venome therefrom whereby they burst asunder so likewise doe all such persons who haue not their hearts established with true sauing grace but with sundry meates that is to say with sundry strange and different opinions I call them strange because they were neuer heard of in all the Scriptures as hereafter shall appeare running from one forme of religion vnto another vntill at last they come to sucke and feed vpon that poysonable heresie of the Familists who are not worthy to haue so much as the name or title of religion giuen vnto them it being not onely the last straine or faction they commonly run into but also destroying and damnable whereby the word of God is by them blasphemed and the way of life and truth euill spoken of to the great dishonour of the great and mightie Ichouah who will one day breake and teare them in peeces as with a rod of iron when none shall be able to deliuer them as a iust recompence of reward for all such as take pleasure therein So then beloued brethren friends or kindred of what sex or condition soeuer whether yong or old rich or poore be exhorted and forewarned hereby not giuing the least heed vnto any lying spirits vnder what pretence soeuer they haue may can or will present themselues vnto you but on the contrary labour by the grace and power you haue or shall receiue of the Lord to resist and auoid them euen as our Lord and Master did that archspirit and enemie of all mankind knowing that if the least way be giuen you will be in danger to be inthralled and insnared by their deceiuings And although some of them be more defectiue and more dangerous to infect the soules of men then others be as most certaine there are for there are degrees as well in difference of spirits as of nature and naturall parts yet I say they which may conceiue haue most soundnesse in their opinion it will be found vpon due and iust triall not to be that which they would seeme both vnto themselues and others to be which hereafter will appeare Of these things my beloued I can in some measure best aduertise you being through want of the true sauing knowledge and vnderstanding of God and his truth caught and intangled by some of them wandring vp and downe amongst the drie hils and mountaines conceiuing comfort when alas I was far from it and the farther I wandred vp and downe in that Egyptian darknesse the more intricate labyrinth of error and darknesse my soule was plunged into like vnto a blind man who hauing not his perfect sight goes on in darknesse vntill at last he falls into a pit of destruction for want of a guide to conduct and leade him and especially when I walked with the Anabaptists which way and practise of theirs shall euidently appeare to euery honest true and sanctified heart not onely to ouerturne and race the foundation of all Christian religion but also in as much as in them lieth to destroy the faith of Iesus Christ all which time though strangely deluded yet was I kept by the power and prouidence of God from being seduced and led into that destroying and irrecouerable way of death before mentioned namely the Familists though very nigh vnto it hauing one foote entred therein whiles I walked with the people aforesaid vntill at last the Lord in his appointed time was pleased to giue me a true sight of the misery wherein I was plunged one meanes whereof being the rod of correction which God had laid vpon me it draue me the more seriously to examine things and to consider with my selfe whether the cause for which I suffered would any whit auaile me vnto saluation or whether it would minister comfort vnto me in that great and teerible day of the Lord. So vpon a more serious suruay of those positions I then maintained I found them all too light yea so light as they were not able to stand against those truths which the holy Scriptures teach and maintaine whereupon immediatly I reiected my former receiued opinions as erronious and wicked so that I may say and that truly with that holy man Dauid It was good for me that I was corrected and chastised for till then I went astray Yet notwithstanding though I was cleane escaped therefrom within a short time after I was so far from hauing or enioying true peace and comfort that in stead thereof my poore distressed soule was accompanied with nothing but strange feares terrors and guiltinesse of conscience crying out against me for nothing but vengeance the misery whereof was such as caused me to lament the time wherein I was borne not regarding wife children or any friends whatsoeuer that came to visit me The misery wherein I was did depriue me of being sensible of the least ioy either in heauen or on earth being altogether benummed therewith compassed and set about with many strange and fearfull apparitions of temptations the primary and first cause thereof was that originall guilt which I drew from the loines of my first parents being the very seed and spawne of all my actuall transgressions and so being confounded vtterly lost yea oft times in despaire fearing there was mo mercie with God for me my sins being so heauy a burden vpon my soule then euen then when I was in greatest despaire God by his Spirit was pleased to worke in me a contrite and broken heart whereby it was turned from being a stubburne and stonie by dissoluing 〈◊〉 into a heart of flesh as soft as water and therein through 〈◊〉 infinite loue and goodnesse did by a more speciall work 〈◊〉 his Spirit write his euerlasting couenant of loue and mercy â—â—ich it so much sued sought and longed for with full assurâ—â—â—â— of the remission of all my sins whereby I stand sealed 〈◊〉 the day of my redemption is accomplished in the second resurrection that as certaine as my Redâ—emer liueth and cannot die so certaine I am that one day I shall enioy that glorious inheritance purchased through the merits of Iesus Christ which happie and blessed estate my soule could not enioy whiles it stucke fast in the quick sands of Anabaptistry being euen welnigh smothered and ouerwhelmed in error and darknesse vntill the Lord was pleased to open the eyes of my vnderstanding by hearing the word and doctrine of truth which is maintained by and in the Church of England as namely the doctrine of repentance free iustification by faith Gods eternall predestination and election from the foundation of the world that no man hath free will or power to obtaine his owne saluation and that originall sin to be in all the posteritie of Adam euer since we fell from that happie blessed estate which once we had in him with many other excellent truths all which is such a certaine and sure foundation that whosoeuer can attaine to walke in the power thereof the gates of hell shall neuer ouercome nor destroy him yet
saying And the poore haue the Gospell preached vnto them or receiue the Gospell as some translations haue it for the word doth import such a preaching as doth imply a receiuing of it in the heart of him to whom it is so preached as also doth the words of Esay before mentioned And although all haue it preached vnto them in the former generall maner yet none haue it preached vnto them in this speciall peculiar sort but these poore repentant persons onely who alone are capable of the receit thereof by faith vnto Iustification this is that effect of the holy Ghost in the heart of man which the Scriptures call The baptisme of Iohn the baptisme of water the baptisme of repentance the birth of water the baptisme which Iohn preached the preparation of the Gospell of peace repentance which is the beginning of the Gospell of Iesus Christ the first principall of the doctrine of Christ the beginning and first part of regeneration as the Scripture declareth it the labour and trauell in the birth but not the full perfection of the new birth onely the soule of the sinner trauelleth readie to be deliuered this is the second effect of the holy Ghost but the first peculiar Then doth God in the third place reach forth his hand and taketh hold of this poore labouring soule and by another speciall effect and power of the holy Ghost doth deliuer him and bring him forth washeth him cleanseth him from his bloud wherein he lay polluted his sinnes which cried out so iustly against him and lay so heauy vpon him easeth him of all and writeth in his heart of flesh his contrite repentant heart his couenant of mercie and loue which it so much desired assuring it that he is now reconciled with him and that his sins are cleane forgiuen and forgotten neuer to be reckoned or remembred more and that he hath loued him and doth loue him in Iesus Christ and will neuer put him out of fauour so long as Christ remains in fauour This is the special administration of the word and that gift of the Spirit whereby Christ is formed in the heart of the poore repentant sinner through faith by which he is iustified from all his sinnes and his heart sanctified and is the second part and finishing of the new birth and these are alwayes together in the act of iustification the word the Spirit and faith so that a sinner cannot be said to be actually iustified till the couenant of remission of sinnes which God hath made to the repentant sinner be applied by the Spirit to his broken heart and that he beleeueth in his heart that his sinnes be forgiuen and that God loueth him in Iesus Christ and this administation of the word gift of the Spirit and faith are expressed in Scripture and distinguished from all other administrations of the word gifts of the Spirit and kinds of faith whatsoeuer by seuerall distinct names As first this administration of the word is called in Scripture The glad tidings of peace and good things good tidings the binding vp of the broken heart libertie to the captiues The opening of the prison to them that are bound Comfort to the mourners The reuiuing of the spirits of the humble and contrite The couenant of the remission of sinnes The couenant of life and peace The kingdome of God Ease Rest to the soule The word of his grace The word preaching peace by Iesus Christ The word of reconciliation c. And it is so called in regard of the great and speciall benefit it bringeth doth administer vnto the soule of the repētant sinner by the applicatiō of the Spirit And for that it is directed of God and appointed to be preached to such and to no 〈◊〉 For though the Gospell be preached to all in a generall consideration as before is shewed yet as it is here intended it belongeth to none nor is to be preached to any but the repentant only And repentance though it be a part of the Gospel as it is sometimes in a generall maner proposed yea the beginning and first principle thereof and a peculiar gift of the Spirit as before also is noted yet as it is intended in these seuerall Scriptures repentance is no part but onely the preparation thereunto or the making ready the heart of a sinner for the same in which consideration Iohn the Baptist and our Sauiour both preached saying Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand where they make repentance to be one thing and the kingdome of God the glad tidings of the Gospel another require repentance in the first place as a thing necessary to be effected in them before they could receiue by faith the glad tidings of the Gospell the kingdome of God which was at hand to follow after and to be preached vnto them thereupon Which order was also obserued by the Prophets before as Dauid To day saith he if you will heare his voice harden not your hearts c. lest ye enter not into his rest In which words he declareth plainly to the people that if they would beleeue the promise of entrance into rest and so by faith enter thereinto they should vnharden their hearts that is to say repent otherwise there was no possibilitie of beleeuing of entrance And secondly as the speciall administration of the word which is so peculiar to the repentant is distinguished from all other common administrations so is the Spirit or rather the effect of the Spirit by which this glad tidings of peace is applied vnto and written in the heart of the repentant set forth and distinguished also in Scripture from other gifts of the Spirit by peculiar and distinct names as The baptisme of the holy Ghost The birth of the Spirit The renewing of the holy Ghost The Spirit of Christ The Spirit of the Sonne which crieth Abba Father the Spirit of adoption the Spirit of life the Spirit of truth the Comforter the anointing of the holy Ghost and such like And it is so called in regard of the speciall effects it worketh in the hearts of the repentant beyond those that are common to others as faith righteousnesse peace ioy in the holy Ghost and other vnspeakable comforts and treasures of life And thirdly as the word and Spirit so the faith which the Spirit causeth in the heart of the repentant by the application of the same word of God and the testification of his loue vnto it is also exprest and distinguished from all other kinds of faith by speciall distinct names as The faith of Gods elect The faith of Christ The faith of Iesus Christ The effectuall faith The faith of the Sonne of God The faith of the Saints Their most holy faith Their precious faith The faith which iustifieth The faith which sanctifieth the heart The faith of Abraham
beleeue and acknowledge him and submit themselues to be informed by his word though they had not yet either true repentance or iustifying faith For they knew that such a beliefe and profession as made men meet for outward baptisme might be where iustifying faith was not and that both that beliefe profession and baptisme did but make a Christian outwardly as the outward profession and circumcision of the Iewes did but make a Iew outwardly and no better did they iudge or conclude of any but when they saw better cause Now concerning the baptizing of children which they say is no baptisme at all but do call it the marke of the Beast we affirme that the children of all such beleeuers as may themselues be baptized may also be baptized and that it is not nor can be the marke of the Beast spoken of but is true outward baptisme First to auoid many of their vaine and idle obiections and that we may come the more cleerer to the point let vs remember that it is sufficiently proued already that all haue sinned in Adam and that death is passed on all for that all haue sinned in him being polluted from their very conceptions and that therefore there is a necessitie of a new birth from aboue of water and of the Spirit as wel to the yongest man of dayes or houres as to the eldest man of yeares So that whosoeuer is borne of the flesh he must be borne again from aboue of the Spirit either sooner or later if he be saued and that although repentance and faith be the parts of this new birth and that repentance hath these parts whereby it is exprest in men of yeares sorrow for sinne confession of sinne and desire of pardon as we haue before defined and that iustifying faith which is the other part of this new birth be an assurance or full perswasion wrought in the repentant heart by the Spirit of the forgiuenesse of his sinnes and reconciliation with God in Iesus Christ as we haue also defined it I say in men of yeares who also do confesse with the mouth as it is written With the heart man beleeueth vnto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made vnto saluation yet neuerthelesse the true nature of both these parts of the new birth may be in another maner defined and still remaine the same in substance as the first part is called in Scripture A heart of flesh an humble and contrite heart a broken heart and Saint Paul calleth it the fleshly tables of the heart in which regard it is called the baptisme of water and the birth of water which we define thus namely that it is a speciall effect or working of the holy Ghost whereby the heart which is naturally hard and stubburne euen from the birth is made soft and tender as water or as flesh is in comparison of a stone that so it may receiue the impression of the grace and loue of God The second part which is called the baptisme of the holy Ghost and the birth of the Spirit we define to be a speciall gift of the Spirit also but more excellent which writeth and sealeth in the soft and tender heart of flesh grace and peace from God in Christ and filleth it with heauenly comfort and ioy like vnto that which is said of Iohn being in his mothers womb when the voice of the salutation of Mary sounded in the eares of Elizabeth The babe leaped in her womb for ioy which doubtlesse was caused by the Spirit of Christ in the soule of the child Now in this sort children are capable of both the parts and so of the whole new birth which in them is no other in nature but the very same which is in men of yeares though it be not outwardly so exprest as we may perceiue by the words of Paul to the faithfull of the Church of Corinth Forasmuch saith he as ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministred by vs written not with inke but with the Spirit of the liuing God not in tables of stone but in the fleshly tables of the heart For as the law of death was written in tables of stone and all the hard and stonie hearts of the whole posteritie of Adam not onely might but also did and doe receiue euen in their very conceptions a deepe impression thereof so on the contrary the law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus euer was is and is to be written in hearts of flesh soft and tender hearts and in no other And therefore it was that God did promise to take away from his elect the hard and stonie heart and to giue them a heart of flesh an humble and broken heart because his pleasure and promise is to dwell with such to reuiue and comfort them and no other And to speake plainly howsoeuer perhaps some doe otherwise conceiue it is not our act of beleeuing that doth iustifie vs but it is the free gift of grace sealed in our hearts by the Spirit of Christ whereby God iustifieth vs which grace and Spirit is the cause of our act of beleeuing or faith by which we are so often said in Scripture to be iustified where the effect is named for the cause by reason it is thereby made apparent vnto vs as also in another sense we are said to be iustified by works because works do demonstrate and make manifest our faith to others as it is said of the primitiue Church of Rome that their faith had shined throughout the world meaning by works which are the effects of faith So that Saint Paul calleth the faithfull the Epistle of Christ not so much for their act of beleeuing as in respect of the grace of God which was written in their hearts by the Spirit of Christ by which they did now beleeue and crie Abba Father as it is written He hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts which crieth Abba Father And for this cause the grace of the Gospell is called The law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus These things being so what should now let that children may not be baptized Are they capable as we see of regeneration and are they not capable of the signe thereof May their hearts be sanctified by the Spirit of Christ and may not the filth of their flesh be washed off with water for the baptisme of water is bnt the doing away of the filth of the flesh as Saint Peter speaketh euen as outward circumcision was but the cutting off the fore-skin of the flesh representing the cutting off the sinnes of the flesh the circumcision of the heart as also baptisme doth For the circumcision which was the cutting off part of the fore-skin of the flesh and that baptisme or washing away the filth of the flesh we doe not say that the one was a type of the other but were both types of one truth namely the baptisme or purification of
the heart by faith So then if they both aimed at one thing or end as shall appeare they did then it will euidently appeare also that by vertue of what precept the one was practised by vertue of the same precept the other is to be performed and practised It is also said that whosoeuer did omit the practise which that precept required was to be cut off from among the people that is to say that such a person ought not to be acknowledged as one in the outward estate of the Church then vnder the law so proportionably it will follow that what person soeuer yong or old that is not baptized he is also to be cut off that is not to be accounted or numbred in the outward estate of Christians now vnder the Gospell May such beleeuers as are not sanctified in heart be baptized as before is proued and may not the children of beleeuers be baptized Why are the children of beleeuers said to be holy the children of vnbeleeuers throwout the whole Scriptures are neuer said to be holy doubtlesse it is because they are in heart holy or else because they being the children of the faithfull haue some promise as touching the inheritance of life belonging to them as the children of the faithfull had formerly and so haue right to enter into the Congregation where the wayes of life are taught as they then by circumcision so these now by baptisme that they may be informed in the wayes of the Lord else would there be no difference betweene the children of the faithfull and the children of infidels So that to this end is the vnbeleeuing husband said to be sanctified to the beleeuing wife and beleeuing wife to the vnbeleeuing husband because otherwise if the vnbeleeuer in this regard were not sanctified to the beleeuer then were their children vncleane that is to say as the children of infidels that haue no promise belonging to them but rather a curse and therefore are vncleane and may not enter It is therefore meete seeing God hath put difference betweene the children of the faithfull and the children of infidels that they should be distinguished from them by some outward signe concerning the same And what can they haue lesse then baptisme which can giue to no man any more then the outward name of a Christian as circumcision did the outward name of a Iew. It doth neither confer nor confirme grace to the heart of any no more then circumcision did It proueth that a man is a Christian outwardly and it teacheth that he should be so inwardly and so did circumcision It proue a man to be a Iew outwardly and it taught that he should be a Iew inwardly yea a Christian inwardly to speake fully as the truth is for euery true inward Iew was a true inward Christian And to be circumcised in heart was to be baptized or purified in heart by faith through the Spirit as also to be baptized in heart by faith through the Spirit is to be circumcised in heart for so doth Saint Paul in plaine words affirme writing to those Christians whose hearts were sanctified by faith saying And ye are compleate in him which is the head of all principalities and powers In whom also yee are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sinnes of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ buried with him in baptisme wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him vp from the dead In which words I say he setteth downe expresly that the baptisme which saueth the baptisme whereby we put on Christ the baptisme whereby our hearts are purged and sanctified and the sinnes of our flesh done away whereby we are buried with Christ and doe rise with him euen that which is through the faith and operation of the Spirit is one and the same with the circumcision of the heart which he therefore calleth the circumcision made without hands the circumcision of Christ whereby also it appeareth clearely and beyond all contradiction that the circumcision or the cutting off the foreskin of the flesh was a signe and true representation of the doing away of their sinnes of the clensing of the heart by faith as now the doing away of the filth of the flesh with the baptisme of water is for which vse and end it was also giuen to Abraham at the first as this Apostle also declareth in an other place saying And he receiued the signe of circumcision a seale of the righteousnes of the faith which he had being vncircumcised that he might be the Father of all them that beleeued though they be not circumcised that righteousnes might be imputed to them also Where he I say fully declareth that the circumcision of the flesh was giuen not to that end and purpose as the carnall corrupt Iews imagined to teach righteousnes to be by the Law which was to make the promise voide which is to be attained onely by faith and not by workes but is taught and directed to the righteousnes which is by faith through the promise in the circumcision of the heart which Abraham had and which all their seed of whom God made him the Father were to haue and that the circumcision of the flesh was a signe of and did teach the circumcision of the heart if any yet question it the same Apostles words a little before proueth it where he saith For he is not a Iew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Iew which is one within and the circumcision is of the heart in the Spirit not in letter whose praise is not of men but of God Where we see that there was a Iew outwardly and a Iew inwardly a circumcision outward in the flesh and a circumcision inward of the heart in the spirit The outward had but the name and did onely signifie and teach what should be inwardly in the heart and that in the heart was the thing it selfe All these things being now thus cleere we reason thus That if children might once receiue the signe of circumcision of the heart after the old forme of the Law then may they now after the new forme of the Gospell But they might once after the old forme of the Law Therefore also now after the new forme of the Gospell That they might once after the old forme is past all question And that they may now after the new forme we proue thus That which was once for good ends in the time of the Law appointed and is not by the Gospell disanulled it is lawfull still But it was appointed for good ends that children should receiue the signe of the circumcision of the heart and it is not by the Gospell any way disanulled Therefore it is lawfull now still But these men obiect and say that there is no plaine commandement nor example in the new testament
A DISCOVERY OF THE ERRORS OF THE ENGLISH ANABAPTISTS As also an Admonition to all such as are led by the like spirit of error Wherein is set downe all their seuerall and maine points of error which they hold With a full answer to euery one of them seuerally wherein the truth is manifested By Edmond lessop who sometime walked in the said errors with them PSAL. 40. 1. I waited patiently vpon the Lord and he inclined vnto me and heard my crie He brought me also out of the horrible pit and mirie clay and hath set my feete upon the rocke and ordereth my goings And he hath put in my mouth a new song of praise vnto our God many shall see it and feare and trust in the Lord. Therefore haue I not hid thy righteousnes within my heart but haue declared thy truth and thy saluation and haue not concealed thy mercie and thy truth from the great congregation ver 10. LONDON Printed by W. Iones for Robert Bird and are to be sold at his shop in Cheapside at the signe of the Bible 1623. Their principall points which are handled in this Booke viz. 1 That God did predestinate all men to be saued vpon condition that they repent and beleeuè the Gospell 2 That God did not elect before all time to grace and life any particular persons but in time he doth elect qualities as faith and obedience and then finding these qualities in men he doth elect their persons for the qualities sake 3 That all men haue free will in themselues as well to repent of their sinnes to beleeue the Gospell and obtaine saluation as they haue to remaine in hardnesse of heart and vnbeliefe and in the estate of damnation 4 That the stedfastnesse of mans iustification and saluation doth depend vpon his owne will in continuing in the act of beleeuing and works of righteousnesse and that such as haue faith in Christ Iesus regenerate persons hauing their names written in the book of life may fall away from all may become vnregenerate and haue their names rased out of the booke of life againe and perish and that God doth alter and change his purpose and promise and come to hate and reiect such as he hath formerly loued and iustified 5 That there is no Originall sinne but that all children of all maner of people in the world as well heathens Infidels Idolaters worshippers of Diuels all kind of blasphemers fornicators vncleane persons whatsoeuer as of the faithfull are free from all pollution of sinne both in the conception and birth and dying before they commit actuall sinnes are saued 6 That none ought to be baptized but such men and women of yeares onely as haue attained to true repentance and iustifying faith being both in the account of the Church and in the sight of God regenerate persons and that the baptisme of children vsed is no baptisme at all but is the marke of the Beast spoken of in Reuelat. 13. 7 That the Church of England is a false and Antichristian Church and ought to be separated from As also a touch of the errors of the Familists 8 And that a King or Magistrate cannot be a true Christian except he giue ouer his kingly office or Magistracie AN ADVERTISEMENT to the Christian Reader WHereas Beloued there hath risen and sprung vp from amongst vs many dangerous and erronious opinions in these our last dayes about the subiect of Religion let it not therefore seeme strange vnto you being the Spirit of God did not onely foresee but also foretold of the same long before they did appeare euery one being diuided into sundry and seuerall factions all pretending to worship the true and euerliuing God in spirit and in truth speaking peace vnto themselues when as the most of them do yet lie wallowing in the puddle of iniquity and cradle of securitie being not purged in heart all which doe rise two sundry wayes being branches of one stocke deriued from one principall head namely the spirit of error The first is in that they contemne or so little or lightly esteeme that meanes which by Gods prouidence is affoorded vnto vs vnder our peaceable dread Soueraigne Lord the King Secondly they being selfe conceited or as Saint Paul speakes aduancing themselues in those things they neuer saw rashly puft vp with carnall mindes supposing they know some thing more then others vnderualuing all and ouerualuing themselues the conceit whereof causeth them to fall to Schisme and seperate from all others when as indeed and in truth they being examined by the word and Spirit of God it will appeare to the godly wise that as yet most of them know nothing aright or as they ought to know if euer they expect the saluation of their soules For if they were but possessed with the true knowledge an liue of God in Christ and so were of a sound mind at Saint Paul exhorts all to be it would rather cause humiliation then exaltation which would truly teach euery one how to dâ—meane carry himselfe about so weighty a subiect The neglect hereof doth bring them into a labyrinth of errors following after a forme of godlinesse through the wisdome and knowledge of the braine onely without the power thereof contenting themselues in the out side of religion blessing themselues in what they can doe and measuring the loue of God to themselues by their owne doings as of old their predecessors the Scribes and Pharises did following shadows insteed of substances dreaming of a kind of felicitie in this forme and in that seeking peace and rest to their soules where it is not to be found which condition of theirs I cannot but condole desiring with the Prophet That my head were water and mine eyes a fountaine or well of teares that I might weepe day and night for their misery And in speciall for them who are neere and deere vnto me in the bonds of nature For poore soules they couer their spirituall misery with Adams fig tree leaues or with the spiders web striuing for an outward separation in the flesh when alas it is much to be feared that with many of them there is litle or no care at all for a separation of the soule from sin challenging and assuming vnto themselues soundnes of religion and assurance of Gods loue euer measuring themselues by themselues and not by that eternall wisdome which is Iustified of her children being blinded through selfe-loue not willing to iudge themselues and so become low in their owne eyes that God might be all in all but contrariwise iudging and condemning all but themselues after this maner doe they follow the vision of their owne hearts deceiuing and being deceiued running and flitting from one opinion vnto another being vnstable in all their wayes Which practise of theirs may well be compared vnto certaine flies feeding on the backe of a gald horse which is euer flitting or remouing from one place to another vntill at last they come to sucke so much
in will or power of nature to act any thing either inward or outward as touching the law or as concerning the Gospell whereby to recouer our selues againe or euer to obtaine that which we haue lost So that notwithstanding the Gospell be preached to all and that euery one is inuited to the feast thereof and that there is not any other way or meanes whereby we may possibly recouer and liue yet the most part of the world do vtterly refuse to come so much as to the outward acceptation thereof and those that doe come who being enlightned by the holy Ghost do assent vnto the truth of the Gospell and so come in vnto the outward profession thereof yet for all this such is the euill heart of man if God should not vouchsafe according to his eternall purpose and promise to call in a more speciall maner them whom he foreknew and had predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Sonne to call them I say by a more speciall gift and power of the holy Ghost first to repentance in turning their hearts from all the delight and pleasure they had taken in sinne and in the vanities of the flesh and this world into a wonderfull great sorrow of heart mourning and weeping for the same causing them also with many teares to lament the time that euer they tooke pleasure therein and falling downe at the feete of God with humble hearts confesse vnto him those their sins and follies desiring vnspeakably restlesly mercie and forgiuenesse at his hands loue and reconciliation with him thus taking first away their hard and stony hearts and giuing them hearts of flesh soft and tender hearts and then in the second place to write not with inke and pen but with the speciall finger of his holy Spirit not in tables of stone but in these the fleshly tables of their hearts these their repentant hearts his couenant of mercie and loue assuring them that their sinnes be forgiuen and that he is reconciled with them and they with him in Iesus Christ whom now they haue put on by faith If God should not haue vouchsafed I say thus to call them whom he had predestinated thus to iustifie them and cloathe them but that he is faithfull and cannot lie keeping his couenant for euer as touching that seed which he did promise to call in Isaac they would and should haue perished with the rest notwithstanding any free will or power they haue in nature more then they to attaine to these things But peraduenture some impudent person will obiect that if God doth call and sanctifie some in such a speciall maner by more speciall gifts of the Spirit then he doth affoord to others then his not affoording the same vnto them is the cause of their miserie To answer them put the case that there were two yong men that hauing receiued at their parents hands their portions haue through riot and leudnesse spent all and brought themselues into so great pouertie and debt as that they haue no way or meanes whereby possibly they can recouer and raise themselues againe but are both like to liue in miserie to their dying dayes tell me haue they not been themselues the authors of this their owne ruine and decay and is not this misery iust vpon I suppose as little grace as thou hast thou wilt answer Yea. But admit there were a man of great substance who should out of his owne bountie freely and of his owne accord deliuer one of these yong men out of his miserie pay his debts and restore him to his former estate againe Is this rich man by his free bountie to the one become now the cause of the others misery doest thou dare to affirme it Must thine eye needs now be euil because he is bountiful Is it not lawful for him to bestow his owne where and on whom he pleaseth Or doest thou meane that his not doing the like for the other is the cause of his continuall miserie To answer thee did hee not bring himselfe into it and was it not of it selfe continuall and iust by thine owne confession How then may the thing that neuer was done be the cause of that which is in being Can the effect be before the cause I haue heard that the cause is before the effect but I neuer heard that the effect is or can be before the cause But if I should admit of thine opinion that all men haue free will in themselues to chuse as they haue to refuse grace offered to see what the issue thereof will be let me aske thee what is the reason then that but some men do chuse grace is it because they haue a better and more inclinable will in them by nature then their fellowes If there be no speciall gift of grace to moue them it must be some speciall gift or qualitie of nature For such a speciall differing effect must haue a speciall differing cause Or wilt thou say it is by the operation or secret motion of some planet as some heathenishly conceiue if so yet it is in some sort naturall The effects we speake of are the baptisme of repentance the purification of faith called in Scripture the baptisme or birth of water and of the holy Ghost which are the parts of our regeneration now can any gifts or qualities of nature or operations of planets produce or cause such effects as these Nay doublesse for causes are always greater then effects and greater things then these are not to be found in the natures of men or planets but in God who by the speciall power and vertue of his holy Spirit doth cause these great effects doth worke and produce this new and heauenly birth and therefore the persons thus qualified are said in Scripture to be borne of God 1. Ioh. 3. 9. If thou saist that God put this difference in the will of man by creation then thou makest God the author and cause of sinne which thou wouldest seeme to auoid by excluding his speciall gifts of the Spirit fearing as if it led thee to it whereas it is but thy grosse apprehension that makes thee feare and by this meanes thou runnest thy selfe out of breath thou knowest not whither So then to conclude this point with Saint Pauls words It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie Their fourth point is That the stedfastnesse of mans iustification and saluation doth depend vpon his owne will in continuing in the act of beleeuing and works of righteousnesse and that such as haue faith in Christ Iesus regenerate persons hauing their names written in the book of life may fall away from all may become vnregenerate and haue their names rased out of the booke of life againe and perish and that God doth alter and change his purpose and promise and come to
but him alone Therefore in sure consideration of his grace and loue being confounded in themselues and ashamed as touching their owne will and workes and giuing all praise and honour vnto his holy name they do beseech him though they be not worthy the least of his mercies that he would be pleased notwithstanding to extend his grace and loue vnto them and poure forth his holy Spirit the ruler and gouernour of his kingdome here on earth into their hearts to comfort sanctifie and guide them in his truh that being guided and sanctified thereby they may euermore doe his will obey his commandements and walke before him here on earth euen as his holy Angells and seruants doe in heauen And acknowledging his goodnes towards them his prouidence and care in feeding and cloathing them and giuing them all other things which the necessities of this their present life requires do request him also that he would dayly supply and continue the same with his continuall blessing thereon receiuing them alwayes with thanksgiuing knowing that they are all sanctified by his word and prayer And calling to mind their manifold sinnes and trespasses which they in their flesh and bodies of death doe dayly commit against him poure out their soules in teares before him bewailing their wretchednes and misserie herein beseeching him for his Son Iesus Christ his sake through whom they haue now great confidence of his grace that he would not lay their sinnes to their charge but forgiue them hauing also a true testimonie in their consciences which they likewise cleere before him that they are at peace with all men and doe forgiue euen their enemies and so withall doe earnestly intreate him that he would vouchsafe them his gracious and Fatherly perfection to sustaine and keep them that no temptation may at any time preuaile against them to leade or any way to induce them to commit euill in his sight but that they may by the power of his grace and holy Spirit withstand the same And so reposing their trust and whole affiance in him they rest in peace knowing also and acknowledging that the kingdome and the power and the glory is his for euer and euer Amen Thus these iust and sanctified seruants of God goe one from strength to strength as the Prophet speaketh and from faith to faith neuer giuing ouer nor turning backe nor falling away from the liuing God like those that haue an euill heart and vnfaithfull but still step forward drawing neerer and neerer vnto God with a true and good heart in the full assurance of faith vntill they come to see his face in the promised Ierusalem For the iust doe liue by faith as it is written For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Now the iust shall liue by faith But if any draw backe my Soule shall haue no pleasure in them But saith the Apostle we are not of them that draw backe to perdition but of them that follow faith vnto the sauing of the Soule In these words he putteth a plaine difference doth distinguish between them whose hearts being euill and vnfaithfull do turne backe to perdition and them whose hearts are true and iust and who hauing the full assurance of faith doe perseuere and continue vnto the saluation of their soules As if he should haue said There be some indeed whose hearts were neuer sanctified by the faith of Gods elect the faith of Abraham But onely by a generall kind of faith their outward parts their house was a little Superficiallie swept which fall backe to destruction but we meaning himselfe and such sanctified soules with him as himselfe was we are not of that sort but of another euen of them which doe beleeue after another maner who haue the faith of Abraham the faith of Gods elect the effectuall faith the faith of Christ the faith that worketh by loue the faith which maketh a sinner iust the faith by which the iust doe liue and are saued Which very thing Saint Iohn also cleereth speaking of the Antichrists that were gone out from them They went out from vs saith he but they were not of vs If they had bin of vs they would no doubt haue continued with vs But they went out from vs that it might be made manifest that they were not all of vs. In which words he proueth planly that if they had euer beene of the faithfull sort namely the sanctified in heart whereof Iohn was one they had neuer fallen back but had without all doubt continued but by this their falling off it was made manifest which was not so cleere before that they were neuer of them what outward shewes soeuer they made The very same againe is manifest concerning Iudas for after he had plaid his treacherous part that he was discouered and burst in peeces the Spirit of God taking notice of his former pretended charitie to the poore which he vttered in these words Why was not this oyntment sold for three hundred pence and giuen to the poore And of this euill couetuous and theuish heart at the same time he saith This he spake not that he cared for the poore but because he was a theefe and had the bag and bare what was put therein So that Iudas was neuer any of the faithfull his heart was neuer vpright from the beginning he belieued not in his heart vnto Iustification he had not the faith of the Saints the faith that worketh by loue the faith of Christ as Christ himselfe testifieth against him saying But there are some of you which belieueth not and Iudas was one of them and the speciall man aimed at as Saint Iohn in the next wordes noteth saying For Iesus knew from the beginning who they were that belieued not and who should betray him And Iesus said vnto them therefore said I vnto you that no man can come vnto me except it be giuen him of my Father Meaning by comming vnto him belieuing in him vnto iustification as he said Come vnto me all ye that are weary and heauy laden c. And againe All that the Father giueth me commeth to me and him that commeth to me I will in no wise cast out Therefore the text saith From that time many of his Disciples went backe and walked no more with him And Iudas though he taried after them yet a while it was but to make vp the full measure of his sinnes For his heart was then as euill if not worse then theirs as Christ testifieth to his face in the presence and hearing of the other Apostles saying Haue I not chosen you twelue and one of you is a Diuell This he spake of Iudas and though he be here said among the rest to be chosen it is to be vnderstood but of his outward office and in respect of the common guifts of the Spirit which he had receiued And although this was the case
worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God shewing himselfe that he is God According as the Prophet had spoken of him long before prophesying also of his destruction saying How art thou falne from heauen O Lucifer sonne of the morning how art thou cut downe to the ground thou that didst weaken the nations and saidst in thine heart I will ascend into heauen I will exalt my throne aboue the starres of God I will sit also vpon the mount euen the holy mount of the congregation of God in the sides of the North I will ascend aboue the height of the clouds I will be like the most high So that the great Antichrist was to sit and doth sit euen in the Church in the Temple of God in the place where indeed he ought not to sit If then all these things be so as these Scriptures doe declare If it be not the outward calling ordination or succession in the offices and places of the true Elders and Ministers of God in the outward state of the Church of God that can either make them true faithfull Ministers of God such as come by the doore as Christ speaketh Or the Church of which they are ouerseers and ministers the true holy Church of Christ but that these Elders and Ministers may yet neuerthelesse proue false Prophets false teachers grieuous rauening wolues in sheepes cloathing Antichrists c. And the Churches be corrupted by them robd and deuoured both outwardly and inwardly and become euen heathenish and Antichristian And that these deceiuers shall rise in the Church of God and be such as haue had their outward ordination and succession from hand to hand as it were euen from the Apostles And that the great Antichrist himselfe shall sit in the holy place in the temple of God vpon the holy mount of the congregation of God aboue and besides the starres of God What reason haue we then to thinke I say this being so that the outward calling or ordination which the Elders and Ministers of the Church of England receiued at first from the Church of Rome should make either them or the Church false and Antichristian It was not the outward ordination or succession in the offices and place of the Elders that did corrupt any of them before mentioned Nay The Bishop of Rome himselfe might haue beene Bishop of Rome long enough to this day to the day of Christs comming in the cloudes of heauen and haue done his master Christ good seruice If he had kept the first faith If he had liued the first life If he had successed the Apostles and Elders in faith in doctrine in exhortation in patience in temperance in meekenesse in mortification in loue in good workes in feeding the flock of Christ and giuing them their meate in due season as he did succeed them in outward place he had then beene a Scribe well taught in the kingdome of God A faithfull Bishop an Elder worthy of double honour and happy had that flock beene of which he had beene an ouerseer and his master at his comming would haue said Blessed be this seruant But seeing he failed in all these things and did not succeed his Elders in this way and order of succession as all their true successors to this day haue euer done seeing his heart was euill and vnfaithfull ambitious couetous and loued pleasures and voluptuousnesse more then God and said in his heart My master will deferre his coming and therefore take vpon him to smite his fellowes to eate and drinke with the drunken his Lord will come in a day which he thinketh not on and in an houre that he is not aware of and will hew him in peeces and giue him his portion with the hypocrites and vnhappie is the flock that hath him for their shepherd The Church of Rome was once a glorious Church not in regard of any such pomp and princely state as she that now is sits in which poore virgin she was neuer acquainted with but in respect of the light and brightnesse of her faith as Saint Paul testifieth which by reason of the fruite it did effect and bring forth in her shined and made her face to shine throughout the world She was a sister and daughter of that woman which Iohn saw so wonderfully and heauenly deckt and adorned and which he describeth saying And there appeared a great wonder in heauen a woman clothed with the Sunne and the Moone vnder her feete and vpon her head a crowne of twelue starres that is to say she had put on Christ he dwelt in her heart by faith she was clothed with him his righteousnesse couered her nakednesse and all her defects and made her beautifull within and without she had the earth and all earthly glorie vnder her feete as transitorie and vaine she was mortified to sinne and to the pleasures thereof and her soules delight was with her Lord in heauen where he was ascended and yet remaineth and her crowne of state which she had on her head in those days was the Lambs twelue Apostles whose doctrine and example of walking were her guide and patterne and who as they had receiued of the Lamb the word of God so they left it with her to be her light and leader in the desart when her publique guides should faile her of which word of truth not so much the letter as the spirituall true intent thereof she and her children her true successors haue been the sustainers and pillars of to this day This was once of a truth the estate of the Church of Rome as also of other Churches elsewhere but alas it lasted but a while it fared with her as with the rest for by the bloody persecution of the great red Dragon her outward beautie was defaced she was dispersed and forced to flie with them into the wildernesse and then after a while when the storme of persecution was ouer and that a calme began to be settled so as she began to conceiue some hope of recouering her first estate heresies sprang vp and were maintained with great force on the one side and carnall securitie grew on the other and that iniquitie might be increased according as the Lord had foretold the loue of many waxed cold The mystery of iniquitie which began to worke in the Apostles times they being departed took now faster footing according to their words and stroue daily to perfection and at last he that letted was taken away and the man of sinne Antichrist was reuealed and set vp in the throne of the Dragon and the Dragons religion was by him and his so commanded and commixt with the external profession of the name and religion of Christ as that no man could partake of the better but he must partake of the worse For after that the Bishop of Rome had obtained at the Dragons hāds that his Church should be the Mother of all other Churches and that all must