This is a study of William Sewen's The True Christian's Faith and Experience Briefly Declared, the last part of the third preface, pages 23-24.
In the third and last preface, Shewen continues his warning to those who are Christians in name only. He states that if you are not united with that Spirit of God in you to some degree, you are open to all sorts of worldly, non-spiritual influences. He further warns you to be on guard about slighting that same Light and Spirit of God in you that Quakers emphasize in their preaching.
Rather, you must cease from those worldly Christian teachers who slight and reject that power and Spirit of God within, who instead declare to people that the outward Holy Scripture is a more certain word and law to follow.
Moreover, Shewen points out the source of those very biblical words came from the eternal Word of God, the Christ that was in those biblical writers. Until you know a measure of that spirit within you, you cannot truly understand or obey the words found in the Holy Scriptures.
Shewen declares that you must turn away from such worldly Christian teachers, and instead learn from the grace and light of God, the anointing within you that teaches you to reject ungodliness, worldliness – in order to live and act in the light of Christ that is in you.
The quote from William Penn in our introduction is paraphrased from his book No Cross, No Crown, page 324 1842 HARVEY & DARTON version.
Visit us on our website at ohioyearlymeeting.org.
Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!
We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at OYMConservative@gmail.com.