God for himself from the least to the greatest My Sheep says Christ hear my Voice And let us remember that there is no possibility of deception here where there is no necessity of trusting In fine Ye are bought with a Price be not made the Servants of men One is your Lord even Christ and ye are Brethren But methinks I hear a stout Objection and 't is this At this rate you will everthrow all Church Discipline all Censure of Errors if no man or men can determin My Answer is ready and short No Scripture Church Discipline is hereby oppugn'd or weakned Let not the Sentence end in Violence upon the Conscience unconvinced Let whoso will expound or determin so it be according to true Church discipline which can be exercised on them only who have willingly joyn'd themselves in that Covenant of Union and which proceeds only to a separation from the rest a disavowing or disowning but never to any Corporal or Pecuniary Punishment the two Arms of Anti christ or rather that great Beast which carries the Whore But let us observe what sort of Church Government the Apostle recommends Avoid foolish Questions and Genealogies and Contentions and Striving about the Law for they are unprofitable and vain A Man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition reject knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth being CONDEMNED OF HIMSELF or Self-condemned It s very remarkable First That this great Apostle instead of exhorting Titus to stand upon Niceties and sacrifice mens Natur I Comforts and Enjoyments for Opinions of Religion injoyns him to shun Disputes about them leaving People to their own Thoughts and Apprehensions in those Matters as reputing the Loss of Peace in striving greater than the Gain that could arise from such an Unity and Conformity wâ—â—ch excellently well coheres with another Passage of his Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall REVEAL even this unto you He did not say You shall be FINED PILLAGED EXCOMMUNICATED FLUNG into Prison if ye be not of our Mind 2dly That in the Apostles Definition an Heretick is a Self confounded Person one conscious to himself of Error and Obstinacy in it but that are not Conscientious Dissenters for many Ten Thousands in this Nation act as they believe and dissent from the National Religion purely upon a Principle of Conscience to Almighty God And with Men of any Tenderness or common Sense their continual great Sufferings in Prison and Estate and their Patience under them are a Demonstration or there can he none in the World Nor can their Persecutors disprove them unless they could search Hearts and that is a little too far for a Fallible Spirit to reach and an Infallible One they deny So that the Apostle makes not the Heretick to lie upon the side of Mis-believing or not coming up to his Degree of Faith and Knowledge but upon the side of Wilfully Turbulently Obstinately and Self condemnedly maintaining inconsisting Things with the Faith Peace and Prosperity of the Church Granting us then not to be Obstinate and Self-condemned Dissenters and you cannot reasonable refuse it us how do you prove us Erroneous in the other Part All Parties plead Scripture and that for the most opposite Principles The Scripture you say cannot determine the Sense of it self it must have an Interpreter he must either be Fallible or Infallible If the first we are worse then before for men are apt to be more confident and yet are still upon as uncertain Grounds If the last this must either be an external or an internal Judge if an external you know where you are without pointing for there stands nothing between you and Popery in that Principle If an internal Judge either it is our selves or the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us not our selves for then the Rule is the Thing ruled which cannot be and if it be the Spirit of Christ Jesus and the Apostle tells us That unless we have the Spirit we are none of Christ's then is the Neck of Imposition broken and what hast thou to do to judge me let me stand or fall to my own Master And upon this Foot went Luther Calvin Melanâ—…on Beza abroad and Cranmer Ridlâ—y Hooper Jewel Bradford Philpot c. at home and as good Men and constant Martyrs in Ages before them But suppose Conscientious Dissenters as ill Men as the Apostle describes an Heretick to be what is the Punishment this is close to the Point stand it 3dly A Man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition reject that is deny his Communion declare he is none of you condemn his Proceedings by a publick censure among your selves What more can be strain'd by the fiercest Prosecutors of Men for Religion out of these words But will we be govern'd by the Rules of Holy Writ have we any true Veneration for the Exhortations and Injunctions therein then let us soberly consider what the Apostle Paul advises and recommends to his beloved Timothy upon the present Occasion and I dare promise an End to Contest and Persecution for Religion Flee Youthful Lusts but follow Righteousness Faith Charity Peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure Heart but foolish and unlearned Questions avoid knowing that they do gender STRIFES And THE SERVANT OF THE LORD MUST NOT STRIVE but BE GENTLE UNTO ALL MEN APT TO TEACH PATIENT IN MEEKNESS INSTRUCTING THOSE THAT OPPOSE themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth There is such a depth of Wisdom lodged in this one Passage that I find difficulty to express my self upon it and yet I shall with pleasure endeavour it Here is both Faith and Government Religion and Duty all that becomes us towards God our Brethren our Neighbours yea our Opposers and Enemies Flee Youthful Lusts that is avoid Sin turn away from every Appearance of Evil flee the Temptation as soon as thou seest it lest it ensnare thee but follow Righteousness Charity and Peace seek and love Holiness and there will be Charity and Peace to thy self and in thee to all men For the Kingdom of God stands in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the holy Ghost not in Contest about Words nor in maintaining foolish and unlearned Questions such as reach not the Soul nor carry any force upon our Affections that learn not men to be better to have more piety vertue goodness but are meer Notions and Speculations that have no influence upon holy Living or tendency to the Regiment of our Passions Such Questions as the Curiosity or Wantonness of Men's Wit or restless Fancy are apt to start under Pretence of Divine Truth and Sublime Mysteries these Niceties Conceits and Imaginations of Men not bottomed on the Revelation of the eternal Spirit but humane Apprehension and Tradition such Questions avoid meddle not with them but next
AN ADDRESS TO PROTESTANTS UPON THE Present Conjuncture In II. Parts By a Protestant William Penn. Printed in the Year 1679. TO THE READER Sober Reader THe Present Affairs of this Kngdom are upon a Strong and Unusual Motion to what Point they tend or where they will Center must rest with God that only is Omniscient This makes it Hard either to Write or Speak perhaps I shall be able to do neither without Disadvantage to my self but I will do it with as little to the Matter as I can And truly I say it with some Comfort the Clearing of an Opprest yet Peaceable Conscience prevails more with me than the Safety of Silence And yet I have no Reason to think there is an Hazard in the Case when the Publick Fast secures the Undertaking and that I am sure I propose nothing for my End besides the Glory of Almighty God the Good of Mankind and more especially the Peace and Happiness of my own Country In which if I succeed not it is no more than what hath befallen the Endeavours of Most Excellent Persons we must not measure our Duty by Success Being therefore not discouraged in my self and having a strong Hope that Almighty God will favour this Honest Address with his Blessing I beseech thee Reader peruse it with a Serious and Composed Mind and with that Meekness and Charity which becomes a True Protestant and a Christan to have Thine in Sincerity for the Publick Good W. Penn. AN ADDRESS TO PROTESTANTS UPON THE Present Conjuncture My Friends and Country-men IF ye believe that there is a God that he is Holy Just and Good that he Made us that we Owe our selves to him that he is not Careless of us but the Constant Observer of our Thoughts and Actions and that as he is the Rewarder of them that fear love and obey him so he is the severe Punisher of all such as transgress his Law and break his Righteous Commandments if I say ye believe these things and not only that there is a Final Day of Reckoning but that God even in this World recompences his Judgments upon the Wicked and visit Nations with his hot Displeasure because of their Impiety which hath been the Experience and Confession of all Ages then it belongs to us of these Kingdoms to reflect upon our selves and to take a true View of our Actions since Divine Vengeance is at the door And for the Lords sake let us have a Care in the doing of it since God will not be mocked and that our miscarriage in such an Inquiry will be as only our own Infelicity so of infinite Moment to us I must needs be Plain and Earnest here for if we miscarry in the Search we shall certainly miscarry in the Cure Sin gives the deadliest of all Wounds to Mankind I grieve to say it but 't is too true there is no Wound so slightily healed we rather seek our Ease than our Security like those Fools that love the pleasantest not the safest Potions It is ill at all times to flatter a Man's Self but it is most Fatal about Repentance Something men would keep something men would hide and yet they have to do with that Searcher of Hearts from whom its impossible they should hide any thing This Folly increases our Account endangers our Cure and makes our Condition Desperate if not Irrecoverable O England my Native Country Come to Judgment bring thy deeds to the true Light see whether they are wrought in God or no. Put not off thy self with Hay Straw and Stubble for they will burn and the Fire is at the Door that will consume them he is coming whose Reward is with him and will give every one according to his Works Let us therefore Examine our selves Try our selves Prove our own selves whether Christ be in us or not if his Spirit his Nature his Meekness his Patience his great Self-denyal dwell in us if not we are yet Reprobates yet under the Reproofs of the Almighty the Charge and Guilt of Sin and his Witness in our own Consciences sends up Evidence to Heaven against us every day this I justly fear and take to be our Case Let us therefore strictly look into our Conversations and with an impartial Eye take a view of those Sins that most severely Cry to the Great Judge against us And they appear to me to be of Two Sorts the one relating more particularly to the State the other to the Church if I may without Offence use that Distinction for my Witness is with God I intend not Provocation but Edification Those Impieties that relate more particularly to the State to correct are Drunkenness Whoredoms and Fornication Excess in Apparel in Furniture and in Living Profuse Gaming and finally Oaths Prophaneness and Blasphemy Drunkenness or Excess in Drinking is not only a Violation of God's Law but of our own Natures it doth of all other Sins rob us of our Reason deface the Impressions of Vertue and extinguish the Remembrance of God's Mercies and our own Duty It fits men for that which they would abhor if Sober The Incest Murder Robberies Fires and other Villanies that have been done in Drunken Fits make Drunkenness a Common Enemy to Humane Society It renders men unfit for Trust or Business it tells Secrets betrays Friendship disposes men to be Trappanded and Cheated Finally it spoils Health weakens Humane Race and above all provokes the Just God to Anger who cried thus of Old Wo to the Drunkards of Ephriam the Drunkards of Ephriam shall be trodden under feet they have erred through Wine and through Strong Drink are out of the Way the Priest and the Prophet have erred through Strong Drink they erred in Vision they stamble in Judgment Again Wo unto them that are Mighty to drink Wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink Wo unto them that rise up early in the Morning that they may follow strong drink that continue until night till Wine inflame them and the Harp and the Viol the Tabret and the Pipe and Wine are in their Feasts but they regard not the Work of the Lord neither consider the Operations of his hands Therefore Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her Mouth without measure and their Glory and their Multitude and their Pomp and he that rejoyces shall descend into it Yet you will bear me witness I do not wrong the present Humor of too many in this Nation and those not of the lowest Quality in saying that it is too often the beginning and top of their Friendship it is their Common Diversion and Entertainment I might safely say the Poor of England could be maintain'd by their Excess Oh! hath the God of Heaven given men Plenty for such Ends or will this kind of Improvement of their Worldly Talent give them Peace in the Day of Judgment But that men should do all this without shame nay glory in it too is greatly to be lamented for 't is not only
which are not Convenient but rather giving of Thanks For this ye know that no Whoremonger nor Unclean person nor Covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God Let no man deceive you with vain Words for because of these things cometh the Wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience be not ye therefore pertakers with them and have no fellowship with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness but rather reprove them See then that ye walk Circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise redeeming the Time because the Dayes are Evil. Ephes 5 3 4 5 6 7 11 12 15 16. I shall Conclude with these two Passages Marriage is Honorable in all and the Bed Undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterrers God will judge The other is this But the Fearful and Unbelieving and the Abominable and Murtherers and Whoremongers and Sorcerens and Idolaters and all Lyars shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the Second Death This alone ought to deter all People who have any respect for Holy Scripture and do believe the Mind of God to be declared therein Let then both Cities Courts Houses and Streets be swept of such Iniquity let the Law have its course let not God be provoked to destroy us and let all such turn to God by unfeigned Repentance that Sobriety Chastity and Vertuous Conversation may return again among us so shall we escape the Wrath that for this with other Enormities is ready to break out against us The Third Crying Sin of this Land is its Great Excess and that in several Kinds In Apparel in Furniture in Feasting An Excess is the Mis-using of any thing by not observing a Moderation that which is lawful in it self may be Abused in the Use of it What is more Allowable yet what is more Abused than Cloths and Victuals The End of Apparel is to cover Nakedness keep People Warm Distinguish Sexes but the End is perverted 't is used more for Ornament for Pride for Lust to beget Esteem and to draw Honour to the Person that wears it A Mean an Effeminate a Wretched way to Honour yet such was the Folly of the Age that few things are yet more Reverenced it opens Doors gets Access obtains Dispatches carries away the Cap and the Knee from most other Pretences The Truth is this Vanity abuses the Reason of Just Respect for True Quality if plain is not to be known among Fine Cloths But it does not only Confound all Reasonable Distinction and those Civil Degrees that are among People but it begets Pride they think themselves some Body if they are Fine Plain Cloths must give them the Way and the Wall and keep its Distance too It introduces Effeminacy and excites to Wantonness it provokes to Prodigality and leads People to Idleness But there is a sort of Madness in it too for 't is not so much the Apparel as the Trimming not the Cloths but the Cut the Mode the Figure and as often as this changes Cloths grow Useless that are not half worn out This is an Iniquity against the Good of the Government as well as against God and there is so strong a Temptation in it that not a Few turn Naught to be Fine as well as the Fine turn Naught In short there is no Good Prudence or Conveniency in this Excess the Law of God and of the Land is against it The third Chapter of Isaiah is almost intirely employed against it in which God does not only rebuke the Haughty Looks the Wanton Eyes and Enticing Mean and Behaviour of the Women of those Times but declares his Resolution to Take away the Bravery of their Ornaments Chains Bracelets Rings Jewels and Changeable Suits of Apparel and that their Perfume should be turned into a Stink and instead of a Girdle there should be a Rent and instead of Well-set Hair Baldness and instead of a Stomacher a Girding of Sack-cloth and Burning instead of Beauty Thy Men said God shall fall by the Sword and thy Mighty in the War and her Gates shall lament and mourn she being desolate shall sit upon the Ground This was also the Sin of Tyrus as ye may see Ezek. 27. For Pomp and Pride she excelled in those days she boasted in her Splendor and sumptuous Living her Buildings were Lofty her Furniture Stately her Apparel Costly but her End was Terrible and her Destruction very Great And God expresly threatens by his Prophet Zephaniah I will punish the Princes and the Kings Children and all that are clothed with strange Apparel What is this strange Apparel is it New Fashions then we are guilty with a witness Or is it the Fashions of strange Countries it is still our own Case We have been more Careful to receive the Law from France for our Clothes than from Christ for our Conversation and so Prevalent is the Humor of that Country with us and Powerful the Ascendant it hath over us that we seem to be French-Men only we live in England But in this as also in all other things the Christian Religion excells and that for the Good of Civil Society It reproves this Excess limits the Vain Mind of Man and teaches that decent Plainness which becomes the Providence and Gravity of Civil Government Hear the Language of the holy Apostles in whose Doctrine we all pretend to believe I will therefore saith St. Paul that Women adorn themselves in Modest Apparel with Shamefacedness and Sobriety not with Broidered Hair or Gold or Pearls or Costly Array but which becometh Women professing Godliness with Good Works The same Doctrine is repeated by the Apostle Peter who speaking to the Christian Women to whom he wrote Let not your Adorning be in that Outward Adorning of Plating the Hair and of wearing of Gold or of putting on of Apparel but let it be the hidden Man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the Ornament of a Meek and Quiet Spirit which is in the sight of God of great Price For after this manner in the Old Time the holy Women also who trusted in God adorned themselves Would to God! I could say for the Women of our Age that they trusted in God too and adorned themselves with no other Ornaments than what agreed with the Modest and Humble Plainness of these Christian Times But the Law of the Land as well as the Christian Law reproves this Excess they only want to be refresht and inforced by the Care of our Superiors were they Strictly put in Execution it would not only prevent much Mischief and enerease the Wealth of the Kingdom but make Private Men in a little time thank the Just Severity of the Government For it will help to keep them within Compas to preserve which is one way to encrease their Estate to enlarge their Trade provide better for their Children and open their hands more Liberally to the Poor And this I am sure God
workest Wonders in the Earth whose Power cannot be Control'd in whose Hands are the Souls of Men and the Spirits of all Flesh who canst turn them in a Moment Turn thou the Hearts of King and People unto thee and One unto another Do thou proclaim a FAST FROM SIN throughout these Sinful Kingdoms let Wickedness and Oppression find no place among us Turn away thy Fierce Wrath Wipe away our Reproach and Love us Freely O God for thy dear Son ' s sake THE SECOND PART OF THE Address to Protestants UPON THE Present Conjuncture HAving then finisht the First Part of my Address relating to the Immoralities of the Times and left it with the CIVIL MAGISTRATE as in Conscience I found my self Oblig'd to do whose Peculiar Charge it is and I Earnestly and Humbly desire and pray that it may be his Great Care Effectually to Rebuke them I shall betake my self to the Second Part of this Address that more immediately concerns us as Profest Christians and Protestants But before I begin I desire to premise and can with much Sincerity Declare that I intend not the Reproach of any Person or Party I am weary with seeing so much of it in the World for it gains nothing that is worth keeping but hardens to a Desperateness what 't is our Duty to endeavour to soften But if without Offence I may speak the Truth that which to the best of my Understanding tends to the Present Settlement and Future Felicity of my Poor Country I shall by God's Help deliver my self with that Modesty Plainness and Integrity that becomes a Real Christian and a True English-Man Those Capital Sins and Errors that relate to the ECCLESIASTICAL STATE or Church-Capacity of these Kingdoms and which are so Inconsistant with Christian Religion and purest Protestancy and that above all displease Almighty God are First Making Opinions Articles of Faith at least giving them the Reputation of Faith and making them the Bond of Christian Society Secondly Mistaking the Nature of True Faith and taking that for Faith which is not Gospel-Faith Thirdly Debasing the true Value of Morality under pretence of Higher Things mistaking the very End of Christ's Coming Fourthly Preferring Humane Authority above Reason and Truth Fifthly Propagating Faith by Force and Imposing Religion by Worldly Compulsion These I take to be those Church Evils that have too much infected even these Parts of the reputed Reformed World And though the Roman Church for the most part hath transcended all other Societies in these Errors and may in a sense be said to be the Mother of them She from whom they took Birth by whom they were brought forth and propagated in Christendom yet there hath not been that Integrity to the Nature of Christianity and First Reason of Reformation from Papacy in our own Country as had been and is our Duty to conserve First In that Opinions pass for Faith and are made Articles of Faith and enjoyn'd to be embrac'd as the Bond of Communion That this is so let us take the most impartial View we can and we shall find it to be true both of the National and many other Select Societies That I may be understood in the Signification of the word OPINIONS I explain it thus Opinions are all those Propositions or Conclusions made by Men Doctrines of Faith and Articles of Communion which either are not Expresly laid down in Scripture or not so evidently Deduceable from Scripture as to leave no Reason of Doubt in their Minds of the Truth of them who sincerely and reverently believe the Text or lastly such as have no New or Credible Revelation to avouch them That this is our Case let the several Confessions of Faith published by almost every Party in England be perused and ye will find such Propositions translated into Doctrines of Faith and Articles of Communion as are First not only not Express'd in Scripture but perhaps not Deduceable from Scripture If one Party may be but believ'd against another this will want no Evidence to prove the Point And in the Next place such as are though not Exprest yet it may be Deduceable as to the Matter of them but either carried so high spun so fine or so disguised by Barbarous School-Terms that they are rather a Bone of Contention than a Bond of Concord to Religious Societies Yet this has been the Unhappiness even of this Kingdom after all the Light of Reformation which God hath graciously sent amongst us Men are to be received or rejected for denying or owning of such Propositions Wilt thou be an Episcopalian then Sign the Thirty-Nine Articles Renounce the Covenant and Conform to the Discipline and Jurisdiction of the Church Wilt thou be a Presbyterian Embrace and Keep the Covenant subscribe the Westminster-Confession and Directory and so on to the End of every Society that grounds Communion upon Conformity to such Propositions and Articles What a Stir have we had in England about the poor word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that says it signifies an Higher Office than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall have no part or fellowship with us On t'other hand they that will debase Episcopos to Presbyteros and turn Levellers of Episcopal Dignity shall be Excommunicated silenc'd punish't Is not this Fact can any deny it that love Truth more then a Party The Fire kindled by this Contention hath warm'd the Hands of Violence It had been well if Men had entertain'd Equal Zeal against Impiety and been but half asmuch Enemies to the Sin as they have been against one another If we look a little back we shall find that the Debate of Free-Will Unconditional Reprobation fill'd this Kingdom with Incharitableness and Division In the Arch-Episcopacy of Abbot reputed in himself a Good Man who ever held that Christ died so for all Men that all men might be saved if they would accept the Means and that none were absolutely decreed to Eternal Reprobation waa near akin to Heresie and Excommunicated as an Enemy to the Free Grace of God which it seems lay in being Narrow In the time of Arch-Bishop Land the Tide turns those that hold an Absolute Election and Reprobation without regard had to the Good or Evil Actions of Men and assert that Christ only died for the Elect and not for all must be discountenanc'd displac'd and pointed at as Men out of Fashion though at the same time Conscientious Sober and at worst Mistaken to be pittied rather than prosecuted and informed rather than confounded This Controversie begot the Synod of Dort he that reads the Epistles of that Judicious man J. Hails of Eaton upon the Matter and Conduct of the Assembly will find cause of being sad at Heart too many of them talked of Religion without the Spirit of it Men perhaps Learned in Books but few of the Sticklers gave any great Testimony of their Proficiency in that Science which is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated This Flame kindled
nothing do but Man's Comment instead of God's Text his Consequences Conclusions in the room of Sacred Revelation I cannot see how any Man can be obliged to receive or believe revealed Truths in any other Language than that of the Revelation itself especially if those that vary the Expression have not the same Spirit to lead them in doing so or that it appears not to me that they have the Guidance of that holy Spirit If the holy Ghost hath left Doubts in Scripture which is yet irreverent to believe I see not how Men can resolve them 't is the Work of that Spirit And since Men are so apt to Err Doubts are better left in Scripture than by us But it is to cross that Order of Prudence and Wisdom among Men who chuse to Conform their Expressions to the things they believe If any honest Man hath related a Story to me of something he hath seen and I am to declare my Faith about it if I believe the Fact I will chuse to deliver it in the Terms of the Relator as being nearest to the Truth Suppose a Father dying makes his Last Will and Testament and as he thinks so plain that there can be no Mistake made by the Executors but what is wilful if they instead of proving this Will and acting according to the plainness of it turn Commentators make more Difficulties than they find and perplex the whole Matter to the Children and Legatees and send them to the Law for their Right will we not esteem such Executors Ill Men and justifie those Persons concern'd in their Refusal of the Paraphrase God hath at sundry times and in divers manners by his Prophets his Beloved Son and his Apostles deliver'd to the World a Declaration of his Will and Testament but some have claim'd and taken to themselves the Keeping Explanation and Use of it so as those that chuse to be concluded by the Letter and Text of this Testament in its most important Points expose themselves to great prejudice for they are excommunicated from all other share in it than the punishment of the Breakers of it which is part of their Anathema who of all others are most guilty of Adding or Diminishing by undertaking to determin for others as well as themselves the Mind and Intention of the holy Ghost in it But if it be true as true it is that few have writ of the Authority of Scripture that do not affirm the very Penmen of it to be not only inspired by the Holy Ghost but so extraordinarily acted by him as that they were wholely asleep to their own Will Desires or Affections like people taken out of themselves and purely Passive as Clay in the hand of the Potter to the Revelation Will and Motion of the Spirit and for this End that nothing deliver'd by them might have the least Possibility of Mistake Error or Imperfection but be a Compleat Testament of the Will of God to men I cannot see which way such Men can excuse themselves from Great Presumption that will notwithstanding have the Wording of Creeds of Communion and reject that Declaration of Faith as insufficient which is deliver'd in the very Terms of the Holy Ghost and deny those Persons to be Members of Christ's Church that in Conscience refuse to subscribe any other Draught than their Lord has given them Two things oppose themselves to this Practice First The Glory of God the Honor of the Scriptures for it naturally draws people from the Regard Due to God the Scriptures begits too much Respect for Men their Traditions This was the Difficulty Christ met with and complained of in his time they had set up so many Rabbies to learn them Religion that the Lord of the True Religion could hardly find a place amongst them And what did they do They taught for Doctrines the Traditions of Men They gave their own and their Predecessors Apprehensions Constructions and Paraphrases upon Scripture for the Mind and Will of God the Rule of the Peoples Faith They were got near at this pass in the Church of Corinth when they cryed out I am for Paul I am for Apollo and I am for Cephas though they had not the same Temptation And that which followed then ever will follow in the like Case and that is DISTRACTION which is the Contrary to that Second thing that opposeth it self to this Practice and that is the Concord of Christians For Peace's sake consider it Lo here and Lo there always follow'd one of this mind and another of that As many Sects as Great Men to make and Head them This was the Case of the Jews and yet I do not hear that they devour'd one another about their Opinions and Commentaries upon Scripture but the Christians have done both Divided and Persecuted too First they have Divided and that mostly upon the score of Opinions about Religion they have not been Contented with the Expressions of the holy Ghost they liked their own better And when they were set up in the Room of Scripture and in the Name of Scripture SUBMISSION was required upon pain of Worldly Punishments This dissatisfied Curiosity this Unwarrantable what shall I say this Wanton Search has cost Christendom dear and poor England of any part of it I design not to grate upon any to revive old Stories or search old Wounds or give the least Just Occasion of Displeasure to those that are in Present Power yet I must needs say that Opinion on one side or t'other has been the cause of much of that Discord Animosity and Confusion that have troubled this Kingdom And it seems to have been the great Stratagem of Satan to prevent the spreading of the Glorious Gospel of Salvation in the World by taking men off from the serious pursuit of Piety and Charity Humility and holy Living Peace and Concord and under pretence of more raised Apprehensions and sublime Knowledge of Religion to put them upon introducing Curious and Doubtful Questions that have given occasion for Contention and Persecution This was no more uncondemned than unfore-seen of the Apostle Paul who exhorted his beloved Son Timothy To avoid those that doted about Questions those Men that would be thought Skilful Inquisitive Searchers after Truth such as love to exercise their Faculties and improve their Talents but let us hear his Judgment of which says he cometh Strife Railing Surmises perverse Disputings of men of Corrupt Minds And the truth is none else love such Disputings they who seek a daily Victory over the World the Flesh and the Devil and press fervently after Fellowship with God and that Consolation that ensues such an Employment of their time have very little to lose upon Contention about Words I could wish I were able to say that Vain Controversie were not our Case But this is not all the Apostle does expressly tell Timothy that if any man consent not to wholsom Words even the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ and
is like God the Father that is in Heaven who is Love 9. Christ teaches us to avoid Ostentation in our Charity Take heed that ye do not your Alms before Men to be seen of them 10. He teaches us the Duty of Prayer where and what not in the Corners of the Streets nor in the Synagogues to be seen of Men but in the Closet in the secret of the Heart betwixt God and the Soul 11. He forbids Hoarding and Laying up of Money in Bank presses Treasuring up of Wealth in Heaven and the Reason is this that the one is Corruptible and the other is Incorruptible 12. He teaches Dependence upon the Providence of God calling the Dis-trustful O ye of little Faith Which of you says he by taking Thought can add one Cubit to his Stature therefore take no Thought saying What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewith shall we be clothed for after all these things the Gentiles seek for your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you 13. He sets up a Discrimination or Distinction between false and true Prophets those that are his Disciples from Counterfeits Ye shall know them said Christ by their Fruits Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figgs of Thistles even so every good Tree bringeth forth Good Fruit but a Corrupt Tree bringeth forth Evil Fruit. A Good Tree cannot bring forth Evil Fruit neither can a Corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit Wherefore by their Fruits ye shall know them This was the Distinction given by Christ to his Followers the Tree was not accounted Good or Bad by the Leaves but the Fruits not by the Opinions but the Holy living The Faith in that Day was an Entire Resignation and Dependence upon God and not a Subscription to Verbal Propositions and Articles though never so True that was the Work of After-times more Corrupt and Superstitious Ages But 14. Lastly Christ preaches the General Judgment Many will say to me in that Day what Day the Day of Account and Final Reckoning with Mankind Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and done many wonderful works And then said Christ will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye that work Iniquity Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Therefore whosoever heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him unto a Wise Man which built his House upon a Rock and the Rain descended and the Floods came and the Winds blew and beat upon that House and it fell not for it was builded upon a Rock And every one that beareth these Sayings of Mine and doth them not shall be likened unto a Foolish Man which built his House upon the Sand and the Rain descended and the Floods came and the Winds blew and beat upon that House and it fell and great was the Fall of it And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these Sayings the People were astonished at his Doctrine for he taught them as one having Authority and not as the Scribes By all which it is most plain that as Christ is the Rock on which true Christians build so none can be said truly to build upon this Rock but those that keep his Sayings that do his Commandments that obey his Doctrine Wherefore that Faith of JESUS to be the SON and CHRIST of GOD must be such a Faith as does the Will of the Heavenly Father and keepeth THESE SAYINGS of Christ There are Two places in which Christ seems to sum up his blessed Doctrine One is this Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets Which Christ came not to destroy but to fulfill But the other Passage seems to be more full the first relating only to our Dealings with Men this Second Passage comprehends our Duty both to God and Men viz. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind this is the first and great Commandment and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self In these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets This is the Perfection of the Christian Religion the Great Commandment of Christ the Certain Token of Discipleship A new Commandment said Christ I give unto you that ye Love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another by this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another Again Christ speaks to his Disciples If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love even as I have kept my Father's Commandments and abide in his Love and this is my Commandment that ye Love one another as I have loved you Yet once more Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you and these things I command you that you Love one another He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him but he that loveth me not keepeth not my Sayings So that only those are Friends and Disciples of Christ Jesus that do his Sayings and keep his Commandments and the Great Commandment of all is LOVE for upon this One Commandment all the rest depend For he that loves God above all will leave all for God not one of his Commandments shall be slighted and he that loves his Neighbour will much more love the Houshold of Faith Well may such be True Christians when their Faith in Christ works by LOVE by the Power of this Divine Love he that dwells in this Love dwell in God if John say true for he is Love And in this he recommended his Love unto us that he sent his only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life Also herein did Christ manifest his Love in laying down his Life for us This is my Commandment said Christ that ye Love one another as I have loved you and Greater love hath no Man than this that a Man lays down his Life for his Friends ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Indeed he gave his Life for the World and offered up One Common Sacrifice for Mankind and by this One Offering up of himself once for all he hath forever perfected that is quitted and discharged and taken into Favour them that are sanctified who have received the Spirit of Grace and Sanctification in their Hearts for such as resist it receive not the Benefit
of that Sacrifice This Holy Offering up of himself by the Eternal Spirit is a Great Part of his Messiahship for therein he hath both confirmed his Blessed Message of Remission of Sins and Life Everlasting to as many as truly believe in his Name and given himself a Propitiation for all that have sinned and so came short of the Glory of God in so much that God is said by the Apostle Paul to be Just and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remissions of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God Unto which I shall Join his Mediatorship or Advocacy link'd together both by the Apostle Paul and the beloved Disciple John the first in these words For there is One God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due Time The Apostle John expresseth it thus My little Children these things write I unto you that you Sin not and if any Man sinneth we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World So that to be Brief the Christian Creed so far as it is Declaratory lies eminently in a Confession of these Particulars Of the Divine Authority of the New as well as of the Old Testament Writings and therein of these Great General and Necessary Truths expresly to wit Of Christ his Miracles Doctrine Death Resurrection Advocacy or Mediation the Gift of his Grace Faith and Repentance unto Remission of Sins the Necessity of Keeping his Commandments and lastly of Eternal Recompence Less once than all this would have done and it does not shew the Age more Christian but more Curious indeed more Infidel that there is this Stir made about External Creeds of Communion for Distrust of Brethren and Incredulity among Christians is no small Sign of their Decay of Faith towards God From the Beginning 't was not so But it may be here Objected How shall we know that such a Declaration of Faith is sincere I Answer By recurring to that Evidence which God shall give us They that can try Spirits under the most-Sheeplike Clothing have the most-Immediate and Certain Proof but let it suffise that Christ hath told us By their Fruits ye shall know them If any Man says Christ will come after me let him take up his Cross and follow me and in another place he tells us thus My Sheep hear my Voice and I knew them and they follow me that is They are led by my Spirit they live my Life they obey my Doctrine And the Apostle Peter assures us that True Faith purifies the Heart and no Impurity can flow from a pure Heart You may know this Faith by that Way by which Abraham's Faith was known to be True to wit Obedience He believed God that is He Obeyed God he submitted to the Will of God and relied upon his Goodness He that gave me my Son by a Miracle can work another to save him To God all things are Possible It is call'd by the Apostle Paul The Spirit of Faith something more near and inward than any External Articles and Declaration of Faith that from whence all True Confessions and good Works come which made the Apostle Paul thus to say We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our Prayers remembring without Ceasing your Work of Faith 'T was this true Faith that brings forth Works of Righteousness by which Abel Offered to God Enoch was Translated Noah was saved it is said of him that he became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith By this Faith Abraham left his own Country and obey'd the Voice of God By Faith Moses was preserved from his Childhood and when he came to years refus'd to be called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter by Faith he forsook Egypt and passed the Red Sea By Faith the Walls of Jericho fell down and Rahah was saved By Faith Gideon Barak Sampson Jephtha David Samuel and the Prophets subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopped the Mouthes of Lyons quenched the Violence of Fire escaped the Edge of the Sword with much more too large to be utter'd This is that Faith which the Apostle James magnifies against all false Faiths Faith says he if it has not Works is dead A Man may say Thou hast Faith and I have Works shew me thy Faith without thy Works I will shew thee my Faith by my Works And as if he had fore-seen the Men of Creeds and Articles he speaks on this wise Thou believest that there is One God thou dost well the Devils also believe and Tremble But wilt thou know O Vain Man that Faith without Works is dead Was not Abraham our Father justified by Works when he had offered Isaac his Son upon the Altar seest thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works was Faith made perfect And he was called the Friend of God And the Exhortation of the Apostle Peter is a plain Discrimination of true Faith And besides this giving all Diligence add to your Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity For if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither he barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see far off and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old Sins I will seal up these Scripture Testimonies of Faith with that Account which is given us by the Apostle John For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the World and this is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believed that Jesus is the Son of God So that the Belief in the Son of God must have this Evidence to prove it true that by it Men are born of God and overcome the World so that their Faith is false whom the World Overcomes I am not of this World saith Christ Jesus neither can that Faith be that is called the Faith of the Son of God There are Three Passages left us upon Record by this Beloved Disciple of Jesus of Great Weight and Importance to us when he had discoursed of the Propitiation and Advocacy of Christ he does immediately add And hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a Lyar and the Truth is not in him But whoso keepeth his Word in him verily is the Love of God perfected hereby know we that we
hath been even now alleadged we shall in another place make discovery of some other Reasons We shall for the present add only this one That the people themselves are in a perpetual kind of Mutation some daily dying and departing others succeeding and growing up in their stead Whence it comes to pass That since the Change which is made in every Age is small either the people cannot perceive it or if they do observe it yet they esteem it not of such moment as to think fit to move any Difference thereabout This thing also is of very great force to keep the people from taking notice of a Change in Doctrine when men shall perswade themselves that they are not able to judge of matters of Religion as though it is it is not and other words used in Scripture do not signifie the same which they do in common discourse or as if nothing could be understood without some great Knowledge in the Tongues and Arts or Sciences and as if the Power of the Spirit were of no efficacy without these Helps Whereby it cometh to pass that whilst they think they understand not even those things which in some sort they do understand being expressed in most clear and evident words they do at length arrive to that Blockishness that they cannot understand them indeed so that though they have before their Eyes a Sentence of Scripture so clear that nothing can be more evident yet if they to whose Authority they in all things subject themselves shall say any thing point-blank opposite thereunto they will give credit unto them and imagine themselves not to see that which they see as clear as the Light And by these means verily it comes to pass That when the Doctrine of Religion is corrupted the Mutation is not discovered Furthermore when the Doctrine is once begun to be changed it must needs be that out of one Error another should spring and propagate infinitely and God for Just Reasons of his own blinding them men bring upon themselves so great Darkness and slip into such soul Errors That if God out of Mercy open a mans Eyes and let him see those Errors he lives in he can scarcely believe himself or be perswaded that he was ever enveloped with such blind Errors Which thing is as true and as well to be seen in Men of greatest Learning Experience If thou shalt thorowly peruse the writings of some of the School-men as they call them thou shalt in some places meet with so much Accuteness as will make thee admire Thou shalt see them oftentimes cleave a fine Thred into many parts and accurately Anotomise a Flea and a little after fall so foully and avouch such Absurdities That thou caâ—st not sufficiently stand amaz'd wherefore we must obey that Advice of the Poet Principijs obsta sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas invaluere moras Resist betimes that Med'cine stayes too long Which comes when Age has made the Grief too strong Now there is need of a double Caution viz. That there be no Change made in the Doctrine when it is pure And if any Change be made that there be notice taken of it Now look what Change is made in this kind all the Blame is laid upon those whose Office it is to instruct the People for though themselves are the Authors of the Change yet will the people impute it to the Ministers Sleepiness and want of Care at least It concerns therefore the Pastors and Teachers to be Eagle eyed and to be very well acquainted with those Causes whereby the Change of Doctrine becomes undiscovered and to have them at their Fingers ends and to be wary that on no hand they may miscarry Now it will be an excellent Caution for the keeping of Doctrine pure if they shall avoid all curious and vain Controversies If they shall set before their Eyes the scope and end of all Religious Doctrine and likewise a Series or Catalogue of all such things as make to the attainment of that End of which we formerly spake if they shall affect not only the matter it self but also the words and phrases which the Holy Ghost in Scripture makes use of and exceedingly suspect all different Forms of speaking Not that I would have them speak nothing but Hebraisms for so their Language would not be plain nor intelligible but I wish that they will shun all such Expressions as have been invented by over-nice Disputants beyond what was necessary to express the sence of the Hebrew and Greek and all those Tenets which men by their own Wits do collect and infer from the Scriptures Now of what Concernment this will be we may gather by this Instance The Papists think it one and the same thing to say The Church cannot err and to say in the words of our Lord Wheresoever two or three shall be gathered together in my Name there will I be in the midst of them Yet is the Difference very great which may thus appear forasmuch as in case any one shall conceive the Church to be the Pope Cardinals and Bishops anointed by the Pope he hearing the aforesaid Sentence will judge that whatsoever they shall decree ought to be of Force But if he shall rather mind the words of our Lord and shall consider that those kind of men do regard nothing but their own Commodity Wealth and Dominion he will be so far from so understanding them that peradventure not being able to allow the Deeds and Practices of these Men he will come to hope from those words That if himself with some other good Men loving God with their whole Heart shall come together and unanimously implore the Assistance of God shall be better able to determiâ—… What it is that ought to be believed and practised for the attainment of Salvation then if they should persist to put their Confidence in such Pastors Now this Rule that the words of the Scripture ought to be used rather than any other is then especially to be observed when any thing is delivered as a certain and tryed Truth or as a Rule of Faith or Life or out of which any other thing is to be inferred For in Expositions and Explanations as there is need happily of greater Liberty so is there less Danger if it be taken For whenas the Word of God and the exposition thereof are at one and the same time both together in view as it were there no man can be ignorant that the Exposition is the word of Man so that he may reject it in case it seem impertinent And look by what means a man may hinder the Doctrine of Religion from being changed by the self-same he may find whether it be chang'd or no. Now every man ought to compare the Doctrine of that Age wherein he lives with no other Doctrine then that which was out of question spotless which is the Doctrine of the Apostles Wherefore notwithstanding that in our Age the Gospel is as
it were revived yet ought not any man thus to think That he ought to examin whether the Gospel hath lost any of that Purity whereunto it had at this time arrived he ought rather to look again and again whether some Corruption do not yet remain whether it be not in some part as yet not sufficiently restored to its ancient Purity and Lustre and confidently perswade himself That he cannot be that I may so speak sufficiently superstitious in rejecting every word which is not in the Scriptures Forasmuch as man will ever 〈◊〉 more Wise and Wary than the holy Spirit and can very hardly forbear to mingle somewhat from his own head so that whatever comes from man can never be sufficiently suspected And because a thing will be so much the better preserved by how much the greater is the number of those that keep it the people ought often to be put in mind That both the reading of the Scriptures and the Care of Religion belongs not to the Pastors of the Church only but that every one that would be saved ought to make diligent search whether any Corruption be already or is for the future like to be introduced and this to do no less carefully then if he were perswaded that all beside himself were asleep and whatsoever is wont to take the common people off from such studies Care must be taken that that thing be wholly taken away Concerning which matter we shall more conveniently discourse anon Now forasmuch as the profit will be small if some private man shall observe that an Error is introduced unless he discover the said Error and lay it open there must of necessity be some way how this may conveniently be done Now there cannot be a more fitting way then that which the Apostle propounds to the Corinthians Let two or three Prophets speak and let the rest judge and if any thing be revealed to him that sits by let the former be silent For ye way all prophecy one by one that all may learn and all may be exhorted If some one person shall alwayes speak in the Church and no man at any time may contradict him it will be a very strange thing if that one man be not puffed up if he do not fall into such a Conceit of himself as to think that he is the only man that he only hath understanding he alone is wise that all the rest are a company of brute Animals as it were who ought to depend only upon him and to do nothing but learn of him And if any man shall think that himself likewise hath some ability to teach he will account that man an hainous offender But what says the Apostle to this Did the Word of God come from you or came it unto you only If any seem to be a Prophet or Spiritual let him acknowledge what I write unto you to be the commands of the Lord. But if any one be ignorant let him be ignorant Wherefore Brethren labour that ye may Prophesie and forbid not to speak with Tongues let all things be done decently and in order It is exceedingly to be lamented That this custom and the practice of this command of the Lord is not again restored into the Churches and brought into use But some men may say Such is the rastness of this Age of ours such the boldness such the impudence That if it were allowed to every one to speak in the Congregation there will be no end of Brawls and Contention Why so Is a man another kind of Creature now then what he was of Old Thou wilt say he is For mankind hath continually degenerated grown worse and worse and seems now to have attained the top of Corruption Is it so indeed But suppose it to be so Thou that art the Teacher of the people art not thou also thy self made of the same Mold Art not thou born in the same Age Inasmuch as this ordinance principally was intended to keep Pastors within the bounds of modesty that they may understand That they are not the authors of the Word of God that they have not alone received the Spirit by how much the more mankind hath degenerated by so much the greater need is there thereof for that there is now more rashness Arrogance Pride then of Old this is true as well of the Pastors and Teachers as of the rest of the people Art thou a Prophet hast thou any portion of the Spirit If thou hast not so unfitting it is that thou alone shouldst speak in the Congregation that there will hardly be found any that desires rather to be silenc't then thy self But if thou art a Prophet if thou hast the Spirit mark what the Apostle sayes Acknowledge quoth he that those things which I write are the Commandments of the Lord. Go to then On the one side we have the judgment of our Lord willing that Prophecy for this is a Word that we are oblieged to use should be common to all and that not for the Destruction but the Salvation of the Church On the other side we have thy Judgment who fearest lest that may breed Contentions and Confusion whose Judgment now ought we rather stand to If thou shalt conceive we must stand to thine consider what thou assumest unto thy self and what will become of thy modesty Our Lord it should seem understood not what a kind of Creature man was he wanted thy wisdom belike to admonish him of the danger or haply he thought not upon that Corruption which should befall mankind whereby such a Liberty might prove unprofitable But Paul answers thee That God is not the author of Contention but of Peace Who well knowing what might move Contentions what beget Peace and not loving nor willing to have Contention but Peace willed that this liberty of Prophecying should be in the Church What canst thou say to the contrary what hast thou to object against God himself wilt thou accuse him of indiscretion No man hath so wicked a Tongue as to dare to do it Yet if thou shalt diligently search thine Heart thou shalt find there a certain disposition ready to contend even with God himself Which motion of thy Heart must by no means be hearkned unto but sharply repressed and wholely subjected to the Spirit of God It may seem peradventure an absurd thing That after some very learned person hath spoken some contemptible person shall be allowed to contradict him Can such a person so do without great rashness and temerity Were I to speak according to the judgment of man verily I could not deny it But if we be really perswaded That the knowledge of matters Divine ought not to be attributed to our Watching Studies Wits but to God and to his Spirit wherewith he can in a moment endue the simplest person in the World and that with no more labour or difficulty then if he were to give him to one that had spent Nestor's Age in study What reason is there
those that Persecute for Religion are Irreligious 2dly The next Cause of Persecution is the gross but general Mistake which People are under concerning the Nature of the Church Kingdom of Christ for the lamentable Worldliness of mens minds hath put them upon those Carnal Constructions which have made way for all the external Coertion and Violence used by bad and suffer'd by good Men on the score of Religion from the beginning And no wonder if ordinary Persons tumble upon this Construction when the Disciples of Jesus shew'd themselves so ill read in the Mysteries of his Kingdom that after all the Intimacy they had had with him they resrain'd not to ask When shall the Kingdom be restored to Israel They look't abroad had a Worldly Idea in their minds Jew like they waited for external Deliverance from the Power of the Romans rather then an Internal Salvation from the Dominion of Satan and interpreted that to Worldly loss and freedom which did relate to the loss and Redemption of the Soul but Jesus taught them better things yet so as not to deny or flatly discourage and rebuke them that though true might have been more then they could have borâ— therefore he winds off with them upon the Time and the Season of the thing knowing that the Time was at hand that they should be better taught and satisfied of the nature of his Kingdom unto which he referred them When the Spirit of Truth comes it shall lead you into all Truth c. That the Kingdom of Christ is not of this World has been before observed and the Reason is so great that all men of common Sense must allow it upon Christ's Principle for says he then would my Servants fight for me truly implying that because the Kingdoms of this World are evidently set up and maintained by Worldly Force and that he will have no Worldly Force used in the Business of his Kingdom therefore it is not of this World Consequently those that attempt to set up his Kingdom by Worldly Force or make that their Pretence to use it are none of his Servants they are truly but Men of this World such as seek an Earthly and not an Heavenly Kingdom themselves and not Christ Jesus Where by the way let me observe That though the Jews to engage Pilate the more easily to their side impeach't Christ of being an Eâ—â—e my to Casar they were Enemies and He a Friend to Caesar for he came to reform the Lives of Men to make them better Subjects to obey Caesar not for Fear but for Conscience sake so would Caesar's Provinec have been easie and safe But the Jews would have had him Caesar's Enemy one that should have forcibly rescued them from Caesar's Power they waited for a Captain General to begin the Revolt and with an high Hand to over bear and captive Caesar as he had done them and 't is more than probable that his Appearance being to another End they therefore rejected him their Heart being set upon this But to return Christ told his Disciples that he had chosen them out of the World how not to converse or live bodily in it no such matter but he had chosen or singled them from the Nature Spirit Glory Policy and Pomp of this World How Persons so qualified can make a Worldly Church or Kingdom unless they desert Christ's Doctrine is past my Skill to tell So that the Capacity that Christians stand in to Christ is Spiritual and not Worldly or Carnal and therefore not Carnal or Worldly but Spiritual Methods and Weapons only are to be used to inform or reclaim such as are Ignorant or DisobediÌ„ent And if we will give Antient Story credit we shall find that Worldly Weapons were never employed by the Christian Church till the became Worldly and so ceast to be truly Christian But why should I say the Church the most abused word in the World her Leaders have taught her to eâ—â— and that of believing as the Church believes is so far from being true in point of Faith as well as Reason that the Church her self his ever believed as the Clergy that is the Priests believed since that sort of Men have practised Distinction from and Superiority upon the Laity He that will peruse the Ecclesiastical Story delivered us by Eusebius Pamphili Secrates Scholasticns Evagrius Ruffinus Sozomen c. will find but too many and sad Instances of the Truth of this In short Peoples apprehending the Church and Kingdom of Christ to be Visible and Worldly like other Societies and Government have thought it not only to be Lawful but Necessary to use the Arts and Force of this World to support that Church and Kingdom especially since this Interest of Religion hath been embodied with that of the Civil Magistrate for from that time he hath been made Custos utriusque tabulae and such as offend though about Church Matters have been reputed Transgressors against the State and consequently the State interested in punishing the Offence Whereas had Christians remain'd in their primitive Simplicity and Purity in the Self-denying Patient and Suffering Doctrine of Christ Christianity had stood in Holy Living not in Worldly Regiment and its Compulsion would have been Love its Arms Reason and Truth and its utmost Rigour even to obstinate Enemies or Apostates but Renouncing of their Communion and that not till much Forbearance had been used to them To sum up all The Kingdoms of this World stand in outward Bodily and Civil Matters and here the Laws and Power of Men reich and are effectual But the Kingdom and Church of Christ that is chosen out of the World stands not in Bodily Exercise which the Apostle says profits little nor in Times nor Places but in Faith and that Worship which Christ tells us is in Spirit and in Truth to this no Worldly Compulsion can bring or force men 't is only the Power of that King of Righteousness whose Kingdom is in the Minds and Souls of the Just and he rules by the Law of his own free Spirit which like the Wind Bloweth where it listeth And as without this Spirit of Regeneration no man can be made a Member of Christs Church or Kingdom so neither is it in the Power of Man to command or give it and consequently all Worldly force employ'd to make men Members of Christs Church and Kingdom is unnatural and ineffectual I could be very large upon this point for 't is very fruitful and so much the cause of Persecution that if there were never another to be assign'd this were enough for upon due consideration it must needs meet with every mans Judgment and Experience I will here add the sense of memorable Hales of Eaton upon this subject When our Saviour in the Acts after his Resurrection was Discoursing to his Disciples concerning the Kingdom of God they presently brake forth into this Question Wilt thou now restore the Kingdom unto Israel Certainly this Question betrays their
Ignorance their thoughts still ran upon a Kingdom like unto the Kingdoms of the World notwithstanding they had so long and so often heard our Saviour to the contrary Our Saviour therefore shortly takes them up Non est vestrum your Question is nothing to the purpose the Kingdom that I have spoken of is another manner of Kingdom then you conceive Sixteen hundred Years et quod excurrit hath the Gospel been preached unto the World and is this stain spunged out yet I doubt it Whence arise those novel and late Disputes do notis Ecclesiae of the notes and visibility of the Church Is it not from hence they of Rome take the World and the Church to be like Mercury and Sosia in Plautus his Comedies so like one another that one of them must wear a Toy in his Cap that so the Spectators may distinguish them whence comes it that they stand so much upon State and Ceremony in the Church Is it not from hence that they think the Church must come in lâ—ke Agrippa and Bernice in the Acts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Luke speaks with a great deal of Pomp and Train and Shew and Vanity and that the Service of God doth necessarily require this noise and tumult of outward State and Ceremony Whence comes it that we are at our Wits ends when we see Persecution and Sword and Fire to rage against the true Professors of the Gospel Is it not because as these brings Ruin and Desolation upon the Kingdoms of the World so we suppose they work no other effect in the Kingdom of Christ all these Conceits and many more of the like Nature spring out of no other Fountain then that old inveterate Error which is so hardly wiped out of our Hearts That the State of the Church and Kingdom of Christ doth hold some proportion some likeness with the state and managing of temporal Kingdoms Wherefore to pluck out of our Hearts opinionem tam insitam tam vetustam a Conceit so antient so deeply rooted in us our Saviour spake most excellently most pertinently and most fully when he tells us that his Church that his Kingdom is not of this World In which Word of his there is contained the true art of discovering and knowing the true Nature and Essence of the Church For as they which make Statues cut and pare away all Suporfluities of the matter upon which they work so our Saviour to shw us the true proportion and feature of the Church prunes away the World and all superfluous Excrescenties and sends her to be seen as he did our first Parents in Paradise stark naked As those Elders in the Aprocryphl Story of Susanna when they would see her Beauty commanded to take off her Mask So he that longs to see the Beauty of the Church must pull off that Mask of the World and outward shew For as Juda in the Book of Genesis when Thamar sat Vail'd by the Way-side knew not his Daughter from an Where So whilst the Church the Daughter and Spouse of Christ sits vail'd with the World and Pomp and Shew it will be an hard matter to discern her from an Harlot But yet further to make the difference betwixt these Kingdoms the more plainly to appear and so better to fix in your Memories I will briefly touch some of these Heads in which they are most notoriously differenced The first Head wherein the Difference is seen are the Persons and Subjects of this Kingdom For as the Kingdom of Christ is not of this World so the Subjects of this Kingdom are Men of another World and not of this Every one of us bears a double Person and accordingly is the Subject of a double Kingdom The Holy Ghost by the Psalmist divides Heaven and Earth betwixt God and Man and tells us as for God He is in Heaven but the Earth has he given to the Children of Men So hath the same Spirit by the Apostle St. Paul divided every one of our Persons into Heaven and Earth into an outward and earthly Man and into an inward and heavenly Man This Earth that is this Body of Clay hath he given to the Sons of Men to the Princes under whose Government we live but Heaven that is the inward and spiritual Man hath he reserved unto himself They can restrain the outward Man and moderate our outward Actions by Edicts and Laws they can tye our Hands and our Tongues Illa se jactat in aula Aeolus Thus far they can go and when they are gone thus far they can go no farther But to rule the inward Man in our Hearts and Souls to set up an Imperial Throne in our Understandings and Wills this part of our Government belongs to God and to Christ These are the Subjects this the Government of his Kingdom Men may be Kings of Earth and Bodies but Christ alone is the King of Spirits and Souls Yet this inward Government hath influence upon our outward Actions For the Authority of Kings over our outward Man is not so absolute but that it suffers a great Restraint it must stretch no farther then the Prince of our inward Man pleases for if secular Princes stretch out the Skirts of their Authority to command ought by which our Souls are prejudiced the King of Souls hath in this case given us a greater Command That we rather Obey God then Men. 3dly A third great Cause of Persecution for Religion is this that men make too many things necessary to be believed to Salvation and Communion Persecution entred with Creed making for it so falls out that those who distinguish the Tree in the bulk cannot with the like ease discern every Branch or Leaf that grows upon it and to run out the necessary Articles of Faith to every good or true thing that the Wit of Man may deduce from the Text and so too as that I ought to have a distinct Idea or Apprehension of every one of them and must run them over in my mind as a Child would â—on a Lesson by Heart and that as the Creed of which I must not miss a tittle upon my Salvation this I think to be a Temptation upon men to fall into Dispute and Controversie and then we are taught by long Experience that he that has most Power will oppress his Opinion that is weaker whence comes Persecution this puts Unity Peace too much upon the Hazard Mary's Choice therefore was not of many things but the one thing necessary as Christ terms it the Lord of the true Divinity and pray what was this one needful thing but Christ Jesus himself and her Faith Love and Obedience in and to him here is no perplext Creed to subscribe no Systhime of Divinity to charge the Head with this One Needful thing was Mary's Choice Blessing may it be ours and I should hope a quick End to Controversies and consequently to Persecutions 4thly Another Cause of Persecution is The Prejudice of Education and that