the second Priesthood that took No Tythes and which thou dost deny seeing thou takest Tythes Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou sayest Melchizedeck whose Priesthood was the First Priesthood took Tythes and the Levitical Priesthood which was the second and not the first took Tythes also so that thou sayest there is no Priesthood mentioned in the Scripture that took no Tythes Then thou queriest How thou or any dost deny either of those Priesthoods by taking Tythes which to prove thou quotest Gen. 14. 20. Hebr. 7. 2 3 4 5 c. Rep. Hear thou Serpent Although thou thus twinest about to cover and shelter thy Deceit under other Wings it will not at all serve to prove that thereby thou dost not deny Jesus Christ come in the Flesh who is the Everlasting High Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedeck which is the Unchangeable Priesthood the End of the Changeable which took Tythes and so the End of Tythes as is proved by that Scripture which thou hast quoted Hebr. 7. and chap. 8. 1. wherein the Apostle speaks how Abraham paid Tythes to Melchizedeck of the Spoils which he got in the War which was a Free Gift without either Law or Compulsion neither did stand for a Law or Rule to the Generations following until the Law was given to Israel after the Flesh and the Changeable Priesthood established which I say was the First Priesthood to which Tythes were due for it was so the Command of God that the Tythes should be paid unto the Changeable Priesthood and they were to have a Store-house wherein the Tythes were to be put and the Widdows and the Fatherless and the Strangers were to come and be filled within their Gates that there should not be a Beggar in Israel Which Statute is now rejected by you who now so gape for Tythes for ye instead of doing this do Grind the Faces of the Poor and Oppress the Widdows the Fatherless and the Strangers if they do come within your Bounds and so make Beggars rather then otherwise So that if you profess Tythes by this Law it will witness against you and also in so doing you deny Christ Jesus come in the Flesh who when he was offered up was the Everlasting Offering and the Everlasting High Priest over the Houshold of God and so the Fulfilling and the End of the Changeable who took Tythes by a Command And so saith the Apostle the Priesthood being Changed there must of Necessity be a Change of the Law and so the Command was disannulled and Tythes ended for saith the Apostle Hebr. 8. 1. Now of the things that we have been speaking this is the sum We have such an High Priest that is set on the Right Hand of the Throne c. Now Tythes were one thing and the Priesthood was another thing and the Law by which they both were upheld was another thing of which the Apostle had been speaking of which he saith This is the Sum Christ Jesus the High Priest that is set on the Right Hand of the Throne and so the Fulfilling and the End of these things before-mentioned of which Tythes is one so by this New Covenant he hath made the First Old now that which decayeth or waxeth old is ready to vanish away Now mark then which Priesthood the Apostle here accounts first because thou accusest me that I know not which was the first and which was the last But by this it is proved that you that now so gape for Tythes under the Profession of the Gospel are razed out from Melchizedeck who once took Tythes only of the Spoil which was taken in the War which was a Free Gift unto him which now you have not and also are raized from the Changeable Priesthood which was the first to which Tythes were due by a Command for its time and also do deny Christ come in the Flesh who is the End and Fulfilling of those things which without Command for Lucre sake you now uphold and cry up and so are found only the Ministers of Antichrist who Oppose the True Christ where he is witnessed and heldforth yet under a Profession of his Name therefore he will profess unto you Workers of Iniquity that he knows you not when you knock and are not able to enter Qu. 10. Where is thy Rule in the Scripture for the Ministers of the Gospel to take Tythes Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou much endeavourest to shelter and cover thy self by the Scripture but it will not hide thee nor stand for thee to prove that the Ministers of the Gospel ever took TYTHES or that unto them Tythes belonged as any who readeth thy Answer with Understanding may see and also see thy Shufflings who runn'st into the Old Covenant to maintain Tythes due to the Ministers of the New Covenant which is the End of the Old as in my last Reply is plainly proved and thou out of both to be shut and therefore thou say'st It is sufficient for thee and other Ministers of the Gospel that there is no Commandment in the Gospel against the taking of Tythes which thou say'st we must produce ere we can make the thing unlawful Rep. Now all People may consider how they have been blinded and deceived by you professed Ministers of the Gospel in this Nation wâ—o upon such slender Grounds as these have and do take the Tenth of the Increase of the Fruits of the Peoples Labours who many of them themselves do rent and hire what they have whereby you have and do live at Ease in Pride Idleness and Fulness sporting in the Day time and living in Pleasures and Wantonness upon the Earth contrary to any Rule or Example in the Scripture from the Ministers of the Gospel and therefore this your Ground and Foundation which thou hast here laid besides the Scripture to uphold Tythes contrary to the Scripture will not stand and therefore your Building must fall for although there were no Command in the Gospel against the taking of Tythes yet it doth not prove that the Ministers of the Gospel are to take Tythes being it was never allotted them but that by the Gospel Tythes are disannulled and the Priesthood changed and the Law by which they both were established is fulfilled and done away is clear by the Scripture and therefore unlawful now for any to practise without a Command from God as before is proved in my last Reply and thou to be a Lyar who say'st I could not prove it by clear Scripture that Christ or his Apostles have taken away that Maintenance and therefore that Scripture which thou hast quoted in Mâ—t. 23. 23. shall stand and witness against thee for when Christ spoak that was before he was offered up and then the Law of Tythes was not yet fulfilled and therefore not disanull'd and therefore strictly to be observed until Christ the Everlasting Sacrifice was offered up and then the Apostles said The Priesthood being changed there must of Necessity be a Change
And all you that still pay the Priests Tythes and Offerings and are convinced of the Deceit of the Priests you do deny Jesus Christ the Son of God come in the Flesh who is the Everlasting High Priest the End of Tythes and Offerings according to the Law and do uphold Babel and the Merchants of Babylon and are throwing down with the one Hand and building up with another who cry against the Priests in words as to be proud and covetous and yet put into their Mouthes for a Peace sake with them and so while you put into their Mouthes you Uphold them for their Maintenance Upholds their Ministry And here you flee the Cross and are Men pleasers because you would not suffer for the Truth you profess and therefore are denyed by them that dwell in the Truth But you that for Conscience cannot pay the Priests Tythes keep to that of God which convinces you in your Consciences and it will carry you out to suffer for Conscience sake and so you will have your Peace with God in your Consciences though by Men persecuted Or if you be called to Answer at their high Courts or Benches keeping to the Principle of God in your Consciences you may appear before their Highest Judges and cast Slavish Fear aside and stand in the Fear and Counsel of God and to their Faces Answer for the Truth in Boldness against their Deceit and let the Truth confound them And give up your Bodies freely to suffer for the Truth of Jesus that the Heathen may know That the Truth is in You. And deny all those that receive Fees or Gifts in their Heads and keep to the Counsellor within If any Man wants Wisdom let him ask it of God where you need not go out to Man And all you that give Money to Repair the Idols Temples and are convinced in your Consciences of the Idolatrous Worship that is therein upheld you are guilty with the Idolatrous Worshippers who do uphold their Idolatrous Places and so uphold their Idolatrous Worship and here you cannot wash your Hands of their Idolatry but are defiled with them so long as you Uphold their Idolatrous Places Therefore to the Light bring all your Deeds that by it all such Actions and Practices may be condemned and you separated from the Idolatrous Generation and keep clean from its Polutions and suffer willingly the Spoiling of your Goods for the Name of Jesus And if you be called before Magistrates to take an Oath keep to that which condemns all Oaths which saith Swear not at all but testifie the Truth from your Consciences in the face of all men and so you abide in the Doctrine of Christ and out of the Condemnation for They that Swear fall into Condemnation saith the Apostle James Chap. 5. 11. And though in the Time of the Law and the Prophets on Oath for Confirmation among men then was the End of all Strife but Christ Jesus the Oath of God the Fulfilling and End of the Law and the Prophets saith Swear not at all but let your Yea be Yea and Nay Nay for what is more is Evil And such as stumbles at this Language accounts the Cross Foolishness and is for Death by the Cross And if you be crucified with Christ you shall reign with him And so to the Light in you all I leave you by it to be directed how to walk up to the Mind of God and own the Truth before all men every one of you faithful in your Measures there to grow out of the World and the Deceit of the World to be kept clean from the World in the Fear of the Lord using the World as if you used it not and then are you my Friends and of my Kindred And this I was moved to give forth for the Directing of your Minds lest any of you should be choaked with the World's Spirit which I see working amongst you which would keep Peace and Friendship with the World that by the Light of Christ Jesus where with you are all enlightened you may search out this Worldly Spirit which is in you working against the Light that by the Light it may be rooted out for of a Truth you cannot serve them both but while you are seeking to please the one you displease the other Therefore keep to that which separates from the World for if God be on your side who can be against you In which Confidence I rest in Unity with the Faithful in whom is my Joy and Comfort in the midst of Bonds Written from Colchester Castle in the 9th Moneth 1655. JAMES PARNEL AN EPISTLE TO FRIENDS ALL ye Friends of the Light though we who are your Ministers and Messengers oâ— Light are in Prisons Holes and Dungeons cast and kept by the devilish corrupted will of man suffered by God the Father of Light for the Fulfilling of the Scriptures upon that Gâ—neration which was prophesied of by the Ministers and Messengers or Light in the dayes of old who suffered in the like nature by the same Generation for the same Testimony and though yet the Lord suffers the same Generation to act in their Nature against us and fill up their Measure of Wrath it is for the Manifestation of his Truth and Exalting of his Name of Power and through all this are we known and made manifest unto You who be in the Light and the Heathen do come to know and confess That he is Greater that is with us then all they that rise up against us and in all this do we Rejoyce and through our Sufferings are Crowned and do get Victory over the world without as within And though we are here kept the Lord's appointed Time yet Friends eye the Lord in all these things and look not out at Man or what Man can do either for or against but eye God in all his Works and in all his Instruments and there will be no Cause of Discouragement for the discouragements and fears doubts and questioning spring from the Carnal aâ—d know not the Eternal But an Eternal Witness we have in all your Consciences which by the Word of Power is awakened in you by which we are known by which we are owned by which we are witnessed and received into your Hearts wherein our Unity stands with you who are faithful unto it by which we are remembred unto you though far Absent in Body And this Witness we have in the World though they do not receive it nor like to retain it in their minds therefore they do not receive us but as the witness lies slain in them therefore do they strive to slay us and this is their Condemnation which will witness unto God against them out of their own Mouthes And thus we are a sweet Savour unto God both in you that Believe and in them that Perish Therefore you that do believe unto this Witness â—ake heed and mind its Answer in Your Câ—nsciences that it may Your Consciences exercise in Unity unto
make many Prayers I will not hearken your Hands are full of Blood wash you make you clean put away the Evil of your Doings from before mine Eyes cease to do Evil learn to do well So it is the Heart that the Lord requireth and where your Treasure is there will your Heart be also And saith the Apostle We know not how to pray as we ought but as the Spirit maketh Intercession with Sighs Groans this is more acceptable to God from an honest single Heart then the Long Prayer of the Pharisees We are accused to be destructive to the Ministry The true Ministry of Christ we own and witness and the Ministers and Messengers of Christ we own and witness but those who have gotten the Letter and Form to trade with which was spoken forth freely and deny the Life and Power those we deny their Ministry And all those who go to get human Learning and are certain Years as it were serving Apprentiship pretending to study Divinity and when their time is expired they go amongst ignorant blind People and get a certain Place and a certain Wage and so sell that which they studyed and got into the Brain and those which receive it get it into the Brain and so they live upon Dust which is the Serpents Meat feeding upon the Tree of Knowledge both Priest and People death feeding death and with the Notion begets into the Notion and feeding the Carnal Mind with the Carnal Letter and this is the Cause why Drunkards Swearers Lyars Proud Covetous Envious Wrathful and Contentious Ones and all Unrighteous Persons have gotten the Letter to talk of or discourse of though in the Ale-house or Tipling-house but this Ministry works no Reformation only hath the Form and leads into the Form and denyes the Life and Power which is neither to be bought nor sold for Money so from such we turn away who come by the Will of Man and approved by the Will of Man and are upheld by the Will of Man and not by the Will of God and their Call and Ministry we deny which is mediate and formal Imitation and the Invention of Man and so a meer Delusion And this is the Cause why the Land so overflows with Iniquity all Manner of Ungodliness no better Reformation wrought amongst them their Ministry is so dark and dead and cold and yet the Land full of Teachers and yet the People lost for want of Teaching and so they spend their Money for that which is not Bread and their Labour for that which profiteth not But who can witness an Immediate Call by God from their outward Callings and Countries Lands Livings and Possessions into several Countries to preach the free Gospel as they have received it by the immediate Inspiration of the Spirit and speak it forth as they are moved by the Holy Ghost and as the Spirit gives them Utterance freely as they have received it freely by which Ministry many are convinced and as they abide in it are converted as many in the Nation can witness to the Honour and Glory of God who are now New Creatures and this Call we own and witness and this Ministry we own and witness which is Immediate and stands in the Will of God and such covetno Man's Silver nor Gold neither could be hired to certain Place but travail from Place to Place and have no certain dwelling Place and such are the true Ministers of Jesus Christ who make the Gospel free and without Charge And this we own and witness and for the Testimony of this true Ministry some of us are Imprisoned some Stoned some Stocked whipped and shamefully entreated as Vagabonds and Deluders and Wanderers and Raisers of Sedition and Pestilent Fellows and esteemed not worthy to live in the Nation both by Priest and People and Rulers who are out of the Commands of God and are Vagabonds and Fugitives from God who go in the Way of Cain to envy and murder the Innocent And because we declare against all who come not in by the Door but seek to climb up another Way by their Study Inventions and Serpentine Wisdom and Knowledge and so are Thieves and Robbers and those are they which are now to set up and extolled in England with great Augmentations and Benefices by the Arm and Will of Flesh now Heads of England and such Ministers and their Ministry we deny for the Hand of the Lord is against them But this which we own is no new Call nor no new Ministry but the same which was with the Prophets and Apostles and all whom God sent witnessed and here is the Difference of the Ministers of the World and the Ministers of Christ the one comes by the Will of Man the other by the Will of God the one is upheld by the Will of man the other by the Will of God contrary to the Will of Man and the one of the Letter the other of the Spirit and the one has the Form Shadow and the other the Life Substance and the Effects and Fruits of their Ministry make them manifest but from such turn away who have the Form but not the Life and Power for they are meer Deceivers and Witches bewitch People from the Truth holding forth the Shadow instead of the Substance and what is the Shadow to the Substance Or what is the Chaff to the Wheat He that hath an Ear to hear let him hear and understand We are accused to deny all Magistracy and Government I answer This is false for we own it in its Place for whilst there is Transgression there must be a Law and while the Devil hath Power over Man there will be Transgression so the Law was added because of Transgression and the Devil was the Cause of it so there must be a Law without to keep those who are without the Fear of God in Subjection else they would destroy one another and Cain would destroy Abel for this is the Devil's Work and so for this End was the Law given forth to curb Evil-Doers and to preserve and encourage them that do well And it was according to that in the Conscience Just Holy and Good according to the Will of God and serviceable in its Place And true Government according to the Law of God is serviceable in its Place And all Magistrates who fear God and hate Covetousness and are guided by the Light of God in the Conscience and execute the Law in its Place without Partiality and Respect of Persons and such are serviceable in their Place and this we own and honour and are subject to for Conscience sake but the Righteous are from under the outward Law for they are a Law unto themselves neither is there need of any Law amongst them Who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit
that thou art yet in it but these Scriptures which thou hast here quoted will witness against thee to be a Stranger to it though it is an easie thing for to set down others Declarations when they are be ore thee But how dost thou keep thy self unsported of the World whenas thou art drowned in and art so greedy of it that thou carest not how thou gettest it so thou gettest it as before is sufficiently proved out of thy own Mouth and hast been all along labouring contrary to Scripture to justifie thy taking of Gifts and Rewards of the World And how dost thou Visit the Widdows and Fatherless unless it be for thy Tythes or that they have to maintain thee and so rather to add Affliction upon them or What dost thou do in this kind but thou hast a Self eâ—d in it Let that in thy Conscience judge thee And if thou didst love the Lord God with all thy Heart thou wouldst not have thy Heart so in the Earth thus to Delude and Deceive Peoples Souls for Gain and Lucre and to take away the Fruits of their Labours by Compulsion if they will not give it thee though thou dost nothiâ—g for them as before is proved against thee to thy Shame and Confusion of Face And thus thy Heart is adulterated from God into the Earth and the Love of God abides not in thee who art in Love with the World And dost thou love thy Neighbour as thy self when for Selfs sake thou woâ—ldst destroy him both Body and Soul And thuâ— I need no other Weaâ—on to cut off thy Head then what thou thy self bringest Qu. 35. What is the Difference betwixt the Jew Outwardly and the Jew Inwardly and how shall we know the one from other Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou sayst â—he Jew Outwardly dâ—sires to make a fair Shâ—w in the Flesh or External Man with his outward Circumcision or Reformation Gal. 6. 12 13. in Voluntary Worship and not sparing the Body Col. 2. 23. he observes the lesser Commands and leaves the Greater undone Mat. 23. 23. and in one Point he goes beyond us thou sayst he payes Tythes exactly he makes clean the Out-side of the Cup and Platter and makes all foul within Mat. 23. 15 26 c. Rep. And so here is enough to manifest that thou art the Man for here thou hast plainly read thy self and out of thy own Mouth shalt thou be judged without Contending or Reviling as thou accusest us for thou hast been striving all along hitherto to set out thy self and make a fair Out-side like a Reformation though the Hypocrisie of thy Heart thou couldst not thereby hide from the Light And who are more strict in Voluntary Worship But you can pamper your Bodies which shows your Zeal is not so hot â— And instead of observing the Lesser Commands and leaving the Greater undone you leave all undone that will not stand for self and preach up and uphold these things for Commands for which you have no Scripture and so preach for Doctrine the Commandments of men as the Outward Jew did But if one ask you for your Proof for these things thou say'st It sufficeth you that there is no Command to the Contrary yea for thy Self-covetous Ends thou art not ashamed to fetch up old Commands that were fulfilled and so ended for a Cover for thy Deceit as here also thou wouldest seem to do in accusing us for not paying Tythes exactly as the Pharisee did which I know is the great Grief of thee and thy Brethren because we put not into your Mouthes and therefore ye even prepare War against us But when the Pharisee said He paid Tythes they were then due for the Priesthood to which Tythes belonged was not yet fulfilled and therefore not changed and therefore it was his Duty so to do But you Priests have so blinded the Pharisees and Professors of these Times that they are so exact in paying you Tythes putting into your Mouths because you daub them up crying Peace to them though they have no Command from God for it and you take it as exactly but you have but few such that you dare trust without a Law for as thou saist The greatest Part of them are Earthly-minded like their Teachers And how hast thou been cleansing thy Out-side of the Cup as if thou wast unblamable in this Outward Righteousness and so holy in thine own Eyes that in words thou professest Perfection and as if thou knewest the highest Estate of Christianity and wast in the pure Religion without Spots and guided by God's Spirit usually speaking by the Motion of the Holy Ghost but even condemned thy Brethren and wouldest not answer for them but saidst Thou wast none of these Hirelings nor Greedy Dogs c. but yet could not keep thy Tongue from uttering forth the Foulness of thy Heart which hath overwhelmed thee all along and out of thy own Mouth hast been proved a Lyar. And thus thou art plainly dealt with and judged out of thy own Mouth and the Scriptures aforesaid which thou hast quoted shall stand and witness against thee Pr. Answ. But the Jew Inwardly thou say'st trusts in the Lord Christ and hath no Confidence in the Flesh. But this thou dost not for then thou wouldst trust him for thy Maintenance and not stand in need of the Arm of Flesh upon which thou relyest Neither dâ—st thou first make clean the Inside of the Cup that the Outside may be fair also as thou saist the Inward Jew doth but though thou hast bin much labouring with feigned words of thy own Wisdom and Self-Justification to deck and adorn the Outside painting it with Scripture-Words and Expressions yet thy Inside is so foul that it defiles the Outside also so that it makes thee odious to all but the Blind and manifests thy Heart to be yet uncircumcised from Sin and a Stranger to the Inward Cross by which thou art not crucified to the World nor the World to thee for then it would not suffice thee to take the Tenth Part of the Encrease of the Labour of the Labourers by the Will of Man without any Command from God as thou dost living at Ease like a Drone upon the same and therefore thy Heart is far off Uprightness all which the Inward Jew thou saist doth witness And thus in a word thou seest there is as much Difference betwixt the one and the other as betwixt Saul and Paul a Perseâ—utor and an Executor of Christ's Doctriâ—e and Way And thus in a word thou hast marked out thy self and art found out of the Way and Doctrine of Christ Persecuting Despising and Gain-saying those that abide in iâ— And thus by thy Fruits art thou known as thou saist the one may be known from the other And thus Proud Goliah thy Head is cut off with thy Own Sword Qu. 36. Whether they that profess themselves the Ministers of Christ and cannot give Account of their Ministry and
Lord Protector to whom all Glory Honour Dominion and Thanks belong whose dreadful Hand you shall feel whom your Tongues shall confess to be Just though with weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth because you have robbed him of his Glory and Honour and taken it unto your selves And though in the Old Covenant they bowed to one another yet when Christ the New Covenant came who is the End of the Old he spake unto his Disciples and said The Heathen exercise Dominion and Lordship one over another but it shall not be so amongst you but he that will be the greatest shall be the least for one is your Master Now here is the New Covenant out of which you are found amongst the Heathen Lording over your Fellow-Creatures by your corrupt Wills and yet you dare take upon you the Name of Justice and the Name of Christians whenas again Christ said unto your Fore-fathers How can you believe that receive Honour one of another Here you are found in the same Generation in the Unbelief out of the Faith and so No Christians for Christ saith I receive not Honour of Man but you do and Imprison Men and persecute them if they do not give it you and so are not like Christ therefore no Christians but Heathens for Christians are like Christ being made Partakers of his own Divine Nature and let all that profess Christ walk as he walked buâ— this you do not Therefore be ashamed of your Profession who so exceed the Heathen in Presumption seeking Honour to your selves by Tyranny and Persecution Exercising the Power of the Beast which all the World wonders after and worships but those who have their Names written in the Book of Life whom you persecute because they cannot bow to now worship the Image of the Beast which you uphold and so you fulfil the Prophecy of John where it is said The Kings of the Earth shall give their Power unto the Beast and they shall make War with the Lamb So you as Kings on the Earth over your Fellow Creatures rule by the Power and Authority of the Beast and make War with the Lamb to exalt your selves in his Throne but the Lamb shall overcome and the Beast and the false Prophet that had deceived the Nations and all that bear his Mark worship his Image into the Lake shall be cast even Tophet which was prepared of Old for the Kings of the Earth But here is the Patience of the Saints here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus which is without Respect of Persons but tremble you Careless Ones that are at Ease your Plagues shall come upon you in one Day when you are not aware who are killing and persecuting the Just and Innocent under Pretence of Contemning Authority because they cannot worship the Image of the Beast and thus you rule by the Power and Authority of the Beast winking at Vice Deceit and Iniquity strengthning the Hands of the Evil-doers and persecute the Righteous and tread Truth under Foot and thus you bear the Sword in vain And here is the Abomination that stands in the Holy Place where it ougth not Injustice set in Justice's Place for I deny any Thing to be Justice or done by the Authority of God but what is according to the Law of God which respects no Man's Person but convinceth them to be Transgressors that do and Justice saith I receive not Honour of Men Now here you have gotten the Name but want the Nature and so know not the Honour that belongs to Justice but threaten persecute and imprison Men that come before you and do not honour you with Cap and Knee before they receive Justice from you and how can they honour Justice before they see it but instead of doing them Justice you do them Injustice and exercise the Power of the Beast upon them but will not the Lord be avenged on such a People as this yea He is coming with Ten Thousand of his Angels to render Vengeance upon the Head of the Wicked and Disobedient For Truth and Justice now is risen and arising and it is you that are not subject thereunto but stand in your own Wills to oppose it and are setting up and exalting your selves even into the Throne of God but remember Lucifer for it is he that is exalted in you and though you be exalted as high as the Heavens and set your Nests among the Stars thence will the Lord fetch you down and cast you into Hell as he did Lucifer Dives and Haman and the rest of your Forefathers ye proud Ones Therefore Repent and let the Oppressed go free lest the Lord shorten your Dayes and cut you off amongst the Wicked with the Blast of his Mouth for now you are warned in your Life Time and left without Excuse by a Servant and Messenger of the Lord whom he hath sent to give Warning before his Judgment JAMES PARNEL He that seeks himself and his own Honour shall not prosper though he rule in his Will for a Time but him that honours God him will God honour To all You Magistrates Rulers AND OFFICERS Who Call Men to SWEAR and Imprison them if they will not You are the Oppressors of Tender Consciences and do not allow Liberty of Conscience and so break Your own and also You have a Law against Swearers yet by Your Law seek to compel men to swear Oh! blush and be ashamed of your Profession who thus Unjustly act How dare You call Christ Your Lord and Master and do not the things that he saith for he commands Swear not at all neither by Heaven nor by Earth nor by the Head because you cannot make one Hair white or black nor by any other thing but let your Yea be Yea and Nay Nay for what is more is Evil And so here You run from the Doctrine of Christ and hinder others who both swear your selves and would compel others by Fining of them and Imprisoning of them and thus You run into the Evil and would have all with You in the Snares of the Devil And now if you do run unto the Scripture to maintain Swearing and say They swore in the Time of the Law I Answer Christ Jesus who is the End of the Law faith Swear not at all and if you do alledge That Moses a Servant of God swore I Answer But Christ Jesus the Son of God saith Swear not at all hear him And if you do alledge That David a Man of God swore I Answer But this is the Son of God and David called him Lord who saith Swear not at all him You are to hear And if You do alledge That Saul swore in the War I Answer He who comes to End all War and Controversie who brings Peace and Good-will towards Men he saith Swear not at all who is the Son of God hear him And if You do alledge They swore in the Time of the
Prophets I Answer Christ Jesus the Fulfilling and End of the Prophets saith Swear not at all And if You do alledge That they Swore in the Old Covenant I Answer Christ Jesus the New and Everlasting Covenant saith Swear not at all but let your Yea be Yea and Nay be Nay for what is more and here You are shut out of the New Covenant in the Evil and so in the Kingdom of the Devil for in the New Covenant no Swearer can come And if you do alledge that Scripture where the Apostle said An Oath for Confirmation amongst Men to them it was the End of all Strife I Answer He brought this as a Comparison confirming the Covenant that God had made and confirmed it with an Oath but the Apostle brought it not to maintain Swearing or Oathes but he spoak it concerning Jesus Christ the Oath of God which is the End of all Oathes Controversie and Strife who saith Swear not at all And in the Old Covenant they did use Oaths for the End of Strife and Controversie and to Confirm things amongst them so the Apostle brought that then as a Comparison but Jesus Christ the New Covenant which was confirmed by an Oath and now is the End of all Oaths and Controversies and Strife who now saith Swear not at all The Apostle he declared against Strife and Controversie and he declared against Swearing for the Apostle James saith Above all things my Brethren Swear not at all neither by Heaven neither by the Earth nor any other Oath but let your Yea be Yea and your Nay be Nay lest you fall into Condemnation And here You are in the Condemnation and out of the New Covenant and draw from the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostle who are in the Oaths and Swearing and compel others to swear Therefore the greater will be Your Condemnation And if You do alledge that Scripture where the Apostle said Be subject to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake I Answer Obey God rather then Man for the Lord's sake who saith Swear not at all and Why call you him Lord and do not the things which he saith Therefore away with Your Profession of Christ and of Faith in him and are so Faithless as to depart from his Doctrine and compel others to follow You hence You are found Traytors to him and Hypocrites whom the Lord will judge with your Hypocritical Feigned Faith who cannot believe one another without Swearing and so think all like your selves but as many as believed were of one Heart and Soul which was the End of all Strife and Controversie and they made No Swearing amongst them who were in the Faith Therefore all You Magistrates Rulers and officers who are Swearing and Compelling men to Swear now read your selves by the Light of Christ which searcheth Your Consciences and with it judge your selves and Fear the Lord God and Tremble before him who do so oppose his Commands and do Despight against the Spirit of Grace for no Ignorance in this thing can you plead For it is plain by the Light of God in your Consciences that you do Evil therefore I charge You in the Presence of the Living God To take heed of Oppressing any Tender Consciences or Forcing any Tender Consciences or Fining them or Imprisoning them for Obeying God rather then Your Wills for if you do to be sure the Plagues and Woes of God shall come upon you and great shall be your Condemnation And if you ask How shall you do to End Controversie and to Confirm a Truth I Answer They that for Conscience sake dare not Swear they for Conscience sake dare not Lye but speak the Truth so far as they do know without Hypocrisie for that that judgeth Swearing that also judgeth Lying Hypocrise and Deceit and so by one Truth its confirmed And as for those that are without the Fear of God who scruple not at Swearing they scruple not at Lying for they that will tell a Lye in such a Case will also Swear and Lye Therefore whom you find thus Deceitful you may also exercise the Law upon them as upon False Swearers without Winking at them and that will bring them into Awe and Fear of the Law though they be out of the Fear of God and for this End was the outward Law ordained And thus you will be a Terror to the Evil-doers and a Praise to them that do Well for if all did Well what needs there a Law And so as you stand here in all things which belong to your Places discharging your Consciences in Equity and Justice without Partiality and then will you do that which is wholsom and good in the Sight of God and he will bless your Proceedings and thus you will be worthy of double Honour not with the Flattering Titles of Men or Respect to your Persons in Admiration because of Advantage but you will witness the True Nobility and deny all Flattery or Deceit but your Honour will be of God for Them that Honour God them will God Honour if you stand I say in that Counsel of God out of your own Wills Ruling for God and not for your selves but for the Punishing of the Wicked and the cleansing the Land of Evil doers that God may be Honoured by your Faith and Faithful and Just and Equal Proceedings And so I rest a Friend to the Tender Consciences and am subject to all Wholsom and Good Laws Ordinances of Man for the Lord's sake and do honour all such Magistrates in my Heart who observe this Government without Flattery or Hypocrisie but I find some so worthy in the Nation in whom there is no Hatred and the Unjust strive to put them out and so the â—and must needs abound with Corruption and Evil Deceit and Hypocrisie and all Ungodliness as it doth seeing these that are in Offices who ought to suppress those things do countenance those things and lay their Law upon the Innocent and Righteous and so as much as in them lieth to exalt Iniquity and beat down and tread Truth under Foot But the God of Truth is arisen with a Mighty and a Strong Arm which they are not able to overcome but the more they stir the more it conquers who is come with a Fan in his Hand and will thoroughly purge his Floor and gather his Wheat into his Garner and burn up the Chaff with Unquenchable Fire and thus will he sweep away the Seed of Evil-Doers and Refuge of them with the Beesom of Destruction and so will he cleanse the Land of Evil-doers and make all you Careless Ones that are at Ease in your Lusts all you Corrupt Unjust Judges Rulers and Officer who are Partial in your Judgments and receive Gifts in your Hands and regard not the Cause of the Just your Calamity is coming on and your Destruction is nigh at hand and God is a Just God and will not acquit the Wicked Now you are Warned and a Servant of the Lord Discharged by