in Christ Jesus that the Lord may be with you and bless your Undertakings is sincerely the desire of my Soul And my dear Friends in general that love and fear the Lord whatsoever things are good pure honest that are of a good Report or which have any virtue in them think of heartily put in practice without being offended at the least thing or things that really are of God and which he appears in and blesseth his People in the Practice of Oh! be of one accord and one mind therein avoid all corrupt Reasoning and needless Questions about such things as becometh Saints and avoid all Evil Speakers Whisperers Back-biters and Tale-bearers who thereby would cool Brotherly Love or make Discord divide the Body of Christ Member from Member to lay waste Gods Heritage and trample upon his pleasant portion In the fear and wisdom of God keep that you may be made capable Instruments to stop such evil Instruments and whatsoever is â—ad impure dishonest and of a bad Report And in the Life of Righteousness and pure Judgment thereof stand up for God as faithful Witnesses against that which would defile and work Abomination when and where-ever it would enter to hurt and spoil the Vines for our Vines have tender Grapes and the Lord of the Vineyard looks for Grapes from his Vineyard but will be displeased with sower Grapes whosoever bringeth them forth And shut out all self-Interest that which would lead you to respect Persons in Judgment that nothing which is Evil may escape Judgment within in the particular nor in such amongst us that do profess the Truth of God whoever they be rich or poor and that the Righteous may be justified in Judgment that an equal hand of true Judgment and Justice may still be born and flow forth towards all of the Houshould of Faith without respect to Persons God Almighty be with you all and keep you in your strong Tower of safety the name power of the Lord now the winds blow hard and the sea swells if any of you go out of the name of the Lord into which you are gathered and seek to save your selves without the Lord and his counsel you cannot be safe what course beside soever you take Therefore keep with the Lord in his name light life he will be with you to save deliver you out of the hands of all your Enemies but do not prescribe the Lord a way how to work deliverance or bring salvation leave that to him that it belongs unto the time and manner of his saving and making bare and stretching forth of his hand but stand fast in believing be still and know continually that God is God and by Faith in his power you will see such things brought to pass as your Eyes yet never beheld done by Gods almighty Power Manifest your selves still peaceable and quietly wait upon the Lord who for the cry of the oppressed will arise and his Arm will put on strength he will help the poor and needy and will have mercy upon Zion and favour his People who eye him and cost not away their confidence which you have had in his Power and Gods everlasting Covenant of Light Life and Power feel made with you even the sure Mercies of David and the bright and morning Sear to direct you and guide you in all your ways that none of you may err or go astray any more And remember Gods Covenant and Promise which is sure that he made with David and his seed which greatly comforted David in his afflictions and troubles that his House was not with God as it ought to have been be thought upon Gods everlasting Covenant he regarded that and believed God would perform it in a time when be made it not to grow and God said As my Covenant is wiâ—h the day and night that there shall be day and night in their proper seasons so is my Covenant with David and with his seed forever David shall not want a man to sit upon his Throne from henceforth forever And the Lord said If I break my Covenant with the day and the night that there shall not be day night then will I break my Covenant with David But we see God continues his Covenant with the day night in their season as in his eternal wisdom counsel be appointed in the beginning set all thing in order which he had made the day night ever since according to Gods Covenant hath remained and kept their order even so God made his Covenant with David and his Seed Therefore dear Friends feel that you are all of the Seed and Off-spring of David the bright and morning Star and feel and be sensible of his sure Mercies and Covenant with you and extended towards you continually and having received such Mercies and precious Promises faint not whatever may become of your outward Man or Estates in this world freelâ— give up all to the Lord from whom you have obtained many favours and peculiar deliverances when you were in great straits and have been sorely beset with the Enemy within and without how did the Lord then appear to stand by you and strengthen you when you had no other helper nor looked for Salvation or strength in the day of trouble from any other certainly then was Gods time to appear who then did confound your Foes and stop and drive back the Powers of Darkness that withâ—â—ood the Lords work by his Power in you â—nd which he hath also begun in the Nations of the Earth which he will carry on and prosper for his Names sake and Covenants sake which in all things is well ordered and sure in which God Almighty keep you and establish you all for evermore Your Friend Brother who forever desires to be found one with the faithful in every good word and work JAMES PARKE Alton in Hampshire â—he latter end of the 11th Mon. 1682.
brought us forth and the eminent Hand of the Lord that appeared in our deliverance and freedom from Egypt's hard Task masters and the Lord did redeem us from the Heathen and their Heathenish Words Fashions Wayes and Worships never to learn their Words Wayes Fashions or Customs any more And God called us out of Sodom spiritually and to leave the filthy Communication and Conversation of the Sodomites which we were never to look back upon any more truly 't is very dangerous being in Sodom and Egypt spiritually where our Lord was crucified who can expect any thing but Ruin and Destruction to be found amongst them that now declare their Sin as Sodom Therefore let none of you go into Egypt again for any help or think to have relief there go not down thither nor look back towards Sodom lest you perish or be found worthy of the Wrath and Displeasure of Almighty God by reason of going back into Egypt again and then any of you should be found in Sodom or Egypt spiritually for if there be a desire in any to go back and they draw back God's Soul shall have no pleasure in them and God will be displeased with you that lust after Egypt or the Flesh-Pots there or any thing you were called of God to leave and forsake when you came out of Egypt notwithstanding a Sea of Troubles and many Hardships may appear yet still resolve in the Power of the Lord to go forward and with heavenly delight follow the Lord fully and look still to the Lord and not at any Hardships or Difficulties that may appear in your Journey nor at the length of it neither O! let none of you say that Food which God hath given you from Heaven is light Meat for that evidently bespeaks murmuring at the Food which God gives whereof you have eaten with us If any shall be filled so with unbelief to slight that and desire Egyptian Flesh-Pots and begin to value that again which you vomited up as unsavoury and not good Soul's Food and return to it again sad will the latter end of such be whatever their beginning was And if any of you should forsake the Lord his Fountain of living Waters and dig to your selves broken Sisterns that will not hold the living Water then a terrible day of Wrath and the great Displeasure of the Lord will come upon you and so you may become Monuments of his Displeasure which to avoid wait upon the Lord low in his fear when you come into the Assemblies of the Righteous and earnestly desire that this Heart of Unbelief whereby some in all Ages departed from God and went backward and not forward may not be found in you resolving for the future in the fear awe and dread of the Lord God to cleave to the Lord and follow the Lord in the doing of that which is good and to keep out of Disobedience Sin and Evil while you abide in this world Come not to the Meetings of the Saints as if it were a thing indifferent whether you came or did stay at home such luke-warm Hearers and Professors of the Truth amongst us God will spue out that are neither cold nor hot and yet cold enough towards that which is good the day is at hand that will manifest every Birth every Tree and every Spirit really as it is unto all who witness the â—aâ—â— measure of the heavenly Birth or are Trees of Righteousness and who are of a right Spirit Dear Friends give not way to that to please your selves or to gratifie the Devil or any corrupt Men or Women in the Spirit of this World which would intice you or draw you thereunto that you might be ensnared and then such will but sport themselves to see any of you speak act and walk after the course of this World as such as would draw you into evil do but be not you like unto them nor learn any of their wayes for the wayes of evil men lead from God and from his pure and precious Life which he hath made manifest and brought you into in measure so be the more circumspect diligent and watchful watch you in all things that you may please the Lord and endure Hardship and Affliction with God's called chosen and faithful when we are called thereunto that as true and faithful Warriors in the Spirit and Power of God we may all be kept together in one Spirit to the end Oh! be circumspect every Son and Daughter Servant and Hand-Maid have your Eye in your Head and if thy Eye be single the whole Body will be full of Light which tends much to the safety and preservation of the whole Body and the faithful are the Body of Christ and Members one of another and must needs be sensible of each others suffering can one Member suffer and not the whole Body suffer with it Dear Friends keep to Christ Jesus who is the Head of his Body the Church which he hath purchased with his own Blood still mind the Head and hold the Head that you all may be kept living Members of his Body purely knit together and firmly united unto him that you may be compleat in him wanting nothing of that state which you ought to be in as to a growing into him who is the fulness that filleth all in all In your Assemblies diligently wait to feel his presence more and more purely to refresh and comfort you whereby more and more you will have living experience how good and safe a thing it is for them that fear the Lord to meet often together to wait upon and serve the Lord and answer his will and requiring therein whatsoever men may require contrary of us herein we are to obey God rather then man or man's Edicts to the contrary whereby many times Storms arise and the Sea comes to be troubled Friends forget not how the Lord hath covered us and sheltred us when former Storms and Tempests have been and the Rain hath fallen yea when the Enemy hath come as a Flood and the Floods of the Ungodly broke forth upon us in the Dragon's rage to destroy the heavenly Birth and that which was of God in us how the Lord by his mighty Power which is an unlimitted Power brought Help Salvation and great Deliverance even when all other Helps failed and stood afar off I hope many yet living do remember with Joy of Heart how the Lord caused the Winds and Sea to obey him and divided the troubled Waters where the Whore then did sit and now sitteth which was Nations Kindreds Tongues and People all which the Whore sits upon for Nations Kindreds Tongues and People are all like Waters rouling tumbling upon Heaps and are troubled there is no settlement upon them few knowing what they all nor why they are tumbled so upon Heaps but notwithstanding the Saints who are the Lamb's followers must pass through these waters and through the fire also the Lord will divide the waters to make way for his
of the Lord you will be more inexcusable acting against Knowledge than such will be that have not known those things So be ye all diligent and watchful that you may be kept out of the World and the Evil thereof and keep God's holy Will and Commands all the days of your abiding in the World And you Masters Mistresses or Dames behave your selves in the fear awe and dread of the Lord in your respective Families towards your Servants instruct and inform them as God your Master in Heaven by waiting upon him will give you Wisdom to do it which Wisdom will direct you how to speak and act towards them as such that know they have a Master in Heaven even so carry and behave your selves in your duty places to your Servants forbearing threatning in any words you say to them that whether your Servants believe or be such as believe not you may by your good Communication and Conversation reach the good and answer Gods witness in them and to put no stumbling blocks in their way whereby to cause them to stumble by hasty rash unadvised Words that savour not of God nor cometh of him that called you you being kept in the fear and dread of your Master in Heaven will have true and peaceable wisdom given you to carry your selves in your Families so that the Truth will not be reproached nor its way spoken evil of justly by your occasion and that greatly tends to the honour of the God of Truth and increase his wisdom and counsel to order your own Houshold or Family well will bring ablessing upon them And I could not be clear in the writing of this Epistle to you but to put you in mind of these things that are good to be known and practised in every Family which had I not seen a neglect of in some there would have been no need of And My dear Friends that have transported or may transport your selves or Families beyond the Seas out of your Native Country consider and throughly weigh your aims and ends therein that they be such as you may expect God's blessing in and without seeking great things to your selves or set your Nests on high lest you fail in your expecttation and bring much Sorrow Trouble and Exercise upon your selves and Families from the richest to the poorest of you seek Gods honour and keep in his Counsel wait low that you may enjoy Gods counsel stand in it where-ever you are for that is certain and safe and will direct you certainly and safely if you wait to be ordered and guided by it and that as you keep in it will bring a blessing to all the Countries where-ever you may be dispersed and bless your Undertakings where you Plant settle your selves but whether you who are gone already or such as intend to go out of the Land follow not your own wills or fond weak affections in going into forreign Countries or because this or the other Person goeth and may have a share in Government there consider it is a weighty thing for one Person to remove out of his Country afar off and his way clearly he sees not perhaps neither and if so it s not only a weighty but a dangerous matter to remove a whole Family for favour and affection and affection not well governed may lead a man or woman far into things they have not a right understanding nor clear sight in whereby some miss their way in their undertakings which brings trouble vexation of Mind and discontents not that I have any thing against any Person or Family going to settle themselves or Families or to plant in any Country that go in clearness as to God and singly mind his Honour and Glory more than any thing else besides that is visible for I know the Light of Gods countenance will blessedly shine upon such where-ever they are and they will not go in their own Wills nor be swayed by foolish Affections to run into things or do things hastily nor will or run in a heady mind in their undertakings but will patiently wait upon the Lord not only to know the mind and will of the Lord but faithfully give up to do it whether here in England or any other Country and such dare not remove themselves nor Families but as they feel the Lord to countenance them in it or have real true freedom in the clear Truth of God which leads us out of carries over all worldly aims and ends and seeking giving or receiving any earthly Honour which is judged of the Lord God and gratifieth only that worldly part and spirit that leads into it And Friends all of you be sure you neither had nor have in your hearts any secret reserve to save that which ought to be freely given up in your transporting your selves for where-ever that is it ariseth from Unbelief and carnal Reasoning And if there be any of you that have left the Land or shall hereafter leave it that shall do it to save liberty estate or life which I doubt not but you might have temptations to in your undertakings certainly that will not be well you may be in danger and jeapordy there as well as we here And by any particulars giving way to that here or there they will thereby but render themselves less capable to bear or keep up their Testimony for the Lord as all ought to do Truly my hearts desire and Prayer to God for you is That you may be saved out of the many Snares and Dangers that may attend you there as well as we your Friends and Brethren here left behind you and that you with us may be kept forever to God that we all may answer the Witness of God in all People Nations and of what Tongue soever and it will be so we keeping in Gods fear and wisdom and never departing from him or his counsel hereby shall many Nations be converted to God from their Idolatrous Ways and Practices And come out of all whatsoever is Evil and contrary to the Lord God and so Friends will you with us and we together with you in one Spirit of Love Life and Power be preserved out of the many Snares and Temptations to such things as would dishonour God grieve his Spirit one in another or be any occasion of stumbling to them that will watch strictly over both us you that in all things we may so behave our selves that the holy Name of the Lord known and professed by us may never be reproached or blasphemed by any of our Adversaries Walk wisely and behave your selves in tenderness and lowliness of mind towards the Indians or others whom you may have occasion to deal with do justly as you would they should do unto you and cease from Anger and Wrath in conversing with them that you may answer the just Principle of God in People of all Nations which you may be concerned with that we may hear of your welfare and stedfastness