satisfaction in matters of Religion as any thing of man can be or doe For the Truths of God once taught the world by Christ and his Apostles being unchangeable for ever and our Bibles which are the onely Rule to measure Religion by continuing one and the same for ever that which was an Errour in those times must needs be Errour still and that which was a Truth in those days must needs be a Truth still And if we cannot think of any more proper means for the right understanding of Scripture and the discovery of Truth and Errours then the deliberate and unanimous Judgment of so many hundred pious learned and unbiassed men assembled together then certainly the Determinations of those Ancient Councils are very considerable Evidences for Truth and against Errour and the rather because they consisted of such persons who besides their eminent Piety and Learning had the great Advantage of living nearer the Apostles Age and thereby were the better able to inform themselves and us too what was certainly believed and done in the very Infancy of the Church 3. The Writings of the Ancient Fathers those especially that lived within the first Six Centuries where-ever they agree and are not since corrupted or maimed by the fraud and forgeries of the Roman Church are of singular use in this matter too That Ignatius Clemens Origen Athanasius Cyril Nazianzene Basil Chrysostom Hierom Augustine and some others were indeed Persons of great Devotion and excellent Parts cannot be denied And although some of these great Names in some particular matters had their peculiar Mistakes and shew'd themselves to be but men yet in all Points where we find an unanimous Consent amongst them we are to have so much veneration for their Authority as not easily to suspect or contradict it True it is if we take these Fathers singly man by man where we find any of them alone in their Opinions as Origen in reference to the Punishments of Hell and Saint Augustine in reference to Infants that die unbaptized we are not in this case much more obliged to accept their Judgment then the Judgment of some person yet alive who perhaps may be as Pious and Learned as some of them But if we take all the Fathers that lived within six hundred years after Christ together and in the lump where we find them one in Judgment they are enough to make a wiser Council then any one Age could probably afford a Council certainly of more Value and far greater Credit then that Conventicle of Trent wherein there sate sometimes at least little more then 40 Bishops and some of those but meerly Titular and suborned too And upon this score the Church of Rome must needs excuse us that we do rather adhere to the united Judgment of so many Ancient Fathers then to those late Decrees and Canons of Trent which contradict them 'T is well known to our Adversaries of Rome that in the great Controversies betwixt us and them we appeal to the most Ancient Councils and Fathers whom we look upon as the most impartial and able Judges the whole matter in question we offer to their Decision and are willing to stand or fall as they determine But alas there 's no Tribunal like Saint Peter's Chair one Pope is of more value with them then ten Saint Augustines Nor indeed can we blame them for where the Cause is notoriously bad it were strange Imprudence to refer it to any other Vmpires and Arbitratours save onely such who are prepossest with the strongest Prejudice and obliged by the greatest Interests to defend and own it And thus stands the case with the Roman Church But as for us where matters are doubtful and Scriptures are not clear we dare not run to uncertain Traditions and the pretended Infallibility of Popes but rather to Ancient Councils and Fathers from whom we do rationally expect more satisfactory Resolutions and far better Comments But 4. There are several Systems of Divinity Confessions of Faith short Abridgments of Christian Religion that are especially to unlearned persons great helps in this matter too And here methinks those Ancient Creeds of the Apostles Nice and Athanasius which are so generally received by the Church of God are of great Authority to settle our Judgment in the main and most necessary Points of Faith Whatever contradicts any one Article delivered and contained therein may be justly suspected of Heresie Errour and Innovation And as for other Doctrines Practices and matters of Discipline we may have recourse and that with good satisfaction to the known Articles of the Church of England the Book of Homilies and that excellent Liturgy of ours which that of Saint Chrysostom or Basil doth not transcend and perhaps not match Besides these there are many choice and excellent Catechisms composed by men that were Pious Learned and Judicious acquainted with Scriptures well versed in the Primitive Councils and Fathers These short Catechisms compiled by persons of singular Endowments and approved by the Church are little less then so many contracted Bibles containing in them whatever man is obliged to know and delivering enough in plain and easie terms to inform us in matters of Practice to secure us from Errours and confirm our Judgments in all the great Points of Faith So then the Summe of all is this We are obliged to examine the matters of our Religion by the written Word of God but because this Word in some material cases according to the different Fansies or Interests of men hath different Interpretations given concerning its true sense and meaning 't is our onely way for our better satisfaction to betake our selves to the most able faithful and unbiassed Judges and they are the most Ancient Councils the Primitive Fathers publick Confessions of Faith and Orthodox Catechisms set forth or approved by the Church of God Vses I. Consider how much to blame those persons are who without any Examination whatsoever take up their Religion barely upon Trust We are thus commanded in the Text Prove all things but alas we are so far from this that we will prove nothing and although perhaps we pretend to abhorr the Religion of Rome yet so far do we act like Papists that an Implicit Faith serves our turn 'T is the great Imprudence and Crime of many persons who are so supine and careless that they will not examine their Religion but withall 't is the sad Calamity of some others who are so sottish and ignorant that indeed they cannot That we are required to prove our Faith and of what concern it is so to doe we have already seen and that all matters of this nature must be judged by the Word of God and that in doubtful cases to be expounded by Ancient Councils and Fathers hath been already shewed Yea but what 's all this to the man that 's utterly unlearned and ignorant Can that man prove his Religion by the Word of God who knows it not can that man help himself in
the understanding of difficult Scriptures by the Assistence of those Councils and Fathers to whom he is but a stranger And this is the case of those poor people who are bred up under the Tyranny of the Roman Church they cannot obey the Command in my Text because they are kept in Ignorance they cannot doe what Saint John requires they cannot try the spirits because that onely Touchstone is denied them they are in no capacity to weigh the matters of their Religion because they are not suffered so much as once to touch the Scales But alas this gross Ignorance which is their sad Calamity is our grievous Crime that utter Inability of obeying God and proving all things which ariseth from their invincible Necessity springs from our Carelesness and Choice 'T is sure enough that we have sufficient means to inform our selves of our Religion we have Bibles to reade in our families we have the Scriptures expounded in our Churches we have many excellent Catechisms and other Books within our reach and yet how ignorant still We are so far from being able to give a satisfactory Account of our Religion in its several Branches that there are many amongst us who do not know so much as what Religion means what Christianity is who Christ was what he hath done or what he requires from us Certainly if such persons do take upon them the profession of any Religion they must needs doe it upon Trust and how that 's done we may see in 3 Particulars 1. There are some persons who take up their Religion barely upon the Trust and Credit of their Parents and Progenitours who owned such and such a Profession and continued therein perhaps to their very dying-day And the truth is the very highest Account that many an one can give for his Faith and Worship is but this It was the old Religion of his Family it was the Faith and Worship of his Fathers and therefore his too insomuch that persons generally are not made but born Christians as well as men and do commonly receive their Faith as well as their Flesh ex Traduce barely by Propagation 'T is true Christianity which certainly is the Religion of God is that which we all profess but in the mean time there are but few amongst us that examine the Principles upon which this Religion stands nor do we consider the Designs to which this Religion tends onely we take it up from our Fore-fathers as if it were barely bequeathed us amongst other Legacies or left us as a part of our Inheritance It must be confessed that true Religion preserved for us and transmitted to us by the Care and Piety of our Progenitours is a blessed Inheritance indeed such an Inheritance so great and so glorious that we are concerned if in any case much more in this to prove our Father's Will and to consider how sutable it is to both the Testaments of that better Father which is in Heaven 2. There are some persons who take up their Religion barely upon the Trust and Credit of vulgar and publick Examples What Religion we find established in the Kingdom exercised in the Church and commonly professed throughout the Neighbourhood that we do not stand to examine but immediately embrace We make our Faith a matter not of Election and Choice but barely of Imitation Doubtless there 's many a Soul amongst us that professeth himself to be a Christian not because he knoweth the Truth Reasonableness and Excellence of Christianity but because he had the good fortune to be bred and live in Christendome Suppose a man bred among the Persians this man adores the Sun and makes that his Deity take a man bred amongst the Turks this man's Bible is the Alcoran and that Impostour Mahomet little less then his God Suppose a man bred up in Spain France or Italy this man forsooth though he knows not why proves a Roman Catholick he owns the Pope let him be who he will to be his Grand-father and that Church or if you will that Whore to be his Grand-mother too Well give me a man bred up in England 't is ten to one but this man proves a Protestant But why all this Why alas we take up our Religion not from the Convictions of our own Judgments but barely from the force of Examples and the meer power of Education 3. There are some persons who take up their Religion upon the Trust Credit or Commands of Princes Certainly man who is a wise knowing and noble Creature of the very next degree to Angels may easily convince himself how unreasonable a thing it is that he should adore and worship any thing that is so far from being a Deity that he evidently seeth and certainly knoweth that it is his own Inferiour and much below himself And yet notwithstanding if Jeroboam set up his Calves if Nebuchadnezzar erect his Image and command their Subjects to adore them who almost disputes it But alas we need not look back so far as the times of the Jewish Church for pregnant Instances our own Chronicles will tell us that whilest the Kings of England were Slaves to the Pope so dull and sottish so easie and pliable were the People as to be so too and since our Princes have justly shook off the Roman Yoke the Subjects have generally been if not so Religious yet so Conformable as to become Protestants too Tell me Sirs if the Roman Religion be good why did the People of England cast it off but if the Roman Religion be stark naught as certainly 't is why did the People of England ever own it Doubtless these General and sudden Turns of Religion these Vniversal and Epidemical Changes of our Faith and Worship which do not arise from any mature Deliberation and new Convictions are evident Demonstrations that men take up or lay down their Religion just as they do their Fashion 't is this or that according as the Court thinks fit to alter as if to believe as the King believes and to doe as the King doeth were a part of that Allegeance which we owe him But is this indeed to obey the great Command in my Text Prove all things 'T is sure the Kings of England do not pretend like that Vsurper at Rome that they cannot erre nor is it imagined by any that there is any more Infallibility annexed to the Prince's Throne then to the Pope's Chair No we are required and deeply concerned too to examine the Grounds of that Religion which the King's Laws do establish and if we find as upon strict Search we certainly shall that the present Religion of our Church commended to us by the King 's own Example and confirmed by his Laws is warranted by the Word of God by the Canons of Ancient Councils by the joint Testimony of the Primitive Fathers and many received Confessions of Faith let us then bless our God that we have as yet a Prince who styles himself really is and declares his resolution
to continue the Defender of that Faith which past all per adventure is truly Ancient and Apostolicall II. Consider what abundant cause we have to be jealous of that Religion which will by no means submit to this great Command in the Text which fears to be examined and dares not stand the Test Certainly we have all the reason in the world to suspect that Religion which doth so manifestly suspect it self 'T is a great Argument that a man doth doubt his Cause and question its merit when he sheweth himself exceeding loath to come to a Trial and 't is a shrewd sign that Wares are corrupt and naught when they are produced and shewed onely in the dark What our Blessed Saviour Joh. 3.21 saith of Persons may fitly be said of Religions too He that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest The man that is honest vertuous and learned doth rather hope then fear to be searched into but he that constantly lurks in corners and walks under a disguise doth give the world sufficient ground to suspect that he is some broken Bankrupt or Knave 'T is thus with Religions too That Religion which dares appeal to the Tribunal of God and man that Religion which desires to be examined by Scriptures Councils and Fathers that Religion which doth publickly expose all its Doctrines and doth not onely allow all its friends but provokes its utmost enemies to fift and try them 't is easie to think that such a Religion is sound right and true 't is full weight that fears not the Scales and right metall that doth not dread the Touchstone But now if there be such a Religion found within the Church that is jealous of it self that fears its own Proselytes that dares not endure the Scrutiny no not of its own friends have we not a sufficient reason to suspect it Now shall I tell you such is the Religion of the Roman Church which dares not suffer its own Members so much as once to peep into the Bible lest perhaps that clear and Sacred Glass should immediately represent even to vulgar eyes those foul and by them as yet undiscerned Spots which that corrupt and scabby Religion hath upon its Face I remember Chemnitius who hath somewhat narrowly enquired into the Council of Trent and discovered to the world the nakedness of their Decrees is for that very Reason styled not a Saucy fellow but a down-right Heretick and so for making some considerable Inquisition into their Religion was thought to deserve at least their Great one As for the Religion of the Reformed Church 't is otherwise with us the examination of our Doctrines is not onely allowed but required too we put the Scales into your hands and bid you weigh them we set the Touchstone before your eye and bid you try them we translate we print we put the Bible into your bosom and bid you thence examine what our Church doth hold what our Ministers do preach and what you your selves must believe and doe I can tell you this fair dealing is not to be found at Rome no there the Holy Bible that dangerous Book must be withheld And the truth is though there be Sin and Sacrilege in their so doing yet there is a great deal of Craft and Policy too for where the Cause is naught if there be some material Witness whose Testimony will certainly overthrow it if he cannot be bribed 't is great Prudence to remove him out of the way And this course takes the Roman Church 't is that miserable Shift which a bad Cause drives them to what ever comes of it the Scriptures must be withdrawn for should they permit their people to peruse them they have just cause to fear that at first sight they would dislike such and such gainfull Doctrines and upon a serious review abjure them quite And upon this score do they find themselves necessitated as to withdraw the Bible so likewise basely to corrupt the most Ancient Councils and Fathers acting methinks like some knavish Merchant who sells bad Wares and that by false Weights and Measures and therefore is concerned to see that there be no Standard near him What is the great Axiome of the Roman Church Estius a Friend Champion and Son of theirs doth thus inform us 2. Thes 5.21 Tenendum quod tenet Ecclesia What the Church believes what the Church requires i. e. whatever the Pope and his Council thinks fit that and onely that without more adoe must be believed and done 'T is evident that they require little more of their Proselytes then a bare implicit Faith and a blind Obedience And that they ground upon this fond Presumption and rotten Principle That their Councils at least if confirmed by the Pope cannot erre how vicious soever the Pope may be in his Conversation yet when he sits in Cathedra in his Chair he must be Infallible in his Judgment still as if the Golden Mitre and triple Crown which adorn his Head must needs inspire it too But if these things be so indeed what need they fear the severest Trial If Councils cannot erre what need they fear the strictest Search If the Pope be really Infallible what need he dread the closest Scrutiny Search the Scriptures saith Christ himself to all his Hearers Search not the Scriptures saith his pretended Vicar and yet Infallible Try the spirits saith the Apostle Try not the spirits saith the Roman Bishop and yet Infallible Prove all things saith Saint Paul Prove nothing saith the Successour of Saint Peter and yet Infallible No they manage a bad Cause that are afraid to see it opened 'T is not Religion and Conscience but Craft Guilt and Fear that make them withdraw the Bible and so decline a Trial for had but the poor people that live under the Tyranny of Rome liberty means and knowledge to examine those Doctrines which now they are constrained to take up upon Trust and were but the Princes of Europe whom the Pope hath sometimes used and still accounts as his Slaves and Vassals were they but once at leisure to mind the things of God and the Concerns of his Church would they but once impartially and throughly examine matters of Religion and bring them to the Rule we should quickly see the Pope unmasked Kings undeceived and the whole Christian world become Protestant And as this should be the subject of our earnest Prayers so must the Duty required in the Text be the matter of our Obedience too what the Protestant asserts what the Papist pretends examine both The Grand difference betwixt us and them lieth in their affirming and our denying the Doctrines of Infallibility Transubstantiation Purgatory Indulgencies Invocation of Saints Adoration of Images works of Merit and Supererogation c. Now if any of these or the like Doctrines shall be commended to you by the plausible Insinuations of some subtle Jesuit O remember what my Text commands Prove all things bring them to your Bibles
bring them to your Ministers bring them to the Reverend and Learned Bishops of our Church those that are now alive or those that are gone but have left behind them such excellent Books which our Adversaries can never answer And if you find as upon a due examination you certainly will that your Bibles do contradict their Tenents if it appear that our Christ and his Apostles are against their Pope and his Councils if our Divines have satisfactorily answer'd whatever theirs have sophistically objected if we can produce such Testimonies of Scripture as to any wise and impartial Judge shall appear sufficient to prove our Doctrines and disprove theirs if it shall be evident that the Reformed Religion is the onely Religion which Christ brought into the world let me then allude to the words of Elijah If God be God then follow him If our present Religion be right let us then embrace and own it still Remember that for the defence of our established Religion we do in some cases appeal to the common Sense of all Mankind in other cases we appeal to sound Reason and in all cases we appeal to the written Word of God And if so if our own Senses which we trust without all jealousie in other Concerns do not deceive us in this which is the main if all that Reason which God hath given us to distinguish Man from a Brute hath not left us nay if the Word of God which is infallible in it self and as it is expounded by the most ancient unprejudiced and wisest Councils and Fathers cannot fail us we may conclude that our Religion is true right and good and since 't is so let us unchangeably resolve to profess defend and maintain it even for ever And if perhaps the defence thereof shall cost us dear yet remember whatever we expend in this matter 't is bestowed upon that God who well deserves it should it cost us our Estates our Liberties our very Lives which we trust the mercy of our God and the Constancy and Care of our SOVEREIGN will still prevent yet remember there is no charge that can be too great which is bestowed upon a Blessed Jesus and an immortal Soul The Second Doctrine That after an impartial and strict Enquiry that Religion and onely that which proves to be good right and true must be stoutly asserted constantly retained and held fast for ever See why upon 3 Accounts 1. To let goe a Religion that is good is matter of Sin 'T is the great Command of God in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hold fast that which is good 'T is that which Saint Paul presseth again Heb. 10.13 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith 'T is that which Christ commands from Heaven Apoc. 3.11 Hold fast that which thou hast We have Precept upon Precept God is so jealous of his Name and so much concerned for his Religion that he gives us one Command after another that he may the more oblige us not to quit it And certain it is we may with as little Offence to Heaven with as little Injury to our Neighbour and with as little Prejudice to our selves make bold with many other Commands as with this 'T is not to be disputed but we may with less Guilt become false to Man then treacherous to God 't is safer to prove a Thief then to prove an Apostate we may with greater Innocence squander away any thing that is our own or other mens then that Religion of God which he hath committed to our Trust and that with this severe Injunction even as if it were a Jewell of his Crown Hold it fast But 2. To let goe a Religion that is good is matter of Shame and great Dishonour And here methinks if we are not so good Christians as to value the Commands of God yet we should be so much men as to respect our own Reputation and Credit if we will not hold fast our true Religion for fear of Sin yet let us do it for fear of Shame To renounce that Faith that 's right and sound is not onely to disobey our God but to reproach and vilifie our selves too There is no Pretence to be named no Motive to be imagined for our casting off the true Religion but Dishonour and Shame attends it See this in 4 Particulars 1. There are some persons that forsake the true Religion barely for want of Discretion Judgment Knowledge and better Abilities to defend it Certainly Imprudence Ignorance and Weakness of understanding is a great reproach to any man whatever but especially to such as want no means to inform themselves much better So thought Saint Paul 1 Cor. 6.5 I speak to your shame Is it so that there is not a wise man among you The expression is tart and it clearly imports that there is scarce a greater reproach to Humane nature but much more to the Members of the Christian Church then the defect of Prudence and the want of Vnderstanding 'T is the exercise of Reason that makes us men and the more we fail in this the more do we degenerate into Brutes And thus stands the case with every man that parts with a true Religion barely because he is not able to maintain it Whosoever manageth the better Cause and yet is baffled doth plainly discover to his Adversary and may justly assure himself that he wants a great deal of his Reason and therefore is so much the less a Man True it is to be overthrown and worsted in the Patronage of a bad matter is nothing else but to be happily beaten with safety and great advantage but on the other hand if our Quarrel be good and yet we are foiled if we stand on the higher Ground but cannot keep it 't is not the Cause but its sorry Champion that must be blamed And that 's our case this day in the defence of our Religion We have all Advantages on our side the best and most Ancient Councils the universal Practice of the Primitive Church the Testimony of the Fathers for six hundred years together and that which is more then all the written Word of God which is the onely Rule to serve God by are certainly for us And if so what a dishonour would it be if any of us for want of Skill to use these Weapons which God hath put into our hand should suffer His Religion as well as ours to receive a blow and be defeated What would become of our Reputation should we suffer some crafty Jesuit by meer Sophistry and Fallacies to captivate our Reason and to lead us with pomp and triumph as so many Prisoners rather then Proselytes to Rome What would the world say should we suffer the best Religion that it ever saw to be lost not by Force and violence but mere Frauds and Cheats should we suffer it to be not extorted from us for want of stronger Arms but surprized and stoln for want of clearer eyes and better brains It would be