After I had visited Friends in that county, I went through the county
into Durham, having large meetings by the way. A very large one I
had at Anthony Pearson's, where many were convinced. From thence I
passed through Northumberland to Derwentwater, where there were great
meetings; and the priests threatened that they would come, but none
came. The everlasting Word of life was freely preached, and freely
received; and many hundreds were turned to Christ, their teacher.
In Northumberland many came to dispute, of whom some pleaded against
perfection. Unto these I declared that Adam and Eve were perfect
before they fell; that all that God made was perfect; that the
imperfection came by the devil, and the fall; but that Christ, who
came to destroy the devil, said, "Be ye perfect."
One of the professors alleged that Job said, "Shall mortal man be
more pure than his Maker? The heavens are not clean in His sight. God
charged His angels with folly." But I showed him his mistake, and
let him see that it was not Job that said so, but one of those that
contended against Job; for Job stood for perfection, and held his
integrity; and they were called miserable comforters.
Then these professors said that the outward body was the body of
death and sin. I showed them their mistake in that also; for Adam and
Eve had each of them an outward body, before the body of death and
sin got into them; and that man and woman will have bodies when the
body of sin and death is put off again; when they are renewed again
into the image of God by Christ Jesus, in which they were before they
fell. So they ceased at that time from opposing further; and glorious
meetings we had in the Lord's power.
Then passed we to Hexam, where we had a great meeting on top of a
hill. The priest threatened that he would come and oppose us, but
he came not; so all was quiet. And the everlasting day and renowned
Truth of the everliving God was sounded over those dark countries,
and His Son exalted over all. It was proclaimed amongst the people
that the day was now come wherein all that made a profession of the
Son of God might receive Him; and that to as many as would receive
Him He would give power to become the sons of God, as He had done to
me.
It was further declared that he who had the Son of God, had life
eternal; but he that had not the Son of God, though he professed
all the Scriptures from the first of Genesis to the last of the
Revelation, had no life.
So after all were directed to the light of Christ, by which they
might see Him, receive Him, and know where their true teacher was,
and the everlasting Truth had been largely declared amongst them, we
passed through Hexam peaceably, and came into Gilsland, a country
noted for thieving.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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