False Prophets and false Teachers described. 1652. ALL the holy men of God they spoke forth freely, and when any spoke for Hire, it was a filthy and a horrible thing, and the Lord did abhor it, and sent forth his true Prophets to cry out against them. Isaiah 55.1, 2, 3. Isaiah spoke freely, and he was sent to cry out against them that did not speak forth freely without Hire, Isa. 56.10, 11, 12. His watchmen (saith he) are blind and cannot see, they are dumb dogs, yea greedy dogs that can never have enough, every one looks for his gain from his quarter: They did so then, and do they not so now? every one looks for his gain from his Quarter where he is, and for great Means, (those that have eyes to see, may see) and the Lord abhors it. jeremiah he spoke freely, and was sent to cry out against them that did it for Hire, Jerem 5. A horrible and a filthy thing is committed in the Land, the Prophets prophesy false things, and the Priests bear rule by their Means, and the people love to have it so. It was so then, but is it not so now? do not the Priests bear rule by their Means over you, and do not you love to have it so? O foolish people, that have eyes to see and cannot see, ears to hear and cannot hear, hearts and cannot understand; but what will you do in the end, saith the Lord? All people see if you hold not up this filthy thing which God sent his true Prophets to cry against. Ezechiel he spoke freely, and spoke against them that spoke for the Fleece; see Chap. 34. see if your Shepherds do not teach for the Fleece? But (saith the Lord) I will take them out of their hands, they shall no more be meat for them, neither shall they feed themselves any more of the Flock, but (saith the Lord) I will take them out of their Hands, and I will feed them myself, and be their Teachers. Now the Lord is coming to teach all his freely, and there is no Teacher like him, and they that are taught of the Lord deny all teaching without; if you would be taught of the Lord, cease from your Hirelings. Micah spoke freely, and was sent to cry against them that did not; Chapter 3. saith he, The Prophet's divine for money, and the Priests preach for Hire, and they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord amongst us? They did so then, and do they not so now? But (saith the Lord) they ran but I did not send them, therefore they shall not profit this people at all. See Jeremiah 23. the Lord will not have his gifts to be bought and sold; they are worse than Simon Magus, for he would have bought the Spirit, but these Buy and Sell the Letter for carnal ends, and acts (as in Stageplays) for money; but the Lord abhors it, therefore hold it not up. Hosea 6.9. he spoke freely, and spoke against them then, and said, As a troop of Robbers wait for a man, so the company of Priests they murder in the way by consent. Micah saith in the 3. Chapter, Put into their mouths and they cry peace, peace; but if you put not into their mouths, they prepare war against you. Try your Priests, and let the Scriptures be fulfilled, see if they will not go to Law with you? and if they do, you shall see that they were never taught of Christ; for (he saith) if any man sue thee at the Law, and take away thy Coat, let him have thy Cloak also, Now if they were sent of Christ, they would abide in his Doctrine, for he that abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, is a Devid, Matth. 5.40. and Christ when he sent forth his, he bade them take neither Bag nor Scrip, but (saith he) freely ye have received, freely give; and if they were taught of him, they would obey him and keep his say: but those that buy their Wares, they must either set them forth at a greater rate, or else lose by them, and then they would lose their Mastery which they have got by their Learning, and their M●a●s. All the Teachers of the world they are Masters by their Learning and their Benefits; those that were taught of Jesus Christ, they were not so; see Mat. 23. but he taught them to deny it, and they abode in his Doctrine. You do not read in all the Holy Scriptures, that any of the Holy men of God were Cambridge or Oxford Scholars, or University men, or called Masters; but (on the contrary) they were plain men, and laboured with their hands, and taught freely, as they had received it freely from the Lord,: read the Scriptures, and you may see what sort of men they were which taught the People; Abe● he was a Shepherd, Gen. 4.2. Jacob a Keeper of Sheep, Gen. 30.31. Moses a Shepherd, Exodus 3.1. Elisha a Ploughman, 1 King. 19.19, 20. Amos a Herdsman, Amos 7.4. Paul a Tentmaker, Acts 18.3. Simon and Andrew were Fishermen, Mark 1.16. Matthew was taken from the receipt of Custom, Mark 2.14. they were not wise and learned men, as the Scribes and Pharisees were, which Christ cried woe against; (saith he) Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ye bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be born, and lay them upon the poor, and yourselves will not touch them with one of your fingers. You may say, the Scribes and Pharisees did so, who were the enemies of Jesus Christ; but do not the Priests so now? is not the poor burdened by them, and oppressed by them, and they are Rulers and Lords over them? Do they not sit in the same Seats that the Scribes and Pharisees had? they had the chiefest places in Assemblies, have not your Priests so now? they had the uppermost rooms at Feasts, have not your Priests so now? they went in long Robes, do not your Priests so? they were called of men Masters, are not your Priests so now, do not they hold the same things that they did, and yet say they are sent of Christ? they are worse than the Scribes and Pharisees, for they sat in Moses Seat, pretending to do justice, but did not: for Moses was a just and faithful servant, set over the people, a man fearing God, and hating covetousness; but they were covetous and laid heavy burdens upon the people, and were Masters whereas Moses was but a servant. And Jesus Christ himself said, Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, and Hypocrites. They knew much, and said fair, but they did not act accordingly; their words and works were not one, therefore it was Hypocrisy; and it is the same now that it was then, with those that say one thing and do another: it is not the hearers but the doers that shall be justified. Now Christ is come to set free from these heavy burdens, and to ease the people of them; his Ministry is free and not burdensome; those that are sent of him, are to be as be was; but the Priests that profess to be sent of him are not so, they are got into a Seat above the Scribes and Pharisees; they sit but in Moses Seat, pretending to do justice, but they did not as they said; so the professed Ministers are got up in the Seat of Christ, to take off oppression, but they are Oppressors; for the Ministry of Christ is to feed the hungry, and to the naked, and let the oppressed go free, and to throw down those abominations which the Lord hath sent his true Prophets to cry out against, as Pride and covetousness, and drunkenness, and lying, and swearing, and oppression; but it is held up and contended for by them; for they are the Kings of Pride in Towns where they are, and their Wives go in their Hoods, Vails, and Rings, which are odious to the Lord, and poor people are burdened by them; instead of setting free they keep in bondage. Where is the hungry fed by them? Where is the naked clothed? Where is the oppressed set free? Christ saith unto his, Be not ye called Masters, but they do not obey him, that professeth to be sent of him; and Christ is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever. Jesus Christ said there should come Prophets in Sheep's clothing, but (saith he) inwardly they are ravening Wolves; making fair shows, and professing God and Christ in words, but in works deny him; having fine words, fair pretences, green and flourishing in profession, high in Notion, having a form of godliness in words, but deny it in life and conversation; inwardly ●●ey are ravening Wolves, full of wrath, anger, and envy, and maliciousness, pride and covetousness; but (saith Jesus Christ) By their fruits ye shall know them: for every Tree is known by its fruits: and (saith he) They will say and do not. See what Paul speaketh in 2 Timoth. 3. vers. 1, 2, 3, 4.5, 6. he seeing false Teachers going forth, gave a description how they might be known; Of this sort are they (saith he) proud, covetous, self-lovers, boasters, heady, highminded, railers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those which are good, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. First look at the Trees, and then at the fruits, and see if this sort of men be not such now, and have been so a long time; but the Lord is risen in the hearts of the people, and hath opened their eyes that were blind, and causes them to see clearly, and bids them let their light shine forth to others that sit in darkness. But he is coming to take away the Veil that is spread over all Nations, and then shall they see clearly; but those that have eyes may see, that this sort of men preach now, and that for Hire, which is contrary to the Doctrine of Christ. Do not proud men preach? Do not covetous men preach? Do not self-lovers preach? Do not heady highminded men preach? Do not railing men Preach? Do not false-accusing men Preach? Do not men that are despisers of those that are good Preach? Do not men that live in pleasures Preach? and all those sorts of men Preach, and Hirelings too, oppressing and burdened the Creation? Those that have eyes may plainly see, that these were never sent of God; the Ministers of Christ were what they spoke, they walked answerable to their Ministry, that it might not be blamed; and that the Ministry of Christ might not be burdensome, they walked as Examples to others. Can a proud man lead off from pride? he may speak against it, but if he speak against it and live in it, he is an Hypocrite. Can a covetous man lead off from covetousness, or can a drunken man lead off from Drunkenness? or can a malicious man lead off from maliciousness? Can an Oppressor lead off from oppression? Can a man that follows pleasures lead off from pleasures and wantonness? or a man that follows the ways of unrighteousness, can he lead off from them, he may speak against them, but if he speak against them, and live in them, or any of them, he is an Hypocrite, and one that Jesus Christ's speaketh of, that says and does not, and so is an evil example, a pattern to follow the ways of ungodliness. The Ministers of Jesus Christ were examples for others to walk by, see Titus 1. They were blameless as they Stewards, of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine; no strikers, not given to fifthy lucre: where is your example among all your professed Ministers? they were lovers of hospitality, they were lovers of good men, they were holy, they were just, they were temperate: where is your example? they were what they spoke. Paul laboured night and day that he might not make the Gospel of Chr●st burdensome, but (on the contrary) that he might be an example to them that followed him: where is your example? See what Paul saith to the Thessalonians, saith he in 2 Thess. 3.7, 8. he was an example, and not he, but the rest also, and the people were taught by their godly conversation to walk accordingly; for (saith he) yourselves know ye ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you, neither did we eat any man's bread for nought, but wrought with labour and travel night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any, but to make ourselves examples unto th●m that follow us: where is your example? see 1 Thes. 2.5. for (saith he) we use not flattering words, as ye know (he called them to witness it) neither a cloak of covetousness, God is witness: they were so free from covetousness, that they called God to witness it, who searches the Hearts: Nor of men sought they glory, neither of them, the Thessalonians, nor of others, when they might have been burdensome; but were willing not only to impart the Gospel of Christ unto them, but their own souls also, they were so dear unto them: Verse 9 The love of God is so where it is made manifest in reality. They laboured night and day, because they would not be chargeable to any of them, and preached the Gospel freely, as they had received it from the Lord, Ye are witnesses, and God also (say they) how holily, and justly, and unblamedly we behaved ourselves among you. Where is your example, for freeness, for holiness, for blamelessness? and they both exhorted and comforted them, as a Father his Children. The Ministers of Christ did so; but the Ministers of the world they are without among the false Prophets, all Preaching for Hire, and making the Gospel of Christ burdensome, which is contrary to Jesus Christ. He that saith he is in Christ, aught to walk as he walked; did ever he Preach for Money, or did he give forth command for his to take Hire? how dare any of you Hirelings say you are sent of Christ? did he say one thing and do another? was he not what he spoke in all things? were not his Ministers examples for others to walk by, and exhorted others to mind their conversation: saith Paul, Be ye followers of ●e as dear Children, even as I am a followor of Christ; and Christ saith, Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart. Now those that were his true Ministers they followed his example, and they exhorted others to follow them; and he that is taught of Christ now, abideth in his Doctrine, but he that abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ, is a Devil; and he that saith he is in Christ, aught to walk as he walked, in all holy conversation. Then you that profess yourselves to be his Ministers, and to be sent forth from him, where did you receive a Commission of him to be taskmasters? or to take Hire, or to be proud, or covetous, or to live in pleasures, or to live in Hypocrisy, to say that you are not. They ●●t were sent forth by him, were sent freely, and to undo the heavy burdens, and to be examples for others to walk by. Where did you receive your Mastery? Christ saith, Let him that is greatest among yo● be your servant, and Christ is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever. Where did Christ make use of outward means to back him? but he denied it, and was persecuted by it? Where did he envy, and ha●e, and oppress any? Walk according to him if you be sent of h●●, and do not persecute, and hate, and envy, and go to Law, fo● neither he nor his did; and if you be sent of him, make proof of your Ministry, as they did that he sent forth, and cause not the Gospel of Christ to be burdensome and blamed by you. The true Ministers gave no occasion of offence in any thing, that their Ministry should not be blamed, see 2 Cor. 6. vers. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.10. But in all things approved themselves as the Ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in tumults, in labours, by watch, by fastings, by purity, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy G●ost, by love unfeigned, by the Word of truth, by the Power of God, by the armour of righteousness, on the left hand and on the right, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report, as deceivers, and yet true, as unknown, and yet well known, as dying and behold we live, as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor and yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. See where such examples as these are to be found now amongst your professed Ministry? His Ministers were persecuted of the world, because they were to declare against the vanity of the world: but the Ministers that the world sets up, live in the vanity of the world, and are persecutors, vain, light and profane in their lives and conversations, and so are patterns of ungodliness, walking on in Hypocrisy, and persecuting the Saints of the most h●gh God, whom the Lord hath redeemed from the vain conversation of the world: His Ministers were never persecutors. Wo to he Idol-Shepheards, woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Can, and have run greedly after the error of Balaam, for reward, 〈◊〉 perished in the gain●●ing; and so shall them, except they rep●●t. Thomas Aldam Elisabeth Hooton William Pears Benjamin Nichalson Jane Holmes and Mary Fisher. Prisoners of the Lord at York Castle. 1652. FINIS.