Dwell low in the pure fear of the Lord for there is safety that keeps the heart clean and so the pure wisdom from above is received into the pure heart and bring all your deeds to the Light that so they may be proved and tried whether or no they be wrought in God Weigh your words and your Actions in the ballance of equity and be upright and just in all your dealings amongst men in your buyings and sellings and whatsoever things you take in hand let the Light of Jesus be your guide that so your consciences may be exercised towards God and man that you may be kept blamelesse and harmlesse as children of God amongst this wicked and untoward Generation of men who daily watch with an evil eye for your halting thereby to take occasion to blaspheme God and his pure Truth which ye in a measure are growing up in and in a good measure redeemed from the vile and filthie conversation of the world Dear Friends keep nothing back but freely give up into the Will of God that which is for the Sword to the Sword and that which is for the Famine to the Famine and what is for the Fire to the Fire that you may be thorowly cleansed and purified and tried as Gold and Silver is tried Whatsoever the Light of Christ doth discover unto you to be evil and an enemy to your souls cast it off hide not the enemies of your peace in your own bosoms for whatsoever you keep back will be as thorns in your sides and as pricks in your eyes Therefore cast off every weight and burden that you may run with cheerfulnesse the Race set before you that through the trials and tribulations you may come and so enjoy the promised Land for through many tribulations and fiery trials doth the children of God passe for the children of Israel after they were come forth of Egypt had many Enemies to war withall before they came to the promised Land and many fainted in the way and through unbelief fell in the Wildernesse which things are written and left upon Record that those that should come after might take warning and not give way to the Tempter least they fall as they did and so come short of the eternal rest Therefore every one of you take warning and take heed least there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God but abide in the measure of God which is pure and perfect though but as a grain of Mustard-Seed yet wait and you will finde the growth of it When trials come be content murmure not but endure with patience the chastning of the Lord for every child whom he loves he rebukes and chastens for he that is not corrected and chastised of the Lord is a Bastard and no Son And now is the time come that Judgement is begun at the house of God and if it first begin at us what will become of the wicked and them that obey not the Gospel of God Surely wo will be their portion and condemnation and misery will be the end of ungodly men but blessed are they that suffer tribulation and persecution for righteousnesse sake they shall inherit the Kingdom of Glory he that overcomes and endures to the end shall be crowned with Victorie and shall eat of the hidden Manna and have right unto the Tree of Life and shall have Vnion and Fellowship with the Father and the Son and reign with the Lord God and the Lamb in the holy City for ever and ever Therefore though you now be afflicted be not cast down through unbelief though you now weep and mourn and be reproached and reyiled yet your sorrow shall be turned into joy it is but for a little moment of time until the night and the stormy day be over and then will come a calm though sorrow and trouble may endure for a night yet joy will come in the morning when the Day-star doth arise and the glorious day of the Lord doth dawn in your hearts then shall darknesse be expelled and sorrow and sighing flie away and the presence of the Lord in the Light shall be seen in whose presence there is gladnesse and great joy and you all his faithful ones who have passed through many tribulations and have not loved your lives unto death shall worship him in his holy Temple and thereshall be no need of light of Sun Moon or Candle but the glory of the Lord shall fill the Temple and shall be a Light continually for all his dear children to walk in So all my dearlie beloved ones who are in the time of trouble and trial with you I do partake and bear part of your burthen as being a Member of the same body and if one Member suffer all the Members suffers with it and though you come to such a condition trouble within and trouble without on every side Enemies yet do not distrust God neither look back into the world of darknesse again there is no help for you there but as the Children of Israel in former time were incompassed about Pharoah behinde and the Red Sea before and on either side Mountains they were even ready to faint and murmure but Moses the Servant of the Lord who was chosen to be their Leader out of Egypt he exhorted them to stand still and see the salvation of God they were not to stand still in Egypt but being come forth of Egypt the Lord shewed his wonderful hand in preservin g of them So I say unto you dear friends who are come forth of the Egyptian darknesse and are delivered from those grosse evils that the world lives in and have a light born up in your understandings to lead you but yet do finde many enemies warring against you even they of your own house so that you know not what to do nor which way to go to finde peace I say unto you will nothing neither do you run before your guide but stand still in the Light that discovers your Enemies and there wait in the will of God and you will see salvation from the Lord by his living Power binding and chaining and subduing the strong Enemies which wars against your souls and so a secret hope will be begotten in you by the powerful Word of the Lord which is night in your hearts which doth purifie your hearts and that which formerlie you committed imposlible by Faith in the Light which comes from the Son of God you see to be possible and the Lords perfect work being begun in you you have a strong hope and knows assuredlie that he who hath begun a good work in you he will perfect it to his own glorie And he that hath this hope purifies himself even as Christ is pure And here is the patience and the Faith of Saints which though never so little if it be but as a grain of Mustard Seed it removes the strong and high Mountains of Sin and gives victorie over the the
will testifie against you and be your condemnation and your faith is vain who are yet in your sins Therefore repent and turn from your wickedness cease to do evil and learn to do well draw near unto God and he will draw near unto you put away lying and swearing and all prophaneness let no corrupt speeches proceed out of your mouthes and hearken to the voice of Christ that your souls may live spend not your money for that which is not bread nor your labor for that which doth not satisfie But hearken with diligence to hear the voice of the beloved Son of God who saith Learn of me I am meek and lowly in Spirit and you shall finde rest to your souls and that is it in you all which reproves for sin and checks you when you do amiss when no mortal eye sees you minde this well and wait to be guided by it and it will lead you out of sin and evil up to God the Father to have Unity with him and with his Son and so to bring forth fruits of the Spirit love joy peace gentleness meekness soberness brotherly kindness forbearing and forgiving one another And this will be a present guid unto you if you love it and bring your deeds to it to be tryed by it at all times and in all companies to lead you to God if sinners entice you consent not to them but fear the Lord and stand in awe and sin not But if you hate this Light and live in your sins and your old vain ungodly conversation this Light will be your condemnation Now while you have time prize it and work while it is day lest the dreadful night of darkness come upon you when none can work Awake awake and arise from the dead prepare your selves and make ready for the Kingdom of God is at hand Come out of Babylon partake not of her sins lest ye partake of her plagues and wait upon the Lord that you may eat of the Bread of Life which satisfies the Soul ALl you that are breathing after God who are Hungring and Thirsting after righteousness which have long been wandring upon the mountains as sheep without a shepherd who have long been seeking after God but have not sound him and have many years been hearers and learners and have spent much money and labor and much precious time but have sound no satisfaction nor refreshment to your hungry thirsting souls but still there is a cry within for want of a Savior something in your consciences cries and is not satisfied notwithstanding your many years professing and talking of God and Christ and your running after this man and that man to hear Sermons as they are called yet still you are in your sins and your own old vain ungodly conversation and crooked and perverse rebellious and disobedient nature upon which the wrath of God abides and so there is no true peace joy nor rest to your souls I say unto all such simple hearts who have been tossed to and fro many years with the windy doctrines of men but have not found peace return home to your Fathers house seed no longer amongst the swine upon the husks you cannot fill your belly there but come into my Fathers house for there is bread enough Seek not the living among the dead but awake awake all you that sleep and arise from the dead that Christ may give you light turn your mindes inward and seek the last groat in your own house for the Lord is near yea doubtless Friends the Lord is very nigh for in him we live and move and have our being For it is he that gives to all life and breath and all things and out of his love to fallen man-kinde hath given his onely begotten Son for a Covenant of Light into the World who doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World that all men through him might believe There is that light in every one of your consciences which if you love it will teach you continually and lead you out of sin and unrighteousness into purity and holiness to worship the living God in spirit and in truth and so to be taught of him in spirit according to his promise I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and my sons and my daughters shall Prophesie and I will make a new Covenant with them I will write my law in their hearts and put my spirit into their into their inward parts and they shall no more teach every one his Neighbor and Brother saying Know the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest and I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember â—o more and this is the Lord fulfilling in our day praises to his Name for evermore he is gathering his scattered sheep together where they have been scat cred abroad in this cloudy dark day and is bringing them into the Fold and there shall be one Sheepsold and one Shepheard this is the promise of the Father which he is now bringing to pass establishing his own Kingdom in Righteousness and uniting and joyning his people together that they may all be of one heart and mind that they may with one voice and one consent glorifie and praise him in the Covenant of his Son which he is now leading his people into where no sin enters but is all shut out of the Kingdom and Covenant of the righteous God Therefore all people every where prize this precious time which the Lord doth give unto you and trifle it not away in vanity and vain delights but hearken to that which is pure which convinces and reproves for sin in your consciences and makes manifest the evil of your hearts that is The pure light of Christ which did never consent unto sin but stood against you witnessing for God against sin though never so secretly committed This is the eye which a long time hath been vailed and blinded by the God of the World but now is the Lord unvailing and uncovering and stripping of all the stollen garments which the Serpent hath painted and decked himself withal and the Devil can no longer hide himself but by the light of Jesus Christ shining in the conscience he is found out in all his Wiles and Temptations whereby he goes about to ensnare and deceive the innocent For as long as the Devil can keep people from owning this light he can lodge in the heart and work his works in the heart but when ever they come to own and walk in the light he cannot work but by the light his works is seen and by the power and life of Christ within the Devils works are destroyed and the heart purifyed and the conscience purged from dead works and so the body is made a Temple of God which Temple is holy and if any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy Therefore all people who love your souls come out of your sins which doth defile you and separate you from God and breaks your peace with God and love and walk in the light of Christ and bring your deeds to it For every one that doth truth he loves the light and bringeth his deeds to the light that they may be proved and tryed whether or no they be wrought in God and in the light you will have union and fellowship one with another and the Blood of Christ will cleanse you from all sin walking in the light for this light is pure and but one and leads to purity and oneness out of all Divisions Strife and Contention and from all the changeable Priests and changeable Doctrines and changeable Worships and changeable Laws that stands in the will of Man in the fallen Wisdom and will lead you unto Jesus Christ the unchangeable Priest the alone Teacher of his People who teacheth all his freely by his free spirit and leads them out of Death and dead Works into the pure way and path of life that they may bring forth fruit unto God and blessed are all they that fear the Lord and walk in his way But the wicked must be turned into Hell and all the Nations that forget God therefore let every one that nameth the Name of JESUS CHRIST depart from iniquity From a lover of your Souls but a witness against all Sin A. P. THE END
A CALL OUT OF EGYPT Where Death and darkness is INTO THE Glorious Light and Liberty of the Sons OF GOD Where Life and Peace is The Lord fulfilling his PROMISES Declared by his Holy PROPHETS and APOSTLES In these later Days LONDON Printed for Giles Calvert at the Black Spread Eagle neer the West end of Pauls 1656. A CALL OUT OF EGYPT Where Death and darkness is into the glorious Light and Liberty of the Sons of God where life and peace is c. GIve eare O ye heavens and I will speak and hear O earth the words of my mouth I will declare unto you the wonders of God I will publish the name of the Lord and the mighty operation of his power he is the Rock and the sure Foundation his work is perfect all his ways are judgment and righteousness he is a God of Truth and without iniquity just and righteous is he and all his wayes are just and equal he is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity his way is pure and his Worship is likewise pure and spiritual and he sits in his Throne of Righteousness Justice and Judgment and the wicked cannot stand before him they are and shall be like the chaffe which the winde driveth away and cannot stand in the Judgement nor the Sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous Holy and Righteous is the Lord God of Hosts and delights in purity Holinesse becomes his house for ever The Temple of God is holy where he dwells and inhabits and where he is worshipped and he dwells not in Temples made with hands as it is written in the Prophets The heaven is my Throne and the earth is my Footstool where is the house that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest for all those things hath mine hand made and all those things have been saith the Lord But to this man will I look even to him that is of a meek and a contrite Spirit and trembleth at my word This is God the living God which the Prophets and Apostles and all the Holy Men did bear witness unto and declared of even what they had seen and heard and tasted of the Word of Life which was in the beginning with God and the Word was God and shall endure for ever The same God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last dayes spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath given for a Covenant of Light to lead his people out of death and darkness into righteousness and peace to have fellowship with the Son and to be Heirs Joint-Heirs with the Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things by whom also he made the world all that is therein the Sun the Moon the Stars and the Fowls of the air the Earth and all the Beasts of the Field and the creeping things upon the Earth the Sea and all that is therein who being the brightness of his Glory and the expresse Image of his substance upholding all things by the Word of his Power which power is now manifested which makes the earth to shake and the Inhabitants thereof to tremble at the wonderful work of our God which is began in this Nation of England The dreadful God of Host is risen in his majesty great power is bringing to passe his strange work which makes the heathen rage bite and gnaw their tongues and stand astonished at the strange work of the Lord Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your daies which you shall in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you and this is fulfilled upon this Generation who will not believe the work of the Lord though it be declared unto them but do set themselves in opposition against the work of God both Rulers and Magistrates Priests and People all join themselves together in battel against the Lamb but they shall not prevail all is vain the Lamb shall get the Victory and hath gotten the victory our eyes have seen and beheld it praises to his Name for evermore who hath fulfilled and is daily fulfilling his promise more and more gathering his scattered sheep together where they have been scattered abroad in this cloudy dark day many yeers the Lords people have been made a prey upon but the true shepherd Christ Jesus is risen is bringing deliverance to his people gathering them from the mouths of the false Shepherds and bringing them into the fold of rest and peace where they shall eat and be satisfied with living Refreshments in the bosome of the Fathers love and there shall be one sheepfold and one Shepherd Praises to the Lord the day is come the happy day the day of glad tydings which we long looked and waited for the day of our God which is a day of glad tydings to weary and imprisoned Souls and a day of vengeance and recompence of the Adversaries of God as it is declared in the Prophets The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath annoynted me to preach good tydings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the CAPTIVES and the opening of the PRISON to them that are bound to proclaim the acceptable YEER of the LORD and the DAY of VENGEANCE of our God to comfort all that mourn to appoint unto them that mourn in ZION to give unto them Beauty for Ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heavinesse that they might bee called Trees of Righteousness the Planting of the LORD And this is the Lord fulfilling in our days he is planting a garden of pleasant Plants and watering and dressing them that they may be fruitful and is plucking up all the wild and fruitlesse plants and casting them into the fire of his wrath there to be burned that so his people may bee a holy and a peculiar people that he may bee glorified for hee is come who is pure to look for FRUITS and all fruitlesse TREES must bee cut downe and cast into the fire For the LORD hath looked downe from Heaven and behold the Land is corrupted The Garden of the Lord is overspread with weeds briars thorns doth the earth bring forth and the faithfull City is become an harlot as faith the Prophet It was full of judgment righteousness lodged in it but now murderers thy silver is become dross thy wine mixt with water thy Princes are rebellious and companions of thieves every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards See if it be not so now They judge not the fatherless neither doth the Cause of the Widdow come before them therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts the mighty One of Israel Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries and avenge me of mine ehimies and I will turn my hand upon thee and purely purge away thy dross and take away
all thy tinne and I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning afterwards thou shalt be called The City of righteousness the faithfull City Sion shall be redeemed with judgment and her Converts with righteousness And now is this day come that the righteous God is pleading his Cause with his Enemies and purging them with the spirit of judgment and of burning And Judgment is begun according as the Apostle foretold for the time is that Judgment must begin at the house of God and if it first begin at us what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God Woe and misery will be their portion and the destruction of the Transgressors and of the Sinners shall be together and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed for he will be glorified in this his day of Righteousnesse and just Judgement which is now set up in the earth which makes the Inhabitants thereof to learn righteousnesse according to the saying of the Prophet Isaiah The way of the just is uprightnesse thou most upright dost weigh the path of the just yea in the way of thy judgements O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our soul is to to thy Name and to the remembrance of thee With my Soul have I I desired thee in he might yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early for when thy judgements are in the earth the Inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness Let favour be shewed to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness in the Land of Uprightness will he deal unjustly and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord though he stretcheth forth his Hand and calls to come forth of the Land of Darkness and waiteth to be gracious yet all this will not move him nor break his heart but goes on carelesly to destruction and because sentence against an evill work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do evill But now the day of just Judgement is come and woe unto the wicked it shall go ill with them they shall not prolong their Days because they fear not before the Lord the righteous God of Heaven and Earth who loves Righteousnesse and no unrighteous one can have union and fellowship with him And this is he the living pure holy righteous God which the holy men of God did bear Testimony of and the same pure holy God do I bear Testimony of which is Light and in him is no darknesse at all who created man and made him in his own Image and gave him Dominion over all other creatures But all have gone astray and turned aside from the holy Command of God and so have falne from the pure living God and lost his Image and are become aliens and strangers to Him their Maker the God of the world having blinded their minds and stolne away their hearts from the love of the Creator into the Creature and so their love is in the Creature and worships and serves that more then the Creator and their Bodies which was the Temples of God and in which was his image and likeness the same is become a habitation for the Devil and all unclean lusts and so the image and likeness of the Devil who hath gotten possession and sits as ruler and king in the heart and leads the Creature captive at his will to do his work which is unrighteousness And here is the first mans state which is from below of the Earth earthly and mindes Earthly things careing for the things of this life what to eat what to drink and what to put on labouring and striving by all ways and means to get great possessions and to become great in the Earth and to have the honour of the World which is below and lies in wickedness and in this state men and women are striving to come again unto the Tree of life and by their Earthly wisdom which is sensual and divelish goes about to comprehend the things of God but never can it is a mysterie hid and sealed from this wisdom and never can be known there for the World by wisdom knows not God But good and full of love is the Lord the righteous God and by his wisdom hath found out a way contrary to the wit will and wisdom of man and that is of himself for he hath given his son his only begotten son who is the son of his love him hath he freely given for a Covenant of light to bring back again fallen man which is driven from God into the Earth and to reconcile him to his Maker and renew that Image of God again which by his disobedience he hath lost and there is no way but by the Son none knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him And this is he which the Prophets prophesied of and which the Apostles witnessed to be the Light of the world as John testifies who came for a Witness to bear witness of the Light and saith he that was the true Light which lightneth every man that cometh into the world and the same do I bear testimony unto he who is the life and light of men which lightneth every one that cometh into the world and this light is true and pure and stands a witness for the true and pure God against all sin and unrighteousness and all the deeds done in the body though never so closely acted or intended this true light doth not consent but reproves in secret for the secret evils that are conceived in the evil heart against God And when this witness doth arise in the conscience and trouble man for his sin and brings him to some sense and feeling of his miserable condition that he lies under the Curse and wrath of Almighty God and gives him some wound for his sin and and so man comes to see his nakedness with the light of the Sun then fearing the wrath of God doth fly from his presence to actsomething to pacify the wrath of God and so Adam-like makes garments of fig-leavs to cover his nakedness And here is the ground of all the forms and professions of godliness that stands not in the Light but are turned from the Light and fled the judgment and run to the Scriptures without them and so reads and gets a notion of words decking and painting themselves with the sheeps cloathing and so read and pray and sing and goe to hear Sermons and cover themselves with a Covering like the Spirit but is not the Spirit and so Wo is their Portion who are covered and not with the Spirit of the Lord All this will not hide them nor cover their nakedness in the day of the Lord all this doth not cleanse the heart nor reform the inside all this which the world calls Worship and Service of God as Reading Praying Singing and Preaching as it is called or whatever
is done in that state it is no more but a Garment of Fig-Leafs or patching a piece of new cloth in an old Garment it is a false cover which wil not stand in the Fiery day and this was the state of the Scribes and Pharisees who had the Scriptures Moses and the Prophets words and were painted over with good words but had not the Word of God abiding in them so they were strangers to the Life and Power of God and they did not believe in the Light Jesus Christ who was the sum of all that which they upheld which were but types and shadows and figures of him who was the Substance and therefore Christ the Light cryed wo unto them calling them Hypocrites whited Walls painted Sepulchres Serpents Generation of Vipers who shut up the kingdom of heaven against men neither going in themselvs nor suffers others And these were of the great men of the world and learned men Doctors and chief Priests and the learned Rabbies yet for all this their learning they knew not Christ but called him a blasphemer and those that did believe on him were called a cursed people that knew not the Law Thus in all Ages profession was blind who were not guided by the Light of Christ as it was then it is now all the world Professors Priests and People who deny the Light of Christ and are not guided by it all their Prayers and Sacrifices is abomination and stincks in the Nostrils of the pure God iniquity being found within and regarded in their hearts this will be the Sentence from the Righteous God Go ye Cursed Workers of Iniquity depart from me into everlasting Fore preâ—aâ—ed for the Devil and his Angels And here lies the world in wickednesse and though many have long been seeking after God yet have not found him because they have been seeking the living among the dead and though many have long been talking of the name of God and of Christ yet few there be that walk in the living way and live the pure life of Christ but Iniquity doth daily abound in the Nation amongst those that professe God and that Pride and Envie and Wrath Strife and Debate Covetousnesse Cruelty Tyranny and Oppression Drunkennesse Lying foolish Jesting vain Sporting and Pleasures that the Lands mourns and the whole Creation groans with the Bondage of Corruption and the Name of the Lord is daily dishonored by this wicked and untoward Generation of Professors both Priests and People all are out of the pure Path in the hypocrisie making a shew of Godlinesse and drawing neer to God with their lips and with their mouths but their hearts are far from him and their Sacrifices and Prayers are as Cains Sacrifice who murdered his Brother So these who live in Envy and Wrath and false Accusing Back-biting Slandering and Persecuting and Reproaching the Innocent harmlesse Lambs of Christ and so are found in the same nature with Cain for saith the Apostle He that hateth his Brother is a Murderer and no Murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him And here all who are not wilfully blind may see the National and Parish-Teachers in the nature of Cain in envy and so not accepted of God and all that uphold them they are seen in the Light of the Lord Jesus to be blind and are led by the blind and both are going into the Ditch who have turned from the measure of God the Light that did and doth convince and reprove for sin and evil and are soared up in the air climbing up another way But if ever you know God or true peace to your souls back you must come to that which doth reprove and trouble for sin that must speak peace if ever you know peace and that will not speak peace to any who lives in sin but he that fears God and departs from Iniquity and waiteth upon God shall finde Peace and Rest to his Soul Therefore all people whatsoever who read these Lines seriously consider your wayes and no longer follow the Parish-Priests who preach for hire and seek gain from their quarter and through feigned words and covetousnesse make merchandise of your souls they were never sent of God and therefore they shall not profit you Cease from them all and wait on the Lord in the Light of his Son Jesus and learn of him who is meek and low in Spirit and you shall finde rest to your souls But while you live in your sins there is no rest as saith the Prophet There is no peace to the wicked but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength for the Lord is come in power and great glory and is fulfilling his promise made of old pouring forth his spirit upon his Sons and Daughters and they shall be all taught of God aâ—d in righteousness shall they be established and shall be far from Opprrssion and no worker of Iniquity nor any unclean thing can enter into the Covenant of God for this is the Covenant of the Lord I will write my Law in their hearts and put my spirit in their inward parts and they shall no more teach every man his Neighbor nor every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest and I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more saith the Lord And this is our God fulfilling in these our dayes his own Glory to whom be everlasting Honor and Dominion for evermore Witnessed by a Servant of the Lord who is come out of Egypt and through the Red-Sea and the Wildernesse and arrived at the Land of Rest whose Name is after the flesh called ALEX. PARKER The Minister of Christ his plea for PURITY against the Ministers of Antichrist and all their Train who plead for sin ALL you that plead for sin whether Priests or People of what sort soever who make a profession of the name of God and of Christ and yet live in sin and plead for sin and sayes none can be free from sin or perfect from sin while they live upon the earth all your talking and outside customary worship is in vain and is no more but your own self-righteousnesse which is filthy and abominable and it will never bring peace to your souls nor you can never be reconciled to God as long as you live in sin that 's the cause of seperation from God your sins your sins have separated between you and me saith the Lord and as long as sin stands the Partition wall stands for it stands betwixt you and the Lord and there is no Union nor Fellowship with God nor with his Son as long as you live in sin but aliens you are and strangers from the pure God and the life of his Son Jâ—sus And you that plead so strongly for sin you plead for the Devil whose servants you are as long you live in sin and you are the Antichrists that are against Christ
oppose him and you are against the end of his coming and being manifested in flesh for he came to take awaysin and so he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world for for this purpose was the Son of God made manifest that he might destroy the works of the Devil and to dispossesse and cast out the strong man and so to purifie the heart and purge the conscience from dead works and make it a fit Temple for himself to dwell in and he hath promised to dwell in his people and where he dwells purity dwells and sin cannot dwell with him for it defiles and pollutes his Temple and if any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are speaking to the Saints Now this I say That all sin defiles as Envy Wrath Malice Pride Lust Covetousnesse and the like if these evils lodge in your hearts it is evident and plainly manifest that the Devil the strong man lodgeth and is axalted above all that is called God in your hearts and keeps possession there for all these evils and abominations that are acted and done in the world the Devil is the Author and Father of them who hath begotten them into his Image and likenesse to do his will and works which are works of darknesse and so all you that live in sin as pride hatred variance debate drunkennesse swearing lying false accusing cozening and cheating in your buyings and sellings using false weights and measures and saying and unsaying boasting of your Wares to be so and so when many times you know to the contrary and so lie one to another to get dishonest gain and make a prey of the simple who have not so much of the subtle Serpents wisdom as your selves All these are the works of the Devil and as long as you live in these practises the Devil leads you and so you become his Servants for his Servants you are to whom you yeild your selves servants to obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousnesse for the wages of sin is death and all who go in their sin satisfying and fulfilling the lusts and desires of the flesh and going from God in the broad way that leads to destruction But the Serpent is grown very subtle and the better to hide and cover himself he brings Scripture to uphold his Kingdom all that he can gather up as he conceives makes for his purpose that he brings and his Servants make use of to oppose the pure Doctrine of the Son of God and his faithful and true Ministers who are sent of God to open the blind eyes to turn them from darkness unto Light and from Satant power unto God and to present them perfect in Christ Jesus But saith the Serpent and the Ministers of Antichrist It is not possible that ever any one should be free from sin while they live did not David sin and Peter sin and did not Paul cry out of a body of sin and are you better then the Apostles Thus the carnal professors of our time plead for their Kingdom being blinded by the God of the World that the Light of the Glorious Gospel of JESUS CHRIST which makes free from sin this they know not Now all people consider and see what you do uphold and what you do plead for will this Plea stand at the great and dreadful Day when the Lord calls you to an Account to say that others were sinners bring that as a cloak to cover you No this will not cover you in that dreadful Day of Account for though David did sin yet he repented and had no peace till the Lord had pardoned his sin He wept until his eyes grew dim and his flesh did fail of fatness he watered his Couch with his tears Is it so with you Are you brought down as David was and though David left these things upon Record it was not to encourage others to go on in sin but that all might take example not to do the like lest the terror and wrath of God come upon them for their rebellion against so good a God but you stiâ—l go on in your vile courses and instead of being humbled by the example of others that have sinned you bring it to uphold you in your sins and so goes on daily treasuring up to your selves wrath against the day of Wrath which none of them did that you bring the failings of where did David sin again or Peâ—er or Paul but were made instrumental to turn many from their sins So you being ignorant of the conditions of the Saints mentioned in Scripture brings one condition to oppose another for there was a time when they were dead in sins and trespasses and were aliens and strangers from the Covenant of Promise and there was a time when they were dead unto sin and alive unto God being reconciled unto God havnig put off the body of the sin of the flesh and had put on Christ and were alive in him and created in him unto good Works and by the Son of God the Covenant of the Father they were made free from sin and had passed from death unto life and Christ lived in them who had given them the Victory over their sin and defaced and blotted out the image of the devil and renewed his own Image in them and though Paul do speak of a warfare that was in his growth and through patient waiting in the Crosse of Christ he witnessed a victory and praised God who had given him the Victory so he speaks of several times and conditions as a time without the Law I was alive without the Law once and he speaks of a time under the Law and a time of being made free from the Law which things you must all know and witnesse manifested and fulfilled in you if ever you know the truth in its purity for through the same door that all the holy men of God did passe must you passe or else you cannot come to the same rest And this door and this way is straight you cannot enter in with your old Garments you must be stripped of all end become as a little child or else you cannot enter you must know the work of God within you and the operation of his Power and his Righteous Law set up within you to kill sin in its rise and conception in your hearts then will you know the war between the Beast and the Lamb and the flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh that ye cannot do the things that ye would and this was Pauâ—s time of crying out for saith he When we were in the flesh the motions of sin that were by the Law did work in our â—eâ—bers to bring forth fruit unto death but now we are delivered from the Law that being dead unto which we were hold that we should serve in newness of the Spirit and not in
evermore be the righteous God who hath hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to Babes Now for the simple ones sake I shall speak and declare that their minds may be informed and that they may not be kept in blindnesse by the God of the world The Apostle John was come to high attainments and saw through the vail he saw the first mans state where all are dead in sin and he saw the second mans state which was born of God and could not sin Now the natural man by all his wit wisdom cannot comprehend these things for as it is written The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned So it is the Spirit that reveales the deep and hidden things of God and by the Spirit of God it is seen that the Apostle speaks to a condition before confession of sin and whereas he saith we many times they say we when they are passed from such conâ—itions as sames saith speaking of the tongue herewith bless we God and therewith curse we men but was fames a curser But read the following Verse where John saith But if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to foroive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and if you say that John had not confessed his sin I bear testimony and the Scripture likewise testifie the same that he had both confessed and forsaken his sins for his fellowship was with the Father and the Son and you may see in the beginning of the Chapter Truâ—y saith he our followship is with the Father and the Son Now if John had been in the unregenerate state and had not confessed his sin then could he not have had Union and Fellowship with the Father for God is Light and in him is no darkness a all if we say â—e have fellowship with God and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth but if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have union and fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin mark well he doth not say from part of your sins but from all sin and this is that testimony that we bear of Christ That his blood cleanseth from all sin and he saveth to the utmost all that come unto God by him so if the Son make you free then are you free indeed But we do not speak of any freedom but by the light life and power of Jesus for if any one say he hath no sin before he come to witnesse Repentance and the power of Christ not being manifested in him to destroy take away his Sin he doth deceive himself the witnesse of God in his own conscience will testifie against him for if we say we have not sinned we make him a liar but where the life and power of Christ is manifested and the Devils works destroyed and the heart purified and the body made a temple of God shall we deny the work of God No far be it from us but to declare his Name abroad in the earth that others may dread and fear before him and â—â—pent of the evil of their ways that so they might rejoice with us in the love of our God and eat with us on the bread of life in our Fathers house that they may be changed and renewed and witness the birth which is from above which except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Now this birth and this change hath long been talked of but who are they that are changed and born again Surely some there are God hath some of his own begetting and the Apostle saith He that is born of God sins not for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God but this the world and the children of darknesse cannot believe nor endure to hear tell of but ready to tear and rend if any one come to know and witnesse a change And so all you that plead for sin you may see whom you serve even the devil the Prince of Darknesse who leads you guides you as long as you live in sin But blessed be God the happy day is come and the Lord hath many children who are begotten by the eternal Spirit and are kept by his power strength that the wicked one cannot touch them according as the Apostle testifieth VVe know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself that the wicked one toucheth him not let no man therefore deceive you with words for he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous and he that commits sin is of the Devil hereby are the children of God manifest and the children of the Devil So all you that live in Envy and Wrath speaking evil of the things you know not you manifest your selves to be of the devil who hath begotten you into his image and likeness to do his lusts and so being after the flesh are found persecutors of them that are born after the Spirit as it was in former ages and generations the children of God were ever hated and reproached by the world but it is our joy accounting it great riches that we are counted worthy to suffer for his Names sake knowing this that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution A Paper shewing who they are that are blessed and who they are that are cursed BLessed is the man that feareth the Lord and walketh in his way he shall be kept in peace when all the world is in trouble And Misery and no peace unto them who be out of the fear of God and out of the way of life in the broad way that leads to destruction following lusts and pleasures sporting themselves in the day-time you that live after the Course of this wicked world not regenerated and born again of the Word of God but live in your old vain wicked ungodly and vile courses in the fallen state bringing forth cursed fruits from the cursed ground sowing to the flesh and satisfying the lusts of it living in lying and swearing and drunkennesse spending the creatures of God upon your lusts drinking one to another and tempting one another wit Ale and Beere until you be overcome and so like Swine wallowing in the Lusts of Uncleannesse you bear the Image of your Father the Devil whose children and servants you are while you continue in your sins and filthinesse you are of the cursed Generation and wo and misery is your portion Wo wo to all the Inhabitants of the earth the Devil is come down amongst you and he rageth and swells because he hath but a short time The day draweth nigh it hasteth greatly wherein every one of your works must be tried by fire and the Devil together with the false
Prophets and all you who bear his Mark must be cast into the Lake of Fire there to be tormented for ever and ever from the presence of the Lord and all his holy Angels and Saints this will be your Sentence from the righteous God Depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity Consider of this in your life time you that are so full of rage and malice scoffing and scorning and reproaching the Servants and Messengers of the Lord who are sent of God to give you warning and to open your blind eyes and to turn you from your sins and from darknesse unto Light and from the power of Satan unto God that you might receive forgivenesse of sins and an Inheritance amongst the Saints in Light and this freely as they are moved of the Lord from the bowels of tender love to your lost souls without any self-end not seeking for a gift or any reward from any of you not seeking yours but you yet notwithstanding all their care labour and travel see how you do reward them mocking and scoffing and envying of them haling them out of your Synagogues and beating them sending many to the Stocks and haling others before Magistrates and so to Prison and there the innocent suffers under the hands of cruel men many being beaten and cruelly used in the PRISONS by the cruel GOALERS Witnesse the GOALER at LANCESTON where many of the deare Servants of the LORD have been cast into PRISONS among THIEVES and MURDERERS and have been numbred amongst TRANSGRESSORS as our LORD and MASTER was and many of them have been cruelly beaten and most basely abused by the GOALER and his COMPANIONS And all this and much more is done against the innocent whom you cannot justly accuse of any evil nor wrong done to any man but freely declaring against sin in Markets Cities and Villages and in your Idols-temple where the Worship of the Beast is upheld to call you from your false wayes and false Worships into the true and living way and pure and Spiritual Worship to worship God in Spirit and in Truth and to call you from off all your hireling-Priests and Parish-Teachers who have long time led you in blindnesse and ignorance and have not profited you but made a prey upon your souls for dishonest gain that so you may all be taught of God in Spirit according to the Fathers Promise and all this is done unto you freely without seeking any gain or reward from you and yet notwithstanding all this love and tender care for your souls you envy and hate them and so manifest your selves to be of Cains Generation and your Sacrifices are abomination to God and not accepted of him for our God is pure and there is nothing accepted of him but that which is offered up from a pure heart for the pure in heart are blessed and shall see God as it is written in the Scripture but woe is the portion of the wicked they are of the cursed Generation and all your Sacrifices reading singing praying preaching and expounding and whatever you call a Worship and all your profession and talking of God Christ it is all abomination while sin and iniquity lodgeth and is regarded in your hearts it is no more but your own self-righteousnesse acted in your own wills which is as filthy rags and as menstruous clothes and it will not abide the fire nor stand in the day of trial you are but patching a piece of new cloth in the old Garment and the Rent will be worse your gilded outside and fair pretences your talking of the Scriptures and painting your selves over with the Saints words it is but sowing of fig-leafs together to cover your nakednesse and it will not hide you from the wrath of the Lamb neither will it stand you in any stead where the life and power of Christ is wanting you are stil out of the way of God for though you professe much in words and draw neer unto God with your lips and mouths yet it is not saying Lord Lord that will avail but he that doth the will of my Father shall enter into the Kingdom for it is the heart which he requires and as long as the devil and sin lodgeth in your hearts in vain is all your talking and going to hear Sermons It is not your going one day in seven or more to hear a man speak a company of words and then all the week after to follow your own lusts and pleasures without yoke and bridle no crosse nor limit to the carnal minde but all is at liberty you can speak your own words and think your own thoughts and do your own works and sport your selves in your vanities your tongues at liberty to speak vain words this is not the worship of God but a false worship and a vain Religion and wo is the end of it as it was to the Scribes and Phariseeâ— who were high in notion and professed much in words yet notwithstanding all their outside cleansing and Scripture knowledge they were strangers to the life of truth and crucified the Son of God and their profession was but hypocrisie and Christ cried wo unto them calling them Whited wall painted Sepulchres who mâ—â—e câ—eaâ— the outside of the Cup and Platter but the inside was not made clean So all you now that talk of the Scriptures and do not live in that pure life that they lived in that gave forth the Scriptures you are hypocrites and your profession outside cleansing is but Pharisaical and except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharâ—sees you cannot enter into tâ—e Kingdom of God Now search and try your selves and see if your righteousnesse go any further then theirs did nay doth it go so far they made clean the outside but are not you unclean both within and without To that of God in all your Conferencâ— I speak and appeal that with it you may try and examine and see what you can witnesse of your return unto the Lord your God whar is cut down in you or what change is wrought in your hearts for there must the work of God be known if ever you know the truth in its purity for with the whole heart will the Lord be served for he calls for it as it is written My Son give me thy heart and as long as sin lodgeth in the heart the devil lodgeth for all sin is of the devil as it is declared He that commits sin is of the devil and as long as the devils works are standing within you your profession of Christ without you will not avail until his life and power be witnessed within you to destroy the devils works for for this end purpose was the Son of God made manifest that he might destroy the works of the Devil and all sin is a work of the devil And sin is conceived in the heart which is deceitful and there lodgeth in the heart and defiles and pollutes the heart as Envy
world and the lusts of it and so purifies the heart And this is the true and the living Faith which the Saints of God were in who were of one heart and one soul and it is the same now as it was then and all who are in this Faith by it their hearts are purified and so are led into purity and one-ness of minde and heart to serve and worship one living and true God in one living and pure way which is in spirit and in truth where there is no rent nor division but pure love and union written in one anothers hearts with the Spirit of the living God So in the light which from the Lord Jesus Christ doth come who is the true Light which lighteth every one that cometh into the world which Light is but one in all though thousand times ten thousands this Light is pure and but one and all who love it and believe in it are led into onenesse and Unity of Spirit In it every one wait and walk that you may he led out of death and darknesse and all the untoward wayes of the world into the pure way of Righteousnesse and Peace to follow Christ in the narrow Path which whosoever follows shall not walk in darknesse but shall have the Light of Life And dwell in love and union watching over one another with a pure 〈…〉 and be tender over one another as Members all of one 〈◊〉 and if any be overtaken with a fault you that are spiritual restore such a one in the Spirit of meeknesse that shame and condemnation may come upon the transgressor and the innocent may be set free and let not the cursed thing lodge among you but be ye holy in all manner of conversation because the Lord our God is holy and no unclean thing can dwell with him nor enter into his righteous Kingdom Therefore be ye separate from the ungodly world and touch no unclean thing and the Lord will receive you and will be to you as a Father and you shall be his Sons and Daughters Cast away all filthinesse from amongst you and let no prejudice lodge nor rest within any of you but forgive one another as God in Christ hath forgiven you for if you do not forgive men their trespasses no more will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do you likewise unto them for this is the Doctrine of Christ and it is not the sayer but he that both his Will shall know his Doctrine So the Lord in pure Wisdom keep you and preserve you out of all strife and contention that a daylie growth there may be amongst you that you all may be established in the living truth no more to be tossed to and fro with mens Doctrines which be changeable but all wait upon God in the Light which never changes that you may be all taught of God and every particular may feed upon your own food and have sufficient bread in your own houses to feed upon that there be not a beggar in Israel nor no Vagabond but that all of you may have a habitation in God and grow up in him that the Springs of life may be opened and your souls may be fullie refreshed with the bread of life in my Fathers house And all my beloved Friends keep your habitations and stand upon your Watch that you may hear the voice of your beloved when he calls and be obedient to his voice and do his will and after you have done his will take heed of exaltation but wait in patience that you may receive the Promise for the same that is unwilling to obey the will of God when the will of God is obeyed will get up into presumption and that which doth presume in the time of trial will despair Therefore every one be watchful and keep the door of the house of the Lord that the Enemie enter not to defile and pollute his holie Temple Turn not to the right hand nor to the left but keep in the even and plain way When joy and refreshment comes take heed of exaltation And again when trouble and crosses and afflictions comes do not fall into desparation but wait at Wisdoms Gate that you may be seasoned with Grace having salt in your selves to savor withal that you be not drawn away with the errors of the wicked but that all of you may be daylie refreshed and grow up in strength until you come to a perfect man in Christ Jesus the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and establish you in the Truth Written in love to your souls by way of remembrance to stir up your pure mindes by your dear Brother who is a laborer in the Lords vineyard ALEX. PAREER For Friends in the Truth to be read at their meettings when they are met together in the fear of the Lord. Corrnwaâ—l 31. day of the 5th Month 1656. The Night is far spent and the Day is at hand awake arise from the dead that Christ may give you Light Cease from all the blinde Guides they deceive you try them and by their fruits ye shall know them BEware of false Prophets which come to you in Sheeps clothing but inwardlie they are ravening Wolves ye shall know them by their fruits Mat. 7.15 to the 21. c. Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles even so everie good Tree bringeth forth good fruit but a corrupt Tree bringeth forth evil Fruit A good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit neither can a corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit Everie Tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them Now all people everie where who have long been led by blind guides and have been deceived by the false Prophets who have got the Sheeps clothing and decked and painted themselves with the Saints words but where is the fruit that is brought forth it is their fruits that makes them manifest the Lord looks for fruit but here is nothing but leafs here is fine Trees with flourishing leafs but no fruit appears much talk and profession of God and of Christ there hath been in this Nation of England fair outsides glorious words but the life is wanting there is no fruits but all manner of unrighteousnesse doth abound in the Nation Doth not pride abound and covetousnesse drunkennesse swearing lying and all manner of unrighteousnesse the Land is full of fruitlesse Trees the boughs even sway and are readie to break down they are so full of the evil fruit pride is come to such a height that thepeople do scarce know how to walk nor what to put on it would even grieve a sober Spirit to see the vanitie of the times both men and women painting themselves in their gorgeous attire fashioning themselves according to the custom and course of this wicked vain world the inventing mind which is estranged from God
inventing new things and new fashions to please the curious minde and so one fashion comes up which is invented in the fallen wisdom and the lust runs into it and gets into that fashion and after a certain time grows wearie of it and it passeth away And the same venting minde which is out of the truth invents another new Fashion and the people of all sorts as far as their money will reach they get into that fashion and after a little time it passeth away and so the world passes away and the lusts of it and the people spend their time according to the course of the world yea those who professe themselves Ministers and Teachers in the Nation who should be examples unto others even these are as bad as phantastick as the rest they and their Wives go in as great height and pride as any people nay do they not exceed many in pride and vanitie The poor labouring man working in the sweat of his brows to get his living and to maintain his wife and Familie the Priest or his Agent comes and he must have a part yea and a great part too of what the poor people have laboured hard for and this the Priest and his Wife and Children spend upon their lusts their Wives and their Children going in their Huds and Veils and changeable Suits of Apparel even the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are found amongst them Pride fulnesse and abundance of idlenesse and if any one refuse to give them money then do they go to Law and compel them by force which never any of the Lords true Ministers ever did neither Prophets nor Apostles And let any of the Servants of the Lord come into their Assemblies and declare against their filthie and covetous practices then their rage and envie arises against the Servants of the Lord and some are beaten in their Synagogues and some are haled forth some stocked some stoned some sent to Prison and they cry unto the people their Hearers Beware of False Prophets these be the False Prophets in Sheeps clothing hearken not to them take heed of going to them least you be deceived when poor people are alreadie deceived for they are in their sins both Priests and people and they who live in sin are deceived And this is the cry of the chief Priests and in their high plaâ—es Beware and take heed of False Prophets and such like but Friends let us try them no longer take their words but try them by their Fruits if the Tree be evil the Fruit cannot be good and here by the Scriptures you may try them proud man or a covetous man are no Ministers of Christ I know them by their Fruity The Devil is the King of Pride and covetousnesse is Idolatrr and these two sins are much reigning among the Clergy-men the black Coats though they may get the Scriptures the good words which is the Sheeps clothing for Jesus Christ is compared to a Shepherd and the Saints and followers of him were compared to Sheep which were innocent and harmlesse creatures Now I say that a proud man or an envious man or a covetous man or such like they may get the Scriptures the Declaration and be full of them and painted over with the good words and so with good words and fair speeches through covetousnesse makes merchandise of their souls this is but still the Sheeps clothing a fair outside but see what is within please them and they willl speak peace but crosse them in any thing they are full of envie and rage persecution so here by their fruits they are known A proud man or a Drunkard or a man that is a striker and given to Wines or an envious man these and such like are marks of the false Prophets though they may speak the good words yet not being spoken from the pure life they do not profit the people but are deceivers having a form of Godlinesse but wants the power and so leads poor people captive laden with sin and led away with divers lusts ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth For do but consider can a proud man lead out of pride Can a proud Priest with his Rings and his Ribans and gaudie attire can he lead out of Pride he may speak against Pride but speaking against Pride and living in it he is an hypocrite and his preaching is in vain Or can a covetous man lead out of covetousnesse or an envious man out of envie or a drunken Priest can he lead from drunkennesse or any other what ever they be that speak against any sin and they themselves be guilty of those sins they do but condemn themselves and all their Religion is vain and their Faith is vain for if they had stood in the coursel of the Lord they should have turned many from the evil of their ways but they run and the Lord never sent them and therefore they shall not profit the people at all But it may be some may say Though they may be proud men and covetous men and such like yet they are good men in the Pulpit and speaks many good truths and we are to do as they say and not as they do And this they speak because Christ spoke such words concerning the Scribes and Pharisees where he saith Do as they say but not as they do for they say and do not But here you must consider that the Scribes and Pharisees had the commands of God and the Law of God which were to be observed and kept for Christ came not to break the Law but to fulfil the Law but this was a time before Christ was sacrificed up but when he was sacrificed up and risen those who preached Christ did not go to hear the Scribes and Pharises neither were they to do as they said but they declared against those things which the Pharisees upheld which were but shadows preached Christ the substance as the Scripture witnesseth And Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ in his Epistle 2 Tim. 3. chap. marks out the false Prophets so plain that even he that runs may read and he doth not exhort the people to follow or hear such but turn from such as had the form but not the power And so all people I do exhort you as you tender the glory of God and the good of your own souls to turn from all the Priests and the false Prophets of what sort soever who have not the power of God who say and do not for they can never profit you at all for it is not every one that faith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Therefore weigh all things well and try them and by their fruit ye shall know them The Day of the Lord is coming upon all the ungodly which shall burn and consume the wicked as Fire consumes the Stubble THe Lord God is risen in Power and
is making a separation between the precious and the vile gathering the Wheat into the Garner and will burn up the Chaff with unquenchable Fire The day is at hand it hasteth greatly a day of blacknesse and darknesse a day of weeping and bitter lamentation to all the Adversaries of God a day that shall burn like an Oven and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be as Stubble and shall be consumed root and branch Look upon the Stubble all you that live in your sins there is your Figure Look upon an Oven when it burns there you may read your figure the wicked shall be as stuble and shall be consumed in the day of the Lords fierce indignation which is kindled alreadie and none shall be able to quench it The sharp two edged Sword of the Almighty is drawn forth it is furbushed ready for the slaughter and wo to the wicked and ungodly who cast the Law of God behinde their backs and turns his Grace into wantonnesse it will go ill with them and they cannot hide themselves from the Wrath of the Lamb. Drunkard thou canst not hide thy self the Lord will finde thee out and give thee thy portion in the Lake Swearers Lyers Scoffers and Scorners you cannot hide your selves you are the Ungodly that turns the Grace of God into wantonnesse and into condemnation you must come who hate the Light that shews you sin and your evil deeds and loves the darknesse better then the Light the Light is your condemnation And all you that live in pride and vain glory sporting your selves in the day time nourishing your hearts as in a day of Slaughter the Devil is your Father who hath begotten you into his image and likenesse ye murder and kill the Just and crucifie Christ afresh and wo is your portion wo to the Crown of Pride for the Devil is the King of Pride And all you covetous cruel oppressors who are heaping together the earthly treasures who grinde the faces of the poor weep and howle for the misery that shall come upon you your riches are corrupted your Gold and Silver is cankered the rust of them shall be a witness against you Wo to you that live in envy and wrath you are of Cains Generation and nature who murdered his Brother and all your Prayers and Sacrifices are abomination and stinks in the nostrils of God And all you that reviâ—e scoff and scorn backbite slander and falsly accuse the innocent and harmlesse Lambs of Christ tearing and rending hailing them out of your Synagogues and so to Prison you manifest your selves to be the wolves that devour and make a prey of the Lambs you are the fruitlesse Trees that cumber the ground and must be hewn down and cast into the fire The glory of the Lord is shining and the day of the Lord is dawned and the day-star is risen in the hearts of the Lords people and you are discovered and made manifest and seen to be the wolves and the Scripture is fulfilled upon you which Christ spoke forth Behold I send you forth as Lambs in the midst of wolves is not this so now See what hailing and imprisoning and cruel usage is in this Nation of England of a poor despised harmless people hailing them to Courts Sessions for no other cause but for declaring of the truth witnessing against the deceit in Professors Magistrates Priests and people and for this are the innocent hated and reviled and suffer bonds and imprisonment and some have been given up to death and all this endured with patience not seeking for revenge but do follow our Lord and Master Christ wâ—o endured the contradiction of sinners and we finde his words to be trne where he saith Ye shall be hated of all mâ—n for my names sake but rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great shall be your reward for if ye were of the world the world would love you but because I have chosen you out of the world therefore doth the world hate you but wo to the world and all wicked malicious persecuting spirits better a Milstone had been hanged abouâ— their necks and they cast into the midst of the Sea then to offend one of the little ones of Christ Haste repent and amerd least sudden destruction come upon you The wages of Sin is death but the gift of God is life and peace ALl you that live in sin and wickedness as Envy Wrath Malice Pride Lust covetousness Drunkenness Swearing Lying Slandering Backbiting false Accusing Scoffing and Scorning Revilings Reproachings Mocking and Jeering Oppression Cruelty Tyranny Murders Theft Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witcheraft Variance Emulation Seditions Heresies Anger Perverseness Frowardness Impatience and Unbelief Cozening and Cheating and defrauding one another in buying and selling using false weights and measures inventers of evil things plotting mischief upon your beds Covenant-breakers without natural affection implacable unmercisul living in vain sports and Pleasures spending the good creatures of God and devouring the Creation upon your lusts sporting your selves in the day time foolish-jesting idle and filthy communication and laughter which is madness These and such like are works of the flesh and they that act such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God for which things sake comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience and the curse of God remains upon such who live in the flesh fulfilling the lusts and desires of it such cannot stand before the righteous God neither can they enter into his righteous Kingdome but must be cast into utter darknesse which is the portion of all the wicked for to the wicked there is no peace but wo and terror shall pursue them upon the wicked God will rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible Tempest this shall be the portion of their cup from the just God who is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity Therefore all you workers of iniquity fear and tremble before the Lord and deceive not your selves with a vain hope search these Scriptures and see your portion 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Gal. 5.19 20 21. Col. 3.5 6. Ps 9.17 Ps 11.6 Mat. 7.23 and 25.30 41. Rom. 1,29 30 31 32. Rev. 21.8 and 22.15 read these Scriptures with seriousness and then with the light of Christ in your consciences try and examine your selves whether you be acting and living in these sins above-mentioned or any of them and if upon search you be found guilty then what will you plead or answer the Lord or what promise is there due unto you as long as you live in sin truly none but all the curses plagues and woes that are mentioned in the Scriptures is your due and portion for your sin and disobedience and all your applying of the Promises and saying Christ dyed for you and say you believe in Christ yet all this will not avail nor speak peace to your souls as long as you live in sin but the witness of God in your own consciences