which checks you, when ye speak an evil word, and tells you that ye should not be proud, nor wanton, nor fashion yourselves like unto the world; for the fashion of this world passeth away. And if ye hearken to that, it will keep you in a humbleness of mind, and lowliness of heart, and turn your minds within, to wait upon the Lord, to be guided by it; and bring you to lay aside all sin and evil, and keep you faithful to the Lord; and bring you to wait on Him for teaching, till an entrance thereof be made to your souls, and refreshment come to them from the presence of the Lord. There is your teacher, the Light, obeying it; there is your condemnation, disobeying it. If ye hearken to the Light in you, it will not suffer you to conform to the evil ways, customs, fashions, delights, and vanities of the world; and so lead you to purity, to holiness, to uprightness, even to the Lord. Dear hearts, hearken to it, to be guided by it for if ye love the light, ye love Christ; if ye hate that, ye hate Christ. Therefore in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ consider of it; and the Lord open your understandings to know Him!

G. F.

NUMBER

XXIV.

To all Friends every where.

1653.

Dwell in the Truth, and walk in the love of the Truth, in patience, and every one in your measure keep your habitations, and learn that good lesson of Jesus Christ, to be low and meek in heart, giving no occasion to the adversary by evil doing. But walk all honestly and uprightly; for the upright and meek in heart know God, and God delights in the upright and righteous.

O Friends! dwell in the fear of the Lord, and take heed of presumption, that your minds run not out into vanity and lightness, that the world may not take occasion, and the Truth suffer; but every one keep your habitation, where God hath called you, and take heed of deceit, and form nothing in your own wills or minds: but, putting off the old man with his deeds, grow up in the inner man, as trees of righteousness which the Lord hath planted, growing in wisdom and understanding to do the will of God, and not your own wills.

He that doth the will of God, abideth in that which endureth for ever, and seeth

all flesh to be as grass, and the glory of the world to pass away. Woe unto you proud men, who compass the earth to set your nests on high; all your gods of gold and silver must perish, and that mind that holds them up, must perish. But all friends, mind that which is eternal, which gathers your hearts together up to the Lord, and lets you see that ye are written in one another's heart; meet together every where, growing up in the Spirit to the Lord, the Fountain of life, the Head of all things God, blessed for ever! Let not hard words trouble you, nor fair speeches win you; but dwell in the power of Truth, in the mighty God, and have salt in yourselves to savour all words, and to stand against all the wiles of the devil, in the mighty power of God

God hath raised up his own seed in his saints, which seed Christ is but one in all, and spreads over all, and throughout all; and we now are through Him come to have dominion and power over the evil one, and to tread upon that which hath been too strong for us, the enemy of our peace, and the enemy of our unity with God and one with another. So in that which is raised

up in us, which trampled upon the earthly, dark power, have we unity with God, and fellowship with his Son, and unity one with another; so known to one another in that, which none who are of the world knoweth. So our life is hid, and our happiness, joy, and delight hid from all, who are ruled and governed by the prince of the air; from under whose dominion and government we are redeemed by the only Redeemer, Christ Jesus, not with corruptible things, neither is our redemption of man, nor by man, nor according to the will of man, but contrary to man's will. And so our unity and fellowship with vain man is lost, and all his evil ways are now turned into enmity; and all his profession is now found to be deceit, and in all his fairest pretences lodgeth cruelty; and the bottom and ground of all his knowledge of God and Christ is found sandy, and cannot endure the tempest. For being brought off from that foundation, and having suffered the loss of all which seemed beautiful upon the sand; we do declare against that bottom and foundation by the power of God, in that light of Christ, which discovers all false foundations, and makes manifest all sandy bottoms which man hath builded upon.

That mind, which doth speak of God, but lives not, dwells not, nor abides in the fear of God, that mind must suffer and pass under the judgment of God. And that mind may talk of God, and speak of God, but not in union with God, nor from enjoyment of God in the Spirit, nor from having purchased the knowledge of Him through death and sufferings; but from hearsay of Him, and from custom and tradition. The true fear of God doth destroy that mind, which speaks of Him, but doth not live in his fear: and that mind is raised up, which doth abide in his fear; and this is acceptable sacrifice, which is pure, clean, holy and without spot. Then that which knows God, speaks of Him, which hath purchased the true knowledge of Him through suffering; and to such there is no condemnation, but joy and peace. And this mind sings true praises to God, the other in hypocrisy; and therefore woe is unto it. And this mind is stayed upon God, the other is gadding after the creatures, and speaks of God, but is not subject to God, and must pass through condemnation.