certain godly persons LEt us prav unto God so to furnish us with Faith and Patience that we may rather dye ten times then to deny him once it is very requisite that the Members of Christ comfort one another make prayers together confer one with another so shall you be stronger and Gods spirit shall not be absent from you but be in the midst of you to teach you to comfort you to make you wise in all godliness patient in tribulation and strong in persecution Ye see how the congregation of the wicked by helping one another make their wicked Religion and themselves strong against God his truth and his people If any smart Gods people shall be the first if any suffer shame they begin if any be subject to slander it is those that he loveth so that Christ sheweth no face nor favour nor love almost in this world outwardly to them but doth as it were lay clay upon the sore eyes of those that are sorrowful yet the patient man seeth as St. Paul saith life hid under these miseries and adversities and light and sight hid under this foul clay The will of our Father be done in all things if he will life life be it if he will death death be it It is a trouble to loose the treasures of this life but yet a very great pain if they be kept with offence to God cry call pray and in Christ daily require help succour mercy wisdome grace and defence that the wickedness of this world prevail not against us We began well God preserve us to the end This life is short and miserable happy are they that can spend it to the glory of God We may be tempted of the world the flesh and the Devil but yet although these things pinch yet they do not pierce and although they work sin in us yet in Christ no condemnation to them that are grafted in him Mr. Richard Rooth In a Letter to certain Martyrs condemned at Colchester OH dear hearts in Christ what a Crown of glory shall ye receive with Christ in the Kingdome of God Oh that it had been the good will of God that I had been ready to have gone with you for I lie in the Bishops little ease in the day and in the night I lie in the coal-house and we look every day when we shall be condemned for they say I shall be burned within ten days before Easter but I lie still at the pools brink and every one stepeth in before me but we abide patiently the Lords leisure in many bonds in fetters and stocks by which we have received great joy in the Lord. Oh my dear hearts now shall you be cloathed with long white garments upon mount Sion with the multitude of Saints and with Jesus Christ our Saviour who will never forsake us Oh blessed Virgins you have played the wise Virgins part because you have taken oyl into your lamps that you may enter with the Bridegroom when he cometh into everlasting joy But as for the foolish they shall be shut out because they made not themselves ready to suffer with Christ nor venture to take up his Cross O how precious shall your death be in the sight of the Lord dear and precious in his sight is he detah of all his Saints Farewell mine own dear Hearts and pray the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen Pray pray pray By me Richard Rooth written with my own blood Mr. John Philpot In a Letter to Mr. R.H.R.G.M.H. and J.C. GLorious is the course of the Martyrs at this day Never had the Elect of God a better time for their glory then this is Now may they be assured under the Cross that they are Christs Disciples for ever Many go on well till they come to the Pikes and then they turn their backs and give over in the plain field to the shame of Christ and his Church that hath so faint hearted Souldiers in his camp at the time of need in that wherein his glory ought most manfully to be shewed Be content to have your Faith tryed every day by some Cross or other as it pleaseth God to put it upon you and if God put no grievous Cross upon you let your brethrens Cross be your Cross which is a certain token of true brotherly love Hitherto we have not resisted unto blood-shedding our blood must not be too dear for the Lord and then his Kingdome shall not be too dear for us We have taken our Press-mony a great while let us now learn to serve him faithfully and not to fly out of the Lords camp into the world as many do Mr. John Careless To several Martyrs condemned to die for the truth in New-Gate SO great honour is not permitted to the highest Angel in Heaven as to suffer for the name of Christ Full glad may you be that ever God gave you a life to lose for his sake A weak Faith hath ever a cold charity annexed unto it which is quenched with every unkind word Nothing can anger the malicious mind and cankered heart of Satan more then the mirth gladness and hearty rejoycing of Gods Children in their good Christ Only Christs true Disciples do mourn for his absence therefore they shall doubtless rejoyce in his presence which will be so much the more joyful by how much the more his absence is sorrowful According to your Faith and as you believe so shall it be unto you and as you think God to be unto you such a one you shall find him to be think therefore ever sweetly of the Lord and of his goodness Mr. John Careless In a Letter to Mr. John Bradford NOw with a merry heart and joyful tears I take my farewel of you mine own dear brother in the Lord begging him to send us shortly a joyful meeting in his kingdome that we may both sing praises together unto him with his holy Angels and blessed spirits for ever and ever Farewel thou blessed of the Lord farewel in Christ depart unto thy rest and pray for me for Gods sake Well I will hope in God and pray all night that God would send me some comfort to morrow and if the Lord give you leasure to morrow let me hear four words of comfort from you for Gods sake Oh that my life and a thousand such wretched lives more might go for yours Oh why doth God suffer me and such other poor worms to live that can do nothing but consume the Alms of the Church and yet take you away so worthy a work-man and Labourer in the Lords vineyard But wo be to our sins and great unthankfulness which is the cause of taking away of such instruments of the Lord as should set forth his glory and instruct his people if we had been thankful to God for the good Ministers of his word we had not been so soon deprived of them The Lord forgive our great ingratitude and his and give us true repentance and
thou hast and take up thy crosse daily and follow me else thou canst not be my Disciple Luke 14.26 27. Ph. This is a hard saying who can hear it and he went away sorrowful and followed him no more Joh. 6.60.66 Mat. 19.22 The third Conference between Christ and a doubting Christian Christ COme unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28 Christian Oh Lord I am a poor heavy laden sinner that would come unto thee but cannot come Ch. It is true O soul no man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him Joh. 6.44 Christian How then Lord shall I come unto thee Ch. I and my Father are one and we give power to the faint and to them that have no might we add strength Joh. 10.30 Esay 40 29. Christian Lord I am altogether without strength therefore draw me unto thee and I will come Ch. I will draw thee unto me with the cords oâ— a man with bands of love and with loving kindness Hos 11.4 Jer. 31.3 Joh. 12.32 Christian But Lord noâ— I look upon my selfe I see I am unworthy to come unto thee yea unworthy of the least of thy mercies Ch. So said my servant a John the Baptist and b Jacob and c others yet do not judge thy selse as the d Jewes did unworthy of eternal life a Mat. 3.11.6 b Gen. 32.10 c Luk. 7.7 Mat. 8.8 d Acts 13.46 Christian Iâ— such men as John Baptist and Jacob did judge themselves unworthy how many thousand times more unworthy am I a wretched and wicked sinner Ch. It is true neither they nor thou could be worthy of your selves but yet I am willing to account you worthy As the prodigals Father did his Son Luk. 15.21 22. Luk. 20.35 and 21.36 Rev. 3.4 Christi But Lord if therâ— were any thing that were good in me it might a little incourage me to come unto thee but I find nothing but evil in me Ch. Dost thou not knowâ— that without me thou canst e do nothing and that a man can f receive nothing except it be giveâ— him from heaven Why theâ— dost thou stay away from me who must g work all thy workes in thee And c Joh. 15.5 f Joh. 3.27 g Esa 26.12 2 12. 2. Because thou seest nothing but evil in thee thou shouldst thee rather come unto me who am the h Fountain wherein thy unclean soul must be washed and unless I i wash thee thou canst not be clean nor have any k part in me h Zac 13.1 i Eze. 36.25 and 1.9 k Joh. 13.8 Christian True Lord thou art the Fountain and welspring of life and it is thy blood and nothing else that can wash a way my sins but how can I come near to thee who am so wicked that for â—ught I know have counted thy blood an l unholy thing l Heb. 10.29 Ch. Thou poor dear and doubting soul what if thou hadst had a hand in crucifying me as the Jewes had yet cannot I forgive thee as I did many of them But thou hast not counted my blood an unholy thing for thou still desirest to have thy sins washed away by it Act. 2.36.41 Christian What the Jewes did they did ignorantly but I have sinned against knowledge which makes my sins worse then theirs Ch. If thou hast sinned against knowledge ye thou hast not sinned so but that thou maist be forgiven For my dear Disciple Peter sinned against knowledg when he denied with an oath that he knew me not Mat. 26.72 Christian Oh but yet my sins are worse then his for his sin was but one sin and that a suddain and short sin but I have sinned many sins and continued long in them Ch. So did my beloved servant David who was a man according to my own heart commit several sins together as Murther Whoredome c. and continued a while too in his sins Christian Oh but Lord those servants of thine though they sinned against thee yet they expressed a great deal of sence of their sins and sorrow for them but I can neither be sensible of nor sorrowful for mine Ch. Oh sweet soul thou mistakest and forgettest thy selfe for thou dost often confess thy sins before me with sence shame and sorrow And I hear the daily bemoaning and complaining and saying I have n sinned against the Lord woe is me for I am undone n Job 7 20. Psal 51.4 Lam. 5.16 Christian Oh good Lord it is not without a cause that I cry woe is me I am undone for I think there is no soul in such a dangerous and desperate condition as mine is in Ch. Why doest thou think and say so Christian Because I have sinned that unpardonable sin against thy spirit Ch. Oh thou poor and precious soul thou dost but think so and fear so But tell me how canst thou sin that sin against my Spirit and yet pray for more of my Spirit and so much prize my Spirit as thou dost Christian Oh Lord I have often grieved and quenched thy Spirit and is not this to commit that unpardonable sin Ch. My own dear and loving children may and do sometimes grieve my spirit by sining and quench the gracious motions of it and yet do not sin that unpardonable sin Eph. 4.30 1 Thes 5.19 Esay 63.10 Christian Oh but I can â—â—â—nk no less but that I have â—â—â—â—â—red that sin for I have had hard cruel and desperate thoughts in my heart against the Holy Spirit Ch. Though my child thoâ— hast had such thoughts in thy 〈◊〉 yet thou hast noâ—â—â—oken evil of my Spirit as the Jewes did which is the sin of blasphemy and that unpardonable sin Mat. 12.24 28 31. Mark 3.22 to 30. Christian Lord I am not sure but that I have spoken evil words of thy spirit for I know I have many times uttered vile bitter and cursed words Ch. Notwithstanding thou didest through the violence of thy temptations and in the bitterness of thy Soul speak such words as my servants Job David Jeremy Jonah and Peter did yet thou hast not done despightfully nor sinned maliciously and wilfully against my Spirit of grace as Reprobates doe Heb. 10.29 Job 3. to 13. and 10.18 and 23.15 16. Psa 31.22 and 116.11 Jer. 20.14 c. Jonah 4.3 4 9. Mat. 26 27 74. Christian Oh I have been and still am very wilful and have often sinned wilfully and thou sayest in thy word that if any sin wilfully after they receive the knowledge of the truth their remaineth no more sacrifice for sins Heb. 10.6 Ch. Thou dear soul have not I heard thee often in prayer complaining of and bewailing thy sins and beging earnestly for power against them therefore it is rather against thy will then wilfully that thou dost sin Christian Oh but I find sins in power in my soul which if I were a Saint they would not be so Ch. My servant Paul found sin so strong in him that he confessed he was carnal
the fiery Chariot leaving these sorry Mantles and old Cloaks of our carcases behind us in ashes for a little time which God shall restore unto us again in a glorious manner To a faithful friend of his by Mr. John Bradford Martyr BE willing to carry the Cross of Christ least you carry the Cross of the world the flesh and the Devil One of these four Crosses you must carry three of them bring to hell and therefore the greatest part go that way which is the broad way only the forth bringeth to Heaven but few go that way as well because the way is straight as also because but few walk in it how beit though it be straight it is but short and the few are many if you consider the godly as the Patriarks Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Confessors and Christ Jesus with all his guard and train Think not scorn to come after them who are gone before you I hourly look for Elias fiery Chariot to come and catch me up to Heaven my Cloak that is my Carcase I shall leave behind me in ashes which I doubt not my Lord will raise up and restore to me again at the last day glorified even like unto his most glorious Body That portion of the good spirit which my Father hath lent me I wish to be doubled yea trebled upon you all If we suffer in the cause of Christ our sufferings are but short and the time of ease to Gods Enemies is not long the time of our rejoycing shall be endless but the time of their torments shall be everlasting and intollerable Our breakfast is sharp but our supper will be sweet The afflictions of this life may not be compared in any part with the glory that shall be revealed To his godly Friends G. and N. By Mr. John Bradford Martyr CAst your care on the Lord for he careth for you and hath counted all the hairs on your head so that one shall not perish if you commit your selves to his ordering whereas else your heads and bodies yea and souls too shall perish if ye withdraw your selves as unwilling to take his Cup and to drink of it not that I would have you to thrust your selves headlong or rashly to pull them upon you or that I would not have you use such honest and lawful means as you may in the fear of God and with a good conscience to a void the Cross and give place to evil but that I would have you willingly to put forth your hand to take it when God offereth it in such a manner as with a good Conscience you cannot escape then take it kiss it and thank God for it It is a most sure sign that God loveth you as he saith Whom I love I chastise Rev. 3.19 And if ye are not partakers of correction surely ye are no children Heb. 12.8 But if once chastise you and ye kiss the rod verily he will cast the rod into the fire and will imbrace you and kiss you as a mother doth her child when she perceiveth it to take her correction in good part Consider not the things of this life my dearly beloved brethren which is a very prison to all Gods children but the things of Everlasting life which is our very home but to the believing of this you must open the eyes of your Faith as Moses did who set more by trouble with Gods people then by the riches of Egypt and Pharoahs Court. Your house home goods yea life and all that ever ye have God hath given you as love-tokens and to admonish you of his love and to win your love to him again now he will try your love whether you set more by him then by his tokens or no. If ye for his tokens sake that is for your house home goods yea life will go with the world least you should lose them then be assured your love as he cannot but espy it to be a Strumpets love so will he reject and cast it away with the world In another Letter to the same persons by Mr. John Bradford Martyr MY dearly beloved heavy is this anger fallen upon us all doleful is this day Now hath Antichrist gotten all his power again now is Christs Gospel trodden under foot now is Gods people a division and a prey for the wicked Now is the greatest of all plagues fallen upon us the want of Gods word and all these judgments we have yea I alone have justly deserved Oh that as I write with my hands I alone so I could wish David 2 Sam. 24 17. and with Jonas in heart say so But I do not I do not I see how grievously I have sinned and how great a misery is fallen upon us for my unthankfulness for Gods word for mine hypocrisy in professing preaching hearing and speaking of Gods word for my not praying to God for the continuance of it for my not loving it throughly as it required Oh good Father it is we that have sinned and therefore deserve the taking away of thy good word it is we that have done amiss we have dealt unjustly with thy Gospel we have procured thy wrath and therefore just art thou in punishing us just art thou in plaguing us for we are very miserable But good Lord and dear Father of Mercies whose justice is such that thou wilt not punish the poor souls of this Realm which yet have not thus sinned against thee as we have done for many yet never heard thy word for our trespasses and whose mercy is so great that thou will put our sins out of thy Remembrance for thy Christ sake if we believe and repent O Lord let us remember that all thy dearest children have carried the Cross of gracious affliction in this life in whose company thou dost place us and dost lay such a Cross upon us as thou wilt make us able to bear to thy glory and our Salvation in Christ for whose sake we pray thee to shorten the days of this our great misery fallen upon us most justly and in the mean season to give us Patience Repentance Faith and thy eternal Consolation Amen Amen Amen To Mr. J. H. and his wife Prisoners in New-Gate I have heard my good Brother and Sister how God hath brought you both into his School-house of correction he I say hath brought you where you are and though your reason and wit tell you it is by chance and fortune or otherwise yet my dear beloved know for certain that whatsoever was the means God your Father was the worker hereof and that for your good though it may be your old Adam and poor sences may tell you otherwise yet I say of a truth it is your duty to think that this Cross is of Gods sending and cometh from him and it is out of his love and Fatherly affection for your benefit and profit sake But here perhaps you will object what benefit what advantage can it be You are now kept in close prison your children