make Instruments in his glorious worke in this the day of his power if ye reject not his loving counsel and visitation of love which to you is tendred in particular O ye Priests of this Nation to whom this is sent But if ye reject his counsel and will have none of his reproof then hear what the Spirit of the Lord saith the Lord will make you examples of his wrath above many and that is a word of truth unto you all that ye may truly be warned and repent before it be too late And I warne you as from the Lord God of Heaven and earth that ye be not Instruments of stopping this from passing amongst the people by rejecting it or casting an odium upon it thereby to incense the peoples minds against the truth of God and things that do belong to your peace which if you do better were it that a milstone were hanged about your necks and you cast into the midst of the Sea then you should hinder the least from receiving this testimony for Gods dreadfull and terrible day is at hand in which he will render to every one according to the fruits of his own doings both Priests and people for every one shall give an account of himself to God and every one shall die for his own iniquity Therefore againe and againe I say be ye warned and if ye Priests or any of you shall hearden your hearts against this visitation of love from the Lord which is sent amongst you by esteeming that you are the true Ministers of Christ and the spiritual weaponed men then come forth openly into the field and make it appear by answering the Queries which are propounded unto you in this book that ye may through it come to understand and the truth may yet be made further manifest in the eyes of all And this proffer do not slight least the people grow jealous of you but this I say in love to your immortal souls happy will ye be if ye receive the love of God in it and submit unto his holy will and receive his counsel and be advised betimes for the fruits of your Ministry doth testifie to your faces that it is not of God for if it were it would turn the people from the evil of their wayes and from Satan to God My little children saith Paul of whom I travail in birth againe untill Christ be formed in you Mark the words and consider them Christ was to be formed in them and this was the true Saints and Christians life to witnesse him to rule and Reigne in them for saith Paul I live yet not I but Christ in me so in the Saints was the only hope of their glory and without this all are without the true hope and God in this world which is the unregenerate state where the new birth and creature is not witnessed nor known but are captives unto sin and Satan lust and uncleannesse but where Christ is witnessed the body is dead because of sin and the spirit is life because of righteousness And blessed are they who witnesse this in deed and in truth such are the true Israelites in whom there is no guile which the Lord of glory delights in but abhorreth all faire sayers and not doers such shall have their portion with the hypocrites and unbeleevers for ever but whosoever heareth the sayings of the Lord and doth them he is like unto a wise man which built and founded his house upon a Rock which the stormes could not move and they are Heirs of happinesse for evermore world without end Crowned with the faithfull for ever Many are called but few are chosen even only those who are faithfull therefore I say againe through the Spirit blessed and happy are they world without end And that many of you might come to enjoy this eternal blessed and happy end I could lay down my life were it required of me Consider will a call save you nay Therefore consider what will it availe you to gaine the whole world and lose your own souls for the transitory pleasures of this fading world O let it never be but embrace mercy while it is freely tendred unto you and ye will enjoy an incorruptible Crown which the Lord hath in store for all who forsake all corruptible things for his sake And these are words and counsel of life unto you all which springeth from the true fountain of life and love which you will come to witness And truly friends there is no life but through death nor no Crown but through the Crosse nor no victory but through War and tribulation of the Lamb And consider the Lamb was slaine from the foundation of the world and the world is set in mans heart And the whole world lyeth in wickedness saith the Apostle for it is in you the Lamb is slaine even in spirituall Sodom and Aegypt Behold a Mistery read and consider spiritually called Sodom and Aegypt even idleness and fullnesse of bread and adultery and the like and this crucifieth the just in you daily and if ever you turn to the Light of Christ in you you will witnesse my words to be true and will come to mourn over him whom we have pierced even as a man mourneth over his only begotten son for truly untill you come here ye remain guilty of the blood of the Son of God and all mankind upon the face of the whole earth And these few words was I moved of the Lord to write unto you that ye may consider well your state and read within your selves with the Light whether it be so or no So God Almighty open and pierce through your understandings that ye may perfectly come to see and comprehend with all Saints what is the mistery and love of God in Christ Jesus concerning you and all mankind which is the true desire of him who is ready to lay down his life for his vilest enemies And seriously consider whether the world stands not yet whole in you which is truly to be destroyed even by fire as truly as the old was by water and untill this be witnessed the just in you suffereth for it is the just that suffereth by the unjust in the particular as well as in the general Ponder these things well and truly weigh them and the just in you will answer to my words from whence they come and to what end they are spoken and so will ye find mercy and not till then professe what ye will for except ye witness Christ risen in you all Preaching and Profession is in vaine whatsoever These are perfect and true sayings and will stand a witnesse against you for ever if ye reject them for if you will or dare come to your tryall it will be manifestly proved that you are not the true and faithfull Ministers of Jesus Christ neither by Call Maintainance nor manner of worship as Preaching Praying or Singing Baptisme or any other thing which is used or taught by you or amongst you
heart and while you have time prize it before it be too late And know ye Protestants that it is onely the true Jew which shall have acceptance in his presence in that day even they who are of the circumcision of the heart who are covered with his holy Spirit and not with a name to live and are dead as it is with you at this day Therefore this visitation of love is sent amongst you that you may read and consider your condition and how you stand that ye may not plead ignorance in the dreadfull day of account which is even at the door and remember If God spared not the natural branches but cut them off who sinned he will not spare you for the soul that sinneth shall dye but he that turneth from his sins and doth righteousnesse shall live and there is no other Covenant or promise of God then this Therefore let not your Preachers deceive you any longer by telling you it shall go well with you though you live in sin and uncleannesse but turn to the light of Christ which condemneth you for all sin and give up to be guided by it and it will lead you to forsake your sins so will you find mercy else you will perish eternally which is the word of the Lord unto you all therefore I say again and again prize Gods love which is freely tendred unto you For a famine of the word of the Lord hath been amongst men and the vision hath failed which hath been the cause people have perished even because of ignorance Therefore come to Christ the light the wisdome of God that you may learn only of him and receive wisdome of him who maketh all them truly wise unto Salvation who come unto him and hear him so then their souls come to live and not before And take not this as an idle tale or story for though my message is not adorned with inticing words of mans wisdome or as mans wisdome teacheth yet know assuredly that if ye reject it it will be your condemnation and you will be left without excuse as I said If God spared not the natural branches when they sinned even they who were once truly grafted into the true Olive Tree surely he will not spare you who were never yet grafted into any thing but sin and corruption as plainly appeareth by your fruits of lightness vanity and vain glory and the deportment both of you and your women who goe in plaited haire and in gold and silver which was never the ornament of the holy women of God nor of Sarah but their ornament was that of the heart even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is with the Lord of great price and is only accepted of God and your own habit is nothing differing from all the vain and abominable in your Nation which the true Christians were not to do nor fashion themselves according to the former time of ignorance but were to be renewed in their minds and to be carefull in all things and to walk answerable according to the holy calling wherewith Christ Jesus had called them who had left them a pure example that they should follow his steps And saith the Apostle Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ But how ye do those things let the pure just principle of the Lord Jesus Christ judge in all your consciences Were you truly what you professe your selves to be in words would ye not be a witness against all the vanities and wickedness of the Nation and bear your witness for God against it all and so would be a sweet savour unto the Lord in your generation even as lights which are set on a hill But instead of this ye are one with them in all manner of evill whatsoever onely you differ in some external things in your worship seeming to cry against Idolatry and covetousnesse is in your hearts which is as great Idolatry as can be named and if you should speak against respecting of persons you are as much in it as they and as partial in all your wayes and any other abomination which is committed in the land may be as commonly seen and heard amongst you as amongst any other people in the Nation as swearing lying vain talk and foolish jesting whoring whatsoever that may be named pride and vain custome and the like and for a cover for all this you say you are saved by grace for shame shame shame cover your faces Are any saved by grace who are taught by it to deny all ungodlinesse and worldly lust and to live soberly and righteously in this present evil world and doth not who live in wickeedness and turn the Grace of God into wantonness or rather turn from it hath not the free grace of God appeared unto all unto Salvation as well as unto you as if a bear talk of being saved by grace would serve turn why may not all be saved as well as you seeing your fruit differeth nothing in substance and then you say you are saved by faith in Christ Jesus but vaine men shew your faith by your works for if it be the living Faith which gives victory over sin the other may also be brought into it by good works which are the effects of the only true and living Faith and so be converted unto it and be saved but your profession without a possession doth but adde the more unto your condemnation as you shall witness except ye repent for if only a saying you believe in Christ Jesus will save you why may not those you esteem different from you be saved as well as you seeing they will in the particular say it and affirm it as well as you and both your fruits in respect of life and conversation varie nothing at all Read and consider these things seriously and repent knowing that as the body without the spirit is dead so is Faith without works also dead Again I say in love pity to your immortal souls prize prize Gods eternal love which is freely tendred unto you all least you cry when it is too late Oh how have I slighted the day of my visitation and it be said of you as it was of Israel of old Oh Israel thou hast destroyed thy self for it is only the sins of a people or Nation which separateth them from God and brings judgements upon them or any Land that the inhabitants may learn righteousness but if they refuse to be warned thereby and harden their necks then will the Lord sweep them away with the Bosome of destruction Therefore lay it to heart for the sins of this land hath surpassed the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah who were made examples of Gods just judgements that others might take warning Therefore my bowels is truly moved in me towards you that you may not slight the day of your visitation but diligently hearken to the Lord which if you do he will soon subdue all your enemies for you and make you
can do nothing I am the Vine saith Christ and ye are the branches and my Father is the husbandman and every branch which bringeth not forth fruit my Father cutteth it off and casteth it into the fire but every branch which bringeth forth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more abundantly so abide in me saith he the light of the world for in him only is their fruit found to be accepted So read try and consider in whom ye are and whether ye are in the true Vine yea or nay if not your state is miserable and ye are yet in your sins Therefore cease from your hireling teachers and learn of Christ the pure light in you and you will come to witness a teacher continually with you Which will never be removed into a corner any more but your ear shall hear a voice behind you saying this is the way walk in it turn neither to the right hand nor to the left which if once witnessed ye will abhor all hireling teachers for ever and being come to know the voice of the true Shepherd of your souls ye will witnesse the pure holy teachings of the holy God lying down and rising up directing you in the pure holy and undefiled path of peace in which no Lions whelp can tread and this to witnesse is the end of all Ministrations Types and shadows whatsoever the life and substance being witnessed in you even Christ Jesus the Light the Covenant of God which is given a Covenant of Light unto all Nations that he might be his Salvation unto the ends of the earth which is the only true Cistern that is able to hold water for your souls And John did bear witness in like manner of him saying He was the true light which inlightned every one that came into the world and the light is the life of men and as you come to the light you will witness it so and not before ye know his life to abide in you which light being received and followed you will receive power to become the sons of God even a birth which is not of man nor of the will of man but of God which only is loved so the sons of God you will witnesse to be and his holy Spirit you will be lead by For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God and they who have not the Spirit of Christ are none of his Therefore I say again and again try whose ye are for if you have not the Spirit of Christ you are none of the sons of God but of the Devil These are true and plain words unto you all that ye may not be any longer deceived nor trust to lying vanities any longer and forsake your own mercies which is freely tendred unto you of the Lord in this the day of his love wherein he doth invite you freely to come unto him Without money and without pride that ye may eat and drink and be satisfied at the Rivers of his pleasures and not to spend your labour and precious time for nought for your time is but short and the measure of your iniquitie is even up amongst the sons of men and the Angel of his wrath is even ready to smite Therefore be ye separated and touch no unclean thing and God Almighty will accept you for verily I have seen the wrath of the Lord breaking forth against this Nation and it was very terrible Therefore stand not as you love your immortal souls to contend about words or any outward thing but come to the light that ye may witnesse life that so your covering may only be the pure Spirit of the Lord thereby to have a hiding place in him else the sword of his indignation and wrath you will never be able to escape but it will cut you off for ever with all the unclean and uncircumcised of the earth Therefore be ye not mockers nor despisers least ye perish for the Lord is working a work in these dayes that such cannot believe though it were told them and this is a true warning and testimony of Gods everlasting love in and through one that is a witness thereof and a friend to all souls And now that you may read and seriously consider into what a sad state you are fallen from the Image of him that created you is the desire of my heart and come for to be restored again into the same dominion for all are degenerated into the plant of a strange Vine bringing forth wild fruit contrary to the expectation of the good husbandman and to the grieving of his righteous soul for read and consider He planted a Vineyard and fenced it about and pruned it and cast the stones out of it and expected it should bring forth fruit as I have said but it brought forth wild fruit what could I have done more for my Vineyard saith the Lord. Here all the sons of men may consider their condition which is truly sad and miserable though they are so setled upon the Lees of iniquity that they do not consider it as it is written There is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh God they are all gone out of the way they have been made altogether unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one their throat is an open sepulchre they have used their tongues to deceit the poison of aspes is under their lips Rom. 3.11 Yea they commit iniquity with greedinesse even as the Ox drinketh in water their table is full of vomit and there is no soundnesse in them they conceive mischief in the night upon their bed and rise early in the morning to put it in practice and say in their hearts the Lord seeth us not our mouthes are our own who shall us controll they lye in waite privily for the innocent and lay a snare in secret for him O! what a sad and dolefull condition are the sons of men fallen into yea there is no fear of God before their eyes Eating and drinking and rising up to play marrying and giving in marriage and all in the lust and uncleanness the seed of the evil one being head in them nought but pride and oppression is brought forth envy and malice yea the best of men is but a lyer every one seeking by fraud and deceit to exalt his own horn and seeking to maintain his own carkase in great honour and dignity and he which is stronger then his neighbour will take all advantages against him to bring him under him and to bow to his will O woful state and hard to be declared is the degeneration of fallen man from his Creator who at first created him in his own Image and likenesse in holinesse and purity to reign over all the works of his hands in the power and wisdome of his Creator and had put all things in subjection under him and knew the right use of every thing he standing in the dominion and wisdome of God and to
without respect of persons judgeth according to every mans work passe the time of your sojourning here in feare and redeem the time for the days are evil and work out your salvation with fear and trembling which if ye doe ye shall be everlastingly blessed in the end which is the word of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth unto you all Therefore while you have time prize it this word doth the Lord often put into my heart unto you for the dreadful day of his fierce unresistable wrath is nigh at hand in which he wil destroy all workers of iniquity from off the earth root and branch for ever and to that man will he look who is of a humble and contrite heart trembleth at his word and only such shall obtain favour of him in that his dreadful day and controversie with all Nations therefore is he sending and hath sent his dear and precious Lambs and Servants forth to warn them that they may repent and find mercy least his vengeance overtake them and that they may be lest without excuse and for this cause is this warning sent unto you O ye Protestants and inhabitants in France that ye may also be warned to fly the wrath which is even at the door for your measure of iniquity is even full and hastneth apace the finishing Therefore be awakened and warned that ye may find favour with him who will not judge according to your persons but in righteous judgement will he judge you even from the King that sitteth upon the Throne unto the slave that grindeth at the mill and neither money nor favour shall be able to deliver any therefore that ye may repent and find mercy is the true and faithfull desire of my soul to the Lord for you my Countrey-men whom the Lord hath warned to warn you and hath shewed me his silly worm the evil and the good which shall surely come upon you who in love and faithfulnesse to God and your Souls hath not concealed it from you whether you doe embrace or reject his love and counsell which is freely tendred unto you that so in the day of account with my Maker I may be found clear of your blood and the blood of all men which if I had it would be too heavy for me to bear for the Lord would require it at my hands who hath called me from a far countrey where I was an inhabitant about fourteen yeares untill this work was laid on me to visit you Protestants in and about Paris but ye rejected me and despised me and would not permit me to declare my message of love unto you which was from the Lord and not my own in testimony of which I was ready to seal it with my blood but seeing ye would not receive it from the Lord who called me from the Indians in America to minister and serve the Indians elswhere in his truth and gospel I shall be clear of your blood for ever and at my return from Paris the Lord laid it upon me to write this testimony unto you before he would suffer me to go out of your Nation and happy will ye be if ye receive it but if ye wilfully reject it as ye did me and contemned my person then wo will come upon you from the Lord God of Heaven and Earth for evermore Therefore Countrey-men I beseech you in the bowels of endlesse and unfeigned love for ever in and with the same the Lord hath loved me to lay it to heart for my God is a consuming fire who will not in any wise condemn the innocent nor acquit the guilty for with him alone dwelleth equity and justice which is the habitation of his Throne for ever which you shall be made partakers of who turn to him and peace shall never depart out of your habitation Let this thing be considered by all who love their souls for what will it avail you to win the whole world and lose your own souls is there any thing below the Sun but what is vanity and vexation of Spirit and must come to an end nay verily there is not therefore spend not your precious time any longer in taking care what you shall eat or what you shall drink or what you shall put on for all these things such seek after who know not God but cast your care upon God who will care for you if ye come to walk and live in his holy fear and seek not honor one of another but only that honour which comes from him so will ye honour him and he will make you truly honourable in the midst of a rebellious and stiff-necked people and seek not to lay up treasures on earth but first seek ye the Kingdome of Heaven and all things which are needfull for you shall be added unto you for if the Lord taketh care for the birds of the aire how much more will he take care for those who put their trust and confidence in him therefore spend not your time in chambering and wantonnesse neither make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof for the lust warreth against the soul but be ye sober and watch for the day of the Lord will come upon you as a thief in the night and he will call you to an account of your stewardship and how you have spent his money for every one hath a manifestation of the spirit given him to profit withall which he must give an account to his Lord of for that 's the talent and wo be to him that hath not been faithful to improve it but the diligent hand maketh rich and he which hath been faithful to a little shall be made ruler over much so consider seriously how you spend your time and whose money you are improving and to what use you put it to for accordingly shall your reward be Therefore Friends as in the sight of the living God in whom I live and serve with my Spirit I am very plain with you recommending my self to every mans conscience in the sight of God that I have not hid the counsel of God from you so far as he hath made it manifest to me concerning you neither have I gone to heal your hurt deceitfully nor sowed pillars under your arm-holes nor daubed you with untempered morter as the false prophets do crying peace peace to the wicked but as the Lord hath shewed me the sword of his wrath which is ready to be sheathed in the bowels of the wicked I have in faithfulnesse warned you of it that ye might escape it by turning from the evil of your wayes for by no other way or meanes can you possibly escape it therefore let not me be counted your enemy for telling you the truth knowing that the reproof of a friend is better than the kisse of an enemy and an open reproof is better than secret love therefore saith David Let the righteous smite me and it shall be as an ointment upon my head and you will
A Seasonable Warning To such who profess themselves MEMBERS OF Reformed Churches INTO What Forme soever gathered or where-ever scattered over the face of the whole earth but most especially to France and the parts adjacent With a few remarkable QUERIES c. Given forth in love to all souls a tender visitation of breathing desires of good to the whole Creation by a friend thereof CHARLES BAILY LONDON Printed in the Year 1663. try your spirits and there is no difference between you and those you seem to deny for in nature ye are one in pride and hypocrisie envy malice and cruelty drunkenness swearing lying whoredom deceit and whatsoever is evill and were the power in your hands ye would be more cruel then those ye seem to complain of and in the ground there is no difference between you for ye have lost your suffering spirit which was once amongst you at the first and are grown as vaine in your Imaginations as any of the heathen of the Nations Therefore repent repent ye also and think not in your hearts that it will serve your turns to say you are reformed while iniquity and abomination is in your inward parts and are not at all reformed from that to wit iniquity though ye say ye are saved by faith in Christ ye are found wholly out of that spirit and doctrine which leadeth To do unto all men as ye would others should do unto you as your fruits hath proved some of you casting out of the Synagogues or Temples as the Jews did and as is foretold should be done unto my servants Therefore be ye warned in time and remember how the Jews came under the reproofe of the Just when they said they were Abrahams children whilest they were Of their father the Devil whose works they did and do you not think but your evill deeds are as abommable as theirs they boasted as well as you they were the children of my Covenant while you and them trample the Blood thereof under your feet for which cause a curse came upon them and shall also come upon you if ye repent not and take not warning in time while my hand is stretched out towards you for good that ye may live and not die in your sins for if you die in your sins Where I go ye cannot come saith Christ Jesus the Light of the world who is the Covenant of God given for Salvation unto the ends of the earth and untill ye come to this Light ye are far from being children of the Covenant as ye pretend but in Covenant with Hell Death and the Devill pleading for sin as long as you live which is the Devils Kingdom and for so doing ye give men great sums of money yearly which is an abominable thing to the Lord God Almighty And then you say you are Christians by Baptisme and the like sprinkling a little water upon the face or head of a child and thereby have an entrance into the Church and yet will not admit the same to the Roman-Catholicke though their Water hath as much vertue as yours and the child of the one believeth as much as the other and both when they grow up are in one nature which sheweth plainly you are ignorant of the one onely true Baptisme which washeth away sin and corruption and gives a true entrance into the Church which is in God the ground and Pillar of truth into which no unclean thing can have an entrance for it is a spiritual House built with living Stones elect and precious Christ Jesus being the chief corner stone who gave himself for it That he might present it to God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And this is the true Church and Baptism which gives an entrance into it and the true saith which once came and takes the possession So read and try and prove your selves If Christ be not in you ye are reprobates professe what you will and if Christ were in you The body would be dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but how far you are from this let the Light of Christ Judge in you therefore repent that ye may find mercy and think not that God will have respect unto your persons no more then he had respect to those who said They were Jewes and were not for because of that he said he would spue them out of his mouth and seeing he spared not the natural branches but cut them off the root because of transgression do you think he will spare you Nay verily The soul that sinneth shall die saith God for he spared not the Angels who kept not their first estate but hath reserved them under the chaines of darkness untill the Judgement of the great day And let these things be a seasonable warning unto you for it was so and is so that he which is a Jew outwardly is not the true Jew neither is he a Christian who beareth the name outwardly and hath not the nature of Christ all such are an abomination to the Lord. You are so far from being leavened into his nature which only maketh a Christian that if any one come amongst you and say he hath the Spirit of God he is had in great derision amongst you and is laughed at to scorne though the Apostle saith He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his and all who were Baptized with the true Baptisme they received the Holy Ghost So read consider and try your selves what state you are in and do not think that the nature of Christ is changed since the Apostles time nay it is all one though many have the name and are out of the nature You fall a quarelling and killing one another about their words this was not the nature of Christians for they were the sons of God led by his pure Holy Spirit which was Gentle meeke and easie to be intreated full of long-suffering and mercy even to enemies and ready to do good unto all in which spirit walking they did not fulfil the lusts of the flesh but in it conquered and had dominion over sin Hell and the Devil though a time of warfare they came to witness before they came unto this state as all the Saints and holy men of God ever did witness the travel of the children of Israel through the wilderness into the land of rest which is the true Type of all the travel of the faithfull for they came to witness the true Baptisme as it is written They were all Baptized into Moses under the Cloud who was a true Type of Christ and because of unbelief many did not enter because they received the false report and believed they should never overcome their enemies which things relate all unto the true spiritual warfare of every true Christian which did believe and entered and possessed the land of rest which is the true Sabbath and it is written He that believes hath entered into rest ceased from sin which is
profession soever and it shall prove you who say you are Jews and are not and every mans works shall be tryed of what sort they are and all coverings besides the pure Holy Spirit of the Lord shall be as Adams fig-Leaves were and when the Lord shall call them to an account they shall fear to appear before him because of their transgressions and Gods witnesse in all shall answer unto his just judgments which shall come upon them the hypocrites shall weep and howle and many shall call to the Hills and Mountains to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb whom they have willfully despised and rejected Therefore be ye warned in time and see and search diligently what you are built upon for no other foundation shall be able to abide the dreadful day of Gods controversie with the sons and daughters of men but the Rock of ages and he which is not built upon this let him be never so secure in his own conceit or in the eye of flesh his building shall utterly perish and come to nought and great shall be his ruine Therefore come all to the Light and make no other foundation but that if ye desire to abide the day of tryal which is neer even at the dore therefore this warning is sent unto you in an acceptable time that ye may take warning before it be too late for a consummate decree is determined of the Lord which shall consume and destroy all the workers of iniquity for ever therefore blessed will the man be who hath not walked in their way nor sitteth in the seat of the scornfull after he is warned but shall cleave to the Law of God and meditate therein his off-spring shall be prosperous in the Earth and his name shall be written in the book of life for ever he shall wash his garments white in the blood of the Lamb and follow him who hath a Bow and a Sword and maketh war in righteousness against the Dragon and his Followers even the Man of Sin who hath long sitten in the Temple of God and said He is God but by the Lamb shall he be overcome and his followers and all that are found in resistance of Gods power shall be cast into the pit of endlesse torments for ever and the day is already dawned wherein this glorious work shall be accomplished Therefore beware with whom ye joyn in battel for the Lamb makes war in righteousness against all sin and the appearance thereof but the Dragon and his followers shal be to uphold it and plead for it and imprison such as bear testimony against it so each will be known by their weapons their fruits and their colours the one's weapons are spiritual the others carnal the one is in unrighteousnesse the other in righteousnesse the one is in blood and revenge the other in suffering and patience so you may easily distinguish between them and will not be able to plead ignorance in the day of account for it was ever so from the beginning the just suffering by the unjust the seed of the Bond-woman persecuting the seed of the Free-woman which never persecuted any therefore be ye warned of joyning with the persecuting spirit of Antichrist for if you doe you shall assuredly as the Lord God of Heaven and Earth lives partake of his plagues but rather cast out the Bond-woman and her son that ye may be heirs with the seed of the Free-woman which keep the Commandements of God so will ye be heirs of the promise and of the mercy of God which is freely tendered unto you through his simple servant who is at present a sufferer in the patience and tribulation of the Lamb on whom the Lord hath laid a necessity to warn thee O nation of France that thou mayst find mercy in this the day of Gods free love which is tendered unto thee and though this reacheth unto the whole Nation yet in particular it is sent to you who are called by the name of the Reformed Religion to the end that ye may not only be so in name but also in life and practise without which your name will but adde unto your condemnation as hath already been told you God is purposed to try you and your foundation and a name will not serve the turn and except ye partake of the nature of the sufferance of Gods seed and spirit of truth in you and turn to the Lord by putting away the evil of your doings ye shall surely partake of her plagues which is the word of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth unto you all for her sins have exceeded the sins of Sodom and the measure of her iniquity is even up and judgment is already prepared for her therefore be ye seperated from your iniquities in time for the word is gone out of the mouth of the Lord and can never be recalled but shall surely accomplish the thing which he hath purposed therefore my bowels are drawn forth in love towards you that ye may not perish with the uncircumcised and unclean but that rather ye may come to repentance and amendment of life and live for ever which is the true desire of his soul Friends the Lord is about to do a wonderful work in the Earth which many cannot believe though it were told them but the upright in heart shall see it and praise him yea the youth shall rejoyce and the virgins shall be glad and the Saints shall admire and smite upon their breasts in beholding the wonderful works of the Allmighty which he purposeth to doe in this generation And therefore give ear unto me and be not hard of heart nor unbelieving and I will through the spirit of the Lord which is upon me shew unto you the certainty of things which shall shortly come to passe The Lord will cast down the haughty and the proud from his throne and will exalt the humble and the meek yea he will rebuke the proud and give grace unto the humble He will exalt his horn over all that shall rise up against him he will break the bond of oppression and set the Nations at liberty that his name may be glorified from one end of the Earth unto the other though at present his name is not known amongst the sons of men and he be more a stranger and less known amongst them then the Ox to his owner or the Ass to his masters crib yet shall the knowledge of him cover the whole earth even as the waters cover the Seas He will overturn all Idolaters and all Idols for ever and all who shall set a hand to uphold them all Idol Priests shall be turned into confusion for ever the haughty seat shall be laid low and the humble and the meek shal be exalted yea he will by his own arm and Allmighty power arise and plead the cause of the innocent and set the oppressed free and enlarg the borders of the innocent and the meek shall take the possession and the glorious
in these did the true Ministers of Christ glory and did not get into a place there settle themselvs at their own wil to preach to this or that people but as the Lord did send and direct them they were to go whether in life or in death bond or prison yea wo were to them if they did not doe it and again they preached to the people nothing but what they had seen tasted and had handled of the word of life and that only did they minister unto others but if you should preach nothing but what you did witnesse in this nature which every true Minister of Christ ought to doe and no more then you might stop your mouths and indeed untill then it would be a thousand fold better for you so to doe for your condemnation would not be so great if you did not presume thus to teach the people the knowledge of God and his holy wayes but did sit down and labour with your own hands for your livings for of a truth you doe but adde to your condemnation in this state you are in as your fruits manifest to your faces Can you look upon your assemblies not blush and be ashamed to see the fruits of your ministry in pride lust and ambition dressed more like antiques than sober moral men ful of vain talk and foolish jesting swearing lying and all manner of vice is to be found amongst them even amongst your constant hearers whom you call Reformers of Religion but what they are reformed from in nature let the pure light of Christ Jesus judge in all their consciences as it doth for God against them and you and I am sure it sheweth that they differ nothing in nature from the common practise of the Nation but rather through them and their ungodly practises cause the good way of God to be evil spoken of And this O ye Priests is the manifest and evident fruits of your work and labour but the free and true ministry of Christ Jesus was for the perfecting of the Saints and the edifying of the body untill they all come to a perfect man into the measure and stature of the fulnesse of Christ who was and is head of their body unto which no corrupt nor prophane member can be joyned and thus your ministry differeth from the true yea even as much as light from darknesse the one teacheth and leadeth out of all sin and the other teacheth that there can never be a freedome from sin in this li e though the Apostle said ye being made free from sin became the servants of righteousness for while ye were servants unto sin ye were free from righteousness so there was the fruits and effects of the true ministry and the fruits and effects of the ministry of Satan is so far from this that they preach up sin for term of life as hath been spoken of already Therefore O ye Priests be ye warned of the Lord God of life and cease thus from deluding the people and let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he might have to give to him that needeth And this is counsel of life unto you all O ye Protestant Priests in France I say cease from stealing other mens words and making merchandise of them to others but come to the light your selves that ye may hear and learn of Christ your selves and then if he pleaseth to send any of you forth to open the blind eyes and turn the people from darknesse to light and from Satans power to God then obey his voyce and go forth freely and preach as he hath given you freely so will ye profit the people though this manner of call will be contrary to your own wills and against mens wills ye come to preach to and till you come to witnesse this only holy and true call I say again and again as from the Lord God of life cease and be still and let the people alone until the Lord send labourers amongst them for the Vineyard is only his to send into it to labour who he only will appoint thereto and he which goeth and is not sent is but a thief and a robber which is the word of the Lord God unto all Priests of this Nation Therefore cease cease and repent that ye may find mercy for the blood of one man if it be laid to your charg will be too heavy for you to beare which assuredly ye must for many if ye refuse to hearken unto the counsell of God which he in the infinitenesse of his love tendereth unto you for know the end of the true Ministry is to bring people unto God and on him alone to wait for teaching which is his Covenant and promise to bring people to be sensible of the gift of the holy Spirit of God in themselves and the Apostle said every man hath a manifestation of the Spirit given to him to profit withall which being turned unto to profit is a sufficient teacher of it self such need not mans teaching any more and so people come to know their bodies to be the Temples of God through the Spirit which dwelleth in them and so they come to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit which are love meekness long-suffering patience and the true reconciliation by Christ Jesus between God and man the enmity being slaine upon the Crosse and of twaine one new man is witnessed and so peace comes to be witnessed with God and not before and untill the new creature be witnessed all availeth nothing but the true and everlasting Ministry of Christ Jesus bringeth the creature unto this and none else by which and in which the creature comes to bring forth naturally the fruits of the Spirit as he did the fruits of the flesh before which was nothing else but lust and uncleannesse and filthinesse of life So give up to be taught by him in this the day of his Almighty power Therefore let this be a warning unto all Priests Let God alone with his own work for he needeth no mans wisdome to help him for the best of your stuff you have is but compacted with your own natural wisdome which you must all loose before you can come to know God For man by wisdome knows not God neither can the natural man discerne the things of the Spirit for they are spiritually discerned therefore ye must all come to the teachings of the Spirit of God your selves before you can come to teach others These things are plaine and manifest unto every one who is not wilfully blind and drunk with prejudice therefore consider Paul had more to lose of this kind then most of you have yet he said he counted it gaine to lose it all to gaine Christ and let him be your example who reasoned not with flesh and blood but immediately obeyed the Heavenly voice I speak this unto you in love and some of you the Lord may