A TESTIMONY FOR ALL THE MASTERS of SHIPS and SEAMEN TO READ OVER. And to see whether they be in the True Faith that the True Christians and the Holy Men of God were in and if you be not then turn to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Author and Finisher of the Holy Divine and Precious Faith and then by this Faith your Hearts may be purified and with your Hearts ye may believe and with your Mouths ye may make Confession unto Salvation Rom. 10. And Christ saith Every one that is of the Truth heareth his Voice John 18.37 And now every one that is not of the Truth heateth not his Voice and say there is no hearing of it now adayes And here you may see how Christ called Fisher-men and Sea-men to be his Disciples as followeth And how Christ commanded the Winds and they obeyed him and how that the Lord God holds the Winds in his Fist and raiseth a Storm and makes a Calm so that all are to serve and fear him Take unto me saith the Lord all the ends of the Earth be saved Reprinted the Second time with an Addition By George Fox Quench not the Spirit dispise not prophesying prove all things hold fast that which is good 1 Thes 19 20 21. Who quench the Spirit and dispise Prophesying are not like to prove all things nor hold fast that which is good Printed in the Year 1677. A TESTIMONY FOR ALL THE MASTERS of SHIPS and SEAMEN TO READ OVER c. AFter that John was put in prison Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand repent ye and believe the Gospel Mark 1. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two Brethren Simon called Peter and Andrew his Brother casting a Net into the Sea for they were Fishers And Jesus said unto them Follow me and I will make you Fishers of men and they straitway left their Nets and followed him And Jesus going on from thence he saw two Brethren James the Son of Zebedee and John his Brother in a Ship with Zebedee their Father mending their Nets and he called them And immediately they left the Ship and their Father and followed Jesus Mat. 4.17.18 19 20 21 22. Mark 1.15 16 17 18 19 20. Now here all ye Sea-men and Fisher-men and all people may see these four Disciples of Christ their Call and what trades they were of Fisher-men and Sea-men these and such were more like to follow Jesus then and now then the High-Priests that had the Tythes and such as have great Benefices But Christ is the same to day as he was yesterday and so for ever for it was not many mighty and rich but the poor that received the Gospel And when Jesus was entered into a Ship his Disciples followed him and behold there arose a great Tempest in the Sea insomuch that the Ship was covered with the Waves but Jesus was asleep And his Disciples came to him and awoke him saying Lord save us we perish Mark in the time of a Storm these Fisher-men came to Christ and so should all Sea-men do now And he said to them why are ye fearful O ye of little Faith Then he arose and rebuked the Winds and Sea and there was a great Calm But the men marvelled saying what manner of man is this that even the Winds and the Sea obey him Now all ye Sea-men and Fisher-men let your Eyes be to Christ and your Faith in him that hath all Power in Heaven and in Earth given to him and can still the Storms and Tempests and Waves of the Sea and make it Calm And so Christ it is that saves you from perishing outwardly and eternally as you may see Mat. 8.23 24 25 26 27. and Mark 4.36 37 38 39 40 41. and Luke 8.22 23 24 25. For both the Winds and the Sea do obey Christ by whom they were made therefore fear God and let your faith stand in him who is the author and finisher of it And Jesus began to teach by the Sea Side and there was gathered unto him a great Multitude so that he entered into a Ship and sate in the Sea to wit in the Ship and the whole Multitude was by the Sea on the Land as you may see Mat. 13. Mark 4.1 and he taught them many things by Parables c. Now would not many say that it was not a consecrated place to teach the Word of God in but I must tell you Christ consecrates and makes all things and places holy Now Peter who was a Fisher-man Christ said unto him and the rest of his company of Fisher-men that he would make them fishers of men and bid them follow him which they did And you may see in Acts 2. how Peter the Fisher-man by one Sermon that he preached converted Three Thousand Souls as you may see from the 14th verse to the 41st the Beginning and End of his Sermon And now all ye Sea men and Fisher-men consider this Call of Christ who is the same to day as yesterday and so for ever to you if you will hear hear his voice for he stands at the door of your hearts and knocks and if any will hear my voice faith Christ and open his Door to wit of his Heart by joyning to his Grace Light Power and Spirit he will come in and sup with you and ye with him Rev. 3.21 And so the Sheep of Christ hear his voice and follow him John 10. for Peter the Fisher-man said to the Jews how in the last dayes God would pour out his Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and Daughters shall prophesie and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams and on my Servants and on my Hand maids I will pour out in those dayes of my Spirit and they shall prophesie saith the Lord c. And now if God hath poured out of his Spirit upon all Flesh and you grieve it and quench it and vex it then how can you prophesie or have any of these spiritual Dreams or visions or believe or receive this fisher-mans Sermon who was a Disciple of Christ And again in Mat. 14.24 c. And Jesus constrained his Disciples to go into a Ship and to go before him c. But the Ship was now in the midst of the Sea tossed with Waves for the Wind was contrary And in the forth Watch of the Night Jesus went unto them walking on the Sea and when the Disciples saw him walk on the Sea they were troubled saying it is a Spirit and they cryed out for Fear but Jesus spake unto them saying Be of good cheer it is I be not afraid And Peter answered him and sald Lord if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the Water and he said Come and when
see if they be not guilty of this and whether or no they have not sometimes cast some poor simple people into the Sea in pretence of being Witches And so let them and you see that hold such things and believe such things if you be not in Disobedience to the Power Spirit and Faith of God and in the Sin of Witchcraft your selves For you may see it was the Lord that sent out the Wind and raised that mighty Storm in the Sea and not your witches nor ill-tongued People as you vainly imagine as you may see Jonah 1.14 For if you were in the true saving Faith which Christ Jesus is the Author of that Faith gives you Victory over the Devil the Head of all your Witches and brings you to have Access to God who makes a Storm and makes a Calm For Lo He that formed the Mountains and created the Winds mark the Winds and declareth unto Man what is his Thoughts this is the Lord that created the Winds not your Witches Anos 4.13 And It is the Lord who layeth the Beams of his Chambers in the Waters who makes the Clouds his Chariots who walketh upon the Wings of the Winds Psalm 104.3 And the Lord commandeth and raiseth up the stormy Wind which lifteth up the Waves thereof and not your Witches nor ill-tongued People And David saith They that go down to the Seain Ships that do business in great Waters these see the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the Deep For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy Wind which lifteth up the Waves thereof They mount up to the Heaven they go down again to the Depths their Soul is melted because of Trouble They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their Wits End then they cry unto the Lord in their Trouble and he bringeth them out of their Distresses He maketh the Storm a Calm so that the Waves thereof are still then are they glad because they be quiet so he bringeth them unto their desired Heaven O that men would praise the Lord for his Goodness and for his Wonderful Works to the Children of Men Psalm 107. So ye may see it is the Lord that commands and raiseth the Winds and the Storms and allayes them again and not the Witches or ill-tongued People and that brings men to their desired Haven both outward and inward And again David saith He to wit the Lord causeth the Vapours to ascend from the Ends of the Earth He maketh Lightnings for the Rain He bringeth the Winds out of his Treasure Psalm 105.7 And now mark all ye Seamen when ye have Wind that maketh a Storm in the Sea the Lord hath brought it out of his Treasure But the disobedient and rebellious against God's Power Spirit and Faith and Enemies to his Truth and People say when a Storm or Wind is raised in the Sea some Witch or some ill-tongued People have raised it and these are erred from the true Faith as David was in who said Whatsoever the Lord pleaseth that does he in Heaven and in the Earth and in the Sea and all deep Places Psalm 105 7. And God causes the Winds to blow and the Waters to flow Psalm 147.18 And David saith Fire and Rain and Snow and Waters and Winds fulfil God's Words Psal 148.8 And now if the Witches raise the Storms and the Winds then the Winds and Storms must fulfil your Witches words and ill-tongued People But the Storms and the Winds fulfil God's Word and he raiseth up a Storm or a Wind that walks upon the Wings of the Wind. And your Witches cannot come into Gods Treasure to fetch his Wind out there for they be out of his power Nay have not some of your Faithless Seamen and you that think so pretended to buy winds Oh Darkness and Ignorance and a Shame to Christianity You are like to the Coluds and Winds without Rain and wells without water and Trees without Fruit as you may see in Prov. 25.14 and in Jude Who hath gathered the Winds in his Fist Who hath bound the Waters in his Garment Who hath established all the Ends of the Earth What is his Name and what is his Son's Name if thou canst tell Prov. 30.4 Who with thy dark Spirit imagines that the Witches can fetch or pluck the Wind out of God's Fist Oh abominable It is much if the Lord doth not let his Wind fly at you and raise a Storm against you who are erred from the Faith of the Holy Men of God For Christ commandeth the Winds and they obey him Luke 8.25 And where do you read in all the Scriptures that the Witches raised Winds or that any Seamen did go to buy Winds of them Let us see the Chapter and verse for it either among the People of God or among the Heathen and if you cannot stop your Mouths of such practises and be ashamed for dishonouring Christianity who are contrary both to the Law and Gospel And turn to the Lord who walks upon the Wings of the Wind and holds the Winds in his Fist and can let them fly out in Blasts to terrifie the wicked but the just live by Faith in God and Christ who is the Author of it who makes the Storm a Calm and commands the winds and brings them out of his Treasure at his Pleasure And the Righteous know that the stormy Winds obey and fulfil God's Word And so the Righteous can praise the Lord that created the Winds and all things in the Heaven and in the Earth and in the Sea and and renews man by Christ into his Image and gives him Dominion over all Praise and Glory Honour and Thanks be unto the Lord who is over all from Everlasting to Everlasting And all the Faithful know that A Sparrow shall not fall to the Ground without the Will of the Father much more a Man who is of greater Value then many Sparrows And therefore be not Faithless but believe in Christ the Light who commands the Winds and Storms by whom all things were made and are upheld by his Word and Power Heb. 1. The Law of thy mouth is better unto me then thousands of Gold and Silver Psa 119.71 G. F. Swarth-Moor in Lancashire the 28th of the 8th Month. 1676. Concerning how the World is called the SEA ANd God will dry up Babylon's Sea and make her Springs dry for God brought them like a Sea over the Jews when they transgress'd his Law and went from the Lord their Rock and Salvation And again it is said The Sea shall come upon Babylon and she shall be covered with the Multitude of her Waves So when the Medes and Persians came upon Babylon then the Sea came over them and the Jews had their Liberty Jer 15.42 So Spiritual Babylon is the Mother of Harlots she sits upon the Waters which are Nations peoples and Tongues But God will dry up her Waters which have overflown since the Apostles Days who hath persecuted the people of
God And out of her Sea hath risen the great storms of persecution and the Beast which rose out of the Sea with his storms of persecution And it is the power of Darkness which keeps the people in spiritual Aegypt Sodom and Babylon in this Sea But in Christ's peaceable Kingdom and on his Holy Mountain the Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leepard shall lie down with the Kid and the Calf and the Young Lyon and the Fatling together and a little Child shall lead them And the Cow and the Bear shall feed their Young Ones shall lie down together and the Lyon shall eat Straw like an Ox. And the Suckling-Child shall play on the Hole of the Asp and the weaned Child shall put his Hand on the Cockatrice Den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea And in that Day there shall be a Root of Jesse which shall stand up for an Ensign of the People to it shall the Gentiles seek and his Rest shall he Glorious And this is Christ who sets up his Ensigne for the Nations and shall assemble the Out-casts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four Corners of the Earth So he gathers them with his power Spirit and Light and his Ensigne is not set up for the Jews or a Nation only but for all Nations in general Who enlightens every Man that comes into the World that with his Light they may see him and his Ensigne Christ the Heavenly and Spiritual Man So the Gathering of all Nations is unto him by his Heavenly Light which he enlightens them withal And the Lord shall utterly destroy the Tongue of the Aegyptian Sea and with his mighty Wind shall he shake his Hand over the River and shall smite it in the seven Streams in the Perfection of it and men shall go over dry-shod Isa 11. And the Lord will destroy in this Mountain the Face of the Covering that is cast over all people and the Vail that is spread over all Nations mark all Nations not a Nation That all people may see the Salvation of God which the Light which comes from Christ their Saviour and if they do not believe in it it will be their Condemnation And this Covering must be taken off all people before the Knowledge of the Lord covers the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea For the Beast had his power from the Dragon and the Whore is erred from Christ the Truth And Aegypt in the Spirit and the spiritual Aegyptians will say Who is God or his Son the Light that they should obey him like the old Aegyptian and Christ was crucified in spiritual Sodom and Aegypt So here the Jews Scribes Pharisees and High-Priests who crucified Christ without the Gates at Jerusalem are called spiritual Aegypt and Sodom who are the greatest professors in the World But Christ is the Ensigne set up to the Nations who stilleth Mystery Babylon's sea and after Babylon is fallen and the Seas dryed up then the New Heaven and the New Earth is seen for the First Heaven and First Earth were passed away and then there was no more Sea So when the first Heavens and the first Earth are passed away then the New Earth and the New Heavens are seen and here is seen the Holy City New Jerusalem prepared as a Bride for her Husband Christ And here is the first and last seen their Husband Christ and the Marriage of the Lamb is come And the force of the Gentiles shall come to his Light and abundancâ— of the Sea shall be converted unto Christ Isa 60. So here is Abundance of the world which is called the Sea that shall be converted to Christ Jesus for the Gentiles are the Nations and the Gentiles shall come to Christ's Light from the Sea the world For Nations and Tongues are called Waters And The Sea saith Wisdom is not in me Job 28. Now the Wisdom that is pure is from above the Sea and them that fear God receive it And he shall pass through the Sea with Afflictions and shall smite the Waves of the Sea and all the Deeps of the Rivers shall be dried up And the Priae of Assyria shall be brought down and the Scepter of Egypt shall depart away And Christ's Scepter shall be set up his Scepter is a Scepter of Righteousness Zach. 10.11 Thuâ— saith the Lord which maketh a Way in the Sea and the Path in â—hâ— mighty Waters that this People may pass Glory to his Name for ever 〈◊〉 43. Aâ—d the Lord saith When I came was there no Man When I called was there none to answer Is my Hand shortened at all that I cannot redeâ—m or have I no Power to deliver Behold at may Rebuke I dry up the Sea And here the great Power of God and Christ is seen Isa 50. The wicked are compared to a troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose Waters cast up Mire and Dirt their Waters are foul There is no peace to the wicked saith my God for they are always roaring and wallowing and making a Noise Isa 1.57 And the Cruel People that have no Mercy their Voice roars like a Sea as in Jer 6.23 This Sea this Merciless cruel People which is like a roaring Sea was to come over the Jews for disobeying the Lord and therefore for all People to believe in the Light that Christ hath enlâ—ghtened you withal and walk in the Light that you may see Christ the Rock and build upon him who is sure against all weather Storms And Christ will bruise the Head of the Serpent for the Lord with his sore and great and strong Sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent even Leviathan that crooked Serpent which makes the World both men and women crooked And he shall slay the Dragon that is in the sea mark in the Sea for his Habitation is in the wicked like a roaring Sea and they plead for him and his sin till they go to the Grave and not for Christ that bruiseth his Head and the Lord that destroys him with his great sword But they that plead for Christ Can sing unto the Lord of his Vineyard for the Lord doth keep it and will water it every Moment lest any hurt it I will keep it Night and Day saith the Lord Glory to his Name for ever who is the Keeper of his People and this we witness who are his Vineyard as in Isaiah 27. POSTSCRIPT DAvid saith in the Lords hands are the deep places of the Earth the Strength of the Hills and the height of the Hills his his also and the Sea is the Lords and he made it and his hands formed the dry Land O come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker for he is our God and we are the people of his Pasture and the sheep of his hand hear his Voice