A testimony for truth against all hireling priests and deceivers with a cry to the inhabitants of this nation to turn to the Lord before His dreadful judgments overtake them : also a testimony against all observers of times and dayes. Boulbie, Judith. 1665 Approx. 12 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2007-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A28876 Wing B3828 ESTC R29048 10802399 ocm 10802399 45965 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. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A28876) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 45965) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1416:13) A testimony for truth against all hireling priests and deceivers with a cry to the inhabitants of this nation to turn to the Lord before His dreadful judgments overtake them : also a testimony against all observers of times and dayes. Boulbie, Judith. Boulbie, Judith. A testimony against all observers of times and dayes. 7 p. s.n., [London : 1665?] Signed at end: Judith Boulbie. Imprint suggested by Wing. Reproduction of original in the British Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Freedom of religion -- England. Fasts and feasts -- England. Conduct of life. 2006-06 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-06 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-10 Celeste Ng Sampled and proofread 2006-10 Celeste Ng Text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A Testimony for Truth AGAINST ALL Hireling-Priests and Deceivers : With a Cry to the Inhabitants of this Nation , to turn to the Lord , before his dreadful Judgments overtake them . Also a Testimony against all Observers of Times and Dayes . O Ye Priests and Bishops of this Nation , the Lord God that made Heaven and Earth is a Witness for me this day , I have no evil in my heart to any of you , but in Love to your Souls ; and in the Bowels of tender compassion am I constrained to cry out against your Ungodly Gaines ; for Gods day is come , and Wo to all the Workers of Iniquity . O ye Bishops and Priests of this Nation , ye have for a long time covered your selves with the name of Christ's Ministers , but now your Covering is too narrow , and your Profession will not hide you ; for the Light of Christ is risen , and with it you are judged and condemned , and seen to be Enemies to the the Cross of Christ , and Strangers to the Covenant of Promise ; being in Cains way , who slew his Brother about Religion ; and in Balaams way , who loved the Wages of Unrighteousness , Therefore I say , leave off your Deceit , and keep the People no longer in your dark Forms ; but let them have Liberty to Worship God in Spirit and Truth ; For the time is come , that every man need not teach his Neighbour or his Brother , saying , Know the Lord ; for every one must know him from the least to the greatest . Yea , Gods second Covenant of Light and Glory is made manifest , I will forgive their Sins , and remember their Iniquities no more ; I 'll be to them a God , and they shall be my People : O ye Blind Guides , Will ye seek to dissannul this ? Will ye seek to stop the Lords Work in this the Day of his Power ? Ye are but as Bryars and Thorns , who are setting your selves together against him , who is a consuming Fire , and is risen to consume you , and all your false Doctrine ( if ye repent not . ) Therefore I say again and again , Leave off your Deceit , and come to the Teaching of Gods Witness in your own perticulars : For this is the day that God is pouring forth of his Spirit , and his Sons and his Daughters do Prophesie ; for there is no more room for Deceit . Why take ye Christs Words in your Mouths , and hate to be reform'd ? Why talk ye of the Scriptures , and are err'd from the Spirit that gave them forth ? Ye are gone from the Practice of Christ , and of the Apostle : Did ever Peter , Paul , James , John , or any of Christs Ministers , keep Curates to get money ? did they ever Sue any man for Lambs , Piggs , Hens , or Geese ? Did they ever hale any to the Courts , and to Prison ? Nay , Was not this the Testimony of him that was called to the Ministry , Cor. 9. 16. ( saith he ) A Necessity is laid upon me to Preach the Gospel , and Wo be unto me if I Preach it not ; I have coveted no mans Silver , nor Gold , nor Apparrel ; but have Laboured with these hands , Day and Night , that I should not be chargeable to any Man ? And was not this Christs Doctrine , Do Good to them that Hate you , Bless them that Curse you ; if any Sue thee at the Law , and take away thy Coat , let him have thy Cloak also ; he that smites thee on the one side , turn to him the other ? Matthew 5. 39. 40. Oh! Blush for shame , and t●ade no more with the Scriptures ; for they testifie against you , to your Condemnation , ye Hireling-Shepherds : Have you brought any Lambs to Christs Fold ? Have ye brought any of your Hearers into the pleasant Valleys , where the Springs of Life are to be felt ? Nay : Are they not wandring in the Imaginations of their own Hearts , and many of them dissatisfied , thirsting after the Bread of Life , but know not where to find it , while you are eating the Fat , and clothing your selves with the Fleece ; and putting the Day of the Lord far from you , when many of Gods faithful Servants , whom he hath called to labour in his Vine-yard , are exercised with strong Cryes to the God that made Heaven and Earth , that he may turn away his Judgments , and revoak his destroying Angel , and spare this Nation , which otherwise will feel an heavy Stroke of Gods Hand ▪ if they repent not . And though you live in Pride and Excess , spending your pretious time in Vanity and Pleasure , eating and drinking with the Drunken , and say in your hearts , The Lord delays his coming ; but know , that for all these things ye must come to Judgment : For of a truth , ye Priests and People of this Nation , The Lord will turn your Feasting into Fasting , and your Mirth into Lamentation ; he will fill you with Terror , and Amazement : Though you have had Plenty and Fulness , your Barns and Store-houses must become empty ; because of these things I Weep , Sorrow hath filled mine heart , and mine Eyes run down with Water : What shall I say to prevail with thee , O England ? Must thou needs be left Desolate ? Where are thy Wise and Prudent ? Where are thy Divines ( so called ? ) There is a Seed raised , and a Birth brought forth , which will confound them all ; the promised Seed is come , Christ is risen , and unto him must the gathering of the People be : For though the World cry out , No Perfection ( and the Hireling-shepherds , No Redemption on this side the Grave ) yet I say , There is a Birth brought forth , which will naturally do the Will of God , as ever man did his own will. But O ye People of this Nation , are ye willing to receive him ? Are not your hearts filled with Pleasures and Delights ? Are they not filled with Cares and Incumbrances of this present Life , while there is no room for your Christ : O Man and Woman , Is not every thing in thine Heart , and Christ in the Stable : O ye Inhabitants of this Nation , its hard for ye to kick against that which pricks you ; for in the dread of God Almighty do I declare it , There 's not another way , in which God will be Worshiped , but by the Light which shines in your inward parts ; neither is there another Gospel to be Preache but this ; Gods Power made manifest in the Heart . O ye Professors , my heart is a little enlarged to you , I being once with you in the same dark Profession : O how doth my soul breath for you in secret , that you may all come to the Substance , the one thing that is needful , and witness the Redemption of your souls , to serve the living God no longer in the oldness of the Letter , but in the newness of the Spirit ; for you have a Form , but the Life and Power is wanting ; you are crying up Scriptures , and crying up Ordinances , you are crying up Baptism and the Lords-supper , while you know nothing of the Faith which works by Love ; And because of these things , saith the Apostle , many are sick and weak among you , and many are faln asleep , not discerning the Lords Body , 1 Cor. 11. 30. for you discern not the Body of whom Christ Jesus is the Head , nor the Gospel which is the Power of God unto Salvation ; you discern not the Glad-tidings of Life and Salvation , which is freely tendered without Money or Price ; Let every one that thirsteth come to the Waters , and he that hath no Money , let him come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price , Isa . 55. 1 , 3 , 4. Why do you spend your Money for that which is not Bread , and your Labour for that which satisfieth not ? Learn of me , saith Christ , heark●n diligently and your souls shall live ; and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you , even the sure Mercies of David . O England , thy Teachers have deceived thee ; they have spoken Lyes unto thee , and the Divinatien of their own Brains , but not one word from the Mouth of the Lord ; they have cryed Peace , peace , when sudden destruction was ready to enter into thy Bowels : Mic 3. 21. Thy Priests preach for Hire , thy Heads judge for Reward , thy Prophets divine for Money , and the People love to have it so , but what will ye do in the end thereof ? Consider your wayes and your doings , and turn spedily unto the Lord by a true and unfeigned Repentance , before the Decree be sealed , which must never be revok'd again ; Rev. 22. 11. He that is filthy , let him be filthy still , he that is holy , let him be holy still ; And behold I come , saith Christ Jesus , to render unto every man according to his Works . O Land though fruitful thou hast been , thy Glory must decay ; The thing thy Heart takes pleasure in , must wither like the Hay . O England , wilt thou still forget , God's Kindness unto thee ? A little time is left thee yet , that happy thou may'st be . But if perversly thou go'st on , then mark what I do say ; I do thee tell ere it be long , the Lord will bring a day , Of bitter Howling unto thee , of Anguish , and of Smart ; In which the Deceit thou shalt see , that lodgeth in thine Heart . A Testimony for Truth against all Observers of Times and Dayes . OYe that live in Pleasures and Vanities , and spend your pretious time in Sin and Transgression , as Carding and Dicing , Drunkening and Feasting , in pretence of keeping Christs-Day : O my Friends consider where you are , and what you are a doing : Are you indeed come to Christs-day ? or are you not rather in the Night , wherein gross Darkness surrounds you about ? You are making provision for the flesh to satisfie the Lusts thereof : O starved souls , lean , dry , and barren ! you are making provision for the flesh whilst your Souls lie in Death and Darkness , unredeemed to God : Alas my Friends ! to what purpose is your Feastings , to what purpose is your Observations of Dayes and Times , so long as the Babe lieth in the Manger , and the Seed of Life is unredeemed to God ? Ah Friends , If ever you would be Witnesses of Christs Day , and of his Glory , which he is now revealing , ye must all come to the Light , which you are enlightened by , as the Apostle said , We have a more sure Word of Prophesie , unto which you do well to take heed , as unto a Light which shineth in a dark place , until the Day-dawn , and the Day-Star arise in your hearts , Pet. 2. 19. Now Friends , if the Day-star were risen in you , there would be no need of observing Dayes and Times , there would be no keeping a day in Twelve Moneths , but every day would be a holy Day , so that Gods Glory would fill his Temple : But if the Day-Star be not risen in you , then ye are in the Night and in Darkness , and he that walks in Darkness knoweth not whether he goes : and thus the Parable comes to be opened , and the Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations , comes to be revealed , even by him who was found worthy to open the Book which was sealed with seven Seals , Reve. 5. 5. who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah , whose Everlasting Day is dawned , and his Glory is risen ; he hath filled our hearts with Praise and Thanksgiving , Glory , Honour , Everlasting Praise , saith my Soul , be unto him forever . Judith Boulbie . THE END . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A28876-e50 Gen. 4. 8. Num. 22. Jer. 31 , vers 31. 32 , 33 , 34. Jo. 2. 28.