his second thoughts v. 9. As we said before so say I now again If any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed And what need I say more If an Apostle or an Angel may not attempt a change in the Doctrine of the Gospel under pain of a Curse what shall be the doom of any other If Christ knew the mind of his Father and the Apostles his what words can express the heinousness of that guilt where men presume to make additions to it I shall add but one Rule which may serve to establish us in this Faith against all sort of innovations and 't is that of Tertullian's where he pleads Prescription for the Truth Id dominicum verum quod prius traditum id extraneum falsum quod posterius immissum Whatever is truly a part of the Christian Doctrine was once at first delivered whatever bears any latter date can never be a point of the true Faith. IV. And now methinks the Application of the whole is so easie and obvious that it makes it self For if the Faith of the Gospel be so certain and has been so fully evidenced and made known to us if it be a Doctrine of so great and pretious importance even the Doctrine that brings Salvation A Doctrine that comes from God by his onely begotten Son and shews us the onely way to him on which the eternal welfare of our Souls depends and without which we had still remained what we were before children of wrath Surely then 't is worthy of our Christian Resolution and Zeal not onely to love and obey it from the heart but to confess and maintain and propagate in the World with our earnest endeavours and persevering diligence Then we cannot but see what reason we have to stand fast in one Spirit with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel as St. Paul exhorts Phil. 1. 27. or as St. Jude here in the Text To contend earnestly for it as 't was once delivered to the Saints There is a Zeal I know in the World which tends to destroy what it seems to contend for which is full of bitterness and wrath and clamours and evil speakings a Zeal that commonly rageth and is confident because it proceeds from ignorance and knows not whereon to bottom There is a Zeal that sets on fire the course of Nature and is set on fire of Hell nay that would call for fire from Heaven to consume those that oppose it such as once betray'd it self in two of the Disciples before they Luke 9. 54 55. well understood the gospel-Gospel-Spirit But blessed be God for his Grace we have not so learned Christ no the Zeal which the true Faith requires and works in all its sincere Followers is founded on knowledge and a sound mind it is innocent and patient and holy it is always tempered with meekness and guided by the wisdom that is from above which is first pure then Jam. 3. 17. peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie Wherefore while we strive together for the Faith of the Gospel let us strictly keep to the Laws and walk by the Rules which the Gospel prescribes to us always remembring that Apostolical Caution 2 Tim. 2. 5. If a man strive for Masteries yet he is not crowned except he strive lawfully As for you my Brethren and Friends whom I take to be grounded in this Faith and long since stablished in the love of it it is needless I hope to load you with Perswasions to stand for it or indeed to continue and persevere in it It is but the effect of that happy Education which your Parents at first bestowed upon you and 't is but reasonable to expect that the Seed of God which was then sown in your hearts should grow up daily to perfection and bring forth suitable fruit For any man to draw back or desert the ways of Religion argues either ignorance of its grounds or great vanity and lightness of mind but for Us who are descended from the Tribe of Levi and cannot be supposed to want instruction to forsake or waver or even to doubt of our most Holy Faith what is it else but to cast the highest reflection upon the honour of Religion to stain the care and piety of our Fathers to reproach and vilifie that Doctrine which they so faithfully dispensed and so effectually recommended to the World Wherefore Remember them who Heb. 13. 7. had the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow considering the end of their Conversation Remember them I say who were your Parents and Pastours too and be not back-sliding Children And as the best means to maintain this Perseverance let us all be most earnestly exhorted to joyn in an hearty Union and Compliance with the Doctrine and Discipline and Liturgy of this Excellent and Apostolical Church whereof we are Members A Church that comes nearest the Pattern in the Mount to that I mean which began at Jerusalem and went forth from Sion which was once for all founded by our Lord built up by his Apostles and continued pure and uncorrupt in all the first and best Ages of Religion And seeing you are now dispersed and distributed into several Callings and a great diversity of Conditions howsoever God hath disposed of you see that you carry the Reputation of your Family and Extraction along with you let it appear by your walking in Christ as you have received him that the Principles of the Christian Religion have their efficacy in every Profession shew that you have been taught from your infancy to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World so shall ye adorn the Gospel which your Fathers preached and prove your sincerity in the Faith so shall it be manifest to your selves and others that ye do not rest merely in any external Priviledges but that you live over the Doctrines you profess and practise the Truth which is after Godliness And because the great demonstration of your Faith is to be seen in your Works especially the works of Mercy and Charity Put on therefore as the Elect of God holy and beloved Bowels of mercies kindness and a benign temper of mind and above all these things put on Charity which is the bond of perfectness as the Apostle again exhorts Col. 3. 12. You cannot want Objects to move your compassion nor Motives to constrain it Here is a large Field before you of the Widows and the Fatherless whose Relation and Birth must needs endear this duty to you Some of their Widows are still alive who suffered much for their constancy to the Faith and their fidelity to the Crown two inseparable Notes of a genuine Son of the Church of England during the times of the Great Rebellion and many are the Children that can scarce speak for themselvs who through the narrow Provision that is made for the CLERGY in too many places of this Kingdom bespeak your assistance by my mouth 'T is the command you know of the Apostle That whilst ye have opportunity ye Gal. 6. 10. should do good unto all men but especially to them that are of the Houshold of Faith What should be accounted the Houshold of Faith rather than the Families of them that preach it And what opportunity can ye have of doing good that exceeds this And consider I beseech you You that are Rich among the Brotherhood who it is that hath put such a difference between you and them was it purely your own Industry or Parts or Studies that got you this Wealth or is it not rather the Blessing of God who hath given you all things richly to enjoy What has any amongst you which he did not receive Now if you did receive it look up to God your great Benefactor with thankful hearts and look down upon the Widows and the Fatherless with Pity and Compassion Deposite that Tribute which you owe unto God for their use and what you leave with the Stewards of the Feast to day let it be but an Earnest-Penny of what you designe for the Treasurers of the Corporation from time to time Think it not enough to sprinkle a little now but lay by something for them out of your constant Income and when you make Provision for your own Families let the Houshold of Faith have some share and portion even in your last Wills and Testaments Resolve to do it before you go hence Vow it here in the Church before the Lord your God from the ground of the heart and make him some chearful and suitable acknowledgement for his distinguishing Providence towards you and yours So shall the rest of your substance be blessed and increased and the Prayers of the Destitute shall be heard in your behalf so shall your own Posterity thrive the better nay the Children of others and the Generations to come shall call ye blessed and your great reward is with the Lord for I am warranted to assure you That God is not unrighteous to Heb. 6. 10. forget your work and labour of Love which ye have shewed towards his Name in that ye have ministred unto the Saints and yet do minister Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding Jude 24. 2◠joy To the onely wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty dominion and power now and ever Amen FINIS A true Report of the SVMS Distributed for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Clergy-men in the Years 1684 85 86. By the Corporation   l. s. d. A. 1684 To 28 Sequestred Ministers Widows 084 00 0 To 68 other Ministers Widows 101 10 0 For Binding out Children Apprentices 100 00 0   285 10 0 A. 1685 To 34 Sequest Ministers Wid. 099 00 0 To 98 other Ministers Widows 129 00 0   228 00 0 A. 1686 To 45 Sequest Ministers Wid. 135 00 0 To 112 other Ministers Wid. 179 00 0 For deceased Ministers Children 020 00 0   334 00 0   847 10 0 By the Stewards of the Feasts For Relief of poor Ministers Widows and Binding out Children for the said three years about 360 00 0 Tot. 1207 10 0
And this is evident 1. from the following word in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Faith delivered for as for the Act or Habit of Faith it is either produced by the ordinary means of hearing or else supernaturally infus'd by the Spirit of God but that which is properly delivered is the Doctrine it self either by word of mouth or by writing And 2. from many parallel places of Scripture as Acts 13. 8. Where Elymas the Sorcerer sought to turn away the Deputy from the Faith who is afterwards said v. 12. to be astonished at the Doctrine of the Lord and Acts 14. 22. When St. Paul and Barnabas had preached the Gospel to several Cities they confirmed the Souls of the Disciples and exhorted them to continue in the Faith nay St. Paul tells us of himself Gal. 1. 23. That he preached the Faith which once he destroyed and prophesies also of others That in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith 1 Tim. 4. 1. By all which we are to understand the Doctrine of Faith that Faith which God revealed by his Son which Christ made known to his Apostles and the Apostles preached to the World at the promulgation of which the Angels rejoyced and the Devils trembled to see Man so wonderfully redeemed and themselves irrecoverably left in everlasting chains which was propagated by Signes and Wonders and so demonstrated by Miracles that men were easily induced to believe the Word of God in their mouths while they saw the Power of God in every Apostles hand by the energy of which the Cripples were cured the Dead were raised and some at first were deprived of life That Faith which all the Prophets foretold which the Evangelists pen'd and the Church receiv'd That Faith which in one day by the first Pentecost-Sermon converted Acts 2. 41 about 3000 Souls and hath crowned many Millions in succeeding Ages with eternal Glory In a word That Faith which hath saved all the Saints that are already in Heaven and must bring all the rest that are ordained to come thither Which leads me in the next place II. To consider the manner of its conveyance and the persons that received it The Faith delivered to the Saints I put these two together because they will help to explain each other And here if we would take in the whole we contend for we must go back to the beginning not onely to the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ but even to the Epoche of time it self and may trace it down briefly in this succeeding course When God had created man for his own service that is his glory he was pleased to reveal his will to him because what was hid from him could never be the instance of his duty and hence to the Law of Nature which he printed on his mind he added a positive command to try the integrity of his obedience and this was the first Revelation made to Adam in innocence whereby he was enjoin'd to believe and to obey his Maker But alas we all know what Adam did and feel the sad efects of his transgression unto this day wherefore in the succeeding Ages he spake unto the Fathers at sundry times and in divers manners Heb. 1. sometimes by an audible Voice and sometimes by secret Illapses by Dreams and by Visions by the Ministry of Men and by the Message of Angels And when the fulness of time was come he spake unto us once for all by his onely begotten Son who being from all eternity in the bosom of the Father was able to know and undertaking this errand of his infinite compassion and his own accord was willing to impart whatever was necessary for us to receive In order to which he took our Nature upon him conversed among us unfolding the Mystery which was before kept secret and so became the Author of this Faith. And as his Mercy was great in his Advent so he shew'd his Wisdom in the choice of the Persons to whom he delivered this Will for he did not propound it at all adventures and expose it to the uncertain Multitude or commit it to the hands of the prejudiced Rabbies not unto the Rich and Noble or the Wise and Learned of the Age but unto a selected company of illiterate Galileans twelve men of mean quality and from an obscure corner without the advantages of Birth or Breeding that by the weakness of the Instruments and the improbability of the means the Power of God might appear stronger These were they despised indeed by men but highly favoured of God and chosen by Christ to be Witnesses of all that he began both to do and teach and suffer Who being always à latere to their Lord and Master and enjoying the access of Favourites and the freedom of Friends had the evidence of their outward Senses to confirm the inward perswasion of their Minds whereby they were as infallibly assured that he knew all things and that he came forth from God as that they heard him speak or saw him work a Miracle And thus St. John the familiar Disciple testifieth of himself and the rest of the Apostles 1 Ep. 1. 1. That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you And as they were Witnesses of all his Divine Speeches and mighty Works and bitter Sufferings and above all of his glorious Resurrection Act. 1. 22. from the dead even of all that had passed from the Baptism of John until the day of his Assumption so after his Ascension he confirmed their Minds and increased their Faith and emboldened their Faces by the punctual performance of the Promise he made them on Earth in sending the Spirit from Heaven That good Spirit that enlightened their Understandings furnished their Memories and guided them into all Truth that inspired them with the gift of Tongues and of Prophecy endued them with a power of working Miracles also in some respects greater than those he had wrought himself and brought all things fresh to their remembrance whatsoever they had seen or heard before or were now to publish By which they were fully instructed and animated and perfectly enabled to discharge their trust maugre all the opposition that malice or rage or wit or power could make against them for by one short Sermon as I said which you read in the second of the Acts they augmented the former number of 120 with the addition of about 3000 Souls and by the next recorded in the third of near 5000 more so mightily grew the Word Act. 4. 4. of God and prevailed and Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women Act. 5. 14. These were the Persons to whom the Faith was at first delivered and these the means of its first conveyance That which Christ received of his
Father he delivered unto the Apostles that which the Apostles received of Christ they delivered to the Saints who were called so to be being converted by their preaching And thus the Faith was planted and the Church of Christ was founded That Primitive Holy and Uniform Church which began at Jerusalem and was the Mother of all true Churches in after Ages which consisted of a company of faithful and obedient and devout People professing the same Doctrine communicating in the same Sacraments and presenting the same Prayers As ye find them describ'd Act. 2. 41 42. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about 3000 Souls and they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers I beseech you consult the place and ponder the words well because they contain all the necessary Notes and essential Ingredients of a true Church They were all baptized there 's the entrance by Baptism they stedfastly retained the Apostles Doctrine there 's the unity of the Faith they continued in the Apostles Fellowship there 's their union and adherence to their Governours they received the blessed Eucharist expressed by breaking of bread and consented in the use of the common Prayers there 's the Uniformity of their Worship These were the Saints of the first Church built upon the Faith which the Apostles then preached made capable of a continual increase and an uninterrupted succession for the Lord added daily then such as should be saved and Acts 2. 47. hath ever since added more and will still persevere to adde even unto the end of the World till he shall have compleated the number of his Elect and presented unto himself a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle in Eph. 5. 27. Heaven So much for the manner of its first conveyance and the Persons that first received it But here ariseth a material question that concerns all the succeeding Ages and is of great moment to us now living for that the Faith was at first revealed by Christ and published by his Apostles is confessed by all Christians however they be otherwise divided in their opinions or judgments but where this Faith is now to be found and how it is derived downwards unto us who live at the distance of 1600 years and upwards is a controversie that at this very hour disturbs Christendom That 't is preserved in the Scriptures as a perfect Rule of Gods revealed Will is the Doctrine of ours and all reformed Churches That the Scriptures are not a sufficient Rule of Faith but want a supply from Tradition is the known Doctrine of the Church of Rome By the meer mention of which you cannot but see the necessity of a Resolution for setling our Judgments for guiding our Consciences and building us up in our most holy Faith In order to which I crave leave to premise some few preliminaries that may at once give us light and prevent cavils in this Enquiry 1. It is confessed that as our Saviour writ Mat. 28. 19. Mark 16. 15. nothing himself so the commission he gave his Apostles was not to write but to teach and preach 2. But then it is no less certain that the Apostles taught the Churches by writing as well 2 Thess 2. 2. 5. 1 Cor. 11. 2. as by preaching and that the Faith was propagated by both by preaching to the Saints present by writing to those absent 3. Whatever the Apostles delivered by word of mouth or committed to writing is of equal authority because in both they were inspired by the Holy Ghost If therefore it appear that what is delivered be the Word and Will of God whether it be written or unwritten 't is sufficient ground of a Christians Faith. 4. But then fourthly since it is impossible to make it appear that after the Scriptures were written and the Canon was compleat there remained some Articles of Faith preserved onely by Tradition and not delivered in the Scriptures it will naturally follow that the written Word of God is a sufficient Rule of divine Faith. I confess at the first when Christianity was confin'd to a narrow compass and the number of Believers was but small their zeal and concern for the Faith was such that there was no danger of letting any thing slip which they had received as a necessary Doctrine and then Oral Tradition was a proper conveyance of the divine Will especially considering that then the gifts of the Spirit were plentifully shed not onely on the Apostles but on every true Believer also But when the Word of God grew and multiplied and the Religion of Jesus gained ground in the World when it spread it self far and near and passed through many hands into divers remote Countries the same Spirit that moved the Apostles to teach and preach moved some of them to write what they had preached and other holy men to write what they had seen and heard lest in process of time their Doctrine might be forgotten by the carelesness of luke-warm Professours or corrupted by the contrivance of crafty Hereticks or destroyed by the malice of the Devil And truly though the Writings of any one Apostle appointed for this purpose had been sufficient to preserve the Faith entire particularly had we onely the Gospel of St. John affirming of himself that though he had omitted many things that Jesus did yet he had written all things necessary to salvation Joh. 20. 30 31. And many other signes truly did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book But these are written why that ye might believe written that ye might believe what that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and what of that and that believing this as the great foundation of all the rest which the belief of this is apt to produce in your hearts and lives ye might have life through his Name I say though the Testimony of one in this manner had been sufficient yet such is the Providence of God and his abundant care of his Church which must continue to the end of the World that he ratifies his Will by a joynt testimony and consignes the Rule of our Faith by the hands of several Witnesses differing perhaps in stile and method and other circumstances but agreeing in the substance of all things necessary as the water is the same though it be conveyed through sundry pipes and channels From what hath been premised we may thus argue If to preserve a thing from oblivion or corruption be the main end of writing it then all that is necessary to salvation was also written because 't is most requisite to preserve what is most necessary Or if you please thus If it was necessary for the Apostles to write at all lest what they had delivered might be lost it was requisite they should write all that was necessary lest the designe of the whole might be frustrated