The woolf under sheeps-clothing discovered, or, The spirit of Cain, appearing in the Bishop of Liechfield, reproved as hereafter is sufficiently manifested by the fruits of his sermon at Polesworth in Warwickshire ... / Charles Harris.

The Superscription and Copy of the Letter to the Bishop. This for the hands of John Hackitt, who is called Bishop of Liechfield and Coventry, for him to read over, that he may try all things, and hold fast that which is good.

Friend,

I Being c••st into Prison by thy servants, at thy command, for obeying the Word of God, and keeping of his Commandments, in obeying the Truth, as it is in Jesus Christ our Lord, whose Name be praised and honoured over all, for evermore, whose Love and Mercy through the riches of his Grace, which hath appeared unto all men, hath appeared unto us, as the Apostle said, Teach∣ing us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live Soberly, Godly, and Righteously, and Holy, in this present evil ••orld; and the arm of the Lord is not shortened, who is the same yesterday to day and for ever; who is the Salvation of his people unto as many as believe in him: Now it is not such, that sayes with their lips, and opens their mouths, and cryes Lord, Lord, that shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; and also talk of God and Christ, Faith and Righteo••sness, and of being Believers, and yet live in their sins, that can enter into God's Kingdom; for his King∣dom stands not, or consists in Meats or in Drinks, or in divers Washings; but in Righteousness and true Holiness, without which there is none can see God; but sin is an unrighteous work, by which the Enemy got into man through temp••ation and a lye, and all un∣righteousness is sin, and that must never enter into God's Kingdom, nor any while they are servants thereunto; for, no man can be a ser∣vant unto two ma••ters, God and Mamon, Christ and Belial; but his servant thou art unto whom thou yieldest thy members servant un∣to [mark] whe••her of sin unto Death, or unto Righteous in which is Life eternal. Now in the beginning when God made man and set him and placed him in Paradice, he created man in his own

Image, in the Image of God created he him, male and female, and God blessed them, and said unto them, Be fruitful and mul∣tiply and gave him Dominion over all, Gen. 1. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the ••arden•• t•• dress it and to keep it, and the Lord commanded the man 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Of every Tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat, but of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of i••; for, in the day thou eats thereof thou shalt surely dye, Now the Serpe••t was more subtil then any Beast of the field, and he said unto the woman, ye shall not surely dye: but we see the Serpent was a Lyar from his beginning, who got in through a temptation and a Lye, by which sin entred, through ••ransgression, for which the Law was added; and for his wicked work was accursed from God; and man for his disobedi∣ence was cast out from God; so by the disobedience of one, many were made Sinners; and by the obedience of one, many were made Righteous•• which was, and is through Faith 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christ; For the Iust lives by Faith, and without Faith, it is impos••••ble to please God: but ••here was and is the Faith of Devils, that works not in the love, but in the emni••y, and so brings forth of the sower Grap••, which is sin and unrighteousness; and through disobedi∣ence sin entred, by which man is led captive at the Enemie•• will, into the corrupt nature, into ungodliness and unrighteousness, which is the corrupt ground from whence proceeds all evil, in which ••ate there is none doth good, no not one; and in which 〈◊〉〈◊〉 all have sinned and come short of the Glory of the living God, in whom is Salvation•• and Eternal Life, through Christ Jesus, who is the Author and the Finisher of our Faith which we have received from God Almighty, from whence e∣very good and perfect gift comes•• And that Faith which comes from God alone, it works by love in the heart, and this is the Love of God that we keep his Commandments, and his Command∣ments are not burdensom, For all that are born of God overcometh this World, 1 Iohn 5.4. But the Priest told me, that thou saidst to him, thou strangest at me, that I opposed thee in that partic••lar above all the rest, for thou well remembredst what thou wert speaking of, thou wer•• come to thy last point, and to con∣clude, that all were miserable ••inners, and thou saidst all the World

would con••ess that they were Sinners: now, as 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is written, 1 ••ohn 5.19. We know that we are of God, and thi•• whole World lyeth i•• wickedness; and the World loves its own, in which is the lust of the flesh; the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father•• but of this World. And when the Ph••ri••ees he••rd that Jesus had put the Sadduces to silence, one of them, which was an expounder of the Law, asked him a Que∣stion, saying, Master, which is the greatest Commandment in the Law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shal•• love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, wi••h all thy soul, and with all thy mind; and the second is like ••nto this, Thou shal•• love thy Neigh••our as thy self, Mat∣thew 22.

Now to the witness of God, in thy Conscience, do I speak, which, if thou turn in to it, it will tell thee whether thou art faithful herein, and whether thou doest act herein according to Christ's Doctrine; and the Scriptures which was given forth from the Spirit of Truth freely, and not to be made a trade of for mo∣ney; neither can the gift of God be purchased with money, if so then would Simon Mag•••• have purchased the Kingdom of Heaven with money, and the rich of this World; but Christ's Kingdom stands not in corruptable things, but in that which is uncorruptable, and is Pure, Holy, R••ghteous, and Eternal of God; therefore said Christ unto them, in the dayes of old, Except a man ••e rege∣nerated and born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Hea∣ven; Read the Scriptures (as Christ said) for they are them which do tes••ifie of me, but you will not come unto me, that you might have Life. Now many have a life in the ea••thly part, serving their own hearts lust, but whos••ever will follow Christ, let him forsake himself, and take up his cross and follow him; and whosoever will not take up his cross and deny himself daily, is not worthy of him; And whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever shall lay down his life for my Name sake, and the Gospel, the same shall find it; For what shall it profit a man though ••e should win the World, if ••e lose his soul, or what exchange sh••l•• a man give for his soul: And who∣soever shall be ashamed of Me and my Words amongst this adulterous and sinful Generation, of him shall the Son of ••an be ashamed also, when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with his holy Angels,

Mark 8. And he that fulfils the lust of the flesh, he shall dye, but if thou through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the flesh, then shalt thou live•• so now, doest thou know the new birth? ar•• thou regenerated and born again, not of flesh and of blood, but of the Water, and of the Spirit? the Water washeth, and the Spiri•• purifieth the heart through Faith in Christ, by which we come to witness Mortification, Redemption, Sanctification and new∣ness of ••ife, by the Power of God revealed in Christ, whose Blood was shed for his people; now that none make his Blood, his Covenant, his Commandments of none effect by their Tradi∣tions, For the Blood of Christ cle••seth from all ••••n; and it is only the sins of people that makes the separation between God and man, [mark] Your sins ••ath separated between me and you, saith the Lord God; and as it is written, He heareth not sinners, neither doth he ac••ept of the Prayers, or Teachings, or any Sacrifices of sinners, while they remain in their sins; but he that comes to believe in God and in Jesus Christ, and repents and forsakes shall find Mercy; but he that hideth his sins shall not prosper; so that it is good for all to confess and to forsake, and not alwayes to be making a confession of miserable sinners year by year, and so all a mans life time, this is but the sacrifices of the wicked, which is abomination in the sight of the pure God; therefore confess and forsake and return to the Lord while thou hast time, that if thou hast not sinned ou•• the day of thy visitation, thou mayest find Mercy with the Lord; for there is no repentance beyond the Grave; For as the Tree falleth, so it lieth; and as death leaves, so Iudgment finds; and if any dies in their sins, which is the transgression of the Royal Law of God, for which the Law was added, now when God shall come at the last day to call all to Judgment, for their deeds done in their Bodies, whether good or evil; if thou hast done well, thou shalt be accepted, if no••, sin lies at the door: then he that hath done well, and wrought out his Salvation with fear and trembling, and hath known the Living Faith that works by love, to have purified his heart from dead works, to serve the Living God in newness of Life, and therein hath stood a living Witness for God, and hath abode faithfull to the end; to such it will be said, Come, ye blessed of ••y Heavenly Father, enter into the j••y of ••he Lord: but unto such

as have been unfaithfull, and have not known the bridle to the Tongue, nor have not through the Spirit mortified the deeds of the Flesh, and so never come to witness Redemption by Christ Jesus, but hath hid their Talent in their earthly hearts; such may cry, Lord, Lord, and bring their Talent or Gi••t, and give it to the Lord, as the unprofitable Servant did, as is mentioned in the Parable: but mark the answer, though they cried, Lord, Lord, and brought him his own righteousness, which they had hid in their earthly hearts, but never joyned their hearts, which the Lord required, (the heart above all things) but it is a manifest token, that such served themselves, and not the Lord, who never improved his Ta∣lent; [mark] what was the Sentence of such, Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity, into everlasting punishment, prepared for the Devil and his Angels.

Thus in true love unto thy Soul, in the fear of the Lord, I warn thee, before Night comes, when no man can work: and also, I would have thee consider of thy late proceedings against me, who am an innocent man: first, I not knowing of thy being at Polesworth, until I saw thee in the Synagogue, unto which place I was sent by the Spirit of the Living God, to warn all people to repent of their sins, and to return unto the Lord, and saying, God accepted not the Sacri∣fices of Sinners; neither is he worshipped in Temples made with hands; but according to the Scriptures of Truth declared, how that he is a Spirit, and is worshipped in the Spi∣rit, and in the Truth; and therefore I warn∣ed all to repent, and to forsake their sins; and to return to the Lord, for there is mercy with him: and this was but accor∣ding to the Spirit of Truth, and the Apostles Doctrine; That if any thing was revealed unto him which stands by, let the first hold his peace: but herein thou manifested thy self not to be in the Apostles Doctrine; (who called for Officers to hale me out of the Synagogue) but of those which cannot abide sound Doctrine; also thou art one of those which Christ foretold of; saying, They shall hale you out of their Synagogues, and they shall excommunicate you:

examine thy self, whether thou hast not been acting in this work of late, contrary to the Doctrine of Christ, who when he taught his Disciples to pray, said, Pray on th••s wise, Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven, and forgive us our debts, or trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; but herein thou hast manifested thy self not to keep Christs Com∣man••s; now if the Lord shou'd forgive thee according to thy works, who hath cast a man in Prison for speaking the Truth, and hath done thee no wrong, or oweth thee any thing, or any man, but love. And again, when Peter said unto Christ, How oft shall my Brother sin against me, and I forgive him? unto seven times? Iesus said ••nto him, I say not to thee unto seven times, but unto seventy seven times, Matth. 18.22. and so read on to the end of the Chap∣ter, of the Parable of the Debtor, of that hard-hearted man, that would not forgive his Brother, that had trespassed against him, mark the severity of the Lord••; So likewise shall my Hea∣venly Father do unto you, except ye from•• your hearts forgive each one to his Brother their trespasses, Verse the last.

But I have not sinned or trespassed against thee, yet thou hast cast me into Prison only for keeping Christ's Commands; therefore greater will be thy condemnation, except thou repent, and return to the Lord, before it be too late, when there is no place of repentance to be found.

And whereas it is reported we deny the Scriptures, and are unlearned, and unmannerly because we speak the Truth, as thee or thou, thy or thine to a single person; read from Genesis to the Rev••lation, and see where it is you or your to a single person; but they are unlearned, that have not learned Christ, and follows not his Doctrine, but Teacheth for Doctrine the commandments of men, Mark 7.7. and such are unmannerly that speak not Truth, but ••uns on according to their own hearts lust, not knowing a bridle to their tongue, and are from the pure fear of the Lord, in their hearts, which keeps clean, but runs on in the broad way into evil communication, that is it which corrupts good manners.

And much more might be spoken according to the Scrip••ures of Truth, which we own and practice according to the Spirit of

Truth from whence they wer•• given ••orth: and therefore I desire that all people may read them, profess them, and possess them, that they may live the life of them, for which end they were given forth f••••ely, and not to be made a trade of.

Again, read the Scriptures, and see who it was all along that per••ecuted about Religion, Pharaoh the hard-hearted one; Ishma••l a Mocker; Cain a Man-slayer, the envious one; Herod the Adulte∣rer, that cut off Iohn Baptists head, and slew the innocent Chil∣dren, aiming at Christ, whom the Scribes and Pharisees, Elders, ••nd the high and chief Priest fulfilled, with many that followed after him, (to wit Christ)

Again, read the Scriptures, and see where the Prophets, Christ, or his Apostles, or a••y of the holy men of God persecuted about Religion; but Christ said, When ye are persecuted in one City flee to another: or when they were ••ocked, reproached, reviled, and sha••efully intreated, or buffetted, and smitten on the ••ne Cheek, turn the ••ther also: read Iames 2.20, 27.

So Christ's Commands are contrary to thine, which is, to do good against evil, and not to render evil for evil; but bless, and curse not, and pray for them that dispitefully use you, for God is Love.

Therefore examine thy self, and see whether of these foot∣step•• thou treadest in, who sent thy Servants with a Writ of Excommunication, who came unto me to the Plough, and violently haled me away; and one of them came with a Lye in his Mo••th, saying, He was come to cite me again to the Court; but it was to take me to Prison, unto which I never resisted, but went freely to suf••er for the Name of Christ; for he hath not only called a people to believe in his Name, but also to suffer: read the Epistle of Iude.

And so Christ's Prophesie is fulfilled in this day, who said, They shall Excommunicate you, and cast you out of their Syna∣gogues; yea, if they kill you, they shall think th••y do God Ser∣vice. And the other, as I was going with them, about •• Lands-length from the Teem, pulled out •• Pistol, threatning, if I offered to resist them, to slay me: Read T•••••••• 1.7. to th•• last Verse.

And so the Teem was con••trained, as I heard since, to return with the Seed home again: Are these the Fruits of Christ, who said, his Kingdom was not of this World, therefore his Servants would not fight? And art thou a Bishop like unto Timothy, that was blameless? O consider of these things before it be too late, and lay them truly to heart, for the good of thy Soul; and do not dispise me because of my Youth; but forsake that per∣secuting spirit of Saul, that thou may'st become a preaching Paul; But if thou perish, I am clear of thy Blood.

W. H.

Warwick, the 3d Moneth 1669.

THE END.

Notes

• 1 Tim. 5.20. Them that sin to rebuke openly, that the rest may also fear.
• Rom. 12.14. Bless them that p••rsecute you, bless I say, and curse n••t.