TRue Ministers are called of God, as the Apostles were: and God hath committed to them now the Word of Reconciliation, as the Apostles had; and they are now sent of God, To preach Glad-tidings to the Poor, and Peace and Good-will unto men; To Proclaim the Day of the Lord to all that sit in Darkness, and under the shadow of Death; Preaching to the Spirits in Prison, that the Prison-Doors may be opened, and the Prisoner of Hope come forth out of the Prison-House, that the Clouds of Darkness may fall of, and the Bonds of Iniquity may be broken; that many may be turned from Darkness to Light, from Satan's power to God: And freely they have received, and freely they minister; coveting no man's Silver, or Gold nor Apparrel, no more then the Apostles did. And they preach Christ Jesus, not themselves; but the same Jesus that was Crucified without the Gates of Jerusalem, that Rose again the Third Day, and Ascended up into Glory, and is at the Right-Hand of God, far above all Principalities and Powers, according as the Scriptures declare.

And they preach him as they have received him; for they did not know him by the reading of the Scriptures, no more then Paul did by reading of the Law; but as he is revealed in them: And their Eyes do see, and their Ears do hear, and their Hands do handle the Good Word of God, which they declare unto others: And God hath given them a Good Understan­ding, that they know him that is True, even Jesus Christ, [Page 6]whom God hath sent: And they have not laboured in vain, as those who have beat the Air; but have been Instruments in God's Hands, to turn many from the Evil of their Wayes, to walk in the Light of the Lord; and are brought to know and dwell in that City, even the New Jerusalem, which is from above, that has no need of the light of the Sun by Day, nor of the Moon by Night, but the Lamb is the Light thereof.

And the true Ministers need no Humane Authority, to Au­thorize their Ministry; for they have a Witness in every man's Conscience: Neither are their Mouthes stopped with the Com­mands of men, neither are they afraid to appear for God in their publick Testimony, in preaching the Everlasting Gospel, though Laws of great Penalties be made against them; but rather are made willing to adventure all, whatever is dear and near unto them in this World, then to incur the Dis­pleasure of their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, or to bring the Blood of any upon them; for they Labour Night and Day with the Lord, in the Travel of their Spirits, that they may be clear of the Blood of all men; going from Country to Country as they are moved (with their lives in their hands) that they may preach the Everlasting Gospel to all that dwell up­on the Earth.

The False Ministers are such as are brought up at Ʋniversities, and are Seven Years studying Philosophy, &c. and are made Ma­sters of their Arts; and from Humane Learning is their Mini­stry; and for their Gain is their Call; and are only sent of Man, being Ordained by Man, and then have Licence to preach. They are onely Ministers of Traditions, and their own Conceptions on the Letter (not of the Spirit) having only a Form, but denying the Power; calling the Letter the Gospel, and preferring the Letter before the Spirit, and putting it in the Spirit's place, calling it, the Word of God; saying, There is no other Way to cone to the Knowledge of God; so are boasting of another man's Lines made ready to their hands: and are saying, Thus saith the Lord, when he never spake to them, as the False Prophets did in the dayes of old; denying Revelation, or any Immediate Call from God, as the Apostles had, saying, There [Page 7]is no such thing to be looked for now; that was Extraordinary, and is Ceased.

And are such as are alwayes Teaching, and People never the better, bringing nothing to Perfection; saying, There is no Freedom from Sin on this side the Grave: And Denying the Light (that convinceth of Sin) to be sufficient to lead to Life and Salvation; calling it, Natural and Insufficient; like the Un­believing Jews, who said, Is not this the Carpenter's Son?

They say, That Sprinkling of Infants upon the Face is Baptism; setting up that in the place of the Baptism of the Spirit. They call Bread and Wine the Lord's Supper, being ignorant of the Bread of Life, and the Communion of Saints in the Sancti­fying Spirit. And thus much, in short, concerning their Call, Ministry and Doctrine.

Now I shall shew their Marks and Fruits, Christ saying, By their Fruits ye shall know them: They are such as go in Long Robes, and have the Highest Place in the Synagogues, and are called of men Master, and have the Uppermost Rooms at Feasts,Matthew 23. Jude's E­pistle and have men's Persons in Admiration be­cause of Advantage.

They Preach for Hire, they have Gift and Rewards for their preaching, they can't afford it for Nothing having bought it for Money; they take Tythes, imi­tating the Priests in the Law; they Sue men at the Law that cannot put into their Mouthes; they cast men into Prison for the Exercise of their Consciences; they stir up the Magistrates to Persecution, saying, They must Defend their Gospel, or else it will Fall; using the Carnal Weapon against the Outward Man.

All which are contrary to the Scriptares of Truth, and Practices of the Ministers of Christ, in former Ages, and in this Age: Their Weapons were not Carnal, but Spiritual, mighty through God, to the bringing down of the Strong Holds of the Man of Sin.

They must have Letters Patent from the Bishop, or some other Man, or Men, before they can or must Preach; and then they Read or Preach by the Hour-Glass, at a certain Place or Time, as they are ordered by Men.

They despise Prophecying; and if any are moved to go into the Place of their Worship, in the Time of their Worship, to speak [Page 8]in the Name of the Lord, they call that A Disturbance; calling to the Officer or Magistrate, to take him or her away, and sent to Prison; allowing none to speak but themselves, contrary to the Orders of the Churches of Christ; who might all speak one by one.

They are Changeable, as the Powers of the Earth change; and are Silenc'd if Man commands them; and take away their Gain, their Go­spel ceaseth; and it the Magistrate take away his Shoulder, and men were not Forced, few would put into their Mouthes.

By these their Fruits, Marks, Doctrines, Ministry and Call, they may very easily be known who they are, by any that are desirous to find them out: [For] the Light of the Lord is come and the Glory of the Lord is appeared, to discover every False Way and Thing, and no­thing is hid from his All-seeing Eye; and he is making it known to those that believe in his Light, and follow him in the Regeneration; for the Night is past unto many, and the Day of the Lord is broken forth, in which Perfect Freedom is known from the Yoak of Bondage, Sin being fled away as the Morning Cloud; and the Glory of the Lord doth rest upon his Ta­bernacle; and the Sons of the Morning Rejoyce together; and Praise waits for the Lord in Sion. But this is hard to be believed by most of the Sons of men; Night having been their Habitation, and Darknes over them so long, that they look not for any other state, willingly contented in that in which they are, in a Receiving of things they preach by a Report of others; some believing, That there is a God, because the Scriptures say so, having no desire of fur­ther Knowledg or Fellowship with Him; and that is the Ground or In-let to all Liberty in Sin and False Worshipping, every man's Way seeming Right in his own Eyes, he being (or at least, would be) sole Judge in all things that pass in his own Mind, and would not admit of any other Judgment, or Judge, to be near him, for to reprove or condemn him for the Evil of his Wayes; but would go on without Controle, passing away his Precious Time in daily sinning against the Lord, taking no notice of any Reproof or Call from the Lord to forsake the Evil of his Wayes: And the long continuance in this state hath prov'd very Dangerous, that many are got into a Belief, That it will not be otherwise with them; nor can they believe, That it is otherwise with any.

Which Conclusion ariseth from the Counsel of their own dark Hearts, Darkness being as a Vail over the Heart, the Eye of the [Page 9]Understanding being blinded by the God of this World; O! how sad and lamentable is the Case of all such! They would not that Christ should have any place in Heir hearts, or they come into Obedience unto him; but are like to the Unbelieving Jews, who said, We will not have this Man to Rule over us; and at last did chuse a Barrahas, rather then a Jesus; and this is the state of many now call'd Christians, who choose rather to have their Murdering Lusts, to live in them, then Christ Jesus the Saviour; and following the spirit of Persecution, and Sin-pleasing Doctrine for Term of Life, [rather] then the meek and self-denying Jesus, his Spiritual Appearance in the Heart, in their Self-denyal, and taking up the daily Cross, which seems to them unpossible to be done; choosing rather, to please themselves and others with a Talk thereof: and if that would serve, Christ would have a great many that would follow him, the Way being broad, giving what Liberty to the Flesh it desires, to the fulfilling of the Lusts of it. [But] the Way is Narrow that leads to Life, and admits of nothing that is of Self, or Flesh, or any thing that tendeth to such Li­berty; but of a Birth born of the Spirit, who delights in Holiness, and cannot live in Sin, who runs with Chearfulness, despising the Shame because of the Glory that is set before it, Christ Jesus being the Mark of its high calling, believing God, that its Covenant is order'd aright unto it, and sure; though it meet with many Enemies, Tryals and Hardships by the way, and Reproaches and Scoffs not a few, [even] from those that are ready to say, as the Jews did, We have Abraham to our Father: yet this Birth Immortal, having receiv'd the Blessing of the Dew of Heaven, is not discouraged; though they that have the Fatness of the Earth for their Portion, make more Noise and greater Shew in this World, & labour what in them lieth to stir up Enemies against this Blessed Innocent Seed, and to Perse­cute all those where its Apperance is. But this is my Testimo­ny concerning it, They shall never prevail, no Weapon formed against it shall Prosper, their striving against it is to no Purpose, they only making themselves Manifest what spirit they are of: For the Lord God Om­nipotent hath raised it up in this the Day of his Power, that it may bear witness to his Name, through his Faithful Witnesses; in whose Hearts God hath raised it up, by his own Mighty Power and Out-stretched Arm, after a Long and Dark Night of Apo­stacy, since the Apostles dayes, which soon (after the Apostles) [Page 10]did creep in; only having the Form without the Power, lost the Life of Religion, and Motion of the Spirit of Life in the Inward Man, which was to be Guide unto all Spiritual Worship and O­bedience unto God, according to Christ's Saying, The Time co­meth, and now is, that he that worshippeth the Father, must worship him in Spirit and in Truth: This being lost by many since the Apostles dayes, and never known by others, hath been the great Cause, Ground and Rise of the many Sorts and forms of Religion, made in man's Will, and he giving way to his own Self-will, the E­nemy of his Soul did easily prevail with him to be of that Form of Religion which most suited the Inclinations of his Heart, blinding the Eyes of his Understanding, and made him Insensi­ble of the many inward Strivings of the Lord with him; and although Reproved in secret, yet not regarded, or at least, not believed it to be the Grace, Light, and Spirit of God: so that the Continuance of the Apostacy and Unbelief, that came in by it, were from one Generation to another, out of the Remembrance of the Appearance of the Lord, of his being near to man, or of Jesus Christ Within; they grew into the Subtilty of the Ser­pent, and having eaten of the forbidden Fruit, got unto him­self Coverings of his own making; serving only himself, and his own Interest, that he could turn to be of any Form of Religion to save himself. [Thus] Painted Jezebel got up, and the False Church did begin to flourish, with her False Teachers, False Doctrines and False Worships; Then she held forth a Golden Cup, full of Abo­minations, unto all Nations, Kindreds, Tongues and People; and they drank of the Wine of her Fornication, and were drunk with it; and then the False Church got up, and False Prophet began to ride upon the Beast, and they made War with the true Woman, and the Remnant of her Seed that remain'd upon the Earth; and they prevailed for a time: and the Woman, the true Church, fled into the Wilderness, where she had a Place prepared her of God, and the Man-Child was caught up to God, and there she remained as a Widow alone, and as a Dove without a Mate, (according as it is written) until the time of her Mourning and Widdowhood should be accomplish'd: and all this while the Har­lot, the false Church, bore Rule both within and without: and all that would not receive the Mark of the Beast and of Antichrist [Page 11]on their Fore-heads, and on their Right-hand, should be put to Death, or should not be suffered to Buy or Sell.

Then was set up Outward Force, to Compel all to bow to their Wor­ship; for the Power and Spirit of the Lord, that was in the Apostles days, was lost, that made peoples hearts tender, and gather'd them to God, into his Spiritual Worship, and the Form without the Power was set in its place, and so fell short of the Power and of the Order that was in the Spirit: Then Humane Learning, Arts and Inventions got in the Powers Place, thinking to supply what was wanting, which an Immitation of the true Church, and the Order that was in the Apostles dayes could not do.

But finding their shortness, both in Doctrine and Conversati­on, that Sin and Evil had Dominion over them, and that (erring from the Spirit) they could not be without sin; then they set it up, as a Foundation Doctrine, That no man could be without Sin and Corruption on this side the Grave; and this they have desended as well as they could, by Word and Writing: but where that fell short, they made their Inquisition, Fire and Faggot, and Strong Prisons, to make it out with the rest of their False Doctrines and Practices, resolving their Tryal by Outward Force and Compulsion. and if any Eye were in measure opened, to see beyond any of their Dark Doctrines or Ceremonies, and so could not bow unto them, then were they branded with the Name of Hereticks; and if they would not put out that little Sight which God had given them, and become as Blind as they were, then they Persecuted them, and put them to Death.

This hath been the Practice of the False Church for several Hundred Years, and Examples thereof were before, and in Queen Mary's days, and since. But now the Time is come, That Babylon is come up in Remembrance before the Lord, and as she has done unto others, so will the Lord do unto her▪ for, Strong is He that is risen to judge her: And he hath made an Entrance into her Borders, and is lay­ing waste her pleasant Pictures, and discovering her Whoredoms, and drying up the Tongue of the Egyptian-Sea, so that many begin to suspect her, and others do see she is but an Harlot, not withstan­ding her being cover'd with Scarlet-coloured Robes; [so] she shall not deceive the Nations much longer; and as she had a time of Rising, so must she have time to Fall; and surely the time is at [Page 12]hand, and her Overthrow is witnessed in many Hearts; and as it hath been within, so must it be without. And this hath been the Ground of the many Testimonies that have been born against her in this Day and Generation, wherein the Lord hath appear'd in his Might and Power, beyond what hath been in times past, and re­vealed himself unto many by his Light and Spirit, and hath made known the Way of Life and Salvation, as in the Apostles days; and the Man-Child is come down from God again; and she that fled into the Wilderness, and was Childless, is now coming out, lean­ing upon the Breasts of her Beloved, according as it was written of her, Rejoyce thou Barren, that didst not bear, and break forth into Joy, thou Virgin, Daughter of Jerusalem; for more shall be the Chil­dren of the Barren, then of the Married Wife; and this is the Lord's bringing to pass, that he may take away her Reproach. For many have brought forth (though a false Birth) while she has been bar­ren; for none could give her Children but the Lord; & he is wiping away her Tears, and the Time of her Mourning is coming to an end; and now the Woman doth appear, which John saw in the Spirit, to be clothed with the Sun, having the Moon under her Feet, and now is as a Bride preparing for her Husband; and she is the true Church, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife; to her I bear my Testimony, to be known, and in being again; and a Son of this Woman I profess my self to be, and of none other, of her Faith and Doctrine, of her Life and Practice; who hath no Power upon the Earth to take her part, to defend her Faith and Doctrine; but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb is her Defence, Covering and Shield for evermore.

And thus in Faithfulness have I wrote these few things, as the Lord put them into my heart, for the sake of those that are inqui­ring after Sion, with their Faces set thither ward; that all Stum­bling-blocks may be removed out of the way of the Simple; and that in Singleness of heart every one may close in with that holy Appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the inward of their hearts, by his Light & Spirit; and that none may resist the Day of their Visitation, but haste out of Babylon and Egypt, from the Flesh-Pots & Garlick, towards the Land that flows with Milk and Honey, where there are Vineyards ready planted, and Wells ready dig'd, the free Flowings forth of the Father's Love unto their Souls.