Greater Light we may be sure to make Streight Paths for our Feet till we come to the Perfect Fruition of them Nor are we commanded only to search the Scriptures but to prove all things by them to try the Spirits whether they be of God 1 Thes 5.21 1 Job 1.4 Luk. 12.57 and to judge of our selves what is Right That is we must use our own Reason and Judgment in comparing matters in Controversie with the Infallible Rule of Scripture For some Rule we must have to Prove and Try and Judge by And it is plain the Scripture takes no notice of any other Rule but it self and that of Modern and Unwritten Tradition as Opposite to it And this is security enough against any Dangerous Error considering that the Gospel is as much a standing Revelation to the Christian Church as the Law and the Prophets were to the Jews 5. We find the happy Effect of this Course so far that persons of ordinary capacity after a competent Trial of it do rightly believe and understand all that is necessary to their Eternal Salvation The necessary Articles of Religion are so visible in the Scriptures that it is the hardest thing that can be for an Ingenious Reader to overlook them That there is but One God that He only ought to be Worshipped that he sent his Only Begotten to Die for us that he Died and Rose again that as many as Repent of their Sins Believe and Obey the Gospel shall be Saved These and other Principles of Religion are so clearly and fully exprest in Scripture that there is no need of an Infallible Interpreter to certifie for them A common Understanding with the ordinary Means of Knowledge can reach the Discovery I mean without the help of a Roman Telescope or standing upon the Shoulders of St. Peters's pretended Successor This we know the Certainty of we feel it in our selves and we see the Demonstration of it in ten thousand Instances and do not think the worse of our Faith for being Protestant i. e. immediately Grounded upon the Evidence and Authority of Scripture We look upon it as our Inviolable Birth right to judge of Plain Truths when we see them And for this we have the general Sense of Mankind on our side and cannot think it reasonable to put it to any man to judge for us whether or no there is a God a Christ or a Heaven That all necessary Truths are plain is allowed by all Christians but those that make Articles of Faith necessary to Salvation which are so far from being plain that there is not the least mention of them in the whole Gospel And if all things that are Necessary are Plain then I hope a plain man may judge of them and without asking leave of any other man may believe them and so doing he certainly is in a state of Salvation And then the Church that declares he is not cannot be Infallible unless a Church can Err and be Infallible at the same instant 6. It is far easier for men who implore the Direction of God and use the Helps which he affords them to find their way to Heaven in the Scriptures than to find an Infallible Guide on Earth to lead them to it It must be granted that there are Obscure as well as Plain Passages in Scripture Some Places so very Dark and Intricate that they even Pose the most skilful and judicious Guides But thn our Happiness is that our Way does not lie Thorough them and that there is Light enough in innumerable other places to direct our Steps and to bring us in a Streight Line to Everlasting Bliss and Perfection I do not say that every thing tht concerns our Salvation is so clearly revealed that no man can be ignorant of it But that we may know as much as is needful for us if we apply our minds to it and laying aside all prejudice against the Truth beg of God to Preserve us from Error all which we have great encouragement to do since he has promised us the assistance of his Spirit in the search of Truth The Church of Rome indeed offers to put us into a shorter and easier Method of finding out Truth and to bring us to a Guide that will Infallibly shew us every step of our way So that we need not be at the Pains of any Tedious Inquiries nor any longer in danger of missing our Aim in them through the weakness of our own Fallible Judgments And who would not gladly embrace so Free and kind an Offer as this provided there be no Trick or Fallacy it it The Tryal of which will appear if the Proposes of this way of certainty be able to satisfy us in a few reasonable Cases without which as great as the Courtesy seems to be we cnnot prudently Accept of their Offer If a man should freely proffer me the Indies I must say it is a very Noble Gift if he can make it good and when he has convinced me that he can I will thankfully accept it from him but before he can give me Satisfaction about it I find ther must be a few words exchanged between us and therefore if he Pleases I desire him to tell me how he came to be the Owner of so vast a Treasure which is or lately was in the possession of so many Great and Potent Princes And which way he will put me into Possession of it c. If he cannot Answer these Queries as I believe he cannot I am sure he can never conveigh the Indies to me and therefor I will never trouble my Head more about them And thus I fear it will fall out in the case of an Infallible Guide to all Christians who were there such a Church or Person as they boast of at Rome that could infallibly solve all Doubts and put an end to all Controversies in Religion were richly worth both the Indies together But before I accept of the Conduct of this Guide I must desire to be satisfied in a few things in reference to him As 1. How I may be certain that there is such a Guide or Judg of Controversies For I find there is a great Controversy in the Church about it And if I can never be assured that there is such an one till he has ended all Controversies which is the great blessing the Church of Rome Promises from him 't is in vain in this Age of Controversies to enquire any farther after him But suppose it were not may I or any other Protestant determine this Controversy by the use of our own Fallible Judgments If we may then it seems a Fallible Judgment may do more sometimes than an Infallible Judg. However a Fallible Judgment is all the Judgment that we have and if by it we may be certain of an Infallible Guide which at Rome goes for a leading Article of Faith I see no Reason why we may not by the same means be certain of all the Rest and if we may
commonly the Deepest most lasting and indelible And hence it is that Men are generally very apt to stick to their first Principles be they true or false and for want of due enquiry how they came by them to take them for Divine Impressions and Eternal Truths And thus an Erroneous Conscience Usurps the Authority of a Guide the ordinary effect of which is a zealous Opposition against all that standin its way or presume to Check and disturb the Dictates of it For what ever ought to be it is plain that Mens present Thoughts and Principles are and will be the Rule of their Actions and that the worse any Principles are and the Earlier they are Instilled into them under the Notion of Divine Truths the more strongly they Impregnate their Minds and excite them to pursue the Tendencies of them And therefore we need not much wonder at those who are bred up in a Religion contrary to the Truth as it is in Jesus and to his Commandments of Love Peace and Unity Who are taught from their Cradles to call us Hereticks and to speak the bitterest things against us to Break their Faith with us and to mark us out for Destruction if in process of time they grow expert in all the Arts of Confusion and with undaunted Courage Undertake the Boldest Crimes which their Party and Principles do Countenance the Practice of 'T is true the Prejudices of Education are not invincible if Men would take a right course to overcome them But this is a rare case and there are but few in Comparison of those that choose to enjoy their Errors that are willing to make a Tryal of it And indeed when our green and tender Minds are once warpt by false and Pernicious Principles it is no easy matter to bring them streight and to put them into a right Posture again It requires a great deal of Consideration and Impartial inquiry into the Reason and bottom of things which some Men want abilities of mind others Leisure Humility Patience and Integrity to carry them through And the want of any of these is enough to answer for their obstinate persisting in their First Errours and unreasonable Opposition to the Truth 2. Affected Ignorance of the Truth naturally hardens Men in their Evil Principles and disposes them to approve of any Rugged and violent Course to keep up the Reputation of them The Jews in our Saviour's time had the greatest Advantages that ever Men enjoyed of being delivered from the Chains and Fetters of an ill Education I Pet. 1.18 or as St. Peter calls it From their vain Conversation received by Tradition from their Fathers They had the Brightest Revelations of the Divine Nature and Will that ever came from Heaven And those delivered to them by their own Messiah whom they had long expected In whom all the Promises concerning that Infinite Blessing to Mankind were exactly fulfilled Who wrought the greatest and most Astonishing Miracles that ever the World beheld Who gave them a Perfect Comment on the Law which had been miserably Corrupted by the Glosses of their Scribes and Doctors and layed open their Hypocrisies to themselves and all the People and yet so Blind and Sottish were they as to reject all his Admonitions with Spight and Scorn to Love Darkness rather than Light to Admire their Deluders and to Crucify their Guide to Eternal Bliss and Happiness Our Saviour himself Testifies of them in the height of their Rage and Malice against him Luke 23.34 that they knew not what they did They had been Taught their Messiah should be a Glorious King and Conquerour and such an One they must have or none They had been long wonted to a Pompous and Ceremonious service And therefore could not bear the thoughts of having the Stately Fabrick of their Religion Erected by God himself and supported by Moses and the Prophets taken down by the Carpenters Son as they stiled our Lord. These were the Fatal Chains that held them fast in that Dungeon of Darkness and Ignorance which Paradise it self could not Tempt them nor the Son of God could not redeem them from And is not the same wilfull and Affected Ignorance still to be found amongst the Adversaries of our Religion Some think there ought to be an Infallible and Universal Head of the Church on Earth and such an one they will have what ever it costs them Others that are strongly perswaded of Christs Personal Reign upon Earth think they ought to Fight for King Jesus against all Opposers And why is Ignorance so much Cherisht and Applauded in the Church of Rome but that it gives the Guides of that Church a mighty advantage to Mis-lead the People and Embolden them to act any illthing they are pleased to Impose upon them And this is the very use they make of it they Teach them to call Evil Good and Good Evil to Invert the Nature of things and to Fix the Crossest Names they can devise upon them and then Prosecute them directly contrary to their intrinsick merit Just as the Heathens Cloth'd the Christians in Beasts Skins and then exposed them to be Worried by Wild Beasts to Death They first teach them to call our Religion on Heresie which naturally creates an Implacable Hatred of it And having gone thus far they easily perswade them they cannot be too Zealous to suppress it the next step to which Persuasion is to think any thing to be lawful that will do it or if that will not do it shall be Meritorious And then to destroy Hereticks follows of course to be a Glorious Work But surely St. Paul did not think so when he confest the contrariety of it to the Name of Jesus Nor did our Saviour think so when he reproved the Rash and Destructive zeal of his Disciples who would have consumed the Samaritans by Fire from Heaven telling them that they knew not what manner of Spirits they were of And after this Luke 9.55 should I presume to say that the Controversies between us and the Church of Rome have been managed with invincible strength and demonstration of the Truth on our side Or should I say that no cause since the sealing of the Scriptures unless that of our common Christianity was ever better Defended than our departure from that Church I should not be ashamed of this confidence of boasting 3. Secular Interests have great Power to distort the Judgments of men and to inflame their Passions against those that differ from them in matters of Religion What ever it is they place their chief satisfaction in whether they are bound for the Port of Gain or Honour or Liberty we commonly find they make all the Sail that ever they can to come speedily to it If the way to attain their ends be to appear stoutly for this or that Party or Persuasion they will readily do it and serve the cause to the Utmost if they happen to thrive by it Men of corrupt Minds and destitute
him a numerous Off-spring trained up in the Knowledge and Fear of the Only True God instructed in all the minute instances of Obedience to him and preserved by Wonderful Providences against all the Malice and Fury of all the Fierce and Mighty Nations that were round about them The Jews in comparison of other Nations were the very Darlings of Providence they lived in a Land of Light when Darkness covered the Face of the whole Earth A Land whose least happiness was that it flowed with all kinds of Temporal Blessings there being no Nation as Moses told them Deut. 4.7 8. when they were going to inhabit that had God so nigh unto them in all that they called upon him for or that had Statutes and Judgments so Righteous as all the Laws which he set before them for a Lamp to their Feet and a Light unto their Paths and which if they carefully followed them would assuredly bring them to the Coelestial Canaan To them saith St. Paul speaking of God's Distinguishing Grace and Goodness to the Jews were committed the Oracles of God Rom. 3.2 Rom. 9.4 to them pertained the Adoption and the Glory or Divine Presence and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the service of God and the Promises And as the Jews of all Nations in the World stood the fairest for Eternal Life So those of them that lived in our Saviours time had Fairer Opportunities of being Happy than all that lived before them in expectation of his Coming And of all the Jews of that Age the Inhabitants of the Great Cities of Galilee such as Corazin Bethsaida and Capernaum living in the same Country and Neighbourhood that our Saviour did had the greatest advantages for the knowledge of the True God and the way to Eternal Bliss and Happiness They did not only hear the Fame of his Miracles and the Eccho of his Doctrine from distant Places but they Saw and Heard them in the most Affecting and Immediate Manner they beheld the Son of God cloathed with their own Nature they heard him Preaching in their Streets many of them that never saw or heard any thing in their lives before him They heard his Divine Sayings even the Words of Eternal Life from him they Feasted on his Miracles were Fed Healed and Inlightned by them and felt the Power of his Divinity in their Rescue from the Tyranny of Evil Spirits Thus Salvation came home to the Jews threw it self as it were into their Arms and without waiting for their Entreaties urged and obtruded it self upon them Mat. 1â— 16 17. And blessed are the Eyes which see the things which they saw and the Ears which hear the words that they heard It being as easie for such persons to enter into Life as it is to believe their own Eyes and Ears and to follow the Instructions they received from them So that the Jews of our Saviours time and especially those of his own Province and Acquaintance had the Best Means of Salvation of any People upon Earth And this was plainly the meaning of that Saying of his to the Woman of Samaria John 4.22 that Salvation is of the Jews 'T is true after the Ascension of our Lord and the Preaching of the Gospel to the Gentile World all those Nations to which the Gospel came stood upon the same Level with the Jews I mean had as Great Reason to believe the Gospel and embrace the tenders of it as the Jews themselves had those only excepted that saw our Saviour when he was risen from the Dead But some Nations have never yet received the Gospel and Myriads there are of People in the World that never so much as heard of the Name of Jesus or the Holy Bible Others that once embraced the Gospel and made a Considerable Figure in the Christian Church have by departing from the Faith and corrupting themselves with Lewd Errours and Practices lost all the Glorious Priviledges that were conferred upon them Of this number were the seven Famous Churches of Asia mentioned in the Revelations from whom Christ has recalled his Angels and fetchr away his Golden Candlesticks and left them in a Dark Night of Ignorance and Superstition And this shews that the Best Means of Grace and Salvation are not entailed upon particular Nations And that the Synagogue of Satan may stand upon the Ruines of those which were once the most Orthodox and Flourishing Churches In short if we take a view of the state of Religion in the Christian World at this day nothing is more evident than the Vast Difference there is in the Administration of the Word and Sacraments which are the Principal Means of Grace in several Churches of the Greatest Name and the Highest Pretence to Purity of Faith and Worship And that there is One above all the Rest where the Scriptures the Great Instrument of our Salvation are wrested out of the Hands of the People lest they should discern the wrong that is done them in denying them the Key of Knowledge and with their own Eyes see the things which belong to their Eternal Peace Now by all these Instances it is evident that there is a great Inequality in the Disposal of the Means of Grace and that God does not afford them to all Men or in all Ages alike But to some he gives more and to others less according to his Sovereign Will and Pleasure Mat. 25.14 15. c. And this our Saviour hath very plainly represented to us in the Parable of the Talents which the Lord that was Travelling into a far Country distributed to his Servants To one he gave five to another two and to a third but a single Talent with this General Charge that what they had received they should employ to his advantage till his occasions should permit his return to them 2. I shall now endeavour to vindicate the Providence of God in reference to this Particular Dispensation of it by shewing that there is no Injustice in the Unequal Distribution of the Means of Grace and Happiness To clear this we must consider what a Reasonable Creature that is framed to desire its own Happiness may expect from a Just and Faithful Creator And surely he may expect that the Author of his Being and of his Desire of being Happy Hould once at least put it into his Power to be so And that he should not call him to an Account for not Improving any Advantages for it which he never enjoyed These two things I say he may promise himself because a Being Infinitely Good and Just as God is could not make him only to make him Miserable as he must have done should he either deny him all Power to be Happy or punish him Eternally for not improving the Power which he never gave him But then there is no Reason from the Nature of Justice to expect that God should do more for Man than this because this is enough to make him Happy if he be not wanting
and Tranquility of Mind in this World and Eternal Rest and Glory in that which is to come Then follows the Exhortation of which the Text is part Wherefore lift up the Hands which hang down and the feeble Knees and make streight Paths for your Feet By Paths we are to understand the General Course of our Actions which are then Streight when they lie even with the Rule that God has given us to Frame and Govern them by For streightness has a necessary relation to a Rule and consists in an evenness or adequate conformity to it And then we do make our Paths streight when we take due care to understand our Rule and being well assured of the rectitude of it to order our Actions so as to make them Answerable to it and when we have begun well to hold on our Course without any stop or deviation from it Now the Gospel being the Rule of the Christian Life the meaning of the Apostles Exhortation to the Hebrews who began to waver in the Profession of it must be this Having a Streight and Perfect Rule before you see that your Actions be conformable to it Don't faint at any Discouragements or follow any crooked and deceitful Paths but keep to them that are streight as the Gospel leads you which is the Direct and Infallible Way to Everlasting Bliss and Happiness From the Words thus explained there are three things observable of which I shall speak in their order 1. That there is a Streight and Direct way to Heaven and Happiness 2. That this Way may be certainly found with due care and enquiry 3. That having found the Streight Way to Heaven we ought to be very careful and exact in walking in it and not yield to any Temptation to forsake it 1st Observ That there is a streight and direct Way to Heaven and Happiness This is supposed in the Text which exhorts the Hebrews to make use of this Way and implies that they were already in some measure acquainted with it And well might the Apostle suppose that there is such a Way without being at the pains to prove it when it is universally owned by all that believe there is any such thing as True Religion in the World and that is all the World but the Atheist that is of no Religion Very many indeed are mistaken in their Way to Heaven But that there is a streight and certain Way thither was never denied by the Professors of any Religion for they all pretend to be in the Right Way how wide soever they are in Opinion and Practice from one another All the Controversie is which of those several Paths which men take to be the streight and plain Way to Heaven is truly so And certainly to know this is a matter of very great concernment and deserves a very serious and impartial Enquiry for tho a man may fall into the right way by chance that never enquires after it which is the case of those that Profess the True Religion for no other reason but because they were instructed in it from their Infancy yet 't is no virtue in such a man that he is in the right Nay he does not so much as know that he is and so long is in danger of being toss'd about and carried off from one Church and Religion to another according as the Wind of Doctrine sits and the Tide of Preferment turns He that takes his Religion upon Trust and never examines the Grounds and Reasons of it may be easily persuaded that he has no Reason to be Obstinate in it especially when he is like to be a loser by the hand and is fairly offered another that promises the Life that now is and pretends to give Infallible Security for that which is to come And hence St. Peter admonisheth the Christians that fled out of Judea for the freedom of their Religion 1 Pet. 3.15 to be always ready to give an Answer to every man that should ask them a Reason of the Hope that is in them i. e. to be able to defend their Religion and themselves by declaring as often as their Adversaries urged them to it what certain Grounds and Reasons they had for it And in truth a Religion without Rational Grounds and Motives to induce us to the Belief and Practice of it is not worth the suffering or contending for But perhaps it will be said allowing that there is a streight and sure way to Happiness yet there is such variety of differing Opinions and Persuasions about it that it is hardly possible to be certain where it is or when we have found it There are so many several Paths each of which are taken to be the right by those that are accustomed to them which yet can never be because they apparently cross one another that let a man be never so confident of the Goodness of his Way there are others who are no less confident that he is in a wrong Path and must come over to them if he will set himself right and timely prevent his Eternal Errors And since there is so great a diversity of Methods in Religion and so great a Confidence on both sides how is it possible for a plain man that would fain go the nearest and the streightest way to Heaven to be sure to find it Thus the Sceptick argues against the certainty of Religion in general and the Romanist thinks there is no Argument like this to confound the Protestants and to prove the necessity of an Infallible Guide But still I hope there is no great hurt in this Argument and that a plain man may be sure of finding his way to Heaven after all the Mistakes and Controversies that there are about it tho there should be no such thing as an Infallible Guide on Earth And this I shall endeavour to clear in the handling of the second Proposition evidently implied in the Text which is this 2d Observ That the streight way to Heaven may be certainly found with due care and enquiry I mean by men of ordinary capacity sincerely using the means which God is pleased to afford them without the assistance of any Earthly Infallible Guide Otherwise in vain did the Apostle admonish the Hebrews to make streight Paths for their Feet For supposing them uncapable of discerning between streight and crooked Paths either for want of a Rule to guide them or a faculty to apply their Rule to the several ways that were proposed to them it was to no purpose to give them any advice in this matter They that must judge of their Guides by the Rule of Scripture as all Christians are required to do must judge of their Rule first And they that cannot judge of a streight Rule when it lies before them cannot judge of an Infallible Guide As he that has not the wit to know when a Line is streight can be no competent Judge of a Perfect Mathematician For the fuller explication of this Truth it may be proper
to premise 1. That by the streight way to Heaven I understand as it is plain the Author of this Epistle does the way which God hath revealed in his Gospel the same which is there called the way that leadeth unto Life Mat. 7.14.22.16 Act. 16.17 2 Pet. 2.15 Heb. 10.20 the way of God in Truth the way of Salvation the right way the new and living way which Christ hath consecrated for us that is the Method which the Son of God by his Incarnation and Preaching the Gospel hath put us into for the attainment of Everlasting Life and Happiness 2. By the sure finding of this Way upon a due and careful enquiry I mean that Ordinary Christians by applying themselves to the study of the Scriptures the Sacred Records of our Religion with a clear and honest intention by imploring the Divine Asssistance and making that use they ought of their Spiritual Guides may certainly attain to the knowledge of all the Truths which are necessary to be believed and of the Duties required of them to be done in order to their Eternal Salvation And this is as much as any man that is sincerely inquisitive after the Way to Heaven can desire For who that is so can desire to be more than certain of his way thither Or to have a better Foundation for his Faith and Practice than the Authority of God himself who if there be any such thing as Infallibity in men must be the Author of it Now to prove that we may be certain of our way to Heaven without the help of an Infallible Guide I shall endeavour to make good these following Assertions 1. That the Blessed Author of our Religion hath left us a certain Rule to direct us to Eternal Life That there is such a Rule is as evident as that the Gospel is the Word of God or that the Doctrine of Christ is contained in the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles And in this all Christians are agreed Even the Romanists themselves allow the Scripture to be the Infallible Rule tho they are no great Friends to the Usefulness or Perfection of it But still we have a greater Authority than this I mean that of the Scriptures themselves which declare that they were written Joh. 10. ult that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God i. e. to be the Rule of our Christian Faith and that Believing we might have Life through his Name Tit. 2.11 12. That they teach us a Rule of Life and are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3.15 And hence the Primitive Fathers and the First General Councils appealed to the Scriptures as the True Standard of Christianity and condemned the Ancient Hereticks by the Authority of them In those days the manner was to set the Holy Oracles in the midst of the Councils to signifie that they ought to be consulted in all their Debates and that nothing ought to be imposed upon the Faith of Christians or decreed to be an Article of Religion but what may be found in the Gospel and is so determined by that Infallible Rule 2. Christ having left such a Rule to his Church it must be supposed to be Intelligible i. e. capable of being understood and applied by those that are to use it as a Rule Otherwise it can never serve the Great End it was given for to say which is the highest Reflexion that can be upon the Wisdom of him that gave it The Gospel pretends to shew us a streight way to Heaven but to what purpose if we can never find it by its directions If we must use it as a Rule we must learn from it what we are to believe and practise And if we must do so I think that is a plain and unanswerable Argument that we may do it For assuredly God would never make a shew of bringing us to Heaven by a Means which he certainly knows would fail us if we trust to it 3. The Institution of Pastors and Ministers in the Church for the instruction of private persons in the meaning of this Rule undeniably proves that our Saviours meaning was that all Christians should understand it themselves And then it is evident they may do it so far as they are concern'd and are qualified to judge in other matters For what use is there of Teachers but to assist and inform our Understandings and help us to make a Right Judgment of Things Or what benefit is there of being taught if we may not use our Judgment when it is rightly informed and be permitted to know when it is and when not This I am sure is the natural priviledge of Mankind and I do not know one natural right that our Saviour by any Institution of his deprives us of And certainly of all others he would never bar us of this because his Doctrine would be of little use to us without it For what sway is the Gospel like to bear upon our Minds or which way can it influence our lives till we know the true Sense and Uses of it which it is impossible we should unless we may exercise our own Judgments upon them Let my Guide be never so Knowing or Infallible 't is not his without my own knowledge that can make me sure of my way And therefore unless he has a way to conveigh his Great Knowledge into me and if he has it is surely through my understanding I am but just where I was without him and never like to make any Spiritual Improvement by him 'T is the Interest I confess of some Teachers that their Disciples should not see which way they lead them But those whom Christ hath ordained to this Office are sent to open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness unto Light that they themselves may see the things which belong to their Eternal Peace 4. Christians without distinction are expresly required to search the Scriptures and to prove all things by them as the Rule and Standard of Truth and certainty in matters of Religion Search the Scriptures saith our Saviour for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life John 5.39 implying that as there is a Treasure in the Scriptures a clear discovery of the Way to Eternal Life so it may be certainly found by those that duly search for it And if it may be found in the Scriptures of the Old Testament to which our Saviour here directs his Disciples there can be no reason we should despair of finding it in the New being infallibly assured 2 Tim. 1.10 that Life and Immortality were brought to the Light of the Gospel i.e. were more Emphatically Discovered being set in a better Light to us Christians by the New and Brighter Revelations of the Gospel than they were of Old to the Jews by all the Writings of Moses and the Prophets And then if we seek for Life and Immortality and follow the directions of this
be so it is plain there is no need of the Guide we are seeking for and then I doubt after all our searching we shall never be able to find him But there is one Argument above all that there is no such Guide viz. That Christ never Promised There should be one always in his Church And without a Promise from him we can never be certain that there is We know what is pretended in this matter and what Texts are produce for it but after the strictest and most deliberate Enquiry into the meaning of them we can find no evidence of any such Promise nor discern the least shadow or Footstep of a visible Infallible Guide We own indeed that God has Promised the Guidance of his Spirit to all that desire the Knowledg of his Ways but we the rather think that he has not promised any other Infallible Guide than this For what need is there of the Inward Direction of the Spirit in the Search of Truth when we have a Guide at hand that can lead us Infallibly into it and save us the labour of searching after it But did not our Saviour Promise to send his Spirit upon the Apostles and were not they Infallible Guides True but did he Promise to make their Successors in all Ages Infallible too If he did every Successor has an equal Claim And then how comes the Church of Rome to talk of but one Infallible Guidfe since the Death of the Apostles and to Appropriate that extraordinary favour to here self If he did not she must shew us a particular Charter or Promise that Infallibility should never depart from the See of Rome and when she does that we may allow her to be Infallible But supposing that Christ had promised an Infallible Guide it may be convenient to know 2. Whether or no he has given him Authourity to suspend the Judgment of all Christians in matters of Religion This we must say is a distinct Power from Infallibility unless we can imagin that our Saviour and his Apostles tho they were infallible did not know the extent of their Power For 't is plain they did not affect any such Authority or treat their Disciples in this manner but both required them to prove the Truths which they heard Act. 17.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and commended their Ingenuity in proving them by the Scriptures Besides a Guide whose Directions we must blindly follow without examinig the Grounds and Tendency of them seems to be a very improper means of bringing men to Heaven For surely God did design that in the exercise of our Religion we should act like men and not lay aside our Reasonand Judgment as things that are dangerous to our salvation 'T is true not to Judge at all is a certain way not to err but it is a very blind and unlikely way to bring men to the knowledge of the Truth without which their Obedience can never be a Reasonable Service And theresore if any Church or Person under colour of Infallibility shall assume an absolute Authority over the Consciences of men before I resign up my Judgment to them I must desire to be informed not only how they come to be infallible but what Commission they have to oblige me to believe as they please and to strangle my own Sense and Reason if they offer to oppose any Doctrine of theirs tho never so absurd or contradictory to them But suppose still there were Reasons to convince me that there is an infallible Judge and that there ought to be no Judge besides him yet because he cannot be useful to me till I know who he is there is another great Question to be resolved before I can prudently commit my self to him viz. How I may certainly know where to find him And here I meet with one vast Discouragement at the very entrance into this enquiry Namely that the same Church which alone pretends to this Infallible Guide is very uncer tain who he is Some chain Infallibility to St. Peter's Chair and place it in the Person of the Pope But this is the most Interessed Party as depending entirely upon the Pleasure of him whom they call Infallible Others send us to General Councils some of whcih have condemn'd the Pope for an Heretick and contradicted the Decrees of former Councils But then what think we of Oral Tradition Or the Doctrine of the Universal Churcvh conveighed by Father to Son from the Apostles Time down to the Present Age The General consent I confess of the Christian Church so far as it reaches is an excellent means to find out the sense of Scripture But we are not speaking now of Tradition or the Church as a Witness of Truth but of the Authority of any Church or Guide to prescribe a Rule of Faith and Practice by Vertue of an Insallible Assistance This is the thing we are enquiring after and where the Seat of this Authority is and all we can certainly learn hitherto is this That seeing there are so many controversies in the Church of Rome about it it will be a very hard thing to find it there And that in the Judgment of a considerable part of that Church a man may tire himself and be in quest of his Infallible guide all his Days and never come within sight of him at last For suppose he takes the Pope to be the infallible Oracle he is thought to be mistaken by all those that stand for a General council and if he go to a General council he is lost in the opinion of all that declare for single infallibility And the men for Oral tradition think they are all deceived that look for infallibility in any one Person or Party in the Church What must we do now that have so much choice of infallible guides and nothing to determine our choice Many we pick and choose at a venture But that cannot be safe because they have occasion sometimes to lead contrary to one another and therefore cannot be all infakubke and none of them speaks of more infallible guides than one Must we then weigh their Reasons and the Scriptures they produce for their several claims These we have often heard and considered and cannot but admire the confidence of men who pretend to sound the infallibility and other Prerogatives of the Bishop and Church of Rome upon Texts that speak not the least Syllable of them Whereas matters of this importance ought to be exprest in the easiest and plainnest Words that he that runs may read them If not only the Peace and Unity of the Church but every man's salvation depends as our Adversaries must say upon the Right understanding of there Texts we have that confidence in the Goodness of our Saviour that we certainly believe he would not expect we should find out a meaning in therm that by no good Rule of Interpretation can be collected from them And for this Reason we cannot think our selves obliged when any thing is said
in favour of St. Peter or the rest of the Apostles or of the Church in general to understend it and more than it implies as these men would have us of the Pope and Church of Rome For why might not St. Peter be a Rock and Pope Honorius a Monothelite and Liberius the Arrian no better than Waves Must the Gates of Hell needs prevail against the Catholick Church if the Bishop of one Diocess prove not so Orthodox as he should be And why may not Christ be with his Church to the end of the World tho he takes no greater care to preserve it from Error than from sinful Practice And is it not modestly done of the Church of Rome to engross all the Promises to her self which are made to the Church Universal And to argue all along as she does upon the Ciedit of ths No tabel Principle That a part is the whole which bids Defiance to all the Reason of Mankind Now since we cannot be sure of our Guide we must do as well as we can for our selves Wemust Judge of things by such Faculities as God hath given us and if they are Fallible was cannot help that but find it to no purpose to judge at all if we cannot be certain either till we are Infallible or till we can meet with an infallible Judge But the best of it is we may shift well enough without him having an infallible Rule to walk by plasn and easie to be understood by those that are duly instructed by it in all the Necessary Points both of Faith and Practice And for Doubtful cases as they require a Narrower Search and the Assistance of better Judgments perhaps than our own so God hath not left us destitute of these Advantages He hath appointed Men of Wisdom and Understanding to be our Guide and he hath promised to assist both them and us in the Search of Truth And if we will be directed by them in things whcih are above our Level we may satisfie our selves with this that we take the best course we can to meke our Paths streight and to secure our progress tcwards Heaven In a word we may be sure that God is always ready to bless the means of his own Appointment and that if we desire to approve our selves to him in the use of them either he will not fuffer us to err or he will not lay our Involuntary Errour to our charge I proceed now to the third and last Observation which is this 3. Obs That having found the streight way to Heaven we ought to be very careful and exact in walking in it and not yeild to any Temptation to forsake it The End of all the Advantages we have of knowing the Will of God is that we may readily apply our selves to the Practice of it If we stop at t is we certainly lose all our Labour in enquiring after it For 't is impossible we should reach to Heaven merely by knowing the streight way or beginning to walk in it unless we hold on our course and maintain it to the end It is to be hoped that we are all satisfied in our Religion and that we know why we are so having measured the several Doctrines and Institutions of it by the Line of Scripture And if we have done this with good Care and Judgment let those that take another Course be as Confident as they will there will be Confident Men to the end of the world we may be certain the while that we are upon the way to Eternal Life nad hope by the Grace of God to persevere in it But then I cannot promise you that you shall meet with no Discouragements in this way There is no Road upon Earth more infested with Treacherous and Deceitful Men that with great Civility will offer to shew you a Readier and a finer way to Heaven and tell you if you will but step a little out of your way to a Friend's house of theirs they will bring you to an Infallible Man that will save you many a weary step and prevent a multitude of Errors provided you will but be so civil as to suffer him first to pull out your Eyes which they say only serve to mislead you But if you will be so unreason able as not to submit to this you must look to your selves For tho the good men prosess a very deep compassion for the Blind and Ignorant yet they don't think themselves bound to keep Faith with Men that have their Eyes in their Heads I wish we had no Occasion to understand the Moral of this But let not your hearts be troubled You profess a Religion that can bear the Tryal and has past the Ordeal already Wherefore hold fast the profession of your Faith without wavering Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of it Who for the joy that was set hefore him endured the Cross despising the shame and it set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God And be not like children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine through the sleight of men and the cunning craftiness of tbose that lie in wait to deceive Lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees and make streight pats for your feet looking diligently lest any man sail of the Grace of God The way to be stedfast in our Religion is to be diligent in the practice of it This will give it a grace in the Eyes of Men and perhaps convince the Adversaries of it sooner than the best Arguments we can urge them with And this will secure us from sailing of the Grace of God in our greatest Tryals and Exigencies and from falling short of the Glory which shall be hereafter revealed I shall therefore enforce the Exhortation in the Text as it resers to our Practice with these two Considerations and so conclude 1. Let us consider the Honour and Interest of our holy Religion I need not tell you how much the Protestant Religion stands upon its Reputation at this Day and how watchful the Enemies of it are to improve all Advantages against it I would to God we would all seriously consider this and not betray the Interests of the best Religion by the Wickedness and Impiety of our Lives 'T is our Happiness to Live in the Communion of a Church which affords us all Advantages of knowing the direct and perfect way to Life and Salvation We enjoy the just Freedom of our own Reason and Judgment and have as much Liberty as we can desire to consult the Scriptures our selves We may go to the Fountain Head and try the Purity of any Doctrines that pretend to be derived from thence even when they are brought down to us by a whole stream of Interpreters So that it is to be supposed that our Religio hath approv'd it self to our Judgments and that we call it ours not because it was the Religion of our Fathers or had the good turn to be the
Sect in his Childhood and lived till he became a Christian exactly according to them as he tells King Agrippa in the hearing of the Jews at the fifth Verse of this Chapter And therefore what he charges himself with we are not to look upon as his own private perswasion only but rather as an instance of the general sentiment of the Men of his way and indeed as the Natural brood and Issue of Pharisaical Superstition By Superstition I mean a groundless Apprehension of pleasing God by doing things which he never commanded or forbearing those which he hath no where Forbidden And this was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great and leading Error of the Pharisees They added to the written Word of God and made more Duties and sins than ever the Law had made Their Traditions which had nothing to recommend them but the Custom of their Fathers they esteemed equal at least to the Divine Commandments Nay our Saviour expresly tells us They made the Commandments of God of no effect by their Traditions as if they thought to please him better in their own way than in His And Reckon'd they advanc'd themselves above others by what they did over and above their Duty as much in his asthey did in their own Opinion And hence Conformity to their Traditional Rites was their measure of Improvement and Perfection in Religion as appears by St. Pauls Character of himself Gal. 1.14 I profited in the Jews Religion above many of my Equals in my own Nation being more exceedingly Zealous of the Tradition of my Fathers Which words if we observe their connexion with those immediately before them seem to come in as the Reason why beyond measure as he there tells us he Persecuted the Church of God and wasted it i.e. His mighty Zeal for the Unscriptural Doctrines of the Pharisees was the true ground of his Bitter and furious Zeal against the Professors of the True Religion And this is the rather to be noted because it shews us the Spirit and Genius of that Sect that had the chief hand in bringing our Saviour to his Cross and first conspired the ruine of Christianity From the Words thus explained the matter I would crave leave to Propose to your serious considerations is this That the Consciences of Men may be so far mis-guided by Erroneous Principles and an Affectation of things in which Religion does not consist as to encourage them to the fiercest opposition to the express Revelations of God and the truths of Jesus Or more briefly thus That Christianity is liable to the sharpest Opposition from Men under the highest Pretence of Zeal and Conscience towards God and Religion In speaking to this Subject my Design is 1. To confirm the truth of this Observation 2. To shew whence it is that Men are liable to be thus Misguided by Erroneous Principles and transported with this Extravagant and Destructive Zeal 3. To make some Inferences that may be Useful to our felves 1. For the confirmation of this Truth That the Consciences of Men may be thus Misguided and their Spirits Inflamed by Erroneous Principles against the Truth may appear from our Saviours Character of his and his Churches Enemies and from many plain and undeniable Instances Parallel to this of the Confessor in the Text. 1. From our Saviours Character of His and his Churches Enemies Our Blessed Lord fore-seeing what a zealous Opposition his Church and Doctrine would assuredly meet withal after his decease takes occasion a little before his Passion to fore-warn his Disciples of it He had often told them in the general That they must look for Troulbe and Persecution from Men. Now the time of Tryal drawing on to prevent the damp of a Surprisal he Describes the temper and Spirit of their Enemies and shews them what hard measure they and their Followers must expect from them They shall put you out of the Synagogues i.e. excommunicate and curse you for Hereticks yea the time cometh That whosoever Killeth you will think that he doth God service John 16.2 It seems to kill a Disciple for his Religion was in the judgment of these Men like the Worshiping of God by Sacrifice They shall think by it saith our Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to perform a grateful Service or Sacrisice to God As if they knew no better way of pleasing him than by takeing a Lamb out of his own Flock and making it an Oblation to him Now this is certainly a very strange way of servig God and such as men would never have thought of if they had not Deify'd something more than him and changed the Glory of the Holy and Merciful God into a direful Image of their own Temper and Complexion whom they Worship instead of him And as I doubt not but the Jews were primarily intended in this Prophecy so to the Infinite Scandal of Christianity there is unanswerable Reason to think that many that shelter themselves under the Sacred Profession of it are very deeply concerned in it sure I am that all the Marks of this Prophecy the same Religious zeal exprest by the same rage rancour and cruelty are very fresh and easie to be seen upon them 2. By many plain and Undeniable Instances Parallel to that we meet with in the Text. The Apostles Confession was indeed a sinular thing But for the Crimes which he taxeth himself with he might as justly have charged his Nation with them the main Body of the Jewish Church especially the governing part of it being strangely Leavened with this Sowre and Destructive zeal They had a zeal for God as St. Paul himself Testifies of them but not according to knowledge for they knew not his Immence Goodness and Benignity to Mankind nor his only begotten Son when he was amongst them They had a zeal for the Law but so they presumed to call what ever they had made Law by their Glosses and Traditions and directed it against those that had a zeal against them And a very fierce and fatal zeal it was A zeal that Crucifyed the Lord of Life That threw the Apostles into Prisons That cleared the Synagogues of them and their Disciples That Crampt and Loaded them with Chains and Fetters and for a good work gave forty Stripes save one A zeal that suborned Witnesses and breathed out Threatnings and slaughter against Men of whom the World was not worthy a zeal that listed Men into Conspiracies and bound them under an Oath to Kill an Innocent Person An outragious zeal it was that made Men exceedingly Mad as one that had too much experience of it tells us v. 11th of this Chapter so mad as to think they ought to d many things contrary to the clearest Revelations of God and the Name of Jesus Nor is this kind of Zeal Peculiar to the temper of the Jewish Nation There are those in the World that would be thought the only Good Christians who roundly Excommunicate all other Churches for not complying with their
Dictates as essentiael to Christianity which the Scripturs and the next Ancient and venerable Writings do assure us are not There are those that call us Hereticks and have often proved us so as clearly as Fire and Faggot can do it because we are so strait-laced as to Believe but just so many Truths and Articles of Faith as were at first delivered to the Saints And are so Nice and Humorous as not to Believe the flattest contradictions to them There is a Church that for several Ages and in several Councils hath Decreed the Extirpation of Hereticks i.e. the most Orthodox Christians by Fire and Sword and fairly Recommended it as an Eminent Test of Catholick Zeal Others at least there have been who with mighty Confidence pretended to secret motions and Immediate Warrants from Heaven to Worry and Destroy all that should withstand them and their Doctrin I might tire you with instances of both kinds and make it appear that the Zeal of Christians against One another hath in point of Fierceness and Cruelty far exceeded the Pattern in the Text. For the Proof of this I might but desire you to take a short Review of the Ruines which Romish Zeal hath made in Protestant Countries from our own to the very borders of the Ottoman Empire To keep nearest home I might appeal to the Holy League of France for the Utter Extirpation of the Reform'd Religion And to the Barbarous Usage of more than many Thousand Christians in the United Provinces Grot. Annal lib. 1. I mean before the Quarrel began with the Civil Government I might refer you to Inquisitions Invasions and Massacres to the Burning Zeal of the Marian days and the Powder Conspiracy here in England that Master-piece of Inhumanity design'd no doubt to make amends for the long Peace and Tranquility we enjoyed under the Pious and gentle Reign of our Immortal Virgin Queen After these it were cold and endless to mention all the Impious and Unnatural Artifices of the Agents of Rome against the Lives of our Princes the felicity of our Government Foulis Hist of Romish Treasons and Vsurp and the Vitals of our Religion One thing in the general you may observe that when ever the Church of Rome hath lost any thing by dint of Argument she hath presently betaken her self to sharper and deadlier Weapons for the Recovery of it And methinks it is the least of Wonders that a ChurchPamper'd with Power and Wealth and Honours that thinks her self fit to give Law to the whole Christian World and that it is her Unquestionable Right and Duty by all possible means to do it should not wave her Principles and content her self to admonish and Weep over Obstinate Hereticks as our Blessed Lord did over Jerusalem when her designs call for Blood and Cruelty and 't is apparent that Men will not be made Obedient without them On the other hand there has been another sort of men that under pretence of Refining the Reformation have shamefully violated the Pure and Undefiled Religion that came from Heaven And for this I might refer you to the Wicked Outrages of the Anabaptists at Munster and the Terrible Battles which have been fought for little Phansies and affected singularities in Religion I might call to your Remembrance the many Insurrections and what I even Tremble to speak of the horrid Murther of the late Arch-Bishop in Scotland I might desire you to reflect upon the fierce and bloody Attempts which in our Memory and Nation have been managed upon the fifth Monarchy Principles In a word I might carry you to the Tombs of Kings Nobles and Prelates of worthy Patriots and Ministers of Justice of Preachers and Ambassadors of Peace who by hands lifted up to Heaven have been offered to use the Apostles Phrase upon the Sacrifice and Service of your Faith which some call Heresie and according to which we now Worship the God of our Fathers Now to apply these Allusions to the purpose of the Text I shall only observe to you that the chief Actors and Parties in them have at one time or other confest that they verily thought they were engaged in a good Cause many Apologies have been made and many volumes have been written for them Yea many have sealed it with their Blood and pronounc't it with their last breath that the things they did and Dyed for as ill as they look'd towards the World were done out of Zeal to God and Religion that is they thonght they ought to have done them as contrary and Dishonourable as they really were to the Name of Jesus I come now in the second place 2. To shew whece it is that Men are liable to be thus Misguided by Erroneous Principles and Transported with this Extravagant and destructive Zeal I confess 't is very natural to men to be warm and zealous for their own Doctrines and Sentimests ill so much that they that have the Truth on their side have not always the Charity and Good-Nature that should attend it But that this Inclination should so mightily raise the Spleen and fire the Spirits of Men That it should grow so violent Quarrelsome and Impetuous as to scorn the Restraint of Laws both Divine and Humane and break down all the Fonces of Government to set up the Kingdom fo Christ which is not of this World That the Disciples of so meek a Master as our Saviour was and the Professors of so Charitable and obliging so Holy and Healing an Institution as Christianity is should think themselves bound to promote every Crude Opinion with the Sword Nay that inspired and as they call themselves Infallible Men should be so much out of the way so exceedingly fierce and angry with all that are not of their Minds as to devote them to Present and Eternal Ruine These things are so extreamly full of Scandal and Contradiction that without a Demonstration of the Truth it were scarce Charity to believe the possibility of them But let us do that Right to Christianity and our selves as to see where the fault lyes and what it is that under the pretence of Conscience has wrought so much Misery and Coufusion in the Christian World To assign all the causes of these Evils would require more Time and Patience than the present occasion will allow I shall therefore confine my self to such as I think have the greatest Interest in them and are best able to answer for them 1. The first is Bad Education which has a strange Influence upon the Spirits and Persuasions of Men and is able to change the sweetest natural Dispositions into the Bitterest and fiercest Tempers The great Spring and Mover of Humane Actions in the Judgment of the Mind and therefore the first Information of the Judgment which is the Business of Education must have a mighty stroke in the Conduct of the Life of Man and the rather because the Impressions we receive of things while our Minds are free from all suspition and Prejudice are