know the true God blasphemously imagin or assert against their Consciences which I think the worse of the two That help to come from the Creature which can only come from the Creator May not we on better Grounds deisy our Physicians But these things they 'll venture to deny tho' they are easily prov'd that which they chiefly acknowledge in this Point is their praying to Saints and Angels to pray for them or as some say to pray to Christ to interceed for them it being arrogant Presumption for Mortals to go to Christ immediately But this is downright Gnosticism and we of the Church of England have our Saviour's own words for our Encouragement if they of the Church of Rome have not Joh. 14. 6 I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me And we know of no other Intercessor in Heaven but Christ Therefore I think it a privation of our Christian Liberty to debar us from Praying to him immediately on Pretence of too much Presumption in so doing for he himself invites all that labour and are heavy laden to come to him and he will give 'em rest Matth. 11. 28. He does not say Come to me by my Mother or by St. Michael or St. Bennet c. But Come to me directly 5. The Fifth Enquiry must be Whether there is any such Place as Purgatory The Doctrines of the Church of Rome as they have been manag'd are most of 'em so order'd as to be as suitable and conformable to the temper of Humane Nature as they well may be as might be made appear if we had time in these already spoken to But above all the Doctrine of Purgatory is as obliging and complaisant to Flesh and Blood as any thing can be For this takes off all necessity of a strict and restrain'd life here needs no mortifying our Members which are upon the Earth as the Apostle's advice was Men need not be so fearful of pleasing their Appetites as they should be if they were to follow the rigid Precepts of our Saviour or St. Paul. But the Epicuroean Principle will make a Man happy here in gratifying the Lusts of the Flesh and hereafter he shall be happy in Heaven too if he has but been so frugal as to save a little Money to pay for a Catholick Burial only undergoing a little Frixation or Roasting by the way That this is the genuine Explication of the Doctrine of Purgatory as it is receiv'd and propagated in the Roman Church might be made appear by many good Consequences if I had time and it was worth the Pains to consider every Particular But 't is done at large already by an Excellent Hand and the Business of the present Undertaking Dr. Stil Idol of the Church of Rome is not so much to that as to Enquire whether there is any such Place as Purgatory or no There are but two Texts in the New Testament that can with any colour be urg'd to this purpose One is 1 Pet. 3. 19. where 't is said that Christ went and Preach'd to the Spirits in Prison And the other 1 Cor. 3. 15 If any mans works shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire On these two Texts this Doctrine is built If therefore I can make it plain that neither of these Texts are to the purpose I think I shall have little more to do than to deny the Doctrine to be true forasmuch as in any Matter of Dispute the Affirmative ought to be prov'd before the Negative I begin then with the first 1 Pet. 3. 19. In the foregoing Verse the Apostle tells us that Christ hath once suffer'd for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quicken'd by the spirit And then adds By which also he went and preach'd to the spirits in Prison From whence most Expositors gather that what our Saviour is said to do here he did after his Resurrection As if the Apostle had said He was put to Death in the Flesh but was quicken'd or rais'd again by the Spirit and after that he went by the same Spirit or Power that quicken'd him and Preach'd to the Spirits in Prison And that the word Prison here can't mean Purgatory will more plainly appear if we follow the Apostle as he goes on By which also he went and Preach'd to the Spirits in Prison which sometime were Disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the Days of Noah while the Ark was preparing wherein few that is Eight Persons were saved by Water The like Figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ c. We read Gen. 6. 3. that God said My Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh yet his Days shall be an Hundred and Twenty Years The Deluge was determin'd for the Sins of the Old World yet God of his Mercy wou'd give 'em so long time as One Hundred and Twenty Years to Repent in and sent Noah to Preach Repentance and Threaten Destruction to all that wou'd not amend their Lives Whence this of the Apostle has been interpreted of Christ's Preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles by his Apostles after his Resurrection when he had sent his Spirit among ' em And so those that wou'd not repent at the Preaching of the Gospel shou'd one Day perish by Fire as they of the Old World did by Water for not Repenting at the Preaching of Noah For as Christ was then reveal'd in a flood of Water so he will again be revealed in flaming Fire to take Vengeance on them that obey not his Gospel But they that wou'd repent and be obedient to his Gospel shou'd be saved by Baptism as Noah was in the Ark yet not merely from a Temporal Punishment but from Everlasting Destruction Now to make the Prison here spoken of Purgatory is to say in effect that those that were destroy'd by the Deluge of the Old World have remain'd ever since in this Purgatory 'till our Saviour's Crucifixion and that in one of the Three Days in which he lay in the Grave he went and Preach'd the Gospel of Repentance to them But this can't be made deducble from the words of the Apostle but rather the contrary For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Prison signifies any kind of Receptacle whatever a Sheath for a Sword as well as a Gaol for Prisoners and as properly the Body of a Man wherein the Soul is kept as any thing else any thing containing is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Prison in reference to the thing contain'd So that Christ's Preaching to the Spirits in Prison here is nothing else but either the Preaching of Noah to those of the Old World or of his Apostles to the Gentiles of the New whose Souls were penn'd up in their Bodies which were
I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin Eccl. 7. 29. For lo this only have I found That God made man upright at first but since they have fallen away from that Upright State they have sought out many Inventions Jer. 17. 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it For Matth. 15. 19. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts murthers adulteries fornications thefts false-witness blasphemies and all things that defile a man. And the Reason of all this is Because Joh. 3. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh Man as he is Flesh and Blood is naturally fleshly minded Rom. 7. 14. For we know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal sold under sin for that which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that I do And so Eph. 2. 3. All are by nature the children of wrath Jam. 1. 15. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and when 't is finished bringeth forth death Our first Parents lusted after the forbidden Fruit and that brought forth the sin of breaking the Commandment and that sin brought forth Death And Rom. 5. 12. As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all in him have sinned Wherefore if all are guilty of Original Sin and that guilt makes us Children of Wrath and consequently Heirs of Damnation I don't see any reason we have to boast of our righteousness but rather we have too much cause to bewail our wretchedness and to pray continually against the inevitable misery we are liable to undergo for all the good works we have done or can do unless God be more merciful to the best of us than we deserve And though by Baptism the guilt of Original Sin is washed away yet 't is more than probable that the first Actual Sin brings it again For as he that by amendment of life turns to God his former sins shall not be remembred so he that returns from the Service of God his righteousness shall be blotted out and forgotten and all his former iniquities shall testifie against him To conclude from what has been produc'd this at present occurs to our Observation That though there is no such thing in truth as a Solifidian Justice but every Man that will be saved must be enduced with a Faith that works by Love yet after all we can do we must expect Salvation by Faith in Christ's Blood and not from our own worthiness III. The Third Enquiry propos'd was To whom it belongs to Forgive Sins Psal 3. 8. Salvation belongeth to the Lord. 49. 7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him For the redemption of their soul is precious And 37. 39. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Therefore 130. 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord. It was the Psalmists opinion That it belonged to God to Forgive Sins and therefore Psal 51. 14. he thus addresses himself to him Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God thou God of my salvation And thus God affirms of Himself Isai 43. 11. I even I am the Lord and beside me there is no Saviour I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins where we may take notice That it belongs to God to Forgive Sins and also That he Forgives them for his own sake which takes off all Merit by Works Dan. 9. 9. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses It was the constant Opinion of the Jews For when our Saviour said to the Sick of the Palsie Man thy sins are forgiven thee the Jews not believing him to be God as well as Man accus'd him of Blasphemy saying Who can forgive sins but God only Luk. 5. 21. So our Lord himself though John Baptist call'd him the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world Joh. 1. 29. directs us to ask God to forgive our sins Mat. 6. 12. For at Vers 14. 'T is our heavenly Father that must forgive us And thus the Apostle tells the Colossians That they being dead in their sins and the uncircumcision of their flesh God had quickened them and forgiven them all trespasses Col. 2. 13. From all which it appears plainly enough That Forgiveness of Sin belongs only to God. The consequence of this is That if it belongs to God only to Forgive Sins then Confession of Sins is due to him alone A Member of the Church of Rome is in danger of passing immediately into Hell if he dies without having confess'd his Sins to a Priest So absolutely necessary do they teach Auricular Confession to be in order to Salvation But if we may examin it a little I am apt to think it will appear much like the rest Psal 32. 5. I acknowledged my sins unto thee and my iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin The Psalmist was absolv'd without Auricular Confession only by acknowledging his Sins to God. 1 King. 8. 47. Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the Land whether they were carried Captives and repent and make supplication to thee in the Land of them that carried them Captives saying We have sinned and have done perversely we have committed wickedness c. Here is no Confession to a Priest mentioned Ezra 9. 5. And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness and having rent my garment and my mantle I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God and said O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God c. Psal 41. 4. I said Lord be merciful unto me and heal my soul for I have sinned against thee Hence Confession of Sin is due to him against whom we have sinned And then 't is due Relatively to our Neighbour if we have done him any injury But Properly to God according to the Psalmist Psal 51. 4. Against thee only have I sinned c. when he had committed Adultery with Bathsheba and caused her Husband to be slain Dan. 9. 15. And now O Lord our God that hast brought thy people forth out of the Land of Egypt with a mighty hand and hast gotten the renown as at this day we have sinned we have done wickedly Therefore Jer. 14. 20. We acknowledge O Lord our wickedness and the iniquity of our Fathers for we have sinned against thee In a word I should never have done if I should quote all the Texts to prove Confession of Sins only due to God. And therefore because you will meet with them in reading I shall at present only refer you to the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel to what our Saviour says there of Prayer and Fasting For Repentance and Confession being
there can be no other Offerings needful but such as every Man must offer for himself the Sacrifice of Righteousness And as the Mass is not a Sacrifice for the Living neither can it be suppos'd a Sacrifice for the Dead If Christ Jesus has made satisfaction for the Sins of all that are call'd by his Name and if that satisfaction is certainly appli'd to all who are true Christians and Die in the Faith of Christ Crucified and if this is made the absolutely necessary Condition of having a Title to that satisfaction I can see no ground Wicked Men have to hope for pardon if they forfeit that The Scriptures are altogether silent as to any thing that can be done for us after Death To which purpose I 'll give you the trouble of the following Instances 1. Holy David when God struck the Child he had by Bathsheba pray'd for its recovery and fasted and lay all Night upon the Earth His sorrow for the Child's Sickness was intolerable But when the Child was Dead he arose from the Earth and Washed and Anointed himself and changed his Apparel and came into the House of the Lord and Worshipped then he came to his own House and having Bread set before him he did eat Then said his Servants to him What thing is this that thou hast done thou didst fast and weep for the Child while it was alive but when the Child was dead thou didst arise and eat Bread. And he said While the Child was yet alive I fasted and wept For I said who can tell whether God will be gracious unto me that the Child may live 2 Sam. 12. 22. We read nothing here of any Sacrifice offer'd for the Child which certainly wou'd have been recorded if such a thing had been done but he did not so much as pray for him or weep after his Death For 2. No Man can by ANY means redeem his Brother or give to God a ransom for him Psal 49. 7. I think this is plain enough against any thing that is pretended to be done for the benefit of the Dead and if no Ransom can deem a Man from the State he immediately passes into out of this World what signifie the many Masses that are sent up daily for one or other in the Church of Rome I think it wou'd not be impertinent to add that of our Saviour What shall it profit a Man if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul Mark 8. 36. Which shews the impossibility of Redemption from a State after this Life And this is farther evident in Luke 16. in the Discourse between Abraham and Dives where Abraham tells him Verse 26. That between them there is a great Gulf fixed So that they which wou'd pass from one to t'other cou'd not And then I wou'd fain know how they can say that any can be fetch'd out of Purgatory as Hell is more mildly call'd to Heaven But 3. The Apostle tells the Thessalonians 1 Thes 4. 13. that he wou'd not have 'em to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep nor to sorrow as others which have no hope For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him The Apostles and the Primitive Christians had their hopes in the Resurrection they had no thought of a state of Punishment after Death from which they were to be freed by the Sacrifice of the Mass but they built all upon the Merits of Christ's Blood the full satisfaction which he had made and on that score made it their constant endeavour to become worthy partakers of it The Scriptures make no mention of Offertories for the Dead but in many places they argue clear the contrary That there is no time or place of calling on God in the Grave or for those that are in their Graves All shall at the Day of Judgment receive according to what they have done in the Body There 's no Expiation of Guilt after Death but he that is not absolv'd in this Life must be miserable for ever Therefore these performances on the behalf of the Dead are no better than a breach of the Third Commandment a taking God's Name in vain by calling on him for those for whom he cannot be intreated Upon the whole therefore we may truly say with the Preacher Eccl. 9. 4. To him that is join'd to all the living there is hope But to him that is dead there is no hope but what his way of living here will administer to him I conclude this with the words of the Apostle Heb. 13. 7 c. Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose Faith follow considering the end of their Conversation Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever Be not carried about with divers and strange Doctrines For it is a good thing that the heart be established with Grace not with Meats which have not profited them which have been occupied therein We have an Altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle For the Bodies of those Beasts whose Blood is brought into the Sanctuary by the High-Priest for Sin are burnt without the Camp. Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctifie the People with his own Blood suffer'd without the Gate Let us go forth therefore unto him without the Camp bearing his reproach For here we have no continuing City but we seek one to come By him therefore let us offer the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is the fruit of our Lips giving thanks to his Name But to do good and to communicate forget not for with such Sacrifices God is well pleased 7. Now I come to the Seventh and last Enquiry propos'd viz. Whether the Doctrine of Transubstantiation can be maintain'd by Scripture This has been endeavour'd by our Adversaries but to no purpose And the Scriptures furnish us with two very good Arguments to the contrary Which are 1. That Christ's Body can be in but one place at once 2. That we eat the Body and drink the Blood of Christ only by Faith. Against both which Transubstantiation makes Christ's Body visible in a Thousand places at once and asserts that we eat the very natural Flesh of Christ and gnaw it with our Teeth as we do our common Meat And since in this Case we are denied the use of our Senses we must be judg'd by the Sence of the Scriptures And first The Scriptures testifie That Christ's Body can be in but one place at once Our Saviour Matth. 26. 11. tells us We have the Poor always with us but him we have not always For John 16. 28. As he came forth from the Father into the World so again he will leave the World and go to the Father Accordingly Mark 16. 19. when he had spoken to his Disciples he was received up into