and that as long as they live they cannot be free from corruption and these sit down without hope and shall never enter But yet notwithstanding there is encouragement enough for the faithful Traveller when he remembers that there were two to wit Caleb and Joshua who were true Spyes and that notwithstanding the multitude of false Spyes that went forth to view the Land these as faithful Witnesses For God brought in their Testimony and said Let us go up at once and possesse it for we are well able to overcome it And these for their faithfulness to the Lord notwithstanding the false Spyes ill report of the good Land were brought to possess the Land which flowed with Milk and Honey but the rest perished in the Wilderness for their unbelief and their children were wanderers there fourty years Now Friend It is observable and very remaakrble That Caleb and Joshuah who did enter had another spirit then the false Spyes had and followed the Lord fully to wit the Spirit of Faith which overcomes the World and all the Enemies therein to the soul of men so that the Believer and his Seed shall possess the holy Land when all the unbelievers shall perish in the Wildcrness Numb. 14. And as for the glory of this holy Land or New Jernsalem of which Canaan was a Type and the Riches thereof none wil doubt but all Will confess the Land is good though some say too good to be obtained here or possessed in this life I say as to this I cannot but bring in my testimony and declare They are all false Spyes and false prophets that say the Enemies of mans soul are not to be overcome in this life and that the holy life is not attainable for he that gives Victory over one sin which I witness will give victory over all sins if I and thou be faithful Warriers in the Army of the Lamb I say our Captain is able to make war wth the Enemy and not onely give us victory but also an entrance into the Holy of holies within the vail here where no false prophet can enter but him who is the Priest for ever after the order of Melehizedeck Therefore friends go chearfully on your way in believing the Enemy is as well before as behind look not back neither turn to the right hand nor to the left but press forward and in due time you shall reap if you faint not 'T is the Faith of the Saints which overcomes the World and all difficulties which the honest Traveller shall find in his Journey towards the holy Land And that none may be discouraged that he meets with troubles and tryals let him remember The greater his tryals are the stronger had his Faith need be and the bitterer his Travels are the sweeter will his Rest be If some of the Servants of the Lord have through experience said That the sufferings of this present life are not worthy the glory that shall be revealed what will they be able to say when in is revealed It is better to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Therefore let us proceed on our journey with unwearied minds and in the strength and power of the Lord make war against all the Enemies of our Souls following our Leader and in the end we shall be more then Conquerors And because there are many pretenders to holiness who with fair speeches do deceive the hearts of people and by enticing words of mans Wisdom seduce many a well-meaning and honest-hearted Traveller who is ever and anon ready to question whether his way be right I do advise thee as thou lovest life and tenderest the true rest of thy weary soul keep close to thy Leader whose voice is low speaking in thee saying Go not forth wander not for this I declare That whilst thou art unturned to thy Guide within thee or art listening to the loud Voice and found of big Words without as I have been thou canst finde no rest though thou travel hard to obtain it A Word concerning the Resurrection THE Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared unto many among whom I am come to give you notice though a most unworthy Messenger That he is now come to exalt his Son in his saints and set him upon his holy hill glory for evermore But many there are who with Martha do look for the Resurrection at the last day without and so put the day of his Resurrection in them far from them as believing no such thing and saying How can this be when in the mean time Christ lyes slain in some of them and others are so far from the holy Life of Christ that they are dead in trespasses and sins and some twice pluckt up by the roots neither knowing their Saviour within them nor Without them Art thou one that knowest nothing of the resurrection of Christ in thee then know that thou art not to look out to a day without thee for the resurrection of Christ but in Spiritual Sodomand Aegypt where he lyes still crucified art thou to expect his resurrection to wit in thy own wicked heart Christ before his resurrection from the Grave told Martha and said I am the the Resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and that he that liveth and believeth in him should not dye Dost thou believe this Arise then thou that art asleep in thy grave of sin fleshly ease or carnal delights and hearken to the voice of the Son of God in thee live for he who called Lazarus out of his grave of earth being naturally dead to life again will raise thee also and call thee out of thy spiritual grave of sin and denth if thou hearken to his Voice and obey his Call in thoe Christ Jesus after his resurrection appeared unto many of his Disciples with out them and they knew him not he being spiritual and after he had by many signal Testimonies made himself known unto them to be Jesus a Cloud received him out of the sight of those that stood looking after him Whereupon it was told them by two men who were in white that said To men of Galilee why stand ye here gazing The same Iesus which hath been taken up from you into heaven shall in like manner come again to wit in a Cloud for so he went up Now this Friend is a Mystery to the wise and learned men of this World oh that they knew it That the light of the World and life of men should come in a cloud but so it is and they are utterly ignorant of this mysterie though to the children of Light it is made manifest and revealed by the Spirit They can tell you that as Christ's first appearance to the World was in the flesh and the fleshly eye saw him so his second appearance is in Spirit and no fleshly eye can behold him he being now a spirit You
came to be about 16. yeers of age I then began to Pray out of my usual Form as finding nought but deadness in my Form of Prayers which I had got so that by little and little I Prayed by rote and I encreased in yeers I applyed my self to Reading Sermon-Books and often to Hear and Write Sermons after the choicest of the Presbyterian-Way whom I conceived then were most Orthodox Early did I rise to Read and Meditate of God whom I then look'd on at a distance from me as most men do but he was in this place and I knew if not the Lord was with me in all my crooked-wayes and preserved me but I saw him not nor what it was that breathed in me after God I did not know it was the seed of God which was in bondage and groaned to be delivered into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Often did I with Tears beg for pardon of my sins and assurance of my Salvation which I prized above all the world and did often say within my self That if I could but gain Assurance of that I could be content to be miserable in this World as long as I should live in it Company was many-times a burthen unto me and to be retired and much alone was my great delight that so I might freely breath forth my Soul to God for the assurance of his Love and to be freed from everlasting burnings The consideration of Eternity was often in my mind and many-times would this voice sound in me Arise ye dead and come to judgement But alas What hope of Assurance could I have of my Salvation whilest I gave Faith to such Teachers as affirmed That the best of Gods Saints cannot be free from sin in this life and in the same breath also said That the least sin deserved the torments of Hell fire for ever May not a poor Soul who presseth after holiness truly say They are miserable Comforters Oh! who can be assured of his Salvation or gain Assurance thereof that beleeves false Doctrine to be true and instead of living the Holy life believes it is not attainable Can any man be assured of his Salvation whilest he is a sinner surely no and if no Assurance then surely no Salvation for the Soul that sinneth must die and without holiness no man shall see the Lord By this and such like Doctrine was my life made very uncomfortable and though I knew little by my self to deserve the torments of Hell being alwayes of a sober life and free from the gross pollutions of this world Yet the fear of Hell was a contimsa 〈…〉 torment unto my mind insomuch that I often wish'd I had never been born or that there had been no God to punish me Yet I can truly say Religion was my chief businss and my great delight was in hearing Sermons receiving the Sacrament as they call it to be often conversant in Fastings and frequent in outward Worships and carnal Ordinances all which perish with the using so that I never could have enough of them Tears was my delight and mourning in secret was a refreshing to my Soul and when I could not weep I prayed and when I could not pray I wept and sometimes I prayed and wept till I had wept my self to silence before the Lord and when I neither could weep nor pray then trouble and perplexity seized on my Spirit and I should begin to fear the danger of a hard heart and that the Spirit of Prayer was taken from me Blasphemeus thoughts would sometimes surprize me and the terrors of Hell get hold upon me and how to escape I knew not No comfort could I receive from any of my Teachers for when by the best of their marks and signs I judged my self in a safe condition yet the witness of God would rise through all that false peace which they had spoke to me and accuse me of being a sinner And this was my case for many yeers and my condition was very unsafe as all theirs is who are yet in Egypt leaning upon men and forsaking the Lord But the Lord God after long seeking to him in secret seeing my integrity and that the desire of my Soul was after him and to be holy as well as happy He mercifully brought me out of Egypt and delivered me from those cruel Taskmasters Builders of Confusion and set me at liberty to travel towards the Holy Land for in all the Land of Egypt I found no outward Guide to lead me out of my Egiptian darkness though something within me would often groan and say Return unto thy rest O my Soul thus I say the Lord pitying my soul pardoning my sins winking at my ignorance and bottling up my tears set me free from bondage That being delivered out of Egypt and journying towards Canaan I met with divers sorts of Travellers with whom I had converse acquaintance As first with those of the Independent-way but finding after a short time that there was little difference between them and the others and that the path they went in was too broad and would not bring me to rest I forsook them and travelled forward towards those men of the Baptized-way who for some season I heard and observed but finding that the main stress of their Argument that their Way was right was because they submitted to the Ordinance of Baptism pleading difficulty if not impossibility for any to come to Canaan unless they were re-baptized I search'd into the Doctrine of Baptisms also wherein I found That Water-Baptism or Johns Baptism was but onto Repentance which was effected in me already and that it could not wash away my inwardâ—ilth and therefore must decrease And I considering that the Apostle saith There is now but one Baptism to wit that of the Spirit and that that is the only Baptism for every Christian to be Bapized with if he will be cleansed and purged from sin And considering that Iesus himself Baptized none and that Paul saith he came not to Baptize but to Preach the Gospel And that this Ordinance was only Apostolical and not relating to Christians now I left them and their Water and travelled towards those called Notionists with whom after I had travelled a while I began to conclude them to be the men that I must walk with and so followed them as seeing more of truth to wit in the Notion of it then in any I had met with before and was much enlightned but after I had been with them a while I found I could not Pray as I was wont to do and so began to fear I was now further from the right way then ever I was before and being now come to the red Sat I had a lingring and secret longing to the Garlick and Onions of Egypt again yet the Lord kept me from going back into Egypt where was no light at all but I walked in the Wilderness to and again for many yeers together filling my
you whilst you are crying up Learning and humane Wisdom and despise the still and low voice of Christ in you which speaks not in the Words of mans Wisdom Oh ye men of Learning in all the Wisdom of this World When will you cease to tumble over your many and dusty Volumes of corrupted Authors to find out that Truth which lyes buryed within you Oh cease a while from searching into them and try whether you can find your Names written in the Câ—mbs Book of life if not mourn and â—â—â—â—â—nt for your condition of all others is most to be pittyed in regard of the great loss that is to come upon you you having much to lose Now that I may not leave you without hope as those who perish in their sins my advice to you is To turn to the light in your consciences and be obedient unto it for unless ou so do you can never come to the Key of David which opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens Wait at Wisdoms Posts which is the true fear of the Lord from which you are all departed who are gone from the light within and are seeking Salvation in outward things for the least Babe of Light sees thorough you and can discover your darkness A Direction for all such as wait for the coming of their Saviour in spirit and how they may know him when he appears CHrist's first appearance to the World was in flesh and the fleshly eye saw him but his second appearance is in spirit which no fleshly eye can behold and live for as the Lightning cometh from one part of Heaven to lighten another part under Heaven so shall the coming of the Son of man be and blessed are all they who wait for his second coming to wit without sin unto salvation for his second coming is to put an end to sin to finish transgression and to bring in everlasting righteousness He that hath an ear to hear let him hear Now if thou wouldst plainly know the signs of his coming unto thee in particular then know this That when he comes 't is to convince thee of sin and to make a separation between thee and thy former Lovers be they who or what they will be there is not a darling or dalilah to be spared though never so dear or near unto thee but all must be crucified yea and thy own life must be lost too if ever thou wilt find it in God Friend the life of a Christian is hid with Christ in God and there is no finding of it but by going out of self for know this That before Christ Jesus proclaims peace to the soul he sets the man at variance with himself and makes him war against the Enemies of his peace within him not without him To thee then who art at ease in the flesh hugging the spirit of self-love and of this World which lyes in wickedness and art courting the great men thereof for private respects as honor and preferment or the like know thou thou art not yet come to the spiritual Warfare nor dost thou know the coming of Christ to thee as a Saviour which every man must witness before he can be a true Souldier in the Army of the Lamb or witness redemption from the Spirit of Bondage My direction then unto thee is To watch for the coming of Christ who cometh as a Thief in the night that when he comes thou mayest not be found sleeping in sin nor snorting in the vain delights and pleasures of this life which are but for a moment Christ stands at thy door and knocks O give him entrance and suffer not his Locks to be wet with the dew of the morning Suffer not I say the evil one to make such a noise in thy soul as to drown the low voice of Christ in thee who saith I am meek and lowly of heart learn of me Let it not be said of thee He came unto his own and his own received him not Encouragement to the weary Traveller whose Journey is towards Canaan to follow the Light and Lamb of God to the Holy Land of Rest but not to go before it VVHosoever thou art that art come out of Aegypt the land of darkness where the blind lead the blind and hast a purpose and good will to travel to the holy Land thou must gird up the loins of thy mind and with a holy Resolution be content to pass through all the fiery tryals thou maist meet with and never sit down until thou shale arrive at perfect rest in God And that thou maist not loosethy Way be thou advised to follow thy Guide and go not before him for no longer then thou art a follower of the Lamb canst thou go aright or walk in safety Many there are who be come out of Aegypt and have made some progress towards Canaan but because the Guide to rest makes no haste he being meek and lowly and is a gentle Leader of his Lambs and those that are with young therefore it is that many times the followers go before their Leader and through haste lose their Way Be thou warned therefore who art but a young Traveller and follower of the lamb that thou leave not thy true Guide nor wander from him lest thou come into Aegypt again as some have done and so peradventure never find thy Guide more Friend if ever thou thinkest to be victorious thou must follow the Lamb for assure thy self the Enemy will assult thee on every side and endeavour thy destruction for know thou That 't is through sufferings and often conflicts with the Enemy that thou must pass yea and become a Conqueror too befoer thou must come to reign The daily death thou must witness and the daily Crosse must be born before the Crown of Victory can be obtained I say Thou must follow thy Leader and Captain of Salvation through all difficulties if thou wilt be victorious And for thy encouragement be assured of this He will never leave thee nor forsake thee In the light of the Lord then and as faithful followers of the Lamb let us jurney towards our Land of Rest with unwearied minds for assuredly The Land is good and will abundantly reward the Traveller upon his arrival there above what he could ask or think Many there are whom I believe are gone forth with an honest intent to travel ehither and finding the Way strait and the journey long and the Difficulties many have sate down by the way but let such know there is no truerest on this side Canaan Others there are who have gone forth to view the holy Land and as the false spyes of the Land of Canaan did so have these even brought up an evil report upon the good Land and have told people There is no attaining of it in this life for that the Cities are walled the Enemies are mighty and numerous and too strong to be overcome These have told people the holy life is unattainable