one day or in a moment yet he doth it gradually in the space of ten Months God could make a Corn or Grain of Wheat to grow up in a moment but he hath appointed a season for it The Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome are such that she may well be called the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth She hath her Daughters that tho they profess to be different from her yet they are too much of her Spirit All that Worship Idols of Gold and Silver VVood and Stone And likewise those that although they do not Worship Images yet if they love Money more than God they are guilty of Idolatry and will be numbred among her Daughters at the great Day of Account As also all Persecuters and false Worshipers It was a mighty Work of God that hath broken the Ice in that that hath been already begun and brought to pass and is yet further to be carried on till it be compleated and accomplished It was a wonderful Discovery and Revelation that God made to the Apostle John who by the Light of Prophecy foresaw things to come many Hundred Years before they were fulfilled wonderful things respecting Worldly Governments relating to the State and Condition of the Church and People of God And there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman cloathed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet and upon her head a Crown of twelve Stars And she being with child cried travailing in birth and pained to be delivered And behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads And the Dragon stood before the woman that was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne And the woman fled into the Wilderness c. And the dragon was worth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony Jesus Christ The Apostle John by the Light of Divine Prophecy he foresaw how long the Woman should continue in the Wilderness and when the Scarlet Whore should be Judged that had made her self drunk with the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs And after these things saith the Apostle I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying Alleluja Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God For true and righteous are his Judgments for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne saying Amen Alleluja And the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of the saints And they sang a new song saying Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them heard I saying Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever So that this I say by way of Testimony out of the Holy Scripture that it hath been the Work of Gods people to praise God for all his Mercies Blessings and Deliverances and this is that which God expects from us that we should Magnifie and praise him when he is pleased to work great Deliverances for us according to those Words of the Psalmist Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows unto the most high And call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me This is the just Tribute that God requires who is the Great Deliverer and Preserver of Men to glorifie and praise him and give him that honour that is due to his Great and Excellent Name and not only to praise him with our Tongues and Lips but with our Lives Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me saith the Lord and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God And our Saviour commandeth this and chargeth it upon us as our duty Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven Now as concerning the praises of God all Gods praises which are acceptable to him they are to be in Spirit and in Truth God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth The father seeketh such to worship him The praises of God are of a higher and lower degree We find there are in the Book of Psalms Songs of degrees so there are the high Praises of God when the Soul is raised up by Gods Power and Spirit from a deep and profound sense of his Mercies and great Deliverances to render Thanksgiving and Praise For thou hast delivered my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling The Psalmist praised God for Spiritual and Temporal Blessings for Mercies both to his Soul and Body I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will sing praises unto my God while I have my being My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. When the Psalmist comes to utter the high Praises of God these words are going before Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more bless thou the Lord O my soul Praise ye the Lord. When the high Praises of the Lord are to be in our Mouths then all evil thoughts and wicked imaginations and sinful motions such as hinder Gods Praises are to be put far from us that we may worship God in Spirit and serve him with Sincerity and Purity of Heart O give thanks unto the Lord call upon his name and make known his deeds among the people Sing unto him sing psalms unto him talk ye of all his wonderous works Glory ye in his holy name let the heart of them rejoyce that seek the Lord. Seek ye the Lord and his strength seek his face evermore Remember his marvellous works that he hath done Let the saints be joyful in glory let the high praises of God be in their mouth c. Blessed are they that can witness to this Truth that upon receipt of great Mercies do render praises to God If real gratitude be in our Hearts and the high Praises of God in our mouths this is a token for good it is like the white stone and new
true Knowledge of God and his Son Jesus Christ which is Life Eternal The Psalmist concludes the Psalm I have been mentioning with these words Great deliverance giveth he to his King and sheweth mercy to his annointed to David and to his seed for evermore David as a Type of Christ stiles himself Gods King none are to be called Gods Kings equally and in all respects as David was thus he brings in God speaking in Psalm 2. 6. of Christ Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Great deliverance hath he given to his King David was called Gods King in a peculiar sense as a Type of Christ I know no King in the VVorld that in all respects may equal himself with David God sent the Prophet Samuel to anoint him King when he was keeping Sheep he was the least and lowest of all his Brethren but he was ruddy and withal of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to Samuel Anointed him in the midst of his Brethren and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward and afterward the People chose him to be King It is my Belief and Perswasion that there have been and may be Kings in the World that may be said to be God's Kings God hath raised up some for some singular and eminent Work so God raised up Cyrus and stiled him his Anointed and his Shepherd I have raised him up in righteousness saith the Lord and I will direct all his ways he shall build my city and he shall let go my captives not for price not reward saith the Lord of hosts Whatsoever King or Prince God hath raised up it should be our earnest Desire and Prayer That the work of the Lord may Prosper in their Hands And let me tell you this Day here is matter for high Praises and Thanksgiving that God hath graciously and wonderfully Saved and Delivered the King from the Hands of bloody Men that designed his Destruction and the Ruin of these Nations We have abundant cause to be Thankful not only for his Personal Deliverance and Preservation but also to Pray that God would be pleased to make him an eminent Instrument in his Hand to serve and glorifie God in his Generation and promote the Christian Faith and the common Interest of all sincere Protestants against the Roman Papacy and barbarous Tyranny and Slavery I pray God the sense of this great Mercy and Deliverance may dwell upon all our Spirits It is not only a Deliverance as I hinted before of the King 's own Person but of us our Wives and little Ones our Cities Towns and Families If this Design had prospered and answered the expectation of our Enemies what Ruin and Confusion would it have brought upon these Nations What could we have expected in this Great and Populous City but Desolation and Ruin throughout the whole Island I speak in sincerity I feel joy to arise in my Heart and such a sense of this Mercy as doth excite me to Praise and Thanksgiving and to magnifie the Name of the Lord that hath done great Things for us if therebe any that flatteringly and hypocritically Praise God for this National Mercy they have their reward Let us all therefore Sincerely Cordially and in good ear-nest express our Thankfulness to God for that great Salvation he hath wrought for the King and these Kingdoms It is a signal Mercy and Universal Blessing Let us all excite and provoke one another to be truly Thankful to God not only with our Lips but with our Lives not only verbally but really in a Christian Life and Conversation without which our keeping a Day of Thanksgiving will not be acceptable to the Lord. For thus saith the Lord Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God A TESTIMONY OF OUR Faithful Obedience and Subjection TO King WILLIAM the III. And His GOVERNMENT AS We do sincerely believe and profess that Magistracy and Government in the World is an Ordinance of God and that it is the Duty of all Men to be subject to those in Authority whom God hath placed over them so most especially that it is the Duty of all Christians to be eminently exemplary to all others in giving and demonstrating all due subjection to the Government and Authority under which they live not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake and that they ought to pray for them and give thanks to God for the Blessings and Benefits received by them and their Government and for this cause Tribute is due unto them to support and maintain them in the necessary discharge thereof And in behalf of our selves and other Christian People who are of one Faith and Perswasion with us as true and sincere Christians and Protestants sincerely concerned in the common Interest of all true Protestants for the preservation of the true Christian Protestant Doctrin and Faith generally received and professed by all sincere Protestants against the great and manifold pernicious Errors of the Roman Papacy and for the true Christian Liberty that God in his great Mercy hath in general brought into these Three Nations as well as to other Protestant Countries against the Usurpation of the Papal Hierarchy By this our present Testimony we do sincerely and solemnly declare that we hold it to be our Christian Duty to give all due and faithful Subjection to King WILLIAM the present KING of England Scotland and Ireland c. with all Love Humility and due Honour and Respect and chearful ready and peaceable Obedience to Him as Supream acknowledging Him to be Rightful and Lawful KING of these Realms and to all under Him in Authority in their several Places and Stations giving thanks with our hearts to God for the many Blessings and Benefits we enjoy under His Reign and Government And we give Him Cordial Thanks for the Liberty and free Exercise of our Consciences which He hath Granted and is Establish'd by Law in Worshiping God according to our Faith and Perswasion And we utterly deny and disown the Authority of all Foreign Power to have any Jurisdiction over these Realms As also we give thanks to God for the late great Deliverance and Preservation that God hath given Him in Delivering Him and Preserving Him from the wicked Attempts and Designs of such as did intend to Assassinate Him in whose great Deliverance and Preservation the whole Body of all his Loving Subjects in all His Dominions have met with great Deliverance and Preservation to themselves and their Families of which singular Blessing of God to Him and in Him to all these Three Nations and all other His Dominions we desire that all may be deeply sensible and by Divine Grace and Assistance may be helped to be thankful unto God for the same not only by confession of the Mouth but by the good Works of a Christian Life and Conversation And we sincerely pray that God Almighty may still preserve and defend Him from all future Attempts and Designs of wicked Men prolong His Life and Reign make Him a great and eminent Instrument to promote True Christian Piety and the True Protestant Doctrin and Cause against the Papal Faction and Hierarchy Bless His Government more and more to Him and all his Faithful and Loving Subjects Establish His Throne in Righteousness during His Life-time in this World and in the World to come give him the Crown of Righteousness and of Eternal Life Given forth from our Meeting at Turners-Hall in London in behalf of our selves and other Christian People of the same Faith and Perswasion with us commonly called Quakers though differing from many that go under that Name in diverse weighty Things relating to Christian Faith and Doctrin The 26th of the Second Month called April 1696. FINIS Psal 18. 46. Psal 135. 15 16. Eph. 2. 1 4. Rom. 5. 14. Psal 18. 2. Psal 147. 1. Psal 33. 1. Isa 55. 7. Isa 1. 16 17. Psal 119. 156. Gen. 6. 7. Gen. 7. 1. Gen. 8. 20. Psal 106. 9 10. Exod. 15. 1. Psal 126. Psal 137. 1 2. Rev. 15. 2. 3. Rev. 13. 4 8. Rev. 12. 1 2 3 4 15 16. Rev. 19 1 2 4. Rev. 5. 8 9. Psal 50. 14 15. Psal 50. 23. Mat. 5. 16. John 4. 24. Psal 116. 8. Psal 104. 33 34 35. Psal 105. Psal 149 5 6. 1 John 2. 14. Heb. 12. 4. Psal 18 17 19. Psal 18. 23. Rom. 7. 18. Psal 119. 109. Luke 17. 20. Matth. 25. 13. Mat. 3. 3. John 7. 37. 38. Gen. 26. 18. 1 Cor. 10. 3. 4. Acts 15. 5 6 7 8. Eph. 2. 7. Psal 18. 43. 44. Psal 18. 50. 1 Sam. 16. 12. Isa 44. 28. Isa 45. 13. Psal 50. 23.
greatest enemies are those of his own house So it was in this case David's worst Enemies were those of his own House he did not watch and keep his guard against them in the time of his Prosperity when he was advanced to the Crown and Scepter of Judah and Israel and his Enemies subdued under him after God had delivered him from the Hands of all his Enemies he should have kept himself from his Iniquity as he had done formerly when Saul hunted and pursued him as a Partridge upon the Mountains Men and Women commonly have some particular Sin and Lust which in a peculiar manner they may call their own Iniquity It is Voluptuousness and the love of Carnal Pleasure in some Ambition and Pride in others and Envy and Malice in some and Covetousness which is Idolatry in others Therefore let not Men Flatter and Deceive themselves and think that there is nothing of the Seed and Principle of Sin remaining in their Flesh I have heard of the Saying of a choice Christian a worthy Woman she had long experienced a blessed State of nearness to God I have heard a Person say that had it from her own Mouth that for the space of some Years the Grace of God did shine in her as the Sun at Noon-Day It was a constant thing with her to walk with God the whole Day from her rising up to her lying down and she enjoyed a lively sense of the Love of God and the Consolations of his Holy Spirit But it pleased the Lord afterwards to hide his Face and then she was troubled yet God did not utterly leave her for she Died a good Christian But He did withdraw and with-held from her those sensible Joys and Consolations she had rasted and felt in Communion with Him some have heard her say When it was so with me that the Light of God's Countenance was lifted up upon me and he had put gladness into my Heart I thought there was no Sin had any place or room in me but after those refreshing Joys and sensible Consolations were removed and the Lord did hide his Face from me who hath promised he will not utterly forsake his People whose Faithfulness doth engage him never finally to leave them tho' for some time he may seem to Desert them when I had said she those wonderful Joys and refreshings from the presence of the Lord I thought Sin had been quite gone but afterward I found it was but driven into a corner Many that think they are come to high Attainments may say For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing O wretched Creature that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I my self serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin The Work that God hath appointed to every Christian is like the work of a Gardener Dressing his Garden we are so to manage our Hearts and order our Conversations and Cultivate our selves that we may be as a Watered Garden to the Lord. A Dresser of a Garden must take great pains and labour hard to make it Fruitful if he doth not diligently and constantly employ himself Weeds will be springing up and hinder the growth of the Herbs and Flowers therefore the Gardener must lay his Hands to it and pluck up the noxious Weeds that they may not spread and spoil and overrun the Garden So we must labour and take pains with our Hearts and Souls I remember it was a saying of Bernard in a Letter which he wrote to some of his Friends Let your Soul be continually in your Hands as David said my soul is continually in my hands that is in a way of reliance and giving it up into the Hands of the Lord. But Bernard when he saith Let your Soul be continually in your Hands he means thus Let your Soul be continually washing and cleansing every Day more and more that you may be purified and kept unspotted from the World If we have a spot or speck upon a Garment we will take pains to rubit out And thus it ought to be with every one of us let our Souls be continually in our Hands let us be dressing our Hearts continually and keep them with all keeping keep them with all Diligence for out of them are the Issues of Life keep your Hearts with all keeping and our Lord Christ will refresh you with his Living Water as he told the Woman of Samaria Whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of Water springing up unto everlasting Life There is a great Mystery in this God for Christ's sake and through Christ Jesus hath placed in us an inward principle of Divine Life We are oft refreshed with the Streams of this Living Spring that flows within us reviving us with the sense of the Love of God What is it that oft hinders this Well from springing up in us but the dirt and rubbish of Sin The Philistines stopped the VVells that Abraham and Isaac's Servants had Digged but they unstopped them again that the VVaters might spring up Let us keep our Hearts clear from the dirt and rubbish of Sin that this VVell may spring up in us to Everlasting Life VVhen our Saviour was demanded of the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God should come He answer'd them and said The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation Neither shall ye say Lo here or lo there for behold the kingdom of God is within you Yet they were bad Men and Hypocrites It was in them as a very little Seed it was in them as if it were not in them as the Man that had one Talent he had it as if he had it not he did no good with it our Lord called him wicked and slothful Servant and said Take therefore the Talent from him and give it unto him which had ten talents For unto every one that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath A Covetous Man wants what he hath as if he had it not Christ Jesus is the true Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World I dissent from them that speak slightly of that Light which reproves Sin in the Consciences of Men and Women God hath put his Law in Mens Hearts and as the Great Law-giver he hath written it there with his own Finger and the Gentiles that have not the Law are a Law to themselves for if God had not writ his Law in all Mens Hearts they would have no sin where no Law is there is no Transgression God also writes his Laws in the Hearts of true Believers and softens their Hearts to take the impression of it but every Unbeliever and unconverted Man and Woman hath a
Heart of Stone None but those which know themselves to be of the New Creation of God have experience of a Heart of Flesh given them and a Heart of Stone taken away It is they only that have the Law written upon the fleshly Tables of their Hearts that are washed and purified though I cannot say there is a Well of Living Water in any that do not believe yet there is something placed by God in every one towards it like the Ministry of John the Baptist which was a preparing the way of the Lord he was spoken of by the Prophet Isaias saying the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths straight Our Saviour said to the Woman of Samaria if thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee Give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water And in another place it is said In the last day that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drinke He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water but this he spake of the spirit which that believe on him should receive not Unbelievers You that sincerely and truly Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ without all peradventure you have something of this Well of Living Water within you you have the gift of God O give thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord for this great and unspeakable Gift Some may say if I have a Well of Living Water in me what is the reason I feel so little comfort my soul thirst and I want this Living water to drink O that I had some drops of it to cool and quench my thirsty Soul I Answer Thou dost not diligently watch thy Heart thou sufferest thy Sins those Philistins to prevail over thee and stop up thy Well When Abimelech's Servants had stopped the Wells which were digged in the days of Abraham Isaac digged them again I say unto you throw away the Rubbish and Earth and Dirt that is got into your own Hearts and every thing that the Light in your own Consciences tells you in evil and then the Waters will spring forth Then you will experience a Well of Living Water springing up in you unto Everlasting Life The Prophets of Old David and Samuel Isaiah and Jeremy and Daniel and all other Holy Men of God they had experience of this Well within them springing up unto Everlasting Life and all true Believers before Christ came in the Flesh they did all eat the same spiritual meat and drink the same spiritual drink For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ and they had all those Spiritual Blessings we enjoy upon the account of Christ his most Holy Obedience and Death There was this difference between us and them We believe in Christ that is already come and they saw Christ in the Promises and in Shadows Types and Figures and believed in Christ that was to come Under the Law they were under a Yoke of Bondage but we have cause to bless the Lord that hath taken that Yoke from off our Necks that neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear We Read in Act. 15. 5. There rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed saying That it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter And when there had been much disputing Peter rose up and said unto them Men and Brethren ye know how that a good while a go God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel and believe And God which knoweth the hearts bear them witness giving them the holy Ghost even as he did unto us And put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Blessed be God that hath delivered us from that burden of Ceremonies and multitudes of Rites and Observations that were continued till the clearer times of the Gospel when all the Males before that time went every Year up to Jerusalem to worship which was many Miles distant from many of their Habitations The Lord hath been pleased to make the Christian Service under the Gospel much more easie to us upon an outward account and likewise more advantagious as well as more easie and Delightful upon a Spiritual Account God hath given us more of his Spirit in these times of the Gospel not that God hath given us a greater Measure of his Holy Spirit than he gave unto the Prophets for they had greater gifts of the Spirit but there is now generally given more abundant measures of the Spirit to Gods Poople under this Dispensation of the Gospel there were then in general but lower and lesser Measures and as it were some droppings of the Spirit upon them that lived in former Ages but in the latter days after Christs ascension there hath been the powring out of the Spirit that as the Apostle speaks God might in ages to come shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus And if any do not now witness the powring forth of the Spirit they may find the cause in themselves they are not careful and diligent to improve the Means and Advantages that God hath given to them and that is the reason of it In the close of the 18th Psalm David speaks some things concerning himself and other things relating to Christ speaking of himself as he was a Type of Christ Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people and thou hast made me the head of the heathen a people whom I have not known shall serve me Assoon as they hear of me they shall obey me the strangers shall submit themselves to me This was but little fulfilled in David the Type but was largely fulfilled many hundred years after in Christ the Antitype VVhen the Apostles came to Preach Christ Crucified then very many that heard believed in Christ and obeyed him submitted themselves to him and many afterwards laid down their Lives for him My Friends ought not we be very Thankful when we consider and call to mind what a sad condition England was in many Hundred Years ago when the Inhabitants worshipped Diana and other Idols and false Gods Jerom saith the Britains were so Savage and Barbarous that they did eat Mans Flesh Blessed be God for his abundant mercy and kindness to us that hath brought many in this Nation to the