§ 1. THERE are Multitudes of De­ceivers in these our last and worst Times, by way of Antidote unto whose Venom These words of S. Iohn are a good Provision. And however they are numerous, I think they may fall under two general Heads. Some are so credulous as to be­lieve every Spirit; Vide Haeresin Ienxuanam apud Massae­ium, l. 16. and some so Atheisticall, as to believe none at all. Both are Enemies [Page 2] to Religion, though not Both alike. For though the first are bad enough, the last are very much worse. The first are Meteors in Religion, expressed to us in Scripture by Clouds without water, and wandring Stars; such as are carried to and fro with every Wind of false Doctrine; men so unlearned and so unstable, so in love with New Light, and so given to change, that not contented with one or two, (though the best and soun­dest,) they heap up Teachers unto themselves; and by the Novelty of the Doctrine putting an estimate or value on him that brings it, they are easily made Proselytes to every New Prophet who next bespeaks them; little con­sidering with S. Iohn, (in the next words after my Text,) that there are many false Prophets ( many even in His Time, and many more sure in ours,) gone out into the World. The second sort of Enemies (which are the worst too) are the Disciples of the Book which is call'd Leviathan; the grea­test Monster in all the World, excepting onely the Authour of it. For if the perfectest Definition of Man as Man, is to be Animal [Page 3] Religiosum, which still includes Rationale, and therefore makes the most exact Defi­nition, (as many great and good Writers have very rationally esteem'd it;) then He must certainly be a Vid. Ar­rian. Epict. l. 3. c. 29. & l. 4. c. 5. Plotin. Enn. 3. l. 2. Monster, more properly then a Man, who is so destitute of Reason, as wholly to be void of Religion too. And for any one to Teach, (as the Monster of Malmesbury has been permitted to doe in Print,) that there is no Spirit at all, or that there is no incorporeal Substance, (two Ex­pressions of the same Thing,) what is it but to pluck up all Religion by the Root? 'Tis publickly to set up a School of Atheism. For God (if any thing) is a Spirit; not for This reason onely, Joh. 4.24. because our Apostle S. Iohn affirms it, (whom the Hobbists will not be­lieve;) but for this other reason also, (which even our Hobbists cannot but yield to,) that, supposing a God there is, (or that 'tis but possible for him to be,) He must be Infi­nite, and Indivisible; and yet, we know, He can be neither, if He is any way Corpo­real. For All Corporeal things have Parts, and so by consequence are divisible, and so [Page 4] by consequence are finite. And for God to be finite, or divisible, is for God not to be God; the worst and grossest of Contradic­tions. From whence it follows unavoida­bly, that for any one to teach, and to teach in publick, (not publickly from the Pulpit, but much more publickly from the Press,) that an Incorporeal Substance is in it self a Contradiction, (the Positive Doctrine of the p. 214. Leviathan,) is publickly to open a School of Atheism: It being publickly to teach There is no Spirit, and (by a Consequence unavoidable) There is no God. For every thing that is, is either an Accident, or a Substance. (What is neither, is not.) And every Substance (a nobler sort of Being then any Accident can be) is either Corporeal, or Incorporeal. That denominates a Body, and This a Spirit. To say that God is the for­mer, implies the horridest Contradiction; (as hath been shewn;) and so He must be the latter, by undeniable Consecution. To say, He is not a Spirit, or not an Immaterial Substance, is neither better nor worse then to say, He is not. It is to say, There is no such Thing.

[Page 5]§ 2. Against the dangerous Contagion of the premised two Extremes, S. Iohn in this Text has timely given us Two Caveats; one express'd, and another imply'd. First, 'tis express'd in plain terms, that, seeing many false Prophets (or false Pretenders to the Spirit) are gone out into the World, we are bound, for that Reason, not to believe Every Spirit. Next, 'tis as evidently im­ply'd, (as if it were expressed in words at length,) that though Many Prophets are False, we must not thence reckon that None are True: as though many Lines are crooked, we must not thence argue that none are strait; seeing every crooked Line must needs presuppose and imply a strait one. Nor may we sottishly disbelieve the Spirit of Ho­liness and Truth, for fear of believing with too much ease a Spirit of Errour and Un­cleanness. But as my Text is in the middle between an important Dehortation, [ Believe not every Spirit,] and as important a Reason of it, [ for many false Prophets are gone out into the World:] so our Course is to be steer'd in a middle way, betwixt the Scylla [Page 6] of Credulity, and the Charybdis of Vnbelief. We must examin all Pretenders, and try of what sort they are. We must get a Lapis Lydius, whereby to learn the true difference betwixt the two sorts of Spirits in the sixt Verse of this Chapter, the Spirit of Truth, and the Spirit of Errour: or, (to express it without the Metonymie which our Apostle here useth,) betwixt a True, and False Pro­phet; betwixt 1 King. 13.1. a man of God, and a Deut. 13.1, 3. Dreamer of Dreams; betwixt a Theopneust, and a Dae­moniack; betwixt a reall Possessor of Divine Revelations, and a phantastick Pretender to them. For as there were Prophets in the Old Testament, both True and False, so are there also in the 2 Pet. 1.21. & ch. 2. ver. 1. New. As there were Spi­rits under the Law, too many to be good, so there are also under the Gospel. There was in That a familiar Spirit, ( Lev. 20.27.) a lying Spirit, (1 King. 22.22.) and a Spirit of Perverseness, ( Isa. 19.14.) There is in This a foul Spirit, a deaf and dumb Spirit, ( Mar. 9.25.) a Spirit of Errour and of De­lusion, (2 Thess. 2.11. 1 Ioh. 4.6.) a Spirit of Slumber, ( Rom. 11.8.) Still the more [Page 7] and the worse the unclean Spirits are, the greater need we have to Try them. And though there are also as many Good Spirits, as there are Angels who never fell; yet all their Good­ness is but derivative, from the one Spirit of God, who is God the Spirit. To Him are ascribed the famous Gifts, 1 Cor. 12.4. And amongst all the severall Gifts wrought by one and the same Spirit, the Discerning of Spirits is worthily reckon'd to be a chief, ( v. 10.) Which Gift of Discerning 'twixt good and bad Spirits, (as all the rest,) The Spirit of God divides to every man severally as He will, ( v. 11.) to some in a greater, and to some in a lesser measure. And in this Gift S. Pe­ter did very mnch excell S. Philip. (For so 'tis obvious to collect from the 8 ^th. of the Acts, by comparing the 13 ^th. with the 23 ^th. verse.)

§ 3. Now whatever can be meant by the Subjects of Triall we are to make, whether Churches or Church-men, whether Prophe­cies or Prophets, whether Doctrins or Doc­tors, whether Inspirations or men Inspir'd, or every one of these equally; however dif­ferent they may be, or inconsistent with one another; 'tis plain they All pretend alike [Page 8] unto the same Spirit of God. And therefore [...], Try and prove them, (says our Apostle,) whether they are what they pre­tend: whether really they are Gold, or do but eminently glister: whether they speak by Commission, and as the Oracles of God, or onely run ere they are sent, inspir'd by Ava­rice, and Ambition, and by the Impulse of the Devil: whether they teach the sound Doctrins of Christ's Apostles and of his Church, whose Faith and Doctrins we are to follow; or are but some of the foolish Pro­phets (in the 13 ^th. of Ezekiel) who follow their own Spirit, Ezek. 13.2, 3, 4, 6, 8, &c. and prophesie out of their own Hearts; are like the Foxes in the De­sarts, have spoken Vanity, and seen Lies, say­ing, The Lord saith, and the Lord hath not sent them. In any case we must try them, of what sort they are.

§ 4. Nor must we onely try Them; but we must also try the Rule by which they All are to be tried. For severall Tests and Rules of Triall (who are true or false Teachers, and which Doctrins are right or wrong,) have been lately set up to the hurt of Souls, by the Two sorts of Enemies whereof I spake in the beginning; to wit, the Pretenders to [Page 9] Enthusiasm, and the Disciples of the Levia­than. The first of these will allow of no other Test, than the Sturdiness and Strength of their own Perswasion, which it is their will and pleasure to call The Testimony within them. And by running in a Circle they grow so giddy, that the longer we Catechize, the more we lose them. And 'tis worthy to be observ'd, how they wrest and misapply the Word of Life to their Destruction. For, If we ask how they know they have a Testimony within them from God the Holy Ghost; We know it (say they) by This, that 1 Joh. 4.13. God hath given us of his Spirit. If we ask how they know that He hath given them of his Spirit; We know it (they say) by This, that 1 Joh. 3.9. we cannot sin. If we ask how they know that they can­not sin; their Answer is, Ibid. We are born of God. If we ask how they know This; We know it, (they will answer) because we have Rev. 2.17. a new Name given us, which no man knows but He that hath it. If we ask how they know of a new Name given them; they will answer, We know it by that Rom. 8.11. Spirit which dwelleth in us. If we ask how they know the Spirit of Truth from the Spirit of Errour; their Answer is still at hand, (and still out of the Scriptures,) [Page 10] He that knoweth God heareth us, 1 Joh. 4.6. and he that is not of God heareth not us. If we ask them for a Witness whereby to prove it; Rom. 8.16. The Spirit (their Answer is) beareth witness with our Spirits. If we bid them produce their Witness; He that believeth (they will say) hath the witness in himself. 1 Joh. 5.10. If we call for any Witness of men; ver. 9. they tell us, The Witness of God is greater. Thus they argue by their Circular and Identical way of discourse, [ They have the Holy Spirit of God, because they are (for­sooth) assured; and assured of it they are, be­cause of the Spirit which dwelleth in them.] So strongly does the Spirit of Perverseness shew it self in such as are delivered up to be­lieve a Lie. (For that is sometimes the case, 2 Thess. 2.11.)

The other Enemies of Religion, (who are withall by much the worst,) in a derision and contempt of supernatural Revelation, Leviath. p. 36. & 169. will have no better Test of true and false Prophets, or of right and wrong Doctrins, than the War­ranty and Allowance of the Sovereign Powers, Ibid. p. 232. in every Kingdom and Commonwealth, of whatsoever Denomination throughout the world. Which Position of the Leviathan, (fetcht as 'tis from Iaponia, and there from [Page 11] the Sect of the Ienxuani) is so prodigiously absurd, that it either makes no difference 'twixt Right and Wrong, and infers True and False to be a couple of empty words, (which signifie nothing, or the same thing, the Will and Pleasure of the Prince;) or else infers this Contradiction, that the same Things and Persons are in severall Times and Places both True and False. So that according to This Position, the Christian Religion was a false one under all the Heathen Emperours, who did publickly prohibit the Teaching of it; yet a most true one under Constantine sur­nam'd the Great, and under all the following Emperours, who strictly commanded it to be Taught. Iesus Christ (with Mr. Hobbs) must have been a false Prophet, as not approved of by Herod and the Then-Emperour of Rome; whilst Mahomed must be a true one, because allow'd by the great Sultan, supreme Gover­nour of the Turks. The Will and Pleasure of the Prince being set up by That Monster, as the sole Touchstone, or Criterion, whereby a Prophet, or a Doctrin, or a Religion is to be try'd. Leviath. p. 250. None (says He) but a Sovereign in a Christian Commonwealth, can take notice what is, or what is not the Word of God. A greater [Page 12] power than is ascribed by the Iesuites them­selves, either to the Bishop or Church of Rome: a power to abrogate the old, and (as often as he will) to make a new Canon of Scripture, or none at all.

§ 5. Had such Seducers of the people appear'd in publick among the Iews, a pre­sent Death without Mercy had been inflicted as the wages of Their Iniquity. ( Deut. 13.5. and ch. 18. v. 20.) The Setters forth of new Doctrins in that Mosaical Dispensation could not escape their publick Trials in the Great Parliament of Israel they call'd The Sanedrim; and were condemn'd as false Tea­chers, either to be strangl'd, or ston'd to death. Yea, Deut. 13.1, 2. though they had shewn Signs and Won­ders, and though their Signs came to pass too, yet could it not exempt them from suffering Death, in case they tended to seduce the silly Admirers of their Wonders to worship Idols, or any other way to enervate the Law of Mo­ses: which none could be allow'd to doe, and yet be thought a True Prophet, unless he could doe as real Miracles as Moses, and give as cogent Demonstrations as Moses had given, of his having been inspired and sent by God. Therefore None but the Messias, who out-did [Page 13] Moses, and that as well in point of Miracle, as in Holiness of Life, and in illustrating or com­pleating the whole Moral Law, could lawfully abolish the Ceremonial. Yea even Those Di­vine Prophets or Men of God (as they were call'd) who still asserted the Law of Moses, and disswaded men with vehemence from Idolatry and Schism, were fain to prove they were of God by unfeigned Miracles. By such a Real Miracle of the anonymous Prophet at Bethel, 1 King. 13.4, 6. Ieroboam's Hand was dry'd up, and restored to him. By such a Miracle of Elijah, the Fire of the Lord fell down from Heaven, 1 King. 18.38, 40. and consum'd the Burnt-sacrifice, together with the Altar on which it lay. Whereby the People were incens'd against the false Prophets of Baal, and presently slew them all as Cheats by the River Kishon. By such a Miracle of Elisha, 2 King. 5.15. even Naaman an Idolater was sud­denly cleansed from his Leprosie, and convin­ced of Iehovah's being the onely true God. By the like unfeigned Miracles, Moses baffled all the lying ones of the Sorcerers in Aegypt. And if the Prophets Then had need of shewing many and great Miracles, to prove the Truth of That Religion which the Israelites were then in Possession of; How much a greater [Page 14] need of Miracles should our Seducers stand in, whereby to make us leave our Old, and where­with to draw us on to their New Beliefs? That Doctrin (for example) of Iesus Christ and his Apostles, [that we must obey them who have the Rule over us, and that we must submit our selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lord's sake,] was confirmed by greater Miracles (if any greater can be) then Moses and the Pro­phets confirm'd theirs by. And by Conse­quence, if our Pretenders to supernatural ll­lumination will have us adhere to their New Doctrin, [that we must not submit to every Ordinance of man, but rebell against them; nor obey, but resist such as have the Rule over us; nor do any thing in Religion with any Decency or Order, but all as rudely and as confusedly as we can,] they must perswade us by greater Miracles than those of Christ and his Apostles, whom we believe. At least they must be able to convince us of Errour in Life and Doc­trin, (as Moses did Corah and all his Sepa­ratist-Relations, Num. 16.) by commanding the Earth to open, and to swallow us up quick: or strike us dead without a blow, (just as Peter did Ananias,) for our usurping That Autho­rity to preach God's Word, which our Schis­maticks [Page 15] and Enthusiasts of each Extreme are wont to arrogate as a Right belonging onely to them­selves. But (God knows) we have too many, who need no working of Signs and Wonders to de­ceive them: so very fond they are of Novelties in Religion it self, that they are often drawn from it without a Miracle. Yea, if the True Prophet from Iudah could suffer himself to be deceiv'd by the cunning False Prophet who dwelt in Bethel, (1 King. 13.18.) for which (not the False, but) the True Prophet was slain; ( v. 24.) how apt are others to be deceiv'd who are no Prophets at all? Very great need therefore we have, to Try Pretenders to the Spirit, before we Trust them, whether or no they have indeed a Prophetick Spi­rit; and whether they speak the mind of God by any Immediate Revelation.

§ 6. A general Rule whereby to try them (though 'tis particularly apply'd) S. Iohn sets down in the next verse after my Text; Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every Spirit which confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the Flesh, is of God. A Text whose pithy Brevity makes it difficult and obscure, and so it stands in some need of an Explication. I take its meaning to be This. Every Spirit which confesseth, or every Pretender who owns our Saviour, not onely by [Page 16] word of Mouth, but in Life and Practice, and from the Heart, both as Iesus a Saviour, and as Christ a King too; Every one who does own him as well by his Faith, as his Confession, and as well by his Obedience, as by his Faith, to be the onely true Shiloh that was to come; Every one who does own him to be come in the Flesh too, not onely in his Divine, but in his Humane Nature also, which Cerinthus and Ebion and Simon Magus did deny; (unto whom in particular S. Iohn alludes in this place;) lastly, Every one who owns him in his Exinanition, in his most despicable Condition, which made his Friends to fly from him, and Pe­ter himself to disavow him; Every one who does own him in his tremendous Crucifixion, his Death, and Burial, and confesseth him even so to be Mar. 16.16. the Son of the living God, or God manifest in the Flesh, 'Tis plain that every such Spirit must be conclu­ded to be of God.

So that if any shall here object against S. Iohn's Rule of Triall, that many Hereticks and Schisma­ticks do confess Iesus Christ to be come in the Flesh, who notwithstanding are of the Devil, and not of God; Two Answers are to be given for the Ob­jector's behoof and satisfaction; one from Estius, and another from Tirinus. (Though the Sub­stance of them Both I have anticipated already.) [Page 17] Estius answers, that S. Iohn did direct This Rule against the Hereticks of his own Times, who de­nied Iesus Christ to have come in the Flesh: and such were those Three whom I nam'd a little be­fore. Which Answer is indeed good, but not suf­ficient. Tirinus therefore adds fitly, that by our Confessing Iesus Christ to have come in the Flesh, is meant our Confessing and Believing (to wit, our practical Believing) that Iesus Christ is the Mes­sias; both a Saviour and a Prince, Act. 5.31. (as S. Peter calls him,) Ibid. who gives Repentance unto Israel, and Forgiveness of sins. Not Forgiveness without Re­pentance, nor Forgiveness before Repentance; but Repentance in the first place, and Forgiveness in the second. In which very order, both of Dig­nity and Nature, S. Peter had exhorted to Both before, ( ch. 3. v. 19.) Repent, and be converted, that your Sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And all sincere Repentance implies Obe­dience, as the same S. Peter argues, Act. 5.32. This Answer is very good and sufficient too, un­less, by being too short, it may be also too obscure, or not sufficiently perspicuous to some of the slowest apprehensions; for which defect in the next place I shall endeavour to make amends.

§ 7. And because where the Touchstone it [Page 18] self is False, all sorts of Trial must needs be foo­lish; Therefore Pretenders to the Spirit are to be try'd by such a Touchstone, as needeth not it self Another Touchstone for its Trial. And such a Touchstone is to be taken out of those plainest Places of Scripture, whose sense and meaning is agreed on even by men of All Iudgements; Texts deliver'd in such clear and univocal Terms, that opposite Parties do apprehend them in the very same way; And as they never have been yet, so they never can be matter of any Cavil, or Dispute. And because I pretend not to teach my Fellow- Teachers, or such as need not to be thus taught, (though the most knowing may not disdain to be put in remembrance of what they know,) but onely the Ignorant and the Vnstable, who (for want of due Knowledge, or of sufficient Consideration,) are like Clouds without water, carried about of Winds, (as S. Iude describes them;) I shall be carefull that every Part of the Test or Criterion I am to give, may be short, and yet easie, and (I hope) without all Question. The several Parts of the Touchstone will be no fewer than 6 or 7. Nor are the Spirits to be try'd by any one or two of them, but by All put together, whether or no they are of God.

Joh. 14.17.First, The Spirit that is of God is the Spirit [Page 19] of Truth. And therefore if any man, who is out­wardly of a seeming good Life, is yet of very ill Iudgement in Fundamentals, in Points essential to Christianity, 1 Pet. 2.13. as in the Doctrin of Obedience to every Ordinance of Man, Rom. 13.1. to the Higher Powers, to Them that have the Rule over us, Heb. 13.17. and do watch for our Souls; (a Doctrin running in a Vein through­out the Body of the Gospel, and essentially belon­ging to All Religion;) especially if he ascribes to a sinfull man (not to say, The Man of Sin,) That Incommunicable Attribute of God himself, [ Infal­libility,] and gives to every Priest the Privilege to doe a much greater Miracle than ere was done by Christ Himself, so far forth to transubstantiate a piece of Bread, as first to make his own Saviour, and then to eat him; He must needs be misinstruc­ted by the Spirit of Errour and Fascination, 1 Joh. 4.6. the Spirit with which he is bewitch'd, Act. 8.9, 11. (as S. Paul speaks to the Galatians, Gal. 3.1.) let his outward Conver­sation be what it will, let his visible Course of life be never so plausible, or severe.

Next, Rom. 1.4, 18. The Spirit that is of God is the Spirit of Holiness and Purity, as well as Truth. And there­fore if any man, who is Orthodox, is at the same time Dishonest, of some good Opinions, but evil Practice, does hold the Truth, but in unrighteous­ness; especially if he takes upon him (by That Vi­per [Page 20] of Morality and all Religion, the Iesuites Doc­trine of Vid. Les Provinciales 5.6. & Ca­ramuel de Theologiâ Fundamenta­li p. 71, 72. & Escobar Theol. Moral. Tom. 1. l. 2. c. 2. p. 34.39.4 [...].160. &c. Probability) not onely to allow, but to in­courage and abett the grossest Villanies in the World, (without exception;) He is not season'd by the Holy, but the Mar. 5.8. Vnclean Spirit, let his Ortho­doxie of judgement, as to some Fundamentals, be what it can. An honest Heathen is not so bad as a Christian Knave.

Thirdly, The Spirit that is of God is Eph. 4.3, 4. the Spi­rit of Vnity and Love. And therefore if any sort of men shall take upon them to be Reformers by ma­king Schism, by dissolving the Bond of Peace, wherein the Vnity of the Spirit is to be kept, and shall crumble Religion into as many small Par­cells, as the Caprices of Idle men shall have the li­berty to suggest; especially if they shall labour to separate Subjects from their Sovereign, by absol­ving them from their Oaths of Christian Obedi­ence and Fidelity, or by instructing them to swear, with a Design to be forsworn; They are miss-led by That Spirit whose Name is Legion, Mar. 5.9. even the Spirit of Division, Rev. 12.9. That old and cunning Serpent which deceiveth the whole World.

Fourthly, The Spirit that is of God is the Spi­rit of Meekness and of Order. 1 Cor. 4.12. 1 Cor. 14.23. And therefore if any despise Dominion, and speak evil of Dignities, and in pretense of being the Meek ones who are by [Page 21] right of Promise to inherit the Earth, demurely tread upon Crowns and Crofiers, and love to be levelling with their Feet, whatsoever (according to God's special Providence) does overtop them by Head and Shoulders; especially if they pre­sume to place the single Bishop of Rome above Ge­neral Councils, invest him with a Power to excom­municate Kings, and subvert whole Kingdoms, and make the People hope to Merit by the most pro­digious Murthers; They must be led by That Spi­rit, which is called The Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Rev. 9.11. Abaddon, and [...], that is, Destroyer; even the Spirit which is still working in the Children of Disobedience. Eph. 2, 2.

Fiftly, The Spirit that is of God is the Spirit of Sincerity, induing All whom He inhabits with an absolute Simplicity and Singleness of Heart. And therefore They who do hold up their Left hand to God, but their Right against their Governours; having Godliness in their Profession, but practical Atheism in their Lives; hating Idols from the Teeth outwards, but loving Sacriledge from the Heart; crying down Superstition, but preaching up the Creature-comforts flowing from Plunder, which they call Providence; declaring with zeal against the Prelates, but ever voting up the Papacy of their Superintendents; declaiming much against [Page 22] the Sectaries who are not of their Denomination, but breaking down the Hedge of Discipline where­by the Herds are to be kept from God's Inclosure; especially They who have invented the Art of Ae­quivocating and Cheating, the Art of Swearing any thing safely, by mental Exceptions and Reser­vations, the Art of Couzenage by the Contract they call Mohatra, and the like; must needs be acted by that Spirit whom the Scripture has expressed by the Father of Lies, Joh. 8.44. 2 Cor. 11.14. even the Spirit of Hypocrisie, That black Prince of Darkness, which transforms himself with ease into an Angel of light.

Sixtly, The Spirit that is of God is the Spirit of Knowledge, Isa. 11.2. and Wisedom, and Vnderstanding. And therefore if any man cites Scripture against the whole Tenor and Stream of Scripture, and wanders into the wrong way, even by That very Word which does direct him into the Right one; especially if he levells the Canon of Scripture with the Apocrypha, and makes the Pure Word of God to truckle humbly under Tradition, whereby it be­comes Matth. 15.6. Mar. 7.13. of none effect; if men so learned, and so acute, and so sagacious as the Iesuites, after all the heinous things they have done and taught, are so far from discerning what Spirit they are of, that they utterly mistake an Evil Spirit for a Good one; a Spirit from Hell, for one from Heaven; the Spirit [Page 23] which reigns in the Court of Rome, for the Spirit which guides in the Church of England; if they can think it the Top of Piety, to advance the Lord Iesus quite against the Lord Christ, and make the Christian Religion the greatest Transgression of It­self (which moves the Iansenists to call them The Antichristian Society;) if they can take it for the Comble of Christian Merit and Perfection, to e­spouse and put in practice this Turkish Maxime, that Religion is to be propagated (where 'tis pos­sible) by the Sword; They must needs be possess'd by the Spirit of Slumber, Rom. 11.8. the Spirit of dead Sleep, the God of this World which blindeth the mind: Isa. 29.10. for so the Devil is once call'd, 2 Cor. 4.4.

What I have thus drawn out at length, our Bles­sed Lord does wind up into This short Bottom, (Matth. 7.20.) Ye shall know them by their Fruits. But the Fruits of That Spirit that is of God are rec­kon'd up by S. Paul to be such as These; Gal. 5.22, 23. Love, Ioy, Peace, Long-suffering, Gentleness, Meekness, Good­ness, and the like. And therefore They who, instead of loving Enemies, do persecute and oppress the mystical Members of the same Body whereof Christ is the Head; who lay the Cross of Christ Iesus on Christian Shoulders, robbing one of a Living, a­nother of a Liberty, a third of a Life; and this for no other Crime than being constantly Conscientious, [Page 24] (and very real Friends to All, because the Flat­terers of None, though able to injure, or to oblige them;) must needs be managed by That carnal and unclean Spirit, which makes them so fruitfull and so abounding in the works of the Flesh: such as Hatred, Gal. 5.19, 20, 21. Variance, Wrath, Strife, Seditions, He­resies, and the like.

§ 8. Now if All these Particulars be laid to­gether in our minds, I suppose we have a Touch­stone to Try the Spirits of Pretenders, whether or no they are of God; and such a Touchstone, as needs not it self another Touchstone to be Try'd by. But because the best Touchstone is nothing worth to such as know not how to use it, we shall doe well to take notice of one Rule more in the using of it. For, considering how many Troppo con­fina la Virtu col Vitio. Vices do too much border and confine upon several Vertues, and how many Lies are more plausible to flesh and bloud than ma­ny Truths; and hardly any thing can be so false, but may have Colours and Probabilities to set it off; (being neatly laid on by men ingeniously wicked;) and that a multitude of Ignaro's do of­ten swallow the grossest Errours, (presented to them in the Disguise of the greatest Truths,) by not distinguishing Words (as they ought) from Things, and blending one thing with another, and taking them down all at once, without any masti­cating [Page 25] or chewing; I say, for This reason, we must not pass our last Iudgement upon Pretenders to the Spirit, untill we have made our selves acquain­ted as well with their Habits, as with their Acts; as well with the main or general current of their Lives, as with the meer conduct and carrying-on of their Designs; with the Means they make use of, as well as with the End they pretend to aim at; with the Building which is erected, as well as with the Scaffold by which 'tis rais'd; with All their Actions in a lump, as well as with the most specious and fai­rest of them. And when This is done throughly, Then let the Hypocrites and Impostors be what they will, let the Forms of Godliness and the Fea­tures of Religion be never so artificially and neat­ly drawn, let the Colours be laid on with never so delicate a Pencill, and let that Pencill also be ma­naged with never so exquisite Address; 'twill be most easie to find the difference between the Picture and the Life. Let Zeuxis his lively Grapes be never so apt to deceive the Birds, yet the Deadness of his Boy will unfold the Cheat.

§ 9. The very Truth of it is, We should be ut­terly unexcusable, if we should fall into the Snare of The certain men among us crept in unawares, of ei­ther sort, because their Arts of deceiving are gross and obvious; fit to infatuate Understandings of the [Page 26] lowest size onely, and such as are willing to be delu­ded. There were Counterfeits in the most primitive and purest Times of the Church, who were brave Cheats indeed; who, besides their Form of Godliness, besides their Praying and their Preaching, could also set forth themselves by Signs and Wonders. 2 Thess. 2.9. 2 Cor. 11.14. The Devil had taught them That subtil Trick of trans­forming themselves into Angels of light; Matth. [...]4.24. and so of deceiving (if it were possible) the very Elect. Such were Barchochebas, Apollonius, and Simon Magus. Whereof the First had got a faculty even of vomi­ting flames of Fire; the Second could tell the men of Ephesus, what in That very Hour was done at Rome; the Third (like a Cherub) could fly abroad into the Air. So that They had some kind of Colour for their giving out themselves to be the Messen­gers of Heaven, some Pretences for their Broaching a New Theology to the People; because their Coun­terfeited Miracles, however derived from below, might seem at least to short Reasons to have been gi­ven them from Above. And to be couzen'd by such as These, were a more tolerable Infirmity; a Credu­lity more to be pitied, and very much more (rather than less) to be pardon'd also. The Magicians also in Aegypt were such admirable Deceivers, that They were able (as well as Aaron) to turn their Rods into Serpents, Exod. 7. c. 8. and their Slime into Frogs, and [Page 27] their Waters into Bloud. So as if Moses and Aaron (through God's Assistance) had not publickly con­victed them of downright Sorcery and Inchant­ment, (wherein the Magicians grew eminent through the Assistance of the Devil;) If Aaron's Rod at last had not swallow'd up Their Rods, and turn'd the Dust into Lice through all the Land, w ^ch the Magicians could not doe, but confessed (to their own shame) that The finger of God was in it; Lastly, if Moses had not smitten the very Sorcerers them­selves (as well as the rest of the Aegyptians) with Boyls and Blains, insomuch that the Magicians could not stand before Moses; They had had a shrewd Advantage in the deceiving of the People, and the People so deceiv'd had been excusable à Tanto. Whereas our modern Enthusiasts, or Preten­ders to Revelation, and to a Testimony within them from God the Holy Ghost, are not so much as good Iugglers; They are woefull Impostors, and silly Cheats; such as Satan indeed has furnished with very much Industry, but with very small Wit; whereby He does not more strongly Tempt them, than he discovers them to be His. They being so far from being indow'd with extraordinary Gifts, whereby to prove to us an extraordinary Commis­sion; so far from setting out themselves by Signs and Wonders, (like those Primitive Deceivers of [Page 28] whom our Saviour gave all his Disciples Warning, (in the 24 ^th. of S. Matthew,) or like Those of whom Moses forewarn'd His People, (in the 13 ^th. of Deuteronomy;) that they come short of most men of the Church of England, even in Those very things wherein they would be thought eminent. The onely Gifts of the Spirit which they pretend to, are but Praying and Preaching; in their Performances of which they signalize themselves by Nothing; or at least by nothing more, than Noise, and Nonsense. The Gift of Tongues, or the Gift of Healing, or the Gift of being subject to Higher. Powers, for Conscience sake, or for the Lord's, or any other such remarkable A­postolical Gift of the Holy Ghost, I never heard that our Adversaries on either side did ever yet so much as pretend unto. They seem to be as unapt to obey their Governors for Conscience sake, (which is one special Gift of the Holy Ghost,) as to speak with new Tongues, or to raise the Dead.

§ 10. Now if those Exquisite Pretenders, in the Infancy of the Gospel, Barchochebas a Iew, and A­pollonius Tyanaeus an arrant Heathen, Simon Magus, Menander, Basilides, and the like, who by Profession at least were Christians, were not Then to be be­liev'd, notwithstanding their Inchantment and Magick-miracles; If a false Prophet under the Law, who led the People into New Errours, (as Vincen­tius [Page 29] Lirinensis expounds that Passage Deut. 13.1, Vin. Lit. c. 15. 2, 3. and applies it to a false Teacher in the Times of Christianity, in particular and by name, to Va­lentinus, Donatus, Photinus, Appolinaris,) was not onely not to be heeded or hearkened to, but also was by That Law to be put to Death; yea (one step far­ther,) If an Angel from Heaven, who shall preach a­nother Doctrin than what hath hitherto been deli­ver'd, (whereby to lead us into Rebellion, or Schism, or Sacrilege, or any Conspiracy whatso­ever against the Government we are under,) must be no otherwise entertain'd, than with an Anathe­ma Maranatha; How much less may our Shallower and Vnskilfuller Impostors be believed to be of God upon their own single Word, and without a Witness, whilst they cannot confirm or commend their Novelties, no not so much as by seeming Mi­racles? no not so much as That Man of Sin, That Son of Perdition, of whose Coming S. Paul saith to his Thessalonians, 2 Thess. 2.3, 9. that 'tis after the working of Sa­tan, with all Power, and Signs, and (with stupen­dous, though) lying Wonders?

But grant they had (what they have not) an A­bility to shew us some Signs and Wonders; Matth. 24.24. yet A­pollonius Tyanaeus would put them down.

Suppose they preached extremely well, Matth. 7.22. as 'tis plain they do not) yet Photinus and Nestorius would go beyond them.

[Page 30] Matth. 23.14.Do they make very long Prayers? So did the Pharisees for a Pretence, that they might the more slily devour Orphans and Widows houses.

Have they a readiness and facility in citing Scripture? So had Iulian the Apostate when he disputed against the Gospel. So had Satan in his tempting our Blessed Saviour; Matth. 4.4, 6. when he wrested God's Oracles with as much subtilty and address, as the keenest of our Recusants (of what strain so­ever) are wont to do.

Do they pretend their being warranted by an immediate Revelation? So did Numa the Roman; and so did Eumenes the Greek: so did Mahomed the Saracen; and Alarichus the Goth: lastly, so did the Pretenders in the Primitive Church; which made S. Iohn exhort Christians to Try the Spirits; alledging This for his reason, that many false Pro­phets are gone out into the World.

Quomodo ob Religionem Magni, qui­bus Magnitu­do de irreli­giositate pro­venit? Ter­tull. Apolog. cap. 25. p. 56.Is God's permitting them to be prosperous, or to sin on with great Impunity, any Argument that he approves them? No, 'tis the weakest way of reaso­ning which our Adversaries of Rome have deligh­ted in. For, (besides that we find them confuted of­ten by their Afflictions,) God permits, what he abo­minates, his own Dishonour. How patiently did he permit the Disobedience of the First Adam, and Crucifixion of the Second? All the Villanies in the [Page 31] world do come to pass by God's Permission, how­ever contrary they are to his Rules and Precepts. And if prosperous Impiety does therefore cease to be Impiety, because 'tis prosperous and permitted, (that is) not hinder'd by force and violence, (inconsistent with a free and a moral Agent;) Then the great Sultan, and the great Cham, and the great Mogul, as well as the great Bishop of Rome, are by an e­qually-sound Consequence the greatest Favou­rites of Heaven. And then the Argument of apud Pru­dentium ad Valentin. Si Romanae Religiones regna prae­stant, nun­quam retro Iudaea reg­násset, De­spectrix com­munium ista­rum Divini­tatum. Ter­tull. Apol. c. 26. p. 57. Symma­chus had been unanswerably conclusive against the Primitive Christians, who for 300 years and up­wards lay groaning under the Yoke of the Heathens Tyranny. Lastly, if Permission were still a Mark of Ap­probation; Then Dionysius (or Diagoras) had argued logically well, when, having robb'd the Delphick Temple, & immediately after escap'd a Shipwreck, he gave it out, that the Gods had approv'd his Sacrilege. Not at all that he believ'd, but laught at Providence.

§ 11. What now can be said farther, in the be­half of our Pretenders to the same Spirit's Illumi­nation, which clear'd the Heads of the Apostles, and warm'd their Hearts? Can it be said they live strict and religious lives, though lives of Schism and Disobedience to humane Laws and Lawgivers, expresly said in Holy Scripture to be the Ordinan­ces of God? But admit it were True, (which yet is so false, that it implies a Contradiction,) 'twere not [Page 32] prevailing. Hieron. ad Marcellam. For the Heretick Montanus grew so proud of his Strictness, of his Demure Course of life in point of Abstinence and Sobriety, and suffering Hardships, as to believe himself in Time to be The Paraclete downright; Philostrat. l. 3. not a Godly man onely, but even The Holy Spirit of God. In which case 'tis very evident, that even his strictness was his Disease: and that the Spirit which overrul'd him was from his Spleen. The Heathen Brachmans also of India were so temperate, and chast, and so addicted to Self-de­nials, (in Maffaea Hist. Ind. l. 12. p. 319. & l. 14. p. 398. 1 Cor.7.31. order to their gaining upon the opi­nions of the People with whom they liv'd,) that they seemed (in all appearance) to use This World as not abusing it: (exactly so as S. Paul exhorts the followers of Christ.) Such an externally-strict Per­son was the Papalins S. Francis; who yet disco­ver'd his Humility and passive Meekness (as I have read many years since, apud Autherem nescio Quem, as Cicero speaks in the like case,) to have partly been a Cloak, and partly an Insirument of his Pride. For, being ask'd why he rejoyced amidst the hard­ships of his Imprisonment, Ideo me exul­tare noveri­ [...]u, quia ad. huc Sanctus per totum Seculum ad­orator. Because (said he) the whole world will even adore and canonize me among their Saints. Hereby we see the strict Necessity of the last Rule 1 mention'd for the right using of the Great Rule by w ^ch the Spirits are to be Tried. For,

Lastly, by neglecting to Try the Spirits of Pre­tenders, whether or no they be of God, (and to try [Page 33] them impartially by every part of That Touchstone I lately gave,) How very many have we known of our poor Separatists in England, (acted as they have been by the late Emissaries of Rome,) so strangely shallow, and over-credulous, as readily to imagin that every Schismatick is a Saint, who is not a Sabbath-breaker, or Swearer, not a Drunkard, or an Adulterer, and is so or so qualified in point of Iudgement; or (to speak more exactly) in point of Party, and of Opinion? It must therefore be well consider'd, and carried constantly in mind by such as These, that of the two 'tis less intole­rable to be a Swearer, than a Rebel; a Drunkard, than a Thief; a common Thief, than a Sacrilegious one; and a less horrid thing, to be corporally vile, than to be spiri­tually proud of one's own Perfections. We must beware of all the former, as we ever hope to fly from the wrath to come; but more especially of the latter, as being much the more Luciferian Sins. Sins which can never attend men to Heaven, having brought down the An­gels of Heaven to Hell. Drunkenness and Whoredom (however damning) are Sins the Devil cannot commit: but Envy, and Malice, and Schism, and Sacrilege, Hy­pocrisie, and Rebellion, and intoxicating Pride, are pe­culiar to him; they are the Devil's Sins so properly, that they are properly call'd Devilish in Men, or Christians, whereever found. And as These of all Sins are much the most Diabolical, so they are the most damning of any other, for ought I can collect from [Page 34] the words of Christ, ( Matth. 23.14.) and by the words of S. Peter, (2 Pet. 2.9, 10.) If they who hate our Congregations and way of Worship, because they judge the Holy Ghost to have forsaken our Mee­tings, and to dwell onely in theirs, or because we do not easily shut the Door against Sinners, (till by Authority authoriz'd,) though they are under the Reputation either of Drunkenness, or Whoredom, or any other the like Scandalous and Deadly Sin, but not under the Sentence of legal Excommunication, (till when we cannot lawfully shut them out from our Communion,) I say, if the Censurers of our Pa­tience and Longanimity towards such would but turn their Eyes inwards, or duely reflect upon them­selves, and compare those Sins which the Devil ne­ver commits, with those several other Sins which are proper to him; If they would not onely observe, but also remember, and consider, and religiously lay to heart, 2 Pet. 2. 9, 10. the terrible Emphasis and force S. Peter puts on the word [...], saying of Them who despise Government, that they are chiefly, or most especially, reserved by the Lord unto the day of Iudgement to be punished; and the most formidable Importance of That Greater Damnation, Matth. 23.14. which our Saviour has denounced against those Hypocrites, who for a Pre­tence do make long Prayers; I say again, if our dis­senting & separating Brethren (in love and pity to whose Souls we pray & preach for their Conformi­ty) [Page 35] would have the Patience and the Humility to chew enough on these things, They would think with more Charity of our Communion, and with less Arrogance of their own. They would not separate from us Then, unless for contrary Inducements than now do move them. They would separate from us Then, in an humble opinion of their own Vileness; saying from the heart with the meek Centurion, Luk. 7.6. Lord, we are not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under our Roof, and are by conse­quence unworthy to have admittance under Thine. They would not separate from us Then, unless in the Spirit of S. Peter, afraid to approach unto Christ him­self, with a Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a Sinfull man. They would not separate from us Then, like those Idolaters in Isaiah, Isa. 65.2, 5. with a Stand farther off, come not near to us, for we are holier than you; But rather, like the Lepers under the Law of Leprosie, would cover their faces with Confusion, and stand aloof from God's House, Lev. 13.45, 46. accusing themselves of their Vncleanness: or, like the [...] & [...] in the Primitive Times of Discipline, falling down flat upon their faces, (not in the Church, but the Churchyard, at an humble Di­stance,) would beg the Charity of Their Prayers whom they saw entring into God's House at the Times of Prayer. Were they such Separatists as These, and from such a Principle as This, from the excesses onely of Meekness, and not of Pride, we should receive them with the Embraces of Arms and Hearts; we should [Page] readily afford them even the Right hand of Fellow­ship; we should conclude the Holy Ghost had so de­scended upon their Souls, as once he did upon the Heads of the 12 Apostles, Act. 2. 41. or rather upon the Hearts of th [...]se 3000 who at S. Peter's one Sermon were added to them: Though not in the Edifying Gifts which were bestowed upon the former, yet in the Sanctifying Graces which were infused into the latter.

§ 12. But having spoken enough already of Trying the Spirits in other men, I think it fit to say something of Trying them also in our selves. For considering the words of the Prophet Ieremy, The Heart of man is de­ceitfull above all things; and that 'tis given to very few, (few, I mean, in comparison,) to know what Spirits they are of; I guess it concerns us all in general, and every one of us in particular, to resume the whole Text, and bring it home unto our selves; to search and try our own Hearts, and to examin our own Spirits, whether or no they are of God. 'Twas the Precept of Pythagoras to every man of his Sect, that he should bring himself to the Test, or call himself to an Accompt, every Evening of his whole Life, with a [...]; what he had done in That Day which he ought to have omitted, and what good thing he had omitted which 'twas his Duty to have done: [...] Cor. 13.5. Nor was he to suffer himself to sleep, till he had made up this Rec­koning three several Times. So 'twas the Precept of S. Paul, in his ad Epistle to the Corinthians, Examin [Page 37] your selves whether ye be in the Faith: (meaning That Faith which does work by Love all manner of Obedi­ence to the Law of Christ's Gospel:) [...], prove or try your own selves, whether ye have not yet received the True Faith of Christ; or whether, having once received, ye still retain it. Know ye not your own selves how that Iesus Christ is in you, except ye be Repro­bates? So S. Paul reason'd with his Corinthians; and so must we with or within our selves. Know we not that Christ is in us, by the Presence of his Spirit? and by the Power of his Word? and by the evident effects of His O­peration? Such as our Sorrow for our sins past, our ha­tred of our selves in Remembrance of them, and our stedfast Resolutions of better life? Know we not that Christ is in us by such Evidences as These? If we do, Then let us treat him in such a manner, as may become so Divine a Guest. But if we do not, we have some rea­son to fear, lest we have sinn'd-away our Saviour, as ar­rant Reprobates and Castaways; as men unworthy to be call'd Christians; as men who either are not at all Re­generate, or else are fallen from That State of Regene­ration which we were in; or (to express it with S. Paul) as men who have received the Grace of God in vain. And as it concerns us on all occasions to try the Spi­rit which is in us, whether 'tis a good, or an evil Spirit; so most especially does it concern us at such a Time as This is, when we Tread in God's Courts, to offer up the Gospel-sacrifice of Supplication and Thanksgiving; to [Page 38] hear His Word, & to partake of his Sacraments (Duties equally belonging to the first Sunday of the month.) For the Bread of God's Children must not be cast unto the Dogs; and the Food which is Spiritual belongs to Them onely who can spiritually discern it, and who live not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. I do not mean after every Spirit, (for there are many more than good, as I shew'd before,) but after The Spirit that is of God; The Spirit of Holiness, and Truth; The Spirit of Vnity, and Love; The Spirit of Meekness, and of Order; The Spirit of Singleness, and Sincerity; The Spirit of Wis­dom, and Vnderstanding; The Spirit of Counsel, and Ghostly Strength; The Spirit of Knowledge, and true Godliness; Isa. 11.2. and lastly, The Spirit of God's Holy Fear; (as the divine Prophet Isaiah expresseth him resting upon Christ, of whom the good King Hezekiah was but a Type in That place.) Unto all which if I should add, The Spirit of Promise, Eph. 1.13. Rev. 19.10. Zech. 12.10. 1 Pet. 4.14. (with S. Paul,) and The Spirit of Pro­phecy (with S. Iohn,) The Spirit of Grace, (with holy Za­chary,) and The Spirit of Glory, (with S. Peter,) I should but say, The same Spirit, in the vindicating of whom from the many False Spirits, which (in this last Age especially) have been debauching the Christian World, I have imploy'd the little Time which is allow'd for this Part of our Morning Service.

To Him therefore with The Father in their Unity with The Son, Sing we Hosannahs, and Hallelujahs, Blessing, Glory, Honour, and Power, To Him that liveth for evermore.