CHAPTER III (5)

Besides this, I wrote the following to Colonel Barton, who was both a justice and a preacher, as was hinted before:—

“Friend,

“Do not cloak and cover thyself; there is a God, who knoweth thy heart, and will uncover thee; he seeth thy way. ‘Woe be to him that covereth, and not with My Spirit,’ saith the Lord. Dost thou do contrary to the law, and then put it from thee? Mercy and true judgment thou neglectest; look what was spoken against such. My Saviour said to such, ‘I was sick and in prison, and ye visited Me not; I was hungry, and ye fed Me not; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in.’ And when they said, ‘When saw we Thee in prison, and did not come to Thee,’ &c., he replied, ‘Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of these little ones, ye did it not to Me.’ Thou hast imprisoned me for bearing witness to the life and power of truth, and yet thou professest to be a minister of Christ; but if Christ had sent thee, thou wouldst bring out of prison, and out of bondage, and wouldst receive strangers. Thou hast been wanton upon earth, thou hast lived plenteously, and nourished thy heart, as in a day of slaughter; thou hast killed the Just. O look where thou art, and how thou hast spent thy time! O remember thyself, and now, whilst thou hast time, prize it. Do not slight the free mercy, or despise the long-suffering of God, which is great salvation; but mind that in thee which doth convince, and would not let thee swear, nor lie, nor take God’s name in vain. Thou knowest thou shouldst do none of these things; thou hast learned that which will condemn thee; therefore obey the light, which doth convince thee, forsake thy sins, and look at the mercies of God; and prize his love in sparing thee till now. The Lord saith, ‘Look unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved; cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils.’ Prize thy time, and see whom thou servest; for his servant thou art whom thou dost obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. If thou serve God, and fear him, thou wilt not blaspheme his name, or curse, or swear, or take his name in vain, or follow pleasures and wantonness, whoredom, and drunkenness, or wrath, or malice, or revenge, or rashness, or headiness, pride or gluttony, greediness, oppression, or covetousness, or foolish jestings, or vain songs. God doth forbid these things, and all unrighteousness. If thou profess God, and act any of these things, thou takest him for a cloak, and servest the Devil. Consider with thyself, and do not love that which God hateth. He that loveth God, keepeth his commandments. The Devil will tell thee, it is a hard thing to keep God’s commandments; but it is an easy thing to keep the Devil’s commandments, and to live in all unrighteousness and ungodliness, turning the grace of God into wantonness. But let the unrighteous man forsake his ways, and turn unto me, saith the Lord, and I will have mercy. ‘Turn ye, why will ye die?’ saith the Lord.

“Howl, ye great ones, for the plagues are pouring out upon you! Howl, ye oppressors, for recompense and vengeance is coming upon you! Woe unto them that covetously join one house to another; and bring one field so nigh unto another that the poor can get no more ground, and that ye may dwell upon the earth alone; these things are in the ears of the Lord of Hosts. Woe unto him that covetously getteth evil-gotten goods into his house, that he may set his nest on high, to escape from the power of evil.”