consider the Excellency of the Gospel with the Purpose of God not to overbear the World into the Faith and Obedience of it by forcing the natural Liberty of Men it had rather been much more strange if it had escaped opposition and corruption than to have been both opposed and corrupted as it hath Thus our blessed Saviour himself and his Apostles foretold that it would be Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many many false Prophets stall arise and deceive many and if any one shall say unto you Lo here is Christ and there is Christ believe it not for there shall arise false Christ's and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold I have told you before Thus he foretold how Christianity should be corrupted by Impostures and Frauds Again says he They shall deliver you up to be afflicted and killed and ye shall be hated of all nations for my names sake and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another Thus he foretold the violence that should be used to extinguish the Profession of the Truth Again saith St. Paul 2 Thess 2. There shall be a falling away and the man of sin shall come with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they might all be damned who believe not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness Theâ—e he foretels a fearful Apostasie from the Purity and Simplicity of the Christian Profession Again says he 2 Tim. 3.1 2. This know that in the last days perilous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traitors heady high-minded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God There he foretels a terrible corruption of Manners And again 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. The Spirit speaketh expresly says he that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their Conscience seared with an hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the Truth Now lay all these things together and here is as plain warning as can possibly be given of most corrupt and degenerate Times even after Christ's first coming and so that is expresly foretold which the Text evidently supposes For here would be glorious Pretences to deceive Violence to compel and wicked Examples to offend the Disciples of Christ And what Provision hath our Lord left to secure them from being misled where there is so much danger They are to attend to the Doctrine which he delivered us at first by his Holy Apostles to secure themselves from being deceived they must lay to Heart the Promises of the Gospel to arm themselves against the Temptations of the World and the Power of evil Examples and they are to consider that all these things were foretold by our Lord himself and his Apostles that they might not be scandalized when they should happen nor be tempted to suspect that either Christianity was not of God from the first or at least that our Lord has neglected all care of it since because it doth so little good as yet in the World because it runs out into so many Errors and because the Truth of it is so vehemently opposed for says our Saviour Behold I have told you before But still it is in their power whether they will take warning by such Predictions and whether they will guard themselves against Errors and Evil Examples and therefore a very corrupt state of Things in the Christian World will in all likelihood shake the Faith of many Believers and cause some to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them not regarding the admonitions of Christ and his Apostles before-hand And so when Christ comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth And this is the Observation which in the first place is unavoidable from the Text That even after Christ there would be degenerate Ages for this is plainly supposed as the cause why there would be but little Faith found when he should come to visit the Earth for the Iniquities and Offences it abounds with The 2. Supposition is That the Providence of our Lord would then appear to set things right when there was the greatest need to interpose in behalf of his Church For whereas it is said When the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth It is intimated manifestly that his coming is then to be expected when little Faith is to be found amongst Men and consequently when Scandals and Temptations are so strong that it is an hard matter to bear up against them I have said already that the Evidence of Christianity doth not make all Men receive it and that the Power of Christianity doth not make all that receive it wise and good Men and it is not to be denied but that amongst Christians themselves there are as monstrous Errors and leud Examples as ever there were in the World before Christianity or as there are now where Christianity is not at all professed Now at this rate should the Lord of the Church our Lord Jesus Christ let things go as they would it would in time come to pass that nothing of Christianity would remain in the World but the name of it and that for no other purpose but to do more hurt with it than could be done without it But how is it that Divine Providence will interpose or according to the expression of the Text that the Son of man will come and will make good his Promise of being with his Church to the end of the World which is never more remarkably fulfilled than when he interposes in those Circumstances which make Men think that he will not interpose and that he is not at all concerned what becomes of the State of Religion or the Affairs of the Church Because our Lord hath not made the Gospel an irresistable means of convincing Vnbelieuers and reforming wicked Men therefore it would in time be needful that in order to the keeping up of true Religion and making Christians such as they ought to be that he I say should by his Providence correct his own Disciples and reduce wretched Mankind into an unavoidable necessity of consideration that Truth and Righteousness should not utterly fall from among the Children of Men. When there is the greatest danger of losing the true Profession of Christianity our Lord will not be
the Church any more than the Errors of Pergamos made her cease to be so nor that it is impossible the Reformed and the Unreformed part of Christendom should be within the Pale of that one Church which we profess to believe in the Creed any more than it was impossible for the Church of Pergamos to have been a part of the Catholick Church both before and after her Reformation And thus I have gone through the Task I set my self and I hope need to make no Apology for entertaining you with a Controversy of this nature which indeed ought to be no Controversy amongst us But if it were needful I have this to say Whereas the Church of England does not pretend to be an Infallible Guide or Judge and yet requires the People to believe as she believes to profess what she professeth and to do what she enjoineth it is very fit that her Ministers should sometimes make it plain that she requires this because she has reason so to do and is not in these Points deceived though she does not pretend that she cannot err in any I know not whether I have made the things I have discoursed plain enough to every Understanding but whether that be so or not yet every one may perceive that we appeal to his Reason for the Truth and Honesty of our Cause and for my own part if I understood nothing else of the Merits of it I had rather be of a Church which pretends to guide me with Reason than of another that would govern me without it and that because the former is likely to take more care not to mislead me than the latter needs to do which when it has gained me to an implicit Faith and a blind Obedience may lead me whither she pleases As for what I have now said I declare in the Presence of God that I have offered nothing to you but what I believe my self and farther that I am not conscious to my self of any reason why I am fixed in the Communion of this Church in opposition to the other but a full Conviction of the Errors of that Church which if I should profess or practise I could not entertain the least hopes of Salvation And we who are thus convinced are as I take it bound in Conscience to take seasonable opportunities of confirming our Brethren in our Communion and enabling them as well as we can to make it appear that the Arguments and the Answers of the other side are unsatisfactory and vain as I have in some part endeavoured to shew at this time We should indeed not be unwilling to take pains to recover those to the knowledge of the Truth that are educated in damnable Errors but there is much more reason to do all we can to retain those in the profession of the Truth that have been educated in it seeing if they revolt we cannot have that hope of their Salvation which we would fain have of theirs who want sufficient means to discover them It were a blessed state of the Church indeed if all being united in true Faith and Worship we had nothing to do but to persuade and exhort men and to take care of them that they live answerably thereto but since we have two Works upon our hands to guard you against Error as well as to warn you against a wicked Life I do not see how we can discharge our Duty but by doing one as well as the other And that I may not say nothing to the latter I am to tell you in the Conclusion That we do not make the Communion of the best Church in the World to be all in all a man may go to Hell in the Communion of a pure Church and without true Repentance and Reformation the best and purest Church that ever was since the Gospel began could have done him no service And I take it to be as great a Corruption as can be readily thought of for any Church to pretend to save men by a Trick and send them to Heaven any other way than the plain way of keeping the Commandments of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Keep therefore the pure Profession of the Christian Faith but withal keep a good Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man Hold fast the form of sound words But still remember that if your Works be not answerable your Faith is vain For not the hearers of the Law but the doers thereof shall be justified Not he that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of our Father which is in heaven The Second Sermon MATTH XVIII 7. Wo unto the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come But wo to that Man by whom the Offence cometh THE great End of the Gospel is to bring Mankind to Salvation and in order thereunto to convert them from Sin and from all dangerous Error and to lead them to a right Faith and a Holy Life But it is too evident that this End is not attained Universally And if any one should be tempted to suspect that the Christian Religion is not therefore a Divine Revelation because it has in so great part failed of the End which it pretended to pursue he may be easily brought to assurance again by considering the vast good which Christianity hath done in the World but especially by observing that the Gospel hath foretold that all men would not believe and obey Our blessed Lord himself testified that many were called but few were chosen and that strait was the Gate and narrow the way that leadeth to Life and few there be that find it Nay inasmuch as he hath forewarned us of a Day of Judgment and hath told us beforehand That the Word which he hath spoken the same should judge us at the Last Day This was a manifest Declaration that he did not pretend to lead men to Faith and Repentance by such means as could not but be effectual but only by such as were sufficient if we would in any measure comply with his gracious Methods and it was also a plain intimation that a great many would be never the better but the worse for these means that God had provided for their Salvation and that some for not receiving them others for not improving them would fall into greater Condemnation But our Saviour did not foretell these things only but the Causes of them too and what it was that would obstruct the Progress and Design of his Religion For this is the importance of those words of his which I have now chosen for my Subject Wo be to the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come By Offences or Scandals we are here and almost everywhere in the New Testament to understand those Temptations to Sin and Inducements to Error which some men lay in the way of others They are sometimes otherwise express'd Snares Stumbling-blocks and occasions of Fallings for the
unclean or unlawful in its own nature to be used nor can any man's touch make it so nor can any of these things defile a man's Conscience but a man's Conscience is defiled by that which comes from his heart by evil Thoughts by evil Words and by Actions contrary to the Command of God such as murders and adulteries c. These are the things that defile a man but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man i. e. doth not by any means affect his Soul or his Conscience for in this respect he is neither better for washing nor worse for letting it alone and to think otherwise is a Superstition hurtful to your selves and dishonourable to God and of very bad consequence tho it be not so impudent and notorious an abuse as the making void of God's Law by the other lewd Tradition that I mentioned before It is to this purpose that we are to understand the method and design of our Saviour's Discourse in this place in answer to the Objection of the Pharisees brought against the Disciples From which Answer there are some things to be gathered well worth our observation 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition that it is contrary to the Commandment of God 2. That if there be one Traditionary Doctrine that notoriously contradicts the Law of God that one instance is sufficient to overturn the credit of that Tradition which pretends to deliver unwritten Doctrines of equal Authority with those that are written 3. That the universal consent of some one Age or more That such and such Doctrines were delivered by word of mouth many Ages before is no Argument that they were so delivered 4. That we have great reason to stick to the Word of God delivered to us in the Scriptures and to examine all Doctrines and Rules which are said to be necessary to Salvation by that Rule and to reject the Authority of unwritten Traditions 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition That it is contrary to the Commandment of God For if when Tradition is pretended for any Doctrine or Practice it be not enough to shew that the same Doctrine or Practice is inconsistent with what is plainly required in the Scriptures which are acknowledged by all to contain the Word of God I say if this be not enough then our Saviour used an insufficient Argument against the pretended Tradition of not suffering the Son that was under a Vow of the contrary to relieve his Father or Mother that it made void the commandment of God But doubtless our Saviour was so far from using a bad Argument that he used the best and most convincing of all And truly if we did not in this case consider our Saviour's Authority yet it must be a monstrous prejudice that keeps any man from discerning the strength of this Argument against the Authority of any unwritten Doctrine That it is contrary to what is written for nothing is more certain than that Contradictions cannot be true and yet they must be true if that Doctrine for which unwritten Tradition is pretended can be of God tho it contradicts the written Tradition which is by all acknowledged to be Divine But as plain as this Argument is yet it is very well for us that we find our blessed Saviour giving such Authority to it because there are Christians in the World bearing up themselves upon the Tradition of the Church that are loth to admit this Argument which we have no cause to be amazed at because it is an utter Confutation of all their pretences We charge them with having brought into the Church new Articles of Faith and new Doctrines of Worship which are not only very different from what was taught at first by Christ and his Apostles but some of them contrary thereunto as we can shew them out of the Scriptures But this way of proceeding doth by no means content them and they insist upon it that the Cause may be tried otherwise For say they You acknowledge that our Church was once a pure Church and taught the Gospel sincerely but if as you say she departed from the pure Faith and Worship which the Apostles left it is impossible but this must have been very notorious because it could not have been done without opposition and resistance from some that must needs observe it Tell us therefore When were these new and false Doctrines introduced Who were the men that brought them in Who were the first that made the discovery What Council condemned them after they were discovered For if none of these things can be shewn it is absurd to think that any such alteration should have been as you say Which reasoning amounts to thus much That it is impossible we can be sure that in the compass of a thousand Years there was a great alteration happened in the state of Religion unless withal we can tell how it came about and just when it came about the precise time and the punctual manner and circumstances thereof which is just as if a man almost desperately sick of a Disease that had been for some Years growing upon him should prove to his Friend that he is as well as ever he was in his Life for says he You know I was well once and if I am now so ill as you say pray shew me the time when this Disease first happened the manner how and what Physicians were called about me which kind of arguing would certainly prove no more than that the Disease had taken his head When the Servants came and told their Lord that the tares came up with the wheat it was excusable in them to say We sowed good seed whence hath it these tares But when their Master told them An enemy hath done this if they had disputed and told him It was impossible there should be any Tares at all because he could not tell punctually that very Night when they were sown and who the Persons were that took the malicious pains to sow them then they had been very inexcusable thus to renounce their own certain knowledge for the sake of a vain Speculation Now we are very sure that the Apostles did at first sow nothing in the Church but good and true Doctrine Our Fathers that lived about fourteen hundred Years after found quite another sort of Doctrine gotten into the Church and some of them contrary to what the Apostles taught as the Scriptures manifestly shew and yet there have been a long time and still there are certain Disputers that go about to stagger others with such like questions as we have been speaking of and teach them to defy all reasoning out of the Scriptures till these questions are satisfied What Age What Year of our Lord were these Errors brought into the Church Who were they that brought them in and who first complained of them Now although a very reasonable account both may be and hath been given of
whether they will be warned by such Examples Again when we feel anguish our selves we remember how we have for a long time abused the Patience of God and turned his grace into wantonness Then our Luxury and Intemperance whilst we had plenty of all things for this Life and our neglect of Instruction and Admonition under all means of Grace for a better Life then I say these things come to mind And if God spares us whilst he smites others it is that we may not need any thing more than such a warning to make us reflect upon these things as we ought to do Thus also God's Corrections dispose Men to Charity and Consideration of one another they cure us of that stiffness and wantonness which whilst all things go well with us carries on Contention and Hatred And therefore that we may not make it necessary for Providence to teach us Wisdom and Charity by withdrawing those Bounties of his which we abuse to the pampering of Pride and Obstinacy we should learn to be wise by Examples before we are made Examples our selves To conclude this matter who can be ignorant that Affection drives those Men to Prayer and other Duties of Piety who were very careless of them before In their distress they will seek God early though in their Prosperity they were so backward to any thing of Religion and for the most part felt very faint and ineffectual dispositions to it rather complying with Custom than with Inclination and Conscience and honouring God with their lips while their hearts are far from him And this is the great danger of a prosperous State to be full and to forget God But if nothing else will cure this Sloathfulness in Religion and this indifference and coldness in the Service of God yet at least Affliction doth it which makes us to feel our dependance upon God and shows us that we have no hope left but in him and then we abound in Prayers and we attend willingly to instruction we apply our selves to God in good earnest and to all the Comforts of Religion we make many vows and promises and we set our selves immediately to perform them This is the natural effect of sufferings when we feel them our selves and if we are wise it should be the effect of all those warnings that God hath given us by the sufferings of others Since therefore we cannot look abroad into the World but we shall see the Judgments of God in the Earth let us learn Righteousness let us not be high-minded but fear let us not judge others but judge our selves and often consider what our Saviour replied to the supposition of their being Sinners above all others who suffered such things as others had not suffered I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish The Thirteenth Sermon LUK. XVIII viii Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the Earth FOR the understanding of these Words of our Saviour two things are to be considered 1. What is here meant by the Coming of the Son of Man And 2. What is meant by his not finding Faith upon the Earth 1. How we are to understand those Words when the Son of Man cometh I answer the meaning is when he cometh to execute Judgment upon the ungodly and to deliver his faithful People out of their Hands For after our Saviour had spoken the Parable of the unjust Judge that was wearied by the Widow's importunity to do Justice for her against her adversaries he argued thus v. 7. And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night to him though he bear long with them or rather as it might have been translated and will he bear long in their cause I tell you that he will avenge them speedily And then follow these Words Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh i. e. when he cometh to do that which was spoken of before viz. to avenge the cause of his Elect or to punish their Enemies and Oppressors and to deliver them out of their hands Now of the Coming of Christ for this purpose there is also a twofold signification in the New Testament whereof one is manifestly the Principal and much more considerable than the other and that is his second coming in Person to judge the Quick and the Dead which will not be till the end of the World Thus the coming of the Day of the Lord 2 Pet. 3.10 Is called his coming v. 4. and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints 1 Thes 3.13 and in many other places And this is all the coming of Christ properly so called that the New Testament mentions after his First because this only is to be his second personal Appearance But then 2. There was another notion of the coming of Christ after his first which is also plainly enough intimated in the New Testament and that was his coming to destroy the Jews and to deliver the Christians out of their Hands which happened 40 Years after his Death And of this the 24th Chapter of St. Matthew is an undeniable Testimony where a Description of the Destruction of Jerusalem and a Description of the Day of Judgment are so interwoven one with the other that it is a matter of some difficulty to know punctually and fully what is proper to the one and what to the other But plain it is that the one as well as the other is called the Coming of the Son of Man as appears by verses 27. and 37. The Destruction of Jerusalem was made as it were a Type or Figure of the Day of Judgment and therefore these Words are there Verily I say unto you this Generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled v. 34. i. e. till they are accomplished in that part of the meaning which respects the Destruction of Jerusalem which was destroyed before that Generation passed away Of this it seems plain that St. James speaks C. 5. v. 6 7. where speaking to the Jews says he Ye have condemned and killed the Just and to the Christians Be patient therefore Brethren unto the coming of the Lord and v. 8. Be ye also patient stablish your Hearts for the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh and some other places there are where the Phrase is to be interpreted thus particularly that Let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand Phil. 4.5 i. e. let all Men see by your Meekness and Patience under those Oppressions which you suffer that you believe those Predictions which we have delivered to you from Christ that he is at hand to deliver you and although properly the end of all things will not be till the last day when the Earth shall be burnt up and all the works that are therein yet because this notable revolution of the destruction of the Jews was in some degree like unto it therefore it was also called the end of all things meaning the end
violated their Oath at last Nay a corrupt Jury is guilty of Perjury in another respect since they swear against that very Temptation which misleads them they are to bring in a Verdict according to the proof of the Fact whereas they make it according as they are inclined to the Parties and yet they are sworn not to swerve from the Truth for Fear Hatred Favour or Affection But farther one Man may be guilty of the violation of another Man's Oath he that suborns a false Witness is before God guilty of his Perjury yea if he does so much as tempt a Witness to be false for tho' he himself is not actually sworn yet he designs that an Oath should be broken God hath said Thou shalt swear in truth he in effect says Thou shalt not do so and therefore if he prevails he is at once guilty of the false Witness his breaking that Law of God and likewise of his own contradicting it which is every whit as bad and there is this Circumstance rendring the Perjury more displeasing to God That two Men are guilty of violating one Oath The Case is the same in tampering with Juries to possess them beforehand with favour or disaffection to either of the Parties For what is this but to perswade them to Perjury that is to give their Verdict with respect to Persons and not with regard to the Evidence And I do not see but they who are to impannel Juries are likewise guilty of the Violation of other Mens Oaths if in any Case depending they return Jurors whose Interest and Affection they believe will carry them to favour the side befriended by their own Wishes for tho' they may chuse whether they will be forsworn yet he that returns 'em had a Mind that they should rather than the Cause should miscarry on that side to which he is partial himself Lastly Whoever in behalf of a Client puts words into the mouth of a slow Country Witness while he is giving his Testimony by which the Witness means one thing and he another by this means perverting the Evidence while the poor Man perceives it not he does not only directly offend against the end of Swearing which is the discovery of the Truth but before God he is as guilty of the Violation of an Oath as the honest Witness would have been had he knowingly used the same subtilty in giving Testimony which was indeed but practised upon him And thus much concerning the usual ways direct or indirect by which an Oath may be violated it being requisite to touch upon them at least that what remains to be said may find us prepared for particular Application As to the Inducements to Perjury which was the third Subject propounded there is no doubt but every sin which preys upon the Conscience does form the mind more or less into some disposition to this the blackest of them all every thing inclines to it which lessens the Sense of Religion and the Fear of offending God The prevalency of any Lust especially of Ambition and Revengefulness animates Men to break loose from all the most sacred Bonds that should restrain them from gratifying their inordinate Appetites Again Partiality grounded upon Prejudice and Interest upon Envy and Covetousness has been the cause of many Perjuries in most questions concerning Rents and Tythes every body is ready to say how the Case is like to go But when all is said there is nothing in this our Age has made such foul work in swearing as Faction hath done that combination of Covetousness Pride and Ambition of Envy Hatred and Malice united and made fast together under Hypocrisie Any one of these singly by it self leads to Perjury but when they all conspire they drive on to it without opposition Another inlet to the violation of Oaths is the Practice of Common Swearing he that will call God to witness Trifles by degrees loseth the Reverence of an Oath and is within a little of calling him to witness Falshood I mean upon Solemn Oath for 't is not to be doubted that the customary Oaths of Conversation make the Swearer guilty of frequent Perjuries when he thinks not of it but if he swears in truth before a Court of Judicature against his Interest or Affection we are to thank his Generosity for it and not the respect he has for an Oath Otherwise he that swears commonly and rashly will upon any considerable Temptation swear falsly with deliberation In a word such are the Inducements and Occasions of Perjury that perhaps it were to be wished that the manner of administring Oaths were in all places a little more awful and solemn than it is to strike into those Men some reverence of an Oath and fear of Perjury who bring nothing of it along with them Indeed the most effectual way to prevent false Swearing would be to consider the heinous Aggravations of the Sin some of which in the last place I shall now represent We know that sincerity in speaking of the Truth and keeping ones Promise is every Man's Duty whether he be Sworn or not The natural Obligation we lie under to be true and faithful to our Word is so strong and so sensible that every Man is ashamed to be found in a Lye But whoever is known to be a common falsifier of his Word and so given to Deceit that he is not to be trusted let him be endued with never so many considerable and useful Parts besides that shall be sure to ruin his Reputation Insincerity is so foul a Stain that no good quality can wipe it out and this shews that there is a strong Obligation to trust common to all Mankind wherefore this must needs be one heinous Circumstance of Perjury That when the sacred Bond of an Oath is once violated the perjur'd Person is guilty of breaking that Faith and Truth which was a natural Duty before But Sincerity is still more a Duty when my Testimony is required in order to publick Peace and Justice All Men have right to be truly dealt with much more the Magistrate by whom I am protected most of all when he requires it in order to the doing of Justice or the securing of Government It is then my Duty to the Magistrate 't is my Duty to my Neighbour 't is my Duty to my Country to speak the Truth clearly and honestly and if I promise any thing to discharge it faithfully The discharge of thy Office which thou art sworn to execute is both requisite for the publick Good and requir'd by just Authority if thou hadst not so much as promised it thou hadst been still obliged to the same in obedience to thy Superior in Love to thy Country If thou hadst been barely required to give thy Testimony in Court yet even without Oath or Promise thou wert greatly bound to Truth because the telling of a Lye in this Case were impudent undutifulness to the Judge and manifestly injurious to thy Neighbour In like manner a
then have we confidence of our selves By doing those things that please him we are sure to please our selves By making him our Friend we shall infallibly make one Friend more and that is our own Consciences which is infinitely more to us than the opinion of the World 'T is a plain case that we approve our selves to God by following Truth and Goodness and this we know will not put us upon struggling with our own Judgment and straining points against our clear knowledge of what we ought to do All the while we are gaining his Favour we are sure we do well and when we have done it we shall thank our selves instead of being plagu'd with a sad and black remembrance of the way we took to get it Acquaint now thy self with God and be at peace with him and so shall good come unto thy Soul 5. There lies no Flattery nor false Accusation nor outward accident against us to put us out of God's Favour or to make us lose that we have wrought to turn his mind or to blot our services out of his remembrance No change of Fortune shall bring us into disgrace which consideration St. Paul laid great strength upon in pursuance of the Text. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword v. 35. I am persuaded says he that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord v. 38. Nay says the Apostle in all these things we are more than Conquerors that is we get by being condemned by others because by that we are made more dear to God who will consider not only that we served him but under what discouragements from the World we did so Lastly 6. Whom God justifies them he also glorifies For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to he conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren v. 29 30. i. e. Those whom he foreknew to be his most faithful Servants he did before time decree that by suffering for Righteousness they should follow so glorious a Pattern as their elder Brother the Lord Jesus Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called i. e. he brought them to the profession of the truth in a hazardous time that they should shew their Integrity and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified Which is so sure that the Apostle mentions it as if it were done already Then he proceeds in the following Verses What shall we say to these things If God be for us who can be against us He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect It is God that justifies who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us The conclusion is this That whoever condemns we are not to be discourag'd if God justifies But it may be said That all this is very true indeed but it serves the turn of all Parties even of those who are most severely condemned by each other while each of them pretends to have God and Truth on their side And therefore that this Subject might have been more usefully pursued by shewing particularly what that Faith and that Practice is with which they must be qualified whom God justifies and how we are assured of it Now I considered all this at first but then I knew that I was to speak to persons who are neither ignorant of the Doctrine of this Church nor of the evidence whereby it appears to be the very Truth of Christianity by which whoever governs himself in worshipping God in behaving himself to others and in all his ways shall be assuredly justified of God though all the World should condemn him for it But I considered also that of all things which are apt to shake the constancy of modest Persons nothing is more likely to do it than the mighty confidence wherewith they of the Roman Church condemn us and exclaim against us For to those who are acquainted with the History of the World and of the Church it must needs be a surprize that Men who are said to be Learned and known to be zealous do pronounce against us with no less severity than if we were mere Infidels One would think there must be some deep reason for it when they make us nothing at all and themselves all in all For thus they will not allow that we are a Church or that we have any certainty so much as of that true Doctrine we profess for they know us better than we do ourselves and as for our Salvation they are as sure it belongs not to us till we are converted to them as if they kept the Keys of Heaven Nor do they sink us more than they raise themselves who are not only a Church but the whole Church and not only not deceived but even Infallible They talk as if there were no safety with us and no danger with them which may raise such doubts in weaker Minds that I thought it not unseasonable to bring to your remembrance how violently the Apostles and their Christian Brethren were condemned by Men of whom yet these Men will grant that they were justified of God If it shall be said This is a common-place Argument of which all Men serve themselves I answer That the Argument is so much the stronger For if these Men themselves will tell you that confidence is not to be trusted you will I hope make this application That neither is their confidence to be trusted and therefore that you ought to consider what they are before you believe them to be what they call themselves and examine what they teach before you think the worse of your selves for what they call you And this is all that we desire of you That you would weigh the reasons of things and not mind sweling Words Brethren it is by no means a new Artifice to talk in a very high strain when Argument runs very low Thus Jews and Gentiles exclaimed against our Fathers the Apostles and the primitive Believers condemning them for going against Antiquity Universality Authority Tradition Philosophers Law-makers Kings and Nations And yet when all was done all this was but empty noise and vain pretence and the Cause of Christianity was the Cause of God Foul Errors have been drest with glorious appearances of Truth and Truth has been opposed with Confidence and God suffers it to be so to try the sincerity of Men that while they who are willing to be deluded fall by