AN EPISTLE GENERAL CONTAINING Wholsome Exhortations and Good Counsel from the Spirit of Truth unto all such as are or may be under the Judgment or Sentence OF BANISHMENT FOR THE Testimony of Jesus Christ which is held in a Tender Conscience throughout the Nation of England As also Unto all them that are yet at Liberty to be faithful to the Lord and meet often together in the fear of his Name and not to fear Man that shall be made as Grass and to all in Bonds Prisons and Holes every-where throughout the World who are bearing and suffering for the same Testimony of Truth and Righteousness which the Lord hath decreed shall prosper and spread over all the World till the Kingdoms thereof are become his Kingdoms and he shall Reign for ever and ever Amen With a few Words of Advice to all who have or may have any Message or Business upon the account of Truth to such as are in Authority in the Nations By a Servant of the Churches of Christ Jesus W. B. Printed in the Year 1664. AN EPISTLE GENERAL Containing Wholsome Exhortations and Good Counsel from the Spirit of Truth unto all such as are or may be under the Judgement or Sentence of BANISHMENT for the Testimony of Jesus Christ c. MY dear Friends and Brethren who for your testimony of truth and obedience to the God of Abraham are or may be caused to wander as some of our Fathers have done from your Native Countries and to be exposed to the want of a certain dwelling place in the Earth and to forsake All for the Name of Christ that is neer and dear in the World and be liable to great Jeopardies and Perils by Sea and Land among Strangers and in strange Countries why take ye no thought for your Life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink or wherewith ye shall be clothed or for your Relations and Families what they shall do in your Absence for the Lord for whose sake ye suffer will provide both for you and them as ye faithful to him abide whose tender bowells of compassions are open toward them that fear him and pittieth them even as a Father pittieth his Children But consider how great and weighty a Work and Service the Lord at this time hath called you unto and how greatly the Honour and Glory of his holy Name is concerned therein the Lord my God give you a clear understanding thereof and direct you in his Counsel in all ye take in hand that in it ye may stand faithful and be preserved in his pure Fear in meekness and wisdom to his praise for it is the faithfulness of his people in their patient sufferings and circumspect humble sobe just wise upright harmless conversation that will answer the Principle of God in all Nations and preach his Kingdom come nigh unto People among whom-soever they may come or be scattered for his Name-sake and by this Gospel which is everlasting shall thousands be converted unto God and multitudes be gathered into his Name and many through his knowledge shall be justified which must cover the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea as was prophesied in dayes past Therefore my dear Friends be ye not at all discouraged in your sufferings but look at the End for which the Lord hath called you thereunto which is the exaltation of his Name and the gathering of his pretious Seed out of Captivity where they have been scattered in all quarters in the cloudy and dark day that they might come to inherit rest in their own Land and partake of the glory which was before the world was and consult not with flesh and blood in any thing for ye have need of great watchfulness this day that no reasoner may enter you to the betraying the Innocent into the Sinners hands so that Spirit will sell the Lord that bought them to save self and the things of this Life But flesh and blood must not inherit the Kingdom of God for 't is prepared for that blessed innocent Seed only which hath no Kingdom in this World out is a stranger in the Earth So let your pure breathings be manifest unto the Lord that ye may receive power from him be preserved in his truth out of all the snares of this World and commit your cause and all ye have freely and wholly unto him and be purely resigned and subject to his heavenly Will eying his Glory in all things at all times and in all places for the Work is his and the Cause ye are engaged in is the Lords and not your own ye are but as Servants or Instruments in this great Work which the Lord hath begun and is causing to spread and prosper throughout the Earth that he may get himself a great and glorious and dreadful Name to the ends of the World who shall be made to bow down and worship at his foot-stool and confess that we are his People and that the Everlasting God is with us is on our side and sights for us who cannot strive nor fight for our selves nor avenge our own cause but leave it to him who judgeth righteously and this shall be an evident token that our Kingdom is not of this World unto all people Therefore my dear Friends and Brethren faint not in your minds neither be ye discouraged as concerning the greatness of the Trials ye have to undergo but cast your burthen in this matter upon the Lord for the weight of your sufferings herein he hath pondred and it 's come near unto him and to the hearts of his dear Children whose secret Cries and tender Breathings are uncessantly poured forth into his bosome in your behalf in the tender yearning bowels of his everlasting compassions that ye may stand faithful in his counsel and so walk that his glorious Name may be exalted and his Truth glorified in you and by you and by all that make mention thereof else to what end is all our sufferings and profession of his Name in the World Surely surely the Lord is chusing a Remnant to himself to walk with him in faithsulneses that shall greatly honour him and magnifie and reverence his Holy Name and bring praise unto him in this his day and such only will the Lord my God honour with everlasting dominion and beautifie with his Eternal Salvation and Peace Oh happy is the man and happy will be that soul whose lot falls in this ground and verily it s but a little while and he will wipe away the reproach of this his chosen Remnant and plead their cause with all their Oppressors when the measures of the iniquities of his Adversaries are filled up and our Faith and Patience sufficiently tried and proved and made manifest to the World for of this great controversie now in hand the tender Seed of God is very sensible through Nations which gives many People to see and discern an absolute difference of Spirit and a great gulf fixed between us and our adversaries
Nation will he anger the mighty and wise men of the Earth and provoke many people to jealousie and the Time is come that whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord in truth shall be saved Therefore resist every appearance or thought to the contrary in the light and strength of God as a Temptation of the enemy And remember the Serpent Tempted in Paradise to break the Command of the Lord and is yet neer to betray the Innocer into the sinners hands whose mercy will be sound cruelty for he is not wanting at this day to strive every way to make you fall from you stedfastness neither is his subtilty abated to beguile the simple to draw them into his own state of Condemnation of which all have been are and ever will be partakers who hearken to his voyce and obey his Temptation And this lyes on me to warn you of For if he get you to bow a little he will get more strength against you and more hold and ground in you by his fair flourished baits and cunning crafty allurements whereby your faith would be weatned and even faile till he cause you to make shipwrack there of and of a good Conscience through the tossing your minds to and fro in the Sea of Temptations and this would be an horrible day of Tempests unto you The Lord my God by his eternal power keep open your understandings that ye may perfectly see discern him in all his wiles and cunning craftiness by which he lies in wait to deceive both within and from without that so ye may be able to resist him in every appearance and quench all his fiery darts in the living faith that not a place be given to him for if ye give him place he will get more room and matter to work on till he becomes a strong man armed to keep the house against every motion and appearance of God in you thereby endeavouring to dwell at peace but all his strong 〈◊〉 must be stormed and his peice overturned and the league and covenant with death and hell shall be broken by the pure Life and Seed of God his head bruiser let him do what he can and then ye will perceive he was a false Prophet and hath deceived you Therefore my dear Friends watch and pray continually that ye enter not into temptation but that ye may see every appearance of evil and abstain from it so shall the God of Truth and Peace sanctifie you wholly in Body Soul and Spirit whereby ye shall become fit habitations for the Lord to dwell and walk in and have his Testimony in your selves that you are his Children being taught of him and preserved by him to his praise and your everlasting comfort and peace So keep your eye open in the Eternal Light in which ye will see over time and all things comprehended in it and through the end of all temptations and over all the stormes and tempests of the wicked who at this day are like the troubled Sea and cannot rest for there is no peace to the wicked saith my God But he is your peace and resting place who rebukes the Winds and walkes upon the Sea and calmes the Stormes at his pleasure though in the World ye have Tribulation and Persecution for his Name sake it 's but for a moment in respect of the Eternal Life if it should be so all the days of your Pilgrimage on Earth and but Light Affliction in comparison of the exceeding Weight of the Glory ye shall be partakers of as ye abide faithful to the End So the Eternal God of Life and Peace be with you and preserve you by his Power and keep you all valiant for his living Truth in the pure sense and enjoyment thereof in all your hearts to the End And my dear Friends who are in Bonds Prisons and Holes for the same Testimony of Jesus Christ where ye are oppressed and thronged as sheep appointed for the slaughter without Mercy from your Adversaries be ye not discouraged but lift up your Heads in the pure Life of your Testimony for this is a day in which the Lord will glorifie himself in the eyes of all Nations and get himself a Name above every name that every knee may bow to him and that all flesh may dread and tremble before him and become as the grass and as the flower that fadeth away at the majesty and glory of his presence who hath touched the Mountains and they smoak and the smoak of their torment ascends night and day because of the everlasting burnings with which he is melting the Hills like wax and consuming the ungodly like the fat of Lambs and folding them up as thornes and stubble for the fire Great is the work which the Lord is doing and cutting short in righteousness yea such a day is approaching as many will not believe though it be and hath been declared unto them in which the Lord will plead with all flesh by fire and sword and with plague and pestilence famine and earthquakes in divers places and dreadful stormes and fearful sights within and without so that all flesh shall be pained and wax feeble before him for the terrors of God within and without shall set themselves in array against the ungodly and compass the wicked as with snares of fire till they are consumed and the very stars in their courses shall fight against them yea he will make his wonders known upon them as in the dayes of Egypt And this I am bold to proclaim in the Name and Authority of the Everlasting God for I have seen the consumption determined and how it will come to pass which is coming upon them as swift as on Eagles wings and it shall not tarry nor be prolonged and he that will come to reward every man according as his work shal be will come quickly Blessed are they that wait for him Therefor my dear Friends seeing our God is no respecter of persons but is risen as a Giant to the Battel to plead the cause of his elect Seed and to exalt his Name over all the Earth and seeing we look for such things which will certainly come to pass and be fulfilled in their season which hastens What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness and what need have we of diligence watchfulness and readiness that we may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless The God of all mercies whose long-suffering and kindness hath been exceedingly manifested to us-ward keep you exceeding still quiet and low in your minds and spirits fearing to offend him in thought word and deed at all times and seasons And take heed of Discourses among your selves which are unnecessary for the enemy hath a secret end to effect among such things to draw out your minds from the living sense of the precious tender Seed of God in you which preserves the mind joyned to it in the humbleness and watchfulness against
every appearance of evil for he will not let slip any opportunity which tends to his advantage that he may thereby preserve continue and uphold his own Kingdom and Interest Now he perceives his ruine approaching and his perpetual downfal at hand who will dwell as long as he can in the two men one possessed but being wholly cast our from thence his last habitation is the herd of Swine whom he hath caused and will cause to run down with violence and perish So my dear Friends be very careful and let your words be sew and your moderation known unto all men and in all things for the Lord is at hand who weigheth the thoughts words and actions intents and purposes of all people with a just Ballance who will not acquit the guilty without punishment wheresoever it is found And keep within the bounds of the feeling of the Seed of God in all your wayes for that is the ancient Land-mark which he that goes beyond transgresseth and take heed of loudness forwardness or hastiness of speech in all your discourses about the things of this world and this I lay upon you from the Lord to whom you must give an account but be dead slow to such things and be lively in Christ Jesus the Truth and yet moderate patient and cool for God requireth stilness yea great stilness and watchfulness amongst you at this day that you may hear his Voice and do his Will and stand in his pure Counsel which the many words without knowledge and meekness of wisdom darkeneth for which the reproofs must come So the Lord guide you in his fear and gentle peaceable wisdom that no folly superfluity or unsoundness may be found among you but that ye may all learn of him daily who is meek and lowly and be kept in his weighty and savoury Life to the honour of his Name and the comfort and edification of one another And mark them that are unruly walk disorderly among you and cause divisions through their unsubjected wills and exalted spirits above the Seed of God which is but one in you all and have no fellowship with them that they may see their shame and yet have no prejudice or enmity rise in your hearts against any but let your upright Life and Conversation daily judge and condemn them that if possible they may be awakened and be sensible of their state and repent and be saved So let there be no strife or contentious amongst you no needless disputations whereby the weak may stumble no foolish jesting no vain jangling but quietness and soberness with gravity and godliness in all reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire and if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and transgressor appear So dear Friends study to be quiet and eat your own bread and wait for it daily and be content therewith and let all your striving be to stand still for herein is your strength encreased and be good examples one unto another and to all people that may come among you to visit you or to behold your order for the holy Name of our God is greatly concerned in this matter and we are now the very people by whom he will be honoured and greatly exalted or else reproached and dishonoured in this our day and generation So grieve not the Spirit of God in your selves or others neither provoke him to jealousie against you but dwell retired and watchful against every motion that would exalt it self above the pretious tender Seed to hurt it so shall ye have peace as ye dwell in the holy Mountain and be justified in the sight of the Lord and be a good favour in the hearts of all sober people whose eyes are towards you for good So mind the honour of God and bear in remembrance the end for which he hath called you out of the world at this day to bear your testimony in sufferings for his Name sake and be circumspect humble and wise in all your wayes that the Lord may be honoured by you and his Witness answered in all People so shall his Seed be raised and the weak be strengthened and your own souls comforted in him that guides his Children that learn of him in the way of Peace And for this is the daily travel of my soul who am one in sufferings with you for the same pure testimony which shall stand for ever And all Friends every where who have or may have any occasion or business to any in Authority in the Nations or who having done any thing in obedience to the Lord as your faithful Testimony to his Name for which ye are or may be brought before any of them or have any motion lye upon you to go and warn them or any particular of them concerning the work they are about or of the day of the Lord that is coming as a Theife upon them or as concerning them that suffer bonds or the spoiling of their goods or sentence of Banishment for the Truth-sake or the like this I lay upon you from the Lord which hath often rise in my heart go not in your own will nor time but wait upon him in stillness and eye his pure presence and power to go with you before you to lead and carry you on in obedience to his own pure motion in which ye will feel strength sufficient and receive the pure wisdom from above as in his Light Dread and Counsel ye abide so to speak that Gods Witness in all may be answered here ye will be a good savour to him whether they hear or forbear So premeditate not afore hand what to speak or answer but singly give up and dwell low and subject to the Lord and keep within the seeling of his eternal Power and sink into it and then ye will be preserved innocent and cool and patient and bold in dominion over all fear and weakness which would be ready to enter and so the Truth being kept clear in you and by you in all things the Lord will be honoured and his Name exalted over all the contary to whom all honour and fear belongs And let none sute or frame themselves to please men but all seek to please the Lord and seek his face and his glory and let his Truth be very dear and pretious to you and amongst you all yea more than your own lives and then by it ye will be preserved to his praise and your own eternal comfort and peace for great hath been the sufferings for its sake and many hath sealed their testimony of it with their blood who have not loved their lives unto death for the joy that was set before them whose faithfulness lives in an everlasting record and can never be blotted out of the hearts of the righteous but is had in eternal remembrance the consideration whereof shall break the hearts of Children that are yet unborn and the life thereof shall raise up thousands from the dead
who shall give glory to God in their behalf So in his Truth the Lord God of all mercies and everlasting blessings keep you all Amen In whose blessed Will I lye down with all the faithful and upright in heart dayly waiting in his pure Light which makes all things manifest to know more of his counsel and to be obedient thereunto in whatsoever he requireth of me in which I exhort some that they suffer not a motion of that spirit of Core or Eliab to rise in their hearts lest thereby they endanger themselves for what was Moses and what was Aaron and what are all that bare a pure Testimony this day for the Name of the Most Holy dreadful God but such as hazard their Lives and are your servants for Christs sake therefore let such be very careful and tender in this matter for cannot we say to them as little to David his brethren Is there not a cause Do not the care and zeal for the honour of the great and holy Name of our God dayly increase in our hearts I Can truly say The zeal of thine house hath even eaten me up That his living Truth and People may be kept blameless and spotless in this great and notable day of Tryal is the travel of my breathing soul day and night and I seek not mine own honour but the honour of him that hath had mercy upon me who hath opened mine eyes and given me of his free Spirit eternal Power and all I have I have received from him and I have nothing to boast of but in the Lord and his Mercies which endureth for ever in whose Salvation I rejoyce and in his fear I delight and Lord let me never forget thy Name nor the multitude of thy Mercyes toward me and toward all thy People but let me ever give thanks to thee in the lively remembrance of them who is setting a Remnant as watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem who cannot hold their peace for her sake day nor night till she is made the Praise of the whole Earth and so much the more as they see the day approaching though their life is in great stillness and I could be content to be silent but I must obey his requirings or I cannot be clear in his sight And I know to this end hath he preserved me to this day and hour in the secret of his Pavilion blessed be his Name for ever Into whose hand I freely commit my soul and body and all that he hath given me and all his dear people every where to be disposed at his good will and pleasure in which I feele my reward with me and my witness is in heaven and the true joy of the Lord is in my heart as an open fountain which none knows but the redeemed from the earch and yet I am dayly a man of sorrowes and well acquainted with griefs for the redemption of his seed in Captivity and for the whole Creation that groaneth under the bondage of corruption but in all estates I have learned to be content knowing the Lord is with me and hears and in due time will answer the breathings of his own to whom be the glory dominion and praises now and for evermore Amen I am your dear Brother and Companion who suffer with patience for the everlasting Truth of God which must spread over all the Earth and be established on the top of all Mountains in which I bid you Farewel W. B. From Hertford where I remain a Prisoner for the Testimony of Jesus Christ the 26 of the 6th Month. 1664.