would have seen the glory of Israel, him whom God raised up to sit on David's throne, the hope that all the fathers hoped for.

Now your fathers being out of the life, though they had the words, knew not the substance when he was come, (but on the contrary) delivered him up to the Gentiles to be crucified, which Gentiles trod your city under foot, and they cried crucify him, crucify him, and desired his blood might be upon their heads. Now Jacob comes to be saved from his captivity, and Israel shall return to his rest, and I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and will turn away your captivity, and will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, and will bring you again to this place, saith the Lord, whence I caused you to be carried away captive; when you come to the life of the law, this you shall witness. Now wait in the light, that you may come to witness this promise fulfilled, for the Lord's flock hath been carried away captive, but now is the Lord redeeming, and gathering them with his power out of captivity, and leading captivity captive.

And, saith the Lord, I will gather the remnant of my sheep out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them again to their fold, and they shall grow and increase; and I will set one shepherd over them, which shall feed them; they shall dread no more, nor be afraid, neither shall they lack any thing, saith the Lord: for the day is come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and judgment in

the earth.

Now this branch, this king, this shepherd, this fold do we witness, that are his sheep, and are come to witness the life that Moses was in, and the prophets were in, and David was in, from which life the scriptures were given forth to be believed and fulfilled, which we see with the same that gave them forth, and the Son we see to reign; and the Lord is cutting off, according to his promise, Babel, his name and his remnant, son and nephew,* and there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was unto Israel in the day when he came up out of the land of Egypt: [of this take notice.]

In that day shall the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, stay no more on him that smote them; [mark] on him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the holy one of Israel in truth; the remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God; for though thy people O Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return, and there is a remnant that keeps the commands of God. And did not the Lord speak to Ezekiel;

* Isaiah 14. v. 22.

that your fathers should be carried away captive, and the time is come that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Sion and Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and a remnant the Lord shall call. And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish: seek good, and not evil, hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate, it may be the Lord of hosts will be merciful to the remnant of Joseph,* though the number of Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant shall be saved. Even so at this present time, there is a remnant through the election of grace; and now is the remnant known, that doth give glory to God. And thus saith the Lord to your fathers, who changed his judgments into wickedness, and his statutes more than the wicked: I will execute judgment in thee; I will do unto thee what I never did before, neither will I do any more the like, I will execute judgment in thee, the whole remnant of thee will I scatter in all the winds.

And these things and many more this prophet doth relate, which was done to your fathers, and what they should act and do, who are out of the life of the law: but now such as be in the life of the law, prophets, and Christ, can say, who is a God like unto thee, who takest away iniquity, and passest by the transgression of the remnant of thy heritage; and saith the Lord, I will bring again their captivity, and the captivity of Sodom, and her daughters; and the captivity of Samaria, and her daughters; and will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them. Now they that be in the life of the prophets see this, that they that were in the captivity, had despised the oath, in breaking the covenant; yet notwithstanding, saith the Lord, I will remember my covenant with thee in the day of thy youth, and will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: the Lord will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen down, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, saith the Lord, and build it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ; the dragon is wroth with them that keep the commandments, and them he cannot endure, but is wroth, and makes war against them. And the remnant of the seed of the woman appears now, that have the testimony of Jesus, and keeps the commands of God, over all the world stands, and the dragon and his wrath fears not, but by the testimony of Jesus they overcome, which is the spirit of prophecy, who are his remnant which keeps his commandments,

with whom the dragon now is wroth, and makes war against. And now is the Lord made manifest to them that asked not after him, and found of them that sought him not; this prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in this our days, the father is made manifest; God hath made manifest his covenant to them that did not ask after him. [Mark,] Them that asked not after him, to them he is made manifest.

And you which be strangers from the light, the covenant, having the first covenant, this you saw not, your eyes were blinded, who were from the life of the law and prophets, and this should provoke you to jealousy, they must come to life from the dead, before the riches of the world be known, the covenant of light, the unchangeable, and the conversion, to the life of Moses and the prophets, and the Son of God, who of them is the end; and this you must know when converted, and come to the father of spirits, and know Moses and the prophets that gave forth the scriptures; for the life is that which doth convert, and lets see for what purpose it was given, and gives a spirit of understanding, by which the prophets, spoke, by which spirit they saw the eyes of your fathers blinded, whose ears were dull of hearing, and hearts gross, and are in blindness, not receiving the covenant of light within; so over your hearts the veil is remaining, who yet have that eye blinded, and cannot hear the Holy Ghost, nor him who was born of it, to be converted and healed, who ever testified, and is for judgment with the spirit that scripture was given forth from; for Moses in the light saw the covenant, and Abraham saw the promise in the light, and we in the light do enjoy that promise, which they saw to be fulfilled, the covenant of light, and witness the holy spirit the scriptures were given forth from, and do see them which have the words of the scriptures,but are not in the spirit that gave them forth, them God the father of spirits scatters, though they gather together, and such be the heathens that know not the spirit the scriptures were given forth from, these know not God the father of spirits, but are all a-heaps about words, killing and destroying one another.

From them who are Israel's commonwealth, who are the remnant that keep the command of God, and are of the seed of Abraham, who witness the mighty power of the Lord, in raising his own seed by his own power in this day; and the trumpet is blown in Zion, and the alarm is sounded in his holy mountain, which makes the earth to tremble, and it doth tremble at the word of the Lord, (and is by the dark world called Quakers,) at whose voice Moses exceedingly did quake, which power and voice now is known among us, which doth not only shake the earth but the heavens, which power removes that which is shaken, that that which cannot be shaken may remain and appear; and before this covenant you come to know, your hearts must be rent, so to come to witness the abolishing of death before life, and immortality be brought to light through

the gospel, which is the power of God, which removes, shakes and throws down all the contrary, and so the promise comes to be fulfilled: and saith the Lord by the prophet, make the heart of this people fat, make their ears heavy, saith the Lord, to him that was in the spirit, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and be converted, and be healed; these were from the light of the law, the life, for his law is light, saith Solomon.†

But I said, how long Lord? [mark] and he answered, until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, [take notice.] They that be in the Holy Ghost see this fulfilled upon you, who have not understood with your hearts, nor seen with your eyes, nor been converted, whose cities are laid waste, and houses without man, and the land come to be desolate without the spirit, that gave forth scriptures: and the Lord hath removed men far away, and there is a great forsaking in the midst of the land [of this take notice.] But yet in it shall be a tenth [mark] and it shall return, and be eaten as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves, [of that take notice,] so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. [Mark,] The holy seed: life from the dead, he that hath an ear, let him hear; and this must be known before the riches of the world be.

Now that which gathers you to the promise, is the light and power of God, and the light will let you see all the evil deeds you have done, all the ungodly actions you have committed, and all your transgressions, that is the light which shews you them, and if you love the light, you will come to see yourselves, and whether your deeds be wrought in God, and if you believe in the light, which manifesteth all that ever you have done, ye will become the children of light, and receive power from Christ, from whence the light comes, him by whom the world was made, to stand against the evil, which he hath given you a light to see; and with this light you come to know the Messias your Saviour, to save you from your sin, which he discovers, and to see the one offering.

But you that do hate this light, and go into the evil, and love the darkness more than that which shews you your evil deeds, and evil ways, when God is not in all your thoughts, when your heart revolts, and when you call on him with your lips, and your hearts afar off: this is the light of Christ that shews you this, and lets you see your covetousness, and idolatry, and if you go on in these things before-mentioned, the light will be your condemnation, saith Christ, who enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world. This light of Christ tells you, you should

VOL. IV.-10

* Isaiah 6.

† Prov. 6. 23.

not do unjustly one to another, that you should not be drunk, nor oppress one another, nor wrong one another. It is the light that shews you this, and measures things aright, and this word is nigh you, in the heart, and in the mouth, to obey and do it.

Now, as you love the light, and bring your deeds to it, you will come to know the light Moses was in, and come to know the prophet, which he said God would raise up, whom you should hear; and come to know the covenant of light, which brings in the Gentiles from dead idols, to serve the living God, which the prophet spoke of, which is the glory of Israel. And as you love this light before-mentioned, you will come to know the law in your hearts written, the new covenant, the everlasting covenant, which the prophet prophesied of, which now thousands do witness, with which light they know God the glory of Israel, Zion's king, and him are come to worship; and this light will tell you, you must not bowto any likeness, but unto God alone, nor commit adultery, nor serve graven images, the gods of the heathen, nor follow their customs which are vain, for against that God's hand is turned, who is one with the light, which light the darkness cannot comprehend, though it in darkness shines; and Christ the light came to his own, and his own received him not, even among your fathers that had the oracles of God, and the darkness could not the light comprehend, though the light in darkness shined, neither could the darkness see him, by whom the world was made, the light who is glorified with the Father, with the glory that he had with the Father before the world was: therefore to the light in you I appeal, that with it you may be turned from darkness, and the power of Satan to God, and receive the covenant of light, and the power of God Christ Jesus, that you may come to life, regeneration, and conversion, and the renewing of your minds, remission of sins, and receive the refreshing into your souls.

And as you love the light that shews you the evil that ever you have done, ye love Christ, and that light is it which gives the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ,* which shines in the dark heart, and none comes to the knowledge of God but by the light which shines in the heart; and this treasure have we in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of man: but if you hate this light, you hate Christ, and remain stumbling, blind, and scattered, refusing the corner stone, whom all the builders stumble at, who are out of the light, and none comes from stumbling, to know the words of the scripture declared from the life, but such as own the light. To the light in you I appeal, if you go on in your evil deeds, and unbelief, not believing in the light, the light is your condemnation; hating the light,

* 2 Cor. 4. 6.