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the churches case, and when you go to God you are tongue taked and cannot get it expressed. There is a question propounded by the Lord himself, and it is just our language, at least, the language of such as would prefer Jerusalem to the world, and it is this, 'shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive be delivered?—Is not this our case?—In few wards, we are a prey, and those that have us son a prey are mighty, and we are captives; and if you please to take lawful captives, for the captivity of the just; or thus, we are in captivity according to their law, that is, according to inquiry established by the law. I shall not be long in speaking what I have to say from these words; but as to the question, there are these two or three things in it, and we shall only name them and not come over them again.
1. There is this holden out by it, that sometimes the people of God are made a prey, I wot well that word is made out in our day, Isaiah xlix, 15. 'Truth faileth, and he that departed from evil maketh himself a prey; I'll tell you what many folks say in this land, they forbear practices, that some men at this time are forward in, to evite trouble: nay, but forbearing duty is your sin; and if you sin not with others you may make yourself a prey: but the providence of this time is a commentary sufficient of these words; they are not worthy of their
