and bring thy deeds unto it to be tryed by it it will witness for God and his Children against thee to be a Child of the Devil and his works thou dost and thy Faith to be feigned like the Hypocrite and doth not purifie thy hearts and so is no more then the wickedest that is for all say that Christ dyed for them but all cannot witness it For he that believes is born of God and he that is born of God doth not commit sin And this Light loving it will let thee see how thy Heart is turned from God and that thou hast more delight in the things that perish than in the Fear of the living God which keeps the heart clean and is the beginning of the pure Wisdom and Righteousness and if thou honestly communest with it it will let thee see thy secret Actions and all thy hidden deeds done in darkness that thou mayst come to Judgment and Condemnation for all these things and except thou be born again and become as a little Child thou art no Child of God neither canst enter the Kingdom of God but art without in the world's nature in the state of Condemnation in whom the Son of Perdition rules above all that is called God sitting in the Temple of God as God and saith He is God and here he opposeth God in his Kingdom and saith that is lawful and for it pleadeth that which God saith is unlawful and forbids And he tells the Creature and maketh it believe it cannot keep God's Commandments and that it hath not power to do that which God commands it or to depart from Evil and that none live but they sin and Christ hath satisfied for all sin though they sin daily that man may use the Creatures as he pleaseth seeing they were made for Man's Use and the Spirit of God saith He that saith he knoweth God and keepeth not his Commandments is a Lyar and the Truth is not in him And as many as receive him to them he gives Power to become the Sons of God And the Law of the Spirit of Life makes them free from the Law of Sin and Death He that commits Sin is of the Devil and never knew God and by this are the Children of God and the Children of the Devil made manifest And he that abideth in him sinneth not And he that lives after the Flesh cannot please God for without Holiness none shall see the Lord. And thus the Devil the old Serpent who was a Lyar from the beginning opposeth God in his Kingdom daubing the Creature up in that which is Evil making it a Habitation in his kingdom while it live upon the Earth and then must take part with him in the Lake that is prepared for the Devil and his Servants who doth not dare to call God a Hard Master as if he would lay a Tax upon the Creature which it is not able to perform and thus he deceives the Creature and draws out of the Commands of God and out of the Fear of God which preserves from Evil and so he draws into Carelesness and Slothfulness and begets a liberty therein and because of those things cometh the Wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience as it was in the beginning when God said That in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye the Death and the Serpent said You shall not surely dye for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof you shall be as Gods knowing Good and Evil. And thus he deceived them and drew them out of the Commands of God and out of the Fear of God into the Disobedience and so came the Curse of God upon them by hearkening to him and entring into his Temptations and then they found God Just and True and the Devil a Lyar whom they had believed now read thy self To the Light of Christ in thy Conscience I speak which searcheth the Heart and knows the secret Thoughts and Intents of the Heart which will witness me and condemn thee who walkest contrary unto it Be not Deceived God is not Mocked such as thou sowest such must thou reap for God is a Just God and will nto acquit the Wicked For thou art found a Slothful Servant who hast hid thy Talent in the Earth and think not that thou shalt receive the Reward of the Righteous and Faithful for if the Righteous scarcely be saved what will become of the Wicked and Ungodly Therefore Repent while it s called to day harden not thy heart lest the Judgments of God come upon thee at unawares and sweep thee away and give thee thy Portion among the Slothful Hypocrites and Unbelievers For by the Light of God thou arr seen and found in the Sins of Sodom and the Plagues of Sodom are coming upon thee therefore be afflicted mourn and let thy Laughter be turned into Mourning and thy Joy into Heaviness for to Judgment thou must come and thy Liberty To the Light of Christ in thy Conscience I am made manifest which if thou lovest it will let thee see thy self and tender thy Conscience and will lead thee into the Fear of God following of it and will humble thee and bring down thy high and lofty Looks and bring thee under Judgment and Condemnation for thy Stiff neckedness Disobedience and Rebellion against the Son of Righteousness here will be thy Condemnation out of thy own mouth will the Lord judge thee in Righteousness by the Light in thy Conscience which he hath enlightened thee withal which now thou kickest against which will thy Torment be This is a Warning from the Lord unto thee and now thou art left without Excuse in the Presence of the living God by the Light of God this is the day of thy Visitation and the day of thy Judgment draws nigh now thou hast time prize it For the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night to all the Children of Darkness as it was to the Sodomites and verily I say unto thee it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment then for thee if thou dost not Repent who hast tasted of the Love and Mercy of God and hast trampled it under foot and hast rebelled against the Spirit of Grace Written from the Spirit of the Lord as a Warning to all who are in the Fleshly Liberty by a Witness of the True Liberty of the Children of God through Death which Liberty stands not in Time nor in any thing in Time for all things in Time perish with Time but this remains when Time shall be no more and his is Pure Vnspotted of the World J. P. ALL you that Scoff and Scorn and Reproach and Revile at the Children Servants and Messengers of the Most High God whom you nick-name QUAKERS and under the same Name Persecute them as a People not worthy to live and have no Ground for it neither know any Evil
own Destruction and this we witness who through the Lamb our Saviour do reign above the World Death Hell and the Devil but none can witness this whose Eye is outward looking at a Redeemer afar off and still live in Sin but who cannot witness this Redemption here must never witness it for as the Tree falls so it lyes and Sin is the Mark of the Beast and who lives in Sin hath the Mark of the Beast and bears his Image and it is written that the Beast and false Prophets and all that have his Mark and Image must be cast into the Lake that burneth and must drink of the Wine of the Wrath of the Almighty poured out without Mixture But as for that Scripture that saith If we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us All have sinned and fallen from the Lord and he that hath Sin and saith he hath no Sin deceiveth himself and is a Lyar but if he confess and forsake his Sin God is faithful and just to forgive him his sin and to cleanse him from all Unrighteousness and this John witnessed and he that can witness this is no Lyar if he say he is cleansed from all Unrighteousness but witnesseth forth the Truth a perfect Redemption and the same John said He that is born of God sins not neither can he sin because his Seed remaineth in him and he that sins is of the Devil and never knew God By this are the Children of God and the Children of the Devil made manifest This John witnessed he was no Lyar neither did deceive himself but spoak the Truth And the same John said God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all If we say we have Fellowship with God and walk in Darkness we Lye and do not the Truth but if we walk in the Light we have Fellowship one with another and the Blood of Christ cleanseth us from all Sin This John witnessed he was no Lyar neither did deceive himself And this John said He that hath Hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure and Faith in God purifieth the Heart Now try your Faith and Hope who plead for Sin for Sin lodgeth in the Heart and while there is Sin the Heart is unclean now here you may see all your Faith is vain and your Hope which doth not purifie the Heart and so it is feigned Hypocrites Faith and not Faith in God and so perisheth And who can witness Christ dyed for them have passed through Death for none can live with him but those that dye with him and this is the true Baptism to be baptized into his Death by one Spirit into one Body and how can they that are dead to Sin live any longer therein and who can witness this hath Faith in him which purifieth the Heart and removes Mountains and the pure in Heart sees God And this the Apostle witnessed and that he was made free from Sin and more then Conqueror through Faith in Christ Jesus he was no Lyar and said that Christ was come to redeem unto himself a pure Church not having Spot or Wrinkle and though once they were Sinners like the World but they were washed and cleansed by the Blood of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God and had put off the Old man and put on the New which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness but this you are Strangers from who plead for Sin and are such as call your selves a Church and are not but the Synagogue of Sathan in whom the Prince of Darkness reigns which ruleth in the Children of Disobedience And as for that which blind People call Scripture who sayes The Righteous Man that is sins seven times a Day There is no such Scripture for it is false But though the Righteous fall he riseth again by Repentance and this the holy men of God wituessed and though David through Lust disobeyed the Lord and forgot his God yet he rose again by Repentance and after witnessed that he walked in the midst of his House in the Pureness of his Spirit and though Peter sinned through Weakness yet he rose again by Repentance and afterward exhorted the Church to be holy as God is holy but this you cannot witness who plead for Sin and are not yet come to Repentance but deny Christ daily and are convinced but do not repent but they who dwell in the Righteousness of Christ sin not for they that are alive in Righteousness are dead to Sin and they that live in Sin are dead to Righteousness but how can they that are dead to Sin live any longer therein And this is the Devil which pleads for Sin the Enemy of the Soul for by Sin did he obtain his Kingdom and so his Kingdom stands in Sin and your Teachers which tell you you can never get out of Sin nor be cleansed from Sin here ERR not knowing the Scripture nor the Power of God but deny the End of Christ's coming and bring another Doctrine which they have from their Father the Devil and so are the Deceivers which Paul speaks of who creep into Steeple-Houses and lead silly People captive full of Sin and Corruption ever learning and never come to the Knowledg of the Truth and so are not to be received but held as accursed for they daub you up with untempered Mortar seeing Vanity and divining Lyes who say the Lord saith when he never spoak to them they have healed the Hurt of the People slightly and have sewed Pillows under their Armeholes crying Peace when there is no Peace because they put into their Mouths and they are not ashamed neither do they blush therefore they shall fall amongst them that fall in the Day that I visit them saith the Lord And these are your Teachers that make your Habitation in your Sin while you are upon the Earth and so your Leaders cause you to err but when the Day of Account comes wherein the Books must be opened and every one judged out of the Books according to their Works by him who sits upon the white Throne and all must be cast into the Lake that burneth but those whose Names are written in the Book of Life then you will find those the utter Enemies of your Souls who perswade your Hearts in Sins and he that hath no Sin will be in the best Condition and here all your feigned formed Faith is unbottomed and all your Priests found Lyars Deceivers and Antichrists in whom the false Prophet ruleth which deceives the Nations who must be cast also into the Lake that burneth and there tormented for ever and all that uphold him We are accused to deny Christ come in the Flesh. We witness the same Christ which ever was now manifested in the Flesh and is appear'd in the Likeness of sinful Flesh to
received the Holy Ghost they went abroad preaching Christ and shewing thereby the fulfilling the Law and the Prophets which figured sorth and prophesied of Christ and this they declared in their Temples and in their Synagogues and they haled them out of the Temple and out of their Synagogues and brought them before Governors Rulers and Magistrates and the chief Priests and their Kindred and the chiefest Professors which were the Pharisees were the head-Actors therein but never the less they went on boldly being filled with the Power of the Holy Ghost without the Fear of Man obeying God rather then Man so they were not subject to the Authority of Man in that respect but they were subject unto the Law of Man so far as it was subject to the Law of God and so they went on preaching Christ and many believed and were baptized and received the Holy Ghost and were converted and it was so that the multitude that believed was of one Heart and of one Mind and they were so far of one being exalted over another or seeking themselves that not any of them said that ought of the things which he possessed was his Own and the Works of God went on in much Power the Ministers being acted guided by the Holy Ghost And also Stephen a man full of Faith and the Holy Ghost he declared against the Temple which God had once commanded to be built and said Solomon built him an House yet nevertheless God that made the World and all things therein dwells not in Temples made with Hands as saith the Prophet Heaven is my Throne and Earth is my Foot stool and where is the House that ye will build me and where is the Place of my Rest hath not mine Hand made all things and he judged them and said Ye Stiff-necked and Uncircumcised in Hearts and Ears ye do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost as did your Fathers so do ye and they gnashed upon him with their Teeth and fell upon him and stoned him And when Saul was converted and became Paul his Message was for to turn Peoples minds from the Darkness to the Light and then saith Paul when it pleased God to reveal his Son in me that I might preach him amongst the Heathen immediately I conferred not with Flesh and Blood and here was Paul's call to the Ministry and they were made manifest to every Man's Conscience and were a sweet Savour unto God both in them that believed and them that perished And Paul declared against the Temple and told them that worshipped there they were too superstitious and he went into their Synagogues on Sabbath-Days and reasoned with them and they persecuted him and haled him before Rulers and there complained of him to be one that prophaned the Temple and a Ring-leader of the Sect of the Nazareans and a pestilent Fellow and a Raiser of Sedition and many cry'd out away with such a Fellow he is not worthy to live and thus they suffered by the zealous Professors in those Daies but they whose minds were turned to the Light they were translated out of Darkness into the Light and became the Children of Light and were baptized by one Spirit into one Body and had passed from Death unto Life and had put off the Old Man and put on the New the old Man being crucified with Christ though some of them were Drunkards some Swearers some Proud some Covetous Idolaters Adulterers yet then they were cleansed and washed and sanctified and justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God and here was the Church which witnessed the Spiritual Baptism into the Spiritual Body of which Christ is Head and they being thereby set free from Sin their Union and Communion was here and the Bread which the Saints brake was the Communion of the Body of Christ and the Cup which they drank was the Communion of the Blood of Christ and they were in Christ new Creatures all Members of one Body and needed not that any man should teach them because the Anointing was in them and to them the Cross was the Power of God unto Salvation though to the Greeks Foolishness and to the Jews a Stumbling-block and in this Cross Paul rejoyced by which he was Crucified to to the World and the World to him and they were not conformed unto the World but transformed by the Renewing of their Minds and had one Lord one Faith one Baptism one Way one Teacher one Life and one Shepherd and one Priest over the Houshould of God and one God and Father of all being united by one Spirit into the bond of Peace and their Conversation was in Heaven and there were the Christians And though there was a time that when Christ was preached after the Flesh some preached Christ through Envy and Strife and Contention to add Affliction to Paul's Bonds yet in all this he rejoyced that the Name of Christ was spread abroad for there were many that believed not that that was the Christ that suffered at Jerusalem and was crucified as Paul himself had not and as there are many such to this Day and so it rejoyced him that the Name of Christ was spread abroad but after his Name was spread abroad and many believed that that was the Christ then the Apostle declared against such who had the Form but denyed the Life and Power and said from such turn away for as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do they withstand the Truth being men of corrupt minds and reprobates concerning the Faith and said the Apostle we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a Stumbling block and the Greeks Foolishness but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God and said the Apostle hence know me no man after the Flesh and though we have known Christ after the Flesh hence know we him no more but he that is in Christ is a 〈◊〉 Creature old things are passed away and all things become new and they that are Christs have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts and the Apostl◠preached Christ within the Hope of Glory the Mystery which had been hid from Ages and Generations they that could not witness Christ in them were Reprobates And here it was not sufficient for them to say they believed Christ dyed for them but he that believeth hath the Witness within himself and he that believeth is passed from Death unto Life and he that believeth is born of God and he that is born of God doth not commit Sin and those were they who were made Partakers of Christ's divine Nature therefore saith John As he is so are we in this Present World and we are of God and the whole World lyeth in Wickedness and they that are of God hear us and they that are not with us are against us And then the Apostle Paul he
do you own immediate Revelation now yea or nay 10. What is a Minister of Christ and what is a Minister of Anti-christ and do you distinguish the one from the other 11. What Scripture have you to give unto the World David's Condition to be sung in a Meeter 12. What Rule have you in the Scripture to abide in a certain Place and to agree with the People foâ— so much a Year â—or preaching as forty sixty or an hundred or two hundred Pound as you can get it 13. How and by what are you gathered and united who call your selves a Church 14. And what is the Church in God and whether to it you be come yea or nay 15. What is the Baptism into the Church and whether to it you be come yea or nay 16. And what Scripture have you to sprinkle Children with Water and to what End do you do it 17. Whether you be of one Heart and Mind as the true Church was yea or nay 18. Whether you have passed from Death to Life yea or nay 19. What is the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and whether to it you be come yea or nay 20. Whether he that believes is not born of God and whether he that is born of God doth not commit Sin yea or nay 21. Why do not you maintain your Teacher but let him rob the VVorld instead of robbing other Churches and so is chargeable unto the VVorld 22. VVhether do you own and hold up the first Priesthood that took Tythes or second Priesthood that took no Tythes and which do you deny seeing you pay Tythes and you Teachers take Tythes yea or nay 25. Why do you own and hold up such that are â—alled of Men Master and have the chiefest Place in the Assembly and stand praying in the Synagogue and love Greetings in the Markets which Christ himself cryed Wo against 24. How is Christ the Light of the World and how doth he enlighten every one that cometh into the World if it be not in the Conscience and whether that Light which comes from him be Natural yea or nay 25. How is the Light the Condemnation of the World if it be not in the Conscience 26. Aâ—d how is it said That he that doth Evil hateth the Light and will not bring his Deeds to the Light lest the Light should reprove him if it be not in the Conscience and whether that be a Natural Light which reproves for Sin Yea or Nay 27. How did Paul turn Peoples Minds from Darkness to Light if it be not in the Conscience and whether that Light was Natural which Paul was sent to turn the Minds of the Gentiles unto 28. Whether that Light which shines in Darkness be not one the same with that which shines out of Darkness Yea or Nay 29. And whether the Light of the World be not a saving Light in the least Measure Yea or Nay and how can that be said to be Natural 30. Whether the Light which John came to bear Witness of was Natural or Spiritual 31. How hath the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation appeared to all Men if it be not in the Conscience and whether it be Natural 32. How doth it stand with the Impartial God to give to one Man a Measure of Grace and not to another and yet requiâ—e Obedience from all 33. Whether the sloathful Servant hath not a Talent as well as the faithful though he hides it in the Earth and what is that Talent 34. What is the Account that God will require of every one in the Day of Judgment and how can he call all justly to an Account and reward them according to their Deeds if he hath not given to every one a Talent 35. What is that which leads to Repentance and whether that which leads to Repentance be not in the Conscience and whether it be Natural Yea or Nay 36. And where do you read in the Scripture of a Natural Light to be in the Conscience 37. What is the Redemption and what is the End of Christ's Coming 38. Whether the Redemption by Christ be not as full in every Respect as the Fall by Adam and what is the Fall by Adam 39. And whether you do not go about to make the Commands of Christ unjust who saith Be you perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect and you say It cannot be while you are upon the Earth then how is it your Rule 40. Will you own a Purgatory or where is the Place betwixt Heaven and Earth where Man shall be cleansed if not upon the Earth seeing no unclean Thing can inherit the Kingdom of God 41. Whether do they deny Christ come in the Flesh that witness forth Perfection from Sin here or they that tell People They can never be perfect or be wholely set free from Sin so long as they are upon the Earth and whether such be not the Ministers of Anti-christ Yea or Nay 42. Where had you this Doctrine to tell People The Light in the Conscience is Natural and that Christ hath not enlightened every one that cometh into the World 43. And whether in this you do not bring another Doctrine in Opposition to the Doctrine of Christ who saith He is the Light of the World and doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World 44. And where had you this Doctrine to tell People They could never be wholly cleansed or be set free from Sin so long as they are upon he Earth 45. And whether this be not in Opposition to the Doctrine of Christ who saith Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect 46. VVhether God justifies any in their Sin and whether Sanctification goes not before Justification Yea or Nay 47. VVhether you do not seek Justification by VVorks who put one another upon Prayer and Duties Observations Ordinances and Commands without the Light in Imitation of the Letter and whether these be not your own Works which are done out of the Light Yea or Nay 48. What is your own Righteousness and what is the Righteousness of Christ and how do you distinguish betwixt the one and the other 49. And whether he that is justified by the Righteousness of Christ doth not dwell in it and it in him and whether he that dwells in the Righteousness of Christ doth sin Yea or Nay 50. Whether any can walk according to the Scripture but by the Light of Christ and whether any that are guided by the Light of Christ do or can act contrary to the Scripture and whether this Light be not a sufficient Guide if it be owned and followed 51. How is the Scripture left unto the World for a Rule who know not the Light seeing to them it is a Parable and as a Book Sealed 52. And what is the Word and whether there be any other VVord of God then one 53. VVhat is the Death that hath passed over all Men forasmuch as all Men have sinned and whether this Death you ever passed
whereas thou speakest of the Promises made in the Seed but that Seed is not the Seed of the Serpent which rules in all you Children of Disobedience therefore what hast thou to do with the Promises and where dost thou prove that Infants Baptism is the Seal of the Covenant or the Badge of the Kingdom as thou termest it but thou Lyar read what the Seal is in Eph. 1. 13. and with that stop thy Mouth And whereas thou speakest of Christ's calling little Children what of that Christ baptized none therefore silence Babler And how are your Children sanctified from the Womb as thou say'st John was whenas all are by Nature the Children of Wrath and except they be born again they cannot enter and therefore thou manifests that your Church is made up of Unregenerate Persons into which thou say'st they are admitted by Water and 20. or 30. Years after they are thus baptized you preach Repentance to them and this is the Cause why the Professors therein are Earthly-minded as thou complainest and therefore no Christian Parents but blind carnal Creatures who think it profits their Children to be admitted into such a Church and as the Children grow up they show what Seal you have given them which is more like the Mark of the Beast then the Seal of the Covenant and therefore your Prayers which thou talkest of are an Abomination and avail not And thus hast thou foamed our thy Shame and Folly to the Sight of all but those who are blind and love to have it so for here is one of the main Points of your Religion proved a meer Delusion Qu. 22. What is the Estate and Condition of â— Christian Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou hast stolen the Apostles Words which he speaks concerning this Matter and saith There are Three Ages Steps and Degrees of Christianity and the first Age Step and Degree thou confessest is In Christ and begotten of the Father in the Hatred of Sin and Love of Righteousness and by him brought to the Knowledge of Redemption from all Iniquity and Renovation in all Righteousness Rep. Here thou hast destroyed the whole Faith of your Visible Church for they generally believe That they shall never be wholely set free from all Iniquity nor be perfect in Righteousness while they are upon the Earth And if this be the lowest Estate of Christianity to be In Christ and Redeemed from all Iniquity and Begotten by the Father and Renewed in all Righteousness which is Perfection in Righteousness then by thy own Confession None of them are Christians neither Thou who art a Teacher of them for thou hast been openly found in Sin and Iniquity as in Lying Covetousness Lightness Scornfulness Oppression and Deceit as before is proved And now thou art again found a Lyar in saying That we know not the First Estate of a Christian from the Last But we are able to discern thee yet uncome to the First and therefore far off the Last although in Years an Old Man yet a Child can tell thee thy Confusion Therefore stop thy Mouth thou Deceiver and sit thee down and consider how thou and thy Brethren have for these many Years deceived this Nation and labour thy self and Repent in Dust and Ashes lest the Lord in thy Destruction make thee an Example to all thy Brethren-Deceivers Qu. 23. What doth the Faith which thou professest differ from the Faith of the Hypocrite and what is the Faith of the Hypocrite Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou saist Thy Faith is a Trust in the Lord Jesus to be holpen up again from the Fall or to be saved from the Hand of thine Enemies or of all that hate thee and so to be renewed through him to be enabled to serve him cheerfully and without Fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the dayes of thy Life And thou saist This Faith bringeth forth Obedience and purifieth the Heart and maketh you conformable to Jesus so that thou hopest for no Benefit by his Death unless thou dyest with him to all known Sins but the Faith of the Hypocrite seeketh alwayes something by or through Christ then what it should seek to wit the putting off the Old Man and the putting on the New which is created after God in Righteousness and true Holiness And herein thou saist doth thy Faith differ from the Faith of the Hypocrite and perhaps from James Parnel's Rep. Yea it doth for my Faith is that there is no putting off the Old Man and putting on the New but by and through Christ which is no more then what I should believe And thy Faith which is contrary is the Faith of the Hypocrite which will perish yea and out of thy own Mouth I shall prove it for by thy own Confession thou art still in the Fall in saying That thou trustest in the Lord Jesus to be holpen up out of the Fall again Hereby it is concluded that thou art still in the Fall for if thou wast holpen already out of the Fall then thou wouldest have the End of thy Hope But 't is like this Faith thou hast professed these many Years and hast been a Teacher so long and yet it hath not brought thee out of the Fall and therefore it is but a Borrowed Faith And most of those Expressions thou hast stolen out of Luke 1. 71 72 73 74 75. which hath not purified thy Heart from Lyes and Deceit neither art thou in Obedience or Conformable to Jesus Christ who abidest not in his Doctrine but teachest for Doctrine the Traditions of Men neither art thou dead with him unto all known Sins for this is one to depart from his Doctrine and such hath not God and this is proved against thee in many things as in taking thy Tythes and Maintenance of the Peoples Labours which many of them it is like do want it themselves which is a great Sin and Oppression and secondly in Sprinkling Infants which is a great Delusion to the People and many other things which are before proved against thee which that in thy Conscience cannot but testifie against And thou Hypocrite durst thou trust the Lord to save thee from thine Enemies â—hose that hate thee yet durst not trust him with thy Maintenance without the Law of Man to Compel it from the People contrary to their Wills Thou Hypocrite is not this a known Sin The Power of Man was all the False Prophets had to trust to who departed from the Lord and here out of thy own Mouth thou art found a Lyar and Deceiver and therefore the Hypocrite thy self whose Trust is not only in Christ and so thou differest from him thou callest James Parnel Qu. 24. Whether all that thou givest Bread and Wine to which thou callest a Sacrament do Discern the Lordâ—s Body yea or nay Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou saist Thou hopest most of those to whom thou givest Bread and Wine have some Understanding of the
Fornication with the Creation and the Grace of God which should guide you out of the Lust and Ungodliness of the World you turn into Wantonness and your Teachers who cause you to err by their Sorcery and Enchantments and James the Son of Thunder utter'd forth his Voice against such and thus saith the Lord Because the Daughters of Sion are Haughty and walk with stretched-out Necks and wanton Eyes walking and mincing as they go making a tinkling with their Feet therefore the Lord will smite with the Scab the Crown of the Head of the Daughters of Sion In that day the Lord will take away all the Bravery of their tinkling Ornaments of their Feet and their Cauls and round Attire like the Moon and the Chains and the Bracelets and the Head-bands and Tablets and the Ear-rings and the Nose-jewels the changable Suits of Apparel and the Mantles and the Wimples and the Crisping-pins and the Glasses and the fine Linnen and the Hoods and the Vails and it shall come to pass that instead of sweet Smell there shall be a Stink and instead of well-set Hair Baldness and instead of a Stomacher a girding with Sack-cloth and Burning instead of Beauty Now all you high and lofty Daughters of England who are sporting your selves in the day time and Scorning and Disdaining your Fellow-Creatures read your selves and your Portions Howl and Lament for a Day of Vengeance of Rending of Burning of Famine is coming upon you for the Land mourns because of Pride James Parnell To the LIBERTINE whose Liberty stands in the Flesh. WO unto thee who art at Ease in the Flesh devouring the Creation and spending it upon thy Lusts whose heart is run from God a Whoring after other Lovers committing Fornication with the Creation nourishing thy heart as in a day of Slaughter satisfying thy Lusts in whatsoever thy heart runs after and so art at ease in the Flesh and feelest no Sorrow nor Grief but the Harlot is exalted in thy Bosom above all that is called God and thou hast cast his Law behind thy back living without the Fear of God and walking despightfully against the Spirit of Grace saying within thy self He that doth Evil is Good in the sight of God and where is the God of Judgment Can we do any thing without God Is it not by his Power we do all things And can we do any thing contrary to his Will Yea thou shalt find that all thou dost is contrary to his Will and thou shalt find him a God of Judgment for thy Sins have separated thy Soul from God and long in his Love and Mercy to thy Soul hath he forborn thee and hath not cut thee off from off the face of the Earth but hath still spared thee and waited to be gracious though thy heart hath been wholy gone from him and never regarded to do that which is pleasing in his sight but instead of serving him thou hast served thy own lusts with his good Creatures to which thou hast had no right and he to thee hath been a merciful God but will not the Lord visit for these things yea he will not alwayes strive with man and though thou takes thy pleasure now remember thou must come to Judgment And lo saith the Lord I come quickly and my reward is with me to give unto every one according to his deeds And they that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption And then thou shalt finde that power thou hast had and instead of using it to the Honour and Glory of God thou hast hid thy Talent in the Earth and lived wantonly upon the Earth serving thy own will dishonouring the Holy Lord of Glory and Righteousness and then in the day of thy Judgment thou shalt confess that the Lord hath visited thee time after time and called thee time after time handing forth his Mercy to thee when thou hearkned the Lord was with thee when thou walked in his fear he was not far from thee but thou hast hearkned to the voice of the Serpent and false Prophet which hath drawn thy heart from God into the visible things of the Creation which pass away and hath promised thee Liberty and Peace in the same and it being pleasing to thy lustfull earthly minde thou art become one with the Harlot which lyeth in thy Bosom and thus thou hast accepted the gift with which the Old Serpent tempted Christ and so art become a Servant of the Devill of whom thou art brought in bondage of him being evermore and while thou art promising to thy self Liberty thou thy self art a Servant unto corruption and thus thy Lusts have separated betwixt God and thy Soul and art become the Image of the Devil yielding thy Members servants to uncleanness and thus thou sets up a rest in the Devils Kingdom wherein thou sports thy self and art at liberty eating and drinking in merriness so if there were sorrow only in this World thou art of all men most happy then our Fathers that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished and we are of all men most miserable if there be joy only in this World but out of the Liberty of the Children of God thou art found and by them seen to be in the fall wallowing in the myre and lust and so art unredeemed living under the Curse for this is the redemption from death to life and thou livest after the flesh and are dead the carnall minde ruling which is death and is at enmity with God for it is not subject to the will of God and so long as this hath dominion over thee thou canst not obey God for he that lives in the flesh cannot please God but if through the Spirit thou mortifie the deeds of the flesh thou shalt live and here is the Liberty of the Children of God Who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit but their Liberty is not in the Flesh but in the Spirit for by the Law of the Spirit of the Life they are set free from the Law of Sin and Death and from Christ their Redeemer they have received Power to become the Sons of God and in the same have dominion over the World Flesh Self and the Devil Death and Hell and this comes through the Cross by which they are crucified to the World and the World to them and here is the Liberty of the Children of God who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit which Liberty no vulterous Eye can see nor venemous Beast shall know nor the rebellious disobedient One Therefore do not deceive thy self in saying thou art a Christian and believest in Christ and art a Child of God for They that are Christ's have crucified the Flesh and to whom thou yieldest thy Members Servants to obey his Servant thou art To the Light of God in thy Conscience I speak which if thou love it and unto it hearken
said He that respects Persons commits Sin for there is no Respect of Persons with God and therefore saith James Houle ye Rich men and here your professed Ministers abide not in the Doctrine of Christ and so have not God but the Devil and his Ministers they are whom they exalt And now you shall see the Partiality of the Names in this your Breeding and Manners First from a Poor man to a Rich man it is called Honour and due Respect and Manners from a Rich man to a Poor man it is called Courtesie and Humility but amongst the Rich and Nobles of the Earth it is called Court-like Breeding but of those of the lower degree it is call'd Country-Breeding and amongst the lower sort of the World it is called Neighbour-hood and civil Respect one to another and so the Devil hath covers for all his Deceit and so he is honoured and exalted both in Court and Country but the highest in the Court and therefore they have the highest Title But We unto them that hide their Sins and cover with a Covering and not of the Spirit of the Lord. But this is the Riches of the World and the Devil that makes so many Degrees as between Dives and Lazarus and Haman and Mordecai for the Lord hath made all the Nations of the Earth of one Mold and one Blood But we who are redeemed out of his Kingdom he calls us Clowns and Fools and saith our Religion is built upon such small and frivolous things and stumble at Strawes and leap over Blocks this saith his Wisdom but it is even Death to him to bear these Strawes especially where he is the highest exalted for it puls down all his Honour and therefore do Rich men and great ones of the Earth and Rulers and Priests and Pharisees persecute and oppress us and draw us before Judgment-Seats and would root us out of the Nation as Haman would have done by Mordecai and the rest of the scattered Jews because they cannot bear those Straws but I say whatsoever it is that comes to be forbidden in the Conscience it becomes a Weight and a Burden though it be never so small a thing in the eye of a Pharisee So let none despise the Day of small things But some will call it Stubbornness Obstinacy Pride and Presumption but the same Nature would have called it so in Mordecai who could not bow to Haman as the rest did that sate by and so let every one take heed of speaking Evil of that you know not least you call Good Evil and Evil Good for the Wo is pronounced against such but they that were after the Flesh alwayes in all Ages persecuted them that were after the Spirit And so it is not many Mighty nor many Noble nor many Wise after the Flesh are called but God hath chosen the Foolish things of this World to confound the Wise and the Weak to confound those that are Mighty that no Flesh should glory in his Presence 1 Cor. 1. 26 27 29. VVe are accused that we say We are perfect without Sin I answer Man was perfect without Sin before the Fall or else he could not have been the Image of God for God is pure and perfect and he made Man after his own Image pure and perfect without Sin but when he sinned he defaced his Image and lost his pure Estate and was drove out of Paradise and became the Image of the Devil for Sin is the Image of the Devil and here all Sin is in the Fall and who are in the Fall are in the Devil's Kingdom which is impure and imperfect and unclean but God promised the Seed of the VVoman shall bruise the Serpent's Head and Christ the Seed said he was come to preach Deliverance to the Captive and to heal the broken-hearted and to seek that which was lost and to bring again that which was driven away and this was his VVork to redeem to Man that which Man had lost Now consider what Man hath lost and I shall leave this as Querie with all both Priests and People who deny Perfection from Sin here Whether Christ is but a part of Redeemer or a perfect and full Redeemer and which is the Place betwixt Heaven and Earth where man shall be made free or cleansed from Sin if not upon the Earth Seeing that no unholy nor unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of God But who can witness this have passed through Death and that have none who plead for Sin neither can they witness Christ come But for some Simple ones sake I shall speak more clearly of this for it is a great Delusion of the Devil to keep People in Sin to tell them they shall never be made free from Sin so long as they are upon the Earth and bring this Scripture to maintain it He that saith he hath no Sin deceiveth himself and is a Lyar but he tells them Christ dyed for all and if they can but lay hold on him by Faith he will not impute their Sins unto them though they sin daily for the Righteous man sins seven times a Day and all the Holy men of God sinned and so he takes Scripture to maintain his Kingdom and this he delivers by the Mouth of his Ministers which he sends abroad to deceive the Nations leading People in Blindness full of Sin and Corruption ever learning and never come to the Knowledge of the Truth nor never shall do for them and here he carries them on an easie delightsom way to the Flesh but the End is Death and so heals them up in their Sins with a feigned formed Faith which perisheth and here they settle upon the Lees and set up a Rest in the Devil's Kingdom which is Sin and here many are meerly blinded and hardned and all Tenderness of Conscience is done away But you shall find that he that sooths you up in this Faith is the gratest Enemy of your Souls and whosoever witnesseth Christ their Redeemer shall witness that he is come to destroy the works of the Devil which is Sin and to redeem out of the Fall out of Sin and out of the Devil's Kingdom which is Sin and all Sin in the Devil's Kingdom which is in the Fall but for this End Christ is manifest to destroy the Works of the Devil and to redeem out of the Fall out of the Devil's Kingdom into his own Kingdom and no unclean thing can enter therein but none can witness this Redemption but through the Death and through the Cross which Paul rejoyced in by which he was crucified to the World and the World to him and had put off the Body of Sin and was made free from the Law of Sin which once warred against his Mind which once he complained of Which Scripture the Unlearned which are Strangers from his Conditions who read them with the carnal Eye now pervert and Wrest to their
they stole the Apostles Words as the false Prophets stole the Word from their Neighbour so did and do those and put them into â—hapter aâ—d Verse and took a Verse and studied from it a 〈…〉 own Brain and added to it but not from the Mouth of the Lord and so do the Priests now but they run like the false Prophets and the Lord never sent them therefore they profit not the People at all and then with feigned or studied words through Covetousness they made Merchandize of the People as they do now and so made a Prey upon the Sheep as they do now and began to seek about for great Livings and Fat Benefices and left a lesser and ran to a bigger so there was their Beloved which they sought for as the false Prophets which sought for the Fleece and regarded not the Flock but sed with the Fat and cloathed with the Wool and made a Prey upon the Sheep as they do now and cryed Peace to those that put into their Mouthes and called them beloved Brethren and Christians but they that did not put into their Mouthes they prepared War against them and brought a Law upon them and haled them before Courts and Benches as they do now and thus they sought their Gain from their Quarter and ruled them with Rigour so that until within these late years the Priests raigned like Lords over the People contrary to the Practice of the Ministers of the Gospel who made themselves Servants to all And though they did ordain Bishops they did not ordain that they should live of others Estates or take the Tenths of the Increase of others Labours and live like Lords over the People but said a Bishop must be blameless the Husband of one Wife vigilant sober and of good Behaviour given to Hospitality apt to Teach not given to Wine no Striker not greedy of filthy Lucre but patient not a Brawler not Covetous one that ruleth well his own House not a Novice lest being lifted up with Pride he fall into the Condemnation of the Devil now try your Priest and Teachers by this Rule But they stood not to this who were ordained by the Pope or by the Will of Man but were lifted up with Pride and Covetousness and greedy of Filthy Lucre as they are now and so came into the Condemnation of the Devil as they do now And thus your Priests old Fathers planted their Church and so set every thing in Form and Tradition according to their own Imaginations and here is the Ground and Foundation of the Faith and Church of England so called and here are the old Fathers and the old Authors that your Priests have so much talked of and prated of their ancient Fathers even the Popes and the Bishops and though now in words they deny the Pope and the Papists and the Bishops and differ something from the Pope in Judgment yet are in the same Forms Customs and Traditions and are upheld by the same Laws as they were when they were in the Popes and Bishops Loyns and thus Antichrist hath long deceived the Nations and ruled by the Power of Darkness under a Notion or Profession of the Gospel and Faith of Christ and one Generation hath gone and another come and have not known the Lord that bought them but by the hearing of the Ear and as those that saw him knew him in whom he dwelt bore Testimony and declared of him so the Priests could tell the People from the Records of the Holy Men of God what God is and what Christ is and what Faith is and how Christ dyed for their Sins and rose again and that Christ is a Saviour and a Redeemer and what the Apostles spoak and writ unto the Church freely they get and speak unto the World for Gain and Lucre and so cast the Childrens Bread unto Dogs and so feed and puff up the dark Minds of Men with airy Knowledge what they have gotten into their Brains from other Mens Words and their own Imaginations and so made and make the People believe that they are the Means ordained by God Now many may see by this what Lyars they are and how they came up and were ordained and whose Rule Practice or Example they follow in this they do and they will be found the Ministers of Anti-christ and such as have long shut up and do shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men and would neither enter in themselves nor suffer others that would but so long as they had Power would bind all unto themselves and those that had any Appearance of Light so that they came to see their Deceit and separate from them they would scarce suffer them to live amongst them but praised be the Almighty who hath so weakned their Hands and shattered their Foundation and caused his Light so to shine out of Darkness to cause them to be so manifest so that all People who love Light better then Darkness may now see how ignorantly and blindly you have been led as Strangers from the Father of Light after the vain Traditions Customs Forms Ordinances and Imaginations of Man with a vain Profession and feigned Faith which you have gotten into the Notion but still in your Sins and Iniquities alive in the first Nature under Death's Dominion still Strangers from the God of Life and from Christ the Saviour and Redeemer of his People from their Sins and thus you lye under the Power of Darkness and Delusion of Anti-christ both Priests and People for like People like Priest and so saith the Prophet and your Leaders cause you to err by their Lyes and by their Lightness and though you be full of Teachers yet you are lost for Want of true Knowledge and are still led Captive in your Sins and Iniquities after those who have gotten the Form but deny the Life and Power ever learning and never come to the Knowledge of the Truth in your selves only differing from the Heathen in Name and Profession Judgment or Opinion but still alive in the same Nature in the Fall under the Curse the Children of Disobedience in whom doth rule the Prince of Darkness and you must have a Law without to keep you in Awe and Fear of the same as they have whom you account Heathen but the Righteous need no Law for because of Transgression the Law was added and you are fiâ—hting killing and devouring one another as they do whom you account Heathen and you are Drunkards and Swearers and Lyars as they are and Scoffers and Scorners and Revilers and Back-biters and Whoremongers and Adulterers and Proud and Covetous Idolaters and high-minded Oppressors as they are both Priest and People and you are Idolaters as they are eating and drinking and rising up to play and you are Envious and Malicious suing and rending and teaâ—ing one another at the Law both Priest and People pulling down others to set up your selves and you are dissembling and cozenning and cheating and
all made perfect in One And here is the True Church where there is but One Teacher One Lord One Faith One Baptism One Light One Life and One Way One Shepherd and One Sheepfold and One Priest over the Houshold of God and One Hope and One Language One Family and One God and Father of all And they that cannot witness this are Strangers to Christ and Strangers to his Cross and Strangers to the Common-Wealth of Israel And this is the Work which the Lord has now begun and is carrying on by a Strong Arm and Mighty Power to redeem unto himself a pure Church and Blessed are they that hearken unto his Voice Here all you Formalists Imitators and Self-actors are shut out here all you Proud Ones are shut out here all you Lustful Ones Fleshly Ones and Carnal Ones are shut out and all you that are conformed like unto the World in their Fashions in their Customs in their Words in their Ways in their Worships and Traditions in their Love and in their Fellowship who are seeking the Glory and Honour and Riches of this World you are the Children of this World under the Dominion of the God of the World whose Kingdom is of this World Here all you are shut out who live at Ease in your Pleasures and live wantonly upon the Earth in the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life you are the Children of Babylon you kill the Just and he lies slain in the Streets but here you all are shut out of the New Covenant of Life in the Dark World under Death's Dominion of what Profession and Judgment soever Aliens and Strangers to the Covenant of Promise for they that are not with us are against us and our Union and Society is in the Light of Life But you must all suffer the Death of the Cross to the Life which you now live in before you can witness this Redemption for those that live with Christ are crucified with him therefore so it is they that will take up Life must first lay down Life for the Way to Life is through Death Therefore you must be stripped of all your Old Covers naked and bare that your Deceit and Shame may appear which you have so long covered with your own Righteousness but now you must suffer the Shame of the Cross if you would have part in Christ and all your old Wisdom Knowledge and Notions which you have gotten into your Comprehensions by your Conceivings of the Scripture-Letter wherein hath been your Life and Pride and Exaltation must all come to the Death of the Cross that no Flesh should Glory in his Presence but I say unto all you Professors Formalists Notionists and Disputers and Wise Ones of this World If you will not take up and imbrace this Cross Publicans and Harlots shall enter the Kingdom before you Therefore not many Mighty nor many Noble nor many Wise after the Flesh are called but he hath chosen the Foolish Things of this World to confound the Wise and the Weak to confound those that are Mighty that no FLESH should Glory in his PRESENCE but CHRIST is made over unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption that they which Glory might Glory in the Lord. And this I witness in my Measure the things which I have seen and heard and felt and tasted of the good Word of Life which was in the Beginning the same do I declare and am known and read by the Children of Light And now I shall proceed to several Passages that I have had with the People called Baptists in several Meetings that their Deceit and Delusion may be laid open to the Simple-hearted Upon the Thirtieth of the First Moneth called March in the Year 1655. I was at one Ashen's House in Fenstanton in Huntingtonshire where I was freely declaring the Truth of God to the People that came there together that Day as I was taught moved by the Spirit of Truth by which the Holy Men of God spoak forth the Scripture as they were moved and there came several of the People called Baptists into the Room amongst us amongst whom was one of their Teachers called Richard Elligood who after a while stood up in his Will and Wisdom to accuse me and said That I had said That God did not respect any Forms and yet saith he you use the Form and so use that which God hath no Respect to But his first words were Sir if you please I will speak something to what you have said To which I made Answer Here needs no Complements And then he runs on as aforeâ— said to which Accusation I reply'd was False and bad him prove what Form I used And he said The Letter And I replyed He that takes the Letter to talk of without the Life and Power such sets up a Form and makes a Form But this would not satisfie his filthy Wisdom which darkened his Understanding but because I spoak words which are mentioned in the Scripture by the same Spirit that spoak forth the Scripture by which I challenge the Scripture from him and all such who have gotten it to talk of but denies the Life and are Strangers to the Life and Power therefore with his contrary Spirit tasked me with a Form which by his Logick and deceitful Art would have proved but could not but his Deceit was laid open to the People and many declared against him for a Form is this as I said before the Likeness of a Thing but not the Thing it self as they have the Likeness of a Church which they have imagined from the Letter with their Elders Pastors and Teachers but not the Church it self and so they imitate the Scriptures but live not in the Life of them that spoak forth the Scriptures neither are acted and guided by the same Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures and so want the Life and Power and those are the Formalists that make Forms and Likenesses to deceive the simple as the Devil hath the Form of an Angel of Light but not the Life and Power who appears to rule in those Formalists and Self-Actors but the Day doth make him manifest and therefore he rages and then this Elligood denyed that I had the same Spirit that gave forth the Scripture and he said The Spirit might be tryed by the Letter for he said Many false Spirits are entered into the World and I asked him By what did the Apostle know that false Spirits were gone out into the World and he replyed and said By the Spirit of God then I replyed and said If by the Spirit of God the Apostle knew that there were many false Spirits gone out into the World then by the Spirit of God be tryed FALSE SPIRITS and knew False Spirits from the TRUE and here his Deceit was laid open to the People and he judged out of his own Mouth to be a Lyar and to be guided by a false Spirit
wrests and perverts the Scripture to thy own Destruction and then thou wentst on dreaming and flattering and daubing up the People with untempered Morter saying The Lord saith when he never spoake to thee and then thou runst on railing behind the Back of People that was not there as thou often said thou spoak it of none there and thus thou utteredst forth thy Folly and it is like thou mightst belie those whom thou spoakest of for I heard thee utter forth many open Lyes and then thou runnedst on to thy Water-Baptism to maintain it an Ordinance of Christ and thou broughtst this Scripture in the 6 th of the Romans which the Apostle spoak to the Church Know you not that so many of you as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptized into his Death Thou blind Hypocrite was this Water-Baptism They that are in Christ are New Creatures and so are not those who are baptized with Water but they are in the same Nature as they were before and thou mayst read in Corinthians the twelft what Baptism that was he spoak of there for saith he By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body c. And they that are thus baptized are baptized into Christ but as I said before It is not the washing away of the Filth of the Flesh and here is thy Folly and Ignorance laid open who art so blind as to bring this Scripture to prove Water-Baptism to be an Ordinance of Christ and again it saith They were baptized into his Death and in the same Chapter it saith They that are dead are freed from Sin and this thou denyedst that any could be set free from Sin so long as they are upon the Earth and thus thou deniest Jesus Christ and his Ordinances who came to take away Sin and to cleanse his People from their Sin but praised be the Lord we do witness a Freedom from Sin by Jesus Christ who is the Lamb of God who came to take away the Sin of the World and to redeem his People from their Sins and to redeem unto himself a pure Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such Thing and saith he If the Son hath set you free then are you free indeed and here is the Liberty of the Sons of God and now are we the Sons of God and now they that witness this and confess it such blind Hypocrites as thou call them Blasphemers and so deny Christ come in the Flesh and so are of Anti-christ And one while thou affirmedst in thy Pulpet that they that pressed led People into Holiness were no Deceivers but they that led them into Sin and Evil were Deceivers and then afterwards toldst the People they never could be free from Sin so long as they are upon the Earth and thus thou wouldst settle them upon the Lees and deny Jesus Christ come in the Flesh who comes to cleanse from all Sin and thus art thou judged out of thy own Mouth for a Deceiver And thou also broughtst this Scripture to maintain Water-Baptism where the Apostle said For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Now let any whose Understandings are enlightned by the Light of Christ read this Scripture and see if this mention Water-Baptism and if any by Water-Baptism do now put on Christ and by the Light judge thee to be a Lyar and a Deceiver and a Perverter of the Scripture to thy own Destruction and all who believe thee except you repent And then thou runedst on to prove the Letter to be the Word by 〈◊〉 or despising those that say that God is the Word and that there is no written Word when the Letter saith it self that the Word is God and then thou broughtst this Scripture to prove the Letter to be the Word in 1 Pet. 1. 23. Being born again not of corruptible Seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever for all Flesh is Grass and the Glory of Man as the Flower of Grass the Grass withereth and the flower fadeth away but the Word of the Lord endureth forever And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you here thou dark Sot thy Blindness and Ignorance is more laid open is the Letter immortal or any written Word immortal or liveth or abideth forever or are any born again but of God and is not he that same immortal Word which the Scripture often bears Testimony unto and also in this Place and Christ the Lamb of God is the Everlasting Gospel who preached the Word and his Apostles were made clean through the VVord which he preached unto them but this was not the dead Letter in the which thou wouldst find Life and so art seeking the living amongst the dead like the blind Pharisees who thought in the Scripture to find Eternal Life but would not come unto Christ that they might have Life and here thou art in their Steps though thou madest light of this Scripture and saidst That some added Ye to it and said Ye search the Scripture for in them ye think to have Eternal Life they are they that testifie of me but ye will not come unto me that ye might have Life this was spoaken by Christ unto the Pharisees who could not believe that he was the Christ but thought in the Scriptures to find Eternal Life but would not come unto Christ that they might have Life and therefore he bid them search the Scripture for there the Prophets had prophesied of him and thereby they might know that he was the Christ if they had searched with the single Eye therefore without Ye I say unto thee search the Scriptures for they are they that bear Testimony of Christ to be the Word and all that do search the Scripture with a single Eye will find Christ to be the Word and will believe it and not be so blind as to put the Letter for the Word as thou dost who broughtst another Scripture with thy dark Mind where the Apostle saith Ye have a more sure Word of Prophecy the which ye do well to take heed unto as to a Light shining in a dark Place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your Hearts 2. Pet. 1. 19. Here thou still the more manifests thy Blindness who puts Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness and so art under the Wo from the Lord who puts the Letter for the Light how doth the Letter shine and what dark Place doth in shine in as a Light here the ignorant may see thy Folly and thus thou art a Stranger to the Light of Christ which dwelt in the Children of God and the Word is nigh in the Heart and in the Mouth to which thou shewest thy self a Stranger who draws Peoples Minds from this Word in their Hearts to the Letter without putting that for the Word and so art a blind Guide and a Deceiver who cryes Lo here without
you can witness of the Work of God in your Hearts for all this your long and great Profession and esteeming your selves of the Church and Faith of Christ and Saints in Christ So if you can witness yet the Earth-Quakes and that the Earth is yet removed out of its Place and Mountains removed by the Eye of Faith and if the Vail of Darkness be yet rent Is not the first Man yet standing and the first Image and the Serpent's Head For while you are Strangers to the Light and your Minds are from the Light you are wandred and strayed in the Pathes of Darkness and so are the Children of Darkness in whom the Prince of Darkness ruleth even the Serpent who is Head in Man but the Promise is The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's Head But you are acting in your own Wills and Wisdom the Serpent is your Head and you are not yet come to witness the first Promise fulfilled but are still in the Fall under the Power of Darkness in the Disobedience and Strangers unto the Cross and so have no Part in Christ in that Nature For none come to have a Right in Christ but through the Cross for As many as are baptized into Christ are baptized into his Death and they that are Dead with him do Live with him and they that are Dead are freeed from Sin and they that are in Christ are New Creatures old things are passed away and all things become new But they that are not in Christ are still in old Adam and so in the Fall under the Curse and under Death's Dominion drove out from the Presence of God into the Earth and Death reigns over all from Adam until Moses of what Profession soever Therefore now read your selves by the Light which comes from Jesus Christ and shineth into your dark Hearts and searcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins and maketh manifest the Secrets to which Light I am made manifest and by it witnessed in you all and unto it I do direct your Minds for the turning of your Minds from the Darkness to the Light all you that have a Desire to find the Way of Truth in what Form soever that thereby you may come to see how you have been wandred and scattered in the many ways of Darkness in the Land of Darkness in this cloudy dark day as Sheep without a Shepheard being carryed about after the Voice of Strangers from the Shepheard of your Souls Therefore hearken no more without to those that cry Lo here or Lo there is Christ and so draws your Minds without to seek for a Christ without and a Redemption and a Sanctification without a Righteousness without and a God without but turn your Minds within for it is to be found within if ever you find it For there is no Way to come unto the true Knowledge of the Truth or of God or of Christ but by that of God within For what is to be known of God is manifest within and the same which descended the same doth ascend And so the Way to God is to be found within by the Light which maâ—nifests Death and slayes Death Do not you read the Parable of the Woman that had lâ—st the Piece of Silver and could not find it until she had turned into the House and lighted the Candle and swept the House and then she found that which she had lost and rejoyced with her Neighbours Now the Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord and his Life was the Light of Men so turn in your Minds to the Light of the Lord Jesus which if you love it to bring your Deeds to it it will let you see the Deeds of Darkness and the Paths of Death and it will also search your Hearts and make manifest your inward Parts and let you see what you have lost and as you love this Light and like to retain it in your Minds and by it to be guided it will lead you out of all the crooked and froward Wayes of Darkness into the Light of Life and so to come to find and know the Voice of the true Shepherd who is come to seek out and gather all his scattered Sheep out from amongst the Mountains and Valleys and the many Wayes and crooked Pathes wherein they have been scattered and strayed in the Land of Darkness and to gather them together into one Flock into one Way into one Sheepfold and he alone will be their Shepherd and this you shall come to witness as you love this Light and follow it it will lead you out of your many Forms and many Wayes into one Way out of your own Wisdom and Imaginations wherein you have been building Babel and this will strip you of all your own Righteousness wherewith you have covered over your deceitful Hearts and it will lay your Deceits before you and bring you to Judgment and if you love this Light and follow iâ— and be willing to wait upon it out of your own Wills and Wisdom and Imaginations and Carnal Thoughts Reasonings and Consutations and self-Acting and Imitating it will lead you to know the Voice of the true Shepherd within you from the Voice of the Stranger and so to know the precious from the vile he who saith I am the Light he saith I am the good Shepherd who will bring you to know the Way and the Door into the Sheepfold if you do not run out in your own Wills and seek to climb up another Way for the Way is but one and he that saith I am the Light saith I am the Way and I am the Door into the Sheepfold so if you turn from the Light and stumble at the Light you stumble at all and so fall but if you love the Light and be willing to follow the Light it will lead you through all and to deny your selves and to take up his Cross unto your selves and to pass through good Report and evil Report through Persecution and through Death and the VVay will not be grievous but joyous and so you will come into the VVay and in at the Door unto the Sheepfold and so into the Fellowship and into the Life and into the Power and into the Faith of the Saints where all live in Union in one united by one into one Body the End of all Jarring Jangling Divisions and Disputes therefore said the Apostle Where is the Wise where is the Disputer of this World hath not God made foolish the Wisdom of this World Therefore I do call you to come out from amongst them and be ye separate and touch no unclean Thing and I will receive you saith the Lord and I will be unto you a Father and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters Now you are called and this is the Day of your Visitation for now Light is come into the VVorld and if you like to retain it in your Minds happy are you but if
48th Query thou askest â—f Christ and his Apostles did not frequent the Synagogues Answ. Yea they did and so do we your Idol-Temples but therein the Jews will condemn you who suffered them to speak as in that Scripture which thou hast quoted in Acts 13. 14 15. which shall stand and witness against you who will not suffer us to speak in your Steeple houses but suffer your Flocks to hale us forth fall upon us like Wolves and your Magistrates to hale us to Prison therefore read your Condemnation you Persecutors And thy 49th Query is answered already with the other aforesaid Qu. 50. Here thou askest If the Prophet did not complain to God against the Prophaners and Destroyers of the Synagogues in Psal. 74 4 5 6 7. Answ. The Scripture which thou hast quoted doth answer thee but it doth not uphold your Idols Temples who worship you know not what wherein you teach for Doctrine the Traditions of Men and there are found in the Steps of the Pharisees offering up your Abominations as Christ marked you out in Mat. 6. 5. where he meant as he spoak and all you do there is for self and not for God for he saith In vain do you worship him Mat. 15. 7 8 9. And here thy 51st Query is answered but take Notice your Steeple-Houses are not the Houses of God as before is proved Qu. 52. Is it unlawful to call either Baptism or the Supper of the Lord a Sacrament or oblieging Mystery since that Name imports no more and you cannot deny but that both these are mystical Things and ablieging Mysteries to the washing away of Sin and the following of Christ into his Life and Death Answ. Is thy Baptism now become an oblieging Mystery to the washing away of Sin which in thy Answer to my 21st Query thou saidst was not absolutely necessary but lawful only can it wash away Sin and yet not be necessary but this is all thou knowest of that Mystery that washeth away Sin or Desire after it for where Sin is washed away this Confusion stayes not behind Yea I do deny that there is any Thing in your spriâ—kling Infants or your Bread and Wine which doth profit as is manifest by these that receive them of you who never yet were washed from their Sins and Pollutions or ever tasted of the Death of the Cross but the Baptism I own and the Supper of the Lord I own but the Word Sacrament I deny for the which you have no Scripture whatsoever thou say'st it doth import And thy 53d 5â—th and 55th Queries are answered in my Reply to thy Answer to my 21st Query and thy 56th and 57th Queries are answered in my Reply to thy Answer to my 25th Query Qu. 58. Who is there among you who are called Quakers or the other Sectarians your Fore-fathers that hath rightly declared the Mystery of Christ's Body and Blood in your Dissentings from us since none of you have declared this according to our Lord's Intent Joh. 6. 33. Answ. As for Sectarians as thou callest them they are in your Generation and art not thou ashamed to call them our Fore-fathers whenas they now joyn with you against us yea and in this very Thing wherein they are blind as you are but the Mystery we know and have declared to the Comfort of many a restless Soul who never could find true Comfort in your dark and dead Forms as Thousands in the Nation will witness and this we have declared according to our Lord's intent therefore thou Lyar and Slanderer stop thy Mouth and take not his Name in vain and that Scripture in John 6. 33. which hou hast quoted will witness against thee in that thou would'st uphold and thy 59th Query is answered with thy 6th and 57th And thy next is concerning the present Ministers and Teachers and their Maintenance Qu. 60. Were there no Ministers in this Nation that held forth the Truth amongst us till you and your Associates rose up since we have our Lord's Promise The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church and Behold I am with you to the End of the World Qu. 61. What is become then of all your Fore-fathers their and ours who dyed since the Apostles Dayes till your rising up with a pretended Spirit Answ. Thou Carnal One hast thou nothing to do but to raise the Dead to dispute about But to answer a Fool I say They are gone as the Just and Righteous Judge hath disposed but now he calls all every were to Repent his Trumpets are sounding a Warning and there were none that preached for Hire that held forth Truth in the Life and Power of it but made a Trade and a Gain of the Letter from it speaking a Divination of their own Brain as you do now and those were your Fore-Fathers But if you had the Lord's Promise That the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against you for the Lord will be with you then what need you a Law of Man to set you up uphold you and maintain you Therefore it follows the Lord is against you and his Promises do not belong unto you who dare not trust him and therefore are but Pretenders and this the Spirit of Truth in us can tell you Qu. 62. If there were some taught of God before you were called why are they not owned by any of your Answ. Thou art not one that art so taught for thou art found out of his Doctrine therefore with that stop thy Mouth and do not belye us for who receive and obey the Truth we do own whatsoever they have been And here also thy Sixty Third and Sixty Fourth Query is answered And thy Sixty Fifth Sixty Sixth and Sixty Seventh Query is answered in my Reply to thy Answer to my Nineth and Tenth Query Qu. 68. Is the Teaching-Priesthood to cease till the Spiritual Melchizedeck comes unto us to bless us after the Slaughter of all our Enemies with the Heavenly Bread and Wine Gen. 14. 18 19. Hebr. 2. 1 2 3. that you say the Priesthood of Aaron wiâ—h the Law annexed of Tythes is ceased under the Gospel Answ. Yea so it is ceased and those Scriptures do not prove to the contrary but that is Hebr. 7. doth affirm it as is before proved But in that you uphold it in taking Tythes you deny the Spiritual Melchizedeck and if that be the Teaching-Priesthood which thou meanest it is already ceased to many who are come to see the End of it but the Gift blinds your Eyes and therefore you still uphold it and lead the Blind into the Ditch and so the Wo is to you and not the Blessing and this Scripture in Ephes. 4. 11 12 c. doth not at all maintain you And here also thy Sixty Nineth Query is answered And thy Seventy Seventy One Seventy Two and Seventy Three Queries are answered in my Reply to thy Answer to my Fourteenth Query Qu. 74. Did ever the Church of Rome cast greater Reproaches upon the
by the Precious Blood of the Lamb with whom You are crucified who are in him who have put on the Wedding Garment and are admitted to the Table of the Lord and are Partakers of the Holy Union Oh ye Blessed of the Lord ye Bâ—bes and Children of the Most High who dweâ—â—eth in Purity and reigneth in Majesty who â—ath established and set up his Throne in Your Hearts in You is my Joy and great Delight yâ—a I remember You when ye were tender and springing up but by Waiting upon the Lord You â—ave renewed Your Strength and the more is my Joy made full in You and Ye are made Precious in my Sight Ye that are inward Jews of the Heart-Circumcision redeemed frâ—m Kindreds Tongues Languages and People who are come to the Heavenly Jerusalem there to worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth whom he hath chosen to bear his Holy Image which hath been so much defaced in the World and In You to exalt and glorifie his Name of Holiness amongst the Heathen and them that know him not now in this Day wherein he is visiting the Earth with Judgment and with Mercy and with a Mighty Power to call to an Account the Inhabitants of the Earth And blessed are You that have hearkened unto his Voice Ye shall sing and rejoyce when others shall weep and mourn and howl Though amongst them your Portions are Scoffings Scornings Mocking Deridings Back-bitings Revilings Persecutions Stripes Imprisonments yet have You learned to account these as Riches who know the Comforter within You and Your Redeemer to live with You I do rejoyce in all these things being now made Partaker of them I am not unknown unto You my Voice Ye know of Old O how do I long to see Your Faces but in that I am straitned for a time My Life is bound up in many of Your Hearts which makes me I cannot forget You my Spirit cannot be separated from You though my Body is kept in Strait Bonds but the Straitness will be broaken when he hath perfected his Praise in them who is my only Keeper and Supporter O ye Simple Doves who sit without Guile in Your Mouthes O how I am ravished with the Love of You when I behold You in Spirit You that have given up unto the Death to the Famine to the Sword and to the Fire and have patiently submitted unto the Father's Will and willingly sacrificed up your Darling Your Faith is unto You imputed for Righteousness and the God whom You have trusted and believed in will make You rich in him and give You Substance incorruptible and an Inheritance that never fades in measure You can set to Your Seals of what is written unto You. But some have hearkened unto the Evil Spirit which hath brought Evil-Tidings of the Good Land and such have turned Back into Egypt and joyned with the Magicians thereof to harden Pharaoh's Heart against the Innocent and filled the Mouthes of the Heathen with Blasphemous Speeches But let them go on He that is filthy let him be filthy still for he cometh quickly whose Reward is with him to give unto them according to their Doings But all things work together for the Good of You who stand in the Faith who are not moved with the Winds that blow nor the Storms that come against You who eye the Hand of Providence in all these things which bringeth Good out of Evil to You wards who abide in the Truth and stray not So as You have tasted felt known and experienced of Him so trust Ye in Him and remain in Your sure Confidence which is begotten in You by his Word and be Ye as Lights in the dark World both by Word and by Conversation that in all things Ye may be approved by the Father 's in Your Consciences as Faithful and Obedient Children every one in Your Calling wherein you are called that the Price thereof You may obtain in the End of Your Race O lift up your Heads and look up to the Father and see how he hath tendered You and how his Love hath been tendered towards You all along who hath not left You without Instructors and Nursing-Fathers who have watched over You with tender Care In much Love Tenderness am I drawn forth towards You little ones which springs from the Root of the Vine because you bear my Father's Image Long have I waited to write to You and lately I had an Opening of You which caused me to visit You with this Epistle for Ye have been oftentimes in my Remembrances though I could not write and now You must read me in that Love which Tongue cannot express and in that Epistle which is written in Your Hearts without either Paper or Ink by the Immortal Word of Life and there my Name You will know So the Lord God Almighty the Keeper of Israel over shadow you and in his Holy Presence keep You Pure and Innocent that You may pour forth his Praise in the Earth and shine as the Sons and Daughters of Sion into whose blessed Protection I You commit and do lye down with You who am a Sufferer in Outward Bonds by the Will of Man for the Innocent Seed's sake but at Liberty with the Faithful who am called Written from Colchester-Castle the 12th of the 11th Moneth JAMES PARNEL TO FRIENDS IN Essex FRIENDS TO that of God in all your Consciences I do speak which there doth witness for God which is according to the Mind of God bearing Witness against what is contrary to the Mind of God and approving of what is according to the Mind of God which in your Hearts is placed to be your Teacher to teach you to do the Will of God and how to walk up to the Mind of God and to distinguish betwixt Truth and Error and betwixt the Precious and the Vile and betwixt him that serves the Lord and him that serves him not which Light enlightens your Undestandings and lets you see the Land of Darkness where the House of Bondage is where the Righteous Seed lyeth oppressed and where the Man of Sin doth rule and Death hath Dominion which Light is your Guide out of the House of Bondage and out of the Land of Darkness and out of Death's Dominion and slayes the Man of Sin and separates you from the Children of Darkness and out from among them leads you to seek after another Kingdom where all Things are added wherein is witnessed the perfect Day where Sorrow and Sighing flees away but then out of your selves you must come your own Wisdom and Reason for to deny and whatsoever springs from self which is at Enmity with the Light and opposeth argues and contends against the Light which by the Light is condemned but if you hearken unto self then you stumble in the Way and many stumbling-Blocks lye before you Thoâ—nâ— and Bryars catch hold of you and in the Mire your Feet do stick and there you toyl and moyl in Thraldom and many