the enemy adversary of all mankind and to this did the true Christians attain in this life even a perfect Redemption from sin and did witness the Blood of Christ sufficient to purge them from all unrighteousness and saith the Apostle he which hath Suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin Marke such ceased from sin and witnessed the body of sin put off and again the Apostle Paul saith unto the Romans when they were Servants unto sin they were free from righteousness being then made free from sin they Became the servants of righteousness So these things did the true Christians come to witness though you are not ashamed to take their words to plead for the Devils Kingdome as long as you live though the Apostle saith His servants ye are to whom ye obey So he which obeys sin is a servant of sin and the Apostle James saith let no man say When he is tempted that he is tempted of God for God tempteth not to evil but when a man is tempted unto lust he is tempted of the Devil and lust when it is conceived brings forth sin and sin when it is finished brings forth death so be not deceived with vain words For such as you sow such shall you reape if you sow to the Spirit ye shall of the Spirit reape life everlasting but if to the flesh ye shall of the flesh reape corruption for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life So come all to the gift of God which is the Light of Christ Jesus which he hath enlightened you withall and you will come to know the free grace of God unto Salvation which will teach you to deny all ungodly lusts and not to plead for them and to live Soberly and righteously in this present evil world Marke this is the fruit and effect of the Grace of God and is not onely given to talke of and say you are saved by grace while you turn from it in wantonness which the Saints and Christians did not but came through the Cross to be saved even from sin and being redeemed from their vain conversation which they lived in in times past so witnessed a new birth which was of God which sinned not being washed with water by the word which word is Christ the Saviour of the soul and all who comes to know the word abiding in them they do know and witness this state even a perfect state from sin and that was their boldness in the day of Judgement that as Christ was so were they in this present world perfect even as their Father which is in Heaven is perfect So here is a true measuring line for you to measure your selves by what stock and lineage ye are of and who is your Father and whom ye obey for the true Christians Christ was their Example in all things and left them a perfect Example that they should follow his steps who said Learn of me for I am meeke and lowly in heart and the true Christians followed him and were like minded in all things Friends my hearts desire is to the Lord for you that you may be saved and come to the knowledge of truth which truth will make you free from sin and pollution though this thing stumbled the Jews when Christ spake it unto them for they looked out at some worldly thing not considering they were servants to sin which was the cause of all their misery Therefore be ye warned and fear pleading for that which will be your utter destruction if ye live and die in it read through the whole Book of Scripture and see if ever any Covenant of God stood with any Nation or people but as they did forsake their sins or were there ever any people to whom God did so largely manifest himself as unto the Jews and yet when they forsooke the holy Commandement which was delivered unto them did not the Lord forsake them yea verily and will all who do the like But if any of you shall say they were under a Covenant of workes and we under grace were they not under the Covenant of grace as well as any yea verily in all their travels did not the spiritual Rocke follow them which was Christ And after the Law was administred unto them by Moses did not he preach the true and living faith unto them saying they were not to say Who shall ascend or go beyond the Seas that they may hear and do it but what said he The word is nigh you even in your mouth and in your heart that ye may do it and was not this the same word of faith the Apostle Preached yea even the living faith which gives dominion over sin Hell Death and the Grave by which all the Saints of old had their glorious dominion and by which the Just liveth and they who come to witness this true and living faith they know a Shield against all the fiery darts of the Devil which faith Worketh by love and love fulfilleth the whole law of God which is to love God with all thy heart and thy neighbour as thy self So here is the true faith and the man which is in it does unto all men as he would all should do unto him which is the true Christians life and there is not another Oh! how doth my soul pitty you to see the blindness and ignorance you are fallen into though ye pretend the Scripture to be your rule which condemns you in all your practises as will plainly appear when you come to be tried by them doth any thing availe but a new Creature doth not the Scripture say and also doth not Christ say Except ye be converted and become as a little child ye cannot inherit the Kingdome of Heaven And againe Except ye be born againe ye cannot see the Kingdome of God Is there any true Christians but who witness this state and birth nay verily there is not any but those who followeth Christ through the Regeneration who cometh to sit with him in his Fathers Kingdome Is there any who do not suffer with him that shall Reigne with him Consider these things in the coole of the day and do not any longer take up a rest and a security in a beare name but come to the nature and then you will witness a true redemption out of all earthly affections and not plead for them but loath them for the Saints conversation was in Heaven which are above you which plead for beggarly lust which shuts out of the Kingdome For no uncleane thing can enter there These things I speake unto you in great plainness and singleness of heart as I am moved of the Lord that ye may come to the true Salvation from sin for who knoweth Christ and his power knoweth him to be in vertue as he is in name even A Saviour of his people from their sins therefore is his name called Jesus God hath sworne that he delighteth not in the death of a sinner
A Seasonable Warning To such who profess themselves MEMBERS OF Reformed Churches INTO What Forme soever gathered or where-ever scattered over the face of the whole earth but most especially to France and the parts adjacent With a few remarkable QUERIES c. Given forth in love to all souls a tender visitation of breathing desires of good to the whole Creation by a friend thereof CHARLES BAILY LONDON Printed in the Year 1663. try your spirits and there is no difference between you and those you seem to deny for in nature ye are one in pride and hypocrisie envy malice and cruelty drunkenness swearing lying whoredom deceit and whatsoever is evill and were the power in your hands ye would be more cruel then those ye seem to complain of and in the ground there is no difference between you for ye have lost your suffering spirit which was once amongst you at the first and are grown as vaine in your Imaginations as any of the heathen of the Nations Therefore repent repent ye also and think not in your hearts that it will serve your turns to say you are reformed while iniquity and abomination is in your inward parts and are not at all reformed from that to wit iniquity though ye say ye are saved by faith in Christ ye are found wholly out of that spirit and doctrine which leadeth To do unto all men as ye would others should do unto you as your fruits hath proved some of you casting out of the Synagogues or Temples as the Jews did and as is foretold should be done unto my servants Therefore be ye warned in time and remember how the Jews came under the reproofe of the Just when they said they were Abrahams children whilest they were Of their father the Devil whose works they did and do you not think but your evill deeds are as abommable as theirs they boasted as well as you they were the children of my Covenant while you and them trample the Blood thereof under your feet for which cause a curse came upon them and shall also come upon you if ye repent not and take not warning in time while my hand is stretched out towards you for good that ye may live and not die in your sins for if you die in your sins Where I go ye cannot come saith Christ Jesus the Light of the world who is the Covenant of God given for Salvation unto the ends of the earth and untill ye come to this Light ye are far from being children of the Covenant as ye pretend but in Covenant with Hell Death and the Devill pleading for sin as long as you live which is the Devils Kingdom and for so doing ye give men great sums of money yearly which is an abominable thing to the Lord God Almighty And then you say you are Christians by Baptisme and the like sprinkling a little water upon the face or head of a child and thereby have an entrance into the Church and yet will not admit the same to the Roman-Catholicke though their Water hath as much vertue as yours and the child of the one believeth as much as the other and both when they grow up are in one nature which sheweth plainly you are ignorant of the one onely true Baptisme which washeth away sin and corruption and gives a true entrance into the Church which is in God the ground and Pillar of truth into which no unclean thing can have an entrance for it is a spiritual House built with living Stones elect and precious Christ Jesus being the chief corner stone who gave himself for it That he might present it to God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And this is the true Church and Baptism which gives an entrance into it and the true saith which once came and takes the possession So read and try and prove your selves If Christ be not in you ye are reprobates professe what you will and if Christ were in you The body would be dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but how far you are from this let the Light of Christ Judge in you therefore repent that ye may find mercy and think not that God will have respect unto your persons no more then he had respect to those who said They were Jewes and were not for because of that he said he would spue them out of his mouth and seeing he spared not the natural branches but cut them off the root because of transgression do you think he will spare you Nay verily The soul that sinneth shall die saith God for he spared not the Angels who kept not their first estate but hath reserved them under the chaines of darkness untill the Judgement of the great day And let these things be a seasonable warning unto you for it was so and is so that he which is a Jew outwardly is not the true Jew neither is he a Christian who beareth the name outwardly and hath not the nature of Christ all such are an abomination to the Lord. You are so far from being leavened into his nature which only maketh a Christian that if any one come amongst you and say he hath the Spirit of God he is had in great derision amongst you and is laughed at to scorne though the Apostle saith He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his and all who were Baptized with the true Baptisme they received the Holy Ghost So read consider and try your selves what state you are in and do not think that the nature of Christ is changed since the Apostles time nay it is all one though many have the name and are out of the nature You fall a quarelling and killing one another about their words this was not the nature of Christians for they were the sons of God led by his pure Holy Spirit which was Gentle meeke and easie to be intreated full of long-suffering and mercy even to enemies and ready to do good unto all in which spirit walking they did not fulfil the lusts of the flesh but in it conquered and had dominion over sin Hell and the Devil though a time of warfare they came to witness before they came unto this state as all the Saints and holy men of God ever did witness the travel of the children of Israel through the wilderness into the land of rest which is the true Type of all the travel of the faithfull for they came to witness the true Baptisme as it is written They were all Baptized into Moses under the Cloud who was a true Type of Christ and because of unbelief many did not enter because they received the false report and believed they should never overcome their enemies which things relate all unto the true spiritual warfare of every true Christian which did believe and entered and possessed the land of rest which is the true Sabbath and it is written He that believes hath entered into rest ceased from sin which is
it and do you thereby take warning and read search and see your state if you are true Christians and redeemed of God and be no longer fed with a name for they were a Royall Priesthood a holy nation and did Reign as Kings upon the earth even over the World Sin Hell Death and the Devil and though on the earth yet they loved not the world neither the things of the world but used all those as though they used them not being in the Light which is Christ the wisdome of God they came to use all creatures in the same wisdome as they were created and to the same end for by Christ Jesus the eternal Word of the Father were all things created and as ye come to live and walke in him who is the wisdome of the Father ye will come to the right use and understanding of all things and know and witness the ends of the earth upon you and your conversation will be in Heaven far above all created things Therefore come all to the word by which all was created even the good word of God which is quick powerfull and sharper then any two edged Sword dividing between the precious and the vile the clean and the unclean for it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart and this is the true word which sanctifies makes clean which is Christ the Light the Word of God which will be a Light and a Lanthorn unto your path if you diligently heed and follow it as David did witness and unless you come to witness this word in you you can never witness Christ nor the end of his coming Who hath given himself for us to redeem us from this present evil world according to the will of God These things are plain to every single eye Who desires not to hold the truth in unrighteousness nor make Christ a cover for sin and uncleanness by crying they are saved by Christ and have remission through his Death and shed his Blood for their Redemption and yet witness nothing they are redeemed or saved from and are aliens unto the Covenant of promise which is That he shall save his people from their sins and his Blood which purifies sanctifies and makes clean for so the true Christians did witnesse it even through it they had access to God and were redeemed from their vaine lives and conversations through and by it even By the Bloud of the Lamb which was offered up to God Without spot or blemish who hath also given himself for his Church that he might present it in like manner unto God which is a spiritual building Built and joyned together a spiritual house an holy Priesthood to offer up sacrifices acceptable to God Christ being the chief corner stone even he who the builders have in all Ages rejected and refused therefore come to the living Stone that ye may be joyned and united to it as the Christians were and as you come to be joyned here you will come to be one Spirit in the Lord and be covered with it without which covering wo unto you as it is written Wo be unto you who are covered and not with my Spirit saith the Lord for the day is come and coming even upon you O ye Protestants in France as well as in all Nations that all other coverings will be too short for to hide you and will stand you in no stead in the day of tryall Therefore be awakened and awake arise and stand up ye which sleep in the dust and the Lord shall give you Light and understanding of the things which belongeth unto your peace in this the day of your visitation therefore sleep not any longer in a false security least they be hid from your eyes you be left desolate and without excuse for ever for of a truth this is the day of Gods everlasting love and mercy unto you which constraineth me to warn you and wo would be unto me if I did not but whether you hear or forbear I shall be a sweet savour unto God if ye perish therefore I use great plainness of speech unto you and not as mans wisdome teacheth but in the demonstration of the Spirit I speak beseeching you to be reconciled unto God I being one who truly hath known the terrours of the Lord for sin and hath been accepted at the tribunal seat of God for Christ sake in whom and through whom I have had access unto God and by his stripes am healed and purged by his Blood from sin and corruption and this hath not been of works but by grace I am saved through faith in Christ by which victory is obtained through patience and hope which purifies even as Christ is pure Which hope is an Anchor unto the soul in the time of tryal And this hath God done for my soul not by any works of my own righteousness as though I had any thing to boast of above another for all boasting is excluded for ever by the Law of Faith neither have I any thing but what I have received of God whose love hath been in an unexpressible manner extended unto me since I gave up unto him believed his report by his holy servants messengers of his holy new and everlasting Covenant unto the sons of men which is Light and in and with the same love the Father hath loved me am I drawn forth to invite you my Countrey-men after the flesh whom God moved me to visit even from a far Countrey where my outward habitation was many years even in Virginia and truly my soul is often powred out unto God for you and sure I am if you do not wilfully reject his love but open freely unto him his love will touch many of your hearts as it hath touched mine which if you receive you will I know with a ready heart and mind follow him and forsake all earthly treasure to follow him in the delightfull way of peace and holiness And dear Countrey-men remember Moses who chose Rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God then to injoy the pleasures of sin for a season refusing to be called the son of Pharaohs Daughter and take all the holy Servants and Prophets of God for an example of patience and suffering through which and by which they plainly declared they sought not a habitation in this world but were strangers and Pilgrims therein Seeking a City whose builder and maker is God into which my soul desireth that ye may have an entrance and habitation even into the new and Heavenly Jerusalem which cometh down from God into which nothing that workes abomination or makes a lie can enter Though the gates thereof stand open day and night but without are Dogs and Sorcerers and all uncleanness And this the true Christians waited for even for a new Heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness therefore saith the Apostle Peter Seeing these things what manner of persons ought we to be yea they were
to shine as his own elect and chosen people as the Stars in the Firmament and many shall desire to be joyned unto you yea the day hastneth apace That ten shall lay hold of h m which is a Jew and say we will eat our own bread and drink our own drink only let us be called by thy name yea this and much more which is hard to be uttered either by tongue or Pen shall be the portion of him who is of the true circumcision which is made without hands who worships God in the Spirit a City and habitation is prepared for them whose builder and maker is God wherein the Lamb shall be their Light and they shall walk in it for ever and ever Therefore come all away to the light which is the true door into the new and Heavenly Jerusalem wherein no unclean thing can or ever shall enter thereby by the light must ye come to be cleansed which is the blood of the Covenant which is freely shed abroad for the cleansing of all the sons of Adam therefore trample it not under your feet as the blood of a dead man and count it not an unholy thing for by it alone were all the Saints of old cleansed and it did not serve them onely to talk of but were truly purged purified and made clean by it and so witnessed Justification and Sanctification in this life without which they never could for except you come to witnesse your souls cleansed from sin and sanctified with the blood of the everlasting Covenant you cannot be justified by God for God justifieth no unclean thing and remember it is written That without holinesse no man shall see the Lord and lay it to heart and there ponder these things in the coole of the day which if you do The grace of God will not be bestowed upon you in vain but through its pure teachings and vertue you will come to witnesse salvation to your souls and death swallowed up in victory and he that hath the power of it which is the Devil then will that saying be brought to pass O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory and will thank God with your souls bodies and spirits and serve him therewith as holy vessels sanctified to his use who hath given you the victory over all and living praise will issue out of your mouths not by constraint but willingly out of a pure heart for evermore to the living praise of him who hath redeemed your souls out of the horrible pit and set your feet upon a Rock even upon Mount Sion to live and Reign for ever And this is the true Salvation of God through Christ Jesus which thousands witnesse at this day in England and praise the Lord with one heart mind and soul continually which is their only joy and delight God only being witnessed to be their Judge King and Law-giver who hath saved them with everlasting Salvation from sin and uncleanness and are translated into the Kingdom of his dear Son and there live and delight only to walk to the praise and glory of the glorious God of all grace who hath thus bestowed his rich grace and mercy upon them which also is freely and richly tendred unto you O ye inhabitants of France therefore slight it not but draw nigh unto God and he will draw unto you for he is a God at hand and not afar off even unto them who call upon him with a simple heart and is a ready help unto such in time of need and you will witnesse him so unto you if ye embrace the riches of his grace mercy and goodnesse which is freely tendred to every individual of you without respect of persons Therefore call upon the Lord while he is neere least when you call he will not answer which is counsell of life unto you all which if you reject then hear what the Spirit saith ye shall have your portions with the wicked stiff-necked unbelievers and rebellious and your children shall enjoy the blessing for God of a truth will be glorified in many of them and you also if ye count not your selves unworthy of Eternal life which is richly and plentifully tendred unto you Therefore cease from all your Idol-shepherds and hireling-Priests which feed themselves and not the flock preach up sin as long as men live which shews they are imperfect Ministers and cannot make the comers thereunto perfect therefore I say cease from them in time least while the blind lead the blind ye both fall into the ditch for they are truly the Ministers of Satan and preach up his power to be greater than the power of God even to have more force to keep people in sin then the power of God hath to redeem from sin as hath already been said and so make the coming of Christ to be of no effect which was to redeem people from the Law which was added because of transgression up to God to live in his power which was before transgression was therefore saith the Apostle in what the Law could not doe in that it was weak God sending his own Son in the likenesse of sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Mark this was the true end of Christs coming not to destroy the Law because the Law is righteous and layeth hold on the transgressor but he came to destroy the transgressions and so he redeems all who come unto him from the curse of the Law by destroying the works of the Devil in people that so the righteousnesse thereof might be fulfilled in them by the power of Christ Jesus and so they come to the Spirits of just men made perfect the seed of the Serpent being bruised and wholly destroyed in them by Christ the seed of God in whom all the promises are Yea and Amen and they who witnesse this witnesse the end of Christs coming and the new birth which is incorruptible of God which sinneth not and they who come to witnesse this know that the power of Satan is not greater then the power of God in Christ Jesus who saves his people from their sins and this is the only true living Ministry which is to the salvation of the soul and all who preach any other doctrine then this though we our selvs or an Angell from heaven let them be accursed therefore consider your doctrine who preach against perfection and for keeping men in sin as long as they live and then the Devil knows he hath them sure enough afterwards for the wages of sin is death out of which there is no redemption if the creature dye therein for as the tree falls so it lyeth And this is the truth of God to all the inhabitants of the Earth therefore high and low rich and poor bond and free be ye warned and while ye have time prize it and if ye call upon God who