The Journal, with Other Writings of John Woolman

by John Woolman

I feel a living Invitation in my Mind to such who are active in our religious Society, that we may lay to Heart this Matter, and consider the Station in which we stand; a Place of outward Liberty under the free Exercise of our Conscience toward God, not obtained but through great and manifold Afflictions of those who lived before us. There is Gratitude due from us to our Heavenly Father, and Justice to our Posterity; can our Hearts endure, or our Hands be strong, if we desert a Cause so precious, if we turn aside from a Work, under which so many have patiently laboured?

May the deep Sufferings of our Saviour be so dear to us, that we may never trample under Foot the adorable Son of God, nor count the Blood of the Covenant unholy!

May the Faithfulness of the Martyrs when the Prospect of Death by Fire was before them, be remembred. And may the patient constant Sufferings of the upright-hearted Servants of God in latter Ages be revived in our Minds. And may we so follow on to know the Lord, that neither the Faithful in this Age, nor those in Ages to come, may ever be brought under Suffering, through our sliding back from the Work of Reformation in the World.

While the active Members in the visible gathered Church stand upright, and the Affairs thereof are carried on under the Leadings of the Holy Spirit, although Disorders may arise among us, and cause many Exercises to those who feel the Care of the Churches upon them; yet while these continue under the Weight of the Work, and labour in the Meekness of Wisdom for the Help of others, the Name of Christ in the visible gathered Church may be kept sacred; but while they who are active in the Affairs of this Church, continue in a manifest Opposition to the Purity of our Principles, this, as the Prophet Isaiah x. 18. expresseth it, is like as when a Standard-bearer fainteth; and thus the Way opens to great and prevailing Degeneracy, and to Sufferings for such who through the Power of Divine Love, are separated to the Gospel of Christ, and cannot unite with any Thing which stands in Opposition to the Purity of it.

The Necessity of an inward Stillness, hath under these Exercises appeared clear to my Mind; in true Silence Strength is renewed, the Mind herein is weaned from all Things, but as they may be enjoyed in the Divine Will, and a Lowliness in outward Living opposite to Worldly Honour, becomes truly acceptable to us;—in the Desire after outward Gain, the Mind is prevented from a perfect Attention to the Voice of Christ, but being weaned from all Things, but as they may be enjoyed in the Divine Will, the pure Light shines into the Soul, and where the Fruits of that Spirit which is of the World, are brought forth by many who profess to be led by the Spirit of Truth, and Cloudiness is felt to be gathering over the visible gathered Church, the Sincere in Heart who abide in true Stillness, and are exercised therein before the Lord for his Name's Sake, have a Knowledge of Christ in the Fellowship of his Sufferings, and inward Thankfulness is felt at Times, that through Divine Love, our own Wisdom is cast out, and that forward active Part in us subjected, which would rise and do something in the visible gathered Church, without, the pure Leadings of the Spirit of Christ.

While aught remains in us different from a perfect Resignation of our Wills, it is like a Seal to a Book wherein is written, that good, and acceptable, and perfect Will of God concerning us, Rom. xii. 2. but when our Minds entirely yield to Christ, that Silence is known, which followeth the opening of the last of the Seals, Rev. viii. 1. In this Silence we learn abiding in the Divine Will, and there feel, that we have no Cause to promote but that only in which the Light of Life directs us in our Proceedings, and that the alone Way to be useful in the Church of Christ, is to abide faithfully under the Leadings of his Holy Spirit in all Cases, and being preserved thereby in Purity of Heart, and Holiness of Conversation, a Testimony to the Purity of his Government may be held forth through us, to others.

As my Mind hath been thus exercised, I have seen that to be active and busy in the visible gathered Church, without the Leadings of the Holy Spirit, is not only unprofitable, but tends to increase Dimness; and where Way is not opened to proceed in the Light of Truth, a Stop is felt by those who humbly attend to the Divine Leader, a Stop which in relation to good Order in the visible gathered Church, is of the greatest Consequence to be observed; thus Robert Barclay in his Treatise on Discipline holds forth, Page 65, 68, 84. "That the Judgment or Conclusion of the Church or Congregation, is no further effectual as to the true End and Design thereof, but as such Judgment or Conclusion proceeds from the Spirit of God operating on their Minds who are sanctified in Christ Jesus."

Now in this Stop I have learned the Necessity of waiting on the Lord in Humility, that the Works of all may be brought to the Light, and those to Judgment which are wrought in the Wisdom of this World; and have also seen, that in a Mind thoroughly subjected to the Power of the Cross, there is a Savour of Life to be felt, which evidently tends to gather Souls to God, while the greatest Works in the visible gathered Church brought forth in Man's Wisdom, remain to be unprofitable.

Where People are divinely gathered into a Holy Fellowship, and faithfully abide under the Influence of that Spirit which leads into all Truth, they are the Light of the World, Mat. v. 14. Now holding this Profession, to me hath appeared weighty, even beyond what I can fully express, and what our blessed Lord seemed to have in View, when he proposed the Necessity of counting the Cost, before we begin to build.

I trust there are many who at Times, under Divine Visitation, feel an inward Enquiry after God; and when such in the Simplicity of their Hearts mark the Lives of a People, who profess to walk by the Leadings of his Spirit, of what great Concernment is it that our Lights shine clear, that nothing of our Conduct carry a Contradiction to the Truth as it is in Jesus, or be a Means of prophaning his Holy Name, and be a Stumbling-block in the Way of those sincere Enquirers!