A Special VVarrant Given forth from the SPIRIT of GOD Who is Lord over all Lords and King above all Kings against the Spirit of Envy and Persecution who hath been is and will be the Greatest Enemy to God and Godliness and to all People ALSO Some Descriptions set down how this unsufferable Enemy the Spirit of Persecution may be known and what he is and from whence he came and where he lodgeth in the Night and what Weapons people may be armed with against him when they go to take him that he may not hurt them that so they may bring him to Judgment and Sentence may be past upon him Sathan shall go forth to deceive the Nations and Gog and Magog shall appeare together for the stirring up of an Army to Battel against the Saints the Number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea and they went upon the breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the Beloved City and fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them as in Rev. 20. These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings Rev. 17. 14. Written by Joseph Fuce LONDON Printed in the Year 1663 A Special VVarrant Given forth from the Spirit of God A Special Warrant given forth from the Spirit of God who is Lord over all Lords and King above all Kings against the Spirit of Envy and Persecution which hath is and will be the Greatest Enemy against God and Godlinesse to Kings and Kingdomes Nobles and Nobility Neighbours and Neighbourhood and therefore would the God of the Spirits of all flesh have both Kings and Nobles and all other People in all parts of his Creation and that more especially in those Parts where Kings and Nobles and People of all sorts professe to owne God and his Christ to be awakened and moved to stirre and stand up and to set unto their helping hand and to lend their best assistance for the stopping apprehending and taking this Great and Notorious Enemy to God and all Mankind from the very Highest to the Lowest of all in the Creation and to True Religion it selfe With some Descriptions what this Insufferable Enemy is and from whence he came and where he Lodgeth in the Night and how he may be knowne and taken and what People of all sorts are to be Armed with against this Thief that cometh in the Night so that they may not be hurt by him nor hurt one another about taking him and bringing him to Judgement and Condemnation for they that profest themselves to be Religious people that have gone forth heretosore and have not beene Armed with the True Armour nor led by the True Leader they have Struck at this Enemy and missed him and Wounded and Killed one another and Taken and Imprisoned one another and let him goe at Liberty in every Nation and Country City and Towne like a roaring Lyon to devoure to the great Griefe of the Spirit of God who created Mankind and would have them all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth as the Scripture saith and then how peaceable people of all sorts may live and how in Life and Spirit they may Serve and Worship their Creator and in Love serve and doe one for another as Brethren and Friends and Neighbours and so every one may come to sit downe under his owne Vine and none shall make him afraid First What this Great Enemy unto God and Godlinesse and all Mankind is against whom this Special Warrant from the Spirit of God goes sorth This Great Enemy to all Mankind is that Old Envious Spirit of Persecution that got into Cain and moved and stirred him up against his Righteous Brother Abels Gen. 4 5 8. So he made Cain his Servant to Murther or Kill his Righteous Brother Abel and brought misery and sorrow and Everlasting Torment upon himselfe who then became a Vagabond from God to wander with a Burthen too heavy for him to beare and although he built a City to make himselfe an Habitation yet his Punishment was Greater than he could beare because he had done the Murthering Spirits Worke in Slaying his Brother and so became worthy of Everlasting Punishment like unto him that was a Murtherer from the Beginning And the same Envious Persecuting and Murthering Spirit was in Pharaoh who burdened and grievously Oppressed and Afflicted the Lords People for a long time Exod. 3. 7. which grieved the Lords Spirit who heard the Groanings of his People in Egypt Exod. 5 to the 14. And this Envious Spirit made Pharaoh the King do so Wickedly against the minde of God as to provoke the Holy One of Israel to bring the Plagues on the Kings owne selfe and the whole Land of Egypt and yet this Great Enemy to the King and Kingdome would not let the King be quiet but made him to oppresse them more than before and at last to pursue the Lords People with a Great Army of Horse-men and Charriots intending to Destroy those whom the Lord had Chosen to himselfe to be his People and by so doing the King brought everlasting destruction upon himselfe and all his Host who were destroyed by water in the Red Sea and that was the worke of the Envious Spirit to bring to everlasting destruction And the same Enemy was in Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazar and in the Presidents and Princes and in Haman and in all the rest of the envious Enemies of God and his People in those Generations Esther 7. And oh how did that great Enemy the Spirit of Persecution betray Haman even to the Gallows to be Hanged for devising mischief against poore Mordecai and all the Jewes which were the Lords People And also how was the great King Nebuchadnezzar deceived by the same Deceitful Spirit of Envy and Persecution that stirred him up to Persecute the Lords Holy Children and to exalt himselfe in the Pride of his heart until his Kingdome was taken and he drove our from amongst men to eat Grasse like an Oxe and his Body to be wet with the Dew until his Haires were growne like Eagles Feathers and his Nailes like Birdes Clawes Dan. 4. 33. And he humbled himselfe and looked up to Heaven and his Understanding returned to him Dan. 5. by which he spake to the great Praise of God and his Kingdome and Wayes and Judgements and he confest that they that walk in Pride he is able to abase and he knew it was the Most High that Ruled in the Kingdome of Men and that he appointeth over it whosoever he will And then after Nebuchadnezzar Belshazar was King and Reigned Dan. 5. and he made a great Feast to a thousand of his Lords and drunk Wine before them and then he sent for the Vessels that his Father had taken out of the Temple at Jerusalem and he and his Wives and Nobles drank wine in them and in the same Houre came forth
the Lambs war with the Dragon in your particulars that you may enjoy the presence and peace of God to your own souls and then will you be for peace among men and verily this thousands of your own selves cannot be ignorant of how that there hath been many thousands that have gone forth against the old Serpent in several Sects since the Apostles dayes in the Apostacy and for want of the inward spiritual Armour and weapons and love and wisdome to order them and to beat the enemy out of their own hearts first they have armed themselves with outward Armour and carnal weapons and so in the ignorance have rose up one against another and smote and killed one another about Religion and Worship and what grievous havock hath been made about service of God in killing one another and so the Devil hath escaped and creatures hath suffered and this hath been in the night c. Even as a great mans servants although their Lord and master was very patient and exceeding loving and kind to them all and though they all did amiss and contrary to his will yet he continued his goodness to them all to see if they would learne to doe as he would have them and be quiet one with another and if they would not but continue in naughtinesse and rebellion against him and one against another then at the last he would reward them according to their doings but those servants after they had done evil against their Lord and master they would not agree together but find fault one of anothers service and then fight and beat one another impatiently about their masters service and so provoke one another the more till the enmity become so great that they began to kill one another and then blood that toucheth blood and so some destroyed others and when he that was Lord over all saw that he called them to an account that had killed their fellow servants and required their blood at their hands so they that had killed without mercy they must dye without mercy and that hath been and will be the end that the persecuting spirit hath and will bring persecuters to that will not return at the Lords reproof But they that have been armed with the Armour of Light and love they through the faith and power and patience thereof overcome the envious persecuting spirit in themselvs first and they are the called and chosen and faithful ones that are with the Lamb who have been exercised in the warfare within against the Devil and all the fleshly lusts that have warred against the soul first before they came forth into the field to joyn with Christ their Captain against his enemies or else the enemy within would make them turn to the enemy without and so they in the faith and patience follow the Lamb that taketh away the sin in the regeneration within before they come to joyn with him in open proclaimed wars against the Dragon and old Serpent and Gog and Magog and all others that rise up against the holy Seed Christ the Lamb who is the leader of all the whole Camp of God and the Captain of their salvation And now all you great and smal high and low people even from the Kings and Princes to the middle sort and from them to the meanest or least degree of all to whom this Information doth happen you have a description of your greatest adversary the spirit of envy and persecution which you are all required and that by Special Warrant from your God that made you to agree together and stand up with one consent and with all your strength of love joyn your selves to the noble Principle of God in every particular in order to the finding out stopping apprehending and taking of this insufferable enemy to mans peace on earth and good will towards one another that Christ the Prince of peace may be chief among you all to bring your souls into everlasting peace with the father in his everlasting Kingdom For of a truth the Lord of Hosts and his Son is arising in power and great glory from on High to destroy the grosse darknesse and great City Babylon and Confusion which hath reigned over the Kings of the earth and set them one against another to destroy one another And this Author of confusion and strife which is the spirit of pride and persecution hath no place in Heaven but is cast out and thrown down to the earth and hath been and still is in a great rage because he hath but a short time to reign there and woe hath been and still is to the inhabitants of the earth as it is said in the Revelation And the Devil upon earth and in the hearts of the children of disobedience hath stirred many Kings one against another and Nations and all hath through ignorance rose up against the Light and Lamb of God but all they have and may do and Gog and Magog together may rise up and joyn in battel against the Lamb and his chosen ones the Saints of the Most High yet as it is said The Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings Rev. 17. 14. And they that are with him that over comes are called and chosen and faithful and when Gog and Magog and their Armies hath made themselves in number as the sand of the Sea and hath spread themselves on the bredth of the earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the Beloved City then shall fire come down from God out of Heaven and devour them and the Devil that deceived them shall be cast into the Lake where the Fire never goeth out as it is in Revelations the 20. He that hath an ear to hear let him hear and the meek shall eat and he satisfied they shall praise the Lord that seek him your hearts shall live for ever that draw neer unto him Oh let all the ends of the world remember and turn unto the Lord and all the kindreds and Nations shall worship before thee that obey thy voyce and their peace shall be as a flood and their righteousnesse as the waves of the Sea and they that through faith and patience and by the power of the word of God do overcome they shall inherit all things in the Kingdome of God and his Christ and they shall sit down at the right hand of the Son of everlasting life and glory even as he overcame and is sate downe at the right hand of God where is joy and pleasure for evermore Amen THE END
daughters of men both souls and bodies who were Gods people by Creation but the Devil he stole their hearts and minds from God and out of the true Liberty of the sons of men as men and in that wretched and deplorable state were all Mankind in we as well as others before the new Creation or being Regenerated and Ransomed and created again in Christ Jesus unto good works by his living Word and then the love of God the Father which he hath shed abroad in our hearts did abound towards all Mankind upon the face of the whole earth insomuch that our hearts were made sad and heavy and our souls did mourn in secret for them and on their behalf to see their bondage and slavery and how this unreasonable envious persecuting spirit ruled over them and made them unwilling to hearken unto the counsel of God their Creator who sent many of us in his love and pity to call them to repentance that they might receive the remission of sins c. and embrace the love and mercy that God held forth unto them-wards not only in these neer Nations out also to them that are afar of but they have required us evilly for our good-will and true love towards them both soul and body even because we have told them the Truth and spoke against and struck at their greatest Enemy the soul-betraying spirit of envy and persecution and they would not hear and consider nor lay those things to heart which most concerned their peace and everlasting welfare of body and soul but went on in hardness of heart very contrary to the Light of Christ in their own Consciences until they had filled up their measures of iniquity and provoked the Holy One of Israel utterly to overturn them and cast them out to be made a prey upon by the old betrayer of Persecuters to be destroyed and cut off as others have been before in Ages past and that is the persecuting spirits work to lead to destroy and then to bring destroyers to destruction also as all may see that reads these lines with a good understanding And this is a true and brief Description of this greatest and most destructive enemy of Mankind in the whole Creation and how he hath betrayed Kings and Princes and Kingdoms and Nations of Jewes Heathen and Christians so called and also how he may be known and apprehended by a special Warrant And further be it known unto all that reads and understands that God the Creator of Mankind hath wholly and firmly decreed the taking and binding of this old Serpent which is the Devil shortly and to cast him into the bottomless pit and to shut and seal him down that he may deceive the Nations no more and God will also cast them into the Lake to be tormented with the Devil and his Angels for ever that will not return to the Lord in the time while he calleth unto them and striveth by his Light and Spirit with them and waiteth to be good and merciful and gracious unto them and this old Dragon is in a great rage because his Kingdome and Reign draws towards an end and he hath but a short time as it is written in Rev. 12. And then shall those words of God be fulfilled which he spake by the mouth of his Prophet Isaiah For out of Zion shall go forth-the Law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem and he shall judg among the Nations and rebuke many people and they shall beat their Swords into Plow-shares and their Spears into Pruâ—ing hocks and Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation neither shall they learn war any more and they shall rejoyce together in love and cry Come let us walk in the light of the Lord and go up unto the house of God that made us for he shall teach us of his wayes And then shall the people sing a new Song unto the Lord and his people shall praise him from the ends of the earth and they that were as a barren Wilderness shall lift up their voyce unto the most High and shout for joy of heart to see the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil that betrayed them into the curse and bitterness and enmity one against another taken and bound and cast out into the bottomless pit and sealed down that he no more can deceive them and then all may dwell together in love safely and their souls greatly to rejoyce in the Lord of Hosts and be exceeding joyful in God their Saviour who cloaths his with the Robe of righteousness and covereth them round about with the garment of salvation And the Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together and the Lyon shall eat straw like the Bullock and they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountain saith the Lord. And we the people whom God hath called and chosen and made faithful and acceptable to himself through the work of his Son Jesus Christ in us and for us who are thereby made the first fruits unto God in this Age after the long Night of Apostacy into the grosse darkness and great ignorance from the true Light and Spirit of God and Christ that reveals and gives the knowledge of the things of God and from the first of our true convincement of sin and evill by the Light in our Consciences and from that very day in which God began to work in this great work of conversion out of the evil envious nature into true love and humility and out of the flesh into the Spirit and to be of the new Birth being born of the blessed womb of love and to be translated out of the Kingdome of darkness and Satan into the Kingdome of the Dear Son of God I say even from the very beginning unto this day have we been hated rejected vilified despised and reproached and greatly afflicted and persecuted and oppressed beyond measure and all hath been for the exercise of our Conscience in the Service of God and in love and good will towards men And thus have they sought to weaken and break us and scatter us into division like themselves and so to wear us out and none of all the Powers of the earth that hath reigned in their time hath been for us but against us But the Lord God Almighty who raised us up out of the Dust he hath been with us and among us all along and his right hand hath upheld us and his outstretched arm hath sustain'd us and they of us that had used carnal weapons heretofore some in the former Kings Army and some in the Parliaments Army when they came to seel the stroak of the Sword of the Spirit of God upon that nature that led to draw the Sword then he fell and perished by the Sword of the Spirit that led to draw the carnal Sword as Christ said it should be and notwithstanding the great occasions and provocations without number that hath been given us we have been kept by the