to the great Commandment Exod. 20.3 Thou shalt have no other Gods before me For this is to make and have a multitude of Gods before him And saith Moses Deut. 11.28 And a Curse if ye will not obey the Commandments of the Lord your God but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day to go after other Gods which ye have not known And Deut. 28.14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day to the right hand or to the left to go after other Gods to serve them But here is a new Breed of God's brought up and which is a deplorable thing by such as pretend to be the Disciples of the blessed Jesus who came to teach us to worship and serve God alone in spirit and truth God hath declared that he will not give his glory to another Isa 42.8 And therefore we must not give his Glory and sacred Rights to the consecrated Elements in the Lord's Supper Our blessed Saviour hath told us that we must worship and serve God only in a Religious manner Matt. 4.10 and Luk. 4.8 And therefore we must be careful to keep this great Commandment and not be so profane as to fall down and worship the bread that we eat St. Paul chargeth this upon the Heathen as a grievous Crime Rom. 1.25 That they changed the truth of God into a lye and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever Amen And we must not now run into the like Crime when we have so clear a Light shining before us For if we do we shall be greater sinners in so doing than the Heathens were By these and many other places we may see that this is contrary to the blessed Word of God and gross Idolatry to fall down and worship the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament and to make Idols of them From all such Idols must we keep our selves as St. John hath commanded us 1 Joh. 5.21 if we would not have our part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone wherein we are told that Idolaters shall have their part Rev. 21.8 IX Their pretending to sacrifice and offer up Christ to God the Father for the Quick and Dead is not agreeable to the sacred Word of God We are taught in the sacred Scriptures That Christ hath offered up himself once for all and hath purchased Eternal Redemption for us and that there is no need that he should be offered up again for our Salvation Heb. 9.12 saith the Apostle But by his own blood he entred in once into the holy place having obtained Eternal Redemption for us And ver 25 26. Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high Priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself And ver 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many Christ was not to offer himself often as the high Priest offered every year but one offering was sufficient and by it hath he put away our sins and obtained eternal Redemption for us and there is no more need of his suffering again And saith the Apostle Heb. 10.10 By the which Will we are sanctified thro' the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all And ver 12. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God And ver 14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified By one offering hath our Saviour perfected and compleated his work of our Redemption and there is now no more need of his being offered again and it is but a vain thing to pretend to more offerings of him and to pretend that the Bread is his real Body We are taught that Christ is to dye no more and therefore he cannot be sacrificed and offered up to God the Father in the Mass-service Rom. 6.9 10 saith the Apostle Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him For in that he dyed he dyed unto sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God Christ we see is no more to dye and return under the power and dominion of death again and therefore it is a great piece of vanity and wickedness to pretend to sacrifice and offer him up to God the Father for the sins of men We are redeemed with the precious Blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 and without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins Heb. 9.22 And how then can the mass-Mass-sacrifices signify any thing It was a very sinful Crime in those that put the Son of God to death And how then can it be deemed an acceptable service to God in those that pretend to act it over again This is a grand piece of impiety for men to pretend that they have such Power over the blessed Son of God as to sacrifice and offer him up here at their own pleasure whenas we are assured by the sacred Scriptures the word of Truth That Christ is in Heaven at the right hand of God X. Their keeping the Cup in the Sacrament from the Lay-people is not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures Our blessed Saviour gave the Cup in the Sacrament to all and commanded that all his Disciples should drink of it Matt. 26.27 And he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it Here our Saviour commandeth that all his Disciples should drink of the Cup and his Command is as positive and clear as well can be And Luk. 22.17 And he took the Cup and gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves This we see is no less to be divided among them all than the bread was And St. Mark tells us that they all drank of it Mar. 14.23 And he took the Cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them And they all drank of it This is the plain and positive Command of our Saviour that all without any exception should drink of the Cup in the Sacrament and this we see all his Disciples did And St. Paul doth plainly shew that all are to drink of it that partake of the bread 1 Cor. 11.26 For as aften as ye shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup Whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. This we see is the Apostle's command that every one after due examination should both eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup The keeping the Cup in the Sacrament from Lay-persons we see is flat contrary to the positive and express Command
see is flat contrary to the express Word of God In these matters concerning Marriages it is clear that their Practice is not agreeable to the sacred Word of God XII Their Doctrine of Purgatory and their Masses and Prayers and Absolutions for the delivering of men from thence are not agreeable to the sacred Scriptures And first we may see that the places alledged to prove these will prove no such thing Our Saviour hath told us Matt. 12.32 That whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world or age neither in the world or age to come But this place doth not prove that any sins shall be forgiven in another world which are not forgiven in this This only shows that no pardon at all was to be granted to this sin And so it is explained in St. Mar. 3.29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal Damnation This place in St. Matthew is clearly explained to us by the Spirit of God how we are to understand it and nothing like Purgatory we see can be drawn from it And we may see that such expressions as these in the Scriptures prove nothing at all to this purpose Our Saviour saith concerning the man that was born blind Joh. 9.3 Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents But this is no proof that other men do sin before they are born into the World Nor does this place prove that sins shall be forgiven in another world which are not forgiven in this And if some sins were to be forgiven in another World that would belong to God and men here upon earth have nothing to do to order the affairs of the World to come and are in ignorance as concerning the State and Condition of the greatest part of particular men tho' something may be known concerning a few And great arrogancy and vanity it is for men here to pretend to order the affairs of the World to come and another life Again saith our Saviour Matt. 5.25 26 Agree with thine Adversary quickly whilest thou art in the way with him lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge and the judge deliver thee to the officer and thou be cast into prison Verily I say unto thee thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Here our blessed Saviour doth exhort and persuade men to repent and amend their lives and to make satisfaction for all the Injuries and Wrongs that they have done to others while it may be done here in this World and lets them know that if they do not take this wise course to make satisfaction now they shall hereafter be dealt with with great rigor and severity like one that suffers the extremity of the Law and is not released from prison till he hath paid the uttermost farthing that was due from him These words till thou hast paid do not prove that such an one shall be released but are rather to be understood of lying in hell for ever But here is nothing like Purgatory and no proof that men shall be delivered from thence by Absolutions and Prayers and Masses c But this place instead of proving of Purgatory is a strong argument to prove that there is no such place For here we see that our Saviour doth exhort men to take such a course in due time that they may not be cast into prison and if they will be wise betimes and take care he sheweth that men may escape this prison and not come into it at all And when men are cast into this prison he doth plainly affirm that they cannot be discharged from thence by Absolutions nor be begged and bought out thence by Prayers and Masses c. Again we read of the Holy Jerusalem Rev. 21.27 That there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth But this is no proof at all that men must be purged in Purgatory after death And the Word of God doth plainly teach us that we are to be purged and cleansed other ways We are cleansed and sanctified by Baptism by the Word and Spirit of God and by the blood of Christ and not by Purgatory after death 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are washed saith St. Paul but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God And saith our Saviour Joh. 15.3 Now ye are clean thro' the Word which I have spoken unto you And Ephes 5.25 saith the Apostle Even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish And saith St. John 1 Joh. 1.7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin Here we see how men are cleansed and purified and made fit to enter into the Holy Jerusalem And here we see that there is no need of Purgatory and that men are not cleansed and purified this way but that they are purified by the Ordinances of Christ by repentance and forsaking of their sins and evil ways by being baptized into the Christian Religion and living of holy and innocent lives according to the Doctrine and Commands thereof and by the precious blood of Christ and by the Holy Spirit of God These Texts of Scripture do plainly prove to us that there is no such place as Purgatory because there is no need of it and men are not cleansed and purified by it but are purified by other ways and means Nothing like Purgatory can be gathered from this place in the Revelation chap. 21. ver 27. Again saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 3.18 19 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the Spirit By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison And these Spirits the Papists would have to be in Purgatory and that Christ by his Spirit went to preach to them But this will prove nothing to their purpose For these are those sinful Wretches that were disobedient in the days of Noah and then it was that Christ preached to them by his Spirit in Noah and the righteous men in those days And thus saith St. Peter ver 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison Which some time were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing And while the long-suffering of God waited for their repentance in the days of Noah then it was that Christ preached to them by his
a wicked thing it is to pretend to pardon them before they are so Isa 55.7 saith the Prophet Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Upon this condition of repenting and forsaking of sin and returning to God he will pardon but not else And this God sheweth Ez. 18.21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not dye And ver 24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth shall he live all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned In his trespess that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Here we see ver 20 that the soul that sinneth must die and not be pardoned except he repent but upon repentance and amendment here is mercy and pardon to be had but not without it And saith our Saviour Luke 13.3 Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish And Luk. 24.47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations Repentance is to be preached to all as the condition of pardon and remission of sins And saith St. Peter to Simon Magnus Acts 8.22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee This was the way that St. Peter prescribed to have his sins forgiven viz. to repent and humbly to pray to God for pardon and forgiveness And he hath set us no example of selling of pardons but the quite contrary And he hath shewed us that Spiritual Gifts and Powers are not to be sold and bought for Money Ver. 18 And when Simon saw that thro' laying on of the Apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given he offered them money saying give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost But Peter said unto him thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money The gifts of God are not to be bought with Money And from hence it doth appear that the Pardons of men's sins ought not to be sold for Money and that such Pardons are but miserable Deceits to the poor deluded Souls that buy them And saith our Saviour to his Apostles when he sent them forth Matt. 10.8 Heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out devils Freely ye have received freely give This is the Command of our blessed Lord that his gifts should be freely communicated to all persons that were capable of them and well qualified for them and not sold in such a covetous manner for sinful gain And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.18 For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation But with the precious blood of Christ or of a lamb without blemish and without spot It is this Blood that hath redeemed us and this Blood and not silver and gold must procure us the pardon of our sins By these places without drawing a multitude more together here which might be alledged to this purpose it is plain that the Popish way of selling pardons is not at all agreeable to the sacred Scriptures but contrary to them XIV The Practice of the Romish Church in deposing and dethroning of Emperors Kings and Princes and turning them out of their Empires Kingdoms and Dominions and absolving their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance and from all Fidelity and Obedience to them is directly contrary to the Word of God This is very great wickedness to turn Princes out of all their Rights and Dominions and to tolerate Rebellion Perjury and Regicide and such black and bloody Crimes and to involve whole Kingdoms in dismal War and Blood This is not to act like a Servant of Christ the Prince of Peace to turn whole Kingdoms thus into Disorder and Confusion and to set men to kill and destroy one another and to command them to commit such wicked things as these and to violate the sacred Commands of God to the contrary The High Priests among the Jews were subject to their Kings and Princes and did not Lord it over them at this rate Aaron was subject to Moses tho' the younger Brother because he was the supreme Magistrate among them David and Solomon and the rest of the Kings of the Jews did Rule as Supreme Governors and the High Priests were subject and obedient to them And we read not that ever our blessed Lord and his Apostles did depose and dethrone any Kings and Emperors because they would not presently submit to them or gave any command that they should be deposed and removed upon any such account We cannot find that ever the blessed Jesus and his Apostles set such a wide gate open to sin and wickedness and gave men liberty to practise what Villanies they pleased against their Soveraign and the Lord 's Anointed tho' an unbeliever We cannot see that they have made Perjury and Murder lawful upon any account much less the murdering of a King But we may see that such practice is strictly forbid by the Gospel Our Saviour hath commanded that Caesar should have his dues Matt. 22.21 Render therefore unto Caesar saith he the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's Caesar was not to be dethroned but to have his Dues tho' a Heathen And the Apostles strictly enjoyn and command obedience to Kings and all supreme Governors Rom. 13.1 saith St. Paul Let every soul be subject unto the higher Powers for there is no Power but of God the Powers that be are ordained of God Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation And ver 5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake Here is a positive and strict Command that all men whatsoever should be subject to the supreme Power and no less than Damnation is threatned to them that resist and rise up against lawful Authority and Government And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 2.13 Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governors as unto them that are sent by him To the King and Governors in all things that are good and lawful doth St. Peter command us to be subject and obedient And saith St. Paul to Titus 3.1 Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates to be ready to every good work By these and such places it doth plainly appear that all