The morning-watch, or, A spiritual glass opened wherin a clear discovery is made of that which lies in darknesse, from whence wars, contentions, and destructions do arise concerning a professed religion, with a few words of tender counsel unto the Pope, prelate, presbyter, independent & baptist, &c. ... / by ... William Smith.

The morning-watch, or, A spiritual glass opened wherin a clear discovery is made of that which lies in darknesse, from whence wars, contentions, and destructions do arise concerning a professed religion, with a few words of tender counsel unto the Pope, prelate, presbyter, independent & baptist, &c. ... / by ... William Smith.

Table of contents

Title page

To the READER.

THE MORNING-WATCH; Or, A Spiritual GLASS Opened, &c,

A few Words of tender Counsel unto the POPE, with all that walk in that way, who are called PAPISTS.

A few Words of tender Counsel to the PRELATES, with all that w•lk in that way, generally called PROTESTANTS.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto those called PRESBYTERIANS, with all that are walking in that WAY.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto those called INDEPENDENTS, with all that walk in that way.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto the BAPTISTS, with all that walk in that WAY.

A few Words of tender Counsel to all the Inhabitants of BABYLON.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto all born of the Spirit, who walk in the way of Life.

A few Words concerning true Discerning and Judgement.

§

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THE Morning-Watch: OR, A Spiritual Glass Opened.

WHEREIN A Clear DISCOVERY is made of That which lies in Darknesse, from whence WARS, CONTENTIONS, and DESTRUCTIONS do arise concerning a professed RELIGION.

With a few words of tender Counsel Unto the

Pope,

Prelate,

Presbyter,

Independent

& Baptist,

&c. That they may all watch to the Morning, and in the Glass behold themselves, and try their Principle and Practise, and see whose Image it bears, and vvhether it be the same Principle that the Saints vvere guided by, and the same Practice that they walked in, that none may lye any longer in darkness and be deceived; but all may come in one spirit to be gathered, and into one body baptized, where Love and Life, Peace and Eternal Unity is truly enjoyed and possessed.

By one vvho travels for Israel's Freedom▪ William Smith.

LONDON, Printed, and are to be sold by Robert Wilson, at the sign of the Black-spread-Eagle and Wind-Mill in Martins near Aldersgate, 1660.

To the READER.

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READER,

THe Way of Life, or the Way of Death, is the Choice that all people make, and are found walking in. The Way of Life is strait, and there be not many finds it; the Way of Death is broad, and many walk therein The [...]efore it is of concernment for thee to examine thy present state, and to be careful in what way thou walkest, least suddenly thou fall into danger; for God would not have thee pe [...]ish, nor to go on in the Way of Death, but would have thee turn and depart out of it▪ and for that end hath he freely made manifest in thee, a measure of his Spirit to discover it, that thou mayst see the danger, and escape it, and that thou mayst not run into it, and destroy thy self; and that is in thy Conscience placed, which truly tryes thy wayes and doings, and doth not let an evil thought, word, or deed, go unreproved; tha [...] is the Light of Christ which thou art enlightened withall, and lets thee see that when thou art at liberty in the flesh, and satisfying the lusts of it, thou art in the broad way that leads to destruction, & it reproves thee for it, & calls thee to turn and depart out of it; if thou walk in pride, drunkennesse, covetousnesse, envy or mal [...]ce, in scorn or disdain of others, the Light of Christ doth reprove thee in thy own Conscience for such things, and calls thee to absta [...]n from them; and this is the broad way, that leads to destruction; all that walk in it, and will not turn from it when reproof comes, they destroy themselves, and will perish in their gain-saying: Therefore whilest the Lord is visiting thee in his tender mercies, harden not thy heart against him, nor re [...]ect his counsel, but be diligent, and ready to rece [...]ve, and in the quietnes [...] of thy mind attend to the Word near thee, which is in thy heart, and in thy mouth, that thou mayst obey it, and do it; for it is Gods gift unto thee, and stands a witness for God in thy Consc [...]ence; it is Life, and the Life is the Light, and the Light breaks forth in thee, and makes manifest unto thee the secrets of thy own heart, and lets thee see all thy thoughts, whether they be good or evil; and thou canst not hide thy Counsel from it, nor cover any intent so close, but it will find it out: This is God's Love [Page] unto thee, who hath given his Son for thee, that thou in him might believe, and have everlasting life: Wait in his fear, his counsel to know, and his leading to follow, and he will bring thee to the strait Way, and open it for thee to walk in, and he will judge and condemn all that in thee which must not enter; and he will bring thee down into the Death, where God's Wonders thou wilt behold in the deep: And this is the straitness of the Way, and the Ground why so few findes it, and walks in it, Because that flesh and blood must not enter, but be judged down to death: Therefore Reader, be diligent to find out thy present state, and to know the Way wherein thou art walking, and do not dece [...]ve thy self by crying Peace, when sudden destruction is near at hand; and be not secure with a talk of God and Christ, but wait to know them; and speak not of Faith and Grace, until thou have them, for there [...]n thou deceives thy self, and the Enemy blinds thy m [...]nd in a secure state.

So unto that of God in thee which is pure, I direct thee, that thou mayst know the Leadings and Teaching [...] of it; and believe in it, and joyn to it, and it w [...]ll bring thee to know those things that concerns thy own Peace: And in the measure of God manifest in thee, read this following Treatise, and it will keep d [...]n that mind tha [...] covets Knowledg, and would be feeding upon Knowledge, which the Lord forbids; or if any thing arise in thee which would be angry o [...] envious, the Light of Chr [...]st will judge that down and [...]ll keep thee low in the meekness and patience to read and understand; and if any thing seem hard unto thee whi [...]h at present thou mayst not have clearness [...]n, let it alo [...]e until [...]he day declare it: And be not hasty to know, nor rash to ju [...]ge in that wh [...]ch cannot d [...]scern it; but be sti [...]l, & co [...]l, and sink down, and wait in pat [...]ence until the appointed time. And this is published in the serv [...]ce of Love for thy sake who erres, for want of knowledge, and is not come to walk in the Way of Understanding, that thou mayst be informed of the subtil workings of the Enemy of thy Peace, and to know a part in that wh [...]ch gives Dominion over him, which is CHRIST JESUS the LIGHT in thy Conscience; unto which I am made manifest, who [...]ravels to rel [...]eve the weary, and to ease the oppressed ones, that the feeble may be strengthened, and all that breath after God may be saved [...]n this day of his Mercy: My Friendship is to thee and all people, in the Truth of God.

W. S.

THE MORNING-WATCH; Or, A Spiritual GLASS Opened, &c,

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AWAKE, Awake all people; Arise, lift up your eyes, watch to the Morning, the Day is come, and the glory of Israel is risen; all things is manifest as they are; Darkness is dangerous, and the Ways thereof leads unto Death; Why will ye walk therein? And why will ye dye? O ye yeople! Everlasting Mercy from the Lord God is held forth, that none might be lost, but all might be saved. Bow down your ear, and hear; be diligent, and encline; for that is come which was before the Subtilty, and that is manifest which in the beginning made all things, and was before the Serpent prevailed, or before that sin or death entered; and this h [...]th God revealed in his tender mercy, and hath visited many therein, whose Understandings are opened, and their eyes enlightened to behold the way of life; and they are come to that which was before the World was made, and knows a part in that, which was Moses life, whose understanding was opened to see to the beginning, and beheld God's Eternal Power in the Creation, and the movings of his Spirit upon the face of the Waters, and his bringing Light out of darkness; and when this was opened to his understanding, and he had seen it, then he declared it, and it was written, and that which was written, was called Scriptures; but that which Moses declared, as the Word of o [...] Life, [Page] which was in the beginning; and this Word was with God, and was God; who said, Let there be Light, Gen 1.3. (mark) God said it, this was the Word) the thing was done, and came to pass: Then God saw the Light that it was good, and he called the L [...]ght, Day, and the Darkness he called Night, and the Evening and the Morning were the first day, Gen. 1.4. (Mark this:) The Word said, Let there be Light, and the Light was brought out of Darkness; so the Morning was come and the first Day was created in the Eternal Word; and [...]nto this Life was Moses gathered, and had his Understanding opened, that he could see to the Beginning, and behold the Works of God in the Creation, which was wrought and brought to pass before his time upon the Earth; & there was no Tradit [...]on to give him the knowledge of it, but the Light which shone out of darkness in his heart, in which he was gathered unto God, and had union with his Life; and in the L [...]fe revealed, Moses had clearness in his Understanding to the Beginning, and beheld the six dayes Work, and the Creation finished, and also the seventh Day in which God rested: He [...]eheld man in his Innocency and Vprightness, and saw the Image in which he was created, and the purity and glory in which he was formed; he beheld the Habitation in vvhich he vvas placed; and he saw the covering with which he was clothed, and in which he stood, before the Creator, and was not ashamed; he beheld Paradise, and all the Trees of the Garden, and saw what was allowed unto man for Food, and what was forbidden▪ He beheld the Serpents subtilty, and his deceitful working, and saw how he entered, and how he prevailed over man; he beheld how he drew & enticed man's mind from his obedience unto God; and he saw how man fell and degenerated from the Power that had made him; and he beheld the entrance of sin and transgression, and saw the Curse and Death that came over all men in the Fall; he beheld and saw the Love of God open, and the Seed of the Woman promised to break the Serpents Head. This was [...]oses understanding opened in the Light that shone out of darkness, which was manifest within himself, in which the Morning appeared, and the First Day did break unto him; then in the Light he read thorow the generations [Page] that were before him, and declared of their states and conditions, and of their wayes and doings; and then it was written, and became Scriptures; (Mark) It was not Scripture before Moses had declared it, and what he hath declared, and what is written, is true, and given forth by him in the Power that made all things manifest to him: So he declared of Adam, and of h [...]s Innocent state, and of his Fall, and of his driven-out-state; he declared of Cain, and of his Sacrifice, and of Abel, and of his Sacrifice; he declared of the Flood that came upon the World of the ungodly; and of Noah a just person, who with his Sons and Daughters were preserved in the Ark: He declared of Abraham the Father of the faithful, and of the Covenant that God made with him and his Seed for ever; he declared of Ishmael and Isaac, of Esau and Jacob, and through all the generations that had gone before him; and he did not receive these things by Tradition, or by any knowledge that came without him, but as they were opened and made manifest within him, where he beheld and read them in the Light and Life by which all things were made and created, and into which he was gathered and united. This is that Moses whom God sent into Aegypt, to bring up Israel his chosen, who with mighty Signs and Wonders delivered them from under Pharoah's Power, and was a Leader unto them, out of Aegyptian Darkness, and from under the heavy Tasks that they we [...]e oppressed withall. He received the Law at Mount Horeb, and he writ it in Tables of Stone, that Israel might know the Statutes and Ordinances, which the Lord required that they should observe and keep, and that they might obey the Lord their God; this was the Covenant which God made with Israel in those dayes when he brought them out of the Land of Aegypt; and it was committed unto Moses, who was made a Minister of it, and taught the people to observe and do it, that they might possess the Land which the Lord their God had given unto them, and that they might not forget the Lord and his Benefits: And this was Moses Ministration, for the Law came by him; howbeit this Ministration was not the Thing it self, neither could make the comers thereunto perfect; yet in its time was glorious, [Page] and was a true Figure and Shadow of him that was to come, which afterwards was to be more fully revealed, whose glory exceeded▪ and Moses Ministration was but a Type of him, and a School-Master to bring unto him, who was before the World was; and it held forth, though more darkly, as in a Glass, the glorious appearance of CHRIST the Word of God, and Power of God, who was yet to come, and to be made manifest and revealed, of whom Moses truly prophesied, when he said, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me, him shall you hear in all things; and who will not hear the voice of that Prophet▪ shall be cut off from amongst the People: (Mark:) They were to be cut off that would not hear the voice of him of whom Moses prophesied, who was yet to come, and to be the end of the L [...]w for Righteousness, and to be the fulfiller of it, and to save and redeem from under it, seeing that no flesh could be [...]ustified by it, because of the weakness and unprofitableness of it, and because it was a Ministration of Conde [...]nation unto such as did not continue in all things written therein▪ therefore Moses testified of him who was to be raised up, and directed all to hear his Voice, whose Ministration was to bring in Everlasting Righteousnesse, and to redeem from under the Bondage of the Law; and this was Moses Testimony unto CHRIST the Power of God; and he did not direct People to look at any thing, or hear any thing that was written before his time, but to look to Christ, and to hear his Voice, that they might come to that which made the World, and was in the beginning, with whom Moses had then true union, and felt his life, and beheld the Excellen [...]y of his glory, which was still to be revealed; and both the Law and Prophets bear witness unto him, and the Scriptures throughout testifies of him, and declare his unchangeableness, who through all abides the same; what he was in the beginning▪ he was the same to Moses, and to David, and all the Prophets, and Holy men of God, who all received a measure of his unchangeable life, and were thereby inspired; and as that in them moved so they spake and declared, and their Testimony agree [...] in one; for they were all come to that which vvas in the beginning, and all declared the same thing according [Page] to its manifestation unto them; that from Moses until John, all the true Prophets bo [...]e their Testimony unto CHRIST the Power of God, whom they knew to be freely▪ given of God to be a LIGHT and a LEADER, that he might be salvation unto the ends of the Earth; & as they received, they Ministred, and truly testified of his Power; and what they knew him to be made unto them, so they declared of him, and witnessed him to be a King, a Judge, a Law-giver, a Rock, a Fortress, a Deliverer: And so according to the Manifestation they Ministred, and not by Tradition or Custom, That the Testimony of John agreed with the Testimony of Moses, and they both witnessed the same Thing, and had Union with the same Life: So John was come to that which was in the Beginning, and in that he was the greatest of all the Prophets, and was sent of God to prepare the Way, and to make the Pathes streight; for he was near to be revealed in glory, of whom Moses and the Prophets had testified; and John declared of the Word which was in the beginning, by which all things were made; And he testified, That in the Word there was Life, and the Life was the Light of men, John 1. (mark:) The Word in the beginning is the Life and Light of men, by which all things were made: This was his Testimony who was sent of God to bear witness unto the Light; and he did not declare of another then the holy men of God had done the same, that Moses and the Prophets had testified of; and he was sent of God to bear witness unto this Truth which was in the beginning, and he did not testifie of that to be the Light, which Moses and the Prophets had written before him; neither did he testifie of himself to be the Light, but that is the true Light (saith John) that enlightens every man that comes into the world, John 1.9. Here was the Light shone out of Darkness in John, the Morning and the first Day was come unto him, as was unto Moses, and he beheld his Glory as the Glory of the onely begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth: Then God sent him to bear witness unto the Light which in him was made manifest, that all in the Light might believe; and he called unto others to behold him, and said he was the Lamb of God, and was come to take away [Page] the sins of the World, John 1.29. (Mark:) He beheld him and his Glory, and felt his Power, and what his Power tooke away; then he declared him as he knew him, and not from any Tradition or Writing before him, though then there was much written which did truly testifie of him. Weigh this Truth all ye Priests and Professors, and ponder it in your hearts; Have you beheld Christ, and seen his Glory whose Name in Words you declare? Have you felt his Power to take away your sin? If yea, then why do you teach for Doctrine mens Traditions, and build upon other mens labours, and stretch your selves beyond your own measures, running into the Lines of what others have written? And if nay, then how dare any of you make mention of his Name, or speak of his Glory, or of his Power, seeing you have not beheld him yet made manifest in your selves? You are not sent of God, no not one of you, who cannot witness in some measure, the glory of the onely begotten of the Father revealed in you: Therefore let all flesh be silent, and the mouth of Iniquity for ever stopped, and let none speak more of Christ, or his Glory and Povver, then they knovv a measure of his Life made manifest in their mortal bodyes, by vvhich they come to know their sin taken avvay; For John testified, that the giving forth of the Law vvas by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ, John 1.17: (Mark:) Grace and Truth vvas come unto John by Jesus Christ, and he had beheld and had felt the Virtue of it, by vvhich Moses Administration vvas fulfilled in him: And this is John's Record, who vvas sent of God to bear Witness unto him in whom is life, the same vvhich was in the beginning, of vvhom Moses testified, that so their Record agrees in one, and their Testimony is unto the same Life in Unity; for they vvere gathered unto Him vvho vvas in the beginning, and vvas made manifest through Generations to be a Light and a Leader; and all that believed and obeyed him, had Life Eternal in him: And this is he that vvas made under the Law, to Redeem them that vvere under the Law, and in fulness of time came and vvas made manifest to Israel, and vvas the end of the Law for Righteousness, unto all that did believe; and so he fulfilled [Page] the Ministration of Condemnation, which could not justifie any because of its weakness; & he brought in a Ministration of Righteousness, which did exceed in Glory; And this was the Word in the beginning, which became flesh, & dwelt amongst them, & they beheld his glory, and received him; and as many as received him, unto them he gave Power to become the Sons of God, even to as many as believed in his Name: And John preferred him before all▪ saying, He that comes after me, is preferred before me, for he was before me, and his shoo-latchets I am not worthy to unloose: I baptize with water, but he shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire, whose Fan is in his hand; he must encrease, but I must decrease, saith John. And when he came and was made manifest unto Israel, of whom Moses and the true Prophets had testified, and whose Glory they saw was to be revealed, he Ministred forth of his own Fulness, and of his Fulness they received, who upon him waited, and in him believed: Then he confirmed the Testimony of all the Holy Men of God, saying, I am the Light of the World, he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life, John 8.12. And this Testimony the Pharisees could not receive, but told him he bore Record of himself, and his Record was not true: These were the wise Generation, and the Scripture-learned ones in that day, who had the Law and the Prophets read amongst them every Sabbath, and yet did not behold his glory when manifest amongst them, of whom Moses and the Prophets had testified; nor did not believe his own Testimony, who spake the Things that he heard and received of the Father: Mind this all you wise people of this present Age, who are wise in your own eyes, and hears and reads the Testimony of the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles, and is searching the Scriptures from one end to another, and yet you come not to him, nor cannot receive his Testimony of whom the Scriptures do declare, & in whom is life: Now there was a poor people in that day, that did own his Testimony, and received him, and believed in him, and became followers of him, though by the Wise, and Mighty, and Noble, he was despised and rejected: And those that followed him, were made Witnesses of the Works and Miracles which he did [Page] whilest he was in that Body prepared; and they beheld great and mighty things done by his Power, the Dead raised, the Lame restored, blind Eyes opened, deaf Ears unstopped, the Tongue of the Dumb unloosed, Lepers cleansed, Devils cast out, with many other Signs and Miracles which in the days of his Flesh was done by him: And when the Work was near finished which the Father had given him to do, and the time of his Departure drew nigh, and that he was to leave them who believed in him, and were Followers of him, all things drawing near an End, he said unto them, It is expedient that I go away, that I may send you another Comforter to abide with you for ever, the Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot receive: And when he had finished, he departed from them, and left them, and entered into the Glory that he had with the Father before the World began, and sits at his Right Hand in the highest Heavens, Principallities and Powers being subject to him. This is he that doth redeem and save his People from their sin; and there is not another Name given whereby any can be saved; but the Name of Jesus. And after he was taken up from them, and was ascended, then did they wait for his Promise to be fulfilled; and they tarryed in Jerusalem, and waited until they were endued with Power from on High; and he did not leave them Comfortless, but in his Faithfulness he came unto them, & fulfilled his Promise, and poured forth his Spirit upon them, & they all spake the wonderful Works of God; then they preacht his Name from City to City, and published Salvation in his Life, and so they Witnessed that which they received in the pourings forth of the Spirit; and they were made able Ministers of the Spirit, and in the Spirit the things of God were unto them revealed, and they then laboured and travelled, that others who were Strangers and Aliens unto that Life which in them was revealed, might be gathered and brought to have union with it: So their Ministry in the Spirit was to turn people from Darknesse to the Light, and from the Power of Satan unto the Power of God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins; (mark) There must be a coming from Darknesse to the Light, and from Satan's Power unto the Power of God, before that [Page] sin be forgiven, or transgression blotted out: And this is that which so many vvants, they want the Light and Power of God, and lyes in Darknesse, and under the Power of Satan; so their sin [...]emains, and they live in it, and sayes it must be so whilst they are in this World; and they come not to that in which sin is forgiven and done away: And so people preach and believe in another Doctrine and Gospel then they preached and believed in, who vvere Witnesses of his Majesty, and were true Labourers in the Gospel who converted and gathered many unto God, who sometimes were afar off from h [...]m; and many came out of Darknesse to the Light, and from under Satan's Power, unto the Power of God, vvhich vvas the Gospel that they preached, and laboured to gather people unto; and all that believed and received their Testimony, set to their Seals that God is true; and Witnessed Salvation and plentious Redemption in the Light and Power of Christ, and they knew the Gospel, and Life, and Immortality brought to light by it; and then they stood in the sanctification of the Spirit, and knew the Povver of it in their Inward parts, and their hearts vvas by it purified, and they were made Saints of the Most High, and they all had their Life in one Spirit, according to the Measure received, and in the Spirit they served and Worshipped God Day and Night, and their Worship and Service he accepted; these were the faithfull in Christ Jesus, vvho had crucified the Flesh with all the Affections and Lusts of it, and vvere born of the Spirit into a new life, vvhere they Witnessed the Work of Regeneration and Renewing in the Power of God: And then there vvas Epistles written unto such to edifie and comfort them, and to build up and strengthen them, that they might stand in the Faith vvhich they had received, and in the Faith resist the Devil, and all his fiery Darts; and so by Faith in the Power, they Witnessed the World, and Flesh, and Devil overcome, and Victory obtained over all the Povvers of Darkness, and in the Povver they vvere kept, that the Wicked one did not touch them: So these vvere exhorted to stand fast in the Liberty vvhere [...]ith Christ had made them free, and and not look back again, to be entangled vvith a yoake of Bondage, [Page] Gal. 5.1. (Mark:) their Liberty was in Christ, and he had made them free, and they were come out of bondage, and were not to look back again, least they should be entangled; these had the Mark before them in the Light, and was to press forward, and not look back again; and the knowledge of the glory of God was given unto them in the Light which shone in their hearts, 2. Cor. 4 6. (Mark) The Light was in their hearts, by which, they came to know God and his Glory; and they that did not believe in the Light which was manifest in them, they did abide in Darknesse, and the God of this World blinded their minds, and kept them from the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, 2 Cor. 4.4. (Mark.) The Light was there, but they believed not; So the God of this World ruled over them, and kept them from it; but unto those that did Believe, it was the Mighty Power of God unto Salvation; and by it were they gathered unto God, and had fellowship with him & one another: So had they the true knowledg of God being in the Light gathered into fellowship with him; then they testified, That God is Light, and in him is no Darknesse at all, 1 Joh. 1.5. (Mark) This was John's Message which he had heard of him, & declared unto the Saints, That God is Light, & in him [...]s no darknesse at all; and those that say they have fellowship with God, and walk in darkness, they lye, & do not the Truth▪ but who walk in the Light, as he is in the Light, they have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth them from all sin; And this is John's Testimony unto the Saints gathered in the Light; and then he exhorted them to abide in it, and walk in it, and receive the Teachings of it; For saith John, You need not another Teacher, but the Annointing which you have received of him, and abideth in you, (Mark;) the Annointing which the Saints had received, it did abide in them, and they needed not that any man should teach them, but as the same Annointing taught them all things, and is truth and no lye, 1 John 2.27. And in the Truth received, they lived, and it did abide in them; and by the same Spirit of Truth were they led into all Truth, and had Fellowship and perfect unity one with another in the Truth, and they were dear and tender over one another, and loved one another with an unfeigned Love; and these were they [Page] that were born of God, and were Children of the Light, and of the Day; and they were not of the Night, nor of Darknes [...], but out of that state were redeemed and saved by the Power of Christ, and in his Light they were led into the holy City, which John in the Spirit saw descending out of Heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her Light was like a Stone most precious, and the City had no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to shine in it, for the Glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof, and the Nations of them that are saved, shall walk in the Light thereof, and the Kings of the Earth bring their Glory and Honor into it, Rev. 21. (Mark) all that are saved must walk in the Lambs Light which shines in the Holy City, and thither the Kings of the Earth must bring their Glory and Honour, and all must be laid down at the feet of him who reigns for ever; for unto the Lambs Power must all be subject, he is greater than all, there was none before him, neither is there another after him; the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and Last, Rev. 22. (Mark:) I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and Last: And here Moses and John meets in unity, and their Testimony agrees in one, and all the Dispensations and Administrations did hold forth this excellent Glory which unto John was revealed in the Spirit; and from the beginning to the end of all that is declared and written in so many Words, it is but a Testimony of him whose Name is called the Word of God, Rev 19▪ (Mark,) The WORD is his Name, and it was in the beginning, and by it was all things made that are made; and all the Holy Men of God received it, and had a part in it, and by it they all obtained Life, and they testified that there was not another Name given whereby any could be saved: And this is declared in Words, and is called Scripture of Truth, but is not the Word whereby Life and Salvation comes; For that was in the Beginning, and is the same this Day, and abides for Ever; CHRIST the Power of God, the Salvation of God, without any variableness or changing; and what Moses saw him to be in his time, John saw him to be the same in his time; and as he was made manifest unto them, so they testified of him, and exalted [Page] him above every Name, and laboured to gather people unto him; and many believed in him, and were united to him, and by one Spirit were baptized into one Body, and had fellowship and communion in one life, and in the Spirit they worshipped God with one accord, and served him with one consent: And this was glorious in its time, and a Service accepted of God; for they were single and upright to God, and worshipped him in his own Spirit, and his living presence was amongst them, and the Light of his Countenance did shine upon them, and their hearts were made glad, and rejoiced in him, and they offered up a living Sacrifice of Praise unto his Name: Then did Antichrist begin to work amongst them, and with his subtilty entered and prevailed over some of them, and through his deceivableness entangled them, and drew them from their obedience unto the Power in which they were gathered; then did those forsake the rest that in the Power were kept, & went out from them, and turned the Grace of God into wantonness, and made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience; then Night came upon the Disobedient, and the Vail spread over them, and darkness covered them, and they lost the Life and Power of God, and went out from the Spirit and from the Truth, and so became false Apostles and Deceivers, holding the Form, but denyed the Power, had the Sheeps Clothing, kept the Words, but inwardly ravened from the Spirit; And these Apostates who were gone from the Life and Power of God, and had lost the Leading of his Spirit, they turned into the Flesh, and joined to the Harlot, and committed Whoredom, and generated in the Flesh, and conceived a false Birth, and in their own strength brought it forth, and it turned a Persecutor of the Birth born of the Spirit, and exercised Dominion and Lordship over others, and sought to pervert the Right Way of the Lord, and to turn people from it; and after the Saints decease, who by the true Spirit were guided, then the false Apostles and Deceivers prevailed, and drew people, unto their Way, which stood in the Form, out of the Power so that the people were covered with gross Darkness, and their minds blinded, that the things of God were not at all [Page] perceived, then they sought out many Inventions, and made many Likenesses, and set up Forms, and every man's Way seemed right in his own eyes, and all became observers of their own Way; so set up the Kingdom in their observations, and all crying, that Christ was in that Way which they had made and observed. Now Christ beheld the coming of such, and exhorted to beware of them, and not believe them, nor go forth after them; for he declared that they were false, who shall cry him up in any observation, or set up the Kingdom of God in any such thing; therefore saith Christ, The Kingdom of God is within you, Luk. 17. So in this dark Night of Apostacy that was entered, people ran into Confusion, and did not understand one another: And when this glorious Day was lost that the Saints lived in who gave forth the Scriptures, and that people were gone astray, and erred from the leading of the Spirit, and had no union with the Life and Power that the Saints enjoyed, then they got their Words, and in the strength of their Imaginations, they set up a Way, and formed a Likeness, then centered in the Form, and rested there for Life; so was the Light and Day of God lost, and no Morning in them appeared, but gross Darkness was over them, and they did not like to retain God in their knowledge; then they went into the Visibles, and grew wise in the Letter, and read of the Saints Practice, and of their Worship, and laboured to form up some thing like it; and what they made and formed, in that they worshipped, and it seemed to be right in their own eyes. So they kept the Words, and with them stood cloathed, but were from the Life and from the Spirit, inwardly ravened. And this is Babylon the Mother of Harlots, where the Seed of God is in Captivity, & where people are distracted and confused, all tossed like waves of the Sea, and all unstable as VVaters; and out of this the Beast rises, and his Heads and Horns appeares, and he opens his mouth in Blasphemy against God, and blasphemes his Name and his Tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven; And this John in his time saw in the spirit; and when the Beast had got up his Heads and his Horns, he began to make war, and to force and compel subjection to his Power, that all [Page] might bow unto him, and receive his Mark; then did the world worship the Beast, and wondered after him, whose Names were not written in the Lambs Book of Life; and they that would not worship the Image of the Beast, was to be killed, And none was to buy or sell, but those that had the Mark, or the Name of the Beast, or the Number of his Name, Rev. 13. so came People under the Beasts Power in the Darkness, when they were ravened from the Spirit in which they should have worshipped the Father; then they worshipped the Image of the Beast, and received his Mark, so turned against the Lamb and his Followers, and made War with them, that when any thing of God appeared which was made manifest in people, then the Beast rose up, and made War against that, and reached unto it with his Horns, and pushed it down; so the true Church hath been driven into the Wilderness, where she hath been through time and times, and dividing of times,, and now is coming forth in the purity and glory of her Beloved, upon whose Breast she leans; and thus people have erred and gone astray from the Way of God, and have not known their part in that Life into which the Saints were gathered who gave forth the Scriptures; neither hath their Ears bin open to hear the teachings of God's spirit, which is manifest within them; so they have heapt up Teachers without them after their own ungodly lusts, and their ears have been itching after them; and they have built Houses for them, and called them Churches, and they have crept into them, and there have they led the silly Women captive, who have been laden with sins and divers lusts, and have been ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth, so hath the false Church and false Teachers spread over the Earth in the Night of Apostacy, and the people they have loved to have it so; there was liberty for the flesh, they could sit down in that Way, and eat, and drink, and rise up to play, and that pleased the carnal m [...]nd, and satisfied the affection and lust of the Flesh; and so hath all the vain Worships and Customs which people are this day worshipping in, who yet abides in Forms and Traditio [...]s, they are all come up since the dayes of the Apostles, and are after mens [Page] Traditions, and not after Christ; and the Conception of all hath been in man's Imagination, and hath been brought forth in his own Will and Wisdom; and so is a fleshly Birth, which hath ever persecuted the Birth of God; for man's heart adulterating from that of God in him, he goes into the Flesh, and unto the Flesh he joins and commits VVhoredom, and brings forth a Child of VVhoredom (and so have all Conceptions and bringings forth since the Dayes of the Apostles, been Bastards, and not Sons) then the Father that Begets, and the Mother that Bears, would have their Son to be set up, and they clothe him, and adorns him with fair coverings, that he may appear beautiful, and be beloved, & then would have all be subject to him, bow down, and worship him; and though all these Bastards differ much in their Likenesse, and cannot joyne, nor own one another, yet is their Conception all in one womb, and they all partake of one Nature; and that which makes the difference, is the Garment which they are dressed withall, in which they appear outwardly to the eyes of the beholders; and when the true Birth appears, they all take a part, and joins together, and conspires to kill him and to cast him out of their Countrey; So doth all the Harlots Children stand this day, every one for themselves, and one against another, but all against Christ the Son and Heir; and not one of them by what Name soever known, that would have him to reign, but strives with him, and makes War against him, as hath been experienced in this present Age; So every one likes and loves their own best, and labours to cherish and to strengthen that, and would have it to have a Name and Power in the Earth; and this is the great Contention amongst all the Apostates, who Wars, and Fights, and Destroys one another about their Religion, they would all set up their own Birth, and would have that Adored and Worshipped, and if there be but a bowing unto the Appearance of it, they are satisfied with it, though the heart be in the Hypocrisie; but if any deny to Worship that which they set up, and cannot bow unto it for Conscience sake, then they are offended, and provoked, and so Wars, and Fights, and Destroys one another, [Page] because their Image is not adored, nor their Birth worshipped, and all runs to the Scriptures for shelter, and from the Scriptures would prove their Birth to be lawfully begotten, and from that ground would have their Son Worshipped, or would have such as cannot, to be persecuted; And thus do all lye in Darkness, and in Confusion, in the Night of Apostacy, and understands not one another, nor knows not what they would have done; for they being from the Life that gave forth Scriptures, their understandings are darkened, and they erre, and knows not the Scriptures; nor the Power of God; the Light not shining out of Darkness, nor the Morning having not appeared in them, they be still in the Earth, where Darkness covers, and are all Wanderers and Vagabonds in the Earth, and hath no part nor union with Moses's Life, the Prophets Life, and the Apostles Life, who had unity together in the one Spirit, and all walked in the manifestation of it, and so declared the things they heard, and saw, and tasted, and handled of the Word of Life; and they knew the Son of God to be come, the same that was in the beginning, and their Understandings were opened by him, and then they knew him that was true and was in him that is true, even in his Son, JESUS CHRIST; this is the time GOD, and ternal LIFE, 1 John 5. (Mark) the Son of God was come, the true Birth was born in them, and they knew him to be the only true God, and obeyed and worshipped him, and in him they had Eternal Life; and this they witnessed to be true: But who knows him not to be come that is True, they are not in the Saints Life, so runs into their Words, and gets their Words, and sows them together, and makes themselves Coverings, but abides in the Darkness, and brings forth that which is false, then searches the Scriptures for Words, to prove their Image a lawful Son: And this is the bottom and foundation of all professed Religions this day, centring in the Letter, and running thither for shelter, but are all from the Life, and out of that which is the sure Refuge and Defence; and though all these Births differ in their Form and Likeness, yet in the Ground one, and all nourished from one Root; and the difference is in their branchings forth, and appearances; for [Page] they reach to the Letter in their comprehensions and from that imagines how the Saints practised and worshipped, and then they adde their own Inventions and Conclusions concerning it; and so makes it up as a thing that is true, and these are divers in appearance; some carved out into one likeness and some into another; some appearing more excellent and glorious than others; and some being more painted with Scripture-words than others are; and so they make up the Image which Daniel saw, whose brightness was excellent, and the form terrible, the head of the Image was of fine gold, his Breasts and his arms of Silver, his Belly and Thighs of Brass, his Legs of Iron, his Feet part of Iron, and part of Clay, Dan. 2. (Mark) here was divers appearances in the Image; and some more glorious than others to behold, yet but one Image, and from the Feet unto the Head it seemed more excellent in shew, but all must fall together, for the foundation is in the mixture, and the little Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands it smites the Mixture, and brings down the whole Image, and in the fall of it there is no difference made from the Feet unto the Head; but the Iron, the Clay, the Brass, the Silver, and the Gold was broken to peeces together, and became like the chaffe of the Summer-threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them; and the Stone that smote the Image, became a great Mountain, and filled the earth, Dan. 2 23.

Hear, O BABYLON! for this is the Lord's Decree against thee this day▪ and all the Apostates that inhabits within thee; though many may be climbed up to the Head of Gold, yet they are part of the Image whose feet is Iron and Clay, and the little Stone will bring them down with the Rest, and they must fall and be destroied before the brightness of his Rising who is come to fill the Earth with his Glory; and though Babylon be diverse in appearance, and there be many branchings forth in her, and that there is not an agreement amongst themselves, yet they differ not in the root, but all springs up from the heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked, which lieth degenerated from God, and the night of Apostacy spread over it, and the fruit that is brought forth by them hath one [Page] taste, and is all bitter, and no savour of the life of God is felt amongst them: And though it be so, that all sorts and sects profess God, and with their lips seem to honor him, yet is their hearts far off from him; and their fear towards him is taught by the precepts and traditions of men, and in their works they are all found to deny him, and lies in darkness and confusion; some setting up, and some pulling down; some building, and some destroying; so doth the Inhabitants of Babylon dash one against another, and breaks one another, and destroies one another about their professed Religion, and are all out of that which m [...]kes for Peace, and that wherewith one may edifie another: So the Image hath been made and set up, and all these branches put forth since the daies of the Apostles, the Spirit of Truth being lost, and people having run in the night of Apostacy, they have been like blind men groaping for a Way to walk in; and when they could not find the Saints way, then in their inventions they made wayes to themselves, and what they made, that seemed right in their own eies: So have all the people a way and a worship, and in their own way their hearts is most delighted, and in that they are [...]est satisfied, though it never bring them near to God, or to feel the refreshings of his living presence.

1. Now the POPE, & those that walk and worship with him, they have a way, and unto them it seems right as others do, and they strive and contend for it, and counts all Hereticks that differ from them; and in their zeal to their way and worship, they make Laws and Decrees for to cut off and destroy such as cannot own their way, and walk with them; and the Pope challengeth the first place in Government and Power, as to those things that concerns Religion, and sets himself over all, and sits as a holy Father and Head of the Church, and institutes and orders what his will leadeth him to, and that he sets up in practise and profession; then unto that must all bow, or draw his displeasure upon them, and he concludes something from the Scripture that may be a ground for him in his practise; imagining that he is as Peter was, and hath power as Peter had, and fits in Peters Seat to rule, [Page] but is not found in Peters life, so an earthly carnal man, dark and blinde, not perceiving the things of God, and is far off from that in which Peter had power to binde and loose; so sits in a decked Seat in the pride and hautiness of his hear [...], and in that rules over people by the might of his earthly powers, which Peter never did; so the Thing he maketh to himself, and sets up a likeness, out of the power, and the form is practised, and a Will-worship performed, and in that is the Pope with his people satisfied, and thinks that they do God service, but are found in the degeneration and alienation from the life of God, and the in dark night of Apostasie, where the mystery they cannot perceive, so in darkness walk, and know not whither they go, because that darkness hath blinded their mindes.

2 And from the same Root another branch springs up something higher, and is called PRELACY, whose birth is conceived in the same womb as the other, and brought forth in the same strength, and they flye to the Scripture to uphold that part of the Image which they bear forth, and from the Scripture they would prove their's a lawful birth, having read of Bishops and Church-order of Prayer and Preaching, of serving and worshipping God; and in words they deny the Pope and his practises, and cannot joyn, nor own his Birth to be lawfully begotten; yet there is none nearer in the brotherhood, nor none more like in their form and appearance; but are all in darkness, and neither knows nor understands one another, though children of one house; so they live in strife and contention, warring and fighting about their likenesses, because different in form, and neither of them a true birth; but lye in darkness, and under the shadow of death, where peace they know not.

3 And then another branch puts out something above either of these, and is called PRESBYTERY, and they make a great noise with the Scriptures and Form a great Likeness, and bears forth a higher part of the Image, and they contend more earnestly by how much they have a fairer shew; and they would have their Son to rule over all, and would have all compelled to fall down, and worship [Page] their likeness which they set up, and presses to a conformity under penalties, and punishments; and they have Scripture to turn unto, by which they would prove their Birth to be the onely childe; so they plead their call to the Ministry lawful, because they read some were ordained by the gift of the Holy Ghost, and by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery; and they ordain Elders and Deacons, and Officers in their order and practise, having read of such names in the Scripture; and they contend against Pope and Bishops, and those Names, and cannot own nor joyn with them, but wars, and fights, and destroyes them; and so Babylon lyeth in darkness and confusion, and yet in the ground one; for the Presbyter's Branch is from the same Root, and his birth conceived in the same womb with the Popes and Prelates; and no difference but in the likeness made to themselves; for they be all in darkness, and from that which was in the beginning, and doth not know a part in the life which the holy men of God enjoyed, and from which the Scriptures were declared.

4 Then springs up another branch over all these, and is called INDEPENDENCY; and these have something like a form of godliness, and their Birth appears more glorious than any of the other, but is not the true Son; and though in many things they be separated, and differs from them, yet in others they joyn and consent unto them; and these bear but a higher part of the Image, by how much they have more of the form of godliness, and are more zealous in their practise and professed worship; and these do not so much strive after Compulsion, as some others do; though they would set up their Son as Chief, and would have him adored and worshipped above all; and they cannot own neither Pope, Prelate, nor Presbyter in their practise, but seperates from them and gathers into more particular union and fellowship together, and they run to the Scriptures to prove their Birth lawful, and their practise warrantable; but are with the rest in darkness, and in confusion, degenerated from the Power of God, by which all things were made, and [Page] knows not the life of Moses, the Prophets, and the Apostles▪ but stands [...]loathed and decked with their words, and there seem▪ to be something, and to stand above others in their shew of godliness, and Will-worship, but knows not the life revealed; so their strength lyes in the letter, and what the Saints have declared who were in the power of God redeemed▪ That they build upon as their foundation, and in their imaginations, practices in some things as they read the Saints did, and there they rest satisfied, and contented with their present states, and conclude to themselves a belief in Christ, and applie his promises, and what he did for them in that body that suffered without the gates of Jerusalem, and by his death and offering all things is accomplished for them, and no sin shall be ever imputed unto them though they live in it, and through his Mediation and Intercession for them, as he is at the right hand of God at a distance from them, they believe that they have access to God, and to the Throne of his grace, and are accepted of him; and yet they neither know God nor Christ, nor the place where they say he sits at the right hand of God; and upon confession made of this belief, and if there be something of soberness in people, that they do not appear openly prophane, such they receive into fellowship and brotherhood; when the birth of God lyes oppressed under the pride of their hearts, and no fellowship with God, nor one with another in the life of God; then they break bread together, and calls it an Ordinance of Christ, and meet together, and speak and pray in words, which is a branch of the old Root; and a higher part of the IMAGE, seemingly more glorious; and this is the faith which all people in words wil confess as they do, and doth not at all differ from the faith of the POPE, the PRELATE & PRESBYTER, all confessing faith in Christ, and a hope to be saved in Christ, and that he hath satisfied for all sin past, present, and to come, and in the life to come they shall obtain eternal salvation by Christ; and this is but the same which all will acknowledge in words, and differs nothing in the ground from the faith of those they are separated from, but branches forth of the same Root, and all their practise springeth out of the same ground, and is the Harlots [Page]Childe, though dressed with a fairer Covering.

Another branch there is which makes up the form of the Image, and branches forth from the old root, and is called BAPTISTS, who have formed a birth fair in shew, and is seemingly more glorious than any of the other, and they are also in strife and contention about it, and they flye to the Scriptures to defend it, and to prove it to be the lawful Childe; and because they read of some that went into the water, and were baptized, they observe and do the same; and reading in the Scriptures that there were some who met together, and exhorted one another, and were edified and comforted one in another, they observe and do as near as they can what they read of the Saints practise; and so conceives a birth in the same womb, and brings it forth in the same strength as others do, and in the ground it differs not; and concerning Christ and salvation they are of the general faith with the other parts of the Image, and many of them hath the strongest confidence in it, and contends most earnestly for it, being in their mindes perswaded that Christ hath satisfied for all their sin, and hath reconciled them unto God though they be sinners, and by him they hope to be saved after this life is ended, and so are set down in a carnal security, and rest at ease in the formality, and are strangers to the quickning Spirit; and the faith that they have made is not held in a pure conscience, but is conceived in the heart that is degenerated and corrupted: So people being from that of God in them, which he makes manifest unto them; [...] god of this world rules over them and blindes their mindes, that those things which are eternal they cannot perceive; then doth he lead forth their mindes into the temporals, and they make haste thither, and opens their eyes to look at the things which are seen, and this is pleasing to the carnal minde which is willing to turn any way that it may escape judgement: And what was by the Saints given forth, and appears in writings without them, that their life is in, and that they contend about, and all strives to set up their own Conceivings, and teach for Doctrine mens traditions, and minde not the measure of God in themselves, but stretch beyond it in the comprehension, and run into other mens lines and labours, and [Page] are all upon the earthly root, and in darkness and confusion in their practise and worship; that from the crown of the head, to the sole of the feet the Image hath no whole part in it, but is full of putrifaction and corruption, and every branch rotten and deceitful, and no good fruit is found; for the bringing forth of all is from the heart that is deceitful and corrupted, which lyes fallen and degenerated from God, and cannot bring forth any thing that is pleasing to him, or accepted by him; for as is the root, so is every branch in its nature from high to low; and through all these appearances there is not a sound part found, but some of them abominable filthy, & others have healed the sore sleightily, and are all out of the life & power of God, and are all found wanderers in the night of Apostasie, and in the darkness have taken the Whores Cup, and do drink it, and received the mark of the beast [...], and do bear it; and this is Babylon the Mother of Harlots, and the abomination of all uncleanness, who hath held forth a Golden Cup in the night of Apostasie, and hath through her Sorceries and Inchantments bewitched many to receive it, and drink it, untill they have been drunk with the Wine of her Fornication, and have committed Whoredome with her; that many children have been begotten, and many Bastards brought forth of flesh and blood, and of the will of man, which is the birth that persecutes the Son and Heir: And unto all those is the Cup of Gods indignation poured forth, and they must all come under the severity of his Judgement, because they are Bastards and not Sons; for these adulterous births have provoked the Lord, and grieved his Spirit, and he hath long forborn, and spared: But on Babylon he will be avenged, and all her Brats and Children he will dash in peeces in the fierceness of his anger, and not one of them must stand, though never so seemingly glorious; for the day is come, and the true Birth is born, whose right it is to Reign, and his glory he will not give to another, nor his praise to graven Images; he is the Son, and in him is life, and his life is the light of men; all must bow before him, and all that is contrary to him must under his feet be troden down; for unto him alone belongs the issue from death, the same that was, and is, and is to come, Everlasting, Powerful, God over all for ever and ever.

[Page]Hear ye wise, and consider ye prudent of the world; Is not this your Way? and, Is not this the fruit of your doings? Do you not walk in darkness? and are you not building in your Imaginations, and setting up your own inventions, and brings forth likenesses? and, Are you not from that which was in the beginning, and from the Saints life? and, Do you not want rest and peace to your souls? Be stayed, and feel Gods witness in your own selves, which will return a true answer in your own bosomes.

And now a few words of [...]ender Counsel from the Lord God unto you all, that you may see the form of the Image, and how uncomely every part of it is, that you may not love, nor delight in it any longer; for the Lord will destroy it together, and the little Stone cut out of the Mountains without hands, will dash it all in peeces, and there will not be a man upon the earth found to save or uphold any part of it.

So all watch to the Morning, that the day may break upon you, and the Light shine out of darkness in you, that your eye may look into the Glass of Righteousness, the pure Light of Christ in your own consciences, and there you may behold both the Ill-favoured, and Well-favoured Harlot, and what Image you all bear, and what Cup you all drink of, and what Mark is in your foreheads; and if you be diligent, and incline to the Lords Counsel, and hearken to his witnes in you, your understandings wil open, and you will see to the beginning, and know that which was before imaginations, or any inventions was found out; and you will come into unity with the Saints life, and know every word you utter forth to be spoken in the life, and all flesh silent before God, and so will your gatherings be unto Christ, who is set up for an Ensign, that all may come unto him and be saved; and you will feel his life in you revealed, and in his face behold the express Image of the Fa [...]hers glory, and his Power he will make known in you, and baptize in the death, and every formed fleshly birth that exalts it self against him; and he will save you as you in him beleeve, and redeem you from your vain conversations which you have in the world, and give you life and peace for ever.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto the POPE, with all that walk in that way, who are called PAPISTS.

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HEar and consider, you that set your selves on high, and boast in the Works of your own hands; you are weighed and tried, and your Way and Work is proved, and you are found to be out of the Saints Life, and from the Scriptures of Truth; for the Lord spake by Moses, saying, Thou shalt have no other Gods but me; thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image, nor the L [...]keness of any thing in Heaven above, or Earth beneath, or Water under the Earth; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; For I the Lord thy God am a Jealous God, Exod. 20. Are you not found Transgressors of the Holy and just Law of God, making to your selves Likenesses, and bow down to them, and Worship them, and forget the Lord, who saith, Thou shalt have no other Gods but me? And are not these your Gods which you make to your selves, and sets them up to Worship? And do you not adore them, and bow and cringe to them? and doth not this practise erre from the Scriptures of Truth, and from the Saints life? Where do you read that the Saints made Images, and set them up, and bowed unto them, and worshipped before them? Or did they pray unto Images, or make an Image of Christ, or of the Saints, and fall down before it, and pray unto it? Or did they ever sprin [...]le Water one upon another, and called it Holy Water? And did they ever pray by their Beads, and use Crosses and Crucifixes? And had they a POPE to rule over them, and to order them in the Worship of God? Who first made Cardinals, and Fryers, and Nuns, and erected Abbyes, and Monasteries? Who first set up Houses of Wood and Stone, and called them Churches? Are not you the Inventers of all these things which are come up since the dayes of the Apostles? Who made Saint dayes, and called them Holy Dayes? And who set up Colledges to make men Ministers? And who gave the Colledges [Page] their several Names? And who brought up Tythes, and gave them to the Ministers made at Colledges? And who made a Law to compel the payment of them unto such a Ministry? Who first brought up Bread and Wine, and called it Sacrament? And who first gave Power to the Colledge-Ministers to communicate it unto People at certain Times and Dayes? And who first ordained that every Receiver of it from their hand, should give them two pence for so doing? Who first brought up those Easter Reclignings, and Midsummer-Dues, and Ten-shilling-Sermons? Whether was this the Saints practice who lived in the Life and Power of God; Or are not all these things come up in the Invention since the Spirit of Truth was lost and ravened from? How will you clear your selves before the Lord, when he calls you up to the Ba [...] of his Justice, to give account of your doings? How wil you make these things (with much more that might be mentioned) warrantable or lawful, seeing that the Scripture doth not declare of them, nor the Saints, who were by the Power of God Redeemed, and Regenerated into newness of Life, they did not live in them, nor set them up? From what Root then doth all these things spring? Do they not come up from the Carnal mind that is at enmity with God? And is it not the flesh that brings forth such a Birth as this? Have you not committed shameful Whoredom, and run into deep Fornication, who are so far degenerated from the holy Spirit, and from the Scriptures, that your Birth is not at all shaped or formed like unto that which is true? So that your Birth is conceived in the Adulteress Womb, and is a Child of Whoredom, and there is no Scripture to prove it lawful; Your building Houses, and calling them Churches, your setting up Crosses in many Towns, making Saints Dayes, praying to Saints, erecting Colledges, calling them Christ's Colledge, and John's Colledge, and such like Names; your making Ministers at them, and your giving them the tenth part of Peoples Encrease to maintain them, and making a Law to compel it, with much more by you brought forth in the Mid-Night of Apostacy. Have you not erred exceedingly from the Scriptures, and from the Spirit that gave the Scriptures forth? And so are neither found in the Saints Life nor Practice.

[Page]Therefore be stil, and hearken to the Lords Counsel, and reject it not; it is near you to reprove you for your abominable Idolatries; Turn to it, for it is Truth, and there is no deceit in it; the Lord hath placed it in your Consciences to be a Witness for him, from which none can hide their Counsel, nor cover their secret Thoughts; and Cease from your doings, and give over making Likenesses and forming Images, and turn to that of God in you which the Imagination cannot comprehend, nor the Invention make any Likeness of: Bow down and worship it, and be subject unto it in all things▪ it is CHRIST the Power of God, the Heavenly Image, who is jealous of his Glory, and wil smite all other Images, and Image-Makers; For Babylon must fall before him, and Antichrist he wil destroy with the brightness of his Appearance. Oh ye people! your Way is corrupted, and is not found right before the Lord, though you challenge the first place after the Apostles, and set your selves on high with that you call your Mother Church; yet the Lord hath found you out, and all your deceitful workings, and Whoredoms, and Abominations, whither your hearts have run out of God's fear; that your Mother Church doth now appear, and is made manifest in this Day of God, to be MYSTERY BABYLON THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, which hath made all Nations drunk with the Wine of her Fornication, and hath handed forth a Golden Cup full of Abominations, by which she hath deceived the Nations. But the Day hath declared you, and your Work is seen of what sort it is; and it is not like the Saints Work, who drunk of the Cup of Salvation. And thus have you spread your Skirt over the earth, and have pollutted it with your abominable Idolatries, and have caused many to drink of your Cup of Fornication, and have bewitched them with your Sorceries, and the abundance of your Delicacies: But the Lord is rending your Skirt, and taking away your Covering, and your nakedness appears to your shame; for you are seen to the bottom, and your Root is the corrupted heart of the old Man in the degeneration▪ and you lye in the Fall, and in the Transgression, where not one doth good; and the Lord hath no pleasure in you, neither doth he require your Worship, nor your Offerings at your hands, but is weary of them. Therefore Arise out of y [...]r Idola [...]ry, and depart from it, for it is [Page]polluted, and the Lord will suddenly come upon it, and destroy it with a sore destruction: And cease from your Cruelty and Blood-thirstiness, and lay by your Stocks, and Whips, and Pris [...]ns, and do not use such Weapons to defend your Religion; for that makes you manifest to be out of the Saints Life, who never used such things to compel any to Conformity, or to punish such as differed from them in Practice and Worship.

Therefore all turn to that by which they were guided, and in which they walked and lived, the Spirit of Truth by which they were led into all Truth, and were kept from Idols; and as it is made manifest in you, wait to receive it, and then fight against Spiritual Wickedness in High Places, that sin and transgression may be cut down in your own particulars, that you may live no longer▪ in Pride and Haughtiness, Envy and Malice, Riotting and Drunkennesse, and such like filthinesse, which you like to retain, and have a love to, more then the Light that doth reprove you for them; but all come to the Light, that in the Light your Minds may be ordered and exercised; and it wil gather you into a measure of the same Life the Saints enjoyed, and raise your souls from Death, and it wil destroy all your Images and Bastard-Births which in the Earthly corruptib [...]e Wisdom you have formed and brought forth; and as you obey and believe in it, it will lead you to God, where Life and Eternal Salvation is obtained, and Peace and Unity is enjoyed and possessed for ever—Depart from Vanity, and live.

A few Words of tender Counsel to the PRELATES, with all that w [...]lk in that way, generally called PROTESTANTS.

BEhold your WAY ye People, and consider what is brought forth by you, Look into the GLASS of Righteousness, and see whose Image it bears. Are you come to that which was in the beginning? And doth the Light shine out of Darkness in you?

Your VVayes and Doings must come to tryal, and your VVork [Page] must be seen of what sort it is, for the Light maketh all things manifest: You deny the POPE and those with him in words, and you have got the Name of PROTESTANTS to be your Covering; but when your Works are brought to trial, they savour of the Popes Root, and your fruit hath both one taste, and your Births are Sime [...]n and Levi, you are in the Apostacy, and in Darkness you abide, and there you wander form the Way of Truth, and then you make a Way in your Inventions, and se [...] up a Worship in your Wils, and drinks of the Whores Cup, and the Beast's Mark is in your FOREHEAD: You have an Observation which you make to your selves, and you set up the Kingdom there, and the Customs and Traditions you walk in, which by the Popes Power was first instituted; and you uphold and maintain his Birth, which was nourished and brought up by him in this Nation of England when his Power extended over it, and his Skirts covered it, and you strive to preserve it, and to give more life unto it, and to set it up as a lawful Child, and so in your COUNCELS makes Laws to establish it, and to compel all to worship it, and do not consider from what Root it springs, or whether it be according to the Scriptures of Truth, or the Saints life; but you run in haste, & in your own Wills sets up what seems right in your own Eyes, and then make Laws to uphold it, and to compel all to be conformable to it, under penalties and punishment: And what have you more to say for your PRACTISE and WORSHIP, then the POPE hath for his? Or is your Birth more like the Truth or the Saints Practice then his whom you seem to deny? What Scripture have you for your made-Church of Wood and Stone? And who first ordained it to be a Church, and consecrated it to be holy? And what Scripture have you for your formed PRAYERS, and your LETTANY, and to make them up together in a Book, and call them COMMON PRAYER? Who first instituted COLLEDGES? And who gave them their Names? And who first ordained that men should be made Ministers at Colledges? And who first appointed TYTHES to be paid to that Ministry? And who first made a LAW to compel such a Maintenance? Who first made and ordained LORD-BISHOPS and ARCH-BISHOPS, Vicars and Curates? And who first divided their BISHOPRICKS and Diocesses? [Page] And how came they to rule over other people, & to make Vicars and Curates under them? How came up HOODS and TIPPETS, and SURPLICES? And who first ordained that Ministers should be clothed with them in the time of their Worship? And who first set up ALTARS and ORGANS, and made Singing-men, and Singing-boyes? Have you not found out many Inventions, and observe the Customs and Traditions which hath been brought in when Darkness over-spread? And so you are found to be out of the Saints life, and errs from the Scripture of Truth, and your Root is the corrupted heart of the old man, and your Likeness bears his IMAGE. Behold your Birth; Is it not after the Flesh, and a Child of Whoredom? It is not like the Form of that which was brought forth by the Saints that lived in the Truth, and worshipped God in Spirit and Truth. Oh! Arise ye people, here is not your REST, it is polluted, and God will destroy it with a sore destruction. Therefore come out of BABYLON, partake no longer of her sins, lest ye be destroyed with her Plagues! And be not violent towards others that God hath separated from amongst you, neither force or compel any people by a Law to conform to such a VVorship, or bow to such a Likeness, or uphold such a Church, or maintain such a Ministery, least you draw Judgement speedily upon your selves; For BABYLON must be destroyed, and the Inhabitants thereof scattered; therefore doth the Lord visit in his Love, that his Seed might be gathered, before his Wrath take hold in Judgement; For God hath a Seed amongst you, which groans, and is pressed under your Corruptions and Abominations, and his Bowels yearns towards it. And in tender Love is this declared concerning you, that you may turn to the Lord in this day of his Visitation, wherein his Arm is gathering from off the Mountains and Hills, and bringing into the Fold of his Re [...]; for he is making haste, and cutting the Work short in Righteousness.

Therefore all fear before him, who is mighty to save, and mighty to cut down and destroy; and all encline to his Counsel, whose VVord is near you, and secretly reproves you in your own Conscience for the evil of your doings; turn unto it, for that was in the beginning, and made and created all things, and saw [Page] that they were good. Hearken when the Word near you reproves you, and obey, believe, and follow it; for it teaches right things, and your understandings it will open, and bring you to consider the fruit of your doings, and let you see your practise and Worship to be vain; and it will lead you out of Confusion, Warring, and Fighting, and destroying one another about your Religion; and it wil bring you to know the pure Religion, and undefiled before God, which no carnal Weapon can either set up, or pull down: And so will you come into unity with God, and one another, and know the Rest and everlasting Peace that endures for ever.—Be not high-minded, but fear.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto those called PRESBYTERIANS, with all that are walking in that WAY.

HEar ye zealous PROFESSORS, who are mounted up on high, and in your Imaginations stand exalted: What taste have your Fruit? And, what is the form of your Birth? For you must come to the proof, and the Tryal must pass upon you; the Light hath found you out, and makes you manifest, and you are seen to be of the old Root, though your Branch put out something higher; the savour of your Fruit is bitter, and the Form of your Birth is uncomely, your Work doth not answer what you seem to profess; you are run into observations, and are setting up the Kingdom in words, and make to your selves a Likeness, and would compel subjection to it: You have forgot the day of your Distresse, when many of you suffered under Compelling Laws, because you could not bow nor conform to that which you were convinced to be out of the Truth; and some of you passed through an Exercise in the Tryals, and stood in faithfulness according to the manifestation in that Day; and the Lord appeared for you, and relieved you, and gave you Dominion over your Oppressors; and you have had a time in which you might have done good; but the Benefit you let slip out of your minds, and did not like to retain God in your knowledge, but [Page] when Prosperity encreased, you grew fat, and stood puffed up, and had no regard unto the poor, but walked in the steps of those that went before you, and handed forth as bitter a Cup to others who were tender in their Consciences, and could not conform to your Inventions, as they had done unto you, whom the Lord removed because of Oppression; and your little finger became a heavier weight upon many, than the Loyns of such as went before you; and then you began with your Laws to persecute such as could not bow to your Image, and it is just with the Lord to bring those over you whose Necks was once put under you, that you may consider what you have done, and repent before it be too late: For the Lord doth not forget the poor, which by you is oppressed, and shamefully entreated, who this day suffers in prison by your Cruelty and Oppression: Oh! what Hypocrisie hath been in the bottom of you, and how deceitful and unfaithful have you been unto God! who appeared for you, and gave you ease from your Burdens, and relieved you when you were afflicted under the Yoak that lay upon your necks, and raised you up, and set you over your Oppressors; and when Power was given into your hands, you turned your Feet into the same Path, and set your selves up in their Places, and exercised LORDSHIP and DOMINION over others; and as much Cruelty was manifest from you, as from those that you destroyed; And so you killed and took Possession, and lived in the height of Pride and Vanity: Doth not the Lord behold you and your Doings? And will he not be avenged upon such deceitful Workers? I tell you, yea, for he is righteous in all his ways.

Therefore be serious, and in coolness consider, and speedily turn to the Lord, least he smite you, and there be none to deliver you; For though you deny both Pope and Prelate, and cannot own nor conform to their Practice and Worship, but war and fight against them, and cannot bow under their compelling Laws, nor join with their Birth which they bring forth; yet look into the Glass of Righteousness, & behold your own, & see whose Son he is, & whose Image he bears; for your Births are Children of one House, and conceived in one Womb, and born after the Flesh, and though a difference in the Form appear, yet the Root [Page]of all is in the deceitful and corrupt heart which lyes in the degeneration; and though you have cast off much of their Idolatry, and Cut off many useless Branches, yet the ROOT is not changed, but there you meet in one, & your fruit doth savour of it: You layed by the name of BISHOPS, and pulled up Altars, and you rent the SURPLICES, and the Book of Common-prayer; you pulled down ORGANS, and layed by Singing-men and Boyes, with many other thing▪ which then you beheld to be useless in that service; and in that day you cried out for LIBERTY, and your zeal was hot to carry it on, and there was in many of you an honest true desire after the best things, and your eyes were towards the Lord, and you prospered and prevailed, whilst you did the things that were right in the honesty of your hearts in the sight of God; but when ease came, you presently forgat the Lord, and his benefits, and began to set up your selves, and your own way, and branched forth in another appearance, and brought forth a Birth with another Form and Likeness, but receives breath from the same Life; Did not you make a DIRECTORY, and in that formed your Birth as your wisdome invented, and made a way to your selves that seemed right in your eyes; Did you not make CLASSIS, and ELDERS, and DEACONS to have Rule and Dominion amongst you, and to be Chief in your Assemblies? And, did you not bring people to a CONFESSION of what they believed? And were any to eat bread with you at that you cal SACRAMENT but such as were approved by those Officers ordained? And, did you not thus become Judges of the Worthiness or Unworthiness of people to eat and drink with you, and either Received them, or Excluded them in your own Wills? Is not this a Brat that must be dashed in peeces, and the Son of the Bond-woman that must be cast out? I tell you yea, as certainly as others have been dashed in peeces and cast out, whose likeness you could not own to be true: And now behold whether you be not striving with all your Strength to uphold the life of that Root, from which you have cut off many Branches: Have you not been digging about it all this time, and have forced some Branches to put forth from it higher in appearance than those you cut off, and so you are found in the Whoredome; and drinking as deep of the Cup of [Page] FORNICATION as those you War against, and are in the dark night of Apostacy with them, all walking in darkness, and cannot behold in clearness the Form or Likeness of one another, and so fight and destroy one another about it: And when you cut down one thing, you give life unto another thing that springs from the same Root, and is of the same Nature; Why did you not pull down the made CHURCHES of Wood & Stone, when you Rent the SURPLICES, and the Book of COMMON PRAYER? Why did you not put down COLLEDGES-Ministers, when you pulled down ORGANS? And why did you not take away TYTHES from such a Ministry, when you pulled up ALTARS? What is the difference of these things, that you have taken away some, and spared others? Were you not commanded to smite AMALEK throughout, and not to spare any thing alive; but you looked after the best th [...]ngs, and regarded not the Lord; so you but put them out of their Houses, to take possession your selves; and what might be profitable to you, or advance your glory, that you preserved and laboured to give more life unto it; for had you minded the leading of God, neither STONE-CHURCH, nor COLLED [...]E-MINISTER had been this day standing as in any seeming service for God; neither TYTHES to maintain that Ministry, or any Impropriator whatsoever; but these things you spared for your own Gain & Glory, and have Invented how to Reform some things in Appearance, and have continued others as seemed Right in your own Eyes, as your CHURCHES, and COLLEDGES, and COLLEDGE-MINISTERS, TYTHES and GLEAB-LANDS and EASTER-RECKONINGS; with much more, which sprung up from the same Root, and of the same Nature as other Branches wh [...]ch you took away. How did you Reform that which you call Baptising Infants, you layed by the sign of the Cross which was made by a man called Minister in the Childes Fore-head, and you layed by those called GOD-FATHERS and GOD-MOTHERS, and yet you continued sprinkling water in the Childrens Faces, and call it Baptisme, and say, You baptize them into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: What Scripture have you for this practice? Did not the Sign of the Cross, and sprinkling water in the Childes face both spring from one Root? and neither of [Page] them can be proved Warrantable from the Scriptures of Truth; and you have layed by the One as unlawful, and continues the Other as lawful; and this you call REFORMAT [...]ON. Are you not in the Midnight of Apostacy, who upholds such things in your Profession of God, which the Saints never practised, nor any Scriptures declare of such things being used by them? Who taught you to sing Davids Words in Meeter? and to call upon your Congregations to sing to the Pra [...]se and Glory of God, and to have a Clerk to publish them, and give them forth? Is this to sing with the Spirit and Understanding, and to make melody in your hearts to the Lord, who have not a Psalm before the Clerk give it forth, and then for all people of all Conditions to sing the Words, though they know nothing of the state of David? who Published the words from the sensibleness of his Condition, as then he was in when he did declare them; so they were true in him: but such as cannot witness David's state, you make them to sing Lyes in Hypocrisie.

And, who taught you to take a portion of Scripture, and call it a TEXT; and tell people, It is the Word of the Lord; and that they may finde it written in in such a Book, Chapter and Verse; and then raise Doctrines from it, Uses, Motives, Helps, Arguments, and make Applications? Is not this the Colledge Work? And have you not learned it there? And is not this the Philosophy and vain Deceit, which peop [...]e is to beware of? Do you know the Scriptures and the Power of God, you that are so wise in your own Eyes? Where is you Scripture for these things▪ Or did ever the LORD of LIFE and GLORY teach his Ministers so to Do as you are Doing at this day? You are from the Saints life, and in the old Root, and your Birth is begotten in Whoredome, and formed in the Inventions and Imaginations of the Old Man, and brought forth in the strength of that Nature, and the Lord's Controversie is sore against You, because you do in Words profess him, but in your Works deny him: Therefore Repent speedily, and turn to the Light of Christ in your own Consciences, and be not so wise in your own Eyes, but become Fools to you own wisdome, that you may be wise in the Wisdome of God, that your understandings may be opened to know the Scriptures, and the Power of God; For the Lord is [Page] visiting the Nations in this day of his Mercy, and his love reaches unto you, and with a measure of his Spirit he doth Reprove you, and secretly discovers unto you the intents and thoughts of your hearts: Turn when Reproof comes, and hate it not, for the Lords Love is tendred to you in that which doth Reprove you; Hearken to it that you may be Converted and Healed, before the Door of Mercy be shut, and no place of Repentance can be found; for the Lord hath a Seed to gather from amongst you, that cannot live long with you; such is the earnest desire after life in many this day, & whilest it is called to day let none behard, but all wait to Receive from the Lord in tenderness, that his Spirit may guide and lead you, which is manifest in you, and that the fruits thereof may be brought forth by you, that LOVE and PEACE, and GENTLENES may abound amongst you; that WARRING and FIGHTING, and DESTROYING one another may all cease; that the Sound of the TRUMPET, and the Al-arm of WAR may not be heard in the Land, but that you may be gathered and united in the Spirit of Life, where no Confusion, nor Distraction is, but perfect love and peace for ever:—Turn to the Lord, and walk in the way of Understanding.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto those called INDEPENDENTS, with all that walk in that way.

HEar ye Wandring ones, who upon the Mountains are scattered. You are tossed up and down, and driven to and fro in the Cloudy and dark day; something of the Morning did once appear unto you, though you knew it not, and in the Dawnings of the light which in you did begin to shine, your understandings were opened; and you beheld the Formes and Practises, and abominable Idolatries which were come up in the Darkness, and a true tenderness was raised in you towards the Lord, and a breathing there was in you to enjoy his presence, and you departed out of the Idolatrous wayes and worship, & could not [Page] joyn with them, nor own their Customs and Trad [...]tions which were set up, but seperated from them, and gathered into a more particular and private Fellowship to wait upon the Lord; and in this tenderness abiding, and you kept in the fear to wait, and the Visitations of God did break upon you, and his Love did open to that which breathed in you; and this was a good Day unto you, and you were sweetly refreshed in it.

But behold how you have erred, and from the Lord are gone astray, and betrayed the Innocent Life; you were not faithful unto God, nor did not sink into his Counsel, that his Arm of Power might have wounded the Head of the Transgressor, & smitten him down into the Death, & buryed him under the Judgement for ever; you fled from Him when you should have joined unto Him; and so never came through the Ga [...]e of Death, to obtain Life in the Resurrection: But you reached forth with that Mind which should have come to Judgement, and with that Mind comprehended those things which in the Day of Tenderness were opened to you in the Light; then did you enrich your selves, and grew Wise and▪ Mighty in Skill and Knowledge; and you decked the false Birth with that which God opened to you in the Day when you breathed after him in the unsatisfiedness of your Minds, & were in the true hunger, and in the sensibleness that you wanted Bread; so you betrayed the simplicity, & delivered it up into the hands of the subtilty, under which it lyes in Captivity, and sorely oppressed and afflicted; and so you erred from the LIFE which was near to be revealed in many of you, and lost the WORD, and drew back again, and ran into the words, and have got the words, and with them stands filled in the earthly mind that fled the Judgement, and there you are lifted up, and exalted above the Witness of God; and the false Birth hath beautified it self with the Saints words, and sits in the Temple as God; for you sought out an easier Way then that which God hath prepared, and drew aside for self-safety, and denyed the Cross, which the Light leads all unto that obeys it; So you never entered in at the strait Gate, to know the enmity slain, which would not have the Life to reign; but you got up in the Knowledge, and grew wise in the Comprehension, and [Page] branched forth in a shew of Godliness, and in your own Wisdom brought forth what you conceived might be the nearest to the Saints Practise: So a Birth you formed in the deceitful heart that is corrupted, and lyes degenerated from God; and though you be in some things seperated, and more particularly gathered in appearance, yet do you lye mixed and confused with the rest of Babylons Inhabitants; you can go to their named Churches, and hear their Colledge-Ministers, which are made by man contrary to the Scriptures of Truth; so you are in the luke-warm state, neither hot nor cold; and your Garment is party-coloured, and it is neither Night nor Day amongst you; for you are run into the many inventions, and drinking of the Cup of Fornication, and are joined to the Harlot, and commits VVhoredom with her, and brings forth a Birth that is after the Flesh, which cannot please God; so hath the old Enemy deceived you, and betrayed the innocent Life which once breathed in you; and you are seated and centered in your Form, and there have your dependance for satisfaction, and you flye to the Scriptures to prove your Birth to be lawful; and you have got Saints Words, and in something appear as they did in Practise; and you can say, That so you find it written; and so did the Saints practise, and so do you; but you want the life which they were born into, thorough the working of God's Mighty Power, and in which they declared the Scriptures; and if you could perform all that ever you read concerning their practise, and be not come into their life, it will not be owned of God to be a true Worship and Service, though they in what they did, were accepted and rewarded: And none upon the Earth can understand the Scripture, without a measure of that life from which it was ministred. And so have you erred for want of knowledge, because that darkness hath blinded your minds; and though much you profess and boast of high things, yet your Deeds testifies against you, even as others do, from amongst whom you are gathered in your Worship; you are vain and light minded; foolish jesting and idle talking abounds amongst you; you are high-minded, and lifted up with a perfect Tincture of Pride; many of your hearts are after Covetousness, which [Page] doth not become a people professing the Knowledge of God: These things are not charged upon you to upbraid you, or to boast over you, but that you may come into stayedness, and soberness, and humblenesse of mind, that when God's Witnesse smites upon you, and reproves you for those things that be evil, you may be sensible of its reproof; for the Light of Christ which is pure, it doth not consent to, or allow of any such things, but reproves them without respect of persons; but you are so lifted up in your vain minds, that you are not sensible of it, neither have any regard unto it; so you delight in the thing, as if it were a Priviledge purchased for you by Christ, whose Name you profess; and you can plead for your Lightness, and say it is your Liberty to rejoice and be merry; and your Covetousnesse you can call it Carefulness and Providence; and your Pride you can put it upon your Quality and Ability: So hath the Enemy vailed you, and drawn you from the Spirit of Life which doth certainly reprove you in your own Consciences for these things; and thus the Enemy doth lead you out of God's fear, and into vanity, and then seeks a fair excuse to cover it; but you are found to walk after the flesh, and satisfies that part, with all the affections and lusts of it; and the Witness of God is not regarded by you, though it be alwayes near you, and in your secret Chambers with you, and often smiting you, and reproving you; yet you are so high over it, that you do not heed it; nor when it calls, you hearken not to it, but run in your own Way, and follow your own Wills, and the imaginations of your own hearts, and slights the Day of your Visitation, and the sweet tenders of God's Love unto you in the Light; for he waits to be Gracious though you be Careless; and his hands are stretched forth still, that he might gather you, and do you good: You are a People whom the Lord strives with, though you have rejected, and slighted, and grieved his Spirit; yet is his tender Mercy open towards you, and the Arm of Salvation he reaches to you, that into his own House he may bring you, and there deal forth Daily-Bread, and give you Water of Life freely: I travel in Spirit for you, and the Love of the Father reaches to you, and I know from the Lord, that there is an unsatisfied Cry in many of you [Page] who want the Bread of Life, and Water of Life to refresh your Souls: And when you have received that which you call your Ordinance, and have eaten and drunken of the Temporals, you want that Meat which endures to everlasting life, and something in you that hungers and thirsts after the enjoyment of that. Oh! there is a Seed amongst you that must not dye in Aegypt, nor alwayes groan under Pharoah's Power, but must be redeemed by the out stretched Arm of the Almighty; His Love draws near you; the Morning springs fast upon you: AWAKE, and behold what God is tendering to you, hasten to it, and lay hold upon it; look not abroad, but come within, and feel it near you, that you may know the Power to save you, and the Arm that is stretched forth, to redeem you, and the Manifestation of God's Spirit within you, will be strength and safety for you; and as you turn unto it, obey and believ in it, it wil not leave you nor forsake you, but will be a present help unto you in the needful time; and in the patience waiting, the DAY will break, and the SUN of RIGHTEOUSNESS will Arise, and the thick Clouds and Foggy Mysts that darkens your understandings, will vanish away like the Morning-Dew, and the brightness of his Rising will destroy ANTICHRIST, which so long hath been exalted in you; and all the loftiness and haughtiness will fall before him, whose appearance is glorious.

And thus doth he manifest himself, and makes known his Eternal Power in the hearts of all that wait upon him in the Measure of his Light, and carries on his Work prosperously in his own hand, cutting down, and sparing not whatsoever stands in the heart contrary to him, and would not have him to Reign; and his Works declares that it is he; for he works Faith in the heart, and reveals Truth in the inward parts; and so becomes the Author of Faith; and of e [...]ernal Salvation; and the Mysterie of this Faith is held in a pure Conscience, where his Arm hath been working, and purging, and pur [...]fying: And as you give up to that Measure of LIGHT in your own Conscience [...], and wait to be guided and led by it, and exercised in it, you will know CHRIST revealed within you, whom you are looking for without you, and puts his Day far off from you; And so you [Page] live in want of him, and know not how to come to him, nor the place where to find him, but live in the Dreamings and the N [...]ght-Visions, and have a talke of him, and what he hath done for you; and so spend your precious time in slumbering and dreaming, but do not behold the Light of his Countenance, no [...] feel not the Joy of his Salvation, nor drink not at the Wells thereof: Now wait to feel him in the Light which makes all things manifest within you and when he draws near unto you, re [...]ect h [...]m not; if you feel an evil thought discovered, that is his appearance that makes the [...]iscovery; then do thou sink down to that which makes manifest, and be still and quiet in thy m [...]d, and in the stayedness wait to receive him; and though it [...] but a little thing in its first appearance, do not thou despise the Day of small things, nor cast behind thee the Grain of Mustard-Seed, because it is a little one; but wait to know the glory of the Day, and the branching, forth of the Gra [...]n of Mustard-Seed, until it be grown up, and spread it self over all.

The Lords Love freely opens unto all you that in tenderness and simplicity thirsts for his l [...]ving presence; and for your sakes plainness of speech is used and God's pure Truth opened, in the Life of his own Spirit, that you may come and partake of the Riches of that GRACE and MERCY which from the FATHER is revealed, and appears in you all; that you may truly know the benefit that is in the Lord of Life and Power, and feel his Eternal operation your Consciences to purge, and your Hearts to pur [...]fie, that you may have fellowship with him in the everlasting Covenant of Peace, and know the Blood of the Covenant to take away your sin, and to pardon your Iniquity; and so the Redemption through his blood you wil feel, and the forgiveness of your sins according to the Riches of his Grace: And this is unto you from the Lord God Eternally moved, who breaths after Life, that you may Arise, and follow the Leadings of God into his own House, and from his Hand receive your Daily-bread, and drink of the Water of Life freely, and this will satisfie and refresh you, and daily renew strength unto you, to follow the Lord God in the Light, in all obedience and faithfulness, [Page] without any weariness or faintness; so will the Lord God receive you, and be a Father unto you, and make you Sons and Daughters, and give you an Inheritance amongst the Saints in Light, who are justified by Faith in Christ Jesus—Be swift to hear, and slow to speak.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto the BAPTISTS, with all that walk in that WAY.

HEar you seperated ones, who have set your selves in the Highest Seat, and whose Branch puts out over all the Branches of the Tree; you are beheld, though you be climbed high, and your Work is seen of what sort it is; you must come to Tryal, for your Work is not right before the Lord: Once did the Morning open unto you, and a Measure of Light out of Darkness shined, and a sight you had of something which was out of the Truth, and beheld Babylon without you in Practice and Worship, and saw her Merchants that traded in her, and could not for Conscience-sake Trade with them any longer, nor buy their Merchandize any more; but you separated from them in Practise and Worship: And that which made these things manifest to your Understandings, was Light, and it was near unto you, though you were but little acquainted with it; you had Clearness in sight through Forms and Traditions then in practice amongst men, and something opened before you, that appeared more excellent, and you did not onely depart out of that which was manifest to be out of the Truth, but there was also a true waiting amongst you, that you might come to enjoy living Bread, that something in you hungred for, and in that day a tender people you were, whilest the true fear was in your hearts placed, and in the fear you diligently waited, and were kept low and little in your own eyes, and you had fresh Visitations of God's Love, and felt that which truly judged the Abomination and Vanity which you beheld in the World, and you [Page] were convinced of the evil thereof, and could have no fellowship with them; and you cannot say in truth, but in that Day the Lord was near you, to have wrought his Work in you, had you enclined to his Counsel; and as you were kept in lowliness to wait, and met and assembled in God's fear, he was not straitned towards you, but did relieve you, and succour you in your wants, and had compassion upon you in all your needs: What Hungerings and Thirstings, Breathings and Pantings were raised in the earnest for Life and Salvation! And what a tender love was raised in many of you after the best things! And how did you delight to walk in that Way which then was made manifest to you! Was it no [...] better with many of you in that Day, then it is now? Consider soberly in the fear of God, and judge down the rash, wrathful Spirit which hath a Seat in many of you: Are you not gone from that in which the Lord did first visit you, and in which his tender Love was made manifest in you? Was it any thing without you that first let you see your Way to be corrupted, and that brought you into a sensibleness of your want, and of your miserable and undone state without the Salvation of Christ? Was this made manifest unto you by Reading or Hearing, or by the Gift of God's Spirit manifest in your own hearts? How hath the old Enemy deceived you, and drawn your minds into the Visibles, to look after and behold the things that are seen, and there tenders you Satisfaction, and so draws your minds from the weightier matter, and that which is of absolute necessity for all to know a part in? And so you are cumbred about many things, and are got into the many Words, and there you are sucking your nourishment, and labouring to receive strength, and there have taken up your rest: What have you to live upon besides the Letter? And what do you know of GOD and CHRIST more then what they declared who enjoyed his Life? And if you say that it is sufficient for you to mind the Declaration, and to know GOD and CHRIST, as the Saints have declared of them; then examine and try your selves, whether you be in the Faith in which they were made partakers of the Divine Nature; for the words which from the Life are Ministred, will not [Page] give unto any a Possession of the Life, neither are they the WAY unto Life, but they are a true DECLARATION of Him who is the WAY, TRUTH, and LIFE; and the Light being believed in, which from the Life is made manifest, it leads to the enjoyment of the Life from whence it comes; and then is the knowledge of the L [...]ght of the Glory of God revealed and known in the face of Christ, and the Understanding is then opened, and the Scriptures known and set in their right place; so that you have neglected the needful thing, which is but ONE, and have chosen the wrong part, and cumber your selves with many things, having got the Saints words, and want their Life: You are dayly cumbred in your minds about their Meanings, and know not what they meant when the Truth is spoken by them in plainness: So being from the WORD, you are from the Saints Life; the WORD that was in the Beginning, was their LIFE and they witnessed that LIFE to be the Light of men, and in the measure of that Life received, they gave forth the Scriptures, which none upon the earth can understand without Union with a measure of the Word of Life from which the words were Ministred forth: So that you are found to be amiss, and wandering in a way that doth not lead to life; and all that you have formed and brought forth, is but the Work of your own hands, conceived and generated in the Earthly Corruptible part, which fled the Hour of his Judgement, and could not abide his coming in Judgement: So you never came to the Judgment-Seat, where the MIGHTY falls, and the LOFTY bows; where the EARTH trembles, and the HILLS melt, and all Flesh is put to silence; You did not wait in the Way, that in the Victory over the Corruptible you might have come to life in the Incorruptible; but you started aside when Judgement came to be laid to the line, and could not abide such a Tryal; so you fled it, and retained the Corruptible, and saved your life in it; and the Birth after the Flesh is seated over God's Witness, and that is the Birth you set up, and strive to make it fair and beautiful, and to enrich it with the choicest things, that it may appear beautiful unto men; and if you have but Scripture to speak, you are perswaded the thing is right, and [Page] so you carry on your practise in words, and set up your Kingdom in words; but you want the Power; and the Flesh never came into subjection to learn silence, but speak, though it be not permitted: And thus do you run in the many things, and cumber your selves with them, and labours to set them where they ought not to be; you would set the Words above the WORD, and give them the Name of the WORD, and call them the Word of God, and in this you erre, and knows not the Scripture, nor the Power of God; for CHRIST is the WORD of God, and his Name is called so, Rev. 19. And the Words are nor CHRIST, but a true Testimony of him. So amongst the Words you find how the Saints in some things walked, and what they practised, and then you strive to make that thing to your selves, and to observe it, and do it as near as you can: And here you are found transgressors of the just Law of God, who saith, Thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image, nor the likeness of any thing: Now what difference is there in the Ground, betwixt You & the Pope, though in the appearance there seem to be such a great space? And though you read of such things which the Saints performed, and in which they were accepted, if you want their Life, and make the thing to your selves, you are found Transgressors of the Law, and comes under Reproof for doing that in your Corruptible Wills, which they had peace in, as they performed it in the Incorruptible Life, and yet in the appearance no difference found in what is done: So you read that after they received the Word, and believed, they went into the Water, and were baptized; and you come to observe and do the same, because you read that some of them walked in such a practise; and you say you believe in Christ, and you receive his Word, and you go into the water, and are washed, and call it Baptism: And here is no difference found in the Likeness of the thing, but yours appears the same as theirs did, in the outward practise. But come up to tryal, the Light makes all things manifest as they are, and doth not judge according to the appearance, but judges righteous Judgemment; they did receive the Word, and they did believe; and some of them went into the water, and were baptized unto John's Baptism, and after that were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Acts 19. And then the Holy Ghost came on them, [Page] and they spake and prophesied. Can you read this Scripture, & not see your selves where you are? Who would be alwayes swimming in the Water, & would not come to the Holy Ghost and Fire, that his Name you may know, in which Salvation is, and his Fan you may feel, which in his own hand is placed, which purgeth the Floore from all filthinesse, and prepares the Temple to exalt his own Name in: This is the Baptism which they witnessed, who in his Life believed, and in which they were baptized into his Death, and there were buried with him, and so came to the Resurrection, through the operation of his Eternal Power; you are not come to know this Practise, but are satisfied with your going into the Water, and coming out again, when neither filthinesse of Flesh nor Spirit is cleansed from you, but the pollution still abides, and the Old Man lives: And so you are short of the Saints Condition, whose practise you pretend to follow; and that Spirit by which they were baptized into one Body, you are not found subject to; and this was not water that baptized them into one Body; neither was it water that baptized them into Christ, and by which they put him on; but it was the Eternal Power of Life in which they were baptized, and in which Baptism Self was buryed, and all the Affections and Lusts of the Flesh were destroyed; and here was not Self standing in them, neither did they make any likeness for that part to glory in, but judged it down in the Power, and in the Power were truly baptized into the death of the Corruptible Earthly part, and could no longer live to themselves; and then was the entrance Ministred into the Fathers House, where Daily-Bread they received, which did refresh the Immortal Soul.

Now because they were made Witnesses of such a state who believed & followed the Light, and denyed themselvs, & took up the Cross in obedience to the leadings of the Light; and because in the movings of the Power they declared it, and it is written; doth this Minister satisfaction unto you to read it, or to hear it, if you come not to partake of a Measure of the same life which ministred pure refreshment unto them, and in the strength of which they were constrained to minister forth again? I tell you nay▪ for no satisfaction or refreshment can any find, but in that life which the holy men of God were inspired with, and declared the Scriptures from; so all that you make to [Page] your selves profits you not, how like soever you may make it in the appearance to that which the Saints practised in the Power: And is not this your present state, reading what the Saints did, and you make to your selvs the same as near as you can, and in your wills perform it, and can make it to be near in the likeness of that, which they in the appearance practised; So you read some of them went into the water, and you go into the water because you read it; and you read that they brake bread together, and you do so, because they did it? Will you not be found setting up the highest part of the Image, and drinking of the Cup of Fornication, and committing VVhoredome, and bringing forth a Childe of VVhoredom, and a Birth after the Flesh? For you lye in the Degeneration, and walk in the Night of Apostacy, and are not come to the Regeneration, nor have no Knowledge of that VVater: So the Old man you Retain, and live his life, and bear his Image; and you never came to the Power which Crucifies the Old man, and puts him off, and brings forth a new Birth, which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness; that so you have not put on CHRIST the heavenly Image, but are at enmity with him; and the Old man is standing, and you joyn to that which would not that Christ should Reign; And thus you profess him in Words, but in Works deny him: And your practising that in your wills, which the Saints performed in the life, will not make you stand approved before God, nor justifie you in his sight.

Therefore depart from your Imaginations, & come to Gods w [...]tness in you, & wait the power of it to feel, to break down your Images, and all the Carved VVorks which your own hands have made out of Gods Councel, and which you have in your earthly wisdome set up to worship; and set not your Post by the Lords Post, nor mix your Work with his Work; but cease from your own doings, and be still, that the Lord may bring forth his own Work, in his own time, according to his own pleasure, that you may come through the gate of Death: For verily there is not another Way for you to obtain eternal life. And this is his Work whose Arm is Powerful to cut down and destroy the Earthly and Corruptible part, and to Raise up the pure Immortal Seed which breathes after Life; so will you come to [Page] know the New-creature-state, and the new-Birth born, which is not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God▪ and his appearance in you will testifie of him, that he is the Son of God; and this is the true Birth whose Right it is to Reign, and under whose feet all the Harlots Children must be trodden down; let your Eye be towards him that his Appearance you may behold, and of his fulness receive, that you may feel union with his life, and be translated into his Likeness.

So all you that have any tenderness, and groan under your heavy Tasks, minde the Lords Counsel, and obey his Teaching; Start not aside when Reproof comes, and hate not to be Reformed; for the day of your Visitation is upon you, and God is tender over his Seed that abides yet amongst you, and is scattered upon the Mountains with you, who breathes unto him▪ and can feed no longer in your Pasture: Oh the Bowels of Gods love that opens in this day to every Nation, Kindred, Tongue and People, that he may Redeem his Chosen that cry unto him, and give Ease to all the Afflicted ones who mourn for want of him! For this is the Day of his Everlasting loving kindness held forth unto all people in the Light of his Son, that who will come unto him, & believ in him, may not perish, but have everlasting life.

Therefore all stoop down, and encline your ear to hear▪ Do not continue climbing, nor build so high in your Inventions; for that is Babylon, and the ground of all Confussion; and from that lust of pride in the self-conceitedness arises WARS and CONTENTIONS, and there is no service of God, nor any thing brought forth in which he taketh pleasure; so all mind that which makes for peace, and that which leads into love and unity; for that is the Light of Christ, which is given of the Father to be a Leader unto you, and it is true, and will not deceive you; it is the DOOR that gives entrance unto life, which you have not found with all your climbing, but have been heightned far off from it. Therefore stand not exalted, but come down, and there feel the true Baptizer, which will not suffer an evil thought to arise in you, but baptize it down into the death, if you encline to his Counsel; and the Fan you will feel in his hand, and his Power to purge [Page] the floor, and to gather the VVhea [...] into the Garner, and burn the Chaff with unquenchable fire; and as you keep in the Patience, and wait in the Judgement, he will bring Judgement forth unto Victory, and bring you into the Courts of his own House, and there minister to your want, and supply your need; for the bread is in his own hand, and unto the hungry he deals it, and at his pleasure he gives it; and if you wait in patience to receive it, he will not let you want; for his compassion is tender, and freely doth he give good things to those that walk uprightly: So let not the feeble faint, nor the weak be discouraged, but turn to the Light, and walk in the Light, and it will lead you to the Cross, and bring you to the Judgement-Seat, and through the Gate of Death; and will open the Door into the Fathers House, where there is bread enough▪ (& it is sure) & water that never fails; So will the Lord feed you with the fatness of his House, & give you to drink of the River of his pleasure; and this is Meat and Drink indeed, which if you wait to receiv, you wil not be in such want, & suffer hunger, as many of you now do, who are from the leadings of God, and upon the Mountains scattered, and there famished for want of Bread.

And this in tender love is unto you, who have been in the Water, and hath been dipped, and yet feel that you are not Cleansed, but your Consciences are still defiled, and the weight of corruption doth oppress you, and makes you go heavily, and that keeps you from the enjoyment of life: You that are feeding upon the visibles which you call an Ordinance, and yet cry for hunger, and are feeble for want of nourishment, and your strength ready to fail: Oh! Arise, Arise, Turn to the Light of Christ within you, which is freely given of God unto you; neglect it no longer, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all that beleeve, and in him alone is treasured up all good things; for he is the fulness, and he ministers in freeness unto all that wait upon him; and he hath enough for you all, who will come that you may have life, and will plentifully give unto you, and cause you to feel his goodness in the land of the living—Be not vainly puffed up, but in lowness wait to receive.

A few Words of tender Counsel to all the Inhabitants of BABYLON.

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HEar, Oh ye people! BABYLON must be destroyed, and and all the Pride of her glory must be spoyled, the Lord God hath so determined, and no part of her Countrey must be spared; for the Scourge is to pass thorough her Land, and to find out high and low, rich and poor, who inhabits within her Borders, and to smite them and spoil them, that a dreadful cry will be heard amongst them, all slying for their lives, and none able to escape the severity of God's Judgement.

Therefore all Arise, come out, make haste, who desires to live; for destruction comes as a VVhirl-wind, and there will not be a hiding place found in BABYLON; for strong is the Lord that judgeth her, and in one day will Judgement fall upon her, and the Lord will make a full end concerning her.

Oh! my heart is heavy, and my Spirit sad, when I behold the Viol filled, and how near it is to be opened and poured forth; the Day hastens upon thee, Oh BABYLON! yea, sudden Destruction is coming swiftly, and in flames of Fire it will be rendered, and will take hold upon thee, and kindle within thee, as Fire kindles in the midst of Tow; and who shall then stand up for thee, or bring deliverance to thee? Not a man within thee will be able to lift up his head to do any thing for thee; for all hearts will fail, and all faces gather paleness, who are found within thy borders, and thou must drink the Cup of God's Indignation, because thou hast rebelled against him; for thou hast been a HARLOT from thy youth, and hast decked thy self with costly Ornaments, that thou mighest entice Lovers to thee; and many have been deceived by thee, and have beeen overcome to commit VVhordom with thee, and many Children are brought forth by thee, which are sons of thy Whoredom; and these thy Children would rule in the Earth, and would have all bow unto them, and strive amongst themselves who should be greatest: Is not this the fruit of thy womb O BABYLON, that runs into all confusion and distraction, and have no agreement amongst themselves, but would devour [Page] and destroy one another? And dost thou not dark thy Children with costly Attire, and [...]eautifie them with fair Ornaments, that they may be beloved because of their Comeliness, in which they appear to men? Is not this thy VVitchcr [...]f [...] and Sorcery which thou hast spread over the Earth in this night of Apostacy? Hast not thou sitten d [...]ked as a QUEEN, and thy Children like PRINCES Sons? And hast not thou, and thy Children been the wonder of the World? And have not all been subject to thee, and bowed before thee, and thy Sons VVhoredome? And hast not thou handed forth a CUP of FORNICATION? And have not the Nations received it at thy hand, and drunk so deep of it, until they have been made drunk? What is this that thou hast done, thou MOTHER of HARLOTS? Hast thou deceived all Nations, and made them drunk, and then enticed them to commit VVhoredome with thee? Must not thou be done unto, as thou hast done unto others? And must not thou be rewarded double for all thy sins? I tell thee yea, for he is just that will render unto thee a recompence; and though thy Kingdome seem to be strong, and thy City to be walled, and thou enriched therein with the best things of the Earth; all this will not save thee from the hand of him that pursues thee swiftly in Judgement: And though thou hast gathered Nations unto thee, and hast many Merchants that trade in thee, and they all with their strength joyn together to save thee, yet thou must fall, and all that strive to uphold thee; for thy Ruine is near to come, and the wrath is kindled against thee, and ready to take hold upon thee, and to destroy thee Root and Branch, that thy place will be no more found; and it is the Lords long-suffering and patience that hath spared thee from utter Ruine untill this day, and hath not as yet out thee off in the fierceness of his wrath, with all those that are Inhabitants in thee: It is not for thy sake that the stroak hath been kept off, but for his own Name sake, who delights to save in his Mercy, that some of thy Inhabitants might behold his patience and his goodness, and thereby come to repentance, as some of them have done who were once in the midst of thee; but his own arm reached unto them, and hath gathered them out of thee, and hath brought his Sons from far, & Daughters from the Ends of the Earth; yea, from [Page] all quarters of thy Dominion, hath the Righteous God brought up a Remnant, who in thy Kingdome were once scattered and dispersed, and were amongst thy various Observations, and thy Forms and Traditions, where they could not finde a Resting-place; and there is yet a Remnant that God will not destroy with thee, who sit by thy Rivers, and weep; and it is for his Chosen sake that thou art spared unto this day; but God is making haste, the work to finish, and is opening the Eyes of many, who yet remain within thee, thy filthiness to see, and thy abominations and wickedness to loath and abhor; and many will the Lord gather out of thee, who now sit in sorrow within thee, and wait to be delivered by the Arm of his Power; such doth he reach unto in his Mercy, and is drawing them out with the Cords of his Love.

So all people hear and consider, from the highest to the lowest, and let not this seem small in your eyes, though your wisdome may account it so, and sleight it, and reject it as a tale that is told, and still make your necks stiffe, and your hearts hard against the Lord, yet shall you all one day know that the Lord hath spoken it.

And all you tender ones that breathes after God, under what Form soever you do yet abide, or in what part of BABYLON soever your habitation is; Arise, come forth, do not delay, neither look behinde you, but make haste to the City of Refuge, that you may live; for the Lord with▪holds in pity towards you, and long hath he striven with many of you, but you have been slack in your obedience, and have not regarded the Lords Visitation, and yet doth he wait upon you, that he may save you, and shew mercy to you; and though you trifle and put off from day to day, yet is he striving with you, that you may not perish in Babylon's Ruine: Oh! do not delay any longer, lest he leave you, and depart from you, and you continue touching the unclean thing, and will not be separated from it; then he will certainly smite you, and none will be found to heal you: Therefore give up to the Lord freely; obey, beleeve, and follow the Light, that out of Babylon you may clearly come, and leave not a Hoof behinde you, and stick not in any part or place of her, though it seem never so glorious, for [...]o part of her will the Lord spare in the day when he smites.

[Page]And all you whose delight is in BABYLON, and whose love is to her, and who are trading, and making your selves rich in her, the voice of the Lord reacheth unto you, that you might come ou [...] and be saved, for he would have none of you destroyed, therefore they who come under destruction destroy themselves, because they refuse to hear and obey the Lords Counsel. So let the Inhabitants of BABYLON consider, and all her Merchants ponder the thing, for the time of desolation comes; yea, it is near at hand, he is making up his Jewels, and gathering the Wheat into his Garner, and when he hath finished, and his own pleasure is performed towards his Chosen ones, then will the storm fall upon thee O BABYLON; yea, fiery Indignation will proceed out of the mouth of the Almighty, and from the fierceness of his wrath thou canst not escape; but sorrow will come upon thee as p [...]ngs upon a woman in travel; then WOE, WOE, WOE unto thee O BABYLON, thy Brats and Merchants▪ and all thy Inhabitants who in thee have lived in pleasure, and have made themselves rich with Trading in thee; this will be thy portion (with all that belongs unto thee, and refuse to come out from thee) Weeping, and Howling, and Wayling, and Lamentation for ever; and this Cup must thou, thy Sons and Merchants receive from the Lords hand, who is just in his Judgements, and Righteous in all his wayes.

FEAR and REPENT, before it be hid from your Eyes.

A few Words of tender Counsel unto all born of the Spirit, who walk in the way of Life.

HEar YE TENDER BABES, Consider what God hath done for you who had pity upon you, and bowels of compassion towards you when you were in a strange Land, and when you were sate down by the Rivers of BABYLON and wept; it was his tender love unto you, & his own arm that he then revealed to bring salvation to you, by which he hath redeemed you, as it is at this day: How hath his work prospered since the day he [Page] called you to arise, and since he turned your faces Sion-ward, and became your Leader? He hath raised you up to praise him, he hath brought you forth to glorifie his Name for ever: Oh ISRAEL, thy GOD Reigneth! Oh SEED of JACOB, thy King is beautiful and glorious! his Government is Everlasting, and his Dominion endures throughout all Ages; he is Risen to make all subject to him, and to make all bow before the Scepter of his glory; [...]e is treading upon the high places of the Earth, and bringing the necks of all his Enemies under him: This is thy strength, Oh ISRAEL! and this is thy salvation, thou Seed of JACOB! God hath Ransomed thee in his love, and upon thy head is Songs of Joy: No Form nor Likeness can be made of thee, neither can the prudent of the world comprehend thy glory: Thou art over all Exalted, Thou art over all lift up and praised, thy Saints bless thee for ever, and all thy Redeemed ones gives glory to thy holy Name; all born of thee wait upon thee: O GOD of Jacob, our desires is to thee, and to the Remembrance of thy Holiness; Thou hast begotten us to thy self, and we are born to praise thee; in thy Power our safety is, and we have none to help besides thee; Thou hast brought the fleshly Birth under thee, and thou hast Raised thy own to Reign in Dominion: Oh the glory that in us thou hast Revealed! and the Eternal life which thou hast made us partakers of! What shall we say unto thee? and what shall we offer before thee thou Redeemer of our souls? we are before thee, O Lord, & in thy love we are overcome, and with a broken, & a contrite heart we offer up living praises which thou dost not despise: Oh! blessed be thy Name that accepts us in thy Beloved, through whom we have this boldness and access unto thee, in full assurance through faith in his Name that thou wilt not forsake us, but wilt preserve & keep us faithful with thee unto the end, and that thou wilt exalt thy Name in SION, and make it the praise of the whole Earth, this day. Oh▪ ye Mourners in SION, why are ye cast down? And, why do you go so heavily? Arise, suck the Breasts of your Mother ye tender Babes, and be strengthned; She is a Virgin, and never was defiled, nor never joyned unto strange flesh; lye down in her Bosome, and be comforted, she will nourish you by her Side, and carry you in her Arms, and dandle you upon her Knees, [Page] and make you stronger than all your Enemies; so let not your hands be feeble, nor your hearts faint, ye dear Babes born of the Immortal Seed, for the Lord is with you, and his blessing is upon you for ever; and all your Enemies must fall before you, and BABYLON must be given for the soles of your feet to tread upon, the Lord of Hosts will perfom this: Therefore be ye all stayed in faithfulness, and let not any fears enter you, whatever BABYLON may Decree concerning you, but lift up your heads and rejoyce, for this is the day of Israels Redemption; And look not at any Storm or Blackness, but wait for the shining forth of the SON of RIGHTEOUSNES, before the Glory of whose brightness all Clouds will vanish away, and be no more; for the Abomination must be set up, and for a time it must stand, yea and in the holy place where it ought not; these things must come to pass, but be not ye troubled at them, but look over them, and see to the end and Rejoice; for this will be the fall of BABYLON Head and Taile, in which she must be plunged into deep misery and sorrow, never more to rise, and this will be the day of SIONS Everlasting glory: Oh my Dear friends! Our God whom we serve, he is able to deliver, he is the same as ever he was to his own Seed, and the same Deliverance is wrought by his out-stretched arm, he appears for his Chosen this day, and of his manifold Mercies we have largely tasted: And when BABYLON hath made her Cup Ready, and begins to hand it forth unto the Lambs, and to compel them to receive it, and drink it, then will the Lord Appear and strike with astonishment the hearts of the furious, and make them confess to his Everlasting power, and to his People for whose sake he will Arise to save: Therefore unto him look from whence help comes, and feel his power to compass you all about, and his strength to gird you up, that none of you may be surprized with fear or doubting, but in the Immortal stand over all, and be Bold and of a good Courage▪ that BABYLON may know we cannot fall down and Worship their IMAGE what ever they can do unto us; and GOD, even the God of our fathers he will remember his holy Covenant, and Israel his Chosen, and though he may try us, yet will he never forsake us, but will stand by us to deliver us, that all may know we are a people saved by the Lord.

[Page]Oh! feel the purpose of your hearts drawn in the Light to cleave unto the Lord, and do not depart from his Counsel; so will he make you able to stand unto the end, and will plentifully reward you in the Riches of his Love and Life, which is without End: And the God of Jacob keep you all; and the holy One of Israel be Strength and Wisdome to you all, that he may have the glory over all; who alone is Worthy, Infinite, Endless, Powerfull Father of life, Blessed for evermore.

Be not Fearful, but Beleeving.

A few Words concerning true Discerning and Judgement.

NOw is Salvation come from the most High, and the God of Israel is over all; he is confounding the Wise men in their Wisdome, and destroying the strong men in their strength; he is breaking the Idols of silver, and the Idols of gold, and every carved work he is throwing down; and his eye beholds the way of every man, and he sees their work of what sort it is; he is the searcher of the heart, and he passeth by beholds the Intents thereof; hidden things he brings to light, and by the gift of his own Spirit he shews to every man his thoughts, this is his perfect gift to every man, a manifestation thereof all men have, that they thereby might profit; and though a measure of this Spirit have a being in all, and makes it self manifest in all, and is the true Light that doth enlighten all that comes into the world, yet all do not receive it, nor come to be guided by it, so walk in the flesh, and cannot please God, neither can perceive the things of God, and what is performed by such as a Service or VVorship to God, he doth not require it at their hands; and though they make many prayers he will not hear, for they have no union with his Spirit; and this tryes all people, and their works in a true Discerning, and gives true Judgement upon all according to their doings; and who have not this Spirit of Christ, they are none of his; but all that receive it, and have union with it, they walk not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, in which [Page] they see the Shapes and Forms of every Image and Likeness, and the ground from whence they do arise, and no false birth can have a hiding place, but from the least to the greatest they are discovered, and the fairest [...]overing that any have cloathed themselves withall is seen through, and all the [...]ormed likenesses which appears this day amongst the Sons of men in what they do profess of God, they are all seen to be of the flesh, and their Root and Principle is of that part and nature that is ear [...]hly, from which no good thing can arise; and it brings forth a Birth in its own likeness, and of its own nature, which by the Spirit is truly discerned, and every work of the flesh is manifest to the Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth al [...] things, and truly judges all things, for the Spirit is truth: And though this may seem in many of your eyes to be rash judgement, and you may call it so; yet it will stand a witness against all that are satifying the flesh: For there is not any thing so hardly received as that Testimony that strikes at the life of another, and That which deals plainly and simply with all, and desires the good of all, That meets with the least entertainment in the hearts of people; but that which flatters, and cryes peace when the bonds of iniquity stands, that is a pleasing thing unto the mindes of all who walk in the flesh; and that which comes to rip them up, and discover their nakedness to their shame, that they kick against, and will not own nor receive it for truth; for there is not any people would come to shame for what they do; and that which opens secrets, and brings any thing to light, by which shame may come upon them, they turn against that and reject it, though the thing be really true which is witnessed against; and so there is no work of the flesh that would come under the Spirit's Judgement, though it be truly discerned and judged as it is, and the Discerning and Judgement stand in the truth; but those concerned in it will not own it, but cry out, Who made you a Judge? and why are you so rash to judge, as if all were to be condemned but your selves? how do you know the hearts o [...] people? and, why may not others be as r [...]g [...]t as you for what you know? So every Form and Likeness would save its own life by putting off the Judgement, as if none could D [...]scern it; and no false Birth that would have its nakedne [...]s to [Page] appear, lest it should come to shame thereby: And thus people harden themselves against the Spirit's Testimony, which in it self is the searcher and trier of hearts and Reins, and none can hide their counsel from it. (Mark) Is not this the Judge that stands at the door and knocks? Doth not he discern when evil rises in your hearts? And doth he not there Reprove you? What is it that you can hide that he findes not out? what can you do in your secret chambers that he doth not know? And what thought can you think amongst all your thoughts that he doth not discern? And doth he not judge you in your own consciences if you have thought any evil or uttered vain words, or done any thing wickedly? Will you deny this to be a true Discerne [...], and a Righteous Judge? Be sober, and there is a witness which you may feel in your own selves to answer to the Truth declared, and all that have received the Spirit, and are born of the Spirit, they have an understanding given them, by which they are able to Discern the flesh, and all the works of it, and give true Judgement upon it without respect of persons, not judging according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, and sees to the Root and Principle from which all things springs up and grows; and they do not judge according to the outward appearance, but judge Righteous Judgement; for such as Discern no further then what outwardly appears, and then judge according to that; others from the same ground may draw as true a Judgement against them; and here people are not to Judge, lest they be Judged, which is a place much alleadged against true Judgement; but who so Judges one of another, it is not in the Spirit of Truth which doth D [...]scern through all Appearances, but it is in the flesh which cannot perceive beyond what doth appear: And so all the false Births give Judgement one against another, and cannot bear the Judgement of one another; then they are provoked and angry one with another, and run into Confusion and Distraction, Warring, and Fighting, and Destroying one another about their formed Religion; none being come to the Spirit that gives a discerning through what appears, and gives true Judgement in the ground; but all born of the Spirit hath true union with it, and the flesh and the deeds of it is subdued under it; and they are no more in the flesh, but in the Spirit; and have received Christ Jesus the Lord, and walk in [Page] him, and are spiritual, and the spiritual man Judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man: And whether you can receive it or no, you are all truly tried and judged not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; and your ROOT and FOUNDATION is seen and Discerned, and is not found to be that which was in the beginning, but that which the Subtilty generated since the beginning, and so doth he rule over you, and blind your mindes, that you cannot see, nor discern further then what appears, and the mystery of the Kingdome is hid from your eyes; and you run into the Words with your carnal mindes and earthly Wisdome, and from what is written draw something to your selves, and form up a Likeness in your conceivings, and bring that forth in the strength of your own wills; and this is your Foundation, and the first Principle of your Religion, and so the HARLOT hath brought forth many Children, which in her Womb hath all been conceived, and yet are not formed one like another, but all differ in their Shape and Likeness, and then strive one with another, and yet are all Children of one House, and all of one Kingdome; but no Love, nor Unity found amongst them; but Envy, Hatred and Malice, and all one against another, and divided into Heads and Parties, which is an evident Testimony of the Ruine and Fall of your House and Kingdome; For a House divided against it self cannot stand.

Therefore come out of it, lest it fall upon you, and utterly destroy you, and all come to that where peace and safety is; for God hath prepared a sure Refuge and Resting place for all that will come; and he hath gathered many into Unity, and perfect Peace therein, and they rest in his love, and are preserved in his power, and he alone is their Streng [...]h, and sure Defence; so hath the Lord made his Power known in this his day, and hath gathered a Remnant to that which was in the beginning, which was the Saints Life, and from which the Scriptures were declared, & of which they all testified, that is now made manifest which the false Apostles ravened from, and many Sons and Daughters are come to glory in it; and this is the Spirit of Truth, which leads into all Truth, that cuts down Transgression, and Reigns over the head of the Transgressor, and doth discover clearly all the deeds of Darkness, which is come up since the dayes of the [Page] Apostles, and are practised by such as are in the Apostasie; and this comprehends all, but cannot be comprehended of any; it is Pure, Everlasting, Unchangeable, and no Variableness there is in it; all that in it do beleeve, have found the Author of Eternal Salvation, and are come to the Wisdome and Righteousness of God, and to the enjoyment of Eternal Life which is in CHRIST JESUS the Lord, whose Glory and Majesty is spreading over the Earth, and who is gathering a holy people to Himself, that in them his Praise may be shewed forth; who alone is Worthy, God of Gods, and King of Saints; who by all his Re [...]eemed Ones is over all, Exalted, Magnified, and Praised for Ever and Ever.

THE END.

Information about this book

Title statement

The morning-watch, or, A spiritual glass opened wherin a clear discovery is made of that which lies in darknesse, from whence wars, contentions, and destructions do arise concerning a professed religion, with a few words of tender counsel unto the Pope, prelate, presbyter, independent & baptist, &c. ... / by ... William Smith.

Smith, William, d. 1673.

Edition statement

1660

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2006-06 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A60643

ID [STC]

Wing S4317

ID [STC]

ESTC R132

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

12073972

ID [OCLC]

ocm 12073972

ID [VID]

53542

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

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Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A60643)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 53542)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 824:21)

Source

— The morning-watch, or, A spiritual glass opened wherin a clear discovery is made of that which lies in darknesse, from whence wars, contentions, and destructions do arise concerning a professed religion, with a few words of tender counsel unto the Pope, prelate, presbyter, independent & baptist, &c. ... / by ... William Smith., Smith, William, d. 1673..

Extent

60 p.

Printed, and are to be sold by Robert Wilson ...,. London :: 1660.. (Reproduction of original in Huntington Linrary.)

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