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
Johns testimony he was Juda and I am Israel Denus the feet of the two Witnesses Septemb. 29 1651. The Law of Sion HEre is an Alligory of two Lawes the first is the singular and pure Law of God the other is the unjust lawes of Man This pure Law of God shall put an end to all the lawes of man upon the seventh Vial this Law of God gendereth to life and salvation but the lawes of man do gender to cruelty and corruption which lawes of man must fall before Sion which are not lawes according to his Word and true equity all such lawes are but mens ordinances and shall not stand before the Law of God for there is but one Law and one Law-giver which is God that hath given us his Word for a Law to be a restoring right to all and for want of this true execution of Gods word it maketh the curse remain upon the Creature to this day and because of forbidden fruit which is contrary to his Institution maketh it so but Gods word should be set in its place to judge or condemn to save or justifie and not mens traditions which are vain Our Saviour saith Man liveth not onely by bread but by every word that cometh out of Gods mouth which is from his ancient Decree to keep all things by his Providence which is a hidden law and spiritual and agreeable to the letter of his Word and I know no other law that man can erect but to judge all things by the law of Gods Word and to throw down mens ordinances which be not agreeable to it for such lawes proceed not out of Sion neither can our Judges be Judges in Israel except they make Gods word the rule of justice to try causes by And going contrary to this Rule it maketh many fleshly Judges and weak Jury-men O simple ignorance and base folly to go from the Judge of Heaven and Earth to serve under these Judges which destroy his Word and Law of justice for there is no offence committed before God or against man but may be judged by his word of Truth and pure Gospel under the jurisdiction of Christ and his Church which may be called Jure Divino that is under twelve holy persons or so many Senatours of Gods house that your law may wholly proceed out of Sion that Divine Justice may censure all judicature power and so to tread them under feet with the scarlet whore which have taken away many mens lives contrary to Gods word and holy Scripture it hath been a poor businesse carried on so long that wicked Judges should sit to give sentence and some wicked fore-men among the rest should give up their verdict contrary to the Law of Sion having judged for reward and some for want of seeing the pure Will of God and declaration of his word his word ought to judge and govern and shall throw down all oppressing that his people may have rest from all their enemies these Judges have been in such esteem before men and yet ignorant of Divine justice which he hath set before them in his Word I desire you all to know both Judge and Justice if you adde or diminish from Gods VVord it will prove unjustice and therein ye fall severity and hinder the free passage of the Gospel changing it into your own ordinances using the Gospel to your own turns which is a cursed thing to do your lawes are of Euphrates which shall perish in Armagiddon and fall by destruction ye Judges Lawyers Priests and Jesuites your ordinances shall burn with Babylon and your seven streams of power are struck by the seventh Vial of Gods wrath his Law must go out of Sion which shall cast out all your laws that justice may run down our streets What makes so much bauling in our Churches To answer it is because they go on hood-winked compounding the lawes of men amongst the ordinances of God which be far distant the one from the other and for want of the true executing of this word of God all your Churches are in a combustion as Bees up in armes one against another for the truth and untill we make Gods word the Rule and Law of our civil affaires to bring our selves under the Captivity of Christ and untill then the curse shall remain I properly mean the cursed lawes of man which have bought and sold the lives of some men contrary to the Word of God and Law of Sion this curse or cursed ordinance of man God will suddenly burn up and abolish by the brightnesse of his appearing and David saith Blessed are they that keep his testimonies thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee I will not forget thy word Princes did sit and speak against me but I did meditate in thy statutes devine Thy Law is my counsel day and night I have more understanding then all my Teachers I understand more then the Ancient because I keep thy Law I have refrained my feet from every evill way because of thy word How sweet are thy words unto my taste Thy word is a light to my feet quicken me according to thy word mine eyes prevent the night watch I beheld the transgressours and was grieved because they kept not thy word Tears run down mine eyes because they keep not thy word Now if our Lawyers would truly see this Law of God they durst not do as they do and if our Judges would prove causes by this word of God then might we call them the Judges in Israel but it is not so for they prove their own testimonies and act sin by a law but look into this 119. Psalm and ye shall find it pithy to this purpose he calleth it thy Statutes divine which if our Magistrates did but savingly look in this glasse of Gods law they might well throw away their books which be but the step-mother to this Law of Sion called mens ordinances which have thus traded in power over Gods word and true Gospel untill the year of our Lord 1650. which was then shaken though not utterly faln yet it shall lose its shining light of oriency and tho Lawyers and Judges shall never gain credit nor comfort until they do erect the true word of God far above the statutes of Winchester 2 Chron. 19. there ye may find at large that Jehosaphat made of the Levites and of the Priests and of the chiefest of the Fathers of Israel for the judgment of the Lord and for all Controversies And in that ye may find he did not set the ungodly to judge nor bloudy men that should judge according to their own wills but such as were chosen men of the Lord that should make his holy word the rule of justice to end all differences Now good Jehosaphat gave the Judges a charge saying Take heed what ye do ye judge not for man but for the Lord who is with you in the judgment take heed and do it for there is no