mistake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Epistle so excellent for the building of us up in Faith and Love and in whatever may adorn Christian Profession I now offer to the charitable and courteous Reader translated into English out of that Greek copie which was published by the Right Reverend Prelate and learned Antiquarie Doctor Vsher Primate of Ireland and printed at Oxford Anno Dom. 1644. The Epistle of Saint Polycarp Bisho◠of Smyrna and holy Martyr to th◠Philippians POLYCARP and the Presbyter◠with him to the Church of Go◠within the Diocess of Philippi Mercy unto you and Peace from God Almighty and from the Lord Jesus Christ ou◠Saviour be multiplied I congratulate yo◠highly in our Lord Jesus Christ in that y◠have embraced those Patterns of true love and accompanied as became you those who were involved in holy Bands which are the Diadems of those who are truly the elected of God and of our Lord and because the root of your faith which was preached to you continues firm even from the beginning until now and brings forth fruit unto our Lord Jesus Christ who suffred for our sins even to the death whom God raised up having loosed the bands of death in whom having not seen him ye believe and believing rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Into which joy many desire to enter knowing that through grace ye are saved not by works but by the will of God through Jesus Christ Wherefore having your Loyns girt about serve God with fear and truth forsaking empty vain babble and the errour of many believing in him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and hath given to him glory and a throne at his right hand To whom all earthly and heavenly things are subject and every thing that hath breath pays service who shall come to judge the quick and dead and whose bloud God will strictly require at the hands of those who do not believe in him But he who raised him from the dead will raise up us also if we do his will and walk in his Commandements and love the things which he loved Abstaining from all unrighteousness incontinence covetousness detraction fals-witness-bearing not rendring evil for evil reproach for reproach railing for railing cursing for cursing but remembring what the Lord said teaching in this wise Judge not that ye be not judged forgive and it shall be forgiven you be merciful that ye may obtain mercy in what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again it is also said Blessed are the poor in spirit and they who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of God These things Brethren I write unto you concerning Righteousness not imposing any commands upon you as from my self but because ye have moved me so to do For neither I nor any other like unto me can attain to the wisdom of blessed and glorious PAUL who being amongst you and conversing face to face with men then living taught you exactly and firmly the word of Truth who also being absent wrote Epistles unto you by which if ye give heed unto them ye may be built up in the faith which was delivered unto you which Faith is the mother of you all being followed by Hope and led on by Love which directs you to God and Christ and our Neighbour For if any man is possessed of these he hath fulfilled the command of Righteousness He who is possessed of Love is free from all sin but Covetousness is the root of all evil Knowing therefore that we brought nothing into the world and that we shall carry nothing our Let us arm our selves with the armour of Righteousness and teach our selves in the first place to walk in the Commandements of the Lord. And let us in the next place teach the Women that they walk according to that rule of faith which was delivered unto them and in love and holiness and that they love entirely their own husbands with all sincerity and all others equally with all continency and that they instruct their children in the discipline and fear of God And let us teach the Widows to be sober and wise according to the faith of the Lord and to make intercession for all without intermission keeping themselves from all detraction accusation fals-witness-bearing covetousness and all evil knowing that they are as the Altars of God who observes the faults of every one of us for nothing is hid from him neither of our reasonings understandings nor secrets of our hearts and because we know that God cannot be mocked we ought to walk worthy of his command and of glory Likewise let the Deacons be unblameable in the presence of his righteousness for they are the ministers of God in Christ and not of men Let them not be accusers nor double-tongued nor covetous but continent in all things compassionate careful walking according to the truth of the Lord who was made the minister of all from whom if we please him in this world we shall receive a future reward for he hath ingaged for us to raise us from the dead and if we have our conversation worthy of him we shall also reign with him as we believe In like manner let the Young men be unblameable in all things chiefly let them study chastity and restrain themselves as with a bridle from all that is evil For it is a good thing to be elevated in our desires above all the desireable things of this world because all concupiscence of the world warreth against the Spirit and neither fornicators nor effeminate persons nor abusers of themselves with mankind shall inherit the Kingdom of God nor they who do absurd things Therefore it is necessary that ye abstain from all such things being subject to the Presbyters and Deacons as to God and Christ And let the Virgins walk with a blameless and chaste Conscience Let the Presbyters be of tender bowels compassionate towards all converters of those who are in errour visiters of all that are sick careful of the Widow the Orphans and the indigent always providing that which is good in the sight of God and men not given to wrath no respecters of persons not unjust in judgement keeping themselves far from all covetousness not hastily believing any thing against any man not rash in passing judgement against any knowing that all of us are the debters of sin and as we pray the Lord would forgive us we ought also to forgive for we are continually in the sight of the Lord God and must all stand before the Tribunal of Christ and every one of us give an account for himself Therefore let us serve him with fear and all reverence as he hath given in Commandement and as the Apostles have evangelized to us and the Prophets who preached before-hand the coming of our Lord. Be zealous of that which is good and keep your selves from scandals avoiding the company
is Vnitie ye shall with one voyce glorifie the Father by Jesus Christ that he may also hear you and acknowledge you by what you do to be the members of his Son So that it is profitable for you to continue in immaculate Unitie that ye may always be partakers of God If I in so short a time have gained so great a conformableness in manners with your Bishop which is spiritual and not after the manner of men how can I estimate of your happiness who are continually united to him as the Church to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ to the Father that all things may be consonant in unity Let no man be deceived If any man is not within the Altar he is deprived of the bread of God For if the Prayer of one or two is so effectual how much more effectual is the Prayer of the Bishop and all the Church He therefore that will not come into one place or joyn with the Congregation is a proud man and hath separated himself and it is written That God resisteth the proud Therefore let us endeavour to be in subjection to the Bishop that so we may be God's Subjects And if any man take notice that the Bishop holds his peace let him fear and reverence him so much the more for we ought to receive him whom the Master of the Family hath sent to govern his House as we should receive the Master himself who sent him Therefore it is evident that we ought to respect the Bishop as the Lord himself But Onesimus doth himself very much commend your good Order which is according to God for ye all live according to truth and there is no heresie amongst you neither do ye hear any but Jesus Christ speaking according to truth Some indeed by an evil deceit have accustomed themselves to carry about his Name but they do things unworthy of God and these ye ought to shun as beasts For they are like mad dogs biting unawares whom ye ought to avoid and have a special eye upon being persons very hard to be cured There is one Physitian fleshly and spiritual begotten and unbegotten God made in the flesh and the true life in death both of Mary and of God first passible and then impassible Let no man seduce you as ye are not yet seduced being wholly of God For so long as there is no contention amongst you which may be hurtful to you ye live according to God I am made as an Off-scouring for you and as a Purgatorie expiation for you Ephesians famous to ages Carnal men cannot do spiritual things nor spiritual men do the things which are carnal neither can Faith do the things of Infidelitie nor Infidelitie the things of Faith But those very things which ye do as carnal men are spiritual so long as ye do all things according to Jesus Christ I have known some passing from those parts who held an evil doctrine but ye would not suffer them to sow their seeds amongst you but stopped your ears against them that ye might receive none of the doctrine sowed by them For ye are Stones of the Father's Temple prepared for the building of God the Father carried up on high by the Engine of Jesus Christ which is his Cross by the Cord of the holy Spirit But Faith is your Guide and Charity your Way which leads unto God Ye are all therefore Fellow-travellers carrying about with you God and the Temple Christ and Sanctitie being in all things beautified according to the commands of Jesus Christ in whom I am exceedingly rejoyced being vouchsafed so great a dignitie as to converse with you in writing and to joy together with you who live according to the other life and love nothing but onely God Pray also without ceasing for other men for there is hope of their repentance that they also may attain God Admonish them and let them be wrought upon by your works to become your Disciples Oppose your meekness to their anger and whilst they boast of great things do ye mind the things of humility Pray for them who speak evil of you keeping your selves firm in the faith against their errour Be mild how morose soever they are neither be hasty to requite them according to their own examples Let us be found their Brethren by our mild carriage towards them and endeavour to be the followers of the Lord. Though some among you may be injured defrauded despised yet let no one amongst you be found an Herb of the devil Keep your selves in all Puritie and Temperance both in flesh and spirit through Jesus Christ The last times are come Therefore let us reverence and fear the long-sufferance of God that it be not our condemnation For either let us fear the wrath to come or love the present grace One of the two is onely to be found in Jesus Christ that we may live indeed Nothing can become us without this for this I bear about my bonds which are as spiritual Pearls through which by your Prayers I may rise again And let me always be partaker of your Prayers that I may be found in the lot of those Ephesian Christians who were ever of the same mind with the Apostles through the power of Jesus Christ I know who I am and to whom I write I am a condemned person but ye have obtained mercy I am under danger but ye are established Ye are the Passover of those who are killed for God being the Fellow-ministers of sanctified Paul who was martyred worthily blessed under whose feet I would be found that I may enjoy God who in a whole Epistle makes mention of you in Jesus Christ. Make hast therefore to meet together more frequently to the Eucharist of God and to glorie For when ye often come together into one place the powers of Satan are rendred frustrate and his enmitie is destroyed through your Unity of Faith Nothing is better than peace by which all hostilitie of heavenly and earthly powers is made void None of these things are conceal'd from you if ye hold perfectly that Faith and Love in Jesus Christ which are the beginning and end of life For Faith is the beginning Love is the end these two united are of God and all other things tending to Honestie do wait upon these No man who hath covenanted into the faith committeth sin nor doth he hate another who is possess'd of Charitie The tree is known by its fruit and they who have solemnly engaged to be Christians shall be seen by the works they do For it is not now the work of an Engagement but it is through the power of Faith if a man be found to the end It is better to be silent and to be than to speak and not to be It is a good thing to teach if a man do as well as teach There is therefore one teacher who spake and it was done and the things also which he did in silence are worthy of the Father He who
of false brethren who carry the Name of the Lord in hypocrisie onely to seduce vain men into errour For every one who doth not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is Antichrist and he who doth not confess the Martyrdom of the Cross is of the devil and he who shall pervert the Oracles of the Lord to serve his own private lusts and shall say that there is no Resurrection nor judgement is the first-born of Satan Therefore let us decline the folly of many and their false doctrines and give heed to that word which was delivered to us from the beginning Let us attend unto Prayers with all sobrietie and unto Fastings with all perseverance and in our supplications let us pray unto the Al-seeing God that he would not lead us into temptation as the Lord hath taught for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Let us endure without fainting resting our selves upon our hope and pledge of righteousness which is Jesus Christ who did bear our sins in his own body upon the tree who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth but he patiently endured all things for us that we might live through him Therefore let us be the followers of his patience and if we suffer for his Name we glorifie him for he set us such an Example in himself as we believe Therefore I exhort you all to obey the word of Righteousness and to exercise all Patience as ye have seen it exemplified before your eyes not onely in the blessed Ignatius Zosimus and Rufus but in others among you in Paul himself and the rest of the Apostles For ye may be confident that all these have not run in vain but in Faith and Righteousness and having obtained the place due unto them are now with the Lord with whom also they suffered for they loved not this present world but him who died for us and was for us by God raised again from death to life Stand fast therefore in these things and follow the Pattern of the Lord Be stedfast in the Faith immutable Lovers of the brotherhood kind one to another united in Truth performing all meekness each to other and despising none When ye can do good do not deferre it for Alms delivereth from death Be subject one to another having your conversation unblameable among the Gentiles that your selves may receive praise from your good works and the Lord be not blasphemed by your means But wo to that man by whom the Name of the Lord is blasphemed Therefore teach all men sobriety and be your selves conversant in it I am very much troubled for Valens who was made a Presbyter among you because he is unmindful of his place which was committed unto him I therefore admonish you that ye abstain from Covetousness and that ye be chaste and true Keep your selves from all evil But how can he preach this to another who cannot govern himself in these matters If a man keep not himself from Covetousness he will be defiled with Idolatry and accounted an heathen But who knows not the judgement of the Lord Do we not know that the Saints shall judge the world as Paul teacheth But I have neither perceived nor heard of any such thing among you amongst whom blessed Paul laboured who are also in the beginning of his Epistle For he glories of you in all those Churches which onely knew God at that time for as yet we had not known him Therefore my Brethren I am grieved for him and for his wife to whom the Lord give true Repentance And be ye sober as to this very thing esteem not such as enemies but restore them as frail and erring members that the whole body of you may be saved for in so doing ye build up your selves I trust that ye are well exercised in the holy Scriptures and that nothing is hid from you which thing is not yet granted unto me As it is written Be angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath Blessed is he who shall believe which thing I believe to be in you Now the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ the eternal High-priest and Son of God build you up in faith and truth and in all meekness that ye may be without anger and in all patience longanimity long-sufferance and chastity and give you a lot and part amongst his Saints and to us together with you and to all who are under heaven that shall believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in his Father who raised him from the dead Pray for all Saints Pray also for Kings and Potentates and Princes for those who persecute you and hate you and for the enemies of the Cross that your fruit may be manifested in all and ye may be perfect in him Ye and also Ignatius have written unto me that if any man go into Syria he may carry also your Letters which I will either do my self if I have a fit opportunity or he whom I shall send upon your message also According to your request we have sent unto you those Epistles of Ignatius which he wrote unto us and so many others of his as we had by us which are subjoyned to this Epistle and by which ye may be very much profited for they contain in them faith and patience and all that is necessary for the building of you up in our Lord. Signifie unto us what ye shall certainly know concerning Ignatius himself and those who are with him I have written unto you these things by Crescens whom I formerly commended to you and do now commend for he was conversant amongst us unblameably and I believe he was the same amongst you Ye shall also have his sister commended when she shall come unto you Be safe in the Lord Jesus Christ in grace with all yours Amen The Life and Death of Holy IGNATIUS Bishop of the Church of Antioch in Syria Holy Martyr and Disciple of Saint John the Evangelist Together with a true account of these following Epistles of his 1. To the Smyrneans 2. To Polycarp 3. To the Ephesians 4. To the Magnesians 5. To the Philadelphians 6. To the Trallians 7. To the Romans All faithfully translated out of the Original Greek into English according to the most genuine Copy found in the Library of Lawrence De Medicis by the Learned Isaac Vossius and by him published at Amsterdam in the year of our Lord. 1646. THis holy man Ignatius was a man of an extraordinary Zeal vast Charity most clear Apprehensions as to Divine things devout and religious even to a He was styled Theophorus as he Miracle calls himself in all his Epistles either as is supposed by some because he was that Little Child mentioned in the Gospel which Christ took up in his arms when he would teach his Disciples Humility by the low Character of Childhood or because he did constantly bear God about with him in his holy and pure
Romans as over a Quire being divine comely most blessed worthy of praise in a becoming order eminently chaste and set up for a President of Charitie having the Law of Christ and bearing the Name of the Father which I also salute in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father according to the flesh and spirit united in every command of his filled with all the Grace of God without any difference and purged from every strange tincture wishing very much joy in our Lord Jesus Christ our God immaculately HAving beseeched God I happened to see your divine faces as I much desired to receive you And being in bonds for Jesus Christ I hope to salute you if it be his will that I may be accounted worthy to continue to the end For the beginning is well ordered if thereby I may obtain Grace so as to obtain my Lot unto the end without impediment For I fear your charitie lest it prove injurious to me For to you it is easie to do what ye will but to me it is a difficult thing to enjoy God unless ye are the more sparing to me I would not have you to please men but to please God as ye do please him I shall never have such an opportunity to enjoy God neither shall ye be intituled to a better work if ye can but be silent For if ye be silent and let me alone I shall be of God but if ye love my flesh I shall be but a voice and to run again Ye cannot do better than to let me be sacrificed unto God in regard the Altar is already prepared That ye being made up a chorus in love may sing to the Father in Jesus Christ because God hath accounted the Bishop of Syria worthy to be found and to be sent from the East unto the West to set and go down gloriously from the world unto God that I may rise again in him Ye have never bewitched me in any thing ye have instructed others and I would that those things may be firm which ye as teachers have commanded Onely pray for me to be inabled inwardly and outwardly that I may not onely say it but will it and not only be called a Christian but be found so For if I shall be found so I may also be so called and then be a Believer when I appear not to the world Nothing is good which is onely in appearance For our God Jesus Christ being in the Father appeareth the more A Christian is not a work of persuasion but of greatness especially when he shall be hated of the world I write to all the Churches and lay my commands upon them all that I may willingly die for God if ye shall not hinder me I intreat you that ye would not be unseasonably kind unto me Suffer me to be the meat of beasts that by them I may enjoy God I am the wheat of God and shall be ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found the pure bread of God Allure those beasts the rather to become my sepulchre and to leave no reliques of my body that when I am fallen asleep I may not be burdensom to any Then shall I be the true Disciple of Jesus Christ when the world shall not see my body Pray to the Lord for me that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God I do not give you commands as Peter and Paul they were Apostles but I am a condemned person they were free but I am a servant even until now yet if I suffer I shall be made the Freeman of Jesus Christ and shall rise again free and being now a Prisoner I learn to desire nothing From Syria even to Rome do I fight with beasts both by Land and by Sea by night and by day being bound to ten Leopards which are my military guard which are the worse for being kindly treated But by their injurious dealings I am the more made a Disciple yet am I not therefore justified I would enjoy the beasts which are prepared for me and I pray that they may be found sharply set nay I would entise them greedily to devour me and not fearfully to decline the touching of me as they have avoided some But if they shun me and will not I shall provoke them Pardon me I know what is convenient for me Now I begin to be a Disciple in that I have a zeal to nothing visible or invisible but that I may gain Jesus Christ Let the fire the cross the violence of beasts scattering of bones concision or chewing of members grinding of the whole body buffetings of the devil come upon me so that I may but enjoy Jesus Christ The ends of the world will profit me nothing nor the kingdoms of this age It is good for me to die for Jesus Christ rather then to rule over the ends of the earth I seek him who died for us I will him who rose again for us He is the Gain set before me Pardon me brethren do not hinder me to live do not separate me by the world who am willing to be of God nor seduce me by that which is material Suffer me to receive the pure light when I approach to that I shall be a man of God Suffer me to imitate the Passion of my God If any man hath him within him he may understand what I will and sympathize with me knowing what things have taken possesion of me The prince of this world would spoil me and corrupt my judgement which is according to God Therefore let none of you being present contribute any assistance to him but rather be for me that is for God Do not speak Jesus Christ and covet the world Let no fascination be amongst you Neither do I exhort you being present to believe me rather believe the things which I write unto you for I write unto you being alive yet withal willing to die My Love is crucified and the fire which is in me desires no water But there is one living and speaking in me who saith to me inwardly Come to the Father I take no pleasure in the meat of corruption nor in the pleasures of this life I will the bread of God which is the flesh of Jesus Christ of the seed of David and the drink which I will is his bloud which is incorruptible love I would live no longer according to men and this shall be if ye will Will it therefore that ye also may be accepted I intreat you by a few writings believe me but Jesus Christ shall manifest these things to you that I speak truth That is no lying mouth by which the Father hath truly spoken Pray for me that I may obtain For I have not written unto you according to the flesh but according to the mind of God If I suffer ye have loved me but if I prove Reprobate ye have hated me Remember in your Prayers the Church in Syria which in my stead hath God
of the Council of the Apostles and the Deacons most pleasant to me having the Diaconie of Jesus Christ committed to them who was with the Father before ages and in the end appeared Having therefore all received manners like unto God reverence one another and let no man defraud his neighbour according to the flesh but love one another always in Jesus Christ Let nothing be amongst you which may possibly divide you but be united to the Bishop and to those who are Presidents over you according to the Type and Doctrine of incorruption Therefore as the Lord being united to him did nothing without the Father neither by himself nor by the Apostles so neither do ye act any thing without thâ— Bishop and the Presbyters Neither attemp any thing upon your own account however reasonable it may appear unto you When ye come together into one place let there be One Prayer One Supplication one mind one hope in Love and in immaculate joy There is one Jesus Christ thaâ— whom nothing is better Therefore all concur together as into the Temple of God aâ— to one Altar to one Jesus Christ who came from one Father and being one is returned to him Be not deceived by strange opinions nor old fables which are unprofitable For if we still live according to the Law and Judaism we confess that Grace is not received For the most divine Prophets lived according to Jesus Christ and therefore they were persecuted being inspired by his Grace that they might work a perswasion in those who were not perswaded that there is one God who manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son who is his eternal Word not coming forth from Silence who in all things pleased him that sent him Therefore if they who were conversant in the works of old time came to the Newness of Hope not Sabbatizing any longer but living according to the Dominical life of that day whereon our life did rise again through him and through his death whom some deny through which mysterie we have received both to Believe and also to endure with Patience that we may be found the Disciples of Jesus Christ our onely Master how shall we be able to live without him whom the Prophets being his Disciples looked for in Spirit as their Master and because they justly expected him he when he was come raised them from the dead Therefore let not us be insensible of his Goodness for if he should retribute to us according to what we do we should cease to be Therefore being made his Disciples let us learn to live like Christians For he who is called by any other name than this is not of God Therefore put away from you the evil leaven which is old and corrupt and be ye changed into the New Leaven which is Jesus Christ Be ye seasoned in him that none of you be corrupted for ye shall be disproved by your savour It is an absurd thing to profess Jesus Christ and yet to Judaize for Christianism hath not believed into Judaism but Judaism into Christianism that every tongue believing might be gathered unto God But these things my Beloved not because I have known any of you to be such but because though I am lesser then you I would have you to be preserved that ye may not fall into the snares of a vain opinion but may have a full assurance in the Nativity Passion and Resurrection effected in that season when Pontius Pilate was governour all truly and firmly accomplished by Jesus Christ our hope from which hope may none of you be perverted I would every way enjoy you if I may be worthy for though I am in bonds yet am I not to be compared to one of you who are at libertie I know ye are not puffed up for ye have Jesus Christ among you And I know the more I praise you it doth but shame you so much the more as it is written The just man is an accuser of himself Make it your endeavour to be confirmed in the determinations of the Lord and the Apostles that whatever ye do may be prosperous both in flesh and spirit Faith and Love in the Son and in the Father and in the Spirit in the beginning and the end together with your most venerable Bishop and your Presbyterie which is as a spiritual Crown decently plâ—tted and the Deacons who are according to God Be subject to the Bishop and one to another as Jesus Christ to the Father according to the flesh and the Apostles to Christ and to the Father and the Spirit that there may be unitie both carnal and spiritual Knowing that ye are full of God I have exhorted you but in few words Remember me in your Prayers that I may obtain God and that Church which is in Syria from whence I am not worthy to be called For I very much want your Prayer united in God and your Love that the Church which is in Syria may be accounted worthy to be watered by your Church The Ephesians from Smyrna salute you whence also I write unto you being present to the glorie of God as also ye are who have refreshed me in all things together with Polycarp the Bishop of the Smyrneans The other Churches also salute you in the honour of Jesus Christ Be strong in the concord of God being possessed with a discerning Spirit which is Jesus Christ To the Magnesians To the Philadelphians Ignatius who is also Theophorus to thâ— Church of God the Father and the Lorâ— Jesus Christ which is in Philadelphia of Asia which hath obtained mercy is settleâ— in â—he concord of God rejoycing in the Passion of our Lord indiscernably and fully assured of his Resurrection in all mercy which I salute in the bloud of Jesus Christ for she is my eternal and permanent joy chiefly if they continue united with the Bishop and the Presbytors with him and the Deacons manifested to be according to the Sentence of Jesus Christ whom he hath firmly established according to his own will by his holy Spirit WHich Bishop I have known to have obtained the Ministerie for the common good not by himself nor by men nor out of vain-glorie but by the love of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ whose mild temper I have been amazed at for by his silence he can do more than they who speak vain things For ye are as harmoniously agreeing in commands as the harp and the strings Therefore my Soul blesseth that sentence of his which is according to God knowing that it is vertuous and perfect and that he cannot be moved nor provoked to anger being in all the meekness of the Living God Being therefore the children of light and truth flie division evil doctrines Where the Pastour is do ye as sheep follow him for many wolves who seem worthy of credit do by an evil delectation lead captive persons running to God but through your unitie they shall have no place Depart from evil herbs which Jesus
life God speaks again unto them as concerning these things saying Wherefore do ye fast Isai 58. to me that your voice may be heard on high as this day I have not chosen such a fast nor a day for a man to afflict his soul neither shalt thou bow down thy neck like a bulrush nor spread sackcloth and ashes under thee nor shall ye call this an acceptable fast But to us he saith thus When ye shall fast Loose every bond of iniquitie dissolve the obligations of violent contracts set the oppressed at libertie make void every injurious obligation break thy bread to the hungry bring the poor that are without shelter into thine house when thou seest the naked clothe him and hide not thy self from thine own flesh then thy light shall break forth as the Morning and thine health shall spring forth speedily and thy righteousness shall go before thee the glorie of the Lord shall be thy rereward Then shall thou call and the Lord shall answer thou shall cry and he shall say Here I am if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke the putting forth of the finger and speaking Vanity and shall give thy bread to the hungry with all thy soul Therefore in this brethren God is provident and merciful in regard the people whom he hath acquired to his beloved should believe in simplicity and he hath shewn to all us that we should not run as Proselytes over to their Law And it concerns us to write much of the things in hand which cannot heal Let us flie every work of iniquitie and hate the errour of this time and love things future Let us not give libertie to our soul nor suffer it to wander with most lewd men and sinners For the trial is consummate as it is written as Daniel saith it is at hand For this cause doth the Lord divide times and days that his beloved may hasten to his inheritance So saith the Prophet Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth Dan. 7. and a little king shall arise who shall depose three into one Concerning the kingdoms and this very thing Daniel saith again I saw a fourth beast dreadful and terrible and exceeding strong having ten horns and another little horn grew up in the midst of them before whom there were three of the first horns pluckt up by the roots Therefore we ought to understand and I intreat you again as one of you loving you above mine own life that ye would take heed unto your selves and that ye would not be like unto those who heap up their sins and say That their Testament is also ours But ours it is for they have for ever destroyed that which Moses received For the Scripture saith And Moses was in the mount fasting fourty days and fourty nights and he received the testament from the Lord the tables of stone written with the hand of God But they being turned unto idols destroyed that for the Lord saith to Moses Go down quickly for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt hath transgressed And Moses cast the tables of stone out of his hands and their Testament was broken that the love of Jesus might be signed upon your hearts unto the hope of the faith of him Therefore let us give heed unto the last days for all the time of our life and faith shall profit us nothing if we do not endure unjust things and future temptations as the Son of God saith Let us resist all iniquitie and hate it Consider therefore the works of an evil life Ye ought not to separate your selves as being justified but meeting together in one to enquire what may be in common profitable and convenient for the beloved For the Scripture saith Wo to those who are wise in Isai 5. their own eyes and prudent in their own sight Let us being spiritual be made a perfect Temple to God as much as in us lies Let us meditate upon the fear of God and endeavour to keep his Commandements that we may rejoyce in his judgements The Lord accepting no mans person judgeth the world every man shall receive according to his deeds If he be good his goodness goes before him if wicked the ways of his wickedness follows after him Take heed lest at any time being called and at ease we do not fall asleep in our sins and the wicked one getting power over us do not awake us out of our sleep and exclude us from the Kingdom of the Lord. Understand a little more Having seen the great signs and wonders among the people of the Jews and that the Lord doth so leave them therefore let us take heed lest happily we be found as it is written Many called few Matt. 22. chosen For this cause the Lord endured to deliver up his body to death that we might be sanctified by remission of sins that is through the sprinkling of his bloud For it is written of him to the Jews and to us in this manner He was wounded for our transgressions Isai 53. bruised for our iniquities by his stripes we were healed He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer dumb so opened he not his mouth Therefore we ought exceedingly to rejoyce in the Lord because he hath shown unto us things past and hath made us wise neither are we without understanding of things to come But he saith The net surely is spread in vain in the sight of any bird This he saith in regard that that man shall justly perish who hath knowledge of the way of truth and yet will not refrain himself from the dark way Moreover the Lord endured to suffer for us and yet he is the Lord of the world to whom he said upon the day before the world was consummate Let us make man Gen. 1. according to our image and similitude Learn therefore how much he endured who would suffer this from men The Prophets having the gift from him prophesied of him and he that he might abolish death and make manifest the Resurrection from the dead endured because it was necessary for him to appear in the flesh that he might make good the Promise to the Parents And preparing a new people by his being upon the earth he declared by making a Resurrection the judgement and in the end by teaching and doing great signs and wonders he preached to Israel and dearly loved him Then he chose proper Apostles who should preach his Gospel who were sinners above all sin that he might shew that he came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Then he manifested himself to be the Son of God For had he not come in the flesh how could men looking on him have been saved For the Sun which is the work of his hands men cannot look directly upon with their eyes intent upon the beams of it Therefore the Son of God came in the flesh that he might