of our Saviour and the Apostle XI The Practice of the Romish Church in respect of Marriages is not agreeable to the Word of God First The prohibiting the Marriage of Clergy-men is not agreeable to the Word of God The Word of God alloweth them to marry as well as other men if they see good cause for it and it is great Tyranny and an evil thing to deny them this Liberty The Law of God allowed the Priests and even the High Priests to marry as we may see Lev. 21.7 and in several other places They shall not take a wife that is a whore or profane neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband for he is holy unto his God And ver 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity The Priests might marry notwithstanding God accounted them holy to himself and would not suffer them to profane themselves in many other respects wherein the Common People might profane themselves And we see that Aaron and his Sons were married men and yet were the High Priests of the Jews and that they married as they saw good observing only the limitations of the Law of God And the Gospel doth allow all men liberty to marry that see good cause for it And it doth require that those should marry that have not the gift of continency and cannot well otherwise keep themselves chast but it tolerates no whoredom at all 1 Cor. 7.2 saith St. Paul Nevertheless to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband Here is no exception but all may marry that see need for it And saith the Apostle Heb. 13.4 Marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge And St. Paul doth plainly shew that Bishops and Deacons might be married men 1 Tim. 3.2 A Bishop then said he must be blameless the husband of one wife He that had not married one Wife and put her away and married another as the Jews sometimes did but had married but one Wife he might be a Bishop And so might the Deacons be married men as we may see ver 8 And St. Paul alloweth Bishops and Elders to be married men in his Instructions to Tit. 1.5 And it doth appear that St. Peter the Apostle was a married man mention being made of his Wives Mother Matt. 8.14 Mar. 1.30 1 Cor. 9.5 And the Apostle tells us that it is better to marry than to burn 1 Cor. 7.9 But if they cannot contain let them marry for it is better to marry than to burn Such as are in danger to be tempted to wickedness are not only allowed but advised to marry and keep themselves pure and not to fall to Whoredom And the Apostle sheweth that the forbidding of Marriage is a sinful and evil thing 1 Tim. 4.1 Now the Spirit speaketh expresly saith he that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils Forbidding to marry This is one thing that these sinful men would do And hereby we see that it is an unlawful thing to prohibit marriage and to keep any Order of men from their liberty herein which God hath granted to all The Practice of the Romish Church is not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures in not suffering the Clergy to marry To prohibit Marriage and to tolerate Whoredom is flat contrary to the sacred Word of God Secondly The Romish Church doth tolerate Incestuous Marriages and the Popes do grant Dispensations for such Marriages as are forbidden by the Word of God God hath forbidden all Incestuous Marriages in the Book of Leviticus and told us what persons we are to marry Lev. 18.5 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him to uncover their nakedness I am the Lord. And the several degrees of persons that we are not to approach to are mentioned in this Chapter and in the twentieth Chapter of this Book And here we may see that the marrying a Brother's Wife is unlawful Lev. 18.16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife it is thy brother's nakedness And Lev. 20.21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife it shall be an unclean thing And John Baptist told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his Brother's Wife Matt. 14.3 For Herod saith St. Matthew had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias sake his brother Philip's wife For John said unto him It is not lawful for thee to have her But notwithstanding these plain and positive Commands of God the Popes at their pleasure will grant Dispensations for the marrying of such persons as are here forbidden and for marrying a Brother's Wife Thirdly The Practice of the Romish Church in dissolving of lawful Marriages is not agreeable to the Word of God When a Marriage is lawfully contracted and duely solemnized it is not to be dissolved but only upon the account of Fornication This is our Saviour's determination in this Matter Matt. 5.31 It hath been said whosoever shall put away his wife let him give her a writing of divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication causeth her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery And Matt. 19.3 The Pharisees came unto him tempting him and saying unto him Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause And he answered and said unto them Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female And said for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder And again Mar. 10.8 And they twain shall be one flesh so then they are no more twain but one flesh What therefore God hath joined together let no man put asunder This we see is a sacred Knot and a work that God hath done when it is lawfully done according to his order and not to be dissolved by man except in the case of Fornication And saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 7.10 11. And unto the married I command yet not I but the Lord Let not the wife be separated from her husband But and if she be separated let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband and let not the husband put away his wife Christians are not to put away their Wives but were even to keep their Heathen Wives if they would live with them and not leave their Husbands because they were Christians But notwithstanding Marriage is so sacred a thing and we are commanded not to dissolve it yet the Church of Rome doth dissolve the Marriage of all Priests and we see that the Marriage of the Clergy is as lawful as the Marriage of other men This we
not trouble themselves with the Divine Laws and Commands of Almighty God but that they must mind the Commands of the Romish Church and take great care to keep them If this be not sinning with an high hand let any Man of reason and understanding judge This sure looks like that Man of Sin 2 Thess 2.6 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God And if Saul was rebuked as a Rebel against God because he did not execute all God's Command 1 Sam. 15.22 well may the Romish Church be deemed such that is so far from keeping God's Commands that it doth set it self industriously to keep all others from keeping of them And they may justly fear that that Wo of our Saviour that he denounced against the Scribes and Pharisees may light upon them also Matt. 23.13 But wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men for ye neither go in your selves neither suffer ye them that are entring to go in This seems to be their practice and they have just cause to fear this Doom And their Practice in imposing a blind Belief upon their Proselytes and Members requiring them to believe as their Church believeth without examining is not agreeable with the sacred Word of God We are to examine things by the Word of God and not to take all for Truth and Right that Seducers and others would impose upon us for such This is peculiar to the brute Beasts to be led wholly by the guide and conduct of Man and never to consider whether the things be Good or Evil Right or Wrong that they do But Men of all Ranks are endowed with Reason and Understanding and are made Masters of their own Actions and every one of us must give an account of himself to God Rom. 14.12 and therefore they are not to be led thus blindfolded by others like Beasts that are void of reason And the sacred Scriptures which are to be our Rule of Faith and Obedience do shew that we ought not to be led so blindly by others This our blessed Lord sheweth Matt. 23.8 9 But be not ye called Rabbi saith he for one is your Master even Christ and all ye are brethren And call no man your Father upon the earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven No one is to take upon him to be our Master in such a high manner as our blessed Lord is so And we are to own no one for our Father in such a high manner as God is so to command our Faith and Obedience in such a high manner as he may and we are to account no one our Father in any way of competition with him And the Apostles themselves disclaimed the having any dominion over Men's Faith as St. Paul sheweth 2 Cor. 1.24 Nor for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy The Apostles claimed no such Power over Men to make them believe what they pleased but only what God required them to believe And we are often told both by our blessed Lord and the Apostles that there would come Impostors and Deceivers and are warned to have a great care that we be not seduced by their Heresies and Errors And this plainly shews that we are not to be led blindly by others but to examine every thing carefully by the sacred Scriptures Matt. 7.15 Beware of false Prophets which come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves saith our Lord. And saith the Apostle Acts 20.29 For I know this that after my departing shall grievous Wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them Therefore watch And 1 Tim. 4.1 Now saith the Apostle the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lyes in hypocrisie And saith St. Peter 2 Pet. 2.1 But there were false Prophets among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies And Rev. 2.9 saith our Saviour by St. John And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan And ver 20. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that Woman Jezebel which calleth her self Prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto Idols And Rev. 3.9 Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not but do lye And again Rev. 18.4 And I heard saith St. John another voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues By all these frequent Warnings and such like to have a care that we be not seduced by false Prophets and Teachers it doth plainly appear that it is our duty not to be led blindfoldly as the Romish Church would have us but to be very circumspect and careful who and what we give credit to And some of these places as I have shewed do respect the Romish Church and do particularly warn us against the Errors thereof And we are also cautioned by our blessed Lord and the Apostles to be very circumspect and careful herein and not to let Men impose upon us what they please Mar. 4.24 And he said unto them Take heed what you hear And Luk. 8.18 Take heed therefore how ye hear And saith St. Paul 1 Thess 5.21 Prove all things hold fast that which is good And saith St. John 1 Joh. 4.1 Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God And saith St. Paul Ephes 5.6 Let no man deceive you with vain words By these and such Admonitions and Exhortations we see that it is our duty to try and examine all things well before we believe and practise them and not blindly to believe and follow others in matters of weight and moment And we may see that when people believe and follow a false Prophet or a false Guide it is at their own Peril and Hazard and that this will not excuse them and free them from the danger that they run in going a wrong way And this also will clearly prove to us that we are to look well to our selves and not to be led blindly by others without proof from the Word of God The People that heeded the false Prophets did it to their sorrow Jer. 14.16 And the people to whom they prophesie shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the Famine and the Sword and they shall have none to bury them And they that follow a blind Guide are like to speed as he doth
commanded to do And the same we may see is required under the Gospel that the common People should still be instructed in the Law and Word of God Our blessed Lord hath taught us this both by his own Practice and by positive Command For he himself read the Scriptures in the Synagogues and commanded his Apostles to teach all Nations his Precepts and Commands Luk. 4.16 And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read And there was delivered unto him the Book of the Prophet Isaias This we see he usually did and hereby he hath shewed us that it is our duty to do so and to do what we well can to instruct all People in the Word of God and not to keep them in ignorance of it And our Saviour bid the Jews to search the Scriptures and from thence to instruct themselves Joh. 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life And saith he Matt. 13.9 Who hath ears to hear let him hear And he commanded his Apostles and Ministers to go and teach all Nations to observe all his Commands and not their own Matt. 28.19 20 Go ye therefore saith he and teach all Natitions Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And Mar. 16.15 And said unto them Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every creature The Gospel and Word of God is to be preached to every Creature and no one is to be kept in ignorance and deprived of it that would hear it And St. Paul gives command that his Epistles should be read to all the Church and not be kept from the common People Col. 4.16 And when this Epistle saith he is read amongst you cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea And saith he to the Thessalonians 1 Thess 5.27 I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the holy Brethren Such order and such a charge doth he give that his Epistles should be read unto all Christians that all might hear them and that they should not be kept from the knowledge of any persons And he commands Timothy to be diligent in reading the Word of God to those under his care 1 Tim. 4.13 Till I come saith he give attendance to reading to Exhortation to Doctrine He is to give attendance in reading the Word of God to his Flock as well as in Exhortation and Doctrine By these and such places we may plainly see that it is the Will and positive Command of Almighty God that his blessed Word should be made known to all Men even to the common People and that it is a chief part of the Office of all Pastors and Governors to take diligent care to instruct those that are under them herein And God did in an extraordinary manner enable the Apostles to speak strange Languages for this very end and purpose That they might preach his Word to all People in their own Tongues which they understood as we may see in the Acts of the Apostles And this also shews that all men ought to have the Word of God in their own Language that they understand We may also see that the Scriptures were written for Instruction Admonition and Comfort and that the ignorance of them is the cause of Error Rom. 15.4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime saith St. Paul were written for our learning that we thro' patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And 1 Cor. 10.11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come But how can the common People and the generality of Men receive Instruction Admonition and Comfort by them if they are industriously kept from them flat contrary to the design for which they were written And saith our Lord Matt. 22.29 Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures We may also see that the sacred Scriptures are recommended to us as the surest Guide of our Lives as the only Book of Wisdom and that a Blessing doth await all those that carefully read them with a hearty desire to learn and practise what they read therein Psal 19.7 The Law of the Lord is perfect saith the Psalmist converting the Soul The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes And Psal 119.9 saith the Psalmist Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way By taking heed thereto according to thy word And ver 98. Thou thro' thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me And ver 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path The Word of the Lord when well read and minded will enlighten the eyes and make Wise the simple and Foolish and is to be read and known by them And St. Paul commendeth Timothy for his knowledge of the holy Scriptures from a Child 2 Tim. 3.15 And that from a child saith he thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation thro' faith which is in Christ Jesus This early knowledge of the holy Scriptures had Timothy and hereby we see that Children are to learn them And all good men are to make them their daily study and Meditation Psal 1.1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night And saith St. John Rev. 1.3 Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand By these and such places we may clearly see that all men ought to know and understand the blessed Word of God and not be kept in ignorance of it and that the Word of God is not to be kept in an unknown Tongue from them that the common People cannot read it This is but to put out People eyes that they may lead them more easily at their own pleasure and to keep them from seeing their gross Errors And this is a grand piece of wickedness against Almighty God for the Romish Church to take upon them to over-rule his Divine Commands and to disannul the Decrees of Heaven at their own pleasure This I think can well be deemed no other but flat Hostility and open Rebellion against Almighty God himself Thus to intercept and seize upon his Divine Laws and Commands and to suppress them that they may not become known to Men that they may fulfil them And instead thereof to issue out their own Commands that they may be observed and kept To tell men that they must