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<DATE>2010-05-04</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
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<P>A TESTIMONY FOR THE TRUTH, And again&s;t DECEIT and DECEIVERS, WITH A <HI>Reproof</HI> unto tho&s;e who are not Faithful to the <HI>Truth</HI> which they are convinced of.</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> Stephen Smith.</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>I&s;aiah 26.11.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not &s;ee: but they &s;hall &s;ee, and be a&s;hamed for their Envy at the People.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 12.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Lord, thou wilt ordain Peace for us; for thou ha&s;t wrought all our works in us.</P></Q>
<P>Printed in the Year, 1668.</P>
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<HEAD>A Te&s;timony for the TRUTH, and again&s;t <HI>Deceit</HI> and <HI>Deceivers,</HI> with a Reproof unto tho&s;e who are not faithfull to the Truth which they are Convinced of.</HEAD>
<P>FOr as much as it hath plea&s;ed the Lord in his great love and tender mercy to vi&s;it many who have been long covered with Darkne&s;s, and drawn by the Subtilty of the Serpent, working in a My&s;tery within, and without in his In&s;truments, from enjoying that Love and great Riches which is declared of in the Scriptures of Truth, which &s;hould be revealed in the latter dayes, in his Everla&s;ting and Unchangable Covenant; which Promi&s;e of the Lord many who had true breathing after him, and could not be &s;atis|fied with feeding with Swine upon Husks, but truly breathed after Living Refre&s;hment, and after that Bread which nouri&s;heth that Birth which is Eternal, and have delighted in the righteous Judgments of the Lord, over the Enemy and Oppre&s;&s;or of Mans Soul, through which Judgments the Love of God hath greatly been manife&s;t, ha|ving thereby brought to the knowledge of his Everla&s;ting and Un|changable Truth, to the exceeding great refre&s;hment and &s;atisfaction of the Souls of many thou&s;ands, who have earne&s;tly de&s;ired the &s;ame before the World and all its glory; and having received the &s;ame in the Love of it, and known Freedom by it, in the Injoyment of the &s;ame do meet together, as the manner and practice was of tho&s;e who lived in the Fear and Dread of the Lord in the Primitive times; &s;o now in the pure Fear and Obedience to the ju&s;t and equal requirings of their Creator (who&s;e Wayes are Equal, Right and Ju&s;t) meets together to wait on him, to the end they may be refre&s;hed and fed with the &s;ame Bread of Life, that &s;o the Plant which the Lord hath planted may grow, that &s;o they may be changed from glory to glory, till at length they may come to bear the Image of the Heavenly, whereas formerly they have born the Image of the Earthly; and tho&s;e who &s;o meet in the Spirit of Truth, can truely &s;ay they never waited
<PB N="4" REF="3">on the Lord in vain, but do witne&s;s true refre&s;hment from the God of Love, whether a word be &s;poken in their Meetings or no; &s;o that they can truly &s;ing in their Spirits of Mercy and of Judgements, for|a&s;much as the Lord hath mixed Mercy with Judgments, and hath not executed Judgment without Mercy, in which hath greatly appeared his wonderfull Love to lo&s;t Mankind, of which great and un&s;peakable Love, there are this day (to the Glory and Prai&s;e of his great Name, even from his own Works) thou&s;ands of Living Witne&s;&s;es, and hun|dreds have laid down their Lives in Na&s;ty Holes, and Stinking Pri&s;ons, and many have been Bani&s;hed, and many have &s;uffered cruel Mockings, &amp; many thou&s;ands the Spoiling of their Goods, who&s;e Righteous Te|&s;timony through the Eternal Spirit of Love and Truth they have glad|ly born in this Day of Gods Power, to the exceeding Comfort and Refre&s;hment of all that are faithfull Followers of the Lamb, but is, and &s;hall be to the a&s;toni&s;hment of all who per&s;i&s;t in their Di&s;obedi|ence again&s;t the Spirit of Truth, and continue in their Rebellion again&s;t it, and this righteous Te&s;timony, through all who are true Wor&s;hippers in the Spirit and Truth, who are led and guided in all their wayes by the Spirit of truth, being Sons and Daughters of the Living God, &s;o greatly beloved by him; &s;o that tho&s;e that touch them in a wrongfull manner do touch the Apple of his Eye, who crea|ted all things for his Glory; and though his Mercy is great in not ex|ecuting Judgement &s;peedily, but gives &s;pace and time of Repentance, yet if they mind it not, but let the Day of Gods Love pa&s;s over their heads, that Terrible Voice they &s;hall hear; <HI>My Spirit &s;hall &s;trive no more,</HI> let Fle&s;h know that its but Gra&s;s, &amp; when the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it, it &s;hall fade as a Flower, and that in a moment, when his Anger is kindled, which may be when the Worker of Iniquity is in the height of his vain glory, and greate&s;t boa&s;ting: &s;o as that righ|teous Te&s;timony (through all who are in the true Innocent Seed, un|to which all the Ble&s;&s;ings and the Promi&s;es of the Lord are) doth &s;tand as a true Witne&s;s of the Lords great Love in this day wherein he is making known his great Power again&s;t all Workers of Iniquity, and unrighteous Actions, and deceitfull Workers, who can feign and flatter with all &s;orts of debauched Per&s;ons, and all di&s;&s;embling Hypo|crites, Per&s;ons of un&s;table minds, joyning with the cunning, twi&s;ting, twining Serpent, in all its appearances, in their earthly, &s;en&s;ual, and devilli&s;h wi&s;dom, being in the Adulterous whori&s;h &s;pirit, degenerated
<PB N="5" REF="3">from the Spirit of Truth, holding a Profe&s;&s;ion of the Faith of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t with re&s;pect of Per&s;ons, receiving honour, and gi|ving honour, according to the Cu&s;toms and vain Traditions of the World, by which means they have no knowledge of that Honour which is from Above: yet notwith&s;tanding the&s;e great Abominations which they commit in the &s;ight of the Lord, and all them which lives in their faithful Te&s;timony again&s;t them, yet they lean upon the Lord, and thinks there &s;hall come no evil upon them; but except &s;uch do &s;peedily repent, and turn from their Abominations, and bow to the righteous Te&s;timony of God in them, which &s;hews them the deceit|fulne&s;s of their heares, to the end they may above, and before all, de|&s;ire a clean heart, and a right Spirit, that &s;o they may be &s;ingle heart|ed toward their Creator, and all men; which except that be known, the Lord will &s;end a day upon them, wherein &s;hall be weeping, and howling, and bitter Lamentation; and their Torment &s;hall be &s;o great, that in the Morning they &s;hall wi&s;h it were Night, and at Night they &s;hall wi&s;h for Morning, and many &s;hall de&s;ire Death rather then Life: So I greatly de&s;ire that all People would mind, in coolne&s;s, how it &s;tands between them and their Creator, and deal impartially with them&s;elves, for, of a certain, God will not be mocked, but &s;uch as they &s;ow, &s;uch they mu&s;t reap: So all mind <HI>the Fear of the Lord, which is to depart from Evil,</HI> that &s;o the <HI>Cur&s;e</HI> of the Lord may be done away, and his <HI>Ble&s;&s;ing</HI> known and received.</P>
<P>And tho&s;e that comes among&s;t the Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ors of Truth, who have heard the &s;ound of it, and &s;o a belief is rai&s;ed in their hearts, that God is found by them that diligently &s;eek him in the Way of Truth; many there be that are thus per&s;waded, and &s;o frequent Meetings (to|gether with them that are in the work of Truth) in a bare Profe&s;&s;i|on of Truth, never throughly given up to the end that Truth may be their <HI>Guide</HI> in all their wayes, but comes and &s;its down with &s;ome re|&s;erve in their hearts, which they covet to keep, as <HI>Achan</HI> did the goodly Babyloni&s;h Garment, which was appointed for the Fire; but for &s;o doing the Cur&s;e of the Lord followed him, though his cove|tou&s;ne&s;s was a trouble to the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> for a time, yet at length God made it manife&s;t; and &s;o will the Lord do tho&s;e who comes among&s;t <HI>Friends</HI> with a re&s;erve in their hearts; that which is appointed for the Fire, they that covet to keep, notwith&s;tanding the many Pre|cious Meetings they come to, and hear their conditions plainly laid
<PB N="6" REF="4">open to them, yet &s;till con&s;ulting with Fle&s;h and Blood, which will never yeeld that true obedience &s;hould be given to the Lord, &s;o can|not amend, but continue in the &s;ame cour&s;e of life, for not taking heed to the Councel of the Lord, nor giving wholy up to be guided by the Spirit of Truth; &s;uch are not in the Way of Truth, but &s;it down as dead Branches by tho&s;e of the Vine; but their Fruit doth manife&s;t them: for tho&s;e that deals &s;o deceitfully with their own Hearts, how can it be expected they &s;hould be true to others? &s;o &s;uch becomes an ill &s;avour to Truth, as long as they continue &s;o, and a burthen and a trouble to them that are in the way of growing in the Truth; but let them know who harden their hearts again&s;t Reproof, and though they do come among&s;t them that lives in the Fear and Dread of the Lord, and &s;o meet together that they may receive a continual &s;upply of the Bread of Life, and enjoy the Pre&s;ence of the Lord; yet their &s;o coming with a re&s;erve in their heart, they cannot profit by it: So at length, &s;eeing they cannot bring the Way of the Lord to their way, they begin to grow cold in meeting, and &s;o by de|grees the Enemy draws out the mind, and then gets room for his con|&s;ultations, and &s;o per&s;wades them to wait no longer, but that all Places are alike: and &s;o at length &s;ome gets into the Ma&s;s-Hou&s;e, with other &s;illy People <HI>laden with &s;ins, ever learning, and never able to come to the Truth;</HI> and begins to per&s;wade them&s;elves, (or the Enemy of their Souls per&s;wades them) that there is little difference in the Declarati|on of the Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t and Antichri&s;t; their words, &s;ay they, are all good, and &s;o begins to build <HI>Babel</HI> again, having rejected that Love which did appear for their Everla&s;ting good, having cho&s;en to plea&s;e them&s;elves in &s;ome &s;mall thing, which they could not part with, though no better then a Me&s;s of Pottage, for which many have &s;old an Eternal inheritance; &s;o with <HI>Cain</HI> they are in the Cur&s;e, wander|ing up and down in that which is cur&s;ed of the Lord, and not beloved of good men; &s;o the Lord hath dealt ju&s;tly in making them manife&s;t, <HI>They went out from us, becau&s;e they were not of us,</HI> but their reward will follow them. And many others there be that comes to Meetings, and hears Truth declared often, and confe&s;&s;eth its the Truth, but when they &s;ee, if they come to obey, they mu&s;t take up a Cro&s;s to Fle&s;h, either in denying to fear man, or el&s;e hazard of lo&s;ing Goods, and &s;ome their Companions and Acquaintance, (though it may be in ini|quity) and &s;uch like Baits the Enemy of mans Soul hath ready, for
<PB N="7" REF="4">that mind which is willing to catch at them, to &s;ave that alive which is in the Cur&s;e; &s;o &s;ometimes they come, and &s;ometimes &s;tay away, and then come again, and the Enemy of their Souls gets a wound now and then; but for want of giving up, at length the Enemy begins to be whole again, and &s;o the Spirit of the Lord is grieved and quench|ed by degrees, and the Enemy grows &s;tronger and &s;tronger; and at length he gets the&s;e Rea&s;ons in the Creature, becau&s;e the Enemy knows many will not be &s;atisfied without &s;ome plau&s;ible Rea&s;on; &s;o he tells many, why thou art but a poor Creature, or you are but poor Creatures, and what can you do without power? &s;o here the willing mind readily catches at this bait: and then when they are asked, why they give not up, O &s;ay they, we want power, O that I had but power to do &s;o and &s;o, how joyfull &s;hould I be; and &s;uch like &s;tuff the Enemy furni&s;heth them withal, who are willing to receive it, and in the mean time &s;lights the appearance of Chri&s;t, (the Light, in whom Power is received) by grieving and quenching his Holy Spirit of Truth, in which is the greate&s;t manife&s;tation of Love that God could be&s;tow on lo&s;t Mankind, in making manife&s;t his Son in their hearts, for the re|deeming them up unto him&s;elf, out of their lo&s;t condition, in the na|ture of <HI>Adam</HI> in the fall, up into the Nature of the Second <HI>Adam,</HI> which never fell: but how is this Love of God &s;lighted by tho&s;e who thus wilfully yeelds to the Enemy of their Souls, and rejecting the Lord, who &s;earcheth the Heart, and tryeth the Reins, and then &s;ay they want power; and its true, when people have given them&s;elves up to the power of the Enemy, who&s;e nature is to do all the hurt he can, they may well &s;ay then they want power to do good, that being di&s;|e&s;teemed and accounted of as a thing of nought, having ca&s;t behind them the great Love of God in his Son, and embraced &s;omething which the Enemy hath &s;et before them, as &s;ome glory in the World, and the like; but as he was alwayes a Lyar, (the Devil) &s;o will he be found in this; for in&s;tead of giving them the glory of the World, he is fitting them for Gods Wrath and Indignation, that &s;o when he is ca&s;t out of tho&s;e of more upright hearts, and more thankfull, that he may po&s;&s;e&s;s tho&s;e Swini&s;h natures, and &s;o throw them headlong into a Sea of De&s;truction, with others of the like bad natures, of whom I &s;hall &s;ay &s;omething.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e are they which have heard and &s;een &s;omething of Truth, by reading Books, or &s;peaking with &s;ome in the Truth, who&s;e words
<PB N="8" REF="5">being accompanied with power, proceeding from the Spirit of Truth, they not having been able to re&s;i&s;t, but &s;tanding over them, que&s;ti|onings and rea&s;oning hath been rai&s;ed in them concerning their build|ings, whether or no they be upon the right Foundation; but that be|ing catch'd too, which &s;hews them their conditions &s;o plain, that they have no a&s;&s;urance of their well-being, but in doubtings, and rea&s;on|ings, and fears, through which &s;ecretly torment doth ari&s;e; but their minds being from him that &s;hews them their conditions, which, though it be the greate&s;t Love that God could be&s;tow on lo&s;t Mankind, yet in that it brings a Cro&s;s to fle&s;h, &s;eeing plainly that if they hearken to it, they mu&s;t for&s;ake all their vain cu&s;toms &amp; traditions of the world, with all its Lu&s;ts &amp; Vanities; the&s;e things not agreeing with Fle&s;h &amp; Blood, with which they are con&s;ulting, the mind being drawn from the Wit|ne&s;s for God in their hearts, by their wilfull yeelding to the Enemy of their Souls, who is alwayes ready with his Baits to betray them who de&s;ires ea&s;e in the Fle&s;h, and who&s;e minds are out in &s;tudying Argu|ments to keep them in the &s;ame, the &s;ubtil Serpent being here at work, to the end that the Creature may pertake of his Table, for he knows that then they cannot pertake of Gods Table, as the Scriptures of Truth declares; &s;o at his Table he hands out curious words, in Pray|ers, and hanging down the head like a Bullru&s;h, and with feigning and flattering words to all &s;orts of Deceitfull Workers, and doth help to turn and wind with all &s;orts of Wor&s;hip, which the Bea&s;tly Nature &s;ets up, and &s;o tells them there is Fle&s;h as well as Spirit to be &s;atisfied, and that they mu&s;t live in &s;in, as long as they have a being here; and to others, who&s;e natures be inclined to Lu&s;t, he provides plentifull Di&s;hes for them; and others, who are di&s;po&s;ed to Drunkenne&s;s, he directs them to Companions, and opportunity; and at his Table are variety of Di&s;hes for the Covetous man, or Proud, High, Heady, Boa&s;ter, Cur&s;er, Ranter, for all &s;orts that will come to his Table, he hath curious Di&s;hes in a plentious manner, and in all the&s;e he promi|&s;es content and &s;atisfaction; but as he ever was, &s;o he is, and ever will be a Lyar; for let tho&s;e &s;peak who hath fed mo&s;t plentiful at his Table, if ever they were &s;atisfied, but that the more they fed the more hungry they were; let all all the&s;e forementioned, and Gam&s;ters &s;peak for them&s;elves, and Thieves, and Murtherers, and the like. But in &s;ome he works more in a My&s;tery, and furni&s;heth his Table with curious words, and &s;o feeds them, and decks them; but alwayes at his Table
<PB N="9" REF="5">he hath this Di&s;h for all &s;orts of Profe&s;&s;ors and Prophane, that they mu&s;t live in Sin, in this Life; this is, as it were, a Chain, by which he holds all, that will believe &s;o, fa&s;t to his Table; and then let them be as rich as they will, in comprehending, and getting into the Brain-knowledge the Scriptures, and outward Learning, &s;o though the work grows &s;o high in the My&s;tery of Iniquity, that the Enemy of the Soul hath exalted him&s;elf above all that is called God, and &s;o makes a &s;hew in fine Words, and in long Prayers, and in curious Arts; yet whil&s;t he can keep them in his Chain to his Table, if they cannot have ea&s;e in profe&s;&s;ing in one Sect, he will give them leave to profe&s;s in another Sect; and if that will not &s;erve he will give them leave to go into the profe&s;&s;ion of Truth it &s;elf; and further, to meet together with them in the Truth, any thing but hearing the Voice of the Son of God, and obeying, which brings to the Table of God, and &s;o over|throws his Table; to any thing but this his Chain will reach: Now, as to what is before, tho&s;e that have &s;een &s;omething of Truth, and &s;ome trouble hath by rea&s;on thereof ri&s;en in them, but for love of a little ea&s;e to the fle&s;h, &s;uch their minds being out, willingly goes into the Devils Chain, and &s;o feeds at his Table, where they are furni&s;hed with Arguments again&s;t the Spirit of Truth manife&s;ted to lead and to guide into all truth, and &s;o out of Sin, which is the Devils Chain; but be|ing thus furni&s;hed according to their hearts lu&s;ts, being in the Adul|terous Spirit, takes all occa&s;ion to &s;peak evil of the Truth, and them that are in it, who are true wor&s;hippers of the Lord, according to his Will, in Spirit and Truth; &s;o the god of the World having blinded their minds, an evil eye gets out, and this watches for the halting of them who are in Truth; and when the ju&s;t hand of God is gone out, in making manife&s;t &s;ome who have been in the profe&s;&s;ion of Truth, who have hardned their hearts again&s;t reproof, till at length their hypocri&s;ie and guile is made manife&s;t; on which, they hereby take occa&s;ion to &s;peak evil of the Way of the Lord, and them that are in it, the Enemy of their Souls giving them thereby &s;ome ea&s;e for the pre&s;ent; but it la&s;ts not long, but the Fame of Truth is &s;ounded in their ears again, by the Witne&s;s for God within, or el&s;e from tho&s;e in whom in dwells without them then the Lamb ri&s;eth, and gives torment again, &amp; their Coverings be too narrow, &amp; will not &s;erve them, neither &s;hall they; <HI>Wo to the Rebellious Children &s;aith the Lord, that take Coun|&s;el, but not of me, and that cover with a covering, but not with my Spirit:</HI>
<PB N="10" REF="6">So all unrighteous Coverings which people of un&s;table minds are un|der, the Wo of the Lord is again&s;t, &s;o what will become of them that are under them? O that men would in coolne&s;s con&s;ider, who&s;e day of Gods Vi&s;itation in Love is not pa&s;t, le&s;t by their often provocati|ons, he vi&s;its in his great Di&s;plea&s;ure, and &s;ays <HI>My Spirit is weary with &s;triving, it &s;hall &s;trive no more:</HI> now for the &s;akes of many who have yet true Breathings after Living Refre&s;hment, and are willing to take up Chri&s;ts Yoke and Burthen, and to follow him that is meek and lowly in heart, that &s;o they may find re&s;t for their Souls; for their &s;akes I &s;hall give a brief Relation of the Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t, and of the Mini&s;ters of Antichri&s;t: Fir&s;t, The Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t mu&s;t know Chri&s;t, and &s;ee him, and believe on him, <HI>John</HI> 6.40. But &s;ome will &s;ay, Who is there that knows not Chri&s;t? Doth not all that can read &s;ee what is writ of him in the Scriptures of Truth? And is not that the Ghri&s;t which you mean, who &s;uffered without the Gates of <HI>Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> and the like? Yes, we do own the &s;ame Chri&s;t, and that which the Scriptures do declare of him is true, and we do expect no other; but to know him no further then the report of him, (though that be true) this is but a poor knowledge, which the Workers of Iniqui|ty have, of all &s;orts, that lives vi&s;ibly in gro&s;s and manife&s;t Sins; and notwith&s;tanding that knowledge, yet live and abound in the &s;ame; &s;o that knowledge only (though that, as I have &s;aid, be true) is not &s;ufficient to fit a man to be a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t: But &s;aith the diligent Enquirer. What knowledge then is nece&s;&s;ary for a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t? To know him as he is the My&s;tery hid from Ages and Generations, but now is made manife&s;t to his Saints: to know what is the Riches of the Glory of this My&s;tery among the Gentiles, <HI>which is Chri&s;t in you the Hope of Glory,</HI> Collo&s;. 1.26, 27. To know him as he is a Cove|nant given to the People, and a Light to enlighten them, manife&s;ted within them, to give the knowledge of God; and to know that he is the Light of the World, and how he hath enlightened every man that comes into the World: to know him to be the Word in the Heart and in the Mouth: to know him to be the Reconciler unto God: to know him to be the Anointing, which is true, and teacheth all things: to know him to be the Spirit of Truth, which is manife&s;t to lead and to guide into all Truth: to know Chri&s;ts Fle&s;h, and what it is to each: to know Chri&s;ts Blood, and what it is to drink it: but &s;ome will &s;ay, all this may be read in the Scriptures: But by the way,
<PB N="11" REF="6">thought the words may be read in the Scriptures of Truth, yet the knowledg of the My&s;tery which is declared of in tho&s;e words, is not attainable by reading them: But becau&s;e &s;ome are willingly ignorant, and &s;o de&s;ires to be, rather then to have true wi&s;dom in Gods Way. and &s;o &s;tumbles at all, I &s;hall &s;ay a little concerning &s;eeing the Son, which is nece&s;&s;ary for a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t; Fir&s;t, To &s;ee him to be the great Love of God manife&s;ted to convince of Sin: to &s;ee him to be the wonderfull Power of God, and how that he died, to the end, that whether we &s;leep or wake we &s;hould live together with him: to &s;ee him as he was manife&s;t to de&s;troy the Works of the Devil: to &s;ee him to be the great Mi&s;tery of Godline&s;s, God manife&s;t in the Fle&s;h; and much more might be &s;aid of the knowledge and &s;ight which a true Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t hath, but what hath been &s;aid is enough to &s;a|tisfie the truly hungring and thir&s;ting Soul; but the full loaths the Hony comb: But is this all may the upright-hearted &s;ay? Nay, they that thus have obtained mercy to have the knowledge of what is a|bove declared, mu&s;t receive it in the love of it, and this Love of God thus manife&s;ted in them they mu&s;t give up to obey, being his Ever|la&s;ting and Unchangeable Covenant, which is the Key of Knowledge, manife&s;ted to rend the Vail, and to break the Chain of Darkne&s;s, and to open the My&s;teries of the Scriptures of Truth, and to give the knowledge of God, whom to know is Eternal Life; &s;o Iniquity be|ing taken away, and Sin being purged through the knowledge of Chri&s;t, who is the Power of God, and God known to walk, and to dwell in them through the Son of his Love, who is Gods Righteou&s;|ne&s;s, as God hath &s;aid, <HI>I will dwell in you, and walk in you:</HI> The Eye of the Under&s;tanding being thus opened, and the Revelation of Chri&s;t being daily witne&s;&s;ed to fit and to furni&s;h them with Wi&s;dom from above, to &s;peak a word in &s;ea&s;on unto all conditions; being thus filled with the Love of God, and his Glorious Appearance, a con&s;traint lying upon them, through the Power of God that dwells in them, and from the great Love of God in the &s;ame, &s;uch cannot be &s;ilent, nor eat their Mor&s;el; alone but the Love of God doth con&s;train them who have Wives, and Children, and E&s;tates, and &s;everal others that have no Wives and Children, to leave their Callings, and &s;everal Im|ployments, and go abroad as Sheep among Wolves, to declare this great and un&s;peakable Love, to the end, <HI>That People may be turned from Darkne&s;s to Light, and from Satans power, to the Power of God,</HI>
<PB N="12" REF="7">that others may partake of the &s;ame Love of God in his Son Chri&s;t Je&s;us with them: But for this their love, how Barbarou&s;ly and Cruelly they have been u&s;ed, many having fini&s;hed their Te&s;timony in Na&s;ly Holes, and Pri&s;ons, and other great Cruelties, which would be too long to relate; &s;o the&s;e thus furni&s;hed with the Love and Power of God, and being obedient to the &s;ame, being Learned men in the Book of Life; the&s;e are not to take with them Scrip nor Pur&s;e, &s;o as to be carefull of Earthly things, (but as they have received freely, do mini|&s;ter freely) but into what hou&s;e they come, where this great Love is an&s;wered in the &s;ame Love of God in mea&s;ure, what things &s;uch &s;et before them, for nece&s;&s;ity they eat and drink, and the like, &s;eeing it comes from their Fathers Love: but when they come into a place and cannot &s;ee, in the Coun&s;el of the Lord, that that Love is an&s;wered in which they come, there they cannot receive, though in never &s;o much nece&s;&s;ity. True, &s;ay &s;ome, the&s;e are fit Qualifications for a Mini&s;ter of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; but be there any &s;uch now adayes? How do&s;t thou know them? Yes, I do te&s;tifie, as thou&s;ands be&s;ide my &s;elf are ready to give the &s;ame te&s;timony, that &s;uch Mini&s;ters, qualified, as be|fore mentioned, there be many in this Day of Gods Power: But how do you know, may &s;ome &s;ay? I an&s;wer, By turning us to the great and un&s;peakable Love of God manife&s;ted in our hearts, which &s;hews us our conditions, how it &s;tood between us and our Creator, as it had done long before, but we knew not that this was the appear|ance of the Son of his Love, till tho&s;e who had ta&s;ted, handled, &s;een and &s;elt the powerfull working thereof told us; but told us al&s;o, the fir&s;t &s;tep mu&s;t be through Judgment; &s;o a belief thereof being rai&s;ed, and a clean and a perfect obedience yeelded to it, we in time found its power in us, opening the Eye of our Under&s;tandings, and revealed the m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">n of Sin; and &s;o came the knowledge of the Spirit of Truth to be revealed in us, and by it we had a &s;ight of the unfruitfull Works of Darkne&s;s without in his In&s;truments, and the &s;ight of the Spirit of Truth, and tho&s;e that were Mini&s;ters of it: But notwith&s;tanding this Te&s;timony, if &s;ome &s;hould be hard to believe, let &s;uch deal &s;o ingeniou&s;ly with their own Souls, as to go and hear, and try, with a &s;ingle heart, and hold fa&s;t that which is good; and this is de&s;ired, to the end that others may be partakers of the &s;ame Love of God, and of their a&s;&s;u|rance of their being reconciled unto him through his Son, to whom be glory for ever. Now there being a nece&s;&s;ity that the Mini&s;ters of
<PB N="13" REF="7">Chri&s;t &s;hould be qualified, as is before mentioned, the Mini&s;ters of Antichri&s;t may be ea&s;ily known; but for the &s;akes of &s;uch aforemen|tioned, I &s;hall lay down &s;ome marks of them: Fir&s;t, They are &s;uch who never knew the Son of God in the Everla&s;ting and Unchangable Covenant manife&s;ted in them, &s;o not learned men in the Book of Life, but are alienated from the Life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, not knowing him manife&s;ted in them, who is infallible, but in their fallible wi&s;dom, by the Art of Tongues, gets the Prophets, Chri&s;t, and the Apo&s;tles words, and &s;omething out of Heathen Au|thors, and &s;o in their vain imaginations patches up an hours Di&s;|cour&s;e; and &s;o for the love they have for their god, which is their Belly, they &s;ell their Art at as dear a price as they can, for &s;everal hun|dreds by the year, &s;ome for more, and &s;ome for le&s;s, but all as dear as po&s;&s;ible; as I heard a Prie&s;t &s;ay once, if it were not for Tythes who as would &s;hould preach for him: but this being &s;o well known to all, that its alone for their god, which is their Belly, that their Mouthes is open|ed, there is little need to &s;peak of that, the&s;e being Sayers, but not Doers, &s;o not accepted of God; the&s;e are they which run and are not &s;ent, which &s;peaks a divination of their own Brain, &s;o not like to pro|fit the people, you may read of them at large <HI>Ezekiel</HI> the thirteenth, read the Chapter; from &s;uch Prie&s;ts and Prophets as the&s;e is Pro|fanene&s;s gone forth in all the Land, read <HI>Jeremiah</HI> the twenty third; &s;o they are &s;ufficiently markt out in the Scriptures of Truth. But &s;ome &s;ay, we know all the Prie&s;ts now adayes are bad enough, and the &s;moothe&s;t of them preaches for filthy lucre &s;ake, but they &s;peak good words; &s;o we may do as they &s;ay, and not as they do: O fooli&s;h Peo|ple, is it not becau&s;e you love &s;uch ea&s;ie Prophets, who &s;peaks peace to you in your Sins, that you thus &s;peak? have you not heard what the Scriptures of Truth &s;ayes? <HI>Do men gather Grapes of therns, or Figs of Thi&s;tles? By their Fruits you may know them:</HI> Should we not count him a very Fool that &s;hould go look for Figs on Thi&s;tles, or &s;weet wa|ter out of a bitter Fountain? What if they &s;hould &s;ay the Lord lives, that is a true &s;aying to them which knows it in them&s;elves; but its a Lye to them who &s;ay it, and knows the contrary in them; but the&s;e Prie&s;ts which Peach for Hire, cry Peace to men whil&s;t they put into their Mouthes, to the end their god may be &s;upplyed, which cau&s;es and con&s;trains their Mouthes to be open; but in ca&s;e you deny to put into their Mouthes, then, <HI>Demetrius</HI> like, prepares War; crying out,
<PB N="14" REF="8">we have a Law, and if you wont pay, we will make you pay: But by the way, what compul&s;ive Law of man doth Chri&s;ts Mini&s;ters u&s;e, or were they to u&s;e? prove any &s;uch thing in the Scriptures of Truth, that they were to compel any man to give to them: now, if God hath appointed no &s;uch Maintenance by his Righteous Covenant and Law; Is it not &s;tealth in his &s;ight, to compel and take that by mans Law, which God hath not appointed in his Law? Look about you Prie&s;ts, for the Righteous Judge will &s;it in Judgment, and to the Lambs Bar to give an account you mu&s;t come, and then the twi&s;ting Serpent will &s;tand you in no &s;tead, but all things will be laid bare before you, what e&s;teem you have had of your god, which is your Belly, for the &s;erving of which, how have you yeelded unto the lying Spirit, and &s;o like <HI>Ahabs</HI> Prophets per&s;waded &amp; in&s;tigated many to go on in Per&s;ecution, though to their de&s;truction. Have you not told the Magi&s;trates that the Quakers are Ring-Leaders of Faction, though you never come to their Meetings, nor never examined the cau&s;e why they di&s;&s;ented from you; nor never heard that they went about to di&s;turb or mole&s;t any, of their outward injoyments, but barely becau&s;e they bore a faithfull Te|&s;timony again&s;t the twi&s;ting twining Serpent, the great Enemy of mans Soul; which Spirit of Error your god cannot be &s;erved without: &s;o a great &s;tir and ado you make, in being In&s;truments of ca&s;ting into Pri|&s;on, haling and tearing away the Goods, and the like, from tho&s;e who lives in the Fear and Dread of the Lord God Almighty, and in peace with men, though in enmity with the Serpent, the Enemy of mans Soul: &s;o the innocent blood which hath been &s;hed in Na&s;ty Holes, and Stinking Pri&s;ons, cries aloud unto the Righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth, who is Lord of all, who created all at his plea|&s;ure, and can de&s;troy all in the &s;ame; tho&s;e that be innocent, out of the revengefull &s;pirit, have committed them&s;elves, and &s;o cannot u&s;e any compul&s;ive way, with Weapons that are Carnal, but in plain De|mon&s;tration and Power of the Spirit of Truth, and their innocent Cau&s;e to the Judge of all they have committed, to be cleared in his will and time, who will a&s;&s;uredly do it. But further to clear that you are the Mini&s;ters of Antichri&s;t, if, notwith&s;tanding what is declared, any yet be in doubt: Hearken what Chri&s;t &s;aith to the Wicked, <HI>I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thir&s;ty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a &s;tranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye cloathed me not: &s;ick, and in pri&s;on, and vi&s;ited me not. Then &s;hall they al&s;o an&s;wer
<PB N="15" REF="8">him, &s;aying, Lord, when &s;aw we thee an hungred, or thir&s;ty, or a &s;tranger, or &s;ick, or in pri&s;on, and did not mini&s;ter unto thee? Then &s;hall he an&s;wer them, &s;aying, Verily I &s;ay unto you, ina&s;much as ye did it not to one of the lea&s;t of the&s;e, ye did it not to me; and the&s;e &s;hall go away into everla&s;t|ing puni&s;hment,</HI> Matth. 25. In the &s;ame Chapter he &s;hews the Righte|ous mans love, and his reward; and how did they expre&s;s their love to Chri&s;t? Did they do it in &s;peaking great words of his Name? No, as you may read, they vi&s;ited his Brethren in their nece&s;&s;ities: &s;o mark by the way, there were Righteous men, and now are, though the Mini&s;ters of Antichri&s;t for their gods &s;ake, would have all err and &s;tray again from the Lords way; but the Pearl for which they have &s;old all and bought, is of more value then &s;o; but &s;ince Chri&s;t hath Bre|thren, are not they them which are led by the Spirit of Truth? and if people be given up to obey it, will it not lead them out of the Spi|rit of Error? If &s;o, then mu&s;t they not depart from your wayes, who are in the Revengefull Spirit? Well then, &s;ince tho&s;e that are led by the Spirit are Sons of God, as the Scriptures of Truth declare, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. and Heirs with Chri&s;t; for he that &s;anctifieth, and them that are &s;anctified are all of one, wherefore he is not a&s;hamed to call them Brethen: now &s;ince there is &s;uch a unity between Chri&s;t and his Fol|lowers, Shall it avail them any thing, who call upon Chri&s;t, yet per|&s;ecute &s;o near Relations, as his Brethren? And &s;ince tho&s;e that vi&s;ited them not in their nece&s;&s;ities, received &s;uch condemnation, what will become of you? And you, Generation of wicked Doers, who have been the cau&s;e of the Impri&s;oning &s;o many of Chri&s;ts Relations, where &s;everal hundreds have laid down their lives for their faithfull Te&s;timo|ny again&s;t you, becau&s;e of your Adultery from the Lord, and his Wor&s;hip, which is to be performed in Spirit and Truth, and have &s;et up wor&s;hips according to your own hearts Lu&s;t: and becau&s;e of the Lords Patience, and Long-&s;uffering, and great Mercy, how do you harden your hearts again&s;t Reproofs, and for good return evil, and &s;o go on &s;coffing and mocking: well, though the Lord hath exerci&s;ed a great deal of patience, its my belief, it will not la&s;t long; but he will execute Righteous Judgment, and plead the Cau&s;e of the Innocent, who hath committed all to him, with Prai&s;es and Glory from his own Works for ever.</P>
<CLOSER><DATE><HI>The</HI> 21th <HI>day of the</HI> 11th <HI>Moneth,</HI> 1667.</DATE>
<SIGNED>Stephen Smith.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>THE END.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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</ETS>
