A Loving Invitation, And A FAITHFUL VVARNING TO ALL PEOPLE, Who believe they must give an Account to the Righteous GOD for the Deeds done by them in the Flesh, That they speedily seek to make their Peace with the Living GOD, who made them, before the Stroak of his Justice come upon them.

Which is the Breathing of my Life, even to All who Resort unto, or be Separated from the House of RIMMON, But are not yet truly come to own the Seed of Life, the LIGHT of CHRIST in their Consciences, to be their Teacher; And so to believe in it, as they may be saved by it.

By MARTIN MASON.

LONDON, Printed for Robert Wilson, at the sign of the Black-spread-Eagle and Windmil, in Martins Le Grand.

A Loving Invitation, And A FAITHFUL VVARNING TO ALL PEOPLE.

My Friends,

ALthough you have not yet put on the Wedding-Garment, yet can I freely give this friendly Title to you; for I have nothing but bowels of Love, and unfeigned Affections in my bosom for you, that in Gods appointed time his Light may be the Leader of you, and a Saviour to you from all your sins.

'Tis Satans design to keep the Soul in sin while it is in the body; and that he may uphold his devilish kingdom for term of life, he feeds man with a man hope of a Hea­ven after Death, though he dye in sin; and this is the De­vis Master-piece, to deceive the Simple with that Fools Paradice. But know this, No unclean thing can enter into Gols Kingdom; And as the Tree falls so it lyes; You cannot dye in sin, and be crown'd Saints: In the Grave there is no Repentance, nor Redemption out of the Pit; [Page 2]the Papists Purgatory cannot purifie you, 'tis a meer Ima­gination, a cursed Invention of the Devil's finding out, that sinks many thousands into endless perdition.

Be no longer deceived, God will not be mocked: you cannot live the life of the Wicked, and dye the death, or have the Reward of the Righteous: Mortifie therefore your members which are on the Earth, all Uncleannesse, inordinate Affections, Lusts, and Covetousnesse, which is Idolatry. You have but one thing in your which is your friend and that is the Righteous Seed, which hath ever suffered by you, and been suppressed in you, but doth not resist you, only as an innocent Lamb, it bears its Testimony against you, that your deeds are evil, and that's the reason why it is not regarded by you. Is not he a Friend that in love and meekness layes your infirmities before you, and not on­ly so, but sweetly gives good counsel to you, Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you? This is Gods living Wit­ness, which he hath placed in you, to be a Light to shine within you, a Guide and Leader of you out of the Pride, Pollutions, Pleasures and Vanities of the World, a Staff to stay and strengthen you; It is the Power of God unto Salvation to all that believe in it, and are faithful and obe­dient to it; It is the Armour of God, wherewith the Fol­lowers of the Lamb make war against the Dragon; By this the Saints overcome sin, resist the Devil, and batter down his kingdom: Make tryal of it, come, put it on, and wear it, and be cloathed with it: I have made proof of it, and gives this Testimony for it, I find it the only weapon which wounds the head of the wicked in me, and over­comes him for me; Glory, glory unto Sions King for ever who is so good and gracious to me, that hath given the Enemy of my Soul such a mortal wound within me, that he is not able to overcome me: for Michael my Prince [Page 3]is with me, and fights valiantly for me, day and night I feel his Presence with me, the riches of his Mercies he daily showres upon me, which all the sons of Adam are not able to take from me; This is my joy, this my com­fort, The Eternal God is within me; I fell not his frowns, no, he smiles upon me, and maketh my Prison as pleasant as a Palace to me.

And if I never speak or write word more, this is my Testimony for the Light of Christ all your Consciences; It is the tender love of the living God unto you (I speak what I know) to subdue and conquer sin (which is the De­vils kingdom) for you, and within you, if in your hearts you love the Light, believe in it, be obedient to it, and are willing to be guided by it. There is no other Anti­dote against the poison of Sin, but this Holy Seed; there is no other Physician can cure you of this Leprofie, but Israels Light; This Balm of Gilead is the Soveraign Cure for a Wounded Conscience; there's none can heal you but he that smites you.

You that in any measure have got victory over some of your sins, Consider seriously how you came by it: Did you not receive strength, zeal and power from a principle within you? Felt you not a war in your hearts? Was not your peace broken? That which brake your peace, be­gan the war; That which began the war against your wic­kedness, was Michael my Prince: Was it not he that woun­ded the Uncircumcised One within you, who sought to lord it over you, and to keep Lust alive in you? Felt you not the sting of sin to arise from within you? Had not sin its root or rise from the fleshly part or principle within you, even in your hearts? and was there not something that there wounded you, and made your sin a heavie burden to you? Walk'd you not heavily under its stroak for the [Page 4]sins which were committed by you? And then did you not feel a loathing of sin begotten in you? And was not Iniquity then a Burden to you? Was there not a secret Power which rebuk'd the Tempter in you? and was not this Power then sweet and precious to you, that did thus in your distress master sin, and overcome it for you? Was not this an inward work, and was not he your friend who did this for you? and was he not within you? Surely Sa­tan would not weaken his own kingdom; It was the Spirit of the Lord within you who did that good for you; Let him not be forgotten, but ever loved and honoured by you. Look no longer out, nor gaze no more about you, but be assured God's Kingdom is within you, and is Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost, as the Scriptures plainly testifie unto you; And shall God be kept any longer out of his Kingdom by you?

God is Light; All Sin is Darkness, and arises out of the heart of man, and that's within you; So is the Light which shines in Darkness, and for your sins is a Reprover of you, and so must be till sin be subdued in you: when that by him is done, Christ is a Saviour to you; but till then you must find him a Condemner of you: And 'tis not your flying to the Scriptures that can save you from the fire of his Wrath when once it's kindled in you, nor in your hea­viness take the burden from you, nor overcome the least corruption for you: No verily, nothing then but a Christ within you can give the least dram of comfort to you. Had you ten thousand Bibles with you in the time of your di­stress, they would be nothing worth unto you, if the Pre­sence and Comfort of a Christ be taken from you: I ap­peal to your very Consciences if this be not true which is here declared to you.

Come then, O come with boldness unto God's faithful [Page 5]Witness within you, and bear with patience the sentence which that shall passe upon you; It must and will first or last be a Condemner of you; but it will only reprove that which is for Condemnation in you. You may believe me, it will not flatter you, nor indeed render your condition worse than it is with you, but speak the mind of God in plainness to you, and that's the reason why it is now so little regarded by you; bear I say in patience its gentle Reproofs within you; it will but purifie, and not destroy you: Christ must first be known a Judge within you, a Condemner of every idle thought, word and deed, be­fore he be a Saviour to you: let him be your Law-giver; what he commands you in your Consciences, that submit and be obedient to; and he gives power, if it be to part with your dearest Dalilah, your bosom sins; stoop unto, and live in the Crosse to your crooked wills, and take up the Crown, for then he is a Saviour to you. Be you but willing to part with that which grieves his righteous Soul, and brings a weight upon you; so shall you never want his Power to execute his Command, to overcome and part with, first one sin, then another. I speak my own experi­ence. Let but your crooked wills be subjected to Christs Crosse, and then his Yoak is easie, and his Burden light; then will you run with chearfulness the race of his Com­mandments.

If ever man be otherwise justified by his Maker, than by believing in Gods Covenant of Light, which in the Conscience bears its Testimony against all Iniquity, and leads those out of sin, who are willing to forsake sin, and believe in him, and be guided by him; then let me be for ever condemned from the presence of the righteous God: This is the chief Corner-stone, the Rock which every wise man builds upon: This is that which the Learned [Page 6]Rabbies of this Ages, and all outside peevish Professors stumble at, and will not have to reign over them, but make war against him, and this is that which will grind them to pouder.

This is that Holy Seed which from righteous Abel to this very day hath ever been persecuted by Cains Brood, who can do no better while they live in that persecuting nature: This is that innocent Lamb, who now suffers by the devouring Lions in most of the Prisons of this Nation, in the Persecuted People, called Quakers, for not bowing to the will of man, which speaks contrary to the Law of God; Those are they who in all these Overturning times, since they were turned to the righteous God, who have been cryed up as Jesuitical, the Spawn of the Papists, Enemies to all Government, Plotters, Conspirators, Re­bels, Traitors; yet none of all this Trash ever was, nor ever can be justly proved against them: Who more peace­able in the Nation than this People, who live in obedience to that just Principle of God within them, whose King­dom is not of this World; and therefore with a carnal worldly weapon they neither do nor can sight for it, Who does the Rage of the Heathen (who know not God) sooner reach or fall upon, than this Innocent People? Who does the young Nurseries of our English Rabbies, yea, those who should be taught better manners, and use more manhood, rail, revile, imprison, and in many places of this Nation unreasonably wound, abuse and persecute, so much as this innocent harmless People, who never yet could, nor ever shall lift up a hand against their Ene­mies?

Tell me now, O ye Professors of this Nation, is not Innocency now counted for a Crime? And what have you got by warring, writing, or bending your tongues [Page 7]against this People, and their Principle? Is not the Rod, which many of you in the secret of your hearts prepa­red, or desired might be laid upon them, very near to come upon your selves? Is it not just with the righteous God to let in this Flood upon you, even for the secret malignity which lodged in many of your hearts against this People? Hast, hast, I say, into the Ark of God, Else verily I see this Deluge will overtake you, sink and drown you.

They who feared the Lord did gather and assemble themselves together, and spake often one to another; But this is now counted a Crime, for this Innocent People to meet peaceably together in their own hired houses, to wait upon the living God, and as the Lord giveth utte­rance, to edifie one another. And Christ the Son of God said. Swear not at: and James his Apostle said, Above all things, my Brethren, swear not. But now 'tis counted worthy of Imprisonment, Confiscation of Goods, and Ba­nishment, for the Children of God to be obedient to God, in his fear to assemble together and wait upon him, and not to Swear at all. Is it not a sad thing, that obedience to the living God should by the sons of men, who would be counted Christians, be thus taken for such a heinous Crime, little lesse than Treason, and so severely punished? What think you of this? Is Caesars Proclamation grounded upon Christs Religion? or, were they Christs friends who advised Caesar to take this course? It is not a high breach of the Priviledges of Gods People? Whom shall we obey herein, God or man? judge ye, O ye wise in heart.

Behold and see, all you that passe by! Did ever any People suffer more innocently than we do at this day? Because a handfull of rash inconsiderate men rise up against Caesar, shall therefore the Sons of Innocency be [Page 8]numbred amongst Transgressors, and thus undeservedly be proclaimed for Plotters? O the hastiness of men, and unadvisedness of such Counsellors! verily they are Ene­mies to God, and to his Kingdom; the Lord forgive them, O that they may see their Error and be ashamed.

If we now assemble together in Gods fear to wait upon him, and cannot for Conscience-sake any Oath at all; then Bonds to be sure are like to abide us; next Confis­cation of Goods, and Imprisonment at Caesars pleasure, if not Banishment to boot.

And if we submit to man herein, we offend God: Do you not see the Snare which unreasonable men have laid for the Innocent? Do you not see Vice and Vanity a­bounds abroad and rants it with Impudence; and Propha­ness hath liberty, while the Suns of Innocency, God's harmless Flock, are shut up in Prisons?

Were we of the World, the World would love us, for the World loves its own; but we are not of the World, therefore the World hates us: Is it not so? let that of God in your Consciences arise and judge between us and our Enemies.

But the little Flock are fill'd with an holy Resolution in this holy War against the Beast and False Prophet, who seek to poison the King in his Affections to this Innocent People. The Righteous Innocent Seed, though it suffer unto Death, cannot bow to the Unrighteous Law of Man; though not a People in the Nation more willing to submit to Just Government than they are. O let the Sufferings of the Innocent come before you, be tenderly affected by you, and a Warning to you, that you may hasten to the righteous God that made you, and be faithful to his Wit­ness within you, in whatsoever it requireth of you: And be not discouraged because Tryals seem near unto you, [Page 9]they will not harm you, but rather be good for you What if the Rod of the Wicked reach you, and for a sea­son be laid upon you, 'tis but to try you; It shall not al­wayes rest upon the back of the Righteous; Sion shall not alwayes sit in the dust. Faint not, I say, nor be discou­raged; There is a Remnant that cannot bow the knee to Baal, yet are we no Enemies to Caesars Person, nor good Government; for we cannot fight with a Carnal Weapon, neither for him, nor against him, but desire to live peace­ably under him in the exercise of our Tender Consciences towards God, and towards man; and for that end do we willingly pay Tribute to him: But in the Kingdom of our Consciences he must not come to rule; Christ Jesus alone, the Prince of Peace and Lord of Righteousness, must king it there, and not King Charles; no, nor the greatest Mo­narch upon Earth.

Therefore let not this dark cloudy day be any discou­ragement at all unto you in the exercise of your Consci­ences towards God. This Day must have a Night; Cold Winter will away; The Sun of Righteousness will arise and shine gloriously in the hearts of the People. Suffer­ings cannot fright the Suffering Seed, nor Death it self, if it come, cannot daunt them: For Sions King is with them, the God of Israel is in the midst of them, and speaks Comfort to them; their Joy and Peace in God no mortal can take from them.

Dear Friends, yet a little while, and the Clouds will clear again; God will plead the Cause and Innocency of his People in the Consciences of his and their Enemies: What though they seek to weary out the Saints with Suf­ferings, their expectations shall fail them; for God is the Supporter of his People in all their Tryals; for the Work is the Lords.

[Page 10] 'Tis in vain for Antichrist to make War with the Lamb, he shall find him a Terrible Lion; 'Tis the last Blow that ever the Beast and False-Prophet shall be able to give to the Royal Seed of Sions King; the Rage of the Heathen will hasten and help forward their own Ruine: The strength of Egypt is but as straw, the fire of the Lord shall consume it; and till then we do not expect to be de­livered from it, but are contented patiently to suffer un­der it, what ever God shall suffer Man to inflict upon us. In the mean time (Friends) let not Bitterness be in your hearts towards us, nor any prejudice rise up in you against us, because the Decrees of Men who are now in Authority do not favour us; The righteous God knows the innocen­cy of our Sufferings, and that we are neither Caesars, yours, nor the Nations Enemies, but your harmless Friends.

Wherefore let your Moderation appear towards all men, and do no otherwise to us, than you would have us or o­thers do to you: That's the Royal Law of Sions King, whom both you and we do owe subjection to in all things. Come, O come, I say, to Gods Witness in your Consci­ences, and that will teach you the Fear of the Lord, to Depart from Iniquity, which is the beginning of Wisdom. No true Wisdom can be possessed until the Fear of God be truly witnessed; which cannot be, unless Iniquity be departed from. Dominion over sin you can never get, until you come to Gods Witness, which in your Consci­ences declares against it, and are willing to submit unto the Light, that it may lead you over all the Mountains of Iniquity, and overturn all the strong-holds of Satan, and destroy his kingdom within you; For you have no other Armour to use against him, but the Light, which if you truly love and believe in, will, like Davids sling and stones; hit the Uncircumcised Philistine in the Forehead; with [Page 11]the Light must you overcome him, and mortally wound that Man of Sin: If you use any other Weapon in this Spi­ritual War, you cannot prosper nor prevail against him, but must be overcome and conquered by him. The Scriptures, nor any other outward thing, are not able to grapple with him; you must put on the Armour of Light, and with that resist him, or else be taken Captive by him: 'Tis the Power of that righteous Spirit that must prevail against him. O let not Sin any longer be kept alive in you, for 'tis that which keeps Gods blessing from you, and hinders him from being reconciled unto you, and is the cause of all the trouble that comes upon you; Sin brings a weight which will be too heavy for you: Hast, hast, and meet the Righteous God by a true Repentance and for­saking of your sins, that he may shew mercy to you before his judgments be poured down upon you: For verily in the Fear of the Lord I testifie unto yon Gods heavy In­dignation, his hot Displeasure will speedily overtake you, if your Iniquities be not speedily forsaken by you.

Gods dreadful Vengeance is near unto the Wicked, in the Fear of the Lord I declare it to you, O that you may hear and fear, and sin no more against the God that made you: O be not so vainly presumptuous as to trifle away your precious time; O put not the day of the Lord afar off; for lo, I tell you, it is very near unto you, it is even at the door: The time is nigh at hand when God will visit for the Iniquities of the people, and wound the hairy scalp of the wicked. Then shall the Drunkards Mirth be turned into Howling, and the Oaths and Curses of the Wicked be a weight upon their Consciences too heavy for them to bear: Then shall the Proud and Lofty be laid in the Dust, and those that fare deliciously every Day by grinding the faces of the Poor, shall be fed with Torment; [Page 12]and the Glutton in sorrow be sent into his Sepulchre: The wrath of the Wicked against the Innocent, shall then meet with Judgment from the Dreadful God; though his suf­fering Lambs do freely forgive them, yet the Fire of the Lord shall be kindled within them, and burn in their bowels till it have consumed them; And the Lukewarm Professors, who are neither cold nor hot, who stand ga­zing at the Innocent afar off, and in the secret of their hearts do little better than count the Crosse foolishness; these will the Lord recompence according to their Do­ings; He will stain the Pride of their Hearts, and spue upon their Glory; and their Hypocrifie and meer out-side Pro­fession shall stink, and be an ill favour to all sober people.

Ah! how Terrible will this approaching Day of the Lord be unto the Wicked? Verily they shall be turned into Hell, and all that forget God. The greedy Priests shall then be utterly confounded; the Merchants of Baby­lon shall weep and lament bitterly day and night; Sorrow and Angish shall come forcibly upon them, the Worm in their Consciences, which never dies, shall then begin to gnaw them; yea, that never-dying Worm shall then fear­fully torment them, and never leave till it have utter­ly consumed them: All the Strength of Egypt shall then be terribly shaken, and the Pillars of Persecution shall be broken in pieces. Then shall Sion be raised out of the Dust, and sing Hosanna's to her King. Then shall Gods Truths, which is now so unworthily contemned in the hearts of the Wicked, be highly honoured and advanced, his suffering Seed exalted; the garments of Mourning shall then be laid aside; Mordecai shall then be cloathed in Royal Apparel, and mischievous Haman shall receive a Reward according to his Deeds: The Righteous shall then rejoyce and be exceeding glad: Prisons then shall not be the Portion of Gods People.

[Page 13] Then shall it be known how innocently we have suf­fered; Then will God put a difference between the Pre­cious and the Vile; betwixt him that sweareth, and him that feareth an Oath. Till then, O thou Righteous God, we commit our Cause to Thee, and shall through thy strength, in patience bear the Yoak which our Adversa­ries shall be suffered to lay upon us: Till then we are con­tented to be the Sheep whom the Wicked intend for the Slaughter, and we shall not with any carnal weapon make resistance against them, but pray for them; In the in­tegrity of our hearts, O Lord, we do forgive them, and desire, if it may stand with thy good will and pleasure, thou wouldst shew mercy to them.

In thy strength, O God, are we bold to meet them, and in the patience, which thou givest us, we shall weary them who seek to weary us; Through thy assistance we shall not bow unto them; thy Arm supporting us, Lord, we shall overcome them: Thou art our stay, our strength, our shield, our All; Thou art with us, Thou art good un­to us, Thou fights our Battels for us, Thy living Presence is amongst us; Thou hast promised to be, yea, Lord, thou art and wilt be the Preserver of us; Thou daily ministers thy Joy and Peace unto us, Thy Blessing is not wanting upon us, Thy Love and Mercies cannot fail us, nor shall ever be distrusted by us; The Dew of Heaven descends upon us, Shall we then fear what man can do unto us? O Righteous God, let that for ever be far from us. Glory, Glory, Hallelujahs to the God of Heaven for ever.

Written by a Sufferer for Righ­teousness sake. M. M.

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Text Creation Partnership. Searching, reading, printing, or downloading EEBO-TCP texts is reserved for the authorized users of these project partner institutions. Permission must be granted for subsequent distribution, in print or electronically, of this EEBO-TCP Phase II text, in whole or in part.