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JOHN ROGERS, A SERVANT of JESUS CHRIST. To any of the Flock of Christ that may be scattered among the Churches of New-England, Greeting.
I WISH you grace and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath called us with an holy calling, and hath revealed his everlasting Love (in and through Jesus Christ his beloved Son) unto us by his own spirit.
WHEREFORE, brethren, I beseech you to walk worthy of this holy calling, not fashioning yourselves according to the former con|versation in the time of your ignorance, when you were ignorant of the true God; but now being translated out of a state of darkness into a state of light, now walk as children of light, bringing forth the fruits of God's spirit, seeing he hath sowed the seed of righte|ousness in your hearts, be ye now the followers of them, who through faith and patience, come to inherit the promises which God hath made to them that love him; for though you may have a great and terrible wilderness to travel through before ye come to inherit that blessed promise, yet, through faith and patience, you may be led through the great deep, and see your enemies drowned in the depth of the sea, and you stand and rejoice in the God of your salvation; yet did those afterward perish that believed not in their journey toward the land of rest, but fell short of it.
I HAVE seen and learned by experience, that it is a needful thing, that patience should have its perfect work, in the day of tempta|tion, and that without believing in God, in all trials, it is impos|sible that we can enjoy it, without being led by his spirit; there|fore