Dear friends,—Let your faith stand in the power of God [1 Cor 2:5], for that is your keeper unto the day of salvation [1 Pet 1:5/2 Cor 6:2] ; so every one that hath not yet obtained it, come to that day, for the kingdom stands in power, and not in words [1 Cor 4:20]. Therefore, as I said before, let your faith stand in the power of God, in which the kingdom stands, the kingdom of peace and joy, which stands in righteousness, and holiness, and in the holy ghost [Rom 14:17]; where no unclean thing enters, neither can it [Rev 21:27]. For the power of the Lord God keeps you fresh, keeps you open, and keeps you alive, and keeps you in a sense of the things of his kingdom, the treasures, the pearls, and riches, and jewels thereof; and this power will keep you all in peace, and in unity, and quietness, and condescension [Rom 12:16], and love, and kindness one to another; and in the power of the Lord, and in his spirit, you will be enabled to give the Lord his glory, and continual praise, and continual thanks [Heb 13:15], which is due unto him from you all; it will ascend to him who is worthy of all, blessed for evermore. And so none quench the spirit [1 Th 5:19], nor the motions of it in you, lest Isaac's well be stopped up by the uncircumcised Philistine [Gen 26:15,18], that must go down into the pit, who hath lived aloft; for as Christ comes to take the peace from the earth [Rev 6:4], which men are in, as all sects and ways, that have peace in their ways, religions, and worships, and traditions of their forefathers; as in the days of his flesh, when he came amongst the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Scribes, and other sects among them; and likewise all others, that now have a peace in the earth, and that are settled in it, they must know that peace taken away before they are redeemed out of the earth; and so as he taketh away that peace, such as come to learn of him [Mat 11:29], and to be <49> his disciples and followers, his peace he gives unto them [Johm 14:27]; who is the King of peace [Heb 7:2], the Prince of peace [Isa 9:6], and of life [Acts 3:15]; and which is such a peace that the world cannot take away from them. And this you and all Friends every where, have sufficiently known, who have been and are the learners of Christ Jesus [Mat 11:29], both men and women, that in all your persecutions, mockings, imprisonings, spoiling of goods, they could never take your peace away, which you had from this Prince of peace. Is not this true, and the scripture fulfilled in you? Therefore let him have the praises and the glory out of all your hearts; and keep this peace, in the unity of the spirit, the bond of peace [Eph 4:3]; you are bound to keep it with the spirit, this Prince of princes' peace [Dan 8:25]; you are all bound to keep it by the law of life, the law of the spirit [Rom 8:2?]; for Christ is the same now, to-day as yesterday, and so for ever [Heb 13:8]; the same as in the apostles' days, who said, ‘Think you that I came to send peace on earth? I tell you nay; but rather debate. For the father shall be against the son, and the son against the father. And the mother against her daughter, and the daughter against her mother. And the daughter in law against her mother in law,’ &c. Luke xii. 53 [Luke 12:51,53]. ‘And he that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me,’ said Christ Jesus. ‘Or he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross, and follows not me, is not worthy of me. He that will save his life, shall lose it; and he that is willing to lose his life for my sake, shall save it [Mat 10:37-39].’ And, speaking to his disciples, said, ‘He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me [Mat 10:40].’ Matt. x. . . . And this must be fulfilled, and interprets itself in the fulfilling; for he brings a sword and war, and not peace [Mat 10:34] to that nature they lived in, and had in old Adam, before they received the Prince of peace, and the sword of the spirit from him to war against the other peace which they had; and so the peace of all religions must be broken, before they come to the true religion from above [James 1:27/3:17]; and the peace of all worships must be broken, before they come to the worship in the spirit and truth [John 4:24] the devil is out of [John 8:44]; and the peace of all ways must be broken, that men and people are in, before they come into the way of <50> Christ Jesus; and the peace of all churches must be broken, before they come to the church which is in God [1,2 Th 1:1]; and the peace of all fellowships must be broken, before they come into the fellowship of the spirit [Phil 2:1], and unity therein, which is the bond of peace [Eph 4:3]; and the peace of all earthly teachers must be broken, who are made of men by natural tongues, before they come to the heavenly teacher, and the tongue of the learned [Isa 50:4] indeed; and the peace of all earthly bishops and shepherds must be broken before they come unto Christ, the bishop of the soul [1 Pet 2:25], and heavenly overseer, and heavenly shepherd, who feeds with his heavenly food; and so the heavenly priest, made higher than the heavens, who is holy, harmless, separate from sinners [Heb 7:26], breaks the peace of the earthly priests, and of all them that are made lower than the heavens, (mischieful,) that are not separate from sinners, nor from sin, but hold up sinners, and prop them up, and plead for sin term of life; this Prince of peace, made higher than the heavens, breaks all their peace, as he did above sixteen hundred years since, for he is the same now as then, and his power and spirit will make them rage still, and they that confess him before men [Mat 10:32], they will rage at them still. And therefore, as I said, keep in Christ's power, in which the kingdom stands, and not in words, that you may see the fulfilling of the scriptures; and stand still in the power, which will keep you all to the day of salvation, that are not come to it. And so the Lord preserve you in his fear, and give you wisdom from above [Jas 3:17], that you may be preserved in the unity of the spirit, which (as I said before) is the bond of peace, which is your duty to keep the peace of the Prince of princes. And all you that have received the power of Christ in your hearts, have you not seen what wars, and what rumours, and nation against nation [Mat 24:23f], as it was in the two births in the womb, that came forth [Gen 25:23], two nations, two births, nation against nation; and much may be seen, what wars outwardly there have been, and bringings down, before the appearance and receiving the Lord; and so here he being received, here is people against people, and nation against nation, and earthquakes [Mat 24:24], and shakings within and without. They that receive the Lord's power must feel this, and know this, and see the fulfilling of it, and not look out, for his kingdom without, like a company of Pharisees, lo here, lo there [Mat 24:23], but as Christ, the power of God, is known within, (as Christ said the kingdom of heaven is within [Luke 17:21],) and as they come to feel it there, they shall know the shakings and earthquakes, and wars, and rumours, and that part that pertains to nations, that must be shaken [Heb 12:27] before they come to be of the holy nation [1 Pet 2:9], which is against the other; and this is to be known, and seen, felt, and fulfilled with the power of Christ Jesus, and by his spirit; as they that live in it may take a prospect of these wonderful things and workings of the Lord God and his power in this age. Therefore <51> be still in the power of God, which is your keeper [1 Pet 1:5], as I said before; for it is your keeper in the night, before you come to the day, and it keeps you to the day of salvation [2 Cor 6:2]; for the virgins lamps did burn in the night, and it was their light, and they that were wise, that got oil in their lamps, entered; for the voice of the bridegroom was at midnight, and bid them arise [Mat 25:1-10]. And so as outward midnight is a great while off the day star's arising [2 Pet 1:19]; yet here is a lamp burning. Therefore every one see that you get oil in your lamps, that you may not go forth, that you may arise at the hearing of the heavenly voice of the bridegroom, and enter with him; though satan's messengers [2 Cor 12:7] have told you, there is no hearing his voice now-a-days. Sad messengers they are, and have been, they see who have received the true message of the Messiah in his power, through which they see over them, and see their own foundation, Christ Jesus, who was the foundation of the prophets and apostles [Eph 2:20]. G. F.