and fore-warned thy Rulers also oft-times of the evil to come and that they should set free the Oppressed and break the heavy Yoak of Persecution from off the Necks of God's People that with freedom and cheerfulness they might serve him but they have not hearkned thereunto nor regarded at all therefore is thy Plagues come and thy Judgment have not lingered as is seen at this day But well much of this kind have ofttimes been presented to thy view and consideration so that I could even almost despair of hopes that thou wilt hear or lend an Ear unto what I say at this time because I experimentally know that thou art a Rebellious Nation against the Lord yet my Bowels so yearns towards those of thine Inhabitants who have not quite sinn'd out their Day that I cannot but strive with them a little in representing these things to their consideration that such who have any tenderness left in them may Repent with speed and turn to the Lord with all their hearts not feignedly but in sincerity that so they may find a hiding place in him from the Wrath to come and that they may understand the Cause wherefore the Lords Hand is stretched out against thee in Judgment Oh Nation surely all who are prudent in spirit cannot but confess and acknowledge that these things before mentioned is the very cause of the present Visitation that is upon thee and also of the future Judgments which are threatned for these are but the beginning of thy sorrows which it to come upon thee because thou Repented not of thy Evil Deeds Well But some it may be will say what and where hath been the cause that all these Abominations hath thus abounded and been continued in thee seeing thou hast had such a large Profession of a reformed Christian Religion to whom I say Search and examine whether or no the main ground and cause is not found in thy Teachers and Leaders for have they not caused thee to Err and have they not strengthned the hand of the worker of Iniquity so that none can turn from the Evil of his Way by promising of him life and may not I say of thy Teachers Oh England as the Prophet of the Lord said of the false Prophets in his day viz. from the Prophets of Israel is Prophaneness gone forth into all the Earth for hath not they Leaders been evil examples unto thee of prophaneness of drunkenness and whoredoms many of them and universally of covetousness which is Idolatry for most or all must needs see that their hearts are gone after covetous practises and by their Lyes against the people of God and by their lightness they have caused the People to err from the right way and have led them into rebellion against the Light of the Son of God wherewith they are enlightned which would have led them out of the dark pathes of ignorance and works of Iniquity under pretence that it was a dangerous principle to be adhered unto and that it was not sufficient to lead out of sin nor to save from sin when indeed there is none other name given under Heaven whereby Men can be saved from sin but the name of Jesus who preached himself the Light of the World and who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World and whose free grace that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men so that all who turn from this Grace of God which teacheth us to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present evil World such turn from the right way and all who rebell against this Light wherewith they are enlightned they know not the way thereof as Job said and so they are strangers to the good and right way which is Christ who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World and is not this Light or Spirit of Grace in the inward parts the very thing that thy Leaders hath long perswaded thee against that thou shouldest not encline or adhere thereunto under pretence as aforesaid and so are like unto them whom Christ said did shut the Kingdom of Heaven against Men who would neither enter in themselves and them that would enter they hindered and although they have in pretence made large Prayers against sin and iniquity and seemed to preach against it likewise yet they have indeed told thee thou couldst not be washed or freed from sin while here on Earth and so have denyed the very work of the Ministry which was for the perfecting of the Saints for the Apostle laboured that he might present every Man perfect in Christ and have they not hereby strengthened the hands of the Workers of iniquity even by begetting a belief in them that they cannot turn from the evil of their wayes so as to be set free from their evil deeds and yet they promise them life hereafter but be not deceived with good words and fair speeches for God will not be mocked with an out-side profession for if you live after the flesh you shall dye for the wages of sin is death but the Gift of the Spirit of God is eternal Life through Christ our Lord unto all them that receive and obey it Again have not thy Leaders been the great Stirrers up of thy Rulers to persecute the harmless People of the Lord whom he hath raised up by his power to trust in his Name and to bear witness for him and to testifie against thy abominations have they not moved thy Rulers and Majestrates to make Laws and to put them in execution as aforesaid against us Consider this Oh Nation what a blood-thirsty Generation of covetous Hirelings thou hast nourished within thy bowels may I not say of them as Hosea said of the Priests in his dayes viz. As Troopes of Robers wait for a Man so the Company of Priests murder in the way by consent for have they not been even unanimous in this work of Persecution how many have they murdered in the way of Cain which they are in by consent in casting of them into Prisons for their filthy lukers sake and how have they provoked and stirred up thy Rulers and people to the same work and even made them their vassals to fulfill their envious wills So that all these things being considered with many more which might be mentioned have we not just cause to attribute the main ground of thy continuing in these so gross abominations unto these covetous Hirelings and filthy Dreamers that defile the flesh I confess I cannot but believe that there are multitudes of thousands within thy Borders Oh England that see their folly and madness and their unstableness and how they toss up and down and are driven about with every tempest that ariseth even as Clouds without rain as their Predecessors were whom the Apostle spoke of and saw come in his day who went in Cain's way of Persecution and Murder and were wandring Stars for whom was reserved the blackness of Darkness for ever For have not the unstabillity of these
Performances without the Inward Leadings of the Spirit of the Lord and in this Antichristian-spirit by which they have been exercised in the aforesaid Idolatrous Abominations they have been Killing Destroying and Devouring one another about those things which are their own Inventions set up in their own Wills which they would have all to conform to and have long imposed it one upon another by Penal Laws and thereby have enforced many who fear'd Man more then God to conform contrary to what they were perswaded in their own Consciences to worship the Image set up by them yet a Remnant there was alwayes whom God preserved and rais'd up by his Power to stand faithful Witnesses against their Idolatrous Worships and Traditions whose Blood this Antichristian-spirit in the Beast and false Prophet that carries the Whore hath always drunk and many Faithful Martyrs of Jesus in times past have seal'd their Testimony against this false Church of Apostate Christians in which this Antichristian spirit rules even with their very Lives though they did not see nor understand the things that are now seen and understood by many yet blessed be the Lord they were by his Power and Spirit so furnished and sustained and so filled with Love to God and his Cause and with Zeal against the false Church and her Antichristian Impositions and Idolatries that they loved not their Lives unto death but laid down their Lives with Chearfulness as a Testimony against them and so through Faith have obtained a Good Report amongst us who are now following the Lamb in the same Foot-steps of the Flock And so my Beloved Friends Seeing that now in fulness of time God hath rais'd us up by his Power according to his Purpose and Determination and Fore-knowledge to be faithful Witnesses for his Name and Truth and to the Power of his Appearance in our Hearts and to bear Testimony against the aforesaid Superstitions and and Idolatrous Impositions which are practis'd at this day amongst them that know not the only true and living God nor Jesus Christ whom he hath sent a Light into the World I say my Friends These things are sufficient to engage our Hearts unto the Lord follow him unto the end through all Trials and Exercises of what nature or kind soever that for the future may come upon us for our Testimonies sake For my Friends We know right well that God hath not been wanting unto us in any Tryal or State whatsoever if we have not been wanting in or Obedience unto him but hath been alwayes present with us and hath oft caus'd his Love to abound unto us and in us being shed abroad in our hearts by his good Spirit so that for joy of Heart we could even sing Praises to the Name of the Lord in the midst of our Sufferings and Afflictions so that we have no Cause to be discourag'd at the Sufferings which attend us nor at the Threats and Frowns of Wicked Men who hate and persecute us without a just Cause but we have rather great Cause of encouragement to persevere and go on bearing forth our Testimony for the Lord through all Sufferings if it be Death it self knowing the Reward thereof to be so exceeding great and having this Confidence in our selves That none of these things shall be able to move us nor to seperate us from the Love of God which we have in Christ Jesus Nay but rather shall confirm us for as the Apostle said It is an evident Token to us of Salvation but to our Adversaries of Perdition and that of God And so my Beloved Friends You who are already Exil'd and sent into forreign Parts of the World for your Testimony 's sake I doubt not but you experimentally know in an especial manner the Largeness of the Extent of God's Love unto his People in a Suffering Condition you having been in measure exercis'd therein beyond many others though I doubt not but have the Testimony of God's Holy Spirit that many are as freely given up in the same Faith for the same Testimony to partake with you outwardly of the same Sufferings as they do inwardly sympathize with you therein if the Lord see it meet for the Honour of his Name so to suffer them to be exercised Yet nevertheless All who have been and are faithful to God in their Places have and do enjoy so much of the Peace and Presence of God as is fully satisfactory unto them so that in the Unity of the Spirit of Life which from God we have receiv'd and by which we are seperated from the World and its Wayes and Works of Darkness and by which we are rais'd up to be faithful and true Witnesses for God and against the Traditions of men by which they have made void God's Commandments I say in this Spirit we do sympathize and partake with you both in Suffering and in Rejoycing and have a real Sence upon our hearts and spirits of your Estate and we are not unmindful of you but do heartily pray That Grace Health Mercy and Peace together with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ our Lord may be continually multiplied and encreased amongst you that the Aboundings thereof you may know unto your great Consolation that so being thereby watered and refreshed you may grow in the Grace of God and in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus and may feel his Life to encrease in you and so to strengthen you that you thereby may be able to teach others also and to instruct them in the Way of Life and Salvation that so your Sufferings and Exilement may make for the Furtherance of the Gospel of God and for the spreading of his Blessed Glorious Truth through the Nations and for the gathering into it them who are yet afar off from God and Strangers unto him that so the Witness of God in all Consciences being answer'd by you both in Life Conversation and Doctrine you may be a good savour unto God both in them that believe and also in them that perish that the Justification of Life in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ you may all feel and witness and that will be your alone Satisfaction in all Conditions and therein my Love doth dearly salute you all And in this my Dear Friends pray one for another and walk together in Love and be of one Mind and Practice in all things that appertain to the Worship of God and to your Testimony for Him and against the World and its Wayes and Worships and live in Peace one with another and build up one another in your most precious Faith and watch over one another in the Spirit of Love and Meekness and let there be no Straightness nor Strangeness one towards another but be Open-hearted and Tender one to another And if any thing appear amongst any of you which tends to the Hurt of any Particular or to the Truth in general in the Spirit of Meekness let it be spoken to them and in the same Spirit let
of his Kingdom and for the publishing and spreading of his Everlasting Truth and for the sake of this our Lives nor Liberties were not dear unto us wherefore be ye every one like-minded with us in the same thing And in your places where the Lord hath set you therein adorn the Truth so will you be a good savour unto God and he will take Pleasure and Delight in you and will do you good by multiplying his Mercies and Blessings in your Hearts and so you will witness a growth and encrease in the Encreases of God And so all Friends Wait upon the Lord in the Gift of his Spirit that you may feel him to administer unto you of his Heavenly Riches and Consolation that no one may have cause to complain of Poverty or Weariness but every one know him in you in whom the Fulness dwells that you may by him be upheld in all times of Tryal and be administred unto in all times of want that so you may be carried on with Chearfulness to run the Way of his Commandments And God Almighty keep you by his own Power that therein you may be firmly joyn'd and united together a Family of Love and a strong Body and a spiritual House fitly framed and compacted that there may be no Rent nor Division but that you may be one in him who is the Head and in this I can promise you the Blessings of God and that by his Spirit And so bear one with another in Love and let the Strong help the Weak and by so doing you will preserve Peace And the Blessing of the Lord be with you and rest upon you forever Amen London the 1st Moneth of the Year 1667. This is a Salutation of Pure Perfect and Never-dying Love from your Dear and Truely Loving Brother Josiah Coale An EPISTLE to FRIENDS IN New-England The Second Epistle DEAR and Everlastingly Beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters whom my Heavenly Father hath visited with the Day-spring from on High which he hath caused to dawn unto you and by his Out-stretched Arm of Power hath gather'd you out of the Egyptian Darkness into the marvellous Light of the Son of his Love that therein you may come to have an Inheritance amongst them that are sanctified and become Heirs of Eternal and Everlasting Salvation in and through Christ Jesus the First-born from the Dead who is now brought forth into the World and reveal'd in us whom all the Angels must worship I say my dear Friends Seeing the Lord hath thus visited you with his Love and thus reached unto you see that you walk worthy of his Love And every one in your holy Callings wherewith you are called of God therein abide with him and feel the Gift of his good Spirit of Grace which from him you have receiv'd at all times to exercise your minds that so out of all the Snares and Temptations of the Wicked One you may thereby be led kept and preserved that the Enemy may not prevail to hurt you or to deprive you of your precious Treasure or to make a Spoile of you or in the least to diminish that Precious Life which God hath raised and manifested in you and given you a feeling of But all and every one wait that you may grow therein and become daily more and more a good savour unto God that you may know him to take delight in you and to dwell amongst you and in the midst of you and to administer unto you according to your Necessities that there may be no want unto you in the Day of Tryal but that you may be throughly furnished unto every good Word and Work that in all Tryals and Temptations whatsoever that may come upon you you may feel your Strength Hope and Confidence to remain that so you may be supported and carried through with Chearfulness unto the End for its such only that shall be saved And above all things my Friends and Brethren have perfect Charity amongst your selves and let the Love of God dwell in your Hearts and rule there and in that watch over one another and in the Spirit of Love and Meekness exhort and beseech one another as the Lord moves and let no one go beyond the Word of the Lord nor yet without it for that will burden the Seed in others but watch in the Light for the Movings of the Life it self and as that is felt to stir or move in you or any of you wait to know the Mind and Intent of the Spirit 's Motion whether it be for your selves to treasure up or whether it be to give forth unto others and this Discerning and Understanding you will all come to know and receive as you wait in Stilness out of the Reasoning Part for if the Reasoning Part enter that will darken the Understanding and then you will not know what to chose and what to refuse nor what to do or what to leave undone Therefore dwell in the Simplicity and single Subjection unto God's Holy Spirit of Life the Meek Lamb's Spirit and there is the Gate of true Wisdom and the Door of Understanding and in that you will edifie one another in Love and the Bond of Peace will be known amongst you And for this End have we travell'd and labour'd amongst you whom the Lord sent forth in his own Name and Power for the turning of you from the darkness of Ignorance unto the Light and Knowledge of God's Everlasting Power and for the building of you up in your most pretious holy Faith that therein and thereby you might come to have victory over all that 's contrary And to this day I am oft travelling in Spirit amongst you and in my Prayers to God I daily make mention of you and my spirit breathes unto God and is pour'd forth unto him for your preservation growth and prosperity in the pretious living Truth and that you may be crown'd with Victory Life and Dominion over all which would hinder you from running this good Race that is set before you that so none amongst you who have tasted of the Love of God and have known the Way of Life may fall short of the Mark or of the Inheritance incorruptible which fades not away So the Lord God Almighty be with you and keep you and place his Fear in your Hearts yet more and more that you may no more depart from him or from the feeling of his Life and Presence but that you may always live in him who is God blessed forever and may be found of him in everlasting Peace Amen London 21 1st Moneth 1665. This from your dear Brother who truly loves you and the whole Flock of God in all Places JOSIAH COALE To the Flock of God Gather'd out of the World in the Province of MARYLAND The First EPISTLE MY Dearly Beloved Friends with whom and amongst whom I have travell'd in times past for the Redemption of the Suffering Seed which lay groaning in Bondage and was held in Captivity
after God in Righteousness and true Holiness And so here walking every one in your own measures in Faithfulness to the Lord you will feel the Lord administring unto you of his rich Vertue to the filling of your Hearts and to the making of your Cups to overflow for this I testifie unto you and that by the Spirit of the Lord That the Lord's Love and Mercies and the Riches of his Grace did never more abound in the Hearts of his People in any Age or Generation than it doth in this our Day in the Hearts of all who obey and follow him and give up freely unto him in all his Leadings and Requirings And therefore once more I say unto you my Beloved Ones give up in singleness to follow the Lord in whatsoever he leads you unto And walk with him in the Power of his own Spirit of Life and let the Righteousness of God go before you and his Everlasting Glory shall be your Reward And so Dear Hearts Feel your selves covered with the Spirit of Life for that shall and will remain when all false Coverings shall be ript off and all empty Professions and out-side Shews will wither and have an end and come to nothing Therefore ye as Wise Virgins have Oyle in your Lamps and see that your Lamps be kept trimmed and burning that so you may be kept ready at all times to enter in with the Bridegroom into his Marriage Chamber so will you have Joy and Felicity and Gladness of Heart and no cause of Sorrow will there be while you enjoy the Bridegroom of your Souls present with you who will be an everlasting Comforter unto you with whom you will know an Everlasting REST And that Peace you will be Heirs of and possess which passeth the Understanding of the World and in this you will have strong Consolation and Comfort even that which can never be blasted but whatsoever flourisheth and may seem prosperous for a time if it be not in and by the Power of the Lord that will the Lord blast and cause to wither as the Flower of the Grass and this your Eyes shall see if you keep in the eternal Power of the Lord which keeps the invisible Eye open which alone perceives the things of God So in the pure Power of the Lord dwell and keep that you may be kept in a clear Discerning and sensible of your own particular Conditions and how it stands with you in the Presence of the Lord that you may know your Peace and Unity with him and one with another that so all being kept in the Power and Unity of the one Spirit in that you may exhort one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching that so you may be strengthened one by another and may build up one another in the Precious Living Truth and therein edifie one another in Love that so you may stand over the World and over that part in which the Enmity stands which is against God so will it appear unto all men That you are the People which God hath Blessed And now my dearly beloved Friends These few Lines have I written unto you from the aboundings of the Love of my heavenly Father which he hath shed abroad in my heart towards you all and by this Love only was I constrain'd thereunto wherein in some measure is manifested that real and unfeigned Love which dwells in me and daily extends it self unto the whole Houshold of Faith wheresoever they are with whom I am at this time even wrapt up with the Garment of Praise And in the pure Unity of the Spirit of Life and Endless Unspotted Love do I purely salute you all leaving you to the Protection of the Almighty whose tender Care is over all his and watcheth over his own Inheritance Night and Day so that the Devourer cannot prevail to lay it waste nor desolate Wherefore let your Confidence and Trust be in him alwayes and continue you in the Grace of God which hath appeared and the Sufficiency thereof you will more and more see and witness daily And Blessed in the Name of the Lord God Almighty are all they whose Trust and Confidence is in him alone for they shall never be ashamed nor confounded but shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be moved So the Lord God Almighty of Heaven and Earth keep you all and preserve you all in the enjoyment of the Fulness of the Blessing of the Gospel of Peace where you all may know the Rest to remain that neither Stormes can disturb you nor Tempests make you afraid in which I am with you all who are of the Family of God Written in the Island of Barbadoes the 27th of the 7th Moneth 1661. Your Truly Loving and Faithful Brother JOSIAH COALE A Collection OF THE Several Books Given forth from the Movings of the Spirit of the LORD in his Faithfull Servant and Minister Josiah Coale The Memorial of the Just is Blessed the Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance but the Name of the Wicked shall Rot. Printed in the Year MDCLXXI AN INVITATION OF LOVE TO THE HUNGRY THIRSTY Who truly hunger after the Food of Life and a Call to such to come from off the Barren Mountains and from feeding upon vanity into the Everlasting Kingdom and House of my Father where the least of his Servants have Bread enough With some Information of the Way which leads thereunto EVery one that hungers and every one that thirsts and every one that breaths after Righteousness Come the Fountain of Life is opened and the Everlasting God of Jacob is arisen in this day of his Power to gather unto himself the dispersed of Israel into his Everlasting Fold of Rest and into his Everlasting Covenant of Light Life and Peace with him to dwell And for this very end hath he caused the Eternal Light of his Son to shine forth and hath set up his Standard and displayed his Ensign to the Nations to which the gathering is and the Call is gone forth and the Spirit bids Come and every one that hears let him Come and drink of the water of Life freely For the Fountain is now opened and the true Shepherd now Calls and his voyce is heard and all who are wandering upon the barren Mountains and in desolate places and are weary and heavy laden with sin may Come and follow him who leads to the Everlasting Fold of Rest which is Jesus Christ the true Shepherd and the Light of the World and Way to the Father who is now arisen in this his Day for his Seeds sake to gather his Sheep from off the Barren Mountains where they have been scattered and driven away in the dark and in the cloudy day And to make manifest the way of Life freely to all who hearken to his Counsel and obey his voyce who declares unto man what is his thoughts And by his Light makes manifest the Secrets of the heart and reproves the deeds
of darkness by which all who are guided by it comes to receive power over sin which made a separation between God and you And this is he which the Holy Prophets of God prophesied of in the dayes of old who is given a Light to lighten the Gentiles and for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth And whom Moses said the People should hear and said that he that would not hear this Prophet which the Lord should raise up to wit Christ Jesus the Light of the World Even he should be Cut off from amongst the People and therefore every one you being enlightened with a measure of the Light which comes from this Prophet Christ Jesus by whom the World was made and whom the people is to hearken to it is a thing of concerment to you all to wait to hear his voice who calls your minds out of the vanities of the World and the love thereof that you may hear live and no longer to spend your labour for that which doth not satisfie the soul But to hearken diligently to the Voice of God who is Light that you may come to eat of that which is good and let your Souls delight in fatness and so every out who prizeth the Everlasting Peace and welfare of your Souls beyond the pleasures and delights of the World Return unto him who calls in your minds out of the visible and perishing things of this World and the love thereof and wait to know the Sword of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace to Cut down the Transgressor in every particular of you and to know the Righteous Law of God revealed in you to take hold on the unrighteous Nature which hath led you into Rebellion against God and against his pure witness in you which hath long called for purity and for a holy Life and a godly Conversation that so into purity and holiness you might all come without which none can see the Lord And so they who comes to the Light of Christ in them such comes to that which is pure and holy with which they may come to see God And Friends This is the Word of the Lord God to you all and his Everlasting Counsel to you all who have desires in Truth and Righteousness to walk in the way of Life that you hearken diligently to the Voice of God the Light in every one of your Consciences and to it be obedient at all times in whatsoever it makes manifest to be the mind and Will of God the Father that so his will may be done by you in Earth as it is in Heaven and that your sins and iniquities may be blotted out by him for his own Names sake Who is now arisen for his Glories sake which hath been long trampled upon and for his Seeds sake which hath long cry'd unto him from under the burden of oppression which hath ruled above the pure in every one of you And the Cries and Groanings of the Oppressed hath entered into the Ears of the Lord God of Rest and he is arisen and is zealous for his Glory And in the valley of Judgment will he plead with Egypts King and with all the Host of the Egyptians and by his out-stretched Arm will he bring deliverance unto his own Elect Seed and the Host of the Egyptians will he destroy in the Red-Sea of his Wrath and then shall the Seed rejoyce over its Oppressors And so Friends as you hearken to and obey the Voice of the Lord the Angel of his presence you will see leading you in the way in which he will have you to walk and beware of him and obey his voice for he will not at all pardon your transgressions any more Exod. 23.20 21. But will give a just reward to every one according to their deeds whether they be good or whether they be evil And so that you may come and receive the reward of Everlasting Life which is enjoyed in my Fathers Kingdom Every one be good and faithful Servants and improve your Talents which is committed to you that so when the Lord shall come you may be found doing his will and not your own So shall an enterance be Administred unto you into the Kingdom which is without end where you may feed on the Heavenly Manna and drink of the water of Life out of the Wells of Salvation even abundantly and be filled and your Souls satisfied therewith And so Friends and people arise and come out of Death you that have desires after the way of Life and Salvation Which is now Preached freely and be all obedient to the measure of the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation which hath appeared unto you and believe in the Light which you are enlightned withal for saith Christ I am the Light of the World he that believeth in me shall not abide in darkness but shall have the Light of Life and this is the sure word of Prophesie unto which you do well if you take heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts which Star being followed will lead unto the knowledge of the Saviour as it did the wise men who found him lying in a manger for there was no room for him in the Inn because it was full of other guests him that reads let him understand and so when you have found him according to the Angels Inteligence though it be but in a low place in you yet wait to know him to grow in stature and you in him to increase in Wisdom and in Favour with God for truly People no Union nor Fellowship with God can be known by you until you come to be Obedient to the Son of God and to hear him in whom the Father is well pleased and in whom alone we are accepted of God and by whom we have free access to his Throne of Grace where he sits at the Right hand of the Majesty on High Judging and Condemning all who walk contrary to his Light and that disobey the Gospel which is now Preached and justifieth and giveth life unto all that obey and follow him and stand in his Counsel which is the desire of my Soul that you all may do who have desires in the least measure after this Life of Holiness And for your sakes have I written these Lines according as the Lord gave it me by his Spirit Who am a true lover of all your Souls and a Labourer and Traveller for the Seeds sake which is Scattered throughout the Earth That those who are wandering upon the Barron Mountains and in desolate places may be gathered into the Everlasting Rest and Fold of Jesus Christ with me to lie down in peace and safety where none can make us afraid Josiah Coale A SALUTATION TO THE Suffering-Seed OF GOD Wherein the Things are Declared and Signified before-hand that must shortly come to pass DEarly beloved Friends Brethern and Sisters Babes Lambs and Children who
he would Pray the Father and he should send them the Holy Ghost the Conforter John 16.7 13. Which should ABIDE with them for ever and they did receive it and were led by it into a Heavenly Habitation Ephes 1.3 For they were made to sit together in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus So it s hereby clear that the Apostles knew from whence the Spirit came and whither it led them and it s also plain that A. S. either wilfully or sottishly wrests the Words of Christ and by his additious to them would make them import another thing than was intended by him of purpose to divert People from being led by the Spirit of God or to disswade them from adhering to the leadings of it under pretence that they cannot tell whence from God or the Devil it doth come or whither to Heaven or to Hell it goeth when indeed Christ's words in themselves importeth quite another thing as above shewed Wherefore let all mind and obey the Spirit of Truth which will lead into all Truth and condemn sin in the Flesh and will lead out of all Unrighteousness and Errours and Heresies which the Church of Rome is full of and that Spirit which condemns the Abominations of the Whore and all Sin and Unrighteousness that is the Spirit of God and comes from God through the Son of his love who is the Light of the World that lighteth every man that cometh into the World and leadeth up unto God the Father from whence it commeth all who are Taught and Guided by it but condemneth from God all who in Unbelief or in Rebellion do dispight unto it and disobey the Motions thereof But to return to the matter concerning the Churches being Judge First I find A. S. in the beginning of his seventh chapter saying Methinks I hear a Quaker whispering The Light that is in thee is the Judge of all Controversies and the Law and Rule according to which thou must walk Answ I answer Yea The People called Quakers do believe and say That the Light which every man is enlightened with is the Law and Rule according to which every man ought to walk and is the Judge in all Controversies in Matters of Faith for as before All Judgment is committed unto the Son Joh. 5.22 Who lighteth every man that cometh into the World so all Judgment being committed to the Light that lighteth every man the Light that is in every man must of necessity be the Judge of all Controversies And this I further add That all who are Baptized into Christ hath put on Christ and all who are by one Spirit Baptized into one Body though they were sometimes Darkness are made Light in the Lord and so they being in him and he in them are all one even as Christ and the Father is one and he that sanctifieth and they that are Sanctified are all of one by which its clear that Christ in his Church who is Light with him is the onely Judge of all Controversies and indeed this supernatural Light is the true Touch-stone by which all spitits may be tried whether they be of God or not for as the Apostle said Whatsoever makes manifest is light Ephesians 5.13 so that without this Touchstone none can try spirits because an evil spirit may speak good words Again Christ is in all things to be the Example of all Believers and he lighteth every man that cometh into the World John 1.9 so every man being enlightened with the light of his Spirit who is to be our example in all things it must of necessity be that the Light that is in us is this Judge and the Law and Rule according to which all ought to walk Secondly But then A. S. replyes That the Light that is in thee tells thee that thou must hear Christ and Christ tells thee that thou must hear the Church c. Answ I answer Yea the Light that is in us teacheth us to hear Christ who hath enlightened us and also to hear his Church with whom he dwells and that hears him and in whom his Spirit speaks so as I said before I shall not go about to deny the Authority of the True Church but the usurped authority of the Church of Rome I do deny usurp'd I say because she hath been and here is sufficiently proved not to be the true Church to whom Christ gives power and authority both to bind and to loose therefore her authority if usurp'd and she is not to be heard but to be turned away from Thirdly A. S. saith If you object that the Spiritual judgeth all things and the Spirituall is judged of no man I answer that the godly Spiritual judgeth all things c. But I deny that you or any other Sectaries in the World is Godly Spiritual for as St. Augustine saith they have not the Holy Ghost that are out of the Church Reply To which I say that as A. S. hath confessed That the spiritual man judgeth all things its according to my own belief but what doth this avail the Church of Rome who as I have proved is not godly spiritual but is sensual and devilish and is not the true Church but the Whore for although as he saith The godly spiritual is judged of none yet the Whore is judged of all who are godly spiritual and although A.S. denyeth that the Quakers are godly spiritual yet he is never able to prove his affirmation for though they have not the holy Ghost who are out of the Church yet it doth not follow that they have it not who are out of the Church of Rome except she could be proved to be the true Church The contrary whereof I have already proved for the people called Quakers though they are out of the Church of Rome are led by that Spirit which teacheth them to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World as thousands of their Neighbours can bear witness therefore the people called Quakers are godly Spiritual Again That Prophet which is of God is godly spiritual Jer. 28.9 and that Prophet which speaketh a thing and the thing come to pass that Prophet is of God But the people called Quakers have prophesied several things as to the late overturn'd Powers of this Nation * Witness the Book Intituled Good Counsel and Advice Rejected with divers other things which accordingly came to pass as to their sorrow they were made to know therefore they are of God and godly spiritual Fourthly A. S. again said If you say Know ye not your selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates 2. Cor. 13.5 I answer The true sence and meaning of this place is this c So here A. S. is again undertaking that which himself saith is the Churches work for saith he in his eighth Chapter the Church is the alone Interpreter of all Scriptures and yet he himself who is but a particular man is here undertaking to give an interpretation or meaning to the
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
the Prophets which is to do unto all men as you would men should do unto you And whensoever the motions of sin and iniquity shall arise in your hearts as you watch in the Light it will be seen and by the Spirit of Truth it will be judged before it will be brought forth into action and here the Cockatrice is crushed in the shell Babylons brats dash'd against the stone and happy shal he be that does so So there must be a diligent watch set before the door of thy Lips and a diligent waiting in the Light which is the eye that the Enemy may be seen in all his wiles and that his baits and snares may be discovered and escaped who lies in wait to devour and hunts for that end to keep the heart polluted for then he hath his nest there so herewith a young man may cleanse his way even by taking heed thereunto according to the Word which is pure and is nigh even in the heart and in the mouth and this is the Word of Faith which we preach which was in the beginning and is nigh unto all which you do well if you take heed as to a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts And as you all take heed unto this Word it will be unto you a Light unto your feet and a Lanthorn unto your paths and the operation of it you will know as a fire to purge the filth out of every ones heart and as a Sword to separate you from your former Lovers and this is the Word of Reconciliation which purging out the filth reconciles us to God and this will be a Teacher near you so that none will need go far for teachings for your eye shall see your Teacher which shall not be removed into a corner any more according to the Promise of God made by his Prophets in the days of old and your ears shall hear this Word behind you saying this is the Way walk in it when you turn to the right hand or when you turn to the left Wherefore encline your ears and come unto me saith the Lord hear and your Souls shall live and I will make with you an Everlasting Covenant even the sure Mercies of David So now the day of gathering into Gods Everlasting Covenant of Light Life and Peace is come and now is the day of Gods Visitation unto all People and the time now is wherein you may come to know reconciliation with God and wherein you may come to he made nigh who are in the alienation and degeneration and now the time is wherein you may come to know the Restoration out of the fallen state Wherefore be not rebellious against the Light neither be ye stiff-necked against the Reproofs thereof in your own Hearts neither resist the motions of Gods good Spirit of Grace in your inward Parts by which he hath long striven with you and do not dispite unto it by resisting the motions thereof lest it leave to strive with you and the day of your Visitation pass over and your Hearts be heardened and you become even sold to work wickedness and then it be said unto you as Christ said to Jerusalem How oft would I have gathered you as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her Wings but ye would not therefore behold your house is left desolate Wherefore consider your ways and how the good Spirit of God hath long striven with you to gather you out of the Pollutions Wayes and vain Traditions of the World and every one while you have time prize it and while it is called to day harden not your hearts lest thereby you provoke the Lord to Anger and Jealousie which cannot be quenched for this know that his long suffering and forbearance will come to an end and his Spirit will not alwayes strive with man therefore while the tenders of Gods Love are held forth unto you every one who desires to know the Salvation of your Souls receive it and that which begets good desires in your minds and judgeth evil desires when they arise that own for your Guide and Teacher And this will exercise your minds in Lowliness and Humility and keep down the lofty spirit and high imaginations which will puff the minde up above the fear of God so keep down in the Humility for this the Lord requires of thee Oh man whosoever thou be to do justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with God for the proud he resisteth but he giveth grace unto the humble by which he teacheth them his precepts even by his good Spirit of Grace which brings Salvation and which hath appeared unto all men by this I say he teacheth them that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts they should live Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this present evil World mark the Grace which teacheth this and which brings Salvation hath appeared unto all men so that which brings Salvation is nigh unto you the Grace of God which hath appeared unto you so every one mind that and none turn it into wantonness nor into laciviousness but every one give up to be taught by it that the precepts of God you may come to know and walk in them And so here is the great Salvation of God Gods Covenant of Light which lighteth every man that comes into World I have given thee saith he a Covenant of Light to lighten the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation to the ends of the Earth mark Gods Covenant of Light for Salvation which lighteth every man that comes into the World in which Light the Nations of them that are saved must walk And saith God who is Light I the Lord search the heart and try the reins look unto me and be saved all ye ends of the Earth mark again unto him that searcheth the heart and trieth the reins all the ends of the Earth must look for Salvation so that it comes not from the Mountains nor from the Hils but Salvation is of the Lord and God is Light and in him is no darkness at all and that is the Father of Lights and is in the Son and the Son in him and the Father and Son are one who lighteth every man that cometh into the World wherefore dwell in the Light and walk in the Light that you may be Children of the Light for the Earth shall be covered with darkness and gross darkness shall be over the people but the Lord shall become the Light of his Israel and his God his glory Wherefore come out of the gross darkness with which the Earth is covered and walk in the Everlasting Light of the Son of God wherewith you are enlightened and walk no longer in the dark paths of Ignorance neither follow the Blind-guides of the World any more who have fed you with their own aiery Imaginations and Conceptions and brain-study and have spoken unto you a Divination of their own brain not from the mouth
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
it be receiv'd and that will keep down all that may arise to make any Dissention to cause any straitness or strangeness amongst you and so you will be kept in the unity of the Truth which will be a good savour amongst all people and in that the Lord will take Delight to dwell amongst you and to do you good and in that God Almighty be with you and bless you and water you with the Dew of Heaven and cause the Showers of his Love to descend upon you that you may be refreshed and kept alive in the Truth therein to live according to God in the Spirit and not according to men in the Flesh but in that by which you are judged according to men and by which you are crucified unto the World and therein your Joy Peace and Comfott will be Everlasting And so dear Friends Let nothing enter that would deprive you of your Peace and Comfort lest you lose the Reward of your Sufferings but keep in Lowliness and Watchfulness and in true Humility of mind and spirit for therein is Safety And it s the Humble that God teacheth and supporteth And without his assisting Spirit of Grace we can do nothing that will add to our Comfort or Consolation and therefore whatever our state be we have daily need of an Assistance from him and of the renewing of our strength by him by whom alone we are able to do all things and in him nothing is too hard for us for it s through him that we are more then Conquerors and by Faith in him we stand and that gives Victory over the World And in that my Dear Friends all live and walk and thereby you will have free access to God and will meet with us at the Throne of Grace and Ocean of Life and there the Minister of the Sanctuary is seen alwayes near at hand administring unto every one according to their necessity who will give Ability and Strength sufficient to endure all things and to answer his Requirings in all things and will also keep down and under all which would arise to exalt the mind above measure in the time of enjoyment of the Reward that is receiv'd through Sufferings and hereby you will be preserv'd out of all the Snares of the Enemy And in this my Love is dear to you all and to the whole Flock of God in all Parts of the World and to this Spirit of Grace I do commit you all and resign you up to be govern'd and protected thereby for by it I was at this time moved to write these Lines to you in which I doubt not but it will be received by all whose hearts are sincere towards God And in that God Almighty be with your spirits Amen London this 28th of the 11th Moneth 1665. I am your Dearly Loving Brother in the Patient Long-Suffering Spirit of the Lamb. Josiah Coale Let this be read amongst Friends who are Ezil'd or sentenced for Exilement when they are met together in the Fear of the Lord. An Epistle to FRIENDS In Holland MY Dearly Beloved Friends I ofttimes remember you make mention of you in my Prayers to the Lord since I outwardly saw your Faces and my Love in the Lord is unfeigned to you in which I have for your Good travel'd amongst you and in which at this time I dearly salute you as those whom God Almighty hath reached unto and visited that you might have Acquaintance with him and that you might be made Partakers of his Endless Love in his Son Christ Jesus and therewith might love one another as he hath loved you who hath forgiven you your Trespasses that you might take Example thereby to Forgive one another that so you may have the Mind of his Spirit of Love and be like him in this present evil World and that you might bear his Image amongst the Children of Men and stand as Witnesses for him and appear on his behalf in that Life through which you will answer the Witness of God in the Hearts of all People that so you bring Honour and Glory and Praise to the Name of the Lord who hath visited you To whom all Glory belongs forever Amen My Beloved Friends Prize the Mercies of the Lord with which he hath visited you and walk worthy of his Love which hath been additionally manifested through the many tender Visitations which he hath sent unto you by his Servants whom he hath moved from time to time to come amongst you with the Message of Life as Dispencers of his Word of Reconciliation for your Consolation and Comfort And every one in your own particulars feel the Measure of the Meek Spirit of the Lamb that your minds may be daily exercis'd thereby in the Cross to all that is contrary to the Nature thereof that so your Hearts and Souls may be season'd therewith and the contrary kept down and bow'd under it And as all are exercised with this Spirit of the Lamb you will more and more grow into its nature through the refreshing Vertue which therein and thereby you will daily receive and this is alone that which presents all a Good Savour unto God and in this you know we have labour'd among'st you and therein you will feel my Love and Life which is in that which is not of this World and therein the Fellowship of the Children of Light stands which is a Mystery to the World and in that Love Unity Peace Meekness and Gentleness will encrease amongst you which are excellent Vertues and amiable to behold and that which is Passionate or Hasty and Unsavoury shall not have a place amongst you but you will all be Examples of good one unto another And also Your Life and Holy Chaste Conversation will preach unto the World by which they that are without shall be convinc'd and made to confess That God is in you and in this you will be a Good Savour unto God and he will take Delight to manifest his Presence and Blessings amongst you and to multiply his Mercies unto you and will water you daily with the Dew of Heaven through which you will be kept in the Freshness of the Life of the Blessed Unchangeable Truth for the Lord waits to be Gratious unto all them that wait upon him for the Teachings of his Spirit of Grace and are taught thereby and such he enricheth with the Riches of his Grace through which they live unto him and in that all are a strength one unto another and a Refreshment and Comfort to each other And so my dear Friends In that God Almighty keep you and be with you and water you daily with the Dew of Heaven that you may grow thereby and dwell all in Watchfulness in the Light and keep in the weighty Truth the true Foundation that the Understandings of all may be kept clear and open that none may be beguil'd of their Peace nor Crown of Life And all watch over one another in Love and bear ye one anothers
and will dwell in the mid'st of you and amongst you for which the earnest Desire of my Soul is unto the Lord and in my Prayers I do oft make mention of you unto my God and your God that his Arm of Power and Salvation may alwayes be with you and that you may be thereby kept Pure and Unrebukeable and Spotless unto Himself in his sight from this time forth and forever Amen And Friends It was the fervent and sincere Desire of my Heart to have seen you this Year having a confident Perswasion and Assurance in me That if the Lord had so order'd it it would have been for your Good and Benefit and that I should have been Refreshed with you and amongst you as in times past And in order to it I wholy fixed and applyed my Heart to the Lord for some certain dayes to search his Counsel in the thing until he fully and clearly satisfied me that it must not then be in whose blessed Will I rest and am content yet am not wholy without hopes but that in Due Season it may yet be And in the mean time I leave you and commend you to God who is able to keep you and do more aboundantly for you then you can ask or think to whom be Glory forever Amen Written in Essex this 5th of the 7th Mon. 1664. I am your Dear Brother in the Tribulation Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Josiah Coale Let Copies of this be sent amongst Friends every where in the Province of Maryland and be read amongst them in their Assemblies in the Fear of the Lord. To the Flock of God IN MARYLAND GREETING The second EPISTLE MY Dear Friends Brethren and Sisters who are called and sanctified in Christ Jesus and with whom and amongst whom I have travell'd both in Body and Spirit for the Resurrection of that Birth which is Immortal through which you might become Heirs of Eternal Salvation and of the Kingdom Everlasting which is not of this World My soul and bowels even daily earn towards you and you are even daily presented before me and brought into my View and Remembrance by the Spirit of the Lord by which I am oft constrain'd to present my Supplications and Prayers to the God of my Life for you and on your behalfs beseeching and desiring him that he will keep and preserve you in the Unspotted Life of the Lamb and that Grace Mercy and Peace together with Spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord may be multipy'd and encreas'd amongst you My beloved Friends Keep your station in the Holy Place every one who know it and in your Holy Calling wherewith you are call'd of God therein abide and walk with him that therein you may all adorn the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ And Friends You certainly know That the Living Blessed and Everlasting Truth it self which sanctifies throughly both in Soul Body and Spirit and which sets free from the Bondage of Corruption all who continue in it hath been freely made manifest amongst you Therefore I charge you all as you will answer the Lord Every one see that you live and walk in the Purity thereof And you likewise know the Way of Life and Salvation and of Holiness in which no unclean thing can pass see therefore that you continue therein that so whensoever your Lord comes you may be found of him in Peace and cover'd with his Righteousness For you have all need of Circumspection and Watchfulness and Diligence because the Adversary of your Soul's Peace is very subtil and lodgeth very near to every one and waits to devour and lurkes to destroy and will lose no Opportunity if possible he may beguile any of you as he did Eve in the beginning But as you all watch in the Light of God's Salvation which he hath caused to shine unto you the Adversary will thereby be discover'd unto you in all his Twindings and Appearances And my Friends This Light in which you have believed is the true Touch-stone by which all spirits may be tryed and all Motions in whom soever they arise may hereby be known whether they be of God and tend to that which is consistant with the Honour of Truth and your own Peace or whether they savour of the Flesh and tend to the satisfying of the Lusts thereof For the Lusts of the Flesh and of the Eyes and the Pride of Life are not of the Father but of the World which passeth away And where or in whomsoever these or either of these are found and discover'd by the Light which makes all things manifest they are therewith to be condemned and by you to be denied that so you may be every one kept out of the Snare of the Devourer and out of the Net of the mighty Hunter For If you live after the Flesh you shall dye for the Lusts thereof when they are conceiv'd bring forth sin and the Wages of sin is death But every one who through the spirit mortifies the Deeds of the flesh such shall live to God in the Newness of Life and such will adorn the Gospel of God And so my dear Friends You are called to Liberty but not to serve your selves therefore use not your Liberty as an Occasion to the Flesh lest thereby you be ensnared neither use it as an Occasion of stumbling unto others but every one in the Fear of the Lord stand fast in that glorious Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free And beware of being again entangled with the heavy Yoak of Bondage and of being brought into Captivity with that which in measure you had Victory over For you that have passed from Death to Life know right well and I need not tell you through what Difficulties Hardships and Exercises you obtain'd that precious Liberty in the Truth which you are brought unto And you also know what it cost you to purchase the Possession of that measure of Life and Truth which is manifested amongst you therefore let none sell his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage neither let any perishing Object become a snare or divert you from your Simplicity and Sincerity in the Truth But every one walk worthy of the matchless Love of God which hath extended its self unto you that so the daily Multiplyings and Abounding thereof you may know and witness in your hearts that through it you may Grow and Increase and be Enriched and that God Almighty may take delight to dwell amongst you And my Friends The savoury holy Order that the Truth led into in the beginning and in which the primative Christians were exercis'd you are not ignorant of and I hope not unmindful of it neither And you likewise know what Fervency and Fear and Zeal towards God the Truth wrought in your Hearts when you first receiv'd the Testimony thereof And what a Godly Resolution was put on by many and there was not another thing accounted of by many of you in comparison of his Blessed Truth And whatsoever
worse Suffering upon them and more grievous to be borne then that which now is threatned Wherefore my Dear Friends Partakers of the Heavenly Calling in Christ Jesus Put on Valour and Boldness and Courage for the Cause of God which we are now engaged in and stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ our Lord hath made you free and be nothing terrified because of the Rage of the Enemies of God's Truth but whereunto you have already attain'd there abide and hold fast that which you have already receiv'd lest you lose your Crown and keep out of Consultings with flesh and Blood lest you be thereby entangled with the Yoke of Bondage for the Flesh is weak and not willing to bear Sufferings but the Spirit is willing and as it is enclin'd unto and obey'd and follow'd in its Motions and Leadings it makes willing to bear and endure all things and to suffer the loss of all things for the sake of the Lord Jesus rhetefore let none Esau like sell his Birthright for a Mess of Pottage but like Worm Jacob wrestle with the Lord in his own Strength that you may prevail as Princes and obtain the Inheritance incorruptible that never fadeth away which is the earnest Desire and Prayer of him who dearly loves and salutes the whole Flock of God in every Region and Quarter of the Earth London the 29th of the 6th Moneth of the Year 1667. Josiah Coale To the Elect of God Every where Called and Chosen in Christ Jesus before the World and before Transgression was in which the World lies The Salutation of Love Mercy and Peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ The Third general EPISTLE DEartly Beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters For as much as the Almighty Power and Arm of the Lord hath been stretched forth unto you in this Day of his Love by which you have been gather'd out of the dark Paths which the World walks in and have been cleansed from the Polutions and Defilements which many yet lie wallowing in and have been separated from the Abominations of the World by the Word of his Power which sanctifieth unto himself and hath administred unto you an Entrance into that Kingdom which is not of this World and which fades not away where you are made Partakers of the Durable Riches and Everlasting Treasure with which your Hearts have been filled from day to day and from time to time yea manifold hath his Benefits and Mercies and Goodness been unto you and often hath he caused your Cups to overflow so that you could say in your Hearts That you had received your souls Desire and were fully satisfied and your Souls did Bless Magnifie and Praise the Name of the Lord the God of your Salvation who hath done so great things for you even beyond declaring who brought deliverance unto you in the time of great Affliction and Distress when you were compassed about with many Sorrows and saw none to comfort you when you were even in the horrible Pit and saw your selves at a great Distance from your Maker by reason of Sin and Transgression and were in your own eyes even shut up in Darkness and in Obscurity then did the Distressed cry unto the Lord and he heard the Cries and Groanings thereof and was moved with Compassion towards his own Seed and he arose in his mighty Power and stretched forth his Glorious Arm and reached unto his own Elect and thereby brought Deliverance thereunto And so the Oppressed came to be set free and the Distressed to be set at liberty and this was the Day of Glad-tidings unto you and the acceptable Year of the Lord though a Day of Vengeance came upon the Wicked and Ungodly and upon that part which had led your minds astray and to transgress the pure Law and holy Commandment of the Lord And so my Dearly Beloved The Lord having done so great things for you in bringing you out of the Egyptian Darkness and out of the waste howling Wilderness and hath brought you into a Plentiful Land flow-in with Milk and Honey and with the good things thereof hath he satisfied you and aboundantly filled you time after time therefore now rememember and beware that you forget not the Lord nor his wonderous Works but dwell in his eternal Power by which he hath done these things for you and walk in all Humility before him answering the motion of his Pure Holy Spirit by which you are quicken'd unto Life that you may know it continually to remain in you that so by it you may be kept alive unto God And this Spirit may be your Leader and Instructor in all things so will you have the Testimony thereof in your own particulars to bear Witness for you that you are his Children For they only are the Sons of God that are led by his Spirit and they only have the Testimony of it witnessing for them that are faithful Followers thereof and such enjoy Peace and Consolation from the Lord which is more to be valu'd and esteem'd than all things visible for they are perishing and last but for a Moment but the Precious Truth of the Lord of which you are made Partakers that is Everlasting and liveth and abideth forever therefore let that be prized above all things else which in comparison thereof is but as Dross and Dung and so it was in your eye when full the Glory thereof appeared in you And you know full well what you have parted with to purchase the Possession of it Therefore let none sell his Birthright for a Mess of Pottage but let it be forever in your Eye esteem'd above all things under the Son And let not the Subtilty of the Enemy draw any ones Mind into the love of any perishing thing nor into the fear of the Threatnings of Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils but stand in the pure Fear and Dread of the living God and continually set him before your Eyes and beware of entring into Consultations with Flesh and Blood for thereby you may fall into the Snare of the Enemy and be overcome by his Wiles but give up simply and freely to whatsoever you are called to either to do or suffer for his Name 's sake and for his Truth 's sake in your several Places and Callings that so a Faithful Testimony for his Name may be given by every one who makes mention thereof and that professeth his Eternal Truth and of this be assured He will be your exceeding great Reward but if any draw back or hanker in their Minds and through letting in of Slavish Fears deny the Lord who hath purchas'd them unto himself by his own Blood by which he hath cleansed your Hearts that so you might become a fit Habitation for his own Spirit to dwell in I say If any through the fear of Man deny him in any thing that he calls unto then they lose their Reward and lose their Peace with God and the Pangs and Anguish of Heart
will take hold on them and the Sorrows of Death shall compass them about even as before they were deliver'd from their former Troubles and so they will bring themselves under the heavy Yoak of Bondage again and the Countenance of the Lord will be hid from them and a Cloud of Darkness will come over them and Misery will be their Portion from the Lord God who is the Joy of the Righteous and the Rewarder of all who obey him and out of this Condition it will be hard to be removed and to be restor'd again into the Favour of the Lord. And so my dear Friends Prize your Peace with him above all things visible and so walk as that you may be preserved therein And wait upon him in the Gift which you have received from God and you will feel his Everlasting Blessings to flow in upon you and his Mercies and Loving-kindnesses will be renewed unto you Morning by Morning whereby you will be aboundantly refreshed and be kept living unto the Lord and a daily growth you will witness from Strength to Strength and from one Degree of Grace unto another until you appear before the Lord in Sion in compleat Beauty and perfect Holiness And so as you in Patience wait upon the Lord and walk before him in his Covenant of Grace and dwell in his Pure Holy Power and be subject thereunto in all its Leadings and Requirings then you will see the Lord pleading your Cause in the Hearts of your Enemies and working your enlargement and Liberty by his own secret Hand of Power by which he will turn back the powers of Darkness and remove the Seat of Violence and will exalt his own Kingdom and Righteousness in the Earth and Oppression shall be far away for this is his Decree and Determination and those that rise up against him in this day of his Appearance or oppose him in his Work such shall be scattered by the Breath of his Mouth even as Chaff is scattered before the Wind And then shall the Righteous rejoyce and be glad in the God of their Salvation And so you will see that all these Tryals and Sufferings which shall come upon any of you shall work for your everlasting Good and for the Glory of the Lord and shall make for the furtherance of the Glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Captain of our Salvation and was made perfect through Suffering and is now set upon his Throne at the Right-Hand of the Father to judge the World in Righteousness to whose Scepter and Dominion all Powers Thrones and Dominions must bow and bend and become subject for the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it And therefore let none faint in their minds because of the present Rage of the Adversary but look unto him who lifts up the Head above the Raging Waves of the Sea and you will see him to arise who will rebuke the Rage of the Devourer and will cause a great Calm And so my dearly beloved Friends Keep in the Covenant of Peace and Life and feel the pure Power of the Lord God Almighty to bound you and compass you about and feel your Unity and Fellowship in it with the Lord and one with another and watch over one another in Love and build up one another in your Most Holy Faith so will you have dominion over the World and come to know the Earth to be your Foot-stool and so in and through him who hath manifested his eternal Love in you you will be more than Conquerors even through his eternal Power who subdueth all thing unto himself that he may Raign over all whose right it is and unto whom the Kingdom doth belong and unto him be Glory and living Obedience for ever Amen And so the Lord God of Power and Love be amongst you all and fill you with his Love and Power that so you may be kept out of the Snares of the Evil One for that hath oft been the Breathing of my Soul for you in secret and that you may walk before him in the Purity of his holy Spirit and be kept unspotted from the World And so in the Bowels of our Lord Jesus Christ do I most dearly and tenderly salute you all who are of the Family of my Father and of the Houshold of Faith and the God of Love and Peace be with you all Barbadoes this third Mon. 1661. I am your Dear Brother in the Patient Long-Suffering Spirit of our Lord and Master and a Traveller for the Redemption of the Oppressed Seed Josiah Coale To the Called of God Every where who are Witnesses of the Eternal Excellency of the SON of RIGHTEOUSNESS Who is now appear'd in his Majesty and Glory in this Day of the FATHER'S LOVE to the Children of Men. The Fourth general EPISTLE MY Dear and Everlastingly well beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters with whom in the Covenant of Life and Kingdom of Peace Glory and Eternal Felicity my soul rests and is at Peace and perfect Freedom where the Glorious Presence of the God of Life who is Jacob's Shepherd is enjoyed and is known to be an open Fountain daily administring of his Heavenly Rich Vertue and Goodness to the consolating and refreshing of our Immortal Souls so that we have no need to complain of Poverty because he who is the Fountain of all Good is continually with us and never ceases to administer into his own according to their several Necessities as in his pure Fear and Power they wait upon him and walk before him And this I know many of you are not unsensible of for whom a Feast of Fat Things is prepared and a Table richly deckt is spread before you where every hungry one may feed and be refreshed and the Breast of Consolation is also known at which every Babe may suck and be satisfied and so all having access unto this you may here be delighted with the aboundance of the Treasure of my Father's Heavenly Kingdom the Windows whereof being now open'd a Blessing is poured forth without measure Oh! that all who profess the Name of the Lord were throughly sensible of this thing then would their souls with us delight in Fatness and their hearts would be enlarged thereby so that they would find Encouragement to run the Way of his Commandements even with Delight and nothing would be counted too dear to part withal for his sake who hath call'd us and is bringing many Sons and Daughters unto Glory and Vertue Wherefore my dearly beloved Friends be ye encouraged to walk on in the Way of the Lord though it be strait to the Earthly Man and be ye content to pass through Evil-Report and Good-Report and let him be your Example in all things who when he was reviled he reviled not again and when he suffered he threatned not but committed it to him who judgeth Righteously as a Lamb before the Shearer is Dumb so he open'd not his Mouth Therefore I say Friends Let none be
already proved the true Church was interrupted and yet remained 4. But then said A. S. If any can say that there hath remained any other Church on Earth since Christs time unto this day without interruption and error let him tell what was she or what is she where was she or where is she what is her name what Bishops Pastors and Believers had she or yet hath she what Emperors or Kings did adhere to her or now do what general Councils did she hold what Hereticks did she condemn what Academies did she erect or confirm what Churches or Monastries did she build c. And then said he To these and such like Interrogatories all the Schismaticks Sectaries and Hereticks in the World cannot answer Answ To which I answer Although all the Sectaries in the World cannot answer those questions yet there are many who are Members of the true Church not of the Church of Rome that can answer them and first I say there hath remained another Church since Christs time to this day besides the Roman Pontificial that now is though not without interruption yet the true Church as before proved was interrupted And as to those questions viz. What was she or what is she c. I answer she was in Johns day a wonder in Heaven a Woman cloathed with the Sun that and there she was and the Moon was under her Feet and upon her Head a Crown of twelve Stars Rev. 12.1 And having brought forth a man-child that was to rule all Nations with his rod of Iron the enmity of the Dragon then arose who sought to devour the Man-child but being by the Hand of God prevented of his purpose on the man-child ver 5. he than cast out his flood of Persecution after the Woman ver 15. of whom this Ruler was born and drove her into the Wilderness whither she fled from him to her place prepared of God that they might feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes Rev. 12.6.14 * To A. S. his Query viz. where was she and there she hath been and there she hath sitten as in a sollitary place and in a Mourning State and Condition out of which she * To where is she is now returning and is now coming up out of the Wilderness and is descending from God as a Bride adorned for her Husband Rev. 21.2 and her * To A. S's query what is her name name is the Bride the Lambs Wife the holy City ver 9. New Jerusalem And now is Jerusalem shaking her self from the Dust of the Earth in which she hath been trodden of the Gentiles and now is she putting on her beautiful Garments and now doth the Solitary begin to rejoyce and the barren that did not bear begins to break forth into singing Isa 54.1 And the things that many prophets desired to see and could not see is now seen and revealing glory to God in the highest The day is come which we have waited for we will be glad and rejoyce in it and now the Time Times and a half Time is expired in which the true Church hath been fed in the Wilderness and now is the forty and two Moneths expired also for which Time the holy City hath been trodden under foot of the Gentiles Rev. 11.2 in which Time the Beast had power given him to continue Rev. 13.5 and the whole World wondered after him and worshipped him and in that Time it was given unto him to make war with the Saints and to overcome them and he received power over all Kindreds and Tongues and Nations that all that dwelt upon the Earth should worship him whose names were not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World if any man have an Ear let him hear Rev. 13.7 8 9. And this was the Time that the true Church was in her mourning state which now begins to be over Glory to God for ever the day of rejoycing is come And for her Bishops Pastors and Believers that she had I answer Christ was and is her Bishop and chief Pastor 1 Pet. 2.25 And the rest after the Apostles days were they that fed her in the Wilderness and her Believers were those that had the Testimony of Jesus Rev. 12.17 whose Blood the Whore drunk And they are now her Believers whose Blood the Whore thirsts after And as to that question viz. What Emperors or Kings did adhere to her or now do Answ I answer On this wise did the Pharisees Query with those Officers whom they sent to take Jesus and bring him unto them saying Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him Joh. 7.48 Well what Emperors or Kings did adhere to him at that time Was he not therefore the true Christ because the Rulers of the World and the Pharisees rejected him And what said the Apostle to the true Church in his day You see your calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the Flesh not many mighty nor noble c. but God hath chosen the foolish things of this World to confound the wise c. that Flesh might not glory in his Presence 1 Cor. 1.26 27. And further the Apostle who preacht Christ said That he preached the Wisdom of God in a Mistery which none of the Princes of the World know c. 1 Cor. 2.7 8. By which it appeares that none of the Princes of the World knew Christ the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 And the true Church was in the World as Christ was for the Apostle said as 〈◊〉 so are we in this present World 1 Joh. 4.17 And 〈◊〉 World knows as not ver 1. because it knew not him So that understanding the Princes of this World knew not Christ when he was amongst them and although the Rulers believed not in him nor did adhere to him when he was come yet that did not argue that he was not the true Christ And notwithstanding it was so that the true Church was unknown to the World and was composed not of many wise men after the flesh nor of the Nobles of the Earth but was persecuted by them as she is at this day yet she was the true Church for all that And seeing it was so that the Princes and Rulers did not adhere to her in the time of her flourishing state when she was cloathed with the Sun how can it be expected that they should adhere to her in her persecuted state and in her mourning Wilderness-state for a rich man shall very hardly enter the Kingdom Mat. 19.23 but there is more in them words And moreover seeing the Kings of the Earth committed Fornication with the great Whore and went into her how then can it possibly be expected that they should adhere to the true Church Surely all who have a spiritual eye open may be hereby satisfied as to this particular And further as to that Query viz. What general Councils did she hold and what