First it teacheth its Members to Swear and again gives Absolutions to remit them of their Oath if she think fit and both must be reckoned infallible and them that are your Enemies instead of praying for them you Curse them and instead of doing good to them you Hate them and stir up all your strength against them to Destroy them instead of Convincing of them in love and sound Judgment Instance the dayes of King John and divers other Princes which felt your Fury and Wrath and also Frederick the Emperour after he was Interdicted was made to go to Rome before the Popes Palace and to stand bare Foot and bare Leg with his Wife and Children two or three dayes in Winter waiting for Peter's Successor his Absolution But it may be thou wilt say this was in love to them and in Charity to their Souls but let all unbyassed Spirits judge and whether have not you when you have been the strongest party made force Violence and success your greatest engin and plea to plead with all Nations whatsoever People that dissented from you either in matter or form instance Germany Bohemia Moravia and divers other Kingdoms and Provinces besides the Indians in America which you Destroyed chiefly for their Gold and Treasure under this pretence that they were Infidels and forced a Faith upon some and a belief by the violence of your Cruelty and Swords which made the Noble Man of India say he had rather go to Hell with the Infidels of America as you call them then to Heaven with the Spainards so cruel a People Members of your Catholick Church What might I speak of the King of Castile against the poor Moors of Grandia who were put to cruel Torments by force and violence which is a Reproach upon this sort of Christianity unto this day And what Persecution was raised against the Pyedmount Christians by the force of this infallible Judge falsly so called and what Massacres in France and also in Ireland in latter Years propagated by the Popes Nuncio a chief Embassadour from the Roman Sea to carry on that design to root out the Hereticks what destruction of People in a most Barbarous Inhuman preposterous and prodigious Cruelty some killed in their Beds some knocked in the Head like Oxen some stripped naked in cold Winter and bereaved of all their Enjoyments and driven as Sheep naked to the Shambles and at last driven by scores into Lakes and Rivers and drowned some Burned alive in their Houses some tender Woman strangled in Childbed and their tender Infants taken from their Mothers Breasts and tossed upon Spears points and to my knowledge license and Pardons given and sent from Rome to divers of their Emissaries there that it should be lawful for any Servant or Catholick bondman to Steal waste and Purloyn their Masters Goods if Hereticks for the weakening and disenabling of them to resist the Roman Enterprise begun these things and many more are legible in Bloody Characters which I hope this Generation will not easily blot out of their Memories so as to commit all Faith all Hope all Religion and all infallibility and Judgment to such a degenerated Generation as R. E. would have us do and with such Audaciousness is not ashamed to blow his Trumpets as in the head of an Host to animate and encourage all to come to this Black Standard for protection and direction Judgment certainty and infallibility under no less then pain of Damnation and why but because Peter was sometime Bishop of Rome as they say and had given unto him the Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever he bound on Earth was bound in Heaven and whatsoever he loosed in Earth was loosed in Heaven and because Christ said giving an Answer to Peters's Faith upon this Rock I will build my Church therefore all the Bishops and Popes as heirs apparent succeed him in laying claim to headship and do none of his Office nor none of his Work and this foolish foppery and private interpretation hath been put off at a very great rate for Catholick Doctrine which brings to my mind a pleasant Story I have some time read of a certain poor Man meeting a certain Bishop at a certain time in great Pomp and Glory which the poor Man beholding took up a Laughter and being enquired of by the Bishop wherefore be laughed said he That Peter should be such a Fool as to live such a poor miserable Life as he did and Persecuted in the World and to leave his Successors so Rich to inherit such Pomp and Glory With that the Bishop replyed and said Thou fool I am not in this Glory as I am Bishop of such a place but as I am Duke of such a place at that the man smiled again and said When the Duke was in Hell for his Pride where then would the Bishop be But to let this pass I am sure them that lay claim to be Peters Successors as to Patrimony and Riches which he was never endowed with for sometime he said Silver or Gold have I none but do little of his Work in Converting of Souls or feeding of the Flock of Christ and do lay claim unto his Priviledge and Power but will not come near him in doctrine labour and Suffering for his Members and therefore I say to thee in thy own Words lay aside thy Folly with the consequences of it as destructive to the Church of God to hang all their Faith upon such uncertainties but even to human societies which I have mentioned and might instance more but that I would not be too tedious to the Reader Lastly Yes some have some other Testimony by which Spirits are tryed and may be tryed to be of God otherwise then by Force carnal Sword a strong Party or Success that 's thy own and not ours we have the holy Unction which is poured forth whereby the Saints knew all things and tryed the Spirits whether they were of God or no and he that confesseth not that Christ is come in the Flesh is Anti-christ and he that confesseth that Christ is come in the Flesh only in Word and because others have said so and doth not witness Sin condemned in the Flesh and turned from and to have Power over it the same is a false Witness and is an Anti christ also and also we have other Things to try Spirits by we know a proud angry hasty perverse Spirit is not the Spirit of God a persecuting lording Spirit is not the Spirit of God and again they that teach a contrary Doctrine to the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles they have the Spirit of Error again they whose Practice and Conversation is not suitable to the Practice and Conversations of Christ and the Apostles and primitive Christians that they are in the Spirit of Error again they that would force a Faith by any human Constitution or Law which is repugnant to the Law of God or by Force of the Sword or any carnal
for if thou dost thou shalt be as Dust before the Wind the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it and he will perform his Promise For this is that I look for at thy Hands saith the Lord that thou shouldst undo the heavy Burdens and let the oppressed go free are not many shut up in prison and some stocked some stoned some shamefully intreated and some are judged Blasphemers by those who know not the Lord and by those Laws which have been made by the VVill of man and stand not in the Will of God and some suffer now because they cannot hold up the types and so deny Christ come in the flesh and some have been shut up in Prison because they could not swear and because they abide in the Doctrine of Christ and some for declaring against Sin openly in Markets have suffered as evil-doers and now if thou let them suffer in this Nature by those Laws and count it just I will visit for those things saith the Lord and I vvill break the Yoke from off their necks and I vvill bring Deliverance another VVay and thou shalt knovv that I am the Lord. Moved of the Lord to declare and write this by a Servant of the Truth for Jesus's sake and a Lover of thy Soul called Francis Howgil AN ANSVVER TO A PAPER CALLED A Petition of one Thomas Ellyson late Shepherd of Easington in the County of Durham to his Highness the Lord Protector of England Scotland and Ireland and to all Emperors Kings and Princes through the World THere are many in the County of Durham that knovv that thou hast been a Shepherd lately enough and see thee vvhat thou hast been and vvhere thou hast been and vvhere thou art novv and knovv thee to be one in Nature vvith those Shepherds vvhich the Lord sent Ezekiel Isaiah and Jeremiah to cry against vvho feed themselves vvith the Fat and clothe themselves vvith the Wooll and that thou art one of those Shepherds that cares not for the Sheep and art in the Nature of one of those Shepherds vvhich the true Prophets cryed against vvhich vvere as Evening Wolves and as Foxes in the Desart And for the simples sake I am moved to lay open thy Deceit that thou art one of those Foxes thou speakest of vvhich hath Fire in their Tails and thou art made manifest to be of old Cain's Nature that old murthering Spirit and vvith thy flattering Titles which thou givest unto Men and hast Mens Persons in Admiration because of Advantage and thou art born after the Flesh the Son of the bond-vvoman vvho art petitioning to me that they may abuse their Povver and exalt themselves over the Heritage of God and thou that vvouldst have Lavvs to bind the Consciences of men to walk after thy Will thou art Anti-christ vvho art petitioning the Povvers of the Earth to make Lavvs to limit the Holy One of Israel But blessed be the Lord the Day is come that thou and all Deceivers Persecutors and Flatterers are discovered and many see thee among Magistrates that thy Spirit is the same that vvould command Fire to come dovvn from Heaven to have destroyed them vvho vvould not receive them First Thou sayest That Moses who was a Commander over all Israel that he was appointed to bear the People in his Bosome as a nursing Father and thou say'st thou art a Cryer for the Remembrance of those things that all might be carryed in their Arms now and thou goest on and tellest them that God will require the Government of his Church at their Hands Rep. Moses vvho vvas faithful and true over the House of God vvho vvas a Figure of Christ he did receive the Lavv from the mouth of the Lord he acted in Righteousness and vvhen Eldad and Madad prophesied he vvas not angry as thou art but desired that all the Lord's People vvere Prophets and all vvho vvait upon the Lord to receive the Lavv of God from his mouth novv and vvalk in the same they have the same Spirit and they vvill not limit the holy One But thy Cry that thou callest for is that thou would'st have them who are in Moses 's stead as thou say'st they are for to limit the Holy One and thou art the Deceiver the Apostle speaks of vvhich art gone into the World vvho vvould'st persvvade the Magistrates that they must govern the Church and so thou vvould'st have this Generation of Rulers to be dashed in Pieces as all the Generations have been before them in exalting themselves in the Seat of Christ when as the Prophet saith The Government is upon Christ's Shoulders and the Scripture saith He alone treads the Wine-press And therefore whosoever will assume unto themselves to govern the Church by an outward visible carnal Law shall be as sure to be broken as all the rest The Church is in God and is invisible and that which is visible and natural cannot make any Law to bind that which is unlimited but they if they do go about to limit the Holy One of Israel and would set themselves in his Seat of Judgment and take away his Glory which he will not give to any and all such as have made any Laws in their own Wills to limit Sons and Daughters they have all been broken as the Scripture witnesseth every where and therefore let all Governours in England Scotland and Ireland and all the World to whom thou writest take heed how they set themselves in the room of God and lay Yoaks upon the Necks of them who are free by the Son and are brought by the Power of the Lord from under the Breach of all righteous Laws or transgressing any which are holy and just for the Law is for the lawless the Law is not for them who are in Righteousness but the Law is for the Transgressors who are in Unrighteousness and they are those that act by that Spirit which dwells in thee who would levy Troops for the Innocent and art vvroth and thy Countenance falls like Cain and hates thy Brethren and would have a Lavv made over the Conscience and vvould have the Povvers of the Earth to abuse their Povver in turning their Svvords against them vvho live in Righteousness and declare against Unrighteousness And further thou goest on and tellest them This was a Law given to Adam and so thou pervertest the Scripture by thy Imaginations Where readest thou of such a Lavv given to Adam that he compelled his Family to Religion And further thou sayest Which Care of Government is in great neglect in this Nation upon respect to tender Consciences sundry Sects and Sorts of Schismaticks are suffered unsuppressed and they sacrifice to Dan and Bethel And thou goest on and tellest the Nobles that it lies upon their score that they should suppress them Answ. That vvhich vvas given to a particular Family or People vvhich vvas for its time is not everlasting So any that take up any Rule vvithout them to act by act not by Precept but
freely to the Throne of Grace and are accepted in him who is the Condemnation of all the World who hate the Light but your Life the Light of the World God blessed forever and ever And all you Fathers and Elders and honourable women who are not a few whose Bones and Sinews are filled with Marrow and Fatness who wait at the Altar of the Lord and know the Mercy-seat which hath overshadowed you and the golden Vessel in which is the hidden Manna by which all the Children of the Lord are fed round the Table of the Lord out of the Everlasting Treasure-house of my Father VVatch over the Flock of Christ Jesus in every Place and Region and Quarter where the Lord hath set you and govern them in all Wisdom and Righteousness that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ may be adorned and take Care of them willingly knowing this the Lord requires of you and hath called you unto and to nourish the Plants and the young Ones and the Babes and that every one may know their place and watch and instruct in all Wisdom and correct and reprove in the Name and Power of our Lord Jesus that no rebellious nor sloathful may grow up nor be harboured among you but all in Diligence may be kept in the Fear of the Lord in their places that the Gospel of Christ Jesus be not evil spoken of nor the Heathen blaspheme And therefore my dear Brethren be diligent in the Work of the Lord so much the more as you see the Day is approached and the Harvest is great and the Vineyard of the Lord is great and large and but few Labourers yea the Lord is enlarging his Borders and spreading forth his everlasting Truth and stretching forth his eternal Arm over the Nations and opening the treasures of Heaven and bringing Rain out of his Treasury to water the Earth that hath been parched and dry and to make his Plants to grow And so all wait that you may see the power and presence of the Lord in all your Assemblies and see that there be no Strife nor Contention nor Exaltation amongst you but all in meekness and quietness and long-suffering and forbearance even as the Lord hath spared and forborn you one submitting unto another even as you have heard and received when the Word of the Lord came first unto you and he that will be the greatest shall be the least but all in meekness and lowliness of Mind serve one another in Love even as you have received and the everlasting God of Life and Power be with you all and make you grow in the living power and virtue of God to order all things in his Wisdom as good Stewards of the manifold Mercies of the Lord which you are made partakers of that he alone may be glorified throughout all the Churches of Christ Jesus every where And to you my dear Brethren Fellow-Labourers to whom the Word of Reconciliation is committed are in the Work and Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and are made partakers of the everlasting Gospel of peace which unto you is given to declare Lift up your Voices blow the Trumpet sound an Alarm out of the holy Mountain proclaim the acceptable Year and the Day of Vengeance of our God gird on your Sword upon your Loins put on the tryed Armour and follow him forever who rides upon the white Horse and is clothed with the same whâ— makes War in Righteousness Ride on ride on my beloved Brethren and Fellow-Souldiers make all plain before you thresh on with the new threshing Instrument which hath Teeth beat the Mountainâ— to Dust and let the Breath of the Lord scatter it make the Heathen tremble and the Uncircumcised fall by the Sword the Lord of Hosts is with us and goes before us Spare none neither Ox nor Ass neither old nor young Kill cut off destroy bathe your Sword in the Blood of Amaleck and all the Egyptians and Philistines and all the Uncircumcised and hew Agag to pieces break the Rocks cut down the Cedars and strong Oaks make the Devils subject cast out the unclean Spirits raise the Dead shut up in Prison bring out of Prison cast in your Nets lanch into the deep divide the Fish gather the good into Vessels cast the bad away bind the Tares in Bundles cast them into the Fire the Angel with his sharp Sickle is come the Angel of the everlasting Covenant is come thrust in your Sickles reap the Earth the Word of God is come that divides let all Flesh keep Silence divide the Word rightly feed the Lambs and Babes fill the hungry stop the Lyons Mouthes feed the fat and the strong with Plagues and Judgments declare his Name publish his eternal Truth which shall stand forever Eternal Life is come Glory to him forever silence all Disputers and Diviners forever trample upon all the Chaff Dung and Mire forever which all the Wisdom of the World feeds upon Greater is he that is in us then he that is in the World Oh my beloved Ones although I am the lowest and weakest among many of my Brethren yet the eternal Power of God is my Shield forever the Lord of Hosts is with us there is a Crown which none can take away to all who have denyed all yea it is on our Heads the Dread of God is with us And truly dear Brethren we cannot say that we fished and catched nothing for many Vessels are full nor we have not travailed and laboured and brought forth Wind as the false Prophets do for we have the Seals of our Ministry which shall be Witnesses for the Lord in Generations to come Not unto us O Lord but to thy Name be Glory forever who hath done and doth all for us and in us who is our Strength our Glory our Crown of Rejoycing all the Day long for his hidden Treasure is brought forth and made manifest in earthen Vessels unto him be eternal living Praises forever And so all dear Brethren Members of the same Body of Christ Jesus by which we are set free from Sin in the Liberty Life and Power in which you are made free stand as Witnesses for the Lamb and for the holy Nation for the royal Seed of the true Israel of God that it may be brought out of Captivity to serve the Lord in the Land of the living and the eternal God of Power and Life of endless rich Love and Mercy be with you all and prosper his own Work in your Hands that he alone may be glorified unto whom be eternal infinite Praises who is our Life our King God blessed forever and ever And to you all my dear Brethren and Sisters who suffer in Bonds and Prisons and Dens and Holes and suffer the Enemy to plow-long Furrows upon your Backs in Patience and suffer stocking whipping buffeting beating and cruel Mocking and Stripes and Chains and Fetters whom the World is not worthy of even as they did unto our Master of
Meekness that the still Voice you may hear which till you come down within you cannot hear for the loud Voices of the Egyptians and Inchanters are so many and Pharaoh's Voice and Herod's is so loud and you whose Minds are abroad you thinks as they thought it 's the Voice of God but I say be still he shall not cry nor lift up his Voice in the Streets who you must hearken unto in you that your Souls may live and so be low and still if you will hear his Voice and wait to hear that speak that separates betwixt the precious and the vile now that which you must wait in is near you yea in you the Eye that seeth and the Ear that heareth that is of the Lord for that which is visible is natural and carnal and the natural Ear cannot hear the Word of the spiritual God for that which hearkens without that Ear must be deaf and that Eye blind Now that which reveals the pure spiritual God must be in you pure and spiritual For none knows the Things of God but by the Spirit of God and doth not his Spirit bear Witness alwayes unto their Spirits and doth it not so now to all that know him So in the Light wait which comes from God who is Light and dwells in the Immortal Light which the mortal Eye cannot behold and it will lead you to know Christ who is Immortal and not carnal but spiritual and eternal and as you love the Light and keep your Minds inward then you will hear the Motion of Christ Jesus in you and so loving it the Good you will come to see from God which will lead out of Sin and sanctifie you and the acceptable Year you will see and the Day of Vengeance and this is he whom the Father hath given for a Covenant to bring Man out of the Alienation to himself again and to reconcile man unto himself even by the Blood of the Cross and he who is the Light is the Covenant and he who is the Covenant is the Light for they are one in him and this Covenant of Peace is tendered unto you who are afar off and herein is the eternal Love of God made manifest to the Jew and the Greek and the Life of his Son to be the Light of the World and of men and so in the Covenant of Life abide and you will see he is near you the Peace-maker the Gift of God which presents you perfect in himself to the Father and this Gift is free and offered freely to all that will receive it and yet you cannot receive the Gift in your own Wills but through the DENYAL OF YOUR OWN WILLS for the Light is contrary to the Will and so you will see the Will of the earthly man and God's Will contrary and as you receive the Will of God you deny your own Wills and so do the Will of another and another guides you and leads you and this is God's alone Work not of your selves but wrought by Christ in his own Way and Truth and so the Covenant of God comes to be established to the Seed and the Foundation stands sure and his Promise is fulfilled in you as you come to witness the Seed which is one in whom the Promise is fulfilled And Friends thus must you wait to have Judgment set up within you and this is he who is the Judge and the Light of the World and so wait to see the Law set up within which is added because of Transgression to cut down and the unjust destroyed in you and the rebellious Nature yoaked which hath had its Liberty in the earthly where the Beasts of the Field dwell and so it will come to decay and the Law works Wrath upon the Deceit in you which hath had the Preheminence and so you will see the Thunder as the Seal is opened and the Earthquakes and Lightning insomuch as you cannot behold and live but the Transgressor and the Transgression which is contrary to the Law is cut down and when there is a Time of great Sorrow and great Trouble and Tryal and Temptation wait in Patience in the Judgment and let the Lord's Work have its perfect Operation in you and so as you turn unto him that hath smitten and wounded you he will bind up and heal and give up all to the great Slaughter of the Lord unto the Cross all that which is discovered by the pure Law of God and as the Earth comes to be plowed up the Seed which is sown comes up and the Rocks broken the Water gusheth out and so you will see some Promises will arise in you to the Seed which is comming up out of the Grave and so the Love of God will appear in you and you will be stayed and see Hope in the midst of Calamity Then take heed that the Serpent get not that which is to the Babe and so the carnal come to be exalted but as you wait you will see the Subtilty of the Enemy and Sin and Death rules till Moses who was a faithful Servant in his House and brings to the Law of God revealed in you then Sin comes to be crucified and to loose its Dominion over you and in you and so you will see one brought forth under the Law who fulfilled the Law and now fulfils it in all those who walk after him in the Spirit and fulfil not the Desires of the Flesh and wait and you will see some Prophecies opened in you and the Day-star in your Hearts which leads to where Christ is and Openings of the Inheritance which is to be received and the Promise is to the Seed And all wait in the Light and keep in your Minds to it and you will see John's Ministry the Water which washeth and he is the Preparer of the Way and turn to God lest he smite the Earth with a Curse and his Ministry breaks down the Mountains and removes them and makes a plain Way and your Minds being turned to the Lord and as you own the Gift of Christ given you Repentance you will see unto Life and then you will see something arising and shine in you opening your Hearts and there will be a Breathing after the Lord and his Righteousness and standing in Obedience in the Cross the Vail you will see rent and you will see him that hath turned you from Sin by his free Gift made manifest in you and he who is the Gift saves you from Sin and so the Seals will be opened by the Angel of the Covenant and the Lamb So all in Patience wait and keep in the living Principle of Life and things will open in you even the dark Sayings of old and that which spake Parables to the Serpent's Seed will open the Parables to his own Seed then you will see him whom you have pierced even the Lamb who hath been slain since the Foundation of the World and your Hearts will be broken and Water will gush out of
Dragon had Power He that was in the Spirit saw him alive again after he was caught up so he that is in the Spirit now on the Lord's Day sees the same man-child who was brought forth by the Woman who was to rule the Natâ—ons but was caught up to the Throne of God before he came to rule and then the Dragon ruled the Beasts and false Prophet the Whore the Mother of Harlots sate as a Queen and the Woman the Mother of the Heir fled into an obscure and a retired Place and was hid times and dayes as I said before but as she appeared again in Beauty so the man child the Heir he appears also in Glory Majesty and Power and John saw him Rev. 19.11 12 13 14 15 16. And I saw Heaven opened and behold a white Horse and he that sate upon him was called faithful and true and he doth judge and make War in Righteousness his Eyes were as a Flame of Fire on his Head were many Crowns and he had a Name written that none knew but himself and he was clothed with a Vesture dipped in Blood and his Name is called the VVord of God And now the Woman's Seed is increased again after the Dragon and the Beast's War and now they become an Army and follow the Lamb their Leader who is anointed with Honour Glory Majesty and Renown Strength Power Wisdom Joy and Gladness above all his Fellows yet his Followers are anointed too and the Seed of the Woman the Inhabitants of the City of the great King they are clothed with the same Garment and Armour and ride on in Power Strength and Majesty after him and they are clothed and shall be with the Garment of their Mother and the Garment of their Captain their Head and as he rode on in Innocency so they ride on after him and the Woman was in Heaven that travailed and the Child was born there though he was to rule the Nations of the Earth and so whoso are of this Woman's Seed who are born in the City of the great King Jerusalem unto which the Hebrews were come Heb. 12.22 before the Apostacy before the Woman fled so now the same City comes to be seen again and the Children are born of their Mother the Lamb's Wife who is joyned to him and is to be so forever in the everlasting Covenant so they being heavenly Children redeemed from the Earth from under the Dragon's Power they follow the Lamb the Word God's Power Rev. 19.14 And the Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white Horses clothed in fine Linnen white and clean and out of his Mouth goes a sharp Sword and with it he shall smite the Nations And now comes he to rule them with a Rod of Iron he was brought forth long before but was caught up to God again and the Dragon Beast and Whore and false Prophet ruled the Nations and killed the Saints but now he appears again after the Apostacy and a great Host with him and the Woman also and her Children are many and they all follow the first born and now comes the Wo to the Dragon and Whore Beast and false Prophets and unclean Spirits and on them that worship Devils and now shall he tread the VVine-press of the VVrath of God Almighty and he hath on his Vesture and on his Thigh written King of Kings and Lord of Lords And now appears an Anâ—el standing in the Sun which the VVoman was clothed with and he cryed with a loud Voice saying to all the Fowls that fly in the midst of Heaven come and gather to the Supper of the great Day of God and now must the Flesh of the Kings and Captains and Nobles and Flesh of mighty men who had drunk the Whores Cup now must drink of the Wine of God's Wrath And the Beast and the Kings of the Earth and their Armies gathered together to make VVar against him that sate on the white Horse and his Army and the Beast was taken and with him the false Prophet that wrought Miracles before him and the remnant were slaâ—n that took Part with the Beast by him that sate upon the horse and his Army whose Sword proceeded out of hâ—â— Mouth and all the Fowls were filled with their Flesh the Whore is burnt before the Beast the false Prophet and his Army now slain and their Flesh eaten by the Fowls of Heaven and now the Blood comes forth to the Horse Bridles And now the Angel descends having the Key of the bottomless Pit from whence the old Dragon the Serpent the red Dragon the Devil came there is his Beginning there was he brought forth and there he grew up he that reads let him understand out of the bottomless Pit for the Nations were never deceived till he appeared and he appeared as I have said before after the Heaven and the Earth was made and all things therein I say after he was not before he deceived Eve in the Garden now he is grown old and so is truly called the old Dragon grown into a Body of Deceit well now must he be taken and bound and cast into the bottomless Pit from whence he came that he deceive the Nations no more Rev. 20.1 2. and all this War is in the bringing out of the Apostacy and in Order to the Lamb and the Saints everlasting Reign in Heaven and over the Earth forever This I have seen and my Heart rejoyceth and my Mouth shall praise the Lord and the Woman I say is appearing and she is cloathed with beautiful Garments and the holy Child the Man child hath appeared and is manifest again among the Saints and in them and the Lamb which hath been slain since the World began is alive and behold he lives for evermore and now many are his Followers and an innumerable Company shall ride on after him who is King of Kings and now is God fulfilling that which John saw in the Lord's Day which should come to pass the Work is begun he hath appeared out of whose Mouth proceeds the two-edged Sword which shall hew down all the Dragon's Army the Beast and his Followers and though the Cry be yet among many who shall make war with the Beast and who shall speak against his Prophets Yet a little while and Fear shall come and their Vaunts and Boasts shall be turned into Doubting and dreadful Fear on every Side for Jacob shall be as a Flame and Esau and all his Race shall be as Stubble he that reads let him understand the Wisdom of God in a Mystery and the whole Work of the Lord which shall shortly come to pass The Manifestation of God's Glory shall be as great after the Apostacy as ever it was in any Age before the Rise of Anti-christ and the Ministration into which them that follow the Lamb shall be brought shall be as spiritual holy caelestial and divine as ever was before for the End of all your outward visible Appearances shall come which
in Heresie in Schism so that there is an absolute Defection from the Life and Power of God which was manifested in the Apostles dayes and therefore the Church of Rome is not the true Church What I have said as to the Doctrines and Grounds which have been laid down by the Author I shall refer it and the Answer unto God's Witness in every Man's Conscience and if I hear any more of the Author his great Boasts or ambitious Challenges which may reach to all that do dissent from the Church of Rome as to be Hereticks I shall engage in the Strength of the Lord to vindicate the Truth however opposed and shall further if God permit be ready to give a more large and full answer unto the Doctrines and Practices and Worship of the Church of Rome and prove them to be contrary to the Scriptures and the Apostolick Doctrine and the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints So in what I have said I hope may convince the Author of his vain Assertions and them that are enclined towards Babylon it may put a Stop to that which would too readily close with every thing which goes under the Name of Antiquity But in what I have said upon the whole Matter I hope will be sufficient unto all who read with a single Eye without Prejudice and unto such I say the Lord give them an Understanding that they see and discern the Way which leadeth to Life and Felicity from that which leadeth to the Chambers of Death and the Pathes that take hold on Destruction A GENERAL EPISTLE TO THE Seed of God DEar Friends every where who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ and called with an holy Calling to the great Salvation of God which is manifest in this the Day of his Power keep your first Love and let not the Threats of Men neither the Browns of the World affright you from that which you have prized more then all the World now the Sun is up and a time of scorching is come and that which hath not Root will wither now every Ground will be tryed and blessed is the Good that brings forth the Seed which must inherit the Promise Oh let not the Cares of this present Life choak that which God hath begotten and seeing the Lord hath so marvelously wrought for us hitherto in the midst of great Opposition let not your Faith fail nor your Confidence in God who delivered Jacob of old out of his Adversity and Israel out of all his Troubles whose Care is over his People now and having seen the Emptiness of the World and its Way and Worship let nothing blind your Eye again and let not the things present nor things to come separate you from the Love of God in Christ Jesus and mind not them that draw back to Perdition but let it teach you all more Diligence to be as those that press after Glory Immortality and Everlasting Life the Way of God was ever hated by the World and the Powers thereof never heed the rough Spirit nor the heavy for their Bound is set and their Limit known but mind the Seed which hath Dominion over all and forsake not the assembling of your selves together in which you have found God and his Promise and Power amongst you and Blessing your Understandings opened Oh rather suffer all things then let go that which you have believed fâ—r whoso doth will loose the Evidence of God's Spirit in them and their Peace and Joy will be lost the Lord God preserve you all unto the End faithful Your Dear Brother for the Testimony of Jesus F. H. Aâ—â—elby Goal the 10th of the 3d Moneth 1664. A Visitation of Love Peace and Good-will from the Spirit of the Lord sent unto the whole Flock of God now in this their Day of Tryal and Hour of Temptation DEar Friends and Brethren who have been called to believe by the holy calling of the Lord unto Sanctification and Holiness that ye might inherit the Promises of God and that your Souls might live in the Land of the living and partake of his Goodness that you might admire him and praise his Name forever And seeing the Lord out of his rich Love and Mercy hath visited you who sometime sate in the Region of the Shadow of Death and were cast out of his Presence in the time of Unbelief seeing he hath caused his miraculous Light to shine upon you in his gracious Visitation of you and hath given you to believe in his Name prize his Love unto you and let not his gracious Benefits slip out of your Minds lest your Hearts be filled with other things that will corrupt your Hearts and make you an unmeet Habitation for the Lord to dwell in and among Dear Friends hear my Brotherly Admonition and Exhortation for the Lord moved in my Heart to write unto you and in the Bowels of his kind and tender Love and Motion of his heavenly Spirit to stir up your pure Minds and Consciences unto Stedfastness in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and so much the more that you all be watchful seeing the times be perilous for now the Adversary goes about roaring and ravening on the right Hand and on the left to destroy and devour that which God hath brought forth in you that so he might regain you too under his Power and Government and that ye might revolt from the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ that stands in Power and Righteousness which is come and hath been of a Truth manifest in great Glory and this is an Hour the Power of Darkness is let loose to try the Faith and them that dwell upon the Earth and he is let loose for a Season blessed are they that hide themselves under the Shadow of the Almighty and under the Wings of Christ Jesus who is given for a Redeemer a Saviour and a Preserver of Men that the wicked One touch them not and now the Devil rages because he knows his Kingdom is but short and but for a small time is like to stand in many because a stronger then he that rules in the World is come and hath began to dispossess the strong Man and bind him and cast him out and now he rages and stirs up all the Temptations within and without and all his Instruments to joyn with him to make War for him that he might not rule who is the Heir of all things and given for a Leader and to be the Head of the Body his Church in which alone he hath Right to rule because the Lord of the whole Earth yea of Heaven and Earth hath put all Power into his Hands to bind and to lose to bring out of Captivity and to lead Captivity Captive that Life and Immortality might again inhabit in the Sons of Men that Truth and Righteousness might sway that Mercy and Love might sit on the Throne that his Salvation might take hold on the Ends of the Earth and his Power made known