OCR Text |
Show 864 The Rife and Progrefs VoL. I. 1694-. Doves without tbeir Matt.r; Juicing their Be/ov~d but could not fi11d Hi'!' ~ (as their Souls defired to know· Him) whom tbttr So11/s lovtd above tlmr Cbiefefl Joy. . Thefe People were called Su~ers by fome, and the Family of Love by . othen; hecaufe, as they came to theKnowledgeofoneanot~er, the~ fametimes met together, not formal_ly t? Pray or Preach at appomted T1mes or Places, in their own Wills, as m T1mes pall t~ey were. accofiomed to d~; but waited together in Siknce, and as any Tbmg rofe m any one of rhear Mind• that they thought Savoured of a Divine Spring, they fometimes Spoke. But fo it was, that fame of them not keeping in Humility, :J.nd in the Fear of GoJ after the Abundance of Revell non, were exalted Above Meofure; and f~r wam of fill:ying their ~tinds in an humble I?epen~encc upon Him that opened their Undcrftandmgs, To fee Grear Tbzng.r IH bn Law, they ran out m their own Imaginations, a~d mixing them with thofe Divine Openings, brought forth a Monftrous Bath, to the Scand:al of thofc that feared God and wahed. Daily in the Temple, not m:ade with Hand1, for the Confolation of lfrttd; the Jew inward, and Circumcifion in Spirit. This People obtained the Name. of Ranur.r, fr~~ their e~rravagant Dif.. courfes and Prafl:ices. For they mterpreted Chufts fulfilhng of the Law for us. to be a difcharging of u1 from an~ Obligation and Dut.Y the Law required of us, infiead of the Condemn? non of th~ L:aw for Sms ~afi, upon Faith and Repentance: _And that no~ 1t was no Sm to do t~at wh1ch before it was a Sia to commit; the Slavtfh Fear of the Law bemg taken off by Chrift and all Things Good that Man did, if he did bot do them with the Mind 'and Perfwafion that it was fo. lnfomuch that divers fe11 in to Grofs aRd Enormous Pro£Hces; pretending i_n Excufe . t~ereof, that they could, toilbout Evil, commit the fame Ait: whtch was ·sm 10 another to do ; thereby diftinguifhing betv-..:een.the .AOi~n and .rbe Evi~ of it, by the Dir~Cl:ion of the Mind. and lntennon 10 the dotng of lt. Which was to make Sm fuper .. abound bY the .Aboundi•gs o{Grntl, and to turn from the Grace of God into Wantonnefsi a fecurer Way of Sinning than before: As if Chrift came not to fave us from our Sins, but in our Sins, not to tak~ away Sin, but that we might Sin more freely at his Coft, and with lefs Danger to our felves. I fay, this enfnared diver_fe, and brought them to an utter and lamentable Lofs as to their Eternal State J and they grew very troublefome to the Bttttr Sort of People,' and furnifhed the Loafer with an Occafion to Prophane. CHAP. II. Of sbe Rife of tbU PEOPLE,_ their Fum/amtnta/ Principle, and D•Qri.-, and PraOice, in Twelve Points refulting from it : Their Progrifs and Suf~ ferings: An E:tpoflu!arion with England thereupon. I T was about that very Time1 as you may fee in G. P's Annals, that the Eternal, Wife, and Good God, was pleafed, in his Infinite Love ro Ho~ nour and Vifit this Benighttd and Bewildred Nation, with HH Gloriom D.ayfpring from 011 High 1 Je~, withtt mofl Sure tl'tld certni11 Sound of tbe Word of Light and Life, tbrou~b the Teflimony of a Chofen Veffel, 10 an EffeOual and Ble.ffed Purpofe, can111anyThouf4.11ds f11y, Glory bt 1o1he Name of the Lord · for ever. For as it reached the Confcience, and broke the Hearr, and brought m:my to a Senfe and Search, fo that which People had been vaiJJly feeking With· out. with much Pains and Coft, they by this Miniftry, found Within, where it was they wanted what .they fought for, viz. Tbe Right Way to Peace oJllb God. For tbty were dirtUed 10 tbe Light of Jrfin Chrift WirfJin tbem, m tbe Sud 4nd Uavm of the Kingdom of God; Near AU, bu aufe in AU, mul God's Taltnt tD AU: A F•itbfi;l and True Witnrfs, and Juft Monim . m Voz:. I. Of tb• 'People ca!fd Quakers: in every Bofom, The Gift and Grace of God, to Life and Salvation th a~pedrs to ~II, though few re~:nd_ ir. This the Traditional Chriflian' c a~ c~te o_fh tmfelf, a nd ftrong m h1sown Will and Righteoufnefs ove:coon With ~ld.nd Ze"'l,and Pllj]ion, either defpifed as a low and comma; Thing ~~ oppo_ e ~s a !' ~ve!Jy, under n1any hard Names, and o robrious Te( ~enymg, m h!s .l~n~rant and _angry Mind, any fre(h Mani~~ft:uions of Go~~; oker and Sp~n~ 1n Man, tn thefe Days, though never more needed to rna e true Chn!bans. Not unlike thofe ](W$ of old that re"etted th S~n .h[.~od, at the very fame Time that they blindly p;ofe!fed td wait fu~ •1 e e»,a.h to come; .becaufe, alas I he appeared not among them accord .. ng to rhetr Carnal Mmd and ExpeEl:ation . ~h; brought forth ~any abufive Ho~ks, which filled the greater Sort wn n.f::, .and leffcr ~tth Rage; and made the Way and Pro refs of this ~leffcd e!hmony Strarg!Jt and Narrow indeed to thofe that ~eceived it. owever, God owned h1s own Work, and this Tefiimony did r.ffert11,J1 Reach, Gather, C omfort and Eftablifh the Weary and Heov Laden th~ Hungr~ and Thtr}ly, the Poor and 1\/(edy, the .Alournf 111 and "lick of ~an ~ala1tes, that had fpent all upon Phyficians of no Value, and ~aited fo~ e te fr?m Heave'!.; Help only from above : Seeing, upon a ferious Trial of all Thtngs, nothtng elfe_ would do but Cbrift Himftif; the L;gbt of his Coitntentmu , a Touch of bn Garment, and He I/!. from his Hand. who cu ed the poor Woman's rllhe, raifed the Cenruri'ln s Servant rhe Widow's S~n the R;ulet's 0Jughter, and Peur's MQther: And like her, they no foone; felt hts ~ower and ~fficacy upon their Souls, but they gave up to obey him }I a Teflmzony to hts Pow7r; and thar . ~ith rrjigned Wills ::md f oitl{ lll cans, through all Modunf. J1 ConrradiOJom, Confifc ation1 , Beat ing.;, Pri{~' k;. and many other J eopardi(J that attended them for his Bleffed Name's And_t!uly they were very many, and very gre<Jt; fo that in all Human Pr<?babilny th~y mufi have been fwall owed up !l_Jiid. of the Proud and 8oifte~ous Waves th~t fwe]led. and beat _:Jgainfi them, but th:Jt the God of all the_tr tender Merctes was With them m his glorious AuthNity; fo th:Jt t~e Hl11s oft~n Fl~d, a_nd the Mountains melted before the Power that lill'd tlietn J workmg m1_ghuly for them,_ as well as in them, one e\•er foiJowing t~e orher. By which they fa~ pla1nly, to their exceeding great Confitma .. tton and Comfort, that aU Thrng.r were poffible with him with whom the had ~o do_. And that the more that which God required feemed to crofs Mans Wtfdom, and expofe them to Man's Wrach the more God appeared t o help and carry ~hem through all to his Glory. ' lnfomuc~ that If ever any People could f:Jy in Truth, Thou art our Sun and our ShJt!d, our Rock and San8uttry ~ and by rlw W( have leaped f,Ver a TVaU, and by thee W( bttve run 1brou.j/J a Troop, and by tbu we have pur the ' ..Armies of tke Afitns ~o Flight, thefe People had Right to fay it. And ag God ha~ d~ltver~ thctr Souls of t~e. wearifom~ Burdens of Sin and Vanity, a n~ ennch d their Po_verry of Spun, and f:Jtts6ed their great Hunger and. l"h1r~ afrer Eternal R1ghteoufnefs, and filled them wirh the good Things of hiS own Haufe, 3nd made them Sttwards of his Manifold Gifts ; fo t~ey went forth to all Quarters of thefe Nations, ro declare to the Inha~ bttl nts thereof, ubat GoJ bad done for them; what they had found a·nd "!here Jnd how they had found it, viz. The Way to Peace w11b God: 'Invitmg all to come, and fee, and tafte, for rhemfel ves the Truth of what .. they decl ared unto them. ' And as their Tefiimony ':Vas to the Principle of God in illan, the Pruiom Prarl and Leaven of tbe Kmgdom as the only bleJfed MeJ.ns appointed of God, ~o Qui_ck:n, Convince and' Sanfl:ify Man ; fo they open'd to them what I.t was m tt felf, and wh:Jt it was given to them for: How they might kn?w 1t from their own Spirir, 3nd that of the Subtle Appearance of the Ev1l One: And what it would do fo.r all thofe whofe Minds fhould be turned off from the Vanity of the World, and it's Lifelefs Ways and Tea .. cbers, and adhere to his BletTed Light in themfefves, which difcovers and 5 S · condemns |