you have said if it were not reproved Again you exhort your Congregations that they manifest sincerity not only by hatred of error but by a love of the truth c. Answ. Sincerity of heart is indeed precious especially where the Spirit of the Lord is the rule of Judgement and doth mannage that sincerity but where a false spirit rules in the judgement the sincerity is often betrayed into a zeal against the truth and against the wayes of the Lord rather than otherwise and thus it was with the Iewes whose sincerity through their error of judgement was turned into zeal and bitternesse against Christ And thus it is to be feared it is with many in your Congregations who may have a zeal without knowledge and be short of true discerning between what is truth and what is error I speak not this of all but of some for it s no small thing to discern between truth and error especially in this day wherein there are so many wayes and professions of Church-Ministry and Worship and yet all professing the Scriptures are their Rule of Faith worship and practise and seeing that all Sects do professe proof from Scripture for what they hold forth what ground have the people to believe you more than others or others more than you for where people receives Doctrine or Religion by report from others without the evidence of the Spirit of God in their own hearts this is not receiving of the truth unto eternal life wherefore I exhort your Congregations that every one amongst them may wait upon the Lord to have a feeling and discerning in their own hearts and that each one may be led and taught of the Spirit of God which leads into all truth that they may deny all false Ministers and false worships and may worship God in Spirit and Truth through the ministration of his own Spirit in their hearts and consciences and thereby will they discern between truth and error and will love the one and hate the other Thirdly You exhort That they keep themselves unspotted from the prevailing corruptions of these back-sliding times c. Answ. Concerning the times many are ignorant but this is certain at the present time wherein we are is the Lord disquieting of men and its the latter daies of Antichrists Reign and Government that hath been in full power and authority for many generations and Babylon that great City her ruine is threatned because of her abominations that have been many and great for the whole earth hath been corrupted as it s written and now the Call of the Lord is that every man come out of Babylon and deliver himself that he may not partake of their plagues and happy are they that are made clean and unspotted from her sins that they may not be found covered with her garments for the day of the Lord is come and coming upon Babilon and all back-sliders from God and his wayes Now Babilon is that great City which hath ruled over the Kings of the earth and in her hath the blood of Souls and of all just men been found Fourthly You exhort to endeavour a healing of those sad breaches and divisions which have been amongst you c. Answ. Now the sad breaches and divisions which is indeed at present in this Nation cannot be healed but as the cause and ground thereof be removed which is the sins of Rulers Teachers and People and this is the cause wherefore the Lord hath brought distraction amongst them Oh what ambition and self-seeking hath been among the Rulers What judging for gifts and rewards what neglect of Mercy and Judgement amongst them And oh how have they oppressed the poor and trodden down the needy and because hereof is the righteous God vexed And oh what covetousness and greediness of gaine are the teachers guilty of How do they preach for hire and divine for money How have they unreasonably caused men to be imprisoned and their goods to be spoiled for wages and tythes and hire Oh how hath covetousnesse and idolatry and superstition abounded amongst the Teachers in this Nation Oh abominable hath been their sins their oppressions and self-seekings and because of these things hath the Lord brought distractions amongst people and the sins of Rulers and People cries for vengeance from the Lord and till these iniquities be removed by repentance and forsaken the fruit and effect thereof shall never cease but breach upon breach will the Lord make till the Rulers and Priests repent them of their iniquities Gods hand will be upon them both in Judgement and for their sakes that divine for money and preach for hire and judge for rewards Will the Lord make the Nation as heaps and as a ploughed field Therefore let all people repent of their iniquities and return to the light of Christ in their own consciences and become followers of the Lamb and this is the perfect way of healing of all breaches inwardly and outwardly Fifthly You exhort to be diligent in the spiritual and conscientious performances of family duties c. Answ. Men must first be awakened and enlivened unto God before they can act for God in holy duties and as for duties performed in pretence unto God traditionally and without the teachings of the the Spirit of God is but idolatry and the Nation is weary of such a Religion which they have received and held traditionally for thereby the Soul immortal cannot be nourished unto eternal life and while you teach duties towards God by that rule while you teach praying singing repeating catechising by tradition and imitation without the leadings of the Spirit of Christ in them you do but teach idolatry as long hath been taught in the Christian Nations the doing and performing such and such things as Christian duties and practises and the forcing and compelling of doing such things upon people in the unregenerate state and unconverted nature this Religion and such performances of duties have been of Babilon and of Antichrist and a cheat upon peoples Souls whereby many have been murdered and slain in that great City and the form of Godlinesse without the Power hath been practised while duties have been performed unto God without the teachings of the Spirit of God and such their consciences are blinded and the Lord abhors their Sacrifices and people must first come to feel the Word of God in their hearts to regenerate them before they can perform any acceptable thing to God and therefore do not teach people to be hypocrites do not teach them such and such performances in the corrupt nature without the teachings of the Spirit of God in their own particulars for if you do you make them but two fold more the children of the devil and such duties performed in that nature shall not cover nor hide from the Wrath of the Lord which is comming upon all hypocrites Sixthly You exhort that they would cause their children and servants to submit to Catechisings and train them up in there verence
A RETURNE TO THE Ministers OF LONDON By way of Answer to their SEASONABLE EXHORTATIONS so called directed to their Congregations With sober reproof sent unto them because of their secret Smitings against the despised People called QUAKERS whom they have secretly reproached in their said EXHORTATION And this is written for the better information of them and their particular Congregations and that truth may be exalted and deceipt and iniquity may bow and tremble By E. B. LONDON Printed for Robert Wilson at the Black-Spread-Eagle and Windmill in Martins near Aldersgate 1660. A Return to the Ministers of London by way of Answer to their Seasonable Exhortation so called c. 1 FOrasmuch as you the Ministers in and about London have sent forth a Seasonable Exhortation as you call it to the people of your Congregations which I have seen read and considered and do find something therein worthy of Answer for the end that people may be satisfied concerning things doubtful which are in controversie this day among many for it is well known the controversie hath been long and is grown very high between us and you concerning Church Ministry and Religion And divers things in your Exhortation are doubtful unto many and that all doubts may be removed if possible therefore I do return what follows as an answer unto you Whereas you say you are not ignorant of the prejudices and prepositions wherewith the carnal world is leavened concerning your Calling Office and Doctrines and what clamours and fiery contentions abound for them every where that pleads Christs Cause in the gates c. Answ. As for your Calling Office and Doctrine there is much to be said against them in and by the Spirit of the Lord for your Calling and Office is not according to the example of Scriptures though the Calling and Office of Ministers of the Gospel hath example in the Scriptures yet as you are called into your Office that is not according but rather contrary to the Scriptures And as for your Doctrine it is in some things unsound also Now as for Seasonable Exhortations of Ministers to people I do acknowledge that is a duty which ought to be done but how seasonable and sound your Exhortations are that remains to betryed and it is not only the carnal world as you speak that are doubtful concerning your Calling and Office but it is the best of the people whose eyes the Lord is opening to see and behold the false imitations of the Calling and Office of Ministers as you have stood for many Generations And it is true them that pleads Christs Cause they all cryed out upon and contended with but this fully belong not to you though you apply it to your selves but it pertains more to others for the World speaks well of you as it use to do of false Prophets And you say We the Ministers of the Gospel in the City of London do with earnestness exhort the people of this City to awaken as out of sleep and to lay to heart the great dangers that threatens you which you represent under a threefold consideration 1 The fear of the return of Popery 2 The distracted estate of Religion amongst us 3 Other symptomes of Gods wrath hanging over your heads Answ. That you are Ministers of the Gospel this is doubtful unto many and many more testimonies might be given to the contrary than can be given for it But this is not the present debate and therefore no more of it And what is the people of your Congregations yet asleep Have not you awakened them in so many years time Have you been preaching over them and taking their money so long and are they yet to awaken as out of sleep Will not the blame of this and the condemnation of it fall upon you their Watchmen who hath not yet awakened them And may not they say that you have dealt unjustly by them who are left as asleep under all your preaching and are yet unsensible of the danger that threatens them Oh friends will you consider and your people with you what you have been preaching and what they have been hearing for so long a time seeing you now acknowledge they are yet asleep and unawakened Now as to the first of your considerations The fear of the return of Popery for which you lay down divers things to make the people believe it First The union of forreign Popish Powers Secondly The vast numbers say you of Popish Emissaries and Iesuites that swarms amongst you Thirdly The vending and printing of so many Popish Books every year c. Answ. As for Popery I know it is idolatry and their Church and Worship and every part thereof abomination to the Lord and the spirit that leads them is not the spirit of Jesus and as for Popery it was never yet truly cleanse out of the Nation but there hath been and are great remainders yet standing which may indeed easily prove its former strength For is not the most part of the worship of the Church of England made up of such things as was first instituted and practised amongst the Papists witness the making Ministers by natural learning at Schools and Colledges and their maintenance by tythes and yearly stipends and their way of Parochial settlements are not all these things Papistical and witness sprinkling infants calling it the Baptisme into the Visible Church and witness the singing of Davids Psalms as now they are sung among you these things for the most part are of Popish institution and many other things also pertaining to your Church Religion and Ministry so that Popery was never clean cast out of the Nation though the Lord hath wounded it yet there is the remainder of it yet standing in great force so that while tythes are pleaded for by you and those things practised by you it may indeed be feared the return of Popery seeing you stick so fast in those practises which were of Popish institution and the cause of fear lies at your door and upon your selves principally and if there be vast numbers of Popish Priests and Iesuites swarming amongst you if you be Ministers of Christ why do you not discover Wolves in Sheeps cloathing and fright then away Why do you not lift up your Spiritual Weapons if you have them as the Apostles did whose weapons were powerful and mighty through God and who shall bear the blame but you if Wolves in sheeps cloathing tear your Flocks that is a sign you are lazy idle Shepherds and that you want the Power and Authority of God and when the powers of the earth fails you and your carnal weapons are all broken then you are like to be overcome with the swarming of Popish Priests and Iesuites if there be any such among you look you to it for I know not any and if you know any by name and where they are you ought by your Law to discover them Now you say they are acting under the disguise of Sectaries and subtilly
the false Sects and Churches upon the earth and it must be so Babilon is divided and confounded in its self and one part of it against another so the distractions is among your selves among Papists Prelates Presbyters and the rest tearing and rending one another about Church-worship and Religion all like Wolves in sheeps cloathing biting one another being divided in civil and spiritual things one crying for this and another for the other way of Government in Church and State and you are out of the true love and true communion in holy duties and interrupts one another and what one saith is right another saith is wrong and all this is in Babilon among your selves and none of it among them that are in the true Religion and in true Church-Vnion who are gathered by the Spirit of the Lord Your second Evidence of the distracted estate of Religion as you say is the many horrid and hideous errors which for some years past have abounded amongst us against the Authority of Scriptures the Diety of Christ the Holy Ghost Trinity of Persons Immortality of Souls Doctrines of Repentance Humiliation Sanctification Resurrection from the Dead the eternal recompence of Heaven and Hell yea divers Sects encreasing every day in numbers power and malice and under the names of Quakers Ranters Seekers c. oppugning the received Doctrine and unquestionable interest of Christ Iesus amongst us Answ. That many horrid errors have abounded amongst you that 's very true as in many particulars might be instanced But why do you maliciously charge the Quakers with opposing the interest of Christ Jesus The Lord shall judge you in his day when he makes it appear to all the world that those whom you charge with the contrary are the very friends of Christs interest and have been patient sufferers for his Name sake under the wickedness of your Generation and as for the Ranters Seekers and others whom you have reckoned up together with the Quakers it is well known that we are in opposition in spirit unto all these and have given large testimony in the fear of God against them though it is certain that there is many as upright and sincere men towards God amongst these Sects you have mentioned as any of your Congregations and though in some things they are condemnable yet in some things they are as justifiable as you are before the Lord And what the Seekers Ranters Familists and the rest mentioned by you do hold as in these things you have charged them with I le leave that for I am not now pleading their cause but the Cause of God and his People whom you in scorn call Quakers and though you have joyned them in accusation with others yet I must separate them from others in my Answer and must tell you in the fear of the Lord that you have belied them and falsly accused them out of your malicious hearts for they do not deny the Authority of the Scriptures but gives that authority to them which the Spirit of God that gave them forth have formerly given neither do they deny the Deity of Christ but do say in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead neither do they deny the Holy Spirit nor the Father Son and Spirit but say there are three and these three are one but as for your Trinity of persons that is language besides the Scriptures and we do affirm the Soul is immortal and as for the Doctrines of Repentance Humiliation Sanctification Resurrection from the dead the eternal recompence of Heaven and Hell these Doctrines are publickly held forth by them in words and also in practise more than by your selves therefore with what face you could charge them with the denial of these things it is almost wonderful and there are thousands of your Congregations that are and have been sometimes hearing in your City that shall bear witness against your accusations and give evidence that they have heard them whom you call Quakers give faithful witness of and for all these things which you charge them with denial of Do you think that your Congregations are all so blind as to receive for truth what you herein have spoken nay I must tell you some of them are offended with you because hereof First in that you have reckoned the Quakers with Ranters and others between whom there is absolute opposition and not agreement neither in doctrine nor practise Secondly That you should charge the Quak with such things as they are altogether clear of and known to be so by many but this is that your folly and weakness might appear and as you speak of encreasing every day in number power and malice some part of this is true for the Lord doth encrease his people daily in number and power by his spirit but not in malice and that is your torment the encrease of the Quakers which as they have begun to encrease so the Lord will continue them and you nor mortal men shall not be able to hinder neither the Magistrates persecution nor the Ministers instigation thereunto though you have joyned hand in hand against them for the Lord is with his people and his authority and power is their defence and they are not in empty formes as you say but in the power of Godliness and as for your Ordinances and Ministry of which you speak something I have said to it already and more I shall say hereafter Your third Evidence is the odious scandalls of those that profess themselves to be the people of God as their self seeking their unparaellel'd breach of all civil and sacred oaths whereby the mouth of iniquity is opened and the reverence of religion abated so that to us say you there appeares no visible way of repairing the credit of strict profession but by a severe punishment of Professors c. Answ. It is true many that do professe themselves the people of God but are not but by their lives and practises gives odious scandalls and are self-seeking as you say but upon whom the guilt of this may truly be charged that remains to be sought out doubtlesse it lies as neer your doors as any others for is not your pride and oppression by taking tithes and suing people at law for wages and casting them in prison because for good conscience sake they cannot pay you your seeking for your gain from your quarter and your taking great sums of money and preaching for hire taking so much yearly are not these odious scandalls and very self-seeking practices which you are guilty of while you pretend publique good as for breaches of oaths and covenants I wish you to search your own hearts for that iniquity doth lye as near your generation as any others witnesse that you and your brethren have from time to time engaged to such and such things as first did not you engage for the government to be without King and House of Lords And did not you then cry up the Protector contrary to your engagements and
be troubled that any should speak to you or ask you a question or exhort you to repent if any out of good conscience query with you concerning your practise and Doctrine and if any exhort to good and cry against evil amongst you this you call interrupting of you in your Ministerial duty and to prison houses of Correction and to Whips and Stocks must such go which was never the Apostles practise never was any sent to prison for opposing of them and what if the Ministers of England be called Hirelings and false Prophets and greedy dumb dogs the practise of some of them doth prove it that they are so these things you must bear as coming deservedly and not unjustly upon you for the servants of the Lord in all Ages ever cried against deceivers and false Prophets and called them deceivers and greedy dumb dogs and Serpents and vipers and evil beasts and slow bellies these names and terms did Christ the Apostles and Prophets use unto such as are some of the Ministery of this Nation and not with revilings and reproachings but with the Spirit of Authority from God that reproves the wickedness of Prophets Teachers and people and tell me have not some of you sued men at the Law and cast them into prison in this City because they would not give you money and tythes and hire though such as have not heard you nor received you as Ministers not received any thing from you and such as you did never any work for have you sought wages from and caused them to be imprisoned that would not give you And tell me in good earnest can any less be said of such who thus walk but that they are insatiable hirelings and as bad as Baals Priests and even cheaters and greedy dumb dogs let the Witness in your own consciences answer and you shall have a reply Now I come to your third particular which is other causes and symptomes of Gods wrath hanging over your heads the frequent disappointment from time to time of all hopes of coming to any settlement in Government in the Nation occasioned by strange confusions which is a clear evidence that God hath in displeasure darkened our eyes and bid counsel from us say you Answ. It is very true that from time to time of late daies the Lord hath disappointed the purposes of men even concerning settling of Government and there hath been almost strange confusions in changes but to what can this be attributed Have not your fins been as great a cause of it as any others And have not you and your Generation been the Councellors in all these matters Was not some of you or your Brethren in Olivers daies and in Richards daies and in the Armies daies and in the Parliaments daies and are not you and your Brethren busie at this day in ordering a settlement of Government in this Nation But the Lord hath hitherto disappointed you and them that you have counselled and broken you into confusion and distraction and turned backwards even the proceedings of Rulers and Teachers and the spirit of deep sleep and of slumber is powred upon you all and the vision of these things is as a sealed book unto you even because of Gods displeasure against you and in that you say your eyes are darkned and counsel is hid from you in that you say true though to your own shame And what trust can be put in such Watchmen What confidence can be placed by your people in you when as you acknowledge that your eyes are darkned and counsel is hid from you the Scriptures mentioned by you doth prove there was darkness upon the Land but Isaiah doth not say nor David that counsel was hid from them or that their eyes were darkned neither did ever the Apostles say so but witnessed that the Lord was their light and in him their eyes were opened and counsel was revealed to them Secondly You say This sadly presages of unchurching the Nation or the departing of the glory of God from you Answ. By unchurching the Nation I suppose you mean making the Church no Church which if this can be done then the Gates of hell may prevail against the Church contrary to the words of Christ who said the Gates of Hell should not prevail but I must tell you the Nation of England as to the general part of it hath been long and yet is unchurched that is ungathered by the Eternal Spirit into the true fellowship in the Body of Christ for the night of Apostacy and Darkness hath been over the world since the Apostles daies and over this Nation in particular and your Churches hath been no true Churches nor the people under your Ministry truly joyned and united in true Church Order and under true Church Government though I do not say but that there are thousands of sincere people that loves the Lord yet remaining among you and the day of the Lord is appearing which will confound the Whore the false Church which hath been set up in this Nation and through the world and Assemblies which hath had the name of the Churches of Christ will be found to be otherwise in the judgement of the Lord and all the false Ordinances Practises and Ministers must be thrown down that the glory of the Lord may again appear Further you seem to charge your selves with leaving your first love and former zeal for the truth and worship of God but the present coldness and indifferency in the things of God together with your barrenness and unanswerable walking to the Gospel of Christ c. say you Answ. Though to your own shame yet I do believe this is truly acknowledged that you have lost your first love and zeal which once was in you in the daies when you were persecuted under the Bishops you were full of love and zeal for the truth and worship of God according as it was made manifest and then you were sufferers your selves but now you are causers of others to suffer and there is indeed much coldness and dryness and barrenness amongst you and your people I do truly desire you may repent you thereof that if so be the Lord may heal you and your walking indeed is unanswerable to the Gospel of Christ to wit your taking of tythes and so much by the year for preaching and suing people at the Law that will not give you wages though you do no work for them these with many other things which you practise is an unanswerable walking to the Gospel of Christ and seeing you have confessed your sius in some measure repent and sin no more that your iniquities may be blotted out Again you complain of the prevalency of Atheisme and doting upon error endless separations common ignorance unbelief prophaneness the prejudice against wholesome doctrine and all order of discipline in the Church and many other confusions are upon us say you Answ. Alas So it is but where is the blame Oh you Watchmen Should not you
have better preserved your flocks Should not you have fed them with living food Should not you have been examples of righteousness and truth unto them And should not you have nourished them with knowledge and understanding But because the Shepherds have been lazy and idle and fed themselves and not their flocks but the Shepherds have ruled over their flocks with force and cruelty and their Ministry and Preaching hath been a very burden and oppression upon the people and therefore it is that their flocks are divided into many Sects and separations and great confusions is in your Assemblies and among you even the sin of the people in some measure will be charged upon you their Teachers whole flocks are run into errors and Atheisme and despise wholesome doctrine and are out of true order and Church-discipline even in the traditions of men Therefore oh that you Ministers would consider and that you would learn more wisdome and that your people would come to receive the Spirit of the Lord into their hearts whereby they may be led into all truth and into the Covenant of God where there is no unbelief ignorance prophanenesse no confusion but peace love and unity altogether and if you and they did come into this you might be happy and the judgments of the Lord would be removed Now I come to some particulars which you do promise for your selves First That you will use all holy endeavours to keep God and his Truth among you Secondly That you will be more diligent in watching over your flocks Thirdly That you shall endeavour the establishment of your Congregations against Popish delusions To all which I answer You must first make clean your own hearts and you must first repent of your own iniquities before you can heal others and you must first learn obedience to God in your own hearts before you can truly instruct others therein And indeed there is need enough for you to mourn before the Lord and to fast and to confess your sins as you say for the Lord has been long departed from you and his presence from your Assemblies and that is the cause of deadnesse and drinesse and barrennesse among the people because Gods presence is wanting among you and you had indeed need to be more diligent in watching over your flocks for you have been negligent therein and have fed your selves and not them and you have sought theirs and not them it s partly evident and it is time for you now to amend and to put away the evil of your doings but first before you dispence the word to others you must feel the word in your own hearts to be as a fire and as a hammer in you and you must know another Foundation for Ministers than you have long stood upon even the Lord Iesus Christ must be your Foundation and you must cease to preach for hire and to divine for money and then should it be better with you and your flocks would have comfort in you if you had received freely from the Lord and ministred freely to them but while you do it for ends to your selves they can have no good hopes nor confidence in you And whereas you exhort your Congregations in divers particulars First to take heed of false teachers trying their spirits and holding fast that which is good especially to beware of Popish insinuations say you c. Answ. Your Exhortation is good in it self but you should have demonstrated more plainly how false teachers should be known conparing their fruits now with what they were in the daies of old when the Scriptures were written and that had been a good way to have discovered false teachers that sixteenth of Matthew mentioned by you bids them beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Christ said they were such as was called of men Master stood praying in the Synagogues loved uppermost rooms at feasts went in long robes and of such Christ bids beware and of such now the people in London are to beware where ever they are for such as do these things are in the steps of the Scribes and Pharisees which Christ cried Woe against and the true Prophets cried against such in their daies as preached for hire and that sought for their gain from their quarter and such you ought to cry against now as seek for their gain from their quarter except the guilt of these things in your selves stops your mouths from crying against them in others and the Apostles cried against such as went for gifts and rewards such as taught for filthy lucre and such as made merchandize of people for gain for themselves such the Apostles and Christ declared against and such you ought to declare against but the people of your Congregations may say who are such now and where are they that I leave to their consciences to judge who it is and where they are now and whether there be any of them in this City now and in the Nation that are called of men Master and love uppermost rooms at feasts and that preacheth for hire and money for gifts and rewards seeks for their gain from their quarter teacheth for filthy lucre and gain who are found in these things now such are false teachers who ought to be taken heed of I shall not now say it is any of you but I shall leave it to you and to your peoples consciences to whom your Exhortation is and as I have said before let all Popish inventions and Popery be first cast out of this Nation and then if you joyn with us against it through the Spirit of the Lord we will endeavour the keeping of it out and that it shall no more enter in amongst us into this Nation And you say that your knowledge here and all other graces here are imperfect to which I say then you are imperfect Saints imperfect Ministers But what do you mean by here I suppose that you mean upon earth now there are none of the Graces of God that are imperfect but the Grace of God is perfect in it self and the Spirit of God is perfect and every gift of God is perfect as saith the Scriptures Now that you should say the Graces of God are imperfect this is error even abominable error and you shew unsoundnesse in Judgement even in the things of God and hath belied the Graces and Gifts of God which in their least measure are perfect And thus I have looked over your Exhortation and thus I have returned to you again not but that I know it is the duty of Christs Ministers to exhort their flocks and that exhortation in it self is good but when I find where lies and false accusations are against the Quakers whom I dearly love and own upon that account and not otherwise have I engaged with you and what I have done it is not rendering evil for evil but rather to reprove your evil and to undeceive your Congregations who might otherwise take all for true that
of godly Ministry c. Answ. It may be enquired into what you mean by cause them to submit how cause them by force and imposition upon their consciences by outward external personal punishment or threats Is this your meaning Will you set up Religion by violence And must children and servants be compelled by resraint and force This is not the right way to promote Religion and the Worship of God nor to make children and servants truly religious it was the Beast that received power from the Dragon that caused all to worship both small and great children and servants and this causing to worship was in the time of the Apostacy when the true Church was fled into the Wildernesse and all the time ever since hath Nations been caused and compelled to such and such performances and practises of Religion and Worship and such causing I am jealous your meaning is whereby you would force and compell such manner of worship and practises upon people And what do you mean by godly Ministry Will you admit of just tryal according to the Scriptures whether yours be that godly Ministry or no for all sorts of Christians Papists and Protestants and all others they will say that they are in the right way and their Ministry is the godly Ministry but the fruits of many proves the contrary and we cannot believe that yours is the godly Ministry except you will prove it to us by and according to the Scriptures Now it is certain that the Ministry of the Apostles was the true godly Ministry and if yours agree with theirs then we will confesse that yours is the true godly Ministry Therefore tel us plainly Do you agree with them in your Call and in your Maintenance and in your Practises and in your Fruits and Effects in your Lives and Conversations and in your Doctrines Are you justly according to and do you agree with the Apostles in all these things Shall we lay you to the line that you may be judged This is but as a hint at things whereby you might justly be tryed for if you agree not with the Apostles in these case mentioned then it is evident that your Ministry is not the true godly Ministry but hereafter we may have a better occasion to try you And thus the principal parts of your Exhortation is answered and if you can receive it in love TO all you sixty one Teachers in London under whose hands your Exhortation passeth This I say to you in the fear of the Lord God Oh ye men consider and let it enter into your hearts the day of the Lord is at hand upon you and account of your Stewardship must you give and his reward must you have whom you have served and you must reap the fruit of what you have sown Oh look upon your flocks and see what a condition they are in Oh what pride and vain-glory is abounding amongst them Oh how doth wickedness spring forth from them Are they like unto sheep of Christs Fold Or are not they appearing outwardly Christians when as the evil nature is uncut down in them Oh what wickednesse abounds in this City What double-dealing and dissimulation What lying and swearing and drunkennesse Oh high are all the fruits of the flesh grown amongst your Flocks Your Vineyards are not dressed as they ought to be there is abundance of corrupt trees and fruitlesse branches which cumbers the ground Oh it makes the heart of the righteous sad to walk in the streets and to view the abominations that are daily brought forth by a people professing Scriptures Church Ministry and Christ Oh! it burdens the just and grieves the righteous soul to consider how high iniquity is grown among the sheep of your Pastures whom ye should have fed with knowledge and converted unto the fear of the Lord had you been messengers sent of God the very Iewes and Heathens they blaspheme against Christ through the abominations brought forth among Christians that have the name to live but are dead Oh let it enter into your hearts and smite you that your many years Ministry should have so little effect for your vineyard is like untilled ground unploughed and unbroken up Oh there is much hard-heartednesse amongst your people and their hearts goes after covetousnesse even while they professe God with their lips Oh the righteous mourns in secret to see the prophanenesse the scornings and reproaches that are brought forth in your City And oh the idolatry that abounds let it repent you that you have been so slothful and never more seek the fleece but seek the flock that 's gone astray from the Lord who is the true Shepherd whose voice hath not been obeyed and many Pastors have destroyed the Vineyard and many Shepherds have fed themselves and not the Flock Oh consider the day of the Lord is at hand and he will visit with his rod You and your Flocks prepare to meet the Lord for his Kingdome is nigh to come which will be a terrible day to all workers of iniquity And as for this your Exhortation I say as for Exhortation in it self Ministers ought to exhort their Flocks so such a thing in it self I do commend and not oppose but when I had read and seriously considered the aim and intent of your spirits in your Exhortation I found it secretly and in a measure openly opposing and striking at and secretly smiting the people of the Lord whom you have reproached by the name of Quakers who are dear to the Lord and he careth for them though you see no beauty in them but accounteth them altogether vile and in as much as you lifted up your hands against them upon that account was it upon my spirit to return something in answer for the information of many that they might be undeceived and not in envy towards any but in love to all to both you and your people and you have occasioned this upon your selves though you are reproved and not as a man of strife or contention have I proceeded but as one that desires the further manifestation of truth and that no false accusastion may rest upon it which you have secretly brought forth with which the Lord is not well pleased that you should set your selves in opposition against his people and if any of you shall receive a just reproof and repent it may prove to you an advantage of much good and be not so proud as to say in your hearts What art thou weak man that reproves us or wherefore art thou so bold thus to deal with us but rather fall under just reproof for in uprightnesse of heart have I proceeded towards you and not in mine own but in the will of the Father And oh that your Flocks would also consider among whom there are many that are zealous in their way Oh that their Zeal and Iudgements were guided by the Spirit of the Lord then should it be well with them Oh that they would be meek and humble