of an Higher Attainment or that it was higher or of further Latitude which certainly was more pernicious and Destructive for until the Temptation was entred into they had not the Knowledge of Evil by participation but were clothed with the Sweet Innocent Life of God which he breathed into them and dwelt in Covenant with their Maker But after the Enemy had prevailed and had subjected the Creature unto Vanity as saith the Apostle Romans 8. vers 20. not willingly but in Hope of an Higher Attainment or Better State than that wherein the Lord had placed them they were betrayed and lost their Habitation by breaking the Command of God and lost the Heavenly Dignity and Excellency of the first Creation and became dead as to that sweet Unity Fellowship and Access they had unto God and here the Serpent was found a Lyar who told them They should not surely dye c. So here Man and Woman were drove out of the Paradise of God and became degenerate Plants of a strange Vine branching forth it self into many Corrupt Trees whose Fruit have been Envy Wrath Murder and Persecution about Religion Sacrifice and Worship Pride Emulation Deceit and Hypocrisie and in these evil Branches have the unclean Birds and the Fowls of the Air lodged and the Cockatrice that comes out of the Serpent's Root whose Fruit saith the Prophet shall be a Fiery Flying Serpent Isa 14.29 Now the Cockatrice hath been hatching and bringing forth her Cage of unclean Birds by the power of the Serpent whereby they are become Birds of Prey to the persecuting of the Innocent Birth or good Seed of the Kingdom and quenching the good Desires which are in the Hearts of People But as the first Appearance or Motion to Evil is resisted and turned from the Conception thereof is prevented in the Heart for 't is there that Sin is conceived before 't is brought forth into action and the Cockatrice comes to be crushed in the Egg before it is brought forth to be a Bird of Prey and the Creature preserved out of the Snare And so it may be seen that this Crooked Serpent has been the ground Cause of all the Wo and Misery that is come upon Mankind who seeks to betray and deceive the Innocent as he did Adam and Eve who actually knew no Evil until under a fair Pretence he presented the forbidden fruit unto Eve the weaker Vessel who by hearkening unto him did eat and gave also to her Husband and so brought Death over themselves according as the Lord God had said In the day that ye eat thereof ye shall dye Thus by transgressing the Righteous Law of God in eating the forbidden Fruit Sin entred and Death by Sin which is come upon all and all have fallen short of the Glory of God And they that are feeding of the Tree of Knowledge without Life are under the same Sentence of Death which was passed over Adam and Eve through their Disobedience So Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam 's Transgression as saith the Apostle For as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift came upon all unto Justification of Life Rom. 5.18 And as many as receive the free Gift of Grace and Righteousness shall reign in Life by Jesus Christ And in this free Gift of God in which is Life eternal comes Man and Woman to inherit their former Priviledge and Right to the Tree of Life again for the universal Loving-kindness of the Lord God was such towards the Noble Workmanship of his Hands that notwithstanding Man and Woman had transgressed the holy righteous Law of the Lord and being first violated by the Woman yet he promised That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head and to the Serpent he said I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Gen. 3.15 This faithful Promise in which the Patriarchs of old with the Prophets and Holy Men of God believed in the Fulness of time came to be fulfilled and the Virgin conceived by the Holy Ghost and by the Overshadowing of the Power of the Most High and brought forth that Holy Thing whose Name was called Jesus according as the Angel of the Lord had fore-told unto Mary saying Blessed art thou among Women thou hast found Favour with God for lo thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a Son and shalt call his Name Jesus Now Mary reasoned a little saying How can this be seeing I know not Man To whom the Angels Answer was The Holy Chost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Most High shall evershadow thee therefore that Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God So Mary consulted no more but believing the Angel said Be it unto me according to thy word Luke 1.35 And in the overcoming Sense of the Joy which through Faith she had received said on this wise My Soul doth magnifie the Lord and my Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour from henceforth all Generations shall call me blessed because be that is mighty has done great things for me and Holy is his Name So in the Seed Christ Jesus the second Adam that never fell who is made a quickening Spirit comes the Blessing again to be obtained and all those that believe in him come to be redeemed from under the Curse and to know his Spirit as a Standard lifted up in them to the crushing and breaking down the Head of the Serpent which is his Power so that the Enmity that is put between the two Seeds shall never be reconciled and as this Seed of Life which the good Seedsman has sown in every Heart comes to take root and grow it will suppress and keep under the Evil Seed of the Serpent which brings forth Bryars and Thorns to entangle the Soul as in a Net whose End is to be burnt up and consumed by the Breath of the Lord. And although the Enemy has come in the Night and hath sown Tares and Brambles in the Field which is the World where the good Seed was sown yet mark their End is to be cut down at the time of Harvest which is the end of the World and to be bundled up and cast into the Fire unquenchable Oh! what will become of all those in that day who have suffered the Tares and Brambles to grow have not believed nor put Confidence in but obstinately resisted the appearance of Christ the benefit of whose Sufferings Death Resurrection and Assention such might have received and have been cleansed from all their evil Wayes and corrupt Devices by Christ Jesus who is come a Light into the World that whosoever believes in him should not abide in Darkness but have the Light of Life John 8.12 he testified of
AN INVITATION OF LOVE To all who Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness to come and take of the Water of Life freely without Money and without Price With a Word of Advice to such as are Asking the WAY to SION and are Weeping with their Faces thither-ward Together with A faithful Warning to the Inhabitants of BABYLON to come out of her lest partaking of her Sins ye also come to partake of her Plagues By Isabel Yeamens And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my People that ye be not Partakers of her Sins and that ye receive not of her Plagues Rom. 18.4 Printed in the Year 1679. TO THE READER Friendly Reader WHen in the weighty and deep Meditations of my Heart I beheld the States and Conditions of such as are inquiring the Way to Sion and have some tender desires begotten in them after the Lord and the Knowledge of his Way my Life was abundantly drawn forth in the Love of God with living breathings unto him in whom all Fulness dwells that of the Manifestation and free Dispensations of his Love Life all such may come to feel and receive and to take heed of sleighting the Day of their tender Visitation whilst the Lord secretly calls unto them by his good Spirit in their Bosoms lest the Night overtake them wherein no man can work And in the Sense of the Universal Love of God extended unto All Mankind I was constrained in my Spirit to commit these following lines to publick view as finding my Burden unremoved until I was made willing to communicate the same which I have done with as much brevity as I could with clearness hoping the ponderous Reader and such whom it chiefly concerns may not be distasted at the simplicity of the Srile or my want of Eloquence in expressing my self in things of this nature having herein hinted at divers things which I have experienced through the free Love of God to my Soul which seeming but little and low things yet may not miss of some service for the stirring up of the simple-minded to make a diligent search how the Case stands betwixt God and their Immortal Souls who thereby coming to see their Conditions and their Neglect and Disobedience in not answering the Lord's Requirings according to the Manifestations and divine Discoveries of his Light and Grace in their Hearts may come to redeem their Mis-spent Time which is irrevocable and take up a Holy Resolution by the Assistance of the Grace of God to redeem their Time to come by a Godly Righteous and Sober Conversation in the Fear of the Lord and by taking heed to this pure Principle of Light and Life may come to be enabled thereby to perform that Duty and acceptable Service which the Lord requires of them and receive the Reward of the Profitable and Obedient Servant is the Desire of my Soul And that none may sleight the Day of small things but be faithful to what little measure the Lord commits to them and thereby to become worthy of more So not desirous to be tedious or to undertake great things I recommend the Reader to the following Lines whose Mind I desire may be possessed with seriousness and with the Fear of the Lord when exercised in reading of things relating to Eternity so shall such reap Benefit hereby and answer the End of my Labours and Travails which is the Well-being of their IMMORTAL SOULS This is chiefly intended for the Northern Parts of this Nation where many are thirsting afresh after the Truth although ignorant of it and that such may be informed of the Way thereto and reap Everlasting Life by it is my Soul's Desire Isabell Yeamans An INVITATION of LOVE to all that Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness c. TO all you who are ignorant of the Way of Life and Salvation and are seeking the Living amongst the Dead Tombs and Sepulchres and are wandring in the Night in the dead Forms and empty Professions Will-Worships and Traditions of Men which are set up held and performed in man's Will and in man's Time and not in God's Time nor according to his Mind and Will and therefore are an abomination unto him Now that all such may be informed aright my Testimony and Exhortation in the Fear of the Lord is That he is not there but is arisen and ascended far above all Heavens the Stone is roled from the Door of the Sepulchre and the Grave-Clothes are left behind the Watch-men of the Night could not hold him nor the Grave contain him Oh! look not for him where he is not to be found as the Angel said to Mary Magdalen and the other Women He is not here he is risen and they declared his Resurrection John 10.17 Matth. 28.7 Where 't is manifest that the first Witnesses that were commissionated and that by the Angel of the Lord to preach the Resurrection of Christ Jesus were Women who as it s written returned with Fear and great Joy and could not but declare what they had seen and heard concerning the Lord Christ though yet it seemed to some yea of the Disciples themselves who were afterwards convinced of the Truth of those Women's Testimonies as idle Tales as it seems to many in this Age because the Resurrection is held forth and born Testimony unto by Women but blessed be the Lord he hath raised up many both Sons and Daughters to be living Witnesses this day of his inward and spiritual Appearance and Power of his Resurrection and Ascension So look not for him in the Shadows and Forms without the Power and Substance nor be satisfied with the hearing of him by the hearing of the Ear or a notional Traditional Knowledge without the saving Knowledge of Power for until you come to know his Power and Life in your selves to save you from Evil you are not come to the Substance but are still running from Mountain to Hill as Sheep having no Shepherd seeking living Bread in desolate places and hewing unto your selves Cisterns that will hold no Water an Evil which the Lord complain'd of among the Children of Israel saying Ye have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Water and hewn unto your selves Cisterus that can hold no Water So come ye off the Mountains of Esau into the low Valleys where the Springs of Life you may feel and come into the Valley of Jehosaphat where the Lord pleads with all flesh by Sword by Fire that through his deep Judgment for Sin and Transgression through true Acknowledgment and Repentane the Valley of Achor may be known to be a Door of Hope to the Transgressors and by this Hope through Faith come to receive Christ in you the Hope of Glory who is the Resurrection of the Just unto Life and of the Unjust unto Condemnation the first begotten from the Dead and the first born of every Creature and now glorified with the Father the Creator of all things who made the Heavens and the Earth the Sea
word in season in the needful time But now has the Lord appear'd to comfort the Mourners in Sion and to give Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of Praises for the spirit of Heaviness Isa 61.3 Therefore lift up your Heads ye mournful Travailers who have been weeping as Rachel for her Children and refused to be comforted because they were not Jer. 31.15 For the Comforter is now come even the Spirit of Truth which leads into all Truth all those that are willing to follow him who saith I am come that you might have Life and that you might have it more abundantly John 10.10 and he will lead you by a Way you know not where you shall not Err. Life from God the Fountain of Life and Glory is now come and is entered into the Witnesses the Graves are opened the Dead is raised and they that hear his heavenly Voice their Souls live unto him This is the new Birth which the Apostle speaks of on this wise My little Children of whom I travail in Birth again until Christ be formed in you Galat 4.19 Here the Apostle travailed for the bringing forth of that holy Birth which is conceived by the holy Ghost and is born of the Water and of the Spirit and is made a new Creature in Christ for sayes he If any man be in Christ he is a New Creature But Nichodemus a Ruler of the Jews who came unto Jesus by Night reasoned carnally on this manner How can a Man be born which is Old can he enter again into his Mother's Womb and be born How ignorant was this Teacher of Israel concerning the Work of Regeneration it was a sealed Book and a Mystery unto him as it is to many Wise Professors and Night walking Nichodemus's of this Age who though they pretend to high things yet stumble at that which should open their Understandings and give them a true Discerning betwixt that which is born of the Flesh and that which is born of the Spirit but are yet in the dark and their Understandings vailed by reason of Sin and Transgression which stands as a Partition Wall unremoved and the old man with his Deeds not put off nor the new man the second Adam put on which bears the heavenly Image and being gone astray and alienated from the Life of God in themselves they become not acquainted with that which should work a Change in their Hearts not withstanding all their Profession of God and Christ in Words whilst in their Works they deny him Now the birth of the flesh is known by its fruits which is Envy Wrath Murder and Persecution of that Birth that is born after the Spirit hath been so even from Righteous Abel to this very day for Cain who was the first that was born of a Woman envyed his Brother Abel and slew him because his Brother's Sacrifice was accepted and his rejected whose innocent Blood from the Ground on which it was spilt cryed in the Ears of the Lord for Vengence as doth the Blood of the Innocent People of God this day cry unto him who will render Judgment and Vegeance upon the Enemies of his Righteous Seed and People who have sacrificed unto and worshipped the Lord their God according to his Commands and the Requirings of his holy Spirit in their Hearts And Ishmael the Son of the Bond Woman who was born after the Flesh and is in Bondage with her Children he was a Mocker and Mocked Isaac who was the true Seed and Heir of the Promise so all those now who are of Abraham's Faith are of the true Seed and inherit the Blessing and Kingdom prepared for them before the Foundation of the World And again you may read how Esau the first birth who was a prophane man and sold his Birth-right for one Morsel of Meat he set himself against Jacob the second Birth who was of the true Seed and righteous Line unto which the Promise and Blessings did descend and appertain So here people may see how that after man had transgressed and forsaken the Lord he fell short of the Blessings of God and in that state the first birth which was of the Earth earthly and sensual was rejected with its Offerings and Sacrifice so it is the second birth which is after the Spirit that obtains the Blessing And Haman an Informer against Mordecai was of this corrupt seed birth of the flesh whose Off-spring as well as himself has been persecuting the Members of the true Church Seed of God for these many hundred years unto this very time and all about Religion Sacrifice and Worship so that our Persecutors who have been rending and tearing like Dogs and Bears and persecuting people for their Non-conformity and different Perswasions about Religion may see their Off spring and who was their Captain and General in this wicked Work whose Spirit is alive though his Body be dead and it will deceive them in the end And Wo and Misery will be the Portion of all such if not prevented by timely Repentance at unawares when 't will be too late to call unto the Hills and to the Mountains to fall upon them and cover them from the Presence of the Lord and to hide them from his dreadful Majesty and fierce Indignation which is kindled against all the Enemies of his chosen People who are unto him as the Apple of his Eye and no Way will be found to escape his terrible Judgments For such as every one sows such must they reap and they that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption but they that sow to the spirit shall of the spirit reap Life Everlasting Gal. 6.8 And if they who are and persist in Cain's nature and Esau's spirit seek a place of Repentance with Tears as they did they shall not find it but shall be like Cain who was a Fugative and a Vagabond in the Earth being driven out from the Presence of the Lord and said My Punishment is greater than I can bear Oh! that people would but consider what they are a doing and to whom they yield their Members Servants to obey and follow that Exhortation of the Apostle Rom. 6.13 Yield not your Members as Instruments of Unright cousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God for the Wages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life Now this Gift of God is freely extended unto all Mankind in and by which he calls and excites to Purity and Holiness and to turn to him and forsake Sin which makes the Separation and to come out of Ungodliness and all Uncleanness The Call of the Lord has reached unto all but the Apostle saith Have they not all heard yes verily their sound went into all the Earth and their words to the end of the World Rom. 10.18 but all have not obeyed the Voice of the Lord. Oh! why will ye stand idle in the Market-place pleading for and contending about outward