be more faithful to the Lord in what he required and so more strength was given me and through the Power of his Might I became bolder to bear Testimony for the Lord against Priests Tythes and Offerings which were only to continue during the first Covenant and through the Lord's power was carried over them through Prisons and spoiling of Goods for the Lord's sake and his Truth and had Joy thereby in the presence of mine Enemies So Friends I can truly say by experience that it is faithfulness to the Light of Christ Jesus that the Lord requires for to obey is better than Sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of Rams therefore it is nothing of that which is Natural of our selves neither Carnal Wisdom nor Humane Learning that can give true Knowledge of God and his Will to the Creature but it is the Lord's Work in the Creature through mercy to reveal himself by the Light of his Son which hath not only lightned me and some few more but every man that cometh into the World that through him who is Light and in him is no Darkness at all People might be saved from darkness and the deeds thereof which are Carnal Sensual and Devilish So all dear Hearts to the true Light which you are all enlightned with I commit you desiring you in God's fear it may lead you and guide you in all things at all times and be your Counsellor when you lie down and when you rise up and as you come to have unity with the Light of Christ Jesus you will come to witness Fellow ship and Unity with God and you will feel the strength of his Love to constrain you to love him honour and obey him with all your Hearts and Souls and so you will witness a growth and increase in the Knowledge of God in Christ Jesus and so become the Disciples and Followers of Christ and know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free and by the good Leadings thereof receive the end of your Faith even the Salvation of your Souls which is many thousand fold better than all earthly Pleasures and all earthly Enjoyments therefore why should we not sell all for that Kingdom which fades not away which stands not in Meats and Drinks but in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost which is prepared from all Eternity for them that believe in the Lord Jesus and for the Testimony of his Name are made willing to forsake all the World and the Glory thereof and love not their Lives unto Death so they may finish their Course with Joy in obeying or suffering what the Lord requires that for a Recompence of Reward they may receive Eternal Life with the little Lambâ— of my Father's fold who cries after the Lord in the Power of his Might to bring into his Rest the Prodigals in England that they may look upon him whom they have pierced as I have done who was one with them in the same excess of Riot but now through the largeness of the Love of God I am become alive who was dead and for the Seed's sake I cannot but declare those things which I have seen and heard R. M. To the Drunkards of England who were my Companions in the Kingdom of Darkness whom my Soul pities FRIENDS THE desire of my Heart is that all Men might come to the Knowledge of the Truth and be saved that thereby they might obtain Freedom and come forth of Egypt where Darkness remains to the Supper of the great King where Bread shall be given them and their Waters shall be sure therefore why should any perish with Hunger and the Way of Life and Fulness so near to every one even within them Truth in the inward parts which is sufficient to lead out of all Error and to guide their steps in the Paths of Peace therefore the Way is not so hard as the Souls Enemy would have People believe it is though it be said to be Narrow it is but to that part which cannot inherit God's Kingdom and those that come to Christ who is the Way to his Father who is the Light of Men to lead and guide them to his Father and to make his Yoke easie and his Burden light are his Witnesses who is that true Prophet Moses writ of Whom the Lord would raise like unto me saith he him shall you hear and every one that will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed So all you who have not obeyed nor regarded that Prophet though you have been often check and reproved by him in your Hearts and Consciences though you obeyed him not loving your own Wills and Carnal Pleasures better then the God of your Life and if he should leave striving with you you are left without Excuse for he hath appeared to you who appeared outwardly in the days of his Flesh and hath now in these last days appeared inwardly by the Light of his Spirit according to the Scriptures which saith Christ within the hope of glory And blessed be the Lord thousands be living Witnesses of this Eternal Truth which is herein declared of not out of any Self-Exaltation but for the Praise of God whom I honour and the desire of my Soul and the end of my Writing is according to the good Will of God that all may come from under Death's bonds into the Light of the Lord Jesus which will let them see the Evil within them and the Deceivers without them who abide not in Christ's Doctrine but teache for Doctrine the Commandments of Men who are of the World whose Ways and Worships are vain who are Men-pleasers and respect mens Persons and receive Honour one of another contrary to Christ and his Royal Law who though he were a King he said he received not Honour from Men but those men are set up by man and are not true Followers of Christ nor keep his Sayings therefore I am bold to call them Seducers who follow the Lust of the Flesh Covetousness Drunkenness and Pride whose Lives are Prophane and Works are abomination to the Lord and I know they are seen by many who will confess they are such men as serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own Bellies and yet will not be diswaded from them but love to follow their pernicious ways rather then the Light of Christ Jesus which manifests them and though they be Convinced that they be not Godly Teachers nor sent of him yet they will not be Converted from them to the Light of Christ Jesus which would turn them from the Power of Satan to the Power of God wherein is Salvation to every one that believes to the Jew and also to the Gentile therefore is it not a sad thing to see how the Devil betwitcheth People and blinds their minds lest they should be turned to the Truth in this Day of the Lord's Power wherein he is more plentiously pouring forth of his Spirit upon the Seed of Jacob and his Blessings upon
Lord lay But all that will not hear his Call Eternal plagues shall on them fall Which shall for evermore endure And be to them their portion sure The dangerous state of all People who are out of the Covenant of Life A Few words to all sober-minded Who with darkness have not combined To serve that Prince for term of days Which he perswades without delays Servants to be to Sin and Evil It is the covenant of the Devil For no less time he will agree Then during Life his Slaves to be So all that would your freedom know From Sin and Satan here below While you are in this House of Clay Regard not outward Bonds I say For there the Enemy may prevail And cause your Faith thereby to fail Looking at things that here we see Which seems unpossible to be Being not seen with Eye of Faith Cannot please God as Scripture saith But come down to God's witness near Which stands i' th' Conscience alway clear To shew unto you Words and Deeds Whether savoury or stinking Weeds And whether you hear or forbear That which reproves Sin will be clear Which is most pure and light also And shews man Sin where-ever he go Which is God's Love to all mankind To give them light that were full blin◠Blessed are they that faithful be To what the Lord doth let them see To be their duty day and night Acting as in their Masters sight Then nothing can be done in haste But light their Counsellor will taste And judge that down which doth 〈◊〉 If it be not i' th' holy fear And here 's the Exercise indeed Of Christians as they are freed Yet such as will not Truth retain But in their Lusts still will remain Assure themselves this is a warning From that which gives a true discernin◠As he can say who liv'd i' th' Lust Before he came to know the Just And was as bad as they can be Until the Lord did let him see By his pure Light what he had done Against the Record of his Son And then it was a time of trouble To see himself worse than a bubble And he not only in that state But all that did the Light so hate And then he wept with Sorrows grief Until the Lord sent him Relief Which was his presence to refresh His fainting Soul near to perish So all wait low in Christ who 's pure Till him you know your Souls to cure Who is the good Samaritan To cure and heal the wounded man And those that will not own his cure Eternal Plagues shall all endure And such from Sorrow can never cease Nor have therefrom any Release Concerning Perfection ALL you that scoff at Purity Perfection looking not to see While you are here on this side Grave Nor any thing that shall you save From Sin and sinning while you'r her◠Yet hopes at Death you shall be clear And then to pass to Rest and Peace And have with Death a full release So that no judgment can you grieve Because you do on Christ believe Is this your Hope and Faith indeed Who lives i' th' Lust and have no need To be redeem'd from that condition But still runs on without suspition Without the sence of deadly danger Being to Truth a very stranger And him who is the good Physitian Who would cure with much contrition And none but Christ can do that Cure Of your Disease which brings most sure Eternal death to all that love it And none but he can remove it Take heed therefore no time delay Lest you should miss of Cure I say Of that so dangerous Disease Which without Cure brings Plagues not case Therefore it 's good to weigh the cause Before you dye to have a pause How that your Souls may be delivered When that from Bodies they be severed For this will be both sure and true That every one receive their due And likewise be rewarded so According to 'th Deeds they did do In the Bodies where they had place Before they had run out their race And look how Death doth stop their Wind So Judgment shall them surely find And then the Judgment shall proceed According as hath been decreed And all that have not walk't with God Assuredly shall feel his Rod And likewise many grievous Woes Shall then be added to the Foes Of the great God of Power and Might Who to all men hath given a Light To lead them safe from the dark Power And from the Sorceries of the Whore But to his Enemies will be torment Because they thought not to repent Nor would believe that they should dye When they transgress'd continually Therefore they 'r left without excuse Who did his Witness then abuse When they prefer'd their pleasures here Before the Lord who bought them dear And if the Lord should striving cease And sorrow send and no more peace Unto those Souls that have not priz'd The day of God by them despis'd How great will be their cry and sorrow When day is past that hath no morrow Therefore all you that loves delight In that which is darker then night Awakened be and stand upright To Christ Jesus in his pure Light Which shines i' th' Hearts to let men see What is not good nor pure to be And if obeyed in its leadings Will not admit such proceedings As brought them on with such an hand As scarcely one to make a stand For to consider of their end That do their time so vainly spend Their end therefore will sadness bring Who counted Truth a lying thing And the pure Light a foolish guide To keep their steps they should not slide By which Lord keep us in thy power On thee to wait for evermore And thy pure Truth preserve spread That they may live which now are dead To the Backsliders in Heart YOu that have seen the holy Land Wherein ripe Grapes so fully stand And some of you did taste the Fruit That grew therein tho now turn'd brute And chuses rather with Beasts to feed Then to be followers of that Seed Which would have led you to the same And given you an eternal Name If you had stood within your Tent And not for fear of men relent But to the Lord had faithful been Then you like Willows had been green And likewise fed under your Vine Also refresh'd as with new Wine But now you 've gotten other Lovers And hopes beside to have some covers Because of Truth you got some Words Which will prove to your sides like Swords How will you answer the just Judge Who do against his Witness grudge Which would have led you out of death And all things else that are beneath If you had been but honest-hearted And from the Truth never departed The Lord to you had been a portion Preserving you from all abortion To testifie against the dark Which have no covenant with the Ark But now you 'r in a sad condition By refusing your commission And gone to serve under the Beast
his Off-spring which makes them cry to the Inhabitants of the Earth who have any sence and be not past feeling to come out from amongst them and touch not the unclean thing and the Lord will receive them Have you not read in the Scriptureâ— of Truth of a certain Rich Man that Christ spoke of who was clothed with Purple and fine Linnen and fared Sumptuously every day who dyed and was buried and being in great Torments desired to have one sent to his Father's house for he had five Brethren that he might warn then lest they should come to that place of Torment but it was denyed him Though it be this day testified to you through one who was dead and is by the Power and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ raised from Death to Life to warn People who are yet in Darkness and under the shadow of Death and under the power of a strange King to wit the Soul's Adversary to come forth of the Darkness and shew themselves in the Light of the Lord Jesus which lighteth every man that cometh into the World and will shew them their evil deeds and lead out of them and brings Salvation to all that are faithful and obey him which was the very end of his coming to save lost Men and lost Women from their Sins and to destroy the Works of the Devil which is Sin under which burden of Sin and Corruption the Spirit of the Lord hath suffered and the Lamb as one slain whose Bowels of Love and Merey now flows forth to his Creation Men and Women and would have them come to him that they might have Life but the God of the world hath blinded the Eye of their understanding whereby they are settled in a Life below the Son the end thereof will be more bitter than Death for their Rest is out of the Truth out of the holy Mountain in Egypt where the Innocent suffered and suffers and the Darkness remains upon such to this day and they will not give up to set forwards towards the Land of Peace and Rest for the way is tedious to that Nature they are in and the Enemies numerous therefore it is high time to feel after the good Old Way to the Land of Promise So in the fear of the Lord cast away the works of Darkness Sin and Evil and come to the Light of Christ Jesus that you may be armed with it whereby you may be drawn out of your Lusts out of your Pleasures out of your Pride out of your Covetousness out of vain Worships out of your idle talking and foolish Jesting out of your Drunkenness Wantonness and Vncleanness yea and from all manner of Sin into that which is Pure into that which is Holy which is of God's begetting and is of more value then all Created Objects is not that of God which testifies against Sin and Vngodliness yea I can truly say that was it which judged me and condemned me when I was young before I was made sensible what it was So all dear People fear the Lord and take heed of loving your Lusts better then the God of Life that manifests them with the brightness of his coming and with his breath would destroy them so then if you perish in your Evil ways your Destruction is of your selves in neglectiâ—â— so great Salvation and not prizing your Souâ—â— Redemption which is freely tendred in the Covenant of Light and Life which is Mercy 〈◊〉 speakable and that you shall one day confesâ— you are left without Excuse to your eternal Wâ—… and Misery for evermore if you go on in yoâ—â— Rebellion against the Lord and you shall remember you were warned by one who was 〈◊〉 Companion with you in your unfruitful Works 〈◊〉 Darkness called R. M. The true Teacher found which manifesteth mens Teachings unprofitable who deny the true Teacher within WHere is the Word the Life and Law Which keeps the Children in the Awe Where is the Truth the Grace Peace Which makes all Jars and Wars to cease Where is the Light that shines so bright Throughout the Nations in the Night Where is the true and safe possession The righteous Law above Profession Why do the Nations ' gainst it rise Is' t not because it testifies Against their deeds that they be evil Acted in service of the Devil Why doth the Woman Jezabel preach Who is forbidden for to teach And to seduce poor Souls with Lyes With painted shows and feigned cryes Tho' she be decked as a Queen All her Adulterous skirts are seen By those that cannot to her bend Nor ear unto her Witchcrafts lend Her Priests against delusion cries Although themselves be in that guise Being strangers to the Living way Amongst the dead they have their prey Tho' they the Scriptures often read Crying peace peace unto the dead Yet they cannot the mystery see Whose minds are dark i' th' Enmity Tho' humane Learning they have store That makes them but adore the Whore Being enriched by her gain Causeth them labour with their brain To keep in Darkness all they may Lest they should turn from them away Unto the Truth which was before False Prophet or the Scarlet Whore Which is the Way Christ the Churches Head Who gives his Children living Bread That they may never hunger more Being fed by his Eternal store Which flows forth to his Children dear Who are kept low in dread and fear Therefore all Souls that feed below The Bread of Life your Food we know To be no more than fed with death Feeding of that which is beneath The Son of Righteousness his Seed Who is Salvation sure indeed To all that in his Light believes But Sorrow to them his Spirit grieves Oh come to him who crys within And he 'l redeem you from all Sin For he hath often for you waited To have you turn from that he hated Who was not far from you unknown Checking for Sin to press it down He calls to all that would be free From Sin and all Iniquity To cease from man whose breath 's soon spent And hear but him who breath him lent Who is to his a perfect Teacher And is the only Spirit reacher Who came men's Lives not to destroy But Souls to save from all anoy Who walks in vertue of his Life Knows that which kills both Lust and Strife Of which a measure you have within That never gave consent to Sin But stood always a Witness pure Against him that would you allure So if Redeemed you would be Into the Christians Liberty Slight not your day of Visitation By looking at Predestination Not owning Christ that he should reign I' th' hearts of men Sin to restrain Therefore come search and try and hear Without Money in God's pure fear And willing be on him to waite Till he appear tho' it seem late Within your Breast you may him find If him to hear you be inclin'd So while it may be said to day Come come and see where the
AN EXHORTATION To all People in general Together with a WARNING TO THE Drunkards OF ENGLAND Who were my Companions in the Kingdom of Darkness whom my Soul pities Being a Testimony to the Way and Truth of God by one whom the Lord hath visited and in some measure gathered out of the World and Wickedness thereof Known by the Name of Robert Maynforth Printed for T. Sowle And sold at the Crooked-Billet in Holywell-Lane in Shorsditch 1691. AN EXHORTATION To all PEOPLE In general c. To the Reader or Readers THE several Particulars following this Epistle are some things written and declared which I met with and passed through as I travelled from Aegypt and Sodom where out Lord Jesus was crucified in the way as I walked towards the Lord's holy Mountain which the Lord is Establishing in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow to it that the Lord may teach them of his Ways that they may walk in his Paths which leads to the Land of Rest and Peace for ever For I knowing that a few Words in due Season may be serviceable to the Weak and to those who have any desires after God or such as be seeking the way to Sion with their Faces thither wards that they may not look out at any dangers or difficulties that the Enemy of their Souls shall present but to go on in the Name Power of the Lord God who will give them strength to go through all the hardships that ever may befall them if they be faithful to him Therefore I advise all that are honest-hearted look not forth to the Mountain of Samaria nor to the Temple for worship nor to the Masters of Art as they are called to be taught who are strangers and aliens to the Life of God which is the Light of men and therefore must be miserable Comforters as I can truly say by Experience they were to me Most men in this part of the Country who have known my Education from my Youth know that I was brought up all my days amongst them so as to them it is little need of declaring or writing what my Conversation hath been seeing they cannot but know it yet for Truth 's sake and for the good-will I bear to all People who have any desireâ— thereafter whose Faces I have not seen nor they me known I am not ashamed to confess and declare my manner of Life in the days of my former Conversation in the time of ignorance which the Lord was pleased to wink at that he alone may have the Honour of his own Work who hath put it into my heart for to do it that he only may have the praise of the same who is God over all blessed for ever I was seventen Years of Age before I drank any strong Drink and before I was Twenty Years old I was clearly let see the evil and abuse of it and through the occasion and acquaintance I had amongst men I saw the Temptation whereof I had desire to shun and so continued in a pretty moderation until I was Thirty years old and then began the Enemy of my Soul to draw me out into Liberty and Looseness and to keep company with proud men who delighted in Drunkenness and all along in this filthy Abomination even National Priests and Teachers were one with me in the same Excess of Riot which blinded me the more and so I can truly say the Leaders of the People caused me to err thinking I might do as they did yet all that time of Darkness and Ignorance the Lord had not left himself without a Witness within me which testified daily against that course of Life I then lived in which often broke my Peace and troubled me many times so that sometimes I could not sleep nor rest and so I continued in that condition until I was Forty years of Age And I having a precious Woman to my Wife who began to see the emptiness of the Priests Teachings and to leave hearing of them finding them to be fruitless Trees which cumber the Ground and burden the Creation and bring no Fruit to God and she waiting in simplicity of heart found something check and reprove her inwardly after which she was drawn to those People who are in scorn called Quakers amongst whom it was clearly manifested to her that the Light of the Spirit of Christ Jesus was a sufficient Teacher and Leader into all Truth and then began the Priests to cast their Envy and Malice not only against my poor Wife but against me for suffering her to go to the Quakers Meetings as they call'd them and so endeavoured to stir me up against my dear Wife and put it upon me to tell her If she would not cease Meeting with them and desert them I might leave and forsake her and that I ought to tell her They met together to commit Whoredom Filthiness in lying one with another and this they pressed daily upon me But truly they could not perswade me to believe any such thing because I knew her Conversation to be Chaste and always coupled with fear and witnessing daily against my ungodly Practices which I was condemned for in my self and being upon a time under Condemnation for the Deeds I had done which she perceived and knew at such times I was willing to please her that she might not condemn me also asked me If I would permit and allow that some of her Friends might have a Meeting at my House which to please her withal rather then out of love to the Truth I was made willing to it She asked me to hear them which I was much unwilling to She said If I would hear them if I could say any thing against what they declared I might speak and object And if they could not make good what they had spoken she would ask me for no more Meetings At which Meeting I was convinced tho' not converted for by that of God in my Conscience I was satisfied that what was declared was Truth so within a short time after I was made willing to come out from the Priests and their Mass-Houses also and went among the People of God together with my dear Wife tho' with much shame and trouble to bear the Scoffs and Reproaches of wicked People which caused me to reason in my self and conclude such Revilings and Scorn I could not bear therefore I thought to conform a little to my Companions and Acquaintance and own those People too and so I continued at least a Year and then I was let see I could not be Heir of two Kingdoms and if I did not walk faithfully before the Lord in what he had manifested to me and in me to be my duty who knew my heart and the thoughts thereof it had been better for me not to have known the way of God and his Righteousness then after to have known it to turn therefrom Upon which consideration I began to
Who promises your Souls to feast But you that 's by the Serpent led And likewise by the Hireling fed Poor food it is unto your Souls You feed on Earth amongst the Moles The dust you know is Serpent's meat And Plagues is to them that do eat Of any Bread but that is living Which is not of the Father's giving Which he keeps for his Children dear Even those that do him always fear Then those that have their birth-right sold For their Belly must pine with Cold And hunger must them pinch beside Because the Lord they have deny'd Who would have fed them to the full And cloth'd them better then with wool But seeing the Lord you have deny'd Before you came for to be try'd What you could suffer for his Name Rather then to deny the same The greater Plagues will be your due Then if you had not been i' th' view Of such things as are not fading Freely given without upbraiding Unto all those that faithful be Who lives and walks in purity But you that have prefer'd your Lives Children Houses or your Wives Before the Lord that bought you dear That you his Name might always fear Better you had not profest his Name Nor have made mention of the same Seeing you proved so deceitful And to the Truth turned hateful What may you now of him expect Who doth his Grace and Love reject For those that know their Master's will And accordingly do not fulfill More stripes are due unto their Back Then them that do such knowledge lack Repent repent I say with speed That from your Sin you may be freed For God is near to pardon all That in his Life do cry and call Or with the Wicked receive your hire Eternally in flames of Fire To the suffering Seed and Birth Immortal TO the Seed which yet in bondage lies And under great oppression cries To be delivered from such thrall That it is pressed down withall By the sad weight of earthly power Through the Enchantments of the Whore Which is gone forth over the Lands And 's not excluded with great Bands For all Nations under the Globe Polluted are with the Whore's Robe And none can stand against her Horns But in that Might that bore the Thorns And that 's the force that will subdue Her filthy and rebellious crue By which he will likewise make way For his own Seed without delay To pass as through a Sea of Water And all his Enemies soon will scatter Even Pharaoh like withall his Host And leave them not a man to boast Of what they 've gotten by their Might In all their Fightings in the Night Therefore all come and lay to heart The honest thing and set apart That which is evil in the ground And keep within the modest bound And you will see an Army great That in your hearts have got a seat Which will be work enough to quell For by your strength you 'l not repel Nor any force beneath the Sun Can that remove they have begun Unarm'd therefore you cannot stand Before the power of such a band Nor are you likely to prevail But must before them surely fail If not well armed with the Sword Of the Spirit which is the Word O' th God of Life of Power and Might Able to drive all out of sight That shall oppose his holy Will And likewise can their Blood soon spill So then it s not the strength of Arm Of Flesh that can preserve from harm Nor any force of humane Nature That can preserve men in that stature But that they must even soon decay If not refreshed day by day With the pleasant and living streams Which shines so bright with Chrystal beams Which springs and flows in these our dayes And fills our Hearts and Mouths with praise That we cannot now silent be But to declare what we do see And if the Enemy should prevail To cast our Bodies in some Goal As he hath done some heretofore Which faithful Testimony bore Against the Rulers in those times Who Spirit-worship counted crimes In this his day that God hath rais'd A Seed for which his Name be prais'd And if our Mouths be stopt from speaking In this good day of Light out-breaking We know the Lord can raise the dead To come with praises on their head Tho' they were dead as any Stones And had no moisture in their Bones Yet that would not be Consolation To those poor Souls in Reprobation But as we abide in the Spirit We see the wicked cannot inherit The promises made to the Seed According as hath been decreed Therefore they hate us every way Yet for them we can freely pray The Lord to open their blind Eyes That they may see whom they despise And this we can desire at large The Lord lay not unto their charge What they against us here have wrought When they our Lives Livings sought So Lord if it stand with thy Will Bring many Saints to Sion's Hill To hear thy Voice and pleasant Song Which thou hast sent the Babes among To be their comfort in this time Where Innocency is counted crime Which is a time of great tryal To prove if we will make denyal Of our true Faith and our Profession As those have done who want possession Of that sweet Life that shall endure And be to thine a comfort sure In which O Lord us always keep That we be safe when others sleep In their carnal securitie Blind i' th' darkness they cannot see From which O Lord keep us alwayes In thy pure Life thy Name to praise To the Hireling Shepherds ALL you that Preachers made by man See who requir'd that of you than To teach and preach for Lucres sake Under pretence Christians to make But your chief aim is for your gain Which makes you run with might and main To get your Merchandizes sold At a dear rate both new and old For to maintain your greedy paunch Which is your God him for to stanch A Law you have for to compel People to come to buy and sell Without approving of your Wares They must accept them as their shares Altho' they be not worth the buying Yet pay they must without denying Are not these sad and unjust things To pay for them no profit brings And this you sell without controul Which adds no comfort to the Soul Nor all the feigned words you steal Cannot a wounded Conscience heal But daubing with untempered durt Instead of Cure you do them hurt For still you seem to be in nature Ravenous Wolves in humane stature Which doth both raven and devour Rich mens Estates as also poor Tho' you be clothed with Sheep-skin The Wolf 's alive in you within Which makes you rob spoil the flocks And utterly destroy men's stocks You 'r Truth-resisters by your signs Being the men of corrupt minds And such as now cumber the Ground For no good Fruit in you are found So you are prov'd the fruitless Trees And like the drones which
spoil the Bees Altho' you read the Scripture true Without the Spirit what doth ensue But only for your carnal Wills You keep poor Souls in that which kills To which purpose you make a trade Even to delude Man Wife and Maid Keeping their Souls in bondage still If you can but the same fulfill To make them run for what you read And give you Money for that 's no Bread For shame therefore let it suffice That you be drunk with Avarice And cease teaching and silent be And wait on Christ he 'l let you see What is your duty and your place Obedient be think 't no disgrace That you may not be of that sort Which of the holy Rest come short But that you may rewarded be VVith them that lives in puritie VVhich will be sweeter to your spirit Then all without you do inherit And blessed you will be also In every thing you do undergo And as you come t' obey the Light Surely your peace will be in sight Lord God it grant if that thou please That all that seek thee may find ease Through Faith in Christ as he 's reveal'd VVho hath the wounded always heal'd The Conclusion NOw to conclude leaving what hath been said To all that reads it with impartial Eye Which to believe they need not be afraid Being true Words in which there is no Lye Tho' Godly men were always scoft and scorn'd For the Name of Christ which was their chiefest good Yet they rejoyc'd to see his Truth adorn'd Tho' for so doing it cost some their Blood Which was but that they then had left to spend That they thereby might gain a better prize Which would be sweeter to their Souls i' th' end By therein dwelling where true vertue lies Wherein is sweetness much better than Life To Souls Immortal in the quiet place The Godly Ones who are made free from strife Who are engag'd to run the holy race And come away to witness for the Lord And his pure Truth reproach'd in these our days Tho' for so doing they have been abhorr'd Which is no other but what hath been always For Truth is Truth and all that do err from it Must once confess how they have done despite To th' Grace of God and his holy Spirit By making Sin their pastime and delight Yet they shall know to their eternal sorrow That they were warn'd of what was then to come Of a dark Night which could bring forth no morrow Which is the portion and the Wicked's doom Who have not priz'd the day of Visitation In which all men are left without excuse By shewing them wherein is Condemnation To all the World that doth the Light abuse In which true sence Lord keep thy tender Flock Alive in thee for their safety and Rock A Godly Request LOrd God of Life and Power thy Truth more spread That they which truly seeks within may read For Truth i' th' inward parts that thou requires To which O Lord strengthen all weak desires That Grace Peace may grow in these our dayes By quickning of the dead thy Name to praise That so thy glorious Name may be exalted And that kept down which hath from thee revolted Which Work O Lord thou hast with us begun Through shining of the Light of thy dear Son Therefore O Lord if that it so please thee Shine forth on more thy Glory for to see That so thy Praises may with men encrease And thou mayst know who art the God of Peace That they with us and we with them may sing Hallelujahs and Praises unto thee our King THE END