xxx. 15. (the other being but a covenant of
their outward ftate, made with them after their coming out of Egypt, up-
on their deliverance therefrom, and according to their choice to become a
people to God according to it). This word, Mofes tells them, was near
them (nearer than that which was ſpoken by God on the Mount, and after-
wards written in tables of ſtone). The voice of this word and the com-
mandment thereof was nearer, that they need not feek any where abroad
for it, but only liften at home to hear its fpeech, obey it in the faith, and
live for ever, Deut. xxx. 11, &c. This is the way for them and all men to
come
}
392 Some Confiderations propounded to the Jews.
come into this covenant, and there is no other; there is a light fhining in
the darkneſs of man's heart, which ſprings up in him, and cafts forth its
rays to diſcover and draw him out of the darkneſs: now as this light is felt,
loved, underſtood in fpirit, hearkened and cleaved to in the pure faith,
which it begets; that which cleaves to it, is drawn out of the darkneſs by
it, into the covenant of the pure eternal light where God is, and whither all
they are tranflated, who are drawn to him in and by this covenant, as they are
kept, preferved, and continue in the faith, love, and obedience of it. Now
I would yet put theſe few things more to them.
Firſt, Whether that people of the Jews, as they ſtood related to God in
that covenant (given by Mofes at Mount Horeb) with the covenant itſelf,
and all things appertaining thereto, were not a fhadow of fome inward
and ſpiritual thing afterwards to appear and be made manifeſt in its ſeaſon.
Whether they themſelves were not a fhadow of a more inward and fpiritual
people, to be gathered to God by the inward and fpiritual covenant; and
whether their outward covenant was not a fhadow or vifible reprefentation
of that covenant, and the laws of it a fhadow or reprefentation of the in-
ward laws, which were to be written in the hearts of that fpiritual people?
Was not their tabernacle, or temple, a fhadow of the true tabernacle, or
temple; ſeeing God dwelleth not in temples made with hands, but in a
poor, humble, contrite fpirit, and in the heart that trembles at his word?
Ifa. lvii. 15. and chap. lxvi. 1, 2. So was not their circumcifion a ſhadow
of the circumcifion which is to pafs upon the hearts of God's chofen? Were
not their facrifices types, or reprefentations, of the facrifices of praiſe and.
of a broken heart? Pfa. li. 17 and Pfa. 1. 14. Was not their Canaan,
or holy land, a type of the true holy fpiritual reft, which the faith gives
entrance into? Their city Jerufalem a type of the Jehovah-fhamma? Their
prieſts and Levites types of the fpiritual priefthood, which was to offer the
pure offering and fpiritual facrifices among the Gentiles? Malac. i. 11.
Mark that place, if it did not plainly foretell the cafting off of the Jews,
with the rejecting of their offerings, priefts, and Levites, and God's raiſing.
up a feed among the Gentiles, where he would have a more acceptable
people and worſhip, even a pure fpiritual people, and a pure fpiritual of-
fering.
Secondly, If they were types, repreſentations, or fhadows of fomewhat.
fpiritual to come, then were they not to give place to that which is fpiritual
when it came, and fo to be ſwallowed up in it? Is not the fpiritual glory
the glory? The inward Jew, the Jew indeed? The circumcifion of the
heart, the choice circumcifion? The offering up of praiſe and of a broken
heart, the acceptable facrifice? The land of life and righteouſneſs, the true
land of reft to the living by faith? Is not the fpiritual city, houfe, or tem-
ple which God builds, the Jerufalem or temple of the new covenant? Is
not this the choice houſe to God? And is not this fpiritual glory to be ex-
pected in the days of the Meffiah, and all the types and fhadows of Mofes,
which
á
Some Confiderations propounded to the Jews.
393
which pointed at him, to end in him, when once he comes to fet up his
true, inward, inviſible, fubftantial glory among his inward and ſpiritual
people? When the day of Meffiah dawns, fhall not Mofes's fhadows fly
away? Oh! that your eyes were opened to behold the inward glory of life,
the good things of the new covenant, the great treaſure and riches which
are revealed and poffeffed in the Spirit by the fpirits that are redeemed un-
to God, that ye might partake thereof; and then your eye would not be fo
much on that which is outward; which if ye had, even to the utmoft of
your defire, is not comparable to the inward.
Laftly, Search the prophets, fee if the Meffiah is not firft to come in a
deſpiſeable way, as a man of forrows, Ifa. liii. 2, 3. whofe vifage in that
And con--
appearance was to be more marred than any man's, Ifa. lii. 14.
fider whether he was not to be cut off, though not for himſelf, Dan. ix. 26.
and then to fit at the right hand of God, until his enemies be made his
footstool, Pfa. cx. 1. before he come in that glory wherein ye expect him.
So that if he be not thus come already, then that coming of his is yet to
be expected, and his hands and feet are yet to be pierced by you, and then
afterwards ye may look upon him whom you have pierced, Zach. xii. 10.
and all the families of Ifrael mourn bitterly apart for it, ver. 12.
When Mofes gave the law, the veil was over his face; your fathers were
not able to bear the light wherein the law was given, nor the light wherein
the prophecies of the prophets were given; and fo they ftill erred from the
law, were offended at the prophets while they were alive, and mifunder-
ſtood their words after their death. Now do not ye fearch into Mofes and
the prophets in the fame fpirit of error as your fathers did, being ſhut out
from the light of them, even as they were? If it be thus, if the veil be
over your hearts, if ye be ignorant of the true light, of the true eternal
power wherein the fcriptures were given forth, ye muft needs mifunder-
ſtand them, miſunderſtand Mofes, miſunderſtand the prophets, miſunder-
ftand the things ſpoken concerning the Meffiah; and fo not be able to fee
unto the end of thoſe things miniftered by Mofes, and of that miniftration
which was to paſs away; nor into the beginning of the miniftration of the
Meffiah, which was to fucceed it. Oh! turn within to the word nigh in the
heart! that the true Jew may be begotten and formed in you, and his
light may ariſe and overfpread you; that in that light ye may fee the light
of Mofes, and the light of the prophets, and not gather falfe meanings
from their words, but underſtand them aright in the fame holy Spirit, and
enjoy the bleſſedneſs they ſpake of and directed to, which lies in the inward
raifing up of an inward feed, and not in an outward conformity of the out-
ward man, while the heart and mind remains unchanged and unrenewed;
which can never be made new by any miniftry of the letter without the
Spirit, but alone by the miniftry of the Spirit, whether with or without the
letter, as he pleaſeth.
VOL. I.
Ddd
I. P..
Some
1
394 Some Queries concerning the Work of God, &c.
Some
QUERIES
Concerning the WORK of GOD in the WORLD, which
is to be expected in the latter Ages thereof; with a
few plain Words to the Nation of ENGLAND, tend-
ing towards ſtopping the future Breakings-forth of
GOD's Wrath, both upon the People and Powers
thereof; with an ADVERTISEMENT relating to the
prefent State of Things.
Query 1.
Wh
HETHER the kingdoms of the earth fhall not one day
become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Chrift,
wherein the Lord God Omnipotent fhall reign, and man's glory and great-
nefs fall, that God alone may be exalted in that day? Rev. xi. 15. 17.
Ifa. ii. 11, 12. xvii. 22.
Query 2. When ſhall this be? Whether this is not to be expected upon
the recovery out of the antichriftian apoftafy? Whether the man-child is not
then to be expected to be fo born and brought forth as to rule all nations.
with a rod of iron? Rev. xix. 6, and chap. xii. 5.
Query 3. When the Son of man comes to take the government to him-
felf, to give forth the law out of Sion, and the word of the Lord from Je-
rufalem, Ifa.. ii. 3. whether he fhall find faith on the earth? Whether he
fhall find the kings and powers of the earth ready to receive him, and the
profeffors willing to fubmit themſelves unto him? Or whether they fhall
generally combine againſt him, and he be fain to overcome them, before
he can reign over them? Luke xviii. 8. Revelations xvii. 12, 13. 14. Pfa.
ii. 2, 3.
Query 4. Why theſe things may not be expected in this our day, and be
already begun in this our nation, feeing fo many ftrange things have hap-
pened among us, as have not in many foregoing ages; God having fo
ftrangely raiſed up a generation to do fervice for him, and fo ftrangely
again brought them down, when they had fo long and fo often fhewed
themſelves unworthy of, and unfit for, fo great a fervice, by ftill feeking
themſelves, and forgetting the Lord that raifed them?
Query 5. How the kingdoms of the earth are to become the kingdoms
of the Lord and of his Chrift? Whether it be not by taking his yoke up-
on them, by ſubmitting to his laws, his cords, and bands? By giving up
whatſoever
Some Queries concerning the Work of God, &c. 395
whatfoever is unjuft, unrighteous, harfh, and oppreffive; and coming un-
der the bands of righteoufnefs, meeknefs, and equity? Pfa. ii. 10, 11.
Matt. xi. 29.
Query 6. Whether the Lord be arifen to ſhake terribly or no (as was long
ago prophefied he ſhould? Ifa. ii. 19.) For the Lord will once more ſhake
both heaven and earth, Heb. xii. 26. There hath been a fore ſhaking in
this nation the foundations of government, yea, the very foundations of
religion have been fhaken, that that which cannot ftand might be removed
out of the way, and give place to that which cannot be ſhaken, ver. 27.
Confider therefore whether theſe be the beginnings of the great and terrible.
day of the Lord God Almighty, or only fome fuch ordinary fhakings as ufe
to happen according to the courfe of kingdoms and ftates, which are fub-
ject to changes, alterations, and diffettlements?
Query 7. When God beginneth to ſhake the heaven and earth in nations.
(according to that great fhaking which is to be after the antichriftian apo-
ftafy, Rev. vi. and chap. vi.), whether there ever can be any firm fettle-
ment again upon the old foundations? There may appear fome hopes and
probability of a fettlement again, which man may be tempted to faften
upon; but this will but provoke God to fhake more effectually: for when
God once arifeth to fhake, he will not give over till he hath made that fall,
which he began to fhake, Rev. xi. 13. O England take heed!
Query 8. How the kings, powers, and nations of the earth may fecure
their ſtanding in that day? Whether there be any way for them fo to do, and
what is that way? Whether there be any other way but kiffing the Son,
fubmitting to his bands, being willing to be bound with the chains of
righteouſneſs, love, and meeknefs, from all unrighteouſneſs and oppreffion,
both relating to their fellow creatures and to his people? Pfa. ii. 12. and
cxlix. 8.
Come, O nation of England, be bound! O powers of this nation, take
the Lord's yoke upon you; feek righteoufnefs, feek meeknefs, feek the
good of all, not in words and pretences, but in truth and uprightneſs.
Seek out that which is of God in every one of your hearts, and let that
govern for God. Do not fmite any for obedience to the living God, but
come ye alſo under his yoke, that what is not of God in yourſelves, but an
enemy to your fouls, may be yoked down; and let all laws be formed, di-
rected, and managed, to reach the unrighteous, that the rod of the wicked
may not always lie upon the lot of the righteous, Pfa. cxxv. 3. nor oppref-
fion and felf-will fit in the feat of judgment, and pafs (becaufe of its power
and authority) for righteouſneſs, Ecclef. iii. 16. and iv. 1. O ye powers of
England! fave yourſelves and this nation from the terrible ftroke of God,
which is very near. And let not this following advice be difdained by you,
but confider feriouſly of it.
Take heed how you call any to account for what they have done against you.
There was an extraordinary hand of God in theſe things; and in falling
D dd 2
foul
1
396 Some Queries concerning the Work of God, &c.
foul
upon inftruments, ye may claſh againſt him before ye are aware. For
their iniquity the Lord hath laid them afide, and raiſed you up again, giv-
ing you another day of trial; let that fuffice, and look now to your own
ftanding, that ye alfo do not fall by following their example of iniquity and
unrighteouſneſs. But if you will call them to account for any thing, let it
be for being unfaithful to God and the people of this nation, to whom they
made large promiſes, but performed little. And that which God required
of them (and the nation had reaſon to expect from them) do ye now per-
form. Give all men the liberty of their confciences towards God; let them
follow him out of the faſhions, cuftoms, and worſhips of the world with-
out interruption; and let there alſo be a narrow fearch after what is unjuſt,
unrighteous, and oppreffive in any kind; and as faft as it is difcovered let
it be removed, that the nation may grow out of vanity, out of unrighte-
ouſneſs, into folidity and righteouſneſs; and that the fear of offending man
may not affright any from fearing, obeying, and worshipping of God in
Spirit and truth, as he requireth; and then God will blefs this nation and
the powers of it. For the Lord God taketh not pleaſure in overturning of
nations, or breaking in pieces the powers thereof: yet if they will by no
means hearken, but harden their hearts, and ftand in the way of his counfel
and defign, he cannot fpare them, Ifa. xxvii. 4. Therefore ftand not in
battle againſt him, but bow before him, O ye great ones of the earth! be-
come low and little, that his wrath may paſs by you; let go your own
ftrength and greatneſs, and take hold of his ftrength, that ye may make
peace with him, ver. 5. and do not go about to limit the Spirit of God in
his people; that will moft certainly ruin you! The Lord God hath begun
to beſtow his Spirit upon his fons and daughters, as in days of old, even
as before the great apoftafy and erring from it; and he requireth their obe-
dience to it; and who may fafely forbid or puniſh them therefore? Much
lies upon this land in this refpect; Oh! do not add more, left ye fink the na-
tion and yourſelves! Now a little to help the nation and powers thereof the
better to digeſt the work of God, that they may not run on headily againſt
him to their own ruin and deftruction, let thefe two things following be
confidered.
1. Whether the people of God, in the days of the apostles, were not a fepara-
ted people; a people gathered out of nations, kindreds, tongues, and languages
(gathered out of the Jewish worship, gathered out of the heathenish worship) and
Separated to God?
2. Whether after the antichriftian apoftafy, there are not a people to be gather-
ed again, and feparated again, from all antichriftian ways of worship, even after
the manner as they were before the apoftafy from the Heathenifh and Jewish wor-
Ship? And fo the fame gospel which gathered at first, is after the apoftafy to be
preached to gather men again, Rev. xiv. 6, 7.
Confider well of thefe things, that ye may not fet yourſelves againſt the
Lord, to cross him in his work in this nation. Ye cannot hinder him from
gathering
Some Queries concerning the Work of God, &c. 397
!
$
gathering his people now out of the apoftatized ftate, no more than the
Jews or heathens could hinder him from gathering his elect then out of their
corrupt ftates. The reformation out of popery was very weak and imper-
fect; the Lord waited long for the perfecting of it; but inftead thereof,
there was rather a running backwards towards it again. The Lord hath
now at length begun the work himſelf, letting forth his Spirit upon his
people, and gathering many into it, and is preparing the ftones of his
temple for his building, and he will affuredly build up his church again ;
ye cannot poffibly ſtop him herein: ye may break yourſelves by attempting
to remove this burdenfome ftone out of your way (for indeed it doth lie
fomewhat offenfively in the way of all fettlements and governments accord-
ing to the fleſhly wiſdom); but it will fall upon and break all that bur-
den themſelves with it, though not by outward might or power, yet by
that Spirit of life and righteoufnefs which is in it, which the Lord is with to
profper. Confider theſe things in meekneſs, righteouſneſs, and in the fear
of the Lord; even in that Spirit which is fit to act for God, and not againſt
him.
An Advertiſement to the Powers and People of this
Nation.
B
ECAUSE of my dear love to my native country, and becauſe of
the dregs of that cup which the Lord hath already caufed it to drink
of, which cannot be ſpared unleſs the Lord's will be effected without it;
which dregs are fo bitter, terrible, and dreadful, as will make the ftouteft
hearts to faint, and the moſt confident countenance wax pale: I fay, for
this caufe, in love am I conſtrained to add theſe few lines more, that if it
be poffible this nation may apply itſelf, in the fear and dread of the eternal
majefty and power, to make its peace with him againſt whom it hath long
warred (not only by much outward wickednefs, loofenefs, vanity, and pro-
faneneſs, but more eſpecially by fetting up an invented form of godliness,
and perfecuting the power) and to whom it is not yet reconciled in this
matter, nor found fo much as willing to be reconciled.
The Lord God of heaven and earth, of glory, of majesty, of everlaſt-
ing power, victory, and dominion over all, who made both heaven and
earth, and hath the command of all things therein, he diſpoſeth of nations,
of governments, of earthly powers according to his pleaſure, and who may
fay unto him, what doft thou? Who may implead him for making a rich
nation poor, a ſtrong nation weak, or for bringing down the high and
mighty, the ftrong, ftout, honourable, and noble in a nation, and exalting
the poor, the mean, the perfecuted? And if he turn his hand again, and
lay
t
398
An Advertiſement, &c.
lay them flat whom he had lifted up, and exalt the other even unlooked-
for, who can withstand him, or who can contradict him?
Now what is in the Lord's heart (who is thus mighty and abſolute) he
will certainly bring to pafs, how unlikely, how contrary, how impoffible
foever it ſeem to the eye of man. If he will exalt his deſpiſed truth (which
always was fo to the eye of the great and wife-ones of this world), or give his
people liberty to fear, worship, and obey him; if he will have truth and
righteoufnefs have the dominion in mens hearts, and in the nations, and
not in the wills and lufts of men, how great and powerful foever; I fay, if
this be his intent, though generation fhould rife up after generation to op-
poſe him herein, yet will he be too hard for them all, and they will all
fall before him; and his truth, his people, his holy eternal counſel will he
raiſe up, and caufe to triumph over them all.
It is man's way to fettle himself by outward ftrength againft outward
ftrength, and then he thinks he is fafe; not eying the invifible hand which
turns the wheels, and delights to overturn that which is outwardly ſtrong
(and feemeth unremoveable) when it forgetteth him, and oppofeth itſelf
againſt him. The Lord God loves to take his enemies at the ftrongeft,
when they are moft wife, moft mighty, even when nothing feems able to
deal with them but himſelf. This was it overthrew the foregoing powers
one after another; they were courting worldly intereft, and ftrengthening
themſelves that way; but overlooking God who raiſed them, and the work
which he had raiſed them to accompliſh. This turned the hand againſt
them which had been for them, and how then could they maintain their
ftanding?
of
Oh! that the prefent generation could fee the tickliſhneſs of their ftand-
ing, and confider that this is their day of trial, and that the Lord's eye is
upon them, to obſerve their ways, to fee whether they will now mind
righteoufnefs and the liberty of his people better than formerly they did;
and that his truth may in its life and power (and not in fuch a form or way
worſhip as they may think good to prefcribe) have its fcope in the nation.
The Lord's eye and heart is upon his truth, and upon his people; and as
nations or powers deal with that, fo will he deal with them. Oh! there-
fore be not deceived; for though the Lord hath often-times long fuffered
his people to lie under reproach and perfecution (as he did Ifrael in Egypt
for divers ages); yet at length he hath ftill heard their groans, and hath
arifen to deliver them and though Pharaoh afterwards with all his ftrength
went after them, and made no queftion but to bring them back again un-
der his fubjection (and there was nothing in appearance able to deliver them
from him); yet he could not, but overthrew himfelf and his ftrength
utterly. Ye know not what ftrong cries and tears were put up to the Loid
before theſe late changes, that righteouſneſs might be eftabliſhed in the na-
tion, and that his people might have liberty to worſhip him in his fear,
and according to the leadings of his Spirit, without being yoked under any
¡
form
¿
An Advertiſement, &c.
399
form of worship which their hearts could not own to be of God. And
when the Long Parliament was unexpectedly raiſed up, that was looked
upon by many to have been the means God would have uſed towards the
effecting of this: and we cannot deny but that God did make uſe of them
in fome things for good, for which his name was honoured. But though
that inftrument did warp, becoming unfaithful to the Lord, diverting from
his work and fervice, towards the feeking and eſtabliſhing of themſelves
and their own interefts, and ſo are at length themſelves justly therefore
fallen; yet the work of the Lord is not fallen, as relating to himſelf;
though, becauſe of the unfaithfulneſs and felf-feeking of the inftruments
which he began to uſe, at prefent it lieth under much reproach (and that
juftly as relating to them); yet, for all this, the Lord himfelf can bring it
about again, and carry it on with better advantage to his name, truth,
and people, than if it had gone on in their hand: and the more men fet
themſelves to oppofe it, the more glory will God get to himſelf in effect-
ing it.
Let not therefore my true love to the nation, and to the prefent powers
thereof, be deſpiſed by them; but let them fear before the mighty God of
heaven and earth, and in their hearts bow to him, that they may be
humbled, and made fit inftruments in his hand for his fervice, and not
be found enemies againſt him. If they will be fit inftruments for God to
work by, they muſt be meek, lowly, poor in fpirit, waiting in God's fear
for his counfel, and not hearken to the fleſhly wiſdom of man, which is his
utter enemy, and will perfuade, adviſe, and inftruct them to fettle the na-
tion and church (as they call it) in a way contrary to him. And remem-
ber this word: Be fure you fmite none for obedience to God. Limit not his Holy
Spirit in his people; but limit the unclean and evil spirit in those who manifeft
themſelves not to be his people. This is the true intent of government. How
can he who governs aright under God, hurt that which is of God, and
for God? Or how can he fpare that which his fword is given him to cut
down? Oh! how happy were it for the nation if they would let truth have
its ſcope, and let righteouſneſs overcome them! And not contend for
fhadows againſt the fubftance; but let the fubftance overcome all thoſe ſha-
dows which have held it in bondage, and upheld its enemy.
The great enemy of God, all this night of the apoftafy, hath been anti-
chrift; who hath not been an open enemy only, but hath appeared as if he
had been for Chrift, commanding the worshipping and honouring of Chrift,
yea, and with a great zeal taking upon him to cauſe people to worſhip
according to what he determined to be right: and thus he getteth into the
temple, erecting an ufurping authority over the confcience, fetting up and
compelling to an invented worship.
Againft this kind of worship God hath ftill been raifing witneffes: but he
having the powers of the earth on his fide (as was prophefied he ſhould,
Rev. xvii. 13.) hath often prevailed over them, Rev. xiii. 7. And fo the
truth.
f
400
An Advertiſement, &c.
truth hath been fuppreffed, and falfe worſhips fet up by the powers of the
earth, according to the proportion they have drank of the golden cup of
fornication; which doth not only deceive in one way of manifeft and grofs
falſe worſhip, but hath many mixtures and myfteries of deceit in it, Rev.
xvii. 2, &c.
Now God hath a time to call for an account of the fufferings and blood.
of his faints, Rev. vi. 10, II. He hath a time to judge the great whore,
Rev. xvii. 1. And when the time of God's judgment comes upon the earth,
God begins with his own houfe firft, and fo with that which hath taken
upon it to feparate from Babylon, to fee what he can find of Babylon
therein; and he will judge that before he fall upon the great body of the
myſtery of iniquity, 1 Pet. iv. 17. Heb. x. 30.
be
Now therefore it behoves this nation to confider what of Babylon may
found in it, and to part with it, that it may eſcape the plagues of Babylon,
Rev. xviii. 4. which are very bitter, as ver. 7, 8, &c. Thefe are the two
main things whereof Babylon is guilty.
1. An invented form of worship, a likeness of the true worship; but not the
true worſhip itſelf.
2. A perfecuting and endeavouring to fupprefs the power of the truth, even of
the purity of the godly religion and worſhip, by means of this form; becauſe, for
confcience fake, men who are taught otherwife by the Spirit of God, cannot fubmit
and ſubject thereto.
This God is coming down to plead with in that great city Babylon; and
this God will firft plead within thee, O England! Confider what of this is
yet remaining in thee (or what of this thy heart hankers after) and part
with it as thou loveft thy peace. The Lord is the witneſs of the integrity
and fidelity of my heart to thee in thefe lines. It will be hard for thee
to eſcape the Lord's hand; yet it is not impoffible. If thou bow before
the mighty God, and lie abaſed in ſpirit at his feet, he can open that
eye in
thee which can let thee fee thy danger, and alſo the way how to eſcape it.
Printed 1660.
I. P.
THE
THE
CONSIDERATION
OF A
}
POSITION
CONCERNING THE
BOOK of COMMON-PRAYER.
AS ALSO
Of fome PARTICULARS held forth for TRUTHS,
by one EDMUND ELLIS, ftiled a Minifter of the
Gofpel of JESUS CHRIST.
WITH
A WARNING of tender Bowels to the RULERS, TEACHERS, and
EOPLE of this NATION, concerning their CHURCH and
MINISTRY.
LIKEWISE
1
A few WORDS Concerning the KINGDOM, LAWS, and GOVERNMENT of
CHRIST in the HEART and CONSCIENCE; its Inoffenſiveneſs to all
juft Laws and Governments of the Kingdoms of Men.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
Behold, I come as a thief.
ments, left he walk naked,
VOL. I.
Bleſſed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his gar-
and they fee his fhame. REV. xvi. 15.
Eee
[ ceccii-]
THE
PREFACE.
C
HRIST, the eternal Son of God, the fubftance of all the types
and fhadows of the law, was made a prieſt to God, not after the
law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endleſs
life. He came in the power of the Father; he received the power, he
miniſtered the power, and in the power. Thus he gathered together living
ftones, built them into a living temple for the Father of life to dwell in,
that they may be filled with the power, dwell in the power, and be to the
glory of the power. The church of Ifrael, the church of the Old Tefta-
ment, the church of Mofes, was gathered by the letter, was to be ordered
by the letter, was to keep and obferve the law of the letter, was to have
prieſts and ſacrifices according to the letter; but the New Teſtament church
was to be of true Jews, of Jews gathered in the power, circumciſed by the
power, renewed in the power, &c. So that he is not a Jew any longer,
who is one outward, nor that circumcifion which is outward in the fleſh :
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcifion is that of the heart
in the Spirit, and not in the letter. We are the circumcifion, faith the apoſtle,
which worship God in the Spirit, and have no confidence in the flesh. The
New Teſtament ftate is a ftate of ſubſtance, even of that ſpiritual ſubſtance
which the law held out in ſhadows. The Jew is inward, the circumcifion
inward, the facrifices inward, the church inward, the miniftry inward, the
worſhip inward all is in Spirit, in life, in power, in virtue; the whole
ſtate is anſwerable to the high-prieft of our profeffion, even after the power
of the endleſs life. By the eternal Spirit was he made a minifter, by it he
preached, ("the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, becauſe he hath anointed
me to preach the gofpel," &c. Luke iv. 18.) " through it he offered up
"himſelf a facrifice without fpot to God," Heb. ix. 14. And in the fame
power runs the vein of the whole difpenfation of the gofpel; for it is a
miniſtration of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. 8. Take away the life, take
the life, take away the
66
..
Spirit;
PREFACE.
cccciil
Spirit; ye take away the ftones of this building; ye take away the church;
ye take away the miniftry; ye take away all.
Now about this inward building there was an outward court, which had
its being, ſtate and honour from the prefence of the inward life. The vir-
tue of the inward building did caft a reflection, and bring forth an out-
ward ftate (as it cannot but do, wherever it appears in its riches and glory);
This ftate ftood firm in the days of the apostles, till God's meafuring and
removing of his temple, altar, and worshippers, and his giving up of the
outward court (it having loft the life and virtue, which flowed into it front
the temple, while the temple remained within it) to the Gentiles; who un-
der the gospel are fuch as are uncircumcifed in fpirit, and can worſhip in
the outward court without the Spirit. The enemy indeed fought hard
against the life and power, but he could not there prevail; the gates of hell
could not prevail against the true church, which brought forth the man-
child, nor against the man-child whom the brought forth; but the man
child was caught up to God, and the woman fled into the wilderneſs. Then
that church-itate, and worſhip, which depended upon their prefence, was
diffolved: for how could it be otherwife, when both the man-child, which
was the head of the church (from whence the virtue, life, and influence
did flow into the whole body), and the woman (or church) herſelf alſo were
both gone out of fight? So that the miniftry of eternal life, and the tem-
ple, wherein the life was miniftered, being both removed, they are neither
of them henceforward to be found in that place, where they were beheld
before (and where moſt eyes would be ready to look for them again) but
there where the Spirit had hid them.
Now mark diligently, what kind of efteem the true church hath had in
the world, ever fince her difrobing herſelf of her outward garments and
flight into the wilderneſs, and how her true feed have been handled. The
dragon immediately cafts a flood after her; her beautiful raiment being put
off, and ſhe cloathed in the habit of a widow, the eye of the world could
no longer fee and acknowledge her to be the church, but difdain, reproach,
revile her. This is her lot all the days of antichrift; fhe is miſrepreſented
by the dragon's flood of reproaches, and looked upon as a ftrumpet, as
one that pretends to Chrift for her Lord and huſband, to his Spirit, to his
kingdom, to his truth, without a juft right; and the remnant of her feed
are ſtill made war with by the dragon. Who have been the hunted ones,
the Late, the perfecuted in all nations, but the tender-confcienced, who
receive the law of Chrift into their hearts, bowing to him in their worthip
and converſation, and dare not bow or worship according to the doctrines and
commandments of men?
Now the true church or temple being thus removed, the outward court
becomes the habitation and place of worthip among the Gentiles, all the
time of the church's abode in the wilderneſs. The Spirit of the Lord hav-
ing left it, the heathenifh ipirit (man's earthly nature and wifdom) the fpirit
Eee 2
of
cccciv
PREFACE.
of antichrift enters into it, and upholds the form of the former building
(fo far as it judgeth neceffary) and here it is found worshipping, and mak-
ing a great fhew of holiness and devotion, but in the mean time makes
war with the true worshippers, who cannot worſhip in the outward court
(fince the Spirit of the Lord hath left it, and given it to the Gentiles), but
follow the church into the wilderneſs, and worſhip in that temple which God.
hath removed thither.
Oh! where is the eye which can read theſe things, as they are written
either in the letter, or in the Spirit. Antichrift is a myſtery of iniquity,
which works, and gets up, and reigns, under an appearance of godlinefs;
and he that will difcern him and his falfe ways of worship, muſt have that
eye which fees beyond the appearance of things, into their nature and
in this is the diſcovery of him, and the redemption from him. And happy
is he, who is not defiled with women, but abideth in the true virginity, ex-
pecting and preparing for the appearance of the bridegroom.
き
​THE
1
[405]
THE
CONSIDERATION
OF A
POSITION
CONCERNING THE
BOOK of COMMON-PRAYER.
AS ALSO
Of fome PARTICULARS held forth for TRUTHS, &C.
T
HERE is a pofition laid down in fome printed letters, concerning
the uſe of the Common Prayer-book, tendered by one Edm. Ellis
(who profeffeth himſelf to be a minifter of Jefus Chrift) to Mr.
Hughes, and Mr. Ford (as he ftileth them); againſt which poſition he in-
treateth me, if I find upon my fpirit any thing to be objected againſt it,
to diſcover it in exact and punctual expreffions. This defire of his is fet
down in print after the letters..
His pofition or affertion is this: That a man may worship God in Spirit,
and in truth, in the uſe of that form of prayer for morning and evening, which
we call the Common-Prayer.
Now whoever would weigh this affertion aright, muſt have the balance
of the fanctuary, and muft put it into the ſcale with an equal hand; and
then looking with that eye, which is given to fee the myſteries of the king-
dom of God, to him who is born of God, the truth or error of it is eaſily
difcerned.
True prayer is the breathing of the Child to the Father which begat it, from:
the fenfe of its wants, for the fupply of those wants.
The
406
The Confideration of a Pofition
The wind bloweth where it lifteth, and thou beareft the found thereof; but
canft not tell whence it cometh, and whether it goeth; fo is every one that is born
of the Spirit, John iii. 8. God, by the breath of his Spirit, begets a man
out of the ſpirit and likeneſs of this world into his own image and likeneſs.
He that is thus begotten, wants nouriſhment, wants the divine warmth,
the breafts of confolation, the cloathing of the Spirit, the garment of fal-
vation; wants the bread of life to feed on; wants the water of life to drink;
wants ftrength againft the enemy's affaults, wifdom againſt his fnares and
temptations; wants the arm of the Deliverer to preſerve and carry on the
work of redemption daily; wants faith to deny the fleshly wifdom, that fo
he may truft and feel the virtue of the arm of the deliverer; wants hope,
patience, meekneſs, a clear guidance, an upright heart to follow after the
Lord; yea, very many are the daily wants of that which is begotten by the
breath of God, in its ftate of weaknefs, until it be drawn up into the unity
of the body, where the full communion with the life is felt, the heart fatif-
fied, and the wants drowned.
Now the breathing of this child to the father from the ſenſe of theſe
wants for his fupply; that is prayer; nay, though it be but a groan, or
figh, which cannot be uttered, or expreffed; yet that is prayer, true prayer,
which hath an acceptance with the Lord, and receiveth a gracious anfwer
from him. And he that begetteth the child, teacheth him to pray, even
by the fame Spirit which begat him. In watching daily to the Spirit, the
child is kept fenfible of the will of the Father, and in his light he fees the
way wherein he is to walk; he fees alfo the enemy when he is coming,
yea, and the fnares he is privily laying, and he feels his own weakneſs to
withſtand or eſcape: and in this fenfe his heart cries to the Father of
ſpirits for preſervation; for him to ftand by him; for him to ftep in in the
needful time, even in the ſeaſon of diftrefs. And thus watching to the
Spirit, the life of a Chriftian is a continual courfe of prayer: he prays con-
tinually. This is the living prayer of the living child, which confifts not in
a form of words, either read out of a book, or conceived in the mind; but
in feeling the breath of its nature iffuing out from the principle of life in
it to the living fpring, which is the father of it; who, by caufing his vir-
tues to fpring up in it, nourisheth it to everlafting life.
But now, man who is not born of the Spirit, but (by conceiving fome of
the truths of God in the wisdom from below) hath attained to fome change
of opinion and converfation, he pretends to be this birth from above; tho'
indeed he is born but of bloods, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of
man, John i. 13. and what God begets in, and gives to, his true child, he
will be imitating, though he be out of the nature and fpirit where the true
child is begotten, and where the true gift of the father is received by him.
He will be believing, though he hath not received any proportion of the
living faith from the hand of the Father: he will be forming repentance
and forrow for fin, though his heart be not turned ora it; he will be
hoping
1
才
​concerning the Book of Common-Prayer.
407
hoping in God's mercy, although he be both from off the foundation,
and from under the fhadow of the mercy-feat; and he will be praying,
though he hath neither received the Spirit, nor been taught by the
Spirit to pray; and fo being from that which fhould guide him, and
teach the truth and way of worfhip as it is in Jefus, he runs out
into the inventions and imaginations, and fets up a way of his own
chufing; which he having much confidered of, and beat out by reaſonings,
and fenced about with arguments, he grows wife in his own eyes, and now
verily believes it to be the way of God, and that he is able to maintain it
againſt all oppofers. Thus one man, he is for a form; another man, he is
againſt a form, and for conceived prayers; and each think themſelves
able to maintain their own, and to overthrow each other. But oh! that
that ear were open which can hear the truth! that where there is any true,
honeft, upright defire after God, from the fimplicity of the heart, it might
not be thus betrayed through the fubtilty of the fleshly wiſdom, which
lies lurking in the wife, reafoning, knowing part, to betray the poor weak
babe. The natural man, the reaſoning man, the underſtanding man, the
wife man according to the natural wifdom, cannot underſtand the things of
God. Here is no learning to pray aright, to believe aright, to hope aright,
to mourn aright, to rejoice aright, &c. but this wiſdom muſt be brought
to nothing, I Cor. i. 19. and a man muft become a child to all knowledge,
as let in this way; and he that fo becomes a child, is taught to pray, to
believe, to wait, to hope, and all that is neceffary to eternal life.
Now as the Father teacheth to pray, fo he giveth defires or words (if
he pleaſe) according to the preſent need. Sometimes he gives but ability
to figh or groan (if he give no more, he accepts that). Sometimes he
gives ftrong_breathings and plenty of words to pour out the foul in before
the Lord. But if a man fhould catch thofe words, and lay them up againſt
another time, and offer them up to God in his own will, this would be
but will-worſhip and abomination. This I have known experimentally, and
have felt the wrath of God for it. That is prayer, which comes freſh from
the Spirit; and that is a true defire, which the Spirit begets; but the
affections and ſparks of man's kindling pleaſe not the Lord, nor do they
conduce to the foul's reft, but will end in the bed of ſorrow, Iſa. 1. 11.
Now as touching the Book of Common Prayer, or prayers conceived
without the immediate breathings of the Spirit, I fhall fpeak mine own
experience faithfully, which is this; I have felt both theſe ways draw
out the wrong part, and keep that alive in me, which the true prayer
kills. And he that utters a word beyond the fenſe which God begets in his
Spirit, takes God's name in vain, and provokes him to jealoufy againſt
his own foul. God is in heaven, thou art on earth, therefore let thy words be
few. The few words which the Spirit ſpeaks, or the few ftill, foft, gentle
breathings which the Spirit begets, are pleafing to God, and profitable to
the
408
The Confideration of a Pofition
the foul; but the many words which man's wiſdom affects, hurt the pre-
cious life, and thicken the veil of death over the foul, keeping that part
alive which ſeparates from God; which part muft die ere the foul can
live.
The true prayer is by that which God begets in the virtue of his Spirit
(praying always in the Spirit, Ephef. vi. 18. Jude xx.) in the time he chufes:
for the Spirit breatheth as well when he lifteth, as where he lifteth; and
man cannot limit him when he fhall breathe, or when he fhall not breathe
but is to wait the ſeaſon of his breathing, and fo to watch unto prayer.
;
Now if the prayer be in words (for there is a praying without words)
then it muſt be in thoſe words which he pleaſeth to give, from the ſenſe
which he kindleth, and not in the words which man's wiſdom teacheth, or
would chufe to ufe. And indeed, in the true religion, and in every exer-
ciſe of it, man's wifdom is kept out, and nailed to the croſs, by which
means the immortal life is raiſed, and grows in the true difciple. He be-
lieves, he hopes, he waits, he prays, he mourns, he rejoices, he obeys, &c.
in the croſs to the mortal part; not as man's wiſdom teacheth, or would
teach, or can teach any of theſe things; for his facrifice is ftill an abomina-
tion, even to the wife Egyptian part in himſelf; (O wiſe man! abaſe thy-
felf before the Lord in his Spirit, that thou mayeft read this and live!) but
as the life teacheth, as the wiſdom from above teacheth, which breaketh
down, fhutteth up, confoundeth and deſtroyeth man's wifdom, while he is
teaching his babe.
Thus have I anſwered, in the fimplicity of my heart, to the nature of
the thing, fo far as the Lord hath pleaſed to draw forth my fpirit; and in
finking down to that, which thus opened my fpirit, my anſwer may eaſily
be read and affented to: but to that which is in the difputing wiſdom, out
of the feeling of the hidden life and virtue, it may prove a myſtery.
Afterwards he alſo intreateth me to peruſe ſeriouſly, and to lay deeply to
heart (in the real fear and dread of the great God) fome particulars which
he teacheth for truths.
I perceive he is offended at the queftioning of his miniftry, and that the
main intent of his propofing thefe is to juftify his miniftry; which, if they
were true, yet the preaching of them would not prove him, or any man
elfe, to be a minifter of Jefus Chrift: for it is not preaching things that
are true which makes a true minifter; but the receiving of his miniftry from
the Lord. The goſpel is the Lord's which is to be preached, and is to be
preached in his power; and the minifters which preach it are to be endued
with his power, and to be fent by him. The apoftles themſelves, though
they had received inftructions concerning the kingdom from Chrift's own
lips, both in his life-time, and after his refurrection, Acts i. 3. and had re-
ceived a commiffion from him to teach all nations, Matt. xxviii. 18, 19.
yet this was not fufficient to make them able minifters of the New Tefta-
ment; but, before they went abroad to preach, they were to wait for the
power,
concerning the Book of Common-Prayer.
409
power, Alts i. 4. 8.; and when they had received it, they were to minifter
in it, that men might be converted to the power, and by the power, that
the faith of perfons might not ſtand in the wiſdom of their words (which
Paul might have abounded in, as well as others), but in the power of God,
1 Cor. ii. 5. And this was it made Paul miniſter in fear and trembling,
left the wrong part in him fhould minifter; left the earthly underſtanding
part fhould be holding forth the truths of God out of the life, out of the
power, and ſo he ſhould convert men to the wiſdom of the words he ſpake,
and not to the power, ver. 2, 3. This was it he was fent for, to turn men
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, Acts xxvi. 18.¿
from the fpirit of enmity and death, to the Spirit of love and life: and
this he was careful of in his miniftry, that men might not run away with
his words, and mifs of the thing. And this alfo was the way whereby he
diſcovered true and falfe minifters: I will come, and know (faith he) not the
Speech of them which are puffed up, but the power: for the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power, 1 Cor. iv. 19, 20. Many men might catch their
words, and run away with them, and preach them; but they could not
miniſter in the power. Now the kingdom which the gospel minifters are the
preachers of, confifts not in words, but in power. God hath made us able
minifters of the New Teftament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii.
6. The miniſtry of the New Teftament is a miniſtry of the Spirit, and it
cannot be without the Spirit. It is a reaching to men's confciences in the
demonftration of the Spirit and power, 1 Cor. ii. 4. and 2 Cor. iv. 1, 2. which
being felt in the heart, and turned to, this converts them to God.
The miniftry of the gofpel doth not confift in a bare opening of the let-
ter (or raiſing of doctrines and uſes from the letter, which the wiſdom of
man may eaſily perform) as the miniftry of the law did: but in bringing
men to the feeling of the Spirit, even of the eternal power of God which.
redeems, in turning men from the darkneſs to the light, in ſetting their
faces towards the power. The goſpel is the fubftance of what was fhadowed
out in the law; and he that minifters it muft minifter fubftance. He muft
have the heavenly treaſure (that is the fubftance) in his earthly veffel, 2 Cor.
iv. 7.; and he muſt give out of this treaſure into the veffel which God pre-
pares and that he may do this, he muft minifter in the Spirit, and in the
power. His words must not be fuch as man's wiſdom would teach, or as
man's comprehenfion would gather; but fuch words as God's wifdom pre-
pares for him, and puts into his mouth. He that will be a true miniſter,
muft receive both his gift, his miniſtry, and the exerciſe of both from the
Lord and muſt be fure in his miniftering to keep in the power, or he
will never win others to the power: but in keeping in the power, while he
is miniftering and ſtanding in the croſs to his own underſtanding and wif-
dom, giving forth the truths which the Lord chuſeth to have him fpeak in
the words which God chuſeth, even in the words which are miniſtered to him
by the power, in thus miniftering he fhall fave his own foul, and thofe that
VOL. I.
hear
Fff
410
The Confideration of a Pofition
hear him, even all who in fear and meeknefs receive the ingrafted word,
which is able to fave the foul. For alas! alas! many have received words
of truth, and apprehenfions of knowledge, whereby they hope to be faved;
but how few are acquainted with that knowledge which ftands in the power,
which alone converts and keeps alive unto God! Oh! how many fouls are
to be anſwered for by them, who take upon them to be paſtors from God,
who have fed the flock with words, with difcourfes which they have made, and
have ruled over them with force and cruelty; but have wanted the love, the
tenderneſs, the light and power of the true ſhepherd! Oh! what will theſe
do when God requires his fheep at their hands! Oh! that there were an
heart to confider! Ye fhepherds of England, little do ye know what is to-
wards you.
Now for thoſe things themfelves, which he faith be principally endeavours
to make known to the fons men, there is a mixture in them; which, if he
could fingly apply himſelf to wait on the Lord in the meek fober fpirit,
out of the confultations, wifdom, and confidence of the flesh, it might
pleaſe the Lord to make manifeft to him.
The firſt particular of thofe, which he lays down for truths is, that the
good things of this life, honours, riches, &c. unless we make uſe of them in the
Service of God, are but vanity and vexation of ſpirit; and in no-wife any more
capable to fatisfy or content an immortal foul, than lime, and aſhes, and cobwebs,
and fuch-like traſh, are to fatisfy and keep in health the bodies of those perfons,
who through the depravedness of their appetite, defire to feed on them.
Anfw. Chrift, by his miniftry, calleth his difciples out of the world up
to the Father; out of the honour, riches, and whatever elfe is of the world.
How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and ſeek not the bo-
nour that cometh from God only? John v. 44. And the rich man, he bids
R
him fell all, and follow him. And the Apoſtle John faith, Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the luft of the flesh,
the luft of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world, 1 John ii. 15, 16. He that will be a difciple of Chrift, muft travel
out of the earthly into the heavenly, leaving all that is of this world be-
hind him, poffeffing nothing as his portion but him who hath called him
out of his country, from among his kindred, and from his father's houſe,
to another land, kindred, and habitation. So that here they are pilgrims
and ſtrangers, fojourners and paffengers, unknown to the world, and of a
ftrange garb, behaviour and appearance in it; not enjoying any thing as
the world enjoys; not ufing any thing as the world ufeth; not honouring
men, or receiving honour from men, as the world gives or receives ho-
nour; but honouring men in the Lord, and receiving honour from the
Lord: and whatever they feem to retain of the earthly things, they hold as.
ſtewards under the Lord; not uſing or difpofing of them as they think
good, but waiting for the diſcovery of the maſter's pleaſure, who is to or-
:
der,
1
concerning the Book of Common-Prayer.
411
der, in his counſel and wiſdom, all that is his own to his own glory. The
law required a tenth part to be given up to the Lord; the gofpel requireth
all, foul, body, Spirit, good name, &c.; even that the whole poffeffion be
fold, and laid at the Mafter's feet; and he that keepeth any thing back,
cannot be a diſciple; cannot be a foldier of Chrift; but muft needs entangle
himfelf with the affairs of this life. This is found and favoury, even the
truth of Jefus, as it is known and felt in the renewed fpirit; but his words,
if he meaſure them in the pure light of God, he will perceive not to have
fprung thence, but to have been formed in the earthly wife part; even in
that wiſdom, underſtanding, and comprehenfion, which is fhut out of the
myſteries of God's kingdom.
For his fecond, That nothing but the enjoyment of God, the fountain of all
goodness, can truly and really content an immortal foul. And for his third, That
no man can enjoy God, but he that loves him with all his heart, and with all
bis foul, and (for his fake) his neighbour as himself. I own both the things
themſelves, and theſe words, and I felt a good favour in them at the read-
ing of them: only let me fay this, if he put men upon ftriving after theſe
things, without pointing them to the gift where the ftrength is received to
perform, and where the waiting is to be for the ſtrength, he cannot preach
them profitably to his hearers.
To his fourth, That though every fincere convert, or regenerate perfon, loves
God continually with his whole heart, as to the habit or root of holy love; yet
whilst he is in the body, he may fometimes fail of the act or fruit of it, and MAY
offend God through the love of the creature. Which truth (fo much oppofed in
thefe days) is clear and manifeft in the holy Scriptures; particularly in the
records of the heinous fins of the prophet David, and Peter the apoſtle.
Anfw. The Lord circumcifeth the heart of believers under the new cove-
nant, to love the Lord their God with all their heart, that they may live: he
cauſeth the plant to ſpring up out of the dry and barren ground, which he wa-
tereth with his bleffing; and he layeth his axe to the root of the old tree, hew-
ing at it even till he hath cut it up: he engrafteth the Eternal Word into the
beart, and by it is daily purifying thereof, fulfilling the good pleaſure of his good-
neſs therein, and carrying on the work of faith with power and the miniſtry
which he gave was for the perfecting the faints, Ephef. iv. 12, 13. which
miniſtry exhorted and encouraged believers (from God's promifes of his pre-
fence and powerful operation of his Spirit in the hearts of his fons and
daughters) to cleanſe themſelves from all filthiness of the fleſh and ſpirit, perfe&t-
ing holiness in the fear of God, 2 Cor. vii. 1. Now that the corrupt tree
fhall never be cut down whilft man is in the body, that the heart fhall ne-
ver be thoroughly circumcifed to love the Lord, but be in danger of of-
fending God through the love of the creature, this doctrine and belief fpringeth
not from the pure fountain of life and power; but the reafoning part hath
gathered it from its conceivings beneath the power.
Fff 2
The
412
The Confideration of a Pofition
The feed of God cannot fin (for as he is pure which begetteth, fo is that
pure which is begotten of him): nor can man fin, who is born of it, and
abides in it and if God pleaſe to perfect the birth and the work of circum-
cifion, what can hinder a man from being wholly born from it, and from
abiding in it? Indeed a man that ftrives in his own ftrength, either againſt
fin, or towards holiness, may well doubt of ever having it accompliſhed;
but he that feels the eternal power beginning the work, and carrying it on
daily, cannot doubt but he can perfect it; yea, and is encouraged (by the
feeling thereof) to hope and wait on him for the perfecting of it.
As for his inftances of David and Peter, they reach not the thing: for
though David and Peter did fall; yet both David and Peter might attain an
higher ftate before they went out of the body, than they were in before they
fell. David was a great prophet, and Peter a precious difciple; but yet
there was an higher eftate to be adminiftered, even the receiving that
which the prophets prophefied of, and which the difciple was to wait for.
The difciples who had known Chrift, and had been taught by him, and had
received a commiffion from him, to whom all power in heaven and earth was
given; yet were to wait for a further and higher ſtate, even for receiving
the promife of the Father, the power from on high, that he that was with them
might be in them, John xiv. 17. John was as great as any prophet, and
yet he that was leaft in the kingdom was greater than he. Read the Acts
of the Apoſtles; behold what a precious people was brought forth, even in
the beginning of the apoftles miniftry; how full of faith, how ftripped of
the world, how fingle-hearted to God, and one towards another! As ii.
42, &c. and Acts iv. 32, &c. What would theſe be, abiding and growing
up in the vine? The cutting off of fin is neceffary while in the body; but
to make the committing of fin neceffary while in the body, is a great de-
rogation to the power of God's grace, and to the myſtery of faith, which
overcometh the evils of the heart, and the worldly nature within; purifieth
the confcience from dead works, and is held in the pure confcience. Oh! that
men knew the power, and the faith which ſtands in the power! for
then would not they judge it fo impoffible to be cleanfed by the faith
through the power. Oh! that light, that pure light of the Spirit,
wherein the living blood runs, which cleanfeth from all fin, and keepeth
clean them that abide and walk in it! If this were but a little felt, fuch
doctrines as theſe (which are gathered in the comprehenfion from words
read, without being let into the thing itfelf) would foon vaniſh, and find
no place in the heart where the power dwells, nor in the underſtanding
which is renewed, preſerved, and fed by the power. For the things of God
are to be known and held in the underſtanding which is given of God
(which underſtanding is of the Spirit, and is fpiritual), and not with the
natural underſtanding, which cannot receive the things of the Spirit, but
only a carnal apprehenſion and ſenſe of the words of the Spirit, according as
a man can beat them out with, and comprehend them in, his reaſoning part.
To
concerning the Book of Common-Prayer.
413
To the fifth, That the fouls of the faithful are always growing in grace,
whilst they are in the body; and at the inftant of death, or feparation from
the body, our Lord Jefus fhall prefent them to the Father, without fpot or
blemish.
Anfw. Chrift prefenteth to the Father, when he hath purified the heart.
and mind, and made it fit for God's pure life and prefence. He hath re-
ceived the fulneſs from the Father, and hath freely given of his
grace and
of his truth to the fons of men, to regenerate them, to cleanfe and fanctify
their hearts, and make them fit for God to dwell in. He fitteth in his
temple as a refiner and purifier of filver (who is like a refiner's fire, and like
fuller's foap), and when he hath purified his difciples, his children, his Le-
vites, he prefenteth them to the Lord, for the Lord to tabernacle and dwell
in: when he hath thoroughly confecrated them, he prefenteth them as kings
and prieſts to his Father, to offer up an offering in righteouſneſs, and to reign
with him in his kingdom, Mal. iii. 3. Rev. i. 5. And there were fome fo
purified by the leaven of the kingdom (which purgeth out the old leaven by
degrees, even till at length it hath made the lump wholly new) that to them
all things were pure, Titus i. 5. There we fome come unto Mount Sion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jeruſalem, and to an innumerable_com-
pany of angels, to the general affembly and church of the first-born, which are
written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the fpirits of juſt men
made perfect, and to Jefus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
Sprinkling, Heb. xii. 22, 23, 24. Thus it was before the apoftafy; yea,
and after the apoftafy there were fome found ſtanding on Mount Sion again,
fuch as had learned the new fong; fuch as were redeemed from the earth; fuch
as were not defiled with women (with any of the falfe churches or their falſe
ways of worſhip), but had kept their virginity in the wilderneſs. If ye
would know who theſe were, they were the first fruits unto God and the
Lamb after the apoftafy, who were thoroughly cleanſed by the ſpirit of burn-
ing, infomuch as in their mouth was found no guile, but they were without
fault before the throne of God, Rev. xiv. 1.-6.
The work of the Spirit of Chrift in the heart is an inward work, and
doth not conſiſt in outward times or feaſons, but in fpiritual degrees and
ſeaſons; which when they are finiſhed, the heart renewed, the ſpirit chang-
ed, the work wrought out; then the glory of the Father is revealed, the
entrance into the everlaſting kingdom miniftered, and then there is a fitting
down in the everlaſting manfion, even with Chriſt in the heavenly places
which he hath prepared; where they that are redeemed, and purged, and
fanctified, fit together with him: and as the body cannot hinder his enter-
ing into the ſpirits of his faints, and his dwelling in them, no more can it
hinder their entering into him and dwelling in him.
Now there are feveral exerciſes of fpirit, feveral meaſures of faith, and
feveral degrees of life and glory. Some are under the clouds, fome in the
fea; fome in Egypt, fome in the wilderness; fome waiting for his appear-
ances
•
414
The Confideration of a Pofition
ance, fome in the enjoyment of him already appeared. In fome the work
of regeneration, of fanctification, of newnefs of fpirit and life is but be-
gun; in others it is interrupted, and they come to a lofs; in fome it is much
carried on, even towards confummation; and fome are already compleat in
him; finding fulneſs of fatisfaction in him (in whom the everlafting fprings
are opened, to the full content of their hearts) and bring forth fruit to him,
to the full content and fatisfaction of his heart. In the apostles days there
were thofe that waited for his coming, and there were thofe alſo that knew
him come, and had received the good underſtanding from him, and were
in the eternal life, John v. 20.
Yet this doth not exclude growth, for the fulneſs is infinite; and though
a perfect ftate may be attained in the perfect gift, yet there is a growth in
the perfection (for Chrift who was perfect, and in whom was no guile, grew
in wifdom, and knowledge, and in favour with God and men). And as
God is infinite, fo to that which is tranſplanted into him, there is no end of
growth in him; but the tree, which ſtands in God's holy earth, by his
river of waters, fhall grow for ever and ever into his endleſs life and
fulneſs.
pure
To his fixth, That no man can ſo know God as to love him with all his heart,
and with all his foul, but through the knowledge of Jefus Chrift, and him cru-
cified: who, by thofe grievous sufferings which he endured when he was upon
earth, made fatisfaction to the justice of God for the fins of all thofe that be-
lieve in his name; fo that it is as confiftent with the justice, as with the mercy of
God, to forgive them their fins, and make them heirs of eternal life. God is juft,
and the justifier of him that believeth in Jefus.
Anfw. The knowledge of Chrift is life eternal, and in his crofs is the
fpiritual virtue, which cuts off the uncircumcifion of the heart, whereby it
is enabled to love the Lord. Now Chrift is the Lord from heaven, the
quickening Spirit, who foweth the feed of the kingdom in the heart, and
cauſeth it to ſpring up; out of which feed the faith, the love, the hope,
the meekneſs, the patience, and every ſpiritual fruit fprings and grows.
And he that is thus born of this feed, and receives the knowledge of life
which ſprings from this feed, he cannot but love him which begat him,
and he reapeth the fruit of all that Chrift did and fuffered in that prepared,
body and God is both juft, and the juſtifier of him who is thus united to
Jefus. But that man who knoweth not this faith, nor is acquainted with
the love which ſpringeth from this root, and which is of this divine nature,
but thinketh to be juftified by applying to himſelf what is related in the
hiſtories concerning Chrift; this man deceives his foul, and miffeth of the
true juftification; for God is juft, who hath made the promiſe fure to the
feed, and hath fhut out man, further than he is born of the feed, and
found in the feed. But he who abideth in the feed, and in whom the feed
findeth pleaſure and abideth; he cannot mifs of the promiſe, of the ever-
lafting
1
concerning the Book of Common-Prayer.
415
lafting righteoufnefs, the reconciliation, the peace, the joy, and whatever
elfe God giveth to the feed.
To his feventh and laft, That the ready way to receive Chrift, the only light,
by which we may fee the way to heaven; or ſo to believe in him that we may
fo be
faved by him, is to forfake all that we have, that we may be his difciples: that
is to fay, to take off our affections from things on the earth, and to ſet them on
things above, where Jefus fitteth on the right hand of God; putting our truſt and
confidence in the free and in the infinite mercy of God, through Chrift; to be
guided by him in all our ways, to be led by his good Spirit in all thofe ways of
grace and holiness, through which we must pass before we can attain to glory.
Anfw. To know Chrift as the light eternal (as he was yeſterday, is to-
day, and will be for ever); to truft this light in its convictions, calls, and free
openings of love, to feel its living virtue, and in that virtue to give up all
that is of the earthly nature and fpirit; to fell all for the everlafting inheri-
tance; this is indeed the way to life. But it is not the doing of things
which is of value; for man may imitate and ftrive to do much, and may go
a great way in forfaking all, and in taking off his affections from things (inaf-
much as he may give all his goods to the poor, and his body to be burned,
and yet it profit him nothing); but it is the doing of things in the virtue,
in the life, in the power which comes from Chrift, which is of acceptance
with God, and of advantage to the foul. Every motion and operation of
true life fprings from the root of life, and hath the virtue of the root in
it; and that which differenceth it from all mens imitations, and from all
the likeneffes which the earthly ſpirit can frame, is the nature and virtue of
the root being found in it. Therefore he that will be a true Chriſtian, muft
eye Chriſt the ſpring of his life, and keep in the feeling of his living vir-
tue, and in that offer up all his facrifices of faith, love, and obedience to
God; and he that will be a true minifter, muſt wait upon the power him-
felf, to be an inftrument (in the hand of the power) to direct men to this,
and to preſerve and build them up therein.
But alas! this is the ftone which the wife builders have all along refuſed!
The builders before the coming of Chrift, they got a knowledge concern-
ing the Meffiah to come; but being unacquainted with the thing itſelf, re-
jected both it at its coming, and alfo the veffel wherein it appeared. And
the builders all along the apoftafy got a knowledge of Chrift come, and
preached believing in him crucified as the way to life; but the living ſtone,
the living thing itfelf (which is both the foundation, the corner ftone, and
the top ſtone of the building) they have been ignorant of, and ready to per-
fecute every appearance of it. Chrift can no more now appear in Spirit,
than formerly he could in that prepared body of flesh, but the wife builders
now are as ready to cry out againft him for a blafphemer, a prophaner of
God's ordinances, a deceiver of the people (yea, a witch, or one that hath a
devil), as the wife builders then were. But wiſdom in all ages is juftified by
her children, and of none elfe. He that is born of the wifdom, he can dif
cern
416
The Confideration of a Pofition
cern the womb, and own the fruit and branchings forth thereof under the
mean dark veil, whereby it hides itſelf from all the fleſhly-wife of every age.
The kingdom of God cometh not by obfervation; the wifeft Scribes and Pharifees
could not know it by all the obfervations which they could gather out of
Mofes and the prophets writings; nor can any now know it by any obfer-
vations they can gather out of the apoftles writings; but by being born of
that Spirit whereof they were born, and by being formed in that womb
wherein they were formed, by this means alone is the thing come to be known
which they knew. He that receiveth the fame eye, feeth the fame thing,
according to his meaſure; and coming to the life, wherein they received
the truth; the words which they fpake concerning the truth are ealy. Thus
as they were writ in the Spirit, fo are they there alone truly read; and be-
ing fo read, they become exceeding profitable to that which fo reads them;
but man gueffing, and imagining and reafoning in his carnal wiſdom con-
cerning the things of God, and fo gathering fenfes and meanings about the
words and expreffions of fcripture, doth but build up a Babel, which the
eternal life and power will throw down (whenever he appears) with that
which built it. Oh! that men were wife to wait for the diſcovery of the
true rock, and of the true builder upon that rock! that that city and build-
ing might be raiſed in them, which God alone can rear; that they might
not be left defolate and miſerable in that ſtormy day, which will ſhake all
buildings, and foundations, and rocks, but our Rock; wherein all profeffors,
and preachers, and high notioniſts, and whatever fort elfe can be named
(who have ftumbled at God's living truth, and at the pure appearance of
his redeeming power, which in this age hath mightily broke forth, after
the long dark night of apoftafy, to the fight of every eye which is opened
in the Spirit) fhall confefs with tears, forrow, anguiſh and ſhame, that their
rock is not as our rock, they themselves being judges. For though all forts of
profeffors generally own Chrift as the rock in words, yet moſt miſs of the
thing; and the fubtil enemy hath made ufe of a notion, or apprehenfion
of the thing in the carnal mind, to deceive them of the thing, to keep
them from feeling the eternal virtue, the living power of life in the heart,
which is the arm of God's falvation; whereby Chrift draws man's loft foul
and ſpirit out of the grave of fin and corruption, up to the Father. But
oh! how are poor hearts deceived! who think, by a believing of what
Chriſt did, of a fatisfaction he made for them while he was here on earth,
though they lie in the pit all their days, though they carry the body of fin
about with them to the very laſt of their time here in the body, and have
not felt the arm of God's power breaking down their fpiritual enemies,
their lufts, their corruptions, and redeeming them from them; yet hope to
be faved in the end, and to be prefented without fpot or wrinkle to God!
Chrift had the name Jefus given him, becauſe he was to fave his people
from their fins; and no man can truly and livingly know the name Jefus,
further than he feels the faving virtue of it; but he that effectually feels
the
A Warning of tender Bowels, &c.
417
the virtue, he indeed knows the name, and can bow at the name, feeling
his lufts and enemies bowed under by the power thereof, and that raiſed up
in him, which can worship the Father in the Spirit and in the truth. Oh!
that the fons of men knew; Oh! that the teachers and profeffors of this
age knew, what they have fo long reviled and trampled upon! Surely they
would mourn bitterly, kiſs the Son, and eſcape the wrath.
Now, if the Lord pleaſe to fmite any one's earthly wiſdom and compre-
henfion (which is the main thing which ftands in the way of the pure open-
ings and revelations of the life) and give him the feeling of any thing here
written, let him in fear acknowledge the Lord, facrificing to his goodneſs,
and waiting upon him to be kept in that feeling, not magnifying or vilify-
ing any of his inftruments; but in meeknefs and humility embracing the
inftructions of the Almighty, from the hand which he pleaſeth to give
them forth by. As for me, I am but a fhell; and if this party knew me
(who fets me up fo high, preferring me above many, whom the Lord hath
preferred far above me), he would foon acknowledge me to be a poor,
weak, contemptible one; yet this I muft by no means deny, that the pure
liquor of the eternal life, at its pleaſure fpringeth up and iffueth out thro
me; though I can alſo, in true underſtanding, fay, that it iffueth out far
oftener, and much more abundantly through others. Let it have its honour,
wherever it appears! and the Lord bring down that in people's hearts, which
hindereth the owning and receiving of its virtue.
A Warning of tender Bowels, to the Rulers, Teachers,
and People of this Nation, concerning their Church
and Miniſtry.
TH
HAT there was a fight between the Dragon and his angels, and
Michael and his angels, concerning the New-Teftament-Church and
miniſtry, is manifeft even from the letter of the fcriptures, Rev. xii.
That the Dragon and his angels, though they could not get the better,
as relating to the power, yet that they did get the better as relating to the
form, infomuch as that they overcame the third part of the true miniſters,
and drew them from their ftanding in the firmament of God's power, off
to their earthly miniftry; and that the church herſelf alſo was fain to fly in-
to the wilderneſs, from the face of the dragon, for her fafety and preferva-
tion, where ſhe was to be nouriſhed and fed by God all the time of anti-
chrift's reign; this likewife is not only revealed in the Spirit, but is alfo ma-
nifeft from the letter, Rev. xii.
VOL. I.
Ggg
That
في
418
A Warning of tender Bowels, &c.
That after this flight of the true church, and overcoming of the true
miniſtry, the dragon erected his falfe church and miniſtry (which had but
at beft the form without the power) over all nations, peoples, multitudes,
and tongues; this is alfo as evident, to them that read the prophecies of
the Revelations in the light of that Spirit that wrote them. Is not the falſe
woman (after the true woman was fled) manifeftly defcribed? Rev. xvii.
which hath a bewitching cup of fornications, ver. 2. 4. Mark, She hath
not the true cup of bleffing, her cup is not filled with the wine of the king-
dom, it is not the cup of the true fpoufe (which keeps chaſte and loyal
to bed of the huſband) but the cup of fornications, wherein is a form of
doctrine, and difcipline, and order, and church-government, which leads
from the life, which bewitches from the power, which lulls afleep in a form
of profeffion and worſhip of Chrift, without knowledge of, guidance by,
and ſubjection to his Spirit. And this is the government, miniftry, and
way of antichrift, wherever it is found; how curiouſly foever the cup be
gilded, yet it is but the cup of fornication, which bewitcheth the heart with
its golden appearance, and then leads it into adultery from the life. And
the dragon doth not only fet up a falfe church over the nations (in many
parts whereof the truth had before appeared) Rev. xvii. 15. but a falfe
miniftry alfo. There is a falfe prophet (which deceiveth with miracles and
falſe appearances of truth) advanced in this corrupt ftate; which falfe pro-
phet continues and upholds his deceit over-the nations, till the mighty ap-
pearance of Chrift, in Spirit and power, doth judge him, Rev. xix. 20.
2 Theff. ii. 8. There is a beaft with horns like a lamb, who doth great won-
ders, ſo that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth, in the fight
of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, &c. Rev. xiii. 13, 14.
Infomuch that he draws the kings and inhabiters of the earth (in a myſtery of
deceit) into the bed of whoredom and falſe worſhip, inſtead of the pure
way of life, and pure worſhip of the living God, in his Spirit, and in his
truth, Rev. xvii. 2.
Is it not further manifeft, that this falfe church and falfe miniftry, fet
up in the world by the power of the dragon, perfecuted God's witneſſes to
the truth, in all the ages of antichrift's reign? So foon as ever the church-
was fled into the wilderneſs, the dragon forthwith went to make war with
the remnant of her feed, which kept the commandments of God, and had the
teftimony of Jefus Chrift, Rev. xii. 17. And it was given unto him to make
war with the faints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all
kindreds, tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth fhall worſhip
him, whofe names are not written in the book of life, of the Lamb flain from
the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear, Rev.
xiii. 7, 8, 9. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beaſt, that
the image of the beast should both speak, and cauſe that as many as would not
worship the image of the beaft fhould be killed. And he caufeth all, both fmall
andⓇ
A Warning of tender Bowels, &c.
419
and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand,
or in their forehead. And that no man might buy or fell, fave be that had the
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name, Rev. xiii. 15, 16,
17. Yea, The woman (the falfe church, which the dragon had fet up, by
his power in the nations, inftead of the true) was drunken with the blood of
the faints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jefus, Rev. xvii. 6. Oh! the
mifery, and lamentable hard uſage of the witneffes of Jefus, who have been
true lambs! born of the power, faithful to the power, witneffing againſt
every form and appearance of religion, doctrine, and worſhip, which hath
appeared without the power, even in the days of greateſt profeffion and
higheſt devotion under the apoſtaſy from the power; how have theſe been
hunted, perſecuted, devoured by the wolves in the fheeps cloathing, who had
got the outſide, the garment, the name of Chrift and chriftianity, the pro-
feffion of church, miniftry, and ordinances, but have wanted the life, the
virtue, the thing itſelf, and ſo have turned againſt it, and kept it down,
that they might keep up their form! For let but the power appear, the
form without the power is foon detected to be what it is. And this is pro-
perly antichrift and antichriftianifm; to wit, Not openly to appear in a
direct denial of Chrift, his truths, and worship, but to fet up a way of
knowledge and worship without his Spirit. Another fpirit creeping into
the form, that is antichrift (and the ſetting up obfervation and practice of
the form out of the life and power, that is antichriſtianiſm) and this is the
perſecutor, deſtroyer, and devourer about religion.
Now though the Lord hath fuffered this falle church and falfe prophet to
reign long in the dragon's power, and to revile and worry his poor lambs, in
every age of antichrift's reign; yet the Lord hath appointed a ſeaſon to
judge this falfe church, Rev. xvii. 1. to caft the falſe prophet into the lake,
Rev. xix. 20. Yea, and to torment with fire and brimftone, all the falſe
worshippers, Rev. xiv. 9, 10, 11.
Oh! how deeply doth it concern England! her rulers, her teachers, yea
the whole people thereof, to confider their ways, to confider their worſhip,
to confider their church-ftate, to confider their miniftry, that they be not
overwhelmed at unawares in the bitter wrath of the Almighty, before which
there is no ftanding. Oh! that they could mourn, and pray, and wait for
the eye of God's Spirit; for his pure light, which fearcheth and difcovereth
all the deceits of antichrift; that they might not be bewitched with any of
the wine of the fornication of the falfe woman, Whofe heart is fnares and
nets, and her bands as bands, to entangle her lovers in, and keep them from
the pure bed of life, where the Father of life, with the Son and Spirit, are
enjoyed and worshipped.
If men confult concerning theſe things in the wisdom of the flesh, they
will be entangled, and err; for that eye cannot fee the myfteries of the
kindgom, or the courſe either of truth or deceit. The goſpel, the eternal
Ggg 2
truth,
420
A Warning of tender Bowels, &c.
truth, the true church, the true miniſtry, are all ſpiritual (not new ſhadows
as the things under the miniftration of the law were, but fpirit and fub-
ſtance) and they can only be feen by the fpiritual eye of the children of wif-
dom. The wife hunters, and diligent enquirers, into the comprehending
part, cannot find the womb or the way of life, or the way of the worſhip of
that which is begotten in the life, or God's way of miniſtry, which he hath
appointed for the feeding and preferving of the life. The prophets of old
could not be known, difcerned, or owned, by the fleshly eye of obfervation
in Ifrael after the flesh (but they ftill rejected them, efteeming and mag-
nifying the falfe prophets above them); how much lefs can the prophets
and minifters of the New-Teftament be feen by man's eye? Are they the
prophets and miniſters of Chrift, which a nation cries up for fuch, and
which the eye of the wife men therein admires, and pitches upon? Or, are-
thoſe they which the renewed eye, in the light of the Lord, fees to be fit-
ted, fanctified, and called forth by Chrift unto that fervice? Ah! poor
England! muſt thou fall into the pit before thine eyes be opened!
J.
The great controverfy of this age is about church and miniftry, which
muſt carry it, the form or the power? Whether the church and miniſtry ſhall
take place which was before the apoftafy, or that which hath fprung up
in or fince the apoſtaſy? Whether man's wiſdom fhall determine which is
the true church, and its true miniftry, or whether the Spirit of God fhall
determine it? Whether a nation, with the miniſters it fets up, fhall be the
church and miniſtry? Or whether God's holy nation (which he calleth and
fanctifieth by his Spirit) and the minifters which he chufeth, and fendeth to
gather and build up his in the holy faith, and pure power of life, fhall be
the church and miniftry? Our eyes wait on the Lord to fee this controverfy
determined, and our hope of help is in his arm; nor are we at all affrighted.
at the rifing of any ſtrength againſt us (our hearts being given up to God's
truth, and to fuffer for its teftimony, according to God's will, meekly and
patiently in his ſtrength), but we pity this poor land; yea, in the depth of
bowels we pity the rulers, the teachers, and people therein. Oh! that
they might be humbled, and in fear of the great God, furrender to him
his due, before he appear in his ftrength to force it from them.
•
Of
[421]
Of the Kingdom, Laws, and Government of CHRIST
in the Heart and Confcience; its Inoffenfiveneſs to
all juſt Laws and Governments of the Kingdoms of
Men.
Cathey
HRIST's kingdom, God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven (för
they are all one and the fame) is that feed of eternal life which God
hath hid in the hearts of the fons of men, whereby he gathereth them back
unto himſelf, bringeth them under the yoke of his government, ruleth
over them, and reigneth in them.
This kingdom is likened to a grain of muſtard-feed, for its finallneſs;
to a pearl, for its riches, value, and worth; and to leaven, for its ſpread-
ing nature. And many other parables did Chrift make ufe of to difcover
it by as to a piece of filver, which the woman that loft it, lighting the candle,
fweeping the houſe, and ſearching it diligently, at length found it even there
where the had loft it.
Man fallen from God, is become loft as to the Lord, and as to his own
happineſs in the Lord; being driven from his bleffed prefence and divine
image, life, and Spirit, into the earthly fpirit, image, and life, which he
chofe yet, in this earth, in this field of the world, God hath hid fomewhat,
even the everlaſting pearl; which, when man is awakened to feek, and
findeth in the living breath, in the eternal light of life, it is able to re-
deem him; it is able to overfpread (he becoming fubject to the laws,
leadings, teachings, and power of it) and leaven him into the likeneſs and
image of the pure life and Spirit.
Oh! that men knew the gift of God! Oh! that men knew the purchaſe
of the blood of Chrift! Oh! that men knew that fpiritual good thing,
which Chrift (who died for them) hath given to redeem them by! that in
that they might be united to Chrift, and fo by him be renewed and reſtored
to God. For as the Father receiveth none but through the Son, fo the
Son receiveth none but in that gift which he beſtoweth from the Father.
He owneth no faith, no love, no hope, no repentance, no obedience, but.
what ſpringeth from that, and ftandeth in that.
Now as man is born of this, is leavened by this (as he becomes a fool in.
his own earthly wifdom and excellency of the fallen fpirit, and becomes a
babe, a child, a fimple innocent, &c.), fo he enters into the kingdom, being
ingrafted into the root, through the virtue of this which is given him from
the root, and fo grows up in this, and this in him. And here is the new
nature, the new life, the new heart, the new fpirit, in which the unity and
fellowship
1
1
422
Of the Kingdom, Laws, &c.
fellowſhip with God is again known, and the difunion with the world, the
wifdom, the interefts, the faſhions, the cuftoms, the fears, the hopes, the
delights, the joys of this world, and whatever elfe is of it. For Chriſt, as
he is not of the world, fo he calleth men out of the world; and they which
follow him, and become his difciples, go out of the world after him; that
is, travel in ſpirit and converfation from what is of the earth, from what-
ever is not of the Father, but of the world. They are not of the world, as I
am not of the world (faith Chrift concerning his difciples, John xvii.) there-
fore the world hateth them.
The laws of this kingdom are given forth in the kingdom, from the
covenant of life, which is made there in Chrift. They are written in the
heart, in the mind, as far as it is renewed. There the fear is put, there
the eternal wiſdom is opened, there is Sion known, and the Jerufalem which
is from above, and the laws of eternal life iffue freſh from it, and are re-
vealed by the life in the heart which is turned towards the life. There fin
is reproved, and everlaſting righteouſneſs manifefted in the light which
cannot deceive and as the heart is made fubject under the yoke, fo fin is
wrought out, and righteouſneſs brought in; and under the crofs or yoke
of life the blood of the everlafting covenant runs through the veffel, to
keep it pure, fweet, clean, and freſh in the life.
This then is the government of Chriſt, to be fubject to his Spirit, which
appears and opens his will, in the gift of grace which comes from him; to
feel his living breath, by which the heart is begotten to God, out of the
region of darkness; to know the movings, the ftirrings, the leadings, the
ſteps of the Lamb, who is the captain of our falvation; and to follow him
where-ever he goes, doing all things that he commands, forbearing all
things that he forbids, without murmuring, without difputing.
Whoever will be of the inward Ifrael, the fpiritual Ifrael, which Chriſt
redeems out of the fpiritual Egypt, and leads through the ſpiritual Wilderneſs
into the land of reft, muft know his leader, muft receive his Spirit, and
follow it faithfully. If any man hath not the Spirit of Chrift, he is none of his;
he is none of the fpiritual Ifrael; and if any man follow not the Spirit of
Chriſt through all the travels in the wilderneſs (but either fits down by the
way, or lies overcome by any kind of enemies, and comes not to the end
of his journey, finiſhing the warfare and fight of faith) he falls fhort of the
reft. Oh! that men were awakened to confider of things as indeed they
are! For religion is not ſuch an outward form of doctrine, or worſhip of
any fort, as men generally (whofe poor fouls are deceived through the fub-
tilty of the powers of darkness) are too apt and willing to apprehend; but
it confifts in fpirit, in power, in virtue, in life: not in the oldneſs of any
form which paffeth away; but in the newneſs of the Spirit, which abideth
for ever; in being born of the Spirit, in abiding in the Spirit, in living,
walking, and worshipping in the Spirit; yea, in becoming and growing
into fpirit, and into eternal life: for that which is born of the Spirit, is
Spirit.
Of the Kingdom, Laws,&c.
42
Spirit. Oh! that the fons of men would hearken, that they might taſte of
the ſweetneſs and riches of the goodneſs which the Father in his free love
hath opened in the fpirits of many, and hath let the ſpirits of many into!
Oh! that men would fuffer the wearing out of this earthly ſpirit and wif-
dom, that they might become like God, be formed into, and live in his
image! How long fhall the deftroyer in every age prejudice men againſt
them in that age which feek their good with their hearts! How long will
the world ſtand in enmity againſt the generation of God's choice, and pro-
voke the Lord to wrath againſt them! Surely the ſpirit of this world will
try it out to the very laſt againſt the Spirit of God! For indeed the fpirit
of this world is not fubject to the Spirit of God, nor indeed can be, and fo
cannot endure the government of his kingdom (which is not of this world)
to be fet up in the fight of it.
Yet the government of Chrift and his kingdom is not oppofite to any juft.
government of a nation or people. Chrift's government is a righteous go-
vernment of the heart, or inner man, chiefly; which doth not oppoſe a
righteous government of the outward man. Nay, thoſe who are Chrift's
fubjects, and fingly obedient to his law of righteouſneſs in their ſpirits, are
more faithful to men, and more fubject to any juft law of government, than
others can be for their fidelity and fubjection is out of love, and for con-
fcience fake. But this is it which offends the world; men many times
make laws in their own will, and according to their own wifdom (now the
wiſdom of the world is corrupt, and hath erred from the guidance of God),
and are not free from felf-ends and interefts, not being gathered into that
which cleanfeth and keepeth pure the naturals. Now that which is of
God cannot bow to any thing which is corrupt in man: it can lie down
and fuffer, and bear the plowing of long and deep furrows upon its back;
but it cannot act that which is againft its life. It cannot be difloyal to its
king, to gratify the fpirit of this world; but what practice or teftimony its
king calls for againſt the evil and corruption of this world, it must obey
fingly and faitfully.
pre-
God in every age fo bringeth forth and ordereth his innocent lambs and
people, as that they are ſtill offenfive to the preſent age. The Lord fitteth
them, and calleth them forth to be witneffes againſt the evils of the
fent age: how can they but offend it? Can darkneſs chufe but hate the
light, which ſpeaks againſt it? How can darkneſs in power and dominion
bear to be reproved by a mean contemptible appearance of the light, in
mean and contemptible veffels? For God chuſeth the weak and foolish things
of this world, and things that are not, to bring to nought things that are. Look
into former ages, how did God reprove the kings and princes of Ifrael?
Not by the eminent prieſts and prophets, whom they expected to be taught
by; but by herdſmen,by ploughmen, by prophets which they deſpiſed. How
did he overcome the heathenifh world, yea, and the Jewish corrupted
ftate? Was it by wife learned men (by the learned Scribes and Pharifees
among
!
4424
Of the Kingdom, Laws, &c.
1
among the Jews, or by the wife Grecians among the heathen), or by
fiſhermen and publicans? And how fhall the recovery out of the apoftaſy,
and the reproof of the antichriftian world be? Shall it be by wife fynods
and councils of learned and orthodox men among them (as they ſpeak), or
ſhall it be by the learning of the Spirit, which fuch as thefe contemn?
When God hath the rich treaſure of the knowledge of his kingdom to ma-
nifeft in the world, he chufes earthen veffels, weak veffels, poor con-
temptible perfons: he appears there (where the eye of man leaft looks for
him) that the excellency of the power might appear to be of him wholly, and
that the veffel might rob him of none of the glory of it. Now the Lord
hath not only chofen, in this day of his great appearance in Spirit to the
fpirits of his people, mean inftruments, but mean things alfo, fooliſh things,
weak things, the keeping on of an hat, the ufe of ordinary language, the appear-
ing in mean habits, and deſpiſed geſtures; yea, and in a fooliſh way of preach-
ing (indeed it is fo to that which hath not the favour of the virtue and power
of the life in it); and how can the wiſdom of man but ſtumble at it? Who
would think that God fhould require fuch things, or appear in fuch things?
O living eternal power! how is thy mighty prefence and appearance veiled
from all that look for it in any way of man's obfervation, or judge it with
the eye of man's wifdom! Verily thou art a God that haft hid thyself from
the earthly Spirit in its utmoſt wiſdom; yea, in its utmoſt ſearch after the know-
ledge of, and in the midst of the highest profeffion of religion! Which of the
wife, which of the fcribes in this age can difcern any of the paths, or fo
much as one of thy foot-ſteps? Oh! that men would fear before the Lord,
and be fure to govern in that which is of God, and then they ſhould harm
none of his, nor hazard the ſhaking of their government! but whatever is
not of God, both within and without, muſt fall in the day of God's power.
Oh! happy is he who is now made willing to part with that which God is
determined to rend from man, that his ftanding may be in that which can-
not be fhaken! for there hath been a great earthquake in this nation, both
of things without, and of things within; and there yet remains fomewhat
to be ſhaken, both without and within, that the glory of God may have
room to appear. O England! kifs the Son, left he be angry: let all fuch laws
and cuſtoms as are not of him, fall before him; and whatever is of him,
let it bow unto him (both within and without) that his wrath break not forth
like a fire, which none can quench; for the Lord hath mighty things to
bring to pafs, and he hath a mighty arm of power to effect them by, and
what fhall be able to ftand before him that ftands in his way?
AN
[ 425 ]
A N
A NS W
TO THAT
E R
Common OBJECTION againſt the QUAKERS,
That they condemn all but themſelves.
With a Loving and Faithful ADVERTISEMENT to the Nation,
and Powers thereof.
OBJECTION.
It is commonly objected against us, That we condemn all but ourselves; all the
Proteftant churches, martyrs, and worthies formerly (many of whom were
valiant champions againſt Rome, and divers of them fealed their tefti-
mony with their blood) and all forts of Chriftians and profeffors at prefent,
who are not juſt of our stamp and way, though otherwiſe ever ſo zealous.
1
TH
ANSWER.
HE Proteftant churches (as they are called in way of diftinction from
the church of Rome), the bleffed martyrs, who fuffered for the teſti-
mony of a pure confcience towards God, and all the worthies of the Lord
in their feveral generations, who fought againſt the ſcarlet whore, were ac-
cepted of God in their teftimony against her, and are not difowned by us,
but dearly owned and honoured therein; and for agreeing with them in
their teftimony in feveral things, as againſt deriving of a miniftry from
Rome (which Luther wrote againft, and John Hus prophefied of another
miniftry to arife), and againſt maintaining the gofpel miniftry by tythes, or
any other way of forced maintenance, which (till popery grew very ſtrong
and powerful) was known to have been free; and againft fwearing, &c.
(Walter Brute faid, The perfection of Chriftian men is not to fwear at all, be-
VOL. I.
Hhh
carife
426
An Anfwer to an Objection
cauſe they are ſo commanded of Chrift; whofe commandment must in no cafe be
broken, although that the city of Rome is contrary to this doctrine of Chriſt,
Fox's Acts and Monuments, p. 460, 461. And fee alfo p. 495. Thorp's.
Teftimony both about Tythes and Swearing.) For thefe very things, and fuch-
like (as for following of Chrift, in not receiving or giving that honour
which is out of the faith, and for teftifying againſt the hypocrifies and
corruptions of our age) do we fuffer in this our day, even as they did in
their day, from the fame fpirit that perfecuted them; which, though it
hath much changed its form and way of appearance, yet ftill retaineth
the fame nature.
But all things were not difcovered at once. The times were then dark,
and the light fmall; yet they being faithful according to what was difco-
vered, were precious in the Lord's eyes; and what through ignorance they
erred in, the Lord winked at and overlooked, being pleafed with that
fincerity and fimplicity of heart which he had ftirred up in them towards
himſelf. But if they were now alive in theſe our days, and fhould depart
from the fincerity which was then in them, and oppoſe the light of this
age, they would not then be accepted of the Lord, but their former fin-
cerity would be forgotten. For the light fhineth more and more towards
the perfect day and it is not the owning of the light as it fhone in the
foregoing ages, which will now commend any man to God; but the know-
ing and fubjecting to the light of the preſent age. Even as in theſe our
days, there was (fome years ago) an honeft zeal and true fimplicity ftirring
in the Puritans (eſpecially among the Non-conformifts of them) which was
of the Lord, and was very dear to him; and had the generations of this
age abode there, they would have been able to have followed the Lord in
every further ſtep and leading of his Spirit: but departing from that into
fome form or other, the true fimplicity withered, and another thing be-
gan to live in them; and fo they ſettled upon their lees, magnifying the form
they had choſe to themſelves, till at length their hearts became hardened from
the pure fear, even to the contracting of a ſpirit of profaneneſs, infomuch
as they could mock at the next remove and diſcovery of the Spirit as fome
new light and fo by degrees have grown perfecutors of that Spirit in its
outgoings in the people of the Lord, which they themſelves had once fome
taſte of, while they were reproached for Puritans. And the god of this
world, who at firft tempted them afide into the form, hath at length pre-
vailed fo far to blind them therewith, that they can neither fee what fpirit
they themselves are of, nor what Spirit it is they perfecute.
Let therefore people confider the truth of the thing, as it is before the
Lord: we do not caft dirt upon any in whom the truth of God hath ſtirred
and appeared in any meafure in former ages, or in this our age; but this
we teſtify againſt; to wit, the fetting up of any form without the life for
it is the erring ſpirit that ftill crieth up the form, to keep down the power
by
against the QUAKERS.
427
¡
by the form, and fo by the help of it to bewitch from the Spirit wherein is
the life, and not in the form. This was the painted Jezabel of the apoftles
age; falſe teachers finely dreffed up themſelves with the form of godlineſs,
and then under this cover they could deny the power, and make head againſt
it, 2 Tim. iii. 5. How eaſy is it for them to appear in the form of the
doctrines of the gospel, in the form of zeal, in the form of holineſs, to paſs
in a nation for the true church; and then to aſperſe them for hereticks,
who (appearing in the power) cannot but deny that form which is without
the power. This is the great witch of this age (even that ſpirit of zeal and
devotion which is beſt cloathed and decked with the form without the power),
which though men (who judge of the things of God after the flesh) juftify,
admire, and much contend for in her feveral ſhapes and dreffes (ſome being
for one, fome for another), yet the Lord is fearching after her, and will
find her out with his eternal flames, which will make her manifeft, and all
her lovers ſhall dread her burning and bed of torment. Now as all along
the apoftafy this bewitching ſpirit (this fpirit which bewitcheth from the
power) hath crept up under a form of church worſhip and holiness; fo the
other Spirit (the pure Spirit of life, the Spirit of true zeal and fear of the
Lord) hath ſtill appeared more and more out of the forms. Who were the
beſt preachers, and moſt eminent Chriftians in the Puritan days? Were
they not thoſe who leaft minded the form then; nay indeed who were moſt
againſt the form, and perfecuted for their confcientious ftumbling at it?
And who were the greateſt perfecutors then, but they who were moſt zeal-
ous for the form, both of the government and worſhip of the church of
England? And where is the perfecuting ſpirit next to be looked for, but in
the forms which ſhould next appear? And where likewife is the appearance
of the true Spirit next to be looked for, but in thoſe whom the Lord fhould
raife up to teftify againſt thoſe forms, and to be the fucceeding fufferers for
their teftimony, as the Puritans had been foregoing fufferers for their tefti-
mony..
Yet if there be any perfons left, among any of the forms which have ap-
peared (whether former or latter) that have not loft their fincerity and
true zeal towards God, them we own and have unity with, fo far as they
keep, or rather are kept, thereto. If there be any among the Epifcopal
fort that in truth of heart defire to fear the Lord, and look upon the
Common-Prayer-Book as an acceptable way of worshipping him, we
pity their blindneſs, yet are tender towards them, and would not have
the fimplicity perfecuted in them becauſe of this, but rather che-
rifhed. If there be any among the Prefbyterians, Independents, Ana-
baptifts, Seekers, or any other fort, that in truth of heart wait upon the
Lord in thoſe ways, and do not find a deadneſs overgrown them, but a.
pure, freſh, lively zeal towards God, with an unfeigned love to his people,
our hearts are one with this, and we cannot fight againſt this good thing in
Hhh 2
any
428
An Anſwer to an Objection
any of them, though in love to them we teftify, that their form and way of
worship is their prefent lofs and hindrance; yet we doubt not but that the
Lord (in his time) will make manifeft to fuch the light of this age; which
is the very thing the people of God, in many foregoing ages, have been
praying for. But this is our lamentation, that forms and ways of worſhip
abound; but the Puritan principle, the Puritan fpirit, is loft and drowned
in them all, and that men are hardened againſt our teftimony, not from
the remainders of the fimplicity in them, but becauſe they are erred from
the fimplicity, and fallen in league with another fpirit, which hath lain
lurking in forms of knowledge and worship (to tempt afide from the fim-
plicity, and to hide the fight of the life and power from the panting ſoul)
all this night of the apoſtaſy.
Now mark how eaſy and natural it is to that fpirit to enter into a form,
to cry up a form, to fet up a form in a nation, city, or country; doubtless
it had been done in this nation long ago, had not the mighty hand of the
Lord withſtood it. When the evil and unclean fpirit is detected and
driven out of one form, if it doth not get another fuddenly to appear in,
and tempt with, it muſt needs lofe many of its fubjects. The ftrumpet,
or falſe church, is forced (as God diſcovers her nakedneſs and lewdneſs) to
change her dreffes and appearances, to new trick and adorn her bed and
then, as if ſhe alſo were changed, and were now no longer the fame, ſhe
comes forth again with boldness, and tempteth the young man again to
come in unto her, Prov. vii. 16. And thus fhe cafteth down many wounded;
yea, many ftrong men have been flain by her, ver. 26. Who otherwife would
have pondered the path of life, chap. v. 6. had they not been enfnared by
her flatteries, who forfaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant
of her God, chap. ii. 17. There is no more certain and ready way to ſup-
prefs truth, and to betray the honefty which is fingly fearching after it, than
to prefent a form of godliness or worship, as the proper way of meeting
with it for hereby the foul is lulled aſleep with a falſe hope, until the freſh-
nefs of its defire begins to die, and its life to wither; and then the fleſhly
part eaſily grows into unity with, and zeal for, that form which indeed is
of the flesh; though it appeared and tempted as if it had been otherwiſe.
And how many have gone a great way towards hell, and have been deeply
entangled and diftreffed in the chambers of death, by entering into this
ftrumpet's church or houfe, which they then (through the fubtilty of her
deceit) took for the houſe or church of God? Prov. vii. 27. Confider the
thing a little ſeriouſly. When the evil fpirit is driven out of his ſtrong-hold
of grofs Popery, whither ſhould he run but into Epifcopacy? When he is
driven out of Epifcopacy, whither fhould he run but into Prefbytery?
When he is driven out of Prefbytery, whither fhould he run but into Inde-
pendency? When he is driven out of Independency, whither fhould he run
but
།
againſt the QUAKE KS.
429
but into Anabaptifm? When he is driven out of Anabaptifm, whither
fhould he run but into a Way of Seeking? And what is his end of running
into Epifcopacy, but to fave alive that ſpirit which was hunted out of
Popery, and could abide no longer there, and fo the better (and the fafer
from being diſcerned) to reproach and perfecute the other Spirit (where-
ever it appeared) under the nick-names of Puritans, Separatifts, Browniſts,
Round-heads, &c. And what is his end afterwards of running into Pref-
bytery, but to fave that alive which was hunted out of Epifcopacy, and to
perfecute the former truly-zealous Spirit (where it ſhould further appear af-
terwards) by means of that form? Thus the forms and appearances of things
change; but the fight, is ftill the fame, the evil spirit ftill getting up-
permoft, under a form of godlineſs, and from thence fhooting forth its
arrows at thoſe that ſeek after purity of heart, and cannot but teſtify
againſt thoſe forms where the impure-one lodgeth.
This then is the fum of our anfwer in this refpect; we are not againſt
the true life and power of godlinefs, where-ever it hath appeared, or yet
appears under the veil of any form whatſoever. Nay, all perfons who
fingly wait upon the Lord in the fimplicity and fincerity of their hearts,
whether under any form, or out of forms (that matters little to us) are
very dear unto us in the Lord. But we are againſt all forms, images, imi-
tations, and appearances, which betray the fimplicity and fincerity of the
heart, keep the life in bondage, and endanger the lofs of the foul. And
too many fuch now there are, which hold the immortal feed of life in cap-
tivity under death, over which we cannot but mourn, and wait for its break-
ing off the chains, and its rifing out of all its graves into its own pure life,
power, and fulneſs of liberty in the Lord.
A loving and faithful ADVERTISEMENT to the Nation,
and Powers thereof.
O
King! O parliament! O nation of England! confider before the de-
cree come forth; before the ruin of the nation (with the powers there-
of) be irrecoverably fealed: for the Lord hath a controverfy with this na-
tion, and he will plead with thee, O England! who defireft not, nor canſt
not bear a government in righteouſneſs, for the fuppreffing of the evil, and
encouragement of the good; but the good is ftill fuppreffed in thee, and
cannot grow as it ought, becauſe of the luft of the nation againft the purity
of the life of God, and becauſe of the corrupt wills, ends, and intereſts of
thoſe who ſtill are in power.
After
3
430
A loving and faithful Advertiſement
After king Henry the VIIIth had renounced and, fhaken off in part the
Pope's authority in this nation, he did not let it fall to the ground as an
evil thing, but took upon himſelf the exerciſe of it, affuming to himſelf
the headſhip and government under Chrift in all ecclefiaftical caufes and
matters in his dominions. The fame courſe his fucceffors followed, keep-
ing the very title which the Pope gave to him of Defender of the Faith.
And fo parliaments in their days (as if the government of the church were
a right and privilege of the nation, and not peculiar to Chrift) have taken
upon them to make laws and orders about the government of the church and
people of God in fpiritual things, as well as about matters of ſtate.
Now it would fairly and honeſtly (with the fpirit of meeknefs, and in
the fear of the Lord) be enquired into, Whether the Pope's power and autho-
rity in this nation was a true church power and authority? That is, whether it
was fuch a church power and authority as Chriſt had inftituted; or of an-
other nature, even of a nature contrary to Chrift, and to his inward govern-
ment in the fpirits of his people? For if the Pope's power and authority
was a true church power and authority, then it may be lawful in another
hand, though not in the Pope's; but if it was an ufurped kind of autho-
rity and
government in itſelf, then it cannot be lawful in itſelf, nor ſervice-
able to Chriſt in any other hand; but will prove an inſtrument of war
againſt him, in whoſe hands foever it be put. And let it be fingly con-
fidered whether the church power in this nation hath not been a curb to
the rifing of the purity of religion, even a fharp check upon the tender
confcience; but fuch as the loofe (yea, profane fpirit) would take pleaſure
in, and contend for?
The true church power is only the power of the Spirit of Chrift. That
converts men to God, and that alone is able to govern them in the affairs
of his kingdom, being converted. Man meddling with religion and church
government in his wifdom, is but a beaft, and muſt govern like a beaſt,
namely, with force and cruelty over the ſpirit and conſcience which is ten-
der towards God. As the Lord God of heaven and earth never gave
the
converting power to any, fo neither did he ever give this governing
power to any, further than as they were endued with the Spirit; for that.
is the fcepter of his church and kingdom, which is a fcepter of righte-
ouſneſs, which leads in the love and gentlenefs of the Spirit that which
is to be dealt gently with, and fpiritually cuts off, by its feverity and
ſharpneſs, that which is to be cut off. And here are Chrift's limits of go-
vernment, which that ſpirit and wiſdom which exceeds, errs, and doth hurt
both to itſelf and others.
Now if in the miſt of darkneſs, which hath long overfpread the earth (for
though there broke out a little light to diſcover the thick blacknefs of popery,
and to cauſe ſome reformation out of it, yet the mift was not expelled) this
nation hath erred, her princes, her teachers, her parliaments, and all forts
of
to the Nation, and Powers thereof.
431
of perfons, in laying hold on, and eſtabliſhing a wrong church power;
which power hath had a bad effect, namely, in fuppreffing the progrefs of
the reforming fpirit, and raifing up a formal ſpirit (if not a ſpirit of looſe-
nefs and profanenefs) which ran backwards towards popery, and not for-
wards from it: yet let them not love error, and fo ftrive againſt the light
which fhineth forth to diſcover the error to them; but let them humble
themſelves before Chrift the Lord of all, and reſtore unto him that which is
his due, left they provoke him to wrath, and cauſe him to take from them
what they look upon as their due. For is it not juſt with Chrift to take
that power from men, which they (fo long as they have it) will not forbear
managing and making uſe of to keep him from his power? Confider theſe
things, O Englaud! for they belong to thy peace, and toward the mitiga
tion of thy forrow and mifery in the day of thy calamity.
This is from one who hath mourned over thee, while thou hast been
rejoicing,
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
Oh! that thou couldft know, at leaſt in this laft hour of thy day, how
to make thy peace with the Lord, and not begin that controverſy afreſh
with him, which he hath already ſo much ſhattered and broken thee about,
that the dregs of the cup (whereof thou haft already fo largely drank)
might paſs from thee!
An Explanatory POSTSCRIPT.
WE
E read of the getting up of another power than Chrift's in the
church, after the days of the apoftles, 1 Thef. ii. 4. Rev. xiii. 2.
which power was to laft forty-two months, even all the time of antichrift's
reign; by which power the beaſt ſhould make war with and overcome the
faints in all kindreds, tongues, and nations, ver. 5, 6, 7. And all this
wickedneſs and perfecutions of the faints fhould be committed under a pre-
tence of righteouſneſs, as if it were for Chrift, and the well-government of
his church, from a true and rightly-derived and well-balanced power,
1 Theſſ. ii. 8, 9. Now this power will laft in one form or other, even till
the very coming of Chrift: and then fhall that wicked ſpirit (in all his
workings, in all his various appearings and transformings, as if he ftill
were for God, and for the right and orderly government of his church and
temple) be diſcovered, by degrees confumed, and at laſt deſtroyed, ver. 8.
And then the kings or powers of the earth, which gave their power and
ſtrength to the beaft (helping him to caufe men to worship, Rev. xiii. 15,
16.), making war with the Lamb and his fuffering faints by their laws,
whips,
432
An Explanatory Poftfcript.
whips, prifons, fines, &c. fhall be overcome by him, who fighteth againſt
them with the Spirit of his mouth, and by his truth, meeknefs, and righteouf
efs, which fhines in the hearts and converfations of his Called, Faithful,
and Choſen, Rev. xvii. 13, 14. Pía. xlv. 4, 5.
The power of Chrift cannot hurt any of his lambs (it never forced the
weak ones, the tender-conſcienced, but he carries the lambs in his boſom,
and gently leads thoſe that are with young, Ifa. xl. 11.). He had rather
have many hypocrites fpared, than one ear of wheat plucked up, Matt. xiii.
29. That power therefore in the church which ſpares the hypocrites (who
can eaſily comply with an outward conformity in worship, without feeling
an inward life or virtue) but lights heavy on that which is tender and fhy
in matters of worſhip (knowing that it muft give an account thereof to
Chriſt) that is not the true church-power, but at beft but a counterfeit of
the true.
Printed, 1660.
4
1
1
A
THE
THE
!
GREAT QUESTION
CONCERNING THE
Lawfulneſs or Unlawfulneſs
O F
SWEARING
Z a
Under the GOSPEL,
STATED and CONSIDERED of;
፡
FOR
The Satisfaction of fuch as defire to ſcan the Thing in
the Weight of GOD'S SPIRIT;
AND
To fee the true and clear DETERMINATION of it in his Un-
erring LIGHT.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
VOL. I.
M DC LXI.
Iii
[434]
THE
GREAT QUESTION
CONCERNING THE
LAWFULNESS or UNLAWFULNESS
4
OF
!
Swearing under the GOSPEL,
STATED and CONSIDERED of.
W
QUESTION.
HETHER it be lawful for Chriftians (who know Chrift, the fub-
Stance of all the fhadows under the law, and are in the new cove..
nant) to fwear upon weighty occafions, as it was lawful for the Jews
to do under the old covenant? Or, Whether Chrift alloweth his difciples to fwear
in folemn cafes, as Mofes did allow his difciples?
Anfw. For the clearing of this weighty controverfy, to all fuch as fingly
defire to know the truth (as it is in Jefus) in this particular, that their
hearts may bow to him therein, and not be overtaken with the reaſonings
and fubtilties of the carnal mind (which never knew nor can know the
power, but hath always been, and ſtill is, fetting up dead images of God's
truths and of his worſhip, out of the power) thefe few things following
would be confidered of. Firſt, What an oath is? Or, The nature of a right
and true oath under the law. Secondly, The ground or occafion of its infti-
tution. Thirdly, The cafes wherein an oath was to be used. Fourthly, The
proper end and ſervice of an oath. Fifthly, The fuitableness of its nature to its
end and fervice. Lastly, The perfons to whom the use of an oath was proper
in
The Great Queftion concerning Swearing.
435
*
in itſelf, and intended and allowed by God; and whether there be any perſons to
whom it is not proper, and to whom the Lord doth not allow it? This laft is
the main, and will of itſelf determine the thing, but yet a brief confidera-
tion of the former may not be unprofitable, to make way for a clearer lead-
ing and inſight into it.
Firft, As touching an oath, what it is, or the nature of it. A true and
lawful oath under the law was an engagement or bond upon the foul, Numb.
xxx. 2. by the name of the Lord, Deut. x. 20. to the fpeaking of truth
in things affirmed, and to the performance of truth in things promiſed. It
was as a feal to bind fallen man (man fallen from the truth, from the up-
rightneſs) to truth in his words and promiſes, either to God or man.
This
is the nature and uſe of an oath; to wit, to bind the foul to truth, to be ſuch
an engagement upon the foul, as, if there be any fear of God there, it can-
not but dread to break, knowing that the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that
taketh his name in vain.
Secondly, The ground or occafion of an oath, is the fall of man from truth,
from innocency, from the uprightneſs which engaged him to truth, before
his fall. This made the Jews ftand in need of this bond under the law, in
their purpoſes and promifes towards God; and the ſame thing likewiſe made
them ſtand in need of it one from another, to ratify and confirm truth be-
tween them.
Thirdly, The cafes wherein an oath was to be used, which were chiefly thefe
four.
That the truth, integrity, and plain inten-
1. In cafe of a promiſe, or vow tion of the heart might ftand, and there
to God.
2. In caſe of promiſe to man.
might be no departing therefrom, in the
thing promiſed, either to God or man;
an oath in that ftate was found uſeful to
bind the foul thereto.
3. In cafe of pronouncing or declaring the truth of a thing, which was
weighty, that there might be a clear and fatisfactory ground of belief.
4. In cafe of controverfy between parties, where the controverfy could not
be determined, but by taking the confeffion of the one party for truth;
there that party was to feal his confeffion with an oath, and fo the other to
reft fatisfied therewith, and the controverfy thereupon end.
Fourthly, The end of an oath, which is for final confirmation, and avoid-
ing of all further ftrife and contention about the thing fworn to. By binding
the thing (promiſed or affirmed) with an oath, the thing is confirmed; and now
there is no more ftrife in the heart concerning the thing, if relating to God,
or between man and man in things relating to them; but the ftriving na-
ture is bound down by the oath of God, wherewith the thing is ratified, and
fo the doubt and uncertainty removed, and the conteft ended. Thus of
right it ought to be, and is, where the oath is forcible and in its
proper
fervice.
Iii 2
Fifthly,
436
The Great Question concerning Swearing.
Fifthly, The fuitableness of its nature to the end aimed at by it. Man out
of the Chriftian life, can go no further than to engage himſelf by the fear
and dread of that God, whom he profeffeth to worship and ferve, and who
cannot but be jealous of his name and honour, and ready to vindicate the
taking of it in vain. Man under the law, could not bind himſelf to God, in
any promiſe or ſervice more than thus; nor can there be any greater bond or
feal of truth given by one man to another, in the fallen ftate, than this. And
he that will venture to break this, what but deceit and treachery can be ex-
pected from him? infomuch as no other engagement from him can be of
weight, he hereby manifefting the want of that in his mind and fpirit,
whereupon all ties are to faften.
Sixthly, The perfons to whom the ufe of an oath was proper and lawful, and
for whom it was inftituted; and whether there be any persons to whom it is not
proper and lawful, and for whofe uſe it was not inftituted?
To find out this diftinctly and truly, we muſt confider the feveral condi-
tions of man fince the creation; and obferve to which of thoſe it is uſeful
and proper in itſelf, and allowed by God, and to which it is not uſeful in it-
felf, nor allowed by God.
There have been four eftates or conditions of mankind fince the crea-
tion :
1. An eftate of innocency; an eſtate of integrity, of purity, of righteouf-
nefs, wherein man could not lie or deceive; but his promifes to God, and
his words to men, muft needs be Yea, and Amen: for it was impoffible to
man, who was made in God's image (which is truth) to lye or deceive, un-
til the deceit entered him, and drew him out of the truth.
2. There was (and ſtill is) an eſtate of deep captivity, wherein this truth.
and innocency was wholly loft; and man wholly corrupted in his fpirit and
nature, and wholly degenerated from God. This was the eftate of the
heathen, who knew not God generally, nor defired after him, but walked
in the vanity of their minds, and were given up to their own hearts lufts.
Yet among fome of thefe the eternal principle of life was ftirring, which
did check them, and offer to guide them out of this eftate; which they that
hearkened unto, did not remain in the fall with the reft, but felt the power
of that, which reproved and checked them, circumcifing their hearts; and,
in their obedience thereto, juftifying them in their confciences before
God.
3. There was an eftate of fhadowy redemption, which was not the true eftate
of redemption itſelf, or they the true people which were to be redeemed ;
but a fhadow of the redemption, a fhadow of the redeemed people, a fha-
dow of the way and path of life; wherein were figures of the heavenly fub-
ſtance, the heavenly people, the heavenly things, the heavenly inheritance,
the heavenly food, &c. But all theſe figures, in and under the law, were
not the true heavenly and inviſible things themſelves, but outward and vifi-
ble ſigns and reprefentations of them.
4. There
4
The Great Queftion concerning Swearing.
437
4. There was, and, bleffed be the Lord, now at length (after the great,
long, and dark night of apoftafy) again is brought forth, an eſtate of true
redemption; wherein the foul is brought back from the death, from the cap-
tivity, from the fall, from the deceit, and from the fhadows, into the truth,
into the pure life, into the innocency, into the uprightnefs; wherein Chrift
(the power of God) is witneffed, and the foul new formed in his pure image,
and become a new creature, having a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, a
new nature, a new life and fpirit (in the newneſs of which life it is to live
and walk), a new courfe and converſation, a new place to walk and have its
converſation in, even in that very heaven from whence it looks for the
Saviour; wherein alfo all old things, which came in by the fall, and all the
old fhadows of the law, are to pafs away, and in this ftate all things are to
And this is not only to be expected in the perfection of this
ftate, but belongs (in its meafure and degree) to the very beginning of it:
for even fo foon as a man is ingrafted into Chrift, even then he is a new
creature, and all things then begin to become new unto him, and he is then
to begin departing from all the old things, both of the natural or hea-
thenifh ftate, and of the Jewish ftate, until he hath left them all behind.
The apoſtle faith exprefly, If any man be in Chrift, he is a new creature: old
things are paffed away, all things are become new. Chrift, the Lord and Maf-
become new.
ter of all believers, who himſelf was not in the world, calleth all his difci-
ples and followers out of the world. How, out of the world? Doth he
call them from having any being or commerce in the earth, or in the
world? Nay, not fo; but to come out of the evil and corrupt ftate, prac-
tices, and ways of the world; out of the earthly ways of the Heathens, out
of the earthly ordinances and obfervations of the Jews; yea, even out of
every thing in both, which was not of the Father, but of the world; and
this made them a gazing-ſtock to both, and the fcorn and hatred of both,
where-ever they came.
Theſe are the four eftates or conditions of mankind fince the creation; in
one of which, all men that ever were, have been to be found; and accord-
ing to the eſtate and condition wherein man is found, is the law of God to
him, and his requirings of him.
Now let any man, in the fear of the Lord God, weigh and conſider, to
which fort or forts of theſe an oath was uſeful in itſelf, and allowed by
God, and to which not. Was it uſeful in the innocent ftate? Or did God
appoint it there, when man could not but ſpeak truth? Or is it uſeful in the
redeemed eſtate, where a greater bond is received, and profeffedly held forth,
than the innocency of man's nature was? Is not Chrift the truth, the fub-
ftance? Is not he that is in him, the new creature? Were not all the Oaths,
and Shadows of the law, to laft till Chrift the Subftance came? Is not this
the bond of the gofpel? And doth not this feal truth, and keep to truth
more firmly than the Oath under the law could? And the greater bond be-
ing
4-38
The Great Queſtion concerning Swearing.
ing come, doth not the leffer bond, which fignified it, flee away and vanith,
and the ufe of it now become both needlefs and unlawful? Men may rea-
fon fubtilly, and perfuade ſtrongly againſt the truth; but we know certainly
and infallibly, in the light of the Lord, that the uſe of an Oath was not
for man in innocency, nor for man under the power and virtue of the re-
demption by Chrift (which brings man back into the truth, into the inno-
cency, and into that life and ftrength which preferves in the truth and in-
nocency) but for fallen man, for man erred from the truth and covenant of
God and it is very manifeft to us, that for a diſciple of Chrift, who hath
received the law from his lips againſt Swearing, to be brought back again
to Swearing (the bond of man in the fallen ftate, and under the law) is no
lefs than a denial of Chrift, who is his life and redeemer out of the fallen
ſtate, and who alſo is the fubftance, which ends the Oaths; and he that
hath ever known the pure Power of his life, and received the pure Law
thereof in the clear openings of his Spirit, muft not depart from thence,
from the feeling of that, into the fleshly reaſonings, into confultations with
the fleſhly-wife part, which will be fure to give fuch interpretations of fcrip-
tures as may avoid the crofs; but keep to that power which begat him,
and to that principle wherein he was begotten; and there he ſhall never be
able to get beyond the Yea and Amen in Chrift, beyond the confeffing of
the truth in the prefence and life of it, which is the end and fubftance of
Swearing under the law; and therefore the apoſtle Paul, who feveral times,
and in feveral cafes, refers to the prophecies of the prophets (who foretold
of things under the Goſpel, in law-phraſes) renders the word Confeſs, in-
ftead of Swear, as may appear by comparing Rom. xiv. 11. and Philip.
ii. 11. with Ifa. xlv. 23. That which the law called Swearing, the gofpel
calls Confeffing (each of them ſpeaking of the fame thing, in the proper
dialect of each); which Confeffing in the life, in the truth, in the renewed
principle, is the weight and fubftance of that, whereof the oath was but a
fhadow. For what is the fubftance and intent of an oath? Is not the in-
tent of it to bind to the ſpeaking or performing of truth? And what is it
that binds? Is it the fhadow or the fubftance? Is it the words of an oath,
or the fenfe and weight of the thing upon the fpirit? It was not the form
of an oath, but the weight and fubftance hid underneath, which bound the
Jew under the law; and if there be no more weight and fubftance in the
Yea and Nay of a difciple under the gofpel, it muſt needs be more binding
to them, and hath alfo more true ground of fatisfaction in it (to other
Chriſtians at leaft) than a Jew's or Heathen's fwearing; yea, and if the
men of the world would but freely ſpeak their hearts, it would be acknow-
ledged to be of more weight with them alfo. Who of thoſe who have ob-
ferved and known our converfation, and upright ſpeaking and behaviour
for theſe many years (both towards the various rulers and authorities of the
nation, and alſo towards all men of all forts) would not prefer our Yea and
Nay before the oaths of others?
Object.
The Great Question concerning Swearing.
439
Object. But though a Chriftian may not fwear in relation to himself; yet
why may be not fwear in relation to the fatisfaction of others, feeing God himself
fware in that respect, who was as much in the power and virtue of that life
which binds from fwearing, as a Chriftian can be?
Anfw. 1. God (being not bound himſelf by the laws wherewith he binds
the creature) may either himſelf, or by an inftrument (in his immediate
life and power) do that which the creature hath not liberty from him to do;
but that is no warrant in general, but the difciple is particularly to eye the
rule from his mafter CHRIST JESUS (who is Lord over the houshold of
faith, and who was as faithful in all his houfe as a Lord, as Mofes the
Servant was in his houſe) by whom the fame God, who once allowed oaths
to the Jews, hath now wholly forbidden fwearing. And let the diſciple
diligently and faithfully eye the laws of the New Covenant (which are written
by, and received from, the ingrafted word of faith in the heart) he fhall find
oaths excluded there, as a part of the Old Covenant, even as a literal
and ſhadowy confirmation of truth among the Jews under Mofes's difpenfa-
tion for the time of the law; but the grace and truth itſelf is the fub-
ſtance, and the faith received is the feal of truth under the goſpel, both
towards God and man..
Anfw. 2. A Chriftian may not ſwear in relation to the fatisfaction of others,
becauſe he is to hold forth his light, his life, his principle, in the eye of the
world; he is to teſtify to the worth and excellency of it, that it is a greater
and firmer bond to him, both towards God and man, than any oaths either
of the heathen or of the Jews can be. Now his entering into their way
of confirmation of things, which is fhort of his own, is an undervaluing
and difparagement of the worth and weight of that principle of truth which
God hath given him, and raiſed up in him: it is indeed a denying of it;
for entering into the law-bond, is laying of the goſpel-bond by; and an
offering of that as a bond, which indeed once was fo, but is now excluded
by the law of faith from being a bond any longer, and hath loft its virtue.
And if men would but open their eyes, they might eaſily ſee how little
oaths bind, and how unprofitable they are to the end and ufe for which.
they are intended: but the yea and amen in Chrift (the principle of life)
cannot be broken; but he that abides in him muft perform the yea and
amen, which is firm in him.
Anfw. 3. A Chriftian or diſciple may not fwear under the goſpel, becauſe
Chriſt hath brought in confeffion of the truth, from the principle of his life,
inftead of oaths; which is made good not only by the apoftle Paul's ren-
dering of fwearing in the law-time, confeffing, in the fulfilling of it under the
goſpel; but alſo by Chrift's bringing in the yea, yea, and nay, nay, inſtead
of the law's fwearing. In the Jew, the oath was the feal or confirmation un-
der the law; in the difciple, who is in the life, and hath learned the truth
of Chrift the life, the yea, yea, the nay, nay, is appointed him by Chriſt in-
ftead of the oath. And though the fubtilty and fleſhly wisdom ftrive hard
BO
440
The Great Queſtion concerning Swearing.
to wreft that place out of the hands of the fimplicity; yet they fhall never
be able to do it: but he that looks on it with a fingle eye in the light of
that Spirit wherein it was wrote, fhall plainly fee Chrift's drift to be to take
away the ſhadow, even to aboliſh that ufe of fwearing, which was proper
and allowed to the Jews under the law, and to bring the confeffion or de-
nial of the thing, the yea, yea, and nay, nay, (from the gospel fpirit and principle.
in the diſciple) in the ftead of it, which to make more manifeft to the ho-
neft, fimple, and naked heart, which is willing to take up the will and truth
of God in every thing, with all the croffes that attend it, let theſe few
things following be uprightly confidered of.
Firft, That flight, trivial and frequent oaths were not allowed under the
law, but forbidden by the law, as the taking God's holy and dreadful name
in vain.
Secondly, That though vain oaths were then forbidden; yet folemn oaths,
weighty oaths (fuch as were needful and uſeful to the thing intended), were
allowed under the law. So in all thofe cafes before expreffed, oaths were
allowed and justifiable, fo that they were but careful to perform them, and
did not forfwear themſelves.
Thirdly, Chrift brings in an exception againſt the uſe of this lawful
fwearing under the law, as the word but doth plainly fignify, and forbiddeth
fwearing wholly, altogether, or at all. The law faith, Thou shalt not for-
fwear thyself (that is the fubftance of what the law forbids: it allows fwear-
ing, but forbids forfwearing); but I fay unto you, ye fhall not only avoid
forfwearing, but fwearing alfo, and that wholly, or altogether: but I fay
unto you, Swear not at all.
Fourthly, Chrift brings in another thing inftead of fwearing (a thing far
more ſuitable to the truth, plainnefs and fimplicity of the gofpel), which is
confeffing the thing, or fpeaking the thing in truth, juft as it is, either
by way of affirmation or denial; but let your yea be yea, and nay, nay.
And there is liberty enough left to a diſciple to fatisfy any man concern-
ing the truth of a thing by confeffion, as much as by an oath: for is it not
full as weighty under the gofpel to confefs the preſence of God, or that he
is witneſs, or that we ſpeak the thing in his fear, and in the feeling of his
life and power, as it was under the law to fwear by his life, by his fear, by
his power, or the like? Is not the confeffing of God by a Chriftian of more
weight than the fwearing by him from a Jew or heathen? O nations and
powers of the earth! feek truth, feek righteouſneſs, and do not ſet up a
form or image of things in your own wills (and according to your own
wiſdom and inventions) above the power of God.
And let it be duly confidered, whether the powers of this nation deal
kindly with the Lord, in exacting an oath from his people, who (not in the
leaft difaffection to them, but only in fidelity of confcience to Chrift, their
Lord and mafter) cannot but refuſe it.
The
The Great Question concerning Swearing.
441
The queſtion is concerning their fidelity and obedience to the king; that
is the thing which an oath is required to ratify and confirm. Now the
fwearing itfelf (or formal taking of an oath) is of little value; but to be obe-
dient, to be faithful in the thing of value. The cafe then ſtands thus:
the Lord hath ſo formed them, that they cannot but be faithful and obe-
dient. The Lord hath raiſed up that principle in them, which cannot hurt
the king, or any man; nor cannot ſtand by and ſee him or any man hurt,
without endeavouring to prevent it. Here is their ſtrength of performing
good, and avoiding evil; and their yea and nay, from this principle, is the
beft fecurity which they can poffibly give to any man (and he who hath
thus formed them in the pure principle of his life, hath likewife forbidden
them to fwear). But this cannot be accepted for want of the other con-
firmation; to wit, of fwearing, which came in by the fall, and was allowed
among the ſhadows of the law, but is forbidden by the goſpel.
Now, O king! fhall not God's people be faithful and obedient to the
Lord, as well as to thee? Shall they not be true to the principle of life,
wherein they are begotten and brought forth in the love and good-will to
all, and out of enmity to any? Hath God raifed up in them a principle
which cannot deceive; and will not the yea and nay of that ſerve (after fo
much experience, through fo many changes), but they must either break.
Chrift's command, and hazard their fouls, or elſe loſe their liberties and
eftates?
Oh! that men would wait on the Lord, for his pure fear to be written
on their hearts by the finger of his Spirit, that they might come out of the
fleſhly wiſdom into the womb of the eternal wiſdom, from whence our
principle came; that they might be able to fee and juftify the purity,
righteoufnefs, nobility, and worth of it; and that they might feel its fecu-
rity from all that is out of the good-will, out of the love, out of the life,
and out of the peace; that fo there might be an end of all ſtrife, rebellion,
heart-burnings, plots, and all manner of wickedness and ungodliness, which
have no place in it, but daily wafte and wither where it is fown and grows,
even till they come to an end; and till the righteouſneſs and pure inno-
cency fill the room and place which they had, both in the heart and mind
within, and in the life and converfation outwardly.
And let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from ini-
quity, and look well to his goings: for the darkneſs of the thick night of
apoftafy is already paft, and the true light now again fhineth. Bleffed is
the eye which feeth it, and the heart which is eſtabliſhed in it, in the midſt
of thoſe terrible and dreadful ſhakings and confufions, which muſt not end
here, but go over all nations. Oh! that this nation could once bow to it,
that it might be happy, and its rents and breaches be healed for ever!
VOL. I
Kkk
SOME-
.
SOMEWHAT SPOKEN
TO A
WEIGHTY QUESTION,
CONCERNING THE
MAGISTRATE'S Protection of the INNOCENT.
Wherein is held forth
The BLESSING and PEACE which Nations ought to wait
for and embrace in the latter Days.
WITH
SOME CONSIDERATIONS
FOR THE
Serious and Wife in Heart throughout this Nation to ponder, for
diverting God's Wrath (if poffible) from breaking forth upon it.
ALSO
A brief Account of what the People called QUAKERS defire,
in reference to the Civil Government.
WITH
A few Words to fuch as by the everlaſting Arm of GOD's Power have been
drawn and gathered out of the Apoftafy, into the living Truth and Worſhip.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
M DC LXI.
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field,
and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground;
and I will break the bow, and the fword, and the battle out of the earth, and
will make them to lie down fafely. Hos. ii. 18.
[444]
1
SOMEWHAT SPOKEN
?
TO A
WEIGHTY QUESTION,
CONCERNING THE
Magiſtrate's Protection of the Innocent.
QUESTION.
Whether the magistrate, in righteouſneſs and equity, is engaged to defend fuck,
who (by the peaceableness and love which God hath wrought in their ſpirits,
and by that law of life, mercy, good-will, and forgiveness, which God by his
own finger bath written in their hearts) are taken off from fighting, and can-
not uſe a weapon deftructive to any creature to defend him?
M
ANSWER.
AGISTRACY was intended by God for the defence of the
people; not only of thoſe who have ability, and can fight for
them, but of fuch alfo who cannot, or are forbidden by the
love and law of God written in their hearts fo to do. Thus women,
children, fick perfons, aged perfons, and alſo priefts in nations (who have
ability to fight, but are exempted by their function, which is not equi-
valent to the exemption which God makes by the law of his Spirit in
the heart) have the benefit of the law, and of the magiftrate's protection,
without fighting for the defence of either: and is it not moft righteous
and
Somewhat spoken concerning the, &c.
445
and equal, that fighting, which came in by the fall, fhould come to an
end in fuch whom God draws out of the fall, and that magiftrates (who
have power given them to rule by God, and ought to rule under him)
fhould not require fighting of them whom the Lord of lords hath re-
deemed out of the fighting nature, and chofen to be as examples of
meekneſs and peaceablenefs in the places where they live? How can he
fight with creatures, in whom is love and good-will towards thoſe creatures,
and whoſe bowels are rolling over them, becauſe of their wanderings in
the lufts, in the ftrife, and in the wars? Fighting is not fuitable to a
goſpel Spirit; but to the fpirit of the world, and the children thereof. The
fighting in the gofpel is turned inward against the lufts, and not outward
againſt the creatures. There is to be a time, when nation fhall not lift up
When the power
fword against nation, neither fhall they learn war any more.
of the goſpel ſpreads over the whole earth, thus fhall it be throughout the
earth; and where the power of the Spirit takes hold of and overcomes any
heart at prefent, thus will it be at prefent with that heart. This bleffed
ſtate, which ſhall be brought forth in the general in God's ſeaſon, muſt be-
gin in particulars; and they therein are not prejudicial to the world (nor
would be fo looked upon, if the right eye in man were but open to fee.
with), but emblems of that bleffed ftate which the God of glory hath
promiſed to ſet up in the world in the days of the gofpel. And though by
this means there may feem to be a weakening of the ftrength of the magif-
trate, and of the defence of that nation wherein God cauſeth the virtue and
power of his truth to fpread in the hearts of his people; yet in truth it is
not fo, but a great ftrengthening. For if righteoufnefs be the ftrength of
a nation, and the feed of God the fupport of the earth, then where
righteouſneſs is brought forth, and where the feed of God fprings up and
flouriſheth, that nation grows ftrong; and inftead of the arms and ftrength
of man, the eternal ftrength overſpreads that nation, and that wiſdom
fprings up in the ſpirits of men, which is better than weapons of war; and
the wiſdom which is from above is pure and peaceable, and teacheth to
make peace, and to remove the cauſe of contention and wars, and uniteth
the heart to the Lord, in waiting upon him for counſel, ftrength, and pre-
fervation in this ftate, who brought into it. Now is not this much better
and fafer than the prefent eſtate of things in the world; firft, to have the
cauſe of wars removed, and a ſweet, peaceable, righteous Spirit in the
ſtead thereof; ſecondly, to have a peaceable and righteous generation
(whom the Lord hath made and preferved fo) breathing to the Lord for
peace, good, and profperity to the nation, and magiftrates thereof, and to
ftretch forth his arm to be a defence about them; thirdly, to have the God
of heaven engaged by his power to defend that power and magiftracy which
defends righteouſneſs in general, and particularly his people in their obe-
dience unto him, whom it is moſt righteous for them to obey, and for the
magiſtrate (who claims his rule and dominion under God) to protect them
in 2
446
Somewhat spoken concerning the
in? Were not this much better both for magiftrates and people than the
preſent eftate? Oh! that that were awakened in man which can rightly
difcern and judge!
Object. But this is an Utopian ftate, or a world in the moon.
that ever there should be fuch a state here on earth?
Is it poffible
Anfw. 1. When the principle of God, which lies hid in the hearts of
men (over which the corrupt nature hath grown, and upon which the ſpirit
of darkness in men tramples) fhall be raiſed and come into dominion;
righteouſneſs, peace, and good-will fhall fpring up as naturally among men,
as wars, ftrifes, divifions, emulations, heart-burnings, &c. now do.
2. There is a promiſe of fuch a ftate, when the lion fhall eat straw like
the ox, and lie down with the lamb; when the earth fhall be filled with the know-
ledge of the Lord as the waters cover the fea, and nothing fhall hurt or destroy
upon God's holy mountain; but the nations who have been full of war fhall
throw away their weapons, become fubject to the Spirit of peace and
righteouſneſs, and learn war no more; when the wiſdom of the wife, and
ftrength of the ftrong, fhall be broken in pieces, and the little child fhall
play on the hole of the afp, and the cockatrice's den, and lead all. As cer-
tainly as the Lord God is true, fo this muſt be in the Lord's feaſon: and
will it not be happy when it comes to pafs? Who would hinder it? Who
would ſtrive to keep the old heavens and the old earth ftanding, which muſt
be diffolved before the new heavens and the new earth (wherein dwells
righteouſneſs) can be formed and brought forth?
3. This ftate was in a fair forwardneſs once, before the univerfal apoſtaſy
from that truth and power which 'God had fown in the earth, upon the
breathing of and fending forth his Spirit among his difciples, according to
his promiſe. Precious was that feed, great the growth of it, the woman
(or true church) full of beauty and glory, and brought forth the man-
child, which was to rule all nations; but it hath pleaſed the Lord to ad-
journ that day till after the night of apoftafy, catching up the man-child to
heaven, and caufing the woman to fly into the wilderneſs, where ſhe hath
been hid ever fince from all but the inward eye of the inward Ifrael: and
the world in the heathenifh nature hath been crying up holy church, holy
church! to her who hath fat upon the beaſt, and been drunk with the blood
of the martyrs of Jeſus; but the tender ſpouſe, the lamb's wife, the mo-
ther of all the lambs, hath been banished from the earth, and a cruel
bloody ftep-mother fet over all the tender-confcienced ever fince. Oh!
woeful, woeful hath been the ſtate of the true church, and of all the chil-
dren of truth, all this dark night of the apoftafy! but the Lord is putting
an end to it and though this falfe woman feems to be recovering ground,
and ſetting her feet over the necks of the lambs again, and begins to
think the fhall prevail, and fit as a lady and queen over the confciences of
God's heritage for ever; yet fhe fhall find that ftrong is the Lord God who
hath begun to judge her; and into the fea which fhe raiſeth fhall fhe fink
like
Magiftrate's Protection of the Innocent.
447
like a ftone, and her fall fhall be great and ſpeedy: for even in one day
ſhall her mifery overtake and devour her.
4. After this long night of apoftafy the Lord hath begun to make ſome
preparations towards this ftate again. He hath opened his treafuries; he
hath let forth the power of his truth; he hath poured down of his Spirit to
fanctify and gather a people unto himſelf, he hath opened the principle of
life in the hearts of many, and in a great meaſure drawn them into it; who,
fo far as they are renewed thereby (and found there) are made peaceable,
pure, meek, gentle, innocent, upright-hearted, and tender-confcienced,
both towards God and man. And though multitudes of reproaches have
been caft upon them, yet the Lord hath been pleaſed to cauſe their inno-
cency and integrity to fhine, to the wiping of them off in a great degree,
and will in due time bring forth their righteouſneſs as the light, and their
judgment as the noon-day. And what remains toward the carrying on of
this work, but the Lord's profpering of this principle, and blowing upon
the other? As the Lord doth this, fo will it go on; and the nations, kings,
princes, great-ones, as this principle is raiſed in them, and the contrary
wiſdom, the earthly policy (which undoes all) brought down, ſo will they
feel the bleffing of God in themfelves, and become a bleffing to others.
Oh! that there were an ear to hear! for this is the only way of healing
this nation (which hath been fo grievouſly torn) as will be acknowledged
when woeful experience makes it manifeft. But man in profperity cannot
hear, and that enforceth from the Lord (by the turning of his hand) the
bringing upon him the day of his adverfity; which, could he have hearkened
to in the day of his profperity, might have been eſcaped: for God doth not
afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men; he is neceffitated to it for
his own glory's fake, the prefervation and defence of his truth and people,
and for the carrying on of his work.
Object. But if all men were of this mind, and none would fight, fuppoſe a na-
tion ſhould be invaded, would not the land of neceffity be ruined?
Anfw. 1. Whenever ſuch a thing ſhall be brought forth in the world, it
muſt have a beginning before it can grow and be perfected. And where
fhould it begin but in fome particulars in a nation, and fo fpread by degrees,
until it hath overfpread the nation, and then from nation to nation, until
the whole earth be leavened? Therefore whoever defires to fee this lovely
ftate brought forth in the general, if he would further his own defire, muſt
cheriſh it in the particular. And Oh! that men would not ſpend their
ſtrength, and hazard the lofs of all in cheriſhing pretences and names of
Chriſtianity, but would pray to the Lord at length to open that eye in them
which can fee the loveliness of the truth, power, and virtue of Chriftianity;
that they might cheriſh that tenderneſs of confcience wherein the truth
grows and fprings up in its virtue and power. (And then perhaps they
would foon acknowledge the happineſs of the world to depend upon the
growth of that principle, and of that people, who are now defpifed by the
world,
448
Somewhat ſpoken concerning the
world, and cannot but be fo by the ſpirit and wiſdom of the world, which
lies in wickedness, they being drawn out of, and teſtifying against, it).
2. It is not for a nation (coming into the gofpel-life and principle) to
take care before-hand how they ſhall be preſerved; but the gofpel will teach
a nation (if they hearken to it) as well as a particular perfon, to truſt the
Lord, and to wait on him for prefervation. Ifrael of old ſtood not by their
ſtrength and wiſdom, and preparations againſt their enemies; but in quiet-
nefs and confidence, and waiting on the Lord for direction, Ifa. xxx. 15.
and ſhall not fuch now, who are true Ifraelites, and have indeed attained to
the true goſpel ſtate, follow the Lord in the peaceable life and Spirit of the
goſpel, unleſs they fee by rational demonſtration beforehand how they fhall
be preferved therein. I fpeak not this againſt any magiftrates or people's
defending themſelves againſt foreign invafions, or making ufe of the fword
to fupprefs the violent and evil-doers within their borders (for this the pre-
fent eftate of things may and doth require, and a great bleffing will attend
the ſword where it is borne uprightly to that end, and its ufe will be ho
nourable; and while there is need of a fword, the Lord will not fuffer that
government, or thofe governors, to want fitting inftruments under them for
the managing thereof, to wait on him in his fear to have the edge of it
rightly directed); but yet there is a better ftate, which the Lord hath al-
ready brought fome into, and which nations are to expect and travel towards.
Yea, it is far better to know the Lord to be the defender, and to wait on
him daily, and fee the need of his ftrength, wisdom, and preſervation, than
to be ever ſo ſtrong and ſkilful in weapons of war.
3. If the Lord fhall undertake the defence of a nation by his Spirit and
power, what can hurt that nation? What power of man reach it, to diſturb
the peace of it? The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horfes flesh,
and not Spirit, Ifa. xxxi. 3. What could Senacherib with his army do
againſt one angel in the time of the law? How many of his hoſt were
flain in one night? And what power then ſhall be able to prevail over a na-
tion brought into the peaceable Spirit of the goſpel, and defended therein
by the mighty power of God himſelf? Will not God be as fure a defence
over the true Ifrael, in the way and difpenfation wherein he leadeth them,
as ever he was over the reprefentative Ifrael, in the way and difpenfation
wherein he led them? Will he not preſerve and defend that nation whom he
firſt teacheth to leave off war, that they fhall not be made a prey of, while
he is teaching other nations the fame leffon?
God promiſed Ifrael of old, that when they went up thrice in the year to
appear before the Lord, according to his command, he would keep it out
of the hearts of the nations from fo much as defiring their land, much
more from entering and taking it from them in the mean time, though
they might ſeem watchful after, and fufficiently greedy of, fuch an oppor-
tunity, they being caft out of the land, and having had it taken from them
before, Exod. xxxiv. 24. The Lord alfo can now keep it out of the hearts
of
Magiftrate's Protection of the Innocent.
449
of the nations from invading or prejudicing that nation which he ſhall firft
draw into the peaceable Spirit. Or if he fee not good to do that, he can de-
fend thoſe that have followed him out of the earthly fpirit, wiſdom, and
ſtrength, by ways that man knows not of; nor may it be fit for him to
know, till the Lord bring it forth. Ifrael of old was not to know the de-
liverance beforehand; but to truft to the Lord. Under the gospel, the Lord
giveth more faith than to Ifrael of old under the law, and therefore may
juſtly require greater confidence in greater ſtraits. And awaken, O earth!
behold the Ifrael of the Lord, whom he hath begotten and brought forth
in the earth, after the long dark night of apoftafy, and ye fhall fee what
hearts the Lord hath given them to truft him, in all the ftraits and trials
wherewith he pleaſeth to exerciſe them, and what the Lord will do for
them when they are brought to the brink of the pit, and when it feemeth
impoffible for them to eſcape utter ruin and deftruction. The eye which the
Lord hath given them feeth the Lord and his ftrength; and the heart
which he hath created anew in them, naturally feareth the everlaſting power,
which reacheth both to the body and foul for ever: but as for whole mul-
titudes of nations, they are but as the drop of a bucket, and (in their greateſt
wiſdom and ſtrength) but as vanity, as the fmall duft of the balance, as no-
thing before him, and less than nothing to him.
Confider this, O ye great men! O ye wife men, and deep politicians!
all ye have done, or can ever do, in relation to overturning any thing that
God hath purpofed, what are ye therein? Or what will your work come
to? It is juſt like the fmall duft of the balance; it hinders not at all the weight
of his power on the other hand, but he will carry on his work, bring to
paſs what he hath purpofed in himfelf, and promifed to his people; and all
your councils, wifdom, ftrength, hopes, refolutions, and prefent or future
advantages againſt him and his work, fhall hinder him no more than the
fmall duft in the ſcale of a balance, which the wind blows away, and it is
not. Be wife therefore, O ye fons of men! fear before your Maker; wait in
his fear for his counfel, that ye may not be fuffered by him to undertake
any thing againſt him, left before ye are aware ye fall before him. Oh!
let every one in fear remember that paffage, Lo, this is the man that made
not God his ftrength, but trusted in the abundance, &c. Forgetting the Lord
in the day of profperity, caufeth much increaſe of the anguifh and forrow
of heart in the day of adverfity. O ye that are in preſent power! conſider
how unwilling ye would be to have the Lord turn his hand upon you, and
bring you under again! Oh! provoke him not, for he is able to do it,
as he was to overturn thofe which went before. It were far better for
you now to fear the Lord, and prevent it, than to bewail and repent
afterwards. Oh! reject not the love and counfel of the Moſt High (which
would now preferve you) as thoſe which went before you did.
-
There is a defire in all men (in whom the principle of God is not wholly
Alain) after righteoufnefs; which defire will be more and more kindled by
- VOL. I.
LII
God
450
Some Confiderations, &c.
God in nations, before righteoufnefs and peace meet together and be efta-
bliſhed in them. Now fuch and fo great hath been the kindling of this
defire in this nation, and fuch is the ftate thereof, that nothing can fatisfy
the heart of it but righteouſneſs: this it longeth after at the bottom: this
the governors which were before might have, and the governors that now
are (by aſking counſel of the principle of God in themſelves, and keeping
cloſe thereto) may anſwer the nation in; but if the confultations be not
with the Lord, in the principle of life which came from him, but with the
wiſdom and policy which is of the earth, and from beneath, and not from
above, that will incline to felf, and to corruption, and never bring forth
righteouſneſs; nor can the bleffing of God attend it, nor the peace which
accompanieth righteouſneſs be reaped from it.
!
Some CONSIDERATIONS
For the Serious and Wife in Heart throughout this Na-
tion to ponder, that they may ſend up earneſt Prayers
to Almighty God, and uſe their beſt Endeavours in
their feveral Places and Stations, to prevent that dread-
ful Storm of Wrath which hath long hung over this
Nation; that at length it break not forth like a Fire
which none can quench, or like a Flood which none.
can ſtop.
1.
D
ID not God, by the power of his Spirit in the apoftles days, ga-
ther a people out of the world unto himſelf, and by his wifdom
(and according to his heavenly will) build them up into a church, or holy
temple, for his Spirit to inhabit and dwell in, and for himſelf to be ho
noured and worſhipped in Spirit and truth, according as he ſhould teach
them, and require of them?
2. Did not the fame Spirit which built this church not only fignify that
the love fhould wax cold, and there be a falling away from the truth, and
warn the churches of Afia of the removal of their candleſticks, but alſo
foretell of the total diffolution of that building as to its outward ftate
[upon the cloſe of the fharp battle by the dragon and his angels, or falfe
minifters, with Michael and his true church and miniſters] infomuch as the
church herſelf ſhould fly into the wilderneſs, and her feed he made war with,
and
Some Confiderations, &c.
45T
and perfecuted up and down the nations all the time of the apoftafy after-
wards? See Rev. xii.
3. Was not this defolate eftate of the church to remain and laft all the
allotted time thereof, which is expreffed to be forty-two months, twelve
hundred and fixty days, or a time, times, and half a time, wherein the
beaſt ſhould rule, antichrift fit in God's temple, and the dragon be wor-
ſhipped there, inſtead of the living God; and alſo the lambs of Chriſt, and
witneffes of Jefus (who retain the worſhip in Spirit and truth, and cannot
join with any of the falfe ways of worſhip ſet up in the nations) torn and
rent by the woman which appears inftead of the true church, but is not?
Rev. xi. 2. and xii. 6. 14. and xiii. 4. and xvii. 6.
4. Doth not this woman continue deceiving the nations and kings of the
earth (whom ſhe caufeth to drink of her cup of knowledge, worship, doc-
trine, and difcipline, whereby fhe blindeth their eyes, bewitcheth their
hearts, and maketh them take her for the true church, who, notwithſtand-
ing all her glorious appearance, is but Babylon in a mystery, and, notwith-
tanding all her pretences for Chrift, doth drink the blood of his true
faints and witneffes); I fay, doth fhe not continue her deceit till the very
hour of her judgment, and until fhe hath brought the dreadful vials of the
wrath of God both upon herſelf, and upon all that continue joining with
her? Rev. xvii. 2,. &c.
5. Is there not to be an end of this night of apoftafy, and of the falſe
church, with all her various habits, and dreffes, and new paints, and arts
of deceit (though both have continued long), wherein Chrift the lamb comes
forth in his power to fight with the beaft, and the woman which rides.
thereon, and to fmite the earth which remains infected with her fornications
(which withdraw and fteal away the heart from the pure life and Spirit of
Chrift, and from his pure, living, fpiritual worſhip, into a falfe, invented,
dead, formal worſhip), that fo he may reftore and ſet up his pure ſpiritual
worſhip again? Rev. xix. 11.
6. Are not the kings, powers, and inhabitants of the earth in great dan-
ger of fighting against the lamb, in defence of this falfe church againſt his
true church (when he again comes to fet it up in nations, after the expiration
of the long night of apoftafy) even to the hazard of utterly ruining themſelves
thereby? For thoſe that fight againſt the lamb, muft needs be overcome
by him; his invifible ftrength and armies being much ftronger than the
vifible armies, and all the outward ftrength in nations; though, to the
outward eye, fuch may appear very great and invincible? Rev. xvii. 14.
7. Shall not the kings of the earth and the remaining powers at laft (after
the overthrow of many for joining to her, and ftriving to upold her) hate
the whore (which hath corrupted the earth with her fornications, drank the
blood of the faints and martyrs of Jefus, brought mifery and defolation on
nations, St.), make her defolate, and burn her flesh with fire? And were it
L112
not
&
452
Some Confiderations, &c.
1
not far better for them to do it before, rather than to hazard the ruining
of themſelves by feeking to uphold her? Rev. xvii. 16.
8. Is it poffible for any nation (or any power in any nation) to hinder
the fhining forth of God's light therein, after the long night of apoſtaſy ?
There is a ſpiritual day, as well as a natural day. There was a ſpiritual day
before the apoftafy, in the days of the apoftles; and there is to be a ſpiritual
day again after the apoftafy, upon the Spirit of life's entering into the wit-
neffes, their rifing and ſtanding on their feet, and the light of God fhining
forth from them. The fpiritual day dependeth upon the fhining of God's
Spirit in the hearts of people (which did once ſhine forth, and doth begin
to fhine forth again), as the natural day dependeth upon the fhining of the
fun. Now who can hinder the arifing or fhining of the Sun of righteouf-
neſs in the hearts of God's people? If ye can, then may ye prevent the
carrying on of God's work of reformation in this nation, and throughout
the world; but it is eaſier for you to ſtop the fhining of the fun in the firma-
ment. Oh! that the eye were opened which can fee the way of peace,
that the prefent governors might be bleffed, and the nation bleffed in them,
and not the fpirit of the nation (by a fecret kindling, which none knows
whence it comes) brought over them as a flood, as it was over them that
went before them.
In that fear which God works in the heart (and out of the compaſs of
that carnal wiſdom and ſtrength, on which man relies) is the wiſdom, coun-
fel, and preſervation of the Moft High; both of particular perfons, and alfo
of nations. O Lord my God, if it may pleafe thee, open the ear that can
bear thy voice, that mifery may be avoided, and thy peace and bleffing fought
after and enjoyed; or at least some of the force of that bitter Storm (which
fweepeth away and maketh defolate, even as the abomination of defolation bath
entered, and of a long time made the earth defolate of the life and power of god-
linefs) broken, that this nation may not be fwallowed up in the dreadful break-
ings forth of thy difpleaſure, but may be prepared by thy correcting hand, and
fitted for the day of thy mercy.
!
A BRIEF
[ 453 ]
ས་
1
A
BRIEF ACCOUNT
OF WHAT THE
PEOPLE called QUAKER S defire,
TH
In Reference to the CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
HERE are three things which we cannot but earneftly defire in our
hearts, and pray to the Lord for, as the proper means of fettling
aright the ſpirit of this nation; as alfo neceffary for the growth of God's pure
living truth, and as juſt and equal in themſelves.
1. Univerſal liberty for all forts to worſhip God, according as Chrift fhall
open mens eyes to fee the truth, and according as he fhall perfuade their
hearts by his Spirit; who is every man's mafter in religion, to whom they
muſt ſtand or fall in all they do therein, Rom. xiv. 4.
Now if any man walk diforderly, and contrary to the light of Chrift's
Spirit either in doctrine or worship; that power which converts to God, is
to reprove and correct fuch an offender with the fpiritual rod and fword, that
he may be again reftored to the truth and obedience of the Spirit; but the
Magiftrate is not for any fuch thing to impriſon, fine, baniſh, or put him
to death. For Chrift is the judge of his people in the things of his king-
dom, Heb. x. 30. and he hath appointed to have his fpiritual weapons in a
readineſs, to revenge every diſobedience and rebellion againſt his Spirit,
2 Cor. x. 4. The bringing in and applying of the magiftrate's fword to
this work, was never by the true church, in whofe hand the ſword of the
Spirit was ever found fufficient; but the falfe church, not having the fword
of the Spirit, is fain to uphold herſelf by the carnal weapons, or elſe ſhe
would foon fall. But the Lord God is wrefting thefe out of her hands, and
then his light will break forth without interruption, and her fhame and
nakedness foon appear..
2. That no laws formerly made, contrary
righteouſneſs in man, may remain in force;
what are manifeftly agreeable thereunto.
have their foundation in right reaſon, and
to the principle of equity and
nor no new ones be made, but
All juft laws, fay the lawyers,
muſt agree with, and proceed
from
Į
454
A brief Account of, &c.
from it, if they be properly good for, and rightly ferviceable to, mankind.
Now man hath a corrupt and carnal reafon, which fways him afide from in-
tegrity and righteouſneſs, towards the favouring of himſelf and his own
party and whatever party is uppermoft, they are apt to make fuch new
laws as they frame, and alſo the interpretation of the old ones, bend to-
wards the favour of their own party. Therefore we would have every man
in authority wait, in the fear of God, to have that principle of God raiſed
up in him, which is for righteouſneſs, and not ſelfiſh; and watch to be
guided by that in all he does, either in making laws for government, or in
governing by laws already made.
3. Seeing this nation is in ſuch a ſhattered condition, and there have been
fo many breaches, parties, and factions in it, that no party might be bol-
ſtered up in enmity and oppofition againſt another, but that every party
might be confidered, in what might be done for their eaſe and benefit,
without danger and detriment to any other party. And if I might be
hearkened to, I would perfuade thofe now in power, not to deal with their
enemies as they formerly dealt with them, but as they would have been
dealt with by them when they were in power.
I would alſo dehort and diffuade all people from plotting or contriving
againſt this preſent government (for they muſt have their day, do all men
what they can); but inftead thereof to pray for them, that they may ſee the
former errors in government, humble themſelves before the Lord, and (by
their meekneſs, gentleneſs, and righteouſneſs towards all) fhew forth the
fruit of his long-afflicting hand upon them. But if they ſhall overlook,
forget, and neglect the Lord, who hath fhewn fo great mercy to them; and
not in his fear wait on him, to preſerve for them the ground and intereft
he hath given them; and think that now they are able to ftand on their
own legs, and by their own wiſdom and ftrength; and fo affay to carry on
things according to their own will, and in the ftrength of their own wif
dom; and fo not mind for what end the Lord brought them in again, and
what he expecteth to have effected by them, but ftrive again to fettle the
principles and practices which he hath been fhaking, according to what
feems right and good in their own eyes (meaſuring things by their own cor-
rupt reafon, ſelfiſh wiſdom, and interefts, and not by the principle of
God, common equity, and right reafon); I fay, if it fhould come to be
thus with them, ye fhall not need to plot against them; for the Lord God
Almighty, who with eafe removed their enemies, and made way for them,
can with as great eaſe remove them, and put the power into another hand.
Therefore, all people, be ftill and quiet in your minds, and wait for
righteoufnefs; for that is it which the Lord is making way for in this na-
tion, and which he will fet up therein; and he whofe defire is not after
that, and whoſe intereſt lies not there, will find himſelf diſappointed, and
at unawares ſurpriſed with what he expects not.
&
1
This
A few Words to fuch as have felt the Power, &c.
455
This is given forth that the powers and people may fee what is the de-
fire of our hearts in theſe reſpects, and how upright our hearts are towards
them in what is juft and right, and that we are not at all againſt magiftracy,
laws, or government, though we cannot flatter or bend to them in that
which is felfifh and corrupt; and indeed againſt God, and not for the good
of men.
It was written long fince, and intended then for fervice to the
Lord and this nation, and his people therein, but the Lord ordered it
otherwife. If he pleaſe now to accompany it with his bleſſing, and make
way for the reaſonableneſs, equity, and righteouſneſs of it, to enter into
the minds and hearts of them that are in power, it will be a good feaſon
for it, and they will find caufe to blefs the Lord, for putting of it into my
heart at firit, and for the publiſhing of it now.
FEW
A
WORD S
To fuch as have
Felt the Power of the endleſs Life drawing;
AND HAVE
Faithfully followed the Leader of the Flock of ISRAEL;
who hath of late led his Sheep in fuch Paths as have.
not been known all the Night of the Apoftafy.
YE children of the Moft. High! who have felt the breath of the
eternal Spirit begetting you in the pure life, and drawing you out of
this world; out of the vanities, out of the corruptions, out of the courfe
and faſhions, out of the invented ways and forms of worſhip (yea out of
the very root and principle thereof), into the worſhip and Spirit of truth,
and into the fear of the Moft High, which is wiſdom's place and habita
tion, where the pure law of life is received, and the falvation: begun,
wrought out, and perfected. O ye dear plants of the right hand of eter-
nity! fear not what is to come to pafs in this vifible creation (to break the
corrupt ſtate thereof, and to make way for the ſpringing up and fpreading
of
}
456 A few Words about the preſent Work, &c.
of his pure life and righteoufnefs, which the corrupt eftate, fpirit, and
principle of the world cannot but oppoſe, until it be broken and fub-
jected), but fanctify the Lord of Hofts, and let him be your fear and
dread, that he may compaſs you with the arm of his
power, and hide you
under the fhadow of his hand, until he hath planted the heavens, and laid
the foundations of the earth, and fay to Sion, in the fight of all her ene-
mies, Thou art my people. The Lord my God watch over you night and day!
and preſerve his living principle pure and freſh in
you, and you in perfect
fubjection unto it; that he may delight in what he hath begotten and pre-
ſerved in you, and ye may be fatisfied in the openings and overflowings of
the love of his heart towards you. Amen, faith my foul.
From Aylesbury priſon in Bucks, where my
life breathes for the confolation and re-
demption of God's Ifrael, and for the
turning of the captivity of the whole
creation. 1661.
FE W
A
WORD S
ABOUT THE
Preſent Work of GOD in the WORLD.
W%
OULD any know what God is now doing on the earth, and what changes
he is making therein? Let him fink out of the earthly part, even from
that which blinds the pure eye; and waiting to have the understanding and eye of
his Spirit opened in the Lord, let him read theſe things following.
The Lord God of bowels and compaffion, and of everlaſting power and
ftrength, hath heard the groans of Ifrael, whofe confciences have been bur-
dened, and whofe fouls have been bowed down under the power of the
beaſt, under the hard yoke of antichrift for theſe many generations; and
he is arifen in his jealoufy, in his indignation, and in his fury, to break the
yoke, and let oppreffed Ifrael go free.
He hath already ftretched forth the arm of his power; the eye of Ifrael
hath feen it, and hath in part felt the redemption (both inwardly and out-
wardly) which he hath brought to pafs by it; and a fong of praife hath been
fung to him, who hath begun to deliver his people, and who is able per-
fectly
A few Words about the prefent Work, &c.
457
fectly to accompliſh the work he hath begun, notwithſtanding all the oppo-
fition he can meet with, whether from within or from without.
Lift up then the
then the eye of faith, and behold a great part of Ifrael already
paffed out of the land of Egypt, and the Spirit of the Lord awakening and
-roufing the reft, to leave their dark habitations in the land of darkneſs, op-
preffion, and bondage, and to travel towards the good land of light, reft,
and peace.
Arife, O Ifrael! ſhake thyfelf from the duft, O captive daughter of Sion!
behold the courage of thy leader; let thy heart confider the arm of hist
ftrength, and the rod of his power, wherewith he is able to dafh in pieces
all his enemies. Fear not, worm Jacob, becauſe of thine own weakneſs
and unworthiness; thy ftrength is in thy leader, and thy comelineſs (not in
what thou now appeareſt, but) in what thy huſband will put upon thee,
when he ſhall circumcife thee thoroughly, and roll away thy reproach for
cver.
Was all the ſtrength of Pharaoh able to keep Ifrael in the land of Egypt,
or to drive them back after God had brought them forth? Were all the
enemies in the wilderneſs able to ftop their paffage forward? Were all the
enemies in Canaan, or the ſtrength of their cities (though their walls might
feem to reach to heaven, and the inhabitants thereof were tall and mighty)
able to keep them out of the inheritance which God allotted them? Thy
God, O worm Jacob, is the fame for ever! he hath the fame arm of power to
ftretch forth; yea, and his heart loveth his inward Ifrael, full as dearly as
ever he did the outward. Oh! wait on the Lord! believe in his name, truft
his love; hope beyond hope for the appearance of his power, and the red
fea fhall divide, and the waters thereof ſtand on heaps; yea, Jordan fhall
be again driven back; the mountains fhall fkip like rams, and the little
hills like lambs; yea, the whole earth fhall tremble at the prefence of the
Lord, at the preſence of the God of Jacob: and glory, glory, glory, ever-
lafting glory, power, rich praiſe, and endleſs life, fhall found through all
the tents of Jacob in the wilderneſs, and through all the habitations of Ifrael
in the holy land, to the King of glory, power, and life; even to the Lamb
that fits upon the throne, who was, and is, and is to come! who hath
reigned, doth reign, and will reign on his holy hill of Sion, over all the
powers of darkneſs for evermore; Amen, Hallelujah!
O ye fons of men! how long will ye run after vanity, and feek to a re-
fuge of lies for fuccour and ſtability, and fo lofe your fhare in the everlaſt-
ing riches and glory, which God is preparing for the fouls of his choſen ?
Why will ye die? Why will ye perith? Why will ye undo your fouls?
Why do ye fo greedily fow mifery, anguifh, perplexity, and wrath for your
poor fouls to reap?
O God of love! who knoweft the value and price of fouls, pity thy
poor creatures, and put a stop to this courfe of perifhing, wherein fo
Mmm
VOL. I.
many
458 A few Words about the prefent Work, &c.
many multitudes are overtaken and pafs down to the pit unawares? O
thy bowels, thy bowels, thy wonderful bowels! Let them roll in thee,
and work mightily, and in the ftrength of thy compaffions bring forth
thy judgment and thy mercy among the fons of men! Build up the
tents of Sem; perfuade Japhet to dwell therein; and let Canan become a
fervant. Preſerve the feet of thy faints for ever; fhut up and filence the
wicked one in the darkness; let not his ftrength or fubtilty prevail againſt
thee or thine any more: but let the freſh power of thy life, and the virtue
of thy incomprehenfible love redeem, fill, poffefs, and make glad the heart
of thy creation for ever; Amen, Amen,
Printed, 1661.
E
I. P.
I
}
1
CONCERN
CONCERNING
PERSECUTION:
WHICH IS,
The Afflicting or Puniſhing that which is Good,
under the Pretence of its being Evil.
Which Practice is contrary to the very Nature of Man-
kind (fo far as it is drawn out of the Corruption and Deprava-
tion), which would BE GOOD, and DO GOOD, and have Good
CHERISHED, and Evil SUPPRESSED, both in itſelf and others.
It is contrary alfo to all Equal and Righteous Government, which
is for the SUPPRESSING OF EVIL, and CHERISHING OF GOOD;
and not for the Afflicting and Cruſhing of that which is GOOD, upon
Pretence of its being EVIL.
Yet this unhappy Error will always be committed in Nations and Govern
ments, until the proper Right and juft Liberty of Mens Conſciences be difcerned,
acknowledged, and allowed.
LIKEWISE
There are fome ANSWERS given to that cOMMON OBJECTION,
againſt affording CONSCIENCE its due Liberty; becauſe Evil
Perfons may pretend CONSCIENCE to Efcape the juft Puniſhment of
their Evil Deeds.
With a Brief ACCOUNT of
That ſuppoſed STUBBORNNESS, which by many is ob-
jected againſt the People called QUAKERS.
Given forth in Love to this Nation, that at length the true Bottom and
Foundation of a LASTING PEACE and SETTLEMENT may be efpied;
the Spirits of the GOVERNORS and PEOPLE fixed thereon; and that
dangerous Rock of PERSECUTION (whereon both the Powers and Peo-
ple of this Nation have ſo often ſplit) carefully avoided by all.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
M DC LXI.
7
[ cccclx]
THE
}
PREFACE.
TH
HERE hath been an enmity in the feed of the ferpent, againſt the
feed of the woman, from the time of the promiſe even until now.
God, in mercy to mankind, hath given unto him fince the fall, a feed or
principle of life; in the light and ftrength whereof he is to war againſt
and ſubdue the corrupt principle, and ſo be freed from the curſe, and be-
come heir of the bleffing. Againſt this principle all the powers of darkneſs
fight (even in every particular man and woman) until they be overcome and
fubjected there: and againſt thofe in whom this pure principle reigns, all
the powers of darkneſs in the world fight alfo, ftriving to make it mifera-
ble, and to bring it into death and captivity, that they might keep up the
content and happineſs of the corrupt ftate. All the nations of the earth
have always warred against the principle of God and the people of his
choice. In the time of the law, the Jews were the object of the envy and
hatred of all the world; in the times of the gofpel, the Jews in ſpirit were
hated and hunted, in that day and hour, not only by Heathens, but alſo
by fuch as were Jews according to the letter; and ever fince the apoftafy, by
Chriſtians alfo according to the letter; who are as great enemies to the Spirit
and power as ever the Jews were.
Now all the mifery of the world, as it at firft came by departing from
the principle of life; fo it hath been ever fince continued by mens joining
with the principle of death and corruption, to oppoſe and withſtand the
workings of the principle of life, both in themſelves and others. What
man is there that hath not in him a witneſs againſt that which is evil? But
where is that man who joins with this witnefs in him againſt the evil, and
not with the evil againſt this witnefs? Oh! how doth God's witneſs reprove
for fin, making the heart (which is not fenfual and brutiſh, but ſeriouſly
confiders its latter end) fad becauſe of it! This is God's way of making
the creature weary thereof, of weaning him from it, delivering him out of
it, and fo rescuing him from the wrath and everlaſting burnings, which
are
1
PREFA C E.
cccclxi
are the portion and inheritance of the wicked. But who is it that doth not
ftrive to ftop, filence, and fupprefs the witneſs in himſelf, that he might en-
joy his lufts, eaſe, and content in the flesh, by keeping the fight and re-
membrance of the evil day far from him? And if he can do fo, then he
rejoiceth, and maketh merry over the teftimony of the witneſs in himſelf;
and when he hath fo far prevailed, then he is in a good capacity to perfecute
others, who hear and obey the voice and teſtimony thereof in themſelves.
That which is to redeem the world out of mifery is the power of the
gofpel; and precious is the peace which comes thereby, after the work of
the ſpiritual fword (with the trouble thereof) is finiſhed. Oh! how bleſſed
would the principle and power of life make the world, might it but have
its free courſe therein! Oh! how happy is that man who bears the con-
demnation becauſe of fin, follows the guidance of the living God, and
waits for the day of his falvation! Oh! the fweet inward peace of fpirit
which is enjoyed after the ftorm, and after the judgment of that which is
to be judged and deſtroyed! And that which makes one perſon happy, the
fame muſt make nations happy. There is no true fettlement, nor abiding
fecurity, but in the ſettled and abiding principle. God is arifen to ſhake
the earth, and it can fettle no more upon the old foundations: yea, the
fame God hath fhrivelled up the old heavens, and they can no more be
ſtretched forth again. "Behold, I make all things new," faith the Lord,
in the days of the goſpel, when he ſtretcheth forth the arm of his power:
and who is he which fhall venture to eſtabliſh the old heavens and the old
earth, which the Lord God is removing, and caufing to pafs away, and
aboliſh the new heavens and the new earth, which the Lord God hath
created and formed, and is eſtabliſhing? Oh! that men knew the place of
wiſdom, that they might be wife, and not fight againſt their Creator, from
whom their ſtrength comes, and againſt whom their ſtrength cannot prevail !
Oh! that men could fee how induftrious they are to keep up mifery, and to
keep out happineſs! The eye of man (in the fallen and corrupt eſtate) can-
not fee aright; and mif-feeing, how can he chufe but mif-aim, and mif-
act? And mif-aiming and mif-acting, how can he attain his end? But the
Lord's counſel fhall ftand, and he will fulfil all his pleaſure in every heart,
throughout the earth. Happy is he who is weaned from himſelf, and be-
gotten in the light of life, which is incorruptible; he fhall ftand and be
bleffed, when all fleſh falls before the breath of the Lord, and becomes
miſerable; and the fall of all the fleſhly will, wiſdom, and ſtrength haftens
apace; happy is he who is delivered from them before the day of their
ruin! which is nearer than man is aware of, or can believe.
I. P.
CON-
1
[462]
J
CONCERNING
PERSECUTIO N.
B
ر
ECAUSE men generally, in perfecuting, know not what they
do (neither whom it is they perfecute, nor how they fin againſt God
therein, nor what danger they are expofing themſelves to, and what
mifery they are drawing upon themfelves thereby, both in this world and
for ever) even as Chrift faid concerning the Jews, who were perfecuting him
even to death, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do: and
afterward to Saul; Saul, Saul, why perfecuteſt thou me? Therefore, in love to
thoſe who are at unawares running into this great error, that they may find
the good hand of God ſtopping them therein for their own good, are thefe
things following concerning perfecution, written, wherein are manifefted,
1. What it is that is perfecuted.
2. Who it is that perfecutes, or is the perfecutor.
3. The nature of perfecution.
4. The grounds or causes of perfecution.
5. The ways and means of perfecution.
6. The ends of perfecuting; what men aim at therein, or rather what the
fpirit in men, which puts them upon perfecuting of others, aims at
thereby.
7. The colour, or false pretence, of the perfecuting fpirit.
8. The bleffedness of the perfecuted.
9. The mifery of the perfecutors.
10. The way and means whereby men may come to avoid this great evil of per-
fecuting others.
Whereunto, in the laft place, are added, Some fad effects of perfecution,
to kindle in men a defire of avoiding fo great an evil in itſelf, and
fo pernicious an enemy to all that is good in general, and particu
larly to the peace and welfare of mankind, as the perfecuting fpi-
rit is.
1. What
46
463
Concerning Perfecution.
1. What or who it is that is perfecuted.
The perfecuted in all ages is that which is born after God's Spirit, Gal. iv.
29. He that is new-created in Chrift Jefus, who is formed in the image
and by the Spirit of God (which is contrary to the image and ſpirit of the
world), and who follows Chrift in the leadings and teachings of his Spirit
(which is out of, and contrary to, the courſe, faſhions, ways, and cuſtoms
of the world), this is the man that is perfecuted in all ages. He that is of
another ſpirit and principle than the world, and fo cannot be as the world
is (being made otherwife by God), nor walk as the world walks, nor wor-
ſhip as the world worſhips, being taught and required of God to do other-
wife; this is the man who is afflicted, reproached, hated, hunted, perfe-
cuted. And fo the apoſtle lays it down not only as a thing to be in his age,
but in after-ages alfo, 2 Tim. iii. 12. Yea, and all that will live godly in
Chrift Fefus fhall fuffer perfecution. Men may talk of Chrift, profefs Chrift,
worſhip Chrift according to the way that is fet up in nations, and avoid
perfecution; but come under the new principle, come into his life, live
godly in him, become really fubject unto the power and direction of his
Spirit, then there is no longer avoiding of perfecution. That which comes
into the life of Chrift, comes preſently into a proportion of fuffering from
that which is contrary to his life.
2. What or who it is that perfecuteth, or is the perfecutor.
The perfecutor, in all ages, is that which is after the flesh. That fpirit
and principle in man which is from beneath, puts the men in whom it is.
upon perfecuting the other principle, and the perfons in whorn it appears.
Or more plainly thus: that which is of the world, that which loves the
world, and preſent ftate thereof; that which lies in the darkneſs, is in unity
with it, loveth it, and the corrupt ways thereof; that hates the light, and
perfecuteth the children of the light, who are witneffes againft, and reprovers
of the darkneſs, John iii. 20. He that was born after the flesh, perfecuted him that
was born after the Spirit. So it was formerly, fo it is alſo now, faith the apoſtle,
Gal. iv. 29. Now there are feveral forts and ranks of theſe; as fome in
the way of open profanenefs and wickedneſs, fome more civilized, and of a
more gentle, noble, and confiderate ſpirit and temper, fome more religious
and devout in worſhips (though not rightly principled and guided, but
turned afide to fome inventions or other of the earthly fpirit, all which are
pleafing to the earthly ſpirit); but all theſe, though they are different one
from another, and agree not well among themſelves, but are full of diſlikes
one toward another; yet they all agree in this; to wit, in a willingneſs to
have that perfecuted and fubjected which is of a contrary fpirit and nature
to them all. They are all againſt this more or lefs; though not all againſt
it in the fame degree of heat and vehemency.
3. The
•
464
Concerning Perfecution.
3. The nature of perfecution, or what it is to perfecute.
Perfecution is the oppofition of the fleſh againſt the Spirit. The fret-
ting or daſhing of the earthly fpirit, or fpirit of man corrupted, againſt that
which is born of God: the fighting of the unregenerate and unrenewed
ſpirit in man, againſt the ſpirit of man renewed by the regenerating power
of the Spirit of God: the fighting, the oppofing of this fpirit againſt the
other, is perfecution. Whatever any man does in his own will, according
to his own wiſdom, and after the inclination of his own heart, againſt an-
other who defires to fear the Lord (who waits on him for the counfel and
guidance of his Spirit, that he might obey and worſhip him aright), is per-
fecution. The principle of God teaches to fear the Lord; not according
to the fear which is taught by the precepts of men, but according to the
fear which God puts into the heart. It teaches likewife to worſhip the
Lord, not recording as man invents and thinks good to preſcribe, but as
the Lord inſtructs and requires. It teaches likewife not to conform to the
world, but to deny it, and come out of it. Now the hating, oppofing, and
puniſhing of that which is thus taught, becauſe of theſe teachings, and
its obedience thereto, this is perfecution. The rifing of the heart againſt
fuch, is perfecution in the heart. The reproaching, fcoffing at, or ſpeak-
ing evil of fuch, is perfecution with the tongue. (So Ifhmael's mocking of
Ifaac, Gen. xxi. 9, 10. is called perfecuting of him, Gal. iv. 29, 30.). The
fmiting, fining, impriſoning of fuch, &c. in relation to any thing that they
do from this principle, is perfecution with the hand, or lifting up of the
power, either of a particular perſon, or of a magiſtrate, againſt fuch.
4. The grounds of perfecution, or what are the things that cauſe the one fpirit
and principle to perfecute, and the other to be perfecuted.
The grounds and cauſes which expoſe the one to perfecution, and kindle
the heat of perfecuting in the other, are chiefly theſe three enfuing:
1. The enmity of the birth of the fleſh againſt the birth of the Spirit.
There is enmity in the ferpent against the woman, and in the feed of the
ſerpent-againſt the feed of the woman. That which is born of the corrupt
principle cannot endure that which is born of the pure principle. That
which walks and worſhips in the will, and according to the inventions of
man's wiſdom, and in ſhadows and fleſhly forms, pleafing to the fleſh, can-
not endure that which worſhips in Spirit and truth.
2. The contrariety of that which is born of God, and drawn out of the
world, to that which is of the fleſh (or of corrupt man) and left in the
world, this is that which increaſeth and draweth forth the enmity in the
corrupt principle. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world,
John xvii. 16. therefore the world hateth them, ver. 14. They are of an-
other Spirit, of another image, of another make, of another heart, of an-
other deſire, of another manner of carriage and demeanor, of another prin-
ciple,
Concerning Perfecution.
465
į
ciple, and have other ends in all they do, than the world. And their whole
courſe and converſation being in the light, and in the love, and in true
purity of mind, reproves the world, which lies in the darkness, and in the
enmity, and walks in the wickednefs. And how can the world bear this;
in the midſt of all their height, glory, and greatnefs, to be continually re-
proved by a poor and contemptible generation, as God's choice in the world
have, for the generality of them, always been; even looked upon by the
world as the off-fcouring thereof, as not fit to be fuffered to have a being
in it, but rather as deferving to be ſcoured off from it?
The light, whereof the children of light are born, and which they hold
forth (or rather which God holds forth by them) condemns the world. They
evenneſs, ſweetneſs, and ftraitneſs of their converfation and practices, con-
demns the unevennefs, crookedneſs, and perverfenefs of the fpirit of the
world. The integrity, feriouſneſs, and fpirituality of their worſhip (with.
the living power and prefence of God appearing among them) condemns
the deadneſs, formality, and hypocrify of the worſhips of the world; who draw
nigh to God with their lips, when it is manifeft that their hearts are far
from him, being enfnared and captivated with vanities and felf-intereſts,
and love of the world and earthly things. Indeed the whole courſe and mani-
feſtation of the light and power of God in them is a continual upbraiding
of the principle and ways of darkneſs in the men of the world. And how
can the men of the world forbear making an unrighteous war, even a war
of perfecution, againſt that which invades their territories, and makes war
with them in righteouſneſs? Can darkneſs chufe but fight to fave its own
dominions? It muſt put out the light, or it cannot fave its own, but will
be loſing of ground daily.
3. Becauſe of the children of light leaving and coming out of the world.
They were once of the world, as well as others; of the fame nature, of the
fame fpirit, of the fame corrupt will, of the fame corrupt wiſdom, walking
in their way, worſhipping according to their worſhips, approving and ob-
ſerving their cuſtoms, faſhions, and vanities; but when the Spirit of Chriſt
called them out of the world, and created in them that which could hear
his voice, and was willing to follow him, then they left all theſe, and
ſtood witneſſes (in God's Spirit which called, and in that life which was be-
gotten in them, and in the fear, love, and power of that God who quickened
them) againſt all theſe. And this mads the world, in that they were
once of them, but left them. Had they ftaid in the world, and been ſtill
of the world, the world would have loved them, as it doth the reft of its
own; but departing from the world, travelling towards another country,
fubjecting themſelves to another Spirit, and teftifying against that fpirit
which formerly led them, and ftill leads the world, and against thoſe ways
and practices wherein they formerly walked, and wherein the world ſtill
walks, this fills the worldly fpirit with rage againſt them.
VOL. I.
Nnn
5. The
1
466
}
Concerning Perfecution.
5. The ways and means of perfecution.
The ways and means of perfecution are very many. Who can want in-
ftruments to afflict the innocent and helpless, who can neither refift the evil
which is offered them, nor harm that which offers it? I fhall only mention
here three general heads, to which many particulars may be referred.
1. One great way of perfecution is, by making ufe of laws already made,
either according to their proper tendency to that end and purpoſe, or by
bending them aſide from their proper intent, to reach thoſe whom they
have a mind to afflict and perfecute. Thus the Jews, when they had a
mind to have Chrift put to death, told Pilate, We have a law, and by our
law he ought to die, John xix. 7.
2. Another way is, by making new laws fit for their purpoſe, whereby
they may catch, enfnare, and fupprefs that which is contrary to their ſpirit
and principle, and which will not bow thereto. This is a certain way to
take that which is born of God, and which cannot but be true to him, and
fo cannot bow to the corrupt will of man, nor to any law made in the cor-
rupt will, to ſtrengthen the corruption, and againſt the holy pure will and
mind of God. Thus Daniel and the Three Children were caught in the
fnare by laws; Daniel, for praying to his God, againſt the royal ftatute and
firm decree of the king, figned in writing according to the defire and ad-
vice of all the prefidents of the kingdom, the governors, princes, coun-
fellors, and captains, Dan. vi. 7, 8. and the Three Children, for not wor-
fhipping the image Nebuchadnezzar had fet up, according to the decree of
the king. (Obferve this by the way, and confider it well: what hath been
fet up all this night of the apoftafy, but images of the true worship; and what
compelling hath there been thereto?) Thus have articles been framed,
and ſtatutes made, here in England (as in king Henry the VIIIth and queen
Mary's days) which have been great engines of perfecution; and thus have
there been fome late laws made in New-England to the fame effect, though
better might have juſtly been expected from them. And this is not only a
certain way, but a very plaufible way likewiſe, whereby the perfecutor hides
himſelf from the imputation of perfecution, and appears as a juſt executer of
the law; and fo repreſents him who is upright before God, and innocent in
the fight of God, as an offender and breaker of the law, and ſo juſtly
puniſhable. But this will not always cover the unjuft fpirit's perfecuting
of the juft. He that fhall perfecute the Lord of glory (as he that perfe-
cuteth the leaſt member of his, how contemptible foever he appears to his
eye, doth no leſs, AƐts ix. 4. Matt. xxv. 40, 45.) when Chriſt ſhall call him
to account therefore, it will be a vain plea for him to ſay, there was a law
for it, and he acted according to law. It is fit for all men and laws to
bow before the Lord, and not to diſturb any in their obedience to the
Lord, or hurt the principle of his life in any; but cheriſh and nurſe it up as
much
Concerning Perfecution.
467
much as in them lies, in that tenderneſs which Chriſt begetteth in it, and
in that ſpiritual liberty which Chriſt allows it.
•
3. A third way of perfecution is by the hand of violence, without either
law, or fo much as pretence to law. Thus the perfecuting fpirit, when it
hath power in its hand, and is out of fear, fmiteth (with the open fift of
wickedness) that which is an enemy to, and ftands a witnefs against, its
wickedness.
6. The ends of perfecution, or what the perfecuting Spirit aims at in its perfe-
cuting, and would fain attain thereby.
1. The main end of perfecution is to bring the children of light (who
have left the evil, darkneſs, and corruption of the world) back to the world
again. That which they perfecute them for is, for leaving the world,
both in its principles and practices, and for profeffing obedience and fubjec-
tion to another Spirit; that which they drive at in perfecuting them is, to
force them back from under fubjection to that Spirit which hath led them
out of the world, into fubjection to the ſpirit of the world again. There is
a great fight between the Spirit of God and the fpirit of the world in the
two feeds; the Spirit of God ſtriving to bring the fpirit of the world under,
and the ſpirit of the world ſtriving to bring the Spirit of God under. This
is well known in the heart where the new-birth is witneffed. Oh! what
ftriving there is by the powers of darkneſs, with all manner of fecret temp-
tations and forcible oppofitions (fo far as the Lord permits) to bring the
heart (which the Lord hath begun to redeem, and in fome meaſure ſet free
from them) under their power again! And the fame that ftirs up the dark-
nefs in the heart againſt the feed and birth of light there, the fame ftirs up
in the darkneſs in other men againſt it alſo. The Lord knows what bitter
fights we have had with the enemy in our own hearts, before we could leave
our principles, paths, and practices of darkness; how hard it hath been to
us to deny the world, and come out of it; and yet when the Lord hath
conquered and ſubjected the darkneſs in our own hearts in any meaſure,
then we meet with a new fight abroad in the world, the fame principle
and power in them fighting againſt us, as did at firft in ourſelves.
this was the aim and work of the power of darkneſs in ourſelves (and ſtill is,
fo far as any of it is left in any of us) to bring us back under the darkneſs
again, even from the light and leadings of the Spirit, and from fingle obe-
eience thereto; ſo it is the aim and endeavour of the fame ſpirit in others.
And if they could but bring us back from our God into the world again,
they would be at peace with us, as well as with other men, and love and
cheriſh us, as they do the reft of the world.
And as
2. A fecond end of perfecution in the fpirit that perfecuteth is, to keep
the children of light from gaining further ground. The kingdom of God
and his truth is of a growing fpreading nature. It is like leaven, like
falt, like the light of the morning; its nature is to leaven, to ſeaſon, to
Nnn 2
over-
·
468
Concerning Perfecution.
overſpread, and gather mankind from the evil, from the darknefs, from the
corruption, from the death and deftruction. Now the fpirit of the world,
that ſpirit which ruleth the world, is loth to lofe ground; and therefore
hunts and ſeeks to deſtroy the veſſels wherein the light appeareth, and from
whom it fhineth forth, and to make them appear as odious as it may,
that it may keep all its own territories and dominions in a perfect de-
teftation of them, and diftance from them. Thus though the people of
God have ftill been an innocent people, and fimple as to the fubtilty and
deceit of the ferpent, and weak and foolifh in compare with the wife and
ſtrong-ones in the worldly nature and fpirit; yet they are ftill reprefented as
moft dangerous, moft fubtil, and pernicious, as fhrewd deceivers, witches,
jefuits, &c. yea, any thing that is hateful and hated.
3. A third end of perfecution is, to afflict, grieve, vex, diſturb, and
torment thofe, whofe principles and practices are difpleafing to them. There
is enmity in the nature and ſpirit of the world, againſt the holy pure Spirit
and feed of God; and if it cannot overcome and get its will one way, in
bringing back; yet it will ſtrive to have its will another way, even in vex-
ing and afflicting. It is the pleaſure of hatred or enmity to do any thing
which may hurt that against which its hatred is. Thus the evil fpirit
joiceth in iniquity, in grieving and afflicting that which is good. As the Spi-
rit of love delights in love, and in doing good even to thoſe which perfe-
cute; fo the fpirit of enmity delights in hatred and doing evil; even in
vexing and oppreffing thoſe which feek their good, becauſe they are not,
nor cannot be one with them in their dark principles and evil practices.
7. The colour or pretence which men put upon their perfecutions of that which
is good.
Perfecution is fo hateful (and hath ſuch a blacknefs of fpirit in it) that
it cannot endure to appear in its own colour. Where is the man that
would appear to perfecute that which is good in men, or men becauſe of
their goodnefs? Therefore all perfecutors, though they ftill perfecute that
which is good, and thoſe which are good; yet they ftill repreſent and charge
them as evil, that they might thereby hide the badnefs and unjuftneſs of
their perfecutions from their own eyes, and from the eyes of others. Thus
the true prophets of the Lord were always mifreprefented by their per-
fecutors, even as falſe prophets, as troublers of Ifrael, as mad-men, as men
not fit to be tolerated in the kingdom or commonwealth of Ifrael. See
Jer. xxix. 26, 27. And thoſe which condemned their forefathers for per-
fecuting the true prophets in former days, yet could alſo perfecute the true
prophets in their own days. When Chriſt himſelf afked the Jews for
which of his good works they ſtoned him? They faid, Not for a good work,
or as a good man; but for his doing evil; for his blafphemy; in that he, being
a man, would make himself God, John x. 32, 33. And the Pharifees did
not repreſent him as a good man, as an holy teacher from God (as indeed he
was,
1
Concerning Perfecution.
469
was, though his doctrine and converfation differed very much from theirs),
but as a deceiver, a feducer of the people, a mean man, the fon of Jofeph
the carpenter, one whom none of the wife fcribes owned, but only fuch filly
people as knew not the law, John vii. 49. yea, as a very bad man, as one
that was againſt the worſhip and ordinances of Mofes, againft God's temple
and prieſts in his doctrine and principles, and a profaner of God's holy fab-
bath in his practices; yea, more than this, they reprefented him as a man
that had a devil, and that he was able to do fuch great things beyond them
through Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Could the Jews think they did
otherwiſe than well in defiring fuch a man as this to be put to death?
Might they not well prefer Barabbas before a man thus reprefented by their
chief priests and teachers, who knew and could expound the law, and were
beſt able to judge (as they might well think) both what was the truth, and
who were deceivers ?
8. The bleffedness of the perfecuted.
The difciple of Chrift, who is perfecuted for confcience-fake, who fuffers
from men and their laws for the uprightnefs of his heart towards, and for
his obedience unto, Chrift, that man is precious in the eye of Chrift, and
hath his bleffing with him; yea, the more men difeſteem and hate him
upon this account, the greater is his bleffedneſs. Bleſſed are ye when men
hall revile you, and perfecute you, and fhall fay all manner of evil against you
falfely for my fake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, Matt. v. 11, 12. He is
bleffed in feveral reſpects.
1. That man is in that Spirit, and in that way, which God hath choſen,
and fo he is in a happy ſtate and condition at prefent. He is in the path
of life, in the way of peace, under the leadings of God's Spirit. The world
loveth and cherisheth that which is its own, and walketh with it; but is at
enmity and war with that which is of God. Therefore the world's diflike,
enmity, and perfecution is an evidence of God's choice, and of a removal
from it towards God. It is an happy thing in the eye of man to be at unity
with the world, to have the love and friendſhip thereof, to have all men
ſpeak well of one, to be found doing that which is pleafing in the eye of
the world, and to be enjoying the pleaſures and profits thereof; but in the
eye of God it is happy to be in unity with that which is contrary to the
world, and procureth its ill-will. Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father (which
begetteth out of the world) is not in him. But he that lofeth the love of
the world (for the principle of God, and his fubjection thereto) is in that
which the Father loveth, and feeleth the love of the Father opened in him,
and revealed to him; and this is truly an happy ſtate.
2. The recompence which God will give to them in the world to come
who cleave to him and his truth, for all the perfecutions which they en-
dure in this world for his truth's fake, is exceeding great. Great is your reward
in
470
Concerning Perfecution.
in heaven, Matt. v. 14. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment (but at
moft for the time of this world) worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal
weight of glory, 2 Cor iv. 17.
3. The reward is great in this world alfo. There is an hundredfold re-
compence to be reaped in this life. The peace of God in the confcience,
the preſence of God, the life of God, the virtue of God, the glory of the
Spirit of God (which accompanieth, refteth with, and abideth on, the heart
which is faithful, and waiteth upon God for patience, meekneſs, innocency,
and ſtrength to carry through fufferings) may well be valued at above an
hundredfold income and recompence for all the hardships and tribulations.
which are undergone for his name's fake. If ye be reproached for the name
of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God refteth upon you,
1 Pet. iv. 14.
9. The grievous mifery of the perfecutors.
It is a miſerable thing to be deceived about that which is good; to put
good for evil, light for darkneſs, ſweet for bitter, and fo (under a miſtake
at leaſt) become a perfecutor of the good. All good is of God, and he .
that is againſt good is againſt God; and it is a dreadful thing for the crea-
ture to fet himſelf in battle againſt his Creator, and to engage the power
and wrath of the Omnipotent One againſt him; though while the eye is
fhut, it doth not appear to men either that they are againſt God, or that
their danger is fo great thereby as indeed it is. The children of God are
as the apple of his eye. Who can touch them, and he not be deeply ſenſible?
Yea, and they are moſt dear to God in that for which the world moft per-
fecutes them; and therefore their danger and mifery muft needs be great;
which may further appear in theſe three reſpects:
1. In reſpect of the weight of wrath which their perfecutions of others
here will bring upon themſelves in the world to come: then every hard word,
with every thing they have done againſt any lamb of Chrift's, fhall come
upon them. There is a time of judment for all that is fowed in this world,
and then every one fhall reap what he hath fowed. And if he that hath
not viſited the fick and impriſoned for Chriſt's fake, ſhall hear that ſentence,
Go, ye curfed, &c. what will his portion be who hath impriſoned them, and
cauſed their fickneſs? Now is our time of trouble; but the Lord hath
prepared a day of reft for that ſpirit which is troubled in this world by the
ſpirit of this world; and then ſhall the troubleſome ſpirit, which troubled
the peaceable ſpirit (and would give it no reft in its following and obeying
the Lord) be troubled by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Theſſ. i. 6,7. And what
ſhall the miſery of that ſpirit be, whom the Spirit of the Lord troubleth and
filleth with anguifh and torments, in his fire, and with his brimftone! Oh!
that men would awaken, and confider in time, and not fell away their ever-
lafting inheritance for a meſs of vanity, and tranfitory lufts and pleaſures.
2. The hand of God doth often overtake them in this world, and the
Lord doth many times curfe their very bleffings to them, infomuch as they
cannot
Concerning Perfecution.
471
t
:
Q
cannot enjoy the world with that fweetneſs and content they might, were
it not for the rage and bitterneſs of their ſpirits againſt God's people, and
their provoking of God againſt them thereby. How many of his own
people did Pharaoh lofe, and how did he break the ftrength and glory
of his kingdom, by perfecuting God's Ifrael of old? How did Amalek
cauſe his name to be rooted out from under heaven? How did the nations and
mighty powers of the earth fall upon this account, one after another? And
in this nation how many powers have already fallen thereby? Jerufalem is a
burthenfome ſtone (it was fo in the type, it is much more fo in the ſubſtance)
which lies in the way of every earthly ſpirit and power; which they know not
how to build with, neither can they rear up their own building becauſe of
it, and therefore every power ftrives to remove it out of their way; but
they know not the weight of it, nor who it is that hath ſquared it, and
how firm it is fixed upon the rock. The earthly fpirit is never to enjoy any
true or laſting peace and fettlement (which is the gift of God) until it leave
off perfecuting God's Ifrael (which are the people whom God calleth out
of the world) and leave them free for God to enjoy, command, and diſpoſe
of; and whatever holds Ifrael in bondage, either within or without, muſt
either be ſubject to the Lord, or be broken by that arm of power which
the Lord putteth forth to redeem Ifrael with.
3. By all their perfecutions and afflictions they fhall but increaſe and
cauſe to grow that which they ftrive to fupprefs. This is mifery indeed for
a man to hazard his foul eternally, and his peace and profperity in this
world, to cruſh and ſuppreſs a people, and yet not be able to effect that
neither, but even thereby occafion their growth and increaſe; and yet fo
it is in the day that God putteth forth his hand to redeem Ifrael. The ways
that man takes to bring them back into captivity fhall be the means of
perfecting their redemption. Come (faid Pharaoh) this people multiply too
fast; they grow more and mightier than we; let us deal wifely with them, and
keep them down by hard labour, left they grow over-numerous, and join with our
enemies against us, when they fee their advantage. But they grew and ſpread
the more, upon his wife plotting and contriving to diminiſh them. And
what did he get by ftriving to keep them from going forth of his land and
idolatrous worſhips to worship the Lord aright, but plagues and judgments
upon himſelf and his people from the Lord? Can the powers of the earth
withſtand God any more now than they could formerly? Shall he not re-
deem and bring forth his people from the land of Babylon? His fpiritual
Ifrael from the fpiritual Egypt? Shall he not break the antichriftian yoke
from their confciences, that they may be free in fpirit to ferve the Lord?
Can any hinder God from breathing his Spirit upon people, and from be-
getting them in the image and likenefs of his Spirit unto himfelf? And
ſhall not theſe be the Lord's? Shall not the fame Spirit teach them to wor-
ſhip the Lord? Shall God call them to worſhip him openly, and fhall they
not obey him, but worship him according to man's inventions and com-
mandments,
472
Goncerning Perfecution.
mandments, or not at all publickly? O ye fons of men! be wife; do not
contend with the Lord; be not bewitched by the cup of fornications from
the pure ſpiritual worship of the living God into man's inventions, which
the Lord's foul loaths; nor do not ſtrive to hold any back from the Lord,
whom the Lord draws after him; but confider his power, wait to know his.
work in the world, and do not intrench upon his dominions, but be thank-
ful for and content with your own; and do not provoke him againſt you,
who can more eaſily take yours from you than ye can his from him. And
confider this watch-word, in that which can open and fhew the truth of it;
the Lord hath put forth his arm to recover his poffeffions from out of the hands of
antichrift; and who ſhall be able to force it back again, to make it return.
into his bofom, without effecting what he ftretched it forth for?
Therefore, O magiſtrates of this nation! do not make uſe of the fword
to ſuppreſs the plants of God; but to cut down that which manifeftly is not
of God. Look abroad throughout this nation; behold how much evil there
is to grieve and provoke the Lord, and to divert good from the nation,
and to bring wrath upon it, and the government thereof; ftrike at that.
in righteous and true judgment, and with mercy to creatures fouls and
bodies. But that which certainly is of God, meddle not with; and that
which may be of God for aught ye know, be circumfpect in meddling with,
left ye engage God against you. It were better to let many tares grow,
than pluck up one ear of corn. Chrift hath abfolutely expreffed it to be
his mind that he would not have that done which may fo much as hazard
the plucking up of an ear of corn, Matt. xiii. 29. But oh! how are the
laws and governments of this world to be lamented over! And oh! what need
there is of their reformation, whoſe common work it is to pluck up the
ears of corn, and leave the tares ftanding! The chief cauſe of this mifery
(from whence it principally arifeth) is mens meddling with thoſe things
which God hath referved for himſelf, and effaying to do that carnally which
God did fpiritually, and will do fpiritually again, in his due time, when he
hath fufficiently fhewn how untoward and improper man's hand is to effect
it. The Chriftians in the apoftles days were of one heart, and one mind,
which proceeded from the power and work of God upon them; and then
they foon came into one way and worſhip; but men will have unity and
uniformity in a way of religion and worſhip before there is one heart and
one mind. Now this is contrary to the Spirit of God, and to the very na-
ture of religion, and the cauſe of much cruelty upon mens confciences; and
this hath been and will be the conftant effect of it, even the cruſhing (as
much as lies in man) of that which is tender, and of and for God, and the
increaſing of that which is formal, dead, and earthly. Now if ever Chrift
appointed or intended fuch a church-government, which naturally produceth
this effect, let all that fear God, and are of fober ſpirits, judge.
10. The
Concerning Perfecution.
473
10. The way and means to avoid perfecution.
Where is the man (in whom there is any good, who hath any love to-
goodness and righteouſneſs, who hateth cruelty and oppreffion over mens
outward liberties and eſtates, and much more over the confciences of peo-
ple) that could not with his heart defire to have this grand enemy removed,
both from particular perfons, and alfo from governors, and governments,
that peace and ſettlement might be known; righteoufnefs reaped; all cruelty
and hardneſs in one man towards another removed; and there be no more com-
plaining in our streets; either becauſe of oppreffions from men, or fear of wrath
from God, upon thoſe governments which opprefs? And who would not ear-
neftly pray to God for the diſcovery of that way and thoſe means, and be
very induſtrious in the uſe of them, whereby this perfecuting fpirit and
temper might be wafted and dried up in him? Now the way and means
whereby the perfecuting fpirit may be fubdued, are divers; As,
1. By a true awe and fear of God in the heart. The fear of God teacheth
to depart from iniquity, and to feek the crucifying and bringing under of
the worldly ſpirit in a man's felf, and to wait daily to have God's will re-
vealed, and likewiſe to be made obedient thereunto. Now he that is in this
temper of ſpirit, will hardly be drawn to perfecute another, but rather re-
joice to fee a tenderneſs of ſpirit in him, and true fubjection of heart to
what he believes to be the mind and will of God; and dares not fo much
as judge him for differing, either in apprehenfions or practices, about wor-
ſhip, much leſs perfecute him therefore. But that man who is of a prophane
ſpirit, or comes eaſily by his religion (even by the wiſdom, induſtry, and
parts of man, and not by the gift of God), and is exercifed in that fear of
God which is taught by the precepts of men, but knoweth not that fear
which God puts in the heart (from whence the true religion and worſhip
fprings) either of theſe may be drawn to perfecute; yea, indeed, it will be
hard for either of them to abftain therefrom.
2. By meekness of Spirit. The goſpel makes meek, tender, gentle, peace-
able; fills with love and ſweetneſs of fpirit; teaches to love, to forgive, to
pray for and bleſs enemies: and how fhall this man perfecute? Can a lamb
perfecute? Can a dove perfecute? Indeed a wolf in fheep's cloathing may
raven and devour, but a true fheep cannot. As the power of the gospel is
known, the devouring and perfecuting nature is deſtroyed; and that being
taken away, perfecution foon comes to an end.
3. By a fober and patient confideration of their cauſe whom they perfecute,
and what it is in themselves which moves them to perfecute them. The ftrength
of perfecution lies in the darkneſs, in the dark thoughts, misjudgings, and
miſapprehenfions about him whom one perfecutes, or is inclined to perſe-
cute; in prejudices and falſe judgments of perfons and things received;
which, by a fober hearing and confidering of things in God's fear and in
meeknefs, might be removed; and then the eager perfecuting heat of ſpi-
VOL. I.
rit
474
Concerning Perfecution.
rit would foon abate and fall, the fewel (which kindled it) being taken away.
The Jews ftopped their ears, and ran upon Stephen, Acts vii. 57. This is the
way of perfecuting fpirits; they take in prejudices againſt perfons, their
principles and practices, ftop their ears againſt what may be faid to manifeſt
either the equity of the thing in itſelf, or their miſtake about it, and then
run headlong in their fury of perfecuting and devouring. But he that is
fober and confiderate, and weighs the caufe before he engages againſt it,
and obferves what it is in him which moves ſo hotly againſt another, and
which is fo ready to believe ill aforehand; he fhall foon fee that, which is
always hid from the eye of the perfecutor, and find water to caft on this de-
vouring fire of fpirit in him.
4. By a righteous frame of Spirit, which is willing to do by another, as he
would be done to in the like cafe. Perfecution arifeth from unrighteouſneſs
and ſelfiſhneſs; righteouſneſs and true equity would foon end it. If no man
would make another man's confcience bow by force, who would not have his
own fo bowed, perfecution would foon ceafe. But this is the great evil and
unrighteouſneſs of man; whoever is uppermoft, thinks he hath a right to
bow all the reft under him, and looks upon them as guilty and offenders,
if their confciences do not yield and bow under him. And he that newly
complained of the load laid on his confcience by others, yet if he can get
eafe and power into his hand, is preſently laying a load upon others. Here
is a wrong frame of fpirit within, and how can it chufe but bring forth in-
jury and perfecution outwardly?
5. By taking heed and watching against the corrupt and carnal principle, with
the reafonings, felf-ends, and interefts thereof, and hearkening to the principle of
God, which teacheth and speaketh right reafon. Man, as he came from God,
and was by eſpecial favour formed in his image, ſo it pleaſed God to place
in him a principle of his own life to govern him. This image was defaced
by the fall, and this principle forfeited, yet for Chrift's fake (who is the Sa-
viour of all men, but eſpecially of them that believe) the Lord ſtirreth up
and viſiteth all mankind more or lefs, by the pure eternal principle of his
own light and life in Chrift. In hearkening to this, man's reafon is rectifi-
ed, purified, and preſerved pure; and his fteps here are fafe. But confult-
ing and contriving out of this, he meets with that which corrupts him (cap-
tivating and mifbiaffing his reafon); and then all his intents, defigns, and
contrivances become corrupt, and tend not only towards the prejudice of
others at preſent, but alſo to his own lofs and detriment in the iffue. He
therefore that would be ſafe in the enjoyment of any bleffing which he hath
received from God, and faithful in doing him fervice in his generation, muſt
know what of himſelf is ready to betray him, that he may watch against it,
and turn from it; and what in himſelf is given him of God to enlighten,
guide, inftruct, and preferve him, that he may hearken thereto, and be
made happy thereby.
11. And
Concerning Perfecution.
475
11. And Laftly, To fet it yet more home upon all that are ingenuous,
and would be worthy and noble, and do that which is worthy and noble, ab-
horring cruelty, afflicting and oppreffing of others; let them confider the
fruits and effects of perfecution, which are very many, and of the worſt kind,
even fuitable to the nature of the root. At preſent I fhall only mention
theſe four.
1. In a great degree, It hindereth the growth of the prefent good, in every
age and generation, fo far as the earthly power or fword of the magiftrate
can well hinder. Perfecution of that which is good by the earthly powers,
in its proper tendency, is an hindrance to the growth thereof in their age
and day; though the Lord can overbear the malignity of it, and further the
growth of his feed thereby.
2. It wholly tends towards hindering the shooting up of any further feeds of
good, which God hath to fow in the earth. For all the feeds of good which
God hath to fow in the earth, at firft they are looked upon as evil; until by
God's bleffing upon them, and opening of mens eyes through the much
fuffering of thofe veffels in whom God caufeth the moſt excellent feeds of his
virtue and goodneſs firft to appear, their innocency and beauty begin at
length to fhine in mens eyes, and be diſcerned.
3. It occafioneth the growth of evil. For good withſtandeth, oppofeth,
and chafeth away evil, even as light doth darkness; and therefore the pre-
venting of the fpringing up of the good, is a cheriſhing and ſtrengthening
of the evil. Befides, the fame fpirit, government, or power, which per-
fecuteth and keepeth down the good, under a pretence of its being evil,
cannot chuſe but alſo cheriſh and nurſe up the evil, under a pretence of its
being good. For the fame eye, tongue, and heart, that feeth, calleth, and
acknowledgeth that which is indeed good to be evil, cannot chuſe but alſo
miſtake the evil and think it good.
4. It draweth down the wrath of God upon people, powers, and governments,
where fuch perfecution is; where evil is cheriſhed under a pretence of its
being good, and the good endeavoured to be fuppreffed under a pretence
of its being evil. If men from their hearts do acknowledge the being of
God, and his diſpoſal of things; then furely what is truly good in perfons
or nations is of him; and what is of him, his eye is upon. He beholdeth
the plants which he hath planted in the earth, and the plants which the en-
vious one hath planted; and he cannot blefs that place, that people, thoſe
powers, that government, where his plants are crufhed, under a pretence
of their not being his, and where the evil nature and plants are cheriſhed as
if they were the good.
Therefore he that would not be an enemy to God, an enemy to goodneſs,
an enemy to himſelf, an enemy to mankind, and a friend and promoter of
evil, let him wait on the Lord, for the fear of his name and power to be
written on his heart, and for a meek righteous frame of fpirit, &c. that he
may confider his ſteps and the reasonings of his mind, and not miſtake evil
0002
for
476
Concerning Perfecution.
1
for good, and good for evil, and fo perfecute men for being and doing
that, which (might it have its courfe and progrefs) would make the world
happy.
Object. But will not this undermine magistracy, and interrupt its puniſhing of
evil-doers, if they ſhould be thus tender and confiderate? For what man cannot pre-
tend confcience for what he does? And if the magiftrate fhould bearken to every
pretence of confcience, the laws would foon be filent, government at a stand, and
every one do what they lift, bringing in all manner of licentioufnefs and difobedi-
ence to authority, under a pretence of confcience.
Anfw. 1. Confcience is of God; and tenderneſs and confcientiouſneſs to-
wards him is neceffary to the receiving of his pure fear, and towards the
fpringing up and growth of all good in the heart. The feed of good is
tender; and if it be not received into tender and well-prepared earth (but
into thorny, ftony, or highway-ground) it cannot grow. And it cannot rea-
fonably be fuppofed to be the intent of God in appointing governments,
that ever their laws or authority ſhould hurt that tenderneſs of confcience,
wherein his feeds of good are fown.
2. It is true; the corrupt nature of man, which is felfifh, and ſeeketh
covers for evil, may alfo feek this cover to hide iniquity under, and may
pretend confcience, when there is no matter of confcience at all, but felf-
will and felf-ends at bottom.
3. Notwithſtanding this, God would not have the true confcientiouſneſs
and tenderneſs in any of his, cruſhed; nor can it be done by any perſon,
authority, or law, without provoking God on the one hand, or without in-
jury to fuch who are fo dealt with, viz. who are puniſhed by man for the
exercife of that confcientioufnefs which is of God, and which he requireth,
and is pleafing to him.
·
4. It were far better in itſelf, fafer for governors, more agreeable to
equity and righteous government, and more pleafing to God and good
men, rather to fuffer fome (by their craft and falfe covers) to escape due
puniſhment, than to punish thofe who (by the goodneſs, innocency, and
righteouſneſs which God hath planted in them) are exempted from puniſh-
ment. Yea, it were better and much fafer to ſpare many evil men, than to
puniſh one good man: for mercy and ſparing (even of offenders) is natural
to that which is good; but feverity and puniſhments are unnatural, and but
for neceffity's fake. And as for that man, who by his ſubtilty and deceit
thus eſcapes man's hand, he will be no great gainer; for God, who is
above all, will be fure to meet with him. Yea, that magiftrate (who fpares
fome evil and evil-doers, meerly upon this account, left he ſhould hurt
that which is good) the Lord will help and bleſs; whereas, that power and
government which wilfully errs herein, the Lord may foon cut down; and
that which errs thus through miſtake (it being a grievous miſtake to cut
down the good inſtead of the evil) the Lord, who loveth the good and
hateth the evil, may eafily be provoked againſt.
5. As
A Brief Account, &c.
477
5. As government came from God; fo the righteous execution of it de-
pends upon God. Every man needs God's help daily, elfe he may eafily
err in his courfe; and governments and governors need God's help much
more, in the many intricacies and perplexities which they often meet with.
And God is nigh to them in their difficult cafes, who wait upon him for
counſel and direction. If the cafe be knotty, yet if God give wiſdom, hath
the magiſtrate cauſe to complain? And will not the Lord affift that magi-
ftrate, who in his fear waits on him, and is not willing to fpare the evil, and
afraid to hurt the good? If there were not fo much confulting with man's
wiſdom and policy (nor fuch laying of defigns and intents at firſt, as ſpring
from man, and not from God) but a naked upright waiting on him for in-
ftruction, who can only guide the fpirit of man aright, governments would
not prove fo difficult, nor the fuccefs therein fo dangerous.
A brief Account of that Stiffneſs, Refolvednefs, and
fuppofed Stubbornnefs, which by many is objected
againſt the People called QUAKERS.
Object.
HAT the people called Quakers are an innocent and induftrious
people, that they aim at good, and might be ferviceable and pro-
fitable to the nation in many refpects; this many believe concerning them, and in
their hearts wish that the powers would let them alone and make a trial of them;
the which they might be the more inclined to do, were it not for a certain stiff-
nefs which appears in them, they being fo glewed to their principles and practi-
ces, that they will not bend in the least, nor fo much as meet the magistrate one
jot in any favour he would ſhew unto them. This is fuch a temper as no magi-
Strate or governor can bear, and therefore there is a neceſſity either of banishing
or fuppreffing them one way or other.
Anfw. I freely confefs, that (looking upon them with man's eye) it may
eafily appear fo to man, who cannot fee either whence that is, or what that
is, which is wrought in their hearts by God. And how can I blame others
for judging thus of them, when I myſelf fhould be liable fo to judge, if
I did fo look upon them? But yet, if I had patience to hear them, and to
confider the thing in the fear of God (watching againſt that wiſdom, from
which the knowledge of the things of God and the ſtate of his people is
hid), I ſee alſo, that there is fome ground may appear unto man, to let
him fee that this is not ſuch a ſtiffneſs and ſtubbornneſs of ſpirit as he judgeth,
but arifeth from, and neceffarily accompanieth, a true tenderneſs and con-
fcientioufnefs towards God; which to make the more manifeft to fuch as
are
f
478
A Brief Account, &c.
are willing fairly to confider the thing, and know the truth thereof, I fhall
thus demonftrate.
1. Stubbornnefs, or fuch a kind of ſtiffneſs and refolvednefs, arifeth from
the ftrength and corruption of the natural will and earthly wifdom. The
wiſdom which is from above is gentle, eafy to be intreated, and the will
which is created by God is mild and flexible, and eafy to be led (by the
leaſt child) in the line of goodneſs. And I can truly fay this, that I never
in my whole courfe and converfation (who have long been a fpectator and
unintereſted perſon, both as relating to the civil ftate and the various profef-
fions of religion, till the power of truth and preſence of God appearing in
this people drew my heart after them), yea, I cannot but fay, in the fingle-
neſs of my heart, I never met with a more mild, gentle, flexible-fpirited
people. And he that can reach the ground of the thing, cannot but fee it
to be thus; for he that is daily exercifed in denying his will and wifdom;
he on whofe back the Lord lays the croſs, and crucifies him every day, his
felf-will and felf-wiſdom (with all the conceitedneſs and ftiffneſs which arifeth
therefrom) muft needs be much broken in him.
2. In the tenderneſs and pliablenefs to good, which God begets, there is,
and cannot but be, an unbendedneſs to evil. Confider this, O ye that are
wife! In the birth which God begets in the heart; in the immortal feed of
life, which God hath fown and caufeth to fpring up in his heritage, there is
a bowing to God at every appearance of good, accompanied with a tender-
nefs, gentleneſs, and good-will to man; but it cannot bow to that which is
evil in any man upon the face of the earth. Read then this riddle, with
a true underſtanding: the tender one cannot yield, the flexible one cannot
bow; but naturally ftandeth upright and ftrait towards God, even in every
thing it hath learned of him, and which he requireth of it. Thus in the
apoftles days, the Chriftians (though meek, though ſweet, though pliable
to the Spirit of God, and to all good, yet) could not bow to fo much as
•an appearance of evil any-where, but fhun and avoid it every-where. And
if it were not for this kind of ftiffneſs and unbendednefs, the children of
God could never be preſerved in their departure out of the world's fpirit,
ways, worſhips, and practices; but would foon be enfnared and drawn back
again, by the enticements and fubtilties of the worldly nature, either in
themſelves or others.
3. A ftiffnefs then I grant, an unbendednefs I grant; but not of the
earthly, not of the felf-will, nor according to the earthly; but fuch as
arifeth from truth in the heart, and from tenderneſs of ſpirit towards God;
fuch as is begot in his fear, preferved by his power, and is neceffary to-
wards their preſervation who are born of him, and called by him out of the
world. And if thoſe who are apt and liable to misjudge of them, did but
fee the fincere defire of their hearts not to offend man, but to be fubject to
the utmoſt according to the will of God, and knew what breathings there
are in their hearts to God (in relation to the Magiftrate, and when they
appear
A Brief Account, &c..
479
appear before him), that they may be preferved in the pure fear, and in
righteouſneſs and inoffenſiveneſs, and how they cannot but refuſe to break
any of God's commands, becauſe he is their Supreme Lord, and they dare
not diſobey him to pleaſe man, or avoid their own fufferings from man: I ſay,
if men did fee this, furely they would not call it ſtubbornneſs and ſelf-will-
edneſs, but a pure ſubjection and denial of the ſelf-will in God's fear, joined
with an holy and humble boldness in his power.
4. Let it be equally confidered, and it will foon be acknowledged, That
the leaſt thing which God requires (the command being from fo great a
King, upon whom the foul hath fo great dependance, from whom it hath fo
great hopes, and to whom univerfal obedience is fo due in itſelf, and fo pro-
fitable to the creature) is exceeding weighty; and it is impoffible for the fear
of him, and due tenderneſs towards his commands, to be preferved, with-
out a ſtrict and clofe giving up the will to him, and ſtanding in his ftrength,
ſtrong and unbended againſt all temptations, provocations, allurements,
and affrightments to the contrary (and how eaſily may men call this ſtub-
bornneſs and ſtiffneſs!). But this they receive from God, as well as the
law of obedience and power to obey; and this (which men call ſtubborn-
nefs) flows in upon them from him, when they are in the ſweeteſt and
meekeſt frame of ſpirit, moſt ready to deny themſelves, and to yield up
their own wills to whatfoever is good and righteous, and fo of God.
5. The fame thing which is offended at this unbendedneſs and refolved--
neſs, which is wrought and preſerved in them by the fear of God (calling it,
by way of reproach, ftiffneſs and ftubbornness); I fay, the very fame thing
will commend that reſolution and ſtiffneſs, which is taken up in man's wif-
dom, and held in man's will. Is it not good to weigh and confider things
reaſonably, and then to chuſe and hold faft thoſe principles which appear
moſt reaſonable? What man, but will fay it is? And is it not good to obey
and keep to that light which is higher than reafon; which comprehends rea-
fon, rectifying and preferving it, making it profitable and ferviceable to
God which made it, to the veffel in which it is, and to the reft of the crea-
tion? But wisdom is juftified of her children. He that knows not the princi-
ple of the eternal light, who is not born of it (much leſs by unfeigned
obedience and ſubjection formed into it), he cannot juſtify it in his paths;
but he juftifies the earthly wiſdom and reafon of man, by its fetting up ap-
pearances of good, inftead of good, and would make all acknowledge and
bow to them as good; whereas that which is indeed acquainted with the
good, living in the principle thereof, cannot bow to the falfe appearance,
but only to the truth itſelf. When man's ſpirit and wiſdom is wearied out
of all its paths, and he broken with the miſery which will certainly overtake
him therein; at laft the path of God will be welcome to him, and that...
principle which (through the operation of God) is able to rectify him and
make him happy.
There
480
A Brief Account, &c.
There hath long been a peace and profperity throughout the world in
unrighteouſneſs; but the feafon is at length come for the breaking thereof,
and now there is not to be ſuch a ſettled falſe peace in unrighteouſneſs any
longer but tribulation, anguiſh, and deftruction, is coming upon the felfifh
and unjuft fpirit; and he that refufeth the path of righteoufnefs, muft not
know peace, but be overtaken with the overflowing fcourge, and fwept
into and ſhut up in the pit, which hath long been digging for the wicked,
Pfa. xciv. 13. and mark this thing following, ye that would not find your-
felves deceived of your fouls hereafter, nor of your outward peace and
profperity here; for it deeply concerns both.
The Spirit of the Lord once raiſed up a fpiritual building, which the
fpirit of the dragon overturned (as to its outward ftate, though the gates
of hell could not prevail againſt the being and inward ſtate of the true
church) and inſtead thereof fet up an earthly image, agreeable to the earthly
fpirit in nations, but burthenfome to that which is innocent, pure, and
fpiritual. The Lord God fuffered this to ftand all its allotted time, and to
have power to keep down the vifibility of his truth and people; but the
Lord hath appointed a feafon to raiſe up his own building again, and to
throw down this image: Now this I fay to all men, in the fear and dread
of the Almighty, ſtand ſtill and mark, if all the power of man be able to
keep down God's fpiritual building which he is raifing up; or to keep up
any part of the earthly image which he is throwing down. The ſpirit of
man (in various ways) hath fhewed what it judgeth beft to have down,
and to have up; and hath put forth its ftrength to accompliſh its will and
counfel. Stand ftill a while, and ye fhall fee, that the Spirit of the Lord
will alſo fhew what he would have down, and what he would have up; and
he will alſo put forth his ftrength, to accompliſh his will and counfel. It
is the glory and honour of the Lord to carry on his work in the midſt of
all the oppofitions of man, and againſt the full current of his ftrength and
will. This will make it to appear to be of God, and cauſe the glory of his
name to ſhine. Oh! that men could fear the Lord, and bow before him,
that he might be honoured in them, and fee good to honour them in the
carrying on of his work, and fo might not be forced (through their
hearkening to the dark ſpirit, and becauſe of their ignorance of, and dif-
obedience to, the light of his Spirit) to get himſelf a name, by overturn-
ing their ftrength and counfels, and caufing his glory to fhine over them.
We have been a poor oppreffed people, from the day that the power of
the Lord brake forth upon us, and his light fprang in us, even until now:
and now we are brought lower than ever, and are in greater danger (to the
eye of man) than ever. Yet our confidence is ftill in our God; and this
we are certain of, that our principle (and practices therefrom) fhall ſtand,
and man ſhall not be able to prevail againſt it; for God will preferve his
people in his life and power, and the heads of all that wait upon him in
his fear, fhall be lift up above all the fwellings of the waters; yea, a fong of
praiſe
1
A Brief Account, &c.
481
1
praiſe is already prepared in the heart of God's chofen, againſt the day of
his deliverance. We look not out, but give up our backs to the ſmiter, as
as if their ſtrokes were never to have an end; and yet we wait on our God,
and hope in him, as if deliverance were fpringing up every moment. And,
oh! that God would fmite the fpirit of enmity and darkneſs in men and
powers! And then there would be love, peace, purſuing after God and
righteouſneſs, and no more perfecuting and fmiting of God's people for the
uprightneſs of their hearts, and for their obedience and faithfulneſs to him.
But be it known throughout all the earth, we are the Lord's, and we muſt
worſhip and ſerve him. He hath redeemed us (even all of us in fome
meaſure, who have known unity with his living truth) in foul, in body,
and ſpirit; and they muſt all be his in the firſt place, and cannot bow to
man in the leaft, againſt his will, or contrary to the law of his pure life,
and leadings of his Spirit in the heart. Here is our ſtanding, in the ftrength
of our God, whatever become of us. And here we ſtand in love and good-
will to mankind; yea, to theſe preſent powers, however they judge of us;
and have been praying for them, and mourning over them, while they
have been fmiting of us. And when they have drawn the hand of the
Lord upon themfelves, if the Lord fhall pleaſe to open their eyes to fee
what we have been towards them (and how fain we would have had them
fet footing there, where they might have ſtood firm and have been pre-
ferved) they will bewail as much their dealings with us, as what will befal
themſelves. The Lord will manifeft all things in his time, and give his
truth a paffage in the earth, and his people a quiet habitation therein, how
black foever the face of things now appear, as relating to them.
Oh! how happy will the day be, when the Lord shall have wrought down the
Selfish Spirit in man, and shall have raifed up his own noble and equal principle.
Then fhall righteoufnefs fpring up and spread abroad throughout the nations
and the work of righteousness fhall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quiet-
nefs and affurance for ever.
SOME
VOL. I.
Pp P
[ 482 ]
SOME
DIRE C
TION S
TO THE
PANTING SOUL,
་
Which hath been long travelling in the Letter, but hath
not yet been acquainted with the Power, nor hardly
fo much as entered into the Miniftration of endleſs
Life (which is the Miniſtration of the GOSPEL), that
may feel the Spring, and come to drink there of the
living Waters.
it
MATT. xi. 28, 29, 30.
Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give
you reft, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart, and ye shall find reft unto your fouls; for my yoke
is eafy, and my burden is light.
SOM
OME ſweet meditations fprang in my heart concerning this portion of
ſcripture; with breathings of ſpirit for, and rollings of bowels towards,
thofe that labour, and are heavy laden, which I find drawings to com-
municate.
1. In the gofpel (which is the power of God unto falvation) is the foul's rest.
It is the doctrine of the kingdom, wherein is life, joy, peace, and ever-
lafting reft to the foul in God. The law had the ſhadow of the
good things to come; but under it was not the poffeffion of the
good things themſelves, but only a labouring after them, and a mourn-
ing
Some Directions to the panting Soul.
483
ing and load becauſe of the want of them: but in the gospel is the
fubftance, the enjoyment; life and immortality are there brought to
light, and an entrance miniftered into the everlafting kingdom, where
they are felt, poffeffed, and enjoyed. The kingdom of heaven is at hand,
faith the Fore-runner: it is come, faith the Meffiah: and in it there
is righteouſneſs, and peace, and joy in the pure Spirit of life.
2. It is the will of the King of Saints that his people should enjoy the rest and
peace of his gospel. He would not have them always labouring and
heavy laden, as under the law; but he would have their fouls feel and
enjoy the eaſe, the liberty, the ſweetneſs, the pure power and eternal
reft of his life. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him to preach glad
tidings to the meek, liberty to the captives, life to the dead, the open-
ing of the priſon to the prifoner of hope, the binding-up of the broken--
hearted, the pouring in of oil upon the wounded: and he would have
the fouls of his people enjoy that which he came to bring them.
3. Chrift hath plainly chalked out the path of his reft to every weary panting
foul, which he that walketh in cannot miss of. He hath caft up, caft up;
he hath made the way plain in the gospel, fo plain, that the way-faring
man, though a fool, yet keeping to the light of the gofpel, cannot
err therein, or mifs of the bleffed reft thereof. How is it? Why come
unto me; take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. He that walketh in this
path cannot mifs of it: the reft is at the end of it, nay, the reft is in
it: he that believeth entereth into the rest. The true faith, the faith
which ſtands in the power, and which is given to the birth which is
born from above, is the fubftance of the reft hoped for, and there is
a true taſte and fome enjoyment of it given to him that truly be-
lieveth.
4. The rest was once felt and enjoyed, when the gospel was known in power.
Believers, in the firſt day of the goſpel, before the night overtook that
glorious difpenfation, found peace and joy in believing; yea, they could
rejoice in the Lord always. They felt the power and the life, which
ſtood over all the powers of darknefs, and brought good to them out
of every affliction, and out of every temptation, and out of every dif-
trefs fo that they ftanding in the life, and in the power which had
quickened them, and was prefent with them, they could count it all joy
when they fell into manifold temptations, knowing the advantage which
would accrue to them thereby, and poffeffing their fouls in the pure
patience, till God wrought it out for them. They had an entrance mi-
nistered to them into the everlasting kingdom: they received the kingdom
which could not be fhaken, and in it had fellowship with the Father, and
with the Son, and in the eternal light the blood ran in their veffels,
which cleansed them, and kept them pure; and they fat down with Chrift
in the heavenly places, even every one in the particular manfion which God
had built in them by his Spirit. The fear of the living God was put in
P p p 2
their
!
484
Some Directions to the panting Soul.
their hearts, the Spirit of the Lord was within them, and there his law was
written, and read in the Spirit, and the treasures of his kingdom were
opened by the key of David in the hand of the Spirit, and their fouls bad
true fatisfaction and reft in measure, and were travelling on towards the
fulness.
5. There is no reft to the foul to be enjoyed in the gospel from under the yoke.
This ſtands eternally: that which yokes down that which would be at
eaſe and liberty out of the life, that is the foul's true reft; there is no
other: and under the yoke it is enjoyed, and not otherwife; only when
that which is to be yoked down is confumed and deſtroyed, it is then
no longer a yoke, but perfect liberty. But the fame thing which is
the liberty is the yoke and under the yoke, the ſweetneſs, the eaſe,
the lightſomeneſs, the fafe poffeffion of the life is enjoyed. Mark
this therefore diligently: the yoke is not one thing, and the liberty
another; but one and the fame. The power of God, the life ever-
lafting, the pure light, the divine nature, is a yoke to the tranfgreffing
nature; but it is the eafe, the pleaſure, the reft, the peace, the joy,
the natural center of that which is born of God.
Now to the foul that hath felt breathings towards the Lord formerly, and
in whom there are yet any true breathings left after his living preſence,
and after the feeling of his eternal virtue in the heart, I have this to fay:
Where art thou? Art thou in thy foul's rest? Doft thou feel the virtue and power
of the gospel? Doft thou feel the eafe which comes from the living arm, to the
heart which is joined to it in the light of the gospel? Is thy labouring for life
in a good degree at an end? And doft thou feel the life and power flowing in
upon thee from the free fountain? Is the load really taken off from thy back?.
Doft thou find the captive redeemed and fet free from the power of fin, and the
captivity broken, and he which led thee captive from the life and from the eternal
power, now led captive by the life, and by the redeeming power, which is eternal?
Haft thou found this, or haft thou mist of it? Let thine heart anfwer. Ah!
do not imagine and talk away the reſt and falvation of thy foul. The
gofpel-ftate is a ſtate of fubftance, a ftate of enjoying the life, a ſtate of
feeling the prefence and power of the Lord in his pure Holy Spirit, a
ftate of binding-up, a ftate of healing, a ftate of knowing the Lord, and
walking with him in the light of his own Spirit. It begins in a fweet
powerful touch of life, and there is a growth in the life (in the power, in
the divine virtue, in the reft, peace, and fatisfaction of the foul in God)
to be adminiſtered and waited for daily. Now art thou here, in the living
power, in the divine life, joined to the ſpring of life, drawing water of life
out of the well of life with joy? Or art thou dry, dead, barren, faplefs,,
or at beſt but unfatisfiedly mourning after what thou wanteſt?
Well
Some Directions to the panting Soul.
485
be
Well, ye that are dry, dead, barren, as it were without the living God
(that know not the fhining of his fun, nor the defcending of his dews from
on high on his tender plants, nor the care, diligence, and circumfpection
of the huſbandman over his hufbandry), oh! wait for the quickening
virtue, for the vifitations of the day-fpring from on high! that ye may
quickened again to God, that ye may find his life vifiting you, his Spirit
breathing upon you, that the feed of Jacob may be raiſed in you to travel
out of this barren ftate, even out of this land of darkneſs, and from under
the ſhadow of death, to the land where life lives and flouriſhes, and daily
diftributeth plentiful nouriſhment and refreſhment to all its offspring, who
are taught to wait for it, and to feed on it in the holy place, out of the fight
of the eye of the fleſhly wiſdom.
And ye who are ftill gafping after the living God, on whom the breathe-
ings of life ftill abide; who remain unfatisfied inwardly for want of the
preſence of the Lord, and whofe hearts ftill mourn and lament deeply after
him, oh! confider what is the matter, that ye have mourned fo long, and
fought fo long, and yet to this day are at a diftance from the thing ye have
mourned for and fought after!
Strait is the gate, narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it. The way of unbelief is broad, yea, the way of belief is broad
alfo. It is eafy for a man ſo to believe concerning Chrift, or in Chrift (as
his heart may call it) as to mifs of the nature of the true faith, and of the
ſweet and bleſſed effects which accompany it. It is eafy likewiſe to miſs
the yoke (to take up a wrong yoke, in the felf-will, felf-wiſdom, felf-inter-
pretation of ſcriptures), or eafy starting afide from the true yoke; but it is
hard coming under the yoke of the life, and hard abiding under it.
Again, it is eafy mif-learning: a man may fo read, and ſo hear, as that
he may be always learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth;
never come to the truth as it is received and held in Jefus; but may fo
get and hold the knowldge of the truth, as man in his wifdom may get
and hold it from the letter. And if a man thus mifs the way, how can he
attain the end? If a man begin not in the true faith, in the living faith,
how can he attain the reft which the true faith alone leads to? If a
man mifs of the yoke, or abide not conftantly under the yoke, how can
he meet with the true eaſe and reft which is in it, and which it alone can
adminiſter? If a man learn not the truth aright of the true teacher, how
can he ever reap the effects of the true knowledge? Ah! poor hearts! it
is not enough to have breathings after God, nor to be very diligent and in-
duftrious, either in outward ordinances, or inward exercifes of fpirit; but
the way of the gospel must be caft up by God, and the foul led into it by
him, and daily preferved by him, and muft walk in the path which is pro-
per for it to walk in, or it may mourn and cry. all its days, and never meet
with that enjoyment of God, and fatisfaction in God, which it waits for,
and cries after. It is one thing to mourn after a gofpel-ftate, but another
thing
486
Some Directions to the panting Soul.
thing to be brought into it by the power. With my heart I own thofe
that mourn after and feel the want of God, where-ever they are; but this
I know certainly, that they can never come to the enjoyment of him, but
in that living path which the fcriptures teftify of to be in him who is the
life, and which his Spirit is now found manifeftly leading into. Bleffed
be his name.
Queſt. But how may my poor foul, who have long mourned, and groaned,
and been fick of love after my beloved, but could never attain to the fatisfactory
enjoyment of him, come to walk in his path, that ſo I may meet with, and lie
down in, the power of life and falvation which the gospel holds forth to the true
believer, and which I have been long fenfible of the deep want of?
Anfw. Thou that wouldft enjoy thy beloved, and feel the reft of his gof-
pel, and walk in that path which leads thereto, wait to learn of the Spirit
theſe things following:
•
1. Know what it is that is to walk in the path of life, and indeed is alone
capable of walking therein. It is that which groans, and which mourns; that
which is begotten of God in thee. The path of life is for the feed of life.
The true knowledge of the way, with the walking in the way, is reſerved
for God's child, for God's traveller. Therefore keep in the regeneration,
keep in the birth; be no more than God hath made thee. Give over thine
own willing; give over thine own running; give over thine own defiring
to know or to be any thing, and fink down to the feed which God fows in
the heart, and let that grow in thee, and be in thee, and breathe in thee,
and act in thee, and thou fhalt find by fweet experience that the Lord knows
that, and loves and owns that, and will lead it to the inheritance of life,
which is its portion. And as thou takeft up the croſs to thyſelf, and fuf-
fereft that to overfpread and become a yoke over thee, thou shalt become
renewed, and enjoy life, and the everlafting inheritance in that.
2. Know in what light it is to walk, which is in the light of the Spirit.
There the child is begotten (not in Satan's darkneſs, or higheft tranf
formings into the likeneſs of light, which is but darkneſs; nor in the light
of man's wiſdom, fearching knowledge or comprehenfion) and there it
walks in that light it fetcheth every ſtep and motion towards the land of
life; therefore hold no knowledge out of the Spirit. If any knowledge
concerning the things of God be held out of the freſhneſs of the Spirit, it
preſently proves dead and unprofitable. The fpiritual Ifrael cannot travel
without a fpiritual light; which light is eternal and incomprehenfible, and
cannot be held by man's fpirit, but ſhineth freſh in the renewed fpirit every
day, and fo is daily gathering it more and more inward into itſelf, com-
prehending it in itſelf, and preferving it in its own purity, clearnefs, and
brightneſs. Oh! this is it hath undone many, even catching at light from
the Spirit, tranſplanting the image of divine things into the earthly principle,
and there holding of them in the earthly part, growing wife by them there,
and making uſe of them from thence as man fees good, and not feeeing a
५.
neceffity
Some Directions to the panting Soul.
487
1
neceffity of depending on the Spirit for freſh light and life every day to
every ſpiritual motion. Thus the traveller foon comes to lofe the true path,
and inſtead thereof travels on in a road of his own wifdom's forming:
and fo though he ſeems to himſelf to make a large progreſs, yet makes no
true progreſs at all, but is exceedingly run out afide in a by-way; all which
ground he muſt traverſe back again, ere he can come to the truth of his
former ftate, or proceed in the true travel.
3. Know and keep to the power, which alone began any true work in the
heart, which alone alfo can preferve it, and which alone can carry it on.
Chriſt was made a prieft, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but af-
ter the power of an endless life: and every facrificer under him (which every
true believer is) is fo made by the fame power. The powers of darkneſs
are continually at hand, which nothing can ftand its ground againft (much
leſs walk on fafely) without being in that power which is above them. The
firſt coming to Chrift must be in the power of the Father's drawing: and no
believing afterwards is of the true nature, nor will avail the foul in, its pro-
grefs and travels towards life, but what abides in, and goeth forth in the
fame power. So the taking up the yoke, and drawing in it, muſt be by the
power of the new life; and fo muft the difciple's learning be. As the mafter-
teacheth in the power of the Spirit the things which alone can be feen with
the new eye, heard with the new ear, and received into the new heart;
fo the ſcholar muſt learn and receive his leffons of life in the fame power.
Let any difciple of Chrift be from under the fhadow of the power, believe
out of the power, walk out of the power, act out of the power, he is from
that wherein his life ftands, and wherein alone is his prefervation; and ah!
how liable is he then to falls, bruifes, fnares, and temptations of the
enemy.
4. Watch against the felfifh wisdom, in every step of thy growth, and in
every ſpiritual motion, that that come not between thee and thy life; that
that deceive thee not with a likenefs, a fhadow, making it appear more
pleafing to the eye than the fubftance. Every step of thy way it will be
laying baits for thee; and it is eaſy for deceit to enter thee at any time, and
for that wiſdom to get up in thee under an appearance of fpiritual wiſdom,
unleſs the Lord tenderly and powerfully preferve thee: and if it prevail, it
will lead thee from the path of the true wiſdom; it will cozen thee with a
falſe faith, inſtead of the true faith; with falfe praying, inftead of the
breathings of the true child; with diligence and zeal in thy falſe way, in-
ftead of the true zeal and diligence; yea, it will hurry thee on in the path
of error, fhutting that eye in thee which fhould fee, and hardening thine
heart againſt thy bofom-friend. And being thus deceived, thou mayeft be
as zealous in thy age and generation againſt the truth, as the Jews were in
theirs and as certainly as they put Chrift to death, and perfecuted his
apoſtles, though they cried up the former prophets, fo certainly thou (un-
der this deceit) canft not but act against the prefent difpenfation and ap-
:
L
pearance
488
Some Directions to the panting Soul.
pearance of Chrift's Spirit, and wouldft perfecute either the prophets, apoftles
or Chrift himſelf, were it their prefent day now fo to appear as formerly
they did.
5. Let nothing judge in thee (concerning thine own heart, or concerning
others, or concerning any way or truth of God) but only the begotten of
God in the heart. Let the light in which thou art begotten to God, and
which fhines upon his begotten, be the only judge in thee, and then thou
canft not err in judgment. Be not hafty, be not forward in judgment;
keep back to the life, ftill waiting for the appearance and openings of the
life. A few fteps fetched in the life and power of God are much fafer and
fweeter than an hafty progrefs in the hafty forward fpirit.
Indeed this is the true religion, to feel God beginning the work, and to
wait on him for his carrying it on. The feeling of God's Spirit beginning
fomewhat in the heart, the heart's waiting on him for more of his Spirit, and
walking on with him in his Spirit, as he pleafeth to quicken, lead, draw,
and ſtrengthen; this is the fpiritual and true religion: and there is no
duty or ordinance of the gofpel out of the Spirit; but it is eafy crying up
and obferving the likeneſs of any of them out of the Spirit, into which ob-
ſervance a ſtrange ſpirit eafily enters; and then that which was of God in
the heart foon withers, and a contrary building is raiſed, and the ftate of
the heart changed. Oh! wait on the Lord, that he may give you to un-
derſtand theſe things; for the apoftafy from God is very deep, and more
provoking among the Proteftants than among the Papifts; yea, moſt of all
provoking where it is moft inward and fpiritual.
Queſt. But how may I know and keep to the begotten of God, and to the
light and power of the Lord, and keep down the fleshly wiſdom and comprehenfion
concerning the things of God?
Anfw. When God begets life in the heart, there is a favour of it in thy
veffel, and a fecret living warmth and virtue, which the heart in ſome mea-
fure feels, whereby it is known. Lie low in the fear of the Moft High,
that this leaven may grow and increaſe in thee. This is the leaven of the
kingdom; this is it which muft change thy heart and nature, and make
thy veffel (which perhaps hath been long and much corrupted) fit to re-
ceive the treaſure of the kingdom. Now while the favour is upon thee,
while the virtue of the life is freſh in thee, thou findeft ſome ſtrength to-
wards God, with fome little tafte and difcerning of the things of his king-
dom. Know thy weakneſs, and go not beyond thy meaſure; but in what
thou haft received bow before the fulnefs, worſhip God in that, and be pa-
tient in what he exerciſes thee withal, waiting for more from him. And
when the night comes upon thee, and thou perhaps art at a lofs, miffing the
favour and preſence of the life, and not knowing how to come by it again,
be patient and ftill, and thou wilt find breathings after a freſh vifitation,
and a meek, humble, broken ſpirit before the Lord. Thou wilt fee thou
can't do nothing to recover his prefence again; nay, thou canst not fo much
as
1.
Some Directions to the panting Soul.
489
1
•
as wait for him, or breathe after him, without his help; but he is nigh to
the poor, nigh to the broken, nigh to the diftreffed, nigh to the helpless.
Oh! do not with thy fleshly cries and roarings think to awaken thy be-
loved before his feafon; but in the night of diſtreſs, feel after ſomewhat
which may quiet and ſtay thy heart till the next fpringing of the day. The
fun will arife, which will fcatter the clouds; and he is near thee who will
give thee to hope that thou fhalt yet fee God, and find again the quicken-
ings and leadings of his Spirit. And in the day of his power thou wilt
find ftrength to walk with him; yea, in the day of thy weakneſs his grace
will be fufficient for thee; and he will nurture thee up in his life by his
pure Spirit, cauſing thee to grow under his fhadow; and he will be teach-
ing thee to live, and to fpeak, and to move and act from the principle, and
within the compafs of his light and life eternal. Only be not wife to catch
the notions of things into the earthly part, where the moth can corrupt,
and where the thief can break through and fteal; but know the divine
treaſury, where all the things of life are treaſured up by the Spirit, and
handed forth to the living child with fresh life, according to its need of
them. And thus thy heart being kept clofe to God, and thy fpiritual fenfes
continually exercifed about the things of God, it will be eafy to thee to
know the fhepherd's voice, and to diftinguish the found of the Spirit in
thine own heart: and that which tries fpirits and motions in thine own
heart, will alfo give thee the difcerning of truth and error abroad, even of
the Spirit of God, and the fpirit of Satan in others; fo that thou wilt be
able to try not only words, but fpirits, becoming acquainted with the anoint-
ing, which favours all things, and will give thee to judge, not by the
words, but by the power: for thou thyſelf being in the power, in the
anointing, in the favour, it will become natural to thee to feel, to taſte,
to know, and unite with what is one with thy life, what comes from the
fame Spirit in others, and to turn from the contrary. And thus thy life,
thy growth, thy path will be fweet, fafe, clear, certain, demonſtrative in
the Spirit, and paſt all reaſonings of flesh and blood, either in thyſelf or
others. The beginning of life eternal is in an higher principle than man
can come at. Man's wiſdom and knowledge of the things of God is but
brutiſh before it. As thou comeft into that principle, abideft and groweſt
in that principle, thou art beyond man's judgment, and art able to judge
man, and fathom his whole courfe as with a fpan; but art quite out of his
reach in the loweſt of thy motions, thoughts, or actions; I mean fuch as
flow from, and are comprehended in, the life.
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
VOL. I
૦ ૧ ૧
CON-
[ 490 ]
CONCERNING.
The WORSHIP of the LIVING GOD,.
Which he teacheth ISRAEL, his People,
Who know him to be the Only True GOD, and the
Worſhip which he teacheth them, to be the Only
True Spiritual WORSHIP.
WITH
Some QUESTIONS and ANSWERS relating to Converfion, and
to Tenderneſs of Confcience.
ECAUSE the worship of God is a weighty thing, and there have been
Band Hill the of God is there have been
(and ſtill are) fo many errors about it, and the errors therein are of·
fuch dangerous confequence, both in relation to mens eternal eſtate here-
after, and to their right conftitution, peace, and welfare in this world; and
becauſe I have had deep experience concerning the worship of God from a
child, having travelled in fpirit with my God for the right knowledge there-
of, and in finglenefs of heart giving up unto him, according as he hath
taught and led my poor, needy, depending foul; I fay, therefore is it on my
heart, to anſwer fome few Queſtions concerning the worship of God, for the
fervice of fuch as both defire and need inftruction therein.
Queft. 1. Who is the worshipper, the acceptable worshipper in the fight of
God? Or whom bath God chofen out, to hold forth his worship in the fight of
the world, fince he rejected the Jews with their worſhip?
That God hath appointed a chofen people to worſhip him, that I pre-
fuppofe; though, if need were, the proof thereof might be ready at hand.
It is not every man that would thruſt himſelf upon the Lord, whom the
Lord will accept; but the Father feeketh fuch to worship him, John iv. 23.
There is a capacity to be found in man, to make him a worshipper; even
fuch a capacity, as may enable him to perform that worship which God re-
quireth of him. Now this is the thing to be enquired into; What this ca-
pacity is, and who are the perfons that are found in this capacity?
Anfw.
of the Living God.
491
Anfw. The worshipper in the times of the gospel, the worſhipper under
the New-Teftament, is he that is born of God. He that is drawn out of
the dark ſpirit of this world, and formed anew in the light of God's Spirit.
He that is a Jew inward, he that hath the uncircumcifion of his heart cut
off by the power of God; this is the worshipper, whom the Father feeks to
worship him. This is the fort of worshippers God chofe, when he caft off
the Jews. God did not chufe any one nation, or many nations, inſtead of
that one which he caft off; but he fent his apoftles and minifters among all
nations, to gather a ſpiritual feed, inſtead of the natural. And theſe alone
are capable of fetting up, and holding forth, his fpiritual worſhip unto the
world, and to provoke them to wait for, and prefs towards the capacity of
coming into the ſame ſpiritual worſhip with them.
Queft. 2. Which is the place of worship?
Anfw. The only place of worſhip in the New-Teftament, is where the
fpiritual worshippers meet together. The place is fpiritual. As the worſhip
is fpiritual, fo is the place where it is to be offered. It hath a ſpiritual
confideration; not outward, as under the law. It is to be offered in the
Spirit; that is the place. Where doth my foul offer its private worſhip to
God? Hath it relation to any outward place? Or is it in the building
which God hath reared up in my heart by his Spirit? Which building ftands'
in, and is comprehended in, his Spirit. And I can offer his public worſhip
in no other place, but in a building of the fame nature, in an houfe built
of more of the fame ftones. This then is the way of worshipping in the
true Light; divers living ftones meeting together, every one retiring in
ſpirit into the living name, into the power which begat them, they all meet
in one and the fame place, in one and the fame power, in one and the
fame fountain of Life; and here they bow down to the Father of life,
offering up living facrifices to him, and receiving the bread and water of
life from him, and feeding in the rich paftures of his infinite fulneſs. In
the holy city, in the living temple which is built by God, of the ftone
which all other builders refuſe, is the place of the worſhip of the living
God, where the true Jews meet to offer up their fpirits, fouls, and bodies,
a living facrifice to the Father of life; and where they meet with fuch a glo-
rious prefence and power of the Father, as none but the true Jews were
ever acquainted with.
Queſt. 3. What is the worship, or what are the facrifices, which the true
worshippers offer up to God, in this holy place?
Anfw. The gifts of his Spirit. Thefe they offer up, and nothing elſe.
The breathings which the Father gives into the heart of the child, they are
breathed back unto him in the fame fpirit of life; in the living fenſe, in the
quickening power. Nothing of man's wifdom, nothing of man's inven-
tion, nothing according to man's will, nothing that would pleaſe the fleſh,
or feem glorious in its eye, is offered up here; but the exhortations, or di-
rections, or reproofs that fpring up in God's light, in God's wifdom, they
Q ૧ ૧ 2
1
are
1
492
Concerning the Worship
are given forth in the leadings, and by the guidance of his Spirit, and
they reach to the hearts of thofe, to whom he pleaſeth to direct them. And.
this is the ground of fuch meltings, and breakings, and convictions of foul
(and fuch-like inward operations) as are frequently found in fuch affemblies.
For the living God is there, and the dread of his power overſpreads the-
hearts of fuch, as are gathered into and affembled in his name; and, the
life fprings in the earthen veffels, and the favour is precious to all that have
their ſpiritual fenfes.
Queft. 4. What is the feafon of offering up thefe gifts?
Anfw. The feafons of the true worſhip ftand in the will of God. They
are gifts, and the time of them ftands in the will of the Giver. Prayer is
a gift. A man cannot pray when he will; but he is to watch and to wait,
when the Father will kindle in him living breathings towards himſelf. So
the word of God (whether of exhortation or inftruction) is a gift, which is
to be waited for, and then to be given forth in the life and ftrength of that
Spirit which caufeth it to fpring. Indeed it is an hard matter either to-
ſpeak the word of the Lord, or to hear the word of the Lord. A man
may eaſily ſpeak what he invents, and another may eaſily hear and judge of
fuch words; but to ſpeak the word of life, requires the tongue of the
learned in the language of God's Spirit; and to hear the word of life, re-
quires a quickened ear: and to know the times and feafons of the Spirit,
requires both being begotten of the Spirit, and being acquainted with it.
Queft. 5. Was this the worship of the former Chriftians in the apostles days?
Anfw. Search the ſcriptures. Were not they come to the New Jerufalem?
And where did they offer their facrifices? Did they offer them in the Old
Jerufalem, or at Samaria, or the mountain where the fathers worſhipped?
Or did they not rather offer them at the Mount Sion, to which they were
come; where the male of the flock (even the Lamb without fpot) is known,.
aud the blood of fprinkling felt? Heb. xii. 22, 23, 24. and i Pet. ii. 5.
Oh! read! read in the life of God! the nature of the things themſelves; and.
do not feed upon your own imaginations, or the imaginations of any other
men concerning them. Sweet is our God; his living prefence is exceed-
ingly nouriſhing to the foul; precious is his power felt in the heart; it is
no leſs than life eternal to worſhip him in his Spirit. Oh! let not the enemy
of the ſoul cheat your fouls any longer of the precious things of his king-
dom, with hufky and dry food inftead thereof, which only gratifieth the
earthly part, but nourisheth not the immortal life.
Queft. 6. How came the worship of God to be transformed and changed fo
from the living power, into fuch dead formal ways, as generally worshippers in
the world are found in ?
·
Anfw. The enemy hath done this, by God's permiffion. The Lord was
pleaſed to ſuffer him thus far to prevail againſt the truth; even to get into
the form of it, and there to beget men into the form, and then deny and
turn againſt the power. And this is the way of antichrift in kingdoms and
nations,
→
of the Living God.
493
nations, even to fet up a formal way of worſhip, an by it to fight againſt
the true power.
Queft. 7. How long hath this been done, and how long is it yet to last?
Anfw. From antichrift's beginning, all the time of his reign, until his
overthrow. The formal way of religion will never be overturned, nor the
power of religion find place in the earth, but there will be ſtill countenance-
ing of formal ways of worship, and turning head againſt the power and
life of the Spirit, until antichrift's time come to an end, and the Lord con-
fume him by the Spirit of his mouth, and deſtroy him by the brightnefs of
his coming.
Queft. 8. When ſhall this be?
Anfw. The Lord is about this work. He hath already raiſed up that,
which hath not been raiſed up for many generations; and the Lord hath
forely fmote down the ſpirit of antichrift in many hearts already; and he is
fetching a great and univerfal blow at him; at which ſtroke, when it cometh
from the throne of God, the nations fhall tremble before him; and it will
be as honourable to wait for the movings of his Spirit, and to worſhip him
alone therein, as now it is reproachful.
1
SOME
[494]
Some QUESTIONS and ANSWERS relating to Converfion,
Queft. W
Anfw.
and to Tenderneſs of Conſcience.
HAT is the way of converfion?
To turn men from darkneſs unto light, and from the power
of Satan unto God.
Queft. When is a man converted?
Anfw. When he is gathered into the light, and into the power, out of
the darkneſs of fin and dominions of Satan.
Queft. How is man converted?
X
Anfw. By the operation of the light and power of God upon his con-
fcience.
Queſt. In what condition is the confcience before God works upon it?
Anfw. Hard and corrupt; hardened by felfiſh reaſonings and dark ima-
ginations, againſt the convictions of the light and operations of the power
of God, and corrupted with the fin and iniquity that dwells in it.
Queft. What doth God make it in his working upon it?
Anfw. Gentle and tender, fit to receive the impreffions of his Spirit. By
the influence and power of his Spirit on the confcience, he openeth the
ear to hearken to his voice, and prepareth the heart to follow him in his
leadings.
Queft. How doth God carry on his work in the converted foul?
Anfw. By keeping it low and tender, out of the ſelf-wiſdom and hardening
reafonings of the human underſtanding: by this means he keeps it pliable
to the light and power of his Spirit.
Queft. Is only the tender confcience then fit to be wrought upon by God?
Anfw. Yea, indeed, that alone. The heart that is hard is inconfiderate
of the voice of God, and ſtiff and ſtubborn againſt it; having ever at hand
ſome wiſdom or will of the flesh, to withſtand the voice and leadings of
God by.
Queft. Who is it that preferves the confcience tender?
Anfw. The Lord of the confcience. He who made it, knoweth the pro~
per temper of it; and his light and power is alone able to preferve it in
that tenderneſs which he formeth it in.
Queft. What is it that hardens the confcience?
Anfw. The wiſdom of the flesh. Man, having gained a wiſdom out of
the light of God, by the imaginations, reaſonings, and ſtrength thereof,
hardens himſelf againſt God.
Queſt. What is most neceſſary for a man to be vigilant in, that defires to have
the work of converfion to go on in his heart?
Anfw.
Some Questions and Anfwers.
495
1
Anfw. To be careful to turn from and avoid the reaſonings of man's wif-
dom, and to have his eye and ear open to the light and voice of God's Spi-
rit, that his confcience may be kept upright and clear before the Lord.
Queft. What ftains the confcience?
Anfw. Any difobedience to God's Spirit, any hearkening to, or following
the voice of, a ſtrange ſpirit. This lets in the darkneſs, which defiles; even
as the light cleanſes.
Queſt. Is a man then to expect ſuch a thing as the leadings of God's Spirit in
bis confcience?
Anſw. A man cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but he muſt be firſt
born again, even born of the Spirit. So faith the fcripture, and fo faith the
experience of every one who feels the new-birth.
every one who feels the new-birth. And when he is born of
the Spirit, he is to abide with him, and learn the law of the new life, and
receive power from him daily; or the ſpirit of darkneſs will foon get ground
upon him, and by degrees be recovering him back again into his do-
minions.
Queft. Surely if it be thus, hard is the way of religion, and few there be who
are found in the truth of it.
Anfw. The way of religion is hard indeed, and wholly contrary both to
man's wiſdom and will; infomuch as he cannot enter into it, nor walk therein,
but as they are cut down. He that will be a diſciple of Chriſt, and follow
the leadings of his Spirit, muſt deny himſelf wholly, and become another's,
and be content to ftand or fall to his own maſter. He cannot pleaſe men,
no not in his worſhipping of God; but muſt turn from that which is glo-
rious in their eyes, and facrifice that which is to them an abomination. So
that he muſt look to be condemned by men, who will be approved in the
fight of God.
Queft. Why bath God put his people upon fuch hardſhip, as ftill (in all ages
and generations) to walk in a way contrary to the world, and ftill to be the objects
of its hatred, fcorn and perfecution?
Anfw. How can it be otherwife, he begetting them in a Spirit contrary
to the world, and which teftifieth againſt the world, fhewing that the deeds
thereof are evil? How can the fpirit of the world but ftill turn againſt
fuch, and hate, and perfecute them?
Queft. How long ſhall it be thus ?
Anfw. Till truth be raiſed by the power of God into dominion over the
fpirit and power of darkneſs. The Spirit of life now fuffers under the bur-
den of man's corruptions; in love to them, ſtriving to fave them there-
from. There is ſomewhat in every finner that at feafons groans under the
weight of his fins, and in fome proportion ftrives againſt the burden thereof.
This ſhall not always lie underneath; but in the day of the Lord riſe over the
tranfgreffor and in that day fhall Ifrael be glorious with his God, and re-
ceive praiſe of him, and be eafed of all that hath oppreffed him...
Queft. Is there fuch a day to be?
Anfw.
496
Some Questions and Anfwers.
Anfw. The fcriptures teftify of fuch a day, wherein the Lord alone fhall
be exalted, and wherein he will take away the rebuke of his people from off all
the earth, and bring down all that is high and lifted up above the fear and Spi-
rit of the Lord: and in this our age the Lord hath chofen many meffengers
to run up and down, and proclaim this day. And as fure as the Lord
liveth what he hath ſpoken fhall come to pafs, and not a tittle of it fall to
the ground. God did not make man for him to ferve his own lufts, nor
his creation to ſerve the lufts of man; but he made man to fear before and
ferve his Creator; and he made the creatures to be ordered by man in the
fear and wiſdom of God to the glory of God. The Spirit of God now
groaneth under man's iniquity; the fpirits of his people mourn and figh alſo;
yea, and the very creatures groan under the bondage of corruption; and the
God of bowels heareth their cry; and a day, even a mighty day of redemp-
tion and deliverance is determined, wherein the fpirit of the world fhall be
funk down, with all its weight of wickedneſs, and the Spirit of life and
righteouſneſs rife in its glory.
*
Amen, hallelujah! everlaſting praiſes to the Omnipotent One, who was,
and is, and is a coming; who hath reigned, doth reign, and will reign, over
all the powers of darkneſs, in the pure power and glory of his life for ever-
more. Let all the lambs ſkip for joy; let all the ftars of the morning
ſhout: for the darkneſs vaniſheth, and is paffing away, and the light of
life ſhall cover the earth, as the waters cover the fea. Amen, hallelujah!
Happy is the eye that feeth this, and the heart that prepareth for it,
overlooking all that ftands between. This is the hope of Ifrael, and the
expectation of all that wait for the Lord, which he is haftening upon the
earth.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
:
SOME
SOME
{
QUESTIONS
ANS
!
AND
WER S
FOR
The OPENING of the E YES
JEWS
OF THE
NATURAL,
That they may ſee the HOPE of ISRAEL, which
hath ſo long been hid from them.
"
WITH SOME.
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
FOR THE
Direction, Comfort, Help, and Furtherance of GOD's Spiritual
Ifrael, in their Travels in Spirit from ſpiritual Egypt through the
ſpiritual Wilderneſs, to ſpiritual Canaan ;
/
WHICH IS
The Land' where the Redeemed Soul flourisheth in the Life, walking with
GOD, and worſhipping him in Spirit and Truth.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger..
VOL. I.
Rrr
1
1
[ ccccxcviii]
THE
1
PREFACE.
S
EVERAL things hath the life, begotten by the eternal virtue, breathed
in me towards my Father for, in relation both to myſelf and others,
from my childhood. As touching myſelf; firft, that I might be a veſſel
for him; that I might be freed from the bondage of corruption, and
brought forth in the image of his life. Secondly, that I might be filled
with his life; that I might be fatisfied in the prefence, and with the fulneſs
of the fpring of my life; even that I might have enough of my God in my
heart continually. Thirdly, that he would of his own mere goodneſs both
preferve the veffel, and dwell in it for ever; that fo my tenure and poffeffion
of him, and fitnefs for him, might be of his grace, of his love, of his
good-will, of his own nature, depending wholly and altogether on him,
and not at all on any thing that can be expected from the creaturehood in
its pure ftate. And likewife, that if he pleaſed to ufe me in any fer-
vice, it might be of him, and for him, and to him: that he would bring
me ſo low in myſelf, that I might not be able to detain any of his glory
and virtue from him; but the meannefs of the veffel might ſtill ſo appear
to me, and alſo be ſo fenfibly diſcerned and acknowledged by all other eyes
alfo, that the excellency of the power and of the glory might run back in-
tirely into his pure bofom.
{
•
Befides thefe, there have been vehement defires in me concerning others
alſo. Firſt, towards mankind in general, that they might have an ex-
ceeding merciful and powerful day of vifitation, even that the whole earth
might be touched with the power of life, and drawn out of the darkneſs.
Oh! how hath my foul breathed for loſt mankind! and how hath my fpirit
travailed (with unutterable pangs and earneftnefs) for unheard-of, un-
thought-of, and altogether unexpected mercy and good-will towards the fons
of men in general! Secondly, towards my brethren in fpirit, that they
might know the day of redemption and power in Spirit, and not always lie
groveling on the earth, and groaning and mourning becauſe of the lufts
· and
?
PREFACE.
ccccxcix
and corruptions, but might know deliverance in power, and might fing the
fong of Mofes, and the ſong of the Lamb (becauſe of their feeling victory
over Pharaoh and the dragon); and might ſerve and worship the living God
in Spirit and truth, without fear of interruption and captivity from the
enemy any more. Thirdly, Towards the Jews after the fleſh, that their ini-
quity might be blotted out, their wound healed, the pure eye opened in
them, and the pure glory revealed to them; that they might know the
fhepherd of Ifrael in Spirit, the fpiritual tents of Jacob, the beauty of the
footsteps of the fpiritual flock, and might travel out of their darkneſs,
earthlinefs, and literal knowledge, into the land of pure life, reft, peace,
and freſh joy in the living God (whereof their Land of Canaan, with all
the good things thereof, was but a fhadow), and might be anointed with
the freſh oil of the falvation of the Meffiah, and might become, indeed, an
holy nation; yea, a kingdom of priests, to offer up fpiritual facrifices on
God's fpiritual altar.
My foul ftill breatheth to the Lord, and waiteth on him for all theſe
things; and as he draweth my ſpirit forth, fo am I ready in ſpirit to be ſer-
viceable unto him therein. Theſe prefent drawings and openings of my
life, in the Queſtions and Anfwers following, are both towards the Jews in the
fleſh, and alfo the Jews in fpirit, that they may meet in One, even in the
one path and pafture of life, where there is one fhepherd, one feed, one
flock, one Spirit, one beginning, one progrefs, one end, in one and the
fame circle of life. The Lord my God take it into his own hand, diſpoſe
of it for good, manage and bleſs it according to his pleaſure !
I. P.
Rrr 2
SOME
[ 500 ]
SOME
QUESTIONS
}
AND
NSWER
ANS
FOR
S
The OPENING of the E Y ES
JEWS
Queft.
Anfw.
W
OF THE
NATURAL.
HAT was the rife of that people the Jews?
peo-
They came of Abraham after the fleſh, who was God's
friend, whom God took from his father's houſe, and
from his native country (where he was worshipping and ferving idols) to be
the ſtock and pattern of the faithful; both of the Jews according to the
fleſh, and of the Jews in fpirit. Of this root, of this ſtock, came this
people according to the flesh, who were an holy nation, a circumcifed
ple, a fanctified people outwardly; and (as long as their day lafted) were
the beloved of God, the pitied, the pardoned, the redeemed ones, even
until the fhadows were finiſhed, and the feafon came for the ſubſtance to
appear and be ſet up in the world; whereof they had the firſt offer alfo, and
out of whom was the firft gathering for the fpiritual building. But they
generally hardening their hearts, and cleaving to the wiſdom and knowledge
which their wife ones had taught them (from their miſunderſtanding the let-
ter of the ſcriptures) miffed of the Spirit, rebelled againſt the redeeming
power, and fo loft their fhare in the inward glory, and by God's righteous
hand were cut off from their outward alfo, their day being ſpent, and the
blood,
D
Some Questions and Answers, &c.
501
blood, not only of the prophets, but of the Son and heir himſelf alfo, re-
quired at their hands.
Queft. How came this people to be the chofen people at first, and fo long to
continue fuch?
Anfw. It was not for their righteoufnefs, not for their lovelinefs, or pli-
ableneſs to God above other people; but becauſe it pleaſed the Lord freely
to love them, and to pitch upon them for the people of his choice after the
fleſh, in the free covenant which he made with Abraham. The earth is the
Lord's, with the fulness thereof; and he may chufe whom he will to fill with
his inward and ſpiritual glory (even with the manifeftations of his pure love,
life, and prefence), and he may alſo chufe whom he will to make outwardly
or typically beloved, great, and glorious. He chofe Abraham freely, he
gave to Abraham an heart to follow him, he gave him the faith and obedi-
ence which made him accepted with him; and he chofe his feed after the
Spirit to be his eternal heir, and his feed after the flesh to be his temporary
heir. Thus of Ifaac in Spirit, came the children of the promiſe in Spirit;
and of Ifaac after the flesh, came the feed of promife after the flesh. Sarah
after the flesh bare one of thefe: the Sarah reprefented by her (or the free
woman which is from above) bare the other. And of Ifaac comes Jacob,
worm Jacob, who ſerves for his wife; who flies from the face of Efau, yet
afterwards finds favour in his eyes. From this worm do the twelve patriarchs.
branch forth, who were the heads of the tribes of Ifrael. Thus hath it
been with that nation according to the letter; and thus it hath alſo been,
and is ſtill, inwardly in Spirit; as the Ifrael of God, the Jews in Spirit (who
are learned in the law of the Spirit of life) can very well read. Thus out-
wardly Ifrael was God's child, Ephraim his dear, his beloved, his pleaſant
fon; Judah his praife, whom his heart was towards, and to whom he
ſtretched forth his arm of falvation all the day long. In all their affliction
he was afflicted, and the angel of his prefence faved them; and he faid, Surely
they are my people, children that will not lie; fo he became their Saviour. Thus
it was with them, till the day of Ifrael after the fleſh expired, and the day
of Ifrael in ſpirit was to fucceed in the fight of the world.
Queft. What was the end for which God chofe that people?
Anfw. It was to be a veffel for him to form, to try and experiment what
his love could bring them to, and bring forth in them in that way of mani-
feſtation and operation. This God opens to Jeremiah concerning them,
bidding him go down to the houſe of the potter; where, in a parable, they
might read their own ſtate, and what they were to expect from God, even
to be formed by God unto the utmoft, until he had made a perfect trial of
them, and then to be broken and laid afide, as a veffel that could never be
fitted for the Mafter's ufe in this way of difpenfation, Jer. xviii. 4. On
the Lord's part there was no defect towards his child, his fpoufe, his vine-
yard, his garden of pleaſant plants (as this people was in that difpenfation);
for he was ftill a Father to them, faithful in covenant, tender in bowels,
abundant
1
502
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Some Questions and Answers for the
(
abundant in loving-kindnefs and mercies: yea, what could be expected from:
the Lord towards a people, according to that difpenfation, which the Lord.
failed in? But they were ftill faithlefs, continually breaking covenant, erring
from his dear and tender love, and drawing down the ftrokes of his wrath
upon them; forfaking the guide of their youth, forgetting the love of their
efpoufals; continually ftarting afide from the right ftate, wherein God,
pleafed at firft to fet them, or at any time afterwards in any meaſure to re-
duce them.
Queft. How did God exercife and try them to the utmoft, even till at length it
was plainly manifeft, that there was no firm keeping a people to him by virtue of
that difpenfation; but he must neceffarily cut them off, chufe another people, and.
take another course; if he would have a people for his heart to love and delight
in, and for them to enjoy and poffefs him?
;
Anfw. He tried them feveral ways, and in feveral ftates and conditions
as, Firſt, In a ftate of captivity in the land of Egypt. Secondly, In a ftate
of ftraits and continual dependence upon God, even for neceffaries, in the
wilderneſs. Thirdly, In a ftate of enlargednefs in the land of Canaan,
which flowed with plentiful provifions for the outward man (which were alſo
fhadows and inftructions concerning the inward bleffednefs). Fourthly, In
often captivities. Fifthly, In returns to their land again, with fettlement.
and peace, and many bleffings therein.
Queft. How did God try them in Egypt?
Anfw. First, With fore bondage and oppreffion from Pharaoh and the
Egyptians. Secondly, With giving them the feeling of their ſtate, the
fenſe of their bondage, and caufing them to cry unto the Lord for delive-
rance. Thirdly, In raifing up a deliverer, and giving them a ſign of the de-
liverance by the hand of the deliverer, in his fmiting, of an Egyptian, and
faving an Hebrew. Fourthly, In fending, the deliverer to them with pro-
mifes of deliverance, and with figns and fymptoms of the delivering power.
Fifthly, In pardoning their unbelief and rebellions againſt him in Egypt,
and fhewing many figns and wonders for them in that land, till at length
he had brought them forth by his mighty out-ftretched arm, even against.
the will and mind of Pharaoh and their taſk-maſters.
Queft. How did God find them in Egypt upon this trial?
Anfw. Very unbelieving, very ſtubborn, mifinterpreting his fign of deli-
verance, reaſoning againft his promife, becauſe it came not fo foon, and
after the manner they expected. When he lifted up his hand to them to re-
deem them from under Pharaoh, to bring them forth out of the land of
bondage, to the good land he had eſpied for them, and bid them forfake
the idolatrous worſhips of Egypt, and not defile themſelves any longer
therewith; becauſe he was now to become the Lord their God, and to ap-
pear in his power for them; yet they would not, Ezek. xx. 5, &c. When
Mofes would have reconciled an Hebrew to his brother, he would not hear
him; but upbraided him for flaying the Egyptian, not waiting on God to
underſtand
!
Opening of the Eyes of the Jews Natural.
503
underſtand the figure, but mifinterpreting and abufing it in the fleſhly
mind. When the deliverance fucceeded not according to their expecta-
tions, they murmured againſt Moſes and Aaron; and when God fent them
again with a freſh promife, they would not mind it. Yet God bare with all
this in them, and did not caft them off, but affuaged his wrath, and ſtirred
his love to make a further trial of them.
up
Queft. How did God try them in the wilderneſs ?
Anfw. By many temptations, figns, and wonders; by powerful appear-
ances for them againſt their enemies; by bringing them into many ftraits;
by unexpected and impoffible fupplies (I mean impoffible to the fight or ex-
pectation of the outward eye); as with bread from heaven, multitudes of
quails, water from the rock, keeping their cloaths and fhoes from wearing
out and decaying. Likewife he gave them an holy and righteous law to in-
form their minds in equity and righteoufnefs; directing them in an holy
way of walking with God, and one towards another, and chalking out unto
them an acceptable path of worſhip; and this law was delivered in great
majefty, dread, and terror, to caufe a deep impreffion thereof upon their
minds.
Queft. How did God find them in the wilderneſs ?
Anfw. Full of diſcontent; full of murmuring; full of felf-will; full of
doubts and queſtionings concerning God's power. They did not wait on
him, who had delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh, and from un-
der the Egyptian tafk-mafters; but they murmured against him. They
did not wait for food or water when they wanted, but diftrufted and com-
plained; repining at Mofes and Aaron, and fometimes talking of making
a captain to lead them backward. Neither were they content with the
proviſion which God allotted them (that was mean in their eyes), but they
would have fleſh. Though the Manna (the light bread as they eſteemed it)
of God's choice, and with God's bleffing, had been far better for them,
than the fleſh, with his curfe upon that luft which aſked it, and would not
be content without it. Again, They would not go on towards Canaan, or
fight when God would have them, and when his ſtrength would have gone
along with them; but when he forbad them, of their own will, and truſting
to their own ſtrength, they would go on and fight. It is a fad record
which Mofes, their tender fhepherd (who with the eye of true light had
faithfully obſerved them) left concerning them, Deut. ix. 24. You have been
rebellious against the Lord, from the day that I knew you.
Queft. How did God deal with them in reference to the land of Canaan ?
Anfw. Firft, He prepared them for it. Secondly, He difpoffeffed their
enemies, and placed them in it, giving them an inheritance according to
their own will. Thirdly, He poured down bleffings upon them therein.
Queft. How did God prepare them for the good land?
Anfw. Firſt, By many afflictions and exerciſes in the wilderneſs, wherein
he judged and wore out the rebellious generation (who were confumed with
dying),
504 Some Questions and Answers for the
1
dying), and raiſed up their children in the awe and dread of his mighty
power. Secondly, By giving them a righteous law to walk by in every
reſpect, that they might not be to feek how to pleaſe God, or how to walk
one towards another, or towards the heathen among them, or round about
them; but in every thing might be rightly inftructed. Thirdly, By warn-
ing them of their own proneneſs to err from God, and of the danger there-
of, both in relation to the lofs of mercies, and drawing down of judgments;
that they might watch againſt the erring nature and tranfgreffing ſpirit in
their hearts. Fourthly, By appointing a way of facrifice and mediation,
whereby God might be atoned, either for particular perfons, or for the
land in general. Fifthly, By directing them to a principle as near to them,
and more ſtrong than the unrighteous principle; whereby they might be
preferved in the obedience of the law, and from out of the reach of the
curfe.
Queft. How did God find them in their own land?
Anfw. That generation which was thus prepared, thus taught, thus di
rected, walked fweetly with the Lord, and was a precious favour in his
noftrils; but foon after the evil thing fprang up again in the generations
following, and they did quickly corrupt themſelves, departing from the
Lord, and running a whoring after their own hearts lufts, Judg. ii. 7, &c.
Queft. How did God deal with them then?
Anfw. He brought judgment upon judgment, ftill weightier and weightier
upon them, according as their need required, exercifing loving-kindneſs
and mercy towards them, as much as poffibly their eftate could bear. He
fent his prophets to forewarn them of the wrath, that they might be ſpared,
if poffible; and when his judgments and ſeverity came, he mingled mercy
therewith, that by both he might try to the utmoft what they might be
wrought to. He tried them a long while under the judges, and a long
while under the kings, often recovering them and fetting them to rights,
expecting the fruit of his rod and of his love towards them.
Queft. What was the refult of God's trying them under the judges and
kings?
Anfw. They wearied out God's prophets; yea, they wearied out the
Lord alfo in that way of difpenfation. They chofe the falfe prophets before
the true,, lying divinations before the openings of life, and dead idols before
the living God. The kindneffes and mercies of God were wafted upon
them, for with his love they were not drawn; the bellows alfo were burnt,
the lead confumed, the heat of the furnace ſpent upon them, and yet their
tin and droſs not purged away. Under the judges they tried out the Lord's
patient expectation of good from his delivering hand, infomuch as he re
folved to deliver them no more, Judg. x. 13. Under the kings they were
as unruly (whether good kings or bad kings, given in love or wrath), in-
fomuch as the Lord faid, Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt
more and more, Ifa. i. 5. There was, indeed, no bending of Iſrael after
the
Opening of the Eyes of the Jews Natural.
505
the fleſh, and keeping him ftrait to God, in that way of difpenfation; there-
fore muſt he be caft of; even becoming reprobate filver in the fight of the
whole earth, becauſe the Lord would reject him.
Queft. How came Ifrael after the flesh to be rejected?
Anfw. His day of fleſh was out, and the day of ſpirit was come, wherein
the ſpiritual glory (which was to fucceed the fhadows of the fleſhly) was to
be fet up; and fo he not feeing that, nor entering into that, his own fun
fet, and he hath abode in the darkneſs unto this day.
Queſt. How came he not to ſee the ſpiritual glory?
Now
Anfw. Becauſe the eye of the fleſh was open in him; which eye cannot
fee it. He read the law in a gathered light, in the light of the earthly
wiſdom, and not in the light of the fpring from whence it came; and
then how could he poffibly underftand the law aright? Could he then
chufe but fet up the fhadows of the law in the ftead of the fubftance which
was veiled therein? He read Mofes with the eye which can fee but to the
veil, and not to the glory which was revealed to Mofes, and which Mofes
hid under the veil. And thus likewife he beheld the prophets, in the days
of their appearance; not in the light in which they appeared, but in the
light of his own reaſon and imaginations; and upon this ground the Jews
ftill chofe and cried up the falfe prophets, but perfecuted the true.
not ſeeing Mofes in fpirit, nor the prophets in fpirit, how could they ſee
him who was greater than the prophets; he looking fo contemptibly to the
fight of that eye wherewith they expected to fee him? It is the Jew in fpirit
who alone can fee and own the Meffiah in fpirit: yea, no flefhly Jew could
poſſibly diſcern him then, whofe eternal life, light, and power, was hid under fo
mean a veil. He must be more than a Jew after the flesh who can own fo
much as the law, or any of the prophets in fpirit; and then furely it can
require no leſs than inward Jewfhip to difcern the Meffiah himſelf. They
knew by the letter that then he was to come and appear; but they could
not know by their obfervations from the letter which was he; but alone by
the pointing of the finger of the Spirit, which they were unacquainted
with.
Queft. What did they do to him, not ſeeing his glory?
Anfw. They dealt with him as they had dealt with the prophets before
him, diſdained him that he ſhould claim to be the Son of God, flighted him,
reviled him, reproached him, preferred Mofes and the prophets above him
(who all did but declare of him); yea, at laſt they preferred a thief and mur-
derer before him, and put him to death after that manner that the pro-
phets had foretold they would do.
Queft. Did the prophets foretell that the Jews would put the Meffiah to
death?
Anfw. Yea, very manifeftly, with the manner and circumftances thereof.
Daniel faid plainly that the Meffiah fhould be cut off; though not for him-
felf, Chap. ix. 26. Ifaiah fhews the cauſe why he was cut off; to wit, For
VOL. I.
the
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Some Questions and Answers for the
the tranfgreffion of my people was the ftroke upon him, Chap. liii. 8. He was
the Lamb without fpot; there was no iniquity found in his heart, nor guile
in his mouth; but he offered up his fpotlefs foul (through the eternal Spirit)
as a ranſom for the fouls of tranfgreffors, and with his bruiſe are they healed.
David fhews yet more particularly how he fhould be cut off, They pierced my
bands and my feet, Pf. xxii. 16. And Zachary faith, that afterwards, in the
day of their vifitation, they ſhall look on him whom they have pierced, Chap. xii.
10. Was he not betrayed by one of his own table? Pf. xli. 9. Did they
not caft lots for his garments? Pf. xxii. 18. Was not gall alfo given him,
and vinegar to drink? Pf. Ixix. 21. Were not his bones kept from being
broken, according to the paſchal lamb, the type? Exod. xii. 46. Oh! that the
Jews could read the words of their own prophets in the light of the prophets,
and not in the light of man's imagination; and then they could not but bow
before the fpring and fountain of that light, as it was revealed in fleſh ac-
cording to the fcriptures, and fee how that body was prepared for the light
to fhine in, and for it to do the will in, and to offer up the facrifice which
God would have, that fo an end might be put to all the facrifices and of-
ferings which God would not have! Pf. xl. 6. Dan. ix. 27.
Queft. What was to befall the Jews for refufing the day of their vifitation by
the Meffiah, and for the putting of him to death?
Anfw. They were to be caft off, to become no people, their covenant to
be broken, their glory turned into ſhame, their light fet in obſcurity, their
houſe made defolate, and the hand of God purſuing this defolate people,.
making them a fcorn and reproach throughout all nations, Dan. ix. 27. And
is not this come to paſs upon them? For what perſon hath been more hate-
ful and hated than a Jew, who was once the glory and envy of all nations?
Yea, hardneſs and blindneſs have fo happened to them, that they cannot
fee the plaineſt things written in the prophets concerning the expiration of
the day of Mofes with all his fhadows, and the fucceeding of the ſpiritual
glory in the days of the Meffiah; but their eyes and hearts are ſtill blinded,.
and held captive in the figures of things.
Queft. Is there any fcripture of the prophets which declareth that they fhould
be thus blind and hard?
Anfw. The Spirit of the Lord in the prophet David (the beloved king,
and figure of the Meffiah) prayed for this righteous recompence to them.
Let their table become a fnare before them, and for welfare a trap. Let their eyes
be darkened that they fee not, &c. Let their habitation be defolate, &c. Pf. lxix.
22, &c. What is their table? Where and on what do they feed? Is it not on
the writings of Mofes and the prophets? Now all the meanings, obfervations,
and hopes which they gather from theſe (being under the curfe, and out of
the Spirit of the prophets) cannot but be that fnare and trap; and that
which entangleth them deeply to this day is, their miſunderſtanding and
mifinterpreting of Mofes and the prophets. O Lord, my God, in the abun-
dant riches of thy goodness, at length pity them, and let the fierceness of thine in-
dignation
Opening the Eyes of the Jews Natural.
507
dignation abate towards them, and in thy love open their eyes, to ſee their ſtate,
and what they have refuſed, and against whom they have lift up their heel, in
their conceited wisdom and knowledge, which they have gathered from Mofes and
the prophets writings, that they may mourn after thee, and wait for thee in the
way of thy redemption!
Queft. How long is this defolation and hardneſs to abide upon them?
Anfw. Until God vifit them with his Spirit, and open their eyes to fee his
fpiritual glory, and turn their hearts towards it. Then their outward ex-
pectations and defires after an outward glorious kingdom will foon come to
an end, and the Meffiah will be known, owned, and received by them in
Spirit; yet any outward glory that the Lord God fees good for them, they
fhall not want_neither. This the prophet Ifaiah plainly relates to the ear
that is fpiritual, Chap. xxxii. 15. (Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on
high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for
a forest), they muft lie wafte, until the Lord God pleaſe to let forth his
Spirit upon them, to gather them into his fpiritual glory for the day of
their outward glory did end, and a fpiritual fucceeded, which they are to
be gathered into, when the days of their diſtreſs and tribulation are ac-
compliſhed.
The Spirit was once poured down from on high on the difciples of the
Meffiah, upon his afcending into his glory, and the wilderneſs then became
a fruitful field, and the fruitful field was accounted for a foreft; but over
that glory the defence was not fo ftretched forth, but that a night overtook
that day, and the wild beasts made a prey of that vineyard and fruitful field
alfo, as well as of the former. But there is to be a more general pouring
out of the Spirit, even upon all fleſh, and the wilderneſs is more generally to
be vifited and become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is more gene-
rally to be blafted and made a foreft; infomuch as all fleſh every-where
fhall appear grafs, and the glory thereof as the flower of the field, which
fhall fade and wither before the breath of God's Spirit. Then judgment
ſhall dwell in the wilderneſs which is then vifited, and righteoufnefs fhall re-
main in the field which is then made fruitful; and righteoufnefs fhall be
powerfully operative, working out the lafting peace; and the effect of it
ſhall be quietness and aſſurance for ever. No more war, no more fighting
with creatures, no more burdening and oppreffing of the creation, no more
finning and offending againſt the Creator, no more being difpoffeffed of his
life and glory; but the dwellings which God reareth up in the laft days for
Ifrael his people fhall be peaceable habitations, fure dwellings, and quiet
refting-places for evermore. Oh! let Ifrael feel that which is able to
awaken him, and wait for this!
Queft. How shall they be vifited and gathered?
Anfw. By the new covenant, by the new law of the Meffiah, which is to
go forth out of the new Sion, and by the word of the Lord, which is to
iffue out of the new Jerufalem: not by the covenant of Mofes (their eyes
Sff 2
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Some Questions and Answers for the
may fail in hoping and looking out that way), but by the covenant of the
Meffiah, where the law of the life is written; not in tables of tone, or our-
ward writings of the letter, but in the heart by the Spirit. There they
fhall be cleanfed by inward water, receive the inward circumcifion, and
mark of the inward Jew; be fprinkled with the everlaſting blood of the
Lamb, and taught to offer up the ſpiritual facrifice, and ſhall hear the voice
which will tell them of the way, and which will lead them in paths they have
not known. There the fpiritual feed, the ſpiritual Ifrael, fhall find the
Shepherd of Ifrael, who leads into the land of life, puts forth his fheep into
the paftures of life, gives them of the living ftreams to drink, begetting
them as heirs of, and bringing them up in the everlaſting power and do-
minion of the life.
1
Queft. How may old Ifrael enter into this path, and fo become new Ifrael?
Anfw. By waiting on the Lord for the clofing of that eye which is wife
according to the fleſh, and for the opening of that eye which is at firſt weak
in fpirit. There muſt be a low beginning: Ifrael muſt know and not deſpiſe
the day of ſmall things, if ever he will grow up into the riches and inheri-
tance of this glory. There is a light in every heart at firſt, which gives a
found in the natural veffel, which is very hardly diftinguishable from the
natural, till (by obedience and ſubjection thereto) its living touch, virtue,
and power comes to be felt and diftinguiſhed; but in the meek, humble,
believing, and obedient, it daily appears more and more, and makes itſelf
more clearly manifeft to them who are walking on unto the kingdom and
inheritance in it, while others are difputing about it.
Queft. How may Ifrael believe, and become fubject to the light?
Anfw. When there is a drawing felt in the heart, either to good, or
againſt evil, he must not difpute concerning it on the one hand, nor run
on in the forwardneſs on the other (for both theſe ways the breathings of
the Spirit on him, and fpringings up of the good feed in him, are eaſily
quenched); but in the fear he is to truft himſelf with what his heart cer-
tainly feels in the drawing virtue, and in the humility to give up the mem-
bers to the good, and to withhold them from the evil, waiting for ftrength
from the fountain of ftrength towards both. By this means there is a travel
and removal out of the corruption and filth of the heart, into the pure holy
law, nature, image, and will of God.
Queft. Where doth God find the heart, when he first vifiteth it with his
light?
Anfw. In Egypt, in the darkneſs, in the bonds and captivity of death.
Queft. What doth the Lord do with it there?
Anfw. He exerciſeth it a while there, till he hath made it fit for a wil-
derneſs-ſtate.
Queft. What doth he do with it then?
Anfw. He bringeth it into the wilderneſs which he hath fitted it for.
Queft. What doth he do with it in the wilderneſs ?
Anfw.
Opening of the Eyes of the Jews Natural.
509
Anfw. He prepareth it for, and leadeth it towards, the land of life.
Queft. What doth he do with it then?
Anfw. He giveth it an entrance into the everlaſting kingdom (which is
the land of life) according as he hath prepared and fitted it. That which
is new-begotten, new-created and formed, new-born in the Meffiah's eter-
nal light, findeth an entrance into, and a habitation in, the light, and is
not turned back into the land of darkneſs; it abiding in the virtue and
principle of its life, although fometimes it may be exerciſed with the dark-
nefs for its further advantage. Thou art our habitation from everlaſting to
everlasting, faith the child of light unto the Father of fpirits, in all ages and
generations.
Now that Ifrael after the fleſh may the better underſtand the path of the
fpiritual Ifrael in the way of redemption, by the powerful viſitations of the
light of the Meffiah in their hearts and confciences, and may know the
gofpel of his falvation, which is able to effect that which the law of Mofes
could not, becauſe of the weakneſs of the fleſh on their parts; let them in
fear, and filence of the natural wiſdom, and in waiting on the Lord in fpirit,
confider the Queſtions and Anſwers following, relating to ſpiritual Ifrael.
SOME
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
FOR THE
Direction, Comfort, Help, and Furtherance of GOD'S
Spiritual Ifrael, in their Travels in Spirit from Spiritual
Egypt, through the Spiritual Wilderneſs, to Spiritual
Canaan; which is the Land where the Redeemed Soul
flouriſheth in the Life, walking with GOD, and wor-
ſhipping him in Spirit and Truth..
Queft. W
Anfw.
HAT is the gospel?
A good meſſage, or glad tidings to man, in the fallen eftate,
concerning a promiſe of redemption out of it.
Queft. Is man then in a fallen eftate?
Anfw. His prefent temper, conftitution, difpofition, and whole courſe,
upon the leaft touch of God upon his fpirit, do in fome meaſure difcover
his
310
Some Questions and Answers for the
!
1
1
his fall unto him, through the infenfiblenefs which is come upon him by his
grievous wound; and death, through the fall, maketh him very unapt to
take notice thereof.
Queft. What was his eftate before his fall?
Anſw. A ftate of glory and bleffedneſs, wherein he came pure out of
the hands of his Creator, was fitted for his ufe, fervice, enjoyment, and
delight, even for him to appear or diſappear in, and exerciſe according to
his pleaſure.
Queft. Wherein did his glory and bleffedness confift?
Anfw. Chiefly in theſe four things; to wit, in the light, in the life, in
the liberty in which the veffel was formed, and in the indwelling and ap-
pearing of the Creator there, according to his pleaſure.
Queft. Open this a little further.
Anfw. Man was made a veffel of light, a veffel of life, a veffel of
pure
freedom. He was formed in the eternal image, and had a pure being in
that image. He was light in the Lord, living in the Lord, free unto all
good, and from all evil, in the Lord. This was the ftate of his being at
firſt, and thus was he made in the image a pure reſemblance of the eternal
purity and bleffedneſs: but, befides this, he had the eternal life, the eter-
nal ſubſtance, the eternal purity itſelf dwelling in the veffel, fhining in it,
and manifefting itſelf from it according to its pleaſure.
Queft. How came man to fall from this eftate?
Anfw. Not willingly, not of an inclination of his own; but he was de-
ceived, through the fubtilty of temptation, to entertain a defire of enlarging
his bleffednefs, out of the limits of the will of his Creator.
Queft. How could fuch a temptation enter man, he being pure and holy, in-
clined to good, and against evil, after the image of his Creator?
Anfw. Man was not made to enjoy a perfection in himſelf ſeparate from
his Creator, or to live of himſelf, but by dependance. Now though he had
no inclination in him not to depend, or to feek a life in himſelf out of the
fountain, yet there was a capacity of fo doing: before which capacity the
tempter laid his bait of advancing him to a greater wiſdom, glory, and ex-
cellency than his Creator had placed him in; with which he confulting out
of the dependance upon his Creator, fell from that which alone was able to
uphold him in the pure ſtate wherein he was made. Thus was he taken in
the fnare of mifery, and brought to that lofs which all the fons of Adam
lie grovelling under to this day, when the Lord at any time awakens the
ſenſe thereof in them.
Queſt. What was the state of man in and fince the fall?
Anfw. A ftate of darkneſs, a ſtate of death, a ſtate of deep captivity,
wherein his foul, body, and ſpirit are become dark as to the light of God,
dead as to the life of righteouſneſs, and captive unto that ſpirit which hath
entered them by their hearkening thereto, who dwelleth and ruleth in them
in the darkneſs, as God did before in the light.
Queſt.
Direction, &c. of God's Spiritual Ifrael.
511
Queft. How is man dark? How is man dead? Is his foul or body dead as to
their being? Or how elſe is it?
Anfw. Man is not dead as to his being either in foul or body, but as
to the right, pure, and fanctified ftate of each. The veffels ftill remain
the fame in being; but they are emptied of their proper liquor, and filled
with other wine. The underſtanding is the fame, the reafon the fame, the
will the fame, the memory the fame, the bodily members the fame, as to
their being or matter; but they are all otherwiſe leavened, and another king
now dwells in them, and reigns over them.
Queft. Then there needs not any diffolution of man's reafon, or bringing it to
nothing, in relation to man's recovery; but only a changing of the leaven.
*
Anfw. Man is become another thing by degeneration from the life. He
is fo poiſoned by fin and corruption, that he is to be wholly broken down
and brought to nothing, even in the very naturals, that he may be new-
made and built up in the newnefs of the Spirit. Thus he is to become as
a fool, as a little child, or rather as a feed to be caft into the womb of
life, there to be formed and born of the Spirit. And as he ſprings up in
the life, he is to forget his own country, living in the Spirit, and walking
in the Spirit; where watching to the Spirit, and againſt his own reaſon in
the pure childiſhnefs, in the fimple inftinct and naturalnefs of the life, he
fhall at length find a reaſon new-formed and fpringing up in him; which
waiting on the Lord in obedience and fubjection, fhall be taken into unity
with the life. But if the eye of reaſon open too faſt, and be not kept down
to the light of life, the betrayer will enter again at that door, and bring the
foul into death, after it hath had fweet and precious taſtes of the redeeming
virtue and power.
Queſt. Čan man in the fall fee his fallen eftate, and ſo feek after a recovery
out of it
Anfw. It is not poffible for him fo to do, without fome light fhining upon
him from the Redeemer. How can darkneſs diſcover darknefs? That
which maketh manifeſt the darkneſs is light. When the veffel is dark, and
the prince of darkneſs filleth it, and dwelleth in it, what can that eye ſee
but according to the darkneſs, judging evil good, and good evil, bitter
fweet, and ſweet bitter?
Queft. But there is no man but bath fome light; no man but at fome time
or other feeth good or evil in ſome meaſure.
Anfw. That arifeth not from the light of man's nature, as it now ftands
in the fall (which being wholly in the enemy's hands, and being itſelf be-
come darkneſs, cannot at all give man notice of, or light him out of, the
darkness), but from a freſh vifitation of the life, which giveth all men a
day of viſitation by the fhining of its light, wherein is fome manifeftation to
man, and fome certain fight by him both of the good and of the evil; and
not only fo, but there is alfo the living Spirit ftriving with him, and at-
tracting him from the one to the other, according to the Lord's good plea-
fure,
512
Some Questions and Answers for the
ure, who is both the light, and alſo the determination of the proportion of
every man's vifitation by it.
Queft. But hath not man naturally a light in the fallen eftate, which difco-
vereth unto him good and evil?
Anfw. Not a true light, not a true difcovery; but only fomewhat which
the enemy fetteth up in man as fuch, to keep him in the intanglements
of the deceit, and out of the fufpicion of it. For the enemy entering into
him, by his fubtilty blindeth and deceiveth his eye (that he may the bet-
ter hold him captive in the decceit), infomuch as he diſcerneth not the falſe
image which the enemy hath ftamped upon him: for though the enemy
bringeth man into a ſtate of real darkneſs, death, and captivity; yet thefe
do not at prefent appear to man what they are, but are mifcoloured, or
painted, to appear what they are not, the better to deceive, bewitch, and
entangle man therein. The enemy did not reprefent darkneſs in its black
hue; death and captivity in its dreadful appearance to Adam; but as wif
dom, as light, as a better life, as a greater freedom. And thus he ftill
enters man, and after this manner he ftill dwells in man, until the true
light purfue him, opening and difcovering his deceit, and drawing man
back from this falfe paradife of pleaſure in wiſdom and liberty out of the
life, into a ſenſe of his want of, and breathings after, the true garden of the
living God.
Queſt. Is man then miſtaken in his judgment of good and evil fince the fall?
Anfw. Yes, altogether; and by this means doth he ſo pleaſingly fituate
himſelf, and take up his habitation in the kingdom of darkneſs, wherein
are ftrong-holds and wife reafonings againſt the true God, and for the falfe
appearances of good, which the enemy of the foul ſtrongly makes men be-
lieve to be fuch as he reprefents them for in the darknefs. Thus in particular
perfons, and alfo in focieties, evil is purfued after, and advanced for good,
and the true good fuppreffed as evil, through the working of the myſtery
of darkneſs in mens hearts.
Queſt. What then is the proper eftate and condition of man in the fall?
Anfw. A ftate of falſe light, of falſe life, of falfe liberty. He feemeth
to himſelf advanced in wiſdom above the low, empty, naked eſtate of inno-
cency, which is nothing, and hath nothing, but by a continual dependance
on the goodneſs of the Creator. He feemeth alfo advanced in life, ad-
vanced in liberty; he can fpeak his own words, think his own thoughts,
do his own will, ſeek himſelf, pleaſe himſelf, fatisfy himſelf. The life of
righteouſneſs is a yoke, a bond, in his eye; he is free from the reſtraint
of it, he hath life in himſelf, and is exceeding wife in the compafs of his
own dominions. Thus doth the enemy transform the kingdom of dark-
nefs and death, giving fallen man a fhare with him in it, while he remains.
his willing fubject. And here the goods of the enemy, the heart eftranged
from God, yea, not only the devout and zealous worshipper in invented
forms, but alſo the grofs finner, the envious, luftful, and wicked mind,
the
Direction, &c. of God's Spiritual Ifrael.
513
the perverfe tongue, the bloody hands and feet, are at peace, and have joy
and pleaſure in their courfe and circuit in the earth. But all this is but
the deceit of the enemy, wherewith he hath cheated man with falfe appear-
ances and repreſentations inſtead of the true, as man himſelf will fee, when-
ever the eye of his foul comes to be thoroughly awakened by the eternal
light, whether here or hereafter.
Queft. What is the work of redemption?
Anfw. To purge the old leaven out of the veffel, to purify the veſſel
from all the falfe appearances of light, to batter down all the ftrong-holds
of the enemy in the mind, all the reafonings, thoughts, imaginations, and
confultations, which are not of the pure, or in the pure; and ſo to new-
create and new-form the veffel in the image of the wifdom and purity
wherein it was at firft formed.
Queft. Who doth this work, or who is man's redeemer out of the fall?
Anfw. The Eternal Word or Son of the Father, even the wiſdom and
power which went forth from the fountain in the creation, the fame goeth
forth from the boſom of the Father to purify the creature, and fo bringeth
the creature back (being purified and cleanfed) into his bofom again.
Queft. With what doth this Word, or Redeemer, redeem?
Anfw. With his own life, with his own blood, with his own eternal vir-
tue and purity. He defcendeth into the lower parts of the earth, becomes
fleſh there, fows his own feed in his prepared earth, begets of his fleſh and
of his bone, in his own likeneſs, and nouriſheth up his birth with his fleſh
and blood unto life everlafting.
Queft. What is this life? Or how doth it first manifeft itſelf in the darkness?
Anfw. It is the light of men. It is that which gave light to Adam at firſt,
again to him after the fall, and to all men fince the fall. It enlightens in
nature; it enlightened under the law; it did enlighten under the goſpel be-
fore the apoftafy, and again fince the apoſtaſy.
Queſt. How doth the light enlighten?
Anfw. By its fhining. The eternal Word moves, the life opens, the
light thines: this in the leaft degree is a beginning of redemption; in its
fulneſs it is redemption perfected.
Queft. How doth the light work redemption in its ſhining?
Anfw. Two ways: first, by turning the heart from the darkneſs towards
itfelf; fecondly, by exercifing the heart, being turned.
Queft. How doth it turn the beart from the darkneſs ?
Anfw. The light, by its fhining and enlightening, findeth out its own,
openeth it, and toucheth it with a fecret virtue, which perfuades out of,
and draws the heart from, the principle and power of death and darknefs,
towards its own native fpring.
Queft. May not thefe drawings be quenched, and the work of God fropped?
Anfw. The plant of the Lord is exceeding tender, his pure Spirit jealous,
the enemy very ſtrong and fubtil; infomuch as the plant itſelf may eaſily be
cruſhed, the Spirit grieved and quenched, and the captivity redoubled.
VOL. I.
Ttt
Queft,
514
1
Some Questions and Answers for the
Queft. If Adam was betrayed in his full ftrength, how shall this poor weak
plant Spring up and grow, without being fupplanted by the violence and treachery
of the enemy? Or how ſhall the grieving of the Spirit be avoided by an heart fo full
of corruption and provocations, as man in the alienated ſtate is, when the light
firft vifits him?
Anfw. The Lord God is nigh to help, nigh to pity, nigh to pardon, nigh
to watch over and fupport worm Jacob: yea, nigh to revive life and ſpirit in
him freely, and to heal his backflidings, and multiply pardons, or it could
never be. Yea, the creature can never be brought fo low, or fo far loft,
but there is ſtill help in the nature of God' concerning him, though there
may not be help in any revealed promiſe..
Queft. How doth God exercife the heart which is turned?
Anfw. In faith and obedience, through very great varieties and changes:
of conditions. He exerciſeth it in believing his voice, and in obeying his.
voice, and following him, in whatever, and into whatſoever, he draws and
requires.
Queft. How is the voice of God known? Doth not the enemy Speak inwardly
alſo, and reſemble his voice? How then is the voice of the Redeemer diftinguished
from him who counterfeiteth the Shepherd and his voice?
Anfw. By theſe two means:
Firſt, The foul lying low, out of the wifdom in which the enemy appears
and forms his likeneffes; in the fimplicity which the Lord hath begotten, the
life
opens to it, and the true light appears, which manifefts the falfe light,
and falſe appearances of the deceiver.
Secondly, In that which is begotten of God there is not an haftineſs or
fuddenneſs to determine; but a filent waiting on the Lord in fubjection,
till the life fpeak, and make things manifeft. Thus the knowledge and
light of the child is held in the will of the Father, and received from his
hand, and according to his pleaſure. Thus what he will he hides, and
what he will he makes manifeft; and the child which is born of his will, is
content with his will; and lying down there, it keeps out of the enemy's
territories, and of the reach of his temptations.
Queſt. What are the feveral eftates or conditions wherein God exerciſeth the
Spirit of man in faith and obedience ?
Anfw. The particular eſtates and conditions are innumerable; but they
may be referred to theſe three general heads: Firft, an eſtate of breaking
down the former building. Secondly, An eftate of devaſtation or preparation
to be new-built. Thirdly, an eftate of rebuilding. God doth not forget, but
exerciſe his people in Egypt, even while they are in bondage, before they come
to receive his law. He is vifiting them in the dark land, opening the eye
that can fee the captivity, caufing groans and fighs in their oppreffed fpirits,
and then holding forth to them the promife, and preparing them for a depar-
ture from that land. Secondly, He hath a time of ftripping them, of nurturing
and bringing them up under his diſcipline and cloſe exerciſes, wherein they
1
are
Direction, &c. of God's Spiritual Ifrael.
515
are defolate and ready to fin and perish every moment; but as they are won-
derfully provided for, and abundantly helped and pardoned. Thirdly, There
is a ſtate of rebuilding the ftones, when they are prepared therefore, into a
new-building for the life to dwell in, and for their entrance into the land of
life.
Queft. Declare thefe eftates, and the exercises therein more plainly; and first
fhew what is the estate of the foul in Egypt fpiritually, when the Lord vifiteth
it there with his light?
Anfw. An eftate of deep bondage and groaning under the powers of
darknefs, whofe bitter oppreffions thereof increaſe, even as the fenfibleneſs
and tiredneſs of the foul increaſes. The foul then fees its captivity from the
life, and finds a building of death and corruption raiſed up in it, in which
the prince of darkneſs dwells and bears rule and then, oh! how it groans
and longs after departure from that land, and waits for the promife of re-
demption out of it! But yet it is ftill left in the hand of the enemy, and
daily feels the bitter bondage, from the powerful law of fin and death ſpring-
ing up in the heart, and iffuing out through the members.
Queft. How is faith and obedience here exerciſed?
Anfw. In believing the promiſe, in waiting for the promife, in feeling
fome remote drawings of the life, and uniting therewith, fo far as is poffible
in this dark captived eftate. There is an acknowledgment of the true
prince, and a bowing to him even in this eftate of captivity, until he pleaſe
to break the bands thereof, and receive under his guidance.
Queſt. What is the estate of the wilderness fpiritually?
Anfw. It is an eftate of waiting for the guidance of the leader; of re-
ceiving direction and laws from the leader; of following the leader as he
pleaſeth to lead, through the entanglements, temptations, ftraits, and ne-
ceffities which he feeth fit to exerciſe the ſpirit with, for the wearing out of
that which is not to inherit, and for preparing the heir for the inheritance.
Queft. How is faith and obedience here exerciſed?
Anfw. In waiting on the light for the leadings in the law of life, and then
in fubjecting to the leader, being content with all his diſpenſations therein;
with the time he chuſeth for ſtanding ftill, and with the time he chuſeth
for travelling on; with the proportion of light and leading that he judgeth
fit, with the food and cloathing which he prepares and preferves; with the
enemies which he fees fit to have avoided or encountered with. Hereby
the own wiſdom, the own will, the own ftrength, the own defires, the own
delights; with all the murmurings, wearinefs, and diſcontents, which ariſe
from the earthly part; are by degrees worn out, and a pure veffel prepared
for the pure birth to fpring up and appear in.
Queft. What is Spiritual Canaan, or the heavenly-built state, or state of the
Gospel?
Anfw. A ftate of regenerating or renewing in the life and pure image;
where the building is reared up which is made without hands; where there
Ttt 2
is
516
Some Questions and Answers for the
is a ſweet and peaceable growth in the life, and a freſh and fatisfactory en-
joyment of the life.
Queft. How is faith and obedience here exercifed?
Anfw. In abiding in the vine, in drawing from the vine, in returning
the fap and virtue back into the vine; and living according to the will and:
in the free difpenfation thereof. Thus works are excluded, with felf, from
whom they proceed, and the vine becomes all in all.
Queft. Are Egypt, with the wilderness and Canaan, fpiritually, as diftin&t
eftates as they were literally?
Anfw. There are fuch diftinct feveral eftates fpiritually, wherein a man
may be ſpiritually in Egypt, and neither in the wilderneſs nor Canaan. So.
there is an eſtate in the wilderneſs, which is out of Egypt, and not in Ca-
naan; and an eſtate in Canaan, which is beyond both Egypt and the wil-
derneſs. Yet theſe eftates in ſpirit are oftentimes interwoven, with the
exerciſes thereof; infomuch as the foul may in part, or in fome reſpect (to,
his own underſtanding) be in Egypt; in part in the wilderneſs, and in part
in the reft, life, and peace. But theſe things are not to be curiously fought
into, left a wrong wiſdom and a knowledge get up; but abiding low and
little in the little feed, the kingdom and everlaſting inheritance grows daily
in the foul, and the foul daily ſhoots up into it, and is enlarged in it.
Queft. Is there any return back into Egypt, or into the wilderness, after the
State of the foul is advanced higher; the entrance into the everlaſting inheritance
being administered, and the foul partly taken into, and having found a place of
reft in, the life?
Anfw. The enemy lies near to deceive; and while he hath power to tempt,
if there be an hearkening to his temptations, there is a departure from the
pure life, and a return of the captivity or bewildering in fome meaſure. In
the faith and in the obedience to the light of life is the prefervation; out of
it is death and deftruction eternally.
Queft. Is not the Pure Being untouched by death and deftruction? And fall:
not the creature, when it is redeemed into him, be as he is?
%
Anfw. The Pure Being cannot be impure, evil cannot enter upon him, it
hath no place in him, his nature excluding it, nor can it enter into the
the principle of life that comes from him, and is always preferved by him
nor can it enter upon that man who is begotten of that principle, abideth
with it, and is preferved in it. But fo to be in him, as to abide and not go.
forth, is a great ſtate, even higher than the firſt Adam knew.
Queft. But is not light and darkness, good and evil, all alike to God? And
Shall they not be ſo alſo to him, who is in perfect unity and fellowship with
God?
Anfw. All the light and darkneſs, good and evil, which can iffue from
the creature, cannot reach God's being as it is in itſelf, but only ſo far as
he hath pleaſed to expoſe his life (in the various manifeftations thereof) to
be reached thereby. Yet his eye feeth the evil and the good; the perfection.
and
}
•
Direction, &c. of God's Spiritual Ifrael.
517
and the imperfection, and his nature is perfectly excluded from all evil and
imperfection, infomuch as he cannot poffibly lie or deceive, or be unrighte-
ous or unmerciful in any of his difpenfations; and that which is gathered
into him, is thus one with him. But that which can do any thing which is
finful and evil in itſelf, is not in the true unity with the eternal being,
but in the deceit of that fpirit which erreth from him, and entereth the
creature in the imagined likeneſs of his life and happineſs.
Queft. How far may perfons go, and yet be liable to the enemy's fnare?
Anfw. Very far. They may come out of Egypt; they may paſs through
the wilderneſs; they may receive an inheritance or portion in the holy land
they may have houfes and vineyards which they builded not nor planted;
they may have had deep draughts of the life, deep incomes of the love,
large riches of the grace, and precious taftes of the fulneſs. They may
have been in the Paradife of God; may have been anointed by God; may
have ſtood upon his holy mountain, and walked up and down in the midſt
of the ftones of fire, &c. and yet the enemy may have leave to tempt,
and may find entrance for his temptation; advancing above this eſtate in
the deceivableneſs, and increafing the glory in the eye of the wifdom which
he ſteals in; and fo hold the ſpirit captive in his golden chains, and lead it
back again to the chambers of death.
Quelt. How doth, or can, the enemy prevail over perfons in fo glorious an
eftate?
Anfw. By opening a larger eye in them, than is given them in the life to
fee with. The eye of life is limited in man, and man is to be held within
the limits and openings of life; and his heart and mind to be bounded
within the defires and delights which arife from the life: he is to wait on
the life, for its living, moving, and being all in his being: and here he
fhall be large enough, and full enough, and wife enough, and happy
enough. But there is fomewhat which preſents to him a kingdom, a riches,
a dominion, a vaftneſs of perfection in himſelf, and at his own command;
the which he beginning to liften unto, the fame opens an eye in him to fee the
beauty and glory thereof, and then immediately his heart is taken, and he
cannot avoid the fnare; nor can he henceforth know where he is, until
that which he hath forfaken again pleaſe to viſit him, and to diſcover to
him his iniquity and error from the true root.
Queft. What is the way of fafety, when God enlargeth the territories of life
in the foul, and caufeth his love and grace to abound?
M
Anfw. To drink the draughts of joy and fweetneſs in the pure fear and
trembling; not departing therefrom in whatever it doth for God or receives
from him, till the falvation be wholly wrought out and perfected, the ha-
bitation of unſpotted love prepared, and the foul led into, and feated in,
its compleat manfion therein. And then the name of fear is no more heard
of in the land of life, though the principle from whence the fear fprang,
and the birth and building (which was begotten, raifed up, formed, and
perfected a
518
Some Questions and Anfwers conducing
perfected in the fear) abideth for ever. So that the pure love doth not caft
out the pure fear (wherein is no bondage of the life, but the prefervation of
the life from the bondage), but ſwallows it up and comprehends it. For
the pure fear is but love defcended, and the pure love is but fear afcended;
the eternal principle or fubftance being one and the fame in both.
Queft. Is there then fuch a state of fafety, upon which the enemy cannot
intrench?
Anfw. There is a ftate of fuch union with the life, as the enemy cannot
come between; where there is lying down and rifing up in the power of the
life, and no beaſt of prey can make afraid any more; nor can any root of
bitterneſs ſpring up from within, to trouble or make any diſturbance be-
tween the life and the foul any more.
SOME
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
CONDUCING TOWARDS
I
The further Manifeſtation and Opening of the Path of
Redemption and Eternal Life to the Eye of Spiritual
ISRAEL.
HⓇ%%
of God,
Queft. OW doth the Son of God, or eternal word, in whom is the light
of life, redeem man out of the fallen eſtate, out of the kingdom
of darkness and death, into the kingdom of everlasting righteousness and peace
in the life?
Anfw. Three ways. First, By wounding him in the natural and corrupt
eftate, and fo breaking his peace and pleaſure in the kingdom of dark-
neſs, and making him weary thereof. Secondly, By weakening him under
the teachings and chaſtiſement of the law. Thirdly, By healing and bind-
ing him up with the oil of falvation, in the power of the endleſs life, which
is the gospel.
Queft. How doth God wound him in the natural and corrupt ftate?
Anfw. By purſuing him with his light, which letteth him fee what it is,
diſcovering the evil and danger of it, and fo weaning his heart from it, and
making him look out after and long for a redeemer. Oh! how burthen-
ſome is the captivity to the awakened foul, when he hath a glimpſe of what
man was before his fall (when he had a place and being in the life, with a
fpirit
2
towards opening the Path of Redemption.
519
fpirit fuitable to the life), and what he is now in his eftate of eftrangedneſs
and alienation from the life; and whither he is going in his paths of un-
righteouſneſs, eſtrangedneſs, and alienation! And while his heart is thus
returning from the land of death and captivity, and longing after the re-
deeming power and virtue of the life, the enemy (the power of darkneſs)
lays loads upon him, drawing him more and more under the chains and
bonds of iniquity to the utmoft of its ftrength. So that now lufts abound,
evils increaſe, temptations and fnares multiply; and in the land of captivity
their ſtrength is great, the foul weak and faint, and the redeeming power
and virtue ſeems very far off. Now this is the eſtate of converſion; when
the Lord, in the midſt of the powers of death and darkneſs, turns the heart
from them towards himself, caufing it to wait (under the captivity) for the
appearance of the arm of his ftrength, to break the yoke of the oppreffor
from off the necks of the oppreffed, and fo to bring out of the land of
death and darknefs, into the travels towards the land of promife; where the
peace, the life, the liberty in the Lord, the reft, the joy, the full content
and happineſs is reaped by the foul which follows the Lamb thither.
:
Queft. How doth God weaken the creature under the teachings and chaſtiſe-
ments of the law?
Anfw. By exercifing him towards good and evil, and correcting him for
his unbelief and difobedience, as he finds good, juft, and neceffary for him.
Queft. How doth God exercife him towards good and evil, and correct him?
Anfw. When he hath brought him from under the power of darkneſs in
fome meaſure; and in fome meaſure ſet the ſpirit free therefrom, by the
virtue of his life fpringing up in the heart, then he exercifeth the heart and
converfation towards the good and from the evil; then he giveth out laws
for or againſt things, according as he findeth moft proper to the eſtate of
every particular foul. Now upon the giving forth of the law, (the life be-
ing in fome meaſure raiſed) there is that which loves its teachings and pure
path, and there is that alſo which draws back from it; and that being yet
ftrong, there come many ſtrokes and chaſtiſements from the Lord, upon
his own dear child. And theſe are bitter; and to be forced into the fin
which it loaths, and in heart is turned from; and to be kept from the good
which it longs after, and in heart is united to (partly by the ftrength of the
enemy, and partly by reafon of its own weakneſs and negligence), this is
bitter alfo; infomuch as it crieth out day after day, and findeth this admi-
niſtration of the law almoft as heavy a yoke as the land of captivity itſelf
was, becauſe of the weakneſs of it through the flesh, and the ftrength and
advantages which the corruption of the heart and prince of darkneſs gather
thereby..
Queft. What is the benefit of these exercifes upon the foul?
Anſw. They melt, they break, they make the heart tender and fit to be
moulded by the eternal virtue and power, into a veſſel for the power.
Queſt. What frames of ſpirit do they work the heart or mind into?
Answ..
520
Some Questions and Answers conducing
Anfw. Into very many precious ones. As for inſtance,
First, They make the ſpirit poor. The daily inroads of fin and corruption
dafhing againſt the holy and righteous law of life, the overbearing the
ftrong defires after purity, and forcing into the defilement, hindering the foul
from doing what it loves, and making it to do what it hates and would not,
this makes it become poorer and poorer, and more afflicted day by day.
Upon fome vifitations of the pure life, and fome freſh virtue received, oh!
how ftrong doth the foul feem! but when it fuddenly forfeits its mercies,
Joſes its freſhneſs, and is plunged deeper in the pit than before, how poor
and weak doth it then feel itſelf, trembling at the next openings of the life,
and ſpringings up of the virtue thereof in it, not knowing what weakneſs,
captivity, entanglements, and mifery from the fnares of death remain to
follow!
Secondly, They bring into a mourning eftate. They fill the eyes with tears
and the heart with forrow; yea, they cauſe an entrance into the houſe of
mourning. To be accuſtomed to wounds, bruifes, fnares, grieving of the
Spirit, provoking of the deliverer, furthering and giving advantages to the
enemy, &c. the fenfe of this overwhelms the heart with grief, and cauſeth
continual forrow and lamentation to that which is upright towards God.
Thirdly, They bring into a meek, merciful, tender-hearted frame towards
others. He that is tempted, he that often falls, and is fo often wounded
and made miferable, he pities thofe that err; he mourns over the mifera-
ble. His heart is broken with the fins and afflictions of others, and he
knoweth not how to be hard towards them, feeling fuch continual need of
abundant mercy himſelf. It is the rich man, the found man in religion,
that is rough and hard; but he that is once thoroughly melted in the fur-
nace, and made up again, is made but tender, and retaineth the impreffion
of the meekneſs, love, and mercy for ever. Now a broken eſtate in reli-
gion, or a ſtate of waiting for the life, is much more precious than that
which is rich and full by what it had formerly received, and ſtill holdeth
out of the immediate feeling and freſh virtue of the life.
Fourthly, They bring into an hungry and thirty ftate after holiness and righte-
oufness. Oh! how the foul that is fenfible of its filth longeth to be washed!
How it panteth after the paſtures of life, the food of life, the living waters;
to appear before, and enjoy God, in the land of the living! Oh! how doth
the heart, that is daily afflicted with its unbelief and diſobedience, long for
the faith that ſtands in the power, and the obedience that flows from the
power! Oh! teach me thy ftatutes; fhew me the pure path of obedience in the
way of life; guide my feet in the way everlasting! Oh! write thy fear in my
heart, that I may not depart from thee; create a clean heart in me, and put thy
Spirit within me to be my strength. Oh! continue thy loving-kindness to them that
know thee, and thy righteouſneſs to the upright in heart. Oh! what unutterable
breathings daily iffue out from the broken fpirit, towards the ſpring of its
life!
Fifthly,
towards opening the Path of Redemption.
52x
Fifthly, They bring into a pure frame, into a cleannefs of infide. Cleanfe
first the infide of the cup and platter, faid Chrift to the Pharifees; and he
doth fo in his difciples. With the mind I ferve the law of God, faid Paul,
when he cried out, Oh! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver? It is not
conceivable what purity of heart is formed by God in his Ifrael, by the fire
which he kindleth in his Sion, and by the furnace which he fetteth up in his
Jerufalem; for though in the furnace the drofs ftill appears, the fight
whereof is apt to grieve and afflict the precious heart, yet the melting and
purifying fweetly goes on, and the foul (which abideth the heat) is effectually
cleanfed thereby, as is very manifeft afterwards, when righteoufnefs fprings
up, with the quiet fruit thereof; but this cannot be difcerned, while the
flames are diſcovering and taking hold of the unrighteoufnefs.
Sixthly, They bring into a patient frame; fit to bear reproaches and per-
fecutions from the world, who in the midft of all this weakneſs, mifery, and
diftrefs, lay loads upon the poor foul, perfecuting him whom God hath
fmitten, and ſpeaking to the grief of him whom God hath wounded. God
ſmites for want of obedience; for too much propenſity to pleaſe the world;
for not coming foon enough out of their cuftoms, vanities, earthly ways.
and worſhips; and fo foon as the heart and converfation is given up in obe-
dience to the Lord, the world is difcontent, and they fmite and perfecute
becauſe of the obedience. Now the more the fpirit is broken by the hand
of the Lord, and taught thereby to fear him; and the leſs ſtrength it hath
in itſelf, to grapple with the perfecuting ſpirit of the world; the fitter it is
to ftand in God's counfel, to wait for his ftrength and prefervation, which
is able to bear up its head above all the rage and fwelling of the waters of
the worldly ſpirit in the men of this world.
Much more might be faid, but this may fuffice. What is behind will be
felt inwardly, as the foul waits on God in the leadings of his Spirit, through
the teachings, chaſtiſements, and diftreffes of the law.
Queft. With what kind of things doth the Lord exercife the fpirits of his
Ifrael, to bring their hearts into thefe and fuch other like precious frames?
Anfw. With feveral forts and kinds of things, both outward and in-
ward. As,
Firſt, With oppofitions, reproaches, and interruptions from the earthly
part, both in the men of this world and in themſelves. There is abundance
within, and abundance without, to refift, difdain, and interrupt the work of
God in the heart, to oppofe and withſtand that which he hath begotten
there; his leadings of it, and its obedience to him.
Secondly, With temptations from the enemy, even of many kinds, na-
tures, and degrees, according to the prefent temper and condition of the
foul; as either to doubt, and fo defpair; or be confident in the flesh from
knowledge received, out of the pure fear and fresh feeling of the life; fo
again, either to halt or draw back, or to be over-hafty and forward; fo
likewiſe, either not to obey and act for God, or to act in that will and wif-
VOL. I.
Uuu
dom
522 Some Questions and Anfwers conducing
dom which is againſt God. Now thefe, with fuch-like, are very numerous,
frequent, and fometimes very violent and impetuous.
Thirdly, By withdrawings of the life and ſweet preſence of God from
the foul. Theſe are very frequent from the Lord towards his people, info-
much as he is called by this title; The God that bideth his face from the
boufe of Jacob, Ifa. viii. 17. chap. xlv. 15.
Fourthly, By buffettings and prevailings of the enemy. When the Spirit
is grieved, the life wounded, and withdraws inward, the enemy often gets
ground, giving wounds and caufing bruiſes to the foul; not only tempting,
but finding entrance, and taking in the fnare the bird which once efcaped.
and was delivered.
Fifthly, By doubts, fears and confuſed reaſonings concerning the voice of
God and the voice of the enemy. In the hour of darkneſs (when the Lord
feeth good to let forth the power thereof, and to withdraw the beams of his
light), how can that be clearly diſtinguiſhed, which alone is known and feen
in the light? How can the motions, drawings, and pure low workings of
the life, be difcerned from the falfe images and transformings of the ene-
my? Oh! the miſery and anguiſh of the poor foul in this condition! how is
the poor upright-heart pained between faith and unbelief, obedience and dif
obedience, &c. not knowing when it is drawn forward or backward, or by
whom.
Queft. When do theſe exerciſes begin? and how long do they continue?
Anfw. The Lord doth begin to exerciſe the foul even in Egypt; for after
the promiſe (of deliverance from ſpiritual Pharaoh) the bonds increaſe, the
yoke grows more heavy, Pharaoh grows more violent and furious, the cap-.
tivity increaſeth much; but there is no fight of redemption at all, fave to
that eye which is weak, and eafily over-borne in Ifrael. But the exerciſes.
are much more full and fharp in the wilderneſs, where Ifrael is led about,
tried, afflicted, confumed day by day, as if he ſhould never come to the
holy land, nor any of Ifrael be left to enter therein. Yea, in Canaan, in:
the rich poffeffion, in the plenteous overflowings of the life, there is ftill
fomewhat left to try Ifrael and bring him low with, if at any time he be ex-
alted with the glory and fulneſs of his own eftate, and begin to forget his
God.
Queſt. Why doth God thus exercife his Ifrael? Why doth he lead them in fuch
a knotty, and not in a more eafy and ready way to the everlasting poſſeſſion, and
to the fulness thereof?
Anfw. Becauſe their eftate and condition requires it. They could not be
fo purified and fitted for the life; their veffels would not be fo inlarged to
receive it in, nor they fo fafely enjoy it, were it not for this courſe of wif-
dom, wherein God exerciſes and trieth every cranny of their fpirits, until
he hath perfected them, and ſtopped up the entrance of death every-where.
Queft. How do thefe exercifes purify and enlarge them ?
Anfw.
towards opening the Path of Redemption.
523
Anfw. Firft, They try the ſtrength and virtue of the life in them, and
diſcover to them their further want thereof. In the time of the foul's prof-
perity there feems to be enough; but the day of diſtreſs maketh manifeft
the eftate and condition as it is. Then the faith, the love, the patience,
the meekneſs, the conſtancy, and chafteneſs to the ſpouſe (loving him, and
cleaving to him above all, and in all) many times is found to be leſs than it
was judged to be.
Secondly, It brings to a waiting on God for fupport, and for receiving of
more from him. Then the life breathes vigorously, and the foul hankers
after, cleaves to, and fees its need both of the prefence and increaſe of the
virtue of the life. Then he that was rich becomes poor, and he that was
full becomes empty and nothing; yea, he that had enough to live on and
to fpare, is now preffed with hunger, want, and penury.
Thirdly, It prepares for a clearer entrance into, and fafer enjoyment of,
the fulneſs. As the foul is more emptied of the ftrength and riches it re-
ceived from God; fo it is more prepared to enter into, and live in the Pure
Being itſelf. For nothing can live there, which veils. In the life God was,
and is, and is to be all in all for ever. That, therefore, which enters
there, and lives and abides there, muſt be poor, empty, naked, nothing,
and remain nothing for ever. As it gathers any thing from the fulneſs, and
becomes any thing in itſelf, thereby it is fhut out.
Queft. How doth God heal and bind up that which he hath wounded and
broken to pieces with his various and frequent exercises?
Anfw. By opening the power of the endleſs life, in the veffel which he
hath thoroughly purified and prepared, and filling it with the power. The
free power of life, that is the goſpel. To the meek, to the broken-hearted,
to the cleanſed it is prophefied; and when the work of cleanfing is finished,
the wound made wide enough, and kept open long enough, and the death
to the firſt huſband fully accompliſhed, then the perfect oil is perfectly pour-
ed in, and everlaſting health and falvation obtained. This is the end which
God aims at in the vifitations and leadings of his feed; happy are they that
pafs through the vale of mifery, and drink off the dregs of the cup of trem-
bling, not fainting nor fitting down by the way, but following the faithful
fhepherd and leader of Ifrael, till they arrive here.
Queft. What is the great danger in the path of life?
Anfw. The great danger is of afcending a ftep higher than the prefent
eftate and condition will bear; for by this means the afpiring mind gets up,
and is exalted, and holdeth fomewhat received from the life, out of the pure
fear which preferves the heart clean, and out of the fenfible feeling which
keepeth freſh and living to God. And then the fimplicity is betrayed, and
a wrong fpirit lives, and a wrong eye is opened; fo that there is nothing
now but whoredom from the life, and the heart exalted and conceited in the
way of its whoredoms, as if it were the pure bed and moft excellent
way of
enjoyment of the life.
Uuu 2
Queft.
524
Some Questions and Answers conducing
Queft. What way is there of prefervation herefrom?
Anfw. Watching to the life, keeping low in the fear, and cloſe to the
feeling. Here the afpirer is fhut out,or foon efpied at his beginning to enter,
and then the living croſs received, which crucifieth and driveth him back.
And indeed there is no way of fafety in the travels towards the enjoyment
of life, or under any enjoyment before the ftate of perfect death, but un-
der the croſs to that fpirit and nature which would dwell there, and pleaſe
itſelf therewith, and be fomewhat therein, and fo forget the pure everlaſting
fpring, adulterating with the ftreamings forth of it.
***
Man was made for God to be a veffel of his pleaſure, to receive his con-
tent, enjoyment, and happineſs by reflexion. So that man's proper work
was to watch to the fpring from whence he came; to be difpofed of, or-
dered, and to be according to his pleaſure. This was natural to man be-
fore his fall, till a corrupt fpirit by deceit entered him, and corrupted him.
And while any thing of that corrupt fpirit or fallen nature remains, he is
apt to afpire in the felf-hood, and to feek the enjoyment of what comes from
the fountain (yea, and the fountain itſelf alfo) in and according to the will
and wiſdom of the felf-hood. And here let man receive what gifts foever
from God, be advanced to ever ſo high an habitation in the land of life,
yea, have the very fountain itſelf given him; yet by this means he will
corrupt, lofe the gift or ſpring, be feparated from it, and adulterate with
what he can ſtill retain or gather in his own principle. And here do deep
travellers loſe their way, falling from their portion in the land of life, and
from their enjoyments in the paradife of the pleaſure of the life, into the
earthly and fenfual fpirit, holding things wifely and richly there in the earthly
principle, not knowing the remove of their habitation thither, nor thinking
that they are there.
He that readeth theſe things, let him not ftrive to comprehend them
but be content with what he feeleth thereof fuitable to his own prefent
eftate and as the life grows in him, and he in the life, and he comes to
meet with the things and exerciſes fpoken of, the words and experiences
concerning them will of themſelves open to him, and be uſeful and ſervice-
able to him fo far as the Lord pleafeth, he keeping to the leadings, favour,
and principle of life in himſelf, wherein alone his knowledge, fight, growth,
and experiences are ſafe.
Now he that would travel fafely in ſpirit unto the land of life, let him
wait to have theſe things following written by the finger of God in his
heart, and the fenfe and impreffion thereof preſerved freſh in him.
Firft, It is the free grace of God which begins the work of redemption,
which cauſeth the light to fhine, which worketh the repentance or turning
from the dead ſtate, and alſo the belief in, and turning towards, the living
God.
Secondly, It is the fame grace alone that can preferve and cauſe the plant
of grace to grow. If there be a withdrawing of the light, a withholding of
the
towards opening the Path of Redemption.
525
the free influence, that which depends thereupon cannot retain its freſhneſs;
which the Lord may do as often as he pleaſeth, for the chaſtiſement of the
rebellious part, or for the trial of his pure life and virtue in his plants.
Thirdly, The grace of God vifiting the foul in the death, in the darkneſs,
in the fallen eftate, begetteth life anew in it, maketh it in fome meaſure
light in the Lord, openeth an eye in it to fee the things of God, an ear to
hear and diftinguifh between the found of life and of death, an heart to
turn from and refufe the vanity, and to turn towards and abide in the living
fubftance.
Fourthly, The Spirit of God carries on the work of redemption, by draw-
ing, leading, and acting the quickened foul; by exercifing that which he
hath begotten in the life, under the law of the life. Thus the life draws
the foul daily nearer and nearer towards the everlaſting ſpring, and from the
fading emptiness of fin, vanity, and the creaturehood; and the foul, by the
enlivening virtue, daily follows on after the life, in the leadings, fpirit, and
power thereof. There is a living foul begotten by the virtue of the grace,
and the living foul daily lives in the grace, and travels in the virtue there-
of from the unbelief to the faith, from the enmity to the love, from the
perverfeness to the ftraitnefs, from the iniquity to the righteoufneſs, even
from all the territories of the darknefs, and alfo from the weak meaſures
and degrees of the grace and life towards the fulneſs itſelf, even until it
perfectly center in, and be fully filled therewith.
Fifthly, Where there is a ſtopping of the virtue received from the grace,
and not an anſwer in the heart, there the work of redemption is ftopped. If
the foul follow not in the drawing, the drawing is loft, as to it. If the ear
open not to hear the voice of the Word, or if it be not mixed with faith in
the heart hearing, it proves ineffectual. If ftrength iffue forth from the
Lord, yet if the foul receive not the ftrength which iffueth forth and
bubbleth up in it, or anſwer it not in giving up to it, and travelling on,
the foul abideth where it was at leaft, if it alfo retire not backward from
that eſtate and condition whereto the life had advanced it: for if the virtue
of the life and grace be refuſed, there is an advantage given to death to re-
enter, and gain ground by its contrary virtue and power.
Sixthly, Mark therefore diligently how the Lord doth carry on the dif
penfation of his love and free-grace, even as if there were much done by
the ſtrength and diligence of the creature. What wounding of itſelf by
repentance! what ftriving to believe! what wreſtling againſt enemies, and
for the influences of the grace, and to keep the hope up, and the diſtruſt
out! What ſtrict watching and waiting, even as if the creature did work
out its whole falvation!
Seventhly, Though the creature feemeth to do much itſelf (having received
life from the grace, and acting abundantly towards God in the grace),
yet it is the grace and virtue which comes from the Creator (who is afo
1
the
526
Some Questions and Anfwers conducing
the Redeemer) which indeed doth all: for though the creature repent really,
and turn from the darkneſs with its whole heart, yet the repentance is of the
virtue which flows from the grace, and not of the creature which receives
the grace and fo likewife in the faith, the love, the obedience, the meek-
nefs, the patience, the watching, the waiting, the hoping, &c. Yea, the
very receiving the grace is not of the creature, but of the grace: for the
creature is dead until it be vifited by the grace; and by the vifitation of the
grace alone is made alive, and able to receive it.
Behold then the mystery of redemption. God is all in redemption; God
doth all therein as fully as in creation (it is a new creation) even the whole
work thereof; yet the creature quickened and renewed is in unity with him
in his operations, Phil. ii. 12, 13. He whofe eyes are opened can read the
myſtery, and in true underſtanding ſay (if he hath been led, and hath
proceeded fo far) I am able to do all things through Chrift that strengtheneth
me; yet not I, but the grace of God in me. Now to bring the creature to
this, the Lord exercifeth it daily in obedience unto him, in the life and
virtue which floweth forth from him, caufing it to feel its weakneſs as it
forgets the virtue, or afpires to live of itſelf on the virtue received, out of
the fenfible feeling of its dependence upon the ſpring. And indeed the
virtue that comes from God can alone anfwer God, and the creature is only
accepted with the Spring and Father of life, as it is found therein.
Queft. But if the work of redemption be wrought by God's creating power,
bow cometh it to meet with so many rubs and interruptions, and ſometimes over-
turnings? Can any thing ftop God's creating power?
Anfw. So far as God abfolutely pleafeth to create, nothing can ſtop or
hinder; but the entrance of that which he beginneth to create into the
creature, and its getting a being there, as alfo the growth and preferva-
tion of it there, may be hindered by the force of ſpiritual enemies, if the
Lord pleaſes to permit; or by the grieving and provoking of that free
power, which alone begetteth and preferveth life in the heart.
Objection. Then the work of redemption is not carried on by an abfolute free-
creating power.
Anfw. The creating power and preferving power is the fame; but the
work is ſomewhat different, both in the outward viſible creation, and in the
inward new creation. The prefervation of that which is created and planted
(unto its growth and perfection) is by the fame power which created and
planted; but rather in a way of care, induſtry, art, and ſkill, than of fuch
immediate force and power, though by the exerciſe and putting forth of
the fame virtue and power.
There are three things in redemption:
Firſt, There is the iffuing out of the free grace, love, virtue, and divine
power towards the creature.
Secondly,
towards opening the Path of Redemption.
527
Secondly, There is the opening of the eſtate of the creature thereby, con-
vincing and drawing it out of the alienation from the life, towards unity
with the life.
Thirdly, There is the following of the creature after the life, in the
quickening virtue of the drawings, through all the fnares, temptations, di-
verfions and oppofitions of the enemy.
Now there is no hindering of the iffuing forth of the free grace towards
the creature, or of thofe convictions and inclinations of the creature to fol-
low, which neceffarily enfue thereupon. But the purſuit and progreſs of the
creature (or its abiding with the quickening virtue and power) may many
ways be interrupted and diverted, and fo the creature drawn from under
the influence of the free covenant: for though the covenant be free, yet the
creature only partakes of it, as it is drawn into it, and preſerved in it.
Therefore let thoſe fear who feel the power and redeeming virtue, and
know, that notwithſtanding the free and certain promiſe to the feed, yet
the creature is as clay in the hands of the potter, which may be made a
veffel of honour or difhonour, as he pleaſeth to favour it, or take occaſion
againſt it. And whoever would paſs through the work of falvation and re-
demption, unto the falvation and redemption itſelf, in the living virtue re-
ceived from the life, let him keep faft hold on the good pleaſure, and in it give
all diligence to make his calling and election fure, working out his falva-
tion with fear and trembling, becaufe God worketh in him both to will and
to do of his good-will. And walking diligently and induftriouſly in this
path, he may attain the feal of the redemption, even that mark which can
never be worn out, and to full affurance of faith in the redeeming power;
though it is alfo poffible for him afterwards, through much negligence and
grieving the Spirit whereby he was fealed, to lofe the fight of the mark,
and the comfort of the affurance, which was once frefh and clear in his
fpirit.
For a cloſe at this time, I fhall add a few words concerning the unity of
God's grace (or free light of his Spirit) notwithſtanding the various eftates
and conditions of man whom it vifits, and the variety of its operations.
There is a three-fold State of Man, wherein the Grace
of GOD vifits him.
First, The Gentile-ftate, or ftate of nature.
Secondly, The Jew-ftate, or adminiſtration of the law, wherein God
takes him under his own tuition, making known his will to him, and re-
quiring obedience of him: and not only fo, but alſo directs him to the in-
ward teacher, and to the principle of the pure fear, which is the place of
wiſdom's teaching and inftructions..
Thirdly,
528 Some Questions and Answers conducing, &c.
Thirdly, The gofpel-ftate, or ftate of faith, where the principle is raiſed,
the feed lives, and that is felt fpringing up, known, and enjoyed, which
does the will, and receives the promiſe.
Now in all thefe, the law, the light, the life, the wiſdom, the
one and the fame; but the adminiſtrations are different.
power, is
In the Gentile-ftate, or ſtate of nature, the light which man receives
there (to diſcover evil, and work him into good) is of the Spirit, and by
virtue of the promiſe. For he had been everlaſtingly fhut up in the dark-
nefs, had it not been for the promiſe; and it is for the promife-fake, and
from the free-grace, that he hath any vifitation in the ftate of nature, and
any defires after, or leadings towards, the good, and from the evil; which
fpring not, nor can fpring, from corrupted nature; but from the free
fountain of the new life.
In the law-ftate, the light grows more clear; the teacher is there dif-
cerned and acknowledged; his drawings, warnings, inftructions, and re-
proofs felt more diftinctly, and the foul (that is watchful) continually exer-
ciſed therein.
In the goſpel-ſtate, the principle of life is raiſed, the promiſed feed come,
the power which doth the will received, and the light of life entering into,
and poffeffing the veffel.
Now this is the whole of man, to wait on the miniftration of the life to
him in his prefent eftate, whether he be yet in the eftate of nature, or under
the law, or under grace. To know whence his redemption fprings, and to
wait on the redeeming arm for the beginnings, progrefs, and perfecting of
it; and if it be in the feeling of that virtue, it is enough; or if it be kept
longing or panting after it, it is well; yea, if there be but a defire in him
after a thirst, there is hope; nay, if there be but the leaft feeling of his
dead, barren, and fenfeleſs eftate, there is fome life in him, which the
Lord loves, and will find a time to exprefs his bowels towards: yea, that
which is wholly in the darkneſs, and fhut up in the pit, the Lord hath
bowels in him towards, and after many days may pleaſe to vifit. Oh! the
height, the depth, the length, the breadth of the riches of the mercy and
love of God! Who knows his yearning towards fouls, and his ways of
viſiting and redeeming ! O my foul! hope thou in the Lord for evermore,
and leave not breathing towards him, till thou and his whole creation be
filled and fatisfied with him, and then fetch the full breath of life in him
for ever.
1
POST
[529]
I
POST SCRIPT.
HAVE been treating of the inward work, as it is wrought in the
heart by the power, and brought to the fenfible experimental know-
ledge of the creature; yet would not be fo underſtood as if I made void
what was done without by Chriſt in his own perſon, or any of thoſe ends
and purpoſes for which it was wrought, and appointed fo to be done by
the Father: though this I know, that the knowledge of thoſe things, with
the belief therein, or any practices and obſervations therefrom, without the
life, can no more profit now, than the Jews literal knowledge of the law
could profit them, when they were rejected therewith. And fince the
apoftafy, of this latter age eſpecially, I have clearly feen in the Spirit of the
Lord, that the profeffors knowledge of the letter of the gofpel, and cleaving
to their apprehenfions which they gather therefrom, is become a fnare and
trap to them, to keep them from feeling the power,, and living in the fenfi-
bility of the virtue of the grace; even as the Jews table (or gathered know-
ledge from Mofes and the prophets) became their fnare and trap. The Lord
open their eyes in his due time to difcern it, that they may not withſtand
that miniftration and revelation of his everlaſting gofpel, which God feeth
good to vifit the apoftatized world with, after this long dark night of apof-
tafy! whereof thoſe that ſtick in forms, or knowledge of things in the letter,
without the power, cannot but prove the greateſt enemies, oppofers, and
perfecutors.
Now to help them a little, if the Lord pleafe, in the rolling of my
bowels towards them I find my heart opened, to lay a few things before
them.
Firft, With my heart, in the fight of the Lord, do I own that principle
which formerly wrought in fome of them, which I myſelf was wrought upon
by, and knew not only the outward knowledge which they were acquainted
with, but alſo the inward work and I alfo knew what I called the light of
nature, and what I called the light of the Spirit, the one whereof was not
the other, but differed as far as ſpirit and fleſh.
Secondly, I alfo own all the openings and refreſhments which they re-
ceived from the Lord in reading of the fcriptures in their publick or private
exerciſes, and the experiences which they had from God in their own hearts:
and I know that theſe things in themſelves were true in their proportion;
however the preſent ſenſe, and holding of them out of that wherein they
received them, may juftly be judged by the Spirit of the Lord in his
fervants.
Thirdly, Though thofe things were true in their day, and in their pro-
portion and meafure; yet in them they might loſe their virtue, and die, and
fo they not retain the thing in its life, in its own principle, in the newneſs
VOL. I.
Xxx
of
530
POSTSCRIPT.
of the Spirit, in that birth to which God gave it; but only an image of it
in the natural underſtanding, in the earthly part, in the dead principle; and
then their knowledge of God and their experiences cannot but be corrupted,
and now become the poffeffion of death, and the engines of death in their
hearts. Again, God had fomewhat further to manifeft, even to bring
forth that which they earneſtly prayed for in that day; which they, having
abode in that virtue wherein they prayed, might eafily have difcerned and
embraced, but being out of that, and pleafing themfelves with the literal
knowledge of the things they then received, holding them in the wife and
earthly part, that part cannot but ſtumble at the low and contemptible ap-
pearances of God, which are ftill offenſive to that part. The great glory
of God is hid in a little feed; and how can the great eye of the flefhly-wife
fee it? We have Mofes and the prophets (faid the Jews after the fleſh); but
as for this man, we know not whence he is. Even fo it is now: we know
the relation which the fcriptures have given of Chrift by the apoftles, we
are fure this is of God, fay the profeffors; but as for this little feed of the
kingdom, or light of God in the heart, we cannot believe that all we want
is to fpring up in it.
Now, Fourthly, There is a neceffity both of the knowledge of perfons to
pafs away, and alſo of their experiences to be given up, and let fall, in theſe
two cafes following:
Firſt, When the virtue is withdrawn from them, when death hath caught
them, when they become death's goods: for that which is received from
the life, is only profitable to the foul in the virtue of the life. When the
earthly part hath caught them, and feated itſelf there, they then become
the ftrong-holds of the enemy, and the engines of death to the heart; fo
that then life and true relief is not to be had in them, but where the eternal
virtue pleaſes next to appear.
Secondly, When God hath fomewhat to bring forth further in the world,
or in any particular heart, to make way for it he brings death upon that
which was before living. Thus when God is pleaſed to bring forth a greater
meafure of faith, and power of his Spirit, he diftreffeth the heart, making
the foregoing faith and power appear weak, and pafs away; and many
times for a ſeaſon ſhutteth up the foul in the unbelief, until the freſh faith
and freſh power fpring up and arife. And this cauſeth the neceffity of the
further difpenfations of his eternal virtue to appear, and the beauty of them
to fhine; which they would not have done fo abundantly, had it not been
for the foregoing diftrefs of the heart.
There are yet ſome things further weighty upon my heart to lay before
them, needful for them to confider of, which may be ſerviceable and help-
ful to them in their prefent condition, if the Lord pleaſe to open their
hearts, and imprefs them thereon. They are four propofitions, relating to
the right knowledge of the things of God, which are theſe following:
Firſt,
POSTSCRIPT.
53*
First, That the knowledge of the things of God comes from the Spirit. As the
fcriptures themſelves came from the Spirit, fo the true knowledge of them
is alone given, to any man which receiveth it, by the fame Spirit. And no
man living can know the mind of the words which the Spirit fpake, but as
the fame Spirit which ſpake them, gives the meaning of them.
Secondly, That the knowledge of God (the living knowledge, the fervice-
able knowledge) is alone held in the Spirit, and in the birth which is of the
Spirit. Man's natural part is not the true treaſury, nor is man's reaſon to
be mafter of any of the things of God's Spirit; but that which holds the
knowledge of the kingdom, the grace of the kingdom, the living experi-
ences, is that which is born of the feed of the kingdom; and man's reafon
is for ever to be fhut out of the things of God, further than it bows, is
limited and fubjected.
Thirdly, That the knowledge received from the Spirit, is fill to be tried by
the Spirit. The Spirit alone can keep it living, and the Spirit alone can
tell whether the life and virtue be ſtill in it, or whether death hath caught
it; whether it be the Manna fit for the foul's food; or Manna once given,
but now corrupted. Oh! my dear friends, wait to underſtand my experi-
ence concerning this thing, which is this! That which I had certainly re-
ceived from God, and which the true birth at firſt had fed on, the earthly
birth would be catching at, laying hold of, and treaſuring up to feed on at
another time. Likewife in my reading of the fcriptures, I lay open to this
great fnare, of reading in my own will, and of gathering from thence in
mine own underſtanding, and fo growing wife concerning the things of
God after the fleſh: for though, at that time, I was not without living
knowledge and experiences of God, yet I knew not how to turn from the
death, nor to keep to the life; and fo the bad, the lean, the earthly, the
ill-favoured, overgrew the good and well-pleafing to God, and brought it
into bitter miſery and death. Oh! that ye knew being begotten of the will of
the Father, and keeping to the will of the Father, and receiving the bread
daily from his hand! That which man conceiveth concerning the fcriptures,
is not the pure milk of the word, but that which the breaſts give out; that
is it which hath the immediate life, virtue, and true nouriſhment in it.
And this muſt be returned back into the treaſury, and not held in the
earthly part, in the earthly will and underſtanding, but received from the
life again when it is again needed; yea, this have I often known, that when
I have been in great diſtreſs, I have received freſh comfort from the Lord;
but running to that afterwards, it never was able to comfort me, but more
deeply wounded me. And thus hath the Lord been teaching me to live.
upon himſelf, and not upon any thing received from him, but upon the
life itſelf, the mercy, the good pleaſure, which proportions out the living
bread daily to the living birth.
Fourthly, It is eafy receiving of knowledge in the earthly part, in the earth-
ly wisdom, out of the Spirit and living virtue. When one readeth a fcripture,
XXX 2
iti
532
POSTSCRIPT.
it is eafy conceiving and apprehending a meaning one's felf, or taking in
another man's meaning; but it is hard abftaining from all conceivings and
reaſonings of the mind, and waiting for the pure will and opening of the
Spirit therein. Alſo it is eafy retaining of knowledge, and making ufe of
it in the will and wiſdom of the earthly mind (for both theſe are natural):
but it is hard denying the reaſon, the thoughts and imaginations, and watch-
ing to the Spirit.
O profeffors! wait for the living appearance of God, even for the freſh-
nefs of his Spirit in your fpirits; that in that which cometh from the Spirit
ye may know the Spirit, and may alfo know how to turn to him and abide
with him, having the watch fet againſt that wiſdom in yourſelves, which in
all ages and generations is eternally fhut out of the things of the kingdom,
although it may gather, get, and hold a vaſt knowledge of the things of
the kingdom in the earthly treafury. Thus flefhly Ifrael hath the wildom
of the letter; but ſpiritual Ifrael the wiſdom, virtue, and life of the Spirit
in all ages and generations. And though he that is born after the fefh,
defpifeth him who is born after the Spirit, yet this is God's heir; and the
bond-woman, the earthly wiſdom, with all her children (even the greateſt
giants in knowledge, profeffion of religion, and fcripture-obfervations) muft
be caft out, and not inherit the land of life. This is written that that
might be raiſed in you by the power, which is to inherit the life eternal;
and ye not find your fouls deceived when the light of that day fully opens,
which hath already dawned.
I was in a poor low condition, when the Lord formerly vifited me; as
loft, as undone, as miferable as any. What knowledge, what life, what
precious virtue I then received, was from God's grace; which was ftill his
own, and he might call for it at his pleaſure. And furely, he which hath
received from the fountain, ought to truft and to give back again to the
fountain, when he calleth for it; and then to remain empty, naked, and
defolate, until he be again freely vifited. This is an hard leffon, who can
learn it? Who can truft his life with the fountain, and lie open to what
follows? Yet this did the Lord require of me; and my heart being not
willing to part with my life, but ftriving to retain it, and grow in the firft
way of the difpenfation of the grace unto perfection, he brake it after an
unutterable manner, and brought fuch a mifery and defolation upon me as I
could not poffibly have fufpected, having been fealed by him. And now
he is teaching me to live more fully upon his grace, or rather upon the fpring,
where I am nothing, where I can be nothing for ever: but he is and will be
what he will be, and when he will be; and nothing in me can be ſatisfied
with him, but what is of him, and lives in him. And here all that I have
known, or formerly tafted of him, fprings up again at his pleaſure; and I
drink of the old wine, and alſo of the new, but have nothing at my own
difpofal. And when I catch at any thing, or would be any thing, I loſe
the ſpring, and am corrected for my backfliding and adultery of fpirit, but
am
POSTSCRIPT.
533
*
am ftill again vifited with freſh love, and the ſpringings up of fresh power and
life, and freſh vifitations of the rich mercy and grace, which the everlaſting
fountain naturally openeth in its own. The pearl is exceeding rich, the
treaſure of life unutterable; and he that will poffefs it, muft fell all for it;
even all his lufts and corruptions; yea, all the riches of his nature (the beſt
of his will, the beft of his wifdom moſt refined); nay not only fo, but all
the riches of his fpirit, all that he hath held, or can hold out of the life.
Then, when he is poor in ſpirit, and hath nothing in himſelf but emptineſs,
nothing ſo much as to receive or retain the life, but what is formed, groweth
up in, and is preſerved in the life, according to its own meer will and good
pleafure; then alone is he fit to be comprehended and brought forth in the
eternal fpring. Perfectly happy is he who is perfectly poffeffed thereof; yet
he is not without a proportion of bleffedneſs alfo, who is mourning after it
and travelling towards it; which can never be attained by the natural part's
retaining the letter of any ſpiritual revelation or knowledge; but only by
beginning in the eternal virtue, abiding in it, and travelling from death to
death, and from life to life; till all be flain which is to die and periſh in
the way, and all be raiſed and perfected which is to receive, and live in the
kingdom and crown of life for ever; which the Lord lays before all to run
after, but none but the fpiritual feed (begotten of and abiding in the Spirit)
can obtain. Mind then this brief fum.
The loft creature, the undone creature, is graciously fought after and
vifited by the fountain of its life and being.
Being viſited with the mercy and grace, and impreffed, it receiveth fome-
what of the grace and living virtue from the fountain.
Having received fomewhat, the creature is apt to retain it in the crea-
turely veſſel (even in the own will, and to enlarge the own wiſdom thereby,
and fo to become fomewhat again in itſelf) forgetting the fpring.
As the creature retaineth any thing in the natural part, out of the imme-
diate feeling of the living virtue, it corrupts, it adulterates from the living
fpring.
And that which any one hath thus adulterated with, muſt be taken from
him, and he be made dead to it, and it to him, before he can be recovered
into a living ftate, fit to enjoy what he formerly received, or further to re-
ceive of, and grow up in, the freſh living virtue.
SOME
>
1
%
1
SOME
!
QUESTIONS
AND
ANSWERS
SHEWING
MAN his DUTY,
And Pointing him to the
PRINCIPLE of GOD in his HEART;
WHICH IS
The ROOT of LIFE in all DISPENSATIONS,
And which, being kept to, is able to bear the FRUIT of LIFE
in every DISPENSATION.
AS ALSO
Some QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
CONCERNING
The SEED of JACOB and the TRUE CHURCH.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
[ dxxxvi ]
THE
1
PREFACE.
TH
HE goodneſs of God endureth for ever. And though his creature
man (who fhould have been fubject and obedient to him) hath finned
againſt him, and by motions and inclinations of his own will and wiſdom
(out of the principle of his pure life, which was to have been his guide and
governor) hath fallen fhort of his glory; yet he ftill pleaſeth to vifit his poor
loft creature with loving-kindneſs and mercy, and with various diſpenſations
of his life, according to his pleaſure. What man is there that hath not
received a foul from the breath of the Almighty? And what foul is it that
hath not ſome vifitations of life from that living breath? The bowels of
eternity moſt naturally roll towards all its off-fpring; who feeketh the ga-
thering of them all in the variety, and according to the limitations of his
will, in his pure wiſdom.
There is a current or ftream of life before the promiſe is known, which
fecretly vifits all, diſcovering the darkneſs in fome meaſure unto all, and
drawing from it. And happy is he who falls in with, and follows the
leadings of the Almighty here; for then he cannot abide in the darkneſs,
but ftill (according to the need of his condition) will meet with a true guide
out of it, and with the true power which redeemeth and delivereth from
it. For as the promiſe made to Adam, had relation to all his pofterity;
fo whoever is vifited with any light by virtue of the promife, that light will
lead him to the promife, and he (in the obedience thereof) will meet with
the ſweetneſs and virtue of the promiſe. So that the loweft difpenfation of
God (the creature being exerciſed therein, feeling the want of God's power,
and drawn to depend upon him for mercy and ftrength) will lead fallen man
back again to his Maker, by the virtue which flows into man from the pro-
mife, though ever fo fecretly and hiddenly. For it is not the diftinct
knowledge of the promiſe (though that is a very great advantage), but the
virtue flowing from the promiſe, which faves. Man being touched by that
virtue, and by the touch thereof quickened towards God; and in that
virtue
PREFACE.
dxxxvii
+
virtue which comes from the redeeming mercy, cleaving to his Maker, and
hoping in his tender bowels, and feeling the weaknefs, infufficiency, and
corruption of his own will and underſtanding, and ſo going forth from him-
felf towards the fpring which quickened him. Here is Chrift known in
fpirit, received in fpirit, believed and relied on in fpirit, and his living vir-
tue already felt, and further waited for. And can this man, thus walking,
thus believing, thus obeying, thus cleaving to the principle which gives
life, thus receiving virtue from it, and growing up (in that virtue) out of
the ſelf-hood, into it; I fay, can this man mifs of eternal life, which runs
along in all the ſtreamings forth of this living virtue?
But oh! how fweet is the ftream of life in the fenfible manifeftation of
the promiſe! He who feels the covenant in Chrift, and life ftreaming into
his heart through the covenant, and the ſeal of eternal peace to his ſoul,
and that he fhall never be left nor forfaken by the fountain of mercy, but
all that ever befalls him fhall conduce towards the working out of the per-
fect redemption and falvation of his foul; this is a precious ftate indeed,
and this is the ſtate which the feeling of the faith, and the living obedience
in the Spirit, leads to. Happy are they that walk in the path thereof, who
content not themfelves with man's knowledge of Chrift, with man's belief
of the things written concerning him, with man's obedience to the precepts
left on record by the apoſtles, but whofe living foul cannot be fatisfied
without the feeling and preffing after Chrift the life, and without a true
engrafting into him in fpirit, through the living Word, or teftimony of
life, received into, and believed on in the heart.
And how fweet alfo is the miniftration of the law, which comes from the
promiſe, and is managed to the foul by the hand of the Mediator! How
fweet is it to ſee the creature fall daily! to find one's own ftrength to be-
lieve, to obey, to ſuffer, to abide with Chrift, to wait on Chrift, to hope
for Chrift, daily battered and brought to nothing, and no life left but what
iffues from the fpring, and is alone maintained by the free current thereof
into the heart daily! Here the ftroke of the law is received by degrees unto
perfect death. Here are the openings of the pure prophecies in the Spirit
concerning a new kingdom, a new birth, a new heir, a new life. Here is
the axe laid to the root of the tree, and that cut down in the heart which
is not to live, and which hinders the heir from his inheritance. Here is the
vale of tears; which tears fpring from the life, whofe virtue waſheth away
the corruptible day by day. Here is the houſe of mourning, and that ftate
of darkneſs entered into, which fwallows up all the joy of the dark earthly
fpirit, and confumes its nature. Here the light of life is fown, and through
theſe exerciſes it ſprings up; and after the paſſing away of this miniftration,
breaks forth in ftrength upon that foul which hath been thoroughly exer-
ciſed herein.
I defire the good of all mankind, waiting for the fwallowing up of the
difpenfations of death, and the breaking forth of life upon them in the
VOL. I.
Yyy
feafons
A
dxxxviii
PREFAC E.
feaſons thereof, according to the good pleafure of him whofe gift life is,
and whofe are all the difpenfations of it. And in that love, through the
openings and drawings of life in me, have I writ what follows; not to up-
braid or ftrike at any, but to be an help unto fuch as the Lord fhall pleaſe
to make it ferviceable to. Wait on the Lord, eye him, read in fear, pray-
ing to be touched by, and gathered into, that which gives the feeling of the
weight of truth. Oh! that mens fouls were awakened, that they might
know what it is to perifh from God, and what to be ſaved by him. The
proper portion of man's foul is the fountain of eternal life; and he can
never be happy (nor in true reft, peace, or joy) while feparated from it.
Let him who is not brutiſh in underſtanding, and whofe foul is not wholly
dead God-wards, confider this.
SOME
<
[ 539 ]
SOME
QUESTIONS
AND
Α NS S W
WER S,
Queft.
Anfw.
Shewing MAN his DUTY.
W
him happy.
HAT is the proper work of Man here in this world?
To fear God, and keep his commandments. This is
all that God requires of him, and this is enough to make
Queft. What is God?
Anfw. The fountain of beings and natures, the inward fubftance of all
that appears; who createth, upholdeth, confumeth, and bringeth to nothing
as he pleaſeth.
Queft. How may I know that there is a God?
Anfw. By finking down into the principle of his own life, wherein he re-
vèaleth himſelf to the creature. There the foul receiveth ſuch taſtes and
knowledge of him, as cannot be queftioned by him that abideth there.
Queft. What is it to fear this God?
Anfw. The fpirit and foul of the creature ftanding in awe of his nature,
and waiting to be kept in due fubjection thereto; this is to fear him, and
this is the proper means of preferving the ſpirit of the creature right in its
motion towards him, attendance upon him, and expectations from him.
Queft. What are bis commandments?
Anfw. They are fuch as are either general to all mankind, common to
fome forts of men, or proper to particular perfons.
Queft. What are thofe which are general to all mankind?
Anfw. They are very many; but may all be referred to theſe two heads;
to wit, To love God above all, and one's neighbour as one's felf; even fo in
Y y y 2
ууг
every
1
i
540
Some Queſtions and Anfwers,
every reſpect doing to him, as one would be done to by him in the like
cafe.
Queft. How may man perform theſe?
Anfw. Only by receiving a principle of life from God, and keeping clofe
thereto.
Queft. How may a men come by a principle of life from God?
Anfw. God is near to every man with the breath of his life, breathing:
upon him at times according to his pleaftre; which man's fpirit opening
unto, and drinking in, it becometh a feed or principle of life in him, over-
ſpreading and leavening him up to eternal life.
Queft. What binders man from receiving this principle of life, and from keep-
ing cloſe thereto ?
Anfw. A fleſhly principle, which is contrary to the knowledge, fear, and
obedience of the Lord, and to all that fprings from the principle and power
of his life.
Queft. How comes this fleshly principle to be found in man?
Anfw. It was fown there by the enemy of man's foul; man giving him.
entrance into his fpirit, by hearkening to his fuggeſtions and allurements.
Queft. What help hath man against this fleshly principle?
Anfw. None of himſelf, but being touched freely by the other principle,
and taſting thereof, he is to wait on God's mercy and grace for the mani-
feſtation of his light and power, to diſcover to him the evil nature and
courſe of his own heart, and to cut down the corrupt defires, reaſonings,
and imaginations thereof.
Queft. In what way is this effected upon the heart ?
Anfw. In the heart's belief of this principle, and in its obedience
thereto.
Queft. How may a man come to believe in this principle?
Anfw. In feeling its nature, in waiting to feel fomewhat begotten by it;
in this its light ſprings, its life fprings, its love fprings, its hidden power
appears, and its preferving wiſdom and goodneſs is made manifeft to the
foul that clings to it in the living fenfe, which its prefence and appearance
begets in the foul.
Queft. How may a man come to obey this principle?
Anfw. In the faith, in the eying of it, in the clinging to it, the ftrength
iffues from it into the creature, which maketh it able to perform all that
it calleth for.
Queft. How come perfons to be fo weak, and to complain fo much for want
of power, who feel a true beginning of life, and earnest breathings after God?
Anfw. From the enemy's interpofing of reafonings between them and
their faith. The darkneſs, the principle of unbelief, lies near, and is ſtill
raifing mud (as much as poffible) between the principle of life and the
foul: and fo far as it can come between, it diſturbeth both the motions of
the
!
Shewing Man his Duty.
541
the foul towards its fpring or principle of life, and alſo the ſpring's clear
bubbling up in, and running through the foul.
Queft. What is to be done in this cafe?
Anfw. The foul is to wait God's feaſons of deliverance from theſe, and
to hope for a hidden fupport from his grace, while the vifitations and lead-
ings of his life are not made manifeft.
Queft. What ground is there for this hope?
Anfw. There is ground of hope for the creature in God's goodness; who
naturally loveth and feeketh after the fouls which he hath made, and doth
not readily nor eaſily caft off in any of his diſpenſations. Beſides, where he
hath begotten fomewhat, and where the bent of the heart is towards him,
and the defire after his pure life and ſpirit above all things kindled, there hath
he laid the foundation of a building, which (though at prefent it may lie in
the duft, and under heaps of ruins) he cannot forget.
Queft. Are there other commands befides theſe common to all men?
Anfw. Yes; according to that diſpenſation of life and mercy unto which
they are called, and into which they are admitted by the love and kindneſs
of God, which overfpreadeth all his works, and who forgetteth not his crea-
tures in their eftate of feparation and alienation from him.
it
Queft. Are there then more difpenfations of life and mercy than one?
Anfw. Yes. For though the life and mercy in itſelf is but one; yet
hath ſeveral ways of feeking-out after, and gathering into itfelf, the loft fons
of Adam.
Queft. What have been the chief ways of difpenfing the light of life towards
mankind?
Anfw. First, by a fecret fhining into their hearts. Thus the foul of the
Lord holdeth forth fome beams of his eternal light to all mankind, accord-
ing to his pleaſure, at fome time or other vifiting the darkeft corners of the
earth, and making fome way therein for the ſcattering of that darkneſs
which feparates the foul from the light of life, and from the fweet preſence
and enjoyment of its Creator, which naturally flows into every foul in its
believing and obeying of that light.
Queft. Were ever any thus gathered to the Lord?
Anfw. The Lord is able to make any difpenfation of his life effectual,
And as many of the Jews were not gathered by the law, ſo many of the
Gentiles might be gathered without the law.
Queft. But the law gave the knowledge of the Meffiab to come through faith,
in whom was the remiſſion of fins known, and ſtrength againſt ſin ?
Anfw. The knowledge of Chrift runs along in all the difpenfations of the
eternal light: the light cometh from him, and it manifefts him in fpirit;
and the remiffion by his blood is fpiritually known in the foul's feeling the
living virtue thereof. The law and the goſpel are both known in ſpirit,
wherever the eternal light viſiteth and is received.
>
Queft. What are the commands common to those?
Answ
$42
Some Questions and Anfwers,
Anfw. They are known to thofe who are thus gathered, who in the life
thus difpenfed, feel the leadings of it, and in its light are fenfible of
thoſe requirings which univerfally ftream forth from it among thoſe that are
thus gathered.
Queft. What other way of difpenfing the light of life bath there been?
Anfw. That of the promife to the fathers, which was before the law,
wherein they faw the day of the Meffiah, and were glad. This was a glo-
rious difpenfation, in which they tafted the Sonſhip, and felt power to walk
with God, and faith to truft him in his leadings, and were tranflated by him
(in a ſweet and precious degree) into the meaſure of his life, which made
them pilgrims and ſtrangers in this world, and ſteered their ſpirits towards
another country.
Queft. What were the commands common to theſe?
Anſw. They were ſeen by them in the ſtreamings forth of that difpenfa-
tion of life among them; a tafte whereof the quickened ſpirit may have,
in reading the words concerning them up and down the fcriptures.
Queſt. What further difpenfation of life bath there been ?
Anfw. That of the law to the Jews.
Queſt. Was that a miniftration of life? Was it not rather a miniftration of
death and condemnation?
Anfw. It proved fo in its effect, through the weakneſs of their ſtate; but
its natural tendency and proper effect, in cafe of obedience thereto, was
life. And alfo in the midſt of its adminiftering death and condemnation,
it pointed to him who was the juſtification and the life; infomuch as the
law was kind to them in flaying them, and ferviceable to the life of fuch
fouls as kindly received the ftroke thereof, and fled to the hope fet before
them.
Queſt. What were the common laws amongst theſe?
Anfw. They are to be read in the writings of Mofes and the prophets,
wherein God's law and teftimonies were abundantly given forth to that
people.
Queft. Have there been yet any further difpenfations of life?
Anf. Yes; that of the gospel, before the apoftafy and falling away from
the living truth and power of the Spirit, into man's wiſdom, inventions, and
imitations.
Queſt. What were the laws common to theſe?
Anfw. They may be read in the writings of the evangeliſts and apoſtles,
where the record of the miniftration is to be found.
Queft. What bath the miniftration of life been fince the apostles days?
Anfw. Very low, very weak, very dark, very hidden, exceedingly re-
tired; yet true children have been begotten, and food hath been handed
to them from the Father, and they have been nouriſhed up in the faith,
and have kept the commandments of their day, and died in the faith and
thoſe who have thus been led and preferved, their fouls are at reft, and in
the
1
Shewing Man his Duty.
543
the peace of God. But theſe have not been in any particular diſtinct ga-
thering, and clear feparation out of the world; but fcattered up and down
in feveral miſtaken forms, and loaded with the inventions of the earthly
wiſdom, and with the bondage and weight of corruption, not knowing
that clearness of fpirit, and victory over fin, by the prefence of the life,
which was felt and enjoyed by the Chriftians before the apoftafy.
Queft. Had thefe any common commandments?
Anfw. Not fo diftinctly as the former; for they lying in a heap of con-
fufion in a wilderneſs, or chaos, fcattered in the mifts and fogs of anti-
chriſtian darkneſs one from another, had not fuch common beams of
light, or clear ftreams of life running among them, as thofe that had a
more diftinct gathering. Yet fome teftimony for God, and againſt the
corruption of the times, according to what was in their day and age to be
teftified for and againſt, did run among every fort (of fuch as were true-
hearted) in fome kind or other. And for this they were hated and perfe-
cuted by men (even by ſuch as were formal, and of another fpirit) and
alfo dearly tendered and beloved of the Lord.
Queft. Hath there been any further difpenfation of life fince the apoftafy?
Anfw. There is another begun, whofe glory is to exceed the former, after
the darkneſs (which overfpread and clouded the beauty of the former) is
expelled by the growing brightneſs of this appearance.
Queft. How may it appear that there is another?
Anfw. There is no knowing this difpenfation but by being gathered into
the light of it. Wiſdom hath been alone juftified of her children in former
ages, and fhe can be juſtified by none elſe, in her appearance in this
age.
Queft. What is the difference of this from the former?
Anfw. It is more inward, more retired, more cloſely depending upon the
principle of life in the Spirit, than the former.
Queſt. Is it then the fame in fubftance?
•
Anfw. Yes, the very fame. The very fame truth of Chrift Jeſus, the
very fame building of God in the Spirit, the very fame church, is to be
again brought forth; but in greater glory, that being now to be left out
whereby the enemy then entered; and alfo degrees of beauty, ftrength and
perfection being to be added.
Queft. But furely a greater glory than that in the apostles days is not to be ex-
pected; nay, it is not the belief of many that ever that ſhall be restored.
Anfw. This arifeth from the unbelief, and want of the fight of the thing
by the right eye in the true light. For the travel of the eternal Spirit in
its difpenfation is towards perfection; and after the darkneſs of antichrift,
the brightneſs of the light of life is to fhine more clear than ever, as is
abundantly teftified in the fcriptures (eſpecially in the book of the Revela-
tions), and alſo ſeen by many in the clear openings of the fame eternal
Spirit.
Queſt.
544
Some Questions and Answers.
Queft. Are there any common commands given forth in this difpenfation?
Anfw. Yes, unto all who are gathered in the Spirit of it. They all feel
the fame common commands unto feveral things, according to the nature
and drift of this difpenfation.
Queft. What are they?
Anfw. They are many, and concern many things; to wit, their meetings
to worſhip and wait on the Lord, who hath viſited and gathered them; to-
gether with their way of worſhipping, as alfo their converfe and converſa-
tion amongſt men, &c. which are not eafily fpecified: neither indeed are
they fit to be held forth to man's difputing wifdom; but to be waited for
in the Spirit, where the light of them is evident, and the ſtrength to per-
form them received and held.
Queft. But how may men know that these are true commands of the Lord,
and not imaginations or opinions of their own?
Anfw. When the principle of life is known, and that which God hath be-
gotten felt in the heart, the diftinction between what God opens and re-
quires there, and what fprings up in man's wiſdom, reaſon, and imagina-
tion, is very manifeft.
Queft. Are there particular commands to particular perfons befides thefe?
Anfw. As every heart hath its own particular ftate, which is only fully
known to the Spirit of the Lord, who is the leader of the foul out of its
darkneſs and captivity, and the exerciſer of it in what he judgeth proper to
its preſent ſtate; fo the Lord giveth out particular commands as he pleaſeth,
either to do or forbear fuch a thing, as he judgeth it neceffary for the
foul.
Queft. How may theſe be known?
Anfw. By coming into acquaintance with the Lord, and the movings
and voice of his Spirit. Firft, the quickenings of the Spirit of the Lord are
to be received into the heart; then the eye fixed in that which is quickened
on him that quickened it, and all the inward fenfes waiting upon him, and
exerciſed towards him. Thus the ſheep come to know the voice of the
fhepherd, and to follow his leadings into the paftures of life, and out of the
paths and feedings of death, and are drawn on by him towards any thing,
or ſtopt by him from any thing, at his pleaſure.
Oh! that the fons of men knew their God, and were gathered into any
living diſpenſation by him, wherein they might have the true fenfe
and feeking of him! Oh! that mens fouls were awakened to feel the
want of the breath of life from whence they came! Oh! that the
feed of Ifrael were redeemed by their God, that their glory and beauty
in his pure life might awaken the nations! O God, haften thy work
in the world! bring the glory and wiſdom of man into contempt, and
bring forth thine own glory and wiſdom in its pure brightneſs.
SOME
[ 545 ]
SOME
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
CONCERNING THE
SEED of ISRAEL, and the TRUE CHURCH.
Queft. W
Anfw.
HO are the feed of Ifrael?
They who are begotten of the Spirit and nature of the eter-
nal Father and fountain of life, out of the fpirit and nature of this world.
Queft. Are there fuch a feed in the earth?
Anfw. Yea, and have always been, who have ſtill been the bleffing of
this world, though conftantly hated and perfecuted by it.
Queſt. Why are they hated by the world?
Anfw. Becauſe they are not of the world, but faithful witneffes againſt
it, teſtifying unto it, that its ways are evil, and its end miſery.
Queft. Why do they thus teftify?
up
Anfw. It is their nature, and God calleth them thereunto. He hath ſet
his light in their hearts, to fhine forth in the world, and ſcatter the darkneſs.
Queft. How do they fcatter the darkness? Doth not the darkness rather feat-
ter them?
Anfw. The darkneſs doth indeed often prevail againſt them outwardly,
hunting and ſcattering them up and down upon the face of the earth; but
they ſtill prevail inwardly, in the teftimony of mens confciences, over the
darkneſs; who at one time or other are generally made to acknowledge in
the ſecrets of their hearts that they are of God.
Queft. Why doth the Lord fuffer it to be thus, that that which is precious
and of him ſhould be trodden under foot by that which is not of him ?
Anfw. The Lord hath his feafon for the difcovery of all things. He hath
given the kingdom of darkneſs its time and power to reign over the juft,
and to keep the holy feed in bondage and captivity; and he hath alfo ap-
pointed his fuffering feed its feafon of fuffering in all and generations.
And by theſe, and through thefe, the nature of each is diſcovered, their
ends, and their fuitableneſs to their ends.
ages and
Queft. But fhall this holy feed always fuffer in this world?
Anfw. Nay, not fo; for the Lord hath a day to raiſe the juft into domi-
nion over the unjuft, even here in this world.
Queft. When shall this be?
VOL. I.
Zzz
Anfw
546
Some Questions and Answers concerning
Anfw. When the malice and perfecution of the enemies of the pure feed
are filled up, and the meaſure of its fufferings finiſhed.
Queft. Where are this feed?
Anfw. They are (as yet, for the generality) fcattered up and down under
the face of the whole heaven. Not to be found in a vifible body gathered
together; but ſcattered up and down, here a few, and there a few; here
one, and there another.
Queft. Were they then once in a body?
Anfw. Yea, they were once embodied for after God had caft off the
natural feed, the Jews, he gathered the fpiritual feed into a body, fetting
them as a city on a hill, and making them the light of the world.
Queft. How came they afterwards to be fcattered?
Anfw. The dragon hath done this, God fuffering him many ways to
aſſault this building, and fo far at length to prevail over it, as even to ſcatter
his church out of her built ftate, into a wildernefs ftate, where no eye can
difcern her any more, but that which is of God. (Wait to read Rev. xii.
in the light of that Spirit which wrote it).
Queft. Why did God fuffer the dragon to prevail over fo precious and glorious
a building?
Anfw. Becauſe there was ſomewhat of the power of darkneſs neceffary to
be made manifeft, which could not be otherwife fo made manifeft as by
this its prevailing; and alfo that he might fhew the neceffity of, and make
way for the bringing forth of that, over which the power of darkneſs can-
not prevail.
Queft. Is there then fuch a thing to be brought forth?
Anfw. Yea, there is a church, there is a fpiritual building, againſt which
the gates of hell can never prevail; which is fo united to the rock, that the
powers of darkneſs can by no means come between the rock and it.
Queft. Are this church and the church in the apostles days different, or the
fame?
Anfw. This church hath been in all ages; but a more full and perfect
bringing forth in the apoſtles days than in any age before: yet not fuch a
bringing forth outwardly, as might not be driven back. And therefore did
the Lord fuffer it to be affaulted and prevailed over, in that wherein it was
weak through the outwardneſs of it, that (after many days) he might mani-
feft his ftrength in bringing it forth more perfectly.
Queft. Where bath this church been thefe many ages, fince the dragon's fore
affault and overcoming it, as to its outwardneſs?
Anfw. In the wilderneſs. Rev. xii.
Queſt. What wilderness? Any outward visible wilderness?
Anfw. It is a parable, repreſenting the fcattered ftate of the feed after
God's prefence was withdrawn from the viſible building, and it laid waſte as
to his life, and the appearances of his Spirit, and the dragon got into, and
feated
the Seed of Ifrael, and the true Church.
547
feated in, the form, 2 Theſſ. ii. 4. then the feed and appearances of God
were to be found elſewhere, and not in thoſe buildings.
Queft. How were thofe churches or buildings in the apostles days laid wafte?
Anfw. The prefence of the life and power makes the form living; and
no longer is it or can it be ſo than the life and power remains with it. Now
they not abiding in the life and in the power (the apoftafy coming, ſpoken
of, 2 Theſſ. ii. 3.), the life and the power alfo withdrew from them, and
left them the dead form, into which the prince of death immediately enters;
and fo that which was a church unto God while the life abode there, and
they in the life, becomes a fynagogue of Satan, he entering into the dead
form, and being worshipped there in the dead form. So that it is not any
outward gathering or profeffion that makes a church under the New Tefta-
ment, but only the life and power. That gathering which is in the life and
power is a true church; that which is not, is a fynagogue of Satan, let them
profeſs what they will. For the living God dwells in living temples only,
and the prince of death dwells in all the territories of death.
Queft. According to this rule there are, or have been, few true churches of
God in the world fince the days of the apostles.
Anfw. The true church hath been in a wilderneſs-ſtate fince the days of
the apoſtles. A ſcattered feed have her children been, and ſhe a widow
forfaken; God providing a place for the inward part of his building, and
giving up the outward part to the formal fpirit, to the poffeffion of the
powers of darknefs. Read Rev. xi. 1, 2. The Lord, by the withdrawing
of his Spirit, took down his own building, gave up the outward court to
the Gentiles, removed the inward temple, altar, and worshippers into the
wilderneſs. And fince that time, men have built many buildings, in the
imitation of that which God built (every fort according to their ſkill, and rea-
fonings of their wisdom about the thing); but they are not the fame building.
But the true building, the true church, is reproached by all theſe builders,
and not known to be the thing, becauſe hid from their eye.
Queft. When ſhall this true church appear again?
Anfw. When God, who gave her the wings of an eagle to fly into the
wilderneſs, bringeth her the fame wings again to fly out. Then fhall fhe
come forth cloathed with the fun again, with the moon under her feet, and
with her crown of ftars.
Queft. How may it appear that thofe prefent buildings which are to be found
in the world are not the true churches?
Anfw. Becauſe they are built by men, and their ftrength ftands not in
the demonſtration and power of the Spirit, but in the wiſdom and power of
man; take away that, they foon crumble and moulder of themfelves. Be-
fides, they are not cloathed with the fun, have not the moon under their
feet, nor know not the travail to bring forth the man-child, which the true
church knows even in the wilderneſs.
Zzzz
Queft.
1
-
548
Some Questions and Answers concerning
Queft. Why do men keep fuch buildings, and not rather mourn after the true
building of God, which is built and preferved in the light and power of his
Spirit?
Anfw. Antichrift's time is not yet fully ended, nor the mifts wherewith
he blinds mens eyes fcattered, nor the cup of his fornications (which makes
every one drunk and befotted as to the fight and knowledge of the true
church, which drinks of it) taken from mens lips.
Queft. How may I know the true church?
Anfw. By being born of God's Spirit, and looking with that eye which
he gives to thoſe whom he begets in that light of life which fhineth from
his prefence here his holy church and true fpoufe is difcerned and diſtin-
guiſhed from all falfe refemblances, and vain pretenders.
Queft. Are there then many resemblances of the true church, and pretenders to
be fuch, which are not fo indeed?
Anfw. Yes; there is the mother of harlots, Rev. xvii. 5. and her many
daughters; all which pretend to be the true churches of Chrift, but want that
life in themſelves, and that union in ſpirit with him, which alone can make
fuch.
Queſt. What makes a true church?
Anfw. That alone which makes a fpiritual body, and which unites that
body to the head. There must be a true nature, and the union of that na-
ture to the head, or there cannot be a marriage in ſpirit to the Lamb. Now
the true church is Chrift's ſpouſe, bone of his bone, and fleſh of his fleſh, as
truly of the feed of Abraham after the ſpirit, as the Jews were after the fleſh.
And as he that faith he is a Jew, but wanteth the true circumcifion of the
heart and fpirit, doth but lye, and is not indeed fo; fo they that fay they are
a church, but want the nature of the church, they alſo lye, and are not a true
gathering of Chriftians out of the world, but a fynagogue of Satan, ftill
abiding and worſhipping in the ſpirit of the world. Rev. ii. 9, & chap. iii. 9.
Queft. May not the true church be known by outward vifible marks, as moſt
perfons defcribe and feek to find and diftinguish her by ?
Anfw. No; not poffibly in her wilderneſs-ſtate, nor hardly in her built-
ftate.
Queft. Why not poffibly in her wilderneſs-ftate?
Anfw. Becauſe there he is ftripped of them, and the harlots, or falſe
churches, are cloathed with them. Mark the thing: In the very apoftles
days, the falſe miniſters and falfe Chriftians got into the form, and denied
the power, 2 Tim. iii. 5. Now after a feafon God leaves the form to them,
Rev. xi. 2. gathering his church out of that appearance into the hidden
power. Here is the wilderneſs into which the church fled; the life, the
power, which before appeared in the form, being withdrawn and feparated
from the form, and the living feed gathered into it, and worshipping in it.
And who can now find the church, or learn the worſhip? Here the eye of
the feed is tried, and the wiſdom of the ſpirit of the true difciple. And
here,
the Seed of Ifrael, and the true Church.
549
here, ever fince, all the world have been jangling about the form, while
the true witneſſes have been mourning after the power, teſtifying concerning
the power, and enjoying what was to be given forth of it, in the prefent
way of its difpenfation in the wilderneſs.
Queft. Why hardly in her built state?
Anfw. Becauſe even then fuch variety of reſemblances and likeneſſes of
the true church may be built, as cannot be diſtinguiſhed from the true itſelf
by any outward marks. There were in the apoſtles days falfe apoſtles, falſe
miniſters, and falfe churches; which though they appeared as the apoſtles
of Chrift, as the minifters of righteouſneſs, as the churches of Chriſt, yet
they were not fo, but falfe prophets, deceitful workers, and fynagogues of
Satan. Now they which intend to deceive, appear moſt exactly in the
form, and with the outward marks, if need require; and that which is
true and ſubſtantial, is not fo regardful of the outward form, but minds
the inward life, truth, and ſubſtance. He therefore that judges by the
form and outward marks, cannot but judge that to be the true fpouſe
which appears moft in the form, and with the outward marks, and fo is
very liable to be deceived and err, by judging ſome of the falſe churches to
be true, and the true to be falſe.
Queft. What am I to do when I know the true church?
Anfw. To wait in that which gives to be a member of it, and gives true
union with it, whether it be in the wilderneſs-ſtate, or in its built-ftate.
For the fame Spirit which begets the child in the true life, will alſo lead to
the church; and in that wiſdom which is from above the true church will
never be miffed of; but in the earthly reafonings and gueffings of man's
wiſdom, God's church (or New Teftament-building in the power of his
Spirit) is eaſily miffed. And he that miffeth of this, and is out of the pale
of it, is it poffible he fhould meet with the true falvation? He that hath an
ear to hear, let him hear; and he that 'hath but fo much as the heart of a
man, let him confider, for the thing is of great weight, and of deep con-
cernment to the foul.
Well: have but patience a while, and the true church (which God's Spirit
builds) fhall be known, and all the falfe churches of mens building fhall
be known alſo. And that which God hath built fhall have the power from
God, and the praiſe among men; and all the Babyloniſh buildings of man's
confuſed ſpirit, and inconfiftent wifdom, fhall vaniſh away like ſmoke, and
become a ftink in all noftrils. For ftrong is the Lord God of heaven and
earth, who is confounding Babylon in all her gaudy attire, and glorious ap-
pearances, and raifing up his Sion out of the duft. Amen, hallelujah!
Some
[ 550 ]
Some further QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
Concerning the SEED of ISRA E L.
Queſt.
Anfw.
UT of what womb doth the feed of Ifrael fpring?
OUT
Out of the nature of eternal life, out of the bofom of eter
nal love, out of the Jerufalem which is above, which is free, and the mo-
ther of all that are born of the Spirit.
Queſt. By what covenant are the children of Ifrael brought up?
Anfw. By the covenant of faith in the love of the Father, which gives
life and ſtrength to obey.
Queft. Is there obedience required in the new covenant?
Anfw. Yes; the obedience of faith, the fubjection of the nature and
heart of the child, to the nature and will of the Father; which is as fully
natural in the ſubftance, as it can be repreſented in any figure, or ſhadow.
Queſt. What if there be difobedience?
Anfw. The feed itſelf cannot difobey; but the veffel in which it is fown,
and to which it is united, may prove weak, frail, brittle, yea fometimes
ftubborn; the weight and chaſtiſement whereof the feed alſo bears, and in
patient fuffering helps and cleanſes the veffel through the virtue of the
blood of Jefus, which is felt in the feed which comes from Jefus. And
here is the blood of fprinkling known in the foul, which cleanses the con-
fcience from dead works, and washes away the.iniquity thereof.
Queft. Can any fall from this covenant?
Anfw. The covenant is with the feed for ever, and with the feed's feed alſo
is it firm; but the ftreamings forth of the light of the covenant do not
always beget a feed, but only fometimes fet man's nature on work, draw-
ing forth the faith, love, and obedience thereof. Now this will not hold.
All fleſh is graſs, and at one time or other will fade and wither; but there
muſt be a being begotten of the Word, to live and abide for ever.
Queft. How is this begetting?
Anfw. In the weakening of man's strength day by day, and raifing up
the feed, which feed gives life and ſtrength to him that is weakened in the
manhood.
Queft. How is this done?
Anfw. Firſt by drawing forth what is in the man, and then by trying its
ftrength, diftreffing the man with exerciſes beyond him. Thus the work-
ing man is brought down by the requirings of the law, they being too
hard for him, and the believing feed is raiſed up; who in the virtue of the
living faith (whereof he receiveth fupplies from the breath of eternal life)
fulfills
concerning the Seed of Ifrael.
551
f
fulfills the righteouſneſs of the law in the man, and alfo communicates a
righteouſneſs of an higher nature unto him.
Queſt. Why doth God take this courſe with man?
Anfw. It is
proper and natural. How can an higher principle be raiſed
in man, but by the death of the former? And how can the former die
but by fuch exerciſes, trials, and diftreffes as are proper to wear out the
ftrength of its nature, and bring it into the nothingneſs, where that which
is, fprings up; when it hath brought down that which appeared, but was
not?
Oh! who can underſtand God's works in the world? Who can read the
myſtery of life and death in man? Oh! what a worm is man before his
God? What is his nature? In what ftate is he able to walk with his God?
God can keep covenant with man in any kind of difpenfation: but man
ftill fails; his heart deceives him, and he is not able to attain unto, or
maintain any confiderable proportion of, happineſs to his foul by his co-
venant.
Queft. What is man's covenant?
Anfw. That which his nature defires of God to make him happy. That
light, that counfel, that ftrength, that prefence which his nature thinks
fufficient, will not carry him through. Nay, let God fhew grace and
mercy, and add helps unto him in the riches of his love, yet this will not
do. How doth man fall in every difpenfation, where there is any ſtreſs
laid on this covenant, though God is able to be a father and an huſband
therein !
Queft. What is God's covenant?
Anfw. That which his nature fees needful to make man happy in him,
and to keep man in the enjoyment of his happineſs. This, fo far as it is
diſpenſed, carries through; and when it is difpenfed perfectly, will bring
forth the perfect redemption and happineſs of the creature.
Now then that foul that would travel towards life eternal;
Firſt, Wait to feel a principle of life awakened, raiſed up, fown in thy
earth by the living God.
Secondly, Wait to receive all the light of life in every kind, that the
Father of lights fhall pleaſe to cauſe to thine in thy heart, from this prin-
ciple.
Thirdly, Be content to be tried and diftreffed, and have thy ftrength
broken day by day, and thy wiſdom confounded, that thou mayeſt ſink
into, and paſs away in, the weakneſs and fooliſhneſs which the Lord will
bring upon thee, before the wiſdom and ſtrength of his life appear in thee.
Fourthly, Keep thine eye and heart on the grace that firſt viſited thee,
that there thy footing may be, and thy hopes faſtened. Oh! receive the
light ftill from the hand of grace, and look up thither for ftrength to obey
the light; that the earthly man get not a life in the obedience, and thou
forget the grace, and thy need of Chrift the anointed of the Lord; and ſo.
thou!
1
552
To all fuch as Complain
thou live on what thou haſt received from God, and not Chriſt live in thee;
and look upon thy working obedience as the righteouſneſs, and feel not the
righteouſneſs of Chrift, which is the free juftification of his life and power,
waſhing away the guilt of the ungodly!
Ah! narrow is the path that leads unto life; none can enter in at it,
but the Seed, and the Seed's feed; even that which dies in the creatureſhip,
in the principle which Adam received from the Lord, and fprings up in the
nature and being of this feed.
Read this, Oh! travellers towards the holy land, with the eye which
God creates that ye may run certainly in his begettings, in his creatings,
in his leadings towards his land of eternal reft; even in the certain law and
power of his endleſs life, and not in the uncertain reafonings, imaginings,
and gueffings at things by the human underſtanding.
TO
All fuch as Complain that they want POWER:
Not applying themſelves to yield Subjection to what
of GOD is made manifeſt in them, upon a Pretence
of waiting for Power ſo to do.
T
HE Lord God of eternal power, who made man in his own image,
he ſtretcheth forth his arm to fave and redeem his loft creature; it is
his power alone that effecteth the work of redemption; he quickeneth
man, who is dead in trefpaffes and fins; he keepeth alive, and leadeth on
the quickened foul in the path of life; he conquereth, fcattereth, and fub-
dueth all the enemies round about the foul, even all the lufts, corruptions,
and temptations, which lead unto, and entangle in, perdition.
Yet the Lord God requireth fomewhat of the man whom he faveth,
without which being found in man, and returned to him from man, he
faveth him not.
Queſt. "What doth he require of man?
Anfw. He requireth of man, repentance, faith, and obedience. That he
ſhould turn at his call, from the darkneſs to the light; that he ſhould truft
in, and cleave to, the light, but believe the ſpirit of darkneſs no more;
and laftly, That he fhould obey the light, follow the light, walk in the
foot-ſteps of the living towards the land of light; work the works of God
in the light.
Queft. How can man do this?
"
Anfw.
that they want Power.
553
1
Anfw. Of himſelf he cannot; but being touched, being quickened by
the eternal power, being turned by a ſecret virtue and ſtirring of the life in
his heart, then he can turn towards that which turneth him. Being drawn
by the life, by the power; he can follow after the life, and after the power.
Finding the ſweetneſs of the living vine, and his foul made alive by the
fap of the vine, his heart can now cleave to, and abide in, the vine, and
bring forth the fruit of the living faith and obedience to the huſbandman,
who daily dreffeth the heart, that waiteth in the living principle for further
life from the fountain, that it may bring forth the fruits of life more and
more.
Now mark: Is it poffible for any man to come to the eternal reft, that
travels not in the path? Or is there any path, but the repentance, faith,
and obedience of the living fpirit; even of the child begotten by the eter-
nal power, who is taught by the Father to abide and walk in the life and in
the power?
God putteth forth his hand all the day long, to fetch home loft man.
He hath given him a talent, a living talent, which is able to work man in-
to life, and to bring forth the fruits of life in man. Man overlooks the
talent, joins not his heart to it, brings not forth the fruits of life to the giver,
but cries he wants power; and what is he? What can he do? Can he cleanfe
his own heart? Can he kill his corruptions? Can be quicken himself? &c.
Now mark again. There are feveral difpenfations of God to mankind;
in all which, man (of himſelf) falls fhort of the life, of the power, of the
glory, and comes under condemnation. God lays the blame on man, for
not hearkening, for not believing, for not walking with him. Man lays
the blame on God, and fays he wants power. Look on him who is not obe-
dient to the light, which he cannot but confefs to fhine in his heart, and
often to reprove him; afk him why he doth not obey it? Is not this his plea;
that he wants power? Now let men confider, will this ftand before the
throne of God? This is the condemnation, that men do not believe the
light of life, do not obey the goſpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift, do not truſt
and follow the light which would lead them to life, but truft and follow the
darkneſs, which leads into death, and into everlaſting condemnation.
Their plea is, they want power fo to do. Is this true?
I confefs the power doth not fo flow forth to man, as man expects it; but
the power of life works man out of death in a myftery, and begins in him
as weakneſs. There is all the ftrength, all the power of the enemy, againſt
the work of God in the heart. There is but a little thing (like a grain of
muſtard-feed), a weak thing, a foolish thing, even that which is not (to
man's eye) to overcome all this; and yet in this is the power. And here is
the great deceit of man; he looks for a great manifeft power in or upon him
to begin with, and doth not fee how the power is in the little weak ftirrings
of life in the heart, in the rifing up of fomewhat againſt the mighty
ftrength of corruption in him; which he returning towards, cleaving to, and
VOL. I.
A a a a
waiting
554
To all fuch as complain
ご
​waiting upon the Lord in, the ftrength of the Lord will be made manifeft
in its feaſon, and he will be drawn nearer and nearer to the Lord, and his
enemies be overcome and fall he knows not how. But he that waits for
ſuch a mighty appearance of power at firſt, looking fo to begin, and after
that manner to be preferved and carried on, can never in this capacity fo
much as walk in the path eternal; nor is not in the way of receiving the
power, which fprings up as weaknefs, and leads on and overcomes ene-
mies in a myſterious way of working, and not in fuch a manifeft and direct
way of conqueft, as man's wiſdom expects.
The feed of the kingdom is fown man knows not how, even by a found
of the eternal Spirit, which he is not a fit judge of; and it grows up he
knows not how; and the power appears and works in it, in a way that he
is not aware of. He looks for the kingdom, the power, and the life, in a
way of his obfervation, anfwerable to the thoughts and expectations of his
heart. But thus it never comes; but in the way of its own eternal motion, it
fprings in the hearts of many, and they overlook the thing, and turn
from it daily, not knowing its proper way of appearance, but expecting it
fome other way. And thus the enemy holds them in the bands of death,
and they are captives in the ſtrange land, refufing the prince of life, in his
daily offers of life, becauſe they look not for him thus, but after another
way and manner. And till this eye of obervation be put out in them, they
can never clearly fee the appearance of the Saviour to them, nor feel the
efficacy of his faving of them from that, from which none but he can de-
liver.
Now for the 'fakes of fuch as are fingle-hearted, and yet with-held from
the enjoyment of the life of God and of his pure power, through a way of
wrong expecting it; I fhall fay a little concerning the operation of the power
in quickening and leading on the quickened foul, as alfo concerning the way
of its fpringing up in the heart, and the neceffity of this way. I myſelf
was long with-held from obedience to the light eternal, in its low appear-
ance of diſcovering and convincing of fin, through this very deceit, be-
lieving that my condition required the manifeft appearance of a very great
power to help me; and fo when fin overcame me, I did only mourn over
it, crying after and waiting for power, but was kept from joining with, and
cleaving to that, wherein the power ſprings up and manifefts itſelf accord-
ing to its own pleaſure, quite contrary to the way of man's expectation.
The operations of the power are divers and gradual, according to the con-
dition and neceffity of the foul whom it vifits, and reacheth forth its hand
unto.
1. There is a diſcovery of the darkneſs, and of the erring of the heart
from God. This is power; for this should never be in any heart, could all
the powers of darkneſs there withſtand it.
2. There is a rifing of the heart againſt the evil, with a defire of deli-
verance from it, and of the fpringing up of the good in fuch power as
might
that they want Power.
555
L
might conquer it. This is a further appearance of power than the former,
and a good beginning towards believing or joining with the redeeming arm,
which all the powers of darkneſs (with all manner of fubtilty) endeavour to
divert the heart from.
1
3. There is an upright frame of fpirit begotten, and a truth of heart
formed towards the Lord; from which defires, and cries, and groans after
his life and preſence, and for deliverance from the enemy, and from under
the power of his deceit, fpring more and more.
4. There is a fear begotten in the heart of being deceived by the enemy.
of being drawn from the feeling of, and panting after, the life and power
of God.
5. There is an hope and truft in the Lord's goodness and mercy, with a
daily waiting for his appearance, for the manifeftation of his Spirit and
pure prefence, and for the fpringings up of his freſh life and precious
virtue.
6. There are overturnings of the enemy, battering down his ftrong-
holds, breakings of many fnares, beating back of many furious affaults,
and caufing the plant of life to grow up and triumph over all the powers
of darkneſs.
7. There are fecret ſtayings and upholdings of the heart in the hour of
darkneſs, when God fees neceffary to let forth the power thereof upon the
foul, and to eclipſe his own power. When the enemy buffets, tempts, pre-
vails, and gets ground upon the foul, is drawing it back under the veil, even
into the pit, and nothing appears near to ftop it or refcue the foul from
death, and from the power of the grave, but the fting thereof enters and
deeply wounds the foul; yet even then the power is near, fecretly uphold-
ing, preferving, and watching over the foul; and waiting for the proper
feafon of deliverance. Nevertheless I am continually with thee, thou hast
bolden me by my right hand, faid David, when his feet had almoft flipped in-
to the grievous fnare of defperate unbelief, and murmuring againft God's
dealings with him and the reſt of his people.
Many more operations of the power might be mentioned, even of its
tabernacling and glorious appearing in fome veffels in various ways, both
delighting itſelf in the heart, and alfo filling the heart with delight and joy
in the pure life: but theſe things are better enjoyed and ſweetly felt, in the
filence of the fleſhly part, than spoken of to that ear which is not fit to
hear the found thereof.
Secondly, The way of the power's fpringing up in the heart; which is,
1. In its turning from the darkneſs, in the faith, and in the pure obe-
dience which flows from the faith. For as the foul turns from the power
of darkneſs and death, towards the power of the eternal Spirit of light;
fo the power meets it, embraces it, appears to it, and manifefts itſelf in it,
proportionable to its prefent capacity and condition. And as the foul, be-
ing touched with the living virtue, gives itſelf up to believe, and to truſt
Aaaa 2
J
the
556
To all fuch as Complain
the
power which draws; fo the power manifefts itſelf in the heart, accord-
ing to the proportion of the faith which the eternal virtue hath begotten
there. And as the foul in the faith gives itſelf up to obey, fo the power
appears and works the obedience. For we can do nothing of ourfelves;
but being called, being drawn, being required to do that which is far be-
yond our ftrength, and giving up thereto; the life fprings, the power ap-
pears, which does the work. This the Philippians had experience of, to
whom the apoſtle gave that exhortation; Work out your own falvation with
fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do
of his good pleasure. It is the unbeliever hangs back, and cries where fhall
I have power? But the faith follows the moving and drawing of the Spirit,
and the power never fails the faith. But that which cries, how fhall Ì get
out of Egypt? Which way shall I ever be able to pass through this intricate
wilderness? How shall I overcome thofe mighty enemies, which already have the
poffeffion of the land I fhould inherit, and are ftrongly fenced in it, and mighty
in ftrength to keep their hold thereof? This is not the right feed, this is not
the true Ifrael, for whom the everlafting inheritance of the life and of the
pure power is prepared.
2. Under the crofs, under the yoke to the corrupt (yea, and to the very
natural), the power fprings. The falſe birth would have the power fpring
in a way pleafing to itſelf; at the time its wiſdom fees neceffary, and in the
way its will would have it; but the power fprings up according to its own
wifdom, at its own time, and after its own way. When the man would
have it, then it flies from him; and when it is not expected, nor perhaps
defired (at leaft in that way wherein it chufes to appear), then it fprings up
and puts forth itſelf.
forth itſelf. Moſt men, that have felt any thing of God, cannot
but defire his life and power; but moſt fly the croſs, wherein it hath chofen
to appear; and ſo they can never meet with it, but are ſtill complaining for
the want of it. In the power is the eaſe, the reft of the gospel. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn of me, faith Chriſt, and ye shall find the reſt which
flows from the power. This made Paul rejoice in the crofs of Chrift, where-
by the fleshly lufts were brought down in him; and the life and eternal
power ſprang in the feed of the kingdom: for under the croſs the feed
grows up and flouriſhes, and the flesh withers and dies. And as the power
of fleſh and death waſtes, fo the power of Spirit and life increaſes.
3. The power fprings under the fear, and in the uprightnefs and love
which God hath begotten. I put theſe together, for there is a cloſe unity
between them. The fear is the dwelling of the upright heart, and the love
is within the fear. He that diftrufts himſelf, feels his own nothingneſs,
finds no power to do any thing God requireth, and yet alfo fears to ftay be-
hind the light of God's Spirit, in any thing it requires, and fo finds a put-
ting on forwards in the faith; in him the power delights to appear. He
that would feel ſtrength before-hand, and act in the fenfe of that ftrength,
from him the power withdraws; but he that is weak, and hath no ſtrength,
but
that they want Power.
557
but ftill as it freely drops into him from moment, to moment, this is the
veffel the power chufeth to manifeft itſelf to, and to be continually appear-
ing in. This is the new covenant, I will put my fear in their hearts. And
where the fear of the new covenant is found, fo much life, power, and
eternal virtue, as is neceffary for the preſent ſtate of that heart, cannot be
far off. So in the upright-hearted, in the heart that is true to God, the
power of deceit cannot dwell, but the power of truth delights to fill it, in
a way fuitable to the ftate of the fpirit, and fo 2 may be feen by the eye
of the fpirit, and felt by the fpiritual fenfe. And in the Love is the con-
ftraining power, which conftrains from the evil path, from the path of un-
belief and difobedience, into the path of life.
Thirdly, The neceffity of this way of the Springing up of the power, and not
in ſuch a manifeſt way as man's heart defires, and as man's eye expects.
It is neceffary in feveral refpects. In respect of God, in reference to the
creature, and in reference to the foul's enemies.
1. In respect of God. It is neceffary that his power and life fhould fpring
up in the creature in its own way, according to the counfel of his own wif-
dom, fuitable to his own nature, and not in the way which the creature
chalks out and expects it in. God muſt be like himſelf, and walk in his
own path in every thing he does. He is a God that hideth himſelf in the
myſtery of his working, throughout the whole track of man's redemption;
and man muſt be wrought out of himſelf, out of his own thoughts, ex-
pectations, gathered apprehenfions concerning the kingdom and way to life,
and led in a path he doth not know (nor ever can know any longer than
he is in it), and in ways he hath not been acquainted with. The way of
life is ftill new, every moment fresh and living; and the earthly part of
thofe, who may have in fome meaſure felt the power of regeneration, can-
not know it, nor walk in it. Confider this, O ye that fence yourſelves
againſt the preſent appearance of the Spirit; and againſt the convictions,
demonſtrations, and drawings of its eternal light and power, by ſomewhat
which ye have formely felt and known.
2. In reference to the creature, the power of God muſt needs appear thus
hiddenly and in fuch a myfterious way..
1. That the creature might go through all thoſe exerciſes of fpirit, which
are neceffary to fit it for its inheritance in the holy land. There are ſtraits,
wants, trials, temptations, inward weakneſſes, buffettings from the enemy, with-
drawings of the life, &c. God feeth neceffary to exerciſe the ſpirits of his
with, that he might fit them for himſelf, and for a ſafe enjoyment of his
life in fulneſs; which could not be, if there were fuch a manifeft power to
begin with, and continually at hand, to perform all in and for the foul, as
many men wait for and think neceffary to have.
2. That the fleſhly part might be thoroughly worn out and deftroyed.
When the power appears and works mightily in the foul, there is fomewhat
apt to get up, to exalt himſelf by the power, and to abuſe the power, and if
the
558
To all fuch as Complain
the power were not withdrawn, and this tormented and famiſhed in the ab-
fence of the power, and in the withdrawing of the fweet appearance of
life, a wrong thing would be ftealing into the inheritance, and the foul
would never be thoroughly purified, nor come to a pure enjoyment of the
power. Therefore doth the Lord appear in this myfterious way, that the
promiſe might be fure to the feed; that the feed which is the right heir of the
power, might come alone to inherit the power, and the falfe birth not touch
the leaft enjoyment of but feel the bitter ftrokes of death and deftruc-
tion from it. What had become of Paul, if he had had power to reſiſt the
buffettings of the enemy, as he defired? Would not his fleſhly part have
remained in the exaltation, and not have been brought down? 2 Cor.
xii. 7.
3. In reference to the enemy. The enemy could never be wholly con-
quered, his ftrong-holds in the heart broken down, and the redemption
from under his hand perfected, were it not for this myfterious way of the
appearing and working of the power, even out of the fight of man's eye,
and contrary to his will and expectation. For had man fuch a power as he
defires, ftill preſent with him; had he faith in his power, or obedience in
his power, or could he take up the crofs in his power, or have ſtrength to
fight againſt the enemy as he defires and expects, the enemy would ſtill
find entrance into him, and keep his hold of him. But God, who knoweth
the ſtate of the creature, with the ftrength and paffages of the enemy into
man, by working with his mighty power in man according to his own will,
and in the way of his own wifdom (contrary to what man can defire or ex-
pect, but as he is taken into, and comprehended in, the eternal will) carries
on his work fweetly, and fafely, and perfects the falvations of thoſe who
will not, who run not, who defire not to be any thing, but wait to feel and
know his power, and to become fubject to it, and lie under, even in the
loweſt way of its manifeftation and appearance.
Object. This may be true in the ordinary way of redemption of fouls; but
there are deep captivities (even the captivity of Babylon inwardly, fpiritually)
which furely will need a very great appearance of the power of God to deliver
out of; and what can that foul do, but wait there under the captivity, until the
mighty power arife?
Anfw. It is true; the power muft needs be very great, and the appear-
ance of it wonderful, which delivers out of fuch captivity; but yet the be-
ginnings of it may be ſmall, and out of the fight of that eye which looks
and waits for fo great an appearance. Haft thou not light enough already
to begin thy travel out of Babylon? Haft thou begun thy travel? Doft
thou walk in the light which fhineth upon thee in that dark land, to gather
and lead thee out of it? Or wilt thou not begin to come out, till the very
glory and brightnefs of Sion fhine upon thee? If there be but light and
power enough to lead thee one ftep out of the land of darknefs and con-
fuſion of ſpirit, towards obedience to the loweft or meanest truth, that is
fufficient
that they want Power.
559
fufficient for thee at prefent; and as thou art found faithful here, more
will fpring in thee; but if thou ſtop here (or at any time after thou haft
begun and made fome progreſs, becauſe of any thing which falleth out con-
trary to thy expectation), then that which fhould lead thee on, and ſtrengthen
thee, ftops alfo; and thou meeteft not with that which is found and enjoyed
by others in the way, becauſe thou paffeft not on in it, but baulkeft thy
proper path, judging fomewhat more neceffary towards thy beginning or
progrefs, than the Lord judgeth, or yet feeth fit to impart to thee.
Thus the enemy betrays thee, and holds thee in his chains, which might
be loofed and caft off by little and little, didft thou fingly give up to the
little appearance of that light and power which is able to unbind them, and
not expect more at firft (or afterwards) than the Lord hath allotted for thy
preſent condition. And let me tell thee this from certain knowledge and
experience; that thou, who haft been high, and haft tafted much of God,
but haft abuſed it, and fed the wrong part with it, both in thy felf and
others; thou muſt be brought lower than the reft, and for a long ſeaſon
be kept lower; that the pure feed (which hath deeply been buried in thee)
may over-grow and fink all thy knowledge, experiences, and obfervations,
concerning the eternal life, and its way of appearance, which formerly thou
hadft fome true taſte of, but now holdeft out of the life.
Thou must come down, thou muſt become nothing by degrees, thou
muft lie at the foot of the reprovings of that light, which thou thinkeft
thou haft gone far beyond, and be glad of a little help now and then in the
lowlinefs and humility of thy heart, which must not chufe what appearance
and manifeſtation it will have from God, before it will begin to follow him,
but be glad of ever fo little, that the infinite wiſdom fees good to give
forth by the hand of his mercy.
Whoever have been high, and are ftill waiting and expecting in the
heights of their own wisdom and obfervations concerning the kingdom, let
them take heed of defpifing the day of fmall things, and know that their pro-
per beginning (yea the very path of eternal life itfelf) lies in the lowneſs,
in the humility, even in that nothingneſs which bows before the leaft light
of the day, and with gladneſs of heart enters into, and walks in it. For
this I certainly know; the wife, the obferving eye, the vaft comprehending
heart, which waits for fuch an extraordinary power, judging it cannot be-
gin following the light, which daily appears to check and reprove, without
fome great manifeft appearance of power; this cannot fee the low little
path of life, which is proper for it to walk in, and to the end whereof it
muſt travel, if ever it come to fit down in the kingdom, or to inherit the
power of the endless life. Precious is the difpenfation of this age, great is
the power and glory which is arifing; but the wife and knowing of this
age are ſhut out of it, as they have been out of the life and truth of the
difpenfations of God in all ages. Happy is he who is not above that,
wherewith God vifiteth his foul to redeem it.
POST-
·
....
[ 560 ]
TH
POST SCRIPT.
1
HAT perfons, who have not travelled into the land of life, want
power, that is out of doubt. The ftate of Ifrael in its travels, is a
ftate of weakneffes and wants. How can they in the wilderneſs but want
that, which is to be poffeffed in the Holy Land? But doft thou want power
to begin the travel with? Doft thou want what proportion of power the
Lord fees neceffary for thee in thy prefent eftate? Is there nothing at all
diſcovered to thee which is contrary to God, either in thy heart, or in thy
converſation, or in thy worſhip, which thou doft not ſo much as ftrive to
give up to the Lord in, waiting upon him for his power and ſtrength to
appear in helping thee? The light appears to diſcover and lead out of the
darkneſs now in giving up to the light, and not doubting but that which
calls and draws out will give ftrength, and enable to come out, the power
is met with unawares. But that which ſtands gazing and looking out after
a power, which it expects to meet with, before it will fo much as begin to
follow the light; that cannot but abide in the captivity, and mifs of that
power which redeemeth from it. Therefore,
1. Wait to feel the light of life difcovering and drawing from the evil;
and let it chuſe what it fhall pleaſe firſt to diſcover and draw from. And
though it be little, and very inconfiderable in thine eyes, yet diſpute not,
but where the light firft begins to lead, do thou there begin to follow.
Then in this waiting and fubjecting to the manifeftations of the light,
out of the felf-will, felf-wiſdom, felf-knowledge, felf-judgment, in the low-
lineſs and abaſedneſs of the mind and ſpirit before the Lord, the begettings
of life in the light are felt, and the renewing into his pure image.
Afterwards that which is begotten (and begun to be renewed in the di-
vine image) is by degrees taught more diftinctly to know, difcern, and
walk in the path of life.
And after this, to that which is thus begotten, and taught the living
faith and obedience (which is wrought by the mighty power of God, tho'
running in a low, fecret, hidden way, from the eye of the creature), the
great power is revealed, and he grows ftrong in the power for God, and
againſt the enemies of his foul; and by this ftrength and feeling of God's
prefence, they fall daily and continually before him, and then his victory over
them goes on with joy.
But he that ftops at firft may grow wife and conceited, concerning the
things of the kingdom after the flesh, and may hope for great things at
laft; but by the deceit of the fubtilty, is kept out of the living path, where-
in they are to be waited for, reaped, and enjoyed.
Now for the encouragement of fuch as are willing to travel on in the
weakness, yielding up their members to the prefent manifeftation of the
light,
POSTSCRIPT.
561
light, and waiting for the further appearance of the power. It is on my
heart to add a Letter of a dear Friend and Brother of mine in the Truth,
who hath been a deep traveller and fellow-fufferer with me formerly, before
this help came forth from the throne of God, fince the day-fpring from on
high hath vouchfafed to viſit us, and to guide our feet in the way of ever-
laſting peace.
Dear FRIEND,
..
66
66
..
r
66
MY
The LETTER is as followeth :
Y dear and tender love falutes thee, in that love from whence
I had my being, and from whence fprang all my Father's
children, who are born from above, heirs of an everlafting inheri-
"tance. Oh! how ſweet and pleaſant are the paſtures which my Fa-
"ther caufeth all his fheep to feed in; there is variety of plenty in
"his paſtures, milk for babes, and ftrong meat for them of riper age,
"and wine to refreſh thoſe that are ready to faint, even the wine of
"the kingdom, that makes glad the heart, when it is ready to faint,
by reafon of the infirmities. Sure I am, none can be fo weary, but
"he takes care of them; nor none fo nigh fainting, but he puts his
arm under their heads; nor none can be fo befet with enemies on
every fide, but he will arife and ſcatter; nor none fo heavy laden and
big with young, but he takes notice of them, and gently leads them,
"and will not leave them behind unto the mercilefs wolf, becauſe
they are his own, and his life is the price of their redemption, and
"his blood of their ranfom; and if they be fo young that they can-
66 not go, he carries them in his arms; and when they can feel nothing.
ftirring after him, his bowels yearn after them; fo tender is this
good fhepherd after his flock. I can tell, for I was as one that once
went aftray, and wandered upon the barren mountains; and when I
"had wearied myſelf with wandering, I went into the wilderneſs, and
"there I was torn as with briars, and pricked as with thorns, fome-
"times thinking this was the way, and fometimes concluding that
was the
way, and by and by concluding all was out of the way;
" and then bitter mourning came upon me, and weeping for want of
"the interpreter; for when I fought to know what was the matter, and
"where I was, it was too hard for me. Then I thought I would ven-
ແ
.
'
66
<<
-6.C
ture on fome way where it was moft likely to find a loft God, and I
"would pray with them that prayed, and faft with them that fafted,
" and mourn with them that mourned, if by any means I might come
to reft, but found it not, until I came to fee the candle lighted in
my own houſe, and my heart fwept from thofe thoughts and ima-
ginations, and willings, and runnings, and to die unto them all,
not heeding of them, but watching against them, left I fhould let
VOL. I.
Bbbb
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186
86
66.
my
362
POST SCRIP T.
·
CC
..
my mind go a whoring after them. And here I dwelt for a time as
"in a defolate land uninhabited, where I fat alone as a fparrow upon
"the houſe-top, and was hunted up and down like a patridge upon
"the mountains, and could reſt no-where, but fome luft or thought
or other followed me at the heels, and difquieted me night and day,
"until I came to know him in whom was reft, and no occafion of
"ftumbling, in whom the devil hath no part, and he became unto
me as a hiding-place from the ftorms, and from the tempefts. Then
"came my eyes to fee my Saviour, and my forrow fled away, and he
became made unto me all in all, my wifdom, my righteouſneſs, and
my fanctification; in whom I was and am compleat, to the praiſe of
"the riches of his grace and goodneſs that endures for ever. There-
fore be not difcouraged, O thou toffed as with tempefts! nor dif-
"mayed in thyself; becauſe thou ſeeſt ſuch mighty hofts of enemies
..
66
<6
66
rifing up against thee, and befetting thee on every fide: for none
"was fo befet and tried, and tempted, as the true feed was, who was
"a man of forrows, and acquainted with grief. But be thou ftill in
thy mind, and let the billows pafs over, and wave upon wave; and
"fret not thyſelf becauſe of them, neither be caft down, as if it
"ſhould never be otherwiſe with thee; forrow comes at night, but
joy in the morning: and the days of thy mourning fhall be over,
"and the accufer will God caft out for ever. For therefore was I af-
"flicted, and not comforted, and tempted, and tried, for this end,
..
86
that I might know how to fpeak a word in due feafon, unto thoſe
"who are tempted and afflicted as I once was; as it was faid unto
"me in that day when forrow lay heavy upon me. Therefore be not
"difconfolated, neither give heed unto the reaſonings and difputings
"of thy own heart; nor the fears that rife there-from, but be ftrong
"in the faith, believing in the light which lets thee ſee them, and his
grace thou wilt know to be fufficient for thee, and his ftrength to be
"made perfect in thy weakneſs. And fo wilt thou rather glory in thy
"infirmities, that his power may reft upon thee, than in thy earneſt
"defires to be rid of them; for by theſe things thou wilt come to live
"in the life of God, and joy in God, and glory in tribulation, when
"thou haft learned in all conditions to be contented: and through
"trials, and deep exerciſes, is the way to learn this leffon. Theſe
things in dear love to thee I have written, being fomewhat fenfible
"of thy condition, and the many fnares thou art daily liable unto;
"therefore watch that thou fall not into temptation, and my God and
"Father keep thee in the arms of eternal love, over all, unto the end,
"unto his praiſe; Amen.
66
.. JOHN CROOKE.”
Some
[ 563 ]
Some
QUERIES
TO THE
Strict and zealous Profeffors of this Age (fuch as ſtick in
the Letter, but are Strangers to the Life and Power)
to provoke them to Jealoufy, left the Heathen and
open Sinners out-ftrip them, and enter into the King-
dom of the pure everlaſting Light before them.
I. HETHER God, fince the fall of man from the purity
Query 1.
WH
and glory of his ſtate, doth truly and really defire the
falvation of all mankind; and fo would have them come to the know-
ledge of the truth, that they might believe it, receive it, walk in it,
and ſo obtain falvation thereby? Or whether he would have only fome
few of them to receive it and be faved, and the reft to periſh?
Query II. If God would have all men to be faved, and come to the know-
ledge of the truth, which is the means of falvation, then whether
there is fufficient done by God to convey the knowledge of his truth
to all men, fo as they may come to the knowledge thereof and be
faved? Or whether there is ſuch a defect on God's part, that fome.
men never had fufficient means to come fo far to the knowledge of
his truth, as that they might come into that way of falvation thereby?
Query III. Though God doth pleaſe to add ſuperabundant means, in the
riches of his grace, towards fome, more than others; as to the Jews.
under the law, and to the difciples of Chrift under the goſpel; yet
whether there is not fo much light of the Spirit communicated to all,
as, if followed, might lead them out of the darkness, and from under
the power of it?
he
Query IV. Whether God be not fo near to every man, as that poffibly
may ſeek after him, and find him? And if he do not find him, and
his heart cleave to him, whether it can poffibly be but virtue ſhould
iffue forth from God, to draw him out of the alienation from him, and
out of the power of fin, death, and hell?
Query V. Whether, if a man feel God, and cleave to God, and begin to
diſcern the ſtreamings of light from him, and follow the Lord therein,
whether God will not accept this man therein? And whether his di-
B. b b b 2
vine
4
564
Some Queries to the
vine light let into him (being believed in and obeyed) will not purify
him from darknefs, unbelief, and difobedience? And whether God
will not impute to this man what Chrift performed on man's behalf in
the flesh, he being in unity with, and in fubjection to, the light and
power whereby it was wrought (wherein is the fellowſhip with the
blood, and wherein alone it waſheth from the fin), though as to the
outward knowledge of what was outwardly done, the man may poffibly
be ignorant? And ſeeing it is not abfolutely neceffary towards the in-
volving in the guilt of Adam's fin, the outward knowing what Adam
did; but the proceeding from, and being found in, the fame fpirit
and nature, doth fufficiently convey it; fo whether being gathered into,
and found in, Chrift's Spirit, even in faith, obedience, and fubjection
to the light thereof in the heart, whether this is not alfo fufficient to
convey the righteouſneſs of Chrift? And whether God will fail to im-
pute it to that man?
Query VI. Whether true religion, fpiritual worſhip, and the falvation of
the foul, do not depend upon the Spirit of the Lord, who is near to
every heart with his eternal light, which he can eafily convey to any
heart, whofe ear is opened to hearken to his breathings and draw-
ings? So that it is eafy to the Lord to fave any of the fons of men,
even in the darkeſt and remoteft corners of the earth; and he can cafl
off thoſe who ſeem higheſt in zeal, and moſt flouriſhing under any out-
ward means of falvation.
Oh! wonderfully infinite is the Lord! Who fhall bound his Spirit?
Happy is he that feareth before him, and in his fear learneth to depart
from iniquity, and walk in the good path that his Spirit teacheth. He is
near to God, and fhall tafte of the good things, and fhall not be rejected
for want of outward knowledge; but whatever was done for loft man, he
that is found in the light of life (and in the obedience to the Spirit of life)
fhall reap the benefit of; but he that boafts in his knowledge of theſe
things, and of his faith in Jefus Chrift, yet not being found in the true,
living, eternal light of the Spirit (but an enemy to it, and ignorant of it)
the Lord will rend his confidence from him, in a day that he is not
aware of.
Glorious was the difpenfation of the law, and great was the advantage to
the Jews thereby above the Gentiles; yet they miffing the Spirit and life
of it (and growing wife in their own apprehenfions, and interpretations
about it) fell beneath the Gentiles, becoming greater ftrangers to the power
and wiſdom of God, and harder to be reached and brought in under the
fubjection of the gofpel. More glorious was the difpenfation of the gofpel
to the Chriſtians, and much greater was their advantage, than that of the
Jews; but an apoftafy coming, and they lofing the true power and Spirit,
and growing wife by a literal knowledge of fome of the things of God in the
earthly
•
fritt and zealous Profeffors of this Age.
565
•
carthly part, and forming interpretations of fcriptures, and entering into
practices in that wiſdom, they are now become at as great a diſtance from
this powerful vifitation of God by his Spirit (which raifeth the feed, and
ſpringeth up freſhly in the hearts of thoſe whom the Lord our God doth call
out of their fenced cities, and allure into the wilderneſs), as the Jews were at
from that appearance before the apoftafy; and in as great danger are the
children of the kingdom to be caft out now as then. Oh! that my God
would pleaſe to open the ear of fome tender and upright-hearted among
them to hear this teftimony, that they might no longer ftumble at that,
which alone is able to lead them to God, and to make them happy in
God.
Is there any uniting with God, or enjoying of God, but by his Spirit? Is
there any receiving of God's Spirit but within the heart? Doth he not ap-
pear there by his light, and in his power? What if God pleaſe to give forth
a meaſure of his eternal light in the heart of his chofen, to open that to
them which they could never fee before, and to bring them into a nearer
unity with him than ever they knew before, may he not do it? Nay, is not
fuch a thing needful to help out of the deep and intricate apoftafy, wherein
have been ſo many twiſtings and twinings of the ſubtil ſerpent about every
ſtep or appearance of reformation, and to gather the wandering fheep, who
were ſcattered up and down, and forely diftreffed for want of the tongue of
the learned to ſpeak a word in ſeaſon to their eftates and conditions? Have
not every fort bent the ſcriptures in the reaſonings of their own minds, and
made them ſpeak according to their own hearts lufts? And is not every
one wife in his own eyes, and ftrong in his own tower and fenced city?
Surely there was great need of an appearance of the Lord to fhut out the
wiſdom of man, and to help the poor, the needy, the fatherless, the weak
panting babes. And bleffed be the Lord God, who hath appeared; and
bleffed are thoſe who have ſeen his light, and bowed at the feet of his living
appearance, and felt the virtue of his faving arm, fcattering their lufts and
corruptions; yea, alfo raiſing up and bringing forth his pure feed in the frefh
power, dominion and authority of his perfect life, which reigneth in the
hearts which the Lord hath regenerated and fanctified for evermore.
O my friends, my friends! that that eye might be once blinded in you
which hinders the fight of God; and the eye opened which beholds his
glory, and alſo taketh pleaſure in his loweſt appearance. The babe alone
hath the myſteries of the kingdom revealed to him (the wife and prudent
are excluded; the birth after the fleſh, in every one, muſt be famiſhed and
deſtroyed), and he alone can fee in the eternal light this difpenfation of the
everlaſting goſpel after the apoftafy, which the Lord hideth from thoſe who
are wife in the letter of the former difpenfation of the fame gofpel, but can-
not read it as it was given forth in the Spirit then, nor as it is now again held
forth in the fame Spirit and power. O my friends! this is the truth to you
(wait on the Lord, that ye may underſtand it from him): Your right eye
must
566
Some Queries to the, &c.
must be put out (which will never ceafe offending you, and caufing you to
ftumble, fo long as it is able to fee), and all your knowledge which ye bold out
of the life become as drofs and dung to you, if ever ye tafte and come to enjoy the ex-
cellency and glory of this appearance of God in his eternal Spirit, who hath de-
fcended from on high into the hearts of his chofen, to prepare them for his ſpiritual
temple, that he may dwell in them, and they in him. And he will dwell in
them, and they fhall dwell in him, to the full delight and fatisfaction of their
bearts, and to the confufion of all those who remain defpifing and reproaching
this his glorious appearance, and his people in whom he hath appeared. The
day is not far off, wherein this will be made manifeft; wherein great bitter-
neſs and anguiſh of ſpirit will befall thoſe who can only fee the glory afar off,
but cannot inherit it, being found in that nature and ſpirit which is fepa-
rated from it, and eternally fhut out of it.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
t
SOME
SOME
i
OBSERVATIONS
UPON THAT
PORTION of SCRIPTURE
ROMANS XIV.
XIV. 20.
FOR THE
SERVICE of fuch in this prefent A G E,
WHOSE
Eyes and Hearts the LORD fhall pleaſe to open, to fee
and confider the Weight of the Truth thereof.
WITH
Some few Weighty WORDS of ADVICE to ſeveral Sorts of
PEOPLE, according to their different States.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
For meat destroy not the work of God. Roм. xiv. 20.
[ 539 ]
SOME
OBSERVATIONS
Upon that Portion of SCRIPTURE
ROMA N S XIV.
ANS
2.0%
T
OBSERVATION I.
God hath a work in fome mens hearts.
HE mighty God, who made heaven and earth, and whofe eyes
run to and fro through both, he, by the finger of his pure power,
toucheth fome of the hearts of the children of men, and in the
pure demonftration of his living Spirit is found working there. Religion,
true religion, is not a matter of opinion (as men, who have not tafted of
the power, are apt to imagine), but a new creation and work of God in the
heart of the creature, fowing the light and life of his Spirit there, and by
it working man out of the darkneſs and death of fin (which is the deftruc-
tion and mifery of the foul) into his life and bleffedneſs.
OBSERVATION
II.
That this work of God in man is liable to be destroyed.
He
God could fo have made man, as that he could not have fallen.
could fo have comprehended man's fpirit in the pure power of his life, as
that man could not have broke out of it. But it pleafed him to make him
under a law, wherein, waiting upon, and watching to, the power of life,
he might be preſerved, and remain happy; but departing from it, he
fhould loſe his ſtate, and fink into mifery. God could alſo ſo redeem man,
as
Some Obfervations upon Romans xiv. 20.
569
as that no power fhould ftop or interrupt his work; but it pleaſeth him
alfo to hold forth a law of redemption, according to which, his work of re-
demption may either go forward or backward. As man is drawn by the
Spirit of God, and followeth his leadings out of the corruption, out of the
vanity, out of the earthly nature, out of the wiſdom, reafonings, and fpirit
of this world, fo the work goeth forward. As man is tempted, hearkeneth
unto, and is drawn back by any of theſe from the leadings of God's Spirit;
fo the work goeth backward, and degrees of deftruction overtake and come
upon
the work of God in that heart.
OBSERVATION
III.
A little thing will deftroy the work of God in the heart.
A matter of meat, eating but a little meat doubtingly, out of the faith
(wherein is the preſervation from the deftruction), this leads into the fin,
where death and deſtruction is ſtill met with. For in the path of life, in the
faith, in the obedience to God's Spirit, there alone is the preſervation of
the work of God; but in the unbelief, in the difobedience, in the doubt-
ing (though about ever ſo ſmall a matter) there is death and deftruction
met with, if the perfon venture upon that which he doubteth of. Thoſe
who have travelled in the path of life, I know can witnefs this. Oh!
how ſmall a thing brings a veil over the life! What a little giving way
to the reaſonings of the earthly fpirit about a fmall matter drives back
the work of God in the heart, and brings anguiſh and miſery upon the foul,
caufing the hiding the light of God's countenance, which is the life and
joy of the renewed fpirit! God is a great king, and all his leadings and
teachings are weighty; and he that rebelleth, or neglecteth in the leaft
thing, muſt bear his burden, unleſs he feel the humiliation of his foul, and
the remiffion from the Spirit of the Lord, the grace of God pitying him,
and the blood of his Son waſhing him.
→
•
OBSERVATION
IV.
No man fhould do that which tendeth to destroy the work of God in himself,
or the work of God in another.
There is no fuch thing allowable by God for any man to do (whether in
publick government, or in any kind of commerce or converſation amongſt
men, or in one's private courfe of walking) which tendeth to deftroy the
work of God. The intent of government, either in church or ftate, was
never to deſtroy the work of God in any man. Government is of God;
both in church and ftate: But that way of government which deftroyeth his
work in any, is not of him; but contrary to him, and against him. Oh!
that men could confider, and had the balance of truth to weigh things in,
VOL. I.
Cccc
that
570
Some Obfervations upon Romans xiv. 20.
that they might bow before the God of Truth, and not ſtrive with their
Maker about his work in the world.
My foul hath mourned, I may fay, almoft from my cradle, about the
eftate of this creation. To behold man fallen from his glory, departed
from his God, living without the ſenſe of him, and fowing the feeds of eter-
nal mifery for his poor foul (which he muſt as certainly reap as he hath fown,
unleſs he travel the path of redemption in the powerful leadings and guide-
ance of God's Holy Spirit); this hath fo broken my heart (together with the
cloſe exerciſes which have continually attended this poor wearied fpirit), that
I have often wondered how the natural life could be contained in the natu-
ral veffel.
I am a lover of mankind in general, and have been a deep fufferer with,
and traveller for, all the miſerable. None knows the path of my forrows,
or the extent of my bowels, but he that made me. It is not natural or
kindly to me to upbraid any man with any kind of wickedness, or ever fo
juftly-deferved mifery; but my bowels work concerning him towards the
fpring of eternal power and compaffions, even as I would be pitied and re-
preſented to the Father of mercies in the like condition. Indeed I have
been emptied from veffel to veffel, and toffed with multitudes of ſtorms and
tempefts; yet the favour of my life remaineth with me to this day, and the
Spirit of my God breatheth on my heart; bleffed be his holy name for
ever. And though I walk with one fort of people, becauſe my heart faith
(yea, the Spirit of the eternal God hath witneffed unto me, and fhewn me
in that light which cannot deceive, and to that eye which cannot be de-
ceived) that they are the people whom he hath chofen out of all the ga-
therings (throughout the earth) from the apoftafy, to manifeft his power in,
and his preſence among; 1 fay, though I have been guided and led by the
Spirit of the Lord to, walk among thefe; yet am I not bounded there, either
in the love, or in the unity of my heart, but I have unity with the integrity
and zeal for God which is in others, of what fort or gathering foever; and
I have tender bowels for all, even for thofe which hate and perfecute that
which is my life, and hath the love of my heart for ever.
Oh! how have I prayed for the loft world! For all the fouls of mankind
how hath my foul bowed in unutterable breathings of ſpirit before my God,
and could not be filenced until he quieted my fpirit in righteoufnefs and ex-
cellency of his will, and bid me leave it to him. And as touching this
nation, and the feveral forts in it, even thoſe who ſeem moft caft off, and
without all fenfe; yet the preciouſneſs of their fouls have I fpread before
the Lord my God with tears.
And now I have fomewhat to fay, in the love of my heart, and in the
fhinings of the light of my God, to feveral forts of people, which nearly
concerns them; as thoſe whofe hearts are weighty and ſerious (and who are
not
1
Some Obfervations upon Romans xiv. 20.
571
嘉
​not drunk up in the earthlineſs of the fenfual nature, or mif-biaffed by pre»
affumed principles from the wrong ground) may eafily perceive.
FIRST.
To fuch as never knew what belonged to tenderness of confcience towards God,
but have spent all their days either in licentioufnefs of Spirit, or in a dead
formality; to fuch my ſoul faith
Oh! Friends, wait to feel the power of God upon your hearts (which is
preſent with that which fometimes lets you fee the evils thereof); that they
may be melted and made tender by him, fit to receive the impreſſions of
his life. Why ſhould ye go down to the pit in a dream, and center in the
land of mifery? Ye have immortal fouls in theſe earthen veffels, which muft
either be redeemed to God by the power of his life, or be fhut up from
his glorious prefence in the chambers of death. It is a dreadful thing to
appear before God after death, and receive the ſentence of condemnation
for the things done in the body. Oh! that the eye of your fouls were
awakened, that ye might fee the hazard and danger ye are incurring daily;
and might know the hope of eſcape fet before mankind, by the appearance
of the grace in you, and learn of the living God to fly thereto for fuccour,
that ye might be ſheltered in the evil hour, which hafteneth apace upon
Яefh.
f
SECONDLY.
all
To fuch as formerly have been tender and fenfible, but are now grown hard
and deaf to the voice of God's Spirit in their hearts and confciences; this
is the language of my foul in the love and life of my God;
Oh! that ye could wait to feel the hammer and ſtroke of God upon that
which is hard, that it might be broken by him; and that that which is
high, and lifted up above his pure fear (where the law of his life is learned,
and the fouls of his faints preferved) might be brought down and abaſed
before him. Great is your danger; exceeding difficult is your recovery.
Yet there is ftrength in the arm of the Lord God to ftrike through your
deadneſs, and to quicken the immortal principle of his life in you. Why
fhould ye, who have once tafted of the goodneſs of God, become more
miſerable than the reft of the fons of men? Why have you departed from
that which once gave you a true tafte of life, and of the fweetneſs of re-
demption by it, into that fpirit which is fealed up in the death, in the midſt
of its greateſt wiſdom, and fureft footing? Oh! return, return to that
which leadeth to the living God, that ye may travel (in the exerciſes of
his Spirit) out of the wiſdom and ſpirit of this world, unto the land of the
foul's peace and reft.
THIRDLY.
}
To fuch as are still tender, and dare not but exerciſe a confcience towards God,
even in theſe ſearching and trying times;
Friends, keep your ftanding in the life of God. What God hath be-
gotten in you, let it depend upon him. Let him do what he will with his
C c c c 2
OWIN
572
Some Obfervations upon Romans xiv. 20.
own in you, and let the creature be fubject to that living principle, which
God hath fown and raiſed in your hearts; fell not your peace with God for
any eaſe or advantage in this world. Let the tenderneſs of your confciences,
which is of value with God, be precious alfo in your eyes. The times and
feaſons are in the Father's hand, and he feeth good to let this day of trial
come upon you. His grace is able to carry you all through. It will be
for his honour, to let all the world fee how dear your God is to you, and
how able ye are (in the meekneſs and ftrength of the Lamb's Spirit) to fuf-
fer for his name's fake. Thy will, O God, be done. The cup which
our Father gives us, fhall we not drink it? The Lord preferve you in up-
rightneſs of heart towards him, in meekneſs of fpirit towards thoſe that
afflict you, and in true love and good-will towards all; that his light, which
hath gathered you, may fhine over all the darkneſs which oppofeth it; and
his life, which hath quickened and preferved you, may be famous over all
the territories and dominions of death.
FOURTHLY.
་
To fuch as are hard-hearted, and of a perfecuting spirit towards the tender-
confcienced;
Oh! that ye knew what ye did! Ye are enemies to the moft precious
thing that is to be found among the fons of men. Ye ftrike at what God
loves and cheriſhes, and takes great pains to bring the creature to. Ye
ftrive to keep that down upon which the happineſs of mankind depends;
yea, ye confult and take much pains to remove that out of the way, which
itands between you and the judgments of God. Oh! that your eyes were
opened; for furely then ye could not proceed in this courſe.
Well! the Lord will open the eyes of many; and mercy towards man-
kind is iffuing from his throne; and he will fmite that through and through
which maketh the earth miferable and defolate of his life. But oh! that
man could hear in the day of his profperity, that adverfity might not come
upon him.
Wait to read theſe things in the life from which they fprang; and then
tell me whether there is not a caufe for what I write.
TH
こ
​POST S
TSCRIP
P T.
HERE hath been a great apoftafy (fince the days of the apoftles)
from the living power, into dead forms of worſhip and devotion, where
likeneffes of truth have been fet up, inſtead of the truth itſelf. Now the
Lord is gathering his true feed (even Ifrael, his beloved off-fpring) out of
all dead forms of all kinds, into his living truth, and into the true fpiritual
worſhip; and who is he that fhall be able to ſtop him herein? Let him con-
fider his ftrength, who girds himſelf to the battle againſt him: for not by
might, nor by the power of man, but by the Spirit of life in his Called, Faith-
ful, Chofen, and Innocent Lambs, will the Lord of glory carry on his work in
the world.
THREE
ན་ས
THREE
QUERIES
PROPOUNDED TO THE
KI N
G
AND
PARLIAMENT,
IN THE
:
FEAR of the MOST HIGH,
1
AND IN THE
Tender LovE of my SOUL to them.
!
[ dixxiv }
]
4
THE
PREFACE.
T
•
HE main thing conducible towards man's fafety and happineſs, is to
fee things aright; and he that feeth aright, muſt ſee with a right eye.
There is an eye which cannot fee the things of God; there is an heart alfo
which is infenfible of his warnings, and fo runs into the pit. There is alfo
an eye, to which God giveth the true fight, which forefeeth the evil,
and feeketh an hiding-place; and an heart which feareth its Maker, and
waiteth on him for counfel, diftrufting its own underſtanding, which it
feeleth ſhallow and apt to err. Oh! that man might feel his want of God,
and receive a principle of divine life from him, and be fixed and act therein !
If I fhould pray thus particularly for every one of you, would ye be offend-
ed with me? I have written fomewhat here in the kindlings of my love,
and in the light of life which ſhineth in my heart: Oh! that the Lord would
pleaſe to open a vein of the fame life in you, and then would ye read them
in the fame, and (in a ſecret ſenſe of ſpirit) feel what they are, and from
whence they come! Now if it ſhould pleaſe the Lord that any of you
ſhould feel any touches of heart, and fecret affent of foul to the truth of
them, oh! take heed of the fleshly wiſdom and reaſonings of the earthly
mind, which will foon rife up afterwards, to wear out the fenfe of any good
that God begets in the heart.
THREE
[575]
THREE
QUERIES
PROPOUNDED TO THE
K
I
N
G
AND
PARLIAMENT.
W
QUERY
I
HETHER ye do certainly and infallibly know what was the ground
or cauſe why the hand of the Lord was ſo heavy upon this nation, and
why be overturned the government thereof, and brought the honour-
able into contempt ?
Three things are fuppofed or taken for granted in this QUERY.
Firft, That it was the hand of the Lord that did this. It is he that hath
the anguiſh of foul, and the diſeaſes of body, at his command; and afflicteth
both mens bodies and fouls at his pleaſure. And he alſo afflicteth nations,
with the powers and authorities thereof, when it ſeemeth good unto him.
Now this is the thing which is mainly to be eyed by particular perfons, and
alfo by nations, in whatever befalleth them; to wit, the hand of the Lord
in things.
Secondly, That there was a ground and cauſe for which the Lord did it.
The Lord is tender-hearted, and loveth his creature, delighting to do it
good, and doth not afflict it out of any pleaſure he hath therein, but upon
a kind of neceffity, that he may bring down evil and bring up good in a
nation. He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
It is no
pleaſure to the Lord to torment his creatures; but to deſtroy the feeds of
corruption
576
Three Queries propounded to
corruption and unrighteoufnefs, and to bring up the good feed which he
hath fown in the hearts of men, this is a pleaſure to him. Now as your
afflictions were very great, and the alterations in this nation ftrange; fo there
was a confideration in the Lord's eye to countervail them, or they had never
been.
Thirdly, That it is requifite and neceffary for you, certainly and infallibly
to underſtand the ground why the Lord did this; what his meaning was;
what he was offened at and intended to bring down; what he was pleaſed
with, and intended to give fcope to fpring up and grow under this confuſion;
which could not under the former fettlement.
The reaſon why this is neceffary for you, is this: becauſe unleſs ye cer-
tainly underſtand this thing, ye may err and miftake in your prefent courſe,
fetting up the fame things now, which the heart of the Lord was then
againſt, and endeavouring to fupprefs the fame things, which it is the will
of the Lord ſhould grow up, and fo may provoke the fame hand againſt
you again; which truly I think is not good for you to do, nor indeed can
I think fo of you, as that ye willingly would do it. Therefore
Therefore pray to the
Lord for the upright balance to weigh a thing of fuch a nature in, and of
fo deep concernment to you; for if ye do run a contrary courſe to the
mind of the Lord, and he be provoked against you, and ftretch forth his
mighty arm and overthrow you, it will then be too late for you to confider
of theſe things.
QUERY
II.
Whether, when the Lord did overturn the former powers, with the glory and
beauty of this nation, and raiſe up other powers out of the duft (as I may fay)
even from among them of low degree; if they had then answered what the Lord
expected and required of them in their day, whether they should have been con-
tinued by him in their dominion or no, and whether ye fhould have had this day
of trial, which it hath pleafed the Lord now to afford you?
The day of power and
government which the Lord had given you for-
merly, was manifeftly by his providence come to an end; and whether ever
ye fhould have a day more, was very doubtful. All your councils and
ſtrength availed nothing, fave only to make the work more difficult, if not
at length almoſt impoffible. And now the Lord was bufy in trying feveral
forts of theſe, what they would do for his name. And truly this I may ſay
concerning them all (though I would not reproach any) that they did not
anſwer the expectation of the Lord. But this I leave to you to confider,
Whether, if they had anfwered the expectation of the Lord, and done what his
foul delighted in, and what in part they promised, whether the Lord would have
continued them in authority or no? I propofe this, that ye may take notice up-
on what tickliſh terms ye then ſtood, as to your future hopes, and how
eafily your authority and greatneſs might have been for ever buried, and
that which was lately uppermoft have continued fo, if it had feemed good
unto
the King and Parliament.
577
unto the Lord; that fo ye may be fenfible of what the Lord hath done in
relation to you, and pray that ye may walk worthy of it, making ufe of it
in the fear of his name, who hath all ftill in his hand, and can ſtill do what
he pleaſeth in this nation. Indeed he can yet bring down whom he will,
and he can yet fet up whom he will; and what he will do, ye know not;
but in the fear of his dreadful name, and in holding your ftanding out of
felf-confidence (becauſe of your prefent ftrength) is your fafety.
QUERY III.
If ye do not certainly know what was the cause of the Lord's former difplea-
fure against you, and of his fo fore afflicting you, but ſhall err in judgment, and
Set up the fame things again, which the Lord then put forth his hand to throw
down, and alſo endeavour to crush and fupprefs that, which the Lord then made
way for the growth of, whether this will not endanger your overthrow from the
band of the Lord?
Sure I am, the Lord is able to overturn you as easily as he overturned
them that were in power before you. What is man to the Lord? What is
his flesh to the Lord's Spirit? What great tree could ſtand before the late
vehement wind (where the Lord gave it power); which was terrible and
dreadful, tearing up by the very roots? which might be a figure and warn-
ing where the Lord gives eyes to read. After ye have done all ye can,
even made laws as ftrong as ye can, and put them in the ftricteft courfe of
execution ye can, one night from the Lord may end the controverfy, and
fhew whether we pleaſe the Lord in obeying him, or ye in making laws
againſt us for our fidelity and obedience to him.
"
And as the Lord is able to overturn you, ſo if ye miſtake your work,
mifinterpreting the paffages of his providence, and erring in heart concern-
ing the ground of his former difpleaſure; and fo (through the error of
judgment) fet yourſelves in oppofition againſt him, replanting the plants
which he will not have grow, and plucking up the plants of his planting;
do ye not in this cafe provoke the Lord, even to put forth the ſtrength
which is in him againſt you? We are poor worms. Alas! if ye had only
us to deal with, we ſhould be nothing in your hands! But if his ftrength
ſtand behind us, we fhall prove a very burthenfome ftone, and ye will
hardly be able to remove us out of the place wherein God hath fet us, and
where he pleaſeth to have us difpofed of. And happy were it for you, if in-
ftead of perfecuting us, ye yourſelves were drawn to wait for the fame be-
gettings of God (which we have felt) out of the earthly nature, into his
life and nature, and did learn of him to govern in that; then might ye be
eſtabliſhed indeed, and be freed from the danger of thofe fhakings and over-
turnings which God is haftening upon the earth.
Now becauſe ye may be apt to think, that I write theſe things for my
own fake, and the fakes of my friends and companions in the truth of God,
that we might eſcape the fufferings and feverity which we are like to undergo
VOL. I.
Dddd
from
578
Three Queries propounded to
from you; and not fo mainly and chiefly for your fakes, left ye fhould
bring the wrath of God and mifery upon your fouls and bodies; to pre-
vent this miſtake in you, I fhall add what followeth. Indeed this is not the
intent of my heart; for I have long expected, and do ftill expect, this cup
of outward affliction and perfecution from you, and my heart is quieted
and ſatisfied therein, knowing that the Lord will bring glory to his name,
and good to us out of it: but I am fure it is not good for you to afflict us
for that which the Lord requireth of us, and wherein he accepteth us; and
ye will find it the bittereſt work that ever ye went about, and in the end
will wifh that the Lord had rather never given you this day of profperity,
than that he ſhould ſuffer you thus to make uſe of it. Now that ye may
the more clearly fee the temper of my fpirit, and how my heart ftands in
this thing, I fhall a little open unto you my faith and hope about it, in thefe
enfuing particulars.
Firſt, I am affured in my heart and foul, that this defpifed people (called
QUAKERS) is of the Lord's begetting in his own life and nature. Indeed,
had I not ſeen the power of God in them, and received from the Lord an
unquestionable teftimony concerning them, I had never looked towards them;
for they were otherwife very defpifeable in my eyes. And this I cannot
but teftify concerning them, that I have found the life of God in my own-
ing them; and that which God hath begotten in my heart refreſhed by
the power of life in them; and none but the Lord knows the beauty and
excellency of glory, which he hath hid under this mean appearance.
Secondly, The Lord hath hitherto preferved them againft great oppofi-
tions, and is ftill able to preferve them. Every power hitherto hath made.
nothing of over-running them; yet they have hitherto ftood, by the care
and tender mercy of the Lord; and the feveral powers which have perfe-
cuted them, have fallen one after another.
Thirdly, I have had experience myſelf of the Lord's goodneſs and pre-
fervation of me, in my fuffering with them for the teftimony of his truth,
who made my bonds pleaſant to me, and my noiſome prifon (enough to
have deſtroyed my weakly and tender-educated nature) a place of pleaſure
and delight, where I was comforted by my God night and day, and filled
with prayers for his people; as alfo with love to, and prayers for, thofe who
had been the means of outwardly-afflicting me and others upon the Lord's
account.
Fourthly, I have no doubt in my heart that the Lord will deliver us.
The ſtrength of man, the refolution of man, is nothing in my eye, in com-
pare with the Lord. Whom the Lord loveth he can fave at his pleaſure.
Hath he begun to break our bonds and deliver us, and fhall we now dif
truft him? Are we in a worfe condition than Ifrael was, when the fea was
before them, the mountains on each fide, and the Egyptians behind pur-
fuing them? He indeed that looketh with man's eye, can fee no ground
of
t
the King and Parliament.
579
of hope, nor hardly a poffibility of deliverance; but (to the eye of faith) it
is now nearer than when God began at first to deliver.
Fifthly, It is the delight of the Lord, and his glory, to deliver his peo-
ple, when to the eye of fenſe it ſeemeth impoffible. Then doth the Lord
delight to ſtretch forth his arm, when none elſe can help; and then doth it
pleaſe him to deal with the enemies of his truth and people, when they are
lifted up above the fear of him, and are ready to fay in their hearts con-
cerning them; They are now in our hands; Who can deliver them?
Well were it not in love to you, and in pity (in relation to what will
certainly befall you, if you go on in this courfe) I could fay in the joy of
my heart, and in the fenfe of the good-will of my God to us, who fuffereth
theſe things to come to paſs, Go on, try it out with the Spirit of the Lord; come
forth with your laws, and prifons, and Spoiling of our goods, and banishment, and
death (if the Lord pleaſe) and fee if ye can carry it. For we come not forth
againſt you in our own wills, or in any enmity againſt your perſons or go-
vernment, or in any ftubbornness or refractorinefs of fpirit; but with the
Lamb-like nature which the Lord our God hath begotten in us, which
is taught and enabled by him both to do his will, and to fuffer for his
name's fake. And if we cannot thus overcome you (even in patience of
ſpirit, and in love to you), and if the Lord our God pleaſe not to appear
for us, we are content to be overcome by you. So the will of the Lord be
done, faith my foul.
O
POST SCRIPT.
H! dear friends, hearken to the voice of the love of my heart, which
ſpeaketh thus unto you! Oh!wait, wait to feel ſomewhat of God, ſome-
what of his divine life and power ſtirring in your hearts, and travel (in the
light and leadings of it) out of the earthly nature, leaving the corruption of
man behind, which makes you miſerable, and putting on the holinefs and
righteouſneſs of the nature of God day by day, which will make you happy,
as ye are made partakers of it; yea, do but come into the power of that
religion which ye yourſelves profefs, not fo much minding the outward
form (for it is not of fo much value), and ye fhall find that we fhall
agree in religion fooner than ye are aware. Now if in
your hearts
hearts ye
fhall
afk me, What it is to come into the power of that religion which ye your-
felves profeſs? I fhall appeal unto your own fouls whether it be not this;
even to forfake the devil and all his works, taking up the crofs unto your own
hearts luft and corrupt ways, and under this crofs (wherein is the
power of
God felt by them that mind it, and wait upon God there with humble and
fubject fpirits) to fight the battles of Chriſt againſt temptations to fin, and
the foul's enemies, even until death. Here (if ye will enter at this narrow
gate, and walk on in this ftrait way unto the kingdom, into which flesh and
D d d d 2
blood
}
580
POST SCRIP T.
blood cannot enter, but the ſelfiſh nature and earthly fpirit muſt be left be-
hind) in this religion, which is indeed the fubftance of all true religion, we
can readily meet and unite with you. But if ye will fet up a form to ftop
the power and progrefs of the Spirit of the Lord in the hearts of his people
in this nation, and not mind the power of religion yourſelves, but with
vehemency go about to force others to your form (which ye cannot truly
fay is of God, but of man), in this we cannot clofe with you, but muft be
content in the will of God to fuffer under you, the time which the Lord
hath allotted, which ye' cannot go beyond. And bleffed for ever be the
name of the Lord, our God, who hath made us acquainted with that life
and power which was before all forms and ways of religion and worship of
man's inventing, and which will be after them; and who hath hitherto borne
up our fpirits in the teftimony which he hath given us to bear to his living
truth and worship, and who we doubt not will yet bear us up, even to a
conqueft in his Spirit over all that he hath called us forth to teftify againſt.
And that great city, or building of religion, which is built up by man's
wifdom, and maintained by man's ftrength, we are fure is falling, and
fhall fall throughout all the earth; yea, man's ftriving to re-edify and re-
eſtabliſh it, will but make the ruins thereof more ſpeedy and more dreadful.
The mouth of the Lord hath fpoken it, both in the fcriptures of truth,
which cannot be broken, and in the hearts of many of his fervants, in this
day of his appearance in Spirit to thoſe, the eyes of whofe fpirits he hath
opened, and by whom he hath given a vifit and warning to the earth, which
the earthly ear cannot hear, but will be overtaken and furprized with the
day of the Lord. And oh! what running and feeking will there be to the
rocks, and hills, and mountains, for an hiding-place from, the wrath of the
Lamb! but none will be then found. O miferable earthly-fpirited man!
(whọ haft paffed away thy time in a dream, and haft little minded or re-
garded the falvation of thy foul, or confidered what thy prefent vain plea-
fures and courfes would tend to), what wilt thou then do? There is a pit pre-
pared for the wicked (I ſpeak not the imagination of mine own; indeed it
is the truth of God).
Now the Lord feeks the fouls of all loft men, to fave them from the pit;
but their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes veiled, their hearts grofly fatted
and made infenfible with the fenfes and delights of the earthly nature, and
the voice of God (with the things that concern their eternal peace, yea,
their prefent welfare alfo) cannot enter into them; and fo they let flip the
time of their redemption, and waſte away the ſeaſon of their vifitation,
hardly ever fo much as thinking what will become of them in the end.
O Lord, my God, awaken thy poor creatures, that they may live, and not
die: rather let thy judgments break forth to awaken them, than that they
fhould thus run on towards utter deftruction, even to perifh from thy life
and bleſſedneſs, and to be ſwallowed up in the mifery, torment, and wrath
due to that nature which they have contracted, and wallowed like fwine in.
Every
•
POSTSCRIPT.
581
1
Every nature, principle, and fpirit is travelling towards its end. O man!
take heed what nature thou art of, in what principle and ſpirit thou acteſt,
and towards what thou travelleft. And remember that God loveth his crea-
ture; thy deftruction is not of him, if thou perifh; but in him is thy help,
if thou hearken to his voice, and turn at the reproofs of that which he hath
placed near thee, even in thy heart, to reprove fin in thee, and to beget thee
into the love and holiness of his life and nature, leavening thee into a new
man, as thou becomeft fubject to the checks and leadings thereof. This
is pleafing to the Lord; that which proceeds from this, and is performed
in this, is the true worſhip, and not that which man hath invented, and
with which the earthly nature is quieted and ſatisfied, but the power of life
turns from.
It is the great mercy of the Lord to stop any man in the way of his
error, and happy is he that is ftopped by him.
YE
Another POSTSCRIPT.
ET one thing, perhaps as my laſt unto you, let me freely propofe
and be not hafty in fpirit, but wait on God for ſkill and ability to
weigh the thing aright, and to give an upright anſwer thereto, as before
him, in the fecrets of your confciences. It is briefly this: Why may not
the power of religion be permitted to flouriſh under you? Cannot the go-
vernment of God's Spirit and your government ftand together? I befeech
you confider it. No man knoweth how fhort his time is, nor what is to
come after his preſent determination of things. It is now your day: Oh!
that ye had the true light to walk by in it, that ye might not afterwards re-
pent; and that my heart might be gladded concerning you, who have
fo prayed for you, as if I had felt mine own foul in your conditions.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
·
:
A SA-
[582]
A
SALUTATION
O F
LOVE and tender GOOD-WILL
TO THE
COMMISSIONERS of the PEACE
FOR THE
COUNTY of B U C K S,
And fuch others in that COUNTY, and alfo throughout
the NATION, as are concerned in the Contents hereof.
I
F I ſhould warn you of the day of the Lord (which is a day of terrible
wrath to the tranfgreffing nature, but of peace, love, and tender mercy
to the righteous, innocent, fuffering feed); if I fhould tell you that this day
is haftening upon this nation, and upon the whole earth; and if this ſhould
affright you, and cauſe you to cry unto the Lord to deliver you from that
nature, and from thoſe finful courſes, which make you but a fit fewel for his
fire in the day of its hot burning; I fay, if by this means ye fhould be thus
prepared for this day, and yet this day comes not fo fuddenly as ye might
expect; yet that would be no lofs, or cauſe of grief unto you. But if this
day ſhould ſuddenly come, and find you in your fins, and fo the fierce wrath
of the Lord break in upon and afflict your fouls, and the day of your mercy
and redemption be wholly paffed over by you; this would be matter of un-
utterable grief and forrow to you, and the remembrance of your former
eaſe and pleaſures would but increaſe the ſenſe and anguiſh of your mifery.
Certain I am, there is a day of giving account for finning againſt God,
and for oppreffing that in your confciences which difcovers to you, and
checks
A Salutation of Love, &c.
583
checks you for, your fins. And this will as certainly come, as the day of
finning now is; and then every man muſt receive from God according to
his works, and reap the fruit of the deeds done in the body; then every
foul muſt inherit according to its nature, and every veffel be filled with what
it is fitted to receive. That which is fitted for mercy, with mercy; that
which is fitted for wrath and mifery, with wrath and mifery; and when the
diſtreſſed ſinner will with, Oh! that I had an hour to escape! Oh! that God
would once more give me a moment of repentance, and of turning from fin!
Oh! confider; is it a flight thing with you that the infinite God, who is
little concerned in you (being perfectly bleſſed and happy for ever without
you; but as his love, mercy, and tender nature, maketh him concern him-
felf about the ſalvation of your fouls) ſhould give you ſo large a ſpace of re-
pentance, and ſo many diſcoveries of the evil of your ways (when at any
time ye are retired and ferious), and ſo many checks and warnings in your
hearts, as the vileft of finners, at times, have more or lefs from God? Can
ye lengthen out the day of mercy? Can ye limit God how long he ſhould
ſtrive with you? Oh! why do you harden your hearts? Why do you hearken
to the lufts, defires, temptations, and counſels of the earthly mind, whofe
counſel hath undone all that have liftened thereunto?
There is no way of avoiding the eternal infupportable wrath of God,
Him
but by travelling out of that nature, fpirit and courfe which it is to.
that fowed to fin and corruption under the law, the facrifices would not fave
then; nor him that foweth to fin and corruption under the gofpel, the fa-
crifice of Chrift will not fave now; but he that is faved by Chriſt muſt be
fanctified and redeemed from fin and corruption by him; which Chrift
worketh by his principle of life fown in the heart; which principle turneth
againſt the contrary principle, diſcovering its nature, and evil dark ways,
and drawing from, and leading out of them. Oh! therefore let me in love
intreat you all, my dear countrymen (indeed I have no end in it but your
good), to mind that in your hearts which difcovers your evils to you; that
therein ye may feel the power of life drawing you from them, and helping
you against them. Greater is the power in this than the power that is
in the contrary principle; as thofe that hearken to it, and become fubject,
by experience feel. And what if ye lofe a few fond pleaſures for the prefent
(which indeed are beneath the true ſtate of a man), ye will lofe a great deal
of mifery too, and your gain at laft will be exceeding great.
If ye would know whether I ſpeak truth in theſe things, come to the true
balance, and wait on the Lord, till by him ye be made able to weigh. My
meaning is, join to the good Spirit of the Lord, when ye find it stirring
in your own hearts; give up unto it, let in its ftrength upon you, in its
warmth and drawing virtue; give up to forfake the evil, and purſue the
good fear not the multitude of evils in the heart, nor the long accuftom-
edneſs unto evil; the Lord will help the willing foul out of them. And in
1
this
r
584 Concerning Peace and Good-will.
this obedience to the good Spirit of the Lord, the will be an under-
ſtanding received to know the things of God, and to try words and fayings,
whether they be of him, or of man. And he that tries in this balance
cannot be deceived (the meaſure being equal and juít, and proper to the
things which are therewith to be meafured); whereas the wifeft of men,
truſting either to their own underſtandings and judgments, or to the judg-
ments and underſtandings of others, are liable to be deceived; and then
ye will acknowledge what love this ſprang from, and what light and life
it fprang up in, though through a weak and contemptible veffel.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
T
CONCERNING
PEACE and GOOD-WILL.
HE true peace is in the new nature, which puts an end to the
warring and fighting fpirit inwardly, and turns the whole ſtrength of
the battle againſt the enemies of the foul. In the old nature there are lufts
after dominion, and after liberty to the flesh, and fulfilling the felf-will of
the earthly mind: but thefe are all brought down in the renewed fpirit,
by the power, love, and ſweetneſs of the goſpel of peace. Here is indeed
uprightneſs of heart to the Lord, quietnefs of fpirit under whatever the
Lord fuffers to be, and good-will towards all men; waiting on the Lord
for his ſeaſons of tender bowels, with ſtrong cries and tears, even for thoſe,
who, to the eye of man, may ſeem ſo hardened againſt God and his truth,
as to be out of the reach of mercy.
I
A
1
A
WEIGHTY QUESTION
PROPOUNDED TO THE
KING,
AND₁
Both Houſes of PARLIAMENT.
TOGETHER WITH SOME
QU
.
ERIE S
ABOUT
R EL
IGI
GION,
FOR
The GOOD of MENS SOUL S,
That they may ſeek after, and be eſtabliſhed in, that which gives Life.
By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
VOL. I.
Eeee
[586]
1
+
A
WEIGHTY QUESTION
Propounded to the
KING, and both Houfes of PARLIAMENT.
QUESTION.
Whether laws made by man, in equity, ought to extend any further than there is
power in man to obey.
S it not cruel to require obedience in fuch caſes, wherein the party hath
not a capacity in him of obeying?
I
Now in things concerning the worſhip of God, wherein a man is
limited by God, both what worſhip he fhall perform, and what worſhip he
ſhall abſtain from, here he is not left at liberty to obey what laws fhall
be made by man contrary hereunto.
The New-Teftament-worſhip is to be in Spirit and Truth; which is a
principle above man's reaſon, and cannot rightly be limited by a lower
principle; but the lower principle in every man ſhould be fubjected to the
higher, both in himſelf and others,
Theſe things I write, not in pride or conceitedneſs, but with an humble
heart, and in love; that God may have his due, Cæfar his, and all men
theirs, and that wrath from God may not break forth upon this nation :
fòr furely it cannot but greatly provoke him, to fee his people ſo deeply
fuffer for their obedience to him in what he requireth of them.
+
I am a lover of peace, truth, and righteoufnefs, and an hearty defirer of
the welfare and profperity of this nation; and that it may no more be bro-
ken up in the wrath and indignation of the Lord; but that the peaceable
and
1
A weighty Question propounded, &c.
587
and righteous feed, which he hath fown in the hearts of many, may be
quietly fuffered to grow up, to the praiſe of the Lord, and to the good of
mankind.
This is from one, who was a mourner over you in your affliction, and is
now alſo a mourner over thoſe whom ye affli&t.
I. P.
Some QUERIES about RELIGIO N.
HAT is true religion? Is it a gift from God, bestowed on
Query 1.
a profeffion of worſhip of the nature of this world, which a man by natural
parts and induſtry may attain to, as well as to other things?
W thoſe whom he begets by the power of his life? Or is it
Query 2. What is the fum and fubftance of the true religion? Is it not love
from a principle of life? Is it not a travel out of the enmity of the creature
into the love of God? Doth not the light of life fpring in the love, and ga-
ther into the love? Doth not Chrift, revealed in the heart, and leavening
the heart with the favour of life, teach love to enemies, to bear with them
in love, to feek them in love, to forgive them in love, to pray for them
in love, to wifh good to them, and wreſtle with God for mercy towards.
them, even while they are hating and perfecuting?
up
Query 3. Are the Papifts, or Proteftants, or any other fort of religious
perfons, found in this love? Do they manifeft by it their diſcipleſhip to
Chriſt, and the power of Chrift in them? Or rather, do they not fet
their feveral forms, and maintain them in wrath and enmity againſt each
other? Nay, would they not deftroy each other, if they could? Surely
this fpirit is in too many of them! And doth not this give a ſtrong evidence
againſt their religion, that it hath but a form, and not the true power in it,
and that in heart they are not the difciples of Chrift? For if they were fuch,
they would of him learn the love.
Query 4. Whether any form of religion (if not held in the power, and
fubjected to the power) doth not fight againſt the power, keeping up an
outſide ſhew without the fubftance, and thereby crufhing the ſubſtance?
What form of religion at this day in the world can fuffer the love to grow
and the life to lead and rule in the love, and the Lord of life to exercife his
authority in the hearts and confciences of men? And this is for want of
power within, and becauſe of forms forcibly fet up without: for the religion
of the goſpel began in Spirit and in power, and it never can be reftored and
preferved but by the fame Spirit and power. The renting of the Proteftants
from the Papifts was no further good than it was in the power of the life;
Eeee 2
and
588
Some Queries about Religion.
and the renting of others from the Proteftants was no further good, than it
was begun and held in the fame power: nay, any party, though beginning
ever fo uprightly, and, by ever fo true and clear a leading of the Spirit of
God; yet fo foon as it begins to invent and turn afide to a form of its own
chufing, and is upheld by the reaſonings and underſtandings of
of men, it pre-
fently corrupts.
Query 5. Whether the power of religion (and the true love) if it were
raiſed up and reſtored again, would make the world happy, and fet every
thing in its proper place, both inwardly and outwardly? Is not fenfe an ex-
cellent thing in man, if it be guided by reafon? And is not reafon a much
more excellent thing, if it be guided by an inward principle of life? But
fenſe left to itſelf, without the guidance of reafon, how brutifh is it! And
reaſon left to itſelf, without the guidance of a principle of life, falls below
fenſe. How cruel, how blind, how ſelfiſh, how unrighteous is man, that
follows the dictates of his own corrupt reaſon, without knowing and be-
coming fubject to that, which fhould enlighten it, and give him the right
uſe thereof!
Query 6. Whether God will reſtore religion again in the power? Whe-
ther he hath fuch a work to do in the world? And whether the time be
near that God is about fuch a work? And whether he hath already begun
it, and made any progreſs in it? Is there fuch a thing as the power of re-
ligion fought after? Do men grow weary of their forms of worſhip, and
find them empty, and unfatisfactory to the hungry foul, that pants after
life? Nay, have there not been fome touches and appearances of life and
power, and of the true love, in fome poor, weak, defpifed-ones? Oh! that
men knew the times and ſeaſons, and then perhaps they would ſee that this
is not a day for fetting up of forms, but of longing and crying out after
life and power!
?
Query 7. When God reſtoreth religion, and raiſeth it
up in
power, whe-
ther then forms and ways of worship, without the power, muft not needs
wither and decay? When the power firft appeared in the difpenfation of
the goſpel, did not all the fhadows of Mofes's ceremonies fly away, and va-
nifh before it? And when it appears again, fhall not all the ſhadows and
inventions of man, which have fprung up fince in the time of the night, va-
niſh before the brightneſs of the light of the day? Where the power arifeth
in any heart, what becomes of the man, with all that ſprings from him?
Where is his wiſdom? Where is his former worſhip? What becomes of all
his forms of religion? Do they not all moulder and come to nothing, and he
become as a little child, to be formed again in the power of life, and born of
the Spirit of life, that he may enter into God's kingdom? Do not all the
old things paſs away, and new things fpring up from the feed of life, which
God fows and preferves in the hearts of his by his power?
Now who is wife to underſtand theſe things? Who hath the key to
open the myſteries of life? Who knoweth the times and the feafons (the
times
Some Queries about Religion.
589
times and ſeaſons of forms, and the times and ſeaſons of life and power)?
Who feeth what God is about to do in the world, and prepareth his heart
for his adminiftrations on the earth? Who is a friend to God, and to man-
kind, and willing to travel in ſpirit out of this dark, corrupt, earthly
ftate of things, into the heavenly nature and being, where man was at firſt,
from whence he came, out of which he departed, and can never be happy
till he return thither again; and can never return thither by his own
ftrength and reafon, but only by the power and leadings of God, revealed
in him an inward principle of life? And he that will follow this muſt feel
it in his heart, and then turn his back upon the earthly nature and wiſdom,
and war againſt his own corrupt reaſonings, in and with the light of the
principle of life, as it arifeth, and is further and further made manifeft in
his heart, through the grace and mercy of God, which thereby offereth its
help to miſerable loft man, to redeem him out of his mifery and undone
eftate.
Man hath a time here allotted him by God; and when the time is over,
it is determined concerning him. He is a feeds-man in this world, and
what he fows here, he muft reap hereafter. He foweth either to the fleſh,
or to the Spirit; either to his own will, or to God's will. He followeth
either the ways of his own heart, or of God's Spirit. He either feels the
power of religion, and is renewed thereby, and fitted for God; or contents
himſelf with a form without the power, and in effect remains what he was.
He that is renewed, he that is changed in heart and life, he that foweth
to the will and nature of God, fhall inherit life with God. He that liveth
in a form of religion without the power, and followeth the vanities of his
own mind (going out of this world unrenewed and unfitted for God) fhall
be cut off from God, and lie down in forrow and anguifh of foul, where he
will bitterly bewail his miſ-ſpent time, and the lofing of his foul's life and
happineſs, for the enjoying a few days the earthly nature and ſpirit in its
corrupt and degenerated eftate.
O man! whoever thou art, that art drowned in the lufts and pleaſures
of this world, which anſwer only to the fenfual and corrupt part! Oh! re-
member that thou haft alſo a precious foul, which wants redemption by the
power of God to make thee happy. And one day this foul will be awakened
in thee, and when it is awakened, it will feel its want of God. This is the
day of God's ftretching out his arm to thee; oh! flip it not out! for if thou
doft, terrible will the day of thy awaking be; and thy mifery unavoidable
and intolerable. And if now the pains of thy body be ſo dreadful to thee,
what will the tearings of thy foul be by the wrath of the Almighty? Lay it
to heart, and retire inwardly, feeking to feel ſomewhat of God gathering
and guiding thy foul out of thine own worldly nature and ſpirit, into the
nature and life of his Spirit; that thy foul (at preſent ſeparated from God,
and drowned in the earth) may return to, and be happy in, the center of
life, from whence it came. For there is a center of fouls, as well as of
1
the
590
Some Queries about Religion.
the earthly nature; and the spirit of man returneth to God that gave it, as
well as the body to the earth. And then the Lord appointeth it to its pro-
per place, which is according to the nature it is found in. If it be wheat,
if it be of the renewed nature, if it hath taken up the cross, and followed Chrift
in the regeneration, then he gathereth it into his garner. If it be of the
chaffy nature, of the earthly fpirit; the mind remaining unrenewed and un-
reconciled to the nature of God; then to the unquenchable fire (even the fire
which will burn and ſcorch unquenchably), and to the worm which dieth not;
but gnaweth perpetually, and bringeth to mind all the former vanity and
mif-fpent time, to increaſe the heat and flames of the fire. Oh! where is
the foul, that, if it were not wholly bewitched and lulled into a dead fleep,
by the ftupifying ſpirit of this world, would run fo great a hazard, for the
enjoying of a few momentary pleaſures in the fenfual part, and lofe thereby
the inward enjoyment of peace and reconciliation with God here, and of the
pleaſures of his kingdom of true glory afterwards.
Now for a cloſe, let me fay one word (in the upright love, and true good-
will of my heart) to this prefent generation, that they may confider and
take heed (if poffibly); it is this.
Even as a father after the flesh is tender to the children he begets ac-
cording to his nature, and would not fuffer them to be wronged or deſtroyed,
if he could help it; fo is the Lord tender of thoſe whom he begets in the
nature of his life, and in his due ſeaſon will appear for them, as furely as he
is God, and as furely as he hath begotten them out of the wordly nature.
unto himſelf, by the Spirit and power of his life. Therefore, Oh! touch
not any whom the Lord hath in the leaft meaſure anointed with his holy
oil! For what is done unto the leaſt of theſe poor, naked, fick, impriſoned
ones, &c. he looketh upon as done unto himfelf; becauſe he is one with
them in the ſufferings of their fleſh, whom he hath made one with himſelf
in Spirit.
CONCERNING
The Perfuafions of REASON and FAITH in Matters of
RELIGION.
TH
HERE is the natural man, and the fpiritual man; and there are the
perſuaſions of each in and about matters of religion. There is the
perfuafion of Reaſon, and the perfuafion of Faith.
The perfuafion of Reafon is that belief which man receives into his mind
or heart from the exerciſe of the reafoning faculty; and this perfuafion in
matters
.
Concerning the Perfuafions, &c.
591
t
matters of religion is but man's opinion or judgment; which, how certain or
infallible foever it appear to him, yet may be fhaken by a demonftration or
evidence of an higher kind and nature.
The perfuafion of Faith is that belief which the new creature receives in
the renewed mind, from the evidence and demonftration of the Spirit,
which openeth and manifefteth the things of the Spirit, unto that mind
which is begotten and renewed by it. And this perfuafion is certain and
infallible, however it may be ftruck at and battered, by the reafonings of
the wife earthly part, even in that very man whofe heart is thus perfuaded,
by the light of the Spirit of God, concerning the things of God's king-
dom.
Now the loweft perfuafion of Faith is higher, and of a more noble nature,
than the higheſt perfuafion of Reafon; becauſe Faith is of an higher prin-
ciple, and of a deeper nature and ground, than man's reafon is. But this,
becauſe it appears not in man's fphere, but rather out of it, and is contrary.
to the line and reach of his wifdom, is accounted by him foolishness and mad-
nefs. Thus is the wisdom of God (and the children thereof) judged and
condemned by man in this day.
And how can it be otherwife? How can the wifdom of man but judge
that as fooliſhneſs, whofe beauty and excellency is hid from its eye? But
this is becauſe the wifdom of man is out of its place, not fubjected to the
wiſdom of God, but exalted above it; therefore (as a curfe unto it) is it
fuffered to lift up itſelf in its conceitedneſs againſt, and ſo to perfecute, the
pure wiſdom of God and the births thereof, that it might fall, and be broken,
and fnared, and taken, and its day defervedly come to an end, and be ſhut
up in the ſhadows and chambers of eternal darkneſs.
But what ear of man can hear this! furely none that is whole in the line.
of man's wiſdom, reafon, and underſtanding; but that alone that is bruifed,
broken, and in fome meaſure dafhed in pieces, by the inroads of a diviner
life and nature. This, in the leadings of that life which hath broken it,
and in the fhinings of the light eternal upon it and into it, may be enabled to
take up the croſs to the natural part, and to die that death with Chrift,
which preferves from the ſecond death, with the mifery thereof.
Happy is he, who knows and hearkens to the perfuafions of God's
Spirit, who is born of God, and taught to wait upon him and wor-
fhip him in Spirit, who receives his religion from the light of faith, into
the renewed nature and mind, and not from the reaſon of man into the
natural underſtanding, which is eafily corrupted, and cannot be kept pure,
but alone by the indwelling of the principle of eternal life in it.
For though fuch may fuffer very deeply in this world, from the men of
this world (as the fubjects and fervants to the principle of life have done
in all ages and generations), yet their principle will bear them out; in
which God will appear to ftrengthen and refreſh their ſpirits, and carry them
up above all their fufferings in the patience, meekneſs, and faith of the
Lamb,
་
592
Concerning the Perfuafions, &c.
Lamb. And keeping to their principle they cannot be overcome, but muft
either live or die conquerors, according to the will and good pleafure of
him who ordereth and difpofeth of all things well, and bringeth good out
of every evil, in defpight of all the powers of darkneſs. And he that over-
cometh (whether by life or death) in the Lamb's Spirit, fhall wear the
Lamb's crown, and fit down in that perfect reft in the kingdom of the Fa-
ther, which will give the hearts of all his children full fatisfaction. In
which affured hope (life ſtirring in our bofoms, and quickening our hearts
with love unto God, and zeal for his truth) we can freely give up all that
is near and dear unto us in this world, and lay down our heads in inward
peace, in the midſt of the greateſt outward perfecution and trouble. Even
Jo, O Lord, thy will be done concerning this generation of thy people, whom thou
haft begotten to thyself, and brought forth by thy mighty power, to testify to thy
truth in this prefent day. Difpofe of them as it pleaſeth thee; and let not their
faith in thee, nor thy faithfulness to them, fail, but let them be a praiſe to thy
name throughout all generations; and tendered by thee, as the first-fruits of thine
appearance, in the glorious light of the everlasting day, after this great, long,
thick, and dark night of apoftafy from the life and ſpirit of the apostles, which
bath fo long eclipfed and covered the brightness of thy beauty from the fight of the
earth.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
#
SOME
1
SOME OF THE
MYSTERIES
O F
GOD'S KINGDOM
GLANCED A T.
For the Service of the Upright-Hearted among
feveral Sorts of Profeffors:
Who have formerly had a Feeling of moſt of theſe
Things in Meaſure.
To which Feeling, and that which gave it them, they are hereby
allured and invited to return;
That the MANY NAMES and VARIOUS WAYS may periſh and vaniſh ;
and the ONE SPIRIT, ONE LIFE, ONE New living NAME and
WAY may be waited for and purſued after :
That fo all the TRIBES and FAMILIES, and ſeveral Divifions
of ISRAEL, may know one another;
And heartily unite in ONE NATURE and INWARD POWER of LIFE,
which doth Good to ALL, and Harm to NoNE, neither inwardly nor
outwardly.
BY
A Traveller towards the Living Subftance, and a Mourner over the
Wanderings of the ſcattered Sheep.
VOL. I.
}
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
Ffff
[ dxciv ]
THE
PREFACE.
No
ONE but Chriſt, none but Chrift, faith my foul, from the ſenſe of
my continual need of him, and from the deep love of my heart unto
him. Now there is a twofold way of knowing Chrift, both which are of
uſe, and have their fervice in their ſeveral ſeaſons, according to the eſtate
and condition of the foul, and according to the difpenfation which it pleaſeth
God to fet up among his people; the one whereof is literal, the other
fpiritual; the one is according to a defcription of him received into the under-
ftanding; the other is according to the revelation or unveiling of him in the
heart. As for inftance, Chrift may be preached as light, as life, as power;
as the eternal word and wiſdom of the Father, &c. Now the receiving the
knowledge of theſe things merely into the underſtanding, is a receiving and
knowing Chrift according to the letter, or according to a literal defcrip-
tion of him; and the receiving of any of theſe things in the living fenfe
and fhinings of the eternal light of God in the heart, and fo becoming
fubject in that life, fenfe, and power, is a knowing and receiving of them
in fpirit, and the fpiritual fubmiffion and obedience of the gofpel. This
is the excellent way and path of life which God in this laft age of the world
is making manifeft; though the other is not quite laid afide, nor to be re-
jected or defpifed, where there is any of the light of life ftirring in it.
But the main thing now to be minded is the heavenly birth, with God's
difpenfation of life to it, and its feparation from the earthly birth, and its
way of feeding on the heavenly things. For Hagar and Ishmael (which
are the mother and child after the letter) are now to be caſt out; and the
feed of promife, with its mother, to abide in the houfe alone (with the Fa-
ther of bleffings) for ever. So that now the feparation goeth very near
and cloſe. The birth that is now raiſed is very inward and ſpiritual, even
the feed itſelf, and its food is the life itfelf, even that which the earthly
birth cannot feed on or digeft; and the way and knowledge of life is very
inward and ſpiritual, to cut off the earthly nature and ſpirit in its clofeft in-
finuations
PREFACE.
dxcv.
finuations and transformings. The Lamb, in his appearances in this day,
is very hidden and retired; and none can fee his paths, and follow him,
but fuch as receive of his prefent ointment, and feel the guidance of the
opening of his eye in them. The Lord is bringing about great things,
both inwardly and outwardly; happy are they whofe hearts and fpirits are
prepared for them: for great mifery, death, and deftruction is coming upon
the earthly, and great joy and bleſſedneſs is breaking up in, and ſhowering
down upon, the heavenly; which that all fouls that have the breath of life
in them, and that pant after the living God, may partake of, is the earneſt
defire of my foul.
:.
Ffff2
SOME
[ 596 ]
SOME OF THE
MYSTERIES
O F
GOD's KINGDOM
GLANCED AT.
Queſt.
Anfw.
W
Concerning CHRIST.
HAT is Chrift?
!
He is the immediate offspring of eternal life in himſelf,
and the fountain or ſpring of life unto the creation. Even
as the Father bath life in himself, ſo hath he given to the Son to have life in
himſelf and in and through his Son he communicateth of his life unto his
creatures.
Queſt. 2. How doth Chrift convey life?
:
Anfw. As the living Word; as the promiſed feed. He foweth the feed
of the kingdom in the heart, in which is life and as he maketh
way for
this to ſpread and grow up in and leaven the veffel, even fo he quickeneth
and gathereth into his life. Again, he is the enlightening word, the
quickening word, the word of wiſdom, the word of power, the word of
love and reconciliation, whofe voice worketh mightily towards the deſtroy-
ing of fin, and faving of the foul from it.
Queft. 3. Where is this Word or feed to be waited for?
Anfw. Its appearance is in the hearts of the fons of men, and there it is
to be waited for. There God fows this feed; and there it is nigh to them
whom God vifits with his loving-kindneſs and mercy.
Queſt.
Some of the Mysteries of, &c.
597
Queft. 4. How is this Word received?
Anfw. By faith in the virtue which floweth from it. Its nature is to turn
againſt fin, and to draw towards the Father. Its light fhineth to diſcover
fin, and its life ſtirreth to quicken againſt it. Now in the heart's believe-
ing, and being perfuaded againſt that which the light difcovereth to be evil,
and won to that which it fheweth to be good, the word is thus far received,
and a foundation of union between it and the foul laid. And fo, on the
other hand, in the rejecting or turning from any thing that comes from
Chriſt in the heart, Chrift is rejected and turned from.
Queft. 5. How doth this Word work in or upon the heart?
Anfw. According to the entrance it gets into the heart, or according as
it is rejected or refuſed. As it gets entrance, it works life there, and works
the creature into its life. It brings in its nature, its righteouſneſs, its holi-
neſs, its ſweetneſs, its peace, its love, its joy, its meekneſs, its patience,
&c. as it makes room in the heart, by working out the contrary. But
where it is rejected, it works death and condemnation, and increaſeth the
captivity and mifery of the foul; fo that it were better never to hear any
found of Chrift in the heart, than not to hearken and become fubject
thereto.
Queſt. 6. What hinders union with Chrift?
Anfw. The ftrong man armed, whom he cometh to difpoffefs; who doth
what he can to blind the eye from ſeeing the lovely nature of Chriſt, and
to harden the heart againſt his vifits and appearances.
Queft. 7. How may the foul be helped against him?
Anfw. Receiving the truth in the love, and giving up the heart in the
virtue that flows from Chrift in his vifits and appearances, brings in that
ſtrength into the foul which conquers him. He is not able to ftand be-
fore the power of Chrift; which power is the foul's, as it is let in by the
foul. It is the unbelief of the heart, and the earthly thoughts and imagina-
tions, which give the enemy ftrength: but before the faith (even in the
weakeft) he is weak, and his ftrength falls.
C
Concerning the WAY of knowing CHRIST.
7
HRIST is the minifter of the true fanctuary, which God hath
pitched, and not man. There is a city, whose builder and maker is
God. The foundation-ftone, the corner-ftone, the top-ftone of this city
or building, is Chrift. He therefore that would know Chrift, and be built
upon Chrift, muft find an holy thing revealed in his heart, and his foul
built thereon by him, who alone can raiſe this building, who can rear up
the tabernacle that hath long been fallen down, who can build up the old
waſte places, and reftore the paths for the ranfomed and redeemed of the
Lord to walk and travel on in.
Now
598
Some of the Mysteries of
Now he which can find any thing of God built up in his heart (yea, if
he can find but the beginning of the true fanctuary), he may alfo find
Chriſt miniſtering there; even the true high-prieft offering up the facrifices,
and interceding with the Father; as alfo giving the foul the food of the
holy things to eat of. Now this is the way of knowing Chrift indeed; to
wit, in his begettings in the heart, in his prefence there, in his miniftra-
tions there between the foul and the Father. And he that thus knoweth
him, even in that which is begotten of him, watching in fingleneſs of heart
with the true eye, cannot be deceived concerning him, but knoweth the
voice of his Spirit, and readily embraceth it; but a ftranger or deceiver it
knoweth not, nor will not hear, but by the inſtinct of life turneth from
it. So that the knowledge and prefervation of the fheep is not by the
wife reafonings of the mind concerning the fhepherd's voice and the ftran-
ger's voice; but by an inftinct of the new hidden nature, which teacheth
the fimple-hearted to avoid the fnares which the earthly wifdom is eaſily
entangled in. The meek, the humble, the broken-hearted, the weak, the
poor, the babes, the little children, theſe are they whom the Father teacheth;
theſe have that preſervation and inftruction, which the wife, knowing, judi-
cious minds (in man's account) mifs of. Thus the foolishness of God is wifer
than man, and the weakness of God ftronger than man. And God hath chofen
in every man that which is not, to bring to nought all that is in him, that
no fleſh might glory in his prefence, nor no man be able to boaſt before
the Lord of the falvation of his foul.
Queft. 1.
Anfw.
W
Concerning REPENTANCE.
HAT is repentance?
It is Chrift's turning of the heart from the dead nature,
and from the dead works, towards the living principle, and the living
works thereof.
Queſt. 2. Cannot a man turn from fin and turn to God when he will?
Anf. No; man is a captive, his underſtanding captive, his will captive;
all his affections and nature in captivity; and nothing can turn him towards
God, but that which is ftronger than that power which captivateth him.
Queſt. 3. How is repentance wrought?
Anſw. It is Chriſt's gift, whom God hath appointed a prince and Saviour,
to give repentance and remiffion of fins, who giveth it in his enlightening
and drawing virtue, wherein fin's nature is opened, and the bent of the
foul by him fecretly turned againſt it.
Queſt. 4. What is the heart turned from, and what is it turned towards?
Anfw. From one nature to another, from one principle to another, from
one ſpirit to another, from one courſe to another, from one end to another.
Queſt. 5. Is repentance wholly given, or perfected at firſt?
Anfw.
God's Kingdom glanced at.
599
Anfw. No; but it increaſeth, and is given daily more and more to the
heart that waiteth on the Lord. Sin, the nature of it, the courſe of the
mind and body in it, is difcovered daily more and more, and the loathing
and detefting of it increaſed, as the new nature gathers ftrength in the
mind, and increaſeth in the light and power of life.
Queſt. 6. Is there never to be any reconciliation or turning back to fin?
Anf. No; but a farther removing and ſeparation from it; which ſepara-
The
tion is eternal, even as the beginning of it is in an eternal nature.
feed, at its firſt appearance and fpringing up, fhutteth out fin, as being of
a contrary nature to it; and the ftronger it groweth, the more it fhutteth
fin out: and where it wholly leaveneth and poffeffeth the creature, it
wholly expelleth the old leaven, and leaveth no place for it to re-enter.
This is perfect falvation, where there is no turning back to folly any more,
but a perpetual abiding in the nature of the eternal wiſdom.
Queft. 7. What if there be a committing of fin after one is turned from it?
Anfw. The repentance is not there perfected; the enemy is not there
wholly caft out, nor his ſtrength quite broken; the law is not there fulfilled,
the covenant of grace is not there fully witneffed; but the foul ſtill in a de-
gree of captivity under the power of the enemy: yet if the bent of the
heart be againſt the fin committed, God chargeth it upon the enemy, and
not upon the foul. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it,
but fin that dwelleth in me, Rom. vii. 20.
Queſt. 8. But is there any fin where there is no law? What makes fin but
the law? When a man bath travelled through the law into the eternal nature,
can be then commit fin?
Anfw. Where there is no law, there can be no tranfgreffion; but while
any of that nature remains to which the law naturally belongs, there may
be fin and tranfgreffion. Now that only is capable of being out of the
reach of the law, whofe nature is perfect, and which comprehends and
cannot but bring forth the righteouſneſs of the law in it. That therefore
which falleth fhort of the righteoufnefs of the law, and pleads it is not fin
to it, is in the deceit and error from the perfection, and not in the perfect
righteouſneſs, which eternally comprehends and brings forth the righteouf
neſs of the law; but is not comprehended or judged by it, becauſe its na-
ture, life, and righteouſneſs is above it.
1
Queſt. 1.
Anfw.
W
Concerning FAITH.
HAT is faith?
It is a belief in the appearances of the Lord to the foul, and
a cleaving to, and drinking in of their virtue. There are divers appear-
ances of the Lord, even as a quickening Spirit, quickening and enlivening
the foul; alſo as a diſcoverer, reprover, and condemner of fin, and jufti-
fier
600
Some of the Mysteries of
fier of righteouſneſs; likewife as a ſtrengthener and comforter of that which
wants his ftrength and comfort; and as a fountain of perfect love, ſweet-
nefs, and of all good, &c. Now however the Lord pleafeth to appear,
that which feeth, knoweth, owneth, and falleth in with his appearances,
drinking in the virtue thereof, that is faith.
Queft. 2. By what means is faith wrought?
Anfw. By the Word in the heart; by the living Word from which the foul
came, and which is nigh to the foul. This was the Word of faith, or the
Word which wrought faith under the law, Deut. xxx. This was the Word.
of faith which the apoftles preached, and which wrought faith under the
gofpel, Rom. x. This is the Word which we feel working faith in us now;
yea, and which worketh it in all thofe in whomfoever it is wrought; though
they may not know what works it: yea, this is the feed of life, from which
every ſpiritual thing fprings and grows in the heart.
Queft. 3. How is faith received?
Anfw. In the quickening power. The feed of life fhoots forth its light,
its life, its nature, its virtue into the heart. The heart being touched with
this, is in fome meaſure quickened towards God, and in and from this
quickening virtue faith flows into the foul. For in the death of fin, in the
dead flate, there is nothing but unbelief; faith therefore muft needs flow
from the quickenings of life.
Queft. 4. What doth faith do in the heart?
Anfw. It uniteth to God, and feparateth from fin. It beginneth and
carrieth on the work of redemption in the foul. It receiveth in that which
is of God, and beateth back the contrary. It keepeth the mind chaſte,
pure, living and freſh before the Lord. It draweth out the virtue, and
fucketh in the fweetnefs of every appearance of God in the heart. It keep-
eth in the love of God, and expelleth the love to fin, creature, felf, or any
thing as it ftands out of God. Indeed faith is the natural fucker-in of the
breath of life, and the purger-out of the breath and power of death..
Queſt. 5. Wherein doth faith ſtand?
Anfw. In that wherein it is received, even in the quickening power:
Faith muſt be continually kept alive by the feed of life, or it cannot live.
It fprings in the power, it dwells in the power, it acts in the
power, and
is never found out of it. Man cannot believe when he will; it is a con-
tinual gift, depending upon the continual quickenings and nouriſhment of
that life from whence it fprang.
Queft. 6. But doth not God withdraw? Doth not the power often clap in?
Where is faith then?
Anfw. There is the fecret prefence of the power, when it is not vifibly
manifeft, enabling the foul to keep to, and depend upon, that which is not
feen, but truſted in, though unfeen, and not fenfibly felt: and there is a
fecret turning from, and refifting of temptations, and a fecret overcoming
(the
God's Kingdom glanced at.
601
the heart being kept true and intire to the Lord) while the enemy feemeth
fenfibly to prevail and overcome.
Queft. 7. Why doth the enemy fo afſault with unbelief, and fight fo ftifly againſt
the faith of the foul ?
Anfw. Becauſe all depends upon it. Stop that, he ftops all; overcome
that, he overcomes all. If that ftand and abide in ftrength, he gains no-
thing; but lofes by every temptation and feeming victory: for faith gets
ground and advantage not only by a temptation, but alfo by a fall.
Queft. 1.
Anfw.
W
1
Concerning HOPE.
HAT is hope?
The expectation of fomewhat from the Lord, in the feafon
of his good-will. The expectation of the crown of life at laſt; the expecta-
tion of deliverance from fnares and temptations at prefent; the expectation
of receiving his promiſes of the divine nature, or of any mercy or bleffing
which he hath given to pray for; this is hope.
Queſt. 2. What are the grounds of hope to the foul?
Anſw. There are manifeft and viſible grounds, or a ſecret and inviſible
ground.
Queft. 3. What are the manifeft and viſible grounds?
Anfw. They are many, and of divers kinds. The Lord's love manifefted.
to the foul; the Lord's promiſes made to the foul particularly, or generally
to that condition wherein the foul is; the foul's experience of the Lord's
helping it in former diftreffes; yea, the very tender nature of the Lord to-
wards fouls, and their defcent from him, notwithſtanding their preſent
alienation and corrupt eftate, is a ground of hope, where the Lord quickens
it to the heart.
Queſt. 4. What is the invifible or fecret ground of bope?
Anfw. That cannot be diſcerned which is fecret and invifible; but yet
there is ſometimes an hope in the heart, when it is not perceived, which
is maintained and fed by the invifible life, which is hid there.
Queſt. 5. What is the nature and proper effects of hope?
Anfw. It ſtays the mind, even in the midft of ſtorms and tempefts, that
they do not overturn, overwhelm, and fink the foul. It keeps up the
head above the many waters, and keeps the heart from utterly fainting.
It preferves life in the many famines and ftreight fieges of the enemy.
Hope of relief keeps from yielding to the enemy, and preferves from dif-
truſting the Lord. Diftruft cannot enter and prevail, where hope abides.
Hope adds ftrength to the foul in its purfuit of all that is good, and in its
flying from and efchewing all that is evil, and is the fuccourer of faith in
the needful hour: yea, how often would the faith be given up and foiled,
were it not for the hope which relieves it!
Con-
VOL. I.
Gggg
602
Some of the Mysteries of
Queſt.
Answ. W
Concerning Love.
HAT is love?
What fhall I fay of it, or how fhall I in words expreſs its na-
ture! It is the ſweetneſs of life; it is the fweet, tender, melting nature of
God, flowing up through his feed of life into the creature, and of all things
making the creature moft like unto himſelf, both in nature and operation.
It fulfills the law, it fulfills the goſpel; it wraps up all in one, and brings
forth all in the oneness. It excludes all evil out of the heart, it perfects all
good in the heart. A touch of love doth this in meaſure; perfect love
doth this in fulneſs. But how can I proceed to ſpeak of it! Oh! that the
fouls of all that fear and wait on the Lord might feel its nature fully; and
then would they not fail of its fweet overcoming operations, both towards
one another, and towards enemies. The great healing, the great conqueft,
the great falvation is referved for the full manifeftation of the love of
God. His judgments, his cuttings, his hewings by the word of his mouth,
are but to prepare for, but not to do, the great work of raifing up the
fweet building of his life, which is to be done in love, and in peace, and
by the power thereof. And this my foul waits and cries after, even the
full fpringing up of eternal love in my heart, and in the ſwallowing of me
wholly into it, and the bringing of my foul wholly forth in it, that the life
of God in its own perfect ſweetneſs may freely run forth through this veffel,
and not be at all tinctured by the veffel, but perfectly tincture and change
the veffel into its own nature; and then fhall no fault be found in my foul
before the Lord, but the fpotlefs life be fully enjoyed by me, and become
a perfectly-pleaſant facrifice to my God.
▼
Oh! how fweet is love! how pleaſant is its nature! how takingly doth
it behave itſelf in every condition, upon every occafion, to every perſon, and
about every thing! How tenderly, how readily, doth it help and ferve the
meaneft! How patiently, how meekly, doth it bear all things, either from God
or man, how unexpectedly foever they come, or how hard foever they ſeem!
How doth it believe, how doth it hope, how doth it excuſe, how doth it
cover even that which feemeth not to be excufable, and not fit to be co-
vered! How kind is it even in its interpretations and charges concerning
miſcarriages! It never overchargeth, it never grates upon the ſpirit of him
whom it reprehends; it never hardens, it never provokes; but carrieth a
meltingneſs and power of conviction with it. This is the nature of God;
this, in the veffels capacitated to receive and bring it forth in its glory, the
power of enmity is not able to ſtand againft, but falls before, and is over-
come by.
Con-
God's Kingdom glanced at.
603
Queft.
Anfw. W
Concerning OBEdience.
HAT is obedience?
1
It is the fubjection of the foul to the law of the Spirit; which
fubjection floweth from, and is ftrengthened by, love. To wait to know
the mind of God, and perform his will in every thing, through the virtue
of the principle of life revealed within, this is the obedience of faith. This
is the obedience of the feed, conveyed into the creature by the feed, as it
is made partaker of the feed. He is the fon who naturally doth the will;
he is the faithful witnefs who teftifies concerning the will; yea, and he is
the choice fervant alſo.
Mark how every thing in the kingdom, every fpiritual thing, refers to
Chriſt, and centers in him. His nature, his virtue, his prefence, his power
makes up all. Indeed he is all in all to a believer, only variouſly mani-
feſted and opened in the heart by the Spirit. He is the volume of the
whole book, every leaf and line whereof ſpeaks of him, and writes out him
in fome or other of his fweet and beautiful lineaments. So that if I fhould
yet ſpeak farther of other things, as of meeknefs, tenderneſs, humility,
mercy, gentleneſs, patience, long-fuffering, contentedneſs, &c. (all which
I had much rather ſhould be read in his book, even in the living book of
the eternal Word, than in my writings) I fhould but ſpeak further of his
nature brought up, manifefted and difplaying itſelf in and through the crea-
tures, by his turning the wheel of his life in their hearts. But my fpirit haften-
eth from words, therefore can I not but cut ſhort and paſs over theſe openings
in me, that neither my own foul nor others may fix or ftay upon words
concerning the thing, but may fink in fpirit into the feeling of the life itfelf,
and may learn what it is to enjoy it there, and to be comprehended of it,
and ceafe ftriving to know or comprehend concerning it. And then I am
fure he that hath a tafte of this cannot but be willing to fell all the know-
ledge that can be held in the creaturely veffel, for that knowledge which
is living, and is laid up in that treaſury, into which the thief and cor-
rupter can by no means ſteal or break. Yet fomewhat I cannot but fur-
ther add concerning peace, joy, liberty, prayer; as alfo concerning regene-
ration, juſtification, fanctification, reconciliation, and redemption; becauſe
my heart believeth that it may prove ferviceable to fome, in the guidance
and mercy of the good Spirit of the Lord.
3
Con-
Gggg 2
604
Some of the Mysteries of
T
Concerning PEACE, or REST.
RUE peace is the stillness, the quietness, the ſatisfiedneſs of the heart in
God, which floweth from and with the Spirit of life in the foul, that is
fubjected to Chrift. There is indeed a kind of peace; to wit, a falfe peace or
reſt in fin and unrighteoufnefs; but this is not truly natural to the foul
while it lafts, and is likewife fuddenly disturbed when the true light fhines
in the heart, and when God's witneſs awakens it. Then there is no peace to
the wicked, faith my God. Oh! the trouble and perplexity of the finner,
when the light of God's Spirit makes his heart and ways manifeft to him!
yea, and that foul alſo, which in its day of viſitation pants after the Lord,
and is willing to give up to the guidance of his light, and waiteth for the
directing and redeeming power of his Spirit; yet oh! what a bitter war,
noiſe, and tumults doth the enemy raiſe within! How doth it difturb every
ſtep of his way, and ftrive to darken every drawing, motion, and leading
of the foul out of his dominion! But as the redemption is felt, the fnares
broken, the life manifeſted, and the foul feels itſelf entered into the na-
ture and obedience of it; fo the peace ſprings, and the reſt in God is taſted
of and enjoyed.
Joz
Concerning Joy.
Or is the gladness of the heart in God, chiefly fpringing from the refreshings
and prefence of his life, which carries through and over all, even the greatest
trials and tribulations. When the poor, panting, weary foul, which hath
longed after God, and long felt the bitterneſs and mifery of it feparation,
begins to feel his love, and its union with him, in his letting of it forth
into the heart, and its affurance of his goodneſs, righteoufnefs, power, wif-
dom, and falvation, oh! how is it filled with joy and delight in the earneſt
of its portion! Now faith it, in the ſtrength of life, My foul rejoiceth in God
my Saviour; for he hath regarded my low eftate, his bowels have rolled to-
wards me, his day-fpring from on high, and his mercies from beneath, have vifited
me; and I who long have been defolate and forfaken, have now found favour in
the eyes of my beloved, and my heart feeleth (in meaſure) that I am his, and
be mine, who hath touched me, won my heart, undertaken for me, and what can
feparate? He hath tied the knot himſelf, and what can break it! And how can
my heart but rejoice in his name over all my fears, falſe reaſonings, doubts, and
miſgivings, which long held me captive, and withheld my eye from reading love,
the which was written both in his heart, and in his dealings towards me?
Con...
!
God's Kingdom glanced at.
605
L'
Concerning LIBERTY.
IBERTY is the enlargedness of the heart in the Spirit of the Lord,
wherein it hath scope in all that is good, and is shut out of all that is evil.
The Spirit of the Lord is free, and maketh free. The earthly fpirit is in
bondage with her children; but they which are begotten of the Lord, and
wrapped up in his Spirit, find the power and freedom of the new life therein,
and are thereby perfectly out of the reach of that, which (let into the mind)
hath power to captivate and enthrall. Therefore it is not all manner of
fcope and latitude, wherein the true liberty conſiſteth; but in the ſcope
and latitude proper to its nature. And thus the infinite and unlimitable
One is limited (if it be proper fo to expreſs it) even within the limits and
bounds of his own nature and Spirit, which he cannot tranfgrefs, or in any-
wife conſent to do what is contrary thereunto.
PR
Concerning PRAYER.
1
RAYER is the breath of the living child to the Father of life, in that
Spirit which quickened it, which giveth it the right ſenſe of its wants, and
fuitable cries proportionable to its fate, in the proper feafon thereof. So that
mark: Prayer is wholly out of the will of the creature, wholly out of the
time of the creature, wholly out of the power of the creature; in the Spirit
of the Father, who is the fountain of life, and giveth forth breathings of
life to his child at his pleaſure.
Queſt. 1.
Anfw.
W
Concerning REGENERATION.
HAT is regeneration?
It is the new-birth of the creature, or its being born again
of the immortal feed of the Word of eternal life.
Queft. 2. How is this birth obtained?
Anfw. By the fpringing up of the feed of eternal life in the heart, and
the heart's being changed into it, and brought forth in it.
Queft. 3. How is the heart changed into and brought forth in the feed?
Anfw. By being leavened with the power and virtue of its nature by a
new fap received from it, which fpreadeth by degrees, and at length be-
cometh all in it.
Queft. 4. How is this virtue received from the feed?
Anfw. In giving up to it in the faith which flows from it; this lets in
the new fap and nature of life. which purgeth out the old.
Queft.
606
Some of the Mysteries of
Queft. 5. How doth the feed appear and manifest itself? And how is it given
up to in the faith?
Anfw. It doth appear in its own light and quickening virtue, which dif-
covers the darkneſs and death of fin, and draws the heart, which it makes
willing, out of it. Now its drawings being felt, it is well known, the
thing required by it made manifeft, there is a faith herein begotten in the
heart; and then the foul is to give up in the obedience of the faith, with-
out confulting with the reafonings and wifdom of the fleshly mind, where
the enemy lies ready to damp this light of faith, and betraying into the
unbelief.
Queſt. 1.
Anfw. W
1
Concerning JUSTIFICATION.
HAT is juftification?
It is the owning or clearing of a perfon in his obedience
to the Lord; or the pardoning, paffing by, and fo clearing him from his
difobedience.
Queſt. 2. Who is it that justifieth?
Anfw. It is the Lord, who giveth the law to mankind according to his
pleaſure; he it is that is alfo the judge of man's obedience or diſobedience
thereto, and the proper juſtifier or condemner of him therein.
Queſt. 3. But is not man in a fallen ftate? And can be fo obey God in any
thing as to be justified by him ?
Anfw. Man is indeed fallen, and hath no ftrength or will of himſelf to
ſerve or obey the Lord; but there is a viſitation of life and love (for
Chrift's fake) iffuing forth towards mankind in general, wherein there goeth
forth a quickening life, and a fecret hidden virtue, which giveth ability to
the hearts which the Lord maketh willing to follow his drawings. And
this difpenfation is fo managed by the Lord, that no man perifheth for want
of power, but only from the ſtubbornneſs and choice of his own will. So that
man's deftruction is indeed of himſelf every-where; but no-where of God,
whoſe delight is to fave, and not to deftroy, his creature, under every difpen-
fation of his life.
Queft. 4. But many men do not know Chrift, and how can they obtain juſtifi-
cation by him?
Anfw. There is a double knowledge of Chrift; outwardly, by a relation
concerning him; and inwardly, by feeling the virtue of his nature. Now
thus many know Chrift who know him not outwardly. They may have
fomewhat fown, touched, and raiſed by God, of the nature of Chrift in
them, and in this they may know the Father, and ſpring of the fame nature,
and be gathered in heart into it, and fo come within the line or compafs
of the ſpiritual life, wherein the fpiritual bleffings and mercies run and flow
through Chriſt, and for his fake. And fo here they may fee their fins, and
be loaded with them, and feel the life and virtue that waſheth from them,
and
God's Kingdom glanced at.
607
and that it is in the mere mercy of God, and fo be drawn out of felf into
the nature, life, virtue, and power of Chrift, which is conveyed in ſub-
ſtance in the inward feeling and new-creating of the heart.
Queft. 5. How is this juftification wrought?
Anſw. By faith in the virtue which floweth from Chrift. God letting in
of the nature of his Son into the heart, and begetting therein ſomewhat of
his own likeneſs, in which he draweth, and which he giveth to believe in :
this faith is imputed by God for righteouſneſs, in every heart where-ever it
is found and where this faith in the living virtue is found, there God
blotteth out the iniquities for his name's fake; yea, and remiffion is felt in
that which is made living. And there is one near, who hath power to
bind or looſe in the confcience, according to the nature of the difpenfation;
and who doth bind or looſe in every difpenfation as he findeth caufe. But
all loofing of fins is for Chrift's fake, and through his blood; though every
one in every difpenfation is not able diftinctly ſo to read it. Yea, under the
law the remiffion was by this facrifice; though many of the Jews could not
read the type. The promiſe is to the feed of the kingdom, and to man
in the feed; and there it reacheth him whenever it findeth him: for in all
his gatherings into, and being found in, that, he is bleffed.
Queft. 6. Then may a man be justified who never heard outwardly of Chrift?
Anfw. If he feel the feed of life, be overcome by its nature, give up to
its law, as it is made manifeft in his heart, abhor the nature and law of fin
and death, and thus in foul cleave unto the Lord, and follow him as he
pleaſeth to lead, the Spirit and life of the Lord cannot but herein juſtify
him; and the grace and mercy of the Lord cannot withhold giving him
out his pardon for his fins paſt (and alſo paſs by his future frailties), altho' he
diftinctly know not how to fue out and plead it. The redemption and par-
don of fin is through the unlimited grace of God; which is not reftrained
to the outward knowledge of the creature, but iffueth forth according to
the capacity that God creates any-where to receive it. Life, mercy, grace,
pardon, &c. iffue forth from God into the veffels of every kind, under
every difpenfation, that he prepareth for them: and the inward fenfe of
life is the thing that God aims at in all his difpenfations, and not the outward
fkill or knowledge, but thrufts that by in every difpenfation, except as his
inward life and virtue is found in it.
.
Queft. 7. How is juftification by grace?
Anfw. No man in his fallen eftate can deſerve any thing of God. It is
of
grace that God vifits him by any diſpenſation of his love and mercy. It
is of grace that he giveth him any ability to turn unto him. It is of
It is of grace
that he accepts him in turning, giving him a fhare in the ranfom he hath
found, which is ſtill in God's eye in whatever he does for man, however man
may be off from it. Indeed fuch is the weakneſs of man, that no man can
be juſtified by the works of obedience that he can perform under any dif
penfation, but only by the remiffion and ability which he receives from
grace,
608
Some of the Myfteries of
T
grace, and wherein alone he can be preferved unto the end by grace. So
that in every difpenfation it is grace alone that faves (through the redemption
which is in Jefus Chrift), though from the eye of man this hath been very
much hidden in divers difpenfations. Yet, notwithstanding, the broken
and humble-hearted-ones (who have felt the inward power of life to change
their natures, and to preferve them in that which God hath begotten in
them) the grace prevaileth to fave in every diſpenſation. For it is not the
outwardneſs of any difpenfation, but the virtue let forth from God in the
heart, which faves. And by this the Lord can fave under any diſpenſation,
and without this there is no falvation in any.
Queft. 8. What is the righteousness that justifieth in the fight of God?
Anfw. The righteoufnefs of Chriít alone. This conveyed to the crea-
ture in and through the feed, and brought forth in the creature by the
feed, and the creature united to Chrift in the feed; here is the juftification
of the life. Indeed there is alſo a juftification according to the works of the
law, or the creaturely obedience, which the Lord will fo far own as the
creature is able to bring it forth: but it is the obedience of faith which is
the pleaſure of his foul. And the other can hardly ever be perfect, ſo as
the Lord can ſpy no fault in it, and may alfo eafily fail, depending upon
the brittle nature and ſpirit of the creature; whereas this is of an abiding
nature, having its root not in the creature, but in the feed. Therefore, Ŏ
all that love life! defcend from the outwardneſs of difpenfation into the
hidden feed, where we may feel the living God, and all that are in any
living difpenfation of his life, as the Lord pleaſeth to let our fpirits into
him, and into one another. And wait for the light and power of this bleſſed
day (which in the tender mercy of the Lord hath dawned from on high upon
us) which diſcovereth and maketh things known, not after the letter of a
diſpenſation, but by manifefting their inward nature, power, and virtue in
the endleſs life, of which Chrift is now become the minifter in the living
fanctuary in thoſe whoſe hearts he hath new-formed, and dwelleth in.
Queſt. 1.
Anfw.
W
Concerning SANCTIFICATION.
HAT is fantification?
It is the cleanfing of the veffel by the Spirit of the Lord,
from the pollution both of fleſh and ſpirit.
Queſt. 2. And by what doth the Spirit of the Lord cleanſe the veſſel from its
pollution?
Anfw. By the living truth, which hath power in it to wash away the de-
ceit, enmity, impurity, and whatever evil hath formerly defiled, or may
yet again at any time defile the veffel.
Queft. 3. How doth the foul receive this cleanfing or purifying from the Spirit
of the Lord?
Anfw.
Chrift's Kingdom glanced at.
609.
Anfw. In its obedience to his truth made manifeft in the heart; for there-
by the power of the Word enters into the foul, and ſheds abroad its living
virtue in the foul.
Queft. 4. What then is chiefly to be minded by the foul, that would be cleanfed
from its filthiness?
Anfw. The obedience of faith, or the obedience which ſprings from faith.
For as all the benefits and bleffings of the law depended upon obedience to
the law; fo all the benefits and bleffings of the gofpel depend upon obedi-
ence to the gofpel. Yea, and this is the glory and excellency of the gof-
pel, that the principle of faith there doth that which the principle of the
law could never do.
Queſt. 1.
Anfw.
W
man into one.
Concerning RECONCILIATION.
HAT is reconciliation?
It is a bringing together the minds and hearts of God and
Queft. 2. How is this wrought?
Anfw. By taking away the enmity of man's nature, which is therein
againſt God, and by planting him into, and caufing him to grow up in,
that nature and life which God loveth, whereby that is removed from man
which God hateth, and which is the cauſe of feparation; and man brought
into, and brought up in that, which is the love and delight of God's
heart.
Queft. 3. By what is this reconciliation wrought?
Anfw. By the Word of God's power. That comes forth from the love of
God unto man; and man being gathered out of himſelf into that, the evil
feed is thereby deftroyed, and the good feed of the kingdom thereby che-
rifhed, and groweth up in its ſhadow and nouriſhment.
Queft. 4. How doth the Word work this?
Anfw. By winning upon man, and gathering him into its light, out of man's
own darkneſs, exercifing man various ways to empty him of himſelf, and
make him weak in himſelf, and putting forth its own ftrength in and for
man, as it hath emptied and weakened him in himſelf.
Queft. 5. What then is man's great advantage towards reconciliation with
God?
Anfw. To become weak, to become poor, to become helpleſs, to become
nothing by the frequent exercifes of the word of reconciliation in the heart:
for the poor receive the goſpel, and the weak receive God's ftrength, and
the helpleſs, his mercy, and the nothing-ones his fullneſs.
VOL. I.
Hhhh
Con-
1
610
POSTSCRIPT.
Queſt. 1.
Concerning REDEMPTION.
THAT is redemption?
Anfw. W
It is the purchafing of the veffel out of the captivity and
mifery of death, into the liberty and bleffedneſs of the divine life, fown, re-
vealed, grown up, and perfected in the heart.
Queft. 2. Who is the Redeemer?
Anfw. The Son of God, the child of God's begetting, the divine image,
who naturally believes and fulfills the will of the Father, in every veffel
which it hath prepared.
Queft. 3. By what doth be redeem?
Anfw. By his blood; by his life; by his power; by his nature fown in the
veffel, and transforming the veffel into its own likeneſs. Yea, this is in-
deed redemption, when the creature is changed into, and brought forth in,
the image, power, nature, virtue, and divine life of him that redeemeth;
and the old contrary image perfectly blotted out, by the prefence and in-
dwelling of the new. This is perfect redemption, the leaft meaſure where-
of is redemption in a degree.
pure
And after this ſprings up the glory of the life in the veffel, even the glory
which it had with the Father before the world was. In the nature of the
life the glory is hid; it is fown in the feed, it dies with the feed, it is raiſed
with the feed. When Sion in any heart is built up, it is natural to the
Lord to appear there in his glory; and the pure eye fees it, and the
heart enjoys and is one with it. So that as there is a true entrance into,
fellowſhip in, and enjoyment of, the death of Chrift; fo is there alfo of
the reſurrection and glory of the redeemed life; which is the portion and in-
heritance which God hath prepared for Sion, after her long defolation and
fore widowhood; which he will give unto her in the fight of all the world,
whereby ſhe ſhall become the beauty, joy, and praiſe of the whole earth;
who hath hitherto been the reproached, defpifed, and afflicted, and made a
prey of, by the feveral forts of devouring fpirits.
TH
A POSTSCRIPT to Profeffors.
HIS I am affured of, that it were an eafy matter with the Lord, to
give forth a literal defcription of all the things of his kingdom, ſo
exact, full and natural to the thing, as might anſwer and fatisfy every en-
quiring mind. But this would not effect the work which God is now about.
This would not raife his feed, which would lie dead and buried under all
this, unleſs quickened and raiſed the immediate power and life of the
Father.
Some Questions and Answers, &c.
611
Father. Nay, might not the earthly fpirit be eafily building with this an
earthly fabrick, which would not come within the meaſure of the true tem-
ple? May I ſpeak freely; I would not deny any thing of God among you,
nor be an inftrument to quench the leaft good in any of you; but indeed I
have ſeen, I have felt and known fome of your fnares; yet have rather
ſpent the ſtrength of my fpirit in crying to God for you, that he would break
them, and difentangle your fouls, than in endeavours to demonſtrate and
manifeft them unto you. And I am now touching at one of them, which
is not the meaneft; to wit, a getting the knowledge of things into the
mind and comprehenſion, ſtriving to grow rich there, and wife to under-
ftand and diſpute about them. Indeed, this is not the poor one which re-
ceives the gospel, and is acquainted with the power and virtue of eternal
life. And if the Lord did not teach my foul, continually to give up the
outward knowledge of every thing, and preſs after the inward life, I might
foon grow wife after the flesh, but loſe the freſh oil which ſuppleth and nou-
rifheth me. My ſpirit boweth and preffeth within me, in great earneſt-
neſs to the God of mercies, that ye may not be left behind the flock, whofe
path is living, and who follow the living footsteps of the Lamb, who leadeth
by his living Spirit from life to life into his kingdom.
SOME
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
Of deep Concernment to the
J
E
W
S
From one who hath been a Wreftler and Traveller with
the LORD of Life, for the Day of their Mercy and
Redemption.
Queft. 1. HETHER the people of the Jews do err in their hearts
WH from the God of their fathers (in this their fore difperfion and
final captivity) and are not acquainted with his ways, wherein he would have
them walk with him, and wait for his mercy and redemption?
Anfw. That there is mercy towards, and redemption for, that poor fcat-
tered, forfaken people, my heart hath from my childhood, and doth ftill
ftedfaftly believe.
Hhhh 2
That
612
Some Questions and Answers
That there is a way wherein they are to worship the God of their fathers,
and wait for this mercy and redemption, is alfo the belief of my heart.
But whether they do indeed know the Lord their God, and the prefent
path wherein he requireth them to walk, and fo are brought into the capa-
city and fitness for the mercy and redemption which is in the heart of the
Lord towards them, that I very much doubt of, and in the tender love
and good-will of my heart am drawn to propofe the confideration thereof to
them.
The grounds of this my doubt are chiefly theſe two:
1. Becauſe their fathers, who had Mofes and the prophets to inftruct
them in the law of the Lord, and in his ways of worship and obedience,
yet did err in their hearts from the Lord their God, both under the teach-
ings of Mofes and of the prophets. It is a people that do err in their heart,
and they have not known my ways, faid the Lord concerning them, upon
forty years trial of them in the wilderneſs, Pfal. xcv. 10. And Mofes alfo
complained unto all Ifrael, that notwithſtanding all that they had feen done
by the Lord in the land of Egypt; and the great temptations, figns, and
miracles in the wilderneſs, yet the Lord had not given them an heart to
perceive, and eyes to fee, and ears to hear unto this day, Deut. xxix. 2,
3, 4. Neither did they more underſtand the mind of the Lord by the mi-
niftry of the prophets, than by Mofes; but mifunderſtood his way of wor-
fhip, miſunderſtood his intent about their facrifices, and offered up the abo-
mination of his foul; even when they offered up the very facrifices which
he required, as the Spirit of the Lord in the prophets often teftified unto
them. See Ifa. i. Ifa. lxvi. Mic. vi. Ezek. xx. with many more teftimo-
nies of the prophets, pleading with them from the mouth of the Lord.
Now if their fathers, in the days of Mofes, and in the days of the
phets, when they had certain information from the mouth of the Lord con-
cerning his ways, yet then did err in heart, and did not underſtand the
mind of his Spirit; how much more probable is it that thefe, in the cloudy
and dark day, when the light (that fhone upon their fathers) is hid from
their eyes, that theſe may mifs of the mind of the Lord, and not under-
ſtand the way of peace and acceptance with their God?·
pro-
2. Becauſe the prophets foretell of their idols cleaving to them, and their
uncleanneſs not being removed, but their ftubbornnefs and hardneſs re-
maining, until the great and terrible day of the Lord God Almighty, where-
in his Spirit ſhall be poured down from on high, and they vifited and re-
deemed in the light and power thereof. Then fhall Ephraim fay to his
idols, Get ye hence; what have I to do any more with idols? Yea in that day
Shall they caft their idols to the moles and to the bats, Ifa. ii. 20. For the
Lord will cleanſe them from all their uncleannefs, Ezek. xxxvi. 29. and
take away the ſtone out of their heart, and make their ſpirits tender towards
the God of their fathers; infomuch as Ephraim fhall fmite upon his thigh,
and bemoan his unaccuſtomedneſs to the yoke, and eternal law of the Spirit
of
of deep Concernment to the Jews.
613
of his God, which he hath not underſtood in ſpirit, but been blinded about
the ordinances of Mofes, and teftimonies of the prophets.
Queft. 2. Whether the Jews can poffibly meet with the blessings of the Mef-
fiah, while their heart errs from the God of their fathers, and they do not
know his way?
Anfw. It is utterly impoffible, while they mifs of the path wherein bleffed-
nefs is to be found, to meet with that bleffedneſs which the path thereof
alone leads to. How can the heart, in erring from God, meet with that
which is alone to be found in union and walking with him? Have they met
with it to this day? Or can they ever meet with it, till they be taught and
led of the Lord to walk towards it? Oh! that Ifrael knew the way of life!
Oh! that their heart were turned towards their God, that they might no
more die, nor be eftranged from him like the heathen, but live the life of
the bleffed, and enjoy an inheritance in the land of the living.
Queft. 3. Is there any way for Ifrael to be cured of the error of their heart,
that their miſknowledge of God and his ways may be removed from them, and
they may come to a right underſtanding and a clearness of light?
Anfw. There is balm in the land of the living, which is able to cure all
the diſeaſes and diftempers of the dead, and there is a phyſician who is able
to apply it. The God of Ifrael knoweth the very core of evil in the heart,
and all the iffues of death from thence, and how to take out the core,
and ftop all the iffues of fin, death, and mifery. The Shepherd of Ifrael
underſtandeth the loft ftate, the wandering ftate, the fick ſtate of every loſt
foul in Ifrael, and hath fkill and remedies to recover and heal them all,
Ezek. xxxiv.
Queft. 4. What way bath this skilful phyfician for the cure of the erring
beart of his Ifrael, and to bring them to an acquaintance with him and his
ways ?
Anfw. He hath divers, which are able thoroughly to effect it. As;
1. By circumcifing their hearts, or by fprinkling clean water upon them to
wash away the filth of their hearts. With him is the fountain of living wa-
ters, and with them can he wash away the filth of the daughter of Sion; yea,
his fire is in Sion, and his furnace in Jerufalem: with him is the Spirit of
judgment and the spirit of burning, wherewith he can fearch out and judge all.
the evil in the hearts of his people Ifrael, and burn it up.
2. By creating a new heart and a new ſpirit within them. He cannot only
take away the heart of ſtone, but he can give an heart of fleſh, which ſhall
be fenfible and tender to every motion and impreffion of his Spirit, as the
other was dull and hard.
3. He can write his law in their heart, that they may no more read in the
oldneſs of the letter, where life can never be learned (which is to paſs away,
for the weakneſs and unprofitableneſs thereof) but in the newneſs of the
Spirit, where the new eye eaſily reads and underſtands what God writes in
the new heart and mind,
4. He
614
Some Questions and Answers
"
I
J
4. He can put his Spirit within them, and cauſe them to walk in his ways,
and to keep the ftatutes and judgments which God writes in this new book,
even the renewed heart; for this is the book of the new covenant, theſe
are the tables thereof, wherein God writes the law of life eternal for his
Ifrael, wherein they are to read and live for ever. And happy is that
Ifraelite who waits for, and receives, the Spirit. To him none of the com-
mandments of life are grievous, being all quickened to him in and by the
Spirit. So that the more the Lord writes in his heart, the happier is he;
he thereby receiving more of the life and power of God's Spirit, and learn-
ing thereby more of his God, and travelling there-through further with him
into his purity and divine ſweetneſs.
Queft. 5. What way is there for Ifrael to come by this cure?
Anfw. None but God's covenant, the covenant which God made with
their fathers. Not the covenant of the law by Mofes, but the covenant
before the law, which was alſo renewed by Moſes, but was not that cove-
nant which God made with them in Horeb, but a covenant befides, as they
may read, Deut. xxix. Alas! alas! man can never come to life by his
obedience; he ſtill falls fhort there; but by receiving the promiſed feed, he
comes to be heir of the promiſe with the feed, and finds the obedience of
the feed brought forth in him, through the grace and mercy of God,
which breaketh forth upon his Ifrael. Oh! that the hearts of Ifrael after
the fleſh were circumcifed to hear this found, that they might be turned in
ſpirit towards the God of life and falvation, that from him they might re-
ceive the feed of life into their veffels, that their hearts might be purified
and made living by the feed, and they might there meet with that, which
their fathers could never meet with by the law of Mofes; nor indeed is
never ſo to be obtained, but by the promiſe to their fathers, which was before
the law. And this must be the way of their reſtoration into favour with God;
to wit, not the covenant which God made with their fathers, when he took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, but the cove-
nant by which God writes the law and knowledge of himſelf in the heart,
Jer. xxxi. 32, 33.
Queſt. 6. How may Ifrael come into this covenant with God? Or is there
any thing for them to do, that they may enter into it and reap the bleffings of it?
Anfw. They muſt mind the ſmall beginnings of it, and fubject to God
therein, that they may know its further growth and progrefs in them. He
that withſtands the beginning of a thing, can never come to the end there-
of. Now the bleffednefs is chiefly in the end; but it is not found and
enjoyed but by him that meets with the beginning, and fo by degrees tra-
vels along till he comes to the end. And here is a great myftery, which
the wiſdom of man cannot learn or underſtand; in that, though the greateſt
bleffings are contained in this covenant, yet the beginnings of it are the
ſmalleſt and moſt contemptible. The feed of the promiſe, the feed of the
kingdom, is the leaft of all feeds. Man eafily overlooks it; or if he have
a little
of deep Concernment to the Jews.
615
a little glimmering of it, readily defpifes it, as unlikely ever to have that in
it, or to bring that to pafs for the foul, which it defires and expects. Yet
there is no other way to the kingdom, but by this feed of the kingdom
opening and growing in the heart, and gathering the heart into itſelf,
leavening it (by its fpreading) with the leaven of life eternal, and purging
out the four leaven of fin and death. This then is the path of life; thou
muft wait to feel the feed of the kingdom fown in thy heart by the good
feedſman, and then wait for thy gathering into it and growth in it; and by
thy fubjection unto it, and its overfpreading thee with the power of life
eternal (which is in it, though hidden from thee) thou wilt find fin and death,
and the power of hell, vanquished in thy heart, and thy heart fitted for the
God of thy life to dwell and appear in, whofe dwelling and appearance
there will make thee compleatly happy. Only if thou wouldst come out of
thy captivity by the enemy of thy foul (whereof thy prefent outward capti-
vity is but a fhadow) into the life and reft of thy God; take heed of de-
fpifing the day of fmall things, or the low voice of thy God in thy heart;
for therein are the beginnings of life. And thou muft begin at the loweft
ſtep that the God of thy life chuſeth for thee (and find that wiſdom ſhut out,
which would begin or go on otherwiſe, than the Lord feeth fit to lead and
teach) if ever thou enter into the path of life, or walk on therein with thy
God.
Queft. 7. How may I know this feed of life, or feel when God begins to fow
it in my heart, that I may not turn from the fmall beginnings thereof, but may
find an entrance into this bleffed covenant of God with my fathers before the law?
Anfw. The word or voice of this feed is nigh thee, and it hath a living
teftimony with it for good, and againſt evil. It hath a living ſparkling in
the heart, whereby it is felt and known by thoſe that wait for its appearance.
It naturally turneth from the evil and towards the good; and in its moving
and appearing in thee, it will be turning thee towards that which it naturally
loves, and from that which it naturally hates. In any fuch ſtirring in thy
heart, there is the beginning of light eternal to fhine upon thy tabernacle;
and by giving up and being gathered into its warnings and motions, thou
wilt feel a touch of life, even a quickening and warmth towards good, and
a beginning of deadneſs and diſunion with that which is evil. And as this
is waited for more and more, it will appear more and more in the ſeaſons it
fees fit; and as it finds entrance into thee, fo will it lead thee into its cove-
nant with its God. Remember, therefore, what Mofes faid to thy fathers con-
cerning the word of this covenant. It is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth
and in thy heart, that thou mayeft do it, Deut. xxx. 14. Thy fathers never
knew the virtue of this covenant, but were drowned in mifery for want of
minding it. And if thou wert gathered into it, thou wouldst meet with
circumcifion of heart, and the new creation of thy mind and fpirit, and the
writing of the eternal law of life there, and the putting of the Holy Spirit
of God into thee; all which are contained in this covenant, yea wrapped up
in
112:
616
Some Questions and Answers, &c.
in the very feed thereof, which is (in the Lord's times and feaſons) fmiting
the feed of the evil-doer in the hearts of the fons of men, and ftriving to
gather them out of the difobedient ſtate and nature, into the obedience of
the glimmerings of his light in their hearts; which becomes a law of life
and power in them, as it finds entrance into, and place in, them. There-
fore, O ye fons of Abraham after the flesh; wait for, know, and believe
in the light of this covenant, and give up to be gathered into the holy feed
thereof, that ye may become his children after the Spirit, in this new cove-
nant, in this living covenant, wherein all that enter live in Spirit and power
to the God of Abraham; and not by the works of the law of Mofes, but
by faith in the living feed, become heirs and inheritors of the promiſe of
eternal life, which is to Abraham and his feed for ever.
O poor wandering Jew! wait to hear the cry of wiſdom's voice in thy
ſtreets, diſcovering unto thee, and counſelling thee againſt, the evil of thy
heart and ways, by the word which is very nigh thee, in thy mouth and in
thy heart. And be won upon by the voice of wiſdom; give it thy heart,
let its power enter into thee. Take up its croſs, be willing to be bound by
it from what thy heart would run after, and learn of it to draw in its yoke,
that all may be yoked down and ſubdued in thee, which makes thee mifera-
ble, that thou mayeft find a place and honour in wifdom's courts, and be
adorned with her ornaments, and partake of her durable riches.
Watch unto that which reproves thee in thy heart, and watch unto its
reproofs, that thou mayeft be reformed by it, and transformed into its na-
ture, and then thou wilt become a Jew indeed; even a Jew inward, born
of the immortal feed of the divine wifdom.
And be not difcouraged, either for want of light to diftinguish between
the good and the evil, or for want of power, to turn from the one or to the
other, O tender-hearted ones, who find a warmth and a willingneſs within
to give up to the Lord: but wait his ſeaſon, and hope in his tender bowels,
in the midſt of all the roarings and cruel ufages of the enemy, who will be
ftriving to the utmoſt to keep his hold of his captive, and to keep it back
from travelling out of his dominions of death and darkneſs, towards the
land of life, light, and peace eternal! I have had a very hard travel, and
have felt his power and cruelty beyond meaſure, yet the Lord my God hath
helped me, and my breathings abound toward the God of my life for his
helping hand unto all that are in heart turned towards him, how difficult,
intricate, and impoffible foever the enemy ftrives to make the path of life
unto them. Oh! remember the mercy of the Lord towards your fathers,
who never felt the ftrength of the love of this covenant, which the
Lord is now gathering his fpiritual Ifrael into; how he pitied them, how
he forgave them, how he vifited them with loving-kindneſs and mercy time
after time! What a ftiff-necked people they were when he firft choſe them;
how ready to run a whoring from him, and rebel afterwards. And furely
much more is to be forgiven in this covenant, and much more is the help
and
Concerning the Order and Government, &c. 617
and healing thereof; only let the heart be true to him according to the vir
tue and power of this covenant; yea, and wait to receive that alfo of him;
for it is the fruit and bleffing of the covenant in which God healeth the back-
flidings of his Ifrael, and loveth them freely. Amen, Amen; O Lord God
of everlaſting and moſt tender bowels of compaffion, faith my foul.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
-
م
SOME
UERIES
CONCERNING THE
i
ORDER and
and GOVERNMENT
OF THE
CHURCH of CHRIST.
Query 1. Whath not appointed a fpiritual order and government to
HETHER Chrift, who is the Head, Lord, King, &c.
be in his church and congregation?
Query 2. Whether a fpiritual order and government is not uſeful, profita-
ble, and neceffary, for the well-being and right-managing of this fpi-
ritual body and holy fociety in the faith and life of our Lord Jefus
Chrift? In natural focieties, natural government and order is profitable
and neceffary; and is not ſpiritual government as profitable and necef-
fary in fpiritual focieties?
Query 3. Did not Chrift give power of government to his apoftles and
minifters, at the firft publication of his everlaſting gofpel? All power
was given him in heaven and in earth; and did not he who had all
power given him, give power to his apoftles and minifters to preach
his everlaſting goſpel to the world, to gather his fheep out of the
world, and to watch over them, overſee them, reprove, exhort, ad-
moniſh, build up in the holy faith, and cut off and caſt out that which
was unholy, and would diſpute againſt, but not ſubmit unto, the Spirit,
life, and power of truth?
VOL. I.
Iiii
Query
618
Concerning the Order and Government
Query 4. Did not Chrift give them gifts alfo anſwerable; fpirits of dif
cerning, that they might be eyes to the body; and quick ears, that.
they might hear for the body? For though the Lord hath given every
one an eye and an ear, as to themſelves; yet every one is not made by
the Lord an eye or ear unto the body; but this is appointed for,
and given to, thoſe to whom the Lord pleaſes, who hath ordered all
things wifely, carefully and tenderly for the good of all.
Query 5. Were there not titles given them fuitable to their offices and.
fervices in this kind, as paſtors or fhepherds after God's heart, accord-
ing to the promiſe of the new covenant, overfeers or bishops, fuch as
watch for the foul; fuch as were not only to lay the foundation, but
alſo carry on the building even to perfection, even till they were able
to prefent the gathered and quickened fouls a chafte virgin to Chriſt?
and were they not to watch againft, teftify againft, and in the power and
authority of the Lord to ftrike at, all that was contrary, and would en-
deavour to interrupt, overturn, and deftroy their work, which was of,
in, and from the Lord?
Query 6. Whether the body and common members of the churches were
not to hearken to theſe (He that knoweth God, heareth us, 1 John iv..
6.); to obey them in the Lord, to ſubmit to this miniſtry, and their
work in it, in the Lord; to receive the word of truth and holy exhor-
tations and admonitions, milked out by theſe to them from the breaſt
of life? And were not they that did hearken and obey, commended?
And were not the other that were not fubjected, but flighted them and
their miniſtry and authority, teftified againſt as diforderly and unruly?
Query 7. Were there not fome reliques of this order and government all
along the apoftafy, in the true church and miniftry thereof? For there
hath been a church and a miniftry all along the apoftafy, bleffed be the
name of the Lord; though not fo vifible and outwardly glorious, as
many (who have erred from the Spirit and way of truth, and are out of
the holy underſtanding) would make it. It is true, the church hath been.
as in a wilderneſs, defolate, as a woman forfaken, as a widow, bereft
of her huſband, ſtripped of her children, her viſage marred, her wit-
neffes mourning, nothing of her beauty, former eftate or glory, to be
difcerned or found out; yet all hath been preſerved in the root, and
there have been ſome ſhootings and ſproutings of it forth, which have
been inwardly felt by that which is of God in the heart, though not:
outwardly feen by man's eye. Thus the witneffes have had a miniſtry,
have had the teſtimony of Jefus, even the Spirit of prophecy, all this
dark night of apoftafy, and in it have ſpoken mourningly to the world,
and to the captivated fouls, which that which was of God in his hath
hearkened to; and there hath been a bowing and fubjection of ſpirit
in the Lord. O read this, and praiſe the name of the Lord, for his
mercy to his in former generations, ye who are now gathered into his
pure
of the Church of Christ.
619
1
pure light and living power, from whom the night is paſt, and on
whom the day, the everlaſting day-fpring from on high, is riſen.
Query 8. After the apoftafy, doth not God renew his commiffion, and
fend forth his angel (for they are all but one) to preach his everlaſting
gofpel? And doth not he give them power to preach to the world,
and to gather thoſe, that hear the everlaſting voice through them, into
holy affemblies, feparated in fpirit, nature, and appearance from the
world? And have they not authority and gifts as well to build up as
to plant? And ought not thoſe that are gathered by them, as well to
be fubject to the light, Spirit, power, and authority of the Lord in
them, as the former to the former minifters of the Lord? Oh! that
the world knew them; Oh! that the world knew the appearance of
God in them! Surely then they would bow to the word of truth, and
the glorious appearance thereof; and happinefs both inward and out-
ward would break forth upon the earth. There would be no miſery,
forrow, nor diſtreſs in nations, if the difpenfations of life from God had
but their courſe in the earth; yea, nations and perfons, that are now
deadly fick, would foon be healed, did they but eat of the leaves of
the tree of life, which are appointed by God for their healing, and can
eaſily heal thoſe wounds and repair thoſe breaches, which the wiſdom
or counfels of man cannot heal or repair. And oh! that they that are
gathered might keep and be preferved in that fenſe and ſubjection,
which they had and received from the Lord in the day of their con-
vincement. Oh! how beautiful, how precious, how glorious was the
miniſtry and minifters of God in their eye then! And to thoſe that are
ftill there, they are ftill precious; and to thofe that grow there, they
are yet more precious. But thofe that enter into, or are ensnared in
another thing, which leadeth from the true Spirit, lofe the fight and
fenſe which they then had, and inſtead thereof are filled with prejudices and
wife reafonings, which to them may ſeem very ftrong and undeniable,
though truth, and the true fpiritual eye, fenfe, and underſtanding eaſily
pierces through them, and preferveth thofe, who abide fingle in it, to
the Lord.
Now againſt this holy order and government appointed by God, there
may ariſe in ſome hearts fome fuch objections as thefe following.
Object 1. But is not this a turning away from the measure of life in a man's
own veffel, to another man's meafure?
Anfw. Waiting on God in his ordinances and appointments, and upon the
miniftry which he hath fet up, the meaſure of life in him teacheth; and
it is not a turning from the meafure, but a fubjecting to the Lord in the
meaſure of his life, fo to teach and do. The meafure of his life taught
me thus to do at firft, and teacheth me to do fo ftill; and will teach fo ftill,
all that hearken to it. It did not teach fubjection in the apoftles days to the
miniſtry
Iiii 2
620
Concerning the Order and Government
miniſtry then, and another thing now to the miniſtry now.
But Chrift is
the fame to-day as yeſterday; his life the fame, his Spirit the fame, its doc-
trine and teaching the fame: and that of God in the confcience within, an-
ſwers the pure voice when it comes to the ear without. If life fpeak in
one veffel, and its voice be not heard or owned by another veffel, the pure
ear (in that other veffel) is not at that time open, but there is ſomewhat
there that obftructs. And if the pure ear of the fheep be not open to hear
the voice of the Shepherd, but it be accounted ftrange, it is much if the
other ear in that veffel be not opened to hear the voice of the ſtranger, and
to look upon it as the voice of the Shepherd, it agreeing with that, and
anſwering to that, which now goeth for the voice of the meaſure of life in
that heart. He that hath an ear, let him hear; for it is eafy being taken
in this ſnare, and the danger thereof is very great.
Object. 2. Is not the least measure of life in any veffel (if fubjected to, waited
on, and believed in) fufficient to inftruct and build up into a perfect man in
God?
Anfw. The fufficiency of the grace of God, turned to, and waited upon,
there is nothing in my heart either to undervalue myfelf, or to teach others
fo to do. Nor when God did appoint a miniftry to gather and build up his
church, do I believe he did intend therein to undervalue the fufficiency of
his grace: yea, I verily believe, that the grace of God, turned and hearkened:
to, and followed by any foul in the darkeſt part of the earth, hath fuffici-
ency in it to fave, and will fave that foul, though there be none outwardly
to miniſter to it, or help it. Yet this I alfo believe, that as there is a fuf-
ficiency in every meaſure of life to the work God hath appointed for that
meaſure; fo there is a greater fufficiency in the growth and fuller propor-
tion of life; and the leffer, the weaker, the poor, the afflicted, the babes,,
are to be helped by the ſtronger, eſpecially in their darkneſſes, afflictions,
temptations, &c. And fo the greater and ftronger in the life, Spirit, and
power of the Lord, is a ſtrength and bleffing to the weaker, which the
weaker making uſe of in the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord (in the
fenſe and benefit of the fweet help and relief which often the Lord pleaſeth.
to give forth thereby) will find juſt cauſe, and be often drawn to bleſs the
name of the Lord for.
The meaſure of life in the veffel teacheth to fubject to the Spirit of the
Lord, and his life in others; which the meaſure of life in any never refuſeth,
but ſtill knoweth (when awake and living in the veffel) its own, and hath
(at leaſt) a ſecret ſenſe of it, and unity with it. But that which pretends to
fet
up the meaſure of life as a teacher, otherwife than God hath appointed,
and in oppofition to the teaching and miniftry which he hath appointed, and
to his gift in thofe veffels, which is as well for the building up and perfect-
ing of the body, as for the gathering; that is another thing in that veffel.
that doth fo, than the meaſure of life; another fpirit, another nature, another
ear, than that that first heard. And though it ſeem to cry up the fuffi-
ciency
of the Church of Chrift.
621
ciency of the meaſure of life, and to plead for that (and perhaps the crea-
ure thinks it is really fo); yet this is not the intent of the ſpirit in the
veffel, but to cry up itfelf, and to make its voice go for the voice of
the meaſure of life: and fo fuch err from the faith, the truth, the Spi-
rit, the meaſure of life, and are in the nature, fpirit, and meaſure of
another thing; which is indeed death, though they fee it not, but look
upon themſelves as gloriouſly living, and abiding in the pure doctrine and
principle above others.
Now to help theſe a little out of the fnares and deep entanglements of
the enemy, if the Lord pleate, I would earneſtly prefs the confideration of
this upon them. Did not the apoftles preach up the meafure of life, the
grace of God in their day, Chrift within, the word of faith nigh in the
mouth and heart, the anointing within, its fufficiency to teach all things,
&c.? And yet did they fo preach it as to overthrow the miniftry, or the
gifts or ſervice either towards them that were without, or them that were
within? Had they not power over them in the Lord? Were they not to
teach them, to inſtruct them, to build them up in the holy faith, and alſo
to watch againſt wolves and devouring fpirits, which would ftrive to enter
the flock in fheep's cloathing (and as preachers of righteouſneſs) to make a
prey of the innocent life in the upright-hearted, if poffible?
Óbject. 3. But those who have ministered from the Lord, and whoſe miniſtry
I have felt and owned, and in the diftrefs and affliction of my foul have had re-
courſe to, hoping that they might have a fenfe of my condition, and give me pro-
per advice; yet they, instead thereof, have turned me to his witness that wounded
me, counfelling me to wait on the Lord there. And have they not alfo told us,
that if they themselves fhould turn from the things they have declared, this truth
would abide for ever; to wit, that man is to keep to the measure of life in his par-
ticular?
Anfw. It is true; a man is to keep to the meaſure of life in his own
particular. They taught this then; they teach it now.
We practiſed it
then; we are to practiſe it now.
In this meaſure of life we received them
then; and in this meaſure of life (if we abide ſtill in it) we ſhall receive them
now, and feel their growth in the ability, gift, and power of the Lord.
And when any come to them for advice, they are to wait on the Lord,
to feel in him their ftate who come, and to give forth what the Lord gives
them; whether words from the Lord to the party concerning his ftate, or
directions to retire in, and wait for, his more immediate appearance in their
own meaſures. For when we feel the prefence and mighty power of God
in them, we are too apt to look at them, and then a word may come (pro-
per to our eftates) to recall us to retire to our meaſure. And when we
feel immediate relief from the Lord, and his appearing to us in our
retiredneſs in our own fpirits, then we may be apt to defpife the gifts and
ſervice of others; and then another word may come from them, proper to
our ſtate then, to warn us not to defpife prophefying, or the gifts, power,
and
622 Concerning the Order and Government
and authority of life in others. Now both theſe are proper, ufeful, and
weighty in their ſeaſons, when given forth by the Spirit of the Lord. Nor
are they contradictory one to the other, but fubfervient in their feafons and
places, which that which is of God feels; but that which is erred from
God, and joined to another (under a falſe repreſentation and belief of things)
feels not, but finds a feeming difference, and fets them at variance one with
another, as if they could not ſtand together. And this is the falſe nature,
the falſe ſpirit, the falfe appearance of life, which appears as if it were the
meaſure of the pure true life; but is not. This is the falfe woman, the
falſe wiſdom, whofe heart is as fnares and nets, and her hands bands. Who-
fo pleaſeth God (abiding in the meaſure of his truth) fhall eſcape her; but the
finner (that departs therefrom) fhall be taken by her. Therefore fear the
Lord, come to that which firft convinced; to the firft truth, to the firft
fenſe, to the firft love, &c. and all theſe imaginations of the mind, and
fubtil devices of the enemy, will fly away, and thy poor entangled foul be
delivered, as a bird out of the fnare of the fowler.
If the enemy ſhould directly cry out againſt God, or his Chrift, or his
grace, or the meaſure of his truth, he would eaſily be efpied, and turned
from. Therefore he teacheth to cry up theſe in a wrong spirit and judg-
ment, and after a wrong manner, to undermine, betray, and lead the heart
from that ſecretly, which openly it would never hear any thing againft.
Now thoſe that are thus deceived, are exceedingly to be pitied, and their
deliverance from their entanglements and captivities to be breathed after, and
waited for. For I may fay, in truth and upright fenfe of heart, there are
many that look towards Sion, who yet are ignorant of the devices and
fleights of Satan, to entangle them in their way; and fome are caught in
his fnares (like foolish birds catching at the chaff, which makes the bigger
fhew, inſtead of the wheat), loſing the ſubſtance for a fhadow; the life and
power in the heart, for a notion and conceit in the brain. And theſe are
wife in their own eyes, ſo that indeed it is very hard to reach or recover
them; yea, much harder than it was at firſt, becauſe they are become more
rooted and fettled in the wrong ground (yea, in a worſe earth) than they
were when they were firſt reached to by the power of truth. Yet over
theſe there is a deep lamentation, and for theſe a fore travel, which the Lord
God bleſs and profper, for their recovery unto that from which through
miſtake they have erred.
Object. 4. If any man bath received a gift of miniftry, he hath received it
of the Lord; and its end being to gather to the Lord, they that by it are gathered,
are to be delivered up to the Lord, that he (as king, priest, and prophet) may
govern, &c.
Anfw. The end of the miniſtry is not only to gather, but alfo to preſerve
and build up what is gathered, even to perfection. And the foul being
(eſpecially at firft, if not for a long time) weak and babifh, not fo fully
acquainted with the meafure of life (having had but fome touches and de-
monſtrations
of the Church of Chrift.
623
monftrations of it, but not being gathered fully into it, nor rooted and
fettled in it); I fay, the foul, in this ftate, hath as much need of the mini-
ftry to preferve, direct, and watch over it in the truth, as to gather it out
of the world. Therefore the Father, in his tender mercy and love, hath
appointed thoſe who are grown in his life (and in the power and authority
of his Spirit) to overfee, watch over, inſtruct, and take care of the flock,
fo as they may give to him an account of their fouls; and in their care, di-
ligence, and faithfulneſs, they are owned and bleffed of the Lord; and
the other in their holy fear, reverence, and fubjection. Now this is right
order from God, wherein the fafety of the flock confifts; but out of this is
danger and confuſion, which the meaſure of life teacheth to avoid.
Obje&. 5. But in a caſe of doubt or difference, which shall be the judge; the
meaſure of life within, or the teftimony of others without? Shall I judge as I feel
the thing in the measure of my own life? Or shall I fubmit to others against my
own fenfe and judgment, because I have an esteem of them, as being much above
me in the growth, fenfe, and understanding of truth?
Anfw. It is a great matter to judge aright, and to diſcern and know the
meaſure of truth (the voice, motion, and judgment thereof) from all the
enemy's falfe appearances, and from all the deceits of the heart. This is
moſt certain; Jerufalem (the heavenly building, the church of the firſt-
born) is at unity with itſelf. Truth is pure, eternal, unchangeable, always
the fame; the fame in every member, in every veffel, throughout the whole
body.
And this I may fay concerning its appearance in this our age, Was ever
the like unity known and brought forth fince the days of the apoftles?
How hath the Spirit been One, the demonftration and teftimony of truth
One, the doctrine One, the converſation and practices One in us all! Why,
or how fo? Becauſe we have had our begetting, birth, and teaching from
the fame life, the ſame Spirit; (the fame fountain fpringing up, and open-
ing in us all, that have been gathered into its nature and power). Now
from this fountain, from this ſpring of life, never iffueth any thing that is
contrary to the life in any. Therefore if there appear a contrariety, there
muſt be a waiting to feel who is erred from, or at least not yet fully ga-
thered into, the meaſure of life. And fuch as are of an inferior ftature and
growth in the body, are (in an eſpecial manner) to watch and wait in fo-
briety and fear, till the Lord clear up, and make things manifeft; and like-
wife in the mean time to take heed of an hafty concluding, according to
what rifeth up in the underſtanding or judgment (tho' with ever fo great a
feeming clearnefs and fatisfaction) as if it muft needs be of and from the
life in the veffel.
It is not an eafy matter, in all cafes, clearly and underſtandingly to dif
cern the voice of the fhepherd, the motions of God's Spirit, and certainly
to diſtinguiſh the meaſure of life from all other voices, motions, and ap-
pearances whatſoever. Through much growth in the truth, through much
waiting
!
626
Concerning the Order and Government
霉
​waiting on the Lord, through much fear and trembling, through much fo-
briety and meeknefs, through much exercife of the fenfes, this is at length
given and obtained. And yet there is a prefervation in the mean time to
that which is lowly and fubmiffive, looking up to the Lord continually,
and not truſting to its own underſtanding, fenfe, and judgment. But that
which is hafty and confident, and fo ready to plead for its own ſenſe and
judgment, according to the meaſure of life, as it calls it; that is commonly
out, entered into the erring fpirit, pleading and contending for it knows
not what, and is very apt to judge and condemn others in that very re-
ſpect, wherein itſelf is moſt juftly and righteouſly judged and condemned
by the Lord, even by his pure life and Spirit in his people.
This then is in my heart to ſay in fhort to this objection: Let the mea-
fure of life judge freely in thee at any time concerning any thing, and that
judgment will ftand for ever. But be thou wary, wait on the Lord, that
thou mayeft be fure thou doft not miftake in thy own particular, calling
that life which the Lord and his people know to be otherwife. For if fo,
thou departeſt from the unity and bond of the Spirit, and from the true
fenſe and judgment, and giveft deceit an advantage over thee, even to lay
a foundation of deftroying thee. Likewiſe thoſe who are to watch over thee
in the Lord (to lay his truth before thee, to exhort and reprove thee, as
occafion is) that they may give an account of thy foul to him, cannot do it
with joy and rejoicing in his prefence, but with grief and lamentation of
heart; which is not at all profitable, but very unprofitable for thee.
Now for a cloſe there are fome confiderations ſpringing up in my heart
concerning unity, which I find drawings here to annex, in true love and
tenderneſs, for the uſe and ſervice of others; which are as follow:
1. Unity in the fpiritual body, which is gathered into and knit together
in the pure life, is a moft natural and comely thing. Yea, it is exceeding
lovely to find all that are of the Lord of one heart, of one mind, of one
judgment, in one way of practice and order in all things.
2. The Lord is to be waited upon for the bringing forth of this in the
body; that as there is a foundation of it laid in all (the life and ſpring being
over all), fo all may be brought by him into the true and full oneneſs.
3. The Lord is to be acknowledged and praiſed in the bringing of it
forth (ſo far as it is brought forth) and to be waited upon for the further
perfecting of it.
4. A watch is to be kept (throughout the whole body, and in every
heart) for the preferving of it, fo far as it is brought forth, that the enemy,
by no device or fubtilty, caufe difunion or difference in any refpect, wherein
there was once a true unity and oneneſs. For the enemy will watch to di-
vide, and if he be not watched againſt, in that which is able to diſcover and
keep him out, by fome device or other he will take his advantage to make
a rent (in thoſe that are not watchful) from the pure truth and unity of life in
the body. For he that in the leaſt thing rents from the body (in any reſpect
or
of the Church of Chrift.
627
or particular which was brought forth by the life) he in that refpect hear-
kens to another ſpirit (even the dividing fpirit) and by its inſtigation rents
from the life itſelf, and fo doth not keep his habitation, nor his unity, with
that which abides in its habitation.
Now it is alfo in my heart (for the perfecting of this clofe) to mention
a few things (in the fame love and tenderneſs) which I have found helpful
to me towards the preferving of me in unity with the body. Perhaps it may
pleaſe the Lord to refreſh ſome others by the mention of them, and to make
them uſeful and helpful to them alſo.
1. The firſt is, the pure fear of the Lord. This poizeth and guardeth the
mind, keeping down flefhly confidence and conceitedneſs (which is very apt
to fpring up), making it wary and confiderate either of what it receives or
rejects; of what it practifeth, or forbeareth practifing; caufing it to wait
much, try much, and confult much with the Lord, and with his minifters
and people, and preferves out of that fuddenneſs and inconfiderateneſs of
fpirit, at which the enemy often enters. For truth is weighty, and will
bear trial; and the more it is tried in the balance, the more manifeft its
nature and ways appear: but the enemy's appearances and likeneffes are
not fo; but their deceit, by a thorough trial, comes to be made manifeft.
2. The ſecond is, bumility of heart. This is very precious, and of a pre-
ſerving nature. Yea, in this ſtate the Lord helpeth and teacheth; and the
foul alſo (in this ftate) is fit to receive the help and teachings of the Lord.
That which is lifted up and conceited (ready to juſtify its own way, and con-
demn even the whole body) is neither fit to be taught by the Lord, nor
doth the Lord delight (but rather difdain) to teach it. And fo not being
taught by him, it muſt needs be liable to err; yea, to hearken to that
fpirit, whofe voice is more pleafing and fuitable to the erring mind than the
Lord's voice is.
3. A third great help, which in the tender mercy of the Lord I have
had experience of, is fobriety of judgment. Not to value or fet up mine own
judgment, or that which I account the judgment of life in me, above the
judgment of others, or that which is indeed life in others. For the Lord
hath appeared to others, as well as to me: yea, there are others who are in
the growth of his truth, and in the purity and dominion of his life, far be-
yond me. Now for me to ſet up, or hold forth, a fenfe or judgment of a
thing in oppofition to them, this is out of the fobriety which is of the truth.
Therefore, in fuch caſes, I am to retire, and fear before the Lord, and wait
upon him for a clear diſcerning and ſenſe of his truth, in the unity and de-
monſtration of his Spirit with others, who are of him, and ſee him. And
this will prevent the rents which the want of this ſobriety may occaſion.
4. The last thing which I have now to mention is, tenderness, meekness,
coolness, and ftillneſs of ſpirit. I wrap up theſe together, becauſe they are
much of a nature, and go much together. Thefe are of an uniting, pre-
ferving nature. He that differs and divides from the body cannot be thus;
VOL. I.
Kkkk
and
628 Concerning the Order and Government, &c.
}
and he that is thus, cannot rend or divide. This is the pure heavenly wif
dom, which is peaceable and keepeth the peace; but the other wiſdom is
rough, ſtiff, hard, clamorous, ready to take offence, ready to give offence;
exceeding deep in the juftification of itſelf, exceeding deep in the condem-
nation of others; and dares (in this temper) appeal to the Lord, as if it
were right in its ways, but wronged by others; as if it did abide in the
meaſure of his truth and life, which others have departed from. And how
can it be otherwife? How can the wrong eye, the wrong fpirit, the wrong
wiſdom, but judge wrong, juftifying the wrong practices, and condemning
the right? But fuch fhall find (if they come to the true touchſtone, even
the meaſure of life indeed) that they are not in the true tenderneſs, which
proceeds from the life, in the true meeknefs and gentleneſs, in the true
coolneſs and ftillneſs; but rather in the reaſonings, noifes, clamours, and
diſturbances, which arife from another fpirit, mind, and nature than that
which is of the truth. And in coming back from this wiſdom to the pure
wiſdom, from the pretended meaſure of life to the true meaſure, and become-
ing tender, meek, cool, and ftill in it, they fhall there feel their error from
the Spirit and power of the Lord, and therein own their.condemnation
therefore from him; and alfo juftify them who have abode in the power,
and been guided by the Spirit and pure meaſure of life, which is from God,
and in God, while they have departed from it. For though the ſpirit of
error (wherewith they have been deceived and entangled) hath made them
believe that they have faithfully abode in the principle and doctrine of truth,.
while others have departed; yet that will foon vaniſh, as truth comes again
to be felt, and heard ſpeak in them, and the meaſure of life to live again
in them, and to redeem them afreſh into its holy nature, and pure living
fenſe. And bleffed is he who is not deceived about truth; but is of the
pure nature, and in the pure power of it; in whom the true eye fees, the true
ear hears, the true heart underftands; who is of a right fpirit, and walketh
uprightly before the Lord, and among his people. The bleffing of the feed,
the peace, comfort, and joy which is from the Moft High, fhall defcend
upon him, fill his veffel, and continue with him, to the fatisfying of his.
heart, and the overflowing of his cup, in the midſt of his brethren, and in
the very fight of his enemies. The Lord God, of his tender mercy, who is the
great Shepherd of the sheep, watch over, preferve, and mightily defend all his
from all devouring Spirits, and inward devices and deceits of the enemy; carrying
on and perfecting the work of his goodness, love, and mercy in them, to his own:
glorious, eternal, everlasting praise. Amen.
Written by ISAAC PENINGTON, in Ayleſbury priſon..
SOME
SOME
DEEP CONSIDERATIONS
CONCERNING THE
STATE of ISRAEL,
Paft, Preſent, and To Come.
WITH SOME
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
1
CONCERNING
UNI T
BY
T Y.
ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.
[630]
SOME
DEEP CONSIDERATIONS.
Many deep Confiderations have been upon my Heart concerning
the State of ISRAEL, both paft, prefent, and to come; fome of
which I find Drawings to communicate; together, with fome
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS concerning UNITY.
The Confiderations concerning Ifrael are theſe which follow:
T
HE precious living ſtate which my foul remembereth to have been
about the beginning of the late troubles of this nation, when Ifrael
was bent to feek after the Lord, and applied their hearts to wait.
upon him in faftings, and earneft fupplications, wherein my heart hath
often had the teftimony that they were accepted of him, and had many
times the feal of his prefence and power among them: yea, my heart did
truly unite with and enjoy the Lord in what was then given forth, and I
can never be drawn to deny the truth and worth of that difpenfation; tho'
I know it was ſwallowed up by a greater defolation foon following after, and
fince by the breaking forth of a more lively difpenfation.
2. The over-running of that ftate by the fubtilty of the enemy, drawing
the minds of the fimple and upright-hearted from the living feeling, and
from the inward power of religion, into the difputations and contentions
about forms of worship and church-government, which drew out the reafon-
ing part, and withdrew the fpirit of the mind from feeding on its proper
nouriſhment; and fo life decayed in the fpirit, while wifdom, and know-
ledge, and fubtilty increaſed in the underſtanding. And fo the upright-
hearted, miffing of life where before they had found it, were fcattered up
and down to feek after it; and thoſe who abode where they were, grew dry,.
barren, and contentious; lofing the favour, ſweetneſs, meekneſs, love, and
indeed whatever was living and precious, and remained fixing their minds.
on that which the Lord had departed from. Oh! the darkneſs and mifery
of
ļ
Some deep Confiderations, &c.
631
of this ftate! Oh! the pain of the hearts where life was ftirring, for want
of the living God! Oh! the death and formality of thoſe that were dead
and formal! Surely, had not the Lord pitied his people in this ftate, and
appeared to them in his life and power (which this great defolation made
way for) it had been determined concerning Ifrael for ever: for death had
overgrown the generality, and life was even gafping and expiring in the
fingle-hearted.
3. The precious breaking forth of the Lord (at this difmal time, in this
hour of diſtreſs and defperate condition of Ifrael) in fome hidden veffels,
whom he had kept waiting upon him, and whom he had preferved freſh
in the ſenſe of him; to whom his appearance was very glorious, to whom
he opened the ftate of the earth, and the ftate of his people, giving them
the everlaſting gofpel to preach to the inhabitants of the earth, and pro-
mifing them that his Spirit and power ſhould go along with them, bidding
them go forth to till and dreſs the earth, and to gather his people into his
fold. And who can utter what the glory of this light was, in its fhining
and breaking forth in their hearts! How welcome to their weary ſouls, how
pleaſant to the eye of their fpirits, how demonftrative and fatisfactory to
their hearts! Oh! the joy of that day (furely it can never be forgotten by
them) wherein they fenfibly felt the pouring down of the Spirit of life upon
them, and their hearts gathered into the bofom of eternal reft, and their
fouls and bodies fanctified, and fet apart for the Lord, and his ſervice.
4. The contemptible means God put into their hands to work this work
by; which was not by preaching any new thing, but by directing to a prin-
ciple which God had already hid in the earth of every man's heart, and
which was to be known by its divine nature and light, turning againſt and
reproving fin; teftifying that this was the way the Lord of heaven and earth
had chofen, to bring his fons and daughters into the power and glory of
his life. Oh! what heart can receive this, what eye can fee any beauty in
this, but that which the Lord toucheth and openeth! I teſtify (in the ſenſe
of life) that the wiſdom of man, yea, the wifdom of Ifrael corrupted, can-
not but defpife and turn from this. Is not this the loweſt of all difpenfa-
tions? Is not this common to all mankind? Doth not this fall fhort (in
itself, as I may fay, and as it hath formerly been diſpenſed) of the diſpenſa-
tion of the law of Mofes to the Jews, much more of the difpenfation by
Chriſt and his apoftles? Who would have looked for the Lord here! And
yet this hath the Lord chofen to gather his people by, and to appear to the
world in; and hath gathered the life, virtue, and ſubſtance of all former
diſpenſations into it, as thofe who are gathered thereby, and have waited
upon him therein, and felt the nature and power of his life (and feen things
paſt, prefent, and to come) are living witneffes of, againſt all the gain-
fayings, thoughts, and reaſonings of flesh and blood.
5. The contemptibleneſs of the veffels, which the Lord chofe to fill with
this treaſure, and to let forth this, difpenfation of his life through. They
were
↓
632
Some deep Confiderations
were for the moſt part mean, as to the outward; young country lads, of
no deep underſtanding, or ready expreffion, but very fit to be defpifed
every-where by the wifdom of man, and only to be owned in the power of
that life wherein they came forth. How ridiculous was their manner of
coming forth and appearance to the eye of man! About what poor trivial
circumſtances, habits, geftures, and things, did they feem to lay great
weight, and make great matters of moment! How far did they feem from
being acquainted with the myſteries and depths of religion! But their chief
preaching was repentance, and about a light within, and of turning to that,
and proclaiming the great and terrible day of the Lord to be at hand; wherein
I confefs my heart exceedingly deſpiſed them, and cannot wonder that any
wife man, or fort of profeffors, did, or do yet deſpiſe them. Yea, they
themſelves were very ſenſible of their own weakneſs, and unfitneſs for that
great work and fervice wherewith the Lord had honoured them, and of
their inability to reafon with man; and fo (in the fear and in the watch of
their ſpirits) kept cloſe to their teftimony, and to the movings of his power,
not mattering to anfwer or fatisfy the reafoning part of man, but fingly
minding the reaching to, and railing of, that to which their teftimony
was.
6. The bleffing that God gave to this his difpenfation of life in their
hands. Oh! how did the Lord profper them in gathering his fcattered wan-
dering fheep into his fold of reft! How did their words drop down like
dew, and refreſh the hungry thirſty fouls! How did they reach to the life
in thoſe to whom they miniftered, raifing up that which lay dead in the grave,
to give a living teftimony to the living voice of God in them! How did they
batter the wiſdom and reaſonings of man, making the loftinefs thereof
ftoop and bow to the weak and fooliſh babe of the begettings of life! Eye
hath not feen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man
to conceive, what the power of life hath wrought, through them, in the
hearts and conſciences of thoſe, who have longed after, and waited for, the
Lord. Oh! the breathings and meltings of foul, the fenſe of the living
prefence of God, the fubjecting of the heart unto the Lord, the awakening
of and giving ftrength unto his witnefs, the falling down and weakening of
the powers of darkneſs, the clear fhining of the light of life in the heart,
and the fweet running of the pure ftreams thereof into the enlivened fouls,
which hath often been known and fealed to from the powerful appearance
of God in their miniftry! Indeed when I have confidered theſe and fuch-
like things in my heart, and narrowly marked them in my converſe with
them, I have been often forced to cry out concerning them, Truly here is
man very weak and contemptible; but God very glorious and powerful. And
indeed, when at any time I looked on the man, I was hardly able to for-
bear difdaining them; but, on the other hand, when the eye of my fpirit
beheld the power and glory of the Lord in them, I could hardly forbear
over-eſteeming and exaiting them.
7. The
concerning the State of Ifrael.
633
7. The glory which the Lord advanced thefe veffels to, fince his begin-
ning to make ufe of them. How hath he enriched them with gifts and
abilities, and every way fitted them for the fervice and employment he
hath had for them! How hath he enlarged their miniftry, that they who
had very little to fay, either by way of declaration or difputation at firft,
now abound with ftrength, and abundantly furpaſs the knowledge and wif
dom both of the world, and of other profeffors of religion! The Lord in-
deed hath adorned them, putting his beauty upon them, and cauſing them
to grow up in his ftrength, and in his wiſdom. This mine eye hath ſeen,
and often took notice of, bleffing the name of the Lord, and praying to
him for their prefervation. And furely whoever he be, that hath either
known himſelf, or heard the relation of the poverty of theſe young ſtrip-
lings, when they firft came forth in the power of the Lord, how empty in
themſelves they then were, how fenfibly they went up and down of their
own weakneſs, how little they had to fay to people that came to obſerve
them and enquire of them, how afraid they were to be drawn from their
watch, at what a diftance they ſtood from entering into reafoning about.
things; I fay, he that did know, and doth confider this, and fhall alfo
behold how the Lord hath advanced them fince, making them mighty and
honourable with his gifts and abilities (with the beauty whereof the very
man flouriſheth to the fight of every eye that is in any meaſure truly open)
cannot but acknowledge the change to be wonderful.
8. I have had the fenſe and confideration of this alfo in my heart, that
their danger is now greater than when they were poorer, weaker, and not
fo enriched and gifted by the Lord. The enemy is very fubtil and watch-
ful, and there is danger to Ifrael all along, both in the poverty and in the
riches; but the greater danger is in the riches: becauſe then man is apt to
forget God, and to loſe fomewhat of the fenfe of his dependance (which
keeps the foul low and fafe in the life), and alfo to fuffer fomewhat of ex-
altation to creep upon him, which preſently in a degree corrupts and betrays
him. The heart that is in any measure lifted up in itſelf, fo far it is not upright
in the Lord. Let every one feel this, waiting to be preſerved, and praying
for thoſe who are moſt beautified by gifts and abilities from the life, be-
cauſe in this reſpect (and at this time) their danger is greateft. When If-
rael is poor, low, weak, trembling, feeing no lovelineſs nor worthiness in
himſelf, but depending upon the mere mercy and tender bowels of the
Lord in the free covenant of his love, &c. then is Ifrael ſafe. But when.
he hath a being given him in the life, and is richly adorned with the orna-
ments of life, and comes to have the power itſelf in his hand to make uſe of,
then is he in more danger of becoming fomewhat of himſelf, and of for-
getting him that formed him (being apt to make ufe of his gifts without
fuch an immediate fenfe of the giver as he had in his trembling and weak
eftate), and fo of departing out of that humble, tender, abafed, contrite
fate, and temper of fpirit, wherein he was ftill preſerved.
9. This
.
634
Some deep Confiderations
may
9. This alfo hath been manifeft to me, and deeply impreffed on my
fpirit all along, that the Lord may, if he fee good, fuffer fome great and
eminent-ones to fall in Ifrael. Man may forget himſelf, and the Lord
let out temptation upon him, and fuffer it to enter, that he may bring him
to the fenfe and feeling of his weakneſs again. Yea, thoſe who have felt
the
power of the Lord in and through an inftrument, may give more to
the inftrument than belongs unto it, and fo put the Lord upon recovering
the honour due to him, which is miſplaced and mifapplied to that which is
but his inftrument. This is the Lord's day (the light thereof is his, the
life his, the power his) and the glory thereof will he not give to another.
If therefore any man, in this day, fhall take to himſelf what belongs to
the Lord, or any other fhall give it him, the Lord will not fo loſe it, but
will find out a way to recover his own. And happy is the man who lieth con-
tinually perfectly abafed before the Lord, affuming nothing of the Lord's to
himſelf, nor attributing any thing of the Lord's to another, that the Lord
alone may be exalted every-where. And let all gifts ferve the feed, and
its rifing over all gifts be waited for, that the life every-where may have its
due, being lifted up over all.
10. I have had a deep fenfe of this alfo, that if the Lord fhould fuffer
fuch a thing to fall out among us, it may caufe a great fhaking and fhat-
tering in Ifrael. Surely I may fay, it would come very unexpectedly and un-
fufpectedly to many; and fo fuch perfons would be furpriſed with it, and
not at all prepared for it. Alas! who could ſuſpect (feeling perfons fo emi-
nent in the power, and fo exerciſed and ſkilful in the way and paths of
righteouſneſs, and fo able to inftruct others therein) that they could pof-
fibly fall in any degree from the truth and power of life! And yet they are
not free from temptation: and if they be confident of their own ftrength,
and forget the tender hand of the Lord, he may fuffer a temptation to en-
ter them, which preſently begets a ground for evil weeds to ſpring up in,
and for blindneſs, and hardneſs, and error from the pure power, to creep
in at.
O dear friends! who know the preciouſneſs of life, and defire the pre-
ſervation of the Lord in your ſeveral conditions, let us fear the Lord, and
his goodneſs to us, remembering what a low ebb we were at when the
Lord vifited us, and how freely he vifited, and how freely he daily pre-
ſerveth, that we may not be hardened or lifted up againſt the world, or
againſt any ſort of profeffors; but may magnify the grace which hath made
and keepeth up the difference between us and them, praying to the Lord
for them, and watching for the hour of his mercy to them, exercifing all
manner of ſweetneſs, and meekneſs, and long-ſuffering towards them in the
mean time; alſo pitying and bearing with all the tempted-ones among our-
felves, as fuch who are fenfible that we alfo may be tempted, and that un-
derſtand the ground why we fall not by the temptation.
What
concerning the State of Ifrael.
635
What ſhall I fay more? There are three Queries appearing in my view,
in relation to this thing, which the hearts of fome may defire fatisfaction
about; to which I find ſomewhat, in way of anſwer, ſpringing up in me.
Query 1. How may a man, whom the Lord hath exalted by gifts and fer-
vices to him, be preferved from falling?
Anfw. 1. There is that which waiteth to preſerve, and is ſtill ſtretching
forth its hand, to keep to itſelf that which it hath gathered; which being
hearkened and yielded unto in its difcoveries and warnings, will not fail to
deliver the foul from the danger and fnares of every condition.
2. There is the free mercy and love of the covenant, wherein the foul
may find help and pity, although it ſhould be fomewhat tainted and en-
tangled with the fnares of the enemy.
3. There is a proper frame or ftate of fpirit; to wit, of humility and
brokenneſs, which is fit for Ifrael in every condition; but more eſpecially
when he is exalted in the dominion and power of life, and honoured with
great gifts and fervices for the Lord. In this Ifrael is fafe and happy is
he who is not fuffered to abide in any degree of exaltation of fpirit, but is
brought down again (through the tender mercy and love of the Lord) into
this, though by the buffetings of Satan.
Query 2. How may the little ones, if the Lord should fuffer one or more (of
fuch as have been very eminent in his fervice) to decline and fall, how may they
be preferved from falling with him or them?
•
Anfw. Keeping to the meaſure of life in the particular, and not valuing
others by an apprehenfion concerning them; but only knowing and ho-
nouring them as they are felt and difcerned in the life: this will preferve
every particular (that is thus ordered) from being tainted with any of their
fnares or deviations. O Ifrael! O little babes! know no man after the flesh;
but the Lord alone in his living Spirit. For man is but a veffel, wherein the
life may appear or diſappear at pleaſure; and the Lord is not engaged to
make uſe of man in his fervice, further than he feeth good. The Lord
may appear where he hath never appeared before, and he may not appear
where he hath hitherto appeared very frequently and powerfully. Oh! know
the life in thine own heart, that is to be the judge in thee concerning the
appearances of life in others. If that judge not, be ftill and filent in thy
heart, waiting for its judgment: when that judgeth, let all thy thoughts
and reaſonings be bowed down under it. Let man have no more than his
due, while the Lord pleaſeth to make uſe of him; and to fuch there will
accrue no great ſhaking or damage, when the Lord layeth afide any of his
own inftruments. But if any thing but the life judge, it will ftill either be
fetting up, or throwing down, man: whereby there will come lofs on either
hand in the iffue, to all fuch who thus act.
Query 3. How may any fuch, as have fallen from an high and glorious state
in the power and dominion of life, be again recovered?
VOL. I...
L111
Anfw.
¡
636
Some deep Confiderations
very
Anfw. Indeed this is a very difficult thing: not becauſe the mercy and
power of the Lord is at a lofs to or concerning man in this ftate; but be-
cauſe this condition fets a man's fpirit at fo great a diſtance from the uſe of
that remedy which the Lord hath appointed for man's recovery. It is
hard to bring fuch an one to the fenfe of his lofs (whereby the depth of his
fall might be prevented) until he be gone very far; and the farther he goes
in his declining from the life, the harder will his recovery be. Again; it
is hard for fuch an one to become ſo poor, and lie fo low and fo long at
the foot of God's grace, as alfo to be contented to be fo laid afide and
not made ufe of, as the Spirit of the Lord may judge neceffary for him, to
bring him into a perfect abafement of fpirit, and to work that perfectly
out of him whereby the enemy now entered to betray him: yea, the judg-
ment of the Lord (the righteous and fevere judgment of the Lord) is hard
to be borne in this ftate; and it is much if fuch a veffel do not break here,
in its new forming on the wheel. Yet that which boweth before the Lord,
being willing to be fmitten and abaſed by him, and to lie under his cor-
rection and judgment his ſeaſon, even until he fay it is enough, the Lord
will without doubt reſtore into his favour, if not alſo into the honour of
his fervice again.
Object. But ſome tender heart may fay (which feeleth many weakneſſes, much
unbelief, and the danger of falling daily) if this be true, ob! what will become
of me! If fuch as thefe be liable to fall, and to fall fo dangerously, how ſhall I
ſtand! I was wounded enough before with the fenfe of my own condition; but this
affrighteth me much more.
Anfw. O tender heart! the enemy may make uſe of this to trouble and
afflict thee! but it was not fo intended by the Lord, who is very full of
unutterable bowels, and who hath a day of bowels for thy ftate: yea, his
day, which hath already dawned, is fo dawning as to reach thee. The Lord
hath not yet done gathering his ſcattered ſheep, nor yet fhewn the utmoſt
fkill he hath, either to gather, or to preferve; and the ſtate of the weakeft,
under the preſerving power of the Lord, is fafe. Great are the diſeaſes of
Ifrael; great is yet the lofs of ſcattered fouls, which as yet know not the
call of the Shepherd; and if at any time they do feel a touch thereof, are
eafily reaſoned again out of it, and driven back by the thoughts of their
own hearts. Oh! great, great alfo is the kill of the Shepherd, and his
hand very tender, which the Lord is putting forth for the help of theſe;
bleffed be his name. And as the condition of theſe needs and requires
that from the nature and foul of the Lord, which the conditions of others
do not require; fo the nature of the Lord hath mercy and love in it to an-
fwer their ſtates, and will give it out in his day and feafon. Oh! let none be
offended thereat. Let no eye throughout all Ifrael be evil, becauſe the
Lord is exceeding good. If he pleaſe to kill the fatted calf, and fet it be-
fore his prodigal fon, let none that have walked faithfully with him in any
diſpenſation be offended thereat: but rather let all (in whom is life) ftand
ready
concerning the State of Ifrael.
637
}
ready to fhout at the iffuings forth of love and mercy, in the varieties of
the difpenfations thereof, according to the need and capacity of every
fort of veffels, prepared by the Lord to receive it. Therefore, O thou
afflicted! toffed with tempefts, and not comforted; thou fhalt know and feel
this from the Lord, that he knoweth how to bring home his confola-
tions to thy foul, and to caft thee into the mould of his life, and bring
thee forth in the power of his righteoufnefs; and that he needeth not to find
any worthiness or righteouſneſs in thee; for he can create and make room
for it in thy heart; yea, he can begin, carry on, and perfect his work in
thee, for his own name's fake. And to thee, O broken foul! I cannot fo
much fay, do this, or believe this; but rather, the Lord will work in thee;
yea, the Lord will quicken faith in thee, and raife up his own nature from the
feed of his own life, which he himſelf bath fown in thy inward parts, and will
not fail to preferve.
Befides, this broken ſtate of thine (wherein the vileneſs and weakneſs of
felf is daily felt, with the exceeding great need of the Lord's preſerving
power and mercy) is a fafe ftate; towards which, that which (alone) pre-
ferveth, is continually iffuing forth in the bowels of his tenderneſs. And
though thou doft not ſee the love of the Lord, and his tender care over
thee (and fo wanteſt the comfort of thine own condition); yet it is never a
whit the leſs in the heart and Spirit of the Lord towards thee; and in divers
reſpects I may ſay, it is better for thee at prefent to want the fight of it.
I am fatisfied in my heart concerning the nature and ways of the Lord, and
I know there is that mercy in him which my foul crieth for; and that it is
not only treaſured up, but about to be iffued forth towards thoſe for whoſe
fakes the cry is unto him for it. The Lord will arife and have mercy upon Sion,
even upon the mourners and diſtreſſed-ones in Sion; he will fay to them who are
of a fearful heart, and mourn bitterly because of their unbelief (finding them-
felves as unable to believe now for righteouſneſs, as ever the Jews were to
work for it); be strong, stand still wait on me your God; bebold, my
righteoufnefs is ready to be revealed, and I am bringing that faith with me which
ye want, to give your fouls the entrance into my promifes, and into my divine
nature promifed. Ye are my lambs, and my bofom is for you, and thither will I
gather you; yea, ye have already conceived, and are with young, though ye know
it not; and I will lead you on gently in a way that ye cannot, nor never shall,
know, as ye would know it; but shall not want or mifs of that knowledge thereof,
that I fee good for you. I will beget a deeper life in you, and bring it forth after
a deeper way of difpenfation than ye have yet been acquainted with, or than your
underſtandings can comprehend; but in the death which I am bringing upon you,
and in the travailing pangs which ye shall feel in your hearts, fhall it fpring up
in you, and be brought forth. O dear lambs! mind the quickenings of life,
and the favour and fenſe which the Lord begets in the heart, and let the
outward knowledge (even of what ye have had experience) go, but as the
Lord quickens it; and mind not the noiſes of thoughts and reafonings about
L1112
2.
things,
638
Some Questions and Answers
things, which the foul's enemy will be ftriving to fill you with, and batter
you by; but fink down from theſe, and wait to feel that which lies be-
neath them; in the free nature, life, virtue, power, and motions whereof
alone is your foul's falvation; and if ye cannot receive the fenfe of this direc-
tion at preſent, wait on the Lord either for it, or for what other manifefta-
tion or tender help he ſhall pleaſe to give forth unto you.
SOME
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS,
CONCERNING
SPIRITUAL
Queft. 1.
THAT is fpiritual unity?
Anfw. W
UN I. T Y.
The meeting of the fame fpiritual nature in divers, in one
and the ſame ſpiritual center or ſtreams of life. When the fpirits or fouls
of creatures are begotten by one power into one life, and meet in heart
there; fo far as they thus meet, there is true unity among them.
Queſt. 2. Wherein doth this unity conſiſt?
Anfw. In the life, in the nature, in the Spirit wherein they are all begotten,
and of which they are formed, and where their meeting is. It confifts not
in any outward or inward thing of an inferior nature; but only keeps
within the limits and bounds of the fame nature. The doing the fame
thing, the thinking the fame thing, the fpeaking the fame thing, this doth
not unite here in this ftate, in this nature; but only the doing, or thinking,
or ſpeaking of it in the fame life. Yea, though the doings, or thoughts,
or words be divers; yet if they proceed from the fame principle and na-
ture, there is a true unity felt therein, where the life alone is judge.
Queft. 3. How is the unity preferved?
Anfw. Only by abiding in the life; only by keeping to the power, and in
the principle, from whence the unity fprang, and in which it ftands. Here
is a knitting of natures, and a fellowſhip in the fame fpiritual center. Here
the divers and different motions of feveral members in the body (thus come-
ing from the life and Spirit of the body) are known to, and owned by, the
fame life, where it is freſh and fenfible. It is not keeping up an outward
knowledge (or belief concerning things) that unites, nor keeping up an
outward conformity in actions, &c.; for theſe may be held and done by
another part in man, and in another nature; but it is by keeping and act-
ing
concerning Spiritual Unity.
639
ing in that which did at firſt unite. In this there is neither matter nor room
for divifion; and he that is within theſe limits, cannot but be found in the
oneness.
Queft. 4. How is the unity interrupted?
Anfw. By the interpofition of any thing of a different nature or ſpirit
from the life. When any thing of the earthly or fenfual part comes between
the foul and the life, this interrupts the foul's unity with the life itſelf, and
it alfo interrupts its unity with the life in others, and the unity of the life
in others with it. Any thing of the man's fpirit, of the man's wiſdom, of
the man's will, not bowed down and brought into fubjection, and fo not
coming forth in and under the authority and guidance of life, in this is
ſomewhat of the nature of diviſion: yea, the very knowledge of truth, and
holding of it forth by the man's wifdom, and in his will, out of the movings
and power of the life, brings a damp upon the life, and interrupts the unity;
for the life in others cannot unite with this in fpirit, though it may own the
words to be true.
Queft. 5. How may this unity be recovered, if at any time decaying?
Anfw. In the Lord alone is the recovery of Iſrael, from any degree of lofs
in any kind, at any time; who alone can teach to retire into, and to be
found in that wherein the unity is and ſtands, and into which divifion can-
not enter. This is the way of reftoring unity to Ifrael, upon the fenfe of
any want thereof; even every one, through the Lord's help, retiring (in
his own particular), and furthering the retirings of others to the principle of
life, that every one there may feel the washing from what hath in any mea-
fure corrupted, and the new-begetting into the power of life. From this the
true and lafting unity will fpring amain, to the gladding of all hearts that
know the ſweetneſs of it, and who cannot but naturally and moſt earneſtly
defire it. Oh! mark therefore! the way is not by ſtriving to beget into
one and the fame apprehenfion concerning things, nor by endeavouring to
bring into one and the fame practices; but by alluring and drawing into that
wherein the unity confifts, and which brings it forth in the veffels, which
are ſeaſoned therewith, and ordered thereby. And from this let all wait
for the daily new and living knowledge, and for the ordering of their con-
verfations and practices in that light (and drawings thereof), and in that fim-
plicity and integrity of heart which the Spirit of life at preſent holdeth forth
and worketh in them; and the life will be felt, and the name of the Lord
praiſed in all the tents of Jacob, and through all the inhabitants of his
Ifrael; and there will be but one heart, and one foul, and one fpirit, and one
mind, and one way and power of life; and what is already wrought in every
heart, the Lord will be acknowledged in, and his name praiſed; and the
Lord's feafon contentedly waited for his filling up of what is wanting any-
where. So the living God (the God of Ifrael, the God of everlasting tender
bowels and compaſſions to Ifrael) fill the veſſels of his heritage with his life, and
cauſe the peace and love of bis holy nature and Spirit to deſcend upon their dwell-
ings,
640
Some Questions and Anfwers, &c.
lings; and to Spring up powerfully in them towards his living truth, and towards
one another.
And let all ſtrive to excell in tenderneſs, and in long-fuffering, and to be
kept out of hard and evil thoughts one of another, and from harfh inter-
pretations concerning any thing relating to one another. Oh! this is un-
worthy to be found in an Ifraelite towards an Egyptian; but exceeding
fhameful and inexcufable to be found in one brother towards another. How
many weakneſſes doth the Lord paſs by in us! How ready is he to inter-
pret every thing well concerning his difciples, that may bear a good in-
terpretation! The ſpirit, faith he, is willing; but the flesh is weak. When
they had been all ſcattered from him upon his death, he did not afterwards.
upbraid them; but fweetly gathered them again. O dear friends! have we
received the fame life of fweetnefs? Let us bring forth the fame ſweet fruits,
being ready to excuſe, and to receive what may tend towards the excuſe of
another in any doubtful cafe; and where there is any evil manifeft, wait, Oh!
wait, to overcome it with good. Oh! let us not fpend the ftrength of our
Spirits in crying out of one another becauſe of evil; but watch and wait.
where the mercy and the healing virtue will pleaſe to arife. O Lord, my God,
when thou hast shewn the wants of Ifrael in any kind fufficiently (whether in the
particular, or in the general) bring forth the fupply thereof from thy fulness, fo
ordering it in thine eternal wisdom, that all may be ashamed and abafed before
thee, and thy name praifed in and over all.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
:
CON
CONCERNING
GOD's feeking out HIS ISRAEL:
LIKEWISE CONCERNING
The PRINCIPLE of LIFE,
Whereby He feeketh them;
AND THE
WAY of their clofing with HIS SPIRIT therein.
AS ALSO CONCERNING
The TWO COVENANTS;
Under One whereof
He pleaſeth to Exerciſe and Prepare them for the Life
V
and Inheritance, which he hath Treafured up for
them in the Other.
WITH
A POSTSCRIPT, relating fome Things neceffary for Loft
MAN to be acquainted with, in his Travels from his Loft Eſtate.
By ISAAC PENINGTON.
[ 642 ]
To fuch in Godmanchefter, and thereabouts, who bear
the reproachful Name of QUAKERS; whofe Religion
began in the Power, and who ftill abide and walk on
in the Power, waiting to be perfected in the full Ma-
nifeftation and Appearance thereof.
Dear Friends in God's pure Eternal Truth,
It
T was my lot once to be among you in a meeting, together with a
certain friend, where I had a word unto you from the Lord, while
the faid friend was declaring. But being exceedingly bowed down in
fpirit, and afraid to interrupt the fervice in him (whom I looked upon
as far more abundantly grown up in the life, and fitter to miniſter from
the life), I waited till the life in him fhould ftop. But then thofe
words, which had often fprung in me before, fprung not again; and I
durft not then ſpeak them from a bare remembrance of them, not
finding the Spirit of the Lord then giving them me to fpeak. So I
went away with a burthen on my own foul, and alſo with a ſenſe of
fome lofs to you of fome part of the good which the Lord intended
you. Since that time, I have often remembered the thing with grief;
crying to the Lord, that that which hath fo often ftopped the life in
me, and my ſervice in the life, might in his good time be removed;
and that the day might come, wherein the man might never more be
or appear, as of himſelf, or as a determiner concerning the things
which flow from the life, but that the life might have its free courfe
and current through me, in its own pure ftreamings, to the delighting
of my own heart in the Lord, and the refreſhing of others. And in-
deed this day I exceedingly long for, that nothing of felf might be
left to be brought forth, and that all which is of the life might ſpring
up and flouriſh, both in me and every-where.
Now one morning, as my heart was breathing towards the Lord,
not having a thought either of you or this thing, the very fame words
which were given me in that meeting, fprang up again livingly in me,
with a pointing to write them down, with what the Lord fhould pleaſe
to give in further, and fend them to you, together with a paper,
which was a little before written, concerning the two covenants. And
when I had almoſt finiſhed what was then given me to write, I was fur-
ther directed to annex to the firft paper another concerning the prin-
ciple.
How
the reproachful Name of QUAKERS.
643
How the Lord fhall pleaſe to improve them to your advantage, or
to the advantage of any others, I leave to him; it being the earneſt
defire of my heart, that his work may profper in his hand, and that
the light and power which iffueth forth from him for the falvation of
fouls, may be effectual thereunto; and that nothing of love, of mercy,
of goodneſs, of life, of falvation, of his fearching and healing virtue
may be held back by him, which the ftate or condition of any of his
ſheep or lambs (whether loft or gathered) calleth for. That his Ifrael
may become the glory of the earth, and all nations may be refreſhed
with beholding the beauty, and taſting the ſweetneſs, of life and righte-
ouſneſs, which fhall affuredly flow forth from his fanctuary. And
furely the time is not far off (whatever the eye of fenfe may judge,
and however things may appear to man's underſtanding) wherein Ifrael
fhall be no more compelled to worſhip in the temples of mens building
and dedicating; but fhall in the beauty of holiness. For the day is come
(yea, the bleſſed day is come) wherein the Lord God of life will build
up his Sion, and appear there in his glory; Amen, Hallelujah.
471
VOL. I.
Mmm m
CONCERN-
[644]
-
CONCERNING
GOD's feeking out HIS ISRAEL.
T
HIS is the word which was given to me; The shepherd of Ifrael is
Seeking out his sheep, even the loft sheep of the house of Ifrael. Con-
cerning which, thefe three Queftions fprang up in me one after
another, as I was about to write, and writing.
Queft. 1. Who are his sheep?
Anfw. His fheep are the fons of men; the loft fheep of the houſe of
Ifrael are thoſe among the fons of men, who have felt touches of his life,
begettings into his nature, and were in fome meaſure gathered into fome ap-
pearance and difpenfation of his life by his Holy Spirit; wherein they felt warmth
from God in their fpirits, and a delight and joy in what they felt, and a
longing after a further manifeftation of him. Theſe were his ſheep, in a
gathered eſtate in fome degree, by thofe difpenfations of life in the dark-
nefs, which had fome ftrength in them to gather from under the darkneſs,
and did gather into that meaſure of light and life that was then diſpenſed.
But the fheep cleaving to the difpenfations (which were very weak and im-
perfect, and had little of Spirit, but very much of fleſh in them) and not
following the Lamb out of them into the further difpenfations of life, into
which he ſtood ready to lead; the Lord brake them in pieces, departed from
them, and left the life to be made a prey of, and brought under the capti-
vity of death; ſo that the fheep were fcattered upon the mountains, and
every beaft of prey was ready to faften his teeth on them and devour them.
Oh! the precious buddings forth of the virtue and power of God, that were
to be found in the feveral forts of profeffors, while they fought the Lord
only, and the knowledge of one another in the breathing fpirit, and mind-
ed not the outward form, but the feeling of life in their duties and ordi-
nances!
But when they began to mind the form, and cry up feveral forms; the
Lord alſo began to loath the forms, and did not give forth that among
them, which formerly they met with, but took away the kernel, and left
them the thell and oh! how dry and barren have they become fince!
Where
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
645
Where is the feeling of life? Where is the love to one another in the
living fenfe? Where is the zeal after, and earneft feeking of, the
power of religion? Where is the nature of the ſheep to be found in them?
And where is the preſence of the Shepherd among them? Are they not
loft ſheep indeed? Loft to God? Loft to themſelves? Have they not loft
the holy, pure, Sweet, meek, heavenly, tender, gentle nature of the ſheep?
Have they not loft the paſture and the fold, whereon they were wont to feed,
and wherein they were wont to lie down fafe? Have they not loft the pre-
Server of their fouls from the devouring ſpirit? Nay, have they not loft the
very feed of life, which the good husbandman did fow in them? And do
not evil feeds fhoot up in the ftead thereof, to the poiſoning of their hearts
and blemiſhing of their converfations? And are not fome of them infenfi-
ble of their lofs, and lie ftill drowned in their forms, thinking to confine
the appearance of the free life and unlimited ſpirit there? Others of them
fick, and deeply wounded and languiſhing, not knowing where to meet
with the good Shepherd, nor how to make fhift without him? Oh! the
cries of the defolate and mourning fouls, which love God at their hearts,
and have the relicks of his nature left in them in a feed ſtill; which he once
begot and brought forth in fome freſhneſs! Oh! their deep anguifh! their
miferable loft condition for want of meeting with the Phyſician; their pant-
ings, their tears, their diftreffes, their roarings out, their overwhelmings,
their ſeveral kinds of captivities, and the cruelties exercifed upon their
ſpirits by the captiver, even break my heart, that I am almoſt overwhelmed
in the ſenſe of their miſery! But my heart is fomewhat comforted with the
freſhneſs of this teftimony, which hath often rifen up in the immediate
life of God in my heart; and I have heard his voice fpeaking it, even
that he will ſeek them out. And I know he hath the ſkill to find them,
in their ſeveral mourning holes, wherein they lie hid; and the pits where-
into they are tumbled; and the briars and thorns of the wildernefs, where-
with they are torn, and wherein they are twiſted and entangled, and held
pining to death; and in the priſons, and chains, and fetters of their ſpirits,
wherein they are cloſed up and bound down by the enemy of their fouls.
Queft. 2. How will be feek them, and how will be find them out?
Anfw. By the light of his Spirit fhining in their hearts, by which he
will touch and quicken the fheep's life, and open the fheep's ear, and per-
fuade the heart to know and believe that it is he that vifiteth in his tender
mercy, and that he will have mercy on, and fhew compaffion to, that which
hath long been caft off and forfaken; and he will be their God, and they
ſhall be his people, even the houſe of Ifrael that had departed from him;
and that he had not forgotten them, but waited for the hour of mercy, and
for the ſeaſon of the bringing forth of that life and power, whofe fearch-
ing and healing virtue will reach to the utmoſt extremity of their conditions.
Queft. 3. What will he do with them, when he hath fought after and found
them out?
Mmmm 2
Anſw.
646
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
Anfw. He will gather them into the fold of life, and lead them into the
paſtures of life, and feed them with the food of life, as their conditions.
are able to bear; he will be fitting them by the exerciſes of his Spirit, for
their paffages from death to life; and as they are capable, fo he will be ſtill
tranflating them from the one into the other. He will bring them from.
their ſeveral falſe-built ftates in the land of Egypt (or Babylon) into a true
wilderneſs ſtate; and there, as he wears out the old nature in them, fo will
he ſpeak comfortably to them, and build up the new; and nourish the true
Ifraelitiſh babe there with Manna from heaven; and after he is grown up to
a man's eſtate, and hath received the inward circumcifion, lead him into
the pleaſant land, where there are the rich paſtures, and the ſweet ſtill wa-
ters, and the precious milk and honey of the living, with which the land
flows naturally, and which yields pure nouriſhment to all the living off-
fpring. Oh! my heart is not able to contain the fenfe of all that God will
do for Ifrael, or of what he will be to them, or of what they ſhall be to
him, when he hath finiſhed his work upon them, and brought them forth
(through the ftrength of his covenant) in the nature and into the poffeffion
of his life.
But ſure I am he hath begun his work; the light of the day (even of
the everlaſting day) hath fprung and vifited many; the principle of life
hath been revealed in the hearts of many; and many are gathering into it,
and find the man finking and dying; and the life rifing and living in
them day by day. And though the paffage be bitter, and the paffover ftill
eaten with bitter herbs, and the devourer often let loofe and fuffered to
nip and deſtroy; yet out of the eater at laft comes forth meat, and out of
the ftrong one in the iffue comes forth ſweetneſs. Yea, though there be
no faith found to clofe in with the light, nor any ftrength left to obey or
follow, becauſe of the deep foregoing breakings (wherein both nature and
ſpirit were all daſhed in pieces, and fwallowed up in confuſion); yet the
breath of life and the power of the light (in procefs of exerciſes, and after
much deep mifery, and impoffibilities, to the fight and judgment of ſenſe)
at length raifeth up a little feed in the longing foul; which receiveth and
bringeth forth, after an hidden way, that which it could not. And here life
is indeed of grace, and wholly of the feed, in this ftate. Only wait to learn
and know in fpirit (and then take heed of defpifing) the weak beginnings
and dawnings of light, in the fecret ftirrings and movings of the principle
of life; and wait alfo for a watch to be fet up in thee againſt that fleſhly
wiſdom and underſtanding, which will be apt to be judging about the work
of God in thy heart; for if it prevail fo far, it will then alfo be begetting
in thee defpifings of, and turnings from, the low beginnings thereof, and
fo divert thy feet from the path of life. For the prevention whereof, and
for the furtherance of thy foul, in its clofing with, and travelling on, in the
light and guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, this following paper is added.
Concerning
;
647
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
}
Concerning the Seed or inward Principle, whereby Life
is begotten and maintained in the Heart.
TH
HE Lord God, who is full of everlaſting bowels of compaffion to-
wards mankind in general, but more eſpecially towards thofe, in
whom he hath begotten a fenfe of the want of him, with breathings and
defires after him; hath chofen a feed or inward principle of life to appear
in, towards the breaking the bonds of their captivity, and the bringing
them from under the power and mifery of death.
This, many who have been overwhelmed with mifery, and whofe fpirits
have melted and failed with the want of the fenfe of their God, and have
felt that life, which was formerly built up in them, broken down and laid
wafte; and their communion with God fwallowed up in the ruins thereof;
and their ſouls ready utterly to periſh and be devoured by the enemy every
moment; after the cutting off of their hopes, and the fhutting up of their
eyes towards all ways of relief; I ſay, after all this, and much more than
can be expreffed, in the tender mercy of the Lord, have they felt this
principle revealed in their hearts, and their hearts by degrees, through the
ikill and fame mercy of the Lord, which revealed the principle (and not
from any worthinefs, or faith and obedience of theirs; for that was as free-
ly given and preferved, as the principle itſelf was revealed), gathered into
the principle, where the life reigns, and where the ftrength and dominion
of death is broken in all thoſe, who by the allurings and guidings of the
Spirit of the Lord are led thither.
Now the main thing neceffary towards the redemption of the foul is,
after the revealing of this principle, and fome fenfe and feeling of it, and
the turning of the mind towards it, to wait to be made more and more ac-
quainted with it, that in the ftirrings, movings, and leadings thereof, there
be a ready giving up to be gathered into it, and to be guided by it.
For though this principle be all life, yet it is at firft but as a feed, and
the appearance of the Lord in it is but as in a feed; very little, low,
weak, hard to be difcerned, eaſy to be over-looked and deſpiſed, and ſome
greater and more undeniable appearance expected. Yet that is not the
way, but the foul muft become fubject unto, and bowed under, this little
appearance; and fo as the feed gets advantage, and grows bigger and larger
in thy heart, the appearance of the Lord will be greater and fuller there.
But to look for the greater appearance, before the feed be owned and re-
ceived in its leffer appearance (and the veffel thereby fitted for the greater
appearance) is not the way of God, but the deceit of the enemy, where-
by he would deftroy the foul, and cut it off from the Lord for ever;
which
$
648 Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
K
which he certainly will do, if he can keep the feed from growing there,
and the foul from joining with and growing into it.
Therefore watch to feel the favour of life in thy heart day by day, and
therein to feel leadings and drawings from the life, fuitable to thy ftate
for in this favour, and in thefe drawings, rifes the true light, which leads.
into the way of life. And then watch againſt the reaſonings and difputa-
tions which the enemy will raiſe in thy mind, who will ſtrive to make thee
a judge over thefe drawings; whereas the light, which arifeth in the favour
and in the drawings, is thy King (though in this low appearance), and not
to be judged by thy mind, thoughts, and reaſonings, but to judge them all
down, and be bowed unto and obeyed by thee. And confider, in the
weight of thy fpirit, art thou (in thy darknefs, and with thy earthly mind)
fit to be a judge concerning the light which arifeth in thee? Or rather
is not the light, in its loweft and weakeft appearance, appointed and fitted
by the Lord to judge thee, and make thee bow down in fear and trem-
bling before it; and thy crown (thou in thy higheſt exaltation) is to be caſt
at the loweſt footſtep thereof; and then it will in fome meaſure, thou lying
at the foot thereof, and bowing in ſpirit before it, enter into thee, and en-
lighten and quicken thee. But in thy being wife about it, or taking upon
thee to judge concerning it, it will ftand at a diſtance from thee, and leave
thee in thy darkneſs and captivity.
Therefore confider where thou art, and breathe unto the Lord to re-
veal that unto thee, which is proper for thee at prefent, and to bow thy
ſpirit under his prefent will and manifeftation to thee.
And be content to be little and low, and to receive little and low in-
ftructions from God, and to walk in the path of brokenneſs and humility
before the Lord; for this is his way of fitting for, and advancing into, the
high and glorious power of his life. And this my foul is affured of, that
none fhall enter into, or abide in, his kingdom, but as they become little,
poor, and naked, and as they are led by the little child of God's begetting;
who not at all anfwers the wiſdom of man and his expectations, but ftill
confounds them, and leads on in fuch a path, as, if the eye of man's wif
dom be open, it will ftill be crying out it can never bring to life. Yet
that which difputeth not, but believeth, at ſeaſons feels a progrefs, and that
the growth of life had advantage in the heart by thofe very things, which
at preſent ſeemed to give death the advantage.
Therefore watch againſt thy underſtanding, and all the workings thereof,
as ever thou defireft life; for it will ftill betray thee, and either keep thee
from the way, or turn thee out of the way, whenever thou hearkeneſt to
it. And mark this; That which God fows and brings up in thee, is a fen-
fible plant, not a knowing mind; and thy right judgment is only in the
fenfibleneſs of that plant, and not in the underſtanding or comprehenfion
of thy mind; yea, that fenfible plant (which thy wiſdom will be very apt to
defpife and perk over) muſt batter down and bring to nothing thy under-
ſtanding,
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
649
ftanding, and grow up in the ftead of it, if ever thy foul be made an ha-
bitation for the life. Therefore fink into the feeling, and dwell in the
feeling, and wait for the favour of the principle of life, and the touches
and drawings of the favour, and walk along in it towards the land of life,
parting with all, and leaving behind thee, whatever the favour of life dif-
relifheth; and entering into, and taking up, whatever the favour of the
life relifheth, that thou mayeft be prepared for the Lord, and for the glori-
ous appearances of his Spirit in thee.
And as thou art led into this, and becomeſt ſubject to this; fo thou wilt
taſte the Lord, and feel the fweetneſs of his ointment, and the peace of his
nature, and the joy of the beginnings of his kingdom in thy heart, and
the blotting out of thy iniquities for his own name's fake. For though the
enemy may lay load upon thee, and fill thee as much as he can with his
filth, and lay it cloſe to thy charge, infomuch as thou art not able to ac-
quit thyſelf at all, but art as ready to charge thyfelf therewith, as the
enemy is to charge thee; yet the Lord confidereth the feed he hath fown in
thee, and the defire which he hath wrought in thy heart to be joined there-
unto; and he knoweth whence the ſtirring of this mind is, and how weak
thou art in this hour of thy darknefs and captivity; and the intent of his
heart is to deliver thee from all this, and not to condemn thee for it.
But oh! take heed of limiting the Lord to give forth fo clear a light,
as the natural underſtanding will be judging neceffary! but be content
with the light which arifeth in the favour, and fhineth inwardly to thy
ſpirit in the drawing; and be fubject and bowed under the light of the
drawing, though ever fo much against the light of the creaturely under-
ftanding and the reafonings thereof.
Clearneſs of light is a ſtate which is to be grown up into; but before
thou comeft to this, thy underſtanding muſt be darkened, confounded, and
brought to nothing; and thou canst not have fuch a clearneſs there, while
it is confounding. There is indeed a true clearneſs in the principle of life
(proportionable to its ftate and growth) even then; but the reaſonings of
thy dark mind will be continually overclouding and overbearing it (as if it
were darkneſs, and not the light) and will prevail, unleſs thou be kept in
the favour, and ſuffer not thy underſtanding to judge, but keep it under
the judgment of the favour. Mark, therefore, heedfully this which follows;
The firſt work of the Lord, is to confound the knowledge and under-
ſtanding of the creature; eſpecially in thofe, who have been deep in wiſdom
and experience of things; for if they were not cloſely purſued with dark-
nefs and confufion, they would preſently be gathering a ſtock into the old
ftorehouſe again, and fo grow wife after the fleſh, and never learn the life
of the Spirit. Now in this work of confounding, how can the leadings of
God's Spirit be manifeſt and clear after the fleſh, and to the fleſhly under-
ftanding? Yea, if they were manifeft after this manner, how were it poffi-
ble to withhold the fleſhly part from drinking them in? and fo the man
would
650
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
would live again, but the feed not live, which gains its life (and being,
and form, and perfection) in the man, by the death of the man; even by
the man's being hunted, and battered, and broken out of his wiſdom, and
knowledge, and reafoning, and comprehenfion; and becoming as a fool or
child, being able to know nothing, nor retain nothing, nor perform no-
thing, nor keep his ftanding; but ftill as he is led, and taught, and created,
and preferved in the power, and by the prefence of the life.
W
Concerning the Two COVENANTS.
HAT is the covenant of the law? Doth it not contain and hold
forth eternal life to man, upon his faith in, and obedience to, the Spirit
of God?
What is the covenant of the gospel? Doth it not contain the promiſe to the
feed, and life to man through the feed, and forgiveneſs of his fins for the
feed's fake, and the uniting of his heart to, and preſerving it in, the ſeed,
through the grace; as alfo repentance, faith, and obedience from the
grace?
Mark then the difference between the two covenants. The covenant of
the law is all of works, and according to works; yea, even the faith that
is there found (which is begotten and brought forth in man by virtue of
that covenant) is of the man, or of the working principle. The covenant of
the goſpel is all of grace; and the very works that are found are from
the grace, and the feed beſtowed and conveyed by promiſe.
Now mark; The feed (or ftanding principle of life) in both covenants is
the fame. It is the fame Chrift by which Adam ſtood before the fall, and
which was the promiſed feed after the fall. The light of both the cove-
nants is the fame, even the eternal light of the Spirit. The life and power
is the fame, even the life and power of the Spirit. The end or mark, at
which man aims, and towards which he travels, in both is the fame; even
the land of reſt and peace in the Spirit of the Father, who begets a living
foul under both covenants. But the terms of the covenants, and the man-
ner of diſpenſing them, are different; and the wombs, whereof the children
of each covenant are born, are different likewiſe; the one being the work-
ing nature (which alfo came from God, and hath its bleffing from him in
its obedience and fubjection to him), the other the womb of grace, which
brings forth the child of grace in man, according to, and by virtue of, the
promiſe; and doth not find a will in the day of man's choice and liberty,
but createth a will in the day of God's powerful appearance in it.
Yet this feed of promife, or this new man begotten by the feed of life
according to the promife, muft walk through the law, and travel through
all the dark paths of that covenant, before it come to inherit the promiſed
land; where the rigour of the law and weakneſs of the fleſh will be thoroughly
felt,
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
651
felt, and many tranfgreffions and many ſtripes; yea, many captivities and
cuttings off from the life may be felt alfo; yea, the feed of the firſt cove-
nant may live and flouriſh, and enjoy and boaft much of God, while this
feed is miferable. But when this womb is vifited with the ftrength of grace,
and free power of life, and bringeth forth her children therein, and no
more is called for from the working part of man, but all brought forth in
the free, full, and freſh power of life; then ſhall the feed of Ifrael, after
the promiſe, become an everlaſting habitation for, and a perfect joy in, the
life.
Therefore diftinguifh in fpirit between the law and grace, and the cove-
nants of each, and the diſpenſations of each, and how they are mixed and
intermingled, both towards man and towards the feed, in the feveral dif
penfations in which each are brought forth. For there hath been no per-
fect covenant brought forth, either of works or of grace (in a way of pub-
lic adminiſtration) fince the fall of Adam. Had there been a perfect co-
venant of works, there had been no capacity of falvation thereby to fallen
man. Had there been a perfect covenant of grace, there had been no pof-
fibility or capacity of deftruction; for grace, in its perfect going forth,
cannot but overcome and fave the man. But God ordereth both theſe co-
venants, both towards the man and towards the feed, according to the
ſtate of the man and the ftate of the feed, and according to what (in his
eternal wiſdom) he judgeth meet to work upon them thereby.
Man being fallen, and having loft his ftrength of faith and obedience in
and to the requirings of God's Spirit, the vifitation of him is now by grace,
and not merely to call forth what is left in him, but to help him with light
and power, and by the influences of the grace and of the power to quicken
him towards God. Yet man, in the receiving of this, is apt to overlook
the grace, and attribute too much to his own ftrength, thinking himſelf
ſomewhat becauſe of the grace and power which hath viſited him, and new
refreſhed the ſtrength and nature of his principle in him again. Hereby he
is apt to fix his ſtanding on his obedience to the Spirit or appearance of the
grace, and fo in effect builds his life and hopes again on his own principle,
or on a new-received power, as held or kept to by him (which he may fall
from now, as well as he did at firſt), and not on the free begetting and
free preſerving of a principle of life in him.
This vifitation of grace is to all mankind, there being none upon earth,
whom the Lord doth not thus feek and vifit with the light of his eternal
life, thus adminiſtered through the grace; which fo far as they fall in with,
the Lord doth receive them and beget life in them, engrafting them into
the living vine, and preſerving them according to their abiding in it, and
according to their obedience to him in the fpringings up of the ſap of the
vine in them.
But befides this common adminiftration of the grace to all mankind,
God formerly picked out a people after the fleſh of Abraham, and after-
VOL. I.
wards
Nnnn
1
6.52
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
wards a people after the fpirit of Abraham, towards whom, in a more pe-
culiar way, his grace did adminifter itſelf, and whom he deal with, not as
with other nations, but chofe to love and work up into life and communion
with himſelf, by a more efpecial adminiftration and vifitation of his love
and grace. The one of thefe were that people of the Jews, the other the
believing Chriftians.
With the Jews he remembered the covenant with Abraham. By virtue
of that he loved and choſe them to be his people after the fleſh (or his out-
ward people); by virtue of that he brought them out of Egypt, led them
through the wilderneſs, brought them into Canaan, giving them an inheri-
tance therein, and delivering them from their enemies time after time.
Yet he alfo made another covenant with them (even that of the law)
which was fuitable to their ftate, and which their nature deſired, and choſe
to walk with God in, but hardly ever kept it, and fo brought the curfe and
mifery due thereby upon their heads, and at laft were utterly cut off, fo far
and fo long as the Lord pleafeth to let the curfe of that covenant have power
over them, until he fhall pleafe again to remember to them his covenant
with Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and breathe life through it into their dry
bones.
Now though God did make this covenant with them, becauſe they were
fleſhly, and their preſent ſtate required it, yet he did not diſannul or make
void the other to them, all the while their day lafted; but remembered
loving-kindneſs and mercy towards them in it, often delivering and redeem-
ing them for his own name's fake, pointing them alfo to the word in the
heart, and the gracious adminiftration thereof. But they were blinded and
held captive in the earthly nature and principle, and in the law thereof,
and held their marriage and union with God thereby. And fee, though
this adminiſtration to the Jews (wherein God did ftrive with them by his
Spirit, and fometimes ftir life, and beget a true fenfiblenefs in many of
them, calling to them for the circumcifion of the heart, and pointing them
to the principle of life in the heart, whereby it might be circumciſed) tho'
this advanced them far above the Heathen; yet they, through the fleſh and
the letter, at laſt fell below the very ſtate of the Heathen, proving greater
enemies to, and perfecutors of, the life than they; and fo the Lord brake
them off from the Olive-tree into which they were ingrafted, and cut them
off from the covenant which he had made with Abraham, Ifaac, and Ja-
cob; whereas, thitherto (though he had been often provoked by, and fore-
ly offended with, them), yet he had ftill loved them for their father's fake.
After them, and in their ftead, he chofe the believing Gentiles, ingrafted
them into the ſtock from whence theſe were broken, letting them into a
ſweeter and fuller, and more fpiritual and abiding ftate, and influences of
the covenant. For here the life was manifeſted, and the light did fhine in
great beauty and clearnefs. And they were gathered into the true fold of
the Shepherd (befides the outward ftate, which was alfo built up by the
Lord,
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
653
Lord, and preferved for a feafon among them); and they faw their ftand-
ing to be by and in the grace, and were eſtabliſhed in the grace, and could
feel the good pleaſure calling, the good pleaſure working, the good plea-
fure being and doing all in them, and could cry grace, grace to this build-
ing; and fay, not for any works that they had wrought, or for their faith
in, or obedience to, the light of life, which was made manifeft; but of his
own mercy he faved them, who wrought in them both the will and the
deed of his own good pleafure, and preferved them by his power through
faith (which was of his gift and begetting) unto falvation.
Yet for all this, there was fomewhat of the law or light eternal to be
adminiftered unto them, which was ſuitable to the natural part or firſt prin-
ciple through which they were to travel, even until the man, or first nature,
was wholly wafted; whereby fome of them were in danger of falling away
wholly, others of coming under the chaſtiſement and judgment, with which
the Lord purſued them, that they might not be utterly condemned with the
world. Mark, therefore, this brief fum of the matter.
1. Man fell under the firſt covenant; his reftitution is never to be there-
by, but by the ſecond; through which God works up veffels into a ſtate of
life and glory in the adminiftration of his grace.
2. But in this working up of the veffel, he fees neceſſary to make uſe of
the other covenant, according to the capacity that is left in man to anſwer
it; and fo as that capacity wears out, the covenant of the law waſteth and
paffeth away by degrees, and the covenant of grace fucceeds and fills up
the room thereof.
3. There is great danger of falling from the life for fome, as alſo of
chaftiſements and judgments to others, while this capacity remains; even
while the earthly nature, fpirit, and principle is not worn out, by the en-
trance, death, and refurrection of the principle of life in the heart.
4. When the firft principle is wholly dead, and the heart perfectly form-
ed in the life, and all perfectly raiſed and renewed in the life; then there is
no danger of falling, or fear of chaſtiſement; but perfect life, and peace,
and joy with God in his Spirit of power and glory for evermore.
5. Though God begin with man in a covenant of grace, and bring in a
covenant of the law to man (fuitable to his prefent ftate) only in fubferviency
to the covenant of grace; and would not have man ftick there, but cling
to him in the grace, and feek remiffion through the grace for his own name's
fake; yet man, through the prevalency of the firſt principle in him (and
his looking on God through that), is apt to fix on this covenant, and draw
comfort or diſcouragement to himſelf from his own obedience or failings,
and not live on the freeneſs of God's love, and the faithfulneſs of his heart
to the foul in all conditions, for his Chrift's fake.
This hath been the great error of Ifrael (even of Ifrael after the flesh,
and of Ifrael after the ſpirit alſo), that while God lays hold on them by his
love, promiſe, mercy, and grace; yet they lay hold on him by another co-
Nnnn 2
venant;
}
654
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
venant; even their obedience to the laws he gives forth; not knowing,
that the obedience to the firft covenant must be a fruit of the fecond;
and that they are not beloved or accepted for that, but that That flows.
into them, and is brought forth in them, through the love, and through the
free and powerful workings thereof in them. I fay, this (to wit, their obe-
dience) is not the ground of their acceptance or being loved, fo far as they
are in this covenant; though as far as the other hath yet an influence, it
hath ſome force in this refpect. But this the eye is to pafs through, and
to be fixed on the other covenant, ftill waiting for the revealing and mani-
feſting the riches of the mercy thereof, and to feel the waſhing and clean-
fing thereof from all the guilt, which under the remainders of the firſt cove-
nant will be daily contracting, while any thing of the earthly principle and
offending part is left ftanding.
There hath been in this day a very glorious adminiſtration of life to the
ſons of men (after the long foregoing night) wherein both theſe covenants.
have been again adminiſtered in Spirit, fuitable to the ftate of the perfons.
whereto they have been adminiſtered. And becauſe of the neceffity of
faith and obedience in the new covenant (both to the feed and to the man),
the man is fo apt to fix his eye and build his hopes upon them (and not
upon the free love of him that works them in him), that he is in danger
of falling from and difhonouring the free grace (which is the hope of Ifrael)
and of lofing his ftate, which is not fure (how far foever it be advanced in
a preſent power and dominion) further than it is built upon and fixed in
the grace. And therefore is this given forth, that the life in Ifrael may be
fure and laſting, and that they may grow up perfectly (out of the princi-
ple of nature) into the principle of grace, and know the difference between
their being united to, and living in, God; either in the fear, faith, or love,
fo far as they can receive or retain them; and God's living in them, and
creating continually the fear, faith, and love in them, and bringing forth
all the fruits thereof in and from himſelf.
For though the covenants are and have been ftill the fame from the be-
ginning, yet the manifeftations of them have been ſtill greater and greater.
And a greater manifeſtation may yet be of the love and life of God (and
the ſweet free nature of his covenant) than hath hitherto been, or yet is;
which Ifrael is to wait for and feel the need of, before it be brought forth.
And though all thoſe forementioned (to wit, of fear, faith, and love) are
precious ftates, which God works his Ifrael up to, in and by the covenant
of his grace, according to their feveral growths and capacities; yea, and
according to which the delight and pleaſure of his foul is in them; yet the
abfolute affurance is only in the latter, even where the creature is fo gathered
into the life of God, that its ftate depends not at all upon what itſelf is, or
doth, but only upon what God is and will be to his freely of himſelf, and
for his own name's fake.
This
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
655
This is written in love, for prefervation; and not for difcouragement or
deftruction; but that that which ftandeth, may feel where to fix. For in
the higheſt ſtate that man can be advanced to, yet if any of the creaturely
principle be left in him unfubdued, and not yet buried with the feed into
its death, there is fo far a capacity of falling; and his fall (in cafe the Lord
do fuffer his feet to flip) will be the greater, by how much the higher and
more exalted he was in the dominion and prefence of the power, and by
how much the more it was unexpected by him.
*
And this my heart hath often faid within me, and ftill faith to a weary
foul, which hath felt the touches of life, and defireth everlafting unity with
it; yea, to all that defire to walk with God, and to abide in the power of
his life in any difpenfation; "Keep the eye of thy mind to the grace which
vifits thee; not ſo much to the light which comes from the grace, as to
"the grace from which the light comes; and daily look for help and re-
"miffion from it, as freely as thou hadst at firſt. And in all loffes, and
"darkneffes, and rifings up of guilt and condemnation, caft thyfelf at the
"foot of it, ſaying in thy heart, If thou hadft not freely vifited me at firſt,
"I had not fet one ſtep in the path of life; and if thou doft not as freely
"viſit me ftill, and renew life in me daily of thine own accord, and from
"the fame love and goodnefs, I cannot but be liable to miſcarry. Oh!
that I might obey every beam of thy light, and every moving of thy
"life, but I dare not undertake it! Oh! that thou wouldst undertake for
"me my righteouſneſs, my obedience, my love to thee! My faith in thee
"is like the morning dew, which foon paffeth away, and I cannot find or
"come at it again! Oh! raiſe up life from an everlaſting feed, and gather
. my heart into it, and preferve me in it; not according to what I am or
"have done, or yet can be or do; but for thine own name's fake, and in
"thy love to thy feed, and to thy creature in and through thy feed by the
"promiſe."
99
Thus as any grows into the covenant of grace, through the covenant of
works (which is neceffary to be difpenfed in fome meaſure, till the man's
nature and principle be wholly worn out by it), they will find fure footing
there, and building upon that, from which the foul (that cleaveth to it in
the virtue and nature that floweth from it) can never be removed. Yea,
the peace and fafety of Ifrael in their travels (fixing here) will be greater,
and their affurance greater, and their falls and the prevailings of the ene-
my not fo dangerous (that being had recourſe to, which never fails of heal-
ing that foul which lies at the foot of it, and in heart waits its ſeaſon)
however they may be hurried and driven about with tempefts, through the
violence of the enemy, and good pleaſure of Him, who feeth it fit for the
preſent ſtate of the foul, to have it thus exerciſed.
The intent of God, in the falvation of man, is to magnify the riches of
his
grace and the freeneſs of his love. And this is effected, as man is broken
in his natural principle and power of believing and obeying; and a feed of
life
656
Concerning God's feeking out His Ifrael.
life freely raiſed up in him, and he freely gathered into it and preferved in
it. And where is the boafter here? Or where is he, who in this ftate
can throw a ſtone at another becauſe of his tranfgreffions? Nay, nay. He
that is freely forgiven, and lives merely and for ever by mercy alone, he
is formed and brought forth in the tenderneſs of the bowels which begat
and nouriſh him; and he crieth mightily for the fpreading of the fame
bowels over other finners, waiting for the feafon of their vifitation and
gathering into the fame love, and by the fame powerful hand, if it may be.
Oh! my God, bring up the power and sweetness of thy life in Ifrael, and
Shew mercy to all nations! Purge the earth with thy fan, Scatter the corruption
thereof from the hearts of the fons of men, and make them the paradife of thy
pleaſure; that thou, O living God, mayst dwell in, and fine forth from, thy
temple; and it may no longer lie wafte, nor the abomination of defolation defile
it, to the difkonour of thy name, and to the ruin and mifery of thy creation.
S
As,
POST SCRIP T.
OME things are exceeding neceffary for loft man to be acquainted
with, in his travels from his loft eftate, into the life and peace of God.
1. To know his loft eftate and mifery for ever, unleſs the Lord pity and
help him.
2. To know the light, wherewith the Lord vifits the fouls that fit in
darkneſs; that he may wait for the fhinings thereof, and in them travel with
the leading Spirit of life, from the darknefs and death of fin towards the
land of the living.
3. To breathe unto the Lord, and wait to have his heart joined to the
light and power of life daily, and feparated from the powers of death and
darkneſs, under which he was, and ftill is, a captive, but as the Lord ap-
pears for him and delivers him.
4. To put forth all the ftrength of his foul and mind, and all the mem-
bers of his body, in the fervice of the Lord. For as he is, in any meaſure,
fet free by the Lord from the ſervice of fin; fo is he to ferve and obey the
Lord in righteouſneſs.
5. To wait daily to receive the ftrength from the Lord, wherewith he
ſerveth the Lord. For though, by the redemption of the Lord, he feels
the creaturely part (in fome meaſure) renewed and reſtored, and an ability
received to ſerve righteouſneſs, which before he had not; yet this is not fo
given to him, as that the Lord hath it not ftill in his hand, who can ſtop
or let it out at his pleaſure. And happy is that man, who looketh not
upon himſelf as fomewhat, becauſe of what in any kind he hath received,
but feeleth his dependence upon the Lord.
6. To
POSTSCRIPT.
657
6. To feel the grace and mercy of the Lord, in whatever he receiveth
from the Lord, or whatever he doth for the Lord. It is all of the Lord;
happy is the man that fees it. It is the mercy of the Lord, that man is
not confumed. It is the mercy of the Lord, that any man in any ſtate (or
degree of life and redemption) is preferved. The mercy of the Lord endureth
for ever, therefore is Ifrael fafe. This will be the fong of praiſe in the houſe
of the Lord for ever.
7. To wait for the wafting of the man, and the raifing up of the feed
day by day; that that to which the covenant of works is natural, and
which cannot but defire it and feek to live by it, may be worn out; and
that to which the covenant of grace is as natural (if not more) and which
alone lives by the promife, and through the faith, and in the grace which
freely flows from the eternal fountain, may be raiſed up and fucceed in the
place and ftead thereof.
Here is fafety indeed. Here is everlaſting righteoufnefs fo brought in,
as that it can never be removed out of the heart more. Here everlaſting
life and the foul are one for ever. Here is no more going into captivity;
which Ifrael, fettled in Canaan, and enjoying the ſweetneſs and reft thereof,
under the firſt covenant may. Here are no tears, nor fighing, nor depart-
ing from the life, nor grieving the Holy Spirit of the Lord, nor being
grieved by it any more; but what the heart defires of God, and what God
defires of the heart, mutually received; and the going forth, and the com-
ing in, and the abiding, one and the fame for ever; the fame life, and power,
and love, and eternal ſweetneſs being all and in all for ever. This is the
mark of Ifrael, and the haven of its eternal reft, to which the Lord is lead-
ing the poor, hungry, empty, mourning, afflicted, toffed fouls, to whom it is as
fure in the love and good-will of God (and in the counſel of his heart de-
termined thereupon), as if they were already in it.
TQ
[658]
1
то
FRIE
NDS
I N
ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND, HOLLAND, NEW-
ENGLAND, BARBADOES, or any-where elſe, where
the LORD GOD fhall order this to come, in the
tender Spirit of Life and Love, Greeting.
I
O FRIENDS!
N the pure love of God, and freſh breath of his living Spirit, is it now
on my heart to write unto you, in fear, in tenderneſs, in meltings, and
true ſenſe of ſpirit; and the Lord God fo guide my heart and words, as that
they may reach the witneſs in the hearts of all that ſhall read, and may be
felt by that to be purely of God, and not at all of the birth, will, or wif-
dom of the fleſh.
I rember, I remember, O friends! and it is in mine heart to put you in
remembrance of the cloudy, difmal, and dark day, wherein the fhepherd
of Ifrael vifited our fouls, and what condition we were in, when he caufed
the light of life to ſhine upon our tabernacles, and to ſpring up in us. Oh! the
defolation, the defolation that our fouls were in that day! Oh! the wan-
derings up and down, the feekings, huntings, mournings, bitter complaints,
and deep diſtreſſes for want of our God, and for want of the guidance of
his good Spirit! Who can utter now what was then felt of the thickneſs of
darkneſs, of the mifery, the lofs, the dreadful captivity that poor fouls
were entangled and wrapped up in! Oh! how acceptable was the viſitation
of God then! how deep was the ſenſe of his tender mercy in vifiting!
how glad was the foul then of the living path revealed! how unfeignedly
did it cleave unto the Lord, and embrace the meaſure of his life revealed
inwardly to the mind! how did it fear! how did it wait! how did it watch
againſt the enemy, and cry to the Father for his help! How beautiful were
the feet, and how pleaſant the vifitations, of them who brought the tidings
of this life and peace! What love, what unity, what embracing one an-
other
To Friends in England, &c.
659
other in this life, was then witneffed in the hearts of one another! and
where this lives and grows to this day, oh! how precious is that veffel!
but where the life in any is departed from; where another thing (of another
nature) hath entered and been entertained by any, there it is not ſo; but
there the love is grown cold, the mind changed, the goodneſs of the Lord
forgotten, and the poor foul entangled again in that which formerly it felt
fome releaſe and deliverance from.
Now that the enemy would endeavour to entangle the minds of the re-
deemed, and to draw them back from the Lord, and his pure meaſure of
life in the heart, towards perdition again, that is not to be queftioned; it be-
ing his nature and property fo to do; and that he would ufe not only his
ſtrength, but alſo his fubtilty and deceivableneſs to effect this (his aim being
at the church and redeemed of God, more than at the world); appearing as
an angel of light, in motions like light, in ways like life; this is not to be
doubted of neither; for how elfe could he gain upon that, whoſe eye is to-
wards, and whoſe aim is after, the Lord? But this is the great thing for
my heart, and the hearts of friends, to be exerciſed in, to wait on the
Lord in his true light, clearly to difcern how far we have been affaulted by
this enemy, and how far the Lord hath preferved us from his affaults, or
fuffered him to prevail upon us; for he hath prevailed in former ages, un-
der the miniftration of the law in the prophets days, and under the miniſtra-
tion of the goſpel in the apoftles days; yea, and I muft needs fay, he hath
alſo prevailed in our days, on all that have not watched in the pure fear,
and been preſerved by the pure power of the Lord. Now doth it not con-
cern every one to look up to the Lord, to guide his heart in ſearching, that
he may truly underſtand his ftate? That, if he can witnefs the preſerva-
tion of the power, he may fing praiſe to the power; but if he hath been
betrayed, and come to a lofs, he may feek after the power of life again,
and wait for deliverance and reſtoring by it. For with the Lord God is
mercy and bowels, and he feeketh after and faveth the loft, not once only,
but again and again; only here is the great danger of fouls, when they are
ignorant of their captivity, and judge in themſelves, and are guided by
that which ſhould be judged down and deſtroyed in them. When darkneſs
is the light and leader in the mind, oh! whither doth that foul travel! How
doth it judge, think, act! how fure doth the enemy hold it in his bonds
and chains! how eaſily doth he prejudice it againſt that which is of God,
and for its good, and incline it to think favourably of that which only ap-
peareth to be of God, but is not, and is to its hurt!
Now, friends, there were three things on my heart this morning, which
fprang up in true ſenſe and demonſtration of God's Spirit, as fubtil engines
which the enemy hath endeavoured to make uſe of to hurt our fouls; which
any that have been entangled in have received hurt by, and thoſe that have
eſcaped have cauſe to blefs the name of the preferver of Ifrael.
VOL. I.
Gooo
The
660
To Friends in England, &c.
The firſt is this: By begetting in perfons prejudices againſt thofe whom the
Lord hath chofen, and pleaſeth to make ufe of in miniftering to his people.
Precious is the miniftry that is in the Spirit, for the building up in life,
as well as for begetting. How doth the enemy ftrive to prejudice the
world againſt them, that there may be no begetting to God from
amongst them! And how doth he alfo endeavour to raiſe prejudices amongft.
the begotten, that he may interrupt, and (if poffibly) ftop their build-
ing up!
pre-
The fecond is this: To draw men from eyeing and fubjecting to the
fent difpenfation, by an earneſt looking after and waiting for another, or
further. The fecurity and bleffing of the foul lies in the prefent difpenfa-
tion, in bowing to God there, in being diligent under the exerciſes of his
Spirit therein. Now that which draws the mind another way
from the pre-
fent exerciſe, from belief in the prefent gift, under a fpecious pretence of
waiting for fomewhat more glorious to appear, betrays and deceives, in
thus turning the mind out of the path which God holds forth and guides
into, towards expectation of a path as yet to be revealed.
The third is this: Under a pretence of fticking to the enlightening and
guidance of one's own meaſure, to fet up a fenfe and judgment in the mind,
both concerning perfons, practices, and things, which is not truly of the
meaſure, but fecretly inftilled into and raiſed up in the mind, contrary to
the pure meaſure of life. All theſe have I not only ſeen in fpirit, but been
forely affaulted with; and that they have not prevailed upon me even to de-
ſtruction, is the tender mercy and kindneſs of the Lord unto me; and in
that tenderneſs and love, for the prefervation of others, do I write thefe
things. And indeed I have fomewhat in my heart to fay fingly and na-
kedly concerning each of thefe, which the Lord guide and bleſs to the con-
ditions of thoſe who ftand in need thereof.
Firft, Concerning thoſe prejudices which the enemy is apt to lay before
the minds of friends concerning thoſe whom the Lord hath chofen to mi-
niſter to them in the power of his truth, I ſhall ſay this: look over the
former diſpenſations of God; there were falſe prophets under the law, and
falſe apoſtles and minifters in the time of that diſpenſation of the goſpel,
who did ſtrive and labour hard to difturb, undermine, and overturn the
building and work of God in the fpirits of his people then; but did God
fuffer the true prophets under the law, or the true apoftles, to fall and
lofe their miniftry? And is not this prefent difpenfation pure and living,
and able to preſerve both the inftructors and inftructed in the Lord? It is
natural to the enemy to fuggeft fuch a thing; but let all that fear the Lord,
and love his truth, take heed how they entertain fuch a fuggeftion. Befides,
he that hath felt the pure power in his heart, and waited to be carried
through the work of it, and hath been carried through and brought into
the dominion, and fet as a pillar in the temple of the Lord, it is not eafy
(if poffible) for him to fall, the Lord having undertaken for him, that he
fhall
To Friends in England, &c.
661
Thall go no more forth, as Rev. iii. 12. But let me fay this to thee, O foul!
whoever haft entertained this prejudice, Thou, through prejudices and fug-
geſtions judgeft them fallen; but do not they, in the true eternal light of
the Spirit of life, ſee thee fallen? Nay, if thou couldſt but retire to the pure
meaſure that at firft quickened thee, mighteft not thou feel thy own fall?
To the ſecond, of drawing out the mind to look after another or fur-
ther difpenfation, I have this to fay: Confider what this difpenfation is; is
it not of the feed itſelf? Is it not of the light, life, and power of the Fa-
ther, manifefted in the feed, and in the foul through the feed? Is not the
fenfe quick, and the love pure, where this is felt? What wouldft thou have,
poor foul? Oh! that thou felteft the virtue and power of this! furely thou
wouldft then find that thou mighteft fit down here in the peace, purity,
power, dominion, and perfection of life; for it is all in the feed, and to
be revealed to thee, and become thine, as thou art gathered into the feed,
and the feed opened in thee. Befides, are there not many that have wit-
neffed, and that can witneſs from God, that this is the difpenfation which is
to go through the whole earth? And ſhall it be laid aſide in the beginning
of its work? If there had been a law given, which could have given life (faid
the apoſtle) righteouſneſs ſhould have been by the law. God doth not change.
When he hath brought forth that which will do the thing, why fhould he
change it? Now of the ability of this there are many witneffes; yea, it hath
brought forth life and righteoufnefs in thofe that have been fubject to it,
and was once owned as the defire of our fouls, and became a covering to
our eyes, that we could look no further; our hearts, in the fenfe and life
of truth, being ſatisfied that this was the very thing we had long mourned
after, and waited for. Oh! that which begets another fenfe in any of us
(under what pretence or appearance foever), let it be the abomination of
our fouls, that we hearken not, nor give the left entertainment to it, left
by it we be betrayed of our portion in the bleffed treaſure and inheri-
tance.
To the third I ſay: It is a ftanding truth, the ſtandard we were invited to,
and to which we are to keep for ever, even the meaſure of life in our own
veffels. This will juſtify us in our fubjection to whatever it reveals; and
its juftification will ftand, whatfoever any man elfe fhall fay to the contrary.
But this is at unity in itſelf, and never oppofeth the motion or appearance
of life in another. Now this is certain, the enemy will appear as near life
and its motion as he can; and if I receive his appearance, I am not ſub-
ject to the meaſure of life in me, but to him under his deceitful appearance.
Therefore if that which appears like life in thee contradict a practice or
appearance of life in others (who were in the truth before thee, and are in
the growth thereof far beyond thee), oughteft thou not to be fober in fpirit,
and to wait in fear, left thou ſhouldeſt be deceived; left thou ſhouldeſt exalt
ſelf and the enemy in thee, and not the truth; yea, left thy heart fhould
grow hard, and thy neck ftiff, againſt thoſe who are over thee in the Lord,
00002
and
662
To Friends in England, &c.
and fo thou loſe the benefit of their watching over thee, and counſel to
thee, and of God's prefervation: for out of the truth, in the deceitful ap-
pearance, there is no prefervation, nor true light, nor juftification of life;
but felf-conceit, fleſhly confidence, and the juftification of a man's own
fpirit; and his wifdom then gets up, and exalts itſelf, as if it were the right
thing. The Lord gave the meaſure of life to thee; and the Lord alſo hath
given fathers, guides, inftructors, watchmen in his Ifrael. Thefe have a
fervice from the Lord towards thee, who knoweth that thy foul hath need
of that ſervice: now if the enemy can prejudice thee against, and withdraw
thee from, the uſe of what thou needeft, art thou not in danger of falling
and miſcarriage? Doft not thou fet up the meaſure of life in thee (if not an-
other thing) beyond its place, ftate, and growth? And can any thing grow
and thrive out of the order and wifdom of God? Nay, nay; the very mea-
fure of life itſelf will this way come to wither and die in thee, and another
thin glive in its place; and the ſword of the Lord will be drawn againſt thee,
and thou wilt be cut off from the body, and alfo from him who is the
quickener and preferver of the body. Therefore, my friends, as the ene-
my watcheth to deceive and deftroy, fo the Lord keep our fouls in the
true watch and looking up to him, who (to thoſe that fear him) difcovereth.
the deceit, and preferveth from the fnare.
And this is witneffed concerning the meaſure of life in the heart, and
the way of its acting and operation, that it always acts in its place, even
in due fubjection to the Father of fpirits, and to his life in others according
to its growth; for there is no rent nor divifion in the living body; no fet-
ting up one meaſure of life againſt another meaſure, or one motion of life
againſt another motion, or one practice againſt another; but all there is in
the unity, in the love, in the tenderneſs, in the fenfe, in the peace, in the
dominion, in the fubjection; and that which differeth or diffenteth from
the life, interrupting the union and uniformity in the life, is not of the life;
which when it is every-where caft out, life to life will anfwer every-where;
which day my foul breatheth and waiteth for, even the day wherein life
alone ſhall live and reign in every veffel, and all the devices and fnares.
of the enemy not be able to enter upon, or catch any of God's little fimple--
hearted ones; but ftill, by the power of life rifing in clearneſs againſt them,
be thrown back upon the enemy, to his torment and diſadvantage.
And O dear lambs! confider how eafy it is for you to miſtake, err, and
wander from the truth; and do not refuſe the care, watchfulneſs, and tender
counſel of thoſe who were inftrumental to beget you to, and are yet over
you in the Lord. Alas! how eafy is it for the enemy to deceive your fim-
plicity, and get between you and your life; and then ye are liable to
miſ-ſee and mif-act in all ye do, and to follow the enemy, as if he were your
right guide; and to fight againft, and refift him, who is your true leader,
as if he were your enemy. The life in you is to be your guide and leader,
as it groweth up and receiveth ability, ftrength, and dominion from the
Lord
To Friends in England, &c.
663
Lord; but the heir is to be under tutors and governors, till the time ap-
pointed of the Father. And the feed is meek, humble, tender, lowly, fen-
fible of its own ftate and weakneſs, and fubject to the exaltation, dominion,
and pure authority of life in others, where the Lord hath fo exalted it.
That which is otherwiſe in you (which is high, exalted, conceited of itſelf,
and not fubject to every degree of life in others, according to its ftate) is
another thing, which is not of the true kind, but only under a guize appears
to you as the true; and as it gets entrance, corrupts your hearts from the
true, and diftils its poifon into your ſpirits! which ye believing, entertain-
ing, and feeding upon, as if it were the true, grow up in his poifonful na-
ture (lofing the pure nature and fellowſhip of the body), and are travelling
whither ye are not aware; being gone from that which at firft gathered,
into that which, through fubtilty, hath deceived, appearing to you as if it
was ſtill the fame, and that ye ftill keep to it, but others are departed:
whereas the thing is clean contrary in the fight of the Lord, and in the fight
of thoſe who keep to the anointing, and fee with his eye. Therefore, O
dear lambs and babes! what need have we to wait in tender fenfe for the
Lord's prefervation of us in that nature, fpirit, and life, whereof we were
begotten, and wherein we were taught, that there we may ftill learn and
keep to the true teaching, in the innocency and fimplicity of love, and
not hearken to the wiſdom and reaſonings of another fpirit, who lieth at
watch to catch the mind with his wiles, and draw from the true thing.
Mark how we learned at firft: was it not in a nature, by a fecret inftinct
and inclination of our minds towards the life, and the path, ways, and
practices thereof, whereinto the body (which before had been gathered)
was led and walked before us? The fame life, when it maketh us part of
the flock, bringeth us into the fame footſteps; and there we walk with
them, in the unity of the fame life, and fenfe of the fame leader; but if
the enemy can at any time draw us from' this fenfe, and from the belief and
practices or practice which we have received in this fenfe (even out of the
limits of this nature and its naturalneſs), how eaſy is it for him to per-
fuade us to queſtion right things in our minds and underſtandings, as if
they were wrong (darkening our eye, and caufing us to overlook and forget
the leading and motion which we had in the true fenfe and nature from
the anointing itſelf), and fo confidently to think and conclude, that we
took up fuch or fuch a practice by imitation, and have held it up in form?
Whereas the Lord (who forgetteth not what and how he hath wrought in
us) knoweth that we took it up in the fenfe and leading of his truth, and
are now tempted from that in the reaſoning fubtilty, which we formerly
practiſed in the true innocent fimplicity. And thus getting into us a be-
lief and entertainment of his fnare, he draws us from that which at firſt
led us, and from the practices we were at firſt led into, to hearken to him,
and follow him, who inftructeth us in a way we were not inſtructed in be-
fore while the Lord inſtructed us; and fo deſtroyeth his nature, and the
work
664
POSTSCRIPT.
work of his Spirit in us, dividing us both from the head and living body;
and fo our ſtanding, growth, fenfe, and judgment is altered, and we are
neither to the Lord what we were before, nor is he to us what he was be-
fore; for he hates that fpirit in all its appearances, and cannot have unity
with the fouls that are entangled by it. Therefore, dear friends, as we
prize our gathering to, and abiding with, the Lord, and the enjoyment of
his love, peace, joy, and prefence at prefent, and the crown and inheritance
of life with him for ever; fo let us fear, fo let us watch, fo let us cry unto
him, to be preferved by him, which gathered us in that into which he
gathered, and not by any means be betrayed (through fubtilty of the enemy)
into another thing, where the life of the body (and union with the body)
cannot poffibly be witneffed, nor the true juftification of the Lord; but
only an appearing juſtification of a man's own ſpirit, which muft afterwards
come under condemnation. Ye, who are in the living and true ſenſe, will
feel my love, tenderneſs, and faithfulneſs in what I write; and ye who are
not, the Lord God of bowels pity, and recover out of the fnare and wrong
judgment, that ye may feel it; and feeling that which is true, may be
joined to it, drinking of its virtue and prefervation, and live; which is the
earneft defire of my foul to the Lord, who am
From Aylesbury prifon,
the 14th of the Fifth
month, 1666.
Your brother and companion in the tribulation
and mercies which attend the living,
ISAAC PENINGTON.
!
D
POST SCRIPT.
FAR friends, brethren, lambs, and plants of the Moft High, it is
in my heart to add one thing, which I have been deeply exerciſed
about, and have received help from the Lord in, wherein I am truly willing
(in faithfulneſs and tenderneſs) to be helpful to any of you that ftand in
need thereof, as the Lord fhall give me ability and opportunity. It is this:
Among other things, wherewith the enemy endeavoureth to reproach thoſe
whom the Lord hath fent forth amongst us, he maketh uſe of this, as if
they wanted bowels and tenderneſs. Now, friends, I befeech you confider
it, that the enemy may not thus enter you. Did not the Lord confider of
his work, and whom he fent forth in this his fervice and labour of love?
Doth he not know the need of bowels and tenderneſs in them, and would
he not eſpecially furniſh them therewith? Yea, have they not bowels from
and in the Lord? And doth not the eye that is open fee and acknowledge
their bowels, and bleſs the Lord for them? I have lately been often warmed
in
POSTSCRIPT.
665
in the true fenfe of it, and have felt that therein I have not bleffed his name
in vain; but the thing is fo in the ſenſe of truth, and fo acknowledged be-
fore the Lord in that which erreth not: only as true judgment and ſeverity
hath its proper place in the Lord, as well as his mercy, and is made uſe of
by him towards his people, as all by experience know; fo muft it be in
them alſo who bear his image; who muſt know, in his wiſdom and autho-
rity, whom to ſmite with his rod and ſharp reproofs, and when and whom
to cheriſh in the tenderneſs and meltings of love. And this is alfo love and
tenderneſs (and hath ſweet and precious virtue and uſefulneſs in it, both
for the recovery and reftoring of thofe whofe condition calls for the ſharp.
ftroke, and for the prefervation of the reft), though it doth not fo appear
to that which by no means can endure the judgment, but would have the
tenderneſs and mercy which belongs not to it; for the mercy is to the bro-
ken, to the humble, to the meek, to the afflicted, and bowed-down-ones
under the ſenſe of judgment; not to the ſtiff and ftubborn againſt the righte-
ous judgments and teftimonies of the Lord. And, my friends, confider,
could the Lord carry on his glorious work in the hearts of his children
without his judgments? Or can they, who are ſent by him, poffibly carry
on his work among his people, without making ufe of his pruning-knife,
to cut off that which ſprouted out unnaturally and unfeafonably, which (if
it be let alone) will draw away the fap from that which ſhould be fed and
nouriſhed with it. Dear friends, the Lord give you a true ſenſe, that in his
light, life, wiſdom, and prefence, ye may juftify what is of him, difcerning
between things that differ; and not call any thing that is evil (as the ten-
derneſs which is out of him is) good; nor any thing that is good (as the
judgment and feverity which is of him is) evil; but may rightly diftinguish
between the nature of things, knowing every thing that is of God, and
owning it in its place.
Aylesbury prifon, the 29th of the
Sixth Month, 1666,
ONE
[ 666 ]
ONE MORE
TENDER VISITATION
TO THE
MEN of this GENERATION,
SENT TO THEM IN
Bowels of LOVE and Tender COMPASSION,
Before their DAY be over.
Oh! that thoſe who read this might read with a right under-
ſtanding, and have a true ſenſe of what is here propoſed for the
good of their fouls.
I
F there be a God, and if this God hath let down a principle of life from
himſelf into the hearts of the fons of men, to gather them out of the
world unto himſelf by; and if we have been directed to, and enlightened
by this principle, and have heard his voice, and been gathered to him in
it, and therein have been taught his true fpiritual worſhip, and drawn out
of the worſhips, faſhions, cuftoms, and ways of the world, who are eſtranged
from God, and walk in their own wiſdom, fatisfying the lufts of the fleſh,
and of the mind, and doing what is right in their own eyes: I fay, if it
be indeed fo with us, then that which any do against us, in this refpect,
they do againſt God. The rifings of heart against us, the hard words and
reproaches, the contriving to deftroy or root us out of the land, the make-
ing and executing fharp laws againſt us, &c. all this, and whatever elſe is
done againſt us on this occafion, muft needs be done againſt him.
D
And
One more tender Vifitation, &c.
667
And what will this produce? Will it not alfo engage the wifdom and
power of the Lord againſt you? He may let us fuffer long, and let you be
hardened againſt us, as if we were not of God, by the flips and fooliſhneſs
of fuch who have feemed to be of us, but have not kept to his truth; yet
ſtill thoſe that keep to the Spirit and truth of God, are of God, and he is
tender of them. And if he that touched Ifrael after the flesh, touched the
apple of his eye, what doth he that toucheth his fpiritual Ifrael? We are con-
tent and quiet under what the Lord fuffers to befall us from you; but ye
The
will find, in the end, it will not be well for you to deal fo with us.
Lord hath a ſpiritual crown, dignity, and dominion in the hearts of many
in this nation; why ſhould he not enjoy it? Why fhould not men let him
enjoy his heavenly rule, who giveth to them their earthly, and who can
take it from them when he pleaſeth? See Dan. iv. 32 and 35.
Therefore, my dear countrymen (and ye eſpecially that are in authority)
confider, oh! confider before it be too late. I hope, I hope (though the
provocations have been very great) that it is not yet too late for many of
you to find a place of repentance and remiffion with the Lord. If ye can
plead ignorance before the Lord, and that ye have not known what ye
have done herein, he pitieth that, if ye yet hearken to his counſel and re-
proof, and return unto him. He hath power to deftroy this nation; he
hath power to do what he will in this nation. Oh! fear before him, and
take heed of fighting against him, before whom none can ſtand.
Alas! if ye knew what we were doing, while ye are afflicting and perfe-
cuting us for our fubjection to the Lord, furely it could not but melt and
overcome you; even how we have been mourning and wreſtling many
times with our God, in earneſt prayers and fupplications to him for you;
not that we might efcape your wrath (which he enableth us to bear), but
that ye might eſcape his fury, and terrible indignation, which we know is
ready to break forth, and that ye will not be able to bear it, when it doth
break forth; but it will purfue, overtake, break to pieces, and ſcatter, and
there will be none to deliver.
Are not theſe things ferious? Are they not true? Are they not written
in love? Why ſhould they not take place in you? Oh! come out of the
circle and mift of darkneſs, that ye may fee the truth of them. If ye be
not in the nature of Chriſtians, do not deceive yourſelves, and provoke God,
in taking the name unto you. If ye be true Chriſtians, do not judge or
walk as men, even in and according to the wifdom of the earthly prin-
ciple; but feel that principle which is of God, and in that wait for, and
learn to hear and know the voice of God, and that will lead (out of all
profane ways, out of all fuperftitious ways, yea, out of all the ways that
man's fallen wiſdom hath taught and erred in), into the way of true and
found judgment, where the true reformation within will be witneffed by
you, and the true reformation without brought forth through you (thus
VOL. I.
Pppp
acting),
668
One more tender Vifitation, &c.
acting), and no feparation or rent from you heard of by them that fear the
Lord.
But till then, the principle of God, the life of God in the heart, the
pure wiſdom which is from above, cannot own that which is from below,
in its fall, in its feparation from the true; but must remain diftinct from
it, and a faithful witneſs againſt it. And I ſay again and again, in the love
and fear of God unto you, take heed how ye perfecute this in any, or any
becauſe of this: for it will lie more heavy upon you in the day of God's
pleading with you, and executing his righteous judgments, than all your
other fins. If ye have ears to hear, oh! hear, and caft up your accounts,
making your peace with God before his wrath break forth againſt you like a
flood, which none can ſtop.
Feel my love, and the meltings of my fpirit for you before the Lord; and
be not hardened againſt the truth, left ye remember my words, and the
warnings of many of the precious fervants of the Lord, to the increaſe of
your grief, and not to your benefit, in the day of your calamity.
Written in Aylesbury prifon,
16th of 5th month, 1666,
By ISAAC PENINGTON,
CON.
CONCERNING THE
1
CHURCH:
OR, OF THE
CHURCH-STATE
UNDER THE
GOS PE L.
WHERE BY IT MAY APPEAR
What a miſerable APOSTASY from the TRUTH hath overſpread
and covered the Earth for many Ages and Generations, and how
grofs and thick the Darkneſs yet lies upon it; though the Light
of GOD, in his tender Mercy, hath broke forth and ſhined
upon the People of his gathering, and through them hath alſo
vifited the World.
The Guidance of this in my Heart was particularly and chiefly towards the
PAPISTS; but I afterwards had a true Senſe that it alſo extended to the
State of fuch PROTESTANTS as had not waited on the Lord, for him
(in his Wiſdom and Power) to rear up his own Building, but had ven-
tured to build of themſelves, and fo had reared up Churches in the
fame Spirit of Error, Darkneſs, and Apoftafy, which they feemed to
depart from: Againſt all which the LORD will fight, and all which
he will break down, in the Day of the Revelation of the glorious Light
and Power of his Truth, which will overcome, fubdue, and reign over
the Earth; not after the Manner of Men, but in the heavenly Dominion
of his Life.
Written in AYLESBURY Prifon, about the Middle of the Sixth Month, 1666.
By
ISAAC PENINGTON.
Whereunto are annexed
Some OBSERVATIONS upon the ETERNAL JUDGMENT, as it is
expreffed by CHRIST, Matt. XXV. 31. to the End of the Chapter.
[ dclxx ]
THE
PREFACE.
B
;
ECAUSE the corruption of the Chriftian doctrine and worſhip hath
been great (yea, indeed very great) fince the days of the apoſtles
and the judgments alſo are to be very great, becauſe of this corruption;
even dreadful woes, plagues, cups of wrath, and thunders unutterable, as
is expreffed in the book of the Revelations; therefore, that men may
avoid the terrible wrath of God, which is breaking and to break forth, by
difcerning and forfaking that which his wrath is againft; therefore, I fay,
in tender bowels was it in my heart to diſcover ſomewhat of that which the
Lord hath made manifeft to me (among many others) concerning the creep
ing in of this corrupt ftate, and its getting up after the days of the apoſtles,
with its continuance to this day; that men and churches may confider their
ftate, fee their nakedneſs, and look after the pure garment; that they may
be cloathed with the Spirit of the Lord, and found in the righteouſneſs
thereof, that fo they may ftand boldly before him, when the tranfgreffors
and hypocrites (of all forts) fhall have their fig-leaf coverings ripped off,
and lie open to the ftrokes of his indignation. And this I fay to all: take
heed of two things in this day of the Lord's love and vengeance; take heed
of retaining or fetting up any thing which the Lord is coming forth againſt;
and take heed of flighting or appearing againſt that which the Lord is pre-
paring to fet up. The appearance of his Spirit, the fhining of his day, is
precious, even in the meaneft glimmerings of it. Oh! who fhall be guilt-
lefs before him, who defendeth or fetteth up any thing of man's will or
wiſdom (his fun, moon, and ftars, in all their glory, being to fall and
loſe their fhining) or who debaſeth the loweſt appearance of his feed! And
if the Jews fuffered fo deeply for refufing and defpifing Chrift's appearance
in the fleſh, what will light on thoſe who refuſe and defpife his appearance
in Spirit? I know this, that Chriftians now overlook and flight this, as the
Jews did that, and by the fame fnare, even by a prejudice they have drank
in, that this is contrary to the ſcriptures, as the Jews then did conclude
that'
PREFA C E.
dclxxi
that that coming of Chrift then was not agreeable to, but different from,
what the fcriptures had faid concerning his coming. But what ſaid Chriſt
then? "Wiſdom is juftified of her children." They who then were of the
Spirit, and in the Spirit, knew the voice of the bridegroom then. And
fuch alſo know it now, and rejoice in it; though the wife in another wif
dom (according to the fcriptures as they think) refuſe and difdain it; and
not knowing the righteoufnefs of Chrift in Spirit, fet up a righteouſneſs of
their own in the fleſh: for their believing (and applying to themſelves the
righteouſneſs of Chrift) out of the true limits of life, according to their
own apprehenfion of things, is no other. And this muſt fall. Man's know-
ledge of fcriptures, the faith of man, through his own apprehenfions, muſt
fall, and man appear naked underneath, that the glorious righteouſneſs of
Chriſt in Spirit, and the precious covering thereof, may be magnified over
all. And in this light of life, and newneſs of nature in Chriſt, runs the
blood which cleanfeth, and not elsewhere. It runs not according to mens
notions, but in its own life, virtue and power in the heart; where (where it
is livingly felt) the iniquity is waſhed away, the fin is gone, the everlaſting
righteouſneſs appears; yea, the water fprings, which wafheth and keepeth
clean continually. Away with your notions and empty huſks, O ſeveral
forts of profeffors! come to the thing itſelf, or rather wait on the Lord to
be led to it, that ye may feel the feed, the pure feed, the living feed, the
Holy One of God, and may know its planting and growth in you, and your
uncloathing and emptying of all elfe, that ye may be cloathed upon, and
filled with it. And in the ſenſe of it, and unity with it, ye will own and
love what comes from it, and rejoice in all the fpringings of its light, either
within or without.
ዛ
3
OF
•
[ 672 ]
OF THE
CHURCH-STATE
UNDER THE
E L.
GOSPE
T
HE Jews church-ftate under the law was precious; who walking
with God according to the covenant of the law, were an holy
people, nigh and dear unto God above all other people. But they
provoked him fo continually and grievously, that inftead of bleffings, they
drew plagues upon themſelves, and were at laft, by his righteous judg-
ments, made deſolate, and cut off from being any longer his ſelect nation
and people.
The church-ftate of the Chriftians under the goſpel is much more pre-
cious and glorious, they being gathered into the fubftance of that, where-
of the Jews ftate had but the fhadow. The prefence of God, the mani-
feftation of his life and power is more inward and bright among them;
their union with him more cloſe, their communion and joy more full, he
tabernacling among them, dwelling and walking with them, and advancing
them into the ſtate of fons and daughters; whereas the law-ftate was but a
ſtate of fervitude. And their ftanding alfo is more firm; the covenant
wherein they ſtand being more able to hold them together with God than
the other was. The ſtanding of the other was by the works of the law,
which they were to obferve and live. The ſtanding of theſe is in the faith,
which is from the power, which worketh their works in them and for
them.
Yet, as they are gathered in the faith, fo their ftanding is in the faith,
and out of it they cannot be preſerved. So that (before they are eſtabliſhed)
there is a poffibility of their fall from the faith, wherein their ſtanding is,
and from the power which preferveth. And if they fo fall, they are liable
to be cut off, as the Jews were, as their apoſtle tells them, Rom. xi. 20,
21, 22. In the fear, in the humility before the Lord, in keeping to the
faith, their fafety is; but if they become high-minded, becauſe of their
ftate
Of the Church-State under the Gofpel.
673
ftate and church privileges; if they think their ſtanding fo fure, as that they
are out of the danger of falling, then they are out of the fear, out of the
humility, out of the faith which preferves; and being out of the preſerva-
tion, muft needs fall, and fo continuing, muft needs be cut off.
Now the fame apoſtle doth not only warn them to take heed of falling
from the faith, but afterwards exprefly foretels of a falling away, even that
there muſt come fuch a thing amongst them alfo; yea, and of fuch a fall-
ing away from the truth and power of life, as fhould give antichrift advan-
tage to get into God's temple, and fit there as God, taking upon him the
power and authority, as if he had the true power and authority of God,
2 Theff. ii. 3, 4. And what doth he then? Doth he not corrupt all, even
as God's power and prefence purifies and preferves all? And as he fhews
himſelf as God, fo doth he not alfo fhew forth his church as God's church?
Yea, it goes on in the world as God's. All that drink of his ſpouſe's cup
take it to be fo; who are very many and great ones, even kings and inha-
bitants of the earth, peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (Rev. xvii.
2. 15. and chap. xviii. 3.) and none are able to diſcern that it is not fo, but
thoſe that are anointed with the true eye-falve, which giveth to fee through
his deceits, 1 John ii. 20. For he cometh with all deceivableness of unrighteouf-
neſs (1 Theſſ. ii. 9, 10.); he maketh the church (after he hath got poffeffion
of it, and made it his, fitting as God in it) appear as like the true church
as poffibly he can, that he may hold up his mystery of deceit in the world,
which if once difcerned, would foon fall, and come to nothing, 2 Theſſ. ii,
7. Rev. xvii. 5.
To open theſe things a little more fully and further from the fcriptures,
that they who yet cannot read otherwife may read them there, and come in
ſome meaſure to the acknowledgment of the truth, and wait for the power
from on high, from whence is the true faith (wherein is the true church,
and its ftanding) for want of which the world is become a wildernefs; full
indeed of profeffion, but very empty of the nature and life of chriftianity.
Chriſt tells his diſciples, that falfe Chrifts and falfe prophets fhould come,
and deceive many; yea, that they ſhould prevail fo far as, if it were pof-
fible, to deceive the very elect, Matt. vii. 15. and chap. xxiv. 11. 24. The
Lord God hath fent forth his truth, and now after it he fuffers to go forth
a power of deceit, a mighty power, even having all manner of deceivable-
neſs of unrighteoufnefs in it, 2 Theff. ii. 9, 10, 11. And it works accord-
ing to its power, it gathers all its own every-where. Not one, but he that
is of the elect feed, can ſtand before it. Now the reaſon why God ſuffered
this to go forth, was in judgment. Men had dallied with the truth, had
took up a form of godliness, and rejected the power; therefore God with-
draws from the form, and fuffers the unclean fpirit to enter it, and the un-
circumcifed nature of man to ſhelter itſelf there. It arofe alfo from the
devil's fubtilty, who finding himſelf difpoffeffing of his kingdom, played.
this mafter-piece, both to fave what he could at prefent, and to re-
cover
674
Of the Church-State under the Goſpel.
cover the reft again in proceſs of time. He (in his apoftles and minifters)
takes upon him the profeffion of Chriftianity, fending them forth as the
minifters of righteoufnefs (2 Cor. xi. 13. 15.); but for all that, they were
ſtill of the worldly nature, of the worldly root, fpirit, and principle; and
fo by them he brings forth Chriſtianity (or the profeffion and obfervation of
the Chriftian religion) in fuch a way as would pleaſe the worldly mind and
nature; and bringing it forth fo, he gathers to him all that were not ga-
thered and preſerved by the power, and fo becomes the greater body and
church in view, and the reft (as to the outwardness of their church-ftate)
are fain to give way, and retire into the power, out of their former place
and ftation in the world, Rev. xii.
Now as Chrift had faid that falfe Chrifts and falfe prophets fhould come;
fo John faid they were come, 1 John ii. 18.; and alfo fhewed from whence
they came, They went out from us, ver. 19. They were fuch as came into
the form among us, but were not begotten of the life, nor ſubject to the
power with us.
And there were many of them, chap. iv. 1. and ſuch they
were as had a great power of deceit, and came therewith to feduce them,
1 John ii. 26. Therefore he bids them (in the unction which they had re-
ceived, ver. 27. which fearcheth and difcerneth all) try the fpirits. If their
ſpirit (or the ſpirit that is in them) confeſs Chrift (who is the power of the
endleſs life, the fum, fubftance, and end of all that which fhadowed forth
life) they are of God, chap. iv. 2. But if their fpirit confefs not Chrift
come in the fleſh, though they may feem ever fo much to preach him, they
are not of God, ver. 3. Now whoſe ſpirit confeffeth Chrift? Surely his only
that is fubject to him. He that preacheth Chrift in words, and denieth him
in works (whofe works are not wrought in Chrift, nor brought forth by
Chrift), his confeffion is but outward, but formal; it is no true con-
feffion. It is but the confeffion of his mouth, not of his fpirit; and he is,
in the fight of God, not a confeffor, but a denier, of him. And whoſo is
enabled by God to try fpirits (and waiteth in his light and anointing to try
fuch) findeth him to be fo, notwithſtanding all his fair words and fpeeches
of Chrift, and his pretending to be his minifter, Rev. ii. 2. For men with
fine words, and fair fpeeches may deceive the hearts of the fimple; but they
cannot deceive thoſe to whom God giveth ability to try fpirits. Could the
devil deceive Chrift, when he faid, Thou art the Son of God? No; Chriſt knew
his ſpirit to be againſt him, notwithſtanding thoſe words. And can the mini-
fters of antichrift deceive the elect of God, when they preach up Chrift (in
words) to be the Saviour and Redeemer, and yet own not that life and
power which faves, but perfecute it where-ever they find it? No; the fame
Spirit of Chrift in them difcerneth quite through their words to their fpirit.
My ſheep, faith Chrift, hear my voice, John x. 27. Man may be deceived
and caught in the fnare; but the elect, the fheep, know the voice of the
Shepherd from the voice of the ſtranger. If the ftranger fay, Chrift is the
Son of God; though he believes and owns the thing, yet they receive it
not
Of the Church-State under the Gospel.
675
:
not from his mouth. Well, whence are theſe falſe prophets and falfe
Chrifts? They are of the world. That is their root. Thence they come.
They are of the worldly fpirit, the worldly wifdom, the worldly nature,
only cloathed outwardly with a profeffion and fhew of the doctrine and
practices of Chrift and his apoſtles. And what do they do? They preach
worldly things. They fuit their doctrine to the worldly nature, principle,
and ſpirit. And what is their fuccefs? The world heareth them, 1 John iv.
5. The earthly wifdom in man falls in with them, judges them to be
right, owns them, fets up their way of Chriftianity and worſhip in the
world; and thus the world become Chriftians. Thoſe which came in the
name of Chrift, the world could not receive. (He that knoweth God, beareth
us; not the world, 1 John iv. 6.) There were but a few (in compariſon)
gathered here and there then; a few in one place, a few in another.
The doctrine that comes forth in the power, fcatters the worldly part.
Man's wiſdom, man's nature cannot receive it, in the love and life of it.
But when theſe falfe Chrifts and falfe prophets come, the world can turn
Chriſtians; then a whole city, or a whole nation, can prefently become a
church. Why fo? Theſe come in that which the world can receive, which
their wiſdom can anſwer, fall in with, and ſubject to. Theſe can bring
forth a croſs, which the world can like, fall down, and worſhip; but the
croſs of Chriſt they cannot; for that crucifies and flays the worldly nature,
wherever it is felt, taken up, and fubjected to. The way of life is ftrait
and narrow, and few there be that can walk therein; but a broader way
more may walk in. The true church is not eafily found or entered into;
but the falſe is wider and far larger; yea, deſirable to the flesh. The true
church is circumfpect, will admit none but in the way of God's wifdom
and power; but the falfe church proftitutes and thrufts herſelf upon all.
She meets men in the ftreets, and forceth them into her bed; whereas the
voice of the true church is, wait for the preparation, for the being changed
by that which giveth entrance into the truth; for the builder of the church
is God, Heb. iii. 4. (he builds this houſe by Chriſt, ver. 6. as by Moſes he
built the houſe under the law) and he is the ladder to the building, A&ts ii.
47.
So Paul alfo writing to Timothy, tells him of perilous times in the laſt
days, 2 Tim. iii. 1. For when the laft days come, and the antichriſts and
falſe prophets appear, then men are in great danger of being deceived,
and of making fhipwreck of faith and a good confcience. Then he
that is not in the truth, but only in the form and outward appearance, will
be ſwallowed up by the deceit, and take up his dwelling in the form with-
out the power; for fo faith the apoftle concerning them, ver. 5. they have
a form of godlinefs, but deny the power of it. And all manner of wicked-
nefs will fhelter itfelf under this form; Self-love, covetousness, boaftings, pride,
blafphemy, disobedience to parents, unthankfulneſs, unboliness, &c. ver. 2, 3, 4.
and indeed what not? For what is fo evil, which cannot ſhelter itſelf under
that
VOL. I.
Q999
676
Of the Church-State under the Gospel.
that form of religion and profeffion, where there is not the true power and
life of religion to refift and fubdue it?
Now mark; When theſe antichrifts and falſe prophets had got up into a
body and ftrength, gaining authority and credit in the world; what did
they then do, but endeavour wholly to cruſh and ſuppreſs the truth, with
thoſe that abode fill in it? Then the Dragon, with his angels, fighteth
with Michael and his angels. They had ſtill been fighting with the apoſtles
and minifters of Chrift, endeavouring to difparage them, and eat out their
eſteem in the churches, as 2 Cor. xi. but they could not prevail; Satan, in
all his enterprizes, fell down like lightening, before the glory and power of
Chriſt in his apoſtles and miniſters. But when the apoftafy increaſed, and
the churches provoked their preferver, growing cold in love and faint in
faith (being lifted up with their gifts, thinking highly of themſelves, and
their standing to be firm), and many received not the love of the truth,
but only a profeffion of it for by-ends, &c. then the Lord began to
threaten fome with the removal of their candleſtick, and did afterwards.
proceed in judgment, even to let the falfe prophets and antichrifts prevail,
and ſtrong delufions enter, that they who had dallied with the truth, might
be fruftrated of the falvation they expected by it, meeting with a lie (which
deſtroyeth) in the ftead of it, 2 Theff. ii. 10, 11, 12. And fo God, who
before built up, in his jeafoufy and indignation afterwards threw down men
abiding not in the faith, nor in the power, but in the form and outward
profeffion which feparated from the power, which the Lord abhorreth. What
he loves, he fecures for himſelf (his holy temple, his holy altar, his fpiritual
worſhippers); and what he regarded not (which was the form and outward
ordinances, now polluted) he gave to the heathenifhly-profeffing ſpirit; and
there they worſhip, and magnify their own ftate, prizing it by its outward
glory and appearance, and not by a right fenfe and knowledge of it in the
truth. Read theſe things outwardly, in the letter (or rather wait upon God
that ye may read them, who caufed them to be writ to that end, to be
read and underſtood), Rev. xii. and chap. xi. 1, 2. where the battle of
the Dragon is related, and God's taking down his building, and difpofing of
it according to his pleaſure.
Again mark; antichrift gets into the temple (upon the falling way), fits
there as God, ruling, giving laws, and exacting obedience in the name of
God: but when was this to be? In the laft times, 1 Tim. iv. 1. (which
would be very perilous, through the power of wickednefs and deceit, then
getting up). When did thofe times begin? They began in the apoftles days.
The myſtery of iniquity was then at work, 2 Theff. ii. 7. Yea, faith John,
it is the last time; by the coming of the antichrifts and deceivers we know
it to be fo, 1 John ii. 18. Chrift faid, they fhould come; John faid, they
are come; Paul ſaw them then at work in the myſterious power of dark-
neſs. But they could not carry their work through, the Spirit and power
of
Chriſt in his apoſtles ſtood fo much in the way; but after they were removed
out
Of the Church-State under the Gospel.
677
out of the way, antichrift got up his mystery of deceit apace. Well, how
long doth be reign? Even till the very coming of Chrift in his Spirit and
power; yea, there is fome remainder of him till the very brightness of his
coming, 2 Theff. ii. 8. This myſtery of iniquity hath power and authority
over all the wiſdom of man; but the appearance of Chrift, in the fpirits of
his people, hath power over it, and tormenteth it, by opening its naked-
nefs, and caufing its darkneſs to appear; and the brightnefs of his coming
fhall quite diffolve and ſcatter it. For it is but a mift of darkness, it hath
no being in the truth, nor can it ftand before the truth. So Babylon is
found ſtanding at the very laft; juſt before the breaking forth and coming
down of the New Jerufalem, and the marriage of the Lamb with his
bride, Rev. xix. 6, 7. What is Babylon? A myſtery of iniquity, in a form
of godliness. A profeffion, a people, a religion, that feem to fet up Chrift;
but fet up another nature, fpirit, and power in his ftead. A church that
is not of God, not formed in his divine wiſdom, not brought forth in his
light and power, and in the ſeaſon of his will; but of man, and by man,
that can go no further in religion than the number of a man. Sion, un-
der the gofpel, is not literal, but myftical; and fo is Babylon alfo, who is
the mother of fornications, who teacheth her daughters to adulterate from
the life and from the power, who never knew the marriage of the Lamb
in his Spirit, nor his pure bed of life, but enter into the chambers and bed
of a ſtrange ſpirit.
Queft. But what is the fate of the church all this while; from this hour of
corruption, till the coming of Christ in his Spirit and power?
Anfw. A ftate of defolation, a ſtate of widowhood, a wilderneſs-ſtate
where her living body is not diſcerned by the vulturous eye; but her children,
whenever they appear witneffing for her, are perfecuted, hunted, afflicted,
and ſometimes flain. This bloody church, which comes from the Red Dra-
gon, and rules in his fpirit and nature, drinks the blood of the lambs and
martyrs of JESUS, who in their feveral ages are his faithful witneffes, and
love not their lives unto the death. And here the truth, and that which
hath appeared of the true church in the world, for ages and generations
(ever fince this night of the Dragon's and antichrift's darkneſs, and his fit-
ting in the temple under an appearance of light), hath only been to be
found, even among the perfecuted ones, who have been dear to God; of
whom the profeffing world hath not been worthy, no not at all, of that hea-
venly life, fpirit, and power, which dwelt in them, and through which
they have been able to teftify for the truth, and bear up their heads againſt
the malice and perfecutions of their enemies, Rev. xii. 11, 17, &c. and
chap. xi. 3, 7. chap. xiii. 15, 16, 17. chap. xiv. 12. chap. xvii. 6.
Now, for a clofe, There are a few queftions in my heart, briefly to pro-
pound and anſwer, which it may pleaſe God to reach forth to his witneſs
in fuch, who in diftruft of themſelves and their own wiſdom, thall wait up-
on him for underſtanding. The queſtions are theſe. Firſt, What a true
church
Q ૧ ૧ ૧ 2
678
Of the Church-State under the Gospel.
church is? Secondly, How a true church may be known? Thirdly, How
a true church may continue fo? Fourthly, How a church may lofe its
ftate and being? Fifthly, When a church hath loft its ftate and being?
Queft. 1. What a true church is?
Anfw. A true church is a truly fpiritual body, gathered out of the world,
or worldly nature and ſpirit, into God's Spirit and nature, there to live and
walk with him, and worſhip him in ſpirit and truth, and for him to taber-
nacle in and walk among, and fill with his glorious prefence and powerful
life, Eph. ii. 21, 22. 1 Pet. ii. 5. John iv. 23. 2 Cor. vi. 16. It is not the
profeffion of the truth makes a true believer; nor is it a company of pro-
feffors makes a true church; but their proceeding from, and union with,
the truth itſelf; and their abiding in the life and power of that which they
profefs, Eph. iv. 16.
Queſt. 2. How a true church may be known.
Anfw. There muſt be fomewhat in man to know them, and fomewhat in
them to be known by. That in man which knows them, muft be fome-
what of God in him; for that which is of man cannot meaſure or judge of
the things of God. As the worldly wiſdom and ſpirit could not know Christ
formerly; fo neither now can it know his church. Many may appear to be
churches of Chrift, and yet not be fo; and that which is fo, may not ap-
pear fo. In this cafe, who fhall diftinguifh? Not he that judgeth accord-
ing to the appearance, but he that judgeth the righteous judgment. There-
fore it is not for every man to take upon him to judge which is the true
church; but firſt to wait upon God to be led into that, and in fome mea-
fure born of that, which giveth ability to judge. Wiſdom is juſtified of her
children; but of others fhe is condemned for fooliſhneſs, and the fooliſhnefs
juſtified in her ftead.
And there is alfo fomewhat for the church to be known by, which is that
which diftinguifheth her from all other affemblies and gatherings; which is
the nature, life, and preſence of the head with her and in her. This none
hath, but the true church, the gathered body, the feparate body of the
Lamb, which is of his fleth and of his bones, Eph. v. 29, 30. Her huf-
band is with her, his life is in her: for fhe is a living body, or gathering
of living ſtones. So that find the true life of the Lamb any-where, there
is fomewhat of his church; find a gathering in his life, name, and power,
there is his church, and he alfo. For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them, Matt. xviii. 20.
Queft. 3. How a true church may continue fo?
Anfw. By abiding in the Spirit, life, and power, that gathered and built
them up into a church. This firſt gave them their being, and this ſtill
pre-
ſerves them in their being (if they abide till they be perfected and eſtabliſh-
ed); but falling or being cut off from this, they wither, die, and come to
nothing. Even as a difciple, departing out of the vine, making fhipwreck
of the faith, lofeth that which made him a diſciple or Chriftian, John xv.
6.
Of the Church-State under the Gospel.
679
6. fo a church, departing from the Spirit and life of what they profefs,
languifh by degrees, even till their life be wholly extinct, and they wholly
lofe that ftate and being which they had by their gathering. Thus the
churches in Afia, beginning to corrupt, grew formal, lukewarm, dead,
&c. were warned to repent and ftrengthen that which remained, left they
were ſpued out, the candleſtick removed, &c. Rev. ii. and iii. chap-
ters.
Queft. 4. How may a church lofe its state and being?
Anfw. Several ways: as Firft, By departing from the truth and ſimpli-
city of the goſpel; letting in doctrines, principles, obfervations, cuftoms,
and practices, which are not of the pure Spirit, nor in the unity of it;
but from the corrupt fpirit, and which corrupt the minds of them that are
entangled in them. Corrupt doctrines, corrupt principles, corrupt prac-
tices, &c. they all have of the nature and poiſon of death in them; and as
they prevail, they bring death upon (and engage God againft) that perſon
or church where they get dominion. See what danger one corrupt doctrine
of the Nicolaitans brought the church of Pergamus into, even of God's
coming forth with his fword and fighting againft her, Rev. ii. 16. And
if God, who is the defender of his church, himſelf fight againſt her, how
fhall fhe ftand?
2. By negligence and fluggiſhneſs in the truth; by this means alſo life
may languiſh and extinguiſh by degrees, even till death come wholly over
and ſwallow it up, Rev. iii. 1, 2, 3. If the firſt love do but abate and wax
cold, iniquity will be abounding, Matt. xxiv. 12. and the church will be
in danger of lofing its candleſtick, Rev. ii. 4, 5.
3. By God's withdrawing his prefence and power (for theſe or ſuch
cauſes abovefaid) which nourisheth and preferveth. For the life of the
church (as well as of a difciple) is fed and nouriſhed from the fountain or
vine; and if it mifs of the nouriſhment, its life cannot long continue.
The Jews may keep up their facrifices, and reading of the law; but yet
they are a dead people to God, after their cutting off from the Olive-tree.
And the Gentiles may worſhip in the outward court, and keep up the out-
ward ordinances, after God's rejecting and cutting them off alfo, and be
as dead to God therein, as the Jews in theirs, Rev. xi. 1, 2, and Rom. xi.
21, 22.
4. By their liftening and yielding to the power of the enemy, who quick-
ly deceiveth (with his lies, inftead of the truth), deftroyeth, and layeth
wafte fuch buildings, where God in his juft judgment letteth him forth up-
on them. For the gates of hell will prevail againſt that building, which
the arm of Chrift is not ſtretched forth (or ceaſeth) to defend. And as thè
defence of every particular building upon the rock, is in its abiding there,
and fubjecting to the head; fo the defence of larger gatherings, or churches,
is no otherwife. As their union and gathering is, fo is their ftanding; to
wit, in believing and giving up to their leader; hearkening to his voice,
and
680 Of the Church-State under the Gospel.
and obeying him only. But if they hearken to a ftranger, if they hear
another voice than his; if they follow another ſpirit, letting in his lies and
deceit; they cannot keep their ftanding in the truth, but in fo doing de-
part from it, and lofe the promiſe and protection of it. For, as before, by
God's gathering them from the fpirit of darkness, they became his, and
met with his power, prefence, and bleffing; fo afterwards, being again (by
any fubtilty of deceit) gathered from the truth itfelf, into fome likenefs
and appearance of it, which the enemy hath formed, they become the
enemy's fynagogue, not God's church; into which he entereth again, and
dwelleth there, in that likeness and appearance. And this houſe, which
was once cleanſed, ſwept and garniſhed by God, being again recovered and
repoffeffed by the enemy, becomes worſe, and more filthy in the nature of
wickedness, than it was before. What is more pure, glorious, and excel-
lent, than a true church of God, which is fanctified by his Spirit, and holds
forth the virtues and pure nature of his life in the world? What is more
filthy and abominable, and where doth Satan more ftrongly dwell and act,
than in that which pretends to be a church and is not? The promiſes of
God are only to the ſeed abſolutely; but not fo to any man or fociety of
but as (in the tender mercy of the Lord) they are gathered into,
and preſerved in, the feed, in the way that the Lord hath chofen and ap-
pointed. For the way of life is glorious and perfect, and the Lord will
honour it; fo that thoſe that expect to reap falvation from him, muſt walk
and abide with him therein; for befides him there is no Saviour; and be-
fides his way, there is no way of falvation, either for any man or church.
Queft. 5. When bath a church loft its ſtate and being?
men;
Anfw. When its nature is changed; when it is overcome by, and ga-
thered into, another power and fpirit, than it was firft gathered into by the
Lord; when its ſtanding is not in the Spirit, nor after the Spirit, but in
the fleſh and after the flesh; when its ways are carnal, its weapons carnal;
when its hedge or wall is broken down, and the fpirit of the world not
kept out, but entered into it and become one with it. Then it is no longer
of God, and feparate from the world; but one in nature, ſtate and being
with the world, Rev. ii. 9.
Theſe things are written in the love and good-will of God, that men
may ſee that ſpirit, which hath bewitched and entangled them from him,
with the ways and falſe appearances wherein it hath entangled them; and
may wait on the Lord (in truth of heart) for his light, guidance, and power
to deliver them; that fo they may come into his holy land, and within the
limits of his holy city, out of all polluted lands and buildings (where his
holy nature dwelleth not, and the pure dominion of his holy life and power
is not felt); that they may fing praiſe to him among his redeemed ones, for
his precious redemption; who is breaking the bonds of captivity, and re-
deeming
1
Some Queries to the Profeffors, &c.
68t
deeming his out of all the lands and countries, wherein they have been
ſcattered in the cloudy and dark day; glory in the higheſt to his name for
evermore.
Some QUERIES to the Profeffors of Chriftianity, to
provoke them to Jealoufy for their Good.
Query. 1.
HA
AVE ye eat of the bread and drank of the wine in the Fa-
ther's kingdom, which they that have received the kingdom,
and are in the kingdom, eat and drink of?
Query 2. Have ye known the heavenly Jerufalem, and are ye come to it,
as the Chriftians were in the apoſtles days? Heb. xii. 22.
Query 3. Are ye in him that is true, and your churches and gatherings in
God, and in the name of his Son? Is your being and dwelling in the
eternal life?
Query 4. Have ye received the promiſe of the Father, even the excellent
Spirit of the Son?
Query 5. Have ye the true faith? Do the living waters fpring out of
your bowels, according as the fcriptures have faid; He that believeth on
me, out of his belly fhall flow rivers of living water, John vii. 38. and
chap. iv. 14.
you with
Query 6. Doth God tabernacle in you? is his dwelling among you? doth
he walk up and down in your fpirits, and fup with you, and
him?
Query 7. Are ye in the new covenant; taught of God, ſo as ye need no
man to teach you? and your fins fo blotted out (according to the co-
venant) as to hinder no good things from you?
Theſe things were ſpoken of in the law and prophets, to be fulfilled,
witneffed, and enjoyed under the power and life of the gofpel; which is
not a ſtate of the names and foretellings of things, as under the law, but
of the preſence and enjoyment of the things themſelves; and fo far as ye
fall ſhort of them, ye fall fhort of the ftate of Chriſtianity.
t
SOME
[ 682 ]
}
SOME
OBSERVATIONS
UPON THE
ETERNAL JUDGMENT,
As it is expreffed by CHRIST,
MATTHEW XXV. 31. to the End of the Chapter.
Obfer. 1.
TH
HE condition of Chrift here in this world, in many of his
members in their ſeveral ages and generations. He is hun-
gry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, fick, and in prifon; yea, indeed, what is there
of mifery, fhame, and reproach, which he is not expofed to; or which they
are not expoſed to, who entertain him as their Lord and King, and are
faithful in their obedience and fubjection to him? ver. 35, 36, and 43.
Obfer. 2. The notice Chriſt takes of what is done in this kind, or not
done in this kind, to any of his fuffering members; which extends to all,
even the very leaft. Infomuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of thefe,
ye have done it unto me, ver. 40. Infomuch as ye did it not to one of the leaft
of thefe, ye did it not to me, ver. 45.
Obfer. 3. The honourable efteem Chrift hath of his poor fuffering mem-
bers, with what eye of contempt foever the world looks upon them, yet he
looks upon them as his brethren, ver. 40.
Obfer. 4. The different carriages of perfons towards Chrift, in this his
low condition in his members. Some gave him meat, fome gave him
drink; fome took him in, fome cloathed him, fome vifited and came unto
him, ver. 35, 36. others did none of theſe things unto him, ver. 43.
Obfer. 5. The different judgment Chrift paffeth upon thefe, according to
their different carriages. The one he pronounceth bleffed of his Father,
judging them to the inheritance of a kingdom of eternal life, ver. 34. 46.
The other he pronounceth curfed, and adjudgeth to everlaſting puniſhment
in the fire of his wrath, ver. 41.—46.
Obfer. 6. The ground or reaſon why thofe, who did not miniſter to him,
neglected him, which was their ignorance of him. They faw indeed, and
knew
Some Obfervations, &c.
683
knew feveral perfons to be in fuch kind of conditions, but they did not
know that it was Chrift which fuffered in them; this is implied in their an-
iwer to him, ver. 44. When faw we thee an hungry, or a-thirſt, or a ſtranger,
or naked, or fick, or in priſon, and did not minifter unto thee? ver. 45.
Obfer. 7. That it will not excufe men from the judgment, their not know-
ing of Chriſt in his members; but if they neglect and have not done this
thing (though they may plead ever fo ftrongly that they did not know any
fuch) they will incur and muſt ſuffer the judgment. The Jews cried up
Mofes and the prophets, which had been before, and yet perfecuted Chriſt
and his apoſtles; and many now cry up the prophets, and Chriſt's appear-
ance in a body of fleſh (with his death, refurrection, afcenfion, &c.), and
alfo the apoſtles, both their words and practices; and yet perfecute him (and
the ſame practices) in his prefent fervants and members. How will theſe
poffibly eſcape this judgment?
Object. But they that did minifter unto him, they knew not that it was he
neither, as ver. 37, 38, 39. Therefore they doing of it ignorantly (as we may
fay) it ſeemeth to want its due weight, and not to render them fo worthy of the
reward, as if they had done it in a clear and diftin&t underſtanding.
Anfw. They did not know it fo as to put fo great a value upon it as
Chriſt here doth; but they knew that they had done things of this kind,
and that they had done them on Chrift's account. But that Chrift was fo
in thoſe to whom they did them, as he now fpeaks; and that he would fet
fo high an eſteem on it, that they were not aware of. Was it thou thyſelf
that waft naked, fick, in priſon, &c. and didft thou take all this as done
to thee? This is wonderful to us, that thou shouldft fo fet by what we poor
worms did to thy fuffering faints, in thy name and fear.
Queft. But why doth Chrift make this the ground of the general and univer-
fal judgment? Men have committed many other fins (fome of which are in ap-
pearance far greater ): why doth Chriſt mention none of them, but fix the judg-
ment only upon this?
Anfw. Surely becauſe this is more in his eye, and more hateful to him
than them all. This argues an evil nature and fpirit, and the joining of
the mind to the wicked one, more than them all. For it plainly fhews,
that there is none of the love and nature of Chrift in fuch perfons; for if
there be of the love and nature of Chrift in any perfon, it will incline his
heart towards thoſe which are Chrift's, and eſpecially in their fuffering condi-
tions. He therefore that hath no ſenſe of thoſe that belong to Chriſt, in
their fuffering conditions, fheweth plainly, that he hath none of Chrift's na-
ture in him, and fo is not at all found in that which Chrift comes to fave,
but in that which he comes to judge and deftroy for ever.
Now I have three queftions more to propofe, which I defire that all men
VOL. I.
Rrrr
that
684
Some Obfervations
that read, may judge of in that which giveth the true fenfe and judg
ment of their weight.
1. If this be the cauſe and ground of the eternal judgment, whether it
may not alſo be the ground of temporal judgments on perfons and nations;
to wit, if there be fuch a thing to be found in them, as neglecting to mini-
fter to Chriſt in his fuffering members?
2. If there be not only this to be found, but alſo a caufing of him in.
his members thus to fuffer (a caufing of their hunger, thirſt, nakedneſs,
fickneſs, impriſonment, &c.); whether this is not of very great force to
draw down plagues, judgments, and miferies upon a nation?
reaſonable hope of the diverting
3. If there have been fuch fins committed, God's anger provoked, and
his judgments drawn down, whether it be poffible to ftop them, or there
can be any of them, without a deep hum-
bling before God, confeffing the thing in the fight of the world (as it hath
been done in the fight of the world), and laying fuch a foundation for the
future, as the Lord and men may be fatisfied and affured that no fuch
thing fhall be done any more? Was it not a fhameful thing, that Jerufa-
lem, the outward holy city (and chief, if not only profeffing people of the
world), ſhould ſtone, caft out, perfecute, put to death, &c. the prophets.
and Chriſt of God; and fet up prieſts and prophets of their own? And
where, and by whom, are the witneffes and martyrs hunted and flain? Is
it not ftill in that which is called the Chriftian world? Do not they ſtrive
(each fort) for their forms; perfecuting the life and power, and thoſe which
follow the Lamb therein, out of their forms, from which his life and
Spirit calleth and gathereth? Oh! that the world were awakened! Oh! that
this nation were awakened! Have there not been judgments enough to
awaken it? Oh! do not dally! ye have God to deal with, who hath brought
his truth and people upon the ſtage; who is ariſen againſt the darkneſs
(which hath long poffeffed the hearts of men, and held his people in cap-
tivity under their corrupt wills and wiſdom), and to bind down fin and ini-
quity in men! Oh! do not fay, Let us break their bonds in funder, and caft
away their cords from us; but rather let every one be willing to be found by
the pure light of God, by that which is holy of God in him (from the
king that fits upon the throne, even to the very beggar on the dunghill);
that iniquity may be purged out of the hearts of men, and they become,
not a vainly-profeffing nation, but indeed an holy nation to the Lord;
that peace and righteouſneſs, love and mercy, yea fweet and tender bowels
may dwell within it, and flow up and down in all its borders; to the glory
of God's truth, which is able to work this (were it but let in, received,
and ſubjected to in the minds of men), and to the delight and joy of the
hearts of all in the nation.
Written in Aylesbury prifon, the 29th
of the Eighth Month, 1666.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
1
[ 685 ]
CONCERNING THE
SUM or SUBSTANCE
OF OUR
RELIGION,
QU
WHO ARE CALLED
AKERS,
AND THE
Exerciſes and Travails of our Spirits therein.
TH
HIS is the fum or fubftance of our religion; to wit, to feel and dif-
cern the two feeds: the feed of enmity, the feed of love; the feed
of the flesh, the feed of the Spirit; the feed of Hagar, the feed of Sarah;
the feed of the Egyptian womb, the holy feed of Ifrael; and to feel the
judgments of God adminiftered to the one of thefe, till it be brought into
bondage and death; and the other raiſed up in the love and mercy of the
Lord to live in us, and our fouls gathered into it, to live to God in it.
Now when the light of God's holy Spirit breaketh in upon man, and his
quickening virtue is felt; then life enters into that which was flain, and
there is a defire begotten in the heart to travel out of the Egyptian ſtate,
into the good land; that the foul, which came from God, might return back
again to him (out of the finful, wandering, miferable loſt eſtate) and might
live and walk with him, in the purity, virtue, and power of his own life
and fpirit.
But then the other birth ftrives for its life, and Pharaoh (the king of
Egypt) takes part with his Egyptians against Ifrael; and there is no help to
the poor foul, but as God pours out his judgments upon that hard nature
and fpirit in man, which is of the birth of the flesh, and receives the in-
Rrrr 2
fluences
•
686
Concerning the Sum or Subftance
fluences and ſtrength of its father, which harden it againſt the true feed.
And now what a condition is this poor foul in! The light of God's Spirit
giveth it the ſenſe of its ſtate, and the quickenings of life make it fenfible
of its bondage. There are alſo fome defires and longings after deliverance;
but this doth but provoke the enemy; and the foul being yet in his territo-
ries, and under his power, he dealeth the more hardly with it, increaſing its
burdens and oppreffions daily. And oh! the outcries of the foul in this
ftate! how is its fpirit pained, anguifhed, and vexed within it; fo that it
could almoſt many times chufe rather to lie ftill in Egypt, than undergo the
heavy burdens, oppreffions, fears, and dangers, that it daily meets with in:
this ſtate?
Yet there is a fecret hope fpringing up in the heart from the true ſeed,
which often encourageth it to truft him, and wait upon him who hath vifit-
ed, in his pure miniftration of judgment. For this is felt many times (as
the foul is made truly fenfible by the Lord), that the judgment is not to
the feed, not to Ifrael; but to Pharaoh and his Egyptians and by every
ftroke of God's wrath upon them, the feed is eafed, and its deliverance.
working out.
:
And fo at laſt when the judgment is finiſhed in the land of Egypt, the
ftrength of Pharaoh and his Egyptians broken, their firft-born flain, out
comes Ifrael, out of the dark land, out of the houſe of bondage, to travel
towards its refting place. Then the pafchal Lamb is known and fed on;
yea, it is becauſe of the blood of the Lamb, fprinkled upon the door-poſts,
that Ifrael is paffed over and faved, in the day of Egypt's vifitation. Oh!
who can read truly, that hath not felt and been a living witneſs thereof?
But now, when the feed is come out of Egypt, there is not the end, but
rather the beginning of its travels. Pharaoh and his Egyptians (with their
horfes and chariots) may purfue again and even overtake; and there may
feem no way of eſcape or help to the foul, but only to ftand ftill, hope in
the Lord, and wait to fee his falvation. Then fhall the fea be divided,
which ſtopped Ifrael's courſe, and Pharaoh with his Egyptians (the enemies
of the foul in this appearance of dreadful oppreffing power) be deſtroyed
and feen no more.
Yet in the wilderneſs, in the paſſage through the entanglements to the
holy land, there are many ftraits, trials, and fore enemies to be met with, who
will ſtrive by open force, and alſo with enchantments, to betray Ifrael; yea,
there is a part yet unbrought down, yet unwrought out, at which they will
be ſtriving to enter the mind. And as Ifrael forgets his God, walking out
of his counſel, hearkening to that which his ear ſhould be ſhut againſt, and
fo joining to the contrary feed; the plagues, the judgments, the indigna-
tion and woe will be felt by him, and many carcafes may fall there. So
that there may be a great outcry in the heart, Who can stand before this holy
Lord God? Shall we be confuming with dying? Yes, there is fomewhat muſt
be conſumed with dying. Yea, if a man came fo far, as to witneſs domi-
nion
of our Religion.
687
nion and victory over his foul's enemies, the evil feed brought into death
in him, and a poffeffion and inheritance in the pure reft of life; yet if
that part be not kept in the death, if there be not a praying and watching
to the preſerver of Ifrael (in the pure fear and humility), the enemy will be
fowing to the flesh again; he will be getting fome of his corrupt feeds into
the heart again (if the foul do but ſleep and become negligent), and fo cor-
ruption will take root again, and the contrary birth grow up again, and
the foxes break into the vineyard, and ſpoil the tender grapes.
So that this is our religion, to witnefs the two feeds, with the power of
the Lord bringing down the one, and bringing up the other; and then
to witneſs and experience daily the fame power, keeping the one in death,
and the other in life, by the holy miniftration of God's pure living covenant.
And fo to know God in this covenant (in this covenant which lives, gives
life, and keeps in life), and to walk with God, and worſhip and ferve him
therein, even in his Son, in the light of his Son, in the life of his Son, in
the virtue and ability which flows from his Son, into our fpirits; this is our
religion, which the Lord our God, in his tender mercy, hath beſtowed
upon us.
And indeed we find this to be a pure, living, and undefiled.
religion before God, daily witneffing his acceptance of it in and through his
Son, whofe name is here known and confeffed, worshipped and honoured,
according to the very heart of the Father.
This may be further illuftrated, and perhaps made more manifeft to fome,
by a ſcripture or two.
The flesh lufteth againſt the ſpirit, and the ſpirit againſt the flesh; and theſe are
contrary one to the other, faith the apoftle, Gal. v. 17.
Here are the two feeds (the feed of the ferpent, the feed of the woman)
whofe ftriving and fight is in man, when God awakens the foul; the one
whereof hath a nature, a defire, or luft contrary to the other. Now as the
one of theſe prevails in any heart, fo the other goes down.
As the one
gains life and power, fo the other is brought into death and captivity. So
that this is it every one is to wait for, after they once come to the fenfible
knowledge and experience of theſe two, to feel the flesh brought down, the
lufts of it denied, the judgments of the Lord adminiſtered to it; that fo the
other may come up to live, thrive, and prevail in the foul, and fo the foul
witneſs falvation and redemption under its ſhadow. Thus Sion is redeemed
with judgment, and her converts with righteouſneſs, Iſaiah i. 27. What is
Sion? Is it not the holy hill of God, whereon his Son is fet king to reign;
whereon the holy city is to be built, and God to be worshipped in fpirit?
What condition is Sion in, when God vifits her to redeem her? Is the not
laid wafte, defolate, lying in the duft? (as Pf. cii. 13, 14.). Well, how
will God redeem her? Sion fhall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts
with righteousness. By bringing judgment upon that which keeps her un-
der, upon her enemies, the contrary feed, God redeems her; and by bring-
ing forth righteoufnefs (the righteous life and Spirit of his own Son) in
thoſe
688
Concerning the Sum or Subftance
thofe whofe minds are turned to her, whofe faces are fet Sion-ward; thus
God redeems her converts. Yes, yes; it is truly felt and witneffed; the
living righteouſneſs of Chrift revealed in the heart, and having power
there, fets free from all the unrighteouſneſs which was there before. And
then, when the unrighteous-one is caft out, and the righteous-one revealed,
and the foul united to him, and receives virtue and power from him, then
he becomes a fervant of righteoufnefs, and doth not commit fin, but doth
righteouſneſs; and he that doth righteoufnefs is righteous, even as he is righte-
ous, 1 John iii. 7. For how can it be otherwiſe, when the righteous life
is revealed and brought up into dominion in him? How can the fame
righteous Spirit and life (revealed in the members, as it was in the head)
but live and act after the fame manner in the members as it did in
the head? (Oh! that men were turned to that which would give them the
certain knowledge and fenfible experience of this!) Now this is exceeding
comfortable and precious to them that are in the true travel towards it
much more to them that enjoy it.
This is the fum of all, even to know and experience what is to be brought
down into death, and kept in death; what to be brought up out of the
grave, to live to God, and reign in his dominion; and what to be kept in
fubjection and obedience to him who is to reign. Now to experience it
thus done in the heart; the fleſh brought down, the feed of life raiſed, and
the ſoul ſubject to the pure heavenly power, whoſe right it is to reign in the
heart in and by the feed; this is a bleſſed ſtate indeed! For here the work
is done; here the throne of God is exalted, and his king reigns in righte-
oufnefs and peace, and all his enemies are under his feet; and this fon,
this true Ifraelite, this redeemed-one, may wear the white robe, and ſerve
God in righteoufnefs and holinefs, without fear of his enemies (keeping in
and to the covenant, which minifters life and power abundantly) all the
days of his life. For that was to be the outward ſtate of the outward If-
rael, keeping to God in the outward covenant; and it is to be the inward
ftate of the inward Ifrael, keeping to God in the inward covenant, which is
a pure covenant of life and peace, of all inward and fpiritual bleffings and
mercies in Chrift, wherewith the fouls are bleffed that are obedient unto
God, and walk humbly with him in this covenant. And I befeech you to
confider, (O tender people! who are grieved becauſe of fin and corruption
in your hearts, and would fain witneſs victory and dominion over it, in the
name and ſtrength of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt) whom did that prophecy of Za-
chariah (Luke i. 17. 72. 74. 75.) concern? What was that holy covenant?
Who were to be fo redeemed? Who were the Ifrael that were to inherit this
promife? All the promiſes are yea and amen in Chrift to the Ifrael of God.
Why fhould not the Ifrael of God hope to enjoy this? Even fo to be ac-
quainted with God's Holy Spirit, and to wait upon him, that they may wit-
nefs it granted to them; that they, being delivered out of the hands of their
enemies, might ſerve him without fear, in holinefs and righteouſneſs before
him
t
of our Religion.
689
him (whofe eyes are piercing, and can behold no iniquity) all the days of
their lives. Surely they who witnefs that promife (mentioned Ifai. xxxv. 8.)
fulfilled to them, cannot fall fhort of this. And truly the children of the
new covenant can never come throughly to live to God till they witneſs the
inward circumcifion of the heart, fo as to love the Lord with all the heart and
foul, Deut xxx. 6. Now where it is fo, the devil or luft can find no place
of entrance; and how then ſhall they be able to fow their feed, and bring
forth fin? Out of the evil heart proceeds all evil; but out of that heart
which is thoroughly circumcifed, to love the Lord God wholly, evil cannot
proceed. If luft be not conceived, it cannot bring forth fin; and where
the womb which conceived it is kept dry and barren, it cannot conceive
again. And is not this the promiſe of the gofpel, that the womb which was
once barren, fhall be very fruitful, and bear abundantly; but the other
grow feeble, and be able to bear no more? Oh! that people had experience
of God's power, and did believe therein! What ſhould ſtand in the way
of it? It was Ifrael's fin of old, when they looked at their enemies, and
faw their footing and ftrength in the land which God had promiſed to
Abraham's feed for an inheritance, they could not believe that they could
be overcome. Oh! take heed of the fame unbelief now.
CON
[ 690 ]
i
CONCERNING
CHR
RIST;
COMING to the FATHER by him; RECEIVING him;
WALKING in him; not in the Oldneſs of the Letter,
but in the Newneſs of the Spirit.
AND CONCERNING
Reading the SCRIPTURES Aright.
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father
but by me, faith CHRIST. John xiv. 6.
M
AN, in the corrupt, degenerate eftate, is fallen from God, and hath
loft his image (the holy, heavenly image of the Father of Spirits); is
driven out from his prefence, dwells in the land of darkneſs and confufion,
under the government of the prince of the power of the air, who rules in,
and hath power over, all the children of difobedience.
Now this fhould be man's work; even to return to the Father; to come
back out of the prodigal loft ftate, to the Father's houfe; where there is
fufficiency and fulneſs of true bread and water of life to fatisfy every hungry
and thirſty ſoul.
The way whereby a man muft come, the truth wherein he muſt be re-
newed, the life wherein a man muſt be quickened, is Chriſt, the Son of the
living God; and he muſt know him as the Son of the living God, and feel
him revealed in him, and received by him, and fo walk in him the way, in
him the truth, in him the life, if ever he come to the Father. He muft
not reſt in the deſcription of things; but feel and know, receive and walk
in the thing, which by the Spirit of the Lord hath been often formerly, and
is ftill, defcribed, in what words, and by what means, the Spirit pleafeth.
But to receive all the defcriptions of him that were formerly given forth, or
all the deſcriptions that are now given forth, that will not do; but the foul
that
Concerning CHRIST, &c.
69r
that will live by him, muft receive him, and feel the ingrafting into him
the holy root, the living word of God's eternal power, and muſt feel this
word ingrafted into his heart, fo that there be a real becoming one in na-
ture and ſpirit with him. And then he is truly in the vine, in the olive-
tree, and partakes of the virtue and fap thereof; he abiding therein, and
walking in the fpirit, life, and power thereof.
Now here a man walks not, nor cannot walk, in the oldnefs of the let-
ter; but in the newneſs of the Spirit only. Paul, notwithſtanding all his
knowledge of the Scriptures, walked but in the oldneſs of the letter, be-
fore Chriſt was revealed in him. And thoſe in the apoftle's days, who had
got the form of godliness, but turned from and denied the power, they
walked but in the oldneſs of the letter. Yea, the church of Sardis (for the
moſt part) and the church of Laodicea, who had received the right order
and ordinances, and the true deſcriptions of things, and thought they were
full and rich, and wanted nothing, they walked but according to the oldneſs
of the letter, and not in the newnefs and power of the Spirit of life. But,
alas! how far are many (who pretend to Chrift in this day) from this ftate!
who never came fo far as to walk in the oldnefs of the letter, from a true
underſtanding thereof; but have only learned and continued to walk in the
oldneſs of their own apprehenfions and conceivings upon the letter.
Can theſe, in this ftate, poffibly underſtand truth, or know the inward,
ſpiritual, precious appearances thereof, either in their own hearts, or others?
Surely no. Why fo? Why this is the reaſon: becauſe they meaſure the
appearances of truth (either in themſelves or others) by their own old ap-
prehenfions and conceivings upon Scriptures concerning truth; which are
not the proper meaſure of it. Now all fuch are yet in darkneſs, let them
pretend what they will, and grow ever fo high in knowledge, exerciſes,
and experiences after this manner; and fo the beſt, zealouſeſt, and moſt
knowing of them in this ftate, are but blind leaders of the blind, and (thus
going on) fhall moft certainly fall into the ditch of perdition. Oh! that
men could feel that which makes rightly fenfible, and might lay it to
heart! For no man can confefs Chrift (how then can he receive him, and
walk in him?) but by the Holy Spirit.
And he that knoweth not the Spirit rightly, knoweth not Chrift rightly;
and he that doth not know him rightly, doth not confefs him rightly; and
none can know him rightly but by the revelation of the Father inwardly.
The mystery muſt be opened within, or there is no true knowing. The myf-
tery of deceit is diſcovered within, and the myſtery of life is diſcovered
within alfo. And though the heart of man (in the unregenerate eftate) is
deceitful above all things, and defperately wicked, and no man of himſelf
can fearch or know it; yet this is not the eſtate of the true Ifraelites whom
God hath cleanfed, and taught to deny themſelves daily; but they have
boldneſs before that God who hath fearched them, and removed from them
the iniquities which he found therein. Yea, whoever witneffeth Chriſt re-
VOL. I.
Sfff
vealed
692
Concerning CHRIST, &c.
vealed within, fhall find him revealed within for this very end, to deſtroy
the works of the devil there; and he is a powerful Saviour of the foul from.
fin, and a powerful deſtroyer of the works of the devil within.
Now concerning reading the fcriptures, mind this: It is faid of the Jews,
that when they read Mofes (or in reading the Old Teftament) the veil was
upon their heart; which veil is done away in Chrift, 2 Cor. iii. 14, 15. Oh!
confider feriously, is the veil done away from thee? Doft thou read the
fcriptures with the unveiled eye? Doſt thou read in the anointing, in Chriſt's
Spirit, in the pure heavenly wiſdom of the divine birth? It was promiſed of
old, that God would take away the face of the covering caft over all people,
and the veil ſpread over all nations. Doft thou witneſs the promiſe fulfilled to
thee? Doft thou know the difference between reading the fcriptures with
the veil on thee, and with the veil off? Are the fcriptures opened and un-
locked to thee by the key of David, fo that thou readeft and underſtandeſt
them in the light and demonftration of God's Holy Spirit; or is thy own
underſtanding and will at work of itſelf, in fearching into the fcriptures?
If the wrong birth, the wrong wifdom, the wrong underſtanding, be at
work, it can gather but that which will feed and ftrengthen itself; and if
thou beeft not in Chrift, and doft not read in Chrift, the veil is not taken
away from thee (for the veil is only done away in him); but thou readeſt.
and walkeſt in the oldneſs of thy apprehenfions upon the letter, and not in
the newneſs of the Spirit; and fo knoweft neither the fcriptures, nor the
power of God, whatever thou profeffeft to men, or dreameft concerning.
thyfelf. For it is no other indeed; thy knowledge, thy apprehenfions, thy
faith, thy hope, thy peace, thy joy (being out of the compaſs of the pure
living truth, in which the fubftance, the virtue, the kernel of all is com-
priſed and comprehended for ever) are but as ſo many dreams..
Oh! that men that are any whit tender, and have any fincere defires in
them towards the Lord, could read that one fcripture (PS. xliii. 3, 4.) ſen-.
fibly and experimentally: Ob! ſend out thy light and thy truth! let them lead
me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. (What! did
not David know how to go to the hill and tabernacles of God, without
a particular fending forth of light and truth from God to lead him thither?)
Then may men go to the altar of God, unto God their exceeding joy, and
witnefs his hill and houſe their dwelling-place, when God, by his light and
truth, fent forth from him into them, leads them thither.
The ſcriptures are words, whofe chief end, drift, and fervice is, to bring
men to the Word from which the fcriptures came. And when men are
there, then they are in the life of the fcriptures, and witneſs the fulfilling
of the fcriptures, even the executing the righteous judgments of God upon
that fpirit, mind, and nature in them, which is contrary to his image;
and the fulfilling of the promiſes and fure mercies, which belong to Chrift
the feed, and to them who are gathered into, and abide in, Chrift the feed.
Here is the covenant, the new covenant. That which is faid, or thoſe things
which
Concerning CHRIST, &c.
693
which are faid, concerning the covenant in the ſcriptures, are but defcrip-
tions of the new covenant; but Chrift within, the hope of glory, the Spirit
within, the fear within, the power of life within, breaking down and reign-
ing over the power of fin and death (fo that the Lord is ferved in the do-
minion and power of his own life, in the righteouſneſs and holinefs before
him, out of the fear of fin and death, all the days of our lives; ſo that
captivity can lead captive, nor break the foul's peace no more; nay, not
fo much as make afraid thoſe that keep their habitation on God's holy
mountain); here is the covenant indeed, the ftrength and virtue whereof
is witneffed in the foul, as the foul feels the power of life revealed in it,
and is made fubject by the power of Chrift, who reigns in righteouſneſs,
love, mercy, and peace, in the hearts of thoſe whom he redeems out of the
earthly nature and ſpirit, up to the mind and Spirit of his Father. And
here the pfalms, hymns, and fpiritual fongs, the pure fongs (the fong of
Mofes, the fong of the Lamb) are fung to the Father of fpirits, to the Re-
deemer of Ifrael; which never were fung, nor can be fung, in any part of
Babylon; but all thofe fongs are but dreams of the night, which will be
turned into howling and bitter lamentation, when the whore (that which
hath whored from God, and is not in the wiſdom of his Spirit, whatever
The may pretend) is ſtripped, and the nakedneſs of her profeffion and re-
ligion (with all her duties and ordinances, as fhe calls them) made ma-
nifeft.
I
Concerning the GOSPEL MINISTRATION.
F the gospel be not a miniftration of words or letter, but of Spirit, life,
and power; and if it was the intent of God that men fhould not ftick
in words or teftimonies concerning the thing, but come to the thing itſelf,
and live in the Son's life and power, and feel the Son living in them,
then they are greatly miſtaken, who think to gather a rule to themſelves
out of the teſtimonies and declarations of things in the fcriptures, and do
not wait upon the Lord to receive his Spirit itſelf to become their rule,
guide, and way. For thefe are all one; the truth is the way; the truth
which lives and abides in the heart (where it is received and entertained)
is the way; the rule is the guide: for God is One. There are many names,
but the thing is One. The life, the power, the wildom in the Father, Son,
and Spirit, is all One: yea, they themſelves are One, perfectly One, not at
all divided or ſeparated; but where the Father is, the Son is; and where
the Son is, the Spirit is; and where the Spirit is, there is both the Father and
the Son, who tabernacle in man in the day of the gospel. And where
theſe are, there that is which is to be preferred before all words, which was
afore
1
Sfff2
I
694
Concerning the Gofpel Miniftration.
afore them, and is in nature, Spirit, and glory above them. He that hath
the Son, hath life, even the life eternal, which the words teftify of. He
that hath the Son, hath him which is true; and he that is in the Son, is
in him that is true; and abiding there, cannot be deceived; but he that is
not there, is deceived, let him apprehend and gather out of the fcriptures.
what he can. Oh! how is God glorified, and how is the redemption and real
falvation of the foul witneffed in this defpifed difpenfation of truth, which
God hath held forth in theſe latter days! Bleffed be the name of the Lord,
who hath hid this pure difpenfation of life from the eye of the prudent
worldly-wife part in every man, revealing it only to the babifh fimplicity
which is of his Son, and which lives in him, and by him.
Concerning CHRIST's being manifeſted without, and his
being alſo manifefted within, and how both are owned
by them that know the Truth.
IT
T is objected against us, who are called QUAKERS, that we deny
Christ (and look not to be faved by him) as he was manifefted without us,
but look only to be faved by a Chriſt in us. To which this is in my heart to
anfwer fuch as fingly defire fatisfaction therein.
We do indeed expect to be faved (yea, and not only fo, but do al-
ready, in our ſeveral meaſures, witnefs falvation) by the revelation and opera-
tion of the life of Chrift within us; yet. not without relation to what he did
without us. For all that he did in that body of flesh was of the Father,
and had its place and fervice in the will, and according to the counfel, of
the Father. But the knowledge and belief of that, fince the days of the
apoſtles, hath been very much held in the unrighteouſneſs, and in the fe-
paration from the inward work of the power and life of Chriſt in the heart ;
which, as fo held, cannot fave any. But whoever feels the light and life
of Chrift revealed in him, and comes into union with God there-through,
he feels the work of regeneration, of fanétification, of juftification, of life,
and redemption; and fo comes to reap benefit inwardly, and to partake of
the bleffed fruits of all that Chrift did outwardly. Yea, he that is thus
one with Chrift in the Spirit, cannot exclude himſelf, nor is excluded by
God, from the advantage of any thing, nor every thing, Chriſt did in that
body of fleſh.
This indeed is the main thing, to witneſs falvation wrought out in the
heart; to witneſs the eternal power and arm of the Lord laying hold on
the foul to fave it; and not only laying hold on it to fave it, but to wit-
nefs the working out and the effecting of the falvation, as really in the
ſubſtance,
Concerning Chriff's being manifefted, &c.
695
fubftance, as Ifrael of old did in the fhadow. For as they witneſſed Mofes
and Joſhua outwardly, fo the true Ifraelite, the inward Ifraelite, the ſpiritual
Ifraelite, is to witnefs that which is the fubftance of thefe, even the Son of
God revealed inwardly. Now they were not faved outwardly by a bare
outward believing that Mofes and Jofhua were fent of God to fave them;
but by following them in faith and obedience to what from God they re-
quired. So to the inward Ifrael Chrift is given for a leader and commander,
who appears to the diftreffed embondaged foul in Egypt, brings out of
Egypt, and fo leads on towards the good land, and into it. Now as the
foul follows, as the foul believes in his appearances, and obeys his voice in
the holy pure covenant of life; fo he works out the redemption thereof.
But as unbelief and diſobedience gets up, and the heart is hardened at any
time againſt his voice and counſel, and the ear open to the temptations of
the enemy, the redemption thereby goes backward, and the diftrefs and
captivity returns again. This is witneffed, known, and experienced by
every true traveller towards Sion; therefore the main thing requifite is to
abide in the ſenſe of the Redeemer's power, as alfo in waiting for his mo-
tions and appearances, and in the faith and obedience thereof. For fin ga-
thers ftrength, and is brought forth, by letting in and giving way to the
motions thereof and fo alfo holinefs and righteouſneſs is brought forth and
getteth ground in the mind, by hearkening and giving up to the ſtirrings
and movings of God's Holy Spirit. Therefore it is of great neceffity to
every true traveller to come to a right underſtanding and diſtinguiſhing of
thefe; and then that the heart be kept with all diligence, becaufe out of it
are the iſſues both of life and death. And moſt happy is he who knows
the iſſues of death ſtopped, and the iffues of life opened, and whofe fpirit is
naked and open before the Lord, for life to fpring up in him, and iffue forth
through him at its pleaſure. Oh! it is a precious itate to witnefs captivity led
captive by life, and the power of life reigning over it. And truly there is as
real deliverance witneffed inwardly, by thofe that wait upon the Lord, and
are faithful to the leadings of his Holy Spirit, as ever there was by the
Jews outwardly, in their faithful following Mofes and Joſhua: and Chrift is
as truly an healer of his people, in this miniftration of life to them by his
Holy Spirit, as ever he was an healer of perfons outwardly in the days of
the flesh. That (with the other miracles which he wrought then) was but
a fhadow of what he would work and perform inwardly in the day of his
Spirit and holy power: and fhall he, or can he (to thofe that faithfully
wait upon him) fall fhort in the one, of what he fhadowed out in the other?
Nay, furely; it was the intent of his heart, and he will not fail to perform
it, to fave to the very utmoſt all that come to God by him, and abide in
his holy, pure, righteous, living covenant. Here is the ſkill of Chriſtianity,
to abide in him; and here the living virtue and pure power is felt, which
overcometh all, but nothing can overcome it: but victory, dominion,
glory,
·696
A few Words concerning
glory, majefty, and power is fung unto him, who is King of Saints, who
reigns in righteouſneſs, and who eftablifheth peace and truth within his bor-
ders.
A few WORDS Concerning the PRINCIPLE of TRUTH;
What it is, How it may be diſcerned, and How it
may be purchaſed and poffeffed.
W
HAT is the principle of truth?
Queſt. 1.
Anſw.
It is the light which reproves and makes fin manifeft.
Whatſoever doth make manifeft is light. Wherefore he faith, Awake thou that
Sleepest, arife from the dead, &c. Eph. v. 13, 14. There is no other way of
awaking out of fleep and arifing from the dead, but by the light which
makes fin manifeft. And oh! how precious is that light!
Queft. 2. How may the principle of truth be difcerned?
Anfw. By its piercing, quickening nature, which diſcovereth itſelf in its
appearances and operations. For it appears and works, not like man's
reaſon, or like motions of his mind which he takes into his underſtanding
part; but it appears and works livingly, powerfully, and effectually in the
heart.
Man's reafon is corrupt, dark, impure, fince the fall; and in the hand
and under the power of the wicked one. Its nature is to hide and cover
fin, not to diſcover it. Now the light of the law, which diſcovers fin,
arifeth not hence. Who can bring the clean, pure light of the law, out of
the unclean, impure reafon of man? The light indeed may fhine in the
darkneſs; but it is no part of it, but of another nature and deſcent. It is
from God's Spirit, and given to man in his love unto him, to lead him out
of his dark ways and ſpirit, into the pure Spirit and way of holiness. For
the light which diſcovers fin, is all holy and pure, like the fountain from
whence it comes. Now a man that is acquainted both with reafon and with
this light, he can diftinguish the nature and operations of both. For there
is a great difference between truth held in the reaſoning part, and truth held
in its own principle. It is very powerful in the one; it effecteth little in
the other. In the pure quickenings of life this diftinction is perceived and
alfo held. Therefore our advice is to all men, to retire from all mortality,
that they may come to feel the fpring of life in themſelves (and fomething
fpringing therefrom into them to quicken them) and to wait to have their
underſtandings opened and kept open by that; that fo they may receive,
retain, and not again lofe the capacity of underſtanding the things of God's
kingdom.
Queſt.
A
the Principle of Truth, &c.
697
Queft. 3. How may this principle, feed, or pearl, be purchafed and poffeffed?
Anfw. By dying to a man's own wifdom and will. There is not another
way. For the light is wholly contrary to man, as he ſtands in the alienation
from God. It croffeth his fpirit, his thoughts, his defires, his knowledge,
his reaſon, his underſtanding; even all that is of himſelf. He muſt there-
fore confult with none of thefe, but prefer the little, pure demonftration of
the light of Chrift's Spirit above all theſe, and ſtand in the parting with and
lofs of them all for ever. Oh! this is an hard faying, who can bear it?
Surely none but thofe that are taught and learn of the Father, can thus
come to give up to and follow, the light of the Son.
7.
The law of the Lord is perfect; converting (or reftoring) the foul, Pfa. xix.
What law was this, or what law is this? Was it the law of works in
the hand of Moſes? Or is it the law of faith in the hand of Chrift? Doth
not Chrift enlighten every man that cometh into the world? Would not
God have all men to be faved? And doth he not give to all a proportion
of the true light whereby they may be faved? And is it not the property
of this light to convert to God? Can any man receive this, and be united
to this, and it not change his nature? So that he muft needs have a new
nature, and from that new nature do that naturally, which the Jews, by all
their endeavours without this, could never do.
Can any thing convert fallen man to God, but Chrift? Hath any thing
power to convert to God, but his pure law of life? Can Chrift and his
light be feparated? Can any man receive his light and be united thereto,
and not receive him? Oh! that mens hearts and undeftandings were opened
by the Spirit and power of the Lord! For this is a direct riddle to all men,
who have not God's heifer to plow with, to underſtand it by. And fo for
want of a true underſtanding, it is deſpiſed and rejected among the builders;
but with us it is elect and precious, chofen of God, and precious in the eye
of our fouls...
Now this doth not exclude or make void any thing, that Chrift did in
his body of fleſh here on earth, or that he doth in heaven for his; but this
brings unto a right, and into a poffeffion and enjoyment of his purchaſe.
For all that are in the darkneſs, and walk in the darkneſs, have nothing to
do with Chrift in truth and reality, whatever they may profefs, and what
hopes foever they may feed themſelves with; but all that are in any mea-
fure of his light, and walk therein, they are fo far of him, and have a
right to, and ſhare in, all that he did in and from the fame light and
Spirit.
And this I dare pofitively hold forth as a ſtanding truth, which hath been
fealed unto me by conftant experience; That no man can fall in with and
obey the light where with he is enlightened, but he muſt deny himſelf, and
take up a croſs to his own wifdom and will; which croſs is the croſs of
Chrift, which is the power of God to the falvation of the foul. And he that
takes it up daily, and waits upon the Lord therein, ſhall witneſs the
power of
the
698
A few Words concerning, &c.
the Lord Jefus Chrift to the redemption of his foul; yea, then he ſhall be
able in true underſtanding to fay; This is light indeed, life indeed, power
indeed. That powerful arm which hath faved me from fin, and breaks
the fnares, devices, and ftrength of the enemy before me (delivering me
daily when none elſe can, and when my own ftrength and wiſdom is as no-
thing), I cannot but call Chrift, the living power and wiſdom of God re-
vealed in me, who will not give his glory to another. For he is the Lord
God of pure power and life for evermore; and befide him there is no fuch
Saviour. Yea, bleffed be the name of the Lord for ever, the days of
mourning after falvation are over with many, and the days of reaping and
enjoying falvation are come, which fhall endure with the Ifrael of God for
evermore, Amen.
ISAAC PENINGTO N.
!,
SOME
SOME
THINGS
O F
GREAT WEIGHT
AND
CONCERNMENT to ALL
Briefly opened and held forth
From a True Senfe and Underfſtanding,
FOR THE
Healing of the Ruins and Breaches, which the Enemy
of Mankind hath made in MENS Souls.
:
A S
I. Some Affertions concerning the
Principle and Way of LIFE.
to
II. Some further Directions
CHRIST, the Principle and Foun-
tain of LIFE.
III. The End of CHRIST'S Mani-
feftation, his Salvation, and whom
he faves.
IV. Three Queſtions anfwered, con-
cerning Juftification.
V. Of the pure, conftant, eternal, un-
changeable Nature of God's Truth.
Written in the Time of my Confinement in Aylesbury, when Love
was working in me, and the Life of God in me travailing and
wreſtling with the Lord for the Salvation of Others.
VOL. I.
ISAAC PENINGTON.
Tttt
[ 700 ]
{
T
H
SOME
ING S
O F
GREAT WEIGHT
AND
CONCERNMENT to AL L..
Some ASSERTIONS concerning the PRINCIPLE and
WAY of LIFE.
T
HAT it is a great and hard matter to come into a capacity of
knowing and receiving the truth. It is no hard matter to take up
any religion that a man finds in the world. To read fcriptures,
to believe what a man finds related there, according to his underſtanding
of them; yea, to believe that he hath the light and help of the Spirit in
his reading and underſtanding; to apply himſelf alfo to practiſe and obferve
what he finds therein required; and to aim at holiness, &c. this is no
hard matter; every man that is ferious, and feeks religion of any kind but
in the weight of a man's fpirit, may go thus far. But all this adminifters
not the true capacity, but he that meets with it, muſt go further than thus.
2. That which gives the true capacity is a principle of life from God,
and there alone and no-where elſe, can man meet with it and receive it. This
principle is the feed of the kingdom or heavenly leaven, with which the
mind muſt be in fome meaſure leavened, ere it can come intó a true capa-
city of underſtanding and receiving the truth. And in this leaven muft it
abide and grow up, if it abide and grow in the true knowledge, &c.
3. That
Some Aſſertions concerning, &c.
701
3. That from this principle, and in this principle, not only the true light
and knowledge of the Lord Jefus Chriſt and all ſpiritual things is given and
received; but alſo the true faith, the true love, the true fanctification, the
true juftification, the true peace, the true joy, &c. And what of theſe is
not received and held here, is not of the truth, but a garment of mens
own forming, and not the covering of the Spirit.
4. That the Spirit himſelf fows this principle, and is received in this prin-
ciple. And he that receives this principle, and is born of this principle, re-
ceives and is born of the Spirit; and he that receives it not, nor is born of
it, neither hath received nor is born of the Spirit; but is but in the imagi-
nation and ſelf-conceit about the things of God, but is not in the truth, as
it is in Jefus.
5. That in this principle the new covenant is made with the foul and en-
tered into; and he that receives this principle from the hand of God, re-
ceives life, and enters into the covenant of life, and feels the pure fear,
wherein God cleanſeth the heart, and whereby he keeps the heart clean,
and feels the laws of God daily writing there by the finger of God's Spirit,
and feels the power and fenfe of the Spirit to teach and caufe obedience;
fo that the yoke, which is hard to the tranfgreffing nature (alienated from
the life and power) is eaſy (and as I may fay natural) to him that is born of
this nature. For being dead with Chriſt, and riſen with Chrift, and chang-
ed into the nature of Chrift, by the principle which is of him, through
the power and Spirit of Chrift which worketh therein; he can fay as Chrift
did, when the Lords calls him to any thing; Lo I come: 'tis my meat and
drink, yea my great delight, to do thy will O God! yea thy law is written in
the midſt of my bowels.
6. Among thoſe who are gathered into this principle, and abide in the
fenfe, light, and life of this principle, there is great love and unity. They
are of one mind, of one heart, of one foul, of one ſpirit, of one life, ga-
thered into one demonſtration of truth; and there is no jarring, no doubt-
ing, no diffenting, &c. All this is out, in the world, in the earthly wiſdom,
in the earthly profeffions and walkings; but it is excluded the principle of
truth, and them that are gathered into and abide therein.
7. That all that are not gathered into, nor walk nor live in this prin-
ciple, they are yet in the darkneſs and error from the pure power of God,
and ftand and walk in flippery places; and though their way may feem very
right, and their eftate and condition fure (as to God-wards) in their owǹ
eyes and judgment, yet it is not really fo; but they are but in a dream con-
cerning the truth, not in the truth itſelf; which (how ſtrange foever it may
ſeem to them at prefent to be affirmed concerning them) yet they fhall cer-
tainly feel it to be fo, when the Lord by his powerful voice and bright ap-
pearance of his Spirit awaketh them. For many things go for truth now
with men in the dark, which will vaniſh like fmoke before the light of the day;
and then that only which is truth indeed ſhall have the glory and praife of
Tttt2
being
702
Some Affertions concerning
being accounted fo; and then what will become of thoſe who have mistook
about truth, and are not cloathed with the pure wedding-garment (the ſpot-
lefs life and righteoufnefs of the Son) but only with that which they have
accounted fo?
8. That to thoſe that ſee in the light of this principle, the mountain of
the Lord's houſe is diſcovered; and thoſe that abide and grow up therein,
they know and experience it eſtabliſhed above all mountains, and exalted above
all hills; all earthly knowledge, earthly religions, earthly ways, earthly wor-
ſhips, earthly ſpirits and minds, &c. in their greateſt exaltations and glory,
being far beneath it. And here the feaft of fat things, and wines on the
lees well refined, even the fruit of the vine which gladdeth and refrefheth
the very heart of God, is fed on and partaken of by thofe that dwell here.
For the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit is here revealed, in the holy
houſe and tabernacles which are built here; and here they make their feaſt,
bringing forth the riches of their nature, fpirit, and precious life, on which
they feed with the foul, and give unto the foul favour and ability to feed
with them; in which food there is the life, ftrength, righteouſneſs, and joy
of the kingdom given forth and received.
9. That in the heart which difcovers iniquity, reproveth it, witneffeth
againſt it, and ſtriveth with the mind to turn it from it, and to wait for life
and power from on high, that is this very principle. In that is the divine
nature, even the nature of God's Spirit, which was always againſt ſin and ever
will fo be, and in all its appearances teftifieth againſt it, and in love to the
creature ftriveth with the creature to convince it of that in it which is con-
trary to God, and to draw it to that ſtrength and divine virtue which ſtop-
peth it, beateth it back, and worketh it out of the mind and nature of
the creature, as it can get entrance, and is hearkened and fubjected to.
For there is no falvation, but by the cross and yoke of our Lord Jefus
Chriſt; for in that is the power to crucify the affections and lufts, which
lead into fin and death, and will not ceaſe to tempt and lead afide, till the
foul be gathered into unity with that, and become fubject to that which is
contrary to them. So that this is the main thing in religion, even to know
Chriſt revealed in the foul as a ftandard again corruption, and to be gather-
ed under his banner, which is the cross, or that living principle in the
heart which refifteth the corrupt principle; and he that is gathered hither;
and continueth faithfully fighting here, fhall receive mercy, help, and
ſtrength from on high, in every time of need..
10. That the true and certain way of knowledge of the things of God,
is in the faith and obedience of this principle. It is not by reafoning and
confidering things in the mind (after the manner of men) that a man comes
to know ſpiritual things; but they are fpiritually revealed by God, after a
ſpiritual manner, to the believer, to the obeyer; and they are revealed to
him in his believing, in his obeying, in his waiting, in his holy-fearing, in
his diftrufting of himſelf, and feeling his own infufficiency, either to at-
tain
the Principle and Way of Life.
703
tain them or retain them, but as the Lord God makes them manifeſt in
him, and preferves him in the fenſe of them. He that doth my will, fhall
know of my doctrine, faith Chrift. This is the way. Wouldst thou know
what God requires of thee, what this or that is which appears in this or that
fort as truth, whether it be fo or no? Mind this principle in thee, mind the
pure, the holy light, inward touches and leadings of this pure divine prin-
ciple; that will make manifeft to thee whatever is fit for thee in thy preſent
ſtate to know; and thou art not to defire more, but as a child to reſt con-
tented with that portion of knowledge and ftrength, which the wife and ten-
der Father judgeth fit for thee; and as thy ftate groweth capable of more,
he will not fail to adminifter to thee. And what he giveth thee is good,
feafonable, and proper for thee, which thou mayeft ſafely feed upon and en-
joy in the fenfe and fear of him. But if thou prefs after what he would
not as yet have thee know, thou entereft into the will and wifdom of the
Aleſh;
and there are the difputes, difcontents, murmurings, and ill tempers
and difpofitions of the mind, which there will increaſe and grow upon thee
to thy hurt.
11.
II. That the mind that is gathered here, will find great oppofition, both
within and without; infomuch as he fhall not eaſily paſs from out of the
kingdom of darknefs, into the kingdom of the dear Son, but through
many trials, temptations, oppofitions and dangers many ways, for turning
the back on the kingdom of darkneſs, by joining to the principle of life,
in hearkening and fubjecting to the light thereof; hereupon the powers of
darkneſs both within and without beftir themſelves to hinder the foul's pro-
grefs, and to bring it back again into fubjection under the will and wifdom
of the fleſh.
Oh! how doth the will and wiſdom ftrive within in a man's own bofom !
What rifings of the impure are felt against the pure! What fecret and
fubtil reaſonings to enfnare and entangle the mind! and if they cannot.
draw the foul back from the Lord and the living path, then they ſtrive to
vex, afflict and torment it! There is none knows what is felt inwardly by
the followers of the Lamb, but thoſe that travel with him in the living
path; they are often fenfible of that they meet with in their travels, and
how it is to abide in the path of falvation, infomuch as they underſtand the
truth of that ſaying; If the righteous fcarcely be faved. It is fcarcely in-
deed! fo fubtil, ſo ſtrong, ſuch a many holds, ſo many ſtratagems hath the
fubtil, twining, crooked, piercing Leviathan, to enfnare, perplex, over-run
and entangle them with. And then outwardly, the fame fleſh, the fame
earthly ſpirit and wiſdom, the fame crooked helliſh, will, is ftriving in men
without alſo, to bear down and fubject the pure principle in them who are
born of God, to their devices and inftitutions, decrees, ways, cuſtoms,
&c. which are of the will and wiſdom of the flesh. So that, as the apoftle
faid, through much tribulation is the entrance of the foul into the heavenly king-
and there is no avoiding the many tribulations, but by turning afide
dom;
out
704
Some Affertations concerning
out of the way (which though thereby the fleſh get eafe for a time, it will
be to the greater loſs and ſorrow in the end). For the fpirit of the world,
the wiſdom. of the world, the nature, religion, worship, and whole courfe
of the world, is contrary to the way of the pure wifdom and Spirit of God,
and ufeth it as its enemy, where-ever it findeth it; and they that will not
bow to the fpirit, wifdom, and way of the world, muft feel the force of its
beaftly claws. For is it not a beaftly thing (even far beneath the nature of
a man) to perfecute that which is good; to hurt, reproach, and purſue the
innocent life of the Lamb? And yet this is that which the ſpirit of the
world (which is not of God, but wife and feemingly juft and righteous in
another wiſdom, nature, and principle) always hath done, ftill doth, and
will do to the end.
12. That there is a glorious crown prepared for all thofe, who are ga-
thered to the Lamb in this principle, and abide with him faithful therein to
the end, hearing his voice, believing the demonftration of his Spirit, obey-
ing him in all his motions and requirings, undergoing every yoke (which is
appointed by him to yoke down the fleſhly nature and mind) and taking up
every croſs of every kind in meeknefs, patience, and fear. And there is
not only a crown laid up for them at laſt, but the power of the Lord God
is nigh unto them to work all in them, to bear them up through and over
all, and to keep them to and in that principle, whereby and whereinto his
tender mercy and powerful arm gathered them. For as the power of the
Lord began the work (for there could never any heart be gathered from
under the power of darknefs to the light which leads out of it, but by the
power of the Lord; for the powers of darkneſs ftand between, and would
hold and keep their own, did not a greater power appear and put forth it-
ſelf for the foul againſt them); I ſay, as the power of the Lord began the
work, ſo the fame power alone is able to go on with it and perfect it; and
it will go on with it and perfect it upon the fame terms it began, and no
other. How were the terms at firſt, but on a giving up of the foul in the
faith to the Lord, in the fenfe of his love and goodneſs and mercy, touch-
ing, and drawing, and making willing? And how is the ftanding, but in
the fame giving up ftill; in abiding with the Lord, in hearkening to the
voice of the Lord, in waiting for the wiſdom and counfel of the Lord?
But if any man draw back from this, if he deſpiſe the Spirit and his mo-
tions and counfels, and hearken to the voice of a contrary ſpirit, believing
and following it, like the angels that fell, he departeth from his place and
habitation, which he had in the drawings, life, and power of God, and is
not to God what he was before, nor is God to him what he was before;
but the Lord who loved him before, and delighteth in him to do him good,
hath now no pleaſure in him, he being turned from that which the Lord
loveth, and in which he hath determined and appointed to chufe, love, and
own the children of men; who, as they are gathered thither, are his chil-
dren;
the Principle and Way of Life.
705
dren; as they that are gathered from thence, into a contrary principle, are
the children of the wicked one.
And now what is of man in all this? Where is the man that can boaſt
before the Lord, who is thus faved? He hath all from a principle; yea,
he is gathered into, preſerved in, and abideth in this principle by the power,
goodneſs, and mercy of the Lord. The power begins the work in him, the
power accompanies him; the power carries him through, or he falls and
miſcarries. There is no man can ſtand any longer here, than he ſubmits to
and is upheld by the power, nor act nor fuffer, but as the power acts in
him and helps him to fuffer. Let the man that boaſteth, bring forth ſome-
what of his own, if he can, here. Is the will at any time his own? Doth
not he that is ſpiritual, and in the true fenfe, always find God to work in
him to will, whenever he willeth rightly and holily? And if he cannot will
of himſelf, can he do any thing of himſelf? Can he believe of himſelf,
pray of himſelf, wait of himſelf, refift enemies and temptations of himſelf;
nay ſo much as give a look to the Lord at any time of himfelf? Indeed in
the grace of the Lord, and principle of his life, there is fufficiency: and
therein he that is joined to the Lord and become one Spirit with him, what
can he not do here? but that is, as he is new-made in Chrift, and as Chrift
arifeth, lives, and acts in him: which he that is in the true fenfe and feeling
will ſtill acknowledge, not only in his words to men, but în his heart and
ſpirit before the Lord.
Some further Directions to CHRIST, the Principle and
Fountain of Life, by Way of Queſtion and Anſwer.
HAT is Chrift?·
W
Queft. I.
Anfw.
He is the word of eternal life, who is appointed of the
Father to give life, and who giveth life to them that receive him and obey
his gofpel. He is the Son of God, the wiſdom of God, the power of God,
the righteouſneſs of God, the Saviour and falvation of God. The peace,
the reſt, the joy, the life of the foul. The King, the prieft, the prophet,
the Shepherd of the fheep. The way, the truth, the door, the vine, the
Olive-tree, into which the living are gathered and engrafted. And he is
alſo an hammer, an axe, a fword, a fire to the corrupt tree and fruit.
Queſt. 2. How is Chrift known, received, and obeyed?
Anfw. As a feed; as the feed of life, as the feed of the kingdom, as a
leaven, as falt; as a little ſmall thing, rifing up in the heart againſt all that
is great and mighty. As a branch out of a dry ground; as a little child to
lead, which all the wisdom of man and fleſh cannot but deſpiſe; and there-
fore
706
Some further Directions to Chrift, &c.
fore that muſt firſt be brought down in fome meaſure in the heart, before
Chrift can be owned in the heart, and fubjected to.
Queft. 3. How is the feed received?
Anfw. By feeling its virtues, manifeftations, and operations in the heart,
and fubjecting thereto.
Queft. 4. What are its virtues, manifeftations, and operations?
Anfw. They are all living, and have all living and powerful effects upon
the heart, as they are let in. They are all againft darkneſs, fin, and death;
tending to diſcover it, to turn the mind from it, to lead out of the captivity,
power, and reach of it; and they are alfo all for God, tending to prepare
the heart for him, and to bring it into union and covenant with him.
Queft. 5. What is the first operation of the feed to the foul, wherein it is to
be waited for, and clofed with, that the foul may come into the farther fenfe and
feeling of it?
Anfw. It is according to the ſtate of the foul; which being in darkneſs,
fin, and death, it appears as a light to diſcover the darkneſs, fin, and
death, and to lead out of it to the redeeming power. And then, to them
that thus receive it, and wait upon it in the fear and humility which it gives
nnd begets, it appears as life, quickening the foul, and as power, enabling it
in fome meaſure to live to God, and to walk with him in the way to the
kingdom.
Queft. 6. How comes this way to be hid from fome that defire after the Lord,
and to know his truth as it is in Jefus ?
Anfw. From the fubtilty of the enemy, who blinds the eye which alone
can fee, and ftops the ear which alone can hear, and hardens the heart
which alone can underſtand; and hath devices, fnares, and baits, and falſe
reaſonings from ſcriptures, and from experiences, which any one that hearkens
unto, and is entangled and enfnared in, is his captive, and cannot be at
liberty to fee, or know, or embrace the truth as it is; but his heart is de-
ceived about it, and filled with prejudices againſt it. (Therefore fuch fhould
wait for the true circumcifion, that they might hearken to the Lord, come out of
the enemy's fnares and fubtil devices, and live) as Ifai. lv. 1, 2, 3.
Queft. 7. But may not thefe be faved notwithstanding?
Anfw. There is no falvation but in and by Chriſt Jeſus; and the ſalvation
is not to them that received a bare notion of him under the law, or another
empty notion under the profeffion of the gofpel; but only to them that re-
ceive him as he was promiſed, as the holy feed: for in that alone is the
redemption, freedom from fin, and power of life felt, and no-where elſe.
So that he that hath not this knowledge of him, hath not the true know-
ledge; nor he that doth not fo believe in him, doth not rightly believe;
nor he that doth not fo hope in him, doth not rightly hope: and without
the true knowledge, the right faith and hope, how can any man be faved?
Therefore awake! awake! O weary, thirfty fouls! come to the fpring
of life; come to the living waters. Become little, that ye may learn of
Chriſt;
1
Some further Directions to Chrift, &c.
707
ye
Chrift; wait to have your eyes anointed, that ye may fee him, and your
hearts opened, that ye may know and receive him. Oh! wait for the ma-
nifeftation of this feed in you, be abaſed before him, join to him, receive
his checks, receive mourning and repentance from him; wait for the light
and faith that he gives, and the power that iffues from his throne, and
fhall find him the bruifer of the ferpent's head (which none elfe is able to do)
and the breaker of the bond of iniquity, which keeps down the juſt, and
fets the unjuft at liberty, till he diffolve it. And this is fufficient to mani-
feſt againſt all the difputes of the mind, that this is he, and no other, by
his doing that which none elfe can do. This demonftration he gave to the
Jews in the flesh, in his appearance in fleſh; and this demonſtration he giveth
now to the Jews in fpirit, in his appearance in Spirit, whereby he fatif-
fieth their hearts, and putteth them out of doubt that it is he.
And we
muſt profeſs to the world (as our hearts are drawn and guided by the
Lord, to give forth the teftimony we have received of him) that we look
not, yea, we cannot look, for another. Whom ſhould we look for beſides
the Lamb, beſides the Word which was in the beginning, befides him who
is one with the Father, and hath the eternal life, wifdom, righteouſneſs,
and
power of the Father, and manifefteth it in us? We look indeed for
more of the fame, and the more univerfal and powerful breaking of it
forth; but another thing, another Chriſt, another life, Spirit, power, &c. we
cannot look for. And this we further teftify, that whoever receives this
teſtimony in the truth and uprightneſs of his heart, waiting on that which
diſcovers fin to him, and in fimplicity joining and giving up thereto, and
walking with him in forfaking the evil and cleaving to the good, in the
faith of him and of his power, he fhall witness the fame thing with us;
and all the reaſonings, imaginations, and ſtrong-holds of his mind fhall be
battered down, and come to nothing, before the virtue, power, and life
of him who thus is pleaſed to appear and manifeft himſelf after the apof-
tafy, even as he did before, even in an inward principle, an inward feed, an
inward light, an inward life, an inward Word, an inward power. And
friends and people mark in your minds, and learn to put a right dif-
ference between that which ſtumbles you, and that which draws and con-
vinces you. What makes any of you own truth at any time? Is it not an
inward, lively, powerful touch and demonftration of God's Spirit? What
makes you afterwards doubt and queftion? Is it not another thing, of a
different nature from this? Is it not a fubtil reafoning, whereby the enemy
twines into your fpirits, and begets firft a doubt concerning, then a prėju-
dice, and at laft a great ftrength against that, which before ye had fome
fenſe of, and ſome unity with, in the teachings and quickenings of the Spi-
rit of the Lord. And what fpirit is it in you, that thus worketh in your
minds? And whither doth he lead you by theſe workings and fubtil reafon-
ings? Oh! that ye might fee, oh! that ye might feel, the fnare, and know
with us the preferver therefrom! for we have met with much of this; and
VOL. I.
Uuuu
had
708
The End of Chrift's Manifeftation, &c.
had we not been helped by the Lord, and given up to him, we had!
been entangled to this very day, as ye are. And he that hath helped us,
waits to be gracious to you; and oh! that you would not reject his help,
that he might deliver you alfo! that ye alfo might blefs his name, in feel-
ing the benefit and joy of his prefervation. And this is written in true
bowels and tender yearning love, that ye might be a little ſtirred up to wait.
to know the Father's houfe, and might feed on the bread which abounds.
therein, and drink of the water which makes freſh and living to God, and
be cloathed with the raiment which the mafter of the family gives to his
fpoufe, children, and fervants.
The End of CHRIST'S Manifeſtation, his Salvation,
and whom he faves.
C
HRIST came (and is manifeft in the hearts of thofe that receive
him) to deſtroy the works of the devil, and to fet the foul free from
fin; and whom he maketh free, are free indeed. Is the liberty which the
Son giveth inferior in this life, in its kind, to the captivity and bondage of
the enemy in its kind? Which of them is ftronger; the enemy to enthrall,
or the Lord Jefus Chrift to fet free from his thraldom? Yes, the Lord Je-
fus Chriſt, the captain of our falvation, the mighty Saviour (who is more
able to fave than the enemy to deſtroy) delivereth his Ifrael out of the hands.
of their enemies, and fo mightily and powerfully delivereth them, that they
are able (in the power of his might) to ferve him, without fear of them any
more, in holiness and righteouſneſs before him all the days of their life.
It is true, there is a ftate of darkneſs, fin, and death, wherein Satan
reigns; and there is a ſtate of weakneſs, wherein Satan much prevails, if
the watch be not strictly kept to him, who is the everlaſting ftrength; and
there is a ſtate of fighing and groaning under the body of fin and death,
and crying out who ſhall deliver from it! But there is alſo a ſtate of growth
in the life, and of victory (through the life) over that which captived and
cauſed to cry out. There is a treading down of Satan under the feet by
the God of peace, infomuch as not only the elders, but the very young men
in Chrift, overcome and triumph over him, feeling the entrance miniftered
to them abundantly into the everlaſting kingdom, into which no unclean thing
can enter. Oh! wonderful is the travel to the holy reft of the pure life!
Happy are they that meet with the true leader, and faithfully follow him,
till they have travelled through and overcome all that ftands in their way
For to them, and to them alone, is the promiſe of the poffeffion of the
everlaſting inheritance; and fuch find and feel the Lord to be their God
indeed, and themſelves to be his children (brought forth in his holy life and
nature),
1
The End of Christ's Manifeftation, &c.
709
nature), which to feel in truth and certain knowledge is more than tongue
can utter.
Chriſt faves only thoſe that come unto him, and believe in him, and
fo are born of his Spirit; and by the faith, and through the ftrength and
virtue of his Spirit, overcome the wicked-one, his works, fnares, and temp-
tations in their hearts. And thefe feel in themſelves the root of his life,
the holy feed of his kingdom fpringing up in them, into which they are
ingrafted, and become one with him, and fo bringing forth the holy fruit,
the living grapes, the new and righteous converfation, wherein the life of
God fhines, and is glorified. Now it is not knowing, or believing, or re-
ceiving any thing into the old underſtanding that avails with God, or the
reformation which is there wrought; but the new creature alone, created of
God in Jefus Chrift. This is born of God, this lives in him, this is cloathed
with him. This puts off the old man, with his deeds, and puts on the
newneſs of the nature and Spirit of the Lord Jefus Chrift; fo that this man
is as really in Chriſt, in the Spirit, in the new Adam, found in him, formed
in him, covered with him, as the firft man, or nature, is in the old Adam.
Therefore this is the main thing in religion, to mind the feed of the king-
dom, the leaven of the kingdom, its growth in the mind, foul, and ſpirit,
and the mind's, foul's, and fpirit's gathering into, and growth in it. And
here is faith, the true faith, the true love, the true hope, the true meek-
nefs and patience, the true juftification and fanctification felt, and not elſe-
where; but thoſe that are out of this, out of Chrift the feed, out of Chrift
the Word, out of Chrift the wiſdom, righteouſneſs, and power of the Fa-
ther, arely in a dream concerning theſe things, but know not the truth
and real nature of them, as they are felt in Jefus, by thoſe who are truly
ingrafted in him, and livingly grow up in him.
THREE QUESTIONS anſwered, concerning JUSTIFICATION.
HAT is juſtifying, or juftification with God?
W
Queft. 1.
Anfo.
It is God's owning the ftate, works, or actions of a crea-
ture, either inwardly in his own mind, or manifeftly to them. This is
God's juſtifying of them, or his juftification; his difowning or difallowing
them, is his condemnation. As for inftance: God's owning Adam in the
upright eftate of his innocency, wherein God created him, and any thing
he did in that ftate and fpirit, was his juftifying of him and his works.
God's difowning and difallowing his hearkening to his wife and the ferpent,
and his eating the forbidden fruit upon their temptation, was his condemna-
tion thereof.
Queft. 2. What is it God juftifies, and what is it he condemns?
Uuuu 2
Anfw.
710
Three Questions answered.
Anfw. That which God juftifieth is the Spirit of his Son, the life of his
Son, the nature of his Son, brought forth in any creature, the faith which
is in him; and fo the creature, as it is in the obedience which is of him,.
and the works that are wrought in him. But the fallen eftate of man from
him, and all that is done by man out of him, God condemns.
Queſt. 3. How is juftification received, kept, and grown up in; and what is.
the prefervation out of condemnation?
Anfw. Juftification is only received by receiving him, who is the righte-
ouſneſs and juſtification, and only kept by abiding in him, and only in-
creaſed by growing up in him. For as every one that is found in him is
juftified, fo he that hath more of him, more of his life, more of his faith,
more of his nature, more of his Spirit, more of the pure obedience, more
of the garment of righteouſneſs and falvation drawn over him, he is more
juſtified. For there are degrees of juftification, as the foul that is really
in the thing, and is acquainted with the true nature and difpenfation of it.
from God, feels and knows. A father is more or lefs pleaſed with his chil-
dren, yea, with the fame child fometimes; which is a true figure to man
who is come under God's teachings. And the preſervation out of con-
demnation is, by being preferved out of that which God condemns: for no
man upon the earth, that hath the true fenfe and feeling, fhall ever find
the Holy and Just One juftifying him in his fins; but as the heart is
turned from them, and by the power of life kept out of them. He that.
will be kept in the juftification, muſt be kept out of that which the juftifi-
cation is not to: for there he is not juſtified; but in his being drawn again
out of it, and turning again from it, his juftification in the tender mercy of
the Lord is renewed. Juftification under the law was according to that
covenant. He that walks with God in that covenant, he that walks in and.
after the Spirit of Chrift, he is therein juſtified; but he that walks after the
fleſh, and doth any thing that is fleſhly, that is not juſtified with God, nor
he in that; but in the faith which cleanſeth and giveth victory over it, in that
is the juſtification from it, and the pure heavenly peace with the Lord
God of life witneſſed.
He that is in Chrift, and receiveth his knowledge from Chrift, and is kept.
in the pure fear and ſenſe of him, he underſtandeth the truth of theſe things;.
but he that is erred in ſpirit, and holds but up a literal knowledge (though
from, or at leaſt accompanied with, fome remembrance of former feeling
and experiences) he errs about theſe things alfo, and deceit and a lye hath
prevailed over him, as he will find, when the Lord confounds his wiſdom
and prefent apprehenfions of things, by awakening his witneſs in him. For
religion,the true religion, is a myſtery, life is a myſtery, Chrift is a myſtery,
the Spirit is a myſtery, faith is a myſtery, obedience (the pure obedience) is a
myſtery, worſhip (the ſpiritual worship in and according to the new cove-
nant) is a myſtery, hid from the eyes of all the wife fearchers of the world;
but revealed to the leaſt babe that is of God, and abideth in the quickened
life
1
1
Three Questions answered.
711
life of his Son. But many that are out of the myſtery of truth, are in the
myſtery of deceit, and have a knowledge or profeffion concerning Chrift,
his Spirit, faith, obedience, the ſpiritual worſhip, &c. in that myſtery of
deceit, which they for the prefent account the true, and by it venture to
judge, difallow, and condemn the truth itſelf, but that is not at all to the
hurt of the truth, or fuch as are in it; but rather to their own hurt and great
danger. For the fparks which man kindles will never light him to God;
the garments of man's righteouſneſs (either according to his apprehenfions
of the letter of the law, or letter of the goſpel) will never cloathe him; but
for all that, he muſt lie down in fhame and forrow, when the truth of
God appears in his conſcience, and all his fhadows and deceits flee away.
Therefore hearken to the teftimony from theſe whom the Lord hath
awakened, whom the Lord hath quickened, whom the Lord hath led out
of the darkneſs of the night, into the light and brightneſs of the day; who
have ſeen Jefus, and teſtify what they have ſeen, heard, felt, and handled of
that eternal Word, which was from the beginning, which appeared in fleſh,
and afterwards in fpirit, before the apoftafy, and hath again appeared (fince
the apoftafy) as a fhepherd, as a gatherer, as a feeker-out and preferver of his
wandering fheep, who were driven from him in the cloudy and dark day.
And if ye would hearken aright, breathe to the Lord, in that which de-
fires and longs after him, that he would circumcife the heart, and open the
right ear in you, that the ear may hear his witnefs in you, that fo ye may in-
deed know the voice of the Shepherd, and in true underſtanding, fenfe, and
conſtant experience, bear witneſs to that true teftimony which Chrift ſpake
in the days of his fleſh: My fkeep hear my voice, and follow me; but a ſtranger
they will not follow: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Of
[ 712 ]
Of the pure, conftant, eternal, unchangeable Nature of
GOD's Truth.
RUTH is of God, and was with God, and in God, before any
TR
thing elſe had a being. Truth was before error or deceit : for it was
from the truth that the error was, and it was about truth that the deceit
was. There was fomewhat which erred from truth, and brought in deceit
into the world, and hath propagated deceit in the world; but truth remains
the fame that it was, keeping its pure, eternal, unchangeable nature; and
is not, nor ever was, nor ever can be, defiled or tainted with any error or
deceit; but teftifieth againſt it, reproveth it, and condemneth for it, draweth
out of it, and delivereth from its bands and captivity, all thofe that hearken
and cleave to it, in the faith which is of its nature and begetting.
The father, the fountain of truth, is the fame. The Son, his exprefs
image (whom he fills with himſelf, and in whom he appears) is the fame.
The Spirit, the anointing, who is truth, and no lye) is ftill the fame. The
principle or feed of truth is ftill the fame. The doctrine and way of truth
is ſtill the fame; for it was the fame truth which was preached in fhadows
under the law, the ſubſtance whereof appears, and is witneſſed in the goſpel :
and it was the fame before the great apoftafy in the latter days from it,
and all the time of the apoftafy, and again after the apoftafy. It hath the
fame nature ftill, the fame properties, the fame operations and effects, and´
gives forth the fame teftimony in the ears and hearts of all that are open to
Indeed the minds of men, and the ftates of men, may often change in
relation to truth; but truth itſelf changeth not, but is equal, fair, and
juft to all men upon the earth, in all ages and generations, always con-
demning that which is unjuft, erroneous, and deceitful, and always juftify-
ing what is pure, holy, and righteous.
it.
Now is not this a pearl? Nay, is not this the pearl indeed, the precious
pearl of price? Who would not buy it? Who would not fell all for it?
Who would not dig in the field where this treaſure is hid, until he find it?
The field is near thee, O man! which thou art to purchaſe and dig in,
and muſt feel torn up by the plough of God in fome meaſure before this
pearl or treaſure appear to thee; and thou muſt take up and bear the yoke
and croſs of Chrift, until all be bowed down and crucified in thee which is
contrary to its nature, before it be poliſhed in thee, and thou come to be-
hold and enjoy its riches and everlaſting fulneſs. Oh! happy are they that
are begotten and born of it! happy are they that know its voice, and give
up to it, to be gathered and redeemed by it, out of all deceits, out of all
errors, out of all that entangles and enfnares the foul in fin, mifery, and
utter
1
Of the pure, conftant, &c.
713
1
!
utter perdition; for deſtruction and mifery everlaſting is out of it, and life
and falvation is alone to be found in it.
There is a witneſs in every heart, which knows theſe things, and will tef-
tify it to their faces, when the light of God is opened in them, and its
tongue fpeaks therein to them. Oh! happy they that wait for, know, hear,
and fubject to the heavenly voice, while the day of their vifitation and re-
claiming lafteth, wherein they may travel from fin to holiness, from death
to life, by its help and guidance! Oh! why ſhould man periſh? Why ſhould
man hearken to that which hates him, and feeks his deftruction, and ſtop
his ear againſt that which loves him, and warns him of his danger in the
dearneſs of love, and in tenderneſs of bowels towards him ?
J
The END of the FIRST VOLUME.
>
!
INDE X
TO THE
FIRST V
VO OLUM E.
A
A.
POSTASY, Pofitions concern-
ing the Apoftafy from the Chri-
ftian Spirit and Life, Page 1. 7.
26. 28. 32. 34. How fo great Deceit
fhould get up in the World ſo near
the Apoſtles Days, 245. What hath
been the Eftate of God's People fince
Antichrift got up, 246. Some Con-
fiderations of the Apoftafy, 446..
C:
CHRISTIANS, a Teftimony of great
Concernment to all that call themſelves
fo, 57. What is a Chriftian's Rule,
8. A true Chriftian muft abide in
Chrift, 415.
CHRIST, no Salvation but by the true
Knowledge of Chrift, 34. Concerning
his Perfon, 266. Knowledge of Chriſt
is Life eternal, 414. By recommend-
ing the inward Work, not to make void
what was done without by Chriſt in his
Perfon, 529. Concerning Chrift, 596.
The Way of knowing him, 597. 690..
Of his outward and inward Manifefta-
tion, 694. Directions to Chrift, 705.
His Manifeſtation, 708.
CHURCH, the true Church defcribed,
22, 678. Brief Hiſtory of the State
of it fince the Days of the Apoftles,
206. True and falfe Church, how
they prevail, 243. The Authority and
Government which Chrift excluded out
of his Church, 314. Of the falfe
Church and Miniftry, 418. Concern-
ing Church Power, 430. Queſtions
and Anſwers concerning the
Church, 545. State under the Gof-
pel, 672.
true
COUNCILS may err, and have erred,
238. Have not ſeen the State of the
true Church, 348.
COVENANT, concerning the new Cove-
nant, 35. The old Covenant proved
not to be perpetual, 354. New Co-
venant diſtinguiſhed from the old, 355.
Concerning the two Covenants, 650.
CROSS, how to know and take up the
Crofs of Chrift, 52.
CROOKE, John, his Letter to Ifaac Pe--
nington, 561.
£..
1
:
IN DE E
E.
EXERCISES, the Benefit of them, 519,
&c. 523.
F.
FAITH, the true Faith loft in the Apo-
ſtaſy, 16. A Diſtinction between the
Faith which is of Man, and the Faith
which is of God, 184. Some Affer-
tions concerning Faith, 189. Con-
cerning Faith, 599.
FALLING from a good State, Poffibility
of it, 634. How to witneſs Preferva-
tion, and how fuch who have fallen
may be recovered, 635.
G.
GODLINESS, the Form of it fatisfying
Profeffors, inftead of the Power, 426,
427, 428, 429.
H.
HOPE, the true Hope, Joy, and Peace
deſcribed, are loft in the Apoftafy, 18.
Concerning Hope, 601.
J.
JEWS, their Exceptions againft Chrift's
Appearance, 152. Confiderations pro-
pounded to them, 388. Queftions and
X.
fuch a Light communicated to all Men
fince the Fall, ibid. Being let in, be-
lieved in, and obeyed, fhineth more
and more unto the perfect Day, 240.
That nothing lefs can lead unto eternal
Life, than an eternal Light in Man's
Spirit, ibid. Meaſure of Life to be
kept to, 661.
LIBERTY, concerning, 605.
LETTER, the Knowledge of, avails not
towards obtaining the true Knowledge
of God, 352.
LovE, the true Love loft in the Apo-
ftafy, 16. Concerning Love, 602.
M.
MAN is fallen from God, 334.. By all
his Imaginations or Means he can uſe,
cannot return back to God, or ſo much
as defire it, 336. All Profeffions of
God, fave only fuch as proceed from,
and are held in, the pure Life, are but
as fo many Fig-leaves, or deceitful
Plaifters, which cannot truly heal the
Wound, 339. That the living Seed
of eternal Life hath in it the living Vir-
tue, which alone can heal Man, and
reftore him to God, 340.
MINISTRY, what the true Miniſtry is,
how it hath been loft in the Apoſtaſy,
23. Concerning the Miniftry, 620.
Of Prejudices againſt it, 660.
MINISTERS of the Spirit defcribed, 350.
True Minifters Qualifications, 408,
&c.
0.
Anſwers for opening their Eyes, 500, OBEDIENCE, concerning it, 603.
611.
Joy, concerning, 604.
JUDGMENT, concerning, 623.
JUSTIFICATION, concerning, 62. 606.
709.
L.
LIGHT, if to be found fhining from
God, it cannot err, 239. Must be
P.
PEACE, concerning, 604.
PENINGTON, Ifaac, Account of his
Experiences, in Thomas Elwood's
Teftimony, p. xxxv. In the Preface
to the Way of Life and Death, and
56. 73. 99. 172. 256. 331. 345. 417.
498.
I
X.
N
DE
498. 532. 554, 570. 578, 616. 627.
630. 642.
PERFECTION, Quakers Belief of it,
269. Poffibility of it, 411.
PERSECUTION, not to be always fled
from, 286. 292. To bring the Sword
of the Magiftrate into the Work of
Chrift's Spirit and Power is irregular,
309. Concerning Perfecution, 462,
&c.
PRAYER, is a Means, 204. Concern-
ing true and falfe Prayer, 406. Of
Prayer, 605.
PRESENCE of God in his People, a La-
mentation over the Lofs of it fince the.
Days of the Apoftles, 72.
POPERY, when this Nation was rent
from Popery, whether it did wait on the
Lord for the Guidance of his Spirit
and Power, thereby to build up a true
Church and Habitation for God in the
Spirit, 228. Root of Popery truck
at, 238.
POPE may err, 238.
PROFESSORS, fome Advice and Coun-
fel to, 529. Queries to, 563.
Q:
QUAKERS, People fo called, A brief Ac-
count of what they are, and what their
Work is in the World, 59. Exceptions
againſt their Doctrine anfwered, 165.
Reaſons why they cannot do fome
Things, and forbear doing of Others,
218. Their Conduct not fuch as to
warrant the Perfecuting of them, 260.
272. Their Doctrines not deftructive
to Fundamental Truths of Religion,
262. Their Carriage towards Magi-
ftrates, and how they honour them, 274.
Whether the Baniſhment of them upon
Pain of Death was juft, 281. Their
entering into any Country, or Place,
when fent of the Lord, no Invaſion or
Intrufion, for which they ought to be
put to Death, 282. Toleration of
them not hurtful, 299. How they
plead Confcience, 307. Anſwer to
that Objection againſt them, that they
condemn all but themſelves, 425.
What they defire in Reference to the
Civil Government, 453. Brief Ac-
count of Stubbornness objected againſt
them, 477. Some Account of them
in their firft Appearance, 631. Sub-
ſtance of their Religion, 685.
R.
RECONCILIATION, concerning, 609.
REDEMPTION, fome Queſtions and
Anſwers conducing towards opening
the Path of it, 518. 610.
REGENERATION, concerning, 605.
RELIGION, fome Queries about it, 587.
Of the Perfuafions of Reafon and Faith
in Matters of Religion, 590.
REPENTANCE, true Repentance, Con-
verfion, and Regeneration deſcribed 45
are loft in the Apoftafy, 18. Concern-
ing Repentance, 598.
S.
SABBATH, or Reft of Believers, diftin-
guiſhed from the Reft or Sabbath of the
Jews, 360. An Epiftle to fuch as ob-
ferve the Seventh Day for the Sabbath,
364. Queries of W. Salters, tending
to enforce the Obfervation of the Jewish
Sabbath, anſwered, 367. Letters on
the fame Subject anſwered, 377, &c.
Explication of the Mystery of the Six
Days Labour, and Seventh Day's Sab-
bath, 384.
SANCTIFICATION, concerning, 608.
SCRIPTURES, What they are, IO.
Man may err in his Interpretation of
them, 239. Concerning their being a
perfect Rule of Faith and Life, 267.
Not intended to be the principal Rule
of the Children of the New Covenant,
288. How rightly made ufe of, &c.
304. Of Reading them aright, 692.
SPIRIT, Firft Step in Religion is to
know how to meet with God's Spirit;
and the firft Way of meeting with the
Spirit of God is as a Convincer of Sin,
36.
I..
E X.
Zi
N
D
U.
36. That whereby the Spirit of God
convinceth, is his Light fhining in the
Confcience; and that this Light con- UNITY, concerning it, 626. 638.
vincing of Sin, fhineth in every Con-
fcience. 37, 38. The true Way to
Life, is by believing in the Light of the
Spirit, 38. Believing in the Light of
the Spirit unites to God, 39.
T.
TENDERNESS diftinguiſhed, 664.
TRINITY, Quakers Belief of, 264.
TRUTH, The Wife, the Learned, the
great Difputants have always been the
Enemies and Oppofers of Truth, 341.
The Principle of Truth, 696. Na-
ture of God's Truth, 7.12.
W.
WAR, the Cauſe of it. What brings out
of it, 445, &c.
•
WISDOM, true Wiſdom, Righteouſneſs,
Sanctification, and Redemption de-
fcribed. How loft in the Apoſtaſy, 19.
The fleshly Wiſdom to be taken heed
of, 50. Wiſdom of this World un-
derſtands not the Things of God, 341.
Selfiſh Wiſdom to watch againft, 487.
WORSHIP, The true Worſhip was loft
in the Apoftafy, what it is, 14. Con-.
cerning the Worſhip of God, 490..
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F
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​ARTES
LIBRARY
1837
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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