undertaken and promised to serve God and therefore I cannot now go back again and serve the Devil I have found that Jesus Christ is a good Master and I come to perswade you to come and be his Servant Far be it from me that now I am come among you I should forsake my Master and serve the Devil or that I should so far grieve my Master as to go unto those Games which his Soul hateth And whereas you say that many of my friends are there the more is my grief I desire that I were able to pull you all out of that deep pit and filthy puddle which to perform I should utterly be disabled if I should go in my self and so be dâ—filed with the same filth which I perswade them to forsake and cast away Kinsm Let us go unto my house that you may take there some refreshment of food after your weary journey and there we shall have liberty to discourse fully of these matters And while we are in the way let me ask you of the estate and welfare of our friends and kindred at Natik doth your praying to God exempt you from Sicknesses Poverty Nakedness will praying to God fill you with food gladness and garments Pium. Our friends at Natik were when I left them in good state of health peace and comfort for which we give God thanks who is the Father of all mercies Touching your question Whether praying to God doth exempt us from Sicknesses Poverty and fills us with food and garments I answer If praying to God did bring with it outward plenty and worldly prosperity then all carnal people would pray to God not because they love God or praying to God but because they love themselves and love food clothing and worldly pleasures but the benefits of praying are spiritual and heavenly it teaches us to know God and the evil of sin it teacheth us to repent of sin and seek for pardon and it teacheth us to forsake sin for ever and if we are loth to part with sin God will chastise us with Sicknesses Poverty and other worldly crosses to call us to repentance and therefore many times we fare worse in the world then wicked men do that thereby we might be weaned from the world and brought and taught to love and long for heaven And yet I further tell you that Religion doth teach the right way to be rich and prosperons in this world and many English especially have learned that way For Religion teacheth us to be diligent in labour six dayes and on the seventh day to rest and keep it an holy Sabbath and God hath promised that the diligent hand shall make rich and when we walk with God in godliness and obedience â—e will give us the blessing of this life so far as is best for us he will withhold no good thing from us if any thing be withheld from us or taken away from us it is because it is not good for us Our Father better knoweth what is good for us then we our selves know Kinsm If your praying to God do indeed teach you the true way of being rich as you say how then cometh it to pass that you are so poor still for you have prayed to God these twenty years and more and I do not see that you have increased in riches verâ— much you are still poor where be your Riches where be youâ— flocks and herds of Cattel where be your Clothes what greaâ— Houses have you built where be your fields of Corn Barns anâ— Orchards Alas you are not like the English and therefore â— doubt upon this point it is not as you say that praying to Goâ— teacheth you the right way to be rich Pium. This is one of the least the last the lowest of those things that our Religion teacheth us There be two sorts of riches Earthly riches of which onely you speak and Heavenly riches which Gods Word calleth true riches These Earthly riches are but temporary and shall soon perish but the true riches are heavenly and eternal they last for ever And we have spent these twenty Years in seeking chiefly after heavenly riches for so God commandeth us in his Word Seek first the Kingdome of Heaven as for these earthly riches they shall be added to you so much as you need And the Word of God commandeth us to be content if we have food and clothes Now we have food and clothes more then we were wont to have before we prayed to God and we have contented our selves therewith and have bent our mindes more to look after heavenly riches and in those things we have increased more then in earthly riches Kinsm I pray tell me what are those heavenly riches of which you speak so highly and upon which you do bestow your chief care and pains and so much prefer before earthly riches which we account so much of and think to be the best things attainable in this world Pium. The true riches which we spend our time to seek after are 1. The knowledge of the great God who hath made this vast World and governeth the same by his Wisdome and Power and who hath made Man and governeth us by his holy Laws and Commandments 2. The knowledge of our selves to be miserable sinners and do daily oâ—fend and sin against God provoking his wrath against us to puâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 for our transgressions against his holy Laws and Commandments 3. The knowledge of Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the world who hath in unspeakable love took a course to deliver us from the wrath of God for whereas we have by our sins deserved Death Damnâ—tion Christ became a Man and died for us and thereby hath pacified the Justice and Wrath of God and opened a way of Salvation for us obtaining a Pardon for us and offering grace unto us whereby we may be saved and be brought to eternal glory and â—appinesâ— 4. The knowledge of the grace of God in Jesus Christ whereby he bringeth us to repent of our sins to convert and turn from all our evil wayes and to believe in the Lord Jesus and to walk with God in the wayes of holiness and righteousness before him 5. The knowledge of the Means of grace the Ordinances of God whereby we walk with God in wayes of Civil Government in wayes of Justice and good Order And in the Ordinances of Worshipping God in the sanctifying of the Sabbaths and walking in the Communion of Saints by the Word of God and Prayer and Singing of Psalms 6. In the knowledge of the estate of all men after death how the godly men that penitently believe in Christ go to Heaven when they die and the wicked that refuse to repent and believe they go to Hell and there abide till the Day of Judgement at which day or time when it cometh all men shall rise again and be judged according to their deeds in this life and then shall the godly go with Christ to eternal Glory
I know that you sâ—y true Our fore fathers were many of them wise men and we have wise men now living they all delight in these our Delights they have taugâ—t us nothing about our Soul and God and Heaven and Hell and Jâ—y and Torment in the life to come Are you 〈◊〉 thâ—n our fathers May not we rather think that English men have invented these Storiâ—s to amaze and scare us out of our old Customes and bring us to stand in awe of them that they might wipe us of our Lands and drive us into Corners to seek new wayes of living and new places too and be beholding to them for that which is our own and was ours before we knew them Aâ—l. You say right Pium. The Book of God is no invention of English-men it is the holy Law of God himself which was given unto man by God before English-men had any knowledge of God and all the knowledge which they have they have it out of the Book of God and this Book is given to us as well as to them and it is as free for us to search the Scriptures as for them So that we have our instruction from an higher hand then the hand of man it is the great Lord God of Heaven and Earth who teacheth us these great things of which we speak Yet this is also true that we have great cause to be thankful to the English and to thank God for them for they had a good Country of their own but by Ships sailing into these parts of the World they heard of us and of our Country and of our nakedness ignorance of God and wilde condition God put it into their hearts to desire to come hither and teach us the good knowledge of God and their King gave them leave so to do and in our Country to have their liberty to serve God accordiâ—g to the Word of God And being come hitâ—er we gave them leave freely to live among us they have purchased of us a great part of those Lands which they possess they love us they do us right and no wrong willingly if any do us wrong it is without the consent of their Rulers and upon our Complaints our wrongs are righted They are many of them especially the Ruling part good men and desire to do us good God put it into the heart of one of their Ministers as you all know to teach us the knowledge of God by the Word of God and he hath Translated the holy Book of God into our Language so that we can perfectly know the minde and counsel of God and out of this Book have I learned all that I say unto you and therefore â—ou need no more doubt of the truth of it then you have cause to doubt that the Heaven is over our head the Sun shineth the Earth is under our feet we walk and live upon it and breathe in the Air for as we see with our eyes these things to be so so we reade with our own eyes these things which I speak of to be written in Gods own Book and we feel the truth thereof in our own hearts Kinswom Cousin you have wearied your legs this day with a loâ—g Journey to come and visit us and you weary your tongue with long Discourses I am willing to comfort and refresh you with a â—hort Supper All. Ha ha he though short if sweet that has good savour to a man that is weâ—ry Ha ha he Kinswom You make long and learned Discourses to us which we do not well understand I think our best answer is to stop your moutâ— and fill your belly with a good Supper and when your belly is full you will be content to take rest your self and give us leave to be at rest from these gâ—stering and heart-trembling discourses We are well as we are and desire not to be troubled with these new wise sayings All. You say true Ha ha he Pium. It is good to be merry and wise I am an hungry and â—eary and willing to eat God hath appointed food to be a means of sustaining relieving and repairing our spent strength This being a work above the power of the food we eat or of our selves that eat it and onely in the power of God himself to bless it for such great uses therefore God hath taught us and it is our custome among all that are godly to pray to God for a blessing before we eat and therefore I intreat you â—o have so much patieâ—ce and compliance as to give me the quiet liberty to pray to God bâ—fore we eat Kinsm I pray do and we shall with quietness and silence attend to such a service unto God Pium. Let us lift up our eyes and â—earts to God in heaven and â—ay Almighty glorious merciful and heavenly Father thou dwellest in the high Heavens and fillest both Heaven and Earth with thy presence thou takest care of and governest us here on earth we are poor worms under thy feet thou feedest every living Creature and â—akest our food to be like a staff to sustain our faint and weary boâ—ies thou renewest our strength every day and though we are sinners in thy sight yet thou art merciful to us and with long patience dost call us to repentance We confess all our sins before thee and prâ—y thee for Iesus Christ his sake who died for sinners to have mercy on us and freely to pardon and forgive us all our sins Bless us at this time and this food which is set before us let it be blessed to us make us wise to receive it at thy hand and to use the strength we get by it to the glory of thy Name through Iesus Christ. And bless all our Souls â—eed them by thy Word and Truth and guide our Tongues to speak wise words that may minister grace to the hearers and help us all to rejoyce in the Lord through Iesus Christ. Amen Now let us eat and rejoyce together for God filleth our bodies with food and our souls with gladness Kinsm When the body is full of meat and the head full of wit and the mouth full of words there will be wise discourse Pium. Adde but one thing more If the heart be full of grace then the discourse will be both wise and godly Kinswom You talk much of a belly full I wish we have victuals enough to fill them All. Ha ha he They be not half full yet Ha ha he Kinsm What News do the Ships bring from beyond Sea Pium. They say wicked men are bold and that good men who pray to God are hated vexed troubled persecuted and not suffered to pray to God according to the Laws of Gods Word but by the Laws of men All. It is an ill time for you to come to perswade us to pray God when praying to God is so opposed hated and hindred yâ—â— may be mâ—re like to prevail with us when praying to God is credit honour and good esteem Pium Such as
they fall in company with such as know the worth of their Jewel they will be content to let them see it and take a full view of it Pen. Your discourse doth the more inflame my desire to know what this matter is that is so precious in your eyes and so doubtful to finde esteem with me I confess I am foolish but I hope you shall finde me one that would be wise and love the company of the wise and willing to learn of others that wisdome which I want and therefore though I desire not to know other mens secrets yet if this other matter you intimate be such as I may know my desire is raised high to know it Wab. Your words are good and wise and give me hopes that what I have further to say unto you will finde acceptance with you according to my desire I will therefore open to you the truth of the matter I am a praying Indian I have left our old Indian Customs Laws Fashions Lusts Pauwauings and whatever else is contrary to the right knowledge of the true God and of Jesus Christ our Redeemer It repenteth me of all my fore-past life the lusts vanities pleasures and carnal delights that were formerly very sweet and delightful to me are now bitter as gall unto me I hate and loath them All the works of darkness in which I was wont to take pleasure I do now forsake and abandon I am come into the light I now see things as they are indeed and nor as they seemed to be in the dark I now know the VVord of God which sheweth me the way of eternal Life I now know God who made all the world against whom mankinde are turned rebels and sinners I know the Law of God which I have broken and by my sins I have deserved eternal damnation in the world that is to come I now know Jesus Christ who hath died for us to procure a pardon for us and to open a door and way to eternal life and salvation for us Into this way I have entred herein I walk and I have promised to God that I will live and walk in this way all the dayes of my life And not onely so but my desire is to perswade all others into the same way which I have entred because I do certainly and experimentally know that my former wayes were darkness sin and led unto hell and damnation and this way whereinto I am now entred is a way of light life holiness peace and eternal salvation therefore do I earnestly perswade all that I meet with to be wise and turn from the wayes of darkness and come into this way of light and glory And this is the thing which I did mean when I said that there is another thing wherein I wish that we may be alike I do therefore exhort and intreat you that you would do as I have done forsake your old wayes of sin of which you have cause to be ashamed and turn unto God call on God be numbred among the praying Indians Pen. Oh I am surprized I am amazed you have ravished my Soul you have brought a light into my Soul I wonder at mâ— self where have I been what have I done I am like one raiseâ— out of a dark pit you have brought me forth into the Sunshine I begin to see about me if I look back and down into the piâ— where I have been all my dayes I wonder at my self what a deaâ— dark thing I have been when I look upon you I see you like aâ— Angel of light I have heard of this business of praying to God some have spoken ill of it some have spoken favourâ—bly I coulâ— not tell what it was but now by your discourse I begin to seâ— what an excellent thing it is it changes men and advances theâ— into a condition above other men You have dealt with me like aâ— the Fishers do by the fish you laid a Bait for me to make me deâ—sire it and bite at it but I saw not your hook until you haâ— catch'd my Soul and now I am catch'd I see it was not for mâ— hurt but for my great good The light which I do already see is beautiful and desireable thing and therefore I pray you go on aâ—â— tell me more of this new way Wab. The two first things you are to consider of now you aâ—â— come into the light and your heart willing to attend unto thâ— great work of praying to God are these 1. To know God 2. Our selves Of God know his Greatness Goodness VVisdome and Poweâ—â— He hath made all things in this great world all things above â—â— are his works he made the Heavens the Sun Moon Stars Cloudâ— c. and all things below the Seas the Earth and all things thâ—â— are in them he made Man and gave him dominion over all â—â— works in this world and a Law of Life under the penalty damnation and all this God did in six days so great is God above man The Law which he gave to man is holy just and good but man by the temptation of evil Angels who by their sin became to be Devils I say man broke the Law which God gave him and sinned against God turned Rebel against God and served the Devil and in this rebellion all the children of men go on to this day Gods Law is in Ten Commandments wherein he requireth of man to know and worship God fear his Name and keep his Sabbaths and other Laws forbid Lust Murther Stealing and all other evils Moreover God hath annexed unto his Law a great Promise Do and live with a just Punishment Sin and die eternally namely that all the breakers of this Law and sinners against him shall be punished in hell fire with eternal torments And this is the condition of all mankinde and it is our estate that by our sins against God we have deserved to die and then to be cast away down into hell fire to be tormented among the Devils who tempted us to sin and whom we have served in our life time now together with them we must be tormented for ever Pen. Oh you have now killed me again By the first light you shewed me I thought you had made me alive and I joyed in the light but I understood it not Now your light is become a sword it hath pierced through my heart by it I now see I am a dead man Alas I have been a sinner all my dayes I am guilty of more sins then I have lived dayes many sins in a day have I committed Night and day have I offended God and broke his Law I have served the Devil and not God I have done nothing that God commandeth I have only served the Devil and committed sin therefore I have deserved to be damned in hell and to be tormented among the Devils for ever whom in this life I have served with so much delight And now poor miserable I what shall I do