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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	let_v	lord_n	magnify_v	2,538	5	10.8447	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23622	The life & death of Mr. Joseph Alleine, late teacher of the church at Taunton, in Somersetshire, assistant to Mr. Newton whereunto are annexed diverse Christian letters of his, full of spiritual instructions tending to the promoting of the power of Godliness, both in persons and families, and his funeral sermon, preached by Mr. Newton.	Alleine, Theodosia.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.; Alleine, Joseph, 1634-1668. Christian letters full of spiritual instructions.; Newton, George, 1602-1681. Sermon preached at the funeral of Mr. Joseph Alleine.	1672 (1672)	Wing A1013_PARTIAL; Wing N1047_PARTIAL; ESTC R19966	231,985	333

forgot her cunning and hath much ado with trembling to lift the Bread unto my Mouth Do you think you should have had so little to shew under my Hand to bear witness of my Care for you and Love to you if God had not shook my Pen as it were out of my Hand But all that he doth is done well and wisely and therefore I submit I have purposed to borrow Hands wherewith to Write unto my Beloved rather then to be silent any longer But where shall I begin or when should I end If I think to speak of the Mercies of God towards me or mine enlarged affections towards you methinks I feel already how strait this Paper is like to be and how insignificant my Expressions will be found and how insufficient all that I can say will prove at last to utter what I have to tell you but shall I say nothing because I cannot utter all this must not be neither Come then all ye that fear the Lord come and I will tell you what he hath done for my Soul O help me to love that precious Name of his which is above all my Praises O love the Lord all ye his Saints and fear before him magnifie the Lord with me and let us exalt his Name together he hath remembred my low estate because his Mercy endureth for ever O blessed be you of the Lord my dearly Beloved O thrice blessed may you be for all your Remembrances of me before the Lord you have wrestled with the Lord for me you have wrestled me out of the very Jaws of Death it self O the strength of Prayer Surely it is stronger than Death See that You even honour the power and prevalency of Prayer Oh be in Love with Prayer and have high and venerable thoughts of it What Distresses Diseases Deaths can stand before it Surely I live by Prayer Prayer hath given a Resurrection to this Body of mine when Physicians and Friends had given up their hopes Ah my dearly Beloved methinks it delights me to tell the Story of your Love how much more of the Love of God towards me I have not forgotten O my dearly Beloved I have not forgotten your tender Love in all my Distresses I remember your kindness to me in my Bonds when once and again I was delivered up to a Prison for your sakes I remember with much delight how You refreshed and comforted me in my Tribulations how open your hearts were and your hands were not straightned neither for I was in want of nothing I may not I must not forget what painful Journies you took to visit me when in places Remote the hand of the Lord had touched me and though my long Sickness was almost incredible Expensive to me yet your supplies did not a little lighten my Burthen And though I put it last yet I do not mind it least that You have been so ready in returning Praises to God in my behalf your Thanksgiving to God my dear Brethren do administer abundant cause to me of my giving thanks unto You. And now my Heart methinks is big to tell You a little of my Loue to You surely You are dear unto me but though it be sweet to tell the Story of Love yet in this I will restrain my self For I fear least as the Wise man saith of the beginning of strife so I should find of the beginning of Love that it is like the letting forth of the Water and the rather I do forbear because I hope you have better Testimonies than Words to bear Witness herein unto You. But if I sing the Song of Love O let Divine Love overcarry the Praise I found my self in straights when I began to speak of the natural Love between my dear People and an unworthy Minister of Christ to them and it seemed that all that I have said was much too little but now I have to speak of the Love God it seems to be by far too much O infinite Love never to be Comprehended but ever to be Admired Magnified and Adored by every Creature O let my Heart be filled let my Mouth be filled let my Papers be filled ever ever filled with the thankful Commemoration of this matchless Love O turn your Eyes from other Objects O Bury me in Forgetfulness and let my Love be no more mentioned nor had in remembrance among You so that You may be throughly possessed and inflamed with the Love of God This my Beloved this is that Love which is ever to be Commended and Extolled by You. See that You studie this Love fill your Souls with wonder and feast your Souls with joy and be ravished with rich contentment in this Divine Love Take your daily walk and lose your selves in the Field of Love Drink O Friends yea drink abundantly O Beloyed fear no excess O that your Souls may be drencht and drowned in the Love of Christ till You can every one say with the ravisht Spouse I am sick of Love Marvel not that I wander here and seem to forget the bounds of a Letter this Love obligeth me Yea rather constraineth me Who in all the Earth should admire and commend this Love if I should not I feel it I taste it the sweet Savour thereof Reviveth my Soul it is Light to mine Eyes and Life co mine Heart the warm Beams of this blessed Sun O how have they Comforted me Ravished and Refreshed me both in Body and Soul My benumbed Limbs my withered Hands my feeble Knees my Bones quite naked of Flesh do yet again Revive through the Quickning Healing and Raising influence of Divine Grace and Love Now my own Hands can feed me and my own feet can bear me my Appetlte is quick my Sleep comfortable and God is pleased to give some increase continually though by insensible Degrees And shall not I praise that Love and Grace that hath done all this for me Yea what is this to all I have to tell You My Heart is enlarged but I told You Paper could not hold what I have to speak of the Goodness of the All-Gracious God in which I live I am forced to end least you should not bear my length My dearly Beloved I send my Heart unto You divide my Love amongst you all and particularly tender it to your Reverend and Faithfull Pastour whose Presence with you and Painfulness and Watchfulness over you and Zeal and Courage for you in so dangerous a time is matter of my great Joy and Thanksgivings unto God The Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you all Fare you well in the Lord I remain Your unworthy Minister and servent Well wisher in the Lord JOS. ALLEINE LETTER XXXI To the most endeared People the Inhabitants of Taunton Salvation Most dearly Beloved and longed for my Joy and Crown MY Hearts desire and Prayer for you is that you may be saved This is that which I have been Praying and Studying and Preaching for these many Years and this is the end of my Venturing

and laid up among my Treasures that God is pleased so to unite your hearts to me and to make use of me for your edification is matter of highest joy unto me as also to see your 〈◊〉 in Christ your unshaken resolutions notwithstanding all the Tempters wiles Go on my dearly Beloved and the Lord strengthen your hands and your hearts and lift you up above the fears of men My most dear Brother Norman salutes you with manifold Loves and Respects earnestly wishing that you may wear the Crown of perseverance as also Brother Turner The Lord strengthen establish settle you and after you have suffered a while make you perfect I leave my Brethen in the everlasting Arms and rest From the common 〈◊〉 at Juelchester June 13th 1663. Your Embassador in bonds Joseph Alleine LETTERS IV. A Call to the Unconverted To the Beloved People the Inhabitants of the Town of Taunton Grace Mercy and Peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Most endeared and beloved Friends I Do most readily acknowledge my self a Debtor to you all and a Servant of all and therefore I have sent these few Lines to salute you all My Lines did fall in a fair place when the Lord did cast my Lot among you for which I desire to be thankful God hath been pleased to work a mutual affection between me and you I remember the Tears and Prayers that you have sent me hither with and how I saw your hearts in your eyes How can I forget how you poured out your Souls upon me And truly you are a People much upon my heart whose welfare is the matter of my continual prayers care and study And oh that I knew how to do you good Ah? how certainly should never a son of you miscarry if I knew how to save you Ah! how it pities me to think how that so many of you should remain in your sins after so many and so long endeavours to convert and bring them in Once more Oh! my Beloved once more hear the call of the most high God unto yon The Prison Preaches to you the same Doctrine that the Pulpit did Hear O People hear he that hath an ear let him hear The Lord of Life and of Glory offers you all Mercy and Peace and Blessedness Oh why should you die whosoever will let him take of the Waters of Life freely what miss of life when it is to be had for the taking God forbid O my Brethren my Soul yerns for you and my bowels towards you Ah! that I did but know what Arguments to use with you who shall chuse my words for me that I may prevail with sinners not to reject their own Mercy how shall I get within them How shall I reach them Oh! that I did but know the words that would pierce them That I could but get between their sins and them Beloved Brethren the Lord Jesus hath made me most unworthy his Spokesman to bespeak your hearts for him And oh that I knew but how to 〈◊〉 for him that I might prevail these eight years have I been calling and yet how great a part do remain visibly in their sins and how few alas how few souls have I gained to Christ by sound conversion Once more I desire with all possible earnestness to apply my self to you I have thought it may be a Sermon out of a Prison might do that which I could not do after my long striving with you but have left undone 〈◊〉 then O Friends and let us reason together Many among you remain under the power of Ignorance Ah! how often have I told you the dangerous yea damnable estate that such are in Never make excuses nor flatter your selves that you shall be saved though you go on in this I have told you often and now tell you again God must be false of his Word if ever you be saved without being brought out of the state of Ignorance If ever you enter in at the door of Heaven it must be by the Key of Knowledge you cannot be saved except you be brought to the knowledge of the Truth A people that remain in gross ignorance that are without understanding the Lord that made them will not have mercy on them O why will you flatter your selves and wilfully deceive your own selves when the God of Truth hath said you shall surely die if you go on in this estate Oh for the love of God and of your Souls I beseech you awake and bestir your selves to get the saving knowledge of God you that are capable of learning a Trade to live by are you not capable of learning the way to be saved yea I doubt not but you are capable if you would but beat your heads about it and take pains to get it And is it not pity that you should perish for ever for want of a little pains and study and care to get the knowledge of God Study the Catechism if possible get it by heart if not read it often or get it read to you cry unto God for knowledge improve the little you have by living answerable Search the Scripture daily get them read to you if you cannot read them Improve your Sabbaths diligently and I doubt not but in the use of these means you will sooner arrive to the knowledge of Christ than of a Trade But for thee O hardned sinner that wilt make thy excuses that thou hast not time nor abilities to get knowledge and to sit still without it I pronounce unto thee that thou shalt surely perish And I challenge thee to tell me if thou canst how thou wilt answer it before the most High God when he shall fit in judgement upon thee that thou wouldest be contented to undergo a seven years Apprentiship to learn how to get thy living and that thou mightest have got the knowledge of the principles of Religion in half the time but thou wouldest not beat thy head about it Many are swallowed up in meer profaneness Alas that there should be any such in a place of such means and mercies but it cannot be concealed Many of them proclaim their sin like Sodom and carry their deadly Leprosie in their foreheads I am ashamed to think that in Taunton there should be so many Alehouse-haunters and Tiplers so many lewd Gamesters and Rioters and debauched livers so many black mouthed Swearers who have Oaths and Curses for their common language so many Raylers at Godliness and Prosane Scoffers so many Lyars and deceitful Dealers and unclean and wanton Wretches O what a long list will these and such like make up if put together it saddens me to mention such as these O how crimsen is their guilt how often have you been warned and yet are still unreformed yea loose and profane Yet one warning more have I sent after you from the Lord to repent Return O finners what will you run into everlasting burnings with your eyes open Repent O Drunkards or else you

Friends to do it for them My Husband with seven Ministers more and forty private Persons were committed to the Prison of Ilchester When he together with the rest of his Brethrtn and Christian Friends came to the Prison his Carriage and Conversation there was every way as Exemplary as in his former Confinement Notwithstanding his weakness of Body yet he would constantly take his turn with the rest of the Ministers in preaching the Gospel in the Prison which turns came about the oftner though there were eight of them there together because they had Preaching and Praying twice a day almost every day they were in Prison besides other Exercises of Religion in which he would take his part And although he had many of his Flock confined to the Prison with him by which means he had the fairer opportunity of Instructing and watching over them for their Spitual good yet he was not forgetful of the rest that were left behind but would frequently visit them also by his Letters full of serious profitable Matter from which they might reap no small benefit while they were debarred of his bodily presence And how greatly solicitous he was for those that were with him that they might be the better for their Bonds walking worthy of the many and great Mercies they had enjoyed during their Imprisonment that when they came home to their Houses they might speak forth and live forth the Praises of GOD carrying themselves in every respect as becomes the Gospel for which they had been Sufferers you may clearly see by those parting Counsels that he gave them that Morning that they were delivered which I shall recite in his own Words as they were taken from his Mouth in Short-hand by an intimate Friend and fellow Prisoner which you may take as followeth c. Mr. Joseph Allein his Exhortation to his Fellow-Sufferers when they were to be Discharged from their Imprisonment DEarly Beloved Brethren my Time is little and my Strength but small yet I could not consent that you should pass without receiving some parting Counsel and what I have to say at Parting shall be chiefly to you that are Prisoners and partly also to you our Friends that are here met together To you that are Prisoners I shall speak something by way of Exhortation and something by way of Dehortation By way of Exhortation First Rejoyce with trembling in your Prison-Comforts and see that you keep them in a Thankful-Remembrance Who can tell the Mercies that you have received here My time nor strength will not suffice me to recapitulate them See that you rejoyce in GOD but rejoyce with trembling Do not think the account will be little for Mercies so many and so great Receive these choice Mercies with a trembling hand for fear lest you should be found guilty of misimproving such precious benefits and so wrath should be upon you from the Lord. Remember Hezekiah's case great Mercies did he receive some Praises he did return but not according to the benefit done unto him therefore was wrath upon him from the Lord and upon all Judah for his sake 2 Chron. 32. 25. Therefore go away with a holy Fear upon your hearts lest you should forget the loving kindness of the Lord and should not render to him according to what you have received Oh my Brethren stir up your selves to render praises to the Lord You are the People that GOD hath formed for his Praise and sent hither for his Praise and you should now go Home as so many Trumpets to sound forth the Praises of GOD when you come among your Friends There is an Expression Psal. 68. 11. The Lord gave the Word great was the company of them that published it So let it be said of the Praises of God now Great was the company of them that published them GOD hath sent a whole Troop of you here together let all these go home and sound the praises of GOD where-ever you come and this is the way to make his Praise glorious indeed Shall I tell you a Story that I have read There was a certain King that had a pleasant Grove and that he might make it every way delightful to him he caused some Birds to be caught and to be kept up in Cages till they had learned sundry sweet and artificial Tunes and when they were perfect in their Lessons he let them Abroad out of their Cages into his Grove that while he was walking in this Grove he might hear them singing those pleasant Tunes and teaching them to other Birds that were of a wilder Note Brethren this King is GOD this Grove is his Church these Birds are your selves this Cage is the Prison GOD hath sent you hither that you should learn the sweet and pleasant Notes of his Praise And I trust that you have learned something all this while GOD forbid else Now GOD opens the Cage and lets you forth into the Grove of his Church that you may sing forth his Praises and that others may learn of you too Forget not therefore the Songs of the House of your Pilgrimage do not return to your wild Notes again keep the Mercy of GOD for ever in a thankful Remembrance and make mention of them humbly as long as you live then shall you answer the end for which he sent you hither I trust you will not forget this place When Queen Mary died she said That if they did rip her up they should find Callis on her Heart I hope that men shall find by you hereafter that the Prison is upon your heart Lichester is upon your heart Secondly Feed and feast your Faith upon Prison-Experiences Do not think that GOD hath done this onely for your present supply Brethren GOD hath provided for you not only for your present supply in Prison but to lay up for all your Lives that experience that your Faith must live upon till Faith be turned into Vision Learn dependance upon GOD and confidence in GOD by all the Experiences that you have had here Because thou hast been my help saith the Psalmist therefore under the shadow of thy Wing will I rejoyce Are you at a loss at any time then remember your Bonds We read in Scripture of a time when there was no Smith in all Israel and the Israelites were fain to carry their Goads and other Instruments to be sharpened down to the Philistines So when your Spirits are low and when your Faith is dull carry them to the Prison to be sharpened and quickned Oh how hath the Lord confuted all our fears Cared for all our necessities The Faith of some of you was sorely put to it for Corporal Necessities You came hither not having any thing considerable to pay for your Charges here but GOD took care for that And you left poor miserable Families at home and no doubt but many troublesome thoughts were in your minds what your Families should do for Bread but GOD hath provided for them We that are Ministers

left poor starvling Flocks and we thought that the Countrey had been now stript and yet GOD hath provided for them Thus hath the Lord been pleased to furnish us with Arguments for our Faith against we come to the next distress Though you should be called forth to leave your Flocks destitute you that are my Brethren in the Ministry and others their Families destitute yet doubt not but GOD will provide remember your Bonds upon all occasions Whensoever you are in distress remember your old Friend remember your tryed Friend Thirdly Let Divine Mercy be as Oyl to the flame of your Love O love the Lord all ye his Saints Brethren this is the Language of all GOD's dealings with you they all call upon you to love the Lord your God with all your hearts with all your Souls with all your strength What hath GOD been doing ever since you came to this Prison All that he hath been doing since you came hither hath been to pour Oyl into the flames of your Love thereby to encrease and heighten them GOD hath lost all these Mercies upon you if you do not love him better then you did before You have had supplies to what purpose is it unless you love GOD the more If they that be in want love him better than you it were better you had been in their case You have had health here but if they that be in sickness love GOD better than you it were better you had been in sickness too See that you love your Father that hath been so tender of you What hath GOD been doing but pouring out his Love upon you How were we mistaken For my part I thought that GOD took us upon his Knee to Whip us but he took us upon his Knee to Dandle us We thought to have felt the strokes of his Anger but he hath stroked us as a Father his Children with most dear Affection Who can utter his loving Kindness What my Brethren shall we be 〈◊〉 than Publicans the Publicans will love those that love them Will not you return Love for so much Love Far be this from you Brethren you must not only exceed the 〈◊〉 but the Pharisees too therefore surely you must love him that loveth you This is my Business now to bespeak your love to GOD to unite your hearts to him Blessed be God for this Occasion for my part I am unworthy of it Now if I can get your Hearts nearer to GOD than they were then happy am I and blessed are you Fain I would that all these Experiences should knit our Hearts to GOD more and endear us for ever to him What So much bounty and kindness and no returns of Love At least no further returns I may plead in the behalf of the Lord with you as they did for the Centurion He loveth our Nation say they and hath built us a Synagogue So I may say here He hath loved you and poured out his Bounty upon you How many friendly Visits from those that you could but little expect of Whence do you think this came It is GOD that hath the Key of all these Hearts He secretly turned the Cock and caused them to pour forth kindness upon you There is not a motion of love in the Heart of a Friend towards you but it was GOD that put it in Fourthly Keep your Manna in a Golden Pot and forget not him that hath said so often Remember me You have had Manna rained plentifully about you be sure that something of it be kept Do not forget all the Sermons that you have heard here O that you would labour to repeat them over to live them over You have had such a Stock that you may live upon and your Friends too if you be communicative a great while together If any thing have been wanting time for the Digesting hath been wanting See that you well Chew the Cud and see that you especially remember the Feasts of Love Do not you know who hath said to you so often Remember me How often have you heard that sweet Word since you came hither What Do you think it is enough to remember him for an hour No but let it be a living and lasting remembrance Do not you write that Name of his in the Dust that hath written your Names upon his Heart Your High Priest hath your Names upon his Heart and therewith is entered into the Holy Place and keeps them there for a Memorial before the Lord continually O that his Remembrance might be ever written upon your Hearts written as with a Pen of a Diamond upon Tables of Marble that might never be worn out That as Aristotle saith of the cutious Fabrick of Minerva that he had so ordered the Fabrick that his Name was written in the midst that if any went to take that out the whole Fabrick was dissolved So the Name of Jesus should be written upon the substance of your Souls that they should pull all 〈◊〉 before they should be able to pull it out Fifthly Let the Bonds of your Affliction strengthen the Bonds of your Affection Brethren GOD hath sent us hither to teach us among other things the better to Love one another Love is lovely both in the sight of GOD and Men and if by your Imprisonment you have profited in Love then you have made an acceptable proficiency O Brethren look within Are you not more indeared one to another I bless the Lord for that Union and Peace that hath been ever among you but you must be sensible that we come very far short of that Love that we owe one to another we have not that love that indearedness that tenderness that complacency that compassion towards each other that we ought to have Ministers should be more indeared one to another and Christians should be more dear to each other then they were before We have eaten and drunk together and lived on our Fathers Love in one Family together we have been joyned together in one common Cause and all put into one Bottom O let the Remembrance of a Prison and of what hath passed here especially those Uniting Feasts ingage you to love one another Sixthly Let present Indulgence fit you for future hardships and do not look that your Father should be alwayes dandling you on his Knee Beloved GOD hath used you like Fondlings now rather than like Sufferers What shall I say I am at a loss when I think of the tender indulgence and the yearnings of the Bowels of our Heavenly Father upon us But my Brethren do not look for such Prisons again Affliction doth but now play and sport with you rather than Bite you but do you look that Affliction should hereafter fasten its Teeth on you to purpose And do you look that the Hand that hath now gently stroked you may possibly buffet you and put your Faith hard to it when you come to the next Tryal This fondness of your Heavenly Father is to be expected only while

you are young and tender but afterward you must look to follow your Business and to keep your distance and to have rebukes and frowns too when you need them Bless GOD for what you have found here but prepare you this is but the beginning shall I say the beginning of Sorrow I cannot say so for the Lord hath made it a place of Rejoycing this is but the entrance of our Affliction but you must look that when you are trained up to a better perfection GOD will put your Faith to harder Exercise Seventhly Cast up your accounts at your Return and see whether you have gone as much forward in your Souls as you have gone backward in your Estates I cannot be insensible but some of you are here to very great disadvantage as to your Affairs in the World having left your business so rawly at home in your Shops Trades and Callings that it is like to be no little detriment to you upon this Account But happy are ye if you find at your return that as much as your Affairs are gone backward and behind-hand so much your Souls have gone forward If your Souls go forward in Grace by your Sufferings blessed be GOD that hath brought you to such a place as a Prison is Eightly Let the Snuffers of this Prison make your Light burn the brighter and see that your Course and Discourse be the more savoury serious and Spiritual for this present Tryal O Brethren Now the Voice of the Lord is to you as it is in the Prophet Isaiah 60. 1. Arise and shine now let your Light shine before men that others may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven It is said of those Preachers beyond Sea that have been sent into England and here reaped the benefit of our English practical Divinity At their Return they have Preached so much better than they had wont to do that it hath been said of them Apparuit hunc fuisse in Angliâ So do you my Brethren Live so much better than you had wont that when men shall see the change in your Lives they may say of you Apparuit hunc fuisse in Custodiâ See that your whole Course and Discourse be more Spiritual and Heavenly than ever See that you shine in your Families when you come Home be you better Husbands better Masters better Fathers study to do more than you have done this way and to approve your selves better in your Family-Relations than you did before that the savour of a Prison may be upon you in all Companies then will you praise and please the Lord. Ninthly And lastly See that you walk Accurately as those that have the Eyes of GOD Angels and Men upon you my Brethren you will be looked upon now with very curious Eyes GOD doth expect more of you than ever for he hath done more for you and he looketh what Fruit there will be of all this Oh! may there be a sensible change upon your Souls by the Showres that have fallen in Prison as there is in the greenness of the Earth by the showres that have fallen lately abroad By way of Dehortation also I have these four things to Leave with you First Revile not your Persecutors but bless them and pray for them as the Instruments of conveying great Mercies to you Do not you so far forget the Rule of Christ as when you come home to be setting your Mouths to talk against those that have injured you Remember the Command of your Lord Bless them that curse you pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you Whatsoever they intended yet they have been Instruments of a great deal of Mercy to us and so we should pray for them and bless GOD for the good we have received by them Secondly Let not the humble acknowledgment of GOD's Mercy degenerate into proud Vain-glorious boasting or Carnal-tryumph I beseech you see that you go home with a great deal of fear upon your Spirits in this respect left pride should get advantage of you left instead of humble acknowledging GOD's Mercy there should be Carnal boasting Beware of this I earnestly beg of you for this will very much spoyl your Sufferings and be very displeasing in the sight of GOD. But let your acknowledging of his Mercy be ever with humble Self-abasing Thankfulness and be careful that you do not make his Mercies to be the Fuel of your Pride which were to lose all at once Thirdly Be not Prodigal of your Liberty upon a conceit that the Prisons will be easie nor fearful of adventuring your selves in the way of your Duty Alas I am afraid of both these extreams on the one hand lest some among us having found a great deal of Mercy here will now think there is no need of any Christian prudence which is alwayes necessary and is a great duty It is not cowardice to make use of the best means to preserve our Liberty not decling our Duty On the other-side there is fear lest some may be fearful and ready to decline their Duty because they have newly tasted of a Prison for it Far be it from you to distrust GOD of whom you have had so great experience but be sure you hold on in your duty whatsoever it cost you Fourthly Do not load others with censures whose Judgment or Practice differs from yours but humbly bless GOD that hath so happily directed you You know all are not of the same mind as to the Circumstances of Suffering and all have not gone the same way Far be it from any of you my Brethren that you should so far forget your selves as to be unmerciful to your Brethren but bless GOD that hath directed you into a better way Your charity must grow higher than ever GOD forbid that you should increase in Censures instead of increasing in Charity Having spoken to my Fellow-Prisoners I have two Words to speak to you our Friends and Brethren with us First Let our experience be your incouragement O love the Lord ye our Friends love the Lord fear him for ever believe in him trust in him for ever for our sakes we have tasted of the kindness of GOD. You know how good GOD hath been to us in Spirituals in Temporals Encourage your hearts in the Lord your God serve him the more freely and gladly for our sakes You see we have tryed we have tasted how good the Lord is Do you trust him the more because we have tryed him so much and found him a Friend so Faithful so Gracious that we are uttterly unable to speak his Praise Go on and fear not in the way of your Duty Verily there is a reward for the Righteous GOD hath given us a great reward already but this is but the least we look for a Kingdom Secondly and lastly My desire is to our Friends that they will all help us in our Praises Our Tongues are too little to speak forth the Goodness and the Grace

not what thanks to render to you nor to God for You for all the unexpressable love which I have found in you toward me and not terminatively to me but to Christ in me for I believe it is for his sake as I am a Messenger and Embassador of his to You that you have loved me and done so much every way for me and I think I may say of Taunton as the Psalmist of Jerusalem If I forget thee let my right hand forget her cunning if I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth I would not my dear Brethren that You should be dejected or discouraged at the Late disappointments For through the goodness of God I am not but rather more satisfied than before and this I can truly say nothing doth sadden me more than to see so much sadness in your faces As on the contrary nothing doth comfort me so much as to see your Chear and Courage Therefore I beseech you Brethren faint not because of my Tribulation nor of Gods delays but strengthen the hands and the feeble knees And the Lord bolster up your hands as they did the hands of Moses that they may not fall down till Israel do prevail Let us fear lest there be some evil among us that God being angry with us doth send this farther tryal upon us Pray earnestly for me lest the eye of the most jealous God should discern that in me which should render me unfit for the mercy You desire And let every one of you search his heart and search his house to see if there be not 〈◊〉 there Let not these disappointments make you to be nevertheless in love with Prayers but the more out of love with sin Let us humble our selves under the mighty hand of God and he shall exalt us in due time And for the Enemies of God you must know also that their foot shall slide in due time Let the Servants of God encourage themselves in their God for in the things wherein they deal proudly he is above them Therefore fret not your selves because of evil-doers commit your Cause to him that judgeth righteously Remember that you are bid if you see oppression of the poor and violent perverting of Judgment and Justice in a Province not to marvel at the matter Verily there is a God that Judgeth in the Earth And you have the liberty of Appeals Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him and fret not your selves because of the men that bring wicked devises to pass take heed that none of you do with Peter begin to sink now you see the waters rough and the winds boysterous these things must not weaken your Faith nor cool your Zeal for they are great Arguments for the strengthning of it What clearer evidence can there be for the future Judgment and Perdition of the ungodly and Coronation of the Just in another life than the most unjust proceedings that are here upon Earth Shall not the Judge of all the Earth see right to be done We see here nothing but confusion and disorder the wicked receiveth according to the work of the Righteous and the Innocent according to the work of the Wicked The Godly perish and the Wicked flourish these do prosper and they do suffer What! Can it be ever thus No doubtless there must be a day when God will Judg the World in Righteousness and rectifie the present disorders and reverse the unrighteous Sentences that have been passed against his Servants And this evidence is so clear that many of the Heathen Philosophers have from this very Argument I mean the unrighteous usage of the Good concluded that there must certainly be Rewards and Punishments adjudged by God in mother World Nor yet lose your Zeal Now is the time that the love of many doth wax cold but I bless God it is not so with you I am sure your love to me is as true Friends should be like the Chimneys warmest in the Winter of Adversity and I hope your love to God is much more and I would that You should abound yet more and more Where else should you bestow your Loves Love ye the Lord ye his Saints and cling about him the faster now ye see the World is striving to separate you from him How many are they that go to knock off your fingers O methinks I see what tugging there is The World is plucking and the Devil is plucking Oh hold fast I beseech you hold fast that no man take your Crown Let the Water that is sprinkled yea rather poured upon your Love make it to flame up the more Are you not betrothed unto Christ Oh Remember Remember your Marriage-Covenant Did you not take him for Richer for Poorer for better for worse Now prove your love to Christ to have been a true Conjugal love in that you can love him when most slighted despised undervalued blasphemed among men Now acquit your selves not to have followed Christ for the Loaves Now confute the Accuser of the Brethren who may be ready to suggest of the best of You as he did of Job Doth he serve the Lord for nought And let it be seen that You loved Christ and Holiness purely for their own sakes that You can love a naked Christ when there is no hopes of worldly advantage or promoting of self-interest in following him Yet beware that none of you do stick to the wayes of Christ and Religion upon so carnal an Account as this because this is the Way that you have already taken up and you count it a shame to recede from your Principles I am very jealous lest some Professors should miss of their Reward for this Least they should be accounted Turn-coats and Hypocrites therefore they will shew a 〈◊〉 of spirit in going on since they have once begun and cannot with honour retreat Would you chose holiness and strictness if it were to do again Would you enter yourselves among Gods poor people if it were now first to do Would you have taken up the Profession of Christ though you had foreseen all this that is come and coming This will do much to evidence your sincerity But I forget that I am writing a Letter being prone to pass all bounds when I have thus to do with you The Lord God remember and reward you and your Labours of Love The Eternal God be your Refuge and put under you his everlasting Arms. The Peace of God that passeth all understanding Keep your Hearts Christs Legacy of Peace I leave with you and Rest with my dear affections to You all Your Embassador in Bonds JOS. ALLEINE LETTER XXIV Councel for Salvation To the most Beloved the Servants of Christ in Taunton Salvation Most endeared Christians MY continual Solicitude for your State will not suffer me to pass in quiet one week without Writing to you unless I am extraordinarily hindred Your Sincerity Stedfastness and Proficiency in the Grace of God is the matter of my