THE DEAD-MAN TESTAMENT OR A LETTER WRITTEN To all the Saints of GOD in Scotland Fellow-Heirs of the Blessing with those in England For a view of the present Work of GOD against the Mystery of Iniquity and for Unity and Love amongst themselves in this day of the Lord 's mercifull dispensation and of the judgement of the Whore BY THOMAS WOOD Sometimes Inhabitant of Leith lately departed this present life Aâ—d supplied by one of his own Countrey-men a lover of the true spirituall Beautie of Zion Published by Authoritie Printed at Leith by Evan Tyler 1651. HAving perused this Book Intituled The Dead Mans Testament I do finde it to be Orthodox and sound and likewise usefull for the Lords People namely those to whom it is directed I do therefore allow it forthwith to be Printed and Published Given under my hand at Leith Novemb. 25. 1651. TIMO VVILKS A LETTER WRITTEN To all the Saints of GOD in Scotland Fellow-Heirs of the Blessing with those in England Grace peace and love with a rich Increase of all spirituall and heavenly gifts be plentifully multiplied upon all you the Israel of God for ever I Desire to write to you dearly beloved not in any considence of mine own ability being so unworthy but in the love and light of his Spirit who is our wisdome our righteousnes our sanctification and redemption I desire to say something to you the sons and daughters of GOD as the Lord himself hath named you 2. Cor. 6. For I know beloved even by experience in my self that in this day of the fierce wrath of GOD upon this Land the working of his Divine Providence in much love and mercy toward you may be too much looked upon even by you his precious People with the dark eye of naturall reason and sense rather then in the clear light of the Spirit of Truth as his love is constant with you in Jesus Because of the great distress upon this Nation and wrath over this People and because of your own sufferings in your bodily condition with the rest of the Nation as also because the outward glory of this National Church and beautifull appearance of holiness and worship therein is now much defaced Therefore even ye the freely Beloved of GOD are in danger looking naturally upon these things to conceive hard and dishonourable thoughts of your kind and mercifull Lord as if he were not fully pacified nor well pleased with you in his dearly beloved Son but were yet pleading a Controversie with you in his displeasure for your Iniquities as he is doing indeed with all the ungodly of the Land But Beloved although ye suffer in your bodily condition with the rest of the Nation yet your spirituall condition is nothing impaired thereby nor the free love of your Welbeloved any whit diminished For those sufferings which in the Justice of God are curses to the wicked are in the mercies of your God turned unto blessings to you They are the fatherly chastisements of your gracious Lords Hand upon you in abundance of love for teaching you more of himself in the Spirit and of his Heavenly Consolations and therefore they can do you no evill but good Your Fathers wisedome and love make all things work for your good He hath delivered you out of the power of evill and darknes and translated you into the Kingdome of his dear Son Col. 1. 13. where ye have your life hid with Christ in God above the teach of either temporall or eternall evills for by one offering your Lord hath perfected for ever all you that are sanctified Heb. 10. And therefore rejoyce evermore in the comfortable assurance of his free love even with strong consolation for your Lord called you to have free accesse alwayes even with boldnesse unto the most Holy Place within the Vale of his Flesh and hath covenanted with you to remember your sins no more Heb. 10. 18 19 20. What reason then Beloved have your hearts to be troubled or afaid for any outward shadow of evils for ye have your abiding in the shadow of the Almighty And as for the decay of the glory of this Nationall Church and Formality of Worship wherein naturally we did too much glory as did the Jewes in the Temple I trust Beloved your GOD will let you see that in all this great and terrible Work both he and his Instruments have had thoughts of love toward you his dear People and is only pleading with all the prophane in the Land for the abuse of his holy Things and purging all you his Saints who are his true Church indeed in whom he taketh delight to dwell from much corruption and deformity of the multitude that so yee may shine as Light amongst a perverse Generation for the beauty of this Nationall Church Beloved hath not been that purely spiritual and holy beauty of the Immaculat Spouse of Christ and Kings Daughter all lovely and fair within Psal 45. And therefore be not ye offended dear People although your Lord for his own glory and your comfort cast down or pluck up that which not himself by his Spirit but men by humane wisdome or policy had builded or planted Neither mistake ye the working of his Divine Hand as if he were robbing you his People of any of his own spirituall or heavenly Ornaments of free love which himself hath put upon you for his gifts toward you in these things are without repentance But as he is renting his holy Things from the prophane multitude of the Land to whom men had blindly cast them and who carelesly trod them under foot so is he in much love purging you his peculiar People from these Nationall Whoorish or Babylonish Ornaments of worldly power and glory humane wisedome and policy and counterfeit holines and worship wherewith ye were fallen in love and much defiled for the Mystery of Iniquity hath been very depthly and deceitfully working in this Nationall Church both in regard of her constitution or Members being builded by the Policy of men rather then by the Spirit of our Lord Jesus of all the prophane multitude of ignorant Atheists Witches Blasphemers Drunkards Scolders and Mockers of Godlines in the Land under the name of a true Reformed Church of Christ and a communion of the Faithful and in regard of that confused mixed Power and Goverment under the name of a true Spirituall Church-power and Government of Christ wherewith this Multitude was ruled and governed And lastly in regard of that confused or mixed Doctrine and Worship wherewith this Multitude was taught and wherewith they prophanely worshipped or rather highly provoked the Lord to anger for alacâ— beloved this beauty of this National Church hath consisted more in Multitudes of People Humane Power and Policy and forms of godlines in Worship then in any reall beauty or work of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus For the Office-bearers of this Church not contenting themselves as did the Apostles with such a number of you the
needeth to teach another but all of them know the LORD from the highest of them to the lowest of them Jeremiah 31. That which engageth them to their duty is the law put in their inward parts and written in their hearts It indeed and not to multiplication of Church-Assemblies keepeth them loyall to the Crown royall of Heaven Such Ecclesiasticall powers use often to restrain Christian Liberty but seldom or rather never promove the just freedom and liberty of the Saints Secondly in respect of the matter propounded and discussed in these Assemblies Know ye not Dearly beloved in them nothing for the most part was to be heard but needlesse debates and vain janglings Any thing heard in them was rather to minister Question then godly edification which is in faith How many tables and endless genealogies were heard amongst them which the Holy Ghost disclaimeth We learn no matter in Church-Assemblies from the Word but grave Cases of Conscience or matter of Controversie Acts 15. and of seasonable and necessary admonition for the good and edification of the Church Acts 20. But the LORD knoweth the Assemblies of this Church did not content themselves therewith but went far out of their sphere They could away with nothing so much as to examine the Books of Sessions Presbyteries Synods and Commissions They were not ashamed to rob the Magistrate of his right as their due Nothing could satisfie them but proceeding against Fornicators Malignants and all such delinquents as if they and they onely had had right to the temporall sword Nothing could be done in Parliament but what was ratified and allowed by them They pushed indeed with the two horns of the beast for the matter of such Assemblies is an acting with both swords Temporall and Spirituall And to colour all this there was a doing great wonders by making fire come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of men in establishing Popish Pennances or moâ—k Repentances O! what deal of the Spirit did they pretend in these things And thus they deceived them that dwell on the earth Thirdly in respect of the manner of proceeding in these Assemblies It is known they carried on things in a State-way and not in a Church way They did not take every thing to the Law and the testimonie but they disputed every thing as Lawyers standing close by formalities Law quirks and Church Constitutions iâ— not of State also as the grounds and wayes of their procedure They did not proceed because it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to them but because it seemed good to them and was according to the Acts and Practice of the Church Oh! was not this the over-word in and touch-stone of these Conventions Fourthly in respect of the Members of these Meetings indeed they were answerable to their National Church such as were Members of the one so of the other And it can not be forgotten how their Ruling-Elders did not only sit as Ciphers in them the Ministers taking all upon them but also they had no more Office-power but pro tempore yet I can see no reason why all other officers of Christ's Church so wel as Ministers may not injoy their office-power vel ad vitam vel ad culpam And for my self I saw no use they made of them but to carry on things by plurality of voices as if the matters of Christ's House had depended from the consent and opinion of men not from his own authority according to the Word and Spirit Fiâ—tly in respect of the power they did arrogate to themselves What they did they did not as Councels but as Court-Judicatures they did not proceed by way of advice and counsell and upon this accompt for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us but by way of command and upon this accompâ— We enact and ordain Sixtly in respect of their outward pomp glory O! how much were they backed with the powers of this World And it is observable these Assemblies of late did begin with the accession of the Kings Commissioner thereto An. 1639. and I hope their pride hath perished with the accession of the Vice-Roy to the General Assembly 1651. The reign and rise of Classicall Power are from the earth Rev. 13. 11. and therefore it cannot but parish with the earth The fall of carnal worldly powers will beget its ruine Seventhly in respect of their tyrannie O! how much did they lord over GOD'S heritage they thought it their duty to Lord over their Consciences to plant over and transplant Ministers from them at random And I beleive the Lord of late hath given them plantation and transplantation beyond what they desired They thought it no sin to restrict people to forms of worship To emit Declarations Catechisms and stinte formes of family-Family-Worship and directions anent worshipping in publick in their own stinted and Presbyterian way They made it their great businesse even as their lips onely had preserved knowledge and all had been obliged to lay what they said or rather to swear what they spoke They thought it no Heresie to emit Acts against the private Assemblies of the Saints and their going from one first day of the week to another to hear those Preach of whom they expected most for Edification although their Parish-Priest had been an idiot void of the Saving knowledge of God They exhorted repentance out of all and whosoever would not take their mark upon them they restrained their Liberty by bills of excommunication and casting them over into the hands of the State Such indeed had not liberty to buy and sell amongst them Any who denyed their Acts and did not idolize their Covenant of which they made a State-Engine for establishing worldly powers was forthwith to be excommunicat No wonder For though they had Lambes hornes yet did they speak as dragons Rev. 14. 11. Eightly in respect of the proud title they did assume to themselves They were not ashamed Popish-like to call themselves the Church even as if holines and knowledge had been only to be found amongst them in their own accompt they were the Inheritance and Church of GOD by way of eminency and speciall propriety What is this I pray you beloved but the Man of sin sitting in the Temple of God exalting himself above God as God or that is worshipped Beware of this Whore dearly beloved and Come out of her that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues POSTSCRIPT Dear Christian Reader I Must needs tel thee shortly what the Author of this Letter was how far he proceeded in it and how it came to my hands The Author of it was a most Religious body and much persecuted for the Truth He lived here in Leâ—th in a most privat and mean condition And though he was blinde in the eyes of his body yet as appeareth not in the eyes of his minde In him our Lord hath made it appear that he perfecteth his praise by the mouth of Babes and chooseth the foolish things of this World to confound the Wise His purpose was to emit this he did not fear to profess Christ openly though many of the rulers who beleeve in Him dâ—re not profess Him because of the Seribes and Pharises yet before he closed it he gave up the ghost And he wrote no more of this Letter but till you come to that which is spoken Pag. 12. concerning the Assemblies of this National Church which I have supplied at the desire of a Religious Officer of the English Army 〈◊〉 in the interim know I did read an imperfest and undigested Scroll of the Authors wherein he had hinted at severall of these things concerning the foresaid Assemblies which I express viz. Their ruling by plurality of voices their debating things of no 〈◊〉 and passing by the out searching the Mistery of Godlines and of Iniquity together with their imploying the temporall sword of the Magistrate in the matters of Christs Church and Kingdom But I durst not adventure to set down these things in the Authors own words and way though I had once intended it for he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and confusedly dâ—â—â—â—â—ed them being called by GOD from hence before he had 〈◊〉 them and had taken them to his second thoughts Upon which accompt I have digested the last part of this Letter in mine own way and manner though in nothing dâ—screpant from his purpose lest had I done other wayes he having departed hence before he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 leaving the leaving the close of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the last part of it should have been inferiour to the rest as possibly it is as yet Howsoever Dear Christian Reader take thou my good thinâ— for my good say embrace this Letter kindely and fare thou well FINIS
neither hath your condition who are the people of God but as the Promises have been applyed to the prophane multitude as one body with you so the threatnings have been applyed to you as one body with them for whereas the blessing of the Gospel abundance of Grace and everlasting Righteousness and free unchangeable Love should have been plainly holden forth and applyed to you his precious People only upon your embracing of Christ and the free Promise by Faith without and before all good Works Ye being freely justified by Grace without the Works of the Law Rom. 3. But by the contrary the Law and wrath have been applyed to you with the prophane body of the land and ye have been taught as one body with them that because of your breach of Covenant and failings in Reformation and dueties your God was not yet pacified with you but was yet provoked to anger and entring in controversy with you for your sins as with the rest of the land as if the Constancy of Gods Favour and Love which he hath sworn and promised to you depended upon your performances or Works of Reformation And as by this preaching of promises upon performances the wicked have been hardened in their course of formality in hearing the Word Singing of Psalmes receiving the Sacraments and such like being thereby esteemed holy both by themselves and the Ministery and to be members of the Church so likewise by this preaching of threatnings upon your failings and infirmities even ye the Lords people whom the Son hath made free indeed have been keeped in much weaknesse and bondage and in a legall temper under continuall fears and terrours of Gods displeasure and anger to the great weakning of your Faith and diminishing of your Spirituall Strength and comfort Of Good Works it is granted must be taught but not as proceeding from fear of wrath and displeasure for not performing thereof but as proceeding from the Strength of God in us thrâ—ugh the assurance of his constant Love For this love of our God increaseth our joy and this joy of our Lord in us is our strength against sin Neh. 8. And as there hath been a confusion in the members and the government and the doctrine so hath there been in the worship of this Church for this it is evident that a worldly carnal and corrupted people can perform nothing whatsoever they pretend but a worldly carnall and corrupted worship They cannot worship in Spirit and Truth For the naturall man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 1 Cor. 2. And therefore if it be granted that many of the people maintained to be members of this Nationall Church and Performers of worship in singing of Psalmes receiving the Sacraments were but a worldly and carnall people not acquaint with the life of God nor with the Ministery of Faith then it followeth that much of the worship performed by this nationall Church was but a carnall corrupted and sinfull worship detestable in the eyes of the Almighty for whatsoever is without Faith is sinfull and abominable And therefore the Lord hath been highly provoked by the carnall and faithlesse worship performed by the multitude in our Solemn Assemblies For the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord. But beloved that which much hath served to fill up the cup of the Lords wrath against this nationall Church hath been in taking the Covenant for the Ministery not trusting the Power of God in the hearts of his Saints for defending his Truth thought good as going down to Egypt for help to combine all the whole Nation together as one body one Church in that solemn band wherein all the ignorant multitude who knew not what they were doing were taught by the great and solemn Oath of God to protest Firstly that they had long and duely examined their Consciences in matters of true and false Religion Secondly that they were now fully perswaded by the word and Spirit in the Truth of Religion Thirdly that under all the pains contained in the Law and danger both of soul and body in the day of Gods fearfull judgement they should defend the Truth of Religion And was it not evident Beloved that the multitude of this land invited by the Ministery to enter into that solemn Covenant had never examined their Consciences in matters of true and false Religion Neither were they ever perswaded by the Word and Spirit of God in the Truth of Religion and therefore could never defend that which they knew not for the naturall man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God So that in binding themselves by such a solemn Oath under such horrible pains to defend that which they never knew they bound themselvesover to the curse of the Law wherein the Ministery was cheefly instrumentall The leaders of this people have caused them to erre and they that are led of them are destroyed And therefore the bloud of the ignorant multitude so engadged by their leaders and thrust forth by them as sheep to the slaughter for defending that whereof they had no knowledge lyeth heavily upon the heads of the Ministery And lastly Concerning the Assemblies of this Church Ye know beloved how corrupt mixed and confused they were and that in these respects Firstly in respect of their frequency It is much to be admited upon what accompt Church-Assemblies were so frequent in this Nation We can finde no president for it in Scripture No more is read but of the Assembly at Jerusalem Acts 15. and of Pauls calling the Elders of the Church of Ephesus together Acts 20. v. 17. It cannot be denied but the Church now and then may call Assemblies upon some grave and weighty occurrenâ— or other whether it be v. g. for discussing and composing matters of controversie as did the Councell at Jerusalem or for some seasonable extraordinary and necessary word of exhortation and admonition Upon which accompt the Elders of Ephesus did meet But I would fain know upon what accompt be their weekly Presbyteries half-yearly Synods yearly Generall Assemblies and continuall Church-Commissions in this Land Is it imaginable there can be fit matter for such frequent meetings No verily What Cases of Conscience in finding out the poynt of justification and matter of controversie in discovering the Mystery of Iniquity have provoked such meetings What grave and extraordinary word of admonition hath flowed from them so often as they have been called Or shall we think the Lord's people whom we judge the the onely fit object and subject of Church meetings so ignorant so backward and so unruly that they stand in need of such frequent Assemblies We dare not think so unless we should impung their willingnes in the day of the Lords power Psal 110. Their cheerfulness in obedience by the love of Christ which constraineth them and the terrour of GOD whereby they perswade men 2 Cor. 5. and the eminency of their knowledge being all taught of GOD Isaiah 54. whereby none of them