to rule and reign according to his promise made by the Mouths of his Prophets in Ages past to which Nations must bow and bend and become Subject I tell you plainly and truly that if this be your expectations which your proceedings gives me cause to believe it is you will certainly fail therein And God will assuredly frustrate these your expectations and by this very way and means that you take to suppress and root out the People of God from having a Beeing amongst you even thereby you will provoke the Lord to root out you if you persist therein Wherefore beware lest that which you think and expect to bring upon the People of God be by the hand of God brought upon your selves For be it known unto you the Lord God Almighty is with his People of a truth whom you have turned your Sword and Power against and what is done unto them he certainly taketh as done unto himself And in as much as you go about to suppress his people or to limit them in the exercise of their Consciences towards God you therein are found Fighters against God and thereby you go about to stop and hinder the Work of God which will be as hard for you to do as it was for Saul to Kick against the Pricks of the Witness of God in his own Conscience Wherefore consider these things and remember that many Warnings and tender Visitations of Love the Lord hath sent unto you in times past which you have little regarded hitherto but go on exercising Cruelty towards the people of God And now at this time also I am moved and it is upon my heart by the Spirit of the Lord to lay these things before you and to tell you in plainness what the Lord will do and bring to pass in despite of all that you can do who seek to oppose him For notwithstanding the many Laws and Decrees which you have made or shall make yet the Work of the Lord which he hath certainly begun that shall go on and increase and the Truth must flourish and prosper and spread forth it self and the Kingdoms of the World must become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ according to his Promise and they that will not bow unto his Thorne and Government who is KING of Kings whose right it is to rule in the Consciences of people and to bear the Government there and to exercise them in matters of worship towards God but will seek to stop to limit him in his Government there even such must and shall be broken by him and bruised under by his Eternal Power the Lord hath said and spoken it and it must come to pass Wherefore Friends be you once more warned That you meddle no more with the Consciences of people so as to go about to limit them in matters relating to the Service of God for it s not the place of a civil Magistrate to meddle or have to do with those things but leave them free in those things to do as they are perswaded in their own Consciences by the Light of the Spirit of the Lord for you cannot give an account unto God for them if they do amiss but they must all and so must you also give an account unto God every one for himself and this is just and equal that in things of this nature every one should be left to the exercise of the Spirit of the Lord in his own heart because that Spiritual Worship consisteth in obedience to the Spirit of God and you your selves would not be willing to be prohibited from or denyed of this liberty but I dare say you would look upon it to be a very great Oppression unto you to be restrained by any civil Power or Government from that which by the Spirit and Power of God you were perswaded in your Consciences you ought to do and you could not but judge that those who should go about to lay or impose such a restriction upon you did do unto you as they themselves would not be done by and so you might well conclude that it were unrighteousness in them so to do Wherefore if you seriously consider whether this unrighteousness and Oppression be not found in you I know you cannot but lay your hands upon your mouths and confess Guilty So let my Counsel be at this time received by you and take my Advice as from one that hath received the Counsel of the Lord and in Measure knows the Mind of the Lord by the revelation of his Spirit as touching this matter that is this Shake your selves out of these cruel practises of persecuting about Religion and Worship and lay aside these cruel Impositions which are and have been laid upon the People of God by reason whereof many who are dear unto the Lord have suffer'd very greatly some the loss of their Liberties and some the loss of their Lives occasion'd through being thrust together in noisom Holes and Prisons and others are obnoxious to exilement from their Wives and Children and from their Native Country and dearest Relations and no evil at all justly charged against any of these for which these cruel Sufferings are inflicted upon them 't is only for Worshipping God in Spirit that these Sufferings are sustain'd by them that is the greatest Charge that hath been by you at all prov'd against them And for these things sake the Lord's Controversie is certainly great with you and while you continue in these things through which you have provoked the Lord to Anger His Wrath will not be appeased towards you neither can your Government be establisht in Safety nor you cannot establish your selves in Safety and Security for Fear will surprize you while you go on in these Practises because of the Guilt that is upon your Consciences and although we cannot neither do we desire to make outward opposition against you by Plottings and Insurrections c. Out of which things God Almighty hath redeem'd us and hath brought us into his Covenant of Peace and unto his Mountain of Holiness where nothing hurts nor destroys Yet we know that the Lord is with us and is on our side and takes our part and will plead our Cause and Fight for us and He is stronger then you all and his Power is above yours and our Trust and Confidence is in him alone and not in the Arm of Flesh and it s in vain for you to strive against him or to oppose or resist him for he will in the end be too hard for you and will break you to pieces as a Potters Vessel of Clay except you Repent And now Friends there is but one only Way by which you may or can possibly escape and prevent the Dreadful Judgments of the Lord or by which his Anger may be appeas'd which is kindled against you and that is this To Humble your selves before the Lord and to Repent of the Evil of your Doings and to loose the Bands of Iniquity and
the Cause of God in the Prisons of London Hartford c. This is a Salutation of my Love and Life MY dearly beloved Friends who are oft brought into my Remembrance and presented before me by the Spirit of the Lord with whom my Life is and unto whom the Love of my soul doth even flow forth and extend it self in the Vertue of that Life which is Infinite and Eternal and in the Spirit of Supplication my soul is daily pour'd forth unto the Lord before the Throne of his Majesty on your behalfs Beseeching and Desiring That he will so furnish and arm you with the whole Armour of his own Righteousness that you may be entire wanting nothing and that you may be enabled to stand and hold out unto the End in this day of Battel and Tryal and that as Valiant Souldiers of the Lamb you may endure all Hardships as seeing him present in the midst of you who is Invisible in the Faith of the Answer whereof I dearly salute you all And dear Friends in this you may all be enboldned and in this Consideration your Heads may be lifted up above all Sufferings even in the midst of them that the Cause in which you are engag'd and for which you suffer is a Righteous Cause of which we have the Witness or Testimony in our own Consciences and a more certain Witness cannot be and this Witness doth testifie That our Cause is the Cause of God who hath call'd us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light and hath made choice of us to bear Testimony to and stand Witnesses for his Name and Truth in this Day of his Spiritual Appearance and Manifestation or Revelation of the Son of his Love whose quickening Spirit we have receiv'd by which we are seperated from the World and by which we have been and still are constrain'd to bear Testimony against all Oppression and Cruelty and against all the Unrighteousness of this sinful World for which Cause these Sufferings come upon us and attend us But blessed be the Lord who hath call'd us with so Honorable a Calling and accounted us worthy to suffer for so Honourable a Cause as Our Testimony for his Blessed Name and Truth the Reward thereof which is great will be certain unto all who are found Faithful unto the End Wherefore my dear Friends towards whom my Bowels of Love even earn and my Life and Soul reacheth as you may feel who are sensible of Life I say unto you all in the Name and Fear of the Lord Lift up your Heads over and above all Sufferings both present and to come I say in the Faith look over them all unto him who is invisible who will out-last them all who alone hath Immortallity and dwells in the Light whose Presence is certainly with you and amongst you and will be so continu'd as you walk and continue with him in his Everlasting Covenant of Light in which he dwells Wherefore let your Life Delight and Habitation be in him for my Friends you whose Hearts are upright unto God know right well that the Lord hath not been at any time wanting unto you in any Exercise of what nature or kind soever in time past the consideration of which is a sufficient Encouragement to every one to cast their Care upon him and to resign up themselves unto him who takes Care for them And if the Enemy be permitted so far to prevail as to execute his Decrees made against us yet in this may we be all satisfied that it shall certainly work for good unto us in the End and shall make for the furtherance of the Glorious Gospel of Peace and for the Exaltation of the Worthy Name of the Lord by which we are call'd wherefore in Contentedness with the Will of the Lord in all states let every one rest resign'd up unto him and in the Gift of his own Spirit wait upon him to receive daily Refreshment from his Presence that you may be Water'd Refreshed and Consolated from day to day that so you may grow in his Grace and be kept fresh and living in his precious Truth to shine forth in the beauty thereof And let it be your great Care above all things to keep in the Enjoyment and Feeling of the Peace and Love of God in your own Hearts and in that you will have Content in all Conditions and live in Love and in Peace one with another and have perfect Charity amongst your selves and whatsoever tends to the contrary let it be condemned by the Light in the rise of it And bear with and for one another and watch over one another in Love and therein exhort one another and build up one another in the most precious Faith which gives you Victory over the World and over all the Persecuting Powers of Darkness and be a Strength and a Refreshing and a Comfort one unto another in your Persecuted Suffering State and Condition And God Almighty keep you all and refresh your hearts daily with his Love and renew your strength with the vertue of his Life that none may be weary nor faint in your Minds but that all may endure with Patience and Valour and Boldness and Courage in the Lamb's Spirit unto the End that in the End you may be Crown'd with the Crown of Immortal Life and Glory which never fades away which is the Daily-Prayer of him who dearly and entirely loves you all who are of an Upright Heart by which Love I was constrain'd to salute you all at this time with these few Lines and so rest in it From my outward Beeing near Bristol this 20th of the 1st Moneth 1665. Your Dear and truly Loving Friend and Brother Josiah Coale A Salutation of Love From the Spirit of Life Unto all Friends of TRUTH Who are in Exilement or Sentenc'd to Exilement for the Exercise of their Pure Consciences in the Service and Worship of God MY beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters who are expos'd to Exilement from the Land of your Nativity for the sake of your Testimony to the blessed Truth of God and who have been and are content to suffer the loss of all that were dear unto you in this present World for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and rather then to betray that blessed Testimony which God had committed unto you to bear for his Name and who have sufficiently manifested your fidelity unto the Lord and his blessed Truth even in the view of the whole World as a Witness against their False Antichristian and Idolatrous Worships which God by his Power will certainly throw down and bring to nought and who have bore Testimony in Faithfulness in and by your Submissiveness to an Exil'd Estate against that Antichristian spirit of Persecution which Raigns and Rules in the Hearts of all the Apostate False Christians whose Worship standeth in Subjection to the Precepts and Commandments of Men and in Bowing to Stocks and Stones and to the Works of Men's Hands and in other Outward
the many Writings of his own which remain upon Record will speak forth to those who are of a true spiritual understanding what he was yet notwithstanding all these things were in my mind and divers other Considerations which occasioned me to defer the publication hereof so long as till now yet being I could not be so clear in my duty towards God and my Brother in neglecting to give forth this my Testimony concerning him and in suffering so precious a Testimony as his last was wholly to be put in oblivion I have with freeness and cheerfulness of heart undertaken it And when it pleased God to manifest his Eternal Power in the heart of the aforesaid R. F. it is well known unto many how effectually it wrought in him insomuch that although he was before a man of great abilities and parts and knowledge accounted of among men even excelling many of his equals yet he was content and willing in obedience to the Power of God to become a Fool to the World and to be stript and emptied of his own wisdom and knowledge which stood in the state faln from God and his Power and to suffer the loss of all worldly reputation and favour and the pleasures and delights thereof that he might win Christ Jesus and be found his Servant clothed with the Righteousness of Faith preferring the simplicity that is in Christ beyond all worldly wisdom and honour whatsoever and his Sufferings for the sake of Christ beyond all worldly reputation and so great was the change that was wrought it him that he became a wonder amongst many and the Word of God and his Power was great and mighty in him and through him in which he was sent forth by the Lord who had manifested himself unto him to preach the Everlasting Gospel to the Poor and to declare of that great Power of God of which he was made a Witness and of the Effects of its operation and so powerfull was his Message and Testimony that many were begotten into a firm belief thereof and believing the Report were turned from Darkness to the Light of Jesus with which they were enlightned and from Sathans power unto the Power of God which wrought mightily in their hearts to the changing of their minds and affections from things that are below towards things that are above all that is fading and corruptible and to the bringing of Life and Immortality to light in them And although they were atttended with many foul temptations because of their obedience to the Truth and Light of the Spirit of Grace and brought in many distresses in their passage from Death unto Life yet was he so experienced in the Depths and Subtilties of Sathan and also in the Dealings and Goodness of God in such conditions and estates that he had obtained the tongue of the Learned and could as oft times he did speak words in Season to the strengthning of the weak and refreshing of the weary and to the reviving of that which was near ready to faint So that he was in the Lords Hand even as a Father to the fatherless and as eyes to the Blind and feet to the lame and the eye that truly saw him blessed hm and the ear that heard him gave witness unto him for through the Power of God which enabled him he delivered the Poor and the needy and built up many that believed in their most precious Faith and confirmed them therein And went about from place to place through the Land of his Nativity turning many from Darkness to Light and confirming the Churches and doing good And his Service was very great for the Lord in his day for he was so furnished with Heavenly Wisdom and Understanding through the Grace of God and also so seasoned thereby that his Patience Meekness and Humility exceeded many And although God had so endued him with Heavenly Vertues and Abilities exceeding many yet was he not pufft up therewith neither sought to exercise Lordship over those that were weaker and younger then himself but gave place unto any that had the least Gift of God to exercise so that through the Spirit of Meekness and Humility with which he was adorned he was exceeding lovely and beautiful and the hearts and souls of many were affected therewith who in simplicity thirsted after Righteousness and such waited for him as for the Rain upon whom his Doctrine so dropped Yet nevertheless he was terrible to the Worker of Iniquity and the Sword of his Mouth was very sharp for the Word of God was therein and when he had to do with any who opposed the Truth and Way of Life and Salvation which we profess and walk in as oft-times he had his Weapon was very sharp to them and they were not able to resist the Wisdom of the Spirit by which he spoke for thereby he confounded their wisdom and broke their Weapons in pieces so that they were oft ready to Blaspheme God because of the plague that it was to them and a Conqueror he was over the Beast and false Prophet against whom he made War in Righteousness in and though the Power of the Lamb in whose Spirit he finished his Testimony and Course in the Faith And as the Enemies of the Truth of God were many and in divers shapes that this valiant Souldiers of the Lamb had to encounter withal so he was alwayes furnished with Armor and Weapons fit for the Work and Service in which he was exercised by which he was enabled to encounter with and Conquer all But at last that his Armor and Weapons might be proved to be sufficient to encounter with the Enemy of Truth in all kind of Appearances and Transformations it was his lot with me and divers others of the Servants of the Lord to be engaged against the Enemy of Truth who had transformed himself into the likeness of an Angel of Light and under a seeming pretence of appearing on the behalf of God and his Cause c. and against Formality and Traditions begun strongly to oppose the Truth of God and the Ministry thereof in and through his Servants and Messengers who have approved themselves as the Ministers of God and as his Embassadors and to cry against our Assemblies and manner of Worship and our Exercise therein as only Formal in which we have always found the glorious Presence Power and Majesty of the Lord amongst us refreshing comforting and strengthening of us even according as our Hearts Souls can or could desire so that we were engaged to justifie the Lord in opposition to that gainsaying spirit of delusion by which many were beguiled led away after Satan to their hurt And in our Testimony for the Lord and against that self-separating gainsaying Spirit the Power of the Lord did greatly accompany and assist us and was as greatly with us as in any service that he had called us unto The sincere and upright in heart who have kept their first Love and their first Faith
Reader that these things testified of him are true as many living Witnesses can seal to the same look over his own Writings and read over his several Epistles written to the Churches at several times and upon several Occasions which are gathered together and presented to thy vew and if thou hast any true spiritual sence in thee thou wilt feel and discern that such sweet and pleasant Streams must needs flow from a sweet and good Fountain knowing that one Fountain doth not send forth sweet and bitter Water therefore the Streams being sweet the Fountain or Well from whence they spring is sweet also and he having drunk deep draughts of the Water that Christ gives it became in him a Well of Living Water springing up into Eternal Life according to the saying of Christ our Saviour Whosoever shall drink of the Water that I give it shall be in him a Well of Living Water springing up into Eternal Life And that this was true in him is attested unto by one who had large experience of his Integrity and Holy Zeal for God who has been often in travels with him and still is a Labourer in the Lord's Vine-yard desiring and praying to Almighty God that the scattered Sheep may be gathered into the Fold of the good Shepherd That so there may be one Sheep-Fold and one Shepherd A. P. A TESTIMONY Concerning Josiah Coale AS concerning our dear Friend and Brother Josiah Coale I having had a certain knowledge of him and his Life from that Conversation we had many times together in the Service of the Lord and living Society of the Holy Spirit I have this Testimony to give of him That he was a Man indued with an heavenly and effectual Gift and therein was enlarged and increas'd as a Reward upon him after his sore Travels and Labour in the Gospel beyond Seas and he had a real love and estimation of his Brethren in the Service and Work of the Lord and delighted in their Fellowship and Communion being often refresht thereby His faithfulness was manifested to God and to his People amongst whom he laboured he was freely given up to improve his Gift in the Heavenly Calling wherewith he was called to spend and to be spent for the Gospel's sake wherein he had his reward counting nothing too dear of Life Relation or Estate to resign up in and for that Service wherein he manifested both his Commission and Power to be of God and not of man for the gathering out of Darkness false Wayes and Worships emty Professions and vain Traditions of men into the Light and Living way of Truth that therein they might serve and worship God in Spirit which admits of no confidence in the Flesh nor products thereof He was a Man of a tender spirit having a reverent esteem of his faithful Brethren and elders in the Truth and he had a tender care to preserve Unity and Brotherly Love as also the sence he had of his reward made him chearful in his Service and fervent in spirit and zealous in his Testimonies against all false and deceitful spirits which slight and dis-esteem Truth and lead into Apostacy from the Unity and Fellowship of the Gospel whose wayes do not tend to Peace but Strife and Self-separation He fervently preached the Cross of Christ and prest the necessity of obedience through it and unto watchfulness in the fear of God He preached Faith in the Power of God and the Righteousness thereof not to stand in the wisdom of man nor in lifeless Professions or traditional Opinions nor yet to consist in self acting and voluntary humility but in Spirit and Life from which living Obedience and Righteousness naturally spring by which Testimony and Preaching he was instrumental to affect the Hearts of many with the excellency of the Truth as it is in Jesus and turn many thereunto even from Darkness unto Light and from Satan's Power to God that they might both receive Remission of sin and Possession of Life Eternal And as he had freely received of Christ so he freely gave and as he was freely given up to spend and to be spent for the Lord so he spared not of his outward Substance in his Service his care being such to cut off occasions from such as seek them and so to keep the Gospel without charge as that he many times would not use his power and freedom which Christ allowed his Ministers in that case as mentioned in Luke Chap. 10. Verse 7. but with the Apostle Paul debased himself that he might not prove chargable to the Churches and indeed he went much a warfare at his own charges giving freely up both his Liberty and Life for the promotion of the Gospel of Truth both in this and other Nations through many Hazards and difficulties particularly of late years in this City of London wherein the blessed effects of his Labours Travels and Sufferings are felt and known by many And as he lived in and by the Faith of God's Elect so with him to live was Christ and to dye a Gain who being outwardly spent for the Gospel sake was inwardly renewed by the Vertue of the same whereby having conquered Death and the Grave he chearfully embraced his Dissolution and changed for a full and perpetual Injoyment of that Joy and Reward of Life and Glory which he had long an Earnest and Evidence of in himself and in the fulness of which his Soul now rests and lives for evermore Yea his life is felt in the heavenly Society and though he being dead yet speaketh in him in whom he died who is his Resurrection and Life for evermore G. W. A Short TETIMONY OF The Life Death and Ministry of that Faithfull Servant of the LORD Josiah Coale THough I knew him not from the beginning yet I knew him in that which hath neither beginning of Dayes nor end of Life which is the Eternal Power of God that by which he was separated from the World and made an able powerful and faithful Minister of the everlasting Gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord and which in all Travels Trials and Sufferings that did attend him made him more then Conqueror to the glorifying of the Name of the Lord in the sight of his Enemies and to the replenishing of his Soul with Divine Consolations In the Eternal Light I knew him and had often and sweet Fellowship with him therein to my great refreshment even in the gloomy and dark day of my early and deep Exercises and though he was a man free in his disposition and ready to help all through the tenderness of his spirit yet was he indued with sound Judgment to the discerning of spirits and giving no liberty to the Flesh but was dreadful in his Testimony against the Life Glory and Customes of the World being redeemed therefrom and made a Witness through Judgment of that pure Spirit of Glory which was before the World began which vails and darkens the beauty of Flesh and gathers into
Burdens and so fulfil the Law of God and in that you are a strength one to another and so in this feel the Salutation of my Love which is to you beyond declaring And to the Keeping and Protection of the Arm of the Lord I do commit you Amen So in the Peace and Life which hath no end I remain London the 2d Day of the 7th Moneth 1667. Your Faithful and True Brother Josiah Coale Let this be sent amongst the Friends in Holland To all People in JAMAICA Unto whom the MESSAGE OF Eternal Life is sent and amongst whom the Gospel is now preached FRIENDS Now the Everlasting Gospel of Peace and Glad-tidings is preached amongst you and the Word of Reconciliation reacheth forth towards you every one with Meekness receive it for it is able to save your Souls and to build you up and give you an Inheritance amongst the sanctified Ones For now is the Message of the Lord to be declar'd unto you and amongst you by True and Faithful Messengers whom he hath sent forth in his Name and endew'd with Power for that Service and hath made them willing for your sakes to give up their Lives that the Way of Life might be made known unto you and you might come to walk therein And their Message you are all to receive as you prize the Salvation of your Souls for they are Messengers of the New Covenant into which the Lord in this Day of his Glorious Appearance is gathering his People that they might be all taught of him and come to the Knowledge of him from the Least to the Greatest And Friends This Covenant of which I speak which they are Messengers of is Light and this Light lighteth every man that cometh into the World which if you give heed unto in your own Consciences you will find it reproving for the Deeds of Darkness and condemning sin in the Flesh and will lead all who are guided by it out of sin and will lead in the Way of Righteousness and in the Path of Peace and Way of True Holiness which is a Way that the World knows not who live in Iniquity Wherefore now all People The Day of your Visitation being upon you and the Lord striving with you by his Good Spirit in your Hearts and being also calling unto you by the Mouthes of his Messengers to Returns Now every one encline your Ears and hear what the Spirit saith in your inward Parts and prize the Day of the Visitation of the Lord's Love who after the long time that you have passed away in Rebellion and Disobedience against his Good Spirit should now be pleased to accept of you and to pass by your Transgressions past and the Sins of your Youth therefore I say Let the Rich Love of the Lord which is now manifested constrain you to Fear before him and to learn Obedience unto his Faithful Witness which he hath placed in your Hearts For Friends it concerns your Eternal Peace and now is the Day wherein you may come to the knowledge thereof before they be hid from your Eyes For truly Friends If you be not attentive unto that which will give unto you the knowledge of those things the time will come that they will be hid from your Eyes and then shall you cry out saying How have we hated Instruction and despised the Day of Healing And so Now the Day is wherein you may come to know and witness your Reconciliation made with the Lord by his Word of Power which is nigh you even in your Hearts and in your Mouthes which Word reconciles to God all who hear and obey it and it will also purge you from all Iniquity if you submit to the Working and Operation of it And this I testifie That no other Way can you come to know a being sanctified and reconcil'd to the Lord but by the Word of his Power and through your Obedience thereunto And this Testimony I send amongst you to the end that you might believe in the Light of the Son of God wherewith you are enlighttened And this Testimony will be further confirmed unto you by the Mouthes of these whom the Lord hath now sent amongst you and their Testimony is true of which I am a Witness for we have been all Baptized by one Spirit into one Body even the Glorious Body of him who is the Head And so we are all Eye-Witnesses of his Majesty and of his Glory and can give in our Testimony together That by the Mouthes of several Witnesses even so many as the Lord shall call the TRUTH may be confirmed to you that so you may no longer follow them who cry Lo here or Lo there For behold the Kingdom of Heaven is within you and comes not with Observations and all that enter into it must become as little Children for of such is the Kingdom of God which is now come with Power and is nigh unto you And Blessed and Happy are all they that come to know an Entrance administred into it for they are Heirs of that Inheritance which shall never fade away Written in Barbadoes this 18th of the 7th Moneth 1661. From one who is a Labourer in the Lords ' Vineyard called Josiah Coale An Epistle to FRIENDS IN New-England The First Epistle DEAR FRIENDS My Love which is sincere and fervent in the Lord's Truth which is as precious as ever in this Day of Tryal is freely and fervently extended to you For oft are you in my Remembrance in much tenderness and truly do I Respect you as such whom the Lord hath accounted worthy to bear his Name and which he hath made choice of to be a Peculiar People to himself and to be Witnesses for him in the mid'st of a Crooked and Perverse Generation And let your Holy Life and Chaste Conversation be such as may preach Righteousness unto all that if they speak Evil of you as of Evil-Doers you may have cause to Rejoyce having the Peace of God in your Hearts And Friends I am not unmindful of you neither are you forgotten by me For oft I am even amongst you in the Spirit of Love and Life in which my Desires and Prayers to God are and oft have been for you that you may grow and encrease and prosper and flourish in the precious living glorious Truth of God of which you are made Partakers and into which you are gather'd through the working of his Divine Power that so the Heavenly Image may be borne by you all that by your Good Example in Holiness and Righteousness many may be made to confess unto the Truth and be convinced of it and that to the Brightness of your rising in it many may be gather'd that so the Borders of the Sanctuary of the Most High may be enlarg'd unto the ends of the Earth For Friends You know full well that in the Power of God yea the Power of an Endless Life We whom the Lord sent unto you labour'd amongst you for the Exaltation
under the Chains of Death and Darkness in you and for the bringing forth of that Birth which is Heir of all things and must Rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron and unto whom we who have been Labourers amongst you have reached with the Word of Immortal Life and with the Power of the Almighty to the raising of Life and bringing Immortality to Light in you by which you were then quicken'd unto Life who were sometimes dead in Sin and Trespasses And you know right well that by this Word of God and Power of an Endless Life you were more and more enlighten'd as you came into Obedience thereunto and your Understandings were open'd by which you came to see how you had been in times past captivated with Sin and Iniquity and had been led away with the Error of the Wicked into Envy Strife and Maliciousness and indeed into every Evil Work and then true Judgment and Condemnation took hold on that part in you by which you had been led into those things and the Way of Truth Peace Love Sanctification and Salvation open'd unto you by the Light and Spirit of the Lord by which your Understandings were quickned And the Invisible Eye was open'd in you by which you came to see your Teacher and as you enclin'd your Ear unto this Teacher and walked in this Light of God's Salvation O then how was the Appearance of Evil eschewed by you And how contrary to your Desires it was to see or hear of Strife and Debate and Contention amongst Brethren And how Love Peace and Good-will did then abound one towards another and towards all men desiring that all might come to know and be made Partakers with you of the same plentious Redemption And how gloriously and plentifully the Lord did then appear amongst you And how freely he did then shed abroad his Love in your Hearts and issue forth of the Vertue of his Life unto you by which your Hearts were enlarged and your souls refreshed and comforted so that you did run well without Weariness or Fainting Who hath hindred you or any of you that you should not continue in this Race in which Peace Love and Good-will did abound one unto another And what is the cause of the Strife and Divisions and Contentions that of late hath been amongst you Hath not the Evil One stepped in and drawn you into Reasonings and Consultations about Differences which hath been occasion'd by Dissenting-spirits and thereby vail'd the Understandings of some of you and so brought Night upon them and in the Night season sown the seed of Sedition amongst them Well My Heart is griev'd within me for your sakes and I am oft-times afflicted in spirit because of these things which have happen'd amongst you for indeed some there be that have made the Hearts of others sad whom God never made sad because of their unsoundness and unstedfastness in the Truth which in much simplicity fear and reverence was made known unto you by us who labour'd amongst you in the Word and Doctrine And truly Friends I cannot but Lament the lost estate of some amongst you which I am fully sensible is great and sad Oh that ever it should be said of such a People for whom the Lord had done such great things and unto whom he had so plentifully manifested himself and appeared that they should not retain their first Love and Integrity and Fervency and Zeal to the Lord and one towards another It s indeed sad to consider For have not I seen the Lilly blossom amongst you and the Vine flourish and the tender Grapes appear yes verily And this I further testifie That while you kept your first Simplicity and your first Faith and Love you were Beautiful and Comely and Lovely in the Eyes of the Lord and he took great Delight in you and exercis'd Judgment Mercy and Loving-kindness amongst you in which many did greatly Rejoyce and your Faith was every where spoken of amongst the Churches of Christ and many did greatly Rejoyce because of you for you were Honourable and lovely in the Hearts of the People of God every where and you were even a Crown of Rejoycing unto us who had laboured amongst you and travell'd for your sakes But alas A contrary spirit hath since entred amongst some of you with which we have not Unity nor Fellowship the Report of which hath brought Sadness upon the Hearts of many But those who have given place to the Envious-One must bear their own Burden for their Judgment and Condemnation slumbreth not but will swiftly come upon them Wherefore my dear Ftiends all Be you retir'd in your minds unto the Light by which you were first convinced of the Truth and which gave you then to see the Error of your Wayes and which led you into Love Peace and Good-will one towards another and towards all men and to eschew the appearance of Evil And as you all in this Light come singly to wait upon the Lord in your first Love Simplicity and Integrity you will plainly and clearly see what it is that hath entred and how it entred that hath been the cause of all those Tumults and Contentions and Divisions which of late hath happen'd and been amongst you and as it s seen with the Light and discover'd thereby unto you or any of you let it by the Life be judged from amongst you and therein wait that you may be purged from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit And be tenderly affectionated one towards another in the Truth not with a feigned Love or a feigned Affection for that God hates But let Love be without Dissimulation abhorring that which is Evil in all and cleaving to that which is Good And be Open-Hearted one towards another not Strange and Staightned and Simply and Honestly confess your Faults to each other and pray for one another and the Lord will have Mercy upon the Transgressors and will heal their Backslidings and blot out their Iniquities and will again love them freely and so you will re-gain the Favour Love and Good-will of God unto you and we shall again be comforted in you after these our Sorrows and Grief of Heart because of the Divisions and Spoilings that have been amongst you for our Joy is in your Prosperity and Well-being and our Rejoying is in your Comfort and Refreshment and Preservation and Safety Wherefore my Friends Keep your Eye alwayes upon that Mark which first you pressed after when you receiv'd the Truth and obey'd the Gospel and in that straight and narrow Way of Holiness which was then made known unto you every one still press towards this Mark and have perfect Charity amongst your selves as in the time of your first Simplicity And then you will feel the Lords wonted Goodness and Loving-kindness shed abroad in your Hearts and he will water you with the Dew of Heaven and will bless you with all Spiritual Blessings from above and he will then own you for his own
discourag'd because of Tryals and Sufferings and Persecutions nor because of the Frowns of the Enemy for God's Truth neither be Dismayed because of the prosperity of the Wicked whose Day shall pass away swiftly and shall be no more but every one put on Strength and Courage and Boldness in the Name of the Lord and as valiant Souldiers endure Hardship and fight the Good Fight of FAITH and lay holy on Eternal Life for the Lord God Almighty is with us and take our part and he assuredly will fight our Battels for us before whom all the Nations of the Earth are but as the Drop of a Bucket and therefore it s in vain for them to contend with the Almighty who is on our side and is greater in us then he that is in the World whose eternal Glory and Excellency is now revealed Praises and Halelujahs to the Most High forever Wherefore Arise arise thou Seed of the Covenant arise and shine for thy Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is arisen upon thee though the Earth be covered with Darkness and gross Darkness be over the People yet the Lord is become thy Everlasting Light and thy God thy Glory Wherefore shake thy self from the Dust of Earth and put on thy beautiful Garments Oh Jerusalem the holy City for this I testifie in the Name of the Lord That henceforth there shall not come into thee the Uncircumcised nor the Unclean but thou shalt be called the City of God the Place wherein his Honour dwells Wherefore all ye Inhabitants thereof my Fellow Citizens and beloved Brethren and Sisters with whom my Life is bound up and with whom my soul rejoyceth who are surrounded with the great Salvation of God and know it to be the Wall of this Holy City the Gates whereof is Praise and stand open Night and Day though the Unclean cannot enter into it I say unto you all Let the High Praises of God be in your Mouthes and cease not to make mention of the Wonders of the Lord and of his Works which he hath wrought for you and tell of his Goodness and Loving-kindness and speak of his Praises that the Glory of his Appearance in you may be admired amongst the Heathen in this the Day of the Lords Power wherein his Excellency and Majesty is seen of which we are Eye-witnesses and therefore can we not cease to make known his Power and Coming that others also may be turned to the Light of God in them their to wait for his Appearance And though there be a Generation that would have us silenced as the Pharisees would have Christ to rebuke his Disciples when they went Triumphing to Jerusalem and the High Praises of God were in their Mouthes yet they were not to hold their peace but to go on and preach his Name amongst all Nations that People might be turned unto God And though they were again afterwards charged to speak no more in his Name yet they considered That it was better to obey God than Man For they who followed the Lamb were Called and Chosen and Faithful and they loved not their Lives unto the Death but went on boldly preaching in the Name of Jesus not regarding the Threatnings of corrupt Man but had respect unto the Lord above all who is the same at this day as ever he was and his Faithfulness is the same forever unto them that are truly Faithful unto him And his wonderous Works and Majesty and Glory is now seen by us in this our Day even as by them in the dayes of old wherefore let the same Courage Boldness and Faithfulness appear amongst you as was in them though I do not at all upbraid you neither was it in my Heart so to do but as a Brother of the same Root and Off-spring with you who are begotten by the same Word and brought forth by the same eternal Womb which is Holy forever do I exhort you in Bowels of the same tender Love with which our Hearts are filled to continue in Stedfastness hold fast your Integrity in Faithfulness unto the End every one in your several Stations and Callings that you may adorn the Glorious Gospel of Peace and of Salvation that so you dwelling in the Pure Divine Heavenly Power thereby your Lips may be opened and your Mouthes may shew forth his Praise that his Name may be known to be great in the Assemblies of his Saints and in the Congregations of the Righteous that so Nations may be gather'd unto him and Kings unto the Brightness of his Rising that so the Name of the Lord may be spread even to the Ends of the Earth which is now to be exalted above every Name to which every Knee must bow and all Tongues confess Wherefore all you my beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters who are of the Royal Off-spring and of the Holy Seed which is the Heir of the Blessing and Promise of the Father I say unto you all dwell in the feeling of the Immortal Birth every one in your own particulars for therein the Heirship stands and to that the Blessing is sure and as you keep Faithfully joyn'd unto it therein you will know the Heavenly Dominion and Power which goes over the Powers of the Earth and Darkness with which the Earth is cover'd and will give you to see before they were And here the Son is known who was glorified with the Father before the World began and who is the express Image of his Father's Substance and in whom the Fulness of the Godhead dwells and unto whom all Power in Heaven and in Earth is given And this is he who now is come in Power and great Glory of whose Power and Coming you are his Cloud of Witnesses who know the Birth of the Immortal Seed and it is because of this that the Heathen rages and the Nations are angry and therefore do they Revile and Persecute and Smite with the Fist of Wickedness according as it is written He that is born after the Flesh persecutes him that is born after the Spirit And these things they do unto you because they know not him of whose Coming you are Witnesses Nevertheless Dwell ye in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit ye that have the sense and feeling of the working and operating thereof in your inward Parts in any measure and answer the Motions thereof in all things for therein your Peace and Consolation consisteth and your Everlasting Refreshment which none can hinder you of as you obey the Truth according to the Motions of the Spirit of Truth and therein walking you will not fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh but the Cross will be dwelt in and Self-denyal will be known and witnessed and the Power of the Lord will be felt which makes willing to come into the Obedience of the Cross whereby the contrary part will be crucified and mortified and the Old Man will be wholy put off with his Deeds and the New Man put on which is created
the Name of the Lord and for God that the Spirit of Christ doth not nor never did admit or allow of persecution or of destroying mens lives about Worship and Faith towards God neither are any of them true Christians whatsoever they profess that are found so doing For it is not a bare profession of Christ and of zeal for his cause and crying up Ordinances c. that makes people true Christians or that gives them acceptance with God or will make them well-pleasing unto God But that which makes a man a true Christian is his obedience unto that Spirit which baptizeth into the true Faith by which Righteousness is wrought Heb. 11.33 and into Christ who is the Author of faith and will bring him to have the mind of Christ as the true Christians had and will make him partaker of his divine nature and will teach him to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World and to do to all men as he would they should do unto him which is according to the Law and Prophets that Christ came to fulfil And indeed there is nothing that can bring a man into this true Christian state but only the working and operation of the Spirit of Christ in his inward parts which all ought to obey and submit unto For the persecuting Jews who were uncircumcised in heart and ears and did alwaies resist the holy Ghost they professed as great Zeal for God and his Cause as the Apostate Christians now do and they look'd for the coming of the Messiah of whom all the Prophets prophesied and professed they would Adore him and Reverence him c. and said That if they had been in the dayes of their Fathers they would not have slain the Prophets Mat. 23.31 who prophesied of the coming of Christ and so they had seemingly a great Zeal for God and his Truth But alas a Murdering spirit was found in them for notwithstanding they professed That they would not have kill'd the Prophets yet they kill'd the Son who was the end of the Prophets And although the Prophets signified the Time when Dan. 9.24 and the Place where the Messiah should be born Mic. 5.2 yet when he was come according to the Prophets which they profest these Professing Jews would not own him nor receive him John 1.11 because he reprov'd their Hypocrisie and their Murdering spirit John 8.40 but they Crucified and Slew Him And this is the very State of the Apostate Christians this day For who is there now amongst them but will profess as great Love to Christ as the Jews in Christ's dayes did to the Prophets who prophesied of him and who is there now among'st them but will say Had we been in Pilate's dayes 〈◊〉 would not have crucified Christ nor delivered him up to be crucified as the Jews said of the Prophets yet notwithstanding their so saying they do as the Jews did for now in this day of his spiritual appearance which they profess they look for and expect they are found persecuting of him in his Members under the sam̄e pretence that the Jews persecuted him in their day viz. as a Blasphemer c. And so the Persecutors were in all ages blinded by the godd of the World who was a murtherer from the beginning and though they could see the iniquities of their fathers and predecessors in persecuting and killing the Prophets yet the envy of their hearts was such that they could not see their own iniquities in persecuting and slaying the Son who was greater than the Servants whom their fathers slew so as I said before it is not a profession of Christ and his Ordinances or zeal for his cause that makes people true Christians neither is God Worshipped upon any of those mountains where the persecuting and destroying one another is but the Worship of God consisteth in obedience to that Spirit of Truth which condemns all those works of darkness and cruelty and in his own Mountain of Holiness where nothing hurts nor destroys Isa 11.9 And such is the Father now seeking to worship him that will worship him there and is now gathering his Sheep from off the barren Mountains upon which the Whore sits where they have been scattered in the dark and cloudy day of Anchrist's reign and where the Wars and Fightings are even to his own Holy Mountain where they shall learn war no more Isa 2.4 And this is the work that the Envious and Murtherous one opposeth and bestirs himself with all his force and might in his Instruments of Cruelty and Men of War arming of them with all kind 〈◊〉 weapons that possibly he can form to fight against this Appearance and Work of God for so it hath been that since we who are reproachfully called Quakers were raised up to be a people to bear Testimony for the Name of the Lord and of the working of his Spirit and Power we have alwayes been even as a Butt for all the Archers of Babylon even from every Mountain to shoot at and our sufferings have not been only in our persons and estates as the spoyling of our goods and scourgings and cruel mockings and imprisonments many unto death as this Nation to her anguish must be made to know but even all sorts of Babylons Merchants or they that trades in every part of her or within her Subburbs have oft made it their business to write and print against us endeavouring thereby as much as in them lay to render us odious to our own Nation and to Nations about us under pretence that we were Papists and Jesuits and that we propagated Jesuitical Principles c. but they being almost if not altogether weary of that work finding it to be to no purpose for the truth which we profess hath still got ground and flourisheth through all these things now at last the Papists or Jesuits themselves who I perceive have a secret hope of a day once more in this Nation they begin to put out their heads and to print against us and so both Protestants and Papists even every head and horn of the Beast after whom the whole World wonders are found pushing against the Lamb and the Saints Rev. 17.14 For of late a certain Pamphlet accidentally came to my hands written by a perfect Roman Catholick who subscribed his name A. S. in which he seems to shew himself sensible of the great distractions that are throughout the whole Christendom about the true way of worship and concerning the true Church and first states a Question viz. which is this Church c. and afterwards makes it his business to prove the Church of Rome to be this true Church and that by divers Arguments by him stated in a Syllogistical manner And I also finding the Author of the aforesaid Pamphlet therein smiting at the People of God called Quakers and endeavouring to render them odious by affirming they are led by a deluding spirit c. I found my self somewhat concerned to return a brief reply
said he they are continually doing the Works of the Devil and are his children and consequently cannot truly call God Father I answer therefore the Church of Rome cannot call God Father for she is and long hath been doing the works of the Devil the Murderer as before proved therefore she is of her father the Devil and cannot call God Father in Truth and in Righteousness Then A. S. rambles through several other particulars in which he controverts with Sectaries c. whose cause I am not concerned to plead only this small hint before I have given to prove the Church of Rome one of those Sects who cannot speak the fore-mentioned words truly and so I shall leave the Sectaries with whom A. S. controverts to plead their own cause for the thing that was chiefly in my heart when I took in hand to write this brief Reply was to prove the Church of Rome not to be the true Church and the Chief Arguments by him Produced to prove her the True Church I have already in brief answered Again A. S. in his 6th Chapter makes it his business to prove the Church to be the Judge of all controversies in matters of faith and saith That not every man nor human reason nor the private Spirit nor the Bible is this Judge and to prove it he quotes Matth. 18.17 where Christ said tell the Church c. Answ To which I answer That the Judgement of the true Church of which Christ is Head in matters of Faith I do not deny for being governed in all things by the Head Christ to whom all Judgment is committed John 5.20 the Judgment thereof must of necessity be Ture for the Strength of Israel cannot Lye and ought for to be submitted unto by all But the Church of Rome being not the True Church she being not Governed by the invisible Head Christ to whom all Judgment is committed as before proved Therefore she is not Judge of Controversies in matters of Faith And the True Church to whom Christ said He that Heareth you Heareth me were such as heard Christ and in whom the Spirit of the Father spake Mat. 10.20 But the Church of Rome doth not hear Christ as hereafter I shall prove therefore they who hear the Church of Rome do not hear Christ But surely when A. S. began this work of deciding Controversies he had forgotten that the Church was the only Judge in that particular and not every man nor the private spirit for had he considered that he being but a particular man would not have undertaken the Churches work as appears by the Title of his Book he hath for he calls it A brief Decider of all Controversies in matters of Faith which Book we have cause to judge is his own only work and not the Churches in which we find him condemning himself for the thing which he is doing for as appears by his aforesaid Title himself undertakes to decide controversies and in his 6th Chapter he affirmeth ' That the Church is the only Judge or decider of all controversies But this is that his confusion may the more appear as it hath done in many other things as may be seen in this small Treatise and surely if the Pope have no better Servants then A. S. to do his work for him he had better keep them idle than to employ them in such a work for in the end they will bring more shame to him than they will honour for such like confusions and other abominations have already made the very name of the Pope an ill favour to all true Christians And one thing more in A. S. his 6th Chapter I cannot well omit to observe where he said The spirit inspireth when he will and you hear his voice but cannot tell whence from God or the Devil he doth come or whither to Heaven or to Hell he doth go and then saith So is every one that is born of the spirit and to prove this he quotes Luke 9.55 where Christ said Ye know not what Spirit ye are of Now consider the blindness and ignorance or else the wilful wickedness of A. S. who jumbles a deal of Scriptures together blasphemously wresting of them to his own destruction or at least to the destruction of his own work in hand thinking thereby to blind the minds of people and with his good words mixed with blasphemies and fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple as his Predecessors have done in the long night of Apostacy which hath been over all Nations since the Apostles days But it s in vain for him to strive to accomplish his end for the Day is dawned unto many and there is an eye opened in many thousands in this Nation of England that gives them to see over and beyond all this Babylonish or confused trumpery and stuff and have a feeling of that which was before Babylon was and shall out-last Babylon to the praise of God and to the glory and honour of his Name who is blessed for ever Well Although it was so that Christ said unto his Disciples You know not what spirit ye are of yet consider the time when he spake these words was it not before they were born of the Spirit although called to be Apostles for Christ said unto them you must be born again John 3.7 8. and that he would send them the Spirit of which he said they must be born which shall lead them into all Truth John 16.13 and he did not say as A. S. doth that they should not know whence from God or the Devil the Spirit came or whither to Heaven or to Hell it went Oh horrid blasphemy in A. S who saith so is every one that is born of the Spirit as much as to say that he that is born of the Spirits knows not whether he be from God or the Devil or whither he shall go to Heaven or to Hell Oh wickedness indeed Christ said no such things as A. S. doth although that blessed worthy saying of our Saviour and Lord Christ was and is very true viz. Marvel not that I say unto you that you must be born again for the wind bloweth where it listeth and men hears the sound thereof but cannot tell from whence it cometh nor whither it goeth adding even so is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3.7 8. Mark they that were born of the Spirit were unknown to the World for said the Apostle after they were born again the World knows us not So although they were in the World and men saw them yet the World knew them not no more than they knew from whence the wind came and wither it went which they heard the sound of and indeed so is the state of the True Church in the World at this day And the Apostles did know from whence the Spirit came and of what Spirit they were after they received the Spirit of Truth and were born of it for Christ told them John 14.16 That
shall they believe in him whom not of whom as their Bible saith of purpose to excuse themselves See above they have not heard or how shall they hear without a Preacher or how shall they Preach unless they are sent 4. Note this well gentle Reader and consider seriously with your self how deplorable a thing it is to see such Hypocritical Intruders to stand in a Pulpit or Tub with such a brazenfac'd Book as is their unjust corrupt and perverse Bible in their hand lulling the Poor Ignorant people to the sleep of death with these words Thus saith the Lord when the Lord saith no such thing Are not these they of whom the Lord himself saith Jer. 14.14 They prophesie falsly in my Name I sent them not and I did not bid them neither did I speak unto them a lying vision and divination and fraudulence and sedition of their own hearts they prophesie unto you See more Dent. 13.5 Item 18.20 c. And when they have done with their Thus saith the Lord and can say no more then they rowse up their slumbering spirits by singing unto them one of Tho. Sternholds Jack Hopkins or Rob. Wisdoms Psalms suppose From Turk and Pope c. which Sacrilegious Psalm or Diabolical Song passeth with these Deluders and their deluded Auditors and Chorists for holy Scripture and the Word of God as well as Dixit Dominus Domino meo c. Oh times Oh manner Oh God amend them Amen See Erastus senior and jun. who copiously prove this Subject The Last Testimony OF That Faithful Servant of the Lord and Minister of Jesus Christ RICHARD FARNSWORTH Whereunto is prefixed a brief Testimony concerning his Life Death and Travels c. To which is added a few words of Exhortation unto those that believe in the Light of the Lamb. Published for the Consolation of the Houshold of Faith and for the stopping of that Mouth which is open'd in Blasphemy against God his Tabernacle and them that dwell in Heaven FOrasmuch as it hath pleased God Almighty after the long Night of woful gross Darkness Apostacy and Ignorance which hath been over the Nations amongst those who have had a Profession of Christianity again to make known and manifest the true new and living way which leads unto Life Eternal even by and through the Revelation and Operation of his Eternal Power and Word of Life in the hearts of a Remnant whom in this our day he first reached unto and visited and raised up to be Witnesses thereof that by them it might be born Testimony unto amongst those who were strangers to it and that thirsted after it that so thereby they also might receive the manifestation and knowledge thereof for want of which many perish and are strangers to the way of Life having only at best a Form of godlyness without the Power In which dead Forms or outside empty Professions some are at ease and rest as though they were in the true Heaven that should never pass away and some are at rest and at ease without any profession living in all uncleanness unrighteousness and abomination and some cannot find rest in either The faithful and true Witness of God being awakened in their Hearts and Consciences which takes the false peace from them and lets them see the emptiness of all outside professions which are without Life and Power and also the Abominations and vanities of the World and makes sin exceeding sinful to them And by this true and faithful Witness are desires and breathings and pantings begotten in their hearts after the Knowledge of God and Christ after fellowship and acquaintance with the Father and the Son which desire cannot be satisfied without the Knowledge and enjoyment of the Presence of the Lord and of the Light of his Countenance And for this cause many run to and fro and wander like Sheep gone astray from the true Shepherds Fold and are wearying themselves upon the barren Mountains in vain looking thereunto for Salvation and seeking the Living amongst the Dead and so spend their labour for that which doth not satisfie And in these several states and conditions aforesaid the whole Christian World lieth who are not turned to the Light and Spirit of Jesus in themselves and true rest and salvation cannot be found by them until they return to the Light and Power of the Spirit of God in their own hearts which is that whereby a dislike of sin is begotten in them and also desires after Life and Salvation and Freedom from sin is thereby begotten and that is it alone which can answer every desire which is begotten by its self Well But when it pleased the Lord to reveal the Son of his Love and to make known his eternal Power in these latter dayes for the rending of the Vail of Darkness that had long been over the heart by which he caused the Light to shine out of Darkness which gives the Knowledge of his own Glory he did not then give the knowledge and manifestation thereof unto all People but he chose certain Witnesses whom he raised up to declare of the manifestation of this Power and to preach the Word of Life nigh in the Heart and in Mouth and he furnished them with Armour of Righteousness and with all spiritual Weapons which were mighty through him to break down the strong holds of Iniquity and the spiritual wickednesses that were in the high places and impowred them as Instruments in his hand to turn many from Darkness to the Light that the Salvation of God they might come to see and the Work of God greatly prospered in their hands and multitudes were brought to the acknowledgment of the Truth to the saving of their Souls and though they met with great opposition and persecutions by the Emissaries of Sathan even in all Quarters where they came yet that was not prevalent to hinder the prosperity of that Work whereunto they were called of God but it still prospered and doth still prosper to the spreading of the unchangeable Truth abroad even as is seen at this day And of this number whom God Almighty at the first raised up by his Power for this Work aforesaid the late deceased Richard Farnsworth was one concerning whom the chief occasion of this my present writing is that so a Testimony concerning him and of what the Lord did by and through him may remain upon Record for Generations to come and that this present Generation of the Just may see and hear his last Testimony which proceeded from his own mouth a little before his departure out of the body and I doubt not but thereby the Consolation and spiritual Comfort of the Houshold of Faith will be added unto And for these Causes I could not well rest satisfied in my spirit without taking in hand to publish these things though I well know that there are many living Witnesses that knew the Life Labours and Travels of the said R. F. who are the Seal of his Ministry And also
nor stood in his Counsel therefore have they not profitted the people nor turned them from the evil of their wayes 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 wel-being And when any comes 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 Judgment and Wrath Condemnation and Pangs and the Sorrows of Hell conpasseth them about and then seeing themselves in the perishing state are even at 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 Pollutions 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 quickning 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 hearts and in your mouthes and as every one comes to hear and obey it you will thereby be begotten in 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 righteousness 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 none justified 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 fained faith or framed in the imagination for that is a vain faith and not able 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 will it give you victory over the Pollutions 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 live which was once delivered to the Saints and which we earnestly content for Concerning HOPE ANd the living Hope which maketh not ashamed but puryfieth the heart even as God is pure This is not witnessed nor known but through the tribulation 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 and tossings and hurryings which we meet withal in the World and amongst the hypocritical Professors thereof whose Hope will 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 even as God is pure So all who desire the Way of Life to knowe 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 Paths of Judgment which Christ the Light the wisdom of God leads unto So every one the light in your own Consciences minde wherewith Christ Jesus the Son of the Fathers love hath enlightened you and as you Wait in it you will finde 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 will be an infallible guide unto you to lead you in the way of Righteousness and in the midst of the paths of Judgment and the worker of iniquity you will see judged in your own particulars daily and the Prince of this World will come to be cast out as you dwell in the Judgment 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 joyn not to that Nature which would lead to work iniquity or unrighteousness but joyn to that which in your own particulars judgeth it and here the Cross you will know which the whole World are Strangers to and then the Old man will come to be weakened and to be put off with his deeds that the New man be put on which is created in Righteousness and true Holiness but this work is not wrought nor effected but though many Combats Trials and great Tribulations which formerly you were not acquainted with while you were lead captive at the Devils will and followed his lusts and the strong man armed kept the house then all was at peace but when the stronger 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 and then you will hear of Wars and rumors of Wars see then that ye be not troubled for these are but the beginning of sorrow 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 will bring you to fulfil the Royal Law and
J. N. cannot see but there must of necessity be more then one Christ if by the increase of the Word be understood of Christ so that although he concludeth it must needs be the Doctrine contain'd in the Scriptures intended by the increase of the Word yet here he may see his Ignorance therein Again In pag. 9. 10. J. N. saith That in Acts 19.20 the Preaching and Teaching of Jesus Christ is call'd the Word of God Answ To this I have already answer'd that the preaching of Jesus Christ is the Preaching of the Word for his Name is call'd the Word Yet is doth not follow as J. N. would have it that all the Disputings which the Apostle had for the space of three Moneths was the Word It s true he disputed and perswaded the things of the Kingdom according to the Scriptures of the Prophets by Vertue of the Word that was in him so that all they of Asia heard the Word or the sound thereof when the Doctrine thereof was by it self demonstrated For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord said the Apostle 1 Thes 1.8 But the Apostle did not call his Preachings and Disputings the Word but that which he preached For he preached Christ but his Preachings were not Christ but a Testimony of him as Christ said concerning the Scriptures They are they that testifie of me Joh. 5.39 By which it apprears that Christ was the Word which he preached and which they in Asia heard the sound of according to that Saying of Christ The Hour cometh and now is when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son c. And therefore this Argument is but like the rest which make nothing to prove the Scriptures to be principally call d the Word of God Again saith J.N. I should have left prosecuting this Subject but this Truth yet finding more Friends to plead its Cause I am not willing to be a Hinderance c. And then quotes 2 Cor. 4.1 2. where the Apostle said He had not handled the Word of God deceitfully Now saith J.N. what Word of God was this which he had not handled deceitfully but the Ministry he had receiv'd even the Preaching and Teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as is plain in the 3d 4th 5th verses For what he calleth the Ministry in the 1st verse in the 2d the Word of God in the following he calleth it the Gospel and the preaching of Christ according to the Gospel so that its clear by this Witness also that the Preaching and Teaching of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures of the New Testament c. is properly and principally call'd The Word of God Answ Truly J. N. had need find better Friends or some that speak more pertinent to his business then this which he hath here produced or else he may labour as before he said he should long enough to prove Scripture the Word of God and have all to do when he hath ended For if I should grant that he called his Ministry or that of and from which he ministred the Word yet that doth not prove the Scriptures to be the Word because the Life and Spirit of his Ministry is not contain'd in the Scripture Or if I should acknowledge the Gospel to be the Word yet that doth not prove the Scriptures to be the Word For The Gospel is the Power of God as the Apostle said Rom. 1.16 and so are not the Scriptures and the Gospel is Everlasting but the Scriptures are not so But J.N. would make the Scriptures to be the Word the Gospel the Ministry and all and jumbles all together and then says The Apostle calls it so when the Apostle saith no such thing but speaks of his Ministry and of the Gospel which is the Power of God and of the Word which endureth forever which by the Gospel the Power was preached unto them 1 Pet. 1.25 And as to that Question What Word of God was this that he had not handled Deceitfully Answ I answer It was the Word which was from the beginning as John said 1 Joh. 1.1 Which they had Seen and Handled which were not the Scriptures for they were not from the beginning but the Word was which they had handled and which they handled not deceitfully but in Simplicity declar'd openly what they receiv'd by its secret operation and mighty working in them according as Christ commanded them without adding thereto or diminishing therefrom and hence it was that they said They Handled it not Deceitfully Again saith J. N. The second VVitness that appeareth to countenance this Truth is in Col. 1.25 where the Apostle calleth the Preaching of the Gospel the Word of God but for the better understanding of this VVitness let us see vers 23. where the Apostle useth these words to the Church If you continue in the Faith grounded and settled and not remov'd from the Hope of the Gospel which you have heard and which was preached to every Creature under Heaven Whereof he saith in vers 25. I Paul am made a Minister But what to do He answereth To fulfil the Word of God Now what Word of God was this that Paul did fulfil but only his Ministry in Preaching and Teaching of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel which he here calleth the Word of God So that there is no Truth more plain then this that the Scriptures of the New Testament are properly and principally call'd the Word of God Answ Surely J.N. hath a great Conceit of his blind Affirmations it appears as oft times I have seen it viz. That Ignorance in some is as great a Cause of Confidence as sound Knowledge is in others VVhat Reason hath J. N. from the Scriptures before mention'd to affirm the Scriptures of the New Testament to be properly call'd the Word of God Or the Word there spoken of by the Apostle to be meant the Scriptures which he said were given him to fulfil For in the next verse he declareth what that VVord was viz. The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and from Generations but now made manifest in his Saints To whom saith the Apostle God would make known what is the Riches of the Glory of his Mystery amongst the Gentiles which is Christ in you the Hope of Glory Mark Reader He saith The VVord which he was to fulfil was the Mystery c. and the Mystery was Christ in them c. So that the VVitness that J. N. produceth testifieth against his Affirmation as absolutely as may be to the utter overthrow of his Cause by which the Ignorance and Blindness of J. N. appears But then he saith in pag. 12. I shall give but one Scripture more for the Proof of this Truth and that is Tit. 2.5 Where the Apostle calleth the Doctrine of Christ the Word of God For saith he let us see what the Apostle saith in the first verse where he giveth Titus a Charge to preach sound Doctrine and layeth down the particulars thereof
therefore if their Preachings and Teachings be the Perfect Rule for all men to walk by then the Scriptures are not indeed that Perfect Rule they containing in them such a small part of what they preacht and taught Again It cannot be understood That the Scriptures were the Gospel that was preacht to every Creature under Heaven for a great part of the People under Heaven never heard nor heard of the Scriptures But the Gospel was preached to or in every Creature under Heaven Col. 1.23 Therefore the Scripture is not the Gospel And again The Gospel that they preached was and is Everlasting But the Scriptures cannot be rationally understood to be Everlasting because they are things that are seen which are temporal therefore the Scriptures are not the Everlasting Gospel but the Power of God is Rom. 2.16 And what doth that saying of Moses avail to prove the Scriptures a perfect Rule for all men to walk by For if that Prophet was and is to be heard in all things then he is to be looked unto as a Guide and Commander and Ruler and if a Ruler then his Spirit by which he rules is the Perfect Rule above Scripture And as to his saying The Apostle confirms the Scripture to be a Perfect Pule by these words The Mystery that was kept secret since the World began is now made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets c. Answ What though that great Mystery was made manifest according to the Scriptures of the Prophets that doth not prove the Scriptures a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by for the Manifestation of that Mystery by the Scriptures of the Prophets was no more but their perswading or shewing them out of Moses and the Prophets concerning Jesus Acts 28.23 of whom all the Prophets bore Testimony For this Jesus concerning whom the Apostles by Revelation and Commandment of the Everlasting God perswaded the People was the Mystery that had been hid as the Apostle to the Collosians cap. 1. ver 26 27. declareth saying The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations but now is made manifest c. Which is Christ in you the Hope of Glory Mark Is now made manifest So here was the manifesting of that Mystery by the Scriptures of the Prophets even by perswading them or shewing them out of the Prophets concerning Jesus so that the Apostle doth not affirm nor in effect affirm in the Scripture That the Scriptures are a Perfect Rule but simply declares That by the Commandment of the Everlasting God they made known that Mystery or preached Jesus by or out of the Scriptures of the Prophets who had testified of him that was to come and was then come according to their Testimony who is the Way the Mystery and the Word which all are to hear obey and keep But then saith J. N. This is that Rule that Christ directeth unto in Joh. 5.39 40. where Christ saith Search the Scriptures for in them ye think to have Eternal Life and to take away all Objections as if it were only their thoughts and not really so he addeth these words And they are they which testifie of me and by way of Reproof because they did not so do he again saith You will not come to me that you may have Life by which he plainly sheweth that there was Life therein by dutiful Obedience by Faith in him so that here the great Prophet and Teacher of his People sendeth us to the Scriptures as a Rule through Faith to come to Life Answ How wilfully blind this man seems to appear or like one that would put out his own Eyes and others also to wrest and pervert the words of Christ in such a gross and shameful manner by tearing of them in sunder and mixing his own Imaginations therewith to make them look quite another way or to import another thing for that which J. N. argueth Christ confirmeth viz. Their thoughts of having Life in the Scriptures he indeed reproved as the words in themselves without wresting clearly signifie for some Translations render it thus Ye search the Scriptures for in them ye think to have Eternal Life and they are they which testifie of Me and ye will not come unto Me Mark Ye search c. he tells them they did search but why because they thought to have Eternal Life in them which were but a Testimony of him who was the Life and he by way of Reproof to them for not believing on him in whom Life was and of whom the Scriptures which they searched did testifie said Ye will not come unto me that ye may have Life Mark his Me here spoken of that they would not come to for Life was not the Scriptures but Christ Jesus of whom the Scriptures testified so that he did not plainly shew That there is Life in the Scriptures as J. N. either wilfully or ignorantly affirmeth nor directs to them as A Rule to come to Life But reproves them because they did not come unto him for Life of whom the Scripture testified so that the most J. N. hath done by this Argument is even manifested his perverse crooked spirit by which he wrests and perverts the Scriptures and would set them in the place of Christ to give Life But what is the End of the crooked Serpent in this Work but to keep people from coming unto Christ the Power of God through which Life Eternal is received by all that follow and obey him who is the Truth whose Spirit of Truth will lead into all Truth as a certain Rule for all to walk by and in which Christ directed them to wait for as a Guide to walk by and the Apostle exhorted them to walk in the Spirit saying There is no Condemnation to such c. Rom. 8.1 Gal. 5.16 Asts 1.4 5. And all this the subtil Serpent doth under pretence of Promoting and not Perverting the right Way of God and Rule of Life but this serves not as before shewed to prove That Christ directed to the Scriptures as a Rule to come to Life but that he reproved them for that they would not come to him who was the the Life that they might have Life But then saith J. N. This Truth is confirmed in Paul's Epistle to Timothy chap. 3. vers 15 16 17. where the Apostle sheweth the Scriptures are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith in Christ Jesus And from hence J. N. argueth That if the Scriptures are able to make us wise to Salvation through Faith that is in Christ Jesus then the Scriptures are a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other But the Scriptures are able to made us wise unto Salvation through Faith that is in Christ Jesus therefore the Scriptures are a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other Answ To which I answer That Argument is falacious for though the Scriptures are able to make wise to Salvation through Faith that is in Christ