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Show Hor11 falfl;(w:her; ,fy"Jic/J.4~~ F~xt.t ofGod is doubtlefs in it; but ho"' comes it to p11fs .as by means tQ b' u!i:d on our pirt ? The latter claufe telletb you; Here i<tbe faitb and P"ien:e of the Slints,thlt is, here's the fra.it, here is t.be elf~tt of the faith and patience of the Saint!. Pauence doth It, faith doth it in 1 little different way of working, Patiellce, be!ides that it helps to tl;e fpcedy accompliO\ment of th,e Lord'sde!igns upon Zion in the puni!hment of his people, and ~elides the accepcabl< nefs of it to God as an exerclle of . gra.c~: It . hath ~lfo a r "ion•l operation, ty ri~g the E~emy,and fo cnchmng h~ll.l to mtlder courfes. Faith doth" by calhng 1n the hel~ of God tn t~e ful~lling of his Promifes, challenging him upon h1s truth, mo!mg hun by a refling upon him and a committing the Soul unto hun, The ApofileHeb.lt. Bo3\· telleth.you of thole, who didthrough Faith fubdue Kingdoms, wor/.;, Rtghuoufnefs, obtam Promi[u, ~opped the moutbsef Li•ns, querrbed the vwle~ce of Fi~e, ~fcap~d the .dre of the Sr~md, &c. I fay, Faith doth thts, by b~cogmg cn the Omnipotent arm of God to this work, It alwa~s ~?rks upon a Promife which the truth of God is engaged to Ju(hhe unto che Soul th;t for it looketh up to him, and trulteth in him. 4· There is but one way more that I know, or two, w)lich I (hall make one : An· h•!Y blameltji life j oined with fervnll prayer. Holinefs is that which will commend itfelf a I moll to the vilell men: The World when they hear a mad-brain'd cry out againll a Chriftian, Crucifie him, cr.tcifie him, will be ready ~o reply -';Vith Pi/lite; why ? What evil hath be done? If all thetr. Enemtes ca~ fay in anfwer, bee, he is an Hmtick.,, or, he IS a Schifmattck.,: There's hardry any but underllands thefe have been fuch commo.n Cudgels, chat all prevailing.parties ha:ve m~de ufe of to beat thetr Enemies, that they will giVe no fattsfachon at all : T?efe are things the ]tr11! laid to the chargt of Paul; The Papllls la1d to the charge of all the .Marlyrs. In fh.ort, they are commonly the R~vilings of thofe who hal(e nothtng elfe to fay. And then to thts add Prayer ; God harh wbet hit Sword and bmt bu B•w,a~d made his arrtJws ready agai•ft the Perfecutors : from che firfi ttme the thought of perfecuting comes in a wretches heart , .God be• gins to bend bit Buw and whtt his ~word, an~ prepare hts arror111 •gain(f him, but the arrows are k.,ept rH the. !f0w<r; the Bow fiands bent a while the firength of the Lord ts not put to the Arrow. Fervent ear'nefi Prayer awakeneth God out of the lleep of his. Providence it bringcth the arm of the Lord to his Bow,.and then ' the the Foxes arc quickly taken. And thus I ha've fpoken to the third Q!!efiion. . The fourth yet remains,viz. How fbaO thefal[e-Tellchers, which 4· fl!. was the fourth Species of Foxu I mentioned) be tak!n 1 or what -it tbe Duty of the Church in rt{ertrtce to tbe takjng of them l The Church con!ifiing of perfons cloathed with feveral powers. This Q!!d\ion will again divide jtlelf into three Quc(\ions. 1. Wlm if the dt.ty of the Cbrtjlian Magi!fr•tt ilnrder to the 111- ~iug •f theft F oxa 1 z. What is the duty of the Paftors a11dGovernou~s~in order to of Cb,rcbu, the fuppref- 3• What may be done, and u the duty. of ever; (jgg of falfc private Cbn{fian, Teachers? I begin. with the firllot. thefe, and before I !peak to it Oritlly, I !hall lay down chefe two Conclu!ions; the fir(\ of which will be granted on all hands : for the fecond we will difpute with the Church of Rome. r. That they mu(\ 'oefal[e-Teachm. This thus fpoken generally, will o~ all hands be yielded by thofc that fo much as pretend to Religion. The truths of God ought to be taught, and the teachers of them ought not to be taken for Foxu; Papijls: Proteftantr, yea Pagan1 and . Mahumetans, will thus far agree. But my meaning is a little furthe•, they mu(\ be teachers of fuch falfehoods; ay,and· fuch Teachers offalfhoods in the things of God, as the Word of God makes punijhable by the 'f11dg; fo~ as all mor. Jl crimu are not puni!hable by. the Judg, but only fuch as· he can take cognifance of, fo neither are all Spzrit11al crimu: and parti• cularly not all Propofui•ns, nor the _ceac~ing of all Propo!itions which may have a fa! !hood in them. For, be!ides that there arc infinite Propo!itionsas to which what part is really true w.il\.not be infallibly known in this life; Undoubtedly, the Chrifiian Ma,gifirate as to this part of his Judicature is to be limited by the Word of God; and no other teachers ofFal!hood will fall unde.r his cognizance, than fuch as the Word of God either in the old or n~w Tellame.nt, either by the direct precept ofit or by fome profid ents in it, or by fome firll and jut\ confequence, puts under his judgment and cogniz~nce. And as I. told you before, thefe will prove no other than thofe who teach Doctrines dtOrutli ve. to Salva- |