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a field, and Jerusalem shall be an heap, and the mountain of the house, as the high place of the forest.' And now try yourselves, ye priests and prophets, do not ye teach for hire, and prophesy for money? and do not you think that your Sion must be turned up like a field with God's plough, and your Jerusalem be as a heap, and the mountain of your house like the high place of the forest barren, you being found in the steps of those priests and prophets, if you believe Micah to be a true prophet, do not you think those things will come upon you, that he declared? And in Zeph. iii. 4. where he saith, her prophets are light and wicked persons, her priests have polluted the sanctuary, and they have wrested the law.' Now measure yourselves with these, and look into your actions, that profess yourselves ministers of the gospel, and see if this lightness and wickedness be not found amongst you, and that your sanctuaries are not corrupted? and do not you plead for [term of life,] a body of sin and death, and cast the law of the spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus behind your backs, which makes free from the law of sin and death.

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And in Zach. xi. 17. 'Oh idle shepherds that leave the flock, the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.' See here is God's judgments denounced upon the idle shepherds that leave their flocks. And in the 8th verse, it is said, three shepherds did I also cut off in one month, and my soul loathed them, and their souls abhorred me.' Here is the end of such shepherds as abhor the Lord, and yet pretend to keep his sheep. Now try yourselves, you priests of Christendom, see if your right eye be not darkened, and your arm dried up, and then how can you see? And in Mal. ii. the priests' lips should have preserved knowledge, and they should have sought it at the Lord's mouth; but now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you, if ye will not hear it, nor consider it in your hearts to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts; I will even send a curse upon you, and will curse your blessings, yea, I have cursed them already;' mark, because ye do not consider it in your hearts; therefore, what are your blessings good for, if they be cursed?

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'Behold, saith the Lord, I will corrupt your seed, and cast dung upon your faces, and you shall be like unto it ;' [mark,] like unto dung, which the Lord will cast upon you; and therefore, all ye priests consider this command, and take it to heart, who have left the work of God, whose lips should have preserved knowledge, if ye had sought his law from his mouth; but you say, now a-days, there is no hearing his voice; then no receiving his law from his mouth, to wit, the law of the spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath made a priest higher than the heavens, whom all people must seek their knowledge from, and salvation from, for he is their treasure: here ye may see what judgments came

upon the Jews and their prophets, shepherds, priests, and pastors; and what misery they brought the people into, and what judgments God sent his prophets to denounce against them, and to disown them, and what misery he brought them into, that spoke and run, and used their tongues, and stole God's words from their neighbour, when the Lord never spoke to them, nor sent them: and these were such as taught for hire, and for filthy lucre, and handsful of barley, and for pieces of bread, and were the flatterers and daubers with untempered mortar ; and filthy dreamers, and followed the divination of their own hearts and brains, and followed their own spirit, seeing nothing, and strengthen the hands of the wicked. and saddened the righteous, seeking for their gain from their quarter, where they have got their quarter, there they are seeking for their gain; speaking peace to people whilst they put into their mouths, but if not, they prepared war against them, and these turned against the Lords' prophets, and cast his law behind their backs, and cast off the Lord, though they might get the form of words, of the law and of the prophets, yet out of the life these were all judged, by the Lord, and his prophets that spoke from the mouth of the Lord; therefore such cannot be owned now that be found in their steps in Christendom, and that are found in their practices, if they own God and his prophets that declared against them, as you may see in the prophets of the old testament, and therefore try yourselves by these scriptures.

And now let us see in the new testament what sort of preachers Christ and the apostles cried against, and what sort they owned and sent forth.

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Christ said, Woe, unto the scribes and blind pharisees, which made clean the outside of the platter, and appeared beautiful outwardly, but inwardly were full of bribery, and excess, and dead men's bones, and filthiness. Now these were high professors that had a beautiful outside, and shined like a cup or a platter on the outside? and did not many of these professors outstrip many of the professors of Christ's words now a-days in the outside?

Again, Christ speaks to the multitude, and his disciples, and tells them how they shall know the false teachers with their marks; 'They bind heavy burdens, grievous to be born, and lay them on men's shoulders,' here is one mark, but they themselves will not bear them with one of their little fingers; they will not move that which they lay upon others, and that is contrary to the law; for all their works they do to be seen of men, they make their phylacteries broad, and make long the fringes of their garments;' here is another mark, (by their garments) and doing what they do to be seen, which these in our days may try themselves by, whether these marks be not found upon them.

"They love the chiefest place in feasts, and to have the chiefest place

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in the assemblies;' here is another mark: they love greetings in the market-place, and to be called of men, rabbi or master.' here is another mark.

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But saith Christ to his disciples, Be not ye called of men master or rabbi; for one is your master, even Christ, and all you are brethren; he that is the greatest among you let him be your servant.' Here is Christ's doctrine to his ministers, Matt. xxiii. and the marks or tokens by which people may know the false; and therefore, try yourselves, ye preachers, and priests in Christendom, have ye not all these marks and badges, and to be cried against by the spirit?

And the false teachers were such as 'garnished the sepulchres of the righteous,' and said, 'If we had been in the days of our forefathers, we would not have killed the prophets, or have been partakers with our forefathers in the blood of the prophets; so then be ye witnesses, saith Christ, unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them that murdered the prophets. Oh, generation of vipers! how can you escape the damnation of hell,' saith Christ? And do not many say so now, that are found in the practise of their forefathers, the scribes and pharisees?

And further, Christ saith, Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets and wise men, and scribes, and of them ye shall kill and crucify, and of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;' mark, these were such as Christ should send amongst those professors, and that was then to be fulfilled, that upon you might come all the righteous blood that was shed upon the earth, &c.

Now have not many christians in profession, but not in possession fulfilled these sayings of Christ upon his servants, in scourging and persecuting, and putting them out of their synagogues in these our days.

And in Matt. x. where Christ sent forth his disciples to preach, and said, 'As ye go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand; heal the sick, cleanse the leprous, cast out devils, freely you have received, freely give, possess not gold or silver in your purses, nor take a scrip for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff; for the workman is worthy of his meat; and into what city or town ye shall come, enquire who is worthy in it, and there abide till you go thence; and when ye come into an house, salute the same, and if the house be worthy let your peace come upon it, but if it be not worthy let your peace return to you again, and whosoever will not receive you, nor hear your words; [mark] nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet for a testimony aginst them; truly I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city,' saith Christ.

'Behold I send you, as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as serpents, and innocent as doves, beware of men, for they will

deliver you up to the councils, and will scourge you in their synagogues, [mark,] in their synagogues; ye shall be brought before the governors and kings for my namesake, in witness to them and to the Gentiles; but when they deliver you up, take no thought, how or what you shall speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall say; for it is not ye that speak, but the spirit of the Father which speaketh in you.' Now mark how Christ sent forth his ministers, here they were to give freely; for freely they had received of Christ, and they were not to take gold or silver in their purses, nor scrips, they were to enquire who was worthy in town or city, and what was set before them, that they were to eat; they were not to enquire what benefits or augmentations belonged to such a town or place, and they were not to go to the magistrates for the bag and their staff, but who was worthy; and they were to be as innocent as doves; for they went amongst wolves as sheep: they were to be delivered up before councils, and scourged in the synagogues; they were to be brought before rulers, but they were not to take thought or study what to speak; for it was the spirit of the Father spoke in them. Now who amongst you in Christendom, goes on in this path of the disciples of Christ, as you may see Matt. xvi. and Mark vi. and Luke ix. and obey the command of Christ herein.

And in Luke x. where Christ appointed his seventy disciples, and sent them out two and two before him, and he said unto them, 'the harvest is great but the labourers are few, pray therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into his harvest;' [mark,] pray for the Lord to send them forth, who is the Lord of the harvest; so these were not to be sent forth by men, but by the Lord of the harvest; and this was Christ's command for his disciples to pray, and saith Christ to his seventy, 'go your ways, behold I will send you forth as lambs amongst wolves;' (mark, these wolves,) ye professing Jews of the law, and the prophets; 'carry neither bag nor scrip, neither salute any man by the way, and into whatsoever house ye enter, say, peace to this house; and if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it, if not it shall turn to you again; and in that house abide, eating and drinking such things as shall by them be set before you; for the labourer is worthy of his meat; go not from house to house.' So you may see this was their wages, a little meat and drink ; but into whatsoever city ye shall enter, if they receive you, eat such things as are set before you; heal the sick that are there, and say unto them, the kingdom of God is come near unto you; but into whatsoever city ye shall enter, if they will not receive you, go your ways out into the streets of the same city, and say, [mark, they were to speak in the streets,] even the very dust which cleaveth on us of your city, we wipe off against you; notwithstanding know this, that the kingdom of God is come near unto you; [mark,] is come near unto you; for

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I say unto you that it shall be easier in that day for them of Sodom, than for that city; he that heareth you, heareth me, saith Christ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me; and the seventy returned again from their preaching with joy, saying, Lord even the devils are subject unto us through thy name, and Christ bid them, rejoice not in that, but rather because their names were written in heaven; and that same hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I confess unto thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes, even so Father, because it so pleased thee; then he turned to his disciples and said, all things are given me of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father, nor who the Father is, save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him; and he turned to his disciples and said, blessed are the eyes which see what you see.'

So here you may see how Christ sent forth the seventy disciples, and how they came again with joy, and how his Father had revealed such things to babes, and hid them from the wise and learned, and that 'no man knows the Son, but the Father, and no one knows the Father, but the Son, and him to whom the Son will reveal him:' so it is clear neither learned nor wise know the Father nor Son, but by Revelation, as may be seen at large in Luke x. Therefore, all ye teachers in Christendom, come and try yourselves by these scriptures, and see whether you be not found out of the practice of Christ's disciples and ministers, and disobedient to Christ's commands.

And now these seventy, as the twelve, were not to enquire into what town or city they came, where was the greatest benefice or augmentation, and come and tell Christ they had gotten such things; but their joy was, that he had given them power over the devil: and Christ said in Luke xxii. 35. unto his disciples, when I sent you without bag and scrip, and shoes, lacked you any thing? and the disciples answered him, we lacked nothing.'

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So here you may see, though Christ sent forth his ministers without bag or scrip, silver or gold, and commanded them to give freely, as they had received freely of him, yet they wanted for nothing: therefore, consider all you that call yourselves ministers, that say, ye have not heard the voice of Christ, are not you always in want, though you have bag and scrip, silver and gold? and will you go to any place, except there be a great parsonage, or some augmentation; therefore, measure yourselves with such as Christ sent forth, and see how unlike you are unto them? and have not you laid away Christ's command, who saith, freely you have received, freely give;' and how can you receive freely from Christ, when you never expect to hear his voice, or to be sent out by him?

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