A FEW WORDS IN SEASON: OR, A WARNING from the LORD to Friends of Truth.  
THAT They take heed of Security, because of the Present Calm on the One hand, and of Fearing, because of the Fury of the Oppressor that may arise On the Other.  
WITH Some other words of Weight to Friends in this Hour, wherein the Lord is drawing nigh to Judgement, to save all the Meek of the Earth.  
AS They were wrote upon the Occasions aforesaid to a Friend in London, at the Move of the Lord, in which They are now Published.  
By Geo. Bishope.  
Behold! I have told ye before  
Take heed to yourselves, least at any time your hearts be Overcharged with surfeiting, and Drunkenness, and Cares of this Life; and so that day come upon you unawares.  
Except Thou Watch, behold! I come as a Thief in the Night.  
For as in the days that were before the Flood, they were Eating and Drinking, Marrying, and giving in Marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the Ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the Coming of the son of man be.  
For, When they shall say Peace, and Safety, then sudden Destruction cometh upon Them, as Travail upon a woman with Child, and they shall not escape.  
For the time is Come, That Judgement must begin at the House of God, and if it first begin at Us, What shall the End be of them that Obey not the Gospel of God? And if the Righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the , and Sinners Appear?  
LONDON, Printed for Rob. Wilson, at the Sign of the Black-spread-Eagle and Windmill in martin's le Grand, 1660   


A Few Words in Season, etc.  
Dear Friend,  
I Have thy Letter; and as for those who put the Day of the Lord a far off, Let them take heed lest it come upon them unawares, as a Thief in the Night. For, this I know, It is even Come, and the Things I have spoken will come to pass, and be fulfilled in their season; and Blessed is he that Watcheth, and keepeth his Garments, lest his nakedness be seen, and his shame Discovered: But this I see, that the End of the Lord in this present Calmness, wherein, by the Preservation of his People in the midst of their Enemies, when the Flood thought to have. Overwhelmed them, and they were betrayed for that purpose; and by his Turning again for a little time the Flood into the Deep, and saying, Hitherto shall Thy Proud Waves go, and no further; He hath made it Appear that his Kingdom is Come, and that he hath a People whom he can preserve, to the Astonishment of all; I say, the End of the Lord in all this, which is, That Friends may mind their being in him who sitteth on the Floods, before the next storm arise, which may be sudden, that so the Extremity of both, within, and without, come not upon Them at Once, is much unanswered by some, and the Enemy hath the Day to put the Day of the Lord afar off, and steal them aside to Eat, and to Drink, and to rise up to Play, that so it may be with them as in the Days of Noah; and know not till the Flood come, and sweep them away. This I feel, and for this I suffer; and the Nights of my pleasure are turned into heaviness for this, and I go bowed down all the day long, that so in their day Every One may know the Things that belong to their Peace. And this Perverting of the End of the Lord, may bring Another day before they are ware; For, let not any be mistaken, their hour is not yet past through, which will try them to the uttermost, within, and without; Nor the Day the like was never, nor shall be after it, wherein the things that are shall pass away, and the Earth be removed as a Cottage, and stagger as a Drunken man, and this must be passed through; and the Bitter Cup Drunk, and the Brook in the Way, and the Baptism, Ere the Seed Reign Over all, and time be no more, and the Kingdoms of the Earth become the Lords, and his Christ's, and God be known, and Glorified in the Earth; and Old Satan, the Deceiver be cast into the Pit; and Hallelujahs, Praise, and Glory, and Honour be sung by the Redeemed from the Earth to the Lamb for Ever. And in this Hour of Darkness, All deceiveableness of unrighteousness; all Artifices and Workings, Trials and Temptations imaginable will be, and more than can be thought of, to deceive, if it were possible the very Elect; Behold, I have told you before. And so my Dear Friend, and all that Dwell in the sense of God, and the feeling of his Presence; and of your Enemy, know assuredly the hour is Come, wherein You must be tried to the uttermost; yea, the Seed of God in ye to the uttermost; Yea, before the World too; for before the World will he Crown It in the sight of his Enemies, and so before the World It must be Tried to get himself a Name, and a Praise, such as Never hath been, nor shall be, the Lord hath spoken it. Blessed is he that Endures to the End, the same shall be saved. And so in Dearness of Love I salute Thee; and all that wait for Our Lord Jesus, and his Coming, to whom be Glory, and Honour, and Dominion for Ever:  
Bristol 23. 4th. Mouth, 1660. Geo. Bishope.   

Dear Friend,  
IT will be well if no Papers come forth but such as stand in the Authority of God, his Wisdom, and Council, that so no offence may be by reason of the Contrary, nor Oceasion of stumbling given; Nor Truth brought Under. For only it is the Eternal dominion which gives this Liberty, and stop's the Overflowings of the Flood: In his Council, and Wisdom, there is only Safety, and all other things are to be forborn: For, We bear the Name of the Lord, and his Truth, and he will be glorified in Us. According to, and in, and through him let Our Actings be, that he in all things may be glorified by Us. For it is not Every Thing that in Simplicity may be; Nor what may be felt in the living, but What the Lord moves unto, and his Wisdom directs to be Wrote, or said, that bears the Authority, and gives the Dominion: I Writ this because I am sensible of an Aptness in many to bring forth the Simplicity without the Wisdom of God, which betrays Truth, only the Lord hath regard to his Truth, and the condition of such friends oft times, and help's it Out.  
And if any thing be done, Wrote, or Printed in the Name of Friends, let them first see it, as is Right, and be satisfied, For there is a Great Body of Friends, and many see and Perceive, and the Seed is come; and the Season is not slight, and all things should bear the Authority of God which comes forth in his, or the Name of his People; On whom all Eyes are fixed, and in whose Very Authority is Our standing who makes all Subjects Unto It; and whose Kingdom is come which is an Everlasting Kingdom, and his Dominion that which shall never have end.  
And it is not that the Powers of Darkness have not, nor do Work; Or that the Flood did not come to Overflow all; Or that it lifted not Up its Voice; Or that It hath not been, nor is felt, and turned back into the Deep; and there kept that this Calm is, and hath been hitherto, but through Vnspeakble Sufferings is it come to pass that a Standard hath been, and is lifted up against it; Therefore, take heed of bringing Truth under, through fear of the Fury of the Oppressor; Or Stooping it to the Dread of Times; Or bowing It to Man, whose breath is in his Nostrils, but in the Dominion which is Eternal, the alone Sanctuary of Truth, stand over them all; And if any Warn, Let it be in the Authority of God, and if any Writ, Let it be in the very Wisdom that God giveth; For this Generation must be touched, and will fill up their Measure; and have their End, after the Lord hath accomplished his Work by them which is Very great, and drawn forth those who are Appointed to life; and the time hastens, In Tenderness to Truth, & regard to Its Majesty, which is Dea●er to me then All; and a Deep Sense that is Upon me, do I thus write.  
Bristol the 2d 5 Month, 1660. Geo. Bish●pe.