Tabernacle bears the name of William Bennit Published in singleness and uprightness of heart from a constraint of Gods Love to all those who are yet groaning and panting after the Lord in truth and sincerity that they may meet with some refreshment and encouragement in their Journey and Travels towards the Land of Rest and Peace OH oh my soul my soul what hath the Lord even the Lord thy God done for thee oh what hath he done for thee oh my soul oh my soul a little while sit down in thy secret Chamber of rest and quietness and there oh my soul a little meditate of the most excellent loving-kindness of the Lord thy tender compassionate God of infinite bowels which he hath manifested to thee oh my soul of things past present and to come that so the perfect sence of the love mercy pity kindness tenderness and compassion of the Lord thy tender God may alwayes rest in and upon thee oh my soul That oh my soul through the sence feeling and true remembrance thereof thou mayst be O blessed God praised glorified and magnified reverenced and honoured even the holy powerful eternal wonderful everlasting Name of the Lord God Almighty who inhabiteth Eternity who lives for ever and for evermore and bound thereby to a bountiful kind loving tender pitiful merciful compassionate God towards all souls in the measure of God thy God who hath abounded in loving kindness towards thee oh my soul Oh! oh my soul my soul remember thou wert once a prisoner in the prison house of darkness strongly bound in chains and fetters a slave and a captive in the Land of Egypt under the servitude and slavery of the Prince and power of darkness the god of the world the king of Egypt and under thy hard bondage and deplorable thraldom and miserable captivity oh my soul thou wert made in secret to cry and groan under thy burdens unto the Lord thy tender God whose bowels whose tender bowels of infinite pity and unsathomable compassion did in mercy to thee hover over thee even in that thy sad miserable deplorable state first made thee sensible of thy sad captivity and so in the sence thereof and in the sence of thy own helplessness how didsâ— thou cry cry unto the Lord God of pity for help and groan unto him for deliverance oh my soul and the Lord who opened thine eye and gave thee a glimpse of thy sad estate did hear thy groanings and thy cries and for his own Seeds sake set himself by the out-stretched Arm of his power to deliver thee out of thy sad captivity in which thou were without help of thy own and there must abode had not the Lord God of everlasting unfathomable bowels of pity had mercy upon thee oh my soul Oh oh oh my soul my soul the remembrance of the tender love the tender pity the tender mercy of thy tender pitiful God how can it but even rend thy bowels even from top to bottom oh my soul and remember oh my soul how the Lord God Almighty through his sore plagues and righteous judgments executed upon Pharaoh the King of Egypt under whom thou wert a slave by an out-stretched and a mighty power by the slaying with the sword of his vengeance the first-born of Egypt brought thee out of the prison-house who broke thy chains in pieces and snapt thy bonds asunder and brought thee out of Egypt and set thy face toward Canaan the good Land that floweth with milk and honey And remember oh my soul how wonderfully the Lord God who by his mighty power and out-stretched arm brought thee out of Egypt preserved thee and upheld thee in thy long journey unto Canaan thy tedious way and passage through the sea and wildeâ—ness how gently did he lead thee as a tender nursing Father and carried thee as in his arms and bore with thee in his mercy towards thee when thou sometimes murmured against him because of the length and straightness of the way that he led thee in and because of the enemies thou hadst to encounter with by the way insomuch that thou sometimes backslided in thy heart towards Egypt and lusted after the flesh-pots thereof and murmured against the Lord who so led thee about in such a cross knotty way to that part in the which through the cross straightness and length of the way was to die pine and wither and be worn away and fall in the wilderness and not enter into the holy Land and yet the Lord thy tendeâ— God who did correâ—â— thee through his righteous 〈◊〉 and as a tender heaâ—â—ed Father did chasâ—ise thee fo◠〈…〉 complainâ—ngs aâ—â— murmuâ—ings against him and 〈…〉 baâ—â—sâ—iding towarâ—â— Egypt did not destroy thee but bear with thy weaknesâ—â—â— and infirmities and nourished thee and cherished thee day by day and as a tender hearted Mother nurseth the only tender babe of her womb who led thee by a pillar of a cloud by day which was a shadow unto thee from the heat and a pillar of fire by night which gave thee light by night when the Sun was under the earth who when thou wert an hungry he gave thee bread from heaven day by day fresh Manna morning by morning compassed about thy tent and gave thee water out of the rock to satisfie thy thirst yea oh my soul great greatly hath the mercy love pity and compassion of the Lord thy tender God been manifested towards thee how did he fight for thee and subdue thy enemies before thee and made way for thy passage yea remember remember oh my soul oh my soul how that after he had brought thee out of Egypt by his out-strctched arm and mighty wonderful power how mightily and wonderfully did he appear for thee to help thee in thy time of great need and extream distress and great trouble even when Pharaoh and his great host followed hard after thee and pursued strongly to overtake thee and bring thee back again into Egypt under his slavery and servitude And when Pharaoh and his host followed so close after thee and the Sea the great Sea was before thee and mountains on each side of thee how great was the straight thou wert in and the trouble and sorrow that compassed thee about oh my soul that thou wert even at thy wits end And oh oh my soul my soul in this time of thy greatest straight and trouble â—ven when thou wert without help of thy own thou criest unto the Lord thy God who gave thee some glimpse of comfort saying he would fight for thee and thou shouldst be still and hold thy peace and so he by his mighty power made hard things to become easie unto thee and that which appeared as a thing unpossible unto thee he by his power made it become possible unto thee Remember oh my soul how he made a way for thee to pass through the Sea and divided the waters thereof hither and thither and by his mighty power carried thee through the Sea and
Pharoah and his host he utterly destroyed in his wrath and delivered thee oh my soul out of his hand and destroyed them who would have destroyed thee and gave thee dominion over them that had dominion over thee and thou sawest them lie dead as by the Sea shore glory glory glory ah glory glory and pure praises praises to God to the Lord God even thy God oh my soul and now oh my soul thou canst sing a song of deliverance a song of victory and triumph and go into the Sanctuary of God to the Altar of God thy God even God thy exceeding joy ah and upon the Harp thou canst praise God the Lord thy God thy delight and joy Oh! oh my soul my soul thou in the lowly fear and holy dread of the Lord thy tender God and in truth and righteousness livingly and experimentally canst say the Lord my God is my strength and my song he also is become my salvation he is my Rock and strong Tower his work is perfect a God the God of truth and righteousness just and right he is the holy one whose dwelling is on high in the holy place and with him also who is of a poor and a meek and a contrite spirit and that trembleth before his Holiness and fears and dreads before his dreadful Name ah ah thy right hand O Lord thy right hand O Lord God of power is become glorious in power is become mighty in power thy right hand O Lord God Almighty hath dashed in pieces mine enemies by the greatness O Lord my God by the greatness of thy wonderful excellency thou hast O Lord confounded them that rose up against me thou lettest forth thy wrath and consumed them as stubble before a mighty fire thou lettest forth the breath of thy fury and blew upon them and scattered them as chaff before a mighty wind Oh! oh who can stand before thy indignation thy dreadful indignation who can abide the extream fierceness of thy anger thy fury is poured forth like fire thou breakest the râ—cks in pieces the mountains tremble before thee the mighty God thou utterest thy voice and the Heathen tremble thou roarest and the Kingdoms are moved and the earth melteth at the appearance of thy presence who cometh with fire and thy Chariots like a whirle-wind thou renderest thy anger with fury and thy rebukes with flames of fire thou hast thy way in the whirle-winds and the Clouds are as the dust of thy feet Thou art the mighty God who can but fear before thee and tremble at thy eternal presence thou roarest out of thy Sion and utterest thy voice from thy Jerusalem and the Inhabitants of the earth tremble thereat but still thou art the hope of thy People and the strength of thy ransomed ones their strong Tower their present Helper in the time of trouble Wherefore I 'll not fear though the Earth be removed and carried into the midst of the Sea and though the Sea roar and be terrible and the Mountains shake with the swellings thereof and the Hills fly before it though the tall Cedars of Lebanon fall and the strong Oaks of Bashan bend before it yet I will not fear the Lord is with me and he will not forsake me but he will help me and that right early Wherefore I will only fear before the Lord before the Lord my God the mighty eternal God of mighty eternal Power who measureth out the Heavens as with a span and measureth the waters of the Seas in the hollow of his hand who comprehendeth the dust of the Earth in a measure weigheth the Mountains as in scales and the Hills as in a ballance who taketh up the Islands as a very little thing before whose face the Heavens and the Earth flee away and behold there appeareth no more Sea Oh! who can but fear before thee O Lord my God the enemy said I 'll pursue I 'll overtake I 'll not spare my lusts shall be satisfied on him But O Lord O Lord God my God thou wert my God near to help in the time of need and in the time of greatest need appeared appeared in the greatest power of love O Lord thou blew upon them and the Sea covered them and they sunk as Lead in the bottom of the mighty Waters O Lord O Lord God who is like unto thee who amongst the gods is like unto thee the only God who art dreadful in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Oh! let the people hear and be afraid and the Dukes of Edom be amazed and let trembling take hold of the mighty men of Moab oh who can but fear before thee O Lord my God Thou hast redeemed me and led me forth in thy power and guided me in thy strength unto thy holy habitation thou wilt bring me in and plant me in the mountain of thy Inheritance in thy Sanctuary O Lord which thy hands have established wherein I shall live with thee O Lord my God for ever Ah glory glory glory unto thee O Lord God my God The Lord is a man of war the Lord of Host is his name Pharaoh and his mighty men hath he drowned in the Sea but he hath saved thee oh my soul So Lord let thine enemies perish but let them that hope in thy mercy live for ever to declare thy wonders and magnifie thy name in the land of the living Ah! glory glory ah glory glory to God the mighty God ah praises praises honour and thanksgiving unto thee O Lord my God who lives for ever and for evermore Amen Oh! oh what is this what is this that the Lord thy tender God of infinite bowels of pity hath done for thee oh my soul thou wert a slave in the Land of Egypt and the Lord hath redeemed thee oh my soul thou wert in darkness and the Lord hath given thee light and thou wert under the region and shadow of death and he hath brought thee forth in the to Land of life Thou wert in the prison shut up in the prison-house bound up with chains and fetters in the low dungeon of darkness and he hath broken thy chains and snapt thy fetters asunder and loosed thy bonds and broke up the prison door and pulled down the prison house and set thee free oh my soul Oh my soul my soul thou wert a captive in the Land of Babylon estranged from the Common-wealth of Israel and an Alien from Sion sitting sorrowful and solitary by the River of Babylon in the Land of Captivity mourning when thou thoughst upon Sion for thou wert a Captive in a strange Land and sorrow through the sence of thy woful Captivity and Alienation from thy native Land compassed thee about and trouble on every hand tears was thy drink daily sorrow thy meat and groans and sighs thy greatest joy thou wentest bowed down all the day long with an heart aking and thine eyes dropping with tears because of the oppressions of thine enemies and burdens of thine oppressours
Rend and Devour in the tender Love of the great Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls is my heart opened to you to visit you with a few Lines and in the name of my God and your God my Father and your Father I say unto you he whom you serve hath seen your Afflictions and hath beheld your Sufferings and hath took notice of your Burdens and cognizence of your grievous Oppressions and hath heard your Groanings and hath beheld your Tears he assuredly will in his own time rebuke your Enemies and plead your innocent Cause with your Oppressors and ease you of and free you from your great Afflictions therefore dear suffering Lambs of my heavenly Father lift up your Heads in the Name of the Lord God and take Courage and be Strong in his Power and Truth which is in you and with you and on your sides and it is the Truth that shall prevail against all its Enemies and its Opposers shall be Confounded and the Truth of our God shall Flourish over all therefore dear Hearts still cleave to the precious Truth of God made known unto you and let nothing separate you from it oh blessed be the Lord that he hath begotten such a Love in you to him and his Truth that such is your love thereunto that you are willing to undergo Reproaches Abuses and spoyling of your Goods Imprisonment and to be separated from your Friends and Relations for Truths sake oh dear Lambs great is your Reward if you abide to the end and faint not in well doing oh my heart is open to you in the tender Love and Bowels of Emanuel and my soul is refreshed in your Faithfulness and though many of your Faces I never saw yet I am one with you in your Sufferings wherein my soul simpathiseth with you and hath unity with your Testimony for the Lord and my spirit doth praise the Lord the God of your Salvation on your behalf in that he hath so mightily upheld you and born you up in his Arms in the midst of your Tryals though you of your selves are Weak yet the Lord is Strong whose Strength you know by experience is manifested in Weakness therefore trust hope and depend you upon the Lord forever who is and will be your exceeding great reward cast your care upon him for he your God careth for you and yours he is a Father to the Fatherless and a Husband to the Widow he is the Comforter of the Comfortless and gladeth the heavy hearted Oh be still quiet patient and contented in your Minds and wait upon the Lord and be not at all terrifyed by your Adversaries but in the lowly fear of the Lord God rejoyce in that he hath counted you worthy not only to believe but to suffer for his Name sake oh your Reward no man can take away as you continue faithful to the Lord dear Lambs my Bowels yearn towards you and in the Fathers love I salute you desiring that Grace Mercy and Peace may rest upon you and the blessing of the most High distil upon you as dew upon the tender Herbs that you ye tender Plants may grow and be like Willows by the Water Courses and as Cedars by the Rivers side that your Leaf may not wither neither cease bearing Fruit so dear suffering Lambs as none is to be through Joy Exalted above what is meet so none through Sorrow is to be Dejected or cast down but every one in all Conditions is to learn to be Contented with the will of the Lord and none to murmur against the Lord because of the Prosperity of the Wicked and Advancement of Sions Enemies for though they seem to Flâ—uâ—ish like a green Bay-Tree yet they will become like Grass upon the House top that withereth before it is grown up So unto the Lord God I commit you who careth for all his and is a present help in the time of need and leaveth not his Sheep and Lambs when the Wolves come to Devour but he the mighty God standeth by his People and sighteth for mount Sion and defends the Hills thereof and will put to flight her Enemies and with the Breath of his Mouth expel and scatter the Clouds Fogs and Mists that ariseth out of the bottomless pit of Darkness that then oh Sion thy Glory may appear as the Morning without Clouds and as the Sun in its Brightness thy Beauty may shine forth and thy Enemies be Astonished and Confounded forever This is the salutation of my Love who am your Fellow Sufferer and Companion in the Patience and Tribulation of Jesus the Lord God be with you and support the weak and little ones among you and keep you all Faithful to the end and preserve you in Love and Unity one with another Amen saith my soul Bury Goal 1669. William Bennit Dearly Beloved FRiends Brethren and Sisters in the Heavenly Spiritual Relation of the Immortal Incorruptible Seed of Life Eternal of which you are born again and become Heirs of an Inheritance that is Everlasting by Faith in Christ Jesus in and from whom Joy and Peace Mercy and Grace be multiplyed in and unto all your Souls Amen Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who through his abundant Mercy and free Grace hath called us and with the Arms of his Everlasting Kindness hath gathered us and by his Almighty Power hath raised us up to be unto him a People to live unto him in his Life and to walk before him in Truth and Righteousness and to Serve and Worship him in his own Way and Spirit and to bear Testimony thereunto and against the contrary in Word and Doctrine in Life and Conversation and for our Testimonies sake the Nations are angry with us and the Earth is moved and the Waters troubled and swell against us as if we should be swollowed up and wholly over-whelmed with the Floods of the Wrath of the Dragon who seeks to drown the blessed and glorious appearance of the man Child who is to rule the Nations in Justice in Mercy in Judgment in Righteousness and Truth well my dear Friends though at this day we are a suffering People and as it were Killed all the day long and appointed Sheep for the Slaughter and are set as a prey for the Beast of the Field and Lyons of the Forrest and though the Jaws of Death and Gates of Hell seem to be opened wide against us as if we should be swallowed up quick and be extinguished from being a People yet notwithstanding we can rejoyce in the Lord our God because our sufferings are infflicted upon us not for evil doing but for well doing and our Enemies have found no just Cause given them of us thus to give us up to the Spoylers and into the hands of Wicked Ungodly Unreasonable men but altogether without a Cause given of us have they taken an occasion against us as Daniel's Persecutors did against him concerning the Law Commands and Worship of our God so that at
Glory and Renown of his eternal powerful Name and to your endless Joy and everlasting Peace in him your tender God in whose pure tender unseigned Love doth my soul kiss you imbrace you clasp you about saying in spirit Oh the Lord the mighty God gird up your Loins with Courage Strength and Valour daily and spead over you all the mantle of Faithfulness keep you all in the pure patience and sweet contentedness and in true submission to his holy heavenly will which is your Sanctification whose will may be done in you all that indeed the Power the Glory the Kingdom and Dominion may be his and he alone may Reign in you whose right of due it is who was Dead and is a Live and lives forever and evermore unto whom be glory in the highest for evermore Amen Oh the holy living presence of the Living God of Holiness be in with and among you all in whose Love Life and Truth in my measure my soul is united and closely cleaveth to all the Children of the most high God and they are very dear unto the soul of him who is your Friend Brother and Companion in the innocent Love and Life of God over all blessed for evermore farewel dear Lambs T is 1665. William Bennit Dear Friend IN that which is Eternal and unchangable doth the unfeigned Salutation and tender Love of my Soul extend towards thee who art oft in the remembrance of my Soul which is in some measure sensible of the many Troubles Crosses and Tryals which thou hast been in and now art exercised with and truly dear Heart my soul desireth that thâ— Lord may inable thee to wade through them all in the pure Patience and true Contentedness and that thou mayst find the strong arm of Gods mighty power in the beating down keeping â—nder that part which would complain and murmur against the Lord and count him a hard Master and freet its self because the Wicked Flourish and the Ungodly spread themselves like a green â—ay-Tree and the workers of Iniquity are set up â—nâ—â—â—e Pâ—oud Lord it over the Meek of the Earth and â—â—eaâ— upon the Righteous as Diâ—t in the Streets Killed all the day 〈◊〉 aâ—d Oppressed like a Cart with Sheaves I say needful it is to feel that part which would freet it self because of thâ—se things chained down by the Meek Lowly Lamb like Patient Peaceable Spirit of the patient pitiful long-suffeâ—ing God of Forbearance and Mercy and to feel it curting and beating all Prejudice and Enmity that would be springing up from the murmuring fretting part against those who are â—â—struments of Iniquity and Servants to that Spirit that Persecutes and Oppress the Innocent and behold this Spirit of meekness keeps in coolness gentleness and patience and giâ—â—â—h dominion over that Spirit which in haste yet as it thâ—nâ—s in a Zeal for God crys for Fire to come down from Heavâ—n to devour those who are Instruments of Cruelty Iniquity and Oppression and indeed this Spirit of Love inableth to love Enemies to Bless and Curse not and seeks no Revenge but makes willing to leave all to the Lord unto whom dear Heart let us commit our Cause and sure I am he will plead it with his and our Enemies in his own time even to their Destruction and Calamity and to our Joy and Comfort in the end in the mean while the Lord keep us in contentedness and in dominion over that Spirit that would limit God to mans time and counteth that God is slack concerning his Promise who indeed is not slack as that Siprit counts slackness but is a God long suffering desiring not the Death nor Destruction of a Sinner but that rather he may repent and Live Oh that all those that profess his Name may be like-minded with him according to our measures and growth in him the Living God who is blessed forevermore My dear tender hearted Friend my Soul doth likewise desire fervently that thee and I and all the rest of our heavenly Fathers Family may be kept close unto the measure of the free grace and love of the Lord God in our own hearts that by it we may continually be kepâ— in the lowly fear and pure aw of him who hath called us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light wherein let us watch carefully over our Thoughts Words and Works lest in haste through carelesness for want of watchfulness we should speak or do any thing that may grieve the holy Seed and wound the Just one in our selves and bring a burden and load upon our own Souls wherefore dear Heart I cannot but desire that I with thee and all who love Righteousness may be kept watchful in the â—â—wly Fear close unto the grace that keeps humble out of the many words in the fewness of words that so in sweet stilness peace and quietness we may possess our souâ—â— and injoy the sweet incomes of the sweet Love and sweet pure refreshing streams of the Fountain of Life according to our measures that so even in the midst of our Tryals and Sufferings our heâ—rts may be made glad in the Lord and our souls may rejoyce in him over all the Rage and Cruelty of the Wicked that we may keep our standing on the Rock against which Gog and Magog and the whole Host of the powers of Darkness is not able to prevail and herein the Lord keep us saith my soul for evermore So dear Heart I leave thee unto the Lord in whom my Love is dear unto thee and my Soul simpathize with thee in thy Tryals and Sufferings and desire the Lord may bear thee up above them all in the bosom of his Love and Patience and minister daily unto thee what he knoweth is meet for thee and keep thee in a contentedness with his heavenly will that so thou mayst say with thy whole heart Lord not my will but thy will be done and submitted unto in all things whose will is our Sanctification So dear tender Heart in the innocent Love which drew me forth to write these lines unto thee I rest and remain thy dear Friend in the Truth William Bennit 1665. To the Magistrates of Edmonds-Bury Friends I hope your Nobillity and Moderation will be so far made manifest as to read over these following Lines with Patience and I desire you may Seriously consider of them and Sollidly to weigh them in that equall Ballance the Light of Christ in your Consciences before you Judge of them VVE whom the World in scorn call Quakers are a People that liveth in the pure fear of the Lord God and without boasting we can truly say we are a People who are led and guided by a peaceable Principle of Love which we have received of God who is the Fountain of Love by which Principle of Love we are made to live peaceable with all men as much as in us lies and fervenly to desire and seek the good and welfare of all People even from him
if you do them He that knoweth the Fathers Will and doth it not is worthy of many stripes John 13. 17. AND all you that are convinced of the Truth Way of God but do not resign up your Hearts in obedience to walk therein but still remain in the broad way of the World partaking with them of their Sins Idolatry and falfe Worship and though you see the Vanity and Evil thereof yet for by-ends and carnal self-interests to save your selves from Reproach and Suffering you joyn with them therein against the pure Witness of God in your own Consciences and if you continue partaking with them of their Sins how can you but expect also to partake of their Plagues except you haste out from among them and embrace and receive the Truth in the Love and Obedience of it Oh! come out come out from amongst them and be you separated and touch no more the Unclean Thing that the Lord may receive you unto himself and become your God and you become his People Oh! you that know the Fathers Will and do it not are you not worthy of many Stripes Oh poor Hearts shun not the Cross any longer neither be ashamed of the Reproach nor ashamed of the Lord and his People before Men but give up your Hearts to obey the Lord and his precious Truth and take up the daily Cross that crucifies unto the World and Worldly Things unto the Sin Wickedness Formal Worships Vain Customs Ceremonies Pride and Vanity thereof and follow the Lamb in the narrow Way of Holiness and be willing to Suffer with Christ and you shall Reign with him and love not your Lives unto Death and you shall have a Crown of Life Oh! how long hath the Lord been woing many of you day after day if not year after year and hath long waited knocking at the Door of your Hearts in his Grace to be Gracious unto you who desireth not that you should perish in your Rebellion and Disobedience Oh! that the sense of his Goodness Mercy and Patient forbearing towards you might overcome your Hearts and make you willing to resign up your selves to walk in the Way of Truth before the Lord cease striving with you who hath said His Spirit shall not always strive with Man lest the Day of your Visitation pass over your Heads Therefore come forward you that halt and linger behind in the Borders of Babylon and Subburbs of Egypt and come nigh you that stand afar off gazing to see what will become of us He that is not with me said Christ is against me he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad none can serve two Masters God and Mammon To those that are Newly Convinced of the Truth Ye were like Sheep going astray but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls He shall gather his Lambs in his Arms and carry them in his Bosom 1 Peter 2. 25. Isaiah 40 11. AND all you who are newly convinced of the precious Truth and Way of God and have in measure received Truth in the love and belief of it and have and daily do give up your hearts to obey the Truth and to walk in the Way of Righteousness and Path of Holiness Dear Ones unto you my Heart is open in the tender Bowels of my heavenly Fathers Love and happy and blessed of the Lord God are you if you do not faint nor grow weary in your Minds nor turn back again as some have done but persevere on to the End Oh! dear Babes whom the Lord mighty in Power hath by his out stretched Arm brought out of Egypt the Land of Darkness and House of Bondage and hath set your Faces towards Canaan the good Land of Liberty Light Rest and Peace Oh travail on travail on ye weak Ones in the strength of the Lord and drawings of his Light and look not back to Egypt again remember Lot's Wife and fear not the God of the World the Prince of the Power of the airy mind even that wicked Spirit that once had dominion in and over you and kept you Bond-slaves in darkness to Sin and Corruption though he the Enemy of your Souls Liberty Peace and Rest may pursue hard after you with his whole Host of Temptations Snares and Allurements both inward and outward and also a Sea of Troubles Straits Difficulties and Sufferings may appear in your Way both within and without and Mountains of Fears Doubts and carnal Reasonings on every side and also something in you ready to murmur complain and say Oh! that we had tarried still in Egypt and not set one step towards Canaan for the Way is so strait and the Path so narrow the Sufferings so hard and the Difficulties and Dangers so great and various that we fear we shall perish by the way and not get to our desired Rest therefore let us turn back again before we go any further Oh! fear not neither turn back but stand still from reasoning carnally and look not at the Straits Tryals Dangers Sufferings and Losses that may appear before you neither look at your own VVeakness Feebleness and Inability nor at the Strength and Temptation of your Enemy but look up ye little ones unto the Lord and trust you in the Strength of his Arm for he is God all-sufficient for you therefore cast your care upon him and he will make a VVay for you through the Sea and divide the VVaters of the great Deep and make a VVay for you in the VVilderness and a Path through the Thickets and make the Crooked Strait before you and the Rough Smooth he will throw down the Mountains and remove away the Hills and lead you in a VVay you know not and in a Path you never before trod in and will make the hard things easie unto the VVilling and Obedient that turn not back again to their old Lovers but love Truth and Righteousness and follow on to know the Lord in his VVay all such he will give to drink of the Brook by the VVay and feed with Bread from Heaven whereby you shall be refreshed and your Strength renewed daily in which Strength you shall be able to travail on without fainting and to run and not be weary until you come to your desired Rest and see the Travail of your Souls and be satisfied with the Enjoyment of that you have travailed after So the Lord be with you and keep your Eye single unto himself that your Hearts may be full of Light that nothing may cause you to stumble and fall into the Snares of the Enemy who hath hindred many that once begun to run well oh mind and keep to that in your own Hearts which makes you truly sensible of your particular States and Conditions and in that sense daily wait upon the Lord diligently and patiently for the sweet Refreshings from his Presence and for the distillings of his Heavenly Dew that so the tender Plants of Righteousness and Lilly of Holiness may grow and spring
in all your Hearts that the little Seeâ— of Life may become as a great Tree and every one of you may witness a sitting under your own Vine Christ in you the Hope of Glory and none to make you afraid And dear Friends look not out at others but keep at home in the Light the Tent Jacob shall dwell alone and not be numbred among the Nations Esau he hunts abroad and grows weary and faint and then sells his Birthright for a Mess of Pottage What if some stumble and fall from the Truth let not that shake you Truth is the same still and changeth not and if you see some turn aside from us into a Self separation from the Body of Friends and endeavour to draw Disciples after them let not that cause you to stumble and question the Certainty of Truth neither be you drawn away and tost about like Children by them but keep to the Light and in it follow the Foot-steps of the Flock but follow not the Foot-steps of the Wandering Sheep that have left their Flock and are gone astray who are like to perish by the devouring Beast and Enemy of their Souls except in time they return again to the Fold And if you see some amongst our selves setting or keeping up that thing or practice which is out of the comly desent Order of the Body and not consistant with Truth 's Government let not that beget an Occasion of stumbling in your Minds but be still and keep your Eye single to the Lord and walk as you have them for an Example that are over you in the Lord who fully follow Christ Jesus And as for that which is only set up and â—eld up by Man out of Truth 's Order it will die and pass away and Truth will out-live all So unto the Lord who hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light do I commit you to be preserved unto himself unto the End For many are called but few chosen he that abides to the End the same shall be sâ—ved To the true Mourner in Sion To appoint to them that mourn in Sion and to give them the Oyl of Joy for Mourning c. Blessed are you that mourn for you shall be comforted They that sow in Tears shall reap in Joy c. Isaiah 61. 3. Matth. 5. 4. Psal 126. 5 6. OH lift up thy head thou bowed down thou Mourner in Sion who art as one alone in a solitary place and few seeth thee or knoweth thy Sorrow or truly sensible of thy Grief or behold thy Tears who art in thine own Eye as a Woman forsaken and grieved in Spirit as a Wife of Youth rejected who appears in thy own Eyes as it were Miserable and Wretched mourning in the sence of thy own as thou thinkest Unworthiness Failings Inability Emptiness and Poverty who art ready to say with sorrow Where is there any so Poor Empty Barren and Unfruitful to God as I Oh I can do nothing for the Lord except like Mary Weep behind him thinking my self scarce worthy to see his Face and wash his Feet with my Tears whilst others sit at the Table with him and eat of the Fatness of his House and drink of the New-wine of his Kingdom but alas for me my Tears are my Meat and Drink because of the oppression of my Enemy who saith to my Soul Where is thy God dost thou think thou snalt ever be worthy to behold his Face to receive his Love and to have the Smiles of his Countenance And thou O mourning one by hearkening to and believing thy Enemy becometh in thy own eye like an alone Sparrow upon the Flouse-top and as the alone Quail in the Stubble-field and as a Dove alone mourning for the loss of her Mate and so thou layest thee down in Sorrow and makest it thy Bed and Grief thy Sheets Tears thy Pillow and Sighing and Mourning thy Sleep whilst thou believest thy Enemy and entertainest those Fears Doubtings and Carnal Reasonings which he infuseth into thy Heart as thy Companion But arise I say unto thee in the Name of my God and thy God of my Father and thy Father arise out of thy Bed for thy Beloved is at hand and knocketh at the door of thy Heart arise out of thy Bed of Sorrow Fears and Doubtings and by Faith let him in whom thy Soul loveth say not I am not worthy of him but rather say Lord I believe help thou my unbelief strengthn my Faith make me more worthy of thee Oh shut him out no longer by unbelief and doubtings and by reasoning with and hearkening unto the Enemy of thy Souls Joy Peace and Comfort who would always keep thee from thy Beloved and would daily add Sorrow to thy Sorrow and Affliction to thy Grief and Weight to thy Burden that he might if he could wholly sink thee down into the Pit of Desparation forever Wherefore hearken no longer unto him for he was a Lyar from the beginning entertain him not nor his false Instigations any longer nâ—r by unbelief keep not him out any longer whom thou lovest and much desirest but by that small measure of Faith thou sometimes feel'st in God though it be but as a Grain of Mustard seed endeavour to thrust and keep out the Enemy and to remove the Mountains of Fears and Doubtings out of the way and by Faith embrace him whom thy Soul desires more then Rubies or much fine Gold that so the Nâ—ghâ—s of thy Sorrow and Mourning for him in thy Bed of Fears and Doubtings may be turned into sweet reposes with him in his Bed of Solace that thou mayst say with gladness of heart the False Accuser is cast out and my Beloved is come is come and his reward is with him he hath taken me from my mourning state into his Banqueting-house of Joy Peace Rest and true Satisfaction and his Banner over me is Love and now my Sorrow is turned into Joy and I that once sate mourning in the Pit of doubtings and unbelief hath the Lord upon the wings of Faith raised up to come to sing in the hight of Sion and to flow to the goodness of my God who hath exalted my Horn in him and enlarged my Mouth over my Enemy whose Mouth was enlarged over me in the day I bowed under him through unbelief and doubtings Oh then feebleness possessed my Loins weakness my Knees and faintness my Heart so that when I rose up to go towards my Beloved I fell by doubtings and fears but now I that stumbled am by Faith in the Power of my God girt with Strength and the Bow of the mighty man that prevailed against me broken in pieces who so often wounded me with his Darts that I was like to poor Lazarus full of Wounds Bruises and Sores but the Great Physician of Souls hath healed me with the Oyl of Faith and Salvation and now I find that it is the Lord that bindeth up the broken in heart healeth all their wounds Oh