discern when another Gospel is preached and new Terms and Conditions not declared in the Gospel are added to the Christian Religion for if they be not able to judge of this the Apostle does in vain caution them against the seduction of those who perverted the Doctrine of Christ and endeavoured to remove them from him that had called them by the grace of Christ unto another Gospel It may perhaps be said that there was no need that they should be able to discern and judge of the Doctrines of those false Teachers it was sufficient for them to believe the Apostle concerning the Doctrines of those Seducers when he declared to them the falsehood and pernicious consequence of them But the Apostle speaks to them upon another supposition which does necessarily imply that they were able to discern and judge what Doctrines were agreeable to the Gospel and what not for he puts the Case that if he himself or any of the Apostles or an Angel from Heaven should preach to them another Doctrine contrary to that of the Gospel they ought to reject it with detestation but this doth necessarily suppose them able to judge when such Doctrines were preached and consequently that all things necessary to be believed and practised by all Christians are clearly and plainly declared in the Gospel all the Doctrines whereof are now contained in the Holy Scriptures in which all things necessary to Faith and a good Life are so plainly delivered that any sober and inquisitive Person may learn them from thence and the meanest Capacity by the help and direction of their Guides and Teachers may be Instructed in them And this is not only the Principle of Protestants but the express and constant Doctrine of the Ancient Fathers of the Church whatever the Church of Rome for the maintaining of her usurp'd Authority over the Consciences of Men pretends to the contrary And if this were not so that Men are able to discern and judge which are the Doctrines of the Gospel and what is contrary to them the Doctrine of the Gospel was in vain preached and the Holy Scriptures containing that Doctrine were written to no purpose Some things in Scripture are granted to be obscure and difficult on purpose to exercise the Study and Enquiries of those who have leisure and capacity for it but all things necessary are sufficiently plain otherwise it would be impossible to judge when another Gospel is preached which the Apostle here supposeth the Galatians capable of doing For if the Revelation of the Gospel be not sufficiently plain in all things necessary to be believed and practised then Christians have no Rule whereby to judge what Doctrines are agreeable to the Gospel and what not for an obscure Rule is of no use that is in truth is no Rule to those to whom it is obscure I proceed to the IVth Observation which is plainly consequent from those laid down before namely that since the Declaration of the Gospel and the Confirmation given to it there is no Authority in the Christian Church to impose upon Christians any thing as of necessity to Salvation which the Gospel hath not made so The Commission given by our Lord and Saviour to his Apostles was to preach the Gospel to all Nations or as St. Matthew expresses it to go and teach all Nations to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them and this is that which we call the Gospel viz. that Doctrine which Christ commanded his Apostles to preach and publish to the World and if the Apostles themselves had exceeded their Commission and added any other points of Faith or Practice to those which our Saviour gave them in charge to teach and publish to the World they had in so doing been guilty of that which St. Paul here in the Text chargeth the false Apostles with viz. of preaching another Gospel And if the Apostles had â—o Authority to add any thing to the Gospel much less can any pretend to it since they have neither so immediate a Commission nor such a miraculous power to give testimony to them that they are Teachers come from God Now this Doctrine of the Gospel which the Apostles preached to the World is that which Christians are so often and so earnestly by the Apostles in all their Epistles Exhorted to continue in and not to suffer themselves to be shaken in mind by every wind of new Doctrine because that which the Apostles had delivered to them was the intire Doctrine of the Gospel which was never to receive any addition or alteration This is that which St. Peter calls the Holy Commandment which was delivered unto them 2 Pet. 2. 21. It had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them speaking in all probability of those who were seduced by the errors of the Gnosticks from the purity of the Christian Doctrine delivered to them by the Apostles This likewise St. Paul calls the common Faith Titus 1. 4. and St. Jude ver 3. the common Salvation that is the Doctrine which contains the common Terms of our Salvation and the Faith w hich was once delivered to the Saints that is by the Apostles of our Lord who publish'd the Gospel once delivered that is once for all so as never afterwards to admit of any change or alteration This Faith he exhorts Christians earnestly to contend for against those several Sects of Seducers which were crept into the Christian Church and did endeavour by several Arts to pervert the Gospel of Christ and to deprave the Faith delivered by the Apostles So that the Doctrine of the Gospel publish'd by the Apostles is fix'd and unalterable and there can be no Authority in the Church to make any change in it either by taking from it or adding any thing to it as necessary to be believed or practised in order to Salvation V. It follows likewise from the foregoing Observations that there is no visible Judge how much soever â—e may pretend to Infallibility to whose determination and decision in matters of Faith and Practice necessary to Salvation Christians are bound to submit without examination whether those things be agreeable to the Doctrine of the Gospel or not When our Saviour appeared in the World tho' he had Authority enough to exact belief from Men yet because there was a standing Revelation of God made to the Jews he appeals to that Revelation as well as to his own Miracles for the truth of what he said and offered himself and his Doctrine to be tried by the agreeableness of it to the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the Predictions therein concerning him And this was but reasonable it being impossible for any Man to receive two Revelations as from God without liberty to examine whether they be agreeable to and consistent with one another In like manner the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour tho' they were guided
laid it up in a Napkin and according to our Saviour's Rule have long since forfeited it for not making use of it And whereas it is pretended that the Scripture is but a dead Râ—lâ— which can end no Controversies without a Living Judge ready at hand to interpret and apply that Rule upon emergent Occasions the same Objection lies against them unless a General Council which is their Living Judge were always sitting For the Dâ—finitions of their Councils in Writing are liable to the same and greater Objections than the Written Rule of the Scriptures The Summ of all is this In Differences about lesser Matters mutual Charity and Forbearance will secure the Peace of the Church tho' the Differences remain undecided and in greater Matters an Infallible Rule searched into with an honest Mind and due Diligence and with the help of good Instruction is more likely to extinguish and put an end to such Differences than any Infallible Judge if there were one because an humble and honest Mind is more likely to yield to Reason than a perverse and cavilling Temper is to submit to the Sentence of an Infallible Judge unless it were back'd with an Inquisition The Church of Rome supposeth her self Infallible and yet notwithstanding that she finds that some question and deny her Infallibility and then her Sentence signifies nothing And of those who own it many dispute the sense and meaning of her Sentence and whether they deny the Infallibility of her Sentence or dispute the Sense of it in neither of these Cases will it prove effectual to the deciding of any Difference But after all this Provision which we pretend God hath made for honest and sincere Minds Do we not see that Men fall into dangerous and damnable Errors who yet cannot without great Uncharitableness be supposed not to be sincerely desirous to know the Truth and to do the Will of God To this I shall briefly return these Two Things I. That the same Errors are not equally damnable to all The innocent and humanly speaking almost invincible Prejudices of Education in some Persons even against a Fundamental Truth the different Capacities of Men and the different Means of Conviction afforded to them the greater and lesser degrees of Obstinacy and a faulty Will in opposing the Truths proposed to them all these and perhaps several other Considerations besides may make a great difference in the guilt of Mens Errors and the danger of them II. When all is done the Matter must be left to God who only knowâ—th the Hearts of all the Children of Men. We cannot see into the Hearts of Men nor know all their Circumstances and how they may have provoked God to forsake them and give them up to Error and Delusion because they would not receive the truth in the love of it that they might be saved And as on the one hand God will consider all Mens Circumstances and the Disadvantages they were under for coming to the knowledge of the Truth and make allowance to Men for their invincible Errors and forgive them upon a general Repentance So on the other hand he who sees the insincerity of Men and that the Errors of their Understandings did proceâ—d from gross Faults of their Lives will deal with them accordingly But if Men be honest and sincere God who hath said if any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine will certainly be as good as his word It now remains only to draw some Inferences from this Discourse and they shall be these three First From this Text and what hath been Discoursed upon it we may infer how slender and ill-grounded the pretence of the Church of Rome to Infallibility is whether they place it in the Pope or in a General Council or in both The last is the most general Opinion and yet it is hard to understand how Infallibility can result from the Pope's Confirmation of a General Council when neither the Council was Infallible in framing its Definitions nor the Pope in Confirming them If the Council were Infallible in framing them then they needed no Confirmation If they were not then Infallibility is only in the Pope that confirms them and then it is the Pope only that is Infallible But no Man that reads these words of our Saviour if any Man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine would ever imagine that the Bishop of Rome whoever he shall happen to be were secured from all fatal Errors in Matters of Faith much less that he were Endowed with an Infallible Spirit in Judging what Doctrines are from God and what not For it cannot be denied but that many of their Popes have been notoriously Wicked and Vicious in their Lives Nay Bellarmine himself acknowledgeth that for a Succession of Fifty Popes together there was not one Pious and Virtuous Man that sate in that Chair and some of their Popes have been Condemned and Deposed for Heresie and yet after all this the Pope and the governing part of that Church would bear the World in hand that he is Infallible But if this Saying of our Saviour be true that if any Man will do his will he shall know of his Doctrine whether it be of God then every honest Man that sincerely desires to do the Will of God hath a fairer pretence to Infallibility and a clearer Text for it than is to be found in the whole Bible for the Infallibility of the Bishop of Rome What would the Church of Rome give that theâ—e were but as express a Text in Scripture for the Infallibility of their Popes as this is for the security of every good Man in his Judgment of Doctrines which makes Infallibility needless What an unsufferable Noise and what endless Triumphs would they make upon it if it had been any where said in the Bible That if any Man be Bishop of Rome and sit in St. Peter's Chair he shall know of my Doctrine whether it be of God Had there been but such a Text as this we should never have been troubled with their impertinent citation of Texts and their remote and blind Inferences from Pasce Oves and super hanc Petram Feed my Sheep and upon this Rock will I build my Church to prove the Pope's Infallibility And yet no Man of Sense or Reason ever extended the Text I am speaking to so far as to attempt to prove from it the Infallibility of every good Man but only his security from â—atal Errors and Mistakes in Religion The largest Promises that are made in Scripture of security from Error and Mistake about Divine Things are made to good Men who sincerely desire to do the Will of God And if this be so we must conclude several Popes to have been the furthest from Infallibility of any Men in the World And indeed there is not a more compendious way to perswade Men that the Christian Religion is a Fable than to set up a Lewd and Vicious Man for the Oracle
support you under Sufferings and to reward them Thus much for the first Point namely that when Men do suffer truly for the Cause of Religion they may with confidence commit themselves to the more Peculiar Care of the Divine Providence The Second SERMON ON 1 PETER IV. 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator FROM these words I proposed to Consider these three Points First That when Men do Suffer really and truly for the Cause of Religion they may with confidence commit themselves their Lives and all that is dear to them to the peculiar and more especial Care of the Divine Providence Secondly This we may do always provided that we be careful of our Duty and do what is required on our Part and that neither to avoid Sufferings nor to rescue our selves out of them we do any thing contrary to our Duty and a good Conscience for this is the meaning of committing our selves to God in well-doing Thirdly To shew what Ground of Comfort and Encouragement the Consideration of God under the Notion of a Faithful Creator does afford to us under all our Sufferings for a good Cause and a good Conscience The First of these Points I have treated on at large in my former Discourse I proceed now to the Second Namely when in all our Sufferings for the Cause of Religion we may with Confidence and good Assurance commit our selves to the peculiar and more especial Care of God's Providenceâ— This is to be understood always provided that we be careful of our Duty and do what is required on our part and that neither to avoid Sufferings nor to rescue our selves out of them we do any thing contrary to our Duty and a good Conscience And this I told you was the meaning of committing our selves to God in well-doing for if we either neglect our Duty or step out of the Way of it by doing things contrary to it the Providence of God will not be concern'd to bear us out in such Sufferings So that in our Sufferings for the Cause of God and Religion to commit our selves to him in well-doing may reasonably comprehend in it these following Particulars 1. Provided always that we neglect no lawful Means of our Preservation from Sufferings or our Deliverance out of them In this Case Men do not commit themselves to the Providence of God but cast themselves out of his Care and Protection they do not trust God but tempt him and do as it were try whether he will stand by us when wâ— desert our selves and bring us out of Trouble when we would take no Care would use no Endeavours to prevent it If we will needlesly provoke Trouble and run our selves upon sufferings if we will neglect our selves and the Lawful Means of our preservation if we will give up and part with those Securities of our Religion which the Providence of God and the Laws of our Country have given us if we our selves will help to pull down the Fence which is about us if we will disarm our selves and by our own Act expose our selves naked and open to Danger and Sufferings why should we think in this Case that God will help us when we would not help our selves by those lawful Ways which the Providence of God had put into our hands All Trust in God and Dependance upon his Providence does imply that we joyn Prayer and Endeavour together Faith in God and a prudent and diligent use of Means If we lazily trust the Providence of God and so cast all our Care upon him as to take none at all our selves God will take no Care of us In vain do we rely upon the Wisdom and Goodness and Power of God in vain do we importune and tire Heaven with our Prayers to help us against our Enemies and Persecutors if we our selves will do nothing for our selves In vain do we hope that God will maintain and defend our Religion against all the secret Contrivances and open Assaults of our Enemies if we who are united in the Profession of the same Religion and in all the Essentials of Faith and Worship will for some small Differences in lesser Matters which are of no moment in Comparison of the things wherein we are agreed I say if for such slight matters we will divide and fall out among our selves if when the Enemy is at the Gates we will still pursue our Heats and Animosities and will madly keep open those Breaches which were foolishly made at first what can we expect but that the common Enemy should take the Advantage and enter in at them and whilst we are so unseasonably and senselesly contending with one another that they should take the Opportuity which we give them to destroy us all 2. Provided likewise that we do not attempt our own Preservation or Deliverance from Suffering by evil and unlawful Means We must do nothing that is contrary to our Duty and to a good Conscience nor comply with any thing or lend our helping Hand thereto that apparently tends to the Ruin of our Religion neither to divert and put off Sufferings for the present not to rescue our selves from under them because we cannot with Confidence commit our selves to the Providence of God but in wellâ—doing This is an Eternal Rule from whence we must in no Case depart That men must do nothing contrary to the Rules and Precepts of Religion no not for the sake of Religion it self We must not break any Law of God nor disobey the lawful Commands of lawful Authority to free our selves from any Sufferings whatsoever because the Goodness of no End can sanctifie Evil Means and make them lawful We must not speak deceitfully for God nor lye no not for the Truth nor kill men though we could thereby do God and Religion the greatest Service And tho' all the Casuists in the World should teach the contrary Doctrine as they generally do in the Church of Rome yet I would not doubt to oppose to all those the single Authority of St. Paul who expresly condemns this Principle and brands it for a dâ—mnable Doctrine that Evil may be done by us that Good may come Rom. 3. 8. And not as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm thas we say let us do evil that good may come whose damnation is just St. Paul it seems looked upon it as a most devilish Calumny to insinuate that the Christian Religion gives the least Countenance to such damnable Doctrines and Doings as these and pronounceth their Damnation to be just who either teach any such Principle as the Doctrine of Christianity or practise according to it Let those look to it who teach That a right Intention and a good End will render things which are otherwise evil and unlawful not only lawful to be done by us but in many Cases meritorious especially where the good of the Church and
the Extirpation of Heresie are more immediately concerned Of this Nature are the Doctrines of Equivocation and Mental Reservation and the Lawfulness of such Artificial ways of Lying to avoid the Danger of the Law when they are brought before Heretical Magistrates and this is the common Doctrine of the most learned Casuists of all Orders in the Church of Rome And such likewise are their Doctrines of the Lawâ—ulness of extirpating Hereticks by the most barbarous and bloody Means and of breaking Faith with them tho' given by Emperours and Princes in the most publick and solemn manner both which are the avowed Doctrines of their General Councils and have frequently been put in Practice to the Destruction of many millions of Christians better and more righteous than themâ—elves But we have not so lâ—arned Christ who have heard him and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus They who are rightly instructed in the Christian Religion are so far from thinking it lawful to do any thing that is evil to bring others under suffering that they do not allow it in any Case whatsoever no not for the Cause of God and Religion and to free themselves from the greatest Sufferings that can be inflicted upon them 3. Provided also that we do trust the Providence of God and do indeed commit our selves to it relying upon his Wisdom and Goodness and entirely submitting and resigning up our selves to his Will and Disposal both as to the Degree and the Duration of our Sufferings believing that he will do that for us which upon the whole matter and in the final issue and result of things will be best for us That Blessing wherewith Moses the Man of God blest the People of Israel before his Death doth belong to good Men in all Ages He loveth his People and all his Saints are in his hand Deut. 33. 3. Innumerable are the Proâ—ises in Scripture concerning the merciful Providence and Goodness of God towards those who trust in him and hope in his Mercy Psal 32. 10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked But he that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall compass him about Psal 33. 18â— 19 20 21 22. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him Upon them that hope in his mercy To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine Our soul waiteth for the Lord he is our help and our shiâ—ld For our heart shall rejoyce in him Because we have trusted in his holy name Let thy mercy O Lord be upon us according as we hope in thee Psal 34. 22. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate Psal 37. 39 40. But thâ— salvation of the Righteous is of the Lorâ— he is their strength in the time of trouble And the Lord shall help them and deliver them He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him Psal 31. 19. O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of men Psal 55. 22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee He shall never suffer the rightâ—ous to be moved Psal 125. 1. They that trust in thâ— Lord shall be as mount Zion which cannot be removed but aâ—idâ—th for ever Esa 26. 3 4. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusâ—eth in thee Trust ye in the Lord for ever For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength 4. Provided yet further that we pray earnestly to God for his Gracious Help and Assistance for his merciful Comfort and Support under Sufferings that he would be pleased to strengthen our Faith and to encrease and lengthen out our Patience in proportion to the Degree and Duration of our Sufferings All the Promises which God hath made to us are upon this Condition that we earnestly seek and sue to him for the Benefit and Blessing of them Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Ezek. 36. 37. After a great Deliverance and many Blessings promised to them this Condition is at last added Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them And this likewise is the tenor of the Promises of the New Testament Mat. 7. 7. Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you And in this very Case that I am speaking of God expects that we should apply our selves to him for Spiritual Wisdom and Grace to behave our selves under Sufferings as we ought Jam. 1. 2 3 4. Where speaking of the manifold Temptations that Christians would be exercised withal he directs them to pray to God for Wisdom to demean themselves under Persecutions with Patience and Constancy and Chearfulness My Brethren account it all joy when ye fall into divers Temptations meaning the Temptations and Tryals of Suffering in several kinds Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience But let patience have its perfect work And because this is a very difficult Duty and requires a great deal of Spiritual Skill to demean our selves under Sufferings as we ought therefore he adds in the next words If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him And this earnest application we are to make to God for his grace and seasonable help in time of need not to put him in mind of his Promise but to testifie our dependance upon him and expectation of all good from him And we must likewise use great importunity in our Prayers to God to assist us and stand by us in the day of Trial and the hour of Temptation And therefore our Saviour heaps up several words to denote the great earnestness and importunity which we ought to use in Prayer bidding us to ask and seek and knock And to shew that he lays more than ordinary weight upon this Matter and to encourage our importunity he spake two several Parables to this purpose the first Luke 11. 5. of the Man who by meer importunity prevailed with his Friend to rise at midnight to do him a kindness which our Saviour applies to encourage our importunity in Prayer ver 9. And I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you The other is the Parable of the importunate Widow and unjust Judge related by the same Evangelist Luke 18. 1. with this Preface to it and he spake a Parable unto them to this end that Men ought always to pray and not to faint And to speak the truth they seem at first sight two of the oddest of all our Saviour's Parables if the
SIXTEEN SERMONS Preached on Several Subjects By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The THIRD VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D. D. Chaplain to his Grace LONDON Printed for Ri. Chilwell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCXCVI The most Reverend Dr. IOHN TILLOTSON late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury THE CONTENTS SERMON I. GALAT. I. 8 9. But tho' We or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed Pag. 1. SERMON II III IV. JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Willâ— he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self p. 31 55 85. SERMON V VI VII VIII LUKE XII 15. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth p. 109 139 165 193. SERMON IX X. MATTH VI. 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you p. 223 253. SERMON XI PSAL. CXIX 96. I have seen an end of all Perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding broad p. 285. SERMON XII XIII 2 PETER I. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by thâ—se ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature p. 319 345. SERMON XIV XV. 1 PETER IV. 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of Godâ— commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator p. 367 415. SERMON XVI JOHN IX 4. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no Man can work p. 445. A SERMON ON GALAT. I. 8 9. But tho' We or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed BEfore I come to handle the words for our better understanding of them I shall give a brief account of the occasion of them which was this Some false Apostles had made a great disturbance in the Churches planted by the Apostles of Christ by teaching that it was necessary for Christians not only to embrace and entertain the Doctrines and Precepts of the Christian Religion but likewise to be Circumcised and keep the Law of Moses Of this disturbance which was raised in the Christian Church you have the History at large Acts 15. and as in several other Churches so particularly in that of Galatia these false Apostles and Seducers had perverted many as appears by this Epistle in the beginning whereof St. Paul complains that those who were seduced into this Error of the necessity of Circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses had by this new Article of Faith which they had added to the Christian Religion quite altered the frame of it and made the Gospel another thing from that which our Saviour delivered and commanded his Apostles to teach all Nations For he tells us ver 6. of this Chapter that he marvelled that they were so soon removed from him that called them by or through the grace of Christ untâ— another Gospel that is so different from that which they had been instructed in by those who first preached the Gospel unto them For the making of any thing necessary to Salvation which our Saviour in his Gospel had not made so he calls another Gospel I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you by the grace of Christ unto another Gospel which is not another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is no other thing or by which I mean nothing else but that there are some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ as if he had said when I say that ye are removed to another Gospel I do not mean that ye have renounced Christianity and are gone over to another Religion but that ye are seduced by those who have a mind to pervert the Gospel of Christ by adding something to it as a necessary and essential part of it which Christ hath not made so This the Apostle calls a perverting or overthrowing of the Gospel because by thus altering the Terms and Conditions of it they made it quite another thing from what our Saviour delivered it And then at the 8 th and 9 th verses he denounceth a terrible Anathema against those whoever they should be yea tho' it were an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven who by thus perverting the Gospel of Christ that is by making any thing necessary to be believed or practised which our Saviour in his Gospel had not made so should in effect preach another Gospel but tho' we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be Anathema an accursed thing And then to express his confidence and vehemency in this matter and to shew that he did not speak this rashly and in a heat but upon due consideration he repeats it again in the next verse As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed From the words thus explained by the consideration of the Context and of the main scope and design of this Epistle these following Observations do naturally arise First That the addition of any thing to the Christian Religion as necessary to be believed and practised in order to Salvation is a perverting the Gospel of Christ and preaching another Gospel Secondly That no pretence of Infallibility is sufficient to authorise and warrant the addition of any thing to the Christian Doctrine as necessary to be believed and practised in order to Salvation Thirdly That Christians may judge and discern when such additions are made Fourthly and consequently That since the declaration of the Gospel and the confirmation of it there is no Authority in the Christian Church to impose upon Christians any thing as of necessity to Salvation which the Gospel hath not made so Fifthly That there is no visible Judge how Infallible soever he may pretend to be to whose definitions and declarations in Matters of Faith and Practice necessary to Salvation we are bound to submit without examination whether these things be agreeable to the Gospel of Christ or not Sixthly and Lastly Whosoever teacheth any thing as of necessity to Salvation to be believed or practised besides what the Gospel of Christ hath made necessary does fall under the Anathema here in the Text because in so doing he perverteth the Gospel of Christ and preacheth another Gospel Now the
Apostle expresly declares that tho' we that is he himself or any of the Apostles or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than what we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed I. That the addition of any thing to the Christian Religion as necessary to be believed or practised in order to Salvation is a perverting the Gospel of Christ and preaching another Gospel This is evident from the Instances here given in this Epistle for the Apostle chargeth the false Apostles with perverting the Gospel of Christ and preaching another Gospel upon no other account but because they added to the Christian Religion and made Circumcision and the keeping of the Law of Moses an essential part of the Christian Religion and imposed upon Christians the practice of these things and the belief of the necessity of them as a Condition of Eternal Salvation That this was the Doctrine of those false Teachers we find expresly Acts 15. 1. And certain men which came down from Judea taught the Brethren and said except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses yâ— cannot be saved and ver 24. in the Letter written by the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem to the Churches abroad there is this account given of it forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your Souls saying ye must be circumcised and keep the Law to whom we gave no such Commandment Where you see that this Doctrine is declared to be of pernicious consequence tending to subvert the Souls of Men and likewise to be an addition to the Doctrine of the Gospel which was delivered by the Apostles who here with one consent declare that they had given no such commandment that is had delivered no such Doctrine as this nor put any such yoke upon the necks of Christians but on the con-contrary had declared that the death of Christ having put an end to the Jewish Dispensation there was now no obligation upon Christians to observe the Law of Moses And from the Reason of the thing it is very plain that the addition of any thing to the Christian Religion as necessary to be believed or practised in order to Salvation which the Gospel hath not made so is preaching another Gospel because it makes an essential change in the Terms and Conditions of the Gospel Covenant which declares Salvation unto Men upon such and such Terms and no other Now to add any other Terms to these as of equal necessity with them is to alter the Condition of the Covenant of the Gospel and the Terms of the Christian Religion and consequently to preach another Gospel by declaring other Terms of Salvation than Christ in his Gospel hath declared which is to pervert the Gospel of Christ II. No pretence of Infallibility is sufficient to Authorise and Warrant the addition of any thing to the Christian Doctrine as necessary to be believed or practised in order to Salvation After the delivery of the Gospel by the Son of God and the publication of it to the World by his Apostles who were Commissioned and Inspired by him to that purpose and the confirmation of all by the greatest and most unquestionable Miracles that ever were no person whatever that brought any other Doctrine and declared Salvation to Men upon any other terms than those which are declared in the Gospel was to be credited what pretence soever he should make to a Divine Commission or an Infallible Assistance The Apostle makes a Supposition as high as can be tho' we says he or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be an Anathema If the Apostles themselves who were Divinely Commissioned and Infallibly assisted in the Preaching of the Gospel should afterwards make any addition to it or declare any other Terms of Salvation than those which are declared in the Gospel which they had already published to the World they ought not to be regarded And the Reason is plain because what claim soever any Person may make to Infallibility and what demonstration soever he may give of it we cannot possibly believe him if he contradict himself and deliver Doctrines which do plainly clash with one another For if he spake true at first I cannot believe him declaring the contrary afterwards And if he did not speak true at first I cannot believe him at all because he can give no greater proof of his Divine Commission and Infallible Assistance and Inspiration than he did at first And the Reason is the same if an Angel from Heaven should come and preach a contrary Doctrine to that of the Gospel he were not to be believed neither because he could bring no better Credentials of his Divine Commission and Authority than Those had who publish'd the Gospel and consequently he ought not to be credited in any thing contrary to what they had publish'd before For tho' a Man were never so much disposed to receive a Revelation from God and to submit his Faith to it yet it is not possible for any Man to believe God against God himself that is to believe two Revelations plainly contradictory to one another to be from God and the reason of this is very obvious because every Man doth first and more firmly believe this Proposition or Principle That Contradictions cannot be true than any Revelation whatsoever for if Contradictions may be true then no Revelation from God can signifie any thing because the contrary may be equally true and so truth and falsehood be all one The Apostle indeed only makes a Supposition when he says tho' we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Doctrine unto you but by this Supposition he plainly bars any Man or Company of Men from adding to the Christian Religion any Article of Faith or Point of Practice as of necessity to Salvation which the Gospel hath not made so I say any Man or Company of Men whatever Authority or Infallibility they may lay claim to because they cannot pretend to a clearer Commission and greater Evidence of Infallible Assistance than an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven and yet the Text tells us that would not be a sufficient warrant to preach another Gospel it might indeed bring in question that which they had preached before but could not give Credit and Authority to any thing plainly contrary to it and inconsistent with it III. Christians may judge and discern when another Gospel is preached when new Articles of Faith or Points of Practice not enjoyned by the Gospel are imposed upon Christians This the Apostle supposeth every particular Church and for ought I know every particular Christian that is duly Instructed in the Christian Religion to be a competent Judge of and to be sufficiently able to
of it Nay I will go farther yet That there are no other Promises made in Scripture of Direction or Assistance or Security from Mistake to any Church but the same are made in as full and express Terms to every good Man that sincerely desires to know the Truth and to practise it Is it promis'd to the Church or to the Pastors of it I will be with you always And hath not our Saviour promised the same to every one that is obedient to his word John 14. 23. If a Man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him And does not the Apostle apply the same Promise to every good Christian Heb. 13. 5. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee For where is the difference between these Expressions I will be with you and I will make my abode with him I will be with you always and I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Is it promised to the Church that the Spirit shall lead her into all Truth and is not the same Promise made to every good Man John 14. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him that is God will reveal his Will to those that love him and keep his Commandments Hath God promised to build his Church upon a Rock And doth not our Saviour use the same Metaphor concerning every Man that doth the Will of God Mat. 7. 24. Whosoever heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them is like a Wise Man that built his House upon a Rock So that if to be built upon a Rock signifies Infallibility it belongs to every good Man who sincerely practiseth what he knows as much as to any Church When Men are enabled by God to work Miracles for the confirmation of the Doctrines which they deliver there is great Reason to believe that they are Infallibly assisted in the delivery of those Doctrines But without this 't is the vainest thing in the World for any Person or Church to pretend to it because they offer no Evidence â—it to satisfie any Man that they are so assisted And I do not hear that the Pope among all his Priviledges does pretend to the Power of Miracles Secondly From hence likewise we may infer the great Reason of Error and Infidelity in the World If any Man be an Infidel it is not the fault of his Understanding but of his Will it is not because there is not sufficient Evidence that the Christian Religion is from God but because Mens Interests and Lusts make them partial and incompetent Judges of Matters of Religion The Evidence of the Christian Religion is such as recommends it to every Man's Reason and Conscience so that as St. Paul argues if the Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. If Men did but stand indifferent for the entertainment of Truth and were not swayed by the interest of any Lust or Passion I am confident that no Man that hath the Gospel fairly proposed to him would continue an Infidel If Men did but truly live up to the Principles of Natural Religion they would easily be convinc'd that the Christian Religion which is so suitable thereto is from God Thirdly and Lastly What hath been said is a great Argument and Encouragement to Obedience and Holiness of Life Do we desire not to be mistaken about the Mind of God Let us heartily endeavour to do his Will If we would not be seduced by the Error of the Wicked let us take heed of their Vicious Practices The best way certainly to preserve a right Judgment in Matters of Religion is to take great care of a good Life God's Goodness is such that he will not suffer any Man's Judgment to be betrayed into a Damnable Error without some Vice and Fault of his Will The Principles of Natural Religion are born with us and imprinted upon our Minds so that no Man can be ignorant of them nor need to be mistaken about them and as for those Revelations which God hath made of himself to the World he hath been pleased to accompany them with so much Evidence that an honest and sincere Mind may easily discern them from Error and Imposture So our Saviour hath assured us That if any Man desire to do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God On the other hand if we see any oppose the clear Truth or to depart from it and to embrace gross Errors and Delusions we may almost certainly conclude that there is some Worldly Interest or Lust at the bottom of it So our Saviour has likewise told us that the Reason why Men love Darkness rather than Light is because their Deeds are Evil and every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved I will Conclude this whole Discourse with St. Peter's Exhortation the 2 d of Pet. 3. 17 18. Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these Things before beware lest ye also being led away with the Error of the Wicked fall from your own stedfastness But grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ To him be Glory both now and for ever Amen A SERMON ON LUKE XII 15. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth AMong all the irregular Appetites of Men there is none that is more common and unreasonable and of a more Universal bad Influence upon the Hearts and Lives of Men than this of Covetousness and therefore in speaking of this Vice I shall strike at the Root of a great many others even of Apostacy from God's Truth and Religion of which Covetousness and the Love of this present World is one of the most common Causes So that if I can contribute any thing to the Cure of this great Distemper of Mens Minds I shall in so doing remove that which is the Cause and Occasion of a great part of the Evils and Mischiefs which are in the World And to this end I have pitched upon these Words of our Blessed Saviour to his Hearers And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the Things which he possesseth In Which Words are these Threâ— Things Observable First The Manner of the Caution which our Saviour here gives Take heed and beware he doubles it to shew the great Need and Concernment of it Secondly The Matter of the Caution or the Vice which our
is taken for granted where ever we speak of Mens Suffering Persecution for it And the plainest Case among Christians is when they are Persecuted because they will not openly deny and renounce the Christian Religion And this was generally the Case of the Primitive Christians they were threatned with Tortures and Death because they would not renounce Jesus Christ and his Religion and give demonstration thereof by offering Sacrifices to the Heathen-gods Secondly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they are Persecuted only for making an open Profession of the Christian Religion by joyning in the Assemblies of Christians for the Worship of God tho' they be not urged to deny and disclaim it but only to conceal and dissemble the Profession of it so as to forbear the maintenance and defence of it upon fitting Occasions against the Objections of those who are Adversaries of it For to conceal the Profession of it and to decline the defence of it when just occasion is offer'd is to be ashamed of it which our Saviour Interprets to be a kind of denial of it and is opposed to the confessing of him before Men Mat. 10. 32 33. Whosoever shall confess me before Men him will I also confess before my Father which is in Heaven But whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven And this by St. Mark is express'd by being ashamed of Christ that is afraid and ashamed to make an open profession of him and his Religion Mark 8. 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and finful generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels And this likewise was the Case of the Primitive Christians under the moderate Emperors when the Persecution of them was not so hot as to drive them to a denial of Christ provided they would be contented to conceal and dissemble their Religion in that case they did not hunt them out nor Prosecute them to renounce their Religion if they made no discovery of themselves But yet they who suffered because they would not conceal their Profession of Christianity did truly suffer for the Cause of Religion Thirdly Men do likewise truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they suffer for not betraying it by any indirect and unworthy means such as among the Primitive Christians was the delivering up their Bibles to the Heathen to be burnt and destroyed by them For to give up that holy Book which is the great Instrument of our Religion is in Effect to give up Christianity it self and to Consent to the utter extirpation of it And such likewise is the Case of those who suffer in any kind for not contributing to break down the Fences of Religion in any Nation where the Providencâ— of God hath given it a Legal Establishment and Security or in a word for refusing to countenance and further any Design which visibly tends to the Ruine of Religion For to destroy Religion and to take away that which hinders the Destruction of it are in Effect much the same thing Fourthly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they suffer for the Maintenance and Defence of any necessary and Fundamental Article of it tho they be not required to renounce the whole Christian Religion For what St. Paul says of the Article of the Resurrection of the dead is true of any other necessary Article of the Christian Religion that the Denyal of it is a Subversion of the whole Christian Faith because it tends directly to the overthrowâ—ng of Christianity being a Wound given to it in a Vital and Essential Part. And this was the Case of those who in any Age of Christianity have been persecuted by Hereticks for the Defence of any Article of Christianity And I cannot but observe by the Way that after the Heathen Peâ—secutions were ceased Persecution was first begun among Christians by Hereticks and hath since been taken up and carried much beyond that bad Pattern by the Church of Rome which besides a standing Inquisition in all Countries which are entirely of that Religion a Court the like whereto for the clancular and secret Manner of Proceeding for the unjust and arbitrary Rules of it for the barbarous Usage of Mens Persons and the Cruelty of its Torments to extort Confessions from them the Sun never saw erected under any Government in the World by Men of any Religion whatsoever I say which besides this Court hath by frequent Croisadoes for the Extirpation of Hereticks and by many Bloody Massacres in France and Ireland and several other places destroyed far greater numbers of Christians than all the ten Heathen Persecutions and hath of late revived and to this very Day continues the same or greater Cruelties and a fiercer Persecution of Protestants if all the Circumstances of it be considered than was ever yet practised upon them and yet whilst this is doing almost before our eyes in one of our next neighbour Nations they have the Face to complain of the Cannibal Laws and bloody Persecutions of the Church of England and the Confidence to set up for the great Patrons of Liberty of Conscience and Enemies of all Compulsion and Force in Matters of Religion Fifthly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of God and Religion when they suffer for asserting and maintaining the Purity of the Christian Doctrine and Worship and for opposing and not complying with those gross Errors and Corruptions which Superstition and Ignorance had in a long Course of Time brought into the Christian Religion Upon this Account many Good People suffer'd in many past Ages for resisting the growing Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome which at first crept in by Degrees but at last broke in like a mighty Flood which carryed down all before it and threatned Ruin and Destruction to all that opposed them Upon this Account also infinite Numbers suffered among the Waldenses and Albigenses in Bohemia and in England and in most other Countries in this Western Part of Christendom And they who suffer'd upon this Accountâ— suffer'd in a good Cause and for the Testimony of the Truth Sixthly and Lastly Men do truly suffer for the cause of Religion when they suffer for not disclaiming and renouncing any clear and undoubted Truth of God whatsoever yea though it be not a Fundamental Point and Article of Religion And this is the Case of those many Thousands who ever since the IV. Council of Lateran which was in the Year 1215 when Transubstantiation was first defin'd to be an Article of Faith and necessary to Salvation to be believ'd were persecuted with Fire and Sword for not understanding those words of our Saviour this iâ— my Body which are so easily capable of a reasonable Sense in the absurd and impossible Sense of Transubstantiation And though this disowning of this Doctrin be
no express and direct Article of the Christian Religion yet it is a Fundamental Article of right Reason and common Sense Because the admitting of Transubstantiation does undermine the Foundation of all Certainty whatsoever and does more immediately shake the very Foundation of Christianity it self Yea tho' the Christian Religion were no ways concerned in this Doctrine yet out of reverence to Reason and Truth and a just animosity and indignation at confident nonsense a Man of an honest and generous Mind would as soon be brought to Declare or Swear that twice two do not make four but five as to profess his belief of Transubstantiation And tho' all Truths are not of equal Consequence and Concernment yet all Truth is of God and for that Reason tho' we are not obliged to make an open profession of all Truths at all times yet we are bound not to deny or renounce any Truth nor to make profession of a known Falsehood or Error For it is meerly because of the intrinsical Evil of the thing that it is impossible for God to lie and the Son of God thought it worth his coming into the World and laying down his Life to bear witness to the Truth So he himself tells us Joh. 18. 37. To this End was I born and for this Cause came I into the World that I should bear witness to the Truth Thus I have shewn you in these plain Instances to which most other Cases may be reduced when Men may be said to suffer truly for the Cause of Religion and Truth I shall mention two or three Cases wherein Men may seem to suffer for the Cause of Religion but cannot truly be said to do so First When Men rashly expose themselves to danger and run upon sufferings for the sake of Religion Thus several of the Primitive Christians voluntarily exposed themselves when they were not called in question and in the heat of their Affection and Zeal for God and Religion offered themselves to Martyrdom when none enquired after them This in the gracious interpretation of God who knowing the sincerity of their Zeal was pleased to overlook the indiscreet forwardness and rashness of it might be accepted for a kind of Martyrdom but cannot in Reason be justified so aâ— to be fit to be made a Pattern and to be recommended to our imitation For tho' God may be pleased to excuse the weakness of a well-meaning Zeal yet he can approve nothing but what is Reasonable To suffer chearfully for the Cause of God and his Truth when he calls us to fight this good fight of faith and to resist unto blood and when we are reduced to that strait that we must either die for God and his Truth or deny them to suffer I say in this Case with Courage and Patience is one of the Noblest of all the Christian Virtues But to be perfect Volunteers and to run our selves upon Sufferings when we are not called to them looks rather like the Sacrifice of Fools which tho' God may mercifully excuse and pardon the Evil of the action for the good Meaning of it yet he can never perfectly approve and accept of it But I think there is little need nowa-days to caution men against this rashness it is well if they have the Grace and Resolution to Suffer when it is their Duty and when they are called to it Secondly Nor can Men be truly said to Suffer for the Cause of Religion when they Suffer not for their Faith but their Fancy and for the wilful and affected Error of a mistaken Conscience As when Men suffâ—r for indifferent things which in heat and passion they call Superstition and Idoltary and for their own false Opinions in Religion which they mistake for Fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith In this Case their mistake about these things will not change the Nature of them nor turn their Sufferings into Martyrdom and yet many Men have certainly Suffered for their own mistakes For as Men may be so far deluded as to think they do God good service when they kill his faâ—thful Servants so likewise may they be so far deceived as to Sacrifice their Lives and all that is dear to them to their own culpable Errors and Mistakes But this is Zeal without Knowledgeâ— not the Wisdom which descends from above but that which comes from beneath and is like the fire of Hell which is heat without light Thirdly and Lastly Nor can Men truly be said to Suffer for the Cause of God and Religion when they Suffer for the open Profession and Defence of Truths not necessary For tho' a Man be obliged to make an open Profession of all Fundamental and Necessary Truths yet he is under no such Obligation to make Profession of Truths not necessary at all times and unless he be called to deny them he is not bound either to declare or defend them he may hold his peace at other times and be silent about them especially when the open Profession of them will probably do no good to others and will certainly do hurt to our selves and the zealous endeavour to propagate such Truths will be to the greater prejudice of Charity and the disturbance of the publick peace of the Church It was a good Saying of Erasmus if we understand it as I believe he meant it of Truths not necessary adeo invisâ— sunt mihi discordiâ— ut veritas etiam contentiosa displiceat I am says he so perfect a hater of discord that I am even displeased with truth when it is the occasion of contention As a Man is never to deny Truth so neither is he obliged to make an open Profession of Truths not necessary at all times and if he Suffer upon that account he cannot justifie it to his own Prudence nor have Comfort in such Sufferings because he brings them needlesly upon himself and no Man can have Comfort but in Suffering for doing his Duty And thus I have done with the first thing I proposed to enquire into namely when Men may be truly said to Suffer for the Cause of Religion I proceed now to the Second Enquiry namely how far Men may rely upon the Providence of God to bear them out in such Sufferings To which I Answer That provided we do what becomes us and is our Duty on our part the Providence of God will not be wanting on his part to bear us out in all our Sufferings for his Cause one of these three ways First To secure us from that violent degree of Temptation and Suffering which would be too strong for Humane Strength and Patience Or Secondly In case of such extraordinary Temptation and Trial to give us the extraordinary Supports and Comforts of his Holy Spirit or else Thirdly In case of a Temporary Fall and Miscarriage to raise us up by Repentance and a greater Resolution and Constancy under Sufferings I shall speak severally to these 1. Either the Providence of God will not be wanting to secure us from that