see yourselves, which eye is the light, and this light will let you see God; but if your minds go forth, the God of this world cometh in and takes the dominion, and so your minds are blinded, and your understandings darkened therefore every one, what you possess, profess, for the saints were what they spoke; and every one as Christ hath given you a measure, according to your ability, mind your measure, and improve your measure, and let the saints' conditions alone, but as you find them fulfilled in you; and lay aside all contention, and striving about words, which is no profit, but mind the pure light of God within, which will teach every one to know God, and so every one must improve his talent, and improve his measure according to his ability; so every one will be rewarded according to his works, whether they be good or evil.

And thou that sayest every one hath not the light, who art the blind Pharisee, I shall stop thy mouth with a few words, which the servants of God hath spoken forth. Christ himself saith, which is the true light, he doth enlighten every one that cometh into the world, and the one he loveth it, and the other he hateth it. And this is the condemnation of the world, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil; and thou that sayest he doth not enlighten every one that cometh into the world, and there thou art a false prophet, and a witness against Christ; and thou that sayest the grace of God hath not appeared to all men to teach them, thou art he that turnest the grace of God into wantonness; and to thee the grace hath appeared, for that is grace that shews the ungodliness and worldly lusts, and there thou goest to make the apostle a liar, when the grace of God, he saith, (which we witness,) hath appeared to all men, which teacheth us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live godly, and soberly, and righteously in this present world; and this grace hath appeared to thee who livest wickedly and ungodly, and art of this present world; to that in thy conscience I appeal, which thou shalt eternally witness, for to it the grace cometh and appears; and when the book of conscience is opened, all men shall be judged out of it: and here thou that sayest every one hath not the light in his conscience to exercise it, thou goest about to make God unjust; for the light which lets man see sin and evil, is a perfect light of God; and thou that sayest every one hath not a measure of light within them, to shew them all their works and actions which they do, thou goest about to make God unjust, and unrighteous, and to keep the creature in darkness, for God saith he will give to every one a reward according to their works; and if he had not a light how should he see his works, and how should the world be judged in righteousness? But blind hypocrites must show themselves, that they may openly appear blind to all them that are in the light, and love the light; and you that hate the light, there is your condemnation.

THE FOLLOWING PAPER WAS PUBLISHED 1654,

WITH SEVERAL PAPERS OF OTHER FRIENDS.

To all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, mercy and peace be multiplied unto you.

WHO have been scattered abroad in the cloudy dark day from mountain to mountain, and worshipping that which you know not, following the imagination of others, which they spake from the divination of their own brain,* and not from the mouth of the Lord,† shepherds that fed themselves, and clothed themselves with the wool, and sought after the fleece, and so made a prey upon us, and upon the people. Our God (as he promised, saying, I will gather my sheep from your mouths, and seek them which have been scattered in the cloudy dark day) hath gathered us, and doth feed us upon the mountain in a good pasture; and so we witness the promise of the Lord fulfilled: and as the Lord said I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, through that one shepherd Jesus Christ; herein do we witness the Lord fulfilling the scriptures in us, and I witness the lost sheep is found, and the Lord hath brought back again that which was driven away; and here do we deny all the teachers of the world, who speak a divination of their own brain,§ and not from the mouth of the Lord ;|| for who spoke from the mouth of the Lord, denied them then; so do we by the same word: and we deny all them that seek for gain from their quarters, which are greedy dumb dogs, as the scripture saith; and all those who take the people's money, and sell the letter, which was spoken forth freely; for Isaiah that spake from the mouth of the Lord, he denied such things, and bid all come freely, without money, and without price, to hear the voice of the Lord, that their souls might live, and to make with them an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David: and this covenant I do witness; therefore I deny with the same word, wherewith they spake, the same things the scripture denieth, and all those that bear rule by their means, and hirelings which preach for hire, and prophecy for money. For Jeremy, who had the eternal word, denied such things,** Micah denied such things;tt and Jesus Christ who was the word, said, the hireling would flee, because he is an hireling and this word the Lord hath made manifest, which gathers our hearts together up to God, and opens to us the scriptures,§§ whereby we see the deceits of the

• Ezek. 34. 12. Isa. 65. 10, 11, 12. # John 10. 13, 14

† Jer. 23.

Isa. 55. 1, 2, 3, 4. §§ 2 Cor. 5. 19.

Ezek. 34. 23. ** Jer. 5. 30, 31.

§ Jer. 23. 16. tt Mic. 3. 11.

Priests of the world now, of the same generation and nature, and acting those things there is no scripture for, which the holy men of God did not practice. And for taking tythes, in the old time Levi was to receive tythes, and the strangers, the fatherless and widows were to come and eat, and be filled within his gate; but this was according to the law; and here you see the priests of the world do not act according to the law, in which were types and figures of Christ; and when Christ was come, those he sent forth were not to have a bag, nor a stick to defend them, nor two coats, nor brass, nor silver; but freely ye have received, freely give the workman is worthy of his meat; so they neither walk according to the law, nor the gospel, therefore, we deny them; and the minister of Jesus Christ, which went into the world, they had no portion of the world, but whipping, stocking, prisoning.‡

But they, that were gathered out of the world in the eternal word, which met together, and were of one heart, one mind, one soul, to such they said, if we minister unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if you minister to us carnal things? This was spoken to them upon whom the end of the world was come; and this I do witness, what the scripture doth say: God commanded an outward temple, circumcision, the sabbath, given as figures and types, and shadows of Jesus Christ;|| but when Jesus Christ, the substance was come, and when he was crucified and risen, who believed in him, preached his resurrection, and so went up and down in the synagogues, and into the temple, reasoning and disputing with them that held them up, to bring them out of the figure, up to Jesus Christ, who was the substance; so all which were gathered together in the substance, met together, and then the church was in God,** and they denied the outward temple, which God commanded, being made the temples of God;tt and denied circumcision outwardly, being circumcised with the spirit; and denied the Jewish sabbath outwardly, and observing days;§§ for he that believes is entered into his rest, and hath ceased from his own work, even as God from his.|||| And all those now, who have received Jesus Christ the substance, who is the head of the church, deny all types and figures of him, and do witness the scriptures fulfilled; and Jesus Christ, who is the mediator between God and man, being made manifest in them, makes them all of one mind, and one heart, and to deny the priests of the world, who profess him in words, and act those things he forbids.TT

As, first, sprinkling of infants, and telling people they baptize them

into the faith, into the church, which there is no scripture for; but the baptism by one spirit into one body, this we own; and the church is in God, as Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus wrote to the church of the Thessalonians, which was in God. And they tell people of a sacrament, for which there is no scripture; that we do deny, and them; but the Supper of the Lord we own: the bread that we break is the communion of the body of Christ, the cup we drink is the communion of the blood of Christ, all made to drink into one spirit. And the singing of psalms after their manner, we deny; for they sing David's tremblings, quakings and roarings; this they have turned into metre; as if we should see one of you lie roaring and crying, till his eyes should grow dim, and watering his bed with tears, and we should turn it into metre, and make a rhyme of it, and take it, and go among a company of ignorant people, and say, let us sing to the praise and glory of God. O Lord, I am not puffed in mind, I have no scornful eye, when they are puffed in minds, and have scornful eyes: and when they read the psalms, they keep on their hats, and when they sing them, they keep off their hats; here they worship the work of their own hands; all such practices we deny: but we will sing with the spirit, we will sing with grace, we will sing with understanding, praises, praises unto the Lord God on high. And they speak a divination of their own brain, and not from the mouth of the Lord;|| and such the Lord sent his prophets to cry out against ;¶ all these now who study a divination of their own brain, and speak not from the mouth of the Lord, we do deny and all who are made ministers by Oxford and Cambridge, bred up with learning, and so made ministers by the will of men,** and speak natural languages, as Hebrew and Greek, and say that is the original, which a natural man may learn, and the natural man knows not the things of God, and all such we do deny ; for Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, in the Jewish religion, but that did not make him a minister of Jesus Christ; for he declares that he was not made a minister by the will of man, nor of man, neither by man, but by the will of God, and all such I own, who stand out of the will of man, denying all carnal ends; for this ministry draws up to God out of the world, and doth not respect any man's person, but ministers to that which is in prison. But those teachers which are made by man, say, the letter is the light, the letter is the word; the four§§ books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, is the gospel, when the letter saith, Christ is the glad tidings which was promised, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, and this we witness to be fulfilled.

* 1 Cor. 12. 13. † 1 Thes. 1. 1. 1 Cor. 10. 15, 16, 17. § Psal. 6. 6. & 131. 1. 1 Cor. 14. 15. ¶ Col. 3. 16. ** 1 Cor. 2. 14. Gal. 1. 14. & 1. 1. ## 1 Pet. 3. 19. §§ The gospel of Christ, which is the power of God to salvation, Rom. 1. 16. was before the four books were, though they contain true declarations thereof.

All they that are in the light are in unity; for the light is but one, and who know the light are in unity; all who know the word, which is a mystery, are come to the beginning, are sanctified by the word, and clean through the word; for this word is a fire, burning up all corruption, as an hammer beats down all high minds, high nature, that the pure seed may be raised up; as a sword cuts to pieces, and divides asunder the precious from the vile, and makes a separation inwardly and outwardly from uncleanness ;* and this is the word of reconciliation, that reconcileth together to God, and gathers the hearts of his together,† to live in love and unity one with another, and lets them see how they have been strangers and aliens from the life of God; the light and the word draws from under the occasion of all laws outwardly,|| working out that filthy nature which the outward law takes hold on; so walking in the spirit,** there is not a fulfilling the lusts of the flesh; and the spirit is but one, which baptizeth into one body, which we do witness to be fulfilled; praise be to the Lord.

And whereas we are a people accused to raise up a new war, it is false; for dwelling in the word, it takes away the occasion of wars, and gathers our hearts together to God, and unto one another, and brings to the beginning, before wars were; for the ministers of God, which had the word of reconciliation to draw them from the occasion of all wars, working out that nature that occasions war, said, whence do wars arise? even from the lusts.§§ Therefore, all dear people, who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and the appearance of Jesus Christ in your souls, be not talkers of the truth, nor followers of the blind guides,|||| but mind the pure light of God in you, which shews your sin and evil, and how you have spent your time, and shows you how your minds go forth, and every carnal thought; and if you love that light, you love Christ,¶¶ and walking in the light in measure, there will be no occasion of stumbling, for all stumbling is in being disobedient, and wait to find the word in you, as the scripture saith; not to fetch it from above, nor from bencath; but what saith it? It is nigh thee, in thy heart, for with the heart man believeth, and with the tongue confession is made unto salvation :*** and abiding inwardly in the light, it will let you see one another, and the unity one with another, and the teachers of the world to be the ministers of the letter.

And whereas we are accused for going into steeple-houses, it was the practice of the apostles to go into the synagogues, reasoning and disputing about the scriptures,tt shewing them the substance, and they told them that God did not dwell in temples made with hands, neither was

• John 1. 9. John 15. 3. [Matt. 23. 16. ¶ 1 Job. 2. 10.

† John 1. 1. # Gen. 3. 15. **Heb. 4. 12.

Luke 2. 10, 11. John 1. 29. 2 Cor. 5. 19. # Eph. 2. 12. SS Jam. 4, 1, 2. *** Rom. 10, 8. 10. ††† Acts 7. 47, 48, 49.