obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ Therefore brethren stand fast and hold the Traditions which ye have been taught whether by Word or our Epistle 2 Thes 2. This Scripture the Papists and many others make a Cloak and a Covering for teaching their Traditions because the Apostle bids them hold fast the Traditions that they had taught them by their Gospel which in the words before he saith was to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ the which they had good reason to hold fast for if they let that go they were not like to attain to such another But there is no comparison between these and the Traditions of the Priests in the Apostacy either Papists or others for through their teaching of their Traditions they have done nothing but brought people into a body of darkness and into a heap of ignorance keeping them ignorant both of the Scriptures and all that is good For if people had but liberty to look into the Scriptures they would soon be wiser then their Teachers and see their gross darkness But they tell them they cannot understand them they must be expounded by learned men and so will not let the Light of Christ arise in Peoples hearts nor never direct their minds to it but keep them in darkness and make a Trade of the Scriptures for their own advantage and so deceive poor peoples souls And these Scriptures may serve to prove this Particular of the fourth Head which is concerning their Worship which is their matter and manner of Preaching The second particular of that head is their Prayer which is also contrary to Scripture-example they having Prayars formed and made by men as all their other Worship is and so read their Prayers in Books and set any fellow or school-boy to read it if he have but the name of Curate or Clark if he read but that in the Book they account it Praying And if any of the greater sort as Bishops Deans Vicars or Parsons if they pray they either pray in a Book or else they have a Prayer formed up and made and prepared before hand that they pray And many times they set wild and wanton Boyes with Priest and Clark and all the People to sing their Prayers and this they account and call Praying When Christ Jesus was in his Sermon in the Mount that he was teaching the People several things as was said before as concerning Alms and many other particulars in which he bad them not to do as the Pharisees did he also spake to them that they should not pray as they did for they prayed standing in the Synagogues And saith he When ye pray use not vain repetitions as the heathens do Be not ye therefore like unto them for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask After this manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven c. And so he giveth them several particular heads what they should pray for and after he had done that he rehearseth these words again If ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses Mat. 6. And again he saith unto one of his Disciples who desired him to teach them to pray He said unto them When ye stand praying forgive if ye have ought against any that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses but if you do not forgive neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses Mark 11. 25. Now how the Bishops and all their Officers which they imploy under them forgive those that trespass against them is manifested by their Courts they keep as also all the Papists Bishops Priests and Jesuites that make this Prayer be said over so often by their People how they forgive those that trespass against them is also manifested by their Inquisitions Wracks and Tortures and yet this Prayer they make their ground for all their Forms and forming up of prayers which is quite contrary to the Apostle's practice and doctrine for he saith We are saved by hope but hope that is seen that is not hope but if we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and he that searcheth the heart knoweth the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God Rom. 8. And this Spirit is he that knows the minde of Christ and the will of God and therefore the Apostle saith I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with understanding also 1 Cor. 14. For the Spirit saith he searcheth all things even the deep things of God for what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man that is in him even so the things of God knoweth no man save the Spirit of God for the natural man knoweth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him because they are spiritually discerned So how can these natural men that read a Prayer in a Book pray unto God that know not the things of God and what effect can such Prayers have Indeed David saith That the Prayers of the Righteous avail much if they be fervent But can their Prayers avail that are unrighteous and know not the things of God neither have any fervency in them But the Apostle saith We know the mind of Christ and therefore he saith Be kindly affectioned one towards another with brotherly love in honour preferring one another not slothful in business fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Rejoycing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in Prayer Rom. 12. 12. And again Peter saith As every man hath received the gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God if any man speak let him speak as the Oracles of God if any man minister let him do it as of the ability which God giveth that God in all things may be glorified 1 Pet. 4. So here is a great difference between this sort of praying that the Apostle here mentions and that which is called the Common-Prayer which indeed is common and may be common to any that have eyes and can read it as also all the Paternosters and Ave-Maries of the Papists though they call that which Christ taught his Disciples the Paternoster but he did not call it so though they patter it over and teach all People to patter it over but he did not so with those he taught it but he told them they should not use vain Repetitions nor vain bablings and he taught them in the holy Spirit of the Lord and so directed them that they might learn it in that
Spirit or else he would not have learned them to have prayed That the Will of God might be done on Earth as it was in Heaven Vain-bablers and Patterers over of many words do not the Will of God on Earth as it is in Heaven but this Prayer is abused by them all as many other places of Scripture are And this may serve for the second particular of their Worship which is Prayer The third is their Singing which indeed is more like may-gameing then worshipping of God playing and piping of Organs and setting a company of wilde ungodly light boyes to sing tunes to to them which is such a kind of Worship as no Christians in the Primitive times exercised It s true there was in Davids and Solomons dayes such as were appointed to minister in way of singing and giving thanks as David when he had brought the Ark of God and set it in the midst of his Tent which he had made for it he offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before God and he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the Ark of the Lord and to record thank and praise the Lord God of Israel Asaph the chief and next to him Zachariah Jaaziel Shemiramoth Jehiel Mattathiah Eliah Benaiah and Obed-Edom 1 Chron. 15. 16 and 27. and Jehiel with Psalteries and with Harps but Asaph made a sound with Cimbals Benaiah and also Eliezer the Priests with Trumpets continually before the Ark of the Covenant of God Then on that day David delivered first this Psalm to thank the Lord into the hands of Asaph and his brethren who were the Singers Give thanks unto the Lord call upon his Name c. Psal 105. This was upon a special occasion when the Ark of God was brought up among them And these that David committed this Psalm unto were such as were appointed of God for that Place and Office as Asaph and those that were called to that office Also Solomen had Singing-men and Singing-women Eccles 2. 8. and them of this order came with them again out of the Captivity in Babylon Ezra 2. 41. Neh. 7. 67. But these were all before Christ and why may not Christians as well imitate Circumcision Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices which were in the time of the Law as well as imitate Singing-Boyes And we do not find that any of the Apostles and Saints in the Primitive times did Sing David Psalms in Meeter and Rhime and turn his Lamentations and Groanings and Sufferings and Tears and Anguish of his Bones being burned like a Hearth and that he was as a Pelican in the Wilderness and like an Owl in the Desart when he cryed out that his heart was smitten and withered and his Prayers and Cries Psal 102. We do not find that the Apostles turned this state of weeping and lamentation of his into Rhime and Meeter and sang it But Christ and his Apostles and Christians and Saints when they sung they sang with the Spirit in prayses to the Lord and in the joy and rejoycing of the Spirit This was not to take another mans Sighs and Groanings and Lamentations and Tears and Cryes to turn this into a Song and sing it This is not the Truth neither is it the practice of the Spirit of Truth But when the Soul and the Spirit is joyful in the Lord and enjoyes his Presence and feels his Life then there is joy and honour and praises given to the Lord God in the Truth and in the Reality in his own Spirit and this glory and praises are acceptable to the Lord God And therefore doth the Apostle say I will Pray with the Spirit and with the Vnderstanding also I will Sing with the Spirit and with the Understanding also 2 Cor. 14. Yet the Apostle did not turn his praying into singing nor none that have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus to pray and sing with but when they pray they pray unto the Lord and when they sing they sing unto the Lord yet both by his own holy Spirit When Christ Jesus and his Disciples were at the Passover and that he had broken the Bread and given them the Cup of the New Testament he said unto them I will drink no more of the fruit of the Vine until the day that I drink it new in the Kingdom of God And when they had sung an Hymn they went out into the mount of Olives Mar. 14. 26. And according to this the Apostle in his Exhortation to the Ephesians among many other particulars he saith Be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord giving thanks alwayes for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Ephes 5. 19 20. And again in his Epistle to the Colossians he saith Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in you in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Likwise the Apostle James saith Is any among you afflicted let him pray is any merry let him sing Psalms Jam. 5. But he saith not sing those Psalms which David sung but the Apostles sung in the Spirit with grace in their hearts as before and said those that do glory and rejoyce let them do it in the Lord and in so doing they may worship and give thanks unto the Lord in rejoycing and singing as well as in other parts of worship in the Spirit of the Lord God But these are not wild wicked ungodly people and boyes who are imployed in this service in our dayes but the Lords holy Spirit where it dwels and rules and lives is the same as ever it was and can worshrp the Father in Spirit and in Truth who is a Spirit and his Worship is in his own Spirit and this Spirit speaking or praying or singing worships him More might be said concerning their Altars and bowing and cringing to Stocks and Stones and calling Wood and Stones set together by mens hands and adorned with Inventions A Church but all this trash and rubbish will fall together Since that Temple that Solomon built which God commanded Christ said should not be left one stone upon another of its building but it should be all thrown down surely these Popish Houses have no long reign And so this may serve for the finishing of the third particular and fourth Head which we except against which is their Worship The fifth is their Practice which is so large and indeed so contrary to all Scripture-Rule it is much to express the Heads of it except it be such as are practised in it for the body of darkness is deep and is such a puddle to rake in that it is fit for none but those whose garments are filthy and defiled to meddle with Yet for the Seed of God sake which is kept in Bondage and in Captivity in
A Touch-Stone OR A Perfect Tryal by the Scriptures of all the Priests Bishops and Ministers who have called themselves the Ministers of the Gospel whose Time and Day hath been in the last Ages past or rather in the Night of Apostacy they are tried and weighed by the Scriptures of Truth and are found out of the Life and Power of the Scriptures and out of the Spirit and Doctrine of them that gave them forth and quite contrary to their Principle and practice both Papists and Protestants Unto which is annexed Womens Speaking Justified c. Little Children it is the last time as you have heard that Antichrist should come even now there are many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time These things have I written unto you concerning those that seduce you but the Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you 1 John 2. And I stood upon the sand of the Sea and saw a Beast rise out of the Sea having seven Heads and ten Horns and upon his Heads the names of Blasphemy and he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God to blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle and them that dwell in Heaven He that leadeth into Captivity must go into captivity he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword here is the faith and patience of the Saints Rev. 13. London Printed in the Year 1667. The Epistle to the READER Serious Reader LEt it enter into thy serious consideration the sad and perilous dayes that this Age is fallen into even into those last dayes that Christ and his Apostles fore-saw and fore-told of which are the last dayes as the Scriptures do plentifully declare and hold forth that were to come to pass before the coming of the day of the Lord and that there was to be a falling away from the Truth of the Lord God and that then the Man of Sin was to be revealed the Son of Perdition 2 Thes 2. 3 4. Also John in the Revelations when he stood upon the sand of the Sea saw the first Beast rise out of the Sea and the second out of the Earth which exercised the Authority of the first and the Dragon gave the power to the Beast and them that worshipped him Rev. 13. And John saw the War he made with the Lamb and with the Saints and overcame them for he was to continue 42 Months which is by the account of the Spirit of God according as it is recorded in the Scripture above 1200 Years which is fully compleated and finished with many years over since that great City Babylon had a foundation with whom the Kings of the Earth have committed fornication and the Inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunk with the Wine of her fornication But the Angel carried John into the Wilderness Rev. 16 where he saw the Judgements of this great Whore and this woman which hath been arrayed in Purple and Scarlet colour decked with Gold and Precious Stones and in her hand a golden Cup full of abominations and the Woman which thou sawest saith the Angel is that great City which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth But after this John saw another Angel and he cryed mightily with a strong voyce saying Babylon Babylon the great is fallen is fallen and become the habitation of Devils And John heard another voyce from Heaven saying Come out of her my People that ye he not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her Plagues for her sins have reached unto Heaven and God hath remembred her Iniquities Reward her even as she hath rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works in the Cup that she hath filled fill her double Rev. 18. Where ye may read the destruction and desolation of this great City Mystery of Babylon the great and Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth therefore rejoyce over her thou Heaven and ye holy Apostles and Prophets for God hath avenged you of her for after this John saw a mighty Angel take up a stone like a Mil-stone and cast it into the Sea saying Thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be cast down and shall be found no more at all Glory Glory to the Highest for evermore her day of destruction and calamity and desolation hastens on apace the darkness is past the night is over and the true Light now shineth the Resurrection of Jesus Christ the Righteous the Blessed Seed is rising in the hearts of People the Son of Man is coming to be lifted up from the Earth and will draw all men after him and in his power and in his great glory is coming to reign and to rule in the hearts and consciences of men and the Tabernacle of the Testimony is opened in Heaven and is with men and the Mystery of Godliness is manifested in the hearts of People and God is manifesting himself in them who hath said he will dwell in Men and walk in them and he is making their Bodies his Temples and he is coming to root out and race out of the hearts of Men and Women that Man of Sin that Son of Perdition that hath sitten in the Temple of God and hath been exalted above all that is called God and hath shewed himself as God and now the Lord is discovering him by the Resurrection of his Power and Spirit in the hearts of People which he is coming to pour upon all flesh according to his word and promise and that Mystery of Iniquity that hath wrought in a Mystery that Wickedness that hath possest the hearts of men and women now the Lords Power and Spirit is coming to cast him out and take him out of the way and throw him out And Christ Jesus that everlasting Fountain who said If any man be a thirst let him tome unto me and drink for I am come a Light into the World which world is in every mans heart And whosoever believes in Christ Jesus the Light they shall not perish but have the Light of Life And this Light of the Lord Jesus Christ being risen in the heart of every man and woman turning their minds thereunto it becomes their Teacher and this is that by which the Lord teacheth all his People who hath said by his Prophets They shall be all taught of God John 6. Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me saith Christ who is that living Bread that endureth for ever And this is the Son of man which God the Father hath sealed that is come a Light and a Spirit which every one that believes in is sealed with therefore it is good for all People not to quench the Spirit of the Lord Jesus nor to grieve it by which they are sealed to the day of Redemption Ephes 4. 30. but that every one may turn to the Spirit of the Lord
If thou wilt walk in my Statutes saith the Lord and execute my Judgements and keep all my Commandments to walk in them then will I perform my word with thee which I spake unto David thy Father 1 Kings 6. And Hezekiah that good King of Judah when he was sent to from Sennacherib King of Assyria by Rabshekah and others with a great hoast who came up against Jerusalem who threatned the King and the whole City as you may read 2 Kings 18. And Hezekiah King of Judah sent Eliakim and Shebna and the Elders of the Priests covered with sackcloth to Isaiah the Son of Amos so the servants of Hezekiah came to Isaiah and Isaiah said unto them Thus shall ye say unto your Master thus saith the Lord Be not afraid of their words c. Chap. 19. And accordingly the Lord sent an Angel and cut off all the men of Valour and the Leaders and the Captains of the King of Assyria and the Lord saved Hezekiah and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hands of the King of Assyria 2 Chron. 32. Also Josiah that good King when he heard the words of the Book of the Law read he rent his Cloathes and commanded Hilkiah the Priest and several of the Elders of the People saying Go ye and enquire of the Lord for me and for all the People of Judah concerning the words of this Book that is found for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us because our Fathers have not harkred to the words of this Book and they went and enquired of the Prophetess to Huldah as you may read 2 Kings 22. 2 Chron. 34. This you see was the practice of the four principal Kings of Israel and Judah Moreover I am clearly convinced and am assured that the Bishops as they are called and those of their Order and Coat or indeed any that have taken upon them that Function of the Clergy these many hundred of years that they are not according unto Christ Jesus nor unto his Disciples nor the Apostles and the Saints in the Primitive times but are gone quite contrary according to what the Scriptures of Truth hold forth and that in all these particular heads following First Their Titles Secondly Their Estate or Condition and Qualifications Thirdly Their Call Fourthly Their Doctrine and Worship Fifthly Their Practise in matters of Controversie Sixthly Their Maintenance Seventhly and lastly Their Garbe and Habit. All which we shall prove not only not according but quite opposite and contrary to Christ Jesus his Example and his Apostles and disciples Now they being men not only professing Christianity but also taking upon them to be Actors Leaders Teachers Preachers and Feeders of the Peoples Soules and that in and with Christianity there can be no sound reason to the contrary but that they should be men principled fitted and furnished yea and filled with the same Spirit as was in the Apostles whose words they take upon them to declare and to make a Trade of and to get their Living by since they make poor people believe that they have their souls in cure and so by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple and so keep them ever learning but they never come to the knowledge of the Truth But to proceed to the First viz. Their Titles This is clear contrary to the Doctrine of Christ for when the Mother of Zebedees Children came unto him concerning her two Sons that one might sit on his right hand and the other on his left Jesus answered and said ye know not what ye ask and when the other ten heard it they were moved with indignation against the two Brethren but Jesus called them unto him and said ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise Dominion over them and they that are great exercise Authority upon them but it shall not be so among you but whosoever will be great among you let him be your Minister and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his Life a ransome for many Matth. 20. Likewise again when he told them That one of them should betray him they began to enquire among themselves which of them it was And there was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest mark that you great Lords And he said unto them the Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and those that exercise Authority on them are called Benefactors but ye shall not be so but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve c. And again when he said unto them Let these things sink into your eares the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of men And again they began to reason among themselves who should be the greatest And when he said unto them Behold we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief Priests and unto the Scribes and they shall condemn him to death Even then did James and John come to desire to sit one on his right hand and the other on his left But Jesus again reproved them for it and said unto them Ye know that they that are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and their great ones exercise Authority upon them but it shall not be so with you c. Mar. 10. Nay he said unto his Disciples Be not ye called Rabbi for one is your Master even Christ and all ye are Brethren Neither be ye called Masters but he that is greatest among you let him be your servant and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that humbles himself shall be exalted Mat. 23. And I do not find that the Apostles either Timothy or Titus who were Bishops indeed were ever called Lord-Bishops but the Apostle when he writes to the Thessalonians saith Wherefore when we could no longer forbear we thought it good to be left at Athens alone and sent Timotheus our Brother and Minister of God and Fellow-Labourers in the Gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning your Faith This was the Title that the Apostle gave them which was not Our Reverend Father in God Lord Bishop c. And the Apostle when he writes unto Timothy calls him His Son in the Faith 1 Tim. 1. And when he exhorts him he saith If thou put the Brethren in remembrance of these things thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ nourished up in the word of Faith and to good Doctrine whereunto thou hast attained Chap. 4. And in his second Epistle that he writes to Timothy he calleth him His dearly beloved Son and that he greatly desires to see him and he saith Thou my Son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus And he bids him endure
a murderer and ye know that no murtherer hath eternal Life abiding in him Hereby perceive we the love of God because he hath laid down his Life for us We ought also to lay down our lives for the Brethren Chap. 3. And so this is contrary to what hath been the practise of those that have taken upon them the function of the Ministers of Christ for many hundreds of years for though they have professed Christ and Christianity yet they have been killing and slaying and murdering one another as many examples might be instanced in ages past Those that call themselves Papists and those that call themselves Protestants one killing and slaying and murdering another and yet all professing and confessing themselves to be Christians and would profess the Scriptures Christ and the Apostles words and in doing thus one to another they have thought they have done God good service and so have fulfilled Christ's words who saith Yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God good service and these things will they do because they have not known the Father and me John 16. And this may suffice for the second head which is their Quallifications The third is their Call For Jesus when he came and spake unto his Disciples he said unto them All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you and loe I am with you alwayes even to the end of the world Mat. 28. And he said unto them Go ye into all the world and preaceh unto every creature he that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned And again he saith Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you but tarry ye in the City of Jerusalem till ye be endued with Power from on high and he blessed them and they worshipped him and they returned to Jerusalem Luke 26. Which is rehearsed again in the first of the Acts and fulfilled in the second Chapter and the Spirit was poured upon them plentifully and there were some then that mocked and said These men are full of new Wine but Peter stood up with the eleven and said These men are not drunken as ye suppose but this is that which was spoken of by the Prophet Joel It shall come to pass in the last days saith the Lord I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and Daughters shall prophesie and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord in that day shall be saved This holy Spirit the Apostles received when they were met together also Paul the Apostle who was made an Apostle after them he also was separated for that work by the holy Ghost for as the Apostles were met together with the Church at Antioch as they ministred to the Lord and fasted the Holy Ghost said Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed c. Act. 13. And so the Apostle writes himself when he wrote to the Romans Paul a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an Apostle separated unto the Gospel of God And again when he wrote to the Galatians he wrote thus Paul an Apostle not of men neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and all the Brethren which are with me unto the Churches of Galatia And he saith further I certifie you brethren that the Gospel which was preached of me is not after man for I neither received it of man neither was I taught it but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ But when it pleased God who separated me from my mothers womb and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me that I might preach him among the Heathen immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood Gal. 1. And again when he wrote to the Ephesians when he was a Prisoner of Jesus Christ he wrote thus to the Gentiles Ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of the Gospel of God which is given me to you ward how that by Revelation he made known unto me the Mystery as I wrote unto you in a few words which in other Ages was not made known unto the Sons of men as it is now revealed unto his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit Ephes 3. I do not know neither have I heard that the Ministers and such as take upon them to teach People neither those that are their Lords Bishops and Arch-Bishops that they have had their Calls after this Order for there have been other wayes and meanes used for many hundred of years together as Schooles and Colledges and Universities and Nurseries of Learning which they call their Mothers with a heap of Stuffe which are better known by them that exercise themselves in them than the Revelation of Jesus Christ is and the Ministers they make are by men and of men and they will have them Fitted and Ordained according to their Wayes and Orders But if any one have received the Revelation of Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit if any such have a Word to speak from the Lord they must not be received nor admitted this is not according to their Order this they call an Heresie and a Sect any that speak and meet together and worship the Lord God in his Spirit and in his Truth such are taken notice of and are brought under the Whip and the Scourge and are apprehended and cast into Prision if they do but pretend the Teachings and Leadings of the Spirit of God and if they have not freedom in their spirits to pay them Tythes or to maintain their Steeple-houses presently they are brought into the Bishops Court and if they cannot for Conscience-sake swear and take an Oath then presently they are cast into Prison But of this more hereafter And thus it is truly manifested that the order of their Calling is not according unto Christ nor his Apostles for Christ saith expresly All things are delivered unto me of my Father and no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son revealeth him Mat. 11. And again Christ saith It is written in the Prophets They shall be all taught of God every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me not that any man hath seen the Father save he that is of God he hath seen the Father John 6. This may be sufficient to prove the Third head which is their Call which is contrary to the Apostles The fourth their Worship and the manner of it And first for the Worship it self Christ when he spake to the woman of Samaria and she told him That their Fathers worshipped in that Mountain of
Samaria Jesus saith unto her Woman believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father but the hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth John 4. And to this purpose did Jesus speak to Nichodemus when he came unto him by night when he said unto him Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God At which words Nichodemus wondred but Jesus answered Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God That which is born of the Flesh is Fesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit Marvel not that I said unto thee ye must be born again the wind bloweth where it listeth c. John 3. And to this purpose was the man whose name was John sent of God to bear witness of Christ Jesus the Light that all men through him might believe He was not that Light but was sent to bear witness of that Light which is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world He was in the world and the world was made by him which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God John bare witness of him and cryed saying This is he of whom I spake he that cometh after me is preferred before me and of his fullness we have all received grace for grace as may be read at large John 1. And to bring People to this Light and Spirit of the Lord within them did Christ Jesus and all his holy Apostles endeavour by their Preaching Therefore saith Jesus Christ unto Nichodemus we speak what we know and testifie what we have seen and ye receive â—ot our witness This is the condemnation that Light is come into the world and men love Darkness rather than Light because their deeds are evil For every one that doth evil hateth the Light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth truth cometh to the Light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God This is Christ's Doctrine and Worship And when he was preaching among his Disciples and also the Scribes and Pharisees heard him and many believed among the chief Rulers â—â—t they did not confess him because of the Pharisees lest they should be put out of the Synagogue And Jesus cryed out among them â—nd said He that believeth on me believeth â—ot on me but on him that sent me I am come â— Light into the World that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness And if any man hear my words and believe not I judge him not for I came not to judge the world but to save the world He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the Word that I have spoken shall judge him at the last day and so on John 12. And Christ told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God came not by observation but the Kingdom of God was within them And when he sent forth his Disciples he saith As ye go preach saying The Kingdom of God is at hand Mat. 10. Also when he sent out the seventy he said Heal the sick that are therein and say The Kingdom of God is nigh unto you Luke 10. 9. And we also see by the Epistles of the Apostles which are left upon record after what manner of Doctrine and exhortation they spake unto the People as the Apostle John which was the beloved Disciple what he hath written in that which hath been already mentioned in the 1st 2d. 3d. and 4th Chapters of John Also the Apostle Peter in his first Epistle saith For we have not followed cunning devised Fables when we made known unto you the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we are Eye-witnesses of his Majesty For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy Mount We have also a more sure Word of Prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts Here the Apostle directs them to a more sure Word than that which was heard in the Mount which came from the Excellent Glory which they taking heed unto might have the day to dawn and the day-star to arise in their hearts This was a true and a right Minister also he saith Knowing this first that no Prophesie of the Scriptures is of any private Interpretation 2 Pet. 1. How is it then that it is kept so private that none must interpret it but Learned men such as have been at Oxford or Cambridge But the Apostle saith That the Prophesie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost But those that have had learning at Cambridge and Oxford will hardly give a right Interpretation of that which the holy Ghost hath spoken forth But when the Apostle wrote to Timothy who was a Bishop and an Overseer made by the holy Ghost to him he saith Continue thou 〈◊〉 the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing â—f whom thou hast learned them and that from a Child thou hast known 〈◊〉 holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation through faith in Christ Jesus Here Timothy did not go to Cambridge nor Oxford nor no such place to learn what he had done from a Child All Scripture saith he is given by inspiration of God and iâ— profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction that the man of God may be perfected throughly furnished unto all good works 2. Tim. 3. And when Peter speaketh of his beloved Brother Paul and of his Epistles which he had written and what he spake Some things he saith are hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction 2 Pet. 3. So they that have not the Inspiration of the Almighty and motion of the Spirit of the Lord God the same that gave forth the Scriptures when they come to Interpret them and give meanings to them being unlearned therein they just wrest them to their 〈◊〉 destruction and therefore they do not profit the People at all These be they who separate themselves men that are sensual not having the Spirit Judge 19. Also the Apostle Paul when he was sent forth to Preach the Gospel of Christ the
where it was written in Isaiah 61. 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted to preach deliverance to the Captives and recovering of sight to the blind and set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and he closed the Book and gave it again to the Minister and sate down and he began to say unto them This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears And all bear him witness and wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth And they said Is not this Josephs Son Luke 4. Now this was he that the Prophet Isaiah prophesied of and therefore when he began to preach he turned to this Scripture to let them see that this Prophesie was fulfilled and so closed the Book But when he preached among them and taught as ye may read through all the Evangelists as first in Mat. 5. and in Luke 6. He opened unto them the Law and also told them That whosoever did break one of the least Commandments should be called least in the Kingdom And taught the Disciples saying Let your Light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven Think not that I come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill For verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled For I say unto you except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of God This was the manner of his preaching and teaching And so he goes on and opens unto them the Law and tells them it had been said so in the old time Ye have heard it hath been said in the old time thou shalt not forswear thy self But I say unto you swear not at all And it hath been said unto you in the old time An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but I say unto you resist not evil He that smites thee on the one cheek turn the other And thus he goes on in opening of the Law of which he was to fulfill every jot and tittle and also opening unto them the Mysteries of the Gospel which is Love even to Enemies and which the Apostle saith is the fulfilling of the whole Law And he told them that so they might be the Children of their Father which is in heaven for he maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends Rain on the just and on the unjust Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect Here is the perfect Ministry indeed of the true Circumcision which makes the true Jew indeed inward which circumciseth the heart with his holy Spirit The Apostle saith Now I say unto you that Jesus Christ was a Minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the Promises unto Abraham and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy and so the blessing of Abraham may be upon all Jews and Gentiles All that are in the Faith are blessed with faithful Abraham And this is he of whom the Apostle to the Hebrews saith We have such an High Priest who is set on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in Heaven a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord hath pitched and not man Heb. 8. And as he was a Minister of the same Sanctuary which God hath pitched so also were his Apostles they preached by his holy Spirit For as God is true saith Paul the Apostle so our word to you-wards was not yea and nay for the Son of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us even by me and Sylvanus and Timotheus was not yea and nay but in him was yea for all the Promises of God are in him Yea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1. And by this Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus did Steven who was full of Faith and Power do great wonders and miracles among the People and when the false witnesses came to accuse him before the high Priest and those that sate in Council looking stedfastly on him saw his face as it had been the face of an Angel Then said the high Priest Are these things so And he said Men Brethren and Fathers hearken And he began at Abraham and he opened unto them the Royal and Holy Seed throughout the Scriptures until he came to Christ Jesus whom he said they had crucified and slain And he said Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the holy Ghost as your Fathers did so do ye Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers Persecuted and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth but he being full of the holy Ghost looked stedfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and he said Behold I see heaven open and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God And they cryed with a loud voice and stopt their ears and ran upon him and cast him out of the City and stoned him and they stoned Steven calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit Acts 7. Also Paul when he came to Antioch and went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day after the reading of the Law and the Prophets the Rulers of the Synagogue sent to him and his company and said Men and Brethren if ye have any exhortation to the People say on Then Paul stood up and beckoned with his hand and said Men of Israel and ye that fear God give audience And he began to declare how God brought their Fathers out of Egypt with a high hand and how they were in the Wilderness and how he destroyed the Nations of the Land of Canaan and how they were governed from that time unto Christ and how that Christ care of the Seed of David and likewise how the Rulers of Jerusalem dealt with Christ and though they found no cause of death in him yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him they took him down from the Tree and laid him in a Sepulchre but God raised him from the dead and afterwards he preached unto them his Resurrection as may be read at large throughout Acts 13. and how the Gentiles also should partake of his-Resurrection but the Jews contradicted and blasphemed against their Doctrine Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said It was necessary that the word of God should first have been preached to you Jews but seeing ye put
it from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life loe we turn unto the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles that thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends of the earth And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad Acts 13. Thus ye see how the Apostles opened unto them the mystery of the Resurrection of Christ as also Christ himself when he met with the Disciples after his Resurrection and they not knowing him told him what things had happened concerning Christ He said unto them O fools and slow of heart ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself Luke 24. And this is the matter and manner and method of all Christ's Ministers to preach the Resurrection of Christ Jesus in his Light and Spirit which is a mystery to all carnal men and carnal minds and this is not a deal of Imaginations and divinations of the brain and studyings of men who take one Verse of Scripture and add unto it what they please out of other old Authors Writings Heathen Philosophers or any thing that will make up an hours talk till their Glass be run which is quite contrary to the Apostles practice and that which they witnessed and exhorted against For he saith unto the Colossians As ye have received Christ Jesus so walk ye in him rooted and built in him established in the Faith as ye have been taught Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit after the Traditions of men after the Rudiments of the world and not after Christ Col. 2. Here is an express command laid upon them that they should not be deceived by the teachings of men who taught not after Christ And the Apostle saith also that Christ sent him not to preach the Gospel with wisdom of words For saith he It is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent Where is the Wise Where is the Scribe Where is the Disputer of this world Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them that are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God Because the foolishness of God is wiser then men and the weakness of God stronger then men For ye see your calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base-things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to nought things which are that no flesh should glory in his presence but those that glory should glory in the Lord 1 Cor. 1. And the Apostle saith further And my speech and preaching was not with enticing words of mans wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power that your Faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the Princes of this world that come to nought but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world For we have not received the Spirit of the world but that Spirit that is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God which things we speak not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth but which the holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things with spiritual Here the Apostle testifies clearly against the wisdom of mens teaching which is a clear testimony against the teachings that have been in these last Ages for that is all that hath been taught for many generations of Teachers since the Apostles dayes the wisdom of men and traditions of men and inventions and imaginations of men one quoting and rehearsing what another saith quite contrary to the Apostles practice We do not make our selves of the number or compare our selves with some that commend themselves and measuring themselves by themselves are not wise But we will not boast our selves above our measure but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us for we come as far as you also in preaching the Gospel of Christ not boasting of things without our measure of other mens labours nor to boast of another mans line made ready to our hands 2 Cor. 10. Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God who hath also made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life 2 Cor. 3. 6. In this Chapter the Apostle gives his Testimony that the Life of the Ministry is in the ministration of the Spirit As also in Rom. 7. But now we are delivered from the Law that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in newness of Spirit and not in the oldness of the Leter which he calls the Ministration of Death in the afore-mentioned Chapter And when he writes to his Son Timothy who was a Bishop he saith thus I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own hearts lusts shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the Truth and shall be turned unto Fables 2 Tim. 4. Here the Apostle was a true Prophet and saw the Apostacy coming on and therefore he laid a hard charge upon Timothy For saith he watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an Evangelist make full proof of thy Ministry for I am ready to be offered and the time of my departure draweth nigh 2 Tim. 4. As also when he writes to the Thessalonians of the Day of the Lord and of the Man of Sin the Son of Perdition and thanks God for them who had chosen them to Salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth whereunto he called you saith he by our Gospel to the
away from the Lord and turned unto Idolatry and Abomination and was in Rebellion against him then he complains of their Teachers That they speak a Divination of their own Brain and not from the Mouth of the Lord But the Lord saith That he will frustrate the Tokens of the Lyars and make the Diviners mad and turn the Wise men backward and make their knowledge foolish Isa 44. And again he complains of the Blind Watchmen and said They are all Ignorant they are all dumb Dogs they cannot bark sleeping lying down to slumber yea they are greedy Dogs which can never have enough and they are Shepherds that cannot understand they all look to their own way every one for his Gain from his Quarter Come ye say they and I will fetch Wine and we will fill our selves with Strong-drink and to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant Isa 56. Again the Lord complains of them by his Prophet Jeremiah Jeremiahs heart was broken within him because of the Prophets and his bones did shake like a drunken man because of the Lord and the word of his Holiness For the Land saith he is full of adulteries for because of swearing the Land mourneth for Prophet and Priest are prophane yea in my house have I found their wickedness saith the Lord. Wherefore their wayes shall be unto them as slippery wayes in the darkness they shall be driven on and fall therein I will bring evil upon them even the year of their visitation saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Hearken not unto the words of the Prophets that prophesie unto you thy make you vain they speak a Vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me The Lord hath said ye shall have peace and they say unto every one that walketh after the Imaginations of his own heart No evil shall come upon you But behold the whirlwind of the Lord is come forth in fury and it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked the anger of the Lord shall not return till he have executed and till he hath performed the thoughts of his heart In the latter dayes he shall consider it perfectly I have not sent these Prophets I have not spoken unto them yet they prophesied I heard when the Prophet said that prophesied lies in my name which cause my people to forget my name as their Fathers have forgotten my name for Baal Is not my word like a fire saith the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rocks in pieces therefore behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that steal my words every one from his neighbour behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that use their tongues and say He saith behold I am against them that prophesie false dreams and tell them and cause my people to erre through their lies and by their lightness and yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit my people at all saith the Lord Jer. 23. And again the Lord said unto me The Prophets prophesie lies in my name I sent them not neither commanded I them neither spake I unto them yet they prophesied unto you a false Vision and a divination and a thing of nought and the deceit of their heart Chap. 14. Therefore hearken not ye to your Prophets nor to your Diviners nor to your Inchanters nor to your Sorcerers for I have not sent them yet they prophesie a lye in my name that I might drive you out and ye might perish Jer. 27. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel Let not your Prophets nor your Diviners that be in the midst of you deceive you for they prophesie falsly unto you I have not sent them saith the Lord Jer. 29 And Ezekiel saith Her Prophets have daubed them with untempred morter seeing vanity divining lies unto them saying Thus saith the Lord when the Lord hath not spoken Ezek. 22. 28. And Zechariah saith The Idols have spoken vanity and Diviners have seen a lye and have told false dreams and have comforted in vain Zech. 10. 2. And Micah saith Then shall the Seers be ashamed and Diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer from God Micah 3. 7. After the children of Israel and Judah were fallen away from the Lord God and from his Worship and Service into Idolatry and worshiping of Baal then their Priests and Prophets and Teachers fell to divining and enchanting in the power of darkness and fell into all manner of wickedness and grosness and prophaness and drunkeness in so much that the Lord complaineth of their drinking wine in bowles Ye that put far the evil day and cause the seat of violence to come near that lie upon the beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon the Couches and eat the Lambs out of the Flock and the Calves out of the midst of the Stall that chant to the sound of the Vial and invent to themselves Instruments of Musick like David that drink wine in Bowls and anoint themselves with the chief oyntment but they are not grieved at the afflictions of Joseph therefore they shall go into captivity with the first Amos 6. Surely the Diviners and Inchanters of these last dayes in this night of Apostacy in which the Apostle John said that Antichrist should come have taken example by these false Prophets and false Teachers that were fallen away from the Lord and from the Ordinances of his Law that he gave out to those that were to minister at the Altar and were to minister in the Priests Office when they were fallen away into Idolatry they then fell into Divination and digging and diving into the darkness and imagination of their wicked hearts and so spake false Visions and false Dreams and false Prophesies and said the Lord saith when the Lord had never spoken to them So it hath been with our professed Christian Ministers in this time of Apostacy since the Apostles dayes they read the Prophets words and said Thus saith the Lord and they read Christ's words and the holy Apostles words who worshiped the only true God and spake in and by his holy Spirit And they themselves will confess the Lord never spake unto them neither do they ever expect to know revelation nor hear the voice of God as the Apostle did for they have preached to all people that that is ceased And though it is true that it hath been ceased among them in their dark night of Apostacy yet the holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ which spake in him and in all his holy Apostles is alive and lives for evermore which he sent and signified by his servant John Rev. 1. Who bare record of the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw Who when he saw him fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right
little further thence he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother who also were in a ship mending their nets and straightway he called them And they left their Father in the ship with the servants and went after him Matthew was a Publican Simon a Canaanite Also when Christ sent forth the seventy Luke 10. there were no Universities provided for them nor had they Ordinations or Degrees from thence but ye may read they had their Command and Commission from him And again when he had wrought the Miracle on the man that was sick of the Palsie As he passed from thence he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the Receipt of Custom and he said unto him Follow me and he arose and followed him Matth. 9. 9. Also Jesus when he was going forth into Galilee findeth Philip and saith unto him Follow me Philip findeth Nathaniel and saith unto him We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and in the Prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth the Son of Joseph John 1. Also two of Johns Disciples when they had heard him speak and looked upon him followed Jesus and one of them which followed him was Andrew Simon Peters brother and he saith unto his brother We have found the Messiah which by interpretation is Christ John 1. And thus they had the testimony of Christ Jesus in their Consciences through which they gave up all and forsook all and followed him and he having all Power in Heaven and in Earth given unto him gave them power and authority over all Spirits insomuch that they said the Devils were subject unto them And when they came unto him and told him he said unto them Rejoyce not that the Devils are subject unto you but rather rejoyce that your Names are written in Heaven and this was their Power and the matter of their Joy that they had their Testimony and Commission from him their Lord and Master So here was no Ordinations of men nor Degrees taken from Universities nor no Nurturing up in Schools of Learning as hath been in these latter dayes for this hath all been since this Power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus hath been lost and gone from and rebelled against in this Night of Apostacy Also after this when the Apostle Paul was called to be a Minister he was called by Vision and by the Voice of God and sent forth by the Command of his Word and Power Acts 26. 16. and yet he confessed himself that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the perfect Law of the Fathers Acts 22. 3. Yet he desires his brethren to beware of Dogs beware of evil-workers beware of the Concision for we are the Circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh though I might also have a confidence in the flesh If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh I more Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel c. But what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ Yea doubtless I count all things but dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him Phil. 3. Here the Apostle clears himself concerning his choice and sees the Vanity of all transitory Things and this was a fit Minister of the Eternal Gospel of Christ who forsook and laid away all his humane Knowledge and Learning and filthy Wisdom and only chose the holy Spirit of the Lord God the Cross of Christ whereby he said he was crucified to the world and the world to him and this is quite contrary to the ministration of mens wisdom before mentioned And so this may suffice for the first particular of the Fifth Head which is their Practice to wit their way and means to attain to the Ministry The second particular of the Practice is the limiting and binding of People unto their way and worship by their Laws and Courts which they call Ecclesiastical with the several Degrees of Offices to get money from people and to bring them into bondage and keep them in awe and continual trouble in tying of them up to their Inventions and Laws which they make for their own gain and advantage not leaving poor people to the liberty of their Consciences and to the freedom of their Spirits but binde them to such things as pertain to their own advantage and superiority and in this lord it over poor peoples Estates Persons and Consciences and yet they call themselves Gospel-Ministers and in words profess Christ and Christianity but this is quite contrary to the practice and example of Christ and his Apostles and Ministers for those that he sent forth into whatsoever City they went they were to enquire who was worthy and there to abide till they went thence And when you come into one house salute it and if the house be worthy let your peace come upon it but if it be not worthy let your peace return to you and whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words when ye depart out of that House or City shake off the dust of your feet Matth. 10. Mark saith thus And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear you shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them verily I say unto you it shall be more tollerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgment then for that City Mark 6. And again when he sent out the Seventy he said unto them Into whatsoever house ye enter first say Peace be to this house and if the Son of Peace be there your peace shall rest upon it if not it shall return to you again But into whatsoever City ye enter and they receive you not go your way into the streets of the same and say Even the dust of your City which cleaveth on us we do wipe off against you notwithstanding be sure of this that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you but I say unto you it shall be more tollerable in the day of Judgment c. Luke 10. And according to this Command of Christ Paul and Barnabas who were separated by the Holy Ghost for the work of the Ministry when they had preached the Gospel among the Jews and witnessed forth Christ Jesus and his Sufferings among the Jews who had Crucified him and also preached him unto the Gentiles and the Jews contradicting Pauls Ministry Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said they would turn to the Gentiles for say they so hath the Lood commanded us saying I will set thee for a Light unto the Gentiles that thou shouldest be my Salvation to the ends of the Earth but when the Jews heard this they stirred up the devout and honorable women and chief men of the City and raised
the face of Jesus Christ For we have this Treasury in earthen Vessels that the excellency of the Power may be of God and not of us For we are troubled on every side yet not distressed we are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed always bearing about in our body the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ that the Life of Christ might be manifested in our body for we who live are alwayes delivered unto death for Jesus sake that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh so that death worketh in us but life in you Thus the Apostles laboured in the work of the Ministry even under cruel sufferings which Gospel it may well be said hath been hid for the Gospel that hath been preached since the Apostacy hath laid Oppressions and Sufferings upon others and they themselves have Ruled and Lorded over Peoples Consciences but the Apostle Paul said I Paul am made a Minister of the Gospel that is preached to every Creature under heaven now rejoyce in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his Bodies sake which is the Church whereof I am made a Minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfil the Word of God Col. 1. But this Ministry and Ministration hath been lost and the Church for which the Apostle suffered hath been in the Wilderness and if there was any small Appearance or Testimony of Jesus Christ in any such have suffered Oppressions and Hardships and much Detriment from such as were the Professed Ministry So these Scriptures with many more which might be mentioned shew the contrariety between the Ministers of the Gospel in the Apostles Dayes and the Professed Ministry that hath been since the Apostles Dayes in the Apostacy And as the Supremacy and Superiority hath been contrary to the Apostles Way and Manner and Order in laying Oppressions and Burthens upon the People so also they have been contrary and opposite to Christ and the Apostles Doctrine Practice and Example in not preaching Liberty and Freedom to the Spirits in Prison for Christ Jesus who is the Anointing of God Preacheth Glad Tidings to the Poor Liberty to Captives his Commission that he gave to his Disciples was to Preach the Gospel to all Nations to every Creature And he said to those that believed in him If ye continue in the Truth the Truth will make you free John 8. And the Apostle confesseth That the Law of the Spirit of Life had made him free from the Law of Sin and Death Rom. 8. And the Apostle saith when he was speaking of the Ministration of the Law and the Gospel When Moses is read the Vail is over the Heart Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord the Vail shall be taken away Now the Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty 2 Cor. 3. And so this is that Substance the Apostle Preacheth from and Preached to the Spirit of the Lord that takes away the Vail and giveth Liberty and Redeemeth from under the Power of Darkness and from the Bondage of Corruption and therefore they did not set themselves to Rule over mens Faith or to lord over their Consciences but they endeavour still to be made manifest unto every ones Conscience in the sight of God But we have saith the Apostle Renounced the hidden things of Dishonesty not walking in Craftiness nor handling the Word of God deceitfully but by Manifestation of the Truth commending our selves to every mans Conscience in the sight of God 2 Cor. 4. Knowing therefore the Terrours of the Lord we perswade men but we are made manifest unto God and I trust also are made manifest in your Consciences So here the Apostle preached to Gods Witness in Peoples Consciences and that answered to them again and they were made manifest to that and therefore did the Apostle John say That they needed not any man to Teach them but as the same Anointing teacheth them which is Truth and is no Lye And so this is unlimited neither doth the Apostle limit this when they were gathered into the Eternal Spirit and all drank into one Spirit and all baptized into one Body by one Spirit he told them they might all prophesie one by one and that though they were many Members yet they were one Bread and one Body and every Member of the Body had its several Office the Head did not say to the Feet I have no need of you Now concerning Spiritual Gifts Brethren I would not have you ignorant there are diversity of Gifts but the same Spirit and there are differences of Administrations but the same Lord and there are diversities of Operations but the same God which worketh all in all but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal For to one is given by the same Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit to another Faith by the same Spirit to another the Gift of Healing by the same Spirit to another the working of Miracles by the same Spirit to another Prophesie to another Discerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another interpretation of Tongues But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will For as the Body is one and hath many Members and all the Members of that one Body being many are one Body so also is Christ For by one Spirit we are all Baptised into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be Bond or Free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit for the Body is not one Member but many 1 Cor. 12. And so the Apostle goes on to the end of the Chapter discoursing of the several Gifts all given by one Spirit So here is no binding nor limiting nor Supremacy one over another not to sit Judges one of another but every one to wait in their several Gifts of the Spirit given unto them to profit withal For I say saith the Apostle through the Grace of God given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly then he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of Faith For as we are many Members in one Body and all Members have not the same Office so we being mary are one Body in Christ and every one Members one of another Having then Gifts differing according to the Grace that is given us whether Prophesie let us prophesie according to the proportion of Faith or Ministy let us wait in our ministring or he that teacheth on Teaching or he that exhorteth on Exhortation he that giveth let him do it with simplicity he that ruleth with diligence he that sheweth Mercy with chearfulness let Love be be
little Children were nearer the Kingdom of God and readier for the Kingdom of God than any others for Christ saith several times Whosoever will enter into the Kingdom of God must be as a little Child So by all these Scriptures we may see that he ownes little Children above all others Now how it cometh that they throw water upon them to give an addition to that Innocent state while they are Infants this is certainly an Invention and an Imagination of their own for there is nothing in Scripture for it Indeed John the Baptist who was sent before Christ to preach the Baptisme of repentance he baptized those that received his Doctrine with water in Jordan but we do not find that he put Infants in that was not according to his Doctrine which was Repentance for Infants were not capable to repent And when the Jewes sent the Priests and Levites to enquire of John what he was they asked Why he baptized if he was not the Christ neither Elias nor that Prophet John answered them saying I indeed baptize with water unto repentance but there standeth one among you whom ye know not he it is who cometh after me and is preferred before me whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose This was beyond Jordan where John was baptizing Saith he and I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with water the same said unto me Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him the same is he that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost John 1. And Matthew saith In those dayes came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and said Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand c. I indeed baptize you with water unto Repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier than I whose shooes I am not worthy to bear he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire Mat. 3. It is said in John 3. After that Christ had been preaching and speaking to Nichodemus and had been preaching the Light to him that he and his Disciples came to Judea and there he tarried with them and baptized and the disciples of John and some of the Jewes were at difference about Purifying and they came to John and said He that thou bore witness of baptizeth John answered and said Ye your selves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ but I am sent before him he must increase but I must decrease When Jesus therefore knew that the Pharisees heard that he baptized and made Disciples more then John though Jesus himself baptized not but his Disciples he left Judca and departed John 4. Also when John was preaching and baptizing and preaching repentance and remission of sins then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him but John forbad him saying I have more need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me and Jesus answering said Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness And Jesus when he was baptized went up straightway out of the water and the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighted upon him and a voice came from heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3. This is the main Scripture that the Baptists build upon for their Water-Baptism and here is a secret in this which they never came to see For John saith I knew him not but that he should be made manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with water And John bare record saying I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a Dove and it abode upon him and I knew him not Now how do the Baptists know him And the end wherefore he went into the water since that John did not know it nor would not have had him to have done so who was a man sent of God to Baptize with water till he said it was to fulfill all Righteousness which word was hid from John as he afterwards saith but that he should be made manifest to Israel therefore he came baptizing with water And so afterwards when Christ was teaching Nichodemus when he told him That those that were to enter into the Kingdom of God must be born of the water of the Spirit These things were strange unto him but Jesus said We speak what we know and testify what we have seen and ye believe not our testimoony If I have told you earthly things and ye believe them not how shall â—e believe if I tell you of heavenly things To the same purpose the Apostle saith There are three that bear record in the Earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one 1 John 5. It were good for the Baptists to know this Water and this Baptism and this Spirit by which they might he born again and to know the washing of the Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost For this was the Washing and Water that the Saints were washed with They were made clean through the Word by the washing of the water of the Word Ephes 5. Now for the Baptists to stand washing with outward Water which John baptized with who was before Christ which was a Figure of the inward washing and cleansing and purging as the Apostle Peter saith the same when he is speaking of Noah's preaching while he made the Ark wherein few that is eight persons were lived by Water The like figure saith he whereunto even Baptism doth now save us not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 3. 21. Whose Blood and the Water and Spirit which he Baptizeth with is the true and only Baptism For John himself saith He must decrease and Christ must increase and for them to stand washing here with outward water and their hearts and Consciences defiled and polluted this will be of little value to them for John who was a man sent of God and bore a true witness of Christ Jesus yet after he was cast into Prison he sent his disciples to ask Art thou he or do we look for another He was â—â—r beyond the Anabaptists So it concerneth them to question their state and condition For they that look at the outward element of Water to be the Baptism they are far from the real and true washing and from that Baptism that baptizeth into the body When Paul came to Ephesus and finding certain Disciples he said unto them Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed they said We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost he said unto them Unto what then were ye baptized they said Unto John's Baptism Paul said John Baptized with the Baptism of Repentance and that they should believe on him that was to come after him that is in Christ Jesus Then
we are all partakers of that one Bread 1 Cor. 10. Here is no speaking of Remembrance but the real partaking of the one Bread this is the living Bread that is come down from Heaven Christ saith I am the living Bread that came down from Heaven if any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever and the Bread that I give you is my Flesh that I will give for the Life of the World The Jews wondered at this and said Will this man give us his Flesh to eat Jesus said As the Living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father So he that eateth me shall live by me and except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you But this is not except you eat Bread and drink Wine ye have no Life in you for Christ saith My Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed John 6. These things said Jesus in the Synagogue as he Taught And many of his Disciples when they heard this said It was a hard saying who can hear it But Christ saith unto them It is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh profitteth nothing The Words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life And so it is the Spirit that is the Living Bread and those that live in the Spirit and feed in the Spirit and meet in the Spirit they eat the Flesh of Christ and drink his Blood and this Spiritual Bread was that which the Apostles broke and they that continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship in breaking of Bread and in Prayers it is said They continued daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house Acts 2. And this Bread was that living Bread that Christ said came down from Heaven And when the Disciples met together on the First day of the week to break Bread Paul preached unto them until midnight surely this was Living Bread else it could not have been the Communion of the Body of Christ 1 Cor. 10. And this was a Mystery which Swearers and Drunkards know not and therefore they set up that which is outward and temporal as the Apostle saith because they are blind of the Spiritual Eye and so as the Apostle saith That which can be seen is Temporal but that which cannot be seen is Eternal 1 Cor. 14. 18. But this is hid from their eyes and thus much for this Particular which they call the Sacrament of the Lords Supper They have also several other vain Practices which they have no Example in Scripture for as praying over the Dead and for the Dead which the Apostle exhorted from when he writ to the Thessalonians he saith But I would not have you ignorant Brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have not Hope for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again so they also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thes 4. Here is nothing of praying for them nor over them after they are dead but they manifest by their prayers that they have not a true Hope nor Belief in Christ Jesus who is risen from the dead And become the First-fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor. 15. The like may be said also of their Churching women and Marrying people with Rings but it appeareth that the main end of these Practices are to get money of people for they have no Example in the Scriptures that the people were married with a Priest neither in the Old-Testament nor New ye do not read that Abraham and Sarah were married with a Priest and Isaac took Rebecca to wife and Laban gave Jacob Leah and Rachel but not by a Priest The Apostle saith Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled but he doth not say that they should be married by a Priest or with a Ring But it is manifested that this Generation of Priests that have set up such Imaginations and Inventions as these are the same that the Apostle prophesied of unto his Son Timothy that good and true Bishop where he saith Now the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some should depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking Lyes in hypocrisie having their Consciences seared with a hot Iron forbidding to Marry and commanding to abstain from Meats 1 Tim. 4. Now let the Reader but seriously read this Chapter and consider whether these be not they both Papists and Protestants who marry people as before mentioned and yet forbid to marry all that will not marry according to their way and will though the Apostle saith They may marry whom they will only in the Lord 1 Cor. 7. 39. Yet if they be not married with a Priest and according to their way they account it no Marriage And thus they run themselves quite off from the Scriptures as bad as they that never heard of them for though they profess them in words they are utterly and quite out of them in their Practices And that they abstain from Meats and cause people so to do this is well known to be their common practice all which the Apostle saith Are the Doctrines of Devils and so here I have found them in their practice and I will leave them These with many more frivolous things which might be mentioned as their keeping of Idle dayes and causing people to do so but what hath been said before may give people a sight of their practices that they are quite contrary and opposite to the Rule of the Scriptures And thus much for the Fifth Head which is their Practice The Sixth is their Maintenance and this is as contrary to the Scriptures of Truth as any of the rest They profess themselves to be Christians and Gospel-Ministers and yet will not be content with Gospel-Maintenance but their Gospel is dead and so cold that they preach to People that it will not quicken them out of their dead and natural estate and therefore they dare not trust themselves upon their maintenance nor cast themselves upon the freedom or liberality of the people And so when the Power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus was lost and the Revelation of Jesus by which the Apostles preached then when the Apostacy came in those that got up into the Popes Chair took upon them to find out a way whereby they might compel people to maintain them however they maintained themselves and so they started back from Christs Rule and his Apostles and stept into the Imitation of some part of the Levitical Priesthood under the Law which best suited their own ends And that being made ready to their hands they soon goâ— it set up and established by a Law and then those that were Christians and stood to the Principles and Faith of Christianity who knew that the Priesthood was changed and the Law also and could not pay them Tythes then they were ready prepared for