.. And it was this Son of God that preserved Daniel in the lion's den; it was his voice, that David said, "divideth the flames of fire; he rideth upon the winds, he sitteth upon the floods. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty they that trust in him shall never be confounded. Blessed are they whose God is the Lord: for he is a present help in the needful time of trouble. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and he delivereth them. O taste, and see, that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions shall lack, and the old lions suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all; for the Lord redeemeth the souls of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be made desolate."

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For which cause, my dear friends, "cast away every weight, and every burden, and the sin that doth so easily beset you." Neither look at the enemy's strength, nor at your own weakness; but look unto Jesus, the blessed Author of your own convincement and faith: the Mighty One, on whom God hath laid help, for all those that believe in his name, receive his testimony, and live in his doctrine; who said to his dear followers of old, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world; fear not, little flock; it is Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom: and they that endure to the end shall be saved. I will not leave you comfortless," said he, "I will come to you; he that is with you, shall be in you. This was the hope of their glory, the foundation of their building, which standeth sure. And though sorrow cometh over night, yet joy shall come in the morning. "Ye shall weep and lament," said Jesus, "but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy, and their rejoicing into howling. And lo I am with you to the end of the world." Be ye therefore encouraged in the holy way of the Lord; wait diligently for his daily manifestations unto your souls, that you may be strengthened in your inward man, with might and power, to do the will of God on earth, as it is done in heaven. O watch, that ye enter not into temptation: yea, "watch unto prayer, that ye enter not into temptation, and that you fall not by the temptation." Christ said to Peter, "Canst not thou watch one hour?" Every one hath an hour of temptation to go through; and this is the hour that every one is to watch. Jesus, the captain of our salvation, was under great temptations; "he was sad

unto death; he did sweat drops of blood;" but he watched, he prayed, he groaned, yea, he cried with strong cries; but through suffering overcame and remember how in the wilderness he was tempted, but the angels of the Lord ministered to him. So they that follow him in the way of the tribulations and patience of his kingdom, God's angel shall minister unto them all yea, he will keep them in the hour of temptation: he will carry their heads above the waves, and deliver them from the devouring floods.

Wherefore, finally, my friends, I say unto you, in the name of the Lord," Be of good cheer!" Look to Jesus, and fear not man, whose breath is in his nostrils; but be valiant for the truth on earth. "Love not your lives unto the death, and you shall receive a crown of life and glory;" which the God of the fathers, the God of the prophets, the God of the apostles, and the God of the martyrs, and true confessors of Jesus; yea, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall give unto all those that keep the pure testimony of his Son in their hearts, and patiently and faithfully endure to the end.

"Now to him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy; to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

I am your friend, that sincerely loves you, and earnestly travails for your redemption.

WILLIAM PENN.

TO ALL THOSE

Professors of Christianity

THAT ARE

Externally separated from the Visible Sects and Fellowships in the Christian World, so called, wherever hidden or scattered:

True Knowledge, which is Life Eternal, from God the
Father, through Jesus Christ, be increased.

Published in the Year 1677.

FRIENDS,

THE first Adam is of the earth, earthy; the second Adam is the Lord from heaven, the quickening Spirit: what is born of flesh, is flesh, and cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So far can the spirit of mere man come, and no farther; but what is born of God, does inherit life eternal. All you, therefore, who are exalted in your speculations, and refined in your apprehensions and ideas of God, of Christ, of the Spirit, and of the secrets of the heavenly kingdom, examine and try, by the light of the Lord Jesus, whether you have received your knowledge from God, or from men; and, when taken in the best part, whether it is more than the new wine in the old bottles, which cannot endure, nor stand in judgment. Consider if it be not the bare or mere man, that speaks of godly matters, what he has heard, or read, of others' labours, rather than the overshadowings and operations of the holy and eternal Spirit of Christ in yourselves.

Hereby shall you know whether your knowledge of God is true, or not, viz. If you are redeemed by his righteous judgments, working out all the tin and dross that have been in you, and brought to the silence of all flesh, that has no right to speak in man, for it knows not the things of God.

Friends, I am pressed, by the good Spirit of God, to ask you, whether the prince of this world is fully and wholly judged in you? Is he beaten off of false righteousness, as of sin? For when he cannot prevail with the creature to

submit to him, then he tempts it to take upon it to govern and guide itself, that it should not be taught by Christ, and that his own kingdom of darkness should not be thereby overturned at once.

And therefore deceive not yourselves, O my beloved friends! Is the glory of the world wholly set aside in you? Is it at once judged, and under your feet? If the Spirit of Jesus wholly reigns in your hearts, then are you not conformable to any of the evil fruits, inventions, and fashions of this world; but are, inwardly and outwardly, gathered to the Spirit of Jesus, and the dark world trodden under your feet in all its appearances; yea, then you are valiant for the cause of God upon earth; your candles are in their candlesticks, and not under the bed or bushel.

But Oh! Is this so? Take heed; for that life is now risen which you cannot deceive, but it will taste you in all your performances, and judge righteous judgment. I ask a second time, in the fear and name of the holy God, (who is a consuming fire against all that which is counterfeit, and not true) is the prince of this world judged? As a devil, as a dragon, as a prince of the air, a false prophet, yea, as one appearing sometimes like an angel of light too? For this man of sin, and of perdition, has also his visions, knowledge, faith, signs, miracles; yea, quakings too; yet not like those that are born of God, and are inspired and actuated by his Holy Spirit.

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But ah! are you come so far, that you feel that all flesh is silent before the Lord? For that is the time when God should speak, and men should hear what he says. I say, Adam silent in you? Is the spirit of man silent in you? Is thy soul, O man! passive and quiet, retired from all images, ideas, figures, or self-apprehensions, that thou mayest hear and discern what God, through his Son, will speak unto thee? He who is the blessed Teacher, that taught Adam in paradise, the good Jews under the law by his angels and prophets; and does yet teach all true Christians under the gospel, through his beloved Son, who is the glorious sun and light of the world, and fulness of all dispensations to mankind.

I say once more, in the fear of the Lord, friends, judge, walk up to what you have attained, and reach not beyond your own experience, neither glory in your own strength, but in the Lord: do not hold the truth in unrighteousness, like as all those do, who walk not after the Spirit, nor are made sensible, through the work of it; and who make not profession thereof. And therefore hear me once more, I beseech you are you got beyond your own thoughts? Have

you found ease and peace, through Christ,' in your own consciences? Do you keep the holy watch against the enemy in all his appearances, whether selfishness or sinfulness, forwardness, or backwardness in duty? Have you conquered that part, or hasty birth, which ascends like an eagle, and hovers in the air, but pitches no where that is truly profitable to the soul? Is the eye of the vulture blinded, that would peep and spy into the path of the righteous, which is kept close from all the birds of prey, but open to the dove? Ah! Is that which delights to comprehend and know more than that which is obtained through daily obedience, is that aspiring serpent seen? I say, is that enemy seen and judg ed, and that through Christ, the great Prophet of God in you, to whom all judgment is committed? If so, you are safe: but if not, then shall your work suffer great damage in the fiery day of the Lord. And besides, I say, have you received your knowledge by the death of the cross? And have you seen yourselves lost without Christ, and risen with him? Then have you cast away your grave-clothes, and are clothed upon with immortality, with the fine linen and raiment of saints, which is the portion of all the redeemed of the Lord through judgment, and his blessed converts through righteousness, as it was with the holy fathers of old: can you say, in truth and in righteousness, that you are redeemed with the same judgments, and converted through the same righteousness, as they were; and the same pure and spiritual judgment has been the beginning of your knowledge and experience? If not, then it is all wrong, and you must begin again for one stone must not stand upon another in that building, which stands in the oldness of the letter, and not in the newness of the spirit: conviction, redemption, and, from an earthly sensual, a supersensual life, are the great business, and must be wrought by fire, called the "baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost." Wherefore deceive not your. selves, God will not be mocked: come to the fire, and try your works. Are they wrought in God, by and after him, his mind, and will; or of self-imitations and imaginations, that cannot profit the poor soul? If after God's mind and will, there is an end of the faiths, worships, lusts, glory,and customs of this world, and the root they spring from is cut down, with all its branches, fruits, and leaves, that have shewn them. selves, more or less, under the great apostacy that has spread over the world, and Christendom more especially.

Examine, my friends, and try this holy guide in your hearts, by the word of the Lord, which is dividing asunder between the soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and purposes of the heart;"