The Jaylor whom we find Inhumane in his Treatment of Paul and Silas Act. 16.24 not long after washing their Wounds as a genuine Effect of his Believing the Word they spake to him he who about Midnight designed to be his own Executioner before Day-break was a joyful Believer And how many of the obstinate Jews who had embrewed their wicked hands in the Blood of Christ fled for refuge to the hope set before them in the Gospel and in one days time became Church-Members whose continuance in the Apostle's Doctrine was as stedfast as their Conversion was sudden Acts 2.23 41. Objection 2. It may be said these were extraordinary Instances and therefore nothing to the Purpose in hand Answer I grant that the Work of Regeneration is not ordinary but special if compar'd with the more usual Dispensations of Divine Bounty in his common Providence as to the things of this life and tho' there are not many Converts in this day who parallel the foregoing Instances yet they who have the Spirit witnessing with theirs that they are the Sons of God cannot but set to their Seal from their own Experience that the Lord's Arm is not shortned Doctrina adversariorum qui legem cum Christo decebant ut justificationis causum concurrere i. e. The Doctrine of our Adversaries who hold That the Law is a Co Adjutor with Christ in the Justification of a Sinner Beza in La. tho' the Doctrine of his Grace is so clouded by some Self-Justiciaries The Apostle affirms That the Spirit cannot be received by the Works of the Law but by the Hearing of Faith And how far the generality of Preachers deviate from this Doctrine is too conspicuous who not allowing the Grace of God to be so powerful and effectual now as when the Gospel was first promulgated send us for Life to that Law which hath already condemned us Object 3. Why did not this Convert give some Reasons why he turned from Judaism Answ He gave the most perswasive Argument that could be viz. His believing Jesus Christ to be the true Messiah upon the naked Testimony and Record of God concerning him expressed in several Texts of Scripture Which will be a sufficient Reason to those poor blind Jews who are still walking after the Imagination of their own Hearts to relinquish their Errors when God in his infinite Wisdom shall think fit to call them by his Grace 2. Consider the Things he spake were delivered to a Church of Christ not to an Auditory at Lions to satisfie them of a Work of Grace in his Soul And therefore tho' his Speech was rude yet it is not doubted from the Certainty of his Conversion but he had those Divine Impulses on his Soul whereby he could not but desert Judaism and lay hold of the true Messiah for Life and Salvation It only remains Reader to inform you That what Shalome Ben Shalomoh spake publickly has not passed under any material Alteration since but as far as it consists with Plainness and Perspicuity his own Expressions are retained tho' through his Deficiency in our English Dialect it was judged proper to alter some of his Words yet retaining his Sence Which with some Additions forgotten by him when he delivered himself to the Church and others whereinto God hath since instructed him are now offered to your serious Consideration the Glory of God and your Good having been primarily consulted herein by Your Servant in our Lord Jesus Christ T. H. WE whose Names are hereto annexed Pastor and Members of the Church of Christ into which Mr. Shalome was admitted do hereby certifie That the following Account is what he delivered Viva Voce to the Church and that such Additions as are made were taken from his own Mouth by Thomas Humfrey Nathaniel Shepard Samuel Stratton THE NARRATIVE of the CONVERSION OF Shalome Ben Shalomoh the JEW DELIVER'D Unto the CHURCH of CHRIST to which Mr. Thomas Humfrey is Pastor Mr. Humfrey BRethren I suppose you well remember that Mr. Shalome was proposed to this Church in order to Communion therewith he is now come to give an Account of the Dealings of God with his Soul I hope you will attend as those who are sensible of the Grace of God towards you Sir If you please to speak Shalome I hope Men and Brethren that what I am about to say may prove as effectual as the Sermon which Peter preached to the Men of Judea and Jerusalem at the hearing of which there was an Universal crying out Men and Brethren What shall we do Acts 2.37 If that be your Enquiry take Peter's Answer You must believe and be baptized that the Holy Ghost may come upon you v. 38. I Shalome Ben Shalomoh was born of Jewish Parents my Father's Name Shalomoh my Mother 's Leah was circumcised the eighth Day in Pusnonny in Poland where I lived till I was twelve Years of Age at which time it pleased God who works all things for the good of his Elect that all our Family my self alone excepted died in a great Plague which had universally spread its self through that Land Being left thus destitute I had an Inclination to travel and in my Travels a Boy who was in the Duke of Brandenburg's Army came and said to me Why do you not turn a Christian A Christian said I why think you I will worship Images for such was my Ignorance that I thought all Christians were Papists there being none but Papists who were called Christians and Jews in the Country where I was born do you said I believe the Bible the Old Testament the five Books of Moses the Psalms of David and the Song of Solomon Yes said he we have all these Do you said I worship Images There are said he two sorts of Christians Protestants and Papists we believe no other Saviour but Jesus Christ alone Well said I carry me to a Minister who accordingly brought me to the Duke of Brandenburg's Minister who opend to me something concerning Jesus Christ from the five Books of Moses As 1st that in Gen. 3.15 And I will put enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel which appeared to me when God opened my Eyes for I could not see it before a lively Representation of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as also from that in Numb 21.9 when God commanded Moses to lift up a brazen Serpent on a Pole that every bitten Israelite looking thereto might be healed did I learn that Jesus Christ was the true brazen Serpent by believing on whom alone it was that I could obtain Salvation and eternal Life He also endeavoured to shew me how that many of the Psalms were prophetical of Jesus Christ particularly Psalm 2.7 Thou art my Son this Day have I begotteu thee And Psal 110.1 The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right Hand c. And Psal 22.16 17 18. The
knew there was but one Christ however I thought I would assemble my self with a sober People at length I came among the Quakers but alas there I found nothing to my Satisfaction so that I was at a Loss again and so continued for many Years going no where but lived without Christ an Alien from the Commonwealth of Israel a Stranger to the Covenants of Promise without God in the World at last my Heart began to burn within me whether thought I shall I go I pray'd that the Lord if he had any Love to me would shew himself to me in Jesus Christ for I always did even when I lived in the Flesh as many nominal Christians do look for God in the Face of Jesus Christ and point me out a way at length I came to White-chappel where my Apprehensions concerning my State were dreadful I went one Night to bed and there thought I heard a Voice distinctly saying Arise arise if you look not about you and repent not you must certainly be damned This was a sad Sermon preached to me which from a slavish Fear and Dread drove me to worship God not from a Sence of his Love but as I said from a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indiguation my very Heart trembled within me Lord thought I it is high time to repent what shall I do Meeting a young Man I told him my sad Condition who told me Unless I was born again of Water and of the Spirit I could not enter into the Kingdom of God which new Birth was wholly mysterious to me What shall I do then said I I fell to weeping I pray said I help me to a Minister a good Gospel-Minister I prayed many times that God would direct me to a right Church tho' with never so much Affliction the Head whereof is Christ I have often seen as I thought Jesus Christ perfectly at the right Hand of God who has promis'd to pour out his Spirit on all Flesh and certainly it cannot be far off I am sure if I were to dye shortly it will not be long after my time who brought me to this Minister to whom I declared my Mind who went Evangetically to work with me he went far beyond Baxter Baxter drove me back but this Gentleman told me there was free Grace for all that came to Jesus Christ This proved an happy Day to my Soul he told me the Lord accepts Jew and Gentile as in Gal. 3.28 There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither Bond nor Free there is neither Male nor Female for ye are all one in Jesus Christ after some Discourse with Mr. Humfry who made some Discovery to me of God's Way of Salvation by free Grace of the Way of the Work of the Spirit of God on the Spirit of a Man in raising him up from the Death of Sin I read in a Book in which I found the Citation of that Scripture in John 17.26 Father I have declared unto them thy Name and will declare it that the Love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them And thought I now there is an open Door to come to God through Jesus Christ it came on my Soul with such Power that it appear'd to me as if a Door had been set open for any to enter in who will how abominably vile and filthy soever they be I thought I saw Jesus Christ yea the very Godhead shining round about me through the Manhood of Jesus for in him dwells the Fulness of the Godhead bodily 2 Col. 9. And now I am perswaded whether I direct my Prayer to God the first Person in the Trinity or to Jesus Christ the second it is the same they being the same in Essence equal in Power and Glory The Quakers indeed will suffer no Man to Pray but as the Spirit moves them pretending to be guided by a Light within which is no other than the Devil transforming himself into an Angel of Light and indeed it proved but a dark Guide to my Soul But as I was reading the Book above-named it pleased God to dart in a Beam of Divine Love in Jesus Christ on my Soul tho' for about an hour and a half my Bed shook under me I quivered and trembled and thought my very Heart was broken within me Lord thought I what shall I do to be saved But it was soon cleared up to me by the Spirit of the Lord that I should be saved by Jesus Christ and by him alone and I am sure there is Salvation in no other than in Jesus Christ no there is not And now I would give my Body to be burnt yea had I a thousand Lives I would lay them all down rather then be an unbelieving Jew For saith Christ unless you believe that I am he i. e. the Messiah you shall die in your Sins and whither I go you cannot come John 8.21 24. This is a miserable Sentence to all Unbelievers I often wondred when I heard Ministers pray for unbelieving Gentiles surely thought I the Gentiles all believe in Jesus Christ But alas Believing is quite another thing than I took it to be a thing of far greater Difficulty than most are aware of He that comes to God must believe that he is every way such as the Scripture declares him to be Heb. 11.6 he must believe that all his Attributes are highly exalted and infinitely advanced in our Salvation that the Law is much more highly magnified and made honourable Isa 42.21 by the Obedience of Jesus Christ God and Man than it could possibly be by the perfect Obedience of Sinless Adam he must believe that what Christ has done and suffered for us as our Surety in our room and stead is the only Righteousness whereby we are justified before God and accepted with him and that this very Righteousness becomes ours pleadable by us by Vertue of God's Divine Act of Imputation Jesus Christ is all and in all Col. 3.11 But alas by how few are these Gospel-mysteries really and truly believed Here you see one in whom the Covenant of Abraham is fulfilled as it is in all those who believe in Jesus Christ But if you do not believe you must die in your Sins I am afraid that my Forefathers tho' I must Judge as Charitably of them as I have warrant for yet I fear lest many of them are gone down to the Pit of Eternal Destruction and yet I am a Brand plucked out of the Fire Zec. 3.2 Now if God saved not his own Covenant-Children his own Spouse those who were naturally in the Root what will become of those who are grafted in and yet believe not that Jesus is the Christ 1 John 2 22. but I know and am perswaded That Jesus Christ loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 which is the main Point and that by his Death and Resurrection my Soul is saved Mr. H. Brethren you have heard what an account Mr. Shalome has given in
If you have any Question to ask on any thing that he has said you have your Liberty Shalome Brethren Come what will come I am willing to wait with Patience flinging my self wholly on Jesus Christ trusting in him resolving to die at his Feet in the Strength of Christ I speak it Here it was desired by a Member in the Name of the Church that Mr. Humfrey would propound such Questions to him as by his Answers to which his Insight into and Experience of the glorious Mysteries of the Gospel might farther appear Mr. H. What do you find in your Soul upon believing in Jesus Christ Shalome Comfort Joy and Peace as if I saw the Heavens themselves opening ready to receive me but sometimes I feel a dark Night Mr. H. What Course do you take when you find the Guilt of Sin flying in your Face Shalome I go to Jesus Christ I go to Mount Calvary there he gave Satisfaction for my Sins and is now ascended and sits at the Right Hand of God and makes how call you it in English It was answered Intercession Aye Intercession Heb. 7.25 He was the Lamb of God slain from the Foundation of the World Rev. 13.8 and I verily believe that God elected me in Christ before ever I was born yea before the Foundation of the World was laid Ephes 1.4 Or else I should never have come to him had he not loved me with an everlasting Love he would never have drawn me with loving Kindness Jer. 31.3 and now might I be a King a King of the Jews I value it not I had rather be a Beggar and dye in a Dungeon then be an unbelieving King Mr. H. Well but what say you to the Devil when he tells you your Sins are too great or too many to be pardoned Shal. Say to him I tell him Jesus Christ was the great Sacrifice who upon the Cross gave full Satisfaction for all my Sins be they never so many or never so great He obeyed and suffer'd for me and besides this Must I believe the Devil Mr. H. And what course do you take when you are down in your Spirit Shal. I have Hope in the Lord and stay my self on God still when in my own Conscience I was under the greatest Sence of Condemnation when the Law Conscience Sin and the Devil all condemned me my Cry was as now it is I trust in Jesus Christ when I had no Strength and knew not where to go still I resolved to trust in Jesus Christ with whom there is free Grace and to whom there is an open Door and I could chearfully undergo the Destruction of this Body might it be in the declaring the Name of Jesus Christ to my Brethren in discovering something to them of the Riches of the free Grace of God in Jesus Christ which has plucked me as a Brand out of the Fire that it might redound to the Praise and the Honour of Jesus Mr. H. And what is it that moves you to pray Shal. The Spirit of God setting home on my Soul the Sence of the Pardon of my Sin what is it that keeps me in the Ways of Jesus Christ of which I was ignorant till God by his Providence made you an Instrument in directing me thereto but the Spirit And now I see it is a Way so plain that wayfaring Men tho' Fools shall not Err therein Isaiah 35.8 I am since God has called me out of Darkness into his marvellous Light made to admire the infinite Wisdom of God in taking Flesh upon him a Mystery so strange so odious to the Jews that they could kill him who should affirm it Mr. H. Did you not find your Soul drawn by hearing the Gospel Shal. Yes by that it was that the Love of God wonderfully appeared to my Soul By that I was made to see my self an adopted Child of God an Heir of Glory so that when under a Cloud I could then cry Thou art my Father I am thy Child leave me not therefore utterly take not thine Holy Spirit from me but act as a Father towards me If thy Spirit leaves me I am like a Child whose Leading-strings if you let go down it falls We have continual daily need to feed on Jesus Christ the Manna we had Yesterday will not serve us to Day Gentlemen Do not look upon me as a righteous Man in my self for there I am a Sinner and altogether unclean Isaiah 1.6 But yet in Jesus Christ I am without Spot Sin or Stain and blameless before the Throne Cant. 4.7 By Grace I am what I am 1 Cor. 15.10 In the imputed Righteousness of Jesus Christ Gen. 3.21 Mr. H. Then you do not think to be saved by your own Righteousness Shal. No it is all as filthy Rags I might better have continued a Jew then seek Salvation by my own Righteousness they who have received Grace cannot do otherwise then praise and glorifie the Lord but when we have done all we can it is but filthy Rags Dross and Dung It is Jesus Christ alone that saves me when all is done Grace laid the Foundation and when the Top-stone is laid it will be with shouting forth Grace Grace Zach. 4.7 Mr. H. And what alteration did you find upon discoursing of the Gospel You believed in a general Way you said that the Messiah was come Shal. I did so and had but a common Work of the Spirit I desired to be let further into the Mysteries of the Gospel that I might be found One of those Worshippers who worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth that is the true Worship not at Mount Samaria nor yet at Jerusalem Mr. H. I well remember when you first came to me you was much troubled with the Burthen of Sin Shal. Aye There appeared the Mercy of God now you put me in mind I was always cast down my Heart was broke I was just as a broken Reed I could not tell what to do Oh! Sin did load me I saw my self even in the Pit of Hell I thought I was not worthy to come to Jesus Christ but such was his Grace that he was pleased to lay hold of me and since I am come to him I have Peace in Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost Glory be to his Name for ever Mr. H. Well what do you believe that God has forgiven you all your Sins at once Shal. Yes I believe he has forgiven all at once past present and to come and now Christ will not leave me tho' I fall I shall rise again Mr. H. You see what Ground you stand upon Shal. I hope I stand upon the Rock the true Rock upon Peter's Confession of Faith Mr. H. As to your being chosen of God and elected what do you believe touching that Sha. Elected had I not been Elected I am assured God would never have wrought such a Work upon me He has Elected me before the Foundation of the World was laid and when I was young my Heart