Art and Industry acquire them Nay he may by Sorcery obtain those which some People will call Divine Perfections and Gifts of the Spirit witness the late Relation of that abominable Wizzard Major Thomas Weir in Scotland and so long as people are cherished in a false Opinion that these Abilities however natural or acquired are sufficient to intitle them to the Office of the Ministry they who are possessed of such Gifts will think themselves as good and as wise and it may be Excelling them in those Talents more wise and better than their Teachers which will also incourage them not only to contemn and despise their Spiritual Guides but to invade their Office which is the prevailing Error of all or most of our Separatists and Dissenters BUT when People shall come to understand that no Man is a Legatus Natus of Heaven born a Priest or a Governour in the Church but that the Priests of the New Testament who are Priests for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck must be called of God for that no man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron Heb. 5.4 Rom. 10.15 and that no man can preach except he be sent when they shall know that it is not these Natural Abilities and Gifts but the Power of the Keys of binding and loosing of remitting and retaining Sins which Christ gave his Apostles and they to their Successors by lawful Ordination which qualifies them for that Sacred Function then would People learn to distinguish between Pastors of Gods appointment and Orators of their own Chusing and as the Apostle Exhorts and Commands 1 Thess 5.12 13. then would they know those that labour among them and are over them in the Lord and admonish them and esteem them very highly in Love for their Works sake and then would they be at Peace among themselves THEN would they repair for help assistance and direction to the Physicians who are of Gods Institution and who have Authority Virtue and Ability to heal their Souls to bind or loose to remit or retain their Sins and no longer trust to those Mountebanks of Religion who by Antick Gestures and affected Words draw them to their Stage pretending Universal Remedies when in truth they have no Power no Virtue no Authority but delude them with Hard Words and fair Speeches making Merchandize of them crying Peace Peace where there is no Peace and slightly healing the Wounds of the Daughter of our People when as they are not able to shew any Warrant from Christ his Apostles or their Successors for their obtruding themselves into the Holy Function and important charge of being Spiritual Guides and Governors of the Church and People of God FOR Ordination by the Imposition of the hands of the Bishop and his Presbyters has in all Ages of the Church been esteemed the Door by which good Men enter into the Fold of Christ 1 Pet. 5. and take the Charge of the Sheep not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind that when the chief Shepherd shall appear they may receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away And therefore our Lord the chief Shepherd tells us He is the Door By this Door the Apostles and their Successors entred and he that entreth not by this Door into the Sheepfold but climbeth up some other way of Ambition is a Thief and a Robber THIS high Trust and Power over his Church thus committed by Christ to his Apostles and by them transmitted to their Successors for the management and governing of his Flock was therefore given to all that so they might preserve their several Charges in Peace and Vnity and that one might not bind what another had loosed that one might not Absolve where another had Excommunicated which Rule was strictly observed in all Churches however they differed in Circumstantials not admitting the Outcasts of another Church into their Communion till they had purged themselves of the Crimes objected against them if false or reconciled themselves by Repentance if true whereby they constantly maintained the Vnity of Faith abroad the Vnity of Government at home LET us now see how this Power of the Keys becomes impracticable by admitting diversity of Government in a National Church And whether they who set up Altar against Altar among us are not thereby guilty of that Licentiousness and Impiety against which they make such loud Declamations endeavouring to lay that which is the spurious Issue of their Separation at the Door of the present Governors and Pastors of the Church ALL the Power which Christ left with the Governors of his Church as before was said is the Power of Excommunication whereby Notorius Offenders and Scandalous Sinners were debarred from the Communion of Saints on Earth and without Repentance and Absolution from all hopes of Pardon here or Heaven hereafter if there be any truth or force in those Words of Christ Whose sins ye retain they are retained But now where there are Distinct Collections of Men who own no dependance one upon another but though in the same Nation yet live under different and it may be quite contrary Forms of Government one from another as before was shewn there will be a total Cessation of Charity as well as Communion And whilest these Differing Congregations of men make it their greatest endeavour perhaps out of mistaken Zeal perhaps out of some other Design of Interest or Ambition to propagate their Way and increase the Number of their Proselytes and with it the Credit and Profit of their Doctrine they will refuse none that shall desire to joyn with them and enter into their Communion and Society And the greater and more notorious Sinners they have been if they can but act their Villanies more privately and put on the Sanctimonious dress of Reformation the greater will the Miracle of their Conversion appear and the more Powerful and Efficacious will their Preaching seem which draws such Sinners to Conversion By this Means those who for any Crimes fall under the Censure of another Church and are by them rejected from Communion shall find a Sanctuary a Protection nay and it may be an Esteem in that Church to which they flye for Refuge whilest they will certainly make their inclination to that Party the principal occasion of their Excommunication and the reason of their Departure from the one and adherence to the other Nor will that Party to which they make their retreat and Application only willingly receive them but be ready to Exclaim upon the Injustice of the Censures of that Church from whence they came and their Tyrannous proceedings which they will call Persecution and suffering for Conscience-sake then will they pronounce the Nullity of all such Censures against them and notwithstanding their standing Excommunicate that by joyning with them they shall certainly be admitted into the favour of God and obtain an Interest in Heaven and it may be more certainly
daily in his own person he therefore takes Care that there should be some left behind him who might and Ephesus being one of the most Populous Cities of Asia in regard of the vast Concourse of People from all Parts to the Famous Temple of Diana and there being many Congregations of Christians there he having by the space of two years continued there so that all they who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus both Jews and Greeks he therefore sends for the Presbyters who resided in that City by virtue of his Apostolical Authority and there declares unto them that for the time to come they were to take that care of the Churches which he had done and that they might not do this of their own heads or fear to do it for want of a Lawful Calling and Ordination he declares the Will of God to them and that the Holy Ghost had appointed them to be Bishops So that they came indeed Presbyters to him but they went away Bishops from him and Bishops not of his own but the Holy Ghosts appointment IT is a Rule among Divines That where the Literal sense of Scripture is plain we are to follow that And that this is the plain Historical and Literal meaning of the Words without the least wresting or violence offer'd to them is most obvious and that by this Power of Episcopacy which the Holy Ghost added to their former of Presbytery they were to take the Care of the Government of the Church as well in Ruling as Instructing there are these Reasons FIRST When he sends for them he calls them Presbyters and not Bishops which if there had been no difference he might as well have done and supposing that the Holy Ghost must foresee that this Controversie would arise in the Church we cannot believe he would contribute to it by such an ambiguity but the contrary that they were only Presbyters as the Holy Ghost calls them first and then advanced to be Bishops by his appointment SECONDLY He puts the Government into their hands by resigning his own in regard he was to see them no more THIRDLY He directs them in their Office which he divides into three Particulars First Vers 28. To feed the Church of God which he had purchased with his own Blood to instruct them in the Faith and Doctrine of Christian Religion Secondly To watch against Errors and Heresies Vers 29 30 31. For I know this saith he 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 Disciples after them therefore Watch. Now what signifies Vigilancy without Power and what Power have the Watchmen but to Admonish and Rebuke and at last to Excommunicate the Obstinate And let them shew me this Power ever Exercised in the Church by any besides a Bishop and let them take the Cause Thirdly To Exercise Hospitality to support the Poor and to remember the words of our Lord Jesus how he said It is more blessed to give than to receive According to another Precept of his in which he comprises them all For a Bishop must be blameless 1 Tim. 3.2 the husband of one wife vigilant sober of good behaviour given to hospitality apt to teach Lastly Here is no imperfect footstep of their Solemn Consecration for when he had ended his Message and Direction Vers 36. When he had thus spoken he kneeled down and prayed with them all AND to manifest that though every Bishop be a Presbyter yet every Presbyter is not a Bishop and that the Difference consists in Power and Rule which the Bishops have over the Presbyters as well as the rest of the People I doubt not to make most plain from Scripture and Antiquity For FIRST St. Paul says Expresly That it is one qualification of a Bishop 1 Tim. 4 5. He must be one that ruleth well his own house having his Children in subjection with all gravity for if a man know not how to rule his own house how shall he take care of the Church of God how shall he rule the house of God and find me but one Example in Scripture or ancient Church History where any one who was not a Bishop as well as a Presbyter ever Exercised this Jurisdiction of Ruling the Presbyters had indeed a Rule but with subordination to the Bishops 1 Tim. 5.17 18. Let the Presbyters that Rule well be counted worthy of double Honor especially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine for anciently in the Church every Priest was not a Preacher as is plain not only from this place but from the Church History but that the Presbyters might not be Exalted beyond their Bounds to think this Rule equal to that of the Bishops over the Church he allays the Tumor in the very next words and shews the the difference the subordination and subjection which they owed to the Judicature of the Bishop as Timothy was there Against a Presbyter receive not an Accusation but before two or three Witnesses which is not spoken of Private Adomnition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unless there be two or three Witnesses and them that sin Rebuke openly that others may fear To receive an Accusation plainly infers a superior Jurisdiction a power to hear Witnesses and according to their Depositions to rebuke openly is certainly an Effect of Authority And he follows the blow close giving him another Direction about Ordination Vers 21 22. that he should Lay hands suddainly on no man preferring one before another by Partiality So that here is a distinct Power of a Bishop from a Priest To lay on hands or Ordain to receive Accusations against Presbyters to Examine Witnesses and according to their Testimony to proceed to Judgment to give Sentence openly to Rebuke those that Sin even the Presbyters as well as others for if they may be accused and convened and found guilty of sin they also ought and may be rebuked and punished As to that place of the 5th Chap. Rebuke not an Elder it is apparently meant of those who are such by Years and not by Office Presbyters or Priests and to teach us that there is a respect due to the Reverend head Age as is plain from the words Rebuke not an Elder but intreat him as a Father and the younger Men as Brethren the Elder Women as Mothers and the younger as Sisters with all Purity This he further Explains in his Epistle to Titus Tit. 1.5 6 7. For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in Order the things that are wanting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appoint Constitute Presbyters in every City making them Bishops as I have appointed thee That Saint Paul left Presbyters there both in Age and Office no doubt can be made but yet something was wanting still and because he would not himself lay hands suddenly upon them and the Affairs of the Church
calling him a-away he leaves Titus a Bishop there to set in order what was wanting that was upon their good demeanour to advance them into the Power of Bishops which was wanting at St. Pauls departure and the following words make it plain that this was the thing wanting and which he appointed Titus to do By the Direction he gives about them Vers 10 11. For a Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God a high Office and a large Jurisdiction for there are many unruly there was the Necessity of Bishops to Rule whose mouths must be stopped who subvert whole Houses teaching things which they ought not for filthy Lucres sake So that Titus was to make Bishops in that Populous Island that so they might have Authority which as Presbyters they had not to stop the mouths of the Seducers And how were these unruly Subverters to be Treated and Governed even by rebuking them sharply Vers 13. and stopping their Mouths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by silencing them And how could that be done but by the Authority of the Bishop who was to let them and the People know that if they persisted in their disobedience Vers 16. They were abominable and Reprobates and therefore to be cast out of the Church For though they profess to know God yet in works they deny him being abominable and disobedient and unto every good Work Reprobate Therefore abominable because disobedient Silencing then of Subverters of Houses unruly vain Talkers Deceivers is no new thing in the Church nor Bishops Persecutors for so doing Nor is there any way of stopping their Mouths in the Church but by this Authority of Excommunication and if they submit not to this all their Pretences to Godliness will not excuse them from denying him and being Reprobates because Disobedient What must we then think of those who will not have their Mouths stopped either by the Power of the Church or Civil Magistrate but in the highest degree of Unruly and Mutinous Disorder are Disobedience to both Indeavouring to draw Disciples after them that they may first take away from the Bishop the defence of the Magistrates Sword and then with Ease Extirpate Episcopacy Root and Branch Office and Name Power and Authority THUS you see that the Holy Ghost appointed Bishops in the Primitive Church you see their Office and Authority and that Presbyters were their Lawful Inferiors that they had Power to Ordain to Rebuke to acquit or Condemn to stop the Mouths of the Unruly So that here is both the Name and the Thing the Title and the Office confirmed by clear and evident Testimony of Scripture Now let us see what Obedience is due to them We intreat you Brethren saith St. Paul 1 Thess 5.12 13. and his Modest Intreaty â—â—â—y I hope without offence pass for a Command to know them that labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you And to esteem them very highly in Love for their Works-sake and be at Peace among your selves How know these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these Rulers For they could not be ignorant of their Persons or Names but know their Office know their Power that so by submission you may maintain Peace BUT the Author to the Hebrews is plain and Positive Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the Rule over you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word will carry more than some Envious People will well like of in Bishops and will not only intitle them to Rule but their Honour too as will appear to any who is not a stranger to the Greek Language For it signifies not only a bare Ruler or a Guide but a Captain and a Prince and warrants a Bishops being so in the New Testament as well as a Priest under the Old But to avoid Offence I know there are none of those Reverend Fathers of the Church but will be pleased to derive their Titles from another Fountain of Honour I speak this to shew that God Almighty by his Spirit in Scripture is pleased to Honour them with the high Character of Princes and Governors and that therefore they are not to be Vilified and Despised as sonâ—n Wanton and other Virulent Tongues and Pens too frequently do But to proceed He continues to shew what kind of Obedience this must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 submit your selves without resisting be in Subjection And he adds the Reason For they watch for your Souls as they that must give an Account that they may do it with Joy and not with Grief Does God expect an account of Souls from these spiritual Guides and Rulers Then certainly he cannot in Justice leave them Destitute of Power and Authority to Rule and Guide as means to enable them to give a good Account of their Charge And to suppose the contrary were to suppose an End without a Way And since they have such a Charge all those who are within their respective Jurisdictions are bound to yield Obedience to them as they will answer before the Bar of Divine Justice for the Guilt not only of Destroying their own Souls but those of others whom they teach to Refuse to Obey those who have the Rule over them and are appointed Bishops by the Holy Ghost AND whereas St. Peter calls himself a Presbyter and by ranking himself among them seems to intimate they are all one this does not at all prove that he was not a Bishop too 1 Pet. 1.1 For he calls himself Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ and his Humility in calling himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 5.1 their fellow Presbyter does no more prove that a Bishop and Presbyter are the same than that a Presbyter and Apostle are for though they were his fellow Presbyters yet they were not his fellow Apostles and further it appears that these Presbyters of which he calls himself a Sym-Presbyter were Bishops as well as Priests for Writing to the several Churches scattered through Pontus Galatia Cappadocia and Bithynia and calling the Governors of those Churches Fellow Presbyters argues as much but the second Verse puts it out of doubt for he says they must Episcopize 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 feed the Flock of Christ as Bishops and therefore this place will never prove that the Authority of a bare Presbyter is equal to that of a Bishop or one who was a Fellow Presbyter of Saint Peter LET us see now what the next Age thought of it I will not run through the whole Church-History but content my self with the Testimony of Ignatius who was the Scholar of Saint John the beloved Apostle and Disciple of our Lord who leaned on Jesus's Bosom and one may well suppose therefore knew his Breast and what Government his Lord appointed in the Church and had Episcopacy been Antichristian would not have failed to tell us so and when he tells us there are many Antichrists he would have told us that this was one if he had believed it to be so and
have instructed his Scholar to put down and not Exalt this Antichrist in the Church of God 1 Jo. 2.18 This Ignatius who was afterwards in the Eleventh year of Trajan Crowned with Martyrdom at Rome being torn in pieces by Wild Beasts as Eusebius gives us an account Euseb Eccl. His l. 3. c. 19. 35. he speaks as plain of the Difference between a Bishop and a Presbyter as Pen can write or Heart can wish In his Epistle to the Magnesians Ig. Ep. ad Magnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Bishop saith he is seated in the first place as in the place of God and the Presbyters as the Senate of the Apostles And in another place of the same Epistle They says he who Act without a Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to such Christ will say Why do ye call me Lord Lord and do not the works which I Command you Such Persons seem to me not to be of a good Conscience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to be Hypocrites and Dissemblers And in his Epistle to the Trallians he Commands them in the Language of the Author to the Hebrews Ignat. Epist ad Trall To be subject unto this Bishop as unto the Lord for he Watches for your souls And in another place he tells them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is absolutely necessary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That you should do nothing without the Bishop Thus we see the Sons of the Church in the first Century of the Apostles of Christ being yet living thought of Bishops as we do And therefore it is both Undeniable and Undubitable that Episcopal Government was of Divine Institution and that a Bishop and a Presbyter are two different things in the Primitive Church both as to Power and as to Name I might bring a whole Cloud of Witnesses of less Antiquity but if these will not convince if the Testimony of Scripture and so Primitive a man and a Bishop as Ignatius be of no value I can have little hopes of convincing Gainsayers by multitude who have abandoned Reason THUS stood the Affairs of the Church for above 300 Years no man making the least Question or Dispute but that the Government by Episcopacy was of Gods appointment one Bishop still succeeding another as in the Ecclesiastical Historians my be seen in most of the Principal Cities of the World Epiphan l. 3. Tom. 1. Haeres 25. till Aerius being Educated with Eustathius and being his equal in Learning and Age took it as a great disparagement that Eustathius was preferred before him to a Bishoprick for which they were Competitors upon this discontent he not only fell foul upon Eustathius objecting as our Aerians do against him Pride and Covetousness but his Resentments for the Mortal displeasure broak out against the whole Function contemning the prescribed Fasts of the Church and teaching by the same Arguments with ours that a Bishop and a Priest were all one by the Scriptures of equal Power Authority and Jurisdiction which saith Epiphanius is an Assertion stultitiae plena full of Folly But this being but one discontented Priests Opinion was neither much regarded nor long lived the current belief of the Scripture and the constant Usage of the Church which knew no other Government run so strong that he was drowned in it nor did the Heresie ever float again till this last Age of which St. Clement who was contemporary to St. Paul and his fellow Labourer Phil. 4.3 as he calls him seems to prophecy in that Epistle of his to the Corinthians which I think was never suspected to be spurious where he tells us there would come a time when there should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Ep. ad Cor. a contention about the very name of a Bishop BY virtue of this Power it was that the Rulers of the Church ordered and appointed all things which were done which were of an indifferent Nature in Government as about the Observation of Holy Fasts and Festivals the manner of Celebrating the Service and Worship of God the Prayers and Alms of the Church the Postures Gestures and Habits which were to be made use of and all other Rites and Ceremonies following herein the Scripture as the Rule of Faith and Manners and the General Precepts therein contained as Rules of Government which were principally these FIRST That nothing imposed should be repugnant or contrary to any Article or Branch of Faith or a Holy Life or to any Customs of the Church recorded in Holy Writ SECONDLY That all their Commands might have a respect to Decency Order Reverence and Edification THIRDLY That All might have a tendency to Vnity Peace and Concord and that diversity of Customs and Opinions might not breed Schisms and Contentions and I shewed before how when in some of these things there was a difference in several Churches yet still they held Communion one with another maintaining inviolably the same Faith and Government in all THIS was the Condition of the Church both as to Faith and Polity till such time as the great Powers of the Earth the Roman Emperours and other Kings became Christians and took up the Cross of Christ as the Glory of their Crowns The first of which was Constantine the Great These Temporal Powers then took the Church into their Protection made Temporal Laws for the better Management of it and to preserve it from the Injuries of Heathen Idolaters without and Hereticks within and having the Sword in their hand undertook as it was their Duty to punish Evil doers who darst transgress the Laws of the Church with Temporal Punishments as well as those who broak the Laws of the Civil Magistrate and to incourage the Peaceable and Religious From the Bounty of these Princes and that of others of plentiful Fortunes and and by their Example the Church came to be Endowed with Temporalties and an Honourable Constant and Encouraging Maintainance was provided and settled upon those who were to serve at the Altar that so they might be inabled and furnished with all sorts of Learning well knowing that proportionate Rewards are the spurs to Learning and Virtue as the Wisdom of God for our Encouragement to Pursue and Obtain her tells us Prov. 8.18.3.4 Riches and Honour are with me yea durable Riches and Righteousness and that length of days are in her right hand and in her left hand Riches and Honour And that according to the Apostolical Command 1 Cor 9.11 14. They which sow Spiritual things should also reap Carnal for so hath the Lord commanded that they which Preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel BY this it appears That now there was a double Obligation laid upon all Christians to be Obedient to the Commands of the Church both because they derive their Power from God and because the Temporal Power did now concur to strengthen the Duty by the Obligations of Humane Laws nor can any thing or any pretence of Conscience authorize
with the Title of Religion You call Rebellion Reformation Schism and Separation Godliness Division from the Church Communion and Union with God You put Darkness for Light and Worship the blackest Crimes and Vices in the habit of Vertue Piety and true Religon Thus whilest you spie the Moat in your Mothers Eyes and would pull that and them too out to make her see clearly you never consider the Beam that is in your own And whilest you Vehemently accuse others of Worshipping God in vain according to the Traditions of Men you never regard how you make the Commandments of God of no Effect by your Traditions Matt. 15.6 God says Honour the King and thou shalt not speak Evil of the Ruler of thy People Obey Magistrates c. Your Traditions say Dishonour him by Disobedience Insinuate Jealousies and evil Surmisings concerning him and his Government Your Actions are a thousand Tongues and every Tongue a Trumpet to Proclaim your thoughts And however with your Lips you may pretend to honour the King and with your Mouths to draw near to God your Heart is in reality far from both Your Will is your God the Idol of your Heart which you set up and Worship For what I pray is your way of Worship but Tradition from the Heads of your Party Is there ever a Word in Scripture for your long Extempore Prayers full not of Tolerabiles ineptiae with which Calvin charges our Liturgy but of Intollerable Tautologies vain Repetitions rash Expressions and indigested Matter Christ is Positive against them Use them not says he as the Heathens who think to be heard for their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their much speaking The Wise King who had Survey'd all the Vanities of the World makes this not only a Vanity Eccl. 5.1 2. but a dangerous Rashness and a Sacrifice of Fools And yet you use it commend and applaud it as the only way pleasing and acceptable to God Is the Scripture clear that there ought to be no Bishops in the Church Or that Lay-Elders who understand neither Sense nor it may be English and in some places who cannot write their Name should yet be impowered to Define and Determine in Matters of Faith Are you any where forbidden to wear a Surplice or to use the Sign of the Cross or to bury Christians in hope of Charity and Resurrection to Eternal Life Or to pray in set and appointed Words which is true praying by the Spirit when we pray with understanding also knowing what will be said If these be not Gods Commands or Prohibitions they are Yours and if they are not in Scripture as I am sure they are not they are not only the Commandments and Traditions of Men but of Men who have no Power to Command or Impose the most indifferent thing And yet you perswade all Men every where that they owe Obedience to these forgetting that God is to be Obeyed rather than Men and that he commands you to Obey those that have the Rule over you If you will be Followers of God as Dear Children you must if it be possible and as much as in you lies be Followers of Peace with all Men much more with your Superiors both in Church and State But this is very possible for you to do And that it is not only Possible but Honest and Necessary and your Duty the Ensuing Papers will plainly inform you To them therefore I refer you they were designed for you And if you will Esteem me your Enemy because I tell you the Truth without Flattery Interest or Partiality yet I had rather be so Esteemed than be so in Reality by Skinning over your Festred Gangreen with words smooth as Oyl Whereas in Truth it ought to be laid open to prevent the further Eating of the Canker And this is the only way that I know to approve my self to be Your most Affectionate And real Friend The Contents CHAP. I. The INTRODVCTION CHAP. II. OF the Obstacles of Truth and Peace The necessity of removing them before we can obtain the other The great value all men have for Truth and for Imposture under its Name The first Obstacle Self Interest of its prevalency upon Jews Pagans Mahumetans the Romish Church and all Dissenters p. 10 CHAP. III. Of the second Obstacle to Peace Truth and Vnity Prejudice and Prepossession of Mind The Nature and Effects of Prejudice Of Ceremonies The reason why hated Of the meaning of the word Ceremony Some Ceremonies absolutely necessary in all Religious Worship All not Popery which Papists do Of Education and Custom how they are the Foundation of Prejudices p. 25 CHAP. IV. Of Pride and Ambition most dangerous Obstacles of Truth and Peace because Vices of Temper and Inclination The Difficulty of subduing these sins of Complexion Religion made their usual disguise The danger of them manifested in a short Character of Oliver Cromwell Of the danger of these in Church-men The Methods of such Persons as are infected with them to advance themselves to dignity A way to discover such fiery spirits from the Peacable spirit of Christianity p. 40 CHAP. V. Of the necessity of Vnion That the only way to Establish Happiness in any Nation The Intent of Religion the Happiness of Mankind here in this Life as well as in a future state That the truest Religion which advances this great Intention for which God gave it Of the true Church Of degrees of Purity in Churches Of the Seven Churches of Asia Distinction and Coordination of National Churches proved Faith the Common Bond of Vnion in the Catholique Church Of the Independency of National Churches one from another in point of Limits and Jurisdiction How the Peace of the Church Vniversal is thereby preserved p. 64. CHAP. VI. Objections against the Independency or Co-ordination of National Churches Why it cannot be admitted in several Churches in the same Nation It takes away the Power and Soveraignty of the Prince It is the Ruin of the Society Of the Foreign Protestant Churches The reason of their Disunion from Rome matter of Faith not of Ceremony only or of Government p. 78. CHAP. VII Of Vnity in Government that it is the bond of a National Church as Vnity in Faith is of the Catholique The Practice of the Primitive Church Of the Difference about Easter The Opinion of Irenaeus Bishop of Lions about it A National Church an intire Polity of Christian Men. The Laws of the Church and State mutual and recipocral design the same End viz. the Happiness of the Society Disobedience to either is so to both All Society as well as Happiness destroyed by Disunion The necessity of Vnity in Government upon a Religious account No Charity without it and without Charity no Religion p. 96. CHAP. VIII Of the Power of the Keys by Excommunication and Absolution How render'd impracticable by Tollerating many Churches in the same Nation Of the Decay of Christian Piety That and the Growth of Errors must lye at the
Expiating Guilt and Purchasing Heaven after all the Enjoyments of a sensual lascivious and debauched Life by Confession here and Masses bought to be said hereafter and at the worst the pains of Purgatory all which Doctrins bring in Treasure and Authority to the Priests and Church which generally shares with them in the purchase and permits them not to have lawful Heirs that so she may be their Executrix these and a multitude of the same Nature which are made matters of Faith and Sacraments in their Church essential to Salvation Fasten on the Manacles and make their Proselytes voluntarily entertain a slavery so agreable to their Wishes and Desires For who would not like a Religion which permits him to Enjoy all the Liberties of the World and the Flesh though renounced by his Baptismal Vow and yet puts him out of the danger of Hell and Damnation that allows him to serve his Mammon of Unrighteousness and yet expect a Reward from God whom he may at the same time serve though Christ says Nay to it and please with a few random Prayers repeated only with the labour of the Lips which at one Heaven according to their Quantity and are Efficacious by their Multiplicity who would not be a Papist who can believe that though he live all the Year like a Heathen in Sensuality and open Impiety yet if at Easter he make Confession to a Priest he shall thereby clear the score betwixt God and his Soul and be a good Catholique though he is no sooner parted from his Ghostly Father but he repeats the same Crimes or it may be worse and returns to the former Vomit and wallowing in the Mire perfectly upon the incouragement of the same Remedy who would not be such a Catholique when a few knocks upon his Breast shall be Contrition and some austerities and hardships practised upon the Body shall satisfie for the sin of his Soul and the most flagitious Offenders may hope for and be certain of Reconciliation to God and yet never be sensible of the severe Agonies of Spirit and the insupportable Wounds of Conscience the dreadful Horrors of a guilty Mind Is not this a soft and easie way to Heaven which makes the Way so broad and the Gate so wide which is set open by St. Peter's Keys that it is impossible any man should either Miss the one or not Enter the other who is not either so miserably Poor or so wretchedly Covetous or so great an Vnthrift or so destitute of Charitable Friends as not to be able to leave a small sum of Money for Masses and Dirges to reskue him from the Pains of Purgatory O dangerous Simony which sells Heaven and the Holy Ghost without which the other cannot be had for Money And if the Pope has such a Power to relieve the Quick and the Dead he is the most Uncharitable person to say no worse in the World who when for a word of his Mouth he can Save so many Souls from the Horrid Pains of Purgatory will not do it unless he be hired to it the Good Shepherd lays down his Life for the Flock but the Hireling will not spare his Breath to Cool the Flaming Tongues of those who suffer such Intollerable Pains unless he be paid for his AND if at any time the more Learned or Intelligent come to discover the pious Frauds the Great Severities which are made use of against them if they do but mutter against the Church the Fear of loosing their Lives or Estates and wearing the Infamous Brand of Hereticks is the Interest which seals their Lips in silence AND for the Clergy the High Honors to which they may arive and the dazeling Lustre of the Tripple Diadem shines so full upon their Eyes that it takes away their sight and the innumerable ways of obtaining Dignities Riches Esteem and Veneration with the Laity generally prove too strong Charms to be resisted by feeble Nature For who would turn a poor Protestant Priest when thereby he shall be so great a looser when thereby he shall part with all the fair Revenue of Masses for the Dead Money for Pardons Indulgences Licences Dispensations and the more than Almighty Priviledge and Miracle of making his Creator and transubstantiating a poor piece of Bread into the real body of the Son of God when he must renounce all hopes and pretensions to the Red Cap the Title of Eminency and the Princely state of S. E. R. Cardinal the next step to Vice Deus and the Supreme Honor of the Triple Miter and when in Exchange he must confine his Ambition to it may be a small Benefice and a great Charge in his vigilant Cure of Souls a heavy Burthen and it may be a light Gain and which if he does indeavour faithfully to discharge shall procure him in the room of Love Honour and Esteem Hatred Scorn Contempt and Reproaches And when the highest that can be hoped is but a Pastoral Staff and humble Mitre the Load and Envy of Government the Constant Care of the Churches and a certain Revenue of Malice for the little Temporal Honour and Estate which it may be is but just sufficient to maintain Charity and Hospitality those Honourable Characters as well as Expensive Duties of a Primitive Bishop I could heartily wish that even this Interest and the Revenue of the Church could not be objected against any Dissenters as a former Motive that induced them to Ruine her that so they might Rob her and that the same Spur did not still continue their Career in the same Design I know they will disown it and I wish we could believe them and our senses at the same time I wish the advantages they make of Tones Phrases long Prayers sanctified Looks and Religious Disobedience with which they please the Factious shelter the Seditious and agrandize themselves both in Riches and Reputation might not be objected against Dissenters as a greater Reason for their Nonconformity than any real Power of Conscience And they give a just occasion to suspect that they have not a Conscience void of offence towards God and Man who dare daily break the Laws of the one and the other and make no scruple to wound the Consciences of others both weak and strong under pretence of keeping their own from being wounded which is just so charitable as for me to wound another man and say it was in my own defence and lest he should have injur'd me So that it appears how great an influence Interest has upon the minds of Men to obstruct the Entertainment of Truth and that therefore in Order to obtain Peace and Vnity there is an absolute necessity that Men should lay aside the Clog of self Interest CHAP. III. IT is not Interest alone that obstructs the happy Vnion that ought to be amongst Christians and occasions those Divisions amongst them but there is also a necessity that Men should devest themselves of their prejudices and prepossessions of mind for these do always
he knows more and better what he ought to do than he who has Power to Command him This is the knowledg which St. Paul says puffeth up but Charity edifieth 1 Cor. 8.1 2. And therefore he subjoyns If any man think he knoweth any thing he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know that is if his knowledg occasions a breach of Charity he does not yet know himself or his Duty to God and Man This is so clear a Case with those of the Separation who break both Charity and Unity by their Disobedience that they must shut the clearest beams of Truth out of their Souls if they do not discover it SECONDLY An obstinate adherence to any private Opinion whereby the Peace of the Church is destroyed especially in things no ways in themselves Essentially necessary to Salvation must of necessity proceed from Pride for why should any person prefer his private Judgment before the Determination of his Superiors before that of the Catholick Church in all Ages but because he thinks himself wiser and more able to discern what is for the Publick Good than all that were before him or that are above him though hereby Solomon will tell him from the Spirit of God that he only purchases the Character of a Fool Prov. 12.15 The way of a Fool is right in his own eyes but he that hearkeneth unto Counsel is wise And therefore the Prophet pronounceth a Woe against such Woe unto those that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight Esa 5.21 Which must be meant of private persons for the Wisdom of Superiors is not so much their own as the Wisdom of all former Ages and for this Reason St. Paul commands Rom. 12.16 Be of the same mind mind not high things prompted by Pride or Ambition but condescend to men of low Estate much more to those of high be not wise in your own conceit And for Encouragement to this kind of Private Wisdom once more hear Wisdom it self speak by the wise man Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit Prov. 26.12 there is more hope of a Fool than of him And it is impossible to give any other Reason why men should not submit to Truth and their Superiors when they may be sensible to a demonstration from Reason Scripture and Experience that their private Opinions are unlawful because dangerous contrary to Charity and Gods Command but because they think such a Submission a Retractation or Compliance with Authority would be a lessening of them as to that Opinion for Wisdom and Sanctity which others attribute to them and that dangerous Flatterer Pride perswades them they are Masters of THIRDLY To indeavour to strengthen themselves by making a Party to secure them in their Disobedience and Obstinacy is the certain and unseparable Symptom of Ambition as well as Pride for if I dislike any thing I may do so to my self but to perswade others to it must have respect to a further Design and declares that I intend not only to own my Disobedience but to justifie and maintain it by Power The best Men in the World may Err privately but it is to be suspected they are the worst who make their Errors Publique to draw Disciples after them by Disobedience a man Equals himself to his Superiors for it is a plain denying their Authority over him by Obstinacy he shews his intention to stand his Ground and make good his Incroachment upon their Power and by his making of a Party he does as it were make secret Levies and inrols a Militia to defend himself from the Power of his Superiors and looks as if he meant to struggle with them not only for Precedence but Dominion I wish these were only Suppositions and that we could not from woful Experience say they are but too true but it was this very way that lately laid the Crown as well as the Mitre in the Dust too lately to give us the least reason to doubt that the same Methods may do it again if not in time prevented either by the vigilance of Authority or by reducing the disorderly and disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just and by informing their Understandings to oblige them voluntarily to abandon those Men and Principles whose Practices will infallibly lead them to these Conclusions or oblige Authority by the utmost Severities of Laws to prevent the Danger and Ruine of the whole Frame of Government both in Church and State AND as Pride and Ambition are but too visible amongst the Principles of Dissention amongst us and the principal Obstacles of our Peace and Vnity so are they no less Obstructions to a Reconciliation with the Roman Church for it is the Ambition of Supremacy over all other Churches and over all Temporal Powers and even over our Faith it self the incommunicable Prerogative of our blessed Jesus Heb. 12.2 the Author and Finisher of our Faith which has render'd all Reunion with them not only dangerous but impossible unless we will resolve by believing as that Church believes to disbelieve not only our Sense and Reason but Scripture and all Antiquity and not only those but God himself who has given us them to assist us in our Faith IT is the Ambition of the Clergy which obliges them to keep the Laity in Ignorance so blind that they are not permitted to inquire or doubt And for the Clergy as before was observed in the point of Interest they are constantly fed with the nourishment of Ambitious Thoughts hopes of Dignities and Promotions The meanest Priest or Recluse may come to be head of his House Superior and after General of his Order a Prior or Abbot and it may be a Bishop the Bishop may advance the Mitre to the Honour of a Cardinals Hat and the Red Hat may turn to the Triple Mitre and all this by being a Zealous Maintainer of the Usurped Power of that Church justifying her Incroachments upon the Crowns of Princes and the Mitres of all other Bishops Primates Metropolitans and Patriarchs owning her Monopoly of the Word Catholique avowing her Canonical and Decreed Errors for Rules of Faith and Manners and divulging her fictitious Collusions for real Miracles though to the hazard of rendring the true ones of Christ and his Apostles suspected upon which the sole confirmation of our Religion depends These are the Stairs by which men ascend to the Papal Dignity which now out-flies the Imperial Eagle as well as the smaller Royal Birds of Majesty Et Caput inter Nubila condit for to oppose any of these is a certain way to be prefer'd to the Torments of the Inquisition to be branded with Heresie and Apostacy and to Expire in Flames and Torments So that I hope by this time it is evident how pernioiously powerful the Principles of Interest and Prejudice Custom and Education Pride and Ambition are in the Minds of Men to hinder them from Embracing Truth and her Beautiful Children Peace and
and yet had they not so much as a Rebellious thought of Establishing Religion by force or violence CHAP. VII BY what has been said it appears that the Foundation of all Charity among Christians is built upon Vnity in Faith which is the necessary bond of the Catholique Church which is the Company of all faithful People which are have been or shall be in all Ages and Places of the World and that Vnity in Government as well as Faith is the Bond of Peace and Obedience a Duty therefore which all men owe to their Lawful Superiors as the Necessary Ligature of a National Church which being a Political Society of Religious Men does therefore require a Political Government in Religious as well as Civil affairs THE not well considering of this Difference between a National and the Catholique Church seems to be the chief Ground of the Quarrels among Christians for the Catholique Church being the Spiritual Body of Christ is United in it self and to him by the Spiritual Bond of the Catholique Faith which Faith may be kept Whole and Undefiled though there be great Differences in External Rites and Ceremonies For all Ceremonies are not fit for all Places as for Example Submerging of the person Baptized may do very well in the warm Climates but would be very hazardous in the more Northern Regions of Muscovy Rushia c. Thus we see it was adjudged in that Great Controversie about the Celebration of Easter between the Eastern and the Western Churches For when Anicetus Bishop of Rome and Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna differ'd in their Opinion about it they came to this amicable Determination that each Church should celebrate it according to their own Custom for which they gave this Reason Quia non oportet propter Caeremoniarum dissonantiam rumpere Fidei Consonantiam Ecclesiae Concordiam The Peace and Concord of the Church in the Harmony of Faith ought not to be broken for a disagreement in matters of Ceremony And because this Difference made a great Noise in the Church for many years â—â—d in regard it Confirms my Position of Vnity of Faith being the Bond of the Catholick Church and Vnity of Government as well as Faith that of a National Church I will relate the History of it in short as it is Recorded by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History Euseb lib. 5. c. 24 25 26. Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus and a great many of the Asian Bishops alledging the Practice and ancient Custom of St. John the beloved Disciple of our Lord who was himself Bishop of Ephesus Polycarp and several others observed Easter upon any day of the Week according to the Custom of the Jews The Christians of the Western Church observed it as we do upon the Sunday being the day of his Resurrection Upon this Victor Bishop of Rome pronounces them Excommunicate and separates from their Communion Irenoeus Bishop in Lions shews Victor his Error and that for Ceremonies and Circumstances the Vnity of the Church ought not to be broken which he manifests by the Diversity of several Churches in observing the time of Fasting before Easter some only one day some two some more to forty and yet for all this says that Excellent Father they were at Vnity one with another and as yet retain it for this Variety of Fasting commendeth the Vnity of Faith and thereupon writing to Victor he acquaints him that Anicetus Pius Hyginus Telesephorus and Xystus his Predecessors though not observing the same Custom with the Bishops of Asia yet nevertheless were at Vnity with them and sent the Eucharist unto the Brethren of other Churches that observed a Contrary Custom shewing him also how Polycarpus did not endeavour to alter the Judgment of Anicetus but told him that he ought to observe the ancient Custom of his Predecessors Upon which for the reason before-mentioned they friendly received the Holy Eucharist together the Symbol of their Vnity in Faith and parted from each other in Peace and all such adds he as held contrary Customs and Observations throughout the Vniversal Church held fast the Bond of Love and Vnity no Church endeavouring to impose upon the Liberty of others in point of Circumstances so long as they all held the Catholique Faith as the only necessary bond of Vnion in the Catholique Church and Vnity of Government as the Bond of Vnion in the several Distinct and National Churches whereof the Universal is composed and which therefore it appears had Originally a Jurisdiction among themselves over which neither Rome nor any other had a Power So that is clear that several National Churches may lawfully differ in External Rites of Government from the Catholique without the danger of Schism But now in a National Church there is a necessity of Vnity and Obedience to the Determinations of those who are the Lawful Governors of it and all Disobedience there is a Schism in regard the Peace of that Church the Order and Charity of it without this must be destroyed and therefore there is a Necessity of this Vnity in point of Government in any National Church Now every Distinct Nation as before was said being a separate Society of men Distinguished from the rest of the World by a different Government and their Obedience to it as well as by their Place of Habitation there is a Necessity that Religion should conduce all it can to the preservation of that Political Frame upon which the Well-being and Happiness of the Society depends For the Civil and Religious concerns are so mutually interwoven that no man can be a Good Citizen who is an ill Christian or an ill Christian who is Bonus Civis a good Publiquewealths-man and these do mutually support one another true Religion Improving this Interest of all Men by making the Civil part of the Polity a Duty of Religion among Christians whereas among Heathen it was only a duty of Interest and Policy For even in this sense we may truly say as our Saviour of himself Matt. 5.17 that Christian Religion came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it to conform Humane Laws to the Rule of Divine Equity Truth and Justice and for this reason our Lord himself gave that Universal Precept to Render to Caesar his Due which also he confirmed by his Practice paying him Tribute even with a Miracle NOR do we ever find the Primitive Spirit of Christianity opposing any humane Laws or Power unless they were such as directly struck at the Root of Faith and a holy Life such as were the severe Edicts of the Persecuting Emperors to compel them to renounce and Blaspheme Christ to adore the Pagan Gods or to offer Incense to the Statues of the Emperors Nay when they were treated with more than inhumanity they never had recourse to Violence or attempted to justle the Temporal Power out of the Throne or force it to a compliance with their Wills but suffered patiently even when as Tertullian Apologizes for them they were
attain Salvation as Disobedience to the Government of the Church your Mother Who lose all Charity the substance of Religion for the Watry shadow that appears in the smooth but treacherous face of the specious words of Reformation and greater degrees of Purity not considering in the mean time that these are all the best of them but outward Forms of Godliness common to the Good and Bad but that Charity and Obedience in order to Brotherly Vnity are the Power and the Life the Soul and very Essence of all true Religion With these Religion may be false but without the other it can never be true Esay 5.21 Wo unto them says the Prophet that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight And what can be more Evident than that these People must be so to the highest degrees of Folly and Frenzy who expose the Peace and Well-fare of the Church to ruine and Distruction in complaisance to their private ill-grounded Opinions in mere matters of Indifferency who neglect a certain Duty for a Doubtful Supposition and have less Esteem for Charity than a Scruple or a Fancy who by their obstinate Practice so contrary to all Antiquity and so wholly new and therefore Vncertain set themselves in the Throne of Wisdom and Prudence much above all the Learned Pious and glorious Governors of the Church Saints and Martyrs which have been in all Ages since the Son of God laid the Foundation of it with his precious Blood Nay even above the Son of God himself who not only left that Government in his Church as shall be shewn hereafter but by the Miraculous continuance and preservation of that Government has manifested that he does approve it and that he has upheld it by his mighty Power and Wisdom LET Dissenters therefore shew us perspicuously when there was any other Government in the Church than that of Bishops Let them shew us when ever the Church was without a Publique Liturgy since that composed by St. James When ever Christians were without Priests to attend the Altar Heb. 13.10 of which they who serve the Jewish Tabernacle have no right to Eat or that these were of the Peoples chusing and not Ordained by Bishops to their Sacred Function Let them shew us where ever any person was permitted to Entertain the People with a long Extempore Prayer more to the displaying his own Abilities than to edify them more to disparage others who cannot who dare not if they can be so bold with the Dreadful Majesty of Heaven than to bring them into Charity with such Persons whose considerative Modesty stands amazed at the thoughts of the Divine Omnipotence as having been taught by the Holy Spirit Eccles 5.1 2. That God is in Heaven and we on Earth and therefore our words ought to be few and that it is a foolish Presumption to think we can please him by breaking his commands by being rash with our Mouths and hasty with our hearts to utter any thing before God for they who do so consider not that they give the sacrifice of Fools Rom. 3.8 and do Evil which an Apostle tells us we must not at any Rate be guilty of not though we may reasonably hope for a good Effect from evil Actions whose Damnation he there says is just LET them shew us these things either positively commanded of God or prohibited Universally practised by the Church or condemned or otherways let them confess that they are wiser than the Generations of their Fore-fathers in Christ wiser than the Apostles and all the holy Martyrs who with their Blood Sealed and Delivered the Truth of these things down to us And if they will call these Practices Antichristian Superstitious and Unlawful if they will tear off the Ornaments of their Mother nay and Murther her too because she will not consent to betray her self and her trust to their Novel Wisdom if they will more barbaroufly than the Roman Souldiers rend the seamless Coat of Christ to patch up another of their own Inventions we must pity them and pray for them in the Language of our blessed Jesus Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luk. 23.34 and yet even that Charity does not deprive us of using all Lawful ways and means to defend our selves from their injurious incroachments nor is it meant that our Charity ought to be so defenceless as voluntarily to Expose us to their Injustice and Cruelty And that glorious Law which commands us to love and pray for our Enemies does not oblige us to offer our throats a Sacrifice to their Swords nor are we bound to be so kind to them as to be Cruel to our selves I could heartily wish the sad Effects of the Decay of Christian Charity among us were only the Cloudy apparitions of my own fears and imaginations Airy Combats and Meteors of the Mind But alas we may but too sorrowfully invert the saying of the Royal Prophet Psal 44.7 We have heard with our Ears and our Fathers have told us nay miserable people that we are we have seen with our Eyes these afflicting Truths For no sooner was the Church of England stept out of the Errors and Darkness of Rome but the Devil the great Incendiary of the World envious of our Happiness begun to sow the Tares of Dissention among us I will not repeat the Names of those Authors of our Misery but I desire all Dissenters of what Names soever to consider what have been the Effects of these Differences which for this 80 years they have with such Hereditary Violence and Animosity maintained against the Church of England What is it that has banish't all Charity from the Minds and Lives of Men What is it that has made all those Heats Strifes and Divisions those bitter Railings that Hatred Emulation and at last Separation from the Communion of Saints which is one Article of our Faith between people of different Opinions What is it therefore that has sacrificed Faith to Opinion From what Fountain flow'd all those fearful streams of blood which so lately staind our yet blushing Fields Scaffolds nay our very Temples and Altars From what Coast blew those Whirlwinds of Rebellion and Sedition not privy but publique Conspiracy which threw down all Crowns and Mitres Churches and Palaces every thing Sacred and Civil which occasion'd the ruine of so many Millions of Souls Bodies and Estates This Cloud which was at first no bigger than a Mans hand which afterwards cover'd the face of the Heavens with Storms and Tempests Thunder and Lightning like the dismal Plague of Egypt Fire mingled with Hail was nothing but the dislike which some persons had that their sense was not made the standard of Religion and because contrary to their good liking some Ceremonies were thought fit to be retained in the Church as being of great Antiquity of Excellent Use and necessity which they would have had totally abolished THESE men whose Tempers were warmer
and Religion LOUD and clamorous are the Complaints and Declamations against the vitiousness and Debauchery of the present Age and not without too evident Truth and Reason Impiety which was formerly used to wait for the twilight dare now walk bare fac't and stare upon the Sun St. Paul says of the modest Debauchees of his Age They that are drunken are drunken in the Night but now licentious men are become so impudent as to scorn to throw the Mantle of Darkness over their vitious Intemperance that they take a Pleasure and a Pride to Riot in the day time and to affront God and Men and even humane Nature it self by their prodigious and Publique Sins and Follies They who did ill formerly hated the light but now Men study to affront it and oblige that pure and innocent Blessing to become not only a Witness but an Assistant to their Brutish and shameless Disorders and would loose their greatest pleasure should they not expose themselves and their deeds of Darkness to the discovery of the Day ALL this is laid upon the Government of the Church which though it be as innocent as the light by which they are boldly acted yet must they conspire in the guilt of these horrid Crimes if we will believe Dissenters who blush not to lay this false Accusation to the Charge of the Government that thereby they may render it Criminal and Odious and themselves and Party Clear and Innocent when as in truth and reality the Guilt of these miscarriages will be found to lie at their own Doors and let them wipe their mouths never so demurely and say they have done no Evil Prov. 30.20 with Solomon's Common Woman let them wash their hands with Pilate and say they are guiltless I doubt not to make it appear to the contrary It is a bold Charge and I know they will start at it as much as the Disciples did when our Saviour told them That one of them should betray him and be as forward as they to Cry out Is it I Who we but what if it prove true and be made good against them I will indeavour it and yet with all the Christian Compassion that I am capable of for I have no design to Expose their Persons to hatred but to bring them to true Repentance by shewing them the Danger of those Ways which with the specious shew of Righteousness and Holiness deceive them into a Contempt of the terrible Authority of the Church and others by their Example into all Sensuality and Impiety THAT Christ left to the Governors of his Church the Power of the Keys is most Evident from his own plain and clear Words For when he was to leave this World he called his Apostles to him and Then said Jesus unto them again Joh. 20.23 Peace be unto you as my Father hath sent me even so send I you there is their Mission and Commission for their Function and Government and when he had said this Matth. 18.18 he breathed on them and saith unto them Receive ye the holy Ghost there is their Unction and Ordination their ability to perform the Duty and discharge the trust reposed in them Whos 's soever Sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained There is the Office and the Power which was put into their hands the Expedient by which they were to govern and Rule the Church of God And though the Romanists endeavour to Monopolize even in the literal and worst sence this great Power only to Saint Peter and his Successors as they pretend the Roman Bishops only are yet nothing is more clear than that our Saviour intended them all an Equal share and a Power to derive it to their Successors in all Churches to the End of the World His gracious Promise of being with them extending unto all Times Places and Persons who should succeed any of the Apostles as well as St. Peter The Church being built not only upon him but upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Christ Jesus being himself the Chief and Corner-stone in whom and by whom the whole glorious Fabrique is Vnited and Compleated THIS Power of the Keys of binding and loosing is the Power of Excommunication of Offenders and Absolution of Penitents and is indeed all the Power which Christ left with his Church and the only Jurisdiction which the Governors can exercise in and over it For all Corporal Punishments are properly and peculiarly vested by God himself in the power of the Temporal and Civil Magistrate who carries the Sword and is ordained of God for that very purpose and Design as St. Paul acquaints us Rom. 13. for he beareth not the Sword in vain but is the Minister of God a Revenger to Execute punishment upon him that doeth Evil. AN Instance of this terrible Sentence of Excommunication we have inflicted upon the Incestuous Corinthian and that with a great Formality 1 Cor. 5.5 This is my Determination saith the Apostle In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ when yeare gathered together and my Spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one to Satan as he tells us in another place that he had delivered Hymeneus and Alexander to Satan that they might learn not to Blaspheme By virtue of this dreadful Power it was that the Primitive Governors of the Church even when they had no assistance but all opposition from the Secular Powers yet kept the Flock of Christ in all Obedience Subjection good Order and Discipline Then were Christians Miracles of Charity Piety and Devotion to the wondring Pagans when they were obliged to those Duties by no Humane Laws when there were no fears of Prisons Tortures Confiscations or Banishment unless for being and owning themselves to be Christians but the only fear of Excommunication and being put out of thâ— Fellowship of the Saints here on Earth and denyed Entrance into the Congregation of the Faithful of being debarred from receiving the Holy Eucharist and joyning in the publique Service and Worship of God was more forcible to make them Holy Obedient and Vnanimous than all the Torments devised by Persecution were able â—o make them Prophane or Vitious For why They did believe that unless the Governors of the Church the Successors of the Apostles did remit their Sins on Earth they should not find remission in Heaven they therefore believed it because Christ the Eternal Truth had said it They did believe that unless they were United by Communion to the Holy Catholique Church they could never hope for the Remission of Sins the Resurrection of the Body unto Life Everlasting which is the most ancient Confession of the Christian Faith and which with great probability is supposed to be delivered by the Apostles to the Church as a short sum of Faith necessary to Salvation NOR were they more fearful of this formidable Sentence of Excommunication than desirous of the Absolution of
of a Society into one common Body of which Unity is the Soul and whatsoever be the Cause of this Disunion the Effect is always an Alienation of Affections among those who differ one from another Now as there is nothing that makes so close a Vnion in the minds of Men as their concurrence in the same thoughts Judgment and Sentiments about any Matters especially those of Religion So there is nothing that makes so great and Irreconcilable Distances between People as their being and owning themselves of differing Judgments and Opinions For Religion is like a Common Centre in which all the Lines of mutual Kindness meet and are United together in an indivisible Point And we do more passionately love those who resemble us in our thoughts than in our outward Lineaments and Proportions and have a natural Aversion for those who are unlike us in our Thoughts And the reason is because this Discord robs us of the pleasure of Life which is Society and where the entertainment consists in mutual Jarrs and endless Disputings continual Contradictions of which all men are impatient the Conversation must needs be disagreeable for who ever contradicts another supposes himself more wise and the other foolish and where the knowledg of these differences is manifest even in their silent Interviews it defeats them of all the pleasure of Converse and Society and makes men uneasie in the very Company of those who are neither beloved by them nor love them as all men believe of those who oppose them and differ from them in their Judgments So that it is not to be expected they should be ready to do those good Offices one for another in order to the Common Good of the Society but rather all the Mischiefs and Injuries which they can as Enemies as all esteem those who are not United to them by Love and Kindness and how happy any Society is like to prove that is thus disjoynted in it self is not difficult to conjecture BUT these Animosities are extreamly heightened in regard there is always something more than bare Opinion in the Difference and that it is impossible totally to separate Interest from Religion and that therefore no man can look upon another as directly invading the one without obliquely designing against the other and what ever Passion men may have for their Religion they are inseparably married to their Interest the thred of that is twisted with the Stamina Vitae being indeed esteemed Essential both to the being well-being of the Body For it is not in Religion as it is in Philosophical Contests where how eager soever men may appear to defend a Paradox yet they are not Solicitous whether it be true or false for what matters it between two hot Combatants whether there be any Land in the Moon or not Since though there be they have no Mannors nor Lordships there and if there be not they are never the poorer of a Farthing BUT in the Quarrels of Religion there is always a Meum and Tuum and Men suspect not without good Reason that the difference of Opinion is but the Colour or Pretext it is Interest that is the first Mover and the Ultimate Design and this prevents all hope of Reconciliation till one party do either voluntarily or by constraint relinquish their pretences to the others Right for he who will invade the Possession of what another enjoys by endeavouring to be a Disseisor becomes an Enemy And there are few who arrive to that height of self-denial to hate themselves that they may love their Enemies or to expose themselves to the Inconveniences of cold Nakedness and Hunger which Nature abhors that they may feed and cloth their Enemies nor does Charity command it for though that Compassionate Grace look abroad for Objects of Pity yet she always begins her Work at home nor is any man obliged to pray for or love his Enemies so as not to provide for his own Family 1 Tim. 5.8 and by Charity to deny the Faith and be worse than an Infidel Such Saints are Martyrs of the Greek Calends And no person can Esteem such as endeavour to devest him either of Power Authority Estate or Possession Honor or Profit but as his particular Enemy and an Enemy to God and Religion which commands that no man should invade anothers Right in that great Command Thou shalt not Covet Now where there are several distinct Churches in the same Nation there being both Power and Maintenance annexed to the Office of the Clergy they will necessarily incroach one upon another and because what the one gains the other must loose the contrariety of Interests will widen the Difference between them even to the utmost Extremity of Hatred and Animosity and whilst every Church will labour to agrandize it self both in Riches and Power by lessening the Esteem Honour Power and Revenues of the other it will become a quarrel of Interest as well as Religion and let any person if he can Justifie a Principle that by maintaining Domestique Quarrels must be ruinous to Society and all the Peace and Happiness of the present state of Life under the fair pretence of Religion LET Dissenters tell us what they please and if their dislike of the Government in the Church is purely upon the account of Religion former Experience has made the World sufficiently sensible that the Dignity Power and Revenues of the Church were the greatest Crimes of the Government And that they who could not approve of those Honors Titles and Estates in Bishops and the dignified Clergy could yet very well digest both their Power and Revenues when they came by the Sacrilegious hands of Vsurping Powers to be conferr'd on themselves AND as these Quarrels will be most certain so they will be Endless and Eternal for admit once of many Forms of Church Government in the same Nation and no sooner shall one be uppermost but the Envy of the others and their fear lest they should be crush't or overshadowed by it will make all the lesser Churches conspire for their common Security and Interest to undermine and overthrow it And when they have by that joynt confederation Effected that then will the most Powerful of the Victorious Party step and Exalt it self into the Place and Power of the former which will procure it the Hatred of all the rest who will not fail by the same Arts and Methods to dismount that and Establish themselves by which means there will be no end of Factions Quarrels and Ambitions striving who shall be the Uppermost All this while Religion will be the Pretence but the State shall really suffer and it being as impossible to separate them as to punish the Christian and not the Man it must be under all the most violent Agitations and Tempests and at last suffer most certain Shipwrack THIS was the true state of our Case in England during our late Revolutions the Church and Religion were made to lead the Dance but according
Bishop Patriarch and Pope of his Congregation BUT these People having no Pretensions to a National Government appear not so Dangerous to the State as to themselves nor so troublesome as those who contend for Soveraignty and endeavour to pull down the Pillars of the Church to Establish their own Synagogue and Spiritual Sannedrim of Lay-Ecclesiasticks and whereas the other will be contented with a Chappel of Ease these make the World Uneasie because they may not have the Cathedral and Mother Church And this People the most Industrious of all Mankind the most Vigilant and Indefatigable who compass Sea and Land to make Prosylites and a Party as they are the most Numerous and most powerful so are they most Dangerous both in their Positions and in their Actions and whilest they Clothe Episcopacy with the Title of Idolatry and Superstition as the Heathens did Christians with the skins of Wild Beasts to make the Lyons and Tygers fall upon them so do they Then animate the Populace to Worry them by Tumults Clamours and Outcries against them And under pretence of Destroying Idolatry take Commission from the Law of Moses to break the Commands of the Gospel For a late Instance of which I refer the Reader to the Printed Narrative of Mitchel and his Field Conventiclers the Whigs of Scotland and to their former Practices in England both against particular Persons and the Publique State which fell a Sacrifice to this great Idol of Idolatry and fear of Popery I will therefore endeavour to give a true Account of the Office and Institution of Episcopal Authority in the Church being not without Hopes but that Men of Calm and sober spirits will submit to Truth how contrary soever it may appear to those Prejudices which for want of better Information they have been so long accustomed to THAT there ought to be Government in the Church I presume no Judicious Person will make the least scruple of in regard God Almighty took such particular Care of his Church in the Jewish Nation And we cannot think that under the Gospel which is a better Covenant he would leave it to Anarchy and Confusion The Controversie is What manner and Form of Government Now that it was Episcopal is the thing which we maintain and I hope to prove and not only that but that it is of Divine Institution And first for the Name of Bishop which in the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Overseer Christ himself was the first Bishop and is so styled by St. Peter The Bishop of our Souls 1 Pet. 2.25 St. Paul makes frequent mention of the Name in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus and calls it the Office of a Bishop and affirms that if any man desire it he desires a good Work This is a true saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a faithful saying And what is by the Mouth of Divine Verity pronounced not only an Office and that implies Power but a desirable Office and good Work cannot without Sacrilegious Blasphemy be styled Antichristian and it is no modest Impiety to Combine against God and solemny Covenant and Vow the Extirpation of it Root and Branch Rom. 2.22 Thou that aborrest Idols dost thou commit Sacriledg Our Blessed Lord tells us Every Plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up one would Judg by that Rule that Episcopacy in the Government of the Church were a plant of Gods own planting since for 1600 years and upwards all the Power Malice of Men and Devils have not been able to pluck it up But he has graciously been pleased to Protect it Psal 104.16 so that it has been Like the Cedars of Lebanus which the Lord hath planted And he has made good his promise to be with them to the End of the World And Those that be planted in the House of the Lord Psal 92.13 14 15. shall flourish in the Courts of our God they shall bring forth more fruit in their Old age they shall be Fat and flourishing to shew that the Lord is upright just to his Promise he is their Rock and there is no unrighteousness in him And what for all this Root and Branch O vain Men If ye have run with footment Jer. 12.5 and they have wearied you how can ye contend with Horses If you have fought with Men and have not been able to prevail how will you be able to fight with God Remember Gamaliel's counsel For if this work be of God Act. 5.39 you cannot overthrow it your selves you may and will be found to fight against God And you will find that Impar Congressus a very unequal Combat The Giants who thought to Conquer Heaven Purchast Hell Heaven is not to be had by such violence as opposes it but Hell and Damnation certainly will I hope the greatest part of those who do so violently persecute this Name and Office are like St. Paul and may with him find Mercy though they be Blasphemers and Persecutors provided like him they did it ignorantly and cease to kick against the Thorns And this they cannot do unless they acknowledge both the Name and Office of a Bishop to be of Divine Institution Take heed saith St. Paul Acts 20.28 therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers the Translating of which Word hath occasion'd a world of Mischief and Mistakes and was certainly a great oversight having made so many oversee the Bishop in it for it is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over which the Holy Ghost hath appointed or placed you Bishops So that however the Name of Bishop is not to be rooted out nor is it Popish or Antichristian as the Credulous Vulgar are made believe I know what will be the answer The same Saint Paul in the same Chapter Vers 17. calls them Presbyters And this they think above all the places in Scripture concludes against Episcopacy and proves not only the Parity but Aerian Identity of Bishops and Presbyters But stay my Masters let not Passionate Opinion outrun Truth and Reason St. Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God having Preached the Gospel in all the Cities of the lesser Asia being upon his Journey to Jerusalem he comes to Miletus and from thence sends to Ephesus and calls for the Presbyters of the Church upon their coming he acquaints them with the sorrowful Message that he was to leave them for ever and take his last farewell of them And now behold I know that ye all says he among whom I have gone Preaching the Kingdom of God shall see my face no more Whilst he was conversant among them he was their Spiritual Guide and Ruler but now that he was to leave them and could not discharge that part of the Apostolical Function of Government which he calls elsewhere 2 Cor. 11.28 The Care of all the Churches which came upon him
their Disobedience to both those Powers unless the things commanded be manifestly proved to contradict the Faith or be repugnant to good Life which till Dissenters can do they will be obstinate Schismaticks before God and Rebels against their Prince and in a fair way to be Traytors too whilst they break his Laws both Civil and Ecclesiastical however they may flatter themselves with the Title of Saints And so soon as they can prove their Charge against any of the Ceremonies and that they are Unlawful in reality and not only in supposition they shall be gratified by their Abolition or amendment if that will do And if they cannot prove their Accusations would they be so unjust as to have not Justice but Injury done to the Innocent by abrogating those Modes of Worship and Customs in the Church which the whole Church has allowed that Government which God appointed which he has approved by maintaining supporting and defending it to this present day against all the Opposition of Infidels and Hereticks those two Gates of Hell One would think that Rule of Vincentius Lirinensis were satisfactory to men of Reason and Sobriety Quod ubique quod semper quod ab omnibus id quidèm verè est Catholicum That which every where always and by all has been received must needs be a Catholick Truth but such is the Power Rule Authority of Bishops for Guiding the Church and appointing the Modes of Worship And they who will oppose this spring Tide of Universal Testimony will but drown themselves in the Odious name of Schismaticks and Heriticks of whom these have been the Characters Mos semper fuit Hereticorum quorum Doctrinam non possunt confutare illorum vitam in Odium trahere It has always been the Custom of Hereticks to asperse the lives of those whose Doctrines they have not been able to confute Which has been the constant Practice of late years against Episcopacy and Episcopal Men to throw dirt upon the Profession and Persons and then proclaim them Odious when in truth the blackness is in their own Mouths and not either in the Persons whom they calumniate or in the Office Treating the Church as some Impudent Villains do the Modest Woman whom they cannot Debauch Cry out A Whore a Whore and set the Rabble upon her who roll her in the Kennel and cover her with dirt till no body can tell what she is made of and then believe she is what they have made her ugly and what the other would have made her but could not Criminal St. Bernard gives us a second Property Haerent ad singula quae injunguntur Exigunt de quibusque rationem male suspicantur de omnî Precepto nèc unquà m libentèr acquiescunt nisi cum audire contigerit quod fortè libuerit They stick at every thing which is by Authority enjoyned they require a a Reason nay and we may add are not satisfied with Reason for every thing they are Jealously suspicious of every Precept of their Superiors nor do they ever willingly acquiess in their determinations unless it happens that they are agreeable to their own Judgment and as St. Augustine says Nisi quod ipsi faciunt nihil rectum Existimant They think well of nothing or Judge it right but what they do themselves LET St. Cyprian give them a third Mark. Initia Haereticorum c. Vt Praepositum Superbo tumore contemnant Sic de Ecclesia receditur sic Altare prophanum Foràs Collocatur sic contra pacem Christi Ordinationem atque unitatem Dei rebellatur The Original of Hereticks is Contempt of those who are set over them So men separate from the Church So is a prophane Altar erected out of it So men become Rebells against the Peace of Christ Order and Vnity because as in another place he says Episcopus qui unus est Ecclesiae praeest Superbâ quorundam presumptione contemnitur The Bishop who is one and set over the Church is by the proud Presumption of some Men Contemned We may write a Probatum est to these Prophetique Truths I might Pyle up Endless Authorities and swell this Discourse to a Volume but if what I have already said be not sufficient to Convince the greatest Enemies of Episcopacy that it is a Government of Gods appointment in the Church I think all that can be said will be to no purpose and if this will more would be supersluous if they will not believe the Scripture If they will not believe the Church Mat. 18.17 it is our Saviour's Rule Let them be as Heathen men and Publicans CHAP. XVI HAVING now found a Divine and unerring Rule of Faith and Life in the Scripture of Truth and having also found there who are by God appointed to be Governours of the Church viz. Bishops There remains only the great Enquiry after the Judg of Controversies and Differences which is abslutely Necessary in the Church of God to determine Differences which may happen not only about Matters of private Opinion but even the sense of the Scriptures and the Interpretation of the Holy Rule And as these Differences may be of several Kinds and Natures so there are several Judges appointed by God to hear and determine them that so the Church may be preserved in Peace and Charity As to what is matter of Faith Essentially Necessary to Salvation That God is the Sole Judg of himself And therefore it has by him long since been determined and received in the Church and what ever by all must be believed must be easy by all to be known and is therefore plainly set forth in Holy Scripture Nor can any be Judg of this but what cannot Err or deceive us which is only God And to say the Church is the Judg of this and that it cannot Err because the Catholique Church does not Err is to argue Fallaciously à non esse ad impossibile esse For that part of the Catholique Church whilest on Earth consisting of Men of whom some shall be saved and some Reprobated No man having a power to know which of them are those who shall be kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation that they shall not Err and to distinguish them from those who shall not be so preserved and therefore there being a Possibility that those who may be Reprobates from the Faith themselves may yet be of great Authority in the Outward Visible Church it is unreasonable to admit them as Judges of Faith who Erring themselves my lead us into Errors too And therefore God who speaks to us in Scripture is only the Judg of what is matter of Faith and what not and it is to be tryed by that Rule and no Authority has power to impose any thing as matter of Faith Essentially necessary to Salvation but what is there to be found The Harmony of the Universal Church that such things as are offered as matters of Faith are agreeable to Scripture is in things not clear and
which they are to Govern which is the Word of the Infallible God who cannot lye or be deceived and I suppose that they may act contrary to this Rule and that presumes they are not Infallible but if they follow the Rule then I say they cannot Err and should the Pope do so all Christians over whom he may Challenge a lawful Jurisdiction as their Patriarch ought to submit to him But it is Evident that the Roman Church does Err and has Erred in many things forsaking the Rule setting up the Authority of the Pope to alter and change that Rule by introducing new Articles of Faith new Books of Scripture and old Traditions his own Canons Decretals and Councels for a Rule nay his own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Sentence and Determination for an Infallible Rule of Faith and Life which is as far from me to believe of our Bishops as to say or believe it of him NOR does this Jurisdiction of Bishops either take away that subordination which for convenience of Government is among them or intrench upon the Supremacy of the Civil Magistrate since his Supremacy consists in a Temporal Soveraignty and pretends not to any Pastoral Power but only such Kingly and Civil Authority in Cases Ecclesiastical as Constantine and several other Religious Emperors had and Exercised to whom even Popes as well as other Patriarchs yielded subjection as I can make appear out of the Epistles of Gregory the Great to Mauritius and the Ecclesiastical Historians in a hundred places And nothing is more plain than that Christ himself owned a Subjection as well as Commanded one to Cesar As for the Civil Magistrate and his Power I think nothing more Evident than the Duty all their Subjects whether Laicks or Ecclesiasticks owe them and that they have Prescription the Law of God Nature Nations and those of their own on their side for the Defence of their Titles to their Crowns and Scepters and that the Church and Faith is and ought to be their Particular Care as well as it is their Interest the quiet of the State ever depending in a great Measure upon the Peace of the Church and that they have a Coercive Power by virtue of which they may compel men to Obedience to the Laws both Civil and Ecclesiastical which in conformity to the Law of God are to promote the Peace Happiness Unity and Prosperity of their People Nor was this Doctrine ever deni'd till the Papacy growing great and the Empire declining began to think of a Temporal as well as a Spiritual Monarchy and to Unite St. Paul's Sword to St. Peter's Keys And till the Presbyterians reviving the Heresy of Aerius and his levelling Principle began to indeavour to set up their Spiritual Democracy in the Church in order to their Erecting it also in the State as the sad Probatum which they writ to their late deadly of the Solemn League and Covenant might convince us without the dangerous necessity of a second Experiment Ictus Piscator sapit The burnt Child dreads the fire and we have a great deal more reason to do so than to kindle it again and run our fingers into the Flame to try whether it will burn as hot now as formerly it did CHAP. XVII The CONCLVSION TO draw to a Conclusion I think it is evident from all that any person can in reason desire to give him Satisfaction That the Powers and Government in this Church and Nation are Lawful and of Gods appointment That Vnity in Faith and Obedience to their Government are the only Expedients to secure unto us Peace and Religion and that if these be our Desires the other are our Interest and ought to be our diligent indeavours and our constant Practice It is this Unity this Obedience that must make us Happy at home and Terrible abroad which are the only Ways to procure and Establish a lasting Peace both in our Souls in our State in our Church and with our Foreign Neighbours who may be obliged more by our formidable Vnity than by our feeble Arms or other Alliances I would gladly know therefore of Dissenters who and our sins are the great Obstructors of our Happiness Are you certain that the Government of Bishops is Unlawful and Antichristian Can you prove that any of the Commands of the Church or State are Unlawful contrary to plain Scripture and Publique Interpretation If you can you may pretend Conscience for your Disobedience but if you cannot and I am assured it is impossible how do you think you shall escape the dreadful and Revenging Power of the Judg of all men when he shall come in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on those that know not God and obey not his Gospel Flatter not your selves with the vain Opinion of your Sanctity Many shall say Lord have not we Prophesied in thy Name to whom he will answer Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity for I know you not and well he may for he says Positively He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and him that sent me is not this Disobeying the Gospel The Holy Ghost says he has made Bishops you say they are Antichristian he sends them to Instruct you in the way of Righteousness and to Watch for your Souls you Watch for their Ruine their Lives Honors and Estates he commands you to Esteem them highly you despise them contemn and Vilifie them He commands you to Obey you not only refuse but teach that to Obey is Damnable He planted them among you to plant the Faith you vow and swear to Extirpate Root and Branch Go on and Prosper said the False Zedechiah with his Horns of Iron but Ahab fell Be not deceived you may Mock the Messengers of God but God is not to be Mocked if you sow the Wind your shall reap the Whirlwind the terrible Tempest of his Wrath and Indignation They that lay Snares for the Innocent shall be Ensnared in the Works of their own hands You believe you know God but in Works you deny him for as Saint John saith of himself and his fellow Apostles and of their successors as all lawful Bishops are and will be to the end of the World 1 Joh. 4.6 We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth us not Hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error The Holy Church of God in all Ages for God has a Church in all Ages according to his Promise acknowledg this to be the sense and Meaning of the Scripture which I have shewn how then will you avoid this guilt with which St. John charges you this spirit of Error which he assures us is to be known by this Character of not hearing those whom God hath sent ARE you certain that you are in the Right and that all the Saints and Martyrs Bishops and Confessors who believed thus lived and dyed in Antichristian Error Ignorance and Superstition strangers to these