evil World like Demas and of getting up into the vain pomp and glory of it Judge righteously in the fear of God and let the Light of Christ have place in your hearts and judge righteously for God if such be not Enemies to the Crosse of our Lord Jesus Christ and Enemies to your Souls keeping them in darknesse and blindnesse by their earthly and carnal conversation and loving of this present Worlds glory and whether you are ever like to come to see the Kingdom of God by following them who are gone so far from the path of it themselves Trifle not with God for he will not be mocked And he is bringing up again into sight and possession that Kingdom praises be to his Name which hath long been troden under foot in the outward Court by such as are of this World and love the greatnesse and glory of it as the Gentles do and are therefore counted and called by him Gentiles Revel 11.2 And now kiss the Son of Righteousness which is arising lest he be angry and ye perish out of his way as some have done when his wrath is kindled but a little And let go the Superstitious Vanities wherewith the Nations have been deceived for a long time and turn to his pure Truth and embrace his pure Doctrine according as he left it and come to live in it and to find your Teacher near you that you may find fellowship with God in your souls So shall you soon become wiser than your Teachers and wiser than your Ancients and grave Doctors and great Lords and you shall witnesse the words of the Psalmist true in your selves Psal 119. ver 99 100. Touching the Common-prayer-Book VVHen Christ ascended up on high he gave Gifts to men for the Work of his Ministry and so they were every one to administer as of the Ability which God gave That God in all things might be glorified through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 4.11 which Gifts the Spirit of God did enable them with distributing to every one severally as he pleased And they were to do the Work of their Ministry as from that Ability that God might be glorified for his manifold Gifts And so the Apostles they kept to that If they preached they spake as the Spirit gave them utterance and so bad others do so to speak as God gave ability and as the Oracles of God If they prayed they prayed as the Spirit enabled them We know not what to pray for as we ought sayes Paul but the Spirit helpeth our infirmities It was not a Book that helped their infirmities in Preaching or Praying but it was the Spirit So here was their ability in the Spirit not in a Book But then afterwards as men degenerated from the Truth and went out from the Doctrine of Christ and of the Apostles and sought to be great and have preheminence in the Earth here they went out from Communion with God and his holy Spirit and so the Spirit of the Lord withdrawing and leaving them they were left destitute of that help And then wanting the assistance and supply of the Spirit of God they went to work another way to uphold their Ministry and invented Forms of Prayer to be a help which they could at all times make use of though the Spirit of God had withdrawn it self And this supply now would serve any one to help them in that Ministry which was sutable enough to their earthly Kingdom And so here grew up all manner of Superstitions and Inventions now when the Spirit had withdrawn it self and the bottomless Pit was opened and smoke came up out of the Pit which darkened all and here grew up the Mystery of Iniquity to an Head to a City to a compacted Form and Method and Government like the Gentiles and now makes war with the Saints and with them that stood in the simplicity of the Spirit and would not become one with them in this their humane invented estranged way in which they were gone astray And so this City grew to be a great City spreading over Multitudes Tongues Kings Peoples Nations And it trod under foot the little City of God that Holy City his Little Flock which could not joyn with them in their invenced wayes And this great City prevailed much over the Saints and Servants of God and boasted much and gloried over all saying in her heart I sit as QVEEN and so compelled all great and small to take this her Cup of Fornication and drink thereof and she hath prevailed to make them drunk therewith And whosoever would not come and drink of her Cup nothing was to be expected by them but Tribulation from her And so they have found it sufficiently and felt it from her hands As the Scripture also witnesseth in several places of the Book of the Revelations which was given forth to declare of that Whores Reign before it came Now this degenerated Episcopacy or Bishops way which is gone out from the Doctrine of Christ and from his holy Spirit and stands in an Earthly Power and Dominion cannot well tell how to subsist and uphold its Kingdom and Ministry without some such supply as a Common-Prayer-Book which may be ready for them and help them though the Spirit have left them Yet that it might be taking in the minds of people they have composed it of as many good words as they can which Satan can well give way to so long as it stands in the Disobedience and Opposition to the Kingdom of Christ and of his Spirit And so it is a golden Cup which this Whore hath in her hand as well in that respect having many good words and fair expressions in it to deceive the minds of the simple as also in regard of the Outward Treasure that it is made the way to there being no liberty to any to trade and grow rich with the Merchandize of that Kingdom but such as shall conform thereto and such have a bait of Gold and outward glory and preferment attainable fet before their eyes in the examples of others as a Mark for them to aim at And so herein their Bishops and Masters of that Worship are Examples to their Flock And so here 's a sutableness between these three namely between The exalted Spirit that 's gone out from Christ and from his Doctrine after the World and between her Cup and the Fornicators with her all of the World all out from the Spirit and so being of one nature all three acquiesce in one another and joyn hand in hand to uphold one another But where is the Babe that 's truly regenerated from above and born again by the Spirit of God that can now joyn in the upholding of such a dead spiritless Sacrifice since the Light of Christ hath so shined forth to make it manifest from whence it is Have not the Lambs of Christ formerly been persecuted and slain for refusing Conformity with the Whore in her Worship so far as they saw Light
mindes Only take heed of those things that caused many to fall in the way and be not discouraged though Pharaoh seem to pursue you with an Hoste For the Egyptians may be hardened to pursue to their own destruction and to prosecute the Seed as if they would swallow them up Look to him that led you out and hold on your way follow the Pillar of smoke and of fire the Power and presence of God that his wing may be over you and take heed of murmuring at the difficulty of the way as some murmured and perished for Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life Take heed of unbelief for that enters not into the Promise It 's Faith that overcomes In that go on and make war with the enemies of your souls that are in the way spare none suffer no secret lust to remain alive in your hearts but let the sword of the Spirit come over them to mortifie and slay them and do not satisfie your selves because you have got into this or that Forme for What will that avail you if you go no further It 's the life and power that the Kingdom of God consists in See that you sit not down short of that Are you come to Truth and Faithfulnesse in your hearts so that the world finding your honest plain faithfull Conversation dare trust you and commit any thing they have to you in assurance that they shall not be defrauded or deceived by you If you be not but live in Covetousnesse and Deceit it s neither your departing from Egypt nor sitting down under any Form whatsoever that will do you any good For you are not yet come to the Kingdome of God which is in Righteousnesse and Truth Are you come to an unblamable conversation before men so that they have nothing justly to charge you with and to a good conscience before God which answers to the Light of the Lord in you and so accuses not Are you come to Mercy and to a tender compassionate heart that delights in it and seeks to save your fellow-creature and not to destroy the life of any but only to deliver it from that which would destroy If not the nature of the Saviour is not yet formed in you Are you come to the Light which lets you see your hearts and all the secret thoughts and intents and purposes of them and to love it and turn to it and follow it Are you come to the New-Covenant to receive the Law of God in the Spirit from Christ the Mediator thereof who is the Lord that Spirit that ministers it and so to hear the word that 's nigh you in the mouth and in the heart Are you come to feel the Anointing abiding in you which keeps you abiding in Christ as you are taught thereby and which discovers to you Seducings and Delusions of that spirit of Antichrist that works to lead you from it Are you come to that inward fellowship and communion with God which the Apostles of the Lamb enjoyed and sought to bring the babes of Christ unto Are you come to feel the vvorking of that Spirit of truth in you vvhich mortifies the deeds of the flesh which would hinder your communion with God Are you come to that spirit that renewes and sanctifies and changes your hearts and casts out the old man with his deeds and brings forth love instead of hatred patience instead of frowardnesse and hastinesse lovvlinesse of minde instead of loftinesse harmlesnesse instead of hurting pitty instead of hard-heartednesse gentlenesse instead of roughnesse faith instead of fear and distrust faithfulnesse instead of guile and deceitfulnesse temperance and sobriety instead of excesse and such like wholsom fruits as these instead of the contrary Are you come to that which thus strikes at Iniquity when it would appear in you and cuts it down and brings forth the contrary Are you come I say to that spirit vvhich is the Root from whence all good fruits do spring which is that good Land which flowes with milk and hony that Promised Land that true Resting-place If you be not come to these things How can you think your selves at a period How can you think that you are come to Canaan spirituall where such fruits as these grow How can you sit down as if you were already got into the good Land Come gird up the loyns of your minde and go forvvard vvith us Let us presse on to perfection having our faces still forward in that Kingdome the Treasures of which have no end And clogg not your selves with the love of this present evill world for that will presse you down and keep you back and be a weight to you Minde the one thing needfull and presse toward the mark of the high-Calling of God in Christ Jesus Will it satisfie you to break off from Egypt if you perish in the Wildernesse and fall short of the promised Land the Land of Peace and Rest even the Promise of the Father The Spirit of Truth the Comforter which leads into all truth and into that righteousness the work of which is peace and the effect of which is quietnesse and assurance for ever Isa 32.17 Will you make that a Possession for ever where you had but a Lodging place as it were for a night or two while the Pillar of smoke and fire stood over it Will you stay behinde the cloudy pillar when it is lifted up and gone forward Will you not go along with the power in which the Kingdom of God stands Doth not the Apostle call out of the Form when the Power is gone Come Let us go forward together not looking back again to Sodom as Lots Wife did who was therefore turned into a Pillar of Salt nor as they did who said Come let us make a Captain and turn back to Egypt whose carcasses therefore fell in the Wildernesse Remember Caleb and Joshua who followed the Lord fully with all their heart whom the Lord therefore set into the Land of Promise who pressed still forward when others began to hang back through fear of the lofty Giants whose Faith follow And take heed of lusting after evill things as they lusted who fell by the way Come down out of all Exaltation from any Form that you are got into be it what it will and come into meeknesse lowlinesse of heart humblenesse of mind gentlenesse in the fear of the Lord and become as Little Chidren for in plainnesse of Speech this is the way that our Captain is gone before us and hath left word for us to follow him in Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me saith he for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall finde rest for your soules for my yoak is easie and my burthen is light Bear with me in my pleading thus with you For we would not have you lost who have borne the abuses of the world and the fury of a wicked and untoward Generation for Conscience sake Be not weary nor faint in your mindes nor say in your hearts Where is the Promise of his coming for one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day In his time he will come and not fail Happy is he that endures to the end waiting for him He shall reap that faints not My Affections are towards you who have seen the great Whores Cup of Fornication and have through sufferings broke off from her with us If you be low enough for our Company we would not lose you Is it not the same God that we presse after Is it not the same fellowship with him inwardly in the soul Is it not the same bread that comes down from Heaven which you would feed upon to the inward satisfaction and content of your souls which is the strength of our hearts and which we feed upon every one in his measure And do you finde it in your Form where you stick If not minde the footsteps of the Flock and which way God hath led them and where he feeds his Lambs and minde that which leads them and must lead you into the fresh Pastures where they finde food which satisfies Let go your partition Walls so as not to bear up your selves in your thoughts above others thereby as the Pharisees did and come into the unity of the Spirit where the everlasting Unity stands and which knits all the members of the body together and even from the highest to the lowest though scattered in many appearances So that our bounds lye not in form but in the spirit and where we feel the life If the Kingdome which you seek be not of this world but of another that 's invisible if it be within not without then you must come to that inward guide to lead you into that inward and invisible Kingdom which leads out of the things that unite you to the world namely the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life and him must you follow out of these things into the Kingdom Call that Guide by what name you will Wisdom as Solomon did or the Light which enlightens every man that comes into the world or the Spirit or what other name soever it is named by in the Scriptures That you must obey and follow out of that which defiles and corrupts into that which is pure and holy and eternal For without holinesse no man shall see God nor come to have fellowship with him THE END
Church to be called and counted Seducers by a violent Generation for so were the Saints accounted in the Primitive times by a like Generation as you are And whereas some may say It s but the rude Rable that use violence I answer It s manifestly proved by their Actions that not only they but their Teachers also are guilty of the same violence partly by stirring up the Rude People and encouraging them thereunto and partly also by exercising it with their own hands as some of them have done and partly also by unjust proceedings through Covetousnesse and Desire of filthy Lucre mingled with a wrathfull raging implacable cruel unjust and unmercifull Spirit having spoiled Families making a prey of their Goods Judg in your selves Is this like the Saints in the Primitive Times or like the World Is this like the Sheep or like the Wolves that devour Again your principal men in many of your Congregations have had a deep hand in these Actions of Violence even your JUSTICES and other OFFICERS among you who have sometimes encouraged the Rude Rabble in their Violence against the Innocent and oftentimes even themselves buffetted and abused and whipped and stocked and thrust out from among them those that harmed them not yea often have sent them to Prison and there most cruelly entreated them during their pleasure and that without any just crime or breach of any of their Lawes many times even thus have they dealt to such as have wronged no man but only sought to informe you of your dangerous state in which you stand as enemies to God and his Truth and wayes wading in Superstitious Inventions which will not profit you For this thing have you thus abused them and you are all guilty from top to toe from highest to lowest who have consented in your hearts to the violence done So see your state where you stand See by your Antipathy to such as fear the Lord and by your Agreement with the world where you are You are yet even of the world though you be counted a Church You have the Name but not the Thing You have not the Spirit and Life of the Saints And so we have good reason to separate from you and to come out from amongst you as we are commanded by the Lord 2 Cor. 6.17 18. Revel 18.4 For your Comparison holds better with the Synagogues of the Jews than with the Churches of Christ and yet you fall short of them also In them there was Haling Pulling Beating Thrusting forth Abusing using Violence as you may read in the Acts of the Apostles And so here is your pattern even the Synagogues of the Jews where the Servants of the Lord were abused for holding forth the Truth But herein you excel those Synagogues in Wickedness and fall short of them in Moderation In that they gave liberty to men to speak among them and to reason and dispute among them as you may read Act. 13.14 15. and Act. 17.1 2. and in many other places in that Book Where you may read what liberty they gave unto the Apostles and Saints in those times though they came with a new Doctrine to them which overturned all their former state of a Church yet did they not abuse or molest them until they heard Doctrine delivered which they accounted dangerous and erroneous But you with open mouth and violence are ready to swallow men up before they can well speak a sentence out to be understood yea though you your selves cannot deny the truth of that which is spoken So that you fall far short of the Jews Synagogues in moderation and sobriety even short of those whom you your selves count Persecuters of the true Church How should you then be the true Church Your Violence breaks out before you understand wherefore so did not theirs So you are worse than they And this is your state and condition So see your selves herein and see your Ministers what they are that encourage you herein The Old World which was destroyed by water and Sodom and Gomorrah which were destroyed by fire are revived in your Streets and Assemblies yea in your solemn Assemblies in the point of Violence which was a principal thing topping up all their wickedness for which they were destroyed The Old World was full of Violence Gen. 6.11 and so was Sodom unto strangers And so are your Streets and Synagogues and therefore spiritually you are more like Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is crucified than to the Church of Christ Therefore take not your selves any longer to be that you are not nor blaspheme the Name of Christ any longer by calling your selves his Church while you live in such wickedness but rather fear his Indigation lest that or some like judgment come upon you which came upon those who lived in Violence as you do The Church of Christ is pure And whoever gets the name and yet lives in impurity shall be kept out from entring into the New Jerusalem which is now coming down from God out of Heaven not seen with outward eyes nor known to carnal hearts nor entred into by the unclean and yet her gates stand open day and night But to keep lower to your capacity In the Primitive times the Church was patient under their sufferings 2 Thess 1.4 Are you so Or are not they rather found such who suffer by you Do not ye cast out hard speeches with your Violence against them that are found in the like patient suffering with the Saints in the Primitive times So see and judge impartially Is it you that resemble the Church of Christ or is it those that you rage against that resembles it Again Is not your Church made up of such persons as fear not God ungodly men and women Sweaters Drunkards Cursed speakers Revilers of those that are good Proud and haughty and high-minded Persons glorying in Apparrel and gay clothing other than what the Apostles of our Lord approved of conceited persons yet dark and ignorant in the things of God men that take pleasure in Wantonness and Vanity and Pastimes as they call them who count foolish talking and jesting an ornament to their speech and grace to their behaviour being past feeling in themselves of the things that displease God and quench the Spirit men that savour not the things of God nor have any pleasure and delight in Holiness and Righteousness to whom it 's a burden even to hear of things spiritual that belong to the Kingdom of God out of whose communication spiritual things are banished so that it 's uncouth and distastful to them to confer of the things of the Kingdom of God before them and especially when they are feeding themselves without fear upon the good creatures of God Others are carnally minded worldly minded having their spirits eaten up with the Thoughts of the world and Cares of the world and Love of the world and Honour of the world and Lusts of the world Covetous persons who dare lie one to another
by steps as they have been able to bear Who have tryed their wayes by the Word of Truth and tryed also the false deceivable wayes of mens Traditions and Inventions Take heed I say of speaking evil of the things thou understands not and if thou hast been guilty hereof formerly repent of that wickednesse and pray to the Lord to forgive the thoughts of thine heart and the hard speeches of thy mouth uttered against the wayes of Truth in the time of thy Ignorance And rest not until thou hast got out of those Mists which have risen out of the bottomless Pit and which have darkened the Sun in the firmament that is the pure shining of the Light into the Conscience Haste haste out of that which the Wrath and Indignation of the Lord must come upon and fly to him in the humility of thy soul repenting of thy errour and blindness and hypocrisie and evil state and course of life thou hast been in and come down to be guided and led of that pure Light which leads to Eternal Life and so to come to the Covenant of God the New Covenant which all are in that are owned by him For this is my Covenant saith the Lord In those dayes I will write my Laws in their minds and put them in their hearts And whosoever is not come into this Covenant he is not owned of God For all his from the least to the greatest shall all be taught of God by his Spirit And therefore saith the Apostle plainly Rom. 8. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Now this is that which The ANTICHRIST by the Mystery of Iniquity hath held you off from for his working hath been against the New Covenant which we now clearly see and by what means he doth it eternal praises be given to our heavenly Father who hath made known his wiles and deceivings For it hath been with a golden Cup that the Anti-Anointing or Anti-Christ hath deceived the Naitons even a fine spun outward Form of Religion of some kind or other So keeping their minds still outward from that New Covenant keeping them busie with this Form or that Form outward that they might never come to mind God in the way of his Covenant For whereas the New Covenant comprehends all the Worship of God inwardly in it self Circumcision inward Baptism inward viz. the answer of a good Conscience to God which is that that saves Temple inward House of Prayer inward Worship inward in Spirit and in Truth Contrariwise The Mystery of Iniquity hath kept mens minds still outward and pleased the carnal spirit with abundance of Outward Observations thereby resting it in them by blessing them in their diligent Observation thereof So that they have not been stirred up to seek after the knowledge of God in themselves and to feel the Communion and Fellowship inwardly with him in the way of his New Covenant in the Spirit which CHRIST was made the Mediator of And so about these Outward Forms and Ordinances so called they fight and quarrel and seek to kill and destroy and so still are kept in the murdering spirit And so lot this be A Sign unto you to let you know in what State that Spirit holds you that makes you zealous for outward formes Is it not in the murthering State where Cain was and yet you see not his wiles for he that murthers is the same from the beginning In the New Covenant it s otherwise for there 's a Spirit that delights to seek and save that which is lost and that is of God and conformable to the Image of his Son To whom be Glory and Honour for ever Amen An ADDITION concerning LORD-BISHOPS Let the Light in every ones Conscience who have any acquaintance with the Scriptures judge Whether Our Lord Jesus Christ allowed of that Lordship and Dominion which those called Lord-Bishops take upon them or exercise when as he reproved the very first appearance of such a thing among his Disciples read Matth. 20.25 26. Mark 10.42 43. Luke 22.25 26. saith he 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 minde that 's the thing he reproves whosoever will be great let him be your Minister that is servant and then he repeats it over again in other words And whosoever will be chief among you let him be your Servant And in Luke it s thus exprest Let him be as a younger As if he should say carry quite contrary to such a one in the thing that he would have Whereas he affects Greatness carry to him as a Servant and as a Younger give him not the honour of an Elder Now where 's their Obedience to Christ who dare take upon them such a thing which he hath so plainly forbidden Yea and forbidden others also to receive them as such if any will be so bold as to exalt themselves among them and become great For faith our Lord If any will get up and be great among you let him be your servant and as a younger Wherein the words of Christ is implyed That Dominion and Greatnesse cannot grow up among them except they concurre with him that seeks it and give it to him Therefore as laying a charge of keeping down such a spirit upon the rest of his Disciples he bids them not to concurre and consent to such a thing nor to give that greatnesse to any of his Disciples among them if they should seek it but to carry to such as to a Younger and not as to an Elder and to let him be as one that serves and not as one to Lord it and Rule and have Dominion And so to keep down that spirit that it may not be among You as it is among the Gentiles that know not me to be the one Lord. Honour is in him that gives it If you give it not they cannot have it To open the thing a little further for the simplicity's sake that is in some who think That because there is the name Bishop in Scripture that therefore such Bishops as have the Name now in these dayes have their Authority from Scripture To such I say Minde but the Scriptures well and you will find that the Name Bishop was not given to one that Lorded it over the rest but to the several Pastors or Teachers or feeders of the Flock of Christ read Act. 20.17 and so on to the 28 and 35. The place is so translated that it may be you will discern little in the bare reading of it I shall therefore open it a little plainly according to the Letter of it not by giving you another meaning or Interpretation then what it sayes but by letting you see what it sayes In the 17 Verse its said that Paul sent from Miletus to Ephesus to call the Elders of the Church of Ephesus When they were come he puts
are rendred nearer to the Greek who have spoken to you the Word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation what 's that Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever And Vers 17. he bids Obey such Leaders and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls they break their sleep and ease for your Souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you See they were such men whom the Apostle bids remember and follow and submit to as were of an exemplary Faith and of an exemplary Conversation which had Christ the Meek Lambe of God for the end of it Now such Leaders as these the Lambs are ready to follow and to submit to and obey them that thus go before them leading them by an unblamable Conversation and by the wholesome word of Truth But a Stranger they cannot follow they cannot follow a Proud Man a Scornfull Man an Earthly-minded Man a Deceitfull Man a Lording Spirit that seeks an Earthly Kingdome and Dominion and to have preheminence here Such they cannot follow As they are Babes and Little Children themselves so a Little Childe must lead them And so the Scripture of the Prophets is fulfilled which Prophesying of the Kingdom of Christ saith A Little Childe shall lead them Isa 11.6 One that 's Innocent Humble Meek Lowly in heart like Christ Pure Faithfull Unblamable in his conversation Such a One shall lead and such a One must he be that 's a Leader in the Kingdome of Christ Not a Great pufft up proud Lord. For he by his Example leads quite from the Kingdom of God whither the Lambs are going and leads into the Pomp and Vanities of this present world from which they are flying and against which he made others to promise and vow though he be the forwardest to lead into them How should the Lambs follow such a one judge you and judge as you will be judged Again further The Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ which is the evidence of things not seen and the substance or being of things hoped for This Faith I say is not consistent with Exaltation and Greatnesse and Lordship among the Ministers of Christ Therefore saith Christ Jesus to such How can ye believe who receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh of God only John 5.44 You may see he looks upon such as out of the Faith For observe the ground of it lies thus His Faith or the Faith that he works which is the Faith of his Kingdome is not a dead blind thing such as the Faith of the world is But it is a clear sight Evidence or Demonstration of things not seen even of the things of his Kingdome which the carnall eye sees not nor the bodily eye Now where doth a man come to this Sight or evidence this open view as I may say of things spiritual wherein the Faith of Christs Kingdome consists Christ himself hath told us It is in a Low Place that is in a Low Condition the state of a Little Childe as of one new born And except a man come to this He cannot see the Kingdome of God For while the minde and heart of the Creature is pregnant or filled with desires and affections that are of this world there is no room for things spiritual and eternal to enter Neither doth he obtain the sight of them from the Lord for It 's to Babes that he reveals them Therefore a man must be emptyed and brought down as a Childe before God open to him the Treasures of his Kingdome God hides the things of his Kingdome and keeps them back from the High and Lofty who are big with Wisdome and Prudence and Learning and reveales them unto Babes praised be his Name therefore He replenishes the Humble and Hungry with Good Things but the Rich he sends Empty away The Proud he beholds a farr off his Eye is upon such a one to bring him low and abase him So that as men grow great and high and lift up themselves they go out from the place or condition of seeing the things of the Kingdom of God they go from the condition to which God shews them and to which he gives the evidence and demonstration of them inwardly by his Spirit and so this is to go out from the Faith of Christ which consists in this evidence or sight or demonstration shining into the soul and giving possession of the thing seen unto the soul And therefore how can ye believe who receive Honour one of another and go up into Greatnesse out of the sight of the Kingdom which is Spiritual The lower that the Creature becomes the more capable he is to receive of the Spiritual Treasure and the further he enters into the Kingdom that is Spiritual and not of this World but the higher he grows in this Worlds Pomp and Greatness and Glory the further off he goes from the Faith of Christ So that one may say to such How can ye believe And here we stand upon firm ground in denying the POPE who takes the title of Vniversal Bishop and in denying all other Lording Bishops followers of his steps I say we stand upon firm ground in denying them all as men gone far far far off from the Paths of such Bishops as the Scriptures own and are fallen under the temptation which Satan presented before Christ even the glory of this World And whither then can they lead us by their Example Consider it well The Kingdom of God consists of little Children saith Christ and a little Child must lead them and not such as are great and seek preheminence such are gone out from the Faith and follow the steps of Diotrephes who loved to have the Preheminence that thing which Christ had forbidden 3 Epist Joh. ver 9 10. shews you what he did He began to be a Wolf in the Church of Christ when he had entred into the love of Preheminence And so it must be with those that follow his steps It cannot be otherwise especially now since the Mystery of Iniquity hath formed and founded a Politick Kingdom for their great spirits to rise in in the similitude of the World though under the pretence of Christs Church And so they cannot be Examples to the Flock if they would but must be Devourers thereof The very Mystery that they have given up themselves into will force them to be Devourers and Scatterers of the Flock though some of them may have a pitty arising sometimes in their hearts and would not yet the Mystery of Iniquity is so deeply founded that it carries them on who come into it whether they will or no to help to bear it up against the Lambs of Christ As a Wheel in a Clock is forced on by the motion of other Wheels So it is in this great Mystery And so the Lambs cannot look upon any that manage a