to the great Commandment Exod. 20.3 Thou shalt have no other Gods before me For this is to make and have a multitude of Gods before him And saith Moses Deut. 11.28 And a Curse if ye will not obey the Commandments of the Lord your God but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day to go after other Gods which ye have not known And Deut. 28.14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day to the right hand or to the left to go after other Gods to serve them But here is a new Breed of God's brought up and which is a deplorable thing by such as pretend to be the Disciples of the blessed Jesus who came to teach us to worship and serve God alone in spirit and truth God hath declared that he will not give his glory to another Isa 42.8 And therefore we must not give his Glory and sacred Rights to the consecrated Elements in the Lord's Supper Our blessed Saviour hath told us that we must worship and serve God only in a Religious manner Matt. 4.10 and Luk. 4.8 And therefore we must be careful to keep this great Commandment and not be so profane as to fall down and worship the bread that we eat St. Paul chargeth this upon the Heathen as a grievous Crime Rom. 1.25 That they changed the truth of God into a lye and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever Amen And we must not now run into the like Crime when we have so clear a Light shining before us For if we do we shall be greater sinners in so doing than the Heathens were By these and many other places we may see that this is contrary to the blessed Word of God and gross Idolatry to fall down and worship the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament and to make Idols of them From all such Idols must we keep our selves as St. John hath commanded us 1 Joh. 5.21 if we would not have our part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone wherein we are told that Idolaters shall have their part Rev. 21.8 IX Their pretending to sacrifice and offer up Christ to God the Father for the Quick and Dead is not agreeable to the sacred Word of God We are taught in the sacred Scriptures That Christ hath offered up himself once for all and hath purchased Eternal Redemption for us and that there is no need that he should be offered up again for our Salvation Heb. 9.12 saith the Apostle But by his own blood he entred in once into the holy place having obtained Eternal Redemption for us And ver 25 26. Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high Priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself And ver 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many Christ was not to offer himself often as the high Priest offered every year but one offering was sufficient and by it hath he put away our sins and obtained eternal Redemption for us and there is no more need of his suffering again And saith the Apostle Heb. 10.10 By the which Will we are sanctified thro' the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all And ver 12. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God And ver 14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified By one offering hath our Saviour perfected and compleated his work of our Redemption and there is now no more need of his being offered again and it is but a vain thing to pretend to more offerings of him and to pretend that the Bread is his real Body We are taught that Christ is to dye no more and therefore he cannot be sacrificed and offered up to God the Father in the Mass-service Rom. 6.9 10 saith the Apostle Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him For in that he dyed he dyed unto sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God Christ we see is no more to dye and return under the power and dominion of death again and therefore it is a great piece of vanity and wickedness to pretend to sacrifice and offer him up to God the Father for the sins of men We are redeemed with the precious Blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 and without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins Heb. 9.22 And how then can the Mass-sacrifices signify any thing It was a very sinful Crime in those that put the Son of God to death And how then can it be deemed an acceptable service to God in those that pretend to act it over again This is a grand piece of impiety for men to pretend that they have such Power over the blessed Son of God as to sacrifice and offer him up here at their own pleasure whenas we are assured by the sacred Scriptures the word of Truth That Christ is in Heaven at the right hand of God X. Their keeping the Cup in the Sacrament from the Lay-people is not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures Our blessed Saviour gave the Cup in the Sacrament to all and commanded that all his Disciples should drink of it Matt. 26.27 And he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it Here our Saviour commandeth that all his Disciples should drink of the Cup and his Command is as positive and clear as well can be And Luk. 22.17 And he took the Cup and gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves This we see is no less to be divided among them all than the bread was And St. Mark tells us that they all drank of it Mar. 14.23 And he took the Cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them And they all drank of it This is the plain and positive Command of our Saviour that all without any exception should drink of the Cup in the Sacrament and this we see all his Disciples did And St. Paul doth plainly shew that all are to drink of it that partake of the bread 1 Cor. 11.26 For as aften as ye shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup Whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. This we see is the Apostle's command that every one after due examination should both eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup The keeping the Cup in the Sacrament from Lay-persons we see is flat contrary to the positive and express Command
the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The last generation of men shall be changed and so go strait away to meet the Lord and to Judgment and the righteous of them are then to abide with the Lord for ever and they go not to any Romish Purgatory And they prove to us that there is no necessity of any such place and that in truth and reality there is no such place at all 3. We may see that it is not our duty to pray for the dead and that our Prayers in such cases are like to avail nothing and therefore that Prayers and Masses and Absolutions for the dead are altogether vain We have no Example in the Word of God for any such practice and we may see by David's Example that we are not to pray for the dead 2 Sam. 12.23 But now he is dead saith he wherefore should I fast I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Here we see that David ceased from all religious duties upon the account of the Child as soon as he knew that he was dead and concluded that it was now to no purpose for him to Pray and Fast for it any more And saith St. Paul 1 Thess 4.13 But I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him The Apostle here forbiddeth immoderate sorrow for the dead and sheweth that good men do sleep and rest in Christ and shall be raised up again But here is not a word of Purgatory or of praying and saying Masses for the dead where the Apostle speaketh of the concerns of the dead And the Scriptures do shew that Prayers and Masses and Absolutions cannot profit the dead Psal 49.7 saith the Psalmist None of them can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him For the redemption of their soul is precious and it ceaseth for ever That he should live for ever and not see corruption And saith God Ez. 14.14 Tho' these three men Noah Daniel and Job were in it they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness saith the Lord God By these places we may see that it is very great Vanity to pretend to deliver the Souls of men in another World seeing such pious and holy men and such favourites of God were not able to effect any such deliverance in this World And the Apostle tells us plainly That every one shall bear his own burden Gal. 6.5 But to be delivered by the Services of others is not to bear ones own burden We may see that Prayers and Masses and Absolutions for the dead are very vain and that it is not our duty to pray for them 4. We may see that all men are reduced to two sorts viz. the Righteous and the Wicked That there are but two ways for them to go to happiness and to misery That the Righteous enter into a state of happiness upon their departure hence and go not into torment and punishment and that the Wicked enter into a state of misery and are never like to be released out of it And therefore that there is no such place as Purgatory where men shall be tormented for a time and afterwards released from it The sacred Scriptures do all along rank men into these two sorts of Righteous and Wicked tho' sometimes by other names as the Evil and the Good the Just and the Unjust the Saints and the Sinners the Children of God and the Children of the wicked One Believers and Infidels c. Under these two sorts doth our blessed Lord comprehend all men Matt. 5.45 That ye may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven For he maketh his sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth rain on the Just and on the Unjust that is upon all men And so Matt. 13.49 and 25.33 We may see also that there are but two States of Life which men are to enter into after death the one of joy and happiness the other of sorrow and misery Matth. 7.13 saith our Lord Enter ye in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way which leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it And Matt. 18.8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut them off and cast them from thee It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire And to this effect Mar. 9.43 And again Matt. 25.21 46. In all these and the like places we see that there are only two places and States for men to enter into after death the one of joy and happiness the other of torment and misery and that all men are like to enter into one of these two States of Life and that there is no third State and Condition for them to enter into Again we may see that the Righteous and just after their departure hence do enter into a State of Joy and Happiness and therefore that they are not tormented in Purgatory They enter then into rest as I have shewed before and therefore not into Purgatory And of Lazarus in the parable it is said that he was carried presently after death into Abraham's bosom Luk. 16.22 And it came to pass that the beggar dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom And we may be sure that Abraham the Friend of God is not in Purgatory and torments And this place sheweth as much because the rich man went to a quite different state to hell and torments and Lazarus's condition is opposed to his and he is said to be comforted and therefore certainly not in misery and torments ver 25. But Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Here we see in this parable that Lazarus was carried strait away after death into Abraham's bosom into a place of comfort and joy and that he went not into any such place as Purgatory And hereby are we instructed that all righteous men shall be conveyed as soon as they are dead to a place of comfort and joy And our blessed Lord commended his spirit into the hands of God the Father when he was expiring upon the Cross Luk. 23.46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said Father into thy hands I commend my spirit and
having said thus he gave up the ghost He commended his spirit into the hands of God the Father and thither certainly it went And by this example of the Captain of our Salvation are we taught to do the like and to commend our souls at the hour of death into the hands of Almighty God and may be sure that all righteous mens souls go thither and not into Purgatory And St. Stephen commended his spirit to our blessed Lord. Acts 7.59 And they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit Into the hands of our blessed Lord did he commend his spirit and there is no doubt but that thither it went even to our blessed Lord where he saw him standing at the right hand of God ver 56 and not into any Purgatory And St. Paul concluded that he should be with Christ as soon as he was dead and Christ is at the right hand of God as the sacred Scriptures testifie 2 Cor. 5.8 We are confident I say saith he and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. And Phil. 1.23 For I am in a strait betwixt two saith he having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better He concluded that when he departed hence he should be with Christ And Christ is at the right hand of God as these places shew Rom. 8.34 Ephes 1.20 Col. 3.1 St Paul doth plainly shew that righteous men go to Heaven as soon as they dye and depart hence and that they go not to any such place as Purgatory And as for Elijah we are told that he went body and soul strait away to Heaven 2 King 2.11 And it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into Heaven Here we plainly see that Elijah was carried strait away by this whirlwind into Heaven both body and soul and went not to be purified first in any Romish Purgatory We read also of Enoch that God took him Gen. 5.24 And this doth shew that God took him to himself and that he sent him not to any Romish Purgatoy And we may see that the Penitent Thief went immediatly into the Paradise of God Luk. 23.42 And he said unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom And Jesus said unto him verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The Penitent Thief was immediately after his death to be with our blessed Lord and therefore not in any Purgatory but in the Paradise of Heaven a place of joy and happiness 2 Cor. 12.2 It is clear that righteous men immediately after death go to a place of joy and happiness and are not to be tormented in any Purgatory And as for the Wicked they are like to go to Hell a place of torment and misery and are not like to be released from thence at all This is shewed by the Parable of the Rich man that the Wicked immediately after death go to Hell and are like to abide there for ever Luk. 16.22 The rich man also died and was buried and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments Here we see that he went presently to Hell a place of torments And he could obtain no ease nor comfort and no release from this place Ver. 24 And he cried and said Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame But Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented And besides all this between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence Here it is plain that he could obtain no ease nor comfort and that this small request would not be granted him And by the Gulf here Abraham sheweth that it was not in his power to help and relieve him and that his condition was not to be altered And in the verses following he desireth that his Brethren at his Father's house might be warned to take care in time that they came not into this place of torment but he doth not desire that they or any persons else upon earth should pray for him For if it were not in Abraham's power to help him much less in theirs And it doth appear that the torments of Hell are everlasting and that there is no help for men when they are there Matt. 18.8 saith our Saviour Than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire And Matt. 25.41 Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire And ver 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment And Mar. 9.43 Than having two hands to go into Hell into the fire that never shall be quenched where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched And Rev. 14 11. saith St. John And the smoak of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever And they have no rest day nor night who worship the Beast and his Image And Rev. 20.10 And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the Beast and the false Prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever By these and such places it doth appear that the Wicked are like to be tormented in Hell for ever and are not to be released from thence And that all Prayers and Masses and Papal Absolutions will signifie nothing at all to them and cannot deliver them from thence And now seeing all men are ranked under these two sorts of Righteous and Wicked seeing there are but two places and states to go to after death viz. Heaven and Hell seeing the Righteous after death upon their departure hence go into Heaven a place of joy and happiness and the Wicked go to Hell where they are to abide for ever and from whence they cannot be delivered It is from hence also manifest that there is no such place as the Romish Purgatory and that it is a meer fiction and sinful delusion It it clear that the Doctrine and Practice of the Romish Church concerning Purgatory are not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures and that a multitude of places therein do bear testimony against them XIII Their selling of Pardons and Indulgences for Money is not agreeable to the blessed Word of God The sacred Scriptures do shew that there is no Pardon to be had for mens sins except they repent of them and forsake them and become new and reformed men And
any thing out of the sacred Oracles to countervail what is said of it Again we may see that it is an impossible thing for one spiritual Pastor to superintend and overlook the Affairs of the whole Church and to do it in such a Christian manner as it ought to be done There is no more likelihood that one Bishop should Rule and see to the whole Church than that one Temporal Prince should govern the whole World which hath never yet been done since it hath been overspread with Inhabitants It is altogether impossible for one Pastor to take Care of the Church that is scattered into the four quarters of the Earth and to administer Assistance to places a thousand or perhaps four or six thousand miles from him To such he can be nothing but an Inutile Pondus and hinder them of that speedier Help and Succour which otherwise they might have by having Pastors of their own that could act without waiting for his tedious Commissions And it is clear that particular and National Churches had Power to govern themselves without any dependance at all upon the Church of Rome The Epistles to the Corinthians do shew that they had Power to govern their own Church according to St. Paul's Direrections and Commands 1 Cor. 5.12 Do not ye judge them that are within saith the Apostle And by the Power of Christ were they to deliver over the Incestuous Person to Satan ver 4 5 In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ saith St. Paul when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus In this weighty Matter which was to be done in such a solemn manner there was no need of any Authority from St. Peter or Rome but they might act of themselves with the Power of Christ And saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently and in order By this Chapter and other places in his Epistles to the Corinthians we may clearly see that St. Paul doth give them full Power to govern and rule their own Church without any dependance at all upon Rome or any other Church And the Epistles to Timothy and Titus do plainly shew that they had Power to do so too And our Lord as I have shewed before hath expresly declared that no one of his Disciples should Lord it over the rest as the Kings of the Gentiles did Matt. 20.25 And this plainly shews that all the Pretences of the Roman Church of this kind are vain and groundless and not at all consistent with the Gospel of Christ But farther It is our Lord's Prerogative and Peculiar to be the Chief Shepherd and the Universal Head of all the Church and those that do assume such a Title invade his Prerogative and Right This the Apostles shews that our blessed Saviour Christ is the Supreme Head of the Church and the Chief Shepherd thereof Ephes 1.20 Which he wrought in Christ saith the Apostle when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all Principality and Power And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is his Body And saith he Ephes 5.23 For the husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church And again Col. 1.18 And he is the Head of the Body the Church who is the beginning the First-born from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence And St. Peter sheweth that Christ is the Chief Shepherd 1 Pet. 5.4 And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear saith he ye shall receive a Crown of glory that fadeth not away And he tells the dispersed Jews to whom he wrote that they ought not to Lord it over God's Heritage ver 3. Neither as being Lords over God's heritage but being ensamples to the flock We see that no Bishops are to Domineer over the Church and that it is our Lord 's Right and Peculiar to be the Head and chief Shepherd of the Church and that no one ought to invade this Right and Prerogative of his And no one ought to be forward to give such Supremacy and Preeminence to any earthly Bishop and think it a light thing to do so Lastly Those that keep not the Doctrine of the Gospel pure and uncorrupt but fall to gross Errors and Heresies can be no true Governors of the Church at all much less the supreme Governors thereof This the sacred Scriptures plainly shew A Bishop must be blameless saith St. Paul Tit. 1 7-9 as the Steward of God Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers And such men as act flat contrary to the Gospel of Christ do make void their Authority Matt. 5.19 saith our blessed Saviour Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven And Joh. 15.6 If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned No one must pretend to be a Pastor under our blessed Lord that doth not carefully observe his Doctrine and Commands but must then expect to be cast out like a withered branch that is to be cast into the fire and burned And St. Paul sheweth that an Apostle or an Angel that should pretend to come from Heaven which should preach contrary to the Doctrine of the Gospel is not to be heard and heeded but to be accounted accursed Gal. 1.8 But tho' we saith he or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be Accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed But it is plain by these Papers that Popery is another Gospel in that they make the Pope the supreme Head of the Church and allow him a Power to over-rule and disannul the sacred Commands of our blessed Lord at his own pleasure and to set up his own Commands in the room of them And how can the Bishops of Rome then that establish another Gospel and whom the Apostle here pronounceth accursed for so doing How can they I say be any Pastors at all of Christ's Church And what good Christian then that is zealous for our blessed Lord and his sacred Commandments can comply in such a sinful Religion as Popery is And saith St. John 2 Joh. 9 Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God If there come any unto you and bring not this Doctrine receive him not
see is flat contrary to the express Word of God In these matters concerning Marriages it is clear that their Practice is not agreeable to the sacred Word of God XII Their Doctrine of Purgatory and their Masses and Prayers and Absolutions for the delivering of men from thence are not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures And first we may see that the places alledged to prove these will prove no such thing Our Saviour hath told us Matt. 12.32 That whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world or age neither in the world or age to come But this place doth not prove that any sins shall be forgiven in another world which are not forgiven in this This only shows that no pardon at all was to be granted to this sin And so it is explained in St. Mar. 3.29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal Damnation This place in St. Matthew is clearly explained to us by the Spirit of God how we are to understand it and nothing like Purgatory we see can be drawn from it And we may see that such expressions as these in the Scriptures prove nothing at all to this purpose Our Saviour saith concerning the man that was born blind Joh. 9.3 Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents But this is no proof that other men do sin before they are born into the World Nor does this place prove that sins shall be forgiven in another world which are not forgiven in this And if some sins were to be forgiven in another World that would belong to God and men here upon earth have nothing to do to order the affairs of the World to come and are in ignorance as concerning the State and Condition of the greatest part of particular men tho' something may be known concerning a few And great arrogancy and vanity it is for men here to pretend to order the affairs of the World to come and another life Again saith our Saviour Matt. 5.25 26 Agree with thine Adversary quickly whilest thou art in the way with him lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge and the judge deliver thee to the officer and thou be cast into prison Verily I say unto thee thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Here our blessed Saviour doth exhort and persuade men to repent and amend their lives and to make satisfaction for all the Injuries and Wrongs that they have done to others while it may be done here in this World and lets them know that if they do not take this wise course to make satisfaction now they shall hereafter be dealt with with great rigor and severity like one that suffers the extremity of the Law and is not released from prison till he hath paid the uttermost farthing that was due from him These words till thou hast paid do not prove that such an one shall be released but are rather to be understood of lying in hell for ever But here is nothing like Purgatory and no proof that men shall be delivered from thence by Absolutions and Prayers and Masses c But this place instead of proving of Purgatory is a strong argument to prove that there is no such place For here we see that our Saviour doth exhort men to take such a course in due time that they may not be cast into prison and if they will be wise betimes and take care he sheweth that men may escape this prison and not come into it at all And when men are cast into this prison he doth plainly affirm that they cannot be discharged from thence by Absolutions nor be begged and bought out thence by Prayers and Masses c. Again we read of the Holy Jerusalem Rev. 21.27 That there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth But this is no proof at all that men must be purged in Purgatory after death And the Word of God doth plainly teach us that we are to be purged and cleansed other ways We are cleansed and sanctified by Baptism by the Word and Spirit of God and by the blood of Christ and not by Purgatory after death 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are washed saith St. Paul but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God And saith our Saviour Joh. 15.3 Now ye are clean thro' the Word which I have spoken unto you And Ephes 5.25 saith the Apostle Even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish And saith St. John 1 Joh. 1.7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin Here we see how men are cleansed and purified and made fit to enter into the Holy Jerusalem And here we see that there is no need of Purgatory and that men are not cleansed and purified this way but that they are purified by the Ordinances of Christ by repentance and forsaking of their sins and evil ways by being baptized into the Christian Religion and living of holy and innocent lives according to the Doctrine and Commands thereof and by the precious blood of Christ and by the Holy Spirit of God These Texts of Scripture do plainly prove to us that there is no such place as Purgatory because there is no need of it and men are not cleansed and purified by it but are purified by other ways and means Nothing like Purgatory can be gathered from this place in the Revelation chap. 21. ver 27. Again saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 3.18 19 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the Spirit By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison And these Spirits the Papists would have to be in Purgatory and that Christ by his Spirit went to preach to them But this will prove nothing to their purpose For these are those sinful Wretches that were disobedient in the days of Noah and then it was that Christ preached to them by his Spirit in Noah and the righteous men in those days And thus saith St. Peter ver 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison Which some time were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing And while the long-suffering of God waited for their repentance in the days of Noah then it was that Christ preached to them by his
he might have an opportunity of doing an act of mercy and kindness to him even at that time when he came to apprehend our Lord and to take him away to be crucified And he cured his ear again that no one might have any just cause to complain that any injury or wrong was done to him by Christ or his Disciples And when his Disciples would have called for fire to come down upon the Samaritans as Elias did because the Samaritans would not entertain them perceiving that they were Jews he rebuked them and told them that he was not come to destroy mens Lives but to save them Luk. 9.54 And when his disciples James and John saw this they said Lord wilt thou that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them even as Elias did But he turned and rebuked them and said ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of For the Son of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them And from hence it is plain that the Disciples of the blessed Jesus ought not to destroy mens lives but to do what they well can to save them Ananias indeed and Sapphira his Wife were stricken dead upon St. Peter's admonition of them Acts 5.1 But this seems to be done by the immediate power of God and St. Peter caused no violent hand to be laid upon them And this was for a very great Crime for lying to the Holy Ghost and to God And such sins against the Holy Ghost men are not now well capable of committing except God should now vouchsafe such evidence and demonstration of the Holy Spirit as was then which is not to be expected This place cannot be any encouragement at all now to Cruelty and Bloodshed Elymas for his wickedness was stricken blind upon St. Paul's words Acts 13.11 But this seems also to be done by the immediate power of God and it is probable that he had still time to repent and God might thus afflict him that he might be brought to repentance hereby if he would St. Paul ordered that the incostruous Person at Corinth should be delivered to Satan 1 Cor. 5.5 But this was for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus That by such chastisement he might be brought to repentance and so be saved He also delivered Hymeneus and Alexander to Satan 1 Tim. 1.20 But it was that they might learn not to blaspheme He ordered also that an heretick after the first and second admonition should be rejected Tit. 3.10 But gave Titus no command to put him to death And our blessed Saviour commanded his Apostles when he sent them forth to be harmless like Doves Matt. 10.16 Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of Wolves be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves Our blessed Lord and his Apostles practiced nothing like this bloody Cruelty and he commanded his Apostles the quite contrary and shews that he came into the World upon no such design but for a quite contrary end And the Gospel is full of Precepts commanding the highest charity and love and goodness that can be to all men even to our enemies Matt. 5.44 saith our Saviour But I say unto you Love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despightfully use you and persecute you That ye may be the Children of your Father which is in heaven for he maketh his sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust And to this purpose Luk. 6.27 This universal love and charity are we to exercise that we may be the Children of God and imitate his universal love and kindness and if we do not so we shall not approve our selves to be the true Children of God And saith St. Paul Rom. 12.14 Bless them which persecute you bless and curse not And ver 20 Therefore if thine Enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good And saith he Gal. 5.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith or faithfulness meekness temperance These are the works of the good Spirit of God and not Bloodshed and Cruelty And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.22 See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently And 1 Pet. 2.15 For so is the will of God that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men This and not the Sword and Rack and Fire is the way that he prescribes to silence the ignorance of the foolish And 1 Pet. 4.8 And above all things saith he have fervent charity among your selves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins This fervent and universal love and charity doth the Gospel require And so far ought we to be from malice and cruelty towards others that we should rather be ready to lay down our own Lives for them when it is likely to be beneficial to them as St. John shews 1 Job 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God saith he because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren And so far is the Gospel of Christ from tolerating and giving any encouragement to such bloody Cruelty and merciless Practices that it flatly declares that Murderers shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven but that they are like to perish eternally and to go to their Father the Devil that was a Murderer from the beginning as our Saviour saith Joh. 8.44 That such are not to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven St. Paul shews Gal. 5.19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest saith he which are these Adultery fornication Envyings murders drunkenness revelling and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And saith St. John 1 Joh. 3.15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer and ye know that no murderer hath eternal Life abiding in him For Envy and Hatred and Murder especially are men to be shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven And saith St. John Rev. 21.8 But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Such bloody Murders and merciless Cruelties as are committed by the Romish Church are thus severely threatned in the Gospel and it Cries out aloud against them as directly contrary to it We are to lead holy and innocent Lives and to take great care that we do not cause the Christian Religion to be evil spoken of among Unbelievers Rom. 2.24 1 Tim. 6.1 Tit. 2.5 But such wicked and hellish Practices are the ready way to
Matt. 15.14 Let them alone saith our Lord they be blind leaders of the blind And if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch With blind Guides we see we may go to the Pit of Destruction And what will it profit us to have their company there to encrease our sorrow that we were so miserably deluded by them The Prophet that came to Bethel was slain by a Lion for returning back contrary to the Word of the Lord and yet the Prophet that brought him back pretended that he had an express Order from God to bring him back again 1 King 13.15 But notwithstanding this he was slain for his Disobedience So dangerous a thing we see it is for men to go contrary to the sacred Word of God through the vain persuasions of deluding men And Ahab perished and lost his life at Ramoth Gilead notwithstanding his false Prophets bid him go and prosper 1 Kin. 22. This Practice of the Romish Church to require poor Souls to believe what they please without any ground out of the Word of God is not agreeable with the sacred Scriptures we see and is fit for none but such as have abandoned and cast off all care of their Immortal Souls and are altogether regardless what becomes of them in another World Their keeping the sacred Scriptures in an unknown Tongue from the common People that they may not read them and practise the things therein contained And their imposing a blind Belief upon their Proselytes and Members requiring them to believe without Ground and Examination are both we see flat contrary to the blessed Word God and very sinful IV. Their performing their Worship and Divine Service in an unknown Tongue which the common People do not understand is not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures Such blind Service and Devotion is not fit for Men that are endowed with Reason and Understanding to use towards Almighty God who are to serve him with a reasonable and hearty Service And such vain Service and Babbling is not agreeable to the Word of God Eccl. 5.1 saith the Preacher Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil And sure to serve God with such a blind Worship and Service can be no better than the sacrifice of Fools when Men neither consider nor so much as understand whether the things which they utter or join in are good or evil We are to serve God in Spirit as our Lord hath taught us Jo. 4.24 God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth But this can be no spiritual service sure when Men neither regard nor understand what they say or say Amen to This can be no better than pure Lip-service if it may be allowed to be so much which God complaineth of as a thing not pleasing and acceptable to him without the heart Matt. 15.7 8 saith our Saviour Ye hypocrites well did Esaias prophesie of you saying This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me And this is all that such blind Devotions can arrive to viz. to honour God with Lip and Mouth if they do so much And our Prayers and Devotions are to have a good influence upon our selves and to work good upon us That when we beg pardon for our sins we thereby should be made more sensible of our own vileness and unworthiness and the hainousness of our sins that we may be the more deterred from committing the like That in deprecating of Evil and praying for Good we may be made the more sensible of our own needs and wants and of the tender love and care and Fatherly affection that God hath for us and that he is full of Mercy and prone and forward both to give and forgive and that we by his example should be drawn to do the like And that in returning him Praise and Thanksgiving we might see how infinitely we are bound and obliged to him and thereby be moved to a greater sense of gratitude and to have our hearts more inflamed with love towards him again But such blind Devotions as are used in the Popish Church cannot well have such good influences upon our selves nor be so beneficial for the bettering of our Lives A devout performing of our Services to God with the heart and understanding will tend much to the working of good motions and desires and affections in us but such cannot well be affected by such a blind way of Worship God is to be loved with all the heart and mind and understanding Matt. 22.37 And so we may be sure that he is to be worshipped and served and not in such a manner as the Papists make the common People to worship him in an unknown Tongue which they understand not And this is clearly against the Doctrine of St. Paul to use an unknown Tongue in the worship of God which the common People understand not This he sheweth ought not to be done 1 Cor. 14.2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue saith he speaketh not unto men but unto God for no man understandeth him This he sheweth to be of no use to Men when they understand not the Language And ver 7 And even things without life giving sound whether pipe or harp except they give a distinction in the sounds how shall it be known what is piped or harped For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare himself to the battel So likewise you except ye utter by the tongue words easie to be understood how shall it be known what is spoken There is an absolute necessity that what is spoken in the Congregation should be understood of the People And ver 11. Therefore saith he if I know not the meaning of the voice I shall be unto him that speaketh a Barbarian and he that speaketh shall be a Barbarian unto me Here the Apostle sheweth how useless and insignificant a strange Tongue is to such as understand it not and that there can be no communion in such a case And ver 14 15. For if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitful What is it then I will pray with spirit and I will pray with the understanding also I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also The Spirit of him that prayeth in a strange Tongue may be well affected but the Understanding will be altogether unfruitful and to such as understand him not the speaker will be but a Barbarian and they will not know whether he blesseth or curseth And we are to worship and serve God with all the powers and faculties of our Souls and this we cannot do in an unknown Tongue Ver. 16. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit how shall he that occupieth the room of
And the Prophet Isaiah having set forth the great Majesty of Almighty God in a high and lofty manner asketh to whom he may be compared and sheweth that Images cannot represent him Isa 40.15 Behold the Nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the ballances behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering All Nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity To whom then will ye liken God Or what likeness will ye compare unto him The workman melteth a graven Image and the Goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold But saith he ver 21 Have ye not known It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth and the Inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers that stretcheth out the Heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in That bringeth the Princes to nothing he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity To whom then will ye liken me or shall I be equal saith the holy One God is cloathed with Honor and Majesty and covered with inaccessible Light and is an invisible Being that cannot be beheld with mortal eyes Psal 104.1 1 Tim. 6.16 And how then shall he be represented by sordid Images that are much more base and vile than our selves These we see would be a great reproach to Almighty God and highly injurious to him and therefore are by no means to be used And our blessed Saviour is to be worshipped as he is God and therefore no Image can be made to represent him And his body too is now glorified and spiritualized and not to be represented by an earthly Image And the Saints departed are either separated Spirits or else have their bodies glorified and made incorruptible and therefore cannot in any meet manner be represented by a dead and senseless Image and they are not to be worshipped themselves and much less their Images We are strictly commanded not to bow down to any Images or Similitudes whatsoever nor to perform any other Religious Worship and Service to them such as the building of Temples and rearing up of Altars to them the lighting of candles or lamps before them in a Religious way the making of Prayers or Religious Addresses to them and returning them Praise the offering of Sacrifices and burning of Incense to them the making of Vows to them or swearing by them the shewing of any reverential fear towards them and placing any trust and confidence in them the performing of any such Religious Service towards them or joyning with those that do so is clearly forbidden by the sacred Word of God And the worshipping of Images and all such Idolatry is as well forbidden by the New Testament as the Old Our blessed Saviour hath taught us in his answer to the Devil that God alone is to be worshipped and served Matt. 4.10 For it is written saith he Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve And saith St. James concerning the Gentiles Act. 15.20 But that we write unto them that they abstain from Pollutions of Idols And ver 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to Idols And saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.7 Neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them And ver 14. Wherefore my dearly beloved flee from Idolatry St. Peter also shews Idolatry to be a grievous Crime 1 Pet. 4.3 And saith St. John 1 Joh. 5.21 Little Children keep your selves from Idols Amen Idolatry we see is strictly forbidden by the New Testament as well as the Old And it is plain by the sacred Scriptures all along that Images that are made for worship are Idols and that the worshipping of them is Idolatry Psal 115.4 saith the Psalmist Their Idols are silver and gold the work of mens hands They have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not We may plainly see that these Idols were Images And so again Psal 135.15 And saith St. John Rev. 9.20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship Devils and Idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and of wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk And this place as Dr. More sheweth respecteth the Romish Church it self It is evident from all these places and many more that the worshipping of Images and such Idols is a very sinful thing Again we may see that God commanded that the Worshippers of other Gods should be put to death as not fit to live any longer and to deter all others from the committing of such gross and notorious Impiety And such Gods were for the most part Images and such Idols That man or woman that had gone and served other Gods was to be stoned to death Deut. 17.2 And that Prophet or Friend or Relation that went about to draw them to serve other Gods was to be put to death Deut. 13 1-5 And that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God And ver 6 If thy brother the son of thy mother or thy son or thy daughter or the wife of thy bosom or thy friend which is as thine own soul entice thee secretly saying Let us go and serve other Gods which thou hast not known Thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him neither shall thine eye pity him neither shalt thou spare neither shalt thou conceal him But thou shalt surely kill him Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death and afterwards the hand of all the people And thou shalt stone him with stones that he dye And the City that fell to Idolatry was to be destroyed ver 12. If thou shalt hear say in one of thy Cities saying Certain men the Children of Belial are gone out from among you and have withdrawn the Inhabitants of their City saying Let us go and serve other Gods which ye have not known Thou shalt surely smite the Inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof and shalt burn with fire the city and all the spoil thereof Idolaters are here called the Children of Belial and were all to be put to death for committing such abominable wickedness and to deter and fright others from committing the like and their City and Goods were to be burnt as accursed things so detestable is this sin to Almighty God And such as we may plainly see is all Image-worship Again we may see that God commanded that all Images as well as all other Idolatrous worship should be destroyed And the Jews were strictly commanded to do this Exod. 23.24 But thou shalt utterly overthrow them and quite break down their Images
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