Four books on the eleventh of Matthew

and this is a great ease, whereas this is the bondage of Antichrist, he will make laws to bind conscience, and so though a man should keep all Gods laws, yet he may be damned to eternity by breaking his laws, and therefore he makes it a bondage in this regard, that a man should be not only in danger of eternal damnation by disobedience to Christs laws, but a thousand laws that he never knows. And that is the second ease of the yoke of Christ, that there shall be no Laws to govern the Church but the laws of Jesus Christ.

Thirdly: The difference between the yoke of Antichrist, and the yoke of Christ is this: Antichrist requires submission to his laws by violence & compulsion, and you must do them whether you understand them or not, you must understand them by a Prison else, that which shall befall you is imprisonment, and banishment, by inflicting corporal punishment upon you, he will force you that way to come to believe, if you cannot come to believe this to be a truth, that is the way to make you to believe it, imprisonment, and banishment, and mulcts upon your estate, and corporal punishments upon your bodies; but Christ takes no such course, and gives no such commission, to enforce to believe things by such a way as this, but his ways are gentle, & meek ways, saith he, come unto me, & learn of me, for I am meek & lowly, & take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy; and it is easy in this, that what I require of you to believe, I do not use violent and compulsive ways and means to bring you to believe, No, but the way that I would have my people use, it is instruction and information, it is the showing of them the truth, and answering their Objections that they have against this way, it is gently to lead them, and not compelling ⟨p. 732⟩of them to believe, that if a man cannot believe such a truth they shall be compelled to it, certainly, to use violence and to compel such a man, is not the way of Jesus Christ. Indeed for some outward ways to be used to keep men from doing hurt to others, that is another thing, from doing that which may do mischief to another man:

Thirdly: The difference between the yoke of Antichrist, and the yoke of Christ is this: Antichrist requires submission to his laws by violence & compulsion, and you must do them whether you understand them or not, you must understand them by a Prison else, that which shal befal you is imprisonment, and banishment, by inflicting corporal punishment upon you, he wil force you that way to come to beleeve, if you cannot come to beleeve this to be a truth, that is the way to make you to beleeve it, imprisonment, and banishment, and mulcts upon your estate, and corporal punishments upon your bodies; but Christ takes no such course, and gives no such commission, to inforce to beleeve things by such a way as this, but his waies are gentle, & meek waies, saith he, come unto me, & learn of me, for I am meek & lowly, & take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easie; and it is easie in this, that what I require of you to beleeve, I do not use violent and compulsive waies and means to bring you to beleeve, No, but the way that I would have my people use, it is instruction and information, it is the shewing of them the truth, and answering their Objections that they have against this way, it is gently to lead them, and not compelling