it be receiv'd and that will keep down all that may arise to make any Dissention to cause any straitness or strangeness amongst you and so you will be kept in the unity of the Truth which will be a good savour amongst all people and in that the Lord will take Delight to dwell amongst you and to do you good and in that God Almighty be with you and bless you and water you with the Dew of Heaven and cause the Showers of his Love to descend upon you that you may be refreshed and kept alive in the Truth therein to live according to God in the Spirit and not according to men in the Flesh but in that by which you are judged according to men and by which you are crucified unto the World and therein your Joy Peace and Comfott will be Everlasting And so dear Friends Let nothing enter that would deprive you of your Peace and Comfort lest you lose the Reward of your Sufferings but keep in Lowliness and Watchfulness and in true Humility of mind and spirit for therein is Safety And it s the Humble that God teacheth and supporteth And without his assisting Spirit of Grace we can do nothing that will add to our Comfort or Consolation and therefore whatever our state be we have daily need of an Assistance from him and of the renewing of our strength by him by whom alone we are able to do all things and in him nothing is too hard for us for it s through him that we are more then Conquerors and by Faith in him we stand and that gives Victory over the World And in that my Dear Friends all live and walk and thereby you will have free access to God and will meet with us at the Throne of Grace and Ocean of Life and there the Minister of the Sanctuary is seen alwayes near at hand administring unto every one according to their necessity who will give Ability and Strength sufficient to endure all things and to answer his Requirings in all things and will also keep down and under all which would arise to exalt the mind above measure in the time of enjoyment of the Reward that is receiv'd through Sufferings and hereby you will be preserv'd out of all the Snares of the Enemy And in this my Love is dear to you all and to the whole Flock of God in all Parts of the World and to this Spirit of Grace I do commit you all and resign you up to be govern'd and protected thereby for by it I was at this time moved to write these Lines to you in which I doubt not but it will be received by all whose hearts are sincere towards God And in that God Almighty be with your spirits Amen London this 28th of the 11th Moneth 1665. I am your Dearly Loving Brother in the Patient Long-Suffering Spirit of the Lamb. Josiah Coale Let this be read amongst Friends who are Ezil'd or sentenced for Exilement when they are met together in the Fear of the Lord. An Epistle to FRIENDS In Holland MY Dearly Beloved Friends I ofttimes remember you make mention of you in my Prayers to the Lord since I outwardly saw your Faces and my Love in the Lord is unfeigned to you in which I have for your Good travel'd amongst you and in which at this time I dearly salute you as those whom God Almighty hath reached unto and visited that you might have Acquaintance with him and that you might be made Partakers of his Endless Love in his Son Christ Jesus and therewith might love one another as he hath loved you who hath forgiven you your Trespasses that you might take Example thereby to Forgive one another that so you may have the Mind of his Spirit of Love and be like him in this present evil World and that you might bear his Image amongst the Children of Men and stand as Witnesses for him and appear on his behalf in that Life through which you will answer the Witness of God in the Hearts of all People that so you bring Honour and Glory and Praise to the Name of the Lord who hath visited you To whom all Glory belongs forever Amen My Beloved Friends Prize the Mercies of the Lord with which he hath visited you and walk worthy of his Love which hath been additionally manifested through the many tender Visitations which he hath sent unto you by his Servants whom he hath moved from time to time to come amongst you with the Message of Life as Dispencers of his Word of Reconciliation for your Consolation and Comfort And every one in your own particulars feel the Measure of the Meek Spirit of the Lamb that your minds may be daily exercis'd thereby in the Cross to all that is contrary to the Nature thereof that so your Hearts and Souls may be season'd therewith and the contrary kept down and bow'd under it And as all are exercised with this Spirit of the Lamb you will more and more grow into its nature through the refreshing Vertue which therein and thereby you will daily receive and this is alone that which presents all a Good Savour unto God and in this you know we have labour'd among'st you and therein you will feel my Love and Life which is in that which is not of this World and therein the Fellowship of the Children of Light stands which is a Mystery to the World and in that Love Unity Peace Meekness and Gentleness will encrease amongst you which are excellent Vertues and amiable to behold and that which is Passionate or Hasty and Unsavoury shall not have a place amongst you but you will all be Examples of good one unto another And also Your Life and Holy Chaste Conversation will preach unto the World by which they that are without shall be convinc'd and made to confess That God is in you and in this you will be a Good Savour unto God and he will take Delight to manifest his Presence and Blessings amongst you and to multiply his Mercies unto you and will water you daily with the Dew of Heaven through which you will be kept in the Freshness of the Life of the Blessed Unchangeable Truth for the Lord waits to be Gratious unto all them that wait upon him for the Teachings of his Spirit of Grace and are taught thereby and such he enricheth with the Riches of his Grace through which they live unto him and in that all are a strength one unto another and a Refreshment and Comfort to each other And so my dear Friends In that God Almighty keep you and be with you and water you daily with the Dew of Heaven that you may grow thereby and dwell all in Watchfulness in the Light and keep in the weighty Truth the true Foundation that the Understandings of all may be kept clear and open that none may be beguil'd of their Peace nor Crown of Life And all watch over one another in Love and bear ye one anothers
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
and will dwell in the mid'st of you and amongst you for which the earnest Desire of my Soul is unto the Lord and in my Prayers I do oft make mention of you unto my God and your God that his Arm of Power and Salvation may alwayes be with you and that you may be thereby kept Pure and Unrebukeable and Spotless unto Himself in his sight from this time forth and forever Amen And Friends It was the fervent and sincere Desire of my Heart to have seen you this Year having a confident Perswasion and Assurance in me That if the Lord had so order'd it it would have been for your Good and Benefit and that I should have been Refreshed with you and amongst you as in times past And in order to it I wholy fixed and applyed my Heart to the Lord for some certain dayes to search his Counsel in the thing until he fully and clearly satisfied me that it must not then be in whose blessed Will I rest and am content yet am not wholy without hopes but that in Due Season it may yet be And in the mean time I leave you and commend you to God who is able to keep you and do more aboundantly for you then you can ask or think to whom be Glory forever Amen Written in Essex this 5th of the 7th Mon. 1664. I am your Dear Brother in the Tribulation Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Josiah Coale Let Copies of this be sent amongst Friends every where in the Province of Maryland and be read amongst them in their Assemblies in the Fear of the Lord. To the Flock of God IN MARYLAND GREETING The second EPISTLE MY Dear Friends Brethren and Sisters who are called and sanctified in Christ Jesus and with whom and amongst whom I have travell'd both in Body and Spirit for the Resurrection of that Birth which is Immortal through which you might become Heirs of Eternal Salvation and of the Kingdom Everlasting which is not of this World My soul and bowels even daily earn towards you and you are even daily presented before me and brought into my View and Remembrance by the Spirit of the Lord by which I am oft constrain'd to present my Supplications and Prayers to the God of my Life for you and on your behalfs beseeching and desiring him that he will keep and preserve you in the Unspotted Life of the Lamb and that Grace Mercy and Peace together with Spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord may be multipy'd and encreas'd amongst you My beloved Friends Keep your station in the Holy Place every one who know it and in your Holy Calling wherewith you are call'd of God therein abide and walk with him that therein you may all adorn the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ And Friends You certainly know That the Living Blessed and Everlasting Truth it self which sanctifies throughly both in Soul Body and Spirit and which sets free from the Bondage of Corruption all who continue in it hath been freely made manifest amongst you Therefore I charge you all as you will answer the Lord Every one see that you live and walk in the Purity thereof And you likewise know the Way of Life and Salvation and of Holiness in which no unclean thing can pass see therefore that you continue therein that so whensoever your Lord comes you may be found of him in Peace and cover'd with his Righteousness For you have all need of Circumspection and Watchfulness and Diligence because the Adversary of your Soul's Peace is very subtil and lodgeth very near to every one and waits to devour and lurkes to destroy and will lose no Opportunity if possible he may beguile any of you as he did Eve in the beginning But as you all watch in the Light of God's Salvation which he hath caused to shine unto you the Adversary will thereby be discover'd unto you in all his Twindings and Appearances And my Friends This Light in which you have believed is the true Touch-stone by which all spirits may be tryed and all Motions in whom soever they arise may hereby be known whether they be of God and tend to that which is consistant with the Honour of Truth and your own Peace or whether they savour of the Flesh and tend to the satisfying of the Lusts thereof For the Lusts of the Flesh and of the Eyes and the Pride of Life are not of the Father but of the World which passeth away And where or in whomsoever these or either of these are found and discover'd by the Light which makes all things manifest they are therewith to be condemned and by you to be denied that so you may be every one kept out of the Snare of the Devourer and out of the Net of the mighty Hunter For If you live after the Flesh you shall dye for the Lusts thereof when they are conceiv'd bring forth sin and the Wages of sin is death But every one who through the spirit mortifies the Deeds of the flesh such shall live to God in the Newness of Life and such will adorn the Gospel of God And so my dear Friends You are called to Liberty but not to serve your selves therefore use not your Liberty as an Occasion to the Flesh lest thereby you be ensnared neither use it as an Occasion of stumbling unto others but every one in the Fear of the Lord stand fast in that glorious Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free And beware of being again entangled with the heavy Yoak of Bondage and of being brought into Captivity with that which in measure you had Victory over For you that have passed from Death to Life know right well and I need not tell you through what Difficulties Hardships and Exercises you obtain'd that precious Liberty in the Truth which you are brought unto And you also know what it cost you to purchase the Possession of that measure of Life and Truth which is manifested amongst you therefore let none sell his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage neither let any perishing Object become a snare or divert you from your Simplicity and Sincerity in the Truth But every one walk worthy of the matchless Love of God which hath extended its self unto you that so the daily Multiplyings and Abounding thereof you may know and witness in your hearts that through it you may Grow and Increase and be Enriched and that God Almighty may take delight to dwell amongst you And my Friends The savoury holy Order that the Truth led into in the beginning and in which the primative Christians were exercis'd you are not ignorant of and I hope not unmindful of it neither And you likewise know what Fervency and Fear and Zeal towards God the Truth wrought in your Hearts when you first receiv'd the Testimony thereof And what a Godly Resolution was put on by many and there was not another thing accounted of by many of you in comparison of his Blessed Truth And whatsoever
worse Suffering upon them and more grievous to be borne then that which now is threatned Wherefore my Dear Friends Partakers of the Heavenly Calling in Christ Jesus Put on Valour and Boldness and Courage for the Cause of God which we are now engaged in and stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ our Lord hath made you free and be nothing terrified because of the Rage of the Enemies of God's Truth but whereunto you have already attain'd there abide and hold fast that which you have already receiv'd lest you lose your Crown and keep out of Consultings with flesh and Blood lest you be thereby entangled with the Yoke of Bondage for the Flesh is weak and not willing to bear Sufferings but the Spirit is willing and as it is enclin'd unto and obey'd and follow'd in its Motions and Leadings it makes willing to bear and endure all things and to suffer the loss of all things for the sake of the Lord Jesus rhetefore let none Esau like sell his Birthright for a Mess of Pottage but like Worm Jacob wrestle with the Lord in his own Strength that you may prevail as Princes and obtain the Inheritance incorruptible that never fadeth away which is the earnest Desire and Prayer of him who dearly loves and salutes the whole Flock of God in every Region and Quarter of the Earth London the 29th of the 6th Moneth of the Year 1667. Josiah Coale To the Elect of God Every where Called and Chosen in Christ Jesus before the World and before Transgression was in which the World lies The Salutation of Love Mercy and Peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ The Third general EPISTLE DEartly Beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters For as much as the Almighty Power and Arm of the Lord hath been stretched forth unto you in this Day of his Love by which you have been gather'd out of the dark Paths which the World walks in and have been cleansed from the Polutions and Defilements which many yet lie wallowing in and have been separated from the Abominations of the World by the Word of his Power which sanctifieth unto himself and hath administred unto you an Entrance into that Kingdom which is not of this World and which fades not away where you are made Partakers of the Durable Riches and Everlasting Treasure with which your Hearts have been filled from day to day and from time to time yea manifold hath his Benefits and Mercies and Goodness been unto you and often hath he caused your Cups to overflow so that you could say in your Hearts That you had received your souls Desire and were fully satisfied and your Souls did Bless Magnifie and Praise the Name of the Lord the God of your Salvation who hath done so great things for you even beyond declaring who brought deliverance unto you in the time of great Affliction and Distress when you were compassed about with many Sorrows and saw none to comfort you when you were even in the horrible Pit and saw your selves at a great Distance from your Maker by reason of Sin and Transgression and were in your own eyes even shut up in Darkness and in Obscurity then did the Distressed cry unto the Lord and he heard the Cries and Groanings thereof and was moved with Compassion towards his own Seed and he arose in his mighty Power and stretched forth his Glorious Arm and reached unto his own Elect and thereby brought Deliverance thereunto And so the Oppressed came to be set free and the Distressed to be set at liberty and this was the Day of Glad-tidings unto you and the acceptable Year of the Lord though a Day of Vengeance came upon the Wicked and Ungodly and upon that part which had led your minds astray and to transgress the pure Law and holy Commandment of the Lord And so my Dearly Beloved The Lord having done so great things for you in bringing you out of the Egyptian Darkness and out of the waste howling Wilderness and hath brought you into a Plentiful Land flow-in with Milk and Honey and with the good things thereof hath he satisfied you and aboundantly filled you time after time therefore now rememember and beware that you forget not the Lord nor his wonderous Works but dwell in his eternal Power by which he hath done these things for you and walk in all Humility before him answering the motion of his Pure Holy Spirit by which you are quicken'd unto Life that you may know it continually to remain in you that so by it you may be kept alive unto God And this Spirit may be your Leader and Instructor in all things so will you have the Testimony thereof in your own particulars to bear Witness for you that you are his Children For they only are the Sons of God that are led by his Spirit and they only have the Testimony of it witnessing for them that are faithful Followers thereof and such enjoy Peace and Consolation from the Lord which is more to be valu'd and esteem'd than all things visible for they are perishing and last but for a Moment but the Precious Truth of the Lord of which you are made Partakers that is Everlasting and liveth and abideth forever therefore let that be prized above all things else which in comparison thereof is but as Dross and Dung and so it was in your eye when full the Glory thereof appeared in you And you know full well what you have parted with to purchase the Possession of it Therefore let none sell his Birthright for a Mess of Pottage but let it be forever in your Eye esteem'd above all things under the Son And let not the Subtilty of the Enemy draw any ones Mind into the love of any perishing thing nor into the fear of the Threatnings of Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils but stand in the pure Fear and Dread of the living God and continually set him before your Eyes and beware of entring into Consultations with Flesh and Blood for thereby you may fall into the Snare of the Enemy and be overcome by his Wiles but give up simply and freely to whatsoever you are called to either to do or suffer for his Name 's sake and for his Truth 's sake in your several Places and Callings that so a Faithful Testimony for his Name may be given by every one who makes mention thereof and that professeth his Eternal Truth and of this be assured He will be your exceeding great Reward but if any draw back or hanker in their Minds and through letting in of Slavish Fears deny the Lord who hath purchas'd them unto himself by his own Blood by which he hath cleansed your Hearts that so you might become a fit Habitation for his own Spirit to dwell in I say If any through the fear of Man deny him in any thing that he calls unto then they lose their Reward and lose their Peace with God and the Pangs and Anguish of Heart
discourag'd because of Tryals and Sufferings and Persecutions nor because of the Frowns of the Enemy for God's Truth neither be Dismayed because of the prosperity of the Wicked whose Day shall pass away swiftly and shall be no more but every one put on Strength and Courage and Boldness in the Name of the Lord and as valiant Souldiers endure Hardship and fight the Good Fight of FAITH and lay holy on Eternal Life for the Lord God Almighty is with us and take our part and he assuredly will fight our Battels for us before whom all the Nations of the Earth are but as the Drop of a Bucket and therefore it s in vain for them to contend with the Almighty who is on our side and is greater in us then he that is in the World whose eternal Glory and Excellency is now revealed Praises and Halelujahs to the Most High forever Wherefore Arise arise thou Seed of the Covenant arise and shine for thy Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is arisen upon thee though the Earth be covered with Darkness and gross Darkness be over the People yet the Lord is become thy Everlasting Light and thy God thy Glory Wherefore shake thy self from the Dust of Earth and put on thy beautiful Garments Oh Jerusalem the holy City for this I testifie in the Name of the Lord That henceforth there shall not come into thee the Uncircumcised nor the Unclean but thou shalt be called the City of God the Place wherein his Honour dwells Wherefore all ye Inhabitants thereof my Fellow Citizens and beloved Brethren and Sisters with whom my Life is bound up and with whom my soul rejoyceth who are surrounded with the great Salvation of God and know it to be the Wall of this Holy City the Gates whereof is Praise and stand open Night and Day though the Unclean cannot enter into it I say unto you all Let the High Praises of God be in your Mouthes and cease not to make mention of the Wonders of the Lord and of his Works which he hath wrought for you and tell of his Goodness and Loving-kindness and speak of his Praises that the Glory of his Appearance in you may be admired amongst the Heathen in this the Day of the Lords Power wherein his Excellency and Majesty is seen of which we are Eye-witnesses and therefore can we not cease to make known his Power and Coming that others also may be turned to the Light of God in them their to wait for his Appearance And though there be a Generation that would have us silenced as the Pharisees would have Christ to rebuke his Disciples when they went Triumphing to Jerusalem and the High Praises of God were in their Mouthes yet they were not to hold their peace but to go on and preach his Name amongst all Nations that People might be turned unto God And though they were again afterwards charged to speak no more in his Name yet they considered That it was better to obey God than Man For they who followed the Lamb were Called and Chosen and Faithful and they loved not their Lives unto the Death but went on boldly preaching in the Name of Jesus not regarding the Threatnings of corrupt Man but had respect unto the Lord above all who is the same at this day as ever he was and his Faithfulness is the same forever unto them that are truly Faithful unto him And his wonderous Works and Majesty and Glory is now seen by us in this our Day even as by them in the dayes of old wherefore let the same Courage Boldness and Faithfulness appear amongst you as was in them though I do not at all upbraid you neither was it in my Heart so to do but as a Brother of the same Root and Off-spring with you who are begotten by the same Word and brought forth by the same eternal Womb which is Holy forever do I exhort you in Bowels of the same tender Love with which our Hearts are filled to continue in Stedfastness hold fast your Integrity in Faithfulness unto the End every one in your several Stations and Callings that you may adorn the Glorious Gospel of Peace and of Salvation that so you dwelling in the Pure Divine Heavenly Power thereby your Lips may be opened and your Mouthes may shew forth his Praise that his Name may be known to be great in the Assemblies of his Saints and in the Congregations of the Righteous that so Nations may be gather'd unto him and Kings unto the Brightness of his Rising that so the Name of the Lord may be spread even to the Ends of the Earth which is now to be exalted above every Name to which every Knee must bow and all Tongues confess Wherefore all you my beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters who are of the Royal Off-spring and of the Holy Seed which is the Heir of the Blessing and Promise of the Father I say unto you all dwell in the feeling of the Immortal Birth every one in your own particulars for therein the Heirship stands and to that the Blessing is sure and as you keep Faithfully joyn'd unto it therein you will know the Heavenly Dominion and Power which goes over the Powers of the Earth and Darkness with which the Earth is cover'd and will give you to see before they were And here the Son is known who was glorified with the Father before the World began and who is the express Image of his Father's Substance and in whom the Fulness of the Godhead dwells and unto whom all Power in Heaven and in Earth is given And this is he who now is come in Power and great Glory of whose Power and Coming you are his Cloud of Witnesses who know the Birth of the Immortal Seed and it is because of this that the Heathen rages and the Nations are angry and therefore do they Revile and Persecute and Smite with the Fist of Wickedness according as it is written He that is born after the Flesh persecutes him that is born after the Spirit And these things they do unto you because they know not him of whose Coming you are Witnesses Nevertheless Dwell ye in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit ye that have the sense and feeling of the working and operating thereof in your inward Parts in any measure and answer the Motions thereof in all things for therein your Peace and Consolation consisteth and your Everlasting Refreshment which none can hinder you of as you obey the Truth according to the Motions of the Spirit of Truth and therein walking you will not fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh but the Cross will be dwelt in and Self-denyal will be known and witnessed and the Power of the Lord will be felt which makes willing to come into the Obedience of the Cross whereby the contrary part will be crucified and mortified and the Old Man will be wholy put off with his Deeds and the New Man put on which is created
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
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
Showers of his Love to descend amongst you and refresh and consolate you therewith that you may walk chearfully in his Presence and not with Bowed-down Souls but that every one may possess his Soul in Peace Amen And my Friends Although some things contain'd in this Epistle may seem strange unto many of you yet those whom they concern will not be ignorant of the ground of my thus writing and for their sakes I have written with Boldness and Plainness And so the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits Amen From the Common Goal in Kendal in Westmoreland this 29th of the 7th Moneth 1665. I am your dear Brother a Sufferer for the Testimony of the blessed unchangeable Truth and hate the Garment spotted with the flesh Josiah Coale An EPISTLE TO THE Flock of God WHO Are called to bear Testimony for the Name of the Lord at this Day through Sufferings Sent unto them for the building up of the Weak of the Flock in their Most Precious FAITH and for the strengthening of them in their Persecuted and Suffering Estate In which also for their Encouragement the Purpose of God in their present Sufferings is declared My Beloved Dear Friends WHOM the Lord God Almighty hath visited with his Everlasting Loving-kindness and unto whom he hath caused the Everlasting Day to dawn and the Son of Righteousness to arise and whom he hath called out of the World and separated from its Wayes Worships and Traditions and from the Defilements and Abominations thereof that you might be a peculiar People unto himself zealous of Good-works that he might make known unto you that Mystery of his Kingdom which hath been hid from Ages and Generations past that so you might stand faithful and true Witnesses for his Name and Truth and appear on his behalf in the Demonstration of his own Life and Spirit and that you might bear a faithful Testimony for that Blessed Everlasting and Unchangeable Truth which he hath manifested in your Inward Parts not only in Doctrine Life and Conversation but also by suffering for its sake whatsoever the Enemies thereof shall be permitted to inflict upon you that thereby you may be approv'd not only in the sight of God but also of all good Men. I say unto you my beloved Friends Prize your honourable and holy Calling wherewith the Lord Almighty hath called you and therein walk with God and think it not hard nor strange that he suffereth you so long to be try'd and exercised in Sufferings as you have been hitherto and are at this day for your Testimony sake but look over it all and lift up your heads above all for the Lord hath assuredly an End in it for his own Glory and for the Exaltation and Spreading abroad that Blessed Truth which we possess and live in and which we suffer for and also for the gathering into it many who are yet far off from him and Strangers unto him so that whatsoever come whether Bonds or Exilement or what Exercises soever we meet withal in this we may be satisfied That it shall make for the Furtherance of the Gospel of Christ and for good unto all who continue their Obedience in him unto the End and abide faithful unto Death Wherefore my dear Friends If the Lord see it meet further to permit the Enemy to sift and winnow us and that we must be further tryed nay if he should so order it that we must be a suffering People all our dayes yet let none be weary or faint in your minds For In the Lord JEHOVAH who is certainly with us there is Everlasting strength and he fainteth not neither is weary but he giveth power to the Faint and to him that hath no might he encreaseth strength And so let your Trust be in him and let that godly Resolution be put on by every one of you that was in Job who when God suffer'd Satan to smite and afflict him said Though thou kill me yet will I trust in thee And indeed it 's far better to suffer Persecution with the People of God for good Conscience towards him then to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness out of which God hath call'd and redeem'd us And my Friends Consider Whither can any go or whether can any flee to escape Persecutions Certainly I know no place neither do I believe there is any professing Christianity except it be in the Tents of Wickedness For he that will live Godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution And if any to escape Persecutions and Sufferings should return to the Tents of Wickedness again out of which by the Power and Arm of God they are brought and should disert their Testimony which God hath committed to them to bear for his Name it would happen unto them as the Apostle said according to the old Proverb The Dog is turned to his Vomit and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire And the Hand of the Lord would find such out and the Terrors of the Almighty would certainly seize upon them and surprize them which would be manifold more grievous to be borne then all the Sufferings that man can possibly inflict upon them For it s a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God for out of his Hands no man can deliver but out of the hands of Blood-thirsty and Wicked Men God can and certainly in his own time will deliver all who trust in him Wherefore my dear Friends Put on Boldness and Courage in the Name of the Lord and stand valiant Witnesses for his Truth through all Sufferings which is the thing he hath call'd you unto that so you may answer the End for which he hath visited you and made known himself unto you For consider Was it in Loving-kindness and Compassion unto you that the Lord visited you and made choice of you to be Witnesses for him that his Name might be Glorified by you Or else Was it because he had such need of you that he could not Glorifie his Name without you Surely all who are of an understanding Heart will confess and acknowledge that it was only in Love and Mercy unto you that he thus made choice of you to suffer for his Name and to Glorifie himself thereby because he can work for the Glory of his own Name as he sees meet without you or any of you and can Magnifie his Power in the Destruction or Desolation of a Nation or People as in time past he hath done and is doing at this day though he takes no Delight therein and therefore he hath no need of you for that End but you have need of him So that its only in Love and Compassion towards you that he hath thus visited you and also that you might have strong Consolation in your Obedience unto him through all Sufferings which he hath called you unto And therefore my Beloved Friends Gird up the Loins of your minds and keep close to and stedfast with the
Lord and with the Eye of Faith look over all Tribulations unto him that is invisible who will out-last them all and will be with you in them and through them all and also when they shall be no more For certainly Friends God hath determin'd by and through these things to exalt his Kingdom and to get himself a Name in the Earth above every Name that every Knee may bow and every Tongue confess thereunto unto his Praise and Glory And he hath highly Honour'd us in that he hath been pleased to make choice of us and to accept of us to appear on his behalf and by Sufferings to contend for his Cause and to bear Testimony in the Life of his Spirit against all Idolatry and superstitious Inventions which have gotten up in the dark Night of Apostacy for he hath put the spiritual Weapon into our hands by the which the spiritual Wickednesses that are in High Places and the strong Holds of Iniquity must be beat down and in vain do the Inhabitants of the Earth Combine or take Counsel together to stop or limit this Work of God which he hath begun and is carrying on amongst us For he will certainly in the end be too hard for them and they must and shall assuredly fall before him as their Predecessors did in times past who oppos'd his Appearance in our Fore-fathers the Lord hath spoken it And no Weapons that 's form'd by them or that they shall Form shall ever prosper or prevail so as to accomplish their Decree for God hath said it Wherefore my Friends With one Heart with one Mind and with one Spirit serve ye the Lord in newness of Life and continue the Assembling of your selves together in his Fear to wait upon him even as if these did not at all attend you And none be Slack or Backward in your TESTIMONY herein for fear of Sufferings lest hereby you do not only purchase the Displeasure of the LORD against your selves but also weaken the hand of others and thereby obtain'd the greater Condemnation But remember what happen'd to the Fearful and Unbelieving Spies who weaken'd the Hands of Israel of old that they could not enter the promised Land for these things were written for our learning that we should not tempt God as they tempted him and were destroy'd of the Destroyer For certainly Friends this I have long seen and sometimes declared also that if any to whom the Visitation of God's Love hath reached and who are now call'd to bear Witness to the Name of the Lord by assembling themselves together to wait upon him and to worship him in Spirit and have been perswaded in their Consciences by the Light of his Son that it was their Duty so to do I say if such for fear of Suffering for their Testimony therein shall forsake the Assembling of themselves together as the manner of some hath been they will certainly bring upon themselves greater Sufferings even from the hands of men and more grievous to be borne then those which for the assembling of our selves together seem now to be threatned except they wholy conform to worship the Image that is made unto the Beast that had a Wound and doth live and if so then as I said before the Lord God will assuredly find such out which will be more heavy and grievous to bear then the rest And therefore let all be Unanimous in your Testimony for the Lord in this day of trying and proving and be a Strength and an Encouragement one unto another in that Gift of the Spirit of God which from him you have receiv'd and you will certainly find and feel the Lord present with you assisting and furnishing of you with all heavenly Vertues which are needful or necessary for you in your present and future Exercises and the Light of his Countenance you will know to shine in your Tabernacle and that is very precious and pleasant and comely to behold And indeed it s that alone which causeth us to walk chearfully through all Tryals and Exercises and we experimentally know that he hath not fail'd us hitherto but hath been alwayes present with us to deliver us out of many Distresses yea and assuredly will deliver us out of all in his own time which hasteneth when the measure of the Sufferings of our Lord and Master are fill'd up in us for we must be throughly try'd and prov'd by Sufferings and thereby be made manifest unto the Nations about us to be the peculiar People of God before the measure of our Sufferings be full And my Friends It is not the Purpose of God by these Storms and Tempests that beat upon the Building of God or by the Sufferings that attend us to suffer his Heritage or Building to be laid waste No but thereby to beat down all False Building and Out-side Possessions and to lay waste the Hills and Barren Mountains upon which the Whore sits and to make her desolate for they by clashing one against another shall be broken one by another or by biting and devouring one another will be destroyed one of another But you my Beloved who keep stedfast with the Lord through these things shall thereby be manifested in the view of all Nations to be the Building of God whose standing is upon the Rock of Ages the Mountain of his Holiness which all Storms nor the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against and thereby he will also exalt his own House where Israel 's Fold is above all the Hills and barren Mountains upon which we were sometime scatter'd and from which we are now gather'd by the Arm and Power of God that so thereunto the gathering of the Nations may be according to his Promise for was it not foreshewen by the Angel of the Lord unto his Servant John in times past That the Horns of the Beast that should make War with the Saints and whom the Saints should overcome should hate the Whore also and make her desolate My Friends Consider this and in Patience and Confidence that he is Faithful that hath promised let us all wait upon the Lord and be resign'd up to be dispos'd of according to the Counsel of his Will and let him work and carry on and prosper his own Work as he sees meet For it s he alone that worketh all our Works for us and in us and he knows what is best for us and of what we stand in need and no Good Thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly And we who are in the Faith know that all things shall work for our good who love him above all therefore let us give up our All unto him and cast our Care upon him who takes care for us whose Wayes are unsearchable and his Judgments past finding out And so my Beloved Friends Keep to and watch the weighty Foundation which stands sure through all Storms and Tempests and walk together in Love and therein serve one another and let none give place to that
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
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
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
of darkness by which all who are guided by it comes to receive power over sin which made a separation between God and you And this is he which the Holy Prophets of God prophesied of in the dayes of old who is given a Light to lighten the Gentiles and for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth And whom Moses said the People should hear and said that he that would not hear this Prophet which the Lord should raise up to wit Christ Jesus the Light of the World Even he should be Cut off from amongst the People and therefore every one you being enlightened with a measure of the Light which comes from this Prophet Christ Jesus by whom the World was made and whom the people is to hearken to it is a thing of concerment to you all to wait to hear his voice who calls your minds out of the vanities of the World and the love thereof that you may hear live and no longer to spend your labour for that which doth not satisfie the soul But to hearken diligently to the Voice of God who is Light that you may come to eat of that which is good and let your Souls delight in fatness and so every out who prizeth the Everlasting Peace and welfare of your Souls beyond the pleasures and delights of the World Return unto him who calls in your minds out of the visible and perishing things of this World and the love thereof and wait to know the Sword of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace to Cut down the Transgressor in every particular of you and to know the Righteous Law of God revealed in you to take hold on the unrighteous Nature which hath led you into Rebellion against God and against his pure witness in you which hath long called for purity and for a holy Life and a godly Conversation that so into purity and holiness you might all come without which none can see the Lord And so they who comes to the Light of Christ in them such comes to that which is pure and holy with which they may come to see God And Friends This is the Word of the Lord God to you all and his Everlasting Counsel to you all who have desires in Truth and Righteousness to walk in the way of Life that you hearken diligently to the Voice of God the Light in every one of your Consciences and to it be obedient at all times in whatsoever it makes manifest to be the mind and Will of God the Father that so his will may be done by you in Earth as it is in Heaven and that your sins and iniquities may be blotted out by him for his own Names sake Who is now arisen for his Glories sake which hath been long trampled upon and for his Seeds sake which hath long cry'd unto him from under the burden of oppression which hath ruled above the pure in every one of you And the Cries and Groanings of the Oppressed hath entered into the Ears of the Lord God of Rest and he is arisen and is zealous for his Glory And in the valley of Judgment will he plead with Egypts King and with all the Host of the Egyptians and by his out-stretched Arm will he bring deliverance unto his own Elect Seed and the Host of the Egyptians will he destroy in the Red-Sea of his Wrath and then shall the Seed rejoyce over its Oppressors And so Friends as you hearken to and obey the Voice of the Lord the Angel of his presence you will see leading you in the way in which he will have you to walk and beware of him and obey his voice for he will not at all pardon your transgressions any more Exod. 23.20 21. But will give a just reward to every one according to their deeds whether they be good or whether they be evil And so that you may come and receive the reward of Everlasting Life which is enjoyed in my Fathers Kingdom Every one be good and faithful Servants and improve your Talents which is committed to you that so when the Lord shall come you may be found doing his will and not your own So shall an enterance be Administred unto you into the Kingdom which is without end where you may feed on the Heavenly Manna and drink of the water of Life out of the Wells of Salvation even abundantly and be filled and your Souls satisfied therewith And so Friends and people arise and come out of Death you that have desires after the way of Life and Salvation Which is now Preached freely and be all obedient to the measure of the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation which hath appeared unto you and believe in the Light which you are enlightned withal for saith Christ I am the Light of the World he that believeth in me shall not abide in darkness but shall have the Light of Life and this is the sure word of Prophesie unto which you do well if you take heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts which Star being followed will lead unto the knowledge of the Saviour as it did the wise men who found him lying in a manger for there was no room for him in the Inn because it was full of other guests him that reads let him understand and so when you have found him according to the Angels Inteligence though it be but in a low place in you yet wait to know him to grow in stature and you in him to increase in Wisdom and in Favour with God for truly People no Union nor Fellowship with God can be known by you until you come to be Obedient to the Son of God and to hear him in whom the Father is well pleased and in whom alone we are accepted of God and by whom we have free access to his Throne of Grace where he sits at the Right hand of the Majesty on High Judging and Condemning all who walk contrary to his Light and that disobey the Gospel which is now Preached and justifieth and giveth life unto all that obey and follow him and stand in his Counsel which is the desire of my Soul that you all may do who have desires in the least measure after this Life of Holiness And for your sakes have I written these Lines according as the Lord gave it me by his Spirit Who am a true lover of all your Souls and a Labourer and Traveller for the Seeds sake which is Scattered throughout the Earth That those who are wandering upon the Barron Mountains and in desolate places may be gathered into the Everlasting Rest and Fold of Jesus Christ with me to lie down in peace and safety where none can make us afraid Josiah Coale A SALUTATION TO THE Suffering-Seed OF GOD Wherein the Things are Declared and Signified before-hand that must shortly come to pass DEarly beloved Friends Brethern and Sisters Babes Lambs and Children who
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
it was their usual manner to exhort you and to stir you up to that obedience of assembling your selves together And when did you meet together to wait upon God and your hearts kept stayed upon him but that you received your expected end Wherefore let the remembrance of these things encourage you to continue in this well-doing while you have a being and Liberty so to do And though there were such in ages past whose manner was to forsake the assembling of themselves together and some such there are at this day also Yet my Friends let not them be your example to walk by but every one to walk as you had and have them for examples amongst you who begat you into the Truth and by whom the Way of Life hath been made known unto you and be ye Followers of them even as they were and are of Christ For this my Friends I say unto you There are some sprung up amongst us who have in effect laboured to disswade Friends from their usual way and manner of meeting and assembling together with whose spirit and proceedings therein we have not unity but must in the Spirit of Christ Jesus the Lamb of God give testimony against them and forewarn you not to receive that spirit which goeth about to divert you from your usual way and manner of assembling together in which you have had the comfort of the presence of the Lord and received the Justification of Life and thereby your growth hath been much added unto So that certainly my Friends that Spirit which would turn you aside from this godly practise of assembliug together is a dangerous spirit and is not of God whatsoever it pretend or though it cover it self with never so fair expressions Wherefore my dear Friends have Salt within you to savour withal and keep your first Love and your first Faith through which you received life eternal and hold fast your first simplicity and your former integrity and gad not abroad to change your ways but meet together in the Name and Fear of the Lord as your wonted manner hath been so shall you find the presence of God with you in your Assemblies as in the days past and his wonted goodness and love you will feel which will warm your hearts and refresh your souls by which you will be kept living unto him and a good sauour and be to the praise of his Name who is God over all blessed for ever Josiah Coale To all the Babes in Christ AND CHILDREN of LIGHT Who are young in the Truth and but of late convinced of it A Tender Salutation and Exhortation MY beloved Friends Babes and Lambs of Christ with whom I have travelled for the bringing forth of the Birth which is immortal and which is the right Heir of the everlasting Kingdom of God and for the redemption and freedom of the Seed which is incorruptible from under the dark power where it hath been held and lain in bondage and in captivity that it might come forth into its freedom and Glorious Liberty to serve the Lord and to sacrifice in Righteousness unto him I say for the Redemption and Freedom thereof have we laboured and travelled together whom the Lord sent forth amongst you in his own Name and Power and Authority and therein and therewith have we reached unto you and the Spirit of Life from God through us hath breathed upon the Slain in you and entred into the Witness and raised the Dead incorruptible and now the Dead being raised in you and the Living True and Faithful Witness being felt by you wait every one that thereby you may come to be changed and wholly translated that you may become wholly a right Seed that as touching your former Conversation the old Man may be put off and you may be wholly made conformable unto the Death and Sufferings of Christ that so you may live with him and live to God through him and that you may be redeemed from the vain Conversation of the World and fashioned according to the working of his Power like unto the Son of God That as you have born the Image of the Earthly and been made conformable unto the Fashions and Customs of this present sinful World so henceforth you may bear the Image of the Heavenly and be made conformable or subject unto the working or operation of the Heavenly Divine Power of God with which he hath reached unto you and visited you that in all things our Lord Christ may be your example who made himself of no Reputation but humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross and is sate down at the Right-hand of the Majesty on High making intercession for them that come unto God by him and so is become the Authour of eternal Salvation unto all them that believe and obey him that he in all things may have the preheminence And so my dear Friends as I said unto you let him be your example to walk by of whose Spirit you have received a measure to be a Guide Rule and Counsellour unto you and none vary from the leadings thereof in any wise nor by any means for then you wander or go into darkness and so lose your way of peace and then trouble will come in upon you and desperation will be ready to get up in your minds or contrariwise a spirit of conceitedness will carry away the mind into a motion or profession of the Truth out of the Life of it and will lead thee to talk of former experiences when thou hast lost the thing by and through which thou gainest that experience which thou once hadst and which thou now talkst of and so thou wilt grow into a form and profession of Truth without the power and life of it and this is not a Sacrifice acceptable or agreeable unto the mind of God but contrariwise altogether disagreeable unto his mind and holy Spirit and his Soul hates it and hath no pleasure therein Wherefore my dear Friends dwell and watch in the Light of the Son of God unto which from the darkness you have been turned that therein every one may be kept in a true and clear sence and discerning of his own present state and standing and there the Power of God is felt which goes over that which would drive into unbelief or desperation in the time of trouble And this same Power or God will also keep down the aspiring mind that would be exalted above the Cross and would intrude into things which is not revealed of God and would be puft up therewith and glory therein all such glorying is vain And this is the Enemy that would not have Christ to reign over him neither will it be subject to the higher Power but will despise the Authority of God and speak evil of Dignities And this must be slain for this spirit hath not the mind of Christ neither would walk as Christ did nor have him for its example but would be
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