prayed not for the World Iohn 17. 9. From whence some would infer that surely he would not shed his Precious bloud for those on whom he would not vouchsafe to bestow a Prayer But 't is apparent his meaning was that at that time he peculiarly prayed for his Disciples They only as appears by the Context are meant by those that his Father had given him out of the World But afterwards ver 20. He proceeds to pray for all that should believe on him through their word And at his death he prayed for his very Crucifiers And that he could not refuse to pray for the World is apparent from ver 21. where he prayeth that Believers might be one in him and his Father for this reason That the World may believe that He had sent him or might be converted to the Faith of the Gospel These two Objections as weak as they are are the chief ones that are taken out of Scripture against the most Ancient and Catholick Doctrine we have been asserting But I must needs say I have often wondred at their Boldness who have used their utmost endeavours to run down a Doctrine that not only for so many Ages together hath stood unshaken but is also so Abundantly and in the Clearest manner imaginable asserted by Truth it self and those who were Guided into all truth And how they are able not to perceive how grosly they wrest the Holy Scriptures so that if they should use the same Artifice in interpreting all other Texts they would make the Bible to look like a thing that is contrived for the service of every Humour and every Phancy and for both the proving and disproving every thing Certainly if we should take the same liberty in understanding our own and other mens sayings that they take in Expounding the forementioned and the like sayings of our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles Speech would signifie nothing nay be of very pernicious consequence and serve only to abuse and put tricks upon one another If so many plain Texts as can be to all Appearance should require so much labour and pains to be rightly understood 't will be impossible to defend the Holy Scriptures from that Obscurity which the Papists most injuriously charge them with and to preserve the Bible from that Contempt which the higher to advance the Authority of Holy Church it suffers from their prophane Tongues and Pens and wicked Practices But this Doctrine of Vniversal Redemption being so strongly fortified could never have been assaulted were it reconcileable with that of Absolute Reprobation either in the Supra or Sublapsarian way as it is impossible it should be which the too great Admirers of the otherwise very judicious and pious Calvin are so exceedingly tenacious and fond of But 't is much to be wondred at what these men should see in this Doctrine which is so severe in it self and horrid in its necessary Consequences that they should be contented to buy it at so dear a Rate as the Parting with that other most Comfortable Doctrine Especially since this hath no Antiquity to commend it and is not so much as seemingly befriended but by a very few Texts of Scripture and those very fairly capable of quite another sence than at first sight may seem to belong to them but is contradicted by innumerable plain Texts and the concurrent strain both of the New and Old Testament But I must not forget that this Chapter is a Digression from our Main Business And I have thus long insisted upon this Argument that the great Motives contained in the Death of Christ to exchange the Slavery of Sin for his Free service might have their full weight and cogency which would be in danger not only of being weakned but even quite lost by limiting the Design of Christ's Death to some particular persons where the Consequences of such a Limitation are apprehended And I appeal to every Considerative Person whether it be not a mighty Motive and Encouragement to the engaging all the powers of our Souls in this great work of using the Means prescribed for the subduing our Lusts to be assured that every individual person of us is one of those for whom Christ gave himself to redeem them from all iniquity CHAP. IX Wherein are contained Five more Evangelical Motives which are of wonderful Power to excite us to diligence in using the Means of our Deliverance from the Dominion of Sin viz. Our Saviours excellent Example The assurance he hath given us that he will not take such advantage of our Frailties and Weaknesses as to cast us off for them Our Saviours Mediation and Intercession The Glorious Reward he hath purchased for and promised to those who by the Assistance of his Grace overcome their Lusts. And the most dismal Threatnings he hath pronounced against those who receive that Grace in vain and will not be delivered from the Dominion of Sin HAving presented you with the First powerful Motive to diligence in using the Means of our Deliverance from the Dominion of Sin namely The unconceivable Love of God in sending his only Begotten Son upon this Errand of Delivering us and of Christ in so readily taking our Nature upon him and dying a cursed Death for that End And having also fully Demonstrated that no man in the World is excluded from the Benefit designed by the Death of Christ in order to our giving that Motive its full force and strength I proceed to shew that Secondly Another singular Motive is our Saviour's Example As we are by his Example Directed in the several parts of our Duty as hath been shewed And as the frequent Eyeing thereof is a Means as hath been intimated whereby we may be more and more transformed into his Likeness so is it to be considered as a Wonderfully Exciting Motive to comply with those Rules of Righteousness and Goodness which we have naturally the greatest Aversation of Will towards As particularly those which oblige us to the Meek bearing of Indignities the Forgiving the greatest and most Provoking Injuries the Loving our Enemies whereby we shall be set free from the Cruel Tyrants of Revenge and Malice Those also that oblige us to Humility Patience and intire Resignation to the Will of God under the severest Dispensations of his Providence and Contentation with a mean Fortune and low Circumstances in the World which will free us from the inslaving Passions of Pride Anger immoderate Grief Covetousness c. When we consider with what Admirable Evenness of Mind this Great Prince of the Kings of the Earth indured the Contradiction of Sinners against himself How when he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him who judgeth righteously When we consider with what strange Sedateness of Spirit he bore the Mockings Buffettings and most Contumelious and insolent Behaviour of vile Creatures towards himself It is then hardly Possible that We despicable Worms should Rage and be inflamed upon the
of their Sentiments about this matter viz. that of S. Paul 1 Cor. 7. 23. Ye are bought with a price be not ye the Servants of Men. That is say the former party Ye are Redeemed by the precious Bloud of Christ from the Obligation of all merely Humane Laws From all such Observances as are only of Mens imposing which neither Natural Light nor any Divine Law hath made Necessary but have left us Free to And the latter Party say The meaning is Ye are Redeemed by Christ's Bloud from all merely Humane Impositions which respect Religion and Divine Worship as being aware that the other Exposition is too too extravagant But these two Parties are equally Out in their Application of this Text to their several purposes nor will it do the least service to either of them And they may as well conclude from that of our Saviour Matth. 23. 9. Call no man your Father upon Earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven that it is forbidden them to acknowledge any such Relation upon Earth as that of Father as raise either of those Doctrines from those words of S. Paul And as it is manifest that by this Prohibition of our Saviour no more is to be understood than that we ought not to give up our selves Universally and Absolutely to be Guided and Governed by any Man on Earth as the Pharisees of whom He is there discoursing and against the imitation of whose proud practices he there cautions his Disciples did expect their Proselytes should be by them as young Children who are wholly ruled by the Will of their Parents I say as by considering the Context it is most evident that our Saviour there only speaks against an Vnlimited subjection to Men as being that which is due to God only so it is exceedingly Unreasonable to make that Prohibition of the Apostle to speak any more than thus much Put not your selves so under the power of any Man or Men whatsoever as to be in all things without exception at their Devotion As to subject your selves to their Lusts in doing those things at their Command which God hath forbidden And thus to do 't is acknowledged most freely is with a Witness opposite to our Christian Liberty according to that Notion of it which in this Discourse hath been laid down and defended by us But it is I think a plain case that this Place hath been not only by these men but generally mistaken and that Doctor Hammond is in the right in reading the words otherwise than they are translated viz. thus Are ye bought with a price be not ye the Servants of Men. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may as well be rendred Are ye as Ye are bought with a price So that the meaning of these words according to this Reading is this Have you bought out your Liberty and obtained Manumission having been formerly Servants to Heathens sell not your selves again Return not to that condition of Servitude but prefer Liberty The immediately foregoing Verses do greatly favour this Reading viz. Ver. 21 22. Art thou called being a Servant care not for it think it not a disparagement to Christianity for a Bondman to be a Christian but if thou mayest be made Free use it rather Prefer Freedom if thou canst lawfully obtain it For he that is called in the Lord being a Servant is the Lord's Free-man Likewise also he that is called being Free is Christ's Servant So that the 23. Ver. follows these two very fitly and pertinently as we now read it Are ye bought with a price that is out of your Servile condition and it was ordinary in those days for Christians to buy themselves from their Heathen Masters be not ye or be not ye made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Servants of Men. Or return not any more to your former condition Now First For that Doctrine which makes it a part of Christian Liberty to be freed from all Laws that are merely Humane which the minds of some Professors of Christianity were leavened with as I might shew even in the Apostles time and all theirs must needs have been who then held themselves disobliged from the Moral Law I say as for that Doctine the Wildness thereof will be sufficiently exposed by that time we have considered these following Particulars First There is no intimation in Scripture of any such Liberty as this I cannot think of any Text that so much seemeth to look that way as this we have now spoken to And this read it how you will cannot to any sober man at his second thought upon it seem so to do But Secondly Nothing is more slatly contradicted by the Holy Scriptures than this Doctrine For Servants are not only commanded to be Obedient to them that are their Masters according to the Flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of heart as unto Christ without any such limitation as this If they command nothing but what God hath required But they are expresly commanded in all things to obey their Masters according to the Flesh Col. 3. 22. That is all things not Evil in themselves or not forbidden by any Law of God The All things must be so limited because else S. Paul would have contradicted two other Apostles S. Peter and S. Iohn who said to their Rulers upon their Commanding them not to teach any more in the Name of Iesus Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye Acts 4. 19. This limitation needed not to be expressed because nothing is better known from Scripture nor from Natural Light neither than that no Laws of the greatest Kings on Earth are of any force that are contrary to any Law of the King of Kings According to that saying of Tertullian if I mistake not Obediendum est Principibus sed intra limites disciplinae Princes are to be obeyed but no farther than our Religion will give us leave I see not how he can be better than a down-right Atheist let him pretend what he will whosoever patronizeth the Leviathan Doctrine that Absolute Subjection Active no less than Passive is due to Governours But to return to our present Business S. Peter is still more express 1 Epist. 2. 18. saith he there to Servants Be subject to your Masters with all fear not only to the Good and Gentle but also to the Froward Or though they require Unreasonable things of you if they be not forbidden by a Higher Power do you obey them But I presume the greatest Zealots for this wild Notion who have Servants are well content that they should have no plea from their Christianity to disobey themselves in any of their Commands but are onely concerned to have their Notion of Christian Liberty true in reference to the Laws of the Magistrate As if a Master of a Family hath more Power over his Servants than a King hath over his Subjects Let us see therefore what Doctrine
may be easily mistaken when we undertake to determine of the Fitness of them Thus having with submission to my Superiors offered my Opinion about this weighty Argument in the foregoing Propositions I hope I shan't be censured as immodest if I also add that I do not see but Governours might avoid the two Extremes in reference to Liberty of Conscience as it is called by having a constant regard to such like Rules And that the Governed on the other hand by doing the like might understand without much difficulty within what bounds they ought to confine themselves in Craving of their Governours or Expecting from them this kind of Liberty But I think it seasonable to suggest this one thing more to these that they would so behave themselves that those who have Power to grant it as far as is sitting might not be tempted to think it a thing onely adapted to the serving of Interest and by that means be the more inclined to a total Refusing of any such Liberty I mean that there be no Occasion given to what is so Commonly not without ground said viz. When 't is mens Temporal Interest to plead for Liberty of Conscience then they are Zealous for it but the Tables are no sooner turned but who like them against it Were we as honest as we should be we should be more fixed and constant and not so vary in our Principles as our Circumstances vary We should not in one Circumstance build what before we destroyed and in another destroy what we before built And so declare amidst all our Stir and Noise about Liberty of Conscience that we have either none at all or but very little Conscience But in the Conclusion of all I must not forget that which hath occasioned all this Discourse about Liberty of Conscience viz. that whatever that Liberty of this kind is which we have a Right to it is not a Branch of Christian but of mere Natural Liberty There is no Text of Scripture that mentioneth this as a Liberty of our Saviour's Purchasing and therefore no Christian may claim it as a Christian. 'T is due to men of all Religions who may be supposed to make Conscience of what they do and not only to the Professors of the Christian Religion And 't was always and in all places as much mens Right as it hath been since our Saviour's Appearance in the World and is in those Parts of it where his Gospel is received CHAP. XVI The Third Inference from our Notion of Christian Liberty viz. That Popery is the greatest Enemy in the World thereunto Where it is shewed First That the Church of Rome Robs those who are subject to her of that Natural Liberty which necessarily belongs to them as they are Men viz. That which consists in the free use of their Vnderstandings in matters of Religion That She will not permit men to Examine either her Doctrines or Practices by the Holy Scriptures nor yet to receive the Holy Scriptures themselves otherwise than upon her Authority The Wickedness of this exposed in two Particulars The alledging of Scripture for it shewed to be the grossest Absurdity Their great Text 1 Tim. 3. 15. spoken to Her Tyranny over mens Minds further shewed HAving now spoken to all the False Notions of Christian Liberty that I know of and discovered the intolerable Mischievousness of them as well as Falsity I proceed to another Inference from our Notion thereof namely Thirdly That Popery is a Religion if I honour it not too much in calling it so that is the greatest Enemy in the whole World to Christian Liberty Should all the wicked Wits in the World meet together to Consult and Complot how to Banish out of it this Liberty they could not devise more effectual means for the doing of it than those which are pitch'd upon by the Church of Rome And here we will shew First That She Robs those who Subject themselves to her of that Natural Liberty which necessarily belongs to them as they are Men or Reasonable Creatures And much more Secondly That She Robs them of that Liberty which it was the Design of our Saviour's Coming into the World and of all he did and suffered here to instate us in First That She Robs those who Subject themselves to her of that Natural Liberty which necessarily belongs to them as Men or Reasonable Creatures There is no Liberty so Essential to Humane Nature or so much its Inviolable Right as that which consists in the free use of our Understandings But a Papist is miserably tied up and inslaved here and that in those matters wherein it is of Infinitely the greatest Importance and Concernment to him that his Mind should be free namely in matters of Religion which have such a necessary influence into the Welfare of our Souls and our Eternal Happiness But notwithstanding that Injunction of S. Paul 1 Thes. 5. 21. Prove all things hold fast that which is good And that of S. Iohn 1 Epist. 4. 1. Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they be of God c. This Church denieth to her Children all judgment of Discretion in Points of Religion at least except in this one Point the choice of the Church for their Guide which having Chosen they must follow her blind-fold all their lives after They must be Implicit Believers and Implicit Chusers She will 〈◊〉 and believe for them All their â—â—dgment and Faith must be resolved into hâ—rs as being if you will believe her 〈◊〉 and Uncapable of being either deceivâ—◠〈◊〉 self or of deceiving others And therefore to take our Saviour's 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 thâ— Scriptures except for the forementioned one thing nay for that too as we shall see anon is to put an Affront upon Her Authority and the Bereans who were so highly commended for so doing were guilty of great Sauciness and high Presumption And She takes the most successful course that can be thought of that you shall not Search the Scriptures by locking them up as She does and making the Bible so scarce a Book to be light upon where she hath Power enough to do it and in those places where her Power is Clipt by using a many wicked Artifices to keep the Vulgar from looking into it who are so miserably imposed upon by their wretched Priests as to think it a lighter sin to be Drunk or to commit Fornication and transgress many an express Law of God than to cast their Eyes upon the Holy Scriptures So well aware is this Church that a great part of her Religion is neither to be found there nor agreeable with them but as expresly as it can be done by words contradicted by them And as you may not Examine any of her Doctrines or Practices by comparing them with the Rule of Faith and Practice the Scriptures so neither which is but a necessary consequence from thence may you have any other Foundation for your Belief of the Books of Scripture themselves
Text in the New Testament Matth. 15. 9. But in vain do they Worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men It is manifest that that which is condemned in the Pharisees here is the setting up of their own Constitutions in stead or in the place of God's and those too contrary to God's Commandments This is evident from the Context Our Saviour saith Vers. 3. Why do you transgress the Commandments of God by your Traditions That is saith Irenaeus upon these words They did not onely frustrate the Law of God by prevarication mixing Wine with Water but they also set their Law in opposition or contradiction to the Law of God c. And that so they did appears by what follows Vers. 4 5 6. For God commanded saying Honour thy Father and Mother c. But ye say Whosoever shall say to his Father or his Mother it is gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me And Honour not his Father or Mother he shall be free Thus have ye made the Commandment of God of none effect by your Tradition And then next follows a Citation out of Esay 29. 13. according to the Septuagint whereof these words are part viz. Ye Hypocrites well did Esaias prophesie of you saying This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips But their heart is far from me But in vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men We will also consider these words as they are recited by S. Mark Chap. 7. 7. with the Verse following Howbeit in vain do they Worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men For laying aside the Commandment of God ye hold the Tradition of men as the washing of Pots and Cups c. That is according to Doctor Hammond 's Paraphrase upon the place You are those Hypocrites that profess great strictness in performances towards God and practise in some external things more than God commands you and impose these on others as the commands of God when they are only Humane Ordinances As for the inward purity of the heart and actions to which all God's Laws of washings did refer you take no care of them transgress against this substantial part of Religion in the foulest manner and spend all your time in these External superfluities â—â—shing of Pots c. The Ordinances of your Rabbins onely But what are the Hypocritical and wicked doings here condemned to Governours determining of External Circumstances of Administration in the Worship of God which are not onely innocent in themselves but also not set up in the place of or justling out any thing commanded by God nor yet imposed as the commands of God But who can have the Forehead to fasten such high Presumptions as these upon our Church But I proceed Thirdly As this Notion of Christian Liberty is an infringment of the Liberty which is left to Governours so is it also greatly injurious to the Peoples Liberty For it is a very highly to be prized instance of the Peoples Liberty that they may without giving God an offence conform to such Laws as oblige them onely to indifferent things And it will be an intolerable straitning and confining of our Liberty it will be a very grievous Bondage to us to be always obnoxious to the Penalties which are the Sanctions of such Laws and to other manifold inconveniences that follow upon disobeying them Christian Liberty according to this Notion is so far from being worthy of our Saviour's purchasing that 't is infinitely more desirable to be without it in regard of the extremely mischievous consequences which follow upon quarrelling with Authority about harmless matters which have not the least ill influence upon our Souls whereby not onely those who refuse Obedience are exposed in their own Persons and Families to great Evils both Temporal and Spiritual but also the whole Community the Church and State too by their means This we all know at this day by very sad experience This I say is such a Liberty as is the occasion of lamentable Mischiefs both publick and private but I am wholly to seek what Good can possibly accrue thereby and therefore we may safely warrant it to be no Liberty of our Blessed Saviour's procurement but the contrary If we were well instructed in the Nature of the Gospel Dispensation we should be very certain that whatsoever doth no way tend to the Depraving of our Souls and the bringing us into Bondage to Sin Which we have proved to be the onely Opposite to our Grand Christian Liberty cannot be unlawful to us Christians because not prejudicial to the Ultimate Design of the Gospel which is the making us Free from the Dominion of Sin To which Design we have shewed all the Precepts of our Saviour the Promises and Threatnings and I may add Doctrines too are subservient And on the contrary we may be as sure that whatsoever is apt to hinder the promoting of this Design must needs be Unlawful lawful under the Gospel As all that are not blind or do not shut their Eyes may easily see this same pretended Christian Liberty most sadly doth And there is nothing more apparent than that Obedience to Authority in all things not forbidden by the Divine Laws doth mightily conduce to the promoting of Peace Love Humility Self-denial and the like great Christian Virtues But Disobedience in such matters doth as much occasion the gratifying of those Devilish Lusts Pride Uncharitableness Contention Wrath Sedition c. Fourthly Those that pretend it to be such a Violation of Christian Liberty to be obliged by Mens Laws to things indifferent if they will be true to themselves and their own Principles must not onely refuse Obedience to the Injunctions of such things but to the Prohibitions also of such things As they must not do such as are commanded to be done so they must do such as are commanded to be forborn For it is as great an Infringment of our Liberty to have indifferent things Forbidden us as to have them Imposed upon us 'T is a no less intrenchment upon it to be tied up from what we may antecedently to the Magistrates Authority do as to be commanded what we may omit So that if the things which the Dissenters now Refuse to do because Commanded should hereafter be Forbidden by Authority they would be obliged in order to the Maintenance of their Christian Liberty to be every whit as zealous for them as now they are against them Nor were they so honest as they should have been but false to this their Principle and shamefully betrayed their Liberty in so patiently Submitting when time was to the severe Prohibition of the same things though it was by an Usurped Power too What a strange Liberty is this which in its natural consequences tends to make people so Humoursom Cross-grain'd and Opposite to Government Surely it can't be Christian but the most Vnchristian Liberty If this Free Dealing should
offend any I shall be sorry for it but must withal take leave to tell the offended that it is an Evidence of exceeding great Weakness not to say worse to be Angry with those who endeavour in the Spirit of Meekness to convince us of our Dangerous Mistakes But such is the Fate of Conscientious opposing Popular and Prevailing Errors that it seldom meeteth with better success than kindling the Passions and sharpening the Tongues and Pens too of those who are most obliged to be thankful for it But Wisdom is justified of her Children But however it be taken it was never more seasonable nor ever scarcely so Necessary to do our utmost towards the rectifying of Peoples Apprehensions about matters of this nature when our Contentions and Animosities about little things mostly things very little in themselves and so great a Defection from our Church merely upon the account of such things as are no where condemned by the Law of God nor are opposed by any express or plain Text but by exceedingly laboured and far fetch'd Consequences have given our Adversaries such Advantage against us and do them far greater service than all their open Attempts or secret wicked Plots and Conspiracies through the infinite Goodness of God to us have hitherto done God Almighty grant that that saying be not to be applied to us ere long which was used of our Predecessors the Britains when their intestine Quarrels had occasioned their being Vanquish'd by the Romans viz. Dum singuli pugnant Vniversi vincuntur While they severally contend and quarrel with one another they are all overcome by a Common Enemy I must confess when I consider what Excellent Treatises have of late been published fraught with Unanswerable and the most convincing and affecting Arguments to perswade our Brethren of the Separation to ease us in a great measure of our Fears of Popery or Confusion by Returning to the Communion of that Church wherein most of them were Baptized and when withal I observe what little Success those Treatises have had I have as faint hopes as can be that so small an endeavour as this should do any Service But however it is some satisfaction to my Mind to express my Good Will But we are told by some that we may thank the Church of England if ever the Pope be again our Master and particularly that Principle of Hers we have been now defending viz. that Imposing of Indifferent things in the Worship of God is no Violation of Christian Liberty And that this Principle will open a door to Popish Conformity if we should be once more so unhappy as to be brought into Subjection to the Roman Yoke To these I Reply in the First place That 't is unconceiveable how any thing but Malice or the thickest Ignorance can charge the Church of England with serving the Interest of the Popish Religion For is any thing more Notorious than that almost all the opposition that hath either heretofore or of late been made against Popery hath been by the Bishops and the other Clergy of this Church To say nothing of what the Separating Party have done though not upon that Design to promote Popery which would be as large as unpleasant a Theme to insist on what have they done in defence of the Reformed Religion against Popery Have they all of them put together done the half quarter part of that Service in this kind that One Excellent Dean of our Church hath done Truly I much doubt it And I think I may adventure to say that all the Reformed Churches together can hardly shew of their own so many Learned and Judicious Treatises against the Body and the several Parts of Popery as our single Church can shew of Hers. Again Is any thing better known than that the Priests and Jesuits and Popish Faction do at this time spit all their Venome and bend all their Force against the Church of England and indeed always have done This sheweth that they are well aware though so many among our selves will not acknowledge it but would have the World think the directly contrary that our Church is the most Formidable of all their Adversaries In short Who needs Arguments to convince him that the Church of England is at present our onely Bulwark against Popery As ever since the Reformation she hath been acknowledged by our Brethren beyond Sea to be the strongest and most impregnable upon several accounts But Secondly as to this Principle of our Church that Imposing of Indifferent things in the Worship of God is no Violation of Christian Liberty it is a most weak and ignorant furmise that it should in the least befriend Popery Those little understand what Popery means that think thus For First There is nothing more plainly demonstrable than that many of those things which are imposed by the Roman Church are far from being Indifferent in their own nature but the grossest Corruptions as contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of the first Ages of the Church and which is far more as contrary to the Laws of God and our Saviour Christ as is Darkness to Light I have given a Catalogue in the Design of Christianity of the chief of these with Remarks upon them and thither I refer the Reader that needs satisfaction Secondly Other of Her Impositions which are Indifferent in themselves are made to change their Nature by the Notion under which they are enjoyned by her That Church enjoyns no Indifferent things as such as ours doth all she imposeth as appears by her 34 th Article but as made necessary by Divine Authority She pretending to the Infallible Guidance of the Holy Ghost in all Her Decrees and Constitutions And therefore expects your Receiving them as you do the Holy Scriptures with a Divine Faith and the self-same awful Regard and Reverence I might add too that several of her Rites and Ceremonies are imposed under a most Superstitious notion either as Sacraments conveying Grace or as having some special Virtue in them to atone the Divine Majesty or to scare away the Devil c. Thirdly It is my opinion too that though their Ceremonies were never so innocent in themselves yet the Multitude of them doth make them in the lump to cease to be Indifferent My reason is because it is unconceiveable to me but that so great a Number must needs so employ the Mind in the Worship of God as that it is not possible to be intent thereupon and consequently must frustrate at least in a great measure the Design of Worship But this is no Reason to a Papist who cannot be thoroughly so and acknowledge the necessity of exercising the Mind in Divine Worship For his Holy Mother hath taught him this mad and impious Doctrine That the Sacraments confer Grace ex opere operato from the work Done and so are differenced from those of the Old Testament they conferring Grace ex opere operantis from the work of the Doer as also that a mere general
Attention in saying their Prayers and numbering them over is as much as is necessary And if we can believe that we need not mind our Prayers we have no reason to blame those of them who do not desire to understand them Nor yet their Church for enjoyning the saying them in a Language which the Generality of Her Children are ignorant of as if She designed in so doing to put an Affront upon S. Paul who hath taught us in the most express terms the quite contrary Doctrine in the 14 Chapter of the First to the Corinthians To conclude this Chapter Our Notion of Christian Liberty is so very far from befriending Popery that 't is not possible it should have a greater Enemy in that it so highly conduceth to the advancing of the true Spirit and Power of Religion and to the perfect ridding our Minds of those two as Great Friends to Popery as Pests to Religion and even Humane Society viz. Superstition and fanaticism I mean by these two a Base Unworthy Apprehension of the Deity and a Blind Irrational Heady Zeal If it be said after all that supposing the two Notions of Christian Liberty which we have now declared our Sense 〈◊〉 be never so false yet we are notwithstanding too confined in Our Notion in â—hat Christian Liberty doth not onely â—onsist in Freedom from the Dominion of 〈◊〉 and the other sad Consequents of it â—ut also in our Freedom as to all things â—fan Indifferent nature to or from which â—e are not determined as by any Divine 〈◊〉 neither by any Humane Law If this â—say be objected our Answer in one â—ord is this This is not Christian but â—his is Natural Liberty That of S. Paul â—ving been in All Ages and in refeâ—ence to all sorts of People as Great a Truth as it hath been since our Saviours â—ime and in reference to Christians viz. Where no Law is there is no Transgression CHAP. XIV An Answer to this Question Whether the Prescribing of Forms of Prayer for the Publick Worship of God be not an Encroachment upon Christian Liberty Wherein it is shewed that this is not a Stifling of the Spirit or Restraining the exercise of his Gift And what in Prayer is not as also what is the Gift of the Spirit Whereby is occasioned an Answer to another Question viz. Whether an Ability for Preaching be properly a Gift of the Spirit WHat hath been last discoursed gives me occasion to Enquire Whether the Imposing of a Liturgy or Forms of Prayer for the Publick Worship of God be not an Encroachment upon Christian Liberty I answer it is if that Principle taken up by very many among us be a true one viz. That this is a Stifling of the Spirit and a Restraining of the Exercise of one of his Gifts If this be so I say it can be no better than a very great invasion of Christian Liberty and a far greater than the mere obliging men to things Indifferent For as S. Paul saith 1 Cor. 12. 7. The Maniâ—estation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal and therefore for Christians to be limited in doing good by a Gift of the Spirit must needs be a robbing them of that Liberty which Christ in sending Him design'd to give them By the way it shall be no part of my Reply to say that onely the Ministers are here concerned not at all the People For although a Conceived Prayer of the Minister be of the nature of a prescribed Form to those that joyn with him as to the confining their Spirits yet the People must needs be sufferers by means of their Ministers being stinted in the exercise of a Gift of the Spirit since it was designed for their profit and therefore upon this account and moreover in regard of the Countenance they will thereby give to Authority in such a kind of Sacrilegious Usurpation of power over Ministers it cannot be justifiable in them to Attend willingly upon such Forms But in order to the undeceiving of those who are so tenacious of this conceit that a prescribed Liturgy is a hinderance to the Free Exercise of a Gift of the Spirit I must freely profess that I know of no Gifts of the Spirit which we have warrant from Scripture to believe are continued to the Church at this day besides those which S. Paul calls the Fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. Where he saith The fruit of the Spirit is Love Ioy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance These and the like Christian Graces are Gifts which the Spirit still bestows and therefore called Graces They are supernatural Gifts as no man by his mere Natural power can obtain them but only by the Spirit 's blessing of our Endeavours and to the sincere use of the Gospel-means the Spirit is always ready to give his blessing And the reason why in these latter Ages these blessed Gifts are bestowed upon no more Professors of Christianity than they are is because the generality of such are miserably wanting to themselves and to the Holy Spirit in refusing to do their part and to cooperate with Him Because they will not attend to the evidence the Spirit hath given to the Truth of the Gospel and therefore have too weak and ineffectual a belief thereof Because they will not consider the Doctrine of the Gospel they will not weigh well and lay to heart its Precepts with the infinitely powerful motives wherewith they are inforced Because they will not listen to the Spirits good motions and suggestions whereby he works in men to Will and begets in them good Resolutions but do truly â—â—ench the Spirit though that phrase is â—sed in reference to his miraculous Gifts and resist the Holy Ghost and because they will not make a believing Application to Him for his powerful Assistance I say it is upon these and such like accounts that the forementioned Gifts of the Spirit are so rare and that the generality of those who are honoured with the Title of Christians are so destitute of them as we see they are Nay multitudes are so befooled by the enemy of their Souls as to expect that the Spirit should do all in them without their doing any thing that He should make them Temperate Righteous Charitable Meek Humble and Submissive to God's Will Heavenly-minded and the like without their due attendance upon those Ordinances of the Word Sacrament and Prayer and serious Consideration and Watchfulness over themselves wherein alone we have ground to expect the powerful working of the Divine Grace in our Souls But I say though these Gifts are observable in so very few comparatively the account whereof I have briefly touched upon and shewed that 't is mens own fault that they are not very common yet we have no warrant from Scripture that I know of to call those which are much more common though they are by many so reputed Gifts of the Spirit notwithstanding the Prophecies and Promises of so