same salt, nor upon the same hill. So they came to be trodden under, and the beast, and the whore, and the false prophet are uppermost; the unsavoury. So their dead faith is in men and in words, and therefore they are full of sects, and one against another.

And now the everlasting gospel, the power of God, is preached again, which was before the devil was, that had darkened man; and by this power of God, the gospel, life and immortality are come to light again. And therefore every one's faith is to stand in this power, the gospel, that hath brought life and immortality to light in them, and so to be heirs of the power of God, the gospel. And here have all men and women a right to the power of God, before the devil was; and the power of God is the author ity of the men's and the women's-meetings, and of all the other meetings set up thereby.

'But now as the gospel is preached again, if your faith doth not stand in the power, but in men and in the wisdom of words, you will grow carnal; and such are for judg ment, who cry up as they did, Paul and Apollos, and not Christ, the author of your faith. And they who love to be popular, would have people's faith to stand in them, and such do not preach Christ, but themselves. But such as preach Christ and his gospel, would have every man and woman to be in the possession of it; and so to have every man and woman's faith to stand in Christ, the author of it, and in the power of God, which was before the devil was, and it will be when he is gone. And their faith standing in the power of God, then nothing can get betwixt them and God; for if any should fall amongst us, as too many have done, then that leads its followers either into the waters, or into the earth.

And if any should go from the spirit of prophecy, that did open to them, and from the power, they may speak their experiences, which the power hath opened to them formerly. And so might Adam and Eve speak of what they saw and enjoyed in Paradise; and so might Cain and Balaam of what they saw; and also the Jews, and Corah, and Dathan, who praised God on the banks, and saw the victory over Pharaoh, and they ate of the manna, and drank of the rock, and came to Mount Sinai, and saw the glory of the Lord. And so also might the false apostles speak of their experiences, and all those false Christians, that turned from the apostles and Christ. And so may such do now that err from the Spirit, that are come out of Egypt (in Spirit) and Sodom, and have known the raging of the Sodomites, as Lot did the outward, and the pur

suit of the spiritual Egyptians, as the outward Jew did of the outward Egyptians; yet if they do not walk in the Spirit of God, and in the light, and in the grace, which keeps their hearts established and their words seasoned, and also their faith to stand in the power of God, in which the kingdom stands; they may go forth like the false Christians, and like the Jews, and like Adam and Eve, and Cain, and Corah, and Balaam, and be wandering stars, trees without fruit, and wells without water, and clouds without rain; and so come to be unsavoury and trodden down; and as Adam who lost Paradise, and the Jews who lost the Holy Land, not walking in the law, and keeping the command of God; and as the Christians, who lost the city, and the hill, and the salt, and the light since the apostle's days, and came to be unsavoury, and to be trodden under foot of men.

'And therefore let every one's faith stand, as I said before, in the Lord's power, which is over all; through which they may be built upon the rock, and the foundation of God, the seed Christ Jesus, that bruises the head of the serpent; who was before he was, and will be when he is gone; who is the head of his church. So that all in Christ may be always fresh and green, for he is the green tree that never withers; and all are fresh and green, that are grafted into him, and abide in him fresh and green, and bring forth heavenly fresh fruits to the praise of God. And though Adam and Eve fell from Paradise, and the Jews fell from the law of God, and many of the Christians fell from their prophecies, and erred from the faith, and the Spirit, and the grace; and the stars have fallen, as was spoken of in the Revelations; yet the spirit, grace, faith and power of God remains.

And many such states have I seen within this twentyeight years; though there is a state, that shall never fall, nor be deceived in the elect, before the world began; who are come to the end of the prophecies, and are in him, where they end, and renewed up into the image of God (by Christ) which man was in before he fell, in that power where he had dominion over all that God made and not only so, but attain to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, who never fell. And in him is the sitting down in life eternal, where their feet stand sure and fast in the gospel, his power; and here their bread is sure, and he that eats this bread lives for ever.

'And all friends and brethren, that do declare God's eternal truth, and word of life, live in it; and be seasoned with grace, and salted with the heavenly salt, that your

lives and conversations may preach wherever you come; that there be no rawness, nor no quenching of the Spirit, nor despising prophecy neither in men nor women. For all must meet in the faith, that Jesus is the author of, and in the light that comes from Jesus, and so grafted into the life, that your knowledge may be there one of another, in Christ. And that there may be none slothful, nor sitting down in earthly things, and minding them, like Demas of old; lest you clothe yourselves with another clothing, than you had at first; but all to keep chaste; for the chaste do follow the Lamb.

And friends, that are settled in places, that be ministers, possess, as if ye did not; married, as if ye were not; and be loose to the world in the Lord's power; for God's oil will be a top of all visible things, which makes his lamps to burn, and to give light afar off. And none strive nor covet to be rich in this world in these changeable things, that will pass away; but your faith to stand in the Lord God, who changes not, that created all, and gives the increase of all.

'And now friends, concerning faithful men and women'smeetings, which were set up in God's counsel; whoever should oppose them, and the authority and tenure of them, I say they, oppose the power of God; which is the authority of them; and they are no ministers of the gospel, nor of Christ, that oppose his power, which all are to possess. For the true ministers of Christ, that preach Christ and his gospel, (which is to be preached to all nations, as deceit is gone over all nations, and all nations have drunk the whore's cup, and she hath them in her cage, her unclean power from the beast and dragon, out of the power of God, and out of truth and the Spirit of God the apostles were in; the power of God must come over all this again, and all the true ministers that preach the gospel,) the power of God, must bring all people into the possession of it again. I say, whosoever preaches the gospel of Christ and him to people or nations, and those people and nations receiving the gospel, they receive the power of God, that brings life and immortality to light in them; and they see over the devil that hath darkened them, and the beast, and the whore, and her cage. And so by the power of God, life and immortality are brought to light in them; then all these men and women being heirs of this power, the gospel, they are heirs of authority and power over the devil, beast, whore and dragon.

'So all men and women, that be heirs of this power of God, it is their possession and portion; and they are to

labour in their possession and portion, and to do God Almighty's business and service in the possession of the power of God, the gospel, which is a joyful, glorious, everlasting order. And here is the authority of our men and women's-meetings, and other meetings in the name of Jesus, the gospel of Christ, the power of God, which is not of man, nor by man; and in this they are all to meet and to worship God; and by this they are all to act, and in this power they have all fellowship, a joyful fellowship, a joyful and comfortable assembly. And so this is the day in the eternal light, that all are to take their possessions of the gospel and its order, that power of God, which they are heirs of. And all the faithful men and women in every country, city, and nation, whose faith stands in the power of God, the gospel of Christ, and have received this gospel, and are in the possession of this gospel, the power of God; they have all right to the power in these meetings; for they be heirs of the power, which is the authority of the men's and women's meetings.

So here is God's choice (and not man's) by his power of his heirs, and they have all freedom in this gospel, the power of God, to go to the meetings, the men to the men's, and the women to the women's; for they are heirs of the power, which power is the gospel, not of man, nor by man, but from heaven; sent by the Holy Ghost, and received in the Holy Ghost; which hath brought life and immortality to light in them, and they see over enmity, and before it was, by the light, and the life, and immortality, which is brought to light in them.

So the devil, the author of enmity, cannot get into this authority and power, nor order, nor fellowship of the gospel, nor life, nor light, nor the fellowship in the Holy Spirit, nor into the unity of the faith, which gives victory over him that hath separated man from God, by which faith they have access to God; and into the unity of this faith the serpent cannot come, nor into the worship of God in spirit and truth; into this worship the devil cannot come, nor any enmity. So I say, that the serpent, the devil, is out of the fellowship of the gospel, out of the unity of the faith, and out of the order of the gospel, and out of the worship in spirit and truth; and they that be in this, be in unity over him. And therefore, as I said before, let every one's faith stand in the power of God, the glorious gospel, and all to walk as becomes the gospel and the order of it; and as every one hath received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, and let him be their Lord and Orderer. For they that do preach the gospel of Christ

Jesus, it is to the intent that all might come to be heirs of the gospel, and into the possession of it; and to be heirs of Christ and of his government, of the increase of which there is no end; who is over all in his righteousness, and over all in his light, life, power and dominion. And therefore know one another in his power, his gospel, which is the authority of your meetings; and know one another in Christ Jesus, who is able to restore man out of the state of the fall, into the image of God, as he was in before he fell; and into that power and dominion, that man had before he fell, and into himself that never fell, where they shall go no more forth. And here is the rock and foundation of God that stands sure.

And friends, be tender to the tender principle of God in all, and shun the occasion of vain disputes and janglings, both amongst yourselves and others; for that many times is like a blustering wind, that hurts and bruises the tender buds and plants. For the world, though they have the words, yet they be out of the life; and the apostle's disputing with them, was to bring them to the life. And those disputers, that were amongst the Christians, about genealogies, and circumcision, and the law, and meats and drinks, and days, those came to be the worst sort of disputers, whom the apostles judged, for such destroyed people from the faith. And therefore did the apostles exhort the churches, that every one's faith should stand in the power of God, and to look at Jesus, which was the author of it; and there every graft stands in Christ, the vine, quiet; where no blustering storms could hurt them, and there is the safety. And there all are of one mind, one faith, one soul, one spirit, baptized into one body with the one spirit, and made all to drink into one spirit, one church, one head, that is heavenly and spiritual; one faith in this head, Christ, who is the author of it, and hath the glory of it; one Lord to order all, who is the baptizer into this one body. So Christ hath the glory of this faith out of every man and woman; and God through him hath his glory, the creator of all in his power, the gospel that hath brought life and immortality to light in them; and their faith standing in it, they know the immortal God, and serve and worship him, in his spirit and in his truth; by which they are made God's free men and women, from him that is out of the truth.

And now friends, all you that have been ancient labourers, and have known the dealings of the Lord these twenty years (more or less) as I have often said to you, to draw up what you can, of that which the Lord hath