JOYFUL TIDINGS TO THE Begotten of God in all.  
WITH A few words of Counsel unto FRIENDS Concerning MARRIAGE.  
W. S.  
Printed in the Year 1664.   

Joyful Tidings, etc.  
THe Deliverer is come, let all that mourn wait for him, and let all lamps be truly trimmed, and let all stand so prepared as that he may be known in his coming, and be received and followed into the kingdom, for they that slumber are in danger to miss him, and they that are hasty cannot find him, & on these hands the kingdom is lost: therefore thou that mourns for him, and waits to be delivered by him, keep thou in the faith, and in the patience stand thou still, and join not with the careless, or with the forward spirits, but be quiet in thy place, and keep thy eye in that which lets thee see thou wants him, and the necessity to be delivered by him, and there thou standing still in the watchfulness, he will come in an hour that thou knowest not of, for there is not a groan that rises from the innocent in thee, but he hath great regard unto it, and his compassion breaks in the same hour, but for the time of deliverance thou art to wait, because that hour no man must know: therefore let all be still, and eye the Lord, for his hand is at work, and they that keep their own hands quiet, will know his work to prosper, and in the stillness will feel his faithfulness to his own begotten, for where doth the Father leave or forsake his own child, and in what place is it beset, and he helps it not; and where is it in bondage, and he delivers it not: if the faith be kept, and the patience continued in, he fails not in his work until he hath performed the counsel of his own will, for in his will the babe is begotten, and in his will in due time it is born, and none can add unto his work; and therefore all are to be still and quiet in the light, and therein watch and wait for his own hour, so will he draw nigh unto thee that mourns for him, and with his arms of mercy he will embrace thee, and take thee up, and heal thee, and carry thee forth of the land of thy captivity, then shalt thou return with joy indeed, when thou art enclosed in the arms of thy beloved, and this is his own hour which none can know until he come, and in this hour he binds up the brokenhearted, and saith to the weak, I am thy strength; and to the poor, I am thy helper; and to the mourner, I am thy comforter; and to the captive, I am thy deliverer; this is my hour, and I am come to set the free, thou hast patiently waited, and hast not grudged; thou hast been still, and hast not repined; and in thy lowest state my arm hath reached to thee, and in all thy distresses I have drawn nigh to succour thee: but this is the hour in which I am come to deliver thee. O thou patient mourner, this is the voice of thy beloved, harken not unto another, for his word is sure, and all his promises faithful, and behold he speaks comfortably to thee, and brings thee joyful tidings of deliverance: turn not th● face from him as if he was a stranger, for it is he, and it is his hour, he hath seen thy travail since the day he begat thee, and in all thy afflictions he hath been afflicted with thee, and he hath not delayed his coming though thou hast thought him long, and in the depth of thy misery hast secretly cried, why doth he not make haste to help me, and why are my afflictions so continued upon me, hath he not in that hour been near unto thee, and hath he not in that time been thy comforter, and hath he not secretly relieved thee, though thou hast not known it, and here he hath been thy support, that thou might not faint until his own hour came to deliver thee. O that any who have been visited should miss of this hour, either by carelessness or forwardness; for that which saith he delays his coming that is the careless spirit, and that which saith, Behold he cometh, let us go forth to meet him, (mark) let us go forth that is the hasty forward spirit, it leads forth of the faith, forth of the patience, forth of the staidness, forth of the contentedness, and so from waiting in the pure and perfect measure of light which cometh from him, and in which he cometh in his hour, and neither of these births are delivered in a right hour, but are both born out of due time, and the careless proves heavy and dies, and the forward proves a vapour, which in its rise was something, but suddenly mounts into the air, and after a while is no more seen; but the still quiet babe that waits in the true patience, it is safely delivered in the time appointed, and in the hour determined, and though it hath been long bruised, yet it hath patiently endured, and though it hath long sitten mourning, yet it hath been contented, and in the deepest of its misery, it hath fled for refuge to the throne of mercy, and hath not been without some secret faith and hope in God, yea in the very time when it could not see which way any relief should come, yet it hath breathed unto the Father, and hath put its whole trust and confidence in him, and so by a dependency upon the life of its generation, it hath lain under the arm of preservation, it hath not said he delays his coming, and I am weary of waiting, neither hath it said, behold he cometh, I will go forth to meet him, but here I lie bruised, and my mourning is not hid from him, and here I will wait for the hour of his coming, I have no strength to move until he come and help me; and therefore he must find me where I am, and do all for me that is to be done, or here I must lie and mourn out my days. I dare not slumber lest I should miss his coming, nor I dare not go forth to meet him, lest I should not find him, but here will I sit and wait for his own hour. O thou babe of tenderness, that watchest for thy beloved with diligence, thou art the object of the Father's pity, and he is not forgetful of thee, neither indeed can he, for thou art his natural child, a babe of his own begetting, and in thy travail he is with thee, and in all thy distresses he comforts thee, and in thy deep afflictions he is a support unto thee; thou art the bruised, and he is come to heal thee; the mourner, and he is come to comfort thee; the captive, and he is come to deliver thee; this is his hour, though the powers of darkness be strong, Oh thou innocent babe, thou art deeper in feeling then words can express, there is none knows thy travail but who are of the same life with thee, neither can any eye truly pity thee but the eye which only hath compassion on thee, thou art the babe which in all thy afflictions lives by faith, and though thou hast not deliverance in thy view, yet through thy faith thou art stayed in him that loves thee, and in his strength thou standest in the time of thy adversity, and he in all things worketh for thee because thou art nothing in thyself, and wherever thou art his power defends thee, and in thy poverty his pleasure and delight is in thee, for his covenant stands sure with thee for ever. Oh thou glorious birth of immortality, thou art wellbeloved and highly favoured of God, yea in the womb he loves thee and favours thee, and from the day of his deliverance, and the hour of thy birth he delights to honour thee, for out of all earthly families he hath chosen thee, and from all false births he separates thee, and the Gentiles glory he will give unto thee, and the high places of the earth he will make thy footstool, the glory of thy rising vanisheth the night, the appearance of thy beauty makes a perfect day, all clouds scatter before thee, and all earthly fogs and mists clears up at thy presence, the lights of heaven withdraws at thy rising, for the lustre of thy brightness excels all borrowed lights, and thou swallowest them up into thy glorious body, and with the splendour of thy own break forth thou covers them as if they were not; there is no mixture in thee, no dross nor tin cleaus unto thee, for the furnace hath separated all earthly matter from thee, that thy life may shine forth in perfect purity, and thou alone may rule the day which belongs unto thee; Oh thou art the precious Jewel in which is unity, none can be bound up but in thee, none can inherit the Kingdom besides thee, for the Father hath prepared it only for thee, & there thou must dwell alone, & not be numbered with transgressors any more, thy glory goes over the earth, and thy renown ascends above the Heavens, and both earth and Heaven must give up unto thee, for thou art the Son, and all must worship thee, all below thee is earthly, all above thee is airy, but in thy life is perfect temperance, and everlasting substance, and there is nothing endures or remains besides thee, all the Virgins are in love with thee, the sweet savour of thy ointment draws them after thee, and they cannot deny thee, nor forsake thee, but where ever thou goest they are constrained to follow thee, and in thy love they rejoice in union with thee, and sings thy praise in the heavenly harmony.  
Oh Zion! put on thy strength, and cast thy mourning garments from thee, for the most high Remembers thee in everlasting mercy, he hath seen the time of thy widowhood, and the days of thy long captivity, he hath beheld thy solitary places, and the years of thy great adversity, and now he is drawing nigh to work deliverance for thee, and to gather thee out of all places, where thou hast been scattered, and from amongst all strangers by whom thou hast been oppressed, and to advance thy holy hill over all the earthly glory, that he alone may dwell in thee and delight himself in thy lovely beauty, therefore let thy mourning be turned into joy, and thy sorrow into songs of praises, for thy deliverer is come, and he smiles upon thee with a lovely countenance, and the praise of the whole earth shalt thou be, saith the Lord, who doth all these things.  Let the tongue of the dumb be unloosed, and read the joyful tidings within, where the Lord is redeeming his chosen, and raising up his Seed which obtains everlasting blessings. 

A few words of Counsel unto Friends, concerning Marriage.  
THe Honourable Marriage is in the Seed of God, Male and Female in the seed are one, and lies down together in the bed undefiled, where God blesseth them and their Seeds Seed for ever, therefore let all friends eye the Lord in this his day, and keep faithful to the leadings of his power, lest the sons and daughters of strangers entice any of your minds to join with them, and so you go into the defiled bed and lose the honour; and be watchful that you run not forth in a hasty eager mind among yourselves, but wait that ye may have clearness in the counsel of the Lord, that so ye may understand that it is of God in the beginning, for if you keep not stayed in the light, with the light to be guided; you may either look at the world or at the party, as the first thing upon which you fix your eye, and so may labour to compass the party either for the love of the world's riches which they may possess, or to satisfy your affections with the outward beauty or comeliness of the person, and so the drawings and leadings of God will not be regarded; but the world's riches, or the persons comeliness, or both, will be the object of your eye, and whoever begins in this ground, the Lord will blast it, and if any come to feel that they have a real moving in the truth and in simplicity one to another, and that in the beginning they look singly at the begotten of God one in another, then wait to be preserved and kept in God's fear and counsel; for here the enemy will stand to present some temptation to entice and entangle the minds, and if ever you open your eye into the world, and begin to look at the glory and honour of it, that part will presently over balance the real simplicity, and then the eye being fixed upon the world's riches and glory, the enemy hatches a secret design which way to compass it, and attain it, and then the temptation becomes a cloud and a vail over the excellent glory of the beautiful seed, and if that eye which looks into the world, and lusts to compass it, be not answered in its desire, than the love which hath been professed will decay, & cool, and die, but and if that end can be obtained which the eye looketh after, than the love will seemingly increase to a joining in the Covenant of Marriage, and this is not honourable though outwardly it may be brought to pass and effected, and whosoever goes together in this ground, they will suffer loss in the truth, though they may gain the world's substance, and death will surprise them in the earth where they centre, and how are many tossed about and cannot find where to settle, nor where to come into a liking to satisfy their wandering eye, but sometimes will draw a conclusion one way, and instantly turn from it again, and presently join with some new presentation which in its appearance seems to show fairer unto their liking; and thus many staggers up and down in the multitude of their own thoughts, and never waits to feel the Lords power to order them, but through the wiles of the enemy are hurried in a restless state and loses their conditions in the truth, and doth not well perceive it, for if either strangers be joined unto, or the world or beauty be first looke● at, or the world catch the mind from the real move in the simplicity, or whatsoever end any lays to themselves in this matter, they through the same will come to great loss in the truth, whether the thing which they aim at be effected or not effected, for if the mind be drawn into any visible appearance as to have a lust after it, and to prescribe ways and ends to accomplish what is intended, there cannot be a clear standing in the truth, where the mind is exercised about the attaining or effecting any such things, for they all stand in the liberty of the will, and not in in the power of God which crosseth it.  
Therefore this is the counsel of the Lord God unto all friends, look not at the sons or daughters of strangers, lest you become one with them, neither look at the world's riches amongst yourselves, but wait low in Gods fear to receive his counsel in every such motion, & feel his hand to open the way for you, & when you feel a clear way opened of the Lord, & that in his eternal power & wisdom you can reach the Seed one in another, then wait for his time to make you up as one in the counsel of his own will, & when thus you feel his hand at work, then do not you begin to say, we have clearness from the Lord in this matter, but now we would know how it must be as to an outward portion or estate, and so begin to look into the earth, and confer one with another about the things of this life, for if any do so, the Lord will draw back his hand, and hide his counsel from you, and will leave you in the dark to grope in your own way, & though you may obtain those things which your eye in that place looks after, and may effect the thing which you aim at, yet there you cannot obtain the Lord's favour and blessing, not that the world or the riches of it is hereby denied in their places, for if the Lord join any together in the Seed, and that the things of this life be enjoyed by either party as an outward portion, there they may prove serviceable as in God● wisdom they are used, & the increase will be blessed, but where the world is chiefly looked at, & that the joining or not joining depende●● upon it, in that place it is denied and not otherwise, and let not any Friends make way one for another by speaking to any party, except they feel a necessity laid upon them from the Lord, for thereby some may be wronged in their simplicity, by giving up their belief unto another, but let all wait to feel their own movings in God's counsel and leadings, and so to manifest their own mind in his fear and wisdom, that it may be felt on both sides to be of the Lord, & then lay it before some weighty friends that are endued with heavenly wisdom, that the ground of the motion may be balanced in sound judgement, & so to wait for the Lords hand to carry it on & finish it in his pleasure, & where it thus comes to pass in a single heart to God & one another, there will be true contentment with what the world affords on either part, & whether it be more or less, it will be enjoyed in its place with comfort & peace; & though parties may differ much in age, or in outward substance, yet the marriage is equal, because it is of the Lord, for equality stands not in age or wealth according to the world's account, but in the prosperity of the seed, in which both age and youth becomes one flesh, & is made to flourish in one perfect beauty, & hath an equal portion of wealth in the enduring substance, and who are thus joined together of the Lord, & abides faithful with him, his blessing rests upon them every way, & he preserves them fresh and living in his truth, for where death runs over any in that state, it is because the thing is not brought to pass in God's counsel, or otherwise not abiding faithful with him when it is effected by him, & so the world becomes a trap & a snare to entangle, & fond affections becomes a hindrance for following the Lord fully. Therefore let all friends be exceeding careful in this weighty matter, which in the ground lies beyond the reach of the earthly wisdom, and can never be effected by it, to the glory of God, or the honour of his truth, nor to the peace and happiness of such as so obtains it, but where it is begun and finished in the counsel and will of God, and that there be an abiding faithful with him, he hath the glory in it, and his peace and blessing remains with such as a continual portion of endless joy.  
Oh this is the day wherein the lamb espouses the undefiled virgin which hath followed him through great tribulations, and is washed white in his precious blood.  
The 5. day of the 11. month, 1663.   
THE END.