the Fruits of Death whereon he feeds and is in some sort satisfied for he dares not approach unto the Tree of Life because the Angel of the Lord's Presence standeth with the flaming sword ready lifted up even the righteous Law which still layes hold on him when at any time he approaches near unto the Tree of Life this cuts him down so that he at all Times remains in Death and feeds upon the Fruits thereof this is the true State and Condition of the first Adam who hath lost himself and is fallen from God his Maker But now the second Adam whom the Lord is creating and whom he hath created even after his own Image in Righteousness and true Holiness who was and is the first born among many Brethren even Christ the Son of the living God who puts an End to Transgression and destroyes Sin and sayes O Death I will be thy Death and fulfills the Royal Law in all things and passeth through the flaming sword for the Fire cannot touch him but he has free Access to the Tree of Life and feeds plentifully upon the Fruit thereof and so lives forever and nothing will satisfie him but the very Life it self And this is the true Condition of the second Adam who is the true Heir of all things Now he that comes to have this Babe begotten in him that which hath begot him will bring him forth for shall I bring to the Birth and not bring forth saith the Lord now he that comes to be born of this Birth and to have his Life to stand in this he shall with this come to eat of the Tree of Life for this is he that shall enter in at the streight Gate into the City whose Builder is God Therefore if thou feelest any thing in thee which stirs and moves in thee against sin and against the very Appearance of Evil there lies the seed out of which this Babe is formed and therefore as it is as yet but weak as in Appearance to thee thou oughtest to be tender over it even more tender then the Mother that is newly conceived is over the tender Fruit of her Womb and beware of bruising of it and of smothering of it for a small thing will offend it and choak it but as thou art tender over it and with Carefulness dost cherish it and come to take Delight in it thou wilt find it to grow daily and encrease in thee from strength to strength but thou must beware that thou dost not at any time lay any Burden upon it whereby it may be offended for if thou dost thou wilt come into Condemnation for the same and thou wilt come to suffer Loss in thy self which Loss will not easily be regained for thou wilt find Deadness and Barrenness to arise up in thee and the Dread and Terror of the Lord will take hold daily upon thee until the Lord hath executed his Vengeance upon that which hath oppressed his seed for thou must assuredly come to know a day of Vengeance in thee to light upon the Head of the Transgressor and a Night of sâ—rrow before thou canst know the day of Joy and Gladness Therefore if thou wilt give up freely to let the Seed of God go free to serve the Lord its God in Truth and Righteousness and wait in Patience to see the Oppressor judged and condemned in thee and to see the Vengeance of the Lord to be laid upon the Head of the Transgressor and so to become one with that which judgeth and executes the fierce Wrath and Indignation of the Lord upon that which oppresseth the righteous Seed in thee Now if thou become one with the Lord in this and give up thy self willingly in Obedience to him then a short Work will the Lord make in the Earth and thou shalt come to see him whom thy Soul loveth who now doth but spring up in thee as a Lilly among Thorns but when he comes to be brought forth he will be the fairest amongst ten thousand and this is Christ in thee the Hope of Glory and thou wilt come to live in him and he in thee and so thou wilt come to live in the Life that was before Sin was and before Transgression was and shall be when Sin and Transgression is destroyed and shall be no more and then thou wilt come to witness old things to be done away and all things to become new a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness and thou wilt come to witness God's Will to be done in thy Body of Earth as it is in Heaven and his Kingdom in thee to be come and established and his Power made known in thee to the destroying of the Power of Sin and Satan and his Glory to be made known in thee to the setting forth of his eternal Praise in the midst of all his Enemies and this is declared by many who are faithful Witnesses of it according to the Measure which the Lord hath freely been pleased to give and bestow upon them and this do they witness to be an eternal Truth according as the Spirit of the Lord God of Truth hath revealed it unto them for they never received from Man neither by Man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ who leads into the Path of Light and Life all that are willing and obedient to follow him now these things are deep and hidden Mysteries to them that yet remain in Darkness but if thou canst but read the Scriptures singly without adding thereunto thy own or any other Mans Imaginations they testifie of him that hath the Life in him and they declare how the two Births have been brought forth in all Ages which Births came from the two Seeds even the Seed of the Promise and the Seed of the Serpent and between these two Seeds there is an everlasting Enmity placed so that they can never be reconciled one to the other but still arise one to destroy the other but at last the Seed of the Woman must and will get the Victory for that must come to bruise the Seed of the Serpent's head although the other bruise his Heel for a short Space now see the Seed of the Serpent brought forth by the first Birth in Cain how the Enmity comes to work in him so that he came as it were to murder Abel the second Birth which was brought forth of the Seed of the Promise and wherefore was it but because the Sacrifice that was offered up by the promised Seed was accepted and his the Seed of the Serpent was not therefore Cain the first Birth who as in Reference to his outward Birth after the Flesh was therein his Brother but yet he being ruled by the contray Seed to Abel the Enmity caused him to rise up and to murder innocent Abel and then he became a Fugitive and a Vagabond upon Earth all his Dayes not having an Habitation in God although he builded a City and call'd it by his Son's Name so here
of the Earth there hath been against them and what stocking stoning knocking down in their publick Assemblies haling before Magistrates whipping and sending to the Bridewels and what long Imprisonments have been suffered by many and by some even to the Death who have thereunto been committed by the power of the Earth and hast thou not heard of what those People have suffered in New-England by the great red Dragon who is risen in those People who once fled out of Old-England even for Fear of that which they now exercise in a far greater measure upon those whom the Lord hath sent amongst them to declare the Appearance of his mighty Day unto them who in their time in Old-England should have born their Testimony against the Bishops Prelates and Priests and have stood in the Cross to that in their own Walls which caused them to flee from the Sufferings and so from the Cross which should have crucified that Nature which they carried with them out of Old-England even that which is now risen in them which causes them to exercise such grievous Tortures upon the Bodies of those whom the Lord hath sent amongst them even imprisoning and whipping casting into Dungeons and nasty Holes beating with Ropes until their Flesh became as Gelly whereby they are given to such a hardness of Heart that they have exceeded all Nations under the Sun in Tyranny the very Turks themselves have stood more in the Fear and Dread of the Lord then they for they continually thirst after Blood who after they have cut off the Ears of the Lord's People which no Nation under the Heavens except themselves did dare to do yet they not thinking that sufficient have since drunk two more larger Draughts then then ever yet was drunk by any in this our Age of innocent Blood whose Righteous Lives will stand as a Brand of Infamy upon them and their Generation to all Eternity and when the Lord makes Inquisition for Blood that will not be forgotten Now hast thou heard that at any time these People ever plotted or contrived any way or means whereby to defend themselves by the Arm of flesh or that they have risen or were defended by the Powers of the Earth at any time but at all times the Powers of the Earth stood against them and opposed them and yet dost thou not see that these People have dayly encreased and how many are dayly gathered unto them and how they dayly learn to bear the Reproaches of Moab and the Revilings of the Children of Ammon and are contented to bear and suffer all with Patience so that in their suffering they may glorifie God and therein become more then Conquerers by the Power of Christ who is risen in them and is become the Captain of their Salvation Now whoever thou art that readest consider seriously in thy own Heart for here thou seest the Division that is made between them that fear the Lord them that fear him not if thou canst with a single Eye behold it but if thou standst in doubt as yet concerning this thing come but into a true Examination in thy own Heart and Conscience for assuredly there is something in the Matter therefore what thinkest thou dost thou think that it is for nought that these People forsake their Goods and Lands their Wives and Children and become as it were strangers even unto their Country and to their Father's House and to travail from Country to Country through Persecutions and Sufferings through Mockings and Reproaches through Hunger and Cold and so come to be counted as Vagabonds and Wanderers having no Habitation in the Earth that they might have a Habitation in God for Cain he was a Vagabond although he builded a City and called it by his Son's Name yet he had no Habitation in God therefore was he a Vagabond but these who have a Habitation in God they are no Vagabonds but have sought have found the City whose Builder is God and they are willing and contented to part with all so that they may have a Habitation in that City But now herein stands the clear Truth of the Difference the appointed time is now come and drawing near even at the very Door wherein the Lord God is risen and arising to fulfil his Promise which he promised unto Adam in the Garden of Eden after his Fall that is That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head and he should bruise his Heel And now is he come and coming who will cut Rahab and wound the Dragon and bruise to powder the very Head of the Deceit and the Iniquity which have long lodged in the Hearts of the Sons and Daughters of Men. And now is the Stone even the Stone which is elect and precious which is to be laid in Sion which is the chief Corner-Stone that the Builders have long refused which Stone hath long lain buried in the Mountain of Sin and Transgression but now is the Stone cutting it self out of the Mountain which shall smite at the Feet of the Image even at the very Ground and Foundation of Iniquity and this Stone will become a Mountain which shall cover the whole Earth which the Mountain of the House of the Lord which is to be established atop of all Mountains and above the Hills and the Nations shall flow untâ— it Therefore seeing the Treader upon the Serpent's Head is come and hath made himself manifest in many therefore hath Pangs taken hold on many of them in whom the seed of the Serpent bears rule so that that Seed strives and struggles in them even as a Dying Man on whom the Pangs of Death had taken hold and this is the Cause that them in whom the seed of the Serpent still rules in power are so bitter and invitered against the Seed of the Woman in whom it s raised but yet though they raise up the uttermost of their Forces and gather together Gog and Magog and come up even the whole breadth of the Earth to encompass the Camp of the Saints about yet they shall not prosper for this John saw in his Revelation and he likewise saw a Fire come out of Heaven and devoured them therefore do I in tender Love to thee advise thee to consider of these things and lay them to Heart for this is the Day of thy Visitation therefore trifle it not away for meer Vanity things of nought for it passes away from thee faster then thou art aware of for this is the Time which the Lord hath given thee to make thy Calling and Election sure Therefore be not like foolish Esau sell not thy Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage for if thou dost thou wilt hereafter come to seek it perhaps with Tears when thou mayest not attain it therefore while the Lord is yet so tender towards thee who standeth with his Arm of Mercy spread open ready to receive thee therefore tarry not but arise and come away for the Winter is near
guided them and rul'd them as a man would guide and rule the Beast whereon he rideth and she hath made them all unstable as VVaters for she sate upon Peoples Multitudes Nations and Tongues and all the Kings of the Earth have committed VVhoredom with her and have drunk of the Cup of her Fornication for she held forth a golden Cup in her Hand a smooth Profession and pleasing Pretences but within full of Abominations yea rich and poor bond and free even from the Beggar upon the Dunghil to the Prince upon the Throne they all drunk of this Cup and have been drunken with the VVine of the VVhore's Fury and many of them have as it were drunk the Blood of the Saints and of the Martyrs of Jesus Christ whom he hath raised to bear their faithful Testimonies against the VVhore and against her Fornications and all the Blood that hath been spilt upon the Earth is to be found in her for within her lodgeth the Ground of all Iniquity and the Foundation of all Transgression But now hath the Lord God remembred his poor banished Spouse which sits mourning in the Wilderness and the great Persecution of her Seed and great BABYLON is coming into his remembrance and she shall receive a just reward from the Lord God of Life for all the Abominations that have proceeded from her since the time the Virgin fled into the Wilderness though she hath long sate as a Queen and hath known no Sorrow but hath had a Husband and hath brought forth many Children of Fornication and hath lived deliciously for many Generations whilest the true spouse the Lamb's Wife hath sate desolate in the barren Wilderness where she hath been childless and deprived of her Husband yet nevertheless thy Judgments are at hand and thy Downfal approacheth O thou great and Antichristian-Babylon for Sorrow Desolation and Misery is even ready to seize upon thee and the Smoak of thy Torments doth begin to rise and thy Kingdom is full of Darkness and the Lord God hath discovered thy Nakedness and thy Sorceries and thy false Divinations whereby thou hast deceived the Nations and caused them to receive thy Beast like mark and many are they that are come out from thee and will no longer be partakers with thee in thy Sins lest they should partake with thee of thy plagues for strong is the Lord God who judgeth thee and thy Cup which thou hast given to others shall be filled unto thee double even the measure that thou hast measured to others shall be measured unto thy self double and all that wherein thy soul delighted must depart from thee and thou must come down and sit in the Dust O thou Virgin-Daughter of BABYLON thou shalt be no more counted delicate nor fair for the DECREE is gone forth against thee and thy Judgment is assuredly coming upon thee Therefore all ye Inhabitants of the Earth hearken diligently and your Souls shall live and take WARNING in this the Day of your Visitation and go no longer on in your Polutions but come forth of the midst of BABYLON and be no more partakers with her in her Sins for if you do you will assuredly partake with her of her plagues for she must be burn'd up and consum'd and brought to nought by the fiery Fierceness of the Lord's Wrath and the old Heavens and the old Earth wherein she hath ruled in all this Dark Night of Apostacy since the Dayes of the Apostles must be destroyed with her and all them that wilfully resisted the Voice of the Lord their God in their own Hearts and Consciences calling them out of BABYLON the Land of Darkness into his marvelous Light Therefore beware of kicking against this but if in wilfulness and stubborness you reject this the large Love of God towards you yet nevertheless let it be known unto you all in his living presence that you have at large been warned therefore shut not your Ears at the Voice of Peace and be not like to the deaf Addâ—r which stoppeth his Ear at the voice of the Charmer although he charms never so wisely For now Wisdom uttereth her voice in the open Street and in the broad wayes she crieth at the Gates at Entry of the City at the coming in at the Door unto you O men I call and my voice is to the Sons of man O ye simple understand Wisdom and ye Fools be of an understanding Heart and know in thâ—s your day the things that belong to your Peace before they are hid from your Eyes and the Door of Mercy be shut upon you and the Decree sealed against you and Repentance removed far from you so that you cannot attain to it although yâ—u should seek it with tears Now as BABYLON comes to be destroyed so likewise is the mariage of the LAMB prepared and preparing and his Bride is making her self ready even the true Virgin the Lamb's Wife the true Church is now returning out of the desolate and barren Wilderness where she hath sate for many Generations in a mournful state and condition a place not known to the World a place prepared her of God for so many Dayes and now praises be unto the Lord our God the Dayes are near expired and she is returning again into her former State and Glory and the Lord is now creating for her a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteoushess and if any question what her former Glory was and wherewithal she then was beautified let them with singleness of Heart stand in the Light of the Lamb look into John's Revelations and there thou shalt see what he declareth of her and of her Glory Beauty in Ages past even in his Dayes for he saw her a woman exceeding glorious and beautiful even cloathed with the Sun having the Moon under her Feet and on her Head a Crown of twelve Stars She was clothed with the true Light of heaven even with the brightness of the everlasting day and the Moon with her changeable things was under her Feet she was â—rowned with the Brightness of the Glory of the Lord God of Life and she travailed to bring forth the Man-Child that should rule the Nations wiâ—h a Rod of Iron Now this was the state of the true Church in the Dayes of the Apostles before the time of her Banishment into the Wilderness And John saw this to be wonderful even in Heaven Now this will be the State and Condition of the true Church after she is returned out of the Wilderness again and the time is assuredly come where in the Lord God will cloath her with his own Brightness and with his own eternal Glory and she shall again bring forth the Heir which shall rule the Nations with his Rod of Iron and shall bind PRINCES in Chains and NOBLES in Fetters of Iron and he that doth deny this doth deny plain Scripture for they bear Witness that Sion shall arise and shall shine forâ—h for her Light is
Way then should that wicked one be revealed whom the Lord would consume with the Spirit of his Mouth and destroy with the Brightness of his Coming And the Apostles declared That Perilous times were at hand and should come wherein men should be Lovers of themselves more then Lovers of God and that they should be Proud Heady High minded men and should have a Form of Godliness but should deny the Power they should be such who seek after filthy Lucre and through Covetousness should make Merchandize of Souls for dishonest Gain and they should be Fierce Despisers of them that are good and should speak Evil of Things they know not but what they know is naturally as Bruit Beasts and in those Things they corrupt themselves these are Murmurers and Complainers walking after their own Lusts and their Mouthes speaking great swelling Words having mens Persons in Admiration because of Advantage these are as raging Waves of the Sea foaming out their own Shame Wandering Stars to whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness forever therefore the Wo is unto them for they have gone in the Way of Cain and run greedily after the Error of Balaam even for Gifts and Rewards And Enoch the Seventh from Adam prophesied of these saying Behold the Lord cometh in Ten Thousand of his Saints to execute Judgments upon all and to convince all that are Ungodly amongst them of all their Ungodly Deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their Hard Speeches which Ungodly Sinners have spoke against him Now these were the Ministers of Darkness therefore they have wrought in the dark their Deeds have been the Deeds of Darkness and these are they that have kept People in Blindness and Ignorance some Thirty some Forty and some an Hundred Years even all their Life time ever learning but they never came to the Knowledge of the Truth by them and these are they which have taught for Doctrine the Precepts of Men and their Precepts are contrary to the Scriptures and are as followeth First They tell People That the Scriptures are the Word of God when there is no such thing mentioned in the Scriptures but they declare that Christ was the Word which was in the beginning with God and was God 2dly They tell People of a Sacrament and some of them of several Sacraments and of Three Persons in the Trinity when the Scripture declares no such thing yet the Father Son and holy Ghost we own which is but one 3dly They Sprinkle Infants with Water and tell the People They are adopted into Christ and are thereby become Members of his Body when there is neither Command nor Example in all the Scriptures for any such thing 4thly They tell People That the First Day of the Week is the Sabbath Day and ought to be kept more holy then any other Day when there was no such thing commanded by Christ nor any of the Apostles 5thly They have told the People That the House made of Lime and Stone is the Church and the Temple of God wherein the Lord dwels when the Scripture declares no such thing but the Contrary that is that God dwelleth not in Temples made with Hands 6thly They taught the People to observe Dayes and Set Times as Christ mas day and Children mas-day and Lammâ—s-dâ—y and Candle-mas-day and Michael's-mas-day with Easter and their Good Fryday and their Whitsuntide and Shrovetide and many other Saints Dayes which are tedious here to mention whereof the Scripture makes no mention And they have told the People That Tythes and Offerings are due to them and Easter-Reckonings and Midsummer-Dues and Smoke-Pennys and Reek-Pennys and Money for Eggs and Gardens with their great fair House and Glebe-Lands whereby they their Wives and Families may live even in the Sins of Sodom which were Pride abundance of Idleness and Fulness of Bread Now this which they call their Dues is the very Pillar and Ground upon which their Gospel and Ministry stands for let this be but taken away and down fall they with their Gospel and Ministry which some of them have not been ashamed to declare in publick Now the Scripture declares not any such thing neither is there any mention made of such Maintenance to be Compelled from the People to maintain them that are the True Ministers who are Called and Chosen and sent abroad from Country to Country and from City to City to declare the Glorious Gospel that the Sound thereof might reach even to the Ends of the Earth and as they received freely so they were to give freely and into what City soever they came they were to enquire who was worthy and there to remain eating such things as were set before them for the Labourer is worthy of his Meat Now thou that readest consider in thy own Heart thinkest thou that the Lord God of Life hath intrusted his Glorious Gospel in the Hands of such Hirelings as before-mentioned who would not declare it to the Poor and Needy whereunto it is the Glad-Tidings of Salvation because they have not wherewithal to satisfie them for it Nay verely nay the Lord never intended any such thing but he sent his Prophets to cry out to every one that thirsts that they might come unto the Waters and take Wine and Milk without Money and without Price And John witnesses that the Spirit saith Come and the Bride saith Come and whosoever is athirst may come and take of the Water of Life freely And Paul affirms That he did not eat any Man's Bread for nought but wrought with Labour and Travail Night and Day that he might not be Chargeable to any but he commanded that if any would not Work neither should he eat Therefore their Maintenance was not so large neither did they sit down in one Place to preach the Gospel some Ten some Twenty and more years and so sit at Ease in Pride and Idleness compelling their Maintenance from the People and making Friends to the Rulers Magistrates having their Persons in Admiration that they may have the Advantage of the Law against the People that they may have their Goods by Violence and cast their Bodies into Prison if they Refuse to put into their Mouthes to satisfie their Lusts as those which have ruled in this long Night of Apostacy have done But the True Apostles who laboured with their own Hands and travailed up and down in Hunger and in Cold who were counted as Vagabonds and not worthy to live upon the Earth by them in whom the seed of the Serpent ruled they fore-told the People that such Ravening Wolves should come who should make a Prey upon the Sheep and as there had been False Prophets in all ages before them even so there should arise False Teachers amongst them who privily should bring in Damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bringing upon themselves swift Destruction and many should follow their pernicious Ways by reason of whom the Way of Truth should be