A VISITATION TO THE Captive-Seed OF ISRAEL,

And a door opened to the Prisoner in the pit, that the band of darknesse may be broken, and the Cloud of Errour scattered, by the brightness of his Rising who is the Resurrection, and whose Life is the Light of men.

Given forth, in Bowels of Compassion, to the scattered Sheep that are yet of another Fold, but must be gathered into the Fold of Christ, where he causes his Flock to rest in the heat of the day that is coming to try them that dwell upon the Earth, where peace and rest is enjoyed, that no man can take away.

Humphrey Wollrich.

LONDON, Printed for Thomas Simmons, 1661.

O All People Heare, and Professors of all sorts, lend an ear, incline your minds, and be of an understanding heart, be not proud in a Profession, out of the life, pow­er and possession of what in words ye profess, ye are laid to the line of true Judgement, and weighed in the even ballance of the sanctuary of God, and all your coverings are too narrow to wrap you in, the eye that made you searches you, and sees thorow all darkness, where ye are hiding your selves only with the words of Christ the light, that is the true light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the World.

O all ye vain professors of all sorts, your bed is too short which ye lye upon, your rest is poluted & bed defiled; Arise O thou Virgin Daughter of Babylon, the Lord will Judge thee, make bare thy thighs, strip thee, strip thee, for thy Mother is an harlot, the Lord will plead with thee thou Daugh­ter of Fornication, he will plead with thee, even with thee that hast sate as a Queen, and in thy heart hast said I am, and there is none besides me, I am a Lady for ever, and shall see no sorrow, I shall not know widdow hood, nor losse of Children; these things saith the Lord, the mighty God that judg­eth thee, widow-hood, losse of Children shall come upon thee in one day, the Archers shall set them­selves in array against thee O Virgin Daughter of Babylon; the fellers are coming up, the mighty are on their way against thee. O Babylon, call together all thy wise men, they shall be confounded, gather [Page 4]thy Princes, even all the Princes of the Sea, and they shall be dashed as one wave against another; the Lord hath determined thy ruine, thou shalt not be built nor inhabited throughout all Genera­tions; because of thy violence to the Daughter of Sion, will the Lord slay thy Children with fire. Arise O Daughter of Sion, put thy sword upon thee, deck thee with Majesty, thresh the Moun­tains, and tread them under the soles of thy feet that rise up to oppose thee, take the glittering sword and let it be bathed in Heaven, and made fat with the bloud of bulls, even the bulls of Basan; Arise, shine forth, and let thy right hand take hold on vengeance, slay the wicked, and feed the fat with Judgement, bind the Kings in chains, and No­bles in fetters of Iron, execute upon them the Judgement written, let Thousands of Thousands Minister before thee, even before thee whom Na­tions have abhorred and people dispised, let the Mountains melt before thee, and the Hills that are high tremble. Tremble, tremble all ye Foundations of the Earth, the Lord is roaring out of Sion, and uttering his voice out of Jerusalem; all ye high hills, come down, come down all ye ragged Rocks with your Inhabitance, meet the Lord in the valley of Jehosaphat, there will he Judge the Earth in Righteousness and the people in Equity.

Open ye Fountains of Water, and thou Sea give up thy dead; Oh Earth, Earth, be thou removed and cover thy slain no longer, death, Hell and grave give up, give up, and hide my blood on lon­ger; arise ye dead and come to Judgement, arise thou worm Jacob and seed of Abraham my Friend, Nations shall tremble at thy rising, and people shal [Page 5]melt away out of their close places; He give Na­tions for thy Ransom, and people shall be as dri­ven stubble before thy bow; come up thou seed im­mortal, thou babe of eternity, let a Nation be born in one day, and a generation conceived in the same; shine out thou star of Jacob, thy light is come, thy day is dawned and sprung from on high, out of thee shall he arise that must have dominion; his King shall be higher then Agag, and his Kingdome shall be exalted and rule over all the Kingdoms of the Earth, and his dominion shall be from Sea to Sea; Spring up thou dried heath in the desart, thou plant rise out of the dry ground, let the wil­derness become a poole of water, & a barren land a pleasant garden, let the day rise upon all the Mountains and hills of glominess and thick dark­ness, even the day of God, and scatter the mysts and foggs, that the path may be known, the anti­ent path which the Righteous trod in thorow all Generations; The way O Lord even thy way O God in the wilderness reveal and manifest as in the dayes of old, that thy Sheep and Lambs, even the sheep that are yet of another fold, may be gather­ed unto him in whom is rest, peace and joy world without end; Unto him, to whom the gathering of the Nations shall be; O gather, gather thy out­cast thou Lord God of Israel. Moab doth afflict thy heritage, & Ameleck would root out the Name of Israel; O thou Lord God of hosts, thou God of Jacob, thou that formedst him and createdst him for thy praise, build him O Lord and hold his hands, teach Iacob to war, and Israel to fight the good fight of faith, as thou taught. Abraham, who in hope believed against hope.

O all ye Children of Esau, you that know not the, seed of Isaak in the Tent, but feed in a dryland, and inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, whose Mountain is not the Lords holy Mountain, but the Mount of Esau is your dwelling place, you must not enter into the dwellings of Iacob, but wasting and destruction, overturning, and confusi­on is your resting place, your waters are worm­wood of which Israel cannot drink, the water that is pure ye uncircumcised have stopped up, even the Well that Abrahams Servants have digged, read in the Mystery all ye graves, Tooms and pain­ted Sepulchers, the living water is in you a spring, shut up, a Fountain sealed, ye wandring stars that are not fixed in the firmament of his power; ye wells without water, your house is desolate and over­thrown by Alients; Thus saith the Lord, over Palistina, Ethiopie and Edom will I rejoyce, I will meet out the vallie of Succoth, here is a place for sheep to lie down, here is a place to build an Altar to the Lord God of Israel; I will be exalted in my seed that hath been scattered as chips about the graves mouth, I will gather Israel, and bring him back out of Egypt, I will call my Son, for Israel is my first born; the Sea will I dry up, and divide the mighty waters, I will drive back all the night with an East wind from the Wilderness, so that he shall go safely as on dry ground; Egypt shall fear, and I will smite the first born of Pharoah, that my chosen may be glad, and come forth with joy of heart.

I will have mercy upon Iacob, and pitty Israel my chosen, that have been oppressed in Egypt, and bowed down in the Iron Furnace, he shall be my [Page 7]chosen Treasure, my peculiar Treasure in whom I will alone delight, I will give him the goods of the Gentiles, and his hands shall be upon the necks of his Enemies, strangers shal submit themselves un­to him, and those that hate him shal come bending before him; he shal push the people together to the ends of the earth, with his horn shal he push down his Enemies, he shall destroy Amelech and all the Children of Seth, which know not my power in my seed, nor the blessing wherewith all I have blessed my off-spring saith the Lord, the God of Israel, that have Created Iacob for my praise, and Israel in whom I will be glorified; and I will mar all the beauty, and stain the pride of all glory that will not be subject in spirit to my glorious Name, that in my sons and daughters I am making, mani­fest and revealing; Life shall abundantly be re­vealed and brought to light by the Gospel which is preached in every Creature under Heaven, that in this day of plentious Redemption, the Captive may be set at liberty, and the prisoner in the pit may come out to have his hope in God, to rejoyce in the Father, and the Father in him, as it was be­fore the bottomless pit was, death, hell or the grave had a being, before the hills were brought forth, or the Mountains setled, or ere the high places of the dust of the Earth was, then was I by him as one brought up with him, rejoycing before him, and then was may delight in the habitable parts of the Earth.

O thou mourning seed that lieth in captivity, thou that groanest under the weight of thy burden of pressing sin and iniquity, O I will arise saith the Lord in my jealousie, and I will ransome thee [Page 8]from the power of the grave, I will open the two leafed gates before thee, I will break the iron bars and gates of Brasse assunder. O thou seed in the Grave hear and come out, arise, shake off thy pri­son garments, ile cloath thee with Majesty, and put my spirit upon thee; O I have heard thy cry and thy groaning is not hid from me, but into my ear is entred, and I will undertake for thee, be strong thou little one, thou shalt become a strong Nation; Out of my Treasure will I send dayly I will gird thy loyns, and thou shalt travel in the greatnesse of my strength, all thy garments shal be dyed in bloud, and the slain of the Lord shal be ma­ny before thee O thou worm Jacob; I will bring thee into the strong City, and the everlasting door will I open, and in a sure dwelling place will I e­stablish thee; the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun, and the light thereof as seven daies; thy gate shall not be shut at all by night, for there shall be no night there; I will feed thee O thou Seed that hast hungred, and with my dayly bread will I sustain thee, thy Earth shall yield her increase unto thee, and him that blesseth thee shall be blessed, and all that hate thee shall be cursed for thy sake; Oh thou art unto me as the male in the flock, he that toucheth thee, toucheth mine A­noyted, and grieveth the apple of my eye; O thou hast made thy soul an offering for sin, and the cha­stisement of the peace of many hath been upon thee, therefore shalt thou divide the spoyl of them that have spoiled thee; I will bring thee into a good Land where thou shalt take them Captives, whose Captives thou wert, & thou shalt rule over thy op­pressors; And I will plant thee again a right plant, [Page 9]and Noble Seed, and thou shalt be watered, and replenished with the dew of Heaven every mo­ment; and I will watch over my Vine and build a Wall about it, least any noysom beast approach to lay it wast again, and my goodness shal be extended unto thee, and thy Seeding Seed for evermore throughout all ages, world without end.

O this Seed is nigh to thee, this holy Seed, even to thee thou Cedar, who art lifted up above the sence of its heavy burthen; How dost thou hunt before the Lord thou Son of Nimrod, how dost thou compass the Earth with thy mind, but lendest not an ear to the cry of the Captive in thee? How dost thou scatter and travers thy way in the Earth, like aswift Dromedary, while the Innocent Seed in thee lieth in the Sepulcher of thy dead heart, who shal rowl away the stone, that so within the vail thou may stoop down in thy mind, and see him that is a little lower then the Angels, that thou may see him in thee that gives thee feeling of thy sins, and that will give thee to feel and see a Savi­our from them also; O thou that lovest to wan­der from the Lord, and scatter thy wayes upon the Mountains, turn in, turn in that thou may see Cap­tivity led Captive; Here is the patience of the Saints, he that hath slain with the sword shal be killed with the sword; open thou eternal eye, that the life may be known, and the Resurrection seen and be witnessed in all that wait for the Consolati­on in Israel, spring up ye waters that are under the waters, that there may be a dividing the wa­ters from the waters; open O Lord springs in the desert, and dry up all the springs that are Corrup­ted, [Page 10]that those that have sought the water of the well, may not return away ashamed, but satisfied and refreshed let them be with the Living Foun­tain: Unseal, unseal thy Fountain O Lord, let pure water issue out of the City that is yet unhabi­ted; gather, O my Lord, gather them that are yet a far off in their minds by evil works to thy sheep­fold, O Let them know the shepherd of Israel, and his crook that leadeth Joseph like a Flock; O spread the banner to the Nations, and lift up thy standerd to the people that kno [...] thee not; O why should the grave and pit rejoyce where none pray­seth thee, rejoyce and triumph for ever; O why should thy talent be hid, and the price alwaies retained in the hands of Fools? shall the Heritage mourn, and the Vine Languish, even the Vine O Lord whom thou lovest? When shall the oppressor cease, and the violent man cease, and destruction come unto a perpetual end, so that there may be no enemy in thy house, nor adversary in thy habi­tation, that there may be no more a pricking thorn and bryer unto the house of Israel.

Arise thou Son of Righteousness in the Nations, heal them, heal them thou Tree of Life, thy leaves are for the healing of the Nations; shine forth in thy beauty, and them that have not desired thee, O let them see thy beauty and comly proportion; thou art altogether lovely in thy self, and though thou hast been spotted by man, and thy Image marred more then the Sons of men, yet art thou all fair as the morning without Clouds, there is no spot in thee, therefore do the Virgins love thee, e­ven thee thou pretious Son of Sion, against whom [Page 11]the Daughter of Babylon hath shaken the head, and laughed to scorn.

Spring up O Well of water, issue forth thou Fountain sealed in the Rock, that the thirsty may drink and be refreshed; Open, open thou River in the desert, that the soul of the poor may be reple­nished with water of Life; breath out of thy no­strils thou babe in the Manger, that the dead may be quickned & bec [...] Living, that praises may be given thee in the L [...] of the Living; the Living, the Living he shal praise thee, as my Soul doth this day, the Father to his Children shal make known thy Truth, they that lie in the Pit cannot praise thee, the Grave cannot Celebrate thy Truth.

Awake, awake ye that sleep in the dust, stand up & shew thy self, O thou mighty one awake, awake O Arm of the Lord, put on thy strength thou that hast slept in the dust of the Earth; Ride prosper­ously on, because of Grace and Truth, make thy power known to the World thou Lamb of God, and thy saving health to the ends of the Earth; let the Inhabitants of Canaan melt away, so soon as they hear of thee, let them submit themselves; Let the strong become weak and bow himself, and the weak one a strong Nation; make way O God for thy Seed in man, even thy Vine whom thou lovest; from the Land of Egypt plant Iacob O God, teach Israel thy statutes and Judgements thou Lord of hosts, whose Name is the Mighty God, the Everlast­ing Counseller, and Prince of Peace, shine out of Sion and utter thy voice out of Ierusalem thou Lion of the Tribes of Israel, break all the strong bands of death, and take away the vail and covering [Page 12]from the face of all Nations, that Nobles may come to thy Light, and Kings to the brightness of thy Rising; O thou that art the Resurrection and the Life, shine out in the hearts of thy Creatures, gather them as prisoners in the pit, that they may see the sufferings of thy Seed in the Earth; Judge them O Lord that have Condemned the Just, and Redeem and heal them by the stroke of thy hand, save thy Seed O Lord, thy Heritage whom thou lovest throughout all Gen [...]ons, that a Nation may be born in one day, that is Conceived in the Womb of the Morning, where immortality dwel­leth, and where his Habitation is that doth inha­bit eternity; Let man know thy Tabernacle in him that yet knows thee not, that the Generation and Children that are yet unborn, may praise thee, who art worthy, because thou hast love us; when we were naked, then didest thou cloath us with thy own Garment, we were hungry and thou didest feed us and spread a Table in the Wilder­ness, thou also didest open the Rock, and didest cause the waters to issue out of the Desert; prai­ses to thee, let all the Redeemed of the Lord say so, that have the breath of Life, praise thee for e­ver, who hast visited and redeemed Israel out of sore bondage, and raised up a horn of Salvation in the house of Iacob, that the seed of Immortality may raign and have dominion in thy chosen for e­ver and ever.

Unto this gather the Nations, assemble the people O God, that in him, even in him whom thou art & hast exalted, and given a Name above every Name, they may have a Portion and Inheritance, that thy [Page 13]Name may be one, and thy Creatures one, all one in it that rents the vail that hath been over the heart, and hath separated from the Lord and one another, that in it the Nations may be glad, and people rejoyce, that takes away the curse, and sin, and transgression which hath been the cause there­of doth it finish and put an end to, even in that they may glory, that stains their own, gives victory over the grave, and takes away the sting of Death, and opens the good understanding, and confounds the bad and brings it to nought, and expels the darknesse by the power of his Rising, who is the Resurrection and the Life, whereby the true light maybe known to shine forth of the darknes that in the heart hath lodged where Satans seat hath been set, that he may be known that is the True and Li­ving God, and his glory given in the face of Jesus Christ, that men may no longer grope as blind men for the Wall of Salvation, but with Joy they may know the Wall to build upon, that is not rotten, and draw water out of the Well of Salvation that springs up in all that do believe and obey the Light of Christ, who is the Well in them springing up to eternal Life, and that they may no longer worship the lord God Ignorantly, where there is no acceptance, but only and alone as led and taught by the spirit of the Lord, and by the vain Precepts and Commandements of men no longer.

EVery gift of God is pure and perfect, as he is, so is his gift that gav [...] it, and when he ascen­ded he gave gifts that were perfect unto men, in whom he did ascend, and this was for the work of the Ministry, for the perfecting of the Saints, until they came unto the mea [...]e (that was pure and perfect) of the stature of the fulness of Christ, who is the very Image of the Invisible God; they did not say and teach as the Ministers of Antichrist, nei­ther did they make a trade of the souls and bodies of men, as do the Merchants of Babylon now a­daies, who say none can be perfect in this World; But they laboured night and day that they might present every man perfect in Christ; and they who were Ministers of the New Testament which is not of the Letter, but the spirit of Jesus, they said, as he is, so are we in this present World, (mark, ye that say and do not, ye that say ye are Ministers of Christ, and watch for the Soul. What is Jesus not pure and perfect, or is not there a measure of the pure and perfect light of Jesus given to every man that cometh into the world, which if the mind be turned to, is able to redeem out of all imperfect things, and to present the Soul perfect in Christ? and as this is obeyed, believed in and followed, e­ven this Measure of the spirit of God, whether this be not able now, as in the dayes of Old, to pu­rifie, wash and cleanse the soul; If not, how can they that are sanctified be one with him that sancti­fieth and justifieth; Answer this Query all ye that [Page 15]make a Trade of the Saints words for money, and what do ye preach for, that say none can be per­fect and free from sin in this life, is your end to bring them to the anointing and light within, and stablish them that hear you on the Rock and truth that Christ saith setteth free from sin, or to keep them alwayes hearing and ever learning of you, yet never bring them to the knowledge of the Truth in the inward part, that would unload the Conscience of the body of sin, and break the chain of darkness, and take away the Cloud of errour, that hath caused them to loose the way of life, and err in their hearts from the Commandment which is the true light Christ, the way out of darkness to the Father of Light; But this would spoyl your trade that preach for a piece of bread and a han­ful of Barley, if the Lord were but known to be Teacher amongst you.

THE END.

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