who indeed are but as Lambs among Wolves and a prey to the beasts of the field and do not resist the evil and the wrong that is done unto them nor retalliate like for like not being overcome of evil but overcoming evil with good Nor is it their principle to plot and contrive Insurrections but patiently to bear their false Calumnies and chearfully to suffer their cruel Oppressions and are not ashamed of the Commandments of God to do his will nor of the Testimony of Christ for which they suffer but by the Power of God are made willing to partake of the Afflâ—ctions of the Gospel and do glory in their Tribulations not loving their lives to the death And loving their Enemies and praying for their Persecuters they commit the keeping of their Souls unto him who in his Faith and Patience is able to keep them throughout unto Himself in this their day of tryal and hour of temptation that by the fierce and sore wrath of man is come upon them And is it not as dangerous and more disloyalty to God for any to defame and judge Gods true Worshippers as seditious Sectaries who in the Spirit and in the Truth do worship God and God's spiritual and holy Worship into which by the Spirit of God they are led to be seditious Conventicles who is a Spirit and the Truth and therefore must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and such spiritual and true Worshippers the Father seeks to worship him John 4. 23 24. For is not this to defame and to judge the holy Spirit of God by which God's true Worshipers are led and in which they holily and spiritually do worship God to be seditious and his holy and spiritual Worship to be Sedition for is it not written He that speaketh evil of his Brother and judgeth his Brother speaketh evil of the Law and judgeth the Law but if thou judge the Law thou art not a doer of the Law but 〈…〉 Are Christians to be each others Judges in the matters of Faith and Religion or are they to be Masters over the Consciences one of another concerning the Worship of God Is not the Lord himself alone both the Lawgiver and Judge as to his own Spiritual Worship and Service for is it not written There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy Who art thou that judgest another Jam. 4. 12. And if God only be the Lawgiver and Judge as to his own Worship and Service is it then in the power of any living upon the face of the Earth to prescribe to God his Worship or for the Worship of God with man's judgement to judge his true Worshippers And do not they prescribe who by their Laws and Penalties do bind and limit to a form of Worship not prescribed or limited unto by God nor in the practice of the Apostles and primitive Christians And do not they judge who arraign and sentence even to Prisons and Banishment them that for Conscience-sake cannot submit to what by men is prescribed for the Worship of God And are not their Meetings of the Lord and sealed in them to be well-pleasing in his sight by his Presence with them and his Appearance in them and among them for are not the manifestations of his Spirit and the operations of his Power in their holy Assemblies a sure Testimony from God of his acceptance of them in his Service and Worship And have they not then God's Authority for their meeting together in his Name the only Lord of their Consciences and the only Lawgiver for his own Worship and Service And must Magistrates in the things of the outward man by Christians be obeyed for Conscience-sake in things not against Conscience And must not the Lord himself by his People be obeyed for Conscience-sake in the things of the inward man And must every Ordinance of man be submitted unto for the Lord's sake that is not against the Lord and must not the Lord himself be submitted unto for his own sake by his true Worshippers in his own worship and Service And is not this to domineer and rule over and over-rule the Faith and Consciences of God's true Worshippers which by both Papists and Protestants in words is disclaimed which condemns their deeds to impose upon them in the Worship of God not only contrary to what in the sight of God is made manifest in their Consciences for the VVorship of God and which is according to the VVord of Truth and as by the Spirit of Christ in their hearts is prescribed to them but also in other manner than by the Apostles and primitive Christians God was worshipped before either the Common-Prayer Book or the Mass-Book was whose manner of VVorship was then said to be contrary to Law and by them called Heresie who reputed their own according to Law as it fares at this day with the Quakers who after the manner which is now called Heresie by them who are themselves in the Heresie they as the Apostles did do worship God even their Father in the Spirit and in the Truth And if the Apostles and primitive Christians did meet together above the number of Four besides the houshold and in their Meeting did worship God in other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England before the Liturgy was why should it be made an unlawful meeting now and so capital as to be so severely punished as with Banishment for the Quakers to meet together before the Lord above the number of Four besides the houshold and in their meeting to worship God in that manner in which God may be worshipped otherwise than is allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England and as by the Apostles and primitive Christians God was worshipped before the Liturgy was to wit in the Spirit and in the Truth as they did seeing they are of the same Faith and in the same Spirit and Truth and under the same obligation as to their Consciences as they were And by Christ are purchased into the same Liberty for the free exercise of their Faith and Consciences towards God in his own Worship and one towards another in the Truth and Service of God and one another in the Lord which Liberty freely to exercise their Faith and Consciences in the Worship of God they may no more part with in vassalage to man than with their Lives for in the Liberty and Freedom of their Faith and Consciences in which Christ hath made them free are they not to stand fast to God alone whose Servants they are and the only Lord and Master of their Faith and Consciences and not again to be entangled with the Yokes of Bondage lest by captivating the Faith and defiling their Consciences they so become the servants of men as not becoming the Servants of Christ And if any notwiâ—hstanding what hath been said do yet assert That the Worship prescribed in the Liturgy is the only and true
rightly of things that differ and approve of that which is most excellent and which is acceptable and well-pleasing in the sight of God yea and against the witness of God in them and the feeling of their own consciences And is not to rule by force the Lambs of Christ and to give law and rule to their faith and consciences by penalties and punishments contrary to what is written Zech. 4. 6. Not by Might nor by Power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts Is the strength of men then and their Force and Laws Penalties and Punishments the means appointed by God to teach people the knowledge and fear of God or Doth the Wrath of man accomplish the Righteousness of God or are these Jam 20. the weapons of the Spiritual-Warfare by which people are to be subject unto the Lord in his Spiritual-Worship and Service And is that Worship well-pleasing or acceptable to God which is forc'd only by the fear and punishment of men or doth God seek such Worshippers as by carnal compulsion worship him Nay are not these of the weapons with the which the many-headed Beast with his Horns and Crowns which rise out of the Sea have made War with the Saints for these many hundred years and have so overcome them as to their bodies as that many have lost their precious Lives in Prisons and Dungeons and at the Gibbet and the Stake Was the material Temple by Zerubbabel to be rebuilt without the help of Secular Force and must there be the exercise of Inhumane Cruelty for the building of the Spiritual-Temple and House of God which in the Lord is the Pillar and Ground of Truth Is not the Lord Jesus Christ now the builder of his Church and is not He only given as a Leader and the Commander of his People in Spiritual things for is not all Power in Heaven and Earth by his Father given unto him for the establishment of his Heavenly and Spiritual Kingdom and Government and as the Lord of his own House is it not to be left to him to order it and to govern it without the help of the force of man for is not the Spirit and Power of Christ of more efficacy for the government of his Church than might and power by men And how is God glorified in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages â— 3. world without end if the Church be gathered and governed by the Authority and force of men Is not the Law of God which by his Spirit is written in the hearts of his People and his Fear and the Dread which by him is put upon them the Covenant by which they are to draw near unto him in his holy Worship rather than the Laws and Penalties of men And is not the Lords Covenant with his People the only force that is to say without the force of men which by him is put upon them as to his own Spiritual Service and Worship And as to the Lord is not his Covenant sufficient without the force of men as it is written As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit which is upon thee and my words which I have 59. put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever And in the day of the Lord's Power are not his People willing without carnal compulsion by Secular force and violence And did not the Prophet Micah full of Power by the Spirit of the Lord and of Judgment and Might declare against the Heads of the house of Jacob and the Princes of the house of Israel who built â— c. 3. â— 10. up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity And what remains now in this day of tryal for the Quakers the true Successors of the holy Prophets and Martyrs of Jesus but to succeed them in their Sufferings and fill up that which is behind of the Afflictions of Christ for his Bodies sake which is the Church for whilst Laws are made and executed upon them to limit them in their Meetings by which they are made offenders who otherwise are blameless and whilst their Meetings together in the fear of the Lord and in obedience to his Law and Commandment and in his Worship and Service are rendred as the Transgressions of the Laws they exceeding the limited number of Four c. which otherwise and without that limit are enjoyned by the Spirit of the Lord and strictly required not to be forsaken by any either wilfully after they have received â—b 10 the knowledge of the Truth or for fear of Man who when he hath killed the body can do no more lest greater sufferings from God may be expected to wit a certain fearful looking for of Judgement and the fiery Indignation of God who can both kill the body and cast the soul into Hell And what then now remains for the Quakers in these exercises and tryals of their Faith and Patience but to offer up their Bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God as their reasonable service and patiently to suffer all these cruelties which men may be permitted to inflict upon them for of necessity must they not either suffer or flee their Testimony and deny Christ before men and expose him to open shame before his enemies and them that hate his appearance and that persecute him in his members And will not Christ deny them before his heavenly Father that deny him before men and will not Christ shame them when in the glory of his Father he is made manifest who are ashamed of him and of his Testimony when in his members he is despised and persecuted And though the Meetings of the Quakers are by men rendred unlawful because of the Laws that are made against them yet are they therefore sinful in the sight of God or unlawful by the Law of God or are their Meetings therefore displeasing to the Lord because they are envied and persecuted by men Would Daniel's praying to his God have been the transgression of a Law if there had not been a Law made purposely against it or was his praying then and his making supplications before the Lord his sin against the Lord even then when there was a Law made against it which they called a Royal Statute and a firm Decree which altereth not And although the Meetings of the Quakers are made transgressions before men because of the Laws that are made against them yet is it either a transgression in it self or a sin before the Lord for innocent Lambs and the harmless Flock of Christ in obedience to the Voice of their Shepherd to meet together and to be gathered in his Name and he in the midst of them to feed them and to fold them that they might be fed in his green Pastures and refreshed with his living Fountains of the
known beforehand but are also read week after week and year after year And if by might and power any should be forc'd astray to worship God in that manner which is contrary to the Law of God in their consciences though highly esteemed amongst men would not even their Prayers be their sin for doth not Solomon say He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law even his prayer shall be abomination And he that causeth the Righteous to go astray by an evil way shall fall â—â— 28. â—0 into his own pit And is not their sin great and will not their stripes be many who either by force or subtilty are either drawn or driven to worship God after that manner which is contrary to their knowledge and conscience And if by the force of Might and Power any should be driven contrary to God's witness in their consciences will they not hereby be run into transgression and Rebellion against God and will not the Witness of God in them in their own consciences be their condemnation And is not Rebellion as the sin of Witchcraft and Transgression as Wickedness Idolatry And are their own consciences pure and without offence and tender and in the feeling of anothers conscience or rather are not their consciences reprobated without remorse and unsensible who by force would defile and offend and even wound and wrack the consciences of others And do not they sin against Christ the Head who so sin against his Body the Church and who grieve his Spirit and oppress his Members by imposing rigorously upon them heavy burdens which they are not able to bear even to the wounding of their consciences if they submit and as much as in them lyeth to destroy their souls for whom Christ died And if the doubtful thoughts of them that are weak in the Faith in things that are lawful in themselves are not to be judged as it is written Rom. 14. 1. Him that is weak in the Faith receive you but not to judg his doubtful thoughts see the margent Is the faith and certain knowledge of God's true Worshippers then to be judged as to the manner of God's Worship which they assuredly believe to be the will of God and certainly know to be of the Lord and required of them as his Law unto them Was the noise either of Hammer or Ax or of any Tool of Iron heard in the House of God whilst it was in building by Solomon And are the Laws of men then and their Penalties and Punishments to be the Foundations now on which God's Spiritual House is to be built or is the matter for the House of God now to be hewen out and hammered and prepared by armed-men and the noise of the clattering of Arms with which the peaceable Meetings of the Quakers have been often assaulted and broken up and their Bodies hurt and bruised Is Force and Violence exercised by men on the Body the way of God to save the soul Did not the Prophet in the power of God and in the might of his Spirit declare against them who built up Zion with blood and Ierusalem with wrong And is it not uncharitable among Christians and against the Law both of Love and Equity and that which they would not be done unto themselves for one to impose upon another as to their Faith and Conscience in the matters of Religion and Worship contrary to the Law which rules in their Consciences and to that which they believe to be the Will of God and to that in which they are not to themselves but to the Lord and to that in which the Lord hath received them and doth accept of them For doth not the Royal Law command to love thy neighbour as thy self and hath not Christ to his Disciples â—â— 2. commanded saying Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets â—att 2. Are not even Gainsayers by sound Doctrine both to be convinced and exhorted and in meekness are not they to be instructed who oppose themselves and are not even unbelievers and them that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be gathered by the Word of God preached and to be won by moderation and soberness and by the good conversation of them that believe And is not the Word of God of more force inwardly to execute the righteous Judgments of God for disobedience and to convince perswade and compel to obedience than all the force and strength of men for is it not therefore by the Lord likened to a Fire and to a Hammer which breaks the Rocks in pieces reader Ier. 23. 29. 20. 9. 6. 11. 5. 14. Isa 49. 2. 30. 30. 11. 4. And was not the Baptism of Repentance which by Iohn was preached as an Ax from God in his hand for the cutting down of fruitless Trees and were not they prickt in their hearts with the force of the Word and the authority of the Doctrine which by the Apostles was preached And did not Foelix tremble before Paul when he reasoned of Righteousness and Temperance and of Judgment to come And is not therefore the matter for the building of the Church of God to be prepared by the Ministry of his Word in God's Authority rather than by the force and terror of men And are not even those that oppose themselves to be subdued by the Gospel of Christ unto the obedience of God in his Spiritual Service and Worship For is not the Gospel of Christ the Power of God And is not the Authority of the Word and the Force of the Gospel in which the Power of God is made manifest the means by God appointed to satisfie doubts and to decide Controversies in matters of Religion and manner of Worship For is not the Word of God both quick and powerful and the Sword of the Spirit and sharper for the convincement of Gainsayers than the two-edged Swords of men for doth it not pierce to the discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart and inwardly force and compel where the Force of men can neither reach nor enter And if Power in Magistrates over the Faith and Consciences of God's faithful and true Worshippers in the matters of Religion and Worship be pretended unto as they are Magistrates may not then Antichristian or Heathen Magistrates pretend to the same power to over-rule the Faith of their Subjects and compel them to their Religion and by their penalties and punishments to force their Consciences to worship Idols And if such power in Magistrates be pretended unto as they are Christians are we not to distinguish between the Office or Authority of Magistrates in the administration of their Civil Power as Rulers and Governours and the Religion of Magistrates as they are Christians by which they have fellowship in the Church as Members of the Spiritual Body of which Christ only is the Head among them that
Worship of God and that God can no otherwise be truly and spiritually worshipped but as is prescribed and allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England do they not consequently conclude the Worship of the Apostles and primitive Christians to be false who worshipped not by the prescript of the Liturgy but in Spirit before the Liturgy was And did not Christ to the Woman of Samaria say The hour cometh and now is 4. this was before the Liturgy when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth and that the Father seeketh such to worship him May it not therefore rather be asserted That God may be otherwise worshipped than by the prescript of the Liturgy or then is allowed by the practice of the Church of England to wit in Spirit and in Truth which by Christ is prescribed for the Worship of God and by the Apostles and primitive Christians was practised before the Liturgie was which Worship in the Spirit and in the Truth not only ended the Temple-worship at Jerusalem but also is repugnant to all the invented worships of every Nation And if it be said by any as in effect it hath been said by some esteemed wise and learned to justifie the use of the Common-Prayer-Book or Liturgie as they call it That there is no Form of Worship preâ—isely declared and prescribed by God for his Worship I answer If there be no Form of Worship declared and prescribed by God should not men then tremble to prescribe where God hath not prescribed and must that therefore be the Worship of God which is prescribed by men And if they find not precisely declared and prescribed the Form of God's Worship in the Scripture doth it therefore follow that the Form of God's Worship is not precisely declared and prescribed by God or that which may be thought to be omitted by God that it must therefore be supplyed by man Doth God precisely require his Worship and doth he not as precisely prescribe the Form how he will be worshipped to them of whom he requires it Was Moses faithful in all his house as a Servant and is not Christ as a Son over his own house for is not Christ the King and Prophet of his Church and is this only titular or an idle dignity without fruit or effectual operation and vertue for as their King and Prophet is not Christ ever present with his by his Spirit that dwelleth in them and that abideth with them for ever to teach them and to lead them and to guide and govern them for did not Christ before he was crucified tell his Disciples that he would not leave them as Orphans but that he would come to them again and manifest himself unto them and with the Father make his abode with them And is not Christ also in the bosom of the Father to make known his will concerning his own Worship and Service And do not his Sheep hear and know his Voice and learn of him and doth he not shew them plainly of the Father as it is written The time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Parables but I shall shew you plainly of the Father Again Is not the manner and form of God's Worship precisely declared and prescribed by God in the Scriptures to be in Spirit and in Truth and if that be doubtful or hidden and unknown to them which are esteemed wise and learned which in the Scripture is written But the hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship â—n 4. the Father in Spirit and in Truth And if these be enigmatical sayings viz To them that have eyes and see but perceive not and have ears and hear but understand not God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth Yet herein is there not a â—hn 4. â— plain description by Christ of the Worship of God to them that are taught of God and have the mind of Christ and by the Spirit of Truth are led and guided into all Truth And wherein any thing which Christ spake to his Disciples whilst he was present with them in the body was at all obscure and ambiguous to them because of their weakness did not Christ direct them to the Teachings of the holy Spirit as to all things and for the bringing all things to their remembrance and opening their understandings in all whatsoever he had said unto them And what then in the Worship of God is there more precise which hath not been prescribed and declared at first by Christ and which since hath not been or may not in all the parts of God's Worship be plainly described by the holy Ghost in the hearts and consciences of God's faithful and true Worshippers whom the Father seeketh to worship him although perhaps it may be hidden from them who reject the Counsel of God within themselves and despise the most sure Conduct of his Spirit who leads into all Truth and who chuse to themselves the Worship which is after the Inventions and Commandments of men And forasmuch as God may be worshipped in other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England as by the Apostles and primitive Christians he was before the Liturgy was and as by Christ is prescribed for the Worship of God to wit in Spirit and in Truth why should endeavours be used with such extremity against a People that fear the Lord whose consciences are tender and sensible and in the feeling of that which offends the Lord not only to obstruct them in their just-Liberty purchased to them as Christians by Christ and the free exercise of their Faith and Consciences to worship God in that manner in which God may be worshipped otherwise than is allowed by the Liturgy c. but also by their Laws to limit them to another manner of Worship than that in which God may be worshipped and otherwise than that into which they by the Spirit of Christ are led to worship God and other than that which by the primitive Christians was practised for the Worship of God and which they no where find in the Scriptures either limited unto or prescribed and which the Witness of God in their Consciences is against Do not the stronger herein by their strength rule over the weak in the things of God which by Christ are distinguished from the things that are Caesars Is not this by might and by power to over-rule the Heritage of God against their knowledge of the will of God and what God requires of them and against the divine wisdom and their spiritual understanding which God hath given them for his Service and Worship and against their faith and what they really believe to be the true and spiritual Worship of God and against the discerning and judgment which by the gift of God is seated in their hearts and souls by which they distinguish in themselves and do judge
do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men â—th 9. And for the Servants of God to resign the power over their souls and their soul-concernments into the hands of men and for them in subjection to the commandments of men to yeeld up the dominion over their consciences to man which only belongs to God is not this in the things of God to make themselves the Servants of men and herein is not the Lord rejected and his Soveraignty and Dominion contemned and reproached And in the concerns of their eternal being do they not in this stand or fall to men as their Masters or will Christ profit them any thing who in the things which concern his own Heavenly Kingdom and Government do yeeld their Souls and their Consciences to be yok'd and bound by men Are not the Lord's Servants here in the things of the Lord both by the Apostles Doctrine and Example to be left to their Lord's Judgement and to stand or fall as by his Justice they are either justified or condemned without their being judged by mans judgment And as amongst men it is accounted unequal for one man to exercise authority over another mans Servant and an injury to the Master So doth not the Lord here by the Apostle sharply reprove the presumption of those who at all take upon them to judge the Lord's Servants in the matters of Religion especially in those things which are owned â—â—t 18 7 8 â—0 by him and which by him are allowed in them and wherein the Lord hath received them and doth accept of them And will not the Lord as severely judge them and their usurpation and Hypocrisie as they in the exercise of authority over the Lord's Servants are severe in their judgments and do judge that which is of God in them for is it not an high provocation in them and are not they usurpers who exercise authority over the Servants of Christ in those things in which Christ only is their Lawgiver and their Judge And are not they hypocrites who under the pretence of their service to Christ do persecute the Members and Servants of Christ and that pretend it good service to God to make strong the bands of the Righteous and with the fist of wickedness to smite the Lord's Servants And when the Lord comes to make inquisition for Blood and wrongs done in an hour that they are not aware of will he not then remember them and appoint them their portion with Hypocrites For as to the matters of Conscience in Religion the Worship of God and all those things which relate to the inward man is not every man to stand before the Judgement-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body and is not this by the Apostle made use of as an Argument or Reason why Christians should not therefore judge one another in the matters of Religion nor set at nought their Brother in things in which he is neither to himself nor to any man but to the Lord only in that which he saith But why dost Rom. 10 1 thou judge thy Brother or why dost thou set at nought thy Brother we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ For it is written As I live saith the Lord Every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Doth not the Apostle herein reprove among Christians their judging one another and their setting at nought one another in the matters of Religion and all those things in which they are to the Lord and not to themselves or to man both as an usurpation of Gods right to whom only every knee must bow and every tongue confess as to all those things which are only proper to the Judgment of God and not to mans judgment and also as a violation of the Brotherhood which relation of equality and fellowship as Brethren in the things of God amongst Christians and as Members together of the same Body should be preserved in the unity of the Spirit and by the bond of Peace and to defer them from it by their being accountable to God for it Are not the Lord's Servants in the things of God which by Christ aâ—e distinguished from the things that are Cesars therefore to be left it liberty by Magistrates to stand or fall to their own Master that is to say as to their Consciences in matters of Religion and the Worship of God For in the regiment of their Souls and the dominion over their Consciences is not the Lord only their Master and not man And are they not therefore bought with a price that in the things of God they should not be the servants of men And wherein they are Freemen to be at liberty from the Laws of men are they not therein the Lord's Servants and under the Law to Christ and even in the Body are they not accountable to Him as their Judge whose Judgement-seat is set up in their Souls And by the Law of Christ are they not judged if they transgress in things in which rhey are at liberty from the Laws of men for doth not his Law take hold where their Laws cannot reach and are not their thoughts and the intents of their hearts opened in them and manifest to the searcher of hearts For is not the Sword of his Spirit i. e. his Word which is nigh them quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joynts and marrow to the descerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart And is not the Judge of all which either justifies or condems in every mans conscience alwayes before the door of their hearts in their own consciences to condemn al that either entreth in or cometh forth that is against him as it is written Grudge not one against another Brethren â—â— 5. lest ye be condemned behold the Judge standeth before the door And in that which by the Apostle is concluded as inevitable viz. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God Doth he â—â—m 14 â— not herein reasonably exclude the judgments of men in the matters of Religion and Conscience relating to the Worship of God as himself next saith viz. Let us not therefore judge one another any more but â—â— 14 â— judge this rather that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his Brothers way for seeing that no man can by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a ransom for his soul but that every one must account for himself to God is it therefore reasonable that any man should impose upon another contrary to his faith and conscience and in the spiritual concernments of his soul relating to his everlasting being in which the Imposer cannot answer to God satisfactorily for the imposed upon nor redeem his soul he therein miscarrying And do not they put stumbling-blocks in
the Law of God in the conscience that so by Christians they may be obeyed for conscience sake And if the Laws of men do answer to the Law of God in the conscience will not every one then that resists the Power as well be made sensible of the wrath of God in his conscience as deserving of the wrath of men upon his outward man And by the opposite Commands of God and man are not the consciences of them that are required to obey deeply concerned and themselves greatly tryed for of necessity are not they forc'd into sore sufferings either by the wrath of God or by the wrath of man that is to say if man forbids that which God commands or if God forbids that which man commands must they not suffer either by God or man for in this case of necessity must not either God or man be disobeyed And if they obey the Laws of men contrary to the Law of God do they not then incur the wrath of God and if they obey the Law of God contrary to the Laws of men do they not then incur the wrath of men And although the Wrath of God be the greater yet is not the wrath of men very great and grievous to be born when it is executed But in this case must not the Lord be obeyed rather than man For as to Soveraignty is not the Lord higher than the highest and doth not the Lord regard the Oppressions of the Innocent who in their sufferings have none to flee unto but to himself only as it is written If thou seest the Oppression of the Poor and violent perverting â—les 8. of Judgment and Justice in a Province marvel not at the matter for He that is higher than the Highest regardeth and there be higher than they And doth not the wrath of man turn to the praise of God And the remainder of wrath will not he restrain And as to their eternal estate Are not the concerns of the soul greater than the concerns of the body and even in this life is not peace with God in the conscience more to be regarded than to be parted with to avoid sufferings by men For what is any man profited by ease liberty and pleasures in the body if to gain this he lose his soul and what would not a wise man part with or suffer to gain his soul And are not Magistrates as they are Christians prohibited by Christ from the exercise of authority and dominion over the Faith and Consciences of God's true Worshippers in the matters of Religion and the Worship of God as it is written Mat. 20. 25 26 27. 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 Which cannot be understood that Christians should not be subject to the just Government of their Christian Magistrates in Secular things because in Secular things even Christians are bound in conscience by God to be subject to the just Government even of Heathen Magistrates May not this prohibition viz. But it shall not be so among you therefore be rather understood the prohibiting by Christ of Secular Authority and worldly Dominion to be exercised among Christians for the government of his Church in the Heavenly and Spiritual things of God And also because in the Government of the Church The Greatest is to be their Mark â— 44. Minister and the Chiefest to be the Servant of all and is it so in the Government of the Church by Secular Powers For is not the Church of Christ a Spiritual Body and must not its Government therefore be Spiritual even by the Divine Authority and Heavenly Dominion of Christ himself as the alone Head and Governor of the Church which is his Mystical Body and the fulness of him that filleth all in all And may not this therfore be of caution as well to Christian Magistrates as to Heathen Magistrates to take heed of exercising that Authority and Dominion among Christians over the Spiritual Body of Christ in the matters of Faith and Worship and the things of God relating to the inward man which by Christ are distinguished from the things of Cesar which they exercise and which may be given them of God to be exercised by them for their Civil Policy and the Government of the Politick Body in things Secular and relating to the outward man For is not the Power by which the Church is to be governed by the Father given to Christ as the only Head of the Church and hath not Christ in himself kept the right of Soveraignty in the Government of his Church and is not Christ himself ever present in Spirit with his Church for the administration of his Authority and Supremacy over the Church and in the exercise of his Soveraignty for the Government of the Church And doth not Christ instruct them and rule among them by his Word and holy Unction and his Commands unto them and by the operation of his Power in them and doth he not teach and govern them by the motions and ministries and conduct of his Spirit which abideth with them and dwelleth in them and by the vertues and efficacy of the gifts of his Grace which by him are distributed to them And herein doth not Christ reign and rule and teach and govern his Church himself and hereby is not God glorified in the Church by Christ throughout all ages as it is written Unto him be glory in the Church by Christ Epheâ— 21. Jesus thorowout all ages world without end Amen And though Authority and Superiority and Magistracy and Power justly derived and lawful Dominion in the exercise of Civil Power for the Government of the Politick Body be the Ordinance of God yet doth it therefore follow that the same is ordained of God for the Government of his Church For are the motions of the Spirit of Christ in his Church and the operations of the Power of Christ in the Members of his Mystical Body by Magistrates to be bounded and limited through the exercise of their Dominion over them and of their Authority upon them Are the gifts which by God are given for the mutual edifying of the Church to be ordered and disposed of by Magistrates have they power over and the government of the manifestations of the Spirit of God and all those different Administrations which are by the same Lord and which by the working of one and the same Spirit operateth severally in all for the benefit of the Body and the profit of every member Or had the then Heathen Magistrates the same Authority over the Power and Spirit which operated in the Apostles and primitive Christians as they were the Ministers and Servants of God in the exercise of their Ministry and Service of the Church which they had over