death fall like trees and cannot afterwards alter their condition And saith our Saviour Joh. 9.4 I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work And this night we may be sure will come at death tho' our Lord here may have some respect to Persecution too And saith St. Paul Phil. 2.12 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Here the Apostle doth plainly shew that every one is to work out his own Salvation here in this World and exhorts us to do it with exceeding great care and lets us plainly see that it is not to be done by the Prayers and Absolutions of others after we are dead And saith the Apostle Heb. 3.13 But exhort one another while it is called to day Hereby also shewing that our work is to be done here before death And at the great Day of Judgment every one is to be judged according to the things that he hath done here in the body 2 Cor. 5.10 For saith St. Paul we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad According to the things done here in the body in this world are men to be judged at the last day and here is no regard that is to be had to the matters of Purgatory which shews that there is no such place And after death we may see that the righteous cease from their labor and are at rest and therefore are not laboring and tormented in the fire of Purgatory Job 3.12 13. Why did the knees prevent me or why the breasts that I should suck For now should I have slept then had I been at rest with Kings and Counsellors of the earth And ver 17. There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest Job concluded that he should be at rest as soon as he was out of this troublesome world and that other righteous men should be so too and yet he had perfect knowledge of a world to come Job 19.25 And Daniel was to be at rest Dan. 12.13 But go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in the lot at the end of the days And saith the Prophet Isaiah 57.1 None considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come He shall enter into peace From evil here in this world is the righteous man taken and when he departs hence he enters into peace and rest And saith the Apostle Heb. 4.9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the People of God For he that is entred into his rest he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest least any man fall after the same example of unbelief A rest remaineth to the People of God after this life is ended and here we are to labor that we may enter into it And saith St. John Rev. 14.13 And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from hence forth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them Those that dye in Christ are blessed and happy and are then to rest from their labors and not to be tormented in Purgatory 2 We may conclude from hence also that there is no Purgatory because the body has need to be purified as well as the soul and must be purified before it goes to Heaven but the body is not purified in Purgatory and therefore we may conclude that the soul is not purified in any such place It is more likely that the body should be purified in such a fire than that the soul should be so but the body lyes here in the grave with us until the resurrection and is not purified by Purgatory And yet the body must be purified before it can go to Heaven For the Apostle hath told us That flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and that corruption doth not inherit incorruption 1 Cor. 15.50 But our bodies are to be glorified and spiritualized by our blessed Lord. Phil. 3.20 For our conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself The body is to be purified before it can go to Heaven but it is certain that the bodies of men dead are in the grave and not in Purgatory and that the bodies of the righteous are to be changed and glorified by our blessed Saviour and we may be sure also that the souls of the righteous are purified by him When we by the grace of God have done what we can to purify our souls we may be sure that our blessed Saviour will complete this purity and present them without spot before the Throne of God as I have shewed before This clear proof before our eyes that the bodies of men departed are not in Purgatory but in monuments and graves here upon earth doth make it more evident that there is no such place as Purgatory but that it is a vain Fiction and a meer Fable All Receptacles of the dead shall at the last day deliver up the bodies of men that are in them and are there to remain till that day according to John's Vision Rev. 20.13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell or the Grave delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works In the several receptacles where the bodies of men are and shall be reposed and laid up are they to abide till the general day of Judgment and are then and not before to be delivered up And if there were any need that men should be purifyed in Purgatory before they can be fit for Heaven there would be the same need and necessity that the last generation of men should be purifyed herein before they could be fit for Heaven But we are taught by St. Paul that at the last day the dead shall be raised up and that the living shall then be changed and so go with them strait to Judgment to meet the Lord and that the righteous shall from thenceforth abide with him for ever 1 Cor. 15.51 Behold saith he I shew you a Mystery we shall not all sleep that is die but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed That is those of us that shall be then living And 1 Thess 4.15 saith he For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord That we which are alive and remain unto
commanded to do And the same we may see is required under the Gospel that the common People should still be instructed in the Law and Word of God Our blessed Lord hath taught us this both by his own Practice and by positive Command For he himself read the Scriptures in the Synagogues and commanded his Apostles to teach all Nations his Precepts and Commands Luk. 4.16 And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read And there was delivered unto him the Book of the Prophet Isaias This we see he usually did and hereby he hath shewed us that it is our duty to do so and to do what we well can to instruct all People in the Word of God and not to keep them in ignorance of it And our Saviour bid the Jews to search the Scriptures and from thence to instruct themselves Joh. 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life And saith he Matt. 13.9 Who hath ears to hear let him hear And he commanded his Apostles and Ministers to go and teach all Nations to observe all his Commands and not their own Matt. 28.19 20 Go ye therefore saith he and teach all Natitions Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And Mar. 16.15 And said unto them Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every creature The Gospel and Word of God is to be preached to every Creature and no one is to be kept in ignorance and deprived of it that would hear it And St. Paul gives command that his Epistles should be read to all the Church and not be kept from the common People Col. 4.16 And when this Epistle saith he is read amongst you cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea And saith he to the Thessalonians 1 Thess 5.27 I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the holy Brethren Such order and such a charge doth he give that his Epistles should be read unto all Christians that all might hear them and that they should not be kept from the knowledge of any persons And he commands Timothy to be diligent in reading the Word of God to those under his care 1 Tim. 4.13 Till I come saith he give attendance to reading to Exhortation to Doctrine He is to give attendance in reading the Word of God to his Flock as well as in Exhortation and Doctrine By these and such places we may plainly see that it is the Will and positive Command of Almighty God that his blessed Word should be made known to all Men even to the common People and that it is a chief part of the Office of all Pastors and Governors to take diligent care to instruct those that are under them herein And God did in an extraordinary manner enable the Apostles to speak strange Languages for this very end and purpose That they might preach his Word to all People in their own Tongues which they understood as we may see in the Acts of the Apostles And this also shews that all men ought to have the Word of God in their own Language that they understand We may also see that the Scriptures were written for Instruction Admonition and Comfort and that the ignorance of them is the cause of Error Rom. 15.4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime saith St. Paul were written for our learning that we thro' patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And 1 Cor. 10.11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come But how can the common People and the generality of Men receive Instruction Admonition and Comfort by them if they are industriously kept from them flat contrary to the design for which they were written And saith our Lord Matt. 22.29 Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures We may also see that the sacred Scriptures are recommended to us as the surest Guide of our Lives as the only Book of Wisdom and that a Blessing doth await all those that carefully read them with a hearty desire to learn and practise what they read therein Psal 19.7 The Law of the Lord is perfect saith the Psalmist converting the Soul The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes And Psal 119.9 saith the Psalmist Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way By taking heed thereto according to thy word And ver 98. Thou thro' thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me And ver 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path The Word of the Lord when well read and minded will enlighten the eyes and make Wise the simple and Foolish and is to be read and known by them And St. Paul commendeth Timothy for his knowledge of the holy Scriptures from a Child 2 Tim. 3.15 And that from a child saith he thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation thro' faith which is in Christ Jesus This early knowledge of the holy Scriptures had Timothy and hereby we see that Children are to learn them And all good men are to make them their daily study and Meditation Psal 1.1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night And saith St. John Rev. 1.3 Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand By these and such places we may clearly see that all men ought to know and understand the blessed Word of God and not be kept in ignorance of it and that the Word of God is not to be kept in an unknown Tongue from them that the common People cannot read it This is but to put out People eyes that they may lead them more easily at their own pleasure and to keep them from seeing their gross Errors And this is a grand piece of wickedness against Almighty God for the Romish Church to take upon them to over-rule his Divine Commands and to disannul the Decrees of Heaven at their own pleasure This I think can well be deemed no other but flat Hostility and open Rebellion against Almighty God himself Thus to intercept and seize upon his Divine Laws and Commands and to suppress them that they may not become known to Men that they may fulfil them And instead thereof to issue out their own Commands that they may be observed and kept To tell men that they must
of our Saviour and the Apostle XI The Practice of the Romish Church in respect of Marriages is not agreeable to the Word of God First The prohibiting the Marriage of Clergy-men is not agreeable to the Word of God The Word of God alloweth them to marry as well as other men if they see good cause for it and it is great Tyranny and an evil thing to deny them this Liberty The Law of God allowed the Priests and even the High Priests to marry as we may see Lev. 21.7 and in several other places They shall not take a wife that is a whore or profane neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband for he is holy unto his God And ver 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity The Priests might marry notwithstanding God accounted them holy to himself and would not suffer them to profane themselves in many other respects wherein the Common People might profane themselves And we see that Aaron and his Sons were married men and yet were the High Priests of the Jews and that they married as they saw good observing only the limitations of the Law of God And the Gospel doth allow all men liberty to marry that see good cause for it And it doth require that those should marry that have not the gift of continency and cannot well otherwise keep themselves chast but it tolerates no whoredom at all 1 Cor. 7.2 saith St. Paul Nevertheless to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband Here is no exception but all may marry that see need for it And saith the Apostle Heb. 13.4 Marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge And St. Paul doth plainly shew that Bishops and Deacons might be married men 1 Tim. 3.2 A Bishop then said he must be blameless the husband of one wife He that had not married one Wife and put her away and married another as the Jews sometimes did but had married but one Wife he might be a Bishop And so might the Deacons be married men as we may see ver 8 And St. Paul alloweth Bishops and Elders to be married men in his Instructions to Tit. 1.5 And it doth appear that St. Peter the Apostle was a married man mention being made of his Wives Mother Matt. 8.14 Mar. 1.30 1 Cor. 9.5 And the Apostle tells us that it is better to marry than to burn 1 Cor. 7.9 But if they cannot contain let them marry for it is better to marry than to burn Such as are in danger to be tempted to wickedness are not only allowed but advised to marry and keep themselves pure and not to fall to Whoredom And the Apostle sheweth that the forbidding of Marriage is a sinful and evil thing 1 Tim. 4.1 Now the Spirit speaketh expresly saith he that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils Forbidding to marry This is one thing that these sinful men would do And hereby we see that it is an unlawful thing to prohibit marriage and to keep any Order of men from their liberty herein which God hath granted to all The Practice of the Romish Church is not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures in not suffering the Clergy to marry To prohibit Marriage and to tolerate Whoredom is flat contrary to the sacred Word of God Secondly The Romish Church doth tolerate Incestuous Marriages and the Popes do grant Dispensations for such Marriages as are forbidden by the Word of God God hath forbidden all Incestuous Marriages in the Book of Leviticus and told us what persons we are to marry Lev. 18.5 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him to uncover their nakedness I am the Lord. And the several degrees of persons that we are not to approach to are mentioned in this Chapter and in the twentieth Chapter of this Book And here we may see that the marrying a Brother's Wife is unlawful Lev. 18.16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife it is thy brother's nakedness And Lev. 20.21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife it shall be an unclean thing And John Baptist told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his Brother's Wife Matt. 14.3 For Herod saith St. Matthew had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias sake his brother Philip's wife For John said unto him It is not lawful for thee to have her But notwithstanding these plain and positive Commands of God the Popes at their pleasure will grant Dispensations for the marrying of such persons as are here forbidden and for marrying a Brother's Wife Thirdly The Practice of the Romish Church in dissolving of lawful Marriages is not agreeable to the Word of God When a Marriage is lawfully contracted and duely solemnized it is not to be dissolved but only upon the account of Fornication This is our Saviour's determination in this Matter Matt. 5.31 It hath been said whosoever shall put away his wife let him give her a writing of divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication causeth her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery And Matt. 19.3 The Pharisees came unto him tempting him and saying unto him Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause And he answered and said unto them Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female And said for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder And again Mar. 10.8 And they twain shall be one flesh so then they are no more twain but one flesh What therefore God hath joined together let no man put asunder This we see is a sacred Knot and a work that God hath done when it is lawfully done according to his order and not to be dissolved by man except in the case of Fornication And saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 7.10 11. And unto the married I command yet not I but the Lord Let not the wife be separated from her husband But and if she be separated let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband and let not the husband put away his wife Christians are not to put away their Wives but were even to keep their Heathen Wives if they would live with them and not leave their Husbands because they were Christians But notwithstanding Marriage is so sacred a thing and we are commanded not to dissolve it yet the Church of Rome doth dissolve the Marriage of all Priests and we see that the Marriage of the Clergy is as lawful as the Marriage of other men This we
a wicked thing it is to pretend to pardon them before they are so Isa 55.7 saith the Prophet Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Upon this condition of repenting and forsaking of sin and returning to God he will pardon but not else And this God sheweth Ez. 18.21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not dye And ver 24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth shall he live all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned In his trespess that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Here we see ver 20 that the soul that sinneth must die and not be pardoned except he repent but upon repentance and amendment here is mercy and pardon to be had but not without it And saith our Saviour Luke 13.3 Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish And Luk. 24.47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations Repentance is to be preached to all as the condition of pardon and remission of sins And saith St. Peter to Simon Magnus Acts 8.22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee This was the way that St. Peter prescribed to have his sins forgiven viz. to repent and humbly to pray to God for pardon and forgiveness And he hath set us no example of selling of pardons but the quite contrary And he hath shewed us that Spiritual Gifts and Powers are not to be sold and bought for Money Ver. 18 And when Simon saw that thro' laying on of the Apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given he offered them money saying give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost But Peter said unto him thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money The gifts of God are not to be bought with Money And from hence it doth appear that the Pardons of men's sins ought not to be sold for Money and that such Pardons are but miserable Deceits to the poor deluded Souls that buy them And saith our Saviour to his Apostles when he sent them forth Matt. 10.8 Heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out devils Freely ye have received freely give This is the Command of our blessed Lord that his gifts should be freely communicated to all persons that were capable of them and well qualified for them and not sold in such a covetous manner for sinful gain And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.18 For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation But with the precious blood of Christ or of a lamb without blemish and without spot It is this Blood that hath redeemed us and this Blood and not silver and gold must procure us the pardon of our sins By these places without drawing a multitude more together here which might be alledged to this purpose it is plain that the Popish way of selling pardons is not at all agreeable to the sacred Scriptures but contrary to them XIV The Practice of the Romish Church in deposing and dethroning of Emperors Kings and Princes and turning them out of their Empires Kingdoms and Dominions and absolving their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance and from all Fidelity and Obedience to them is directly contrary to the Word of God This is very great wickedness to turn Princes out of all their Rights and Dominions and to tolerate Rebellion Perjury and Regicide and such black and bloody Crimes and to involve whole Kingdoms in dismal War and Blood This is not to act like a Servant of Christ the Prince of Peace to turn whole Kingdoms thus into Disorder and Confusion and to set men to kill and destroy one another and to command them to commit such wicked things as these and to violate the sacred Commands of God to the contrary The High Priests among the Jews were subject to their Kings and Princes and did not Lord it over them at this rate Aaron was subject to Moses tho' the younger Brother because he was the supreme Magistrate among them David and Solomon and the rest of the Kings of the Jews did Rule as Supreme Governors and the High Priests were subject and obedient to them And we read not that ever our blessed Lord and his Apostles did depose and dethrone any Kings and Emperors because they would not presently submit to them or gave any command that they should be deposed and removed upon any such account We cannot find that ever the blessed Jesus and his Apostles set such a wide gate open to sin and wickedness and gave men liberty to practise what Villanies they pleased against their Soveraign and the Lord 's Anointed tho' an unbeliever We cannot see that they have made Perjury and Murder lawful upon any account much less the murdering of a King But we may see that such practice is strictly forbid by the Gospel Our Saviour hath commanded that Caesar should have his dues Matt. 22.21 Render therefore unto Caesar saith he the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's Caesar was not to be dethroned but to have his Dues tho' a Heathen And the Apostles strictly enjoyn and command obedience to Kings and all supreme Governors Rom. 13.1 saith St. Paul Let every soul be subject unto 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 And ver 5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake Here is a positive and strict Command that all men whatsoever should be subject to the supreme Power and no less than Damnation is threatned to them that resist and rise up against lawful Authority and Government And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 2.13 Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governors as unto them that are sent by him To the King and Governors in all things that are good and lawful doth St. Peter command us to be subject and obedient And saith St. Paul to Titus 3.1 Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates to be ready to every good work By these and such places it doth plainly appear that all