Three General EPISTLES FOR THE WHOLE BODY Oâ— FRIENDS 1 From William Caton 2 From R. Greenway 3 From Christopher Bacon Printed in the Yeer 1662. Three General Epistles c. Amsterdam the 15 th of the 11th Month 1662. MY dear Brethren and Beloved Sisters in the pure holy and heavenly Relation who are sons and daughters of one Father and heirs of one Kingdom begotten through the one Eternal Word of Life which lives and abides for ever With the salutation of my dearest love do I greet you all and with strong and vehement desires to the Lord do I wish that love and life joy and peace grace and mercy may be multiplied among you all to the filling of every of your earthen Vessels to the refreshing of every weary soul and to the making glad of every sorrowful heart among you I hope my dearly beloved you are not forgetful of the wonderful kind Love of our God which he manifested to us in the day of our visitation how he sought us out that were as lost sheep going astray that he might bring us unto himself who is the chief Shepherd and Bishop of our souls how he took us as perforce from our Lovers that our hearts and affections might be set upon him and that our souls might love him above all how he broke us that he might bind us up how he blinded us that he might make us see how he wounded us that he might heal us how he impoverished us that he might make us rich how he weakned us that he might make us strong and how he proved and cryed us as gold that is seven times tryed in the fire that we might finally become his Jewels though then we knew not whether that we should become Vessels of honor or dishonor And since that day of blessed Visitation how hath his endlesse love abounded towards us how plentifully hath his Wisdom and Power been manifested amongst us And what wonderful things have we seen him since bring to passe by the Arm of his Power not onely to our admiration but also to the astonishment of his Enemies And oh how hath he brought down Principalities and shaken powers inwardly and outwardly how hath he overturned overturned that which hath been exalted inwardly and outwardly that that which hath been abased might be exalted how hath he confounded the wisdom of the wise and brought the understanding of the Prudent to nothing how hath he scattered them that were gathered and not by him that he might gather that which was scattered from him Oh the Wonders that he hath wrought in the Earth they are innumerable And the noble acts that he hath done in the Earth who can declare them to the utmost Neverthelesse we will be speaking of them when thereunto moved by his spirit that we thereby may shew forth his praise who through his making us Witnesses of them hath made truly glad our hearts and souls which have cause to rejoice in him notwithstanding his trying of us with many tryals and his proving of us through many temptations and tribulations vvhich many have been exercised in and that divers manner of vvays Yet let us not faint nor let slip the confidence that vve have in him for as certain as vve have seen his Wonders in the Earth so certainly hath he vvrought several of them for good towards us and as certainly as he hath dealt gently and favourably vvith us so assuredly hath he loved us And as certainly as his glorious Work is begun in the Earth so assuredly will he make known his Name and Povver even unto the ends of the Earth And as certainly as his adversaries oppose him and his Truth so assuredly shall they be broken as the potsherds of the Earth and as certainly as his lambs and babes novv mourn and are affâ—cted so assuredly shall they rejoice and be comforted And as certainly as the Wicked are novv set up so assuredly shall they fall And as certainly as iniquity abounds so assuredly shall it have an end And as certainly as the name of the Lord is blasphemed and dishonored so assuredly shall it be glorified and exalted in the earth And as certainly as Gods Truth is now trampled upon and rejected by thousands so assuredly shall it be advanced and received by ten thousands and though my eye should not see the fulfilling of these things yet I will rejoice and do rejoice in the Testimony that J have that these things shall come to pass And my soul inviteth you my dear brethren and sisters to come and rejoice with me in the assurance which God giveth us of the certainty of these things which shal as certainly be fulfilled as it is certain that the things before mentioned are come to pass since the Lord omnipotent first visited us Wherefore my dearly beloved look not out at the present blackness and darkness which represents it self upon the face of the Earth by reason of the many clouds which hang over the Earth But look at the Day-star which is a risen in your hearts which precedes the sons of righteousness which though he yet seem to be darkned yet as certainly as the Lord Iehovah is in the highest Heavens so assuredly shall this Sun of Righteousness arise and shine gloriously in the hearts of the sons of men and then shall just Judgement be set up in the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof they shall learn righteousness then shal Wickedness and Oppression have an end Cruelty and Tyranny shall have no place and Deceit and Unrighteousness shall wither and the Works and Workers of iniquity shall go to decay And then shall the joyful song of deliverance be sung by the ransomed ones of the Lord then shall the voice of joy and gladness be heard in our Land then shall babes and sucklings learn the song of Zion and the sons and daughters of the Most High shall make a heavenly pleasant melody and great wil be the joy and delight of the Lords chosen even such as that their present sufferings shall not be worthy to be compared to the same Therefore O ye my suffering Friends be ye comforted be ye comforted of the Lord and comfort ye one another with the assurance which God hath given unto some of his servants of the certainty of these things coming to pass of which I believe some of you wil be eye-witnesses and partakers with the Saints in Light and my confidence is That neither principalities nor powers shall be able to deprive you thereof though they should be permitted to deprive you of your liberty of your estates and of the society of Friends And if your Heavenly Father should suffer such things to come to pass for the trial of your precious Faith be not ye therefore dejected as if you were altogether left comfortless and should so perpetually remain For I testifie unto you That our Heavenly Father hath reâ—erved enough in store not onely to comfort you withal in this life but also in the
the Trees that are planted by the Rivers side bringing forth fruits of righteousness the planting of the Lord bringing forth fruit in due season wherein you wil be lovely to the Father and one unto another and so in the Love and Life abiding and keeping in the unity you wil be known to be the planting of the Lord to the glory of his most holy Name And tender Friends and little ones I exhort you in the Name and fear of the Lord to watch against and to be aware of suffering any root of bitterness to spring up amongst you or of harbouring any prejudice one against another but in that Spirit of Love dwel which thinks no evil nor is not easily provoked for that which gives offence and that which takes the offence is one and comes from the same old root of bitterness and proceeds from him that watcheth to divide and devour and to break the unity amongst the Lambs and to make a prey a rent a division and a spoil and if any are overtaken in these things for want of a diligent watch to their thoughts words and actions in it the Enemy will have a great advantage to hurt your peace and to weaken you And therefore dear friends be tender one to another let the strong bear with the weak and be you pittiful and tender-heatted towards the bruised Reeds that have been hurt by the subtilty of the Enemy and let your bowels earn over any in whom there is yet remaining a little Love or Zeal though it be but as a smoaking Flax or of any that are wounded by reason of their fall which they have taken in the Evening-tide I say again in God's fear Be very tender to any such that in the spirit of love and meekness such may be restored if so it may be For Friends you your selves may be tempted snared and overtaken by the subtil Enemies bait and therefore let all that think they stand fear continually and take heed lest they also fall And Friends beware of watching over one another with an evil eye for that watcheth for the evil and doth not see the good and by that the good manners is and hath been corrupted and they that watch with that eye they provoke to evil and not to good And Friends it lieth upon me to warn you to take heed of looking back to Egypt or to any thing that you have left behind but pass on and let your eye be to that which is before and abide in the way in which you have begun to walk and in the patience dwel and keep to the good Word thereof that in the Faith you may be found that so the old Enemy may not beguile you and so you come to be dispossessed of the blessing through disobedience therefore to your Guide keep and faithfully follow him and take heed of staying behind and beware of being too forward in going before for there is danger in both of being overcome with the Enemy In staying behind you wil be guilty of disobedience and so not onely lose your reward and the blessing of rest and peace but you will have that Talent taken away which you do possess and you wil have your portion where wil be weeping and gnashing of teeth And he that goes before wil be puffed up above his measure and so forget the Lord and he wil have his portion also with the wicked Therefore I do exhort and warn you all to take heed of an evil heart of unbelief and of departing from the living God Be you all therefore stedfastly grounded setled and staid in your minds unmoveable upon the everlasting Foundation of God that standeth sure that so you may not be tossed turned aside nor easily shaken in your minds from that which you have believed nor weakned in your confidence but that you may hold out unto the end and then you wil assuredly receive your reward if you faint not So you that have believed in the Truth take heed of fainting and beware of hunting abroad for my Friends there may be erring on the right hand as wel as on the left therefore to your Leader keep and dwel low in the pure fear and so the Cross you wil be led into and then you wil feel that which wil slay your Enemies on every hand for of a truth friends there is no safety out of the fear nor prosperity out of the Cross therefore let your resolution be for ever therein to dwel and then you wil obtain the Crown and reap the Blessing that is everlasting So remember it was he that hunted abroad that fainted and sold his Birth-right for a little of the earthly enjoyment to satisfie his earthly desire and so he lost the blessing Therefore all dear Lambs and little ones keep at home and dwel in your own habitation in the Light the House of the living God and be you faithful unto him in all things that he doth require that so none might deprive you of your blessed Inheritance nor take away your Crown of glory joy rest and peace And Friends Brethren and Sisters children of God think it not strange that we have tryal upon tryal and if the Furnace of affliction cometh to be heat more hotter yet look not out thereat be valiant for the Lord and for his Truth upon the Earth and in that stand which is immovable for this I have seen in the eternal Light that there wil be a day of dividing and separating between the precious and the vile the good metal and the dross between the weighty Wheat and the light airy chaff between the meek gentle patient sheep and the rough rugged Goats the vile in nature shal no longer be hid under a false outside form of likeness without the Power and Life that dross shall no longer abide among the good Metal to darken the brightness thereof for the day is come that burns as an Oven the Furnace is already kindled and the Refiners fire is lighted which wil try each matter metal and work of what sort it is neither shal the chaff any longer cover the good Wheat but by the Arm of Gods Eternal Power wil be threshed off and blown away with the wind of his wrath for he is come whose Fan is in his hand by which he wil scatter the chaff and the wheat he wil gather into his Garner therein to be preserved and he wil also purge his Floor in this his notable day and all the gentle meek and patient sheep on his right hand he wil set where the fulness of joy mercy peace and pleasures are for ever and for evermore when as the rough and bruitish Goatâ— shal be separated on the left hand to receive the curse having walked out of the way of righteousness which is the way of peace in that therefore dear Friends all abide which wil make you fruitful and to abound in every good word and work for this is the day wherein he is come to seek for
fruit and blessed wil all they be that are found in the Faith for it s they that are in the Vine and therein abide which wil yeild unto the Lord living fruit of obedience and every Tree wil be clearly known of what sort they are by their fruit for no man can gather grapes of Thorns or figs of thistles Therefore all to the Vine come that the nature thereof you may feel that so fruitful unto the Lord you may all be in this his glorious day to the praise and glory of his most holy Name for I have also seen in the Spirit of the living God that there wil be a mighty fierce storm a very great tempest and a shaking time such as hath not yet been upon the Earth by which those trees that are fruitless dead and dry which hath stood for a time and made a shew yet do but cumber the ground and are rotten at the root are not wel setled and fastned upon the true Foundation in the good ground they wil be turned up and laid low as without it hath been seen in which the Lord hath shewn his mighty Power though the blind do not see nor regard the operation of his hand And after that great and notable day of the Lord in which many of the lofty Hills and high Mountains wil be overturned and levelled thereby and the tall Cedars and the sturdy Oaks wil be made to bend and bow and many great old buildings wil be thrown off its rotten Foundation then I say in that day those that do stand and abide firm and wel fastned they wil be exceeding faithful to the praise and glory of the Lord and such his good Trees that are bringing forth fruit unto him in this his day them he wil purge prune dress prop and preserve and the wild Bores of the Forrest whose nature is to root rend and tear shall never be able to root them up neither shall the subtil Foxes of the Wood have power to crop and spoile their tender branches that abide in the living Vine neither shall they ever be able to hinder them from clustering for the Lord God wil guard them by his Power and uphold them by his Eternal Arm as hitherto he hath done neither wil he suffer the Swine to destroy his young Plants that are newly coming up but by his power they shall be fenced nourished and kept And so all my dear Friends be not at all discouraged although the Furnace may yet be hot for the Lord wil not suffer his Gold to come to loss therein but he wil save and bring it forth all that the good Metal shall lose therein shall be but its dross that it may shine the better in lustre to the honor of the Lord and also his good sheep he wil not suffer to be devoured by those old black Blood-hounds that thirst for blood Oh! no no my Friends he wil preserve them because they are his own gathered by his own hand and are profitable unto him Therefore I say he wil take care of them and though he do suffer the dogs which are without the fear loose a little to course them and drive them up in holes and pines for a season it is but that they may be driven from those rotten bogs of this Worlds enjoyments and delights which might otherwise be hurtful for them to feed upon that they might be driven nearer to himself and one unto another to wait upon the Lord and to feed together upon the Life that is Immortal and to lye down in his Fold of rest peace and joy which wil last for ever And so my dear Friends Brethren and Sisters Lambs and Babes what ever the Lord our good Shepherd suffers to come to pass or to be acted against us in the Heathens wrath and Enemies rage he wil turn it to his own praise and for our good and the remainder of the wrath rage of the wicked he wil restrain Therefore blessed are all you of the Lord that can say of a truth he is your good Shepherd So dear Lambs and Babes Plants and Children of the Lord in the Light live walk and for ever abide and you wil have unity and fellowship with the Father and one with another and so in the holy awe and pure dread of the Lord God Almighty stand continually and the peace and blessing of the Lord wil be felt by you and multiplied in and amongst you to the glory of his most holy Name to whom be all glory given honor and praise rendered with living obedience and thanksgiving for ever and for evermore Amen saith my soul. So dear Friends take this as a testimony of my love to you all who are of my Fathers Flock from one that is of the same Fold with you and your Friend and Brother in the Kingdom suffering and patience of the Lord Jesus who am called and known to many by Richard Greenway Written the sixth day of the ninth Month 1662. in the County-Gaol called the High Gaol at Exon where I suffer outward Bonds for my obedience to the Command of God and for abiding in the Doctrine of the Lord Iesus â—hrist by the wills of unreasonable men and I in patience wait therein until the Lord God arise in his Power and plead my innocent cause in the hearts of my persecutors or in his own way and time work my deliverance A Second Salutation to the flock of God every where in outward Bonds and at liberty who are born of the immortal Seed and redeemed from the Earth and separated from the evil that is in this World and called to be Saints and quickned by the power and operation of the Spirit of Life and sanctified by the Word of Truth and are in this day of tryal found faithful to the Lord in doing or suffering for that precious Truth which makes free from sin and death and keeps us above all the fears threatnings and terrors of man whose power is from beneath and soon passeth away Oh! unto you my heart is opened and streams of unfeigned Love from the incomings of the Fountain of Life runs forth unto you all abundantly who am the least among many Brethren but not the least in love to you Oh my dearly beloved Brethren and Sisters as you suffer for God's living Truth upon the Earth in any measure I suffer with you and am one with you and am afflicted with you Oh my dear Friends apply your hearts and give up your selves to and for the service of the living God and diligently wait upon him in whom all our strength is that you may be strengthened and encouraged enabled and furnished with power and might in the Lord of Hosts that you may not faint nor be weary in your minds but stay your minds upon the God of Truth that his blessing of peace may for ever encrease in all your habitations And you dear Friends you upon whom the ends of the Earth is come and in your
hearts the day-star is arisen walk in the Light thereof that you may be wise bold strong and valiant to follow the Captain of our salvation who is born King of the Iews for it s given to him to rule all Nations and to subdue the Kingdom of this World but not by carnal Weapons but by his invisible Arm of Power and Sword which proceeds out of his mouth whereby he wil utterly confound destroy and lay wast all that rebel and stand up against him Therefore my dear Friends let your Faith stand in the invisible Arm and Power of God and be you all of a sound mind be ye stedfast unmoveable rooted grounded and established in the living Truth and Righteousness of the God of all the Families of the Earth that you may not be moved shaken nor troubled in your minds at all these rumors of Wars and distress of Nations and perplexity and wrath which must come to pass upon this generation but lift up your heads and rejoice and let your eye be single alwaies looking to and following the Prince of Peace and be not of a doubtful mind for the Lord of Hosts is with us and the shout of a King is amongst us and although we have no helper in the earth neither can make use of any carnal weapons to defend or deliver our selves yet in the faith and patient suffering in and for the Lamb of God that was slain but now is alive and liveth for evermore in him we shall reign in victory life and dominion over all our Enemies within and without And my dear Friends you are called to a glorious freedom and liberty in the Spirit of Truth stand fast in it that you may keep your consciences void of offence in the sight of God in all things and if God requires one thing and man another obey God and fear not man who can but kil the body that your souls may live in the dominion of Gods truth and in it meet and wait and worship him and go not with the uncircumcised in hearts and ears for the uncurable stroke of the Lord is near to be executed upon them neither return back again into Egypt for the plagues pestilence and famine wil be multiplied amongst them til the Egyptians be confounded Therefore dear Friends keep your constant watch in the true Light of the Son of the living God that you may receive counsel wisdom and discerning in every motion and command whether it be of flesh or spirit for that which moveth in the fleshly part in your own particulars you must take up the Cross of Christ to in its fiâ—st motion and appearance and let true judgement pass upon it for if it proceed forth either in act or word it wil wound your Consciences and abuse the power of God and lead you into bondage again and that which commandeth to observe and do the thing conceived in the lust of the flesh from the fleshly birth either within or without you are not to obey for that wil lead to the second death but the motion command in the Spirit of Life you must in all things do and follow and in it you wil live have perfect peace and therefore because we are born of the Spirit and led by it the world wil persecute us therefore let every Souldier of Jesus Christ be contented with his portion which is tribulation in this World but be of good chear the Captain of our salvation hath overcome the World Therefore I say again in the Name fear and power of the Lord be you faithful unto death for he that shall come wil come crown you with everlasting Life And my dear Friends if it seemeth good in the sight of our God that all the dayes of our appointed â—ime in this life may be dayes of trouble persecution and affliction yet be of good comfort this wil be but for a moment and wil soon come to an end but the joy rest peace and glory which our God hath prepared for us as we love him and are faithful to him shall never have an end And so my dear Friends in the â—ear love obedience worship and service of the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for ever dwel and abide in it I am firmly united to you and in that Love Life and Truth of the living God I dearly salute and embrace you all and am as ful of love with you as I was when I began to write and whatsoever you suffer for your obedience to our God and keeping the commands of Christ whether spoiling of Goods imprisonment banishment or death it self I am resolved in the strength and power of God to partake with you From your faithful Friend in the patient suffering for the Testimony of a good Conscience in the high Gaol at Exon the 24 th of the tenth Month 1662. Christopher Bacon THE END