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is the spirit of all that are fincere, and ferious profeffors of it, and therefore if there come in any corrupt do Arine,& corrupt religion, our Saviour tells us, by their fruits ye shall know them, for fuch as their corruption is in judgement, fuch will it bee in their lives, in Mat.7.15. Beware of false prophets, &c.by their fruits you fail know them, a good tree cannot bring forth evill fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit, and fo it was with the Pharifees, though they were the ftri&test sect of the Iewifts Religion, Act. 16.5. Yet as they were corrupt in their lives, so their Religion was corrupt, and those that were Profelites to it. Mat. 23. 15. They made them twofold more the children of hell then themselves, 2 Tim.3 13. Evill men and deceivers waxe worse,and worje,deceiving and being deceived; and the ground of that is this, the concurrence of the spirit of God with his owne word, and the concurrence of the fpirit of Satan, with his ordinances and inftructions, there is a fpirit goes with both,that doth affimulate and transforme a powerfull profeffor of fincere Religion, to be fincere in heart. And the Profeffors of corrupt Religion to transforme them into the nature thereof: In the 59 of Efay, verse 21. My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, Shall act depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy feed, nor out of the mouth of thy feeds feed, from henceforth and for ever. Gods fpirit goes with his owne Ordinances, where ever they are rightly and fincerely received, as alway by fome they are, where ever they have free paffage, they will have fome good iflue, and fome perfons or other, on whom they will worke fuch a change, in 2 Cor. 3 18. We all with open face beholding, as in a glaffe, the glory of God are changed into the fame image, from glory to glory, as by the spirit of the Lord. Confequently if Antichrift come with his delufions, hee fhall come with all the power of Satan, whofe comming (faith the Apostle, 2 Theff. 2.9.10.) is after the working of Satan, and with all power of fignes and lying wonders, with efficacie of delufions ; a figne thefe delufions are not meerely Nationall, but effectuall, to transforme the heartlike unto the minde, their will like unto their judgement,and their life like unto both, that you shall have the whole frame of their fate, fuch as is their Religion if the lives of Catholike Profeffors be corrupt,

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an evident argument their Religion is corrupt, and if their Religion be corrupt, their lives cannot bee found, they that live by that Religion muft needs be corrupt: fo that upon the difcovery of the corruptions of the lives of Catholikes, then men began to fcruple their Religion; at first it was fairely interpreted of fome Catholikes, that were reformed, and brought to the truth, they thought that all abufes found in the Friars& Monks was but from the lives of men, their religion was better, their religion did not teach them fo: and therfore thought ftill,they might appeale to the Pope himself,as Luther did,they thought it was the ignorance of the Priefts, that brought Pardons into the Countrey to fell them, for groats and fhillings; but this was but a charitable opinion, and in truth,the Pricfts the minifters of that Religion, did but act the fpirit of that Religion, the whole heart was ficke,and the whole head and body mortally distempered.

The Ule is thus much, it must be a word of holy admoni. Ve tion,and warning to all Profeffors, in this Countrey, and Church members, to all that profeffe they came out of England for purity of Ordinances, to be very circumfpect, pure, and faithfull, and zealous in all their whole converfation: for beleeve it, you will finde this true, and remember it while and remember it while you live, if you bee corrupt in Nem-England, if you be unfaithfull here, if you be worldly minded here, falfe of your words and promifes here,. injurious in your dealings here, belceve it one of thefe two will unavoidably follow, either ail England will judge your Refor mation but a delution, and an invention of fome of your MagiAtrates, or Elders, or other wife looke at you, as not fincere but counterfeit. This unavoidably you will finde true, you cannot poure forth a Viall of more wrath on Religion, as it is here: reformed and ellablished, through the bleffing of God,you cannot load it with a heavier Viall of Gods wrath; then if heere you thill grow worldly,and covetous,deceitfull and contentious,and unbrotherly. Are these your Church members, such&such things were done,but I hope it was not your Church Members,are we not all brethren? Doch our Eftates lie much of them in Common? Well, what ever things may be, though Chriftian love will paffe by much; yet beleeve it, if men make no conscience of their bargaines, but that they doe defraud others. If men make no confcience of heavenly mindedneffe of purity and

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zeale; and thinke it needs not, but reft in meer formes of Church Ordinances, you will unavoydably, pcure a Viall of Gods wrath, as much as in you lyes, on all the purity of Gods Ordinances, and judge you how dishonourable it is to God and holy religion, and how blame-worthy it is in fuch as are faulty herein, however you will anfwer this before the Lord at his comming? For you cannot avoide it, this will be the iflue; either we are counterfeit Profeffors of Reformation, or that our reformation is counterfeit, you fay you came over for puritie of Ordinances: Eut in truth,you did but diffemble, & however you thought,it was not in your hearts, the event proves the contrary; if you be not lincere, but hollow Members of the Church, and corrupt livers, under the governement and worship of God heere eltablished and ordered, I fay, you will force all whofe eyes are on you, throughout the Chriftian world to thinke, thefe are but the inventions of men; there is no. truth, no true heartednefle in the Religion here eftablished: and for the Religion established in England, what ever you talke of humane inventions, we know there is no fuch unfaithfull dealing, and hollow heartedneffe,no fuch bitternelle between Chriftians. A Minifters Prefence is amiable, and his fect beautifull, and where hee comes, it is not thought too homely to be regarded, of better then himlelfe, If Religion in our Native Countrey, of them that are fincere, if it hold foorth more puritie there, beleeve it, it beares more evident witneffe to the truth of God there, so much as is truth, then as we doe, that profeffe greater fimplicitie ; these are but the names of things, but the reality is wanting. It is never to be forgotten, the Argument of the bleffed A poftle, the Coriat' ians tooke offence at him (as they were humerous, though godly men) yet a generation cf them were haughty by their great gifts, Paul faid he would come to Corinth, he promised to come, but he did not, and they thought heufed lightneffe; it was an eafte thing with him to be Tea and Nay What faith the Apostle? When I said I would come did I ufe lightneffe, that with me there should be Yea, and Nay? Nay, faith the Apostle, (I pray you marke it, and I could with it were engraven on the tables of godly mens hearts) in the 2 Cerinth, 1, 18, as God is true, our word towa ́d you was not Yea and Nay: How doth hee prove that

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For the Sonne of God, Iefus Chrift, who was preached among ft you, by us was not yea and nay, but in him was yea, and all the promises of God in him, are Tea and Amen. What is this to the purpofe? If the Gospel he preached be not yea and nay, then neither are his promises yea and nay: this is his intendment; else his inference is nothing.

I you will say, Ministers and Apostles ought to be fuch, but this that followes wraps in all profeffours. Now hee which ftabhfheth you with us in Chrift (it is not Elders onely) and he that anointed us is God, who anointeth with fuch oile as falls on every member of his body? who hath alfo fealed us, and given the earneft of the spirit in our hearts, and makes us every way like himselfe, therefore faith he, I call God to record that to fpare you I came not yet to Corinth,otherwife as the Gofpell preached by him and Silvanus & Timotheus,was not yea and nay, but in him was yea, no more was his promife; this is the fpirit of Christians,and Minifters, and fo of al that are eftablished together with their Minifters, anointed,and fealed and confirmed in grace with their Ministers, and have received, the earnest penny, to bind the bargaine of eternall falvation, to faithfull foules; So looke what a Chriftian doth promife, he is bound by the earnest penny of Gods Spirit, hee dares no more alter his words, to the difcredit of his profeffion, then the Spirit of God to lic.

So that confider, if Profeffors grow corrupt, Religion wil grow corrupt; and on the di'covery of the corruption of common Chriftians, corrupt religion will be difcovered, elfe you will be discovered to be carnall profeffors.

But there will be these two events, either it will caft afperGion on you, and fo they will fay none are better; the spirit of the Country is deceitfull in their bargaines, there is no conftancie in their words.

Or else that your Religion is corrupt; and this will also fol

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low unavoidably, though your Religion bee of God, and the Lord himfelte will beare witneffe, it is of God, and according to the true patterne of the Word; yet if we in this genera tion fhall defile it, by our unfaithfulneffe, unfpiritualneffe, unheavenlineffe, and ungodlineffe, this will be the iffue; on the corruption of the lives of Profeffors, followes corruption of Religion, and upon the discovery of the one, followes the discovery of the other:

That Religion, which by the bleffing of God, and the po wer of his grace, is difpenfed heere in fimplicity, will bee corrupted in the very next generation; you will finde your Children after you (of whofe ftate you ought to have as much care, and I thinke, I may fpeake it without inconveniency, more then of your owne: you may know the worst of it for your felves, being neere the grave many of you: but verely, what will befall your Pofterity? They will degenera: out of meature, by the unfaithfulneffe of your lives, and unrighteoufneffe of our promifes, they will fall to bee ftarke nought in point of Doctrine, Worship, and Government, they will utterly degenerate from their Ancestors, let but us bee polluted, and all the waters that come from us will be polluted, it cannot be fwet water that runnes through a poyfonous earth if the earth bee unfavoury, the Waters, and Deepes, and Rivers be poyfoned, what will the iflue bee, all will bee corrupt: and therefore as you defire to leave Religion with a bleffing, leave it pure in the converfation of Brotherly love, and purity, and faithfulneffe, and fruitfulneffe, and heavenly mindedneffe; that so as Religion alwayes loves to lye cleane, as was a grave fpeech of an ancient Saint, it will not lye nafty as a Swine, and a Dogge in a kennell, it muft lye fweet and cleane if the hearts and waics of menbe not pure and holy, you fhall not alway have the Sea cleane, but Religion will grow to Apoftacy, and that which is our glory, will be our confufion,

It became as the blood of a dead men.

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