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Thus that objection will, by thy obeying the Light, come to be answered, far better than words and arguments could have answered it; thou wilt come to feel the sufficiency of the Light, if thou dost not oppose it, but give up to be guided by it; and wilt know that it is able to deliver thee, when thou art tempted, as well as to judge thee when thou hast yielded to the tempter: for thou knowest already, that it is able to condemn thee, when thou sinnest against it: but thou canst not certainly know it sufficient to give peace, and to justify, till thou obeyest it.

So then, the plain path-way to the answering thy doubts about the inward principle of truth, is, by obeying it and yielding to it; for they that do evil, grow into hatred against it, and it judges them; as they refuse to obey the Light, so the Light will refuse to justify them; thus coming justly under the condemnation of it, by reason of transgression, they grow afraid of it. But alas! this doth but prove that it is sent of God, for it doth God's work which is righteous; For to justify the wicked, and to condemn the righteous, both these are an abomination to the Lord; and so is it with his witness in thy own conscience, which God hath placed there to bear witness for him, concerning all thy actions, whether they be good or evil: and thou thyself, whoever thou art, whether high or low, rich or poor, professor or profane, shalt confess unto this, That this hath never condemned thee, for that which was good, nor born witness against thee, for that thou wast not guilty of.

All you, therefore, that have been hurried and tossed with doubts and questionings about the truth, come, hearken to the counsel of God, at this time once more sounded forth unto you, from his Spirit, by a servant of his without you, and answered by the measure of his good Spirit within you, which hath the same voice and cry in you, for obedience to what is made manifest of God in you; obey the Light, and ye shall see daily more of it, till it break forth as a morning unto you, and till it shines unto a perfect day; yea, a day of gladness and rejoicing to your poor distressed souls.

Arise, Oh! thou that sits sorrowing, and thou that art

crying out in secret, because of the bonds and fetters that are yet upon thee! Arise, arise, I say, in the name of the Lord God of Sion, who draws nigh to thee by his quickening Spirit, and hearken to his voice, who saith to the prisoner, Come forth; and to the bowed down, arise; and to the feeble ones, put on strength and follow me; I will confound your foes, and break the strength of your enemies, as I have done for my people, who have forsaken all to follow me and obey me, so will I do for you: and if ye in uprightness walk before me, and keep my covenant, as they have done, no power or strength of the enemy, within or without, shall be too hard for you.

And when the Lord doth thus arise in your souls, and stir up his own pure witness, and his arm awakens in you, and his pure Light breaks forth; Oh! what consolation is it to you, and how have many of you seen your vain doubtings dispelled, and a clear conviction hath prevailed in your spirits concerning the way of God! and at such a time you have begun to resolve to follow the Lord in his pure way of holiness, thus opened unto you in the Light, though to the loss of all, and to the bearing your part of the great reproach that lies upon them that love him more than their lives: at such a time there was felt a secret joy in your souls, and the seed of the kingdom that hath been long buried, began to spring up in you, in which seed your souls felt some touches of that heavenly life and joy, which exceed all things that this world could afford.

Whenever, therefore, ye come to feel this refreshing dew upon your souls, then take heed and wait singly in the sense of it, keep your eye to the joy that is now set before you in Christ Jesus, the Seed; for if you let your minds wander, there are objects on every hand to lead you from your soul's beloved, to defile your hearts, and make you an unfit place of residence for Him who is holy and pure, and will not dwell, or take delight, in a polluted temple; but will withdraw himself, as he did from Israel of old, and their temple, when it was polluted and profaned.

For when your minds are taken hold of by any of the

corruptible things in this changeable world, there will presently kindle a desiring, longing, and lusting after the enjoyment of these things, though contrary to the will of God; then the reasoner and consulter gets up in thee and starts a question; May not I enjoy the Lord and this? May not I keep in the way of truth, and yet do this or that thing which my heart desireth? And though it be not perfectly according to the truth made manifest in me, yet I will have my will, my desire satisfied, but this one time; and that is not much, says the consulter; and this is but a small matter; there be others that do greater things than this.

These, and such like reasonings entering the mind, grieve and vex that good and righteous tender Spirit that moved in thee, and bring a weight and oppression upon the pure seed in thee, and that withdraws itself again from thee, in which thy light did arise, and so a night comes upon thee; for where the serpent can bring any to make a question of obeying the truth, he is as ready to frame an answer, as to beget a question; but his answer always comes with a liberty and persuasion to disobey, as it did to Eve in the beginning; and when transgression is finished, then death enters upon thee, with its dark power, and manifold sorrows pierce thy poor soul; though the fruit was desirable to be eaten, yet now it is eaten, thou canst not partake of life too, though thou desirest it; but art driven, and kept out, with a flaming sword, that turns every way against thee.

And here now is a ground laid for doubts and questionings of a higher nature than before; for before thou doubtedst of the truth itself, whether it were the truth, but now, having tasted of it, and received a convincement of it, and yet let forth thy mind from it after other lovers, and thy ears after the voice of the adulteress, hast caused the pure Light to withdraw from thee, through thy rebellion. Now thou desirest thou mightest but see again what thou hast seen, and feel again what thou hast felt, but doubting and fearing that thou shalt never see, feel, or enjoy the like again, thou wishest, O that Lhad stood in the cross to my

own will, and that I had denied myself, that I might not thus have lost the sight and sense of my soul's beloved!

Now thou seest, by woeful experience, whence doubts and fears, and sorrows do arise, even by joining with the enemy, who brings forth reasons against obedience to the Light. Now, therefore, hearken to that which remains in thee, though darkness and sorrow encompass thee, yet there is something remains which gives thee a sense of thy state and condition, and makes thee to know thy loss and want; hear the voice of this, and it will humble thee, and bring thee into true brokenness of heart, and contritedness of spirit: and as thou comest to know that state, then thou hast something to offer to the Lord of his own preparing, which will be far more acceptable to him than a multitude of words and performances and duties (so called); and as thou, in true lowliness of mind, dast come before the Lord, and offerest up this offering, God will hear in heaven and will answer the cry of thy poor and needy soul, which cannot be satisfied without his presence; and for his seed's sake, which is not yet brought forth in thee, he will remember his mercies of old, which never fail. And because of the transgression thou hast gone into, when God doth again shine forth unto thee, and make his power known, thou must expect it will be in judgment, that He may consume that in thee which led thee into sin, from his pure law, which is Light; for Zion is redeemed by judgment.

Take heed therefore lest thou be offended at his appearance; take heed that thou limit not the Holy One; for if his appearance be with more sharpness and bitterness to the carnal part than before, it is but just it should be so; it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good; He sees more cause now than before, by how much more thou hast sinned against his goodness: bow, therefore, to his judgments, bear his indignation, because thou hast sinned against him. Mic. vii. 9. And as thou yieldest to his righteous judgments, thou wilt know a coming to the midst of them, in which the mercy is remembered and made manifest; for the hasty and impatient, that flee the judgment as soon as it begins a little to

appear in them, never find true deliverance, but get ease another way, which lasteth but for a moment; but those who experience the work completely effected in their earthly minds, and the floor of their hearts thoroughly purged, come to know true and lasting peace to their immortal souls.

And although this is not obtained by ease and liberty to the carnal mind, which must die, yet the end crowns all who hold out to it; these are the saved ones, as Christ said, Mark xiii. 13. These experience the truth of the words of the Psalmist, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." And witness the fulfilment of the promise of Christ, “There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sister, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time-and in the world to come, eternal life."-Forsaking and self-denial, has always been the way to life, and to true blessedness, and continues to be the way unto this day.

All you, therefore, who have wandered in your own ways, and have not yet learned to deny yourselves of what is contrary to the witness of God in your consciences, but have desires, still to keep and hold that which the Light in you reproves, and yet desire life and peace; and thus are in many doubts and straits about these things; to you all, this is the counsel of the Lord, and the cry of his pure Spirit; Come out of the Babylonish confusion of your own thoughts, and touch not that which is unclean, and the Lord will receive you. And what God by his pure Spirit hath called unclean, let no man presume to call clean, and join to it, lest he be found fighting against God, and nourishing and keeping alive that which God hath appointed to die, and to be destroyed.

Ye cannot serve two masters, or partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of devils. Oh! feed not that birth that hungers after evil things, and delights in them; but what is for famine, let it be famished; and what is for the sword, let the