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
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
for he hath prepared a way and a means for the Salvation of all that they might be saved For he so loved the world that he hath given his onely begotten Son into the world that all through him might believe for he is the Covenant of God even a Covenant of Light unto all Nations that he might be his Salvation unto the ends of the earth This testimony John did bear of him that he was the true Light which enlightens every man which cometh into the world and as many as receive him and believe in his name even in the Light to them he giveth power to become the Sons of God which is another birth then yours Which is of the flesh and will of man Read and consider you that desire Salvation unto your souls for it is the visitation of Gods eternal love unto you for I am truly constrained by his pure Spirit hereunto therefore whether you will hear or forbeare I shall be a sweet savour unto God Even in them which believe and in them which perish But my hearts desire is that ye may come into the Covenant of God and be saved even to be taught led and guided by him for the way is plaine and it is but one in all even the Light which reproves for sin maketh manifest all the deeds of darkness though never so secret for saith the Apostle whatsoever makes manifest is Light he that comes to that which makes manifest cometh to Christ for saith he I am the Light of the world I am the way No man cometh to the Father but by me So come to the Light and then you will come to the Way the Truth and the Life this will be more then a bear name unto you life truth even truth in the inward part which God onely accepteth out of which all profession is vain therefore he which comes to the Light comes to the truth and comes to know the teachings of God as it is written All thy children shall be taught of me and great shall be their peace so in the Light you will witness the teachings of God which is his holy Covenant with his people I will write my law in their hearts saith God and put it in their inward parts the law is Light saith Solomon and if you come to turn to the Light you will witness the same I will live in them and walk in them saith God Marke this is the holy true and everlasting Covenant of God to his people and this the true Christians came to witness even their bodies to be the Temples of God through the Spirit and God dwelleth with no unclean thing neither dareth such a one plead for sin as long as he liveth for they are sanctified and made fit for their Masters use not having only the forme of Godliness but the life and power and they who had the form without the power were to be turned from it which power is the Light which cometh from Christ and leadeth up to God and the Saints were Saints in Light for they were sanctified by it which was the will of God And as saith the Apostle this is the will of God even your Sanctification this is no new Doctrin but the good Old Way which God hath prepared even for his Ransomed ones to walk in in which path the way faring men though fools shall not erre therein for the way is Light as saith the Apostle if ye live in the Light and walk in the Light as he is in the Light then have we Fellowship with God and one with another Mark fellowship with God this Light leadeth unto in which the Saints fellowship onely stood which brought them to the knowledge of God and he which said he knew God and walked in darkness was a liar for the darkness comprehendeth not the Light which is the only habitation and Covenant of God so as you come truely to confess your sins you will witness the Blood of Christ to cleanse you from all unrighteousness but if you say you have not sin before you come to this and say it is done away in Christ then you are lyars and the truth is not you no more then it is in them who say they have not sinned as you come to witness the Blood of Christ and its vertue you will witness these sayings to be true and faithfull not onely to be talked of but to be witnessed in you and untill you come here you are perfect strangers unto the several states and growths the true Christians came through in their Warfare there was little children young men and old men for saith John I write unto you little children that ye sin not and if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours onely but also for the sins of the whole world Marke He freely offered up himself for all And by this we know that we know him if we keep his Commandements He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandements is a liar and the truth is not in him Marke the true Christians state is life And consider what state and nature you are in and whether ye keep Christs Commandement yea or nay for these things are of great weight and concernment unto you even you that have taken up the name but are out of the nature And againe saith the Apostle Whose keepeth his Word in him verily in the love of God perfected hereby know we that we are in him Marke by this they the true Christians knew that they were in Christ because they kept his word and he which dwelleth in him ought to walke even as he walked are you here nay your consciences witnesseth to your faces the contrary therefore forbeare the name untill you witness the life else the greater will be your condemnation which is the Word of the Lord unto you all therefore be ye warned in time And againe saith he A new Commandement I write unto you which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth Marke againe they did witness the darkness past and the true Light to shine which Light giveth the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ which treasure saith Paul we have in Earthen vessels this treasure even the Light they the true Christians witnessed in them and walking in it had fellowship with it and one with another For God is Light and he which liveth and walketh in the Light liveth and walketh with God and witnesseth a true translation as Enoch did and is not seen Because his life is hid with Christ in God and this is a true translation from death to life which is the true Christians life and he which saith he is in the Light and hateth his brother is a liar and is in darkness even untill now he which loveth his brother dwelleth
mouths as you desire to be accepted of God and no longer say you Sing to the praise and glory of God and the comfort of your own souls when your Singing is to the dishonour of God such sacrifices are an abomination unto the Lord But whoso cometh before him though never so simple Yet if he have clean hands and a pure heart even he who speaks the truth from his heart shall and will be accepted of him for it is truth in the inward part God onely delights in without which there is no acceptance Were not they condemned of the Lord by the Prophet Who came before him as his people did and heard his word and it was unto them as a very lovely song yet their hearts being after their covetousness availed them nothing and you never yet came so far as this to wit to delight to hear the word of the Lord which is like a fire and a Hammer as hath been said but instead of it ye call the letter the Word whereas the letter saith Christ is the Word yet if you were come to hear the word of God and do it not all would availe you nothing And you to take Bread and give it one to another and call it a Sacrament which word you have no where in the Scripture neither was such a thing ever commanded to Drunkards Swearers Liars and the like but to those who in faithfulness of heart had forsaken all to follow Christ he brake bread amongst them and gave it them as a signe of his true Body and bad them do it in remembrance of him untill he came and when the substance came againe amongst them there was no more need of any outward shadow or figure which thing they did really witnesse shortly after but you are breaking bread all the dayes of your lives and never witness him come as they did Even the second time without sin unto Salvation who are pleading for sin as long as you live and Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians speaketh unto them of it who did also abuse it and therefore in his next Epistle he tels them and bids them Try and prove themselves if Christ were not in them they were reprobates So read with moderation and consider If all were reprobates who did not witness Christ in them little will it availe you to take bread and wine and eat it in imitation of what Christ did to his Disciples which thing was neither commanded them nor any who live in sin but the true followers of the lamb did and do shew forth the Lords death in eating and drinking and in all their actions and their moderation appeareth unto all men which sheweth forth both his death and life in them So they brake their bread from house to house with singlenesse of heart which is the thing the Lord delighteth in above all sacrifice whatsoever and such came to witness Christ in them to be their life and all in all and this witnessing in deed and in truth is a true regenerate state and Christians life which is more then to talke or taking a little water and sprinkling it upon the face of a child say it is a seal of the Covenant and an entrance into the Church which is but a Popish trick and invention to deceive the hearts of the simple feeding them with a name but not of the nature which thing hath been sufficiently spoken of already Neither is there any one example in the Scripture for such practise Search and so read and consider what you are a doing for it is high time for of a truth the mighty and terrible day of the Lord is at hand Wherein all shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body whether good or evil Therefore be ye awakened and repent and think not that a man or Minister made in the will of men that can preach unto you about an hours space by the houre glasse once or twice a week will serve your turn which thing is a stink and a shame to all who are true Christians and sheweth plainly that such have not the unlimited Spirit of God which cannot be limitted to a glasse time or place but speaketh in whom he will where he will and as long as he will And this was the true order amongst the Saints in their assemblies not to quench the Spirit of God but the Spirit of the Prophets were subject unto the Prophets so that if any thing was revealed to one that sat by the first was to hold his peace and they might all Prophecy one by one and were not forbidden that all might be edified and did not maintaine an hireling to speak unto them about an hour and if any were moved to speak in that time to call it a disturbance and insolence nay nay in these your fruits and practices you have not so much as a forme of godlinesse much lesse the power as you your selves confesse you have not the Spirit of God which is the power in all the true Christians and was the fruits and effects of the true living Faith without which they could not please God even the Faith which layeth hold on the promise of the Father which is that the holy Spirit even the comforter should come unto them which should lead them into all truth and shew them things to come And this doth all come to witnesse who come to know the onely one and true Baptisme which is by one Spirit baptized into one body which doth not only serve to the washing away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God even purified from dead works whereby they come to serve and worship the living God in Spirit and in truth and such onely doth he seek to worship him So come away out of all the beggarly Elements which are to perish in the using to serve the Lord in newness of mind without which all your profession and Religion is but in vaine for then and not till then will ye come to witness a bridle to your tongue which bridle ye must come to witness in you even the light which condemneth you for every idle word and action and all the works of the flesh which are these envy pride malice covetousnesse whoredom railing back-biting evil speaking drunkenness gluttony uncleannesse and all uncharitableness and they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdome of God Gal. 5.19 Therefore go ye not forth for the Kingdome of Heaven is in you saith Christ and as you come to give up to his pure Light you will be levened into its own nature and so be made partakers of it which consisteth not in word but in power holinesse peace and joy in the Holy Ghost which is the desire of my soul that you even my Countreymen may be made partakers of that ye may witness your conversation to be in Heaven and be no longer sayers but doers of the pure holy will of God that ye
in these did the true Ministers of Christ glory and did not get into a place there settle themselvs at their own wil to preach to this or that people but as the Lord did send and direct them they were to go whether in life or in death bond or prison yea wo were to them if they did not doe it and again they preached to the people nothing but what they had seen tasted and had handled of the word of life and that only did they minister unto others but if you should preach nothing but what you did witnesse in this nature which every true Minister of Christ ought to doe and no more then you might stop your mouths and indeed untill then it would be a thousand fold better for you so to doe for your condemnation would not be so great if you did not presume thus to teach the people the knowledge of God and his holy wayes but did sit down and labour with your own hands for your livings for of a truth you doe but adde to your condemnation in this state you are in as your fruits manifest to your faces Can you look upon your assemblies not blush and be ashamed to see the fruits of your ministry in pride lust and ambition dressed more like antiques than sober moral men ful of vain talk and foolish jesting swearing lying and all manner of vice is to be found amongst them even amongst your constant hearers whom you call Reformers of Religion but what they are reformed from in nature let the pure light of Christ Jesus judge in all their consciences as it doth for God against them and you and I am sure it sheweth that they differ nothing in nature from the common practise of the Nation but rather through them and their ungodly practises cause the good way of God to be evil spoken of And this O ye Priests is the manifest and evident fruits of your work and labour but the free and true ministry of Christ Jesus was for the perfecting of the Saints and the edifying of the body untill they all come to a perfect man into the measure and stature of the fulnesse of Christ who was and is head of their body unto which no corrupt nor prophane member can be joyned and thus your ministry differeth from the true yea even as much as light from darknesse the one teacheth and leadeth out of all sin and the other teacheth that there can never be a freedome from sin in this li e though the Apostle said ye being made free from sin became the servants of righteousness for while ye were servants unto sin ye were free from righteousness so there was the fruits and effects of the true ministry and the fruits and effects of the ministry of Satan is so far from this that they preach up sin for term of life as hath been spoken of already Therefore O ye Priests be ye warned of the Lord God of life and cease thus from deluding the people and let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he might have to give to him that needeth And this is counsel of life unto you all O ye Protestant Priests in France I say cease from stealing other mens words and making merchandise of them to others but come to the light your selves that ye may hear and learn of Christ your selves and then if he pleaseth to send any of you forth to open the blind eyes and turn the people from darknesse to light and from Satans power to God then obey his voyce and go forth freely and preach as he hath given you freely so will ye profit the people though this manner of call will be contrary to your own wills and against mens wills ye come to preach to and till you come to witnesse this only holy and true call I say again and again as from the Lord God of life cease and be still and let the people alone until the Lord send labourers amongst them for the Vineyard is only his to send into it to labour who he only will appoint thereto and he which goeth and is not sent is but a thief and a robber which is the word of the Lord God unto all Priests of this Nation Therefore cease cease and repent that ye may find mercy for the blood of one man if it be laid to your charg will be too heavy for you to beare which assuredly ye must for many if ye refuse to hearken unto the counsell of God which he in the infinitenesse of his love tendereth unto you for know the end of the true Ministry is to bring people unto God and on him alone to wait for teaching which is his Covenant and promise to bring people to be sensible of the gift of the holy Spirit of God in themselves and the Apostle said every man hath a manifestation of the Spirit given to him to profit withall which being turned unto to profit is a sufficient teacher of it self such need not mans teaching any more and so people come to know their bodies to be the Temples of God through the Spirit which dwelleth in them and so they come to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit which are love meekness long-suffering patience and the true reconciliation by Christ Jesus between God and man the enmity being slaine upon the Crosse and of twaine one new man is witnessed and so peace comes to be witnessed with God and not before and untill the new creature be witnessed all availeth nothing but the true and everlasting Ministry of Christ Jesus bringeth the creature unto this and none else by which and in which the creature comes to bring forth naturally the fruits of the Spirit as he did the fruits of the flesh before which was nothing else but lust and uncleannesse and filthinesse of life So give up to be taught by him in this the day of his Almighty power Therefore let this be a warning unto all Priests Let God alone with his own work for he needeth no mans wisdome to help him for the best of your stuff you have is but compacted with your own natural wisdome which you must all loose before you can come to know God For man by wisdome knows not God neither can the natural man discerne the things of the Spirit for they are spiritually discerned therefore ye must all come to the teachings of the Spirit of God your selves before you can come to teach others These things are plaine and manifest unto every one who is not wilfully blind and drunk with prejudice therefore consider Paul had more to lose of this kind then most of you have yet he said he counted it gaine to lose it all to gaine Christ and let him be your example who reasoned not with flesh and blood but immediately obeyed the Heavenly voice I speak this unto you in love and some of you the Lord may