them him

And the great and chief fending into the Church He fends is from God Himself, as we fee in Mofes, and all felf. the Prophets, and in Chrift Himself the Head of them,

and in all the Apostles, and in all Believers.

of his fend

Now the proof of a mans fending from God is The proof this, to be anointed with the Spirit, as John 20. ing them. 22. When Chrift faid to his Difciples, as my Father fent me, fo fend I you; He breathed upon them, and faid, Receive the holy Spirit; for his Father fent him only by pouring out his Spirit on him; and he fends them fo only; and he that faith, The Unition of the Spirit alone is not fufficient for the Miniftry of the New Teftament, he denies Chrift and his Apoftles to have been fufficient Minifters, and he perverts the Scripture, and feduces the People.

Now the true Teachers through the pouring forth of the Spirit on them, they do truly know Chrift Himself, and the great Mystery of the Gofpel, and all the things that are freely given us of God; and they are alfo filled with love to their Brethren, and are enabled to confefs the Truth, and to do thereafter, and to contemn the world, and patiently to fuffer rebukes, &c. all which is a fufficient Proof of any ones fending from God.

And thus the true Prophets are all fent of God, which is their great comfort and fupport in all trouble and difficulties, becaufe he that fends them, is still with them. Lo (faith Chrift) I am with always, to the end of the world.

you

run without

But now on the contrary, the falfe Prophets and The falfe Minifters of Antichrift are not fent of God, but are Prophets fent and appointed by Men, and that through their fending. own defire, and feeking. And of fuch the Lord complains, Jer. 23. 21. I have not fent thefe Prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they Prophefied: But because I fent them not, neither commanded

114

2.

commanded them, they shall not profit this People at all, faith the Lord, ver. 32.

And Chrift faith, Many falfe Chrifts, and falfe Prophets fhall arife: i. e. are not fent of God, but fhall arife of themselves. And Paul faith to the Elders of the Church of Ephefus, Acts 20. Out of your felves shall men arife, Speaking perverse things, to draw Difciples after them. They arife of themselves, they are not fent of God.

Now fuch Teachers as thefe do usually spring up in the Church, through Academical Degrees, and Ecclefiaftical Ordination; which two things have poured forth into the Church whole fwarms of false Prophets, and Antichristian Ministers, never fent of God, nor annointed of his Spirit, to the irreparable damage, prejudice, and ruine of the People and Nations who have received them, with their falfe and poyfonful Doctrine.

Wherefore all those Teachers who are not fent of the Lord and his Spirit, but arise of themselves, and come into the Church in the ftrength and might phets take of their Degrees and Orders, they are all falfe Prophets.

True Pro

all their

warra t

from God in

what they

reach.

who are

God, and

have beard

The Second Sign.

The true Prophets, who are fent of God, take the Learned, all their Warrant and Authority from God, for e. They what they teach, and do not at all regard Men, or taught of build on them. And this hath all along made the true Teachers fo bold, and fo confident, in the and learned Name of God, against the world and wordly of the Fa Church: So Ifaiah 50. 4, &c. faith, The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I learnede hould know how to speak a word in due feafon to him Mene that is weary; he wakeneth morning by morning; be ever the wakeneth my ear to hear as the learned.

ther; who are the

in the

ignorant

foolish and The Lord hath opened mine ear, and I was not reworld faith bellious, neither turned away back,

to the con

trary.

For

For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face as a flint, and I know I shall not be ashamed.

He is near that juftifies me; who will contend with me? let us stand together, who is mine adversary? let

bim come near me.

Behold the Lord will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? Lo they all fhall wax old as a garment, the moth fhall eat them up. See here the admirable confidence of a Teacher fent from God.

And fo alfo our Lord Jefus Chrift in the days of his flesh, how bold was he in his Miniftry, coming in the Name of the Lord, and having his Authority and Doctrine from Him! How boldly did he reprove the Scribes and Pharifees, the chief Teachers of the Jewish Church! And what a clear and glorious Confeffion of the Truth of God, did he hold forth against all their Oppofition and Contradiction.

And the Apostles, when the Rulers, Elders, and Scribes, and Annas the High Prieft, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and all the Kindred of the High-Prieft were gathered together, and threatned them, and straitly charged them, to preach no more in that Name, they answered, Whether it be right in the fight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye: For we cannot but fpeak the things which we have seen and heard, Acts 4. ver. 19.

And fo Wickliffe, John Hus, and Luther, who were fent of God, did take all their Authority from God alone, and fo were bold and confident, each of them in their time, against the whole World.

ers take all

But now the Falfe Prophets, who come of them- False Teachfelves, and by the fending of Men, they do all by their Authe Authority and Warrant of Man, and according thority ly do joyn themselves together, by Secular Power,

to

from Man.

3.

True Pro

phets, they

to bring about their Doctrines and Designs in the Church; and from the Civil Authority they procure Leave and Power to publish their Doctrine, and fet up their Difcipline in the Church, and to fupprefs whatever is contrary thereto; and without this worldly License and Authority, they neither can nor dare do any thing; and are never bold, but when the Authority of Man is for them. But the true Prophets (as hath been faid) do only take their Authority from Chrift for what they teach, and are bold in his Name only, to hold it forth; and fo after they have published the word in faith, in the fame faith they leave the maintenance and defending of it to Him alone, whofe word it is; and they neither publish it for Mans commanding, nor fmother it for Mans forbidding.

Wherefore thofe Teachers, who have not their Warrant from Chrift for their Doctrine, and are not bold in his Name alone, but do derive all their Authority and Encouragement from Men, to speak and act in the things of God, they are all falfe Prophets, and Minifters of Antichrift.

The Third Sign.

The true and faithful Teachers, as they are only preach fent of God, and take their Authority from God, Jefus Chrift. fo in all their Doctrine they only hold forth Sefus Chrift. And this they have learned from God Himself.

For the Father Speaking immediately from Heaven, preached nothing but Chrift, faying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him : And this he spake thrice from the excellent Glory; manifefting, that He Himself had no Higher thing, nor no other thing to declare to the World, than his Son Jefus Chrift, in whom alone are hid all the Treasures of all true and Spiritual Wisdom and Knowledge.

The

1

The Son alfo in all his Miniftry, only declared
who Himself was, whom the Father had given to
the Ele&t Church; faying, Pfal. 2. I will publish the
Decree, whereof the Lord hath faid unto me, Thou art
my Son, this day have I begotten thee: And in all his
Ministry only declared who he was, and to what
End his Father had given him; faying, I am the
bread of life, which cometh down from Heaven; he
that cometh to me fhall never hunger; and he that be-
lieveth in me fhall never thirst.
fhall never thirst. And I am the way,
the Truth and the Life; no man cometh to the Father
but by me: And all his Doctrine and Works were to
this end, that we might believe that Jefus is the
Son of God, and that believing in him we might
have Eternal Life.

Chriftus fuo

The Apoftles alfo of the Lord, after they had Non dixit received the Spirit, did go up and down the primocatui, World, only preaching Jefus, and Repentance, and te prz Remiffion of Sins in his Name.

dicate mun

do Nugas;

illis dedit

lud tantum

Dantes.

And Paul a laborious Preacher, through the fed verum Grace of God, did renounce and reject all his FundamenWorldly Learning, and all his Humane Accom-tum; & ilplishments and Excellencies in the Miniftry of the fonuit in ore Gofpel, and preached nothing but the right Know. Ipforum. ledge of Chrift, and right Faith in Him, as He himself teftifies, Phil 3.7. &c. faying, What things were gain to me, thofe I counted loss for Chrift; yea doubtless, and I count all things but lofs for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Jefus Chrift my Lord, for whom I have fuffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Chrift, and be found in Him, not baving mine own Righteoufnes which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Chrift, the Righteoufefs which is of God by faith; That I may know Hin, and the power of His Refurrection, and the fellowship of his Sufferings, and be made conformable to Him in his Death, if by any means I might atta to the Refurrection from the Dead

And