degree of society either civil or domestick or religious they be placed And though this part being once well comprehended hath in it a great and almost sufficient light to direct and govern all the rest yet they forbear not upon it to descend unto the particular duties of each of those estates and conditions which the faithful live in in humane society Thus the Apostle S. Paul hath done in this Epistle for after having formed us all in general unto piety and sanctity and charity which belong to all Christians equally as you have heard in the precedent exercises he now addresseth himself in particular to each of those three orders of which an houshold is composed the first whereof is the Husband and the Wife the second the Father and the Children the third Master and Servants giving each of them a good lesson for their conduct in the condition to which GOD hath called them Elsewhere he regulateth the duties of Subjects in reference to the civil Powers under which they live of the faithful in reference to their Pastors and reciprocally of Pastors in reference to their flocks not omitting Deacons the other part of Ecclesiastick Ministry and this not in one place alone but many In consideration hereof before we proceed any further permit me I beseech you to make here at the entrance one general reflection upon this the Holy Apostles way of treating thus Whence comes it that having been so careful to instruct and to direct in particular each of those different ranks of persons which then were and still are in the Church they never drop'd one word of the duties of three kinds of conditions in which now a dayes Rome makes the main and in a manner the all of the Christian Commonweal to consist I mean the Pope Sacrificers or Priests and Monks The Apostles do instruct the lowest Masters how they ought to treat their attendants and the simplest Presbyters or Bishops that is Pastors how they ought to feed their flocks They never tell the Pope in what manner he ought to deport himself in that great government of all Christendom which as is said hath been given him of GOD. The Apostles do advertise the most abject slaves of the servitude they owe their Masters and every flock of the diference and respect it owes its Pastors They never speak a word either to single believers or their guides of that infinite subjection which they are obliged to profess unto the Pope or of kiâ—â—ing his feet or of submitting the conscience or any other such like thing The Apostles do exactly inform Bishops or Pastors of the duties of their charge of preaching exhorting instructing of watching of correcting of censuring of excluding the scandalous from communion They never order any Sacrificers to offer a propitiatory hoast unto GOD for the sins of quick and dead nor tell them of the preparations ceremonies and observances necessary thereto nor of purifying by means of an auricular confession the consciences of such as are to participate of such a sacrifice nor of the precautions and subtilties that are necessary for the right administration of it In fine the Apostles verity vouchsafe to take the pains to enter into Families and there regulate the demeanour of Husbands and Wives of Virgins and Widows of Fathers and Children of Masters and Servants Why say they nothing unto Monks neither to the solitary as Hermits and Anachorets nor to those that live associated in separated dwellings Why do they not somewhere instruct the Guardians the Abbots the Superiours and Generals of these orders Why do they not exhort their inferiors to yield them a blind obedience Why say they nothing of their three vows and of the means of well observing them And why give they no instructions to Religious women who imitating the zeal of men shut themselves up in Convents But what say I that they no where regulate the carriage and particular duties of these three sorts of conditions More than so they make no mention of them at all neither expresly nor implicitly And if you read the Books of the New Testament you will find that there is no more speech in them of the Pope and the Sacrificers and the Monks of Rome than of the Bramines of India or the Bonzians of Japan or the Muphti of the Musulmen Whence comes so strange a silence so universal an obliviousness Is it that the thing was not worthy of the Apostles care and quill But how can that be imagin'd since if you believe those of Rome it 's upon these three orders that Christianity depends For as to the Pope he is the head of the Church and exerciseth so necessary an imperial power that out of his communion there is no salvation And as for Priests or Sacrificers it 's they alone that purifie the souls of men both by the absolution they give those whom they confess and by that Deity which they deliver unto such as they communicate Lastly as for Monks their order is the state of perfection They are the Angels of the earth the glory and the rampart of the Church the sole patterns of Evangelick piety and sanctity wherefore they call their fraternities Religions and disdaining their old name of Monks each sex of them stiles themselves Religious as if the piety of other Christians did not deserve to be called Religion in comparison of theirs Whence comes it then that the Apostles have so forgotten these three sorts of people which are as highly or more necessary in the Church than the four elements in the world Dear Brethren you plainly see the reason and if passion did not blind our adversaries they might see it too as well as we The Apostles have said nothing to these three sorts of people because there were none such among Christians in their time Had there been then a Pope and Sacrificers in the Church the Apostles without doubt would have told them their duty as well as Bishops and Elders that is Pastors And if there had been Monks and Religiouses they would undoubtedly have spoken unto them as well as unto men and women that live in wedlock Since they did it not be we certainly assured that neither of these three plants was sown or set by JESUS CHRIST or His Apostles but they have all sprung up since their dayes partly from the imprudence partly from the superstition and corruptness of men who also affording them cultivation have raised them by little and little to that prodigious greatness which now for divers ages they have had And this be spoken at the entrance upon occasion of the care the Apostles in general had to form and regulate the duties of the divers conditions of persons which are found in the Church As for S. Paul's particular in this place he speaks here first unto Husbands and Wives next unto Fathers and Children and last of all unto Masters and Servants following therein the natural order of the things themselves For if you consider the
makes him disgust it immediately and betake himself to seek out novelties for the seasoning and rendring of it more grateful The Apostles had scarce sown this sacred doctrine in the Church as in the Camp of Israel but evil workers presently rose up who to remedy men's disdain and accommodate this Celestial verity to their palate would needs add to it divers inventions and novelties of their own forgging And S. Paul foretold that more such would arise as bad or worse than the first 2 Tim. 4.3 4. Having saith he itching ears they shall assemble to themselves Teachers according to their own desires and shall turn away their ears from the truth and turn unto fables O prophecy too true How punctually hast thou been fulfilled This foolish itch of the ear hath caused a thousand and a thousand fantasies and novelties to be by little and little entertained among Christians which have so born down and as it were overwhelm'd the Gospel that it is hardly to be discerned any longer as you may see in the Doctrine of Rome which is but an heap of Traditions Errors and Superstitions partly copied out from Judaism and some from Paganism it self partly issuing from the private speculations of some particular persons In our Fathers days the Gospel having been brought out of the dark caverns of ignorance into the light of men it was receiv'd in like manner with ardor and admiration But that disgusting of the best and most wholesom things which is fatal to us overtook it quickly and did stir up as also it full doth divers spirits who for remedy do strive to sophisticate this pure Doctrine and dress up its simplicity with their own inventions to make it please the world To cure us of this fastidiousness the Apostle at this time addresseth to us the exhortation you have heard the same which he sometime made to the Colessians for the same end forbidding them novelties and strange doctrines and enjoining them to stand fast in JESUS CHRIST who had been preached to them without admitting or desiring any thing beyond His Gospel Therefore saith he as you have received the LORD JESVS CHRIST so walk in Him c. Upon these words for the giving you a full and entire exposition of them we have two things to consider First The Apostle's enjoining the Colossians to keep and fasten to the LORD JESUS this is the sense and intention of the first verse Secondly The manner how he would have them fasten to the LORD namely by the confirmation and abounding of their faith in his Gospel with thanksgiving These two particulars we purpose to treat of in this Exercise by the assistance of CHRIST for your edification and consolation And for the first You may remember that in the precedent Text the Apostle praised the faithful people of Coloss and rejoyced at the good order he saw in their Church and at the firmness of their faith in JESUS CHRIST But because it is not sufficient to begin well except we do continue in as much as salvation is promised only to those that shall persevere unto the end with good reason and very pertinently doth he now add to the praise he gave them an exhortation to continue and to abide firm in that good and happy state wherein they were and this so much the rather for that there were about them certain busie and unquiet spirits who with their inventions and subtilties endeavoured to vitiate the sincerity of their belief as you have already heard and shall again more particularly hear in the sequel of this Chapter Therefore saith he to them as you have received the LORD JESVS CHRIST so walk in Him JESUS CHRIST is the Subject in which he would have them to abide For He is the way the truth and the life neither is there salvation in any other But because these false Teachers for the better putting off their vain traditions were wont to colour them with our Saviour's Name knowing well that every faithful person would soon hiss at them if they spake openly of our quitting JESUS CHRIST or our distancing our selves from him The Apostle anticipates this danger and expresly shews the Colossians how he intends they should abide firm in JESUS CHRIST saying As you have received the LORD JESVS so walk in Him And to this also that which he adds in the following Verse hath relation As you you have been taught By this he clearly signifies that the doctrine which had been delivered them either by himself if it be true that he preached the Gospel to them and founded their Church as some think or by Epaphras as most are of opinion He signifies I say that this Doctrine which had been preached to them and believed by them was so holy and divine and sufficient to salvation that it was their duty constantly to adhere thereto and to admit nothing beyond what they had heard under any pretext whatsoever Here is the way Isa 30.21 walk in it whether ye turn to the right hand or to the left as Isaiah sometime said But by these words the Apostle not only marketh out to them and stateth that Doctrine which they ought to hold he obligeth them also thereto by their own interest For since they had receiv'd it they could not again part from it without condemning themselves either of imprudence or of levity For he that quits the Faith he once embraced doth thereby evidently shew either imprudence in having sometime taken a false or imperfect Doctrine for good or levity in quitting and altering now a Doctrine good sufficient when he received it If your belief be good why do you change it If it be otherwise why did you entertain it It follows of necessity either that there was error and precipitation in the one or that there is weakness and sickleness in the other So you see that the interest of their own reputation did oblige these Christians to that constancy which the Apostle enjoins them Besides though it be an hainous sin not to receive the LORD JESUS when He presents Himself to us by His Gospel yet it is much more enormous to cast Him out after reception given Him as it is by far a greater outrage to thrust forth a man from your House when you have admitted him than to have shut your doors against him at the first The one is a simple offence the other is an affront In like manner it is a much more injurious treatment to desert CHRIST JESUS after having follow'd him than never to have given ear to or follow'd him at all And observe here I pray the efficacy of sound doctrine it is such as that in receiving it we receive JESUS CHRIST himself For this Highest LORD comes in to all such as embrace his Gospel And we may apply to this purpose what he said to his Apostles on a like occasion Whoso receiveth them receiveth him whoso gives credit to their preaching shall have their Master to be with him
CHRIST the Prince of Life and with that fulness of grace we have received and the holy Apostles preached Mix nothing forreign with it To add to it is to accuse it of imperfection and insufficiency Instead of losing time in the inventions of Error and in the laborious but childish exercises of Superstition Let us employ all hours in good and holy works walking in JESUS CHRIST rooting and building up our selves more and more in him establishing our selves and abounding in faith and testifying and proving the truth of it by a pure piousness towards GOD and an ardent love towards our Neighbour by the fervency of our Prayers the liberality of our Alms the humility of our Deportments the modesty of our Persons the honesty justness and integrity of all our Words and Actions to the glory of the LORD JESUS whom we serve and own for our Master to the edification of men and our own salvation Amen THE TWENTIETH SERMON COL CHAP. II. VER VIII Ver. VIII Beware lest any man make prey of you through Philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after CHRIST OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST comparing the society of his faithful ones in the tenth Chapter of S. John to a Flock of Sheep doth advertise us that there are Thieves who coast about this mystical Fold and do come only to steal to kill and to destroy as also that there are Wolves which take away and scatter the Sheep You are not ignorant dear Brethren that under the names of these spiritual Thieves and Wolves he doth represent unto us evil Spirits and the false Teachers whom they set on work who both together earnestly promote the same design though by divers means namely the debauching and alienating of the faithful from the Communion of JESUS CHRIST their only Pastor getting them and appropriating them to themselves as the Thief who takes what is another's and makes it his own Whence ensues their death and destruction For as the Wolf kills the Sheep he hath seized so these Ministers of Satan do bereave of life those whom they pull away from the Flock of Christ out of whose communion there is nothing but death and perdition But these wretched workers do employ as I said many different means to compass their cruel and bloody design Some they take away by downright force making them leave the bosome of the Church by the violence of persecutions or drawing them into the world by the pleasures of the flesh and do bring them even to a renouncing of the very Name of JESUS CHRIST the Prince of Life Against others they make use of fraud training them forth and distancing them by little and little from JESUS CHRIST under fair and plausible pretences so as in the end they have nothing of his left them but a name and a vain unprofitable profession remaining indeed under the power and in the possession of his Enemy It 's against these mystical Thieves and Robbers that the Apostle doth awaken the Colossians in the Text we have read exhorting them to take heed of ' em Before he prayed them to establish to build up to root themselves more and more in the Communion of the LORD JESUS acknowledging with humble gratitude the excellency of his gift mâ—de them 〈…〉 ensure this Treasure to them he adviseth them to watch against th◠〈…〉 ambushes of their Enemies who sought to surprise them and pluck by 〈…〉 tifice of their subtilities and fair discourses JESUS CHRIST out of their hearts and render themselves Masters of them and of their life Beware saith he lest any man make prey of you c. For it is the duty of a good Pastor such a one as the Apostle was not only to seed the mystical Sheep which the chief Shepherd hath committed to his care by giving them the pure and wholsom doctrine of the Gospel the only pasture of souls but also to preserve them with all his power from the paws of Wolves and the hands of Robbers advertising them of the danger and dextrously delivering them out of it by the saving-tone of his voice But as your Pastors are obliged to this care so you see dear Brethren that it is your duty to watch for your own safety to open your eyes and senses that ye may discern a stranger from a domestick a thief from the shepherd the hand of a robber from that of a friend Beware saith the Apostle to you He would not have the faithful be silly sheep that let themselves be led away by the first commer and indifferently embrace all that is offer'd them His will is that we have our senses exercised and habituated in discerning between truth and falshood able to prove all things that we may hold fast what is good and not suffer our selves to be surprised either by the dignity of a Robe or the blaze of Wit or some appearances of Deportment seeing that Angels of Satan do sometimes clothe themselves with light The prudence of the Beraeans is praised by the Holy Ghost Acts 17.11 who examined S. Paul's preaching comparing what he had spoken to them with the Scriptures that they might assuredly know the state of the matter The salvation of our souls is too precious for us to trust any other than GOD in it Whence appears how dangerous that security of implicit faith as they call it is which without any scruple receives all that its Teachers deliver and is so far from examining it that it vouchsafes not so much as to understand it believing it true without knowing it provided only that the mouth which publisheth it hath been opened by the Pope's hand If the question were only of a title those of whom the Apostle adviseth the Colossians here to take heed were Teachers and he contesteth not with them about their dignity in any part of this Epistle He deals with them only about their Doctrine Accordingly the case is concerning Doctrine whether we ought to believe it or no and whatever may be the hand that delivereth it to us if it be false it will not fail to destroy us as poyson doth not forbear to kill though he that prescribed it hath taken his degrees with all the formalities requisite S. Paul too elsewhere with one word overthrows all the prepossessions that might be for any Preachers upon any ever so eminent quality of their persons when he proclaims twice together If we our selves Gal. 1.8 or an Angel from heaven do preach another Gospel to you beside what we have preached let him be an Anathema Be you all that you will you cannot be more than S. Paul or an Angel of Heaven Since their Doctrine ought to be examined by the Gospel for its having reception or being accursed as it should be found conform or contrary thereto it will be no wrong done you if yours be put to the same trial But consider I pray with what emphasis the Apostle recommendeth to us
their own but out of the stock of this Divine Word beside which they ought to teach nothing of themselves and if they do they are not to be heard Secondly the express order which the Apostle gives us that the Word of CHRIST should dwell richly in us doth shew that it 's the duty of Pastors sedulously to exhort their Flocks unto the study and reading and meditation of the Divine Scriptures and that it is incumbent on their flocks to addict themselves assiduously thereto Whence it follows in the third place that this Word of CHRIST ought to resound continually every where in the Church and in its publick Assemblies and in private Families and the very Closets of its Members Otherwise how would it dwell plenteously in us Moreover since the Apostle speaks here to all the faithful in general as well people as Ministers this Epistle being directed by him to all the faithful Brethren in CHRIST which are at Colosse its evident further his intention is that not only all Christians do hear this Word in the Church but that they also read it each one in private if they can and that such reading is not only permitted but commanded them as profitable and necessary Again the Apostles requiring it should dwell in them yea dwell richly in them does necessarily infer that it is not enough to know some general points of this Heavenly Doctrine but that men ought to be fully and distinctly instructed in it and in such sort as there may not be any part of this Divine treasure but we are possessed of The same appears further from the effect which the Apostle would have us draw from it namely our abounding by means of this word in all Wisdom a thing which hath no place in those that have but a superficial and as they speak an implicite that is a confused involved and entangled knowledge of it Whence in fine it clearly follows that the Word of CHRIST containeth all things necessary to Salvation it being evident that he that is ignorant of any part of them is not owner of Wisdom and much less of all Wisdom which yet the Apostle intimates we shall have if the Word of the LORD doth dwell richly in us Compare now the Law and the Discipline of Rome with this Doctrine of S. Paul and you shall find such a difference or to say better so palpable a contrariety between them as that the night and darkness are not more contrary to the day and its light First the Apostle remits his Scholars to the Word of CHRIST to learn there all the duties of Christianity Rome directeth hers unto the Pope and his Officers to be instructed about their Salvation The Apostle gives Sentence that the Word of CHRIST is capable of giving us all Heavenly Wisdom if it dwell in us Rome asserts that it is not sufficient for this end and that it contains but some part of saving Wisdom for the compleating whereof unwritten tradition must be added The Apostle would have this divine Word dwell in us Rome would not that it should and introduceth in its place I know not what kind of fabulous Legends with which it fills the world giving them to her votaries for the instructing and feeding of their Souls The Apostle willeth that this Word be read both in publick and in private among the faithful Rome will not that either the one or the other be As for the publick if she shew her assemblies any pieces of it she shews them hidden and wrapt up in a Language not understood that is she reads them and reads them not it being evident that the proclaiming the Laws and Ordinances of a Soveraign to a people in a language which they do not understand is all one as if they were not in effect proclaimed It 's the holding out a Candle but a Candle hid under a Bushel that is an holding it not out It 's a presenting the face of CHRIST unto his people but a presenting it veiled and disguised under such a form as they discern nothing of it And as to private respects you know with what indignity Rome doth treat Christians and how she forbids them to read their Father's Testament and judgeth it a crime that they should handle Books which were made for them or see those Letters which are expresly directed to them And that the permission of this reading which they give some Tradesmen of this City and the boldness of some Doctors who deny even the clearest things may not deceive you I think it pertinent to represent unto you here the Doctrine of Rome touching this matter Know then that in the Treatise and Index of prohibited Books drawn up by the Authority of the Council of Trent approved and publish'd by the Authority of Pope Pius IV Index libr. pro hibitor Reg. 4. and of all His Successors one of their first Rules runs expresly in these words Since it is manifest by experience that if the Holy Bible be commonly and indifferently permitted in the Vulgar Tongue there cometh of it more damage than profit by reason of the temerity of men the judgment of the Bishop or the Inquisitor must be stood to in this case so as they by the Counsel of the Parish Priest or of the Confessor may grant the reading of the Bible in a Translation made by some Catholique Author unto such as they shall find capable of drawing from such reading not damage or prejudice but increase of faith and piety and this License they must have in writing As for those that shall presume to read it without such License they may not receive absolution of their sins without having first rendred up their Bible into the Ordinaries hands Thus far the Papal Law Was their ever Ordinance more injurious to the Word of GOD and to His Apostles authority First their position at the entrance namely that the common reading of the Bible does more hurt than good and causeth more damage than profit this I say is horrible and directly contrary both to the Wisdom and Goodness of GOD as also to S Paul's declaration For who can believe that GOD should give such Books to His Church as are more apt to hurt than to help And how doth His Apostle recommend them to all Christians indifferently willing that this Word dwell plenteously in them if this be dangerous for them and rather pernicious than profitable And why doth he promise us from it the fruit of Wisdom yea of all Wisdom if the reading be so perillous Is Wisdom an evil and damageable thing But it is easie to comprehend the thoughts of Rome She means assuredly that reading of the Bible is prejudicial to Her that it discovereth her impostures and giving Wisdom to the Simple doth arm and fortifie them against her corruptions and pretended traditions This is in truth the damage and loss she feareth and which makes her so careful to extinguish or set aside all glimpses of this Heavenly light to the end
of their sex Moreover the interest of their Religion requires this performance at their hands though law and reason had not impos'd subjection on them to the end it might appear by their obedience that JESUS CHRIST doth not disturb the just order of humane societies but on the contrary form both men and women to all kind of righteousness and honesty much more exactly and effectually than other Religions do Lastly the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST having in divers places taken Marriage for a symbole of the union which is between Him and His Church he hath by that usage authorized and confirmed the duties of both the two Married parties and particularly the subjection of the wife since she is the image of the Church which ought to be subject unto CHRIST a matter which the Apostle hath elsewhere excellently made use of in this subject Eph. 5 23.24 The Husband saith he is the bead of the Wife even as CHRIST is the head of the Church Therefore as the Church is subject unto CHRIST so let wives be to their own husbands in all things Thus you see with how much truth and wisdom the Apostle here alledgeth unto Christian women that it is meet in the LORD that is in JESUS CHRIST they should be subject to their husbands it being clear by all we have been saying that all the considerations of the discipline of this same LORD and of the communion they have with Him do so strictly oblige them to this duty that if they fail of performance beside the fault and the disorder which they commit against the Law and institution of GOD and nature they also particularly offend the LORD JESUS and outrage the mysteries of His Gospel and scandalize His people But I have said that the Apostle does also by these words regulate and limit that subjection which the wife oweth her Husband For adding to the rest that in the LORD or according to the LORD he evidently sheweth that it reacheth no further than to such things as do not offend JESUS CHRIST She is subject to her husband I acknowledge but in things wherein she is not rebellious against GOD. She ought to please him but on condition she displease not their common LORD She owes him her obedience and her assistance and her service in adversity and in all the troubles of houshold affairs but not in sin The will of JESUS CHRIST is the true boundary of her subjection and complacency She ought to put on so far but further she may not pass without perrishing Whatever tye we have to any creature it still leaves the rights of GOD entire because our obligation unto Him is the first and most ancient the strictest and most necessary of all that we are under And if the Husband pretend to oblige his Wife or the Father his Child or the Prince his Subject unto any violation of the commands of GOD that is either to do what He forbids or not to do what He injoyns Acts 5.29 Luke 14.26 Matt. 10.37 in this case the faithful soul is to remember that we ought to obey GOD rather than men and that if we love father or mother husband or wife children or brethren or sisters or even our own lives more than CHRIST we are not worthy of Him nor can be His disciples But having thus heard the lesson which the Apostle gives the wife let us now hearken unto that he gives the husband Husbands saith he love your Wives and be not bitter against them He commands 'em to love them and forbids 'em to be bitter against them and in these few words compriseth all their duty This duty is no whit less just but indeed more sweet and pleasing than that which he prescribed the wives And observe I pray the Apostles prudence For when he had allotted the woman subjection for her share consequence seemed to require that he should give the man command and government for his But he doth it not He established the man's authority sufficiently by putting the woman in subjection to him and for the most part his strength and the other advantages of his sex do cause him to assume but too much Wherefore in stead of saying Husbands govern your wives or command them or of using some such word importing authority he saith unto them Love your wives to sweeten on one hand the subjection of the wife and to temper on the other hand the authority of the husband Wife let not your subjection fright you the Apostle subjects you not but to a person who loves you Husband let not your authority make you insolent If the Apostle subject your wife unto you it 's only to the end you love her Derive no vanity either the one or the other of you from the advantages he gives you If the love which the husband owes his wife make her haughty let her remember that withall she is subject unto him that loves her And if the authority which GOD giveth the husband flatter him let him not forget that the wife is not submitted to him but for the obliging him to love her the more Further this love which the Apostle would have husbands bear their wives is a sacred and sincere affection produced in their hearts not simply by that pleasing form and that grace and sweetness which naturally makes men love and seek unto this sex and which how perfect and charming soever it may be is at most but a flower of a very short and uncertain duration but principally by the will of GOD who hath joyned them with 'em who hath given them to them for companions in their good and bad fortunes for helps in all the parts of their life for a perpetuating of their name and lineage for the diminishing of their troubles and the augmenting of their joyes This perpetual and indivisible union which bindeth them together and which of two persons hath changed them into one flesh which hath mingled together all their interests and in their dear Children inseparably combined and confounded their blood and very nature all this I say must kindle in the foul of husbands a pure and an inviolable love unto their wives then again this love must flow forth from the heart into the external actions discovering and evidencing its self by such continual effects as may be truly worthy of it For love is not a dead picture nor a vain phantasie nor an idol without life and action It 's the liveliest and most active of all our sentiments It 's a will that affecteth and sets all the power one hath on work to procure some good to the person whom it loveth The first effect of this love is to be pleased in the presence of that which a man loves and not be able to suffer the absence of it long without disquiet The second to communicate to it all a man possesseth that is good and the third to guard and preserve it from all incommodity and molestation It 's thus the
gorgeousness the frowardness the obstinacy and the tongues of their wives and â—ay many other odious reproaches upon them Women on the contrary impute all this mischief to the husbands complaining some of their contempt and want of love others of their niggardliness towards them and profuseness other-waies Some declaim against their idleness and the little care they take of their affairs others against their excesses and compotations There are some that are angry at their speaking and others at their silence and in fine they forget not one ill treatment which they have received I know well that upon strict examination some fault would be found on each hand and that if cause appear to reprehend wives there would be no less to censure husbands But I had rather lay aside all this vexatious process and do conjure you Dear Brethren and Sisters in the name of GOD to do the like sparing one anothers honour consider what you are and what an union GOD hath call'd you to and each one for his part acknowledging your defects in the duty it requireth terminate all your complaints in a reciprocal pardon and forgetting all that is pass'd endeavour to procure to one another in the estate you are that peace and contentment which hitherto you have not had Do what the Apostle bids you and you shall find as much sweetness as heretofore you have tasted bitterness For as there is nothing more wretched than a marriage in which the wife hath no respect for her husband and the husband no love for his wife So neither is there any thing in the world more happy than a marriage in which the wife by an humble and respectful submission and the husband by a sincere and faithful love have their hearts and wills united in an holy concord As the first of these two conditions is an hell so the second is a very Paradise In fine My Brethren since JESUS CHRIST is the Spouse of all faithful souls you see what service and submission we are obliged to render Him May it please this Divine Spouse from that nuptial palace where he dwelleth to make us smell the odour of His mystical perfumes and to form our souls unto all the obedience the fidelity and servitude we owe him and govern us by His Spirit as He hath purchased us with His blood that after having here beneath sighed for Him we may one day eternally enjoy Him according to His promises and our hopes Amen THE FORTY FOURTH SERMON ON COLOSSIANS CHAP. III. VER XX XXI Verse XX. Children obey your parents in all things for this is pleasing to the LORD XXI Fathers provoke not your children lest they be discouraged DEAR Brethren Among all the mutual offices by which the society of men is conserved those incumbent on Children towards their parents and on parents towards their children are without doubt of the first rate and most necessary It 's upon them that all the rest do in some sort depend and they are in humane society what the foundation is in an edifice the foundation once demolished all the building goes to ground so the subjection of children and the superiority of parents once remov'd or unfixed the ruine of all other parts of society does necessarily follow For if a man neglect his children or misgovern them how will he duly and inhumanely treat servants or subjects or any other persons whomsoever Again if a child shake off the yoke of his Father and Mother how will he bear that of a Master or a Prince There is no likelyhood that the one or the other having fail'd in offices so sweet and natural toward persons that are so nearly in conjunction with them will ever rightly discharge any of those other which they owe to persons more remote and with whom they have much less union Whence appears the admirable wisdom of the Providence of GOD who for the forming of us unto the devoirs of love subjection and obedience which are necessary in the Civil or Ecclesiastique society we are to live in puts us at first into the bosom and under the conduct of our Fathers and Mothers that there as in a sweet and a commodious School we may timely learn the bending of our spirits unto love and respect for men and after this previous apprentiship find the yoke of those superiours under whom we are to live in Church or State less uneasie For one that hath been a good child in the house will without much trouble be a good subject in the State and likewise he that is a good Father will easily prove also a good Master a good Magistrate a good Pastor if GOD call him to either of those charges Wherefore S. Paul requires among the other qualifications of a Bishop or Pastor that he rule well his own house having his children insubjection with all reverence For saith he if a man know not how to order his own house 1 Tim 3.4.5 how shall he govern the Church of GOD These reciprocal duties therefore of parents and of children being of so great importance in the whole life of men it 's with good reason that our Apostle takes care to regulate them in the Text which we have read immediately after having in the precedent Verse formed those of Husband and Wife He speaks first to children according to the general order of beginning with the inferiours which he observes in all this part of his institution for reasons we pointed at in our last action Children saith he obey your Fathers and Mothers in all things for this is pleasing to the LORD Then he prescribes to Fathers also what pertains to them in these words Fathers provoke not your children lest they be discouraged These are the two heads we will treat of in the present action if GOD so please First the duty of children and Secondly that of Fathers As to the first of these we are to consider the Apostle's command contained in those words Children obey your Parents in all things and then the reason of this command which the Apostle annexeth when he saith For this is pleasing to the LORD He directeth the command to children and useth here in the original a term that signifyeth any person begotten of another his fruit his production a term that consequently comprehendeth all children of which soever sex that is both sons and daughters and of whatsoever degree that is grandsons in regard of their grandfathers as well as sons in regard of their fathers For the word Children according to the sense and authority both of Scripture and of the learned in the laws doth enclose the one and the other Let all those therefore to whom this title doth belong make account that to them is this injunction of the Apostles addressed Let not daughters object the weakness of their sex nor sons the strength and excellency of theirs to be dispenced with for the obedience they owe since the difference of their sexes doth not hinder but that they are
him when the LORD calleth us thereto It 's this way Christians that we shall get to that heavenly Kingdom in which St. Paul is lodg'd after his combats and there receive with him from the merciful hand of our Father the glorious crown of immortality which He on His great day will give to us and to all those that shall have lov'd the appearing of His Son unto Whom with Him and the Holy Spirit the only true GOD blessed for ever be honour praise and glory to ages of ages Amen THE FORTY NINTH SERMON ON COLOSSIANS CHAP. IV. VER XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII Verse XII Epaphras who is one of you a servant of CHRIST saluteth you striving alwaies for you in prayer that ye might abide perfect and compleat in all the will of GOD. XIII For I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you and for them who are of Laodicea and for them of Hierapolis XIV Luke the beloved Physician saluteth you and Demas also XV. Salute the brethren who are at Laodicea and Nymphas and the Church which is in his house XVI And when this Epistle hath been read among you cause that it be also read in the Church of the Laodiceans and that you read also the Epistle from Laodicea XVII And say to Archippus take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the LORD that thou fulfill it XVIII The salutation by the own hand of me Paul Remember my bonds Grace be with you Amen DEAR Brethren The LORD JESUS being upon the point to quit the earth and making as it were a declaration of His last will chargeth His Disciples above all things to love one another with a sincere and ardent affection like that He bore us This mutual love He appoints to be the badge of our profession Joh. 13.35 By this saith he shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Accordingly you know that His Spirit failed not to imprint this Divine mark upon those first Christians whom He formed in the City of Jerusalem by the Apostles preaching Acts 4.32 animated with the vertue of His heavenly fire The whole multitude of them saith the holy story was of one heart and of one soul neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own but they had all things common This union and admirable correspondence continued a long time among the faithful and was observed by the Pagans with wonder witness he who about two hundred years after the birth of our LORD reproacheth Christians that they know one another by certain secret signs and love almost before they are acquainted and all of them call one another indifferently brethren and sisters Now as error and passion do abuse the best things this poor ignorant takes their holy and divine concord for some execrable conspiracy and referrs the mysterie of their amity unto infamous commerces whereas all their union grew from Heaven and was founded upon piety and breathed nothing but honesty and sanctity nor did tend but to the glory of GOD and the supreme happiness of men Beside the Apostles writings which expos'd in publick view did plainly discover to the unpassionate how pure and honest and holy the laws of their charity were the manners and the lives and actions of those primitive Christians did also evidently justifie the same There are left us GOD be thanked divers excellent informations in the books of the first antiquity by which the marvels of the charity and mutual love of those holy men do plainly appear And not to speak of others you have fair and illustrious marks of it in this conclusion of St. Paul's Epistle unto the Colossians who sheweth us that his prison neither hindred divers faithful men from joyning themselves unto him in this affliction nor him nor them again from minding absent Christians and charitably embracing the Churches of Colosse and Laodicea and Hierapolis You here see the love of Pastors to their flocks the dear affection of flocks to their Pastors and the divine communication of Churches one with another Psal 133.1 If therefore it be a goood and pleasant thing as the Psalmist singeth to see brethren maintaining a due entercourse with each other grudge not this hour My Beloved which we yet oblige you to spend in the consideration of this Text having not been able to finish it entirely in our last action Let this admirable amity of the first Christians rejoyce you and give you an ardent desire to imitate it Have ye for one another sentiments and movings of heart like to theirs You have already heard how St. Paul having advertised the faithful at Colosse that he sent Tychicus and Onesimus unto them to inform them of his estate doth give them the recommendations of Aristarchus and Mark and Jesus He now addeth those of Epaphras and Luke and Demas and then his own to the Church of Laodicea and to a faithful man named Nymphas with an order to impart this his Epistle to them and to advertise Archippus of his duty Whereupon he endeth with his ordinary salutation conjuring them to remember his bonds and recommending them to the grace of GOD. For the deducing of these four points by the assistance of GOD in the same order as they are couched in the Text we must first consider who these three persons were whose salutations the Apostle presents to the Colossians The first of the three is Epaphras of whom he spake afore in very honourable terms at the beginning of this Epistle where he stileth him Colos 1.7 8. his dear fellow servant and a faithful Minister of CHRIST and gives him the glory of having instructed the Colossians in the knowledge of the Gospel and of having taken the care to let him know the charity they had for him Here he qualifies him in like manner a fervant of CHRIST that is a Minister of his and an Officer of His house in the work of the Gospel Moreover he informs us that this holy man was a Colossian that is was born in their City or at least made his ordinary abode there Epaphras saith he who is one of you a servant of CHRIST saluteth you Some learned men * Grotius Phil. 2.28 are of opinion that it 's this same Pastor whom the Apostle calls Epaphroditus and of whom he says so much good in the Epistle to the Philippians But I do not see that this conjecture is either founded or followed by any of the ancients I confess that the name Epaphras is a contraction of Epaphroditus and such a diminution is ordinary in the Greek and in the Latin tongue in the proper names of men But if it were one and the same person there is no reason why the Apostle should name him diversly in these two Epistles in the one contractedly and with diminution in the other the name at length and entire Considering withal that no part of what is
That a Church which hath received any grace from GOD which tendeth to edification should not envy it to others but affectionately communicate unto them all that may serve for their instruction And this communion ought to have place particularly between neighbouring Churches as those of Coloss and of Laodicea were And it 's upon this example and upon the reason on which it depends that the uniting of the Churches of the same Provinces and resorts in the same Classes and Synods is founded a thing instituted and observed from the beginning of Christianity down to our days and still very profitably practised and kept up among us by the goodness of GOD. This mutual communication of neighbouring Churches appears yet further in that the Apostle orders the Colossians in the third place to read also the letter from Laodicea after their imparting to them his When this Epistle saith he hath been read among you cause that it be also read in the Church of the Laodiceans and read ye also that which came or was written from Laodicea It is demanded what this second Epistle whereof he speaks should be Many Theologues of the communion of Rome do answer that it was a letter which St. Paul wrote to the faithful of Laodicea at the same time he wrote this to the Colossians whence they conclude that this piece being lost as well as divers other writings of Prophets and Apostles it cannot be pretended that the Canon of holy Writ is perfect and doth contain all things necessary unto our salvation Others again from thence infer that it is the Church which gives the Scriptures the authority they have among Christians since of the Epistles of St. Paul it hath left this in particular out of the Canon of Divine Books and retained only those fourteen which are in our hands But there is nothing found nor solid in their arguing which concludes ill and presupposeth what is false For suppose the Apostle had written an Epistle to the Laodiceans and that it were lost as I would not avouch that St. Paul and his fellow-brethren the Apostles never wrote any thing to any particular person or to any Church but what is arrived down to us suppose it I say who told them that this loss makes the Canon of our Scriptures defective Who told them that there was in that letter some Article of Faith necessary unto our salvation which is not found in the other parts of the Bible we now have Again who taught them thence to conclude that it is the Church who authorizeth the Divine Books I grant she is the keeper and depositary of them as the Synagogue sometime was of the Books of the Old Testament according to the Apostle's saying that unto them were committed the Oracles of GOD and that it belongs to her charge to preserve them and read them and recommend them to every one But that it is the authority of her voice and testimony which gives them the price and value they have either in themselves or in reference to faithful souls this in my opinion cannot be said without outraging the Majesty of their Author by making the divinity of the instruments of His wisdom to depend upon the phantasie of men As the Romans heretofore submitted the worship and divinity of their Gods unto the Decrees of their Senate They were not Gods except it so pleased men If it were certain that the Apostle had written an Epistle to the Laodiceans and put it in the hands of the Church it should be concluded not that she hath the power to authorize what Divine Books she pleaseth but rather that she hath hugely failed of her duty in having so ill kept an heavenly jewel But the worst yet is that all they talk about this pretended Epistle of St. Paul to the Laodiceans is a vain conceit and hath no other foundation but their imagination I well know that in our Fathers days * Faber Stapulensis a Learned man did publish one under that name having found it in three or four Libraries But the piece is so gross and so ridiculous that it hath been rejected equally on all hands as the work of an impostour who abusing his leisure forged this trifle and shamelesly fathered it upon St. Paul Some of the Ancients do also make mention of a Script bearing the same name whether it were different from this or did resemble it But the Ancients that speak of it do all unanimously decry it as an Apocryphal Book and issued out of an heretical Shop and framed at pleasure after St. Paul's death Tertuld 5. c. 1â— contra Marcion And in truth one of the first Writers of the Latine Church do's declare that a famous Heresiarch named Marcion had changed the Title of the Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians and instead of this name which it alwayes bore in the Church impudently called it the Epistle to the Laodiceans and read we do Heres 43. contiâ— Marcion in the Epistle to the Ephesians those words which Epiphanius reporteth to have been cited by Marcion out of the Epistle to the Laodiceans This hath given * Gretius a certain Writer occasion to fancy that St. Paul indeed sent and addressed the same Epistle to the Laodiceans which at the same time he wrote to the Ephesians these two Churches having had need of the same remedies and that its this Epistle the Apostle means in this place willing the Colossians to take a copy of it and read it in their Assembly All this would pass if it were at all grounded but it is too much considence or credulity to think to perswade it us upon the credit of Marcion the most impudent impostor that ever troubled the Church and one that in particular played with the Books of the New Testament contracting them maiming them and changing themat his pleasure with an infernal license Besides this supposition accordeth not with St. Paul's words For he doth not all say as these persons pretend that the Epistle in question was written to the Laodiceans True it is the Latine Interpreter hath rendred it the Epistle of the Laodiceans but this would signifie as every one seeth that the Laodiceans had wrote it and not that they had receiv'd it either from the Apostle or from any other Yet though the Latine would suffer this rude gloss it is clear the original cannot be made to bear it without undertaking as these new Doctours do truly with presumption enough to change the words of it which we find uniform in the Greek Copies and which the Ancients observed there above twelve hundred years ago For they clearly import as our Bibles have faithfully translated and represented that this Epistle had been written or sent from Laodicea so that we must necessarily ununderstand them with the ancient Greek Fathers of an Epistle written not to the Laodiceans but from their City Now the Apostle telling us no more of it either here or elsewhere we need not wonder that
such as have had the curiosity to enquire what this letter might be have faln upon different opinions as in a matter both obscure and besides of no great necessity Some of the Ancients say that it is the first Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy written from Laodicea as is expresly reported by an old tradition which is read still to this day at the end of that Epistle And the truth is it cannot be deny'd but this Epistle containeth divers instructions fit to edifie the Colossians about the business of those seducers whom St. Paul here opposeth they dogmatised a discrimination of dayes and meats and this is there expresly condemned And whereas it is alledged against these Authors that the Apostle had not been in the City of Laodicea by means whereof he could not have thence written any letters either to Timothy or any other they perhaps would answer with an Ancient Author Theodoret by name that the History of the Acts assuring us St. Paul had traversed Phrygia it is not very probable but that he pass'd through Laodicea the capital City of the Province And whereas he saith in the 2. chap. to the Colossians that he hath a great conflict for them and for those at Laodicea and for all such as had not seen his presence in the flesh this shews indeed that the Apostle had care even of those of the faithful whom he had not seen but not that they of Laidicea or of Coloss were of the number and that the sense of these words is he was in pain not only for them whom he had seen and known but even for the Christians he never saw Yet because this exposition may seem a little forced it is better and more easie to stick to the common opinion follow'd by the greater part of Expositors both Ancient and Modern even that the Epistle from Laedicea here mention'd by the Apostle was a letter written by the Church of Laodicea to St. Paul which letter he desireth the Colossians should read in their Assembly because it contained things which he judged helpful to their edification perhaps concerning the persons or the errours or the procedures of those very seducers whom he combateth in this Epistle This in my opinion is that which may be said in the matter with greatest probability There remaineth the third and last order he gives them say to Archippus Take heed to the Ministry thou hast received in the LORD that thou fulfill it We learn from the Epistle to Philemon that Archippus was a fellow-souldier of the Apostle's that is a Minister of the holy Gospel The meaning then is that the Church do advertise him on St. Paul's behalf to mind both the quality of that excellent Ministry and the Authority and Divinity of the LORD in whose name he had been called to it that he might acquit himself worthily in it and diligently fulfill all the functions of it leaving no part of them unperformed It is thought that some negligence or other defect of this Pastor might oblige the Apostle to cause this advise to be given him But for my part I would not without a more pressing reason suspect such a thing of a person whom the Apostle had so much honoured as to call him his fellow-souldier in the Epistle he wrote at the same time to Philemon and should rather beleeve that Archippus having been newly receiv'd into this sacred charge the Apostle would encourage him by this advertisement to a good discharge of his duty in it However it were you see he gives the body of the Church a power to address some remonstrances sometinâ—es to it 's own Pastors An evident sign that they are not the Masters and Lords of it as those of Rome pretend but Ministers and Officers only In fine he adds for a conclusion The salutation by the own hand of me Paul The rest of the Epistle had been dictated by the Apostle and written by another hand He writeth these and the following words himself with his own hand 1 Thes 3.17 and it was his ordinary use so to do as he declareth elsewhere 2 Thes 2.2 to assure his letters by this mark against the fraud of falsifiers who even then impudently dispersed forged letters under his name as himself in another place intimates unto us Yet before he shuts up he conjures them to remember his bonds as an excellent seal of the truth of his Gospel and an irrefragable testimony of the affection he bore to them and to the rest of the Gentiles for whose sake he suffered these things which consequently obliged them to love him and to pray the LORD ardently for him and above all to imitate his constancy and his patience on the like occasions if they should be called to them After this he gives them his blessing in these words Grace be with you Amen He means the Grace of GOD in JESUS CHRIST His Son our LORD and it was not possible to crown this divine Letter with a fairer and a fitter close Bless we GOD my Beloved Brethren who hath vouchsafed us the grace to read and to explain it throughout in these holy Assemblies and pray Him that he would please to continue the same liberty and tranquility still unto us causing His word to fructifie among us At present let us particularly meditate the remarkable Lessons which this conclusion doth contain to the end we may sedulously practise them each of us according to our Vocation Let Ministers mind the advertisement given to Archippus and imitate the example of Epaphras in loving cordially their flocks in striving for them both by prayer and by word and by deed fulfilling their Ministry and so demeaning themselves in it as may be worthy both of the excellency of the charge and of the respect and love they owe to the son of GOD who hath honoured them with it Let Flocks have reverence and amity for their Pastors and live an good intelligence with their neighbours as Coloss and Laâ—dicea mutually communicating all things that tend to their common edification Let the Epistles of St. Paul and the Books of his fellow-brethen the Prophets and Apostles of the LORD resound eternally in our Assemblies Let their Voice alone be there heard and their Doctrine alone receiv'd and every tradition not marked with their zeal be banish'd thence Let heads of Families imitate the zeal of Nymphas so conscionably forming their children and their people unto piety and so regularly establishing the exercises of it among them that it may be truly said of them they each have a Church in their house And all of us together of what order or condition soever let us study to be perfect and compleat in all the will of GOD and persevere unto the end in this holy profession remembring also the bonds of St. Paul and the sufferings of the faithful by which GOD hath confirmed the truth of His Gospel and so walk in the steps of these blessed ones enjoying the favours of