A General Epistle To all FRIENDS Every where Scattered up and down in the WORLD That they all may faithfully keep and walk in the Truth of God as they have received it thereby to eschew Evil and do Good in their Day and Generation Written by a Servant of God and Labourer for the Honour of his Name Prosperity of his Truth and the Churches Peace and Welfare JAMES PARK Heb. 13.20 21. Now the God of Peace that brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen Printed and Sold by T. S. at the Crooked-Billet in Holywell-Lane in Shoreditch 1691. A General Epistle to all Friends every where scattered up and down in the World c. My Dear Friends and Brethren WHom I very dearly love in the Covenant of Light and Eternal Life from God made manifest wherein we have Peace with God and feel the Joy of his Salvation which hath been all along and is our Walls and Bullworks of defence wherein we know Safety and true Rest and Peace with God through Faith in Christ Jesus herein do I dearly Remember and Salute you all who are the Sons and Daughters of God begotten to him by the Word of his Grace and Eternal Life which liveth and abideth for evermore Oh! keep all within the Walls and Bullworks of God's Salvation that will be a sure Defence and as a munition of Rocks to you where your Bread will be sure and your Waters never fail but the Waters of a full Cup of Blessing will be known and the refreshing Streams be witnessed to your heavenly Joy Comfort and Refreshment in the Lord the everlasting Fountain from whom all our Comfort Joy and Refreshment cometh in all Storms Rains and greatest Raging of the Sea of wicked and ungodly Men your everlasting Rock Refuge and hiding Place you know which is most sure and certain in all the Perils and Dangers that you may meet with in your sojourning here flee to your Invincible Rock Christ Jesus and you will not fear the Rage of the Wicked nor be affraid what man can do unto you whose Breath is in his Nostrils but then you will only dread and fear the eternal God and reverence his Name who keepeth the Feet of his Saints that none of their Steps may slide but that all may walk uprightly without staggering at the Promises of God or stumbling at any Stumbling-block appearing in your Way and Travel as Pilgrims in this World then you will not be dismayed although the Earth be removed and carried into the midst of the Sea now when it is a time of the Lord 's shaking the Earth with the Heavens also and all Nations which are in the Hand of the Lord and he will shake them and remove the Earth out of its place and all Nations before him are but as the drop of a Bucket and the small Dust of the Ballance he taketh the Islands in his Hand as a very light thing and doth whatever he pleaseth in Heaven and in Earth and in all the Kingdoms of men and who hath a spiritual Eye opened and seeth through the vail of Darkness may see the Lord wonderfully shaking the old Heaven and the old Earth and that the old things shall pass away and all things become new a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein dwells Righteousness Blessed are you that know the old Heavens the old Earth with all the old things past away that are quite from them and stand clear from the old Heavens and the old Earth wherein Unrighteousness is found for the Lord said Behold I make all things new and rejoyce evermore in that which I creat for I creat Jerusalem a Rejoycing and her People a Praise And this is the New Jerusalem that cometh down from God out of Heaven as a prepared Bride for her Husband Mark as a Bride prepared for her Husband who is her Maker the Holy One of Israel in the midst of her who is not an unprepared but a prepared Bride for Christ Jesus her Husband And dear Friends Brethren and Sisters blessed are you who are come to know the Spirit of God and a being Married to Christ Jesus who are come to the general Assembly and Church of the first-born and keep as wise Virgins vigilent sober and watchful being stored with the heavenly Oyl in your Vessels with your Lamps always kept burning being ready and prepared for the Lord 's appearing in Power and great Glory and stand upon your Watch-Tower to oppose every appearance of the Enemy with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God very nigh you with that war against the Enemy that he may not enter again into any of your Hearts to work that which is Evil and destroy the Good wrought or created in any perticular of you by the Lord God when the Enemy cometh as a Flood to tempt assault buffet or winnow you as Wheat it is to hurt the tender Vines that they may not grow nor put forth in freshness and greenness according to the good end of the heavenly great Planter and the Enemy would destroy the heavenly Babe begotten of God but you being all armed with the whole Armour of God waring with the Enemy the Enemy will flie from you and will not be able to prevail for to enter any of your Hearts again by any of his Temptations Assaults Buffettings or Winnowing whereby he cometh seeking whom of us he may devour And the Children of the wicked One know not God nor that which is begotten or wrought by him and therefore they set themselves in great Rage and Fury against the Lord and that which he worketh in his People who are begotten to him and purely live to him God who hath made you Witnesses of a Spiritual Warfare for God and his Works and against the Devil and his Works and you know the Lord by his Spirit led us on with heavenly Zeal and Courage to strike at the Devil and his Works that are dark and corruptible that they might be put of for the Birth and Fruits that are of the Flesh cannot please God that birth and fruits of the Flesh must be known to dye and wither for they that are in that Birth cannot be subject to the Righteous Law and Decree of the Lord God So all must come out of that Birth which is of the Flesh and the corrupt Nature that came upon Man by his fall from God whereby he became an evil and corrupt Tree and brought forth Bryars and Thorns nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned becoming a degenerate Plant even a Child of a strange Vine unto the Lord who did plant mankind a noble Vine a holy and right Seed My dear Friends feel that right Seed that
God hath sown in all your Hearts that in and by the same you may all stand and remain as noble Plants in the Vineyard of the Lord that none of you may be found corrupt Trees that wither and bring not forth good Fruit or as them who are twice dead and plucked up by the Roots and as wandring Stars who have left their Habitation that once they had in the Truth although such may retain the Profession of the Truth and come amongst us but Friends you having an inward Eye opened by the Spirit of the living God you will see them and beware of them and avoid their Deceit and Falsehood in their most plausable Words and fair Speeches which may tickle the Ears of such as have itching Ears and draw out the Minds of the Simple to their hurt But all of you mind the Lord God and eye him in all his Leadings and whither so ever the Lamb goeth follow him faithfully even through the greatest Hardships Difficulties and Tribulation that you may be called to pass through in this present world of Calamity and Troubles Oh! keep going on to Perfection in the Path of the Just and run the Race that God hath set before you with patience although you meet with many great Troubles and fiery Tryals look not out for that is the way that God leadeth his People into his Kingdom of Love Joy Rest and Peace which is everlasting and the great Tribulations which the Righteous meet with for a season in this world and are called to pass through is but the more to wash them and prepare them for that everlasting Crown and Kingdom which the faithful God in what he hath promised to the Flock of Christ will certainly give unto them and whatsoever evil men may do against the Church of God in the execution of their Malice Violence Spoils or Ruins which the Lord hath in many Ages suffered to come upon the precious Sons Daughters of Sion yet in all that which such suffered our heavenly Father designed nothing towards them but good and for their profit to make them more and more pertakers of his Glory who in common Calamities and Judgments met with hard measure and sufferings from wicked men that did not fear God but were bent to work Wickedness to do it with greediness such now will the Lord judge and recompence the Evil of their own Ways and Doings upon their own Heads and the divine Vengeance of God did overtake and will overtake such and with all the Wicked and Unrighteous of the Earth is the Righteous God pleading and they shall be broken to pieces by him even like a Potters Vessel for they cannot stand in Judgment in the great Day of the Lord wherein terribly he will shake the Earth that it may be removed out of its place in Peoples hearts also he will shake the Heavens for that is to be shaken that Heaven and Earth may be full of his Glory and that the Knowledge of the Lord may cover the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea that Knowledge may be increased Now in the woful Day of Judgment Calamity from God come and coming upon the Wicked and Ungodly it doth appear to me as if some weak and feeble Ones amongst us should say What will become of us shall me be hid in the Day of the Lord's Wrath will the Lord have pitty upon and spare us when the overflowing Scourge shall pass through the Land This I have to say as from God concerning the Righteous every where Fear not Man neither be dismayed at his Looks because of God's Judgments being in the Earth or when Calamity cometh for although Judgments and outward Calamity may reach all in general yet will the Lord remember to spare keep and support the weak of his Flock that continue with him in Tribulations and follow him fully he will give them a Kingdom of Rest Joy and Peace which is everlasting the Light of his Countenance shall shine upon them he will give them Beauty for Ashes and the heavenly Oyl of Joy instead of the Spirit of Heaviness that is but for a Night but Joy cometh in the Morning the Lord will hide spare and pitty you weak and feeble Ones in times of Peril Trouble and greatest Danger you abiding faithful unto him he will not leave you comfortless but will comfort you and will be a Rock and Refuge to you for you will find a sure place of Refuge in his holy Name in which you have believed and do trust he will not forget you nor forsake you in your greatest straits be patient in Tribulation for Tribulation worketh Patience and patience Experience and Experience that Hope which maketh not ashamed and that will be as an Anchor to hold you all unto and keep you steadfast upon the sure and certain Rock of Ages Christ Jesus even from the least of you to the greatest and from the weakest of you to the strongest and you will mightily be upheld and supported by him in all through all and over all that which God may permit wicked Men or Devils to do against you to trouble oppress or try you who being sound Righteous you shall have the blessed Reward thereof freely bestowed upon you in this World and that which is to come and it shall go well with you however it be as to Troubles Oppressions or Tryals in this world when God's Judgments are in the Earth and the Vials of his Wrath poured forth with fury upon the Heads of the Wicked and Ungodly to cut them off the Lord will have mercy upon Sion he will hear the Cry of the Afflicted true Sion his Bowels of Compassion will the more appear and be inlarged to relieve save help and deliver you and to cause your Enemies to be at Peace with you God's love and care in watching over his and to incamp about them that is a sure Defence and a Buckler and Shield will the Lord ever be to all that fear him and think upon his Name whether weaker or stronger God who is just and equal in all his judgments and wayes will not destroy the Righteous with the wicked from that great Deluge that came upon the old World for there great wickedness wherewith they then provoaked the Almighty to great Indignation against them yet he saved Noah that Preacher of Righteousness and his Family being Righteous in an Ark which Noah built being warned of God to do it long before it was finished when the Flood came in that Ark was he and his Family saved and not destroyed with the wicked and when God overthrew the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrow by a dreadful violent Fire the destroying Angel could not proceed to his work till just Lott was gone out of Sodom but afterward those Cities were laid in Ashes And how did the Lord keep and preserve that fruitful Bow Joseph who was hated of his Brethren and sold by them a Slave into Aegypt how did the Lord help
him stand by him and strengthen him when they agreed to cast him into the Pit to destroy him did not the Lord cause it to work effectually for his good who by his wisdom and virtue obtained great favour and honour with King Pharaoh and his Court and throughout the Land of Egypt where he was a succour and as a saviour to his Father Jacob's Family his envious Brethren that took Counsel together to destroy him Joseph did good unto and rewarded them good for their envy and cruelty and the Lord delivered Jacob out of all his troubles which he had met with in the dayes of his Pilgrimage which were many very great and grevious as the Scriptures declare and he that helped saved and delivered the Righteous in all Ages he is the same God now and changeth not with the times and seasons that are in his Hands but he will work Wonders for the hoâ—our and exaltation of his Name for the Salvation of his chosen Flock and for the destruction of his Enemies that will not bow to him nor his Government in them nor over them to reign and he will certainly bow them and break them in pieces and scatter them in there evil Imaginations and will bring to nought all the unrighteous designs and wicked Conspiracies of all the wicked and unrighteous in the Earth to exalt his Name and spread his Truth abundantly Dear Friends a great and terrible day of Gods fierce Wrath from Heaven is revealed against them that hold the Truth in Unrighteousness they hold the bare Profession of it out of the Life and Power thereof and something of the Form out of the Power such do dishonour God and are a Scandal to the Name of Christ Jesus and waver from him and baulk his Testimony being not faithful to him nor true in their Testimony for those things which we have most surely believed to be of and from the Lord. Now his Day is come and coming that will be upon all found in that state although they may hold the Profession of the Truth of God yet they are out of the Possession and they are out of the Kingdom which stands in Righteousness Peace and Joy in the holy Spirit and are led and guided by an unholy Spirit into disobedience to the Lord and are held Captives therein and such shew forth the Rule and Government of the Prince of the power of the Air having dominion in and over them Now the terrible Day of God's Wrath will fall heavy on them that obey Unrighteousness and hold the Truth in Unrighteousness and when the Righteous shall scarcely be saved where shall they appear that hold the Profession of the Truth in Unrighteousness will not such be found amongst the Hypocrites and Unbelievers and will not there be Lamentation Weeping and great Wo and shall not Tribulation Anguish and Wrath come upon every Soul of man that doth Evil of what Name and Profession soever they have been of in this present world Now as Righteousness and true Holiness leads such who are in it to be faithful in their Testimony for God so Unrighteousness doth the contrary even cause many to how their Knee to Baal in something or other to worship the Beast and receive his Mark in something or other more or less which it may be such know that they ought not to fall under in or to give way unto and that will bring down Judgment and Wrath from God upon all the disobedient who are not just true and faithful in bearing their Testimony against Wars and Fightings with Carnal Weapons and against Tythes and Offerings which God in the Gospel-Day puts an end unto and requireth not and that which the Testimony of Truth in all the Faithful in our Day hath clearly gone forth against from the beginning and God apparently hath been with his People and blessed us herein How any can slight go from or violate that and directly or indirectly joyn with them or give strength to them that falsify their Testimony making void as much as in them lieth the great and hard Sufferings of many Ancient Friends formerly who loved not their Lives to the Death so that they might fight the good Fight of Faith and keep their Testimony firm and constant for God to the end And feel the Spirit of Life from God to enter into you and possess all your Hearts that you may stand upon your Feet and be armed with the Armor of Light and the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit which proceeds out of the Lamb's Mouth that faithful Witnesses for him you may stand against all that which is Evil and contrary to the Truth and Testimony thereof Dear Brethren and Sisters and all Friends who are called of God to do Service in your Men and Womens Meetings that are of such great tendency for the Welfare and Peace of the Church of God be diligent to keep up and preserve your Monthly and Quarterly Meetings in the pure and peaceable Wisdom of God all minding and following those things which are pure lovely and of good Report which makes for Peace within your Walls of Salvation and Strength from God dwell and stand up for God's Authority and that all your Men Womens Meetings therein may be kept all being diligent and faithful to God he will be your Shield and exceeding great Reward your Shield to defend you against all the Opposition you may meet with against the Malice Rage of them that seek your hart and overthrow And be wise in Heart in your Words and Actions do all that you do to the Glory and Praise of God in self-denyal and self-abasement considering that you act for God and his Eye is over all You know that you are not your own but the Lords bought with a Price So all ought faithfully to serve glorifie and honour him to the uttermost of the strength and ability that you have received from God or may receive in your Day and Generation Be careful in the fear of the Lord and then all things will be done decently and in good order in the Church of God and let nothing be done in Strife or vain Glory but do all things in Love in that dwell together and edifie one another doing all things without Partiality without Hypocrisie and without Dissimulation and keep your Eye single to God in all whatever you do in Word or Deed that all may be done in the peaceable Wisdom of Truth and Righteousness keeping an equal hand of Judgment and Justice without respect to Persons in all matters and things that may come before you for such as respect the Rich Persons case more then the case of the Poor may err in Judgment and commit Sin and the just equal and righteous Law of God will take hold on such and judge them that are found respecting and bearing with the Cause of the Rich because Rich more then the Cause of the Poor of the Flock of God because they