c. then all men are left in the dark for no man is able to know that God will save any but by his Word which is contain'd in the Scriptures for this is the Word of Salvation or that which directeth to the Means by which we shall obtain Life 8thly Without this meaning Scripture we know not that there is any God or Christ or Salvation by God in Christ c. Lastly It leaveth men to walk by Fancy or Imagination c. Answ To all which I shall answer That for as much as we the People of God called Quakers do not assert or own a third Testament Way which J.N. seems to fight against and oppose it would be as superfluous for me to reply to his Sylogisms as it hath been in him to offer them and I should therein but answer a Fool according to his Folly and so become like unto him which I am no way enclined to do but shall proceed to examine whether or no those dreadful Consequences asserted by J. N. will follow the denying of the Scriptures to be the Word of God and a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other First How doth it take away the general ground of Faith from all men to deny the Scriptures to be the Word and Rule c. seeing the Word is still owned to be in beeing and to be heard which was the Ground and Author of the Faith of Abraham and the Holy Men of God who believed before the Scriptures were written 2 Cor. 4.13 And because they believed therefore they spoke forth the Scriptures by which it appears That the Faith that was once deliver'd to the Saints which we are earnestly to contend for was received by them through hearing of the Word before the Scriptures were written and therefore the Scriptures were not the Ground of their Faith so that to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God is not to deny or take away the Ground of that Faith which by the Spirit or Word was once deliver'd to the Saints For the Apostle in 1 Cor. 12. â— declares the Ground of the Faith which the Church had receiv'd and which he labour'd in the Word which wrought mightily in him for the building of them up in to be the Spirit when he spoke of the diversity of Gifts which they had receiv'd he said To another is given Faith by the same Spirit And this doth not at all oppose or contradict that Scripture which saith Faith comes by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God because the Father Word and Spirit are one Substance and are not divided but the Scripture is not one Substance with the Father and Spirit so that he who heareth the Word heareth the Father and the Quickening Spirit also And this Author of Faith as I said before was heard and believed before the Scriptures were written and remains the same this day as yesterday and the same forever a Foundation of Faith that standeth sure and is not a far off from every one but is nigh even the Word nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth and this is the Word of Faith which the Apostle preached and which we preach by the hearing of which Faith cometh so that denying the Scriptures to be the Word is not to deny the Ground and Foundation of true Faith neither is it in the least to under-value the holy Scriptures which so frequently testifie of the Ground and Foundation and Author of the true Faith Secondly And as for his affirming That to deny the Scriptures to be the Word is to deny the Ground of Faith for the Remission of sins Answ I answer No if the Word be the Ground as most true it is the Ground is not deny'd by denying Scriptures to be the Word because the Scriptures which testifie of the Word are before proved not to be the Word And they which had the Seal of Acceptance with God had without Controversie the Seal of Remission of sins because without Remission there can be no Acceptance But the Servants of God had the Seal or Testimony of Acceptance with God even some before any part of the Scriptures were written as Abel Enoch Abraham c. therefore the Scriptures were not the Ground of Faith for the Remission of sins but the Word which was before the Scriptures were written so that to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God is not to deny the Ground of Faith for the Remission of sins And the Prophet David who sometime complained Psal 38.4 That his Iniquities were gone over his head as a Burden too heavy for him to bear afterwards declar'd Psal 103.12 That as far as the East is from the West so far had the Lord removed his Transgressions from him Now where did the Scriptures tell him that his Iniquities were put so far from him Or how were they the Ground of this Faith by which he thus spoke and by which he had this Evidence of the Remission or Removing of his sins Was not the Word which was settled in the Heavens and which was a Light to his Feet c. the Ground of this Faith Which Word healed him when he was in Distress and when his Wounds stunk because of his Folly which Word still remaineth and is owned as the Ground of Faith for the Remission of sins though the Scriptures be not acknowledged to be the Word Thirdly And for his saying It maketh void the Exercises of Faith in the precious Promises of God for what hath Faith to exercise it self but only the Promises of God in Scripture c. Answ I answer The true Faith which Christ is the Author of hath the Power of God in which it stands to exercise it self in as the Objects thereof through which Power of God which is the Gospel Life and Immortality is brought to Light 2 Tim. 1.10 as Fruit of that Faith which stands in Christ the Power so that Vertue and Knowledge is thereby added to the Faith by which the true Believer is built up in his Holy Faith so that denying the Scriptures to be the Word doth not make void the Exercises of Faith nor take away the Ground in which true Faith standeth as J. N. vainly imagineth because the Scripture is not the Power of God in which the true Faith standeth Neither doth it follow as J. N. asserteth That Faith must be exercis'd in Scripture or else upon Fancy and Imagination because it may be exercised in the Power of God as in the true Ground thereof which is neither Scripture nor Imagination nor Fancy for the Apostle said That his Speech and Preaching was not with enticing words of man's Wisdom but in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power that their Faith might not stand in the Wisdom of Man but in the Power of God 1 Cor. 2.4 5. And in this are the Exercises of that true Faith which by the Spirit or Word was once deliver'd to the Saints and which we now
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
And whereas he saith Let us labour with God for his blessed Spirit to guide us in all Truth He therein seems to own Truth to be a Mystery within also for if the Spirit be to be receiv'd it must be within and the Spirit is Truth because as J. N. elsewhere confesseth It is of the same beeing nature power and tendency with God who is Truth and with Christ who is the Truth And the Spirit is the Unction which was received from the Holy One which was True and not a Lye so here he seems to own Truth a Mystery within the Spirit being Mystery which before he said was contrary to Truth 's Intent and thus his Confusion appears from time to time And moreover if in such a dangerous time as he supposes this to be the Spirit be the only Thing to be labour'd for as a Guide to lead in all Truth wherefore then does he so much cry against the Quakers whose Principle it is and also their Practice To labour with people to wait for the Spirit 's Operation that by it as the most certain Guide they may be led into all Truth Hath he not also oppos'd himself hereby who not long before asserted the Scriptures to be the only Rule which do but testifie of the Spirit which now he would have people labour for as a Guide in all Truth which indeed is the only Guide without which the Scriptures cannot be known because they are things of God and the things of God know no man but the Spirit of God and he to whom the Spirit of God reveals them And he saith Let us not be hasty to receive an Opinion before we have weighed the same by the Law and Testimony seeing there are many false spirits gone out into the world Answ That there are many false spirits gone out into the World I grant and that is a false babilonish spirit that contradicts it self as the spirit of J.N. has done as before shew'd And that is the true Spirit of Grace which teacheth to live God-like in this present World but that which leads into Confusion is not God-like but such is the spirit of J.N. therefore not to be receiv'd And that all Opinions and Spirits are to be try'd by the Law and Testimony I own but what is this Law and Testimony is it not the Light and Spirit in the inward parts for Solomon said The Law is Light and the Angel said The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophesie Pro. 6.23 Rev. 19.11 So here is the Law and Testimony declar'd which I dare say J.N. never intended to direct people to as a Touch-stone to try Opinions by as he call them And is not this Light the Law of the Spirit which the Apostle speaks of and which he sometimes called The perfect Law of Liberty Jam. 1.25 And by this Law indeed Paul said He was set free from the Law of sin and death So as the Prophet said Let all to the Law and to the Testimony or as the Apostle said Look into the perfect Law of Liberty the Law of the Spirit or Light thereof in the inward parts for this is that perfect Rule that leads in the Way in which a Wayfaring-man though a Fool cannot err And without this there are none able to understand the Scriptures nor to practise them because of our selves we can do nothing yet we are willing to having our Doctrines Principles and Practices try'd by the Scriptures of Truth But then saith J.N. the most dangerous spirit is this that draws all the Happiness of this Life and that which is to come into man and finishes all the Glory of man at the brink of the Grave Answ If by the Glory of man he means the Glory of Man as simply a Creature then I do say all that is to be finish'd at the brink of the Grave for it s but the glory of Flesh which as the Flower of the Grass passeth away But if by the Glory of man he means that which the Wise in Heart shall inherit Prov. 3.35 and which is the Reward of those before whom the Righteousness of God goeth then I know none except Athiests and Ranters that affirm or assert any such thing and I say also that is the most dangerous spirit of all and to be shun'd by all But that spirit which would keep people out of an Expectation of seeing and beholding that Glory that is endless while on this side the Grave is not much inferior as to the Ill-consequences of it to the other for that would deprive people of the chief Happiness of this Life and of the happy Enjoyment of that Glory which their Peace and Joy is full of in believing while they remain on this side the Grave and may also endanger to deprive them of the enjoyment of that which is to be receiv'd in the Life that is to come For if the Earnest of the incorruptible Inheritance which is a part thereof be not receiv'd in this Life what true Comfort can there be enjoy'd in this Life So then that Spirit of Grace or Word of Grace which manifests its Light and Strength in the Inward Parts by its own Operation for the begetting of Faith in and concerning it self in all that hear and receive it this I say is not to be shunn'd but adhered unto by all as unto the Author of true Faith seeing Faith cometh by Hearing and hearing by the Word of God and the Word is nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth Rom. 10.17 and the Spirit is in the inward parts which with the Word is one by which Faith is given And all that hear this Word and obey this Spirit of Faith shall doubtless behold the Glory of the Word as the Apostles did even as the Glory of the only Begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth and shall doubtless know that Faith in which is Peace and Joy unspeakable and full of Glory and this will be unto them an Earnest of the Everlasting Inheritance that never fades by which they will be assured of the full Possession thereof when time shall be no more And thus having examin'd the principal matters in this Book viz. Concerning the Scriptures being the Word of God and the perfect Rule and the sad Consequences which he saith will follow the denying of them so to be and concerning Christ being the Word really so and as he saith but comparatively so and concerning Christ being a Saviour as he is God or a Saviour only as he hath a Body of Flesh and concerning his being in Heaven with the Father at his Right-hand and his being in man really so I say having gone through with these things and spoken as to them I shall leave them to the Judgement of the Judicious Reader desiring of God by his own Spirit to give a right Understanding unto all that desire after him that they may know him that is true to be manifested in them that they may by his spirit be baptized into him to live and have their Beeing in him that so they may understand the things that appertain to his Kingdom and to their own everlasting Peace that in the Faith of the Unchangable Truth they may stand as Mount Sion that cannot be moved And the rest of his Book consisting of a large pretended Answer to six Queries that were sent to him by a certain Person whom I do not well know I shall not much concern my self therein at this time though I do acknowledge that divers things therein contained do concern the Truth which I profess and therein I am concerned but it consists chiefly of things that I have already spoken to so that what I have written may serve for an Answer to all for it would be superfluous to reiterate that which in substance I have already gone over J. C. A TESTIMONY Concerning LODOWICK MUGGLETON FOR as much as I have been informed That Lodowick Muggleton hath vaunted concerning my departure out of the Body because of his pretended Sentence of Damnation given against me I am moved to leave this Testimony concerning him behind me viz. That he is a Son of Darkness and a Co-Worker with the Prince of the Bottomless Pit in which his Inheritance shall be forever And the Judgment I passed on him when with him stands seal'd by the Spirit of the Lord by which I then declar'd unto him That in the Name of that God that spanneth the Heaven with his Span and measureth the Waters in the hollow of his Hand I bind thee here on Earth and thou art bound in Heaven and in the Chain under Darkness to the Judgment of the great Day thou shalt be reserved and thy faith and strength thou boastest of I defie and trample under Foot And I do hereby further declare the said Lodowick to be a false Prophet in what he said to me at that time who told me That from henceforth I should be always in fear of Damnation which should be a Sign to me that I was damned which Fear I was never in since so that his Sign given by himself did not follow his Prophesie which sufficiently declares him to be a false Prophet Josiah Coale What Josiah Coale spake a little time before he died to Friends that were about him WEll Friends Be faithful to God and have a single Eye to his glory and seek nothing for self or your own glory and if any thing arise judge it down by the Power of the Lord God that so you may be clear in his Sight and answer his Witness in all People then will you have the Reward of LIFE For my part I have walked in Faithfulness with the Lord and I have Peace with the Lord and his Majesty is with me and his Crown of Life is upon me So mind my Love to all Friends Then he ceased speaking After he spake to S. C. saying Dear Heart keep low in the Holy Seed of God that will be thy Crown He said after A minister of Christ must walk as he walked THE END
THE BOOKS And Divers EPISTLES Of the Faithful SERVANT of the LORD Josiah Coale Collected and Published as it was desired by him the Day of his departure out of this Life 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 1671 Concerning our Dear Friend AND BROTHER In the Holy-Vnion of Divine-Love JOSIAH COALE Thus it ariseth in my heart to write THE Holy wise Omnipotent God having by his Power appeared and manifested himself unto a Remnant of People in the North parts of England who were scattered up and down the Barren Mountains seeking rest but finding none the Lord in a wonderful manner did break in upon them and by his Power did rend the Vail of Darkness that was over them and did Purge and Purifie them and after he had thus fitted and prepared a People for his Praise his Power moved strongly in the Hearts of many and his Pure Love constrained them to leave dear and near Relations to declare unto others what the Lord had done for their Souls in the Year 1654. several of God's faithful Servants were moved of their Master and Lord to travel into the Southern Parts of England and some into the Western Parts The chief of which that were the first Proclaimers of this Heavenly Message in and about Bristol were these two true and faithful Servants of God John Audland and John Cam by whose powerful Ministry many were convinced and turned from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to God amongst whom was our dear Brother Josiah Coale The Powerful Word of Life declared and preached by God's Servant John Audland did pierce and break his Heart and took deep root in him and wrought effectually to his Salvation and Redemption He was for a Time under deep Judgement and walked mournfully many a day whereby he became a Wonder and a gazeing-Stock unto those that were his former Acquaintance and he amongst the rest of the Lord's People was Reproached and Mocked Reviled and Persecuted but God's Arm that was revealed and made bear was strong and wrought powerfully in him and rent the Vail of Darkness and pluckt up the Weeds and evil Plants which the Enemy had sown in his Heart and purified and purged his Vessel making it fit for the Lord's use So the Lord opened the Spring of Life and Fountain of Love in his Soul which gave him full satisfaction and caused his Cup to overflow and being thus Translated out of the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of the dear Son of God passing through the Ministration of Condemnation bearing daily the Cross of Christ he obtained Life and Salvation through the Grace of Christ that wrought in him and being made Partaker of the Divine Nature and the Love of God shed abroad in his Heart the nature of which makes the Heart tender by its Vertue and Power he was moved and constrained to leave his Fathers House and his near and dear Relations and Native Country and travelled by Sea through many Dangers and preached the Gospel in many of the Western Islands and in Maryland and Virginia from whence he passed through the Wilderness on foot many hundreds of Miles to New-England amongst those cruel and bloody Professors who drunk the Blood of four of the Lord's Servants only for their pure Testimony and Worship of God which Blood the Lord will require at their Hands he preached the Gospel freely going a warfare at his own charge and the Presence of the Lord did accompany him and by his powerful Ministry many were convinced and turned to the Lord After his long Travels in several Places and Islands beyond the Seas he came over into his own Native Country old England where he laboured much in the Work and Service of the Lord in several Countries and was dearly beloved and well accepted of by all that had a true savour of God After some time here in England spent chiefly in the Work of God he travelled again by Sea into the several Islands and Plantations to visit the tender Seed of God raised by his Power and to water the tender Plants which the Lord by his own Right Hand had planted and the good presence of God was with him and did support him in his Exercises and Tryals and brought him back safe into his own Country though his outward man was much spent and weakned by his sore Travels and Exercises as many of his dear Friends were sensible of and often told him of it but his Heart was bent to go on in the Work and Service of the Lord being willing to spend and be spent in so weighty and good a Work as the Lord had called him to it being his Meat and Drink to do the Will of his Father He suffered Imprisonment for the Testimony of Jesus which he held in several Places in England as in Launcston in Cornwel in Bristol in Kendal in West-moorland and several times in London in all which he was found faithful and did never yield to the fawning Flatteries of men but did wait in patience till the Lord did make way for his deliverance He was endued with a good Measure of the Heavenly Power and Wisdom of God which made him bold and valient for the Truth and often times full of Heavenly Majesty in his Declaration which did wound and pierce the Hearts of many and made them bow before the Lord and confess to the Truth which he preached Those that were intimately acquainted with him found him to be of a tender spirit and of a sweet loving disposition greatly delighting in the Union and Society of his Brethren having an honourable esteem of those that were in Christ before him Towards the latter end of the ninth Moneth 1668. he began to be ill in Body but being of a strong spirit he kept over it for some time till at last he was forced to keep his Chamber for some weeks in which time he was much refreshed with the Life and Power of God which did arise in him to the comfort and refreshment of those that did tend him in the midst of his bodily weakness and exercises he was raised again for a little time and walked abroad but soon after the cause of his distemper remaining he was brought down again and his strength passed away by degrees until a Period was put to his days he was full of love even to the last and his Heart was broken and melted before the Lord and many times broke forth and praised the Lord and declared much of the goodness of God unto him which did ever melt and tender the Hearts of those that heard him he passed away like a Lamb without the least Sigh or Groan even as One falling into a sweet Sleep and so is at rest with the Lord and the Lamb and all the holy Angels and Saints and shall rest in peace and joy forevermore and to convince the
Burdens and so fulfil the Law of God and in that you are a strength one to another and so in this feel the Salutation of my Love which is to you beyond declaring And to the Keeping and Protection of the Arm of the Lord I do commit you Amen So in the Peace and Life which hath no end I remain London the 2d Day of the 7th Moneth 1667. Your Faithful and True Brother Josiah Coale Let this be sent amongst the Friends in Holland To all People in JAMAICA Unto whom the MESSAGE OF Eternal Life is sent and amongst whom the Gospel is now preached FRIENDS Now the Everlasting Gospel of Peace and Glad-tidings is preached amongst you and the Word of Reconciliation reacheth forth towards you every one with Meekness receive it for it is able to save your Souls and to build you up and give you an Inheritance amongst the sanctified Ones For now is the Message of the Lord to be declar'd unto you and amongst you by True and Faithful Messengers whom he hath sent forth in his Name and endew'd with Power for that Service and hath made them willing for your sakes to give up their Lives that the Way of Life might be made known unto you and you might come to walk therein And their Message you are all to receive as you prize the Salvation of your Souls for they are Messengers of the New Covenant into which the Lord in this Day of his Glorious Appearance is gathering his People that they might be all taught of him and come to the Knowledge of him from the Least to the Greatest And Friends This Covenant of which I speak which they are Messengers of is Light and this Light lighteth every man that cometh into the World which if you give heed unto in your own Consciences you will find it reproving for the Deeds of Darkness and condemning sin in the Flesh and will lead all who are guided by it out of sin and will lead in the Way of Righteousness and in the Path of Peace and Way of True Holiness which is a Way that the World knows not who live in Iniquity Wherefore now all People The Day of your Visitation being upon you and the Lord striving with you by his Good Spirit in your Hearts and being also calling unto you by the Mouthes of his Messengers to Returns Now every one encline your Ears and hear what the Spirit saith in your inward Parts and prize the Day of the Visitation of the Lord's Love who after the long time that you have passed away in Rebellion and Disobedience against his Good Spirit should now be pleased to accept of you and to pass by your Transgressions past and the Sins of your Youth therefore I say Let the Rich Love of the Lord which is now manifested constrain you to Fear before him and to learn Obedience unto his Faithful Witness which he hath placed in your Hearts For Friends it concerns your Eternal Peace and now is the Day wherein you may come to the knowledge thereof before they be hid from your Eyes For truly Friends If you be not attentive unto that which will give unto you the knowledge of those things the time will come that they will be hid from your Eyes and then shall you cry out saying How have we hated Instruction and despised the Day of Healing And so Now the Day is wherein you may come to know and witness your Reconciliation made with the Lord by his Word of Power which is nigh you even in your Hearts and in your Mouthes which Word reconciles to God all who hear and obey it and it will also purge you from all Iniquity if you submit to the Working and Operation of it And this I testifie That no other Way can you come to know a being sanctified and reconcil'd to the Lord but by the Word of his Power and through your Obedience thereunto And this Testimony I send amongst you to the end that you might believe in the Light of the Son of God wherewith you are enlighttened And this Testimony will be further confirmed unto you by the Mouthes of these whom the Lord hath now sent amongst you and their Testimony is true of which I am a Witness for we have been all Baptized by one Spirit into one Body even the Glorious Body of him who is the Head And so we are all Eye-Witnesses of his Majesty and of his Glory and can give in our Testimony together That by the Mouthes of several Witnesses even so many as the Lord shall call the TRUTH may be confirmed to you that so you may no longer follow them who cry Lo here or Lo there For behold the Kingdom of Heaven is within you and comes not with Observations and all that enter into it must become as little Children for of such is the Kingdom of God which is now come with Power and is nigh unto you And Blessed and Happy are all they that come to know an Entrance administred into it for they are Heirs of that Inheritance which shall never fade away Written in Barbadoes this 18th of the 7th Moneth 1661. From one who is a Labourer in the Lords ' Vineyard called Josiah Coale An Epistle to FRIENDS IN New-England The First Epistle DEAR FRIENDS My Love which is sincere and fervent in the Lord's Truth which is as precious as ever in this Day of Tryal is freely and fervently extended to you For oft are you in my Remembrance in much tenderness and truly do I Respect you as such whom the Lord hath accounted worthy to bear his Name and which he hath made choice of to be a Peculiar People to himself and to be Witnesses for him in the mid'st of a Crooked and Perverse Generation And let your Holy Life and Chaste Conversation be such as may preach Righteousness unto all that if they speak Evil of you as of Evil-Doers you may have cause to Rejoyce having the Peace of God in your Hearts And Friends I am not unmindful of you neither are you forgotten by me For oft I am even amongst you in the Spirit of Love and Life in which my Desires and Prayers to God are and oft have been for you that you may grow and encrease and prosper and flourish in the precious living glorious Truth of God of which you are made Partakers and into which you are gather'd through the working of his Divine Power that so the Heavenly Image may be borne by you all that by your Good Example in Holiness and Righteousness many may be made to confess unto the Truth and be convinced of it and that to the Brightness of your rising in it many may be gather'd that so the Borders of the Sanctuary of the Most High may be enlarg'd unto the ends of the Earth For Friends You know full well that in the Power of God yea the Power of an Endless Life We whom the Lord sent unto you labour'd amongst you for the Exaltation
spirit which would exercise Lordship over another for that is not the serving Spirit that is to be submitted unto which begetteth into Love Meekness and Gentleness but that spirit will rather beget a Root of Bitterness which may defile many and therefore not to be heeded But the Love being dwelt in which vaunteth not it self nor seeketh its own but anothers good that begets its own likeness and in this you will stir up and provoke one another to Love and to good and charitable Works and then by you the Gospel of God will be adorn'd and you will have his Blessing and Peace in your hearts which is of more Value and greater Price with the Upright in Heart then all the Pleasure of sin or Gain of Oppression And so by your Stedfastness Faithfulness Sincerity and Simplicity in the Truth you will even engage and provoke the Lord to appear on your behalfs and to plead your Cause with your Adversaries and to shorten the dayes of the Wicked for your sakes And so the Almighty God of Love and Peace be with you all and multiply the Riches of his Grace Mercy and Peace unto you all that the Poor in Spirit may be enriched the Weak and Feeble strengthen'd and the Sincere in Heart established and confirmed And unto him alone I do commit and commend you all by whose Power and Love unfeigned I was at this time constrain'd to send this Epistle unto you to stir you up to Faithfulness Diligence and Zeal towards God and for his Cause in which my love towards you and my care for you is manifested in which I also kindly salute you in the Bowels of Christ Jesus whose Life is my Life and whose Love hath filled my heart in which I take my Solace and Rest From the Common Goal in Kendal the place of my Confinement for the Testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God this 18th of the 7th Moneth 1665. Your Dear Brother in the Tribulation Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Josiah Coale An EPISTLE To Friends The First general EPISTLE DEar and Everlastingly beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters whom in God s Holy Covenant and Power of an Endless Life my soul dearly loveth and to whom I am firmly joyned and united with the Spirit of the Living God which he hath sent into our hearts and by which we have been separated from the Wayes and Worships and vain Tradition of the World amongst whom in times past we had our Conversation and walked according to the Lust of Ignorance as other Gentiles did But now being separated from these things by the Power of an Endless Life and being redeem'd therefrom by the precious Blood of the Lamb without Spot And being made choice of to be a peculiar People unto God to serve him in our Generation and to be a Praise unto him therefore now my beloved Friends have Valour and Boldness and Courage every one in your Hearts and have the Loins of your minds girt about with Truth that you may be armed to fight the Lord's Battels and be able to stand in the Evil Day when you shall be tryed And be you found watching every one in the Light and Gift of the Spirit of the Lord God so will not that Day come upon any of you at unawares but you will be found fitted and prepared to with-stand or resist the Evil One in all his Wiles and Appearances so that he shall not touch or harm your precious Life for the Lord Almighty in whom you have believed and in whom our Trust and Confidence is he will renew your Strength and will be a Buckler unto you in the Day of Battel and there will be no Faintness of Heart nor Fear in your Way but the Mighty POWER of God you will feel by which you will be able to tread upon the Necks of your Enemies both within and without and tread Satan under Foot And so my Friends These things in short were in my Heart to write unto you in the full enjoyment of that Love with which you know right well we have oft been refreshed together assuring you all that the same Blessed Presence and Power and Love of God in which I have been amongst you and by which I have been called from amongst you to bear Testimony to the Blessed Name of the Lord by which we are called even to the Nations afar off is still continued with me in which Love this is farther in my Heart to say unto you although you may very well know it already yet that none may grow forgetful that God hath many Wayes to try the Faith of his People both inwardly and outwardly and oft-times suffereth the Enemy to work and exercise his power for that End and the Enemy will work very subtilly if possible to deprive you of your Peace with God But my Friends You keeping in the Power of an Endless Life with which God hath certainly visited you thereby your Understandings will be kept clear and your Hearts open towards God and there all the Wiles and Subtilties of the Enemy will be seen and discovered and he defy'd and rejected and trampled upon in the Eternal Power of God And herein you will be Victorious and Conquerers over all Temptations and over all Assaults of the Wicked one And herein you will have free Access to God and Boldness towards God and you will all meet at the Throne of Grace in the Unity of the Faith in which you will have Acceptance with the Lord. And here will be no Rent nor Division nor Striving of Spirits Nay that must not enter which would have the preheminence over others for that will cause Divisions but that must live in all and over all which will be Servant to all and therein are the Blessings of the Lord enjoyed and his Peace witnessed and he will fill your Hearts with his Love and cause his Heritage to flourish and will make you as a watered Garden whose Springs do not fail And now my Friends Consider what the Lord hath done for you Hath he done so for any other People upon the Earth or did he more for his People in any Age or Generation since the beginning then he hath done for us Or Are any able to speak more of the Wonders of the Lord and of the Greatness of his Work and of the Strangeness of his Act at this Day then we are who are accounted by the Uncircumcised but as the Off-scouring of all things Nay verily And therefore may it be said That us hath he known above all the Families of the Earth And this my Friends may engage all and constrain all to walk worthy of this matchless Love that the same with which he hath reached unto you and visited you may be continued unto you and may abound in you all one towards another that you may all know you are the Children of your Father which is in Heaven and in this you will be as Lights unto the World and as a
City set upon a Hill which cannot be hid you will appear fresh in the Beauty of Holiness as the Heritage of God in its flourishing state in which my Unfeigned Love is dear to you all who are faithful to God and in this I do salute you all without respect of Persons for dear are you to me and precious and every Member of the true Church of Christ in all Regions and Quarters of the Earth And God Almighty keep you and preserve you all unto his Heavenly Kingdom Amen London this 12th of the 3d Moneth 1663. I am your Dear Brother in the Patience and Tribulation of the Son of God in whom we rejoyce daily Josiah Coale AND Friends This know that for the sake of the residue of our Seed which is yet ungathered is my Life freely sacrificed up into the Hand of the Lord and ready and willing am I to lay it down for the Testimony of God's Blessed Truth which he hath given me to bear if thereunto I am called For Bonds and Afflictions attend me daily and I may say We are hear in Jeopardy of our Lives daily So let your Prayers to God be for me that I may be kept unto the End to finish my Testimony with Joy and in all things to bring Glory and Honour to the Name of the Lord who is over all Blessed forever J. C. An EPISTLE To Friends The Second general EPISTLE FRIENDS ALL who are convinced of the Truth of the Evelasting Gospel and have believed the Report that hath been given amongst you concerning the great Salvation of God and who have been perswaded in your Hearts and Consciences by the Light and Spirit of the Lord that it is your Duty unto God to meet together to wait upon him and to worship him in Spirit and in Truth and have been drawn by this Spirit of Truth to the performance of this Religious Duty I say my Friends You know right well that Gloriously and Plentifully the Lord did appear amongst you in your Assemblies when you first began the Exercises thereof and he made his Power known amongst you and thereby wrought in your Hearts mightily and effectually to the bringing down and subjecting of that which had darkened and vail'd Life and Immortality from your sight and view and by which you were made Strangers thereunto And this same Power of God through the effectual working and operating of it did raise Life and bring Immortality to Light in you so that you were no longer as Strangers unto it but were brought into acquaintance therewith and your hearts and souls were aboundantly Refreshed and Consolated therewith and through the arising thereof and thereby you became more fully confirmed in your first Faith which was begotten in you by the Word and then a Godly Zeal and Resolution more fervently arose in your hearts to continue this Practise and perform this Duty of Assembling your selves together which at first you believed you ought to do and then did the Lord so eminently appear amongst you that by his Spirit he sealed unto you your Acceptance with him in the performance of this Duty and then you farther saw and believ'd That whatsoever Suffering should come upon you for the continuance of this Religious Exercise yet you ought to persevere and continue therein and to hold fast the Profession of your first Faith and also the practise of the thing which you believed to be your Duty unto God And you right well know That many Tryals and Sufferings have attended you since you first began to contend for this Faith and to make a Profession thereof and to practise the thing which you believed was your Duty unto God but the Lord was alwayes with you and assisted you with his Spirit and Power in the mid'st thereof even all who were singly resign'd up unto him and did persevere and continue in their due Obedience unto him and he never left nor forsook such in any Tryal or Tribulation but alwayes ministred unto them in the mid'st thereof according to their necessities and this I know the Witness of God in all the Upright in Heart shall seal unto And now my dear Friends Brethren and Sisters the Consideration and Remembrance of these things are sufficient to encourage every one and to stir them up and provoke them to hold fast their Godly Resolution which they put on in the beginning and to persevere and continue in all Faithful Obedience in this Duty while they have Liberty and Opportunity so to do And if for your Faithfulness and Obedience therein the Devil be suffer'd to cast you into Prison and to Exile you for the Gospel's sake Yet the Lord will be with you there he hath said it and will perform his word so that you need not fear what Man can do unto you for the Lord will support and comfort you in the midst of all your Sufferings as in times past but if any draw back or fall from their first Stedfastness and forsake the assembling of themselves together for fear of Sufferings and Pesecutions and think thereby to escape the Penalty of the unrighteous Laws of men then will the Lord take no pleasure in such but will withdraw his Love and Presence and his wonted Goodness will he withhold from such and instead of Peace there will be Trouble unto them and Sorrow instead of Joy and instead of Plenty and Fulness of the Riches of God's Grace there will be Poverty and Emptiness and Want and Barrenness instead of Fruitfulness For He with whom we have to do can turn a Fruitful Land into Barrenness for the Iniquity of them that dwell therein And indeed it is better to dye for the Cause of God then to live out of his Favour Wherefore my Dear Friends All dwell and watch in the Light our first Principle that the subtilty of the Enemy may be discover'd thereby in all his Assaults and Alurement and keep in a state resign'd unto the Lord out of all Reasonings and Consultations with Flesh and Blood for they let in Temptations and thereby you may be snared but as you stand singly given up to follow the Lord through all Tryals and Sufferings that may come upon you for the Gospels sake there will be nothing wanting unto you that appertains to the Peace and Comfort and to the Joy and Salvation of your Souls And Friends This I have seen in the Light of God's Truth and Salvation and this hath been long upon my Heart to declare unto you That if any are any whit wavering in their Minds they may be fore-warned that if the Enemy should so far prevail with any as to put them upon seeking out a Way to escape the present Sufferings which attend the Flock of God as Imprisonment Exilement c. yet I say unto you and you shall find it to be true that the same Enemy will find out another Way to bring such wholy to conform to his Worship and Image set up or else will bring a
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
of reputation in the World and seeks the praise of men and the honour of men and not the honour that comes from God only and whatsoever pretence or shew of humility this spirit comes under yet it seeks it self and its own reputation and will admire mens persons for its advantage and will justifie the wicked for reward or for its advantage or to set up and exalt it self and will cry peace to the wicked and ungodly and preach judgement to the righteous And this is the temper of that unrighteous exalted self-seeking spirit where or in whomsoever it gets an entrance as hath been largely made manifest and as by woful experience we have seen Wherefore beware of that spirit and receive it not but deny it for it is not of God but shall fall and wither and come to nought the Lord hath spoken it Wherefore dwell every one in true subjection to the Cross and see that your joy and rejoycing be in that for therein alone is your safety and there you learn of Christ and have and feel the teachings of his good Spirit and this keeps in the true humility which goeth before the true honour and in this you are sensible of the prosperity or going on of the Work of God in you and here you will know a daily weakning of the strength and power of the wicked one whose work is to lead or drive out of the straight pure and holy way into which God hath brought you which leads unto life and so diverting you from this he then leads or drives into exaltation or desperation both which leads to the chambers of death But as you all wait in the true simplicity and in obedience to the Word of Gods Power in your own hearts you will be kept clear in your understandings for as said the Apostle He that heareth the Word of God and doth it not is like unto a man that beholds his natural face in a glass and straightway goeth his way and forgetteth what manner of man he was But be not you forgetful Hearers but Doers of the Word and let it dwell plentifully in you so will you be kept sensible of your state and condition but if you go from that then you lose your fence and underandsting that you had before of the manner of your state and then deadness will grow and carelesness and negligence and thou wilt become dry and barren and unfruitful and so my dear hearts having large experience and being largely sensible of the many wiles subtilties and craftinesses of the wicked one I cannot do less for the love sake which I bear in my heart towards you then to lay these things before you and to re-mind you of them although you have been told of them before yet as the Apostle said I think it meet yea and it is my duty so to do while I remain in this Tabernacle to re-mind you of these things and according to the working of the Power of God and Word of life to stirre you up to watchfulness diligence and obedience knowing that therein your preservation and safety consisteth So dwell and watch in the Light and in the sense and feeling of Gods eternal quickning Spirit of life and in simplicity and true subjection thereunto and there all the snares of the wicked one will be discovered to thee and a Way seen to escape them all so that none will fall therein but be kept by the Power of God in the even pure straight and holy way which is narrow and leads to life eternal and herein is no exaltation nor desperation nor deadness nor dulness of spirit but a diligent and patient witing upon the Lord to receive his Counsels and Instructions in all states straits and tryals whatsoever that may come upon thee for the tryal of thy Faith which is much more pretious then that of gold which perisheth And Friends be nothing terrified nor yet dismayed at the prosperity rage or fury of the wicked for they have their day and their consolation here and when that is over as David said they shall be cut off for their feet are set in slippery places and their Rock is not as our Rock they themselves may be Judges but wait you upon the Lord for the manifestation of his will and give up your selves to do or suffer whatsoever he calls you unto and be you resigned up to be wholly disposed of according to the ordering of his Hand of Love or Arm of Power manifested in his Covenant of Light and follow the Lord Christ your Captain whithersoever he leads you not loving your lives unto the death and as valiant Souldiers endure hardships and continue to the end looking over and beyond all difficulties that may appear in your way and keep your eye upon the mark that stands before and then you will feel forcible drawings in your hearts by the Spirit of the Lord to press on towards it and nothing will be accounted dear to part with for it nor any thing grievous to be born or suffered that in the end thou mayst purchase it but there will be courage and strength sufficient given thee of the Lord to bear all things and endure all things as thou resign'st up thy self unto him and thou wilt have peace with God in thine own heart and conscience in all tryals and in all tribulations and in the end thou wilt have the full desire of thy soul and satisfaction to it and so my love is dear to you all who are Babes in Christ and is largely extended to the whole flock of God in all Countreys Regions and Quarters of the Earth But for your sakes have I chiefly written this Epistle who are young in the Truth and have not so full acquaintance with the workings of Satan and so full a knowledge of the depths of the mystery of iniquity as others have who are of a more full age in the truth and receive this as a Salutation of my dear love to you and a manifestation of my tender care for you and the Lord God Almighty give you wisdom and understanding and discerning that you may chuse the good and refuse the evil and may follow after that above all things which makes for your everlasting peace and happiness Amen Kingston the 25th of the 1st Moneth 1664. I am your dear Brother in the Tribulation and Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Christ Josiah Coale To the KING AND Both Houses OF PARLIAMENT Who have made Laws and Decrees and caused them to be put in Execution to Restrain and Prohibit People from having the Liberty of their Consciences in the Exercise of the Worship of God This is sent as a Warning from the LORD FRIENDS WHat do you mean by these Practises Or what do you expect to bring to pass by these your Undertakings and Proceedings Do you think thereby to root out the Holy Seed and Royal Off-spring of God which he hath raised and brought forth in these North parts of the World
the Lord and their own engagements they have made them more stronge and thereby added afflictions unto the sufferings of Gods people and by these things is the Lord provoked for he hath seen it and it displeaseth him And therefore is his controversie great with thee Oh England and his hand is stretched out in Judgment against thee O Land of my Nativity because of which my heart is even afflicted within me for the sake of thy Inhabitants and I am even pressed in spirit to declare unto thee thy Abominations and wherein thy Sin lyeth that hath thus provoked the Lord that if happily those within thy Borders who have not quite sinned out their Day may hear and fear and repent and find Mercy at the Hand of the Lord that their tranquility may be lengthened for he is a God of tender compassion and wills not the death nor destruction of any and therefore hath his hand been long stretched forth in mercy and love unto thee and his spirit hath long strived with thee to have gathered thee and he sent his Prophets and Servants unto thee even riseing early and sending them before the day of his Judgments broke forth and they proclaimed in thy streets Gods mighty day at hand and forewarned thy Inhabitants both high and low great and small bond and free male and female Rulers and people of the dreadful Day of Gods Judgments which is now begun to be revealed but they hearkned not neither would they receive the councel of wisdom that cryed in thy streets but despised all her reproofs and although she hath continued sending her Prophets and wise men unto this day yet hitherto they have not hearkned nor regarded but have gone on in pride and presumption in persecution and cruelty and have nourished their hearts as in a day of slaughter and given up themselves to follow pleasures and have walked in the lusts and devices of their own hearts and as much as in them lies they have fulfilled the desires of their own minds and lived carelesly and wantonly upon the earth as though there was no God therefore is thy Judgments just from the Hand of the Lord and thy reward is the recompence of thy own doings for thy iniquities hath pulled his Judgments upon thee and thy sins have brought his Plagues and thou must confess that he is just in all his wayes and righteous in all his doings For consider Oh Nation and let me expostulate the matter with thee a little and then judge thy self what reward thou art worthy of What could the Lord have done for thee more then he hath done or hath he done so for another Nation as for thee he hath even filled thee with all manner of temporal blessings and benefits that the hearts of thy Inhabitants could desire Corn and Oyle and Wine in abundance have been brought into thee and all kind of Necessaries both for food and raiment hath he caused to abound in thee that thy Inhabitants might be fed and cloathed and that want might not be unto any within thy Borders and also that thou mightst therein be a blessing unto other Nations about thee but alas how hast thou abused his Mercies even in these Temporal things and converted them unto another use then that for which they were ordained and given unto thee How have many of thy Inhabitants spent much of their time to invent what to be cloathed with and after what manner to be arrayed in all kind of gorgeous Apparel when others with all their care and industry could scarce get Raiment to put on to cover their nakedness but have been even ready to starve for want And how have many been inventing what to eat and drink also making waste and havock of Gods good Creatures while many aged poor and feeble have been in want of bread to eat and in necessity of food convenient for the preservation of the natural health and in this their distressed state and condition they have not had compassion on them nor commiserated their state but even vaunted over them as though they had not been their fellow Creatures and as though God had not appointed them to pertake of the fruits of the Creation and in these things the Mercies of God have been abused and his Creatures have been converted to a wrong use and the Lords Love and Goodness therein hath been very evilly requited by Thee and will it not be very just if the Lord sends want and scarcity and famine instead of this great plenty amongst those who have thus evilly requited the Lord in abusing his Mercies Yes verily For consider Do not the sins of Sodom abound in thee by which God was provoked to consume it yea and greater sins then were charged upon Sodom which was Pride Fulness of Bread and Aboundance of Idleness But Oh Nation thou hast not been only found in these Sins and yet they have abounded in thee also as God's faithful Witness in the Hearts of thy Inhabitants will testifie but over and above all this many of thy Inhabitants even those who ought to be Examples of Chastity to others have given up themselves to Whoredoms and took delight therein as though it were a thing not forbidden but allow'd of God but unto many of them it is happen'd and doubtless it will unto more according unto that saying Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Well But this is not all that I have to charge this Nation guilty of for How do Oaths cause this Land to Mourn even near unto Desolation And how are the hearts of many of the Inhabitants thereof harden'd and even sear'd as with a Hot Iron so that without any sense of the Reproofs of God's Witness in them they blaspheme the pure and worthy Name of the Holy Lord God by Cursing Swearing Ranting and Sporting themselves in the day time in all kind of Pastimes as though they endeavoured with all their Force and Might to draw one another as much as in them lie out of the Fear of God And beside all this What Lying and Dissembling is there amongst thy Inhabitants notwithstanding all their profession of a Reformed Christian Religion yet what cousening cheating and defrauding one another is there within thy borders and so treacherous have thy Inhabitants bin one towards another and such rotten heartedness and double dealing have they sound one in another that few of them dare trust one another Again O how doth drunkenness also abound in thee oh England and how are many Houses filled even night and day with riotous persons spending and wasting the Creation upon their ungodly lusts and assembling themselves together even great multitudes to their invented Stage-Playes and all kind of Vanities and Abominations when the people of the Lord who fear his Name are not suffered to meet peaceably together to wait upon God and to worship him but they must be thrust into Prisons or beat and abused and knockt down and by these things hath the Lord been
that their Shame may appear of which he sent them a Sign before-hand and now all false Foundations shall be discovered and all false coverings shall be ript of and all outside Professions shall wither for God is Risen to Fan the Nations and to Winnow them and he will separate betwixt the Wheat and the Chaff and he will gather the Wheat into his Gardner and the Chaff shall be burnt with unquenchable fire and wo be unto them that are covered and not with the covering of the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore let every one humble themselves under the hand of God which is now stretched out in Judgment and mind the simplicity that was in Christ Jesus who made himself of no reputation but humbled himself and then will the lofty aspiring mind be kept down which otherwise will be aspiring after and intrudeing into things above its reach and will neglect to be obedient to those small things which are made known and this hath been and still is the state of the greatest part of people professing Christianity But as I said before that will not serve their turn nor give people acceptance with the Lord for then had God been highly pleased with this Generation but contrary wise it hath provoked him to wrath and to visit them with his judgment that thereby they may be humbled whereby they may perceive that humiliation in life and godliness of Conversation and a righteous upright walking with the Lord is of greater acceptation with the Lord then all outside shews and empty professions whatsoever Therefore at last amendment of life is the matter and a close walking with the Lord in his Covenant of Light according to the appearance thereof is the thing that must bring people into favour and peace and acceptance with the Lord for this I perceive that God is no respecter of persons neither will he regard them because of their profession nor yet because of their greatness for of him are all things but in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him Neither is it your many Prayers that he hath regard unto while rebellion against his Spirit with envy and murder against his people lodgeth in your hearts and those acts of violence towards them are in your hand for saith he When you make many Prayers I will not hear for your hands are full of Blood No more will your fastings at all remove the present Visitation of his Judgments from amongst you nor cause Health to spring unto you while you Fast as you do at this day that is as your Fruits declare for Strife and Debate and to Smite the People of God with the Fist of Wickedness which is the Fast that was forbidden of God Isai 58 4. in which you do according to your confession the things that you ought not to do and you likewise leave undone as you say the things that you ought to do that is to keep the Fast which the Lord hath chosen which is to loose the Bonds of Wickedness and to undo the heavy Burdens that is laid upon Gods People and upon the Seed of God in your selves and to let the Oppressed go free from those Sufferings that you inflict upon them and that you break every Unrighteous Yoak for this is the Fast that you ought to keep and these are things that you ought to do in order to the staying of the present hand of Judgment which is stretched forth which indeed you leave undone and therefore as you say you have no health in you but if you would keep the Commands of God that is not to Fast as you do this day which is to Smite with the Fist of Wickedness but if you would study to be quiet and as much as in you lies to have Peace with all Men and would keep the Fast which the Lord hath chosen that is to loose the Bonds of Wickedness and to undo the heavy Burdens and set the Oppressed free and wouldst deal thy Bread to the hungry and bring the Poor that are cast out into thy House and when thou seest the Naked that thou cloath them and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh then would the Promise of God which he is not slack concerning be soon fulfilled unto thee Oh Nation for then should thy light break forth as the Morning and thine health should spring forth speedily thy Righteousness should go before thee and the Glory of the Lord should be thy Rereward then thou shouldest call and the Lord would answer thou should'st cry and he would say here am I for he is faithful that Promised and these are his faithful and true Promises which is not fulfilled unto thee Oh Nation because thou doest those things as aforesaid which thou ought not to do and leaves undone those things which thou ought to do and this is the cause that thine health doth not spring forth and that thine Inhabitants have no health in them Oh England England How incurable is thy Wound must many of thy mighty Men perish or fall before thy breach can be made up through hearkning to the voice of an Adulteress whose feet abides not in her house Prov. 7.11 and through taking counsel of a whorish Woman who hath corrupted the Earth with the abundance of her Fornications and Enchanted and Bewitched the Inhabitants thereof with her Sorceries and by whom many mighty Men have already fallen as Solomon said Prov. 7.26 Well but must she be the cause of the fall of many in this our day also Oh my heart is even broken within and I am even very sorely afflicted because of the consideration of these things What will not thy great Men and Rulers hearken to the Counsel of the Lord that they may be healed but hearken to the voice of a Harlot whose wayes are so moveable that they cannot be known Prov. 5.6 and who causeth all to Perish that she compasseth within her Habitation Prov. 2.19 Well I could wish that if it were the Will of the Lord it might not happen unto them as it did unto Ahab of Old who had provoked the Lord and by the false Accusation of the sons of Belial caused the Blood of Innocent Naboth to be shed until his Decree was sealed against him which caused him to say Who shall perswade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead 1 Kings 22.20 and there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord and said I will perswade him and the Lord said unto him Wherewith and he said I will go forth and be a Lying spirit in the mouthes of all his Prophets and the Lord said Thou shalt perswade him and prevail also go forth and do so So the lying spirit went in the mouthes of his Prophets and perswaded him by them to go on in the thing that he desired But Micaiah the true Prophet of the Lord told the King in faithfulness what would be the issue of that Interprize that he
was puting himself upon nevertheless the King would not hearken unto Micaiah but commanded that he should be put in Prison and fed with the Bread of affliction and with the Water of affliction c. and hearkned unto the lying spirit that was in the mouthes of his many Prophets who prophesied smooth things unto him and by them this lying spirit prevailed and caused him to fall before the Host of the King of Assyria Well I say I could heartily wish that it may not be so with thy Rulers and Magistrates Oh Nation as it was with Ahab and that they have not so far provoked the Lord by Persecuting and sheding the Blood of the Innocent as to cause him to seal his Decree against them or any of them as he did against Ahab and I could wish that it might not prove so which I have cause to believe it will that he hath given permission to the lying spirit to go in the mouthes of thy Priests and Prophets to perswade thy Rulers to go on in this Antichristian Work of Persecuting the Innocent and harmless People of the Lord thereby to fill up the measure of their Fathers Iniquities that so he may be avenged on them But Oh that thy Rulers had hearkned unto the Counsel of those whom God sent unto them who came not for filthy Lucre nor with flattering Speeches but in the Name of the Lord declaring his Counsel in plainness and faithfulness for thy good but Alas instead of hearing their Counsel they have done unto them as Ahab did unto Micaiah even put them in Prison and fed them with the Bread and Water of affliction and thereby they have provoked the Lord of Hosts So that without all controversie as I said before if thy Rulers persist and go on following the Counsel of those false Prophets into whose mouthes the lying spirit is entred to perswade them that the way to remove or stop the present Visitation of Gods Judgments which is Revealed in the midst of thee is to be severe in Persecuting and Banishing his despised and harmless People out of thy Borders I say if their counsel be hearkned unto and obeyed therein that lying spirit will certainly thereby prevail and will cause them to fall and none shall help them and they shall be broken with a perpetual breath and none shall bind them up Wherefore hearken unto this ye Heads and Rulers of the Nation of England the Land of my Nativity be not Proud nor stout hearted against the Lord but fear and dread the Almighty God of Heaven and Earth for he hath certainly a Controversie with you and he will not at all regard the lofty looks nor your proud Carriage for he will be reverenced wherefore humble your selves in Dust and Ashes in his presence you who have not quite sinn'd out your Day and put on Sack-cloth before him if so be there may be hope lest he break you in pieces as a Potters Vessel of Clay and there be none to save you And thus Oh England I have briefly and faithfully declared unto thee thy state and condition according as God shewed it unto me and the cause of thy present Calamities and of the future Judgments that threatens themselves and also the way in which they may in a great measure be prevented and the hot displeasure and indignation of the Lord be appeased in which thy Rulers may likewise see the state and danger they are in But yet I know many will not hear nor regard at all untill their desolation come upon 〈◊〉 yet nevertheless I shall be clear in that I have discharged my Conscience unto them from time to time according as God required me 〈…〉 if they perish in their gain sayings and 〈◊〉 neckedness their blood will be upon themselves and upon them who caused them to err Postscript WHen the good will and loving kindness of God who wills not the death nor destruction of any hath been largely manifested unto a rebellious and stiff-necked Generation of people in striving with them by his good Spirit and when he hath oft reach'd unto them with the visitation of his Love and called unto them by the mouthes of his Servants Prophets and Messengers to repent and turn every one from his evil way that they might be healed and find mercy with the Lord and yet they will have no regard thereunto but refuse to be reformed and continue still in their rebellion against the Light of his good Spirit in their hearts and despise hate persecute and despitefully use the Servants and Messengers of God whom in tender mercy love and good will he sent unto them I say after the long suffering and loving kindness of God hath been so largely and on this wise manifested unto a rebellious and stiff-necked people who so evilly requite his love to them is it not then justice in the Lord to cease striving with them and to give them up to hardness of heart and to seal his Decree against them in his wisdom to find out a way that their eyes may be closed and their hearts hardned least they should see and understand and be converted and healed that so it may come upon them according to that Prophetical saying of Solomon viz. He that oft-times is reproved and stiffneth his neck shall suddenly be cut off and that without remedy Wherefore now consider Oh Nation of England is not this the very state of many of thy Inhabitants at this day hath not the love and good will of God been largely manifested to them in that he hath long strove with them by his good Spirit in their hearts and hath not his immortal Word of Life been plentifully declared amongst them even to the uttermost of thy borders every way hath it not been line upon line and precept upon precept unto them even by the mouthes of his faithful Servants and Prophets whose cry in thy Streets hath oft and long been Turn ye turn ye from your evil wayes why will die c And did they not declare that Gods dreadful Judgments were nigh to be revealed upon them that would not repent and turn from the Abominations against which they testified But alas few at all had regard thereunto but many lookt upon it as an idle Tale or as a whimsical Imagination and refused to hear and fear even as Jerusalem did in the day when Christ would have gathered her and therefore now in the Justice of God is his Decree gone forth and sealed against many of them as it was against Jerusalem and his righteous Judgments which was threatned and prophesied of by his Servants and Hand-maids is begun to be revealed amongst them and in the midst thereof he hath in his wisdom found out a way to blind their Eyes and to stop their Ears and to harden their Hearts least they should see and hear and understand and be converted and healed for as Job said He taketh away the perfect and the wicked and because it is so
are Witnesses of it and how in Love we laboured for the restoration of those who were beguiled through the craft of the Enemy and for the preservation of those who hitherto have escaped his Snare that is well known to many witnesses But if none were sensible of it the Lord he knows and is Witness that in sincerity of heart in the Name of the Lord towards God and his People we were exercised and in our Labour and Travel for them the Blessings of the Lord and his Peace and the comfort of his Spirit did possess and fill our hearts beyond the understanding of the World although many towards whom we were so in love exercised could not believe but some withstood our Testimony and kicked against it in their hearts and resisted the Counsel of God against themselves to the grief and sorrow of our hearts Therefore it pleased the Lord in Love Mercy and good Will to his Servant my dear Brother R. F. that his Travels Burdens and grievous Sufferings might be put to an end and that our testimony for the Lord might be sealed with the Life of his Servant against that Antichristian intruding Spirit of Opposition which laboured to intrude its self into the Church to sit as Ruler and Judge there I say for these causes and for none contrary hereunto it pleased God to visit my dear Brother R. F. and to take him out of the Body at which I perceive some who are ignorant of what the Lord intended thereby have rejoyced But let such know that they have made a wrong application of the dealing of the Lord therein by which they have hardned themselves instead of being humbled through that which was ordered of God for their humiliation and good and if possible that such may yet see and turn to the flock of the Companions of Christ And also that the flocks who are and have remained in the true Fold may be refreshed thereby I shall here insert the Last Testimony of the aforesaid R. F. which was given by him a very short space before his departure out of the Body in the presence of several good Friends at which time in the Name Strength and Power of God he was moved to sit up in his Bed and spake concerning the Love of God and concerning our Testimony against the aforesaid Antichristian intruding factious spirit with as much strength Power and freeness of spirit as at any time he had done in the time of his outward health Whose words were as followeth Friends God hath been mightily with me and hath stood by me at this time and his Power and presence hath accompanied me all along though some think that I am under a Cloud for something but God hath appeared for the owning of our Testimony and hath broken in upon me as a flood and I am filled with his Love more than I am able to express and God is really appeared for us If God himself had come down and spoken as a man he could not have spoke more clearer to us than he hath done by the many Testimonies from Heaven in his People concerning this thing Therefore I beseech you Friends here of this City of London whether I live or dye be you faithful to your Testimony which God hath committed to you and as it ariseth in your hearts be faithful to the Lord therein After which he was silent for a little season and then his Mouth was again opened in the Name and Power of the Lord even as before and he spake very preciously unto Friends concerning the things before mentioned testifying of the greatness of the Love and Power of God of which he was made partaker and which he then felt and of the preciousness of the Truth which he had with us born witness of and exhorted them to faithfulness and stedfastness therein and to singleness that nothing might be suffered to creep in of another nature to intermix therewith saying No Linsy-woolsy Garment must be worn c. with much more to that effect which cannot be remembred And having thus given his last Testimony as a Seal unto all the former Testimonies which he had given for the Lord and on his behalf in about two or three Hours time after being filled with the Peace and Love of God beyond declaring as himself signified he departed this Life even like a Lamb and Slept with his Fathers and Brethren and is entred into everlasting rest with the Lord. And this may serve also as a sufficient Testimony to stop the Mouths of all who vaunt themselves in his death as though he had been taken away in Judgment and Displeasure of the Lord because of his appearing on the behalf of God against that Antichristian spirit of opposition which contends against our Meetings and Preaching and the manner of our exercise in the Worship of God as Formal c. And let such know that if his being removed prove a Judgment unto any it will be to them who rejected the Mercies of God by him tendred to them and have thereby hardned themselves against the Lord and his Servants and have made a wrong application of the dealings of the Lord with his Servant even as those who know not the purpose of God therein and so have shewed themselves not to be the Friends of God as Abraham was from whom God did not hide the thing that he intended but let such yet repent if a place can be found for them And so let all my dear friends every where who believe in the Light of Jesus and who have tasted of the Love Goodness and Power of God dwell in the sence and feeling of his Love and Power and let nothing divert or turn aside the minds of any from persevering in that pure holy way of Life which they are called to walk in and in which the daily renewings of the peace and good will of God is witnessed neither let any be slack or remiss in performing that ancient godly Christian practice of Assembling your selves together in the Name and Fear of the Lord forasmuch as ye know the exceeding benefit and advantage that ye have received thereby because of the Lords Appearance amongst us who acording to his Promise hath not failed us unto this day but his Name and Power hath been great amongst us and still is opening the mysteries of his Kingdom and revealing of the vertue of his Life in our Hearts and Souls by his own Spirit to our great refreshment and comfort so that we have not at any time been sent empty away who have in sincerity thirsted after him and in faithfulness waited for his Appearance which is sufficient to encourage all to persevere in that godly practise of meeting together with all integrity without wavering And forasmuch as our assembling together at this day is the great thing that the Enemy of Truth strikes at in all his Instruments of all kinds in which he appears against us it behoves all to stand and be faithful
Spirit which the Apostle said was the New Testament and 5thly Whether those sad Consequences do follow by denying the Scriptures to be the Word or no as J. N. hath affirmed Concerning Christ being the Word of God AND now I shall come to the next thing which he insists upon which is Christ being the Word of God in which I observe he will own That he is call'd so but he is not really so pag. 49. and that he is call'd by many Names comparatively as a Door a Vine an Ensign a Star a Lamb c. but yet he is not really any of these pag. 50. Answ What absurdities are here might not J. N. as well have said that though Christ is called Christ yet he is not really so and although he is called a Saviour yet he is not really so hath he not the same ground for the one as the other If Christ be not really what he said he was is it not to make him a Lyar whether is it more safe to believe what Christ said himself was or to believe what John Newman saith he was For J. N. altogether contradicts Christ's sayings in Scripture concerning himself for Christ saith Joh. 15.1 I am the True Vine But J. N. saith in the 50. Pag of his Book he is not a Vine Certainly the greatest Truth that I can perceive demonstrated in this matter is That J. N. is no Branch of the True Vine nor yet grafted into it for if he had been a Branch in the Vine or a member in the Body that holds the Head he would have known that Christ is really a Vine and he would have also known that he is really all those things which he said of himself and which they that knew what he was to them said of him and that it is by the diversities of the Operations of this one Lord that he is known to be really all those things but J. N. hath sufficiently declared himself to be a stranger to the diversities of the operations of this one Lord by denying him to be really what he affirmeth himself to be and so hath given Christ the Lye of which let him repent before it be to late But what 's the cause that he thus works and shuffles and denys Christ before men to be what he said he was and what they that knew the diversities of his operations declar'd him to be is it not to take away the Key of Knowledg to hinder them from going in at this Door that are entering is it not to keep people from believing that the operation of the Word in the Heart which is a Hammer knocking for resception is the appearance of Christ lest they should be converted thereto by its own operation and thereby be healed of all their putrifying sores and is not this to do the Divel's work to shut Christ and his saving Power out of his People as though he whom the Apostle said ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things could be circumscribed onely to a Body of Flesh Mark he did not only say that he ascended into Heaven neither do I deny but acknowledge that he sits at the right Hand of God in Heaven But he also said that he ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things And because he fills all things therefore None need say who shall ascend into Heaven to fetch Christ from above or who shall descend into the deep to fetch him up c for the Word is nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart which is incomprehensible and filleth all things so that all may look unto him and be saved even to the Word which is really the Word and is able to save the Soul even to the uttermost from all iniquity whatsoever but J. N. would not have this Word to be properly Christ by any means but shifts and shuffles and wrests the Scripture and brings in his Meanings as though they were of more credit then the plain words of Scripture and would fain put out our Eyes with his Atoms But in the true Light which makes all things manifest he is seen comprehended and denyed to be any true Follower of Christ or Branch of the true Vine or spiritual Worshipper But then in the 50. Page of his Book where he affirmeth that Christ is not really the Word though so called he saith there is an objection brought against this Truth in Joh. 1.1 where the Evangelist saith In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the word was God from whence saith he they object and say That Christ was the Word from the beginning which thing saith he I cannot grant for this place doth not prove Christ as Christ to be the Word from the beginning but it proveth the Word to be God from the beginning for Christ was not Christ in the beginning but the Word was God in the beginning but Christ was in time when the God head had taken Flesh to it self and not before c. And in pag. 51. he saith It cannot be understood that Christ as Christ should be the Word of God from or in the beginning or yet called the Word of God for he was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh in the Womb of Mary therefore Christ as Christ could not be the Word of God from the beginning Answ Mark Reader whether or no the Affirmations of J. N. do not frequenly contradict the Testimonies of Christ and his Servants for the Apostle speaking of the spiritual Rock which follow'd Israel of which they all drunk said That Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10.4 But J. N. affirms That Christ was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh c. Therefore he contradicts the Apostle's Testimony who said That Rock was Christ and therefore is not to be received Again The Apostle said by vertue of the Revelation of the Father That Christ was the Son of God Mat. 16.16 17. Thou art the Son of God And this Christ the Son of God was glorified with the Father before the World was For that was Christ that said Glorifie thy Son with the same Glory that he had with thee c. Therefore Christ was Christ before the World was and before he took to himself Flesh And whereas J. N. saith He cannot grant that Christ was the Word from the Beginning Answ That doth not at all weaken the Testimony of John who said The Word was with God in the Beginning for his Testimony doth as much prove That Christ was the Word in the Beginning as it doth That the Word was God and J. N. in effect confesseth it but that he is blinded being a Stranger to the Spirit that giveth Understanding and being gone from the Scriptures which elsewhere he seems so much to applaud into his own Imaginations and Fancies for saith he He was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh and he that took to himself Flesh he acknowledgeth to be the Word