so ignorant that they do not know that at this very day Babylon would father all their Power and Jurisdiction they exercise even to Idolatry and Murder upon the Scriptures and Divine Authority from God and yet are Babylon for all that yea and because of that Now where do men raise their different perswasions but from different taking or mistaking the true and right sense of the Scriptures all is fathered there and so they make the Scripture speak what their Reason or Understandings judge to be the minde of the Spirit and so they close and doth not Babylon the same and hath as good Warrant as these Secondly That these several Sects and Divisions in and about the Worship of God and Government do arise and grow out of the Wits and Wills of Men as Men is clear and undeniable upon this ground That however persons in their present perswasions seem high and fixt in their way pretending the light and leading of the Spirit strongly and therefore separate from all other forms and deeply judge and censure all differing from them yet after this supposing they have received better light these very persons fall into some other Form and sometimes into the same Form they a little before separated from as Antichristian and Babylonish and the utmost they can say for their change is They were then perswaded in their Judgements that was the Truth then and this is the Truth now and doth not Babylon say the same Good Lord what a deep Mystery is Babylon yet to most Saints and what dreadful sins are the sins of Babylon that makes the holy God the holy Spirit and the holy Scriptures to be their Authority and Warrant to sin at this rate and yet all this while cry Come out of Babylon Thirdly That these People and Sects are onely formed and founded in the VVits VVills and humane Reason of Men also is very manifest from the Fruits and Effects following them VVhat carnal and sinful prejudice divisions and censuring is there in these Parties of their Brethren who cannot come up to their present thoughts and perswasions However poor souls deceive themselves and are hurried by blind zeal yet for certain the fruits most appearing in them are fruits of the Flesh and not of the Spirit for Saints to be divided in heart and into Parties about Teachers and Forms so as to envy revile and separate so as to break the Bond of Christian Love and Order this discovers such to be very Babes in the School of Christ and to be more carnal than spiritual This is not mine but Paul's reasoning 1 Cor. 3.3 4. and the Argument is not the weaker because it is old Ye are yet carnal for whereas there is among you envyings and strife and divisions or factions are ye not carnal and walk as men or according to man While one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos are ye not carnal I hope a word to the wise is enough therefore I would onely leave this to consideration That hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies and envyings Gal. 5.19 20 21. among Saints in and about the Wayes and Worship of God are really the fruits of the flesh as well as Adultery Idolatry and Murder And is it not then high time that the Lord should awaken dreaming deluded Saints and indeed call them out of Babylon that they lose not the Light of the Lamb in his Appearing and Glory with his holy Host and they outwardly fall and perish with Babylon while they think they are in Mount Sion Secondly I shall in the next place demonstrate the foresaid Position negatively that these Forms and Factions are not from the Spirit of God but arise in Peoples own deceived spirits and as hurried by Satan in such ignorant zeal the very same which stirred up Saul after Paul to persecute the true Christians and the true Church of Christ Act. 22.3 4 c. Act. 26.1 2 3 c. Act. 21.20 21. and thought he did well and his duty yea it is the same spirit which stirred up the Christian Jews to persecute Paul from mistaken zeal for the Law My Brethren I beseech you hear me patiently examine and then judge I assure you my Bowels yern towards you and Christian Compassion moves me onely in the Lord to use this plainness for the good and comfort of your Souls and that you may no longer deceive your selves and that when our Lord shall come whom I hope ye look for he may not find you in Babylon smiting your fellow-servants with heart tongue or hand but that you may be ready to enter into your Lords Joy Therefore consider First These sinful Sects and Divisions among Saints are carnal fleshly and from mens own spirits and not from the Spirit of God for the Spirit of God is but one there is but one God one Christ one Spirit and one Way of true spiritual Worship of God and not many This the Apostle lays down Ephes 4.4 5 6. as a general Principle There is one Body of Christ and one Spirit one Lord Jesus one Faith one Baptism or Form of true Worship one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all Mark it there is but one true Mystical Body of Christ but one Spirit of Truth but one Faith to Salvation but one true Form of Gospel-Worship but one Lord Jesus and but one God and Father of all the Elect by Jesus Christ Therefore all wayes and forms of Worship but one revealed by the Spirit of Truth in the Scripture of Truth are false erroneous Babylonish and by the wits and wills of carnal deceived men and not from the Spirit of God Secondly These sad and sinful Factions and Forms among Saints are not from the Spirit of Truth but from their own deceived spirits is thus manifested The Spirit of Truth teacheth other things and better things than these Paul saith The fruits of the flesh are manifest Adultery Idolatry Murder Hatred Variance Emulation Wrath Strife But the fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Gal. 5.22 23. I may not enlarge here upon the particular Graces of the Spirit as they put forth themselves in Saints but I may say this in general That the Spirit in Saints can distinguish between Saint and Saint strong and weak enlightened or dark Saints at liberty and Saints under temptations and so only the breach is made up and the wound healed O Brethren if we were all acted more by the Spirit of Grace and less by our own carnal selfish spirits we should be more like Jesus Christ more full of bowels and compassion to the ignorant and such as are out of the way I shall end this in that healing Exhortation of the Apostle Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a man be over-taken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted
AN Awakening Word TO THE CHURCHES SAINTS AND PROFESSORS In this Slumbring and Sleepy Day Printed at London in the year 1664 A Brother in Tribulation and in the Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Christ To the Elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father called to sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Together with those yet uncalled or however distinguished or scattered greeting My Brethren and dearly loved in Jesus the Christ I Say the Truth in Christ I lie not my Conscience also bearing me witness in the holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow for you in my heart out of an earnest and true Christian-affection to you and an uncessant desire that you may prosper in soul and body and may be made fit and accounted worthy to stand with the Lamb at his appearing upon the Mount Sion But though I have very strong perswasions upon my heart that this Day of the Lord is very very very near even at the door yet I have a holy jealousie upon many and fear that multitudes whose Names are written in the Lambs Book of Life are wonderfully unfit and unprepared to meet their Lord. I am hereupon greatly pressed in my spirit to write in love to such as a Brother and beseech you in the bowels of Jesus Christ to accept it I have cause out of deep sence and sad experience in my self greatly to mourn over the sin and punishment of old Adam as it is manifest in me to this very day which exceedingly darkens the Glory of the New-Creation in me So that by that Old-man's abiding still with me I am greatly hindered from being so serviceable to Jesus Christ as I would be and much detained from those Comforts in Divine Injoyments through the Spirit which I desire I cannot indeed terminate the evil of the flesh in a person regenerate nor am I able to discover the wills of the natural heart or the advantages Satan hath by this Old man in the Saints But this I can say of my self through Grace That though I delight in the Law of God after the inward man yet I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and worse also bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my Members So that here here I am driven out of self my best self and only by faith in the Promise and Covenant flee to the Mercy-Seat as sprinkled with the Blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and so I can say with Paul I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord I say Our Lord and not only my Lord for he is Jesus to save all his People from their sins If this were only my particular state and case thus to be burdened with Corruption hindering me from good and inclining me to evil this humble Acknowledgement layes a bond upon you as Brethren joyntly to pray for me that I might be delivered from this body of death But alas I may I may say of you all what Paul writ to the Churches of Galatia The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would but in many in many things we offend all I have the Lord knows tender bowels to all yet am I humbly bold to say That such Persons if any such be as dream of a Perfection in the flesh in this world are under dreadful delusions and give little testimony of the in-being of the Spirit in them though they pretend so much for it I judge if such an estate in this life in the estate of the flesh were attainable surely God would have magnified that degree of grace to some persons more or less at one time or other But I find it only recorded of Jesus Christ the only begotten of the Father who had no sin and in whose mouth was found no guile for he was God-man in whom the divine and humane Natures were united in one Person to make him a fit Mediator Jesus Christ must have the true Nature of sinful man to pay the price of sin and yet he must not have the sin of that Nature for then he had justly suffered for his own sin and had not been a competent Surety for sinners who must be himself harmless and holy Bear with me though I mention these first Principles of Religion in this day for though according to that Light of the Gospel which hath shined amongst us we might all have been Preachers yet by our corruptions together with Satans delusions we have sadly overslipped the day of the Gospel-Liberty and have gained little true spiritual Light God knows that most Saints I fear are babes and but babes in Christ at this day It will not now recal the day of Gospel-Liberty abused to recount Saints failings but I hope the smart of mis-spent time will help the Lord's People better to improve the day of mercy when mercy again restores them But the Lord knows well might Saints be overcome with heat of an unwonted if not unknown prosperity while they cannot keep close to God under the Rod. I intend not to stay upon this subject but if I mistake not greatly I discover some Professors and well it were if there were but some to be in danger by letting out their hearts too much in lawful things so called at least I mean in the cares and pleasures of this life O Friends I cannot but mourn deeply to see at this day so many formerly persons full of life and zeal for Christ now marry themselves to and indeed are buried in the world so that the day of Christ is like to come upon them unawares and I fear they will be found foolish virgins at last I do but hint this by the way but who knows to what ears and hearts the Lord may direct this holy jealousie by his Spirit and give some poor souls that awakening with sight and sorrow for this sin never more to be sorrowed for My Brethren if in the Apostles times those were looked upon and called the last times what then may we judge of these times we are cast into who live 1600 years after most of the Apostles and first Saints after Christ Surely if those were the last times then our times must be the last part of the last times and the very dregs of evil and sinful dayes O! at what a high rate do men sin now one or other who slight or oppose the glorious Gospel of Free-Grace and the remission of sin in the Blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ after this Gospel hath been so eminently preached and witnessed to by the Father the Son the Spirit and the Saints for above 1600 years The whole time of the Gentiles Tyranny was at first limitted to 42 Monthes and the Witnesses sackcloth-state to 1260 dayes and if that time prophetically shall
Thirdly These sinful Factions amongst Saints are from mens own spirits and not from the Spirit of God and Grace for they have neither precept nor practice of Saints in the Gospel to warrant it but the contrary altogether The Old Testament is the declaration of one Covenant of one God one Church and one Worship The New Testament also declares of one New-Covenant one of Jesus the Christ one Faith one Baptism one Mystical Body yet in that one Body many Members or that Body divided into many Societies Companies or Congregations by habitation or near co-habitation but the whole Body of Christian Saints living together in one City or a part in several Cities or Countries were all of one Faith in one order of the Gospel and all in mutual Love and Fellowship as one Body or Church This was the state of the Primitive Churches of the Gospel founded by Christ and his Apostles amongst which Jesus Christ walked and amongst whom the Apostles laboured and conversed and none other therefore such Societies only are Churches of Christ It is now the Lord knows a hard matter to number up the several Factions of People formed and united in several Opinions which Christ the Gospel knows not and yet every party professing to worship God above others each several Company accounting their way the only true way of Worship and that only and so they divide and separate from all other Persons and Forms as false Antichristian and in Babylon while I fear their Doctrine and Practices are meerly Babylonish and were never known in the Churches of Saints till Antichrist arose O what a wonderful cheat is Antichrist and what dreadful Darkness Delusion yet possesseth Saints that they take themselves to be in Sion when indeed they are in Babylon and Christ knows it is so and therefore calls Come out of Her my People Poor hearts I speak my experience and by light received my soul mourns for you and mourns after you and to my Exhortation I joyn my prayers That yet the Lord would give forth the Spirit more fully to discover your present state and standing for little do you think what spirits you are led by Certainly persons under such singular Opinions discover woful pride and ignorance whoever they be and these two are the very Basis upon which Babylon is built and the Pillars upon which she stands remove these and Babylon is in the dust The better to manifest this to you consider First Persons under these singular Opinions of their own Light and wayes so as to condemn all others and separate from them as Antichristian and account themselves only to have the Spirit and be the only People of God and none but they this discovers wonderful pride arrogancy rashness and ordinarily these singular high thoughts prove but thoughts and mistakes at last This is a sad dividing Spirit and Principle of Antichrist and discovered to creep in early in Pauls time It was this Spirit which was got into the Church at Crinth which caused them to despise the Apostles themselves as men of little light and of small gifts to them What else can we make of those humble Rebukes Paul writes to that Church 1 Cor. 4.8 10. Now ye are full now ye are rich ye have reigned as Kings without us and I would to God that ye did reign that we also might reign with you For we are fools for Christ's sake but ye are wife in Christ we are weak but ye are strong ye are honourable but we are despised Such a spirit also was among the Romans which the Apostle reproves Rom. 2. Who make their boasts of God and knowing his will and are able to approve of the most excellent things and are confident that they are lights to the blind instructors of the foolish who have the form of the knowledge of the Truth and yet even these persâ—â—â— caused the Name of God to be blasphemed among the Gentiles It is it is a shame to mention the pride of deceived Professors who professing themselves wise above all others become fools or discover their weakness being giddy and high-minded directly opposite to the Spirit of Saints the Spirit of Christ his Apostles and the Gospel which teacheth more humility and to look upon the things of others as better than our own It is wonderful strange that persons professing the Gospel should yet be such strangers to the Spirit of the Gospel to say no more Secondly These singular Opinions and Practices discover wonderâ—â—l ignorance and weakness to accuse their Brethren and separate from â—hem as in Babylon and this is their own state nay possibly those they condemn are nearer to the rule of the Gospel than themselves Surely if this charge which some Professors lay upon others shall not bear weight in the Ballance of the Sanctuary the accusers will be found to speak evil of the things they know not but by a deceived carnal judgment and that is sad When that sad Division in the Church of Corinth was declared to Paul that they said I am of Paul and I am of Apollos I am of Cephas and I am of Christ The Apostle chargeth this as a sin of ignorance and to convince them he useth this as his main argument Is Christ divided hath Christ so many bodies and leaves them that to consider This was so contrary to the received Principles of the Gospel that he judged the pondering upon that was enough to discover their own carnal thoughts to be the spring of such divisions for the Spirit of Christ and the Gospel teacheth the quite contrary Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness c. bearing one another burthens and so fulfilling the Law of Christ and therefore Paul presseth this general exhortation from the Prison I beseech you that ye wâ—â—k worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering forbear one another in love endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Ephes 4.1 33. And the ground of this Exhortation the Apostle draws from the Oneness of the Mystical Body of Christ and of Gospel-Worship vers 4 5 6. Alas alas the Divisions among Saints sufficiently discover their infant-state and their new breaking forth of Babylon that they are so spotted and tinctured with Babylon and no question but as the Spirit of Light and Truth is more given forth the Spirit of Antichrist will be more manifest in Satans closest delusions that he cannot deceive long If I might not too much offend the weak I could ascribe a great part of Saints divisions to arise from abused Liberty and prejudice against the able Preachers of the Gospel I do not I dare not acquit them of sad failings which have caused the way of Truth to be evil spoken of and are an instrumental cause to move tender and weak Saints to draw into corners and follow weak and unsound Teachers which was their weakness also by which means the Ministers of Antichrist and Babylon have done their work and brought the Saints into bondage c. But amongst or above the rest I would earnestly commend to you three Characters of Babylon to be heeded First Blasphemy in denying or invalidating the holy Scriptures Secondly In corrupting the pure Doctrine of Justification in the Blood of Christ by bringing in the Doctrine of Universal Redemption or Christ's dying equally for all alike Thirdly By instituting or founding the Church or Churches in an Opinion or submitting to an Opinion this or that and not in union with Christ All these are in Babylon and from 〈…〉 and will perish with Babylon Fourthly These Factions are 〈…〉 not from the Spirit of Grace and it is too 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—ons and forms are great strangers 〈…〉 a holy and inward close walking with 〈…〉 of Saints closet-communion with God but 〈…〉 that is a very lean Religion which stayes in the 〈…〉 is worse which comes not to the Form of Godliness My Paper and Prudence calls me to conclude and therefore I beg of Saints to look more to their Souls and to the Duties of Relation natural civil and spiritual It yet remains that I make some reply to the latter part of the Objection That these persons are against force and persecution for Conscience but where persons walk disorderly to withdraw and separate For my part I cannot say that all Corrections or restraint in abuses and corruptions in and about the Worship of God under the Gospel is Persecution yet I do confess that withdrawing or separating from false Wayes and false Worship is a blessed Ordinance of God when rightly used but for Saints to separate from Saints and withdraw from Churches and so un-saint the one and un-church the other upon mens own bare opinions or self-conjectures and not in the Ligh Spirit and Power of Christ becomes a sin of a high nature Alas many people know not what spirit they are led by and it is much to be feared a change of state may change their minds in some things as well as in others My Brethren in tender Christian Bowels I have written these lines to you and shall follow them with earnest and constant prayer that the Lord would direct them seasonably to gracious souls by the Spirit of Grace and â—â—â—â—th that they may be made effectual to those great ends I have designed them to Love Unity and Peace amongst all Saints and so shut up this Epistle in the words of Paul 1 Cor. 1.10 Now I beseech you Brethren by the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same things and that there be no Divisions or Schisms among you but that ye 〈◊〉 perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment in all the things of God Christ Spirit Gospel and Saints and things accompanying your peace and joy here and glory hereafter Amen Even so come Lord Jesus and thus rule and reign From my Clift in the Rock the 10th day of the â—th month 1664. I hope in the year of Redemption begun from 〈…〉 THE END