MY hearts desire and prayer to God for you all is that as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so you may walk in him rooted and built up in him and stablished in the faith as you have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving for otherwise Satan will get an advantage against you and prevail upon you so as to put you to shame and me also in the sight of this present evil old world Oh! how will it tend to the glory of our God and Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ for you to remain unmoveable and unshaken in the midst of all the present temptations both on the right hand and on the left considering that the subtil old Serpent hath doubtless a most mischievous designe against you as you are the Temple and Habitation of the living God Oh! how shall we rejoyce together when we meet to bless and to praise the Lord for preserving us unto his heavenly kingdom notwithstanding the strong endeavours of all adversaries to keep us asunder to scatter us and so to rejoyce and glory in our desolation But our God will come and will not keep silence yea he will come with vengeance and make a most wonderful discovery of that notorious falsehood and hypocrisie of that prodigious perfidiousness whereof this adulterous generation is so deeply guilty before the Lord and his people In the interim possess your souls with patience watch and pray lest you also enter into temptation lest you also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own stedfastness Remember it is Jehoâ—ah your righteousness who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy Great are my hopes many are my fears concerning you and especially concerning those among you who shall think within themselves when they hear this You are more fearful or he is more fearful then he needs to be we shall do well enough let such an one think if any such there be that such thoughts nourished and cherished in his heart are certain symptomes of an uncertain Spirit and of a treacherous heart Oh consider consider what relicks of unbelief what remainders of lusts what members of the old man are yet unmortified in the best of us Who made us to differ from the World Oh lean lean upon your Beloved that hath made a difference between you and those poor creatures that are yet in their blood yet in their sins Are you not believers are you not Disciples of the Lord are you not Saints by calling have not you every one seen the Lord have not you as others beheld as in a glass with a face unveiled the glory of the Lord then Brethren why are we not transformed from glory to glory why are our hearts narrow cold heavy why are our Spirits carnal earthly and staggering why do not our souls mount aloft Great is my boldness in writing as it used to be in speaking to you I have a great interest in you and among you I have a great part a large share in the good or evil that befals you your comforts are my comforts also your discomforts are my discomforts also Oh that I might warm your hearts at this distance by the power of God! setting these expressions of love and truth strongly and effectually upon all your hearts How doth the inward pulse of your hidden man beat what secret workings walkings and communications in the inmost holy place Do you can you set your feet upon the necks of your wost enemies the cursed corruptions of your nature Verily Christians if you do not grow into intimate acquaintance with the Almighty if you attain not to holy familiar communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ you will be of little use in the publick service of the Lambe against the Dragon the Beast and the false Prophet Beg with ardent supplication to live and to be kept under the glorious ministration of the Spirit Do not so minde the work within doors as to neglect the work abroad Do not give up your strength and the might of your Spirits for the carrying on the publick work of Christ abroad to the disadvantage of the concernments of your souls but as I have formerly advised you touching the graces and the gifts of the Spirit so I perswade as to this matter carry on the great affairs within and without In conjunction and in proportion But remember as I have told you often Therefore doth the Lord dispatch the business of your salvation and particular happiness giving you a full assurance of eternal life that so his people having their own inheritance secured to them for ever they may be capable of serving the Lord Jesus in their generation upon the most noble account Now my Beloved I shall conclude with a few words unto you as you are assembled together in the Name of the Lord ponder your paths study the duty of your relations Consider what families you live in and what eyes are upon you let the believing Husband endeavour to gain the unbelieving wife and the believing wife the unbelieving husband by a holy wise loving dutiful conversation both in word and deed let parents and children that fear the Lord carry themselves as becometh the Gospel so masters and servants that was the great care of the Apostles in the primitive Churches Study the Epistles that were sent to all the Congregations You have lately testified your love to me beyond my expectation accept of this and such-like tokens of my love to you Oh that I might finde you when my God brings me among you a people mightily improved in holiness and purity in brotherly kindeness and love in self-denial and heavenly mindedness in zeal and spiritual magnanimity in every grace in every gift walking in the most excellent waies of truth and peace that God in all things might be glorified by us through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever Amen This Epistle and Salutation is sent in much affection unto you From my prison-house this 4 of the 1 Moneth 1654. From your faithful shepherd through grace still in bonds for Christ Christoph Feake POSTSCRIPT My fellow-prisoner and my yoke-fellow salute you and we earnestly desire a continual mention in prayers and supplications before the Lord withal desiring that the Lord may be magnified in the Congregation for all the loving kindnesses and tender mercies wherewith he hath crowned us since we were made the prisoners of Jesus My dearly Beloved BEhold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God! If the Lord Jesus will confess us to be such before his Father and the holy Angels yea and before the faces of our proudest adversaries What ground of joy unspeakable and full of glory will be hereby administred unto us even in the midst of all those reproaches and slanderous reports that the men of the world who minde
the Lord Jesus in the light of his own Spirit found it a blessed imployment to be inquiring and hearkning where the signe of Gods presence was and upon which of the Congregations or assemblies I could finde the most glorious demonstrations of the power of godliness and where the Lord was pitching his Tents and revealing himself to his Beloved Ones This is also my work at this day to contemplate and consider what posture the Saints are now in and to watch that I may know where the glory of the Lord is revealed and where or from whence it will break forth at the approaching revolution In time past before the New Model was in being or extant in the world it was in the scattered Saints yet gathered together in several meetings kept in the City Army and Countries to finde out a right way from Babylon to Sion You remember what distress the Lords people were in at that time when that Tyrant had the North and West at his devotion when Essex his Army was beaten and degenerate when we were betrayed and forsaken by the old Souldiers of Fortune when the King and his Princes were victorious and rampant after the sacking of Leicester And when the new Model was despised in almost all mens eyes It was commonly called in reproach and scorn both by the King 's and Essex his souldiers The New Model save a small remnant of praying and believing Saints where was the presence of God then who could declare before whom the pillar of fire did shew it self as the token of Jehovah's presence It must not be forgotten but remembred with renewed thankfulness even at this day That it did break forth and manifest it self most gloriously from Nazeby-field even every day more and more Then the Lord began to use the new Army as One of the weak foolish despised Things of the world Then the Council of War used to aske counsel of God and God was with them wonderfully to direct them to bless them with victorious success abundantly Then the Head-quarters were famous and amiable even as the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts Then the Spirit of Glory and of God rested upon them and marched before them everywhere yea it was as a wall of fire round about them and the glory in the midst of them Zech. 2.5 And so it continued from year to yeer to the astonishment of the wicked and to the triumphant rejoycing of the righteous At length after some dangerous Temptations were overcome as the Armies trinkling and tampering with and for the King Queen and their Issue which afterward in their straits they bewailed in Windsor Castle the presence and Spirit of the Lord ingaged them also to execute judgement and justice upon the grand murtherer and persecutor of the Saints not to mention other strange and great enterprizes so as that the whore of Babylon and the Kings of the earth had cause to be exceedingly afraid Ireland was reduced also with a high hand especially at the beginning and the Lord was gloriously present still with the General and his Army onely some intelligent self-denying souls did discern plainly that divers Officers began betimes even too too early to minde the prey even before the work was done and it cost many of them very dear Let us remember also the expedition into Scotland and the high Appeal made by our Presbyterian-Brethren and the Army with their friends nights and dayes were spent in earnest prayer on both sides the Lord appeared in terrible Majesty at Dunbar About that time the Cause of Christ the Interest of Christ the work of God the downfal of Babylon and such-like language sounded from the Head-Quarters from the great Officers of the Army My soul was ravished to see and observe the spirit of prayer at White-Hall in those dayes among many of the chief Commanders as if they had loved none but Christ as if they cared for none but Christ and his Interest as if they would never have endured any King but the Lord Jesus or any Laws but his or any Ministers but his We who through grace were plain-hearted thought there were not such another people upon the face of the earth for love to Christ to the glory of Christ that he might be magnified and exalted as were the conducting and commanding part of the Army But Oh! Oh my Bowels my Bowels The gradual declension and defection since Worcester with what words shall I bewail it how have all the things of Christ been neglected how hath that most noble and glorious Cause of the Lord Jesus been forsaken by those who ought by manifold obligations to have promoted it to the utmost there was a price put into their hands and power was in their hands Oh this spirit of Baruch to seek great things for our selves when Jehovah saith Seek them not Behold that which is built God will pull down and that which is planted He will pluck up The Lord Jesus is making great hast to break in pieces all these Kingdoms both new and old and yet men are busie in seeking their own things and not the things of Jesus Christ I cannot but speak I must open my heart to some who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity my lise is not dear to me in this Cause If the Powers of the world and Rulers of the people have a minde to take away my Life as they have done my Liberty behold here it is in a readiness If the Lord give the word I am willing through grace not onely to be bound but to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus and for the Gospel of the Kingdom I am free to give directions to my worst enemies were they may make inquiry after all my wayes from my childhood to this day and if they finde I have committed any thing worthy of death or of bonds let them take their advantage but to keep me a Prisoner seven or eight moneths and not bring me to the place of hearing that I may know what my crime is and who are my accusers and the witnesses this is not fair dealing I am loth to aggravate things but the manner of the Romans was more according to justice expressed in Acts 25. Brethren I desire to keep in memory the Cause of our dear Lord so do you and know them who are of this Spirit through the Nation provoke one the other to wrestle with God to cry unto our Father If his children cry unto him he will not he cannot long forbear he will return and have compassion on the Remnant of his Heritage for mercy pleaseth him The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all your Spirits in the glorious ministration of Grace Mercy and Peace continually Amen From my house of bondage this 31 of the 6 month 1654. Yours for the Lord's sake to do or to suffer on your behalf Christopher Feake FINIS For the well-beloved CHURCH of Christ meeting in Colemanstreet Swan Alley My dearly beloved
far and to what degrees my Letters have been acceptable unto you the Lords people and a part of the lot of his inheritance is best known to him whose eyes are in the midst of the golden Candlesticks as a flame of fire and whose prerogative it is to search the hearts and try the reins of the children of men But blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory who hath put me in the Ministery of the new Testament that he hath vouchsafed to his poor unworthy servant This grace of bearing testimony to his coming and his kingdom and hath superadded and heaped up incouragement upon incouragement so as that I shall not be left nor forsaken in this honourable Cause of his Son Jesus Christ and of his Gospel And I do further praise his glorious Name by this Epistle in this Congregation of his Saints for that he hath given me a room in his own bosome and in his holy place even in the holy of holies the place where his Honour dwelleth and where his glory shineth as also hath let me into the hearts and prayers of many of his choicest people who have received a good measure of that holy and divine unction whereby gradually they may come to know all things although I am also sensible of that dissatisfaction concerning me and my Cause which is upon the Spirits of divers godly people But do not we know that they are generally such as are contented to sit down on this side Jordan with the two Tribes and a half and their attainments and enjoyments are no higher then they were seven yeers since if so high neither do they desire they should be but my soul pities them I see those that were first are in danger of being the last and the last are in probability of being first And blessed are they who are not offended in Christ and at the Gospel of the kingdom As for you Brethren beloved and longed for great is my care for you great is my rejoycing over you I can say Through grace the Lord hath given me to have a natural â—â—re of your state and of your affairs and what I have written hitherto I have written with much seriousness of Spirit as in the sight of God and in sincerity as knowing that I am what I am through free mercy for your edifying Information is for your edifying exhortation is for your edifying reproof is for edifying if there be no matter for reproof to work upon if it finde nothing in you or any of you bless the Lord who hath kept you and that joy in uprightness and innocencie will be for your edifying If there be any among you conscious to any unworthy walking before the Lord his people and the world as who is not I am sure I am guilty of unworthy walking and miscarriages every day then let every such one lay his or her hand upon their heart and humble themselves secretly before the Lord and look to their steps Our God is a jealous God and a consuming fire and he searcheth Jerusalem with candles and espies and knows all your thoughts all your works and waies and words and walks Look to your hearts and spirits and affections and dispositions and ends and principles with all diligence Believe it Christ will make work among you if all be not found at the bottom my office and ministery which I have received in the Lord will bear me out in being instant in season out of season in representing what I judge to be the minde of Christ unto you from the oracles of God they being profitable for doctrine and for reproof correction and instruction in righteousness happy are the people who have the Lord Jehovah so neer unto them in all matters for their God as he is even unto you though I am nothing and desire to be accounted so so that Christ may be all in all so that you may make up the fulness of him that filleth all in all As for that fruit of righteousness and love which you have lately shewed forth in the presence of the Lord Jesus and his elect Angels for and in consideration of my sufferings formerly at Newgate-market and at the present and of all those necessary expences incident thereunto I do here testifie to the glory of the Lord and declaration of your readiness of minde that it was administred in seaâ—on and so hath not onely made a supply of that which should have been administred by others and was not but also is abundant by many thanksgivings unto God and as he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly so he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully for as you abound in this grace and other graces towards others so God is able to make all grace abound towards you Therefore my Beloved as ye have alwaies obeyed not as in my presence onely but now much more in my absence Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling yet let not the hope assurance of salvation eat up and devour your holy fear and trembling frame of spirit before the Lord but like the true inward circumcision worship God in spirit rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Further I exhort you and urge you as from the Lord in whose name I write to do all things without murmurings and disputings let all your things be done in brotherly love let all passages be managed with meekness of spirit that concern a private interest but with holy zeal that concern the publick interest of our Lord and Law-giver and to this end the Lord give you all from the greatest to the least a spirit of wisdom to try things that differ and particularly to distinguish betwixt the glory of Christ and the honor of men that you may approve accordingly of that alwaies in all conferences which is most excellent for I tell you or rather the Lord That his glory must not now be given to another and they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes must have also a constant disposition to leave all to lose all at an hours warning for his sake the Gospels With many other words I could write unto you for my heart is inlarged but I must break off and commend you to the grace of that God who brought again from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the everlasting Covenant and to the word of the Gospel which is able to build you up further and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified through faith in Christ Jesus to whom with the holy Spirit be glory for ever Brethren pray for me and mine when you pray for your own souls The 1 of the 1 Moneth 1653. Yours in bonds for yours and the service of all the Saints CHRISTOPHER FEAKE POSTSCRIPT Brother Simpson salutes the Church in the Lord and desires continuation of prayers thanking you all for your kinde remembrance Dearly beloved Brethren
World We had these honorable thoughts of them but alas where are they and what is become of these reputed Champions for the Lamb against the Beast are not most of them even revolted and gone 2 Tim. 2.4 are they not entangled in the affairs of this life yea are not some of them busie in building again the Things they have destroyed Answ Be not doubtful of minde Oh little Flock live not in careful suspence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 12.30 carried like Meteors betwixt Heaven and Earth The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this great Thing whereof we speak and if need be Jehovah will create a Spirit of judgement and a Spirit of burning for the accomplishing that honourable Enterprize for his Son which the hearts of the choicest Saints are so much upon Again It 's probable 1 Cor. 1.27 God will take some foolish Thing or other some weak some despised Thing to perfect his praise in the midst of all his enemies For oftentimes of old the Instruments have been too Many sometimes too Mighty sometimes too Wise for God to use Wherefore let us remember It 's thy part and mine to believe that notwithstanding the Retrograde motions both of persons and Things as we suppose yet certainly the Main Designe is carried on with an High hand but in paths so secret that the most sharp-sighted Politicians in the Kingdom of the Beast cannot well tell how and where to obviate or countermine And which is the most confounding Consideration of all the rest such is the nature of this great Contrivance which you through mercy are privie to that if there be at any time a Discovery made of its mighty Eruptions as now and then there is yet the Souldiers weapons with the Counsellors and States-mens wits in conjunction dare not suddenly grapple with it but if they at any juncture of time are found so hardy as to make this bold adventure it 's with utmost hazard of being ground to powder As for me a reproached Outcast an exile Captive it is upon my heart to desire Two Things of you my brethren and companions in tribulation and in the Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Christ Pour out prayer and then lift up prayer for the prisoner Eph. 6.18 Jude 20. verse Oh! let there be a Continuation of prayers and requests on my behalf in the Spirit I say in the holy Spirit for certainly the Lord hath heard your supplications for me as I shall I hope demonstrate in due season Oh pray and pray again ye close followers of the Lamb That if this Close prisoner be delivered up again to the Councils for Christs Name sake Mat. 10.17 and his Kingdoms sake he may be made Mighty in the Scriptures Acts 18.24 and eloquent with that eloquence and elocution onely which the Spirit of Christ was wont to administer to the suffering Saints in all ages And That I may be of a very high and of a mighty spirit for our dear Lord Jesus yea of a lofty and a daring spirit according to the glorious Ministration of the New Testament and not otherwise in the least which yet will never be unless He be dearer to me then my life whom my soul loves and unless I am kept under the constraining power of divine love 2 Cor. 5.14 Oh Brethren this Divine love will make bitter Things sweet and turn a strait Prison into a stately Palace Do I say Will do these things yea it hath performed greater works then I can possibly after much meditation compass to express Wherefore I intreat you to remember my bonds my strait bonds as you do and I am perswaded your brotherly love herein will turn to good account for each of you also when with diligent observation you ponder what improvements you have made in the industrious prosecutions of so good a trade And let men beware how they impute it to proud presumption in me thus to hope Luke 21.28 to look up and to lift up my head with such boldness in this Cause even before the faces of the Highest and most Majestical Potentates in the World if call'd before them for hath not my God asked me many times Wilt thou in such a Cause as this though most perfidiously forsaken by very many be afraid of a man that shall die and of the son of man that shall be made as grass Did not Stephen Acts 7. that renowned Deacon of the Church of Christ carry it sweetly and yet stoutly for his Lord when he was brought before the High Priest and the Council His Highness did not affright him in the least Stephen was protected and incouraged by One who was infinitely higher then He and all the Lords of the Council before I had tasted of Stephen's Cordial I often wondred how he did dare to speak at so high a rate before and unto the High-Priest as you read Act. 7.51 52. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the holy Ghost as your fathers did so do ye Which of the Prophets have not your fathers persecuted and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murtherers c. Again was not Luther in the presence of Charles the fifth and the many illustrious Princes of Germany inabâ—ed by the most High to bear up with invincible courage so that they could not prevail to terrifie or affright him from his Faith and Doctrine which he had taught the people from the holy Oracles and then it 's easie to conjecture how improbable it was that all the Monks and Friers all the Prelates and Parish Priests should afterward be able to resist the Wisdom and the Spirit by which he spâ—ke Oh! how sweet hath that word been made to my soul 1 Iohn 4 Ye are of God little children and have overcome Them because Greater is He that is in you then he that is in the world Offer up praise for the prisoner I beseech you also let there be mâ—intained a constant conjunction in praising the Name of our God and Father Leâ— us agree to meet every day many times in the day for the performing this Celestial this Angelical service O! Psal 34.3 magnifie the Lord with me and let us exalt his Name together in the Spirit 〈◊〉 and though our outward man be not capable during my restraint of local fellowship in this spiritual â—acrifice of praise yet it will refresh me much to recount the mercies which are our proper portion and inheritance in distinction from the world 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ as That he hath chosen us in him and that bâ—foâ—e the foundation of the world c. That he hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself c. That he
hath made us accepted in the Beloved That we have redemption through the Beloved and this in his blood which redemption is the forgiveness of sins c. That he hath abounded in the riches of his grace towards us and this in all wisdom and prudence That he hath made known to us the mystery of his will That in Christ we have obtained an inheritance c. and such an inheritance That after we believed we were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise 2. But beside those blessings and other glorious priviledges which I partake of with all Saints the Lord hath enriched me with many precious Jewels in this present condition which I desire may be so used by me as to adorn the Gospel and to improve those new talents which are vouchsafed to me in this House of Bondage from day to day The mercy of contentation in this close imprisonment Phil. 4.11 I value at a very high rate before the Lord in mine acknowledgements of his loving kindness toward me The liberty and cheerfulness of my Spirit though the flesh be weak I am able to say with great joy Heb. 13.5 through rich grace That the Lord hath not left me nor forsaken me but hath given me Liberty in Bonds and Inlargement in Prison I can tell you in the power of an holy Triumph Although the Souldiers have attach'd my body and keep my outside in chains though they have barricado'd the way whereby the Saints were wont at first to come to visit me for the mutual comfort both of them and me yet blessed be my God and Father my spirit is out of their reach and the new and living way into the Holiest is kept open Heb. 10.20 and by the blood of Jesus I have boldness to enter into that within the veil Heb. 6.19 I cannot express the comfort of the visitations of the Father and the Son who according to Christ's engagement Ioh. 14.23 Do graciously gloriously come unto me and make their abode with me who am less then the least of all these mercies What shall I say I have a longing desire but it is not an inordinate lust after outward liberty to come and declare what God hath done for my soul and to teach and preach Jesus Christ publickly and from house to house Acts 5. last Let us therefore in the Name of the Lord joyne our forces and strive together in prayer that when I come I may come in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel Rom. 15.29 32. That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God and may with you be refreshed even with you who through love in the Spirit have endeavoured to let loose and break in sunder those bonds wherewith I have been tied so many months And I am perswaded for I will not dissemble that this shutting and tying me up will render me by the power of God with me more fierce more fell and furious against the Kingdom of the Beast then I was before but it 's probable The Lord by his Spirit hath taught my hands to war and my fingers to fight the battels of the Lamb more skilfully then I did before I bless the Lord also and let his people say Amen Rom. 12.2 that I am still a Non-conformist to the world and the world-like-Church but am through the grace of God made more conformable to the image of his Son Rom. 8.29 and when Christ who is my life shall appear I also together with others shall appear with him in glory Colos 3.4 It often comes into my minde how David complains Reproach hath broken mine heart Indeed Psal 69.20 to be stigmatiz'd and set as upon a Theatre for a spectacle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 6.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 4.9 and set as upon a Theatre for a spectacle and to be gazed at is a very unwelcome condition to the nature of man but herein I am conformed to my Head also Heb. 6.6 It was reported during my first close imprisonment that I had forsaken Christ the Head and was under the ministration of evil Angles That I had a spirit of delusion c. Sometimes by some men I am a fool by others that I am a madman since my close confinement here I am against Magistracy as Magistracy poor fellow I cannot define what faith is But blessed for ever blessed be the Name of the Lord I can say in Paul's spirit None of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto my self so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministery which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the grace of God By the ensuing Letters to that little Flock which I am over in the Lord my spirit and my designe may be discerned they are the Index of my very heart When Epistles are the true and genuine issue of the soul as these are of mine there is no difficulty in making an estimate of the Author of them especially when there 's no opportunity for the polishing and artificial adorning of them as in the writing of these there neither was nor well could be The first was written from neer the Council-chamber-door in the midst of company and in hast because I expected every moment to be fetcht in and I was willing to salute the Church from my bonds they being to meet in the afternoon of that day The next and all the others were according to the constant frame of my spirit at other times no artifice no premeditation or study I had no thought of this kinde of publication of them Soundness in the faith the power of godliness and the promoting of the present truth and work of Christ are those things which have lain next my heart for many yeers and if I speak or write to the Saints those things will certainly flow forth for that saying of Christ is truth Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and so the pen writeth if he be an honest-minded-man that guides it I should not have thus far appeared but for the manifestation of the truth and what error soever any one espies in those Letters I am ready to retract and correct upon any the least advertisement with light from the Oracles of God 2 Tim. 3.16 17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Scripture being divinely inspired is profitable for correction that the man of God may be perfect perfected to every good work I have great need of patience that after I have done and suffered the will of God I may inherit the promise Moreover to conclude I must not cast away my confidence for that also hath great recompence of reward We poor oppressed prisoners are fools for Christ's sake but ye are wise in Christ we are weak but ye are strong ye are honorable but we are despised This word I write to the dissatisfied Saints who are so apt to censure
pray for me This 1 day in the morning the 5 day of my most comfortable confinement 1653. An unworthy worm desirous to serve the Lord Jesus and all his Saints Christoph. Feake POSTSCRIPT I and my yoke-fellow salute every Saint in the Lord. My Wife a dear comfort to me desires the prayers of the Church particularly for her and we both desire you to bless the Lord joyntly for his wonderful goodness to us he is verily a God hearing prayer For the well-beloved CHURCH of Christ meeting in Colemanstreet Swan-Alley My dearly beloved in the Lord WHo in the Lord Jesus are builded together for an Habitation of God by the Spirit This is the fourth time I have in much affection written to you saluting you again in the Lord as a holy people peculiar to Christ our Head in the light and power of whose glorious Spirit you every one walking shall certainly come up to those attainments and enjoyments which will render you truly honorable in the eyes of your very adversaries Blessed be the name of our God for ever who hath translated us from death to life some time since who is also transforming us from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. Brethren know That the Messengers of the Church together with the loving Epistle which they brought with them were exceeding welcome and acceptable to the Lords Prisoner who was and is still filled with comfort from the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort yea I do not know of any one minute wherein dejectedness of Spirit hath been my portion yea on the contrary a cheerful lightsome frame and temper is my lot from my tender Father night and day My care for you which is my greatest exercise ending in faith and joyful confidence that the Lord is doing good to you as unto me and those that are approved will be made manifest in these trâ—ing times and seasons Wherefore I befeech you all again and again by the mercies of God by the meekness and gentleness of Christ that you walk very circumspectly in these evil daies that you set the Lord alwaies before you resolving in the sense and remembrance of those first loves that were mutually between the Lord and each of your souls at your first conversion and believing and when you were first sealed after that you believed by the holy Spirit of promise out of faithfulness and love to Christ to follow the Lamb on Mount Sion whithersoever he goeth first in paths of holiness then upon the Mountains of Israel in fresn green Pastures where He I say He leads you then to Prison through Fire through Water anywhere every-where the Lord being in the midst of you and with you Ah my dear brethren the Lord Jesus being with us bonds are not bonds reproach is not reproach enemies are no enemies death it self is not death My heart is inlarged I could wish my self among you that I might pour out my soul before you The Lord is good his mercy endureth for ever The brethren you sent to me have reported the presence of the Lord in the midst of you your purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord and to one another My counsel for the present is as followeth though they be the same things that I write over again now as before yet consider them Paul did so 1. Now that ye are come together in the name of the Lord Jesus let every member of the Congregation consider what they are obliged to Is it not to continue together with the Church walking in all the waies and Ordinances of Jesus Christ Did they not consent in the hearing of Angels and men to do their duties which are Commands of Christ as well as to receive of the priviledges of the Gospel Those that from respects of their particular spiritual profit do omit their duty as in the publick capacity of the members of the body of Christ without the consent of the whole upon Scripture-grounds will finde themselves in a snare ere they are aware 2. Being all together before the Lord as His peculiar people desire earnestly to know of him whether or no there be not some of your number whom he intends to set apart as a Teacher in the Congregation for the carrying on the work of the Lord in the Congregation and then if so to beg to know who he is if not to intreat him to furnish you with helps this way as it were from heaven that so you may not onely be edified among your selves but be â—eet like a golden Candlestick with burning and shining lights in it to give light to the dark world and so serve the Lord in your generation upon the best account 3. I desire you to consider that the more my coming among you is and shall be a fruit of your prayers in faith the more we shall all rejoyce together when we meet And therefore I desire you to spread my condition before the Lord that I am sent hither by an arbitrary power no accusers brought face to face no witnesses produced but in a private Juncto determined to commit me and Brother Simpson to this Castle In Order to the preservation of the peace and safety of the Nation these are the words of the Mittimus no crime laid to our charge their own fears and jealousies are the cause of this unrighteous dealing with us to rend and rear us violently from our Congregations and here not to suffer us to preach the Gospel to the poor people that they may be saved while they are eating and drinking and rising up to play Mr. Jenkins when he was banished by the old Parliament from London had free liberty to preach as often as he would The Lord beholds all these things and I write not this by way of complaint the Lord knoweth for my life is comfortable without intermission and the Lord hath sent me hither for some glorious end I am verily perswaded 4. I intreat you looking upon each other as the sons and daughters of the living God to grow in love in brotherly love in love in the Spirit to abound in love as the Apostle speaks toward each other and toward all men as by the rich grace of God I finde I do towards you and this you will finde that loving the Lord Jesus more dearly you will be the more tenderly affectioned each toward other This is the distinâ—uishing character of the Disciples of Christ this is the primitive Spirit and Philadelphia of all the Churches in Asia which signifieth brotherly love was not reproved but incouraged by Jesus Christ Oh! be you that Churches Sister 5. Beg in stead of all the rich glorious effusions of the Spirit of Christ that would render you a happy holy heavenly people a spiritual zealous faithful fruitful people I finde I finde Brethren that the excellent Spirit is rising returning revealing it self in the world though the world cannot will not receive it Walk in the Spirit live in the Spirit
bear up under that weight of glory which breaks in upon us when the most High condescends to visit any of our souls from the throne of his glory Oh! how are we even filled with wonderment at those enjoyments and attainments especially when we remember what we were in time past enemies in our mindes by wicked works full of unrighteousness or self-righteousness very vain foolish disobedient serving divers base lusts and pleasures Now for such wretches and vile base creatures as we were to be so graciously dealt withal to be admitted into the presence of the great Jehovah to partake of exceeding great precious promises of the divine nature of the holy Spirit to be sealed with it to the day of redemption and a thousand such priviledges what maner of love is this Oh! all ye Saints break forth in secret and open admirations wonder at these things as at the most rare and excellent objects that are in all the world What what are the pleasures and honours and pomp and powers of the children of men to that joy and peace which is in believing to those ravishing delights that are in the presence of the Lord and at his right hand for evermore Assuredly if the holy Spirit were fallen upon any of us in that spiritual glory that is expected we should indeed shine like lights in the world and hold forth the word of life most affectionately and effectually to the Saints and to the sinful sons of men we should be a blessing each of us in every place where we come Parents would adorn the Gospel Children would adorn the Gospel Pastors People would be Ornaments to the way of Christ and the want of that Spirit and the non-resting thereof upon us is the ground of all that unevenness in our walking of our unfruitfulness and barrenness in the Lords Orchard of our unusefulness in our generation As for my present condition I tell you again and I tell you rejoycing The Lord is good exceeding good I am filled with his company I am satisfied as with marrow and fatness I must praise him with joyful lips when I meditate in the night watches my meditations are very sweet It is best for me to be with God with his people and I shall be much with the Lord that I may again once more be with his hidden ones and his holy ones that rejoyce in his Highness I am departed for a season that I may return for a great space of time goodness and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life and I would gladly be a pillar in the house of my God and would go no more out And let me tell you I earnestly and I desire your help also beg and intreat that the Lord Jesus that the name of the city of my God which is the new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God and Christs new name may be written upon me I am looking out for my right to enter into that City which shall be called The Lord is There Brethren beloved of the Lord how is it with you and the daughters of Sion are you like the chariots of Aminadab a living lively people a zealous active people Tell me at this local distance how is it with you do you fear the Lord above many do you thrive and prosper as the primitive Saints used to prosper that were Saints indeed do you wrestle for me in good earnest for I trust this imprisonment shall turn to a good account through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to that dear Saviour of yours and mine be excellent glory for ever His glorious grace be with every faithful heart Amen From my Quarters at Windsor-Castle this 15 of the 12 Moneth 1653. Your Shepherd in bonds Christoph Feake My dear friends and companions in the fellowship of the Gospel SEeing the good pleasure of the Lords goodness and the work of Faith is fulfilling in me the Lords unworthy prisoner the time appointed of the Father is not yet come I do not finde my spirit willing to accept of deliverance before the one and the other be fulfilled with power that the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in me and I in him according to the grace of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ Oh dear hearts it is given to me a poor silly worm despised of the people through the wonderful free grace of my God Not onely to believe which is no small token of the favour of God in Christ but also to suffer for his sake which seems to be an addition of his favour to those that have first believed Oh! who knows what it is to be sealed with the holy Spirit of promise but those that have a spiritual feeling of the mighty power thereof how good is it to draw nigh to God! I have often spoken of it and felt it but now it is glorious indeed to keep company with the Lord himself in his own holy place even the Holy of Holies My hearts desire for you all and every one is That you might be filled with all wisdom and spiritual understanding and by degrees come to all riches of full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God even the Father and of Christ for verily that is such a condition as makes a heaven on this side heaven Oh! the excellent glory sweetness and fulness of that estate but never I am perswaded did any of the Saints enjoy themselves and their God so richly and abundantly as the sincere Martyrs and sufferers for the Name of Christ and the Gospel because none have occasion so much as they all the world hate them and their persecutors especially therefore if the Lord also hid himself from them poor wretches they would be of all men most miserable Therefore further Christ is bound by the duty of his Office to look after Them to stand by Them to cherish and to nourish Them to countenance and incourage Them to fill them with his own fulness when the world hath emptied them and scorned them and imprisoned them and buffeted them and put them into the forms of traitors of hereticks of seditious ones c. If the Lord should not reveal his love yea if he should not crown them with loving kindness and tender mercies then That Temptation would rationally prevail It is in vain to serve God it is better to serve the lusts of men and our own It will urge further What profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances Is it not better to observe the Ordinances of the Kings of the earth of the Princes of the States and Protectors of the earth then otherwise and do as the most do as those do who are lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God But blessed be the Lord Jehovah my rock for ever I have no ground to be dissatisfied with my condition in this respect as if the Lord did keep at a