JESUS CHRIST, The same to day, as yesterday, in Life and Power, in Afflictions and Sufferings: And the Seed of the Serpent the same now, as ever, in Darkness and Enmity; in Rage and Persecution. BEING For Removal of the stumbling Block out of the way of the Simple, concerning the Testimony now given against the Priests, and their Worships, (viz.) Cannot you let them alone, why do ye disturb them, and their Assemblies? go unto their houses, or to some private place, and speak to them there; Cannot you give the same Liberty to others, which you would have yourselves? WHEREIN Is manifested, that what Estimation, and Enterrainment the Witness of Jesus receiveth at this day from the men of the World, is the same, as it hath always been from the Beginning. GIVEN FORTH For the sake of the honest-hearted, and in Witness of the Truth, as it is in Jesus, every where spoken against, scorned, and persecuted; under the Reproachful Name of Quaking. GEORGE BISHOP— But as then he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now, Gal. 4. 29. And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling Block out of the way of my People, Isa. 57 14. For ye Brethren became followers of the Churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus; for ye also have suffered like things of your own Countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own Prophets, and have persecuted us, and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost, 1 Thes. 2. 14. 15, 16. London, Printed for Giles Calvert, at the Black-spread Eagle at the West-end of Paul's, 1655. JESUS CHRIST, The same to day, as yesterday, in Life, and Power, in afflictions and sufferings; And the Seed of the Serpent the same now, as ever, in Darkness and Enmity, in Rage and Persecution. Whereas it is said concerning the Testimony now born against the Priests, Cannot you let them alone, and their Worships? why do ye disturb them, and their Assemblies? go unto their houses, or to some private place, and speak to them there: Cannot you give the same Liberty to others, which you have yourselves? We say: Our Own, and the Will, and Wisdom, and time of Man, which saith, We will go here, and there, and do, and forbear this, and that, we deny: Did that Spirit rule, it would say, Be it far from thee, Let these Priests, and their Assemblies alone; none of those Beat, Tumults, Reproaches, Imprisonments, taking from Families, and Relations, and from ways of maintenance, whip, drawings of thy blood, and hazards of thy life shall be unto thee. And we deny the making of disturbance on our Part, and the Principle from whence it proceedeth, unless the speaking of the Word of the Lord be a disturbance, as it was always accounted even the troubling of Israel; For our Backs are turned to the Smiters, and our Cheeks to the Nippers, and the Pullers off the Hair, and to him that striketh on one Cheek, the other is turned; neither do we resist Evil with Evil: For, the Principle of Light which we witness, in measure, leadeth us out of wars, strife, envy, debates, or doing Evil to any, or rendering Evil for Evil; but being cursed, to bless; being persecuted, to pray, that their sins may be forgiven; and is desisirous that none should perish, but that all might come to the knowledge of the Truth; and Vengeance we leave to the Lord, whose it is, and who will repay it. Nor do we deny the same liberty to others, which we ought to have; For whatsoever we would that men should do unto us, the same we do unto them, according to the Royal Law; and for this purpose do we meet together, and wait upon the Lord our Teacher, to receive his Word and Testimony, whether for Instruction, or Reproof; and, in our measures, we know his Voice from a Strangers, and can try the spirits: and even those who oppose themselves have, and may come into our Assemblies freely, and speak, whom we judge in the spirit of Christ Jesus, who is the Spiritual man that judgeth all things, and yet he himself is judged of no man, whose Weapons we make use of, which are spiritual; not in the flesh, or the spirit of this World, or with the weapons thereof, such as are Beat, Striking, Tumults, Imprisonments, shedding of blood, calling to, and before Magistrates, and such like; Though out of our Meetings, have some of our Friends have drawn and imprisoned, and others have been disturbed and abused. And this we further Declare, That what is fallen upon this Generation, and is set before their Eyes, and testified against them, is no new thing, but what hath been witnessed throughout all Generations, and of which the Scriptures bear Record: For, since Adam fell into the Transgression, to this very day, God hath not left himself without a Witness; but in all times, by Him who is the Rock of Ages, hath he testified against the sinful and Adulterous Generation, and the worships and ways thereof; Against the Sacrifice of Cain, by Abel; Against the Old World, by Enoch and Noah; Against Sodom, by Lot; Against the People of that time, by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Against Egypt, by Moses; Against all the Nations, by the Nation of the Jews, who had the Law and the Testimony; Against the Idolatrous Worships and wickedness of the Kings, Princes, Priests, Prophets, and People of the Jews, by his servants the Prophets, whom he caused to rise up early, and sending them, who testified even to their faces in the time of their Idolatrous Worships and Sacrifices: When the Word was made flesh, he cleansed the Temple, scourged out thereof the sheep and the Oxen, poured out the Changers money, overthrew the Tables, said unto those who sold Doves, Take ye these things hence, make not my Father's house a place of Merchandise; And in the Temple he disputed and reasoned with the Doctors, and testified against the Traditions and Customs of the Scribes and Pharises, the painted Sepulchers, the Graves that appeared not; Against them that held up the Figure, when Christ the substance thereof was come, by the Disciples and Apostles, who having received Power from on high, witnessed Jesus who was dead, and risen again, and ascended to be the Lord of Glory, and that there was Salvation in no other; and against the Temple, and the services thereof, did they testify, even in the Temple, and the Synagogues, in the time of their Worships, and also against the Idol-Gods, and Vanities of the Heathens; And since the Apostles times, to this day, throughout all the Apostasy hath he witnessed by some, or other, to this or that Branch of Righteousness, against the seduced World, and Antichrists. Now as the Spirit of God, in all Ages, carried forth his servants to testify for him who is the Rock of Ages, against the world, and ways, and worships, and Customs thereof: And as the Prophets spoke the Word of the Lord against the Altars, and their Priests, and Prophets, in the presence of the Kings, and Princes, and People, in the time of their Sacrifices; And as the unchangeable Priest in the Apostles, and Disciples, witnessed against the Changeable Priesthood, the whole body of the Jewish Services, and Worships, in the Temple, and the Synagogues, in the times thereof; And as during the Apostasy, the like Witness hath been born by some, or other, to this day: So now, the true Ministry and Teacher being come to be witnessed, and the worship which is in Spirit and Life, and the Witness of God raised from the Dead in Thousands, after these many Hundred years of Apostasy; It carries forth in the Power, and at the Command of the Lord many of his Sons and Daughters in whom it is born up, to bear Witness against the false Ministry, Priests, and Worships, even in the times thereof, and to the faces of the Priests, and in the presence of the Rulers: And woe be unto them, if (upon any consultings with flesh and blood,) they therein disobey the Commandment of the Lord. For the a Amos 3. 8. Lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? God hath given the b Psal. 68 11. word, and great are the Company of them that publish it: He that can receive it, let him receive it. Should not c Exod. 5. 4. Moses have gone in to Pharaoh, when the Lord commanded him; and say, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my People go that they may hold a Feast to me in the Wilderness? Should not the d 1 King. 13. 12, etc. Man of God that came from Judah to prophesy against the Altar of Bethel, have cried out against the Altar in the Word of the Lord, and have said, O Altar, Altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, a Child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon thee shall he offer the Priests of the High Places that burn Incense upon thee, and men's bones shall he burn upon thee; because King Jeroboam stood by it to offer Incense, and because it was in the time of the Sacrifices, which were offered by his Command, and the Princes, and People, and Priests thereof were present: Should he have gone privately to the Court with Cap and Knee? and have spoken gently to the Priests, and by a many of May it please your Majesty, and other flattering Titles, have whispered the King in the Ear, or the Priests; or applied to some Courtiers, so to do; instead of coming so boldly to disturb their Worships, to affront the King, and his Princes, to their faces, and to weaken the hands of the people, in telling them they should be brought under the Power of the King of Judah their Enemy, by his Sword, who should offer men's bones, and the bones of the Priests, upon the Altar, as such a thing would be now accounted? Should he have gone to Jeroboams house to have refreshed himself, and to have a reward, at the desire of the King, after he had prayed, and the Lord had restored to him his Arm which was withered, when he had stretched it forth against the Prophet, and said, Lay hold on him: was he not neither to eat bread, nor drink ter in the place, nor to return by the way he came? Should not the Prophet e 1 King. 18. 1, etc. Elijah have gone at the Word of the Lord, and have shown himself to Ahab, who had cut off the Prophets of the Lord, so that he only remained; and by reason of the great dealt, for want of Rain, had sent to all Nations to seek him; and where he was not found, took an Oath of that Kingdom and Nation, that they found him not? And when Ahab said to him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? Should he not have answered the King; I have not troubled Israel, but thou, and thy Father's house, for that ye have forsaken the Commandments of the Lord, and thou hast served Baalim. Now, therefore, send and gather unto me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the Prophets of Baal 450, and the Prophets of the Grove 400, which eat at Jezabels' Table; And being there gathered together, should he not then have said to them all; How long halt ye between two Opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; and if Baal then follow him, put on the Bullock on the Altar, and let the God which answereth by Fire, be God. Should not the Prophets of the Lord, during the times of the Kings of Israel, and Judah, have spoken the Word of the Lord to them, and to the false Prophets, and Priests, and People, against their Idolatries, and wickednesses, though it was to the cutting of them off, both Kings, Princes, Priests, Prophets, and People, whether they would hear, or whether they would forbear: Him that dyeth * 1 King. 21. 24. of Ahab in the City the Dogs shall eat; or he that dyeth in the Field the Fowls of the Air shall eat, etc. Should not g Jer. 36. 28. Jeremiah have wrote another Roll like to the former, which Jehudi in the presence of the Princes and King had cut with a Penknife, and thrown in the fire? Should he have been h Jer. 1. 17, 18. afraid of their faces? had he not then been confounded before them? was he not made a defenced City, an Iron Pillar, and Brazen Walls against the Kings, Princes, Priests, and People? Should not i Amos 7. 10. to the end. Amos (the Gatherer of Sycamore Fruit) have prophesied again at Bethel, because Amaziah the Priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam, King of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee, in the midst of the house of Israel, the Land is not able to bear all his words; for Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away Captive out of their own Land; and said, O thou Seer, flee thee away into the Land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophecy there; but prophesy not at Bethel: for it is the King's Chapel, it is the King's Court. Should not k Mat. 3. 7. John have said to the Pharisees, and Saducers, Ye Generation of Vipers who hath forewarned you to fly from the wrath to come? Should not l John 2. 14 15. Christ Jesus in the days of his flesh have cleansed the Temple, and have testified against the worship that was not m John 4. 23. 24. in spirit, against the Doctors, Lawyers, Scribes, and Pharisees, who were the highest Professors, and outwardly most religiously strict of any in their time? Should not the Apostles and Disciples have gone into the n Act. 3. 1. to the end, 5. 19 20, 21. Temple and into the Synagognes', every Sabbath day as their p 10. 17. 14. 18. 4. 19 26. 19 8. Acts. 5. 29, 30, 31. Act. 5. 19, 20. 21. manner was, and there have testified against the Outward observation of the Law of Moses, through the Resurrection oh Act. 9 20. 13. 5. 14, 15. 14. 1. 17. 12. of Jesus Christ from the dead, whom they had with wicked hands slew and hung upon a Tree; and whom the Lord bade highly exalted, and made Lord and King: and were not the Prison doors opened by the Angel, and they bade him to go and speak in the Temple all the words of this life? Should not Stephen, even before the Council, have q Act. 6. 12. 13. 14. 7. 48, 49. 50. said to the high Priest, and Pharisees, and People, and testified, The most High dwelleth not in Temples made with hands; Ye stiffnecked, and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your Fathers did, so do ye: which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted, & they have slain them that shown before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been the Betrayers, & Murderers, though they had a law that whosoever made himself the Son of God, he should die? Should not Paul have gone into the r Acts. 19 16. 17. 16. to the end, 17. 17. Schools, and on Mars-Hill, and in the Market place, and have disputed against the Idol Gods? Should not the Martyrs have testified against the Priests, and Idolatrous Mass in the times thereof, though they knew therefore they should be murdered with Torments? Should not the Superstitious and Formal worships in this and their later generations have been witnessed against, though guarded by laws, and fortified with the powers of these Nations? Was not the Dread of the Lord upon his witnesses aforementioned, and necessity laid upon them so to do? Consulted they with any other Oracle? Had not woe been to them, should they have been disobedient? Are these things new, are these things strange? Again, were not the witnesses of God in their Generations accounted of as scornfully and basely as they are at this day, and the Word of the Lord, which they spoke contemned and slighted as it is now? received they any other, or better entertainment of the Generations, to whom they spoke, and against whom they testified, from the beginning? Mind and consider. He that lived in the days of s Gen. 4. 5, 6, 7, 8. Abel might have seen Cain hating his Brother Abel, because his Sacrifice was accepted: And though God witnessed it to Cain, and testified of Abel's Gifts, and reasoned with him: If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted. if thou dost evil sin lies at the door; Yet, he lifted up his hand and slew him. He that lived in the days of t Gen. 6. 7. chap. 2 Pet. 2. 5. 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. Noah might have seen how that world slighted his preaching, and how ridiculous was his prophesying of a Flood accounted, and the making of an Ark to swim upon the dry Land? Those who lived in the days of Lot might have heard the men of Sodom say, This u Gen. 19 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Fellow came in to Sojourn, and he will needs be a Judge, when he said to them; Nay, my Brethren do not so wickedly, upon their calling on him to bring out the strangers that they might know them, & how he seemed to his Sons in Law, as one that w Gen. 19 14. mocked, when he told them, The Lord would destroy that City. x Exod. 5. 2. Pharaoh said unto Moses, who is the Lord that I should obey his Voice, to let Israel go, I know not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go; Ye are Idle, ye are Idle, wherefore do ye Moses and Aaron let the People from their works? get you unto your burdens. Did not y 1 King. 13. 4, 5, 6. Jeroboam stretch forth his hand, and say, Lay hold on him, by the Man of God that prophesied against the Altar, and though his Arm was restored, and the sign came presently to pass which he gave: to wit, the Altar rend and the ashes poured out, as the Man of God said? and at his prayer, did he, or Israel believe the Word or the Lord, spoken by him, to turn from their evil ways, that the Judgements threatened might not befall them? Did z 1 King. 18. Ahab forsake Baal, or the people his worship, though he a 24. could not answer by fire, and though they b 29. said, it was well said, That the God that answered by fire should be God; And c 40. slew all the Prophets of Baal, because the Lord whom Elijah prayed to, answered by fire, and though afterwards at his prayer, they that day had d 45. abundance of Rain, which for e Jam. 5. 17. 18. three years and six months before was shut up; Was not Elijah the very next f 1 King. 19 2 3. day constrained to fly for his life? g 1 King. 21. 25. was there any like Ahab who sold himself to commit Iniquity, though the Hand of the Lord appeared more in his days, than any of his Successors against Syria, and in mighty wonders, through his word by his Prophets? Said not h 1 King. 22. Ahab of Micajah, This man prophesies no good of me but evil. Thus saith the King take Micajah, and carry him back to Hamon the Governor of the City, and to Joash the King's Son, and say, thus i 26, 27. saith the King, put this Fellow into the Prison, and feed him with Bread of Affliction, and with water of Affliction until I come in Peace; And, k 24. which way came the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to thee, said Zedekiah the False Prophet, the same time, when he smote Micajah on the face. What made this l 2 King. 9 11. mad fellow with thee, said the Captains of the Host, to Jehu, by the Prophet, when he came and anointed him from the Lord to be King of Israel? Fared it any better with the rest of the Prophets, whom the Lord m 2 Chro. 36. 15. 16. Jer. 7. 25.— 25. 24.— 35. 15.— 26. 5.— 29. 19— 32. 33.— 44. 4. rising Early sent unto them; saying, O do not the n Jer. 44. 4. Abominable thing that I hate, was the Burden of the Word of the Lord, any otherwise esteemed? said they not unto the o Amos. 2. 11, Prophets prophecy not, and gave they not wine to the Nazarites to Drink? Answered not all the p Jer. 43. 2. Proud men, thou speakest falsely, as for the Word of the q Jer. 44. 16, 17, 18, 19 Lord that thou hast spoken, in the Name of the Lord, we will not hearken thereunto, but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth? Who hath believed our r Isa. 53. 1. Report, and to whom hath the Arm of the Lord been revealed s Isa. 65. 2. Rom. 10. 21. ? But to Israel he saith all the day long have I stretched forth my hands to a gainsaying, and a Rebellious People; Then I said I have u Isa. 49. 4. Laboured in Vain, I have spent my strength for nought, I heard the w Jer. 20. 10. defame of many, fear on every side, Report, say they, and we will report it; all my Familiars watched for my haltings saying, peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall, prevail against him, and we shall take our Revenge on him. How were they x mocked by every one, and despised, and the Jer. 6. 10: 20. 7. 8. Word of the Lord made a reproach unto them, y Isa. 8. 18. and a derision daily and for signs and wonders? Then I said I will not z Jer. 20. 9 make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, but his Word was in my heart, as burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. How was a Isa. 20. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Isaiah brought forth walking three years naked, and barefoot? And b Jer: 13. 4, 5, 9, 7. Jeremiah hiding a Girdle in the bank of Euprates till it it was marred; And carrying c Jer. 25. 51. to the 30. a Cup to all the Nations to drink, that they might drink and be drunken, and be moved, and be mad, and spew, and fall, and rise no more? And d Ezek. 4. 1, 2, 3. Ezekiel pourtraying Jerusalem on a Tilestone, laying siege against it, casting up Mounts and raising battering Rams, and setting an Iron Pan between him and the City: e Ezek. 12. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Digging through a wall in the middle of the day, and bringing out thereof his stuff in the sight of his People; f Ezek. 5. 1, 2, 3, 4. Cutting off his hair from his head, and beard, and weighing it in a Balance openly, and casting one third thereof into the Air, and another third burning with fire; And cutting another third in pieces with his Knife g Ezek. 4, 5. Lying 390. days on his left side, and h Ezek. 4. 6. 40. days on his i 9 10, 11, 12, 15. Right side, and during the times aforesaid, eating his Bread mingled with Beasts dung by weight, and drinking his water by measure? How ridiculous were these things in the Eyes of those Generations, and how were they accounted as the Actions of k Jer. 29. 24, 25, 26. Madmen: How did they cast them into Prisons, and Dungeons, and the Stocks, as Madmen, and how were some of them put to death? And l 2 Chron. 36. 15, 16, 17, 18. the Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his Messengers, rising up betimes, and sending them, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place; but they mocked the Messengers of God, and despised his Words, and misused his Prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, and there was no remedy. Was not John the m Mat. 11. 11 greatest of Prophets, who came in the n Luke 1. 17. Matth. 11. 14. Spirit and Power of Elias, turning the hearts of the Fathers unto the Children, o Mat. 3. 2, 3. crying in the Wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight: The Messenger that went before his face, preaching, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; the p Mat. 3. 10. Axe is laid to the Root of the Tree. Every Tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire; called r Luke 7. 33. a Devil, though he came neither eating, and drinking but in a Garment of Camel's Hair, tied about with a Leathern Girdle: was he not cast into prison, and s Mat. 14. 3, 10. beheaded? When the Son of God, of whom all the t Luke 1. 70. 24. 27. Act. 3. 18, 21. Prophets spoke, came himself: was he otherwise accounted of? was he otherwise entreated by those who cried out against their Fathers, for persecuting and killing the Prophets, whose Tombs they built, and whose Sepulchers they garnished: was he u John 1. 26. 9 29. 1 Cor. 2. 6, 8. Act. 13. 27. known by his flesh to that Generation? w Phil. 2. 7. made he not himself of no Reputation? was not his (x) Visage more marred than any man's, of no z Isa. 53. 2, 3. Comeliness and Beauty, whereby he should y Isa. 52. 14. be desired? Was he not a a Isa. 53. 3. man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs, esteemed as b Isa. 53. 4. stricken, and smitten of God, and afflicted, despised, and rejected of men; and were not their faces as it were hid from him? Was he not c Isa. 53. 7. afflicted and oppressed, d John 8. 49. 10. 39 Luke 4. 28, 29, 30. tumulted and stoned, blindfolded e Luke 22. 64. and buffeted, smote on the Cheek, and f Mat. 27. 30. spit upon, g Mat. 27. 29. crowned with Thorns, h Mark 15. 15 and scourged, i Luke 23. 35. derided, k Mark 15. 29 railed on, and l Mat. 27. 39 and reviled, and m Luke 18. 32. spitefully entreated and mocked, on the Cross, n Mat. 27. 41. by the chief Priests, and a Murderer o Luke 23. 11 desired before him, p Luke 23. 18, 19, 24, 25. and in his q Act. 8. 33. Humiliation, was not his Judgement taken away, r Esa. 53. 12. numbered amongst Transgressor's, and put to death, and his s Esa. 53. 9 Grave made with the Wicked? Was he not called a t Mat. 11. 19 man Gluttonous, and a Wine-bibber, a Friend of Publicans and Sinners, u Joh. 5. 18. Luke 6. 4. to the 12. a Breaker of the Sabbath, and of the Law of Moses, and of the w Mat. 15. 2. 3 Traditions of the Elders, (w) a Madman, one y Mark 3. 21. besides himself, a z Joh. 8. 48. Samaritan, a a Mark 3. 23. Devil; yea the b Mat. 9 34. Prince of Devils; yea, and a c Mat. 26. 65, 66. Blasphemer, and put to Death as such a One, though he d Joh. 7. 40. spoke, as never man spoke, with e Mat. 7. 29. Authority, and not as the Scribes, though none f John 8. 46. could convince him of sin, g Isa. 53. 9 neither was any deceit found in his mouth; And though mighty h Act. 2. 22. Signs and Wonders were done by him? For a i John. 10. 33. good work we stone thee not, but for Blasphemy, that thou being a man makest thyself the Son of God. We have k Luke 23. 2. found this Fellow perverting the Nation, and forbidding Tribute to be given to Caesar, saying, that himself is Christ, a King. We have a l Joh. 19 7. Law, that whosoever saith he is the Son of God shall die. Ye have heard his m Matth. 26 64, 65 66. Mark 15. 61, 62, 63, 64. Blasphemy, what think ye? And they all cried out, He is worthy of death. When he said he was the Son of God, upon the High Priests adjuring him to tell him, Whether he was Christ the Son of the Blessed? And he said, I am; and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the Clouds of Heaven. And was not the Portion of the Apostles and Disciples, who witnessed him, even Jesus risen from the Dead, the same? were they not n Act. 22. 19 beaten and o Act. 21. 30. haled out of the Synagogues, p Act. 8. 3. and out of every house, both men and women, q Act. 16. 20, 22, 35, 36, 38. brought before Magistrates, commanded to departed the r Mat. 8. 24. Act. 16. 39 Country, cast into s Act. 5. 18. the common prisons, and into the t Act. 16. 24. Stocks, u Act. 17. 32. mocked and scorned, w Act. 22. 25. 5. 40. 16. 22, 23, 37. scourged and (x) stoned, and q Act. 14. 5. despitefully used: were not r Act. 14. 5. 17. 5, 6, 7. Tumults made upon them, and Uproars, and p Act. 7. 58, 59 5. 19 houses assaulted to bring them out to the People? were they not s Rom. 8. 36. killed all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter, and slain with the sword? Were they not set forth as t 1 Cor. 4. 9 13. spectacles to Men and Angels? accounted as the off-scowring of all things, and the filth of the World, u 1 Cor. 6. 8. Mar. 27. 63. as Deceivers, w Act. 24. 5. Movers of Sedition, x Act. 24. 5. 16. 20, 21. turbulent and pestilent fellows, Madmen, a Act. 17. 6. turners of the World up-side down, b Act. 16. 20. Disturbers of the Peace, c Act. 16. 11, 13. Blasphemers of the Law, and of Moses, and of the Holy Place: This Fellow d Act. 18. 13. persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the Law; e Act. 17. 7. Enemies to Caesar, f Act. 21. 28, 29, 30. Polluters of the Holy Place, g Act. 26. 6. Profaners of the Temple, h Act. 6. 14. Changers of the Laws and Customs, i Act. 21. 28. unlearned men, k Act. 28. 22. a Sect every where spoken against, their l Act. 17. 18. Doctrine babbling, m Act. 2. 13, 15. to the 22. the Powrings forth of the Spirit as Joel had prophesied, a filling with new Wine, Drunkenness, n Mat. 24. 9 a People hated of all men, as was Christ Jesus, the Captain of their Salvation, who was their Ensample in sufferings; who of these things foretell them, and that those that u killed them, should think they did God good service, and as were the witnesses which went before them, who were p Heb. 11. 35. tortured, not accepting deliverance; who had Trials of Cruel Mockings, and Scourge, of Bonds and Imprisonments, who were stoned, and sawn asunder, and tempted and slain with the o Joh. 16. 2. sword, and who wandered about in Sheepskins, and Goatskins, in Deserts, and on Mountains, in Dens and Caves of the earth, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy: wherefore God prepared for them a City, and is not ashamed to be called their Father. And since their times have not the witnesses of God throughout the Apostasy to this day tasted, endured, and gone through the same sufferings, and their testimony after the same manner accounted of and despised, in which to be particular, would fill a volume; and of which this very Generation doth not want many pregnant and living Testimonies? And these things received not Abel from his Brother Cain? Lot from the men of Sodom, whom whilst he was amongst, were preserved for his sake; and from his sons in Laws, whom he sought to preserve? And Isaac from the son of Hagar the Egyptian: And the Prophets of the Lord, from the Kings, Princes, false Prophets, Priests, and people of Israel and Judah: And the Messiah, the son of God, from the Nation of the Jews, the High-Priests, Lawyers, Scribes and Pharisees, amongst whom he came, according to all the Prophecies: And the Apostles and Disciples from their own Countrymen, and from those who were called the devout, and honourable, and were most strict in the profession of the Law of Moses, which was once commanded of God. And the substance from those who held the shadow: the Jew inwardly, from the Jew outwardly: the life from those who stood for the letter: the heavenly things from those who were for the Pattern: the Circumcision without hands, from the Circumcision made with hands: the Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck from the Priests after the order of Aaron, the Prophet whom Moses said the Lord their God should raise up like unto him, whom whosoever did not hear, should be cut off from his people, from those who professed the Law of Moses. The seed when it came, until which came, the Law was added because of Transgression, by those who were in the observation of the Law. And the Martyrs and witnesses of Jesus to this day, from the Chief in the profession of Religion. And of the same Cup do we drink, and the same Measure do we receive, who come to witness the same life made manifest in us, from this adulterous Generation; yea, even from those who in profession exceed any who have been in the world, as they do in persecution, according to their power, who condemning those in words, who persecuted and killed the Prophets, and Jesus, and the Apostles, and the Martyrs, etc. do themselves persecute us now, who not long since were persecuted with them; and being under the same condemnation, were sought to be cut off, and (having lost the savour they once had) become one with those in our persecution, who formerly so persecuted them & us, (a crime of which former Ages have not been guilty) for that we witness (in our measures) the life of much of what themselves profess, as the Apostles did the substance of the Law of Moses; in the observation of which, their persecuters were so blindly zealous, & also; the day come, which they have been so long expecting, and earnestly desiring, though the Scriptures bear Record to us of all these things to this Generation, which the Generations in the Prophet's days had not, nor those in the Apostles for much of what they were led into by the spirit; and though this Generation pretend to the Scriptures as their Rule and Judge, and trial of spirits, and to the Apostles and Prophets, but are not so much as in the letter of things to which they pretend; they who were despised, despise, and those who were persecuted persecute, though when it was their own case, they cried out against persecution. Thus is Jesus Christ the seed of God, the same to day as yesterday in life & power, in afflictions & sufferings; & the Children whom God hath given him out of the world for signs and wonders in the sight of every generation of their enemies. And thus is the seed of the Serpent the same now as ever in darkness and enmity, in opposition & persecution; and every Generation of them more blind and envious, than their Fathers, who now are come to persecute us for the same things practised, which themselves professin the letter. And thus is the eternal spirit from which the Prophets spoke and the Apostles, and by which Jesus Christ offered up himself, a Mystery which from the beginning hath been hid in God, whom those who believed not in the light never knew, nor can know: from that eye it hath been, is, and ever shall be shut up, even from the wise and prudent, who by wisdom know not God, who hath created all things by Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world, who enlightens every one that cometh into the world. He q 1 Pet. 3. 9 preached in the days of Noah, to the spirits in prison, but that old world neither repent nor believed: He was with the r Acts 7. 38, 39 Church of the Jews in the Wilderness, and with the Angel, who spoke to Moses in Mount Sinai, and with the Fathers who received the lively Oracles, but they would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts returned to Egypt: He spoke and testified in the Prophets; but they would not hear; they who handled the Law knew him not; and s Jer. 2. 8. the great things of his Law, which he sent to Ephraim, were t Hos. 8. 12. were accounted as a strange thing: He came in flesh, yet he was not v 1 Cor. 2. 8. known to the Princes of this world, nor his voice, nor w Acts 13. 27. the voices of the Prophets, which spoke of him, though they were read every Sabbath-day. He came in spirit and power in the Apostles and Disciples, and there he is x Acts 13. 45. contradicted and blasphemed, and y Acts 3. 13. 14 denied above the measure of former Generations, as the z Acts 13. 45. measure of the spirit in them exceeded: and they judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. In his Prophet's times who a Isa. 10. 11, 12. were all ignorant, who were all dumb Dogs that could not bark, who were blind, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber, who were greedy Dogs, who can never have enough, who were Shepherds that could not understand, who all looked to their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter, who said, come ye, I will fetch wine, we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and to morrow shall be as to day, and much more abundant, but the Watchmen of Israel? Who b Ezek. 22. 25 conspired against the Lord, and were in the midst of Judah, as a roaring Lion, ravening the prey, devouring souls, taking the Treasure and precious things making many Widows, and speakers of lies in the name of the Lord? to whom was the c Isay 29. 9 10, 11, 12. Vision of all become as a Book sealed? on whom did the Lord pour out the spirit of deep slumber, closed their eyes, and covered? who were drunken, but not with wine, who did stagger, but not with strong drink, to whom was night, and no vision, and darkness that they could not divine? upon whom went the Sun down, and the day became dark? who caused the people to err, and by't with their teeth, and cried peace, and he that put not into their d Mic. 3. 5. 6. mouths, they prepare War against him, who taught for hire, and divined for money, and yet leaned upon the Lord, and said, Is not the Lord amongst us? none evil can come upon us, for whose sake Zion was ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem became heaps, and the Mountains of the house as the high places of the Forests; who were confounded, and had their loins covered, for that there was no answer from God, but the Priests, the Prophets, the Seers, & the Diviners, Whose e Zach. 11. 17 right eye was to be utterly darkened, and whose Arm clean dried up? but the Idol Shepheard, Whose soul abhorred God, and his soul loathed them, who in Companies in the way murdered by consent, as the Troops of Robbers wait for a man, f Hos. 6. 9 who violated the Law, and profaned the holy things, and hid their eyes from the Sabbaths, and put no difference between the clean and the unclean, whose blessings Mal. 2. 2. were cursed, but the Priests? In the days of his flesh, who kept away the g Luk. 11. 52. key of knowledge and neither entered into the Kingdom, nor suffered others, but the chief Priests, Pharisees, Lawyers, Scribes and Doctors, who read him daily to the people? who above all men were outwardly most holy, whom he notwithstanding calls h Mat. 23. 16. 17. 19 26. 15. 14. blind Guides, leading the b inde, and both falling into the ditch, though they said to the i joh. 7. 47. 48, 49. Officers, Are you also deceived, have any of the Rulers, or the Pharisees believed on him, but these people who know not the Law, are accursed? how high were all their expectations of the Messiah, the Prince of his people, and of the powrings forth of his spirit in the Prophecies; but when he came, and the Prophecies in him fulfilled, and the spirit poured forth, how basely esteemed, despised, rejected, unbelieved, and persecuted? and the same was also in the days of the Apostles. Where the life hath been most manifested, there that hath been most in mystery, to those who believed not in the light; behold he cometh in Clouds, and the flesh in which it hath so appeared, with the least comeliness and beauty, whereby it should be desired, and most persecuted: Who believed in Jesus by seeing him in the flesh, to be the son of God? And above all men, as to this world, the Apostles were accounted most miserable? For. k 1 Cor. 1. 27, 28, 29. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things to confound the things that are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised hath God chosen: yea the things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh might glory in his presence, and l 2 Thes. 2. 10. that the truth might not be received, but for the love of it. When m Luk. 19 41. 42, 43, 44. Jesus came near, he beheld the City, and wept over it, Saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes; for the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a Trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee, even with the ground, and thy Children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the hour of thy visitation. Friends, It concerns your precious souls eternally, to know this hour of your visitation, lest you continuing to fall upon the Cornerstone the Rock of Ages, and thus to persecute it, and evilly to requite the dear love of God to you, in raising up his witness against you, warning you of all deceit, and directing you where Redemption is to be found, and eternal life, it fall upon you, and grind you to powder. For, verily the Kingdom of God is come amongst you, the Son is come to the Vineyard, to look for fruit, and upon such days of the Son of man are you fallen, that you are not ware of, whom if you shall still consult against, cast out, and murder, and call the spirit of judgement and of burning, of the Devil, whereby the filth of the Daughter of Zion is purged away, and which makes the earth to shake, and the Pillars of the house to tremble, and the strong man to bow, and the mighty man to cry bitterly, he will n Luk. 20. 13. 14, 15, 16. Mat. 21. 41. miserably destroy you, and let out the Vineyard unto others, and sad will be your portion; for all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and blasphemies, wherewith soever they shall blaspheme; but he that o Mark 3. 28. 29, 30. shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: This said Christ, because they said, He had an unclean spirit. Sink down therefore, to that of God in every one of your Consciences, the light of jesus Christ, wherewith he lightens every one that cometh into the world, the faithful and true witness, to which we speak; And let us reason a little together, what is that about which you so much contend, and for which you have drawn, and are drawing, and ready to draw, the blood of those, who longing for the Redemption of the seed in every one of you, which lies, and is sought to be held in Captivity by the Priests, and their worships, and knowing whom you resist, and the terrors of the Lord are made to testify against the ways you walk in, as leading to hell, and as tending to the Chambers of death; and to show you, would you hear, the way that leads to eternal life, whose Bowels, even when under sufferings by you, for so witnessing, and against the spirit that rules in you, earn after you, and the salvation of your souls, which are precious, God is their witness? Are they Churches of Christ? search and see in the Scriptures, which you say is your Rule, there all might p 1 Cor. 13. 31 prophesy, one by one, and when any thing was q 30. revealed to another that sat by, the first held his peace, and the r 29. Prophets, two or three might speak, and the rest judge there was the s 1 Cor. 2. 15. spiritual man, who judgeth all things, and yet he himself is judged of no man. Therein t 2 Tim. 2. 25. meekness were instructed, those that opposed themselves. There, u 1 Cor. 15. 24. 25. the unbeliever and unlearned by found Doctrine was convinced of all, and judged of all; and secrets of his heart made manifest, so that falling down on his face, he worshipped God, and reported, God is in you of a truth. There were no strikings, nor quarrelings, nor Tumults, nor drawings of blood, nor calling to, or haling before Magistrates, or carrying to prisons, whip, stockings, throwing into Dungeons, and keeping close prisoners from friends, and maintenance, for speaking or opposing; nor sending such to their homes from Tithing to Tithing, who came to visit them, never were they found persecuting, but were always after this manner entreated, and persecuted: who ever persecuted was out of the Doctrine of Christ. The w 1 Thes. 1. 1. Church is in God, the x 1 Tim. 1. 15. Pillar and Ground of Truth, y 1 Pet. 2. 4, 5. living stones, built a spiritual house upon the living Stone. Are yours such, are these things found amongst you? Be cool, and consider, for these things are plain, he that runs may read them: be not always deceived; by their fruits, you may know them to be the a Rev, 2. 9 3. 9 Synagogues of Satan, the b Rev. 18. 2. Cages of every unclean and hateful Bird, the Haitation of Devils, and the hold of every foul spirit: plain dealing you will find at length to be best. Are the Members of Harlots, Drunkards, Enviers, Swearers, Liars, Hypocrites, Cheaters, Strikers, etc. the Members of Christ? are such the Pillar and Ground of Truth? are those who are dead in Trespasses and sins, living stones built upon the living foundation? Is striking, tumulting, and such like, in meekness instructing those who oppose or convincing the unbeliever, and unlearned, and manifesting the secrets of his heart? what Churches are they, when such things as these are found? where neither the Testimony of the Lord will be endured, nor an unbeliever, and unlearned so accounted, either convinced, or permitted to stay there so to be? Are your Priests, Ministers of Jesus Christ? search and see: they were c Tit. 1. 7. blameless, as the Stewards of God, not selfwilled, nor soon angry, nor given to wine, nor to filthy lucre, no strikers, nor † 1 Tim. 3. 3. strivers, nor brawlers, nor envious, nor railers, nor covetous, d Isa. 56. 11. nor seeking their gain from their Quarters, e Mic. 3. 5. 6, 7. 1 Tim. 12. 24. nor Biters with their teeth, nor preparers of war, where it is not put into their mouths, nor receivers of Tithes, Oblations, Obventions, etc. or suers for triple damages, or casters into prison, of those who refuse, for whom they neither plant nor plough, nor sow; nor makers of f 2 Pet. 2. 3. Merchandise of the people, through covetousness with feigned words, or having g 2 Pet. 2. 14. hearts exercised with covetous practices: they were not called of men, h Mat. 23, 10. Masters, nor i Luke 11. 43 Mat. 23. 6. 7, 8 stood praying in the Synagogues, or for a pretence made long Prayers, nor loved the uppermost seats in the Assemblies, and at Feasts, nor greeting in the Market place, k Mich. 3. 11 nor preached for hire, nor divined for money, nor had or sought for approbation of men, or a State-maintenance, or a state consistory; nor spoke l Jer: 14: 4: 9 14: a lying Divination, and imagination of their own heart for the word of the Lord; nor came with m 1 Cor. 2. 4. the enticing words of man's wisdom, nor by n Gal. 1. 1. 11. or in the will, and time of man, nor o Jer. 13. 21. ran when they were not sent, nor made the p 2 Cor. 11. 9 12. 13, 14. Gospel burdensome, nor had they any q 1 Cor. 4. 11. certain dwelling place, nor did they persecute, nor called they to Magistrates, nor haled to prison, those who spoke to them in the name of the Lord, or opposed: nor had † Jud. 16. men's persons, in admiration for advantage; nor were * James 2. 1. to 13. respecters of persons. But r Tit. 1. 8. were lovers of Hospitality, lovers of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding forth the faithful word, by sound Doctrine, exhorting and convincing gainsayers, s 1 Tim. 2. 24. gentle to all men, apt to teach, patiented, in meekness instructing them that oppose, t 2 Cor. 4. 2. commending what they said unto every man's Conscience in the sight of God, even to those that opposed themselves, u Gal. 1. 1. 12. receiving the Gospel not by man, nor the will of man, nor were they reached it, but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ in them. In all w 2 Cor. 6. 4. to the 11th. things approving of themselves, as the Ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in Tumults, in Labours, in watch, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy-Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the Armour of righteousness on the right hand, and on the left; by honour and dishonour, by evil report, and good report: as deceivers, and yet true, as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and yet behold they lived; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things: troubled on every side, yet not distressed, perplexed, but not in despair; always bearing about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the x 2 Cor. 4. 11. 8, 9, 10, 11. life also of Jesus might be made manifest in their body, always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in their mortal flesh. Are those whom you call your Ministers found such, or do not those whom they set you on, now to persecute, appear such as these and they the Contrary? Are they not plainly manifested by their fruits? Search, and see, how long will ye be deceived, and shut your Eyes against the noon day, and seek to support such as plainly appear not to be the Church of Christ, or the Ministers of his Glorious Gospel; Whom the Lord, the Jealous God, is now come to pull up, being plants whom he hath not planted, and against whom his Sword is drawn, and furbished, by which both they that help, and they that are helped, shall fall together: and shall not be put up, till the thoughts of his heart be accomplished; And how long will ye beat, tumult, imprison, and cruelly entreat his witnesses, whom from amongst yourselves he hath raised up to testify against them, and to lead you out of the ways of destruction into the Paths of Peace, and out of dear love to your souls, press through all hardships, and sufferings, and difficulties at your hands, yea, theit lives are not dear to them for the finishing of their Testimony, and that your souls may be saved in this Powerful day of the Lord Jesus? will not these things be bitterness in the end? What will you answer the Lord, whom ye thus requite for all his kindness? Mind, and consider: did not the Word of the Lord from the beginning, take hold on those to whom it was sent, though y Zach. 1. 5, 6. the Fathers died, and the Prophets lived not for ever; and though they did put the z Evil day x Amos 6. 3. far from them, and caused the Seat of Violence to come near, and mocked at the Word of the Lord, and misused his Messengers: Was there ever a Witness of God born against any thing, but the downfall thereof was at hand, according to the Witness, and assuredly came to pass, as they did abide Sufferings, who bore against it their Testimony; and the hotter the Sufferings, drew not the time the nearer? For as Jesus Christ in his flesh, on the a Eph: 4. 8. Cross, lead Captivity Captive, so tthrough Sufferings his Truth conquers, b Heb. 2. 14, 15. through death it overcomes him that hath the power of death, and c 2 Colo. 15. triumpheth over all and when the world seemeth to have upon it its greatest Advantage, then is it ascending on the Throne, and reigning over all. Turn a little over these later times, and observe calmly; When raged the Fire, and Faggot more furious against the Martyrs in Queen Mary's days, than when the hour was come, wherein that body of Popery which became so cruel, was to be extinguished in this Nation? when were the Persecutions of the Bishops more fierce, then when the Parliament drew near, which pulled them up by Root, and Branch? What is become of that body of Popery in England to this Day? Where are the Bishops, Deans, and Chapters, the Common Prayer, and those heaps of Ceremonial, and Superstitious dead services, and all that Hierarchy with the Appurtenances which had fortified itself with such laws, and length of time, and mixed itself so in, and with the Civil Powers, that as her Mother Babylon, she said, I have set my Nest amongst the stars, I sit as a Queen and shall see no sorrow, when loss of Children, and Widowhood came upon her in One day, fear, the snare, and the pit, and a horrible desolation, even by the power that supported her? How contemptible and base, how much less than things of naught, were the Martyrs in those days accounted of, and the factious Puritanical Non conformists, as they were then called? and how unlikely in the eyes of men; yea, how impossible a thing it seemed for those witnesses, to turn the hand upon those Generations, who in the height of their pride, scorn, and confidence, thought of nothing, but to swallow them up quick, and to root them out of the Land of the Living by the hand of Authority, which they had wholly made their own, and the Laws, and were stretching out their Arms so to do; Even when the d Jer. 4: 7. Lion came out of his Thicket, and the Fuller had laid his Axe to their Root and Branches. And when many of those men of Israel, who, with others of their Brethren, compassed about those Walls of Jericho with the sound of Rams Horns, (so despicable was the Witness to that Generation of men) before whom they fell, and in whose hearing (by it) was it said, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up, and buildeth this City Jericho, he shall lay the Foundation thereof in his Firstborn; and in his youngest Son shall he set up the Gates of it; strove so eagerly, and with vehemence to build it up again, as a City in Israel for them to dwell in, by the Name, and in the Rule of a coercive Presbytery, hating and despising the rest of their Brethren, before whom Jericho fell, the witnesses against them, as Heretics, and Schismatics, upon whom they made very sharp steps, and joined with the men of Jericho, the Common-enemy, to effect it: how laid they the Foundation thereof in the Synod their firstborn, and set up their Gates in the youngest Directory, and little Catechism? By what strange Overturning, wonderful Revolutions, fearful Desolations, and streams of the Blood of these Nations, hath the Lord (as of old) fulfilled the Testimony of his poor, contemned, and suffering Witnesses, before the Eyes, and in the midst of this Generation, beyond the Example of former times; in which, to be further particular, would be needless, and troublesome, since with the Points of Steel, and in Letters of Blood, and Miseries of War, they are freshly engraven every where throughout these Dominions. And, yet, though there is to these things such a Cloud of Witnesses from the beginning, throughout all times on Record in Scripture, as aforesaid; though since the Apostles days, Histories have filled up of these things whole Volumes, to the times of this Generation; Though in the sight this Generation, and by their hands whole Multitudes have been destroyed, and carried out dead, who have opposed, and persecuted the Witnesses of Jesus, beyond the Precedent of former times: And though the Feet of the Righteous Judgements of the Dreadful God, which carried them out, are standing at the door; yet do not the men of this Generation Tremble and Fear before the Powerful God, and the words of his Holiness, uttered forth by the Spirit of Jesus, who is risen in this his Mighty Day, carrying forth his Witnesses to testify thereunto against all false Worships, and Deceit, and Vanities, and Customs of the World, and Deeds of Darkness, and Powers of Wickednesses, whom he brings forth as Signs and Wonders amongst them, and makes living Testimonies for himself against them all. Who knowing the Terror of the Lord: and his Dreadful Day Approaching, wherein he will yet e Heb. 1. 2. 26, 27. once more shake not only Earth, but the Heaven also; and in f Judas 14. 15. Ten Thousands of his Saints cometh to execute Judgements upon all, and to convince all that are Ungodly amongst them, of all their ungodly Deeds which they have ungod●ily committed, & of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him, and with his mighty and strong One, to render Vengeance with g Isa. 66. 15, 16. Esa 28. 21. ane 29. 6. Whirlwinds, Storms, and Tempests, and Thunder, and Earthquakes, and great Noise and Flames of devouring Fire, upon the head of the wicked: Therefore do their h Jer. 23. 9 Bones shake, and their Lips quiver, i Hab. 3. 16. and their Bellies tremble, and their k Isa. 16. 11. Bowels sound like a Harp, and their Eyes are like t Rivers of water, and their m Jer. 4. 19 and 9 1. hearts are l Psal. 119. 126. pained, as it was with the Lords servants of Old, not ceasing to warn men, as in the sight of God, to know the hour of their Visitation, that so they may be hid in the day of the Lords fierce Anger, which verily is coming on the Inhabitants of the Earth: In requital of which, and their love therein, they are mocked, and scorned, and reviled, and reproached, and beat, and tumulted, and imprisoned, and cruelly scourged, and some of their Blood drawn, and some of their lives taken away, and thought not fit to live upon the Earth, as was Jesus Christ, and his Witnesses, since the Foundation of the world. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O ye foolish People, and unwise! What will ye do in the day of Visitation? where then will ye flee, and where will you leave your glory? Hear ye, and give ear, be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken: Give glory to the Lord God of Israel, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark Mountains; and whilst ye look for light, he n Jer. 23: 16: turn it into the shadow of Death, and make it gross Darkness; for verily it hastens on this Generation: But if you will not hear, Our souls shall weep for you in secret places for your Pride, and Our Eyes shall weep sore, and run down with Tears, because you will not know in this your day, the things that belong unto your Peace. And thus have I discharged my Conscience unto you, as in the sight of God, whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear, which you shall one day remember whether you will, or no, in the day when the Book of Conscience shall be opened, and wherein God shall judge all men by the Man Jesus Christ, whom in our measure we witness, and you persecute. Behold a Whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous Whirlwind, it shall fall grievously on the head of the Wicked, the Anger of the Lord shall not return until he hath executed, until he hath performed the thoughts of his heart; in the latter days, ye shall consider it perfectly. THE END. ERRATA. LIne 16. read entertainment, for enterraynment. Pag. 4. line 33. read been, for have. P. 7. l. 27. r. water for ter. P. 8. l. 17. r. and, Title Page. Book. for or. P. 9 l. 9 add (o) Synagogues; and (p) 17. 1. 2. 10. for 17. 12. 10. Margin. l. 16. r. And did he not bid them go, for, and they bade him to go. P. 34. r. the, for their. p. 10. l. 13. Add Heb. 11. 4. Margin. p. 11. l. 21. r. Amon, for Hamon; add (i) over Amon. p. 12. l. 15. add (x) over jer. 6. 10. Margin. p. 16. l. 4. add Heb. 11. 16. Margin. p. 17. l. 33. add the, after of. p. 18. l. 28. blot out were. p. 20. l. 19 r. it, for that. p. 23 l 3. r. 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