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Great unfaithfulness

monweal, or church, the true Christendom; but that this hath arisen from princes' remissness in not keeping their watch to establish the purity of religion, doctrine, and worship, and to punish, according to Israel's pattern, all false ministers, by rooting them and their worships out of the world, that, I say, can never be evinced; and the many thousands of glorious souls under the altar whose blood hath been spilt by this position, and the many hundred thousand souls, driven out of their bodies by civil wars, and the many millions of souls forced to hypocrisy and ruin eternal, by enforced uniformities in worship, will to all eternity proclaim the contrary.

Indeed, it shows a most injurious idleness and unfaithin ministers fulness in such as profess to be messengers of Christ Jesus,

to cast the

chiefest bur

den of judg- to cast the heaviest weight of their care upon the kings tablishing and rulers of the earth, yea, upon the very commonweals,

ing and es

true Chris

common

wealor world itself.

tianity upon bodies of people, that is, the world itself, who have fundamentally in themselves the root of power, to set up what government and governors they shall agree upon.

To govern and judge

in civil

affairs load enough on the civil

Secondly, it shows abundance of carnal diffidence and distrust of the glorious power and gracious presence of the Lord Jesus, who hath given his promise and word to be with such his messengers to the end of the world, Matt. xxviii. 20.

That dog that fears to meet a man in the path, runs on with boldness at his master's coming and presence at his back.

Thirdly, what imprudence and indiscretion is it in the most common affairs of life, to conceive that emperors, kings, and rulers of the earth, must not only be qualified magistrate. with political and state abilities to make and execute such civil laws which may concern the common rights, peace, and safety, which is work and business, load and burden enough for the ablest shoulders in the commonweal; but

Magistrates

more power

also furnished with such spiritual and heavenly abilities to govern the spiritual and Christian commonweal, the flock and church of Christ, to pull down, and set up religion, to judge, determine, and punish in spiritual controversies, even to death or banishment. And, beside, that not only the several sorts of civil officers, which the people shall choose and set up, must be so authorized, but that all respective commonweals or bodies of people are charged (much more) by God with this work and business, radically and fundamentally, because all true civil magistrates, have not the least inch of civil power, but what is can have no measured out to them from the free consent of the whole: than the even as a committee of parliament cannot further act than the people the of the house shall arm and enable them. power Concerning that objection which may arise from the Thousands kings of Israel and Judah, who were born members of magistrates, God's church, and trained up therein all their days, which hear of the thousands of lawful magistrates in the world, possibly born of God. and bred in false worships, pagan or anti-christian, never heard of, and were therein types of the great anointed, the King of Israel, I have spoken sufficiently to such as have an ear to hear: and therefore,

and

common consent of

shall betrust them with.

of lawful

who never

true church

The spiritual and civil

sword can

not be ma

and the

son.

Lastly, so unsuitable is the commixing and entangling of the civil with the spiritual charge and government, that (except it was for subsistence, as we see in Paul Barnabas working with their own hands) the Lord Jesus, naged by one and his apostles, kept themselves to one. If ever any in same perthis world was able to manage both the spiritual and civil, church and commonweal, it was the Lord Jesus, wisdom itself: yea, he was the true heir to the crown of Israel, being the son of David: yet being sought for by the people to be made a king, John vi. [15,] he refused, and would not give a precedent to any king, prince, or ruler, to manage both swords, and to assume the charge of both both.

The Lord
Jesus re-

fused to

manage

tables.

Now concerning princes, I desire it may be remembered, who were most injurious and dangerous to Christianity, whether Nero, Domitian, Julian, &c., persecutors: or Constantine, Theodosius, &c., who assumed this power and authority in and over the church in spiritual things. It is confessed by the answerer and others of note, that under these latter, the church, the Christian state, religion, and worship, were most corrupted: under Constantine, Christians fell asleep on the beds of carnal ease and liberty; insomuch that some apply to his times that sleep of the church, Cant. v. 2, I sleep, though mine heart waketh."

Who force

the consciences of

CHAP. CXXIV.

Peace. Yea; but some will say, this was not through their assuming of this power, but the ill-managing of it.

Truth. Yet are they commonly brought as the great precedents for all succeeding princes and rulers in after ages and in this very controversy, their practices are brought as precedential to establish persecution for conscience.

Secondly, those emperors and other princes and magistrates acted in religion according to their consciences' persuasion, and beyond the light and persuasion of conscience can no man living walk in any fear of God. Hence have others, yet they forced their subjects to uniformity and conformity ling to be unto their own consciences, whatever they were, though not willing to have been forced themselves in the matters of God and conscience.

are not wil

forced themselves.

2 Nero and the persecuting emperors were not so injurious to Christianity, as Constantine and others who assumed a power in spiritual things.

Under Constantine Christianity fell into corruption, and Christians fell asleep.

Constantine

wanted not

affection as

of con

Thirdly, had not the light of their eye of conscience, Constr and the consciences also of their teachers, been darkened, much they could not have been condemned for want of heavenly information affection, rare devotion, wonderful care and diligence, pro- science. pounding to themselves the best patterns of the kings of Judah, David, Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Josiah, Hezekiah. But here they lost the path, and themselves, in persuading themselves to be the parallels and antitypes to those figurative and typical princes: whence they conceived themselves bound to make their cities, kingdoms, empires, new holy lands of Canaan, and themselves governors and judges in spiritual causes, compelling all consciences to Christ, and persecuting the contrary with fire and sword.

quences of

civil powers

of

spirituals.

Upon these roots, how was, how is it possible, but that Sad conse such bitter fruits should grow of corruption of Chris- charging the tianity, persecution of such godly who happily see more with the of Christ than such rulers themselves: their dominions. and jurisdictions being overwhelmed with enforced dissimulation and hypocrisy, and (where power of resistance) with flames of civil combustion: as at this very day, he that runs may read and tremble at?

Peace. They add further, that the princes of Christendom setting their horns upon the church's head, have been the cause of anti-christian inventions, &c.

giving and

horns or au

thority to

bishops, both danger

us to the Christ.

truth of

Truth. If they mean that the princes of Europe, giving Civil rulers their power and authority to the seven-headed and ten- fending their horned beast of Rome, have been the cause, &c., I confess it to be one concurring cause: yet withal it must be remembered, that even before such princes set their horns, or authority, upon the beast's head, even when they did, as I may say, but lend their horns to the bishops, even then rose up many anti-christian abominations. And though I confess there is but small difference, in some

respects, between the setting their horns upon the priests' heads, whereby they are enabled immediately to push and gore whoever cross their doctrine and practice, and the lending of their horns, that is, pushing and goring such themselves, as are declared by their bishops and priests to be heretical, as was and is practised in some countries before and since the pope rose: yet I confidently affirm, that neither the Lord Jesus nor his first ordained ministers and churches (gathered by such ministers), did ever wear, or crave the help of such horns in spiritual and Christian affairs. The spiritual power of the Lord Jesus in the hands of his true ministers and churches, according to Balaam's prophecy, Num. xxiii., is the horn of that unicorn, or rhinoceros, Ps. xcii. [10,] which is the scripture to strongest horn in the world: in comparison of which the strongest horns of the bulls of Bashan break as sticks and rhinoceros reeds. History tells us how that unicorn, or one-horned beast the rhinoceros, took up a bull like a tennis ball, in the theatre at Rome, before the emperor, according to that record of the poet :3

The spiri

tual power of

the Lord

Jesus compared in

the incom

parable horn of the

Quantus erat cornu cui pila taurus erat !

Unto this spiritual power of the Lord Jesus, the souls and thoughts of the highest kings and emperors must [be] subject, Matt. xvi. and xviii., 1 Cor. v. and x.

CHAP. CXXV.

Peace. Dear Truth, you know the noise is made from those prophecies, Isaiah xlix. 23, kings and queens shall be

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