Performances without the Inward Leadings of the Spirit of the Lord and in this Antichristian-spirit by which they have been exercised in the aforesaid Idolatrous Abominations they have been Killing Destroying and Devouring one another about those things which are their own Inventions set up in their own Wills which they would have all to conform to and have long imposed it one upon another by Penal Laws and thereby have enforced many who fear'd Man more then God to conform contrary to what they were perswaded in their own Consciences to worship the Image set up by them yet a Remnant there was alwayes whom God preserved and rais'd up by his Power to stand faithful Witnesses against their Idolatrous Worships and Traditions whose Blood this Antichristian-spirit in the Beast and false Prophet that carries the Whore hath always drunk and many Faithful Martyrs of Jesus in times past have seal'd their Testimony against this false Church of Apostate Christians in which this Antichristian spirit rules even with their very Lives though they did not see nor understand the things that are now seen and understood by many yet blessed be the Lord they were by his Power and Spirit so furnished and sustained and so filled with Love to God and his Cause and with Zeal against the false Church and her Antichristian Impositions and Idolatries that they loved not their Lives unto death but laid down their Lives with Chearfulness as a Testimony against them and so through Faith have obtained a Good Report amongst us who are now following the Lamb in the same Foot-steps of the Flock And so my Beloved Friends Seeing that now in fulness of time God hath rais'd us up by his Power according to his Purpose and Determination and Fore-knowledge to be faithful Witnesses for his Name and Truth and to the Power of his Appearance in our Hearts and to bear Testimony against the aforesaid Superstitions and and Idolatrous Impositions which are practis'd at this day amongst them that know not the only true and living God nor Jesus Christ whom he hath sent a Light into the World I say my Friends These things are sufficient to engage our Hearts unto the Lord follow him unto the end through all Trials and Exercises of what nature or kind soever that for the future may come upon us for our Testimonies sake For my Friends We know right well that God hath not been wanting unto us in any Tryal or State whatsoever if we have not been wanting in or Obedience unto him but hath been alwayes present with us and hath oft caus'd his Love to abound unto us and in us being shed abroad in our hearts by his good Spirit so that for joy of Heart we could even sing Praises to the Name of the Lord in the midst of our Sufferings and Afflictions so that we have no Cause to be discourag'd at the Sufferings which attend us nor at the Threats and Frowns of Wicked Men who hate and persecute us without a just Cause but we have rather great Cause of encouragement to persevere and go on bearing forth our Testimony for the Lord through all Sufferings if it be Death it self knowing the Reward thereof to be so exceeding great and having this Confidence in our selves That none of these things shall be able to move us nor to seperate us from the Love of God which we have in Christ Jesus Nay but rather shall confirm us for as the Apostle said It is an evident Token to us of Salvation but to our Adversaries of Perdition and that of God And so my Beloved Friends You who are already Exil'd and sent into forreign Parts of the World for your Testimony 's sake I doubt not but you experimentally know in an especial manner the Largeness of the Extent of God's Love unto his People in a Suffering Condition you having been in measure exercis'd therein beyond many others though I doubt not but have the Testimony of God's Holy Spirit that many are as freely given up in the same Faith for the same Testimony to partake with you outwardly of the same Sufferings as they do inwardly sympathize with you therein if the Lord see it meet for the Honour of his Name so to suffer them to be exercised Yet nevertheless All who have been and are faithful to God in their Places have and do enjoy so much of the Peace and Presence of God as is fully satisfactory unto them so that in the Unity of the Spirit of Life which from God we have receiv'd and by which we are seperated from the World and its Wayes and Works of Darkness and by which we are rais'd up to be faithful and true Witnesses for God and against the Traditions of men by which they have made void God's Commandments I say in this Spirit we do sympathize and partake with you both in Suffering and in Rejoycing and have a real Sence upon our hearts and spirits of your Estate and we are not unmindful of you but do heartily pray That Grace Health Mercy and Peace together with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ our Lord may be continually multiplied and encreased amongst you that the Aboundings thereof you may know unto your great Consolation that so being thereby watered and refreshed you may grow in the Grace of God and in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus and may feel his Life to encrease in you and so to strengthen you that you thereby may be able to teach others also and to instruct them in the Way of Life and Salvation that so your Sufferings and Exilement may make for the Furtherance of the Gospel of God and for the spreading of his Blessed Glorious Truth through the Nations and for the gathering into it them who are yet afar off from God and Strangers unto him that so the Witness of God in all Consciences being answer'd by you both in Life Conversation and Doctrine you may be a good savour unto God both in them that believe and also in them that perish that the Justification of Life in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ you may all feel and witness and that will be your alone Satisfaction in all Conditions and therein my Love doth dearly salute you all And in this my Dear Friends pray one for another and walk together in Love and be of one Mind and Practice in all things that appertain to the Worship of God and to your Testimony for Him and against the World and its Wayes and Worships and live in Peace one with another and build up one another in your most precious Faith and watch over one another in the Spirit of Love and Meekness and let there be no Straightness nor Strangeness one towards another but be Open-hearted and Tender one to another And if any thing appear amongst any of you which tends to the Hurt of any Particular or to the Truth in general in the Spirit of Meekness let it be spoken to them and in the same Spirit let
under the Chains of Death and Darkness in you and for the bringing forth of that Birth which is Heir of all things and must Rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron and unto whom we who have been Labourers amongst you have reached with the Word of Immortal Life and with the Power of the Almighty to the raising of Life and bringing Immortality to Light in you by which you were then quicken'd unto Life who were sometimes dead in Sin and Trespasses And you know right well that by this Word of God and Power of an Endless Life you were more and more enlighten'd as you came into Obedience thereunto and your Understandings were open'd by which you came to see how you had been in times past captivated with Sin and Iniquity and had been led away with the Error of the Wicked into Envy Strife and Maliciousness and indeed into every Evil Work and then true Judgment and Condemnation took hold on that part in you by which you had been led into those things and the Way of Truth Peace Love Sanctification and Salvation open'd unto you by the Light and Spirit of the Lord by which your Understandings were quickned And the Invisible Eye was open'd in you by which you came to see your Teacher and as you enclin'd your Ear unto this Teacher and walked in this Light of God's Salvation O then how was the Appearance of Evil eschewed by you And how contrary to your Desires it was to see or hear of Strife and Debate and Contention amongst Brethren And how Love Peace and Good-will did then abound one towards another and towards all men desiring that all might come to know and be made Partakers with you of the same plentious Redemption And how gloriously and plentifully the Lord did then appear amongst you And how freely he did then shed abroad his Love in your Hearts and issue forth of the Vertue of his Life unto you by which your Hearts were enlarged and your souls refreshed and comforted so that you did run well without Weariness or Fainting Who hath hindred you or any of you that you should not continue in this Race in which Peace Love and Good-will did abound one unto another And what is the cause of the Strife and Divisions and Contentions that of late hath been amongst you Hath not the Evil One stepped in and drawn you into Reasonings and Consultations about Differences which hath been occasion'd by Dissenting-spirits and thereby vail'd the Understandings of some of you and so brought Night upon them and in the Night season sown the seed of Sedition amongst them Well My Heart is griev'd within me for your sakes and I am oft-times afflicted in spirit because of these things which have happen'd amongst you for indeed some there be that have made the Hearts of others sad whom God never made sad because of their unsoundness and unstedfastness in the Truth which in much simplicity fear and reverence was made known unto you by us who labour'd amongst you in the Word and Doctrine And truly Friends I cannot but Lament the lost estate of some amongst you which I am fully sensible is great and sad Oh that ever it should be said of such a People for whom the Lord had done such great things and unto whom he had so plentifully manifested himself and appeared that they should not retain their first Love and Integrity and Fervency and Zeal to the Lord and one towards another It s indeed sad to consider For have not I seen the Lilly blossom amongst you and the Vine flourish and the tender Grapes appear yes verily And this I further testifie That while you kept your first Simplicity and your first Faith and Love you were Beautiful and Comely and Lovely in the Eyes of the Lord and he took great Delight in you and exercis'd Judgment Mercy and Loving-kindness amongst you in which many did greatly Rejoyce and your Faith was every where spoken of amongst the Churches of Christ and many did greatly Rejoyce because of you for you were Honourable and lovely in the Hearts of the People of God every where and you were even a Crown of Rejoycing unto us who had laboured amongst you and travell'd for your sakes But alas A contrary spirit hath since entred amongst some of you with which we have not Unity nor Fellowship the Report of which hath brought Sadness upon the Hearts of many But those who have given place to the Envious-One must bear their own Burden for their Judgment and Condemnation slumbreth not but will swiftly come upon them Wherefore my dear Ftiends all Be you retir'd in your minds unto the Light by which you were first convinced of the Truth and which gave you then to see the Error of your Wayes and which led you into Love Peace and Good-will one towards another and towards all men and to eschew the appearance of Evil And as you all in this Light come singly to wait upon the Lord in your first Love Simplicity and Integrity you will plainly and clearly see what it is that hath entred and how it entred that hath been the cause of all those Tumults and Contentions and Divisions which of late hath happen'd and been amongst you and as it s seen with the Light and discover'd thereby unto you or any of you let it by the Life be judged from amongst you and therein wait that you may be purged from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit And be tenderly affectionated one towards another in the Truth not with a feigned Love or a feigned Affection for that God hates But let Love be without Dissimulation abhorring that which is Evil in all and cleaving to that which is Good And be Open-Hearted one towards another not Strange and Staightned and Simply and Honestly confess your Faults to each other and pray for one another and the Lord will have Mercy upon the Transgressors and will heal their Backslidings and blot out their Iniquities and will again love them freely and so you will re-gain the Favour Love and Good-will of God unto you and we shall again be comforted in you after these our Sorrows and Grief of Heart because of the Divisions and Spoilings that have been amongst you for our Joy is in your Prosperity and Well-being and our Rejoying is in your Comfort and Refreshment and Preservation and Safety Wherefore my Friends Keep your Eye alwayes upon that Mark which first you pressed after when you receiv'd the Truth and obey'd the Gospel and in that straight and narrow Way of Holiness which was then made known unto you every one still press towards this Mark and have perfect Charity amongst your selves as in the time of your first Simplicity And then you will feel the Lords wonted Goodness and Loving-kindness shed abroad in your Hearts and he will water you with the Dew of Heaven and will bless you with all Spiritual Blessings from above and he will then own you for his own
will take hold on them and the Sorrows of Death shall compass them about even as before they were deliver'd from their former Troubles and so they will bring themselves under the heavy Yoak of Bondage again and the Countenance of the Lord will be hid from them and a Cloud of Darkness will come over them and Misery will be their Portion from the Lord God who is the Joy of the Righteous and the Rewarder of all who obey him and out of this Condition it will be hard to be removed and to be restor'd again into the Favour of the Lord. And so my dear Friends Prize your Peace with him above all things visible and so walk as that you may be preserved therein And wait upon him in the Gift which you have received from God and you will feel his Everlasting Blessings to flow in upon you and his Mercies and Loving-kindnesses will be renewed unto you Morning by Morning whereby you will be aboundantly refreshed and be kept living unto the Lord and a daily growth you will witness from Strength to Strength and from one Degree of Grace unto another until you appear before the Lord in Sion in compleat Beauty and perfect Holiness And so as you in Patience wait upon the Lord and walk before him in his Covenant of Grace and dwell in his Pure Holy Power and be subject thereunto in all its Leadings and Requirings then you will see the Lord pleading your Cause in the Hearts of your Enemies and working your enlargement and Liberty by his own secret Hand of Power by which he will turn back the powers of Darkness and remove the Seat of Violence and will exalt his own Kingdom and Righteousness in the Earth and Oppression shall be far away for this is his Decree and Determination and those that rise up against him in this day of his Appearance or oppose him in his Work such shall be scattered by the Breath of his Mouth even as Chaff is scattered before the Wind And then shall the Righteous rejoyce and be glad in the God of their Salvation And so you will see that all these Tryals and Sufferings which shall come upon any of you shall work for your everlasting Good and for the Glory of the Lord and shall make for the furtherance of the Glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Captain of our Salvation and was made perfect through Suffering and is now set upon his Throne at the Right-Hand of the Father to judge the World in Righteousness to whose Scepter and Dominion all Powers Thrones and Dominions must bow and bend and become subject for the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it And therefore let none faint in their minds because of the present Rage of the Adversary but look unto him who lifts up the Head above the Raging Waves of the Sea and you will see him to arise who will rebuke the Rage of the Devourer and will cause a great Calm And so my dearly beloved Friends Keep in the Covenant of Peace and Life and feel the pure Power of the Lord God Almighty to bound you and compass you about and feel your Unity and Fellowship in it with the Lord and one with another and watch over one another in Love and build up one another in your Most Holy Faith so will you have dominion over the World and come to know the Earth to be your Foot-stool and so in and through him who hath manifested his eternal Love in you you will be more than Conquerors even through his eternal Power who subdueth all thing unto himself that he may Raign over all whose right it is and unto whom the Kingdom doth belong and unto him be Glory and living Obedience for ever Amen And so the Lord God of Power and Love be amongst you all and fill you with his Love and Power that so you may be kept out of the Snares of the Evil One for that hath oft been the Breathing of my Soul for you in secret and that you may walk before him in the Purity of his holy Spirit and be kept unspotted from the World And so in the Bowels of our Lord Jesus Christ do I most dearly and tenderly salute you all who are of the Family of my Father and of the Houshold of Faith and the God of Love and Peace be with you all Barbadoes this third Mon. 1661. I am your Dear Brother in the Patient Long-Suffering Spirit of our Lord and Master and a Traveller for the Redemption of the Oppressed Seed Josiah Coale To the Called of God Every where who are Witnesses of the Eternal Excellency of the SON of RIGHTEOUSNESS Who is now appear'd in his Majesty and Glory in this Day of the FATHER'S LOVE to the Children of Men. The Fourth general EPISTLE MY Dear and Everlastingly well beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters with whom in the Covenant of Life and Kingdom of Peace Glory and Eternal Felicity my soul rests and is at Peace and perfect Freedom where the Glorious Presence of the God of Life who is Jacob's Shepherd is enjoyed and is known to be an open Fountain daily administring of his Heavenly Rich Vertue and Goodness to the consolating and refreshing of our Immortal Souls so that we have no need to complain of Poverty because he who is the Fountain of all Good is continually with us and never ceases to administer into his own according to their several Necessities as in his pure Fear and Power they wait upon him and walk before him And this I know many of you are not unsensible of for whom a Feast of Fat Things is prepared and a Table richly deckt is spread before you where every hungry one may feed and be refreshed and the Breast of Consolation is also known at which every Babe may suck and be satisfied and so all having access unto this you may here be delighted with the aboundance of the Treasure of my Father's Heavenly Kingdom the Windows whereof being now open'd a Blessing is poured forth without measure Oh! that all who profess the Name of the Lord were throughly sensible of this thing then would their souls with us delight in Fatness and their hearts would be enlarged thereby so that they would find Encouragement to run the Way of his Commandements even with Delight and nothing would be counted too dear to part withal for his sake who hath call'd us and is bringing many Sons and Daughters unto Glory and Vertue Wherefore my dearly beloved Friends be ye encouraged to walk on in the Way of the Lord though it be strait to the Earthly Man and be ye content to pass through Evil-Report and Good-Report and let him be your Example in all things who when he was reviled he reviled not again and when he suffered he threatned not but committed it to him who judgeth Righteously as a Lamb before the Shearer is Dumb so he open'd not his Mouth Therefore I say Friends Let none be
the Cause of God in the Prisons of London Hartford c. This is a Salutation of my Love and Life MY dearly beloved Friends who are oft brought into my Remembrance and presented before me by the Spirit of the Lord with whom my Life is and unto whom the Love of my soul doth even flow forth and extend it self in the Vertue of that Life which is Infinite and Eternal and in the Spirit of Supplication my soul is daily pour'd forth unto the Lord before the Throne of his Majesty on your behalfs Beseeching and Desiring That he will so furnish and arm you with the whole Armour of his own Righteousness that you may be entire wanting nothing and that you may be enabled to stand and hold out unto the End in this day of Battel and Tryal and that as Valiant Souldiers of the Lamb you may endure all Hardships as seeing him present in the midst of you who is Invisible in the Faith of the Answer whereof I dearly salute you all And dear Friends in this you may all be enboldned and in this Consideration your Heads may be lifted up above all Sufferings even in the midst of them that the Cause in which you are engag'd and for which you suffer is a Righteous Cause of which we have the Witness or Testimony in our own Consciences and a more certain Witness cannot be and this Witness doth testifie That our Cause is the Cause of God who hath call'd us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light and hath made choice of us to bear Testimony to and stand Witnesses for his Name and Truth in this Day of his Spiritual Appearance and Manifestation or Revelation of the Son of his Love whose quickening Spirit we have receiv'd by which we are seperated from the World and by which we have been and still are constrain'd to bear Testimony against all Oppression and Cruelty and against all the Unrighteousness of this sinful World for which Cause these Sufferings come upon us and attend us But blessed be the Lord who hath call'd us with so Honorable a Calling and accounted us worthy to suffer for so Honourable a Cause as Our Testimony for his Blessed Name and Truth the Reward thereof which is great will be certain unto all who are found Faithful unto the End Wherefore my dear Friends towards whom my Bowels of Love even earn and my Life and Soul reacheth as you may feel who are sensible of Life I say unto you all in the Name and Fear of the Lord Lift up your Heads over and above all Sufferings both present and to come I say in the Faith look over them all unto him who is invisible who will out-last them all who alone hath Immortallity and dwells in the Light whose Presence is certainly with you and amongst you and will be so continu'd as you walk and continue with him in his Everlasting Covenant of Light in which he dwells Wherefore let your Life Delight and Habitation be in him for my Friends you whose Hearts are upright unto God know right well that the Lord hath not been at any time wanting unto you in any Exercise of what nature or kind soever in time past the consideration of which is a sufficient Encouragement to every one to cast their Care upon him and to resign up themselves unto him who takes Care for them And if the Enemy be permitted so far to prevail as to execute his Decrees made against us yet in this may we be all satisfied that it shall certainly work for good unto us in the End and shall make for the furtherance of the Glorious Gospel of Peace and for the Exaltation of the Worthy Name of the Lord by which we are call'd wherefore in Contentedness with the Will of the Lord in all states let every one rest resign'd up unto him and in the Gift of his own Spirit wait upon him to receive daily Refreshment from his Presence that you may be Water'd Refreshed and Consolated from day to day that so you may grow in his Grace and be kept fresh and living in his precious Truth to shine forth in the beauty thereof And let it be your great Care above all things to keep in the Enjoyment and Feeling of the Peace and Love of God in your own Hearts and in that you will have Content in all Conditions and live in Love and in Peace one with another and have perfect Charity amongst your selves and whatsoever tends to the contrary let it be condemned by the Light in the rise of it And bear with and for one another and watch over one another in Love and therein exhort one another and build up one another in the most precious Faith which gives you Victory over the World and over all the Persecuting Powers of Darkness and be a Strength and a Refreshing and a Comfort one unto another in your Persecuted Suffering State and Condition And God Almighty keep you all and refresh your hearts daily with his Love and renew your strength with the vertue of his Life that none may be weary nor faint in your Minds but that all may endure with Patience and Valour and Boldness and Courage in the Lamb's Spirit unto the End that in the End you may be Crown'd with the Crown of Immortal Life and Glory which never fades away which is the Daily-Prayer of him who dearly and entirely loves you all who are of an Upright Heart by which Love I was constrain'd to salute you all at this time with these few Lines and so rest in it From my outward Beeing near Bristol this 20th of the 1st Moneth 1665. Your Dear and truly Loving Friend and Brother Josiah Coale A Salutation of Love From the Spirit of Life Unto all Friends of TRUTH Who are in Exilement or Sentenc'd to Exilement for the Exercise of their Pure Consciences in the Service and Worship of God MY beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters who are expos'd to Exilement from the Land of your Nativity for the sake of your Testimony to the blessed Truth of God and who have been and are content to suffer the loss of all that were dear unto you in this present World for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and rather then to betray that blessed Testimony which God had committed unto you to bear for his Name and who have sufficiently manifested your fidelity unto the Lord and his blessed Truth even in the view of the whole World as a Witness against their False Antichristian and Idolatrous Worships which God by his Power will certainly throw down and bring to nought and who have bore Testimony in Faithfulness in and by your Submissiveness to an Exil'd Estate against that Antichristian spirit of Persecution which Raigns and Rules in the Hearts of all the Apostate False Christians whose Worship standeth in Subjection to the Precepts and Commandments of Men and in Bowing to Stocks and Stones and to the Works of Men's Hands and in other Outward
of his Kingdom and for the publishing and spreading of his Everlasting Truth and for the sake of this our Lives nor Liberties were not dear unto us wherefore be ye every one like-minded with us in the same thing And in your places where the Lord hath set you therein adorn the Truth so will you be a good savour unto God and he will take Pleasure and Delight in you and will do you good by multiplying his Mercies and Blessings in your Hearts and so you will witness a growth and encrease in the Encreases of God And so all Friends Wait upon the Lord in the Gift of his Spirit that you may feel him to administer unto you of his Heavenly Riches and Consolation that no one may have cause to complain of Poverty or Weariness but every one know him in you in whom the Fulness dwells that you may by him be upheld in all times of Tryal and be administred unto in all times of want that so you may be carried on with Chearfulness to run the Way of his Commandments And God Almighty keep you by his own Power that therein you may be firmly joyn'd and united together a Family of Love and a strong Body and a spiritual House fitly framed and compacted that there may be no Rent nor Division but that you may be one in him who is the Head and in this I can promise you the Blessings of God and that by his Spirit And so bear one with another in Love and let the Strong help the Weak and by so doing you will preserve Peace And the Blessing of the Lord be with you and rest upon you forever Amen London the 1st Moneth of the Year 1667. This is a Salutation of Pure Perfect and Never-dying Love from your Dear and Truely Loving Brother Josiah Coale An EPISTLE to FRIENDS IN New-England The Second Epistle DEAR and Everlastingly Beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters whom my Heavenly Father hath visited with the Day-spring from on High which he hath caused to dawn unto you and by his Out-stretched Arm of Power hath gather'd you out of the Egyptian Darkness into the marvellous Light of the Son of his Love that therein you may come to have an Inheritance amongst them that are sanctified and become Heirs of Eternal and Everlasting Salvation in and through Christ Jesus the First-born from the Dead who is now brought forth into the World and reveal'd in us whom all the Angels must worship I say my dear Friends Seeing the Lord hath thus visited you with his Love and thus reached unto you see that you walk worthy of his Love And every one in your holy Callings wherewith you are called of God therein abide with him and feel the Gift of his good Spirit of Grace which from him you have receiv'd at all times to exercise your minds that so out of all the Snares and Temptations of the Wicked One you may thereby be led kept and preserved that the Enemy may not prevail to hurt you or to deprive you of your precious Treasure or to make a Spoile of you or in the least to diminish that Precious Life which God hath raised and manifested in you and given you a feeling of But all and every one wait that you may grow therein and become daily more and more a good savour unto God that you may know him to take delight in you and to dwell amongst you and in the midst of you and to administer unto you according to your Necessities that there may be no want unto you in the Day of Tryal but that you may be throughly furnished unto every good Word and Work that in all Tryals and Temptations whatsoever that may come upon you you may feel your Strength Hope and Confidence to remain that so you may be supported and carried through with Chearfulness unto the End for its such only that shall be saved And above all things my Friends and Brethren have perfect Charity amongst your selves and let the Love of God dwell in your Hearts and rule there and in that watch over one another and in the Spirit of Love and Meekness exhort and beseech one another as the Lord moves and let no one go beyond the Word of the Lord nor yet without it for that will burden the Seed in others but watch in the Light for the Movings of the Life it self and as that is felt to stir or move in you or any of you wait to know the Mind and Intent of the Spirit 's Motion whether it be for your selves to treasure up or whether it be to give forth unto others and this Discerning and Understanding you will all come to know and receive as you wait in Stilness out of the Reasoning Part for if the Reasoning Part enter that will darken the Understanding and then you will not know what to chose and what to refuse nor what to do or what to leave undone Therefore dwell in the Simplicity and single Subjection unto God's Holy Spirit of Life the Meek Lamb's Spirit and there is the Gate of true Wisdom and the Door of Understanding and in that you will edifie one another in Love and the Bond of Peace will be known amongst you And for this End have we travell'd and labour'd amongst you whom the Lord sent forth in his own Name and Power for the turning of you from the darkness of Ignorance unto the Light and Knowledge of God's Everlasting Power and for the building of you up in your most pretious holy Faith that therein and thereby you might come to have victory over all that 's contrary And to this day I am oft travelling in Spirit amongst you and in my Prayers to God I daily make mention of you and my spirit breathes unto God and is pour'd forth unto him for your preservation growth and prosperity in the pretious living Truth and that you may be crown'd with Victory Life and Dominion over all which would hinder you from running this good Race that is set before you that so none amongst you who have tasted of the Love of God and have known the Way of Life may fall short of the Mark or of the Inheritance incorruptible which fades not away So the Lord God Almighty be with you and keep you and place his Fear in your Hearts yet more and more that you may no more depart from him or from the feeling of his Life and Presence but that you may always live in him who is God blessed forever and may be found of him in everlasting Peace Amen London 21 1st Moneth 1665. This from your dear Brother who truly loves you and the whole Flock of God in all Places JOSIAH COALE To the Flock of God Gather'd out of the World in the Province of MARYLAND The First EPISTLE MY Dearly Beloved Friends with whom and amongst whom I have travell'd in times past for the Redemption of the Suffering Seed which lay groaning in Bondage and was held in Captivity
spirit which would exercise Lordship over another for that is not the serving Spirit that is to be submitted unto which begetteth into Love Meekness and Gentleness but that spirit will rather beget a Root of Bitterness which may defile many and therefore not to be heeded But the Love being dwelt in which vaunteth not it self nor seeketh its own but anothers good that begets its own likeness and in this you will stir up and provoke one another to Love and to good and charitable Works and then by you the Gospel of God will be adorn'd and you will have his Blessing and Peace in your hearts which is of more Value and greater Price with the Upright in Heart then all the Pleasure of sin or Gain of Oppression And so by your Stedfastness Faithfulness Sincerity and Simplicity in the Truth you will even engage and provoke the Lord to appear on your behalfs and to plead your Cause with your Adversaries and to shorten the dayes of the Wicked for your sakes And so the Almighty God of Love and Peace be with you all and multiply the Riches of his Grace Mercy and Peace unto you all that the Poor in Spirit may be enriched the Weak and Feeble strengthen'd and the Sincere in Heart established and confirmed And unto him alone I do commit and commend you all by whose Power and Love unfeigned I was at this time constrain'd to send this Epistle unto you to stir you up to Faithfulness Diligence and Zeal towards God and for his Cause in which my love towards you and my care for you is manifested in which I also kindly salute you in the Bowels of Christ Jesus whose Life is my Life and whose Love hath filled my heart in which I take my Solace and Rest From the Common Goal in Kendal the place of my Confinement for the Testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God this 18th of the 7th Moneth 1665. Your Dear Brother in the Tribulation Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Josiah Coale An EPISTLE To Friends The First general EPISTLE DEar and Everlastingly beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters whom in God s Holy Covenant and Power of an Endless Life my soul dearly loveth and to whom I am firmly joyned and united with the Spirit of the Living God which he hath sent into our hearts and by which we have been separated from the Wayes and Worships and vain Tradition of the World amongst whom in times past we had our Conversation and walked according to the Lust of Ignorance as other Gentiles did But now being separated from these things by the Power of an Endless Life and being redeem'd therefrom by the precious Blood of the Lamb without Spot And being made choice of to be a peculiar People unto God to serve him in our Generation and to be a Praise unto him therefore now my beloved Friends have Valour and Boldness and Courage every one in your Hearts and have the Loins of your minds girt about with Truth that you may be armed to fight the Lord's Battels and be able to stand in the Evil Day when you shall be tryed And be you found watching every one in the Light and Gift of the Spirit of the Lord God so will not that Day come upon any of you at unawares but you will be found fitted and prepared to with-stand or resist the Evil One in all his Wiles and Appearances so that he shall not touch or harm your precious Life for the Lord Almighty in whom you have believed and in whom our Trust and Confidence is he will renew your Strength and will be a Buckler unto you in the Day of Battel and there will be no Faintness of Heart nor Fear in your Way but the Mighty POWER of God you will feel by which you will be able to tread upon the Necks of your Enemies both within and without and tread Satan under Foot And so my Friends These things in short were in my Heart to write unto you in the full enjoyment of that Love with which you know right well we have oft been refreshed together assuring you all that the same Blessed Presence and Power and Love of God in which I have been amongst you and by which I have been called from amongst you to bear Testimony to the Blessed Name of the Lord by which we are called even to the Nations afar off is still continued with me in which Love this is farther in my Heart to say unto you although you may very well know it already yet that none may grow forgetful that God hath many Wayes to try the Faith of his People both inwardly and outwardly and oft-times suffereth the Enemy to work and exercise his power for that End and the Enemy will work very subtilly if possible to deprive you of your Peace with God But my Friends You keeping in the Power of an Endless Life with which God hath certainly visited you thereby your Understandings will be kept clear and your Hearts open towards God and there all the Wiles and Subtilties of the Enemy will be seen and discovered and he defy'd and rejected and trampled upon in the Eternal Power of God And herein you will be Victorious and Conquerers over all Temptations and over all Assaults of the Wicked one And herein you will have free Access to God and Boldness towards God and you will all meet at the Throne of Grace in the Unity of the Faith in which you will have Acceptance with the Lord. And here will be no Rent nor Division nor Striving of Spirits Nay that must not enter which would have the preheminence over others for that will cause Divisions but that must live in all and over all which will be Servant to all and therein are the Blessings of the Lord enjoyed and his Peace witnessed and he will fill your Hearts with his Love and cause his Heritage to flourish and will make you as a watered Garden whose Springs do not fail And now my Friends Consider what the Lord hath done for you Hath he done so for any other People upon the Earth or did he more for his People in any Age or Generation since the beginning then he hath done for us Or Are any able to speak more of the Wonders of the Lord and of the Greatness of his Work and of the Strangeness of his Act at this Day then we are who are accounted by the Uncircumcised but as the Off-scouring of all things Nay verily And therefore may it be said That us hath he known above all the Families of the Earth And this my Friends may engage all and constrain all to walk worthy of this matchless Love that the same with which he hath reached unto you and visited you may be continued unto you and may abound in you all one towards another that you may all know you are the Children of your Father which is in Heaven and in this you will be as Lights unto the World and as a
after God in Righteousness and true Holiness And so here walking every one in your own measures in Faithfulness to the Lord you will feel the Lord administring unto you of his rich Vertue to the filling of your Hearts and to the making of your Cups to overflow for this I testifie unto you and that by the Spirit of the Lord That the Lord's Love and Mercies and the Riches of his Grace did never more abound in the Hearts of his People in any Age or Generation than it doth in this our Day in the Hearts of all who obey and follow him and give up freely unto him in all his Leadings and Requirings And therefore once more I say unto you my Beloved Ones give up in singleness to follow the Lord in whatsoever he leads you unto And walk with him in the Power of his own Spirit of Life and let the Righteousness of God go before you and his Everlasting Glory shall be your Reward And so Dear Hearts Feel your selves covered with the Spirit of Life for that shall and will remain when all false Coverings shall be ript off and all empty Professions and out-side Shews will wither and have an end and come to nothing Therefore ye as Wise Virgins have Oyle in your Lamps and see that your Lamps be kept trimmed and burning that so you may be kept ready at all times to enter in with the Bridegroom into his Marriage Chamber so will you have Joy and Felicity and Gladness of Heart and no cause of Sorrow will there be while you enjoy the Bridegroom of your Souls present with you who will be an everlasting Comforter unto you with whom you will know an Everlasting REST And that Peace you will be Heirs of and possess which passeth the Understanding of the World and in this you will have strong Consolation and Comfort even that which can never be blasted but whatsoever flourisheth and may seem prosperous for a time if it be not in and by the Power of the Lord that will the Lord blast and cause to wither as the Flower of the Grass and this your Eyes shall see if you keep in the eternal Power of the Lord which keeps the invisible Eye open which alone perceives the things of God So in the pure Power of the Lord dwell and keep that you may be kept in a clear Discerning and sensible of your own particular Conditions and how it stands with you in the Presence of the Lord that you may know your Peace and Unity with him and one with another that so all being kept in the Power and Unity of the one Spirit in that you may exhort one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching that so you may be strengthened one by another and may build up one another in the Precious Living Truth and therein edifie one another in Love that so you may stand over the World and over that part in which the Enmity stands which is against God so will it appear unto all men That you are the People which God hath Blessed And now my dearly beloved Friends These few Lines have I written unto you from the aboundings of the Love of my heavenly Father which he hath shed abroad in my heart towards you all and by this Love only was I constrain'd thereunto wherein in some measure is manifested that real and unfeigned Love which dwells in me and daily extends it self unto the whole Houshold of Faith wheresoever they are with whom I am at this time even wrapt up with the Garment of Praise And in the pure Unity of the Spirit of Life and Endless Unspotted Love do I purely salute you all leaving you to the Protection of the Almighty whose tender Care is over all his and watcheth over his own Inheritance Night and Day so that the Devourer cannot prevail to lay it waste nor desolate Wherefore let your Confidence and Trust be in him alwayes and continue you in the Grace of God which hath appeared and the Sufficiency thereof you will more and more see and witness daily And Blessed in the Name of the Lord God Almighty are all they whose Trust and Confidence is in him alone for they shall never be ashamed nor confounded but shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be moved So the Lord God Almighty of Heaven and Earth keep you all and preserve you all in the enjoyment of the Fulness of the Blessing of the Gospel of Peace where you all may know the Rest to remain that neither Stormes can disturb you nor Tempests make you afraid in which I am with you all who are of the Family of God Written in the Island of Barbadoes the 27th of the 7th Moneth 1661. Your Truly Loving and Faithful Brother JOSIAH COALE A Collection OF THE Several Books Given forth from the Movings of the Spirit of the LORD in his Faithfull Servant and Minister Josiah Coale The Memorial of the Just is Blessed the Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance but the Name of the Wicked shall Rot. Printed in the Year MDCLXXI AN INVITATION OF LOVE TO THE HUNGRY THIRSTY Who truly hunger after the Food of Life and a Call to such to come from off the Barren Mountains and from feeding upon vanity into the Everlasting Kingdom and House of my Father where the least of his Servants have Bread enough With some Information of the Way which leads thereunto EVery one that hungers and every one that thirsts and every one that breaths after Righteousness Come the Fountain of Life is opened and the Everlasting God of Jacob is arisen in this day of his Power to gather unto himself the dispersed of Israel into his Everlasting Fold of Rest and into his Everlasting Covenant of Light Life and Peace with him to dwell And for this very end hath he caused the Eternal Light of his Son to shine forth and hath set up his Standard and displayed his Ensign to the Nations to which the gathering is and the Call is gone forth and the Spirit bids Come and every one that hears let him Come and drink of the water of Life freely For the Fountain is now opened and the true Shepherd now Calls and his voyce is heard and all who are wandering upon the barren Mountains and in desolate places and are weary and heavy laden with sin may Come and follow him who leads to the Everlasting Fold of Rest which is Jesus Christ the true Shepherd and the Light of the World and Way to the Father who is now arisen in this his Day for his Seeds sake to gather his Sheep from off the Barren Mountains where they have been scattered and driven away in the dark and in the cloudy day And to make manifest the way of Life freely to all who hearken to his Counsel and obey his voyce who declares unto man what is his thoughts And by his Light makes manifest the Secrets of the heart and reproves the deeds
are of the Election of Grace and of the true Shepherds Fold whom it hath pleased my heavenly Father in his Love Life and Spirit to gather out of the World and to sepatate from amongst men to be the first fruits unto Him and to the LAMB in this Day of his Power and glorious Appearance and hath manifested his Power and reveal'd his glorious Arm of Strength in and amongst you and hath made known his blessed sweet refreshing Presence in the midst of you whereby you have been refreshed comforted and strengthened in the midst of many Trials Tribulations and Temptations which have been suffered to come upon you for the trial of your Faith since you were a People unto him and you know right well that he hath not been wanting unto you in any state or condition that you have been brought into as you abode faithful unto him And the mighty things which he hath done for you and the great delieverances which he hath brought unto you in the time when you were in great distress surely cannot be forgotten by you but is worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance And the things which you have seen of this kind and the endless loving-kindness of God unto you therein manifested is and I hope will be for ever sufficient to engage you to walk with the Lord in singleness and uprightness of heart that in all tryals of what nature or kind soever that you meet withal for the future time you may hold fast your testimony for him and your Faith and Confidence in him and be nothing daunted in your minds hearts nor spirits but in all things give up unto the Lord and resign up your Cause unto him alone and he will certainly plead for you in the hearts of your Enemies and they shall assuredly know that his controversie is very great with them for your sakes For he hath regard unto your sufferings and the Cryes and deep Groans of his Oppressed suffering Seed is continually before him and he is near to bring deliverance unto all who in patience and contentedness wait upon him and that trust in him with an upright and with a perfect heart Wherefore I say unto you all my beloved Friends Lambs and Babes of God be patient and therein wait upon God for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh and the day of a great deliverance is at hand wherein he will do and bring to pass such things which cannot be believed by many though they should be told unto them Therefore murmur not against the Lord in any wise because of these things which are come to pass and happened unto us nor because of the greatness of the rage of the Adversary for it is because he hath but a very short time and though you have born long and suffered much in divers kinds and the oppressive yoke of Antichrist is not yet removed nor taken away yet I say my Friends Fear not nor faint not in your minds but endure to the end in the Faith and Patience of Jesus and when the things determined shall be accomplished and the measure of iniquity shall be filled up then shall the day of a great deliverance come unto you and your eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation the praise of the whole Earth And then shall the Lord God Almighty be known to reign in the Kingdoms of Men and his Glory shall spread forth its self to the ends of the World and be declared of throughout all the Nations of the Earth and the Knowledge of God shall cover the Earth as the waters cover the Sea These sayings are faithful and true and things that must shortly come to pass and be fulfilled the Lord hath spoken it and blessed are all they who believe and obey the Word of the Gospel and wait for the fulfilling of these things Wherefore my dear Friends dwell low in God's Fear and in his Covenant of Light into which you are gathered and wait to receive his pure Divine Heavenly wisdom to order you and be you ordered thereby and that will keep you out of all extreams so that none will be lifted up above what is meet because of the Promises of God nor yet be cast down because of the threatnings of the Enemy that so you may neither turn aside to the right hand nor to the left but that you may walk on in the even way which is the path of peace and feel the Eternal Life which is of God to remain and abide in you so will you be kept fresh and lively in the beauty of Truth and Holiness and shine as Lights to the World For you are the Salt with which the Earth must be seasoned and with which all things must be salted to make it savory unto God and acceptable unto him For as the state of the World is in which they now lie they are unsavoury unto God and not at all a pleasant smell neither hath he any delight in their Sacrifices for even their prayers are abominable unto him and their solemn Assemblies he hath no pleasure in but his soul even loaths and abhors them and he will certainly work a Reformation is the Earth and he will beat down Babylon with a mighty blow and will bring a great desolation upon her and amongst her Merchants shall the noise of a great howling be heard and all her delicacies shall come to nought and all her costly attire the works of cunning Workmen shall be consumed for she is come into remembrance before the Lord and as she hath loved blood so must she have blood to drink for the Cup of God's Fury is already filled into the hands of the Saints of the Most High to pour out unto her And as she hath lived deliciously and glorified her self so much torment and sorrow must she have given unto her yea she shall have doubled unto her according to all her works and then shall the Saints Prophets and holy Apostles rejoyce over when God shall have avenged us on her And now my beloved Friends this I say unto you in and by the Spirit of the Lord That the time hastens and draweth nigh in which these things must be brought to pass yet nevertheless the things decreed and determined of the Lord must first be accomplished So that although the power of darkness hath been long working and doth still work as it were in a prevalent manner by which sufferings and tribulations are brought upon us yet I say it is by the permission of the hand of the Lord that these things are so and he hath an end in suffering it so to be and that for his own glory and who shall say him nay for so doing or reason with him about matters of so deep concernment seeing his way is hid from man and is not known unto any but only them unto whom he reveals it But this my Friends I know from the Lord That he hath an intent and purpose of good unto us thereby and
to rule and reign according to his promise made by the Mouths of his Prophets in Ages past to which Nations must bow and bend and become Subject I tell you plainly and truly that if this be your expectations which your proceedings gives me cause to believe it is you will certainly fail therein And God will assuredly frustrate these your expectations and by this very way and means that you take to suppress and root out the People of God from having a Beeing amongst you even thereby you will provoke the Lord to root out you if you persist therein Wherefore beware lest that which you think and expect to bring upon the People of God be by the hand of God brought upon your selves For be it known unto you the Lord God Almighty is with his People of a truth whom you have turned your Sword and Power against and what is done unto them he certainly taketh as done unto himself And in as much as you go about to suppress his people or to limit them in the exercise of their Consciences towards God you therein are found Fighters against God and thereby you go about to stop and hinder the Work of God which will be as hard for you to do as it was for Saul to Kick against the Pricks of the Witness of God in his own Conscience Wherefore consider these things and remember that many Warnings and tender Visitations of Love the Lord hath sent unto you in times past which you have little regarded hitherto but go on exercising Cruelty towards the people of God And now at this time also I am moved and it is upon my heart by the Spirit of the Lord to lay these things before you and to tell you in plainness what the Lord will do and bring to pass in despite of all that you can do who seek to oppose him For notwithstanding the many Laws and Decrees which you have made or shall make yet the Work of the Lord which he hath certainly begun that shall go on and increase and the Truth must flourish and prosper and spread forth it self and the Kingdoms of the World must become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ according to his Promise and they that will not bow unto his Thorne and Government who is KING of Kings whose right it is to rule in the Consciences of people and to bear the Government there and to exercise them in matters of worship towards God but will seek to stop to limit him in his Government there even such must and shall be broken by him and bruised under by his Eternal Power the Lord hath said and spoken it and it must come to pass Wherefore Friends be you once more warned That you meddle no more with the Consciences of people so as to go about to limit them in matters relating to the Service of God for it s not the place of a civil Magistrate to meddle or have to do with those things but leave them free in those things to do as they are perswaded in their own Consciences by the Light of the Spirit of the Lord for you cannot give an account unto God for them if they do amiss but they must all and so must you also give an account unto God every one for himself and this is just and equal that in things of this nature every one should be left to the exercise of the Spirit of the Lord in his own heart because that Spiritual Worship consisteth in obedience to the Spirit of God and you your selves would not be willing to be prohibited from or denyed of this liberty but I dare say you would look upon it to be a very great Oppression unto you to be restrained by any civil Power or Government from that which by the Spirit and Power of God you were perswaded in your Consciences you ought to do and you could not but judge that those who should go about to lay or impose such a restriction upon you did do unto you as they themselves would not be done by and so you might well conclude that it were unrighteousness in them so to do Wherefore if you seriously consider whether this unrighteousness and Oppression be not found in you I know you cannot but lay your hands upon your mouths and confess Guilty So let my Counsel be at this time received by you and take my Advice as from one that hath received the Counsel of the Lord and in Measure knows the Mind of the Lord by the revelation of his Spirit as touching this matter that is this Shake your selves out of these cruel practises of persecuting about Religion and Worship and lay aside these cruel Impositions which are and have been laid upon the People of God by reason whereof many who are dear unto the Lord have suffer'd very greatly some the loss of their Liberties and some the loss of their Lives occasion'd through being thrust together in noisom Holes and Prisons and others are obnoxious to exilement from their Wives and Children and from their Native Country and dearest Relations and no evil at all justly charged against any of these for which these cruel Sufferings are inflicted upon them 't is only for Worshipping God in Spirit that these Sufferings are sustain'd by them that is the greatest Charge that hath been by you at all prov'd against them And for these things sake the Lord's Controversie is certainly great with you and while you continue in these things through which you have provoked the Lord to Anger His Wrath will not be appeased towards you neither can your Government be establisht in Safety nor you cannot establish your selves in Safety and Security for Fear will surprize you while you go on in these Practises because of the Guilt that is upon your Consciences and although we cannot neither do we desire to make outward opposition against you by Plottings and Insurrections c. Out of which things God Almighty hath redeem'd us and hath brought us into his Covenant of Peace and unto his Mountain of Holiness where nothing hurts nor destroys Yet we know that the Lord is with us and is on our side and takes our part and will plead our Cause and Fight for us and He is stronger then you all and his Power is above yours and our Trust and Confidence is in him alone and not in the Arm of Flesh and it s in vain for you to strive against him or to oppose or resist him for he will in the end be too hard for you and will break you to pieces as a Potters Vessel of Clay except you Repent And now Friends there is but one only Way by which you may or can possibly escape and prevent the Dreadful Judgments of the Lord or by which his Anger may be appeas'd which is kindled against you and that is this To Humble your selves before the Lord and to Repent of the Evil of your Doings and to loose the Bands of Iniquity and
to undo the heavy burthens and let the oppressed go free and turn the sword against the Evil-doers and suppress vice and profaneness and do not tollerate licenciousness and those wicked practises as rioting and drunkenness stage playes and the like which day by day even greatly abounds in your Streets while the Servants of the Lord lie in noisom Holes and Prisons And give liberty of Conscience unto the People of God to Worship him which is the main thing that I contend with you for that the Servants of the Lord may have free liberty to labour for the reducing of People from those afore-mentioned and all other vices which tends to the destruction of youth and to the destroying both of Soul and Body and this is the way for you if there be any to purchase the good will and favour of God and to be established in safety and security in your Government and if any who are self-seekers and time-servers shall for self-ends counsel you otherwayes such you shall know in the day of the Lord are evil counsellors and ought not to be received by you but denied And Friends one thing more I would present to your consideration which hath been oft laid before you in times past and as oft forgotten by you that is this What hath been the ground and original cause of all the late over-turnings which hath been in this Nation if it be rightly weighed and considered will it not appear that cruelty and oppression of mens Consciences in matters relating to the Service of God was the main original cause thereof I confess I cannot but marvel you should be so blinded with your present prosperity that you cannot see and consider these things and labour to avoid that which was the cause of their overthrow and ruine that are gone before you but to run on so head-long and inconsiderate as though you were hasting with desire to bring the wrath of God upon you For mark Friends When did any escape the hand of God in any Age or Generation or Where were any established in safety that took in hand this work of oppression and persecuting the Seed of God and his People consider from Pharaoh that great oppressor unto this day and you will find that in all Ages this work of persecuting and oppressing the People of God was the very cause of the overthrow and ruine of the Persecutors as for instance The great persecution and cruelty that was exercised by the then Powers of the Nation in Queen Maries dayes What was the issue thereof was it not the very overthrow and rooting out of that persecuting Power and Religion and Faith c And do not their names who exercised that cruelty remain as an ill savour unto all sober People truly fearing God unto this day And could they by all their tyranny then exercised root out or extinguish that Faith and Religion that they then struck at Nay they could not though it was but as I may say the beginning of Reformation and coming out of the Apostacy but its true indeed they killed destroyed and murthered many but blessed be the Lord that did not shake the rest so as to make them fall but rather establish them And certainly Friends although you should be permitted as they were to destroy many of us by your Laws and Decrees made or to be made yet you cannot thereby destroy the faith of others neither can you possibly accomplish your desire nor root out the holy Seed which is now sprung and risen and must replenish Nations and cause the desolate places to be inhabited though indeed you may thereby root out and destroy your selves which is sad to consider So Friends much more might be said unto you and many sound reasons and arguments might be produced to convince you how unsafe it is for you to persevere in this Work of persecution and cruelty but I know you will many of you if not most of you kick against it and harden your hearts and will not believe wherefore I have chosen rather to be as brief as may be only to discharge my conscience unto you in the sight of the Lord that I may be clear of your blood and so shall conclude even with a few words telling you That this work which you have begun and put your hands unto will be too hard for you for when did ever any yet rise up against the Lord and prosper or do you think to prevail against the Ancient of dayes although your Predecessors could not Oh nay it cannot be But then you will say that it is not the Work of God that you oppose but Heresie and Sedition c. I answer so said your Predecessors the Persecutors in all Generations when they slew the Prophets and Crucified the Son of God and persecuted the Apostles they charged them with Blasphemy and Sedition and Turners of the World up-side down and said The Earth was not able to bear them c. Yet that would not be a sufficient excuse for them in the day when God took vengance neither will it be a sufficient excuse for you in the day when you must all without respect of persons give an account unto God for all your deeds done in the body wherefore beware least that come upon you which was spoken by the Prophet of old saying Behold ye Despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your dayes which you can in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you I am a Friend to the whole Creation of God and have the mind of the Spirit of the Lord who wills not the Deather Destruction of any but rather that all should return and live J. C. Written at Kingston upon Thames the 5th of the 9th Moneth 1664. ENGLANDS SAD ESTATE LAMENTED AND HER Abominations DISCOVERED Which are the Cause of the present Visitation of God's Judgments upon her Inhabitants In which also is declared the True Only and Alone Way by which the future Judgments threatned may be escaped Wherein also the Rulers of the Nation may see their State and perceive the Danger they are in OH England England the Land of my Nativity who art full of Abominations and whose sin hath reached Heaven how art thou filled with pride and oppression persecutions and cruelty and all kinds of Abomination aboundeth in thee How hath the cry of the oppressed been heard in thy streets and still is and yet those who are in power to relieve them have turned away their ears and have had no regard thereunto but have feignedly made many fair Promises in times past of freedom and liberty from those oppressive Antichristian yoaks and burdens that have long been laid upon the tender Consciences of Gods people But alas they have had little regard to their engagements but have hitherto dealt deceitfully and treacherously with the Lord and his People and the bonds of iniquity are still standing and instead of breaking of them according to the requirings of
and fore-warned thy Rulers also oft-times of the evil to come and that they should set free the Oppressed and break the heavy Yoak of Persecution from off the Necks of God's People that with freedom and cheerfulness they might serve him but they have not hearkned thereunto nor regarded at all therefore is thy Plagues come and thy Judgment have not lingered as is seen at this day But well much of this kind have ofttimes been presented to thy view and consideration so that I could even almost despair of hopes that thou wilt hear or lend an Ear unto what I say at this time because I experimentally know that thou art a Rebellious Nation against the Lord yet my Bowels so yearns towards those of thine Inhabitants who have not quite sinn'd out their Day that I cannot but strive with them a little in representing these things to their consideration that such who have any tenderness left in them may Repent with speed and turn to the Lord with all their hearts not feignedly but in sincerity that so they may find a hiding place in him from the Wrath to come and that they may understand the Cause wherefore the Lords Hand is stretched out against thee in Judgment Oh Nation surely all who are prudent in spirit cannot but confess and acknowledge that these things before mentioned is the very cause of the present Visitation that is upon thee and also of the future Judgments which are threatned for these are but the beginning of thy sorrows which it to come upon thee because thou Repented not of thy Evil Deeds Well But some it may be will say what and where hath been the cause that all these Abominations hath thus abounded and been continued in thee seeing thou hast had such a large Profession of a reformed Christian Religion to whom I say Search and examine whether or no the main ground and cause is not found in thy Teachers and Leaders for have they not caused thee to Err and have they not strengthned the hand of the worker of Iniquity so that none can turn from the Evil of his Way by promising of him life and may not I say of thy Teachers Oh England as the Prophet of the Lord said of the false Prophets in his day viz. from the Prophets of Israel is Prophaneness gone forth into all the Earth for hath not they Leaders been evil examples unto thee of prophaneness of drunkenness and whoredoms many of them and universally of covetousness which is Idolatry for most or all must needs see that their hearts are gone after covetous practises and by their Lyes against the people of God and by their lightness they have caused the People to err from the right way and have led them into rebellion against the Light of the Son of God wherewith they are enlightned which would have led them out of the dark pathes of ignorance and works of Iniquity under pretence that it was a dangerous principle to be adhered unto and that it was not sufficient to lead out of sin nor to save from sin when indeed there is none other name given under Heaven whereby Men can be saved from sin but the name of Jesus who preached himself the Light of the World and who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World and whose free grace that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men so that all who turn from this Grace of God which teacheth us to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present evil World such turn from the right way and all who rebell against this Light wherewith they are enlightned they know not the way thereof as Job said and so they are strangers to the good and right way which is Christ who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World and is not this Light or Spirit of Grace in the inward parts the very thing that thy Leaders hath long perswaded thee against that thou shouldest not encline or adhere thereunto under pretence as aforesaid and so are like unto them whom Christ said did shut the Kingdom of Heaven against Men who would neither enter in themselves and them that would enter they hindered and although they have in pretence made large Prayers against sin and iniquity and seemed to preach against it likewise yet they have indeed told thee thou couldst not be washed or freed from sin while here on Earth and so have denyed the very work of the Ministry which was for the perfecting of the Saints for the Apostle laboured that he might present every Man perfect in Christ and have they not hereby strengthened the hands of the Workers of iniquity even by begetting a belief in them that they cannot turn from the evil of their wayes so as to be set free from their evil deeds and yet they promise them life hereafter but be not deceived with good words and fair speeches for God will not be mocked with an out-side profession for if you live after the flesh you shall dye for the wages of sin is death but the Gift of the Spirit of God is eternal Life through Christ our Lord unto all them that receive and obey it Again have not thy Leaders been the great Stirrers up of thy Rulers to persecute the harmless People of the Lord whom he hath raised up by his power to trust in his Name and to bear witness for him and to testifie against thy abominations have they not moved thy Rulers and Majestrates to make Laws and to put them in execution as aforesaid against us Consider this Oh Nation what a blood-thirsty Generation of covetous Hirelings thou hast nourished within thy bowels may I not say of them as Hosea said of the Priests in his dayes viz. As Troopes of Robers wait for a Man so the Company of Priests murder in the way by consent for have they not been even unanimous in this work of Persecution how many have they murdered in the way of Cain which they are in by consent in casting of them into Prisons for their filthy lukers sake and how have they provoked and stirred up thy Rulers and people to the same work and even made them their vassals to fulfill their envious wills So that all these things being considered with many more which might be mentioned have we not just cause to attribute the main ground of thy continuing in these so gross abominations unto these covetous Hirelings and filthy Dreamers that defile the flesh I confess I cannot but believe that there are multitudes of thousands within thy Borders Oh England that see their folly and madness and their unstableness and how they toss up and down and are driven about with every tempest that ariseth even as Clouds without rain as their Predecessors were whom the Apostle spoke of and saw come in his day who went in Cain's way of Persecution and Murder and were wandring Stars for whom was reserved the blackness of Darkness for ever For have not the unstabillity of these
men their wandering and tossings to and fro with every Wind or Tempest that hath arised in this Nation been evidently enough seen in this our Generation yea surely all who are not wilfully blind cannot but perceive how not long since they preached up the Common-Prayer-Book seemingly with a great zeal as though Salvation was not to be attained without Conformity thereunto but no sooner did the windy tempest arise which blew that away and the then Powers of the Nation by whom it was upheld and which these men swore for and prayed for c came to be subdued and the Church Faith and Directory come to be set up in its stead but presently they were turned or driven about with the tempest and wandered from the Comnon-Prayer-Book and swore against the King and House of Lords by whom it was upheld and whom before they prayed and swore for and began to swear for the Common-Wealth and to preach up the Church Faith and Directory with as much seeming zeal as before they had done the other And now again since the tempest hath risen and the wind hath blown another way and their Church Faith of which Christ was not the Author and Directory hath faln thereby and the Common-Prayer-Book again set up in its old place they are persently wandered back again to that and driven about thither preaching of it up and praying and swearing for King and house of Lords whom they formerly preached and prayed and swore against and these things they do with as impudent faces many of them as though they had never varied from it Oh hypocritical treacherous deceitful hearted Generation who shall believe them to be Messengers or Ministers of God that have no more stability with them truly their very actions in turning and tossing and wandering to and fro hath sufficiently declared them to be without any true foundation and who shall conside in them for the time to come that are so variable have we not ground to believe that they will turn to the old Mass or to the Turk's Alcharon or any thing that the Powers of the Nation shall countenance surely they who believe better then so of them will be deceived by many or most of them as many have been already in times past for although they feignedly appear as such who should take care and watch for the Soul yet we experimentally see that they seek for their own gain and indeed they serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own bellies for their fruits declare that they will Murder as they have done many for their Bellies And although they flatter with the King and thy Rulers Oh England as though they sought and study'd their Well-fare and Safety and would counsel them for their Establishment and Security yet they are a treacherous Generation and it is not safe for the King to trust then for they have an End unto themselves in most or all that they do and their own Interest is concern'd in most of their Enterprizes for they are Lovers of their own selves and of Pleasures more then of God as the King and his Council may easily see if they consider it and take an inspection into it And let me tell the King and his Council this by the way together with the rest of thy Rulers Oh England That if they hearken to the Counsel of these Self-seeking and Time serving-men who are Wandring Stars and Clouds driven with Tempests as afore is declar'd I say if they follow these Blind Guides and hearken to their Counsel so as to be sway'd by them and become their Vassels to fulfil their Blood-thirsty Desires in Prosecuting Banishing and making Havock of the People of God then in the end they will certainly fall into the Ditch of Everlasting Destruction and Perpetual Shame and Contempt out of which there is no recovery and then shall they know that God hath spoken by me and that a Prophet of the Lord hath been amongst them Wherefore Oh Nation and you Inhabitants thereof let my Counsel be acceptable unto you at this time that if possible so many of you who have not quite sinn'd out your Day and have yet any Tenderness of Heart left in you towards God may come to find a Hiding-place from the Wrath to come For if the aforesaid crying Sins and Abominations which your Teachers are a great Cause of as afore-shew'd are continu'd in then utter Destruction and Desolation must and will unavoidably come upon you Wherefore hearken not to them who tell you that you cannot be made free from Sin while you remain in this Body but hearken to the Voice of God who is Light and who searcheth your Hearts and declareth the Secrets thereof unto you by his Faithful and True Witness which he hath placed in your Consciences and which calls out of Sin and Transgression for if you are in the Light and walk in the Light wherewith you are enlightened the Blood of Jesus Christ will clense you from all Sin and Wash you from all Iniquity as the Apostle testified Neither lend an Ear to them who stir you up to Persecute the Innocent for the exercise of their Consciences towards God in his Worship for they cause you to Err and to Transgress the Royal Law of God which saith Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you even so do ye unto them and thereby you will purchase the displeasure of the Lord against your selves as many have already done which will not easily be appeased Wherefore save your selves from this untoward Generation of false Prophets who cause you to Err and who make a prey upon you and Come out from amongst them and be seperate from them and Touch not the unclean thing or any thing whatsoever that will defile the Conscience but break off your Sins and all kind of Iniquities by speedy Repentance and by true submission to Gods faithfull Witness his Spirit of Grace in your inward parts which will Teach you as it did the Saints of Old and as it doth us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts you should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World for there is not another way to escape the Righteous and Dreadful Judgments of the Lord which are already begun to be Revealed upon thy Inhabitants Oh England but only by turning to the Lord with their whole hearts and by truly humbling themselves before him and by learning obedience to the Gift of his Spirit which hath long strived with them for it is not an out-side Profession that will serve turn the Lord hath been long grieved therewith already and many have soared aloft above the Measure of the Gift of the Spirit of God into an airy Profession of high things but have not had the Life of what they have Professed only have made their Profession a Cloak for their Wickedness many of them and thereby the Spirit of the Lord is and hath been grieved and he is now arisen to lay open their Madness
was puting himself upon nevertheless the King would not hearken unto Micaiah but commanded that he should be put in Prison and fed with the Bread of affliction and with the Water of affliction c. and hearkned unto the lying spirit that was in the mouthes of his many Prophets who prophesied smooth things unto him and by them this lying spirit prevailed and caused him to fall before the Host of the King of Assyria Well I say I could heartily wish that it may not be so with thy Rulers and Magistrates Oh Nation as it was with Ahab and that they have not so far provoked the Lord by Persecuting and sheding the Blood of the Innocent as to cause him to seal his Decree against them or any of them as he did against Ahab and I could wish that it might not prove so which I have cause to believe it will that he hath given permission to the lying spirit to go in the mouthes of thy Priests and Prophets to perswade thy Rulers to go on in this Antichristian Work of Persecuting the Innocent and harmless People of the Lord thereby to fill up the measure of their Fathers Iniquities that so he may be avenged on them But Oh that thy Rulers had hearkned unto the Counsel of those whom God sent unto them who came not for filthy Lucre nor with flattering Speeches but in the Name of the Lord declaring his Counsel in plainness and faithfulness for thy good but Alas instead of hearing their Counsel they have done unto them as Ahab did unto Micaiah even put them in Prison and fed them with the Bread and Water of affliction and thereby they have provoked the Lord of Hosts So that without all controversie as I said before if thy Rulers persist and go on following the Counsel of those false Prophets into whose mouthes the lying spirit is entred to perswade them that the way to remove or stop the present Visitation of Gods Judgments which is Revealed in the midst of thee is to be severe in Persecuting and Banishing his despised and harmless People out of thy Borders I say if their counsel be hearkned unto and obeyed therein that lying spirit will certainly thereby prevail and will cause them to fall and none shall help them and they shall be broken with a perpetual breath and none shall bind them up Wherefore hearken unto this ye Heads and Rulers of the Nation of England the Land of my Nativity be not Proud nor stout hearted against the Lord but fear and dread the Almighty God of Heaven and Earth for he hath certainly a Controversie with you and he will not at all regard the lofty looks nor your proud Carriage for he will be reverenced wherefore humble your selves in Dust and Ashes in his presence you who have not quite sinn'd out your Day and put on Sack-cloth before him if so be there may be hope lest he break you in pieces as a Potters Vessel of Clay and there be none to save you And thus Oh England I have briefly and faithfully declared unto thee thy state and condition according as God shewed it unto me and the cause of thy present Calamities and of the future Judgments that threatens themselves and also the way in which they may in a great measure be prevented and the hot displeasure and indignation of the Lord be appeased in which thy Rulers may likewise see the state and danger they are in But yet I know many will not hear nor regard at all untill their desolation come upon 〈◊〉 yet nevertheless I shall be clear in that I have discharged my Conscience unto them from time to time according as God required me 〈…〉 if they perish in their gain sayings and 〈◊〉 neckedness their blood will be upon themselves and upon them who caused them to err Postscript WHen the good will and loving kindness of God who wills not the death nor destruction of any hath been largely manifested unto a rebellious and stiff-necked Generation of people in striving with them by his good Spirit and when he hath oft reach'd unto them with the visitation of his Love and called unto them by the mouthes of his Servants Prophets and Messengers to repent and turn every one from his evil way that they might be healed and find mercy with the Lord and yet they will have no regard thereunto but refuse to be reformed and continue still in their rebellion against the Light of his good Spirit in their hearts and despise hate persecute and despitefully use the Servants and Messengers of God whom in tender mercy love and good will he sent unto them I say after the long suffering and loving kindness of God hath been so largely and on this wise manifested unto a rebellious and stiff-necked people who so evilly requite his love to them is it not then justice in the Lord to cease striving with them and to give them up to hardness of heart and to seal his Decree against them in his wisdom to find out a way that their eyes may be closed and their hearts hardned least they should see and understand and be converted and healed that so it may come upon them according to that Prophetical saying of Solomon viz. He that oft-times is reproved and stiffneth his neck shall suddenly be cut off and that without remedy Wherefore now consider Oh Nation of England is not this the very state of many of thy Inhabitants at this day hath not the love and good will of God been largely manifested to them in that he hath long strove with them by his good Spirit in their hearts and hath not his immortal Word of Life been plentifully declared amongst them even to the uttermost of thy borders every way hath it not been line upon line and precept upon precept unto them even by the mouthes of his faithful Servants and Prophets whose cry in thy Streets hath oft and long been Turn ye turn ye from your evil wayes why will die c And did they not declare that Gods dreadful Judgments were nigh to be revealed upon them that would not repent and turn from the Abominations against which they testified But alas few at all had regard thereunto but many lookt upon it as an idle Tale or as a whimsical Imagination and refused to hear and fear even as Jerusalem did in the day when Christ would have gathered her and therefore now in the Justice of God is his Decree gone forth and sealed against many of them as it was against Jerusalem and his righteous Judgments which was threatned and prophesied of by his Servants and Hand-maids is begun to be revealed amongst them and in the midst thereof he hath in his wisdom found out a way to blind their Eyes and to stop their Ears and to harden their Hearts least they should see and hear and understand and be converted and healed for as Job said He taketh away the perfect and the wicked and because it is so
said he they are continually doing the Works of the Devil and are his children and consequently cannot truly call God Father I answer therefore the Church of Rome cannot call God Father for she is and long hath been doing the works of the Devil the Murderer as before proved therefore she is of her father the Devil and cannot call God Father in Truth and in Righteousness Then A. S. rambles through several other particulars in which he controverts with Sectaries c. whose cause I am not concerned to plead only this small hint before I have given to prove the Church of Rome one of those Sects who cannot speak the fore-mentioned words truly and so I shall leave the Sectaries with whom A. S. controverts to plead their own cause for the thing that was chiefly in my heart when I took in hand to write this brief Reply was to prove the Church of Rome not to be the true Church and the Chief Arguments by him Produced to prove her the True Church I have already in brief answered Again A. S. in his 6th Chapter makes it his business to prove the Church to be the Judge of all controversies in matters of faith and saith That not every man nor human reason nor the private Spirit nor the Bible is this Judge and to prove it he quotes Matth. 18.17 where Christ said tell the Church c. Answ To which I answer That the Judgement of the true Church of which Christ is Head in matters of Faith I do not deny for being governed in all things by the Head Christ to whom all Judgment is committed John 5.20 the Judgment thereof must of necessity be Ture for the Strength of Israel cannot Lye and ought for to be submitted unto by all But the Church of Rome being not the True Church she being not Governed by the invisible Head Christ to whom all Judgment is committed as before proved Therefore she is not Judge of Controversies in matters of Faith And the True Church to whom Christ said He that Heareth you Heareth me were such as heard Christ and in whom the Spirit of the Father spake Mat. 10.20 But the Church of Rome doth not hear Christ as hereafter I shall prove therefore they who hear the Church of Rome do not hear Christ But surely when A. S. began this work of deciding Controversies he had forgotten that the Church was the only Judge in that particular and not every man nor the private spirit for had he considered that he being but a particular man would not have undertaken the Churches work as appears by the Title of his Book he hath for he calls it A brief Decider of all Controversies in matters of Faith which Book we have cause to judge is his own only work and not the Churches in which we find him condemning himself for the thing which he is doing for as appears by his aforesaid Title himself undertakes to decide controversies and in his 6th Chapter he affirmeth ' That the Church is the only Judge or decider of all controversies But this is that his confusion may the more appear as it hath done in many other things as may be seen in this small Treatise and surely if the Pope have no better Servants then A. S. to do his work for him he had better keep them idle than to employ them in such a work for in the end they will bring more shame to him than they will honour for such like confusions and other abominations have already made the very name of the Pope an ill favour to all true Christians And one thing more in A. S. his 6th Chapter I cannot well omit to observe where he said The spirit inspireth when he will and you hear his voice but cannot tell whence from God or the Devil he doth come or whither to Heaven or to Hell he doth go and then saith So is every one that is born of the spirit and to prove this he quotes Luke 9.55 where Christ said Ye know not what Spirit ye are of Now consider the blindness and ignorance or else the wilful wickedness of A. S. who jumbles a deal of Scriptures together blasphemously wresting of them to his own destruction or at least to the destruction of his own work in hand thinking thereby to blind the minds of people and with his good words mixed with blasphemies and fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple as his Predecessors have done in the long night of Apostacy which hath been over all Nations since the Apostles days But it s in vain for him to strive to accomplish his end for the Day is dawned unto many and there is an eye opened in many thousands in this Nation of England that gives them to see over and beyond all this Babylonish or confused trumpery and stuff and have a feeling of that which was before Babylon was and shall out-last Babylon to the praise of God and to the glory and honour of his Name who is blessed for ever Well Although it was so that Christ said unto his Disciples You know not what spirit ye are of yet consider the time when he spake these words was it not before they were born of the Spirit although called to be Apostles for Christ said unto them you must be born again John 3.7 8. and that he would send them the Spirit of which he said they must be born which shall lead them into all Truth John 16.13 and he did not say as A. S. doth that they should not know whence from God or the Devil the Spirit came or whither to Heaven or to Hell it went Oh horrid blasphemy in A. S who saith so is every one that is born of the Spirit as much as to say that he that is born of the Spirits knows not whether he be from God or the Devil or whither he shall go to Heaven or to Hell Oh wickedness indeed Christ said no such things as A. S. doth although that blessed worthy saying of our Saviour and Lord Christ was and is very true viz. Marvel not that I say unto you that you must be born again for the wind bloweth where it listeth and men hears the sound thereof but cannot tell from whence it cometh nor whither it goeth adding even so is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3.7 8. Mark they that were born of the Spirit were unknown to the World for said the Apostle after they were born again the World knows us not So although they were in the World and men saw them yet the World knew them not no more than they knew from whence the wind came and wither it went which they heard the sound of and indeed so is the state of the True Church in the World at this day And the Apostles did know from whence the Spirit came and of what Spirit they were after they received the Spirit of Truth and were born of it for Christ told them John 14.16 That
shall they believe in him whom not of whom as their Bible saith of purpose to excuse themselves See above they have not heard or how shall they hear without a Preacher or how shall they Preach unless they are sent 4. Note this well gentle Reader and consider seriously with your self how deplorable a thing it is to see such Hypocritical Intruders to stand in a Pulpit or Tub with such a brazenfac'd Book as is their unjust corrupt and perverse Bible in their hand lulling the Poor Ignorant people to the sleep of death with these words Thus saith the Lord when the Lord saith no such thing Are not these they of whom the Lord himself saith Jer. 14.14 They prophesie falsly in my Name I sent them not and I did not bid them neither did I speak unto them a lying vision and divination and fraudulence and sedition of their own hearts they prophesie unto you See more Dent. 13.5 Item 18.20 c. And when they have done with their Thus saith the Lord and can say no more then they rowse up their slumbering spirits by singing unto them one of Tho. Sternholds Jack Hopkins or Rob. Wisdoms Psalms suppose From Turk and Pope c. which Sacrilegious Psalm or Diabolical Song passeth with these Deluders and their deluded Auditors and Chorists for holy Scripture and the Word of God as well as Dixit Dominus Domino meo c. Oh times Oh manner Oh God amend them Amen See Erastus senior and jun. who copiously prove this Subject The Last Testimony OF That Faithful Servant of the Lord and Minister of Jesus Christ RICHARD FARNSWORTH Whereunto is prefixed a brief Testimony concerning his Life Death and Travels c. To which is added a few words of Exhortation unto those that believe in the Light of the Lamb. Published for the Consolation of the Houshold of Faith and for the stopping of that Mouth which is open'd in Blasphemy against God his Tabernacle and them that dwell in Heaven FOrasmuch as it hath pleased God Almighty after the long Night of woful gross Darkness Apostacy and Ignorance which hath been over the Nations amongst those who have had a Profession of Christianity again to make known and manifest the true new and living way which leads unto Life Eternal even by and through the Revelation and Operation of his Eternal Power and Word of Life in the hearts of a Remnant whom in this our day he first reached unto and visited and raised up to be Witnesses thereof that by them it might be born Testimony unto amongst those who were strangers to it and that thirsted after it that so thereby they also might receive the manifestation and knowledge thereof for want of which many perish and are strangers to the way of Life having only at best a Form of godlyness without the Power In which dead Forms or outside empty Professions some are at ease and rest as though they were in the true Heaven that should never pass away and some are at rest and at ease without any profession living in all uncleanness unrighteousness and abomination and some cannot find rest in either The faithful and true Witness of God being awakened in their Hearts and Consciences which takes the false peace from them and lets them see the emptiness of all outside professions which are without Life and Power and also the Abominations and vanities of the World and makes sin exceeding sinful to them And by this true and faithful Witness are desires and breathings and pantings begotten in their hearts after the Knowledge of God and Christ after fellowship and acquaintance with the Father and the Son which desire cannot be satisfied without the Knowledge and enjoyment of the Presence of the Lord and of the Light of his Countenance And for this cause many run to and fro and wander like Sheep gone astray from the true Shepherds Fold and are wearying themselves upon the barren Mountains in vain looking thereunto for Salvation and seeking the Living amongst the Dead and so spend their labour for that which doth not satisfie And in these several states and conditions aforesaid the whole Christian World lieth who are not turned to the Light and Spirit of Jesus in themselves and true rest and salvation cannot be found by them until they return to the Light and Power of the Spirit of God in their own hearts which is that whereby a dislike of sin is begotten in them and also desires after Life and Salvation and Freedom from sin is thereby begotten and that is it alone which can answer every desire which is begotten by its self Well But when it pleased the Lord to reveal the Son of his Love and to make known his eternal Power in these latter dayes for the rending of the Vail of Darkness that had long been over the heart by which he caused the Light to shine out of Darkness which gives the Knowledge of his own Glory he did not then give the knowledge and manifestation thereof unto all People but he chose certain Witnesses whom he raised up to declare of the manifestation of this Power and to preach the Word of Life nigh in the Heart and in Mouth and he furnished them with Armour of Righteousness and with all spiritual Weapons which were mighty through him to break down the strong holds of Iniquity and the spiritual wickednesses that were in the high places and impowred them as Instruments in his hand to turn many from Darkness to the Light that the Salvation of God they might come to see and the Work of God greatly prospered in their hands and multitudes were brought to the acknowledgment of the Truth to the saving of their Souls and though they met with great opposition and persecutions by the Emissaries of Sathan even in all Quarters where they came yet that was not prevalent to hinder the prosperity of that Work whereunto they were called of God but it still prospered and doth still prosper to the spreading of the unchangeable Truth abroad even as is seen at this day And of this number whom God Almighty at the first raised up by his Power for this Work aforesaid the late deceased Richard Farnsworth was one concerning whom the chief occasion of this my present writing is that so a Testimony concerning him and of what the Lord did by and through him may remain upon Record for Generations to come and that this present Generation of the Just may see and hear his last Testimony which proceeded from his own mouth a little before his departure out of the body and I doubt not but thereby the Consolation and spiritual Comfort of the Houshold of Faith will be added unto And for these Causes I could not well rest satisfied in my spirit without taking in hand to publish these things though I well know that there are many living Witnesses that knew the Life Labours and Travels of the said R. F. who are the Seal of his Ministry And also
the many Writings of his own which remain upon Record will speak forth to those who are of a true spiritual understanding what he was yet notwithstanding all these things were in my mind and divers other Considerations which occasioned me to defer the publication hereof so long as till now yet being I could not be so clear in my duty towards God and my Brother in neglecting to give forth this my Testimony concerning him and in suffering so precious a Testimony as his last was wholly to be put in oblivion I have with freeness and cheerfulness of heart undertaken it And when it pleased God to manifest his Eternal Power in the heart of the aforesaid R. F. it is well known unto many how effectually it wrought in him insomuch that although he was before a man of great abilities and parts and knowledge accounted of among men even excelling many of his equals yet he was content and willing in obedience to the Power of God to become a Fool to the World and to be stript and emptied of his own wisdom and knowledge which stood in the state faln from God and his Power and to suffer the loss of all worldly reputation and favour and the pleasures and delights thereof that he might win Christ Jesus and be found his Servant clothed with the Righteousness of Faith preferring the simplicity that is in Christ beyond all worldly wisdom and honour whatsoever and his Sufferings for the sake of Christ beyond all worldly reputation and so great was the change that was wrought it him that he became a wonder amongst many and the Word of God and his Power was great and mighty in him and through him in which he was sent forth by the Lord who had manifested himself unto him to preach the Everlasting Gospel to the Poor and to declare of that great Power of God of which he was made a Witness and of the Effects of its operation and so powerfull was his Message and Testimony that many were begotten into a firm belief thereof and believing the Report were turned from Darkness to the Light of Jesus with which they were enlightned and from Sathans power unto the Power of God which wrought mightily in their hearts to the changing of their minds and affections from things that are below towards things that are above all that is fading and corruptible and to the bringing of Life and Immortality to light in them And although they were atttended with many foul temptations because of their obedience to the Truth and Light of the Spirit of Grace and brought in many distresses in their passage from Death unto Life yet was he so experienced in the Depths and Subtilties of Sathan and also in the Dealings and Goodness of God in such conditions and estates that he had obtained the tongue of the Learned and could as oft times he did speak words in Season to the strengthning of the weak and refreshing of the weary and to the reviving of that which was near ready to faint So that he was in the Lords Hand even as a Father to the fatherless and as eyes to the Blind and feet to the lame and the eye that truly saw him blessed hm and the ear that heard him gave witness unto him for through the Power of God which enabled him he delivered the Poor and the needy and built up many that believed in their most precious Faith and confirmed them therein And went about from place to place through the Land of his Nativity turning many from Darkness to Light and confirming the Churches and doing good And his Service was very great for the Lord in his day for he was so furnished with Heavenly Wisdom and Understanding through the Grace of God and also so seasoned thereby that his Patience Meekness and Humility exceeded many And although God had so endued him with Heavenly Vertues and Abilities exceeding many yet was he not pufft up therewith neither sought to exercise Lordship over those that were weaker and younger then himself but gave place unto any that had the least Gift of God to exercise so that through the Spirit of Meekness and Humility with which he was adorned he was exceeding lovely and beautiful and the hearts and souls of many were affected therewith who in simplicity thirsted after Righteousness and such waited for him as for the Rain upon whom his Doctrine so dropped Yet nevertheless he was terrible to the Worker of Iniquity and the Sword of his Mouth was very sharp for the Word of God was therein and when he had to do with any who opposed the Truth and Way of Life and Salvation which we profess and walk in as oft-times he had his Weapon was very sharp to them and they were not able to resist the Wisdom of the Spirit by which he spoke for thereby he confounded their wisdom and broke their Weapons in pieces so that they were oft ready to Blaspheme God because of the plague that it was to them and a Conqueror he was over the Beast and false Prophet against whom he made War in Righteousness in and though the Power of the Lamb in whose Spirit he finished his Testimony and Course in the Faith And as the Enemies of the Truth of God were many and in divers shapes that this valiant Souldiers of the Lamb had to encounter withal so he was alwayes furnished with Armor and Weapons fit for the Work and Service in which he was exercised by which he was enabled to encounter with and Conquer all But at last that his Armor and Weapons might be proved to be sufficient to encounter with the Enemy of Truth in all kind of Appearances and Transformations it was his lot with me and divers others of the Servants of the Lord to be engaged against the Enemy of Truth who had transformed himself into the likeness of an Angel of Light and under a seeming pretence of appearing on the behalf of God and his Cause c. and against Formality and Traditions begun strongly to oppose the Truth of God and the Ministry thereof in and through his Servants and Messengers who have approved themselves as the Ministers of God and as his Embassadors and to cry against our Assemblies and manner of Worship and our Exercise therein as only Formal in which we have always found the glorious Presence Power and Majesty of the Lord amongst us refreshing comforting and strengthening of us even according as our Hearts Souls can or could desire so that we were engaged to justifie the Lord in opposition to that gainsaying spirit of delusion by which many were beguiled led away after Satan to their hurt And in our Testimony for the Lord and against that self-separating gainsaying Spirit the Power of the Lord did greatly accompany and assist us and was as greatly with us as in any service that he had called us unto The sincere and upright in heart who have kept their first Love and their first Faith
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
J. N. cannot see but there must of necessity be more then one Christ if by the increase of the Word be understood of Christ so that although he concludeth it must needs be the Doctrine contain'd in the Scriptures intended by the increase of the Word yet here he may see his Ignorance therein Again In pag. 9. 10. J. N. saith That in Acts 19.20 the Preaching and Teaching of Jesus Christ is call'd the Word of God Answ To this I have already answer'd that the preaching of Jesus Christ is the Preaching of the Word for his Name is call'd the Word Yet is doth not follow as J. N. would have it that all the Disputings which the Apostle had for the space of three Moneths was the Word It s true he disputed and perswaded the things of the Kingdom according to the Scriptures of the Prophets by Vertue of the Word that was in him so that all they of Asia heard the Word or the sound thereof when the Doctrine thereof was by it self demonstrated For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord said the Apostle 1 Thes 1.8 But the Apostle did not call his Preachings and Disputings the Word but that which he preached For he preached Christ but his Preachings were not Christ but a Testimony of him as Christ said concerning the Scriptures They are they that testifie of me Joh. 5.39 By which it apprears that Christ was the Word which he preached and which they in Asia heard the sound of according to that Saying of Christ The Hour cometh and now is when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son c. And therefore this Argument is but like the rest which make nothing to prove the Scriptures to be principally call d the Word of God Again saith J.N. I should have left prosecuting this Subject but this Truth yet finding more Friends to plead its Cause I am not willing to be a Hinderance c. And then quotes 2 Cor. 4.1 2. where the Apostle said He had not handled the Word of God deceitfully Now saith J.N. what Word of God was this which he had not handled deceitfully but the Ministry he had receiv'd even the Preaching and Teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as is plain in the 3d 4th 5th verses For what he calleth the Ministry in the 1st verse in the 2d the Word of God in the following he calleth it the Gospel and the preaching of Christ according to the Gospel so that its clear by this Witness also that the Preaching and Teaching of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures of the New Testament c. is properly and principally call'd The Word of God Answ Truly J. N. had need find better Friends or some that speak more pertinent to his business then this which he hath here produced or else he may labour as before he said he should long enough to prove Scripture the Word of God and have all to do when he hath ended For if I should grant that he called his Ministry or that of and from which he ministred the Word yet that doth not prove the Scriptures to be the Word because the Life and Spirit of his Ministry is not contain'd in the Scripture Or if I should acknowledge the Gospel to be the Word yet that doth not prove the Scriptures to be the Word For The Gospel is the Power of God as the Apostle said Rom. 1.16 and so are not the Scriptures and the Gospel is Everlasting but the Scriptures are not so But J.N. would make the Scriptures to be the Word the Gospel the Ministry and all and jumbles all together and then says The Apostle calls it so when the Apostle saith no such thing but speaks of his Ministry and of the Gospel which is the Power of God and of the Word which endureth forever which by the Gospel the Power was preached unto them 1 Pet. 1.25 And as to that Question What Word of God was this that he had not handled Deceitfully Answ I answer It was the Word which was from the beginning as John said 1 Joh. 1.1 Which they had Seen and Handled which were not the Scriptures for they were not from the beginning but the Word was which they had handled and which they handled not deceitfully but in Simplicity declar'd openly what they receiv'd by its secret operation and mighty working in them according as Christ commanded them without adding thereto or diminishing therefrom and hence it was that they said They Handled it not Deceitfully Again saith J. N. The second VVitness that appeareth to countenance this Truth is in Col. 1.25 where the Apostle calleth the Preaching of the Gospel the Word of God but for the better understanding of this VVitness let us see vers 23. where the Apostle useth these words to the Church If you continue in the Faith grounded and settled and not remov'd from the Hope of the Gospel which you have heard and which was preached to every Creature under Heaven Whereof he saith in vers 25. I Paul am made a Minister But what to do He answereth To fulfil the Word of God Now what Word of God was this that Paul did fulfil but only his Ministry in Preaching and Teaching of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel which he here calleth the Word of God So that there is no Truth more plain then this that the Scriptures of the New Testament are properly and principally call'd the Word of God Answ Surely J.N. hath a great Conceit of his blind Affirmations it appears as oft times I have seen it viz. That Ignorance in some is as great a Cause of Confidence as sound Knowledge is in others VVhat Reason hath J. N. from the Scriptures before mention'd to affirm the Scriptures of the New Testament to be properly call'd the Word of God Or the Word there spoken of by the Apostle to be meant the Scriptures which he said were given him to fulfil For in the next verse he declareth what that VVord was viz. The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and from Generations but now made manifest in his Saints To whom saith the Apostle God would make known what is the Riches of the Glory of his Mystery amongst the Gentiles which is Christ in you the Hope of Glory Mark Reader He saith The VVord which he was to fulfil was the Mystery c. and the Mystery was Christ in them c. So that the VVitness that J. N. produceth testifieth against his Affirmation as absolutely as may be to the utter overthrow of his Cause by which the Ignorance and Blindness of J. N. appears But then he saith in pag. 12. I shall give but one Scripture more for the Proof of this Truth and that is Tit. 2.5 Where the Apostle calleth the Doctrine of Christ the Word of God For saith he let us see what the Apostle saith in the first verse where he giveth Titus a Charge to preach sound Doctrine and layeth down the particulars thereof
One who is the Way the Word the Truth c. And indeed the whole scope or drift of the Scriptures or of what is contained therein is to direct and enduce people to walk in him and according to him who is the Way the true Shepherd that carries his Lambs in his Arms Mark if his Lambs are in his Arm then he is essentially present with them And I do no where read in the Scriptures that they are called the New Testament or the New Testament Way but they testifie of the New Testament that it is the Spirit that giveth Life as in 2 Cor. 3.6 the Apostle saith Who hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life And they testifie of the Way that it is Christ so that the Way of the Spirit which is the New Covenant is Christ and they that are led by the Spirit they walk in Christ the New Testament Way so that if J. N. had proved the New Testament Way to be a perfect Rule c. it had served nothing for his purpose to prove the Scriptures a perfect Rule they being proved not to be the New Testament as also said the Angel unto John cap. 19. vers 10. The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophesie though I do acknowledge as before That this New Testament or New Covenant or Testimony of Jesus is testified of in the Scriptures of Truth yet they are not the thing nor do they contain the thing in them which they testifie of as J. Newman seems to imply they do as hereafter may be signified But instead of proving the New Testament Way a perfect Rule he goeth about to prove the Scriptures a perfect Rule but never proves nor goes about to prove them to be the New Testament Way but takes that for granted as far as I perceive although that is the principal matter wherein the Controvesie lies betwixt us which I plainly perceive J.N. doth not understand though he hath so deeply engag'd himself For if he could have proved the Scriptures called the New Testament to be the New Testament Way I should not have put Pen to Paper to have contended against their being a perfect Rule for all men to walk by But herein is the great Mistake amongst many as also in this man They put the Dead Letter for the Living Word and the Scriptures for the Way and so would set them in the stead of the thing which they do but testifie of and thereby keep people alwayes learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth which sanctifieth and setteth free 2 Tim. 3.7 Joh. 8.32 Joh. 17.17 Then J. N. like a man fighting with the Wind or like one that sets up a Poppit of his own and supposeth it to be anothers and then lies fighting with it when he has done rumbles over a great deal of stuff like one that wanteth Work contending against a Third Covenant or a Third Testament Way arguing in the 26th page of his Book That if a Third Covenant or a Third Testament Way hath not been any where promised of God then the Second is still in force for all men to walk by and none other And for my part I know none that assert a Third Covenant or a Third Testament Way nor yet any that deny the Second to be in force so that J.N. hath busied himself to no purpose as I said before like one beating of the Air but I do not intend so to busie my self to contend against him about things in which I am not concern'd For as I said I own no other Covenant nor Testament Way but the Second Covenant which God promised by the Mouthes of his Prophets saying Jer. 31.33 This shall be the Covenant that I will make c. I will put my Law in their Inward Parts and write it in their Hearts and will be their God and they shall be my People And they shall no more teach every man his Neighbour saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me c. And in Isa 59.21 he said This is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my Spirit which is upon thee and my Words which I have put into thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed's Seed saith the Lord from hence forth and for evermore Mark This Law and Spirit within the New Covenant the New Testament Way testified of in the Scriptures of Truth to be an Everlasting Covenant this we own to be a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by unto the End of the World and none other And for a third Covenant or third Testament Way I know none assert it therefore I shall not trouble my self to contend about it but shall leave that part of his Book for those whom it concern if there be any though I cannot well but observe that he hath offer'd many foolish falacious and ignorant Arguments pretending thereby to prove the New Testament Way still in force and to be so to the End which I have already granted and shall be ready so to do at all times but still he mistakes the matter by putting the Dead Letter in the place of the Quickning Spirit and directeth people to the Letter for Life when it s only the Spirit that giveth Life as before is signified and so he stumbleth at the Stumbling-Stone a Rock which many have run against and have been split And so after he hath rumbled over divers sylogistical Argments which serve to signifie that he loves to hear himself talk Logick thereby still labouring to prove That no Third Covenant or third Testament Way is to be expected for which cause the Second is to stand in force unto the End c. He then in page 42. of his Book comes to lay down some sad Consequences Which will as he saith follow by denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God and by making them insufficient as a Rule in order to Man's Salvation and first saith he It taketh away the general Ground of Faith from all men 2dly It denyeth the Ground of Faith for the Remission of sins 3dly It maketh void the Exercises of Faith in the precious Promises of God for what hath Faith to exercise it self in but only the Promises of God in the Scriptures 4thly It denieth the Comforts of Faith for all the Comforts that Faith can bring to the soul must be brought from the precious Promises of God in the Scripture 5thly It Destroyeth the Support and Supplyes of Grace to the Soul in a time of Affliction and to deny the Scripture to be the Word of God is to deny the Fountain and Well-spring of Comforts to the Soul 6thly It denieth the Knowledge of Acceptance with God 7thly If the Scriptures be denied to be the Word of God and thereby made insufficient as a Rule
as J. N. confesseth to the wounding of his own Work And indeed What he hath acknowledged is to be known by the Spirit is even enough for any man to know or enough to give Satisfaction to every Soul who breathes after the Knowledge of Acceptance with God For what can give more satisfaction to a man then to know the holy Will of God by his Spirit and to know his Adoption and to know that God is his Father Certainly there is no cause for him that hath this Knowledge to question his Acceptance with God And this may be known without Scripture even by the holy Spirit of Promise as J.N. confesseth therefore to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God doth not deny the Knowledge of Acceptance with God and thus out of his own Mouth he is judged Seventhly He saith If the Scriptures be denied to be the Word of God c. then all men are left in the dark c. for no man is able to know that God will save any but by his Word which is contain'd in the Scriptures for this is the Word of Salvation or that which directeth to the Means by which we shall obtain Life c. Answ That none are able to know that God will save any but by this Word that I shall easily acknowledgd because it s the Word only that is able to save but that the Scriptures are this Word or alone able to save that I do not acknowledge but deny and J. N. hath produced no Proof for his Assertion but only his own Affirmation nor indeed can he although he boldly saith They are the Word of Salvation yet they no where say so of themselves but they testifie of the Word of Salvation and That it was sent unto the Children of Abraham and unto all amongst them that feared God Acts 13.26 Mark This was not the Scriptures that were sent amongst them but the Word of Salvation or that Word which is able to save Jam. 1.21 which the Apostle there besought the Children of Abraham to receive with Meekness calling it the Ingrafted Word or as some English Translations have it The Word that is grafted in you so this is the Word that is able to save the Word of Salvation the Word of Faith in the Heart c. which Word was in the Beginning the Author of the Faith of the Fathers by which Jacob knew that God would save even before Scriptures were written which made him say Gen. 49.18 O Lord I have waited for thy Salvation By all which it appears That to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God doth not leave men so in the dark as J. N. affirmeth but that they are still in a capacity to know that God will save and also to see the Salvation of God which is promised to them that order their Conversation aright And whereas he saith That the Scriptures direct to the Means by which we shall obtain Life I Answer I shall easily acknowledge that for as I have before said they contain many true Testimonies of him who is the alone Leader unto Life and they are profitable for Doctrine for Instruction c. that people may be directed to Christ the Way which they testifie of and that they may be turned from Darkness to the Light which discovers the Darkness and that they may come to receive with Meekness the ingrafted Word or the word which is grafted in them by it to be taught and led unto the Possession of Life for this is the Means by which Life is obtain'd which the Scriptures testifie of and direct unto and for this Work we own the Scriptures to be profitable But this doth not run paralel with the Affirmation of J. N. in the 24th page of his Book where he affirmeth That Life was in the Scriptures for its one thing to say that there is Life therein and another thing to say they direct to the Means by which Life is obtain'd If John Newman asserted no other thing then the latter there had been no Controversie about this Point for so far we own the Scriptures But his Confusion sheweth what his spirit is oft-tmes contradicting and opposing himself as is usual with those that oppose the Unchangeable Truth But I perceive an Objection may arise in the Ignorant concerning this thing That if the Word which is able to save be grafted in people and be nigh unto all even in the Heart and Mouth why then are not all saved or why do not all see the Salvation of God or why did the Apostle Exhort them to receive it with Meekness if it were in them already I Answer though the Word or Spirit which is one was in them yet they being disobedient thereunto did not receive it or had not received it but had alwayes resisted it as the Apostle tells them Acts 7.51 and so were like unto those that Job spoke of saying They are of them that rebel against the Light who know not the Way of it c. Job 24.13 so that although the Word or Light or Spirit be in a people and they rebel against it or resist the reproofs and Instructions thereof or do dispite to the strivings thereof how can such be said to have received it for they only receive the Word and the Spirit that receive the Reproofs and Instructions thereof and in them it is known to be a Spirit or Prince of Peace and a Word of Life and Consolation and such know their Beloved to lye all might betwixt their Brests but although he be nigh even in the hearts of many they cannot be said to receive him while they rebel against him and therefore they are not saved but condemned by him For this is the condemnation that Light is come and men love Darkness rather then Light Joh. 3.19 and though he lighteth every man that comes into the World yet it s only they that receive him the Light that he gives Power unto Joh. 1.12 by which it appears that all that were englightned by him did not receive him so that the Light the Word the Spirit may be in people and yet they that received it but reject it in its Reproofs Counsels and Instructions and therefore they are not saved by it but condemned for which cause it was needful for the Apostle to Labour to turn them from Darkness to the Light wherewith they were enlightned to Exhort them to receive with meekness the engrafted Word or to submit unto the operation of the Word that was in them that by it they might be saved for none experimentally knows its ability to save but they who receive the Reproofs and Instructions of it and are Doers or Obeyers thereof and such are taught thereby as by the Universal Grace which hath appeared unto all men which bringeth salvation to order their Conversation aright through which they come to see the great Salvation of God Eighthly Now I come to the eighth sad Consequence that J. N. saith
Spirit which the Apostle said was the New Testament and 5thly Whether those sad Consequences do follow by denying the Scriptures to be the Word or no as J. N. hath affirmed Concerning Christ being the Word of God AND now I shall come to the next thing which he insists upon which is Christ being the Word of God in which I observe he will own That he is call'd so but he is not really so pag. 49. and that he is call'd by many Names comparatively as a Door a Vine an Ensign a Star a Lamb c. but yet he is not really any of these pag. 50. Answ What absurdities are here might not J. N. as well have said that though Christ is called Christ yet he is not really so and although he is called a Saviour yet he is not really so hath he not the same ground for the one as the other If Christ be not really what he said he was is it not to make him a Lyar whether is it more safe to believe what Christ said himself was or to believe what John Newman saith he was For J. N. altogether contradicts Christ's sayings in Scripture concerning himself for Christ saith Joh. 15.1 I am the True Vine But J. N. saith in the 50. Pag of his Book he is not a Vine Certainly the greatest Truth that I can perceive demonstrated in this matter is That J. N. is no Branch of the True Vine nor yet grafted into it for if he had been a Branch in the Vine or a member in the Body that holds the Head he would have known that Christ is really a Vine and he would have also known that he is really all those things which he said of himself and which they that knew what he was to them said of him and that it is by the diversities of the Operations of this one Lord that he is known to be really all those things but J. N. hath sufficiently declared himself to be a stranger to the diversities of the operations of this one Lord by denying him to be really what he affirmeth himself to be and so hath given Christ the Lye of which let him repent before it be to late But what 's the cause that he thus works and shuffles and denys Christ before men to be what he said he was and what they that knew the diversities of his operations declar'd him to be is it not to take away the Key of Knowledg to hinder them from going in at this Door that are entering is it not to keep people from believing that the operation of the Word in the Heart which is a Hammer knocking for resception is the appearance of Christ lest they should be converted thereto by its own operation and thereby be healed of all their putrifying sores and is not this to do the Divel's work to shut Christ and his saving Power out of his People as though he whom the Apostle said ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things could be circumscribed onely to a Body of Flesh Mark he did not only say that he ascended into Heaven neither do I deny but acknowledge that he sits at the right Hand of God in Heaven But he also said that he ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things And because he fills all things therefore None need say who shall ascend into Heaven to fetch Christ from above or who shall descend into the deep to fetch him up c for the Word is nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart which is incomprehensible and filleth all things so that all may look unto him and be saved even to the Word which is really the Word and is able to save the Soul even to the uttermost from all iniquity whatsoever but J. N. would not have this Word to be properly Christ by any means but shifts and shuffles and wrests the Scripture and brings in his Meanings as though they were of more credit then the plain words of Scripture and would fain put out our Eyes with his Atoms But in the true Light which makes all things manifest he is seen comprehended and denyed to be any true Follower of Christ or Branch of the true Vine or spiritual Worshipper But then in the 50. Page of his Book where he affirmeth that Christ is not really the Word though so called he saith there is an objection brought against this Truth in Joh. 1.1 where the Evangelist saith In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the word was God from whence saith he they object and say That Christ was the Word from the beginning which thing saith he I cannot grant for this place doth not prove Christ as Christ to be the Word from the beginning but it proveth the Word to be God from the beginning for Christ was not Christ in the beginning but the Word was God in the beginning but Christ was in time when the God head had taken Flesh to it self and not before c. And in pag. 51. he saith It cannot be understood that Christ as Christ should be the Word of God from or in the beginning or yet called the Word of God for he was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh in the Womb of Mary therefore Christ as Christ could not be the Word of God from the beginning Answ Mark Reader whether or no the Affirmations of J. N. do not frequenly contradict the Testimonies of Christ and his Servants for the Apostle speaking of the spiritual Rock which follow'd Israel of which they all drunk said That Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10.4 But J. N. affirms That Christ was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh c. Therefore he contradicts the Apostle's Testimony who said That Rock was Christ and therefore is not to be received Again The Apostle said by vertue of the Revelation of the Father That Christ was the Son of God Mat. 16.16 17. Thou art the Son of God And this Christ the Son of God was glorified with the Father before the World was For that was Christ that said Glorifie thy Son with the same Glory that he had with thee c. Therefore Christ was Christ before the World was and before he took to himself Flesh And whereas J. N. saith He cannot grant that Christ was the Word from the Beginning Answ That doth not at all weaken the Testimony of John who said The Word was with God in the Beginning for his Testimony doth as much prove That Christ was the Word in the Beginning as it doth That the Word was God and J. N. in effect confesseth it but that he is blinded being a Stranger to the Spirit that giveth Understanding and being gone from the Scriptures which elsewhere he seems so much to applaud into his own Imaginations and Fancies for saith he He was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh and he that took to himself Flesh he acknowledgeth to be the Word
by which he confessed Christ was the Word before he took Flesh by which also in effect he acknowledgeth That the Flesh that he took in the Womb of the Virgin was not Christ but the Flesh that Christ took thus much his own words import but I know he will not like to hear of it because it so deeply woundeth his own Cause And so after J. N. hath rumbled through many Non-sensical Arguments labouring thereby to prove That Christ is not really the Word of God but only comparatively so call'd c. he findeth another Objection in p. 56. brought against his Affirmation And is saith he in 1 Pet. 1.23 where the Apostle saith Being born again not of corruptible but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever Which Word saith the Objector is Christ and the great Reason that is urged is Because it liveth and abideth forever But saith he these words make nothing to prove this Word here to be Christ for saith he the Apostle saith in vers 25. The Word of the Lord endureth forever and this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you And from hence J. N. argueth That the Preachings of the Apostles according to the Gospel was that Word by which they were born again and which endureth forever Answ To which I answer as sometime before upon occasion have said There is a difference betwixt the the Thing Preached and the Preachings of the Thing and betwixt the Thing Witnessed or Testified of and the Testimony or Witness concerning the Thing So that although the Apostle by the Gospel which is the Power of God preached the Word and preached Christ yet the Preachings or Declarations of the Apostle cannot properly be called Christ who is without beginning of Dayes or end of Life nor can they properly be call'd the Word which abideth forever and so cannot be concluded to be that by which they were born again This Shift will not serve the turn of J. N. to perswade us That the Word which the Apostle preached was not Christ or that Christ was not that Word by which they were born again for when ever he preached the Word he preach'd Christ and yet his Preachings were neither the Word preached nor yet Christ but Christ preached was the Word by which they were born again which liveth and abideth forever as is evident by the Scripture before mention'd which proves a Block too heavy for J. N. to remove out of his way Again In pag. 57. he saith This Word cannot be understood of Christ because it is here called the Seed Answ Yet it may be understood of Christ and cannot otherwise be rightly understood of Christ because as the Apostle said Gal. 3.16 The Seed is Christ Again In pag. 58. he saith thus Neither do I go about to rob Christ of his Title but do acknowledge him to be called the Word of God comparatively as he is the Father's Mouth and speaketh the Father's words c. Answ Hereby we may perceive that J. N. will not own Christ to be the Word no more then in effect he owns the Prophets and Apostles to be the Word for he owns Christ to be the Word but comparatively and not really so and but as he is the Father's Mouth to speak the Father Words and so were the Prophets and Apostles the Father's Mouth and spoke his words as the Spirit gave them utterance So that if he was called the Word only because of that every one of the Prophets may be as well called the Word also because they were his Mouth and spoke his words But what Absurdities are these that J. N. runs into to make Christ not to be the Word really so I must needs acknowledge he exceeds in one thing all sorts of People professing Christianity that ever I spoke with or heard of for I never heard of any nor spoke with any but would acknowledge Christ to be really the Substantial Word though they will many of them plead for the Scripture to be the Word or as some stile it the Material Word also But J. N. affirms the Scriptures to be properly and principally the Word and Christ but comparatively the Word and not really so So that he out-strips all in promoting the Scriptures and in under-valuing Christ that ever I heard of and it is not his wresting of Scriptures and jumbling his own Intepretations and Imaginations amongst them that will effect his Design or will prove Christ not to be the Word of God really so nor yet to be Christ before he took Flesh c. For the Testimonies of himself and of his Servants concerning him which J. N. by his Imaginations labours to make of none effect will stand valuable and credible viz. That Christ who as J. Newman confesseth took Flesh in the Womb of the Virgin was the Word with God in the Beginning and that the Rock which follow'd Israel was Christ before he took Flesh and that this Word which by the Gospel the Apostle preached was Christ which he preached and that the preachings declarations or words of the Apostles were not the Word preached and that the Word preached and not the Preachings of it was that by which they were born again and which lived forever and that the true Christ was the Son glorified with the Father before the World was and is without Beginning of Dayes or End of Life the Root of David and his Off-spring also the First and the Last the Beginning and the End and the Joy of many Generations the Quickening Spirit that dwells in his People the express Image of the Father's Substance whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain who is ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things who is the Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel This is my Beloved and this is my Friend and he that hath an Ear to hear let him hear Concerning Christ Within being the true Saviour THe next thing he undertakes is pag. 60. to prove that the true Christ doth not dwell in any man as he is Christ but instead of so doing he goes about to prove that the Body of the true Christ that he took upon him and in which he suffered rose again out of the Sepulchre and that it doth not dwell in man and so as in divers things before he appears like one that beats the air or that loves to hear himself talk for he opposeth that which I know none affirm and affirms that which none that I know of deny for I know none that deny that his Body was raised out of the Sepulchre nor none that affirm that Body to dwell in man so that I am not concerned to take farther notice of those things though the true Christ which was the Rock that followed Israel in the Wilderness and that was the Son glorified with the Father before the World was for whom that Body was prepared to do the Father's Will in who is ascended where