of deliverance to the captivated Souls and to say unto Sion that her King reigns And thus the Eternal God having fitted and furnished his dear Servant he called him forth into several parts of the Nation and the Lord appeared with him in his glory and gave him Authority in his Power even to tread upon Scorpions and to put to flight the Armies of the Alians God having given him the Tongue of the Learned to speak a word in season to the Weary and heavy Laden and Wisdom to divide that word aright which he had put in his Mouth to publish in his Name by which he became eminent in his work and service a blessing to Thousands who can bless the Lord on his behalf How great was his Travels in Soul Body and Spirit how unwearied in his Labours and how manifold his Tryals and Sufferings in full is beyond my ability to relate notwithstanding that I knew more thereof then any other living but inasmuch as my now dear Husband hath in his foregoing Testimony in part hinted at them and happily may be added to by some other in or about Bristol where his Labours Travels and Sufferings was exceeding great I shall not much endeavour to under take that work being well satisfied that whether any thing had been related thereof or no it s known to the Lord and lives in the remembrance of Thousands who can testifie to his faithful and effectual Labours in the Word and Gospel in his day and that he counted not his life dear that he might be found in the discharge of a good Conscience in that concern in the sight of God and men who are his living witnesses this day to the praise of the eternal God to whom alone belongs all the Glory for ever He was a man of an exceeding sweet disposition unspeakably loving and tenderly affectionate always ready to lend a helping hand to the weak and needy open-hearted free and near to his Friends deep in the understanding of Heavenly Mysteries willing and able to give advice and counsel to the afflicted and bowed down with whom he alwayes did sympathize in their sufferings he was abundantly filled with Love and endeared kindness to all his Brethren and fellow Labourers in the Gospel and had an honorable esteem of the least that was faithful in that work and his life was bound up in the unity and fellowship of the Spirit with them whatever would in the least appear to break that bond amongst Friends he was sharpe in the Authority of Truth against to judge the same He was greatly beloved and highly esteemed of in the Lord for his works sake notwithstanding not lifted up thereby but preserved in great humility and lamb-like lowliness never seeking to Lord over Gods Heritage but to serve the least for the Gospels sake always detesting self exaltation in whom soever it appeared His Body and outward Strength was much spent through his great Labours for several Years before the Feaver took him of which he dyed so that he under-went many wearisome nights through the exercise of a most violent Cough though he bore it with unspeakable patience and contentedness In the time of his sickness which was sharp and strong upon him after the Feaver took him so that his Sleep was taken from him for several days and nights yet he bore it also with wonderful Patience being always of an exceeding cheerful Spirit Friends daily coming to visit him in abundance from several parts he was often drawn forth in a living sweet Testimony the Lords Power and Life living with him to the great refreshment and tendering of the Hearts of many he was also exceedingly filled with the high Praises of God being as one overcome and ravished in the sence of Gods Love Joy and Peace everlasting When he grew weak he would be helped up upon his Knees and upon his bed sweetly supplicate the Lord in the behalf of Friends present and all the Lords Flock and Heritage every where that they might be preserved in his powerful Truth and out of the evil of the World and that his Truth and Gospel might be more and more spread and published to the gathering of all that appertain to Israel He was greatly afficted in the sence of my Sorrow occasioned by his great weakness which I saw daily to encrease upon him lamenting my desolate ondition to be left so Big with Child as that I was within a few dayes after his Death delivered and therefore did very wisely and tenderly comfort me withal desiring me to give him up freely ro the disposing of the Lord whose he was and enjoyed his pure peace And although it was hard to part with so dear and beleved a Husband yet the Lord strengthened me and I seeing the extremity of his Distemper to be exceeding heavy upon him and to encrease I was made willing to go to him and freely recommend him into the Hands of the Eternal Living God to dispose of him according to his divine Pleasure and unsearchable Wisdom and Counsel whether Life or Death the which added to his ease and my peace in true submission to the Will of the Lord so his Body daily weakning and his Distemper prevailing he notwithstanding being mostly kept sensible to the last continuing in Prayer and Praising the Lord often and again recommending me and his Daughter then living whom he dearly loved into the keeping of his God with Supplication that he would be an Husband to his desolate Widow a Father to his Fatherless Children he sweetly fell on sleep and finished his Course the year time by my now Husband before set down being passed into the fulness of eternal Joy which his Eye was only to and his Soul breathed for more then length of days in the enjoyment of the World or its Riches Glory Glory and eternal Praises to the Lord for ever and for evermore Amen How hard it was and how great a loss to part with so dear and tender an Husband as he was to me it being always I can truely say his joy and delight to add to my ease good and content every way especially my estate and condition being considered is far beyond what I can express the dolour of my Heart my Tongue or Pen is not able to declare yet in this I contented my self that it was the Will of the Lord and that he was taken from the evil and freed from his manifold exercises and that my loss though great was not to be compared to his eternal gain being entered into that everlasting and blessed rest with the Lord prepared in the Heavens for all the faithful Followers of the Lamb through the many Tribulations where being freed from all Pain and Sorrow and Tears being wiped away shall for ever Praise the Lord upon mount Sion Great was his joy in the prosperity of the Work of the Lord in the Hands of his Servants called thereto and who were faithful therein his Soul honoured for their
our Ministry begotten into a lively hope in Christ Jesus by the immortal Seed of the Word of God and ye are our Witnesses that we seek not our selves but you nor our own good but the Glory of our God and the recovery of his own Image and the freedom of the Righteous that the Name of our God may be exalted and that he may reign over all and have Dominion in every one of you that you may witness your Head exalted dwell in the pure eternal Light of Christ Jesus which doth discover and make manifest all the deeds of darkness and lays open all deceit and brings it to the righteous Law of God and so condemns Sin in the Flesh and sets up judgment in the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof learn righteousness and when this is witnessed the Oppressor is cast out and the Vail is rent and the bonds of Iniquity is broken and the Serpents Head is bruised and the Seed of the Woman raised which all the Promises of God are yea and Amen unto yea and he fetches up out of time into the beginning before Sin was and leads up into eternity where time shall be no more and therefore dear Hearts all wait in that which you have received the Light which comes from Christ that by it you may come to injoy the pure Life and have Power over all your Enemies for as many as receive him to them he gives power to become the Sons of God and gives them victory over the World to tread and to trample upon it and therefore all of you dwell low and in the pure fear of the Lord abide and in his Counsel stand and be faithful in what you know and imp ove it to the glory of the immortal God that you may be the good Servants and enter into the Joy of your Lord and as you dwell low in meekness and in the pure Fear there you will find the Lord present teaching you and leading you gently by the Hand and open unto you a door of hope and the fresh springs will be opened and the thirsty Land will be refreshed and so you will come to witness the spring time after the Winter be past and the Roses to bud and the Flowers to cast a sweet smel upon the Earth but this is to you my little Ones who is come and coming through the Sword which cuts down the earthly man of Sin it is to you who witness great Tribulation who knows the Day of the Lord to be a day of darkness and not Light and that it is a day that will and doth burn up all the wicked as Stubble and scatter them as the Wind scatters the Chaff and his is the Figure and they who are wicked may read their Portion for the Childrens Bread must not the Dogs have but unto you that fear the Name of the Lord shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing under his Wings and the Secrets of the Lord will be revealed unto you and you shall want no manner of thing that is good as you abide in his Fear and stand in his Will in the daily Cross which Crucifies the Earthly man and works out that nature which hath Crucified the Just and Righteous One and so as you dwell and are faithful to the Light you come to injoy the Life and grow up in the Life and the pure Eye will be more opened in you by which the Enemy the Tempter will be seen and now you had need to stand upon your watch for the Devil like a roaring Lyon will seek to devour you and Pharaoh will pursue you as you come from under his kingdom and dominion and therefore what I say unto one I say unto all watch and be sober stand with your armour on the whole Armour of God by which you may be able to drive back all the fiery Darts of the Enemy and have Oyl in your Lamps burning continually and all who have desires after the Lord whose minds is convinced of the Eternal Truth in that which doth convince you dwell and wait for the Power of the Lord to shake the Earth and rent the Rocks and melt the Mountains and remove the Earth out of its place and the Heart to purge and cleanse and make a place of holiness of the Lord of Hosts to dwell in and when the Lord comes this to do in you dwell in and love judgment that so Sion may be set free And so all dear Hearts wait in your Measures which you have received of the Lord and in them be faithful that so you may increase in the increases of God and have dominion over all the Beast of the Field and the Fowles of the Aire and Fishes in the Sea and over all unclean Spirits and be kept pure in your places that so the Lord God may dwell amongst you and delight to do you good So the Eternal Everlasting Love of God keep you all and preserve you pure in your Measures that he alone may be glorified and exalted over all to reign in you and that all that oppress him and his Goverment in you may be destroyed and this is the desire and prayer to God for you of us who dearly loves you who desires nothing but that the Lord may be Glorified in you and by you so fare you all well and the God of Power keep you now and evermore Amen Yours in the Bond of Love which cannot be broken from its own Image This is to all who love the the Lord Jesus Christ in Truth and sincerity at and about Bristol and Aulston to be read amongst you all our dear Ones John Camm John Camm's Letter to Friends in Bristol from Preston Patraick in Westmorland LOving Friends of Bristol and all round about who are faithful in your Measures and with the prosperity of Sion I have writ a Letter to be read amongst you all and that you may read it within your selves and witness it and with that I have union which witnesseth it in Life but with that which is in Knowledge and Comprehension without Life I have no union but by that which I have union with shall it be judged and condemned for it shall try all and condemn all that is not of it self but acted in the earthly Wisdom and it will not stand in the presence of the Lord who is pure and all shadows shall fly before him and therefore in the the substance dwell which comprehends the shadows and so I bid you all farewel J. C. DEarly beloved Friends in our Head the Lord Jesus Christ doth my Soul Salute you all who are faithful in your Measures and obedient to the Light of Christ Jesus which is made manifest in you which being faithful in will lead you up to Christ your Head to exalt him over all in you all that he may reign whose right it is in you and that his Scepter of Righteousness maybe swayed in you and the strong man armed may be bound and spoilled
separated John Audland DEar and well-beloved Friends in the pure Love Life and Unity of the Spirit do I Salute you and Greet you in the Unity of the Spirit am I with you present and our fellowship doth endure forever walking in the Spirit and keeping the Unity of the Spirit then are we present in the Spirit But who walk after the Flesh and live in the Flesh and to the Flesh such are not present in the Spirit who lives not in the Spirit and all such Fruits will dye and wither and fade away Now my dear Friends in love and life wait in your Measure of the Spirit that you may profit and grow up in the Spirit which is pure and purifies and leads up into Purity and Holiness and Righteousness in which stands the Kingdom of God and nothing that is unrighteous can enter into that Kingdom which stands in Righteousness where the Lamb dwells who is the Light of the Holy City which is the Habitation of the Righteous where the Throne of the Lamb is exalted all Crowns cast down and the Lamb alone Reigns and they who follow him whose Garments are washed who have come thorow Tribulation who stands before the Throne singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb who are redeemed from among men Glory Glory for evermore unto him who Reigns over all who is the faithful witness who was dead and is alive and lives for evermore out of whose Mouth proceeds the two edged Sword which cuts and divides which is as a Fire and as a Hammer by which Sword the wicked is slain and none that defiles can escape it for it turns every way to keep the tree of Life and none have right to eat of the Tree of Life but they that enter in at the strait Gate and stands pure before the Throne of the Lamb from his Throne proceeds the River of living Waters where the Hungry Thirsty are refreshed and satisfied and by it the righteous man is planted his fruit shall never wither nor his leaf shall never fade but shall be as a fruitful Branch abiding in the Vine and growing in the Vine Oh my dear Friends abide and continue in that which hath called you and prize the Love of God never let his Benefits go out of your Minds dwell low and single in the Fear of God that you may be kept open and tender in Love and Unity to grow together and there am I with you in Bowels of love and tenderness God is my witness my heart Burns within me to you and my Life reacheth to the Life in you and I have great breathings in my Spirit to the Lord for you Oh let me be refreshed in your growth my well-beloved Ones in whom my Soul delighteth that we may travel on together and feed together on that which lives for evermore and gives Life for ever more be not weary neither faint in your Journey my dear and precious Ones but wait upon the Lord God and your strength shall be renewed daily and your Life refreshed daily be faithful and abide in the daily Cross of Christ endure it and the Enemies of God will be cut down by it and the residue of the Heathen will be Crucified and Christ alone Reign and all those be cut down that would not have him to Reign such are Enemies to the Cross and their end is Destruction have no fellowship with such I exhort and charge you from the Lord who is arisen in his Power to redeem Sion and to take Vengeance upon all his Enemies I am melted to melt you in pure love and tenderness I am even broken to break you the Searcher and Revealer of all Secrets bears me witness that I lve not and I am charged to charge you to abide in the daily Cross of Christ that the Just may reign that the Living God may be exalted amongst you whose name you bear And therefore what manner of Persons ought you to be Oh I even beseech you that you walk worthy of your calling in Bowels of love My dear and well-beloved Ones you bear the Name of the Living God and his Fame thorow you is spread abroad and the Dread of the Lord God takes hold upon the Heathen and now is the Lord making known his Wonders as ever was in any day his strange Act is he bringing to pass and his Work blessed are your Eyes that see and your Ears that hear and who are not offended at his coming but deny all to follow him that you may be found worthy to believe in him and suffer with him that you may Reign with him for evermore Let it not be a light thing to any amongst you that you bear the Name of the holy One but for his glory by whom you are called and whose Name you bear stand single and abide in the Life and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth that the Heathen may be confounded and scattered who watch against you that they might say where is their God. And now are they gathering together all their Inchanters if so be they might prevail for now the day of their Torment is begun and the Voice of him that hath roared from his holy Place doth pursue them and their can be no hiding place found Terrour Wo and Misery is coming upon all the Inhabitants of the Earth let all Flesh bow and tremble before the Lord his Fire is kindled and his Sword is drawn and his Bow is bent and his Sword shall be made fat with Slain and drunk with the Blood of his Enemies the Sword is doubled that no Flesh may escape from the South to the North Because of the Tidings I am Smitten to Smite the Lion hath roared terrour terrour to all the World the day of Visitation is come the day of Redemption is come the day of Recompence is come the Jealousie of the Lord will burn like Fire and the Word of the Lord is gone forth and by his own Power shall it be fullfiled And the Vials Wrath Judgment Vengeance and the mighty Storm of Hail shall be poured upon the Heathen and who can stand when God doth this And this is his day and by his own Arm shall be performed the Righteous shall shine forever and ever and shall dwell on high their Bread shall be sure their Waters shall not fail the Just God will do Righteously and the Righteous shall not perish with the wicked the Lord hath said it The righteous ones shall be rewarded and shall Inherit the holy Mountain and lie down in the Mountain where the Lion and the Lamb lie down together and the Wrath of the Lamb is as the roaring of the Lion and all who follow the Lamb the Lion goes before them there is your strength my beloved Ones stand stedfast and be faithful and the Lord is with you and no Weapon formed against you shall prevail The mighty Power of the Lord God go along with you to keep you in his pure Power
his hand and power against them that so turn their hand and power against his people for obeying him and exercising their Consciences towards him in waiting upon him and worshipping him according to that which he hath made manifest to them and such will be more inexcusable for persecuting now than the Jews were in former dayes for then the Saints met together and professed the Name of Jesus which the Jews did not say they believed in Besides it was in appearance such a new way and so different to the Law and manner of Worship which the Jews had that they had some seeming colour in their way but now for they that profess the Name of Christ and the Sicrptures of the New-Testament and the Saints Practice and Christ's Commands to be obeyed for these all things considered to persecute people for owning the Commands of Christ for practising the same things which they cannot but read the Saints practised and to hale people and commit them to Prison for meeting in the Name of Jesus to Worship God and to wait upon him yea and to be so far from cherishing such as to act the very parts of them that made havock of the Church and haled out both Men and Women and was exceedingly mad and caused some to Blaspheme and committed to Prison for the same things it doth appear to be great evil and to be even Sin against knowledge against their own Prefession as Christans and cannot be parallel'd with any of the Saints but with the Persecutors who hated and evilly entreated the Servants of the Lord in former Ages who never could accomplish their end though they caused many to suffer and now to put all out of doubt and to give all who opposeth the People of God in the way of God an absolute answer that they shall not be able to accomplish their end and therefore it would be far better to be quiet and to mind the Royal Law of Christ lest they by acting contrary do bring innocent suffering and Blood upon their own Heads and incur God's heavy Yoke of displeasure against them yea and a Fire be kinded in their own Bowels and a Worm which shall not dye and a dart strike through the Heart and Liver and so the end be as bitter as Worm-wood and as sharp as a two edged Sword these are Instruments of War which the Lord hath in his Quiver which is reserved for the Day of Battel when God pleads with all Flesh by Fire and by his Sword when the slain of the Lord shall be many when he will rain Snares upon the wicked Fire and Brimstone and grievous Tempests this is the Potion of their Cup But indeed we do desire the Conversion and Salvation even of our Persecutors and therefore to put all out of doubt as is before said that there is no prevailing against the Lord nor against the Sion of the Holy One in whom the Lord is We say the living God of Heaven and Earth hath made manifest unto us the Way to Life and called us to walk in it and united our Hearts together as many as live in his Power to serve him and to wait upon him and to meet together to Worship him in Spirit and Truth and we are perswaded to obey the Lord and believe in the Lord that he will strengthen us in his Way and Will unto the end For our strength is in the Lord and not of our selves who hath called us to follow him through good report and bad report and not to deny his Way because of sufferings but to endure in patience and let the Lord plead our cause in the Hearts of his Enemies Obj. And if any say Why will you not swear And why will you meet seeing there is a Law against you Ans For these two things we say We dare not disobey the Lord for fear of punishment or suffering outwardly and we meet together in the Name and Fear of the Lord Because the Lord God of Life requireth it of us that we should meet in his Name and Power and wait upon him and edifie one another in his Love and Life and in our Meetings waiting upon the Lord we have the presence of the living God of Life with us and the feeling of the vertue of his Love in our Hearts and he lifts up his Countenance upon us yea and comforteth us by his free Spirit whereby we know and are assured that it is according to the mind and will of the Lord and that he speaks Peace unto us And this being the real Truth let all the honest-hearted judge how we can in Conscience leave that which God requireth of us in obedience to which we have God's presence with us and do that which Man requireth of us contrary to the Truth in observing of which we should fall into Condemnation and feel God's anger and the Testimony of his Spirit against us to judge us which would be greater sufferings in the inward Man then all the outward sufferings which we may meet with for in these being faithful the Lord comforteth our Hearts 2. Again We meet together to wait upon the Lord because we fear the Lord God he hath placed his Fear in our Hearts and we know him to be great and mighty a great King above all Kings and a great God above all God s that is able to do whatsoever he will in Heaven and in Earth and in the Kingdoms of men and we know he is worthy to be Worshipped and to have the Heart given up unto him for he hath Power to change the Heart which Men by all their force cannot do and to give true and lasting Peace which the World can never take away and his Fear being in our Hearts we account him Lord and Ruler in our Consciences and worthy to be obeved in Heart Soul and Spirit And because we fear him more than Man we are bound in Duty to obey him for he hath power over both Soul and Body which Man hath not for Man can but kill the Body he hath not power to kill the Soul neither hath he power to redeem the Soul neither can Man convert the Soul by any force or penalty outwardly therefore Man doth but labour in vain for he can neither kill nor cure the Soul but the Lord whom we fear hath Power and is able to kill and to make alive And because we fear him more than Man therefore we chuse to obey him rather than Man and to meet in God's Fear And this being our Condition let the sober-hearted judge How can we deny the Lord who hath all Power and hath quickned us and redeemed our Souls from Death and go to obey Man contrary to Christ's Doctrine who hath no power over the Soul. Surely as we stand in God's Fear and Counsel we may not do this Evil and Sin against our God. 3. Again we meet together to wait upon the Lord because God hath made it manifest to us and perswaded
Years We say Men are not true Christians by Generation neither by an outward Profession but by an inward Change in the Heart wrought by the Power of God in the Regeneration And so if it be but a few Years in comparison since we or any of us were changed and turned to the Lord yet it was in the time when the Lord was pleased and saw good to visit us and we can truly say it was an acceptable day and time when we were turned from Darkness to the true Light and from the power of Satan to God And we are glad of it and can say Blessed be the Lord for it if it had been but yesterday that any of us were renewed in the Spirit of our minds to God for it is matter of Joy to us that the Lord hath gathered us in our day and time from off the barren Mountains into his Fold to wait upon him and to receive teaching and satisfaction from him This is far more to us to know the Lord changing us in our day and bringing us to know the things that pertain to our everlasting Peace than to have a large Profession of the Saints Words and yet to be out of the Saints Life and out of the way where true Peace and Rest is found to the Soul and so the Lord having manifested his Truth to us and brought us into the Religion in which he manifests his Presence to us we are content to wait in the Will of the Lord and may not forsake our Religion nor the Assembling of our selves together because Man saith to the contrary but walk according to the Gift of God by which only it is that true and faithful Service is performed unto him 4. Again we meet together to wait upon the Lord that our Consciences may be kept clear towards him that we may have the answer of a good Conscience towards God which if we should walk contrary to that which the Lord hath made manifest here would be shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience for so it was formerly if any forsook the Lord and his Truth after they had tasted of his good Word if they fell away from that which they had once known and professed of the Truth and Gospel of Jesus they made shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and then they could not have the answer of a good Conscience neither had they Peace with God and what remained if they continued so but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement and fiery Indignation which will devour And therefore we knowing the preciousness of the answer of a good Conscience towards God do prize it and esteem it as a Jewel of great worth and we may not forsake the Way of the Lord wherein we have the answer of a good Conscience because of outward Force and go into that in which we should suffer Anguish and have a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and a sting in our own Consciences therefore we can put it to all who fear the Lord to judge of if it be not safe for us to abide in the Way of the Lord and to be faithful to him though we may meet with Sufferings in this World. 5. Again we meet together in the Fear of the Lord and own the doctrine of Christ to live in it because we are perswaded in the Fear and Power of the Lord God of Life who is our strength that nothing shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord the Love of God is so Comfortable and his Favours is so refreshing to us and the Testimony of his Spirit is so satisfactory in our Hearts that we are perswaded nothing will be able to separate us our Strength is in the Lord and he is all-sufficient to keep us through all by his mighty Power unto the end waiting upon him and abiding in his Power he is able to save to the uttermost and this were the Saints formerly perswaded off that nothing should be able to separate them from the Love of God and they met with many hardships and were oftentimse cruelly intreated and shamefully handled as the Scriptures declare yet through all the Lord was with his people and comforted their hearts in their following of him and the Love of God abounded to them and in them and they were Conquerors through him that loved them Now if any at that time denyed the Truth for fear of man or any other thing they came to suffer in their hearts and to feel sorrow in their inward man for when iniquity enters into the heart it darkens the understanding and also the creature loseth the sence of the Love of God and if there be not Repentance and a returning unto the Lord Iniquity grows more strong and love grows cold in such and the heart grows worse and worse and is hardned by degrees against the Lord and his people and then there is a separation from the Love of God and the feeling and earnest of sorrow and tribulation upon every one that doth evil therefore we are perswaded that it is safe for us to wait upon the Lord in the way which he hath made manifest unto us that so we may receive the Power to renew our strength that we may walk on in the Path of Life and nothing separate us from the Love of God which we have in Christ Jesus Shall tribulation or affliction or Principalities or Powers separate us from the Love of God Shall force by carnal weapons or Prisons cause us to deny that which God hath made manifest unto us Is there Powers against us Thrones against us well this is safe for us to abide in the counsel of God that we may always feel his Love in our hearts and if we suffer let us suffer here because of our faithfulness to the Lord If we must go to Prison let us stand in the Power of God that his Love and Life blessing and heavenly Presence may be with us Better to suffer outwardly in Prisons and Holes and have the Love and presence of the Lord with us then to disobey the Lord and walk contrary to his gift and so suffer inward anguish and sorrow of heart and some thing separate us from the Love of God and then who can speak peace to us if the Lord speak trouble but if the Lord speak peace it 's no matter though man may speak trouble though the wrath of man may rise high yet he that doth whatsoever he will in Heaven and in Earth he can make it to turn to his Praise and the rest of it he will restrain and blessed are they that have the Lord with them on their side he speaks peace to them in the midst of all his love refresheth our Hearts and so to put all out of doubt we are perswaded in the Power of the Lord that nothing will be able to separate us from the Love which we have in our Saviour and here it
is good to abide and not to give one Foot back to give any ground unto the Enemy but to continue where the Love of God is with us and his blessed Presence with us comforting our Hearts which people do not find with them in disobedience walking and acting contrary to what the Lord hath made manifest to them and so we can put it to the Consciences of all People who have any sence of the Love of God in their Hearts Whether it can be safe for us to forsake the Way of peace and rest which God hath made manifest unto us and in which we have the Love of God with us and to go into a Way by force into which the Spirit of the Lord doth not lead us where we shall find anguish and sorrow and something separating us from the Love of God and where God would not speak peace to us but trouble surely we are perswaded to abide in that which the Lord hath made manifest to us and our faith is in the Power of God that nothing will be able to separate us from the Love of God. 6. Again we are perswaded to continue in the Way of Truth meeting together in the Fear of the Lord to serve him because we find the Lord requireth of us to bear a faithful Testimony and witness to his Name and Truth which he hath made known to us at this day and though man require the contrary and would force us to yeild yet we may not deny the Lord and his Truth but must bear witness to his Name in obedience to his Will for we are not our own but the Lords neither must we serve our selves nor do our own will nor the wills of others whose will is not according to the Will of God but we must serve the Lord and be faithful to him and we see we cannot serve two Masters nor cannot be partakers of the Love of God if we be in the love of the World and fâ—llow after the lusts of it and if we love any thing more than Christ we should not be true Disciples and Followers of him And if it be objected Why cannot you do as men would have you What God knows your Hearts and you may keep yuor Hearts to your selves and conform outwardly for all that It 's answered Nay we cannot because God requireth it of us to bear witness to his Name and Truth and we may not deal doubly or deceitfully in shewing that before men which we are not in our Hearts to God for the People that God hath formed to himself must shew forth his praise And though it be true that God knows the Heart of every one yet lie looks for Fruit also to be brought forth that we may be glorified It is recorded in the Scriptures that there were many occasions sought against Daniel but they could find none against him except it were concerning the Law of his God and they that hated him consulted to get a Decree that none should ask any Petition of God or man for thirty dayes save of the King if he did he was to be cast into the Den of Lyons and the Decree was sealed according to the Law of the Meades and Persians Now it cannot be denied but Daniel might have prayed to God in his heart and his evil-wishers have known little of it but he was taught by the Lord to pray openly and to confess unto him that he was great mighty and powerful And so though the Decree was sealed he as if he regarded it to not went and prayed to his God three times a day upon his knees with his Window open and his face towards Jerusalem and so held forth his Testimony and bore witness to the Lord that he was worthy to be sought unto and that he was not to be limited by an outward Decree though a strong one from praying and calling upon the Name of the Lord and the Lord vvas vvith him and though he suffered the adventure of being cast into the Lyons Den yet the God of Heaven was his Preserver and he held forth a precious Testimony and God was much glorified for it was said yea and proclaimed through many Nations that all should fear and worship the God of Daniel for there was no other God that could save in such sort And also the three Children that would not bow though the King had commanded it that when the Voice of the Musick was heard all should bow to the Image which he had set up yet they would not obey for it was contrary to the Law of their God and great Wrath was against them and the Furnace was very Hot yet the Lord saved them and they bore a precious Testimony to the Lord in Obedience to his Law and the Lord was much Glorified and was proclaimed through many Nations to be the onely and true God and the King himself did praise and honour and extol the God of Heaven all whose Works are Truth and his Wayes Judgement and those who walk in Pride he is able to abase But now if any should say These were Heathen Kings and so not to be obeyed It 's answered They are more excusable therefore than those that in words prosess themselves Christians and own Scriptures and the Saints practice and yet are found persecutthose who live in the Power of the Lord and forcing by pains and penalties not according to but quite contrary to the Practice of the Saints whose Words they profess and are found in the very steps of them who persecuted the Saints and Servants of God as the Scriptures testifie and are so far from the Doctrine of Christ as to forgive Trespasses and to do as they would be done unto and to love Enemies and to pray for them that Persecute them that they do absolutely Trespass against them who give them no just occasion and do to others as they would not be done unto were it their case and let God's Witness judge and doth even hate and cruelly handle their Friends who wish them well from their Hearts and presecute them who pray for them And surely for these things will the Lord Visit and in the mean time we find that the Lord requireth it of us to be faithful to him in what he hath made manifest unto us that we may bear a true Testimony and faithful Witness to the Truth and for the Lord that he may glorifie himself by us for we are not our own but his who hath formed us and called us to follow him And therefore let the wise in Heart judge Can it be safe for us to lose our Testimony and to cease following the Lord and living in that which he hath made known unto us to his mind and will concerning us in which we have the Arm and Power of the Lord with us and him to take our parts and to go to that which he hath not called us unto where we could bear no Testimony for him for he that goes from the Truth
able many times to get on or of his Horse without help through all which the Lord brought him his faith being fixt in his power and his life and whole delight was in the prosperity of Truth and Righteousness in the Earth amongst the Sons of Men. He was a Man that was richly furnished with the gifts of the holy Spirit always patient in his great exercises and weakness of a noble Spirit and exceeding grave in his carriage and deportment profound in judgment and of a quick discerning a sharp reprover of the World and the Wickedness therein as also all deceitful Hypocrites with disorderly walkers who made profession of Truth but walked not according to the Rule thereof Unity of the Brethren was his joy and Souls delight and therefore whatever appeared to break the same his Sword was keen upon to Wound his Ministry was weighty and deep and very powerful not pleasant to the itching Ears that loves smooth words but reached to the witness of God and tended to the refreshment of the Seed of the Kingdom where it was growing and springing up in the Hearts of Gods People also to the weary tossed and afflicted he had often a word in season to their Consolations being very tender over the good in all he had openings and sights of many things to come and he would often say there would come a day of Famine and that in that day many that had made a great shew would but be like the stony Ground or the broken Bow in the day of Battel he would also often say that his other Son my Brother would be an Esau a rough Man and not love the Truth but be a Grief and Exercise to his Mother but she would have Comfort of her other Children all which is fulfilled when he grew near his end his weakness encreasing he had great joy as he always had in the company of Friends that were faithful of which many came to visit him and many times he would have been wonderfully opened with the Power of the Lord and overcome with the sence of his Love and Peace and a fresh Testimony thereof he would often bear to the great refreshment of Friends and his Family when he lay in great weakness upon his Bed. His great care in all his Travels was that the Gospel of Christ which he had to publish might be without charge for all he had or enjoyed of outward things was freely given up to the Service of Truth so that he was willing to lay out part of the same in his Travels also his Heart and House was open to entertain all Friends that came in Truths Service having a great Comfort therein he was a pattern of faithfulness in suffering for Truth 's Testimony though never much in Prison yet his Goods were often spoiled or taken away which he suffered joyfully in Truth 's Testimony against Tythes in which Testimony and all other relating to Truth he was ever firm and never shrunk in the least his frequent Exhortations was to all Friends and his Family to be valiant and noble for Truth and to keep their Faith in God's power and never to look out or consult with the Wisdom of the World. He did often call his Children and Family together and exhort them with much fervency of Spirit to fear the Lord and walk in holiness of Life as becomes the Gospel that they had believed in and would often pray to the Lord for us and bless us in his Name some Months before he died he would often call for me to be with him for he loved me entirely and it was my joy and delight to serve and obey him in all things and many times he would wonderfully extol the Name of the Lord and praise him for his goodness and great mercy counting his bodily weakness a happiness being sanctified unto him by that Word eternal which had sanctified his Soul and made him an honourable Vessel to the praise of his God under the sence of which he would say How great a benefit do I enjoy beyond many who have such a large time of preparation for Death being dying daily that I may live for ever with my God in that Kingdom that 's unspeakably full of glory my outward Man daily wasts and moulders down and draws towards its place and center but my inward Man revives mounts upward towards its Place and Habitation in the Heavens in the sence whereof his Soul would often wonderfully magnifie the Lord. That very Morning that he departed this Transitory Life he called my Mother the Children and Family unto him gave us many good and seasonable Instructions to fear the Lord love his Way and Truth and walk in it with upright Hearts charging us to be kind and loving one unto another telling us that his Glass was run the time of his Departure was come he was to enter into everlasting Ease Joy and Rest charging us all to be patient and content with our parting with him as to the outward and so presently fainting passed quietly away into a sweet Sleep whereupon we were all so overcome with Sorrow and Weeping some of us aloud as one out of Sleep he was again a wakened and desired to be a little help'd up in his Bed speaking to this effect My dear Hearts you have wronged me and disturbed me for I was at sweet Rest you should not so Passionately sorrow for my departure this House of Earth and Clay must go to its place but this Soul and Spirit was to be gathered up to the Lord to live with him forever where we should meet with everlasting Joy so again taking his leave of every one of us and charging us to be content with his Departure lay down and we being troubled and reflecting upon our selves for the disturbance we had given him through our Impatience endeavoured Contentedness and in a little time he departed as to the outward but lives with us in the Spirit and being Dead his Life Preaches and is a sweet savour to the Lord and his People His Distemper was a Cough and Consumption And he departed this Life in 1665. being the seventh day of the Week and the next day was his Body laid in Friends Burying Place at Birk-rigg-Park he being the first that was Buried in that Place John Audland was Born in the same County not above a Mile from Camsgil his Parents and Kindred of good Repute who when he was but a Child was of a very ripe and quick wit of Understanding and Apprehension though somewhat inclineable to youthful Play execept which never addicted to any Vice about the Age of seventeen or eighteen Years the Lord inclined his Heart to Sobriety and reading the holy Scriptures and to be very Religious in what was then manifested so that he chose the Company and Society of the best and most Religious in that day and having a large Understanding and great Memory he became able in the Knowledge of the Scriptures and could
aforesaid burying place at Birkrigge-Park And although the departure hence of these two faithful Brethren and true Labourers in the Lords Work whose presence with and Labours amongst us was comfortable and joyous may be loss to me and many others yet in this we are satisfied that its their gain being freed from their Labours and their Works follow them and that they are entered into the Kingdom of eternall Glory where thev shall live to Magnifie the Lord World without End. Amen And though their outward Bodies be gone to the dust and therefore their bodily presence we are deprived of yet their Spirits are enjoyed and their lives are amongst us and Preaches and their Names and remembrance is and shall be a sweet Memorial and good Savour to Ages and Generations to come being numbred amongst the Lord's Worthies and the Valiants of his Israel who never turned their Backs of their Enemies neither fainted in their greatest exercises but their Bows like Josephs always abode in strength being helped by the Mighty God of Jacob before whom all Nations is but as the drop of a Bucket or the small Dust of the Ballance whose Breath doth slay the wicked and his right hand doth crush his Enemies and his blessed Work begun he hath determined to Prosper since he will finish and put an utter end to transgression that he may reveal bring in and establish his everlasting Righteousness and cover the Earth with his Truth as with a Garment and the Kingdoms of this World must become the Kingdom of the Lord and his Christ whose right it is to reign and will reign when he hath overturned and overturned till his Scepter be lifted up over all and his Government be extended from Sea to Sea and from one end of the Earth to the other and his Sion be beautified with Salvation and Jerusalem become the praise of the whole Earth even thus exalt thy name O God saith my Soul from hence-forth and for ever more That the Righteous may sing of thy Praise and tell of thy Wonderous Works and extol thy Holy Name and Power over all to reign and rule World without end Amen From Apleby Goal the place of my present confinement for the Testimony of Jesus This 14th of the 12th Month 1680. Thomas Camm The Testimony of Ann Camm concerning John Audland her late Husband deceased COncerning my dear Husband John Audland deceased I am under Obligation to bear this following Testimony as one that had the advantage beyond all others to know as well his Qualifications endowments and Gifts given him of God whether Spiritual or Temporal as also his great Labours and Travels in that blessed work and service of the Lord his Truth and People that he was in the Morning of the day called unto and preserved in in all fidelity and faithfulness to the spending of his natural strength to the end of his days and finishing of his Course here in order to be swallowed up in eternal Joy for evermore The eternal God who by his Providence joyned us together in Marriage in our young days in his blessed Counsel also caused his day to spring from on high upon us in the marvelous Light and bright shining whereof he revealed his Son Christ in us and gave us Faith to believe in him the eternal Word of Life by which our Souls came to be quickned and made alive in him and also in and by the quickning Power of his holy Power we were made one in a Spiritual and Heavenly relation our hearts being knit together in the unspeakable love of Truth which was our Life Joy and Delight and made our days together exceeding comfortable as being that whereby all our temporal enjoyments were sanctified and made a blessing unto us How exceeding dear and kindly affectionate Husband he was to me I am far short in ability to declare but in a word shall say that I believe few ever enjoyed a greater blessing in a Husband then I in him and notwithstanding that I loved his company and the enjoyment of him with me above all the World yet nevertheless in submission to the Will of God whose chosen Vessel he was and also in respect to the honourable Service of Truth and the publication thereof which he was called unto I could freely give him up as to be separated from in the outward a great part of our time after we were convinced of Gods blessed Truth and made living Witnesses of the vertuous Life and powerful Operation thereof as in this our day gloriously made known to the everlasting joy of our immortal Souls But before this blessed work came to be effected great was the warfare and inward exercise that my dear Husband underwent under the chastizing Hand of the Lord and the Spirit of Judgment and of burning that was at work in his inward parts in order to sanctifie him for the Lords own use and service for when the Lords blessed and honorable day Broke upon him he was high in Notion and Profession imagining that he had been filled with durable Riches and Wisdom but in the Light of this day he saw the emptiness of it all while he wanted the Substance Life in the eternal Word and by the same to be sanctified throughout Therefore under the sence of this great want many and great were his Sighs and Groans and his Tears not a few Days and Nights of Sorrow many a one he underwent the Word and Power of the Lord being as a Fire revealed within him to burn the great building that he had been erecting and setting up of Hay Wood and Stuubble and in this exercise I also had a share with him and in great Lamentation I have heard him often Sorrowfully say Ah! what have we been doing what have we been labouring for or what availeth our great Profession all our building tumbles down our Profession is high as the Wind the Day of the Lord is upon it and his Word as a Fire consumes it as dry Stubble and put 's an end unto all empty Professions and high Notions without Life or Substance to all the Wisdom of fallen man we must forsake the World and all its glory it s all but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit 't is a Saviour that I long for 't is him that my Soul pants after Oh! that I may be comprehended into his Life and over-shadowed with his Glory sanctified throughout by his Word and raised up by his eternal Power To this effect did his Soul often Travel before the Lord and the Lord who had called him for the purpose of his own Glory was nor unmindful of him but had regard to his blessed work begun to prosper the same that so out of the Furnace of Affliction a pure and clean Vessel might be brought forth And then the Lord plentifully poured upon him of his holy Spirit filling him with all Wisdom and Power to publish and proclaim his everlasting Gospel and to bring Glad-tidings to the poor the Day
and the voice of a Stranger And by the Spirit of the living God are we gathered up together up to God to worship him in Spirit and in Truth and are of one Heart and of one Mind and of one Soul and have all one Teachers and peak all one thing And we being all taught of the Lord are far from Oppression though we be Oppressed and for the Truths sake was I moved of the Lord to lay this before thee that our Conditions may be known that the Truth may not suffer under the reproach of the Heathen who live after the Flesh and Persecute them who live after the Spirit A word more to clear thy mistake when we spoke unto thee that the Lord would make thee an Instrument in his Hand to establish the Gospel wherein thou apprehendest us that should be established by an outward Law that was not our desire nor we spoke no such thing but we witness the coming of Christ in his Kingdom is not by Might nor Power nor Pomp nor Glory from without nor by any Law which is in the will of Man but our desires were that there should be no Law upon Religion for it needs no Law to defend it for pure Religion and undefiled is this to loose the bands of Wickedness and set the Oppressed free and take off every Yoke And where pure Religion is exercised this is the Fruits and if thou be guided by the pure Light of God shining in thy Conscience and the righteous Law set up in thy Heart and the Spirit of God thy Teacher then there need none â—â— desire thee to take away those Laws that ensnare tender Consciences and so they who pretend Conscience and are not guided by the pure Law of God will be seen by those who dwell in the Spirit to have erroneous Consciences and so this Law will take hold of them and the righteous Law is upon the Transgressor and limits the carnal Mind and fleshly Will but doth not limit the Spirit but is at Unity with it And therefore Friend to thy Conscience I speak and witness this to be true in the Presence of God that as thou art guided by this pure Light in thy Conscience and this Law of the Spirit set up in thy Heart thou canst not deny us for we are none of those which dispise Government and defile the Flesh who pull down others to set up themselves but all unfruitful works of darkness we deny and seek to advance the Government of Jesus Christ alone and love all and have unity with all who are here and honour all Men in the Lord and have fellowship with those whose Conversation is as becomes the Gospel of Christ and they who Rule and Live here cannot suffer any outward Law to take hold on us who stand in obedience to the Commands of Christ for there is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord sets free and commands obedience take heed how thou suffer any Law to limit that Spirit for they who are brought into the obedience of the Spirit are dear unto him as the Apple of his Eye and his care is over them and the Lord will free them from their Oppressors And thus were we pressed in Spirit to lay before thee our conditions and the conditions of our Brethren who are gathered into the eternal Unity where there is no Rent nor Schism that thou might not be ignorant of those things and to shew thee that our desire is not for any outward thing or self-advancing for all self we deny for we came contrary to our own will and we declare this unto thee contrary to our own will and if thou stand not in thy own will thou wilt hear us and own us in advancing the Lord Jesus Christ upon the holy-Hill of Sion that the Law might go out of Sion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and this we wait to see accomplished and his promise fulfilled in those who govern the Nations that the Kingdoms of the World may become the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ And thus we have laid our selves naked before thee in the Presence of God and cleared our Consciences to thee and leave it to that which is pure in thy Conscience to judge Take heed for he that is in high Places is subject to many Temptations This I was moved of the Lord to Write unto thee who is a Servant of the Lord and a lover of thy Soul called John Camm For E. V. and the rest of the Flock of God in and about Banbury DEarly beloved Friends and Brethren in the eternal everlasting Covenant of Love and Life doth my Soul dearly salute you all who in your Measures keep in the same Love and Life and grows up in your stature which is well pleasing to God Oh my dear Hearts in the Life and Power of God which casts down Sin and slayes the enmity and gives you Victory and Dominion over the World which keeps you and preserves in the hour of Temptation which shall come upon all men upon the Earth to try them but you abiding in the pure Eternal living Measure of God dwelling in his Life and Power which is your Rock and hiding place shall be kept out of the same which the Enemy hath laid to take your Souls and here is your safe dwelling place so the Lord God of Power in his Life and Power keep you all in your dwelling place which is the Lord that with the Measure of him you may be guided which leads up into the Land of Righteousness into the Holy City where the uncircumcised and the careless and disobedient cannot come so with Bowels of dear and tender love unto you all who are Children of my Father and kept in his work I bid you farewel in the Lord and in him I am your dear brother for evermore John Camm My Wife and little Thomas dearly salutes you who are faithful in your places farewel As for my outward health it is much like as it was I grow weaker in the outward man but in the Lord is my strength and my support continually Glory and pure Praises be unto him for evermore Amen J. C. John Camm's Letter the 5th day of the 11th Month 1654. to Friends DEarly beloved in our Head and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ our dear love in him Salutes you all yea truly the same love runs out unto you all who wait upon the Lord and abide in your Measures that we are loved with all of our Father and we are your Epistles written in your Hearts not with Pen and Ink but with the Spirit of the Living God and then you who are guided by the Light which comes from Christ Jesus may read us daily and truly you are dear and precious unto us as you abide and dwell in your Measures yea truly ye are our very Lines and the Seal of
you in the Blood of his Son and made you a kind of first Fruits unto God to walk up to the Praise and Glory of his Name who hath called you where your strength and rest is forever And therefore all dear Brethern and Sisters in the Eternal Covenant of Life stand fast unmoveable unshaken in the Rock of Ages which never changes but abides for evermore there is your Shield and there is your Refuge there is your Castle where the Enemy cannot storm you nor the wild Beasts devour you in the living Measure of the living God where the living is refreshed with the fresh Streams which flows out from the Eternal Fountain of Love which refresheth the City of God which City you are as you abide in your Measures for you are the Temples of the Holy Ghost but if any Man defile his Temple him will God destroy for no unclean thing can dwell with him And therefore I exhort you all that you be faithful to the Measure of Light which is pure it being the guide of your minds will lead you out of all impurity and uncleanness for he that is the Light is the Messenger of the Covenant and by his Light shining in you he is come into his Temple to sit as a Refiner and as a Fuller to purifie the Sons of Levi. Now the Light which comes from Christ Jesus being the guide of all your minds leads you up into Unity with him from whence the Light comes and there we are one for evermore and cannot be separated Now the Light shining in the Conscience it maks manifest all the dark ways and rips up Man and discovers all deceit and judges it so that which lies betwixt the Light which shines in the Conscience and the Soul comes to be judged and cast out and so the dead comes to hear the Voice and the Graves comes to be opened and the quickning Spirit to be witnessed and the Light and the Soul comes to be joyned and here the Lord comes to be praised by the living for its the living that praises him for the dead and they that go down into the Pit cannot praise him and all they who are in death who knows not Redemption by the Light to them this is a Mystery and the sealed Book that neither the Learned nor unlearned can read in the disobedient and dark nature which is shut out from God forever but to you who follow the Lamb in the Regeneration through the Tribulation this to you is unsealed and you are made witnesses of the Sufferings and Death and Resurrection of Christ in you which is the hope of your Glory and to you it is given to know the Mysteries but to others it is a Parable and must not be revealed to them for blessed be the Name of the Lord it cannot be known but in the pure Life as it s lived in and here the wisdom of the wise is confounded and the Counsel of the Prudent is brought to nought by the Eternal Counsel and Wisdom of our God Glory to his Name for evermore And now my dear Brethren and Sisters as one with you in the Eternal Covenant of Life according to the Measure of Grace received from God I write unto you as a Brother and a Servant of the living God having received the like precious faith with you I say I write unto you to stir up your pure minds or to put you in remembrance of the Grace of God to you as one who desires the good of your Souls as my own and the recovery of the Image of God and am a Sufferer with you for the Seeds sake but waits in Patience until the day of deliverance of it from the bondage of Captivity which the Lord is bringing to pass in this his day of Power and now Death and Hell must give up their Dead for Death is now come to be swallowed up of Victory and all who abide faithful to the end shall witness the Sting of Death taken away the which in measure I witness and now wait ready to be offered up being in weakness of the outward Body but in much peace and quiet in the inward praised be the Lord forever and not knowing that I shall ever see your Faces any more in the outward but steadfastly believes to meet you and to be joyned to you in the Unity of the Body whereof Christ Jesus is our Head where the Bond of peace and love is kept and where all Sorrows and Troubles is done away and for this cause was I moved to write unto you these few Lines as an Epistle to be read and witnessed in the Hearts where you may read me continually in the Measure of God which is but one in which we own know and read one another where the World knows us not And now to the Lord God and to the Word of his Grace I commit you which is able to keep you and preserve you pure and spotless and undefiled and will present you blameless unto the Lord if you abide in it and will give you an inheritance amongst them that are Sanctified and therefore be faithful unto the end for he that endures unto the end shall be saved but he that turns back my Soul taketh no pleasure in him saith the Lord and therefore bold and valient be for the Truth upon Earth following the Captain of our Salvation Christ Jesus the high Priest of our Profession who endured the Cross and despised the shame and sate down at the right Hand of God the Father forever and hath led Captivity Captive and hath given to us the Comforter the Spirit of Truth which the World cannot receive but leads us into all Truth who are giuded by it and is the Worlds condemnation This lay upon me to write unto you being weak upon my Bed in Compassion and love to all your Souls who desires the Growth of every Plant of my Heavenly Fathers planting that they may bring forth Fruit to the Glory of his Grace for herein is he glorified that ye bring forth much Fruit So in the Eternal unchangable ever living and never failing Love of God in that I bid you all farewel And in that am I knit and united unto you and death cannot be able to separate us for in that Love there is Union for evermore and so I subscribe yours in that and known to the World by the Name John Camm This was given forth at Bristol when he lay in great weakness upon his Bed on the Year 1665. John Audlands and John Cam's Letters To all dear Friends who love the Light in about Bristol Dear Friends YOu whose minds are turned towards God by the pure Light of God to wait upon the Lord in his Fear Grace Mercy and Peace from God be multiplyed in you and amongst you that you may grow and abound in the pure Life of God growing up every one of you in particular in your own measure having your minds stayed upon the Lord to
and Life for evermore in which Power and Life I am with you bound up and sealed and continues forever to be your dear Brother in the Unity of the Spirit and in the Bond of Peace And Grace Mercy Peace Love and Unity from the Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied in you and amongst you and the God of Power Peace and Love keep you pure and single and preserve you for evermore Moved of the Lord farewell Your Dear Brother in that which never changeth John Audland John Audland's Letter c. DEarly beloved ones in the Lord Jesus Christ Grace Mercy and Peace from God be multiplied to you and in you you my dear ones whom my Life reacheth out unto with whom I am present in the eternal Spirit of the living God in the pure eternal Love and Life of God do I Salute you and greet you as with a holy Kiss the Love of God which is shed abroad in my heart runs forth freely to you Lambs of God Babes of God to you my Life doth reach Little Children who are begotten to a lively hope by the Resurrection of the Dead to you I write from the pure Life to the stiring up of your pure minds that in the pure mind you may abide in the lively hope quietly to wait for the Revelation of the Son of God in you which is ready to be revealed now in the last time that you may witness him the sâ—eond time without Sin unto Salvation who comes to condemn Sin in the Flesh who is now making himself manifest to take away Sin that you may witness him without Sin the Lamb without Spot who takes away Sin to know him and be in him without which there is no knowledg of him and to abide in him who gives an understanding to know him which is eternal Life this to witness to you this is the Word of the Lord little Children that you may wait as new born Babes to be fed with the sincere Milk of the Word that by it you may grow up into him and in him who is the Word which reconcileth to God which Hammers down all deceit which burns up all the dross which treads down all the wicked under his Feet whose Vesture is dipt in Blood who treads the Wine Press whose Arm alone brings Salvation to this People whose Name is called the Word of God which Word doth divide and separate betwixt the precious and the vile which Word is nigh you in your Hearts and in your Mouths abide in it and wait upon it and take counsel at it continually as at the Oracle of God by which hearing comes and faith comes which gives the victory over the World and leads you to deny the World little Children Heirs of another World so in that continue which hath turned your minds from the World towards God from the Darkness to the Light which leads up to Christ from the World and guides unto God and keeps in the way to eternal Inheritance which never fades that through many tribulations you may see the entrance into the Kingdom where the World is overcome and he raigns who overcomes the World so abiding in him you abide in peace out of the World where there is trouble and there is your reward verily my dear ones all the sufferings of this present World is not worthy to be named with the Glory that is revealed at the revelation of the Son of God so in the Light abide which leads up to the perfect Day and walk as Children of the Day redeeming your time and prising your time the large Love of the Lord and his benefits may never slip out of your minds so in the presence of the Lord do I exhort you my beloved ones in the Lord and charge you to abide in him that you may grow up in the Unity of the Spirit and keep the Unity that which goes out breaks the Unity and to you this is the Word of God little Children Your Brother in the unchangable Love in the eternal Vnity of the Spirit John Audland The 28th day of the 8th Month 1654. A Letter sent unto Charles Marshall by John Audland 1654. I am moved to write unto thee to stand still in the Light which shows thee thy wretched state by that Light thou comest to see thy self where thou art and how thou hast spent thy time thy knowledge of God and profession of God now comes to wither that which thou hast gathered without perisheth and stands thee in no stead Now in that that shows thee thy condition wait that the judgment of the Lord may be made manifest in thee upon the head of the wicked and through judgment Sion may be set free Abide in that which is the condemnation of all that 's wicked both within thee and without thee start not aside from the judgments of the Lord for his judgments are righteous and all his ways are equal if thou art brought as low as Hell yea if thou come to say there is no hope let Patience have her perfect work in thee and stand still and see the Salvation of God and a way will be made beyond thy understanding for the deliverance of the oppressed for the freedom of his chosen for the bringing of the Prisoner out of the Prison-House Now Friend from the Lord do I speak unto thee to wait in the Light that shews thee thy condition that thou mayst know one of the Days of the Son of Man which came not to send peace on the Earth but a Sword and to kindle a Fire and thou wilt love to know his judgments he comes to shut and to open thy right Eye must be pluckt out and that Eye opened which the Prince of the Air hath blinded in the Chrildren of disobedience Abide in that which judgeth do not labour to get peace to that that 's now wounded that the Judgments of the Lord may pass through the Earth and the Serpents head come to be bruised and the promise of God be made manifest unto the seed and through judgment the door of Mercy comes to be opened Judgment upon the unjust is mercy to the just which hath been oppressed by the unjust And to thee this is the Word of the Lord he that comes to the Worlds end comes to his Wits end before that World be known which never shall have end and that fruitful Field must become a barren Wilderness and the pure Plant of Gods own planting must spring out of a barren Ground so in the Light which is of God by which thou seest thy condition stand and wait for the Power of the living God to be made manifest in thee that that which hath been high might be brought low and that of low degree exalted and to thee this is the Word of the Lord to that in thy Conscience I speak by which Light thou now standest condemned by which Light all that walk in it are justified and led up to God and the precious seperated
from the vile all the wicked cast out and the elected alone obtains the Kingdom So the mighty God of Power direct thee and open thy understanding that in his Light thou mayst come to see Light and by the powerful Word may be stripped of all and suffer the loss of all that God alone may be exalted By one who hath suffered the loss of all and through Death is passed unto Life J. A. A Letter sent unto John Audland by his Wife 1654. DEar Brother dearer to me then ever My love flows out to thee even the same love that I am loved withal of my Father in that love Salute me to all my Friends for dear you are all unto me my life is much refreshed in hearing from you I received thy Letters and all my Soul desireth is to hear from thee in the life dear Heart in Life dwell there I am with thee out of all time out of all Words in the pure Power of the Lord there is my joy and strength O! How am I refreshed to hear from thee to hear of thy faithfulness and boldness in the Work of the Lord O! Dear Heart I cannot utter the joy I have concerning thee thy presence I have continually in Spirit therewith am I filled with joy all glory and honour be to our God forever O! blessed be the Day in which thou waft born that thou art found worthy to labour in the work of the Lord surely the Lord hath found thee faithful in a little therefore he hath committed much unto thee go on in the Name and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ from whence all strength cometh to whom be all glory and honour forever O! dear Heart go on conquering and to conquer knowing this that thy Crown is sure So dear Heart now is the time of the Lords Work and few are willing to go forth into it all the whole World lieth in wickedness doing their own work but blessed be the Lord forever who hath called us from doing our own work into his great work O! Marvellous are his Works and his Wayes past finding out O! Dear Heart thou knowest my Heart thou mayst read dayly how that I rejoyce in nothing more than in thy prosperity in the Work of the Lord Oh! It is past my utterance to express the joy I have for thee I am full I am full of love towards thee never such love as this the Mighty Power of the Lord go along with thee and keep thee faithful and valient and bold in his pure Counsel to stand single out of all the World. Oh! Dear Heart all my love to thee is purer then Gold seven times purified in the Fire Oh! pure is he that hath loved us therefore let Purity and Holiness cover us for ever a joyful word it was to me to hear that thou wast moved to go for Bristol Oh! my own Heart my own life in that which now stands act and obey that thou mayst stand upon thy alone Guard so dear Heart let thy Prayers be for me that I may be kept pure out of all Temptations singly to dwell in the Life So fare well Ann Andland John Audlands Letter from Citsester to Friends at Bristol the 26th of the 10th Month 1654. Dear Friends LAmbs and Babes of the most high God who are turned from the ways and vanities of the World and who are brought to wait upon the Lord in patience and singleness being begotten to a lively Hope by the Resurrection of the Dead Grace Mercy and Peace from God be multiplied in you and among you that you may grow up in the eternal Unity and fellowship of the Spirit to walk in the Spirit and to worship God in Spirit and by it you will see and discern all the wayes and vanities of the World and all the worships of the World to be without God in the heathenish nature strangers from the life of God without the Covenant of peace and in the Covenant with Death and Hell unto which there is no peace But the Lord God of life and peace is arising and risen to hew down all deceit and false ways and to set up Righteousness and Purity and to establish his Covenant unto his People and to bring in everlasting peace by Jesus Christ who is come to Preach Peace to the Captives to open the Prison Doors to set free the oppressed and to visit the desolate and to inlarge the Borders of the Barren and his day is dawning among you and the day-Star is appearing in you which will lead to the man-Child and to the Son of righteousness which is eternal Life to know him and be in him and who are not in him death reigns and rules and the Bond of Iniquity and the Chains of Darkness stands and Binds and Prisons the Just which is for condemnation when he appears who will judge the Secrets of all mens Hearts And this is the day of the Lord God wherein he is bringing back the Captivity of his People And you whose minds are turned to him wait upon him in patience having your minds guided up unto him growing together in Love and Unity that the Head and Husband may be exalted in all and then the Bed is not defiled but the Marriage is honourable but the Adulterer God will judge and condemn and such who wander abroad changeth their way and sets up Idols and strange Gods and other Lovers and joyns to strange Flesh and feeds that which is for Judgment and to be fed with Judgment But dear and precious Ones and well-beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ dwell in Judgment the Just delights in it and the unjust comes to be cut down by it and through judgment Sion come to be redeemed and the filthy is destroyed and Purity and Holiness comes to be witnessed the Light is that which condemns the unjust and all waiting in the Light ye have fellowship one with another and your Unity stands in that which is the Worlds condemnation and so against all the World ye stand and bear witness by that which is not of the World but is from above and leads up into that which is above and condemns all that which is below and from below which is contrary to the Light of Jesus Christ which Light shews the Door and guides into the entrance of the eternal Inheritance and shews you the Inheritance which is incorruptible which nothing must inherit that is corruptible so in the Light abide which leads up to the perfect Day that you may all walk as Children of the Day growing up in the true Vine and abiding in the Vine that your Fruit may appear not as the untimely Figs which fall away but as that which is founded upon the true Foundation and will stand and abide in the Day of Tryal so dear and tender Ones grow in Love and let Love be multiplyed among you and wait upon the Lord in the daily Cross that you may be crucified to the World and the
amongst you torments all her Lovers Praises Praises Eternal to the Living God who appeareth for us and gives us Victory over our Enemies Dear ones the mighty Power of the Lord is with us and our Bow abides in strength and terror takes hold upon our Enemies here are multitudes Convinced of the Etornal Truth and the Witness of God is raised and judgment is begun to the terror of many this is the Day of Sions deliverance Glory to our God for ever for he spreads my Table and makes my Cup overflow the Mighty God of Power keep you my care is for you and God is my Witness I cease not daily to make mention of you in my Prayers O! prize his Love for evermore you who were sometime afar off but now are made nigh by the Blood of Christ walk in his Fear Holiness becomes the House of the Lord for ever Farwell Your Dear Brother in the Eternal Spirit of God. John Audland John Audlant's Letter to Friends DEarly beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ Grace Mercy Peace be multiplyed in you and among you that in it you may all be Established and grow as living Plants and be fruithful in him who hath called you to Grace and Vertue that you might live in it and abound in every good Work to the praise of the Lord whose Love hath been manifest amogst you and you have heard his Voice and been Witnesses of his Power and his Eternal Love hath been abundant towards you therefore all Friends of your high Calling walk worthy and press hard after the mark so runing that ye may obtain every one of you in perticular abiding in the straight Way and in the Cross daily which is the delight of the Just and Peace and Refreshment to the Just in you all that in the Just you may all dwell and there the Earthly comes to dye and Judgment is executed upon the wicked and the Famine comes upon all the Gods of the Earth and the day of Separation and Sorrow upon all the Lovers and the Mortification of the old man and as that dyes the Spirit is quickned and waiting upon the Lord every one your Strength comes to be renewed and your Life refreshed So to you all Friends Lambs and Babes of God whose Minds are stayed upon God there Food you will receive from the living God and grow every one in your Measure walking as you have received and prising the Love of God to you which hath been and is large and bountiful who hath searched you out who was scattered in the cloudy dark day and found no Rest to your Souls but wandered from Mountain to Hill and laid desolate and barren in a waste howling Wilderness and no Eye pittied but he alone who is mighty to save hath you visited and your time was the time of Love and he hath loved you with an Everlasting Love and drawn you in much tender Mercy and given his Son for a Light that you might all walk in it and have fellowship in it And now my Dearly beloved Ones stand fast in that which brings Eternal Freedom and makes free and be faithful every one in your Measure to you all I speak as to one that you my grow in Love and walk in Love and in it be Established for it will indure for ever Oh let it be your Joy to do the Will of God in all Singleness and to dwell in his Fear and abide in the daily Cross Reason not nor consult not for the mystery is hid from that Eye but dwell low and learn thee that Subject to the Yoke every one of you may be and wait upon the Lord Meeting in his Fear watching one over another and abiding in the Light that your Fellowship may stand in it which is the Worlds Condemnation my Soul is pouned out to the Lord for you and my Bowels run freely to you in pure Love and Singleness that you all may be proserved in the pure Fear of the Lord out of the Snares of the Enemy that in the Eternal Counsel of God you may abide and be stedfast in the time of Temptation Dear Hearts keep every one to your own Measure which from the Lord is given unto you that you may witness the Presence of the Lord amongst you and find his Power and hear his Voyce that your Hearts may be kept open to receive the living Mercies from the living God that in the Day of Tryal you may stand and in the time of Famine your Souls may be kept alive and when the Lord takes account of you you may give it with Joy and be found faithful and fruitful in him this Charge do I lay upon you from the Lord that you dwell and abide low in the Fear of the Lord in Love together walking every one in the Living as examples that the Lord alone may be exalted no Pride nor Strife but in the Cross abide which Judgeth that and takes away the occasion of Wars And the Eternal everlasting Powerful Presence of the Lord keep you all and be amongst you and go along with you for evermore I am your Dear Friend and Companion in Joy and in Tribulation John Andland My Dear Brother John Camm doth Salute you all in that which is Eternal and never changeth he is pretily recovered and to you his love is exceeding great John Audland's Letter to a Priest concerning Tythes INstance if thou canst of one out of the Scriptures that ever came in at the door that did ever sue Men at the Law for Tythes Wages or Easter-Recknings if thou canst not prove it by the Scriptures thou art Antichrist that doth not abide in the Doctrine of Christ and no Minister of Christ but one of Baal's Priests if thou be a Minister of Christ and come to my House what I have I will set before thee and thou shalt freely Eat but to give my Corn and Hay Calves and Foles Wooll and Lambs Geese Hens Piggs Eggs and other things to be carried to thy House Christ gave no such Command that People should bring such things to his Disciples but said Freely you have received freely give Eat and Drink such as they set before you And so if you be sent out by Christ to Preach the Gospel which Gospel thou canst not receive of Man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ and if thou come to my House and freely minister unto me Spiritual things I will freely minister unto thee Carnal things But the Apostles who were sent into the World to Preach the Gospel which Gospel they received not at Oxford and Cambridge nor by Studying Authors but spoke forth that which they were partakers of which was contrary to the Will of Man they did not enquire out a great Benefice or a Personage and there set themselves but went up and down Preaching the Gospel freely and did not make it Chargable to any but said We have coveted no Mans Silver nor Gold God is our Witness and you your selves
in Israel but the Priests and their Agents in taking treble damages by vertue of your Law have made both Widows and Fatherless to beg by reason of their cruel Oppression for they took of one Widow in lieu of her Tythes 11 s. 4 d. when all her whole Estate after her Debts were paid would not yield to so much and so left Widow and Fatherless both to beg or starve and this is their charity to the poor and many more in Westmoreland Lancashire and Cumberland who stand in obedience to the righteous Law made manifest and witness the substance and deny Types and so cannot put into the Priests Mouthes they make them pay some double damages and some treble damages to the making many poor for they that depart from Iniquity are a prey to this Generation for the Law that is made by the will of man is made a snare and a trap to take hold of them who stand in obedience to the righteous Law of God which is according to that of God in the Conscience and this other is contrary to the Law of God in the Conscience And this was I moved to write to the Heads and Rulers of the Natitions who sit in Counsel together to exhort and charge them to stand in the Counsel of God and to mind the righteous Law of God which is according to that in the Conscience that this Law of yours may be put in Execution to be executed by righteous men who respect no mans person and then it will take hold upon the Transgressors and they who live up in obedience to this Law of God which is pure which endures forever will own and witness you and your Law if you be obedient to this Law of God which is pure and according to that of God in every mans Conscience for this Law is not made for the Righteous but for the Transgressor and if these be owned by you in your lives you will put it in execution and it will take hold upon all Lyars Swearers Drunkards Whore-mongers Dissemblers Cheaers Hypocrites and Persecutors of those who obey this Righteous Law of God and it will take hold upon all Fighters Quarrellers and vain-Contenders and upon all false Teachers who pretend themselves Ministers of Christ but abide not in the Doctrine of Christ which respect mens Persons but are Antichrists and deny the Scriptures in their lives but take them to trade withal and so deceive the people telling them they are gifted sell them the Letter and so kill them for the Letter killeth and so devour Souls for dishonest gain the Lord hath a Controversie with them hold them not up For if you partake with them in their Sin you will partake with them in their Plagues for their Fruits make them manifest for if any in obedience to this Righteous Law put not into their Mouthes they prepare War against them and sue them at Law or Agents for them and take treble damages as many can witness in these four Northern Countries and so they oppress the righteous and none resist them and now it is come to you who are over the Nations and it stands at your door and if you suffer those things to be and count it just I will visit you for these things saith the Lord For I bear testimony against them and my witness is true that they are cruel oppressors greedy devourers Caterpillars who have done no good at all but kept the People in blindness and ignorance making them light and vain strenghning their hands in iniquity and shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men that if any would return from their evil ways they would pull them back all the Scriptures witnes against them if you will own Scriptures and that in your Consciences witnesseth against them for you had experience of them and if you hold up that which is contrary to your Conscience God is greater and wil condemn you and cut you down were not your Promises and Covenants to take oppression from off the People of God have you forgotten the days of your calamity and hardship when you vowed unto the Lord and prayed unto him and he hath preserved you and were not all your pretences to take off Oppression and now the Power is in your hand and the Lord hath left you without excuse for now you have time to pay your Vows unto the Lord and to take off oppression and to take away all those Laws which are contrary to the Law of God which is pure and if ye will not own the Lord in his own work he will do it another way and you shall be cast by as not worthy with the rest that were cast out before you who were not worthy and therefore if you will own the righteous Law of God which is pure he will own you and preserve you but if you uphold those Laws which are according to the will of man and contrary to the will of God you shall be as dust before the Wind the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it And thus I have cleared my conscience unto you and that of God in your consciences shall eternally witness me to be a Lover of your Souls and of the righteous Seed of God a well-wisher of the peace of Sion called by the World. J. C. I Will arise now saith the Lord and Thresh and Scatter and beat to pieces now will I arise saith the Lord and all bonds must be broken asunder which are made with the earthly will and all Churches gathered with the earthly will with the Letter who have not the Life will be scattered and broken asunder that the pure it self may arise which suffers those by bonds which the carnal mind makes Laws Acts but now will I raise saith the Lord who is the King the Law-giver and all who have not received the Law from him but make Laws with their inventions must fall and all their counsel come to nothing in the end though they may stand and have their time a while and therefore to that in every one of your Consciences I speak which is the Light of Christ in it wait to guide your minds to God and it is but one and it will call you out of your reasonings and turn your minds towards God and deny all that which doth protect and preserve that which is not of God and condemn it and where God is made manifest to reign for that doth protect the just and is a terrour to the unjust in your selves and without so wait all in your measure on the Light of God within to guide your minds to God that ye may grow as plants to receive the living Water to nourish you to eternal Life to that which is pure in every one of you do I speak which shall witness me and condemn all you that hate it which if you take heed to it it will call your minds out of the World to forsake the lusts and pleasures of it and turn your minds