wise course in their own conceits to keep out of all danger saying in effect and with a louder voice then of a Trumpet Let the Powers do what they please c. so we may get and keep Ecclesiastical promotions under them and the protection and shadow of their wings so we may have dispensations to be and to continue Pluralists Non residents Toâ—quots c. and so the Magistrates and Ministers as they count themselves are agreed to connive at each others wickedness Sect. 6 But a little more to make the matter plain before you you are to understand that the Supream Powers have alwayes in all Ages ruled partly like men and partly like wilde beasts They ruled like men when they made and executed Laws agreeable to the Remainder of the image of God in mankinde when they executed judgment and justice when they relieved the oppressed refreshed the bowels of the poor and the fatherless when they made the desolate widows hearts to sing for joy and many of the Heathen Kings and Rulers will rise up in judgment against those many of them who assume the glorious titles of Christian Kings and Princes They ruled like wilde Beasts when and so far as they were Hunters like Nimrod before the Lord when they did carry matters by force and violence by fire and sword to satisfie their own lusts when they degenerated into cruel Tyrants which are monsters in Government And so their Wills gave Law to millions of people better and more righteous then themselves The holy Spirit doth more then intimate this distinction in Daniel very excellently by comparing the four Monarchies or Supream Powers to the image of a man Dan. 2. and then afterward the self-same Monarchies every one of them to a cruel wilde Beast Dan. 7. from whence I gather that they did and would be found to govern the Nations in some respects like men that is according to the principles of right reason and righteousness And thus far they had the superscription and image of God upon them and were to be submitted to as the Ordinance of God But in other respects and at other times they did live like so many wilde Beasts and so the Spirit of God calls them Lions and Bears and ravening Wolves c. Their Courts being fill'd with the spoil of the people to maintain them in their pomp pride and luxury their wanton and beastly Courts I say were and are supported and maintained out of those unreasonable Taxes which by illegal wayes and means they did and do still tear out of the bowels of the oppressed people Sect. 7 Besides this there is another Observation very remarkable for where as the holy Spirit represents the four Monarchies put together in Dan. 2. by one onely image of a man He doth in Dan. 7. represent the four Monarchies apart by four several cruel Beasts which to me signifies thus much that in the chief Rulers and Governours of this world there would be found at the least four times as much and more of the nature and spirit of wilde beasts then of the nature and spirit of mankinde or the reasonable creature And indeed this is not onely signified in this prophecie but it is plainly manifested in the Histories of all Ages and of all Nations from Daniel's time unto this day And for this Nation I dare venture to make it good with the utmost peril of my life that the spirit of the fourth Beast is yet living and acting its part in England contrary to the Principles Rules and Presidents of common honesty of the light of nature and of the Laws of all Nations which are not bruitish and barbarous And against this spirit I am engaged more and more not against the man in man for that is to engage against God and his Ordinance but against the Beast and his image in man and in this enterprise the Lord will stand by me against all the Kings of the earth if I could come at them to preach against their beastly abominations c. Sect. 8 But to conclude this where as you say in effect you cannot be serviceable to Christ and me in reference to my enlargement without owning the Powers in being unless I have some way to offer to you which may be conducible to that end I have this onely to say that when I did read this passage three or four wayes came into my minde wherein it was honourable for you to appear without any danger of bowing the knee to the image of the beast but yet I would not have you expect that I should shew you any one of them for I hope the Lord will help me to cut off occasion from them that seek occasion I have my end which I propounded in this matter and shall wait on the Lord for I assure you here before him in the midst of you I do not yet begin to be weary of mine Imprisonment nor yet to yield although some of the Lords people are more apt to think and say so then there is ground so to think or say And my Message as you call it did not signifie any thing of that nature but had another meaning Sect. 9 For my Brethren my adversaries themselves do and will nobilitate this Cause wherein I suffer more and more and if mine enemies are necessitated to improve it should I desert it God forbid And as Christ said to the mourning Women Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your children so I say in the same spirit Were I now going to the scaffold be not sad for me ye sons and daughters of Sion but be sad for your selves and for your families for great distress is coming towards you and yet to others I may say Look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh And great shall their comfort be who can finde in their heart to deny themselves and to forsake all for the Lord Jesus But such Disciples are very rare and time will give us yet a more plentiful demonstration thereof 12 13. of the 8 month 1654. Yours in the Lord Chr. Feak The precedent Epistle explained for a more compleat Manifestation of the Truth Sect. 1. WHereas in the beginning of the Epistle it is written that my intent and purpose concerning my Bonds and Imprisonment was declared by me in a former Letter to them I shall for the Truths sake and that all things relating to this business may be naked and open before all sorts of Readers annex a Copy of so much of that Letter also as is needful if I can obtain it from the Brethren in due season And therefore without any circumlocutions shall pass from this to the next Section which being a part of the introduction to the principal Heads of that Doctrine which I explained briefly to them will occasion some inquiry into the Reasons of my so writing to them Sect. 2. Whereas I there do testifie that it was a dark
promising conforming to such prohibitions as that I am made more fervent in spirit against the abominations of these men from the Highest to the Lowest and for the promoting the Interest of my Lord against the Court-Interest lately set up in contradiction to their own solemn Declarations in the sight of God Angels and Men not many yeers ago It is coâ—â—â—rtable to consider That true spiritual Christians have an unction which teacheth them of all things â— Joh. 2.20 27. and they accordingly from that unction have learned to distinguish betwixt the Power and the Weakness of the Rulers betwixt the Ordinances of God and of Men for by the light of the word of truth they know that righteous Laws are the strength of the Higher Powers and that Tyranny and the Results and Consequences of Arbitrariness in Government are their weakness and their folly and not onely so for the knowledge hereof may in some degrees be attained by such as know not Christ but they are able in the power of a higher Spirit then that of the proudest Monarchs to tell them THIS IS A TYRANNICAL WAY OF RULING AND THAT IS A PLAIN CONTRADICTION TO THE LAW OF CHRIST and shall be broken and destroyed though all the Kings of the earth should joyne their Power and Policy to uphold it It is one thing to know wherein Rulers do commit open Abominations and it is another thing to testifie openly against those publick wickednesses without respect of persons But more of this afterwards in its proper place for here it is a Digression from the point in hand I have many things to bring out of that treasury which the Lord hath put into this earthen vessel and should rejoyce to have an opportunity to exemplifie those Truths by lively voice which have been set upon my spirit in this prison where I have remained this nine months and more for I finde it very difficult to express my minde by writing but this I have to encourage me The Lord is able to bless my Indeavors this way for the present seeing I am so unrighteously hindred from preaching the Gospel by the Powers now in Being Having spoken thus much to the first general Qualification That I do own the Powers that are but how ACCORDING TO GOD or ACCORDING AS GOD HIMSELF HATH COMMANDED having particularly explained my meaning to own them by submitting to their Laws whether Arbitrary or Rational according as may consist with our Allegiance to Christ and the direction of his word and spirit which in very many cases directs us to obey passively but to die rather then to fulfil their Law by active obedience I shall now go on to the next limitation which is to own them in paying tribute custom and honor and fear as I have expressed in the forementioned Epistle I shall now go on to the next Limitation which is to pay them Tribute and Custome Honor and Fear as I have expressed in the fore-mentioned Epistle And because I do own the Higher Powers in this particular also I shall explain my self herein likewise A Discourse concerning Taxations from Scripture according as I intended when I wrote though then I had not any thoughts that I should bee brought upon the Stage to give so publick an account of my Principles and Practice in the payment of those Taxes which I and others of my Brethren are still burthened withall though some Abatement is now spoken of But first for the better and more effectual satisfaction of the people of God I shall communicate what I have met with in the good word of God concerning this thing for it is suitable to my Office and may bee useful to the Saints to understand something concerning the first practice of this Oppression and which will bee more welcome when their Taxations will bee removed and have an end It is to bee remembred That one of the Higher Powers is described very briefly and emphatically thus Heb. One that causeth an Exactor to passe over He did suddenly stand up was as suddenly pulled down Whether Moses Joshua the first Judges which preceded Monarchy were Raisers of Taxes Dan. 11.20 There shall stand up a RAISER of TAXES c. but within few dayes he shall be destroyed neither in Anger nor in Battel It is worth our observation That the Spirit of God gives him no other Title as if this Taxing of the people were the Beginning and the End of his Reign Before I speak of particular Instances I desire the Reader to search the Scriptures that so he may be able to satisfie himself in this Question viz. Whether Moses Joshua or the Judges did practise the way of Assesments and Impositions upon their Brethren which now are so current and have been so much in use in the Nations round about as well as here at home so that it is as it were another nature as it happens to those Porters who carry Burthens custome makes that to seem but light to them which to another not conversant in such Imployment would be found a Burthen too heavy for him to bear The children of Israel were made a FREE PEOPLE by God when he took them out of the House of Bondage and so might have continued under their Judges Jehovah being their King and Lawgiver If they had not set up a King after the manner of the IDOLATROUS NATIONS round about them There is not a more broad black badge of absolute slavery under absolute Sovereignty than for a people once made free by Gods especial Providence to be contented to bee Taxed and Assessed by the Arbitrary power of a Sovereign Lord afterward I shall begin this Epitome of the HISTORY of TAXES Monarchy and Taxes born brought forth among Gods people in Samuels time with the History of Monarchy set up in the midst of Israel rashly and unadvisedly by themselves when they were blessed with Samuel one of the best Governours that ever the people of God injoyed for it appears to mee that these Burthens upon the Lords people came in with Kingship or at least the way was prepared for Bondage to return upon them when nothing but a King would serve their turn For when the Lord bid Samuel protest solemnly unto them It is the manner of Kings to take the peoples goods in part or in whole 1 Sam. 8.14 15. 16 17. verses and shew them the manner of the King that shall reign over them Among other heads of Arbitrary power which he reckoned up before them hee tells them plainly THAT THEIR KING WOVLDTAKE THEIR FIELDS AND THEIR VINEYARDS AND THEIR OLIVEYARDS even the best of them and give them to his servants And he will TAKE saith Samuel THE TENTH OF YOVR SEED AND OF YOVR VINEYARDS and give to his Eunuchs and to his servants He will TAKE THE TENTH OF YOVR SHEEP and yee shall be his servants c. Now although the total sum of the charge besides their bondage otherwise
house or otherwhere I were bound to stand upon my guard in such a case as men do every day against Theeves and Robbers c. 3 I am subject to them also for wraths sake partly and partly for conscience sake in point of Taxes I would refist others who should demand any part of that wherewith the Lord hath blessed me by inheritance or otherwise neverthelesse I would be very glad to live under a Power that would not be a Raiser of Taxes and hope to see Judges as at the first and Counsellors as at the beginning Isa 1.26 before I dye 4 I give honor where it is due I understanding it to be due but when persons are not known how can it bee known what is their due or what respect belongs unto them and I conceive this is an owning of Powers likewise 5 I am willing also to be afraid of the Powers if I am found to be an evill doer hereafter and this made out to me by the word of God And what is due to others of the children of men I desire to give or render to them according as is meet for I would owe no man any thing but love and the Lord help and quickenâ—es all up to love to love the Lord and to love all the Saints yea the Lord make his people to increase and abound in love one toward another and towards All Men as it is written 1 Thess 3.12 Before I pass to the next Section it seemeth requisite that somewhat from the Scripture should be spoken concerning the time of the end of those Yokes of Bondage whereby the best people have been oppressed by the Kings of the Earth from King Saulâ— time unto this day For it is very probable that the intelligent Reader doth remember that I hinted such a poynt in the Introduction to this Historical Epitome of those Burthens whereof I have been speaking Quest Saying What hope is there of an end of these burthens But when shall the Lords people be a free people when shall the Oppressor cease when shall the Extortioner be hindred from taking of our Substance we had thought this New Model would have continued as they begun to be our Deliverers from Monarchical and other Tyranny but we have learned Every man is a lie and lighter than vanity Psal 62 9. and therefore we will no longer relie upon an arm of flesh What doth God the Lord speak to his people in this matter c. Answ 1. It is apparent and plain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Buâ—chered or slâ—ughtered so the word â—igâ—ifieâ—h Jugulo to cut the throat as Butchers do with sheep Rom. 8. â—7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are counted as sheep for the slaughter-house The Roman Empire was like a slaughter house the first 300 years Ezra 9.8 that as the souls of the Saints slain in former ages for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held do continue to cry HOW LONG O LORD HOLY AND TRVE so the living Saints who also are lively and sensible of the present persecutions and imprisonments of their Brethren do Eccho to the voyce of those who have died in the Lord and for the Lord HOW LONG O LORD HOLY AND TRVE 2. But then consider that as it was with the godly Jews upon their return from their captivity in Babylon so it is with us who but a few years ago came out of Babylon in part and but in part And Ezra's words will wel express our present state or at least as it was some few years since For a little space or for a moment grace hath been shewed us from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail in his holy place that our God may lighten our eies and give us a LITTLE REVIVING IN OVR BONDAGE For we were Bond-men yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the Kings of Persia to give us a REVIVING to set up the house of our God and to repair the desolations thereof and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem Yet afterward this fair first-fruits of redemption was blasted for in the first of Nebemiah a bitter complaint is brought which may answer our condition likewise The remnant that are left of the captivity are in great affliction and reproach Nehem. 1.3 the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burnt with fire Thus you see their little reviving from their bondage and OVR LITTLE REVIVING FROM OVR BONDAGE comes afterward to be extinguished in reference to Church-work the Temple-work could not go forward the walls and gates being broken down and burnt with fire and this is our complaint also And as for our outward Liberties and Estates Nehem. 9.37 Nehem. 10.28 The Kings have Dominion over our Bodies and over our Cattle AT THEIR PLEASVRE and we are in great distress as were those Jews at that time Namely such as had separated themselves from the people of the Lands unto the Law of God Observe that description they separated themselves c. and so let the Disciples of Christ do at this day unto the LAW OF THEIR GOD ALSO for this is expected from them by the Lord. The consideration of this NEW UNEXPECTED TYRANNY under which we groan doth cause many poor hearts to fear our deliverance is not near and the rather they fear it because the famous NEW MODEL with whom the Lord was so eminently when they were about his work are so exceedingly degenerated that they have espoused the old quarrel and the old interest under the ill-favored disguise of another kind of Kingship which yet is not another but the same in principle in spirit and in operation Answ 3. Wherefore do you indeed desire to know whether or no the Lord will shortly turn again the captivity of Sion Psal 126.1.4 as the streams in the South would you in good earnest have skill and understanding in this matter Then in the next place take my Brethren the Prophets for an example particularly the Prophet Daniel Dan. 9 2. See 1 Per 1.11 Searching whâ—â— or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did sigu fie when it restified before-hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow Rev. 17.17 who understood by Books the number of the years when the desolation of Jerusalem of holy Jerusalem should have an end The Teachers of the people are exceedingly to blame that they do not fore-warn the people to come out of Babylon and engage against the Kings of the Earth with all their might But what do I mean to charm the deaf Adder it is not for their interest to discover the nakednâ—ss of the searlet Whore much less to exhort the people to strip her naked and make her desolate that she and her lovers the ten Horns or Kings may no longer oppress the
hitherto a perfect Law according to their own pleasure and principles for the setling thereof we wait to see and to know what the Lord will do and how far he will permit them to march in this dangerous path for the compassing of their ends who have been the chief Actors and Contrivers in this unparalled earthly Design to say no worse of it for the present But to leave those who have the spirits of Free-men if there be any shut up or left to dispute with their tongues and pens against the Souldiers Swords I shall proceed according to the latitude of my Commission from the Lord Jesus and direct my discourse to those people of God who have openly testified that the Lord is their Judge that Jehouab is their Lawgiver that Jehovah is their King Isa 33.22 and that he will save them I mean those Elders and Brethren of the Churches of Christ who have professed to make a compleat and perfect that is a total and final separation from the Mother of Harlots and from the Beast that carries her Rev. 17.5 7. and this they have done according to the Counsel and Call of God in the book of the Revelations And unto them I say on the behalf of their Lord and mine Brethren Ponder the paths of your feet for every particular step of every separated Saint in this Nation since the Twelfth of the Tenth Month 1653. hath been and is of very great moment and according to their walking since that day and hour when the Word and Spirit of Jehovah received so high and so desperate an Affront they may rationally expect extraordinary consequences for good or for evill coming toward them and remember this which you now read is neither Dream nor Fancy although the Rulers of this world will so account it till the God of heaven compel them to change their minds It cost the Six hundred thousand very dear even all that came out of Egypt Num. 14. who were of twenty years and upwards yea the righteous as well as the wicked their making of a Captain to carry them back again to Egypt when an oportunity was offered by God to passe over Jordan into the Promised Land But let me in brotherly love expostulate the case with you for I am through grace a fellow-member of the same Body Suppose the three Nations generally WILL be like the Israelites when they rejected Jehovah from being their King and WILL joyn with those earthly-minded men who said and proclamed it Wee WILL have a new kind of King to Reign over us and we WILL compel our Brethren by Fire and Sword by Jaylors and High Courts of Injustice to accept of that Monarch whom we have chosen for our selves Will you vote with these men and comply with these Apostates and Hypocrites You have given up your names to the Lords Jesus to be a peculiar people unto him are you not or should you not be an holy Nation in the midst of the Nations walking in the name of your King as the men of the world walk in the name of their Monarch Was it not for your sakes chiefly That Jehovah rebuked Kings and Princes of late yeers Is it not for his Sons sake Psal 105. and his Saints sake that he hath pulled down the whole structure of the old Government of these Nations yea he hath so ordered things that the very foundations are destroyed which not long since were accounted sacred and to the maintenance whereof the people were bound by Oath and solemn League and Covenant except a few who fore-saw that God himself was ingaged against the Old Heavens and the Old Earth in these Islands Were not these wonderful changes and desolations brought forth and finished when the Officers of the Army in their own names created formed and set up a Supreme Power after their own inventions and then after some few months when some choice spirits were resolved to proceed in that work which the New Moael had begun viz. to remove the remaining Rubbish of Heathenish and Popish Customes which obstructed the grand Design against Babylon and the Kings of the earth did not the Sword-men of that once famous New Model break in peeces and annihilate their own creation and that in the sight of Heaven and Earth without blushing and then tell the world a fable about Resignation whereas no agreement vote order or act passed in that Assembly to any such purpose But I must sigh out this complaint Very many of those who professe and pretend to be the Saints of the Most High have eyes and see not they have ears and hear not they have hearts and understand not unto this very day The veil is upon their hearts in the reading of the Prophecies of the Old 2 Cor. 2.14 and the New Testament And assuredly the Lord hath a great controversie with many of his own people because of this who will find him walking contrary unto them because they have walked contrary unto him in this particular What call from God or man have we to joyn with the Nations in setting up a New Image of worldly Government especially at this time of the day when that which our Ancestors built our God hath broken down and what our Fore-fathers had planted the Almighty hath plucked up even the principal Pillars and Foundations of the former Frame and is it an imployment worthy of us to help to repair the Tower of Babylon in this Land after these Earthquakes or to heal the deadly wound which the Beast hath received Consider doth it become us to help mingle the Iron and the Clay together that the Image may not want one of its Ten Toes Should you not rather unite with one another to help consolidate that Little stone which is to smite the Image upon its feet And put on the whole Armor of God that you may be ready at an hours warning to follow the Lamb who will ere long appear as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and make lamentable havock with the scarlet Whore and the scarlet coloured Beast upon which she Rides whose Ten Horns at length or some of them shall be guided to push the mother of the Abominations of the carth into a Pit of destruction prepared for her by the Lord. Besides all this which hath been spoken would it not be found to be part of our glory and perfection at the appearance of Jesus Christ to imitate the Apostles and Churches of Christ in the first times when they were so eminently taught of God in reference to this particular For when the Apostle Peter spake that word of Exhortation Act. 2.40 That they should save themselves from this untoward Generation Assuredly he intended not only a separation from the Doctrine Worship and Government of the Jewish Church but from the State also and Government thereof for now they had accepted of the Lord Jesus as their Prince to govern them as well as their Saviour to
and Imployment was to strike upon the ears of men as it were with another kind of sword the two-edged sword of the Spirit but now he had laid that aside for the present yea and Christ himself against this juncture of time had bid him that had never a sword that is of iron and steel to seel his coat and buy one which kind of trading and merchandize I beleeve they did not use to meddle with in former time Other Instances might be given but I forbear for these were extraordinary cases and I shall nor urge them But beside to intermeddle may be taken in a good sense in that Prov. 18.1 Through desire a man having separated himself seeketh and INTERMEDDLETH with all wisdom I know Tremelius carrieth it in another way but it is varied in the Margin thus He that separateth himself seeketh according to his desire and INTERMEDDLETH WITH ALL WISDOM So the English Translators But Trem. hath a marginal note in omni essentia in every essence or being It looks something like the character of a grave Philosopher such an one as Socrates or Plato who intermeddles with all wisdom or with every Essence yea it s worthy to be weighed what Solomon speaks in the person of a Preacher Eccl. 1.12 13. I THE PREACHER saith he gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all Things that are done under Heaven Doth not this expression seem somewhat like that Proverb of his last mentioned That which is there called an intermeddling with all Wisdom or every Essence seems to be in this place of Ecclesiastes called A searching by Wisdom concerning all Things that are done under the Sun And undoubtedly it is no disparagement to Gospel-Ministers to be Christian Philosophers or Lovers of that Wisdom which is to be found and obtained by conversing or inquiring into the word of God into the works of God and therefore their intermedling in all such affairs from such principles cannot be interpreted in an evil sense as if it savoured of pragmaticalnesse or anything like it This for the interpreting of the second term And hitherto I suppose I have not swerved from the truth in my explications The third and last expression is likewise to be brought to a fixed conclusion and determination that we may rightly understand the question throughout every part of it and my meaning in this viz. who are Ministers of the Gospel I shall first signifie negatively and then positively 1 Wherefore first I do not intend the Pontifical and Prelatical Clergy for from the highest Archbishop as such to the meanest Curate there are none of them whom I look upon under that notion Although we do know for we have heard them that by the help of good natural parts and their superadded acquired abilities otherwise namely by reading meditation imitation and exercise in preaching they have excelled many Ministers of the Gospel truly and properly so called and acknowledged by God and man But as it is one thing to serve God in the oldnesse of the letter and another to serve him in the newnesse of spirit or the spirit so it is frequently found that a man may be an able Minister of the New Testament according to the letter but not according to the spirit and the ministrations thereof See the distinctions Rom. 7.6 2 Cor. 3.6 Divers of these Episcopal Preachers indeed did likewise intermeddle in State affairs for they were Justices of Peace and Privy Counsellors to Kings and Queens but I never approved of them or their imployment in reference to the Ministry or Magistracy in both which they did intermeddle more than they will have thank for when they appear before the Judgement seat of Jesus Christ to receive every one according to his works and what he hath done in the flesh whether it be good or whether it be evil So much for these I have done with them 2 Neither secondly do I mean the present Vniversities Vice-Chancellors Doctors Proctors Heads of Houses Deans Prebends Cannons with the rest of their Brethren by what Academical Name or Title soever they are dignified or distinguished Although I know likewise that many of them have gifts for the preaching of the Gospel and I hope are truly godly But to speak freely undoubtedly it would become those of them who know their Lords will to take care to do it for it cannot be denied that they sinfully intermeddle in the things of the world though they pretend to be married to the Lord and so are to take care for the things of the Lord This is plain in regard they have accepted several worldly Offices and Authorities which they exercise after the Rudiments of the world for they cannot exercise them according to God or to Christ for they are none of the things of Christ Oh! that they are farre from imitating the Apostles and walking in their steps the Lord knows and we also for they gave over the serving of Tables which yet was Church-work that they might give themselves continually to prayer and to the Ministry of the word And therefore before I go any further I do publickly bear witness on the behalf of the Lord Jesus against all that kind of medling in State-affairs which doth in the least hinder or interrupt the fervants of the Lord in the exercise and improvement of that Ministry which they have received in the Lord and for and from the Lord. For let us consider what the Apostles say in that place forementioned Act. 6.3 It is not reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we should leave the word of God and serve Tables A sentence it is worthy to be written in letters of gold yea to be written with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of marble stone but in flespy Tables of the heart But alas where shall we find such a spirit among the Ministers of these times who generally leave the word of God and do worse than serve Tables in that sense which the Apostles intend for thy serve and worship and wonder after the Whore of Babylon and the Beast that carrieth her yea and the very Horns of that Beast that carrieth that Harlot this is truth the Lord knows in whose sight I write these things and yet they 〈◊〉 call themselves and expect that others should account of them as of the Ministers of Christ and faithful Stewards of the Mysteries of God But it is to be justly feared that Jehovah will write down other Titles in the books of his Accounts and Remembrance Thousands will not look like the Ministers of the Gospel when those books and the book of the New Testament shall be opened in the sight of all the world although now they go under that notion among almost all sorts of people But enough of these also for the present let us proceed 3 Neither in the third and last place by the Ministers of the Gospel do I here intend or understand the Parsens Vicars Rectars
States and Governments from that Antichristian morter For certainly it may be easily demonstrated that it appertains properly to their Office and as a principal part of it in these last times to discover the Man of sin to find out Antichrist in all his subterfugies and diverticles to trace and hunt him in all his windings and turnings for what sort and generation of men will the Lord 〈◊〉 and annoint to deal with this great Enemy of Jesus Christs if not the Ministers of the Gospel And if it be true that this Doctor hath written elsewhere as undoubtedly it is from Scripture-ground namely that the Pope hath expresly bargained for his own interest and provided that that should have the chiefest place in all Oaths and Bonds that were betwixt Princes and people then we must look into the Affairs of States and their Laws and Administrations and where-ever we find any thing of that Son of perdition that horned Beast c. to detect him and his legerdemain and call upon the people of God to help pull down all those things which are of Babylon and the Beast though it be of the very fundamental constitution of the Kingdom and State which we have detected by the help of the Word and Spirit That Scripture Rev. 17. doth express the truth which you have read in a few excellent words These saith the Spirit that is the Ten Horns or Kings have one mind and will give their power and strength unto the Beast And they according to what is prophetically spoken have long fince given their power and strength unto the Beast but we hope it will be taken from the Beast ere it be long but the words of the Apostle John by the Spirit are far more emphatical than they are rendred by the Kings Translators I could methinks read them thus They shall deliver up that their Power and Authority unto the Beast i. e that Power which they received as in the former verse for they received power as Kings one hour with the Beast which implies they received not their Power at first from the Beast for you see they and the Beast came into the world much about a time but afterward these Kings come to be of one mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which intimates they give their Power and Authority upon deliberation they know what they do it is an act of State and then they come to be of one and the same mind at length what one doth all will do and so they agreed to give up first their Militia or Military power to the Beast their Armies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Mede on Rev. 13 2. and indeed histories are full of this truth for the Militia of each and of all these Kings was at the beck of this Beast Upon these two or three words they shall give up their Power or Hosts â—o the Beast large Volumes of histories to shew the accomplishment of this Prophecy might easily be written by me or any other who had leasure and skill to collect and sum up what is upon record in those Kingdoms here intended And besides they give away or deliver up their Authority for so I render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so it is rendred in Rev. 13.2 This signifies the Civil Power and in the 17. verse of this chapter it is their Kingdom so they part with all to the Beast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they give all up as men do when they pass away their Lands under hand and seal they were their own Kingdoms which they gave away but it may be asked what folly was this I answer it was not folly in their opinion all was for the good of the Catholick Church the Spouse of Christ this was suggested and they beleeved it whereas in truth these Kings fel in league with this beautiful bold Strumpet and committed fornication with her and so being intangled in her love did not regard what costs they were at to satisfie their lusts but bestowed all they had upon the beast that carried her and all for this drunken Harlots sake and for her use Indeed it is wonderful to read and to consider how the Kings of the earth have committed fornication with that great whore of Babylon and how the Nations also have been made drunk with the impoysoned intexicating wine of her fornications for they did always follow the examples of their Kings or chief Rulers Regis ad exemplum and how the Merchants of the earth have waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies Now then in the name of the Lord let this Question be asked shall not the Ministers of the Gospel in opening and applying the Scriptures which concern this matter indeavor by all means to break the league betwixt this whorish woman and her Lovers or Paramors these Kings of the earth Is it not their duty and office to recover the Nations from their drunkenness who dare forbid the true Ministers of Christ to intermeddle in those Affairs of State which are managed for the interest of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters I declare it before the world we will meddle with them more and more as we grow and increase in the knowledge and understanding of those Oracles and Prophecies which concern the ten Horns And whether I live or die let the present and approaching Generation know that the Ministers of the Gospel shall be imployed by their Lord the Prince of the Kings of the earth as some of his principal instruments to pluck up pull down and break in peeces the governments of the Nations for Antichrist is got into the bowels foundations establishments of their powers and it is our business it is our proper work as you heard to seek him out and reveal him in the sight of all the Nations of the earth These Pastors and Teachers in regard their flocks are to be used in the destroying of the Babylonish Strumpet must search every cranny as the Doctor speaketh they shall to this end be indued with such power and with such a Spirit from on high as that in a sense and in a degree they shall be as exact accurat and curious as the Jews use to be in seeking and searching every hole corner and cranny of their houses for the finding and purging out of the leavened bread according to that command of God Exod. 3.7 There shall no leavened bread be seen with thee neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters The manner of doing this is set down at large by Writers what care and industry was used to clear their houses of the leaven aforesaid And as Paul exhorted the Church of Corinth to purge out the old leaven that they might be a new lump So shall the Ministers of Christ ere long call upon the Nations and Statesmen therein to purge out the old leaven of Antichristianism yea all the old leaven and the new leaven and as the Prophet Jeremiah saith there must not be left