AN INVITATION OF LOVE To all who Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness to come and take of the Water of Life freely without Money and without Price With a Word of Advice to such as are Asking the WAY to SION and are Weeping with their Faces thither-ward Together with A faithful Warning to the Inhabitants of BABYLON to come out of her lest partaking of her Sins ye also come to partake of her Plagues By Isabel Yeamens And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my People that ye be not Partakers of her Sins and that ye receive not of her Plagues Rom. 18.4 Printed in the Year 1679. TO THE READER Friendly Reader WHen in the weighty and deep Meditations of my Heart I beheld the States and Conditions of such as are inquiring the Way to Sion and have some tender desires begotten in them after the Lord and the Knowledge of his Way my Life was abundantly drawn forth in the Love of God with living breathings unto him in whom all Fulness dwells that of the Manifestation and free Dispensations of his Love Life all such may come to feel and receive and to take heed of sleighting the Day of their tender Visitation whilst the Lord secretly calls unto them by his good Spirit in their Bosoms lest the Night overtake them wherein no man can work And in the Sense of the Universal Love of God extended unto All Mankind I was constrained in my Spirit to commit these following lines to publick view as finding my Burden unremoved until I was made willing to communicate the same which I have done with as much brevity as I could with clearness hoping the ponderous Reader and such whom it chiefly concerns may not be distasted at the simplicity of the Srile or my want of Eloquence in expressing my self in things of this nature having herein hinted at divers things which I have experienced through the free Love of God to my Soul which seeming but little and low things yet may not miss of some service for the stirring up of the simple-minded to make a diligent search how the Case stands betwixt God and their Immortal Souls who thereby coming to see their Conditions and their Neglect and Disobedience in not answering the Lord's Requirings according to the Manifestations and divine Discoveries of his Light and Grace in their Hearts may come to redeem their Mis-spent Time which is irrevocable and take up a Holy Resolution by the Assistance of the Grace of God to redeem their Time to come by a Godly Righteous and Sober Conversation in the Fear of the Lord and by taking heed to this pure Principle of Light and Life may come to be enabled thereby to perform that Duty and acceptable Service which the Lord requires of them and receive the Reward of the Profitable and Obedient Servant is the Desire of my Soul And that none may sleight the Day of small things but be faithful to what little measure the Lord commits to them and thereby to become worthy of more So not desirous to be tedious or to undertake great things I recommend the Reader to the following Lines whose Mind I desire may be possessed with seriousness and with the Fear of the Lord when exercised in reading of things relating to Eternity so shall such reap Benefit hereby and answer the End of my Labours and Travails which is the Well-being of their IMMORTAL SOULS This is chiefly intended for the Northern Parts of this Nation where many are thirsting afresh after the Truth although ignorant of it and that such may be informed of the Way thereto and reap Everlasting Life by it is my Soul's Desire Isabell Yeamans An INVITATION of LOVE to all that Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness c. TO all you who are ignorant of the Way of Life and Salvation and are seeking the Living amongst the Dead Tombs and Sepulchres and are wandring in the Night in the dead Forms and empty Professions Will-Worships and Traditions of Men which are set up held and performed in man's Will and in man's Time and not in God's Time nor according to his Mind and Will and therefore are an abomination unto him Now that all such may be informed aright my Testimony and Exhortation in the Fear of the Lord is That he is not there but is arisen and ascended far above all Heavens the Stone is roled from the Door of the Sepulchre and the Grave-Clothes are left behind the Watch-men of the Night could not hold him nor the Grave contain him Oh! look not for him where he is not to be found as the Angel said to Mary Magdalen and the other Women He is not here he is risen and they declared his Resurrection John 10.17 Matth. 28.7 Where 't is manifest that the first Witnesses that were commissionated and that by the Angel of the Lord to preach the Resurrection of Christ Jesus were Women who as it s written returned with Fear and great Joy and could not but declare what they had seen and heard concerning the Lord Christ though yet it seemed to some yea of the Disciples themselves who were afterwards convinced of the Truth of those Women's Testimonies as idle Tales as it seems to many in this Age because the Resurrection is held forth and born Testimony unto by Women but blessed be the Lord he hath raised up many both Sons and Daughters to be living Witnesses this day of his inward and spiritual Appearance and Power of his Resurrection and Ascension So look not for him in the Shadows and Forms without the Power and Substance nor be satisfied with the hearing of him by the hearing of the Ear or a notional Traditional Knowledge without the saving Knowledge of Power for until you come to know his Power and Life in your selves to save you from Evil you are not come to the Substance but are still running from Mountain to Hill as Sheep having no Shepherd seeking living Bread in desolate places and hewing unto your selves Cisterns that will hold no Water an Evil which the Lord complain'd of among the Children of Israel saying Ye have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Water and hewn unto your selves Cisterus that can hold no Water So come ye off the Mountains of Esau into the low Valleys where the Springs of Life you may feel and come into the Valley of Jehosaphat where the Lord pleads with all flesh by Sword by Fire that through his deep Judgment for Sin and Transgression through true Acknowledgment and Repentane the Valley of Achor may be known to be a Door of Hope to the Transgressors and by this Hope through Faith come to receive Christ in you the Hope of Glory who is the Resurrection of the Just unto Life and of the Unjust unto Condemnation the first begotten from the Dead and the first born of every Creature and now glorified with the Father the Creator of all things who made the Heavens and the Earth the Sea
lies slain in the Streets of the Ungodly World spiritually called Sodom and Aegypt that his got a place in man's Heart since the Fall The Foundation of this wicked World that is in Sin Polution that has so corrupted the Earth and filled it with Violence was laid by Transgression whereby Death came over all men But as by the Disobedience of one Man All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God so by the Obedience of one Man the Man Christ Jesus we come to be made alive again And as the Creature comes to joyn with the Manifestation of the Light of Christ Jesus the free Gift of the Father's Love who is full of Grace and Truth they come to know and feel his quickening Spirit which sets free from the Law of Sin and Death And keeping to the Light which discovers all the Deeds of Darkness they come to see their Way out of the old Adam to Christ the second Adam and how to refuse the Evil and chuse the Good according as in the Light it is made manifest for as saith the Apostle All things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light for whatsoever doth make manifest is Light Ephes 5.13 Now mind that in your own Hearts which reproveth in secret when no mortal Eye sees nor Ear hears the small still Voice which calls unto you when you are running to do Evil which grieves the Spirit of the Lord in you Return return hearken unto the Voice of Wisdom for she uttereth her Voice in the Streets of the World and in the midst of the Concourse of the People How long ye simple ones will ye love Simplicity and Scorners delight in their Scorning and Fools hate Knowledge Turn ye at my Reproofs c. Because I have called and ye have refused I have stretched forth my Hand and none regarded but ye have despised all my Counsel and would none of my Reproof I will also laugh at your Calamity when your Fear cometh like a Desolation and when Affliction and Anguish shall come upon you Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but shall not find me because they hated Knowledge and did not chuse the Fear of the Lord But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely Prov. 1.22 23 24. Here the Wise Man in the Wisdom of God shews what is to be turned from and the Safety Peace and Consolation of those that turn at the Reproofs and hearken to the Voice of this pure Wisdom as also the Calamity and Distress of such as will not give ear to the Reproofs of Instruction which as one said is the Way to Life nor be obedient to the Measure of Light and Life in their Hearts such must reap the Fruit of their own Devices Job speaking excellently and experimentally of this Wisdom saith on this wise Where is Wisdom to be found and where is the place of Understanding Man knoweth not the Price thereof The Depth saith It is not in me and the Sea saith It is not in me It cannot be gotten for Gold neither shall Silver be weighed for the Price thereof But THE FEAR OF THE LORD that is Wisdom and TO DEPART FROM INIQUITY that is a good Understanding Death and Destruction have heard of the Fame of Wisdom and many can talk of it but they are Aliens to it and their Hearts remote from it Oh! the pure holy Fear of the Lord God it keeps the Heart clean it preserveth out of all Evil and delivers from the Snares of Death it is a precious Pearl indeed a matchless Jewel Where is the Man that is furnished with Eloquence to unfold the Excellency of this Wisdom or who knows the Worth of it but those who have digged and searched the Deep for it and when they have found it sold all their Treasure that they have been heaping up in their Notional and Artificial Wisdom which is from below and made a Purchase of this precious Treasure and Riches which endures forever such have made a blessed exchange never to be repented of the Thief cannot break through and steal nor Moth corrupt neither can Canker rust or eat this Treasure But this is not to be found or attained unto in the Path where the Lyons Whelp hath trodden the fierce angry Nature or the fierce Lyon has passed by no Vultures Eye nor Beast of Prey can walk therein And though the Lyons may suffer Hunger yet those that fearthe Lord shall want no good thing a blessed Priviledge indeed It was the Fear of the Lord that preserved Joseph in his tender Years when he was in Egypt and when the Egyptian Woman his Mistress tempted him How can I said he do this great Wickedness and sin against God Gen. 39.9 The Dread and Fear of offending the Lord was before his Eyes whereby he was preserved out of that Snare Oh that people would lay these things to heart and consider what they are a doing and search their Hearts in the Light and Fear of the Lord and humble themselves before him to whom they must give a just and final Account of the Deeds done in the Body that they may receive Mercy at his Hand before the Door be shut and there be none to open For saith the Lord by the Mouth of his holy Prophet I saith wash you make you clean put away the Evil of your Doings from before mine Eyes cease to do Evil learn to do well then come and let us reason together though your Sins were as Crimson they shall be made white as Snow though they were red as Scarlet they shall be as Wool If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land but if ye refuse and be rebellious ye shall be devoured with the Sword c. And the Son of God saith Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden with your Sins and Iniquities and know not whither to go and I will give you Rest This is Glad Tidings of an Acceptable Rest indeed unto all who are weary with travelling in the By Wayes and Crooked Pathes which lead to the Chambers of Death And this Rest remains for all the People of God who have been willing to come unto Christ by his Light in their own Hearts and to bow to his Appearance And all you who are in want of this Rest and desire the attainment of it but are ignorant of the Way that leads to it my Exhortation and Advice unto you is to come unto him who said Come unto me all you that are weary c. of whom it was testified That when he should come he should reprove the world of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment and cease from seeking and striving in your own Wills which is not according to the Will of God and rest from your own Labours as God did from his mind that which discovers Sin and reproves in secret for it and turn at the Reproofs of it
Heart and said It is NOT in Heaven that thou shouldst say Who shall ascend to bring it from thence NEITHER is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say Who shall go over to fetch it us but the Word is very nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth for to do it Behold this day I have set before thee Life and Good Death and Evil Deuteronomy Chap. 30. Verse 12 13 14 15. From whence I conclude and am fully satisfied that Life and Good consists in and is obtained by hearkening unto and obeying that Word that is nigh in the Heart And on the contrary by sleighting and rejecting of it Death and Evil cometh upon the Souls of all those who running after Empty Words and after the Tree of Knowledge and come not to the Guidance of that Inward WORD in the Heart which is able to give them Acceptance with the Lord. For Without Faith viz. in this Word which purifies the Heart it is impossible to please God and by it we have Access unto him But a Dead Historical or Notional Faith will profit none But that which purifieth the Heart and worketh by Love and purgeth the Conscience from Dead Works of which Christ is the Author and Finisher too that only will profit And this True and Living Faith is known by the Blessed Effects and Works of it for as the Body without the Spirit is Dead so Faith without Works is Dead also James 2.26 And all those that are true Believers in Christ Jesus the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World they come to find the Powerful Operation of this Faith in his Blood to cleanse and purifie them from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and hereby are made Vessels of Honour and fit Temples for the Lord to dwell in being sanctified through the Blood of Cleansing and Washed with pure Water and made clean thereby so that an Acceptable Sacrifice and a Pure Offering is offered up unto God from a clean Vessel which is a Sweet Savour unto him and well pleasing in his Sight and hereby we know that we are of God because we have Admittance into his Presence and free Access to the Throne of his Grace so that whatsoever we ask by Faith and in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ it is granted unto us And this Faith is the Gift of God and is received and witnessed in receiving Christ the true Light But they that deny the Light are Strangers to this Faith and so are ignorant of the Blood of Cleansing and of that which should reconcile them to God and discover unto them the Mysteries of his Kingdom But my true desire are that all who in any measure are stirred up and feel an inquiry and search begun in their Hearts after the Lord and the knowledge of his Way that such may receive the word of Truth into their Hearts and that it may be as Seed sown upon good Ground which takes Root downward and brings forth Fruit upward and an Heavenly increase to God and Satisfaction and Comfort to their Souls may be witnessed that all old things may be done away the old Heavens and the old Earth with the beggarly Elements and Rudiments of the World that the new Heavens and the new Earth may be known wherein dwells Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the holy Ghost Oh! Prise the Day of your Visitation and let it not slip over your Heads unregarded lest it be said unto you as it was to Jerusalem of Old How often would I have gathered you as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her Wings But ye would not Behold your Habitation shall be left unto you desolate Matth. 23.37 38. Now mark 't was not because they COULD not come unto Christ but because they WOULD not that they were left ungathered there was a Sensual and Corrupt Will in them that would not be subject to him that called them nor bow down their Necks to Christ's Yoke but Stiff-necked and Rebellious were they wherefore Christ withdrew himself and said unto them Henceforth ye shall not see me untill ye say Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord vers 39. Now consider your Latter End and labour to make your Calling and Election sure that when you come to render a final Account of the Deeds done in the Body to the Great and Mighty Judge of Heaven and Earth before whose Tribunal Seat of Judgment All must appear you may receive the Sentence of PEACE and the Reward of WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT ENTER INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD Oh! this will be a joyful Sentence and more Estimable than all the Glory of Egypt-or the Treasure of Ten Thousand Worlds where the Soul comes to possess an Everlasting Inheritance and a Crown of Life and Immortality among them that are sanctified where the Song of High Praises and Everlasting Halelujahs is sung to the God of their Salvation who hath wiped away all Tears from their Eyes and Sighing and Sorrow is fled away Which are the true Breathings of her who desires the Everlasting Well-being of the Souls of all People Isabel Yeamans Swarthmore the 2d Moneth 1679. THE END