every evil Deed and believe in it that you may be saved from the Power of the Destroyer by it the same that Convinces of Sin Leads out of Sin and gives Victory over Sin and brings into Everlasting Peace with God the Father in and through his Son Christ Jesus and I testifie in the holy Fear of the Lord and in the tender Love of God that opens in my Heart and Soul unto the Children of Men that there is no other way to Salvation for in Christ the Light is the universal Love of God held forth to all People for he delights not in the death of a Sinner but would have all to come to the knowledg of the Truth and be saved who is calling his People out of Babylon out of Confusion Come out of her my People and touch no unclean thing and I will Receive you be not pertakers of her Sins lest you are pertakers of her Plagues So I intreat you for the Lords sake and for the good of your own Souls draw near to the Lord and he will draw near unto you seek him while he is to be found and call upon him while he is near for he is not far off from Every one of you that your Peace may be sure with the Lord for evermore which is the true desire of my Soul for you all who am your Friend and one that Travels for the Prosperity of Sion known by the Name of Theophila Townsend Charles Marshall's Testimony concerning Amariah Drewet THe foregoing Testimonies are concerning the Life and Death of our dear Friend Amariah Drewet I also having had certain knowledg of him and conversation with him have this Testimony to give concerning him Viz. That he was a man fearing God and eschewing Evil of a tender Spirit having the Awe of God in his Heart he greatly loved the Gospel of Peace and those that were sent of God to Preach it in the Power and Demonstration of his Eternal Spirit his Heart was made glad when the Power of the Lord reached and affected the Heart of his Neighbours because he greatly desired their Eternal Welfare more might be said of his Life Sufferings and Death but I refer to the foregoing Testimonies of Ear and Eye Witnesses of his latter End by whose Testimonies it appears that as he Lived so he Dyed in the living enjoyments of Gods Immortal Presence felt Refreshment from the Throne of his Eternal Glory Anâ— now Oh Inhabitants of Cirencester unto whom the Word of Eternal Life hath been Preached in a clear Demonstration of the Spirit and Power of the most High and over whom hath been a blessed day of Visitation tenderly consider your States and Conditions and Imbrace that great Blessing namely A being turned every one from the Evil of his doings seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near at band striving with you by the Spirit of his Son Christ Jesus and knocking at the Door of your Hearts Oh let the Saviour In that ye may be saved from Sin and Redeemed from the Nature of it So is the Blessed end of Christ Jesus his coming answered namely To destroy the Works of the Devil Consider in the Dread of the most High your time is short and not only short but also uncertain therefore remember your latter End that as you must follow your Righteous Neighbour through Death so it may be that your latter End may be like his that living the Life of the Righteous ye may enjoy Eternal Life when time in this World with you will be no more that through the following the Spiritual Pillar of Fire which leads out of Spiritual Egypt you may obtain the Spiritual Canaan the Rest and Sabboth of God. And unto those that do profess the same Truth that our dear Friend deceased did in these parts Ah prize your precious Time and the season of Love and Kindness that is over you and the Mercy attending you and walk worthy of it and give not way to a Spiritual Idleness which leads into a Spiritual Slumber through which the Lamp goes out and unreadiness to answer the Midnight Cry and that which follows is Dreadfull a Shutting of the Door therefore while it s called to Day answer the Lords Call and tender Visitation that both Calling and Election may be made sure so will the Lord delight in you and bless you and water you that in the Innocent Life of Christ Jesus ye might Live that your part in the first resurrection ye may obtain and thereby be preserved from the power of the second Death so that on the Dying Bed you may hear that Joyfull Testimony Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord ye saith the Spirit they rest from their Labonrs and their Works shall follow them And now dear Friends as ye desire this Portion and to Honour and Renown the great Name of our Merciful and Tender Father be stirred up to great Diligence redeeming Time loving and obeying the sweet redeeming Power of the Lord that his Blessed Work blessedly begun in the Hearts of many may be accomplished that you being made free from the Law of Sin and Death by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus may lay down your Heads in Peace and enjoy the Crown of Immortallity which is the Lot and Portion of all that follow the Lamb in the Work of Regeneration And so dear Friends in the Love of God these few Lines upon this occasion were on my Heart to bring in a Testimony to the Lords goodness that gave our dear Friend that had followed the Lord faithfully so sweet a Passage out of this Life to injoy Immortal Life for evermore Charles Marshall London the 25th of the 11th Month 1687 THE END
Faithfulness that it might be well with them upon a Dying-Bed as it is with me said he Praises to the Lord forever I was with him when he Departed and I can truly say the Lord gave me a sence of his Condition and I travelled with him under the Pangs of Death in a fellow-feeling of the Exercise he was in and when Death touched his Heart I bore a part with him in a sympathising Spirit and travelled in Spirit with him before the Lord for his Deliverance and when Death was upon his Body I felt the Resurrection of the Life of Jesus with his Soul ready to receive him into that Heavenly Mansion of Glory and Habitation of Rest and Peace with the Lord which the Lord hath prepared for his People which he had the earnest of in his Life time even the earnest of the Spirit that sealed to him the assurance of that Inheritance that shall never fade away into which he is entered and gathered into that fulness that is Incomprehensible which God the Father in and through Christ Jesus the Lord had prepared for him where Heavenly Joy and Gladness and Divine Comfort and Lasting Peace is and will be his Portion for evermore He departed this Life the 25th day of the 7th Morth 1687. about the 6th Hour in the Evening he lay for about half an hour as if he had been in a sweet Sleep and went away quietly like a Lamb without Sigh or Groan his dear Wife and Family have a great Loss in parting with him and I may say we all miss him and I can say my Heart hath been often tendered and broken into Tears of Sorrow for the loss of him but mixt with Joy in a sense of his happy State but in submission to the Will of God I am well satisfied the Lord best knows when it is the fittest season to take his own unto himself and for this our dear Friend he is now in a Habitation of Safety out of all danger of falling into Temptation or of being hurt by any of the Wiles of the Enemy and the desire of my Soul is that all that know the Truth may walk in the same way and travel in the Just Mans Path as he did that they may arrive at the same Haven of Rest and Peace with him and all the Sanctified in Christ Jesus in the Kingdom of God World without End Amen He was Buried the 27th Day of the 7th Month and was acompanied to the Grave with many good Friends and the Power and Presence of the Lord was with us and that Life that was with him to his joy upon his Dying-Bed Spake forth the Praise Goodness of the Lord at his Burial though his Brethren the Servants of the Lord that did acompany him to his Grave this was upon me to Publish for the Good and Benesit of those that are left behind even of all tender People to whom this may come that they may so Live and so Walk that they may be made Pertakers of the fame joy which is obtained through Faith in Christ Jesus and obedient to the Light of his free Spirit who is the leader of his People and this lead him our dear Friend before mentioned out of Sin into the way of Peace this is the Holy Ghost the Comforter that which Christ Jesus promised his Disciples to send to Lead them into all Truth and farther said as the Scripture testifies That he shall Convince the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment and it is the same that Convinces of Sin that leads out of Sin and gives Victory over Sin to all that believe in it and are willing to deny themselves and take up their daily Cross and follow him they come to know the assurance of Peace Rest with the Lord before they go out of the Body so the thoughts of Death is not terrible to such as it is to the Wicked for Death is the King of Terrors to the Wicked because the way of Truth they have not known For there is no Peace to the Wicked saith the God of the Righteous and they are made Witnesses of it through faith in Christ Jesus who are subject to his Light and Grace in their own Heart and Consciences but wo to the Wicked it will go ill with them they shall Eat the Fruits of their own doings and go down to their Graves in Sorow if they do not Repent of their Wickedness and turn from the Evil of their Doings and obey the Light of the Son of God that they may be led out of Darkness into his mervellous Light and by it be turned from the Power of Satan to the great power of God that they may know the good word of Life that is quick and Powerful as Sharp and Sharper then any two Edged Sword that divides asunder even Soul and Spirit and between Bones and Marrow that Ingrafted Word of God that is able to save the Soul Christ Jesus the Word of God the Light of the World as he said of himself and again he said He that believes in me shall not abide in Darkness and the Scripture further testifies that in him was Life and the Life was the Light of men so the Life of Jesus is the Light of men so I would advise all to take heed how they Slight the Light both Professors and Prophain or how you Villifie the Light and say It is Insufficient to Lead to Life and Peace for in so doing you Slight and Villifie the Life of Jesus and the Grace of God that brings Salvation which the Scriptures saith Hath appeared to all men and teacheth to deny ungodliness and Worldly Lust and to Live Godly and Righteously and Soberly in this present Evil World therefore in the Love of God I intreat you both Professors and Prophain Love the Light and the Grace and Truth that comes by Jesus Christ who is God Salvation to the ends of the Earth and there is no other Name Given under Heaven by which any can be Saved but by the Name of Jesus the true Light that Lighteth Every man that comes into the World as the Scriptures saith That God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all and this was the Message the holy Apostle had to deliver and this was the Work that he had to do To turn People from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to the Power of God so here People may see the Scriptures do declare that God is Light and Christ is Light and they that slight this Heavenly Divine Light slight both God and Christ Jesus and so are liable to Perish in their Gain-saying and Rebellion against the Light and never be made Pertakers of Gods Salvation therefore I intreat all People that have any tenderness towards the Lord or any true Regard to the welfare of their own Souls both Professors and Prophain Neighbours Kindred and Acquaintance Love the Light that convinces of Sin and reproves in secret for
SOME TESTIMONIES OF THE Life Death and Sufferings OF Amariah Drewet OF CIRENCESTER IN Gloucestershire lately Deceased AND To the way of Life wherein he walked Whose Living Words upon his Dying Bed are worthy to be had in Remembrance LONDON Printed by Andrew Sowle in the Year 1687. A Testimony of the Life Death and Sufferings of Amariah Drewet c. Mary Drewet 's Testimony concerning her Husband I Being so nearly Related as a Wife to Amariah Drewet have this Testimony to bear for him He was a Lover of the Truth and all the Upright-hearted that Lived in it they were near and dear unto him there is a few Words that lives in the Singleness of my Heart as a short Testimony of his Innocent Life and the Good Savour that was with him on his Death-Bed The Lord brought us together in his Fear and in the Love of the precious Truth wherein we were Joyned we Lived in true Unity the Days the Lord gave us together and although the Lord was pleased to remove him to my great loss which in the Consideration is a deep Exercise but there is cause of Joy and Comfort as my Eye is to the Lord being satisfied in his well-being He was a tender Husband and Father to my Children which I had by a former Husband who also in his day was a Man Fearing God and a Lover of Truth I can truly say to the Praise of the Name of the Lord that his Life and Conversation Preached and his Moderation was known to most where he Lived that the Lord was at hand and according to the measure the Lord had given him since he knew the Truth he was Faithful in his Day and turned not his Back in the time of Suffering but willingly and with cheerfulness was given up and rather Blessed the Name of the Lord that he was found worthy to be one of that Number to have his Faith tryed before the Lord and also before his Persecutors often desiring the Lord to forgive them and that they might come to see the Evil of their Ways and turn to the Lord by true Repentance that they might find Favour with him He was a plain hearted Man and hated all Deceit and Pride where ever it appeared and those that kept in the true plainness were very near unto him the remembrance of it hath deep impression on my Heart in the consideration of the goodness of the Lord what he is to those that fear him and are of an Upright Heart their latter end is not like the Wicked as this my dear Husband was made a Living Witness of and it pleased the Lord to give him a double Portion of his Spirit the Hundred fold in this Life as a full Reward in his own Bosom according to his Promise and in that which is to come Life Everlasting On the 11th Day of the 7th Month 1687. it pleased the Lord to visit him with Sickness and a Feavor came on but very moderate that in all his Sickness when asked how he was he would answer Pretty Well and not much in Pain which was a great priviledge as to the outward Man but that Life which excelleth all which indeed was Health in Sickness and is over Death Hell and the Grave and is Everlasting the Lord in a large measure made him partaker of and so filled his Soul with his Love that he did often Sing for Joy of Heart and as Friends came in to visit him his Heart would be often opened with fresh Springs of Life and break forth with sweet Praises Magnifying the worthy Name of the Lord and his Power that he had made him a Witness of to the Refreshment of the Upright-hearted and also a Word of Exhortation was given him as there was occasion when People came in to visit him to the tendering of their Hearts he gave sweet Counsel to my Children Exhorting them to live in the Fear of God and love the Truths And about three days before he Departed he broke forth with Praises to the Lord again signifying if it were the last Testimony he had to bare that the Love and Presence and Peace of God was with him and that he could as truly say as good old Simeon That he had seen the Salvation of God The Night before he Departed being in a sweet frame of Spirit said My dear Wise be not cast down nor troubled the Lord intends Good to thee desiring me to go to Bed and said I had need of Rest and gave me up to the Lord whose Presence I feel and I resign up thee and the Keeper of Israel the good Watchman that never Slumbers nor Sleeps be with thee This in great tenderness he spoke so we took our Leave of each other and the greatest part of that Night after he had been a little in a Slumber he would awake with sweet Praises in his Mouth for the largeness of the loving Kindness of the Lord that he felt and early in the Morning when I came to him he told me he had been sweetly Refreshed this Night and blessed the Name of the Lord that let him Live to see this Day and that he had given his People a little time of Liberty and Rest to wait upon the Lord desiring they might prize it and be Faithful he often desired his dear Love to be remembred to all Friends especially to those travilling Friends that he had most acquaintance with and that had frequented his House he continued Sensible to the last and still with renewed Praises to the Lord and towards the Evening being the 25th of the 7th Month 1687. and about the Sixtieth Year of his Age he departed this Life These things are not Written to take any thing to Self but forever I desire to lie low before the Lord and to his Name and Power that was manifest through his Servant that 's taken from me be the Honour and Praise for evermore and also that it might be an Invitation to such as have any tender desires after the Lord and are yet Strangers to his Way that they may know and see how good the Lord is to them that Fear him and have believed in and obeyed the Light of Christ Jesus that he hath placed in every Man and Womans Conscience as a Reprover of every Evil Word and Work that they may come to believe in it and obey its Requirings that they may be made pertakers of the same Salvation to their own Comfort and Well-being forever So desiring the Lord may be with me and bare up my Head and carry me through my new Exercises which the Lord sees good to try me withal in a true Submission to his Will which Blessed be the Lord as my Eye is turned towards him and my Mind staid upon him his secret Hand doth uphold me O that I with all the Lords People that are left a little behind may be diligent to answer the Lord in all things that he requires of us and that we may be
good Examples in our places and before our Children in all manner of plainness as becomes the Truth for this Generation passeth fast away so that they may come up in our room to serve the Lord and bare a Testimony for his Truth that they may be made pertakers of this blessed Inheritance that shall never fade away and that the Lord has prepared for them that Love and Serve him which this my dear Husband did in his day according to the measure God had given him and is row entered into his Rest where his Praise is sure forever with the Lord and his Memorial will Live in the Hearts of the Upright although his Body is taken from us and returned to its own Center Mary Drewet John Drewet's Testimony concerning Amariah Drewet THis is the Testimony I have to bare for ray dear Unkle Amariah Drewet that he was a Man of an Innocent Life and Conversation he was well seasoned with the Grace of God and was Faithful to the Truth which I believe was more precious to him than all things besides it I was often with him in the time of his Sicknoss and he was preserved in a sweet fraine of Spirit often speaking of the Goodness of the Lord to him on his Death-Bed and his Heart was filled with Praises to the Lord in the openings of Life to the great Comfort and Refresh ment of those Friends that were about him he was a Man that was Faithful to the Lord in his Testimony in the time of Tryal and was bold for the Truth and was Strength to those that were Weak and did encourage them to stand Faithful to the end as blessed be the Lord he was preserved by the mighty Power of God through all his Sufferings which was great both by Imprisonments and Spoiling of Goods which he bore with much Cheerfulness and stood stedfast without Wavering blessed be the worthy Name of the Lord that did uphold him I watched with him one Night and I was sweetly Refreshed with him he was much attended with the good Presence of the Lord and many sweet Expressions came from him some of which I wrote down from his own Mouth what I could understand but sometimes he spoke so low that I could not well understand what he said but take this as followeth viz. O Lord Strengthen my poor Body that I may Praise thy Name Dear Father my Rest is in thee who pours out of thy Spirit into thy prophets Islessed be the Lord forever and for evermore O the largness of thy Goodness that I feel O Lord bear my Cries and bare up my Head in all my Exercises O thy sweet Presence and fresh Springs of Life that I feel Glory and Henour and Praises be unto thy Name forever Blessed Lord a Weak Man bus in thy Power do I receive Strength thy Presence and Love I feel Blessed and Praised be thy Holy Name O Lord help me and keep me close to thy Power O Lord attend my dear Wife with thy Presence Some more Words that he spoke at another time O thou mighty Jehovah before whom all Nations are but as a drop of a Bucket and as the small dust of the Ballance thou who weighest the Mountains in Scales and the Hills as in a Ballance Mighty art thou in Power but the World will not believe in thee nor in thy Son Christ Jesus that they may be Saved and much more to his purpose that was not taken O my dear Unlse the great loss I have of thee hath cost me many a Tear but our Loss is thy Gain who was Faithful unto the Death and hast obtained a Crown of Life and an entrance into that Inheritance that shall never sade away where thy Rost is fore with the Lord forever in which I am well satisfied John Drewet Theophila Townsond's Testimony conterning the Life Death and Sufferings of Amariah Drewet lately Deceased HE was an Innocent Upright Man one that bore a good and faithful Testimony for the Lord in his Day and Time both in Doing and Suffering and finished his Testimony with Joy as through the Goodness and Mercy of the Lord I was made a Living Witness having a Living Sence upon my Spirit of the Living Presence of the Lord that did accompany him in the time of his Sickness it often tendered his Heart and refreshed his Soul that in the sence of Gods Love and in the rising of Divine Life his Mouth was often opened to those that came to visit him and also to them that were about him of his own Family and Relations in good Advice and tender Counsel to them to be Faithful to the Lord and to abide in his pure Fear that they might have Peace when they come to a Dying Bed as said he Through the Goodness of the Lord I can say I have true Peace with God and if I Dye I am well satisfied it will be well with me and it will be a happy Change for me Blessed and Praised be the worthy Name of the Lord whose goodness to me hath been beyond Expression now in the time of my Weakness and then he broke forth into singing high Praises to the Name of the Lord and sweetly sounding forth Holy Renown and Living Thanks to the Living God for his Goodness and Mercies and Blessings to the great Comfort of those that were in the hearing of it this and much more to the same effect was spoken by him in the time of his Sickness something more of it may be mentioned in order as way opens for it and first shall spake a little more of his Life and Sufferings he was Open-hearted Kind Courtuous and Tender his Heart and House was open to receive the Lords Messengers and Ministers that travilled in his Work and Service and he desired much to have them with him and entertained them with Cheerfulness He was a Man attended with great Sufferings in this last Perfecution which was very Hot and Violent here in this Town of Cirencester in the County of Gloucester the place of his abode but he stood in his Testimony stedfast and was bold for the holy Truth notwithstanding all the Rage and Fury of our Persecutors which was great against us for several Years of which he had his share both by Imprisonment and loss of Goods he had his Doors Broke and his Goods Seized several times till they had Seized all that was in the House and the Officers returned answer unto the Justice that there was nothing to be had but he bore all with Patience and kept constantly to Meetings and when the Meeting-House-Doors were Nailed up and Friends kept out and met in the Yard he was not slack in coming to Assemble with them and sometime kept Meetings in his House though the Justices frequently in their own Persons did visit our Meetings several Years together But blessed be the Lord whose Power and Presence was with us and whos 's powerful Arm did uphold us and keep us out of the Fear
of Man which was my Cry to the Lord that in his pure Fear we might be preserved unto the end and Gods Power was over all Blessed and Praised be his worthy Name forever and for ever more who is not wanting to his Faithful People but is their exceeding great Reward who hath Rewarded this our dear Friend and deceased Brother with a Blessing of Rest and Peace in that Kingdom that never has End and hath received him into the Bosom of his Love where he shall solice his Soul forever and forever This Innocent Man who had been a great Sufferer by them several ways too much here to mention he bore it all with Pacience and constantly frequented the Meetings of the Lords People called Quakers where he was a Strength to the Weak encouraging them to Faithfulness We may see a difference between the Death of the Righteous and the Death of the Wicked for this Innocent Man A. D. before mentioned upon his Dying-Bed often signified That he was satisfied that if he Dyed it would be well with him and it would be a happy Change for him Blessed be the Name of the Lord over all forever who is never wanting to his faithful People The Sufferings which A. D. under went did not starttle him but with Boldness and holy Confidence he bore his Testimony for the Truth and against his Persecutors unchristian Proceedings which was contrary to the Doctrine of Christ who said Whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you do you the same to them And he often advised them to cease from Presecution and so eased his Spirit in clearing himself of them and left it at their Doors and left the Issue to the Lord who hath taken him out of the reach of all his Enemies and received him into that Rest which is Glorious where he shall solice his Soul in the Bosom of Divine Sweetness Endless Blessedness and Tryumph in Heavenly Glory forever and forever of which he had a living sence and feeling in his Life time Magnified forever be the worthy Name of the Lord for his Goodness to his People for he is an exceeding great Reward to them that Fear before him and put their Trust in him for the Righteous shall shine as the Stars forever and ever and their Memorial is Blessed but the Name of the Wicked shall Rot and they shall Perish forever like their own Dung as the Scriptures say and though many Men perceive not the difference between the Death of the Righteous and of the Wicked because both go down to the Grave in like manner It hath pleased God of his Mercy and Goodness to let us see a difference as is apparent by this our dear Brother A. D. whose Dying-Bed was made comfortable to him through the Comfort of Gods Love in and through Christ Jesus to his Soul as the Scripture saith The Righteous shall Sing for Joy of Heart when the Wicked shall Howl for Vexation of Spirit so in this Life the difference between the Death of the Righteous and the Wicked the Joy and Comfort of the one and the Sorrow and Misery of the other for the Righteous know and are assured that before they put off this House of Clay that they have a Habitation not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens and their Peace is sure with the Lord God through the Son of of his Love and that for evermore as this faithful Servant of the Lord before mentioned often gave Testimony of in the time of his Sickness of the assurance of his Peace with God whose living Presence did accompany him to his End as long as he could speak he made mention of it saying Often the Lords sweet Presence is with me beyond my expectation When I came first to see him he said He was freely given up in the will of God whether to Live or Dye and said if the Lord see it good to take me it will be well with me and it will be a happy Change for me and he was so filled with the Joy of Gods Salvation that he sung for Joy of Heart and Praised the Lord as with an heavenly Harp as one of them that stood before the Throne of God and the Lamb having the Harps of God in their Hands and they Sung a new Song before the Throne that none could learn but those that were Redeemed from the Earth My Soul was Refreshed to see and feel the heavenly frame of Spirit that he was in all along upon his Dying-Bed Another time when I came to visit him he took me by the Hand and said Thou hast been a Faithful Friend and a Help to me in the Truth all along and I have had a tender esteem for thee and all honest-hearted faithful Friends and that which I chiefly and most desired ever since I knew the blessed Truth of God was that the Lord would preserve me faithful to himself and his holy Truth unto the End and I bless his Name he hath been very good to me all along that nothing did discourage me in the time of Sufferings to weaken me but rather as Sufferings increased I was stronger and was freely given up according to my weak Capacity to answer the Lord and do that which I understood was right in his sight I could never speak much but desired to live to what I knew and the Lord hath accepted of it Praises to his Name and I can truly say that the only thing I aimed at in desiring this my dear Wife was that she might be helpful to me in the Truth and the Lord did make her a help to me I Bless and Praise his holy Name for his goodness to me on every account I said to him I am perswaded if the Lord see it best to spare thee and that it would make most for Gods Glory and thy Good the Lord will raise thee up again he said I believe the same And when his Relations put him upon it to send to some Physitian he answered no for I have that which is known to be good and approved Medicines and if these will not do me good I do not expect help from Man for if the Lord see good to take me to himself all the Men upon the Earth cannot keep me alive so I am given up in the will of the Lord He was gently visited with a Feavour not Violent nor complaining much of Pain nor Dryth but Weakness so he said to me when I came to visit him I asked him how he did he said Weak in Body but Strong in the Lord Weak in the outward Man but Strong in the inward Blessed and Praised be the Holy Name of the Lord forever And when he Slumbred as soon as he awaked his Mouth was opened with a Song of high Praises to the Lord and when the People came in to visit him he had a Word in season for them warning young People to fear God and watch against those things that did Corrupt Youth exhorting them to