ordines regni vel Senatum civitatis at si istud non succedat qui est status necessitatis potest per se immediate procedere dando illius regnum alteri Orthodoxo principi vel primo victori Orthodoxo illud assignando ut Stephanus Papa transtulit imperium à Graecis ad Germanos Innocentius quartus interdixit regni administrationem Regi Portugaliae fratrem ejus substituens c. So likewise Cardinal Bellarmine doth teach That though the Pope as Pope may not usually yet that as Supreme Spiritual Prince he may for the good of souls dispose of Kingdoms as he thinks good take them away from one and give them to another Non potest Papa ut Papa ordinarie c. tamen potest mutà re regna uni auferre atque alteri conferre tanquam summus Princeps Spiritualis si id necessarium sit ad animarum salutem For you must know That in the Church the Ecclesiastick and the Civil Power are as in Man the Spirit and the Flesh and that Kingdoms and Governments are not immediately of God but of Men whereas the Power of the Bishop of Rome comes immediately from God Bell. de Rom. Pont. l. 5. c. 6. Vt se habent in bomine spiritus caro sic se habent in Ecclesia potestas politica Ecclesiastica regna non sunt immediate à Deo instituta sed ab hominibus Pontificatus autem à Deo immediate est institutus And so The Pope hath power to dispose of all temporal things belonging to all Christians in general Pontifex Romanus in ordine ad bonum spirituale habet summam potestatem disponendi de temporalibus rebus omnium Christianorum And according to that unlimited Power in the Head the Body of the Clergy enjoys great Priviledges They are above or at least equal to King and Princes and therefore not bound to obey them neither by Divine nor Humane right Ibid. Respectu clericorum non sunt principes superiores potestates ac proinde non tenentur clerici principibus parere neque jure divino neque humano nisi quantum ad leges quasdam directivas i. e. non obligatione coactiva And so The Goods and Estates of Clergy-men as well Temporal as Ecclesiastick are and ought to be free from Taxes and all duties to Princes and they themselves ought not to be judged by any Civil Magistrate although they do not observe Civil Laws Bell. de Clericis L. ◠c. 28. Non possunt Clerici à judice saeculari judicari etiamsi leges civiles non servent Bona clericorum tam Ecclesiastica quam saecularia libera sunt ac merito esse debent à tributis principum saecularium G. Yes I see your Pope is a petty God upon Earth his Power is not to be controul'd and whatever he doth his Almightiness and Infallibility will bear him out and make the thing good and just though it seem never so much otherwise But sure in this he is none of Christs Vicar the meek and humble JESVS would not so much as divide the Inheritance betwixt two Brethren much less dispose of whole Kingdoms he paid tribute to Caesar and acknowledged his Authority to be from above and we read no where that ever he gave any such power to his Apostles or their Successors as the Pope pretends to He told them indeed that they should be brought and condemned before the Tribunals of Kings and Princes but did no where tell them that ever Kings and Princes should be brought before their Pontifical Chairs to be judged and punished by them We read but of one that ever pretended to have the power of disposing of the Kingdoms of the World he that said All these things will I give thee Mat. 4.9 And except the Head of your Church will acknowledge himself to be his Surrogate he had best shew us how he came by the same Power But this Doctrine is so contrary to the example and Religion of our Lord Jesus Christ that it will be its own antidote you your selves are ashamed to own it openly and when it is known it is confuted P. I see we shall never agree as to particulars as long as you believe to have the Scripture on your side you 'll never yield to the Authority of our Church which you don't think to be infallible But in general by your own Confession ours is the best and the safest Church for you yield that a man may be sav'd in it whereas we utterly deny the same priviledge to yours Stapl. contr 3. quaest 9. 10. the Communion of the Church of Rome being absolutely necessary to the Salvation of all men Romanae Ecclesiae Communio omnibus est ad salutem necessaria You also grant that the Bishop of Rome is St. Peters Successor which is a great point And I believe you won't deny but that there is Miracles wrought in our Church which are unanswerable Arguments of the truth of its Doctrine These three are substantial points and will abundantly outweigh all the petty Objections you can bring against some parts of our Religion Pray consider of them at your leisure G. To my thinking they require no great consideration and there is no such weight in them as you fancy though you make great use of such woodden Arguments to seduce the simple yet to those that have but an ordinary competency of knowledge they seem very insignificant The first is comon to you with our Fanaticks they all confine Salvation every one to his own Sect and you and they together take advantage of our charity in that we don't exclude you out of Heaven you believe that you only shall come in it But Mr. Novator don't you trust to our charitable Opinions we may be mistaken for we pretend to no infallibility There was two Barques putting out to Sea both of them bound for Jerusalem one was rotten leaky and much out of order but the Master of it was a bold Man and of an imposing Spirit he would perswade the people that it was St. Peters own Barque that it was impossible it should sink and that all as many as would not come into it should certainly be drown'd and never come to the Holy Land The other Barque was sound and strong and well fitted for the Voyage the Passengers therein would tell those in the leaky one of their great danger and exhort them to stop the holes and put things in better order though they did not despair but that some of them might swim to shore upon some pieces of the Barque Now do you think this mans confidence would hold his sinking Ship upon the Water or that the compassionates hopes and wishes of the others would make their own sink Certainly uncharitableness is a very unfit mark to know Christianity and the true Church by But let me tell you that we have no hopes of you as you are Papists Those Articles wherein you differ from us shall greatly
Mount being one of the Assembly made this remarkable discovery Th. Good Serm. to the Parl. 1645. p. 47. 48 That it is certain we are now in the last times of those ten Kingdoms of Europe of which the Holy Ghost hath prophecied Rev. 17.14 These shall make War with the Lamb c. And where you see saith he that Jesus Christ hath took footing in any of these Kingdoms by such a way of conquest reforming as in ours it hath the second time for greater security stand that Kingdom shall till you see Rome down And yet as mischief would have it the King being restor'd to his right their second Reformation was turn'd out of doors before Rome would down But here is a Seer come from Edinburgh who perchance will have better luck In a Sermon before the Parliament after having cited many Scriptures relating to the time of Christs coming and particularly that Hag. 2.8 The Glory of this latter House c. he infers There are very good grounds to make us think that this Temple is not far off Geo. Gill. 1644. p. 18. and that Christ is to make a new face of a Church in this Kingdom a fair and beautiful Temple for his Glory to dwell in and he is even now about the work So famous Mr. Bond in the same Auditory expounding the Image in the second of Daniel Joh. Bond 1644. p. 18. We are come saith he to the toes of those feet the German Eagle is stript of her plumes Papacy drops her Prelatical Feathers continually so that both Scripture Chronology and common sence do evince that the Image doth stand at best but on tip-toes and the time is at hand and I conceive is present in which it shall be thrown down and utterly abolished Oh the mans modesty that he did not cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What a pity it is that such quick-sighted Seers have never applied themselves to writing of Opticks I 'll bring but one more but have a care of it for 't is one that can bite and sting if Mr. Coleman be to be believ'd for he told the House of Commons There is a biting Prophecie T. Coleman 1645. p. 33. Joel hath said it chap. 3. v. 19. Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness c. Now saith he how to shelter them the Cavaliers from the sting thereof I know not Had not that man great skill in Prophecies that could tell that Egypt and Edom meant the Kings Party So much for that Now 't is to be considered that we call Scripture a Waxen Nose and so don't you Well! But what matters it for calling if you make it so de facto Shall we wrangle about names when we are agreed in the thing I dare lay my Nose against yours there was never a Waxen Nose so distorted and contorted as Scripture was by you I could produce so many proofs of it that I am sure you would be weary if not convinc'd before I had done but for your satisfaction here 's a few of them That place in Daniel In the days of those Kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed c. and that of St. Matthew I say unto thee Thou art Peter and upon c. These places were brought to prove that the Presbyterians should overcome all their Enemies in a Sermon called T. Palmer 1644. p. 9. The Saints Support in these sad times Let secret Enemies seek to prolong let open Enemies plot prepare and watch God will discover the one disappoint the other and destroy them all Dan. 2.44 Mat. 16.18 And pag. 19. Saints cheer up your hearts ply God with your prayers you shall prevail blessed be God your Enemies have been on the decaying losing hand a pretty while they have in Scotland that you know they have lost in England that you know and they shall lose and lose till they have lost all as much as I have said you shall find in the Revelations in the 17 Chapter you have a large description of the Whore and all her Glory and Chapter 18. and the second Verse there is her destruction Was not that as pat as could be to prove what he intended So Mr. Calamy in a Sermon before the House of Commons speaking of those that would take Arms against the Parliament rather than the Government and Worship they had lived under should be destroyed Edw. Cal. 1645. p. 4. tells them My Text confutes this The times of this ignorance God winked at but now commands all men every where to repent Act. 17.30 Former times were times of ignorance and times wherein mens Consciences were opprest but now the times are times of Reformation God hath given greater liberty and hath sent a greater light in the Kingdom and now God commands all men every where to repent that is as you see to destroy that Worship and Government they lived under And in the forementioned Sermon of William Beech pag. 9. the 136 Psalm is applied to those Encounters wherein they had worsted the Kings Forces O give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious and his mercy endureth for ever who remembred us at Knasby for his mercy endureth for ever who remembred us in Pembrock-shire for his mercy c. who remembred us at Leicester for his mercy c. who remembred us at Taunton for his mercy c. who remembred us at Bristol for his mercy c. but this by the way I could tell you also how you used Scripture to countenance your cruelty against the Loyal Party but you shall hear of it another time this is enough at present to shew how you have rack'd and abus'd it to make it countenance your wicked follies We call Scripture a Waxen Nose and you make it so I suppose out of kindness to us to make good what we say our Church interprets the Doctrinal part of Scripture and every one of you not only that but even the hardest Prophecies of it Pr. Well but as much Popes as you can make us we don't deny but that we are subject to Kings and Princes as not only your Pope but even your meanest Clergy doth we don't say that we can absolve Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance we don't pretend to have the right of disposing of the Good of all Christians and even of all the Kingdoms in the World in order to the good of souls as your great Bishop doth Pa. Why Do you think when the Pope was as yet weak and struggling for that Power he hath now got into his hands that he own'd any such Doctrines No I 'll warrant him And to my thinking you have shewn more courage than ever he did for you have assum'd that high Authority you speak of even when you were not altogether able to maintain it by force though you ventured very fair for it but there are three or four things in what you said
that must not be confounded And first That not only your Ministers but even your People also are not subject to the Laws of the Civil Magistrate except they approve of them which is as much as not at all will too manifestly appear by those famous or rather infamous Books of Rutherford and Prynne The falshood of M. Prynns Truths Triumph 1645. p. 30. p. 25. Lex Rex and The Sovereignty of Parliament Moreover we have it in plain terms That the general Assembly is subordinate to no Civil Judicature whatsoever in a Book called The readiness of the Scots advance into England And Mr. Dury told the Parliament in a Sermon Settle but the Judicatories of particular Congregations and let the Thrones of the whole House of David be crecied and you shall find that the fruit of righteousness c. Isai 32.17 as much as to say Inthronize a Pope in every Parish and all will be well But secondly you are so far from being subject to the Laws of Princes that you will have them to be subject to yours This was one of the Propositions presented to the Assembly at Edinburgh Art 8. 1647. None that is within the Church ought to be without the reach of the Church Laws and excepted from Ecclesiastical censures but Discipline is to be exercised on all the members of the Church without respect or consideration of those adhering qualities which use to commend a man to other men All the Power the Pope claims over secular Princes is included in this one Article When once the Kirk hath decreed that any thing is Antichristian and must down or that some new device is according to the Pattern in the Mount and therefore must be establisht if the Magistrate dares to oppose it then cries the petty Pope Help ye the Lord against the Mighty as S. Marshall in a Sermon S. Marshal 1641. Curse ye Meroz for not helping the Lord against the Mighty Some Politicians saith he pag. 2. look which side shall prevail and stand Neuter but as Gideon said to the men of Succoth when they refused to give bread to the people Judg. 8.7 then will I tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness so I say to such if the Lord prevail he will do them Is it so indeed that they are cursed that help not the Lord against the Mighty Then Brethren as you desire to be freed from this curse and to obtain a blessing be exhorted to put forth your hand now to the help of the Lord. I pray look on me as one that comes among you this day to beat a Drum in your ears to see who will come out to follow the Lamb. Here was a Press-Master for the Synod Now here what Th. Goodwin said to the Parliament Tho. Good 1645. how that the Saints i. e. the Assembly and their Adherents must not be crost in their humour under pain of utter ruine after a long canting to shew that the greatest and highest Interest of Kings and Kingdoms on which their welfare or their ruine depends was the dealing well or ill with the Saints he gives these reasons for it 1. Their nearness and dearness to God p. 40. 2. The interest of the Saints in God the Governour and the priviledges which they themselves have vouchsafed them by God in ruling and governing this World p 42. and Providences of God therein And 3. the interest of Jesus Christ himself whose design and practise is and hath been to break all Kingdoms that do oppose him and oppress his Saints Here 's the Dickins and all I think for Papal Power But you must understand that all this was proved out of his Text Psal 105.14 He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved Kings for their sakes Now Sir that your most Godly Party would make a pretty good title to the Goods of the wicked if they were in power Th. Palmer endeavour'd to clear when in the 15 and 16 pag. of his Sermon he made it his business to prove that wicked men who are out of Christ i. e. out of their favour have no proper right to the Creatures neither to the Sacraments and Ordinances nor to those Creatures that sustain life And then saith he pag. 17. when the Riches and Honours and Liberty given to the Saints and Gospel-times so long promised shall come then the wicked miseries of the wicked begin then shall their time of sorrow and sadness come in whereby he intimates that should once the Saints come to reign the Wicked would go near to be dealt with as Usurpers of what they possess as indeed many of them were when the Saints had power to plunder and sequester As for your absolving from Oaths I had rather charitably believe that you can do that too than judge you guilty of perjury for either of the two must be because many of your Ministers acted contrary to what they had sworn when they receiv'd Ordination or Institution from the Bishop that you won't deny And again they acted contrary to their Oath of Allegiance and made their people do so too and take an Oath contradictory to that your holy Covenant for though you pretended that it was to make the King happy and glorious yet 't was against your Allegiance being it was against his will and just Authority and besides that goodly pretence it self was an affronting his Majesty for you would make him to destroy the Church which by his Oath at least he was bound to preserve and maintain and you would have wrested his Regal Power out of his hand and left him only his Scepter to countenance you This is called Protestatio contraria facto when a man cuts anothers purse and swears that he doth him no wrong but whether you cut or untied the knot whereby you were bound to act otherwise than you did I leave it to your choice Pr. By and by I shall shew that your Citations signifie nothing but supposing they did yet that cannot prove what you intend them for because the Quarrel betwixt the King and the Parliament and the War that ensued thereon was upon a Civil account and if the people were in the wrong it was the Lawyers that mis-led them and not we But how many Holy Wars hath the Pope raised against Kings and Emperours meerly to establish or maintain that supreme Authority he claims over them This alone doth overthrow all you have said of your Papal Power Pa. Nay if you must have more proofs I 'll warrant you I can give you enough and therefore to confirm what I have said of your claiming a Pope-like Power I shall make it appear that it was you mis-led the people and made them rebel and that your War was a Holy War upon the account of Religion Mr. Leech tells his Auditors in a Sermon pag. 22. Jer. Leech 1644. Who is on my side let him cast down Jezabel of Rome down with her Idolatries and Superstitions down
with her Altars and Images down with her Rags and Reliques they be but Jezabels fragments let them be used as Jezabel was used Help Royal Sovereign to throw her down help to throw her down more and more ye that are of the Honourable Court of Parliament Every one that loves the Lord Jesus Christ help to throw her down never let us halt as we have done betwixt God and Baal 'T is probable that had Royal Sovereign helpt to pull down Jezabel you had not pulled him down with her being he proved refractory to the Church you judged it requisite in ordine ad spiritualia to make him feel that Power of yours he would not acknowledge Nay when there were some hopes of an Accommodation Christopher Love who died a Martyr for your Kirk was so afraid the Holy War should be ended and Christ not set upon his Throne you know what that means that Preaching at Vxbridge before the Commissioners he made use of another mans words as he said to exhort them to go on in fighting for God 'T is the Sword saith he not Disputes nor Treaties must end this Controversie therefore turn your Plowghshears into Swords to fight the Lords Battels to avenge the Bloud of Saints which hath been spilt Cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord negligently and cursed is he that keepeth back his Sword from Bloud Jer. 48.10 Some silly Cavaliers thought indeed that the War betwixt the King and Parliament was about matters of Priviledges but S. Marshall told them soundly of their simplicity in a Sermon before the Parliament and Mayor and Aldermen S Marshal 1643. p. 21. Noble and resolute Commanders fight the Battels of the Lord Jesus Christ All Kingdoms except the Malignants in England do now see that the question here is Whether Christ or Antichrist shall be Lord or King Go on therefore couragiously you can never venture your Bloud in such a Quarrel Christ shed his Bloud to save you from Hell venture yours to set him up upon his Throne So Jos Boden told the Kentish Committee pag. 11. Jos Boden 1644. That they were fighting for the Lamb against the Beast And at the 13 pag. Besides their wondring after and worshipping the Beast Rev. 13.4 Have they not gathered together in Arms and Armies against the Lord and against his Christ belike they did not give that name to their Parliament Priviledges Nay are they not daily more and more mad and desperate in their mischief conceived against the Church Do they not daily beat up their Alarms and bid defiance to the people of the most High I would have every Christian stand upon his reputation and not discover pusillanimity after such proud Challengings What hath Antichrist done for them that they dare be so bold And what hath not Christ done for us that we should now in these days of daring be dastardly hen-hearted and effeminate This Sermon was called An Alarm beat up in Sion to War against Babylon and it well deserves to be transcribed but that it is too long In all these you see we hear of nothing but the Whore the Beast Babylon and Antichrist which were to be destroyed not one word of any Civil matters or differences if there was any it was forgotten your Church-Champions were so intent upon the Lords Work and it prospered so well in their hands that they could think of nothing else Joh. Bond 1644. p. 59. As Sampson with the Philistines saith one of the Saints so let us die with Babylon if we cannot out-live Antichrist and the Enemies of Reformation let us adventure our selves to death in the Cause yea let us take hold of the Pillars of the Church of Dagon of the Temple of Antichrist and say Now let me die with Antichrist Rome and Babylon The War was so wholly and intirely upon Gods account as you said that though betwixt the Inhabitants of the same Kingdom yet you would not have it to be a Civil War It is not a Kingdom divided against it self J. Arrowsmith 1643. p. 69. saith Mr. Arrowsmith to the Parliament but one Kingdom against another the Kingdom of Christ divided against that of Antichrist and this Antichristian Kingdom will rage as much as they can to their power to shed Bloud but the Lord hath them in this Chain and hath sent forth his host against them They were not the Parliaments Forces but the Host of the Lord sent against Antichrist Therefore they were so earnestly exhorted never to shrink but joyfully to lose their very lives in so good a cause Mr. Midhope at the Funeral of Colonel Gold exhorted the Militia thus St. Midh 1644. p. 24. Noble Commanders be active for Christ ye cannot do or suffer too much in his Cause Lay out your Time Strength Parts your All for Christ fear no loss here ye cannot drive a more gainful Trade Could any thing more have been said to the blessed Martyrs Or did ever the Pope recommend his Croisadoes more highly What hath been said proves it to the full that you valued your intended Reformation more than Christianity it self which 't is no thanks to you if it was not quite destroyed by these most nefarious and unchristian actings Now two Witnesses more will make it altogether unquestionable that from the beginning to the end that cursed War was raised and fomented to maintain your new-fashioned Religion and to bring about your Reformation Mr. Cheynell told the Parliament F. Cheynel 1646. p. 32. Consider the cries and out-cries of the Godly Party of this Kingdom for a Reformation they speak plain and tell you that they have fasted prayed and wept for a Reformation they have exhausted their Treasures many of them ventured their Lives lost their Limbs their Bloud their Friends for a Reformation you have promised us a Reformation N. B. we have paid for a Reformation you are therefore indebted to us of a Reformation we are bound to challenge such a Reformation as will quit cost and answer the price we have paid and the pains we have bestowed c. And Mr. Jenisson a Scotch-man in a Sermon at New-castle Rob. Jen. 1648. p. 29. The late designs of the Popish and Malignant Party tending to the utter subversion of our Religion and of our Liberties occasioned the National Covenant between England and Scotland and the joining in Arms for the defence of their Religion N. B. Now I hope it is clear enough that it was you chiefly if not alone that raised and fomented that execrably Holy War to establish your projected Religion and Discipline And if you dare say to the contrary you must give the lye to your own Fellow-labourers for you see I have it from them So I humbly conceive that you and I have made it appear that you are not only not subject to Kings and Princes but ever in some sort their Superiours and that when you judge Religion concerned you will lose the bonds of
subject to the Higher Powers it doth not bid us to be subject to the will of those who are in highest places But two or three specious words serv'd the turn this was chiefly to seduce the Kings own Friends if it were possible Those that had a Loyal Soul here was a bait for them you were fighting for to make the King great and glorious though 't was against his will and for his Authority against his Person and he was on your side in his Political though not in his Personal capacity and so if they lov'd the King they might join with you and no doubt but those goodly pretences deluded then many a well-meaning Soul But then if people were not for the King to be sure they would be for the Lord and upon that account they might and they must join with you for you were fighting the Lords Battels warring for Sion against Babylon this was the grand cheat whereby the Nation was deluded Had the Parliament-Officers gone about and told the people that the King encroacht upon their Priviledges and acted against the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom the generality of men was not so well read in the ancient Statutes and Charters of this Realm as to know whether it was so or no and so 't is likely they had been very slack in engaging in a doubtful general But you knew well enough that the people would fight for God therefore you made him a party in the case and then called upon them to help the Lord against the Mighty to help to thrown down Antichrist and to set up Christ and those that came to your call were rewarded besides the holy Plunder with good words flatteries high and lofty titles they were the Saints the Godly the Chosen the Lambs Followers and the precious Ones and so you made them active in their wickedness by making their deluded Consciences to warrant their accursed doings Though the way was besprinkled with bloud yet that the people might not be deterred from doing Gods work T. Palmer p. 13. they were told that God had seen it good to bring Christ into the Kingdom that bloudy way and then who would be afraid of bloudshedding upon such an account But this hath been sufficiently proved when I spoke of your cruelties and made it appear that the War was Religious and not Civil and that for the good of Souls you may do what you lift as well as the Pope Now I desire only to mention a few more of your juggling tricks and then I shall endeavour to say somewhat in defence of those Authorities I have cited out of your Books p. 1 13 Mr. Palmer resolves that grand Query How shall I know that the Parliaments Cause is Gods Cause and those that join with them more Gods people than on the other side in this manner Alas it is the plainest thing in the world look to the words of Christ John 10.5 and 44. My Sheep know my Voice c. Now do but consider which of the new-raised Forces come nearest to this Rule who is it that submits to the Word and Rule of God who set up the work of Reformation who is desirous to preserve the people of God Was not he an excellent Casuist to make your pretences and doings an argument to prove that your War against the King was just Much like him that said it is and hath been the design and practice of Jesus Christ to break all Kingdoms that oppose him Th. Good 1645. p. 43. and oppress his Saints As much as to say that God pulled down the King because he opprest Christ and did not favour the Saints by which Rule the best cause is condemned if it be unsuccessful and well-fare the Turk and all the wicked as long as they prosper according to this we have seen before that Providence was your Guid and Captain it led you and did all things for you and so it came to pass that the worst of your doings were charged upon God Jehovah-Jireh pag. 65. The Prentices and Porters were stimulated and stirr'd up by Gods Providence thousands of them to petition the Parliament for speedy redress And Mr. Will. Jenkins in his Conscientious Queries and Submission to the then present Power 1651. useth only the Turkish Argument of good success to prove that the prosperous Rebels were to be obeyed as lawful Superiours and that by charging all that had been done upon God and Providence pag. 2. Whether the stupendious Providences of God manifested among us in the destruction of the late King and his Adherents in so many pitcht Battels and in this Nations universal forsaking of Charles Stuart and the total overthrow of him and his Army whether by these Providences God hath not plainly removed the Government from Charles Stuart and bestowed it upon others as ever he removed and bestowed any Government by any Providence in any Age Whether a refusal to yield Obedience and Subjection to this present Gouernment be not a refusal to acquiesce in the wise and righteous pleasure of God and a flat breach of the fifth Commandment Therefore he saith in his Humble Petition That he looks upon it as his duty to the then Authority to yield all active and cheerful Obedience in the Lord even for conscience sake as though their prosperous wickedness could give them a just title to their Usurpation Another would have it believed that the Saints were victorious because of Christ being with them and their having a Commission from him to act as they did Joh. Owen 1659. p. 22. saying That the Saints and the seeret ones shall work destruction and that this feeble Generation shall be as a Lion from the presence of Christ amongst them Christ saith he assigns that to them which is his own proper work let men take heed how they provoke this Lion for then be will not lie down until he cat of the prey and drink of the bloud of the slain As though it had been by the order and power of Christ that the Lion or the wild Beasts had filled all the Nation with bloud and slaughter Then in stead of teaching the people to obey the Precepts of the Gospel Charity Humility Meekness Obedience to the King c. you would have them mind the secret intentions of God and set forward that work which his Providence had begun as you said which was called Generation-work a phrase and a Doctrine still in use amongst you It is the duty of the Saints saith one to observe what the way of God is in the time of their Generation Jâ—r Burr 1643. p. 2. to see what Name of God is most conspicuous in his administration and accordingly to sanctifie that Name of his Nothing can be more pregnant with delusions and evil consequences than this Afterwards when in the carrying on of the designs in hand the Kingdom was filled with bloud and confusion that the people might not see how they were gull'd you
fell to prophecying promising them much happiness with many secret and glorious things after all their trouble so saith the same Author ibid. pag. 6. We shall see at last that the mercy God intended for us was worth all the troubles and bloud c. God hath many Promises to his Church to accomplish many Prophecies to fulfil many glorious things to declare many Mercies for his Saints to bestow and these stirs among us will make way for all And so Mr. Bond tells the Parliament Joh. Bond 1644. That the present work of Salvation and Reformation they had in hand was carried on in a mystery was a shadowed master-piece altogether made up of stratagems paradoxes and wonders and so the comfort is it shall be a great Salvation a Salvation from Babylon But this will suffice at present to shew that the people was deluded more ways than one and to give a warning to the following Generation that so they never be drawn into Rebellion by the same arts and pretences as their Fathers were It would be endless to rehearse all the equivocations jugglings and deceits as were used to seduce the people next time we meet perchance you shall hear more of them What I have said now is enough to prove that your words signifie nothing but what you please that your dissimulations are deep and specious and that you never want arts and evasions to plead innocency and salve your credit after the foulest doings and miscarriages Now you differ but a very little from the Church of England and you are for Obedience to the King whatever some of you may have said or done heretofore Very good That 's as much as to say That do you what you will you are resolved ever to be in the right and never to acknowledge your selves faulty in the least for fear of losing the repute of Infallibility But let it be considered 1. That I have proved what I charged upon you not by the words of the obscure and ordinary but of the most famous men of your Party who must needs have known the Tenets and Doctrines of your Sect and who were then and are still now cryed up and followed by your Disciples and Admirers 2. That those words of theirs I have cited were not taken out of Libels or prophane Books nor were spoken heedlesly in the heat of dispute but are to be found in their Sermons and were delivered out of their Pulpits in the powerfulness of Preaching as being the Word of God 3. That those Sermons were not preached in Country-Towns or to ordinary Congregations where any stuff preached after the tone and manner in use among you had been as good as the best but almost all of them before the Parliament where none but great men were admitted to preach and where to be sure they preached none but their best Sermons and moreover that those Sermons were printed with the names of the Authors and with License and Approbation 4. That 't is more likely they would then deliver their true Opinions and speak out what was in their hearts when they had the power in their hands and were free to speak what they pleased than now they are under fear and restraint and are fain to conceal or dissemble what they would then openly preach and proclaim 5. That they not only preached Sermons but they and their Disciples lived Sermons also your practice and Doctrine agreed excellently well what was preach'd was acted there was none of their good Instructions lost you approved what they said by doing accordingly and you generally own'd by a practical belief those Doctrines I have set down as yours out of your most approved Authors Lastly It is manifest by my Quotations that your Ministers rendred the last King odious to his people and preacht him out of his Throne and Kingdom but 't is no where to be seen that they ever preach'd this King into the favour of his people again or used their powerful eloquence to have him restor'd to his Right And since his return though you have given over printing yet most of you have kept up the Faction and in stead of crying peccavi have still endeavour'd to weaken the Church and draw Disciples after you and your Synods have never disclaimed those men who by their Preaching had kindled up the late Rebellion and the Preachers have never recanted their former Opinions but either justified or disguised them nay many of them own still the Obligation of that infamous Oath call'd the Covenant whereby they acted and warranted all their wickedness Therefore though the people may be excused having been deluded and imposed upon yet you the Ministers and Heads of the Faction can never with all the wit you have plead any thing that can justifie you from owning the worst of Popish Errours Now let our Judge speak if he pleaseth G. I confess I am somewhat amazed at what I have heard I never thought so much could be said for proving a Conformity betwixt Papists and Presbyterians in so many points but yet I will decide nothing nor make any reflections upon what you have said I 'll rather transcribe and print your discourse and leave the Reader to think and to judge as his own discretion shall advise him Only seeing that you are most chiefly agreed in denying the King that Supreme Authority which God hath given him and pretending a certain Power and Jurisdiction over him in ordine ad spiritualia for the good of souls or to phrase it aright for to advance Gods Cause and to set up Christ I shall set down some Texts of Scripture which plainly evince the contrary and then desire all Christians to yield a chearful and loyal Obedience until they have been told from Heaven that the Pope or Classis are impowered from God to act contrary to his Word in this particular First For the Authority of the Supreme Magistrate over all that live in his Dominions read Rom. 13.1 and 2. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation v. 5. Wherefore ye must be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake Here you see that neither Pope nor Puritan is excepted but every soul is to be subject this was written when the Higher Powers were Heathen bloudy Persecutors of Christianity who endeavoured to destroy the Gospel and yet for all that they must not be rebelled against and their Authority must not be resisted Whosoever resisteth the power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation and therefore we must be subject to them not only for fear of their anger but also for fear of Gods not only for wrath but also for conscience sake In Tit. 3.1 Put them in mind saith the Apostle to be subject to