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further, quicken, and build up the living members with? The milk which nourisheth the living babe, is living, which muft come pure from the breast of life, and not be mixed with man's wisdom or brain inventions, or it cannot yield pure nourishment. What then must the bread, and wine, and water of the kingdom be, whereon the children and heirs of the kingdom muft feed, or they cannot be fatisfied? And the minifters of the gospel are ftewards of this heavenly life, this heavenly Spirit, this heavenly power, this heavenly treasure which they have in the earthen veffels, and which God enables them to bring forth, for the feeding of his lambs and fheep. Chrift faid unto Peter, Loveft thou me more than thefe? Peter anfwered him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. If it be fo, feed my lambs, feed my Sheep, faid Chrift to him. But how fhould he feed them? In what should he feed them? With what fhould he feed them? All power, faith Chrift, is given me in heaven and in earth; and I am to afcend to my Father, and to receive the fullness of his Spirit; and do ye wait, and ye fhall receive abundantly of the fame Spirit and power, and then in that Spirit and power ye fhall be able to feed my lambs and fheep, that are begotten and gathered to me, in it; but out of it none is able to feed and build them up; for that is the very thing they are to be fed with and built up in. Indeed a man may be a minifter of the letter, a minister of the law, without the Spirit and power; but of the gospel he cannot poffibly; for that confifts not in letter, but in Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. and the faith that is to be begotten there, is not to ftand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. The gofpel-ftate, the gofpel-church, the gofpel-building, begins in the power, and is carried on in the power, and finished or perfected in the power; and the whole miniftry of the gospel is to partake of this power, and minifter in it, or they can do nothing in this work. Chrift Jefus our Lord begun it in this power, and none can carry it on without this power: the Lord God of Glory laid the foundation; Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation, &c. Ifai. xxviii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 4, 5, 6. And the quickening Spirit alone is able to make living ftones and spiritual ftones; and the Lord alone is able to build them up by the operation of this Spirit and power; and they that are the true minifters of the gofpel, minifter in this, and are to wait for it daily from God that they may minifter in it.

Queft. 3. What is the maintenance of the minifters of Christ, or what is to be the maintenance of the true minifters under the gospel?

Anfw. Chrift, who hath fent them forth to minifter in his name, hath provided for them; and they that are his true minifters, are fatisfied with what he hath provided for them, Matt. x. 10. being careful not to make the gospel, which is to be an inward bleffing, outwardly chargeable to any. The mind of the true minifters is about the fervice of Chrift; how they may be faithful to him, gather fouls to him, feed them with the bread of life from him; not what they fhall have from men for fo doing, for fuch covet no man's gold or filver, &c.

Some

Some QUESTIONS anfwered concerning the LAMB'S WAR.

Quest. 1.

W

HO is the Lamb?

Anfw. He that takes away the fins of the world. The word which was in the beginning. Behold the lamb of God, faid John, John i. 1. and ver. 29. He that was born of the virgin Mary after the flesh; and was alfo the man-child, born of the travailing-church after the Spirit, Rev. xii. 5.

Queft. 2. Who makes war with the Lamb?

Anfw. All that are in wickednefs, in darkness, in fin and corruption, and under the power thereof, who strive to defend and maintain this kingdom against the appearance of his light, Spirit, and power in them.

Queft. 3. What strength have they on their fide that make war against the Lamb?

Anfw. The ftrength of the great red dragon, who hath feven heads and ten horns; and in every one of his heads is wisdom, and in every one of his horns there is power. So that dreadful is the battle that is fought between them, either inwardly in the heart, or outwardly in the world, when Chrift appears in his light, Spirit and power, to affault and break down the kingdom of darkness, and to fet up his own kingdom, which must be set up, even in the world, Dan. vii. 14. 27. Rev. xi. 15.

Queft. 4. Did the great red dragon and his army ever (in any respect) prevail

in this battle?

Anfw. Yes; for even while the Lamb, and his pure life and holy testimony have prevailed, fo that the dragon and his army could get no ground over them inwardly, but salvation (the wall and bulwark of God's heritage) and strength, and the kingdom of God, and the power of his Christ, did prevail inwardly; yet the dragon, even then, hath prevailed over their goods, liberties, and lives outwardly; and he drove the woman, the true church, out of her place, as I may fay, that fhe was forced to fly into the wildernefs, he fo forely affaulted her: yea, after that alfo he made war with the remnant of her feed, and caft fome of them into prifon, and drank the blood of those that would not drink his falfe church's cup, but keep the commandments of God, and have the teftimony of Jefus, Rev. xii. and chap. ii. 10. Yea, the beaft to which he gave his power (which had seven heads and ten horns like him, chap. xiii. 1.) made war with the faints, and overcame them outwardly, though he could not overcome them inwardly; for he could not make them to worship him, ver. 7, 8. Nay, nor the second beaft neither, though he had horns like a lamb, and spake like a dragon, and exercifed all the power of the first beaft, and did great wonders, and

had

had power to give life unto the image of the former beaft, and would kill all that would not worship the image of it; and would fuffer none to buy or fell but fuch as had the mark or name of the beaft: yet neither could this beast overcome the followers of the Lamb, as to their inward life and teftimony, though it had power to kill and fupprefs them outwardly, ver. 11. to the end, and chap. xiv. 9. to ver. 13. which plainly fhews the faints had patience, and kept the commandments of God, and the faith of Jefus, and would not worship the beast and his image, nor receive his mark, either in forehead or hand.

Quest. 5. What was the cry up and down nations, when the dragon and the beaft thus prevailed, and when the false church carried her cup of fornications up and down through kingdoms and nations, and made the kings and inhabitants of the earth drink thereof; and who would not drink thereof, she would not let them buy nor fell, but impoverish, imprison them, and drink their blood? Rev.

xvii. 2. and 6.

Anfw. The cry every-where was, Who is like unto the beaft? Who is able to make war with the beaft? Indeed there appeared no power any-where able to withstand or refift this power, which the dragon had, who gave it both to the beaft which arofe out of the fea, and to the beaft which arofe out of the earth; both which joined together to perfecute all that would not drink of the falfe church's cup, which was golden without, but full of abomination and filthinefs of fornication, fornicating from the holy life, Spirit, and power of the Lamb inwardly, who is the head of the true church and true worshippers, Rev. xiii. 4. and chap. xvii. 4, 5.

Queft. 6. What is the time of the dragon's, the beafts, and falfe church's thus prevailing against the true church, in reference to the outward, though they cannot prevail against its inward life and teftimony; but that (through patience and fufferings) prevails over and reigns inwardly, in the midst of all their cruelty and oppreffing of the outward man?

Anfw. It is the time of Antichrift's reign, and fitting in the temple as if he were God, and exalting himself over all that is called God, and which ought to be worshipped. It is the time of the true church's being in the wilderness, and of the man-child's (which the true church brought forth) being caught up to God; which things were to laft, according to the fcripture account, one thousand two hundred and fixty days, or a time, times, and half a time, 2 Theff. ii. 3, 4. Rev. xii. 6, 14.

Queft. 7. What will the Lamb do when this time is out?

Anfw. He will come and make war again; he will come with his heavenly armies, armed with spiritual armour, and fight an heavenly battle; yea, he will judge and make war in righteousness, against the unrighteoufness of the dragon, and the beast, and the falfe prophet; and his heavenly armies fhall follow him their captain and leader, on white horses, cloathed in fine linen, white and clean, who fhall fight in his Spirit and power, against all that he fighteth, against; and out of his mouth goeth a fharp fword, that

with it he should finite the nations; and he fhall rule them with a rod of iron, and make the fpirits of all his oppofers bow under him, and fly to fhelter themfelves from that wrath which they cannot escape. Oh! who would not kifs the Son, that he might not provoke the Lamb to wrath against him, whofe wrath is dreadful! Rev. xix. 11. to the end. Pfal. ii. 11.

Quest. 8. What shall the cry be, when God's Spirit and power prevaileth over the dragon's fpirit and power, when the Lamb gets the victory, when he fmites the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips fhall flay the wicked, when he brings down the dragon, beaft, and false prophet, and the falfe church, mother of harlots (which hath drunk the blood of faints) with his vials, plagues, woes, thunders, &c.? when Babylon the great city falls, which made all nations drunk with her spiritual wine of fornication?

Anfw. Then the power which doth this fhall be magnified. Then it fhall be faid no more, who can make war with the beaft? but who can withftand this power? Who can make war with the innocent, righteous Lamb (who hath his fword in his mouth) and with his tender-hearted, faithful followers, and profper? Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For all nations hall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifeft. Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of faints, Rev. xv. 3, 4. Yea, a great voice of much people in heaven fhall fay, Hallelujah, falvation, and glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his faints at her band, chap. xix.

ver. I, 2.

Now doth it not concern all people to confider which is Sion, God's holy mountain, and which is the Jerufalem of his building; and the holy city of God, the holy church of God, the mother of all the truly living children? for the Jerufalem which is above, and which is free, is the mother of them all, Gal. iv. 26. And alfo which is Babylon, the city built by man, and the spirit of Antichrift, in a kind of likeness, but not in the real nature of the true church; that they may wait for and follow God's call to come out of her, and may not partake of her fins, of her forceries (Rev. xviii. 22.) of her fornication from the pure life, Spirit and power, and fetting up worships, and compelling people to worship in her forms (which are out of the life, and out of the power) that they partake not of her plagues, which will indeed be very dreadful, fuch as fhall affright any from coming near her, or meddling with her fpiritual forceries and fornications any more, Rev. xviii.. 4. and ver. 9, 10. Oh! therefore let every one confider what the beast is,. what his image, what the mark in the forehead, what in the right hand; and take heed he be not found worshipping the beaft and his image, or receiving his mark, either in his forehead or right hand, left God make him to drink of the wine of his wrath, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he be tormented with fire and brimstone in

the

the prefence of the holy angels, and in the prefence of the Lamb, and have no reft day nor night, Rev. xiv. 9, 10, 11. I had rather run great hazards outwardly, and fuffer much affliction and perfecution from men, to keep my foul true to God, in the spiritual worship and testimony which he hath given me, against all falfe ways and invented worfhips, than expofe my foul to the hazard of drinking of this dreadful cup of God's indignation; which the Lord God of tender mercies teach men, and give them true wisdom, to avoid and escape. Amen.

The CONCLUSION.

EHOLD my fervant fhall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were aftonished at thee (his vifage was fo marred more than any man, and his form more than the fons of men); so fhall be fprinkle many nations; the kings fhall fout their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them, fhall they fee; and that which they had not heard, shall they confider, Ifai. lii. 13, 14, 15.

Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips; there fore God hath bleed thee for ever. Gird thy fword upon thy thigh, O Mot Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majefty ride profperously, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are fharp in the hearts of the king's enemies, whereby the people fhall fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the Scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou loveft righteousness and hateft wickedness, therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows, Pfal. xlv. ver. 2. to 8.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be ftrong, fear not : behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence, he will come and fave you. Then the eyes of the blind fhall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then fball the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb fing; for in the wilderness ball waters break out, and ftreams in the defert. And the parched ground fhall become a pool, and the thirsty land fprings of water; in the babita tion of dragons, where each lay, fhall be grafs with reeds and rushes. And on highway fhall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of boliness; the unclean hall, not pass over it, but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, fhall not err 'therein. No lion fhall be there, nor any ravenous beaßt shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed fhall walk there. And the ranfomed of the Lord fhall return and come to Sion with fongs, and everlafting joy upon their heads: they fhall obtain joy and gladness, and forrow and fighing fhall flee away, Ifai. xxxv. ver. 3. to the end.

Bleffed

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