then might our Ministers lawfully demand them as their dues but they nor we cannot find it so it were denyed under the Law and we have no Gospel for it therefore saith the Lord Ye rob me in tythes and offerings Malachy 3.8 9 10. Ministers are your Ordinances the same that Christ instituted to his Disciples otherwise they be but humane or mens Ordinances set up by your father Bishops You say we walk above Ordinances it is confessed we walk above your ordinances in that we walk up to the Ordination of Christ and his Disciples which you deny to the people which is the true administration of the everlasting Gospel which we be all ingaged to plead for even that truth and no better foundation can any man lay then that of our Lord and his Disciples and so far as ye preach forth that doctrine so far we will obey you and no further Is your Authority and Calling from the Royal Priesthood or from the Levitical Priesthood there can but one of them stand which is the new and living way consecrated to men Hebr. 10.21 He is our High Priest over the House of God and he hath laid the foundation So follow him according to Gods Order and appointment The Ministerial Duty BRethren beloved in the Lord I am bold to write unto you for a more stability and amplitude of the Church Hence it is that God hath oftentimes spoken by the mouth of his Prophets saying I will put my Law in your hearts and write it in your inward parts So that in those times and at that day people shall be inherently taught of God and shall be free from mens teaching and void of preaching But some may say To what end shall this be To this objection there be divers answers As for the first Jeremy the 32. I will give them one heart for the good of them and their children after them this promise actually is made out to his Elect in that state of knowing God Secondly Every one shall live under his own Vine Meaning Christ and his spirit with the life of God dwelling in us which shall be our teacher For ye shall all know me saith the Lord. That is under the New Covenant which is his third or fourth dispensation Verily there were a knowing of God before the Law or Gospel was taught For it is said about the 7. of Genesis that blessed Noah walked with God And Abraham before the Gospel he was taught of God and lived by faith and it was accounted to him for righteousness which passed all the outward declarations Now under the Gospel here is a knowing of God too though as yet under a humane power which may then be taken away Jerem. 31. vers 34. They shall teach no more every man his neighbour or his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest of them And at that time there shall be a far higher and clear seeing and beholding of God when Freedome hath taken off the curse and Justice hath destroyed all oppression then preaching may cease for your children shall be as aforetime and your off-springs shall be prosperous and so it was before and so it shall be after this Ministry may cease Our Saviour by his Disciples settled the Church and laid the foundation which is called the living stone which were the Gospel setled about 1600 yeares agone which were a sufficient foundation and our preaching hath been little lesse then 100 yeares or thereupon which is contrary to the Gospel which they held forth for Christ and his Apostles held forth the outward with the inward saying If ye will be my Disciples ye must leave all to follow me Ye must not onely follow me in spirituall things but put off your carnal things this was his Disciples care to the Church that not any should want and in case of necessity none should know their own which if we were so taught of God it should do so likewise that is to do the works of the second Table with the first Table and that would truly adorn the Church of God and truly I much marvel how our preachers have fallen from this doctrine It is a great starving the creatures of God that some have too much and some destroyed by wants and in this our Ministry can shew no true calling in that the livelihood of the Creation is withheld from them which be Gods creatures and our Ministers will not lay open the ungodly abuse of them that carry the world on so for the Ministers of righteousnesse should have an outward calling as well as an inward and in case they fail in any of them they are then but Truth-breakers and fail in their Message to God and will not lay open those full Truths therefore saith the Lord Ye shall be inwardly taught of me and all know me and whosoever hindereth this work of restoration they be but murtherers of truth and justice whether they be ministers of men for behold and see what oppression is taken away by your preachings There were a two-fold curse under the old Law which in part is taken away the inward and spiritual curse is taken off by the sufferings and power of Christ now this outward curse still abideth with us and so shall do till the horn of oppression be broke and for that end God plagued the earth after the fall of Adam saying it should bring forth bryers and thornes which are wicked men Rulers as bryers in the hedge of Gods garden now I can assure you that are the Vine-dressers if you do not cut out all these bryers and abominable branches out of his hedge it will shew ye are not faithful to him nor good Stewards in your places Now this three or fourfold curse lying so heavy upon man as first a natural curse in lying under a sad and dark dispensation which is a spiritual dissertion which every one of us lye under till God comes in to our soules And thirdly that legall curse which is the hand-writing of ordinances under a general declaration of Gods Justice Now these three Curses being taken away and censured by the Lord Christ yet there is one curse more for us to take off which is our oppression in the world as man to man which eateth out all Christian community and causeth men to lead brutish lives in respect of that life they should continue in under him which is our life Now this outward curse being so inordinate amongst us that I think men and ministers be all inherently accursed that they cannot neither will they see the evill of an oppressing State which canseth all to be out of order Now God hath taken off three curses from of man which we could not have done by our selves the fourth is left to man or mens power that they should thorowly purge the world of all transgression and of every cursed thing behold all your affaires are left upon the record of your consciences
DENUS PETITION To the Lord General CROMWELL WITH His Protestation and Engagement ALSO His Description of the House of God and Original Priesthood Whereunto is annexed The Ministerial Duty And the Personal Reign of the Saints LONDON Printed for R. H. MDCLI To the Right Honourable OLIVER Lord CROMWEL The humble Petition and supplication of me poor Denus THese are to certifie your Highnesse hoping that with all moderation you will be pleased to condescend so low as to behold and peruse my message from God It is not an Army or an arm of flesh but the power of God that deâ—ndeth you he is the Lord to whom all the powers of the earth shall stoop and throw down their Crowns and all their outward honour For at his appearing man ought not to ascribe or Image out to himself the name Lord or in any graven substance for now he reigneth King upon his Throne since the 13 14 dayes of April last past issuing 1650. being Easter day and the day before called the Jewes Saturday and I Denus appeared to make known the day of the Lord and his year excepted and this visible Power did first Oriently appear in the City of London by four proclamations being placed in the four Corners of the old Exchange which signifieth a great change of States of Lawes of Governments of Religions of Merchandize of Priests of Opinions and a change of every Condition Sir it is in your power to do good Oh that you would see the end of your Work and highest enjoyments there be many refreshments which be Ensigns of Gods Love but none so precious as this which is to live in God I hope you strive not for honour nor yet for any outward preheminence but onely for the glory of Christ and primitive purity if you have any by-end below him it will not prosper for that which is of God will stand when all other things will decay I hope your End is to reduce and to bring all things unto their former Original to heal and restore the breaches then you shall be called the Restorer of places to dwell in Now this your preheminence is to the Work of God and consider it I pray you It is a cursed thing to do Gods work slightly and an honourable thing to appear for Christ in case of greatest danger You have been prosperous God was and is your defence Lord say ride on and prosper Your Army is his Battel Ax and should destroy humane powers fully to maintain Christ's power for other powers I know none that shall stand before him Now that you would please to stand up for a free Nation according to promises made to our Commonalty and not onely for reformation but for restoration the one without the other is not available therefore that it may please you to see the great Oppressions among us which be so inhumane and savage that so violently they spoil and eat out the heart of our Canaan and destroy a good Land Oh that you would stand up to help the poor of this Nation and where you find great Parsonages where the Diviners have and â—njoy too much that some of it might be distributed in the same places Oh that you would please to impropriate to them I mean the helplesse and distrâ—ssed of our Nation and that you would take in consideration to do good with all impropriations and deal with the Butcher Townes according to their deserts but questionlesse they will say we or our fathers have bought them with our money It may be so but whence did Tythes arise Though Aaron the Priest paid Tythes of all to Melchizedeck meaning his whole Substance was liable to Christ having neither end nor beginning Or can you shew the lawful buying of tythes if the Minister possesseth them not why should great men hold them for ought we know they are proper to the poor of such places and for Gods house The holy Scriptures adde to this purpose by an allusion to the Church as he saith elsewhere That ye do to any of those little ones ye do it to me and these things keeping away are but Robbing his house of common Rites I pray you what tythes were given in the Apostles time those Ministers could not be so proud nor their wives neither Or what impropriations or Church-Robbers without Judas was one Or which were the best of them that sold the Church Rites or them that bought them They may both run in one chanel for they neither bought nor sold their own nor can they lawfully hold the tythes from the poor and house of God for God may well say Why do ye rob me in Tythes and offerings You shall not keep my Feast of Tabernacles nor come into my rest or inward Courts There be many other dishonourable over-ruling evills in our Nation which you may please to vindicate to the Parliament that there might be a redressement by a restoring power which may be very comfortable to our state and in so doing God may be fully seen in your work and will answer your desires It were good if the poor of every Parish could have what helps might be within their own Liberties as Commons and ancient enjoyments Our Parliament might see this God seeth it and saith their Captivity shall return it is onely meant the captivity of the poor for the rich be not in that Snare but in a more deep and dangerouâ— condition The poor cry and are sent empty away but the Rich shall have many places and this will be a fire-brand in some of their consciences when they shall remember and so be shut out from the enjoyment of God for he can as well give comfort to the poor in their affliction and give others hell in their great possessions for at the end every foundation shall stand upon their own bottome I cannot but declare the things of God Further your poor petitioner intreateth you to take into your consideration the abusess of all Common Destroyers of our good Common wealth or well being It hath formerly been when a dear year hath come the poor have paid for it but now we cannot find it so others will pay for it before them we have so many that do ingrosse priviledges and are loth that the rust of their money should not be a witnesse against them therefore they buy whole Lordships though the earth be the Lords and not theirs yet they can make it their own from men untill the Lord blow upon it thus they build Babylon to their hearts desire which must suddenly fall There be many other great offenders which keep up and imprison plenty hoarding up many hundred Quarters of Corne buying it contrary to the Will of the Lord and so eat out the heart and name of plenty to ingrosse as they do We have some Badgerly Woolves that will come between the ficle and the sythe saying I will give thus much or such a Rate for Corn all the year about and thus they
is the plaintiffe may speak out of envy being his own cause he can be no witnesse for himself which sheweth your lawes are unjust and shall not stand and your Judges and Lawyers may restore there be three sorts of theft one is an incorrigible wicked theef that will do it come life come death many times out of envy to his brother or his neighbour this is a thief with a witnesse the second is a covetous theef which stealeth to enrich himself these are both of an high nature The third is a thief of necessity being miserable poor and wanting it is a saying amongst us that hunger breaks the stone walls we see poverty causeth extremity and extremity causeth necessity and necessity hath no law in case of conscience yet we cannot justifie the sin of theft and putting all into Gods hand is to say The Earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof What art thou O man to controverce with God! are thy goods thine own or the Lords they were his before they were thine and thoâ—â—anst not deny it for all blessings proceed from God and they are and were from him before they were thine and if thou beest not a godly person thou enjoyest that which is not thine own and then thou art but a usurper and worse in Gods account then the poor theef that stole for need then let as put this in as a caveat and let us consider it is enough to suffer need and want and not to suffer death too There be many other things which trouble Power and State which to relate I cannot have time now winding up with our Saviour and his disciples in case of necessity they plucked the eares of Corn and being reproved by the Pharisees Christ said Remember David when he an hungred how he was took of the shâ—w-bread and did eat The House of God and Original Priesthood THe reason of my writing is for an establishment of Gods House upon the old foundation by a pattern from our Father Abraham and by an offering to Christ so long before his appearing in the flesh This Original act was for Gods house dues saying Thou shalt bring the first fruits of all thy land into the house of the Lord thy God Which had an allusion to the tythes or tenths of their substance which was a gift to the Altar of God for the poor in his house And I cannot find but such Ministers as take away Church Rights be guilty of the sin of Sacriledge in robbing Gods House Blessed Abraham in the 14 of Genesis paid tythe of all to the Lord under the name of Melchizedeck but now our Ministers have eat up that ordinance and taken those benefits to themselves blinding the people and to that the Lord complaineth Malachi the 3. saying Ye have robbed me in tythes and offerings bring the Tythes into my storehouse In the Apostles time they did not onely keep up Gods house but they sold their possessions and brought it to all the Apostles feet yet now if Gods house were restored it might be good to the Common wealth of Israel The Lord saith Hagg. 1.4 Ye go to your seiled houses but my house lyeth desolate and ye Ministers know this if ye bring not Tythes into Gods house as Abraham did so must ye do if ye do not then God shall destroy your Temples built with stone Now these priviledges of Gods house are very ancient though for gotten yet in the more later times of the Gospel the people did minister to the Lord of their substance as you may find in Luke 8. by Joanna and Susanna and all the Apostles did minister unto him out of their treasury which sheweth God had a house whatever our Ministers have done with it and truly if women could do their duty to Gods house it is a shame for men and Ministers to Omit their service to his house custome to whom custome belongeth Let us pay our vowes to the Lords house in all the peoples sight for now he will sit to purifie the sons of Levi and will purge Jerusalem from her blood and will come near you in Judgment Malachi 3.9 And my brethren take heed God is angry with you in that you have destroyed the offering of his Temple I do not mean an offering of Bullocks and Goats nor any such thing moral or Mosaical but to do all to the ancient Order of Melchizedeck which is Christ the Mediatour of a new Covenant by his eternal Priesthood which was and is a more higher Priesthood then yours Abraham payed Tythes of all to Christ long before any Law was and it is an Order upon record to Gods house that cannot be denyed and it shall destroy all carnal Covenants or mens ordinances which endure but from man to man but this of our Saviour is and shall be for an endlesse life ye shall keep the charge of the Sunctuary and of the Altar that there be no wrath any more upon the house of Israel Now ye Ministers I am to summon you to perform your great Offering which you cannot deny Numb 18.28 Ye shall offer up unto the Lord your Heave-offering of Tythes which ye receive of the people Now as Aaron offered up toe Levites so must ye to Gods House to settle them in their ancient place and so bring again the Captivity of that Ordinance so that all Priests Levites and Ministers must all consecrate the gifts of Tythes unto the Lord and his House And ye Ministers for changing these Ordinances ye be included under the seventh Vial of Gods wrath poured out upon the beast Revel 16.17 declareth a voyce out of the Temple of God saying It is done Now in the mystery of the Vials pouring forth the Decree of God was finished though all things not yet effected which time were to bring forth and now is revealed upon the beast which is the great plague of the world that we lye under which is seven Ordinances or Vials of his wrath whereof this curse hath been poured out upon all and not onely a curse but a curse under these seven Ordinances which Jew and Gentile hath not as yet made up these seven breaches of unity which is a full standing up for Gospel Truths which being thus omitted by Minister and people causeth him to complain saying What are those wounds in thine hand then he said unto me They were those wherewith I was wounded in the house of my friend So that it grieved God to see prophanenesse both in priest and people saying I took my staffe beauty and cut it in sunder that I might break my Covenant made with Jacob. Now when the Lord shall cut asunder the other staffe bonds which is now among us then all your prison gates shall be open and there shall be a standing up for the eternal Priesthood in every Nation Zach. 11.3 there is an howling of the shepherds for their glory is spoyled verse the 15. he saith Take to thy self the instruments of a foolish