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
and the Fountains of Water who formed the Mountains and created the Winds and declares unto man what his Thoughts are Amos 4.13 the Lord of Hosts is his Name He is making himself known in the Hearts of people by his great Power who will overturn and remove all Mountains and Hills that may be shaken or removed that that alone which cannot be shaken may remain then shall the Loftiness of the Heart of Man be brought down and the Haughtiness thereof laid low that all Flesh may fear and tremble before the Lord who gives unto all Life Breath and Being And as Man and Woman comes to believe in the Light of Christ Jesus which discovers and makes manifest unto them the most secret Thoughts and intents of their Hearts that they are continually Evil in the unregenerate state for as the Lord said Every Imagination of the Heart of Man was only continually Gen 6.5 and the Prophet saith The Heart is Deceitful above all things and desperately Wicked who can know it I the Lord search the Heart and try the Reins to give unto every Man according to his Wayes This Light I say being believed in kept to and obeyed is able work a Change and to cleanse the Heart that was corrupted by Sin and Transgression and to beget good Thoughts and good Desires and to judge down the contrary even all the Corrupt Wayes that man in his own Inventions has involved himself into and forsaken his Maker But this is not of our selves nor by any Acquirement of our own but is the free Gift of God the Giver of all good things which he has given us to believe in and to him alone not unto any thing of our selves we ascribe the Glory and Honour to whom it is due forever Now forasmuch as all men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God it pleased God out of his infinite Love and Compassion towards the Sons and Daughters of Men to send his only begotten Son Christ Jesus a Light into the World that all through him might be saved and have Everlasting Life who gave his Life a Ransom for all that he might purchase them by his precious Blood He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for our Sins only but also for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.2 And as man comes to believe in his Name which is his Power he comes to know Reconciliation through his Death and Blood and by it Redemption up unto God again And the Everlasting Gospel which is the great Power of God unto Salvation to all that believe in it and obey the same comes here to be witnessed which is that Gospel which Christ commanded his Disciples to preach throughout the World to every Creature under Heaven Mark 16.15 And If any man preach any other Gospel then that which is already preached and declared let him be accursed Gal. 1.8 But if this Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4.3 4. Now this Everlasting Gospel is preached again in the same Power and Demonstration of the Spirit as in times past by virtue whereof Life and Immortality is again brought to Light so that the Prisoner of Hope comes to receive the acceptable Tidings of Liberty and Freedom out of spiritual Bondage and Captivity And the Lord is arising and appearing in the Hearts and Consciences of the Sons and Daughters of men by the bright shinings of the Beams of his Glory to give unto them the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Christ Jesus 2 Corinth 4.6 Now the Reason why people have been erring and wandring every one after their own Wayes and in the dark Imaginations of their own Hearts is for want of the Knowledge of the only true God and Christ Jesus whom he hath sent whom to know is Life Eternal and the Reason why People come short of this Knowledge is because they will not believe in and yield Obedience unto the Light of Christ Jesus manifested in their Hearts to give them the glorious Knowledge of the Lord and of his Way of Life and Salvation and to lead them from under Satan's power who hath held people in Ignorance through Unbelief and hath kept them under the Region of the Shadow of Death For Christ Jesus who said I am the Light of the World also said Except ye believe that I AM HE ye shall dye in your Sins and whither I go ye cannot come So that Unbelief in the Light was and is the Cause why people dye in their Sins and come short of the Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom to know is Life Eternal But Christ Jesus who is that Word that was in the Beginning by which all things were made that were made in whom was and is Life and the Life was and is the Light of Men John 1.4 he is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World by which lost man comes to see his Way to God again out of his miserable Estate and undone Condition where all Flesh hath corrupted its way before the Immortal God in which way of Corruption by reason of Sin and Transgression there is none that doth good no not one And in this fallen Estate and deplorable Condition hath the Lord God beheld the Sons and Daughters of fallen Adam and with an Eye of Pity and in the Bowels of Compassion hath he looked down from the Habitation of his Holiness and hath sent forth the Son of his Love who by his Light and Grace appears in the Hearts of all Mankind his Light and his Grace and good Spirit is universal and freely extended unto all that as they mind it believe in it and are obediene to it they come to witness Salvation by it according to the Testimony of the holy Apostle The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live soberly and godly c. Titus 2.11 12. Now there is none excluded from the Appearance of this free Grace of God nor any to be excused who receive it not and resit the Teachings of it But as many as are obedient to the Teachings of it in their own Hearts they come to witness Freedom and Liberty by it and Power in it to resist the Temptations and many Snares that be in the Ungodly World And those that hate the Reproofs of its Instruction which is the Way of Life and turn from it into Lasciviousness and Vanity they will find it to be their Condemnation and those are they that crucifie unto themselves afresh the Lord of Glory and put him to open shame and trample the Blood of the Covenant under foot as a thing of no value And here the Lamb
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
Observations Dayes and Times and who shall have the greatest Wages as did those whom Christ called into the Vineyard who gives Liberally without upbraiding a Reward answerable to every ones Desert he is just and righteous in giving true Measure and full Weight and will reckon truly with every one and will bring all thy Deeds and Actions into thy Remembrance If his Witness in thy Conscience justifie thee then may'st thou with Courage Boldness and Joy appear before him but if it condemn thee then God is greater who will in no wise hold thee guiltless in his sight And the sluggish idle and negligent Servants shall be clothed with the Rags of old Adam and their Nakedness and Poverty will appear unto all For when Adam and Eve had sinned they saw their Nakedness and not before for then they were naked and strip'd of that Garment and Covering of Innocency wherewith the Lord had clothed them at the first and then they went to work and made for themselves Coverings of Fig-leaves which was but a mean Covering instead of the Garments of Innocency and Holiness which the Lord had put upon them And how insident is it unto fallen Man and Woman to make Unrighteous Coverings for Sin and as Adam after Transgression did to hide themselves under the Thickets and Shades of Excuses and Pretences But the Lord will rip off all such Coverings and Pretences and We from him is pronounced against such as are covered and not with his Spirit that they may add Sin unto Sin Isa 30.1 But now is the Everlasting Comforter come the Spirit of Truth which leads the Believers and the Obedient into all Truth of whom it is written on this wise as a signal Token and to give full Assurance that it is he who was promised When he is come he will reprove the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment of Sin because they believe not in me of Righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more of Judgment because the Prince of this World is judged John 16.8 9 10 11. Therefore arise stand up and make haste you who have been idle and come into the Vineyard and Work of the Lord who gives Light unto all whereby they may see what is the Work of the Day and what is required of them for when the Night comes no man can work for God Therefore follow Christ the Anointed of God who is given for a Leader and a Commander unto the People who is Jesus the Peaceable Saviour who leads his People out of and saves them from their Sins he has been sleighted despised and set at nought by the Wise Master Builders but unto a Remnant is he become the Head Stone of the Corner Chosen of God Elect and Precious unto all those who have received him and believed on him He is that Stone which Daniel saw cut out of the Mountain without Hands and is now growing great and shall fill the whole Earth and is striking at the Feet of the great Image and Images and the power of the Dragon Beast False Prophet is coming down apace and Mystery Bobylon the Great Whore and Mother of Harlots is now discovered who has ridden upon the Beast which by his power has defended her and has made the Nations drunk with the Wine of her Fornication which she had hold forth in her Golden Cup who hath this Inscription written in her Fore-head Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth Rev. 17.5 This Whore the False Church has gone a Whoring from the Life and Power of God and from Christ Jesus the Ground the Apostles and primitive Church of God was built And this false Church is that great Whore which John saw sit upon the Waters which are Nations Multitudes Tongues and People who are not mis-parallel'd to Waters because through the drinking of the Whore's Cup they are become unstable and wavering in their Minds and Judgments and hence did arise Confusion like a troubled Sea and great Combustions which ended in Bloodshed and Murder and the Beast upon which John saw the Woman sit became Scarlet coloured and he saw the Woman drunk with the Blood of the Saints and with the Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus that has been shed from Age to Age and cryes in the Ears of the Lord for Vengeance who will judge and avenge the Righteous Cause of the Faithful Followers of the Lamb with whom the Dragon Beast and False Prophet have made War because they have kept the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus But they overcame by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony and they loved not their Lives unto Death These are they who are not defiled with Women but have come through great Tribulation and have made white their Garments in the Blood of Jesus And we know the Lamb shall have the Victory And he will overturn overturn until he come to reign whose Right it is whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom and whose Dominion endures throughout all Generations and the Kingdoms of this World shall become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall Reign forever and ever Rev. 11.15 And Desolation and sudden Destruction is coming upon Babylon the great City of Confusion and all her Inhabitants and Merchants who have enriched themselves by trading in her Wares and with her Costliness shall weep and wail because no man buyeth them any more and they shall stand afar off for fear of her Torment and east Dust on their Heads and say Alas alas the Great City wherein were made Rich all that had Ships on the Sea by her Costliness for in one Hour she is made desolate Rev. 18.15 19. And the Lord will dry up the Tongue of the Aegyptian Sea and all the goodly Buildings and pleasant Pictures which men in their fallen Wisdom and sensual Inventions have been erecting and setting up must now be broken down and demolished by those Weapons which are not Carnal but Spiritual and mighty through God to the bringing down the strong Holds of Satan the Prince of Darkness And those whom the Lord has deliver'd out of this spiritual bondage and from under the Aegyptian Task-masters and has open'd their Eyes to behold their miserable Estate and the great Desolation that is coming upon them who are yet in this City whose rotten Foundation is tottering and ready to fall They cannot but call unto them and cry Haste haste and escape for your Lives out of Babylon and flee to the City of Refuge as just Lot did at the Warning and Call of the Angel of the Lord to haste out of Sodom and flee to the little City Zoar and how soon after was Sodom destroyed with Fire and Brimstone and how eminently was the Arm and Power of the Lord manifested in preserving his People to wit Lot and his Family in that day who smote the Sodomites which pursued his