walke after the custome of the World I say If thou livest not after the example of Christ thou art a Minister of sinne and thy life doth not teach others then thou maist preach to others and be a cast-away thy self Alas poor fleshly man thou teachest the Letter and yet art ignorant of the truth thou hast set thy self high in a say-Pulpit to speak great things in a seenal way of repetitions speaking many things to please the people Ye be subtil Sophisters men-pleasers and self-seekers that can derive themselves into many formes contrary to the truth of God by setting up Sub-ordination in the place of Ordination to set themselves higher then Christ And in that they are made equal with him for he was made a little lower then the Angel meaning the Angels of your Churches that still keep him upon the Cross and crucifie his power Christ was ordained Minister of God but ye ordained your selves I can give a relation of one within the County of Lincolne a Minster called Mr. Male as I understand doth ordaine Ministers and that some petty Ministers have come many Miles to be ordained of him which is intolerable I wonder his heels are not pictured upwards Thus they may do though not by Lawful means But be you sure all sub-powers must down as things in Heaven and things on Earth and things under the Earth must bow at the name of Jesus He is the Prince of Peace and Prince of Power the Lord shall be exalted in all the Earth and your powers shall come down as low as dry Bones Ye high Priests know this that your state is failable for as you have cryed down the Bishop and his Surplis so now the Witnesses shall cry down with your Pulpits and your Fonts you are spiritual high in your own conceit full of pride sedition and covetousness self-seeking full of envy and bitterness in that ye differ not from the general world yet you can say you are the Ministers of God yet not walk after the example of Christ This that I declare is called your Funeral-Sermon or wind-up for ye shall be eclipsed by the bright appearings of the Lord. This eclipse took its first entrance in the year 1650. which shall cause the greatest earth-quake that ever was since the creation and the power of it shall decline towards the fourth or fifth yeer after 50. here in England Doctors what will ye do when your Tythes fail and your Ministery fails your new-Moons and Sabbaths fail then it shall be to you as the mourning of Hadadrimmon or a destructive time when ye shall have no audience or accommodation of the people for every one shall have a personal power put in them to stand alone without Preachers They shall be so inherently taught of God that the Minister shall say no more to them Know the Lord for they shall all be Prophets inwardly and shall stand by a personal faith as Abraham and Noah did in fulness of Spirit for the Lord saith In the last dayes I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and my servants and hand-maids shall prophesie When ye Ministers may say We are Vine-dressers and Husbandmen to till the waste Commons for our weekly Sabbaths are changed into one Sabbath once a year we shall go up to worship the Lord and to keep a Feast of Tabernacles which is a true Sabbath according to Christs Resurrection to keep a good conscience which is a Feast in the heart of the Creature and that is the best Sabbath to live in all righteousness every day which is a Sabbath And though the Jew have have lost his new-Moon and thou O Gentile thy new-Moon yet thou shalt remember the Lord and once a year consecrate thy gift to him and keep a new Sabbath by an offering to God in his new Covenant to worship him with all thy substance and then it will appear that thou art one of the new Sabbath Thou must deny thy self-ends and all sinister engagements and so betroth thy self unto God in righteousness to covenant with him according to the new-Sabbath Though the Constellations may fail yet his Sabbath-Ordinance shall stand it shall not be disannulled Heaven and Earth may pass away but not one jot or tittle of his word shall fail For Christ is the word of the Sabbath and in him we shall have rest if we enter into Covenant and that is to acknowledge him by a new Sabbath for in those dayes and at that time saith the Lord I will make with them a new Covenant not according to the old for this shall be the Covenant that I will make never to turn from them or take away the Ordinance of Sabbath from them Yet the Lord saith I hate your Sabbaths because your hands are full of blood As if he should say Ye keep Sabbaths to your selves and transgress my holy day Once a year thou shalt come up to keep a Feast of Tabernacles and all that will not come to the worship of Jerusalem shall have no rain or raigning power in this new Sabbath of rest Silly Priest I question not though thy Sabbath be taken away for Christ is thy eternal Sabbath and thou shalt worship him according to the order of Jerusalem for all your subordinances shall stoop at ordination your Sabbaths shall change into one Sabbath If thou wilt walk in my wayes and do that I command thee this day then thou shalt ride upon the high places of the Earth that is whoever shall Covenant to this new Sabbath shall enjoy all the promises the Lord saith I will dwell in you and ye in me Ministers your Sabbaths are failable therefore they be called your Sabbaths by illusion as if he should say If ye keep a day keep it to me for you observe dayes and do no righteousness therefore your new Moons and Sabbaths shall change and be taken away for I will make a new Covenant with them saith the Lord not according to the old but this shall be my Covenant never to turn from them that truely Covenant to me saying I will betroth thee unto me in mercy and loving kindness and thou shalt know the Lord for my counsel shall stand Doctor the taking away your Sabbath shall cause the Lords Sabbath to shine out more clear for ye have changed my Ordinances Mal. 3. Therefore the Land is cursed with a curse and your moonorital Sabbaths shall change if ye keep one day keep it to me saith the Lord. So that we ought to keep every day as a Sabbath once a year to make out our accompts which is Easter-day and the six dayes before it for every year shall be called as a Sabbath-day and so from year to year ye shall keep my Sabbath Ordinances and live in them that is from year to year ye must come to Jerusalems worship Zachary 14. Christ preached every where and made every day a Sabbath It is not for thee and me to keep a day once
martyrs Come may the Church say Let us eat her up for God hath given her into our hands and Christ shall raign and shall put all authority under his feet IT shall be a peaceable Dominion when Christ shall raign over the Earth by a personal power of Saints that shall fully hold forth the Scepter He shall come to raign in power over the earth till all rule and authority is put under his feet Kings must throw down and stoop to his peaceable Dominion he shall make straight every crooked way his endless Priesthood shall teach when every mouth shall be stopped he giveth peace which the world cannot give he saith Walk in my way I will be your Sun and your light when every form and written declaration shall cease and be no more I would have all men live above the flesh by a heavenly procreation or inclination of doing good and that is perfection indeed for by doing well thou shalt have joy unspeakable which will be as a whole kingdom in thy soul I would have Gods people preach forth restoration and desire to see a full manifestation of things made out as the Lord alone to be all our teacher he is our Protector and not man his Priestly power shall be a peaceable Dominion when Monarchy is put down though Kings and Lord stands in his place and Protectors stand in his place yet who shall stand when he appeareth by a more brighter shining light when all shall be forced to give up their dignities stoop to his peaceable Dominion Isa 66. I will send them to declare my glory among the Gentiles shewing the great day of Jehovah when men shall finally throw down their high titles and then peaceable Dominions shall raign What Priest will plead for my name saith the Lord against them that set themselves so high as Lord and King and set themselves up by earthly enjoyments Therefore God hath raised my Spirit to plead against all the Priests and to lay open their folly that call themselves Seers in Israel and yet keep all things as they were ye have not yet preached the Gospel but denied the Son of God and the power of his resurrection for ye have given his glory to men Therefore as yet ye have not preached the Gospel nor laid your life down as yet for the truth You have declared the History of the Prophets and of Peter and Paul but we have had enough of it without you would preach them out of their Graves But which of you Priests will vindicate life for the eternal Gospel to set Christ upon his throne to say he is King alone and Lord alone and so deny outward honour and acknowledge nothing honourable but the Lord and that is true Gospel thou must tread down all for Christ thou shalt tread upon Scorpions and Serpents and they shall not hurt thee it is the words of our Saviour thou must tread upon Kings Lords and Princes and Nobles and Rulers if thou beest true for Christ he is the everlasting Gospel thou shalt cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils it is the Lord that preacheth peace keepeth all alive fear not man or any power of men formed against the Gospel it shall not prosper when he appeareth Kings must lay down Princes must lay down Protectors must lay down Lords must lay down Magistrates must lay down Priests must lay down thou must lay down and I must lay down the Stars and Constellations shall fail at his appearing the negative voice shall not stand for he will give power to his two witnesses to plead for all truth before a Judgement-seat of the Saints when this Government shall be taken away and changed at his bright appearing when all formed Gospels of men shall be changed to a new Sabbath when men shall be forced to lay down for the Gospel when they shall ascribe to him kingdom power and glory and that is the full end of preaching to set God upon his throne he is the everlasting Gospel of peace and I know no other Gospel but that he should rule above every man in dignity and honor And that Lord man should not pollute his holy name Ye high Doctors may Object saying What is the power of Christ you speak so much of I answer It is the power of God that shall silence the great mens spirits when it shall apear it shall take away their sting as from King and Lord and Bishop that have formerly persecuted the Saints Christ saith All power is given me in heaven and earth and God saith Vengeance is mine I wonder how men dare do as they have formerly done to put an end to some of Gods chosen people by taking away life and free-creation and by silencing some others in prison which is a type of hell and dare not kill them lest heaven and earth should cry out against them as that it hath done long since Ye Ministers go with your hands full of blood by flattering men in their blood-thirsty-way by sowing pillows and cushions under their elbows very loth to tell them the truth from God saying Why do you take away life and free-creation from the creatures of God seeing life and death is in the hands of the Lord then what hath man to do to take away life from any of the creatures of God it is an intolerable thing which of you Priests will ingage for Christ in this cause saying Oh great men I doubt you will sink in the lake of Gods irrecoverable vengeance for vengeance is the Lords and he will give it them to drink for the Soul that sinneth it shall die Let men take heed how they act and see that they act in righteousness better they had never been born then to be bloody persecutors to offend any of those little ones of Christ either by death or imprisonment GOd teacheth us by his Son he is the sure word of prophesie our everlasting Gospel which may reprove the literal teachers that call the Scriptures the Gospel when indeed they are but the writings of men put together as a History but Christ is the eternal mystery Christ Jesus alone is our eternal peace free from failable mixture it is God from the beginning he is the word of life beyond the written word of man so is the eternal decree in paradise and as by a further manifestion of his Son to preach and declare forth all truth far above the writings of men which is not the word of God but mans word spoken in part nd prophesied in part as Paul declareth Therefore the Scripture cannot fully be called the word of God but mens traditions and part of the minde of God they prophesied in part they writ in part they believed in part of the mystery of God but Christ he comes in the volume of the book he is our sure word of prophesie far higher then any Scripture and for that cause Scripture cannot be fully called the word of God except
Doctor HILL's FUNERAL-SERMON OR A Nevv-yeers-Gift To all the CLERGIE Daynus the reviving feet of the Witnesses past and to come To shew the day and yeer of the Lord and his time accepted Printed at London 1654. And are to be sold by Richard Moon at the seven Stars in Pauls Church-yard His Epistle and Dedication to the Clergy THou sowest all life in the flesh and thou reapest life to thy self O Lord thou windest up life in the body of life thou art the Center and orency of quickning life All Creatures move in the power of that life That substance of flesh by procreation is not that saving life but thou art the quintessence of all life in the Soul The Soul in its natural condition is vayla and changeable by the instinct of Nature included in the flesh varra changeable in it self fayla not able to stand unless it be redeemed by an inclusive power spiritual and in that way God will be seen to deliver by way of imputation of life to the Soul Reeda Alda at every season Helpative Soona Plyant Dative by a dividual dividing betwixt the Marrow and the Bones Circumference Deus All-fulness Unus varius Allmagnus God the full beauty and life in him all things are computed comprized and comprehended by him he is All meritus and translatirus and doth refine all things he is the final and fountain of all perfection the life and death of all the Creatures every thing that moveth liveth in him All solestial flesh is as a flower or grass that withereth away and shall be no more in its natural perfection for nothing shall live but life that shall not dy which is the principle of God in thee called that immortality which is a spiritual reviving power that shall return to God although the flesh doth not yet the spirit shall return to him that gave it The Soul is the life of the Creation naturally in us prohibited and presented by him which is our life so preserved The Spirit is an inclusive thing of union and by an immortal marriage it hath congruity with the Soul the Soul is a high mystery it is the Virgin of the spirit and the spirit dwelleth in it till the flesh dieth which maketh a dissolution betwixt flesh and soul The spirit of grace is an high mystery and dwelleth in some but not in all every one may have life in them yet not that spitual life which is the life of eternity therefore none can live after the old Adam but shall dy the death until the quickning power of the second Adam come in which is Christ in thee and in me to renew in us that which would die for nothing carnally can live The soul is naturally sowed in the flesh and is of it self fleshly by four natural causes by a Soveraingty from God as Breath blood Heat and Food which keepeth thy natural soul alive there is a threefold life two of them be but natural life as vegetive life natural life and spiritual life and all have their being from that eternal life We see many times that young flesh droppeth off from the Tree of life the aged must do so the King must die as well as the Beggar so must the high Doctor as well as the silly poor man then behold with me the period of mans life and full of brevity fading changeable smoak or as a vapor that soon passeth away So much for mans mortality The next thing is to enquire and speak something of this our late deceased Brother Doctor Hill Doctor HILL'S Funeral-Sermon BY a singular providence of God I happened to be at the Town of Cambridge at the very instant of Doctor Hill's departure then at the same time the Lord moved me to write and he actually taught me what I should write which he the Lord preached to me This Sermon preached to me was not my desire onely yet the God of life put it upon me and supported me with matter accordingly that I could not deny but write for the Lord preached unto me the things I should write and now I declare unto you a new Sabbath which I did write with much niceness and fear of spirit yet the Lord told me that the Sabbath-Ordinances were changed by the Priests under the Law and likewise by the Ministers of our time And therefore of necessity I did write as he commanded me by way of a Funeral-Sermon or a final dissolution of the Clergellical power whereof I declare the life and death of the Creature and the stability and endless power of Christs Ministery with a description of them that call themselves Ministers of God and how they shall fall under the Worlds contempt some degrees worse then the Bishops The Prophets complaine the clamation is The Minister and Priests have robbed Gods store-house taking to themselves those priviledges that are not their own therefore they shall say no more Know the Lord from the greatest to the least and shall be free from your mouth inherently taught of God and live by faith exemplary to Abraham Noah and Christ which is to live in righteousness and not to need the teachings of men for all our teachers are failable now as well as they were under the Law so that our redemption is clearly by Christ Heb. 7.24 Christ he continued ever unchangeable as a Priest whereof he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them which is a plaine proof without dispute that he is the Minister of God and Priest he will put an end to your Ministery because you are failable yet Christ is infailable and therefore we cast you off in the name of the Lord and cry ye down as no Ministers of God but deceivers of the people I would bave all live up to Christ by a personal power free from all the teachings of men and that no man shall ought to teach whether he be a Minister or a lay-man for one mans tongue is no lawful testimony for one may speak of Christ as well as another so that all may prophesy one by one as they did in Christs time for in the last dayes I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh for my servants and handmaids shall prophesie Then said he unto me Prophesie son of man So I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceeding great Army Ezekiel 37. This Army Giddon of the Lord shall cause the River Euphrates with seven streams to dry up and there shall be many voyces heard and witnesses on their Feet Then looke to it Doctor without all dispute your trade of preaching will fall BEloved this Doctor Hill was a man of good ranke an eminent man that I did formerly know though now he was very justitious I was his Country-man about sixteen or eighteen yeers past he was a reasonable good professor called a Puritan in those dayes
the old road but what is that to the setting up of thrones that all clear justice may proceed I can behold nothing but discovery discovery The Scripture saith The moon and stars shall be as the sun shewing a seeming brightness in them all or some equality with the sun which petypeth and prefigureth a great discovery of Christ and his Saints by some new disciplying way Ecclesiastical and Civil We must come to a higher beholding of God which shall be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant when they shall throw off your old customs and forms your Sacraments will be changeable Christ saith That ye do do in remembrance of me till I come And truly that is when he cometh by a new light then all your old forms shall be taken away and to that purpose he speaks of a new Covenant that he will make with the people not according to the old he saith All things shall become new That declareth that old forms must be taken away by a more excellent power that shall stand for the ordering of spiritual affairs and civil affairs brought all into one called The law of Sion that shall be governed by twelve or by four and twenty according to Ordination and so to cut off all forms that have been erected by Bishops and Priests The Lord hath raised me by the degrees of light and still one light hath frustrated another so that the Lord hath followed me with new lights caused me to throw off the old for the Sacrament and Baptism is declared to me as an outward thing and cannot stand when the Lord cometh in power by a new light He saith to his disciples Do as I have commanded you and lo I will be with you to the end It implieth that he will be with his people in the Old and new work but the new light shall do away the old Doctor Presbytian thou cryest Down with water-baptism then why dost thou baptize babes in clouts Paul saith Neither circumcision nor Baptism availeth but a new creature Christ went into the water and I think that to be more tolerable then to baptize babes that cannot understand or speak This difference of Baptism will not be ended until we lay down both the forms of outward discipline And if ye deny it to them of understanding then for shame leave off discipling of babes that have no understanding and let every one chiefly see himself to be a new creature baptized in Christ Jesus by a new Covenant for throwing off old forms and authors of men that be so failable and superfluous so that I find every form must come to the formal power of Christ for he is that all power to settle our differences and to make known the living Gospel to every creature it is far higher then the letter it is the power of Christ that is our true testimony by an inward law of conscience called The two Testimonies called The two Witnesses without which none can savingly prove themselves Christians so that every one ought not to live by the teaching of others but effectually to see something of God in themselves otherwise outward teaching will but intoxicate the brain and cannot restollize thy soul Then look not so much upon outward forms which have no substance in them It is not your Sacraments or Sabbaths or Baptisms or Preachings it is onely something of God within us that moveth us to work righteousness Outward ostentations or customs cannot do it for they are failable When Christ comes to us by true faith those forms must be done away by an higher light called his bright appearing that shall abolish all the Antichristian forms when men shall know God in spirit and in truth without old Popery The Papists look upon Christ by their Crucifix and you look upon Christ by your Forms so that all of you look upon the sepulchre or upon something below Christ giving your selves content and rest in outward shadows THe honourable seat of Justice or two Olive-trees the two branches standing on both sides the bank of the river called the conduit-pipes that receive the Oyl and declare it forth the sweet Odours these two Olive-trees are called the bowls on both sides of the Altar or the two Candlesticks or two Anoynted ones standing before the great God of the earth which indeed are the two Witnesses that shal faithfully plead for all truth at the right hand three on the one hand and three on the other those six shall attend one witness the other witness shall be attended with other six in the same order twelve on one side and twelve on the other four and twenty in number with two Witnesses standing on both sides which may be called the seat of Justice for Christ to sit and rule upon his throne he is the Sanctuary in the midst of them said to be the Altar of gold that shall sit upon the throne of Justice called Davids throne sitting upon twelve thrones which is the ends of the earth or remnant of the tribes Those two faithful Witnesses that shall stand before the seat of Justice shall plead for equity in all considerable places and nations and all such thrones shall be called the seat of Justice they shall put forth Queries and answer as the one declareth the other shall answer in due order so that twelve Senators shall judge and declare their sentence to prove every truth which shall be excellent sweet and amiable so that people shall abominate their earthly Christs that have deluded them so long and look upwards to the minister of God the highest teacher Our Priests are not like the Prophets of old that quaked and trembled when they saw danger at hand there hath been a great deal of difference between the Priests and the Prophets The Priests have ever been proud and high and much sought themselves by self-greatness which doth not prove themselves Ministers of God but stand in a Ministers place as if they were the very Christ which go in sheeps clothing yet ravenous and cruel as the Bishops if they had the same power But for all their Presbytian sting the pricking brier must be taken away that troubleth the Israel of God Christ is the fountain and finisher of the work he sets his foot on mount Olivet and it cleaveth in sunder so shall your Ministerial power be dashed in sunder and happie shall he be called that dasheth your power in pieces for the raising up the dry bone of Israel Christ sent his disciples or by two and two he called fishermen not one man One Priest ought not to stand so high to elevate his own tongue he will not have one speaker but by the mouth of two or three faithful witnesses truth shall be proved from one end of the earth to another though our blind guides see it not Therefore their tongues shall be no more an Allegator it must be two called the two Olive-trees that shall stand before the great God of the earth