being nothing else but Ethnicismus Redivivus And so the Devils prophesie was after a sort fulfilled when after three hundred sixty five years or thereabouts the apostacy of Antichrist did over-spread the World But these men undertake to make it good and that even in as large a sense as Satan would have it understood sc that there are no true Churches no true Ordinances since that time and so since Antichrists rise the Christian Religion hath been destroyed or in a manner utterly banished out of the world Qui fratres nullos extra suam partem agnoscere volebant adversus orbem terrarum sacrilegae dissensionis altare erexcrunt Aust de verit Eccles cap. 13.16 There are another sort who though they deny not all Churches as the former yet like to the Donatists of old they acknowledge none but their own all other they readily term Antichristian and such as they can hold no Communion with though they profess to believe the same principles of Religion and walk in holiness of Conversation yet they deny them Communion as Churches unless they come under their form Now because godly men may fall under this delusion therefore I desire all such persons seriously to consider these three things First Christ in the days of his flesh separated not from the Church of the Jews though there were abundance and those very gross Corruptions in it Now the Disciple is not above his Lord it is not good to make our selves wiser or more holy then he Secondly When Christ holds communion as a head we should not deny it as members Now Christ did not presently give Babylon a Bill of Divorce Corruption coming into that Church by degrees and so long as Salvation was to be had there this Voice was not heard from Heaven Come out of her my people they were not called to separate from her Communion and it must needs be dangerous for any person to call a Society Loammi which God hath not so named Thirdly Where the Foundations of Religion are held though there be many differences in circumstantials yet it is not lawfull to break communion with such much less under the name of Antichristian For though the Sea of glass be mingled with fire the fire of Contention and though there be great differences in opinion yet all may get the Victory over the Beast and his Image his Mark and his Name and they may joyn together to praise God they have so though it may be they are not all alike Victorious Quas Ecclesias non dissitemur retinere conjunctionem communionem salutiferā cum Christo capite fundamento sanctae Catholicae Ecclesiae cum illis decet nos retinere fraternam Communionem Daven ad hortat ad pacem Eccles cap. 8. This therefore hath been a Rule given by Divines in several ages for the reconciling of brethren among themselves that hold the head Keep to the Foundation though in many things of less concernment they differ and that is that with all such Communion is to be held as with the Churches of Christ their Errors not being such as cut them off from Christ or being inconsistent with Salvation Upon this ground the antient Church did own the Donatists as brethren and held it their duty so to do Optat. Mile vit lib. 3. 7. de Schismat Donat. Nomen frateruitatis non putavit istis denegandum immo impietatis esse putavit de isto nomine vel tacere Donatistas ab Orthodoxis pro fratribus agnosci c. Fraternitatis nomen Donatistis fastidiosum Orthodoxis vero necessarium c. For they durst not deny Communion with them in Church Ordinances whom they durst not deny to enjoy Communion with Christ here and of whom they could upon Scripture grounds hope they should have Communion with them in glory hereafter And if this be not a Rule by which we ought to walk there can be no Communion beetwen Parties disagreeing in any thing For so long as there is blindness in the mind of man and some things in the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hard to be understood so long as there are different degrees of light and men not made perfect in love 't is impossible that in every thing we should agree Yet so long as we hold the main that wherein Salvation lies for in brevi facili stat aeternitas Hilar. so long as we differ not in Fundamentals such Doctrines which a man cannot be ignorant of as Austin observes sine dispendio promissae Salutis without missing Salvation this union in the great things of Religion should ingage men to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and to take heed that they differ not in affections where they cannot agree in opinion Secondly There is a separation which is a duty Come out from among them and be you separate 2 Cor. 6.17 which is by Cameron and others said to be double Excessus internus externus That is a separation from the corruption and from the Communion of a Church First There is a separation from the corruption of a Church so we are to separate in any Church in the world that is to abstain from the evil thereof and in our place to bear our Testimony against it Thus we see though the Lord Jesus did hold communion with the Church of the Jews saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto thee Heb. 2.12 Yet he did separate from all the Corruptions thereof and was unto them a faithfull and true witness against their Erroneous Doctrines Superstitious Customes and Traditions thus it was the duty of Gods people from the first Working of the Mysterie of iniquity to come out of Babylon and therefore the Witnesses began their Testimony as soon as Antichrist began his Apostacie to tread down the Temple of God or rather the outward Court thereof For they Prophesied in sackcloth and ashes a thousand two hundred and sixty days which is contemporary with the whole time of the Reign of Antichrist as appears Rev. 11.2,3 But yet that was not an immediate separation from Communion For the Church of God did a great while lie hid among them There were tempora gemendi latendi as Cameron speaks times of their mourning in and groaning under those corruptions before a total separation Secondly There is a time also when the Lord doth require a separation from Communion When his people are to withdraw all communion from such to look upon them as a Church of Christ no more to abhor them in regard of Communion as an accursed thing Thus when the Lord had given the Jews a bill of Divorce and broke off the natural branches which is not spoken of breaking men off from grace or electing love for the Election obtained mercy when the rest were blinded but it is here meant of being broken off from a Visible Church state the good Olive tree
erected Rev. 4.3 sutable to that A glorious high Throne is the place of our Sanctuary Jer. 17.12 Secondly There is Gods worship Rev. 4.8 They rest not day nor night saying Holy Holy Lord God Almighty Secondly It is a Church of men not of Angels for they sing thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood Rev. 5.9 which cannot be spoken of the Angels Thirdly It is a Church of men upon Earth and not in Heaven for there are the seven spirits before the Throne which notes the variety of the gifts and graces of the Spirit which are proper only to the Earth for in Heaven gifts shall cease as also the present manner of administration from the Throne And there is before the Throne a Sea of glass in allusion to Solomons Sea which was for the priests to wash in and that supposes defilement which is not in Heaven Fourthly It is a visible and not an invisible Church for here are Beasts and Elders which are Officers and Brethren which belong only unto the Church visible and they are described here as met together to give God glory which belongs only to visible Churches Rev. 9.9 And there be Angels round about the Throne and the Beasts and Elders Rev. 5.11 which shall not be in Heaven for Christ shall put down all rule and authority and power 1 Cor. 15.24 which is to be understood de principatu Angelico as well as of any other power and their shall be need of no such guard in Heaven Fifthly It is spoken of visible Churches all the world over for they say Thou hast redemed us by thy blood out of every Kinred and Tongue People and Nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall raign in the Earth Rev. 5.10 But they that maintain such a separation from all Churches must blot out this Chapter out of their Bibles for the pure times of the Church it s conceived did not continue above 360 or 365 years and then The man of sin began to be revealed since which time this Opinion doth say there have been neither Beasts nor Elders to observe and give God the Glory of his actings during the whole time of Antichrists Tyranny Secondly The Scripture doth clearly tell us that during the whole time of this great apostacy of Antichrist there are some that the Lord will preserve pure unto himself and which he will own as Churches during the whole time of Antichrist his first rise is set forth Rev. 13. and then we have the state of the Church described Chap. 14.1,2,3,4 by which it appears that when the whole world wondred after the Beast yet there were reserved an hundred forty and four thousand who stood with the Lamb upon Mount Sion having his Fathers Name not Antichrists Mark written in their forheads and they sung a new song that is did praise and worship God in an excellent and acceptable manner which was hid from the rest of the world who did worship the Beast these are said to be redeemed from amongst men and were as the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb of that general Conversion which shall be when Antichrist shall be destroyed Canticum novum pro eximio Psal 33.3 Isa 62.2 Rev. 21.5 vel novum de novo beneficio liberationis factae Isa 42.10 vel novum est innovatum iterum atque iterum repâ—…tum And Chap. 15.1,2 we read of a sea of Glass upon which those stood who had gotten the victory over the Beast his Image Mark and the Number of his name they had the Harps of God in their hands they did worship God purely and publikely during the time of Antichrists raign which is commonly interpreted of the reformed Churches And immediately after Babylons ruine we read of the four Beasts and the four and twenty Elders who observe this and give the Lord the Glory saying Amen Halelujah Rev. 19.4 therefore during the whole time of Antichrist there have been and shall be some that are gathered into Bodies members and Officers Beasts and Elders owned as true Churches by Christ who during the time of this Apostasie have kept their garments are not defiled with women but in reference to Antichrists fornications are Virgins in whose mouth is found no guile but they are without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14.4,5 How then shall any man say that all Churches have been so corrupted by Antichrist as that they remain no more Churches unto Christ when the Lord gives unto some of them this Testimony that either they have not received the mark of the Beast or have gotten the victory over it and his Name and the number of his Name that is whatsoever is Antichristian and they remain as Virgins and without fault before his Throne Thirdly Let all such persons consider that denying any true Churches of Christ they must of necessity place themselves in the Synagogue of Satan which appears so much the more because they bring upon themselves the guilt of the highest pride in the World which was the Devils sin 1 Tim. 3.6 To unsaint a man is a great height of pride much more to unchurch a Society and that under the name of Antichristian who profess to disclaim Antichrist and whatsoever shall be made to appear to relate to him But what is it then to deal thus with all the Churches of Christ upon Earth Societies where the Lord hath manifested his presence to the Conversion and Salvation of many thousand Souls who have this Testimony from the Lord that they have gotten the Victory over the Beast his Image his Mark his Name those whom the Lord owns as having his Name written in their foreheads And yet to unchurch all these and number them with the Antichristian Party to destruction is such a piece of Pride as one would hardly have thought could have entred into the heart of any but the Devil And that this is more immediatly from Satan I am inclined to think from a passage I have met with in Austin When Satan could not prevail to keep the Christian Religion out of the world but the Gospel did spread even as a Sun-beam among the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb he did then perswade the Heathen and they were confident of it that the Christian Religion should continue in the world but three hundred sixty and five years and then they should return to Paganism again but that so long Peter had bewitched the world by his Sorceries that they should believe in Christ Definitum est quanto tempore mansura esset religio Christiana Petrum maleficia subjungunt ut coleretur Christi nomen per trecentos sexaginta quinque annos deinde completo memorato numero annorum fine mora sinem sumet de civit Dei lib. 18. cap. 53. happily by this Prophesie he might intend that about this time Antichrist the man of Sin should rise and the Temple of God be given to the Antichristian Gentiles Popery
his aim in all that he did Brevi efficiam ut anathema sit esse Papistam And we have the more need to be stirred up hereunto because since this Nation departed from Rome there were never greater attempts nor higher hopes to bring us back unto this spiritual Egypt then there are at this day To make this manifest I shall propose to you some of my observations upon the present times which seem to argue a tendency and inclination this way First A Universal unsetling of all things in Religion all the Principles and the Doctrines of Godliness are either denied or disputed though it be true Spiritus Sanctus Scepticus non est Luther which is to me a ground of fear that there is an intent to bring in another Gospel Antichrists Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that lye I dare not say I dare not think that this is the intendment of all those that go this way but surely it is finis operis though not operantis Yet I am not without fear that many do it designedly and speak lyes in hypocrisie to that very end when we look upon the rise of Antichrist we shall find that Satan before hand cast out of his mouth a flood after the woman which is interpreted to be the Arian heresie and abundance of corrupt Doctrines accompanying it which though they pass too and fro for some years yet all setled and were gathered into the Sea of Rome at last and it is to be feared Satan hath the same aim at this day though Magistrates and men in Authority may profess never so much against it Imperatores facti sunt Christiani sed diabolus nondum factus est Christianus August Secondly Consider the instruments that are abroad in the World we read of frogs sent out of the mouth of the Beast Rev. 16.13 that is by his especial command and commission and these go forth unto the Kings of the Earth in all shapes and we have cause to fear nay apparent ground to believe that besides the men of corrupt minds risen up among our selves there are many of those sent in among us it were well if we could look upon our Cities Army Navy yea Councels to be free and so much the rather it is to be feared because we see all antient Heresies revived Arians Macedonians Montanists Patripassians yea that conceit of Joachim Abbas Joachim Abbas docebat triplicem doctrinam à tribus personis dimanare doctrinam sc Legis à Patre doctrinam Evangelii quod consignatum habemus à Filio tertiam doctrinam à Spiriu sancto expectandam quam appellat Evangelium aeternum Daven in Colos Cap. 2. v. 2. that there is a Gospel of the Spirit another Gospel then that preached by Christ and to observe by what mean persons these doctrines are vented and yet all the antient Arguments used to maintain them A considering man observing this can hardly imagine but that there be some that do secretly and with the best advantage instil such things into them and that in an unobserved way for they are said to be spirits that is though they act very powerfuly yet invisibly their motions ways and practices are not known Thirdly Consider that constant pressing of liberty of Conscience which if granted must be universal for who hath power to lay a restraint upon one mans conscience more then another and therefore the Patrons of this opinion do plead for a toleration for Popery upon a Religious account and that it is no more to be imposed upon then any other perswasion as also that doctrine of Mariana the Jesuite Marian. c. 10. Cont. Volit l 2. Cap. 16. now so generally insisted upon and pleaded for Princeps nil stauat de Religione The Magistrate is not to meddle with matters of Religion there were two Doctrines antiently which of necessity brought in Popery though a man knew-nothing else of that Religion sc That the true Church cannot err and that the Church of Rome is that true Church Now there are two other principles sprung up in the world First that the word in the heart and the Spirit working there is not to be tryed and examined by the word in the Book that being but a dead letter and for the Spirit to be examined by the word is a minoration thereunto Secondly as the word must not try the spirits of men so Magistrates have nothing to do with their Religion These two principles received lay all open to Popery or Atheism And if Popery as a Religion receive but a Toleration and the same Countenance that others do it being a Religion most agreeable to Nature as corrupt and so exactly fitted to it it will soon have the most followers for when Popery first appeared in the world the whole world wondred after it as it had done after Arianism a little before Fourthly Look to the Apostacy of the present age men falling from all things in Religion and with an impudent face denying deriding all the Scriptures the Trinity the Godhead of Christ his sufferings and satisfaction Justification by imputed Righteousness the Law of God as the Rule of Obedience and whatsoever Doctrines Christian Religion is built upon now we know that a great Apostacy did make way for Popery 2 Thes 2.3 God giving them up to believe a lye and by this means the man of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lawless one was revealed and there is great cause to fear that the present Apostacy amongst us may have such a tendency for we see men fall from one thing to another untill they hold to nothing in matters of Religion such an Apostacy as I think I may without breach of Charity say that hath not been the like in any Christian Church since that great Apostacy before named and being thus become as it were an outward Court may we not fear that God should give us over to be trodden down of the Antichristian Gentiles again and not receiving truth in the love of it he should give us up to believe that lye Fifthly If we consider farther that Antichrist shall have yet a day for it the time of the killing of the witnesses being yet to come For they must Prophesie in sackcloth and ashes a thousand two hundred and sixty daies which is Contemporary with the whole reign of Antichrist which is two and forty months and if we take the beginning from the division of the Empire into ten Kingdoms The ten Kings receiving Power the same hour with the Beast I cannot find upon any account the time of their Prophesie in Sackcloth and Ashes to be fulfilled and if so their killing time and the insulting of the Antichristian party over their dead bodies because they were dead that tormented those that dwell on the Earth must be yet to come and that neer unto the time of Antichrists ruine and who knows yea hath not every one reason to fear that the present Apostacy and defection may lay the ground of and prepare
being a type thereof Rom. 11.24 When the Lord had thus called them Loammi his people were to hold Communion with them as a Church no more God having cast them off and wrath being come upon them to the uttermost So though Rome were sometimes a true Church of Christ and afterward corrupted by degrees yet when the Lord divorced her as an Harlot as the Mother of Harlots calls her Babylon and not Sion then it is the duty of his people not only to separate from their corruption as before but from their communion also I come now to give the reasons of such a separation from Mystical Babylon which are these First Because God hath put her away hath said of them they are not my people but spiritually Sodom and Egypt Antichristian Gentiles ver 11.2 when the Lord thus forsakes any people we should forsake them when the glory of the Lord departs from a people the Angels withdraw their Protection and by the same degrees Ezek. 10.4,5.18.19 and Chap. 11.22.23 whensoever the glory of the Lord removed the Cherubims also did lift up their wings And as the departure of God is the ground of their withdrawing Protection so it should be of our withholding Communion Secondly Such a separation is to be made because in Babylon no Salvation can be had A Reprobate may in truth be made partaker of all that is contained in the Religion of the Church of Rome Ecclesia propriè dicta non probat quicquid probant mali Doctores admixti ecclesiae nec quicquid boni Doctores haud bene docuerunt Melan. Daven adhort cap. 4. It was Mr. Perkins his Observation long since That a Papist by the Rules of his own Religion cannot go beyond a Reprobate where Foundations are destroyed Principles denyed or corrupted and this not the Doctrine of some particular men only for such there may be in the purest Churches of Christ upon Earth as in the Church of Corinth there were those that denyed the Resurrection of the dead but when it becomes the Doctrine of the Church which they as a Church do profess to maintain and refuse to be reclaimed then there is no more Salvation to be expected there which is conceived to be the pouring out of the second Vial upon Mystical Babylon Rev. 16.3 The Sea then became as the blood of a dead man and every living Soul died in the Sea By the Sea is meant their Doctrine and the Comprehension or Collection thereof as by the Rivers are meant those that carry abroad this Doctrine in all places and all parts of the World This Doctrine is become the blood of a dead man ex corrupta fit corruptissima it was corrupt before yet some lived in it but now every living thing dyed That is there was no more Salvation to be had by the Doctrine of their Religion therefore with them no more Communion is to be held Thirdly We are to separate from her because she is become a persecutor of all the people of God through the world She rides upon a Scarlet coloured Beast an Embleme both of Majesty and Cruelty she is drunk with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus and in her will be found the blood of the Prophets of the Saints and of all that are slain upon the Earth Rev. 18.24 A separation therefore is a duty that we hold not Communion with her whose trade is Persecution Fourthly Gods people are to separate from Babylon because God hath set himself against her to destroy her with a great and eminent destruction For when she comes up into remembrance before God she that made all Nations drunk with the cup of the wine of her Fornication shall be made to drink of the cup of the wine of the fierceness of Gods wrath Rev. 16.19 and shall with violence as a Milstone be cast into the Sea and be found no more at all Rev. 18.19 It was proclaimed long ago That if any man worshipped the Beast or his Image or received his Mark he should drink of the wine of the wrath of God without mixture and be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb Rev. 14.10 Cujus vastitatis confusionis haec erit causa quod Romanum nomen quo nunc regitur Orbis tolletur è terrâ in Asiam Imperiâ—…â—…eveitetur ac rursus Oriens dominabitur atque Occidens serviet de praem divin sect 7. cap. 15. And this Judgement the Antients did foresee and do expect Horret animus dicere dicam tamen quia futurum est Romanum nomen de terra tolletur Lactan. I am affraid to speak it yet I will speak because it shall come to pass that the name of Rome shall be blotted out or taken away out of the Earth Fifthly All Gods people are to separate from her that they partake not with her in her sins it hath been Antichrists business from her very beginning to infect and corrupt others and that she doth after the manner of Harlots in a way of Love and in the most enticing manner for she gives the wine of her Fornication in a golden cup. This hath even been the manner of those men whose spirits Satan hath touched from that impression of devillishness left upon their spirits to desire and endeavor to draw others into fellowship with them in the same sin and the same condemnation and as he that doth not reprove his brother doth bear sin for him Lev. 19.17 So he that doth not give Testimony against sin in that way which the Lord requires brings upon himself the guilt thereof It is not always enough to speak against sin or to mourn for it but a man is to separate from them that walk in it there is a time for Lot in Sodom to vex his righteous soul from day to day but there is a time when he must come out of Sodom unless he will perish with it Sixthly A separation must be made because they that partake in their sins shall surely receive of her plagues and God is no respecter of persons though such as are justified can never come under an eternal guilt yet they may contract a temporal which may involve them in the same temporal Judgements with the wicked and so Sampson like they may die with the Uncircumcised The good Figs shall go into Captivity with the bad though not to the same end Jer. 24. If therefore Gods people desire to be delivered from their plagues they must not partake in their sins which they will alwayes do until they forsake their Communion Use Let this be unto all the people of God as a voice from Heaven to perswade them to come out of Mystical Babylon And the rather because the work of this day should be as to exalt God in this mercy and deliverance so to make Popery odious ever after therefore this day should always revive our detestation that being in our eye which Luther professed to be