of humiliation and your Lecture dayes as they are called it is all abomination to the Lord Though ye make many prayers the Lord will not hear you your hearts are polluted and your hands are full of blood Therefore fear the Lord and depart from the evil of your wayes cease to do evil and learn to do well and let every one that nameth the Name of Jesus Christ depart from iniquity Rev. 14.7 2 Tim. 2 19. Luke 17.20 Seek no longer the kingdom of God in observations without you neither spend your money for that which is not bread Isa 55.1 Luke 15.17 Mat. 11.28 29 but return home to your fathers house and there you shall find satisfaction the candle being lighted and the house being swept you will find the lost groat in your own house Hearken to the voice of Christ which cryes in your consciences for equity and reproves you for the evil of your doings that is a sure testimony it is the light of Christ Eph. 5.13 and you cannot be deceived in following the light Joh. 8.12 for saith Christ I am the light of the world and whosoever follows me shall not abide in darkness but shall have the light of life This light is alwayes present with you and from this nothing can be hid Heb. 4.12 Prov. 20.22 this light doth discover the evil thoughts and the evil intents that arises out of the evil heart and as sin is discovered in any one wait upon the Lord for his power that it may be destroyed and so the axe comes to be laid to the root of the tree and every tree that brings not forth good fruit Mat. 3.10 1 Thes 5.21 is hewn down and cast into the fire And none be hasty in believing false reports but try all things and hold fast that which is good And this is that which we labour to bring all unto even pure truth in the inward part that so they may offer up a sacrifice in righteousness Psal 51.6 Deut. 33.19 from the pure heart to the pure God and so have peace with God and dwell in safety sitting under their own Vine and eating their own bread being built upon the Rock 1 Pet. 2.5 Mat 7.25 where the stormy tempests and the raging persecutors cannot move their foundation but stand sure being built upon the foundations of the Prophets and Apostles Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone in whom all the building fitly framed together Eph. 2 20.21 groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord. And so though we the servants of the Lord be counted deceivers and the truth a Sect 2 Cor. 6.8 and the way heresie as formerly it hath been I confess as Paul did Acts 28.22 That after the way which they call herefie so worship I the God of my fathers believing all things Acts 24.14 not only what is written in the Law and the Praphets but likewise what is written in the testimony of Christ the Apostles and it is not any breach of Christs commands in denying the shadows and rudiments of the world no more then it was in Paul Col. 22.20 21 Heb 9.10 11. Col. 1.27 2 Cor. 4.11 1 John 5.10 in denying the carnal commandments and shadows of the Law witnessing the substance which is Christ within the hope of glory which I bear testimony unto even the life of Christ manifest in mortal flesh and seal it with my spirit and sign it with my name Alexander Parker To all who are hungring after the liing bread and hath not wherewith to satisfie themselves in their own houses but are seeking without and begging from others and are spending their money for that which is not bread A word of love to invite them to come into my fathers house where they shall find full satifaction with a word of exhortation to all who are called to be Saints by way of remembrance to stir up their pure minds AWake dear friends the day of the Lord is dawned and the glorious day-light is breaking forth arise out of your deep sleep and stand up from the dead that Christ may give you light the night is far spent and the day is at hand put off therefore the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light Wisdom cryes and calls unto you to come forth of darkness and all unrighteousness Oh give ear and be obedient and willing to give up all and to follow the voice of Wisdom this pure voice is near unto you even in your secret Closet secretly reproving you for your rebellion and hard-heartedness and calls unto you for purity and uprightness hearken diligently to this still voice hear and your souls shall live You have long been wandring astray and following the dead doctrines of men and have been feeding upon the dry husks and have spent your money for that which is not bread and your labour but are not satisfied and you have rejected the counsel of God and have rebelled against him and would not turn at his reproof though many times you had secret checks and reproofs by his light within you but you have not been obedient but have cast his Law behind your backs and turned from his free grace and love into wantonness and vain delights of this present world Oh return home to your Fathers house wander no longer in your dark imaginations but wait on the Lord in his fear and you shall find satisfaction take his yoke upon you and learn of Christ meekness and lowliness of spirit so shall you find rest unto your souls And all you my dearly beloved ones to whom the Gospel of peace hath been declared in the demonstration and power of the spirit who in love and tenderness have received the word of the Lord my love is enlarged and floweth forth freely unto you and my prayers to my heavenly Father for you is that you may all be preserved and kept by his mighty power through faith unto salvation All you whose understandings are opened with the light of the Lord and whose minds are turned from the darkness and false wayes and worships of the world to the living God him to worship in spirit and in truth As every one hath received of the Lord so every one wait and walk worthy of so high a calling whereunto the Lord hath called you that as you are separated from the world outwardly in a measure so the separation may be made inwardly that you may be in truth what you seem to be in shew outwardly otherwise in vain is all your profession and all your meetings together if you be not guided and led thereunto by the pure movings of the spirit of the Lord for except your righteousness do exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Therefore all of you in the pure fear of the Lord try and examine your selves and search your own hearts and see what garments you have on and how you
do appear in the presence of the living God in whose presence you now are and nothing can be hid from the all-seeing eye nor any thing cover you but purity for the wo is to all them that are covered and not with the spirit of the Lord for now all coverings must be ripped open and the Lord the heart-searcher will search all as with candles and an outward shew or covering with the Saints words will not hide nor cover any of you if the pure life of Christ be wanting let none be therefore deceived with a vain hope neither do you set up a false rest short of the true rest for verily I say unto you you had need to be watchful and to walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise men in the Lord for your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour going about by all wayes and means to deceive the hearts of the simple and honest minded ones his work is to oppose the work of Christ and he works in a mistery in the hearts of the children of disobedience working them into his Image and liknesse to do his lusts and the creature is captivated and the members thereof and becomes servant to the Devil who rules as a Prince in the heart and when he cannot keep people in the common filth of the world he will get into a form of godliness and there keep people feeding upon the empty and dry husks drawing near to God with their lips and mouths when he keeps possession in their hearts and draws away their affections after the lusts of the world and glory of it which fades away and comes to an end And when by his wiles he cannot hide himself nor keep people in the empty form then he will transform himself as an Angel of light and whatever the Saints of the most high do speak or practice as they are moved by the power and spirit of the Lord dwelling in them the subtil Serpent will get into the outward form likeness gesture and words or whatsoever is used or practiced outwardly by the Saints and servants of the Lord The devil will lead his servants into the likness and so get the words as many do get the words of truth into their unrighteous minds and so contend for the truth with that mind that is out of the truth and so glory in the words and outward appearance and the boaster gets up to boast in other mens lines and things above their measures being enemies to the Cross of Christ and servants of sin and in the bondage of corruption but into the light and life the devil cannot come nor enter so in the light which is pure all wait for the power and pure life of the Son of God to be manifest in you that so from the light and life fruits abundantly may be brought forth to the glory of God Stand upon your watch and bring your deeds to the light that so they may be proved and tryed whether or no they be wrought in God for he that walks in the light is kept from stumbling But all careless and slothful negligent ones who run head-long rashly without consideration or tryal of their deeds are captivated and ensnared by the temptation of the devil and so the light follows them and is their condemnation and so trouble and misery comes upon the wicked and it is just for he is the fool whose eyes be abroad and whose tongue is at liberty and so the rod is prepared for the back of the sool Therefore weigh your words in the just ballance and be well advised before you act any thing first try the motion before you go on to action for in all words and actions whatsoever any one doth either act or speak there is some thing within that moves before the action bee acted or words be spoken and whether it be good or evil it comes from within out of the heart and as is the heart so will the words and actions be if the heart be evil the words and actions will be evil and if the heart be good and pure the words and actions will be likewise good and pure Now come all to the touch-stone and to the ground of all things that you may know the ground of good things and the ground of evil things for as God is the Author of all good so the Devil is the Author of all evil and as God is a pure Spirit and works in a mistery in the hearts of the children of obedience working them into his Image and likenesse to do his works which are works of righteousnesse so the devil is an unclean and a dark spirit and works in a mistery in the hearts of the children of disobedience working them into his Image and likenesse to do his works which are works of unrighteousnesse And as the Author of good and the Author of evil are contrary one to the other and no fellowship betwixt them so the workers and servants of each of these are contrary one to the other and no agreement amongst them but a strong and an irreconcileable enmity and so a great and strong battel and this battel is begun in this Nation and other parts the great and mighty battel between the Prince of light and the Prince of darkness between the raging Beast and the meek and harmless Lamb. Now there is none can serve those two Masters neither can any be heirs of these two kingdoms but every one becomes his servant to whom he yields himself servant to obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness according as the Scripture declares All who obey the motion of the Lord in light and spirit as he moves in the pure heart become servants to the Lord and so his work is brought forth into the world which are works of righteousness as love gentleness patience long-suffering meekness temperance brotherly-kindness humility soberness godliness doing unto all as they would be done unto and such like fruits of righteousness which are a witnesse against the unrighteousnesse of the world and so are justified by God in spirit and created in Christ Jesus unto good works But all who yeeld to and obey the motion of the Devil in the dark as he moves in the dark heart by the spirit of darkness become servants to the Devil and so his work is brought forth into the world and fills the world with darkness and unrighteousness as pride and vain glory covetousness hatred malice strife and debate drunkenness whoredomes murders theft lying and swearing vain and profain talking tiranny cruelty and oppression persecution and such like ungodly wicked practises as the Land abounds with notwithstanding all their profession of God and Christ and high notions and large and fair pretences yet the fruits of wickedness in a high measure are daily growing and encreasing and all those evils and all other the abominations that are acted and done in the world they all proceed
life of the Heathen and the pure law of equity is set up to do to all as they would be done unto according to the doctrine of Christ and all who walk according to this light though they bear the name of Heathens yet their heathenism who keep the Law of equity doing unto all as they would be done unto their heathenism shall condemn those who profess Christ in words and are called Christians but do not act according to the Law of equity but cast the Law of God behind their backs such are shut out from the promise of life and have no right unto Christ who act contrary to him such are heathens of what countrey or nation soever they be who live in sin and fulfil the desires of the flesh they cannot please God for they who live after the flesh are not subject to the Law of righteousness but are heathens living in rage and malice pride and vain-glory lightness and wantonness scâ—ffing and jearing reviling and persecuting lying and swearing drunkenness whoredomes murders and such like these are the marks of the heathens and all such are shut out of the kingdom of God and have no share with the Christians in the inheritance which is everlasting for there is no promise to the wicked but wo is their portion for ever So the true Christians have right to to the inheritance Christ Jesus but the heathens have no right unto the promise until they come forth and repent and be turned from darkness unto light and from the Power of Satanunto God they that are Christians are in Christ and are Christs bought and purchased by his bloud and they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts but they that are heathens are out of Christ in the world not bought and redeemed from sin but are satisfying and fulfilling the lusts of the flesh so in the name of God I do exhort every one that doth read this to try your selves with the Light of Christ in you whether you be in the faith or no or true Christians and be not deceived with a vain hope contenting your selves with the bare name when the life and nature is wanting for though you may profess all the Scriptures and can talk much of God and Christ without you yet all this doth not make you true Christians unless the word of God and the life of Christ be manifest in you as it was in them that gave forth the scriptures for the scriptures do declare of a generation that were great professours and as zealouss for God and the Ordinances of God as you can be for Christ and his ordinances as you profess yet they were blind in understanding and had not true discerning but did oppose Christ Jesus the Son of God I speak of the Jewes and that generation of scribes and Pharisees who profest a Christ to come but when he was come because he came not in pomp glory according to their expectation but in a low despised manner they called him a blasphemer and cryed out crucifie him and this was the cause of their blindness they had not the word of God abideing in them so the vail was over their eyes Christ cryed wo unto them calling them blind guids whited walls painted sepulchres and the like so I say unto you all your outside profession your going to hear Sermons and the like this you may do many years as I know you have done and be never the better but grow worse and worse ever learning laden with sin and led away with divers lusts but never able to come to the true knowledge of God for none ever knows God in truth and righteousness but as he is known by the working of his spirit within whereby he destroys the works of the Devil in the heart and creates a new heart and a new mind according to his own will and renews his own Image of righteousness and true holinesse and so man is made Gods workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works and so his members are servants of righteousness and the work of God is brought forth into the world by his servants and children whereby he is glorified in them and wisdom is justified of her children But all those of what name soever they are called whether Jews Gentiles or Christians though they may professe much outwardly and be counted godly and religious yet if their hearts be not upright to God and purified by the Word of God abiding in them they cannot serve nor worship God in truth for if iniquity do lodge in the heart and be regarded God will not hear the prayers of such nor accept of their sacrifices for it is not every one that sayes Lord Lord that shall enter into the Kingdom of God but such as do the will of God such shall know of his doctrine and such are they that are built upon the rock of ages and such do glorifie God by their godly and upright lives and so are Gods workmanship and bears Gods Image of love and meeknesse patience and long suffering and the like But thou and all you that are in rage and envy you are the devils workmanship and bears his Image drunkards swearers lyars scoffers scorners light and wanton ones you are the devils workmanship and he begot you and is your father and you bear his Image and not the Image of God All you high and lofty ones you proud Pharisaical professors you proud and covetous ones God never begat you but the God of the world the Prince of the air he rules in you and carries you up into pride and vain glory and all you ungodly ones under what name soever you be you are not in the way of God but in the way of the wicked one and your end will be misery The righteous God of heaven and earth doth not desire the death of any of you but that you might turn from your wickedness and live for this end he hath given his dear Son a light into the world who doth enlighten you wherby many times you are made sensible of your lost conditions how that you are aliens and strangers from the covenant of promise and you have been many times reproved in secret for your sins and iniquities and called and invited to come forth of your sins But have you not been rebellious and stiff-necked and resisted the councel of God and would none of his instructions But you have chosen your own wayes and you have delighted in your own abominations and so not minding the goodness and long suffering of God which leadeth to repentance all that hearken to his voice but you after your hardness and impenitent hearts are treasuring up unto your selves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgements of God who will render unto every one according to his deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for honour
against them as you may read Isay 1. chap. where the Prophets declares against the wickedness of that generation saying a sinful Nation a people laden with iniquity a seed of evil doers children that are corrupters they have forsaken the Lord they have provoked the holy One of Israel to anger c. to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me saith the Lord bring no more vain oblations incense is an abomination unto me The new moons and Sahbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity when you make many pruyers I will not hear for your hands are full of blood Thus the Prophet declares against them and those things which they practised though they were commands of God and his exhortation to them was cease to do evil learn to do well wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes saith the Lord. And likewise read Isay 66.3 Where the Prophet compared the commands of God to abominable things saying He that kills an Ox is as if he slew a man he that sacrificeth the Lamb as if he cut off a dogs neck he that offereth an oblation as if he offered swines blood c. Here you may see the Prophets testimony and to what abominable things he compares the commands And the Prophets of God in the days of their prophesie they were hated and many of them killed by such as had the form of the Law but were enemies to the life of the Law And after the Prophets dayes another generation comes and gets the Prophets words and cries up the words but are still in the same nature of their fore-fathers that killed the Prophets as the Scriptures make mention of the Scribes and Pharisees and that generation who were zealous for the Law and the outward commands and did build the Tombs of the Prophets Mat. 23.29.30 31. and garnished the Sepulchres of the righteous yet not being led into those things by the light and spirit of God within they were found enemies and persecutors and crucified him who was the life and substance of those things which they had the form and shadows of Mat. 27.20 22 25 26. And thus the form in those dayes did oppose the power and afterward the Ministers of Christ who were sent forth in the Name and Power of Christ they were hated and persecuted in their dayes by those who had the form but not the power Acts 8.3 4. Act. 22.28 30 31 c. 2 Thes 2 3 4 5 c. and so all along to this age the subtile twining Serpent hath got the form but persecutes the appearance of Christ wherever he is made manifest as it is at this day in England and other parts The clouds of darkness hath long been over all Nations but now the glorious day-light of the Lord is breaking forth and he is appearing in the power of his spirit in the hearts of his people and is bringing to pass his strange work which makes the Heathen to rage 2 Thes 1.10 Acts 13.4 2 Cor. 6.8 and the carnal Professor to swell in their vanity and cryes out of error and herefie and deceivers and blasphemers and fills the ears of people with such a loud noise that many who have prayed for these dayes formerly and have had some glimmerings of the true light now when the time is come and the Lord is bringing to pass his work Jer. 31.31 c. Joh. 7.48.49 Gal. 4.29 Job 21.30 Isa 66.15 16. and fulfilling his promises because it is not in their way and according to their expectation they stand up against and oppose the truth as their forefathers have done and so as it was then even so it is now they that are born after the flesh they persecute them that are born after the spirit but woe to all persecuters and all envious and malicious ones the sword of the Lord is drawn forth and they shall be cut down as fuel for the fire Therefore all people every where try your selves and the ground of your faith and profession Lam. 3.40 2 Cor. 13.5 1 John 3.3 John 5.4 see whether you be in the true faith yea or nay the true faith doth purifie the heart and gives victory over sin the world the flesh and the devil and so good fruit is brought forth to the praise and glory of God The Lord is coming to rip open and search all hearts and a profession and talk of the Saints words without the Saints life will noâ— hide nor cover any one of you Jer. 17.10 Isa 30.1 it is not your fair-saying and your crying Lord Lord that will stand you in stead in the great and terrible day of the Lord being found workers of iniquity it is not your many years profession Mat. 7.2 and hearing and writing of Sermons and repeating them over and over the Lord is coming to look for fruits Mat. 3.10 and all fruitless trees must be hewen down and cast into the fire You who have long been talking of the new-birth 1 Cor. 3.11 to 17 Rom. 8.7 8. 2 Per 3.7 to the end honestly consider and see what you can witness of a change and what is cut down within you for as long as the enmity stands within you all your profession of the Scriptures and Christ without you will not save you in the fiery day of the Lords fierce indignation for this I testifie unto you that Regeneration is not a thought 2 Cor. 5 17. or a conceiving of a thing but it is a real work of God wrought within by the power of his spirit 1 Cor. 6.11 Acts 15.9 whereby the heart is purified and cleansed and the affections and fleshly desires crucified according to Scripture Gal. 5.24 they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Now try and examine your selves and see if your many years profession have wrought this effect are you crucified to the world and the world unto you Rom 6.2 Gal. 6.14 1 Pet. 1.15 16. and are you dead unto sin as those were whom you profess the words of Be not deceived with a vain hope the Lord calls for purity and without holiness no man shall see him Now consider well you who profess your selves to be Christians and do cry up the commandements and Ordinances of Christ are you not a sinful people Isay 1. chap. are you not laden with iniquity are you not a seed of evil doers are you not corrupted from the top of the head even to the sole of the foot as those were which Isaiah cryed against I have heard many of you confess much in words Prov. 28.13 and cry out of your sins but I see few of you that doth forsake your sins but goes on in your customary wayes being dead in sins and trespasses then to what purpose is your calling of Assemblies your preaching and your feigned long prayers your dayes