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Hour furnishes Opportunities of communicating fpiritually. That Myftical Communion with Chrift, is attained in fecret, and conftantly follows

• and I in him, fheweth what it is to eat the Body of Chrift, and drink his Blood, not by the Sacrament, but verily and ‹ indeed; for this is to dwell in Chrift, so as that Chrift dwelleth in him. For his speaking this was as if he had • said, He that dwelleth not in me, and in whom I dwell not, fhould not fay or think that he eateth my Flesh, or drinketh my Blood.

We might have gone on and cited Bertram upon the Body and Blood of Chrift, and many other Autbors both Ancient and Modern, whole Senfe and Fudgment was, That to eat the Flesh of Chrift and to drink his Blood, was to eat and drink it Spiri tually, to as good and holy Men Only do partake thereof; And it is farther obfervable, that if to eat that Food and • drink that Drink be, as Auguftine fays, to dwell in Chrift and to have Chrift dwell in us; then all holy Perfons do con See Dr. Chantly eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Chrift, because get Paraph. they ftill dwell in Chrift and Chrift in them; And conse; on John 6. quently as Dr. Stanhope has very rightly faid, Every Day, every cur, furnishes Opportunities of communicating Spiritually. And that this is alfo the Senfe and Judgment of the People call'd Quakers, might be abundantly fhown from their Writings.

John 6.53.

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As our bleffed Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift when on Earth, prefs'd with great Earneftnefs the Neceffity of eat, ing his Flesh and Drinking his Blood, faying to the Jews, Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Min, and drink his Blood, ye bave no Life in you: So the People call'd Quakers, whom Gol has been pleas'd to raise up in thefe latter Times, to bear a Teftimony to the Spiritual Appearance of Christ in the Heart, have moft earneftly recommended the Knowledge and Experience of an eating of the True Bread, the Living Word, that Bread of God, that cometh from, and leadeth up to God, as one of the moft effential and neceffary Duties of Christianity. To give a single Inftance of it (of which their Books and publick Declarations have many) we shall transcribe Part of a Letter which William Penn writ to the Countess de Hornes, who refided with Princefs Elizabeth at Her werden in Germany.

For

lows upon every religious Meditation concerning his Incarnation and Sufferings, or any other • of

For Anna Maria de Hornes, ftiled Countess of
Hornes, at Herwerden in Germany.

My dear Friend,

See an Ac

count ofwil

Travels in
Holland and

O that thou mayft for ever dwell in the sweet and tender liam Penn's Senfe of that Divine Love and Life, which hath visited thy Soul, affected and overcome thy Heart ! O tell me, hath Germany. it not fometimes railed thy Spirit above the World, and fill'd thee with fervent and paffionate Defires; yea, holy Refolutions to follow fefus thy bleffed Saviour, who hath given his moft precious Blood for thee, that thou fhouldft not live to thy felf, but to him that hath fo dearly purchased

thee.

O the Retired, Humble, Reverent Frame that I have beheld thee in, when this bleff d Life hath drawn thee into it felf, and adorned and fealon'd thee with its own heavenly Virtue; beautifying thy very Countenance beyond all the vain and foolith Ornaments of the wanton Daughters of Sodom and Egypt, for therein are Charms not known to the Children of this World.

O that this holy and chafte Life may be always precious with thee! and that thou mayft be for ever chaftly kept in the Love and Fellowship of it! That out of this World's Nature, Spirit and Practice, thou mayft be redeemed by him, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life; who, as thou watcheft with holy Vigilance, will not only daily manifeft the Devices of the Enemy to thee, but fave thee from him. For Chrift's Work in thee is thy Sanctification, as it is in him his Father's Will, as he faid of old to his Difciples, This is the Will of God even your Sanctification.

My dear beloved Friend, be ftedfaft, inmoveable, without Wavering; and work out thy great Salvation with Fear and Trembling; and lofe not that fweet and precious Senfe that the Lord hath begotten in thee: It is foon loft, at leaft weakned, but hard to recover.

Wherefore, my dear Friend, be faithful and watch againft the Workings of the Spirit of this World in thy self; that the Nature and Image of it in all Things may be crucified, that thou mayft know an entire Tranflation with holy Enoch, and walk with God. Jefus, the holy Light, is this

Crofs

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of the mysterious Works, by which the Redemption of Mankind was compleated, and the

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Crofs and Power of God, that killeth and maketh alive; and he is the heavenly Vine too; if thou abideft in him, thou wilt bring forth Fruit. But if thou abideft not in him, thou wilt not bring forth that Fruit, in which the Heavenly Father only can be glorified. O fee what the Mind daily a bideth in! Omy Soul is even ravish'd with the Sense of that holy and quiet Habitation! In me, faith he, you shall have Peace, but in the World Trouble; however be of good Cheer, I bave overcome the World, I am not of the World.

There are two Trees of differing Natures that have contrary Fruits and Leaves. The one is the Tree of Life, which is Chrift the other the Tree of Death, and that is Satan. The Fruit of the one giveth Life, the Fruit of the other bringeth Death; the Leaves of the firft Heal; the Leaves of the laft Poifon. Many that difcern the Tree, cannot clearly diftinguish the Branches: And those that see many Arms and Branches, cannot diftinctly behold the Fruit, much less the Leaves. This cometh by the gradual Difcoveries and Revelations of the Light of Fefus, the WORD of God, as it is daily received, and daily obeyed. Yea, and that WORD is the Ax and Sword of the Almighty, to cut it down; daily feel the Strokes of this Eternal searching LIGHT and WORD at the very Root of this corrupt Tree, this Evil one, and his corrupt Nature, Works and Effects. For which End Jefus Chrift is come, and therefore is call'd a Saviour, which is little known in Truth to the Chriftians of this World.

Ah my dear Friend, thou knoweft this WORD, yea thou haft felt it: O hide it in thy Heart! Treasure it up in thy Soul, and love it, and abide with it for ever. Alas! whi ther fhouldft thou go? This hath the Words, and is the WORD of Eternal Life; daily therefore watch and wait, that thou mayft be grafted more into it; that thou mayft live and grow by the Virtue and Lifé of it; and that it may grow in thy Heart, as it grew amongst the firft Chriftians, the holy Followers of the Perfecuted Fefus. And when it fearcheth thy Wound, and cutteth away thy dead Flesh; yea when it feparateth between the Soul and the Spirit of this World, and divideth between Foints and Marrow; when it cutteth off the Right Hand, and plucketb out the Right Eye;

pious Affections of Christians are cherish'd and • inflamed.

WHAT Dr. Stanhope here fays, the Quakers truly believe, and many of them have known and witnefs'd, that every Day, every Hour furnishes Opportunities

O watch unto Prayer, and pray that thou may endure! O keep the holy Patience of this pure and living WORD; and this very WORD will keep thee in the Hour of thy fharpest Trials, and foreft Tribulations! All Virtue is in it! It is a tried Word, a fure Refuge; the Staff and Strength of the Righteous in all Ages. 'Twas David's TEACHER and Buckler; a LIGHT to his Feet, and a Lanthorn to his Paths. Walk thou in the Light thereof, and thou shalt not fumble: In this WORD is Life (as in the Root) and this Life is the Light of Men. They that receive and love the Light of it, will therein receive Divine Life from it to llve to God. This is the Bread of God that cometh from God, and feedeth, and leadeth up to God: By this only, that which is born of God liveth, and is nourished. This is that Carcafs to which the wife Eagles gather; and fee thou gathereft to no other, and feedeft on no other. This is that hidden Manna that cometh from Heaven; that feedeth God's Gospel Ifrael. The World hath a Manna, but it perifheth; but this endureth for ever. For 'tis not of Man, nor from Man, but Immortal, and from God; bid from the Knowledge of all the vain Chriftians in the World: So that the Ifrael of God can fay to the Children of this World, and that in Truth and Righteousness, We have a Bread you know not of. For this Manna wait daily, that thou mayft be ftrengthned in thy Wilderness-Travel to the Land of Eternal Reft.

Wherefore labour not for the Bread that perisheth, that is, the Bread of Man's Inventing and Making, which cometh from Below, and profiteth not, because it giveth not Life Eternal. But labour thou (my dear Friend) for the BREAD that Never perisheth, that endureth for ever, and that giveth Life Eternal to all that feed upon it. O caft thy Care upon this WORD, love it, and dwell with it, wait daily upon it, hear its Voice only, and follow it, for it bringeth the Soul to the eternal Habitation of Reft and Glory. Yea, when all Flefh fhall wither, and the Beauty thereof fade a way, this WORD, and they that are grafted into it, hall abide for ever. O that this may be thy Choice, and it shall be thy Diadem, and thy Eternal Crown of Glory.

Opportunities of communicating fpiritually with Christ, and even in the Midst of their Daily Labours and Vocations, they have often witneffed the sweet and Heavenly Communion and Supper of the Lord, and therefore ever since they have been a People, their chief Bufinefs in their Publick Preaching has been earnestly to exhort all to turn in their Minds, and to look within for the Appearance and Coming of Chrift, who faid Behold See alfo I stand at the Door and knock, if any Man hear my John 14. Voice, and open the Door, I will come in to him, and will fup with him, and be with me. Rev. iii. 20.

23.

WERE it not much better therefore, if the Profeffors of Christianity would leave off contending about the Way and Manner of taking Bread and Wine, in Commemoration of Chrift's Death, and recommend and exhort their Hearers to press diligently after an Acquaintance with Chrift in his fpiritual Appearance in the Heart? Surely this would tend much more to the Benefit of every particular Soul, than fuch Zeal about what, they themselves acknowledge, is but an Outward and vifible Sign of an Inward and Spiritual Grace.

AND as the Corinthians of old, according to the Words of the Apostle, did eat the Bread and drink the Cup without difcerning the Lord's Body, fo we believe 'tis the Cafe of many now-a-days who are mighty zealous for the outward Ceremony of taking Bread and Wine, in Commemoration of the Lord's Death. The Archbishop of Cambray, perfonating fome fuch, fays, <* Hitherto, O my Saviour, I have not been nourish'd with thy

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*Jufqu'ici, ô mon Sauveur, je ne me fuis point nourri de votre vérité; je me fuis nourri des Cêrémonies de la Religion, de l'éclat de certaines vertus qui élévent le 'courage;

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