| OCR Text |
Show . 888 The Rire and Progrer. VoL. I . in the Hearts of the People they live among; or fame particular Occafion 1694· may make it unfit for him or them to ~re that. Authonry. But you that V""V'J travail as God'sMeffengers, if they recetve you m th~grearer, fhall they re· fufe you in thelefs >And 1fthey own the gener~l Te!hmony, )can they wnhftand rhe partuulnr Appbcatton of ir, m thetr own Cafes Thus, ye W11l {hew your ietves Workmen mdeed, and carry your Hufinefs befo:e you, to the Praife of his Name, that hath called you from Dark~efs to L1ght, t~at you mifilht turn others from Satan's Power unto God a!ldh1s Kmgdom, ~vh1ch is within. And 0 that there were more of fuch faK·hful Lnbouurr tn the Yineyard of the Lord! Never more Need fince the Day of God. Wherefore I cannot but cry and call aloud to you, t~at _h;we been lo~g' Profeffors of the Truth, and know the Truth in the convmcmg Powe~ of tr, and have had a faber ConveriJ.tion among Men, _ret content y~ur felves only to know Truth for your felves, to go to Meett_ngs, ~nd exerc1fe an ordin: Hy f:hariry in the Church, and an honeft B_eha':10ur m the World, and limit your felves within thofe Bounds;_ feelmg lutle ?I no Co.ncern up~n your Spirits, for the Glory of the Lord m the Profper.uy of hts T_ruth m the Earth more than to be glad that others fucceed tn fuch Servtce . .d.rife ye in' the Nome and. Pow~r of the Lord ~efus I Behold how white_rhe Fields are unto Harvefi, m thts and other Nauon&, and how few Able .and Faithful Labourers there are to work therein! You_r Country Folks, Nc1g~t· bours and Kindred, want-to know the Lord a_nd hts Truth, and to walk In jr, Does nothing lie at your Door upon thetr. Account? Search and fee, and lofe no Time, I befeech you, for the Lord IS at Hand. . I do not judge you, there is one that j_udgeth all Men, a~d h1s Judgment is true. You have mightily increafed. 1n your Qutward S_ubfi::mce: M~y you equally increafe in your inward Rtches, and do good Wlth both, wh1le you ha\'e a Day to do Good. Your E!lemies would once ha.ye taken what y.ou had from you,' For his Name Sake, tn wh~m you have beheved; whe_refore he has given you much of the 'Vorld, tn the Face of you~ Enemtes. But 0, let it be your Servant, and not your Maller! Your Dtverfion rather than your Bufinefs! Let the Lord be chiefly in your Eye, and p_onder your Ways, and fee if God has nothi~g m~re for you t? do: A~d tfyou find your felves fbort in your AccoUnt wah htm, then watt for his Preparation, and be re:J.dy to receive the Word of Command, and he not. weary of well-doing, when you have put your Hand to the Plough, and atf~redly,you fhall reap. if you faint nor, the Fruit of your Heavenly Labour tn GodsE-l'C~~~~ o~~o':~~0Q;nvinced Ona, be you intreated _and exhorted ~o a ~iii· gent and cbafte Waiting upon God, in the Way of h1s blelfe~ ~amfe(hiuon and Appearance of himfelf to you. ~ook not our, _bur. wtthm: Let not another's Liberty be your S11are: Nenhfr aO: by Imuatton, but -.St~fe a~d Feeling of (sod's Power in your felves: Cru(h not the render B~ddm~s ~f tt in your Souls, nor overrun, in your Defires a~d. War~nefs. of Aftea1omr, the holy and gentle Motions of it. Remember HIS. a jhll V~ue, that fpea_ks to us in this Day, and rhat it js not to he hear~ m the !'1oifer and Hurru~ of'the Mind; but it is diftinClly uoderftood, tn a ret1red Framr. Jefus loved and chofe Solitudes ; ofte~ going to M~unt~in~, Gtz~Jem and ~taSides to avoid Crowds and Hurnes,'to fhew hn Dtfctples It was good to be Sofuary, and fit loofe to the Wodd. Two Enemies lie ne:u your Statts, Imagination and Liberty; but the plain, J'l'aEl:ical,, ~iv_in~, holy TJ\Ith, that has convinced you, will preferve you, if you mmd tt m your _felves, a~d bring all Thoughts, Inclinations and AfFefHons, to the Teft of tt, ~of~ If they are wrought in God, or of the Enemy, or your own felves : SowtU :{. true Tafle, Difcerning and Judgment, be preferved to you, of what /s~u fhould do and leave undone. And in your Diligence and Fatthfulne s .m this Way you wi1l come to inherit Suhftance; and Chrift the eternal Wtf· dom, will fill your T,.eafury. And when you are converted, as well as CO!J:vinced, then confirm your Brethren; and be ready to every ~ood f!!ord and Work, that the Lord {hall call you to; that you may be to h1s Pratfe, w;:l~ / VoL. I. OJ the 'People call'd Quakers. has chofen you to he Partaker~, with. the ~hiA_rs in_Lighr, of a King.!om that cagnot be fhakcn, an Inhernance mcorrupttble 1n F.ternal Habitattons. A~d now, as for ~~u, that are rhe Children of God's People, a great Conccrn1s upon my Sptm, for your Good: And often are my Knees bowrJ liJ tbe God of )OJtr F.nben, /or yo11, rhat you may come to be Rzrr 11~er1 of the fJme divin_e Life and Power, that have been _the Glory of this D3y; that a Generat10n you mJy be to God, an holy N~tttOn, and a Prtuliar }',·0 - ple, ZeniOIJIJ of;ol1d Work-s, w~en an our Heads are laid in the Dujl. 0 you Young A1en an. Women I Lj::t tt not fuffice you, that you are the Children of the People of the Lord ; you mufl.alfo be born oga;n if you will in herit the Kingdom of God. Your Fathers are but fuch ;feet the Flefh :tnd could hut beget you inro the Likenefs of the firfl Adatn; but vou 'mutt be begl)rten i~to the Lihnefs of the Second Adam, by a fpirirual Generation, or you wdl nor, you cannot, he of his ChilJren or OfF-fpring. And therefore look C!lre[~tUl about }'IJII, 0 ye Children of the Children of God ! • Confider your Srandmg, and fee what you are in Relarion to this divine Kindred, Family and Birth! Have }tJ/1 oheyd the Dgbr, and receh•ed and walked in the Spirit, which is the incorruptible Seed of the Ward and Kingdom of God, of which you muft be born again. God is no RefpeEl:er of Perfons. The Father cannot fa\'e or anfwer for the Child, or the Child for the Father, hut in the Sin than finneft thou fhalt die; and in the Righteoufnefs thou doft, through Chrift JefUs, thou rhalt li\'e; for it is the WiDing and Obedient that fball eat rhe GooJJ of the Land, Be not deceived, God u not mod.eJ, fuch iU all Nationr and People fow, jiteb rhey jhaU re(tp ar tbt Hand of the Jufl God. And then your many and great Pri\'iledge'.i, above the Children o( other People, will add Weight in the Scale ag:ti nft you, if you chufe not the Way of the Lord. For you have had Line 11pon Linr, and Preupt upon Precept, and not only good Do{lrinc, bur tood Example; and which is more, you have been turned to, and acquai:ncd wirh, a Principle in your felves, which others have beco igilOrant of: And you know you may be as good as you pleafe, without the Fear of FroW11s :tnd Blows, or being turned IJIIf of Doors, ond forf4ktn of F(ttber and Morher, forGod'rSake, and his holy Religion, as has: been the Cafe of fomc ofyoJtr Fatberr, in the Day they firft entred into tbit Holy l'rllh. And if you, a free hearin~ and feeing the 1P'onderr that God has rO"IJllf.ht in the Deliverance and Prefervation of them, through a Sea of TrOJ~h/u, and the manifold temporal, as well as fpirimal Bleffings, that he hls filled them with, in theSight of their Enemic:;, fbould neglect anJ tu~n your Backs upon fo great and near aS<IIvation, you would not only be moft ungrarcful Children to God aud them, but muft expeEl: that God will call the Children of thofe that knew bim not, to take the Crown out of your Hands, and that your Lot will be a dreadful Judgment :tt the Hand of tht" Lord: Bur 0 that it may never be fo With1anyof you. Th1 Lord forbid, fahh my Soul. Wherefore, 0 ye To11ng il1en ontl Womrn, look to tbe Rock of your Ftztl• err: There is no other GoJ but him, nootber Light but his, no other Grttce hut his, nor Spirir bu.t his, to com•ince you, q~icken. and Comforr. you~ to lead, guide and rreferveyou to God's everlalhog Ktngdom, So Will you be Poffefforsas wei as Profeffors of the Truth, embracing ir, not only by Ed11c11tion but j11d,gmem and ConviOion; From a Senfe begotten in ywtr So11!r, thr~ugh the Operation of the Eternal Spirit ond Power _of God; by which you may come to be the Seed of Ahrah,z'!l, through Fau_h, and rhe Circum&i./ioll. not mode with Hands; and fo Heus of t~e Promtfe mJde ro the Fathers, of an incorruptible CroUJn. That, as I f:ud before, a G_ener4- tion you 111ay be to G~J, holdingupt~e P~ofeffio~ <:>frh~ bldfed Truth tn the Life and Power of n. For Formahty In Reltg10n JS n1111jeom to GoJ onl tDod Men; and the more fo, where any Form an~ ~ppear:t~ce has been new and peculin, and begun and pratticed, upon a Pnnc1ple, wah an ul!e011nn011 Zeal :tnd StriB:nefs. Therefore I fay, for you to fall flJt and forf!lll, .a•~d contiQue the Profeffion, wirhout that SJlt :Jnd Slvour, by whtch It IS come to_ obtain a good Rtport among .hlen, is nor to anjroer God's L~vr, or 5 X your 8Sg |
