Rebellions Poysonings Assassinations c. 'T would tire a sturdy Satyr and quite wear out his Whips of Steel to lash every Doctrine of Devils that Devillish men have invented to the hurt of Churches and Kingdoms and the disturbance of the whole World to bring all things into a Chaos of Confusion if some men might have their Will Long has Popery and Superstition reigned from the days of Phocas VVitnesses of â—he Truth Against these the Waldenses and Albingenses have protested with John Hus Jerom of Prague Robert of Lincoln John Gerson Council of Constance Erasmus Baptista Montuanus Cassander Polydore Virgil Hesselius Melancthon Luther Calvin Oecolampadius Beza c. mighty men of valour famous in their Generations men of Renown of a noble Genius that dared to bid defiance to the Devil and to the overwhelming Tyranny of the Pope and Court of Rome The same work is prosecuted by us Protestants with might and main though there be some small Differences amongst us and we have cause to unite because the Common Enemy seeks to root us out from the Face of the Earth and Hannibal is at our Gates and a wonderful Progress is made therein by rare Artists SECT III. The Face of things is changed the Vizar removed the Natural Beauty appears no new Religion but the Old restored Hic labor hoc opus est Modern Divinity is the very same with the Ancient Catholick and Apostolical Faith contained in the Scriptures of the New Testament Modern Divinity plainly expounded without mixture of Artificial Glosses As Man was created Righteous but after that sought out many Inventions so are the Scriptures easie till obfuscated by humane Speculations The pure Gospel unmixed with Judaical and Gentile Praecepts and Ceremonies Philosophy Logick and Oratory Not wresting the Scriptures from their Literal or Mystical Sense No need of a living Judge a Pope a Conclave a Council packt for endless Controversies Pruritus disputandi scabies Ecclesiae They say Disputes never did good Wit against Wit engender Strife there is no end of such doings Necessary things few There are but few necessary things trouble the People of God no farther if they observe these things they shall do well The Simplicity of the Gospel is the Wisdom and Power of God unto Salvation mighty for the beating down of the strong holds of Sin and Satan A two-edged Sword for the dividing asunder of the Heart and Reins The preaching of Christ and him Crucified to the Jews a stumbling Block and to the Greeks Foolishness but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks the Power of God and the Wisdom of God Without controversie great is the Mystery of Godliness Christ manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels believed on in the World and received up into Glory He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned This is the Whole Duty of Man Fear God and keep his Commandments Matters of Faith not controverted There are no Matters of Faith in Controversie The chief Disputes of Antiquity Prosperity Succession Infallibility Supremacy Miracles Transubstantiation c. are not Matters of Faith but doubtful Disputation We are to contend for nothing but the Preservation and Propagation of that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints There is no Judge of Faith but God who hath judged it for us and revealed it unto us The Truth is lost by vain Janglings Tu disputa ego credam Justinian wisely forbad any Comments upon the Text of his Law but they yielded no obedience to him in that at all but the quite contrary SECT IV. In the Three first Centuries were no Controversies but such only as the Apostles had with the Jews and Gentiles Touch not taste not handle not Circumcision Days and Years Meats offered to Idols c. They taught Christian Liberty and a New Creature In the Fourth and Fifth Centuries and so forward came in large Commentaries Sophistical and Casuistical Divinity innumerable Superstitions Reformation and Will-Worship This needed a Reformation which all moderate Men studied and longed for in every Age but could not effect The time was not yet come Throw away Infallibility Supremacy c. Pull up Weeds Sweep away Rubbish Cherish Faith and a good Life When we agree in the things leave disputing of the Modes Let our Moderation be known unto all Men. The Lord is at hand we are all in our Journey to Heaven fall not out by the way give the Right Hand of Fellowship one to another serve one another in Love keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace serve the Lord with one Lip and with one Shoulder contend not about Forms of Discipline obey the Magistrate variety of Forms hurt not Faith let Brotherly Love continue speak the same things though in a different manner give that liberty of Prophecying one to another Laws are plain Justice easie do as we would be done by all will be at peace if Spirits be peaceable If any man be contentious we have no such custom neither the Churches of God Salus Populi Suprema Lex c. Suffer no Doctrine which is hurtful to Church or State and all will be well Receive the ingrafted Word of God which is able to save your Souls the sincere Milk of the Gospel receive a weak Brother but not to doubtful Disputations offend not him for whom Christ died Never eat Flesh while the World stands rather than offend a weak Brother or wound his tender Conscience for whom Christ died If Tares be sowed the Enemy hath done this the Lord will destroy both it and them Let the Tares and the Wheat both grow together until Harvest when the Angels the Reapers shall bind the Tares in Bundles and throw them into the Fire and burn the Chaff with unquenchable Flames but they will gather the Wheat into Gods Barn every man must stand or fall to his own Master Every mans work shall be tried his Hay and Stubble shall be consumed which he hath ignorantly built upon a pretious Foundation but he himself shall be saved yet so as by Fire Whatsoever is of God shall stand be not found to fight against God nor condemn the Generation of the Just It is in vain to kick against the Pricks We have not so learned Christ Let every Soul be Subject to the Higher Powers for there is no Power but of God Pure Religion and undefiled is this To visit the Fatherless and the Widows and to keep our Souls unspotted from the World to hate the Garments spotted by the Flesh to live uprightly in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation and to flee from the Wrath to come SECT V. The Word of God is inwardly by instinct of Nature in our Hearts and Consciences Word of God The Word of God is inwardly by Revelation of Grace written in by his Spirit in our Hearts and Consciences The Word of God is outwardly written in
and sufficient for Salvation This may quiet all Ob. Of what use then are other Scriptures Sol. From a Child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.15.16.17 which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and as profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works All Scriptures are equally true but not equally important nor necessary in terminis The Death and Resurrection of Christ are of greater value then the Circumstances of them The Text is of more worth then the Comments Paraphrases and Glosses upon them As long as we believe the main we are safe for other things Errare possum Haereticus esse nolo Aug. Repentance and Faith are the whole Duties of man Every one that doth evil hateth the light Joh. 3.20.21 neither cometh to the light lest his Deeds should be reproved but he that doth Truth cometh to the Light that his Deeds might be made manifest that they are wrought in God The Kingdom of God consisteth in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost The Kingdom of Christ is within us Joh. 1.12 13. As many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his name Which were born not of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of man but of God Of him ye are in Christ Jesus 1 Cor. 1.30 who is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption See the Sermon on the Mount per totum Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy mind Mat. 22.37.38 This is the First and great Commandment And the Second is like unto it Thou shall love thy Neighbour as thy self On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets Joh. 13.34 35 A New Covenant I give unto you That ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another This is my Commandment Joh. 15.12 That ye love one another as I have loved you The hour cometh Joh. 4 21. when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father But the hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to Worship him God is a Spirit and they that Worship him must Worship him in Spirit and in Truth We have known and believed the love that God hath to us God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and he in him 1 Joh. 4.16 Heb. 10.19 c Having boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus By a new and living way which he hath Consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh And having a High Priest over the House of God let us draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our Bodies washed with pure Water Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood Ro 3.25 c. to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God c. One Mediator between God and Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time If any man sin Tim. 2.5 6. we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous Joh. 2.1 2. and he is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World Mat. 16.24 If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me c. He that believeth on him is not condemned Joh. 3.18 but he that believeth not is condemned already Joh. 8.12 I am the Light of the World he that followeth me shall not work in darkness but shall have the Light of Life Tit. 2.11 The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men c. SECT XV. 2. Morality despised is Christianity Morality Heb. 11.6 They that fear God and work Righteousness are accepted of him They that believe God believe Christ Without Faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Ob. Moral Men have no Grace they are many of them in Hell Sol. This is the Language Ro. 2.26 c. of those that pretend to speak the Language of Canan Let us hearken to sound words If the Uncircumcision keep the Righteousness of the Law shall not his Uncircumcision be counted for Circumcision And shall not Uncircumcision which is by Nature if it fulfil the Law Judge thee who by the Letter and Circumcision doth transgress the Law For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that Circumcision which is outwardly in the Flesh But he is a Jew which is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit and not in the Letter whose praise is not of Men but of God A Moral Man is a Christian by the surer side Speculations Mr. Hobs. Notions Forms are mistaken A good life saved Heathens The Light of Nature is God's Will though it be more highly revealed I must confess I have not yet made the proficiency in the Schools of our Ages as to see why the second Table and the Acts of it are not as properly the part of Religion and Christianity as the Acts and Observations of the First Table If I mistake in this 't is St. James that hath abused me Jam. 1.17 who saith Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this To visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the World So the thing which in the new Dialect signifies nothing but Morality and Civility the same in the Language of the Holy Ghost imports true Religion and undefiled Such as we Sow such shall we Reap God will require no more than what he hath given We talk of Special Graces but Sanctification makes the Saints and Self-denial the Christians and he that doth Righteousness is Righteous and he shall live and not die Follow Peace with all men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. â—eb 12.14 Lord I have hoped for thy Salvation and done thy Commandments Christ said â—s 119.164 I must preach the Kingdom of God to other Cities also â—uke 4.43 for therefore am I sent The Kingdom of God is within you â—uke 17.20 The Grace of God
Clergy Gentry Merchants Citizens and Yeomen Consider how you would rake Hell for a Brood of Hypocrites with Bibles on their Knees Writers of Sermons Preachers Prayers and Singers of Psalms but men of Blood These men if they had been right in their Principles and had they not been engaged in a damnable Cause were the best Souldiers in the World for Valour Discipline Thrift Sobriety and Temperance as brave Fellows as ever drew Sword for Alexander Caesar Pompey or Hannibal give them their due and no less a Terror to the whole World The Royal Party had Religious and Gallant Men that ventured their Noble Lives and Fortunes and made proof of their undaunted Courage but wanting the Sinews of War could not keep the Common Souldier in Obedience to war-like Command who having the Sword could not be restrained from Violence and Plunder no more than from Debauchery and Profaneness which was their Ruine By this we see the advantage of exact Discipline in War and that the Name of Gentry cannot carry it And that the Commons by Nature have as good Limbs and as stout Hearts as any and some by Education become as Gentile as the best witness the Army of Cromwel made the School of Civility They knew their Cause was bad and therefore wisely took this Course to imitate the Gentry to banish all open Swearing and debauchery for which they were highly to be commended But for Pride Perjury Cruelty Sacriledge and Lyes they were the Wonder of the World Who is then the Gentleman but he that doth the Gentle Deeds Who is then the Honest man but he that holds the Truth in Righteousness by submitting to all Laws that is by fulfilling all Righteousness with a true heart and a pure life One thing more to me is a great Mystery even of Iniquity To the Presbyterians the Principal Party that first Rebelled there did accrue according to the Nature of Accessories the Independants Anabaptists Quakers c. fighting altogether as in one Body against the King When they saw their time they rose up against their Masters and smote them Hip and Thigh and turned them out of the House and Field Afterward they turned out one another till the King came whose Right it was and turned them all out The Thing that I admire is This That hating one another as they do for their Principles and Practices even unto death and ready to cut one anothers throats yet they should be all so ready upon the least overture to be made against the King or the Church immediately to fall in altogether as one man I cannot unfold this Riddle but I find for what Cause I wot not that they are altogether as implacable to the Church of England as they are to the Church of Rome and seem to be as great Enemies to the Common Prayer which is the Publick Worship of the Church of England as they are to the Mass which is the Publick Worship of the Church of Rome And as the Papists teach their People to nickname us Hereticks so they teach their People to call us Popish or Papists in Masquerade Father forgive them both for they know not what they do Mad on both sides And as the Papists profess and practise Rebellions and Murders I would to God the Fanaticks did not the like SECT IX They say the finding out of the Disease is half the Cure Church of England The Reformed Religion as it is now established in the Church of England abating humane Imperfections in the Judgment of the wisest Christians abroad who would be glad to be in our condition except the Papists and Fanaticks is acknowledged to be the purest and freest from all Idolatry and Superstition and most resembling the Primitive Church of any Religion in the World justly therefore reverenced as the Patroness and Protectress of all the Reformed Churches in Europe a Sister and Friend of the Church of Greece and of the Churches in Asia and Africa besides the Churches of Russia Muscovia c. of the Greek perswasion that have not put their necks under the Roman-Yoke nor bowed their knees unto Baal and whose Mouths have not kissed him Kingdom of England The Government of the Kingdom of England by the Laws of this Land allowing humane failings is owned by the wisest Statesmen abroad to be the best contrived Model that ever was projected out of the best Copies in the World Wherein all Rights are so equally allaied for the Prerogative of the King and for the Liberty of the Subject for which all other Nations envy us and wish for that Honour Plenty and Freedom which we enjoy above them all if we knew how to use our own happiness excepting only the Papists and Fanaticks A Kingdom honoured and feared favoured and enriched by the greatest Kingdoms of the World which are also honoured and enriched by her and glad of her Protection Change of Government So then to endeavour the Discomposure or Overthrow of such curious Frames and stately Fabricks as these must needs be most horrid Malice Unthankfulness and unnatural Rebellion the Occasion of Atheism Barbarity Slavery and Confusion in my poor and weak Apprehension What other Nation in the World seeks to alter their Governments as we do To introduce a Change of either of these or both into any other form if ever it can be done must be the Change of the whole Body of the Laws for where the Principality or Priesthood is changed there must also of necessity be a Change of the whole Laws and that cannot be without great Distraction the work of an Age at least and wiser Lawyers and Statesmen then they are able to find of their own Party in which time after a troubled and perplexed life and much bloodshed and vast Treasures exhausted the Engineers will be all dead and rotten and their Names stink as bad as their Carcasses and that 's the just reward of Innovators Rebels and Overturners of Church and State with whose tainted blood good Subjects will scorn to mix by matching into such Rebellious Families The Genius of the English best suites with Monarchy and Episcopacy into which after all trials of Alterations to no purpose as into a Center the People will naturally fall as they have ever done and there settle thrive and flourish and Rebels become the scorn of Mankind Which of all our Neighbours offer to do as we do Never contented If they change at any time it is by the fortune of War full sore poor Souls against their Wills they rue those changes to be sure and fain would help it God knows if they could tell how Is it not a Thousand pities so good a Prince such wise Counsellers such learned Divines and Professors of all Faculties should be forsaken and ruined by Ignorant and Wicked Upstarts the whole World hath not the like brave and gallant men for Wisdom and Valour as we have Oro miseremini Laborum tantorum miseremini Animorum tantorum non