of the Gospel and the Foundation and the Tryer of Spirits and the Touch-stone and say it 's the Foundation of their Faith and Religion and so are all in the distraction one Envying another and Persecuting one another about the words of Truth spoken from the Spirit of Truth which cannot be understood again but by the same Spirit and so all them that have not the Spirit of Truth are in the Apostacy And all Sects Judgments and Opinions that have risen up since the Apostacy from the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints when the woman Travailed and brought the man-Child which after because of the Dragon's Power fled into the VVilderness and her Child caught up unto God all the Faith and worship that since is sprung up since the VVhore hath sitten as a Queen in Majesty is all denyed the Ground of their Worship Laws Traditions Inventions and all their invented Practices and Forms and Images and Likenesses are denyed and disowned as to be the Dress and Attire of the Whore which hath allured People through her enticing pretences and shews of Holiness when indeed all is but spiritual Adultery and this must be all turned under again the Whore's flesh Burned and her Attire plucked off and her Nakedness appear and her shame to them that have committed Fornication with her and they shall be ashamed of themselves and of her and abhor themselves and abhor her and Destroyed shall she be and the Lamb's Wife shall be beautified and come out of the secret Place into open View out of the Solitary Wilderness into the beautiful place that the Lord will bring her into and the time times and half time is out the thousand two hundred and threescore Dayes are at an End and he bears witness of it who saw her fly away upon Eagles Wings into the secret place which was prepared for her for these Dayes and Times appointed and I say he that knows the Counsel of the most High in this matter can account the time times and a half and the Dayes and what shall be after the dayes be expired which is at an end blessed is he that sees believes and Understands he shall see that which yet hath not appeared neither can it be believed by the most though it were declared but yet a little while and the Earth grows ripe and an Ear will be opened in many who cannot yet hear and for a little while in this I shall be silent and Treasure up that which the Spirit hath revealed till the time be fully accomplished which God hath determined and then his Glory shall be revealed and all the former things which have lived since the man of Sin hath been Exalted shall all dye and an utter Consumption shall be of all the changeable Laws made since the Apostacy and the many changeable Dresses of the Whore and Attires in which she hath appeared and Imaginary worships into which all have run since they were Apostatized from the Faith all this shall be disannulled and come to an End and be Blasted forever the Spirit of the Lord saith Amen How the Woman that was clothed with the Sun and had the Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head which did flee into the Wilderness comes out again after the great Whore is judged and her Child that was caught up unto God comes to appear again NOW after the time times and half a time after the thousand two hundred and threescore Dayes she returns after the Whore is judged and the great City Babylon is fallen which hath made the Nations drunk and brought forth Children in Fornication who had drunk the Blood of the Saints in the Apostacy after the Whore was judged and the Voice was heard in Heaven of much People that sang Halelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power who witnessed to the Righteousness of God's Judgment And a Voice came out of the Throne saying praise our God all his Servants and ye that fear him both small and great Rev. 19.5 6. And I heard as it were the Voice of many Waters and as a great Multitude and as the Voice of a mighty Thunder saying Halelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth the Whore is now judged the Mother of Harlots condemned with all her Inchantments and Sorceries Now the Lamb's Wife appears who is the Mother of the man-child which was caught up unto God she that was cloathed with the Sun with the glorious everlasting caelestial Light she is both the Mother and the Wife he that hath an Ear let him hear Now Jerusalem that is from above spiritually so called who was the Mother of all the Saints before the Apostacy she appears again and comes to be the Wife of the Lamb and the City of the Saints and the Mother of them that are born from above this shall be and is made manifest to some but a numberless Number shall see it and the Day hastens greatly and she is appearing again and her solitary Garments shall be put off and as she was beautifull before the VVhore made the Nations drunk clothed with the Sun and had the Moon under her Feet and a Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head and though she became Child-less and also as a VViddow and the Remnant of her Seed slain and destroyed so shall she appear again in Glory and Beauty as before and shall be made ready yea mine Eye hath seen it she is making her self ready as a Bride for her Husband and unto her is granted that she shall be arrayed in fine Linnen clean and white even arrayed in the Righteousness of the Saints which is not self-Righteousness the Garments of the Harlot and her Lovers but in the Righteousness of Christ the Lamb her Husband and Child also and she shall now bring forth many more Children though her Seed hath been slain yet a numberless Number shall appear and ten Thousand Thousand shall be brought forth by her and glory in her and reverence her and rejoyce in her forever and they shall be all clad in the same Robe which the Husband the Lamb is clothed withal and the same the Lamb's VVife this VVoman is â—lâ—thed withall and the same shall all the Children by clothed withal the fine Linnen the Righteousness of the Lamb which was dead and slain since the Foundation of the World but now alive and lives for evermore and here a heavenly Family appears now after the Apostacy and this shall be seen by all that have an Eye that can see through and beyond the Smoke of the Pit that hath darkened the Air while the Beast and Dragon have had Power but now hath her Child appeared again the man-child hath appeared again and he that was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day saw whither he was taken up to the Throne of God Rev. 12.5 and on the same Lord's Day he saw him after the Woman was fled and the Remnant of her Seed was made War with and slain in the Earth where the
and Ears some do little but Swear ordinarily commonly and vainly in all kind of Communication and Conversation not only in their usual outer Courses in Courts with Judges and Magistrates but in their hourly discourses also with other Men in Cities Townes Princes and great Mens Courts and Places Universities Colledges almost all Houses at least all Taverns and Ale-houses and in the open Streets and Assemblies almost every where are full of dreadful Oaths and Mens discourses interwoven with execrable and direful Oaths even as it were daring God to confound them and damn them and such like and though there be divers Laws against swearing vainly and forswearing yet these are not looked at but how should we exspect that they should look at the Execution of the Laws of Men which are good who heed not the Law of God and are so buzzed now a dayes with over-executing those intangling Laws that are extant for Oaths and forswearing to intrap and insnare poor Innocent Men who dare not Swear at all but keep the Commands of Christ so that there is no leisure lost to look after those most wholsome and profitable Laws of both God and the King which are against vain Oaths and forswearing which the Land abounds with the like hath not been in any Age which is a sad presage of the Judgment of God to be at hand And last of all A. S. says He hath done and he fears it 's more and time to have done with the Exposition of those words and so comes to Application and so he speaks to all in general who at that time or any other may be legally called to take their Oaths which you have heard Vindicated to be lawful notwithstanding the seeming opposition of these words Swear not at all but those must be understood of necessary Oaths and your Righteousness is to exceed the Scribes and Pharisees but they condemned Perjury in the verse immediately before my Text and your Warrant for swearing is in Jer. 4.2 which thence appears not only lawful but in some cases necessary Reply It 's more then time indeed to have done to pervert Christ's plain Doctrine with his imaginary Exposition and what he counts legally caled seeing Christ prohibited it is not of much force neither will A. S.'s Vindication stand against the real opposition of Christ's words Swear not at all but his seeming Vindication in the day of the Lord when the secrets of all Hearts shall be manifest by Jesus Christ when the Book of Conscience shall be opened will be found to be in real opposition unto Christ and his reward will be according to his works who hath by his work strengthn'd the hand of Evil-doers and Persecutors to the adding affliction to affliction upon the Righteous and if the words must be understood of necessary Oaths then there is none necessary among Christ's true Disciples who commanded Let your Yea be yea or your Nay nay for whatsoever is more comes of Evil and whether the Scribes and Pharisees condemned a Perjury or not we are sure the Law did which Christ's words hath reference to It hath been said of old time thou shalt not forswear thy self and if the Righteousness of Christ's Disciples be to exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and they condemned Perjury and all false Swearing by God and the Law condemned all false Oaths and vain Oaths and Oaths by Creatures as A. S. hath granted then the Righteousness of the Disciples is to be another then the Righteousness of the Law which condemned all Perjury and vain Oaths then what is it but not to Swear at all any Oath but speak the Truth and confess it to the Glory of God in yea and nay and this is that which exceeds the Scribes and Pharisees and is only lawful and necessary under the Gospel and as for Jer. 4.2 this is pittiful proof and warrant for Christians to Swear under the Gospel for that was only spoken to Israel or Juda who were under the first Covenant and yet were revolted from the Ordinances thereof and were back-sliders as is to be seen Jer. 3.22 and hath not Reverence to the second Covenant But I shall come towards an end as well as A. S. and conclude and refer all what both he and I have said to the judgment of the Lord and the measure of God's holy Spirit in all Mens Consciences to be received or denyed by that as he and his Witness bears evidence so shall the matter stand eternally Yet I cannot but mind the Reader though A. S. hath had as appears certain Books of the Dissenters in which are weighty things about this particular of Swearing which he hath not answered at all as to their Arguments only carped here and there at a word which is not of great moment but though he may plead some reason that it was not possible to answer all things in so short a Discourse as a Sermon wherein he was limited as to time yet since he had I perceive by his Annotations time enough to have answered them having their Books extant by him but hath not in the most weighty Considerations therefore I refer the Reader to them for his further satisfaction viz. to the Answer of Bishop Gauden by that faithful Servant of God Sam Fisher where this point is largely discussed likewise his Antidote against Swearing in Answer to Heary Den and Jeremiah Ives likewise a Book published by Isaac Penington titled The great Question concerning the lawfulness or unlawfulness of Swearing under the Gospel stated and considered of wherein are weighty things declared in short 1st what an Oath is 2dly the Ground and occasion of an Oath 3dly the causes wherein an Oath was to be used 4thly the end of an Oath 5thly the suitableness of its NATURE to the end aimed at by it 6thly the Persons to whom the use of an Oath was proper and lawful Wherein also is clearly shown the state of man-kind from the Creation comprised in four Heads or particulars First The State of Innocency when there was no Oath Secondly An estate of Captivity wherein an Oath was proper and lawful Thirdly The estate of shadowy Redemption wherein it was lawful also Fourthly An estate of true and perfect Redemption wherein it 's neither needful nor lawful seeing it 's prohibited by Christ all which A. S. hath passed over and hath not answered Likewise a Book published by John Crook Titled The Case of Swearing at all discussed with and several Objections answered These things A. S. hath not answered I only instance them for the Readers further satisfaction if unsatisfied in what hath been said already all which great and weighty things are worthy of the Serious consideration of all Likewise a Book Titled Swearing denyed in the new Covenant by Morgan Watkins When all that hath been said is duly considered and weighed in the Righteous Ballance of God's holy Spirit they will not think it strange that some deny to Swear at all but
are not yet agreed and so being out of the true Faith in which the Saints had Fellowship in the unity of the Faith they are all in Distraction and Confusion Head and Tail in the Jarr in the Strife about Words and a form of Words And how many Confessions and Forms and Images are there set forth and people still Ignorant of the Mystery of Faith which is held in a pure Conscience and want that which is the Evidence of things not seen and want that which should let People see him who is invisible And oh how are People lost in the midst of these feigned formal Divinations and how are the Rulers in most Nations lost in the midst of their Counsels being gone from that which should be a Terror to Evil-Doers and should be for the Praise of them that do well And what if all people in all Nations were constrained under a Penalty to hold such a Form of words and to consent to such a Confession Doth this any more but make Hypocrites when a man is not first perswaded of those things in his mind by the Spirit of Truth Is this any more but Feignedness How long hath the God of this World blinded the Eyes of People whole Cities Towns and Countryes because they have gotten a formall Confession made by a Priest who is out of Christ's Doctrine in the Steps of the false Prophets and in the Practice of the false Apostles and deceitfull Workers and when they have made a Confession of a Catechism as they call it and have gotten over the Words and can say them over now judge they have Faith and are sound Christians when they are Ignorant of the first Principle or of Faith towards God and so are carried on in the Mist of Darkness and Ignorance and know not yet Repentance from dead Works Object But some of the Rulers and Potentates of the Earth may say We have not persecuted them for well-doing but for Heresie and Blasphemy and Sowers of Sedition and because they have not suâ—mitted to obey our Constitutions and Laws Answ. Deceit hath never wanted a cover hitherto neither hath or can the Serpent want Subtilty for it's nature by which he liveth Nebuchadnezar made a Law that whosoever would not obey should be cast into the Furnace and might not all his Magistrates have said to Shâ—â—rach Meshach and Abednego that they were not subject to the King's Decree and therefore judge they suffered Deservedly and did not the Jews who were Uncircumcised in Heart say when they took up Stones to stone Christ We stone thee not for thy good Works but thou being a man makest thy self God and the Jews stoned Paul and Stephen and put Peter and John in Prison they said they were movers of Sedition and Ring-leaders of Sects but the Chief Priests and the false prophets had alwayes their Hands in conspiring against the Life of the Just but persecutors were ever blind and yet were so conceited that they saw that they said to Christ are we also Blind but the Seed of falshood hath sitten as Judge long and hath laid the Heritage of God waste and hath set it self in God's Temple as the true heir and Judged the heir not worthy to live and Thousands of Thousands have been put to Cruel Deaths and a numberless number hath suffered since the Apostles dayes and since the Apostacy came in yet these which have done these things would be called Christian Magistrates and Ministers of Justice and those Teachers who have called to the Rulers to punish such as Hereticks and Seducers they would be counted the Ministers of Christ and such Nations who are out of the Life they would be counted Holy Oh! nay Christ came not to destroy Mens Lives but to save them and all you Rulers in all Nations who go under the Name of Christendom who are upon the Earth and all you Teachers that are therein whose Actions Lives Doctrines Principles and Practices are contrary to the Life of Righteousness and contrary to the Doctrine of Christ and the Practice of the holy Men of God you are all out of Christ's Nature and out of the divine Nature in the Dragon's Nature and in the corrupt Nature in the Nature in which all the disobedient and rebellious are in who are Heirs of Wrath and eternal Vengeance therefore repent ye of your Iniquity and tremble before the Lord God of Heaven and Earth who is roaring from his dwelling Place and uttering forth his dreadful Voice at the Sound thereof all Nations shall fear and be astonished and the fenced Cities in which you dwell shall be horribly afraid Behold the time of restoring is come and coming and the Year of God's Controversie with Sion's Enemies is approaching near you and he who sits and judges in Righteousness hath shewed himself and will rule over the Heathen as with a Rod of Iron and will pour forth his Plagues upon all the Families of the Earth that call not upon his Name but despise it and trample upon it the Earth is filled with Violence Cruelty and Oppression yea it is broken forth as a Flood and the Nations are covered with Unrighteousness as with a Garment the Beast hath exercised his Power and hath overcome and prevailed long over the Heritage of God and the Mountain of the Lord's House is made desolate all is void and without Form Deceit enthroned Truth trampled upon Judgment turned backward and the Devil reigns a King Equity hath found no Place Mercy is shut out of Doors Cruelty is entertained Temperance and Moderation have no Residence Lust Uncleanness Excess Riotousness and Wantonness are loved as though they were the Way to eternal Felicity Pride Hypocrisie and Dissimulation are taken Pleasure in Sobriety and Meekness have no dwelling Place but are thrown aside Folly and Madness are set up as the greatest Wisdom and the Wisdom which is from above counted the greatest Folly the Fear of the Lord is slighted God's pure Law thrown behind their Backs the Nations and the People therein are compassed about with Darkness as a Wall and with Ignorance as a Curtain and with Blindness as with a strong Fence they are situated in the Region of Death and at the Side of the Pit and yet say No Evil shall come near us nor Sorrow touch our Tabernacle and are in a dead Sleep of Security wrapt up in the Slumber of Iniquity involved in utter Darkness folded up in the deep Pit of Ignorance and desire not the Knowledge of Wisdom neither to walk in her Path but her Way is grievous unto them and the Eye-lid of the Morning is unto them as the shadow of Death Nevertheless he that weighs all things in an even Ballance before whom all Nations are but as the Drop of a Bucket he is appearing in his Power and thundring from his holy Place who will make the Nations shake as an Olive Leaf the Isles tremble before him who is uttering forth his Voice as the Sound of
cast into the Lake and all those tyranous cruel wicked changeable murderous Laws which he hath made and forced upon Men to uphold the Power of his Dominion shall be trodden under Foot and be had in Contempt and Dishonour by all the Followers of the Lamb who is gone out conquering and to conquer and shall subdue his Enemies and overcome them and slay the wicked by the Sword that proceeds out of his Mouth And Oh what a Havock hath the Devil made in the Earth since the Dayes of the Apostles since he hath got the Form of Godliness and hath transformed himself into all outward Appearances of Worship and Anti-christ hath been exalted above the true God in the Earth and hath turned Christian in Name and hath preached Christ in Words and hath covered himself with the Sheeps Clothing the outside that he might not appear as he is an Enemy to the Power and Life of the true God that so he might deceive and hath deceived Thousands for since the Dayes of the Apostacy that the Power and the Life hath been lost the Devil and Anti-christ have turned Law-makers and Law-givers and Law-executors and Rulers of Nations and Kingdoms have made Spoil in the Nations under that Name of higher Power nay further Anti-christ hath turned Church-Member nay Church-Officer Preacher and a great Ordinance-man a Preacher a Prayer a Singer a Baptizer a Worshipper of the strictest sort in the Nations and hath taken up the visibles Actions and Practices of the Disciples Apostles Ministers and Believers so far as they have been outward and now in these things and by this stolen cover deceives Peoples and opposes the true Christ and his Life and Power and coming in the Spirit and yet notwithstanding all this large Philactary and long and large Garment yet the in-side is Devilish Hellish Murderous Cruel ravenous and devouring And who will but look back and take a view from the Beginning of the Devil's Kingdom until Christ was manifest in the Flesh shall finde these things true that under the Name of higher Power and under the Name of Holy Church he hath destroyed the Naâ—iâ—ns and hath laid waste God's Heritage and hath defaced his Image and destroyed his Workmanship and hath laid all the Blame upon the Righteous Seed and condemned them for Evil-doers for not being subject to Authority for Law-breakers and for Seditious and Tumultuous and for Heresie and Errour and Blasphemy and as Ungodly for all the Righteous Prophets and Believers in former Time were Judged and suffered as Ungodly in the Account of the Devil and his Agents as though he and his Instruments had been the greatest Friends of God and of Believers And who will but view the Scriptures of Truth from the manifesting of Christ in the Flesh till his Ascention and also afterward may see that the Devil under the Name of higher Power and under the Name of Authority hath made Spoil and Havock of men and their Estates and hath killed and destroyed the Just as Evil-doers and have exacted upon the Righteous by wicked Impositions and Cruel corrupt Laws made to uphold his Authority which standeth in Darkness And the false Church under the Name of a Holy Church hath sentenced them as Blasphemers as Erronious and as Enemies to God who kept his Commands and did the Will of our Heavenly Father as the blind Jews in their ignorance judged Christ as a Blasphemer and as an Enemy to the Law and Crucified him and Persecuted the Apostles and put them in Prison as Seditious and Tumultuous and as Pestilent and assaulted the House of Jason and beat and abused Scourged and Whipped them with Stripes and loaded them with Reproaches and haled them before Magistrates and Rulers and falsely accused them and followed them from place to Place and stirred up the ruder sort and cryed out Help men of Israel for they turn the World upside down and so Persecuted them from City to City as Evil-doers And after the dayes of the Apostles when there was a defection made from the Faith and the Power was denyed and lost yet the Form retained then Mystery Babylon began to rise and the Murderous City began to be builded and the Nations to drink of her Fornication and swallowed down her deceit Then began the Nations to be Waters and Kindreds and Tongues to reel to and fro Then all became as a Sea with Waves and Boisterous then the Beast rose out of it and he got the Name of Authority and higher Power and then turned against the Righteous and made Laws in the wicked Nature that all that would not be subject to him must be killed and they were Killed under the Name of Evil-doers for that Title they must bear and both the Beast the first and the second with the Mother of Harlots shed the Blood of the Saints as Erronious Seditious Blasphemous all this long Night of Anti-christ's Reign they that keep the Testimony of Jesus have been Killed Destroyed Persecuted some as being Enemies to the Higher Power and some as Law-breakers and Seditious and some as Erronious and Dangerous so these many hundred Years hath the Devil been exalted and Anti-christ advanced under the Name of Christ and under this Title have killed and wasted the Creatures and destroyed the Creation by the Name of Higher Power and by the Name of Holy Church and by the Name of Christians hath devoured and destroyed Thousands by Cruel Deaths Tortures Blood-shed Fining Prisoning Hailing to Prison Whipping Scourging the Righteous as Malefactors and Evil-doers them that were dear in the eyes of the Lord and were not defiled with the Abominations of the times and all them that bore Testimony to Righteousness were condemned for Unrighteous and censured as evil-doers and thus in short all may see how the Devil hath disguised himself and transformed himself into the likeness of Truth as an asserter of Righteousness and a Vindicator of Holiness and so hath deceived the Nations and led them into Blindness that he might hold up his Kingdom and Government in the Earth and that he might be Worshipped and Honoured above the True and living God and who hath but taken a view of the Ecclesiastical Histories of the affairs of things since the Apostacy may clearly see that great and many have been the sufferings of the Righteous by this Generation of Evil-doers who have got the Name of Higher Power and also of Holiness and so have turned against the Saints and faithful Witnesses of God who lived in the Life and Power thereof and have shed their Blood and made Havock and Spoil of God's Heritage and have destroyed his Workmanship and have made the Hearts of the Righteous sad whom God never made sad But what need I go backward to Ages and Generations past to demonstrate this when our Age and Generation bringeth forth so many and sad Evidences of these things which if the Sufferings and sad Persecutions were summed up of these seven Years last past
the Hollow of a Hand and we have thee in the Apostacy clear thy self when thou canst if the Beast compelled all both small and great to worship him and made War with all that bore not his Image then we have thee between us and the Apostles time as in a press for no such compelling was in the true Church by any Ecclesiastical or Secular Power instance if thou canst from the Apostles writings any such thing or where Cain's weapons were lifted up or Creatures Men and VVomen killed by the Sword or destroyed with lingring Torments in the time of the Apostles Now in that it hath been said the Church hath been universal to that more might be said Europe or some Parts adjacent is not all the Earth and it is no where found since the Apostles that killing and compelling and forcing hath been but by thee and them that are at the best but in the Suburbs of thy City which afterwards I shall in brief descend to And so it is evidently known that thy church so called hath been upheld more by cruelty and force then any sound Doctrine or Practice agreeable to the Apostles Dayes though thou mayst wipe thy Mouth and say I am clear we persecute none to Death we have a Beast to ride upon and will make war for our City and will compel to our VVorship and Institutions we will cry him up for the higher Power and we will frighten People that who resists this resists the ordinance of God and he will kill and destroy and compel and force and we shall be clear and he will call us the holy church and we will call him the higher Power and so it is clear and evident by what hath been said that thou art in the Apostacy as hereafter shall be manifested by Name and Practice First Thy Ministers are not according to the Ministers of Christ in the primitive times their call not such their practice not such They were made Ministers in the primitive times by the holy Ghost and by the Spirit but yours by natural Parts Tongues Arts Philosophy and Study and packing up old Authors together to make a little discourse of and this must be called the Gospel Secondly the Ministers of Christ they preach freely not for Gifts and Rewards and Tythes but you have brought in Judaism Tythes which belonged to the first Priesthood your Oblations Obventions your Mortuaries and these Invented and introduced things to maintain your Ministers by Thirdly The Ministers of Christ did not compel any at Corinth Thessalonica Macedonia or any other Church to give them such and such maintenance by Force who received not their Doctrine but you compel and force and have made that which you call the Gospel chargeable to the Earth where you have Power 1 Cor. 9.18 Fourthly Your Doctrine is contrary to the Doctrine of Christ and the primitive times as that the real and substantial Presence of Christ's Body Blood after the Consecration of Priests is in the Bread and Wine which may corrupt so doth not the Body of Christ you do contrary to Christ's Doctrine who saith he that eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood shall live forever John 6.56 but you that eat that which you call his suâ—stantial and real Body and Blood both it and you shall corrupt Fifthly Of the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass this Sacrifice doth no good at all for where there is no Blood there is no Life and where there is no Blood there is no Remission saith Paul Heb. 9.14 and so your Sacrifice is abominable and an Idol and such an one as there is no mention made of in the Scriptures Sixthly Of your Litturgy and publick Prayers in an unknown tongue this is an unprofitable and a vain Worship and this is like your unbloody Sacrifice herein you are like Barbarians one to another and how should they that worship with you say Amen when they know not what you say your praying in an unknown tongue is contrary to the Apostle's Doctrine who said 1 Cor. 14.18 I thank my God I speak with Tongues more then you all ver 19. yet in the Church I had rather speak five Words with my Understanding that I might teach others also then ten thousand in an unknown Tongue Seventhly Your Doctrine of Purgatory an invented and an imagined thing as to cleanse from Sin this is contrary to the primitive Doctrine The Blood of Christ cleanseth from all Sin John 1.7 and your distinctions of mortal and venial Sin is to blind People withal For the Wages of Sin is Death Rom. 6.23 Eighthly Of worshipping and invocation of Angels and Saints as Mediators between us and God this is contrary to the Primitive Doctrine there is one Mediator between God and man even the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 and he alone makes Intercession for all them that believe Heb. 7 25 and the Angel reproved John Rev. 22.8 9. when he would have Worshipped him and said unto them See thou do it not for I am thy fellow Servant c. and the Prophet said thou art our Father though Abraham know us not and Israel be ignorant of us Isa. 63.16 Ninethly Of Reliques and sacred Images this is contrary to â—hat the Lord spake by the Prophets Lev. 26.1 Ye shall make you no Idols nor graven Imaâ—e neither rear you up a standing Image neither shall you set up any Image of Stone in your Land to bow down unto it Deut. 6.22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any Image which the Lord thy God hateth Ezek. 6.4 and your Images shall be broken and Rom. 1.23 there they were Condemned that changed the Glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible Man c. Thus you may plainly see your Idolatrous Image Worship is forbidden and condemned in the Law Prophets and New-Testament and as for your Relique worship you have neither command â—or Example for it from Christ nor his Apostles Many more things might be enumerated which are found among you in the Apostacy as your Voluntary poverty and feigned Humility and your wilful Vows and many more things which are â—ound to be coâ—trâ—ry to the Church of Christ which must be turned from and denyed if ever you come to know the everlasting Gospel which is to be preached again to the Nations by which they must be brought out of all this Apostacy Furthermore as to the practice and Discipline of the Catholick Church as it is called which pleads for Authority we find it not consonant and agreeing to the Church in the Primitive times the first hundred Years after Christ. As for the vestiments your Priests wear at certain times one on this manner another on that your Ecclesiastical men or Church Officers of several Ranks and orders such we find not in the Primitive times in that which may be truly called Primitive And for the invented Holy-dayes and their Eves for Fasting and Feasting we find no such in the Primitive Times and such
under Foot the Kings of the Earth shall deny it and to give their Strength any longer to the Beast and then shall that be fulfilled Rejoyce ye Prophets and holy men of God and ye that have suffered for the Hour of his Judgement is come and as she hath served the Saints so shall she be served and rewarded double and the day hastens and the times and Seasons we see and know as God hath made them manifest The man-child is descended again who hath right to rule the Nations with a Rod of Iron and break the ungodly in pieces as a Potters Vessell and stamp the residue of his Enemies under his Feet And the Church is coming out of the wilderness again who leans upon the Breast of her beloved who is cloathing her again with Beauty instead of Ashes and putting upon her again the beautiful Garments of Glory and Excellency even his own Righteousness and they that see it their Hearts shall be made glad and their Souls rejoyce in God and their Flesh rest in Hope for the time is come when she must appear again which hath been retired and hid in a Place which God had prepared for her while the false church sate a Queen and the Apostates as Princes and their Merchandise sold at dear rates but their Jâ—y shall be turned into Mourning and alas alas shall be the cry of them thâ—t have been in Glory with her for her Frankincense Odours and sweet Perfumes and Scarlet and Purple and Gold and Silver and Wood and Tin and Iron and Brass none will buy any more none of 〈◊〉 â—amb's Followers nor none of the true Church's Children who worship God in the Spirit and have no confidence in the Flesh neither in any outward Appearance but in the hidden Life of God but in the immortal Life which he hath brought to light through his blessed Gospel which he hath caused to be published again the â—oyful Sound whereof many captives have heard and are glad and a numberless Number shall hear the joyful Sound thereof and shall enquire after the Brightness of the rising of the Sun Therefore all Apostates Hills and Mountains make room make Way the Lord is risen in Power and in Glory which shall dazle the Eyes of all the Earthly and shall extinguish and put out the very Brightness and the Glory of all invented worships in the apostatized ages and shall bring them that believe in the everlasting Gospel to Stability to the Rock of ages to the Valley of Achor to Mount Sion to the Blessing of the everlasting Hills and blessed are they that hear and believe and waite to be made Partakers of that which the Lord is about to do in the Earth as he hath shewed and foreshewed to his Servants the Prophets CHAP. IV. Now a few Words to shew unto all how they may come out of the Apostacy to be Members of the true Church which is in God the Lamb's Wife SO far as God did appear in any Age or Generation or manifest himself unto the Sons of Men in any Shadows Figures Representations or outward Appearances the evil Spirit and Serpents Seed and Evil-doer alwayes took up the Form of the Thing when it came into Reputation as largely might be demonstrated and instanced through all Ages and Generations till the Closure of the Apostles Writings something whereof hath been briefly hinted at before so in this I shall be very brief The Jews held up the Types and Figures of the first Covenant and the Ordinances thereof and opposed Christ the Light the everlasting Covenant and also the Publishers thereof Moreover when the Name of Christ came to be spread abroad then false Apostles and deceitful Workers who were Enemies to the Cross and to the Power of God they preached Christ out of Contention and Envy and for filthy Lucre and by wicked Practices made the Name of Christians odious among the Heathen as it is this Day and caused the worthy Name by which the Saints were saved to be blasphemed by their ungodly Practices Rom. 2.24 When the Apostle gather'd together many that believ'd and setled them in the Order of the Gospel and the Order came well to be accounted of and the Conversation of the Saints of good Account amongst many divers false Prophets and deceitful Workers got up and as the Apostles met in Houses and the Saints met together in Houses the false Apostles they crept into Houses and held the Form as I said before and denyed the Power and they were to be turned away from by the Apostle's Exhortation to Timothy Now since the true Church fled into the Wilderness the false Church came into Visibility and to sit as a Queen upon the Waters the Nations and Peoples other things have been brought in other things are brought in and invented which were not constitutions of Christ or the primitive Churches and these the World hath wondered after in the dark Night of Apostacy and the Worship hath been made up and compacted partly from the Jews Worship partly from the Heathen and partly from themselves being corrupted and the Scriptures perverted every Way to prove all this Deceit Now many have judged to relinquish the former superstitious Practices and to come and to take up the Form and Practice again in the outward as it was in the Apostles Dayes is to come out of the Apostacy let all know this the outward Court of the City was given to be trodden under Foot of the Gentiles to pollute and defile it and many may wait there and look there in the polluted Court and in the outside that hath been defiled and many may visit the Sepulchre and wait for Christ when he is risen and so look for him to appear in that which he is risen out of the Jews at their Temple when it is left desolate the Crhistians so called may glory in their outward Court though it be defiled and so defiled as God will not appear there again for he hath another Way manifested himself unto the Sons of Men. And now that Worship that God requires that Service that he requires and that Glory wherein he will manifest himself is and will be in the Spirit which all People are to wait for which come to witness Restoration and to come to the End of the Night of Error to the Bride the Lamb's Wife again Now a Measure of God's Spirit being given to every one to profit withal which shews them Sin and Transgression and will lead out of it which shews formal Worship and how Deceit hath transformed into them and leads them that believed in it out of that which is polluted and out of Deceit to Christ the sure Foundation and mighty Power of God and to know God's Peace and Good-will to all Men And that which must restore all People and bring them out of the Apostacy into Purity and to have Fellowship with the Father and the Son and one with another as it was in the primitive times
do believe And now Reader I shall present thee with a great Fardel and Bundle of the Whore's Merchandize and of the counterfeit Ware which she hath long deceived the Nations with which hath long laid as mouldy and rusty in this Nation but now new trim'd up and presented again to this Nation as for precious Treasure and it is not to be concealed in a narrow Corner nor put off under-hand so that this Merchant of Babylon hath presented it to publick View with a great Confidence that People that have been tossed up and down and have found no Rest for their Souls at lâ—st may come to make a trial of this Merchandize and see what it will do but lest any should be cheated and deceived with such counterfeit traffick I could not chuse having the Knowldge thereof but declare against the Deceit thereof and to give Warning unto all to beware how they touch taste or handle it lest they be defiled and corrupted by it and their Understandings darkned and their Consciences defiled and the Merchandize is thus tituled A short Catechism against all Sectaries by Way of Question and Answer wherein all the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome are asserted for Infallible and Apostolical wherein also is holden out that the Church of Rome is the only true Church out of which there is no Salvation and some Arguments to prove the same also in this said Book all that are not of the Church of Rome are condemned already as Hereticks and Sectâ—ries wholly to be without Salvation newly published and translated by C. M. and London printed for P. S. 1662. And though we have given publick testimony both in Word and Writing in divers Nations in Doctrine and Practice yet such hath been the Envy of many Professors who have denyed the Church of Rome that they have accused us for holding Popish tenets yet now on the other Hand by this Popish Author we are condemned as Hereticks and Sectaries and to be without Salvation And thus they who have been under the Beast's Power in the Apostacy have tost us upon their Horns from one to another and have pushed us this Way and that Way and every Party and Sect hath reckoned us and joyned us with them whom they judged to be Transgressors but it is a small thing to us to be judged by Man's Judgment for our Judgment is with the Lord and he judgeth in Righteousness and unto him we appeal who in his own Day when Righteousness comes to be revealed in Peoples Hearts they shall come to know us as we are and the Truth which we believe and walk in as it is in Jesus But that such a Heap and Bundle of false Doctrine and superstitious and idolatrous Practices may not go unreproved God hath put it into my Heart to bear my Testimony against it and all the confused Heap of Darkness which is laid down for Catholick Doctrine and to discover the Deceit thereof lest any should be beguiled and led into the dark Paths of Ignorance and Error and should become an Inhabitant of that City which hath shed the Blood of the Prophets and Martyrs where now Christ is crucified First of all the Author saith There is but one true Religion wherein any can be saved Answ. 'T is true there is but one true Religion in the which Salvation is witnessed which is confessed by all who profess Religion and every one will needs lay claim to it and many have contended even by Force and Arms since the Apostacy entered in and have killed and destroyed one ather about the Name or Sound without the Thing it self and all Professors of Religion who are in that Nature are not in the true Religion in which Salvation is witnessed The true Religion standeth in the Power of God and to be exercised in those Things which the Power of God directeth every one in who believe in it and to be obedient unto the Commands of Christ and to keep his Sayings and to follow his Example in Righteousness and Holiness and in that which overcometh the World and giveth Victory over it and keepeth out of the Pollutions of it and this is the pure Religion which purifies the Heart and Conscience from dead Works and teacheth to love Enemies Now the Church of Rome is manifest not to be in the one true Religion but hath departed from this Faith and this Doctrine let all Nations bear Witness where your Religion hath been professed how you have kept this Faith and walked in this Religion if any have dissented from you these many hundred Years and that upon good Grounds as Luther and Calvin which thou art so angry at â—nd bring'st many Calumnies against and slanderous Things and Lyes â—f which thy Vessel is full Now they with all others that dissent from you you have reckoned and do as Sectaries and Hereticks and in case it were really so if you were in the true Religion and in the Faith of Chrisâ— yâ—u would not destroy so many mens Lives as you have done within these thousand Years I appeal to all Nations where your Authority hath been exâ—râ—ised how many have you killed tortured burnt to Ashes and destroyed the Workmanship of God but it may be thou â—udgest such a Distinction as this will cover a little as To hate their Heresie and to love their Person but how you have loved their Persons I hope Englâ—nd hath not yet forgotten instance John Wickliff whose Bones you took up and burnt forty one Years after his Decease and how many Hundreds more have been burnt to Ashes in England in later Years as Hereticks and Sectaries whose Blood yet speaks and cryes for Vengeance upon that City that Church or Religion which hath drunk the Blood of the Prophets and Martyrs So in what I have said the Church of Rome to all unbiasâ—ed Spirits will appear to be out of that one true Religion and that Faith and Doctrine which Christ delivered and so Salvation is not to be looked for amongst Killers and Destroyers And so what I have said may convince the Author of this Book that they are not in the one true Religion in which Salvation is witnessed And this Roman Church hath been alwayes visiâ—le and universal since the Apostles Dayes and Infidels have alwayes been obliged to joyn unto her yet one cannot be bound to seek that which is invisiâ—le and the Marks and Signs of thiâ— Roman Church are four comprized in these Words I believe in the True Church which is One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Answ. That there was a Church at Rome in the Apostles Dayes is not denyed so there was at Antioch at Philippi at Thessalonica at Corinth and divers other Places that I might instance which were as visible as Rome was and as much a City set on a Hill as Rome was and not inferiâ—r in Doctrine Gifts and good Works to Rome at all but as to Prâ—â—edâ—ncy and Antiquity may claim Priority before Rome and if
but in Holes hundreds of Houses burnt Men Women and Children Children taken from their Mothers Breasts and knockt against the Walls toss'd upon Pikes Spears wounded with Swords thrown into Lakes and Rivers stript Naked starv'd in cold Seasons through such like in human and Savage cruelty Commissions given from your Nuntio's and Agents to Rob to Steal even Servants from their Masters even upon this account only to weaken and enfeeble the Sectaries and Hereticks as you stile them to advance your Holiness's Chair and to propagate your holy or rather Unholy Church and Religion which things remain fresh in the memory of many Nations to this Day besides doth not your Church tolerate Stews and Adulterous Houses in the Cities where you have Dominion Besides Pride abounds amongst you more then the Nation beside And so your Church hath neither this Mark nor Sign of Holiness Fourthly As for your Church being Cathâ—lick and Universal you want this Sign also If it be One Universal comprehends all Nations like aâ— all the World in comparison were your Church What is Germany France England Scotland and Ireland nothing What is all the Turks Dominions of your Faith And thou saist In Asia Affrica and America all is coming to an End There is that risen and arising in America which must spread over the Nations the Breath of the Lord bloweth which will daily dry up the Waters which is the Seat of your Church which you so much Boast of And what have you converted all the Indians nay have you not hardned their Hearts against the Name of Christ because of your cruelty and unholy conversation among them So that the Name of Christ and christian is become as Odious unto them as Mahomet is unto you And so you are without this Sign as that you are the true church Lastly That your church is Apostolick if this be the Mark of the true church then you are without this also for you are neither Apostolick in Doctrine nor Practice your Weapons are carnal theirs spiritual their Head was Christ the Light of the World your Head is visible and carnal which darkens the World they turned People from Darkness to Light and to the Word of Faith in their Hearts and to know Christ in them to justifie them But one of your Rabbies told us lately you had no such Doctrine in the church of Rome as Christ in you The Apostles turn'd them to the Anointing and to the Spirit to be taught by it and to be led by it into to all Truth and to worship in it and you turn them to Images Pictures Crucifixes Beads and Altars and so keep People in outward things which feed the Sensual and corrupt part Lastly they said Bodily exercise profiteth little and most of your Worship stands in observing of Days Meats Drinks Washings Sprinklings Altars Tapers lighting and bearing Candles Bowing creeping to the Cross turning wheeling this way and that way in all time and parts of your Worship so that there is no time left for the Heart to be exercised towards God And so you are not Apostolical and so are without this true sign of being the true Church of God But I shall descend to particular things which are asserted and seem to be proved but very weakly But we can expect no Wine but such as is in the Bottle It is asserted by this Author That the Pope is the Head of the true Church in which Salvation is only to be expected And his proof he brings is this Christ hath so ordained it in saying to Peter Matth. 16.18.19 Upon this Rock will I build my Church and Christ hath given Power to him and his Successors to be a Head to rule and govern the Church and as there is an Emperour to be the Head of the Empire and a King of the Kingdom so Peter and hâ—s Successors are the Head of the Church and have the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven to bind and to loose and to remit and to retain Sins The Apostolick Church hath this Doctrine That Christ was given to be the Head of the Body which is the Church which is spiritual though in the World yet not of the World and the Father hath committed all Power in Heaven and Earth to the Son and hath ordained him to be a Leader a Teacher and Feeder of his Flock and to be his Salvation to the Ends of the Earth and his Glory he will not give unto another But it seemes the Church of Rome hath soared so high in their Conceiâ—s and Imaginations that they judge all this Power to be given unto the Pope Peter's Successor as thâ—y say Now we do not read of two Heads to the one Body which is the true Church Ephes. 4.4.15 And so this is a contrary Doctrine then that of the Primitive Church and Christ who is the Head of the Body he said Lo I am with you to the End of the World And so it is the meer Arrogancy and Pride of the Pope to be called the head of the Church and an intrenching Christ's Power and Prerogative and that ever Peter was called the Head of the Church we do not read and that of the 16 th of Matthew is but a poor Proof to prove Peter to be the Head of the Church for Christ spoke unto his Disciples ver 15. and asked them Whom say ye that I am Peter as one amongst the rest said Thou art Christ the Son of the living God and Christ said Upon this Rock will I build my Church viz. Upon him which was reveal'd unto Peter by the Father the Son of God which was the Rock which the Fathers eat of and drank of Christ the Rock of Ages and another Foundation can no man lay said the Apostle then that which is laid already Christ the Rock and Corner-Stone and not Peter for Christ is unchangeable and abideth for ever and so was not Peter though Peter and the rest of the Apostles received Power from Christ yet in the 22 d. and 23 d. verses of the same chapter he was gone out of the savour and discerning and Christ said unto him Get thee behind me Satan for thou savourest not the things of God and what though it could be proved that Peter was at Rome a Pastor an Elder or a Bishop who fed the Flock and did feed the Flock and so might be reckoned as an Elder and worthy of Honour in respect of his Labour and Diligence in the Work of Christ is the Promise so entailed to Rome or to any Place that the next that succeeds in that Place must needs receive the same Honour when he doth not the same Work which is worthy of Honour neither is in the same Power but this I am sure of though the Church of Rome lay claim unto Peter's Bishoprick as they say yet they have not done his Work And secondly If Peter was at Rome and a Pastor yet he was not a Lord for Christ reproved that when they strove which
for halting If God be God follow him if Baal be he go after him And therefore let none draw you aside from that you are perswaded of in your Consciences by the Spirit of the Lord neither to joyn with that you know he disallows and in the Obedience you will have Peace and Joy look not at them that draw back for they go to Perdition but rather after them that continue faithful that shall receive Honour Glory Immortality and Everlasting Life In the fresh Heavenly Power of God meet together and worship him as at other Times though the Decree be gone forth and the more because you have been therein refreshed comforted and edified and let none pâ—rswade you from that innocent Duty in worshipping God in his Spirit and assembling your selves together for the strengthning of one another for this is the Will of God and acceptable in his Sight as many of you well know watch and pray lest you fall into Temptation and into the Snare of the Wicked One The God of Heaven and Earth establish all your Hearts that you may glorifie God in your Generation and be a sweet and an odorious Smell unto him in Bonds or Liberty in Life or Death is the Prayer of him who hath besought the Lord and is determined so to do on all your Behalf till the Lord by his Power tread Satan under your Feet that you may triumph and rejoyce and sing over all in Heavenly Rejoycing and Praises unto God and the Lamb that lives forever and for evermore Amen Your Dear Brother in the Patience and Suffering of Christ who abounds in perfect Love to all the faithful Flock of Christ every where F. H. From Appleby Goal the Place of my Rest where my Dayes and Hours are pleasant unto me the 4th of the 5th Moneth 1664. To Friends at the City of LONDON and about it and HARTFORD and READING DEar Friends and Brethren who are called to be Partakers of the Heavenly and Everlasting Inheritance where Thieves cannot break in and steal neither take away your Portion because nothing that defileth or maketh a Lye can enter therein but is prepared through Christ Jesus for all that believe in him and hear his Voice who is given to reveal eternal Life and the Crown of the immortal Glory to all the Heirs of the Promise who are born of the Word which liveth and endureth forever by which all things were made and by which â—ll that receive it are renewed in their Hearts and Minds unto God and are preserved in Purity and Holiness unto eternal Life and upholden in the midst of all Temptations in Uprightness that the Enemy prevail not Grace Mercy Salvation Peace Power Love Joy Life and Immortality be revealed multiplyed and encreased amongst you all saith the God of Life in my Heart unto you all who are Followers of the Lamb in the Day of Tribulation when the Lyon roareth out for his Prey and the Powers of Darkness combine together to make Opposition and War and to fill the Earth with Cruelty and Violence who seek to destroy and make Havock of that which God hath brought forth and hath determined shall live to bear Witness to him and make War and overcome and reign with him in Glory everlasting notwithstanding the Rage of Satan and the Cruelty of his Followers and the Madness of the People whom the God of this World hath blinded yet he hath decreed to exalt his Son upon the holy Hill of Sion and to make all that take Part with him in this Day of Tryal Reproach and Blasphemy victorious and Conquerors of him that hath the Power of Death the Devil and Hell and the Grave and their Triumph shall no more be for Mortality shall be swallowed of Life and he that hath deceived the Nations and sown Discord in the Earth and hath set the Nations at Variance shall be taken and cast into the Lake of Fire and all his Subjects shall partake of the Wine of the Wrath of God and be trodden in the Wine-press of the Wrath without the holy City when they that have been faithful unto the End shall stand upon Mount Sion with their Harps in their Hands and sing a Song of Triumph Glory and Redemption greater then that of Moses in the Day of Israel's Deliverance at the red Sea when God overthrew both Horse and Rider Oh dearly beloved reâ—oyce be glad triumph and glory in that God who out of his Everlasting love hath chosen us a peculiar People to be a Cloud of Witnesses for him in this last Age of the VVorld and that we are counted worthy to suffer with him and to fall into many Snares and Sufferings for him Oh sing rejoyce and be glad let not a faint Heart be amongst you for the Lord is on our Side the God of Jacob takes our Part and will plead our Cause and uphold us that our Enemies shall not glory nor have Cause to boast for greater is he that is with us and in us then he that is in the World and therefore we cannot bow nor stoop to Deceit neither to any false Worship hypocritical Form or false God let us believe in him forever and taste him forever and give up our Lives and all we have into his Hands who hath given us all that he alone may be over all and exalted over all our everlasting living God God blessed forever Oh most dearly beloved Friends you live in my Heart and to hear of your Valour and Obedience to the Truth makes glad my Soul and comforts us all on every Side wherein we rejoyce and give Glory to God and though they proceed severely and strictly with you and make the Battel hot it 's but for a Moment we have a Share with you and many are in Bonds here Men Women and Children Babes old Men and VVomen blind and lame Men and of all Conditions as to Age but all well content and joyful in the Lord blessed be his Name forever and indeed your Faith and Obedience Sufferings and Tryals are come abroad in the Nations and many thereby are strengthned we hear also of the Death of many who are shut up in those nasty Holes who are taken away from the Evil to come whose Blood God will require at this Generations Hands whose Sufferings and Death is precious in the Eyes of the Lord and the Spirit of Life which was in them shall enter into others and fill them that God shall not want VVitnesses The Power of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Your Dear Brother F. H. Appleby Gool the 4th of this 8th Moneth 1664. To all the Beloved Prisoners and Fellow-Sufferers who have lost your Liberty for Christ's sake in Newgate and else-where in Bonds about the City of London and to Friends of Bristol and Hartford whom the World is not worthy of MOST greatly beloved in the Lord God everlasting into whose Bosomes and Hearts my Soul Life and Spirit is poured forth and joyned
and Vexation unto the Spirit of God in any in the Spirit of Christ which is but one in all I am burdened with them and do bear a Part of their Grief I speak without Ostentation or Glorying for what have I to glory in any but the Lord or to rejoyce in but that which all the World hates because it testifies against it and therefore we are become the Objects of Scorn and Hatred in this World by them that are of it who glory in Sin who rejoyce in Iniquity whose End is Destruction and perpetual Misery and their Rejoycing shall be turned into endless Sorrow and Grief Elected of God our Portion in this World is to be Sufferers in it and by it because God hath chosen us out of it and its Nature therefore we are hated despised and persecuted in our Generation like as all the People of God were in former Generations we cannot be exempted from drinking of the same Cup which Christ the Heir of all things drank neither be exempted from being baptized into his Suffering and therefore Christ told his Disciples In the World ye shall have Trouble and the Apostles and Ministers and Believers in Christ did drink of the same and were baptized into the same Baptism and therefore testified That them that will live godly in Christ must uffer Persecution for the World loves only the Children of it but alwayes hated the Children of God and them that were redeemed out of it and they bore Witness against it and the Works thereof it 's no new thing or strange thing for it 's that Portion which all the Prophets and holy Men of God were Partakers of Christ and the Apostles and all true Believers in every Age and the nearer any came to be unto God in their Life and Practice the more they were hated and the more vilified slandered and evil spoken of sometime by the Jews sometime by the Heathen and now by the Apostatized Christians for the Nature is one through all Ages and Diversity of Names in Profession do not at all alter Man or Men at the Heart the Jews who professed God in Words and cryed up the Temple and Moses and the Law in Words slew the Prophets and laid false things to their Charge Jeremiah when he prophesied against Jerusalem and spake to the Princes and Rulers when they were revolted from God in the Dayes of Zedekiah and denounced Evil against the City and People because of Transgression they put him in the Dungeon and where his Feet sticked in the Mire and said He was fallen away to the Caldeans and did alienate the Hearts of the Jews from them and their Law and despised their Government Christ was accounted a Friend of Publicans and Sinners and had a Devil a Transgressor of Moses's Law though he came to fulfil it and an Enemy to Caesar and a Blasphemer and what not who said so the Elders the Doctors the Rabbies and Rulers of the People and they crucified him as an Evil-doer though none could convince him â—â—â—in the Apostles of Christ as seditious Men Ring-leaders of Sects Authors of Uproars Turners of the World upsiâ—e down as disobedient Enemies to Peace as discontented Men with the present Laws and Customs then established and judged as not fit to live And therefore many suffered long for holding out their Testimony faithfully they had received and last of all suffered Death not as Saints and Prophets but as Evil-doers at last some by the Jews some by the Heathens The primitive Christians of whom the World was not worthy were falsly accused by the Romans Heathens and Pagans in the great Persecutions that arose were evil spoken of and falsly represented and rendered odious and as Objects of Hatred through the Envy of the Devil because they opposed his Kingdom of Darkness Tertullian saith The Heathen commonly reputed the then primitive Christians incestuous men Killers of Children Enemies of all Mankind Enemies against the Gods against the Emperours against the Laws they made an Out-cry upon them it 's not lawful they should live And when any Judgment did befall them Augustine saith it was become a Proverb Our Rain fails us because of these Christians and Eusebius saith The Religion of Christ was called the Heresie of godless Christians Likewise after the Name of Christ and Christians became in Repute and Esteem many Hypocrites and Formalists took on the Name when it was countenanced by the Kings and Princes of the Earth and then turned against them that were more in the Life and Power then they were as the Bohemians and the Waldenses and first Protestants in Germany how were they branded with Heresie and Schism as seditious factious Enemies to the Laws Church and State and to the Princes and how was the Hatred of the Pope and Emperour kindled against them and War raised upon them and many suffered Death in their Account as Evil-doers who persecuted them Likewise come nearer our own Age in the Dayes of Queen Mary how were the best of Men and the best of Christians in that Age censured as Enemies to the Queen 's Lawâ— and Government Enemies to the Church seditious Hereticks and such as were not fit to live and therefore many suffered in the cruel Flames of Fire and did undergo many great Torments and Sufferings and last of cruel Deaths many suffered and by them called Christians and yet slew him and persecuted him in his Members Last of all God hath brought us forth in our Age to bear witness unto him and unto that Life Power and Light by which we are quickned and raised out of the Grave of Sin and Death to live unto him and serve him in Newness of Life and to confess unto his holy Name and Power by which we are saved illuminated and directed and to worship him in Spirit and Truth according to the Manifestation of his Spirit to us and in us and according to the Scriptures of Truth for the Lord God of Heaven and Earth judge and all his holy Angels and all just Men that are anointed with the holy Unction that know Truth from Error whether we hold any thing either in Doctrine or Practice but that which the primitive Christians bear Witness of and also the Scriptures bare witness unto and that which we are perswaded in our Consciences by the unerring Spirit of the Lord which doth give us Assurance of his Acceptation and Peace in our Hearts And how often have we declared our selves both by Word and Writing which is sufficiently manifest unto all who have not wilfully closed their Eyes and stopped their Ears against us that we are of no other Faith Hope or Religion but that which Christ and his Apostles and primitive Christians were of which they did hold forth both in Doctrine and Practice as in Respect of Worship and how peaceably and humbly we have walked towards all Men without seeking the hurt or detriment of any thou righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth knowest and
Ease Hardness of Heart is generally over People and clearly to me it doth presage Judgment Tenderness of Heart and Spirit is generaly lost among people and the most have made Shipwrack of all their Hope Faith and Profession to please the time and men of this Generation who are perverse and froward they have been treacherous to God and to their own Souls and cannot do Good to his People keep as much as in you lyes out of their Spirit Manners for they are corrupt and though God's Judgments be abroad in the Land and his Anger kindled and broken forth yet few enquire the Cause or say What have I done but if any do enquire it is generally in that dark Spirit that leads them to Evil which God hides his Counsel from and will not be found of and yet they make Conclusions and give Judgment as the Heathen of old if any Pestâ—leâ—ce Famine or Drought or Judgment came upon them thâ—y said The Christians were the Cause and so stirred up Persecution against them the like and Dreamers of this Age in their Mock fasts and Humiliâ—tions they say Heresie the Cause and because all dâ— nâ—t conform and are not willing to submit to the changeable Institutions of men though never so repugnant to the Law of God they tell the Magistrates The I hanaticks and Quakers are the Cause and so they fast for Strife and to kindle Debate and to stir up Persecution and they seem to cleave so close to the Magistrates that will force and exâ—ct Gain for them and give them large Pay they will cry them up as the higher Power that all are to submit unto in all things under the Pain of Condemnation and they will cry them up and dance and clap their Hands and rejoyce as Israel did about the Calf when they had forgotten God so the Lord is provoaked more and more and they think by rooting out his People if possible will stay his Judgments it 's lamentable to see what Blindness is over the Hearts of the Seers of this Generation who cry Peace Peace and how Peâ—ple are given up to believe their Lyes and to Hardness of Heart and never consider their own Estate neither the Afflictions of Joseph is remembred Another thing also hath been in my Heart many Weeks and a Query hath been in my self and I know hath been on many Spirits why in this common Calamity and in God's Visitaâ—ion of the City of London and many other Places of this Nation that they that have suffered so greatly so long and so faithfully and have born such a Testimony for the Lord why also they should be taken away among the rest seeing the Lord was able to deliver and also command his destroying Angel to pass over as it pleased him and spare and take away as he pleased and why it should not be wholly upon his Enemies and upon them that called not upon his Name in Truth and Righteousness I had many sad Thoughts of Heart and have waited upon the Lord concerning these things with Supplications and Tears concerning his afflicted Peâ—ple and concerning his Name and Truth and this Satisfaction I have received in my self and do communicate unto you First of all it is said That Paul stayed and preached the Gospel at Ephesus two Years so that not only them of Ephesâ—â— but all Asia heard the Word of God both Jews and Greeks and many were gathered unto God and believed and the rest were hardened When I considered this that not only two Years but twelve Years that City of London hath heard the Word of the living God declared and published plentifully in it and the everlasting Gospel of Christ in the Demonstration of the Spirit and with Power insomuch that the Sound went through and through and many believed and the rest were hardened having lost the Day of their Visitation but alas it was but a few considering the Labour and Travail and considering so many Thousands who counted the things of God a slight Matter and for them that were worthy and did believe they were hated and despised and evilly entreated with the most and shut up in Holes and miserable Bonds and Prisons and lingring Torments which oftentimes were the Cause of their Death whose Lives God is requiring at the Hands of that Place and the Messengers of God were mocked abused and evilly entreated and shut up in Bonds till Death and Wickedness did abound and Peoples Hearts grew hard in Ease Riches Pride and vain Glory till the Wrath of God broke forth and cut down Thousands in his Displeasure and this was seen and foreseen full three whole Years and upwards by some of the faithful Servants of God who laid down their Lives in Bonds in that City and are gathered unto the Lord and also some who remain in the Body unto this Day and it was prophesied of and the City was warned thereof Rulers and People but the most made a Mock of it till the just Judgment of God seized upon it Secondly The Lord took away these faithful Men of God Edward Burroughs Richard Hubberthorn and George Fox junior who had been much conversant there who were faithful Watchmen and prevailed often with the Lord till they were shut up in Bonds for all their sore Travail and Labour amongst the Inhabitants thereof and that Place being unworthy of them any more he delivered them and took them away to himself from the Evil to come that they had seen and prophesied of that they might see none of that Misery that is now come Thirdly They were gathered unto the Lord as a Token and Sign unto them that believed of many following after and of their Dissolution Fourthly The Lord did fore-know and fore-see and also had determined Evil against that City and that which is now come to pass and that this Generation notwithstanding all the Entreaties Woings Warnings and Exhortations which they had and slighted and they would proceed on to more Mischief and Persecution in presumption against God and his people and are yet determined and have said in their Hearts Though the Bricks be fallen down we will build with hewn Stone to fortifie themselves that their End might not fail which the Lord God will blast and confound and though Friends have born their Iniquity they shall at last bear it themselves and know the Reward thereof and have none to help so the Lord hath taken away many in his Love and Mercy from the Evil to come and hâ—th freed them from further Misery and hath translated them out of the Reach of all their Enemies Fifthly Seeing they have suffered long and faithfully in that plaâ—e and and elsewhere and have born a living Testimony many to the Loss of their Lives and to their ruinating in this World against the Abominations that did abound and their righteous Souls were vexed as Lot's was with the Sodomites the Lord hath considered and hath said It is enough your Afflictions I will end and
denyes the veracity of his word or the immutability of the most high yet notwithstanding I cannot set up the changeable Priesthood and Covenant and the Ordinances belonging thereunto against the unchangeable and everlasting Priesthood and Covenant and as hath been said before as though that all the precepts therein were so unalterable as that of necessity they must needs continue as obligatory to Generations I might truss up together many Scriptures and thwack them one on the Back of another which belong to the Jews and the first Covenant most properly till the Seed Christ was revealed and offered up and I might bring in Scripture to prove that many things were commanded by the immutable God and by him who is uncapable of alteration and multiply many words as A. S. doth to little purpose and say what was written in the old Testament was by the Inspiration of God and that his precepts are no more alterable then the Laws of the Medes and Persians and therefore they must needs still be observed by all Christians to the World's end or else conclude they that do not are atheistical and deny God's veracity and make the Law of God void and what would all this in arguing prove nothing at all the Jews will confess as much and plead as hard as A. S. can who yet have not believed in him of whom the Prophets prophesied neither have received him who is the Substance of what Moses and the Prophets bore witness and in whom the Law is fulfilled and the Promises made good and confirmed with and in whom all the Shadows end and the vail done away and all the Worship precepts belonging thereunto who hath manifested and revealed the Father in all that believe who is the new and living way whose Worship is not now in the Letter nor in the Shadows nor Types nor in any outward Observations but in Spirit truth is he worshipped for he seeketh such to Worship him for the great Promise of reward was to as ever was to Swearing yet when they resisted him whom the Father had sent all their observances though never so strict did not avail but their Circumcision became Uncircumcision and their Worship and service became Prophaneness when they despised the substance by whom Grace and Truth came to all the Children of promise and we grant with A. S. that he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it and to end both Sin and Transgression and the Law which was added because of it and to bring in everlasting Righteousness and it to rule in the Hearts of all that believe and against such there is no Law and though Christ enjoyned the Disciples Mat 23. to observe what the Scribes and Pharisees bad them who sate in Moses's Chair and read the Law and performed those services in part commanded that was the time before he was offered up and the Ministration of that Covenant was not fully ended yet I hope A. S. with us will grant that they were not to heed them or to obey them in their vain traditions and false glosses and Interpretations and Evil manners which he cryed wo against Mat. 23.13 14. neither after his Resurrection did he enjoyn them to hear the Pharisees neither to observe the Legal Ordinances of the first Priesthood but they declared against them and their practice which continued in the Observation of those things which did not make perfect as pertaining to the Conscience Heb. 8.9 Heb. 9.9 and for all these Texts he alledges out of the Old Testament Mat. 6.13 Psal. 63.11 Jer. 12.16 unto these it hath been answered that this proves nothing that Christians under the second Covenant should Swear as they did in the first for these Precepts were only to keep them from Idolatry for Jer. 12.16 If you will diligently learn the wayes of my People to Swear by my Name the Lord liveth as they taught my People to Swear by Baal then shall they be Builded in the midst of the People And the 6th of Deut. 13.14 is to the same Effect You shall fear the Lord and serve him and Swear by my Name And Verse the 14. Ye shall not go after other Gods All these only prove that the Nations went after other Gods and Sware by them and served them and Israel too prone to follow their manners did so also and therefore he gave them these Precepts to serve him and fear him and acknowledge him to keep them from Idolatry as hath been said in the state of their Minority and weakness and that before the Seed was revealed and that which A. S. calls a Prophecy by Isa. 19.18 of Christians Swearing under the Gospel it 's no such thing but a Prophesie of Egypt his joyning to the Jews and owning their Worship and their God and acknowledge him and do Sacrifice and Oblation yea and vow a vow unto the Lord and perform it ver 21. Which clearly hath relation to the Law and the Worship of the Jews and not to the Gospel so that A. S. might have as well said it was a promise how Christians under the Gospel should offer Sacrifice and Oblations as under the Law as well as Swear But the Doctor hath traversed many Paths which are crooked winding and turning to gather something together and hath fetched it far to prove Swearing under the Gospel but all his proof falls short of his matter by much And that of Isaiah 5.23 is a Prophecy of Israel's return out of the Captivity of Babylon in the days of Cyrus whom the Lord called his Anointed and shepherd Isa. 44.28.45 who made a Decree for all Israel to go out of Assyria to Jerusalem and build their City and their Temple and Worship their God according as he had commanded as may be seen at large in the Book of Ezra and Nehemiah and this was fulfilled then when they builded the City and the Temple in those days long before Christ was manifest in the Flesh and then did Israel return and every Knee did bow and every Tongue did Swear by the Lord which before the Captivity had not bowed nor served nor acknowledged his Name but Idols which provoked the Lord and therefore gave he them into the hand of the Babylonians for seventy Years till they were humbled and then brought them back according to Jeremiah Isaiah Haggai and Zachariah's Prophesies for this was fulfilled then is spoken by Isaiah in this Prophesie Isaiah 5. ver 23 24 25. without contradiction to Christ's command and his command entrencheth not upon this prophesie neither doth this make the Gospel thwart the Law beyond all terms of Reconciliation as A. S. vainly suggests in his margent for this Prophesie was fulfilled long before Christ gave forth this command Swear not at all Moreover if this prophesie have any relation to the state of the Christian Church as A. S. supposes upon what Ground I know not saving his own affirmation then we shall consider and see how it is fulfilled under the
The Papists honouring of Reliques and Images of Saints and praying by Beads proved to be but the Inventions and Traditions of Men and contrary to the Doctrine which the Apostolick Church held forth p. 512. VIII The Doctrine of forbidding certain kinds of Meats and forbidding the Scriptures to be read by all answered p. 515. IX Concerning Miracles p. 519. X. Answers to eight Propositions set forth by one C. M. in a Book of his called A Catechism against all Sectaries p. 521. A General Epistle to the Seed of God p. 536. A Visitation of Love Peace and Good-Will from the Spirit of the Lord sent unto the whole Flock of God now in their Day of Tryal and Hour of Temptation p. 537. An Epistle to all the beloved Prisoners and Fellow-Sufferers in Newgate and else-where in Bonds about the City of London and to Friends of Bristol and Hartford who have lost their Liberty for Christ's sake whom the World is not worthy of p. 543. The great Case of Tythes and forced Maintenance once more revived p. 548. The State thereof enquired into before the Law under the Law and among the Jews likewise under the Gospel The true Ministers of Christ their Allowance shewn Likewise the Corruption of Time since Christ how Tythes have been introduced wherein Antiquity is searched and the Judgment of the Fathers of the Church in several Ages produced A general Epistle to all who have believed in the Light of the Lord Jesus and are called of God to follow the Lamb through the great Tribulation p. 604. The True Rule Judge and Guide of the true Church of God discovered and born Testimony unto what it is and wherein it it consisteth in Opposition to the preâ— tended Catholick Church of Rome her Rule Foundation Guide and Judge being in Answer to a Book writ by Captain Everard entituled An Epistle to all Non-conformists p. 611. A General Epistle to the dispersed and persecuted Flock of Christ Jesus in England and else-where who have believed in Christ the Light of the World and now suffer for his Name 's sake p. 657. Oaths no Gospel-Ordinance but prohibited by Christ being in Answer to A. Smallwood's Sermon published which he preached at Carlile wherein he laboured to prove Swearing lawful among Christians p. 668. To all the well-beloved Flock of Christ whom he hath gathered into his Fold to seed in his heavenly pasture in and about London Hartford and Kingston p. 732. THE END Claudius Espontius ordained at a Council at Pysoy in France that Infants Baptism should be receiv'd by Tradition because it could not be proved as a Command from the Scriptures Ignatius Bishop of Rome was the first Ordainer of Infants Baptism that they should have God-fathers and God-mothers c. Victor Bishop of Rome instituted that Children might be christened by Lay-men Lay-women in case of Necessity Pius Bishop of Rome built the first Temple after the Apostacy in Honour to Prudentia Dionysius in the yea 267. divided bâ—th Rome and other Places intâ— parishes and Diocesses for Bishops Abraham and his Wife buried in Hebron in a piece of Ground he bought Justinian the Emperour ordained that men should Swear by the Gospel or Book called the Gospel lay their hands thereon and Kiss it saying So help me God Silvester Bishop of Rome ordained that all Churches should be christened and should be anointed with oyl Clement Bishop ordained confirmation of Children and said none was a perfect Christian if he wanted this and thus children should be smote on the cheek signed with this Cross. At Lyons in France they appointed Holy-days to encrease their Religion Boniface the fourth ordained Stephen Innocents Laurence Michael Martin John-Baptist and all Saints to be kept holy Corpus-Christi day was ordained by Urbanus the fourth Silvester Bishop ordained Lammas day in memorial of Peter 's pains Gregory ordained that Mass or short prayer should be said over the Tombs of the dead Gregory appointed Wednesday and Fryday should be fasted Soul-mass-day was ordained by Odilo Sextus commanded that no Lay-People should touch the Priests Garments Sabinianus ordained that People should come together to hear Service by ringing of Bells John 22 d. Bishop ordained Bells to be tolled three times a day Singing of Mattens at set times Hierom appointed Pelagius the second commanded Priests to say them daily Telesphorus appointed that Lent should be kept before Easter and fasted Concerning Mass Letany many Authors patched it up at sundry times Acts and Monuments vol. 2. Fol. 55. Euseb. lib. 6. chap. pag. 98. In his Book de succes cap. 6. Act and Mâ—n vol. 1. â—â—l 527. Folio 653. Exâ—â— 20.7 Aâ—ts and Monum vol. 2. fâ—l 701. De Succes cap. 6. Acts 11.29 Euseb. lib. 4. cap. 22. Cyprian Epist. 27.34.36 Hom. 11. in acta Hom 16. in Evan. and dist 5. de conser Acts and Mon. pag. 536 537. Prosper de vita contempt lib. 2. cap. 4. Cyril de adorat in spir ver lib. 4. ad finem Oriâ—en hom 15. in Levit. Gen. 14.9 11 12 13. Gen. 18.20 Hebrews 7.4 Gen. 14.18 Gen. 28.22 Gen. 28.13 14 Ver. 19. Ver. 2â— Exod. 13.1 Tertul Lib. advers Judoeos alii â—â—tm Sepius Gen. 4.6 Ambros Lib. de Cain and Aâ—el Chap. â— 1.6 Galat. 3.17 Levit. 18 4. Ezek. 45.13 〈◊〉 23.19 Lev. 23.10 Num. â—5 20 Deut. 18.4 Ezek. ch 45.11 Numb 12.21 Num. 18.2 8. Stat. 26. Hen. 8. Deut. 14.23 Levit. 27.30 31. Deut. 16.12 Rabbi Ben majemon in jad chaz chahast de Therumah ch 1 and mis 5. Kotzi inp x. cept 133. 2 Chro. 31. Mal. 3. c. Neh. 13. Rambam de decmis ch 9. Luke 1. Heb. 7.16 Heb. 7.13 Heb. 7.12 v. 18. Gal. 5.2 Rom. 4.11 Gal. 6.13 Matth. 10.7 Matth. 10.8 ver 11. Matth. 10.10 Luke 10.7 Acts 4.34 Acts 11.29 Vide Ockam in Opera 90. duum ch 107. Vide Synod ianger can 66. Tertul. his Apolog ch 39.2.42 Offerings continued 340. Years Eusebius lib. 4. ch 22. Cyprian in his Epist. 37 34 36. The Council of Antioch Anno 340. Chrysost. Hom. 11. Cypr. de unit Eccles. ch 23. Greg. Hom. 16. in Evang. and dist 5. de Cons. Jerom. in Epist. ad Nepotian devita clericorum In Serm. de 10 th temp in tem 10. Chrysost. Hom. 43. upon the Epistle 1 Cor. 1.16 Cyril de adorat in spir ver lib. 4. ad finem Prosper de vitae contempt lib. 2. chap. 14. Origen Hom. 15. in Levit. Mascon 8. Can. 5. Cap. 53. in ext tot de des cap. 33. cum non sit vide a Baput prox sec. 7. Selden Selden his hist. upon Tythes c. 7. Ad Tt. de paroch al paroch extra significavit So Cora Aenvias Varviar resolute l. 1. c. 17. Vide Sona in Concil Gang. 7. Nantz Council Council Trent Non sunt ferendi qui varjis artibus decimas Ecclesiis c. Bed l. 1.26 Extat in Bed exemplaris Saxoni lib. 3. Linwood in constit pro vincia Tit. dec sancino gâ—tiom Pro meo remedio animae regni populi John Wickliff's complaint out of Fox his Act. and Mon. Aeneas Sylvius in his Bohemian History Fox his Acts and Mon. pag. 69. Acts and Monuments p. 605. Ambrose upon the 16 th of Luke Bernard upon 17. Luke Eusebius upon Jerom. Isidore de Summo Bono chap. 42. Heb. 7. Acts and Monuments pag. 607. Acts and Monuments pag. 621. Paul Grisaldus apud camell borell in consiliorum parte Antho. Bishop of Spaletto ac repub Eccles. lib. 9. Luke 9.58 Luke 8.1 2. Mat. 10.9 1 Cor. 9.5 Gen. 28. and 2.22 Basils â—istorâ—es by â—eneas Sylvius Ex libello diâ—o the complaint of Loderics Mors oâ—â—m impress Gene 2.3 ‖ ‖ Without an Oath as under the Law in divers causes where no Oath is mentioned but Witnesses Deut. 19.15 ‖ ‖ Deut. 19.6 In case of Life and Death no Oath was used we read of * * For he is called God's Covenant Isaiah 53.5 and God's Covenant is his Oath which he sware Luke 1.72 73. ‖ ‖ Deut. 19.16 Exod. 20.10 * * Adjure doth often signifie to charge or Oblige by bare Promiâ—e as well as Oath for if the phrase I adjure thee by God be a command to Swear by God then thâ—s would make Acts 19.12 13. absurd when the Exorcists did adjure the evil Spirit in the Name of Jesus not to Swear but to come out or depart oâ—t of the Man