A collection of the several writings and faithful testimonies of that suffering servant of God, and patient follower of the Lamb, Humphry Smith who dyed a prisoner for the testimony of Jesus, in Winchester common-goal the 4th day of the 3d moneth in the year 1663.

Concerning the Ministration of Condemnation.

THe World being set in man's Heart, and Sin being in the World before the Promise was made, which Pro∣mise was before the Law, by which the Sin is discover∣ed; which Sin was in the World before the Promise, yet the Promise was before the Law; and yet until the Law comes, Death reigns over that to which the Promise is, and Sin separateth man from God, the which is not clearly seen until the Command∣ment (which is Light) is come, the Ministration whereof is Con∣demnation unto Man, being found in the Transgression; the which Ministration of Condemnation is to pass over all, having sinned; and when this cometh, it finds man in the Death, and by it is sin revived, whereby man comes to see a Body of Sin,

which stands between him and God, so that he is afraid of the dreadful Power of God, ministred forth through the Law, to slay him that hath transgressed, the which some coming to see, or in the least measure to feel, call it a Temptation, because it maketh him sensible, that Condemnation belongeth to him, and that all his Profession and building upon the Promise, in that which the Promise was not unto; and seeing, that if he lie down to re∣ceive this Ministration, that then all his Profession and Know∣ledge, Zeal, Wisdom and Prayers (which did arise out of that ground which was cursed by reason of the sin that was in the World before either the Promise, the Profession, or the Law) will be all ript up from him, as filthy Rags, and that his shame and nakedness must appear, as its written, Every mouth shall be stopped, and every one shall stand guilty before God, and no Darkness, no shadow of Death shall hide the workers of Iniquity from the mighty hand of God, who brings to judgment the hidden things of Darkness, and rips open the secrets of the Heart, so that the most secret Sin•• that ever were committed are clearly made manifest, and justly charged upon the head of the Transgressor, who stands in Enmity to God, who will wound the head of the Transgressor, and plead in Righteousness with him, in whom the sin is found, though not made manifest until the time that the Law is come, by which it is discovered.

And this Ministration of Condemnation is not a Temptation, though many call it so, who being blind, put Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness; for that which sheweth man his sin, doth not tempt man to sin, but rather brings man in fear that he may not sin; for because of sin was the Law added; and the Law was given after much of the Love, Preservation, Power, Deli∣verances, and the Wonders of the Lord had been seen, and it was given in the Wilderness, where sometime there was want of Bread and Water, where was Serpents, Scorpions and many Tryals, where the figure of him who was to heal the wounded, and take away the sting of death, and save the Life of man, was lifted up on high without them; the which figure or outward bo∣dily Appearance, was prepared by Moses: And Christ had a body prepared him, both which the carnal Eye might see, and the carnal Mind contend about (even as the Devil about the bo∣dy of Moses) but the Substance of the Figure, Christ the Light,

Gods power, being not received within, in the heart, and so fin (the transgression of the Law) remains within, and the figure or that which the natural Eye did or may see, was and is looked upon without; and that without doth not take away the sin with∣in; and these knew not the Ways of God, who sinned, and at last loathed the Manna (calling it light bread) in the Wilderness, even there was the Law Ministred; they whose eyes are open may read and understand

And where the Law was given forth, there was a Mount, or a high place of the Earth, which then trembled by reason of the dreadful Power of the Lord of Hosts; and beneath or under the Mount was the Seed and Israel of God, which was to keep the Law and Life [Read within and understand] and yet by reason of that which was hard upon the heart, there was a crying out with Dread, and Horror, and Fear, That the Lord might speak no more, lest they dye; and so that which is hard upon the heart, in the which by the Law (which is Light) sin is found, that is it which is afraid to receive the Law, and come near the Darkness, and Thunders, and Tempests; and so, though many do talk of the Law (being a School-master to Christ) yet they are much afraid to receive the Ministration of Condemnation, as their Fa∣thers were, who might have boasted, that they were the People of God, his only chosen flock, and that the Land of rest was pro∣mised to them, and that they had fed upon the Passover (and yet they perished before they came to that which was promised, who are left for an Example) and they might have boasted and talked much of the goodness of God, and of his wonders, and of his presence being with them, and of their own experiences therein, and that therefore they were not to come under the Ministration of Condemnation, and fear, and horror, and trem∣bling, and astonishment, and that they need not now to be a∣fraid of God, who had shewed them so much love and mercy: And many such things might they have pleaded, as most profes∣sing People do now, who can talk of promises and deliverances, and of Christ, and his Merites and Righteousness, and Justifica∣tion, and Redemption (finished without them) and especially of Ordinances, and their own experiences of the Power of God, but are yet in their sins, having not received the thing promised,

neither come to him who is the end of the Law, and maketh an end of sin, whom many satisfie their vain Minds with talk∣ing of him with the same Tongue that useth deceit; and pro∣fessing him who is the end of the Law, but the Law they despise, holding the Truth of God in the unrighteous Ground, which by the mighty power of God, through the Ministration of the Law, is to be shaken and removed, as it is written, Sinai also was moved, and all Israel trembled, and Moses did fear and quake; and once more will the Lord shake not only the Earth, but the Hea∣vens also, and then shall the Foundation of the Hypocrites be overturned forever.

For though the Name of God and Christ be professed, yet if Moses's Law be despised, such dye without Mercy; for the Law is to remove the Iniquity, which doth with-hold the Mercy and the good things from man; and in the end of the Law is that received by which the Law is fulfilled, which is according to the Law and the Prophets; but there is none can come to that in the end of the Law, who refuse to come to the beginning of the Law, and despise the Ministration of Condemnation, and make a mock at Trembling, or at least, not knowing what it is, exceed∣ingly to fear and quake, being not in the least sensible, what that is which must be shaken and removed, before the thing pro∣mised be obtained; for a Promise may be made long before the thing promised be given or obtained; for a Promise was made unto Abraham and his seed, and yet it is written of him, and ma∣ny more, that they dyed, having not obtained the Promises; and he that made the promise was before the sin, who ministred forth the Law to discover the sin; through the Ministration whereof, and by Obedience thereunto, that cometh to be received which taketh away the sin, in which all the Promises are received.

And so, all that come to receive the thing promised, they re∣ceive that which is the end of the Law, and was before the sin, in which there is no sin, by which sin is finished, and him received in whose Mouth there is sound no Guile; who bringeth his to be as he is in this present World, being made the Righteousness of God through him, having the Righteousness of the Law ful∣filled in them, by him who is the end of the Law, dwelling in them, in whom also his Power worketh mightily, which is more

than to talk of the Law being fulfilled without them; for many such are neither come to that which fulfills the Law, neither yet to the Law it self; and such are hating, reviling, backbiting, opposing, and many ways persecuting those who witness the Law fulfilled in them, even as Saul, who was bred up at the feet of Gamal••••l, and knew that of the Law which was written with∣out, and walked blameless according to the Righteousness there∣of, and yet knew not that which gave forth the Law, but per∣secuted him by whom the Law should be fulfilled, whose dread∣ful Power smote him down, and a blindness came upon that great Professor, who had profited much in that Religion, above many of his equals: And to that Power which struck him blind did he then bow, and became obedient, and afterwards said, When the Commandment came, sin revived, and I dyed: And so that was struck blind, and is to be blinded, which professed the Law before it came, and encreased in that knowledge, without the Life, and Knew not that by which the Law should be fulfil∣led. Therefore that which sees, must be blind; and that which is blind, is to see. And this Revelation and heavenly Vision he did not then call a Temptation, nor a Delusion; neither did he despise that which struck him blind, and let him see a Body of sin, and came to cut him down because of the sin, but cryed out of his Wretchedness, and accounted all as Dross and Dung; and unto this he was obedient, and this he loved, and did not say of it, That it was not able to save him from Sin, the which be∣fore did prick for sin, though against that which prickt he had strived (which was in him) and it was said unto him, It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

And so, that which striveth and kicketh against that which pricketh at the Heart, is that by which the Heart is hardened; for the Word is hid in the heart, which Word is sharp as a sword; which Word being preached, some were pricked to the heart (others cut to the heart) so that many cryed out, Men and Bre∣thren•• what shall we do to be saved? And so the Word being nigh, ••n which God is striving with man, even piercing the hearts of many, that some in secret have been ready to cry out and say, What shall I do to be saved? And yet being not truly sensible what it is in them which did prick and pierce through the heart,

and let them see themselves out of Gods Covenant; therefore have they strove against it, and called this a Temptation, which was the Powerful Operation of God by the Light of his Son in the heart, calling to Repentance, the which they have called a Temptation of the Devil (esteeming it so to be) which is most horrible Blas∣phemy and resisting of the Spirit, and refusing to turn to him that smiteth: And this is the blindness of them who know not God, who by the Light of his Son doth knock at the Door of the heart, to minister forth the Law, to judge and condemn, and break the hardness, that in the broken heart this Word of Life might be received, and his Power made known, to the Confound∣ing of that which kept that in Bondage (under the Transgressi∣on) which was given into man before the Transgression was, out of which Transgression there is no coming, but by and through the Ministration of Condemnation, which doth it discover in the ground of it, through which there is a coming to receive the Gospel of Peace, which is the Power of God, not to be preach∣ed to the Wicked things, under which the just do suffer, which the Law is to, but by the Lord of glory, through the Light, preached to the Spirit in Prison, that it, through the Condemna∣tion of the other, may grow up to lead and guide the Creature in all things, in obedience to Gods will, from a true sense of his Love in the heart, whereby his whole Law comes to be fulfilled, and the Promise and the Blessing received in him, who is the end of the Law, who is the Light, given into man, to let him see, and to condemn the sin, the which man being dead in, and in Trespasses, doth not love, but is afraid of that which in secret judgeth and reproveth him, from the which man flying, forsak∣eth that by which he should come to receive the Mercies of the Lord; but Wo to them forever, who strive with their Maker, and call him Belz••bub, who is the Light in the Heart, and should be Master in the House.

Therefore let all take heed of despising the Law, which is written with the singer of God in the heart, whilst it is yet hard; sor the Law of God is perfect, making wise the simple, and the Ministration thereof is to destroy that which did it Transgress, and lead unto him by whom the Transgression is finished: And this is not a Temptation, but a Dispensation of Gods Justice Through

his Righteous Law upon that which sinned, over which the Law hath Power so long as that liveth, which the Law is to kill, that through the death of it, that might come again to live which was before the Law, and before the death, and before the sin.

And now when the Law or Ministration of Condemnation cometh, man is to stand still and wait quietly under it, and not let any thing break through in a haste, to rage or gaze, and wonder at that which is so dreadful that man is not able to stand under it, without unspeakable Astonishment, because of that which then is over him, who then is commanded, not to break through, lest he dye; for the Law is to break through that which cannot keep it, and make way to that which is to keep it, and live forever; but man is not to break through, from under the Condemnation, to that where the Law is ministred, until that is received by which the Law may be kept; for such who in the Condemnation do abide, come at last to see and receive him that is made under the Law, and is the end of it, and taketh away the sin; but such who come to the Law, and break out from un∣der the judgment, before the Lord had broke through, and cut down all that in them which could not keep it, such have let in Death again to reign over that which with judgment should have been redeemed, to bear away that which the Law had po∣wer over, and arise up with that Power, Love, Life and Obedi∣ence to God, as in all things to fulfill the whole Law of God, which until then, doth still stand in force over that and them in which sin remaineth, which doth transgress the Law, one tittle whereof shall not perish till all be fulfilled, though some coming to the Law have broke forth, and then healed the Wound slightly, supposing it would serve their turns to talk of the fulfilling of it by and in another for them, and without them, seeing themselves not able to keep it in all things, not waiting to the end of the Law, by it to have all that destroyed which could not keep it, and receive that which cannot break it; [Mark] and in it keep, by it to be led out of the Wilderness of sin, in the promised Land to rest, in it to have the dayes prolonged and the life preserved; for Christ the Light cometh to save the Life.

And there are many that are now come to peace, dominion and the land of Rest, who did once come to know the judgments of

God upon Cain's nature, which then cryed out, That his punishment was too heavy to bear, and have also come to see the Beast, whose head is full of the Names of Blasphemy, and yet have they not started aside like a broken Bow, from under the judgment, nei∣ther suffered the Enemy to prevail over them by Temptations, to curse God and dye, nor to call him Belzebub, who is the Light, which condemns, and should be Master in the house; neither have they dispised Moses Law, which is the Ministration of Condem∣nation, and in its time is glorious; but in patience and long∣suffering under it have waited, and that without murmuring, or suffering that to break forth in rage, which Gods judgments are to; neither have they suffered Unbelief to prevail over them, but in love to him who was made a Curse, in patience have endured all these things, and have been made as free to drink the Cup of Astonishment, with the Dregs thereof, as the Lord was to pour it forth unto them, who now drink the Cup of Salvation, even the Blood of the Lamb, which cleanseth from all sin, whose life saveth them from the Terror of the Pit, who have come to feel the seed born and brought forth (though with Pangs and Sor∣row) which the blessing is to.

Those may see, hear, and understand what I write, who are come to know how the Law is handed forth by a Mediator (who was before the Law) and the Righteousness of God manifest without the law, and sin discovered by the Law, and Gods Righ∣teousness revealed by that which was before the Law; and that notwithstanding the Law must be received, yet by the works thereof no flesh shall be justified, but by obedience of Faith to∣wards God in the Blood of his Son, by which all that is done a∣way which trangress'd the Law; and so not of Works, nor of Merits, but of Faith and Love, is the Law fulfilled.