glory of his renown shall go over all which shall strike dread unto his enemies he will thresh the mountaines to dust before him and the wicked shall be but as the stubble which is dried before the fire and shall be consumed for ever he who is mightier then the mightiest will doe this he even he before whom all Nations are but as the drop of a Bucket and weigheth the hills in a scale and the mountains in a ballance and measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand will accomplish the thing which he hath purposed and the word which is gone out of his mouth for as the rain which falleth upon the Earth and returneth not again so is the word of the Lord which is gone out of his mouth which shall not return but shall accomplish his purpose which is to subdue all the Kingdomes of this World into the subjection of his own only anointed seed to live and reign over all and in all who is blessed for evermore in whom all the promises of the father are Yea and Amen for the promise was not unto many but unto the seed when he spake unto Abraham the Father of the faithfull In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed which Seed is Christ which shall have the Dominion in all and over all for ever Let him which readeth understand The Government shall be put upon his shoulder and who will not willingly subject unto it shall be beaten to pieces with his Iron Rod with which he shall rule all Nations and this is the little stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands which became a great mountain and covered the whole Earth which hastneth apace to be fulfilled even so saith my Soul Amen and Amen And for the fulfilling of this his glorious word the Lord will not onely shake the Earth but the Heavens also and will Overturn Overturn Overturn Kings Princes and Powers even all those who shall rise up against him and will tear them in pieces as he hath already apparently done when the Lord will work who shall lett the Heathen may rage and the people imagine a vain thing and the Judges of the Earth may take counsell against the Lord and against his Anointed but all in vain for he will exalt him to reign upon his holy hill of Sion for evermore in the sight of all his enemies to their utter overthrow and confusion for ever Your Judges shall be restored as at the first and Counsellers as at the beginning who will not judg for gift nor reward the wicked shall no more be called good nor the churle liberall light shall not be put for darknesse nor darknesse for light but all shall be judged by him who seeth in secret and who lives for ever whose Dominion is an everlasting Dominion of which there is no end Therefore come to the just in you all in the particular even to the Seed of God in you all which of his infinite mercy he hath left in you else long ere now had ye been destroyed and made like unto Sodom and Gomorrah but for his seed sake hath he withheld his hand from destroying you untill this day and consider the end of Sodom and the inhabitants thereof and their end when the just was taken from amongst them and even as it was with them so shall it be with you if you harden your hearts and will not hear the Lord will take the just Seed from you which suffereth dayly by you and is oppressed in you even as a Cart which is pressed and loaden with sheaves and grieved as the just was in Sodom by their unrighteous and ungodly conversation and if it be once taken away from you though the faithfull may make intercession for you as Abraham did for them yet as sure as the Lord God of Heaven and Earth lives your end shall be as theirs for if once the just in you be taken away nought but fury and vengeance will be poured upon you from Heaven untill you be utterly swallowed up with the eternall flames of Gods fury and vengeance for evermore for whose sake I am now moved to warn you from the wrath which is to come and if you refuse and reject and despise his everlasting Messengers as they did take them for an example for God hath made them so of his wrath to all who shall reject his loving kindnesse mercy and counsel Therefore in bowels of mercy and pity am I drawn forth again and again to warn you and advise and beseech you to turn unto the just pure holy principle of God in you and give up to be guided by it and governed by it in all things that ye may be leavened into its own nature even the incorruptible nature of God that ye may come to witnesse the new creature which is the first Resurrection over which the second Death hath no power and as many of you as come to walk according to this rule peace will be unto you and with you for ever peace which the world can neither give nor take from you even the peace of God which will rule in your hearts which will keep your hearts and minds spotlesse and blamelesse for ever and the power of the crosse of Christ you will come to witnesse to be the power of God unto salvation as you believe and are subject unto it whereby the world will become crucified unto you and you unto the world and nothing else will you desire to glory in but will come even to be ashamed of those things which ye now delight in and have no more pleasure in them nor fashion your selves as you did in the former time of ignorance as the Heathen did in vain and foolish habit idle and foolish talk such things will be an abomination unto the Lord of your life by whom ye breath and nothing can or will proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying and according to the promise of God you will come to witnesse even the pouring out of his Spirit upon you and your Sons and your daughters shall prophecy your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams and every one of you shall sit under his own Vine and under his own Fig-tree and none shall make you affraid and you will not need to go to men for teaching nor every one say to his neighbour know the Lord for all of you shall know him from the least unto the greatest and shall say one to another come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and he will teach us of his wayes and we will walk in his light for ever and the Lord will make a hedg about you and set his holy Angels to watch over you and prune you that as ye come to bring forth fruit unto him ye may bring it forth more abundantly to the honour and delight of the Lord will ye be for ever which
his own right hand hath planted and none shall be able to pluck you up for he will keep you in the hollow of his hand and they which shall touch you to harm you shall be as though they touched the apple of his eye and though for a time some of you may be suffered to be tryed for the tryal of others yet assuredly it shall be but for a short season a book of remembrance thereof will be written before the Lord and you will delight to meet often together to speak of his goodness and he will assuredly be in the mid'st of you and ye shall be his Temple Sanctified and made meet for his Use and he will delight to take up his habitation with you for ever and remember Satan may have power given to kill some of you and put some of you in prison ten days Read and understand and be not dismayed at these things when they shall come upon you For so did they persecute of old the holy Prophets of God before you and if any of you shall go in this cause to save your lives ye shall assuredly lose it but they which shall lay it downe for this testimony shall surely save it And whosoever shall forsake Father or Mother for my sake saith Christ shall receive in this life an hundred fold and in the world to come life everlasting And as I have said a day and a time of tryal may come over you But a short worke will the Lord make in the earth for his Seeds sake And the Rod of the wicked shall not alwayes rest upon the back of the righteous saith the Lord God Allmighty But I have said in and through the good Spirit of the Lord and by the strength of his own Arm which is made bare he will burst the bonds of your oppressors asunder that his oppressed seed may go free even to the ends of the uttermost habitations of the earth Therefore I say again to the holy Seed in you even the Seed of the Kingdome Which is as a grain of mustard seed yea the least of all things in you which if ye diligently need prize and follow it will become a great plant and cover the whole earth in you which if ye do the good which I have shewed you in faithfulnesse to God and which is to all your immortal souls will come upon you but if ye refuse and reject the good councel of the Lord unto you and joyne to the power of the oppressor to keep the Seed in bondage then know as sure as the Lord liveth the just shall be taken from you and all the evil I have been made to Prophecy of shall come upon your heads in a day when ye looked not for it even when ye may be eating and drinking and Marrying and giving in marriage Remember the old world and take ye warning before it be too late For the Spirit of the Lord will not alwayes strive with man which is the Word of the Lord God unto you all and wo be unto that man or Nation as the Spirit of the Lord shall cease striving with better were it that they had never been born for a manifestation of his holy Spirit hath been given to every one to profit withall which is the Lords money and your talent and misery will be the portion of those that hide their Masters money in the earth for such have grieved his righteous Spirit which will be too heavy for them to bear in the end Read the parable and againe I say be ye warned and while ye have time prize it before it be too late Remember Esau who after he had despised his Birthright sought it carefully with teares but there was no place found for his repentance And do not think it will be sufficient for you to deny bowing unto the Images and Idols of the Nation while ye live openly in the same abominations of those which went before for the voice saith Be ye separated and touch no unclean thing and I will accept you saith the Lord which the Light of Christ Jesus in you search whether it be not so as I say and have said in every particular and let Judgement pass upon the head of the transgressor in you that the oppressed Seed of God may go free to Reigne and Rule over you and in you for ever for Sion is to be redeemed by Judgement and her Converts with righteousnesse and the Prophet said He would bear the indignation of the Lord because he had sinned against him Therefore give up freely to the judgement that ye may reape righteousnesse for God hath said that judgement shall be given for a Light to the people and truly the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether for by them is thy servant forewarned I call Heaven and earth to record this day That you are truly and faithfully warned to fly and escape the evil to come and life and death is set before you and if ye chuse the Light ye shall live for the Light is the life of men but if ye refuse to be guided by it then darkness shall be your habitation for ever for a true Jubilee and release is tendred unto you of the Lord freedome from bondage and corruption within and and without and if ye reject this glorious freedome even freedome from your old master which is sin and Satan then hear ye the word of the Lord ye shall be boared through the eare and be made to serve your old Master for ever not one jot or tittle of this which is here written shall pass away unfulfilled be it with you or against you I shall be cleare of your bloud before the Lord for ever God will be Justified and glorified in all Even in them which believe and in them which perish Think not that going unto the Temple once or twice a week and there to hear what a man hath studied in his own will and time will serve turn nay nor yet the taking of Davids words and singing of them who was a man of a true penitent heart before the Lord who fasted cryed and mourned because of his transgressions and watered his Couch with his teares yea and so abhorred all workers of iniquity that he said He would not keep a lyar in his house which is far wide from your state who take his words and say you are not puft in mind you have no scornfull eye and you have fasted untill one may number your bones and you have roared for the disquietnesse of your hearts and are you not a company of liars and offer a sacrifice of lies unto the Lord And do you not think the Lord will Judge you for these things Yea verily do you not read That all liars shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and no liars can enter into the holy habitation and rest of God Consider these things and lay them to heart and put away lying out of your
A Seasonable Warning To such who profess themselves MEMBERS OF Reformed Churches INTO What Forme soever gathered or where-ever scattered over the face of the whole earth but most especially to France and the parts adjacent With a few remarkable QUERIES c. Given forth in love to all souls a tender visitation of breathing desires of good to the whole Creation by a friend thereof CHARLES BAILY LONDON Printed in the Year 1663. try your spirits and there is no difference between you and those you seem to deny for in nature ye are one in pride and hypocrisie envy malice and cruelty drunkenness swearing lying whoredom deceit and whatsoever is evill and were the power in your hands ye would be more cruel then those ye seem to complain of and in the ground there is no difference between you for ye have lost your suffering spirit which was once amongst you at the first and are grown as vaine in your Imaginations as any of the heathen of the Nations Therefore repent repent ye also and think not in your hearts that it will serve your turns to say you are reformed while iniquity and abomination is in your inward parts and are not at all reformed from that to wit iniquity though ye say ye are saved by faith in Christ ye are found wholly out of that spirit and doctrine which leadeth To do unto all men as ye would others should do unto you as your fruits hath proved some of you casting out of the Synagogues or Temples as the Jews did and as is foretold should be done unto my servants Therefore be ye warned in time and remember how the Jews came under the reproofe of the Just when they said they were Abrahams children whilest they were Of their father the Devil whose works they did and do you not think but your evill deeds are as abommable as theirs they boasted as well as you they were the children of my Covenant while you and them trample the Blood thereof under your feet for which cause a curse came upon them and shall also come upon you if ye repent not and take not warning in time while my hand is stretched out towards you for good that ye may live and not die in your sins for if you die in your sins Where I go ye cannot come saith Christ Jesus the Light of the world who is the Covenant of God given for Salvation unto the ends of the earth and untill ye come to this Light ye are far from being children of the Covenant as ye pretend but in Covenant with Hell Death and the Devill pleading for sin as long as you live which is the Devils Kingdom and for so doing ye give men great sums of money yearly which is an abominable thing to the Lord God Almighty And then you say you are Christians by Baptisme and the like sprinkling a little water upon the face or head of a child and thereby have an entrance into the Church and yet will not admit the same to the Roman-Catholicke though their Water hath as much vertue as yours and the child of the one believeth as much as the other and both when they grow up are in one nature which sheweth plainly you are ignorant of the one onely true Baptisme which washeth away sin and corruption and gives a true entrance into the Church which is in God the ground and Pillar of truth into which no unclean thing can have an entrance for it is a spiritual House built with living Stones elect and precious Christ Jesus being the chief corner stone who gave himself for it That he might present it to God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And this is the true Church and Baptism which gives an entrance into it and the true saith which once came and takes the possession So read and try and prove your selves If Christ be not in you ye are reprobates professe what you will and if Christ were in you The body would be dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but how far you are from this let the Light of Christ Judge in you therefore repent that ye may find mercy and think not that God will have respect unto your persons no more then he had respect to those who said They were Jewes and were not for because of that he said he would spue them out of his mouth and seeing he spared not the natural branches but cut them off the root because of transgression do you think he will spare you Nay verily The soul that sinneth shall die saith God for he spared not the Angels who kept not their first estate but hath reserved them under the chaines of darkness untill the Judgement of the great day And let these things be a seasonable warning unto you for it was so and is so that he which is a Jew outwardly is not the true Jew neither is he a Christian who beareth the name outwardly and hath not the nature of Christ all such are an abomination to the Lord. You are so far from being leavened into his nature which only maketh a Christian that if any one come amongst you and say he hath the Spirit of God he is had in great derision amongst you and is laughed at to scorne though the Apostle saith He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his and all who were Baptized with the true Baptisme they received the Holy Ghost So read consider and try your selves what state you are in and do not think that the nature of Christ is changed since the Apostles time nay it is all one though many have the name and are out of the nature You fall a quarelling and killing one another about their words this was not the nature of Christians for they were the sons of God led by his pure Holy Spirit which was Gentle meeke and easie to be intreated full of long-suffering and mercy even to enemies and ready to do good unto all in which spirit walking they did not fulfil the lusts of the flesh but in it conquered and had dominion over sin Hell and the Devil though a time of warfare they came to witness before they came unto this state as all the Saints and holy men of God ever did witness the travel of the children of Israel through the wilderness into the land of rest which is the true Type of all the travel of the faithfull for they came to witness the true Baptisme as it is written They were all Baptized into Moses under the Cloud who was a true Type of Christ and because of unbelief many did not enter because they received the false report and believed they should never overcome their enemies which things relate all unto the true spiritual warfare of every true Christian which did believe and entered and possessed the land of rest which is the true Sabbath and it is written He that believes hath entered into rest ceased from sin which is
to be holy just in all their conversation for of a truth all the true Christians came to witness this even all old things to passe away and all things to become new without which the new creature cannot be witnessed Which is renewed after the Image of him who hath created him Therefore as an Ambassador from God I beseech you in Christ lay these things to heart and count it not as a vaine thing or as an idle tale but remember that because of sin and iniquity God did ever send Plagues and Judgements unto the sons of men and when they would not be warned thereby he swept them away in his wrath for so hath he appointed in his determined counsell That the wicked shall not go unpunished but they shall be cast into Hell and all who forget God for he is no respecter of persons for of all Nations he who feareth him and worketh righteousnesse is accepted of him but Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man which doth evil for his wrath is revealed from Heaven against all ungodlynesse and unrighteousnesse of men and he is not partiall in judgement as some would make him that he will punish one man for sin and not another nay it is not so with him for Such as every man soweth such shall he reap and every one shall receive a just and due reward for the deeds done in the body whether they be good or whether they be evil The unfaithfull servant had a Talent given him to improve as well as the rest but his unfaithfulnesse was the cause that it was taken from him and he cast into utter darknesse for ever but the faithful entered into the joy of his Lord and this will assuredly be the portion and sentence of all the sons of men the workers of iniquity shall be tormented with the Devil and his Angels for ever And it will not suffice to say Lord Lord in thy name we have done many things yea they came so far as to cast out Devils and prophesied in the name of Christ and so far as this none of you at this day hardly ever came yet and notwithstanding Christ said he know them not depart from me ye cursed workers of iniquity Read and consider and lay it to heart that ye may be an holy people and come to answer Gods Everlasting love which is tendered unto you least the grace of God bestowed upon you be in vain and loose the entering into the Land of promise through unbelief which was the cause why so many fell in the Wildernesse and dyed though they were come forth out of the Land of darknesse and had seen the wonders of the Lord which are set forth as examples for those who should come after for the Gospel was preached unto them as well as unto you And truely from a good understanding doe I declare it unto you that if ye be willing and obedient a larger possession never had any people then the Lord will possesse you with and ye shalt eat the good thereof in peace for if ye accept and embrace his love and reject not his counsell which is freely tendered unto you he will rebuke Princes and Kings for your sakes but if ye harden your necks ye shall be of many people most miserable And these are words of truth and of a good understanding unto you all which will stand a witnesse for God either with you or against you for ever against you if ye reject it and for you if ye receive it for of a truth Gods Eternall and Everlasting love is tendered unto you in and through which if ye receive it and be faithfull to what the Lord will yet further manifest unto you ye shall be blessed with faithful Abraham for ever who forsaked his Fathers house to follow the Lord he knew not whether and stumbled not at the promise of the Lord but was faithful therefore was he called the friend of God and the Father of the faithful I say take him for an example and God Almighty will give you Dominion and honour you before many if you honour him but if you despise him he will despise you and if ye refuse to hear him now when he calls unto you the day is nigh when ye shall call and he will not hear which is a word of eternall truth unto you Therefore arise in the Spirit of meekness and stand a witnesse against all superstitions and Idolatry not onely in word but in life and practise and turn to the light of Christ Jesus which condemns sin and evill in you so will ye become children of the light and become a living testimony against all sin so will ye be a sweet savour unto the Lord in your generation and happy will the man be who joynes to the Lord in deed and in truth in this work his name shall be had in everlasting remembrance for evermore so let the fear and dread of God Allmighty possesse your hearts and the wicked shall be dreaded by you and brought into subjection within you and without you for ever And this is the word of the Lord unto you and blessed will ye be if ye hear and obey it for the youth shall faint and the young Lyon shall suffer hunger but they which feare the Lord shall never want any good thing for the fear of the Lord is clean and the beginning of a true Christian therefore blessed is the man which feareth always he shall be blessed in his deed and shall prosper and flourish like a green Bay tree which is planted by the rivers of water bringing forth fruit in due season to the praise and glory of his Creator and the Lord will spread his table in the sight of his enemies while they suffer hunger And this will the Lord doe for the upright in heart whose hands are not polluted with blood nor deceit harboured between his lips even he shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied and his dayes shall be prosperous in the land of promise and the sons of the aliens shall be his servants this shall surely be the heritage of those who confesse and forsake their sins but he which hideth it shall not prosper even his prayers shall be loathsome unto the Lord and all his sacrifices an abominable abomination but he which purifieth his way by taking heed unto the Law of the Lord though he be simple yet shall he be made wise and his soul shall be converted for the Lord will perfect his glorious praise in the mouths of babes and sucklings and this thing shall be marvelous in the eyes of many These are prophesies of things which shall shortly come to passe therefore blessed is he which watcheth that he may not be found naked for the day of the Lord is coming on like a theif in the night upon all the inhabitants of the Earth wherein the hearts of all shall be made manifest and made bare and naked of what Nation or
mouths as you desire to be accepted of God and no longer say you Sing to the praise and glory of God and the comfort of your own souls when your Singing is to the dishonour of God such sacrifices are an abomination unto the Lord But whoso cometh before him though never so simple Yet if he have clean hands and a pure heart even he who speaks the truth from his heart shall and will be accepted of him for it is truth in the inward part God onely delights in without which there is no acceptance Were not they condemned of the Lord by the Prophet Who came before him as his people did and heard his word and it was unto them as a very lovely song yet their hearts being after their covetousness availed them nothing and you never yet came so far as this to wit to delight to hear the word of the Lord which is like a fire and a Hammer as hath been said but instead of it ye call the letter the Word whereas the letter saith Christ is the Word yet if you were come to hear the word of God and do it not all would availe you nothing And you to take Bread and give it one to another and call it a Sacrament which word you have no where in the Scripture neither was such a thing ever commanded to Drunkards Swearers Liars and the like but to those who in faithfulness of heart had forsaken all to follow Christ he brake bread amongst them and gave it them as a signe of his true Body and bad them do it in remembrance of him untill he came and when the substance came againe amongst them there was no more need of any outward shadow or figure which thing they did really witnesse shortly after but you are breaking bread all the dayes of your lives and never witness him come as they did Even the second time without sin unto Salvation who are pleading for sin as long as you live and Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians speaketh unto them of it who did also abuse it and therefore in his next Epistle he tels them and bids them Try and prove themselves if Christ were not in them they were reprobates So read with moderation and consider If all were reprobates who did not witness Christ in them little will it availe you to take bread and wine and eat it in imitation of what Christ did to his Disciples which thing was neither commanded them nor any who live in sin but the true followers of the lamb did and do shew forth the Lords death in eating and drinking and in all their actions and their moderation appeareth unto all men which sheweth forth both his death and life in them So they brake their bread from house to house with singlenesse of heart which is the thing the Lord delighteth in above all sacrifice whatsoever and such came to witness Christ in them to be their life and all in all and this witnessing in deed and in truth is a true regenerate state and Christians life which is more then to talke or taking a little water and sprinkling it upon the face of a child say it is a seal of the Covenant and an entrance into the Church which is but a Popish trick and invention to deceive the hearts of the simple feeding them with a name but not of the nature which thing hath been sufficiently spoken of already Neither is there any one example in the Scripture for such practise Search and so read and consider what you are a doing for it is high time for of a truth the mighty and terrible day of the Lord is at hand Wherein all shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body whether good or evil Therefore be ye awakened and repent and think not that a man or Minister made in the will of men that can preach unto you about an hours space by the houre glasse once or twice a week will serve your turn which thing is a stink and a shame to all who are true Christians and sheweth plainly that such have not the unlimited Spirit of God which cannot be limitted to a glasse time or place but speaketh in whom he will where he will and as long as he will And this was the true order amongst the Saints in their assemblies not to quench the Spirit of God but the Spirit of the Prophets were subject unto the Prophets so that if any thing was revealed to one that sat by the first was to hold his peace and they might all Prophecy one by one and were not forbidden that all might be edified and did not maintaine an hireling to speak unto them about an hour and if any were moved to speak in that time to call it a disturbance and insolence nay nay in these your fruits and practices you have not so much as a forme of godlinesse much lesse the power as you your selves confesse you have not the Spirit of God which is the power in all the true Christians and was the fruits and effects of the true living Faith without which they could not please God even the Faith which layeth hold on the promise of the Father which is that the holy Spirit even the comforter should come unto them which should lead them into all truth and shew them things to come And this doth all come to witnesse who come to know the onely one and true Baptisme which is by one Spirit baptized into one body which doth not only serve to the washing away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God even purified from dead works whereby they come to serve and worship the living God in Spirit and in truth and such onely doth he seek to worship him So come away out of all the beggarly Elements which are to perish in the using to serve the Lord in newness of mind without which all your profession and Religion is but in vaine for then and not till then will ye come to witness a bridle to your tongue which bridle ye must come to witness in you even the light which condemneth you for every idle word and action and all the works of the flesh which are these envy pride malice covetousnesse whoredom railing back-biting evil speaking drunkenness gluttony uncleannesse and all uncharitableness and they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdome of God Gal. 5.19 Therefore go ye not forth for the Kingdome of Heaven is in you saith Christ and as you come to give up to his pure Light you will be levened into its own nature and so be made partakers of it which consisteth not in word but in power holinesse peace and joy in the Holy Ghost which is the desire of my soul that you even my Countreymen may be made partakers of that ye may witness your conversation to be in Heaven and be no longer sayers but doers of the pure holy will of God that ye
neither have you any part of it by command or example in the Scripture of truth therefore it lyeth upon you to shew who were your first authors and examples for all the customes and traditions you have amongst you singing one part of Davids Psalms with your hats off and reading another part with your hats on and putting them in Meeter like Ballads by which meanes people come to sing that which they never came to witnesse as hath been before spoken of and your Sacraments and such like which ye have not one word in the Scripture for Therefore come forth and shew openly who were the first inventers of these things reading over a company of Chapters when you come together and the like all these things when they and you come to be weighed in the Ballance of the Sanctuary will be found too light and far short of the true worship of God who is not to be worshipped any other way then in Spirit and in Truth and in that one Spirit if any had a Psalm or Hymn or Prayer or Praises he did it and sung it to the praise and true glory of God and this was the true order of the Saints and not to take another mans words for Psalm or Praise or Prayer and say it over nay these things are an abominable abomination unto the Lord for it is the Spirit onely which maketh intercession for the true children and servants of God for it alone knoweth our wants and is many times poured forth unto the Lord with sighes and groanes which cannot be uttered and this only and such like Sacrifices doth God accept not for Drunkards Swearers Lyars and all manner of unclean persons to take the Saints words in their mouths and come before him with them Gods soul abhorreth it So all that ever is practised amongst you will be found to be but in sin your Apostatizing and falling away from the true faith which was prophesied both by Christ and his Apostles should come for saith Christ The night cometh wherein no man can work in which time because of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold And this is the fruits and marks of that day and Paul saw them coming in his time even those who should teach things they ought not for filthy lucres sake yea and before his decease so grievous was the falling away that he said all Asia was turned from him and also to Timothy he prophesied of these things plainly that men should heap up to themselves teachers having itching eares and should not endure sound Doctrine and the like which ye may see in the many teachers come up and made by and in the will of men according to their own lust which answereth unto Christs word who said many should come and say Lo here is Christ or Lo he is there believe them not saith Christ for the Kingdome of Heaven is within you Mark and such shall deceive the very Elect if it were possible but it is impossible to deceive them for such are Christs sheep who know his voice and a stranger they will not follow But saith Christ Ye shall know them by their fruits so by their fruits must we try them now for such teachers as men doe heap up to themselves are seen in the light which tryeth your Priests who preach up sin and lust as long as men live so here you are tryed and found to be such who are chose in mens will but Christs sheep hear his voyce and obey it and follow him who leadeth into all purity and holinesse And thus are all distinguished and known by their fruits as Christ hath said we should therefore consider these things and lay them to heart and repent before it be too late This word doth the Lord often put in my heart towards you for dreadful and terrible is the day which is already dawned over your heads The voyce of the true Shepherd saith Come Come freely without money and without price and let him that heareth come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely and let him that will buy Wine and Milk without money and without price Why will ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Incline your eares and your Souls shall live and your Souls shall delight themselves in fatnesse This is the voyce of the true Shepherd to all the inhabitants of the Earth therefore whilst it is said to day harden not your hearts as in the provocation but away all to the fountain which is freely set open to wash away sin and transgression for you have all forsaken the fountain of living waters and have hewen out Cisterns broken Cisterns that hold no water saith the Lord every one is gone astray after the imagination of his own heart and the Lord hath looked down from his holy habitation and beheld there is none that seeketh after him amongst the sons of men who are thus degenerated from him for though he hath created man upright yet he hath found out many inventions one thing being neglected by which meanes he is become more strang to his Creator than the Ox to his owner or the Asse to his masters crib Sad and deplorable estate miserable man is fallen into running on greedily in the way of destruction and drinking in iniquity as the Ox drinketh water and yet will seeme to lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord amongst us though they forsake him and refuse his tender reproofs and cast his holy Law behind their backs and will none of his reproof and make unto themselves Laws Statutes and ordinances which will sute most unto their lusts and heap up to themselves teachers having itching eares even such as they make in their own will who preach for hire and divine for money which was alwaies an abominable thing unto the Lord who sent his holy servants and Prophets to cry against such things yet do the sons of men delight to have it so And such teachers as these cry peace peace to the wicked and say no evil shall come upon them so long as they put into their mouths but otherwise suddenly prepare warre against you as the tryal will manifest the same and they with great swelling words of vanity promise to others liberty while they themselves are servants unto corruption and such like do people choose unto themselves because they prophesie smooth things unto them and under their teachings they can live as they list in pride covetousnesse wantonnesse and all manner of evil all the dayes of their lives as their fruits manifest telling people they cannot but sin as long as they live by which means instead of turning people from their wickedness they strengthen their hands in it which sheweth plainly they are such who ran when the Lord never sent them therefore they do not profit the people at all who are ever learning of them but
never able to come unto the knowledg of the truth which makes free all who come unto it as saith Christ Jesus if you know the truth the truth shall make you free And the Apostles were sent to turn people from darknesse to light and from Satans power to God which was the effect of the true and free Ministry of Christ even to open the blind eyes and make blind those which could see So they who come to be turned from Satans power unto God come to be turned from darknesse to light which is a turning from sinne to righteousnesse and here the people come to be profited but such hirelings who run and are not sent they neither bring the people to the light nor from sin to righteousness being Ministers of darkness themselves and Preach for filthy lucre sake and do in no wise profit the people as I have said if one come amongst them and their hearers and do but declare and speak of those things unto them wherewith Christ Jesus hath enlightned him then presently they fall upon him commonly by the command of their Priests and cry out he is a deceiver away with him though they have nothing to be deceived of but sin and uncleanness which sheweth plainly they are not of the number of the Elect of God for they need not to fear being deceived for it is impossible to deceive them For Christs sheep hear his voice and knoweth it and a stranger will they not follow But these like blind men instead of trying all things and holding fast that which is good stop their ears and furiously run themselves upon a poore simple innocent man who seeks not theirs but them And this their fruits manifests they are not in the nature of the true Christians but of the Jews who persecuted the Prophets and stoned them who were sent unto them and in this nature do they sing pray and the like which is no more accepted of the Lord Then if they cut off a Dogs neck or offer a sacrifice of blood for such was Cains sacrifice who was of the envious one who slew his brother And this is the fruits and effects of the hirelings Ministry which is a griefe unto the upright in heart to see And behold how poor people are kept in bondage and from the knowledge of God by them hearing and learning from their youth up untill they go to the grave and still in sin and pleading for it as long as they live O people it is high time to awake and consider these things and lay them to heart for the Ax of the Lord is a laying to the roote of every tree And every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire for the Lord hath long born with you and men have conceived nought but vanity and brought forth lies and every one is striving either by deceit or policy to uphold his own way by the arm of flesh and he that can get the power into his hand oppresseth all who will not bow unto his manner or forme of worship as though God were served in mans will or could or would be limitted by the sons of men while every one is crying up his own way to be best while they are all in the way of sin pleading for it as long as they live The Lords soul abhorreth these things for it is only the sacrifice of clean hands and a pure heart which he accepteth even of such who are of an humble and contrite spirit and trembleth at his Word and such he will in no wise despise But how far men are from this spirit which is onely accepted of by the Lord let the pure Light of Christ Jesus judge in all your consciences doth not envy reign still in their hearts and where that reigneth there is strife and every evil work which seperateth man from God and in this state should they sacrifice thousands of Rams and ten thousand rivers of Oyle the fruit of their bodies for the sins of their souls it would availe them nothing But wash you make you clean saith the Lord and put away the evil of your doings relieve the fatherless and the widdow and I will accept you and though your sins are as red as scarlet yet will I make them as white as snow Saith Solomon he which confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy and it is certain that none else doth or ever shall for the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination unto the pure God For when the Jews were in the observation of sacrifices Sabbaths New-moons and the like the Lord said they were an abomination and loathsomness unto him and his soul did abhor them and the reason was because of the evil of their doings for in such things the Lord delighteth not but a body which is prepared to do his will in is only accepted for there he only takes delight to dwell which is more then all sacrifices offerings and oblations which David knew right well But this thing Satan and his Ministers Preach not to the people that he may keep his seat whole within them profess what they will in words he matters it not for he knows if once the creature cometh to the Covenant of God that then he will come to witnesse his body to be his Temple as he hath promised I will dwell in them and walk in them therefore Satan strives every way to keep people from the light which is the Covenant whereby men would come to know the teachings of God and would not need that man should teach them But this makes not for the hireling nor his profit therefore would he be Master as much as in him lieth telling people they must not look for God to speak unto men in these days and that revelations are ceased and such like stuff he filleth up his hours time with which sheweth he and his hearers know not the Son of God as the true Christians did And saith Christ unto those that come unto me I give eternal life and none hath eternal life but those who know the Father and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent So all Priests and people this is to you and sheweth that you are from the true Faith and to every good work reprobate for he that doth not witness all his works done and wrought in him by the vertue and power of God all his works are but as filthy rags which is self righteousnesse for if the just do not work in the creature it is self which can never be accepted of the Father for the true children of God came to witnesse that God did all their works for them and in them and so did witnesse in deed and in truth the Lord to be their righteousness and were called by that name So come and try your works and by whom they are wrought in you if not by Christ then it is self and so it will availe you nothing For without me saith Christ ye