of God So thy Worship is found out of the Truth and contrary to the Scriptures and thy Law of men to compel into a Conformity unto thy Worship is found to be Antichristian and to stand only in thy own Tradition and not in the Power of Christ so thou must either prove it from the Scriptures or all thou canst say of it will not be received for Truth Trad. My Worship is that which hath been accustomed through many Generations and from many antient Fathers I have good proof of it and though some things may be practised in Worship which I cannot positively prove from the Scriptures yet the continuance of them and the National Law upholding them makes them warrantable and out of question Truth That which is accustomed and not in the Power of God is out of the Truth and an evil custom and is to be abolished and not maintained for that is the subtil ground from which many are deceived who have nothing to say for their Religion and Worship but what in thy bowels is generated saying It hath been good and why is it not so now and our Fathers thus worshipped and why may not we and the Nations Law warrants and upholds it and we must be subject to the Law Thus do thy Children reason from thy deceivable working by which their minds are blinded that they cannot see the things that are but lye groping after things that have been which now are not and from the continuance draw conclusions of their lawfulness And because Laws are made to uphold them therefore are they subject to them when the Nation 's Law doth not reach nor is not to meddle with things that pertain to God or to the Conscience of any man so that it doth not make the thing warrantable or put it out of question because it doth provide for the upholding of it seeing it hath not any thing at all to do with it but the Truth doth call it in question And if it cannot be proved to be a practice which the Scriptures do allow and warrant the lawfulness of it Truth doth reprove it and also the Nations Law that doth provide for the upholding of it Trad. I would know what those things are that the Scriptures do not allow or bear witness to which in my Worship is set up and doth belong unto it in the custom of it and if they be but ceremonial I shall not stand so much upon them but as for my Fundamentals I shall prove them from Scriptures and the Saints practice to be sound Truth Lay down thy Fundamentals and what they are that they may be known and in their place come to Tryal and be proved Trad. These be the Foundation-Principles of my Religion and of which I have good ground to believe that they are sound because I find in the Scriptures that the Saints performed them and served God in them and also such as were appointed for the performance of them which in my Worship I do truly observe as they did for I have Churches and Preaching and Praying and Singing and Bishops and Ministers to perform them and also other Officers under them which is for my Church-Order Truth These in their place must all be examined and tryed and by the Spirit of Truth proved whether they be right in the ground and have their rise from the Power of God But what thou canst not prove amongst thy Ceremonies to be warrantable from the Scriptures of Truth open thine eye and behold them that thou mayest see what Monsters thou hast generated and brought forth from thy adulterous womb and behold thy Eldest son that sits in the highest seat in Rome who hath preferred and set up all thy Children in great honour and dignity and people in the Darkness have run after them without any enquiry from whence they came and they have been delightful to the carnal mind and from thence have been highly esteemed and so hath the birth of thy adulterous womb deceived the Nations and the names that thou hast given them are not to be found in the Scripture as in any wayes to belong to the Saints Worship thy Rails thy Altars thy Sacraments thy Cross in Childrens foreheads and sprinkling Water in their faces and calling it Baptism thy Organs thy Anthems thy Singing-men and Boyes thy Hoods thy Surplices and thy Tipits with many other things which by thee is observed in thy Service and Worship that the Lord never commanded nor the Saints never practised neither is there any Scripture for them but thou hast generated them and brought them forth in this dark night of Apostasie and hast set them up in thy Worship as things of great use and from that perswasion that in thy self thou hast of them thou wouldest compel by thy Laws all others to bow unto them Trad. I am reasonably satisfied from what hath been said as to the Ceremonies belonging to my Worship and I do see that they are not of such absolute necessity to be used or by any Law to be imposed therefore I shall be willing to leave every man to his liberty in observing them and shall not force or compel any But as for my Church Preaching Praying Singing Bishops and Ministers they must be duly observed and every man by a Law compelled thereunto who in himself is not made willingly subject for all these are warrantable from the Scriptures and I have their names from thence and in these cannot be deceived Truth I shall try them in order and if I find them right in the ground I shall approve them but if not I must testifie against them for I judge not by the appearance or by the names but in the ground and nature therefore speak plainly what thy Church is and also shew the Foundation it stands upon that I may proceed to tryal Trad. My Church is that which through many Generations hath been a place for my Worship to be performed in and it is consecrated and set apart for that Service and I have also looked many Ages past and have found from antient Fathers that it hath been much set by and highly esteemed therefore the Foundation cannot but be right and I must uphold it and my Worship in it Truth Now I shall try thy Church and the Foundation of it and see upon what it stands for if the Foundation be not right the whole Building must fall and there is no man can lay another Foundation than that which is layed which is Jesus Christ and that which is brought forth from his Power that is of God and this is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of Truth And if it be not in God it is none of his but an adulterated Harlot covered over with the mystery of Iniquity Therefore Tradition be silent a little and Truth will shew thee thy Error and let thee see the false Foundation thy Church stands upon and also manifest the true Church and thereby thou mayest see how
far thou art degenerated from the Life and Truth which the Saints enjoyed and possessed and upon which the Church of God hath ever been builded and stood So be cool and hear what Truth saith for now thy Church comes to tryal Thou hast perverted the right way of the Lord by thy Tradition and hast been setting up thy visible things in the stead of that which is spiritual and hast given them a name out of the nature by which thou hast deceived the Nations and thy things that do appear are not the things of God though thou hast made them very beautiful to behold yet a sandy foundation they stand upon and will not abide the day of tryal for the Foundation of thy Church is of thy own laying and the Building is thy own handy-work and thy Church hath been set up in the midnight of Apostasie since the true Church hath been driven into the Wilderness and the Consecration of it hath been performed by men of polluted lips and thy Eldest son hath been the promoter of it who himself hath lost the key of knowledge and so promotes and sets up what thou generates in thy bowels and this is come to pass since the dayes of the Apostles the Spirit of Truth being lost and ravined from darkness hath overspred and gross darkness hath covered and peoples minds have been blinded that thy Witchcraft and Sorceries hath not been perceived and so hast thou formed a false likeness and given it a true name by which thou hast deceived in drawing the minds of people to believe that thy work is that which it is not But the Foundation of God is more sure and the true Church is built upon it and receives its name from the nature and not from any false conception for the Church is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is the pillar and ground of Truth and is laid upon Christ the living stone in whom the building is fitly framed and groweth up unto an holy Temple in the Lord and it is presented without spot or wrinkle or any such thing and there is the Consecration of it received in the Holiness of his life and he becomes the Head of it and it is truly his own Body which he takes to himself in everlasting Righteousness and espouseth it in his Life for ever and ever and this doth not decay nor wax old but is the same without any variableness throughout all Generations So is thy Church truly tryed and the Foundation of it is found false and the true Church nature it hath not therefore is the name to be blotted out that from henceforth none may be deceived with it Trad. This is strange that my Church should be questioned which through so many Ages hath been much esteemed and promoted and if it be not right then what is become of those that are gone before and did not know it otherwise Truth In thick darkness things seem to be that which they are not but the day makes them manifest as they are and the Light of Christ truly discovers in the ground and being found amiss they must be questioned and also denied And what other Generations have observed and how they walked is not now the question for they knowing no more and being faithful to what they did know they have their reward And this proves nothing for thy false Church and Worship which thou upholdest by thy Tradition and not from the present manifestation of God's Spirit in this Age and Generation Trad. I shall further consider of this but for my Preaching which is a chief thing in my Worship I know that is sound and there can be nothing against it Truth That Preaching which stands in the demonstration of Gods Spirit and in Power is sound Preaching and pierces through the darkness unto that which lies in bondage and revives and raises it in Power But that Preaching which stands in the enticing words of man's wisdom that is not sound and this is the ground of thy Preaching which is so chiefly esteemed by thee in thy Worship and by which thou deceivest many people having got good words and in thy wisdom speakest them forth and labourest in the strength of that wisdom to entice and draw disciples after thee and so dost thou teach for Doctrine thy own Tradition and other mens lines and labours are the strength of thy Preaching and what Ambrose Austine Luther Calvin Gregory and others have said and what Expositions they have made of the Scriptures thou canst say they have well observed And this is the ground of thy Preaching O thou deceiving Tradition And now is thy Preaching found to be out of Truths power and contrary to the Preaching of those that were made able Ministers not of the Letter but of the Spirit Trad. But cannot I have sound Preaching in my Worship though something from the Fathers may be quoted and observed for they have spoken good things and have expounded the Scriptures plainly and given true meanings of them which is a great help in Preaching Truth Sound Preaching is in the Power of God and not from any Exposition or meaning that from others is given upon the Scriptures for who run thither and speak from that they stretch themselves beyond their own measure which the true Preachers dare not do but keep to the gift of God and as it moves in the measure so it is preached and so believed For true Preaching is a declaration of the Truth of God as it doth arise and make it self manifest to the understanding and so there comes to be a true witnessing of it in the Experience through the operation of the Power of God from which it is preached as it is known and this is not found among old Authors and Expositors nor in thy Rhetorick and Logick or in thy made Doctrines Uses Reasons Helps Motives Arguments and Applications but in the Spirit 's Demonstration and in Power Trad. What is it I can say that will be received and not opposed Those things that I have long observed and Ages past have looked at them to be very good now are denyed but for my Praying in my Worship that I know is right and without exception for it is mentioned in the Scriptures and was practised very much by the Saints and I have the Lord's Prayer and have made many other good Prayers and have set them forth which be very useful and comfortable for all conditions and upon all occasions and I have put them together in a Book which I call the Book of Common-Prayer and make use of it in my Devotion and Worship Truth Prayer in the Spirit the Saints practised and their Service was accepted but from this thou art degenerated and in thy Tradition hast made and formed such Prayers as the Lord hath not required neither doth he open his ear to hear them though thou makest many of them and that which thou callest the Lord's Prayer which is so often set
down in thy Book of Common-Prayer and with mouths and lips so often repeated be thou silent and make no mention of it for thou hast nothing to do with it and though thou hast the words to speak yet thou dost not perform the duty of Prayer being from the Spirit that maketh Intercession with groans that cannot be uttered For Prayer stands not in words but in power and the breathings go forth in secret and the Father that seeth in secret he rewardeth openly and the Babe receives a supply of what it stands in need of and this is performed in the Spirit that knows the need and makes requests with sighs and groans unexpressible and also moves unto words and expressions and here is the unlimited Power which worketh according to the good pleasure of its own Will which thou hast limited in thy set Forms and made Prayers having given forth thy Directions what must be said and how much at a time and people must say no more nor go no further and sometimes thy Minister must say and sometimes the People must say and sometimes the Clerk must say Is not this thy practice in thy Common-Prayer-Book-Worship hast thou not made Epistles and Gospels and Collects and appointed them for their dayes and times and hast thou not made a Letany for thy Priest to say a part and the People to say a part and hast thou not given directions how People must be Married and hast set a Form and made Prayers for the performance of that Service and also how People must be Buried and what is to be said and done in that Service and what the Priest is to say and what the Clerk is to say And hast thou not set a Form and made many Prayers when Bread and Wine is to be received which thou callest a Sacrament and hast thou not set a Form of words for the Priest to say unto the People when he gives it and how it must be received and what words the Priest must speak kneeling and what standing and when he must turn his face to the People and speak with a loud voice and when he must turn his face another way And hast thou not set a Form and made Prayers for Women to be Churched and what the Priest must say and how he must pray in that Service And hast thou not set a Form and made Prayers for Children when they are sprinkled with Water which thou callest Baptizing and hast thou not ordered that there shall be some people provided to undertake for them and hast not thou given them the names of Godfathers and Godmothers and hast thou not ordered that for a Male-Child there must be two Men and one Woman and for a Female two Women and one Man and hast thou not set a Form in words what the Priest must say unto them and what they must say unto the Priest And hast not thou ordered that after all these things performed which thou hast invented then the Priest to pronounce the Peace of God and the Blessing of God upon all the Congregation and then the Service is concluded And is not this thy Common-Prayer-Book-Worship in which thou art limiting the Holy One through thy Tradition and teaching people to ask and pray when the Spirit is not felt to help them And have not people been long asking in thy formed words but have not received neither are they satisfied Oh thou adulterous Tradition what monstrous births hast thou brought forth and what names hast thou given them and how like are thy names unto that which is true Thou hast given thy formed words the name of Prayer and canst say Come let us pray when thou neither feelest the movings of God's Spirit nor his Power but in thy own words which thou hast made and formed canst speak in thy own will and in thy own time and give it the name of Prayer and with thy names hast thou deceived the Nations who have not understood the nature and thy named Church and Preaching and Praying hast thou vailed over with coverings of thy own making which are now rending off from thee and thou canst not hide thy self any longer under the Names for now is the Nature seen in the pure Light of Christ which makes all things manifest and thy Common-Prayer-Book is seen to be conceived in thy adulterous womb and to branch forth from the Pope thy Eldest son and thou art made manifest to be out of the Truth and thy Service and Worship contrary to the Scriptures of Truth and to the Saints Practice who prayed with the Spirit and with the Understanding Trad. But what if my Common-Prayer-Book do not fully agree with the Scriptures and the Saints Practice yet there are many good things in it and many Scripture-sentences which may edifie and comfort Truth That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that is against the Spirit and can neither edifie nor comfort though good words and Scripture-sentences may be spoken for it is not speaking the words of others that doth make a true Prayer or a living Sacrifice but the receiving a measure of the same Spirit of Prayer and Supplication and to feel it poured forth by which Intercession is made and a living Sacrifice performed holy and acceptable which is not in thy Common-Prayer-Book to be found therefore it is made of none effect because thy bowels bring it forth and the Pope gives life and breath unto it and from his loyns it draws its strength and not from the Power of God Trad. I see it is a very hard matter to be owned and received in this day for I could not have been believed that I should have ever been opposed or my Church Preaching or Praying denied but my Singing which is another part of my Worship that is so plainly manifested to be the Saints Practice that certainly there is none can deny that Truth Singing is owned where it is rightly used and practised and who are raised out of the day of mourning by the Power of God and have a Psalm given them in the Spirit they may sing and make melody in their hearts unto the Lord and this is a Spiritual Song which is put into the mouths of the Babes who sing with the Spirit and with the Understanding but David's words being rimed and then tuned and the mouths of Hypocrites filled with them is such a practice as the Saints never used so that the mouths of all thy Singers must be stopped who have never mourned nor have not learned to sing with the Spirit and with the Understanding Trad. But there may be some that are joyful in the Lord and though all cannot witness that state yet they may sing whose right it is Truth None in the Fall have any right to sing but the Ransomed return with Songs and these Songs are not David's words put into meeter and then tuned and sung with a vain mind but the living Praises of the Lord sounded forth of the Babes