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Show 7S6 1679· .... ~ Part 1!. sen. 5· An Addrejs to Protejlants: VoL. ·I ' fhould befal Mankind, whereby fuch a Liberty might prove unprofitable. ' But Pnu/anfwers thee, That God U not tbe Jbthor of Contetllton, but of • Peace: Who welt knowing what might move Co~tenrions, what hegJt ' Peace, and not lo\•ing nor willing to have <;ontentton, but Peace, willed ' that this Liberty of Prophecy fhould be m th~ Chur~h- What_ can'it ' thou fay co the contrary? What ~aft thou to ObJeB.: a~atr~ft God h1mfelf, ' wilt chou accufe him of Indifcret1on? No Man hath fo Wicked a To:;gue, ' as to dare to do it, Yet if chou (halt diligently fearch thin~ Heart, thou ' fhalr find there a certain Difpofidon ready co contend even wtth God him· ' felf: Which Motion of thy Heart, muft by no Means be hearkcn'd umo, ' bur fharply reprelfcd, and wholly fubjefl•d to the Spirit of God. It may ' feem peradventure an abfurd Thin~ that after fame very learned Perfon ' hath fpoken, fame conremptible P.erfon !hall be allow"d to contradiS:: ' him. Can fuch a Perfon fo d& Without great Rafhnefs and Temerity r ' Were I to fpeak according to the Judgment of Man, verily I conld not ' deny it. Bur if we be really ~erfwaded, that the. Knowledse of ~atrers ' Divine, ought not· to be armbured to our Watcbmgs, Studte.r, Was, but ' to God and to his Spirit, wherewith he can in a Moment endue the fim~ plefl: Perfon in the World, and that with no more Labour or Difficulty ' than if he were to give it to one that had fpent Neftor's Age in S[Udy: ' What Reafon is there for me to judge that this Man does ufhly and ' unadvifedly, if he thall arife and contraditt? Is not the Spirit able tore· ' veal fomewhlt to him, which he hath hidden from thee? Now, if the ' Spirit h:1ve revealed fomewhat to him, and to tbac End revealed it that ' he might contradi8:, that by his Means the Thing may be revealed to the ' Church; fhalll fay that he hath done rafhly in obeying the Holy Ghol\1 ' And if thou think otherwife, verily thou art not perf waded that the Spi' rit is the Author and Teacher of this Knowledge, bur that all the Praife ' thereof is due to Studies, Watchingi, and the Wits of Men. And if this • be thy Judgment, I tell thee again, that thou art not only unworthy ro ' be folt: Speaker, but worthy rather to be the only Pcrfon not permiued ' to fpeak in the Congregation. ' And that thou maylt the better underCbnd, that the moft unlearned ' ought to be allowed w fpeak, confider, God will have himfe1f to be ac' knowledged the Author of his own Gifts : He will not have his Praife ' attributed unto our Studies or VJits, but unto himfelf. But if the Man ' that hath fpent all his Life in Study, fpeak wifely, it is not arnijmred ' to God, bur to Study : In Word, perhaps, it may be attributed to God, ' yet not without a vehement ReluEbncy of our J udgmenr ; and this is ' that which, I fly, God will not abide. But if fo be thou fhalt hear a ' wife Word come out of tne Mouth of fome unlearned Perfon, thou ' muft needs, whether thou wilt or no, acknowledge God to be the Au' thor thereof. So, when God wJs minded to give unto lfrad a Viflory ' againft the ,}1idianitn, under the Condu8: of Gid(on ; and G·dt:on bad ' gathered together Thirty Thoufand Men, left the lfrttt:ltrcs fhould boaft ' that' they had gotten the Victory by their o.wn Stren~th, and not by the ' Affiftance of God, (which might have been conceived, if Gidton had ' fought with fo numerous an Army) he would nor fuffer him to have a~ 1 hove Three Hundred, that it might appear that he was the Caufe of the ' Vi8:ory, and not the Number or Valour of thofe that fought. Now, ' befides the Glory of God, hereby great Profit does accrue to the Church .. · ' For if the People fhall fee now one Man. now another, endued with the ' Spirit, heyond all ExpeCtation~ many will thereby be encouraged to hope ' for the fame Gift, if they fhall afk it: m:my will learn and profit; and ' it will thereby come to pafs, that when Occafion !hall be to cboofe a ' Minifter, the Church fh:1ll not need to call ftrange and unknown Perfons ' to that Office, but fhe may have of her own fuch as are fit to be chofen,; ' Men whof~ Convcrfarion and Manners are fufficienrly known. And when 1 the Number of fuch as are able to prophecy, fhall be grear, the Church ~will nor be forced to ufe fuch P.tftors as from their very Childhood have ~ pro- :oL. 1. An Addref.r to 'Proteflants, ' propofed to themfclves fuch Office '* addtfled rhemfelves to the Srudy o:Ssthe Rew:.trd of th~ir Studies. and ' w~fe then they would have done to fo~!ipture and ReligiOn, no dther.r. c Time to get their Livmg . So that a :M Trade# whereby they meJnt in t,hN ro prhove ?thee rh:tn Mercenary or Hi:~-cap eftzpefl but very few of ow, t at It was the CtJftom f h mg J ors. !679· ~ Part ll. Sell. 5. ' thus Prophefie, we may hence c 0. c{ e l(wifo Church, that all might ; Luke 4, how our Lord, upon the ~~lha/rJ lO that it is upon Record ' came utto the Synagogut, took a Book and. ay, accordtng to tbt Cllflom' Luke , how, bemg twelve Tears of ~ge h ji exeounded a place (If Efay and 4 : th( _Dollor.r, and dtd Difputc. Fore hate at jeruf.llem rn tht Tcmplt a'mon I ordaary Office, forafmuch as his A e could nor fo do by virtue of an; Do ors know who he was Ye hge was unc:tp:~ble, neither did thC : tna~e u~e of the Power which a rat er, our Lord m fo doing mufl needs I ~Jtledftn rw Chrifhttnl Congr~aa:i~~:~r:jl [~~vTr one tf cfpeak. It te- ' e ea • orafmuch as we ha\•e th fi W e tmes o .onflantrnt at ' of Church Affaits, to th:u Effeel: . .(/an ords of E11ftbun, the Writer , ~od, fhou/d fptak unto tht Ptople ihcy llryt» !7an znfptrd by the Gract of Eccie, HilL ' ':)JCJ upon bun, gavtfuch iJ.uem:on aif l lib grtiJt SJienu, fixmg tlmr ub.y. c rand }rom Heaven. So great was r' tU J 'Jt lid hrolltbt tbem fome Er-e der was fcen amtmg the Mmlfters. he Reverence of the Hearers, fuch or· Neuber were there only two or th One after another, another after him ' the Apoftle feud, but to aU was gJV/~ t~at prophefied, according to wha~ : feems rather to have been fulfilled ~ ~eak; fo that the Wilb of .il!o/h all the Pcop!t might Prophtcy Th hem, when he faJd, Would God ' of God were dlfpenfed ever.v one ere was no Spleen, no Envy, the Gifts • hts Affiftance for the 'confiimar· accrd~ngco his Ability, contributing c with Love, in fuch fort That thiOnrt t e burch: And all was done : and every one to pref~r anotbe/tef;~v~lm~tlllly no honour each Other~ c fommon Propbecying may be profitable to r:h: c'b ~r to the End rhts , Y mark what the Apoftle advifes. For fi uTrc, .. w~ m.ufl:dthgenr- Pnde of Man is fo great th a ure htng It IS, that the • will by any Means have ic' fb aJ ;hatTer ~arh once fallen from him he : ~ny Man fhould infringe the fam~r as/~tar;ir"hithe~ can he fuirer ;hat , Judge, that laft fpake, Jt wlll be a Miracle ·r e migh_t be.per~itted to fhould fee any one give wa ro h" 1 a Man In his L1fe Ttme ' Advice therefore in this 6re ~ ~ that con~radias him: What is Paurs : tb( rtjl ;udgt. He will not theref~r~~~v~ t~;[:e Pr'ifh~t.r fptak, and lu ' uand Judges. And he adds a little afr arne,... erlons to be Parries f~~b;ellto tb( Propbtt.r. for God er, Ant tht Splnt of tbt Prophtts I of Ptaa. So that as foo~ as an h-t IIOt t t ~urbor of Diffcnfion, bu; : ought to refi: himfelf fatisfied J:rh t~~ J~~h fpoken his own Mind, he obftmJtely to mJke no End of contendi gment, of the reft, and not : Thing it HI' there Will be no End of sui~. I~ thts be ~ot done, a fure not be conrent to fubmit to the Jud e. f Ut what 1f any Man will : avo.uch, thH being fharply admonifh~~e~~a~ het~ neftb Venly I would..' ganon, and that he go not aga~nft th~ Comma d I fr h not tfthe Congre-ther of our Lord, commanding the S im f n o t e Apo le, or r:l• ' to the Prophets, he ought to be caft o~t of oh, ~e ~rophets to be f"bjefr 1 hold the prime Place in the Con re a i t e OCJery, thou~h he fhould c frequently be admonifhed that Liier~ t r· The People hkewife muit : gregation, is not therefore' granted by rhe xr aftr one tO fpc:ak '" the Con· , fhould fpeak what comes to his Ton ue'po e, to. the end ~very one ket; but whereas he gives Libert t ~ s End, as 1f he were 1n a Mar' is revealed, he would have all R%fh~ed~ ~o fpeak to whom any Thmg ' He that reverences nor the Chu h f G~ Iipudence to be bid Jfide. ~ fp1feth the Spmt of God h .rc p 0fid , et that Man know, he de' to efc:tpe unpunifhed Befo;: a oM re 1 enr there; and UsJll be fure nor ~ he ought to confider 'a . an. propounds any Thmg ro the Churcb ' of that Thing a d ~Jtn andh:lgam, how fure a Manifefhtion he hath ~ , n W atever t e Matter be, let h1m be fure not ro for- ~ H 2 g" |