be of a meaner Capacity and be willing to Learn he may by the help of a Teacher be brought to understand them without any great pains and such Teachers God hath appointed in his Church for this very purpose and a Succession of them to continue to the end of the World In a word when we say the Scriptures are plain to all Capacities in all Things necessary we mean that any Man of ordinary Capacity by his own Diligence and Care in Conjunction with the Helps and Advantages which God hath appointed and in the due Use of them may attain to the Knowledge of every Thing necessary to his Salvation and that there is no Book in the World more plain and better fitted to Teach a Man any Art or Science than the Bible is to Direct and Instruct Men in the Way to Heaven and it is every Man's fault if he be ignorant of any Thing necessary for him to believe or do in order to his Eternal Happiness III. Good Men are likewise secured from Fatal Errors in Religion by the Infallible Promise of God if so be that with honest Minds and due Diligence they apply themselves to the understanding of this Rule and make use of the Means of Instruction which God hath provided for that purpose God hath promised to Gaide and Teach the Humble and Meek that is such as are of a Submissive and Teachable Temper desirous and diligent to be Instructed in the Truth Prov. 2. 2 3 4 5. If thou incline thine Ear to Wisdom and apply thine Heart to Understanding yea if thou cryest after Knowledge and liftest up thy Voice for Understanding if thou seekest her as Silver and searchest for her as for hid Treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the Knowledge of God And here in the Text our Saviour assures us that If any Man be desirous to do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether he spake of himself i. e. he shall be able to discern the Doctrines which are from God This is the Provision which God hath made for our security from Fatal Mistakes in Religion and this is in all Respects a better Security and more likely to Guide and Conduct us safely to Heaven than any Infallible Church and that for these Reasons First Because it is much more certain that God hath made this Provision which I have mentioned than that there is an Infallible Church appointed and assisted by him to this Purpose That the Scriptures are an Infallible and Adequate Rule and sufficiently plain in all Things necessary I have already proved and I add further that this was the constant Judgment of the Ancient Church and so declared by the Unanimous Consent of the Fathers of it for many Ages and that all Councils in their Determination of Faith proceeded upon this Rule 'till the Second Councel of Nice I have likewise proved That God hath provided a Succession of Pastors and Teachers in his Church to Instruct us in this Rule and that we have God's Infallible Promise for our security from dangerous Errors and Mistakes if with an honest Mind and due Diligence we apply our selves to understand this Rule and make use of the Means of Instruction which God hath provided for that Purpose But that there is an Infallible Church Appointed and Assisted by God to Declare and Determine Matters of Faith and to be an Infallible Interpreter of Scripture is not certain because there is no clear and express Text of Scripture to that purpose that any Church whatsoever much less that the Church of Rome hath this Power and Priviledge Nay I add further That it is Impossible according to the Principles of the Church of Rome that this should be proved from Scripture because according to their Principles we cannot know either which are the true Books of Scripture or what is the true Sense of Scripture but from the Authority and Infallible Declaration of that Church And if so then the Infallibility of the Church must be first known and proved before we can either know the Scriptures or the sense of them and yet 'till we know the Scriptures and the sense of them nothing can be proved by them Now to pretend to prove the Infallibility of their Church by Scripture and at the same time to declare that which are the true Books of Scripture and what is the true sense of them can only be proved by the Infallible Authority of their Church is a plain and shameful Circle out of which there is no way of escape and consequently that God hath appointed an Infallible Church is Impossible according to their Principles ever to be proved from Scripture and the Thing is capable of no other Proof For that God will Infallibly Assist any Society of Men is not to be known but by Divine Revelation So that unless they can prove it by some other Revelation than that of Scripture which they do not pretend to the Thing is not to be proved at all Yes they say by the Notes and Marks of the True Church but what those Marks are must either be known from Scripture or some other Divine Revelation and then the same Difficulty returns besides that one of the most Essential Marks of the true Church must be the profession of the true Faith and then it must first be known which is the True Faith before we can know which is the True Church and yet they say that no Man can learn the True Faith but from the True Church and this runs them unavoidably into another Circle as shameful as the other So that which way soever they go to prove an Infallible Church they are shut up in a plain Circle and must either prove the Scriptures by the Church and the Church by the Scriptures or the True Church by the True Faith and the True Faith by the True Church Secondly This Provision and Security which I have mentioned is more Humane better Accommodated and Suited to the Nature of Man because it doth not suppose and need a standing and perpetual Miracle as the other way of an Infallible Church doth All Inspiration is Supernatural and Miraculous and this Infallible Assistance which the Church of Rome claims to her self must either be such as the Apostles had which was by immediate Inspiration or something equal to it and alike Supernatural but God does not work Miracles without need or continue them when there is no occasion for them When God delivered the Law to the People of Israel it was accompanied with Miracles and the Prophets which he sent to them from time to time had an immediate Inspiration but their Supream Judicature or their General Council which they call the Sanhedrim was not Infallibly assisted in the Expounding of the Law when Doubts and Difficulties arose about it no nor in judging of True and False Prophets but they determined this and all other Emergent Causes by the standing
Roman Church That the Definitions of a General Council confirmed by the Pope are not Obligatory unless they be receiv'd by the Universal Church From whence these two great Inconveniencies will unavoidably follow Iâ— That no Man is obliged to believe such Definitions 'till he Certainly know that they are received by the Universal Church which how he should Certainly much less Infallibly know I cannot understand unless he either speak with all the Christians in the World or the Representatives of all particular Churches return back and meet again in Council to declare that the Universal Church hath received their Definitions which I think was never yet done II. It will follow that the Definitions of a General Council confirmed by the Pope are not Infallible 'till they be received by the Universal Church For if they were Infallible without that they would be Obligatory without it because an Infallible Definition if we know it to be so lays an Obligation to believe it whether it be receiv'd by the Universal Church or not And if such Definitions are not Infallible 'till they be received by the Universal Church they cannot become Infallible afterwards because if the Definitions were not Infallible before they cannot be received as such by the Universal Church nor by the meer reception of them be made to be Infallible Definitions if they were not so before But if we should pass over all these Difficulties there is a greater yet behind and that is Supposing the Definitions of General Councils confirmed by the Pope to be Infallible particular Christians cannot be secured Infallibly from Error without the Knowledge of those Definitions And there are but two ways imaginable of conveying this Knowledge to them Either by the living voice of their particular Pastors whom they are implicitely to believe in these Matters but particular Pastors are Fallible as they themselves grant and therefore their words can neither be an Infallible Foundation of Faith or an Infallible means of conveying it and it is unreasonable they say for Men that own themselves to be Fallible to require an implicit Belief to be given to them Or else the Knowledge of the Definitions of Councils must be conveyed to particular Christians by Writing and if so then there will only be an Infallible Rule but no living Infallible Judge And if an Infallible Rule will serve the turn we have the Scriptures which we are sure are Infallible and therefore at least as good as any other Rule But they say that the Definitions of Councils give us an Infallible Interpretation of Scripture and therefore are of greater advantage to us But do not the Definitions of Councils sometimes also need Explication that we may know the certain Sense of them without which we cannot know the Doctrines defined Yes certainly they need Explication as much as Scripture if there be any difference about the meaning of them and there have been and still are great Differences among those of their own Church about the meaning of them And if the Explications of General Councils need themselves to be explain'd then there is nothing got by them and we are but where we were before For Differences about the meaning of the Definitions of General Councils make as great Difficulties and Uncertainties in Faith as the Differences about the meaning of Scripture Well but the People have the living voice of their particular Pastors to explain the Definitions of Councils to them But this does not help the Matter neither for these two Reasons First Because particular Pastors have no Authority to explain the Definitions of General Councils The Council of Trent hath by express Decree reserved to the Pope and to him only the Power to explain the Definitions of the Council if any difference arise about the meaning of them So that if there be any difference about the true sense and meaning of any of the Definitions of the Council particular Pastors have no Authority to explain them and where there is no doubt or difference about the meaning of them there is no occasion for the explication of them Secondly But suppose they had Authority to explain them this can be no Infallible Security to the People that they explain them right both because particular Pastors are fallible and likewise because we see in experience that they differ in their Explications witness the Bishop of Condom's Exposition of the Catholick Faith and of the Definitions of the Council of Trent which is in many Material Points very different from that of Bellarmine and many other Famous Doctors of that Church And which is more witness the many differences betwixt Ambroâ—ius Catharinus and Dominicus Asoto about the Definitions of that Council in which they were both present and heard the Debates and themselves bore a great part in them Now if they who were present at the framing of the Definitions of that Council cannot agree about the meaning of them much less can it be expected from those that were absent Secondly This Provision which I have mentioned is likewise as good a way to prevent and put an end to Controversies in Religion so far as it is necessary they should be prevented or have an end put to them as any Infallible Church would be if there were one And this is another Reason why an Infallible Church is so much insisted upon that there may be some way and means for a final decision of Controversies which the Scriptures cannot be because they are only a dead Rule which can end no Controversie without a Living Judge ready at hand to interpret and apply that Rule upon emergent Occasions It is not necessary that all Controversies in Religion should either be prevented or decided This the Church which pretends to be Infallible cannot pretend to have done because there are manifold Controversies even in the Church of Rome her self concerning Matters of Religion which still remain undecided and in their Commentaries upon Scripture many Differences about the sense of several Texts concerning which she hath not thought fit to give an Infallible Interpretation And where their Popes and several of their General Councils have thought fit to meddle with Scripture they have applyed and interpreted Texts more improperly and absurdly than even their private Doctors And which is more in Differences about Points of Faith which are pretended on both sides to be fundamental this Church hath not thought fit to put an end to them by her Infallible Decision after two hundred years brangling about them For instance in that fierce and long Difference about the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin which on both sides is pretended to be an Article of Faith and for which contrary Revelations of their Canonized Saints are so frequently pretended and yet neither Pope nor General Council have thought fit to exert their Infallibility for the decision of this Controversie So that if their Church had this Talent of Infallibility ever committed to them they have with the slothful Servant
because the Pope it seems and no body else understands the true meaning of that Council at least is thought fit to declare it And therefore one may justly wonder at the presumption of those who after this Declaration of the Council have taken upon them to Expound the Catholick Faith and to represent that Religion to us as it is defined in that Council because if there be any Controversie about the meaning of its Definitions as there have been a great many even betwixt those who were present at the Council when those Definitions were made none but the Pope himself can certainly tell the meaning of them Now in this Creed of Pope Pius there are added to the Ancient Creed of the Christian Church twelve or thirteen new Articles as concerning Purgatory Transubstantiation the Worship of Images the Invocation of Saints the Communion in one kind and that the Church of Rome is the Mother and Mistress of all Churches and that there is no Salvation to be had out of it and several other Points all which have either no foundation in Scripture or are plainly contrary to it and none of them ever esteemed as Articles of Faith in the Ancient Christian Church for the first five hundred years and yet they are now obtruded upon Christians as of equal necessity to Salvation with the Twelve Articles of the Apostles Creed and this under a pretence of Infallibility which St. Paul tells us would not have justified an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven in making such additions to the Christian Religion and the imposing of any thing as necessary to Salvation which is not so declared by the Gospel of Christ And all that they have to say for this is That We do not pretend to be Infallible but there is a necessity of an Infallible Judge to decide these Controversies and to him they are to be referred Which is just as if in a plain matter of Right a contentious and confiâ—â—nt Man should desire a reference and contrive the matter so as to have it refer'd to himself upon a sleeveless pretence without any proof or evidence that he is the only Person in the World that hath Authority and Infallible Skill to decide all such differences Thus the Church of Rome would deal with us in Things which are as plain as the noon-day as Whether God hath forbidden the Worship of Images in the second Commandment Whether our Saviour did Institute the Sacrament in both kinds Whether the People ought not to read the Scriptures and to have the publick Service of God in a known Tongue These and the like they would have us refer to an Infallible Judge and when we ask who he is they tell us that their Church which hath imposed these things upon Christians and made these additions to the Gospel of Christ is that Infallible Judge But if she were as Infallible as she pretends to be even as an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven St. Paul hath denounced an Anathema against her for preaching another Gospel and making those things necessary to the Salvation of Men which are not contained in the Gospel of Christ The Inference from all this Discourse in short is this That we should contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints and not suffer our selves by the confident pretences of Seducers to be removed from him that hath called us through the grace of Christ unto another Gospel The necessary Doctrines of the Christian Religion and the common Terms of Salvation are so plain that if any Man be ignorant of them it is his own fault and if any go about to impose upon us any thing as of necessity to be believed and practised in order to Salvation which is not declared to be so in the Holy Scriptures which contain the true Doctrine of the Gospel what Authority soever they pretend for it yea tho' they assume to themselves to be Insallible the Apostle hath plainly told us what we are to think of them for he hath put the Case as high as is possible here in the Text when he says Tho' We or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed I will conclude all with that Counsel which the Spirit of God gives to the Churches of Asia Revel 3. 3. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and Chap. 2. 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer be thou faithful unto the Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life A SERMON ON JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self SINCE there are so many different Opinions and Apprehensions in the World about Matters of Religion and every Sect and Party does with so much confidence pretend that they and they only are in the truth The great difficulty and question is by what means Men may be secured from dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Religion For this end some have thought it necessary that there should be an Infallible Church in the Communion whereof every Man may be secured from the dangers of a wrong Belief But if seems God hath not thought this necessary If he had he would have revealed this very thing more plainly than any particular Point of Faith whatsoever He would have told us expresly and in the plainest terms that he had appointed an Infallible Guide and Judge in Matters of Faith and would likewise have told us as plainly who he was and where we mighâ— find him and have recourse to him upon all occasions because the sincerity of our Faith depending upon him we could not be safe from mistake in particular Points without so plain and clear a Revelation of this Infallible Judge that there could be no mistake about him nor could there be an end of any other Controversies in Religion unless this Infallible Judge both that there is one and who he is were out of Controversie But neither of these are so It is not plain from Scripture that there is an Infallible Judge and Guide in Matters of Faith much less is it plain who he is and therefore we may certainly conclude that God hath not thought it necessary that there should be an Infallible Guide and Judge in Matters of Faith because he hath revealed no such thing to us and that Bishop and that Church who only have arrogated Infallibility to themselves have given the greatest evidence in the World to the contrary and have been detected and stand convinc'd of the greatest Errors And it is in vain for any Man or Company of Men to pretend to Infallibility so long as the evidence that they are deceived is much greater and clearer than any proof they can produce for their Infallibility If then God hath not provided an Infallible Guide and Judge in Matters of Faith there is some other way whereby Men may be
laid it up in a Napkin and according to our Saviour's Rule have long since forfeited it for not making use of it And whereas it is pretended that the Scripture is but a dead Râ—lâ— which can end no Controversies without a Living Judge ready at hand to interpret and apply that Rule upon emergent Occasions the same Objection lies against them unless a General Council which is their Living Judge were always sitting For the Dâ—finitions of their Councils in Writing are liable to the same and greater Objections than the Written Rule of the Scriptures The Summ of all is this In Differences about lesser Matters mutual Charity and Forbearance will secure the Peace of the Church tho' the Differences remain undecided and in greater Matters an Infallible Rule searched into with an honest Mind and due Diligence and with the help of good Instruction is more likely to extinguish and put an end to such Differences than any Infallible Judge if there were one because an humble and honest Mind is more likely to yield to Reason than a perverse and cavilling Temper is to submit to the Sentence of an Infallible Judge unless it were back'd with an Inquisition The Church of Rome supposeth her self Infallible and yet notwithstanding that she finds that some question and deny her Infallibility and then her Sentence signifies nothing And of those who own it many dispute the sense and meaning of her Sentence and whether they deny the Infallibility of her Sentence or dispute the Sense of it in neither of these Cases will it prove effectual to the deciding of any Difference But after all this Provision which we pretend God hath made for honest and sincere Minds Do we not see that Men fall into dangerous and damnable Errors who yet cannot without great Uncharitableness be supposed not to be sincerely desirous to know the Truth and to do the Will of God To this I shall briefly return these Two Things I. That the same Errors are not equally damnable to all The innocent and humanly speaking almost invincible Prejudices of Education in some Persons even against a Fundamental Truth the different Capacities of Men and the different Means of Conviction afforded to them the greater and lesser degrees of Obstinacy and a faulty Will in opposing the Truths proposed to them all these and perhaps several other Considerations besides may make a great difference in the guilt of Mens Errors and the danger of them II. When all is done the Matter must be left to God who only knowâ—th the Hearts of all the Children of Men. We cannot see into the Hearts of Men nor know all their Circumstances and how they may have provoked God to forsake them and give them up to Error and Delusion because they would not receive the truth in the love of it that they might be saved And as on the one hand God will consider all Mens Circumstances and the Disadvantages they were under for coming to the knowledge of the Truth and make allowance to Men for their invincible Errors and forgive them upon a general Repentance So on the other hand he who sees the insincerity of Men and that the Errors of their Understandings did proceâ—d from gross Faults of their Lives will deal with them accordingly But if Men be honest and sincere God who hath said if any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine will certainly be as good as his word It now remains only to draw some Inferences from this Discourse and they shall be these three First From this Text and what hath been Discoursed upon it we may infer how slender and ill-grounded the pretence of the Church of Rome to Infallibility is whether they place it in the Pope or in a General Council or in both The last is the most general Opinion and yet it is hard to understand how Infallibility can result from the Pope's Confirmation of a General Council when neither the Council was Infallible in framing its Definitions nor the Pope in Confirming them If the Council were Infallible in framing them then they needed no Confirmation If they were not then Infallibility is only in the Pope that confirms them and then it is the Pope only that is Infallible But no Man that reads these words of our Saviour if any Man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine would ever imagine that the Bishop of Rome whoever he shall happen to be were secured from all fatal Errors in Matters of Faith much less that he were Endowed with an Infallible Spirit in Judging what Doctrines are from God and what not For it cannot be denied but that many of their Popes have been notoriously Wicked and Vicious in their Lives Nay Bellarmine himself acknowledgeth that for a Succession of Fifty Popes together there was not one Pious and Virtuous Man that sate in that Chair and some of their Popes have been Condemned and Deposed for Heresie and yet after all this the Pope and the governing part of that Church would bear the World in hand that he is Infallible But if this Saying of our Saviour be true that if any Man will do his will he shall know of his Doctrine whether it be of God then every honest Man that sincerely desires to do the Will of God hath a fairer pretence to Infallibility and a clearer Text for it than is to be found in the whole Bible for the Infallibility of the Bishop of Rome What would the Church of Rome give that theâ—e were but as express a Text in Scripture for the Infallibility of their Popes as this is for the security of every good Man in his Judgment of Doctrines which makes Infallibility needless What an unsufferable Noise and what endless Triumphs would they make upon it if it had been any where said in the Bible That if any Man be Bishop of Rome and sit in St. Peter's Chair he shall know of my Doctrine whether it be of God Had there been but such a Text as this we should never have been troubled with their impertinent citation of Texts and their remote and blind Inferences from Pasce Oves and super hanc Petram Feed my Sheep and upon this Rock will I build my Church to prove the Pope's Infallibility And yet no Man of Sense or Reason ever extended the Text I am speaking to so far as to attempt to prove from it the Infallibility of every good Man but only his security from â—atal Errors and Mistakes in Religion The largest Promises that are made in Scripture of security from Error and Mistake about Divine Things are made to good Men who sincerely desire to do the Will of God And if this be so we must conclude several Popes to have been the furthest from Infallibility of any Men in the World And indeed there is not a more compendious way to perswade Men that the Christian Religion is a Fable than to set up a Lewd and Vicious Man for the Oracle
imperfect State we know but in part and see many Things very imperfectly But when we shall come into a more perfect State that which is imperfect shall be done away the Light of Glory shall scatter all those Mists and Clouds which are now upon our Understandings and hinder us from a clear Sight and Judgment of Things we shall then see God and other Things as they are and be freed from all that Ignorance and those many Childish Mistakes which we are liable to here below and till then it is not necessary that we should be secured from them Humility under a sense of our Ignorance is better for us than Infallibility would be Secondly This Temper and Disposition of Mind which I have been speaking of is a certain security against Fatal Mistakes in Religion and a final continuance in such Errors as would prove Damnable and this is all that this Discourse pretends to or our Saviour hath promised in this Text. And considering the Goodness of God nothing is more improbable than that an honest Mind that seeks impartially after Truth should miss of it in Things that are Fundamentally necessary to Salvation And if we could suppose such a Man to fall into such an Error either it would not be Fundamental to him having not been perhaps proposed to him with sufficient Evidence and would be forgiven him upon a general Repentance for all Sins and Errors known or unknown or he would not be permitted to continue in it but the Providence of God would find out some way or other to convince him of his Error and to bring him to the acknowledgment of the Truth that he might be saved God would rather speak to him immediately from Heaven as he did to St. Paul than suffer him to continue in such an Error as would infallibly carry him to Hell Thirdly There is no such depth of Judgment and subtilty of Wit required to discern between gross and Damnable Errors in Religion and Necessary and Saving Truth but that an ordinary Capacity may be able to do it There is so plain a Line drawn between great Truth and gross Errors that it is visible to every Capacity and an ordinary Understanding that is not under a violent Prejudice or blinded by some Vice or Fault of the Will may easily discern it Indeed in Matters of lesser Moment and Concernment and which have no such considerable and immediate Influence upon the practice of an Holy Life the difference betwixt Truth and Error is not always so gross and sensible as to be obvious to every unprejudiced Eye But we have all the Reason in the World to believe that the Goodness and Justice of God is such as to make nothing necessary to be believed by any Man which by the help of due Instruction may not be made sufficiently plain to a common Understanding God hath so tender a Care of good Men who sincerely love him and his Truth that we may reasonably presume that he will not leave them under an unavoidable Mistake concerning those Matters upon which their Eternal Salvation does depend The Judge of all the World will do right and then we may certainly conclude that he will not Condemn any Man for no Fault and make him for ever miserable for falling into an Error which with all his Care and Diligence he could not possibly either discern or avoid Fourthly God hath made abundant Provision for our security from Fatal and Dangerous Errors in Religion by these three ways I. By an an Infallible Rule sufficiently plain in all Things necessary II. By sufficient means of Instruction to help us to understand this Rule III. By an Infallible Promise of Security from Dangerous Errors and Mistakes if with an honest Mind and due Diligence we will apply our selves to understand this Rule and make use of the Means of Instruction which God hath provided for that purpose First God hath given us an Infallible Rule sufficiently plain in all things necessary He hath given us the Holy Scriptures which were given at first by Divine Inspiration i. e. by Men Infallibly assisted in the Writing of them and therefore must needs be an Infallible Rule and all Scripture Divinely Inspired is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness as St. Paul tells us 2 Tim. 3. 16. speaking there of the Books of the Old Testament and there is the same Reason as to the Inspired Writings of the New Now if the Scriptures be an Infallible Rule and profitable for Doctrine and Instruction in Righteousness i. e. to teach us to believe and do it follows of necessity that they are sufficiently plain in all Things necessary to Faith and a good Life otherwise they could not be useful for Doctrine and Instruction in Righteousness for a Rule that is not plain to us in these Things in which it is necessary for us to be Directed by it is of no use to us that is in truth it is no Rule For a Rule must have these two Properties it must be Perfect and it must be Plain The Scriptures are a perfect Rule because the Writers of them being Divinely Inspired were Infallible and they must likewise be Plain otherwise tho' they be never so perfect they can be of no more use to direct our Faith and Practice than a Sun-Dial in a dark Room is to tell us the hour of the Day For tho' it be never so exactly made unless the Sun shine clearly upon it we had as good be without it A Rule that is not plain to us what ever it may be in it self is of no use at all to us 'till it be made plain and we understand it II. God hath likewise provided sufficient means of Instruction to help us to understand this Rule It is not necessary that a Rule should be so plain that we should perfectly understand it at first sight it is sufficient if it be so plain that those of better Capacity and Understanding may with due diligence and application of Mind come to the true Knowledge of it and those of a lower and more ordinary Capacity by the Help and Instruction of a Teacher Euclid's Elements is a Book sufficieâ—tly plain to Teach a Man Geometry but yet not so plain that any Man at first Reading should understand it perfectly but that by diligent Reading by a due Application and steady Attention of Mind a Man of extraordinary Sagacity and Understanding may come to understand the Principles and Demonstrations of it and those of a more ordinary Capacity with the help of a Teacher may come to the Knowledge of it So when we say that the Scriptures are plain in all Things necessary to Faith and a good Life we do not mean that every Man at first Hearing or Reading of these Things in it shall perfectly understand them but by diligent Reading and Consideration if he be of good Apprehension and Capacity he may come to a sufficient Knowledge of them and if he
of our Religion but by their own Writers also Nor is this mischief only confined to that Order their Casuists in general and even the more Ancient of them who writ before the Order of Jesuits appeared in the World have given such a Liberty and loose to great Immorality in several kinds as is infinitely to the reproach of the best and purest Religion in the World Insomuch that Sir Tho. Moor himself who was a great Zealot for that Religion could not forbear to make a loud Complaint of it and to pass this severe Censure upon the generality of their Casuists That their great Business seemed to be not to keep Men from Sin but to Teach them quà m propè ad pecâ—atum liceat accedere sine peccato how near to Sin they might lawfully come without Sinning In the mean time the Consciences of Men are like to be well directed when instead of giving Men plain Rules for the Government of their Hearts and Lives and clear Resolutions of the Material Doubts which frequently occur in Humane Life they entangle them in Niceties and endless Scrupulosities teaching them to split Hairs in Divinity and how with great Art and Cunning they may avoid the committing of any Sin and yet come as near to it as is possible This is a thing of a most dangerous Consequence to the Souls of Men and if Men be but once encouraged to pass to the utmost Bounds of what is Lawful the next step will be into that which is Unlawful So that unless Faith without Works will save Men notwithstanding the Infallible Security which they pretend to give Men of a sound and right Belief if it were really as much as they talk of the Salvation of Men would still be in great hazard and uncertainty for want of better and safer Directions for a good Life than are ordinarily to be met with in the Casuistical Writings of that Church especially if we consider that the Scriptures are lock'd up from the People in an unknown Tongue where the surest and plainest Directions for a good Life are most plentifully to be had insomuch that a Man had better want all the Volumes of Casuistical Divinity that ever were written in the World than to be without the Bible by the diligent studying of which Book alone he may sooner learn the way to Heaven than by all the Books in the World without it Fifthly and Lastly This Provision which God hath made is when all is done as good a Security against Fatal Errors and Mistakes in Religion as an Infallible Church could give if there were one and it is as good a way to prevent and put an end to Controversies in Religion so far as it is necessary that they should be prevented and have an end put to them And these are the two great Reasons why an Infallible Judge is so importunately demanded and insisted upon I shall speak to these distinctly and severally but because they will require a longer Discourse than the time will allow I shall not enter upon them at present but refer them to another Opportunity The Third SERMON ON JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self WHEN I made entrance into these Wâ—â—ds I proposed from this Text First To shew that an honest and sincere Mind and a hearty Desire and Endeavour to do the Will of God is the greatest Security and best Preservative against dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion In the next place I proceeded to remove an Objection to which my Discourse upon this Subject might seem liable Some perhaps might ask Is every good Man then secure from all Error and Mistaâ—e in Maâ—ters of Religion This is a mighty â—riviledge iâ—deed But do we not find the contrary in experience that an honest Heart and a weak Head do often meet together For Answer to this I laid down several Propositions By the Last of which I shew'd that God hath made abundant Provision for our Security from fatal and dangerous Errors in Religion both by the Infallible Rule of the Holy Scripture and by sufficient means of Instruction to help us to understand this Rule and by his Infallible Promise of assisting us if with honest Minds and a due Diligence we apply our selves to the understanding of this Rule and the use of these Means And this I told you was in all Respects a better Security and more likely to Conduct us safe to Heaven than any Infallible Church whatsoever and that for Five Reasons Four of which I have already treated of and now proceed to the Fifth and last viz. Because this Provision which I have shewn God hath made is both as good a security against Fatal Errors and Mistakes in Religion as an Infallible Church could give if there were One And it is likewise as good a way to prevent and put an end to Controversies in Religion so far as it is necessary they should be prevented or have an end put to them And these are the two great Reasons why an Infallible Judge is so importunately demanded and insisted upon I shall speak to these two Points distinctly and severally First Because this is as good a security against Fatal Errors and Mistakes in Religion as an Infallible Church could give if there were one For an Infallible Church if there were such an one upon Earth could not Infallibly secure particular Christians against Errors in Faith any other way than by the Definition and Declaration of those who are Infallible in that Church And there are but three that pretend to it either the Pope or a Council General or the Pope and a General Council agreeing in the same Definitions Not the Pope by himself nor the General Council without the Pope because the Church which pretends to Infallibility is not agreed that either of these alone is Infallible and therefore their Definitions can be no certain much less Infallible Foundation of Faith no not to that Church which pretends to Infallâ—bility So that if there be an Infallible Oracle in that Church it must be the Pope and Council in Conjunction or the Definition of a Council confirmed by the Pope Now in that Case either the Council was Infallible in its Definitions before they had the Pope's Confirmation or not If the Council was Infallible in its Definitions before they had the Pope's Confirmation then the Council alone and of its self was Infallible which a great part of the Church of Rome deny and then it needed not the Pope's Confirmation to make it Infallible Or else a General Council is not Infallible in its Definitions before they receive the Pope's Confirmation and then the Pope's Confirmation cannot make it so For that which was not Infallibly Defined by the Council cannot be made Infallible by the Pope's Confirmation But there is another Difficulty yet It is a Maxim generally receiv'd and that even in the
elsewhere expresly makes it the Condition of our Eternal Salvation Heb. 5. 9. Christ is there said to be the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him thereby implying that none shall be saved by Christ but those that obey the Gospel Heb. 12. 14. Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Rom. 2. 7 8 9. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality God will give Eternal Life but to them who are contentious and obey not the Truth that is the Gospel but obey Unrighteousness Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of man that doth Evil. I cannot well imagine what can reasonably be answered to such plain Texts but I will tell you what is commonly answered namely That God gives the Condition which he requires and therefore though these Promises run in a Conditional Form yet in truth they are absolute because he that makes a Promise to another upon a Condition which he will also perform doth in effect make an absolute Promise As if a Man promised another such an Estate upon Condition he pay such a Summ for it and does promise withal to furnish him with that Summ this in effect amounts to an absolute Promise of the Estate And this is very well argued if the Case were thus But God hath no where promised to work the Condition in us without the concurrence of our own Endeavours God may and oftentimes doth prevent Men by his Grace but he hath no where promised to give his Holy Spirit but to them that ask it of him And he hath no where promised to continue his grace and assistance to us unless we will use our sincere Endeavours nay in case we do not he hath threatned to take away his grace and assistance from us And if this be so then the Promises of the Gospel do not only seem to be Conditional but are really so And it is a wonder that any Man should doubt of this who considers how frequently in the New Testament the Gospel is represented to us under the notion of a Covenant since a Covenant in the very nature of it doth imply a mutual Obligation between the Parties that enter into it But if the Gospel contain only Blessings which are promised on God's part without any thing required to be done and performed on our part in order to the obtaining of those Blessings then the Gospel is nothing else but a Promise or Deed of Gift making over certain Benefits and Blessings to us but can in no propriety of Language in the World be called a Covenant But if there be some things required on our part in order to our being made partakers of the Promises which God hath made to us as the Scripture every where tells us there is then the Promises are plainly Conditional To instance in the Promise of Forgiveness of Sins Repent that your Sins may be blotted out that is upon this Condition that ye Repent of your Sins they shall be forgiven and not otherwise Can there be any plainer Condition in the World than is in those Words of our Saviour If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your Heaâ—enly Father will also forgive your Trespasses but if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Heavenly Father forgive your Trespasses This is so far from being any prejudice to the freeness of Gods grace who is infinitely gracious in offering such great Blessings to us upon any Condition that we can perform yet it were one of the absurdest things in the World to imagine that God should grant to Men forgiveness of Sins and Eternal Life let them behave themselves as they Will. Fourthly The last thing I proposed for the explaining of this Doctrine of the Promises of God was to consider when Men may be said to have a right to these Promises so as to be able upon good grounds to apply them to themselves And the Answer to this is very plain and easie namely when they find the Conditions of these Promises in themselves and not till then When a Man hath truly repented of his Sins so as to forsake them and lead a new Life and when he does from his heart forgive those that have offended him and hath laid down all animosity against them and thoughts of Revenge then hath he a right to the Promise of Pardon and Forgiveness and may apply to himself in particular what the Scripture saith in general that God will blot out all his Transgressions and remember his Iniquities no more When a Man doth constantly and earnestly implore the assistance of God's Holy Spirit and is ready to yield to the motions of it and does faithfully make use of that strength and assistance which God affords him then he may expect the continuance of his grace and further degrees of it When a Man makes it the constant and sinsincere endeavour of his Life to please God and to walk in all the Ordinances and Commandments of the Lord blameless and is effectually taught by the grace of God to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godlily in this present World then he may with comfort and joy wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ then he may with confidence depend upon God in sure and certain hope of that Eternal Life which God that cannot lie hath promised When he can say with St. Paul I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith then he may likewise triumph as he did henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righâ—eous Judge shall give me in that day Upon these terms and in these Cases Men may upon good grounds apply to themselves these exceeding great and precious Promises of the Gospel and so far as any Man is doubtful and uncertain of the performance of the Conditions which the Gospel requires so far he must necessarily question his Right and Title to the Blessings promised And if any Man think this Doctrine too uncomfortable and be willing to reject it upon this account I shall only say this that Men may cheat themselves if they please but most certainly they will never find any true and solid Comfort in any other This is a plain and sensible account of a Mans Confidence and good hopes in the Promises of God but for a Man to apply any Promise to himself before he finds the Condition in himself is not Faith but either Fancy or Presumption And therefore it is a very preposterous course which many take to advise and exhort Men with so much earnestness to apply the Promises of God to themselves and to tell them that they are guilty of great unbelief in not doint it That which is proper to exhort Men to is to â—ndeavour to perform the Condition upon which God hath promised any Blessing to