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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78612	A pretended voice from heaven, proved to bee the voice of man, and not of God. Or, An answer to a treatise, called A voice from heaven, written by Mr. Gualter Postlethwait, an unordained preacher, taking upon him to exercise the pastoral charge, in a congregation at Lewis in Sussex. Wherein, his weakness, in undertaking to prove all protestant churches to bee antichristian, and to bee separated from, as no true churches of Christ, is discovered; and the sinfulness of such a separation evinced. Together with, a brief answer inserted, to the arguments for popular ordination, brought by the answerers of Jus Divinum Ministerii Evangelici, in their book called The preacher sent. By Ezekiel Charke, M.A. and rector of Waldron in Sussex. Imprimatur, Edmond Calamy.	Charke, Ezekiel.	1658 (1658)	Wing C2069; Thomason E959_5; ESTC R207673	108,343	141

Moses and Aaron who did turne the waters to blood and did smite the Egyptian earth with all Plagues Exod. 7. Now it is observable 1 That in two of these three paire of types one beares the person of a Magistrate the other of a Minister or Prophet Moses and Zerubbabel were Magistrates Aaron and Joshuah Ministers 2 That in the times of the Baalitical Apostacy which answers most fitly to the times of the Apostacy of Antichrist the witnesses are onely Prophets Elias and Elisha 3 That wee have in these three paire of types four Prophets for two Magistrates These things considered By the two Witnesses I understand Magistrates and Ministers some of both sorts who have in their several ages witnessed against Antichrist from the very first rise of him down to our times But in no age have Prophets been wanting to this office and work whereas Magistrates appear in it at some times onely as 1 In the beginning of reformation in a Land or Nation as Moses appeared with Aaron when the people were brought out of Egypt to serve the Lord and Zerubbabel appears with Joshua in the beginning of the reformation after the Babylonish captivity 2 Towards the end of Antichrists reign Rev. 17.16 But now the Prophets they must prophesie in sackcloth one thousand two hundred and sixty daies that is all along the Tyranny of Antichrist which hath been in great part made good by the event This being so overthrows his notion of the Witnesses neither can Congregational Ministers bee any otherwise reckoned any part of the Witnesses than as they are taken in conjunction with the other godly Ministers of this and other reformed and Rome-renouncing Churches that have and in this age do stand up as a part of the two Witnesses against Antichrist and for Gods truth and worship And though in a large sense all those may bee reckoned as witnesses against Antichrist that have made open profession of the grand truths of the Gospel in opposition to Antichrist and those who have laid down their lives in that witness Yet in a strict sense Effecta quae efficiunt Praec●nes illi in electis duo consolatio illuminatio quarom illa significatur nomine Olearum ista vero nomine Candelabrorum Pisc the Witnesses are Magistrates and Ministers and yet more especially Ministers who have in all ages opposed themselves to Antichrists Idolatries These are the two Olive-trees and the two Candlesticks that enlighten comfort and feed the Church of God during the whole time of Antichrists reign Rev. 11.3 4. and Rev. 12.6 compared To what you cite out of the Epistle to the Little-stone that Almost nine parts of ten in the Churches of Scotland are not sheep nor fit for civil much less for spiritual priviledges I answer P. 21. I am not easily induced to beleeve the State of the Church of Scotland to bee so corrupt considering what an honourable testimony holy Mr. Burroughs hath given concerning it Lect. 13. on Hosea p. 368. And whereas it is said that many of the sheep there turne head against their Shepherds The more I say is the pity But certainly the reason of it is the present laxness of Church-Government to which those of your way contribute not a little and which if it should recover its ancient vigour and strength and beauty would remedy this evil And I beleeve some Brethren of the Congreganal way have cause enough to make the same complaint of their Sheep One of them godly and learned told mee some few years ago that their people were grown to such a passe that they knew not what to do with them Mr. W. G. And how many sad proofs have wee seen hereof in these late years Neither let it seem harsh to any that admire the antiquity of Churches in England which they conceive began to bee planted by Joseph of Arimathea or Simon Zelotes that I press the casting out of the Parish-Churches the deemed successors of them They retain not their priviledge whose neither constitution nor conversation they can bee found to imitate And wee know P. 24 25. that the Holy Ghost teacheth us to say of as few as may bee to give a valid testimony against the Antichristians of two witnessing Churches These are the two Candlesticks i. e. Churches standing before the God of the earth Whereby the Churchdome of these witnessing separated Churches is not onely established and approved but the much claimed Churchdome of others rejected Your prohibition cannot hinder it from seeming harsh not onely to us but also to some Congregational Brethren that you should unchurch our Churches Way p. 54 because Parochial It appears saith Mr. Cotton to bee an errour to say there is no limitation or distinction of Parishes Way p. 112. meaning of Churches jure divino and speaking of the Churches of England All the work now is not to make them Churches which were none before but to reduce and restore them to their primitive Institution Your self do not deny our Parish-Churches to bee the successors of the Churches planted here by the mentioned worthies and on that account one would think reformation should serve your turne without rising so high as separation But this you think will beare you out that they do not imitate the constitution nor conversation of those first Churches If you should go about to prove either part of this assertion which you wisely forbeare to do you would finde a hard task of it Because it is not possible you should certainly know what was the constitution or conversation of those first Churches But I shall grant and do beleeve ours do not generally imitate their conversation being more corrupted in manners through the neglect of Discipline And what then doth the Scripture any where teach you that corruption in manners yea in many regards in administration and use of ordinances whilst the fundamentals and essentials are retained in doctrine and worship is a sufficient ground for Separation I provoke you to make that appear And indeed this is the point that you Separatists stand bound to make good and which if you cannot as I am sure you cannot from the Word all your declamations against our Churches will not a whit free you from the guilt of Schisme As for the other branch of not imitating their constitution 't is a charge as weakly bottomed and inferring as the other For the particular constitution of those Churches is as I have said unknown to you and our Churches are not now newly constituting but have been long constituted and are successors of those first Churches And no more unchurched and necessitated to bee newly constituted by the intervention of Papal corruptions then the Church of Israel was by the intervention of heathenish Idolatries in it during the reign of bad Kings And that way of constitution still holds our Churches in their State which gave and maintained an ecclesiastical being to the Apostolical Churches even the professing and owning of the

Christian Princes and their Successors since have with the approbation of godly Bishops and Pastors owned and exercised it But you proceed confidently Therefore my beloved brethren accept no Law-giver but Jesus Christ neither in Church nor Common-wealth that will in due time save us from Devillish Government in the Church and from all worldly government in Common-weals when the stone cut out of the Mountain shall smite on the toes of the Image Then no more place shall bee found for them no not for the goodliest government that ever was invented by the wit of man If Christian Magistrates should cause you to suffer for these lines would you not suffer as an Evil-doer Doth not the Apostle Jude 8. call those filthy dreamers that despise dominion and speak evil of dignities You proclaim to the world in Print that for the present de jure they have no power neither in things of Religion nor yet of Civil concernment and call off men from yeilding that obedience to them which the Laws of God and man require You say expresly that de facto they shall have no power in matters of Religion or Civil concernment in the most glorious times of the Church And this is the doctrine which by you and men of your opinion is still buzzed into the ears of the people dangerous to Rulers and contrary to the Word of God and to the blessed example of the Apostles of Christ They in the most glorious time of the Church that hath yet been never exhorted men to cast off and cast down Magistrates though they were then Heathen but to the contrary to pray for and submit to them And yet the Apostles understood I am sure the Monarchy of the Lord Christ farre better than you That Magistrates have power in matters of Religion hath been proved before That they s●●ll have and exercise this power in the latter and most glorious daies of the Church may be easily made evident from Scripture Isaiah 60. Speaks of a glorious time to the Church in the daies yet to come for it speaks of the conversion of the Jews and the flourishing Church-state ensuing thereon But the promise there concerning Magistrates then is not that they shall bee removed but reformed and established verse 17. and made instrumental for the edification of the Church verse 10 16. as Isa 49 22 23. and this all along that glorious time of the Church verse 11. Rev. 21. Is generally understood to speak of the future glorious times of the Church but not a word there of the ending of earthly governments But on the contrary verse 24 25 26. it is said The Kings of the earth do bring and shall bring their glory and honour into the new Jerusalem and for this end the gates thereof shall not bee shut Zech. 13. Speaks of the latter State of the Church and verse 3. declares that Heretical seducing Teachers shall then undergo capital punishment Transfigent id est supplicio afficiendum tradent judicibus Pisc His Father and Mother shall thrust hm thorough Which Expositors and Mr. Burroughs with them understand of their convening them out of zeal for Gods glory before the Christian Magistrate and so causing them to bee put to death From these and many the like places it is evident that all along the most glorious times of the Church there shall bee Magistrates exercising their power and authority for the Churches good in matters both of Civil and Religious concernment What Government it is which you call Devilish Government in the Church you do not here expresly tell us But your book gives the Reader abundant cause to conclude that you mean all Government in the Church but that of your way And if so do you know what manner of spirit you were of when you wrote this passage Dare you pronounce all Government in the Church besides the Congregational to bee for the substance of it Devilish and so all those that exercise it to bee the Servants of the Devil therein What could the Antichrist of Rome have said more against Protestant Churches I shall say no more to you at this time but the Lord rebuke thee And shall now address my self to examine whether your Treatise doth prove the Protestant Churches and their Government to bee Antichristian and Devilish for that 's the sad task it undertakes SECT II. Of Mr. P's Text Rev. 18.4 And the interpretation thereof and inferences from it particularly of the coming out of Babylon and an Antichristian Church-State YOur explication of the Text and it s context had need to have been more clearly and firmly laid to have borne up such doctrines as you build upon it But you are mainly for the particular conclusion P. 5. Wee must depart from the fellowship of Antichristian Churches that is with you Protestant Churches or else wee remaine in Babylon still I shall a little reflect upon your text and it s context and shew that this conclusion of yours in the sense mentioned can of right claime no acquaintance with their import In this Revelations 18. Babylons ruine is set forth 1 By the instrumental causes of it the Word of Gods mouth denounceing it and drawing off her associates from her verse 1 2 3 4. 2 By the procuring cause of it her foule Idolatries and seduceings verse 3. 5. 3 By the consequents of it the sorrowing and wailing of her followers and lovers and the great joy of the Church and people of God verse 9 to 21. I shall particularly consider the four first verses Verse 1. I saw another Angel come down from Heaven c. Pareus understands it in a literal sense Brightman of some cheif Executioner of Gods wrath as Commander General of Gods armies against Babylon But in regard by Angels in this book are often meant the Ministers of the Gospel whose tongues and pens God imploies to discover Antichrists impostures as Interpreters agree those places mean Rev. 14.6 7 8 9 15 17 18. This Angel may also bee understood to signifie them since he brings for substance no other message than the former onely his discovery is more clear being neerer Antichrists ruine and therefore whereas the Angel Rev. 14.6 is said to flie in the midst of the Heavens this Angel is said to come down from Heaven and to cry with a strong voice and the earth to bee enlightened with his glory By this Angel I understand the company of Gods Ministers of the reformed Churches that have been and shall bee raised out of the bowels of the territories of Antichrist who by their preaching and writing enlighten the earth that is the common sort of Christians who were before the footstool of Antichrist and basis of his Hierarchy For though this was in a great measure done at the pouring out of the first viall upon the Throne of the Beast when the Waldenses Albigenses Hussites c. began every where to renounce the authority of the beast calling Rome ecclesiastical the Apocalyptical Babylon

hearts stand seized of the power of the keyes in them because the major part are such in our Churches Petitio principij As if the people had the power of the keyes committed to them you know wee owne not that doctrine Church-guides have the power of the keyes committed to them and many of such among us are to bee reputed godly And if in most places wicked men stand seized of the power of the Keyes yet this will not serve to justifie separation from our Churches as false and Antichristian The wicked Scribes and Pharisees stood seized of the power of the Keyes in the Church of the Jews and yet Christ with his Disciples held communion with that Church and gives no encouragement to separation from it whilest hee had not set up a new Church-State Mat. 23.1 2 3. Your prudential consideration for separation That there is no probability of reforming our Churches P. 20 21 22 because the greatest part in them are wicked and will hinder the work which you strengthen with a passage out of the Epistle to the Little Stone Is certainly an argument which the Prophets and holy people of God in the Church of the Jews were not acquainted with or thought not to bee of force to warrant them to separate or to neglect indeavours for reformation Neither doth Jesus Christ look upon such a reasoning or the ground for it as sufficient to excuse the Angels of and Christians in the Churches of dead Sardis and wretched Laodicea who might plead the same improbability of reformation from putting forth their utmost indeavours for it Your Prudence would it seems have taught them that they might spare themselves a labour and rather gather new Churches than stand about a work so unlikely to bee effected as the reforming of the old But surely the Spirit that spake by the Prophets exhorting to indeavours for reformation in the Church of the Jews as miserably corrupted at least as our Churches and the command of our Lord pressing the same duty upon the Churches of Asia do excuse us from practising by your prudential consideration and teacheth us to do our duty for reformation and leave the successe to the Almighty God depending upon him by faith And I doubt not but that it all Church-guides and pious Christians in our Churches would to their power joyn and set about this work wee should finde the Lord dispelling our fears facilitating the work and shaming us for our distrust But you say 〈◊〉 16. If wee would make a kindly reformation wee must not build on Antichrists foundation but returne to primitive practice Agreed But in regard it doth not appear that Parish-Churches had their original from Antichrist and that it appears that Primitive Churches were made up of co-habiting or neighbouring families this puts no necessity upon us of demolishing or forsaking Parish-Churches in order to a reformation no more than the duty of repenting reforming and conforming to Primitive patternes did upon Sardis and Laodicea to forsake their then Church-standing and erect new Congregations Christs Church-State and Antichrist are opposed Rev. 11.1 2 3 4. The witnesses against this are impowered and specified to bee the two Olive-trees noting Magistracy and Ministery and the two Candlesticks noting Churches that arise against the Antichristian Church-State At least at the latter end of Antichrists reign 〈◊〉 17 18 shall the testimony bee mannaged by separating Congregations The Holy Ghost speaks plainly for separating not onely from the corruptions of the Antichristian Church but from the Antichristian Church-State it self Can Mr. P. bee so blind as not to see or so wilful as not to acknowledge that Protestant Churches are Churches separating from the Antichristian Church and from its Antichristian Church-State and that they have been witnesses against them from the beginning of their appearing to this day What was the Antichristian Church and Church-State never separated from till Independent Congregations came of late to bee erected who separate from Churches that separate from Rome Grant that there remaine some Antichristian corruptions in Protestant Churches I am sure there do in the Independent and those of a higher nature For Schisme and Separation from all the Churches of Christ but their own is an Antichristian corruption of one of the first magnitudes The Romanists being the great Schismatick and Separatists will it follow that Protestant Churches while they in the main renounce forsake and protest against Romes pretended Supremacy and her abominable doctrines Idolatry and worship are not Churches separating from Rome and witnessing against her What Churches in the last ages to these late years have mannaged the testimony against Antichrist but Protestant Churches that separated from him and sealed their testimony with their blood whereon ours have not done the least And must wee now look upon them as Churches still in Rome strip them of the glory of being witnesses against her despise the sufferings undergone by them for refusing to own and subject to her And own as Churches separate from Rome and witnessing against her onely a very small number of late Congregations in this corner of the world who have little by profession and nothing by suffering witnessed against Rome but much inveighed against and separated from Protestant Rome-opposing Churches to the great service of Rome Surely Mr. P. must bring better proof of it than hee doth before it can perswade or deserve our beleef But let us weigh his device concerning the witnesses whereby hee presumes to make it out 1 Hee will have the two Olive-trees to note Magistracy and Ministery and the two Candlesticks Churches But wee have but his word for it The holy Ghost doth not there distinguish the witnesses but saies of them both These are the two Olive-trees and the two Candlesticks 2 Hee saith In the latter end of Antichrists reign the Testimony shall bee mannaged by separating Congregations Whereas the holy Ghost doth not set forth two sorts of witnesses in different times but saies that the same shall prophesie in sackcloath one thousand two hundred and sixty dayes during the whole time of Antichrists reign My apprehensions of the witnesses according to Scripture are these Three paire of Types wee finde of them in the Old Testament Moses and Aaron in the Wilderness Elias and Elisha under the Baalitical Apostacy Zerubbabel and Joshuah under the Babylonish Captivity And the holy Ghost alludes to somewhat famous in the history of the lives of these persons which is answered with something parallel in the two witnesses Verse 4. alludes to Zerubbabel and Joshuah who are called two Olive-trees that stand by the Lord of the whole earth Zach. 4. Verse 3 5. And the former part of the sixth allude to Elias and Elisha who witnessed against the Apostacy and Idolatry of their times and more particularly to Elias who destroyed his enemies by fire and did by his prayers open and shut Heaven 2 Kings 1. James 5.17 18. Verse 6. the latter part alludes to