and will dwell in the mid'st of you and amongst you for which the earnest Desire of my Soul is unto the Lord and in my Prayers I do oft make mention of you unto my God and your God that his Arm of Power and Salvation may alwayes be with you and that you may be thereby kept Pure and Unrebukeable and Spotless unto Himself in his sight from this time forth and forever Amen And Friends It was the fervent and sincere Desire of my Heart to have seen you this Year having a confident Perswasion and Assurance in me That if the Lord had so order'd it it would have been for your Good and Benefit and that I should have been Refreshed with you and amongst you as in times past And in order to it I wholy fixed and applyed my Heart to the Lord for some certain dayes to search his Counsel in the thing until he fully and clearly satisfied me that it must not then be in whose blessed Will I rest and am content yet am not wholy without hopes but that in Due Season it may yet be And in the mean time I leave you and commend you to God who is able to keep you and do more aboundantly for you then you can ask or think to whom be Glory forever Amen Written in Essex this 5th of the 7th Mon. 1664. I am your Dear Brother in the Tribulation Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Josiah Coale Let Copies of this be sent amongst Friends every where in the Province of Maryland and be read amongst them in their Assemblies in the Fear of the Lord. To the Flock of God IN MARYLAND GREETING The second EPISTLE MY Dear Friends Brethren and Sisters who are called and sanctified in Christ Jesus and with whom and amongst whom I have travell'd both in Body and Spirit for the Resurrection of that Birth which is Immortal through which you might become Heirs of Eternal Salvation and of the Kingdom Everlasting which is not of this World My soul and bowels even daily earn towards you and you are even daily presented before me and brought into my View and Remembrance by the Spirit of the Lord by which I am oft constrain'd to present my Supplications and Prayers to the God of my Life for you and on your behalfs beseeching and desiring him that he will keep and preserve you in the Unspotted Life of the Lamb and that Grace Mercy and Peace together with Spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord may be multipy'd and encreas'd amongst you My beloved Friends Keep your station in the Holy Place every one who know it and in your Holy Calling wherewith you are call'd of God therein abide and walk with him that therein you may all adorn the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ And Friends You certainly know That the Living Blessed and Everlasting Truth it self which sanctifies throughly both in Soul Body and Spirit and which sets free from the Bondage of Corruption all who continue in it hath been freely made manifest amongst you Therefore I charge you all as you will answer the Lord Every one see that you live and walk in the Purity thereof And you likewise know the Way of Life and Salvation and of Holiness in which no unclean thing can pass see therefore that you continue therein that so whensoever your Lord comes you may be found of him in Peace and cover'd with his Righteousness For you have all need of Circumspection and Watchfulness and Diligence because the Adversary of your Soul's Peace is very subtil and lodgeth very near to every one and waits to devour and lurkes to destroy and will lose no Opportunity if possible he may beguile any of you as he did Eve in the beginning But as you all watch in the Light of God's Salvation which he hath caused to shine unto you the Adversary will thereby be discover'd unto you in all his Twindings and Appearances And my Friends This Light in which you have believed is the true Touch-stone by which all spirits may be tryed and all Motions in whom soever they arise may hereby be known whether they be of God and tend to that which is consistant with the Honour of Truth and your own Peace or whether they savour of the Flesh and tend to the satisfying of the Lusts thereof For the Lusts of the Flesh and of the Eyes and the Pride of Life are not of the Father but of the World which passeth away And where or in whomsoever these or either of these are found and discover'd by the Light which makes all things manifest they are therewith to be condemned and by you to be denied that so you may be every one kept out of the Snare of the Devourer and out of the Net of the mighty Hunter For If you live after the Flesh you shall dye for the Lusts thereof when they are conceiv'd bring forth sin and the Wages of sin is death But every one who through the spirit mortifies the Deeds of the flesh such shall live to God in the Newness of Life and such will adorn the Gospel of God And so my dear Friends You are called to Liberty but not to serve your selves therefore use not your Liberty as an Occasion to the Flesh lest thereby you be ensnared neither use it as an Occasion of stumbling unto others but every one in the Fear of the Lord stand fast in that glorious Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free And beware of being again entangled with the heavy Yoak of Bondage and of being brought into Captivity with that which in measure you had Victory over For you that have passed from Death to Life know right well and I need not tell you through what Difficulties Hardships and Exercises you obtain'd that precious Liberty in the Truth which you are brought unto And you also know what it cost you to purchase the Possession of that measure of Life and Truth which is manifested amongst you therefore let none sell his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage neither let any perishing Object become a snare or divert you from your Simplicity and Sincerity in the Truth But every one walk worthy of the matchless Love of God which hath extended its self unto you that so the daily Multiplyings and Abounding thereof you may know and witness in your hearts that through it you may Grow and Increase and be Enriched and that God Almighty may take delight to dwell amongst you And my Friends The savoury holy Order that the Truth led into in the beginning and in which the primative Christians were exercis'd you are not ignorant of and I hope not unmindful of it neither And you likewise know what Fervency and Fear and Zeal towards God the Truth wrought in your Hearts when you first receiv'd the Testimony thereof And what a Godly Resolution was put on by many and there was not another thing accounted of by many of you in comparison of his Blessed Truth And whatsoever
the Cause of God in the Prisons of London Hartford c. This is a Salutation of my Love and Life MY dearly beloved Friends who are oft brought into my Remembrance and presented before me by the Spirit of the Lord with whom my Life is and unto whom the Love of my soul doth even flow forth and extend it self in the Vertue of that Life which is Infinite and Eternal and in the Spirit of Supplication my soul is daily pour'd forth unto the Lord before the Throne of his Majesty on your behalfs Beseeching and Desiring That he will so furnish and arm you with the whole Armour of his own Righteousness that you may be entire wanting nothing and that you may be enabled to stand and hold out unto the End in this day of Battel and Tryal and that as Valiant Souldiers of the Lamb you may endure all Hardships as seeing him present in the midst of you who is Invisible in the Faith of the Answer whereof I dearly salute you all And dear Friends in this you may all be enboldned and in this Consideration your Heads may be lifted up above all Sufferings even in the midst of them that the Cause in which you are engag'd and for which you suffer is a Righteous Cause of which we have the Witness or Testimony in our own Consciences and a more certain Witness cannot be and this Witness doth testifie That our Cause is the Cause of God who hath call'd us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light and hath made choice of us to bear Testimony to and stand Witnesses for his Name and Truth in this Day of his Spiritual Appearance and Manifestation or Revelation of the Son of his Love whose quickening Spirit we have receiv'd by which we are seperated from the World and by which we have been and still are constrain'd to bear Testimony against all Oppression and Cruelty and against all the Unrighteousness of this sinful World for which Cause these Sufferings come upon us and attend us But blessed be the Lord who hath call'd us with so Honorable a Calling and accounted us worthy to suffer for so Honourable a Cause as Our Testimony for his Blessed Name and Truth the Reward thereof which is great will be certain unto all who are found Faithful unto the End Wherefore my dear Friends towards whom my Bowels of Love even earn and my Life and Soul reacheth as you may feel who are sensible of Life I say unto you all in the Name and Fear of the Lord Lift up your Heads over and above all Sufferings both present and to come I say in the Faith look over them all unto him who is invisible who will out-last them all who alone hath Immortallity and dwells in the Light whose Presence is certainly with you and amongst you and will be so continu'd as you walk and continue with him in his Everlasting Covenant of Light in which he dwells Wherefore let your Life Delight and Habitation be in him for my Friends you whose Hearts are upright unto God know right well that the Lord hath not been at any time wanting unto you in any Exercise of what nature or kind soever in time past the consideration of which is a sufficient Encouragement to every one to cast their Care upon him and to resign up themselves unto him who takes Care for them And if the Enemy be permitted so far to prevail as to execute his Decrees made against us yet in this may we be all satisfied that it shall certainly work for good unto us in the End and shall make for the furtherance of the Glorious Gospel of Peace and for the Exaltation of the Worthy Name of the Lord by which we are call'd wherefore in Contentedness with the Will of the Lord in all states let every one rest resign'd up unto him and in the Gift of his own Spirit wait upon him to receive daily Refreshment from his Presence that you may be Water'd Refreshed and Consolated from day to day that so you may grow in his Grace and be kept fresh and living in his precious Truth to shine forth in the beauty thereof And let it be your great Care above all things to keep in the Enjoyment and Feeling of the Peace and Love of God in your own Hearts and in that you will have Content in all Conditions and live in Love and in Peace one with another and have perfect Charity amongst your selves and whatsoever tends to the contrary let it be condemned by the Light in the rise of it And bear with and for one another and watch over one another in Love and therein exhort one another and build up one another in the most precious Faith which gives you Victory over the World and over all the Persecuting Powers of Darkness and be a Strength and a Refreshing and a Comfort one unto another in your Persecuted Suffering State and Condition And God Almighty keep you all and refresh your hearts daily with his Love and renew your strength with the vertue of his Life that none may be weary nor faint in your Minds but that all may endure with Patience and Valour and Boldness and Courage in the Lamb's Spirit unto the End that in the End you may be Crown'd with the Crown of Immortal Life and Glory which never fades away which is the Daily-Prayer of him who dearly and entirely loves you all who are of an Upright Heart by which Love I was constrain'd to salute you all at this time with these few Lines and so rest in it From my outward Beeing near Bristol this 20th of the 1st Moneth 1665. Your Dear and truly Loving Friend and Brother Josiah Coale A Salutation of Love From the Spirit of Life Unto all Friends of TRUTH Who are in Exilement or Sentenc'd to Exilement for the Exercise of their Pure Consciences in the Service and Worship of God MY beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters who are expos'd to Exilement from the Land of your Nativity for the sake of your Testimony to the blessed Truth of God and who have been and are content to suffer the loss of all that were dear unto you in this present World for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and rather then to betray that blessed Testimony which God had committed unto you to bear for his Name and who have sufficiently manifested your fidelity unto the Lord and his blessed Truth even in the view of the whole World as a Witness against their False Antichristian and Idolatrous Worships which God by his Power will certainly throw down and bring to nought and who have bore Testimony in Faithfulness in and by your Submissiveness to an Exil'd Estate against that Antichristian spirit of Persecution which Raigns and Rules in the Hearts of all the Apostate False Christians whose Worship standeth in Subjection to the Precepts and Commandments of Men and in Bowing to Stocks and Stones and to the Works of Men's Hands and in other Outward
it be receiv'd and that will keep down all that may arise to make any Dissention to cause any straitness or strangeness amongst you and so you will be kept in the unity of the Truth which will be a good savour amongst all people and in that the Lord will take Delight to dwell amongst you and to do you good and in that God Almighty be with you and bless you and water you with the Dew of Heaven and cause the Showers of his Love to descend upon you that you may be refreshed and kept alive in the Truth therein to live according to God in the Spirit and not according to men in the Flesh but in that by which you are judged according to men and by which you are crucified unto the World and therein your Joy Peace and Comfott will be Everlasting And so dear Friends Let nothing enter that would deprive you of your Peace and Comfort lest you lose the Reward of your Sufferings but keep in Lowliness and Watchfulness and in true Humility of mind and spirit for therein is Safety And it s the Humble that God teacheth and supporteth And without his assisting Spirit of Grace we can do nothing that will add to our Comfort or Consolation and therefore whatever our state be we have daily need of an Assistance from him and of the renewing of our strength by him by whom alone we are able to do all things and in him nothing is too hard for us for it s through him that we are more then Conquerors and by Faith in him we stand and that gives Victory over the World And in that my Dear Friends all live and walk and thereby you will have free access to God and will meet with us at the Throne of Grace and Ocean of Life and there the Minister of the Sanctuary is seen alwayes near at hand administring unto every one according to their necessity who will give Ability and Strength sufficient to endure all things and to answer his Requirings in all things and will also keep down and under all which would arise to exalt the mind above measure in the time of enjoyment of the Reward that is receiv'd through Sufferings and hereby you will be preserv'd out of all the Snares of the Enemy And in this my Love is dear to you all and to the whole Flock of God in all Parts of the World and to this Spirit of Grace I do commit you all and resign you up to be govern'd and protected thereby for by it I was at this time moved to write these Lines to you in which I doubt not but it will be received by all whose hearts are sincere towards God And in that God Almighty be with your spirits Amen London this 28th of the 11th Moneth 1665. I am your Dearly Loving Brother in the Patient Long-Suffering Spirit of the Lamb. Josiah Coale Let this be read amongst Friends who are Ezil'd or sentenced for Exilement when they are met together in the Fear of the Lord. An Epistle to FRIENDS In Holland MY Dearly Beloved Friends I ofttimes remember you make mention of you in my Prayers to the Lord since I outwardly saw your Faces and my Love in the Lord is unfeigned to you in which I have for your Good travel'd amongst you and in which at this time I dearly salute you as those whom God Almighty hath reached unto and visited that you might have Acquaintance with him and that you might be made Partakers of his Endless Love in his Son Christ Jesus and therewith might love one another as he hath loved you who hath forgiven you your Trespasses that you might take Example thereby to Forgive one another that so you may have the Mind of his Spirit of Love and be like him in this present evil World and that you might bear his Image amongst the Children of Men and stand as Witnesses for him and appear on his behalf in that Life through which you will answer the Witness of God in the Hearts of all People that so you bring Honour and Glory and Praise to the Name of the Lord who hath visited you To whom all Glory belongs forever Amen My Beloved Friends Prize the Mercies of the Lord with which he hath visited you and walk worthy of his Love which hath been additionally manifested through the many tender Visitations which he hath sent unto you by his Servants whom he hath moved from time to time to come amongst you with the Message of Life as Dispencers of his Word of Reconciliation for your Consolation and Comfort And every one in your own particulars feel the Measure of the Meek Spirit of the Lamb that your minds may be daily exercis'd thereby in the Cross to all that is contrary to the Nature thereof that so your Hearts and Souls may be season'd therewith and the contrary kept down and bow'd under it And as all are exercised with this Spirit of the Lamb you will more and more grow into its nature through the refreshing Vertue which therein and thereby you will daily receive and this is alone that which presents all a Good Savour unto God and in this you know we have labour'd among'st you and therein you will feel my Love and Life which is in that which is not of this World and therein the Fellowship of the Children of Light stands which is a Mystery to the World and in that Love Unity Peace Meekness and Gentleness will encrease amongst you which are excellent Vertues and amiable to behold and that which is Passionate or Hasty and Unsavoury shall not have a place amongst you but you will all be Examples of good one unto another And also Your Life and Holy Chaste Conversation will preach unto the World by which they that are without shall be convinc'd and made to confess That God is in you and in this you will be a Good Savour unto God and he will take Delight to manifest his Presence and Blessings amongst you and to multiply his Mercies unto you and will water you daily with the Dew of Heaven through which you will be kept in the Freshness of the Life of the Blessed Unchangeable Truth for the Lord waits to be Gratious unto all them that wait upon him for the Teachings of his Spirit of Grace and are taught thereby and such he enricheth with the Riches of his Grace through which they live unto him and in that all are a strength one unto another and a Refreshment and Comfort to each other And so my dear Friends In that God Almighty keep you and be with you and water you daily with the Dew of Heaven that you may grow thereby and dwell all in Watchfulness in the Light and keep in the weighty Truth the true Foundation that the Understandings of all may be kept clear and open that none may be beguil'd of their Peace nor Crown of Life And all watch over one another in Love and bear ye one anothers
things were honest and of Good Report and by which the Truth might have been adorn'd how readily would you have been made conformable thereunto though you had deny'd your selves therein And then how did the Blessings of God with Peace and Unity one with another abound amongst you Well I hope and doubt not but that you are still like-minded in the same thing many of you and that you have the same Consolation abounding amongst you But if any be otherwise-minded I would have such know that the Truth is of the same worth as ever it was and of as great price with all who really walk therein as ever it was esteem'd by such and this God shall reveal unto them in his Day And if any retain not their first Love Zeal and Fervency but walk disorderly and not according to the Truth of the Gospel which was preached unto you by us in the beginning I say if we or any other shall walk amongst you not according to that Holy Order of the Gospel by which it may be adorn'd and shall refuse the Admonition of the Spirit of Meekness to be humbled for his disorderly walking have no Fellowship with such a one but let him be accounted as a Heathen and a Publican unto you that God may deal with him for his Iniquity according to his Deserts Yet nevertheless against an Elder receive not an Accusation except it be by the Mouthes of two or three Witnesses that nothing be done but that which may tend to the Edification of all and not to the Destruction of any And farther my Friends If any amongst you shall walk not as becomes the Gospel of Christ nor according to that savoury holy Order that the Truth hath led and doth lead into but by any unsavoury Actions or Motions whatsoever shall vary from the Simplicity and Purity of the Truth yet let not that become a Stumbling-Block unto any nor cause any to fall from the Faith which you have receiv'd and through which you have obtain'd Remission of Sins and Immortal Life For the Unfaithfulness or disorderly walking of some will not be a sufficient Excuse for others in the Day of the Lord when they are called to an account but every one who have tasted of the Power and Love of God and have receiv'd the Gift of his Spirit be faithful thereunto that you may improve your Tallent which is committed to you For every one must give an account for himself unto God and none can excuse you before him therefore I say Look not at the Haltings of others though it should be such who have seem'd to be as Pillers nor think to make that a Plea or an Excuse to decline from the Purity of the Holy Way of the Lord for although that may serve for an Argument amongst men yet that will not serve when God shall come to plead with such before whom all Hearts are open and all things naked and bare and he will give to every one a just Reward according to their Deeds Wherefore I say Let every one have an Eye unto the Lord in all things and mind their own state and how it stands betwixt them and the Lord and that will keep them from looking-out and consulting about the state of others who may vary from the Purity of the Truth for hereby the occasion of stumbling comes unto many But rather let the halting of such be as Dreadful Examples unto you to take Warning by that so you may be kept in Fear and Faithfulness in Watchfulness and Diligence lest you fall into the same Temptation and Snare of the Devil For my Friends Whither can any go to find Life Immortal Consolation and Satisfaction to their Souls if they should forsake the precious Truth of which we have born testimony in the Life and Demonstration of God's Spirit amongst you and through which many of you have found Rest to your Souls after many long and sore Travels Truly there is not another thing that can add unto your everlasting Consolation if once any of you should vary or slip aside from that And this I hope and doubt not but that many or most of you are perswaded and satisfied in Therefore continue therein and therein be unanimous in your Service and Obedience unto the Lord that by him his Good Spirit and Word of Grace you may be established forever And as concerning the state of Marriages You know the comely Order of the Church in the primitive Times before the Apostacy began and how the Apostle said If any be called being Married let him nor seek to be loosed nay though he or she had an Unbelieving Wife or Husband but let the Husband render due Benevolence to the Wife and likewise the Wife to the Husband And further By Commission from God he said Let not the Wife depart from her Husband And so say I unto you in the Name and Fear of the Lord Let none give place in the least to that spirit that would beget Inclinations in the Wife or Husband to depart one from another but let every man have his own Wife and every woman her own Husband For whatsoever Pretence or Covering that spirit that would separate them may come under yet it is a spirit of Fornication and it will lead out of the comely Order into the Disorder and into the Defilements and Pollutions of the World and into a Pit and a Snare And for such things sake the Wrath of God will be reveal'd and he will make such Examples of his Vengeance For as the Apostle said The Wife is bound by the Law so long as her Husband liveth and if she depart from him and Marry another Man she is an Adulteress and a Transgressor of the Law And therefore my dear Friends as I said before In that comely Order in which you may adorn the Gospel and be kept in Favour with the Lord and in Unity and Fellowship one with another in his Spirit of Life let all walk together and in your places and stations where the Lord hath set you and order'd you therein abide with him having the Loins of your Minds girt about with the Truth it self and be zealous for the Honour thereof and keep stedfast therein with the Lord in Fear and Faithfulnes in Fervency and Simplicity all being Examples one to another of Chastity and Holiness and Godliness of Conversation that you may also be as Lights unto the World answering the Witness of God in all that none may have any thing against you nor whereof to accuse you but only concerning your Obedience to the Law of your God then will you have strong Consolation in the Lord and great Boldness and Confidence towards him and also in the sight of all men and the Lord will encrease your Spiritual Substance and will also enlarge your Borders by daily adding to your Number such as shall be saved And so the Everlasting God keep you all and be with and amongst you and cause the plentious
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
will take hold on them and the Sorrows of Death shall compass them about even as before they were deliver'd from their former Troubles and so they will bring themselves under the heavy Yoak of Bondage again and the Countenance of the Lord will be hid from them and a Cloud of Darkness will come over them and Misery will be their Portion from the Lord God who is the Joy of the Righteous and the Rewarder of all who obey him and out of this Condition it will be hard to be removed and to be restor'd again into the Favour of the Lord. And so my dear Friends Prize your Peace with him above all things visible and so walk as that you may be preserved therein And wait upon him in the Gift which you have received from God and you will feel his Everlasting Blessings to flow in upon you and his Mercies and Loving-kindnesses will be renewed unto you Morning by Morning whereby you will be aboundantly refreshed and be kept living unto the Lord and a daily growth you will witness from Strength to Strength and from one Degree of Grace unto another until you appear before the Lord in Sion in compleat Beauty and perfect Holiness And so as you in Patience wait upon the Lord and walk before him in his Covenant of Grace and dwell in his Pure Holy Power and be subject thereunto in all its Leadings and Requirings then you will see the Lord pleading your Cause in the Hearts of your Enemies and working your enlargement and Liberty by his own secret Hand of Power by which he will turn back the powers of Darkness and remove the Seat of Violence and will exalt his own Kingdom and Righteousness in the Earth and Oppression shall be far away for this is his Decree and Determination and those that rise up against him in this day of his Appearance or oppose him in his Work such shall be scattered by the Breath of his Mouth even as Chaff is scattered before the Wind And then shall the Righteous rejoyce and be glad in the God of their Salvation And so you will see that all these Tryals and Sufferings which shall come upon any of you shall work for your everlasting Good and for the Glory of the Lord and shall make for the furtherance of the Glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Captain of our Salvation and was made perfect through Suffering and is now set upon his Throne at the Right-Hand of the Father to judge the World in Righteousness to whose Scepter and Dominion all Powers Thrones and Dominions must bow and bend and become subject for the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it And therefore let none faint in their minds because of the present Rage of the Adversary but look unto him who lifts up the Head above the Raging Waves of the Sea and you will see him to arise who will rebuke the Rage of the Devourer and will cause a great Calm And so my dearly beloved Friends Keep in the Covenant of Peace and Life and feel the pure Power of the Lord God Almighty to bound you and compass you about and feel your Unity and Fellowship in it with the Lord and one with another and watch over one another in Love and build up one another in your Most Holy Faith so will you have dominion over the World and come to know the Earth to be your Foot-stool and so in and through him who hath manifested his eternal Love in you you will be more than Conquerors even through his eternal Power who subdueth all thing unto himself that he may Raign over all whose right it is and unto whom the Kingdom doth belong and unto him be Glory and living Obedience for ever Amen And so the Lord God of Power and Love be amongst you all and fill you with his Love and Power that so you may be kept out of the Snares of the Evil One for that hath oft been the Breathing of my Soul for you in secret and that you may walk before him in the Purity of his holy Spirit and be kept unspotted from the World And so in the Bowels of our Lord Jesus Christ do I most dearly and tenderly salute you all who are of the Family of my Father and of the Houshold of Faith and the God of Love and Peace be with you all Barbadoes this third Mon. 1661. I am your Dear Brother in the Patient Long-Suffering Spirit of our Lord and Master and a Traveller for the Redemption of the Oppressed Seed Josiah Coale To the Called of God Every where who are Witnesses of the Eternal Excellency of the SON of RIGHTEOUSNESS Who is now appear'd in his Majesty and Glory in this Day of the FATHER'S LOVE to the Children of Men. The Fourth general EPISTLE MY Dear and Everlastingly well beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters with whom in the Covenant of Life and Kingdom of Peace Glory and Eternal Felicity my soul rests and is at Peace and perfect Freedom where the Glorious Presence of the God of Life who is Jacob's Shepherd is enjoyed and is known to be an open Fountain daily administring of his Heavenly Rich Vertue and Goodness to the consolating and refreshing of our Immortal Souls so that we have no need to complain of Poverty because he who is the Fountain of all Good is continually with us and never ceases to administer into his own according to their several Necessities as in his pure Fear and Power they wait upon him and walk before him And this I know many of you are not unsensible of for whom a Feast of Fat Things is prepared and a Table richly deckt is spread before you where every hungry one may feed and be refreshed and the Breast of Consolation is also known at which every Babe may suck and be satisfied and so all having access unto this you may here be delighted with the aboundance of the Treasure of my Father's Heavenly Kingdom the Windows whereof being now open'd a Blessing is poured forth without measure Oh! that all who profess the Name of the Lord were throughly sensible of this thing then would their souls with us delight in Fatness and their hearts would be enlarged thereby so that they would find Encouragement to run the Way of his Commandements even with Delight and nothing would be counted too dear to part withal for his sake who hath call'd us and is bringing many Sons and Daughters unto Glory and Vertue Wherefore my dearly beloved Friends be ye encouraged to walk on in the Way of the Lord though it be strait to the Earthly Man and be ye content to pass through Evil-Report and Good-Report and let him be your Example in all things who when he was reviled he reviled not again and when he suffered he threatned not but committed it to him who judgeth Righteously as a Lamb before the Shearer is Dumb so he open'd not his Mouth Therefore I say Friends Let none be
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
old saith Sware not at all Jer. 31.31 32. and though Moses and the Prophets were to be heard under the ministration of the first Covenant yet they said when Christ the second Covenant was come people must hear him for said Moses a Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me him shall ye hear Deut. 18.15 And the Prophet said that Nation and people that will not serve thee that Nation shall perish Isa 60.12 So that although Moses said thou shalt perform thy Oath to the Lord yet Christ that Prophet who is the end of that Law and whom Moses said the people must hear or else be cut off he said Sware not at all and although the Prophet said thou shalt Sware the Lord liveth c. yet Christ who is the end of the Prophets whom the Prophets said people must serve or else perish saith Sware not at all and although it may be alledged that the Angels swore yet Christ the first born amongst many Brethren to whom all the Angels must bow saith Sware not at all and although it may be further alledged that God himself swore and therefore its lawful for Christians to Sware yet God himself said concerning Christ This is my beloved Son hear ye him Mat. 17.5 And this beloved Son of God whom all Christians ought to hear saith Sware not at all All which being rightly weighed and considered it plainly appears that Swearing by any Oath whatsoever was forbidden by Christ Jesus who is the Law-giver unto all Christians and therefore it is not lawful for Christians to Sware at all And that spirit that tollerates Swearing or would set it up as a Religious Act is an Antichrist spirit because it is against the command of Christ And although the Apostle might or did call the Lord to witness concerning the Truth which he spake yet that doth not prove that the Apostle swore as A. S. affirmeth that he did neither do we read that ever any of the Apostles did either propagate or tollerate Swearing since Christ forbid it But contrariwise the Apostle James saith Above all things my Brethren Swear not neither by Heaven nor by the Earth neither by any other Oath but let your yea be yea and your nay nay lest you fall into condemnation So that although A. S. would wrest the words of Christ to perswade people that his intent was they should not Swear but in Truth and in Righteousness yet the words of Christ and the Apostle whom all true Christians are to hear doth clearly import that their intent was that people should not Swear at all by any Oath whatsoever But this Antichristian spirit which opposes the Doctrines and Commands of Christ and his Apostles we have had large experience of and we have oft-times seen that it leads people to swear and also to forswear themselves both which are an Abomination to the Lord and in the Transgression against God and the new Covenant Ninthly and A. S. saith the Apostle said salute one another but the Devil saith salute not one another for Christ saith he sending his Disciples bid them salute no man by the way Luke 10.4 this Devil follows all Quakers but alas Christ's meaning there was that none should hinder them by the way c. Answ To which I answer here again A. S. goes about to make us believe that the Commands of Christ are the Impositions of the Devil or at lest that the Devil stirs up people to keep the Commands of Christ the first of which is Blasphemy in the highest degree and the second is little less for if the Devil would teach people to keep the Commands of Christ then might they serve Christ and Belial but as Christ said that cannot be And indeed we do experimentally see find that the Devil always opposeth the keeping of Christs Commands As now in A.S. Who would diswade them from it under pretence that its the Devil that leads them to it And as to his saying this Devil follows all Quakers I answer It s true but alas its intentionally to destroy them for it was said to the Serpent in the beginning that the Seed of the Woman should bruise his Head and he should bruise its Heel Gen. 3.15 And even so it s now come to pass for the Lord Jesus Christ the promised Seed Gal 3.16 being become the Leader of his people and the Angel of Gods present going before them the Devil as A. S. saith comes after them and follows them with his fiery darts of persecution and Serpent-like is snarling at the Heel But blessed be the Lord he that goes before them and is in them is greater and mightier then the Devil that follows them and he hath been their Preserver hitherto and I doubt not but he will unto the end perserve all who trust in him And as concerning Christs words there needs no meaning to be given to them for he meant as he spoke but if they did according to A. S's own conclusion he is not the Interpreter but the Church Therefore A.S. being not the Church but a particular man according to his own Argument his interpretation is not to be heeded Again he saith Every man is not the Interpreter for saith he Every man is a Lyar And indeed he hath conformed unto us that himself is a Lyar because he hath belyed the intent of Christs words aforesaid by giving his meaning to them Then saith A. S. Yet these deluded Souls think that this their deluding Spirit is of God and why forsooth because it reprehends them of sin c. and did not Judas his spirit rebuke him of sin and notwithstanding induce him to desperation and to hang himself Answ Here A. S. is again putting Light for darkness or calling the Spirit of Truth a deluding Spirit for is not that the Spirit of Truth that reproves the World of sin John 16.7 8. Did not Christ say that he would send the Comforter that should reprove the World of sin and we never read of any other Spirit that did reprove sin but the Spirit of Truth which A. S. blasphemously calls a deluding Spirit neither did I ever read that a deluding Spirit was the Comforter which that Spirit that reproves for sin is as Christ said And again is it not clear that A. S. puts Light for darkness in calling that a deluding Spirit which reproves sin for the Apostle said that whatsoever things are reproved are made manifest by the Light for whatsoever makes manifest is Light Eph. 5.13 and the deluding spirit is darkness it self so that hereby it manifestly appears that A. S. cannot discern betwixt Light and darkness so is a miserable Blind-Guide indeed And though the Spirit of Truth did rebuke Judas for his treachery doth it therefore follow that it was the same that led him to hang himself no this is great Ignorance in A. S. to affirm for he might as well have said That the same Spirit that led him
the many Writings of his own which remain upon Record will speak forth to those who are of a true spiritual understanding what he was yet notwithstanding all these things were in my mind and divers other Considerations which occasioned me to defer the publication hereof so long as till now yet being I could not be so clear in my duty towards God and my Brother in neglecting to give forth this my Testimony concerning him and in suffering so precious a Testimony as his last was wholly to be put in oblivion I have with freeness and cheerfulness of heart undertaken it And when it pleased God to manifest his Eternal Power in the heart of the aforesaid R. F. it is well known unto many how effectually it wrought in him insomuch that although he was before a man of great abilities and parts and knowledge accounted of among men even excelling many of his equals yet he was content and willing in obedience to the Power of God to become a Fool to the World and to be stript and emptied of his own wisdom and knowledge which stood in the state faln from God and his Power and to suffer the loss of all worldly reputation and favour and the pleasures and delights thereof that he might win Christ Jesus and be found his Servant clothed with the Righteousness of Faith preferring the simplicity that is in Christ beyond all worldly wisdom and honour whatsoever and his Sufferings for the sake of Christ beyond all worldly reputation and so great was the change that was wrought it him that he became a wonder amongst many and the Word of God and his Power was great and mighty in him and through him in which he was sent forth by the Lord who had manifested himself unto him to preach the Everlasting Gospel to the Poor and to declare of that great Power of God of which he was made a Witness and of the Effects of its operation and so powerfull was his Message and Testimony that many were begotten into a firm belief thereof and believing the Report were turned from Darkness to the Light of Jesus with which they were enlightned and from Sathans power unto the Power of God which wrought mightily in their hearts to the changing of their minds and affections from things that are below towards things that are above all that is fading and corruptible and to the bringing of Life and Immortality to light in them And although they were atttended with many foul temptations because of their obedience to the Truth and Light of the Spirit of Grace and brought in many distresses in their passage from Death unto Life yet was he so experienced in the Depths and Subtilties of Sathan and also in the Dealings and Goodness of God in such conditions and estates that he had obtained the tongue of the Learned and could as oft times he did speak words in Season to the strengthning of the weak and refreshing of the weary and to the reviving of that which was near ready to faint So that he was in the Lords Hand even as a Father to the fatherless and as eyes to the Blind and feet to the lame and the eye that truly saw him blessed hm and the ear that heard him gave witness unto him for through the Power of God which enabled him he delivered the Poor and the needy and built up many that believed in their most precious Faith and confirmed them therein And went about from place to place through the Land of his Nativity turning many from Darkness to Light and confirming the Churches and doing good And his Service was very great for the Lord in his day for he was so furnished with Heavenly Wisdom and Understanding through the Grace of God and also so seasoned thereby that his Patience Meekness and Humility exceeded many And although God had so endued him with Heavenly Vertues and Abilities exceeding many yet was he not pufft up therewith neither sought to exercise Lordship over those that were weaker and younger then himself but gave place unto any that had the least Gift of God to exercise so that through the Spirit of Meekness and Humility with which he was adorned he was exceeding lovely and beautiful and the hearts and souls of many were affected therewith who in simplicity thirsted after Righteousness and such waited for him as for the Rain upon whom his Doctrine so dropped Yet nevertheless he was terrible to the Worker of Iniquity and the Sword of his Mouth was very sharp for the Word of God was therein and when he had to do with any who opposed the Truth and Way of Life and Salvation which we profess and walk in as oft-times he had his Weapon was very sharp to them and they were not able to resist the Wisdom of the Spirit by which he spoke for thereby he confounded their wisdom and broke their Weapons in pieces so that they were oft ready to Blaspheme God because of the plague that it was to them and a Conqueror he was over the Beast and false Prophet against whom he made War in Righteousness in and though the Power of the Lamb in whose Spirit he finished his Testimony and Course in the Faith And as the Enemies of the Truth of God were many and in divers shapes that this valiant Souldiers of the Lamb had to encounter withal so he was alwayes furnished with Armor and Weapons fit for the Work and Service in which he was exercised by which he was enabled to encounter with and Conquer all But at last that his Armor and Weapons might be proved to be sufficient to encounter with the Enemy of Truth in all kind of Appearances and Transformations it was his lot with me and divers others of the Servants of the Lord to be engaged against the Enemy of Truth who had transformed himself into the likeness of an Angel of Light and under a seeming pretence of appearing on the behalf of God and his Cause c. and against Formality and Traditions begun strongly to oppose the Truth of God and the Ministry thereof in and through his Servants and Messengers who have approved themselves as the Ministers of God and as his Embassadors and to cry against our Assemblies and manner of Worship and our Exercise therein as only Formal in which we have always found the glorious Presence Power and Majesty of the Lord amongst us refreshing comforting and strengthening of us even according as our Hearts Souls can or could desire so that we were engaged to justifie the Lord in opposition to that gainsaying spirit of delusion by which many were beguiled led away after Satan to their hurt And in our Testimony for the Lord and against that self-separating gainsaying Spirit the Power of the Lord did greatly accompany and assist us and was as greatly with us as in any service that he had called us unto The sincere and upright in heart who have kept their first Love and their first Faith
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
therein that the Cause of God may not be betrayed by any through their declining from that godly Practice and duty that the Enemy may not be encouraged thereby to vaunt against the Remnant that are faithful to oppose them therein also but rather through your faithfulness and stability the enemy may be discouraged in his Enterprises and put to flight that you may be Conquerors over him and may tread Satan under foot and may reign with the Lamb for ever And my Friends consider the faithfulness of many of the Servants of the Lord who loved not their lives unto death who are gone before who preached and made known the Truth and way of Life to you how they laboured and traveled amongst you in the Name and Strength of the Lord to beget you unto God and to build you up in the most pretious Faith and how they exhorted you time after time to that godly practice of Assembling together and how they gave Example and President therein as well as Exhortation thereunto Nay have not divers of them laid down their Lives not counting them dear to them for that very Practice of Assembling together Yea certainly they have so some in Prisons and some otherwise Oh therefore my Friends this Duty of Assembling together ought not to be slighted nay hath not the present Liberty that we do enjoy in our meeting together cost the Lives of many was it not with the blood of many of them that bore the same Testimony which we bare that this present Liberty hath been purchased and ought not this Liberty then to be prized and made a right Use of I am jealous with a godly Jealousie that all who are concerned do not rightly weigh ponder and consider these things but I desire all to consider it and let not that Testimony fall by the negligence of any which hath been sealed with the Lives of so many of Gods Servants and Messengers whose Knowledge and Understanding in the Way and Mysteries of God was not inferiour unto any that are left behind and yet they chearfully offered up their All for that Testimonies sake Therefore my Friends be diligent and faithful to the Lord walking in his Covenant of Life which will be a true Guide unto you and an Instructor and will keep your Desires fresh towards the Lord and your Love one towards another so that you will be constrained to Come together and to wait together upon the Lord to receive refreshment from his presence which you will see and feel in the middest of you as your hearts are kept in his Fear and enter not into consultation with Flesh and Blood nor into reasonings which will say Thou needest not go to Meetings because thy Teacher is present in all places and so will draw thee into negligence of meeting with the Children of Light for if thou gave heed unto such reasonings thou wilt soon find thy Love will wax cold towards the People of God and thou wilt lose the sence of the Teachings of the Lord who is present in all places for although he be in all places present yet hath he ordained and appointed that his People should Assemble themselves together to wait upon him and to worship him and hath given the promise of his Presence unto such that do so But if any draw back from answering his requirings his Soul will have no pleasure in them and such will dye as to God and will become as dry and withered Branches and their Love will decay and wax cold and they will not have a sight nor a sense of the Omnipresence of the Lord nor of his Teachings though they may talk of it as multitudes do at this day who are altogether strangers thereunto further than by hear say And therefore once more I say unto you all Be faithful to the Lord in your several measures and stations where the Lord hath set you and be diligent in that godly Practice of Assembling your selves together in which a Testimony for the Lord is born which many have laid down their Lives for and let none make their blood of no effect by slighting Meetings the present Liberty for which hath been purchased through the shedding their blood but let all meet together and being met wait upon the Lord in faithfulness that you may feel the Springs and Fountain of Life opened amongst you and in the midst of you that you may be refreshed and strengthened and may grow and be enabled to encounter with your Souls Enemy in all his appearances and may put him to flight and may tread Satan under foot and reign as Kings on Earth and as Conquerors to the praise of his Name who hath called you that he may take delight to dwell amongst you and to do you good who over all is worthy God Blessed for evermore By a Companion of those who hold the Word of God and Testimony of Jesus Christ and suffer for the same Josiah Coale A SONG Of the Judgments Mercies OF THE LORD Wherein the things seen in Secret are declared Openly Being A Brief Demonstration of the Secret Work of the Almighty in me his Servant Given forth at the Movings of the Spirit of the Lord and is to go abroad throughout the World With a Hearty Salutation of Pure and Unfained Love flowing from the Innocent Life 〈◊〉 in a few words to all the Souldiers of the Lambs Army though out the Nations and also to the Suffering Seed every where With a few Words by way of Information unto such who may have desires in them to know the Way to the Kingdom of Peace and Righteousness which we 〈◊〉 and are Heirs of through Christ Jesus our Lord which to the◠〈◊〉 the Visitation of God I Will sing of the Judgments and Mercies of the Lord and declare his wondrous Works unto all people that the Inhabitants of the Earth may hear and fear and reverence the Lord who is holy When I walked in the way of the Wicked and knew not the Path of the Just when I lived in Transgression against God and knew not his holy Law to walk therein then oft-times did fear surprise me and terror seized upon my heart for I saw that the way in which I walked was the way that led to destruction then as I considered the way of the World I saw they were all gone astray and though they had a Profession of God yet acquaintance with him they had not neither was he to be found in their Assemblies Then my Soul languished after the Knowledge of him and after the Knowledge of the Way of Life yet still was I captivated with vanity and the deceitfulness of sin stole away my heart But the good Spirit of God still strived in me to come out of the wayes of the World whose Worships I had long seen to be but as the offering of Swines-blood and in my heart I could not joyn with them but had a testimony in me against their wayes and that which
they called their Ordinances I saw there was nothing of God in it for they were but as a shadow vanity and nothing but how to come into the Way of Life to this I was still a stranger until the Lord in his Eternal Power sent the Ministers of the Word of Life who were anointed of the Lord and endued with Power from on high to preach the glad tydings of the Gospel to the captivated Seed and to minister to the spirits that were in prison whose voice I rejoyced to hear and whose Testimony I gladly received For they declared the Way of Life that it was in the midst of the Path of Judgment and the Witness of God in my heart did seal to the truth 〈◊〉 their Testimony and this I saw was the way that the Workers of Iniquity knew not For there is no judgment in their goings Then my soul cryed unto God for the pourings forth of the Spirit of Judgment that I might walk in the paths thereof and that the filth thereby might be purged away For I saw that my heart was polluted and that there was no Habitation for God which caused me to mourn in desolation and to wander in solitary places So as I waited in the Light of his Son which shined in my Heart and Conscience there he revealed his righteous Judgments and the just rejoyced therein yea he brought me into the valley thereof and there did he plead with me even by sword and by fire c. He poured the Cup of his fury upon me and made me drink of the dregs thereof yea the Cup of trembling he put into my hand and gladly did I receive it though it was in my belly bitter he oft-times sorely afflicted me and caused deep sorrow to compass me about and poured his indignation upon me Then said I I will bear it with patience because I have sinned against thee Yet many times I was strongly assaulted with the violent rage of the wicked one for he shot his fiery darts at me which often wounded my Soul Then I cryed unto the Lord in my distress and he comforted me with his precious promises which begat a secret hope in me or else I had fainted in the tribulation when his vials of wrath were poured upon me and the Enemy came in like a flood then was I ready to say in my heart I shall one day fall by the hand of mine Enemy yet I was still sustained by a secret hope so that I cryed unto the Lord That he would never let his Judgments depart until the Prince of this World was judged and cast out So he followed me with his righteous Judgments until I was near ready to faint Then I cryed again saying If thou wilt indeed bring me through thy Judgments and grant me thy Everlasting Peace If thou wilt destroy the Enemy of my Soul and give me rest from those that oppress me Then will I Teach Sinners thy wayes and Transgressors shall be converted unto thee yea I made many promises unto him that my life I would give up unto his service and that I would follow him whithersoever he would lead me yet oft-times I enquired of the Lord why I should be so afflicted more than others For I said in my heart Never mans sorrow was like my sorrow Then he answered me and said How shouldst thou declare my wondrous works unless thou see and know them So when I had born the indignation long even the time of his good pleasure when I had been long tossed with tempests even as a ship upon the Sea and had long been as a Pelican in the Wilderness and an Owl in the desert yea as a silly Dove without a mate then he remembred Jacob his servant and was pleased to speak comfortably unto me saying Oh thou tossed with tempests afflicted and not comforted Behold I will lay thy Stones with fair colours and though for a moment I have afflicted thee yet with everlasting loving-kindness have I visited thee and with many sweet and precious promises he compassed me about which at this time is unutterable and he put the Cup of Consolation into my hand yea he caused it to overflow for which my Soul did magnifie his Name and gave praise unto him in the land of the living unto which by the Arm of his Powers I was brought through the long and terrible Wilderness for he had regard unto his own Seed and brought it forth by an out-stretched Arm for he plagued Pharoah with his Judgments and destroyed the Egyptians in the Red-Sea of his wrath Wherefore I magnifie the God of Heaven who is Light and extol him above all Gods for the Proud he is able to abase with his Judgments and to exalt the Meek with his tender Mercies Thus have I drunk the bitter Cup of Gods fierce indignation the Ministration of the Law and of Condemnation which in its time was glorious the Just rejoyced therein until the Prophets Ministery came whereby the hope came in of a Redeemer from all sin the Law and Curse thereof And of deliverance from the Judgment and the Wrath which stayed me in the patience to bear the indignation under which I long had travelled through many tribulations until John's Ministry I came to see which was the greatest of all the Prophets which had gone before from the greatest unto the smallest For then the Way was made so strait the Path was made so plain that the coming of God's Son I saw in his great Power to raign whose Kingdom now is come with Power the Lamb is set on 's throne the least that in this Kingdom is he greater is then John So here the Mystery of the work of Regeneration is he that can read me herein may know where my dwelling is So when he had thus exercised me with his Judgments and filled my heart with his tender Mercies and enlarged it with his Loving-kindness so that the Way of his Commandments was delightful unto me and my life was not dear unto me for his sake then he spake unto me saying Thou must be my Servant to bring again the dispersed of Israel c. with much more which I judge is not expedient here to be expressed So to his service I gave up my life truly and whatsoever I had I accounted not dear for his sake for he gave me the promise of his good presence that it should never leave me nor forsake me but that he would accompany me therewith And he is faithful and keepeth Covenant and performs his word unto his Servant For he hath carried me through many Countries in which I was a Stranger and from one Nation to another People he hath led me and sometimes through many People of divers and strange Languages and his good presence never departed from me since I left the Land of my nativity but he is a constant Companion unto me and his Almighty power is with me through which I am able to do all things
the Prophets which is to do unto all men as you would men should do unto you And whensoever the motions of sin and iniquity shall arise in your hearts as you watch in the Light it will be seen and by the Spirit of Truth it will be judged before it will be brought forth into action and here the Cockatrice is crushed in the shell Babylons brats dash'd against the stone and happy shal he be that does so So there must be a diligent watch set before the door of thy Lips and a diligent waiting in the Light which is the eye that the Enemy may be seen in all his wiles and that his baits and snares may be discovered and escaped who lies in wait to devour and hunts for that end to keep the heart polluted for then he hath his nest there so herewith a young man may cleanse his way even by taking heed thereunto according to the Word which is pure and is nigh even in the heart and in the mouth and this is the Word of Faith which we preach which was in the beginning and is nigh unto all which you do well if you take heed as to a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts And as you all take heed unto this Word it will be unto you a Light unto your feet and a Lanthorn unto your paths and the operation of it you will know as a fire to purge the filth out of every ones heart and as a Sword to separate you from your former Lovers and this is the Word of Reconciliation which purging out the filth reconciles us to God and this will be a Teacher near you so that none will need go far for teachings for your eye shall see your Teacher which shall not be removed into a corner any more according to the Promise of God made by his Prophets in the days of old and your ears shall hear this Word behind you saying this is the Way walk in it when you turn to the right hand or when you turn to the left Wherefore encline your ears and come unto me saith the Lord hear and your Souls shall live and I will make with you an Everlasting Covenant even the sure Mercies of David So now the day of gathering into Gods Everlasting Covenant of Light Life and Peace is come and now is the day of Gods Visitation unto all People and the time now is wherein you may come to know reconciliation with God and wherein you may come to he made nigh who are in the alienation and degeneration and now the time is wherein you may come to know the Restoration out of the fallen state Wherefore be not rebellious against the Light neither be ye stiff-necked against the Reproofs thereof in your own Hearts neither resist the motions of Gods good Spirit of Grace in your inward Parts by which he hath long striven with you and do not dispite unto it by resisting the motions thereof lest it leave to strive with you and the day of your Visitation pass over and your Hearts be heardened and you become even sold to work wickedness and then it be said unto you as Christ said to Jerusalem How oft would I have gathered you as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her Wings but ye would not therefore behold your house is left desolate Wherefore consider your ways and how the good Spirit of God hath long striven with you to gather you out of the Pollutions Wayes and vain Traditions of the World and every one while you have time prize it and while it is called to day harden not your hearts lest thereby you provoke the Lord to Anger and Jealousie which cannot be quenched for this know that his long suffering and forbearance will come to an end and his Spirit will not alwayes strive with man therefore while the tenders of Gods Love are held forth unto you every one who desires to know the Salvation of your Souls receive it and that which begets good desires in your minds and judgeth evil desires when they arise that own for your Guide and Teacher And this will exercise your minds in Lowliness and Humility and keep down the lofty spirit and high imaginations which will puff the minde up above the fear of God so keep down in the Humility for this the Lord requires of thee Oh man whosoever thou be to do justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with God for the proud he resisteth but he giveth grace unto the humble by which he teacheth them his precepts even by his good Spirit of Grace which brings Salvation and which hath appeared unto all men by this I say he teacheth them that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts they should live Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this present evil World mark the Grace which teacheth this and which brings Salvation hath appeared unto all men so that which brings Salvation is nigh unto you the Grace of God which hath appeared unto you so every one mind that and none turn it into wantonness nor into laciviousness but every one give up to be taught by it that the precepts of God you may come to know and walk in them And so here is the great Salvation of God Gods Covenant of Light which lighteth every man that comes into World I have given thee saith he a Covenant of Light to lighten the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation to the ends of the Earth mark Gods Covenant of Light for Salvation which lighteth every man that comes into the World in which Light the Nations of them that are saved must walk And saith God who is Light I the Lord search the heart and try the reins look unto me and be saved all ye ends of the Earth mark again unto him that searcheth the heart and trieth the reins all the ends of the Earth must look for Salvation so that it comes not from the Mountains nor from the Hils but Salvation is of the Lord and God is Light and in him is no darkness at all and that is the Father of Lights and is in the Son and the Son in him and the Father and Son are one who lighteth every man that cometh into the World wherefore dwell in the Light and walk in the Light that you may be Children of the Light for the Earth shall be covered with darkness and gross darkness shall be over the people but the Lord shall become the Light of his Israel and his God his glory Wherefore come out of the gross darkness with which the Earth is covered and walk in the Everlasting Light of the Son of God wherewith you are enlightened and walk no longer in the dark paths of Ignorance neither follow the Blind-guides of the World any more who have fed you with their own aiery Imaginations and Conceptions and brain-study and have spoken unto you a Divination of their own brain not from the mouth
earnestly contend for But J. N. by this Assertion signifies that he is a Stranger to the Power of God in which true Faith standeth and therefore we may rationally conclude That he is also Reprobate concerning that Faith which Christ the Power of God is the Author and Object of Fourthly He saith It denyeth the Comforts of Faith for all Comforts that Faith can bring to the soul must be brought from the Promises of God according as they are laid down in the Scripture c. Answ Here J.N. absolutely limits God without any Ground or Reason or Warrant for so doing as though God who is the Fountain of all true Comfort could not convey true Comfort to the soul of a Believer by his Faith but he must first fetch it from the Scripture and so in effect the Scripture must be set above God or at least in the Place of God But what Scripture J. N. hath to prove this his absurd Affirmation I know not he hath produced none to prove that nor indeed any of the sad Consequences which he saith will follow the denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God and Perfect Rule c. we have only his bare word for it but whether that be of sufficient authority to enduce us to believe his Assertions I leave to the juditious Reader to judge seeing that Christ said to the Woman of Samaria That the Water that he would give should be in him that received it as a Well springing up to Eternal Life Joh. 4.14 again Joh. 7.38 39. said He that believeth on Me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water But this spake-he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive Mark Reader The Spirit that they should receive that believed on him and whose Faith stood in the Power of God was that Living Water that should be in them springing up unto Eternal Life or that should flow up in them through Faith and this Comfort their Faith did not fetch from Scripture but by their Faith was known to dwell in them as their Everlasting Comforter that was to abide with them forever even the Spirit of Truth according as Christ promised Jo. 14.16 17. so that to deny the Scripture to be the Word is not to deny the Comforts of Faith because that the true Comforter was known by Faith and is known by Faith to remain though the Scripture may be taken away and yet it doth not deny the Comfort of the Scripture neither unto those who have the understanding thereof Fifthly J. N. saith It destroyes the Support and Supplies of Grace to the soul in a time of Affliction c. and to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God is to deny the very Foundation and Well-spring of Comforts to the soul in Affliction which is brought out of the Promises in the Scriptures to the soul c. Answ This Assertion is like the former only the last part thereof somewhat more gross Blasphemy without any Scripture Argument to prove any part thereof only his own Assertion as in the rest though full contrary to the Testimony of the Prophet who speaking of the Affliction of the soul said When the Enemy shall come in like a Flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a Standard against him That was the Support and Relief of the soul in the time of its Affliction according to the Prophets Testimony and the same Support the Children of Light do still witness whose Faith stands in the Power of God and whose Trust is in that Name which is a strong Tower And for his calling the Scriptures the very Fountain and Well-spring of Comforts c. It s gross Blasphemy and a Robbing of God who is a Spirit and who is the Fountain of all Good whose Spirit as before shewed is in them that believe as a Well springing up unto Eternal Life for the Scriptures no where call themselves the Fountain nor have the holy Men of God so called them but they testifie of him-who is the Fountain of all Good Neither are they in them selves any where called the Well-spring of Comforts but they testifie of the Spirit of Truth the Comforter that it shall be in them that believe a Well springing up unto Eternal Life so that J. Newman to make good his Argument if he could Blasphemously putteth the Dead Letter in the place of God and in the place of the Living Spirit Sixthly He saith It denieth the Knowledge of Acceptance with God for if the Scriptures be deny'd to be the Word of God then who knoweth what God will accept c and who knoweth what God counteth sin and wickedness c. Answ To which I answer This is in part answer'd already for Enoch c. had this Testimony That he pleased God Heb. 11.5 before the Scriptures were written and that Testimony was the Seal of Acceptance with God which I dare affirm every true Believer will acknowledge and this Testimony of Acceptance he did not receive from Scripture for there was none but he obtain'd it by Faith which the Word that was in the Beginning was the Author of as the Apostle said He that believes hath the Witness in himself 1 Joh. 5.10 by which it appears That the Knowledge of Acceptance or the Seal of being Well-pleasing unto God is not the Scriptures but the Spirit of Faith But that J. N. and others may see the Confusion that he runs into while he is fighting against the Truth I insert his own words in the 77th page of his Book and compare them with this Assertion he saith I shall freely own the giving forth of his blessed Spirit into the Hearts of his Children whereby they are directed into his Most Holy Will by the enlightening of their spirits by that Holy Spirit of Promise by which they know their Adoption and also by the same Spirit can own God to be their Father c. Thus far are his own words by which the Reader may easily judge whether or no J-N. doth not speak absolutely contrary to the Belief or Perswasion of his mind in saying If the Scriptures be deny'd to be the Word of God it denieth the Knowledge of Acceptance and who then knoweth what God accounteth sin and wickedness c. I say let the Reader but compare his Confession concerning the Spirit with his Assertion concerning the Scripture and he shall see his Contradition sufficiently for if the giving forth of the Spirit directeth into the Knowledge of the Most Holy Will of the Father then by the same Spirit what is contrary to that must absolutely be known also and how then can it be said that without Scriptures be owned to be the Word of God the Ground of the Knowledge of Acceptance with God is deny'd seeing that which manifests the will of the Father manifests that which is acceptable to him and thereby it s known And all this may be known by the Spirit
as J. N. confesseth to the wounding of his own Work And indeed What he hath acknowledged is to be known by the Spirit is even enough for any man to know or enough to give Satisfaction to every Soul who breathes after the Knowledge of Acceptance with God For what can give more satisfaction to a man then to know the holy Will of God by his Spirit and to know his Adoption and to know that God is his Father Certainly there is no cause for him that hath this Knowledge to question his Acceptance with God And this may be known without Scripture even by the holy Spirit of Promise as J.N. confesseth therefore to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God doth not deny the Knowledge of Acceptance with God and thus out of his own Mouth he is judged Seventhly He saith If the Scriptures be denied to be the Word of God c. then all men are left in the dark c. 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 c. Answ That none are able to know that God will save any but by this Word that I shall easily acknowledgd because it s the Word only that is able to save but that the Scriptures are this Word or alone able to save that I do not acknowledge but deny and J. N. hath produced no Proof for his Assertion but only his own Affirmation nor indeed can he although he boldly saith They are the Word of Salvation yet they no where say so of themselves but they testifie of the Word of Salvation and That it was sent unto the Children of Abraham and unto all amongst them that feared God Acts 13.26 Mark This was not the Scriptures that were sent amongst them but the Word of Salvation or that Word which is able to save Jam. 1.21 which the Apostle there besought the Children of Abraham to receive with Meekness calling it the Ingrafted Word or as some English Translations have it The Word that is grafted in you so this is the Word that is able to save the Word of Salvation the Word of Faith in the Heart c. which Word was in the Beginning the Author of the Faith of the Fathers by which Jacob knew that God would save even before Scriptures were written which made him say Gen. 49.18 O Lord I have waited for thy Salvation By all which it appears That to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God doth not leave men so in the dark as J. N. affirmeth but that they are still in a capacity to know that God will save and also to see the Salvation of God which is promised to them that order their Conversation aright And whereas he saith That the Scriptures direct to the Means by which we shall obtain Life I Answer I shall easily acknowledge that for as I have before said they contain many true Testimonies of him who is the alone Leader unto Life and they are profitable for Doctrine for Instruction c. that people may be directed to Christ the Way which they testifie of and that they may be turned from Darkness to the Light which discovers the Darkness and that they may come to receive with Meekness the ingrafted Word or the word which is grafted in them by it to be taught and led unto the Possession of Life for this is the Means by which Life is obtain'd which the Scriptures testifie of and direct unto and for this Work we own the Scriptures to be profitable But this doth not run paralel with the Affirmation of J. N. in the 24th page of his Book where he affirmeth That Life was in the Scriptures for its one thing to say that there is Life therein and another thing to say they direct to the Means by which Life is obtain'd If John Newman asserted no other thing then the latter there had been no Controversie about this Point for so far we own the Scriptures But his Confusion sheweth what his spirit is oft-tmes contradicting and opposing himself as is usual with those that oppose the Unchangeable Truth But I perceive an Objection may arise in the Ignorant concerning this thing That if the Word which is able to save be grafted in people and be nigh unto all even in the Heart and Mouth why then are not all saved or why do not all see the Salvation of God or why did the Apostle Exhort them to receive it with Meekness if it were in them already I Answer though the Word or Spirit which is one was in them yet they being disobedient thereunto did not receive it or had not received it but had alwayes resisted it as the Apostle tells them Acts 7.51 and so were like unto those that Job spoke of saying They are of them that rebel against the Light who know not the Way of it c. Job 24.13 so that although the Word or Light or Spirit be in a people and they rebel against it or resist the reproofs and Instructions thereof or do dispite to the strivings thereof how can such be said to have received it for they only receive the Word and the Spirit that receive the Reproofs and Instructions thereof and in them it is known to be a Spirit or Prince of Peace and a Word of Life and Consolation and such know their Beloved to lye all might betwixt their Brests but although he be nigh even in the hearts of many they cannot be said to receive him while they rebel against him and therefore they are not saved but condemned by him For this is the condemnation that Light is come and men love Darkness rather then Light Joh. 3.19 and though he lighteth every man that comes into the World yet it s only they that receive him the Light that he gives Power unto Joh. 1.12 by which it appears that all that were englightned by him did not receive him so that the Light the Word the Spirit may be in people and yet they that received it but reject it in its Reproofs Counsels and Instructions and therefore they are not saved by it but condemned for which cause it was needful for the Apostle to Labour to turn them from Darkness to the Light wherewith they were enlightned to Exhort them to receive with meekness the engrafted Word or to submit unto the operation of the Word that was in them that by it they might be saved for none experimentally knows its ability to save but they who receive the Reproofs and Instructions of it and are Doers or Obeyers thereof and such are taught thereby as by the Universal Grace which hath appeared unto all men which bringeth salvation to order their Conversation aright through which they come to see the great Salvation of God Eighthly Now I come to the eighth sad Consequence that J. N. saith