Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	discipline_n	government_n	3,314	5	6.9877	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47164	The Presbyterian and independent visible churches in New-England and else-where brought to the test, and examined according to the doctrin of Holy Scriptures ... : more particulary directed to those in New-England, and more generally to those in old England, Scotland, Ireland, &c. : with a call and warning from the Lord to the people of Boston and New-England, to repent, &c. : and two letters to the preachers in Boston, and an answer to the gross abuses, lies and slanders of Increase Mather and Nath. Morton, &c. / by George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1691 (1691)	Wing K191; ESTC R21261	124,580	240

the World without them or from the natural and mortal part in them that we plead a freedom from for it is readily granted that such Temptations may and do follow the best Men and therefore they ought to watch against them and resist them the which if they do and that they no wise joyn and consent to Temptation it is not sin unto them according to that saying of an Ancient Non nocet sensus si desu Consensus i. e. the sense of the Temptation doth not hurt if the consent be not given unto it 5 thly The Seed or Principle of Evil tho' it remain in the mortal or natural part at times move to evil Thoughts and Desires c. yet not being in any wife joyned nor consented unto neither outwardly in Word or Deed nor inwardly in the least Thought or Desire or delight and love of the Heart yielded unto nor obeyed is not imputed to be Sin unto Men who do not joyn to it nor obey it even as the Seed and Principle of God's Grace of Truth Holiness and Righteousness that is in the Hearts of wicked Men and oft moveth in them to turn and convert them unto God from the evil of their ways yet not being consented or yielded unto nor obeyed by them it is not in that case their Righteousness nor doth it make them in any respect righteous unless they joyn and yield unto it in true Obedience 6thly It is not the same degree and stature of Perfection that God requireth of every one but according to that measure and degree of Grace and Light that God hath imparted to every one to some more to others less but to every one sufficient to the present time and state For he that was faithful in the improving his two Talents to make them four was accepted although he made them not ten as he that was faithful in his five and made them ten and they were both proportionally rewarded hence we read of good and holy Men who are said to be perfect in their Generation according to the Light and Grace that God gave them in their Day and Age. And the high Priest that had on his Breast the Vrim and Thummim that signifieth Lights and Perfections was a Type of Christ our great and only high Priest who hath the Vrim that is Lights and the Thummim that is Perfections and distributeth of these Lights and Perfections variously towards his Saints and Children but to all sufficiently And so the degree of Perfection and perfect Obedience ought to answer to the degree of Light and Grace that God giveth through Christ unto every one and he who is faithful in that degree though he hath not the same equal degree and measure that another hath is perfect in that respect and the Child in the Child's state is perfect being faithful to the Grace and Light that is given him and if he die in that state he is safe and cannot perish as well as he that is a Man in Christ and is come up to the spiritual stature and growth of a spiritual Man So that Faithfulness in the Work and Service of God is that which doth render a Man perfect in the sight of God according to the ability of Light and Grace received whether in the state of a Child Young-man or Elder in Christ And thus I have gone through all the twelve particulars which I charged on the four Teachers whether Presbyterian or Independent at Boston and have given them not only my Assertions but my Arguments against their false and pernicious Doctrins that do not feed but starve and kill the Souls of them that believe and receive them CHAP. IX Of the Constitution and Government of their visible Church who are called Presbyterians and Independents or gathered Churches 1. THe visible Church they define to be or to consist of all those throughout the World that profess the true Religion together with their Children see Confession Cap. 25. Sect. 2. where it doth plainly appear that they require no other qualification to constitute or make the Members of their visible Church but a Profession of the true Religion So that nothing of true Piety or Holiness nothing of the Spirit of God nothing of an inward Possession of Christ or his Life and Power or Grace or heavenly Presence and Appearance is requisit to constitute any Members of their visible Church and thus though all the Members of their visible Church were gross and notorious Hypocrites and meer empty Formalists having only a Form of Godliness without the Power of it they are sufficiently qualified to be their Church-Members yea notoriously slanderous Persons notoriously Lyars Deceivers Drunkards Adulterers Thieves Murderers are qualified Members of their Church for all these and the worst of Men may profess the true Religion It is strange that Independents so called require no more but to profess the true Religion to make People Members of their Church Why did they formerly separate and set up Churches apart not only from the Popish and Episcopal but from the Presbyterian Churches so called if a Profession of the true Religion be enough to qualifie Persons to be Church-Members of their Church Do not those profess the true Religion as well as these called Independents Yea Do not the Presbyterians profess the same Religion in all parts with these called Independents and differ nothing from them but in some small Circumstances of Discipline Government and the like 2. We find no such Church in all the Scripture owned to be a Church of God or Christ that the outward Form or Profession of true Religion doth make a Church of God or Christ But on the contrary these who have the Form of Godliness but have not the Power of it and deny the Power the Scripture bids turn away from them For of this sort are they which creep into Houses c. see 2 Tim. 3.5 6. And consequently these can be no true Church of Christ And as for the distinction of the Church visible and invisible it may be owned in a sense but not in that sense given by them as if to profess the true Religion was sufficient to make a People to be a true visible Church of Christ For the invisible Church and the visible do not differ in Substance or Nature but in some circumstances of Time Places and outward Actions And it may be well allowed that a Company or Assembly of truly holy Men and Women meeting together at certain Times and Places that are known to People among whom they dwell and calling together upon the Name of the Lord and teaching and instructing and edifying one another every one using his spiritual Gift of Ministration whether in Praying or Prophecying to the Edification of the whole may be called a visible Church insomuch that they appear in external or outward and bodily Works and Actions that are visible But as the Body without Life or Spirit is dead and cannot properly be called a Man

all inward new Revelation of the Spirit but one Man must take up all the time and preach over the People one Year after another and the people ever learning and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth as was the manner of false Teachers in days past who had the Form of Godliness but denyed the Power thereof who were to be turned from 2 Tim. 3.5 6 7. And concerning the trying and knowing of Spirits as well as Doctrins the Apostle John writ in his General Epistle 1 John 2.1 Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God Now this ability to try Spirits is greater than barely to try whether a Man's Doctrin be true or false for it is possible a Man may Preach for an hour or more words of Doctrin that may be true and yet his Spirit not be of God And that which gave them this Ability to try all Spirits as well as Doctrins was the Vnction or anointing from the holy One which they had received 1 John 2.20 But ye have an Vnction from the holy ' One and ye know all things And vers 26 27. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you i. e. seek to seduce you But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things c. 5. But because it is taken for granted and laid down for a Fundamental among Presbyterians and Independent Teachers as well as many others That all inward divine Revelation and Inspiration such as Believers had in the time of the Apostles is ceased therefore they lay no claim to any of these spiritual Gifts and plainly confess they have them not and also that they have no Infallible discerning or knowledge what Men are truly gracious and holy and living Members of Christ's Body and what not And therefore when these and other places of Scripture are brought that declare how true Ministers of Christ had spiritual Gifts of Ministration some in a lesser degree and some in a greater they alledge all these Gifts are now ceased and the reason they give is because all inward divine Revelation and Inspiration such as the Saints formerly had is altogether ceased Whereas if they did grant that inward divine Revelation did continue they would also readily grant that these spiritual Gifts of Ministry did continue and a spiritual discerning and ability whereby to know Infallibly who were indeed indued with the Spirit of God and who did preach and pray by the Spirit or sing by the Spirit and who not And the like concerning the Ministerial Call if they did grant that divine inward Revelation and Inspiration did continue in the Church as the common Priviledge of all true and sound Believers as being given to all and every one of them to lead them into all Truth they would readily enough grant that Ministers had an inward Call to preach and exercise other Ministerial Services and Performances as these Ministers did of old So that indeed this their Doctrin That inward divine Revelation is ceased in the Church and in Believers is the foundation of many other false and pernicious Doctrins yea almost of all the false and erroneous Doctrins they have among them And since it is so that they have no Belief of having the Spirit of God inwardly inspiring them and revealing in them the things of God and inwardly teaching them the Mysteries of the Kingdom What is their Ministry or Church or Ordinances All made things of Mans making and inventing and setting up a Man-made Church Man-made Ministry Man-made Ordinances and a Man-made Worship And though they say they hope they have the Spirit and seem at times to lay great stress and weight upon it and the need of it not only to believe but to do all good and acceptable Works and Performances yet their blind Doctrin and Unbelief that all inward divine Revelation is ceased doth so blind and darken them generally and make them so spiritually stupid senseless and benummed that they plainly confess They have no infallible assurance or infallible knowledge that they have the Spirit of God or any of these gracius Motions and Operations of the holy Spirit For according to their blind Doctrin and Faith all the motions and operations of the Spirit are only effective but none of them objective and any Illumination that they have is only effective and not objective that is to say is no immediate object of their knowledge or feeling or spiritual perception the Spirit only works in them so to speak as fire or heat works in Stone or Iron or Wood but the Stone Iron or Wood hath not any inward sense or perception of it for if they did grant true spiritual sense and spiritual feeling or perception they would grant infallible knowledge of these things even as our outward senses when sound and duly qualified and within due circumstances give us an infallible knowledge of outward things for is not every sensible Child infallibly sure that it both seeth its Mother and feeleth her when the Mother is handling the Child and feeding it And doth not the Suckling on the breast surely know the Milk that it sucketh and can well distinguish the breast that hath Milk in it from that which is dry and empty But as the Epistle to the Hebrews saith Things made to wit the things of Mans making without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed are all to be removed Heb. 12.26 27. Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of these things that may be shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain Let them consider this who seem to themselves to have a Church Constitution Ministry Discipline Worship far above others as Heaven is above Earth as the Presbyterian Church thinks she is above the Episcopal the Independent Church thinks she is above the Presbyterian the Baptists think themselves above both and yet all these as well as others are open and declared Enemies to the holy Spirit his inward Revelation and Inspiration by which alone the true Church is a living Church and the Ministry a living Ministry and every true Member a living Member and all truly Religions Duties and Services are living But made things of Mans making are all dead things and therefore must all be shaken and removed not the made Earth only but the made Heavens also of Mans making made Faiths made Worships made Ministers made Covenants all things of Mens making without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed must all be removed and every plant that is not of the heavenly Fathers planting must be plucked up But if any of them say Our Churches our Ministry our Faith our Worship our Covenant is not so for we have the spirit of God assisting

so a Church or Assembly of People only professing the true Religion but having nothing of the true Life and Spirit of Christ and whose outward and bodily Services and Works have no inward and spiritual Virtue and Life in them which is that Salt that maketh them savoury and doth recommend them unto God so that he savoureth a sweet savour in them cannot be truly and justly accounted a true Church of Christ For we no where find in Scripture any Society or company of People called the Church of Christ who had nothing but the Profession of the true Religion and although Hypocrites and meer Formalists did outwardly at times mingle or mix with sincere Christians and did assume the same outward Profession with them in former Ages as such were among the Churches of Corinth and Gulatia c. Yet these Hypocrites and meer Formalists who had only the Form but had nothing of the Power and Life of true Religion were no part of the true Church no more than Chaff or Tares that are mixed with Wheat are any part of the Wheat or Dross that is mixed with Silver is any part of the Silver or old Leaven that is mixed with the new Dough is any part of it And therefore it ought to be the work of all the true Members of the true Church to purge out the old Leaven and to be a separate People from all these that have only a Form and Profession of Religion but have nothing of the Power of it 3. The Church of Christ is called his Body frequently in Scripture and every Member thereof is called a Member of Christ and his Body is a living Body and every Member a living Member and that which maketh both the whole Body and every Member thereof living is Christ Jesus the Life living and indwelling in every Member and together with Christ both the Father and the holy Spirit do dwell in every Member of the true Church even as Christ promised it should be John 14.23 If a Man love me he will keep my Words and my Father will love him and We will come unto him and make our abode with him And this WE is the Father the Son and the holy Spirit who are three and one indwelling in every true Member of the Church of Christ and according to this Paul said to the believing Corinthians Know ye not that your Bodies are the Temples of the holy Ghost which dwelleth in you And the holy Ghost which dwelt in them together with the Father and the Son did work every good Work in them and move them in all holy and religious Services and Performances whether to Preach Pray or give Thanks or to meditate and wait upon the Lord in silence And they knew by the inward Teaching and Revelation of God's holy Spirit the proper and fit times when to speak and when to be silent when to preach and when to pray and when to begin and when to make an end they had no Hour-glass to measure out the Time unto them nor an outward Bell hanging in a Steeple to call them together but the Gospel-Bell did ring and sound in their Hearts and this gathered them together in a living way and manner and of this the outward Bells Ex. 28 34 35 that did hang at the High-Priest's Garment with the Pomegranats were Types And this is the living Word even Christ whose inward Voice and Call in the Soul and Heart giveth a joyful sound to that Ear which is opened to hear it and of such it is written Blessed are they that know the joyful sound they shall walk O Lord in the Light of thy Countenance Psal 89.15 4. Moreover the true Church and every Member thereof is said to be of Christ's Flesh and of his Bones and they two are one Flesh Ephes 5.30 31. And they are one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 For Christ he is both the Head and Life of the Church which is his Body from whom the whole Body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every Joynt supplyeth according to the effectual working the Greek hath it Energia in the measure of every part maketh increase of the Body unto the edifying of it self in Love Ephes 4.16 And that which thus knitteth all the Members both unto Christ the Head and one unto another is the Spirit and the Unity of the Spirit is the Bond of Peace for by one Spirit they are all baptized into one Body and do all drink into one Spirit And this is the true gathering of a Church or Churches of Christ that is far beyond all Profession of true Religion or outward Signs or Ceremonies as that of water Baptism which Presbyterians and others use to Initiate or enter People into their Church or outward Covenants and Contracts or Bonds which these called Independents use to initiate or enter People into their Church all which outward things are but Mens Inventions as they are now used whereby to gather and make up Churches And all this is but Mans gathering and work made Things Likenesses and graven Images of heavenly things which the Lord hath forbidden saying Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing in Heaven above c. Exod. 20. For whatever Men make or set up whether it be Church Ordinance or Service without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly moving assisting teaching leading guiding and ordering them so to do is but Man's work a thing of Man's making and all such made Things made Faiths made Churches made Worships made Ordinances without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed are to be abolished shaken and removed and the Voice of God will do it whose Voice of Old did shake Mount Sinai and the Lord hath said Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but the Heavens also And this Voice of the Lord uttered from Heaven hath both shaken abolished and removed many things of Mens making already and in the Lords due time will remove them all and every Plant that is not of the Father's planting he will pluck it up and throw it away And this is a warning unto you O ye Churches and People of New-England altho' Babylon like ye sit as a Queen or have at least so sate some few Years ago and did say in your Heart ye shall see no Widdowhood and have preached it as Doctrin that the sounding of God's Voice from Heaven is althogeter ceased in these days Let this be told unto you it hath not ceased to sound but still doth and shall and the sound of it shall not only shake but utterly remove undo and destroy all your Babylonish buildings And this the Lord will do not by Might nor Power viz. of man but by his own Spirit and the time hastneth and blessed shall he be who receiveth warning and hearkneth unto the counsel of the Lord he who hath Ears to hear let him hear 5. And the true Church is in God the Father and in

the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes 1.1 And it is built upon Christ that sure Foundation and Rock of Ages whom Peter confessed unto which Flesh and Blood hath not revealed unto him but the Father in Heaven And upon this Rock so confessed and so known and understood which Flesh and Blood hath not revealed but the Father in Heaven is the true Church built And this is more than a Profession of the true Religion For it is not every one that professeth the true Religion to whom the Father in Heaven hath revealed the Lord Jesus Christ as he did unto Peter and as he doth unto every true and faithful Believer and Confessor of Christ And the true Church that is built on this Rock and every Member thereof they are not only hearers and professors of the Words and Doctrin of Christ but they are doers of them But they who do not although they both hear and say they are foolish Builders and build upon the Sand and such are all these visible Churches who have no other thing to qualifie them but to profess the true Religion Now to profess the true Religion carrieth a two-fold sense one is that the Religion which People profess they call or profess it to be the true Religion and in this sense every one that professeth any Religion at all if he be in earnest professeth the true Religion that is he esteemeth or professeth his Religion to be such The other sense is that the Religion that is professed is indeed the true Religion and is not only so called or professed And according to this sense your visible Churches whether Presbyterian or Independent are no true Churches For the Religion ye profess is not the true Religion of Christ Jesus which he and the Prophets the Evangelists and Apostles did teach as I have already proved in many weighty particulars yea in Fundamentals and in the very Foundation it self which is Christ Jesus on which the true Church is built and every Member thereof But ye who say All inward divine Revelation of Christ is ceased ye build not on Christ but on a meer Hear-say and Historical report of him For how can ye build on him when ye have no belief that Christ is nearer unto you than in some remote place beyond the Skies Can the Walls of the House be built on a Foundation that is altogether remote from it Must not the House and the Foundation be immediately joyned together And must not this Foundation be seen and felt by every Member And is not this incomparably more than the best Profession of true Religion O ye blind Leaders of the Blind How doth my Soul pity you and the poor People more especially who are led by you and whom ye are still seeking to lead until both ye and they fall into the Ditch and ye ill deserve your Wages and the many Hundreds yea Thousands of Pounds that poor People pay Yearly unto you and work sore and hard to feed you and cloath you and your Wives and Children to Luxury and Wantonness many of you while in the mean time under colour and pretence of feeding the Souls of the People ye famish and starve yea poyson and kill them with your false Doctrin as I have through God's assistance sufficiently made appear and I hope yet more to make appear as I have occasion given unto me 6. And Christ Jesus the living elect precious Corner-stone the sure Foundation is laid in Zion and that Zion is not only the heavenly Zion above but the Church and People of God on Earth and Christ Jesus is one both in Heaven without us and also within us even the Man Christ Jesus the same that took hold of the Seed of Abraham and is the Son of Abraham and David according unto that Seed and he is exalted in heavenly Glory in that same Seed and Nature in the whole and intire and perfect Nature of Man in Soul and Body having put off nothing that he had upon Earth but these Weaknesses and Infirmities which he did take on him for our sake even Jesus of Nazareth he who was crucified for our Sins and rose again for our Justification who was dead and is alive and lives for evermore and he who by true Faith is joyned to the Spirit of Christ by the same he is joyned both to Christ in him and also to Christ in Heaven and also to all the Saints in Heaven and the innumerable company of Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect and also unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and both God and Christ are not only in remote places and Heavens without us but also in us and in all his Saints as he hath said Jer. 23.23 24. Am I a God at Hand saith the Lord and not a God afar off Do not I fill Heaven and Earth Saith the Lord. 7. And as to the Government and Governors or Rulers of your visible Churches both Presbyterian and Independent it is of the same Nature with your visible Churches the only qualification of them being an outward profession of Christian Religion and an outward Call which ye are all at a loss where to begin it as I have already proved Cap. 4. accompanied with some natural or acquired Gifts and Abilities of Letter-learning reaching no further than the Letter of the Scripture at best and oft or for most part not that for ye preach not the Letter in the form of sound words of Scripture but have so mingled it with your Glosses and wrested Senses and Meanings and Words of men's wisdom and intentions that it is but little of the very Letter ye preach But if ye did preach the Letter and have not that infallible and unerring Spirit of Christ which was in the true Ministers of Christ in former Ages and is now in his true Ministers in this Age ye are but at best Ministers of the Letter and not Ministers of the Spirit and therefore not Ministers of the New-Testament And what is the use and end of your Government but to keep poor People in Bondage under you and your false Doctrin And if they do not believe it but witness against it then ye cast them out of your Synagogues and yet then will force Maintenance from them as many of you have done And when ye had Power with the Magistrates to instigate and stir them up to persecute honest Dissenters to Whip Stock Imprison spoil Goods cut off Ears and also to put to Death for testifying against your false Doctrins from your false and fallible Spirit I say both false and fallible For seeing ye do not profess to be taught led and guided by the infallible Spirit of Christ which was in the Prophets and Apostles and in all true Christians if ye have not this Spirit your Spirit is not only fallible but false to wit the Spirit of this World For there are but two Spirits that do teach lead and guide all men on Earth the

Christians but only assumed the Name on purpose to deceive these malicious Heathens did throw it all upon the Christians without making any distinction And the like concerning these Rusticks that rose up in War against their lawful Princes in Germany and the mad Crew that followed John of Leiden The Adversaries of Truth did impute all this as the proper effect of the Reformation And thus also in Old England the ungodly Sayings and Practices of Ranters and Libertines have been odiously cast upon the People called Quakers whereas it is well known that the People called Quakers have always with great zeal opposed the Ranters and Libertines both in their Principles and Practices and have shewed their Zeal against them both in Disputing and Printing against them more than any People have done and have been a great occasion and means of suppressing that evil spirit in them so that little of it hath for many years openly appeared in Old England and the same Ranting Spirit is greatly decaying of late years in these American parts and we hope ere long it shall be quite gone And let the impartial judge whether it can be any other thing but Malice as well as Rashness as he hath shewed his rashness and folly in some other passages of his Life if not Malice that hath occasioned him for some time past to abscond and depart from the place where he preached at Boston in this Increase Mather to charge the Crimes of the Guilty upon the Innocent without distinction when it is notoriously known both in New-England and in all other places where the People called Quakers live that they never did own any of these People from the first instant that they appeared in any of these Practices And seeing ye of the Presbyterian and Independent Churches of New-England cannot but acknowledge that too many unlucky and unchristian Practices have fallen out and have been committed by your Church-Members as Whoredom Drunkenness and and the like c. Yet if when upon your first discovery of these things ye have disowned them and sufficiently cleared your selves of them we are more Men and more reasonable than to charge these things upon you And when Judas betrayed Christ his Lord and Master though he was one of the twelve and numbred among them should therefore this great Crime of Judas be cast upon the eleven that were Innocent Or when David committed these two great Sins of Murder and Adultery should this be cast upon the faithful People of God in that day who were in Society formerly with him Or should the Crime of the incestuous Person at Corinth because of him be cast upon all other Christians If this be not equal as all sober Men will say it is not equal it is no more equal but abominably unjust to throw the Crimes of Thomas Case or his Crew upon the honest People called Quakers of whose Society and Spirit they are not And the said Increase Mather may with the same Impudence charge all the abominable Heresies of the Manichees Nicolaitans Ebionites and all others upon the Christians because all went under that general Name of Christians in these days And these of Case's Crew they call themselves Christians and so doth Increase Mather doth it therefore follow that their Crimes on that only account should be charged upon him Let him see how he can answer to these things or any of his Brethren or Kindred for him in his absence It wanteth to be inserted in his Book that what hath befallen him of late is a remarkable Judgment of God upon him for his Injustice to the Quakers and his unjust charging the Innocent with the Crimes of the Guilty Nor is his last Story concerning one Robert Churchman living at Balsham in Cambridge-Shire in Old England related by H. Moor of any more weight or validity to discredit the Religion or Profession of the People called Quakers than the former Why the said Churchman had only some inclination to be a Quaker but we do not find in all the Relation that ever he was a professed Quaker and owned by that People and some Whimsies or Fancies did take him in the Head for some time that he supposed he was inspired with the Spirit of God and that the Spirit of God did speak in him And at last it appeared that it was not really so but that the Man was under some mistake or delusion or suppose a real possession of the Devil or was mad What can all this say in the least to discredit the Quaker's Religion or Principle Have there not been mad People and whimsical both of the Presbyterian and Independent Churches Yea doth not Increase Mather relate how that Ann Cole of Hartford in New England that was esteemed a godly and gracious Woman and I suppose a Member of some Independent Church or Presbyterian otherwise it is not like he would have so commended her that she was really bodily possessed with the Devil see his fifth Chapter but this doth not infer that either the Presbyterian or Independent Profession of Religion by Increase Mather his own Judgment is of the Devil Yea and some belonging to their Churches in New-England have very lately been convicted of Witchcraft at Boston It cannot be denied but that Madness and melancholy Whimsies and Fancies may befall some of all Professions called Christians the causes of which are best known unto the Lord. But it is altogether unmanly and inhuman as well as Unchristian to charge these things upon the whole Profession We have always asserted it that it is one thing to profess to be led by the Spirit of God and another thing to be really and in deed led by it We are not ignorant how many have both said and done very bad things under a pretence of being led by the Spirit of God and of having the Spirit to be their Rule and yet this is no Argument against the leading and rule of the Spirit of God no more than it is an Argument against the Scripture that many have done bad things and pretended they have had the Scripture to be their Rule in what they did as in the late Wars in Old England and Scotland when they rose up against the lawful Authority wherein many both Presbyterians and Independents were concerned they all did pretend they had the Scripture to be their Rule in what they did and yet surely the Scripture was no Rule nor warrant unto them in these bad Practices The leadings of the true Spirit of God are known both by the first Motions and also by the Effects and Fruits that follow after and that is to deny all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness and to live Soberly and Godly and Righteously in this present World and to follow and be found in doing whatsoever things are true honest just pure virtuous and praise worthy and of good Report among these who have a spiritual Ability to judge of things that differ as too many have not And we are well