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Show '!be AuTHoR's LIFE. VoL. I. . 'fi 1 e not to judge you, but After fame Silence, I began °~ thts wtb~~ tocfim:~k of rhe Things of God's to vi fit you; not to quarrpl o.r f.tfpu~e,t great L~e Jnd Regard in my Heart Kingdom; and I have no ICJU tee,. ~ Chriftian P:nience and Tendernefs. towards you : Whcrefl~re h~r mG ;r~arh touched your Hearcs with His Di- 1 do confefs and be te\'e. t at 0• ft ou . That it was Jfis Spirit vine Finger, and ~bat, HfJShWVrk 15 am;F~n/ of;his World, and rhat harlt that gave you a Stght o t e :tnuy. 3•0 in it 'Tis this Senfe I made you fenfible of the Dfia~ RfltglO~~~~:~a~~~ng or.oppofing this render love and honour i and I am ~. ar. I?ml am come to vi fit, and you for the Senfe I f~el upon you,fitha~et ~! ~~~~h~ that may attend you on t~e Score Love of u. An~ as ?t t p R hat therefore go concermng you, of your Separauo~,-~uh a~l rheb . epo~t:nt acquainted with the Nature and they are what I re•pl.:u you ror, emg . f. Praft:ice of this World ~awards_ thofe rh;I renre oulyo f;;· with great Satif- Now fince I have With Pauence, an c_an tru . ' he like Chnlli-fa8: ion, heard your Acco~nt of y~ur fxfrlenc~,Y g~~:ef~~e Senfe of the an ;~e~Got~t~~ ~~~ f~~e;h~fe tw~o ~re ~~~~to any MeJfure of~ Di~ine ~nfe, ~hey are as Lookittg-Gia.ffe.r to eac:h other, as Face anfwereth face tn a Glafs. I be n to let them know how, and when the Lord firll appeared un:e:e w~ch was about the Twelfth Year of my Ag~, Anno t6; 6. How at Tim~ betwixt that and the Fifteenth, the Lord \'afire~ me, Q~/hf n· . I~ reffions He gave me of Himfetf: Of my Perfecutton at Xj Or ' 'd'~~w ,ge Lord fullained me in the Midll of that Helli!h Darknefs and ~ebauchery: Of my being Banijh'd the Coll~dg~; the h.luer Ufalf 11.1:n· derwent when I returned to my Father; ~VhlPP''!g, Bea~mg, and 11rm~g ollt 4 Door.r in 1662. Of the Lord's Dealmgs wuh me m France, and m he Time of the Great Plat,ue in London. In fine, the deep Senfe he. ~ave t f the Vanity of this World · of the Irrt!igioNfnrfr of the Relig•ons mfeit~ Then of my mournful and'bitter Cries to Him, that ~e wool~ ~O\V ~e His own Way of Life and Salvation, and my Refoluuons to o ?W H" whatever Reproaches or Sufferings {bould attend me~ and that With gr~; Reverence and Brokennefs of Spirit. How aft~r all th1s, thlfGlory _of the World overtook me, and I was ~v~n. read~ _to g1ve up my fe unto 1t! feein as yet no fuch Thing as the Pnmlll'Ve Spmt and Church 0?' tl~e Earth· And \:ing ready to faint concerning my Hope of tlJt Rtfl1tUt1on of t~ll Thi~g~as at this Time that the Lord vifited me with a certain Sound and Tellimony of His Eternal Word, through one of thofe the World calls fl.uokerr, namely QI:Doms~ l!.Oe. I rebted to the") the Bitter Mockmgs and Scorningr that fell upon me, the D~!}leafure of my Parents, the I~veOivenefl and Cruelty of the Priefts, the S~rangenef.r of all my Compamons: What a Sign and Wonder they made of me; but_, above a!l, that gr~at Crofs of Refifiing and Wt~uhing againft mine own mward vatn Affethons acd ThH~~.b~.had a fine Oppottunit; to fpeak of the Myflery of Iniquity, and Ungodlincfs in the R"ot and Ground, 3nd to gi~·e them an _Accoun~ of t.hc 'Power and Prefence of God which attended zu m. our P~bl1ck Tcfhmon~es and Sufferings : After an indireft: Manner ce!lfunng thett .Weaknelfes, by declaring and commendi,g the contrary Praa1ces among Fnends, too large to be here related. And not":ithftanding all my Sufferings an~ Trials by Ma iftrates, Parents, Compamons; and above all, from the P1~tc1ts of the Fa~e Re!igionr in the WoriJ, the Lord hath preferved me to thts Oay, :u~ hath given me an Hundre4 Fold in this World, as well as the Afi"urance Life Ever/oiling ' lnform•ng them of the Tender~efs of my Father tO . me before ancf at his Death; and how, through Panence and Long-Sufrenng, all Oppofition was ccnquered. Then I ~egan my Exhorta~ion unto tbetn, which was on thi, wife. TJtat VoL. I. That fince God had given me and them a Divine Senfe of Him, out Eye r677. fhould be to Htm, and not to Man; that we might come more into a st. lence of our felves, and a Growth into that Heavenly Senfe. That this was ~ the Work of the True Minifiry, not to keep People to the'mfelves ever Teachi~g them, but to turn th~n;t ro God, the New·Covenant Teacbe;, and to Chrilt the Grear Gojjel-111mifler. Thus ]olm did, and thought it no Di!honour that they left him to go to Chrill. Behold rhr Lnmb of God, faid he, that taketh away the Sm of the World! And eveh John's Difciples left him to follow Cbrill. Nay, John teftifies of himfe!f, Tbar l!e ""'rode-creafe, and Cbnfi 'Wal to mcrenfe. ~herefore I preft .them to have theit Eye to CHRI~T tbar !akethawaJthe Sm; that is from Heaven, Heavcnly l to fee that He mcreafe tn them. Yea, that henceforth they fhould know no Man after the Flejh ; . no, .not Chrilt himfelf. That their Knowledge of. and Regard and Fel1owfh1p wuh one another, lhould fiand in the Rcvelaricn of the Son of God in t hem\ who is God's Great Prophet, by whom God fpeaketh in thefe latter Days. And if their Minifiers be True Minifiers they wi!l c?unt it their Glory to give Way ~o Chrifr, and that they derreafe: and Chnft mcreafe; that the Inftrument g1vcth Way to him that ulcth ir, the Servant to the Lord. Which, though it feemerh to derrafl from the Minifters, yet it was, and is the Glory of a True Minifier that God and Chri!t !hould be AO in All, and that His Will !hould be fulfilled. For I told them, Tbe Day of t1Je Lord God tvm comr, and all Peo~,>le mufi l ook to Him for Salvation : That all People muft now come to keep God's Grtat Sabbath, to reft from meer Maw, and the Spirit of Man, and aJl Mens Thoughts, Words .~nd. Work~; and that if they were True Belie\'t rs, they were, at leaft, entrmg znlo the, Refl. 1 clofely recommended it to them, that they might not be of thofe thai: bee:in in the Spirit, and end in the Fle(b; for that thcfe that fbould do fo and thereby break God's Sabbath-D3y, would be lloned to Deoth by th~ Stone which is cur ou~ of the Mountain wit bout Ht~nd.r ; yea, Tha't fhould fall upon them aa a Mtlfione, and grind them to Powder. Therefore let CH R rs T ha~e H_ia Honour; le_t liim Preach and Speak among you, and in 1ou, and you ''! hzm; land 6y l:o11n only, Sigh, Groan, Pray, Preach, Sing, and not otherwtfe, left Death come over you : For thereby the Apofiacy (:arne in, ~y .their go~ng before ~h.rift, inftead of Chrift going before them. And watt m the Ltght :rnd S~mt of J11dgmtnt that hath vifited you, that aU may be wrought ~ut that 1s not Born of God, fo will you come to be Born of the lncorruptrb!t Seed, of the Word of God that liveth :and abideth fo~ ever : That ~ou may be a~ Holy Prirjlbood, that o~ers up a Living Sa• crifice With Gods Heavtn!y Fzre, that God may have HJs Honour in you an and through all by JESUS CHRIST. And turning mrfelftowards th: $omerdyk.er, with a ferious and tender Spirit, I thus expreft myfelf l Tbar you {hou!d be Pilg_rimr in the lnh~rita»ce of ~our Father, I have a dup and reverent Srnfr of: 0 that )bU m1ght dweU. umb Him f or ever, aod exalt Him that bath fo vijiud you, wttb whom are the Rrr»ardr of Eurna/ Bleffednifr. So I left the Bleffing and Peau of ]Esus 41110'1/C them, departing in the Love nnd Peace of G 0 D ,. And I mull needs fay they were, (beyond f:xpe~ ation) tender and r~fpeafut to us : A11 of them coming with us but the anc1ent A. ~· S. (~ho IS not able to walk) to the outWard Door; giving us their Hands tn a Fnendly Manner, expreffing their great Satisfaft:ion in our Vifit. And being come to the Porch, a ad meeting feveral Perfons of the Family, I was moved to turn about and exhort them, in the Prefence of the reft, to keep to Chrift, that had given them a Senfe of the Spirit of this World, and had raifed DefKes in them to be delivered from it! And to know no Man after the Flelh, but to have their FcOowjhip in Cbrijl, Union and. Communion f!'irb God, ~nd o~e with anothe_r; that all their Worfhip ~nd Performances m1ght ftand 112 H1m, that He might be .AD in All. DefUJng th,at the Lord might keep them in His Fear aU the Days of their appointed Tirn,e, that fo they might ferve Him in their Generation, in His own Uni• verfal Spirit, to His Glory, who is Bleffed for ever, • 1'ht |