death fall like trees and cannot afterwards alter their condition And saith our Saviour Joh. 9.4 I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work And this night we may be sure will come at death tho' our Lord here may have some respect to Persecution too And saith St. Paul Phil. 2.12 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Here the Apostle doth plainly shew that every one is to work out his own Salvation here in this World and exhorts us to do it with exceeding great care and lets us plainly see that it is not to be done by the Prayers and Absolutions of others after we are dead And saith the Apostle Heb. 3.13 But exhort one another while it is called to day Hereby also shewing that our work is to be done here before death And at the great Day of Judgment every one is to be judged according to the things that he hath done here in the body 2 Cor. 5.10 For saith St. Paul we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad According to the things done here in the body in this world are men to be judged at the last day and here is no regard that is to be had to the matters of Purgatory which shews that there is no such place And after death we may see that the righteous cease from their labor and are at rest and therefore are not laboring and tormented in the fire of Purgatory Job 3.12 13. Why did the knees prevent me or why the breasts that I should suck For now should I have slept then had I been at rest with Kings and Counsellors of the earth And ver 17. There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest Job concluded that he should be at rest as soon as he was out of this troublesome world and that other righteous men should be so too and yet he had perfect knowledge of a world to come Job 19.25 And Daniel was to be at rest Dan. 12.13 But go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in the lot at the end of the days And saith the Prophet Isaiah 57.1 None considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come He shall enter into peace From evil here in this world is the righteous man taken and when he departs hence he enters into peace and rest And saith the Apostle Heb. 4.9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the People of God For he that is entred into his rest he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest least any man fall after the same example of unbelief A rest remaineth to the People of God after this life is ended and here we are to labor that we may enter into it And saith St. John Rev. 14.13 And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from hence forth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them Those that dye in Christ are blessed and happy and are then to rest from their labors and not to be tormented in Purgatory 2 We may conclude from hence also that there is no Purgatory because the body has need to be purified as well as the soul and must be purified before it goes to Heaven but the body is not purified in Purgatory and therefore we may conclude that the soul is not purified in any such place It is more likely that the body should be purified in such a fire than that the soul should be so but the body lyes here in the grave with us until the resurrection and is not purified by Purgatory And yet the body must be purified before it can go to Heaven For the Apostle hath told us That flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and that corruption doth not inherit incorruption 1 Cor. 15.50 But our bodies are to be glorified and spiritualized by our blessed Lord. Phil. 3.20 For our conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself The body is to be purified before it can go to Heaven but it is certain that the bodies of men dead are in the grave and not in Purgatory and that the bodies of the righteous are to be changed and glorified by our blessed Saviour and we may be sure also that the souls of the righteous are purified by him When we by the grace of God have done what we can to purify our souls we may be sure that our blessed Saviour will complete this purity and present them without spot before the Throne of God as I have shewed before This clear proof before our eyes that the bodies of men departed are not in Purgatory but in monuments and graves here upon earth doth make it more evident that there is no such place as Purgatory but that it is a vain Fiction and a meer Fable All Receptacles of the dead shall at the last day deliver up the bodies of men that are in them and are there to remain till that day according to John's Vision Rev. 20.13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell or the Grave delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works In the several receptacles where the bodies of men are and shall be reposed and laid up are they to abide till the general day of Judgment and are then and not before to be delivered up And if there were any need that men should be purifyed in Purgatory before they can be fit for Heaven there would be the same need and necessity that the last generation of men should be purifyed herein before they could be fit for Heaven But we are taught by St. Paul that at the last day the dead shall be raised up and that the living shall then be changed and so go with them strait to Judgment to meet the Lord and that the righteous shall from thenceforth abide with him for ever 1 Cor. 15.51 Behold saith he I shew you a Mystery we shall not all sleep that is die but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed That is those of us that shall be then living And 1 Thess 4.15 saith he For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord That we which are alive and remain unto
he might have an opportunity of doing an act of mercy and kindness to him even at that time when he came to apprehend our Lord and to take him away to be crucified And he cured his ear again that no one might have any just cause to complain that any injury or wrong was done to him by Christ or his Disciples And when his Disciples would have called for fire to come down upon the Samaritans as Elias did because the Samaritans would not entertain them perceiving that they were Jews he rebuked them and told them that he was not come to destroy mens Lives but to save them Luk. 9.54 And when his disciples James and John saw this they said Lord wilt thou that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them even as Elias did But he turned and rebuked them and said ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of For the Son of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them And from hence it is plain that the Disciples of the blessed Jesus ought not to destroy mens lives but to do what they well can to save them Ananias indeed and Sapphira his Wife were stricken dead upon St. Peter's admonition of them Acts 5.1 But this seems to be done by the immediate power of God and St. Peter caused no violent hand to be laid upon them And this was for a very great Crime for lying to the Holy Ghost and to God And such sins against the Holy Ghost men are not now well capable of committing except God should now vouchsafe such evidence and demonstration of the Holy Spirit as was then which is not to be expected This place cannot be any encouragement at all now to Cruelty and Bloodshed Elymas for his wickedness was stricken blind upon St. Paul's words Acts 13.11 But this seems also to be done by the immediate power of God and it is probable that he had still time to repent and God might thus afflict him that he might be brought to repentance hereby if he would St. Paul ordered that the incostruous Person at Corinth should be delivered to Satan 1 Cor. 5.5 But this was for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus That by such chastisement he might be brought to repentance and so be saved He also delivered Hymeneus and Alexander to Satan 1 Tim. 1.20 But it was that they might learn not to blaspheme He ordered also that an heretick after the first and second admonition should be rejected Tit. 3.10 But gave Titus no command to put him to death And our blessed Saviour commanded his Apostles when he sent them forth to be harmless like Doves Matt. 10.16 Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of Wolves be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves Our blessed Lord and his Apostles practiced nothing like this bloody Cruelty and he commanded his Apostles the quite contrary and shews that he came into the World upon no such design but for a quite contrary end And the Gospel is full of Precepts commanding the highest charity and love and goodness that can be to all men even to our enemies Matt. 5.44 saith our Saviour But I say unto you Love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despightfully use you and persecute you That ye may be the Children of your Father which is in heaven for he maketh his sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust And to this purpose Luk. 6.27 This universal love and charity are we to exercise that we may be the Children of God and imitate his universal love and kindness and if we do not so we shall not approve our selves to be the true Children of God And saith St. Paul Rom. 12.14 Bless them which persecute you bless and curse not And ver 20 Therefore if thine Enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good And saith he Gal. 5.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith or faithfulness meekness temperance These are the works of the good Spirit of God and not Bloodshed and Cruelty And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.22 See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently And 1 Pet. 2.15 For so is the will of God that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men This and not the Sword and Rack and Fire is the way that he prescribes to silence the ignorance of the foolish And 1 Pet. 4.8 And above all things saith he have fervent charity among your selves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins This fervent and universal love and charity doth the Gospel require And so far ought we to be from malice and cruelty towards others that we should rather be ready to lay down our own Lives for them when it is likely to be beneficial to them as St. John shews 1 Job 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God saith he because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren And so far is the Gospel of Christ from tolerating and giving any encouragement to such bloody Cruelty and merciless Practices that it flatly declares that Murderers shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven but that they are like to perish eternally and to go to their Father the Devil that was a Murderer from the beginning as our Saviour saith Joh. 8.44 That such are not to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven St. Paul shews Gal. 5.19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest saith he which are these Adultery fornication Envyings murders drunkenness revelling and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And saith St. John 1 Joh. 3.15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer and ye know that no murderer hath eternal Life abiding in him For Envy and Hatred and Murder especially are men to be shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven And saith St. John Rev. 21.8 But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Such bloody Murders and merciless Cruelties as are committed by the Romish Church are thus severely threatned in the Gospel and it Cries out aloud against them as directly contrary to it We are to lead holy and innocent Lives and to take great care that we do not cause the Christian Religion to be evil spoken of among Unbelievers Rom. 2.24 1 Tim. 6.1 Tit. 2.5 But such wicked and hellish Practices are the ready way to
St. Peter's Joh. 19 26 27. When Jesus therefore saw his Mother and the Disciple standing by whom he loved he said unto his Mother Woman behold thy Son Then said he to the Disciple behold thy Mother And from that hour that Disciple took her to his own home Here we see that our blessed Saviour recommended his dear Mother to the Care of St. John and not of St. Peter and yet it is highly probable that this Care would have been committed to him if he alone was to have been Christ's Vicar General This Care wherein our Saviour was concerned when he was expiring upon the Cross had been very fit to have been committed to him if his Power and Authority had been greater than the rest But yet St. Peter we see took not the Care of her nor was he intrusted with it In matters of Trespass and Wrong our blessed Saviour orders that an offended and injured Brother should go and admonish the offending Brother alone And if that would not do that he should take with him one or two more to convince him of his fault And if this proved ineffectual that he should then tell it to the Church that they might judge of it but orders no appeal to St. Peter in this case Matt. 18.15 If thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone If he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the Church But if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican Here in Matters of Injury and Wrong the last Appeal that our blessed Saviour orders is to the Church And if an offending Brother will not hear the Church we are to have no more to do with such And if our Saviour had left a Supreme Power with St. Peter and constituted him the sole Determiner of all Controversies and Matters in debate he sure would have ordered that Appeal at last should have been made to him that he might have put an end to the Matter in dispute and might have quieted men's minds But here is no such thing and yet our blessed Saviour had great occasion here to mention St. Peter's supreme Power and Authority if he had granted him any such thing which clears the matter more that St. Peter was not at all before the rest in Authority and Power And immediatly upon this our blessed Saviour subjoins these words Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven v. 18. Again our blessed Lord hath sufficiently shewed that no one of his Disciples was to exalt himself above the rest and to Domineer and Lord it over them He forewarned them that they should not be called Rabbi because they were all Brethren and of an equal Rank and Order Matt. 23.8 But be not ye called Rabbi saith our Lord to them for one is your Master even Christ and ye are all brethren And when there was a strife among them which of them should be the greatest our Saviour expresly tells them that it should not be so amongst them as it was among the Gentile Kings that one of them should exercise Lordship and Dominion over the rest Luk. 22.24 And there was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest And he said unto them The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors But ye shall not be so but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve Here we see that there was a strife among them which of them should be the greatest and this shews that our Saviour had exalted none of them above his Fellows For if he had done so this Dispute would have ceased and they would have all acquiesced and sat down contented with what their Lord and Master had done and have accounted St. Peter the chief if our Saviour had made him so But our Saviour having determined nothing in this matter they fall to strife about it And at this time he grants no Pre-eminence to St. Peter above the rest which sure he would have done if he had intended that St. Peter should have been the Head of them all But instead of this he expresly tells them that no one of them should Lord it over the rest as the Gentile Kings exercised Lordship over the Gentiles It is plain then That our blessed Saviour granted to St. Peter no Superiority and Authority over the rest of the Apostles Thirdly We find no footsteps of any Superiority and Power over the rest of the Apostles that ever St. Peter claimed or pretended to He arrogated no such Supreme Authority over the rest but shews a more humble Mind as it became a Disciple and an Apostle of such a Master of Humility and Condescension as our blessed Saviour was He stiles himself a Servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ in his Epistles and gives himself no Title of Superiority 1 Pet. 1.1 Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers And 2 Pet. 1.1 Simon Peter a Servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ He exhorts the Elders to feed the Flock of God among them and saith that he also is an Elder assuming no other Title to himself but what he gave them 1 Pet. 5.1 The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ He joins himself with the rest of the Apostles and saith the Commandment of us the Apostles and asserts no Authority of his above theirs 2 Pet. 3.2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy Prophets and of the commandment of us the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour He pretends here no more but to be of the same level with the rest of the Apostles and assumeth no Authority above them He disswadeth the Elders from Lording it over God's heritage 1 Pet. 5.2 Feed the flock of God saith he which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind Neither as being Lords over God's heritage but being ensamples to the flock From filthy Lucre and Lording it over the Flock he dissuades them and we may be sure that he set them no ill Example herein He affirmeth our blessed Saviour to be the chief Shepherd and enforceth his Exhortation by the Crown that they should receive from him and doth not urge any supreme Authority of his own v. 4. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear saith he ye shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away Such is his carriage and demeanor and there is no appearance of any Superiority
any thing out of the sacred Oracles to countervail what is said of it Again we may see that it is an impossible thing for one spiritual Pastor to superintend and overlook the Affairs of the whole Church and to do it in such a Christian manner as it ought to be done There is no more likelihood that one Bishop should Rule and see to the whole Church than that one Temporal Prince should govern the whole World which hath never yet been done since it hath been overspread with Inhabitants It is altogether impossible for one Pastor to take Care of the Church that is scattered into the four quarters of the Earth and to administer Assistance to places a thousand or perhaps four or six thousand miles from him To such he can be nothing but an Inutile Pondus and hinder them of that speedier Help and Succour which otherwise they might have by having Pastors of their own that could act without waiting for his tedious Commissions And it is clear that particular and National Churches had Power to govern themselves without any dependance at all upon the Church of Rome The Epistles to the Corinthians do shew that they had Power to govern their own Church according to St. Paul's Direrections and Commands 1 Cor. 5.12 Do not ye judge them that are within saith the Apostle And by the Power of Christ were they to deliver over the Incestuous Person to Satan ver 4 5 In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ saith St. Paul when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus In this weighty Matter which was to be done in such a solemn manner there was no need of any Authority from St. Peter or Rome but they might act of themselves with the Power of Christ And saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently and in order By this Chapter and other places in his Epistles to the Corinthians we may clearly see that St. Paul doth give them full Power to govern and rule their own Church without any dependance at all upon Rome or any other Church And the Epistles to Timothy and Titus do plainly shew that they had Power to do so too And our Lord as I have shewed before hath expresly declared that no one of his Disciples should Lord it over the rest as the Kings of the Gentiles did Matt. 20.25 And this plainly shews that all the Pretences of the Roman Church of this kind are vain and groundless and not at all consistent with the Gospel of Christ But farther It is our Lord's Prerogative and Peculiar to be the Chief Shepherd and the Universal Head of all the Church and those that do assume such a Title invade his Prerogative and Right This the Apostles shews that our blessed Saviour Christ is the Supreme Head of the Church and the Chief Shepherd thereof Ephes 1.20 Which he wrought in Christ saith the Apostle when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all Principality and Power And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is his Body And saith he Ephes 5.23 For the husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church And again Col. 1.18 And he is the Head of the Body the Church who is the beginning the First-born from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence And St. Peter sheweth that Christ is the Chief Shepherd 1 Pet. 5.4 And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear saith he ye shall receive a Crown of glory that fadeth not away And he tells the dispersed Jews to whom he wrote that they ought not to Lord it over God's Heritage ver 3. Neither as being Lords over God's heritage but being ensamples to the flock We see that no Bishops are to Domineer over the Church and that it is our Lord 's Right and Peculiar to be the Head and chief Shepherd of the Church and that no one ought to invade this Right and Prerogative of his And no one ought to be forward to give such Supremacy and Preeminence to any earthly Bishop and think it a light thing to do so Lastly Those that keep not the Doctrine of the Gospel pure and uncorrupt but fall to gross Errors and Heresies can be no true Governors of the Church at all much less the supreme Governors thereof This the sacred Scriptures plainly shew A Bishop must be blameless saith St. Paul Tit. 1 7-9 as the Steward of God Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers And such men as act flat contrary to the Gospel of Christ do make void their Authority Matt. 5.19 saith our blessed Saviour Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven And Joh. 15.6 If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned No one must pretend to be a Pastor under our blessed Lord that doth not carefully observe his Doctrine and Commands but must then expect to be cast out like a withered branch that is to be cast into the fire and burned And St. Paul sheweth that an Apostle or an Angel that should pretend to come from Heaven which should preach contrary to the Doctrine of the Gospel is not to be heard and heeded but to be accounted accursed Gal. 1.8 But tho' we saith he or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be Accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed But it is plain by these Papers that Popery is another Gospel in that they make the Pope the supreme Head of the Church and allow him a Power to over-rule and disannul the sacred Commands of our blessed Lord at his own pleasure and to set up his own Commands in the room of them And how can the Bishops of Rome then that establish another Gospel and whom the Apostle here pronounceth accursed for so doing How can they I say be any Pastors at all of Christ's Church And what good Christian then that is zealous for our blessed Lord and his sacred Commandments can comply in such a sinful Religion as Popery is And saith St. John 2 Joh. 9 Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God If there come any unto you and bring not this Doctrine receive him not
not trouble themselves with the Divine Laws and Commands of Almighty God but that they must mind the Commands of the Romish Church and take great care to keep them If this be not sinning with an high hand let any Man of reason and understanding judge This sure looks like that Man of Sin 2 Thess 2.6 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God And if Saul was rebuked as a Rebel against God because he did not execute all God's Command 1 Sam. 15.22 well may the Romish Church be deemed such that is so far from keeping God's Commands that it doth set it self industriously to keep all others from keeping of them And they may justly fear that that Wo of our Saviour that he denounced against the Scribes and Pharisees may light upon them also Matt. 23.13 But wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men for ye neither go in your selves neither suffer ye them that are entring to go in This seems to be their practice and they have just cause to fear this Doom And their Practice in imposing a blind Belief upon their Proselytes and Members requiring them to believe as their Church believeth without examining is not agreeable with the sacred Word of God We are to examine things by the Word of God and not to take all for Truth and Right that Seducers and others would impose upon us for such This is peculiar to the brute Beasts to be led wholly by the guide and conduct of Man and never to consider whether the things be Good or Evil Right or Wrong that they do But Men of all Ranks are endowed with Reason and Understanding and are made Masters of their own Actions and every one of us must give an account of himself to God Rom. 14.12 and therefore they are not to be led thus blindfolded by others like Beasts that are void of reason And the sacred Scriptures which are to be our Rule of Faith and Obedience do shew that we ought not to be led so blindly by others This our blessed Lord sheweth Matt. 23.8 9 But be not ye called Rabbi saith he for one is your Master even Christ and all ye are brethren And call no man your Father upon the earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven No one is to take upon him to be our Master in such a high manner as our blessed Lord is so And we are to own no one for our Father in such a high manner as God is so to command our Faith and Obedience in such a high manner as he may and we are to account no one our Father in any way of competition with him And the Apostles themselves disclaimed the having any dominion over Men's Faith as St. Paul sheweth 2 Cor. 1.24 Nor for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy The Apostles claimed no such Power over Men to make them believe what they pleased but only what God required them to believe And we are often told both by our blessed Lord and the Apostles that there would come Impostors and Deceivers and are warned to have a great care that we be not seduced by their Heresies and Errors And this plainly shews that we are not to be led blindly by others but to examine every thing carefully by the sacred Scriptures Matt. 7.15 Beware of false Prophets which come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves saith our Lord. And saith the Apostle Acts 20.29 For I know this that after my departing shall grievous Wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them Therefore watch And 1 Tim. 4.1 Now saith the Apostle the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lyes in hypocrisie And saith St. Peter 2 Pet. 2.1 But there were false Prophets among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies And Rev. 2.9 saith our Saviour by St. John And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan And ver 20. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that Woman Jezebel which calleth her self Prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto Idols And Rev. 3.9 Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not but do lye And again Rev. 18.4 And I heard saith St. John another voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues By all these frequent Warnings and such like to have a care that we be not seduced by false Prophets and Teachers it doth plainly appear that it is our duty not to be led blindfoldly as the Romish Church would have us but to be very circumspect and careful who and what we give credit to And some of these places as I have shewed do respect the Romish Church and do particularly warn us against the Errors thereof And we are also cautioned by our blessed Lord and the Apostles to be very circumspect and careful herein and not to let Men impose upon us what they please Mar. 4.24 And he said unto them Take heed what you hear And Luk. 8.18 Take heed therefore how ye hear And saith St. Paul 1 Thess 5.21 Prove all things hold fast that which is good And saith St. John 1 Joh. 4.1 Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God And saith St. Paul Ephes 5.6 Let no man deceive you with vain words By these and such Admonitions and Exhortations we see that it is our duty to try and examine all things well before we believe and practise them and not blindly to believe and follow others in matters of weight and moment And we may see that when people believe and follow a false Prophet or a false Guide it is at their own Peril and Hazard and that this will not excuse them and free them from the danger that they run in going a wrong way And this also will clearly prove to us that we are to look well to our selves and not to be led blindly by others without proof from the Word of God The People that heeded the false Prophets did it to their sorrow Jer. 14.16 And the people to whom they prophesie shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the Famine and the Sword and they shall have none to bury them And they that follow a blind Guide are like to speed as he doth
the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest Here the Apostle plainly sheweth that such as understand not the Language cannot join in the Prayers and Thanksgivings that are made therein and say Amen to them when they understand not what is said And ver 17. For thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified Such Service we see is altogether unedifying And saith he again ver 27.28 If any man speak in an unknown tongue let it be by two or at the most by three and that by course and let one interpret But if there be no Interpreter let him keep silence in the Church and let him speak to himself and to God All we see here is to be so done in the Church that all may understand it And he that could speak a Tongue which the Congregation understood not was to be silent in the Church except there were some Interpreter and not to speak what could not be understood by the Congregation By this Chapter it is clear that the Practice of the Romish Church in performing their publick Worship in an unknown Tongue which the common People understand not is directly contrary to the Word of God And our Saviour forbiddeth all vain Babblings and vain Repetitions Matt. 6.7 But when ye pray saith he use not vain repetitions as the Heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking And yet such vain repetitions do the Popish repetitions seem to be V. Their worshipping of Images is directly contrary to the sacred Scriptures This God hath expresly and strictly forbidden in the second Commandment of the Decalogue and given positive Command That no Image nor Likeness of any thing whatsoever should be made for Worship and that men should not bow down to any such Image or Likeness or any ways else worship and serve them Exod. 20.4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven Image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth Thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God And so Deut. 5.8 The Command we see is very full and clear against the making of any Image or Similitude for Religious use and against the performing of any kind of Religious Worship and Service to any such Image or Likeness of any thing whatsoever But for Ornament where they were not to be worshipped this Command doth not forbid the making of Cherubims as we may see Exod. 25.18 and 26.1 But these are no Plea for the Idolatrous uses of them The making of Images or any Similitudes for Religious Worship and the performing of any Religious Worship and Service unto them either as the mediate or ultimate Object thereof is flatly and clearly here forbidden And this we may see is confirmed by a multitude of places more in the sacred Scriptures Exod. 20.23 Ye shall not make with me Gods of silver neither shall ye make unto you Gods of Gold And all kinds of Images and Figures for a Religious use are forbidden of what matter or fashion soever they were made as the Law of Moses sufficiently sheweth Lev. 19.4 Turn ye not unto Idols nor make to your selves molten Gods I am the Lord your God And Lev. 26.1 Ye shall make you no Idols nor graven Image neither rear you up a standing Image neither shall ye set up any Image of stone in your land to bow down unto it for I am the Lord your God And Deut. 16.22 Neither shalt thou set up any Image which the Lord thy God hateth The setting up any Image whatsoever for Religious Worship is strictly forbidden and declared to be hateful to Almighty God And we are not to think that the Idols and Images and Statues and Pictures of the Heathens only are here forbidden For there is no such restriction and limitation in any of these places to shew that they were solely designed against them and that the modern Image-worship of the Papists is not forbidden hereby but the Images that the Papists use are as strictly forbidden as the other and there is no exception to shew that Images may be used in Religious Worship when they are for the Worship of Almighty God or his blessed Son or the Saints and blessed Angels The Idolatrous Israelites and the very Heathens did pretend as much as this as we may gather from several places in the sacred Scriptures and yet they are condemned as very grievous Idolaters It doth appear that the Israelites made their golden Calf for the Worshipping of the true God thereby because the People said These by thy Gods O Israel which brought thee up out of the Land of Egypt And when Aaron proclaimed a feast for this Idol he said To morrow is a Feast to the Lord. Exod. 32.4 5. And he received them at their hand viz. the golden ear-rings and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a molten calf and they said These be thy Gods O Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt And when Aaron saw it he built an Altar before it and Aaron made proclamation and said To morrow is a feast to the Lord. This Calf and Idol that they had made we see was to represent and personate the great God that brought them out of the Land of Egypt and the feast of this Idol was to be a feast to the Lord. And saith the Psalmist Psal 106.19 20 They made a Calf in Horeb and worshipped the molten Image Thus they changed their Glory into the similitude of an Ox that eateth grass Their Glory that is their glorious God did they thus change into this similitude of a Calf By these places it is clear that they intended to worship the true and great God by this molten Image of theirs And yet they are condemned as notorious Transgressors of the sacred Commands of Almighty God and as Corrupters of themselves for what they did herein Exod. 32.7 And the Lord said unto Moses Go get thee down For thy People which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them they have made them a molten Calf and have worshipped it and have sacrificed thereunto and said These be thy Gods O Israel which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt And the Lord said unto Moses I have seen this People and behold it is a stiff-necked People Now therefore let me alone that my Wrath may wax bot against them and that I may consume them They pretended as the Papists now do to worship Almighty God by this Calf but notwithstanding this God abhorred them for it and his Wrath was ready to break forth against them and consume them It appeareth that Micah's Images were for the service of the true God Judg.
17.3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother his mother said I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten Image now therefore I will restore it unto thee yet he restored the money unto his mother and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the founder who made thereof a graven Image and a molten Image and they were in the house of Micah From hence it doth appear that they intended to serve the Lord by these Images Jeroboam pretended by his Calves also to worship and serve the Lord as we may see 1 King 12.28 Whereupon the King took counsel and made two Calves of gold and said unto them It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem behold thy Gods O Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt From hence it doth appear that he pretended to worship and serve the same God by his Idolatrous Calves that was worshipped at Jerusalem and the same God that brought them up out of the Land of Egypt And yet he is branded with infamy for his practice herein and called Jeroboam the Son of Nebat who made Israel to sin 2 King 10.29 And his House and Family were totally consumed upon this account 1 King 13.34 And this thing became sin unto the House of Jeroboam even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth And 1 King 14.7 His pretending to serve and worship the true God hereby did not at all excuse his Idolatry but notwithstanding this his Calves are called other Gods and the judgment of God came upon his House for his wickedness herein And it doth appear that the very Heathens by their Images and Idols did design to worship the supreme God as the Apostle sheweth Rom. 1.22 23. Professing themselves to be wise saith he they became fools And changed the Glory of the uncorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible man and to birds and fourfooted beasts and creeping things From hence we may see that they originally at the first intended to worship the supreme and incorruptible God by these Images of men and beasts and used them as Substitutes and Representations of him in Religious Worship And Rabshakeh also pretended that the Altars that Hezekiah destroyed were for the Service of the supreme God 2 King 18.22 But if ye say unto me saith he we trust in the Lord our God Is not that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem Hence we may see that he pretended that these altars and high places were for the worship and service of the Great God above that was the God of Israel The old Idolaters both Israelites and Heathens pretended as much we see for their Image-worship as the Papists now can do and yet we see that they are both condemned in the Word of God We are to make no Images or Similitudes and Likenesses of Man or Beast or Crucifixes to worship the Great Jehovah thereby or his blessed Son or the Glorious Trinity For this would be Idolatry like the Heathenish Idolatry and flat against the Commands of God And the worshipping of the Images of the Saints is a more base and vile kind of Idolatry and a more wicked thing because they themselves are not the true Objects of our Worship And the more to shew that no Images or Similitudes are to be used in the Worship of God we may see that when Moses made the Tabernacle for his Worship and Service the Mercy-seat was to be left vacant and empty and to be filled with no Image or Similitude but only such Sparks of Glory as God himself was pleased to exhibit there Exod. 25.17 And if God been to be worshipped by any Image or Similitude we may be sure that one should have been placed in this peculiar Seat of his But there was to be none and hereby are we taught that none is to be made for Religious uses And Moses warneth the People that they should not corrupt themselves by making a graven Image or any Similitude upon this account and enforceth his Charge to them with this reason because they had seen no Similitude of God when he spake to them from Mount Sinai Deut. 4.15 Take ye therefore saith he good heed unto your selves for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire Lest ye Corrupt your selves and make you a graven Image the Similitude of any figure the Likeness of male or female the Likeness of any beast that is on the earth the Likeness of any winged fowl that flyeth in the air the Likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground the Likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth Here it is plainly shewed that no Images or Similitudes whatsoever are to be made as Mediums to Worship Almighty God by And we may see that this would be very injurious to him and a great derogation from his exceeding great Glory and Majesty and tend much to the debasing of Him in our minds to make dead and senseless Images to personate him which are much more vile and mean than our selves This is as St. Paul saith the changing the Truth of God into a Lye Rom. 1.25 For how can he be represented by a dead and senseless Image who so far exceeds all the understanding and apprehension of Man Our Saviour hath told us that God is a Spirit Joh. 4.24 He is a most Glorious Spiritual Being that cannot perish and decay but is an Everlasting and an Ever-living God And how can be then be represented by a Material and corruptible Image that must return to destruction and dust at the last This is the way to beget mean and low thoughts of Almighty God in our minds and such we ought not to have of him as the Apostle sheweth Acts 17 29 Forasmuch then as we are the off-spring of God saith he we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone graven by art or man's device God is of such a vast Immensity and Infinity that is not to be exprest nor conceived by us Thus saith the Lord Isa 66.1 the Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my footstool Where is the house that ye build unto me And where is the place of my rest And Jer. 23.24 Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord And so dreadful was his Majesty upon Mount Sinai that the Israelites cryed out that they should be all struck dead with it if the Lord spake any more to them Exod. 20.19 Deut. 5.25 And how then shall he be represented in any meet way by dead stocks and stones and so mean and base a thing as an Image is
And Exod. 34.13 But ye shall destroy their altars and break their Images and cut down their groves And Numb 33.52 Then ye shall drive out all the Inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their molten Images and quite pluck down all their high places And Deut. 7.5 But thus shall ye deal with them ye shall destroy their altars and break down their Images and cut down their groves and burn their graven Images with fire And again Deut. 12.3 And you shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars and burn their groves with fire and you shall hew down the graven Images of their Gods and destroy the name of them out of that place In all these places were they strictly commanded to beat down and destroy all Images for Religious use and all such Idols out of their land This is often repeated to them that they might be sure to take great Care to do it And they were commanded to cast away the very gold and Silver that was upon them as a cursed thing and not to take it to them that they might not be snared thereby Deut. 7.25 26. The graven Images of their Gods shall ye burn with fire thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them nor take it unto thee lest thou be snared therein for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house lest thou be a cursed thing like it but thou shalt utterly detest it and thou shalt utterly abhor it for it is a cursed thing Here we see what cursed and abominable things Images are to Almighty God and that his People and Servants are commanded to abhor and detest them and not to take so much as the gold and silver that was upon them lest they should bring a Curse upon themselves thereby And this one might think should be enough to keep all good People from all Image-worship and to make them abhor all such thoughts And we may see that all good Kings and Princes did beat down and destroy all Images and such Idols according to the Commands of Almighty God Moses burnt the Calf that Aaron had made and ground it to Powder and cast it upon the water and made the Children of Israel to drink of it notwithstanding it doth appear that it was made for the Service of the true God Exod. 32.20 Hezekiah brake down the Images that were set up to be worshipped in Judea and is commended for doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord 2 King 18.3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord He removed the high places and brake the Images and cut down the groves And yet Rabshakeh pretended that he had broken down the Altars of the Lord. Josiah brake down all the Images that he met with in his Dominions and is commended for a good King and for doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord 2 Chron. 34.2 And he destroyed Jeroboam's Altar at Bethel and it is like his Calf too if it were to be found and was not destroyed before 2 Kings 23.15 And yet Jeroboam pretended to serve the true God by his Calves as I have shewed before King Asa also destroyed the Images and all such Idolatrous Worship and is commended herein for doing that which was good in the eyes of the Lord 2 Chron. 14.2 King Hezekiah also brake in pieces the Brazen Serpent that was set up by Moses when it was abused to an Idolatrous use that it might be no more an occasion of Idolatry 2 King 18.3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord He removed the high places and brake in pieces the brazen Serpent that Moses had made for unto those days the Children of Israel did burn incense to it This we see can be no Plea for Idolatry and Image-worship because he brake this brazen Serpent to pieces when it was thus abused to an Idolatrous use and his commended for doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord. These we see brake down and destroyed all Images and such Idols and are commended for their practice in so doing And we may see that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego would not be driven to worship the golden Image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up by all the threatnings and Terrors that he could use tho' he threatned to cast them forthwith into the midst of a Fiery Furnace if they did it not Dan. 3.15 And because they would not break the sacred Commands of Almighty God and commit such wickedness as the King commanded them but were resolved to part with their Lives tho' it were in this terrible and dreadful manner rather than do so God did in a wonderful manner deliver them and they received no harm at all tho' they were cast into a fiery Furnace as we see in that Chapter Again farther we may see that God hath declared himself to be a jealous God and that he will not part with his sacred Rights and give his Worship to Images and Idols and that a Wo and Curse is denounced against such Idolaters and that they are like to be shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven and to go to the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone God declareth himself to be a jealous God in the second Commandment upon this account Exod. 20.5 Thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God And so Exod. 34.14 For thou shalt worship no other God for the Lord whose Name is jealous is a jealous God And saith he Isa 42.8 I am the Lord that is my Name and my Glory will I not give to another neither my Praise to graven Images And saith Moses Deut. 4.24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire even a jealous God God we see hath flatly declared that he will not part with his Sacred Worship and Service and let them be given to Images and Idols and hath oft declared that he will be full of jealousie and Fury when men set up Images and such Idols to rival him And a Curse and Wo is denounced against such as worship Images This is the first of Moses's Curses Deut. 27.15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten Image an abomination unto the Lord the work of the hands of the crafts-man and putteth it in a secret place and all the people shall answer and say Amen Tho' this should be done secretly yet he that should do it is here pronounced Cursed And saith the Psalmist Psal 97.7 Confounded be all they that serve graven Images that boast themselves of Idols worship him all ye Gods And saith the Prophet Isaiah Isa 42.17 They shall be turned back they shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven Images that say to the molten Images ye are our Gods And Isa 45.16 They shall be ashamed and also confounded all of them
body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. Here we are plainly taught that it is still bread when it is eaten And our Saviour calls the wine the fruit of the vine Matt. 26.29 But I say unto you I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom Our Lord here shews us that this was the fruit of the vine and wine when he drank it And our eyes and hands and mouth do testify to us that the bread and wine in the Sacrament are bread and wine when we eat and drink them and it would be nonsense and madness to think that our blessed Saviour eat his own body and drank his own blood and gave them also to his Disciples that they might eat and drink them too We are taught that there is but one Christ and that he cannot be divided Ephes 4.5 6. One Lord saith the Apostle one faith one baptism one God and Father of all And 1 Cor. 1.13 saith he Is Christ divided Hereby shewing that he cannot be divided And Christ is the only begotten Son of God and is but one Joh. 3.16 But according to the Doctrine of the Romish Church that will have Christ to be wholely in every bit of the consecrated bread there will be millions of Christs directly contrary to the sacred Scriptures We are also taught that Christ is in heaven at the right hand of God and that he is to abide there till he shall come to judge the World at the last day Acts 1.11 This same Jesus said the Angels which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven And till we see him come in this visible and glorious manner we are to know that he is not bodily present here upon earth And saith the Apostle Act. 3.20 And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you whom the Heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things And he tells us that he is at the right hand of God Rom. 8.34 And there we are to know that he is to abide until these times of restitution when and not before God will send him again to judge the World And therefore it is plain that Christ cannot be bodily present in such a multitude of places here upon earth at one time as the Papists would have him to be contrary to these places of Scripture and contrary to all the reason and understanding of man We are taught that Christ's body is glorified and spiritualized and made incorruptible Phil. 3.20 For our conversation saith the Apostle is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body And saith he again 1 Cor. 15.42 So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body Our bodies are to be made glorious bodies like Christ's body and our bodies are to be made spiritual and incorruptible bodies which shews that Christ's body is such And he is to return no more to corruption as the Apostle saith Acts 13.34 And how then can the glorified and spiritual and incorruptible body of Christ be eaten by men and return to corruption again This Doctrine of the Church of Rome we see is flat contrary to the sacred Scriptures and to all the sense and reason and understanding of man And as for those Words of our Saviour Matt. 26.26 This is my body We may see that this is a very common and ordinary way of speaking to call things by the names of those that they signify and represent The Paschal Lamb is called the Lord's Passover Exod. 12.11 And ye shall eat it in haste it is the Lord 's Passover This was to signify and to be a Sacrament of the Lord 's passing over the houses of the Israelites when he saw the blood of this Lamb upon the Door-posts and not suffering the destroying Angel to enter into them but the Lamb was still flesh as is said ver 8 and could not be the Lord 's passing over the houses of the Israelites but only as a Sacrament and Rite to signify this Action of passing over them and shewing them Mercy when the Egyptians were destroyed Pharaoh's kine are said to be years of time Gen. 41.26 The seven good kine are seven years And the seven thin and ill-favoured kine that came up after them are seven years But these kine could not be years of time any otherwise than that they signified so many years of plenty and so many years of scarcity that were to come The bones which Ezekiel saw are said to be the whole House of Israel Ezek. 37.11 Then he said unto me Son of man these bones are the whole House of Israel behold they say our bones are dryed But here we see that no more is meant hereby but that this vision of bones was to represent and signify the House of Israel By these and many more Instances we may see that this is a common way of speaking And hereby it is plain that by these words This is my body we are to understand that this bread was to be a Sacrament and Signification of his Body For we see and are taught by the sacred Scriptures that it is bread still as I have shewed Again our Saviour saith that he is a door John 10.7 And men may as well argue for a Transubstantiation here as upon those other words of his But how ridiculous would a man make himself that should from hence affirm That Christ after he spake these words was turned into a perfect door and that his body was no more flesh and bones but changed into as real a door as ever moved upon hinges Our Saviour saith that he is a vine Joh. 15.1 And men may as well argue for a Transubstantiation from hence as from the other place and say that Christ after these words was no more a man but was then changed into as real a vine as ever grew in the ground and bore grapes But to talk after such a vain and whimsical manner as this is more fit for mad and distracted persons than for such as pretend to Sobriety and Understanding VIII Their worshipping of the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is contrary to the Word of God and gross Idolatry We see that the Bread and Wine are bread and wine still after Consecration tho' they be consecrated and set apart to a sacred use And our Saviour and his Apostles have given us no Command nor Example to worship them And this is to make them Idols and is contrary to a multitude of places in the sacred Scriptures This is flat contrary
the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The last generation of men shall be changed and so go strait away to meet the Lord and to Judgment and the righteous of them are then to abide with the Lord for ever and they go not to any Romish Purgatory And they prove to us that there is no necessity of any such place and that in truth and reality there is no such place at all 3. We may see that it is not our duty to pray for the dead and that our Prayers in such cases are like to avail nothing and therefore that Prayers and Masses and Absolutions for the dead are altogether vain We have no Example in the Word of God for any such practice and we may see by David's Example that we are not to pray for the dead 2 Sam. 12.23 But now he is dead saith he wherefore should I fast I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Here we see that David ceased from all religious duties upon the account of the Child as soon as he knew that he was dead and concluded that it was now to no purpose for him to Pray and Fast for it any more And saith St. Paul 1 Thess 4.13 But I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him The Apostle here forbiddeth immoderate sorrow for the dead and sheweth that good men do sleep and rest in Christ and shall be raised up again But here is not a word of Purgatory or of praying and saying Masses for the dead where the Apostle speaketh of the concerns of the dead And the Scriptures do shew that Prayers and Masses and Absolutions cannot profit the dead Psal 49.7 saith the Psalmist None of them can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him For the redemption of their soul is precious and it ceaseth for ever That he should live for ever and not see corruption And saith God Ez. 14.14 Tho' these three men Noah Daniel and Job were in it they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness saith the Lord God By these places we may see that it is very great Vanity to pretend to deliver the Souls of men in another World seeing such pious and holy men and such favourites of God were not able to effect any such deliverance in this World And the Apostle tells us plainly That every one shall bear his own burden Gal. 6.5 But to be delivered by the Services of others is not to bear ones own burden We may see that Prayers and Masses and Absolutions for the dead are very vain and that it is not our duty to pray for them 4. We may see that all men are reduced to two sorts viz. the Righteous and the Wicked That there are but two ways for them to go to happiness and to misery That the Righteous enter into a state of happiness upon their departure hence and go not into torment and punishment and that the Wicked enter into a state of misery and are never like to be released out of it And therefore that there is no such place as Purgatory where men shall be tormented for a time and afterwards released from it The sacred Scriptures do all along rank men into these two sorts of Righteous and Wicked tho' sometimes by other names as the Evil and the Good the Just and the Unjust the Saints and the Sinners the Children of God and the Children of the wicked One Believers and Infidels c. Under these two sorts doth our blessed Lord comprehend all men Matt. 5.45 That ye may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven For he maketh his sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth rain on the Just and on the Unjust that is upon all men And so Matt. 13.49 and 25.33 We may see also that there are but two States of Life which men are to enter into after death the one of joy and happiness the other of sorrow and misery Matth. 7.13 saith our Lord Enter ye in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way which leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it And Matt. 18.8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut them off and cast them from thee It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire And to this effect Mar. 9.43 And again Matt. 25.21 46. In all these and the like places we see that there are only two places and States for men to enter into after death the one of joy and happiness the other of torment and misery and that all men are like to enter into one of these two States of Life and that there is no third State and Condition for them to enter into Again we may see that the Righteous and just after their departure hence do enter into a State of Joy and Happiness and therefore that they are not tormented in Purgatory They enter then into rest as I have shewed before and therefore not into Purgatory And of Lazarus in the parable it is said that he was carried presently after death into Abraham's bosom Luk. 16.22 And it came to pass that the beggar dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom And we may be sure that Abraham the Friend of God is not in Purgatory and torments And this place sheweth as much because the rich man went to a quite different state to hell and torments and Lazarus's condition is opposed to his and he is said to be comforted and therefore certainly not in misery and torments ver 25. But Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Here we see in this parable that Lazarus was carried strait away after death into Abraham's bosom into a place of comfort and joy and that he went not into any such place as Purgatory And hereby are we instructed that all righteous men shall be conveyed as soon as they are dead to a place of comfort and joy And our blessed Lord commended his spirit into the hands of God the Father when