The Root of Popery ftruck at.

25x against her, Rev. xi. 7, 8. and hath taught all her daughters to do the fame; to wit, to drink the blood of the witneffes against them, even as fhe hath drunk the blood of the witneffes that have teftified against her. And though, because she hath had an half day more given her, after her time seemed to be even expiring, and after judgment and defolation was beginning to enter upon her, though, because of this, fhe thinks the bitternefs of death is paft, and fhe fhall now fit as a queen, a lady, a glorious church for ever, Rev. xviii. 7. yet for all this is the come again into God's remembrance, Rev. xvi. 19. and the fhall see widowhood, and be caft into a bed of torment, and all her children into great tribulation with her; and fhe fhall be defolate, and naked, and drink of the cup, and not repent that the might escape it, Rev. xvi. 11. ix. 20, 21. This is her portion, from the hand of the Lord. Oh! happy is he whofe eyes the Lord fhall open, to flee out of her for life! For the Lamb is arisen to make war, and his spouse is making herself ready for his pure bed of life, and his anger is kindled against all the kings and powers of the earth that ftand in his way; and though they fight ever fo refolutely against him and his meek ones, they shall not prevail, but the Lamb will overcome all; for he is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and they that are with him in this battle of his Spirit, are Called, and Chofen, and Faithful, Rev. xvii. 4. And though. this woman (the false church, in her various dreffes) is fo ftrong, every. where getting the earthly powers and authorities on her fide, that now it may be faid concerning this beaft, in the feveral appearances of it, as was concerning the former; Who is able to make war with her? yet there is an invisible power stronger than fhe, who will call her to judgment, Rev. xviii. 8. and make her give an account of all the faints blood which fhe hath drunk herself, and which fhe hath taught her daughters to drink. And falvation, glory, honour, and power, fhall be afcribed to the Lord, for his righteous and powerful judging of her, Rev. xix. 1, 2. And he that hath any glimmering of this in the eternal light of the Lord's pure everliving Spirit, let him even now fay, Hallelujah to him who is arisen out of his holy habitation, and hath already begun this work, who will not fail to perfect it. Amen.

SOMEWHAT

Concerning the GROUND of ERROR,

And the Way to TRUTH and UNITY; for the Sake of fuch as are more Spiritual.

TH

HERE is no way to become an heir of the kingdom of God, but by being begotten and born of his Spirit; which blows upon the spirit of man, breathes life into him, and forms him in the eternal image, John iii. 8. Gal. iv. 19.

There is no way of having this work of God preferved, but by turning to the Spirit which begets, ftanding and keeping upright in that which is begotten, and taking heed of the fleshly wisdom, which ftands near to corrupt and destroy the work of God; tempting and leading afide from the truth itself, into fome image and resemblance of it. And if this prevail, there is fuddenly a departing from the living God, and a running a whoreing after the inventions of the fleshly wisdom, which appears in the likenefs of the true wisdom, that it might the better deceive..

Now when man is first breathed upon, and begotten towards God, there is but a little life, a little fimplicity, a little light, a little power, a little of the wisdom of the true babe; but a great body of death, deceit, darkness, power, and wisdom of the flesh, standing: and all these apply themselves to overturn and destroy the true work of God, by raising up a false image of it, which is eafily done; but abiding and prefervation in the truth is difficult, and alone maintained by that power which at firft begat.

Now the power preserves through keeping out of the fenfual and reasoning part (where the corrupt one hath his lodging), in that poor, low, little, childish sensibility of the life, which the Father hath begotten. Here is the entrance into the truth; here is the growth, here is the prefervation and fafety; which makes it so hard for those that are wife and ftrong in the reasoning and comprehending part, either to enter in, or to abide and grow in the nakedness, fimplicity, and feeming folly of the truth of the Gofpel. Oh! what a deal is to be brought down, before they can be truly reached and convinced by the foolish and weak things which God chuseth to effect his great works by, 1 Cor. i. 27, 28. What a work hath God with them to batter their wisdom, and bring down their understanding; which the larger it is, the more it stands in the way of his light, 2 Cor. i.. 19. And if they be convinced at any time, what an easy and natural return

unto

unto them doth their own wisdom find, by fome fubtil device or other, to draw them back from the plainnefs and fingleness of the Truth, into an holding it in the wifdom and fubtilty of the understanding-part, where the fimplicity is foon loft, 2 Cor. xi. 3.

In the Spirit which begets, and in the Truth which is begotten by it, is the true unity. Feeling that in one another, is that which unites us to one another. Every one keeping to that in his own particular, is kept to that which unites; and that is kept alive in him which is to be united : but departing from that, there is a departing from the true unity into the error and ground of division.. And then that which hath erred and departed from the true unity, ftrives to fet up a falfe image of unity, and blames that which abides in the Truth, because it cannot thus unite: for that which abides in the Spirit, and in that which the Spirit hath begotten and formed, cannot unite according to the flesh; as that which is run a whoring from the Spirit, into an image of the fleshly wifdom's forming, cannot unite according to the Spirit. Confider this, O ye profeffors of this age! Ye blame us for departing from you; for withdrawing from unity with you. We blame you for departing from the living principle, wherein our unity with you formerly stood, and wherein alone we can again unite with you; and not in fuch things as uphold a fleshly and falfe image of the true unity.

Oh! that ye could hear the Lord's voice, who crieth aloud to the profeffors of this age to ceafe from man! Cease from man in thyfelf, O thou who haft ever had any tafte of the pure grace and power of God. Ceafe from thine own understanding, thine own affections, thine own zeal, thine own gathered knowledge and wisdom from the fcriptures, with all the fparks of thine own kindling; that God may be all in thee, and his eternal habitation be raised up in thee, and perfected, and thou fwallowed up and comprehended in it for ever. Oh! what a work hath God to drive man's reafon and wisdom out of his temple, out of his fcriptures, out of all his holy things! He that hath an ear, let him hear, for the fake of his foul's eternal peace. Alas! alas! how many ftumble at, and blafpheme that, which alone can save the foul! There have been many difpenfations of, but there is but One living Truth; but One Subftance; but One Arm of Salvation. And he that stumbles at the thing itself, how can he be faved by it? It is eafy misunderstanding a former difpenfation, reading it in the letter; and fo to miss of the falvation hoped for by it.

The Jews owned the Meffiah (according to the Scriptures, as they thought), but rejected him in the way he came to fave them in. Now if Christians have gathered fuch a kind of knowledge from the letter of the. fcriptures as they did, how can they avoid the fame error; namely, of owning Christ according to the fcriptures, as they think, but rejecting him as he comes to fave them; rebelling against his living miniftry, and the pure power and demonftration of his Spirit, because it appears weak and

low;

A

low; because it doth not appear the fame thing to them which they expect to be faved by, according to their apprehenfions of the fcriptures? Thus reading the fcriptures in another spirit and wisdom than that which wrote them, they must needs conclude and gather another thing from them than what is written in them, and fo make that a means to them of erring from the life, which was written to teftify of, and point to, the living principle from whence life and falvation springs, and where alone it is to be had.

EXAMINATION

OF THE

GROUNDS or CAUSES

Which are faid to INDUCE the

Court of BOSTON, in NEW-ENGLAND,

TO MAKE THAT

ORDER OF LAW of BANISHMENT, upon Pain of DEATH,

or

QU

AGAINST THE

A KE

KER S.

AS ALSO OF

The GROUNDS and CONSIDERATIONS by them produced, to manifeft the WARRANTABLENESS and JUSTNESS both of their Making and Executing the fame; which they now ftand deeply engaged to DEFEND, having already thereupon put Two of them to Death.

AS ALSO O O F
OF

Some further Grounds for justifying of the fame, in an APPENDIX to JOHN NORTON's Book (which was printed after the Book itself, yet as Part thereof); whereto he is faid to be appointed by the General Court.

AND LIKEWISE OF

The Arguments briefly hinted, in that which is called, "A true Relation "of the Proceedings against the QUAKERS, &c."

Whereunto fomewhat is added

About the Authority and Government Chrift excluded out of his Church; which occafioneth fomewhat concerning the true Church Government.

By ISAAC PENINGTON the Younger.

The ftone the builders refufed, is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Pf. cxviii. 22, 23.

I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou haft hid these things from the wife and prudent, and haft revealed them unto babes. Even fo Father ; for so it seemed good in thy fight. Mat. xi. 25, 26.