with all earnest and faithfull remembrance of you in my daily Prayers thanking God right heartily that you do likewise remember me in yours assuring you that my poor heart doth daily feel great Consolation thereby God onely have the praise for the same and all other his Benefits Ah my dear heart in the Lord well is me that ever I was born that God of his great mercy and infinite goodness hath used me most miserable wretch at any time as his instrument to minister any thing unto you either by word or writing that might be an occasion of your joy and comfort in the Lord and a provoking of you to praise and thanksgiv ng unto God for the same as your most loving and godly Letter seemeth to import Oh happy am I that the Lord hath appointed me unto so good a ground to sow his seed upon but much more happy are you whose heart the Lord hath prepared and made so meet to receive the same so effectuously gâ—ving thereto the sweet showers and heavenly dews of his grace and holy Spirit that it may bring forth fruit in due season accordingly the increase whereof we shall shortly reap together with perfect joy and gladness and that continually Therefore my dear Brother I say unto you as good Elizabeth did to her Cousin Mary Happy are you Luke 1. and happy shall you be for evermore because you have believed The most sweet and faithful Promises of your Redeemer Jesus Christ you have surely laid up in the treasury of your heart his comfortable Callings you have faithfully heard his loving Admonitions you have humbly obeyed and therefore you shall never come into judgement Remission of sins your sins shâ—ll never be remembred for your Saviour hath cast them all into he bottom of the Sea Micah 7. he hath removed them from you as far as the East is from the West Psal 103. and hath given you for an everlasting possâ—ssion his Justification and Holiness So that now no Creature neither in heaven nor in earth shall be able to accuse you before the Throne of the heavenly King Satan is now judged he is now cast out from you he hath no part in you you are wholly given unto Christ which will not lose you your stedfast Faith in him hath overcome that sturdy and bragging Prince of the World Christ hath given you the final victory over him and all his Army that they shall never hurt you What would you have more Oh my dear heart how great treasures are laid up in store for you and how glorious a Crown is already made and prepared for you And albeit the holy Ghost doth bear witness of all these things in your heart Testimony of Gods Spirit and maketh you more sure and certain thereof then if you had all the outward Oracles in the world yet I being certainly perswaded and fully assured by the testimony of Gods Spirit in my Conscience of your eternal and sure Salvation in our sweet Saviour Jesus Christ have thought it good yea and my bounden duty not onely at this time to write unto you and to shew my joyful heart in that behalf but also by the Word and Commandment of Christ to pronounce and affirm in the Name and Word of the heavenly King Jehovah and in the behalf of his sweet Son Iesus Christ our Lord to whom all knees shâ—ll bow whom all creatures shall worship and also by the impulsion of the holy Ghost by whose power and strength all the faithful be regenerate I do I say p onounce to thee my dear B o her T. V. that thou art already a Cit zen of Heaven The Lord thy God in whom thou dost put all thy trust for his dear Sons sake in whom thou dost also undoubtedly believe â—a h freely forgiven thee all thy sins clearly released all thine in quâ—ties and fully pardoned all thine offences be they never so many so grievous or so great and will never remember them any more to Condemnation As truly as he liveth he will not have thee dye the death but hath verily determined purposed and eternally decreed that thou shalt live with him for ever Thy Sore shall be healed and thy Wounds bound up even of himself for his own Names sake He doth not nor will not look upon thy sins in thee but he respecteth and beholdeth thee in Christ in whom thou art lively graffed by Faith in his blood and in whom thou art most assuredly elected and chosen to be a sweet vessel of his Mercy and Salvation and wast thereto predestinate in him before the foundation of the world was laid In testimony and earnest whereof he hath given thee his good and holy Spirit which worketh in thee Faith Love and unfeigned Repentance with other godly Vertues contrary to the Corruption of thy Nature Also he hath commanded me this day although a most unworthy wretch to be a witness hereof by the Ministry of his holy Word Experience of Christ working in his Church grounded upon the truth of his most faithful Promises the which thou believing shalt live for ever Believest thou this my dear heart I know well thou dost believe The Lord increase thy Faith and give thee a lively feeling of all his mercies whereof thou art warranted and assured by the testimony of the holy Ghost who confirm in thy Conscience to the utter overthrowing of Satan and those his most hurtful dubitations whereby he is accustomed to molest and vex the true Children of God all that I have said and by Gods grace I will as a witness thereof confirm and seal the same with my blood for a most certain truth Wherefore my good Brother praise the Lord with a joyful heart and give him thanks for this his exceeding great mercy casting away all dubitation and wavering yea all sorrow of heart and pensiveness of mind for this the Lord your God and most dear and loving Father commandeth you to do by me nay rather by his own Mouth and Word pronounced by me But now my dear Brother after that I have done my message or rather the Lords message indeed I could finde in my heart to write two or three sheets of paper declaring the joy I bear in my heart for you mine own bowels in the Lord yet the time being so short as you do well know I am here constrained to make an end desiring you to pardon my slackness and to forgive my great negligence towards you promising you still that so long as my poor life doth last my prayer shall supply that my pen doth want as knoweth the Almighty God to whose most merciful defence I do heartily commit you and all other his dear children as well as though I had rehearsed them by Name desiring them most heartily to remember me in their hearty and daily Prayers as I know right well they do for I feel the daily comfort and commodity thereof and therefore I neither will nor can
might the more be stirred to bring forth the fruits of Repentance and learn to mourn in this world that in another they might be glad and rejoyce Such a broken Heart is a pleasant Sacrifice unto God Oh that I had the like contrite heart God mollifie my stony heart which lamenteth not in such wise my former detestable iniquities Praised be God that he hath given you this sorrowfull heart in respect of Righteousness and I pray you let me be partaker of these godly sorrows for sin which be the testimony of the presence of the holy Ghost Did not the sword of sorrow pierce the heart of the Elect and blessed Mother of our Lord Did not Peter weep bitterly for his sins which was so beloved of Christ Did not Mary Magdalen wash the feet of our Saviour with her tears and received therewithall remission of her sevenfold sins Be of good comfort therefore Mine own dear heart in this thy sorrow for it is the Earnest-peny of Eternall Consolation In thy sorrow laugh for the Spirit of God is with thee Blâ—ssed be they saith Christ that mourn Matth. 15. for they shall be comforted They went forth and wept Psal 126. saith the Prophet such shall come again having their gripes full of gladness Psal 51. Luke 7. Sorrow in a Christian man ought to be moderate And alâ—hough a sorrowfull heart in consideration of his sin be an acceptable Sacrifice before God whereby we are stirred up to more thankefulness unto God knowing that much is foâ—gâ—ven us that we might love the more yet the man of God must keep a measure in the same lest he be swallowed up by too much sorrow 1 Thess 4. S Paul would not the Thessalonians to be sorry as other men which have no hope 2 Cor. 7. Such a sorrow is not commendable but worketh damnation and is farre from the children of God who are continually sorrowfull in God when they look upon their own unworthiness with hope of forgiveness For God to this end by his Spirit setteth the sins of his Elect still before them Rom. 3. that where they perceive Sin to abound there they might be assured that Grace shall superabound and bringeth them down into Hell that he might lift them up with greater joy into Heaven Wherefore mine own Bowels in Christ as long as you are not void altogether of hope be not dismayed through your pensive heart for your sins how huge soever they have been for God is able to forgive more then you are able to sin yea and he will forgive him which with hope is sorry for his sins But know Brother that as oft as we do go about by the help of Gods Spirit to do that is good Satans practice to bring the godly repentance of a sinner to desperation the evil spirit Satan layeth hard wait to turn the good unto evil and goeth about to mix the detestable Dâ—rnell of Desperation with the godly Sorrow of a pure Penitent Heart You be not ignorant of his malicious subtilty and how that continually he assaulteth that good which the grace of God planteth I see the battel betwixt you and him but the victory is yours yea and that daily For you have laid hold upon the Anchor of Salvation which is hope in Christ he which will not suffer you to be made ashamed Be not discomforted that you have this Conflict but be glad that God hath given you the same to try your Faith and that you might appear daily worthy of the Kingdome of God for the which you strive God beholdeth your striving Faith against Satan and is pleased with your mighty resistance The Spirit which is in you is mightier then all the Adversaries power Tempt he may and lying await at your heels give you a fall unawares but overcome he shall not yea he cannot for you are sealed up already with a lively Faith to be the childe of God for ever and whom God hath once sealed for his own him he never utterly forsaketh Gods children fall The Devils children lye still The just falleth seven times but he riseth again It is mans frailty to fall but it is the property of the Devils childe to ly still This strife against sin is sufficient testimony that you are the childe of God Luke 11. for if you were not you should feel no such malice as he now troubleth you withall When this strong Goliah hath the hold all things be in peace which he possesseth and because he hath you not he will not suffer you unassaulted But stand fâ—st and hold out the Buckler of Faith Strife against sin is a token of Gods childe and with the Sword of Gods Promises smite him on the scalp that he may receive a deadly wound and never be able to stand against you any more James 4. S. James telleth you that he is but a coward saying Resist the Devil and he will fly away It is the will of God that he should thus long tempt you and not go away as yet or else he had done with you long ere this He knoweth already that he shall receive the foyle at your hands and increase the Crown of your Glory for he that overcometh shall be crowned Therefore gâ—ory in your temptation since they shall turn to your felicity Be not afraid of your continuall assâ—ults which be occasions of your daily victory The Word of G d abâ—â—eth for ever In what hour soever a sinner repenteth him of his sins they be forgiven Ezek. 33. Who can lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect Do you not perceive the manifest tokens of your Election First your vocation to the Gospel and after your vocation the manifest gifts of the Spirit of God given unto you above many other of your condition with godliness which believeth and yieldeth to the authority of the Scriptures and is zealous for the same Seeing you are Gods own dearling who can hurt you Be not of a deject minde for these temptations neither make your unfeigned friends to be more sorrowfull for you then need doth require Since God hath willed you at your Baptism in Christ to be Careles why do you make your self Carefull Cast all your care on him Set the Lord before your eyes alwayes for he is on your right side that you shall not be moved True Christians how they ought to be c reless in their carefull estate Behold the goodness of God toward me I am careless being fast closed in a Pair of Stocks which pinch me for very straitness and will you be carefull I will not have that unseemly addition to your Name Be as your Name pretendeth for doubtless you have none other cause but so to be Pray I beseech you that I may be still careless in my carefull estate as you have cause to be careless in your easier condition Be thankâ—full and put away all care and then I shall be joyfull in my
Blood-thirsty Bite-sheeps Bishops I should say that you have begun For though in conclusion they will surely have your blood yet shall they come by it with shame enough and to their perpetual infamy whiles the world doth endure They would indeed condemn you in hugger-mugger to darken Gods glory if it might be but Satans thoughts are not unknown to you and the depth of his subtilty is by you well foreseen Therefore let them do whatsoever God shall suffer them to do for I know all things shall tuâ—n to your best Though you lie in the dark slurried with the Bishops black Cole-dust yet shall you be shortly restored unto the heavenly Light and made as white as snow in Salmon and as the wings of a Dove Psal 68. thaâ— is covered with silver wings and her feathers like gold You know the Vessel before it be made bright is soiled with Oyle and other things that it may scoure the better Oh happy be you that you be now in the Scouring-house for shortly you shall be set upâ—n the Celâ—stâ—al shelf as bright as Angels Therefore my dear hearâ— I will now according to your loving request cast away all care and rejoyce with you and praise God for you and pray for you day and night yea I will now with Gods grace siâ—g Psalms of Praise and Thanksgiving with you for now my Soul is turned to her old rest again and hath taken a sweet nap in Christs lap I have cast my care upon the Lord which careth for me and will be careles according to my Name in that respect which you would have me I will leave out my unseemly addition as long as I live for it can take no place where true faith and hope is resident Gods gracious work through M Philpots Letter So soon as I had read your most godly and comfortable Letter my sorrows vanished away as smoke in the wind my Spirit revived and comfort came again whereby I am sure the Spirit of God was Author of it Oh good Mr. Philpot which art a principal Pot indeed filled with most precious Liquor as it appeareth by the plenteous pouring forth of the same Oh Pot most happy of the high Potter ordained to honour which dost contain such heavenly treasure in the Earthen vessel Oh Pot thrice happy in whom Christ hath wrought a great Miracle altering thy nature and turning water into wine and that of the best whereout the Master of the Feast hath filled my cup so full John Careles drunken with joy of the spirit that I am become drunken in the joy of the Spirit thorow the same When Martyrdome shall break thee O vessel of honour I know the fragrant savour of thy precious Nard will much rejoyce the heavy hearts of Christs true Members although the Judasses will grudge and murmure at the same yea and burst out into words of slander saying It is but lost and waste Be not offended dear heart at my Metaphorical speech for I am disposed to be merry 2 Kin. 6. and with David to dance before the Ark of the Lord and though you play upon a pair of Organs not very comely or easie to the flesh yet the sweet sound that came from the same causeth me thus to do O that I were with you in body as presently as I am in spirit that I might sing all care away in Christ for now the time of comfort is come I hope to be with you shortly if all things happen aright Careles accused to the Council by certain backe friends in Coventry for my old friends of Coventry have put the Council in remembrance of me not six dayes ago saying That I am more worthy to be burned then any that was burned yet Gods blessing on their hearts for their good report God make me worthy of that dignity and hasten the time that I may set forth his Glory Pray for me dear heart I beseech you and will all your company to do the same and I will pray God for you all so long as I live And now farewell in Christ thou bl ssed of Gods own mouth Note how comfortable the Lord worketh in his prisoned Saints I will for a time take my leave but not my last farewel Blessed be the time that ever I came into the Kings Bench to be joyned in love and fellowship with such dear Châ—ldren of the Lord. My good Brother Bradford shall not be dead whiles you be alive for verily the spirit of him doth rest on you in most ample wise Your Letters of comfort unto me in each point do agree as though the one were a copy of the other He hath planted in me and you do water the Lord give good increase My dear Brethren and fellow-prisoners here have them humbly and heartily commended unto you and your company mourning for your misery but yet rejoycing for your plenteous Consolation and comfort in Christ We are all chearful and merry under our Cross and do lack no necessaries Praised be God for his Providence and great mercy towards us for evermore Amen Mr. Bradfords Letter to Careles ALmighty God our dear Father through and for the Merits of his dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ be mercifull unto us pardon us our offences and under the wâ—ngs of his Mercy protect us from all evil from henceforth and for ever Amen Dear Brother Careles I heartily pray you to pray to God for me for the pardon of my manifold sins and most grievous offences which need none other demonstration unto you then this namely That I have behaved my self so negligently in answering your godly triple Letters which are three Witnesses against me God lay not them nor none other thing to my charge to Condemnation though to Correction Not my will Practice of the Keyes of the Gospel but his will be done Concerning your request of Absolution my dearest Brother what shall I say but even as truth is That the Lord of all Mercy and Father of all Comfort through the Merits and Mediation of his dear Son thy onely Lord and Saviour hath clearly remitted and pardoned all thy offences whatsoever they be that ever hitherto thou hast committed against his Majesty and therefore he hath given to thee as to his Childe dear Brother John Careles in token that thy sins are pardoned He I say hath given unto thee a penitent and believing heart that is a heart which desireth to repent and believe For such an one is taken of him he accepting the will for the deed for a penitent and believing heart indeed Wherefore my good Brother be merry glad and of good chear for the Lord hath taken away thy sins thou shalt not dye Go thy wayes the Lord hath put away thy sins The East is not so farre from the West as the Lord now hath put thy sins from thee Look how the Heavens be in comparison of â—he Earth so farre hath his Mercy prevailed toward thee his dear Childe John
own strength or rather your own weakness you would have stood too much in your own Conceit or perchance have gloried in your self and have despised and condemned other weak persons that have committed the like offence Therefore now you may see what the best of us all can do if God leave us to our selves Which thing ought to move you to be diligent to call earnestly upon God for his grace and the strength of his Holy Spirit without the which we are not able to stand one hour and to be most thankful for the same when you have it and then to be more circumspect in time to come Therefore dear Sister seeing that you have done otherwise then the word of God and your own Conscience would allow yet dear heart do you not think that God therefore will cast you clean away but know that he hath mercy enough in store for all them that truly repent and believe in him although the sins of them were as many in number as the sands in the Sea and as great as the sins of the whole world It is a greater sin to mistrust the mercy promises of God then to commit the greatest offence in the World Therefore good Sister beware in any wise To trust to Gods Promises that you do not once mistrust the promises of Gods mercy towards you but know for a very surety that all your sins be utterly forgiven you for Christs sake be they never so many so griâ—vous or so great But now dear heart take â—eed and beware that you do not cloke that sin and increase the same daily in communicating with the wicked in their Idolatry and devilish doings at their den of Thieves Custome of sin a perilous matter Do not I say dear Sister come at any of their Antichristian service lest by little and little you utterly lose a good Conscience and at length esteem it for none offence as alas a great number doth at this day to the great peril of their Souls The Lord be merciful unto them and give them grace to repent in time and turn to the Lord and then they shall be sure to finde mercy at the Lords hand as doubtless you have done praised be his Name therefore Ah my dear Sister you may now see the words of Christ verified upon your self that a mans greatest foes shall be they of his own houshold A. G. entisâ—d by her husband to go to the Mass for your Husband hath gotten you to do that which all the tyrants in the World could never have made you to do Doubtless he may be sorry for it God give him grace to repent or else without doubt it will be laid to his charge one day when he would not by his will hear it for all the goods of the World Well I think my Brother Tyms will write him a letter shortly that shall touch his Conscience if he have any Conscience at all But now again to you dear Sister The thing that is done cannot be undone and you are not the first that have offended neither are you so good and so holy as hath at a time slipt forth of the way Therefore I would not have you to be so much discomforted as I hear say you be The raising up of a troubled Conscience after his fall as though God were not as able to forgive you your offence as he was to forgive his dear Saints that offended him in times past or as though God were not as merciful now as ever he was whereas in very deed there is with the Lord as the Prophet saith mercy and plentiful redemption and his mercy farre surmounteth all his works God turneth all things to the best to them that be hiâ— and he never faileth any that put their whole trust and confidence in him how great an offender or how wicked a trespasser soever he be No he maketh their falls and backslidings many times to turn to their profit and commodity and to the setting forth of his glory as doubtless dear Sister yours shall do if you put your whole Faith hope and trust onely in his infinite and eternal sweet mercies Oh what a subtile crafty lying Serpent is that Satan our old Enemy Satan when he cannot bring a man to his servâ—â—o he presseth him wâ—th distrust of Gods mercy that when he seeth that he cannot make us to continue in our wickedness to do him service would then bring us into a doubting and mistrusting of the mercy of God which is the greatest offence that can be yea infidelity is the root and original of all other sins Therefore my sweet Sister give no place to that cruel adversary of mankinde who hath been a lyer and a mutherer from the beginning but stedfastly believe the Lord who hath sent you word by me his most unworthy Servant that all your sins be pardoned forgiven and clean released for Jesus Christs sake our onely Lord and Saviour To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour glory praise thanks power rule and dominion for ever and for ever Amen Farewel my dear Sister and be of good chear Believe in the Lord and you shall live for ever The Lord increase your Faith Amen Amen Your poor Brother and daily faithful Orator John Careles Prisoner of the Lord. Pray for me Another Letter of John Careles to A. B. a faithfull Minister of the Lord containing certain fruitfull Precepts of Matrimony I Beseech the same everlasting Lord my dear and faithful Brother that blessed young Tobias with his Wife Sarah and brought them together in due time with reverence and fear preserve and bless you both and your seed after you that they may increase the number of the faithful by thousands and thousands And as the Lord of his great mercy and fatherly Providence hath been alwayes careful for you and now hath for your comfort accomplished his good work in coupling you with a faithful Mate so see that you be thankful for his Providence towards you that it may every way in you be an increase of love and godliness yea of Christian joy and gladness in these sorrowful dayes but yet so that you mourn with the true mourners of Sion and be sorry yet in measure for the hurt of the same Pray also in faith for her prosperity that the Lord may build up the walls of Jerusalem again Psal 146. Oh that the Lord would turn Sions Captivity as the river into the South then should our hearts be made glad and our mouthes filled with laughter Then would the Heathen Hypocrites say The Lord hath done much for them Oh the Lord hath done great things for us already whereof let us heartily rejoyce and praise his Name therefore For though we now sow with tears yet shall we be sure to reap with gladness and as we now go forth weeping bearing forth good seed so shall we come again with joy The death of the Martyrs is