Twenty Eighth Query answered also Qu. 29. Whether the Apostle's Interdiction be absolutely against all Ornaments or Comparatively only And thou hast quoted a Scripture in 1 Pet. 3. 3 4. which answereth thee where thou may'st read what Ornaments he approves of and here thy Thirty Thirty One and Thirty Two Query is answered Answ. But Moderation in every thing Iown but what is waste is for the Lust both in Kings Princes and Great Personages as thou callest them but with us there is no Respect of Persons neither taking thought what to eat what to drink or wherewithal to be cloathed as the Children of this World do amongst whom thou art found but our Kingdom is not of this World And Israel after the Flesh was a Figure of Israel after the Spirit therefore now read their Adorning if thou canst and remember No Creature was made for the Lust though Lustful Men Abuse them Thy next is concerning Pride And thy first Question of this is Whether Pride doth lye in Apparel though there may be much Wastefulness Vanity and Ostentation committed therein or inwardly in the Heart and Mind of the Poor as well as of the Rich and thou quotest Mark 7. 21 22 23. Answ. The Scripture which thou hast quoted doth answer thy Question where Pride lyeth but Apparel is a dead Thing and no Pride in it but the Vanity and Wastefulness which thou confessest is committed therein figures forth the Pride of the Heart and where Riches are this is shown therefore you Priests look at home and judge your selves though Poor and Rich be both in one Nature before the Regeneration Ephes. 2. 3. Qu. 34. Whether one of the greatest Things that puffs up the Hearts of Men be not knowledge whether it be true or false and imagined only and thou quotest 1 Cor. 8. 1 2. Answ. You that are Carnal and Fleshly are puffed up with your Fleshly Notional Knowledge and in that you steal from others Experiences but the true Knowledge of the Spirit puffs not up but judges down that which would be exalted but this unto thee is a Mystery because thy Knowledge hath blinded thy Eye who art confused in thy Imaginations so read thy self in the Scripture aforesaid which thou hast quoted Qu. 35. Whether another Thing that exalts a Man in Pride and makes him despise his Brethren and perhaps those that are better then himself be not a Conceited and Self-chosen Holiness seeing such a Proud Saint is brought in Isa. 65. 5. which Thing also thou sayst is verefied in the Pharisee and the Publican Luke 18. 15. Answ. Thou hast here answered thy self with these Scriptures wherein thou may'st read thy self who thinkest thy self more holy then thy Brethren and wouldst only answer for thy self and not for thy Brethren though thou art found in the same Practices but thou blind Pharisee he was not a Saint which was spoken of in Isa. 65. 5. but he was a Saint which said We are of God and the whole World lyeth in Wickedness 1 John 5. 19. And here also thy 36 Question is answered with the Scripture which thou hast quoted 1 Tim. 3. 6. who art a false Teacher doting about Questions Qu. 37. And here thou askest whether a Young Man be not the proâ—est of all other to be thus seduced and puffed up and thou quotest 1 Tim. 3. 6. Answ. Thy Spite is much against Youth but him thou shootest at thou canst not hit because thou art blind and canst not divide the Word aright but thou may'st plainly have read thy self in that Chapter aforesaid and find that thou art the Novice who knowest not the Truth but despisest the Young Man because of his Youth which is contrary to Paul 1 Tim. 4. 12. And thy next is to maintain Swearing Qu. 38. And thy first Query of this is Whethâ—r it be lawful now in the New Testament to take an Oath before lawful Authority to put an End to Controversies and thou quotest Heb. 6. 16. Answ. This which thou goest about now to uphold manifests thee an Enemy to Christ and his Doctrine who saith Swear not at all for saith he it hath been said in the Old Time thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oath but I say unto you Swear not all but let your Yea be Yea and your Nay be Nay for what is more is Evil Now here he doth not only forbid false Swearing but also all Swearing Mat. 5. 33 34 c. and also the Apostle James doth the same in Jam. 5. 12. both which Scriptures thou hast quoted in the 39th Query and so here out of the Doctrine of Christ again thou art found in the Evil and all you that cannot believe one another without Swearing and so are more then Yea Nay and what is more is Evil saith Christ now read your Condemnation And as for that in Heb. 6. there the Apostle was speaking by Way of Comparison how the Lord made a Covenant and confirmed it with an Oath which is Christ Jesus the Everlasting Oath who saith Swear not at all and the Apostle brought a Comparison from Men in Strife and Controversie but this doth not at all maintain Swearing now for Strife and Controversie is out of the Doctrine of Christ and such run into the Swearing and into the Evil amongst whom thou art found upholding the Evil and opposing Christ's Doctrine and so art found in the Condemnation of the Devil Jam. 5. 12. This was not the Saints Practice for in the New Covenant neither Strife nor Swearer is and thus you Leaders cause Men to err by upholding that which Christ is against and here thy 39th Qâ—ry is answered Qu. 40. Here thou askest Whether Paul himself did not swear in these Words 2 Cor. 11. 10. as the Truth of Christ is in me c. Answ. Oh thou Enemy of Truth that would'st here scandal and accuse Paul for Swearing that so thou might'st uphold Swearing but by what doth he here swear this is plain Language And thy next is concerning Outward Material Churches and the publick Exercises therein Most of these Queries are answered in my Reply to thy Answer to my 17th Query wherein I have declared why I object against your Steeple-houses which thou callest Churches Qu. 44. Here thou askest if such Meetings may not be mixt Assemblies of Learned and Unlearned of Believers and Unbeliers and thou quotest 1 Cor. 14. 23. Answ. But the Unbelievers are not owned by the Believers though they come amongst the Believers as in 2 Cor. 6. 14 15 16 17 18. then the Ministers are far off being maintained by Unbelievers as thou art for though thou confessest the greatest Part are Earthly-minded and Worldly-minded thou yet art maintained by them and I am sure they that come into the true Faith which purifieth the Heart come out from amongst you so that you are not much mixed for you are all one Nature like Priest like People And in thy 47 th and
Ground of the Religion made manifest to us is God himself for God is the Fountain of all Truth and Truth is Religion and Religion is Truth and this Truth we witness made manifest by God the Life of Truth and here is the Religion which we witness forth and here is the Ground witnessed forth from the Ground and this Religion is pure unspotted and springs from the Light which is pure wherein there is no Deceit neither can be for it discovers all Deceit and leads out of it both within and without but Deceit discovers not Deceit for Satan divided against himself cannot stand bâ—t all Sects and Opinions arise out of Darkness and the End is Confusion and so as Darkness is opposite to Light and Death to Life so are all Sects and Opinions against the true Religion and all will side together against the Truth though they be opposite one to another in Judgment as Pilate and Herod did against Christ and the Scribes and Pharisees and high Priests and Saducees and rude Multitude So it is now both Papist and Protestant as they call them and all other Sects and Opinions which arise out of the Fall for though they differ in Judgment yet they spring from one Root and no Difference in Life but the Light strikes at the Root which is Darkness and layes open the hidden things done in Darkness so Darkness cannot endure the Light and this is the Condemnation of the World who love Darkness rather then Light because their Deeds are evil And this is the Cause why our Religion is spoaken against more then any Profession besides all Drunkards Swearers Lyars Whoremongers Adulterers Thieves Murtherers Proud Covetous Lustful ones and all Unrighteous Persons will speak against it and call it Delusion and Heresie and Witchery and all manner of Evil which the Devil can invent and those stand up for the Priests and persecute the Truth as it was in the time of Christ and his Apostles times and this will all Pharisees and Professors do as they ever did for they can wink at one another and bear with one another in Deceit but Truth cannot at all bear with Deceit because there is perfect Enmity as there was ever in all Ages and it is no new thing And here all your Sects and Opinions are shut out of the Light and are in Darkness and so is Confusion both Popery and all other But the Truth is but one and who dwels in the Truth dwels in the Light and are the Children of the Light and there is no Confusion but all of one Heart and one Mind Epistles written in one anothers Hearts and there is that in every Conscience which shall witness it be the everlasting Truth which ever was is and is to be for ever both in them that believe and in them that perish though to the Condemnation of them that hate it And this I witness by the infallible Spirit of the Lord which cannot lie And now I have discharged my Conscience before all People in the behalf of the Truth of God not that I would have any to speak well of it but from the Ground of it for the Love and the Hatred of the Unrighteous is all one to me but for some Simple ones sake I have laid open my self and freely discharged my Conscience and I doubt not that my Labour is in vain but whosoever owns the Truth of God must own it through good Report and evil Report and must be content to loose their good Name in the World as both Christ and his Servants did and the Servant must not be greater then his Lord. And now a few words to all you Heads and Rulers and Magistrates in what Degree soever who have the Power in your own Hands who by your Power persecute and imprison the Servants and Messengers of Jesus Christ as Deluders and Deceivers Witches and Vagabonds and have no Ground for it but only by Hear-say and the evil Thoughts and Imaginations of your own Hearts and because they cannot please nor satisfie your corrupt proud Wills which is your Law by which you persecute them not weighing nor searching the Ground of things You are they in whom the Beast reigns and his Image you bear which upholds the false Prophet and Tyrannize over the Nations by his corupt Will and cause them to bow to and worship his Image and you oppress and persecute those who cannot You must drink of the Wine of the Wrath of the Almighty poured out without mixture for in the bloody Generation you are found filling up the measure of your Fathers Wrath upon whom must come all the righteous Blood shed from righteous Abel until now and this I say in the Presence of the living God by the Spirit of the living God that all you who have had a hand in persecuting of them Guilt shall follow you in the Conscience until you come to Judgment And therefore I charge you all by the Lord to take heed of medling about Religion or to lay your Law upon any tender Conscience but see that your Law be according to that in the Conscience which is pure and perfect and medle with such Affairs as you are set about and rather give Liberty to Religion then take it away as you own the Grace of God you will and see that you discharge your Consciences there lest that while you are persecuting the Truth you neglect that which you are set about for you will both persecute them your selves and suffer the Bruits to stone strike buffet them which is all contrary to your own Law Neither when they are brought before you can they have the Liberty of the Law to clear such Accusations as are laid against them but you will hear the Accusers but not the Accused and this is contrary to the Heathenish Law and are more unjust then the very Heathen who said Doth our Law judge any one before it hear him And so for Shame profess no more Love to Christ in this Nature who execute your Law upon his Servants upon such a fallible Ground which no Judge ought to do by the Law of God especially about Religion but to search out the Ground of the Matter on both side before he judge but this he cannot do about Religion except he have the Spirit of the Lord therefore take heed of medling about spiritual Matters lest through Ignorance you call Christ Beelzebub and persecute him as a Blasphemer and Deceiver as many of you have done which is written in the Book of Conscience and there you shall read it to your Sorrow And all you blind People who persecute rail and revile and reproach the Truth of God and have no Ground for it but by hear-say and the evil Thoughts and Imaginations of your own Hearts one imagining one Thing and another another Thing as the Multitude which gathered together against Paul one crying one Thing and another
you may see the Difference betwixt the one and the other the one a Form and Tradition and Profession the other the Life and Power and Substance and here also you may see what England's Church which England's Priests have planted now differs from the Heathen and now set Drunkards aside set Swearers aside set Lyars aside set Proud Ones aside set Covetous Ones aside set Railers aside set Murderers aside and Whoremongers aside ses Wild Ones Prophane Ones and Wanton ones aside set Quarrellers and Fighters aside and Hypocrites Dissemblers and Persecutors aside and Back-biters Extortioners and Lustful ones and such like aside and then see where England's Church is which your Priests have made you believe they have planted and let them eat no where but of their own Vineyard and it will make them go about to plant a better Vineyard or else to cast off their long Gowns and fall to dig with a Spade for some of them have sometimes brought that Place of Scripture to uphold their forty or fifty or an hundred or two hundred by the Year where the Apostle saith Who planteth a Vineyard â—nd eateth not of the Fruit thereof Now according to this the Vineyard must be planted first before they can eat of the Fruit thereof and set those aside that I mentioned as aforesaid for the Apostles cast out such Weeds and wild Plants out of their Vineyard and then see where their Vineyard is which they have planted and let them only eat of the Fruit thereof and not rob others Vineyards and this is but Equity according to Scriptures Example but they are such Greedy Dogs as the Prophet Isaiah declared against in his Time and such ravening Wolves Foxes as they live all upon the Spoil the Fruits of others Labours and those that hunt them out of their Vineyards and Barns Flocks and Heards then they have a Law even to devour them and their whole Estates and this is far from Gospel-Ministers nay Jesus Christ the Light saw their Fore-fathers and marked them out to be the Ravening Wolves in Sheeps Cloathing as these do now appear to any but those that love to have it so for so long as you put into their Mouthes they cry Peace Peace and speak you fair and call you Christians and Beloved but put not into their Mouthes then they even prepare War then they have Law for you to take treble Dammage from you and so fulfil the Apostles Words Oh what a horrible filthy Thing is here committed in the Land Are not they plain Ravening Wolves that would devour both Body and Soul Now you People of England consider where you are and whom you follow and whither you are going and see now who are your fore-fathers and see now how you have walked by Tradition and Form and have been blinded by a vain Profession and outside-Worship and so have taken Anti christ for Christ and the Ministers of Anti-christ for the Ministers of Christ and have pâ—â— Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness and your Fear towards God hath been taught by the Precepts of Men and they have taught for Doctrine the Traditions of Men as I have before proved how many things they have led you in by Tradition without any Scripture-Proofs though to you they have been Oracles of God but now they are searched by the Light they are made manifest to be vain Heathenish Traditions and thus the blind have led the blind along many of them into the Ditch but yet I say not but the Lord hath had his People in all Ages those who were zealous and faithful and true-in what they knew but I know the Priests have been long utter Enemies to God and his Truth and the Tares have long covered the Wheat and in the time of Ignorance God wink'd but now the Light shines out of Darkness and now is the Separation and gathering the Sheep from the Goats the Wheat from the Tares and to convince the World of Sin and of Righteousness and of Judgment because the Prince of the Air is judged and now the Lord doth require all every where to repent and they that love the Light will bring their Deeds to the Light that the Light may prove them whether they be wrought in God and it is not to say You will follow your Fore-fathers and go on the old Way for such are they that hate the Light and despise it and love Darkness rather then Light because their Deeds are Evil and so having drunk old Wine do not straightway desire new for they say the old is better and those are they that cry up the old Way and cry away with new Wayes and new Lights And this is the Condemnation of the World Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness rather then Light because their Deeds are Evil Light is new to them who have alwayes been in Darkness and Truth is new to them who have alwayes lived in Deceit but the Light is the same as ever it was for it is unchangeable and the Truth is the same So People take heed of Obstinacy and wilful Blindness and love not to be deceived for now the Light plainly and clearly shines and here your old Way is plainly laid open what it is and from whence it is and also your Priests and though they be more refined within these late Years then they were before it is because the Light is more broaken forth within these late Years so that many are come to see their Deceit and declare against them and now they are but the more subtiler and closer Deceivers Satan transformed into another Shape more like the Light but still they have not parted with their great Benefices and Augmentations or Tythes nor the chiefest Place of the Assembly nor their long Gowns though they are almost ashamed of their Colour nor to be called of Men Master nor from seeking their Gain from their Quarter nor from making a Trade of other Mens Words nor from their lying Divinations and saying The Lord saith when he never spoak to them nor from stealing the Word into their Mouth and saying Hear the Word of the Lord when they never heard his Voice neither turn the Wicked Ones from their Wickedness nor the Proud Ones from their Pride nor the Ungodly from their Ungodliness nor the Prophane from their Prophaneness but are still prophane themselves and still proud and covetous and still shelter themselves under the Powers of the Earth as their fore-fathers the false Prophets alwayes did and still run when the Lord never sends them but ordained and set up and upheld by the Will of Man therefore they profit not the People at all but only have gotten a higher Notion to feed the Notionists withal and so make more Pharisees Hypocrites and Whited Walls and they are more whited over themselves to deceive the World but the pure Light is so broaken forth that they cannot hide themselves and many see the
Deceit of the Priests and their Folly is a manifesting even to all so that none need to be deceived by them but the wilful obstinate and blind who love to have it so who love Darkness rather then Light which is their Condemnation the Light which reproves them for their Evil Deeds and therefore they hate it for every one that doth Evil hates the Light and this is his Condemnation and no Ignorance here is to be pleaded and these are they that uphold the Priests and the Pharisees but all who have Desires to see may see And now here are the Priests or the Ministers so called of England laid open with the Church of England with their Form Profession and outside Worship with their Ground and Original and sandy Foundation and to be within differing from the Heathen but in Name and Form and Profession therefore down it must though the Powers of the Earth have long upheld them more then any other Sect so that they have continued so long as they do not a little boast of and thereby say They are of God but let the Magistrate look to his Office and let the Minister alone with his Office and then you shall see the professed Ministers of England to be the weakest of all Sects and Forms but Anti christ hath had his limited Time to reign over the Earth but now the King of Righteousness is risen with a Sword in his Hand and by his mighty Arm he will overturn overturn all until it come into his Hand whose own it is and he will bind the Kings in Chains and the Nobles in Fetters of Iron and he will break the Powers of the Earth asunder and all who oppose him and the Beast and false Prophet shall be taken and all that receive his Mark and worship his Image into the Lake shall go small great and there to lye for evermore and this is the Stone which the Builders have rejected which now is become the Head of the Corner and whosoever falls upon it shall be broaken but on whomsoever it falls it will grind them to Powder and this is the Stone cut out of the Mountain without Hands which strikes at the Feet of the Image And here is a Blow to the Foundation of the Priests Church of England Therefore now all People who are captivated under the Priests turn your Minds within to the Light of the Lord Jesus which reproves you in secret when you tell a Lye or use any Deceit which shews you your Evil Deeds and that your Hearts are not right towards God for all your Duties and Worship and Profession and that which calls for Uprightness of Heart and an holy Life and Change and Reformation and a Newness of Life hearken unto this it is the free Grace of God unto your Souls and teacheth freely and by this you will come to profit for it teacheth Godliness and Godliness is great Gain so that you will not need to spend your Money for that which is not Bread nor your Labour for that which profiteth not nor to be led Captive by your blind Guides ever learning and never come to the Knowledge of the Truth but still in Blindness and Darkness for you have a Teacher within which is a more sure Word of Prophecy to the which you do well to take heed unto as to a Light shining in a dark Place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your Hearts this is the Measure of the Grace of God even the free Gift of God which God hath given you to profit withal which will accuse you or excuse you before the Throne of God to which I now leave you having dischargd my Conscience concerning you and so I proceed to the rest of Forms Now within these late Years the Light of Christ beginning to stir in Peoples Hearts so that many come to see themselves in much Darkness and Ignorance of these things which they read of in the Scripture and also the Corruption of the Priests and Teachers and what Reprobates they were concerning the Faith and that they profited not the People at all but they had heard them so long and still blind and ignorant so that many come to see their Folly yet their Minds not being directed to the Light which shewed them this and should have led them out of this Condition upon which they should have waited for Direction to have found the Way of Truth but they run without to the Letter in their own Wills and Wisdom and so would find out a Way by their own Wisdom Imagination and so went out to search the Scripture but with a wrong Eye giving their own Meanings and Interpretations upon the Scripture and one cries This is my opinion and another cryes This is my Opinion and another cryes This is my Judgment and thus they are confounded and divided into their several Judgments and Opinions yet all still in one Life and one Nature but only conâ—ounded and divided in their Judgments of what the Prophets meant and Christ meant and what the Apostles meant but it is as a Book sealed both to the learned and unlearned and none is found worthy but the Lamb to open the Seals who is the Light wherein lyes the Ministry so this is the Cause why they whose Minds are from the Light are so divided and scattered in their Judgments and Opinions and one sets up a Form in his Imagination and another sets up a Form in his Imagination and one runs abroad into the World with his Wisdom and he will go preach up his Form and Judgment to be the Truth and another he will cry down that Form for Delusion and preach up his Form for a Truth and so many Deceivers and false Spirits are entered into the World and one cries Lo here is Christ if you can believe and be baptized you shall be saved So they that can say that is the Way and that they believe Christ dyed for them then they must be dipped in the Water and that they call baptizing of them and then they are of their Church and then they call themselves Saints though they are still in the old Nature and so in the Fall and in their Sins and Corruptions and it is not the washing away the Filth of the Flesh that doth change them but because they are come out from the Priests and turned into another Judgment and Profession they think themselves Saints and they read the Scripture of laying on the Apostles Hands and then the Disciples received the Holy Ghost and so those Formalists and self-Actors lay on their Hands but there wants the Holy Ghost and thus they act and form and imitate and make the Form or Likeness of a Church and they read of washing the Feet in the Figure and so they dote upon the Letter and wash one anothers Feet and they read of delivering up to Satan one for Fornication for the Destruction of
I am freely made willing to give up rather then to deny the Truth of my God And if I should pay one Penny for the Liberty of my Body in this Cause would be as much as if I paid the whole Fine which thou hast unjustly laid upon me for therein I should own my self a Transgressor where I am not guilty and also a bought Liberty is Bondage to my Spirit but my Liberty under thy Bonds is Bondage to thee which Liberty thou canst not rob me of with all that thou canst do for it is the Free-Gift of God which none can take away though thou wilt not allow me in thy Bonds to have the outward Liberty that thou allowest to Thieves and Murderers and Fornicators that is to have my Friends and Acquaintance to come to see me wherein the very Heathen will condemn thee who when they had committed Paul to Prison said Forbid none of his Friends and Acquaintance to come to see him Acts 22. 24. Therefore now read how thou exceedest the Heathen in Persecution and Injustice though I am a free-born Subject in England therefore let the Life of all the Christians condemn thee who never were Persecutors And this of the Lord I was moved to write which is the Word of the Lord unto thee whether thou wilt hear or forbear in the Peace of my Conscience I do rest in the Will of God known to thee by the Name James Parnel And now a few Words unto you who call your selves Gathered Churches go under the Name of Independents in Essex YOU are gathered by the Will of Man and are joyned by the Will of Man and so stand in the Will of Man and are upheld by the Will of Man by which you are begotten but still alive in the World's Nature in the World's Customs Fashions and Traditions in the World's Fellowship Words and Wayes and Rudiments only differing from others in Judgment Opinion or Profession wherein is your Life in high Notions and feigned Apprehensions and false Applications and glorious Expressions and customary Duties and vain Traditions which all appertain to the great Image which all the world worships by which they are deceived whose Head is Gold and Breast of Silver and Thighs of Brass and Legs of Iron and Feet part Iron part Clay and in the same Nature ye are found with the world the Day doth declare it and you to be the Enemies and Stangers to the Light which is not of the world which is now come into the world testifying against the world and the Deceit of the world and the Deceivers in the World and the Profession of the world And this is the Condemnation of the world that Light is come into the world and men love Darkness rather then Light because their Deeds are Evil In which Evil you are found despising and setting at nought the Corner-Stone and standing in the Enmity of your Spirits and joyning with the Powers of the Earth to persecute the Life and Power which now is manifest in the Earth and is come to discover your Empty Shadows Forms and fair Shews of Godliness but without Life and Power which you have set up in your Imaginations and thereby are deceived and blinded and led in Blindness so that you cannot see the Light nor receive the Substance now it is come and made maniest but stand up in your Wills and wisdom to oppose the same and persecute it in the Enmity of your Spirits as if you hoped to kill the Heir that the Inheritance might be yours And therefore Because you do despise this Day of your Visitation and reject and sleight the Glad-tidings which now are come to them that dwell upon the Earth and revilâ— and reproach persecute and slander the faithful Messengers of the Gospel rejoycing your Hearts in their Sufferings by you and amongst you therefore the Lord will raise up a People out of the Dust and gather them from far to bear Testimony unto his Name and bear witness against you yea and shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the Son and you and such as you shall be cast out into Tophet prepared of old for Hypocrites and Unbelievers Therefore now read your Portion ye stiff-necked and Uncircumcised in Heart and Ears who do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost as did your Fathers so do ye but the greater will be your Condemnation who go about to mock God with your Will-worship with your Calling of Assemblies and Solemn Meetings with your appointed Fasts and Dayes of Voluntary Humiliation with your Long Prayers and Feigned Duties all which are done out of the Light and so are your own Works acted by Self for Self But who has required these things at your Hands It is all Abomination to the Lord his Soul loaths it For your Sacrifices are are as Cain's for you are found in Cain's Nature Envying and Persecuting the Righteous yea the Witness lieth slain in your Streets Therefore VVo is unto you who go on in the Way of Cain for upon you shall come all the Righteous Bloodshed from Righteous Abel until now And your Profession stinks in the Nostrils of the Lord for you have lifted up your Hands against him and his Anointed and opened your Mouths in Blasphemy and False Reports against the Truth yea you are blind and stumble at the Noon-day you come near the Lord with your Lips but your hearts run a Whoring after other Lovers and you know not the Only True God that dwells in Temples made without hands whose VVorship is in Spirit and in Truth but would limit the Unlimited under your VVills as if he were not a God of Might but that you could controle him with the Arm of Flesh But Be not deceived God is not mocked such as you sow such shall you reap and your End shall be according to your Works For our God is a God of Judgment and Justice and will avenge the Cause of the Innocent upon you his Adversaries Yea and though your Teachers do cry Peace Peace unto you because you put into their Mouthes and so daub you up with Untempered Morter that you cannot see your VVouud and so heal you sleightly Yet you shall know that our God is a God of Truth and his VVord shall stand forever and their Sorcery shall appear and their Witchcraft shall be laid open and the Cup of Fornication wherewith they have made drunk and deluded the Nations shall be taken from them the Cup of the Wrath of the Almighty given them to drink their Reward And then shall you behold the Harlot with whom you have committed Fornication who now lies in your Bosoms Bewitching you with a Golden Cup with whom you have defiled your Garments then to be cast into the Bottomless Pit where you shall all be tormented together who now partake of her Pleasures and thus shall you fall among them that fall in the Day that I visit you saith the Lord. J. Parnel A Few
Body and Blood of Christ for thou saist thou hast declared the Mystery of both more distinctly and evidently then ever thou readst in our Writings And then by thy vain Philosophy thou goest about to justifie the Word Sacrament for the which thou hast no Scripture and many of your Blind Dâ—luded People do not know what it means Rep. But all this is no true Ground to believe thy words to be Truth for thy Hope is alreadâ— disproved and found to be Deceit and thy Lying Tongue hath been many times reproved as before thou boastest that thou uâ—ually spoakest by the Motion of the Holy Ghost and then wast presently found in a Lye so that there is no Credit to be given to thy Words without a sufficient Proof for here also thou may'st easily be proved a Lyar for out of thy own Mouth both thou thy self and thy Church were proved to be no Christians Then for your Discerning the Body of Christ or declaring the Mystery from your own Experiences yea and though thou couldest declare the Mystery from others Words who experienced it they that hear thee could not discern it without a Single Eye which appeareth they have not who are still Earthly-minded by thy own Confession And dost thou profess here now to have such a Spiritual People and yet durst not trust them for thy Maintenance without a Compulsive Law This also manifests thy self to be Earthly-minded and so ignorant of the Mystery And thus every way thou Deceiver thy Confusion is seen and by the Truth art thou overwhelmed and catched in thy own Craftiness Qu. 25. And whether dost thou not give Bread and Wine to Natural Men and Women yea or nay Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou confessest Thou dost give to Natural Men anâ— Women and also to Spiritual Ones as thou saist Christ himself did to all the Twelve Disciples Luke 22. 14 15. c. whereof thou saist Judas was one and the Apostle for a time thou saist gave the same to those that professed Repentance Faith and new Obedience but fell away afterwards which to prove thou quotest 1 Cor. 11. 18 19. 1 John 2. 19. Rep. Here thou Murderer of Souls by thy own Confession thou confessest the People to eat and drink Damnation to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body which the Natural Man and Woman cannot do and as for Spiritual Ones thou hast none in thy Flock for thou confessest they are Earthly minded And for what Christ did is a Mystery to thee and that which might be done for the fulfilling of what was before decreed which is nothing for thee to imitate And did not Judas eat and drink his own Damnation Neither doth these Scriptures prove that the Apostles did the same as thou dost for he was far absent from them when he writ this Epistle to them as a Warning to take heed what they did neither doth that in John prove any thing to this Purpose for thine can fall no lower then they are who are not yet Christians neither thou that teachest them as is before proved out of thy own Mouth And though here thou confessest they are a Mixt Multitude yet thou makest no Difference when thou takest thy Tythes neither appeareth it when thou givest them that thou callest a Sacrament Qu. 26. Can any be set free from Sin so long at they are upon the Earth and where must they be clensed if not upon the Earth Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou in words confessest That man may be Wholely set Free and that thou knowest no other Place of Purgation and also boastest That thou hast held forth this Doctrine long before the Quakers came as thou callest them Rep. But I find in Life thou still denyest it neither art thou thy self come up to it nor any that are taught by thee and therefore I hold thee the greater Hypocrite and Deceiver then if with the rest of thy Brethren thou didst in words deny it unless in Life thou didst seal it for Profession without Life and Power hath ever been a Dishonour to Truth and Religion Therefore silence Deceit and cause not the Truth to be blasphemed Qu. 27. What Scripture hast thou for thy Rule to give David's Conditions to be sung in a Meeter Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou canst bring no Scripture-Proof to maintain what thou dost but saist All are not of the World whom we take to be of the World to wit who are no Quakers thou saist And secondly thou saist Israel in the general to whom David gave his Psalms to be sung were the greatest part Unregenerate and men of the World Thirdly thou saist He gave them in Meeter or Measure to be sung as the Learned in the Hebrew Tongue know well Rep. All are of the World that are not Christians which neither thou nor thine are as before out of thy own Mouth is proved and also all that own not Quaking and Trembling by the Power of God are also of the World and know not God for all the Holy Men of God and David for one as is before proved witnessed Quaking and Trembling and the Son of Man was to eat his Bread with Quaking and drink his Water with Trembling And so you that despise Quaking and Trembling are Heathens that know not God And also the Way is but one and they that are not with us are against us But All Israel Trembled before the Lord who were not of the World as thou belyest them who were the Lord 's chosen People in the Figure whom he had chosen out of the World though when they forgot their God they were defiled with the World Neither canst thou bring any Scripture-Proof to maintain that David gave forth his Prayers his Prophecies his Quakings his Roarings his Cryings and his Lamentations â—o be sung in a Meeter as thou saist the Learned Ones know but thy Learned Ones may be Lyars like Thee and therefore I have no Ground to believe them seeing also that I have a Proof to the contrary for by your own Confession they were turned into English Meeter by Sternhold and Hopkinson and therefore stop thy Mouth thou Lyar. And fourthly Thou askest what Condition David was in into which every Man may not come in Time And fifthly thou say'st Are not David ' s Psalms Part of the Holy Scriptures which are permitted to all Men and are profitable for all Men to read And sixthly thou say'st The Jews did read all the Old Testament in Publick with a singing Voice as the Learned know And seventhly thou say'st Did not the Lord by his Servant Moses teach all Israel a Song of his own making as in Deut. 31. 19 20 21 22. Deut. 32. And thou say'st We will not deny but David ' s Psalms may have the same Effects even upon the Wicked c. which is false for we will deny it for the Wicked have nothing to do with them for unto the Wicked God saith What hast thou to do to declare my
to every Creature Neither doth either of these Scriptures which thou hast quoted prove to the contrary And how many Scriptures didst thou quote in thy Answer to my Fifteenth Query to prove that the Ministers of the Gospel might forbear Woâ—king and not to entangle themselves with the Affairs of this Life yet in all could not prove thy self a Minister of the Gospel and now thou questionest the Truth of the Scripture because neither thou nor thy Brethren were called according to Scripture But whomsoever the Lord calls unto his Work he doth take Care both for him and his Family but You that are not called by him dare not trust him without a Law of Man And in thy Ninety Eighth and Ninety Nineth Query thou seemest to accuse us with some that turned from the Truth and yielded to the Deceit of their Hearts and so gave Occasion to such as thee who wait for Occasion to Blaspheme the Truth but is is no new thing but the same which the Scripture declares of in divers places therefore saith Christ Offences must come but Wo unto them by whom they do come For there were then many such as thee in that Age who as thou dost waited for Occasion to blaspheme the Truth But if thou hadst been then how would'st thou have accused Christ who had but Twelve Apostles and one of them betrayed him and then hanged himself and another denyed him Therefore let this stop thy Mouth for speaking Evil of the things thou knowest not And as for Spencer and Gilpin whom thou here nominatest the Truth is sufficiently cleaâ—ed of them in other Books and the Priests have owned them as they did Judas which is the Name of all that turn from the TRUTH after they have received it Qu. 100. Have so many fallen into Distraction or Madness in any Sect or under any Doctrine as there hath done amongst your Hearers especially where the Number of Disciples was no more Answ. Look at Home and answer thy self witness your UNIVERSITIES as you call them for it is the Fruit of Your Studies who would find out that by Your Wit and Wisdom which the Lord hath hid from You And all that You cannot settle in Security and Blindness You lead them into Madness Confusion and Distraction if they do not in time forsake you as many will witness at this day That they are led by You into such a Wilderness that they know not which way to get out neither do You know how to direct them for You are in Confusion your selves and so the Blind leadeth the Blind into the Ditch Therefore this might have stopped thy Mouth from Falsly Accusing us But I remember TRUTH was ever accounted MADNESS and FOLLY by the Blind World who know not that Godliness is Great Gain And in thy Ninety Fourth Query thou wast Questioning the Truth of our Doctrine because of the Multitude of Disciples and now by the Fewness and thus thou Contradictest thy self And then after much of thy Filthy Stuff which all along thou hast vented forth of thy old Bottle against us which upon thee I have returned again from whence it came thou seemest to accuse our Book but dost not shew wherein and therefore I pass it by as knowing thy Lying Spirit And then thou stealest the Apostle's Words for a Cloak for the Deceit of thy Heart 2 Corinth 13. 7 8 9. which the Apostle spoak from a True and Upright Heart but thou from a False Deceitful Heart as all along hath been sufficiently proved and thy Prayers to be Abomination and that thou hast nothing to do to name the Name of God in thy Mouth who art a Worker of Iniquity and a Stranger unto God who art found out of his Doctrine and therefore with this Scripture I shall mark thee 2 John 9. 10. that all may know thee and turn away theit Ears from thee who art not to be received but denyed and therefore whosoever receiveth thee or thy Doctrine the same departeth from the Doctrine of Christ And therefore let this be a Caveat to all People to whom it shall come and look upon thee to be as Anathema Maranatha 〈◊〉 Cor. 16. 22. Given forth from the Spirit of the Lord through a Friend to all Souls witnessed in all Consciences by the Eternal Light of God by which I am known and received in the Behalf of Israel against the Armies of the Aliens who muster up themselves against the Lord and his Authority by a Friend to the Common-Wealth of Israel who is known to the World by the Name JAMES PARNEL Who is a Sufferer in Outward Bonds for the Testimony of the Everlasting Truth in Colchester-Castle 1655. A WARNING FOR All People ALL People Repent and turn to the Lord from the Evil of your Doings for the Day of the Lord is at Hand wherein the Lord will judge the World and give to every one according to their Deeds whether they be Good or Evil yea He is coming with Ten thousand of his Angels to be avenged of the Heathen and them that know him not Now all that live in Sin and Filthiness it appears you know him not for if you did you durst not live in your Lusts heaping up Wrath against the Day of Wrath wherein the Lord will appear as a Consuming Fire against all Ungodliness Rom. 1. 18. God is against you dissembling Professors who adorn the Outside serve God in Notions Words oâ—tside Forms but the Heart is not upright with God you are in the Earth in your Covetousness which is Idolatry and the Lord abhors the outside Worship when the Heartis not answerable and calls such Whited Walls and Painted Sepulchres Hypocrites Serpents Generation of Vipers and the Wo is to such how can you escape the Damnation of Hell Mat. 23. God is against you Proud Lustful Ones who make it your greatest Care to deck your selves in proud Attire inventing new Wayes Fashions to make your selves glorious in the Sight of Men that they may worship you and honour you but consider not that you are but Dust and God will lay your Honour in the â—ust for he is risen to whom all Worship and Honour is due and he will bring down yâ—ur Haughtiness and your Pride and will exalt the Humble and Meek and will seek that which was lost but will destroy the Fat with Judgment Repent ye Lofty Ones and turn to the Lord and humble your selves before him that you may be hid in the Day of his fierce Wrath lest he take you away and there be none to deliver for the Day of the Lord will burn as an Oven and they that are proud and they that do wickedly will be as Stubble and it will leave them neither Root nor Branch Mal. 4. 1. God is against you Drunkards who make it your Trade to pour in strong Drink abusing the Creature which God hath given to be used moderately for the Health and not for the Lust therein you shew your selves