TO THE ARMY
[no date]
FRIENDS,
Do ye not see how often ye have been betrayed? The Lord hath done great things for you, and by you, and put great opportunities into your hands: but still they have been lost, his work fallen to the ground, and his name become a reproach over all the earth, through your means. Oh! be abased before the Lord, and lie very low, and consider how justly he may lay you aside from being his instruments, in that great and glorious work he hath to bring to pass. If ye desire to stand, look up to the Lord, to keep your spirits very low, and poor, and meek, and ready to hear. Oh! wait to know what hath betrayed you hitherto! for assuredly that lies in wait to betray you again: and if the Lord mightily preserve you not from it, will make you forget him, and cause you to mind and seek yourselves afresh, so soon as ever your fears are over. Therefore, in the day of your prosperity, the Lord watch over you, and keep you close to the stirrings and honest movings for public good, that have sprung up in your hearts in the days of your adversity; and take heed, lest the subtlety in the wise, fleshly-reasoning part deceive you; but fear the Lord in your reasonings, and beg earnestly of him to keep the simplicity alive in you, that the fleshly wisdom get not mastery over it. For the evil counsellor is near you, even in your own <293> bosoms, and he lies lurking in plausible and fair-seeming reasonings. Therefore keep close to the simplicity, and let your reasonings be servants to it, and not masters over it. Ah! remember how often ye have started aside like a warped bow: become now at length upright to the Lord, carrying faithfully to the mark those his arrows which he is shooting at the regions of Babylon.
This is from one who waits for what the Lord will effect, and hopes at length to see an instrument in his hand wherein his soul will delight.
ISAAC PENINGTON THE YOUNGER
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Isaac Penington was one of the early members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
Penington was the oldest son of Isaac Penington, a Puritan who had served as the Lord Mayor of London. Penington married a widow named Mary Springett and they had five children. Penington's stepdaughter Gulielma Springett married William Penn. Convinced that the Quaker faith was true, Penington and his wife joined the Friends in 1657 or 1658. Penington became an influential promoter and defender of the Quaker movement, writing extensively on many topics. His writings are prized for their insightful and eloquent exploration of spiritual experience. While read in bulk they can seem repetitious, there is much that is eloquent, moving, and deeply insightful. His Letters have been read continuously within Quakerism for their spiritual counsel, and they deserve to be read more widely within Christianity. His complete works were first published in 1681. They are still in print today and can also be read online.
Penington became an influential promoter and defender of the Quaker movement, publishing several books about it. He was imprisoned six times for his beliefs, starting in 1661. Sometimes the charge was refusal to take an oath. Taking an oath was something that Friends were against doing (see Testimony of Integrity). Refusing to take an oath was prohibited by the Quaker Act of 1662. At other times Penington was charged with attending a Quaker meeting, which was forbidden by the Conventicle Act of 1664.
Penington's wife, Mary, was a remarkable woman in her own right. Her daughter Gulielma, from her first marriage, to Sir WIlliam Springett (who died young), became the first wife of WIlliam Penn.