do for thee before I be taken from thee And why not after if the thing were so proper But Elijah gave no encouragement to this nor is there any instance of any Prayer made to him by the Jews though it was certainly known he was in Heaven Nor yet to any Angel to Gabriel or Raphel or any other though the Angels certainly were as much in Heaven then as they are now Jacob's Prayer Gen. 48. 16. was to the Angel that redeemed him that is to Christ who often appeared as an Angel to the Patriarchs before his Incarnation and is called the Angel of God's Presence Isa 63. 9. All the Instructions for Prayer which we have in Scripture teach us to have recourse to God alone Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of Trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me Let any one shew the like Command to call upon the Saints and we will instantly do it Acts 2. 21. Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved But it is no-where said whosoever shall call upon the Name of St. Peter or St. Paul shall be saved Luke 11. 1 2. When one of his Disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray our Saviour gives this as the Model of all Prayer When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Which sure none can speak to a Saint or Angel who acknowledg themselves our Brethren and our Companions in Service Rev. 12. 11. Chap. 19. 20. Rom. 8. 15. They that are the Children of God have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry Abba Father And so Gal. 4. 6. For asmuch as ye are the Children of God God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our Hearts crying Abba Father That Spirit which is the Spirit of Adoption teacheth the Children of God to pray to God alone and that with humble Confidence as to a Father and all the Prayers that he forms in our Hearts are address'd to God as our Father So that that Spirit then that puts Men upon praying to Saints is another Spirit and not the Spirit of Jesus Christ And those that have not the confidence to address their Prayers to God whatever Spirit they are indued with have not the Spirit of Adoption All our Prayers and Thanksgivings are Spiritual Sacrifices but Sacrifices ought to be offered to God alone Psal 50. 14. Offer unto God Thanksgivings aâ—d pay thy Vows unto the most High. Hos 14. 2. Take with you words and turn unto the Lord say unto him Take away all Iniquity and receive us graciously so wâ—â—l we render thee the Calves of our Lips. Heb. 13. 1â— By him therefore viz. Jesus Christ let us offer the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is the Fruit of our Liâ—s giving Thanks in his Name 1 Pet. 2. 5. Christians are an Holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ It is a vast knowledg that the Saints to whom we pray must be supposed to have For they must be supposed to know where their Petitioners are what they want and how truly and rightly they pray and this perhaps of Persons in a thousand places or more if they should pray all to the same Saint at the same time As for instance to St. Paul or St. Peter what if all the People in the World should pray to them at the same time as 't is possible and may be done upon Popish Principles then St. Peter and St. Paul must know the Conditions of all the Men in the World at the same time or to instance in St. Nicholas the Sea-man's Saint in the words of an excellent Author He must be supposed to hearken when he is in Heaven suppose to what one Sea-man prays in a Shipwrack at the Straits to what another wishes for when he is becalm'd in the South-Sea to the Cries of another who sees an Hurricane by the Barbadots to the private desires of another who fishes for Pearls in the Guiny-Shore or Herrings by our English-Coast or for Whales hard by Greenland or for Trouts in the small Rivers and he must be able to hear what thousands of Passengers who cry to him being ready to perish in as many places all at once and withal in these numberless Places and Exigencies what they both think and deserve in order to the returning of suitable Reliefs and Helps Is not this a vast Knowledg for a mâ—re Creature to have But we are well assured both by Scripture and the nature of the thing that 't is vastly above them and is what they have not And therefore to ascribe it to them what is it but Idolatry The Saints in Heaven do not hear our Prayers To Hear Prayers is made the peculiar Attribute of God in Scripture Psal 65. 2. Oh thou that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all Flesh come For Psal 145. 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon him to all that call upon him in Truth But can any one say so of the Saints Their Essence is not infinite to be in all Places of the World near unto all those that cry unto them The Saints departed do not know our particular Necessities Eccles 9. 5 6. For the Dead know not any thing also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perish'd Job 14. 21. His Sons come to honour and he knoweth it not and they are brought low but he perceiveth it not of them He doth not know the Condition or Necessities of his nearest Relations Isa 63. 16. Thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not Yet Abraham was now in Heaven into whose Bosom the Faithful pass Luke 16. 22. And God tells Josiah 2 Kings 22. 20. I will gather thee unto thy Fathers and thine Eyes shall not see all the Evil which I will bring upon this place He was not sensible after his departure of the publick Miseries much less the particular Necessities of his People If the Saints departed know our Necessities how do they know them They are not Omnipresent are they Or do they see all in the Face of God But 't is certain the Angels do not for they know not the Day of Judgment Mat. 13. 32. Besides if they see all things in the Face of God this is to make them Omniscient as God is and so to make them Gods or do they only see some things If they only see some things how shall we be assured that they see either us praying or what we want For who can tell but these may be some of those Things which they do not see Or do they only know all things that occur by the information of Ministring-Angels But how are we sure that the Angels themselves know all our Affairs tho they may know some wherein their own Comfort and Happiness is likewise concern'd as the Conversion of a Sinner which brings Joy in Heaven Luke 15. 7. This one thing
preach'd 2 Pet. 1. 19. We have a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well to take heed St. Peter praises those that read the Prophets and why should Men he blamed then for reading the Apostles and Evangelists Note whereas he says vers 20. That no Propheâ—cy of the Scripture is of any private Interpretation He doth not speak it to deter private Men from the reading or judging of the sense of it but to shew the sureness of their Rule that it was not first interpreted or written by the Fancy or Will of private Men but it came by the Will of God and holy Men of God spake therein as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ver 21. Acts 8. 27 28. Behold a Man of Ethiopia an Eunuch of great Authority and Power under Candace the Queen who had the charge of all her Treasure as he was returning from Jerusalem and fitting in his Chariot read Isaias the Prophet Observe that this Person was not a Church-man but a Treasurer or Minister of State to the Queen And Philip was sent to him by the Spirit to help him to understand the Prophecy he was reading Which is a clear Testimony of the holy Spirit 's approbation of his practice and is a great incouragement to others to do the like and in doing so to hope for the divine Direction and Blessing Acts 17. 11. 't is said The Bereans therefore were more noble than than those of Thessalonica in that they received the Word with all readiness and searched the Scriptures daily to know whether these things were so 'T is noted as an Instance of an excellent Spirit in them that they search'd the Scriptures for their satisfaction about what was delivered by the Apostles So 2 Tim. 3. 15. From a Child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures See here a Child exercised in the Holy Scriptures And this is noted by the Apostle as an excellent and praise-worthy thing in him Observe that the Apostle St. Paul addresses the most part of his Epistles not to the Priests or Bishops but to the Churches of God to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus and to all that call on the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ see Rom. 1. 7. 1 Cor. 1. 2. 2 Cor. 1. 1. Gal. 1. 2. Ephes 1. 1. And to shew clearly that he wrote to the People as well as to the Pastors he distinguishes them in his Epistle to the Philippians Chap. 1. 1. Paul and Timotheus the Servants of Jesus Christ To all the Saints that are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons So likewise St. James addresses his Epistle to the Twelve Tribes that are scattered abroad And St. Peter his first Epistle To the Strangers scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and â—ithynia Chap. 1. 1. His second Epistle is yet more general To all those that have obtained like precious Faith with us through the Righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ St. John writes to Fathers to young Men and to Children Now what colour can there be to hinder those Persons from reading those Epistles that were sent and addrest to them Add to this that the Apostles did formally and expresly command and require Persons to read their Epistles Thus Col. 4. 16. When this Epistle is read among you cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea So 1 Thess 5. 27. I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read to all the Holy Brethren And note that for this end they were writ in a Language best known to the generality of People As also all the Holy Scripture besides was writ in a Language that was best understood by the People for whom it was writ The Old Testament in Hebrew for the use of the Jews The New Testament in Greek that being the Language then most generally used And for this end there were Translations made of the Scriptures into the Languages of several Nations that People of all sorts might read them As to what is said 2 Pet. 3. 16. That in the Scriptures there are some things hard to be understood which many do wrest to their own destruction It is from the vice and rashness of Men that they do so wrest them which if they were of humble and teachable spirits they might avoid And therefore to prevent this wresting of them the Apostle doth not prohibit the People the reading of them but only cautions them that they be not led away with these Errors of the Wicked and directs them to grow more in knowledg the way to attain unto which is to peruse them with greater care and diligence And it is an unreasonable thing to build a Prohibition of reading the Scriptures upon a far-fetch'd consequence from this Text against so many express Commands to the contrary Yet see moreover Rev. 1. 3. Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy and keep those things that are written therein Note here the most difficult Book of Scripture is commended to Mens reading and the Spirit of God calls those Blessed that read and keep it And what reason can there be then to deter Men from reading the Gospels and Epistles of the Apostles which contain Things much more familiar and easy to be understâ—â—â—â—â— Of the Church CHAP. IV. That the State of the Church is always visible Bellarm. de Eccles lib. 3. cap. 11. THat the Church of God shall continue in being in all Ages is not denied but that it shall be always gloriously and conspicuouly visible to the observation of all Persons that they may know whither to have recourse to it to join in communion with it and may be moved thereunto by its splendour is against many Scripture-Instances and Prophecies to the contrary Which many Times comes to pass through the prevailing of Corruptions in it or Persecutions against it which very much darken and obscure it So that a very few Persons may retain the purity of Doctrine in it and those not visible to the Notice of many others As for Example What was the Face of the Church then when God brought Abraham out of the 〈◊〉 of Infidels and Idolaters Gen. 12. What was the Face of the Church when Israel was in Egypt where they defiled themselves with the Idols of Egypt Ezek. 20. 7 8. Then they rebelled against me says God and would not hearken unto me they did not every Man cast away the Abominations of his Eyes neither did they forsake the Idols of Egypt then I said I will pour out my Fury upon them and mine Anger against them in the midst of the Land of Egypt Here was a very great Corruption in the State of the Church and that in the very chief and principal Points of Religion What was the Face of the Church in the Time of the Judges of Israel Judg. 2. 10 11 12 13. All that Generation were gathered unto their Fathers and
' s Judgment-Seat where I ought to be judged being a Roman So he acknowledges Cesar's Jurisdiction Yet to the Jews I have done no wrong as thou very well knowest though I were liable to their Courts If I be an Offender or have committed any thing worthy of Death by the Roman Laws I refuse not to die so he readily submits himself to the Trial of their Laws and to the Sentence to be inflicted according to them But if there be none of these things whereof they accuse me no Man may deliver me unto them to be punished by them I appeal unto Cesar the Roman Emperor as my proper and lawful Judg. And is not this a plain acknowledgment then of Cesar's just Authority But saith Bellarmine he was constrained to appeal unto Cesar because the Gentiles and Jews would have mock'd him and with good reason if he had appealed to St. Peter who was his Soveraign Prince and Judg. Recognet lib. de sum Pontif. de Cleâ— lib. 1. cap. 30. Is not this prettily said of so great a Cardinal CHAP. X. That the Church of Rome is Infallible and that it belongs to her to judg of the Sense of Scripture so that all Persons are bound up to her Judgment and Definitions Catech Roman part 1. de 9 Art. Symbol §. 18. Council of Trent Sess 4. Decret de Edit usu Sacr. libr. THis is contrary to all those Texts of Scripture that allow a Judgment of Discretion to every private Person in Matters of Religion whereby they are at liberty to judg for themselves and to try and examine the Doctrines which they are taught whether they be true or false or whether revealed by God or no. As 1 Thess 5. 21. Prove all things hold fast that which is good How must we prove all things if we must take them upon trust without examination from any Person whatsoever 1 John 4. 1. Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the World. So that we are not to give up our selves by an Implicit Faith to be led by any Persons whatsoever that pretend themselves Guides but examine their Doctrines before we receive them And here 's no referring of Christians to an Infallible Judg to whose Sentence and determination all are bound to submit which the Apostle ought in all reason to have done if such an one had been constituted in the Church and not to leave it to every Man 's private Judgment to examine these things as he doth 1 Cor. 10. 15. I speak as to wise Men judg ye what I say The Apostle implies a Capacity and Power in private Men to judg and discern of the Doctrine proposed And though he was guided by an Infallible Spirit yet he doth not expect that Men should blindly submit to his Doctrine but requires them to make use of this Power of discerning in themselves Acts 17. 11. The Bereans are commended for searching the Scriptures daily to know whether those things were so or no which were delivered by the Apostles themselves Gal. 1. 8. Tho we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which ye have received let him be accursed This plainly supposeth that Christians may and can judg in themselves when Doctrines are contrary to the Gospel and that they ought to do it and not blindly rely upon on any one no not an Apostle or Angel from Heaven 1 Pet. 3. 15. Be ready always to give an Answer to every Man that asketh you a Reason of the Hope that is in you Christians must understand and judg of the Grounds of Faith themselves Mat. 7. 15 16. Beware of false Prophets which come to you in Sheeps-clothing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves Ye shall know them by their Fruits How should they beware of them if they cannot discern or judg of them and their Fruits We have warning given us of seducing Spirits that shall be in the latter Days 1 Tim. 4. 1. And how can it be but Men will be in danger of giving heed to them if they must not judg for themselves or cannot discern their Doctrines Mat. 15. 14. They be blind leaders of the Blind And if the Blind lead the Blind they both fall into the Ditch The Leaders of the People you see were blind And the People that follow blind Leaders shall perish with them This is a fair warning to us not blindly to submit to the guidance of any So that there is no other way but for the People themselves by a diligent and serious perusal and study of the Scriptures to judg for themselves what the right Sense and Interpretation of them is and what Doctrines are true or false not refusing the assistance of their Spiritual Guides who are appointed for their direction herein yet not giving up themselves unreservedly or unlimitedly to any as Lords of their Faith. If there were a Judgment of Authority vested in any Person or Persons in the Christian Church which might impose upon all and to which all were bound in their Judgments to submit why is not this Infallible Judg referred to by the Apostles How is a judgment of discerning allowed to every private Person which is inconsistent therewith But for Men to judg for themselves is indeed a natural Right belonging to Men as Men and as rational Creatures And no Man can judicially embrace the True Religion unless he be permitted to judg whether that which he embraces be the True Religâ—on or no. And supposing the Scriptures plain in all Things necessary to Salvation as hath been proved Chap. 2. so that every Man of ordinary capacity after competent Instruction in Matters of Religion may arrive to a sufficient understanding of all those â—hings that are so he may judg of them as well for himself as any Man or company of Men can judg for him For every Man can judg of what is plain And therefore 't is reasonable that those things which are plain to every Man should be left to every Man's judgment And there can be no necessity of an Infallible Judg to guide or determine him therein The Civil Magistrate or Judg only determines Mens Practice and outward Actions or disposeth of some of their Goods and Properties And that there should be such an one besides a Law or Rule is needful in Civil Government for the regulating Mens outward Actions and Properties But he doth not prescribe to our inward Sense and Judgment which is the thing that this Infallible Judg in Religion is pretended to do to whose Judgment Men must not only submit their Practice but their Judgment Which is quite a different thing from the former and therefore there is no parity of Reason from one to the other If they say It is needful that there should be such a Judg in the Church for the determining and ending of all Controversies and for the preventing and repressing of Heresies and
the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every Place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a pure Offering that is inward and spiritual Worship and Sacrifices whereof the Ceremonial here express'd were but Types and Figures And thus People are every where to serve God with true and oure Worship For it is the Service now that sanctifies the Place and not the Place that sanctifies the Service as it was among the Jews 1 Tim. 2. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy Hands without wrath and doubting of God's audience and acceptance For God is every where present and in whatsoever Place we are we are equally near unto him 1 Cor. 10. 26. The Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof The whole Earth where God is called upon is Holy Land. St. Paul prayed on the Sea-shore at Tyre Acts 21. 5. And Mat. 18. 20. Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them Every Assembly of Christians met together in Christ's Name and according to his Will is the Church and House and living Temple of God where he is present which is not built with Stone or Brick but is made up of living Saints the Habitation of the Spirit as the Church in the House of Nymphi Col. 4. 5. of Aquila and Priscilla 1 Cor. 16. 19. The Temple of Jerusalem was but a Type and Figure of Christ's Body and Humane Nature which was the True Temple in which the God-head dwelt and therefore he calls his Body the Temple John 2. 19. Destroy this Temple and in three days will I raise it up And therefore after the Incarnation of Christ in which the Figure and Type of the Temple of Jerusalem was accomplish'd God would no more have a Figurative Temple And now Christ is ascended into Heaven there is no Temple upon Earth but the Saints themselves who are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and who offer up spiritual Sacrifices by the assistance of the Spirit which are acceptable to God not as performed in this and the other place as if they derived acceptance from the Holiness of any Place but by the Offering of the Body of Christ once for all through the Eternal Spirit with which he sits at the right Hand of God in the Heavens to make Intercession for us and to procure the acceptance of our Persons and Services Much less then is there any Holiness in Places derived from any Saints from whom the Popish Churches yet derive their Holiness It was the peculiar Presence of God which was thought among the Jews to render the Place Holy for where God is peculiarly present there it is Holy Ground But now it is from the Saints and the Worship that is performed to them in such a Place and their Relicks that are placed there that the Popish Holiness of most of their Places is derived And it is a great Act of Devotion with them to go in Pilgrimages to visit and worship at such Places as to our Lady of Loretto Montferrat to St. Thomas at Canterbury St. Winifred's Well and such-like Places And they think their Services performed in such Places are very acceptable for the Place sake Now if there be no appropriate Holiness in Places with respect to the Presence of God peculiarly in them which renders the Worship acceptable Who can believe that the Shrines of Saints can derive any acceptance to the Service Yet we do not deny but in common decency that some peculiar Respect should be shewn to such Places where we solemnly worship God. But it is the Worship that is there performed to God and not the Presence of God that is supposed to be peculiarly there more than in any other Place that doth sanctify the Christian Places of Worship whatever Sanctification they have But it is not the Place that doth sanctify the Worship as it was among the Jews where the Altar sanctified the Gift Matth. 23. 19. Of the Sacraments This should have followed Chap. XXI That the Sacraments do confer Grace ex opere operato by the Work done Council of Trent Sess 7. Can. 8. THE Sacraments are Seals of the Covenant and Promise of God on his part made with Men which they confirm to us upon our susception or receiving of them and the performance of the Condition which on our part is required and which we enter into a solemn Engagement to do and do make a visible profession of in them And it being a Covenant of free Grace which God makes with Man and by which he really intends to procure our Salvation it must needs be supposed by virtue of this Covenant that God is before-hand with Men with such measures of his Grace without which in this corrupt and fallen State we could do nothing by which now we may be enabled to do what on our part is required And upon our solemn engagement of our selves to God in this Holy Covenant on our part it is not to be doubted but the Spirit of Grace shall be given to us to enable us to perform all the Duties and Conditions of the Covenant necessary to Salvation But the Grace which is given is the effect of the Spirit and is given by virtue of the Covenant and Promise The Sacraments do no otherwise exhibit it to us than as they confirm the Covenant on God's part by which it is given and assure this Gift to us upon our performance of our part The Holy Ghost doth call the Sacraments Signs and Seals of the Grace of God as Gen. 17. 11. Ye shall circumcise the Flesh of the Fore-skin and it shall be a Token or Sign of the Covenant between me and you And Rom. 4. 11. He that is Abraham received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith. But it cannot be any where found that the Sacraments are called Vessels containing the Grace of God. And it was a Seal of the Promises made to the Righteousness of the Faith which he had yet being uncircumcised So that Abraham ' s Faith went before the Sacrament of Circumcision and was not wrought by it And Vers 9 10. This Faith was reckoned to Abraham for Righteousness not in Circumcision but in Vncircumcision That so vers 11. believing before Circumcision he might be the Father of all them that believe though they be not Circumcised but who also walk in the steps of that Faith of our Father Abraham which he had being yet Vncircumcised And as Abraham believed and was justified before Circumcision and therefore his Faith and Justification was not wrought by the Sacrament of Circumcision so Cornelius and his Company received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized As iâ— plain from the words of St. Peter Acts 10. 47. Can any Man forbid Water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we Which teacheth us that God doth neither tie his