they are briefly these 1. It was to imitate the Eternal Father that at divers times and in divers manners spake to the Fathers of old He gave his Law to the Jewish People on Mount Sinai Exod. XIX II. The Son being to give a Law to the Christian World begins the Promulgation of it on a Mountain too and in doing so discover'd his Divine Authority and it was an Item that the same God that spoke on Mount Sinai spoke in this Mountain too only here lay the difference the Law on Mount Sinai was publish'd in the Midst of Thunder and Lightning for which reason we find it call'd a Fiery Law Deut. XXXIII 2. The Law of the Gospel was deliver'd in a sweet and still Voice to represent the Nature and Temper of it to express the Calmness of Mind the secret Satisfaction the spiritual Joy it causes and the Rest it leads to both Temporal and Eternal 2. He thought fit to deliver this comprehensive Sermon on a Mountain to shew the Sublimity and Grandeur of his Doctrine and Precepts that the Law he intended to give transcended the Laws of all Nations in the World in wholsomeness and excellency that the Laws which had hitherto govern'd Mankind were low creeping things to what he was going to publish and what an Excellent and Heroick Spirit Obedience to his Precepts would give to his true Followers raise them above the World make them despise sublunary Vanities advance them above the common level of Philosophical Vertues and fit them for dwelling at last on the everlasting Hills on the Mount where God is seen and will be seen to Eternal Ages even the Kingdom that fades not away But I must go on and take notice of another Circumstance here mention'd and that is IV. Christ's sitting down on the Mount Even this Posture hath some Mystery in it For 1. In doing so Christ asserted the Greatness and Majesty of his Person even in sitting down to speak while the Multitude and the Disciples stood round about him This may be call'd an Early Act of his Royalty as Kings do sit while their Subjects of all sorts and degrees stand about them Sitting among the Jews was a Posture denoting liberty and freedom from slavery which was the reason why the Synagogue chang'd the Posture of standing at the Passover a Posture or sign of Servitude into sitting or leaning and with very good reason might Christ sit down here when he taught the People whose business it was to proclaim liberty to the Captives to free the World from the bondage of sin and to rescue them from the Tyranny of the Devil But 2. In sitting down to teach we may add Christ imitated the Jewish Custom which was that the Teachers sat and the Hearers stood Unto this St. Luke alludes Ch. IV. 20. where speaking of Christ teaching in the Synagogue he says He closed the Book and gave it again to the Minister and sat down and the Eyes of all that were in the Synagogue were fastened upon him In these Synagogues which were in the Nature of our Parish-Churches there was a Seat whereon the Teacher sat and the Auditours stood at his Feet which gave occasion to that proverbial Phrase That such a one had been brought up at the Feet of such a Teacher as St. Paul saith of himself That he had been brought up at the Feet of Gamaliel Acts XXII 3. And of this Nature was the other Expression the Jews made use of viz. To wallow or roll in the Dust of such a Master's Feet whereby they noted the Humility that the Auditour ought to shew to him that teaches him But V. One circumstance more must here be consider'd and this relates to the Disciples that came unto him The following Sermon being directed to them it concerns us to know who these Disciples were And 1. They were the Twelve Apostles who are call'd so by way of Eminency as being the Chief the principal Disciples of Christ by whose Life and Doctrine men were to conclude and learn the Nature of Christ's Kingdom The word Disciple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Talmid in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mathetes in the Greek is one that is taught by another and puts himself under his Tuition and Discipline following his Doctrine and way of living And so did the Holy Apostles with respect to Christ and though Judas proved a Devil and an Apostate afterward yet at first without all peradventure he shew'd the same Zeal that the rest did and was true to his Master's interest These Twelve Christ chose as Patriarchs of the Christian Common-wealth in imitation of the Twelve Sons of Jacob which were the Pillars and Foundation of the Jewish Republick and these Apostles trod exactly in their Master's Steps the Son of Perdition excepted and therefore call'd Disciples 2. Not only these Twelve who were Christ's Domesticks were call'd so but all such of the Multitude that believ'd in the Great Jesus and took him for the Messiah or Saviour of the World for to such also the Name of Disciples is given Luke VI. 13. Acts IX 26. Acts XI 26. John VI. So that all that have given their Names to Christ Jesus resign'd themselves to the Rules of his Discipline and profess his Religion are concern'd in this Sermon Every one that names the Name of Christ The Lessons here given reach all such whether high or low whether Princes or Subjects whether rich or poor whether Nobles or Peasants Christ in the following Sermon lays down one way for all nor must any Man be so foolish as to hope to be excused from the Obligation of the following Commands upon the Account of his Rank and Condition and as impossible as the Practice of some of the following Precepts particularly that of forbearing private Revenge doing good to them that hate them c. may seem to Gentlemen and Persons of Quality yet Christ considered Men here not as Gentlemen or Noblemen but as Christians if Christians they must be his Servants if Servants they must do what their Master bids them do if not the bare Name will never save them Inferences 1. Christ seeing the Multitudes and touch'd with compassion to their Souls went up into a Mountain to teach them A Man in whom the Spirit of Christ is cannot but be touch'd with the same compassion to behold the great Numbers of People that go astray from the way to Salvation Ah! how many Thousands do we see ride Post to everlasting Misery It 's true all the Rhetorick in the World cannot make them believe so much but so it is and if without such and such Qualifications there is no inheriting the Kingdom of God what must we think of so many Millions who never have so much as a sad or melancholy Thought about these Qualifications and is not this making haste to be miserable And can a Man that hath a Sense of the Veracity of God in the Gospel behold such Numbers without being griev'd or concern'd
purchase it and when he had done to apply it to those for whom it was purchas'd If a rich Man buys an Estate for a Beggar the Beggar may justly call it his for he that had right and means and power and ability to buy it bought it for his Use. 2. Theirs by possession taken already in their Name The same Jesus that purchas'd this Kingdom for them he it is that hath taken possession of this Kingdom for them and in their Name For in my Father's house are many mansions If it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you saith Christ John XIV 2. All the Christian World knows that Christ ascended into Heaven There he actually enjoys the Kingdom of Glory which he keeps for the humble He is the great Trustee that secures and manages that vast Estate for their Use So that it may juâ—â—ly be call'd theirs because of the forerunner Jesus who is enter'd into Heaven being made a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck as it is said Heb. VI. 20. There he appears for them as their Advocate and keeps their places for them against they come thither As a Guardian takes care and possession of the Orphan's Estate till the Pupil comes to Age so Christ takes possession of this Kingdom with an intent to deliver it up to the humble when they come in the Unity of the Faith unto a perfect Man in Christ Jesus to the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. IV. 13. 3. Theirs by promise for so we read Matth. XVIII 3 4. Except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Whosoever shall humble himself as this little Child the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven He hath promis'd it who is able to give it even God who cannot be worse than his word The humble Man may depend upon this Promise more than he can upon Bonds and Bills and Securities that Men can give him of an Estate in the World God cannot fail him he cannot disappoint him He not only will not but cannot as the Apostle saith He cannot lye Tit. I. 2. because that would imply an imperfection If a Man of Honour doth faithfully promise his Neighbour a living a place or an office in his gift the Man makes bold to call it his for he hath confidence in his honesty and word knowing him to be a Person that stands upon his credit and reputation and scorns to do any thing that 's base and mean How much more then may the humble Soul call the Kingdom of Glory hers since the God the Fountain of Truth and Truth it self hath peremptorily said it shall fall to her share and though such Persons do not actually as yet enjoy it yet they shall enjoy it as surely as if they did already walk through that Jerusalem and view the Towers and Bullworks and all because they have to deal with a God who changes not Mal. III. 6. 4. Theirs by way of earnest In humane Contracts men give earnest and that makes the Bargain sure and tho' the Covenant God makes with Men is not such a formal Contract as is betwixt Man and Man in buying and selling yet some resemblance there is in that God a most bountifull Master is willing to give earnest to the humble Soul to assure her that this Kingdom of Glory shall be hers This earnest is his Spirit which is therefore call'd The earnest of our future inheritance Eph I. 14. This Spirit is no fancy but a real thing which the humble Soul feels as much as other Men do the moving of the Wind by the effects This Spirit of God is discover'd by its operations which are kindly and great and powerfull and make a very wonderfull alteration in the Soul for the better This Spirit works Grace and that Grace is the earnest of Glory III. How and in what manner a Title to this Kingdom makes the poor in Spirit or the Humble blessed In the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men that may rejoyce much or who have very great reason to rejoyce or as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men not subject to Death or Corruption the word answers to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which imports a perfection or confluence of all good things The Isle of Cyprus was anciently call'd Macaria because of the mighty affluence and abundance of all good things that wer to be had there which was the cause why the Romans seiz'd it for their use But what is all this to the Kingdom of Heaven to the Kingdom of Grace and Glory Where all things that can make a Man truly and eternally happy do concur where there is no want of any thing that Reason can desire and all things that fill and satisfie the Soul are present where God gives himself the perfection of Beauty and Wisdom and Greatness and Love and Delight which gift as it is begun in the Kingdom of Grace so it shall be perfected in the Kingdom of Glory The humble Man is blessed 1. Blessed in himself 2. Blessed in the sight of God 3. Blessed in the Eyes of all good Men 4. blessed in the midst of all his outward Miseries 5. Blessed in the opinion of all Reprobates 6. Blessed because he hath a Title to the Kingdom of Heaven 1. Blessed in himself He hath reason to rejoice His humility gives him that content and secret Satisfaction that it may justly be call'd the Philosopher's-stone Content which surpasses all the Satisfaction that the luxurious the proud the voluptuous the sensual the carnal part of Mankind boasts of He hath Riches within and Pleasures within and a new Name within him even the white Stone which no Man knows save he who receives it Nor is he subject to corruption for when he dies he dies into an immortal life There is nothing of him dies but the garment of flesh nothing of him corrupts but the Clay and Dust he wears about him the earthly Tabernacle in which his Soul that noble Inhabitant lived decays and moulders and falls but his Soul at his Death is born again gets new life new light new irradiations nay and his Body must at last follow his Soul to Glory and therefore blessed blessed in himself for he feels that Bliss within which all the Gold of Ophir cannot purchase So true is that saying of our Saviour He that believes in me shall never die Joh. XI 26. 2. He is blessed in the sight of God God counts him so God looks upon him as happy and he must needs be so whom God judges to be so God cannot be mistaken He cannot be out in his Verdict He sees his heart sees the lovely the amiable the charming Vertue he is most enamour'd withal a Vertue very agreeable to his Divine Nature a Vertue which very much resembles the
Righteousness for Tribulation works patience and Patience experience and Experience hope and Hope makes not ashamed But this is not all Behold also in this similitude the Nature of your future Joys when the Child is born the Woman for Joy forgers her anguish so when your Fruit is ripe it shall be laid up in the granary of Heaven and when you shall put off this Body of Flesh and Sin for the Joy that will crown your Temples you 'll forget all the former anguish you labour'd under God will comfort you and your Eyes shall see it the Lord Jesus will call to you and your Ears shall hear it Enter you into the Joy of your Master Heaven is the vast Store-house of all Comforts there where-ever you cast your Eye you 'll behold nothing but Comfort Comfort in the Spirits of Men made perfect Comfort in the general Assembly of the first born which are written in Heaven Comfort in the innumerable Company of Angels Comfort in the Hallelujah's of Cherubin and Seraphin Comfort above you Comfort within you Comfort round about you There your Heart will break no more there your Understandings will be clouded no more there no storms no enemies will discompose you any more there all that can make Men sad will be removed from your sight for sin will be gone and Devils will tempt no more there you will lie incircled in the everlasting Arms and Rivers of Joy will flow round about you your present April Showers will produce a glorious May and after your gloomy Night the Son of Righteousness will shine upon you with healing under his Wings and as one hour changed Joseph's Fetters into a Chain of Gold his Rags into shining Robes his Stocks into a Chariot his Prison into a Palace his Water into Wine so in that moment that your Souls shall enter into the Regions of endless Comfort your mourning will be changed into dancing your tears into laughter your sackcloth into silks your ashes into garlands your thorns into lawrels your fasts into festivals and your unutterable sighs and groans into unspeakable joys SERMON V. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 5. Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth THIS Blessedness or Beatitude in some Latin Copies of the New Testament is the second but in the Original and in the Syriack and Arabick Versions it is the third and these as the most authentick our Translation follows what is said of Meekness here is taken out of Psal. XXXVII 11. where we read as it is in the Text The Meek shall inherit the Earth Christ came not to reverse the Morals under the Law but to ratifie and confirm and to refine them into greater perfection and to enforce them with new Motives and Arguments Moral Vertue hath been the same in all Ages and being founded on the Law of Nature must needs be unalterable The encouragements for the practice of it are greater in the Christian Religion than in any other whatfoever and the lines of the Duty are here drawn in livelier Colours but the Vertue it self like the Nature of that God from whom it flows receives no changes In the explication of the Text we are to consider as in the preceding Sentences I. What Meekness is and who the Meek are and what their Character is II. Wherein their Blessedness consists III. How they shall inherit the Earth I. What Meekness is 1. To be meek is not to be mealy-mouth'd or gentle or calm when it is our Duty to be angry and it is our Duty to be so partly with our selves when we sin against Heaven and in the presence of an Omnipotent God and that is the anger or indignation spoken of 2 Cor. VII 11. partly with others when they do notoriously affront the Divine Majesty and wrong their Consciences Gall. III. 1 2. particularly 1. With those who are under our Command and Power and Jurisdiction such as Children Servants and other Relations or Persons whose Masters Governours Guardians Teachers or Tutours we are when they prove incorrigible in their sins Gen. XLIX 6 7. 2. Even with others of our Acquaintance and Persons whom we converse with when they profane the Name of God or run out into licentiousness and will not be reclaim'd by softer means Gal. V. 12. Moses though one of the meekest Men in the World yet his anger justly wax'd hot when he saw the Israelites commit Idolatry Exod. XXXII 19. And our Saviour himself tho' the Pattern of Meekness yet could not behold the profanation of the Temple without anger John II. 15 17. and St. Paul and Barnabas though Preachers of this Christian Meekness yet were obliged to break out into Passion when they saw the Priest of Jupiter bringing Oxen and Garlands to do Sacrifice to them Acts XIV 14 15. Elis Meekness to his Children prov'd his folly and his Calmness is a Cause where God was dishonour'd pulled down God's Vengeance upon his Posterity A soft Expostulation here was altogether unseasonable and instead of saying to his Sons why do you do so he should have severely punish'd them when their stubbornness baffled all the gentler means of their Reformation Meekness properly relates to injuries done to our selves where the injury is directly offer'd to God our Meekness must turn into Zeal in all sins against our Neighbours and our own Souls God is wrong'd because all sin is a Transgression and dishonouring of the Law of God but some sins are more immediately levell'd against God yet even in God's cause where the anger is just and lawfull discretion must guide the Passion in a good Cause men may be too hot and where the anger turns into fury it becomes madness and instead of advancing diminishes and darkens the glory of Religion There is a rational anger which with some warmth and heat pleads and argues for God's Honour but runs not out into unseemly Behaviour or into reviling Language And this is that anger we are to shew when God is dishonoured when we dishonour him and when others do so So that Meekness doth not exclude all anger for as all Meekness is not lawfull so all Anger is not sinfull Be ye angry and sin not saith St. Paul Eph. IV. 26. which shews that some sort of anger is innocent And it is so when it is 1. In God's cause and from a sense of his Glory which we see dishonour'd by the sin or by the wrong our Neighbours do either to God or to their fellow Christians for though it be lawfull sometimes to be angry at a fault we see in our Brethren yet the anger must be more upon the account of the indignity offer'd to God by the offence than upon the Account of the wrong or prejudice we our selves suffer by it 2. It must be kept within due bounds and limits must not turn into rage and throwing about Coals and Fire-brands and odious and offensive Names Nor 3. Must it turn into malice and hatred but must still be follow'd with Acts
which I mention to let you see that there are too many and too sad Instances of Men guilty of the Sin mention'd in the Text viz. Reviling and speaking Evil of Christians who sincerely believe in Christ. But II. What can be the Motive to all this What it is that makes Men so base and wicked 1. A preposterous and unhappy Education Where Men have been bred and born in a false Religion they imbibe great Prejudices against those that would inform and teach them better Education rivets Errors into the Mind as well as Truths and an Error being taken for a fundamental Truth whatever crosses it is look'd upon as dangerous and heretical and therefore abominable and unthinking Persons having no convenient Means to satisfy themselves as to the Truth of the opposite Doctrine they speak as they are taught and talk bitterly against those that would undeceive them according to the Idea's imprinted on their Mind by ill Men and deluded Teachers This was the Case of the Jews who had been taught that out of Galilee could arise nothing that was good and that no Prophet could come out of Galilee John I. 46. John VII 52. And that was the Reason why they cast so many Reproaches upon Christ who was reported to be a Native of Galilee The same may be said of the Opinion they had suck'd in with their Mother's Milk That the Messiah was to be a Temporal Prince and appear with outward Splendor which being wanting in Jesus of Nazareth they despised and reviled him 2. Another Reason is a blind Zeal the effect of an unhappy Education This blind Zeal appears chiefly in passionate and cholerick Men who being bred up in a false Religion are not only able to do but do a world of Mischief their Tongues being set on fire of Hell with the Fool in the Proverbs will throw about Swords and Arrows and Firebrands and spit Flames against those who contradict their darling and perhaps profitable Principles Thus it was in a great measure with St. Paul before his Passion was sanctified and himself converted his Zeal was blind and violent and that made him not only blaspheme Christ and his Saints but think it his Duty to do so as himself confesses 1 Tim. I. 13. 3. Another is Pride A proud Man is naturally tempted to slandering and abusing those who do not please him His Pride makes him undervalue the Person that opposes his Insolence and that undervaluing provokes him to bitter Words and abusive Language The Pharisees were monstrously proud swelled with a mighty Conceit of their Holiness and Strictness and this was the Cause of the horrid Language they gave to the Saviour of Mankind calling him Samaritan a Devil and an Impostor and the People that follow'd him Cursed John VII 49. 4. A fourth Reason is Malice and Envy bitter Roots which produce very bitter Fruit even bitter Language Malice is a Soil which evil Spirits do delight in and they dictate this hellish Rhetorick Malice will make Faults where it finds none and misinterpret harmless Actions as unpardonable Crimes It turns accidental Reports into Verities the shadow of a Sin into a real Crime and idle Peoples Talk into Demonstration and Evidence And in this Art the High Priest that sat Judg in Christ's Cause seem'd to be very well skill'd who could spell Blasphemy out of Christ's Confession That he was the Son of God Matth. XXVI 63. 5. Another Reason is Want of a sedate even serious and attentive Consideration of the Cause of such innocent Christians From a precipitate Judgment a Man can expect little but inconsiderate Speeches and Expressions and where Men do inspect a thing hastily survey it only superficially and will not take time to weigh the Circumstances of it we need not wonder if they take the Cause by the wrong Handle and when that appears dreadful to them which upon a deliberate View would be found harmless and tolerable and very rational rash Censures and ill Language will be the Effects and Consequences of it as we see in the Proceedings of the Jews in St. Paul's Case Acts XXII 27 28 29. They had seen one Trophimus an Ephesian with him in the Streets without any Examination of the matter they suppose he must be his Companion in the Temple too whereupon they raise a Cry That he had brought Greeks into the Temple and profaned that holy place More Reasons might here be drawn from Profit and Interest and worldly Advantages from the Company Men keep and from the high Places and Stations they possess in the World and the Figure they make in a Commonwealth all which very often tempt them to revile those whom in their own Consciences they think innocent but what hath been said may serve for a Taste But let 's go on and see III. How that which is a Sin to one can be a Blessing to another Reviling and speaking Evil falsly of good men being a great Sin how this can make the Persons who are unjustly reviled blessed 1. A very ill thing may be the Occasion of a very good one It 's true a corrupt Tree cannot bring forth good Fruit nor do Men look for Grapes from Thorns nor for Olive-berries from a Bramble nor for sweet Water from salt Springs but tho' a bad Thing cannot be the proper efficient Cause of a good one yet it may prove the Occasion of it as we see Mens dissolute and disorderly Actions are Occasions of very excellent Laws And as the Man whom History speaks of his Enemy who struck him with an Intent to kill broke the Imposthume in his Body which proved his Health and Recovery so the Devil 's accusing the Brethren before God day and night is the Occasion of their steddy Protection After the same manner from wicked Mens reviling Conscientious Christians God takes Occasion to reward them with Love and tender Mercies turns those Revilings into Blessings as Joseph's being sold into Egypt and turned out of Potiphar's House with Infamy and Disgrace and his Imprisonment into Grandeur and Royalty 2. Not so much the Revilings of wicked Men make such Persons blessed as their Innocence under those Revilings God that sees them wrongfully abused and reproach'd takes their part An ordinary Judg is bound in Conscience to plead the Cause of him whom he knows to be unjustly arraign'd much more the righteous Judge of the World may be supposed to take notice of the Innocence of his Servants whom Men unjustly calumniate and to take them into his Protection Shall not the Judg of the whole World judge righteous Judgment saith the Patriarch Gen. XVIII 24. And this makes them blessed 3. It 's not these Revilings so much that makes them blessed as their Behaviour and Deportment under them even their Patience and Meekness and Calmness and committing themselves to him that judges righteously Should he that is unjustly reviled render railing for railing or reviling for reviling in doing so he would spoil his Blessedness but bearing
in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God Excellent Counsel In the midst of all temptations darkness clouds and shadows of Death let them even resolve to depend upon God's Mercy and Goodness and rest there whatever comes of it and though they can give no reason for so doing yet let them fix here and upon this Resolution If I perish I will perish in the hopes of God's Mercy While the Light of Holiness shines and burns in them there is that in them which will secure their Title to the Enjoyment of God's everlasting Light Light will mingle with Light and the Light of the Love of God in the Soul on this side Heaven by a natural Tendency must necessarily at last terminate in and be united to him who dwelleth in a Light which no mortal Man can approach unto For with thee O Lord is the Fountain of Light and in thy Light shall we see Light Lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us and we shall be safe SERMON XV. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 14. A City set upon a Hill cannot be hid IN these Words our Saviour prosecutes his Design in the preceding Characters he had given of his Disciples and Followers He had called them the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World and these Characters he illustrates and inlarges upon not only in the Text but in the two Verses following He had told them that their Lives must be Exemplary their Conversation Edifying and their Actions such as might serve both to reform and enlighten others to this he adds another simile ye are saith he and God expects and intends you should be like a City set upon a Hill now a City set upon a Hill cannot be hid i. e. Men will take notice of you as they do of a City seated upon a Hill if your Lives are not according to the rules of my Gospel your Christianity and Discipleship will soon be seen through and you will quickly betray your Hypocrisy Your business is to own and profess the Truth in the Face of the Sun and by your conformity to my holy Laws to let the World see that you are of the same Mind and Spirit and Temper that I am of Cities are conspicuous all Men that pass by them look upon them especially if they be set on a Hill so the Eyes of the World are and will be upon you and it will soon appear what manner of Spirit you are of Let it be therefore your care so to behave your selves that those who look upon you and observe your deportment may be convinc'd that you do not profess one thing and practise another This is the natural Sense and Design of our Saviour's Expression here as will appear to any one that shall examine the Drift and Scope of Christ in this Sermon on the Mount and the antecedent and consequent Passages But because the Church of Rome lays a great stress upon this Place and makes use of it to prove the perpetual visibility of their Church I must necessarily discover to you the Vanity of that pretence before I draw any Inferences from this Passage to instruct you how to govern your Lives and Actions according to the import of this Similitude not that I am fond of controversy or love to insult over a dying Religion but the Subject lies in my way and to balk it would look like betraying the noble Cause we have espoused built upon the eternal Pillars of Truth and Reason The pretence therefore is this It must be granted say they that the Church of Christ must have been visible in all Ages for it is a City set upon a Hill which cannot be hid and there is no reason it should for how should Heathens and Infidels be converted to the Faith of Christ if the Church which must teach them that Faith were not visible If it had lain hid and obscure in the World for several Ages confined to Caves and Dens to Corners and Deserts as you Protestants pretend Christ must have miss'd of his Design which was by the conspicuousness of his Church to draw Unbelievers into the bosom of it Now it 's evident that the Church of Rome hath been visible in all Ages conspicuous and splendid for many Centuries together without any interruption yours never began to appear till Luther and Calvin and Henry VIII made it visible therefore the Church of Rome must be the true Church and yours the false because it hath not been visible in all Ages This is the Pretence and now let us briefly consider the Weakness and Absurdity of it 1. Whatever may be said for the perpetual visibility of Christ's Church it is plain that from this Text it cannot be proved for Christ doth not speak here of his Followers considered as a Church or a body of Men united under their Pastors in the Profession of the Doctrin of the Gospel and in the Use and Administration of the Sacraments of the New Testament but of every individual Disciple considered as a Christian and a follower of Christ to teach him how he ought to live and behave himself in the World to the Edification of others And this is evident from the Virtues of Meekness and Humility and Patience and Peaceableness c. press'd in the foregoing Verses which are things appertaining to every private Christian and this saying you are a City set on a Hill which cannot be hid is spoken to the very same Persons of whom the aforesaid Virtues are required So that these Words relate to a Christian Duty not to the State or Condition or Splendour or visibility of Christ's Church But 2. Suppose they do relate to Christ's Church considered as a Church they must necessarily relate to Christ's universal Church for here is no particular Church mention'd Christ's universal Church of all Ages Nations Countrys may he called a City as it is in other places stiled a Body for as a City is made up of various Buldings and as a Body consists of many Members so Christ's universal Church consists of many particular Churches which make up that great City and that vast Body and if these Words relate to Christ's universal Church how can they be applied to a particular and especially to the Church of Rome more then to the Church of Ethiopia or Greece or Armenia and how absurd must be the Consequence The universal Church of Christ is a City set upon a Hill which cannot be hid therefore the Church of Rome is that Church or therefore the Church of Rome is that City It 's true they call themselves the Vniversal or Catholick Church so did the Donatists of old but what doth calling themselves so signify when it is evident and clear as the Sun at Noon that the Church of Rome is but a particular Church There were Churches in the World before the Church of Rome was heard of and there are at this Day and have been all along Churches which may