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A81088 A vvord in season to the kingdom of England. Or, A precious cordiall for a distempered kingdom. Wherein are laid down things profitable, and usefull for all, and offensive to none that love the truth and peace. / By the meanest of the servants of Jesus Christ, M. Cary. Cary, Mary. 1647 (1647) Wing C739; Thomason E393_26; ESTC R201606 11,809 16

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c. To this purpose there are severall other passages in Ezekiel and other of the Prophets And the Apostle Peter speaking of false Teachers that shall be among the people sayes he They shall bring upon themselves swift destruction for their Judgement lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not 2 Pet. 2.2 3 And saies Paul If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha I could desire if there were any rule clearly revealed for it that the civill Magistrate might so restrain them as they might not speak a word to any man all their daies but seeing not how far the Civil Magistrate hath a sure rule for this I turn this desire into a prayer to the great Magistrate of the whole world the great God humbly desiring that he would make all his implacable enemies as a wheel and as stubble before the winde and that he would so giude the civill Magistrate in all his affairs that under him all the Saints of God may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty So much in answer to that Objection but seeing it is presented as the way to happiness to protect from all wrong and violence the Saints of Jesus Christ and to beware of imprisoning or banishing of them least the Kingdom come to ruine it may be quaeried who are those Saints of Iesus Christ that are unto him as the Apple of his eye c. I answer they are not confin'd to any particular society of men that are distinguished by such or such a title as Presbyterians Anabaptists Independents Seekers c. and therefore cannot be defined by any such title as to say only such as are Presbyterians are the Saints of Iesus Christ or only such as are Anabaptists are the Saints of Iesus Christ c. Nor are they all Saints that are distinguished by any of these titles for many that profess themselves to be for the Presbyterian way are very scandalous persons and the Author of the Gangraena might have had as plentifull instances of scandalous persons among those as any of the rest and that upon as unquestionable evidences had he dealt impartially in that work and many of the way called Independencie have been very scandalous also and so of the rest and yet among all these which have severall titles there are undoubtedly many reall Saints so that we cannot say such a one is not a Saint because he is not a Presbyterian an Independent or an Anabaptist c. But who are Saints and who are not is most visible to him that knoweth all things But if you would be sure to deal well with all the Saints of Iesus Christ then deal well with all them that do hold the head do acknowledge God the Father to be true God and Jesus Christ to be the son of God the brightness of his glory and the express Image of his person and that this Iesus Christ is the Saviour Redeemer and the Justifier of all that truly beleeve on his name and that there is no other name under heaven whereby men may be saved but by this Jesus and that he is the great King Priest and Prophet of his people and that from the Father and the Son proceedeth the holy spirit which teacheth comforteth sanctifieth the Saints I say if a man do acknowledge these things which are the foundations upon which Christ hath built his Church and if his walking be not scandalous whatsoever such a mans judgement may be in circumstantiall things if any one should condemn such in so doing he might condemn those whom God hath justified and offend the generation of his children But all those that so acknowledge the true foundation which is the foundation of all the Apostles and Prophets ought by you to be protected and not to be deprived of their liberties and priviledges as they are subjects whatsoever their judgements be in circumstantials but if any of these offend in being drunkards swearers whoremongers c let them suffer according to the fact but as long as they walk holily in their lives beware how you fall upon them least they prove a burthensom stone unto you and in falling upon them you be broken in peices But if as God forbid the civill Magistrate should be so far perswaded by the lovers of discords and enemies of peace as to imprison punish banish or turn out of the world some of them it should do them no hurt for they should lose nothing by whatsoever they suffer but receive an hundred fold but those that do it would be in far better case if they were sufferers then Actors Nor if while it is called to day this seasonable word shall be received it may possibly prevent the breakings out of another fire of wrath which otherwise may suddenly break out upon this kingdom If now this cordiall shall be received it may allay the violence of expell that distemper which is upon this kingdom which otherwise may prove its death Now it must be first taken in by the head by those that are in highest Authority and from thence the sweet and comfortable effects of it shall descend to all the members the whole body to the strengthening and heightening of it making of it famous among all the nations Many other things might be spoken by way of motive and clearing some other objections but to an understanding people it is superfluous The things herein proposed being so clear as that few or none that love the truth and peace will or can oppose them FJNJS
be far from you so to do for then you do endeavour to quench the spirit for though you do permit some to Preach Iesus Christ yet if you do prohibit any from Preaching Jesus Christ you do quench the spirit and oppose the freeness of the spirit who is a free Agent And as the winde bloweth where it listeth though we see it not so doth the spirit and God hath not tyed himself to give out his spirit to such particular men and to no other but to whom he pleases He did not tie up the spirit of Prophesie in Law neither to the Priests and Levites nor the Prophets nor the sons of the Prophets but gave out of that spirit to Amos a Heards-man and to others much less hath he tied up the spirit of Prophesying now in the Gospel unto such and such degrees of humane learning for many learned godly Ministers have confessed that they have learned many spiriutall truths of Iesus Christ from such as have had no learning and we know that Christ passed by the learned men in that time chose illiterate men to be his Apostles Now for you to silence any that do preach Iesus Christ of what rank soever it is an endeavoring to quench the spirit which the Lord grant you may not do 3. Let it be far from you to hinder any because every tallent which the Lord Jesus hath given he requires an improvement of it to his use and it ought not to lie hid in a napkin and therefore the Apostle saies Every gift is given to profit withall 1 Cor. 12.7 Now we know what the Lord said to him that did not imploy his tallent Cast ye the unprofitable servant into utter darkness there shall he weeping and gnashing of teeth Math. 25.30 So fearfull is the doom of him that imployeth not his tallent what then will become of those that shall forbid any to imploy their tallents But O be you wise and as you are Ordained of God to be as for the punishment of evill doers so for the praise of them that do well so manifest your selves to be 4. Do not you enact any law against any Saints exercising the gifts of the spirit that are given to them in Preaching or prophesying because the Lord hath promised in the latter dayes to power out his spirit more abundantly upon all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions Joel 2.28 and the time of the accomplishing of this promise more fully is neer at hand for the totall overthrow of Antichrist and his finall ruin shall suddnely be And then the everlasting Gospel shall be preached unto all nations and kindreds and tongues and people and can any think that at that time the Lord will call forth none to this worke but those that have taken such and such degrees in the Schooles Now what a sad thing would it be if when God shall call forth some of his people to this great worke any humane power should stand in opposition to it and say such and such men shall not do such a work 5. Let it be far from you to forbid any man to preach the word of the Lord because his word doth good it is strong and powerfull in confirming and comforting those that are called convincing and converting those that are uncalled to make a people a holy and peculiar people to the Lord you may see the force of this argument in taking a view of a passage in the Prophet Micah Mic 2.6 7 8. In the 6. ver we finde the Lord complaining against the people in these words Prophesie ye not say they to them that prophesie In the 7. ver The Lord is speaking thus O thou that art named by the house of Iacob is the spirit of the Lord straitned are these his doing do not my words do good to them that walke uprightly As if the Lord had said art thou the people that art named by the house of Iacob and dost thou say unto my Prophets prophesie ye not Thou shouldest have delighted in the words of the Prophets for the house of Iacob have had experience that my words do good and yet is the spirit of the Lord straitned by you and silence you it in my Prophets Well what was the issue of this you shall see in the following verse and thus it was My people are risen up as an enemie ye put off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely When the Prophets are forbidden to prophesie and the word of the Lord is not preached among the people then iniquity abounds and the people perish for want of knowledge then every one doth that which his vaine heart leads him unto But the word of the Lord converts the soule Psa 19.7 And the truths of God sanctifie the unholy John 17.17 and the word of God does good to them that walke uprightly Mic. 2.6 Lastly though there be many precious men abroad that by your permission do preach the word yet they are few in respect of the multitudes of people in the kingdome that have none to preach unto them and that cry for bread but cannot have it O therefore let it be far from you to stop the mouthes of any godly men that have the gifts of speaking to edification exhortation and consolation and though they have not all taken degrees in the schooles of men yet if they have been good proficients in the schoole of Christ if they be experienced Christians let them be protected by your authoritie in discharging their dutie in improving their talents to their Masters use and the kingdomes good for the harvest is great but the labourers are few therefore let not the labourers that God hath sent forth be forbidden to worke in the Lords Vineyard least the blood of those that perish be charged upon those that hinder these labourers But it may be objected it is a truth indeed that all Saints ought to covet the gift of prophesie and secondly it is an evill to quench the spirit and 3 all ought to improve their talents and 4 the abundant pourings out of the spirit are promised and 5 the word of the Lord doth good and 6 the labourers are few and in these considerations it were a sad thing to silence those that are sent forth by Jesus Christ furnished with the gifts of the spirit for to preach the Gospel But if they should be permitted to preach without ordination who cannot submit unto it by reason of scruples though they are really Godly able men then many that are erroneous persons erre grosly even in fundamentalls would take libertie to goe and vent their errors among the people To this I answer erroneous persons are not here pleaded for but it is to be desired that their mouths were stopped but first if none should be permitted to preach but such as were ordained yet could not this hinder
erroneous persons from spreading their errors for those that hold the grossest errors are the most notorious vile persons may by making a faire compliance for the present be admitted to Ordination when afterward they may preach erroneous doctrine and prove scandalous in their lives and this is very evident and though it be a trouble to those that ordaine them yet all the wisdome of man cannot prevent it And secondly it is a frequent thing for truth to be counted error by learned men even by those that have continually studied the letter of truth it was so in our Saviours and his Apostles times The high Preists and all the Preists and Levits whose lips should preserve knowledge as the Prophet hath it and all the learned Doctors of the Law who studied it continually yet they counted the truths of Christ and his Aposties which they made evident by Moses and the Prophets to be errors Nay 3. Not only learned men but those that are learned and really Godly men may account some circumstantiall truths though not fundamentall to be errors and some errors to be truths for though all that are reall Saints are built upon one foundation have one God and father and one Lord Jesus and one faith and one spirit and one joy in that one spirit yet those that thus in the foundation agree in one may yet exceedingly differ in circumstances They did so in the Apostles time one is of Paul another of Apollo another of Cephas One eatheth flesh another who is weake eateth hearbs 1 Cor. 3.4 one observeth a day another observeth it not Rom. 14.2 and the Apostle in the 1 Cor. 3.11 12. Implies that it was possible for many errors to be built upon the true foundation which he expresses by wood hay stubble yet saies he the person shall be saved yet so as by fire and every worke which is not of Christ shall be burnt the fire of the spirit shall pass upon it and as wood hay and stubble is before the fire all combustible so shall all error be when it comes to indure the triall of the spirit but truth only shall abide the triall of the fire of the spirit Now if it were so in the Apostles times that through imperfection in knowledge there were circumstantiall errors amongst the Saints then it is no wonder if there be many more now there having been such an universall darknes spread over the world by the midnight of Poperie that hath been in the world many of the clouds where of being yet remaining over the faces of Saints Now if it be so as it is cleere that circumstantiall errors may be in men built upon the true foundation then those men that are or shall be Ordainers if they may be so called may have errours and so may account that Truth which is contrary to their errors to be error when it is the truth it self 4. I answer we all expect the breakings forth of truth more more no man can say they have yet attained to perfection Now this truth may appeare to some before it doth to others In some Circumstances it may appear to those that are commonly called Presbyterians before it doth to those that are commonly call Independents and in other Circumstances it may appear to those that are commonly called Independents before it doth to Presbyterians And shall the Presbyterians despise the Independents because God who doth what he pleases hath not given them that light which they have obtained and have the comfort of Or shall the Independents despise the Presbyterians because God hath not given them that light which he hath conferred upon them and they have the comfort of Oh no! let it be far from either of them seeing they are all built upon one foundation but let them rather seriously consider that passage of the Apostle If any man be otherwise minded God shall reveal it to such a one if one man be otherwise minded and have not received that truth that appears to thee It is not in his power of himself to receive it nor in thy power to communicate it But it is the Lord that must reveal it to him or else he shall never receive it And therefore if thou excellest thy brother in the knowledge of the truths of the Lord Jesus in Doctrine or Discipline consider who it is that hath made thee to differ What hast thou that thou hast not received and know that that God that hath communicated so graciously to thee may in his own time communicate more abundantly to thy brother and thou thy self mayest also see more hereafter then now thou doest as thou now seest more then thou hast seen and this Age sees more then the former Age. 5. We all condemn that Antichristian principle in Popery to injoyn all to beleeve as the Church beleeves that is as the Pope and his Clergie as their Lawes and Decrees and Canons required them not suffering them to search the Scriptures and to ground their faith upon it And we had indeed just cause to condemn it and to detest it for though men should teach nothing but the truth of Christ and people should receive it yet if they receive it but from men and have not the word of God and the spirit of God witnessing the truth of that which is preached unto them though they might receive the Letter of truth they yet could not receive the truth in truth and so might perish notwithstanding therefore whatsoever appears to another to be a truth yet if it doth not appear from the word to thee to be a truth thou art not to practise it And 6. I answer as for erroneous persons we ought to use no other weapons against them then what the Apostles did they preached against them held forth the truth for the conviction of them but used no other way nor did Christ nor his Apostles speak of any other way but say they the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty for if it were required that the Civill Magistrate by any power or force besides that which the Gospel allows of should go about to suppress them then might they suppress truth instead of errour The civil Magistrates being but men may judge a truth to be an errour through their imperfection in knowledge and so may commend errour instead of truth and condemn truth instead of errour 7. If there be a spirit of errour upon any and they erre in fundamentals not knowing Jesus Christ nor having received his spirit and they go forth and vent their errours after all Gospel-means used we are to leave them to the just judgement of God who hath revealed that he will inflict his Judgements upon them As Micah 3.5 6 7. Thus saith the Lord concerning the Prophets that make my people erre that bite with their teeth and cry peace and he that putteth not into their mouths they even prepare war against them Therefore night shall be upon them