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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33498	The books and divers epistles of the faithful servant of the Lord Josiah Coale collected and published, as it was desired by him the day of his departure out of this life.	Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Collection of the several books of Josiah Coale.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Whore unvailed.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Vindication of the light within.; Parker, Alexander, 1628-1689.; Whitehead, George, 1636?-1723.; Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1671 (1671)	Wing C4751_PARTIAL; Wing C4760A_PARTIAL_CANCELLED; ESTC R23397	193,793	414

to his chief Arguments therein produced by which he hath in vain endeavour'd to accomplish the aforesaid work by him undertaken A. S. His first Argument produced to prove the Church of Rome to be the true Church consisteth of nine particulars as followeth viz. That is the true Church and no other which is one Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church Which is visible infallible inerrable in which is power of miracles out of which none can be saved But the Roman Pontificial that is to say the Faithful People dispersed all the World over in communion with the high Priest Bishop or Pope of Rome is such and no other Therefore the Roman Pontificial alone is the true Church Reply To which I reply that the true Church of which Christ alone is Head and Supreme Governour is in it self one holy Apostolick Church c. I shall not go about to deny But as touching that grand Question by A. S. stated before his Argument here inserted viz. which is this Church c. I answer this is a thing indeed disputable amongst many yea amongst many thousands yet not at all questionable nor yet doubtful unto me for I am well satisfied therein and in all other things that appertain to the way of Life and Salvation but that the Church of Rome is the true Church as A. S. affirmeth and by his many Arguments hath endeavoured to prove I do not acknowledge but deny and doubt not but I shall in this short ensuing Treatise prove the contrary to the Satisfaction of every judicious Reader First Although the true Church of which Christ is in visible Head is one yet the oneness of the Church of Rome is not a sufficient Argument to prove her to be the true Church for wherein doth her oneness consist farther then in Idolatry Superstition Murther and such like abominations of which much might be mentioned which was never practised by the true Church in the Apostles dayes but in these things the Church of Rome is one Witness her Worshipping Idols or Images bowing to that she calls her Altars and the rest of her Supestitious Ceremonies witness the Killing Burning or Drinking the Blood of so many Thousands as she hath done for many hundred yeares past as the whole Christendom full well knows therefore the Church of Rome is not the true Church Secondly And consider was not the company of Priests one in Hosea's dayes who murthered in the way by consent whom the Prophet compared to troops of Robbers Hos 6.9 And is not the Church of Rome one as they were for hath not she murthered many by consent of most of her members in the way that she is in consider these things But then A. S. saith That she is one in matters of Faith and governed by one invisible Head Christ and by one visible Head the Pope the true Successor of Peter c. and therefore she is the true Church Answ 1. I answer that she is perfectly united in matters of Faith I utterly deny witness the History of the Counsel of Trent which copiously relates the Divisions and Contradictions amongst them there about matters of Faith But admit that it were so that she were one in matters of Faith that doth not prove her to be the true Church unless she could prove her Faith to be the true Faith by which righteousness is wrought Heb. 11.13 And which is made perfect by works of righteousness James 2.22 But the Faith of the Church of Rome is not the true Faith as her works of unrighteousness before mentioned clearly make manifest therefore the Church of Rome is not the true Church Secondly That the Church of Rome is governed by one invisible Head Christ that I also deny and her fruits before mentioned and that which I shall hereafter mention sufficiently declares the contrary and as Christ said to the Jews If you were of Abraham you would do the works of Abraham but now you go about to kill me thus did not Abraham So say I of the Church of Rome If she were governed by the one invisible Head Christ as the true Church was then she would have the mind of Christ who came not to destroy mens lives but to save them as the true Church had 1 Corinth 2.16 but she hath not the mind of Christ Witness her destroying the lives of many not onely of those that believe not but of those that believe Therefore she is not governed by the invisible Head Christ and consequently is not the true Church but the Whore that drinks the blood of the Saints Thirdly But that the Church of Rome is governed by her visible Head the Pope I shall not go about to contradict for although that proves her to be one in subjection to the Pope yet it doth not prove her to be the true Church because Christ never ordained a visible Head to his Church but that the Pope is the true Successor of Peter as A. S. affirms that I do deny and it remains for him to prove it or for some of his Servant to do it for him for after Peter was converted he never gave consent to the murthering of any as the Pope hath done many Therefore he is not the true Successor of Peter 2. That the true Chu ch is holy or as A. S. saith the spotless Body of Christ that I do acknowledg but the Church of Rome of which the Pope is visible head is not holy nor the spotless Body of Christ 1. For the spotless Body of Christ the true Church was baptized with the holy Ghost and with fire the Spirit of Judgment and of burning and thereby her filth and her spots were purged away from her and she was washed from Idolatry and covetousness c. as the Apostles testified 1 Cor. 6.11 and thereby she was fitted for Gods Kingdom and was made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and had the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2.16 who came not to destroy mens lives c. Luk. 9.56 But the Church of Rome is not washed from Idolatry nor free from Murther as her worshipping of Idols or Images doth testifie and as her killing and destroying about Religion and Worship beareth witness which the Spirit of Christ never allowed of not the spotless Body of Christ never practised Therefore the Church of Rome is not holy nor the spotless Body of Christ And as to that affirmation of A. S. in the third Number of his first Chapter viz. Every man as he is Regenerated in Christ and a member of his body is holy and a Saint though as he is the Son of Adam be is a lyar and a sinner Answ To this I answer That the most part of all the Sectaries in the World will joyn with him in that particular therefore he need not so much cry against them but the True Church will not own that Doctrine neither can I own it because it is the Doctrine of Devils and the Spirit of God testifies against

primative Christians were taught as by a standing Rule according to which they walked And by which through Faith they were saved as the Apostle testified Eph. 2.8 though many turned from this Grace into Wantonness and did dispite to the Spirit thereof as they do at this day And those are they that Rebel against the Light wherewith every one is enlightned and labours to render it insufficient to save not considering that this is that Grace that hath appeared to all and by which they were saved and which God said unto Paul was Sufficient for him and so they trample under foot that blood of the everlasting Covenant which is Drink indeed by which they that walk in the Light are clensed from all sin But then he saith in page 68. There is an Objection brought against him from 2 Cor. 5. where Paul saith Though he had known Christ after the Flesh yet henceforth know I him so no more But in page 70. he saith The Apostle is so far from denying to know Christ in a Body of Flesh though Glorified that he doth affirm the same to the Church of the Ephesians Eph. 5.30 where he saith We are Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone but saith he the Apostle did not intend to know Christ in the Flesh attended with all those Infirmities as he was subject to in his suffering Estate Answ If by the Body of Flesh that Christ had he means the Church which the Apostle speaks of which was the Body of which Christ the Power and Word was Head and they Members of then I am one with him for his having that Body after his Ascention I never denyed nor intend to do so but that Body could not be call'd the Saviour for Christ was the Saviour of that Body of which they were Members was yet on Earth And the Apostle was not without expectation of the same Sufferings in measure to attend Christ in those Members of his Body as had attended him before for in Col. 1.24 he saith thus Who now Rejoyce in my Suffering for you and fill up that which is behind of the Afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his Body's sake which is the Church by which it appears that Afflictions did still attend those Members of Christ's Body who as J. N. confesseth was Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone And such a Body we own Christ had after his Ascension and still hath though not free as yet from suffering Afflictions yet his Body shall be fashioned like unto his glorious Body which is not so confined as he vainly imagins they were Flesh of his Flesh c. This doth not in the least prove that Christ is not in man but rather the contrary for can it be rationally concluded that he should be at a distance from the Members of his own Body No certainly If the Body be divided from the Head it is no more a perfect Body but dead Members So that Christ the Head the Quickening Spirit having men to be Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bone we may rationally conclude if we had no other Evidence That he is not at a distance from his Body but present with them and therefore in them as himself said Joh. 14.17 He is with you and shall be in you And in verse 20. At that day you shall know that I am in my Father Mark in the Bosom of the Father and you in me and I in you Well Reader There are many things remaining in this Book of J. N's concerning Christ's being in man and also out of him to which an Answer might be return'd to manifest his Ignorance and Confusion which for brevity-sake I shall omit for it would fill too large a Volumn to publish to the World at this time especially because those same things have been answer'd by us again again yet I cannot well but observe some few things more that his Confusion and Opposing of himself may further appear Concerning the Spirit 's Guidance IN pag. 84. speaking of the Spirit being given to the Saints he saith It is of the same Beeing of the Father and Son and also of the same Nature Power and Tendency of both And in pag. 54. he said ' That Spirit is God Answ If the Spirit given to the Saints be of the same Beeing of the Father and Son as J. N. in this place truly affirmeth then it is of the same Substance of the Father and Son for the same Beeing is the same Substance and the same Substance or Beeing is not divided into several Beeings therefore if the Spirit which is of the same Beeing of the Father and Son be in man then the Father and Son is according to the measure thereof in men also And herein J. N. hath contradicted his own sayings in pag. 78. where he tells us of a distinct Beeing of God and Christ out of all men For if a part of the same Beeing of them be in man how can it rationally be concluded that they are a distinct Beeing from their own Beeing in Man Mark Reader I would not be mistaken but rightly understood in this matter it being a matter of the greatest weight and moment I do not oppose the Beeing of God and Christ out of man in the highest Heavens nor in the lowest Hell because Infinite and Incorruptible but his so being distinct as to exclude his Nature and Presence from man thereby denying his In-dwelling is the thing which I oppose and which J. N. hath confounded himself about because the Beeing of God who is a Spirit and Christ who is the Quickening Spirit cannot be divided and J. N. in pag. 62. also saith Christ cannot be divided And the Spirit of God which is in man being of the same Beeing or Substance with the Father and Son All which is that Infinite Beeing or Substance which the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain it cannot be said they have not a Beeing in man but a measure of the same Beeing or Substance which is not divided ought as properly to said in man as in the highest Heavens And this is that God who is Light 1 Joh. 1.5 who is in all through all and over all blessed forever whom the World by wisdom can never attain to the knowledg of Again If the Spirit be God as J. N. in pag. 54. affirms which is certainly true because God is a Spirit and the Spirit be in the Saints and in Man leading into his most holy Will as J. N. also confesseth in pag. 77 84. Then how can it be said That God that fills Heaven and Earth who is a Spirit dwells not in man as he elsewhere saith Unless he will conclude the Spirit of God to be divided into several Beeings which cannot be therefore his Beeing is not only afar off but near at hand even in man but that lofty One that dwells in the high and holy place is known also with him that is poor c. and his

and are practised in the Church of Rome to this day Therefore she is not Apostolick but Apostate like Fifthly That the true Church or the Members of it are visible I shall not deny and that she is the Light of the World I do confess but that the Church of Rome is the true Church or the Light of the World because she is visible that I do not acknowledge but deny for although the true Church or the Members of it are visible yet so is the Whore also But then some will say How are they then to be distinguished First I answer By their fruits as Christ said men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles Matth. 7.16 neither can one Fountain send forth bitter Water and sweet James 3.12 nor a good Tree cannot bring forth bad fruit But the visible Church of Rome brings forth bad fruits and sends forth bitter Waters as the Cruelties exercised by her and the Murthers she hath acted for Ages past testifieth and as the Idolatries exercised in her to this day as before mentioned witnesseth For such things was never exercised by nor in the true Church in Christs nor the Apostles dayes therefore though the Church of Rome be visible yet her fruits testifieth that she is not the true Church Secondly Again A. S. saith and diabolically affirms in the second Page of his pretended Reconciler of Religions That the true Church is composed of both good and bad wheat and tares which I do abominate to acknowledge and is blasphemy in him to affirm for the true Church is built of Living Stones 1 Pet. 2.5 Elect and Precious or as A. S. affirmeth of living Believers but no living Believers can be truly called the bad nor the tares but elect and precious and all that are living or precious are the good therefore the true Church is built of the good only Thirdly but if the Church of Christ which A. S. in his second page affirmeth is the Kingdom of Christ be composed of both good and bad then according to his own affirmation the Kingdom of Christ is part good and part bad which is horrid blasphemy in A. S. to affirm Oh gross darkness and confusion Art thou a Member of the Church that calls it self the light of the World Oh dark dull gloomy light the Lord God Almighty bring all his people out of that dark Cell that they may walk in his marvellous Light which makes all things manifest of what sort it is Fourthly But if you say that Christ likened the Kingdom to a Net that was cast into the Sea which gathered of all Kinds I answer he did so yet when it came to Land there was none composed or gathered into the vessels but the good only and the bad were cast away Matth. 13.48 Therefore the true Church is not composed of both good and bad but of the good only Fifthly but if you object that the tares and wheat were both to grow together in the Fleld I answer they Were so untill the Harvest and the Fleld is the World Mat. 23.39 but the true Church is not of the World Joh. 17.14 but when the Reapers were sent forth which were the Angels that had the Gospel to preach Rev. 14.6 who went to disciple people and to baptize them into the true Church Mat. 28.19 Their Commission was to compose or gather the Wheat only and to seperate the Tares from it and to bind them in bundles for the Fire Mat. 13.30 and therefore the true Church is not composed of both Wheat and Tares but of Wheat only Sixthly Farther If you say that there were some in the true Church in the Apostles days that were false brethren and these were bad I answer Though they were amongst them yet they were not of them as the Apostle said 1 Joh. 2.19 Therefore the true Church is not composed of both good and bad but of the good only But to return to the fifth part of A. S. his Argument where he saith That the Church of Rome is known to the World in her Bishops Pastors and Believers c. And therefore she is visible Answ Although that proves her visible yet it doth not prove her to be the true Church but the contrary For the true Church that was the light of the World was not known to the World John 17.14 but the visible Church of Rome is known to the World as A. S. himself affirmeth therefore she is not the true Church but the contrary Again the true Church wrestled not with flesh and blood neither were her weapons carnal but spiritual and she wrestled with spiritual wickednesses that were in the high places and broke down the strong holds of iniquity 2 Cor. 10.3 4. but the Church of Rome wrestles with flesh and blood and kills mens bodies about Religion as the whole Christendom knoweth and the spiritual wickednesses are still standing in her as afore proved and as all the World sufficiently knows therefore she is not the true Church Sixthly The infallibleness of the true Church of which Christ is supreme Head Governour I do not go about to deny but that the Church of Rome is infallible that I do deny For First Although A. S. hath affirmed that she hath alwayes remained since Christ's time unto this day without interruption c. yet he never proved it neither can he do it for as before I have said we never read that the true Church in Christ's dayes was found in such things neither was such things then found in her as is now found in the Church of Rome and which the Church of Rome is now found in by which it is clear that she hath not alwayes remained since Christs time in the state she now stands Secondly But if she hath alwayes remained since Christ time to this day without interruption as A. S. saith she hath then she cannot possibly be the true Church for the true Church was interrupted since the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and yet remained as hereafter I shall shew and in the Apostles dayes her interruption began and some of the Apostles foresaw it and said of your selves shall men arise speaking perverse things Acts 20.30 and when they were arisen they withstood the truth as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses 2 Tim. 3.8 so here the interruption of the true Church began and after this John saw the Dragon interrupting or persecuting her into the Wilderness where she had a place prepared of God that they might feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes Rev. 12.6 and ver 13 14. concerning which I shall have occasion to speak more hereafter so on this wise the true Church was interrupted since Christs dayes But A. S. saith that the Church of Rome hath always remained since Christs time without interruption Therefore she is not the true Church Thirdly And whereas A. S. farther saith that the Church of Rome shall always remain to the end of the World and

hast done thou can't escape his Rod. The holy Prophets in their day foretold these things of thee Which to our consolation we hope to live and see For Jeremiah he foresaw thy desolation great And said an Army great should come that should give thee defeat Out of the North the Prophet said they should come against thee Jer. 50.9 Even as it now is come to pass before whom thou must flee The seven heads or mountains great on which thou long hast sate Must now be turned upside down and made to reele and quake For now the Lion he doth roar and utter forth his voice At which the mountains great must move and fly away at 's noise Isa 42.14 15. Yea vacant waste and desolate those mountains must be laid And be no more inhabited for so it hath been said Thy Merchants many have enricht themselves and made them great And Rul'd with Force and Cruelty False-prophet like indeed Wherefore Lament and Howl they must and mourn both great and small And cry alas alas for now is come thy sudden fall For th' day is dawn'd which John foresaw and Prophesy'd of thee In which he said and testify'd thy total fall should be Though thou hast sitten in thy pride like as a stately Queen And said within thy heart and mind Thine end should not be seen Though thou hast drunk the blood of Saints and glorify'd thy self And said Thou shouldst no sorrow see nor ever loose thy Wealth Yet woe and sorrow great and sore will swiftly thee surprise And all thy expectations will fail before thine eyes When Death and Famine comes on thee with mourning great and sore This will predict thine end to thee who never shalt rise more And truly thy divisions great predicts thy sudden fall The more because thou hast refus'd to hear the heavenly call For in thy Streets the voice hath cry'd Repent and fear the Lord And turn from your Idolatries serve God with one accord But like the Adder thou hast been that 's deaf and will not hear The Charmer who hath charmed long so thou hast stop't thine ear Why dost not minde the Words of Christ who spake and said himself The Kingdom cannot stand that is divided 'gainst it self And is not thy divisions great Oh Babylon thou Whore Which doth foretel thy total end and thou shalt be no more The cause which doth provoke the Lord to pour his Judgments great On thee is thy deceit and Pride and Murders which are great And also thy Idolatries and Whoredoms which are many This doth provoke the Lord to Wrath and 's anger will not tarry Wherefore look for it and expect that it will surely come For God hath said it and it must accordingly be done Written in Bridewel near Lancston in Cornwall the 11th Moneth 1664. J. C. Here follows the Papists 14th Chapter concerning the Protestants or Sectarian Ministers published for them to Answer That the Protestant or Sectarian Minister or Preachers are not True Preachers or sent by God 1. ALl that have no true Mission are not true Preachers How shall they Preach unless they are sent Rom. 10.15 But Protestant or Sectarian Ministers and Preachers have no true Mission For all their Mission from the beginning of their Reformation was either the Inspiration of a Spirit they knew not what or the Commission of a Child Edward the Sixth whom they called Supreme Head of the Church and from whose Kingly power all Jurisdiction as well Ecclesiastical as Secular they affirm did flow See Fox tom 2. Anno 1546. in Edw. the 6th or the Letters Patents of a Woman Queen Eliz. to whom also they were pleased to attribute the like Superiority and Power See Stat. Anno primo Eliz. Cap. 1. or the Ilisit and invallid Ordination or Mission of or by one Story an Apostate Monk who Ordained their first Bishops at the Nags-Head in Cheapside in Queen Elizabeth's time See Christophorus de Sacro Bosco or at length the Approbation of Tryers Instituted by his late Highness forsooth and Confirmed by Act of Parliament if they have any better let them prove it in the mean time let them know we value not a straw Mason's Old New Records produced in the year 1613. which was the matter of fifty years after the thing now mention'd was Sacrilegiously and invalidly done and most disgracefully and shamefully cryed down But those could not give them any spiritual Authority Power or Right to Preach for according to that received Maxime of the Law No man can give more right then he himself hath Cook Lib. 4. Therefore c. 2. Moreover a Bishop is to be ordained by two or three Bishops Consil Apostil Can. 1. And a Priest and likewise a Deacon and the rest of the Clergy by a Bishop ibidem Can. 2. Con. Triden Sess 23. Can. 7. But this Apostolical and needful manner of Ordination or Mission they never yet had for they rejected it quite and brought in an Heretical fashion in its stead in Edward the Sixth's time neither if they were willing could they have for as I said before their Bishops from the beginning of their Reformation had no other Ordination Consecration or Mission then the Commission of the King or Queen nor yet that but during the King or Queens pleasure For the sacrilegious Ilicit or Invalid Ordination of or by Story which was the first pretended holy Mission of Protestants in England and from whence they hitherto derive their Orders it was not worth a Straw witness the aforementioned Canons of the Apostolick Council c. and consequently their pretended holy Orders thence derived are not worth a Pins-head no more is the Approbation of Tryers Therefore they are not true Preachers What are they then forsooth Intruders Thieves and Robbers Hypocrites Ravenous Wolves and Murtherers Sons of Belial False Prophets and Priests of Baal Which is their Heresie Rebellion and Stubbornness against the Church for Rebellion as they themselves even in their newest Bible confess is as the sin of Witchcraft and Stubbornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry 1 Samuel as they call it the 25. and 13. 3. Now if the Protestant or Sectarian Preachers and Teachers be such what must the Protestants and Sectarians themselves be If the Light that is in them be darkness how great shall the darkness its self be If the Blind lead the Blind shall they not both fall into the Ditch Sure enough they shall even into the Ditch of everlasting Burning Brimstone and Fire where shall be Howling and Crying and Weeping and Lamenting and gnashing of Teeth forever unless they be converted and do Penance and live in the Church in which must alwayes be true Preachers and Teachers for the Consummation of Saints to the work of the Ministry and edification of the Body of Christ Ephes 4. ver 5 and 11. But in the Protestant or Sectarian Church are not such as now proved therefore the Protestant Sectarian Church is not the true Church of true Believers How

are Witnesses of it and how in Love we laboured for the restoration of those who were beguiled through the craft of the Enemy and for the preservation of those who hitherto have escaped his Snare that is well known to many witnesses But if none were sensible of it the Lord he knows and is Witness that in sincerity of heart in the Name of the Lord towards God and his People we were exercised and in our Labour and Travel for them the Blessings of the Lord and his Peace and the comfort of his Spirit did possess and fill our hearts beyond the understanding of the World although many towards whom we were so in love exercised could not believe but some withstood our Testimony and kicked against it in their hearts and resisted the Counsel of God against themselves to the grief and sorrow of our hearts Therefore it pleased the Lord in Love Mercy and good Will to his Servant my dear Brother R. F. that his Travels Burdens and grievous Sufferings might be put to an end and that our testimony for the Lord might be sealed with the Life of his Servant against that Antichristian intruding Spirit of Opposition which laboured to intrude its self into the Church to sit as Ruler and Judge there I say for these causes and for none contrary hereunto it pleased God to visit my dear Brother R. F. and to take him out of the Body at which I perceive some who are ignorant of what the Lord intended thereby have rejoyced But let such know that they have made a wrong application of the dealing of the Lord therein by which they have hardned themselves instead of being humbled through that which was ordered of God for their humiliation and good and if possible that such may yet see and turn to the flock of the Companions of Christ And also that the flocks who are and have remained in the true Fold may be refreshed thereby I shall here insert the Last Testimony of the aforesaid R. F. which was given by him a very short space before his departure out of the Body in the presence of several good Friends at which time in the Name Strength and Power of God he was moved to sit up in his Bed and spake concerning the Love of God and concerning our Testimony against the aforesaid Antichristian intruding factious spirit with as much strength Power and freeness of spirit as at any time he had done in the time of his outward health Whose words were as followeth Friends God hath been mightily with me and hath stood by me at this time and his Power and presence hath accompanied me all along though some think that I am under a Cloud for something but God hath appeared for the owning of our Testimony and hath broken in upon me as a flood and I am filled with his Love more than I am able to express and God is really appeared for us If God himself had come down and spoken as a man he could not have spoke more clearer to us than he hath done by the many Testimonies from Heaven in his People concerning this thing Therefore I beseech you Friends here of this City of London whether I live or dye be you faithful to your Testimony which God hath committed to you and as it ariseth in your hearts be faithful to the Lord therein After which he was silent for a little season and then his Mouth was again opened in the Name and Power of the Lord even as before and he spake very preciously unto Friends concerning the things before mentioned testifying of the greatness of the Love and Power of God of which he was made partaker and which he then felt and of the preciousness of the Truth which he had with us born witness of and exhorted them to faithfulness and stedfastness therein and to singleness that nothing might be suffered to creep in of another nature to intermix therewith saying No Linsy-woolsy Garment must be worn c. with much more to that effect which cannot be remembred And having thus given his last Testimony as a Seal unto all the former Testimonies which he had given for the Lord and on his behalf in about two or three Hours time after being filled with the Peace and Love of God beyond declaring as himself signified he departed this Life even like a Lamb and Slept with his Fathers and Brethren and is entred into everlasting rest with the Lord. And this may serve also as a sufficient Testimony to stop the Mouths of all who vaunt themselves in his death as though he had been taken away in Judgment and Displeasure of the Lord because of his appearing on the behalf of God against that Antichristian spirit of opposition which contends against our Meetings and Preaching and the manner of our exercise in the Worship of God as Formal c. And let such know that if his being removed prove a Judgment unto any it will be to them who rejected the Mercies of God by him tendred to them and have thereby hardned themselves against the Lord and his Servants and have made a wrong application of the dealings of the Lord with his Servant even as those who know not the purpose of God therein and so have shewed themselves not to be the Friends of God as Abraham was from whom God did not hide the thing that he intended but let such yet repent if a place can be found for them And so let all my dear friends every where who believe in the Light of Jesus and who have tasted of the Love Goodness and Power of God dwell in the sence and feeling of his Love and Power and let nothing divert or turn aside the minds of any from persevering in that pure holy way of Life which they are called to walk in and in which the daily renewings of the peace and good will of God is witnessed neither let any be slack or remiss in performing that ancient godly Christian practice of Assembling your selves together in the Name and Fear of the Lord forasmuch as ye know the exceeding benefit and advantage that ye have received thereby because of the Lords Appearance amongst us who acording to his Promise hath not failed us unto this day but his Name and Power hath been great amongst us and still is opening the mysteries of his Kingdom and revealing of the vertue of his Life in our Hearts and Souls by his own Spirit to our great refreshment and comfort so that we have not at any time been sent empty away who have in sincerity thirsted after him and in faithfulness waited for his Appearance which is sufficient to encourage all to persevere in that godly practise of meeting together with all integrity without wavering And forasmuch as our assembling together at this day is the great thing that the Enemy of Truth strikes at in all his Instruments of all kinds in which he appears against us it behoves all to stand and be faithful