DEar and tender Friends, Brethren and Sisters, whom the Lord in his tender Love hath visited in these lat­ter Days, and after a long and tedious Night of Darkness and Time of Apostacy, where­in the saving Knowledge of the glorious God and our bles­sed Saviour Jesus Christ hath been but little known, and livingly experienced; to you who are now visited with the [Page 4] bright-shining Light of his glorious Day, that hath sprung up in this latter Age, and are called by his blessed Grace, and quickned by his living Spirit, raised by his eternal Power, to be a People, to the Praise of his Grace, and to the Hon­our of his everlasting Name, and through the Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, are made Partakers of God's sav­ing Knowledge, in a good de­gree, and in whom the Al­mighty God our Heavenly Father, by his powerful Word hath began his glorious Work of Righteousness, Redem­ption and Eternal Salvati­on.

To you, O my Friends, I feel the Love of God flow, [Page 5] and thereby am drawn to send these following Lines, not on­ly as a Salutation of endeared Love, but as Counsel and Ad­vice on the several Heads fol­lowing, viz.

• I. To be diligent in waiting upon the Lord.
• II. And frequent in that Chri­stian Duty, in meeting toge­ther for that End.

That you may renew your Acquaintance with him and your Strength in him, and be enabled by him, in Faithful­ness to follow him, and may feel your Hearts filled with Love to him, Fear towards him, Zeal for him, and a god­ly Concern for his Glory, [Page] [Page 4] [...] [Page 5] [...] [Page 6] the Propagating and Spread­ing of his precious Truth, the Exaltation and Renowning of his excellent Name, and in Plainness and Simplicity may be found, bearing your Testi­mony for him in all Respects, and not decline it in any. That you may have his Bles­sings, enjoy his Presence, and be more abundantly made Par­takers of the Comforts of his Holy Spirit, and Joy of his Salvation.

And for this End I do in bro­therly Love exhort all to be in­ward in their Minds, and to have their Hearts exercised in that Light in which they have believed, and that Spirit by which they have been quickened: And then you [Page 7] will see your selves, know your States, be sensible of your Weaknesses and Wants, and of the need you have to watch unto Prayer, and to wait on the Lord, and frequently to meet with his People for that End, and to be diligent when met, in attending upon the Lord in his Holy Fear, that you may feel his Presence, re­new your Strength, and know his Work to prosper, and be carry'd on in your Souls.

But if you neglect this Du­ty, and are not diligent there­in, altho' you are called, you cannot be faithful, nor become his chosen People, but will grow cool in your Love to God, and will slack in your Obedience, and will not par­take, [Page 8] Altho' you may hear of the GOOD of his Land, but will become dry, baren and unfruitful unto him; and al­tho' you may retain a Profes­sion of the Truth, and confess thereunto, yet the Love of the Word, and the Cares of it will grow, and the Spirit of it will prevail, and into the Evil that's in it you will be drawn, and under Condem­nation you will fall, and be in Danger to bring Reproach up­on Truth, Dishonour to the Name of God, and Scandal upon the Christian Religion, and your Holy Profession, in your Lives and Conversations, and to decline your Testimo­ny for the Lord, both in Words, Habit and Conversation

Oh! therefore, my dear Friends, prize the great Love of God to you, in visiting and calling you by his Light and Grace, and consider the End thereof; which is, that you might be a People to his Praise, and to the Honour of his Name, and might shew forth the Vertue of him that hath cal­led you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light, 1 Pet. 2. 9. to serve him with Reverence and godly Fear, and to be found diligent in that Practice of Meet­ing often together, and Speaking often one unto another, and think­ing on his Name, Mal. 3. 16. as those that feared him did in the Ages past, of whom the Lord said, these shall be Mine.

Oh! that's precious to know, and comfortable to experi­ence that we are HIS, his People, his Children, his Ser­vants, his Sons and Daughters, then we shall have his Blessing, enjoy his Presence, know his Care to be over us; and feed at his Table, partake of his Bread, be nourish'd by the Milk of his Word, grow in his Grace and the Knowledg of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and our Souls will be filled with Love to him ( Joh. 15. 10, 12.) and we shall ma­nifest it by our keeping his Commandments, and be ena­bled by him to keep our Testi­mony unspotted, and in Truth and Faithfulness stand Witnes­ses for him against the World, [Page 11] all its corrupt Ways, Fashions, Customs, Religions and Tra­ditions, and be preserv'd from touching the unclean thing; then the Lord will receive us, 2 Cor. 6. 17. and own us, stand by and preserve us, protect and defend us, support and sustain us in and under all we may meet with, for the faithful Discharge of our Duty to him, and keeping our Testimony for him: Then, oh then! neither the Frowns nor Flatte­ries, the Threats nor Entreaties, the Favour nor Displeasure of Men will prevail upon us, to decline our Testimony or neglect our Duty. But the faithful Discharg thereof, above all other things, by us, will be preferr'd, and our Love to [Page 12] Christ thereby manifested, as it ought to be; for you know he hath said, If any man love any thing more than me he is not worthy of me: Therefore let us look to him, and wait on him, and pray to him, to carry on, to prosper and compleat the Work of Righteousness, Re­demption and Salvation in our Hearts and Souls. And be watchful against all that which would draw away your Hearts and Minds from the Lord into the Earth and earthly Things, and the Love and too eager pursuit thereof; for that will cooll your Love to God, and chill your Zeal, and cause a Slackness to your Christian Duty, of meeting together to wait upon God, and will have [Page 13] a Tendency to bring you into a cold, dead, formal State, and to make you like the Tree that had Leaves only, and no Fruit, to which Christ said, Let no fruit grow on thee: And presently it withered, and came to nought, Matth. 21. 19.

Therefore my dear and ten­der Friends, that are visited and called of latter time, be diligent in waiting upon God, and faithful to him, and an­swer his Requirings, and be doers of his Will, so far as he hath made it known; for as you are faithful in a few or little things, God will make known more and greater, for a bruised Reed shall he not break, and the smoaking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth [Page 14] judgment unto truth, Isa. 43. 3. But there must be a waiting on him in this Way, and a follow­ing him therein, and not a start­ing aside, like a broken Bow; for if ye do not follow Wisdom in the Way she leads, which is the Way of Righteousness, and in the middle Paths of Judgments, ye cannot be made Partakers of the living Sub­stance, or know your Treasures filled.

Therefore faithfully follow the Lord, and ye shall know him, ( Isa. 42. 13.) to go forth as a mighty man; he shall stir up jealousie, like a man of war; he shall cry, yea roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. For he hath a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth [Page 15] conquering, and to conquer, Rev. 6. 2. This is the Captain of the Lord's Host; this is he whom the Armies that are in Heaven follow; this is he in whom we have believed, Revelat. 1. 18. that was dead and is alive, and lives for ever more; this is he to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth, Matth. 28. 18. who will destroy our Enemies, and that great Enemy, that is, Death; that will put an end to Sin; that will finish transgressions; that will bring everlasting righ­teousness (Dan. 9. 24.) into our Souls, and compleat the Work of our Redemption and Salva­tion, which the Father sent him to do, if we follow him in Truth, in sincerity and up­rightness [Page 16] of Heart in the way of the daily Cross ( Matt. 10. 28.) and in the Regeneration, which is the End of our Call and Visitation, and is both our Duty and Interest; for there­by we shall obtain Peace to our Souls, find Acceptance with God, through him, and be fitted for his Kingdom; and as we live, abide and walk in him, shall we be kept, while here, in a patient continuance in well doing, and be made sharers of Glory, partakers of Immortality, and Inheritors of Eternal Life, Rom. 2. 7.

Let nothing, therefore, in this low World, nor any thing you may meet with in your Pilgrimage through this mor­tal Life or Vale of Tears pre­vail [Page 17] upon you to neglect your Duty to God, or decline your Testimony for him, in any Respect: For he hath not on­ly called and raised us up to be a People, but hath kept and preserved us in and under all our Exercises, Troubles, Suf­ferings or Afflictions that he hath suffer'd to come upon us for the trial of our Faith, and exercise of our Patience, of what kind or nature soever, whether from the World or among our selves; he hath been a shelter in the Time of Storm and a Refuge in the Day of Trouble.

Oh! Let us therefore re­member his Love to us, and fear him and his Goodness, Hos. 3. 5. and be daily exercised in [Page 18] meditating in his LAW, and in a Spirit of Prayer and Suppli­cation unto him, that we may keep the same and walk there­in, and in his holy and undefil'd way will he then lead us. And we shall partake of his Blessing and be directed by his Wisdom and guided by his Council, and in the End be received into Glory, Psal. 73. 24.

Once more, therefore, my dear and tender Friends, in brotherly Love, I exhort you not to forsake the Assembling of your selves together, as the man­ner of some is; but rather the more as the day approaches, Heb. 10. 25.

For altho' this is a Day of outward Liberty, which the Lord by his Power and Provi­dence [Page 19] hath brought us to en­joy, and after a Storm hath brought this Calm, for which we ought, and my Soul in Hu­mility doth humbly thank the Lord, and return Praises to his Holy Name, and am also thankful unto those under whom we do enjoy this Mer­cy, and we ought to pray for them, That we may live a peaceable Life, in all Godli­ness and Honesty, 1 Tim. 2. 2.

But my dear Friends, now let's not decline or grow slack in this Christian Duty, or forbear the assembling of our selves together, to wait on God in Diligence, and to serve him in Faithfulness, and in a right Sense of his Mercies, of the multitude of which, this [Page 20] of peaceably meeting together is not the least: And if any of those that in the Discharge of this Duty did diligently meet, when they could seldom enjoy a quiet Meeting, and hazard the Loss of their Goods and Liberty, and by being confin­ed in Noysom Goals and Stink­ing Holes and Dungeons, haz­arded their Healths, and con­sequently endanger'd their Lives: If any of these should now grow cold, and slack in this Christian Duty in this Time of Liberty, they may, notwith­standing what they have done and suffered, fall short of that Rest God hath prepar'd for his People, and miss of that Re­ward he gives to the Faithful.

Therefore let all such be di­ligent herein, and persevere to the End in Faithfulness and Diligence, i. e. in Meeting and Waiting upon God therein; and rather the more as the Day ap­proacheth: For, oh my Friends! I must tell you, there is a Day approaching, wherein we shall meet again with Tryals and Exercises, and shall need to know the Lord to be our Strength and Refuge, our Rock and Hiding-place, and Defence.

And the more diligent we are now in serving him, and the more faithful we are in following him, the more we shall renew our Acquaintance with the Lord and Strength in him, and be the better enabl'd to bear our Testimony for him [Page 22] in such a Day, and have the more Comfort and Peace there­in. If then we can appeal to the Lord, like good Hezekiah; and say; Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee, in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight, 2 Kings, 20. 3.

Oh! let this be our Care, to see that we are found doing that which is good in his Sight, and that we slight none of his Mercies, nor neglect any Sea­son or Opportunity that he af­fords us, but may diligently improve the same to his Hon­our, that it may in the end be to our Peace and Comfort.

And if any did, in the time of Suffering neglect and omit [Page 23] their Christian Duty of Meet­ing together with God's Peo­ple, to wait upon him, to wor­ship and serve him, and to bear a Testimony for him, such, that now remain ought to prize God's Love and Mercy, in affording such a Season as this is.

And great Diligence and Care they ought to be found in, to improve these present peaceable Opportunities of Meeting together, that they may renew their Strength, and know their Love to God and Zeal for his Name and Testimony to be increased; and that out of that slavish Fear that came over them, and from under that Spirit of the World that did then prevail over them, they may be brought, and by [Page 24] the Lord may be enabled to bear their Testimony in Plain­ness and Faithfulness against the corrupt World, and the Lan­guage, Ways, Fashions and Cu­stoms thereof.

And in that Fear, Humility and Modesty that becomes the Followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was a Pattern of Humility; Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offer'd up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from Death, was heard in that he feared, Heb. 5. 7. who was also exemplary in Truth, Plain­ness and Simplicity; the which, if we would follow his Ex­ample, let not us exceed; and then in Simplicity, Plainness [Page 25] and Truth, ( Matt. 5. 37. Ro. 15. 5. Joh. 1. 51. Joh. 3. 3. Joh. 5. 19.) he will lead and keep all those in, that will learn of and follow him, and that are diligent in seeking God and serving him in his Spirit, and supplicating the Lord therein in true Faith, and the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ: There, oh, it's there, that whatsoever they so ask shall receive, and these may be en­abled, in this Day, to stand faithful and true Witnesses for him in the approaching Day, wherein we shall meet with Trials and Exercises, and there­fore as the Exhortation was, lets not forsake the assembling our selves together, as the manner of some is, but rather the more, [Page 26] as the Day approacheth, for if such neglect this Duty now, they'll not be able to endure the Exercises and Troubles of the approaching Day.

Therefore let all Prize and improve the present Time and Seasons of Love, in a diligent and frequent meeting together, and a diligent and faithful serv­ing God, when so met, and then the Lord will own us, appear among us, manifest his presence in the midst of us, o­vershadow our Assemblies with the Wing of his Glory.

And will cause the Holy Ghost to fall upon us (Acts 2. 4.) as we meet with one accord, fill us with the Holy Spirit, and make us partakers of the Comforts thereof, of the Life that's in [Page 27] his Presence, and of the Joy of his Salvation, and will cause the Showers of his Divine Love plentifully to fall upon us, whereby his Heritage will be refreshed, his Garden and Plants watered, and his People com­forted, and all grow up fresh and Green in Life, in Vertue, in Love and Faithfulness to God, his Truth and Testi­mony, and one unto another.

And as all thus grow in Love and Faithfulness, and en­crease through the Knowlege of him that hath called us to Glory and Vertue, and give all diligence, they'll add to that, like pretious Faith that they have obtained (through the Righ­teousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ) Vertue, and to [Page 28] Vertue Knowledge, to Know­ledge Temperance, to Temperance Patience and Godliness, and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and Charity; and if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be bar­ren nor unfruitful in the Know­ledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 1. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8.

And therefore, my dear Friends, it greatly concerns us to wait and attend upon the Lord God, in the Spirit of his dear Son, and to be frequent and diligent in that Christian Duty, that we may sensibly know and livingly Experience an Increase in the Knowledge of God, and in these Christian Vertues; which if we neglect our Duty of Meeting and Wait­ing [Page 29] upon God, we can never truly know these things, nor grow in these Christian Ver­tues, neither can we be true to our Testimony, nor keep the same so clear and clean in all things, as we ought, nor rightly do and observe Christ's Commands, endure his Cross and follow his Example, in that plainness and simplicity which becomes those that are his Disciples, that we may not in any thing decline therefrom, under any Colour or Pretence whatsoever, either for the Fear of suffering or to please any▪ And then, oh then! my dear and tender Friends, our God will bless us, and Christ will love us, and we shall love him, and to all Men, thereby, it will [Page 30] be known we are his Disciples, in that we love one another, John 13, 35.

This is a pleasant Habita­tion and safe Dwelling-place: Here Fear will be cast out, Jea­lousies will have no place, Life will be felt, Comfort enjoyed, Zeal and Diligence encreased, Care and Caution used, that we may not justly offend any, or give occasion thereof, (1 Cor. 10. 31.) either to Jews or Gen­tiles, or the Church of God, by our unfaithfulness to God, Cool­ness to love, and Slackness to do our Duty, decling our Meet­ings, and being careless, drousie or negligent in waiting and at­tending upon God therein; for one Cause, if not the main and great, is, That some a­mong [Page 31] us have been and are lia­ble to be drawn, and are too apt to imitate (in their Lan­guage vain Fashions, foolish Dresses, evil Customs and Ways) the World, or those that do not keep in that Meek­ness and Lowliness that Christ exhorted to, and was a Pattern of.

And this is through their weak­ness and Corruption of Heart, Love of the World, and the Lust of the Eye, the Lust of the Flesh and Pride of Life, (1 Joh. 2. 15, 16.) which hath had a Place in them, and hath been too much occasioned through Remisness in their Christian Duty, of frequently Meeting together in the Fear and Name of God and Jesus Christ, and [Page 32] diligently, humbly and reverent­ly Waiting and Attending upon him therein, and giving up, in Obedience to the Call and Re­quirings of God, and being true to the inward Discoveries of his Light and Convictions of his Spirit in their Hearts.

Oh! therefore, all you who shall find your selves in this State, and have any Desires to amend your Ways. Let me, in brotherly Love, and in great good Will to your Souls Good, earnestly intreat you to be diligent in Waiting and At­tending upon the Lord, in the Assemblies of his Chosen Peo­ple, and inwardly exercis'd in the precious & unspeakable Gift of God's Spirit, 2 Cor. 9. 15. and draw near him in Faith, and with [Page 33] a true Heart, Heb. 10. 22. Then will the Lord draw near to you, renew your Strength, wean your Hearts, and draw your Affecti­ons off and from all the fading Vanities, foolish Delights, sinful Pleasures, corrupt Ways, evil Customs, unprofitable Talk: And from whatsoever is either offensive unto God, hurtful to your Souls, unbecoming the Truth and our Holy Profession, and set your Minds upon things above, Col. 3. 2. and raise you up by his Power, Rom. 6. 4 into newness of Life and redeem you, Rev. 14. 3, 4. from the World, and the Evil of it, and bring you into Covenant with God, and Ʋnity with his People, and teach you so to live and walk, that you may please him, escape [Page 34] his Wrath, (1 Eph. 6.) and be a People to the Praise of his Grace, and to the Honour of his Name, and to do what you do therein; then will your Peace be as a River, and your Righteousness, like the Waves of the Sea, and we shall not only give Honour to God, but be a Comfort one to another, and be one another's Joy and Crown of Rejoycing in the Lord, which that we may be kept in Love and Faithfulness to God, and one another, to the End,