the Scripture the Light yet in the same it doth witness against them and witness Christ to be the Light before the Scripture was written and is able to save to the utmost all that shall come unto God by him and they that climb up any other Way the same are Thieves and Robbers John 10. 1. And therefore is not a Natural Insufficient Light as they that know not him do report of him and therefore shew themselves to be as ignorant as the Pharisees who only supposed him to the Son of Joseph yet wondred at his Power and the Works that were done by him as these do now wonder at the Prosperity of this Ministration of Light and to see how it prevails upon the Hearts of the people so that they know not what to think of it they are not able to encounter with it but that they see it strikes so much at their Diana and lies so hard at their Foundation so that it makes their Building Totter therefore the Rulers Priests aud Pharisees take Counsel together saying one to another If we let this People alone all men will go after them and they will draw away whole Nations therefore they take the same course as ever the false Prophets did joyning together with the Earthly Powers to make War with the Lamb Persecuting Stocking Whipping Imprisoning and shamefully intreating his Messengers whom the Lamb sent forth to bear Testimony of this Light in peoples Consciences where we have a Witness both in them that believe and in them that perish and also striving all the wayes they can by their Evil Incensing Lying Railings and false Accusings and Reporting to defame this Light and leaven your minds against it that if it were possible to put it out that still they might uphold their Father's kingdom of darknes and bear rule by their Means over the Blind carrying captive the minds of people But who is able to make War with the Lamb or who shall withstand the Day of his Coming Saul Saul it is hard for thee to kick against the Pricks And though they call the Scripture their Rule and Guide yet in this it witnesseth against them to be in Cain's way and Balaam's way and in the GainSaying of Core and so have not God Jude 11. 2 John 9. but are found to be the Generation who are born after the Flesh persecuting them that are born after the Spirit Gal. 4. 29. And though they call the Scripture their Rule and Guide yet they receive not Power from it to enable them to walk according to it but are altogether erring from it in any thing that crosseth Self but as many as receive the Light receive Power to follow it and come out of the corrupt sinful nature which they live in who know not the Light John 1. 12. and here the Light is above the Scripture And though they say the Scripture is the Judge and Tryer of Spirits yet in the same it witnesseth against them to be Lyars and bears witness of Christ to be the Judge and Tryer and Searcher of the Heart and Discerner of the Thoughts Heb. 4. 12. Rom. 1. 16. 1 Pet. 4. 5. and that whatsoever makes manifest is Light Eph. 5. 13. therefore that which makes manifest false spirits is the Light and not the Letter which Light manifested and discovered false spirits before the Scripture was written And also though they say the Scripture is the Judge and Tryer of Spirits yet by the Scripture they cannot discern or judge of Spirits else what makes all this difference in Judgment amongst them who profess to try Spirits by the Scripture and profess it to be their Rule and ground their Judgments upon it yet are so confus'd in the same and never a one knows which is the Truth when as the Way is but One So that it follows that they have nothing but the Scripture without and are still without in Darkness and Confusion as all those appear to be who call the Scripture their Rule and Guide and Judge and Tryer of Spirits aud yet know not the Truth but are jangling and rangling and arguing and disputing and contending about the Scripture every one with a several Judgment upon it surely this Distraction is not in Scripture for it was spoken from One and all agrees in one therefore you that so profess the Scripture see if you can find it out by the Scripture and see where you are but they that are in the Light have fellowship one with another 1 John 1. 7. and are of one heart and one Soul Acts 4. 32. and all agree in one and are Epistles wrote in one anothers heart 2. Cor. 3. 2. and by the Light they try and discern false spirits and in it are able to judge them and open the Scriptures without wresting adding or diminishing and by it do know they are of God because they love one another with the same love with which Christ loved them 1 John 4. it is not such love which is to day and to morrow cross the will and it is turned into wrath and anger nay that love stands in the corrupt will but this love stands in the bond of peace which doth indure and here again the light is above the Scripture and though they say the light must be received from the Scripture yet in this the Scripture doth witness against them and bears witness of Christ to be the light of the World and doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World And they that could never read letter of the book have this light which is sufficient to teach them and lead them into all Truth after they come to the knowledge of it from this light the Scripture was spoken 2 Pet. 1. 21. and without this light none can read the Scripture with understanding and here the light is before the Scripture and out of it all the Children of Darkness are shut with their busie minds and vain contending spirits and though they say they must receive life and salvation from the Scripture yet in this the Scripture witnesseth against them and testifies of Christ to be the alone Fountain of Life and Salvation and that there is no other name under Heaven by which we can be saved Psal. 30. 9. and 144. 10. And that the Pharisees had the Scripture yet had not the Light neither could see that he was the Christ though the Scripture bare testimony of him or either would come unto him for Life and Salvation but trusted in the Scripture thinking there to find eternal Life and therein found it not John 5. 39 40. As all you are now who are seeking the living among the dead and here again the light is above the Scripture which light is within us the hope of glory Col. 1. 26 27. and those that cannot witness this are in the reprobation though they have the Scripture without 1 Cor. 13. 5. and from it we receive life and salvation and from no other and this alone
would do the Works of Abraham and he also said If God were your Father then would you love me for I proceeded forth and came from him but saith he ye are of your Father the Devil and his Works you do and will do And thus are the Pharisaical Professors of these Times marked out to be in the Steps of their Fore-fathers for this is the same Christ that suffered at Jerusalem but they are blind and cannot see neither indeed do believe the Scripture nor walk according to it but are in the old and broad Way of the World wherein their Fore-fathers walked and led many to Destruction but if these did believe the Scripture they would believe on this Light which is come into the World which the Scripture bears Testimony of even the Spirit of Truth which the World cannot receive and some of them scoff and scorn and revile reproach and slander and rail at the Messengers of Truth and some strike them and stone them and buffet them and stock them and whip them and imprison them and despightfully use them yet they are made able through the Power of him that hath sent them for to go on in Boldness but those Persecutors are not found worthy Therefore the Lord will send forth his Armies and destroy these Murderers and burn up their City and these are they that have professed to be his near Kindred Friends and Acquaintance but now are found Strangers who prophesied in his Name and in his Name done many woundrous Works and yet they must depart for Workers of Iniquity he knows them not Now read your selves you Wicked Ones you Murderers you Rude Multitude you Priests you Pharisees and Professors you Formalists Self-Actors and Imitators for now all joyn Hand in Hand and Gog and Magog joyn in Battel against the Lamb and Pilate and Herod are made Friends and you chief Priests and Pharisees who are the Professors of these Times and you Rulers and you rude and brutish ones and you Formalists and Sectaries now at the coming of Christ in the Spirit even the Substance of what you have long talked of all joyned together in one who formerly have been at great Division Wars among your selves but now you are made Friends and muster up all your Strength against the Substance even Jesus Christ whom you as your Fore-fathers did call a Blasphemer a Seducer a Deceiver and a Devil and now the rude Multitude they stand up for their Priests and they fall upon the Messengers of Christ when they come into their Synagogues and they hale them out of their Synagogues and strike them and buffeâ— them and despightfully use them and stone them as their Fore-fathers ever did and the Priests they seek to Rulers and Magistrates and hale them before them and they persecute them and imprison them as their Fore-fathers ever did and the Pharisees and ancient hypocritical rotten Professors they side with the Priests and go about railing and evil speaking of the Truth learning and incensing Peoples Minds against it with their Lyes and Slanders and Reproaches to present it odious to all People and also fawning and crouching and seeking to Magistrates to act in their Wills and persecute as their Fore-Fathers alwayes did against the same Seed and likewise the Formalists and Sectaries do the same and thus they that were after the Flesh alwayes persecuted them that were after the Spirit and yet these are ready to cry out What Hard-hearted Jews wâ—re those that crucified Christ and persecuted his Apostles and if they had been in those dayes they would not have been Partakers with them in the Blood of Christ and his Apostles Whenas they are now found the same Generation of Persecutors persecuting the Righteous Seed and so they fill up the Measure of their Fathers Wrath that upon them might come all the Righteous Blood-shed from Righteous Abel until now And now the Priests and the Baptists can agree and they joyn together and the Priests call them Honest Men and the Baptists call them Gentlemen of Divinity And the Baptists and Independents they joyn together and the Independents and the Presbyterians they joyn together all against the Life and Power which the Lord hath now manifested in his Sons and Daughters and hath sent them to declare and lay open their Hypocrisie and Deceit which they have long covered with a Gospel-like Profession but now all their Coverings are found too Narrow before the Light which is come now into the World to convince and reprove them of their Sin of their Righteousness and of their Judgment and therefore now they have enough to do to joyn together with all their Strength and Wisdom to put out this Light and so they endeavour to sow their Tares in Peoples Hearts and all the Wayes they can invent to destroy the Work which now is begun and as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do they withstand the Truth according to the Prophesie of the Apostle Being men of Corrupt Minds and Reprobates concerning the Faith which I have much experienced in several Meetings which I have had with the Teachers of the Baptized People which shall follow in order afterward But the more they strive in their Wills and Wisdoms the more doth the Work of the Lord Prosper and go on and flourish by his Mighty Power and Out-stretched Arm and their Shame and Folly and Down-fal the more appears and when they have done all they can they shall be glad to lay down their Cronws and bow unto this Truth which they now so oppose and every Tongue shall confess it though to their Condemnation who do now oppose and gain-say it Wo unto such they shall perish in the Gain-saying of Core And the Time shall come that when the Master of the House shall have shut the Door they shall knock and shall strive to enter and shall not be able all who now oppose and reject the Counsel of the Lord and will not hearken now they are called And thus the LORD will exalt his SON in his Saints when his ENEMIES shall be his Foot-stool and be made to bow before him And thus do all Sects Judgments and Opinions joyn in one against the Life and Substance they being all sprung from one Root so make up all one Image whose Head is Gold Breast of Silver whose Thighs are Brass and Legs of Iron and Feet Part of Iron and Part of Clay and the Stone cut out of the Mountain without Hands which strikes at the Feet of the Image Now the Head of the Image which is of Gold and those that have had a Light shining into them and have had a Sight of many things and have seen the Emptiness of many Forms and have gotten the Thing in their Comprehension and have a Notion above others of much of that which is now witnessed and possest in Life by the Faithful and there have been exalted and gotten up a Life therein and a False Rest but have lost
one of them in the open Court for so doing and yet these things were suffered And also the Judge gave Charge unto the Goaler To let no Giddy-headed People come to me as he called them which I never desired that any such should come but thereby they take Occasion to keep my Friends from me accounting them Giddy-headed People But they are not Giddy-headed People that own sound Doctrine but they are Giddy-headed People that cannot endure sound Doctrine but have itching Ears carried about with Reports and Hear-says to speak Evil of the things they know not But thus without all Honesty they acted in the Enmity of their Minds against me yet in all I was made to rejoyce for I see their Deceit was manifest to the People and the Truth owned in many Hearts so that my Sufferings were not grievous unto me but joyous But as the Judge's Dealings were Rigorous and Unjust towards me it was so much the more on the contrary to Barrabas for there were three or four arraigned for Suspicion of Murder and others for Fellony yet he did deliver them and there was not one that Dyed or was Branded neither which I did desire but only this I do declare to shew how the World loves its own and how the same Spirit now rules in both Priest People and Rulers that ruled amongst the Jews who esteemed Barrabas above Christ and numbred him amongst Transgressors And so in all this the Scripture is fulfilled and the Day further appears to the Glory of God the Father of Truth who will exalt his Truth by his own Power over the Heads of all its Enemies So then they brought me back to Prison again where I still remain in the Peace and Freedom of my Spirit which none can take away though in the Hands of mine Enemies Yet this I know That the Invisible God in working in Secret by his Power and with a Strong Arm carrying on this great Work which he hath begun in the Earth yea and he will bring down and overturn all until it come into his Hand whose own it is and he will exalt his Kingdom in the Hearts of his People and his Son shal rule over the Earth yea and all his Enemies shall be his Foot-stool and shall bow unto him and be glad to lay down their Crowns before him and acknowledge his Power yea and he will dash all the Forms and false Likenesses and Images which are set up by Man in his Imaginations calling them Churches and he will dâ—â—h them and the Powers of the Earth in pieces one against another like a Potter's Vessel though now they set at nought the Corner-Stone yet then by it shall they be grownd to Powder For our God is a Consuming Fire and who is able to stand in the Day of his Wâ—ath Therefore it is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God Then Wo to all his Enemies or be that lifts up his Hand against his Maker to Contrary what he hath decreed Here followeth a REPLY to my MITTIMUS which was adjudged a Contempt of the Magistracy WHereas I who am of the World called James Parnel am committed as Prisoner to be kept in the Common Goal by a Mittimus sealed and signed by you four Men who are called Justieâ—s of the Peace who write your selves Herbert Pellham Thomas Cook Dyonisius Wakering William Harlackinden wherein I find several Lyes Slanders and False Accusations cast upon me therefore for the Truth 's sake and for the Satisfaction of the Simple I shall Reply to the same and clear the Truth and return the Venom upon your Venomous Spirits from whence it comes that you may be convinced of your Evil and cease Fighting against Christ and his Kingdom First Your Own as followeth WHerereas it duely appears unto Us by Our own View and also by the Examination of James Parnel who saith He was born at Retford in the County of Nottingham Labourer That He the said James Parnel with very many other Persons of his gathering together did this Day in a Riotous Manner enter into the Parish Church at Great Coggashall aforesaid and there being a great Number of Christians met in the said Church to hold and keep a Day of publick Humiliation and Seeking of God and being in order thereunto then exercised in the Divine Worship and Service of God Almighty He the said James did then and there stand up and told the Minister He Blasphemed and spoak Falsly and used many other reproachful Words against the said Minister And afterwards he departed the said Church and went into the common High-Way in the said Town of Great Coggashall with a great Number of Persons his Followers who kept there Unlawfully together and some of them gave out Menacing Threatning Speeches tending to the Breach of the Peace and against the Law And also the said James cannot give us a very good Account where he was last setled or of his Life and Conversation but doth further appear to us to be an Idle Disorderly Person These are therefore in the Name of his Highness the Lord Protector to will and require you To convey forthwith the said Iames Parnel unto the Common Goal for this County there to remain until the next General Goal-Delivery to be holden for this County and until thence delivered by due Course of Law unless he the said Iames shall come before us or any two of us or two some other Justices of the Peace for this County and shall find very Able and Sufficient Sureties to be bound with him by Recognizance for his personal Appearance at the said next Goal-Delivery there to Answer what shall be then objected against him and not to depart thence without License of the Court and in the mean time to be of good Behaviour and thereof fail not at your Peril Dated at Coggashall aforesaid the Twelfth Day of Iuly 1655. The Keeper of the said Common Goal is hereby requir'd to receive and keep the said Iames if he shall be brought unto him Herbert Pellham Thomas Cook Dyonysius Wakering William Harlackinden A Reply to the aforesaid Mittimus 1. Accusation WHereas I am hereby accused That I who am of the World called JAMES PARNEL with very many other Persons of my gathering together did this day in a Riotous Manner enter the Parish Church of Great Coggashall aforesaid Reply Are you not ashamed who profess your selves Ministers of Law Justice and Peace to begin with Lyes and make them your Refuge against the Innocent tending to the Disturbance of the Peace of the Faithful whom you both ought and would Encourage and Countenance if you were faithful Ministers of Peace and Justice standing in the pure Counsel of God Ruling for God and not for your selves in all things discharging your Consciences unto God without Partiality or Respect of Persons as faithful Ministers of Law and Justice But contrary unto this you have acted in your corrupt Wills turning your Swords against the
me to be in Darkness then much more thou judgest and condemnest thy self for for my Thirty Six Queries thou hast propounded me an Hundred And here also thou accountest me a Fool as by the Scripture thou quotest in Prov. 26. 4. and therein manifests thy self so much the greater Fool in propounding so many Queries to me whom thou account'st a Fool And thus the Pride of thy Heart hath deceived thee Pr. Answ. And whereas thou sayest Thou wast Inwardly called to the Ministry by the Motion and Gifts of God's Spirit long before I was born which thou sayest hath been God's Ordinary Way which to prove thou quotest Job 32. 8. 2 Chron. 20. 14. Amos 5. 7. 15. Mich. 3. 8. Rep. Though it hath been and is God's Ordinary Way by his own Power and Spirit to call and fit his own Ministers for his own Work as those Scriptures afore-mentioned do prove which we also do witness and do come no other Way yet these Scriptures do not at all prove where and how and by what thou wast called and Jahaziel and Amos and Micha which those Scriptures aforesaid bear Testimony of to be thus called were men that spoak the Word of the Lord freely against Sin and Transgression and False Prophets and Hirelings and their Lives sealed their Testimony And these Scriptures also bear Testimony how and where they were called from their Outward Callings to speak the Word of the Lord and so from those Scriptures thou art shut and hast nought to do to take them into thy Mouth for they do not prove that thou wast thus called from thy Labour for thou wast brought up all thy Dayes in Idleness and at a University as you call it to learn Arts and Sciences without which Those were Called and Fitted And for any other Call then as the Common National Ministers are called who deny both Immediate Revelation and Inspiration thou hast brought no Proof that will stand for thee but only thy own bare Words wherein thy Life and Practice will condemn thee for it is one with the National Priests and thou art maintained and upheld by the same Power as the National Teachers are neither dost go from Place to Place reproving Sin in the Gate as Amos and Micha did who were thus called neither dost speak freely as they did therefore are a False Prophet who sayst The Lord saith when he never spoak to thee but runnest and the Lord never sent thee and therefore thou profittest not the People at all as is manifest by the Fruits of thy Ministry and thus thou wast a Deceiver before I was born and the Lord hath Raised me up to Tell thee of it Qu. 2. Whether is thy Call and Means which thou professest Mediate or Immediate Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou say'st It was both For say'st thou Besides the Immediate aforesaid thou wast ordained a Minister by the Superiours and Governours of the Church as the Elders and Pastors of the Churches were formerly by Paul and Barnabas Acts 14. 23. But thou say'st Thou doubtest whether James Parnel well was called either way to be Teacher if so let him prove it by an Infallible Testimony Rep. Those that have an Inward Call to the Ministry do not stay for an Outward Call by Man but go forth in Obedience to the Word of the Lord Whosoever was called to the Ministry of the Gospel it was Immediately and not Mediately but thine Mediately by the Will of Man and not Immediately as before is proved and also out of thy own Mouth art made manifest For thou say'st Thou doubtest whether I was called either way But if thou wast Called and Guided by the Spirit of the Lord thou wouldst know without Doubts whether I was so called yea or nay for the True Ministers were Epistles writ in one anothers Hearts And they also know the False Prophets and the False Apostles and the False Ministers and declared against them as I do against thee and without doubt I do know thee to be a Deceiver by an Infallible Testimony and those that thou speakest of in Acts 14. 23. whom Paul and Barnabas ordained Elders they did not ordain them Ministers of the Gospel neither sent them abroad to preach the Gospel neither allowed them an Hundred or Two Hundred Pounds by the Year as thou hast but they chose out those that were strong in the Faith and set them to watch over the Weak But those Churches were gathered by the Power and Spirit of God and were turned from Darkness to Light and were washed clensed and sanctified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God But out of your Church cast Drunkards and Swearers and Lyars and Proud and Covetous Ones and Adulterous and Idolaters and Quarrellers and Fighters and Scoffers and Scorners and Backbiters and Envious Ones and Prophane and Wanton Ones and the like who are neither Washed nor Sanctified and then see where will be the Church of England and the Pastors Teachers and Elders and all Then you that profess your selves to be the Church of Christ will be found the Synagogue of Statan whose Minister thou art And also Paul and Barnabas who ordained them Elders were Men endued with the holy Spirit of the Lord and were immediately called and chosen to the Ministry and had a Spirit of Discerning to know who were fitted for the Eldership and all this was done without an University or serving Seven years to learn Arts and Sciences or taking Degrees without which you can do nothing And also those Superiours and Governours have nothing but what they have gotten by Art and Study and reading of others Experiences but are ignorant of the Power of God neither know whether there be any Holy Ghost yea or nay but by the hearing of the Ear but scoff and scorn and persecute those that now do witness these things and they themselves were also first ordain'd by the Will of Man And thus thou hast but so much the more manifested thy self of the World in going about to prove thy self a called Minister by the Scripture which doth altogether witness against thee And whereas thou wouldst have me to prove my Call by an Infallible Testimony I tell thee Without an Infallable Testimony I do not go neither without an Infallible Testimony do I desire to be received or owned and to this the Infallible Spirit of Truth bears Testimony in all the Children of Truth And thou that hast not an Infallible Testimony either with me or against me are still in Darkness and knowest not the Truth then far unfit to be a Teacher to others Qu. 3. Whether thou art guided by the Same Infallible Spirit that gave forth the Scripture Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou say'st That we our selves teach That all Men are taught and guided by that Spirit at times And secondly thou say'st Thou praisest God for it thou art guided and assisted by that Spirit which is alwayes Infallible
because he hath no Fellowship with the World nor the Vanities of the World but testifieth against their Wayes Fashions Traditions Customs Fellowship Words and Worship and seeth them all to be Formal Imitation and the Invention of Man out of the Covenant of God so cannot but deny them and for this Cause he is Hated of all both Priest and People Whose Name according to the World is JAMES PARNELL The Servant is not Greater then his Master Try your selves prove your selves know ye not that Christ is in you unless you be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. Christ Exalted Into His THRONE And the SCRIPTURE Owned in its Place THis then is the Message that we have received of the Father That God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all if we walk in Darkness and say we have fellowship with him we lye and do not the Truth but if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light then have we fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son clenseth us from all sin 1 John 1. 5 6 7. And this is the Word which was in the beginning by which all things were made and in him was Life and his Life was the Light of men John 1. 1 2 3 4. By which Light all the holy Men of God in the dayes of old were inspired By which Light Moses saw the things that were done in the beginning and wrote of them Which Word was a Lamp unto David's Feet and a Light unto his Pathes Psal. 119. 105. Which Light dwelt in the Prophets and holy Men by which they saw the Day of Christ and wrote of him Isa. 49. 6. 60. 19 and spoke as they were moved by it and by it saw the Deceit Iniquities and Transgressions of Israel and declared against it both in Priest People and Rulers speaking the Word of the Lord faithfully whether they would hear or forbear Ezek. 2. Mic. 3. Isa. 56. And this Word came unto the Prophets which was as a Fire and a Hammer in their Bones Jer. 20. 9. 23. 29. Which Word in due time became Flesh and dwelt among the Apostles and they saw the Glory thereof as of the Only Begotten Son of the Father full of Grace and Truth John 1. 14. whom John bears witness of to be the Light of the World who doth enlighten every one that comes into the World John 1. To which Light Paul was sent to turn the minds of the Heathen Acts 26. 17 18. Which Light is the Condemnation of the World who love Darkness rather then Light because their deeds are Evil and he that hates it hath it though he will not bring his deeds to it by it to be proved therefore his Condemnation it is John 3. 19 20 21. And there is a time Light shines in Darkness and Darkness comprehends it not John 1. 5. and this is the Cause why many stumble at it and are offended in it And there is a time Light shines out of darknes and darkness flees away and then is witnessed the perfect Day where the Children of the Day do walk Isa. 42. 16. Mat. 4. 16. Eph. 5. 8. Which Light is the true Tryer of spirits gives the discerning of spirits and discovers the works of darkness and manifests the deeds of darkness and by it the Secrets of the heart are seen and hidden things searched out and by it all things are manifest and whatsoever makes manifest is Light Heb. 4. 12. Ephes. 5. 13. all which the natural man knows not and therefore cannot receive the things of God but by this Light is seen and judged for by this Light the Spiritual Man is able to discern and judge the natural man but he himself is judged of no man 1 Cor. 2. 14 15. For this is the Judge of the World and by this the Prince of the Air is judged wheresoever he ruleth John 16. 11. and therefore at it rageth and stirreth up his Servants to persecute it where it is manifest and so it is a Stumbling Stone and a Rock of Offence to the Children of the World in whom the Prince of this World lodgeth Rom 9. 33. And of this Word the Apostle Paul beareth witness to be quick and powerful and sharpe then a two-edged Sword to the dividing assunder betwixt the Marrow and the Bones Heb. 4. 12. to which Word the Apostle directed the minds of people within them from looking without for to find it without Rom 10. And from this same Word the Apostles spoke forth the Scripture which Word was their Guide and Rule and Teacher all along from the beginning by which both the Apostles and Prophets and the holy Men were acted moved and carry'd forth in the Power of it to declare that which by it they were taught 1 John 1. 2. Pet. 1. 21. And this is the free Grace of God which bringeth Salvation and hath appear'd to all men Tit. 2. 11 12. which is their Condemnation who do despite unto it Heb. 10. 29. but this was the Saints Teacher by which they were taught to deny all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts and to live Godlily Righteously and Soberly in this present evil World And this is the Anointing which teacheth all things freely which is Truth and no Lye and leads into all Truth and he that knows this needs no man to teach him but is come to the end of mans teaching 1 John 2. 27. unto which the Prophet was come and therefore called freely Come buy Wine Milk without Money or Price Why spend ye your Money for that which is not Bread or your Labour for that which profitteth not Isa. 55. 1 2 3. And from this the Apostle spoke freely nor coveting any man's Silver or Gold but as they freely had received freely they gave Acts 20. 33. And whosoever speaks from this speaks freely and its Ministry leads to the end of Teaching and here let all flesh keep silence before the Lord Zach. 2. 13. And let all Hirelings and greedy Shepherds stop their mouthes who cry Peace Peace to them that put into their mouthes but if not they even prepare War against them and such like the Prophet in the Light saw and by it testified against them Mich. 3. 5. And all this the Scripture bears testimony of which was spoken from the Light but is not the Light nor the Word nor the Life nor the Judge nor the Rule nor the Guide nor the Tryer of spirits for all this belongs to Christ who is the Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the heart Heb. 4. 1 2. who is the Light John 8. 12. who is the Word John 1. 14. who is the Life John 14. 6. who blamed the Pharisees that thought in the Scriptures to find eternal Life but would not come unto him that they might have Life John 5. 39 40. who is the Anointing who is the Guide and Teacher and the Rule 1. John 2. 27. who when we are going to the right hand
or to the left cryes This is the Way walk in it Isa. 30. 21. Of which the Scripture is a true Declaration spoken from this Word of Truth of which Light every one hath a measure which unto them is the free Gift of God to profit withall which Light in the Conscience reproves for sin and iniquity and manifests the deceit of the heart and checks the Creature when it swears or lyes or doth amiss telling it that it should not do so and calls for Repentance and Amendment of Life and leads unto the same as it is owned and followed and as many as receive it receive power to become the Sons of God Joh. 8. 12. and 1. 12. Rom. 2. 4. But he that doth evil hates the Light and will not bring his deeds to it by it to be proved and to him it is condemnation but he that loves the Light brings his deeds to the Light that it may manifest them whether they be wrought in God John 3. 20 21. But of this Light you People and Teachers of the World are ignorant and so are doting upon the Scripture without with your dark minds there with the blind Pharisees seeking for Life where it is not to be found but will not come to Christ the Light that you might have Life but would cast him out of his Throne and exalt Scriptures above him calling them the Judge and the Light and the Word and the Life and the Rule and the Guide and thus with your dark minds you would take the Authority from Christ and would give it unto the dead Letter which is but a Declaration of these things And thus your Leaders cause you to err Isa. 3. 12. for their own ends and of the Scripture they make an Idol to get money by adding their own Meanings Interpretations and Constructions upon them which are all the Conceivings and Imaginations of their own hearts by which they lead you in Blindness ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth in your hearts but are looking without doting without in the Letter acting and imitating out of the Light for Life and so in darkness doing your own works which are not required at your hands but are for Condemnation by the Light And so in vain are you worshipping a God whom ye know not crying up his Ordinances and crying up his Commands and crying up the Scripture exalting it in the Place of Christ and thus coming neer him with your lips and your hearts far from him still living in the corrupt sinful nature ignorant of the free Grace of God which should lead you to repentance and amendment of life Ephes. 2. 5. 8. And because we do witness this Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations now made manifest in us which is Christ within the Hope of Glory Col. 1. 26 27. who is the Light of the World who doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World who is the true Shepherd John 10. and the true Teacher no more to be removed into a Corner Isa. 30. 20. who is the Anointing who teacheth all things and is the End of mans teaching therefore your Ministry of the Letter who make a Trade and a Gaine of the Letter by idolizing it and setting it up in the room of Christ by taking the Authority from Christ and applying it to the Letter that your minds who are taught by them may the more be drawn without to look at it and Idolize it expecting Life and Salvation by it and no hope without it that they may the longer make Merchandize of you and still uphold their Trade and Gain by it do now see that this our doctrine of Christ to be all in all and that without him we can do nothing John 15. 5. but that by him we can do all things without the help of Scripture or any thing else without Phil. 4. 13. and that there is no other name under Heaven by which we can be saved but that he is able to save to the utmost all that shall come unto God by him Heb. 7. 25. and that he is the Word and the Scripture is not and that he is the Light and the Scripture is not and that he is the Rule and Guide and Teacheâ— and Judge and the Scripture is not but a Declaration of him to be so and that the Scripture all along witnesseth with our Doctrine to be one with it and theirs to be another Doctrine which the Scripture will not maintain but the Scripture is against and is onely brought in for Lucres sake to satisfie their own carnal ends that they may bear rule by their Means as the false Prophets did before them Jer. 5. 30 31. And this Light all along makes them manifort in all their Colours and false Covers so that they cannot hide themselves from being Deceivers and also this they do know that if every one come to know and find a Teacher within them which doth teach them the will of God and doth enable them for to obey it so that they need no man to teach them then indeed they will no longer spend their Money upon them for that which is not Bread nor their Labour for that which profitteth not and will be a Prey unto them no longer So not only their Craft and Trade and Idol will fail them but also their great Gain and Riches will be taken from them and all their Honour and Fame and Dignity will come to nought Therefore they in their hot Rage and Fierceness and Enmity of their Spirits do set themselves to oppose this Light wheresoever it is made manifest and persecuting the Publishers of this Doctrine railing against them as Deceivers Seducers Bringers in of false Lights and such as deny the Scripture and would rob it of its Authority and give it to a Light within them which the Priests call natural Light and insufficient to lead to Salvation without the help of Scripture and other outward Helps and so would set the Scripture above the Light of Christ saying among themselves If we let go the Authority of Scripture then all is gone that is to say Take away our Idol then take away our Maintenance then down with our Ministry So here is clear the Foundation they stand upon and this is the cause why they call the Scripture their Foundation and so all this Authority which they put upon the Scripture they take from Christ who alone is the Foundation of the Faithful of whom the Scripture is a Declaration and so we do own it by the same which gave it forth which unto us doth open it and reveal it and manifesteth them to be out of the Life of it and so by the Life thereof are judged and condemned as before is proved And though they call it the Word yet in the same it doth witness against them and witness Christ to be the Word before the Scripture was written John 1. And though they call
Examples and here they abide not in the Doctrine of Christ and so have not God as in 2 John 9. And this is Blasphemy to say They are the Mouth of the Lord and are the Mouth of the Devil teaching Lyes and Blasphemies telling the People that are of their Flock They are Christians and of the Flock of Christ when as they are all manuer of unrighteous Persons who live without God in the World and tell them Their Children are the Flock of Christ when they are sprinkled on the Face with a little Water when as they grow up in all manner of Ungodliness without the Fear of God or the Knowledge of God and they are Heathen that know not God and this is Blasphemy to say Christ is the Head of Heathens for he is the Head of his Flock And they tell People that a House of Lime and Stone is the Church whenas the Church is the Body of Christ and this is Blasphemy Now see whether we or your Teachers be more like Deceivers Lyars and Blasphemers and let every one's Life preach him forth and judge him and see if they be not Lovers of Pleasures more then Lovers of God who delight in Musick in Bowling in Carding and Dicing and Hawking and Hunting and all manner of Pleasures Delights Now see whether they or we be like the Apostles who never used any such thing but all their Delight was in the Work of Christ but They that are of the Flesh mind the things of the Flesh and they that are of the Spirit the things of the Spirit Now see if they have not a Form of Godliness but deny the Power and Life which the Apostles lived in therefore from such turn away And if you find that our Lives be contrary to what we profess from us turn away also But of this sort are they who creep into Houses and lead silly People captive Now see if they do not creep into Steeple-houses and say that 's the Place and no where else and lead silly People captive laden with Sins and divers lusts ever learning and never coming to the Knowledge of the Truth Some learn thirty some fifty some sixty years and above and still full Sin and as dark and blind and ignorant of the Things of God as ever And they will teach You shall never be made free from Sin so long as you are upon the Earth and hereby they set up their Rest in the Devil's Kingdom And if you do alledge We creep into Houses I answer The Apostle witnessed the same where he said I have taught you publickly from House to House And our Meetings are publick to any who will come amongst us sometimes in no House but in the Fields or Commons as the Apostles witnessed and we find the Lord amongst us being gathered in his Name according to his Promise Now see by their Fruits if your Teachers be not the Deceivers which are foretold of in the Scriptures who as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do they withstand the Truth by all the Wayes they can as it is before proved for Jannes and Jambres were the Magicians of Egypt that imitated Moses so those University Men by their Magick Arts Inventions and Imaginations and studying old Authors have gotten the Form of the Prophets Christ and his Apostles Words to trade with but deny the Life and Power and so are Traytors to Christ who are Men of corrupt Minds and Reprobates concerning the Faith but they shall proceed no further for their Folly shall be made manifest to all Men Now he that desiâ—â—s to see may see and let all who are wise hearted judge But if you do alledge They have been long and have reigned long and we are new come up and it is a New Way and we come to breed Divisions and Dissention I answer The more is their Shame and by that the more they are seen to be those that run and the Lord never sent them therefore they profit not the People at all who have reigned so long and wrought no better Reformation in the Land but it flows as much in Iniquity and all manner of Ungodliness as ever and the People that are taught by them as ignorant and as dark to the Things of God as ever and here they would keep them by an outward Power but the Day hath made them manifest and the Scripture fulfilled which the Apostle spoak of who said It was the last Times then and since they have continued you may know them by their Fruits they profess Christ in Words but in Life deny him and the Mystery of Iniquity hath reigned a long time and there hath been a time of cruel Darkness and all the World hath wondered after and worshipped the Beast and his Image and he hath reigned and by him the false Prophet hath reigned which hath deceived the Nations but now Light is risen out of Darkness and shines forth now in these latter Dayes in the Sons and Daughters of Men according to the Promise of God whereby the Wiles of Satan are made manifest to the Glory of God And now is the Separation the Sheep from the Goats the Wheat from the Tares and Christ is come to set at Variance Father against Son and Son against Father and Wife against the Man and the Man against the Wife and to turn the World upside down and this is the Cause why the World rages And this is the Condemnation of the World Light is come into the World and they love Darkness rather then Light because their Deeds are Evil and so to those who are in Darkness it is new but we witness it is no new Way but the same which was is and is to be forever and the same Signs follow but the adulterous Generation cannot see it but they that believe shall see and be healed And though the Beast and false Prophet and those that bear the Mark of the Beast do now make War with the Lamb the Saints for to uphold their Kingdom yet the Lamb the King of the Saints shall overcome and to him the Nations shall bow and the Beast and false Prophet and all that bear the Mark of the Beast into the Lake for them prepared of old shall go and for this End we are come out of our Countries and outward Habitations Possessions to preach to every Conscience the Eternal Truth as it is in Jesus the Everlasting Gospel as we have received it freely freely we give and as we preach the Gospel we live of the Gospel and this is our End and no other End God is our Witness We are accused to deny the Scripture which is false for we witness the Life thereof and by the same do we witness the Scriptures to be Truth and serviceable in its Place was written for our Admonition upon whom the Ends of the World is
said He that respects Persons commits Sin for there is no Respect of Persons with God and therefore saith James Houle ye Rich men and here your professed Ministers abide not in the Doctrine of Christ and so have not God but the Devil and his Ministers they are whom they exalt And now you shall see the Partiality of the Names in this your Breeding and Manners First from a Poor man to a Rich man it is called Honour and due Respect and Manners from a Rich man to a Poor man it is called Courtesie and Humility but amongst the Rich and Nobles of the Earth it is called Court-like Breeding but of those of the lower degree it is call'd Country-Breeding and amongst the lower sort of the World it is called Neighbour-hood and civil Respect one to another and so the Devil hath covers for all his Deceit and so he is honoured and exalted both in Court and Country but the highest in the Court and therefore they have the highest Title But We unto them that hide their Sins and cover with a Covering and not of the Spirit of the Lord. But this is the Riches of the World and the Devil that makes so many Degrees as between Dives and Lazarus and Haman and Mordecai for the Lord hath made all the Nations of the Earth of one Mold and one Blood But we who are redeemed out of his Kingdom he calls us Clowns and Fools and saith our Religion is built upon such small and frivolous things and stumble at Strawes and leap over Blocks this saith his Wisdom but it is even Death to him to bear these Strawes especially where he is the highest exalted for it puls down all his Honour and therefore do Rich men and great ones of the Earth and Rulers and Priests and Pharisees persecute and oppress us and draw us before Judgment-Seats and would root us out of the Nation as Haman would have done by Mordecai and the rest of the scattered Jews because they cannot bear those Straws but I say whatsoever it is that comes to be forbidden in the Conscience it becomes a Weight and a Burden though it be never so small a thing in the eye of a Pharisee So let none despise the Day of small things But some will call it Stubbornness Obstinacy Pride and Presumption but the same Nature would have called it so in Mordecai who could not bow to Haman as the rest did that sate by and so let every one take heed of speaking Evil of that you know not least you call Good Evil and Evil Good for the Wo is pronounced against such but they that were after the Flesh alwayes in all Ages persecuted them that were after the Spirit And so it is not many Mighty nor many Noble nor many Wise after the Flesh are called but God hath chosen the Foolish things of this World to confound the Wise and the Weak to confound those that are Mighty that no Flesh should glory in his Presence 1 Cor. 1. 26 27 29. VVe are accused that we say We are perfect without Sin I answer Man was perfect without Sin before the Fall or else he could not have been the Image of God for God is pure and perfect and he made Man after his own Image pure and perfect without Sin but when he sinned he defaced his Image and lost his pure Estate and was drove out of Paradise and became the Image of the Devil for Sin is the Image of the Devil and here all Sin is in the Fall and who are in the Fall are in the Devil's Kingdom which is impure and imperfect and unclean but God promised the Seed of the VVoman shall bruise the Serpent's Head and Christ the Seed said he was come to preach Deliverance to the Captive and to heal the broken-hearted and to seek that which was lost and to bring again that which was driven away and this was his VVork to redeem to Man that which Man had lost Now consider what Man hath lost and I shall leave this as Querie with all both Priests and People who deny Perfection from Sin here Whether Christ is but a part of Redeemer or a perfect and full Redeemer and which is the Place betwixt Heaven and Earth where man shall be made free or cleansed from Sin if not upon the Earth Seeing that no unholy nor unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of God But who can witness this have passed through Death and that have none who plead for Sin neither can they witness Christ come But for some Simple ones sake I shall speak more clearly of this for it is a great Delusion of the Devil to keep People in Sin to tell them they shall never be made free from Sin so long as they are upon the Earth and bring this Scripture to maintain it He that saith he hath no Sin deceiveth himself and is a Lyar but he tells them Christ dyed for all and if they can but lay hold on him by Faith he will not impute their Sins unto them though they sin daily for the Righteous man sins seven times a Day and all the Holy men of God sinned and so he takes Scripture to maintain his Kingdom and this he delivers by the Mouth of his Ministers which he sends abroad to deceive the Nations leading People in Blindness full of Sin and Corruption ever learning and never come to the Knowledge of the Truth nor never shall do for them and here he carries them on an easie delightsom way to the Flesh but the End is Death and so heals them up in their Sins with a feigned formed Faith which perisheth and here they settle upon the Lees and set up a Rest in the Devil's Kingdom which is Sin and here many are meerly blinded and hardned and all Tenderness of Conscience is done away But you shall find that he that sooths you up in this Faith is the gratest Enemy of your Souls and whosoever witnesseth Christ their Redeemer shall witness that he is come to destroy the works of the Devil which is Sin and to redeem out of the Fall out of Sin and out of the Devil's Kingdom which is Sin and all Sin in the Devil's Kingdom which is in the Fall but for this End Christ is manifest to destroy the Works of the Devil and to redeem out of the Fall out of the Devil's Kingdom into his own Kingdom and no unclean thing can enter therein but none can witness this Redemption but through the Death and through the Cross which Paul rejoyced in by which he was crucified to the World and the World to him and had put off the Body of Sin and was made free from the Law of Sin which once warred against his Mind which once he complained of Which Scripture the Unlearned which are Strangers from his Conditions who read them with the carnal Eye now pervert and Wrest to their
own Destruction and this we witness who through the Lamb our Saviour do reign above the World Death Hell and the Devil but none can witness this whose Eye is outward looking at a Redeemer afar off and still live in Sin but who cannot witness this Redemption here must never witness it for as the Tree falls so it lyes and Sin is the Mark of the Beast and who lives in Sin hath the Mark of the Beast and bears his Image and it is written that the Beast and false Prophets and all that have his Mark and Image must be cast into the Lake that burneth and must drink of the Wine of the Wrath of the Almighty poured out without Mixture But as for that Scripture that saith If we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us All have sinned and fallen from the Lord and he that hath Sin and saith he hath no Sin deceiveth himself and is a Lyar but if he confess and forsake his Sin God is faithful and just to forgive him his sin and to cleanse him from all Unrighteousness and this John witnessed and he that can witness this is no Lyar if he say he is cleansed from all Unrighteousness but witnesseth forth the Truth a perfect Redemption and the same John said He that is born of God sins not neither can he sin because his Seed remaineth in him and he that sins is of the Devil and never knew God By this are the Children of God and the Children of the Devil made manifest This John witnessed he was no Lyar neither did deceive himself but spoak the Truth And the same John said God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all If we say we have Fellowship with God and walk in Darkness we Lye and do not the Truth but if we walk in the Light we have Fellowship one with another and the Blood of Christ cleanseth us from all Sin This John witnessed he was no Lyar neither did deceive himself And this John said He that hath Hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure and Faith in God purifieth the Heart Now try your Faith and Hope who plead for Sin for Sin lodgeth in the Heart and while there is Sin the Heart is unclean now here you may see all your Faith is vain and your Hope which doth not purifie the Heart and so it is feigned Hypocrites Faith and not Faith in God and so perisheth And who can witness Christ dyed for them have passed through Death for none can live with him but those that dye with him and this is the true Baptism to be baptized into his Death by one Spirit into one Body and how can they that are dead to Sin live any longer therein and who can witness this hath Faith in him which purifieth the Heart and removes Mountains and the pure in Heart sees God And this the Apostle witnessed and that he was made free from Sin and more then Conqueror through Faith in Christ Jesus he was no Lyar and said that Christ was come to redeem unto himself a pure Church not having Spot or Wrinkle and though once they were Sinners like the World but they were washed and cleansed by the Blood of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God and had put off the Old man and put on the New which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness but this you are Strangers from who plead for Sin and are such as call your selves a Church and are not but the Synagogue of Sathan in whom the Prince of Darkness reigns which ruleth in the Children of Disobedience And as for that which blind People call Scripture who sayes The Righteous Man that is sins seven times a Day There is no such Scripture for it is false But though the Righteous fall he riseth again by Repentance and this the holy men of God wituessed and though David through Lust disobeyed the Lord and forgot his God yet he rose again by Repentance and after witnessed that he walked in the midst of his House in the Pureness of his Spirit and though Peter sinned through Weakness yet he rose again by Repentance and afterward exhorted the Church to be holy as God is holy but this you cannot witness who plead for Sin and are not yet come to Repentance but deny Christ daily and are convinced but do not repent but they who dwell in the Righteousness of Christ sin not for they that are alive in Righteousness are dead to Sin and they that live in Sin are dead to Righteousness but how can they that are dead to Sin live any longer therein And this is the Devil which pleads for Sin the Enemy of the Soul for by Sin did he obtain his Kingdom and so his Kingdom stands in Sin and your Teachers which tell you you can never get out of Sin nor be cleansed from Sin here ERR not knowing the Scripture nor the Power of God but deny the End of Christ's coming and bring another Doctrine which they have from their Father the Devil and so are the Deceivers which Paul speaks of who creep into Steeple-Houses and lead silly People captive full of Sin and Corruption ever learning and never come to the Knowledg of the Truth and so are not to be received but held as accursed for they daub you up with untempered Mortar seeing Vanity and divining Lyes who say the Lord saith when he never spoak to them they have healed the Hurt of the People slightly and have sewed Pillows under their Armeholes crying Peace when there is no Peace because they put into their Mouths and they are not ashamed neither do they blush therefore they shall fall amongst them that fall in the Day that I visit them saith the Lord And these are your Teachers that make your Habitation in your Sin while you are upon the Earth and so your Leaders cause you to err but when the Day of Account comes wherein the Books must be opened and every one judged out of the Books according to their Works by him who sits upon the white Throne and all must be cast into the Lake that burneth but those whose Names are written in the Book of Life then you will find those the utter Enemies of your Souls who perswade your Hearts in Sins and he that hath no Sin will be in the best Condition and here all your feigned formed Faith is unbottomed and all your Priests found Lyars Deceivers and Antichrists in whom the false Prophet ruleth which deceives the Nations who must be cast also into the Lake that burneth and there tormented for ever and all that uphold him We are accused to deny Christ come in the Flesh. We witness the same Christ which ever was now manifested in the Flesh and is appear'd in the Likeness of sinful Flesh to
going about to prove me a Deceiver he would the more lay open his own Deceit and prove himself to be the Deceiver and the People did plainly see it so and witnessed with me against him for he did so utter forth his Folly and Deceit that he made himself odious to many that were there and at last he shuffled away under Pretence he had far to go but the Judgments of God he cannot escape for his Damnation slumbreth not who is an Opposer of the Truth of God Then there was one Philips an Old Man of the Baptized Party in another Room who in Scorn and Wrath stood up and said They knew the first Principle of Religion before I was born because one of my Queries to them was What is the first Principle of Religion So I replyed to the Old Man if they knew it they should have answer'd and then presently as he was running on in many Words he swore as he lived and breathed and Christ saith Swear not at all and here he was found not come to the first Principle of Religion but out of the Doctrine of Christ and so hath not God so I told him of his Swearing and he would have shuffled it off but he could not and I told him He that seems to be Religious and bridleth not his Tongue his Religion is vain and therfore he might own his Religion to be vain who could not bridle his Tongue and then in his Will he shuffled off and said He would not confess his Sin to me for I could not forgive Sin in Scorn he spoak then I said Wo unto him that hides his Sin and covers his Iniquity but he shuffled away in much Confusion of Face as they will all appear as by the Light they come to be searched and tryed their Coverings will be found too narrow and their Nakedness will appear to their great Shame and Confusion of Face and they will be made to bow to the Truth and lay down their Crowns at the Feet of Jesus for he is risen and reigns in his Saints to whom the Nations must bow and every Tongue confess to their Condemnation who do oppose him but here now by the single Eye you may see the Emptiness of these Forms and what a blind Hypocrisie this is of them to wash the Outside but leave the Inside full of Uncleanness and so the Inside defiles the Outside A Copy of the Queries which were sent to the Baptized People in Fenstanton with some more added for them or any whom they do concern toanswer Several Queries to you who are call'd Baptists by your Teachers to be answered Query I. WHat is the first Principle of Religion and whether to it you be come yea or nay 2 What is the Bridle of the Tongue and whether to it you be come yea or nay 3. What is the Church in God and whether to it you become yea or nay 4. What is the Order in the Church and whether to it you be come yea or nay 5. What is the Baptism into the Church and whether to it you be come yea or nay 6. Whether you will own the Baptism of the Spirit or the Baptism of Water and which you will deny seeing the Scripture saith The Baptism is but One Ephes. 4. 5. 7. And where Christ ever commanded Water-Baptism 8. Why did the Apostles baptize with Water and why do you baptize with Water and where and when and by what were you commanded and where was any of the twelve Apostles baptized with Water 9. And whether you do it because the Apostles did it yea or nay 10. What is the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and whether to it you are come yea or nay 11. Whether your Faith purifies your Hearts yea or nay 12. And whether you commit Sin yea or nay 13. How would you know there is a Christ but by the Scripture and how do you witness the Scripture is Truth 14. And what is the Ground of your Faith 15. What is the Redemption and whether to it you are come yea or nay 16. What is the Communion of the Saints and wherein it stands and whether to it you be come yea or nay 17. And whether you that break Bread do discern the Lord's Body yea or nay 18. What was their Rule and Guide that spoak forth the Scripture 19. Whether you have the same insallible Spirit that gave forth the Scripture 20. Whether is the Scripture your Rule and Guide or the Spirit that gave it forth 21. Whether they that are guided by the Spirit that gave it forth live not in the Life thereof yea or nay 22. Whether the Life of the Scriptures be perfect yea or nay 23. And whether you are or think to be made perfect while you are upon the Earth yea or nay Or where do you think to be made perfect if not upon the Earth 24. And what is the Life and Power of Godliness and whether in it you dwell who have a Form yea or nay 25. Whether you are washed and cleansed by the Blood of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God as the true Church was yea or nay 26. Whether you have put off the Old Man and put on the New as the true Church did yea or nay and what is the New Man 27. And whether you have put off the Image of the Earthly and put on the Image of the Heavenly and how are they known the one from the other 28. Whether you are not conformed like unto the World so long as you follow their Customs and Fashions 29. Whether you are come that you need no Man to teach you as the true Church was yea or nay 30. What is the Cross whereby Paul was crucified and whether to it you be come yea or nay 31. What is the Watcher that strikes at the Feet of the Image and whether to it you be come yea or nay 32. What is the Word and what is the Death that hath passed over all Men even over those who had not sinned after the Similitude of Adam's Transgression and whether this Death you ever passed 33. Whether you have passed from Death to Life yea or nay 34. Where and when and how received you the Command and Power to deliver any Saul up to Satan and where is that Satan you deliver it up to 35. What is the Tree of Life and what is the Tree of Knowledge and whether upon it you do not feed and what is the flaming Sword that is set to keep from the Tree of Life and whether it ye ever passed yea or way 36. What is the Beast that all the World wonders after and worships and what is the Worship of the Beast and whether any worships the only true God but the true Church and what is the Worship in this Church 37. What are you Ministers of and what do you minister unto and what is the End of your Ministry 38. And by what do you try the Spirits
and by what did the Prophets and Apostles try the Spirits and whether yours is the same Tryâ—r of Spirits as theirs was yea or nay 39. What is the Faith of the Saint and what is the Faith of the Hypocrite and how are they known the one from the other 40. How and by what were you called to the Ministry which you profess 41. What is the Gospel which you profess and what is the Light of the Gospel which the Infidel cannot see and what is an Infidel and what is the Eye which the God of the World blinds in the Infidel 42. What is the State and Condition of the Jew inwardly whose Praise is not of Man but of God and wherein doth he differ from the Jew outwardly 43. What is the New Covenant and where any in the New Covenant pay'd Tythes and why do you cry against the Priests and their Tythe and their Worship and yet uphold them by paying them Tythes and helping to maintain their Places of Worship and whether this be not Babel Yea or Nay These Things I donot ask because I know them not but that the Truth may be manifest and the Deceit laid open therefore answer by plain Scripture or else all ye Formalists Imitators and Self-actors bow unto the Truth and be silent and let your Mouthes be stopped and thereby confess and yield your selves in an Error and to have gotten the Form without the Life and Power that the simple may no longer be deceived by you taking the Shadow for the Substance Read this openly in your Church that all may hear and answer for themselves from him who by one of you was called a Deceiver yet true who according to the World am called James Parnel A Copy of most of these Queries was sent to the chief Teacher of the Baptized People in Festanton and after a certain Time these Words they sent me back again as followeth A few Words to him that saith that according to the World he is called James Parnel WE have received your Paper and according to your Desire read it in the Congregation unto which you desire our Answer by plain Scripture to which we reply That when you make good your Affirmation that you are no Deceiver but True by plain Scripture then shall we return you a further Answer to your Queries From them who desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ John Denne Edmund Male. Then after I had received this Libel I returned them this Answer at the Bottom of their own Paper Answer THis is plain Scripture Though as a Deceiver yet true and if my Life and Conversation doth not prove the same and make good my Affirmation then in your Answer to my Queries you might have taxed me and proved to the contrary But this of you is but a plain Shuffle to blind the World and shun the Shame and still to blind the People who are enslaved under your Deceit but this will the more manifest your Ignorance Then not long after they return'd me this Answer as followeth IT is not plain Scripture Though as a Deceiver yet True As Deceivers yet True is plain Scripture the greatest Deceiver in the World might as well have brought it to prove himself no Deceiver but true as well as you For your Conversation we know it not we have nought to say to that but this we know that Wolves may come in Sheep's Cloathing and this doth appear in you in drawing People from the Truth as namely from Water-Baptism which is a Command of the Lord unto Believers As for your saying We might have taxed you in our Answer to your Queries We think you might plainly see your Folly in this You affirmed nothing in them as your Judgment how should we then tax you and prove the contrary And again We made no Promise to Answer and therefore you might have spared your Daring and False Words to say The People are Enslaved under our Deceit And therefore until you have made good what you have taken in hand by plain Scripture by the Fruit of your Lips by bringing the Doctrine of Christ and owning his Commandments we say until then we are exhorted To let you alone Let them alone they be blind Leaders of the Blind you having been so plainly manifest unto us Rep. Here all People who with a single Eye read may see the Deceit of this People for I spoak but of one and therefore in that Respect it is plain Scripture though as a Deceiver yet True But these are they who if they could would make a Man an Offender for a Word My Conversation they cannot touch and yet are not ashamed to say The greatest Deceiver might as well have brought this Scripture as I this is the Blindness of their Minds And also say because I deny Water-Baptism to be an Ordinance or a Command of Christ that I am a Wolf in Sheep's Cloathing which they do affirm to be a Command but cannot prove it and so are such as use their Tongues and say The Lord saith when he never spoak to them But surely a Wolf in Sheep's Cloathing is to be known by the Life and Practice but in this they are blind and cannot discern and so themselves are the Blind Leaders of the Blind but I shall not let you alone but make you manifest unto the World neither did Christ let them alone but pronounced Woes and declared against them And here I am sure you might see your Folly who say I have been so manifest unto you and said You know not my Conversation What a Confusion is this But it is your Mother's Language And also in expecting me to affirm my Judgment upon my own Queries then what need I send them to you to Answer if I Answer them my self And here I am sure you might see your own Folly for it is here plainly laid open so that all who are led by you are plainly seen to be enslaved under your Deceit And these words shall stand for Truth against you which you call false who are the Blind and so put Evil for Good and Good for Evil And the Doctrine of Christ I have brought and his Commandments I do own from and against you who are the Busie Bodies and Self-Actors who have nought to do with him nor his Commands Therefore Silence Deceivers for here I have made good what I have taken in hand which witnessed shall be in your Condemnation The Occasion of another Meeting betwixt the People called Baptists and the People called Quakers SEveral times when I have come to the Town of Cambridge I have heard a Rumour of a Boasting and Daring that sprung from the People called Baptists behind my Back concerning a Dispute with me yet I had received nothing from them neither by Word nor Writing to be certain of their Minds therefore I being in the Town sent them Word That I heard a Voice of such a thing but knew not the Certainty therefore to let me know
Generation yet nevertheless I continued in constant Preaching of the Word to the Consciences of the People freely and publickly in several Plains of the Country notwithstanding much Opposition both of Priests People and Professors and much did the Truth prevail in the Hearts of the People to the Glory of God the Father of Truth which did make glad the Hearts of many who have long expected this Day to appear but the false Prophet began to utter forth his Lyes Blasphemies against the Truth the Beast by whose Power the false Prophet stands began to rage and persecute and the Ministers of Anti-christ stood up for their Kingdom crying against Truth striving to present it odiouâ— in the Ears of the People but when I came to their Faces they fled like Hirelings and left their Flock behind so that the Truth much prevailed notwithstanding their railing and raging so that they begun to appoint Meetings purposely to set themselves against the Truth to presenâ— it to the People as Error and Heresie so that if by any Means they could by their evil incensing and leavening of the Minds of the People turn away their Minds from hearkning to the Truth and on the other Side they had the Earthly Powers to uphold them and strengthen them against whomsoever should come to gainsay them and to lay their Law upon them so I hearing of a publick Meeting that was appointed by the Priests and Professors of these Times to be at a Town call'd Great Coggashall upon the 12th Day of the 5th Moneth called July as was declared in publick by the Priest of the said Town to Fast and Pray against the Errors as they said of the People called Quakers and also their Intent was to ensuare me and to bring my Body into Bonds if that I came amongst them for to defend the Truth which afterwards appeared and although I did see their Intent towards me I was made willing not only to be bound but also to suffer for the Pâ—re Eternal Truth which I am made a Witness of so I being pressed in my Spirit for to go amongst them and in Obedience to the same I went and there was one Priest Willis an Independent Teacher who was set up in the Seat of the Pharisee the chiefest Place of the Assembly there speaking a Divination of his own Brain and not from the Mouth of the Lord and therefore knew not how to divide the Word aright but cryed against false Prophets and Deceivers and he himself one of them and when the Priâ—st had done I spoak unto the People in Vindication of the Truth of God which the Priest had before reproached reviled and blasphemed but the Priests and the Rulers interrupted me and 〈◊〉 into many Words which bred much Disorder and Confusion and then another of the Priests got up into the Pulpit and they bid me put of my Hat and stand with my Hat off the Time the Priest was praying which Worship I denyed and therefore could not be conformable to it and so I said Before I should be subject to their Wills I would pass out of the Meeting Place and so I did and many People came out after me for I intended to declare the Truth in the Town being I could not have Liberty in the publick Place And as I was passing on the Way quietly towards my Friends House he that is called Justice Wakering came rushing behind me amongst the People and suddenly smote me with his Hand upon my Back and said He arested me in the Name of the Lord Protector and so I turned me about and looked upon him but knew not that he was a Magistrate so I asked him Where was his Writ and he said He had one but none he shewed me then they hurried me into an House and there some Friends engaged that I should be forth-coming when their Worship was done and so I went unto my Friends House and there spoak the Word of the Lord unto the People that there came together and was also ready when their Worship was done according to my Friends Engagement And when I came before them there were four Men called Justices and six or seven Priests yea there were nigh nine or ten Priests that Day that were gathered together against the Truth and when I was come before them he that is called Justice Wâ—â—ering came and plucked my Hat off my Head and threw it away then they fell to question me of many Things to which I made answer and many frivolous Questions they asked me whereby to ensnare me which was neither just nor honest for Men of their Profession to do so when they had satisfied their Wills in examining of me they caused a Mittimus to be made and committed me to the Common Goal at Colchester And there were several of the chief Priests in Essex that were Actors in this Persecution Priest Willis who is a Teacher of an Independent Company at Brantry and Priest Sammes a Teacher of an Indepâ—ndent Company at â—reat Coggashal and Priest Spaâ—row a Teacher of an Independent Company ar Halstead and Priest Stellum a Teacher of an Independent Company at Tarling yet are all Parish Priests and are maintained by those that â—re not of their Church and those were the Head-Actors in this Persecution yea and Priest Stellum speak to the Rulers in the publick Place thereby to stir up their Spirits to persecute and this was plotted amongst the Priests and their gathered Churches to appoint Meetings thereby to ensnare the Innocent and raise Persecution against the Truth yea and two of the Men called Justices who were my chief Persecutors are Members of the Independent Church and thus the Churches gather themselves against Christ and his Kingdom and now the Ravening Wolves in Sheeps Cloathing do appear yea their Fruits make them manifest and those are they who call themselves Jews and are not but the Synagogue of Satan and those are the Builders who have do reject the Corner Stone which is now become the Head of the Corner and over their Heads is set and Wo unto them on whom it lights And after I was sent to Prison there I was kept close and could not have my Friends and Acquaintance to come to see me with Peace and Freedom and so when I was there I wrote an Answer to the Mittimus whereby I was falsly accused and imprisoned and sent to the Men that committed me for to clear my Conscience unto them and lay the Injustice and Cruelty before them and leave them without Excuse in the Presence of the Almighty And so when the Time came that I was to go to the Assize they put me on a Chain amongst Felons and Murderers and joyned me to one suspected for Murder and thus I was numbred amongst Transgressors that the Scripture might be fulfilled and thus six of us were hooked together upon a Chain so that we could not go into a Bed for four of us remained upon the Chain
Yea or Nay 54. VVhat is that which is lost which Christ comes to seek and what is that which was driven away which Christ comes to bring again and whether this is not to be witnessed and fulfilled in Man Yea or Nay 55. VVhat is the Paradice wherein Man was placed and what was the Image of God wherein Man was created 56. And how was Man a living Soul and whether all this is not to be restord unto Man and fulfilled and witnessed unto Man while he is upon the Earth Yea or Nay 57. What is the Tree of Life and what is the Tree of Knowledge and whether upon it you do not feed and what is the flaming Sword that is set to keep from the Tree of Life and whether it you ever passed 58. Whether the Natural Man can try and discern false Spirits by the Scripture and by what doth the spiritual Man try and judge all Things and whether by the same he did not try and discern Spirits 59. And by what did the Holy Men of God that gave forth the Scripture try and discern Spirits and whether yours be the same Tryer of Spirits as theirs was who say You must try the Spirit by the Letter 60. Whether you are not conform'd like unto the World so long as you follow their Fashions and Customs 61. VVhether you are not partial amongst your selves so long as you respect Persons These Things I do not ask as if I knew them not but for the Satisfaction of the Simple and the clearing of the Truth and Manifesting your Deceit to the World by which you have deceived the World who are the Deceivers of the World therefore answer by plain Scripture and your own Experience or else let all Flesh keep Silence before the Lord and let Guilt stop your Mouthes for Railing Reproaching and Blaspheming the Truth of God which is made manifest in these People whom you scornfully call Quakers who by you and your Agents are persecuted but where do you find that the Church of God was ever Persecutors or ever made Use of Carnal VVeapons to defend them J. P. Here followeth a Copy of a Letter that I was moved to write to Judge Hills after the Assize A Few VVords â—nto thee that art set in the Seat to do Justice and to bear the Sword of Justice in thy Hand and hast turned the Edge of it against the Righteous and laid it upon the Innocent and thy fair VVords will not shelter nor cover thy deceitful Actions but thy deceitful Heart is made manifest and thy Hypocrisie doth there appear for thou hast hearkned unto the false Prophet and by his enticing VVords thou art deceived and so puttest Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness Evil for Good and Good for Evil and so art lyable to the VVo from the Lord and hast persecuted Christ and set at Liberty Barrabas yea and I was numbred amongst Transgressors yet could not have the Liberty of Transgressors as in many Things might be nominated but in short I shall declare it First That mine Accusers should stand in the Place as Judges over me and their Accusations and false Witnesses to be heard to the full and also to whisper and buz in thy Ears in secret what they would against me and also that thou that satest in the Seat as a Judge to repeat over unto the Jury all that thou couldst gather by wrong Interpretation and Construction against me but nothing of my Defence against my Accusations but rather to drive out of their Minds by thy evil incensing what I had before declared in my own Defence but thou as it were passedst the Sentence upon me before the Jury went forth but thou thoughtst thou hadst pannelled a Jury wherewith thou wast pleased to try me according to thine own Mind and Will for the Fore-man was a Drunkard and the rest Swearers out of the Doctrine of Christ against all which I did object and denyed by them to be tryed but it was thy Will and Pleasure so to do and when they come to bring in their Evidence they had so much Understanding that they charg'd me with nothing but the Papers which I had before confessed to be mine and owned them but the Indictment they would not own to be Truth against me though dishonestly both thou and the Clerk did draw Words out of the Fore-man of the Jury which the rest did not consent to and then in thy Will with thy fair and deceitful Speeches thou imposedst a Fine upon me contrary to all Law and Equity but where Equity is not it cannot be expected for Oppression within Oppression without and he that cannot Witness the Sword of Justice set up in his Heart knows not how to handle it without for he that rules not by the Law of God in his Heart rules in his own VVill and is partial and understands not the Things of God but what pleaseth his VVill that he cherisheth and what crosseth his VVill that he would curb and the VVill of Man is opposite to the VVill of God therefore the Cross of Christ is of Use to them that know it but a stumbling Block to the VVorld but he that rules in his own VVill is no Minister of God he that respects Persons is not fit to bear Rule for God he that seeks himself is not fit to bear Rule for God all which appeared and was openly manifest in thee in the open Court as in those Things before mentioned and many other which are now out of Mind but for the clearing of my Conscience unto thee I was moved to write that thou mightst see what thou hast done and be left without Excuse of Ignorance in the Presence of the Almighty for contrary to the Light of God in thy Conscience thou hast acted by which thou standest Accuâ—ed in the Presence of the Almighty and if thy Conscience accuse thee God is greater But if thou hadst stood in the Place where thou art set to judge of legal Matters about natural temporal Things thou hadst had the less to account for but in medling to judge about Spiritual Matters is Authority which the Scripture which thou callest thy Rule doth not allow thee for the Natural Man perceives not the Things of God because they are spiritually discerâ—ed therefore in this the spiritual Man judgeth thee and thy Condemnation is great therefore lay these Things to Heart and put them not far from thee or to the Light of God in thy Conscience I do speak which eternally will witness me condemn thee in the Presence of the Almighty who hast taken upon thee to judge and condemn those whom God hath justified Thereâ—ore consider what advantageth it thee or what will it advantage thee when thou comest to give an Account before the Lord God of Heaven and Earth the Judge of all the Quick and the Dead if thou hast now Power to keep this Body in Prison until thou hast the Life of the Creature which
the Apostles Practice and so thou fulfillest the words which before I have spoaken of thee And whosoever deny you of Tythes do not Unjustly detain them as thou say'st they do being you have no Right to them by any Law or Command from God or Example in the Scripture as before is proved but only claim a Title by the unjust Supremacy of the Pope by which your Fore-fathers the Persecuting Bishops were upheld and therefore we called Quakers do teach People them you to deny which is not contrary to the Practice of Christ or his Apostles as thou accusest us for saith Christ Beware of False Prophets that appear in Sheep's Cloathing but inwardly Ravening Wolves By their Fruits they are known and by which sufficiently you are here marked out and the Apostles bid From such turn away as in 2 Tim. 3. 5. And again the Apostle John forbids to receive such as abide not in the Doctrine of Christ or to bid them Good Speed 2 John 9 10. And here both Christ and his Apostles sufficiently taught People to deny you and here thou art proved a Lyar who thus falsly accusest us call'd Quakers in this to act contrary to the Practice of Christ or his Apostles and so here thou and the rest of the professed Ministers of this Nation are sufficiently manifest what you are so that all men may see your Folly and Deceit but those who are blind and love to have it so and so the Scripture is fulfilled upon you Jer. 5. 30 31. Qu. 12. Whether ever the Ministers of the Gospel took any Necessaries of the World as thou and such as thou do all your Tythes and Maintenance yea or nay Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou sayest Yea they have which to prove thou quotest Acts 28. 1 9. where thou say'st Paul took Necessaries of the Barbarians yet this not serving thy turn thou runnest to old Histories which thou callest Ecclesiastical Records and say'st They fâ—r One Thousand Five Hundred Years do testifie the same but yet doubting of this thou say'st as thou saidst before It sufficeth you that there is no Law nor Command of God to the Contrary nor are Examples thou saist needful for every thing as to prove that Christ called any Shoemaker or Cobler to be a Prophet Rep. But here again thou hast marked out thy self to be a False Prophet who runnest and the Lord never sent thee and therefore thou â—eachest for Doctrine the Traditions of Men for the which thou hast no Scripture and therefore runnest to Old Stories to which I am not to give any Credit be they never so old being they are not according to Scripture and therefore not Ecclesiastical for the Oldness of the thing doth not make it Truth though you have long thereby deceived the Ignorant And as for that Scripture which thou quotest in Acts 28. 1 9. then Paul was a Prisoner and he and the Souldiers that kept him and the rest of the People were driven there by Storm upon the Sea so that in that Case the Barbarians took Pitty of them and received them but there were many besides Paul and the Centurion to whom Paul was committed who were to take Care of him and also that which the Barbarians did was Freely and that which Nature bound them to being they were in that Strait which was done to many besides Paul who were Heathens So that this doth not at all stand for thee who art in thy own Country and yet takest all thy Tythes and Maintenance of the World by Compulsion neither will this Excuse serve to shelter you Hirelings and Deceivers to say That there is no Law nor Command of God to the Contrary for it is False for Christ commands his Ministers expresly Freely to give as Freely they had received and also charged them Where they were not Freely Received to depart thence shaking off the Dust of their Feet as before is proved And also Oppression the Law of God is against and to take the Tenth or Encrease of the Fruits of the Peoples Labours is a sore and great Oppression which the Land groans under and therefore a Sin and yet the Gift doth so blind your Eyes that you cannot see all this but think because there is no Scripture for you therefore none against you And though there needs no Example so prove any Shoemaker or Cobler to be a Prophet as thou confessest though in Scorn for it is a thing that none doth who understands the Scripture being there is sufficient Proof that he called other Tradesmen yet there is a Need that you might find so much as a Scripture-Proof or Example for your Tythes and Maintenance who profess it to be your Rule being it is a great Oppression of the Land and yet saist thou It doth suffice you that there is no Law or Command to the Contrary Therefore this shews your Avaricious Minds who are so willing to be blind in this thing but it will not neither doth so easily suffice those that are oppressed by You though You regard it not according to the Prophet Ezekiel's words You seek for the Fleece and regard not the Flock but make a Prey upon the Sheep and so with this stop thy Mouth and own thy self amongst the False Shepherds and Hirelings Ezeâ— 34. John 10. Qu. 13. Whether ever they had a Set Maintenance or so much a Year for Preaching as Forty Sixty One Hundred or Two Hundred Pound as thou and such as thou have Pr. Answ. And in thy Answer thou canst not bring one Scripture for thy Rule to prove this your common Practice but fleest to the Reâ—ords that thou saist are to be found in several Parts of Christendom as thou call'st it where I do not intend to seek for them to see whether these things be true or no which thou speakest of them but as I said before will conclude them to be false in this thing being the Scripture is altogether against it so that thou canst not find one Scripture to justifie it but say'st if we say Where do you read of this in the Scripture thou answerest as far off again to the same Purpose still without any Scripture-Proof and therefore I shall leave it for any Understanding Reader of thy Book to judge and see how weak you are if you had not a Law of Man to uphold you who have not one Scripture that will strengthen the Foundation of your Ministry which is your Maintenance Then how have you deluded the People to make them believe that the Scripture is your Rule when it is altogether against you Let the Honest-Hearted judge Qu. 14 And whether such be not the Hirelings which care not for the Sheep yea or nay And whether such be not the Greedy Dogs which the Prophet Isaiah Freely Declared against Isa. 56. 11. and make a Prey upon the Sheep which Ezekiel declared against Ezek. 34. and are the Ravening Wolves which Jesus Christ declared against Mat. 7. 15. and are such
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
as one not worthy to live amongst them yea and they said He that killed me would do God Service But he that had called me out from amongst them unto himself that I might no longer follow the Vain Courses of the World nor set my Delight on things below but that I might serve him in Newness of â—ife that in me his Workmanship might appear to the Confounding â—â—f the Heathen who know him not He by his â—â—â—wer kept me and gave me Strength to bear his Cross and despise the Shame so that neither Foul Words nor Fair Words could cause me to Deny what God by his Grace had wrought in my Heart but by his Power he carried me above the Raging Waves of the tempestuous Sea so that I knew that he that was in me was greater then he that is in the World yea and out of my Kindred and Acquaintance I came and became a Stranger to them that lov'd not the Truth Yea and presently I came to see the Priests of the World by their Fruits and the Fruits of their Ministry which was cursed from God and therefore profited not the People at all But when the Lord by his Power had changed and converted my Heart unto himself the Priests became mine Enemies and said I was deluded whenas before when I lived in the vain Conversation of the World they took no Notice of me either to Reprove me or Instruct me but as they went on in a customary way for Gain and Lucre speaking against Sin in the general but not reproving it in particular but were as deep in it in their Lives as others and so what they preacht down with their Tongues they upheld in their Lives and countenanced in their Conversations and so from them I turned whom I saw had gotten a Form but deny'd the Life and Power and I sought for a People with whom I might have Union and there was a People with whom I found Union a few Miles from the Town where I lived whom the Lord was a gathering out of the dark VVorld to sit down together wait upon his Name but we were the Objects and Reproach of the Country and were accounted as the Off-scourings of the VVorld but in all this we saw the Scriptures fulfilled and that we might thus suffer if we would live Godly in Christ Jesus and here was our Confidence and Strength which carryed us above our Sufferings as knowing it was for the Name of Jesus And thus I continued a certain time counting it greater Riches to suffer Affliction with the People of God then to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season and about this time I was about Fifteen Years of Age. And afterwards I was called forth to visit some Friends in the North Part of England with whom I had Union in Spirit before I saw their Faces And afterwards I returned back to my outward Dwelling-Place and remained in my outward Calling And the Lord all this time still more more perfecting encreasing his Work in my Heart which by his Power he had begun in me and by his pure Power bringing forth his Truth in me and making known his Will unto me until by his Power He opened my Mouth to declare his Truth in the VVorld and still I continued in my outward Calling and also in the VVork of the Lord as not being called far from my Dwelling-Place And when I was betwixt Seventeen and Eighteen Years of Age I was moved in my Spirit to go to a Place about Fifteen Miles from my outward Dwelling-Place southward amongst a People to whom the Lord was making known his Truth not knowing when I went out of going farther then that Place but when I was there I was moved of the Lord to come on the Cambridge and in Obedience unto the Lord I came to see what he had to do for me not knowing one Foot of the Way but as I was directed neither knowing when I came there where to be receiv'd but had heard before of Two of my Friends that were there Whipped caused by the Mayor that then was only for declaring the Truth as they past through the Town against the Deceit thereof neither did I know but it might be my Portion also when I came there but without conferring with Flesh and Blood I passed on my Journey and he that called me forth went along with me and did direct me And when I came there I found those that were worthy that received me and also I found a Friend whom the Corrupt Rulers had put in Prison for the same Testimony which I also was sent to declare before I had continu'd there the space of Fourteen Nights William Pickering the Mayor of Cambridge committed me to Prison for publishing two Papers the one against the Corruption of the Magistrates and the other against the Corruption of the Priests at the time of their Commencement as they call it and there they kept me in Prison the space of two Sessions and tossed me from Prison to Dungeon and had nothing to lay against me whereby to prove the Breach of any Law but when I came to the last Sessions they called a Jury to prove the Papers to be Scandalous and Seditious Papers and they were nigh Two Hours about them but could not prove it but came and said That they found nothing but that the Papers were mine which I had before own'd in the open Court and there was my Name to them to testifie the same And so they were crossed in their Intentions and their Plots came to nought Then they committed me back to Prison again and after the space of Three Days they sent me away with a Pass under the Name of a Rogue yet durst not give me the Law which belongs to Rogues but had me away with Clubs and Staves and I could not see the Pass until I was Three Miles out of the Town where I lodged that Night and the next day there came a Justice of Peace from Cambridge who knowing me to be Innocent of what was laid to my Charge so he witnessed the Pass to be false and took it back to Cambridge and so I was set free And not long after I went of Cambridge again and went abroad preaching and declaring the Truth freely in the Countries about and many I found that received the Truth gladly but more Enemies yet nevertheless Truth spread conquer'd over its Enemies and there I continued labouring in the VVork of the Lord about the Space of half a Year in the Countries about Cambridge and from thence I was moved of the Lord to come into Essex where I heard of a People that was seâ—king the Lord and when I came there I found those that were worthy who received the Truth gladly and there I continued freely declaring and preaching the Truth from Place to Place sometimes in the Synagogues and was haled out by the Priests Party that the Scripture might be fulfilled upon that
Day and Night and thus I was led 18 Miles through the Country for a gazing-Stock unto the World but Truth was preached in all this and prevailed on the Hearts of the People so that I could rejoyce in all and triumph over mine Enemies So when we were at the Assize-Town which is called Chansford the Judge came in upon the seventh Day of the Week and upon the second Day of the next Week I was brought into the Court before Judge Hills who sate upon Life and Death and there I stood for a gazing-Stock while and then the Judge commaâ—ded them to take me away and did not say any thing to me for then I was singled from the rest only had Irons upon one of my Hands then upon the next Day Morning the Goaler sent his Man to take off my other Irons and so in the afternoon I was had before the Judge without any Irons and the Goaler took off my Hat and cast it upon the Floor and then the Clerk read a long Indictment full of Falshoods and asked me if I was guilty and I told him I denyed all Guilt and called for my Accusers and the Judge said I might see my Accusers and told me I might say Guilty or not Guilty and I told him I was not Guilty so called twelve Men to try me and the Fore-man was a Drunkard and they bid me object against any of them and I told them I owned none out of the Doctrine of Christ and all that swore were out of the Doctrine of Christ and they had all sworn before my Face and therefore I openly denyed by them to be tryed yet nevertheless they went on with their Work and Priest Willis was called and he swore against me and swore falsly too and the two Men called Justices swore against me and swore falsly too and one of the Justices Men so called and another Man swore against me and swore falsly too yet all these false Witnesses were heard to the full what they would say aginst me and thus the Leader of the People caused them to err for if the Teacher be a Swearer and a false Swearer what may the People be for Christ saith Swear not at all but let your Yea be Yea and your Nay be Nay for whatsoever is more is Evil and the Apostle saith In all Things my Brethren swear not at all c. and he that abides not in the Doctrine of Christ hath not God and thus like People like Priest all live without God in the World And when their false Witnesses had spoaken what they could against me they brought in the Letter which I had sent to the Men called Justices in Reply to their Mittimus and it was openly read in the COURT and I owned it for my Name was to it and the reading of it was much Satisfaction to many that understood it and they also brought another Paper that I writ against the Idol's Temple and the Deceiver therein both which shall follow in Order afterwards and then when they were both read Judge â—ills took them both and repeated over unto the Jury all that he could gather by wrong Interpretation and Construction against me whereby to incense the Jury against me and told them If they did not find me Guilty the Sin would lye upon their Heads and he as it were passed the Sentence upon me before the Jury went forth yea and told them what they should do whenas they had sworn before to speak the Truth and nothing but the Truth and I had charged them to take heed what they did for I told them None could judge betwixt Truth and Heresie but by the Spirit of the Lord but when I would have spoken something to the Jury before they went forth the Judge interrupted me and would not suffer me though one of the Jury desired it neither would he suffer that the Jury should have the Papers that were brought in against me though I required it but sought all that he could against me true or false although I had sent him a true Declaration of the Grounds of my Imprisonment with Hands of four Witnesses to it neither would he suffer that to be read And that which I would have spoaken unto the Jury was to clear it unto them that it was no scandalous nor reproachful Words to call a corrupt Magistrate a corrupt Magistrate and to call an Unjust Judge and Lawyer an Unjust Judge and Lawyer or a Persecutor a Persecutor or a Deceiver a Deceiver all which was brought against me and call'd Railing and Scandalous for by that Account they might have taxed all the Prophets for Railing and Scandaling for they open and often declared against the Corruption of the Priests and Rulers as you may read in many Places in the Prophets Records Isaâ—ah called the Priests Greedy Dumb Dogs and the Prophets called them Idol-Shepherds and the like and Christ call'd them Hirelings and the Rulers Hypocrites and Herod a Fox read Maâ—thew 23. and see if you may not as well call that Railing and yet in all this they did not rail nor scandalize any but gave to every Nature its Name and due Reproof whether they would hear or forbear But 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. So when the Jury came in to bring in their Evidence they could charge me with nothing but the Paper I had writ in Reply to my Mittimus after I was imprisoned which Paper I had before owned in the open Court with my Name to it But the Indictment they could not charge me with for it tended to a Riot which I was far from or any that owned me But the Judge and the Clark both dishonestly strove to draw Words out of the Fore man of the Jury which the rest did not consent to neither could he speak their Minds but others of the Jury were fain to speak themselves but nothing was cleared against me Then the Goaler was commanded to take me away and when I was gone forth of the Court they sent for me again and the Judge imposed two Fines upon me to the Value of about Forty Pounds the one he said was for the Contempt of the Magistracy the other for the Contempt of the Ministry for he said The Lord PROTECTOR had charged him to see to punish such Persons as should Contemn either Magistracy or Ministry But what a Ministry is this that stands in need of an outward Magistracy to uphold it against a People that come with nothing but Spiritual Weapons to defend themselves against Spiritual Wickedness which now sits in high Places But this Ministry is contrary to the Ministry of Christ whose Weapons are not Carnal but Spiritual And also several of mine Accusers stood upon the Bench hard by the Judge several time Whispering him in the Ear and leavening and incensing his Mind against me and I reproved