Dear friends and brethren, who have been called to believe by the holy calling of the Lord, unto sanctification and holiness, that you might inherit the promises of God; and that your souls might live, and partake of his goodness; that you might admire Him, and praise his Name forever, seeing the Lord, out of his rich love and mercy, has visited you, who sometime sat in the region and shadow of death, and were cast out of his presence, in the time of unbelief; and seeing He has caused his miraculous Light to shine upon you in his gracious visitation, and has given you to believe in his name, prize his love unto you; and let not his gracious benefits slip out of your minds; for fear that your hearts be filled with other things; that will corrupt your hearts, and make you an unfit habitation for the Lord to dwell in and among.
Dear friends! Bear my brotherly admonition and exhortation for the Lord has moved in my heart to write unto you in the bowels of his kind and tender love, and motion of his heavenly Spirit, to stir up your pure minds and consciences unto steadfastness in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ; and so much the more, that you all are watchful, seeing the times are perilous; for now the adversary goes about roaring and ravening, on the right hand and on the left, to destroy and devour that which God has brought forth in you; that he might regain you too under his power and government; and that he might revolt from the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which stands in power and righteousness, and which is come, and has been of a truth manifested in great glory.
This is an hour the power of darkness is let loose to try the faith of those who dwell upon the earth; and he is let loose for a season. Blessed are those who hide themselves under the shadow of the Almighty, and under the wings of Christ Jesus, who is given for a redeemer, a savior, and a preserver of men, that the wicked one touches them not. Now the devil rages, because one stronger than he who rules in the world has come, and has begun to dispossess the strong man, and bind him, and cast him out. Now he rages and stirs up all the temptations, within and without, and all his instruments to join with him, to make war for him; in order that Christ may not rule; who is the heir of all things, and given for a leader, and to be the head of the body his Church, in which He alone has a right to rule; because the Lord of the whole earth, yes of heaven and earth, has put all power into his hands, to bind and to loose; to bring out of captivity, and to lead captivity captive. That life and immortality may again inhabit in the sons of men. That truth and righteousness may predominate. That mercy and love may sit on the throne. That salvation may take hold on the ends of the earth, and this power be made known from sea to sea. That all who wait for Him and love his appearance now when He is made manifest, may rejoice in goodness and life, and may be made glad as Zebulun and Naphtali beyond Jordan, in the days of old, upon whom sprung up a marvelous light. That the whole earth may be filled with his praise and glory, which has been filled with darkness, violence, and cruelty, in the time of the devil and antichrist's reign, which has been long and great in the earth. So that the hearts of the sons of men have been corrupted, and they have gone backward from the Lord; and have degenerated into a strange nature; and have brought forth evil and corrupt fruit like that of Sodom. Those who do evil are not ashamed, neither do they blush, but have become impudent through long habit of evil, and hard and impenetrable; upon whom the hammer of the Lord must come, and His indignation poured on.
But you whom God has called out of this state, into a state of redemption and purity, by his Son, the Light of the world, who has illuminated the eyes of your minds, consciences, and understandings, that you may bear witness to Him who is true, and a testimony against the world that lies in wickedness, and pleads for it, and lives in it, as though it were the way to happiness, - hold fast your liberty, hold fast your faith, hold fast your hope, hold fast your testimony. Let none take your crown; and so much the more as you are compassed with temptations, and the times are perilous; so much the more you all have need to keep near the Lord.
Dearly beloved, let not the Philistines stop your wells; for then you might perish in the drought, for lack of moisture. The Lord will perform his promise, and keep covenant with those who keep covenant with Him; but if you forsake Him in your hearts in what is made manifest, then He will forsake you; and then you are left to the mercy of your adversary, which will be cruel. Therefore heed not the pride of Moab, nor the reviling of the children of Ammon; for they are unholy in heart, and the moth shall eat them up as a garment.
Oh! If any draw back from following the Lamb through suffering, they will be smitten; and the Lord will have no pleasure in them. What will Amalek say, when Israel turn their backs in the day of battle, but, "Where is their God, in whom they trusted?" And, "He that brought them forth was not able to deliver them to the end!" Oh! That such things might never be spoken of now in Gath or Ashkelon; as in the days of old! For fear that the sons of the Philistines triumph, and the daughters thereof rejoice in their wickedness; for this would make the hearts of the Israel of God to mourn.
This is the day of the Lamb's war indeed in our age, and a day of battle, though his weapons are not carnal, but spiritual. There is none that goes to war, and entangles himself, that has a purpose to hold out and is resolved to continue with Him in suffering; but will shake off these things that encumber, for fear that he should not obtain the victory, promise, or crown, which all who endure hardship to the end shall receive. O dear friends! Look above all visible things; and stand out of them all, and loose from them, that the enemy does not ensnare you. What! Is not the earth the Lord's, and the fullness thereof? And has not He given the utmost part of the earth for a possession to his Son? What! Was not Abraham our father blessed, when he was faithful, and obeyed the voice of the Lord; and went out of his own country, he knew not where? Was not the Lord with him wherever he went; and his blessing upon him, when he sojourned in a strange land? Did not God treat him kindly in Mesopotamia, and among the Hittites? And was not he loved and feared among his enemies? Was not John, the beloved and faithful disciple of Christ, banished into Patmos for the testimony he held? Were not Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, children of captivity, cast into the furnace? And Daniel too among the lions, for the testimony they held against the common worship of nations commanded by the law.
Did not Christ endure the death of the cross, and the contradiction of sinners? Was He not condemned by most? Did not the believing Hebrews, who were banished, wander in sheep skins and goat skins, into dens and caves of the earth, for the hope they held and the country they looked for? Did not Moses through faith forsake Pharaoh’s court, and become companion of poor brick-makers in captivity?
A cloud of witnesses might be brought, even of those who died in the faith, and yet are not make partakers of the promises, who many of them saw not what you have seen, nor heard those things that you have heard; nor enjoyed what God has made many partakers of; and have we not a great cloud of witnesses in this our own age? Some who have not loved their lives unto death, for the testimony they received, believed, and held fast to the end, to death? Have not many died in prison with severe usage? Have not some been hung and died a shameful death, and finished their course with joy and peace? Have not many endured great, hard, and long imprisonments for years? Are they weary yet? No, have not many suffered the seizure of their property; and do they not have a reward seven times greater in their bosoms?
O! Let the consideration of these things dwell in your hearts, and provoke you to suffering with joy, that in the midst of tribulation, as it abounds, you may feel according to the promise of God, your joy much more abound, to carry you above it. Indeed, now the time has come, whoever manifests himself to be on the Lord's side must suffer; and he who will not, but turns back into the broad way, and runs with the herd of swine into the sea of common pollution, must perish there; and indeed there is no place for halting. If God is God, follow Him; if Baal is he, go after him. Therefore let none draw you aside from what you are persuaded of in your conscience by the Spirit of the Lord; neither join with that you know He disallows; and in the obedience you will have peace and joy. Look not at those who draw back, for they go to perdition, but rather after those who continue faithful, who shall receive honor, glory, immortality and everlasting life.
In the fresh, heavenly power of God, meet together and worship Him, as at other times; though the decree has gone forth; and the more because you have been therein refreshed, comforted, and edified; and let none persuade you from that innocent duty, in worshiping God in his Spirit, and assembling yourselves together, for the strengthening of one another. For this is the will of God, and acceptable in his sight; as many of you well know. Watch and pray, for fear that you fall into temptation, and into the snare of the wicked one. The God of heaven and earth establish all your hearts, that you may glorify Him in your generation, and be a sweet smell unto Him in bonds or liberty, in life or death, is the prayer of him who has sought the Lord, and is determined so to do on all your behalf, until the Lord by his power, treads Satan under your feet, that you may triumph over all, rejoicing and praising God, and the Lamb, that lives forever, for evermore, Amen.
Your dear brother in the patience and sufferings of Christ, who abounds in perfect love to all the faithful flock of Christ everywhere,
