Babylon the Great DESCRIBED The City of Confusion In every part whereof Antichrist Reigns Which knoweth not the order and unity of the spirit but striveth to set up an order and uniformity according to the wisdom of the flesh in all her Territories aâ—d Dominions Her SINS Her JVDGEMENTS With some plain Queries further to discover her And some considerations to help out of her Suburbs that her inward building may lye the more open to the breath and spirit of the Lord from which it is to receiv its consumption and overthrow Also An Exhortation to the Powers of the Earth By Isaac Penington the younger That which is far of and exceeding deep who can find out I and mine heart compassed to know and to search and to seck out wisdom and the reason and to know the wickedness of folly even of foolishnes and madness And I find more bitter then death the woman whose heart is snares and nets her hands bands He that is good before God shall escape from her but the sinner shall be taken by her Eccles. 7. 24 25 26. He that is born of the pure immortal seed and lives in the annointing escapes the golden cup of fornication and all the painted beds of fornication and is not defiled with women Rev. 14. 4. but remains chast to the Bridegroom London Printed for Lodowick Lloyd and are to sold at his Shop in Coâ—nhi 〈…〉 next door to the Castle 1659. LO this is the City which is built up of and filled with images and likenesses of the ways and truths of God without the life and power On her outside ther 's the likeness of a Church the likeness of a Ministry the likeness of the Ordinances Duties and ways of holiness On her inside ther 's the likeness of the good knowledge the likeness of repentance and conversion the likeness of faith the likeness of zeal for God the likeness of love to God and his Saints the likeness of the Lambs meekness and innocency the likeness of justification the likeness of sanctification the likeness of mortification the likeness of hope peace joy rest and satisfaction c. but the substance the truth the vertue of all these is wanting to her and she her self is found persecuting that very thing where it is found in truth the image whereof she cries up This This is the woman that hath bewitched the whole earth for these many generations and is still changing her dresses and paints that she might still bewitch people and sit as a Queen reigning over their consciences But blessed be the light which is arisen to discover and the power which is able to overthrow this stately this lofty this mighty City and all that take part with it The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth in Sion and Antichrist with his City Babylon falleth Sing praises sing praises O inhabitant of Sion to him who subjecteth Babylon with all her glory under thy feet For he bringeth down them that dwell on high the lofty City he layeth it low he layeth it low even to the ground he bringeth it even to the dust The foot shall tread it down the feet of the poor the steps of the needy Isa. 26. 5 6. The Preface THere hath been in me a zeal for God from my childhood and a most earnest search into the Scriptures which my soul deeply relished and my heart honoured and loved and still doth for the revelation of the mind and will of God Two things did I earnestly search and beg for The one was for the discovery of the outward way of worship The other for the inward life vertue and power which I looked upon the outward as the proper means to lead me to At the beginning of the troubles in these Nations there was a lively stirring in me and an hope that God was bringing forth somewhat I likewise felt the same stirring in many others at which my heart was rejoyced and with which my soul was refreshed but I found it soon begin to flag and wither which forced me to retire and to separate from that where I found the life and power dying and decaying In my separation the Lord was with me my soul remembreth it right wel and he had regard to the simplicity honesty and integrity of my heart which he himself had kindled in me And though I felt too soon into a way of Church-fellowship and Ordinances yet he had regard to me and pittyed me and refreshed my life even there But at length the form overgrew vs and the sweet and precious life in us began to dye Then the Lord found out another way to refresh us namely by a sensible relating of our conditions and of his dealings with us and workings in us which was very sweet and precious at first but the enemy crept in there also Out of this state I never made any change but here the hand of the Lord fel upon me striking at my very root breaking all my life in sunder and trampling my crown in the dust Then I became a man of sorrows being stripped of all my life faith hope joy comfort in one day not knowing which way to looke nor what to desire Sometimes there were breathings stiring in me but they were presently judged Sometimes a little glance of refreshment from a Scripture presented to me but suddenly taken away and my death and darknesse increased thereby Then should I wish O that I might appear before his throne for surely my conscience is clear in his sight and I have not wickedly departed from my God but was broken in pieces by his hand even while my soul was earnestly seeking after him O how my soul did mourn to see how I was fit to be made a prey to every ravening spirit and many did seek to devour me but the hand of the Lord was with me preserving me though I knew it not And though I was wholly broken and desolate of all that I had called or could call knowledg insomuch as that I could not call any thing either good or evil yet the Lord by a secret instinct preserved me exceedingly out of that which was evil and kept my heart secretly panting after the fountain wel-spring of good Yea when I was at length through deep despair of ever meeting with God any more in this life captivated by the world and betrayed by the love of it which at last rose up in me and gained upon me by perswading me that my present estate and condition did require the free use of it and the enjoyment of all it could afford yet the Lord followed me and often was I visited with secret loathings of the world and turnings from it and pantings after the spring of my life but these were dreaded by me and suddenly quenched by the evil part for fear of that misery and unutterable anguish which I had felt hereby the remembrance whereof was fresh in me In this my courting of the world and estrangement from the life the
of Satans building up this city this great city thus accurately in the power of deceit and in the very likenes of Sion was and is that it might be taken for Sion and he worshipped there as God and that without jealousie or suspition And he hath attained his end his city hath deceived and doth deceive it passeth currant for Sion among al the inhabitants of Babylon almost every sort of people cry it up for Sion in one appearance or other though al do not cry up the same appearance but their own image way and worship every one extolls their own image of the truth for the truth their own way of worship for the way their own church and family for the church and family of God And worshipping here they worship him and not the Lord for the Lord cannot be worshipped in any part of Babylon but the King of Babylon is worshipped in Babylon and the King of Sion alone in Sion Ah how deeply do men deceive their souls they think they beleeve in God they think they pray to God and hope to be owned at length by God and yet are so far from coming out of Mystery Babylon that it was never yet so much as discovered to them but they have either walked in the way of religion and worship they were brought up in in the apostacy or perhaps have removed out of one or two of the broad streets of it and so thereby think they have left Babylon when as the same spirit hath sit down in another street of the same city building up another house by the direction of the King thereof and there worshipping the same spirit as they did before but their souls never knew the fire in Sion and the furnace in Jerusalem by which the very inwards of their spirits must be cleansed before the pure ey of life be opened which can see Sion Now because ye are more able to receive things from Scripture-expressions then from the nature of the thing it self spoken as it is felt in the heart concerning which much more might be said were ye able to bear it consider a few Scriptures Babylon is called a great city Rev. 16. 19. and a great and mighty city chap. 18. 10. O the power of deceit in that city to bewitch from the life O the multitude of lying wonders that are there shewn in the heart to make a man beleeve that he is in the life to perswade men that the King thereof is the King of Sion and that the laws and ordinances of worship there are the laws and ordinances oi Sion that the prayer there is the prayer of the true child that the beleeving there is the true faith the love there the true love the hope there the true hope c. Some parts of Babylon some likenesses of truth there are so taking that none but the elect by the opening of the eternal eye can espy the deceit And it is a spiritual city a mystical city a city built by the working of the mystery of iniquity 2 Thes. 2. 7. whereupon she is called Mystery Rev. 17. 5. It is not a city of plain wickedness but a city of sin hid of sin keeping its life under a covering under a form of godlines of sin reigning in the heart under zeal under devotion under praying beleeving worshipping hoping waiting c. Where sin lies hid within under these there 's Babylon there 's the mystery of witchcraft there 's the painted throne of Satan there 's spiritual Egypt and Sodom where the Lord of life is daily crucified This is the city the mystical city the spiritual city Rev. 11. 8. And here is building up and throwing down continually She builds the spirit of the Lord confounds then down goes her building then up with another then down again This is her course without end when the Spirit of the Lord disturbs her for otherwise she can settle in any form of knowledg or worship though in her ordinary course she hath also many changes and turnings One while this or that being a truth another while not One while this or that being the sence or meaning of such a Scripture another while not Babylon is hardly ever without this kind of building up and throwing down And this city is a great city a city spread over all the earth she made all nations drink of the wine of the cup of her fornication Rev. 14. 8. The woman which is this city Rev. 17. 18. sate upon peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues Rev. 17. 15. She sate upon them as Queen as Princess guiding them in their knowledg and worship of the King of Babylon And those that once hated her and made war with her and burnt her flesh with fire she cosoned them with a new paint got them into her new bed of fornication and made them worship the King of Babylon again Rev. 17. 12 13. v. 16 17. and there they lay committing whoredom with her til the time of her last burning and utter desolation but then they forsook her for fear of her torment when they saw the smoke of her burning Rev. 18. 9 10. In the Temples of this city for in al the streets thereof yea in every house there are Temples Antichrist sits as God and is worshipped 2 Thess. 2. 4. He as God sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God He hath clothed himself like God he appears like God like the holy pure Spirit of life and power he appears in the temple of God he sits there he rules there he gives forth laws and ordinances of worship and devotion Yea if any one wil question his godhead or his right to do thus he wil prove it he wil make it manifest in the very temple of God that he is God He as God sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God He hath exalted himself into the throne above al that is called God he hath got into the temple he sitteth there as God and there he maketh it manifest to al his worshippers that he is the God in so much as among al the inhabitants of Babylon he is acknowledged and worshipped and the true Spirit of life is hid from their eyes and denied and crucified He shews himself that he is God he gives demonstrations of his godhead which that eye which is out of the life cannot but acknowledg and take to be true There is none can see and acknowledg the true God the true Christ but those that have the true ey the true anointing no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the holy Spirit 1 Cor. 12. 3. and yet how many can speak great words of God and of Christ who know not what belongs to the anointing Alas alas Al nations and sorts of professors out of the life are coâ—oned with the devils demonstrations with Antichrists demonstrations with the whores demonstrations with the false Prophets demonstrations which are undeniable to
that wisdome wherein they stand and to that eye wherewith they look to see Now mark this Antichrists coming when he first deceived was very mighty exceeding strong 2 Thess. 2. 9 10. Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with al deceivableness of unrighteousness c. Weigh the thing wel Satan used al his art and al his strength to conceive and bring forth this mystery of iniquity so like the mystery of godlines that it might pass for currant in the world and he rule as God in in i◠With all power c. no power of deceit wanting he did not spare for signs and lying wonders yea 〈◊〉 gave power to the beast to do wonders and miracles even to make s 〈…〉 e come downe from heaven on the earth in the sight of men which was the sign and wonder whereby the God of Israel was distinguished from Baal power to work this very sign Satan gives to the Beast to confirm the godhead of the Dragon and Antichrist with Rev. 13. v. 13 14. These are the things men look for see but great power signs miracles they are satisfied the whole world stands ready to be deceived with this Yea and if the eye be not opened in persons which can distinguish of power they must needs be deceived Signs wonders and miracles had their place in the first covenant and were to that part to which the first covenant was not to them that beleeve but to them that beleeve not Now after the full demonstration of the truth by signs and miracles the power of Satan riseth up and by lying signs wonders and miracles overturneth the truth Now the unbeleeving part in man expects and cals for signs and miracles and says that wil determine the controversie and settle the state of the Church again but that part is not to prescribe God his way yea he wil steal as a theif upon thee whose ey is abroad and lookest for demonstrations without And as Antichrist got up thus so Antichrist wil go out thus he wil raise up this power and what lying signs wonders and miracles he can to defend himself with now the Spirit of the Lord is risen up to dispossess him and cast him out of the house which he hath long lodged in And he that can be cosened with power with signs with lying wonders which are lying because they come from the spirit of deceit with an intent to deceive though they may come to pass and appear true to mans eye Deut. 13. 1 2 3. or with any of the deceivablenes of unrighteousnes shal never come out of Babylon but only be translated into some of the more refined chābers of it fed with somemore fresh likenesses of truth where he shall stil remain an Inhabitant and worshipper in some Image perhaps of universal love life and liberty and yet be out of the life out of the love out of the liberty of the truth which stands in the power and presence of the Spirit of God and not in the most refined Image or likeness All the world wondred after the beast and they worshipped the Dragon which gave power unto the beast and they worshipped the beast Rev 13. 3 4. The Dragon is the Devil the beast is that spirit of the earth which he raiseth up and feeds in men with a form and appearance of truth to which he gives his power and his seat and his authority and every man hath a measure of this according to his state condition place and service in Babylon And now what a man doth here in Religion be he never so devout and zealous and frequent in Ordinances and duties is the worship of this spirit and of the Dragon who sits and rules in this spirit I am run into hard expressions very hard because the nature of these things is hid from mens eyes and they are in the mist of Antichrists raising in the smoak which comes from the pit where there is no opening of the true eye nor no true sight of things but truly if ever ye espy the Dragon the beast Antichrist the whore the false Prophet ye must look at home and read within and there having found the thing and seen it in the true light ye will be able to read it certainly abroad also Now do not go about to distinguish these things in the notion of the understanding but come to feel the life to unite with the life and the eye will open which can see into the nature of things and will behold all in it's season for that eye which is so eager to see shall never see these things but that eye alone which waits in stilnesse and quietnesse on the pleasure and good will of the opener Now all this time while Babylon stands while Antichrist sits in the Temple while Satan reigns over all the Antichristian world the true and living God hath not been known feared nor glorified but mens knowledge hath been of a false God they have set up and him they have feared and given the glory to in their worship nay the Gospel hath not been preached the true Gospel the everlasting Gospel the Gospel wherein is the light and power of eternal life to turn men from all Antichristian forms of knowledge and worship to the true life and power But when Babylon falls and Mount Sion begins to appear again then this Gospel is to be preached again even by an Angel who receiveth it from God himselfe Rev 14. 6 7. for man could never recover it again it requires a new inspiration The law is to go forth out of Sion the word of the Lord from Jerusalem And this Gospel is to be preached to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and people v 6. mark There was not one Nation not one kindred not one tongue not one people that kept the everlasting Gospel but it was laid up in Sion it was carried with the Church into the Wildernes and there it hath been hid all the time of the apostacy since the dayes of the Apostles But now Sion is redeeming the true woman bringing back again out of the Wilderness she brings back the true everlasting Gospel with her and there is an Angel chosen in the power of the Lord even in the same power and Spirit that first preached it to preach it again to every Nation Kindred Tongue and people And the Lord hath so ordered it that he will have the voice of this Angel as despicable to the wise in Religion to the zealous in devotion of all sorts of this backsliding age as the former preaching was to the wise and devout both among the Jews and Greeks So that whosoever is wise in Religion according to the flesh whosoever is wise in expectation and waiting for the kingdome whosoever is wise in reasoning about it and can tel the foregoing signs of it c. shall not know the voice but he that can shut his eyes by
Religion and one of which they serve therein He that is led by the Spirit of God he serves God he worships God He that is led by the spirit of Satan he serves not God but that spirit which appeares in the Temple of God like God and gives such demonstrations that he is God as no flesh can deny 2 Thess 2. 4. Here now is the great deceivableness of unrighteousness In prophanesse in manifest wickednesse Satan is easily seen and men that are found here it is granted that they are serving the Devil but that he should sit as King in gathered Churches in dutyes in ordinances in wayes of self-denyal and mortification and be worshipped here this is hard to be seene yet any of these which the Spirit of the Lord leads not into or which are performed at any time without his Spirit he is worshiped in Consider this ye that are wise in Religion and are dilligently reading the Scriptures and gathering knowledge and rules of worship and applying promises c. Do ye this in the life and Spirit of God or in your own wisdom and according to your owne understanding Doth not the wisdom of that spirit which is out of the truth guid you in your searchings after truth O do not serve that spirit which the Lord hates but come backe to that from which in all this ye erre and which in all this ye cannot serve and worship And let not your Religion any longer consist in meer practising what the Saints formerly practised for that ye may do without the same spirit but in yeelding up to that life power and pure spirit that they were led by And when ye are joyned to this then do not prescribe the Lamb the way that he shall go but follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Do not tell the Shepheard by your gathered wisdom the way that he must lead you in but know the voice and follow For this I can truly testifie that if once ye come in faithfulnesse and true light to follow the Lamb he will lead you in paths ye have not known and out of the paths ye have known 7. Compelling of others to worship Rev 13. 15 16. The false woman and the beast set up a worship in the will and they do not know why any in the will also may not subject and submit to it They can give them reasons they can give them arguments from Scripture and if they will not yeeld to these they are to be looked upon as stubborn and refractory and to be compelled by outward force This hath been the course generally throughout the Land of Babylon But these shew hereby that they themselves are erred from the truth and therefore very unfit and unlikely to teach it others For that which God works upon is the conscience which he convinceth by the light of his Spirit and no other light can truly convince it That therefore which would have a man yeeld to any practise or way of worship till he be truly convinced is of the Devil My son give me thy heart saith Christ the wisdom of God Come not to me with oblations and sactifices but give me thy heart My son give me thy knee give me thy obedience to the wayes I have set up give me thy conformity saith Antichrist saith the adulterated wisdom and if any refuse she endeavours to compel them Thus like Jeroboam the son of Nebat she makes that which she calls Israel to sin or like Nebuchadnezzar she sets up an Idol and causeth all her children to bow to it Thus the load of the iniquity of multitudes lies upon that scarlet whore who forces her cup of abominations and filthiness upon all she can Rev 17. 4. causing all both smal and great in all her Territories to receive her marke and worship her Image The work of the Minister of Christ is to keep the conscience tender that the voice of Christ may be heard and the Law of his Spirit of life which makes obedient to the God of life spring up there but this is the Image here is the way bow conform say the Ministers of Antichrist But we are not convinced in the sight of God that this is the way say poor souls It is your own fault ye may be convinif ye will say the Ministers of Antichrist we are ready to give you arguments and Scriptures to convince you how is it ye are not convinced Ye must be convinced otherwise the Magistrate must deale with you Thus they endeavour to harden the conscience that they may set upon it and ride it and terrifie it from it's subjection to it's only true and lawful King O the havock that hath been made of souls by this means the Lord is requiring it of this generation But let me ask this question to all the learned and wise in all the Regions of Babylon under what painted form or way of worship soever Can any worship God aright before they be truly convinced of his will and way can any be convinced without his light and Spirit were it good and acceptable in the sight of God for any persons to run into that way whereof thou sayest thou art convinced that it is the way before they themselves are convinced If it be not good or acceptable what is that that goes about to compel them Away with thy carnal weapons and if thou wilt draw to God draw by that which is spiritual but if thou wilt still be using outward force running to the laws of men and power of the Magistrate the Lord hath opened an eye which discovers thy nakednesse herein and is able to make it manifest in the sight of all people and thou shalt not long cover thy shame The Lotds people shall be a willing people to follow him in the day of his power but all the Lords people have been unwilling to follow thee in the day of thy power which is neer an end and the very fountain of thy deceit and tyranny over the conscience is opening and making manifest 8. Persecution of such as she cannot compell to her worship She sets up her form of knowledg she sets up her way of worship and those that will not be drawn to own the one and practise the other she sets her brand upon them for erroneous persons Schismaticks Hereticks they must not buy or sel Rev 13. 17. They must be banished or imprisoned or perhaps put to death for she is hardly satisfied til she hath drunk the blood of those who in any eminent degree are the witnesses of Christ against her Rev 17. 6. This was a thing wondered at by John with great admiration to see this woman this great City out of which all the venomous darts are shor against the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus under a pretence of zeal for the Church and ordinances of Christ For this is the engine whereby the Dragon makes war with the true womans seed which keep the commandements of God and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ even by this false woman which rides on the beast by whose power and strength she overcomes the Saints She sets up a way of doctrine a way of worship in a Nation and gets laws made for the defence of it and against them that will not submit to it and here she is too hard for the Saints by this means she overcomes the Martyrs and Witnesses and keeps the truth down and keeps up her way of deceit which without this prop would soon fall This whorish spirit scents the Spirit of the Lord she knows it will soon be her death if she cannot make it appear odious and suppresse it Therefore she hunts this spirit she hunts the life and power of what she her self professes especially if it appear vigorous and strong in any she seeks advantages against the servants of the living God representing them to the earthly powers as persons of dangerous principles and bad practises inventing all manner of what can be called evil against them and spreading it among the people that the truth may start up no where in the earth but every where be knocked down by the violence of the multitude or by the sword of the offended Magistrate Now what is the matter of all this great noise and fury Why this A Lamb is risen up in the innocency the pure harmless spirit is appearing in the earth the true life which discovers the hypocrisie and dead forms and wayes of the whorish spirit is breaking forth Therefore she makes a great out cry awakpeople awak the church is in danger arise Magistrates Magistracy and Ministry wil down if this Lamb-like spirit be suffered Nay nay These shall stand but Babylon shall fall and her mistery of iniquity be discovered and her deceiveablenesse of unrighteousnesse made manifest and the true life and Spirit shall arise and take possession of the hearts of people and make them a clean and fit habitation for God and people that are subject hereto shall feel it and enjoy it though the Merchants of Babylon say men shall never be made cleane while they live but must stil have a body of sin and death hanging about them But how shall they put on Christ who have not put off the body of sin Shall those who are made Kings and Priests to God here on earth minister in their filthy garments These are some of the sins of Babylon that painted harlot which is subtle in heart and lyes in wait to deceive in the absence of the true Church whose cloathing and resemblance she takes up and appears in And when she hath done all this When like Aegypt she hath kept the seed in bondage in all her Territories and Dominions in every Church she hath set up and by all her Ministries and Ordinances When like Sodom she hath filled the whole world with filthinesse uncleanesse and all manner of spiritual abominations When like old Jerusalem the bond-woman she and her children have scoffed at the Spirit in every appearance all the time of her reigne and have trampled upon and domineered over them who have but spoken of the coming of the just one in his people sporting her self in her own deceivings Yet after all this She wipes her mouth and saith she hath done no harm She hath been for the Gospel and Church and Ministry and Ordinances and the saith once delivered to the Saints and only against deceivers seducers blasphemers and hereticks But the Spirit of the Lord cannot be thus deceived nor shall the Nations be allwayes thus deceived and suffer her to sit as a Queen upon their consciences but she shall see sorrow and they shall taste joy at the sound of the everlasting Gospel when once again it cometh to their ears Rev 14. 6. Chap 19. 6 7. The judgement of Babylon BAbylon the great this great City of abominations which hath reigned over the whole earth which hath bewitched all sorts of professors with the golden cup of her fornications which hath subtilly led from the life and held all sorts captive in the witchery of her deceit and hath triumphed over the holy seed making Sion their mother desolate who sat in the dust and was trampled upon by her This great City this glorious City this rich City this mighty powerful City this Queen of the earth which knows not what belongs to Sions misery sorrow poverty and desolation with Antichrist her King and husband who hath cloathed himself with the garments of light and appeared in the likenesse of the King of Sion and hath long been so acknowledged and worshipped is to be judged by the Spirit of life which ariseth up out of the dust of Sion And though Babylon the great whore who in all her transformings hath still remained an enemy to the life hath great power and great wisdom and can shift very subtilly to save her self by both yet strong is the Lord God who judgeth her and he also is wise and she shall not escape his hand but he will pursue her with his voices with his thunderings with his hail-stones with his earth-quakes with his woes with his plagues with his cups of indignation till he hath made her manifest till he hath broken her in peeces till he hath crumbled and laid her in the dust till he hath brought her down to the very pit where the feet of Sion shall trample upon her for ever Sing sing O inhabitant of Sion dost thou not behold the Crown of pride going down apace The decree is sealed against her she cannot escape yea she is fallen she is fallen she is already taken in the snare the eye of my life seeth it and rejoyceth over her in the living power The plagues of God Allmighty from the fiercenesse of his indignation are visiting her whole Territories and passing over all her Land Nothing can help her to avoid his stroak no paint will serve no cover will hide no profession no practise no duties no ordinances no Church no Ministry can avail to conceal her but that spirit is pursued by the Spirit of the Lord and found out every where and plagues are prepared and powring out upon her Nay though she leave all her forms and pretend to wait and seek for the Lord yet she is found out there also Now what is her judgement Destruction and utter desolation from the hand of the Lord to be an hissing and reproach throughout all generations to be brought down by powrings forth of the wrath and vengeance of the Allmighty into the pit and there to drink the fulnesse of his wrath for ever Sion shal be exalted Sion shall drink the cup of life the cup of blessing the cup of love the cup of salvation for ever but Babylon the cup of fury the cup of indignation for ever and ever Sion shall sing but Babylon shall howl and all that saw any beauty or took any pleasure in her shall mourn over her Alas alas for her she who hath so many ages gone for the
Church is now proved to be the whore those who have been taken in their several transformings for the true Ministers made manifest to be the false Prophets their ordinances and duties but thefts and imitations things which they have stollen from what they read in the Scriptures but never received from the hand of the Spirit The wrath of God the dreadful cup of his fury and jealous indignation for the cause of Sion is to goe over her whole Land Over her Sea and all the Ships that trade therein and all her Merchants with all their precious traffique and merchandise All her doctrins which she hath stollen out of the Scripture all her disciplines all her experiences all her performances even those which are most like the performances of former Saints nay though she may speak the very words of truth yet as they come from her mouth they shall be thrown by and judged and be of no service or esteem in Sion The preciousest of her ware shall be drosse and dung in the Land of life where there shall be no Sea nor no such kind of Merchants traffique or trading for ever Her Earth also shall be made desolate and burnt up with all that is found therein All her settlement shall be shaken all her fruit-trees shall be rooted up all her fruit shall wither rot dye and perish All her conversions of people to God as she calls it shall come to nothing Yea and if she have yet any more dresses or secret coverings wherein she would appear like the Church again and bring forth again yet she and her children shall immediately be discovered her flesh burnt with fire and her children dash'd against the stones Every street in her City every house and idol in every street every room in every house with every inhabitant shall drink of the cup of astonishment and stumble and fal and rise no more Thou hast long triumphed over me O mine enemy because I have fallen and have long sit in darknesse but rejoyce no longer for I shall rise again and the Lord shall be a light unto me but thou shalt rise no more and thy light shall be put out for ever glory to the meeke suffering-Lamb even to him that sits upon the throne of life for ever Her Aire also shall be darkned The Lord shall enlighten my darkness but the light of Babylon shall be darkness for evermore The light of a candle shall be seen no more at all in thee Many lights hath Babylon set up in the dark night but the rising of the Sun of righteousness shall extinguish them all for ever and Babylon shall be shut up in utter darkness Yea all that have retained to Babylon all that have walked by the light of any of her candles that have cryed up any of her false ware for orthodoxe that have given up their names to her under any of her dresses or appearances or that have received any of her marks they shall partake of her shame of her misery and of her torment from the hand of the Lord God Yea her throne also shall be visited and the seat of Antichrist in every heart shall feele the wrath Rise up from the dust and shout forth with joy O captive daughter of Sion who hast long dwelt under oppression in the midst of the daughter of Babylon Behold Babylons King shall be no longer judge over Sion but thy King shall be judge and he shall judge the King of Babylon And let all the powers and potsheards of the earth strive to their utmost yet saith the Lord have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion and he shal rule in my people and rule over Babylon Therefore O inhabitants of the earth great and smal learn meeknesse learn righteousnesse learn the fear of the Lord Kiss the Son harden not your selves against him calling him a deceiver a blasphemer a seducer an heretick for what ye do to the least that appear in his life ye do to him but hearken to the word of his everlasting Gospel which saith FEAR GOD AND GIVE GLORY TO HIM FOR THE HOVRE OF HIS JVDGEMENT IS COME and ye cannot escape his hand by that fear which is taught by the precepts of men or by traditional knowledge out of the Scriptures nor while ye seek that honour which came out of the earth and is of the earth and to that which is earthly Therefore let your hearts learne to know him and your tongues to confess him and your knees to bow to him which if ye do ye must forget all that knowledge and those confessions and bowings which ye have learned in Babylon for though ye may have confessed some true things yet having learned this in Babylon ye have confessed falsly even as the Jews who said The Lord liveth yet swore falsly Jerem 5. 2. Now consider ye Ministers of several sorts and ye several sorts of professors We may appear great enemies to you because we witness against your wayes and tel you what the end of them will be but are we enemies to you indeed whose desire it is to save you from this great wrath which hath already entred into the earth and seized on some Should we sooth you up and not witness these things to you which we infallibly know how should we answer it to the Lord our God or to your souls when we shal appear before him If we were in your condition would we be content to be let go on and to be overtaken with this great destruction We cannot be silent Ye must be silent but we cannot We know ye must be silent for that which now speaks in you hath been silenced in us and is not to minister the things of God But the Spirir of the Lord must not be quenched in us no notwithstanding all our weaknes but the treasure must issue forth from the earthen vessel for the relief of the poor in spirit who alone receive the Gospel Therefore though ye hate us though ye persecute us though ye speak all manner of evil against us and use us never so hardly yet there is love rooted in our souls towards your souls yea and towards your persons also and having both felt the wrath and tasted of the mercy we cannot but warn you of the one and invite you to the other and O that ye might find a shelter under the shadow of his wings in the stormy season when wrath shall be showred down without mercy And this we cannot but tel you that the several wayes of Religion in the Christian world are but so many several coverings and that that which is covered with them is the whorish spirit which the Spirit of the Lord is hunting who wil strip her and make her naked and she shall appear to have been the whore under them all Now that which lyeth beneath this Spirit in you which is despised and trampled upon as a thing of nought which is burthened and daily slain by your multitudes of
flesh is grass and the glory thereof as the flower of the field Surely this people is grasse and their zeal and profession of God like the fading flower Some plain Queryes drawn out of the Book of the Revel for all sorts of Professors of this age to answer between God their own souls that they may see whether they have received that light from him which his Spirit judged necessary to give forth to keep people chast to him to preserve them from the several painted beds of Antichrists fornications and whoredoms from the life Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophesie and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand Rev 1. 3. The time of deceit was then at hand for Antichrist with his false Church and false Prophets to get up which were to last til the houre of judgement Rev 14. 7 8. Hast thou read hast thou heard hast thou kept the things written in this book then happy art thou But hast thou not read in the Spirit hast thou not heard the true sound of these things from the Spirit of life hast thou not kept the things written therein Then thou hast been deceived with the mistery of iniquity and must smart with the whore in the hour of her judgement The Queryes are these which follow I. What woman was that which was cloathed with the Sun and had the Moon under her feet c Rev 12. 1. Whether it was the true Church or no II. What that wilderness was whereinto she fled where she had a place prepared of God that they should feed her there 1260 dayes vers 6. III. How long those 1260 dayes did last and whether they he yet expired and whether the true Church is anywhere else to befound all the time of the 1260 days but in that place in the wilderness IV. What are all the Churches the Ministry the Ordinances that appear out of the wilderness all this while while the true Church is there V. What was that beast which came out of the Sea to which the Dragon gave his power his seat and great authority which all the world worshipped Rev 13. ver 1. to 5. VI What is that Sea and those ships wherein wherewith the Merchants of the earth traded with Babylon and were maderich by their traffique what were those Merchants what their Merchandize and what kind of riches was this Rev 18. ver 15. to 20. VII What was that name of God and that Tabernacle and those inhabitants of heaven which was blasphemed by the beast that arose out of the Sea all the time of the 42 Moneths Rev 13. vers 5 6. VIII What is the Lambs book of life and where is it and how are the names of any so written in it as to preserve them from the worship of the beast Rev 13. 8. IX What is that beast that came up out of the earth with the horns of a Lamb as if it came up in the Lambs power which doth great wonders and iustifieth his sacrifice by making fire come down from heaven in the sight of men who both causeth men to make an Image to the first beast and also putteth life into the Image which men make Rev 13. ver 11. c. So that here 's not a meer dead Image but there 's life in the beasts knowledge ordinances and worship yet with God all this is dead for it is not the true life X. What is the beasts mark his name his number Rev 13. 17. For if I do not infallibly know this I may have receved his mark I may help to make up his name I may be of his number and be unknown to my selfe a worshipper of him and his Image and so be liable to partake of the torment of the fire and brimstone threatned to such Rev 14. 9 10. XI What is that song which none could learn but the 144 thousand which were not defiled with women but remained Virgins Rev 14. 3. XII What was that other woman which took and kept the place of the former woman after she had fled into the wildernesse and enlarged her territories in Nations Kindreds tonguus and peoples Rev 17. 4. ver 15. XIII What was the purple and scarlet colours and the gold and precious stones she was decked with ver 4. XIV What was the golden cup she had in her hand which was ful of abominations and filthinesse of her fornications in the midst of all her glorious appearance of zeal devotion humility and holinesse ver 4. XV What kind of drunkenness was it wherewith the Kings and inhabiters of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of this cup Rev 17. 2. XVI How may thâ—se who have hated the whore and made her desolate and naked and cat her flesh and burned her with sire yet after all this give their kingdom again to the beast Rev 17. v 16 17. How may this be done and how often may it be done These are plain simple Queryes not to intangle mens minds or set their brains on work for that way shall they never be able to resolve them but to awaken the simplicity in them which will readily let them see what the Lord hath revealed to them herein and in which they are to wait for the knowledge hereof that they may escape or come out of the snare And in the mean time not to boast as Israel of old did when the Prophets from the mouth of the Lord accused them that they had not polluted themselves they had not gone after Baalim Jer 2. 22 23 v 35. but wait O backsliding Christian and thou shalt see thy way in the valley And though thou hast ofâ—en traversed thy ground to change thy path gadding from one form to another from one notion to another yet all this hath been out of the life out of the pure power and stil in the whoredom Open the weak sick eye in the weak heart For how weak is thy heart while thou hast done all this and let the languishing simplicity be my witnesse for under all thy wisdom thy zeal thy knowledge thy worship that faints that fails that is not what it was in the beginning Though thou art grown much higher wiser and greater otherwise yet there thou hast lost and happy wilt thou be if all thy gains ever since may become losse to thee for the recovering of this Some considerations helping out of the Suburbs or out-skirts of Babylon that her inward building may be the better come at and lye the more open to the Axe and Hammer which is to batter it down and to cut it up for the fire FIrst Consider what it was the Church fled out of when she fled into the wildernesse Was it not out of that Church-state or building which the Spirit of God had raised up for her here in the world to which her ordinances and way of Church-worship belonged Was it not here that the Dragon
been drawn forth the trumpet hath sounded the battel is begun and blood hath been shed on both sides the blood of the creature on the one side the blood of the whorish spirit on the other side The whore with the power of the beast on which she rides and by whose strength and assistance she makes war with the Lamb is mighty and dreadful and it hath long been said Who is able to make war with the beast whose strength is hers But the Lord God who hath arisen out of his holy habitation to judge and hath begun to judge her is more mighty by whose arm strength she shal fal the beast shall not be able to carry her up and down any longer nay nor to uphold her in her seat of government over the consciences of men Be wise now therefore and consider the present state of things and if ye find not hearts to help the Lord against the mighty yet take heed of helping the mighty against the Lord The vessels wherein the life arises and appears are poor and very contemptible and ye may easily trample upon them but the life which riseth up in them is very precious and too strong for the powers either of earth or of hel The Lord did not appear formerly among you or of late begin to raise you up again that ye should become enemies to him or aiders of his enemies against him but that ye might let his seed go forth to worship him in the wildernesse for in this dark Land of Egypt they cannot Therefore break the yoaks and take off the burdens an 〈…〉 er there be no new snares laid but leave the conscience where the Lord chooseth to appear which he delights to draw out of the world to himselfe free to the Lord The Lord hath kindled and is kindling the fire with which he is burning and wil burn the flesh of the whore Come not neer to help her lest ye feel the flames Stand afarre off and see her burning and at most pity her but help her not We fight not against the flesh and blood of creatures but against that evil spirit which captivates and makes them miserable nor do we fight with carnal weapons but with such weapons as are able to reach that Spirit Now if ye interpose with your carnal weapons and smite the vessel which the Lord is pleased to make use of in this warfare his hand will be upon you yea if ye endeavour to bear off the stroak from the whore it will light upon your selves and the Lords hand and his stroaks in this day of his jealousie and vengeance is very heavy Do what ye can ye shall not be able to hinder the Lords victory who will overcome even by this very people whom the wise of all sorts despise all that ye can doe in taking part with the enemy is but to bring wounds and judgements upon your selves and to shorten the dayes of your government but the worke of the Lord will go on and prosper and this painted harlot which pretends to be the Spouse of Christ and has deckt her self so pleasingly with her stollen knowledge of Scriptures and layes claim to his Ministry and Ordinances shall be stripped naked and her shame seen and every child in the life shall be able to point at her and the song of triumph over the Dragon the beast the false Churches and all the false Prophets who are not made nor prophesie not by the anointing shall be sung in righteousnes even to the Lamb who dayly getteth and will get perfect victory for to him it is given over all his enemies A Postcript THe redemption of the soul is by the Spirit of the Lord which he that would enjoy from it must know its appearance and operation in himself and not quench or limit it but universally be subject to its guidance and leadings All mans inward misery arises from mans inward rebellion which is as the sin of witchcraft springing from the spirit of witchcraft his recovery and happiness is in the faith and in the obedience to the pure power movings and operations of the Spirit in him The Lord God who made all mankind who is the Lord of all he is redeeming a people to himselfe by his Spirit And this Spirit will not be limited by the powers of the earth but will break Nations in pieces and trample upon Princes as Mortar and as the potter treadeth clay til it hath made its way through them O open the eye the inward eye which can discern the seasons It is not now the time for Antichrist to prevail or for proud flesh to rise up in its heady will to stop the outgoings of its maker This season is past and the season of the prevailing of the life and power of the Son of righteousnesse is now come Therefore lift up your heads O ye weak and faint of the flock for iniquity and oppression must fall both within and without and the tender God of everlasting love will turn back the captivity of his people and of his creatures Be not therefore affrighted at the inward power of sin in the heart nor at the outward oppressing powers of the earth for the redeemers strength is above all and he is stretching forth his mighty arm to save in the true and living faith of the elect it is felt it is felt And O ye potsheards of the earth strive not with your maker limit him not for he wil assuredly break through you Think not to subject him to your Laws but learn his Law come under his yoake and be bound by him that ye may tast of his liberty Wash your lips and kisse the Son and be not angry at his various appearances so contrary to your wisdome but fear his dreadful name and his threshing instrument which hath teeth and seek an hiding place under the shadow of his wings against the sharp season of the breaking forth of his wrath and jealous indignation for the cause of Sion which hastneth apace He hath long let the Spirit of Babylon have its liberty and his hath been silent now is the time for his Spirit to speak and for Babylous to be silent Wil ye stil force him to silence and open Babylons mouth Will ye not suffer him to speak but according to the Laws and orders of Babylon Must that counterfeit Queen stil sit on the Throne among you and the true Princesse be made her servant O let it not be grievous to you to see the Spirit of the Lord arise and make Babylon appear Babylon Her wisdom her knowledge her unity her uniformity her order her comelinesse her beauty is but folly confusion disorder and deformity before the Lord happy is the eye that sees it and the foot that turns from her Therefore awake arise and stand up from the dead come out of the thick dark Land where the pure God of life is not to be found Come out of Babylon and touch not the
unclean that the pure life may receive you into unity with it selfe but the spirit that is unpurged from its Babylonish worships and practises the Lord will not suffer to come neer him Therefore search what is Babylon and of Babylon in all your wayes and worships and wait on the Spirit of the Lord to be redeemed out of it and separated from it or ye must remain separated from the Lord and not partake of his life and vertue from which that City with all her inhabitants is shut out for ever The Lord hath had a sore controversie with this Nation with her Rulers her teachers and people for his seeds sake which he hath been begetting to himself and calling forth to worship him according to the pure Law of his spirit of life out of the wayes worships and Heathenish customs of the earthly spirit Israel is his first born whom he will not have any longer kept in bondage They are his own of his own begetting and forming of his own nourishing and bringing up the plants of his own right hand whom he watereth with the dews of Heaven and with the showrs of his everlasting mercy and loving kindness whom he hath gathered by the arm of his power and whom he leadeth and defendeth by his cloud and pillar of fire over whom he is tender as of the apple of his eye They are his anointed ones whom he will not have touched but rebuketh Kings and Parliaments Armyes and Councils for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm Have ye not seen how no strength nor Council hath been able to prevail against them They have had no fence but the arm which hath gathered them What plottings and contrivings hath there been against them How are they as sheep appointed for the slaughter destinated to be devoured crushed and trodden under foot what divinations and inchantments have been used against them even to blot out their name and remembrance from the earth But why do ye strive and contend thus with the God of Jacob can ye prosper He that made the earth will not ye let him have room therein for his people Must they be subject to your wils Must they bow to your image shall not the God of the spirits of all flesh have the command of the spirits of his own people can ye stop the Spirit of God from breathing upon them or will ye fal foul upon them if they be obedient to the breathings and movings of his Spirit May it not suffice that they are innocent and harmless among you in their conversations and practises but will ye still Lord it over their consciences will ye put the Lord to it to the very last to try it out with you whether he can defend his people and make way for their liberty Wel If peace be taken from you if your rulers laws and governments be broken in peices if his hand be stretched forth against you if he curse your very blessings whom can ye blame Why do you provoke him against your own souls are ye stronger then he If ye be stronger and wiser ye may prevail but if he be stronger and will put forth his arm his people shall be saved and find a shelter in him in the midst of all that wrath which is powring down upon you Your peace hath been lengthned out for their sakes If it had not been for their sakes for the remnant which the Lord hath had to gather ye had ere this been as Sodom and like unto Gomorrah The Land is ful of filthinesse which the Lords soul loaths and instead of drawing forth the sword against it ye draw it forth against his witnesses There is liberty enough for sin and vanity for excess and riotousnesse for images and idols but to worship God in Spirit to obey his pure movings this kindles your rage and these are the people who are a burthen to you Ah how fain would ye ease you of this people Sion is indeed a burthensome stone and will fall heavy on all that meddle with her But the Lord will ease himselfe of the adversaries of his life and Spirit and he will bring forth his righteousness which he hath prepared and set it up in the earth and none shall be able to stop him Therefore gather your selves together in battel associate your selves that ye may be broken in peices take council together it shall come to nought speak the word it shall not stand but the Lords council shall stand and he will fulfil all his pleasure and will delight himselfe in his people and raise them up by the fall of their enemies and then ye shall see against whom ye have plotted and contended and what ye have helped to bring about by all your secret plots and designs If the Lord had not been on our side now may Israel say if the Lord had not been on our side what had become of his poor people Ah poor worm Jacob how often would the foot of pride have trampled thee down again and again had not the everlasting arm been stretched out for thee But fear not worm Jacob nor be not sollicitous for thy preservation but trust that arm which delighteth to preserve thee Ah foolish people and unwise who strive against your own mercy who see not upon what hinge all your mercies hang but make it your work to break down the Wall that defends you Jerusalem is the City of the great King which is coming down from heaven and Israel is his people and both must have a place in the earth the Lord hath determined it and who can withstand it what prejudice can Jerusalem or the inhabitants thereof bring unto you They are enemies indeed to this earthly state of things and would have all brought in subjection to the life and power of their King and all that stands in opposition to God brought down and made pliable to his spirit and this the unyoked earthly spirit cannot bear But this is the interest of your souls and the way to unity with that life which is their happiness peace and rest for ever for if ye could pass through the fire and bear the burning up of your dross ye also might become vessels for the Finer and might dwell with them in their everlasting habitation The Saints formerly had an entrance ministred to them into the everlasting Kingdom and came to mount Sion which cannot be removed and to Jerusalem the City of the living God Heb. 12. 22. where the blood of sprinkling the peace that passeth understanding the everlasting righteousness and the joy unspeakable and full of glory was witnessed in the renewed spirit which receiveth the Kingdom which cannot be shaken and entreth into the everlasting rest And this is again revealed and the 〈…〉 nesses shall ascend into heaven in the sight of their enemies even into the new heaven and the new earth where righteousness dwells and the old heaven and old earth withal its inhabitants shall be burnt up and then shall it be seen that righteousness becomes and belongs to the house of God for ever And his City shall be a quiet habitation free from all the noise and hurry of Babylon where the pure river of life runs clear free from all the mud and mixtures of Babylon and the Lord God of infinite fulness will not disdain communion with his creatures but will tabernacle among them dwell with them sup with them walk in them and take them into his holy habitation and they shall dwell with him sup with him and walk in him But who shall abide in his tabetnacle who shall dwell in his holy hill He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart c. he who contemns the vile person how great and high soever but honoreth them that fear the Lord be they otherwise what they will This man shall dwell on high above the reach of all low creeping dark spirits even in that holy habitation of life and power which nothing can touch or annoy I shall now conclude with a few words concerning the present estate of this poor distracted Nation This Nation hath long lain wounded and sick She hath had many Physicians on whom she hath spent much who have promised her fair but have not effected her cure Of late her wound hath been much enlarged yea she is become sick at her very heart and in great danger Many are spending their judgement upon her some thinking a King would help all some a Parliament and some hoping for good from the Army but every eye sees her case to be very desperate Ah England England Thou strivest with thy Maker and he overturns thy strength and councils The life and wisdom which thou despisest is that which alone can heal thee Thou strivest to keep off the strokes from the enemies of God and smitest his dear ones how can he spare thee Hand stils joyn in hand to keep the Lords stroke from reaching Babylon which he hath directed at her heart and will not miss her but will peirce through every thing that stands in his way Though the cry hath long been Hurt not the tender conscience it is that on which God works and wherein he chuseth to appear and with which he is pleased and pitties Many promises have been touching liberty of conscience yet still the meek of the earth the innocent lambs of Christ those that are faithful to the light of God in their consciences are persecuted and suffer What canst thou plead O England why the Lord should not break thee all in peices and save his people himself by and in the midst of thy ruins The Lord will have the victory over thee in this particular about which he hath so long striven with thee It would be better and easier for thee to yield unto then be forced by his hand Therefore at length hear his voice which hath so often and so loud cryed unto thee Let my people go that they may serve me The End