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<DATE>5-19-13</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Heart-Bleedings <HI>FOR</HI> Profe&s;&s;ors Abominations: OR, A Faithful general Epi&s;tle, Pre&s;ented to all who have known the way of Truth, forewarning them to flee Security, and carele&s;s walking under the Profe&s;&s;ion of the &s;ame; di&s;covering &s;ome of Satans Wiles, whereby al&s;o, wanton per&s;ons, and their ungodly wayes are di&s;claimed.</P>
<P>By the <HI>Churches</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in <HI>London,</HI> Baptized into the Name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and walking to|gether through the Grace of God, in the Order of his Go&s;pel, according to the Scriptures.</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>2 Pet. 2.20, 21, 22.</HI></BIBL>
<P>For if after they have e&s;caped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledg of the Lord and Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, they are again intangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is wor&s;e with them then the beginning.</P>
<P>For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteou&s;ne&s;s, then after they have known it, to turn from the holy Commandements delivered unto them.</P>
<P>But it is hapned unto them, according to the true Proverb, The Dog is turned to his own vomit, and the Sow that was wa&s;hed to wallow again in the mire.</P></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>Francis Tyton,</HI> and are to be &s;old at the three Daggers in <HI>Fleet&s;treet,</HI> neer the <HI>Inner-Temple-gate.</HI> 1650.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>To all the Churches of God &s;anctified in CHRIST JESUS, called to be Saints, with all that in every place profe&s;s the name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord, both theirs and ours.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Beloved Brethren,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_HAving the&s;e many yeers, though the grace and free mercy of our God, been kept in the profe&s;&s;ion of the name of Chri&s;t con|tained in the Holy Scriptures of the Pro|phets, and Apo&s;tles; and finding the ex|ceeding benefit, and comfort of walking with God in &s;ome mea&s;ure &s;uitable to what he hath made known unto us; and well knowing that we are called to live in the la&s;t Ages of the world, wherein iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxeth cold; as likewi&s;e con&s;idering tho&s;e peculiar times &s;poken of in the 2. of <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.1, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are come upon us, wherein men who &s;ometimes have made large profe&s;&s;ion of God and godline&s;s, are turned a&s;ide to commit all maner of uncleanne&s;s with greedine&s;s, having turned the grace of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t into la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s, calling darkne&s;s light, and light darkne&s;s, by means of whom the way of truth is evil &s;poken of; and many poor &s;ouls through temptations ready to quit their profe&s;&s;ions, and to be taken with their &s;nares; we thought it our duty to declare our utter di&s;like, abhorring, and dete&s;tation, of all &s;uch evil per&s;ons, and ways, who &s;hall under any pretence what&s;oever plead for or practi&s;e any way of ungod|line&s;s.</P>
<P>And having been through the goodne&s;s of our God, inabled to di&s;cern the &s;ecret, and &s;ubtile deligns, and &s;nares of Satan, which he hath laid to entrap poor &s;ouls in, by carrying them from &s;tep
<PB N="4" REF="3">to &s;tep, untill they have been wholy captivated in his &s;nares, and &s;itted by him to do him &s;ervice.</P>
<P>We could do no le&s;s, then according to that mea&s;ure of light we have received from the Lord, to di&s;cover his Wiles, and Stratagems, and to Caution all that profe&s;s the fear of the Lord to, watch over their own hearts, and ways, and to take heed le&s;t they fall into the &s;ame condemnation.</P>
<P>For this we have found, that that way which God in his infinite wi&s;dom, taketh to bring &s;ouls unto him&s;elf by, <HI>viz.</HI> the pre|&s;enting unto men his great love in giving Je&s;us Chri&s;t to &s;uffer death, and his great Salvation to all that believe in his name, Satan that old Serpent through his in&s;truments under the &s;pecious pre|tence of beating men off from all fal&s;e re&s;ts, endeavors with all his &s;trength to oppo&s;e and make void; per&s;wading the &s;ons and daughters of men, that what is declared concerning the death of Chri&s;t at Jeru&s;alem, and his bearing our iniquities in his own Body upon the Cro&s;s, is but a meer hi&s;tory &amp; &s;hadow, that the Scriptures are but a letter, and the Ordinances of God but fle&s;hly forms, thereby labouring to beget in peoples mindes, a contempt, and &s;light e&s;teem of Chri&s;t, his Word, and Ordinances; and that he might cheat them to purpo&s;e, tels them of a God within, and a Chri&s;t within, and a Word within: and that God, and Chri&s;t, and they are one, without any true di&s;tinct knowledg of the true mean|ing of that which is expre&s;&s;ed; whereby poor &s;ouls with great and &s;welling words of vanity, triumph in a great my&s;tery of meer nothing, but emptine&s;s, and confu&s;ion, &s;peaking things whereof they know not; and many poor &s;ouls knowing &s;uch expre&s;&s;ions to be Scripture Phara&s;es, do greedily embrace them without a true, di&s;tinct, and cleer under&s;tanding the &s;en&s;e of what is &s;poken, having the per&s;ons of tho&s;e who &s;peak &s;uch language in great ad|miration, as the chief, tender, charitable, knowing, high and &s;piri|tual Chri&s;tians; whereas indeed although the words &s;poken by them, are many of them true in them&s;elves (without which Satan could not &s;o effectually deceive) as that God and Chri&s;t, and the Spirit dwell in us, and that God and Chri&s;t and the Saints are one; Yet are we to under&s;tand this union to be only in a way of relation through participation of the &s;ame &s;pirit, and this dwelling to be only in re&s;pect of grace, and powerful operation and in|fluence
<PB N="5" REF="3">working in the hearts of believers, according to the tenor of the <HI>new Covenant,</HI> in making men holy and humble, purifying their hearts, cau&s;ing them to walk in all <HI>good con&s;cience</HI> towards God and man, all which by them is trampled under foot, and ano|ther kinde of <HI>union</HI> and <HI>indwelling</HI> driven at in their di&s;cour&s;es, which although <HI>covertly</HI> expre&s;&s;ed, untill by craft and &s;ubtilty, they have prepared the hearts of &s;imple and un&s;table &s;ouls, to receive what&s;oever they &s;hall &s;ugge&s;t unto them; yet then is openly di&s;|covered, being indeed the root of all bitterne&s;s, and de&s;perate prophanene&s;s, and bla&s;phemy, that can be imagined in the world: for from thence they conclude, that them&s;elves are God and Chri&s;t, and what God is they are, and what they are God is; for &s;ay they, there is no Spirit but one, and &s;o deny any created Angel or &s;pirit, holding upon the &s;ame account the living &s;oul in man to be uncreated, and &s;o con&s;equently to be God him&s;elf, and not cre|ated by God. Now this being the ground-work of their delu&s;ion, the building is an&s;werable.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, Concluding the rea&s;onable &s;oul to be God.</P>
<P>Secondly, They affirm that this &s;oul being clothed with their hu|mane bodies, or fle&s;h, is <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> or <HI>God,</HI> or <HI>God</HI> in <HI>fle&s;h,</HI> hereupon they imagin that Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;poken of in the Go&s;pel, as being born of the <HI>Virgin Mary,</HI> accu&s;ed by the <HI>Jewes,</HI> delivered by <HI>Pilate</HI> to be crucified, dying at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> upon the <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> ri&s;ing the third day, and a&s;cending into Heaven; is onely to be under&s;tood <HI>parabolically,</HI> or <HI>figuratively,</HI> &s;peaking of one thing, and intending another; pointing at, and prefiguring a work only within us, conceiving the <HI>Virgin Mary,</HI> the <HI>Jewes, Pilate, Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the <HI>Cro&s;s, Chri&s;t ri&s;ing</HI> and <HI>a&s;cending,</HI> &s;poken of in the Scriptures, to be all <HI>within</HI> them, and no &s;uch thing &s;ub&s;tantially, or in truth <HI>without.</HI></P>
<P>As they conclude all things &s;poken of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> to be but in a <HI>typi|cal,</HI> or <HI>figurative</HI> manner, intending and typyfying out this <HI>God within,</HI> or <HI>God incarnate</HI> in their fle&s;h, &s;till meaning their <HI>rea&s;on|able &s;ouls,</HI> conceiving this to be the <HI>&s;ub&s;tance</HI> of all tho&s;e <HI>&s;hadows;</HI> &s;o al&s;o upon this ground they are forced to conclude the whole New Te&s;tament, with all the Doctrines, Laws, Rules, and Admini|&s;trations of the &s;ame, to be but a <HI>&s;hadow</HI> or <HI>figure,</HI> holding forth a <HI>&s;ub&s;tance within.</HI> As for in&s;tance, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron,</HI> being but figures of the &s;ub&s;tantial Saviour and Prie&s;t to come, &s;o the admi|ni&s;trations
<PB N="6" REF="4">of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> as <HI>Mo&s;aical,</HI> were but fle&s;hly and carnal admi|ni&s;trations, to be aboli&s;hed when the &s;ub&s;tance was come, they be|ing only &s;hadows of good things to come; in like manner do they under&s;tand Chri&s;t in his <HI>per&s;on</HI> to be but a &s;hadow of Chri&s;t <HI>with|in,</HI> and all his heavenly and &s;piritual Go&s;pel to be but a <HI>Letter</HI> and <HI>carnal Hi&s;tory</HI> put to an end and aboli&s;hed, when they once come to apprehend that the &s;ub&s;tance of all is <HI>within.</HI> They coming al&s;o to believe that the &s;oul is God, do thence infer that they are <HI>perfect,</HI> and that they are in as happy e&s;tate as can be, and for this they urge 1 <HI>Co<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> 15.24. to the 28. to &s;hew when the kingdom is delivered up to the Father, all his people come to a more immediate enjoy|ment of God the Father, and then Chri&s;t cea&s;eth his Mediator&s;hip, and con&s;equently, all his New Te&s;tament cea&s;eth: now they con|clude, that all this is accompli&s;hed when they come to di&s;cern there is but one Spirit, and their &s;oul that &s;pirit, which is God, and then they are in the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of all things.</P>
<P>And &s;eeing the Scripture declares that before our full po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion of God and glory, there mu&s;t be a <HI>temporal Death,</HI> and <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of the Body, and <HI>eternal Judgment,</HI> they upon the former grounds, judging them&s;elves-already glorified, do under&s;tand this death of the body in all &s;uch Scriptures <HI>my&s;ti|cally,</HI> and that the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> and <HI>eternal Judgment</HI> are pa&s;&s;ed already in the &s;oul, as <HI>Hymeneus</HI> and <HI>Philetus</HI> did, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.18. com|pared with 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.19. Thence al&s;o they conclude, that Faith and Ju&s;tification by Chri&s;t, together with all the Ordinances of Chri&s;t are aboli&s;hed, as <HI>fle&s;hly forms,</HI> like unto <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> that appointed them, above and without all which, they <HI>triumphantly</HI> (in their own fancies) live when they once have attained this <HI>&s;upereminent</HI> life (as they &s;peak) of being in the full fruition of God, <HI>comprehending</HI> that <HI>infinite Being,</HI> (which they bla&s;phemou&s;ly affirm them&s;elves to do,) intruding them&s;elves into things they are altogether ignorant of: Hereupon is it that they, as <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aith, <HI>&s;coff</HI> at any <HI>&s;econd coming of Chri&s;t,</HI> 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.3, 4. and mock at the holy Scriptures, tho&s;e <HI>heavenly Oracles of God,</HI> denying them to be the <HI>Word of God,</HI> or that Law by which they ought to conform their lives, con|ceiving and uttering that there is no Law nor Rule but what is in man, his Light being his onely Law, that is to &s;ay, what ever that &s;pirit that dwels within (which they call God within) dictates to
<PB N="7" REF="4">them, that ought to be done by them, &s;trengthening them&s;elves with this opinion, That there is no &s;in but what contradicts a mans own light, (which is a mans onely law) and &s;in is onely &s;in to him that thinks it &s;o, and that there is no hell but that torment that men &s;u&s;tain through cro&s;&s;ing their own light (which God knows is no|thing but thick darkne&s;s) from the&s;e principles the de&s;perately wicked &amp; deceitful hearts of men <HI>fortified</HI> in their &s;ins, having now their con&s;cience <HI>&s;eared with an hot iron,</HI> account it their onely mi|&s;ery and <HI>hell,</HI> that they are troubled at any thing, be it never &s;o abominable, thus ca&s;ting off all trouble and remor&s;e for &s;in, they follow the law of their own minde, (as they needs mu&s;t, con|ceiving their own &s;ouls to be the onely eternal God) and what|&s;oever their evil hearts are naturally inclined to, whether <HI>Drun|kenne&s;s, Cur&s;ing, Swearing,</HI> or <HI>Whoredom</HI> (although for a time their principles do not put &s;uch horrid impieties in execution) yet at length being violently hurried on through the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the &s;trong <HI>impul&s;ions</HI> and re&s;tle&s;s <HI>&s;ugge&s;tions</HI> and <HI>in&s;tigations</HI> of the <HI>devil</HI> (the Judgments of God being al&s;o heightned upon them) they now commit the &s;ame with greedine&s;s, and that with &s;uch a high hand, as they account it their perfection, and the highe&s;t pitch of their glory, to give up them&s;elves to &s;uch abominations, pleading for them, affirming that they have made a <HI>League and Covenant with &s;in, death, and hell, and have communion with God in all the&s;e, &s;eeing all the&s;e, and what ever evils can be imagined, reconciled to God, and &s;o good,</HI> accounting all their actions for good, being acted by their own &s;pirits, which (as they think) are God, &s;aying, that God (but truely not God, but their own accur&s;ed &s;pirits) willed that they &s;hould <HI>cur&s;e and &s;wear, and be drunk, and fill them&s;elves with all uncleanne&s;s,</HI> which they e&s;teem to be perfect righteou&s;nes, calling that holi|ne&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s which con&s;i&s;ts in a &s;potle&s;s conformity to the Laws of Chri&s;t revealed in the Scripture, which curbs the in&s;olency of the fle&s;h, and the lu&s;ts of the heart, <HI>a plaguy and na&s;ty holine&s;s,</HI> that mu&s;t be de&s;troyed; &s;o that tho&s;e among&s;t them, that can with the greate&s;t impudency, without the lea&s;t check or controul of con&s;cience, commit the mo&s;t horrid abominations (which we tremble to think of) they are the mo&s;t perfect, and the mo&s;t &s;wallowed up in the will of God: To ju&s;tifie the&s;e their abominati|ons, they &s;ay, the <HI>Angels of God&s;ware with glory and Maje&s;tie,</HI>
<PB N="8" REF="5">which Angels are God in them (for all created Angels they deny) who therefore may &s;wear as they will, and that with glory and Maje&s;ty; Yea &s;o great is their thraldom and captivity, That now the <HI>prince of the power of the aire, that rules in the hearts of the&s;e child|ren of di&s;obedience,</HI> hath &s;o far the ma&s;tery and dominion over them, as that they are ready, not only to fight again&s;t God him&s;elf in his &s;pirituall ordinances, but again&s;t <HI>civil &s;ocieties,</HI> violating the <HI>bonds of marriage,</HI> and <HI>Laws of families,</HI> again&s;t the very principles and light of nature, which common ju&s;tice (remaining among&s;t the heathens) would &s;oon adjudg to merit &s;evere puni&s;hment; and certainly tho&s;e that &s;hall thus tran&s;|gre&s;s all civil bonds, do not only lye lyable to the ju&s;t and fearful judgment of God, but ju&s;tly incur the puni&s;hment of the rulers of this world.</P>
<P>Having thus laid open &s;ome of the principles, and evil practices of the&s;e men, even that root of bitterne&s;s, from which &s;uch their &s;inful branches grow; by which every one who&s;e eyes are opened, may di&s;cern what a fearful thing it is to leave the Holy Word of God, and give heed to the motions of a <HI>deceitful heart,</HI> and to the dictates of a <HI>lying &s;pirit:</HI> We &s;hall now endeavor briefly to make manife&s;t the &s;andine&s;s, and dangerou&s;ne&s;s of the foundati|on whereupon the&s;e things are built; which we &s;hall e&s;&s;ay to do by proving; That the &s;oul of man, is not God, but a creature, created and made by God: which will appear both by Scripture and rea&s;on, if you con&s;ider.</P>
<P N="1">1. That God is incomprehen&s;ible, the Heaven of Heavens cannot containe him, but the &s;oul of man is comprehended and contained in the body.</P>
<P N="2">2. God is Almighty, but the &s;oul of man is not: what ever God will, that he can do; but man de&s;ires many things, and hath not power to accompli&s;h them.</P>
<P N="3">3. God knoweth him&s;elf, and all things, the &s;ecrets of all hearts, things pa&s;t, pre&s;ent, and to come; but alas! the &s;oul of man knows not the Being of it &s;elf, nor of the lea&s;t creature, he knows not what is done in another hou&s;e next to him.</P>
<P N="4">4. The &s;oul is made and created, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. <HI>The fir&s;t Adam was made a living &s;oul, Jer.</HI> 38.16. It is written, As the Lord
<PB N="9" REF="5">liveth that made us this &s;oul, now to be made and created, argues a beginning, but God is without beginning; therefore the &s;oul can|not be God.</P>
<P N="5">5. God is the God of the &s;pirits of all fle&s;h, <HI>Numb.</HI> 16.22. there is a &s;pirit in the body, of which God is the Father, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.9. <HI>which God forms within man, Zech.</HI> 12.1. with which &s;pirit <HI>the &s;pirit of God bears witne&s;s, Rom.</HI> 8.16. which plainly proves our &s;pirit or &s;oul to be a creature: the truth of which further appears in that <HI>God can de&s;troy the &s;oul, or ca&s;t it unto hell fire, Math.</HI> 10.28. in that <HI>the &s;oul may be converted, P&s;alm.</HI> 19.7. in that <HI>it &s;tands in need of deliverance and redemption, P&s;al.</HI> 13.19.34.22.49.8. But now God cannot be de&s;troyed, neither needs he any redemption at all. By this is it clear that mans &s;oul is not God, and if not his &s;oul muchle&s;s is his body, that is &s;ubject to &s;uch variety of di&s;tempers, and &s;o nei|ther body nor &s;oul. O therefore what a horrid thing is it for men to affirm they are God, that made and created all things, that governs the world, and the like, and to father all their abominations upon the Lord, thinking him to be altogether &s;uch a one as them&s;elves are! From hence we may &s;afely conclude.</P>
<P N="1">1. That if the &s;pirit be created by God, and is united to the body, then tho&s;e actions that are done by the body, are the actions of the man. O how &s;ome men fighting again&s;t the light, cry out, that it is God in man onely that acts, that &s;hall be &s;aved, and the like, whereas it is evident that it is the man that acts, either good things, <HI>viz</HI> the man that beleeveth, prayeth, conformeth, and is ble&s;&s;ed of God, or it is the man that &s;ins and walks in di&s;obedience, which man is the &s;ubject of de&s;truction.</P>
<P N="2">2. That if the &s;pirit be created by God, it mu&s;t be &s;ubject to the will and law of the Creator: things created are for the prai&s;e of the Creator, we are made by God to &s;hew forth his prai&s;e, and by our obedience to declare our &s;elves to be his children, we are not left at liberty to run from God; this was that that involved <HI>Adam</HI> at fir&s;t in mi&s;ery, and &s;till keeps his off-&s;pring in &s;orrow and confu&s;ion.</P>
<P N="3">3. That &s;in is the defection, variation from, or the tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ion of the law of our Creator, and not of our own wils: when we do the things God forbids, or leave undone the things commanded, we &s;in again&s;t God the Lord, the Creator of &s;oul and body.</P>
<P>From the not right under&s;tanding of the creatures &s;ubjection, and
<PB N="10" REF="6">relation unto God, flow al&s;o tho&s;e vain allegorizings of tho&s;e texts of Scripture that &s;peak of Chri&s;t him&s;elf. For if we &s;earch the Scripture we &s;hall &s;ee cleerly, that Chri&s;t Je&s;us was not a figure or &s;hadow of a &s;ub&s;tance to be enjoyed now or hereafter (as the&s;e men dream) but the true &s;ub&s;tantial good it &s;elf, the true <HI>mediator God and man,</HI> the <HI>&s;ub&s;tance</HI> of all <HI>figures, and &s;hadows under the Law, which was a School-ma&s;ter unto Chri&s;t, Gal.</HI> 3.24. The Apo&s;tle tels us, <HI>The ad|mini&s;trations under the Law, were a &s;hadow of good things to come, the body or &s;ub&s;tance whereof was Chri&s;t, or was in Chri&s;t,</HI> now it is a|gain&s;t Common &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, that one &s;hadow &s;hould type out another, and that as carnal and fle&s;hly as it &s;elf, but the contrary here|of is mo&s;t certain, for <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> being <HI>typical &s;aviours,</HI> re|deeming the <HI>temporal I&s;rael</HI> out of <HI>Egypt</HI> into <HI>earthly Canaan,</HI> mu&s;t needs hold out a <HI>&s;ub&s;tantial Saviour,</HI> that mo&s;t effectually &s;hall re|deem the <HI>&s;piritual I&s;rael;</HI> for &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>He is able to &s;ave to the uttermo&s;t all that come to God by him &s;eeing he ever liveth to make interce&s;&s;ion for them, Heb.</HI> 7 5. He is the <HI>Alpha</HI> and <HI>Omega,</HI> the <HI>Begin|ning</HI> and the <HI>ending, the fir&s;t and the la&s;t,</HI> Rev. 1.18, Who &s;aid to <HI>John, fear not, for I was dead, and am alive for evermore, Amen: and I have the keys of hell and of death.</HI> This Je&s;us is not only true man as touching fle&s;h, but al&s;o <HI>God over all ble&s;&s;ed for ever,</HI> or the mo&s;t high God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9.5. <HI>John</HI> the Bapti&s;t te&s;tifying of Chri&s;t, <HI>Ioh.</HI> 3, 31. &s;aith, <HI>he that cometh from above is above all,</HI> and this is true of Chri&s;t as touching his Godhead, who al&s;o is truly man, &s;oul and and body, con&s;i&s;ting of a humane &s;oul and fle&s;hly body, and that af|ter his re&s;urrection, as appeares, <HI>Luk.</HI> 24.39. In reference to the Conjunction of both humane and divine nature, he &s;aith, <HI>I lay down my life and I take it up again,</HI> as man he died, as God he rai&s;ed him&s;elf from the dead; now that any &s;hould be &s;o vile and wretched as to count the ever-ble&s;&s;ed Lord, who is the mo&s;t high and ble&s;&s;ed Savi|our, a <HI>fle&s;hly form</HI> and <HI>&s;hadow,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>according to the infinite wi&s;|dom and love of God, he a&s;&s;umed mans nature, that he might thereby become a more fit and &s;uitable Saviour unto them;</HI> we are wounded in our &s;ouls to think thereof, and tremble to think what harden&s;s of heart, <HI>ingratitude</HI> and blindene&s;s of minde, &s;uch &s;ouls are given up to; and though they may talk of being above the di&s;pen&s;ation of Chri&s;t, the Kingdom being in them re&s;igned up to the Father, they &s;ay they know not what: for before the office of Chri&s;ts mediator&s;hip cea&s;es, and the Kingdom be re&s;igned to the father, the Scripture
<PB N="11" REF="6">expre&s;ly tels us, all enemies mu&s;t he &s;ubdued under his feet, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 110.1. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 8.6. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.24, 25. <HI>Heb.</HI> 2.6, 7. which is not yet ef|fected, for Chri&s;ts enemies, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Devil, Sin, Babylon, Anti-Chri&s;t,</HI> the <HI>oppo&s;ite oppre&s;&s;ing civil powers of the world, death,</HI> and the <HI>grave,</HI> and the rule and authority they bear rule with, are not yet wholly by Chri&s;t put down, therefore the Office of his Media|tor&s;hip &s;till &s;tands in force; Hence we may &s;afely conclude.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That if <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> be a&s;ub&s;tantial Mediator, truly &s;piritual, his <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> then, which he and his Apo&s;tles hath declared, is not a bare outward Relation, Hi&s;tory, or carnal Letter, but a &s;piritual and &s;ub&s;tantial Truth and My&s;tery, containing the whole Minde, Will, and Law of <HI>God</HI> for us and all Saints to believe and practi&s;e throughout all ages.</P>
<P>Secondly, It mu&s;t needs be as durable as the Mediator is, for the Law of Chri&s;ts Prie&s;thood is as durable as the Prie&s;thood it &s;elf, the Law depending upon the Prie&s;thood; for the change of the Prie&s;thood and Law goes together, and &s;o the Prie&s;thood of old being changed, the Law then, and not till then was changed al&s;o, <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.18. So when Chri&s;ts Prie&s;thood is changed, then the Law of that Prie&s;t|hood, and not till then &s;hall be changed al&s;o.</P>
<P>Thirdly, It mu&s;t al&s;o be granted, That the Scriptures which do declare this great my&s;tery of Je&s;us Chri&s;t and his <HI>Gospel,</HI> be the holy Scriptures, and the infallible Word of <HI>God,</HI> for it could never have entred into the heart of man to have known or manife&s;ted tho&s;e hidden my&s;teries, had not <HI>God</HI> him&s;elf by his own Word revealed them from heaven; now the Scriptures are <HI>Gods</HI> Word, declaring his Minde, making known his Coun|cel, <HI>being able to make the people of God wi&s;e unto &s;alvation through faith which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, being given by in&s;piration of God, and are profitable for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Correction, for In|&s;truction in righteou&s;ne&s;s, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furni&s;hed unto all good works,</HI> 2 Tim. 3.15, 16. and therefore not to be &s;lighted and undervalued, as a dead Letter, a bare Hi&s;tory, a carnal empty Story. Therefore dearly beloved brethren, we beg and in|treat you, and every one that loves his &s;oul, to fear and tremble at the thoughts of &s;lighting and de&s;pi&s;ing <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and his <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> or any one of his Laws, or holy Commandements revealed in his Word, for know that <HI>God will &s;et his Son upon his holy Hill of Sion,</HI> P&s;a. 2.8. and <HI>will call all his enemies that will not have him to reign over them, and &s;lay them before him,</HI> He is to be received to rule over us as King, as well as to be an oblation for &s;in, as he is a <HI>Prie&s;t</HI> and <HI>Sacrifice,</HI> &s;o
<PB N="12" REF="7">al&s;o a <HI>Prophet</HI> and a <HI>King,</HI> to teach and govern his people, being the author of eternal Salvation to all that obey him. Therefore that man that departeth from the way of &s;ubjection to Chri&s;t in his holy Commandments and Ordinances, refu&s;eth Chri&s;t to be his Lord, and King, and <HI>judges him&s;elf unworthy of eternal life;</HI> Wherefore we in tender compa&s;&s;ion to your &s;ouls, and zeal for the glory of God, do be&s;eech and exhort you, that you &s;till keep the holy commandments, as they were delivered unto you, that you do &s;hew the &s;ame dili|gence to the end (for he that endureth to the end &s;hall be &s;aved) that ye &s;tand fa&s;t, and earne&s;tly contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints, that no man take your crown from you, and that you take heed that you be not led a&s;ide with the workers of iniquity. O let none of us dally with the wayes of God, le&s;t we be given up to the error of the wicked, even to tho&s;e horrible delu&s;ions before menti|oned, for God is a ju&s;t and holy God. O that God would give his people this wi&s;dom in all Nations to keep his holy Command|ments, for holine&s;s becomes his hou&s;e for ever; O that Gods &s;eve|rity might prevaile with all that profe&s;s his name, to &s;earch their own hearts, lea&s;t not receiving the truth in the love thereof, they be given up to &s;trong delu&s;ions to believe a lye, lea&s;t they making &s;in their work and plea&s;ure, God make condemnation to be their wages, and di&s;annulling their league with hell and death, he pull them down from the top of their vanity, whether they have above the heights of the clouds exalted them&s;elves, and <HI>laugh at their de|&s;truction, and mock when their fear comes</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob.</HI> But many may be ready to object, that tho&s;e who have faln into &s;uch de&s;perate abominations, were &s;ometimes members of our Con|gregations, and from thence are apt to contemn our profe&s;&s;ion, and que&s;tion whether our way be of God or no, &s;aying, you &s;ee what your judgement leads too.</P>
<P><HI>Sol.</HI> In an&s;wer to this we &s;ay,</P>
<P N="1">1. That it is a great mi&s;take to judg that tho&s;e per&s;ons were all of our &s;ocieties, for this we can cleerly evince, that many, if not mo&s;t of them, were never members with us.</P>
<P N="2">2. Suppo&s;e they had been all of us (which yet is not &s;o) yet we &s;ay that none may thence rea&s;onably condemn our profe&s;&s;ion, nor our &s;elves &s;cruple it, as not of God, which we doubt not, but they will confe&s;s, if they con&s;ider.</P>
<P N="1">1. That from the undeniable truthes of God, and from the Churches
<PB N="13" REF="7">gathered immediately by the holy Apo&s;tles them&s;elves (which by all are granted to be the pure&s;t) many profe&s;&s;ors have gone a&s;tray, and faln into great condemnation: <HI>Hymeneus,</HI> and <HI>Alexander</HI> made &s;hipwrack of faith, and a good con&s;cience, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.19. affirming (as many of the&s;e in our days do) that the re&s;urrection was pa&s;t al|ready, de&s;troying the faith of &s;ome, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.18. &s;everal in <HI>Corinth</HI> denying any re&s;urrection at all, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.12. others falling into very great abominations, <HI>Jude</HI> tels us <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4. <HI>That there were cer|tain men crept in unawares, before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s, and deny|ing the onely Lord God, and our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> To add one in&s;tance more for all (John &s;aith) <HI>Little children it is the la&s;t time, and as you have heard that Antichri&s;t &s;hall come, even now are there many Antichri&s;ts, whereby we know that it is the la&s;t time; they went out from us, but they were not of us. John</HI> 2.18.19.</P>
<P N="2">2. The Spirit of God fore&s;eeing &s;uch things &s;hould be, that we might not be &s;tumbled when they come to pa&s;s, hath expre&s;sly fore|told them; As to the Elders of <HI>Ephe&s;us, Act.</HI> 20.28, 29, 30. &s;aith <HI>Paul</HI> by the Spirit, <HI>Take heed to feed the Church of God which he hath purcha&s;ed with his own blood; for I know this, that after my departing &s;hall grievous Wolves enter in among you, not &s;paring the flock; Al&s;o of your own &s;elves &s;hal men ari&s;e &s;peaking perver&s;e things to draw away di&s;ciples after them,</HI> &s;o al&s;o by the Apo&s;tle <HI>Peter,</HI> 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.1, 2, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> There &s;hall be (&s;aith he) fal&s;e teachers among you, who privily &s;hall bring in damnable here&s;ies, denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon them&s;elves &s;wift de&s;truction, and many &s;hall follow their pernicious or <HI>la&s;civious</HI> wayes, by rea&s;on of whom the way of truth &s;hall be evil &s;poken of: <HI>Jude</HI> excites the Saints to remember the words of the Apo&s;tles of our Lord Je&s;us, how they foretold there &s;hould be <HI>mockers</HI> in the la&s;t time, who &s;hould walk after their own ungodly lu&s;ts, <HI>&s;eperating</HI> them&s;elves, &s;en&s;ual, having not the Spirit, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 17.18, 19. and from whom &s;hall they <HI>&s;eparate,</HI> but from the true Churches of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, profe&s;&s;ing the faith of Chri&s;t, and being baptized in his name (the Scripture no where ap|proving any other Churches, that we read of) <HI>Paul</HI> al&s;o tels <HI>Timothy the time would come</HI> (and &s;urely tho&s;e prophe&s;ies are now fulfilled) <HI>when they would not endure &s;ound doctrine, but after their own lu&s;ts, heap to them&s;elves teachers, having itching ears, that &s;hould turn a|way their ears from the truth, giving heed unto fables.</HI></P>
<P N="3"><PB N="14" REF="8"> 3. God in his wi&s;dom permits the&s;e things, that tho&s;e which are approved may be made manife&s;t, and tho&s;e that &s;eem to be what they are not, may be di&s;covered; for Hypocrites have and will be creeping into the Church (and that no marvel, for Satan him&s;elf is transformed into an Angel of Light) but becau&s;e they receive not the truth in the love thereof, God &s;ends them &s;trong delu&s;ions that they &s;hould believe a lye, that they all may be damned, who believe not the truth, but have plea&s;ure in unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2.10, 11, 12, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> 1 <HI>Jo.</HI> 2.18.19.</P>
<P N="4">4. We cannot wonder that tho&s;e who draw neer to God in the vi&s;ible profe&s;&s;ion of his name, being de&s;titute of the power of god|line&s;s, do thus fall away: for God will be &s;anctified in them that draw nigh to him, either in making them conformable to his will to the prai&s;e of his grace, or el&s;e in di&s;covering their fal&s;hood, hypocri&s;ie and madne&s;s, making them dreadful examples of his wonderful &s;everity, to the glory of his Ju&s;tice. <HI>Nadab,</HI> and <HI>Abihu,</HI> for offering &s;trange fire, which the Lord Commanded not, were de&s;troyed by fire from Heaven, <HI>Lev.</HI> 10.1, 2, 3. The Lord him&s;elf proclaimes from Heaven, that his ways are righteous, and the ju&s;t &s;hall walk in them, but tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ors &s;hall fall therein, <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 14. <HI>ult.</HI> The narrow path of the Saints righteous walk, &s;uits not with the licentious principles, &amp; intere&s;ts of carnal men, and though &s;inners may be in Sion for a time, yet fear &s;ur|pri&s;es them, &amp; by rea&s;on of the purity and brightne&s;s of the wayes of God, they cannot abide therein, but ca&s;t Chri&s;ts yoke from their necks, becau&s;e it will not be &s;ub&s;ervient to their own lu&s;ts. A remarkable example of Gods &s;everity again&s;t tho&s;e that &s;ometimes profe&s;&s;ed the truth, who&s;e hearts were not right before God, we may &s;ee in <HI>Judas,</HI> and in <HI>Ananias,</HI> and <HI>Sapphira,</HI> who for lying again&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t were &s;uddenly de&s;troyed, to the great fear of all the Churches of Chri&s;t: As in nature the corruption of the be&s;t things, is the greate&s;t corruption, &s;o the greater profe&s;&s;ion men make of the truth, when once they be corrupted, they fall into the gro&s;&s;e&s;t abominations. The truth is, this is no ground to &s;u&s;pect our profe&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e &s;ome fall from it, for who is it that &s;ins the unpardonable &s;in, but one that profe&s;&s;ed the truth of the Go&s;pel, <HI>Ioh.</HI> 1.5, 6. Who are tho&s;e that are twice dead, plucked up by the roots? except tho&s;e that by pro|fe&s;&s;ion were formerly alive in the truth.</P>
<P N="5">Fifthly, and la&s;tly, We do acknowledg though &s;ome eminent Pro|fe&s;&s;ors of the &s;ame true with us have faln fouly (which hath been the
<PB N="15" REF="8">occa&s;ion of much grief to us) yet it hath been hitherto, and we hope ever &s;halbe our care (as they have been by the righteous judgment of God di&s;covered) according to our duty to put them from among&s;t us, endeavouring to pre&s;erve our &s;elves from all iniquity, and not to have fellow&s;hip with the unprofitable works of darkne&s;s, but rather to reprove them: We conclude this, &s;aying of them that are gone from us, and faln into &s;uch notorious wickedne&s;s, as <HI>John</HI> &s;aith, <HI>They went out from us becau&s;e they were not of us, for if they had been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us, but they went out from us, that they might be made manife&s;t not to be of us.</HI></P>
<P>If any &s;hall judg what we have here declared doth &s;avor of unchari|tablene&s;s, rigidn~e&s;s, cen&s;oriou&s;ne&s;s &amp; bitterne&s;s of &s;pirit to them that di&s;&s;ent from us, we de&s;ire all &s;uch &s;eriou&s;ly to take notice, that true love and charity is not the &s;oothing of any in their &s;ins, the healing of wounds &s;lightly, the crying peace, peace, when &s;udden de&s;truction is at hand; it is not the daubing with untempered morter, but it is a true love to the Truth, and to all for the Truths &s;ake, con&s;i&s;ting in plain|ne&s;s and &s;implicity, engaging us to endeavor the re&s;toring of them that are faln, to pull them as brands out of the fire, to contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints, to note &s;uch per&s;ons that walk di&s;orderly, to endeavor the pre&s;erving of them that are &s;ound in the faith.</P>
<P>While &s;ome men cry out again&s;t us for uncharitablene&s;s, in crying down &s;in and &s;inful practices, O how uncharitable in truth are they, that can &s;uffer <HI>God</HI> to be di&s;honored, his Son to be vilified, his Truth trampled under foot, his Ordinances &s;leighted, and their own and thou&s;ands of poor &s;ouls in danger of being utterly &s;educed, to their own de&s;truction, and yet have not a heart to relent for &s;uch practices, nor a tongue to plead again&s;t them, whereby others might be forwarned of their &s;wift approaching danger; our con&s;ciences bear witne&s;s, That the honor of <HI>God</HI> the love of his Truth, zeal for his Name, and if po&s;&s;ible, the &s;aving of &s;ouls from death, hath been the prevailing argument with us, thus to expre&s;s our &s;elves; be&s;eeching the God and Father of our Lord Je&s;us, that by the &s;ame power which rai&s;ed him from the dead, he would make this in&s;trumentall to confirm tho&s;e who yet abide in the truth, to re&s;tore all the &s;imple in heart, who are ready to turn a&s;ide from the voyce of the true Shepherd, and to follow &s;trangers; and the cunning &s;leights and de|vices of the De&s;troyer, that walks up and down as a roaring Lyon
<PB N="16" REF="9">&s;eeking whom he may devour, who hath ca&s;t down many wounded, and &s;lain many &s;trong men: And that it may al&s;o to all men more ful|ly di&s;cover the de&s;perate folly and madne&s;s of tho&s;e, who triumph in their proud imaginations again&s;t the Truth and Scepter of the Lord Je&s;us, that all may clearly &s;ee their hou&s;e is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death, le&s;t they, poor &s;ouls, through fained &s;peeches, being inticed to yield, and forced through the flat|tering of their lips, &s;hould go after them &s;traightway, <HI>As an Ox go|eth to the &s;laughter, or as a Fool to the correction of the &s;tocks, till a dart &s;trike thorow their liver, ha&s;ting as Birds to the &s;nare, not knowing that it is for their life;</HI> and we by uncharitable &s;ilence &s;hould be|come guilty of their blood. Now brethren we commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are &s;anctified, praying that you may &s;tand upon your watch, cloathed with the whole armour of God, and that you may be kept blamele&s;s, living by faith, untill the coming of our Lord and Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, not ca&s;ting away your confidence, which hath great recompence of re|ward; For yet a little while, and he that &s;hall come, will come, and will not tarry. The grace of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t be with you all. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Sub&s;cribed in the Name, and by the Appointment of the before mentioned Churches of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>John Spilsbery.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>William Kiffen.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Solomon Saffery.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Hugh Go&s;nel.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>William Con&s;ett.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Edw. Drapes.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>John Vernon.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Tho. Vaus.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Tho. Waters.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Hen. Forty.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Tho. Young.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>John Wat&s;on.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thomas Patience.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>John Pear&s;on.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Ralph Prentice.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Jo&s;eph San&s;on.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<P><HI>Page</HI> 3. <HI>line</HI> 6. for <HI>though</HI> reade <HI>through.</HI> p. 14. l. 29. for <HI>Churches</HI> reade <HI>Church.</HI> line <HI>ult.</HI> for <HI>true,</HI> reade <HI>truth.</HI></P>
<PB REF="9">
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
