The Word of the Lord to all Rulers, Governors, and Magistrates of England, to try themselves by what Spirit and Power they Rule by.  
That they may come to know, whether they Rule by the Power of Jesus Christ, the true light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the World, unto whom all Power is given both in Heaven and in Earth; which is the higher Power which every Soul is to be subject unto; or the Power that man became subject unto through the Fall.  
With a Warning to them, that they harken not unto the Priests of England, by whom they have so long been deceived, even by that lying spirit that is gone out into the mouths of all the false Prophets, which have hitherto prevailed to persuade them that they should not hearken to the true Power within them, which is the true light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the World.  
Also it may be profitable for all men, that they may come to see the difference between the true power that every soul is to be subject unto for conscience sake towards God, and that power that is not to be obeyed for Conscience sake: but rather suffer according to the will of God.  
With some Queries put forth concerning the ground of all true Power, and Government, which is from that power that every soul is to be subject to for the Lords sake, and not that which is set up in, and by the will of man.  
This have I Written in the Word of the Lord God, as I was commanded by the Lord, on the sixteenth day of the sixth Month, about the eighth hour of the day, as I was eating meat in my own house; saying, Rise, and Writ what I shall say unto thee concerning the Rulers and Magistrates of the Land; Which was done in the will and countenance of God: Who am a friend to all men, for the Seeds sake. Known to men by the Name of,  
Thomas Davenport.   

The Word of the Lord, to all Rulers, Governors, and Magistrates of England, to try themselves by what Spirit and Power they Rule by, etc.  
Hear the Word of the Lord ye Rulers and Magistrates of England, thus saith the Lord God, who is come near unto you in judgement, that ye may all be tried; and therefore try yourselves whether ye be in my power which is the higher Powers that every soul is to be subject unto, for there is no power but of me; and all that are in this Power, rule for me, and not for themselves, nor in the will of man, but in my will, and for me, saith the Lord. And if ye be the higher Powers, then are ye also subject unto me even unto my Law, which is the light in you and so your Power is of me, and every soul is to be subject unto you for my sake. Now all that are not in my power, rule not for me, but for themselves, because they are gone out from my Spirit and Power, into that which doth resist my Power, in which the Enmity is against my Seed, unto which the damnation is to: Now unto this power, none is to be subject for Conscience sake; but for Conscience sake suffer according to my will, because it is that which prevailed over man at the first, when he turned aside, and went out from me into the power of darkness, which I had separated from me; and so I drove him out, to wit, man from my presence, and placed my Flaming Sword to keep him out from my life, who was shut up in death, as I had said unto him, out of which that power he had chosen, could not deliver him, nor by any other could he be Redeemed, but by my Sword by which he is kept out; in which stare are all Mankind in now who are in their fallen nature gone out from my Spirit, and so are gone out from my Power, which is the life, by which the whole Creation is to be Ruled and Geverned▪ And now in this state, though men are standing in the place of Magistrates, and professing themselves to be such as do Rule for me; yet being gone out from me, are gone 〈◊〉 from the power which is of me, and by me saith the Lord; and are holding up another power, which is of another Kingdom, that doth oppose itself against my Kingdom and Power, unto which every soul is to be subject.  
And now, all you who profess yourselves to be Christian Magistrates, and to maintain my Law, consider whether ye be such, yea or nay; see whether ye have owned my Son, whom I have sent a light into the world, unto whom is given all power both in Heaven and in Earth, unto whom every Knee must bow, and every Tongue confess; ye that say, ye maintain my Law, see whether you have known and owned the Lawgiver; for there is but one Law, and one Lawgiver which is Christ; And this Jesus Christ is to be known within you, which is the Immanuel, God with us, even God manifested in the flesh, as also saith the Scripture, the which if you reject to know and believe in, you have rejected my Law, and gone out from my power, which you profess to Rule in, and Govern by, and to have owned with your Mouths; and all who are sound here, their professions will not cover them, whose works deny me, for all they do is in my sight abominable, and unto every good work they are reprobate.  
And now, O you Magistrates, consider whether you have Ruled for me, or for yourselves, saith the Lord God, and see whether you have not been Crucifying to yourselves my Son, whom I have sent a light into the world, and so have Crucified and slain my power in you, by which you should have Ruled yourselves first, and so the Nations over whom you are placed; for if a man rule not his own house, how should he take care for the Church of God? And now, how can it be otherwise, but that you should be found having your hands in persecuting the righteous Seed, even my Sons and Daughters, saith the Lord, which I have chosen out of the world, to bear witness to my name? For had you known, and owned me, you would have known and owned my servants, sons and daughters also; but my words are fulfilled, If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; and if they had known me, they would have known you also; but they have not known you, because they knew me not: And now you Magistrates, consider whether ye are of me, even in my power; Doth now my witness which I have placed in you (that bears witness to my name) testify against you, or for you? See whether by it, you are not condemned in yourselves, for I the Lord God who hath not left myself without a witness in any of the sons of men; Therefore I say to you, do ye now honestly consider and hearken unto me, and in the coolness of the day you will hear, and on your Beds, for I the Lord God am he, who searcheth your hearts, and show unto you your thoughts, and the intents of your hearts: Now enter ye into my secret place, common with your own hearts, and be still, and see there what my witness doth testify unto you, for that is your state before me, saith the Lord; and if your hearts condemn you, I am greater than your hearts: And I the Lord, who am the true and faithful witness, that cannot lie, am near unto you all, and will be a swift witness against you; and also will come near unto you in judgement, to plead with you: And this will I do to try you, even as I have tried them that have gone before you: And if you will not endure my judgements, but turn them to Gall and Wormwood, and kick at them with the heel, as they did; then will I come against you in my fury, as I did to them. And this I did to have healed them, but they would not be healed, therefore were they everturned▪ For thus saith the Lord God, I, even I am he, that wounds, and heals, and kills, and makes alive. And now, if ye will not suffer yourselves to be wounded, then shall you not be healed; and if not killed, ye shall not be made alive: For he that saveth his life, shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it. If any can receive this, let him receive it.  
And now O you Rulers and Magistrates, Is it not time for you to know judgement? therefore flight not the day of your visitation; for this is it wherein I the Lord God am warning you, and proving you, whether you will now turn unto me at my reproof; and now go to, and see whether my witness I have placed in you, will not testify against you, that I would often have gathered you; but ye, (like to old Jerusalem) would not be gathered; therefore if you will not be gathered, but continue in your rebellion against me, this shall ye have at my hand; Ye shall be scattered, who despise the riches of my goodness forbearance, and long suffering; and my goodness leads you not to repentance, but after the hardness, and impenitency of your hearts, treasures up to yourselves wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of my righteous judgements; for according to your deeds will I reward you, saith the Lord. But my desire towards you is, as my witness in all your Consciences will testify unto you, which hath not consented to your sins, nor takes delight in your destruction, but that you may all live, and not die. And now thus saith the Lord God, If ye will turn now unto me, and keep my judgements, and not departed from my Counsel; then will I heal you: which if you love the light, and come to the light, and bow down unto it, and believe in it, and diligently hearken to it; then will you come to know true judgement, wisdom, understanding, and the fear of me, even the true power, in which you should rule and govern the Nations; but if ye reject the light, then do you reject me, and put away true judgement from you, and go from my power in which you should rule.  
And therefore O ye Magistrates, be you warned from me, saith the Lord God, that ye go not from my Counsel, for then woe be to you, if ye turn from my Prophet, which I have raised up unto you, to be your Councillor, saith the Lord; for whosoever refuseth to hear the voice of that Prophet, that I have raised up, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Now if you hear the false Prophets, the Priests of England (they will make you vain, for they have rejected my Prophet, that Moses my servant prophesied of; the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,) they will lead you out from my Prophet, and Son, out of my Council, saith the Lord God: for they have gone out from me, and so have rejected my Council, and have not stood in it, as the false Prophets that Isaiah, Jeremy, and Ezekiel Prophesied against: Now, my sheep hear my voice, they know me, and will follow me; and a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.  
And now, O ye Rulers, and Magistrates, try yourselves by what spirit you are led, and be no more deceived by them who daub with untempered Mortar, and cry peace, when there is no peace; for from the least of them to the greatest, they are all given to Covetousness; even both the Prophets and Priests, every one dealeth falsely, for they have healed your wound deceitfully, crying peace, when there is no peace, saith the Lord. But to whom of you shall I speak, and give warning, that ye may hear and fear before me? behold your Ears are uncircumcised, that ye cannot hear: for behold, the light of the Lord is unto you a reproach, ye have no delight in it; and so my power by which you should rule and govern the Nations, you will not know, because you delight not to know me, saith the Lord: Therefore be you all warned, now you have time, that ye prize it, for my Spirit shall not always strive with you, as it hath not striven with them that have gone before you, who rejected me, therefore were they consumed, saith the Lord God.  
And now, all you Magistrates and Rulers in England, what is the power ye rule by? Is it of me, saith the Lord? See what it differs from those that were before you, who persecuted the Prophets, Christ, the Apostles, and all the Saints, who bore their testimony to my name, and against the world: And was it my power by which such Ruled and Governed, who were thus persecuting my servants, Sons and Daughters, who could not for conscience sake submit to their wills? And have not the same persecutions in this my day attended them, in all parts of these three Nations, (and elsewhere) where ever I the Lord have sent them to declare my Message, even to bear testimony to my name, and against the ungodliness of men, warning them every where to Repent, left they perished? For behold, I have sent among you Prophets, and wise men, and some of them have you persecuted, by Whipping, Stocking, Stoning, beating in your Synagogues and Streets; some have suffered the trials of cruel mockings, and some persecuted from City to City, and some of them have ye killed. Moreover I have sent unto you my Son a light into the world, Saying, surely ye will reverence my Son: But they said, this is the Heir, Come, let us kill him, that the Inheritance may be ours: and so they slew the Lord of life, whom I have sent a light into the world, and have preferred and set up above the light, a murderer; and so the old City Jerusalem, is yet standing, which is called Spiritually Sodom, and Egypt, where the Lord lieth Crucified. And now ye Rulers and Magistrates, consider this, Is it because such men are set up in the highest place of Authority among men, by reason of their greatness in the world, and not for their understanding, wisdom, and the fear of my name, are they set up above their Brethren? not in the Lord, but the things of the world; therefore to conclude, that they stand in my power, and are therefore to Rule and Govern the rest of their Brethren: Nay, unless they from my power in them Rule for me, the which ye will not do, if ye plead not the cause of the poor and needy, strangers, Widows, and fatherless; set open the Gates to the Prisoners, and let the oppressed go free, taking off the heavy burdens, and yokes that have been put upon the necks of the poor: Seek the good, and not the evil: hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgement in the Gate, that the spoiled may be strengthened against the strong and mighty, that judgement may run down as water, and righteousness as a mighty stream. And can these things be done, while these abominations stands untaken down? as namely, Law, Priesthood, Temple, Tithes, Worldly Honour, as bowing to men, and respecting their Persons, contrary to my Law, the maintenance of which being imposed upon the Consciences of my people, sons and daughters, whom I have set free from all impositions of men, that are contrary to my pure Law in them, and my Covenant established with them, to walk before me in truth and righteousness, wherein they are to Worship me, even in spirit and in truth, as is made known unto them in the spirit of my Son▪ whom I have given unto them for an everlasting Covenant ●hat cannot be broken: And now, unless my Servants, Sons and Daughters break Covenant with me, cannot submit to such things as are by you imposed on them.  
Therefore O ye Magistrates, how do you Rule for me, when you go about to force my people to break Covenant with me? Was it not the practice of the Heathen, and wicked Rulers that knew not my name and power by which they should have Ruled, to compel my Servants, Sons and Daughters, to have denied my Name, as Pharaoh, Nabuchadnezzar, and the Jews, and others, who persecuted me, as the Scriptures, my Servants, have spoken forth (by the moving of my spirit in them) have declared of? And come now, O ye Magistrates, and try yourselves, what spirit and power ye have been led by: Now if you have been led by my spirit, then are ye my Sons; but see whether it have not been by a lying spirit, which is gone forth into the mouths of all the self Prophets, and see whether they have not prevailed to persuade you, to hearken unto them, whom I have determined a consumption, and an utter destruction to come upon them, and to strip them of all their cover, that the shame of their nakedness may appear unto all men; yet, for all this, shall not your guilt be taken away from you, if you turn not to me, saith the Lord; because you have been warned by my Servants from my mouth of their deceit, and have not turned from them, but still you have harkened to them, to continue the yoke upon the necks of my people, whom I have determined to deliver by my mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, as I did deliver my servants of old, out of the hands of Pharaoh, that cruel oppressor; even so will I now deliver my servants, sons and daughters; for my hand is not shortened that it cannot save, saith the Lord, neither mine Ear heavy, that it cannot hear, as before I have heard the cries of my people: And now have I heard their cries that are come before me, and am now coming to deliver them, that writ upon my Name: Therefore consider these things betime, lest ye become such as I the Lord have destroyed from before my Face for their disobedience, saith the Lord God.  

Queries.  
Quae. 1. WHether there be any Power, Rule, and Government to be set up and imposed upon men, but only that Power and Authority, Rule and Government, that every Soul is to be subject unto for Conscience sake towards God?  
2. Whether that Power, Authority, Rule, and Government, which men have invented to themselves, to maintain their own outward fleshly carnal Privileges, and to bring the poor into subjection unto their own wills, be the power that every Soul should be subject unto for Conscience sake?  
3. Whether Jesus Christ be not the true ground of all Power, Rule, and Authority, that every Soul is to be subject unto, being that all Power both in Heaven and Earth is given unto him, to Rule and Govern the Nations? And whether the Rule and Government be not only upon his shoulders, which is the endless Power, Rule, Authority and Government, of whose Dominion there is no end?  
4. Whether ever any in the Power and Authority of God, did ever persecute the Servants of the Lord, or did uphold any that were their persecutors; but such as Pharaoh, who was out of the power and authority of God, and rejected it, who knew not the Lord, saying, Who is the Lord, that I should obey him? And whether it be not the power of the World, which are the powers of darkness, that persecutes the righteous Seed? And whether such as persecute, and such as tolerate persecution, be not all of one Seed, and be not in the enmity against God, even such as are borne after the flesh?  
5. Whether there be any Rulers and Magistrates, that are in the just power and authority to Rule and Govern, but such as are in the power and authority of God? And whether there be any in the power of God, but such as are the Minister of God for good, even to execute wrath upon them that doth evil, and for the praise of him that doth well? And whether this be not the power only, that every Soul is to be subject unto? And if any Rule not thus, Whether he bear not the Sword in vain?  
6. Whether those be Rulers, and Ministers for God, that are out of the power of the Lord, and are set up by those that are out of the power of the Lord themselves, (and that Rules for themselves, and not for the Lord) to maintain their worldly Lusts, Riches, and Honour, who are made Rulers by Men, not for truth's sake, as they are men fearing the Lord; but for the World's sake, even because they are Rich and Great in this present World, and to maintain the World's Interests?  
7. Whether hath not the Lord shown unto man, what is Good, that is, to keep Judgement, to do Justice, and to love Mercy, and to Walk with God? And can ever this be done, (even judgement kept, justice done, Mercy, Truth, and Righteousness loved; but Gifts and Rewards taken, and men's persons respected, and the Cause of the poor and needy not pleaded,) till judges, justices, and Rulers be as at the first I who are men fearing God, hating Covetousness, and dealing uprightly.  
8. And whether that of God in all your Consciences doth not bear witness to the truth of all these things? and that generally, Rulers, Governors, and Magistrates, in their Rule and Government, are turned from truth and righteousness; and whether they ought not to turn out from the Power of darkness▪ into the Power of the living God, to Rule and Govern for the Lord God of Heaven and Earth; Unto whom every Knee must bow, and every Tongue confess, and to whom every one must give an account of himself of the things done in the Body, whether they be good or bad? And so in the light, all is left without excuse,  
FINIS.