Witness of John Penry, Letter
TO THE DISTRESSED FAITHFVLL CONGREGATION OF CHRIST IN LONDON, AND ALL THE Members thereof, wither in bondes or at liberty theſe be delivered. My beloved brethren M. F. Iohnſon M. D. M, S M. S. M. G. I. M. I M. H. M. B. M. S. R. B. M, R. M K N. B. M. B. I. M, N P. W. C. P A. my brethren M. I. C. W. B. A. P. M. MM. E, C. C D. G. M. A B. With the reſt of you both men & women (as if particularly I named you all) which ſtand members of this poore afflicted congregation whether at libertie or in bondes, Ieſus Chriſt that great king & Prince of the kings of the earth bleſſe you comfort you with his invincible ſpirit, that you may be able to beare and over come theſe great trials which you are yet (and I with you if I live to vndergoe for his names ſake in this teſtimonie.
BELOVED
let vsus thinke out lot and portiō more then bleſſed that novve are vouchſaffed the favor not onelie to know & to profeſſe, but alſo to ſuffer for the ſinceritie of the Goſpell: & let vsus remember, that great is our reward in heaven; if wee endure vntounto the end. I teſtifie vntounto you for mine one part as I ſhal anſwere before Ieſus Chriſt & his elect Angels that I never ſaw anie truth more cleare & vndoubted then this witneſſe wherin wee ſtand, 1 againſt falſe offices. 2 the callings. 3 the workes. 4. the maintenance left & retayned in this land by and from Poperie: 5. againſt the obedience wich ſpiritually eyther in ſoule or in body is yealded, & the comunion that is had with theſe inventions of darknes. 6, the mingling of all ſorts in theſe aſſemblies. 7. the worſhip done but ſcant in one of the three partes of the commiſſion given by our ſauiour Scant done I ſay in one of the three partes of the cōmiſſion, by the beſt teachers of this lād, And I thanke my God I am not only ready to be bound & baniſhed but evē to die in this cauſe by his ſtrēgth yea my brethrē I greatly lōg in regard of my ſelf to be diſolued, and to liue in the bleſſed kingdome of heaven with Ieſus … duplicate page duplicate page Chriſt and his Angels, with Adam Henoch, Noah, Abraham, Moſes, Iobe. Dauid, Ieremie, Daniel, Paule the great Apoſtle of the Gentiles, and with the reſt of the holy, ſaints both men and women, with the glorious kinges, Prophets and martyrs, and wittneſſes of Ieſus Chriſt that have bine from the begining of the world, particulerly with my twoe deare brethren maſter Henry Barrowe & maſter Iohn Greenwoode which have laſt of all yealded their bloud for this precious teſtimonie: Cōfeſſing vntounto you my btethren and ſiſters that if I might liue vppon this earth the days of Methuſhelach twyſe tould and that in noe leſſe comforte then Peter Iames, and Iohn were in the mount, and after this life might be ſure of the knigdōe of heavē that yet to gayne al this I durſt not goe frō the former teſtimony. Wher fore my brethren I beſeech you be of like minde herein with me, I doubt, not but you have the ſame precious faith with me & are pertakers alſo of farte more glorious comfort, then my barren. and ſinfull ſoule cane be, ſtriue for me & with me, that the Lord our God, may make me and vsus all able to ende our courſe with ioy and patience: Striue alſo that he may ſtaye his bleſsed hand [if it be his good pleaſure] and not make any farther breach in his Church by the taking awaye of any more of vsus as yet to the diſcouraging of the weake and the lifting vp of the horne of our aduerſaries. I would indeed if it be his good pleaſure liue yet with you, to helpe you to beare that greueous and hard yoake which yet ye are like to ſuſtaine eyther here or in a ſtrange land. And my good brethren ſeing baniſhement with loſſe of goodes is likely to betyde you all. preparcy our ſelues for this hard entreatie and reioyce that you are made worthy for CHRIST cauſe to ſuffer and beare al theſe things: And I beſeech you in the bowels of Ieſus Chriſt, that none of you in this caſe loke vppon his perticular eſtate but regard the generall ſtate of the Church of God that the ſame may goe and be kept together whetherſoeuer it ſhal pleaſe God to ſend you. Oh the bleſſinge wilbe great that ſhall enſue this care, whereas if you goe eueryevery man to prouid for his owne houſe, and to loke for his owne familie. Firſt neglecting pore Sion, the Lord will ſett his face againſt you and ſcatter you from the one end of heaven to the other, neyther ſhall you finde a reſting place for the ſoles of your feet or a bleſing vppon any thing you take in hād.
The Lord my brethren and ſiſters. hath not forgotten to be gracious vntounto Sion you ſhall yet finde dayes of peace and of reſt if you continew faith full: This Stampeing & treading of vsus vnderunder his feete this ſubuerting of our cauſe, and right in iudgement is done by him to the end that we ſhoul ſearch and trie our wayes, and repent vsus of our careleſsnes profannes and rebellion in his ſight, but he wil yet maintaine the cauſe of our ſoules and redeeme our liues, if we returne to him yea he wilbe with vsus in fire & water & wil not forſakevs if our harts be only and eſpecially of the building of Sion whetherſoeuer we goe. Let not thoſe of you then that either hauehave ſtocks in your hādes, or ſome likly trades to liue by diſpoſe of your ſelues where it may be moſt commodious for your outward eſtate and in the meane tyme ſuffer the poore ones that have no ſuch meanes, eyther to beare the whole worke vponupon their weake ſhoulders, or to ende their daies in ſorowe and morning▪ for want of outward and inward cōforts in the land of ſtrangers for the Lord wil be an auenger of all ſuch dealings. But couſult with the whole Church, yea with the brethten of other places, how the church may be kept togeather and built whetherſoeuer they go, let not the poore and the freendleſſe be forced to ſtay behinde heere and to breake a good conſcience for want of your ſupport and kindneſſe vntounto them that they may go with you, and here I humbly beſeech you, not in anie outward regard, as I ſhall anſwer before my God. that you would take my pore and deſolate widowe and my meſſe of fatherleſſe and freindleſſe orphaines with you into exile whether ſoeuer you goe, and you ſhall fynde I doubt not that the bleſſed promeſſes of my God made vntounto me and myne will accompanie them, & even the whole Church for their fakes for this alſo is the Lords promiſe vntounto the holy ſeede) as you ſhall not need much to demaunde, what they ſhal eate, or wherwith they ſhal be clothed, and in ſhorte time I doubt not but they wilbe found helpfull & not burthenſome to the Church only I beſeech you … I and, where they muſt be enforced, to goe againe vntounto Egypte. and my God wil bleſſe you euen with a ioyfull retourne vntounto your owne country for it. there are of you, whoe I doubt not wilbe carefull of the performance of the will of your deade brother in this poynt, whoe may yet liue to ſhew this kindeneſſe vntounto youres, I wil ſay noe more. Be kinde louinge and tender harted, the one of you towardes the other, laboure every way to encreaſe love and to ſhew the duties of love one of you towardes an other, by viſitinge, comfortinge and releeuing one the other euen for the reproach of the heathen that are round about vsus (as the Lord ſaith.) Be watching in prayer eſpecially remember thoſe of out brethren that are eſpeciallye endaungered, perticulerly thoſe our twoe brethren M. Studley and Robert Boule whome our God hath ſtrengthned now to ſtand in the forefront of the battell. I feare me that our careleſnes was over great to ſue vntounto our God for the liues of theſe towe ſo notable lights of his Church who nowe reſt with him, and that he tooke them away for many reſpects ſeeming good to his wiſdome, ſoe alſo that we might learne to be more carefull in prayer in all ſuch cauſes, pray for them then my brethren and for our brother M. Fran: Iohnſ: and for me, who am likely to end my dayes eyther with them or before them that our God may ſpare vsus vntounto his church if it be his God pleaſure, or giuegive vsus exceding faythfullnes and be eueryevery way comfortable vntounto the ſiſter and wife of the dead
I meane vntounto my beloued M. Barrowe and M. Greenwoode whome I moſt hartly ſalute, and deſire much to be comforted in theyr God whoe by his blesſinges from aboue, wil counteruayle vntounto them, the want of ſoe notable a broher and huſband. I would wiſh you earneſtly to write, yea to ſend if you may to comforte the brethren in the weſt, and North countreys, that they faint not in theſe troubles, and, that alſoe you may have of theyr aduiſe and they of youres what to doe in theſe deſolate times. and if you thinke it any thing for theyr further comfort and direction ſend them conuenientlie a copy of this my letter, and of the declaration of my faith, and alegiance wiſhinge them before whomſoever they be called that theyr owne mouthes, be not had a witneſſe againſt them in any thnge: yea I would wiſh you and them to be together if you may whetherſoeuer you ſhalbe baniſhed and to this purpoſe to bethinke you before hand where to be, yea to ſend ſome whoe may be meet to prepare you ſome reſting place, & be al of you aſſured that he whoe is your god in England, wilbe your God in any land vnderunder the whole heaven for the earth, and the fulnes thereof are his, and bleſſed are they that for his cauſe are bereaued of any parte of the ſame! Finally my brethren the eternall God bleſſe you, and youres, that I may meete with you all vntounto my comfort in the bleſſed kingdome of heauen, Thus haujng from my harte and, with teares performed (it may be) my laſt duetje towardes you in this life I ſalute you all in the Lorde both men and womē, even thoſe whoe I have not named, as hartelie as thoſe whoſe names I hauehave mentioned, [for all your names I knowe not] And remember to ſtand ſteedfaſt, and faithfull in Ieſus Chriſt, as you hauehave receiued him vntounto your immortality: And he conferme and eſtabliſh you to the ende for the praiſe of his glory. Amen.
The 24 the of the 4 monethmonth Aprill. 1593. Your louinge brother in the patience and ſufferinges of the goſpell Iohn Penry, a wittneſſe of Chriſt in this life and a pertaker of the glory that ſhalbe reuealed.
End of the text · John Penry, Witness of John Penry (1593)