Sixth and seventh days. Spent in my ordinary concerns; yet, I trust, my mind was preserved in a state of watchfulness and care, that what I do, even in my temporal business, may all be done to the glory of God, and be useful to myself and to my fellow creatures.
First day, the 19th of 12th month. While silently musing in our meeting towards the latter part, a subject opened which led to the necessity of communication, wherein that petition in the prayer our Lord taught his disciples, viz: “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven;” was opened to the audience; and the necessity of our individually witnessing it fulfilled in us, as the only medium through which we can obtain salvation, and a preparation for the kingdom of heaven. This was pressed upon the people, showing from the analogy of things, that as there is nothing but the Lord’s will done in heaven, a soul that is not reconciled thereto, cannot enter therein, nor partake of its celestial enjoyment.
The rest of the week was carefully employed in my household concerns, with the attendance of our fifth day meeting, agreeably to my invariable practice when at home, if not prevented by indisposition. It was a quiet comfortable meeting.
Sixth day. Attended the funeral of our honest friend Richard Townsend. There was a large collection of Friends and neighbours, he being generally esteemed. A meeting was held on the occasion, which proved a very solemn season. The people’s attention was called to the necessity of a timely preparation for death, in a large arousing testimony; setting forth the great and singular advantages which would redound to the children of men, by their obtaining right ideas and apprehensions of God. The want of these left them to be led away into a belief of many strange and ideal notions concerning him, particularly that of foreordination; the inconsistency of which, my mind was led to unfold to the auditory, by this and other undeniable arguments;—that, as God’s ordination, and God’s creation, and God’s will, are always in perfect unison, and cannot be diverse one from the other; and as all that he wills and creates is immutably good, agreeably to his own declaration in the work of creation; hence, whatever he ordains must likewise be immutably good: therefore, if there is any such thing as sin and iniquity in the world, then God has neither willed it, nor ordained it; as it is impossible for him to will contradictions. And secondly, if he has, previous to man’s creation, willed and determined all his actions, then certainly every man stands in the same state of acceptance with him, and a universal salvation must certainly take place; which I conceive the favourers of foreordination would be as unwilling as myself to believe. And moreover, if man was not vested with the power of free agency, and a liberty of determining his own will, in relation to a choice of good or evil, he could not be an accountable creature; neither would it be in his power to commit sin. It was a time of favour, and the Lord’s blessing on the labours of the day was reverently supplicated. O, saith my soul, may they have the desired effect.
First day, the 26th of 12th month. Sat the greater part of our meeting in much weakness and poverty of spirit, to which I felt perfectly resigned, believing it to be agreeable to the Lord’s will. But towards the close an honest elderly Friend, though young and small in such service, expressed a sentence or two accompanied with a degree of life, which seemed to give spring to a concern on my mind, which led to communication. The subject which opened was to show, that plainness and simplicity were the true marks and badges of the Lord’s people and children in every age of the world, witnessed to by the true nature and analogy of all things in the universe; and confirmed by the testimony of the grace and good spirit of God through his servants in all the generations of mankind. The youth were exhorted and tenderly invited to submit to the cross of Christ, with the assurance assented to by the experience of all the faithful; that if they bowed willingly to his yoke, it would become not only easy but delightful. But alas! how true is that declaration of the prophet: “who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Certainly to none but the obedient, which number, if we are to judge by their fruits, is doubtless very small.
Second, third, and fourth days. Spent mostly in my temporal business, but not without a watchful care lest it should engage too much of my attention. The evenings were partly spent in reading the scriptures, in which I greatly delight. How excellent are those records! although old, yet they seem ever new. The prophecy of Micah was a part of my present reading; what a dignified sense and clear view he had of the gospel state and worship; and how exceedingly it lessened the service and worship of the law in his view, in the clear sense given him of its full and complete abolishment, with all its shadowy rituals; when he was led to set forth its insufficiency, in this exalted language: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” No, none, nor all of these were sufficient to give access to the divine presence, or to the divine law under the gospel; they being only shadows, and therefore could only give access to the outward law and outward lawgiver Moses, and the law and ordinances given by him; which were also shadows of the true substance. For Moses, and his outward law and ordinances, stood in the same relation to outward Israel, under the shadowy dispensation, as Christ the spiritual Moses, with his spiritual law written in the heart, does to his spiritual Israel under the gospel; “which is a dispensation not” of shadow, but of substance; as is clearly shown by the sequel of the testimony of Micah above alluded to, where he goes on as follows: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;” then certainly not shadow nor sign, but real substance, “and what doth the Lord require of thee,” not only by an outward, but by his inward, divine law, “but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” This is the sum and substance of all true religion and worship, and needs not the continuance of any outward elementary washings or eatings or drinkings; but opens to the necessity of our drinking at that spiritual river, the streams whereof make glad the whole heritage of God. For those that drink thereof will never thirst again, at least for the water of any other stream.
Fifth day. Sat our meeting to-day in silence. It is not unpleasant to feel ourselves sometimes circumstanced as Mordecai formerly, sitting at the king’s gate, and, in its season, is as grateful to the truly humble and submissive mind, as riding on the king’s horse, and all bowing before us.
First day, the 2d of 1st month, 1814. Another year is ended. Oh my soul, how hast thou improved it, and what progress hast thou made in thy heavenly journey? As I sat in our meeting to-day, my mind was led to contrast the law and gospel, or shadow and substance. “While I was musing the fire burned,” and my heart became warmed within me; “then spake I with my tongue,” and endeavoured in a zeal for the Lord’s cause, to open to the people, the superiour excellency of the gospel, above and beyond that of the law, as set forth by the precepts, doctrines, example and commands of our great and gracious lawgiver Jesus Christ. The life rose towards the close of the meeting into a good degree of dominion, through hard labour and toil. For many professors lie so securely in their graves, that nothing short of the powerful voice that raised Lazarus formerly, is sufficient to quicken and raise them therefrom.
Second day. This day principally spent in making provision more favourably to meet the inclemency of the ensuing winter.
Third day. Spent as yesterday. In the evening read Thomas Ellwood’s relation of his sufferings and cruel usage from his father, because, for conscience’ sake, he could not pull off his hat and stand bare before him; and for using the plain language of thou and thee, instead of the plural you. Alas! what a spirit of pride, arrogance and cruelty governs the children of men, while living in the lusts of their fallen nature, estranged from God and from his true nature and image. And it is to be feared that many in this day, who profess to be the successors of those primitive sufferers, our worthy predecessors, who stood faithful, and patiently bore the burden and heat of the day, through many years of cruel persecution, are now turning back like a broken bow; and through the fear or favour of men, are disregarding the testimonies which their forefathers in the truth purchased at so dear a rate; and are ready to account many of them but small, or as indifferent things, which may, or may not, be attended to at their own pleasure. But alas for these, it is to be feared they will never have a view, much less be permitted to enter the promised land, the heavenly Canaan: but will fall in the wilderness as did the unbelieving and rebellious in former ages. I often mourn and take up a lamentation, when I behold the children of believing parents, turning aside, disobedient to their parents, and disregarding the travail and exercise of their concerned Friends, who are labouring for their return: but those who are faithful to give the watchword in season, will be clear of their blood, and the Lord will be clear. For he will have a people, and, as formerly, will send his servants into the highways and hedges, and gather from thence, that his house may be filled: but those children of the kingdom, who are making excuses, and will not come when they are bidden, will be cast out into outer darkness, where will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.