A Salutation OF LOVE Unto all who have known the Call of GOD, And have in Measure believed therein, so far as to make open Confession to his Name and Truth, and yet sit down short of the Heavenly Possession, through want of Faithfulness thereunto; so come not to Witness a being Gathered into God's Vineyard, to Labour therein, which alone obtains the Reward, and fits for his Heavenly Kingdom.  
By Richard Vickris.  
London, Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, next Door to the Meetinghouse in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street, and at the Bible in Leaden-Hall-Street, 1697.   

A Salutation OF LOVE, etc.  
Friends,  
AN unusual Concern is fallen upon me, in the Motion of Life, and Living Sense of the great Work of God in the Souls of Men and Women; and what hinders the Progress of it; in tender Love and Desire for the Prosperity of that Work in you all, to Visit you with these Lines; more especially you of the Northern Division of this County of Somerset, who are, or may be Concerned, and who profess yourselves to be of the number of God's People, belongs to, and sometimes comes to their Meetings, and sit as they sit; hereby signifying to you, that my Heart is Sorrowful, and my Spirit Afflicted in the Sense and Consideration of the present Unhappy, and future Woeful State (if you Repent not) of some of you; who, through the Love and Cares of this World, forget God, and decay in your Love to him, who first Loved, Visited and Called you by his Grace, into his Marvellous Light; which Love of the World, and Worldly things, with the Cares of this Life, hath so deeply entered into, and taken the Possession of many of your Hearts and Minds, that it hath Choked the good Seed, and left little or no place for Heavenly things, as is too abundantly Manifested by the great Carelessness and Neglect that many of the Professors of the Truth, in this our Day and Time, are found in; not only in declining, in a great Measure, their Meeting together with the Lord's People, to wait upon him, and Worship him in Spirit and Truth, especially on Weekdays (concerning which it hath frequently moved upon the Hearts of some of the Lord's Servants, to warn you, to be diligent in) but when you have found leisure from other Business, to present your Bodies sometimes at your Firstday Meetings. It is to be feared you have not presented your Souls and Spirits, as a Living Sacrifice unto God; so your Bodily Presence hath not profitted you, as to the Worship of God, being Dead and Unacceptable unto him; And the Reason of this is, because your Souls are in the Hand and Power of the Enemy of all our Peace and Happiness, who holds you in Captivity, and will not let you go to serve the Lord in the Land of the Living, so long as you give your Strength to him, through the Love of Earthly things; For where the Treasure is, there will the Heart be also.  
Now that which opens upon my Spirit, to Communicate to you in much Love, is, not only to exhort you to Diligence in Frequenting the Meetings of the Lord's People, but in waiting upon him therein, that you may witness a stronger than your Souls Enemy to come, and bind him, and cast him forth, and destroy his Goods; and so deliver your Souls out of this Woeful Captivity and Bondage; and this is a Spiritual Work, and Profitable Labour and Travel, which God hath called you unto, that you may come in, and Work in his Vineyard: Therefore sit no longer Idle, but come to the Help of the Lord, and you shall find strength from him to Resist and Subdue the Enemy; for he is both able and willing to do it. The Reason why some are so Careless and Negligent of meeting with the Lord's People, to wait upon, and worship him, is, because they Experience so little of the true Benefit of that Exercise, when they are amongst them, which is occasioned for want of coming in a right Mind and pure Intention towards God; and also for want of the Preparation of the Heart, through an inward diligent waiting upon God whilst there, who only can do it; Insomuch that when such come to Meeting, they fall into dulness and heaviness of Spirit, and some into downright Sleeping; others the Enemy prevails over to busy their Minds with confused Musing and Thoughtfulness, sometimes about their worldly Concerns, and sometimes what they can Pump up of other things, with their earthly Minds, which cannot serve God aright, or bring forth any Fruit or Sacrifice Acceptable unto him, or Edifying to themselves, so that their time of Meeting, being for the most part thus spent in Captivity and Bondage to the Enemy, their Meetings, instead of being Comfortable and Profitable, becomes tedious and burdensome to them, and then in time such grow weary, and comes but now and then to keep up a Name amongst Men, perhaps when they hear of a stranger and Minister that is like to be at the Meeting, such may be forward to come, and give their Ears to the Sound of their Words, and entertain their Minds with the Variety of the Heavenly and Undeniable Truths that may be delivered, and be pleased therewith, and Speak well of it, For it may be to them as a Lovely Song, or as one that Plays well upon an Instrument: Yea, farther perhaps the Power of Truth may so far reach them, and touch their Hearts, as to bring them into a good Degree of Sense and Tenderness for the time, and the Scales begin to fall from their Eyes, and they have some sight of their Condition; But like the Natural Man, that beholds his Natural Face in a Glass, goeth away, and forgetteth what manner of Man he was: So it falls out with these, for want of giving their Ears to God's Word in their own Hearts, and the Eye of their Minds to the Blessed Light of his Spirit and Truth therein, they Hear and See, but as the Natural Man; And though such may heap up great Treasures of Knowledge here, in their Airy Minds, and may think themselves Rich, and Full, it will not avail them in God's Account, who look to the Heart, and regards Truth in the inward Parts; and all that is short of this, will but turn in the end to their greater Condemnation.  
Thus whilst Men are held in Bondage and Captivity to their Soul's Enemy, through Earthly and Sensual-mindedness, Disobedience and Unfaithfulness to God, they are void of a right Exercise at Meetings, with relation to the true Worship of God; and the longer they live, and continue in this state, the darker and harder they grow; until they become unsensible of their Condition; then sits down in Dryness and Barrenness, not knowing when Good comes, until at last they become wholly dead to God; and this is a Lamentable State and Condition; and of this sort some return with the Dog to the Vomit, into the Common Enormities and Pollutions of the World: But many there are who have not run to this Excess, nor thus sinned out their Days, but are yet living, though in much Weakness, and Feebleness, sorely Bruised and Oppressed by the Enemy; for whom there is tender Compassion in our God; and for whose Restoration, the Lord's Servants are greatly concerned; such are ready to say at times, Who so Poor and Miserable as we? Lord help us; How shall we come to the help of the Lord? The Enemy holds us fast▪ we are glued to Earthly Things; to will is present with us, but how to perform we know not; Lord we believe, help thou our unbelief: To such a one I would say, Thou believest that the Lord is, (for he that cometh to God must so believe, and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him) viz. That he is what he is; God is Light, in him is no Darkness at all; God is Gracious, and Merciful, Long-suffering, abundant in Goodness and Truth; God is all Powerful; and present every where, consequently, that he is present in thy Soul; the Seal of this Belief, is that degree of Sense and Experience thou findest of his Nature, and Gift, and Spirit in thee, which is a Measure and Manifestation of himself unto thee, in Opposition to the Nature, Spirit, and Power of Darkness in thee; hereby thou distinguishest between Good and Evil, knows the Voice of God that calls thee out of Darkness into Light, out of Error into Truth, out of Evil into Good; and not only so, but begets a Will and Desire in thee, to eschew the Evil, and cleave to the Good; thus far thou believest well; Love God, of whose Life and Nature, that Light, that Truth, that Good is, which thou discernest in thy Soul; and it will change thee into its Likeness; thus thou wilt find the good Effects of thy Faith, which works by Love; and here thou wilt know the Holy Fear that keepeth thy Heart clean; and as thou perseverest in this Faith, Love, and Fear of God, He will instruct thee in all Righteousness, and Truth, and manifold Heavenly Virtues thou wilt learn of him, as he is pleased to show himself therein unto thee, who will be with thee, to help thee to perform what he requires of thee; Come unto me, saith Christ, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden; learn of me, for I am meek, and low in Heart, and ye shall find rest to your Souls. I have already shown the Necessity of believing that God is, where he is to be found, and how thou mayst know him, viz. by his Image, Nature and Spirit in thee, which shows itself forth in all heavenly Virtues: And here it is to be observed, that Christ, who is the Express Image of his Father, gins with his Meekness and Lowliness in the Heart, to declare, and show himself to thee; and the Way to come unto him, is to learn of him; that is, so to wait for his Appearance, as to have a sensible feeling of his Meekness and Humility in thee, and to wait upon him to be made conformable thereunto: I need not go about to Convince thee, who thus believes, (that God is) That it is the Indispensible Duty, as well as True Interest of all Mankind, to Serve, Worship and Adore him, to whom we all, as depending Creatures, Own our Being, and Wellbeing; whence it inevitably follows, that we Own all Reverence, Homage, and Obedience to him. And the way to obtain the Happiness that is in him, is to come unto him, and wait upon him, from whom every good and perfect Gift cometh.  
Now that which principally Resteth with me to Recommend to all, to whom this may come, is a true and right performance of this great Exercise and weighty Work of coming to Christ, and waiting upon him; because it is a Duty and Means appointed of God for all to attain Eternal Happiness and Peace with him: For as Man lost his happy State, by being betrayed and going from that Image of God, in which he was Created; so there is no other way to recover it, but by coming back to Christ, to be Restored into his Image again. No Man cometh unto the Father but by me, saith Christ, and none cometh to me, except my Father that hath sent me draw him. Well then, we must wait for the drawings of the Father, and follow his Leadings; for as Christ said, The Father himself Loveth you; how know we that, but by the Sense he gives us of his Love in our Souls, and how come we by this Sense, but by the opening of his Life and Love therein?  
This Manifestation of himself to us, and in us, is through the Gift and Spirit of his Son Christ Jesus in us, whom we are to believe; Ye believe in God, believe also in me, saith Christ; that is, Confide in him and follow him, as he is the Way to the Father; Love, Fear and Obey him, according as he Manifests himself, and Reveals the Father, who are One: For so have we Experienced, and Learned of Christ. Therefore when he Exhorteth us to come unto him; it is, that we Inwardly Retire unto him in our Minds, and settle our Intention purely upon him, and diligently wait to feel his Life and Love (which is his Divine Nature) to spring up and show itself in our Souls, and then join with it, cleave to it, and love it, and it will leven us into its own Nature and Image; and so we come to a right Knowledge of God, and Christ, by Participation and Union; and in and by this divine Nature, and Spirit of Christ, we are enabled to Pray to the Father, to Resist the Enemy and overcome him; for it is able to do all things, and greatly prevails with God for a Blessing.  
Now here is a sound Bottom and sure Foundation to build upon; Namely, Christ Jesus, as he is thus manifested by his Divine Nature and Spirit in us: And as we are built up hereupon, we are built up to God a Spiritual House of Living Stones Elect and Precious: Therefore in all our Spiritual Exercises, and Drawings near to God, we must come down to this Foundation and Cornerstone, and keep upon it; and this is through great Labour, deep and inward Silence, and Spiritual Death unto Self, and Self-striving, in Patience, and Long-suffering obtained, and kept to; for the Enemy of our Souls Peace watches all Opportunities, to draw our Minds away, and keep us therefrom, knowing that all our Labour and Exercise, upon a Spiritual Account, becomes unprofitable unto us without this Foundation; because as Christ said, Without me ye can do nothing; that is, nothing available to our Souls Everlasting Rest and Peace.  
Thus we see how greatly it Concerns us, in order to the right Performance of Worship to God, and obtaining our Soul's Salvation, to Meet together, to waith upon God, to Feel the Drawings of the Father, to come unto Christ, to present our Souls and Bodies, as a Living Sacrifice unto him; that is, in his Presence; where we Behold him, and Love him, in his Appearance, which is most Beautiful and Excellent: And as we thus diligently wait upon him, and abide with him, in the Meekness, in the Lowliness, in the Long suffering, and in the Patience that he brings with him, and gives unto such, with all the rest of his Heavenly Virtues, which spring and flow from him, as from a Living Fountain, we shall be Adorned therewith, and Changed into his Likeness.  
And here much might be added, by way of Encouragement, on the foot of our true Interest, as well as Obligation and Duty, to the right performance of this Exercise, both with respect to the high and holy Call thereto, the Beauty and Excellency that is in him, beyond all Comparison, whom we are thus to wait for, and upon, as well as the Wonderful, Blessed and Comfortable Effects it produces in the Souls of all those that so does: But these things cannot be sufficiently declared, nor known to any, as they are felt and experienced, through the Work of God in their own Souls; for as it is written, Eye hath not seen, Ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the Heart of Man, to conceive, the things that God hath in store for them that love him.  
So, Friends, I earnestly beseech you, for your Soul's sake, be wise in Heart, diligent in the Work of the Lord, both in coming to Meetings, and waiting upon, and worshipping of God therein, and you will find your Reward: Let your Eye be single, and your Intention pure to God: Consider the end of your coming, and what you are about, the Presence you are in; and how you behave yourselves in the presence of the great God you Profess to Worship, that your Hearts may be rightly fitted and prepared for it; gird up the Loins of your Minds, keep out of the Muse, Self-Workings and Strive, for that brings forth nothing to Perfection, wait the Lord's time, trust in him, and hope to the end; and he that is Faithful and True, and is not Slack concerning his Promise, as some Men count Slackness, when he hath proved you, will Visit you, and Reward your Faith and Patience, and Administer things suitable to your Necessities, and make you in Love with all Opportunities of waiting upon him; and if you continue Faithful, will Crown you with Life, and in the end receive you into his Heavenly Kingdom of Joy and Peace for evermore; which, that he may do for us all, is the Hearty Desire of  
Your Friend and Wellwisher, and one of Zion's Travellers towards his Everlasting Kingdom. Richard Vickris. Chew the 27th of the First Month, 1697. Given forth to be Read amongst Friends.   
FINIS.