Imprimatur Joannes Battely RRmo Patri ac D no D no Wilhelmo Archiep Cantuar. à sacris domesticis Ex Aedib Lambeth Maii 17. 1686. A SERMON PREACHED ON Saint MARK 's Day MDCLXXXVI IN THE PARISH CHURCH of St Paul's Covent Garden BY SYMON PATRICK Rector there LONDON Printed by J. M. for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty 1686. A SERMON PREACHED On St MARK 's Day 1686. EPHES. iv 14. beginning That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine c. THese Words which are part of the Epistle for this Day contain a principal reason why God furnished his Church with such variety of Gifts and so many Ministers of the Gospel of his Grace as you read of in the foregoing Verses Where the Apostle observes ver 8. that after our Blessed Lord was raised from the lower parts of the Earth and ascended up into Heaven He gave gifts unto men and filled all things ver 10. And some he proceeds to shew were made Apostles who were the chief Ministers of Christ the Witnesses of his Resurrection the great Luminaries of the World by the laying on of whose hands the Holy Ghost was given unto others And next to them he placed Prophets who were inspired persons that had an excellent faculty of expounding the old Scriptures which prophesied of Christ and foretold the things that they now preached and did also in some cases foretell like the Prophets in antient time what was to come to pass hereafter in the Church of Christ After whom followed Evangelists of which Rank was St. Mark whose Memory is this Day celebrated They were men who accompanied the Apostles and went about with them in their travels to be sent by them as they were by Christ either to preach the Gospel where they could not go themselves or to confirm and strengthen those in the Faith whom they had already converted Thus St. Mark attended upon St. Peter whose Disciple he was as not only Eusebius and St. Hierom but Irenaeus himself who was more antient assure us He is thought to be the person mentioned by St. Peter in the latter end of his first Epistle v. 13. where he calls him Marcus my Son And is said by the Authors before mentioned to have written his Gospel at the request of the Converts of St. Peter from whom they say he went to Alexandria and there founded a Church of which he himself was the first Bishop Now after all these Apostles Prophets and Evangelists last of all there were Pastors and Teachers Who were Apostolical men setled and fixed in those Churches which had been gathered by the Apostles to be their constant Governours and Instructers when the Apostles could no longer stay with them All these were indued with Divine Gifts according to the measure that Christ pleased to bestow upon them as you read ver 7. And he bestowed these Gifts on them for three ends which are named ver 12. First for the perfecting of the Saints That is to compleat those who were already called into the state of Christianity to supply their defects and to make up what was wanting which is the meaning of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly For the work of the Ministry that they might bring others into the Church who were not yet made Christians which seems to be the proper work of the Ministry as it stands here distinguished from the former and from what follows Which was Thirdly for the edifying of the Body of Christ the building up the whole Church together in knowledge and piety till they all came into the Unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God and grew to be such perfect men as not to be carried about any more like children with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lay in wait to deceive This in short is the coherence of my Text in which I shall observe to you these three things I. That this Apostolical Church of Ephesus was disturbed with variety of Doctrines and with Controversies in Religion II. That it was a childish thing to be unsettled by this variety or contrariety of Doctrines III. That God did not leave his Church without the means of being settled and stedfast in the true Faith of Christ notwithstanding those Blasts of contrary Doctrines and notwithstanding the cunning and craft wherewith they were managed I. First I say these words suppose that the Church to which the Apostle writes was disturbed by variety of Doctrine and by Controversies in matters of Religion For when he saith that henceforth they should not be tossed to and fro c. it suggests that they had been wavering and unsettled apt to be moved away from the Faith of the Gospel by the impetuous assaults that were made upon them by some cunning Deceivers I call them impetuous because these Doctrines which were different from or contrary unto the Faith of the Gospel were pressed with such earnestness that the Apostle compares them to a Blast of Wind and not barely to a Blast but to a Storm or Tempest Which is the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tossed to and fro as a Ship is in a furious Storm for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence it is derived literally imports signifying here that the false Teachers who disturbed the Church were very vehement or rather violent making up in confidence what they wanted in truth Such were the Jewish Deceivers whom the Apostle in the iii. Philip. 2. compares to Dogs who impudently assaulted the faithful and endeavoured to rend and tear the Church all in pieces Such were the Philosophical Pretenders by whom the Colossians were in danger to be forcibly carried away from the Faith and made a prey to a Company of Thieves and Robbers 2 Coloss 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit Which last word as well as my Text gives you the reason why I said the Church was troubled with the impetuous assaults of some Deceivers For they added much craft subtilty and juggling to their violence and zealous confidence Which is compared here in the latter part of this Verse to that sleight of hand wherewith cunning Gamesters cogg the Die and is further illustrated by a second word importing such subtilty as we have no one English word to express and therefore render it by two cunning craftiness and that thirdly so artificially managed that it was according to a method of deceit or an orderly proceeding in their Cheats as the last words are in the Greek which we translate Whereby they lye in wait to deceive I note these things very briefly only to shew what manner of men they were who troubled the Church of Christ in the Apostles days They were bold and they were crafty confident and cunning busie and boisterous and withal very subtil and insinuating So busie they
were that as a Storm of Wind troubles the whole Sea upon which it falls so these men disturbed the Church of Christ every where throughout the World For I think I may safely affirm That there was not so much as one Church mentioned in the Holy Writings but was disturbed if not in danger to be overturned by these Blasts of strange Doctrine which like a Tempest raged in all places where the Gospel was preached No body can be ignorant how the Church of Jerusalem the very Mother Church was troubled by men that pressed a very dangerous errour upon them For they who taught Except men were circumcised after the manner of Moses they could not be saved came from Judaea as you read xv Act. 1. In the Church of Rome it self there were those who taught that men must be justified by the works of the Law as appears from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans In the Corinthian Church there were those who denied even the Doctrine of the Resurrection and thereby went about to subvert the Christian Faith The Churches of Galatia were so infected with Judaical Errours that they were almost removed from him that called them unto the Grace of Christ into another Gospel i. Gal. 6. The Philippians as I said before had Dogs among them Evil-workers who were of the Concision as the Apostle Sarcastically calls them iii. Philip. 2. The Colossians stood in need of a caution against vain Philosophy and such false reasonings as under a colour of humility seduced men unto the Worshipping of Angels ii Coloss 8 18. And so I might lead you through all the rest till we come to the seven famous Churches of Asia unto whom our Lord Christ himself directed particular Letters after he went to Heaven From which we learn that there were such impudent Deceivers among them as pretended to the Gift of Prophecy and yet seduced Christ's Servants to Idolatry ii Revel 20. In short there were depths of Satan v. 24. profound Mysteries of Diabolical deceit to overthrow the Faith of Christ And if it were thus immediately after our Saviour's Ascension to Heaven and while the Apostles were alive who were full of the Holy Ghost no wonder that the Church was afterward infested with divers Heresies as appears by the first four General Councils wherein they were condemned Particularly this Church of Ephesus and those in Asia depending on it whom S. Paul forewarns of this when he took his leave of them and told them they should see his face no more that after his departure grievous Wolves would enter in among them not sparing the Flock also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw Disciples after them xx Act. 29 30. And therefore it ought still to be the less wonder to any of us if the condition of the Church be the same now at this great distance from the Apostolical times since men were so bold as in the very face of the Apostles at least as soon as their Backs were turned on any place to contradict their Doctrine and teach another Gospel From which we may evidently draw these three Conclusions I. First There is no cause to forsake that Church of which we are Members or so much as to have the worse opinion of it because there are contentions in it about matters of Religion They that have had a principal hand in raising Disputes and making Divisions upon them are the men that object this to us and make it an Argument against us But without any reason for when they have said all that they can we have as much Unity of Faith among us as they had in the first Churches planted by the Apostles themselves In which there were several Winds of Doctrine stirring and many Errors which made as great a disturbance then if not greater than hath been made among us Who in the main Articles of Faith are all of one mind And our Differences are in lesser and secondary things which belong not to the Primitive Doctrines of the Christian Religion Which whosoever opposes we owne him not but look upon him as in a Faction against the Church Which is not thereby broken nor the Unity of its Faith destroyed For though some men have preached strange Doctrines and drawn Disciples after them which is no more than they did in the Apostles days yet they have not prevailed against this Church nor overturned its Faith But as boisterous Waves to keep to the Metaphor in the Text beating against a Rock dissolve into Froth so have these Blasts of contrary Doctrine made a vain and fruitless disturbance among us Some looser parts of the people have been carried away to their own shame not ours while the main Body of our Church like an unmoveable Rock still persists in firm Unity in as great Unity as was antiently in any of the Apostolical Churches and that 's abundantly sufficient II. Secondly We may further conclude from what hath been said that if we knew where to find an Infallible Guide and Judge it would not put an end to Controversies nor hinder errors from springing up and pestering the Church of Christ For when there was such an Authority it could not do this which is desired All allow the Apostles to have been Infallible and yet you see there were various winds of Doctrine and some of them very dangerous in the Churches which they planted Whereby those Churches were divided into Parties which by the Apostolical Authority could not be perfectly united St. Paul for instance interposes his Authority with the Church of Corinth in his first Epistle for the making up all divisions which he heard were among them 1 Cor. i. 10 11 c. And yet notwithstanding it appears by his second Epistle xi 2 3 4 13 14. that they still continued so that their minds were in danger to be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ And the Epistle of Clemens to that Church not long after informs us that these divisions and contentions grew into a kind of Sedition one against another More than this the Author of our faith Christ Jesus though he spake with the highest Authority yet did not by this put an end to the disputes that were between the Pharisees and Saducees and other Sects among the Jews No it was so far from having this effect that the Church of the Jews who were instructed by this Infallible Teacher fell into the most damnable error not only rejecting him but putting him to death Yes will some say because they did not own his Infallibility True But can any other Teacher though he could justly pretend to this Prerogative hope to prevail with men when the Saviour of the world could not Will any man or Church expect to be universaly acknowlledged and make an end of all differences when the Son of God could not meet with such regard and acceptance in the world Is it possible for any mens Infallibility could we suppose it to be better attested
the sincere practice of all other duties of Christian piety For to do what we know to be the will of God is the surest way to be preserved by him both in truth and in holiness A godly life is the greatest security against all Impostures We shall never doubt of the truth of our belief when we feel it hath effected the design of Faith by bringing forth the fruit of it in all manner of vertue and godliness of living About which there is no doubt nor question no dispute nor controversy for all the parts of an holy life are as plainly set down in the holy Scriptures as that part of it now mentioned We beseech you Brethren know that is love them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and esteem them very highly in love for their works sake and be at peace among your selves 1 Thes v. 11 12. All the rest I say are as express and clear and evident as this whether they be our duties toward God or towards man whether superiours equals or inferiours or whether they concern the right Government of our selves in all Temperance Soberness Chastity Self-denial Contentedness and Contempt of this present World Without which I mean contempt of this present World all the advice that can be given will signify little to secure us in the true Religion If this one thing be wanting we are liable to be deceived and none can help us We shall turn like Weather-cocks by every wind of Doctrine if our interest lie that way and it will not be in the power of any man by the clearest and most solid demonstrations to fix and settle us For the love of this present World of riches honours and preferments dazles the eyes of mens minds blinds their judgment bribes their affections corrupts their consciences and carries them into the foulest dotages Religion and the things of the other world cannot be of any great price in his account who admires and over-values the things of this present life Which will easily perswade him as I had occasion to shew you lately when he cannot keep both to let go his Faith that he may preserve these And therefore if we will stick fast to our Religion we must not cleave too close to this present World We must not frame too high an opinion in our minds of any thing here nor set our hearts and affections on it but learn to want as well as to abound to be satisfied with a little and as the Apostle speaks having food and raiment therewith to be content remembring that godliness with contentment is great gain 1 Tim. vi 6 8. Such lessons if we learnt and faithfully practised and there is no man that need be ignorant of them or defective in them unless he will they would preserve and keep our minds from being drawn away by plausible and gainful errors Nay more than that they would put an end to all controversies and disputes better than an Infallible Judge could do For when there was one in the world there were still Sects and Factions as I have already shown you But if we would submit to the power of the Gospel and of God's holy Spirit so far as to become obedient to the plain commands which he lays upon us that is to be made truly meek and lowly in heart humble and peaceable tender-hearted and Charitable holy and heavenly-minded having no designs for this world but all for the other not intending to serve any earthly ends by our Religion but only to secure our Souls everlasting salvation being sincere lovers of truth desirous to know the whole will of God ready to imbrace it though never so cross to our present interests conscientiously resolved to do it whatsoever we deny or lose on that account this temper of mind wouldbe a far better expedient and more available for the healing of all Divisions and for the making Peace and Unity in the Christian World than infallibility of Judgment would be could we tell where to find it This is the way of God wherein if we will not walk there must be Heresies and contention and strife nay there will be as St. James's words are every evil work and no remedy can be found for it Whereas in this way I will be bold to go a little further and say that God hath taken care every particular Christian may be infallible as far as is needful for him Much Discourse and Dispute there hath been and is about Infallibility And some you know argue there must be such a thing because of the care which we all believe Christ hath of his Church in which it would be convenient there should be an Infallible Judge and therefore they conclude there is one But if Convenience were the measure and our Understanding the Measurers we might rather conclude that God hath made every particular Christian infallible because that is far more convenient than for every Christian to go a great way to one Infallible Judge and then not be able to know certainly where to find him because they that speak of such a Judge are not agreed whether he be a single Person or whether this Infallibility do not lye in more than in one nay whether it be not in a many but there is as great difference about this as any thing else whatsoever All that we can truly resolve therefore in this matter is That such is the Grace of God such his Care of his Church that He hath made every truly pious Christian infallible though not in all things yet in the main thing if he go on to the end in a course of piety That is with respect to his Journies end he is infallible though not with respect to every step he takes thither He may erre in many things he may sometimes go wrong yet if it be his constant design and watchful endeavour to govern himself faithfully in all his actions by the Rule of God's Word and to follow all the Directions therein he shall infallibly come to Heaven Let no men make you believe the contrary though you do not believe every thing that they tell you is necessary For God hath promised to guide the meek in judgment and to teach them his way His secret is with them that fear him and his Covenant is to make them know it XXV Psal 9 14. They shall certainly understand all things needful and be preserved from damnably erring in their judgment God is faithful and will keep them from falling into the errour of the wicked because they feared him greatly doing his will sincerely as far as they knew it and being ready and desirous to believe and obey it in all other things if they could have known them to be his Will Therefore let us neither decline this way nor distrust it Let us look upon this as the way of peace and let us think our selves safe in it Let all carnal let all worldly let all diabolical lusts