which I know not of nor delight in the Fast that I choose is the abstinence from all appearance of evil a rending of the heart and not the garment a blessed joyful mourning it s to loose the bands of wickedness and to undo the heavy burden and to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke of oppression as taxes rythes free quarters besides the fightings within to be laid low as also to deal bread to the hungry drink to the thirsty and not to say be thou warmed or be thou clothed this is the new Commandment to love one another then shall we walk in light and not in darkness and our light shall break forth as the morning and thy health like the noon day thy righteousness shall go before thee and the Lord thy God thy rereward we shall no sooner call or cry but the Lord shall answer and say Here I am When the yoke of sin and speaking in vanity is cut off then thy soul will be drawn out to the hungry and the afflicted shall be satisfied and thy obscurity shall be as the light and thy darkness as the noon day for the Lord will satisfie thee and give to thee as thou dost to him so will the Lords Soul be drawn out to thee and make thee a watered garden a living fountain nay the Lord shall make thee a repairer of the breach and a restorer of paths to dwell in for the Righteousness of the Lord is upon thee and the Lord shall be thy Sabbath and pleasure thy holy day and delight thy ways and words being lost to thy self and remaining only the Lords delighting thy self in the Lord riding to and fro◠upon the high places of the earth-triumphing over all things SECT LXXIX §. 79 The exceeding sinfulness of sin the misery that it brings till the Lord arise against it in Justice and in Truth BEhold the Lords Hand or Power is never shortened that it cannot save even from the grave yea though they were dead yet can he say unto them live nor is his ear at all heavy but he can hear the complaints of the distressed soul nor his eyes closed but he can see their misery nor his heart sealed but he can pitty and have mercy on them if he please but our sins and iniquities shorten our hands close our eyes deafen our ears and harden our hearts that we shall not understand and so separate us from the Lord and from his face driving us out from his presence that he may not hear thus making us trust altogether in vanities lies conceiving nothing but mischief bringing forth nothing but iniquity breeding cockatrices egs in us weaving spiders webs wickedness in a mystery so keeping us far from the way of Peace and as for Judgment that is turned backward behind us Justice stands afar off Truth falls in the streets and Equity cannot enter therefore the Lords Arm is stretched out he sees what is done and puts on his Armor his Brestplate of Righteousness his Helmet of Salvation his Clothing of Vengeance and his Cloak of Zeal to repay and recompence fury on his adversaries our iniquities sins lifting up his Spirit like a Standard against them and bring them in like a mighty flood destroying iniquity and sin and this Covenant will I make in them and you my Spirit shall be with you and my Word in your heart and mouth never to depart from thee nor thy seeds seed for ever SECT LXXX §. 80 Arise and shine for thy light is come THe Lord thy Light O man is come he is risen and shines most gloriously and awakening thee to arise and shine in him and with him for his Glory is rising on thee dispelling all manner of darkness from thee and gathering all things to the light yea Kings and people to his brightness far and near sons and daughters to see his Glory they shall see and flow together be enlarged converted because of the abundance of the Glory of the Lord revealed they shall come flying as Clouds and as Doves to the windows and in thy light see light walking every one in the light of the Lord. SECT LXXXI §. 81 The glory given to them whom God doth glorifie THy Temple shall be glorious for the Lord to dwell in Kings and Princes strangers and friends gold and silver yea all precious substance the excellency of creatures shall be brought to thee because of the Name of the Lord thy God for he hath glorified thee therefore they shall bring their glory unto thee and glorifie thee as the wise men that brought their gifts to Christ the Babe in a manger gold frankincense mirrhe and worshiped him because God had glorified him above his fellows so here them that are Christs shall be glorified and the Nations and Kingdoms that will not serve the Lord kiss the Sun and have him to reign over them shall perish and their Land left desolate SECT LXXXII All Glory comes when Gods Glory comes §. 82 ALL Glory shall come unto thee when the Glory of the Lord is revealed the glory of Lebanon the Camels and Dromedaries of Midian the Flocks of Kedar the Rams of Nebaioth the Ships of Tarshish yea the Nations Kingdoms all abroad shall fear thee because of the Lord thy God that is with thee and shall come from far to worship thy God with thee and they shall be a beautiful Sanctuary to the Lord and the place of his feet amongst them shal be glorious the meanest and weakest of the Saints Gods lower parts thus God will make thee an everlasting glory and eternal excellency a joy to ages SECT LXXXIII §. 83 I will bring gold and silver strength and beauty unto thee ANd I the Lord thy Redeemer wil make thine enemies bow down to thee yea all thy high imaginations and spiritual wickedness that hated and afflicted thee and I will bring my Glory and Treasure to thee I will bring gifts unto thee I wil multiply my Mercy Grace and Peace to thee yea I wil give thee gold and silver for brass and iron the precious for the vile yea I wil make thy officers all peace ruling in peace thy exactors righteousness doing truth justice so they shal learn to war no more neither shall the sword any more devour flesh and it shall not be your bow sword spear or might but my Spirit that shall glorifie me and you also for all manner of violence will I cause to cease wasting and destruction no more seen for our weapons are spiritual our God glorious our dwellings on high our walls salvation and our gates praise thy God thy glory SECT LXXXIV §. 84 The Lord thy everlasting Light thy Sun and Moon that shall darken all other Suns and turn them to blood but himself in the end WHen this great light of the Lord himself is come then shall thy stars fall and thy lamps grow dim the heaven and earth in thee melt with fervent heat at the
THE LITTLE Bible of the Man OR THE Book of God opened in Man BY THE Power of the LAMB Wherein God is the Spirit or inside of the Book and Man the Letter or out-side of it In whom as in a Glass you may both behold the Spirit and Letter of the holy Scriptures in the new Man fulfilled and Explained from Genesis to Jeremiah This is the first Volume of Gods Book in Man Written by a weak Instrument of the Lords Capt. T. BUTLER LONDON Printed in the first year of Englands Liberty 1649 For Giles Calvert at the black spread Eagle at the west end of Pauls TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE Lord of Pembroke AND To the Right Honorable the Lord of Mulgrave all Peace and Happiness My Lords IT is the Design of Heaven to pull down the pride of all flesh and to have the Lord alone Exalted that no flesh might glory before him but all that glory may do it in the Lord God they being the Lords For the day of the Lord is come upon all flesh to destroy it like grasse but the Word of the Lord abides for ever and he that is built upon that Rock the gates of hell can never prevail against him though the Lord cometh to shake terribly the Earth and the Heavens also yea though the mountains and hils remove out of their places though the stars fall from heaven and the Sun be turned into darkness and the Moon into blood by this terrible Earthquake yet the foundation of God stands sure their Sun never sets nor their Moon changes For the Lord himself is their everlasting Light and thy God their glory And though the fashion of this world perisheth waxing old as doth a garment and as a vesture shalt thou change them yet thy Kingdome is an everlasting Kingdome O God and thy Dominion throughout all ages thou changest not but art the same to day yesterday and forever thou shalt raign till thou hast made this world become the Kingdomes of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his Saints and great shall be the day of the Lord. My Lords I could doe no less then recommend this new born babe unto You which hath been brought forth in sorrow and much weakness of flesh though in the willingness of spirit the Lord gives it his grace and blessing that it may be growing up in you in strength and power which shall be the joy and desire of Your Servant T. Butler From my Quarters in Black-Fryers Mr Delaines February 8. 1648. To his Worthy Friend Mr Tho. Appletree Worthy Friend LEt him that stands saith the Apostle take heed least he fall and be not high minded but fear for God gives grace to the humble and exalts the meek but the proud he beholds afar off it is good therefore for every man to look to his feet and consider how he stands by sense or by Faith by Flesh or Spirit by Grace or by Works and where he stands on holy or unholy ground or the Sand or the Rock upon the Sea or the dry Land on Earth or in Heaven in himself or in God whether the Moon be under his feet and he clothed with the Sun whether he serve God or Mammon for if we stand in the Lord we are safe but if we stand any where else we sink and fall the Lords Angels pitch their tents about his to preserve them in all his ways they shall walk and not be weary run and not faint they walk as wise men and not as fools redeeming the time because the days are evil And while God gives You opportunity do good to all but especially to the houshold of Faith and be not weary of well doing for in due time you shall reap if you faint not faithful is he that hath promised who also will do it Your labor of love is well known to many Saints in Dedington and thereabout in Oxfordshire whose bowels You have refreshed the Lord make You more and more to abound in Faith and Love that You may never see Christ naked hungry or in prison but You may minister to him and relieve the oppressed judg the fatherless and widow and let the cause of the poor be maintained still keeping Faith and a good Conscience in all things that Your good example and counsel may win upon many and if J or my poor endeavors herein may advantage You any way in this kind it will be the travel of my Soul and the joy of my Spirit Sir Your Friend and Servant THO. BUTLER TO The Vertuous LADIES Mrs Elizabeth Mrs Anne Mrs Margaret Mrs Katherine and Mrs Lettice Babingtons my dear and precious Sisters together with the rest of that noble Family My deer Sisters AMongst the Catalogue of Gods great mercies to me I account it not the least to be of the number of that sweet and precious society and Family and to see how the Lord hath multiplied his mercies towards us as not onely to make us one Body but also one Spirit giving us the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace whereby we have fellowshp with the Lord and one with another in the Spirit praying rejoycing conversing walking and living together continually this never dyes neither can it be parted it s such a threefold cord that nothing can break it such a fellowship nothing can divide it and such a joy and life none can take from us I have through the love and goodness of the Lord to me drawn some spiritual Discoveries upon a part of the Scriptures as God gave me opportunity Onely my dear Sisters let me desire this from you What you finde herein of God glorifie him for it and what is not of God as you apprehend judg it not after the flesh but judg righteous judgment and withal remember the weakness of him that was but a poor instrument in it And if it may by the blessing of God give any light to you God speaking the same things in a vail to it in your spirits how will it rejoyce mine Thus leaving all to the good guide of the Spirit of Truth in all things I take leave and remain Your loving Brother T. BUTLER TO THE READER JVdg not saith the Apostle that ye be not judged for with what measure you meet it shall be measured to you again and what you would that men should do unto you even so do ye unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets but Christ and the Apostles go further and would have us do far better to others then they do to us give them good for evil knowing this now J cannot but perswade my loving Reader to lay aside all malice wrath envy guil and hypocrisie and in love meekness patience and much goodness read and consider trying the spirits whether they be of God or not And thus J shall say with thee if there be any thing as questionless there is of flesh darkness or the spirit of this world that all of it may come into
Covenant he will write in us first what it is not then what it is ANd this Covenant shall not be according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the Land of Egypt because they continued not in my Covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord God No no that was in Letter outward dead in tables of stone read seen heard but fat from the heart and spirits SECT VIII §. 8 How this Covenant differs from all others it being in Spirit BUt this is the Covenant 1. That was with their Fathers This with the Children 2. That was for a day This for many days 3. That was to take them by the Hand This is to take them by the Heart 4. That was to lead them This to write in them 5. That was to lead them out of Egypt This is to lead them from Flesh to Spirit from Earth to Heaven from this world to that to come 6. That was to forsake them if they forsake me This is never to forsake them nor they me I will be their God and they shall be my people that I will be their God if they be my people 7. That was to be taught of Men This is to be taught of God they shall all know me 8. That was without Mercy to their Sins it was all for Sacrifice but now I will have mercy I will be merciful to their sins 9. That was to take notice of and remember sin to break the Covenant This remembers sin no more but to forgive and forget though we offend him seventy times seven in a moment 10. That made us faulty and guilty This makes us faultless and guiltless 11. That made us old Creatures This makes us new Creatures 12. That made us happy in the Flesh This makes us happy in the Spirit Thus Christ Jesus is become the sum of all things Gods true Ministry true Tabernacle Sacrifice Gods true and new Covenant made with Man All was compleat in him and so Christians SECT IX §. 9 Christ is in us Gods Dwelling and his Writing NOw if any man be in Christ or Christ be in him he is a new Creature in Christ or Christ a new Creature in him Then as Christ was and is so shall he be the true Tabernacle in whom God shall dwell the Priesthood the Sacrifice the Covenant of God written in him In the volume of his heart shall be written Lo I come to do thy will O God Yea thy Law is written within my heart So that whatsoever is applyed to Christ shall be also to the Christian What great things are spoken of the beloved City of God how are they called Gods Heaven and Earth Gods Throne and Footstool Gods Paradise His Rivers His Lands and Being his Inheritance Psal 2. His Husbandry His Building His City and Temple His Birds and Beasts His Sons and Heirs His Jewels and Treasures yea all that is or can be named But amongst all I would speak of two and shew you how the Saints are a houshold of Faith how they are Gods dwelling House which I must refer to some other providence to bring forth what God hath put into my heart concerning that House and the building thereof and now wholy address my self to the other which is this How the Saints may be called and how they are made the Bible or Book of God the Book of Life God living in them they are made the very Oracles of God speaking as moved by the holy Ghost whose hearts are Gods Closets and Study where he keeps his Library all his Writings Inditings Laws Decrees Purposes Counsels Precepts Promises Prophesies all this and their very lives preach their hearts and apply their texts their outward man the Commentary or Exposition a very Sermon of the inward grace and word of Life there What shall I say to speak nothing of the Temple Altar Shew-bread Candlestick Laver Incense Mercy-seat nor of the Ark but only of the Tables in the Ark nothing of the House Houshold-goods Treasures only a little of the Writing of God there in letters of gold For this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days saith the Lord. SECT X. §. 10 What this new Covenant is further to us IT is not the old Covenant renewed but a new one made not out of us but in us not in letter but in Spirit not in word but in deed and in truth wherein God doth bind himself under hand and seal to make good what he promises and what he will perform to us the Oath sworn to our forefather Abraham that he would give us that he would deliver us from the hands of all our enemies within and without And secondly That he would make us a people fit to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness in love all the days of our life and in him all we should be blessed SECT XI The high excellency and vertue of it in us §. 11 what it doth for us and is to us THis new Covenant makes men new Creatures that have it written in them It gives them a new Nature and new names accordingly 2. It is the very gate that enters into the City the new Jerusalem All that enter therein go through this gate which is the gate of Heaven 3. All things in this Covenant are of God nothing at all of Man God makes it keeps it and performs every thing in it that concerns us 4. This Covenant is our marriage with the Lamb our Union and our Communion with God and that in Spirit It is the very uniting in spirits and keeping the bond of peace 5. This Covenant is the life of all the old they were but the shadows of this were all fulfilled in it and this must be that the Scriptures may be fulfilled which prophesied long since of it and we are waiting for it having received the first fruits of it some Lines and Precepts 6. This Covenant is the Liberty of the Sons of God by this they are made free from Sin to do Righteousness and free being enlarged and released out of bondage by the spirit of truth in Christ Jesus Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ Jesus hath made you free and be not entangled with worldly rudiments any more 7. It is a free Covenant as well as a full or a new one freely made freely promised freely wrought of God 8. And it is a sure one being Gods and everlasting also It doth also agree in one and makes all one whether male or female bond or free high or low rich or poor we are all made one in this Covenant in the Spirit SECT XII §. 12 The Lord setting forth a book to the world I will put my Laws in their minds this is the heavenly resolution to set up his Press in our Hearts and print in us whole volumes and from thence it shall be published to
am sought and found by them that never knew me nor sought me but I them and they loved me and beheld me I opened my heart to them and spred forth my hands and drew them from gâ—rdens altars graves and groves mountains and valleys and from eating swines flesh and abominable things and from thine own holiness and filthiness which was like a smoke and filth to me to my own self and my own mountain to dwell in for my blessing that is amongst you I will not quite destroy you but my inheritance shall be with you and I will dwell with you and all that is with you and in you that forsakes me I will number to the sword and bow down to the slaughter all that is disobedient to me and thus I will do to you my servants in you and amongst you you shall eat drink and rejoyce but what is my revenge in you and amongst you you shall hunger thirst and be ashamed and cry for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit and slain but his servant shall be called by another name and he that blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of earth and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of the earth so that heaven and earth shall give glory to God and all that dwell therein SECT XCI §. 91 How all things are made new of God ANd behold I make all things new and these shall be remembred but all the former forgotten and thou shalt rejoyce forever at what I create for I create truth peace salvation and righteousness yea my rejoycing and my praise there shall be no more an infant nor a father but all shall be as one strong man in Christ yea they shall have houses vineyards possessions of their own and no others they shall no more labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble but you shall be called the blessed of the Lord and his off-spring thy God I will be that hears and answers thee who lives and abides with thee there shall be nothing that doth hurt in all my Mountain but the Wolf and Lamb Lion and Bullock shall lie down together there shall be nothing else but rest amongst them all living in one SECT XCII §. 92 Though heaven and earth be my house yet I will dwell in you ANd though heaven be my throne and the earth my footstool yet this is not my dwelling nor the place of my Rest but in the houses and dwellings of men you are my building and house the humble and the contrite heart will I live with and till I come to live with them all their worship and sacrifice yea their lambs and offerings are abominable to me I hate them all till I am formed in them and when I am thus formed in thee all that hate thee hate me then your souls shall not delight in these things which I delight not in nor when I call shall they not answer but they shall delight in the Lord alone and nothing else SECT XCIII §. 93 Zion brings forth yea a whole Nation in a day and that without pain THe soul that trembles at my Word though he be cast out falsly for my names sake and think they glorifie me in it yet let them know their zeal is without knowledg and who hath required this at their hands but you shall be justified and they ashamed and the Voyce of the Lord shall be heard from his Temple with us that Zion travelleth and is delivered without pain Was ever such a thing heard or seen that a whole Nation should be born at once and brought forth in one day And why cannot the Lord do it Shall he bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth or then shall the Lord shut the womb No no be glad and rejoyce with her all ye that love her take of the brests of her consolation and be satisfied delight thy soul in the abundance of her glory for her peace shall be like a river and her glory as a stream you shall be born on her sides and be dandled on her knees I will comfort you as a mother comforteth her children for by fire and a sword shall the Lord plead with all flesh and make it as a loathsom carcass but you shall remain for ever and worship before me Thus I have finished this Book of Isaiah in much sorrow weakness and trouble and dare not yet venture to proceed till I finde a more convenient time for it then I have had for this first Volume it being brought forth in the midst of our troubles here at London while the Army was amongst you and these great things acted as the Charge Tryal and Execution of the King in all which time this was some repast and refreshment to write these things though it was by fits and starts yet the Lord may make it useful in some measure for the good of others Being called away now from London I am forced to break off here in the midway else I might shew you the Book of Jeremiah opened in Man Ezekiel and Daniel with the lesser Prophets one by one fulfilled in us as also the New Testament how we have the everlasting Gospel taught us by the Spirit of Christ in our hearts together with his Birth Life Doctrine Works and Death of Christ formed in us as also his Resurrection Ascension and Glorification within us Christ risen Again how we are the Acts of Christ and how Christ is all our Acts and Works it is he doth all for us and in us And again how we are his Epistles yea the heavenly and holy Epistles of Christ written by God on the Tables of his Hand our hearts known and read of all men how we are the Lords Church Spouse Members and Body his Building Planting Temple and Dwelling Lastly how we are the Lords Revelations and Visions to whom he shews himself and the things that are have been and are ro come things past present and to come afar off or nigh at hand we are these whom the Lord ravishes in Spirit in his day when that comes upon us and then he tells us all things and takes us up to heaven to see himself in all and all in himself opening heaven and revealing his whole Will and Counsel We are that sealed Book whom the Lamb takes and opens for he is worthy and we are these that shall have the honor to say Come come come Lord Jesus come quickly Thus the Bride shall say and we are those that shall have either all these Blessings Graces Gifts Mercies Promises Comforts and Glories that are in heaven and earth written or revealed in the whole Scriptures or else all the curses woes lamentations miseries threatnings and torments written in the whole Book of God to fall upon us thus eternally happy or eternally miserable but all these things I leave to the Day of the Lord to bring forth in me to perfect his praises that as the Lord hath began so he would continue and bring to the end of this Book of the Scriptures that we may be in the Lord God both the Alpha and the Omega of it I Know many things are amiss here the faults can hardly be numbered that come either from the Author Writer Printer or Reader I pray thee pass them by amend what is amiss and make use of what is good trying all things holding fast that which is good considering thou also mayst do amiss and truly this is all I can say in excuse that I wanted time to write what was in my mind only made use of the night never read it much less time to correct it but am importuned to print it and to press thy patience with it let patience then have its perfect work here Thine T Butler FINIS