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a Conforming Prieft in a Surplice, or any other Garment, tho' favouring never fo ftrongly of the Whore of Babylon, if they can get them; but alas! they are not worth the Care of one of these extraordinary edifying, Soul-faving Preachers. But thofe Places which are beft provided with Bishops and Paftors of Apoftolical Piety and Zeal of all the nobleft Qualifica-' tions for the Inftruction and Government of the Church; thefe Places are most pefter'd with thefe Men, who will be Teachers, and pretend to take the Care of Souls upon them, tho' they were never ordain'd by those, who had a lawful Authority to that Purpose. Now form hence it plainly appears, that it is not the Edification of God's People, not the enlarging the Boundaries of the Church of Chrift, not the informing the Minds of the Ignorant, or the converting of Unbelievers to the Knowledge of the Truths of God which they aim at, but only the dividing of those who are already Chriftians from one another, the embittering of Mens Spirits, which they defign, and the utter Ruin of Brotherly Love and Charity among the Disciples of Jefus Chrift.

If we may judge of Trees by their Fruits, let the Appeal be made to the common Obfervations of Men now living, and who have their Eyes open, and let it be made to the moft impartial Writers of the Hiftory of the immediately foregoing Age, and it will be apparent to every Eye, that as thefe extraordinarily edifying Preachers increas'd in their Num-. bers and Interefts, fo all true Piety and Chriftian Virtues abated every where, in thefe Na tions.

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tions. As the establish'd Liturgy of the Epi copal Church of England grew into Contempt fo Devotion grew cold; And as Epifcopa Government and Difcipline was check'd and trampled on; fo Difobedience, Rebellion, Whoredoms, Adulteries, Lying and Cheating and all Manner of Immoralities got Ground. And when thofe very Men, who had fuch a Soul-faving Faculty peculiar to themselves, when they, by the heavy Judgment of an angry Ged upon thefe lamentably degenerated Nations, came to be uppermoft, when they poffefs'd the Pulpits and the Revennues of the lawful Clergy; then Hell it felf broke loofe; then that of the lamenting Prophet was made good Lam. 5. among us, Servants ruled over us, and there was 8, 11, 12, none to deliver us out of their Hand; they ravishd 14, 16, 'the Women of our Zion, and the Maids of our Ci

ties: Princes were hanged up by their Hands, and the Faces of Elders were not honour'd: The Elders ceafed from the Gate, and the young Men from their Mufick; then the Crown fell from our Head. Then Murder, Sacrilege, Ruins and Defolations ranged the British Field; and a Man could fcarcely fay they were Sins without incurring the Penalties of Treafon? And do we remember thefe Things with Warmth enough? It is not a frequent Talk concerning Religion with a feeming Concern, it is not an outward Pretence to an extraordinary Affection for it, it is not a particular Method of devout Difcourfe that can free a Man from the Imputation of Hypocrify, and thofe who devour Widows Houfes, may for a Pretence to cheat the World, make long Prayers; it is not an eafy Matter to impofe upon Almighty God; nor can Hypo

crites always abufe the World, tho' they may do it for a good while. It was the Jewish Humour to be always crying out, The Temple of the Lord! They valued themselves highly upon having that peculiar Symbol of the Divine Prefence among them; and they imagined that fuch an Outcry was enough to perfwade the unconfidering World, that they were wonderfully religious. But God required other Things at their Hands, Truft ye not in Jer. 7. 8, Lying Words, fays he, faying, the Temple of the 9, 10, 11 Lord: Will ye fteal, and murder, aud commit Adultery, and wear falfely, and burn Incense unto Baal, and walk after other Gods whom ye know not, and come and ftand before me in my Houfe which is called by my Name, and fay we are deliver'd to do all thefe Abominations? Is this Houfe, which is call'd by my Name, become a Den f Robbers in your Eyes? All fuch fond Hopes of being accepted with God for a few foft Words or a little flattering Talk are vain. God expects ferious Religion and fincere Piety from those who call themselves Lovers of him; and to fuch he makes kind and faithful Promises as he did to the Jews on this particular Occafion; If you throughly amend your Ways and your v. 5, 6, 7% Doings, if ye throughly execute Judgment between a Man and his Neighbour, if ye opprefs not the Stranger and Fatherless and the Widow, and shed not innocent Blood in this Place, neither walk after other Gods to your Hurt, then will I cause you to dwell in this Place, in the Land which I fware to give to your Fathers for ever and ever. Thus God promifes freely to all those who are found and hearty Practitioners of true Piety: And how thefe Duties agree with the History of

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the Guides of the Separation may be obvious enough to every prudent and confiderate Chriftiau.

There is a certain honeft Plainnefs which always accompanies a lawful and confcientious Preacher of the Gofpel, which thefe ufurping Intruders dare not venture at. True Cofpel Preachers fpeak principally against the Crimes predominant in their own Flocks; open and fearch and cleanse the Wounds difcoverable in their own Sheep; not palliating or extenua ting their Sins, but fetting them out, as they are guilty of them in their Native Deformity. The Intruders or falfe Prophets ufe all the foftning Terms that may be for the Crimes committed, among their Tribes. What we account the moft horrid and difmal Crimes in others, are but trivial Slips and inconfiderable Peccadilloes in the Saints; by which Methods they lull their Followers asleep in a fatal Security, as if no Danger attended them even in their moft guilty State: But when they come to talk of Sin at large, or as it is lodged in the great Conforming unregenerate Congregations; they are all fo many Boanerges, pouring out nothing but Thunder and Lightning Judgment and Damnation against them: And this is the Reafon why those who learn of them grow fo infolent, and fo very apt to defpife others; why they approach fo near that old Pharifaick Boaft, Stand by thy felf, come not near me, for I am holier than thou! If again, we obferve the common Bent of all that Induftry thefe Antichriftian Teachers exert we may cafily find, that their great Work is to draw Men to thofe particular Opinions by

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which their Parties are divided from us, and from one another. This is the general Endea vour of all the religious Sects among us; and till People come to clofe entirely with their dividing Principles, they will not allow that they truly favour or understand the Things of God: And a compleat Reconciliation to their wild Notions is what they generally call the great Work of Converfion wrought upon Mens Minds by the extraordinary Grace of God. By thefe kind of Difcourfes, which all the World know to be frequent among them, they plainly fhew that they account thofe particular Opinions in which they differ from us, fuch Principles as effentially neceffary to Salvation. By profecuting this Method they make the Breach between them and the Church of England as by Law establish'd fo wide as never poffibly to be made up. Nay, they have join'd, in the Memory of too many now living,(tho' confidering their high Pretences against Popery, one would have thought it a Matter altogether impracticable) they have join'd in the fame pernicious Defigns with thofe of Rome, and act ftill as if they had a Mind to convince the fobereft and most underftanding Proteftants, that a Peace with Rome is more defirable than with them. For tho' that Roman Principle,that it is neceffary to Salvation to be fubject to the Bishop of Rome,be falfe even to Ridiculoufnefs; yet if we fubmit to him, we know what our Bufiuefs is, and where we may reft at laft in that Subjection. But when fo many feveral Parties pretend as high with refpect to themselves, and make it as neceffary to join with them, if we would be fav'd; we

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