The wisdom of the earthly wife confounded, or, A manifestation of the spirits of some envious professors who are ready to prefer the hireling priests works of darkness, whose works are against the revelation and coming of Christ in spirit, as their fore-fathers works of cruelty and murder were against him in the dayes of his flesh, as may be seen at large in the scriptures of truth ... this was chiefly occasioned by some nonconformists promoting the works of darkness of a conformist (or chief priest of Warsick-shire, called, Thomas Willson, in his book, ... who slanderously charges the people called Quakers to be false interpreters of the Holy Scriptures) wherein is something of answer to such as have any true tenderness left in them, and would receive the truth if they knew it, but its like to the hard-hearted, stubborn and rebellious (like those, Matth. 27.25. who said, his blood be upon us and upon our children) it will be foolishness, as is the preaching of the cross to them that perish ... / by William Smith. Smith, William, d. 1673. 1679 Approx. 32 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A60665 Wing S4345 ESTC R9981 12275741 ocm 12275741 58439 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A60665) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 58439) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 899:5) The wisdom of the earthly wife confounded, or, A manifestation of the spirits of some envious professors who are ready to prefer the hireling priests works of darkness, whose works are against the revelation and coming of Christ in spirit, as their fore-fathers works of cruelty and murder were against him in the dayes of his flesh, as may be seen at large in the scriptures of truth ... this was chiefly occasioned by some nonconformists promoting the works of darkness of a conformist (or chief priest of Warsick-shire, called, Thomas Willson, in his book, ... who slanderously charges the people called Quakers to be false interpreters of the Holy Scriptures) wherein is something of answer to such as have any true tenderness left in them, and would receive the truth if they knew it, but its like to the hard-hearted, stubborn and rebellious (like those, Matth. 27.25. who said, his blood be upon us and upon our children) it will be foolishness, as is the preaching of the cross to them that perish ... / by William Smith. Smith, William, d. 1673. 15 p. s.n.], [London : 1679. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO. 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Dissenters, Religious -- England. 2000-00 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2001-12 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-01 TCP Staff (Michigan) Sampled and proofread 2002-01 TCP Staff (Michigan) Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion THE WISDOM OF THE Earthly Wise CONFOUNDED , OR , A Manifestation of the Spirits of some Envious Professors , who are ready to prefer the Hireling Priests Works of Darkness , whose Works are against the Revelation and Coming of Christ in Spirit , as their Fore-Fathers Works of Cruelty and Murder were against him in the Dayes of his Flesh , as may be seen at large in the Scriptures of Truth . This was chiefly occasioned by some Nonconformists promoting the Works of Darkness of a Conformist ( or Chief Priest of Warwick-shire , called , Thomas Willson , in his Book , who slanderously charges the People called QUAKERS to be False Interpreters of the Holy Scriptures ) wherein is something of Answer to such as have any true Tenderness left in them , and would receive the Truth if they knew it : But its like to the Hard-hearted , Stubborn and Rebellious ( like those , Matth. 27. 25. who said , His Blood be upon us and upon our Children ) it will be Foolishness , as is the Preaching of the Cross to them that Perish : By WILLIAM SMITH . Printed in the Year 1679. The Wisdom of the Earthly Wise CONFOUNDED , &c. WE , whom the heavenly Day-spring of God from on High hath visited , who were once in Darkness and the Shadow of Death , as well as others : I say , We do not marvel to see ( the Literal Outside Professors of this Generation , of all Sorts and Perswasions ( out of the Truth ) as well as Chief-Priests ( the Old Enemies of Christ ) though they so much differ and disagree amongst themselves ) how ready they are to joyn Hand in Hand against the Lord and his blessed Heritage , whom he hath blessed , and will bless above all the Families of the Earth : Yea , how ready are you to catch up and imbrace any piece of Darkness and Confusion that ariseth out of the Bottomles . Pit of the Deceived , Envious and Babylonish Hearts of such as hate the Witness or Light of Christ in their own Consciences ; and also envy such , who by believing in the Light of Christ within are Witnesses of his Spiritual Appearance . So all you Malicious Papists , Chief-Priests , Presbyterians , Independents , and Baptists of all sorts ; &c. that do not believe in Christ , the true Light , who lighteth every one that cometh into the World , according to Iohn 1. 9. & 8. 12. & 9. 5. are all wrong in the Ground , and you are all against us , and we are against you all , till you come out of Deceit , Envy and Unbelief ; we know your Spirits will concur against us , as did your Progenitors ( the chief-Priests , the hard-hearted Iews , Scribes , Pharisees , Saduces , &c. ) against Christ and his Followers in the days of his Coming in the Flesh , who as Christ told them , they did Err , not knowing the Scriptures , nor the Power of God , Mat. 22. 29. And even so do ye , who will not abide his Spiritual Appearance in your selves , nor in such as are Witnesses of it . So in this State you are all from the Highest to the Lowest , of all sorts , both Priests , Teachers aad People far from the true Interpretations of holy Scriptures ; and if ever you come truly to it , you must come down from climbing up another way , to Christ the Door and Light of the World , who lighteth every man that cometh into the World. And also , if you will be true Followers of him , that you may have Life and Treasure in Heaven , you must with the Young man , Matth. 19. ( which I believe will be as hard for many of you Rich Ones in your Natural Wisdoms , as for him ) Sell all your great Possessions of that Wisdom which is from below , which is Earthly , Sensual and Devilish , in which you have given false Interpretation upon the holy Scriptures , and thereby wofully wrested them to Justifie or Indulge your selves in a continuance in sin to the end of your days ; the Wages of which is Death , as faith the Apostle , But the Spirit gives Life , and leads to true Interpretations of holy Scriptures ; though Contrary to your Natural , Dark Conceptions and Imaginations : The Natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God , they are Foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them , because they are Spiritually discerned ; see 1 Cor. 2. Now , I would have all you Outside , Literal Imitaters of all sorts ( that are not too high & too swelled with your vain Notions and Imaginations ) to lay them by a while , and consider Seriously , since there is but One ●ay to God , and One Truth , One Lord , One Faith , One Baptism , ( which is Spiritual , and only known to the true Spiritual Worshippers ) Mark , One God and Father of all , who is above all , and through all , and in you all , Ephes. 4. 5. and a Mystery to you all , and ever will be while strangers to the Light of Christ within , which will give a right Understanding of Scriptures to them that believe in it and follows it , and will lead to a right use of them , &c. But how many Ways , Worships , Faiths , Baptisms , &c. are there amongst you , every one Crying up his own Way and Form , pretending to the Scriptures for it : Oh! what Distractions and Confusions are here ! And where must they be charged , upon the Scriptures or upon you , with your many Lo here 's and Lo there 's ? Every one for his own Way , in Opposition to the Way of God , which is but One and his People One in it . Now look upon your selves and among your selves , and behold the Fruits of your Interpreting Scripture ; Is it not to make the World or People like a Wilderness ? Lo here , Lo there ; See here , See there ! But what saith Christ ? Believe them not , go not after them , nor follow them ; for behold the Kingdom of God is within you , Luke . 17. 21. Thus saith our Lord Christ Jesus , and we have believed him , and in our measures have Infallibly found it so . And if this should seem strange Doctrine to any , to whose hands these may come , though of the many Ways , Forms and Perswasions , since you all profess the Scriptures to be your Rule ; I would know how you Interpret these following Scriptures . God is a Spirit , ( as Christ said ) and is to be Worshipped in the Spirit and in the Truth . God is Light , and in him there is no Darkness at all . If we say , that we have fellowship with him , and walk in Darkness , we Lye , and do not the Truth ; but if we walk in the Light , as he is in the Light , then have we fellowship one with another , and the Blood of Iesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin. Christ said , I am the Light of the World , he that follows me shall not walk in Darkness , but he shall have the Light of Life : and said , Believe in the Light , that ye may be the Children of the Light. The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men , teaching us that denying Vngodliness & Worldly Lusts , we should live Godly , Righteously , &c. in this present World : This Grace appearing unto all , is , that all might believe therein , and obey it , and be saved ; but some of Old did dispight unto the Spirit of Grace ( as many do now ) against whom the Apostle testified , and Iude in his Epistle witnesses against such . The Apostle said unto the Saints , By Grace ye are saved , through Faith , &c. and said , It s a good thing that the Heart be established with Grace : And the Lord said to Paul , My Grace is sufficient for thee , &c. Christ in his Parable of the Talents , and of the Pearl , and of the Field , and of the Sower , and of the good Seed , which fell upon the divers Grounds , doth clearly hold forth the Universal Love of God unto all People . God said by the Prophet , Look unto me , O all the Ends of the Earth , and be ye Saved , &c. As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God. The Spirit of Truth , which doth lead the Saints into all Truth , the same doth Convince the World of Sin , as Christ hath promised . Christ said , This is the Condemnation , that Light is come into the World , and men loved Darkness rather than Light , because their Deeds were Evil ; for every one that doth Evil , hateth the Light , neither cometh to the Light , lest his Deeds should be reproved ; but he that doth Truth , cometh to the Light , that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God : See John 3. 19 , 20 , 21. & 1. 9. & 8. 12. First Epistle of John 1. 5 , 6 , 7. John 16. 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14. Jer. 17. 10. Psal. 7. 10. Mal. 3. 5. 1 John 5. 10. Isa. 55. 4. Rom. 8. 13 , 14. Psal. 50. 16 , to the End. Acts 13. 47. & 26. 17 , 18. 2 Cor. 4. 6 , 7. Let us hear what Interpretations you will give to these Scriptures . Again , the Apostle Iohn saith , God is Love , he that dwelleth in Love , dwelleth in God , and God in him . Again , He that hateth his Brother is a Murtherer , and no Murtherer hath Eternal Life abiding in him . Again , Christ said unto the Saints , I and my Father will come , and make our abode with you . And God hath promised , That he will dwell in his People , and that he will write his Law in their Hearts , and put his Spirit in their Minds , &c. Let us see how skilful you are in Interpreting these heavenly comfortable Sayings . The Lord God said by the Mouth of the true Prophet concerning the false , Wo unto the Foolish Prophets , who follow their own Spirit , and have seen nothing , Eccles. 13. 11. But the true Apostle said , The Spirit it self beareth Witness with our Spirit , that we are the Children of God. This Spirit was and is all the true Christians Guide : this did of old , and now doth bear Witness with , or unto the Spirits of all true Believers , that they are the Children of God , who are led thereby ; for it leads them to do those things which please God. The Apostle saith , The Scriptures came not in Old Time by the Will of man , but holy men of God spoke them as they were moved by the holy Ghost , or Spirit ; and he saith , they are of no private Interpretation . So you who deny Immediate Revelation , and deny and hate the Universal , Infallible Spirit of God and Christ , you have nothing to Interpret the Scriptures with or by , but your own fallible private Spirits , and the wicked Spirit , The Prince of the Power of the Air , which works in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience , as saith the Apostle , and with these joynt workers in Wickedness you cannot rightly Interpret the holy Scriptures ; but by the help of this dark Spirit you are taught to wrest them to your own Destruction : The Lord in mercy deliver you from this false Teacher . The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a man that gave to his Servants Talents , &c. Matth. 25. 14. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal , 1 Cor. 12. 7. Whatsoever makes manifest is Light , and Christ is that Light , Ephes. 5. 13. He that declareth to man his Thoughts , the Lord the God of Hosts is his Name , Amos 4. 13. Elihu was constrained by the Spirit within , Job 32. 18. The Word of God is within , Deut. 30. 14. Psal. 119. 11. The Law and the Covenant of Life is within , Jer. 31. 33. The Word of Faith that purifieth the Heart is within , Rom. 10. 8. Heb. 4. 12. The sure Word of Prophecy , and the Day-star is to arise within , 2 Pet. 1. 19. God , Christ and the Spirit of Truth that leadeth into all Truth , are to be known within , John 14. 16. Know ye not your own selves , how that Iesus Christ is in you , except you be Reprobates , 2 Cor. 13. 5. The Mystery that hath been hid from Ages and Generations is Christ within , Col. 1. 26. The Anointing the true Teacher that shall never be removed into a Corner is within , 1 John 2. 27. Isa. 30. 20. That which may be known of God is manifest within , Rom. 1. 19. I thank thee , O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth , because thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent , and hast revealed them unto Babes , Matth. 11. 25. see 1 Cor. 1. 26. We are not led by our own Conceivings nor Imaginations ( as the Carnal-minded out-side Professors are ) to interpret the holy Scriptures but by a measure of the same Spirit of Truth , from which they were given forth , in and by which they can be only and alone truly read and known , by which Spirit we are made living Witnesses to the Truth of them , and can read them within , which is far more then the bare outward reading . And we know that the Son of God is come , and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true , John 5. 20. And greater is he that is in us ( that teaches true Reading and right Interpretations of holy Scriptures ) then he that 's in the World , 1 John 4. 4. And hereby know we that we dwell in him , and he in us , because he hath given us of his Spirit , 1 John 14. 13. And we are sure it is he , for he hath done that in us and for us that none other could do . And he that believeth , hath the Witness in himself , 1 John 5. 10. So our God is a God at hand , a Just , Righteous and a Merciful God , who in his everlasting love hath committed a Talent or Measure of his Grace ( and giveth his Light for a Witness and a Leader , Isa. 55. 4. ) to every Man and Woman that cometh into the World , and according to their improving or not improving of it , believing or not believing in it , is the Salvation or Condemnation of all mankind . Now to speak comparatively after the manner of men , if a man should demand a sum of Money with Usury of another , that never had any of him , and condemn him for want of it , would it not be altogether Unjust ? But the true God is Just and Righteous in all his wayes , and man's Destruction is of himself . And further we say , that God in his endless love hath offered a Day or Time of Visitation to all mankind , and that by his secret Reproofs at times in their Consciences for Self-Righteousness , as well as their other Ungodliness , that they might turn to his Grace , ( which hath appeared to all men ) Light or Witness within them , and live . And all you confused Builders of Babel , with your many Lo here 's and Lo there 's , you have rejected the Head or chief Corner-Stone and true Foundation ; and if you will be truly Wise , that you may know him , you must first become Fools that you may be Wise , and then you will throw down and lay waste all your lofty Buildings of Self Righteousness , and dig deeper then ever you have done yet to the true Rock and Foundation , and whoso Bui'ds truly thereupon shall be safe . But all you talkative Letter-wise People and Professors of all sorts , that have no other Ru'e to try Spirits and Doctrines but the Scriptures , [ in your Natural Carnal Reasons , and fallen Degenerated Wisdoms ] though you neither know them nor the Power of God , but are putting Darkness for Light , and Light for Darkness , justifying the Wicked and condemning the Righteous , as did they whose steps you follow : What! did you never read or take notice of the Fruits of trying Spirits and Doctrines by the Scriptures in their Carnal Reasons & Degenerate Wisdoms ( being out of the spirit which gives a right understanding of them ) Was it not to Condemn the Saviour of the World , and his blessed Followers to Death ? Oh! Outside , Literal Professors of this Generation ! take heed ye be not found spiritually in the same steps : The holy Scriptures we more dearly & truly own , in their places , than you do , and do esteem them above all other Outward Writings , because of the great plenty and variety of sweet , sound , heavenly Sayings , uttered by God in and through Christ Jesus , who was filled with the Spirit without measure , and anointed with the Oyl of Gladness above his Fellows , as it s written of him ; and also uttered through Moses , and the rest of the holy Prophets & Apostles : but we cannot set them above the Spirit : We say , they are a Testimony or Declaration of what the Primitive Saints were made Living Witnesses of , by the working of the mighty Power of God in them , whereby they came to put off the old Man with his Deeds , and put no that New Man , Christ Iesus which is after God created in Righteousness and true Holiness , in whom ONLY was and is the Perfection of Saints : And without witnessing of more or less of this Spirit that wrought in them , that gave forth the Scriptures , there is no saving Benefit nor Comfort to be had from them ; for they , viz. the Scriptures do answer to the Witness of God , or Light within People ; and they are given forth to be read and believed , and only can be rightly understood in a measure of the same Spirit that gave them forth ; and they testifie how , where and by what means people may attain to that Infallible Spirit , that always was & is the Saints chief Rule , Guide & Leader , who leads in the same Path they were in , that gave them forth ; and these only are the truly learned , that can read them without wresting , and to such they are profitable for Doctrine , for Reproof , &c. but they were not given forth [ to be set above the Spirit of God ] they were not given forth to be wrested by Covetous , Carnal-minded men to uphold their Carnal Sects , Opinions , Judgments and Religions , to War against the true Spiritual Worshippers , whom the Father seeks to Worship him in the Spirit & in the Truth . And inasmuch as the Invisible Wise God , Creator of all things , is to be honoured and esteemed above any Visible created thing , so is his Holy Invisible Spirit to be honoured and esteemed above the Scriptures ; are not all holy Declarations made by the holy Spirit of Truth ? And who dare say , That the Maker is not Greater , and more to be looked at and esteemed , than the Thing made ? How now Porfessors ( that in your Natural Reasons set your selves as Judges , both of Scriptures and the Spirit that gave them forth ) and in setting the Scriptures above the Spirit of God , your Darkness is largely Manifest : And may you not be justly compared to those that built the Tombs of the Prophets , and garnished the Sepulchers of the Righteous , and were the Children of them that killed them ? The Scripture saith , Believe not every Spirit , but try the Spirits whether they be of God ; because many false Prophets are gone out into the World , 1 John 4. 1. I say , the Infallible Spirit of God must Try all Spirits , and without that none can try them : Come Professors , what say you , have you that Infallible Spirit to try the Fallible with ? If you say , Nay , but we have the Scriptures to try them by ( I never yet heard any of you say otherwise ) I hope you will not deny , but that the Spirit of Christ is Infallible ; and the Scriptures say , He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his , Rom. 8. 9. And he that 's spiritual judgeth all things , 1 Cor. 2. 15. So you Fallible-spirited Natural men , what have you to do with the Scriptures , you being the Unlearned men , who have not learned of Christ , you do but Wrest them to your own Destruction , because you have no true Judgment in your goings , and make to your selves crooked Paths , Lo here , Lo there ! and in your own private Spirits give your corrupt Meanings to the Scriptures & oppose the Spirit that gave them forth . The Apostle saith , He that keepeth his Commandments dwelleth in him , and he in him : And hereby we know that he dwelled in us , by the Spirit which he hath given us , 1 Iohn 3. 24. The Lord God said by the true Prophet , concerning the false , Wo unto the Foolish-Prophets , who follow their own Spirit , and have seen nothing , Ezek. 13. 3. And these are the true Confessors of Christ come in the Flesh , [ and in the Spirit ] whatever Fallible-spirited men ( that are rending and wresting the Scriptures ) may judge of them . And whereas some Envious Dark Spirits ( seeing their glorying in their Literal Knowledge so hard beset ) may suggest , That I Design to possess People against ( or would beget them into a Low esteem of ) the Scriptures . God knoweth , if any such there be , they greatly Wrong themselves and me , and all those who believe their False Suggestions ; for my only End is , That People might be possessed with the Spirit of Truth , that leads into all Truth , and teaches the true Knowledge of Scriptures , and to set them in their places , and not to be ever Learning , and never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth ; so that you all might come to Christ , and learn of him , that you may have Life , is the Desire of your Friend Written in the 10th Moneth from Market-Harborough , 1678. William Smith . POSTSCRIPT . HAving considered that some Dark Spirits , like this Priest's may take Occasion at my so much judging his Works to be Works of Darkness , without any plain Proof made thereof , to Answer my present Business at this time , is not so much to concern my self with his Darkness ( it is so palpably Gross , to all that have the least spiritual discerning ) as to shew the Confusion and Darkness of such Professors that separate from such Priests , as not owning them to be Ministers of Christ , and yet in Envy prefer and promote their Works in Opposition to the Truth of God. Now since his works , viz. the Priest's , seems to be chiefly about True and False Interpretations of Scriptures , I may compare them , and see which he most resembles : The True Interpreters do it by the Spiritual Vnderstanding received by the Inspiration of the Almighty : The False Interpreters do it by Natural Reason or Earthly Wisdom of Fallen Degenerate Man. I may touch at a Passage or two in his Book ( passing by many such like ) with the ground of his Matter in General ( with as much brevity as I can , because I would not be tedious to the Reader ) from which I can prove his whole heap of Confusion and Darkness of One Hundred Sixty and Six pages to be founded upon a Shadow , and down must it tumble and vanish away like Smoak before the Wind. So having perused His tedious Tautologies , or rather bundle of Dark Impertenent Cavils against God's Truth and People : I find the Scope and Drift of his Matter is to make void or cry down ( as now ceased ) Immediate Revelation , Inspiration , Vision and the Truth in the Inward Parts , or the Spiritual In-being of Christ in the Hearts and Souls of his People ( there to Work their Salvation ) all which is still continued and truly witnessed by the true Spiritual Worshippers , without which , we affirm , there is no true Interpretations of holy Scriptures . Oh! all People , that have the least Spiritual Understanding , behold the Darkness of such Priests and Professors , Where there is no Revelation , there is no True Saving Knowledge of God ; see Mat. 11. 27. Object . But we have it by the Scriptures . Answ. I prove by the Scriptures that it must be Immediate from the Son Christ Iesus , or you have no Life ; Search the Scriptures , for in them you think ye have Eternal Life ; they testifie of me , but ye will not come unto me that ye may have Life , Iohn 5. 39. [ See page 74 , & 75. of this Priest's Book ] We ( saith he ) like Honest Men , have no Vision , pretend none ; if we were Knaves we might pretend Inspiration as well as others . Ah! Poor Blind Guides indeed ! then you Perish , and have no heavenly Understanding ; Where there is no Vision the People Perish , Prov. 29. 18. There is a Spirit in man , and the Inspiration of the Almighty giveth them Vnderstanding , Job 32. 8. When it pleased God to reveal his Son in me , &c. Gal. 1. 15. I was not Disobedient to the heavenly Vision , Acts 26. 19. I will come to Visions and Revelations of the Lord , 2 Cor. 12. 1. And also , Paul prayed , That the People might receive the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation : What was Paul a Knave for this ? And how often doth Paul say , be ye Followers of me , even as I also am of Christ ? And if we do so , and in our measures witness the same Spirit of Wisdom , Revelation , Inspiration and Vision , must we therefore be Knaves for that ? Oh Darkness ! who is so Blind that they cannot see it ! We say , All holy Scripture is given by the Inspiration of God , and can never be rightly known nor understood , but by the Inspiration of the Almighty , which gives an Understanding to know them , without which they can never be truly known nor interpreted . And in the Latter Dayes ( saith God ) I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh ; Sons and Daughters shall Prophesie , Young Men shall see Visions , and Old Men shall dream Dreams , Ioel 2. 28. Acts 2. 17. Many more Scriptures might have been instanced , as full and pertinent to this purpose ; but these are sufficient to Manifest the Ignorance , Darkness and Blindness of such Priests and Professors : And who have believed in Christ as a Light within them know him to be the same to his People Yesterday , to Day , and forever . So all Honour , Praises and Thanks forever be given to him who hath hid these things from the Wise and Prudent of this World , and revealed them to Babes and Sucklings . And as to Christ's Spiritual being within , it is before sufficiently proved ; but I perceive such Priests , and Professors do only or chiefly talk of Christ without them , which is Well-pleasing to the Devil , that so he may do his Work within them without Disturbance , while He that is stronger then he may not be received to cast him out and spoil his Works : and such Ministers or Teachers , of what sort soever , are not of Christ , but of Anti-christ , as well as the Pope . Now I charge all , or any one of the blind Guides , of all sorts in the whole World ( to whom the Spirit of true Wisdom , Revelation , Inspiration and Vision is ceased ) to give one plain Scripture that it ever was , is , or ever will be ceased to the People of God ( who did and do fear and obey him ) while upon Earth . Why did the chief Priests and outward Professors of the Letter in days past slight and set at nought Christ Jesus , in his outward appearance to them ? because he reproved their Self-Righteousness , and said , he was the Son of God and Light of the World , and said , his Kingdom was not of this World , neither was it to be found in Observations , where they were seeking it , but it was to be found within in the Spirit : so making clean the out-side of Cup and Platter would not serve them then , neither will it now . And why do the chief Priests and outward Professors of the Letter in this day slight and reject him in his inward appearance , as Light within in their Consciences ? because he condemned their Self-Righteousness , which they are also getting in the outward Observations , and many of them see that if they should hearken or lend an Ear to him or his Light within , he would break their false Peace , and bring Spiritual War , Division and a Sword within to spoil and cut down their Self-Righteousness , as well as the rest of their . Ungodliness , and that which would not that he should Reign in his Kingdom within , to subject Man and Woman to himself , who will admit of no Righteousness but his own , and therefore the Hypocrites and Formal Professors will not abide him , but love the Darkness rather then Light , and in their Darkness Judge his Light within to be a Spirit of Delusion , and what not , as their fore-Fathers did of Old ; yet he that is the Searcher of Hearts and Tryer of Reins , hath not left himself without a Witness in you , to which I now appeal , what any of you from the highest to the lowest know more by your long Professing of the true God ( mark ) whom to know is Life Eternal , ( John 17. 3 ) then you did at your first beginning to profess him ? O! Friends and People , that have any regard to your Immortal Souls , this is of great weight for you all deeply to ponder , and let Gods Witness speak in you , that will deal plainly with you , and tell you the Truth . And since the Life of Man and Woman here is full of trouble , short and uncertain , attended with Temptations , Oh! how doth it concern all that truly desire a better and more durable inheritance to weigh & consider that great and double caution of Christ & his Apostles , Take heed that no man deceive you ; and let no man deceive himself , in which deceit all men are ( how conceited and confident soever they may be ) till they come out of their vain and dead Faiths into the living Faith in God & Christ , which is to believe in ( as sufficient for the Salvation of man ) his Spirit , Grace , Talent , Light or Kingdom within , which is likeed to a Grain of Mustard-seed ; indeed too low and too small a thing for the lofty Professors of this Generation to find or receive , as was his outward appearance to your fore-Fathers , when he was found in the Manger : I know your Inns are taken up with other Guests , and there is yet no room for him ; so full of vain Imaginations and high Conceits are you , that you will not bow down so low as to receive & own him as a Reprover in your Consciences , for whoso do come to have their Understandings opened , and to be enlightned with the Light of Life ; so that they come to see the blind Guides of all sorts , that are boasting in other mens Lines , of things made ready to their Hands , and how they strive to keep People from believing in this Heavenly Principle within , lest they with their chargeable unprofitable Preaching should be discovered , and their running unsent , speaking of themselves , seek their own Glory , the Praise of Men , Self-Interest , their Gain from their Quarter , &c. all which with much more the Light within doth discover , judge and condemn , and that makes such Hireling Teachers of all sorts to hate it , and prejudice their People against it . Oh! People of all sorts beware of such Teachers , for they make a Prey upon you , & Deceive you ; Therefore no longer spend your Money for that which is not Bread , nor your Labour for that which satisfieth not your hungry pined Souls , but come home to your Teacher within , to the Law , Testimony , Commandment or Light within you , which made David wiser then all his Teachers ; and so it will you , if you can receive it , believe in it , and follow it . W. S. THE END .