and that by men of all professions as they have come into Authority one after another and many and seeming fair promises have been made by them all That free Liberty of Conscience in things relating to God should be granted and allowed to people of all sorts for the breach of which engagements with many other divers have already been rooted out and overturned and yet thereby men have not taken warning though besides warnings have oft been given them in tender love to perform their promises and engagements in these things and all other though much consisteth therein as to their establishment and on the contrary to their ruination Neither have they learned to give the same liberty to others in things relating to the Conscience as themselves would desire to have and this is not to do as they would be done unto and therein they are short of fulfilling the Royal Law of God Wherefore let all people who are making Laws to compel mens consciences consider how they are degenerated from God and how darknesse hath covered them and hardnesse of heart hath seized on them so that they cannot have regard unto tender consciences but in the pride of their hearts would be Lords over the Consciences of others Surely they are not guided by the same Spirit that the Apostle was in the primitive times who said Let every man be fully perswaded in his own Conscience and this was true liberty of Conscience And notwithstanding all the profession that there hath been and yet is in the World and the talk of God and Christ and redemption and salvation by him yet now when the Son of God is come is there faith to be found on earth or are people redeemed from the earth or saved from the polutions of the world I tell you nay for all who are from the light of the Son of God in them they are in the alienation and degeneration and are strangers unto God and his Covenant of peace and reprobate concerning that faith which gives the Saints victory over the World and so are drove out into the earth not redeemed from it but are bond slaves to corruption and live in the polutions of the World and in this state the whole World lieth notwithstanding all their profession and talk of Religion which is amongst them and so their fruits plainly manifest it and thereby it is clearly seen that their Teachers were not sent of the Lord neither have they had his Word nor stood in his counsel therefore have they not profited the people nor turned them from the evil of their ways neither are they brought to the knowledge of the truth by which freedom and redemption is witnessed So their preaching is vain and their Faith is vain and they remain in their sins which separates them from God and are dead while they live and are unrestored and unreconciled and have no assurance of their eternal well-being And when any come into a serious consideration and unto a true sence of the sad state they are in and how they have lived and spent their time all their life long then judgement and wrath condemnation and pangs and the sorrows of Hell compasseth them about and then seeing themselves in the perishing state they are even ar their wits end yet these things they consider not in the time of their prosperity Wherefore all people every where who desire to come out of these distractions and confusions and hurryings and contentions about Faith and Worship and Ordinances and out of the polutions which the world lives in and to come into the spiritual Worship which is in the spirit and in the truth To you I say that is the Spirit of Truth in you all in which God will be worshipped which reproves you of sin in your hearts and as you come into obedience to that it will bring you into the spiritual Worship for the spiritual Worship consisteth in obedience to the Spirit and this is the everlasting Ordinance of God viz. Christ the Light the quickening spirit for him hath God ordained of old to all that believe and work righteousness for salvation So all being exercised in the Light and with the quickening spirit here you are exercised in the Ordinance of God and here the living substance is known in which the shadows types and figures end and here the hand-writing of Ordinances is blotted out and here the Law ends which was contained in Ordinances mark that in Christ the everlasting Ordinance Concerning FAITH ANd the living Faith which gives the Saints victory over the World this cometh by hearing of the Word which is nigh unto you all even in your heart and in your mouth and as every one comes to hear and obey it you will thereby be begotten into the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints by which they wrought righteousness and that is the Faith which giveth victory over the World and which worketh by love for the purifying of the Conscience from dead works to serve the living God and without this Faith it is impossible to please God for whatsoever is not of faith is sin So search your selves and see whether you are in this Faith yea or nay or whether your faith be not a dead faith for that which doth not lead to work righteousnesse is a dead faith for as the body without the Spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also yet by works only there is noâ—e iustified and faith without works is dead for the faith of Abraham wrought with works and by works faith is made perfect So let not any deceive themselves with a feigned Faith or framed in the imagination for that is a vain faith and notable to save you Also beware that your faith towards God be not taught by the precepts of men for that will stand you in no stead neither wil it give you victory over the polutions of the world nor purifie your hearts from sin Wherefore mind the Word which is nigh by the hearing of which faith cometh even the living Faith by which the just lives which was once delivered to the Saints and which we earnestly contend for Concerning HOPE ANd the living Hope which maketh not ashamed but purifieth the heart even as God is pure This is not witnessed nor known but through the tribulation and patience in the experimental working and operation of the spirit of life in the inward parts and Word of Life for by the Word of God which lives and abides for ever are we begotten again unto a lively hope which we have for an anchor both sure and stedfast in all our tryals tossings and hurryings which we meet withal in the World and amongst the hypocritical professors thereof whose hope wil perish in the day when the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven upon all who hold the Truth in unrighteousness but he whose hope is begotten by the operation of the Word and Spirit of Life even he it is that purifies himself
A SONG OF THE Judgments and Mercies OF THE LORD Wherein the things seen in secret are declared openly Being a brief Demonstration of the Secret Work of the Almighty in me his Servant given forth at the Movings of the Spirit of the Lord and is to go throughout the World With a hearty Salutation of pure and unfeigned Love flovving from the Innocent Life in a fevv vvords to all the Souldiers of the Lambs Army throughout the Nations and also to the suffering seed every where With a few Words by way of information unto such who may have desires in them to know the way to the Kingdom of Peace and Righteousness which we possess and are heirs of through Christ Jesus our Lord which to them is the visitation of God By One who labours and travels for the redemption of the suffering Seed in every Region and quarter of the earth called Josiah Coale We have not cunningly used devised fables in making known the power and coming of the Lord Iesus but having been eye-witnesses of his majesty and glory vve declare the things vvhich we have seen Printed in the 〈…〉 A Song of the Judgments and Mercies of the Lord. I Will sing of the Judgments and Mercies of the Lord and declare his wondrous Works unto all people that the Inhabitants of the Earth may hear and fear and reverence the Lord who is holy When I walked in the way of the Wicked and knew not the path of the Just when I lived in transgression against God and knew not his holy Law to walk therein then oft times did fear surprise me and terrour seized upon my heart For I saw that the way in which I walked was the way that led to destruction then as I considered the way of the World I saw they were all gone astray and though they had a Profession of God yet Acquaintance with him they had not neither was he to be found in their Assemblies Then my soul languished after the knowledge of him and after the Knowledge of the way of life yet still was I captivated with vanity and the deceitfulness of sin stole away my heart But the good Spirit of God still strived in me to come out of the wayes of the world whose Worships I had long seen to be but as the offering of Swines blood and in my heart I could not joyn with them but had a testimony in me against their wayes and that which they called their Ordinances I saw there was nothing of God in it for they were but as a shadow vanity and nothing but how to come into the way of life to this I was still a stranger untill the Lord in his eternal power sent the Ministers of the Word of Life who were annointed of the Lord and endued with power from on high to preach the glad tydings of the Gospel to the captivated seed and to minister to the spirits that were in prison whose voice I rejoyced to hear and whose Testimony I gladly received For they declared the way of life that it was in the midst of the path of judgment and the witness of God in my heart did seal to the truth of their Testimony and this I saw was the way that the Workers of Iniquity knew not For there is no judgment in their goings Then my soul cryed unto God for the pourings forth of the Spirit of judgment that I might walk in the paths thereof and that the filth thereby might be purged away for I saw that my heart was polluted and that there was no habitation for God which causeth me to mourn in desolation and to wander in solitary places So as I waited in the light of his Son which shined in my heart and conscience there he revealed his righteous judgments and the just rejoyced therein yea he brought me into the valley thereof and there did he plead with me even by sword and by fire c. He poured the cup of his fury upon me and made me drink of the dregs thereof yea the cup of trembling he put into my hand and gladly did I receive it though it was in my belly bitter he oft-times sorely afflicted me and caused deep sorrow to compass me about and poured his indignation upon me Then said J I will bear it with patience because I have sinned against thee Yet many times I was strongly assaulted with the violent rage of the wicked one for he shot his fiery darts at me which often wounded my soul Then J cried unto the Lord in my distress and he comforted me with his precious Promises which begot a secret hope in me or else I had fainted in the tribulation when his vials of wrath were poured upon me and the enemy came in like a flood then was J ready to say in my heart J shall one day fall by the hand of mine enemy yet J was still sustained by a secret hope so that J cried unto the Lord That he would never let his judgments depart untill the Prince of this world was judged and cast out So he followed me with his righteous Judgment until J was near ready to faint Then J cried again saying Jf thou wilt indeed bring me through thy Judgments and grant me thy everlasting Peace if thou wilt destroy the enemy of my soul and give me rest from those that oppress me Then will J teach sinners thy wayes and transgressours shall be converted unto thee yea J made many promises unto hâ—m that my life J would give up unto his service and that J would follow him whithersoever he would lead me yet oft-times J enquired of the Lord why J should be so afflicted more than others For J said in my heart Never mans sorrow was like my sorrow Then he answered me and said How shouldst thou declare my wonderous works unless thou see and know them So when J had born the indignation long even the time of his good pleasure when J had been long tossed with tempests even as a ship upon the Sea and had been long as a Pelican in the wilderness and as an owl in the desert yea as a silly Dove without a Mate then he remembred Jacob his servant and was pleased to speak comfortably unto me saying Oh thou tossed with tempests afflicted and not comforted Behold J will lay thy stones with fair coloures and though for a moment J have afflicted thee yet with everlasting loving kindness have J visited thee and with many sweet and precious Promises he compassed me about which at this time is unutterable and he put the cup of consolation into my hand yea he caused it to overflow for which my soul did magnifie his Name and gave praise unto him in the land of the living unto which by the arm of his power I was brought through the long and terrible vvilderness for he had regard unto his own seed and brought it forth by an out stretched arm for he plagued Pharoah with his judgments and destroyed
might of the power with which you are endued and by which you are armed who can declare Oh! go on therefore you mighty men of warre you valiant Champions of the Lords Host lay wast the heritage of the wicked that the heritage of God may flourish Let the Nations feel the stroak of the hand of the God of David who is with you who smote the Philistine that defied the Armies of the living God that he dyed Let the enemies of Gods truth be smitten in the hinder parts that they may fall and never rise again For Gog and Magog have set themselves in battel against the Lord and the bryars and the thornes shall set themselves in array but Oh how will he dash them to pieces like a potters vessel of clay and how will he burn them up and consume them with the fire of his jealousie and fierce indignation and wrath how will he consume and lay wast until the spoyler be utterly spoyled and the devourer laid waste for the cryes of the oppressed and distressed suffering seed is entered into the ears of the Lord God of Sabbath and he hath assuredly regard thereunto and he hath awakened and made bare his arm that cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon in the dayes of old and he hath roused up himself as a man out of sleep and hath put on the Garments of Vengeance for cloathing and is clad with zeal as with a Cloak and fury to his Adversaries he will repay and he will certainly plead the cause of his own Elect who have no other helper in the Earth Wherefore all you suffering Lambs of the true Shepherds fold be of good chear and of good comfort and suffer patiently whatsoever the enemy shall be suffered or permitted to inflict upon you for the tryal of your faith and eternally I say unto you it wil be your Crown for ever an everlasting reward shall you receive from the hand of the Almighty when you have been tried throughly then shall you appear in the beauty of holiness and your sorrow shall be â—urned into rejoycing and for your afflictions you shall have the everlasting comfâ—rt of Gods good Spirit which shall abide with you for ever and the wicked and those that hate you shall be cloathed with shâ—me and everlasting contempt and confusion shall cover them for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Wherefore put on courage and strength in the name of the Lord and lift up your heads above all sufferings for these things last but for a moment and will pass away and be forgotten as they had not been and are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed in them who abide faithful for their reward will be everlasting and will endure for ever wherefore above aâ—l have an eye unto the Lord and have respect unto the recompence of reward this will carry you through with chearfulness so that nothing will be dear unto you for his sake who shed abroad his rich love in your hearts the aboundings thereof I question not but the upright in heart feels daily For the Lord is not slack towards any of his faithful ones but is free large in his love rich in his mercies freely extends it even as a River into the hearts of his chosen Wherefore be replenished therevvith you suffering Plants or this I testifie unto you in the name of the Lord that the vertue of the life of holinesse issues forth freely tovvards you so that none needs faint under the Oppressor but may receive renevvedness of strength to bear yet a season And behold he in whom you have believed will be avenged on your Adversaries and will smite your enemies in the hinder parts and they shall fall and none shall help them neither shall they rise again If you walk humbly with the Lord and reverence him above all vvho is the God of your life then shall you have rest from all your enemies and your portion shall be the Lord your Kingdom shall be that vvhich is not of this World vvhich is an everlasting Kingdom and shall never have end So the Lord God of my life keep you all in lovvliness and faithfulness and true humility before him for he vvho is the Holy one of Israel dwels vvith such and unto them his goodnesse extends but especially to them of a clean heart Farevvel Written at the movings of the spirit of the Lord the Eighth day of the third Month 1662 as I was travelling in the Wilderness as without on Long Island in America and pondering in my heart the things of God and his dealings in times past and also present then the spirit of the Lord and the power of the Highest overshadowed me and his glory filled his temple and he shewed me things not now lawfull to be declared J. C. To all who desire to know the way to the Kingdom of Peace and Righteousness this to you is the Visitation of God THat which was in the beginning before the World was and is now made manifest which we have seen and which we have tasted of and which our hands have handled of the Word of Life and that which is revealed to us in secret by the Spirit of the Lord that do we declare openly even that which we are eye-witnesses of for the Word hath took flesh and dwells among us and we have beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth And this is he who is now appeared in the Spirit and made manifest for this end that the Works of the Devil might be destroyed and that by and through him the God of the spirits of all flesh might be revealed for want of whose knowledge the people perish and many in divers parts of the World as I have observed are in great perplexity and some even at their wits end because of the destractions and many cries that are in the World some crying This is the way and othersome That is the way and all of them from the Light of the Son of God in their own hearts and Conscience which leads in the way of Life and Peace all who are guided by it and out of all confusion and destractions about Religion and Church-Ordinances and Worship and such things about which the World is in heaps and confusion and are prescribing ways of Worship in their own fallen Wisdom and would compel all to conform thereunto and so would bind the Consciences of people to their wills which ought to be left unto the Lord to be exercised by his power in matters of Worship and obedience towards him and his prerogative is to rule there So that people must either disobey God or the Laws of corrupt fallen man and whether is better judge ye And this is sad to see and consider because there hath been for so many years by-past so much preaching and so much profession of Liberty of Conscience and the like
even as God is pure So all who desire the way of Life to know and to walk in the path of peace which the worker of iniquity knows not I say unto you all it is in the midst of the path of judgement which Christ the Light the Wisdom of God leads unto So every one the light in your own Consciences mind wherewith Christ Jesus the Son of the Fathers love hath enlightened you and as you wait in it you wil find it checking and reproving you for sin and iniquity in the secret of your hearts and consciences and as every one comes to be guided by this light which is the way it wil be an infallible guide unto you to lead you in the way of righteousnesse and in the midst of the paths of Judgement and the worker of iniquity you will see judged in your own particulars daily and the Prince of this World wil come to be cast out as you dwell in the judgement and this is the way whereby Sion comes to be redeemed Wherefore dwell in that which judgeth the man of sin in your own particulars and join not to that nature which would lead to work iniquity or unrighteousness but join to that which in your own particulars judgeth it and here the Cross you wil know which the whole World are strangers to and then the old man will come to be weakned and to be put off with his deeds that the new man may be put on which is created in righteousness and true holiness but this Work is not wrought nor effected but through many combats tryals and great tribulations which formerly you were not acquainted with while you were led captive at the Devil's will and followed his lusts and the strong man armed kept the house then all was at peace but when the stâ—onger is come the other must be bound and a spoil of his goods must be made and his Heritage must be laid waste for the coming of the second Adam Christ Jesus the Light of the world is not to send peace on earth but a sword then you will hear of wars rumors of wars see then that ye be not troubled for these are but the beginning of sorrows but the end is not yet So as every one are exercised with the spirit of truth in your own particulars which reproves you of sin this will lead you into all truth and to work righteousness and wil bring you to fulfil the Royal Law the Prophets which is to do unto all men as you would men should do unto you whensoever the motions of sin and iniquity shall arise in your hearts as you watch in the light it wil be seen and by the Spirit of truth it wil be judged before it be brought forth into action here the Cockatrice is crushed in the shel and Babylons brats dashed against the stone and happy shall he be that doth so So there must be a diligent watch set before the door of thy lips a diligent waiting in the Light which is the eye that the enemy may be seen in all his wiles and that his baits snares may be discovered and escaped who lies in wait to devour and hunts for that end and to keep the heart poluted for then he hath his nest there so herewith a young man may clense his way even by taking heed thereunto according to the Word which is pure and is nigh even in the heart and in the mouth this is the Word of Faith which we preach which was in the beginning is nigh unto which you do well if you take heed as to a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts And as you all take heed unto this Word it will be unto you a light unto your feet and a lanthorn unto your paths and the operation of it you will know as a fire to purge the filth out of every ones heart and as a sword to separate you from your former lovers and this is the word of reconciliation which purging out the filth reconciles to God and this wâ—l be a Teacher near you so that none vvil need go far for teaching for your eye shall see your Teacher vvhich shall not be removed into a corner any more according to the promise of God made by his Prophets in the days of old and your ears shall hear this Word behind you saying This is the way walk in it vvhen you turn to the right hand or vvhen you turn to the left Wherefore encline your ears and come unto me saith the Lord hear your souls shall live and I will make with you an everlasting Covenant even the sure mercies of David So novv the day of gathering into God's everlasting Covenant of light life and peace is come and novv is the day of Gods visitation unto all people and the time novv is vvherein you may come to knovv reconciliation with God and wherein you may come to be made nigh who are in the alienation and degeneration novv the time is vvherein you may come to knovv the restoration out of the fallen state Wherefore be not rebellious against the light neither be ye stiff-necked against the reproofs thereof in your own hearts neither resist the motions of God's good spirit of grace in your inward parts by which he hath long striven with you and do not despite unto it by resisting the motions thereof lest it leave to strive with you and the day of your visitation pass over your hearts be hardned and you become even sold to work wickednesse and then it be said unto you as Christ said to Jerusalem How oft would I have gathered you as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her wings but ye would not therefore behold your house is left unto you desolate Wherefore consider your ways and how the good Spirit of God hath long strived with you to gather you out of the polutions ways vain traditions of the World and every one while you have time prize it while it is called to day harden not your hearts lest thereby you provoke the Lord to anger and jealousie which cannot be quenched for this know that his long-suffering and forbearance will come to an end and his spirit will not always strive with man therefore while the tenders of Gods love are held forth unto you every one who desires to know the salvation of your souls receive it and that which begets good desires in your minds and judgeth evil desires when they arise that own for your guide and teacher and this will exercise your minds in lowlinesse and humility and keep down the lofty spirit and high imaginations which will puff the mind up above the fear of God So keep down in the humility for this the Lord requires of thee oh man whosoever thou be to do justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with God for the proud he resisteth but he