few to the prejudice of all others And therefore while it was pure they could not bear it whose Gain was their Godliness and who had been used to tell Lies in Hypocrisie 3. The proneness of Mankind to Superstition is another cause of disapproving what God approves The true Disciples of Christs are according to their Religion for a plain Faith a pure and simple Worship and for a few Mysteries no more than God has made And for making Charity and Purity the end of all these But generally speaking people are for being saved by a multitude of Ceremonies with a Priest to administer them They love to be amused and to have their Imaginations entertained with Mysteries that they do not understand and then to believe that their Souls have received a great deal of good by it On the other side Christianity does very little gratifie the Fancy and labours very much to inform the Understanding and therefore has been thought a Religion fit only for Philosophers being not accommodated enough to the Vulgar unless it were dressed out with more Mystery and Pageantry But then the ancient Fathers made no doubt to call it a Philosophy and such a one as was designed to make Plowmen and vulgar Persons Philosophers i. e. to cure them of Superstition and to inform their minds with the knowledge of the most profitable Truths This is the true business of Christian Priests not to make gain to themselves by deceiving people that were to be deceived nor to get power and dependencies by those Doctrines whereby the people get ease and liberty and ignorance but instead of nourishing and encouraging to repress and correct the proneness of Mankind to Superstition 4. These two opposite Infirmities a fondness of any thing that is new on the one hand and a passionate Zeal for that which has some Antiquity on the other do by turns promote this Mischief Some Errors have very successfully taken place at first when they were Entertainments to those that loved Novelty and the same Errors in process of time are hugged by others because they have the appearance of great Antiquity They are few in comparison that had not rather be told what is Late and what is Ancient than what is True To which we may add 5. The vast influence that prejudice and prepossession has upon Mens understandings which is very often so great that it will not allow any thing to be said on the other side and so condemns him that offers Truth before he is heard or if a hearing cannot be avoided it is able sometimes to divert the attention or if attention be given it can corrupt the Judgment Men in those circumstances are but ill Judges whatever their natural Abilities are They love one side of the Question they bate the other and they judge accordingly 6. In many Persons the impatience of considering and weighing things and the ease of letting others judge for them without examining Particulars is the cause of false Judgment For the ease that a Man gets this way inclines him to believe that there are Judges who cannot err and will be sure to tell him nothing but Truth and this disposition is a mighty friend to those that pretend to so high an Authority because it gives them an opportunity to say what they list and to determine what they please Whoever therefore comes with truth on the other hand against an Authority that must not be thought capable of mistaking 't is like to be welcome neither to those that teach nor to those that are taught for in effect he comes to the former to tell them that they must quit their power and to the latter that they must quit their ease These are some of the causes of Men's condemning those whom God justifies by which it appears that it is an Evil which comes of Evil. And the conclusion we are to make of them it is this That we do by no means square our Professions and our Actions by so false a Rule as that of pleasing Men and gaining the favour and good Words of Men for they may and they often have and I doubt not but they often will condemn those whom God justifies and by the same reason they will justifie those whom God condemns To get Favour and to avoid Disgrace is a happiness which he that scorns is not wise but 't is no rule for a Man to live by and he that makes it so cannot be honest Man may condemn those whom God justifies That is the first Point The second is this 2. That to be condemned by Man is tolerable if God justifies A Truth so clear that more Words cannot make it clearer but they may serve to fasten it more upon our Minds Let us consider such things as these 1. The infinite disproportion between GOD and Man St. Paul's meaning was that GOD justifies and Man condemns and to shew that in comparison no body condemned in this case he puts his meaning into the form of a Question It is God that justifies who is he that condemns A wise Man will not be much troubled to be rail'd at by a Slave if he be honoured by a King 2. We can cetainly tell how to please God because we know what profession and what practice he approves for he hath told us what they are and we may believe him We are secure also that what will please him to day will do so to morrow and that what he accounts good service now he will always reckon to be so For God changes not and can by no means contradict himself He conceals no part of our Duty from us and therefore to gain his Favour we need not go forward and backward nor contradict our selves neither If we study to approve our selves to God as we have but one Lord to please so he is ever constant to himself our way is one and plain and our rule the same yesterday to day and for ever 3. God knows the very secrets of our hearts and the springs of all our actions and therefore they whom God justifies are truly worthy He that can bear the All-seeing Eye of God is in reality all that he appears to be he is that Just Faithful and Unbiassed Man and he has that pure and clear Mind which if we could see with our bodily Eyes we should as Plato fancied be ready to fall down and worship it Man justifies only by the outward appearance and sometimes happens to be pleased with profession and service where nothing is meant of that which is so well taken A Knave and a Hypocrite may win thanks from Man but where God justifies there is Faithfulness and Integrity and whoever condemns such an one disgraces himself more than him 4. If God justifies us our own hearts do at the same time acquit and absolve us says St. John If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God And 't is true on the other side that if God condemns us not
pursued upon this account if upon no other That it may appear that the Certainty of Offences coming did not arise from any defect or fault of the Blessed Gospel of our Saviour If we consider the harmless and Dove-like Temper of Christianity the Excellency of its Design the Richness of its Promises the Divinity of its Rules and Precepts the Comforts it has in store for all honest Minds and that instead of running cross to the Interests of Mankind either here or hereafter it shews an infallible way to single Persons and to Communities to be happy in this World and to all men to be for ever blessed in the World to come we would rather have expected it should have been fortold That no man in any Age would ever set himself to oppose the design of the Gospel either in whole or in part If likewise we observe what clear and undeniable Testimonies of Divine Revelation God approved and owned it by how highly reasonable the Principles thereof are and how those things which could not be known but by Revelation yet being once revealed do satisfy our Reason and approve themselves to it How evident the design thereof is how plain the Precepts how few the positive Instructions of it are and how significant and profitable they are and how full of Instruction finally How manifest those necessary Doctrines are the belief whereof is necessary to make a man a Christian and what that Mystery of Godliness is which in the Apostles days was confessed and without controversy If we look upon these things and no farther we should rather have expected that the Doctrine of our Saviour should never have been gainsaid never perverted never mingled with Error never have given occasion to wrangling and discord and never have become the matter of nice and angry Dispute but only of an unblamable Faith and Practice The Gospel of Christ is undoubtedly a faithful Saying or Doctrine clearly revealed and standing upon evident Testimonies of Divine Revelation it is also worthy of all acceptation Why then must it needs be that offences come To which I shall give a plain answer in our Saviour's words to Nicodemus That light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil Joh. 3.18 and therefore it must needs be that offences should come For the Religion of Christ is not suitable to the Spirit of this World and therefore the World hateth it and therefore no wonder if it hath one way or other always sought to obstruct the Progress and Design of it In a word it is not the defect but the exceeding Excellence and Purity of true Christianity that has given occasion to the World to oppose it to pervert it and to discourage the Profession or Practice of it For it is a Religion too wise and too good for them that have no mind to be wise and good themselves and therefore considering the great corruption of human Nature which God would not over-bear by an irresistible Power but cure by rational means and methods no wonder that Offences have come nay that our Saviour said It must needs be that offences come To argue more particularly 1. The Doctrine of the Gospel is a Doctrine of Manners lays a severe Restraint upon all the unreasonable Lusts of men and makes a great many Liberties unlawful which they are for the most part violently inclined to take And therefore every carnal man while he so continues carries within himself a terrible prejudice a secret Enmity against the Truth as it is in Jesus and his Heart riseth with as much Anger against that Doctrine of God that telleth him it is not lawful for him to pursue his worldly and fleshly desires as he would but to subdue and mortify them as Herod when he took his Brother's Wife expressed against John the Baptist for saying It is not lawful for thee to have her Man's Nature affecteth a lawless Liberty and cannot endure to be confined it is diseased and cannot endure to he healed and it was therefore likely enough that very many would reject the Physician and be angry with those very Remedies that our Heavenly Father has sent The true and sincere Doctrine of Christ my Brethren if it be believed cannot but make us very uneasy and unquiet while we are conscious of Sin and are not willing to be reformed because it reveals to us the Wrath of God against all our unrighteousness and ungodliness it forewarns us of a dreadful Sentence at the last day and of an everlasting Punishment which we are unwilling at the same time to venture in which we are unwilling to part with our sins and to reconcile our selves to God by Repentance And men that are lovers of Pleasures and lovers of Gain cannot easily admit a Doctrine which gives them as much uneasiness and disturbance as if the point of a Sword were always turned toward their very hearts For this reason the Pharisees could not endure the Doctrine of Jesus and this was one reason why the Heathens opposed it and persecuted it and is one reason why Christians have corrupted it by finding out other ways to avoid Damnation than by a lively Faith and true Repentance and effectual Reformation and keeping the Commandments of God It is this that hath made way for satisfactory Commutations Merits of others and the absolute Power of the Keys and all those devices which are good for nothing but to reconcile a wicked Life to the hopes of Heaven and to entangle the plain sense of those Words of Christ He that heareth these sayings and doth them not I will liken him to a foolish man that built his house upon the sand and the winds blew and the rain fell and the floods came and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall thereof that is it suffered an irreparable Ruin 2. If we consider the Doctrine of Christ as it is a Doctrine both of Faith and Manners it is no way framed to serve the ends of ambitious and worldly-minded men or to help them in pursuing those ends by a pretence of Religion and therefore it was not to be expected but in process of time it would be by some or other moulded for that purpose when opportunity should serve Our Saviour taught the World no other Principles of Morality no other Articles of Faith than what were equally for the Interest of all parts of Mankind to believe and follow a common good and an equal benefit was intended in them all For let them prevail without corruption and alteration the Honour and Safety of Sovereign Princes is secured and a quiet and peaceable Life to Subjects Neighbour-Nations shall give strength and confidence instead of creating jealousies to one another the Master shall be better served and the Servant better used the Church by her Doctrine and Spiritual Authority will be a Guard to the State and receive at the same time Protection from it Here was no
them is but this that they do effectually draw forth that wickedness which otherwise would have lain more undiscovered in the Hearts of Men but then also they manifest more clearly that Integrity that Piety that Diligence and Constancy and Virtue and Charity of Good Men which otherwise had not so much appeared Bad Men do by means of Heresies grow worse and the Good grow better by them according to that saying in Daniel Chap. 12.10 The wicked shall do wickedly and shall not understand but the wise shall understand They are hardened and these are purified and the difference between Virtue and Sincerity on the one side and Hypocrisy and Vice on the other is so clearly seen that the good Examples will at last prevail against the scandal of those that are Evil and the indirect ways of supporting Error will shew the simplicity and Virtue of the Children of Truth to more advantage than it could possibly have had without the Comparison so that it will be much more easy for People of honest tempers and dispositions to discern which is the true Flock of Christ and to what Communion they are to betake themselves When our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles planted the Church things were not so ordered as to make Proselites of all sorts of Men however they were qualified but rather to gather together the Children of God that were scattered abroad that is all that were of pious and honest Dispositions and though the mighty Evidence wherewith the Gospel was preached drew in some that were none of the best yet either Persecutions or Schisms soon purged the Church of them again and Heresies seem to have been permitted ever since to carry on the same design of distinguishing between the Good and Bad and making it appear more evidently who are the faithful Followers of Christ And it can by no means be unworthy of the Providence of God to suffer those Evils to happen which he makes to work for the same good end which was designed by that manner wherein the Gospel was at first revealed 2. Neither are Schisms and Heresies any objections against the Truth and Goodness of a Church unless it were always a disparagement to be opposed and forsaken which certainly it is not for otherwise Christianity it self as it was taught by Christ and his Apostles must needs have been a false Religion and the Church which they founded a false Church for thence came the Gnosticks and Valentinians and I know not how many Heresies more and the Apostle told the Elders at Miletum Acts 20.30 That from themselves would arise men teaching perverse things that would draw disciples after them It is certainly for want of better Arguments that the Reformation is to be objected against upon the account of those Parties into which it is divided and this Church of England for the sake of those Parties that have broken off from the Communion of it For as to the latter it is either no mark of a true Church to hold fast all that were once of it or else the Church of Christ was not that true Church since many went off from it and which perhaps they that make this Objection will be more concerned to consider they from whom so many Nations have broken off cannot escape their own Censure As for the Unity of those that keep together in one Profession and Communion this is no certain mark of Truth for as men may be united in Truth so they may be united in Error And all parties have this mark common to them that so far as they do not differ they agree together and if this be an Argument of Truth those Parties equally have it that are most contrary to one another But 't is one of the most silly Objections in the World against a common Cause that is maintained by People that cannot agree in many things that therefore that Cause is naughty and erroneous this I say is intolerably vain and impertinent since this is to make the reason of Truth and Error to depend upon the uncertain Passions and the Interests of Men. For by this means 't is in the power of ill-disposed Persons that for whatever reason may bring in a new Heresy to make all that Truth which they professed before to be Truth no longer And if it be a good Argument against us it is as good an Argument against Christianity in the general in the Mouth of a Turk or a Jew Christians are so far from being agreed what is true Christianity that they are fallen into Parties that have no Religious Communion with one another and therefore Christianity is a false Religion nay it is still a stronger Argument in the Mouth of an Atheist against all Religion whatsoever since Christianity Mahometanism Judaism and Paganism are at so great a distance from one another But there needs no other Answer to this Objection than that which the Text affords by which we see that Heresies and Parties were unavoidable and so far from being an Argument against the truth of Christianity that God was pleased to permit them even for the advantage of the Truth And therefore those that are so offended at the Divisions of the Church as to take occasion from thence either to throw off the Profession of Religion till all Parties are agreed about it or to take up with that which pretends to most Unity without any farther Examination are hereby demonstrated to be insincere and vicious Persons for as Heresies are permitted by Providence that they which are approv'd so they are permitted that they which are reprobate and cannot bear a Trial may be also made manifest and it is no loss to the Truth if she be not found by those that love her not In the mean time they that are of God will hear his Word and Wisdom will be justified of her Children And that we may be found in that number we are to make it our first and principal Care to avoid the greatest Heresy of all and the cause of the rest and that is the Heresy of a wicked Life and vicious Affections Then we shall be more and more built up in our most Holy Faith and confirmed and established in the Truth as it is in Jesus For as evil Deeds make Men hate the Light so if our Deeds be good and our Consciences pure we shall love the Light and rejoice in it we shall buy the Truth and not sell it we shall buy it with being at the pains of impartial Enquiry and Consideration and we shall not sell it for either comfortable or gainful Errors To Conclude God hath in that manner Revealed the Truth which concerns our Salvation that they may easily be deceived who are willing to be deceived but that they who seek it sincerely shall be sure to find it The Ninth Sermon 2 PET. I. 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark
themselves allow That there shall be a resurrection of the dead And herein do I exercise my self to have a conscience void of offence towards GOD and men St. Paul and such as he believed all things that were written in the Law and the Prophets those very Writings which the Jews themselves acknowledged to be Divine and tho' to this Faith they added the Doctrine and Practice of a good Life yet they were esteemed Hereticks because they undertook to see with their own Eyes and to judge for themselves instead of submitting to the Authority of the Council that had betrayed and murdered the Lord Jesus 2. They were accused of Sedition too as if they designed to make Stirs and Commotions and to alienate the People from theia Governours Thus when Paul and Silas had converted a multitude of Devout Greeks and not a few of the chief Women at Thessalonica the Jews who believed not moved with Envy took unto 'em certain lewd Fellows of the baser sort and drew some of the Brethren to the Rulers crying These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also who do contrary to the decrees of Coesar saying That there is another King one Jesus Acts 17.5 6. And yet they never made one step by Word or Deed towards deposing Princes and changing Governments Jesus indeed who had commanded them to pay Tribute unto Caesar had also forbidden them to be of the Religion which Caesar was then of and this was drawn into an accusation of Faction and Disloyalty Thus also the same St. Paul being brought before Foelix at Jerusalem the Jews complained by Tertullian their Oratour That they had found him a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and a ring-leader of the sect of the Nazarenes Acts 24.5 3. They concluded them under a sentence of Damnation as far as they could do it Indeed they would have it thought so impossible for a Christian to be saved that some of them after being converted to Christianity were strongly persuaded that they still ought to keep the Law of Moses and would have mingled Judaism and Christianity together as if there was no hope of Salvation out of the Synagogue Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved Acts 15.1 4. As 't is usual in such Cases to damn first and then to kill they delivered the Disciples of Christ to death and pretended the service of God for it For which we may take those remarkable Words of St. Paul describing the Temper of the Jews then and what his own once was Says he I was taught according to the perfect manner of the Law of the fathers and was zealous toward God as ye are at this day And I persecuted them even unto the death binding and delivering into prisons both men and women Acts 22.3 4. And in chap. 26. v. 10 11. he declares That he persecuted them oft in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them he persecuted them even into strange cities Such was the entertainment they had from the Jews to whom the Word of Salvation was first delivered But when it was carried amongst the Gentiles they condemned it too For 1. It was run down as if it had brought Irreligion and Atheism into the World insomuch that the ancient Apologists were fain in good earnest to set themselves against this absurd Accusation and to shew that it was not all one to serve God at all and not to serve many Gods That there might be Devotion without bowing down to Images and Religion and Worship without Idolatry and better a great deal without these things than with them It was exclaimed against as a late upstart Religion that began but yesterday and was fitter to be hissed than argued out of the World They used to ask the Christians what sort of Men they could name either Greeks or Barbarians that made their Profession and had their Rites and Worship before Jesus appeared You have forsaken say they the Customs of the Fathers that had been observed of old time in all Cities and Countries you have revolted from a Worship which has had the Tradition of all Ages and the Approbation of Kings and People Law-makers and Philosophers and by almost all the World till such as you appeared who are but of yesterday 3. They try to overwhelm it with the most gross and palpable Untruths they gave it out that the Christians were Worshippers of the Sun nay that they adored an Asses-head and sometimes a Cross They did not stick to say That in their solemn Assemblies they kill'd a Child and committed Incest They also upon no occasion in the World disarm'd them as a seditious and disloyal People and accused them of Treason tho' none ever set better Examples of Fidelity to their Governours To conclude Our Predecessors of the Primitive Church were now and then condemned to several sorts of deaths and it was often a great deal more safe to be some notorious Malefactor than to be a Christian In a word The Gospel met with that Opposition which no Religion ever did before The Gods of other Nations new Gods every day were admitted into a Temple at Rome with some formality and without trouble But when the Disciples of Jesus came to call Men to the Worship of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he had sent Jews and Gentiles conspired to extinguish their Religion and to blot out their name for ever insomuch that the Jews at Rome could tell St. Paul As concerning this Sect we know that it is every where spoken against Those therefore whom God justifies have been and may be condemned by Men Which will not seem strange to any of us if we consider what the Causes of it are For instance 1. That hatred of truth which reigns in a great part of Mankind They cannot bear sound Doctrine nor can they therefore bear those that profess and practice it Truth is against them and therefore they will be against the Truth and all that follow it So long as Pride Lust Avarice Revenge Luxury and such things remain there will be so many Causes of condemning that which God approves To which we must add 2. The inflexibleness of true Doctrine and of those that maintain it to the designs of Worldly Men. Christianity was said to be a perfect Scheme of Religion that would suffer no additions or alterations It was stiff and would not bend to the Pleasure of Priests or of States-men as all that would which the Heathens called Religion among themselves Whilst it was kept in wise and honest hands and truly represented there was no room for Cheating no Allowances for pious Frauds no place for convenient Inventions Innovations could not be brought into the Faith of Christians or the Substance of their Worship but they would be corruptions of both without tampering with it it could not serve the ambition of a
the Church any more than the Errors of Pergamos made her cease to be so nor that it is impossible the Reformed and the Unreformed part of Christendom should be within the Pale of that one Church which we profess to believe in the Creed any more than it was impossible for the Church of Pergamos to have been a part of the Catholick Church both before and after her Reformation And thus I have gone through the Task I set my self and I hope need to make no Apology for entertaining you with a Controversy of this nature which indeed ought to be no Controversy amongst us But if it were needful I have this to say Whereas the Church of England does not pretend to be an Infallible Guide or Judge and yet requires the People to believe as she believes to profess what she professeth and to do what she enjoineth it is very fit that her Ministers should sometimes make it plain that she requires this because she has reason so to do and is not in these Points deceived though she does not pretend that she cannot err in any I know not whether I have made the things I have discoursed plain enough to every Understanding but whether that be so or not yet every one may perceive that we appeal to his Reason for the Truth and Honesty of our Cause and for my own part if I understood nothing else of the Merits of it I had rather be of a Church which pretends to guide me with Reason than of another that would govern me without it and that because the former is likely to take more care not to mislead me than the latter needs to do which when it has gained me to an implicit Faith and a blind Obedience may lead me whither she pleases As for what I have now said I declare in the Presence of God that I have offered nothing to you but what I believe my self and farther that I am not conscious to my self of any reason why I am fixed in the Communion of this Church in opposition to the other but a full Conviction of the Errors of that Church which if I should profess or practise I could not entertain the least hopes of Salvation And we who are thus convinced are as I take it bound in Conscience to take seasonable opportunities of confirming our Brethren in our Communion and enabling them as well as we can to make it appear that the Arguments and the Answers of the other side are unsatisfactory and vain as I have in some part endeavoured to shew at this time We should indeed not be unwilling to take pains to recover those to the knowledge of the Truth that are educated in damnable Errors but there is much more reason to do all we can to retain those in the profession of the Truth that have been educated in it seeing if they revolt we cannot have that hope of their Salvation which we would fain have of theirs who want sufficient means to discover them It were a blessed state of the Church indeed if all being united in true Faith and Worship we had nothing to do but to persuade and exhort men and to take care of them that they live answerably thereto but since we have two Works upon our hands to guard you against Error as well as to warn you against a wicked Life I do not see how we can discharge our Duty but by doing one as well as the other And that I may not say nothing to the latter I am to tell you in the Conclusion That we do not make the Communion of the best Church in the World to be all in all a man may go to Hell in the Communion of a pure Church and without true Repentance and Reformation the best and purest Church that ever was since the Gospel began could have done him no service And I take it to be as great a Corruption as can be readily thought of for any Church to pretend to save men by a Trick and send them to Heaven any other way than the plain way of keeping the Commandments of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Keep therefore the pure Profession of the Christian Faith but withal keep a good Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man Hold fast the form of sound words But still remember that if your Works be not answerable your Faith is vain For not the hearers of the Law but the doers thereof shall be justified Not he that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of our Father which is in heaven The Second Sermon MATTH XVIII 7. Wo unto the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come But wo to that Man by whom the Offence cometh THE great End of the Gospel is to bring Mankind to Salvation and in order thereunto to convert them from Sin and from all dangerous Error and to lead them to a right Faith and a Holy Life But it is too evident that this End is not attained Universally And if any one should be tempted to suspect that the Christian Religion is not therefore a Divine Revelation because it has in so great part failed of the End which it pretended to pursue he may be easily brought to assurance again by considering the vast good which Christianity hath done in the World but especially by observing that the Gospel hath foretold that all men would not believe and obey Our blessed Lord himself testified that many were called but few were chosen and that strait was the Gate and narrow the way that leadeth to Life and few there be that find it Nay inasmuch as he hath forewarned us of a Day of Judgment and hath told us beforehand That the Word which he hath spoken the same should judge us at the Last Day This was a manifest Declaration that he did not pretend to lead men to Faith and Repentance by such means as could not but be effectual but only by such as were sufficient if we would in any measure comply with his gracious Methods and it was also a plain intimation that a great many would be never the better but the worse for these means that God had provided for their Salvation and that some for not receiving them others for not improving them would fall into greater Condemnation But our Saviour did not foretell these things only but the Causes of them too and what it was that would obstruct the Progress and Design of his Religion For this is the importance of those words of his which I have now chosen for my Subject Wo be to the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come By Offences or Scandals we are here and almost everywhere in the New Testament to understand those Temptations to Sin and Inducements to Error which some men lay in the way of others They are sometimes otherwise express'd Snares Stumbling-blocks and occasions of Fallings for the
design in Christianity to set up any Nation or Party of men in opposition and to the disadvantage of all mankind beside but it plainly aimed at a general good and under its Penalties requires all its Professors to aim at the same too and condemns those who are lovers of themselves in opposition to all others amongst the greatest Offenders And this Religion as Machiavel well observed was not calculated for the inspiring of men with great designs such I suppose as his Caesar Borgia aimed at It was too plain too Philosophical too Innocent and Charitable to raise an ambitious Heat or to serve it And therefore it was very likely in process of time that it should be helped out by other Principles and Doctrines that would bring in the swelling of worldly Pride into the Church as the African Fathers in their Epistle to Celestine called it and advance one part of it to the depressing of all the rest But because true Christianity serves no such design therefore was our Saviour opposed by the Rulers of the Jews his Doctrine did not tend at all that way viz. to make Hierusalem the Mistress of the World and that all should depend upon her it did not minister to their ambitious and worldly Hopes and therefore was not for their turn 3. If we look upon Christianity as a Rule of Worship it will still hold true that Offences must needs come because the Worship it prescribes is a Worship of great simplicity that has but two or three positive Institutions of Divine Authority viz. the two Sacraments and the Invocation of God through the Name and Mediation of his Holy Son Jesus Now this was not likely to be acceptable to the generality of Mankind who love rather a pompous number of Ceremonies and nice Observations than a grave and decent Administration of Worship For the former does amuse the Senses and entertain the Imagination the latter does that but very little in comparison and rather satisfies our Reason But most people are more apt to be affected with things that touch their Fancy than their Judgment And therefore it was hardly to be expected but in time there would grow very great Excesses in this kind as there did even in St. Austin's days who complained of it not a little in his Epistle to Januarius Neither could it be doubted but such Excesses would be accompanied with false Notions of Religion and of the way to please God For whereas the excellent design of our Saviour in appointing so small a number of external Observations leaving the necessary Rules of Decency to be determined by the Church was this to take men off from all pretence of placing the weight of Religion in outward Ceremonies and by their very Worship to instruct them in Piety and Virtue and to shew them that God will not be pleased without those things whereas he did hereby effectually declare That God who is a Spirit would be worshipped in Spirit and in truth that is with the Affections of a pious Heart and the Obedience that is expressed in a good Life The corrupt Nature of man is as averse from this as 't is fond of the other and desires to please God by so easy a Religion as that which runs out into a world of Mysteries and Shews and Observations and seems to save them the labour of subduing their Lusts and Passions and of serving God by a righteous and holy Life And this was one thing that made the Primitive Christians contemptible and odious to the Heathens That they had so few Rites and Ceremonies so plain and simple a Form of Divine Service but one Altar but one Mediator no Tutelar Deities and Patrons no Throngs of Petty Gods but one or two Mysteries and those too plain and instructing without Pomp and Amuzement for such Causes as these they reckoned the Christians little better than Atheists believing that a Religion which made no stately shew to be as good as none at all 'T is true that God himself appointed a Form of Divine Service to the Israelites that consisted of a vast number of Ceremonies But besides this That they were to be the Types to discover the Messias when he should appear there was another End of Divine Providence observable in that Constitution which was this That they having a Stately and Mystical Form of Worship of their own might be less under a Temptation of learning of the Idolatrous Nations round about them whose numerous and gaudy Ceremonies in their Worship would have bewitched the Jews ten times more than they did if they had not been able to vye with them But God by his Prophet said That he gave them statutes that were not good to be sure not the best in themselves but considering the time the best for them For when God sent his Son into the World who was to teach all mankind to worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth and to convert the Nations from Idolatry the Scheme of the Mosaic Worship was taken down and the Church was furnished with nothing but Prayers and Praises two Sacraments and one Mediator But by all this it appears that the design of the Gospel in this matter runs counter to the fond and foolish Inclinations of mankind and therefore that Offences were ready to come upon this account also So that considering the Temper and Design of the Gospel it was a Religion too good for a wicked World too wise for a vain and foolish World I mean it was too good and too wise to escape Opposition and all change the World would either try to keep it out or when that was in vain to attempt any longer to square and form it better to its own purposes and inclinations It was upon this account viz. of the design of the Gospel which was exalted above a worldly Spirit that a peculiar Temper was required by our Saviour in order to the embracing of his Doctrine A Spirit of Honesty and Sincerity of Humility and Teachableness love of the Truth willingness to learn patience of Reproof and the like without which dispositions the common Prejudices against Christianity would certainly hinder the Efficacy of those Arguments and Motives by which it was recommended And therefore since God did not intend by an irresistible act upon the minds of men to over-rule them into a compliance with the Gospel it was not to be expected but that it should be first of all greatly opposed as it was and afterwards insincerely handled as it hath been and this although the Doctrine of the Gospel is peculiarly furnished with means to infuse a wise and honest disposition into them that want it For those means are consistent with the liberty of Human Nature and after all men may be the worse and not the better for them Nothing could in its own nature be more fit to awaken men to Consideration and to lead them to Honesty and Wisdom and to conquer all worldly and carnal Prejudices than the
he had but now been assured of it what instruction doth this yield more readily than that no Man shall be acknowledged by God to be one that fears him but he that upon trial doth what God requires and therefore that we should not presume upon the goodness of our Hearts and Intentions towards God when our Actions contradict our Pretences It is true God sees the Qualities and Dispositions of our Minds with an Infallible Judgment but we not so certainly it is hard for us to tell what degree of Faith or Fear is proper to God's Children is justifying or saving But if in the hardest trials of thy Obedience thou dost keep God's Commandments then thou art sure that thou fearest God and because God would have thee try thy self by this Rule he was pleased to testify his own knowledge that Abraham feared him upon Abraham's ready Obedience as if he had not known it before 2. Another point of Instruction and of good use in all Ages of the World is this That God hath some Servants and Worshippers who are not hired to the Profession of serving him by the worldly ease profit and security that Religion brings and who when that expectation fails them will not turn their backs upon him to choose another Master The Devil insinuated against Job That he served God because God had made an hedge about him and about his house and all that he had on every side because he had blessed the work of his hands and increased his substance in the land but if God would put forth his hand and touch all that he had then he would curse him to his face i. e. That then he would be as profane as he was before godly in outward appearance But upon trial it proved otherwise and he retained his Integrity saying Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil Job 2.10 Such another instance of this kind was Abraham God had blessed him with great Increase and Prosperity upon the leaving of his Country and there was nothing wanting to compleat his Desires but an Heir to his Blessings which God had a long time denied him and at length gave him But it might be hitherto objected against the sincerity of Abraham's fear of God and dependance upon him That he perceiving how much for the better it was that he left his Country at the Call of God and finding now that all things went well with him did therefore make profession of serving the only true God because he found that it was the way to compass all that his heart could desire in the World How therefore should it appear that he behaved himself Religiously out of Conscience of his Duty in an absolute and entire dependance upon God's Sovereign Power Wisdom and Goodness And that was a thing very necessary to be made out for the Credit of Religion in the World and to demonstrate the ingenuity and sincerity of the Righteous There could be no other way so effectual no demonstration so clear as this That Abraham without murmuring and disputing should let go the dearest of all his Possessions in obedience to the Command of God and this was the trial God made of his sincerity There was nothing that he held more dear to him than his only Son for whose sake it was that he did set a value upon all the rest of his possessions well therefore might it be said upon his ready compliance with this severe Command Now I know that thou fearest God This being as much as to say Now thy sincerity is put beyond all question and all Men must acknowledge that thou art in good earnest what thou hast all along pretended to be one that truly fearest God and who therefore dost that which is good not for worldly and mercenary Ends but because thou art absolutely resolved to depend upon God's Wisdom and Goodness in doing every thing that he requires And we must not think Brethren that this Testimony of Abraham's Faith and Sincerity was given him only for his own sake but for the sake of all Good men that should in any Age of the World tread in the steps of Abraham's Faith viz. That all Religious Men are what they are not for worldly Respects but for Conscience towards God And therefore the trial of Abraham's Faith did not only vindicate him but all God's faithful Servants to the end of the World from the charge of Hypocrisy and pretending Religion for worldly Ends Indeed he was tried in the most extraordinary instance that could be well thought of and there was this reason for it because he was to be the Father of the Faithful the great Example of Faith and Religion And it well became him who was to have so great an Honour conferr'd upon him in all Ages to undergo such a trial of his Faith as might not only be a standing Example of our Duty but a means to vindicate our Sincerity against the Reproaches of the World though we be not tried as Abraham was For if Religion in the general be charged with the Hypocrisy of compassing worldly Advantages under a pretext of Conscience we desire them to look to the Example of our Father Abraham and to consider the proof that he gave of his Sincerity and God's Testimony concerning him Now I know that thou fearest God And this is the temper and disposition of all Abraham's Children That they depend upon God's Providence not because they have a good Estate that they are righteous and just not because it is the way to thrive that they serve God not because he makes an hedge about all they have and observe the Rules of Religion not merely because they are under no unusual temptations to the contrary and the like but because believing in God and fearing and loving him in good earnest they are persuaded they ought so to demean themselves in expectation of his Favour which is better than Life and of his Rewards in a better World In short Abraham the Father of the faithful was therefore tried in this manner that there might be in him an undeniable instance of the sincerity and ingenuity of true believers to the end of the World who live in all good Conscience not expecting the profit of this World in recompence of their Piety and Justice and that Religion will secure their Bodies from Sickness their Goods from Rapine their Names from Reproach their Persons from Affronts and their course of Life from common or from unusual Troubles and Afflictions Abraham and his Children do not traffick with Heaven by their Prayers and Charity to secure or increase their Possessions on Earth And though God hath often blessed Good men as he did Abraham with strange prosperity in this World yet this was not their end nor the reason of their dependance upon God and doing his Will but they were such as they were by Faith By faith they wrought righteousness Heb. 11.33 i. e. They did that thing which
fail to punish the Wicked nor to protect the Righteous Brethren let us remember our Profession which is to believe in God and consequently to believe that we are not made safe by Wealth or by Favour by worldly Power or by worldly Policy but that God is more to us than all these things and that we depend intirely upon him that by forsaking him we forsake our Strength and Defence that by adhering to him we have that Power for our Security and that Goodness for our Security which made the World and which governs the World Let us then in this our day consider the things that belong to our peace and seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near that he may be near unto us in all our Troubles and Adversities whensoever they oppress us and be found of us at the hour of Death and the day of Judgment that God of Mercy and Love which in himself he always is and which he desires to shew himself to be to us all Let therefore the unrighteous man forsake his ways and the wicked man his thoughts and turn unto the Lord for he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon To the God of infinite Goodness let us ascribe all Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen The Twelfth Sermon LUK. XIII v. I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish COncerning the Galileans whose Blood Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices and the Eighteen Jews upon whom the Tower in Siloam fell and slew them our Saviour's Discourse to those that were present was this Suppose ye that these Glileans and these Jews were Sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things and above all men that dwelt at Jerusalem I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise peperish From which Words taken in Connexion with what went before there are two kinds of Observations that may be laid down The former are rather supposed than expressed and they are these Two 1. That God is just in the Punishments that he inflicts upon Sinners 2. That by what means soever Evil happens to Men the Providence of God is concerned in it The second kind are intended more directly viz. 1. That they who suffer very great Evils are not always greater Sinners than those who in the mean time suffer nothing 2. That one reason why such Evils do nat befal all Persons at the same time who are equally Sinners is That while some are visited with the Rod others may take warning by it And 3. That if they do not take warning they shall not escape These are all profitable Instructions and such as this place naturally yields which I shall therefore pursue without taking much pains to shew how they are contained in it Something I shall say but very briefly of the two first because they are supposed in these Sayings of our Lord though not the main things intended The first is that Punishment is due to Sin which is the Ground of all that our Saviour discourses here concerning the Ends of those unhappy Men he knew that his Hearers would be apt to pass an hard Censure upon them and he took care to prevent it but they would never have been in danger of running into that extreme if it had not been fixed in all of them That Punishment was due to Sin and this our Saviour was far from correcting but rather confirmed them in it by concluding That they also should perish except they repented The Truth is this is one of those things that Men know by Nature and it is well that they do for if notwithstanding this Sense the World is so bad how much worse would it have been if these apprehensions could have been extinguished Hence it is that the Conscience of well-doing inspires a Man with assurance and that Guilt makes him a Coward that the disasters of others expose them to be hardly thought of and that our own Afflictions bring our old sins to remembrance The Natives of Melita though they were Barbarians yet when they saw a Viper fasten upon St. Paul's hand presently concluded That he was a murderer whom though he had escaped the Sea yet vengeance would not suffer to live Acts 28. There the natural Sense of Punishment being due to Sin wrought though they carried it too far But with something better reason did Joseph's Brethren when he had brought them into distress argue with one another Verily we are guilty concerning our Brother therefore this distress is come upon us Gen. 42.21 It is this natural belief that supported many Mysteries of Religion every where in all Ages of the World whether those Mysteries were of God's appointing or of Man's inventing A good part of the Sacrifices and Rites of the Heathens and the Jews in their Worship was to make expiation of Sin and the Beast was killed to confess that Punishment was due to that Man for whom it was offered It is this Sense that disposes Men to believe strange Delusions that there is vertue in little things which seem to he no better than Charms to take away the guilt of Sin and to prevent the Punishment of it When people wear Habits and go Pilgrimages and touch Relicks and apply Holy Water and twenty other such Remedies to themselves for the ease of their Minds tho' they take a silly way to their end yet the Principle is good at the bottom That Sin and Punishment are linked together and that one naturally draws on the other if some method be not used to break the Chain which belief is so troublesom to a guilty mind that for this reason the generality of Men are naturally disposed to like a Religion so much the more for having great variety of Reliefs for an uneasie Conscience which is the true reason why Mankind if good care be not taken are ready to run into a thousand Superstitions To prevent which and to bring us into the way of Salvation God sent his own Son into the World to be a Sacrifice for us that we having so great an assurance of the expiation of our Sins should chearfully set our selves to the Reformation of our Hearts and Lives and serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life This is the first Observation That the Principle upon which all this Discourse proceeds is a natural Truth viz. That Punishment is due to Sin 2. That by what means soever evils befal Men it still comes by the Providence of God either directly sending it or at least knowingly permitting it and for wise and good Reasons determining to permit it This also is evidently presumed in this Discourse for upon the relation of those disasters the minds of the hearers presently turned to this Conclusion That they were very great Sinners that suffered such things and consequently that the evil was sent by a just and wise
whether they will be warned by such Examples Again when we feel anguish our selves we remember how we have for a long time abused the Patience of God and turned his grace into wantonness Then our Luxury and Intemperance whilst we had plenty of all things for this Life and our neglect of Instruction and Admonition under all means of Grace for a better Life then I say these things come to mind And if God spares us whilst he smites others it is that we may not need any thing more than such a warning to make us reflect upon these things as we ought to do Thus also God's Corrections dispose Men to Charity and Consideration of one another they cure us of that stiffness and wantonness which whilst all things go well with us carries on Contention and Hatred And therefore that we may not make it necessary for Providence to teach us Wisdom and Charity by withdrawing those Bounties of his which we abuse to the pampering of Pride and Obstinacy we should learn to be wise by Examples before we are made Examples our selves To conclude this matter who can be ignorant that Affection drives those Men to Prayer and other Duties of Piety who were very careless of them before In their distress they will seek God early though in their Prosperity they were so backward to any thing of Religion and for the most part felt very faint and ineffectual dispositions to it rather complying with Custom than with Inclination and Conscience and honouring God with their lips while their hearts are far from him And this is the great danger of a prosperous State to be full and to forget God But if nothing else will cure this Sloathfulness in Religion and this indifference and coldness in the Service of God yet at least Affliction doth it which makes us to feel our dependance upon God and shows us that we have no hope left but in him and then we abound in Prayers and we attend willingly to instruction we apply our selves to God in good earnest and to all the Comforts of Religion we make many vows and promises and we set our selves immediately to perform them This is the natural effect of sufferings when we feel them our selves and if we are wise it should be the effect of all those warnings that God hath given us by the sufferings of others Since therefore we cannot look abroad into the World but we shall see the Judgments of God in the Earth let us learn Righteousness let us not be high-minded but fear let us not judge others but judge our selves and often consider what our Saviour replied to the supposition of their being Sinners above all others who suffered such things as others had not suffered I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish The Thirteenth Sermon LUK. XVIII viii Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the Earth FOR the understanding of these Words of our Saviour two things are to be considered 1. What is here meant by the Coming of the Son of Man And 2. What is meant by his not finding Faith upon the Earth 1. How we are to understand those Words when the Son of Man cometh I answer the meaning is when he cometh to execute Judgment upon the ungodly and to deliver his faithful People out of their Hands For after our Saviour had spoken the Parable of the unjust Judge that was wearied by the Widow's importunity to do Justice for her against her adversaries he argued thus v. 7. And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night to him though he bear long with them or rather as it might have been translated and will he bear long in their cause I tell you that he will avenge them speedily And then follow these Words Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh i. e. when he cometh to do that which was spoken of before viz. to avenge the cause of his Elect or to punish their Enemies and Oppressors and to deliver them out of their hands Now of the Coming of Christ for this purpose there is also a twofold signification in the New Testament whereof one is manifestly the Principal and much more considerable than the other and that is his second coming in Person to judge the Quick and the Dead which will not be till the end of the World Thus the coming of the Day of the Lord 2 Pet. 3.10 Is called his coming v. 4. and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints 1 Thes 3.13 and in many other places And this is all the coming of Christ properly so called that the New Testament mentions after his First because this only is to be his second personal Appearance But then 2. There was another notion of the coming of Christ after his first which is also plainly enough intimated in the New Testament and that was his coming to destroy the Jews and to deliver the Christians out of their Hands which happened 40 Years after his Death And of this the 24th Chapter of St. Matthew is an undeniable Testimony where a Description of the Destruction of Jerusalem and a Description of the Day of Judgment are so interwoven one with the other that it is a matter of some difficulty to know punctually and fully what is proper to the one and what to the other But plain it is that the one as well as the other is called the Coming of the Son of Man as appears by verses 27. and 37. The Destruction of Jerusalem was made as it were a Type or Figure of the Day of Judgment and therefore these Words are there Verily I say unto you this Generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled v. 34. i. e. till they are accomplished in that part of the meaning which respects the Destruction of Jerusalem which was destroyed before that Generation passed away Of this it seems plain that St. James speaks C. 5. v. 6 7. where speaking to the Jews says he Ye have condemned and killed the Just and to the Christians Be patient therefore Brethren unto the coming of the Lord and v. 8. Be ye also patient stablish your Hearts for the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh and some other places there are where the Phrase is to be interpreted thus particularly that Let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand Phil. 4.5 i. e. let all Men see by your Meekness and Patience under those Oppressions which you suffer that you believe those Predictions which we have delivered to you from Christ that he is at hand to deliver you and although properly the end of all things will not be till the last day when the Earth shall be burnt up and all the works that are therein yet because this notable revolution of the destruction of the Jews was in some degree like unto it therefore it was also called the end of all things meaning the end
consider the Excellency of the Gospel with the Purpose of God not to overbear the World into the Faith and Obedience of it by forcing the natural Liberty of Men it had rather been much more strange if it had escaped opposition and corruption than to have been both opposed and corrupted as it hath Thus our blessed Saviour himself and his Apostles foretold that it would be Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many many false Prophets stall arise and deceive many and if any one shall say unto you Lo here is Christ and there is Christ believe it not for there shall arise false Christ's and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold I have told you before Thus he foretold how Christianity should be corrupted by Impostures and Frauds Again says he They shall deliver you up to be afflicted and killed and ye shall be hated of all nations for my names sake and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another Thus he foretold the violence that should be used to extinguish the Profession of the Truth Again saith St. Paul 2 Thess 2. There shall be a falling away and the man of sin shall come with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they might all be damned who believe not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness Theâ—e he foretels a fearful Apostasie from the Purity and Simplicity of the Christian Profession Again says he 2 Tim. 3.1 2. This know that in the last days perilous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traitors heady high-minded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God There he foretels a terrible corruption of Manners And again 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. The Spirit speaketh expresly says he that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their Conscience seared with an hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the Truth Now lay all these things together and here is as plain warning as can possibly be given of most corrupt and degenerate Times even after Christ's first coming and so that is expresly foretold which the Text evidently supposes For here would be glorious Pretences to deceive Violence to compel and wicked Examples to offend the Disciples of Christ And what Provision hath our Lord left to secure them from being misled where there is so much danger They are to attend to the Doctrine which he delivered us at first by his Holy Apostles to secure themselves from being deceived they must lay to Heart the Promises of the Gospel to arm themselves against the Temptations of the World and the Power of evil Examples and they are to consider that all these things were foretold by our Lord himself and his Apostles that they might not be scandalized when they should happen nor be tempted to suspect that either Christianity was not of God from the first or at least that our Lord has neglected all care of it since because it doth so little good as yet in the World because it runs out into so many Errors and because the Truth of it is so vehemently opposed for says our Saviour Behold I have told you before But still it is in their power whether they will take warning by such Predictions and whether they will guard themselves against Errors and Evil Examples and therefore a very corrupt state of Things in the Christian World will in all likelihood shake the Faith of many Believers and cause some to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them not regarding the admonitions of Christ and his Apostles before-hand And so when Christ comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth And this is the Observation which in the first place is unavoidable from the Text That even after Christ there would be degenerate Ages for this is plainly supposed as the cause why there would be but little Faith found when he should come to visit the Earth for the Iniquities and Offences it abounds with The 2. Supposition is That the Providence of our Lord would then appear to set things right when there was the greatest need to interpose in behalf of his Church For whereas it is said When the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth It is intimated manifestly that his coming is then to be expected when little Faith is to be found amongst Men and consequently when Scandals and Temptations are so strong that it is an hard matter to bear up against them I have said already that the Evidence of Christianity doth not make all Men receive it and that the Power of Christianity doth not make all that receive it wise and good Men and it is not to be denied but that amongst Christians themselves there are as monstrous Errors and leud Examples as ever there were in the World before Christianity or as there are now where Christianity is not at all professed Now at this rate should the Lord of the Church our Lord Jesus Christ let things go as they would it would in time come to pass that nothing of Christianity would remain in the World but the name of it and that for no other purpose but to do more hurt with it than could be done without it But how is it that Divine Providence will interpose or according to the expression of the Text that the Son of man will come and will make good his Promise of being with his Church to the end of the World which is never more remarkably fulfilled than when he interposes in those Circumstances which make Men think that he will not interpose and that he is not at all concerned what becomes of the State of Religion or the Affairs of the Church Because our Lord hath not made the Gospel an irresistable means of convincing Vnbelieuers and reforming wicked Men therefore it would in time be needful that in order to the keeping up of true Religion and making Christians such as they ought to be that he I say should by his Providence correct his own Disciples and reduce wretched Mankind into an unavoidable necessity of consideration that Truth and Righteousness should not utterly fall from among the Children of Men. When there is the greatest danger of losing the true Profession of Christianity our Lord will not be
Ease and Comfort in this uncertain and miserable World I shall therefore in the first place illustrate the sense of this Passage and shew what is meant by receiving evil at the hand of God and then I shall propound to your consideration some of those many reasons why we should effectually perswade our selves so to do As to the first The manner of bearing Evil from the hand of God is that which is meant by receiving it at his hand Particularly 1. We are to receive Evil with the same honourable thoughts of God wherewith we are to receive Good from him We must abate nothing of our esteem of his Righteousness or of our belief of his Wisdom and Goodness The sense of misery is indeed apt to breed hard thoughts of all those by whose means it comes if they have knowingly contributed towards it and designed what we suffer But let us remember Brethren that this is a Case always to be excepted God knows and sees all the troubles that befal us nay and it is his Will that they should happen to us and yet we must not think the worse of him for it And though we take it ill of any Man that can easily help us when we are in distress and yet refuses to do it yet we ought not to be so affected towards God and whilst we complain of that grief from which 't is true he could deliver us in one moment we must at no hand complain of him nor entertain the least unworthy thought of him for seeing us in pain and suffering us to continue under it 2. We are to receive Evil with the same constancy of serving and obeying him as if we received nothing but good We are not to grow weary of Religion nor to give over praying nor to depart from Justice or Charity or any Duty incumbent on us The Truth is they must be great Strangers to the Spirit and Design of Christianity who can be tempted to count their Prayers and their Repentance and Righteousness unprofitable when they do not save them from the Calamities of this World Under the Law indeed the Promises whereof were Temporal we may observe the Temptation prevailed upon some good Men. Verily said Asaph I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency For all the day long have I been plagued and chastned every morning Psal 73.13 14. But then he recoverd a better Mind ver 21 22. Thus my heart was grieved and I was pricked in my Reins so foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee It was this that Job's Wife bad him do i.e. to throw off all pretence to serve God who had thus forsaken him said she Curse God and dye scorn to serve him any longer and make an end of thy life But said he Thou speakest as one of the foolish Women speaketh what shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil Nay 3. We are to receive Evil from God with thankfulness for the good things we have enjoyed for those which remain and for those which we expect and above all for the hope of eternal Life We must thank him for the care he takes of us and therefore for all his dealings with us for sending us that which he sees is most expedient for us yea for those very Tryals and Chastisements which we complain of though for the present they are grievous And thus Job received Evil The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. These I confess seem to be hard Lessons but they are such as we must learn and how hard soever they may be yet let us be assured that they are not unreasonable and that is the second point I was to shew and what I chiefly designed to insist upon at present Therefore 1. We should consider that we have not deserved the Good that we receive from the Hand of God but the Evil which we receive that we have abundantly deserved All indeed do not deserve Evil from God equally but all deserve it more or less And as for meriting good from him that no Man must pretend to how Righteous and Godly soever he be For if God should be severe to mark what is amss who could stand before him If he should enter into Judgment with his Servants no Flesh living would be justified Now if Job who was a perfect and upright Man a Man of extraordinary Piety and Virtue received Evil from God as he ought how much more should we do so that fall short of his Perfection When we suffer Affliction our Heart must justifie God in all because they condemn us in so many things Our own consciences are enough to stop our mouths or rather to make us confess that we have sinned but that God is righteous Especially since all the good that we eveâ— enjoyed and do now enjoy is from a holy and just God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity For if we who are obnoxious to his Purity and Justice have yet received innumerable benefits from him it is hard and unreasonable to complain of him though but in our thoughts that he sometimes lets us feel a little of his anger and puts us in mind of our Sins and of his own Justice and that as he is a Gracious and a Bountiful so he is withal a Holy God Which consideration should prevail the more because 2. God has absolute Authority over us and so is every way just in correcting us for our Offences not only because we have done that which deserves Punishment but because also he has a just and rightful Power to punish us for it Tho' a Man knows that he has done ill yet every body must not take upon him to give him correction A Servant will submit to his Master and a Child to his Father and the Subject to the Magistrate when they will not bear Punishment from every Hand as there is no reason that they should How much more should we submit to the Chastisement of the Almighty who is the Father of Spirits and our Sovereign Lord upon whom we absolutely depend because he made us out of nothing and sustains us every moment that we live When we were born we brought nothing with us into the World but have lived ever since upon the good things which God of his Bounty hath lent us for our use And if he for good Reasons takes them away he does us no wrong for they are not ours otherwise than by his continual Gift Which consideration disposed Job to submit when he was divested of all Naked came I out of my Mothers Womb and naked shall I return thither To the Earth from whence I was taken The Lord gave c. Let us remember that no Lord has that right over his Servant nor Parent in his Child which God has in us all and that since there is no obligation like to that which we have to God that
the Temptation Men of Probity and Lovers of Truth should upon diligent examination hold it faster than otherwise they would have done This is one of the great advantages to which that opposition tends which Truth has met with in the World And therefore the more lofty those Pretences are by which the other Church would bring us to an intire submission to her Authority in every point of Religion so much greater reason there is to examine every one of her particulars and if I find that she is mistaken in any of them I am very sure that she is not infallible in all And if she will not allow me to make a Judgment of the Particulars 't is just as if a Man should try to hinder me from casting up my own Accounts by going about to prove that he cannot possibly mistake in doing it he might indeed shew some Wit in working his Demonstration but I should shew a great deal more folly in trusting him To conclude We have a Rule whereby to try the Doctrine I will not only say of a Church or a Pope or a Council but even of an Angel from Heaven if an Angel should come and preach to us and that Rule is the Holy Scripture especially the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles These are by all Christians acknowledged to be the undoubted and the most ancient Records of our Holy Religion and they have had a Tradition so uncontroulable as no Books in the World ever had the like Whoever therefore is our Guide it is very reasonable that this should be our Rule And of all Churches in the World I will never trust my self to her discretion that will not trust me with the Knowledge and Study of this Rule Here we may if we please make our selves very sure that we are of those whom God will justifie for here we may discern what kind of Persons St. Paul and the Christians of whom he speaks in this place and what all the Apostles and Primitive Disciples of our Lord were For those Books which acquaint us with their Names and which were written by some of themselves do also discover to us what Faith they professed what Doctrine they taught and what Lives they led Now if we profess that very Faith and teach no other Doctrine and frame our practice by their Rules and good Examples then without all question we are such kind of Christians as they were and then altho' we should be used by the World as they were too yet the encouragement and comfort which they had will also belong to us and we too may say Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again Having therefore the infallible Rule of God's Word whereby to guide our selves We beseech you Brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so you would abound more and more that while evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived ye may continue in the things which ye have learned knowing of whom ye have learned them even from the Sayings of our Lord Jesus and his holy Apostles delivered to us in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus Let us remember that it had been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness than after we have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to us not forgetting by any means that 't is a way of righteousness we have been made to know and an holy Commandment that hath been delivered to us from which therefore we may depart as damnably by an impure Conversation as by leting go our pure Profession in which case we are so far from being justified that we shall be the more condemned by our Faith We have no false Principles to save our Hearts from condemning us if we allow our selves in any way of wickedness and God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Whoever else condemns us that is more than recompence enough if God justifieth But who is he that shall justifie us if God condemns FINIS THE SUMM OF A CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the Point of TRANSUBSTANTIATION The Third Edition LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1698. The SUM of a CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the POINT of TRANSUBSTANTIATION Introduction IT will perhaps appear to some a little strange that I do not say almost Incredible that there should have pass'd a Conference above two years since in which Mr. Gooden was concern'd and the World yet to learn the Substance of it The Vanity of that Gentleman to thrust himself upon all Occasions into Disputes with the most Learned Men of our Church first and then to boast of his own Performances in them was so great that there is scarce a Coffee-house in the Town that has not been filled with the Noise of his impertinent Vapours And if those of the other Communion have been always remarkable for an Assurance becoming the pretended Infallibility of their Church I may venture to say that next to Father P the Jesuit and his Friend Mr. M I scarce know any among them that have ever talk'd so loud or made such Heroical Defiances of the Champions and Armies of our Israel in all Places and upon all Occasions as Mr. Gooden these late Years has done among us But thus shallow Waters always run with the greatest Noise and Violence and little Sophisters who either want Capacity to see into their own Fallacies or think they have forehead enough to carry that off with Clamour and Confidence which they cannot do by Reason and Argument delight to expose themselves and their Religion to the most dangerous Tryals whilst Men of Learning and Judgment are modest and ingenuous and know it to be neither for the Honour of their Church nor their own Reputation to challenge all Mankind to answer Paradoxes and to shew that not to be Demonstration which when brought to the tryal is hardly sense See Mr. G's Pap. I hope this will not be thought too severe a Reflection on the late Pretenders of this kind among us which I speak out of a just respect to the more learned and charitable Persons of the Church of Rome who have been no less scandalized at these forward Zealots than our selves and to whom I ought to give this Testimony That during a long acquaintance with many of them I never met with any thing of the Vanity of those I have before-mentioned Our Differences in matters of Religion made no Disturbance either in our Friendship or Conversation with one another If the discourse at anytime led to a Controversie of