FOR ●●ose that meet to worship at the Steeplehouse, called John Evangelist, IN LONDON, OR, ●ny other in that nature upon whom ●●e Scriptures are fulfilled, in evil intreat●●● by the servants of the Lord jesus, whom he lends to deliver his Message amongst you. 〈◊〉 for any other that are condemned for sin, and have thirstings after righteousness, that from sin & transgression they may be turned to the righteousness that is perfect and eternal, without which there is no sure salvation. 〈◊〉 a Word of truth to rebuke the de●●●rer, and him that pleads for him against the restoration of the Creation to ●he liberty of God. 〈◊〉 your hearts condemn you, God is greater and knoweth all things, 1 john 3. 20. Rebecca Travers. LONDON, Printed, and are to be sold at the black spread Eagle near the west end of Paul's, 1659. A Word of Reproof for those that meet at the Steeplehouse called John Evangelist, in London. O You foolish people and unwise! How long will you love your folly? How long will you resist our Maker? Are you stronger than he? ●●o is as truly striving with you, as ever Gen. 6. 12. 〈◊〉 was with that generation in Noahs ●●yes, who not receiving the warning the one Preacher of Righteousness, 〈◊〉 overwhelmed in their wickedness, 〈◊〉 having safety but they who were the Ark. And I, and thousands, yea 〈◊〉 thousands, praises to the Lord, who ●●come to the ends of the world, do ●ow the world in which you live is 〈◊〉 unto destruction, and are moved him that made the world, to come into your meeting-places, to declare unto you what must shortly come to pass, and to show you the blindness of your Teachers, with their blasphemous 2 Tim 3. 6, 7. 8. ●ph. 2. 2. and idolatrous Doctrines, whereby they deceive the simple, lead captive silly women, which are always learning, but never come to the knowledge of the truth which makes free from the bonds of Death and Satan, (who hath captivated your minds, and hath blinded the eye that gives the knowledge of God) which rules in all you the children of disobedience, being the god of the world, a liar and a murderer from the beginning; and so as acted by him, his fruits ye bring forth, even in your most holy Assemblies, Teacher and people, as in your Steeplehouse called John Evangelists, there the Teacher exhorted the people to read and study the Scripture, for they were light and life, (speaking of the written Letter) bringing a carnal comparison to maintain his idolatrous Doctrine, saying, A written piece of Paper to a sore, would do no good; but a little written Scripture to a wounded soul, was of great force; and tha●, that was: which quickened David, and was a light 〈◊〉 a lantern unto his feet. And I who ●as brought thither of the living God, whom I serve, in obedience to him, and ●or the Seed's sake, was moved to ask him a question (when he had ended) in moderarion and fear, telling him it was not to disturb, but for edification, and not speaking any other words to my knowledge, than these, Doth the Scripture more plentifully declare of any one Isa. 45. 16 thing, then that for Idolatry God brings wrath and vengeance upon Nations, Peoples, Zech. 13 2 and Persons? But he hasting away ●s hirelings use to do, his people fell on me as so many devouring Wolves, railing, tearing, thrusting, haling, and pushing me down several times, yet a hair of Ez●k. 16. 38. my head they could not hurt; but the murderer was strong, and no hand to help the innocent; nor tongue to plead for the harmless, seen or heard in your Congregation, though some were nea● related to me in the outward, stood by, & said they thought I was a made woman, in which I can rejoice, being no other Acts 26. 24. joh. 15. 20 than what was done, and said unto my Lord, The servant is not greater than his Master, and him I serve, and he is my reward, by whom David was quickened, by whom Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were saved, before any of that was written which you call the Scriptures, & the same quickening Word I witness, who was once dead as well as you, in Epb. 2. ●. sins and trespasses; but by the obedience of the spirit hath the soul been sanctified, and I made a witness of the resurrection of Jesus, and do (as called of God thereto) bear my testimony, that he who was dead is alive, and his Name Rev. 10. 9, 13. is called the Word of God, who hath been caught up to God; and she that brought him forth, hath been hid in Rev. 12 5, 6. the Wilderness from the Dragon that hath made war with the remnant of her Rev. 17.1, 15. Seed, and the Beast hath prevailed, and none hath been made able for ages, to make war with him, nor the Whore, who sits in the Waters; Mark, the Waters are people nations, and tougues, on which the Beast that carries the Whore, doth sit, who hath made drunk with her fornications, the Kings of the Earth, and is drunk with the cup of abominations; and the hour of her righteous judgement is come, & with her Rev 20. ● shall be tormented the beast & the self prophet, and all that love, & make a lie, for evermore; and blessed are they, and they only, that know these things which shall shortly come to pass; but they that read Scriptures, and have not heard the Word which gave forth the john 5. 7. Scriptures to them, the Scripture is (as it was to them at Jerusalem, that there crucified the Lord of life) a parable; and as it was said to them, it may to you, Search the Scriptures, for in them you think to have eternal life, and they tectifie of me, but you will not come to me that you may have life, saith Christ Jesus. And so they who read the Scriptures, killed him who gave them forth, and came to fulfil the Scriptures, even the holy One, and the Just, whom you now slay in the street of the great City, spiritually called Rev. 11. ● Egypt; but the Witness shall arise whom you are yet making merry over, and as a thief in the night shall he come upon you, and then shall you know that this Visitation of mine (though now despised) shall be upon your heads, & the Lord shall be clear; and a good savour am I unto him, as well in them that perish, as in them that are saved, who am honoured of him whom I honour, and know that in the doing of his Will there is great reward; and though of you hated, and scorned, and despitefully used, yet bear I the reproach, and despise the shame, following the Captain and Author of my salvation, who was perfected Heb. 2. 10, 11. 2 Tim. 2. 12. Matth. 10. 32. thtough the suffering; and none shall reign with him but they that suffer with him; nor will he confess any before his Father, but they which confels him before men; and all that have, or do so, have been hated of men, as he joh. 7. 15, 18. declared at Jerusalem, and is fulfilled at London, as well as in other places, They shall bare you for my Name sake, & speak all manner of evil of you, and they shall think they do God service. So blind are all men who from the light are erred, in which God dwells the Creator of all things, who commanded light to ● Cor. 4. 6. shine out of darkness, and hath shined into our hearts, (who by the light are subject) to give us the knowledge of himself in the face of Jesus Christ, and Tit. 2: 11 being made a partaker of this Grace which is free, and hath appeared to all, ●ear my testimony as the truth is in Je●●s, that if you obey it not, you are out of the Covenant, so out of the blessing, and under the curse, and know not the Word of God, though it be near unto you all, and many hath been thereby quickened to God; and it is that which made all things, and by it are all things upheld; for in it is life, joh. 1. 4, ● and the life is the true light of men, and this is the true light which enlightens every man which comes into the world (as it is written) & John bare testimony of it without your meanings, declaring what he had seen, felt, and handled of john 1: 12, 13 the Word of life; that to as many as believed in him, he gave power to become the sons of God, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God; of which birth (which only must inherit the eternal Kingdom) are all you ignorant, who preach and pray, and hear, and act in your own wills, though your profession be high as mine once was, you are not yet come to the first principle, of repentance from dead works, which all that are in that, have not been quickened by the eternal word, which Word abides for ever, and is Heb. 4. 12 quick and powerful as a twoedged sword, dividing asunder, and making manifest the secret thoughts and intentions of the heart; and this is not ink and paper, or words, which the worst of men, or the Devil may read or talk of; but it is spirit, life, and power, killing and making alive; as a fire in the bosom, did and do the Prophets witness it; as a Sword, and a Hammer, to ●er. 23: 29 cut off, and break down all the uncircumcised of ears and heart. This is it that Moses (who was faithful) called unto; this was the Word of faith which Paul preached, who was called of God, and not of men; and all so called, bear the testimony to it, as he did, that none need to say, Who shall ascend & fetch Rom. 1●. 6, 7, 8 Christ down? Or descend, and fetch him up; for he is near thee, in the heart, and in the mouth; and this is the Word which we preach, saith Paul, who was sent of God. Now they that tell you the Letter without, is the Word, and the Gospel, they preach another Gospel than the Apostles did. O that you had ears to hear, and hearts to understand the things that belong unto your Peace, who have been, and are professing godliness for many years, and yet stand where you did, in the customs, in the fashions, in the love of the present World, and call the Scriptures your rule; (mind you Scripture-readers;) is it not written, in the World God is not known; and who loveth the World, the love of God james 4: 4 is not in him; the love of the Worldis enmity to God; and is it not the words of him that cannot lie, The world loves its own, and that his be are not of this world, as he was not of joh. 15. 19 this world, therefore the world hates them. So professors of Scriptures, see what is written in Scriptures; What's the true Religion? Is it not thus written, To visit the fatherless, and keep james 1. 27 unspotted from the world? are you this people who are in the ways, worships; and fashions of the world, and excess of vanity, and pride, and fullness, and whole families of your own flesh, and in your own ways; ready to perish for want of food and raiment; sure you are not they which visits the fatherless; sure you are not the Israel in which there was no beggar; nor you have not the Storehouse in which all the tithes were put to feed the Widows and the Fatherless; and sure you are not in the narrow way in which few walk, for the way that you walk, many there is in, and they walk at ease; I feel what I speak, who walked there many years, and as concerning the Law written in stone, blameless as any, and had a zeal though not according to knowledge; Rom. 7. 9 and when the Commandment came, the new Covenant, sin revived, and I died; 1 Cor. ●: 1● and only by the power of the Cross, (which in the Wisdom of the World Gal 6: 14● was, and is esteemed foolishness) do I live in the life that never shall have end; and in this only do I rejoice, whereby I am crucified to the World, and the World to me; and this to the World is a mystery, who by Wisdom cannot know the things of God which are spiritually discerned, and therefore are in vain imaginations, of which God did, and doth complain, bringing out likennesses Con. 6. 5, ● of it as the Papists, in Wood, Stone, or Gold, others calling the Cross that which you cannot fly from, not knowing the Cross which is daily to be taken up; but we who of him have learned, who saith, Take up your cross and follow Luke 9 23 me; know it to be the power of God unto salvation; and by it hath the Devil been overcome, and before it must all the powers of darkness fly; and this is, and hath been the defence of the righteous Seed in all generations, and the Scriptures declare of it, and shall bear a testimony for me, and all the children of light, against all you that have the words of the Scriptures, and yet are found haters of the light which gave forth Scriptures; and if ever that eye be opened in any of you that the god of this World hath blinded, you shall confess that, that wherein you have trusted shall witness against you; and however your Teachers which are blind, may lead the blind, till both fall into the ditch; yet is there a seed among you that the Lord will gather unto us, and therefore doth his long suffering lead unto repentance; but many shall be cut off in their iniquities, Isa. 65. 12 to whom he hath called, and they would not hear; and they shall cry, and he will not hear, but laugh at your calamity, when destruction shall come as a swift Whirlwind, and with the Prov. 1: 28 beasom of the Lord shall all the Workers of iniquity be swept away, and his fierce Wrath shall consume them which have worshipped Images, and have bowed down to the inventions of men, and instead of the truth delivered to the Saints, (for which we earnestly contend) have set up the traditions of Matt: 15: 3 men. And here stands your Worship with the whole World, who are enemies to the cross, which in the light only is seen; and so in the darkness hath all error and false doctrine been broached, and invented, and brought forth, and the imagination hath, and doth bring forth the image, and both shall be consumed; and therefore I who know assuredly that he will come, and will not sal: 11: 6 tarry, and his reward is with with him, who reigns snares, fire and brimstone upon the Wicked every day, the idolaters and adulterous generation, who have forgot God, days without number, and 〈◊〉 committing Whoredom with the Images of men; yea thou England, yea thou London, (that hath talked so much against idolatry, and fought that Images might be pulled down) art found in the great abominations, and filthiness of spiritual Whoredoms, even in the sight of the Son, the day being dawned, hath shown the filthiness of thy night-works, which thou ceasest not from, though the ligh hath discovered them, but thinkest the Lord is like unto thee, who in the times of darkness winked, but now will render a due recompense for all your psal. 50: 3 Fornications; a horrible tempest goes before him, and in the Clouds he comes, and the darkness hides him from you who hate the light. O a woe, a woe unto all that discerns Heb. 10. 37 not the signs of his coming, for upon whom he falls, he grinds to powder, and the adulterous eye cannot see him, which hath run a lusting after many lovers, yet pays her vows, offers her Prov. 7. 14 27 offerings, and wipes her mouth, and saith she hath done no evil, but her steps lead to hell. O how abominable are the prayers of the wicked in the ears of the Almighsy! and the sacrifices of the wicked have an ill savour in the nostrils of the holy One; unclean priest, and unclean people, whose offerings are flesh, and not spirit; dead, and not living; who have rob the Lord, and have given his glory to that which you have framed in your imaginations; here is the heathen for whom the devouring plague is prepared, who hath turned the invisible God into the similitude or likeness Rom. 1. 23 of visible things; and for this doth the fierce wrath of the Lord burn as an Oven, and the wicked shall be as stubble therein; and with the Candle of the Lord shall all you be searched who have set up any thing in my stead, saith the Lord, who am the Life, whom am the Light, and there is no other God, john 1. 4. john 8. ●● john 14: 6: though you are among the many gods, who set Ink and Paper in his place, calling it by his Name, which is eternal, saying the Letter is the word, and the light, and the life. And this all you who remain in the idolatrous and adulterous nature, alienated from God, strangers to the Covenant of light and life, led by the Prince of the ai●, turn the most excellent of all that you possess, into Wickedness; for it is impossible that an evil tree should Matt. 7. 18 bring forth good fruit, as it is written; for all who have not had the eye opened (which the god of this World hath blinded) by the power of him that is the light and the life, as slaves are sub ected to the power of Satan, serve him with the Scriptures, or whatsoever they have, though being in the dark they know it not, no more than the Priests and people at Jerusalem, which if they had known, would not have put to death the Lord of Life. And so mind all you Scripture-readers and professors, who are ready to murder for your Religion; Was not they at Jerusalem your type? who when he came in the fullness of time (of whom the Scriptures prophesied) to fulfil the Scriptures, and put an end to all their Worships, which though they were given by the command of God, yet having lost the spirit and life by which they were sanctified, are become corrupt and abominable, and ripe for destruction; yet he that was sent of God to put an end to the old, and to make all things new, not coming according to their expectation, who had framed an imagination from their own understanding of the Scripture, as now you do, to come with their observations; and so though they read the Scriptures daily, they could not receive him nor his Doctrine; for saith he, The vail which Moses wore, is on your faces to this day; When you read Scriptures, is the Veil yet rend off your faces? Friends and Neighbours, and Relations, if it were, you would see him whom you have pierced, who are yet eating and drinking your own damnation, not discerning the body of my Lord, who while I was a sinner, died for me. And so friends in faithfulness, & in the love that is unseigned, with the Authority which is from above, by which I am armed not to fear what any can do unto me, and have, and do overcome the evil with the goodwill unto man, in which I can, & do beseech you to be reconciled unto God for Christ's sake, which yet you are strangers to: Will you set any thing in his place who joh. 6. 44 is only come to by the drawings of the father; and that is the drawings of the father, which draws out of iniquity, and from transgression; and this being attended to, you may learn to know what called Abraham, which Heb. 11. 8 obeying and following, brought him joh. 8. 56▪ to see Christ's day, though there was then no Letter written of that you call the Scripture; and none ever did, or shall give forth, or come to a right understanding of the Scriptures, but as they obey and follow that in them which condemns sin, and leads out of it, to him that hath, and can only open the eyes of all born blind; and this I declare as I have learned of the Father in the light, That though I had been a reader of the Scriptures (as without) from a child of six years old, as constantly as most, yet when by the power of the eternal Gospel was turned from darkness to light, I saw things unutterable, and the Scriptures that in my dark mind I had so often turned, was now another thing in my eye, and plain without a meaning, as I came to learn of that spirit 2 Pet. 1, 20 21 which gave them forth; for as it is written, No Scripture is of a private interpretation; but as holy men moved of the Holy Ghost, writ them forth, so only those holy ones who have been, or are moved of the same spirit, which are the children of the Kingdom, see the parable, and interpret the Scripture, which all that are unlearned of the Spirit, interpret to their own destruction. And so you that know not the moving of the spirit in which the Scriptures are writ, have given meanings, and so in this long night of Apostasy have brought forth errors and false Doctrines, and filled the World with Sects & Opinions, the simplicity of the Gospel being betrayed by the crafty subtlety of men; but we who are come Ephes▪ 4▪ 4 〈◊〉, 29 14 15 in the light, to see the fulfilling of the Scriptures, know that the wisdom of the wise is turned into foolishness, and the counsel of the prudent is brought to nought, the Prophet is become a fool, and the diviners shall run mad, Hos. 9 7. and he that hides from the wise, reveals to babes and sucklings, and it seems good unto him; though the heathen Luke 10. 2●● than rage, and the people imagine vain thugs, the Lord is risen to recover his own inheritance, that hath Psalms 2. ●. Ezek. 34. 2. 3. long been laid waist by the destroyer, and the devouring shepherds have not fed the sheep, but eat the sheep, who have run and were never sent, therefore have not the people been profited, and the mystery of iniquity that began in the Apostles days, hath spread jer. 23. 21. 2 Thes. 2. 7. again, to the filling of the world with thick darkness, as it was foretold by Christ and the Apostles, that devouring Wolves should come and make Ma●. 7. 15. havoc of the flock, and that in sheep's clothing, and these were to prevail all the time and times that the world wondered after the beast, though your teachers would make you believe Rev. 13. 3. the false Prophets are come but now, that they might hid themselves; but O that you did see and believe the Scriptures! then would you know who were the ravening Wolves, we or they whom you call your ministers; see which is the Wolf that devours and destroys, he that sends for his gain Isa. 56. 11. from his quarters, and if he has it not, raiseth war, and sues, and casts in prison, and if any speak in his meeting place, or asks him a question, he causes or suffers his people to beat them, or hale them, or stone them, or whip them, and will not speak himself but for gifts and rewards; Now are these the Wolves, or they that bear all these things in patience, going up and down freely, giving as freely as they have received, try whether of these be the ministers of Christ, by that you call your rule; and truly people God will not be mocked, and his eye beholds the deceitful worker every where; and the Scriptures are ours upon whom the ends of the world are come, and for us were they written, and shall bear witness for us against all the Idolatrous generation, that sets them in the place of God, & to me are they precious, who am come to the comfort of them, and let the wisest of your teachers if he can without a meaning, bring a written Scripture to prove that they any where, are called the john 1. 4, 6● word, the foundation, the light, or the life, & I shall give some of the many written in the Scriptures, to show that he who is the light, is the life, and john 8. 12. the way, and the ordinance, and the name ohn 14. ● by which only salvation is; and are not those then false Prophets and deceivers, john 1. 1: which would make you from the Scriptures believe that which is not, john 1: 14: Phil. 29 and hid from you that which is? are not these the Antichrist which instead 1 Cor: 3. 11 of Christ, are setting up that which is not he in his stead? O shall not the Acts 10. 42 Col: 2: 14 plagues threatened in that book come upon them, who are known to add and diminish, and surely as the Sorcerers of Egypt are they that harden the Dut. 2, 4 Rev. 22, 18, 19▪ heart in making likenesses; and truly friends these things are not written to you, as to have your help or aid to defend or assist us, as your parson's use to pray and cry for, for we are the people that have no helper on the earth, yet believing, know we shall be Micah 4 1 the mountain set upon the top of every mountain, and while you are striving against the little stone cut out of the mountains without hands, it Dan 2. 34 grows and you see it not, and shall be the praise of the whole earth, and the devourers and the destroyer and all the ungodly shall be crushed under it, then shall the earth be filled with righteousness; and of the increase of this kingdom there shall be no end, which is come and coming, and not by power & might, but by my spirit shall all the opposers of this kingdom be brought down saith the Lord, and the glory of it is the son, and all the subjects are clothed with holiness, all being Priests and Kings to God, and the glory of it is now seen coming down from heaven by them that the world hates, who are following the Lamb through many tribulations into it, and the Dogs, and the Whoremungers, and Rev. 14. 4 the makers and lovers of lies; (Mark this) false teachers & hearers that speak the things you know not, with the Rev. 22. 15 fearful and unbeleiving must you be shut out (Mark you this) that cannot believe what herein is declared, ●●t to you it seems strange, that God should appear to his people as of old, and give us the same spirit as they had that gave forth Scriptures, saying to the hardening of your own hearts, Miracles are ceased; why to us it is not marvellous to receive what we have waited for? the spirit of truth to lead into all truth, and the Scriptures declare of him, and he is the same and changeth not, infallible and almighty, who is given to convince the world of ●in, and till you come to believe in john 16. ●● 92 that which convinces of sin, you can neither understand nor believe the scriptures nor me, nay though one rise from the dead; and I who know how precious your souls are, with thousands more, have been made willing in this the day of the Lords power, to go forth with our lives in our hands, denying ●ll that has been dear to us, that you might be brought from under the power of the Prince of darkness, to the obedience of the light, in which only is fire salvation, no other name given under heaven whereby any can be saved; I am the light saith Christ Jesus, john. 8, 12, and if any come to me be shall not abiae in darkness; and so all people who hate the light, and are speaking against it, and giving it names, as natural, and such like, are you not speaking against the Saviour, who is the light, and the way, and the truth as the Scriptures declare. O that for your souls sake you would cease from hearing and speaking lies! and come to the light which is the true light, and then you might see what God requires! Truth in the inward parts, which Psal. 51. 6. though it may be you have red oft, yet are not come to it while you despise the light, and have not (as I know none has out of the light) found that God requires; and what stead will all that stand you in, which he requireth not? and so all men and women come to the light: It is the words of Christ Jesus, He that walketh in the light stumbleth john▪ i. 9, 10 not, and all from it have and do stumble and fall; and therefore as you love your souls and prise your everlasting welfare, give heed to the most sure word of Prophecy, than that voice which come from heaven, your teachers tell you that's the Scripture, but thus it is written; You do well to take ●eed to the more sure word of Prophecy, as 2 Pet. ●. 19 to a light that shines in a dark place, till the day dawn and the day star are see in your bearts; & as to this you come, the subtlety of the deceiver, which hath beguiled man and led into the transgression; may be manifested, and you shall come to see what thou wert, and what thou art, and what thou must be before thou come to inherit the purchased inheritance; for thou wert made in glory, O man and woman, in the Image of God; but by transgression art become as a brute beast that perishes, and knowest nothing but what thou knowest naturally, as from that wisdom which is sensual and deulilish, for here sits the Devil in the sensual, fulfilling the lusts, slaying the soul, and yet seeming religious; here's Cain's offering, Esau's tears, but not the blessing, for that's to the seed for ever and ever, and in the Gel. 3. 16▪ light only must thou come to know the promised seed, which is to break the Serpent's Gen. 3. 1●▪ head: So to that of God in every man I speak, who has not left himself without a witness in the worst of you, that you hearken diligently to that which hath at sometimes showed your iniquities, and called you out of it, for it is better to hearken then to offer the sacrifices of fools, and till you hear him that called Abraham, how far are you Sam. 15. 22 H●b. 11. ● from the election that cannot be deceived, in the deceit, in the error, and yet talking of others to be Heretics, and deceivers, but we know who holds the truth in unrighteousness, who neither hear nor obey the call of God: Mind Titus 2. 11. 12. people, who are talkers so much of free grace, what have you learned of it? are you sober, that hail, and pluck, and fight, and laugh, and scoff, even in your most holy assemblies? Have you learned to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, who are in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life? Do you walksoberly and righteously in this present world? Are your women the Daughters of Sarah, that wear not gold, nor silver, nor pearl, not broidered hair? Are you the men whose moderation and temperance is seen unto Isa. 56. 12 all, who live in the excess, eating, and drinking, and in pride, and covetousness, Rom. 2. 11 and wantonness, respecting persons that are rich, and oppressing the poor, despising the needy; and in the midst of all these your iniquities call yourselves Christians, and say you are justified by Christ Jesus, and saved by his blood; Will not the Lord be avenged for these things? Will not the righteous God do righteously? Doth he justify the wicked, or will he save the ungodly, Psal. 7. 11 Exo. 34. 6, 7, or acquit the guilty? nay a due recompense will be rendered unto all the workers of unrighteousness, who are putting the evil day afar off, and are crying, where are the days of his coming, things are as they were, let ns eat and drink, for to morrow we must die; but Mark 9 44 the Worm which must never die will be your torment, for as the tree stands it shall fall, and after death comes judgement; and in righteousness will he rain, who shall give to every man according to his works done in the body, whether they be good or evil, and in vain will a talk of salvation be in that day, for all you that are out of the covenant; and I knowing assuredly that God is revealed from heaven in flames of fire, to take vengeance on all that knows him not; 2 Thes. 1. ● 18. cannot but warn you while you have time, to cease from all your imaginations of God, which are vain, and to come to that which is only able to redeem from the powers of darkness and bonds of Satan, whereby you have been and are captivated; and all having a gift to profit with all, come to know it in yourselves, for by this must all be presented before God, who is just in all his judgements, and requires of no man according Rom. 6. 2. 2 Tim. 1. 6 to that he hath not, but according to that he hath; his own is he come ● Pet. 4. ●0 for, and though the unprofitable hid it, yet it is good and perfect; O that you knewit. and the power thereof! for this only can redeem your souls out of the pit, and break all the bonds of iniquity, and cleanse from sin, which hath separated Luke▪ 2. 48 you from God, and this was it which the Prophets witnessed, to set Psalm. 4. 1 their souls at liberty, before they could say the Lord is my righteousness; and you that know not this gift, which is from the father of spirits, to be your leader, and guide, and teacher, your best works are but self-righteousness, Heb. 6. 1 dead works, and to be repent of, but we who have gained to that which shown us the evil of our ways, and the vanity of the world, with the glory thereof, have been brought to cease psalm. 4. 2 from our own works and words, and come to stillness, in which the still voice hath been heard of God, who complains of all you that are walking in vanity, turning your maker's glory into shame by speaking deceit and following after lies, and in this stillness standing, are we come to possess sure salvation by his redemption, that saves his people from their sins, and so it is God that works all our works in us, and for us, and self and the boaster are shut our, by the powers of the eternal word of separation, and so our joy and boasting is in God all the day long; but you out Mat 1. 21 Esa: 26. 13 from the light, disobedient to that which shows your misdoing, have nothing to warn you, or to rejoice you, or give you peace, but what is from the fire of your own kindling; and this you shall have at my hands saith the Lord Esa. 50. 11 to lie down in sorrow, and this is the truth to you all, whatever your teachers tell you, who cry vehemently against the light, for they know if you hearken to the light, their trade will soon down, and therefore many lies in their pulpits and else where do they publish, (to hold up the kingdom of darkness) saying we deny the Scriptures, and Christ which died at Jorusalem, and the ministers, with many more false accusations; to which I answer for the truth's sake, no other Christ do we profess, than he that made a good confession before Pilate, who when crucified, had over his head a writing set of Hebrew, Greek and Latin, by his crucifiers, as now he hath (receive it if you can) of whom Enoch Moses, and all the rest of the Prophets prophesied, and the Apostles bare witness to, him do we believe in and call all to, who is in us the hope of glory; and the Scriptures of truth we believe, and Deut. ●4 ●5 are come to the fulfilling of them, and being witnesses that the Angel of the everlasting Gospel, hath flown through heaven, after this long night of Apostasy; Rev: 14. 6. we know that the hour of righteous judgement is come, in which Babylon and all her merchants must down, and we cannot but warn them and you, of their sure destruction, for these are the ministers of Antichrist, and not of Jesus Christ, who set up any thing in his stead, who is the eternal Son of God, and this was they seen to be, by some of them called puritans forty years ago, to my own knowledge; and some that had been breed at Schools and universities with them, and had taken their orders, though they were dark times, have all along according to the light received, witnessed against the evil of these times servers, so much as that they were hated of the world, suffered persecution, some to death, others banishment for his name's sake, who is john 1. 6. the light; and the ministry sent of God, did and do bear witness to him that is the light; and these we honour in the Lord, who by his power have turned many thousands from darkness Act▪ 16 14 to light, and from the power of Satan to God, and we try them by their works, and their fruits are fruits Mat. 7. 16 ler. 23. 28. of unrighteousness, but you cannot gather Figs of Thistles, nor Grapes of Thorns; what is the Chaff to the Wheat, saith the Lord God, who is gathering his Wheat into the Garner, and the day of Harvest is at hand, and the tares must be burned with unquenchable fire; & so be awakened, for to that of God in every man's conscience I am manifested, that you are warmed, and called to repentance, and from your dead worships and works, john 4 23. to the living God, who is a quickening spirit, and in spirit will he be worshipped, and his first appearance is to destroy sin in the flesh; and if this you despise, which convinces of sin, you offer despite unto the spirit of grace, Heb. 10. 29 by which all the saved of God are sealed, and have the witness in our selus, that he is true; this is the mediator of the new Covenant written in the heart, put in the inner parts, which who are come to, need not any Heb. 8, 6 ler. 31. 33. to teach, but are all taught of God, from the least to the greatest, knowing ●he pouring forth of the spirit upon ●ons and daughters, whereby we pro●hesy; and this is a lantern to our ●●et, and a light unto our steps, and ●●eeping to it he manifests himself un●o 1 Cor 13. 11 john 4. 4. us, whom we know and feel manifested in flesh, to destroy the works of the Devil, and as that which is perfect comes, that which is unperfect is put away, for he that dwells in us is greater than he that rules in the world, though it be denied by ●ll those your teachers, which preach against perfection, to the weakening of the faith, by which all the holy men of God were pefected, and by which the world and death, and he that hath the power of death, (the Devil) are overcome; and this is our victory: O that you felt it! it is under the blessing of eternal life, and without you know this to arise which can remove the mountains, what have you to do with promises? for the promises are to the seed for ever and ever, not unto Rom 4 16 seeds, as unto many, but unto on Christ Jesus, this seed bruises the Serpent's head, and keeps him under, who rules in all you that live in Zion, and plead for it, but we that believe know the casting out of Devils, and the treading of the Serpent under foot, and we speak with new tongues, Mark: 6. ●7 and the world cannot bear it, and the ear is bored that hears the she pheards' voice, and they can no more hear ● stranger, and so the Scripture (which you say is your Rule) doth testify against you, & secrets are made known to us that fear him, & more and more shall they be covered with darkness that striye against the light, which now pricks many of you; and it is hard for you to kick against it, and though you have or may for a time get above it, yet (if not afore) at your deathbeds some of you shall confess, that that speaking trouble, none can speak peace, and that condemning, none can justify; for he that is a God pardoning sin, iniquity, and transgression, will in no wise acquit the guilty; are not you guilty whose hearts condemn you and there is no remission but by blood? blood is lise, and the life of 1 john 3. 20 Heb 9 22 Jesus is the light of men, but all that ●elieve not in the light, are condemned already, as saith the scripture, M●●k ●6. ●6 ●nd know not the blood that cleanses, ●o more than they that pierced Jesus 〈◊〉 at Jurusalem, and saw the blood ●nd water run out, yet had neither ●ensing nor salvation by it; then, but ●ohn 1. 7. ●ll who are in the light, as we are in ●he light, have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses ●s from all sins, whereby we have boldness in the day of Judgement, knowing as he was, we are in this present 1 john 4. 17 ●orld, hated, mocked, and despitefully used of you, for whose souls ●●ke we have and can deny all that is dear unto us, not loving our lives un●o the death, that while it is day you ●ight hear his voice, who swears in ●is wrath the unbeleiver shall never ●nter into his rest, and without you ●now and feel that which is pure ●nd perfect, and eternal to believe in, Heb. 3. 1●●●. ●our faith is in an Idol, and your offerings will not he offer, who lives for ever, to make intercession for all that come to God by him, who is a psal. 16. 4 priest for ever made by the Law of an endless life, and if ever you come to know the true God, you must know him in you, who is over all, in you all, and through you all, without respect Heb 7 25. Eph●. 4. 6. Acts 17. 28 of persons, in him we live, and move, and have our being, who made all men of one blood; and this is Gospel-news, glad tidings to the poor and hungry, the s●ck and lost, who may come freely, high and low, rich and poor, to him without money, or without ●sa: 55. 1 Esa, 1. 27. price; who condemns all unrighteousness, judges all iniquity, and redeems sin by Judgement, and destroys the transgressor and saves the righteous soul which can only inherit the Kingdom, which is unfaiding and undefiled, feel him in you, into whose hands all judgement is committed; for know you not, that if Christ be no in you ye are reprobate? & the Apostl traveled again in birth of those tha● john 5. 22 2 Cor. ●3. 5 Gal. 4 19 john 4. 29 had been converted, till Christ wer● form in them; and so cease from th● meanings of men, and come to know the Prophet which can tell you all th● evil that ever you have done; is no● this the Christ? truly the day is fa● spent and the night comes, in which none shall work, therefore prise your Hab. 1.13 Hos. 13. 9 time and repent, for in sin will not God save any, who is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity, and the Lord is clear, and if thou perish O man, thy evil is of thyself, who art warned to forsake the evil, and to obey that (which condems the evil) which is good and perfect, and giveth peace to the upright; in which I have and shall rejoice, though the Seas roar, and the mountains be removed out of their place, for truth is stronger than all, and shall overcome, and in it have I an abiding place when the storm hath been great, but where will you hid, (that sit in the seat Psal. 1: 1 of the scorners, and stand in the way of sinners) when the black and gloomy day shall come upon you, and the elements shall melt, and the world shall pass away with a great noise? your ●ocl 2: 2: 2Pet: 3: 10 Esa 2: 02 riches & your honour will stand you in no stead, when you shall fling your Idols of Gold and of silver to the Bats, and to the Moles, for he shall judge in Acts 13; ●4 righteousness who is no respecter of persons by whom all actions are weighed who throws Princes from their 〈◊〉. 42. 6. Thrones and raiseth beggars, and this is he who is given for a light to the Gentiles, and a covenant to the people; O that you knew him and would trust in him! who all the day long stretcheth ●sa. 65. 2 forth his hand to a stiffnecked and rebellious people; but the night cometh in which none can work, than all that resist the light shall be cast into outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for evermore: Therefore that all that thirst after everlasting righteousness might be gathered into the light, do I call and write unto you these things in plainness. M●● 8. 12 And now you who deny the light of Christ, the living Word, & have set the dead Letter in his stead, how doth death prevail in you? And how hath darkness beset you, that even while you are preaching and professing the Scripture, you are fulfilling them against our selves? Did not the light of the World foretell his servants what they must receive from the World's professors for doing his Work, saying, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of Matth. 10 Mark. 13 john 16. wolves, and they shall stone you in their Synagogues; they shall put you nut of their Synagogues, and in the Synagogues you shall be beaten; and they shall deliver you upto Counsels, and ye shall be brought before Rulers for my sake, for a testimony against them; yea the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think he doth God service; and these things will they do unto you, because they know not the Father nor me. And this they did unto such as he sent into their places of Worship to cry against their Worship, who preached the Scripture, and thought therein to have eternal life, as you do, whilst they thus entreated them in whom the Word of eternal life was, who gave forth the Scriptures. And thus death works in them who set the Letter for the Life, and denies the Light of Life in themselves, and such would devour it in others. And that his words may be fulfilled, he sends forth his sheep in his spirit and power to suffer these things; and the Wolves that have the outward words, the sheep's clothing, they tear, hale, & beat the sheep, as he hath said they should, for a witness against them. So search the Scriptures, and compare your works and their works; they denied the light; so do you. They thought to have eternal life in the Scriptures; so do you. They fulfilled them upon the sheep in their Synagogues, even while they were preaching in them. And how many of your synagogues is there in this Nation, where some of his sheep have not suffered the selfsame things from this generation? They haled before Rulers; and how many Rulers is there in this Nation, before whom some or other have not born this testimony for a witness? And when they had done all this to them, than their time came to kill them, and think that whosoever did it, did God service: And your time is at the door, and you are hasting apace towards it; and some have already finished their testimony herein, and are at rest where you cannot come. And thus with the light which youdeny, are you comprehended, weighed, measured & marked to be no sheep, but Wolves in sheep's clothing, and by your fruits you are known; and the true Shepherd (who is not an hireling hath sent forth his sheep amongst you, who meets with no fruits amongst you, but briers and thorns, and who returns from you beaten, pushed and haled, kicked and cast down in your Synagogues, and dirted in your streets; and thus we return to him that receives the oppressed, in whose Name we are sent, and the best we can say for the best of you, is, Father forgive them, they know not what they do, not knowing the Father nor the Son. And herein you are found, (as he sends to prove you, and to receive your fruits) all professions, forms, notions, & gatherings; and herewith are you numbered, the best as a briar, and the most upright as a thornhedge; Teachers and People in the tearing, devouring nature, all from the Vine, and as clearly to be seen by your works, in which you are found to be out of the nature of them whose words you profess, as a dog may be known from a lamb, or a thorn from a vine. So read the Scriptures, the Lamb's sufferings and the Wolves actings, and read yourselves by your fruits, amongst whom you are found, and call not yourselves Christians, for Christ owns no such workers, for that of Christ suffers in you, and by you; and though you say God is your Father, as they did, yet you do the works of the Murderer; and though you say Christ is your Saviour, yet the destroyer is head in you; and though you say the Scriptures is your rule, yet they condemn your lives, and cast you out amongst such who persecuted them who gave forth the Scriptures; and while you stand in that nature, you have no part in the Scriptures to inherit, but the plagues and woes therein foretold for such workers: And the Scriptures needs no meanings to prove you there, but are fulfilled in you in the behalf of him whose work you are doing; but when you would take them to prove your Teachers or yourselves to be of God, than you must do it with meanings, twine, and wrestle; for in plainness and truth, as the Scriptures were given forth, they shut you out. And when your Teachers and yourselves, with all their learning and craft, have taken the Saints words, and put them upon yourselves that you might be taken for sheep; a sheep indeed is sent forth amongst you, and all your covers are too narrow to hid the Wolf that is within; and how little a thing of Gods choosing quickly confounds so great a building and profession, and lays naked that which many years you have been hiding; and thus when the weakness and foolishness which is of God, comes amongst you, it lays waste your great wisdom, great professions, great notions, long prayers, separations, and gathering, and Names of Ministers of Christ, and people of God, Church of God, and House of Prayer, and all is shaken and gone, and nought of all this left but a heap of confusion, tearing, haling, beating, pulling, stoneing, laughing, and evil-speaking, not the least face of a Church of Christ left, nor one jot of all your sheep's clothing to be seen; and the poor Instrument by which this is done, you count but a fool, or mad, or one not worth hearing speak, or worthy an Answer, that the Scripture may be fulfilled, which saith, God hath chosen foolish things, weak things, base things of the ● Cor: 1 World, and things that are despised, to confound the wise and mighty, and bring all to nought that is not in himself; and this day is coming upon you unawares, who are professing the Scriptures with your Candle out, and so not having the light of Faith in you to guide you, it is risen against you in the weak, to lay open your nakedness, blindness, and hardness of heart, before yourselves and all men▪ So thou that would be counted a shepherd and a guide, behold thy Flock, and the fruits of thy Ministry; When I was to come amongst you in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the power of his spirit to prove you, did you carry yourselves as sheep towards me? Let moderation judge you, and be ashamed. What a heap of confusion was you all turned into on a sudden, when the foolishness of God appeared amongst you in weakness and contempt! And did thou carry thyself as a true Shepherd, to fly and leave thy flock in such a tumult upon a poor despised woman, and neither to stay and answer one question, nor to rebuke the devourer which was head in thy flock? So that if the Lord had not strengthened and preserved this weak body, it might have been crushed with violence, pushing and haling to and fro; for as one in the waves of a raging sea, so was I amongst thy flock. Oh shepherd, be ashamed of thy flock, and they of thee, from that day forward till you repent. Vine-dresser, be ashamed of thy Work, how is thy Vineyard overrun with briars and thorns, that the meek cannot pass unless he be fenced with Iron and Steel? Oh husbandman! What dost thou sow amongst them where this is reaped? And people, be ashamed of your shepherd, and of his hire, and of your defence, and let the Words of Christ judge what he is that flies and leaves his flock, and hath not the Weapon of truth in the spirit of meekness, to defend himself and his flock with; let your fruits judge you in the light of Christ Jesus, what he hath sown, and in what ground it hath sprung up; now it is laid open to your faces, and the nature of sheep is not in your fold, violence hath filled your House of Prayer; the abomination that makes desolate, is got up therein, and stands where it ought not; pride is exalted, and the wicked worker is set up, and the blind is got into the seat of judgement, and leads the blind, who calls light darkness, and darkness light; and the ear that should hear the true shepherd, you have stop●; and the eye of a spiritual mind is blinded by denying the light within, and you have lost the defence of truth; and so there is no way to make you understand what you are, but by laying you open by your fruits before the sun, in whose light your fruits are condemned, & you seen to be none of his flock, nor he your defence, but enemies to it, and his appearance in the weakest thereof, whom he chooseth for such a work, Glory to the Lamb: And let all that learn his nature, praise his Power and Wisdow sor evermore; for he hath fitted the meek of the Earth for his defence, but the horse and his rider he hath cast into the sea. And so people, had there been in you reasonableness or moderation, or any desire to have known the truth in its power, when I did but ask a moderate question of your Teacher, you would have been still and sober, & moved him to answer, and in meekness of spirit you to have heard both parties, that so you might have judged with that of God in you, (which will arise to the truth where it is) who had truth on his side; and if your Teacher had had it in him, is it not stonger then all to defend him and you therewith, which is Christ's weapon against all errors whatsoever; and than if he had had the Staff of the true Shepherd, to have stood over you, and defended you, than had he shown himself like a shepherd, and you like sheep, and not he to betake himself to fly for his defence, and you to carnal Weapons, and with the fist of wickedness list up, run all a heaps in rage and confusion, to defend your Teacher and his Doctrine by uncivil demeanour, not becoming men and women of government, wherein you have but made it appear openly to be Truth that you withstood, by what way you took against, is as truth hath foretold in Scripture concerning the World's Teachers and Professors, and what usage Christ's sheep should have in the midst of Wolves; and upon you this day is this Scripture fulfilled for a witness against Teacher and People, and out of it you are cast, and out of the Kingdom and patience of Christ Jesus you have proved yourselves, though you say you are the children of the kingdom; and no church of Christ, but in the world you are, which lies in wickedness, and enmity against the life of Christ Jesus; and in the very same works which he said you would do, teacher and people are found, and are not built on that foundation that bears and tries all things, which cannot be shaken, but as the troubled Sea roaring and swell, casting mire and dirt, as the Scriptures saith of the wicked world, which some out their own shame, and shows what you have Esa. 57 20 ●ude 13 been long treasuring in your evil hearts; and so out of the abundance that is Ma●●▪ 12 34 therein, you have powered out upon the servant of the Lord, just as your foregoers have done, and as he foretold, who is this day a swift witness against you, who have set yourselves against him, and the day hath declared it, that you have no part in the sufferings of Christ Jesus, but your part is proved to be with them who hath shed his blood, since Abel to this day: The world by wisdom knows not God, saith the Scriptures, which is now fulfilled in this generation, where are high notions, swelling words, great professions, and zealous forms, all in the world without God in them, boasting themselves in a lie, who profess redemption in words, but in works are in the world, and in the darkness thereof, blindness of mind, hardness of heart, and earthly captivity, without life and power in you, to give you victory over the prince of lust, the God of this world over your own spirits, which lusts to pride, lusts to envy, lusts to strife and covetousness and oppression, and all that unreasovable nature which devours the creation, and keeps it in bondage under the power of Satan, and under wrath and the curse, which daily groans to be delivered into its former glory, into its first being in God and his sons, which is right redemption without a lie, where all things are of God, and in the truth set free from the devourer, which rules in worldy men and women, where all things are not become new, and where all things are not of God, yet professing redemption, with pride, lust, and covetousness, and all vanity in your Vessels, not knowing him who is the greater, to be in you to condemn these evils, than he that is in you to entice you to all these things, and blind you in them; and here you are seen with the pure truth that is in God, to be out of God in the world, and in the lie, not doing in the truth nor redeemed thereto, but the witness of truth lies slain, denied and buried in you; and where he reigns not in the light, there you are in the darkness of this world, blind in your hearts, and there the false Prophet is up in the seat of Judgement, teaching lies and falsehood, to make you more blind still, and to harden you therein, to seek to blind others also and to turn truth backward, that he may grind the poor and needy to satisfy his lust in you; and to that end you are fitted for the destroyer, and so comes the truth to reprove your pride and devouring vanities which wastes the creation, and turns it quite to another end than God gave it you for; and when you say what might so many poor people live on, if we did not wear these things? as though your pride which is the ground of all oppression, did relieve the oppressed; and thus you turn truth backwards, with shameless and unreasonable words, not having a show of a truth; and than if truth arise & stop your mouth in the open falsehood; than you have more hidden deceit to cover your lust: And you say pride is not in the outside, it's in the heart, when all men may see it in the out side; and as many as have that eye open in the heart (which you have blinded with lust) sees and knows that your pride had its first rise and rooting in your heart, ere it came to spring forth its cursed branches which now shines in the open streets without shame; & that this which speaks outward is but part of that fullness that is within in the heart, though your blindness be so great you see it not, neither within nor without, and your hearts too hard to feel it; but have set up there the Idol and stumbling block to blind withal; and than you say, what was these things made for, if we may not wear them, where the truth of God in you would answer, (were it not denied and betrayed by your evil eye) that they was not made for the devoured, nor to be spent on your Justs, to the lust of the eye and pride of life, but for the service of the needy; and co cover the naked, that there might be plenty in the creation, and none might want, which would be so, were the devoured judged in you & cast out, and did you know him in you to order the creation which made it, who would lead you that are rich another way to relieve the poor, then with being proud and vain and wasteful of his freeness and fullness; and that spirit would let you see, that were it not for that devourer which in you speaks and acts, there would be no poor, for he gives plenty for all that he sends into the world, and the lust arising in the heart of men and women, is it that makes poor and accursed, and keeps poor by oppression in you, those that are under the power thereof; and cease but your oppression of them to satisfy your pride, and judge the destroyer in you that wastes it; and the poor would arise through the fullness of him that filleth all things, which is kept back by the devourer and the curse that is upon him, in the creation through you in pride, gluttony, and drunkenness, who have all one head against truth; and so the glutton saith, What are the creatures made or, but for man to eat? etc. and the Drunkard being reproved, hath the same pretence of mercy to the poor, as the proud, saith he, How many poor people lives of Brewing, and might beg, did not such as rich drink it as they brew it; etc. And thus deceit utters its voice in all the world where it is head (who are without the true God in them) as though is was the work of the devourer, that did uphold the creation in plenty, and keep the poor from want; and how great is the darkness of this generation, in whom this passeth for truth? Is not this the world which by wisdom knows not God, but are given up to vile affections and to believe lies. Oh men how deep is truth fallen in you that nothing of it doth arise to condemn this doctrine & him that lives by it in you; what deceit is this that hath filled your hearts, to make you believe you take care for the wants of others, by wasting that which should relieve them, spending as much one of you upon your lust and vanity as would feed two plentifully (if not ten.) And this is all the care of proud men and women, and gluttonous men and women, and drunken men and women, to serve yourselves, and feed the devourer in you, with the mercies of God which he gives freely, that all might be feed, and praise him therein: And then you say you spend but your own, and it's for you that are rich to live thereafter, etc. But then what do you to profess the knowledge of God, or name of Christ, or redemption that is in him: If you live as the heathen & Gentiles do, then bear their name, and pollute not the name of Christ, and live as do the Gentiles, not knowing Christ in you, to restore all things in you to God, that you may see them to be his, and not your own; know him in you to order them who made them, which all the redeemed of Christ Jesus doth, in whom the restauration is wrought by Jesus Christ, and all things of God as in the beginning, before the prince of pride, the glutton, the whoremonger, the drunkard, or the false Prophet that teacheth lies entered into man, or was exalted in the seat of truth, to deceive and bewitch people, by calling evil good, and good evil, as in you he doth, who they preach & practise and profess to devour, which Christ comes to restore, and your life to condemn, and to deliver the creation from the waster, and destruction, and to redeem it to the guiding of God the service of God in his will, and not the will of men, nor the blind boaster; who saith, I spend but my own; And who is exalted in Pride and excess because of abundance, who knows not redemption, to him that giveth all things, but are out of the fear, far from restauration, for were you redeemed to God yourselves, you would also know that all you have was restored to God in your redemption, out of the power of the destroyer, and into the disposing of that spirit which works the repemption, for the redeemed indeed are no more their own; much more is not that they have received. Wherefore men be sober minded, and take heed what you plead for, and boast not in your wickedness, & then double your iniquity by professing the pure name of God, & the nature of redemption, & lie not against the truth of Christ, Jesues ●n saying our redeemer our redeemer, further than yo● konwhis spirit & power living in you t●nlighten and quicken you against ●●se evils, (by which his holy spirit 〈◊〉 the creation suffers) and power in 〈◊〉 over them, and the Prince there●●▪ that you may serve his spirit in you, 〈◊〉 a new life, not serving divers lusts, 〈◊〉 serving your bellies, but in fear 〈◊〉 sober meekness of spirit, serving 〈◊〉 Lord in your souls, and bodies, ●●d estates, and this only is redempti●● without a lie, or without hypocri●●. And this is the confession of Christ ●ome in the flesh, in life and power, to crucify the flesh, the affections and 〈◊〉 thereof, which wars against your ●ouls, and against Christ, so long as ●ou live therein; and in works you de●y Christ to be come in the flesh, ●hough in words you confess him; ●herefore let that mouth be silent that ●eaches lies, and let truth speak in ●ou all; and cease to say pride is not ●n your hearts, when it hath taken ●oot there, and is grown as a covering, and hath overspread you in the ●ight of all men; and say not you do it to relieve the poor, for shame blush at such deceit; and let not the drunkard say the same with you, for you are seen to be the devourer and destroyer of the creation; nor let the glutton say the creatures are made for him, for the day is at hand that he must vomit them up, and then he will know that they were not made for him, when truth comes to judge in you all, and to divide aright between the oppressed and the oppressor, this will be confessed; nor let the covetous person say, his Idolatry is but providing for them of his household, nor the swearer say it's but to confirm the truth, which is found out of the truth, which saith swear not at all; nor the wanton person say, there is a time to be merry, whose times are not in the Lord Jesus, nor ever knew the man of sorrows, nor him that in secret mourns for that abomination which wantoness lives in, whose time of mourning is to come, which you that now laugh ●●ould remember, for truth must come to sit as Judge upon all your pretences, & then these things will not cover you, nor lies be a safe refuge for you. Wherefore wait to know the truth of Christ Jesus the light of the world, in your own hearts, to give you the good understanding which will let you see that this is from the root of wickedness in your hearts that these things ●rise; and that piety, and pity, & mercy, is but a pretence to cover the destroyer in you, while he gets his work wrought of his servants, lest he should be seen in yourselves, or by others, and that you are but wise to do evil, and plead for it, whereby you do but shut yourselves out from the power of truth, and feed upon lies, and put on false covers, which God will rend in judgement, and your wisdom of words cannot cover your works from the light, which sees the covetous, proud, envious, gluttons, drunkards, and all liars and vain persons, and cursed speakers to be without God, not knowing in you the power of an holy life, nor him that is made redemption and sanctification, though in words you profess Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; do you know God in you, of whose offspring all these good creatures are, which you wast, and by whose virtue they are made to spring in their kind, and whose life suffers where they are spent on the lust? Do you know the Redeemer in you, whose work is to restore all things to God in you, who say you spend but your own, when you are reproved? Or do you know him in you to live to, who says you must live after your riches? Are you richer than he that had all fullness in himself, and yet said let nothing be lost? this would you say also, did you know that life in you that gives it forth, which your lust devours, who is pressed therewith as a Cart with sheaves, who is broken with your whorish hearts, and made to serve with your sins, whom you know not, though he be not far from every one of you, yet his knowledge you have loft, and your hearts are too hard to hear his voice, and your wisdom is too high to bow to his government in you; but being got above the meek, you have lost the way, which gives light to the blind and grace to the lowly, and that which should measure and search your hearts is out of your sight, who are seeking without for that you have buried within, under your pride and fullness lies the pearl shut up in the earth, and the key of knowledge you have lost in your wisdom; by your wanton living on the earth, the holy one and the just you have slain; the man of God is fallen into your streets, the man of mercy and pity is perished by the proud, and there is no Judgement nor deliverance in you, for the ear is stopped that should hear the cry; And where this is so within, what knowledge of God is there? but man is become like the beast that perisheth. The End.