Graces and Virtues which concern our duty towards one another That it is the sum and abridgement the accomplishment and fulfilling of the whole Law That without this whatever we pretend to in Christianity we are nothing and our Religion is vain That this is the greatest of all Graces and Virtues greater than Faith and Hope and of perpetual use and duration Charity never fails And therefore they exhort us above all things to endeavour after it as the Crown of all other Virtues Above all things have fervent charity among your selves saith St. Peter And St. Paul having enumerated most other Christian Virtues exhorts us above all to strive after this And above all these things put on charity which is the bond of perfection This St. John makes one of the most certain signs of our love to God and the want of it an undeniable argument of the contrary If a man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a lyar for he who loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen This he declares to be one of the best evidences that we are in a state of Grace and Salvation Hereby we know that we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren So that well might our blessed Saviour chuse this for the badge of his Disciples and make it the great Precept of the best and most perfect Institution Other things might have served better for pomp and ostentation and have more gratified the Curiosity or Enthusiasm or Superstition of mankind but there is no quality in the World which upon a sober and impartial consideration is of a more solid and intrinsick value And in the first Ages of Christianity the Christians were very eminent for this Vertue and particularly noted for it Nobis notam inurit apud quosdam it is a mark and brand set upan us by some saith Tertullian and he tells us that it was proverbially said among the Heathen Behold how these Christians love one another Lucian that great scoffer at all Religion acknowledgeth in behalf of Christians that this was the great Principle which their Master had instill'd into them And Julian the bitterest Enemy that Christianity ever had could not forbear to propound to the Heathen for an example the charity of the Galileans for so by way of reproach he calls the Christians who says he gave up themselves to humanity and kindness which he acknowledgeth to have been very much to the advantage and reputation of our Religion And in the same Letter to Arsacius the Heathen High Priest of Galatia he gives this memorable Testimony of the Christians that their Charity was not limited and confin'd onely to themselves but extended even to their Enemies which could not be said either of the Jews or Heathens His words are these It is a shame that when the Jews suffer none of theirs to beg and the impious Galileans relieve not onely their own but those also of our Religion that we onely should be defective in so necessary a Duty By all which it is evident that Love and Charity is not onely the great Precept of our Saviour but was in those first and best Times the general practice of his Disciples and acknowledged by the Heathens as a very peculiar and remarkable quality in them The application I shall make of this Discourse shall be threefold 1. With relation to the Church of Rome 2. With regard to our selves who profess the Protestant Reform'd Religion 3. With a more particular respect to the occasion of this Meeting First With relation to the Church of Rome Which we cannot chuse but think of whenever we speak of Charity and loving one another especially having had so late a discovery of their affection to us and so considerable a testimony of the kindness and charity which they design'd towards us such as may justly make the ears of all that hear it to tingle and render Popery execrable and infamous a frightful and a hateful thing to the end of the World It is now but too visible how grosly this great Commandment of our Saviour is contradicted not onely by the Practices of those in that Communion from the Pope down to the meanest Fryar but by the very Doctrines and Principles by the Genius and Spirit of that Religion which is wholly calculated for cruelty and persecution Where now is that mark of a Disciple so much insisted upon by our Lord and Master to be found in that Church And yet what is the Christian Church but the Society and Community of Christs Disciples Surely in all reason that which our Lord made the distinctive Mark and Character of his Disciples should be the principal mark of a true Church Bellarmine reckons up no less than fifteen marks of the rrue Church all which the Church of Rome arrogates to her self alone But he wisely forgot that which is worth all the rest and which our Saviour insists upon as the chief of all other A sincere Love and Charity to all Christians This he knew would by no means agree to his own Church But for all that it is very reasonable that Churches as well as particular Christians should be judged by their Charity The Church of Rome would engross all Faith to her self Faith in its utmost perfection to the degree and pitch of Infallibility And they allow no body in the world besides themselves no though they believe all the Articles of the Apostles Creed to have one grain of true Faith because they do not believe upon the Authority of their Church which they pretend to be the onely foundation of true Faith This is a most arrogant and vain pretence but admit it were true yet in the Judgement of St. Paul Though they had all Faith if they have not Charity they are nothing The greatest wonder of all is this that they who hate and persecute Christians most do all this while the most confidently of all others pretend to be the Disciples of Christ and will allow none to be so but themselves That Church which excommunicates all other Christian Churches in the world and if she could would extirpate them out of the world will yet needs assume to her self to be the only Christian Church As if our Saviour had said Hereby shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye hate and excommunicate and kill one another What shall he done unto thee thou false tongue thou empty and impudent pretence of Christianity Secondly With relation to our seves who profess the Protestant Reformed Religion How is this great Precept of our Saviour not onely shamefully neglected but plainly violated by us And that not only by private hatred and ill-will quarrels and contentions in our civil conversation and entercourse with one another but by most unchristian divisions and animosities in that common relation wherein we stand to one another as Brethren as Christians as Protestants Have we not all one
every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness of those who lie in wait to deceive And if we were thus affected on all hands we might yet be a happy Church and Nation if we would govern our selves by these Rules and walk according to them peace would be upon us and mercy and on the Israel of God Thirdly I shall conclude all with a few words in relation to the occasion of this present meeting I have all this while been recommending to you from the Authority and Example of our Blessed Saviour and from the nature and reason of the thing it self this most exellent Grace and Virtue of Charity in the most proper Acts and Instances of it But besides particular Acts of Charity to be exercised upon emergent occasions there are likewise charitable Customs which are highly commendable because they are more certain and constant of a larger extent and of a longer continuance As the Meeting of the Sons of the Clergy which is now form'd and establish'd into a charitable Corporation And the Anniversary Meetings of those of the several Counties of England who reside or happen to be in London for two of the best and noblest ends that can be the maintaining of Friendship and the promoting of Charity These and others of the like kind I call charitable customs which of late years have very much obtained in this great and famous City And it cannot but be a great pleasure and satisfaction to all good men to see so generous so humane so Christian a disposition to prevail and reign so much amongst us The strange overflowing of vice and wickedness in our Land and the prodigious increase and impudence of infidelity and impiety hath of late years boaded very ill to us and brought terrible Judgments upon this City and Nation and seems still to threaten us with more and greater And the greatest comfort I have had under these sad apprehensions of Gods displeasure hath been this that though bad men were perhaps never worse in any Age yet the good who I hope are not a few were never more truly and substantially good I do verily believe there never were in any Time greater and more real effects of Charity not from a blind superstition and an ignorant zeal and a mercenary and arrogant and presumptuous principle of Merit but from a sound knowledg and a sincere love and obedience to God or as the Apostle expresses it out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned And who that loves God and Religion can chuse but take great contentment to see so general and forward an inclination in People this way Which hath been very much cherished of late years by this sort of Meetings and that to very good purpose and effect in many charitable contributions disposed in the best and wisest ways and which likewise hath tended very much to the reconciling of the minds of men and the allaying of those fierce heats and animosities which have ben caused by our Civil confusions and Religious distractions For there is nothing many times wanting to take away prejudice and to extinguish hatred and ill-will but an opportunity for men to see and understand one another by which they will quickly perceive that they are not such Monsters as they have been represented one to another at a distance We are I think one of the last Counties of England that have entred into this friendly and charitable kind of Society Let us make amends for our late setting out by quickning our pace that so we may overtake and outstrip those who are gone before us Let not our Charity partake of the coldness of our Climate but let us endeavour that it may be equal to the extent of our Country and as we are incomparably the greatest County of England let it appear that we are so by the largeness and extent of our Charity O Lord who hast taught us that all our doings without Charity are nothing send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of Charity the very bond of Peace and of all Vertues Without which whosover liveth is counted dead before thee Grant this for thy only Son Jesus Christ's sake Now the God of Peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL April 4th 1679. 1 JOHN IV. 1. Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the World THIS caution and counsel was given upon occasion of the false Prophets and Teachers that were risen up in the beginning of the Christian Church who endeavoured to seduce men from the true Doctrine of the Gospel delivered by the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour And these teaching contrary things could not both be from God and therefore St. John calls upon Christians to examine the Doctrines and Pretences of those new Teachers whether they were from God or not Believe not every Spirit â—hat is not every one that takes upon him to be inspired and to be a Teacher come from God But try the Spirits that is examine those that make this pretence whether it be real or not and examine the Doctrines which they bring because there are many Impostors abroad in the World This is the plain sense of the Words In which there are contained these four Propositions First That men may and often do falsly pretend to Inspiration And this is the reason upon which the Apostle grounds this Exhortation Because many false Prophets are gone out into the world therefore we should try who are true and who are false Secondly We are not to believe every one that pretends to be inspired and to teach a Divine Doctrine This follows upon the former because men may falsly pretend to Inspiration therefore we are not to believe every one that makes this pretence For any man that hath but confidence enough and conscience little enough may pretend to come from God And if we admit all pretences of this kind we lie at the mercy of every crafty and confident man to be led by him into what delusions he pleaseth Thirdly Neither are we to reject all that pretend to come from God This is sufficiently implied in the Text for when the Apostle says believe not every Spirit he supposeth we are to believe some and when he saith try the Spirits whether they be of God he supposeth some to be of God and that those which are so are to be believed These three Observations are so plain that I need only to name them to make way for the Fourth Which I principally designed to insist upon from these Words And
Virtue is Vice and Vice Virtue he would hereby take away the very foundation of Religion and how can I look upon him any longer as a Judg in matters of Religion when there can be no such thing as Religion if he have judged and determined right Secondly The Scripture plainly allows this liberty to particular and private Persons to judg for themselves And for this I need go no farther than my Text which bids men try the Spirits whether they be of God I do not think this is spoken only to the Pope or a General Council but to Christians in general for to these the Apostle writes Now if St. John had believed that God had constituted an infallible Judge in his Church to whose Sentence and Determination all Christians are bound to submit he ought in all reason to have referred Christians to him for the trial of Spirits and not have left it to every man's private judgment to examine and to determine these things But it seems St. Paul was likewise of the same mind and though he was guided by an infallible Spirit yet he did not expect that men should blindly submit to his Doctrine Nay so far is he from that that he commends the Bereans for that very thing for which I dare say the Church of Rome would have check'd them most severely namely for searching the Scriptures to see whether those things which the Apostles delivered were so or not This liberty St. Paul allowed and though he was inspired by God yet he treated those whom he taught like men And indeed it were a hard case that a necessity of believing Divine Revelations and rejecting Impostures should be imposed upon Christians and yet the liberty of judging whether a Doctrine be from God or not should be taken away from them Thirdly Our Adversaries themselves are forced to grant that which in effect is as much as we contend for For though they deny a liberty of judging in particular points of Religion yet they are forced to grant men a liberty of judging upon the whole When they of the Church of Rome would perswade a Jew or a Heathen to become a Christian or a Heretick as they are pleased to call us to come over to the Communion of their Church and offer Arguments to induce them thereto they do by this very thing whether they will or no make that man Judge which is the true Church and the true Religion Because it would be ridiculous to perswade a man to turn to their Religion and to urge him with Reasons to do so and yet to deny him the use of his own judgement whether their Reasons be sufficient to move him to make such a change Now as the Apostle reasons in another case If men be fit to judge for themselves in so great and important a matter as the choice of their Religion why should they be thought unworthy to judge in lesser matters They tell us indeed that a man may use his judgement in the choice of his Religion but when he hath once chosen he is then for ever to resign up his judgment to their Church But what tolerable reason can any man give why a man should be fit to judge upon the whole and yet unfit to judge upon particular Points especially if it be considered that no man can make a discreet judgment of any Religion before he hath examined the particular Doctrines of it and made a judgment concerning them Is it credible that God should give a man judgment in the most fundamental and important matter of all viz. To discern the true Religion and the true Church from the false for no other end but to enable him to chuse once for all to whom he should resign and inslave his judgment for ever which is just as reasonable as if one should say That God hath given a man eyes for no other end but to look out once for all and to pitch upon a discreet person to lead him about blindfold all the days of his life I come now to the III. Thing I propounded which is To Answer the main Objection of our Adversaries against this Principle and likewise to shew that there is no such Reason and necessity for an universal Insallible Judge as they pretend Now their great Objection is this If every man may judge for himself there will be nothing but confusion in Religion there will be no end of Controversies so that an universal infallible Judge is necessary and without this God had not made sufficient provision for the assurance of men's Faith and for the Peace and unity of his Church Or as it is expressed in the Canon Law aliter Dominus non videretur fuisse discretus otherwise our Lord had not seem'd to be discreet How plausible soever this Objection may appear I do not despair but if men will lay aside prejudice and impartially consider things to make it abundantly evident that this ground is not sufficient to found an Infallible Judge upon And therefore in answer to it I desire these following particulars may be considered Firft That this which they say rather proves what God should have done according to their fancy than what he hath really and actually done My Text expresly bids Christians to try the Spirits which to any man's sense does imply that they may judge of these matters But the Church of Rome says they may not because if this liberty were permitted God had not ordered things wisely and for the best for the peace and unity of his Church But as the Apostle says in another case What art thou O man that objectest against God Secondly If this reasoning be good we may as well conclude that there is an universal infallible Judge set over the whole world in all Temporal matters to whose Authority all mankind is bound to submit Because this is as necessary to the peace of the World as the other is to the peace of the Church And men surely are every whit as apt to be obstinate and perverse about matters of Temporal Right as about matters of Faith But it is evident in fact and experience that there is no such universal Judge appointed by God over the whole World to decide all Cases of temporal Right and for want of him the World is fain to shift as well as it can But now a very acute and scholastical man that would argue that God must needs have done whatever he fancies convenient for the World should be done might by the very same way of Reasoning conclude the necessity of an universal infallible Judge in Civil matters as well as in matters of Religion And their aliter Dominus non videretur fuisse discretus otherwise God had not seem'd to be discreet is every whit as cogent and as civil in the one Case as the other Thirdly There is no need of such a Judge to assure men in matters of Religion Because men be sufficiently certain without him I hope it may be certain
rather desires if it may be to be of the number of those who shall be found alive at the coming of Christ and have this mortal and corruptible body while they are clothed with it changed into a spiritual and incorruptible body without the pain and terrour of dying of which immediate translation into heaven without the painfull divorce of soul and body by death Enoch and Elias were examples in the old Testament It follows ver 5. Now he that hath wrought for us the self same thing is God That is it is he who hath fitted and prepared us for this Glorious change who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit The Spirit is frequently in Scripture called the witness and seal and earnest of our future happiness and blessed resurrection or change of these vile and earthly bodies into spiritual and heavenly bodies For as the resurrection of Christ from the dead by the power of the holy Ghost is the great proof and evidence of immortality so the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelling in us is the pledge and earnest of our Resurrection to an immortal life From all which the Apostle concludes in the words of the Text Therefore we are always confident that is we are always of good courage against the fear of death knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may better be rendred whilst we converse or sojourn in the body than whilst we are at home Because the design of the Apostle is to shew that the body is not our house but our tabernacle and that whilst we are in the body we are not at home but pilgrims and strangers And this notion the Heathens had of our present life and condition in this world Ex vita discedo faith Tully tanquam ex hospitio non tanquam ex domo commorandi enim natura diversorium nobis non habitandi locum dedit We go out of this life as it were from an Inn and not from our home nature having designed it to us as a place to sojourn but not to dwell in We are absent from the Lord that is we are detained from the blessed sight and enjoyment of God and kept out of the possession of that happiness which makes Heaven So that the Apostle makes an immediate opposition between our continuance in the body and our blissfull enjoyment of God and lays it down for a certain truth that whilst we remain in the body we are detained from our happiness and that so soon as ever we leave the body we shall be admitted into it knowing that whilst we converse in the body we are absent from the Lord. And ver 8. we are willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord intimating that so soon as we quit these bodies we shall be admitted to the blessed sight and enjoyment of God My design from this Text is to draw some useful Corollaries or Conclusions from this Assertion of the Apostle That whilst we are in these bodies we are detained from our happiness and that so soon as ever we depart out of them we shall be admitted to the possession and enjoyment of it And they are these 1. This Assertion shews us the vanity and falshood of that Opinion or rather dream concerning the sleep of the Soul from the time of death till the general Resurrection This is chiefly grounded upon that frequent Metaphor in Scripture by which death is resembled to sleep and those that are dead are said to be fallen asleep But this Metaphor is no where in Scripture that I know of applied to the soul but to the body resting in the grave in order to its being awakened and raised up at the Resurrection And thus it is frequently used with express reference to the body Dan. 12.2 Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake Matth. 27.52 And the graves were opened and many bodies of saints which slept arose Acts 13.36 David after he had served his own generation by the will of God fell on sleep and was laid to his fathers and saw corruption which surely can no otherwise be understood than of his body 1 Cor. 15.21 Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept that is the resurrection of his body is the earnest and assurance that ours also shall be raised And ver 51. We shall not all sleep but shall all be changed where the Apostle certainly speaks both of the death and change of these corruptible bodies 1 Thessal 4.14 If we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him That is the bodies of those that died in the Lord shall be raised and accompany him at his coming So that it is the body which is said in Scripture to sleep and not the soul For that is utterly inconsistent with the Apostles Assertion here in the Text that while we are in the body we are absent from the Lord and that so soon as we depart out of the body we shall be present with the Lord. For surely to be with the Lord must signifie a state of happiness which sleep is not but only of inactivity Besides that the Apostle's Argument would be very flat and it would be but a cold encouragement against the fear of death that so soon as we are dead we shall fall asleep and become insensible But the Apostle useth it as an Argument why we should be willing to dye as soon as God pleaseth and the sooner the better because so soon as we quit these bodies we shall be present with the Lord that is admitted to the blissful sight and enjoyment of him and while we abide in the body we are detained from our happiness But if our souls shall sleep as well as our bodies till the general Resurrection it is all one whether we continue in the body or not as to any happiness we shall enjoy in the mean time which is directly contrary to the main scope of the Apostle's Argument 2. This Assertion of the Apostle's doth perfectly conclude against the feigned Purgatory of the Church of Rome which supposeth the far greater number of true and faithful Christians of those who dye in the Lord and have obtained eternal redemption by him from hell not to pass immediately into a state of happiness but to be detained in the suburbs of Hell in extremity of torment equal to that of hell for degree though not for duration till their fouls be purged and the guilt of temporal punifhments which they are liable to be some way or other paid off and discharged They suppose indeed some very few holy persons especially those who suffer Martyrdom to be so perfect at their departure out of the body as to pass immediately into Heaven because they need no purgation But most Christians they
the life which we now live in this world may be a patient continuance in well doing in a joyfull expectation of the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory now and for ever Now the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make us perfect in every good work to do his will working in us always that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ To whom be glory for ever Amen A PERSUASIVE TO Frequent Communion 1 COR. XI 26 27 28. For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lord's death till he come VVherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. MY design in this Argument is from consideration of the Nature of this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and of the perpetual Use of it to the end of the world to awaken men to a sense of their duty and the great obligation which lies upon them to the more frequent receiving of it And there is the greater need to make men sensible of their duty in this particular because in this last Age by the unwary discourses of some concerning the nature of this Sacrament and the danger of receiving it unworthily such doubts and fears have been raised in the minds of men as utterly do deter many and in a great measure to discourage almost the generality of Christians from the use of it to the great prejudice and danger of mens souls and the visible abatement of Piety by the gross neglect of so excellent a means of our growth and improvement in it and to the mighty Scandal of our Religion by the general disuse and contempt of so plain and solemn an Institution of our blessed Lord and Saviour Therefore I shall take occasion as briefly and clearly as I can to treat of these four Points First Of the Perpetuity of this Institution this the Apostle signifies when he saith that by eating this Bread 1 Cor. 11 26. and drinking this Cup we do shew the Lord's Death till he come Secondly Of the Obligation that lies upon all Christians to a frequent observance of this Institution this is signified in that expression of the Apostle as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup which expression considered and compared together with the practice of the Primitive Church does imply an Obligation upon Christians to the frequent receiving of this Sacrament Thirdly I shall endeavour to satisfie the Objections and Scruples which have been raised in the minds of men and particularly of many devout and sincere Christians to their great discouragement from their receiving this Sacrament at least so frequently as they ought which Objections are chiefly grounded upon what the Apostle says 1 Cor. 11.27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of the Body and Bloud of the Lord and doth eat and drink damnation to himself Ver. 29. Fourthly What Preparation of our selves is necessary in order to our worthy receiving of this Sacrament which will give me occasion to explain the Apostle's meaning in those Words Ver. 28. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. I. For the Perpetuity of this Institution implyed in those Words For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew forth the Lord s Death till he come or the Words may be read imperatively and by way of Precept shew ye forth the Lord's Death till he come In the three verses immediately before the Apostle particularly declares the Institution of this Sacrament with the manner and circumstances of it as he had received it not only by the hands of the Apostles but as the Words seem rather to intimate by immediate Revelation from our Lord himself ver 23. For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus in the same night that he was betrayed took Bread and when he had given Thanks he brake it and said take eat this is my Body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the Cup when he had supped saying this Cup is the New Testament in my Bloud this doe as often as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me So that the Institution is in these Words this doe in remembrance of me In which words our Lord commands his Disciples after his Death to repeat these occasions of taking and breaking and eating the Bread and of drinking of the Cup by way of solemn Commemoration of him Now whether this was to be done by them once only or oftner and whether by the Disciples only during their lives or by all Christians afterwards in all successive Ages of the Church is not so certain merely from the force of these Words doe this in remembrance of me but what the Apostle adds puts the matter out of all doubt that the Institution of this Sacrament was intended not only for the Apostles and for that Age but for all Christians and for all Ages of the Christian Church For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come that is untill the time of his second coming which will be at the end of the World So that this Sacrament was designed to be a standing Commemoration of the Death and Passion of our Lord till he should come to Judgment and consequently the Obligation that lies upon Christians to the observation of it is perpetual and shall never cease to the end of the World So that it is a vain conceit and mere dream of the Enthusiasts concerning the seculum Spiritûs Sancti the Age and dispenstion of the Holy Ghost when as they suppose all humane Teaching shall cease and all external Ordinances and Institutions in Religion shall vanish and there shall be no farther use of them Whereas it is very plain from the New Testament that Prayer and outward Teaching and the Use of the two Sacraments were intended to continue among Christians in all Ages As for Prayer besides our natural Obligation to this duty if there were no revealed Religion we are by our Saviour particularly exhorted to watch and pray with regard to the day of Judgment and in consideration of the uncertainty of the time when it shall be And therefore this will always be a Duty incumbent upon Christians till the day of Judgment because it is prescribed as one of the best ways of Preparation for it
and clear enough That there is a God and That his Providence governs the World and That there is another Life after this though neither Pope nor Council had ever declared any thing about these matters And for Revealed Doctrines we may be certain enough of all that is necessary if it be true which the Fathers tell us That all things necessary are plainly revealed in the Holy Scriptures Fourthly An infallible Judge if there were one is no certain way to end Controversies and to preserve the unity of the Church unless it were likewise infallibly certain That there is such a Judge and Who he is For till men were sure of both these there would still be a Controversy whether there be an infallible Judge and who he is And if it be true which they tell us That without an infallible Judge Controversies cannot be ended then a Controversie concerning an infallible Judge can never be ended And there are two Controversies actually on foot about an infallible Judge One Whether there be an infallible Judge or not which is a Controversie between Us and the Church of Rome and the other Who this infallible Judge is which is a Controversie among themselves which could never yet be decided And yet till it be decided Infallibility if they had it would be of no use to them for the ending of Controversies Fifthly There is no such absolute need as is pretended of determining all Controversies in Religion If men would devest themselves of prejudice and interest as they ought in matters of Religion the necessary things of Religion are plain enough and men would generally agree well enough about them But if men will suffer themselves to be by assed by these they would not hearken to an infallible Judge if there were one or they would find out some way or other to call his Infallibility into question And as for doubtful and lesser matters in Religion charity and mutual forbearance among Christians would make the Church as peaceable and happy as perhaps it was ever design'd to be in this World without absolute unity in Opinion Sixthly and Lastly Whatever may be the inconveniences of mens judging for themselves in Religion yet taking this Principle with the Cautions I have given I doubt not to make it appear that the inconveniences are far the least on that side The present condition of humane Nature doth not admit of any constitution of things whether in Religion or Civil matters which is free from all kind of exception and inconvenience That is the best state of things which is liable to the least and fewest If men be modest and humble and willing to learn God hath done that which is sufficient for the assurance of our Faith and for the peace of his Church without an infallible Judge And if men will not be so I cannot tell what would be sufficient I am sure there were Heresies and Schisms in the Apostles Times when Those who governed the Church were certainly guided by an infallible Spirit God hath appointed Guides and Teachers for us in matters of Religion and if we will be contented to be instructed by them in those necessary Articles and Duties of Religion which are plainly contained in Scripture and to be counselled and directed by them in things that are more doubtful and difficult I do not see why we might hot do well enough without any infallible Judge or Guide But still it will be said Who shall judge what things are plain and what doubtful The answer to this in my opinion is not difficult For if there be any thing plain in Religion every man that hath been duly instructed in the Principles of Religtion can judge of it or else it is not plain But there are some things in Religion so very plain that no Guide or Judge can in reason claim that Authority over men as to oblige them to believe or do the contrary no though he pretend to Infallibility no though he were an Apostle though he were an Angel from heaven S. Paul puts the case so high Gal. 1.8 Though we or an Angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than what you have received let him be accursed which plainly supposeth that Christians may and can judge when Doctrines are contrary to the Gospel What not believe an Apostle nor an Angel from heaven if he should teach any thing evidently contrary to the plain Doctrine of the Gospel If he should determine Vertue to be Vice and Vice to be Vertue No not an Apostle nor an Angel because such a Doctrine as this would confound and overturn all things in Religion And yet Bellarmin puts this very Case and says If the Pope should so determine we were bound to believe him unless we would sin against Conscience I will conclude this Discourse by putting a very plain and familiar Case by which it will appear what credit and authority is fit to be given to a Guide and what not Suppose I came a Stranger into England and landing at Dover took a Guide there to conduct me in my way to York which I knew before by the Mapp to lie North of Dover having committed my self to him if he lead me for two or three days together out of any plain Road and many times over hedge and ditch I cannot but think it strange that in a civil and well inhabited Country there should be no High-ways from one part of it to another Yet thus far I submit to him though not without some regret and impatience But then if after this for two or three days more he lead me directly South and with my face full upon the Sun at noon day and at last bring me back again to Dover Pere and still bids me follow him Then certainly no modesty do's oblige a man not to dispute with his Guide and to tell him surely that can be no way because it is Sea Now though he set never so bold a face upon the matter and tell me with all the gravity and authority in the world That it is not the Sea but dry Land under the species and appearance of Water and that whatever my eyes tell me having once committed my self to his guidance I must not trust my own senses in the case it being one of the most dangerous sorts of Infidelity for a man to believe his own eyes rather than his faithful and infallible Guide All this moves me not but I begin to expostulate roundly with him and to let him understand that if I must not believe what I see he is like to be of no farther use to me because I shall not be able at this rate to know whether I have a Guide and whether I follow him or not In short I tell him plainly that when I took him for my Guide I did not take him to tell me the difference between North and South between a Hedge and a High-way between Sea and dry Land all this I knew before as well as he
men a secret dread of perjury above most other sins And this inconvenience is so great as to render those who refuse oaths in all cases almost intolerable to humane Society I speak not this either to bring them into trouble or to perswade them to measure truth by their interest but on the other hand I must needs say that it is no Argument either of a wise or good man to take up any opinion especially such a one as is greatly to his prejudice upon slight grounds And this very consideration that it is so much to their inconvenience may justly move them to be very carefull in the examination of it This being premis'd I come now to explain this Prohibition of our Saviour and to this purpose I desire these three things may be well consider'd First That several circumstances of these words of our Saviour do manifestly shew that they ought to be interpreted in a limited sense as only forbidding swearing in common conversation needless and heedless oaths as one expresseth it and in general all voluntary swearing unless upon some great and weighty cause in which the glory of God and the good of the souls of Men is concerned For that in such cases a voluntary oath may be lawful I am induced to believe from the example of St. Paul who useth it more than once upon such occasions of which I shall hereafter give particular Instances And this was the sense of Wise men among the Heathen that men should not swear but upon necessity and great occasion Thus Eusebius the Philosopher in Stobaeus counsels men Some says he advise men to be carefull to swear the truth but I advise principally that men do not easily swear at all that is not upon any slight but only upon weighty occasions To the same purpose Epictetus Shun oaths wholly if it be possible if not however as much as thou canst And so likewise Simplicius in his Comment upon him We ought wholly to shun swearing except upon occasions of great necessity And Quintilian among the Romans In totum jurare nisi ubi necesse est gravi viro parum convenit To swear at all except where it is necessary do's not well suit with a wise man And that this prohibition of our Saviour's ought to be understood of oaths in ordinary conversation appears from the opposition which our Saviour makes Swear not at all but let your communication be yea yea That is in your ordinary commerce and affairs do not interpose oaths but say and do And this is very much confirmed in that our Saviour do's not under this general Prohibition instance in such oaths as are expresly by the name of God The reason whereof is this The Jews thought it unlawfull in ordinary communication to swear expresly by the name of God but lawfull to swear by the Creatures as by Heaven and Earth c. So that our Saviour's meaning is as if he had said You think you may swear in common conversation provided you do not swear by the name of God but I say unto you let your communication be without oaths of any kind you shall not so much as swear by heaven or by earth because God is virtually invoked in every oath And unless we suppose this to be our Saviour's meaning I do not see what good Reason can be given why our Saviour should only forbid them to swear by the Creatures and not much rather by the Name of God such oaths being surely of all others most to be avoided as being the most direct abuse and profanation of the Name of God Secondly It is very considerable to the explaining of this Prohibition that there are the like general expressions in other Jewish Authors concerning this very matter which yet must of necessity be thus limited Maimonides from the ancient Rabbies gives this Rule that it is best not to swear at all And Philo useth almost the same words And Rabbi Jonathan comes very near our Saviour's expression when he says The just man will not swear at all not so much as by the common Names of God nor by his Attributes nor by his Works as by Heaven or the Angels or the Law Now it is not imaginable that these learned Jews should condemn Oaths in all cases when the Law of Moses did in many cases expresly require them And therefore they are to be understood of voluntary oaths in ordinary conversation And that the Jews meant this by not swearing at all seems to be very plain from a passage in Josephus who says that the Sect of the Essenes forbad their Disciples to swear at all and yet he tells us at the same time that they who were admitted into that Sect took an oath to observe the Laws and Rules of it So that they who forbad to swear at all allowed of Oaths imposed by the Authority of Superiours Thirdly Which will peremptorily decide this matter this Prohibition of our Saviour's cannot be understood to forbid all Oaths without a plain contradiction to the undoubted practice of the primitive Christians and of the Apostles and even of our Lord himself Origen and Tertullian tells us that the Christians refused to swear by the Emperor's Genius not because it was an Oath but because they thought it to be Idolatrous But the same Tertullian says that the Christians were willing to swear per salutem Imperatoris by the health and safety of the Emperour Athanasius being accused to Constantius purged himself by oath and desired that his Accuser might be put to his Oath sub attestatione veritatis by calling the truth to witness by which form says he we Christians are wont to swear But which is more than this St. Paul upon weighty occasions do's several times in his Epistles call God to witness for the truth of what he says which is the very formality of an Oath God is my witness Rom. 1.9 As God is true our word was not yea and nay 2 Cor. 1.18 and v. 23. I call God for a record upon my Soul Before God I lye not Gal 1.20 God is my record Philip 1.8 God is my witness 1 Thess 2.5 These are all unquestionable oaths which we cannot imagine St. Paul would have used had they been directly contrary to our Saviour's Law And whereas some defend this upon account of his extraordinary Inspiration I cannot possibly see how this mends the matter For certainly it is very inconvenient to say that they who were to teach the Precepts of Christ to others did themselves break them by Inspiration But I go yet farther and shall urge an example beyond all exception Our Saviour himself who surely would not be the first example of breaking his own Laws did not refuse to answer upon Oath being called thereto at his Trial. So we find Matth. 26.63 Yhe high Priest said unto him I abjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God that is he required him to answer this
was very sudden and so sudden that in all probability he himself hardly perceived it when it happened for he died in his sleep so that we may say of him as it is said of David after be had served his generation according to the will of God he fell asleep I confess that a sudden death is generally undesirable and therefore with reason we pray against it because so very few are sufficiently prepared for it But to him the constant employment of whose life was the best preparation for death that was possible no death could be sudden nay it was rather a favour and blessing to him because by how much the more sudden so much the more easie As if God had designed to begin the reward of the great pains of his life in an easie death And indeed it was rather a translation than a death and saving that his body was left behind what was said of Enoch may not unfitly be applied to this pious and good man with respect to the suddenness of his change he walked with God and was not for God took him And God grant that we who survive may all of us sincerely endeavour to tread in the steps of his exemplary piety and charity of his labour of love his unwearied diligence and patient continuance in doing good that we may meet with that encouraging commendation which he hath already received from the mouth of our Lord. Well done good and faithfull servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you always that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ To whom be glory for ever Amen A SERMON Preached at the FUNERAL Of the Reverend BENJAMIN WHICHCOT D. D. May 24th 1683. 2 COR. V. 6. Wherefore we are always confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. THese Words contain one of the chief grounds of encouragement which the Christian Religion gives us against the fear of death For our clearer understanding of them it will be requisite to consider the Context looking back as far as the beginning of the Chapter where the Apostle pursues the argument of the foregoing Chapter which was to comfort and encourage Christians under their afflictions and sufferings from this consideration that these did but prepare the way for a greater and more glorious reward Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory And suppose the worst that these sufferings should extend to death there is comfort for us likewise in this case ver 1. of this Chapter For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God c. If our earthly house of this tabernacle he calls our body an earthly earthly house and that we may not look upon it as a certain abode and fixed habitation he doth by way of correction of himself add that it is but a tabernacle or tent which must shortly be taken down And when it is we shall have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens This is a description of our heavenly habitation in opposition to our earthly house or tabern 〈◊〉 It is a building of God not like those houses or tabernacles which men build and which are liable to decay and dissolution to be taken down or to fall down of themselves for such are those houses of clay which we dwell in whose foundations are in the dust but an habitation prepared by God himself a house not made with hands that which is the immediate work of God being in Scripture opposed to that which is made with hands and effected by humane concurrence and by natural means And being the immediate work of God as it is excellent so it is lasting and durable which no earthly thing is eternal in the heavens that is eternal and heavenly For in this we groan earnestly that is while we are in this body we groan by reason of the pressures and afflictions of it Desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked Desiring to be clothed upon that is we could wish not to put off these bodies not to be stripp'd of them by death but to be of the number of those who at the coming of our Lord without the putting off these bodies shall be changed and clothed upon with their house which is from heaven and without dying be invested with those spiritual and glorious and heavenly bodies which men shall have at the Resurrection This I doubt not is the Apostle's meaning in these Words in which he speaks according to a common opinion among the Disciples grounded as St. John tells us upon a mistake of our Saviour's words concerning him If I will that he tarry till I come upon which St. John tells us that there went a Saying among the brethren that that disciple should not die that is that he should live till Christ's coming to Judgment and then be changed and consequently that Christ would come to Judgment before the end of that Age. Suitable to this common opinion among Christians the Apostle here says in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven if so be that being clothed we shall no be found naked It hath puzzled Interpreters what to make of this passage and well it might for whatever be meant by being clothed how can they that are clothed be found naked But I think it is very clear that our Translatours have not attained the true sense of this passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is most naturally rendred thus if so be we shall be found clothed and not naked That is if the coming of Christ shall find us in the body and not devested of it if at Christ's coming to Judgement we shall be found alive and not dead And then the sense of the whole is very clear and current we are desirous to be clothed upon with our house from heaven that is with our spiritual and immortal bodies if so be it shall so happen that at the coming of Christ we shall be found alive in these bodies and not stripp'd of them before by death And then it follows For we burthened that is with the afflictions and pressures of this life not that we would be unclothed that is not that we desire by death to be devested of these bodies but clothed upon that is if God see it good we had rather be found alive and changed and without putting off these bodies have immortality as it were superinduced that so mortality might be swallowed up of life The plain sense is that he
suppose to dye so imperfect that they stand in need of being purged and according to the degree of their imperfection are to be detain'd a shorter or a longer time in Purgatory But now besides that there is no Text in Scripture from whence any such state can probably be concluded as is acknowledged by many learned men of the Church of Rome and even that Text which they have most insisted upon they shall be saved yet so as by fire is given up by them as insufficient to conclue the thing Estius is very glad to get off it by saying there is nothing in it against Purgatory Why no body pretends that but we might reasonably expect that there should be something for it in a Text which hath been so often produced and urged by them for the proof of it I say besides that there is nothing in Scripture for Purgatory there are a great many things against it and utterly inconsistent with it In the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus which was designed to represent to us the different stares of good and bad men in another world there is not the least intimation of Purgatory but that good men pass immediately into a state of happiness and bad men into a place of torment And St. John Rev. 14.13 pronounceth all that dye in the Lord happy because they rest from their labours which they cannot be said to do who are in a state of great anguish and torment as those are supposed to be who are in Purgatory But above all this Reasoning of Saint Paul is utterly inconsistent with any imagination of such a state For he encourageth all Christians in general against the fear of death from the consideration of that happy state they should immediately pass into by being admitted into the presence of God which surely is not Purgatory We are of good courage says he and willing rather to be absent from the body And great reason we should be so if so soon as we leave the body we are present with the Lord. But no man sure would be glad to leave the body to go into a place of exquisite and extreme torment which they tell us is the case of most Christians when they dye And what can be more unreasonable than to make the Apostle to use an argument to comfort all Christians against the sear of death which concerns but very few in comparison So that if the Apostle's reasoning be good that while we are in this life we are detained from our happiness and so soon as we depart this life we pass immediately into it and therefore death is desirable to all good men I say if this reasoning be good it is very clear that Saint Paul knew nothing of the Doctrine now taught in the Church of Rome concerning Purgatory because that is utterly inconsistent with what he expresly asserts in this Chapter and quite takes away the force of his whole Argument 3. To encourage us against the fear of death And this is the Conclusion which the Apostle makes from this consideration Therefore says he we are of good courage knowing that whilst we converse in the body we are absent from the Lord. There is in us a natural love of life and a natural horrour and dread of death so that our spirits are apt to shrink at the thoughts of the approach of it But this fear may very much be mitigated and even over-ruled by Reason and the considerations of Religion For death is not so dreadful in it self as with regard to the consequences of it And those will be as we are comfortable and happy to the good but dismal and miserable to the wicked So that the only true antidote against the fear of death is the hopes of a better life and the only firm ground of these hopes is the mercy of God in Jefus Christ upon our due preparation for another world by repentance and a holy life For the sting of death is sin and when that is taken away the terrour and bitterness of death is past And then death is so far from being dreadful that in reason it is extremely desirable because it lets us into a better state such as only deserves the name of life Hi vivunt qui ex corporum vinculis tanquam è carcere evolaverunt vestra vero quae dicitur vita mors est They truly live could a Heathen say who have made their escape out of this prison of the body but that which men commonly call life is rather death than life To live indeed is to be well and to be happy and that we shall never be till we are got beyond the grave 4. This Consideration should comfort us under the loss and death of Friends which certainly is one of the greatest grievances and troubles of humane life For if they be fit for God and go to him when they dye they are infinitely happier than it was possible for them to have been in this world and the trouble of their absence from us is fully balanced by their being present with the Lord. For why should we lament the end of that life which we are assured is the beginning of immortality One reason of our trouble for the loss of friends is because we loved them But it is no sign of our love to them to grudge and repine at their happiness But we hoped to have enjoyed them longer Be it so yet why should we be troubled that they are happy sooner than we expected but they are parted from us and the thought of this is grievous But yet the consideration of their being parted for a while is not near so sad as the hopes of a happy meeting again never to be parted any more is comfortable and joyful So that the greater our love to them was the less should be our grief for them when we consider that they are happy and that they are safe past all storms all the troubles and temptations of this life and out of the reach of all harm and danger for ever But though the Reason of our duty in this case be very plain yet the practice of it is very difficult and when all is said natural affection will have its course And even after our Judgment is satisfied it will require some time to still and quiet our Passions 5. This Consideration should wean us from the love of life and make us not only contented but willing and glad to leave this world whenever it shall please God to call us out of it This Inference the Apostle makes ver 8. We are confident I say and willing rather to he absent from the body and present with the Lord. Though there were no state of immortality after this life yet methinks we should not desire to live always in this world Habet natura says Tully ut aliarum rerum sic vivendi modum As nature hath set bounds and measures to other things so likewise to life of which men should know when
That outward Teaching likewise and Baptism were intended to be perpetual is no less plain because Christ hath expresly promised to be with the Teachers of his Church in the use of these Ordinances to the end of the World Matth. 28.19 20. Go and disciple all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and lo I am with you always to the end of the World Not only to the end of that particular Age but to the end of the Gospel Age and the consummation of all Ages as the phrase clearly imports And it is as plain from this Text that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was intended for a perpetual Institution in the Christian Church till the second coming of Christ viz. his coming to judgment Because St. Paul tells us that by these Sacramental Signs the Death of Christ is to be represented and commemorated till he comes Doe this in remembrance of me For as oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come And if this be the End and Use of this Sacrament to be a solemn remembrance of the Death and Sufferings of our Lord during his absence from us that is till his coming to Judgment then this Sacrament will never be out of date till the second coming of our Lord. The consideration whereof should mightily strengthen and encourage our Faith in the hope of Eternal Life so often as we partake of this Sacrament since our Lord hath left it to us as a memorial of himself till he come to translate his Church into Heaven and as a sure pledge that he will come again at the end of the World and invest us in that Glory which he is now gone before to prepare for us So that as often as we approach the Table of the Lord we should comfort our selves with the thoughts of that blessed time when we shall eat and drink with him in his Kingdom and shall be admitted to the great Feast of the Lamb and to eternal Communion with God the Judge of all and with our blessed and glorified Redeemer and the holy Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect And the same consideration should likewise make us afraid to receive this Sacrament unworthily without due Preparation for it and without worthy effects of it upon our Hearts and Lives Because of that dreadfull Sentence of condemnation which at the second coming of our Lord shall be past upon those who by the profanation of this solemn Institution trample under foot the son of God and contemn the bloud of the Covenant that Covenant of Grace and Mercy which God hath ratified with Mankind by the Bloud of his Son The Apostle tells us that he that eateth and drinketh unworthily is guilty of the Body and Bloud of the Lord and eateth and drinketh damnation to himself This indeed is spoken of temporal Judgment as I shall shew in the latter part of this Discourse but the Apostle likewise supposeth that if these temporal Judgments had not their effect to bring men to Repentence but they still persisted in the Profanation of this holy Sacrament they should at last be condemned with the World For as he that partaketh worthily of this Sacrament confirms his interest in the promises of the Gospel and his Title to eternal Life so he that receives this Sacrament unworthily that is without due Reverence and without fruits meet for it nay on the contrary continues to live in sin whilst he commemorates the Death of Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity this man aggravates and seals his own Damnation because he is guilty of the Body and Bloud of Christ not only by the contempt of it but by renewing in some sort the cause of his sufferings and as it were crucifying to himself afresh the Lord of life and glory and putting him to an open shame And when the great Judge of the world shall appear and pass final Sentence upon men such obstinate and impenitent wretches as could not be wrought upon by the remembrance of the dearest love of their dying Lord nor be engaged to leave their sins by all the tyes and obligations of this holy Sacrament shall have their portion with Pilate and Judas with the chief Priests and Souldiers who were the betrayers and murtherers of the Lord of life and glory and shall be dealt withall as those who are in some sort guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord. Which severe threatning ought not to discourage men from the Sacrament but to deter all those from their sins who think of engaging themselves to God by so solemn and holy a Covenant It is by no means a sufficient Reason to make men to fly from the Sacrament but certainly one of the most powerfull Arguments in the world to make men forsake their sins as I shall shew more fully under the third head of this Discourse II. The Obligation that lyes upon all Christians to the frequent observance and practice of this Institution For though it be not necessarily implyed in these Words as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup yet if we compare these Words of the Apostle with the usage and practice of Christians at that Time which was to communicate in this holy Sacrament so often as they solemnly met together to worship God they plainly suppose and recommend to us the frequent use of this Sacrament or rather imply an obligation upon Christians to embrace all opportunities of receiving it For the sense and meaning of any Law or Institution is best understood by the general practice which follows immediately upon it And to convince men of their obligation hereunto and to engage them to a sutable practice I shall now endeavour with all the plainness and force of persuasion I can And so much the more because the neglect of it among Christians is grown so general and a great many persons from a superstitious awe and reverence of this Sacrament are by degrees fallen into a profane neglect and contempt of it I shall briefly mention a threefold Obligation lying upon all Christians to frequent Communion in this holy Sacrament each of them sufficient of it self but all of them together of the greatest force imaginable to engage us hereunto 1. We are obliged in point of indispensable duty and in obedience to a plain precept and most solemn institution of our blessed Saviour that great Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy as St. James calls him He hath bid us doe this And S. Paul who declares nothing in this matter but what he tells us he received from the Lord admonisheth us to doe it often Now for any man that professeth himself a Christian to live in the open and continued contempt or neglect of a plain Law and Institution of Christ is utterly inconsistent with such a profession To such our Lord may
that Covenant which we entred into by Baptism and are going solemnly to renew and confirm by our receiving of this Sacrament we are at least in some degree and in the main qualified to partake of this holy Sacrament and the way for us to be more fit is to receive this Sacrament frequently that by this spiritual food of God's appointing by this living bread which comes down from heaven our souls may be nourished in goodness and new strength and vertue may be continually derived to us for the purifying of our hearts and enabling us to run the ways of God's commandments with more constancy and delight For the way to grow in grace and to be strengthned with all might in the inner man and to abound in all the fruits of righteousness which by Christ Jesus are to the praise and glory of God is with care and conscience to use those means which God hath appointed for this end And if we will neglect the use of these means it is to no purpose for us to pray to God for his grace and assistence We may tire our selves with our devotions and fill heaven with vain complaints and yet by all this importunity obtain nothing at God's hand Like lazy beggars that are always complaining and always asking but will not work will do nothing to help themselves and better their condition and therefore are never like to move the pity and compassion of others If we expect God's grace and assistence we must work out our own Salvation in the carefull use of all those means which God hath appointed to that end That excellent degree of goodness which men would have to fit them for the Sacrament is not to be had but by the use of it And therefore it is a preposterous thing for men to insist upon having the end before they will use the means that may further them in the obtaining of it 2. The total want of a due preparation not only in the degree but in the main and substance of if though it render us unfit at present to receive this Sacrament yet does it by no means excuse our neglect of it One fault may draw on another but can never excuse it It is our great fault that we are wholly unprepared and no man can claim any benefit by his fault or plead it in excuse or extenuation of this neglect A total want of preparation and an absolute unworthiness is Impenitency in an evil course a resolution to continue a bad man not to quit his lusts and to break off that wicked course he hath lived in But is this any excuse for the neglect of our duty that we will not fit our selves for the doing of it with benefit and advantage to our selves A father commands his son to ask him blessing every day and is ready to give it him but so long as he is undutifull to him in his other actions and lives in open disobedience forbids him to come in his sight He excuseth himself from asking his father blessing because he is undutifull in other things and resolves to continue so This is just the case of neglecting the duty God requires and the blessings he offers to us in the Sacrament because we have made our selves incapable of so performing the one as to receive the other and are resolved to continue so We will not do our duty in other things and then plead that we are unfit and unworthy to do it in this particular of the Sacrament 3. The proper Inference and conclusion from a total want of due preparation for the Sacrament is not to cast off all thoughts of receiving it but immediately to set about the work of preparation that so we may be fit to receive it For if this be true that they who are absolutely unprepared ought not to receive the Sacrament nor can do it with any benefit nay by doing it in such a manner render their condition much worse this is a most forcible argument to repentance and amendment of life There is nothing reasonable in this case but immediately to resolve upon a better course that so we may be meet partakers of those holy Mysteries and may no longer provoke God's wrath against us by the wilfull neglect of so great and necessary a duty of the Christian Religion And we do wilfully neglect it so long as we do wilfully refuse to fit and qualifie our selves for the due and worthy performance of it Let us view the thing in a like case A Pardon is graciously offered to a Rebel he declines to accept it and modestly excuseth himself because he is not worthy of it And why is he not worthy because he resolves to be a Rebel and then his pardon will do him no good but be an aggravation of his crime Very true and it will be no less an aggravation that he refuseth it for such a reason and under a pretence of modesty does the most imprudent thing in the world This is just the case and in this case there is but one thing reasonable to be done and that is for a man to make himself capable of the benefit as soon as he can and thankfully to accept of it but to excuse himself from accepting of the benefit offered because he is not worthy of it nor fit for it nor ever intends to be so is as if a man should desire to be excused from being happy because he is resolved to play the fool and to be miserable So that whether our want of preparation be total or only to some degree it is every way unreasonable If it be in the degree only it ought not to hinder us from receiving the Sacrament If it be total it ought to put us immediately upon removing the impediment by making such preparation as is necessary to the due and worthy receiving of it And this brings me to the IV. Fourth and last thing I proposed viz. What preparation of our selves is necessary in order to the worthy receiving of this Sacrament Which I told you would give me occasion to explain the Apostle's meaning in the last part of the Text But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. I think it very clear from the occasion and circumstances of the Apostle's discourse concerning the Sacrament that he does not intend the examination of our state whether we be Christians or not and sincerely resolved to continue so and consequently that he does not here speak of our habitual preparation by the resolution of a good life This he takes for granted that they were Christians and resolved to continue and persevere in their Christian profession But he speaks of their actual fitness and worthiness at that time when they came to receive the Lord's Supper And for the clearing of this matter we must consider what it was that gave occasion to this discourse At the 20th verse of this Chapter he sharply reproves their irreverent and