also by joining with the Priest in a Service which they do not understand But how they can be edified by what they do not understand I must confess my self as little able to understand as they do their Prayers But whether they understand them or not 't is certain that if the People have any part in the Publick Prayers of the Church they are bound to pray to Angels and Saints And if the Creed of Pope Pius IV. framed by Virtue of an Order of the Council of Trent be of any Authority with them one of the Articles of it is that I do firmly hold that the Saints which Reign together with Christ are to be worshipped and invocated and that they do offer up Prayers to God for us And this Creed all the Governors of Cathedrals and Superior Churches and all who hold any Dignity or Benefice with Cure of Souls from them are bound solemnly to make Profession of and Swear to and carefully to cause it to be Held and Taught and Preached by all that are under their Charge so that they are to Teach the People that the Saints which reign together with Christ are to be worshipped and prayed to And therefore unless People are not bound to do that which they are to be Taught it is their Duty to do they are by Virtue of this Article required to worship and pray to Saints And if the Publicly Office of their Church be the Publick Worship and Pope Pius his Creed the Publick Faith of the Romish Church no Man can be either of the Faith or in the Communion of that Church who does not only hold it Lawful but his Duty to worship the Saints in Heaven and to pray to them and accordingly does join in the Worship of them and Prayers to them as much as in any other part of Divine Service 2. Another Pretence for this Doctrine and Practice is that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us and what is this but to be Mediators and Intercessors with God for us And if so why may not we pray to them to intercede with God for us To this I answer four things 1. We do not deny that the Saints in Heaven pray for us that are here upon Earth because they may do so for any thing we know but that they do so is more than can be proved either by clear Testimony of Scripture or by any convincing Argument from Reason and therefore no Doctrine or Practice can be safely grounded upon it 2. Tho' it were certain that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us yet they are not Mediators and Intercessors properly so called For all Intercession strictly and properly so call'd is in Virtue of a Sacrifice offered by him that intercedes and therefore he only by whom Expiation of Sin is made upon Earth can be properly an Intercessor with God in Heaven but this no Angel or Saint hath done or can do And as I have shew'd in some of the former Discourses it is the plain scope of a great part of the Epistle to the Hebrews to prove this very thing that under the Gospel we have an High Priest that lives for ever and appears in the Presence of God for us in the Virtue of that Blood which he shed and that Sacrifice which he offered upon the Cross for the Expiation of Sin And that by this High Priest only we have Access with Freedom and Confidence to the Throne of Grace and by him do offer up all our Prayers and Thanksgivings and all other Acts of Religious Worship to God And this the Apostle shews was typified in an imperfect Manner by the Jewish High Priest under the Law who was but one and none but he only could enter into the Holy of Holies with the Blood of the Sacrifices that were slain and burnt without by which Blood he made an Atonement and Interceded for the People and though every Priest might pray for the People and the People for one another which is a kind of Intercession yet that peculiar kind of Intercession which was performed by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies in virtue of the Sacrifice that was slain without could not be made but by the High Priest only By all which was typified our High Priest under the Gospel who only hath made Expiation of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself and is enter'd into Heaven to appear in the Presence of God for us where he lives for ever to make Intercession for us in virtue of that Blood which was shed for the Expiation of Sin and which can only be presented to God by him that shed it And this is properly Intercession like that of the High Priest under the Law for the People of Israel and this kind of Intercession can be made by none in Heaven for us but only by the High Priest of our Profession Jesus the Son of God and by none else can we offer up our Prayers and Services to God and consequently we cannot address our selves to any other Angels or Saints as Mediators with God for us 3. Supposing it certain that the Saints do pray for us yet we may not address solemn Prayer to them to pray for us because Prayer and solemn Invocation is a part of that Religious Worship which is peculiar to God 4. Supposing it not only certain that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us but likewise that they might be proper Mediators and Intercessors with God for us yet we ought not to pray to them because they cannot hear us as I shall have occassion to shew fully by and by 3. Another of their Pretences or Excuses for this Practice is that praying to Saints to pray for us is no more than what we do to good Men upon Earth when we desire them to pray for us So the late Expounder of the Catholique Faith namely the Bishop of Meaux tells us that they pray to the Saints in Heaven in the same order of Brotherly society with which we entreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us But that this is not a true Representation either of their Doctrine or Practice in this matter will appear by these following Considerations 1. That they pray to the Angels and Saints in Heaven with the same solemn Circumstances of Religious Worship that they pray to God himself in the same place and in the same humble Posture and in the same Religious Offices and Services in which they pray to God which surely is never done by any to their Brethren upon Earth 2. That in their Prayers and Thanksgivings they joyn the Angels and the Blessed Virgin arid the Saints together with God and Christ as if to use their own Phrase it were in the same order of Brotherly Society and as if they were all equally the Objects of our Invocation and Praise of which in my last Discourse I gave several plain Instances but this also is never done to our Brethren upon Earth 3. That in the Creed of
Joash was the Son of Jehoiada And tho' it be very considerable which St. Jerome observes that in the Hebrew or Nazarene Gospel it is Zacharias the Son of Jehoiada yet it is hard to rely upon that against all the Greek Copies But a more difficult Objection in my opinion is that our Saviour seems to design to mention the Two Extreams the First and Last Righteous Man that was shin and between them two comprehended the Good Men of all Ages that were Persecuted and Slain and if so then that Zacharias in the Chronicles who was slain so long before can by no means be the Person There is yet a Fourth Zacharias mention'd by Josephus Lib. 4. the Son of Baruch which is probably enough the the same Name with Barachias who was the last remarkable Good Man that was slain immediately before the Siege of Jerusalem and that as Josephus tells us in the midst of the Temple which agrees with our Saviour's description of it between the Altar and the Temple not the Altar of Incense but of Burnt Offerings which was in the outward Court before the ascent to the Temple So that Grotius thinks this was the Man intended by our Saviour yet so that he does both allude to the History of the former Zacharias and foretell the Death of this And there is but one Objection against this that our Saviour speaks of this as already past whom you have slain whereas this Zacharias was not slain till after our Saviour's Death But I think that a satisfactory Answer may be given to this viz. that our Saviour foretelling those future Persecutions which should fill up the Measure of their Sins and bring final Destruction upon them he speaks of this as already past because before that Destruction should come upon them it would be true they had slain him So that speaking of the Vengeance coming upon them well might he say that upon them should come the blood of all the righteous men from Abel to Zacharias whom they had slain c. III. The Third Difficulty remains III. and that is in what Sense and with what Reason and Justice it is here threatned that the blood of all the Prophets and Righteous Men shed from the foundation of the World should be required of that Generation Some understand this more strictly they should be charged with it and formally punisht for it because in imitating their cruel Predecessors they should be guilty of all their Cruelty But there is no necessity of this All that our Saviour seems to intend is this that their Punishment in the Destruction of Jerusalem should be so horrible as if God had once for all Arraigned them of all the Righteous Blood that ever had been shed in the World and brought the Punishment of it upon them tho' in Truth the Punishment did not exceed the desert of their own Sins And if this be the meaning of it there is nothing Harsh and Unreasonable in it And thus I have explain'd as well as I can the several Difficulties in the Text. I shall make Two or Three Observations from the main Scope and Design of it and so conclude I. That it hath been the Lot of Holy and Righteous Men in most Ages of the World to meet with very bad usage to be Persecuted and Slain The Devil began this Work early When there were but Three Men in all the World and Two of them Brethren the one slew the other because he was more righteous and served God better than he did And this trade hath continued and been practised more or less in most Ages and Generations of the World as might be deduced through the History of the Old and New Testament and of most Ages since though the rod of the wicked hath not always abode upon the back of the righteous lest at last Piety should be quite discouraged and the faithful fail from among the Children of men The People and the Church of God have had many Intervals of Peace and Prosperity and sometimes for a long continuance the favour and countenance of Authority and the Powers of the World and the Laws of Nations on their side But yet there is a continual enmity between the Seed of the Woman and the Serpent between the Righteous and the Wicked between those that serve God and those that serve him not because their ways are contrary one to another and quite of another fashion their Principles and Practices do contradict and clash with one another the Virtues of good Men are a continual upbraiding of the bad a living reproof and reproach to them so that it is no wonder that evil Men do so violently hate and persecute the good and do by all means endeavour to remove out of the way those who are so opposite and offensive to them II. We may observe likewise hence how great a Sin they are guilty of who persecute the Righteous and how terrible a Vengeance from God waits on them Particular Examples of this have been in all Ages But as the guilt of this Sin never went higher than at this time foretold by our Saviour when God sent to the Jews such Prophets and Wise-men and Scribes and such a Number of them as never upon any occasion were sent unto the World and they used them in that bloody and barbarous manner no wonder if the Vengeance that came upon them was such as never had been before and if after they had filled up the measure of their Sins by crucifying the Lord Jesus and persecuting his Apostles and stoning and killing all the Prophets that were sent unto them the wrath of God came upon them to the utmost and such a terrible Destruction from the Lord as never befel any People insomuch that our Saviour upon the foresight and mention of it Forty Years before it happen'd could not but weep over them and express himself in those compassionate Words O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Pro phets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings but ye would not Behold your house is left unto you desolate III. From this whole Passage of our Saviour which I have been explaining to you we may learn how vain it is for Men to pretend to Honour the dead Saints when they Persecute the living This was the great Hypocrisie of the Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews in our Saviour's time and is at this Day of the Rulers and Governor's of the Roman Church among us Christians Nay they exceed the Scribes and Pharisees not only in their Veneration of the ancient Saints and righteous Men but also if it be possible in their malice and cruelty towards the living For they not only build costly Monuments to their Memory which was the utmost the Scribes and Pharisees did but they honour them with Shrines and rich Offerings with Prayers and Vows to them more frequent than to Almighty God
to Saints and Angels contrary to the plain Law and Word of God a Zeal for the sacrilegious depriving of the People of half the Sacrament contrary to our Saviour's plain Institution and the acknowledged Practice of the Catholick Church for a thousand years a Zeal for that most absurd of all Doctrines that ever was taught in any Religion I mean the Dostrine of Transubstantiation not only without any sufficient Authority from Scripture as is acknowledged by several of the most learned of the Roman Church but contrary to Reason and in defiance of the Sense of all Mankind a Zeal for these and many more like gross Errors and Practices cannot possibly be a zeal according to knowledge 2. That is a zeal without knowledge the degree whereof is manifestly disproportion'd to the Good or Evil of things about which it is conversant when there is in Men a greater and fiercer Zeal for the Externals of Religion than for the Vital and Essential Parts of it for the Traditions of men than for the Commandments of God for Bodily Severities than for the Mortification of our Lusts for the Means of Religion than for the End of it a greater zeal against the Omission and Neglect of some senseless and superstitious Practices than against the Practice of the grossest Immoralities and against the Denyers of the Doctrines of Transubstantiation and of the Pope's Infallibility an equal if not a greater zeal I am sure a more severe Prosecution than against those who deny our Saviour to be the true Messias and the Son of God This certainly is not a zeal according te knowledge Nor 3. That which is prosecuted by unlawful and unwarrantable Means That cannot be a zeal of God according to knowledge which warrants the doing of Evil that Good may come the violating of Truth and Faith and of the Peace of Humane Society for the Cause of the Catholick Church and breaking the eternal and immutable Laws of God for the advancing of his Glory Nor 4. An uncharitable Zeal which is an Enemy to Peace and Order and thinks it self sufficiently warranted to separate from the Communion of Christians and to break the Peace of the Church upon every scruple and upon every fancy and conceit of unlawful Impositions tho' in the most indifferent things nay upon this single Point because a thing which they acknowledge lawful and indifferent in it self is in the worship of God enjoyned by Authority The most unreasonable Principle that I think ever was avowed among Christians not to do a thing which otherwise they might do only because it is enjoyned and to fancy that an indifferent thing becomes comes presently unlawful because it is commanded by lawful Authority and that it is a Sin to do any thing in the Worship of God which is not left to their Liberty whether they will do it or not This is not only a Zeal without knowledge but contrary to common Sense Nor 5. A Furious and Cruel Zeal which St. James calls a bitter or a wrathful Zeal and which tends to confusion and every evil work which is blind with its own rage and makes Men as St. Paul says of himself when he persecuted the Christians exceedingly mad against all that differ from them and stand in the way of their fierce and outragious Zeal 6. And lastly A Zeal for ignorance is most certainly not a zeal according to knowledge and this is a Zeal peculiar to the Church of Rome by such strict Laws to forbid People the use of the Holy Scriptures in a known Tongue nay not so much as to allow them to understand what they do in the Service of God to require them to be present at their Publick Prayers and to joyn with them in them without letting them know the meaning of them to pretend to teach them by reading Lessons to them in an unknown Tongue and all this under pretence of increasing their Devotion as if the less Men understand of the Service of God the more they would be affected with it and edified by it And yet there is nothing in which the Church of Rome hath been more zealously concerned than to keep the People in ignorance Nothing they hive opposed with more obstinacy against the repeated application of Princes and People at the beginning of the Reformation than to allow the People the use of the Scriptures in their publick Prayers in an unknown Tongue And their obstinacy in this Point was not without Reason nothing being more certain than that if the People were once brought to understand the Scriptures they would soon quit their Religion which in so many things is so directly contrary to the word of God The III. And last thing remains to be spoken to viz. How far the doing of things out of a Zeal for God doth Mitigate and Extenuate the Evil of them For when the Apostle here testifies concerning the Jews that they had a zeal of God he speaks this in favour of them and by way of mitigation of their fault I bear them record I who was once acted by this ignorant and furious zeal which now possesseth them and persecuted the Christians in the same outragious manner as they still continue to do and all this with a very good Conscience as I thought and out of a zeal for God and the true Religion So he tells us Acts 26.9 I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth So that his zeal was sincere and with a real intention to do Service to God and Religion and yet for all that was very faulty and sinful and if he had persisted in it Damnable so that his confidence that he was in the right and the Sincerity of his zeal in acting according to the perswasion of his Conscience did not alter the Nature of the actions he did out of this zeal and make them less wicked in themselves tho' it was some mitigation of the fault of the Person and render'd him more capable of the Mercy of God by Repentance than if he had done contrary to his Conscience and the clear convictions of his own Mind And therefore the best way to understand the great Evil and Wickedness of this furious and blind Zeal will be to consider the account which St. Paul after his Conversion gives of his own doings and what load he lays upon himself notwithstanding the Sincerity of his Zeal and that he acted according to his Conscience Acts viii and ix you have the History at large of his outrageous doings how he made havock of the Church entering into every house and haling men and women to Prison how he breathed out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Acts 22.4 I persecuted says he this way unto the death binding and delivering into Prisons both men and women And Ch. 26.10 11. Many of the Saints did I shut up in Prison and when they were put to death I gave my voice
against them and I punished them often in every Synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even to strange Cities Gal. 1.13 14. Ye have heard says he of my conversation in times past in the Jews Religion how that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it being exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers 1 Tim. 1.13 Who was before a blasphemer and a persecuter and injurious So that he chargeth himself with the guilt of Blasphemy and Murder and a most furious and outrageous Persecution of Good Men for which elsewhere he pronounceth himself the chief of Sinners From whence it evidently appears that Men may do the most Wicked and Damnable Sins out of a zeal for God And this was the case of many of the Jews as our Saviour foretold that the time should come when they should kill men thinking they did God good Service But yet for all this the Apostles of our Lord make no scruple to charge them with downright Murder Acts 2.23 speaking of their putting our Saviour to death whom ye by wicked hands have crucified and slain And Acts 7.52 The just One of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers Yet notwithstanding their Sin was of this high Nature in it self yet it was some mitigation of the fault of the Persons that they did these things out of an ignorant zeal and rendred them more capable of the Mercy of God upon their repentance And upon this account our Saviour interceded with God for Mercy for them Father forgive them for they know not what they do St. Peter also pleads the same in mitigation of their fault Acts 3.17 And now brethren I wot that through ignorance ye did it as did also your rulers And St. Paul tells us that he found mercy upon his repentance on this account 1 Tim. 1.13 But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief But still for all this wicked things done out of Conscience and Zeal for God are Damnable and will prove so without repentance I shall now draw some Inferences from this Discourse by way of Application 1. If it be so necessary that our Zeal be directed by knowledge this shews us how dangerous a thing Zeal is in the weak and ignorant sort of People Zeal is an Edg-Tool which Children in understanding should not meddle withal and yet it most frequently possesseth the weakest Minds and commonly by how much the less knowing People are by so much the more zealous they are And in the Church of Rome where Knowledge is professedly discouraged and supprest in the common People Zeal is mightily countenanced and cherish'd And they make great use of it for this blind and furious Zeal is that which inspires diem to do such Cruel and Barbarous things as were hardly ever acted among the Heathen Zeal is only fit for wise Men but it is chiefly in Fashion among Fools Nay it is dangerous in the hands of wise Men and to be govern'd and kept in with a strict Rein otherwise it will transport them to the doing of Undue and Irregular things Moses one of the wisest and best of Men and most likely to govern and manage his Zeal as he ought and to keep aloof from all Excess and Extravagance being the meekest Man upon Earth yet he was so surprised upon a sudden occasion that in a fit of zeal he let fall the Two Tables of the Law which he had but just received from God and dasht them in pieces A true Emblem of an ungoverned zeal in the transport whereof even Good Men are apt to forget the Laws of God and let them fall out of their Hands and to break all the Obligations of Natural and Moral Duties 2. From hence we plainly see that Men may do the worst and wickedest things out of a Zeal for God and Religion Thus it was among the Jews who engrost Salvation to themselves and denyed the possibility of it to all the world besides and the Church of Rome have taken Copy by them as in an arrogant conceit of themselves so in the blindness and fury and uncharitableness of their Zeal towards all who refuse to submit to their Authority and Directions And as the Teachers and Rulers of the Jewish Church did of old so do the Church of Rome now They take away the Key of Knowledge from the People and will neither enter into the kingdom of Heaven themselves nor suffer those that would to enter in They Brand for Hereticks those who make the Holy Scriptures the Rule of their Faith and Worship as St. Paul tells us the Jews did in his Time Acts 24.14 After the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets They Establish the Merit of their own Righteousness not submitting to the Righteousness of God by the Faith of Jesus Christ So St. Paul tells us the Jews did in the Verse immediately after the Text For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God And as the Jews Anathematiz'd and Excommunicated the first Christians and Persecuted them to the Death as our Saviour foretold That the time would come when they should put them out of their Synagogues yea and kill them thinking they did God good service so the Church of Rome hath for many Ages used the sincere Professors of the same Religion Persecuting them first with Excommunication and then with Fire and Faggot and with all the violence and fury in the world endeavouring the utter extirpation and ruine of them by bloody Croisado's and a barbarous Inquisition by treacherous Massacres and all sorts of hellish Plots and Machinations witness the monstrous Design of this day never to be remembred or mentioned without horror To have destroyed at one blow and have swallowed up in one common ruine our King and Prince and Nobles and the Represent ative Body of the whole Nation witness the bloody Massacre of Ireland and all their wicked Designs and Practices continued to this very day 3. And lastly That zeal for God and Religion does not alter the Nature of Actions done upon that account Persecution and Murder of the sincere Professors of Religion are Damnable Sins and no zeal for God and Religion can excuse them or take away the guilt of them zeal for God will justifie no Action that we do unless there be discretion to justifie our zeal There is nothing oftner misleads Men than a misguided Zeal it is an ignis fatuus a false fire which often leads Men into Boggs and Precipices it appears in the Night in dark and ignorant and weak minds and offers it self a guide to those who have lost their way it is one of the most ungovernable Passions of Human Nature and therefore requires great knowledge and judgment to manage
the Congregation of Israel Of the First and Last of these Degrees of Excomunication our Saviour seems here to speak but whether in both Instances in the Text he alludes in the one to the lowest and in the other to the highst Degree of Excommunication among the Jews is not so certain To the First he plainly does when he says they shall put you out of the Synagogues And then he adds that they should proceed much higher against them even to put them to death the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service that is they should not only think it Lawful to kill them but look upon it as a Duty as a high Act of Religion as an acceptable Piece of Worship and a Sacrifice well-pleasing to God For so indeed the word does not only import but most properly signifie whosoever killeth you shall think 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he offers a Sacrifice to God for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes used for a Sacrifice but being joyned with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems necessarily to be determined to that Sense From the words thus explained I shall make these following Observations very proper for our Consideration upon the Occasion of this day 1. That the best of Men may be separated and excluded from the Communion of those who may assume to themselves to be the true and the only true Church yea and suffer under the Notion of very Bad and Criminal Persons This our Saviour here foretold of his Apostles some of the best Men that ever lived They shall put you out of their Synagogues 2. That they who are thus Excommunicated by the pretended true Church may nevertheless be real Members of the true Church of Christ Tho' the Apostles were thus dealt withall by the Jewish Church they did not cease for all that to be Members of the true Church of God 3. That from uncharitable Censures Men do easily and almost naturally proceed to Cruel Actions After they had put the Disciples of our Lord out of their Synagoguse and thereby concluded them to be Hereticks and Reprobates they presently proceed to kill them as not worthy to live They shall put you out of their Synagogues and when they have done that they will soon after think it a thing not only fit but Pious and Meritorious to put you to death the time will come that they will think it a good service to God to kill you 4. That Men may do the Vilest things and the most Wicked not only under a grave pretence of Religion but out of a real opinion and perswasion that they do Religiously Murder is certainly one of the greatest and most crying Sins and yet our Saviour foretells that the Jews should put his Disciples to death being verily perswaded that in so doing they offered a most acceptable Sacrifice to God Yea the time shall come that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offers a Sacrisice to God 5. That such Actions are never the less horribly Impious and Wicked notwithstanding the good Mind with which and the Good End for which they are done The Jews were not excused from the guilt of Persecution and Murder for all they thought they did well in killing the Disciples of our Lord. 6. I observe that the Corruption of the best tilings is the worst Religion is the highest Accomplishment and Perfection of Humane Nature and Zeal for God and his Truth an excellent Quality and highly acceptable to God And yet nothing is more Barbarous and spurs Men on to more horrible Impieties than a blind Zeal for God and false and mistaken Principles in the matter of Religion as is plain from the Instances here before us in the Text. I shall speak as briefly as I can to these Observations 1. That the best of Men may be separated and excluded from the Communion of those who may assume to be the true and only true Church and that under the Notion of very Bad and Criminal Persons This our Saviour foretells in the Text should be the Fate of his Apostles some of the best and holiest Persons that ever lived they shall put you out of the Synagogues And what the Jews did in the beginning of Christianity to the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour hath been too frequently practised since by some of the Professors of Christianity toward one another and very Good Men have in several Ages fallen under the Censure of Excommunication and been separated from the External Communion of the Church and branded with the odious Names of Hereticks and Apostates by those who have arrogated to themselves to be the only Orthodox and true Church and have gotten the external Power and Management of Religion into their hands witness the Case of Athanasius and others in the Reign and Prevalency of Arianism and the ill Treatment that not only particular Persons Eminent for their Learning and Piety but whole Churches have met with in this kind from that haughty and uncharitable Church which makes nothing of thundering out this most fearful Sentence of Excommunication against Persons and Churches much better and more Christian than her self and against all that will not submit to her pretended Infallibility and usurped Authority over the Souls and Consciences of Men. But it is our great Comfort that the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord and Master were thus used by a Church that made the same Pretences that they do and upon Grounds every whit as plausible as I could clearly shew if I were minded to persue and make out this Comparison 2. They who are thus Excommunicated by the pretended only true Church may nevertheless be true Members of the Church of Christ Tho' the Apostles were thus dealt withall by the Jewish Church they did not cease for all this to be real Members of the true Church of God For it is not calling Hereticks first that proves them that do so to be no Hereticks or acquits them from the same or greater Crimes than those which they are so forward to charge upon other Men nor will God condemn all those who are Excommunicated by Men and deny Salvation to every one whom they shall please to separate from their Society and to call by some odious name Men may be put out of the Synagogue and yet receiv'd into Heaven for the Judgment of God is not according to the uncharitable Censures of Men but according to Truth and Right The Sentence of Excommunication is certainly very dreadful where it is duly inflicted and next to the Judgment of God Men ought to be afraid of justly incurring the danger of this Censure and it ought to be upon very plain and evident grounds that Men either separate themselves or endanger their being cut off from the Communion of the Church they live in But when it once comes to this that a Church is infected with gross Errors and Corruptions plainly contrary to the Word of God especially if
that Church will impose her Errors upon all that are of her Communion then those who refuse to comply do not sepavate themselves but are cut off do not depart but are driven out of the Communion of that Church and Separation in that case is as innocent and free from the guilt of Schism as the Cause of it is for the terms of Communion are become such that those who are convinced of those Errors and Corruptions can have no Salvation if they continue in that Communion and then I am sure their Salvation will not be endangered by leaving it or being Excommunicated out of it for that would be the hardest case in the World that Men should be Damned for continuing in the Communion of such a Church and damned likewise for being cast out of it Therefore no Man ought to be terrified because of the boldness and presumption of those who with so much Confidence and so little Charity damn all that are not of their Communion for we see plainly from the Text that Men may be in the right and surest way to Salvation and yet be Excommunicated by those who call themselves the true Church and will not allow Salvation to any but those of their own Communion The Disciples of our Lord and Saviour were certainly very good Men and in a safe way of Salvation tho' they were Excommunicated and put out of the Synagogue by the chief Priests and the Rulers of the Jewish Church I proceed to the 3. Observation which was this that from uncharitable Censures Men do by an easie step and almost naturally proceed to Cruel Actions After the Jews had put the Disciples of our Lord out of their Synagogues and thereby concluded them to be Hereticks and Reprobates no wonder they should proceed to kill those whom they thought not worthy to live they shall put you out of their Synagogues says our Saviour and when they have done that they will soon think it a thing not only fit and reasonable but Pious and Meritorious and a good Piece of Service done to God to put you to death Uncharitableness naturally draws on Cruelty and hardens Humane Nature towards those of whom we have once conceived so hard an opinion that they are Enemies to God and his Truth And this hath been the source of the most barbarous Cruelties that have been in the world witness the severity of the Heathen Perfection of the Christians which justified it self by the Uncharitable Opinion which they had conceived of them that they were despisers of Religion and the Gods and consequently Atheists that they were pertinacious and obstinate in their Opinions that is in the Modern Stile they were Hereticks And the like uncharitable conceit among Christians hath been thought a sufficient ground even in the judgment of the Infallible Chair for the justification of several bloody Massacres and the cruel Proceedings of the Inquisition against Persons suspected of Heresie for after Men are once Sentenced to Eternal Damnation it seems a small thing to torment and destroy their Bodies 4. Men may do the vilest and most wicked things not only under a grave Pretence of Religion but out of a real Opinion and Perswasion of Mind that they do Religiously Murder is certainly one of the greatest and most crying Sins and yet our Saviour foretels that the Jews should put his Disciples to Death being verily perswaded that in so doing they should offer a most acceptable Sacrifice to God yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offers a Sacrifice to God Not but that the great Duties and Virtues of Religion are very plain and easy to be understood and so are the contrray Sins and Vices But then they are only plain to a teachable and honest and well-disposed mind to those who receive the word with meekness and are not blinded with wrath and furious Zeal to those that receive the truth into an honest heart and entertain it in the love of it they are plain to the humble and meek for the humble God will guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his ways such as these God seldom suffers to fall into fatal mistakes about their Sin or Duty so as to call good evil and evil good to call light darkness and darkness light to think Uncharitableness a Virtue and downright Murder a great Duty But if Men will give up themselves to be swayed by self-Love and self-Conceit to be governed by any base or corrupt Interest to be blinded by Prejudice and intoxicated by Pride to be transported and hurried away by violent and furious Passions no wonder if they mistake the Nature and confound the Differences of things in the plainest and most palpable cases no wonder if God give up Persons of such corrupt minds to strong delusions to believe lies It ought not to be strange to us if such Men bring their Understandings to their Wills and Interests and bend their Judgments to their Prejudices make them to stoop to their Pride and blindly to follow their Passions which way soever they lead them for God usually leaves such persons to themselves as run away from him and is not concerned to secure those from splitting upon the most dangerous Rocks who will stear their Course by no Compass but commit themselves to the wind and tide of their own Lusts and Passions In these Cases Men may take the wrong Way and yet believe themselves to be in the right they may oppose the Truth and persecute the Professors of it and be guilty of the blackest Crimes and the most horrid Impieties Malice and Hatred Blasphemy and Murder and yet all the while be verily perswaded that they are serving God and Sacrificing to him Of this we have a plain and full instance in the Scribes and Pharisees the chief Priests and Rulers among the Jews who because they sought the Honour of Men and not that which was from God and loved the Praise of Men more than the Praise of God because they were prejudiced against the Meanness of our Saviour's Birth and Condition and had upon false Grounds tho' as they thought upon the Infallibility of Tradition and of Scripture interpreted by Tradition entertain'd quite other Notion of the Messias from what he really was to be because they were proud and thought them selves too wise to learn of him and because his Doctrine of Humility and self-Denyal did thwart their Interest and bring down their Authority and Credit among the People therefore they set themselves against him with all their Might opposing his Doctrine and blasting his Reputation and persecuting him to the Death and all this while did bear up themselves with a conceit of the Antiquity and Priviledges of their Church and their profound Knowledge in the Law of God and a great External shew of Piety and Devotion and an arrogant Pretence and Usurpation of being the only Church and People of God in the World And by virtue of these Advantages they thought
they might do any thing and that whosoever opposed the Authority of so ancient and good a Church must needs be very bad Men and deserve to be proceeded against in the severest manner As if any pretence of Piety could give a Priviledge to do wickedly and by how much the Wiser and Holier any Man took himself to be he might do so much the worse things There is another remarkable Instance of this in St. Paul who out of a blind and furious Zeal for the Traditions of his Fathers Persecuted the true Church of God by Imprisonment and Death and all manner of Cruelties and all this while he verily thought that he was in the right and that he ought to do all these things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth And if God had not in a miraculous manner checkt him in his course and changed his Mind he would have spent his whole life in that course of Persecution and Cruelty and would with Pope Paul the IV. upon his Death-Bed have recommended the Inquisition or if he could have thought of any thing more severe to the chief Priests and Rulers of the Jewish Church I will not trouble you with nearer Instances tho' the Jewish Church is not the only Church in the World that hath countenanced the Destruction and Extirpation of those who differed from them as a piece of very acceptable Service to God and meritorious of the Pardon of their Sins 5. I observe that such Actions as these are never the less horribly Wicked and Impious notwithstanding the good Mind with which and the good End for which they are done The Jews were not excused from the guilt of Persecution and Murder for all they thought they did well in killing the Disciples of our Lord. For to make an Action good and acceptable to God the goodness of all Causes and of all Circumstances must concur and any one defect in any of these does vitiate the whole Action and spoil the goodness of it We must do it with a good Mind being verily perswaded that what we do is good and acceptable to God in which sense St. Paul saith that whatever is not of Faith is Sin and we must do it for a good End for the Honour of God and the Service of Religion and the Benefit and Edification of Men. But there is one thing wanting yet which is often forgotten but is mainly considerable viz. what we do with a Good Mind and to a Good End must be Good and Lawful in it self commanded or allowed or at least not forbidden by God If it be what good Circumstances soever may belong to the Action the whole Action is stark naught because the very Matter and Substance of it is Evil and Unlawful and Damnable tho' done for never so good an End So St. Paul tells us that they who said they might do evil that good might come their damnation was just He tells us indeed that some would have charged this Doctrine upon the Christians and particularly upon himself but he rejects it with the greatest detestation and which is not unworthy of our observation in his Epistle to the Roman Church as if the Spirit of God to whom all Times are present had particularly directed him to give this Caution to that Church that in future Ages they might be warned against so Pernicious a Principle and all wicked Practices that are consequent upon it And we find that St. Paul after his Conversion did think it no sufficient Plea and Excuse for himself and his Persecution of the Christian Profession that what he did was out of Zeal for God and his true Religion as he was verily perswaded but notwithstanding that acknowledged himself a Murderer and one of the greatest Sinners for which without the great Mercy of God he had perisht everlastingly 6. And lastly I observe that the Corruption of the best things is the worst Religion is certainly the highest Accomplishment and Perfection of Humane Nature and Zeal for God and his Truth an excellent Quality and highly acceptable to God and yet nothing is more barbarous and spurs Men on to more horrid Impieties than a blind zeal for God and false and mistaken Principles in the matter of Religion Our Saviour compares the Christian Religion and the Ministers and Professors of it to Salt and Light The most useful and delightful things in the World Religion enlightens the minds of Men and directs them in the way wherein we should go it seasons the Spirits and Manners of Men and preserves them from being Putrified and Corrupted but if the Salt lose its savour if that which should season other things be tainted it self it is thenceforth the most insipid and offensive thing in the World good for nothing but to be cast upon the Dunghil if the light that is in us be darkness how great is that darkness Mistakes and false Principles are no where so pernicious and of such mischievous Consequence as in Religion A blind and misguided Zeal in Religion is enough to spoil the best Nature and Disposition in the World St. Paul for ought appears was of himself of a very kind and compassionate Nature and yet what a Fury did his mistaken Zeal make him It is hardly credible how madly he laid about him but that he himself gives us the account of it Acts 26.9 10 11. I verily thought with my self says he that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth which thing I also did in Jerusalem and many of the Saints I shut up in Prison having received authority from the Chief Priests And when they were put to death I gave my voice against them and I punished them oft in every Synagogue and compel'd them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even to strange Cities I might descend lower and give Instances both of former and later times of Emperours and Princes both Heathen and Christian that of themselves were mild and gentle and yet through a mistaken Zeal and the instigation of their Chief Priests have been carried to Cruel and Bloody things And indeed nothing gives so keen an edg even to the mildest Tempers as an erroneous and wild zeal for God and Religion it is like Quick-Silver in the back of a Sword that is not very sharp of it self which gives a mighty force and weight to its blow and makes it to cut terribly And it is very sad to consider that the zealous Prosecution of Mistakes in Religion hath produced sadder and more barbarous Effects in the World and more frequently than the ordinary Corruptions and Degeneracy of Natural light is apt to do as the decay of the richest and most generous Wines makes the sowerest Vineger so that the Pasquil or Libel against Pope Vrban the VIII upon occasion of his taking off the Brazen Roof of the Old Capitol which had held out so many Ages and that notwithstanding Rome had been so often sackt by Barbarous
Nations and his selling it to inrich his Family quod non fecerant Barbari fecerunt Barberini may with changing the Name and Occasion be applyed to a great many others that they have been guilty of those Cruelties against Christians upon account of difference in Religion which the most Barbarous Nations never exorcised upon one another I have done with the Observations and the Text and shall I now need to make any Application of what hath been said to the Occasion of this day The thing applys it self since the horrid Design of this Day was undertaken and carried on upon the same Pretences and Principles upon which the Jews persecuted the Disciples of our Lord and much in the same Method for they first thunder'd out an Excommunication against them and then took it for granted that it would be an acceptable Sacrifice to God to destroy them I will not go about to aggravate the Comspiracy of this Day it is past my skill nor will I extend the blame and guilt of it any farther than the plain Evidence and Reason of the thing does enforce It is a thing so scandalous to Humane Nature and so great a Reflection upon any Church and Religion to be accessory to the contriving or countenancing of any such Design that I am very well contented that it should be confined to as narrow a compass as may be and none esteemed guilty of it but those that were openly in it or have since endeavour'd to excuse it All that we desire of others is that they would declare their hearty detestation of such abominable Practices and be as good as their word and that they would not account it a service and sacrifice to God to destroy all that cannot be of their Mind So that the Inference from all this Discourse in short shall be this that Men should take great care to inform their Consciences aright and to govern them by the plain Rules of Good and Evil the Law of God written upon our hearts and revealed in his Word which forbids such Practices as I have been speaking of as clearly as the Sun shines at Noonday and that we would always be afraid to do a bad thing tho' gilded over with never so glorious Colours and specious Pretences of zeal for God and his Truth For a Man may do a thing with an honest Mind and for a religious End and be Commissioned and Countenanced as St. Paul was by them who take themselves to be the only true Church in the World and yet at last prove to have been all the while a Blasphemer and a Murderer and the greatest of Sinners for none of these Pretences are sufficient to warrant and sanctifie a wicked action Before this can be done the immutable nature of Good and Evil must be changed I will conclude all with that gentle Reproof of our Blessed Saviour to his Disciples when their Zeal for him had transported them to make that cruel Request to him that he would as Elias had done upon a like occasion call for fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them hereby declaring to us the true Spirit and â—â—â—per of Christianity and that they 〈◊〉 contrary to it are ignorant 〈…〉 â—ature of the Christian Religion Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them SERMON XV. The Duty and Reason of Praying for Governours Preached on the 29 of May. 1693. 1 TIM II. 1 2. I exhort therefore that first of all supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for Kings and for all that are in authority that we way lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty I Need not tell any here that this Day is appointed by Authority for an Anniversary Solemnity in a grateful Commemoration of the great Mercy of God to these Nations VOL. II. in putting an end to the intestine Wars and Confusions of many Years in restoring to us our own ancient Government and Laws and in bringing home as upon this Day the rightful Heir of these Kingdoms to the Crown and Throne of his Fathers And tho' the Glory of this Day hath been not a little sullied and obscured by many things which have happened since that Time fitter now to be buried in Silence and Oblivion than to be mention'd and raked up yet it hath pleased God in scattering those black Clouds which not long since hung over us to restore this Day to its first Lustre and brightness so that we may now with great joy look back upon it as designed by the wise Providence of God to make way for the Happiness which we now enjoy under their present Majesties by whom under God we have been delivered from that terrible and imminent Danger which threatned our Religion and Laws and the very Constitution it self of our ancient Government And to this Occasion no kind of Argument can be more proper and suitable Serm. XV. than that which the Text affords to our Consideration in this Injunction of St. Paul to Timothy to take care that in the Publick Worship of God Supplications and Thanksgivings be put up to God for Kings and all that are in authority I exhort therefore c. In which Words there are Four things considerable First The Duty here enjoyn'd which is Prayer expressed to us in several Words which seem to denote the several kinds or parts of Prayer I exhort therefore that supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men For Kings and for all that are in authority c. Some of these words are of a very near signification and yet there seems some difference betwixt them most probably this 1. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Supplications is probably meant that part or kind of Prayer wherein we supplicate God for the Pardon of our Sins and for the averting and removing of Evils whether Temporal or Spiritual from our selves or others 2. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Prayers seems to be meant Petitions for Blessings and good things from God and these are most properly call'd Prayers 3. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to be particularly meant Pleadings and Intercessions on the behalf of others 4. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is certainly intended Praises and Thanksgivings to God for his Blessings and Goodness to our selves and others This seems to be the difference between them which whether it be exactly so or not is not very material since these are unquestionably the several kinds or parts of Prayer And these several sorts of Prayer St. Chrysostom in his Comment upon this Text tells us were Publickly used in his Time in the daily Service of the Church this says he all Communicants do know is done every day Morning and
Evening how that we pray for all the World for Kings and for all that are in authority Secondly For whom we are to pray In general for all men Our Prayers are one of the greatest and best Expressions of our Charity and therefore ought to be as large and extensive as our Charity is We are bound in common Charity to love all Men and to wish well to them but our bare Wishes signifie nothing unless we direct them to God who is able to confer upon them the Blessings and Good Things which we wish to them And this is a Charity which God hath put into every Man's Power and which the poorest Man in the World as well as the richest is capable of exercising at all times and upon all occasions For the Ear of God if open to the Prayers of the poor as well as of the rich and they are every whit as prevalent with him nay the Scripture seems to say that God hath a more particular regard to the Prayers of the poor So that we may be liberal and bountiful in our Prayers to those to whom we are able to give nothing else and when our Hands cannot reach to relieve them we may pour out our Hearts to God for them we may pray for their Spiritual and Temporal good and we may praise God for the good which befalls them tho' it was out of our power to be any ways instrumental to procure it for them Thirdly For whom we are more especially and in the first place to pray viz. for those who have the greatest and most publick influence of all others upon the peace and happiness of Mankind for Kings and for all that are in authority that is for the Supreme Magistrate and for all inferior Magistrates who derive their Power and Authority from the Supreme Government is necessary to the welfare of Mankind because it is the great Band of Humane Society the Guard of its Peace and the Security of every Man's Person and Property and therefore we are concerned as much as is possible both to pray for our Governours and to bless God for them because without them we should be in a most wretched Condition Mankind would be unavoidably miserable without Government Humane Society would presently disband and all things would run into confusion It is a remarkable Saying of one of the Jewish Masters Pray for the happiness of the Kingdom or Government for if it were not for the fear of that Men would devour one another alive And Josephus tells us that when the Jews were made subject to the Romans tho' it was by Conquest twice a day they offered up Sacrifices for the life and safety of the Emperour And this was very agreeable to what God had commanded that People by his Prophet in a much like case when the Jews were Conquered by the King of Babylon and carried away Captives Jer. 29.7 Seek the peace of the City whither I have caused you to be carried away Captives and pray unto the Lord for it for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace And surely the Reason is much stronger why we should pray for our natural Princes and Governours I come now to the Fourth and Last Thing Considered in the Text and which I principally design to speak to namely the Reason or Argument which the Apostle uses to engage us to pray for our Princes and for all that are in Authority that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty The manifold Benefits and Advantages which redound to us from our Governors is a sufficient Argument why we should pray to God for them and Praise him likewise for so great a Blessing and that in the first place I exhort therefore first of all saith the Apostle c. Now the Apostle here in the Text expresseth Two great Advantages of Government which upon the Matter do comprehend all the rest 1. That by Government we are Secured in our Civil Rights and Interests in the quiet and peaceable Possession of what is our own 2. That we may thereby be protected in the free Practice and Exercise of Religion and Virtue These are the Two greatest and most desirable Things to Man and neither of these can be had without Government I shall briefly consider these Two particulars and then endeavour to shew what Obligation the Consideration of them lays upon us both to Pray to God in the behalf of our Princes and Governours and likewise to Praise God for them And then I shall conclude all with a brief Application of this whole Discourse to the Solemn Occasion of this Day First I shall begin with the Benefits and Advantages of Government mention'd in the Text namely these Two 1. That by it we are secured in our Civil Rights and Interests in the quiet and peaceable Possession of what is our own Without Government there could be no such thing as Property in any thing beyond our own Persons for nothing but Law can make Property and Laws are the Effect of Government and Authority Nay without Government we have no security of our Persons and Lives much less of any thing that belongs to us and is at present in our Possession Were we not protected by Laws which are the Effect of Government we could have no safety no quiet enjoyment of any thing but every Man must be perpetually upon his guard against all the World and exposed to continual Violence and Injuries from those who are too many and too strong for him so that all our quiet and security from Fear and Danger from the Fraud and Oppression of those who are more Crafty and Powerful than our selves from endless Confusions and Distractions and from a State of perpetual Feud and War with all Mankind is entirely due and owing to Civil Government And this alone is so unspeakable a Benefit that without it Men of all Creatures would be the most Miserable because all that Wit and Sagacity all that Cunning and Contrivance which Mankind hath above the Bruit Creatures would but enable them to do so much the more Mischief to one another and to devise and find out more Powerful and Effectual Means and Instruments to harm and destroy one another In short that we live and that we live well in any tolerable Condition either of Safety or Plenty and that we are able to call any thing our own for one Day or for one Hour that we are not in perpetual Terrour and Apprehension of mortal Dangers and that we are at any time free from the Invasion of what we at present possess by the fraud and force of others is solely the Effect of this great Blessing and Divine Appointment of Government to preserve the peace of Humane Society and by wise and wholsome Laws to tye up Mens Hands from mutual Injuries and Violence Upon this all the Comfort and all the Security of Humane Laws does depend From hence it comes to pass that as the Scripture expresseth it