Saviour speaketh clearly The Gates of Hell (e) Mat. 16. shall not prevail against her And I will ask my (f) Joan. 14. Father and he will give you another Paraclete that he may abide with you for ever The Spirit of Truth And But when he the Spirit of (g) Joan. 16. Truth cometh he shall teach you all Truth The Apostle saith that the Church is the Pillar and ground of (h) 1 Tim. c. 3. Truth And He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and othersome Evangelists and othersome Pastors and Doctors to the consummation of the Saints unto the work of the Ministry unto the edifying of the Body of Christ until we meet all into the unity of Faith and knowledge of the Son of God into a perfect man into the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ that now we be not children wavering and carried about with every wind of Doctrin in the wickedness of men in craftiness to the circumvention (i) Ephes 4. of Error All which words seem clearly enough to prove that the Church is universally infallible without which unity of Faith could not be conserved against every wind of Doctrin And yet D Potter (k) Pag. 151 153. limits these promises and priviledges to Fundamental Points in which he grants the Church cannot err I urge the words of Scripture which are universal and do not mention any such restraint I alledge that most reasonable and Received Rule that Scripture is to be understood literally as it soundeth unless some manifest absurdity force us to the contrary But all will not serve to accord our different interpretation In the mean time divers of D. Potter's Brethren step in and reject his limitation as over-large and somewhat tasting of Papistry And therefore they restrain the mentioned Texts either to the Infallibility which the Apostles and other sacred Writers had in penning of Scripture or else to the invisible Church of the Elect and to them not absolutely but with a double restriction that they shall not fall damnably and finally and other men have as much right as these to interpose their opinion and interpretation Behold we are three at debate about the selfesame words of Scripture We confer divers places and Texts We consult the Originals We examine Translations We endeavour to pray heartily We profess to speak sincerely To seek nothing but Truth and Salvation of our own souls and that of our Neighbours and finally we use all those means which by Protestants themselves are prescribed for finding out the true meaning of Scripture Nevertheless we neither do or have any possible means to agree as long as we are left to our selves and when we should chance to be agreed the doubt would still remain whether the thing it self be a Fundamental Point or no And yet it were great impiety to imagine that God the lover of Souls hath left no certain infallible means to decide both this and all other differences arising about the interpretation of Scripture or upon any other occasion Our remedy therefore in these contentions must be to consult and hear Gods Visible Church with submissive acknowledgment of her Power and Infallibility in whatsoever the proposeth as a revealed Truth according to that divine advice of St. Augustine in these words If at length (l) De util cred cap. 8. thou seem to be sufficiently tossed and hast a desire to put an end to thy pains follow the way of the Catholique Discipline which from Christ himself by the Apostles hath come down even to us and from us shall descend to all posterity And though I conceive that the distinction of Points Fundamental and not Fundamental hath now been sufficiently confuted yet that no shadow of difficulty may remain I will particularly refel a common saying of Protestants that it is sufficient for Salvation to believe the Apostles Creed which they hold to be a Summary of all Fundamental Points of Faith The ANSWER to the THIRD CHAPTER Wherein it is maintained That the distinction of Points Fundamental and not Fundamental is in this present Controversie good and pertinent And that the Catholique Church may err in the latter kind of the said Points 1 THis Distinction is imployed by Protestants to many purposes and therefore if it be pertinent and good as they understand and apply it the whole edifice built thereon must be either firme and stable or if it be not it cannot be for any default in this Distinction 2. If you object to them discords in matter of Faith without any means of agreement They will answer you that they want not good and solid means of agreement in matters necessary to Salvation viz. Their beliefe of all those things which are plainly and undoubtedly delivered in Scripture which who so believes must of necessity believe all things necessary to Salvation and their mutual suffering one another to abound in their several sense in matters not plainly and undoubtedly there delivered And for their agreement in all Controversies of Religion either they have means to agree about them or not If you say they have why did you before deny it If they have not means why do you find fault with them for not agreeing 3. You will say that their fault is that by remaining Protestants they exclude themselves from the means of agreement which you have and which by submission to your Church they might have also But if you have means of agreement the more shame for you that you stil disagree For who I pray is more inexcusably guilty for the omission of any duty they that either have no means to do it or else know of none they have which puts them in the same case if as they had none or they which professe to have an easie and expedite means to do it and yet still leave it undone If you had been blind saith our Saviour to the Pharisees you had had no sin but now you say you see therefore your sin remaineth 4. If you say you do agree in matters of Faith I say this is ridiculous for you define matters of Faith to be those wherein you agree So that to say you agree in matters of Faith is to say you agree in those things wherein you do agree And do not Protestants do so likewise Do not they agree in those things wherein they do agree 5. But you are all agreed that only those things wherein you do agree are matters of Faith And Protestants if they were wise would do so too Sure I am they have reason enough to do so seeing all of them agree with explicite Faith in all those things which are plainly and undoubtedly delivered in Scripture that is in all which God hath plainly revealed and with an implicite Faith in that sense of the whole Scripture which God intended whatsoever was Secondly That which you pretend is false for else why do some of you hold it against faith to take or allow the Oath of
Testimonies have I taken as mine heritage for ever And lastly in the Ep. to Philemon He therefore departed from thee for a time that thou shouldst receive him for ever 75. And thus I presume I have shewed sufficiently that this for ever hinders not but that the promise may be appropriated to the Apostles as by many other circumstances I have evinced it must be But what now if the place produced by you as a main pillar of your Churches Infallibility prove upon trial an engine to batter and overthrow it at least which is all one to my purpose to take away all possibility of our assurance of it This will seem strange news to you at first hearing and not far from a prodigy And I confess as you here in this place and generally all your Writers of Controversie by whom this Text is urged order the matter it is very much disabled to do any service against you in this question For with a bold sacriledge and horrible impiety somewhat like Procrustes his cruelty you perpetually cut off the head and foot the beginning and end of it and presenting to your Confidents who usually read no more of the Bible than is alledged by you only these words I will ask my Father and he shall give you another Paraclete that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth conceal in the mean time the words before and the words after that so the promise of God's Spirit may seem to be absolute whereas it is indeed most clearly and expresly conditional being doth in the words before restrained to those only that love GOD and keep his Commandments and in the words after flatly denied to all whom the Scriptures stile by the name of the World that is as the very Antithesis gives us plainly to understand to all wicked and wordly men Behold the place entire as it is set down in your own Bible If ye love me keep my Commandments and I will ask my Father and he shall give you another Paraclete that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of the Truth whom the world cannot receive Now from the place thus restored and vindicated from your mutilation thus I argue against your pretence We can have no certainty of the Infallibility of your Church but upon this supposition that your Popes are infallible in confirming the Decrees of General Councels we can have no certainty hereof but upon this supposition that the Spirit of Truth is promised to them for their direction in this work And of this again we can have no certainty but upon supposal that they perform the condition whereunto the promise of the Spirit of Truth is expresly limited viz. That they love God and keep his Commandments And of this finally not knowing the Popes heart we can have no certainty at all therefore from the first to the last we can have no certainty at all of your Churches Infallibility This is my first Argument Another follows which will charge you as home as the former If many of the Roman See were such men as could not receive the Spirit of Truth even men of the World that is Wordly Wicked Carnal Diabolical men then the Spirit of Truth is not here promised but flatly denied them and consequently we can have no certainty neither of the Decrees of Councels which these Popes confirm nor of the Churches Infallibility which is guided by these Decrees But many of the Roman See even by the confession of the most zealous Defenders of it were such men Therefore the Spirit of Truth is not here promised but denied them and consequently we can have no certainty neither of the Decrees which they confirm nor of the Churches Infallibility which guides her self by these Decrees 76. You may take as much time as you think fit to answer these Arguments In the mean while I proceed to the consideration of the next Text alledged for this purpose by you out of S. Paul 1 Ep. to Timothy where he saith as you say The Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth But the truth is you are somewhat too bold with S. Paul For he says not in formal terms what you make him say The Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth neither is it certain that he means so for it is neither impossible nor improbable that these words the pillar and ground of truth may have reference not to the Church but to Timothy the sense of the place that thou maist know how to behave thy self as a Pillar and Ground of the Truth in the Church of God which is house of the living God which exposition offers no violence at all to the words but only supposes an Ellipsis of the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek very ordinary Neither wants it some likelihood that S. Paul comparing the Church to a house should here exhort Timothy to carry himself as a Pillar in that house should do according as he had given other principal men in the Church the name of Pillars rather then having called the Church a House to call it presently a Pillar which may seem somewhat heterogeneous Yet if you will needs have S. Paul refer this not to Timothy but to the Church I will not contend about it any farther then to say Possibly it may be otherwise But then secondly I am to put you in mind that the Church which S. Paul here speaks of was that in which Timothy conversed and that was a Particular Church and not the Roman and such you will not have to be Universally Infallible 77. Thirdly if we grant you out of courtesie for nothing can enforce us to it that he both speaks of the Universal Church and says this of it then I am to remember you that many Attributes in Scripture are not notes of performance but of duty and reach us not what the Thing or Person is of necessity but what it should be Ye are the Salt of the Earth said our Saviour to his Disciples not that this quality was inseparable from their Persons but because it was their Office to be so For if they must have been so of necessity and could not have been otherwise in vain had he put in them fear of that which follows If the Salt hath lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast forth and to be trodden under foot So the Church may be by duty the pillar and ground that is the Teacher of Truth of all Truth not only necessary but profitable to Salvation and yet she may neglect and violate this duty and be in fact the teacher of some Error 78. Fourthly and lastly if we deal most liberally with you and grant that the Apostle here speaks of the Catholike Church calls it the Pillar and Ground of Truth and that not only because it should but because it always shall and will be so yet after all this you have
danger to be lost took order that what was necessary should be written Saint Chrysostom's counsel therefore of accounting the Churches Traditions worthy of belief we are willing to obey And if you can of any thing make it appear that it is Tradition we will seek no farther But this we say withall that we are perswaded you cannot make this appear in any thing but only the Canon of Scripture and that there is nothing now extant and to be known by us which can put in so good plea to be the unwritten Word of God as the unquestioned Books of Canonical Scripture to be the written Word of God 47. You conclude this Paragraph with a sentence of S. Austins who says The Church doth not approve nor dissemble nor do these things which are against Faith or good life and from hence you conclude That it never hath done so nor ever can do so But though the argument hold in Logick à non posse ad non esse yet I never heard that it would hold back à non esse ad non posse The Church cannot do this therefore it does not follows with good consequence but The Church doth not this therefore it shall never do it nor can never do it this I believe will hardly follow In the Epistle next before to the same Januarius writing of the same matter he hath these words It remains that the thing you enquire of must be of that third kind of things which are different in divers places Let every one therefore do that which he finds done in the Church to which he comes for none of them is against Faith or good manners And why do you not infer from hence that no particular Church can bring up any Custom that is against Faith or good manners Certainly this Consequence hath as good reason for it as the former If a man say of the Church of England what S. Austin of the Church that she neither approves nor dissembles nor doth any thing against Faith or good manners would you collect presently that this man did either make or think the Church of England infallible Furthermore it is observable out of this and the former Epistle that this Church which did not as S. Austin according to you thought approve or dissemble or do any thing against faith or good life did yet tolerate and dissemble vain superstitions and humane presumptions and suffer all places to be full of them and to be exacted as nay more severely than the Commandments of God himself This Saint Austin himself professeth in this very Epistle This saith he I do infinitely grieve at that many most wholsom precepts of the divine Scripture are little regarded and in the mean time all is so full of so many presumptions that he is more grievously found fault with who during his octaves toucheth the earth with his naked fooot then he that shall bury his soul in drunkenness Of these he sayes That they were neither contained in Scripture decreed by Councels nor corroborated by the Custom of the Universal Church And though not against Faith yet unprofitable burdens of Christian liberty which made the condition of the Jews more tolerable then that of Christians And therefore he professeth of them Approbare non possum I cannot approve them And Ubi facultas tribuitur resecanda existimo I think they are to be cut off wheresoever we have power Yet so deeply were they rooted and spread so far through the indiscreet devotion of the people alwayes more prone to superstition than true piety and through the connivence of the Governors who should have strangled them at their birth that himself though he grieved at them and could not allow them yet for fear of offence he durst not speak against them Multa hujusmodi propter nonnullarum vel sanctarum vel turbulentarum personarum scandala devitanda liberius improbare non audeo Many of these things for fear of scandalizing many holy persons or provoking those that are turbulent I dare not freely disallow Nay the Catholique Church it self did see and dissemble and tolerate them for these are the things of which he presently says after The Church of God and you will have him speak of the true Catholique Church placed between Chaff and Tares tolerates many things Which was directly against the command of the holy Spirit given the Church by S. Paul To stand fast in that liberty wherewith Christ hath made her free and not to suffer her self to be brought in bondage to these servile burdens Our Saviour tels the Scribes and Pharisees That in vain they worshipped God teaching for Doctrines mens Commandments For that laying aside the Commandments of God they held the Traditions of men as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things Certainly that which S. Austin complains of as the general fault of Christians of his time was parallel to this Multa saith he quae in divinis libris saluberrimè praecepta sunt minus curantur This I suppose I may very well render in our Saviour's words The Commandments of God are laid aside And then Tam multis praesumptionibus sic pleana sunt omnia All things or all places are so full of so many presumptions and those exacted with such severity nay with Tyranny that he was more severly censured who in the time of his Octaves touched the earth with his naked feet than he which drowned and buried his soul in drink Certainly if this be not to teach for Doctrines mens Commandments I know not what is And therefore these superstitious Christians might be said to worship God in vain as well as the Scribes and Pharises And yet great variety of superstitions of this kind were then already spread over the Church being different in divers places This is plain from these words of S. Austin concerning them Diversorum locorum diversis moribus innumerabiliter varià ntur and apparent because the stream of them was grown so violent that he durst not oppose it Liberiùs improbare non audeo I dare not freely speak against them So that to say the Catholique Church tolerated all this and for fear of offence durst not abrogate or condemn it is to say if we judge rightly of it that the Church with silence and connivence generally tolerated Christians to worship God in vain Now how this tolerating of Universal superstition in the Church can consist with the assistance and direction of Gods omnipotent Spirit to guard it from superstition and with the accomplishment of that pretended Prophecy of the Church I have set Watchmen upon thy walls O Jerusalem which shall never hold their peace day nor night Besides how these Superstitions being thus nourished cherished and strengthened by the practice of the most and urged with great violence upon others as the Commandments of God and but fearfully opposed or contradicted by any might in time take such deep root and spread their branches so far as to pass for Universal
cannot fall into fundamental errors because when it does so it is no longer a Church As they are certain that men cannot become unreasonable creatures because when they do so they are no longer men But for fundamental errors of the former sort which yet I hope will warrant our departure from any Communion infected with them and requiring the profession of them from such fundamental errors we do not teach so much as that the Church Catholique much less which only were for your purpose that your Church hath any protection or security but know for a certain that many errors of this nature had prevailed against you and that a vain presumption of an absolute divine assistance which yet is promised but upon conditions made both your present errors incurable and exposed you to the imminent danger of more and greater This therefore is either to abuse what we say or to impose falsely upon us what we say not And to this you presently add another manifest falsehood viz. that we say That no particular person or Church hath any promise of assistance in points fundamental Whereas cross to this in diameter there is no Protestant but holds and must hold that there is no particular Church no nor person but hath promise of divine assistance to lead them into all necessary truth if they seek it as they should by the means which God hath appointed And should we say otherwise we should contrary plain Scripture which assures us plainly That every one that seeketh findeth and every one that as keth receiveth and that if we being evil can give good gifts to our children much more shall our heavenly Father give his Spirit to them that ask it and that if any man want wisdom especially spiritual wisdom he is to ask of God who giveth to all men and upbraideth not 89. You obtrude upon us thirdly That when Luther began he being but one opposed himself to all as well Subjects as Superiors Ans If he did so in the cause of God it was heroically done of him This had been without hyperbolizing Mundus contra Athanasium and Athanasius contra Mundum neither is it impossible that the whole world should so far lie in wickedness as S. John speaks that it may be lawful and noble for one man to oppose the world But yet were we put to our oaths we should surely not testifie any such thing for you for how can we say properly without streining that he opposed himself to All unless we could say also that All opposed themselves to him And how can we say so seeing the world can witness that so many thousands nay millions followed his standard assoon as it was advanced 90. But none that lived immediately before him thought or spake as he did This is first nothing to the purpose The Church was then corrupted and sure it was no dishonour to him to begin the Reformation In the Christian warfare every man ought to strive to be foremost Secondly it is more than you can justifie For though no man before him lifted up his voyce like a trumpet as Luther did yet who can assure us but that many before him both thought and spake in the lower voyce of petitions and remonstrances in many points as he did 91. Fourthly and lastly whereas you say that many chief learned Protetestants are forced to confess the Antiquity of your Doctrin and Practise I answer Of many Doctrins and Practises of yours this is not true nor pretended to be true by those that have dealt in this Argument Search your Store-house M. Brerely who hath travailed as far in this Northwest discovery as it was possible for humane industry and when you have done so I pray inform me what confessions of Protestants have you for the Antiquity of the Doctrin of the Communion in one kind the lawfulness and expedience of the Latin-Service For the present use of Indulgences For the Popes power in Temporalities over Princes For the picturing of the Trinity For the lawfulness of the worship of Pictures For your Beads and Rosary and Ladies Psalter and in a word for your whole worship of the Blessed Virgin For your Oblations by way of Consumption and therefore in the quality of Sacrifices to the Virgin Mary and other Saints For your saying of Pater-nosters and Creeds to the honour of Saints and of Ave-Maries to the honor of other Saints besides the Blessed Virgin For the infallibility of the Bishop or Church of Rome For your prohibiting the Scripture to be read publikely in the Church in such languages as all may understand For your Doctrin of the blessed Virgin 's immunity from actual sin and for your doctrin and worship of her immaculate Conception For the necessity of Auricular Confession For the necessity of the Priests Intention to obtain benefit by any of your Sacraments And lastly not to trouble my self with finding out more for this very Doctrin of Licentiousness That though a man live and die without the Practise of Christian vertues and with the habits of many damnable sins unmortified yet if in the last moment of life he have any sorrow for his sins and joyn confession with it certainly he shall be saved Secondly they that confess some of your doctrins to have been the Doctrin of the Fathers may be mistaken being abused by many words and phrases of the Fathers which have the Roman sound when they are farr from the sense Some of them I am sure are so I will name Goulartius who in his Commentaries on S. Cyprian's 35. Ep. grants that the sentence Heresies have sprung c. quoted by you § 36. of this Chapter was meant of Cornelius whereas it will be very plain to any attentive Reader that S. Cyprian speaks there of himself Thirdly though some Protestants confess some of your Doctrin to be Ancient yet this is nothing so long as it is evident even by the confession of all sides that many errors I instance in that of the Millenaries and the communicating of Insants were more ancient Not any Antiquity therefore unless it be absolute and primitive is a certain sign of true Doctrin For if the Church were obnoxious to corruption as we pretend it was who can possibly warrant us that part of this corruption might not get in and prevail in the 5. or 4. or 3. or 2. age Especially seeing the Apostles assure us that the mystery of iniquity was working though more secretly even in their times If any man ask How could it become universal in so short a time Let him tell me how the Errour of the Millenaries and the communicating of Infants became so soon universal and then he shall acknowledge what was done in some was possible in others Lastly to cry quittance with you as there are Protestants who confess the antiquity but always post-nate to Apostolique of some poynts of your Doctrin so there want not Papists who acknowledge as freely the Novelty of many of them and the
when he would bestow it it is further said Forsake all leave all by all means quit thy self of thy own riches run away from thy possessions And if there be any thing yet more dear unto thee than thy possessions as necessary as thy cloaths despolia teipsum Put off the old man with his lusts and affections and though he stick never so close tear it from thee shake off the sin that hangeth so fast on 22. And yet the Holy Ghost proceeds further in a more forcible expression For many Heathens have been found that could perswade themselves to prefer fame obtain'd by a Philosophical austere life before riches or honours but every man loveth and cherisheth his flesh Therefore if there be a lust so incorporated into thee that it becomes as useful and necessary as thy right hand or eye yet thou must resolve to be thine own executioner to deform and maim thy self for what will it profit thee to go a proper personable man into hell Nay if thy whole body begin to tyrannize over thee thou must fight and war with it and never leave till thou hast brought it into captivity Then must thou use it like a slave with short and coarse dyer and store of correction as S. Paul did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay more saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such hatred he bore to that body of sin which did alwaies accompany him that not content to over-master it he did ignominiously stigmatize and brand it with the marks of slavery 23. Yet this is not all If it be rebellious and incorrigible thou must even dispatch it put it to death and that no ordinary one it must be a servile slavish cruel death Crucifie the flesh with the lusts and affections thereof A man would think that this were â—â—fficient and that we might here rest from further tyrannizing over our selves but there is no such matter If any man hate not father and mother and brethren and sisters and all the world besides even his own soul for my Name sake and the Gospels saith Christ he cannot be my disciple And now we are at the heighth never till now did I tell you the full meaning of my Text how far every man is ingaged by vertue of this Precept Let him deny himself 24. The strength and vigour of this phrase which expresses as much indeed as all the former laid together we shall the better understand saith S. Chrysostome if we consider what it is to deny another If a father in extream displeasure do so cast off his son that he denies him to be his son he becomes worse than a stranger for he will not so much as admit him to enjoy the benefit that common humanity teacheth every man to shew to another he will not endure him in his sight less will he vouchsafe to expostulate with him nay he will rejoyce when he hears of some misfortune that hath befaln him and be beholding to any man that will revenge his injuries upon him 25. Thus must every one do who enters into league or friendship with God He must work himself out of his own acquaintance He must be a stranger or if God will have him an enemy to all the world and especially to himself though he flow with wealth yet he must live as being poor as having nothing saith S. Paul If affliction or persecution come upon him in Gods behalf he must with all joy entertain them Whatsoever God enjoyns him though otherwise never so distasteful to him it must be his meat and drink to perform it There is nothing must lay a necessity upon him but only God and To serve him he must account the only Unum necessarium 26. Will you see an example of such obedience and that in the old Law An extraordinary one you shall find in Exod. 32.29 which depends upon a story which went before the sum whereof was this Exod. 32.29 Moses in revenge of that horrible Idolatry which was committed during his absence upon the Mount commands the sons of Levi to consecrate every man himself unto the Lord upon his son and upon his brother and upon his neighbour by destroying any man who ever he were that came in their way which they resolutely performed And this obedience of theirs was so acceptable to God that at Moses death they obtain the blessing of Urim and Thummim above all the Tribes with this Elogy He said unto his father and to his mother I have not seen them neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor knew his own children for they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant By which obedience the children wiped out as it were the fact of their father Levi who had before abused his sword unto injustice for which he lost the blessing that else he should have had Gâ—n 49. 27. But will not here be room for that earnest Objection which the Disciples in great anxiety of mind made to our Saviour when he was pressing a Doctrine of the same nature with this we have in hand Who then can be saved If there be required at our hands so absolute and peremptory a resignation of our selves to Gods disposal that we must root out of our hearts all manner of love of our selves or any other creature then Christ hath destroy'd the whole second Table of the Law For at the best we are but to love our neighbours as our selves If therefore our first lesson must be to learn to contemn and despise nay even hate our own souls why do we not with the Levites so commended even now consecrate every man himself to the Lord upon our kindred and neighbours destroying all about us Besides how dare we presume to be rich or retain those possessions which as it seems God hath bought from us If our goods be not our own if our souls be not our own Men and brethren what shall we do Into what a strait are we faln We are commanded to love our Brethren as our own souls and we are commanded to hate our own souls We are enjoyn'd to give God thanks for those blessings which here we are enjoyn'd to cast away We are counselled even by our Saviour to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect and yet we must deny our selves Whereas the Spirit of God hath told us That it is impossible that God should deny Himself 28. For answer This Law must be read and understood as the Schools say cum grano salis For though it be most true that by vertue of this Precept We are oblig'd to an utter evacuation of the love and desire of any thing and of all manner of confidence in our selves or any other creature Yet this must be understood not absolutely but when such things come in competition with our Love or Obedience to God For otherwise we are most necessarily bound to love our selves and others to study and care for our own good and the welfare of our Brethren even to lay
For whereas before he was allowed no Authority no not in Israel At his Resurrection he obtains the Heathen for his Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession Now it would be a hard undertaking taking to describe the limits and borders of Christ's Kingdom as also to define the Polity whereby it is administred Therefore leaving the most glorious part of it which is in Heaven undiscovered we find in Holy Scripture that according to the several dispositions and qualifications of men here on earth He hath both a Scepter of righteousness to govern and protect his faithful subjects and servants and a rod of Iron to break the wicked in pieces like a potter's vessel And though the greatest part of the world will acknowledge no subjection to Christ's Kingdom notwithstanding this does not take away his authority over them no more than the murmuting and rebellion of the Israelites did depose Moses their Governour But there will come a time when that Prophetical Parable of his shall be resolved and interpreted to their confusion when he shall indeed say Where are those my enemies which would not have me to reign over them Bring them hither and slay them before me 40. But the most eminent and notorious exercise of Christs Dominion is seen in the rule over his Church which he purchased with his own Bloud Now the first business he took in hand presently upon his Resurrection when all power and dominion was given him was to give commission and authority to his Embassadours the Apostles and Disciples to make known to the world that so great salvation which he had wrought at his Passion Now though the Apostles were sufficiently authorised by vertue of that Commission which Christ gave them in those words As my Father sent me so send I you Notwithstanding they were not to put this authority presently in practise but to wait for the sending of the Holy Ghost which Christ before had promised them That by his virtue and influence they might be furnished with abilities to go through with that great employment of reconciling the world unto God by subduing mens understandings to the truth and obedience of the Gospel 41. We read in the Gospel of S. John that during the life which Christ lived in the flesh the Holy Ghost was not sent and the reason is added Because the Son of man was not yet glorified The strength and vigour of which reason doth excellently illustrate the point in hand For the sending of the Holy Ghost was one of the most glorious acts of Christs Kingly Office and the most powerful means of advancing his Kingdom Therefore in the daies of his humiliation whilest he lived in the form of a servant before he had purchased to himself a Church by his own Bloud his Humane Nature obtain'd no right of dominion and power over Mankind For till we were redeemed from the power and subjection of the Devil and sin by the merit of Christs Death we were none of Christs subjects but servants and slaves sold under sin and Satan 42. So that it being necessary that the Son of man should not only pay a price and ransome for our Redemption by his Death but also that the same Son of man and none else should actually and powerfully vindicate his elect from the bondage they were in and effectually apply his merits and satisfaction to their souls and consciences Till he was in S. Paul's words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11.9 For the suffering of death crown'd with glory and honour He according to his Humane Nature and that was the only instrument whereby our Salvation was to be wrought had no power of sending the Holy Ghost 43. And indeed till Reconciliation was made by his Death to what purpose should the Holy Ghost be sent What business or employment could we find for him on earth You will say to work grace and new obedience in us I confess that is a work worthy the Majesty and goodness of Gods holy Spirit But yet suppose all this had been wrought in us put case our hearts were sprinkled from an evil conscience and that we were renewed in the spirits of our minds Perhaps all this might procure us a more tolerable cool place and climate in Hell But without Christ it would be far from advantaging us toward our salvation for alas though we should turn never so holy never so vertuous and reformed what satisfaction or recompence could we make for our former sins and iniquities God knows it must cost more to redeem a soul therefore we must let that alone for ever we must take heed of ever medling in that office we must let it alone to him even Jesus Christ who alone is able to be at that cost 44. But I might have spared all these suppositions For as excluding Christ there is no satisfaction no hope of redemption for us so excluding Christs satisfaction he hath no power or authority as Man of sending the Holy Ghost thereby to work in us an ability of performing the conditions of the second Covenant and by consequence of making us capable of the fruit and benefit of his satisfaction Therefore blessed be God the Father for the great glory which he gave unto Christ And blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ for meriting and purchasing that Glory at so dear a rate And blessed be the Holy Spirit who when Christ who is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone did send him would be content to come down and dwell among us 45. We find in Holy Scripture that our Salvation is ascribed to all the Three Persons of the blessed Trinity though in several respects To the Father who accepts of Christs Satisfaction and offereth pardon of all our sins To the Son who merited and procured Reconciliation for his elect faithful servants And to the Holy Ghost the Comforter who being sent by the Son worketh in us power to perform the conditions of the New Covenant thereby qualifying us for receiving actual remission of our sins and a right to that glorious Inheritance purchased for us 46. And from hence may appear How full of danger the former Doctrine which teacheth that actual remission of sins is procured to Gods Elect immediately by Christs death and how dishonourable it is to the Spirit of Grace excluding him from having any concurrence or efficacy in our Salvation For if this should be true the powerful working of the Holy Spirit can in no sense concern either our Justification or everlasting happiness For how can it be said that the Holy Spirit doth co-operate to our Salvation since all our good and happiness was procured by Christs death not only before but without all manner of respect had to our Regeneration and Sanctification by the power of the blessed Spirit Therefore by this Doctrine if we be any thing at all beholding to the Holy Spirit it is only for this that he is pleased now and then by fits
Stealing 45. I confess that some particular men for fear of this consequence Sol. have thought themselves oblig'd to dissent not only from St. Paul's distinction of counsels from Precepts in the Gospel but also from the General uniform consent of all Antiquity Whereas if we shall well consider it they have feared where no fear was For our Churches never condemned that distinction as if there were danger from thence of making way for Popery But this is that abomination of a more then Pharisaical self-justifying Pride in the Church of Rome that upon so weak a foundation they have most inartificially erected their Babel of Super-erogation whereby they teach that they cannot only through the whole course of their lives exactly perform all the Commandements of God without offending in any one mortal sin by this means challenging at Gods hands Remission of their Sins and everlasting Salvation for themselves But also by their voluntary unrequired obedience unto Evangelical Counsels leave God in arrearages unto them and make an extraordinary stock of merits which shall be left unto the Popes care and providence to mannage and dispense to any mans use for ready money This is that Doctrin which the Church of England in express words most worthily professeth a detestation unto in their 14th Article which hath been transcribed into the 45th of this Church And yet for all this neither of these Churches have any quarrel to that distinction of St. Paul when speaking of voluntary Chastity he saith I have received no such Commandement from the Lord 1 Cor. 7.25 yet I give my advice or counsel as hath been excellently discovered by the late incomparable Bishop of Winchester in his Resp ad Apologiam 46. And now though I have gone through and quite absolv'd my Text yet I can scarse think my Sermon finish'd till I have endeavoured to make it beneficial unto you by applying it to your Consciences and practise But when I should come to that I confess I find these times wherein we live so indisposed for such an Application that I know not which way to begin with you For shall I seriously enjoyn you as by a Precept from God that where you have unjustly oppress'd or cunningly and closely defrauded your Neighbour that you should as Zacchaeus did here restore unto him four-fold No I dare not adventure so farr I have received no such Commandement from the Lord and then I should be guilty of that which was an unjust accusation laid upon Moses and Aaron Ye take too much upon you ye sons of Levi. 47. Shall I then endeavour to perswade you to conform your selves to this pattern of Zacchaeus as to a Counsel Alas the times are such that well were we if as some have turn'd all Counsels into Precepts that the same men would not at least in their practice convert all Precepts into Counsel If they would not think that the Moral Legal Precepts were antiquated and dissolved by bringing in the New Covenant of Grace Or if not quite abrogated yet left so arbitrary that they should become matters of no necessary importance and consequence duties which if we shall perform we shall thereby approve our gratitude and thankfulness unto God our Saviour and yet if by chance they be left undone since they are esteem'd no necessary conditions of the New-Covenant there is no great danger as long as we can keep a spark of faith alive as long as we can perswade our selves that we have a firm perswasion of Gods mercy in Christ to our selves in particular which kind of newly invented faith an Adversary of our Church pleasantly and I fear too truly defines when he says Dr. Carrier in his Epistle to K. James It is nothing but a strong fancy 48. These things therefore considered I will leave the application of Zacchaeus his extraordinary Restitution to your own Consciences according as God and your own souls shall agree together Only I beseech you not to make a counsel of Restitution in general but to free your selves from the burden and weight of other mens Riches lest they over-leaven and swell you so unmeasurably that you shall not be able to press in at that straight gate which would lead you unto those blessed and glorious habitations which Christ hath purchased for you not with these corruptible things of silver and gold but with his own precious bloud Unto which habitations God of his infinite mercy bring us all for the same our Lord Jesus Christ his sake To whom with the Father c. The Eighth Sermon GAL. V. 5. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of Righteousness by Faith THis day the wisdome of the ancient Primitive and I think Apostolick Church hath dedicated to the memory of an Epiphany or Apparition of a miraculous Star which was sent to guide the Magi or Wisemen of the East to the place where our Saviour was born But suppose there were such a Star seen and three men of the East conducted by it must all the Christian world presently fall a rejoycing for it There was reason indeed that they should be exceeding glad but shall we therefore lose a whole day's labour by it To say the truth there is no reason for it therefore either better grounds must be found out for our rejoycing or it were well done to make Christ-mass a day shorter hereafter 2. But for all this if we well consider it we Gentiles might better spare any Holiday in the year than this for there is none besides this properly our own but the Jewes will challenge an equal interest in it The appearing of the Star then is the least part of the solemnity of this day For a greater and more glorious light than the Star this day arose unto us even that so long expected Light which was to lighten the Gentiles which was to give light to them which sate in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guid our feet in the way of peace This day as S. Paul saith Tit. 11.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There was an Epiphany likewise of the grace of God to wit the Gospel which now as on this day began to bring salvation not to the Jews only but to all men even to us sinners of the Gentiles of whom those three wise men were the first fruits And to say the truth the appearing of Christ himself unless he had brought with him this light to lighten the Gentiles in his hand had not been sufficient to make a Solemn day for us The Star then was not that light but it was sent to bear witness of that light namely the Gospel the glory whereof fills my text fuller than the Majesty of God ever fill'd the Temple For here we have the whole nature of the Gospel comprehended and straitned within the narrow compass of my Text yet no part of it left out yea we have not only the Gospel discovered by its own light as it is in
their fore-fathers intolerable 23. I will conclude this whole point of the difference between Moses his Law and the Law of Faith or the Gospel in Gods own words by the Prophet Jer. 31.31 Jer. 31.31 twice quoted by St. Paul in Heb. ch 8. ch 10. where God saith Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will make a New-Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah Not according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt which my Covenant they brake although I was an husband unto them saith the Lord But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with them After those dayes saith the Lord I will put my Laws in their hearts and write them in their inward parts c. As if he should say The former Covenant which I made with them by Moses was only written in two Tables of Stone as the Roman Laws were in 12. Tables and required only an outward conformity and obedience for the which they did not need an inward sanctifying spiritual Grace to enable them as the New Covenant of Grace doth And therefore for the performiâ—â— of that I will abundantly afford and supply them with all the Graces oâ— my Holy Spirit 24. But a little to interrupt this Text You will say What had not the Jews God's Law written in their hearts also did not they worship him in Spirit as well as we No question But this they did not as commanded by Moses his Law but by that Covenant made with Abraham and by him traduced unto them It follows And I will be their God and they shall be my people i. e. I will be their God after a more especial manner then I was unto them in the Wilderness I will not only be their King to govern them in peace and tranquillity out of the danger and fear of their Enemies the Nations about them and preserve them safe in the promised Land but I will keep them from the fury and malice of their spiritual Enemies that would seek to destroy their souls and I will bring them to a Land infinitely exceeding theirs and whereof the Land of Canaan was but a most unproportionable type and shadow even mine own blessed and glorious Kingdom reserved in the highest Heavens for them who sincerely perform the conditions of my New Covenant Thus farr as largely as so small a measure of time would permit me I have told you the difference betwixt the Covenant of Grace and Moses his Law imply'd in these words of my Text through the Spirit I come now to my second particular namely the distinction of the same Covenant of Grace from the Law of works wherein I shall proceed by the same method i. e. shewing you first absolutely the nature of those Laws and then the several differences betwixt them 25. The Law of Works is the same with that to the obedience whereof Adam was oblig'd in Paradise with this exception that besides the Moral natural Law written in his heart the substance whereof is to this day reserved in the minds of all the sons of Adam Adam had a second positive Law injoyn'd him by God namely the forbidding him to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil which one Precept cannot properly be call'd a part of the Law of Works or Nature since the Action thereby forbidden was not of its own nature evil but only made unlawful by vertue of God's prohibition Excepting therefore this one particular Precept the Law which was given to Adam call'd the Law of Works comprehended in it all kind of moral duties referr'd either to God his Neighbour or Himself which have in them a natural essential goodness or righteousness and by consequence the prohibition of all manner of actions words or thoughts which are in themselves contrary to Justice and Reason All these Precepts are generally suppos'd to be contained in the Ten Words written by Gods own finger in two Tables of Stone though with submission I think that those two Tables contain only directly the moral duties of man to God and his Neighbour for it will require much forcing and straining to bring in the duties and sins of a man against his own person within that compass as Temperance Sobriety and their opposites Gluttony Drunkenness Self-incontinency c. 26. The Obligation to this Law is so strict severe and peremptory That it required not only an universal Obedience to whatsoever is contained in that Law in the full extent latitude and perfection thereof but that continual without interruption through the whole couâ—â—â— of a man's life Insomuch that he that should but once transgress it 〈◊〉 least point or circumstance should without redemption or dispensation be rendred culpable as of the breach of the whole Law and remain lyable to the malediction thereof And to this Law in this strictness mentioned are all men living oblig'd who are out of Christ and who either know not of him or are not willing to submit themselves to his New Covenant 27. The Justification which was due to the performance of this Law by Justice and as the wages thereof that is the condition wherein God oblig'd himself to such as fulfill'd it was the promises of this life and that which is to come Long happy and peaceable days in this world and in their due time a translation to the joys and glory of heaven This Justification did not comprehend Remission of Sins as ours does for the Law excluded all hope of pardon after sin no promise made to repentance repentance would do no good The Court wherein they were to be judg'd was a Court of meer rigorous Justice Justice rejoyc'd over and against Mercy Grace Loving-kindness and all those blessed and glorious Attributes whereby God for our Saviour Jesus Christ his sake is pleased and delighted to be known unto the world 28. This Law in the rigour thereof might easily have been perform'd by Adam he had that perfection of grace and holiness given him which was exactly equal and commensurable to whatsoever duties were enjoyn'd him But by his wilful voluntary God forbid we should say enforc'd or absolutely decree'd prevarication he utterly undid both himself and his posterity leaving them engag'd for his debts and as much of their own without almost any money to pay them Without Christ we are all oblig'd to the same strictness and severity of the Law which by reason of our poverty and want of grace is become impossible to be perform'd by us As the blessed Apostle St. Paul hath evidently proved by Induction in the beginning of his Epistle to the Romans In the first chapter declaring that the Gentiles neither did nor could perform the Law in the second saying as much for the Jews and in the third joyning them both together in the same miserable desperate estate The conclusion of his whole discourse is All have sinned
by Hope And I bless Almighty God that he has dealt so graciously with me that I should dare to hope for it and not be shamed and confounded by my hope And if there be any amongst you that will vouchsafe to content himself with such a neglected degree of comfort with only hope and no more I will not enter into comparison with those that are perfect but I dare promise him that all those troublesome pleasures which do so ravish the men of this world shall be as nothing yea as afflictions and torments in comparison of those spiritual heavenly Joyes which Hope well and legally atchieved will be able to afford us No dangers will there be of terrours or jealousies as if God would happen to grow weary or repent himself of any grace or blessing which he hath bestowed upon us 59. For tell me Do you think that Adam while he continued in his Innocency had any grudgings of suspicions or fears Was he not during that time in as great a quiet and serenity of mind as any of us dare hope for And yet the most that he could do then was to hope that he might continue in that state even to the end The event shews he could not have an infallible Faith of his perseverance If then such a contented setled mind could accompany Adam in Paradise even when he knew it was in his power with but reaching out his hand and tasting an Apple yea with a sudden wicked word or an unsanctified thought utterly and irrecoverably to degrade himself from that happy estate surely we Christians have much more reason to rejoyce in our hope since we know assuredly that as God has been so gracious to begin this good work in us so he will not be wanting to perfect it even to the end if we will but perform our parts which he has already given us more then sufficient grace to do and will never fail to supply us with more for the asking nay more which are surer grounds to build upon than ever Adam had since we know that not one nor ten nor a hundred sins shall be able so irreparably to cast us out of God's favour but that he will be willing upon our Repentance especially calling to mind his old mercies to restore us again to our lost happiness 60. Neither are we utterly excluded from all assurance for there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full assurance of Hope saith S. Paul Heb. 6.11 Ibid. 9. Heb. 6.11 This Hope we have as a sure Anchor of the soul fastned on a Rock The Rock cannot fail us the Anchor will not all the danger is in the Cable or chain of spiritual Graces whereby we are fastned to this Rock If this chain but hold no tempest no winds no flouds can endanger us And part of our Hope respects this chain for God has promis'd his willingness and readiness to strengthen it every day more and more till our state shall be so chang'd that there shall be no such things as Tempests known no tossings of waves no tumults of winds nor fear of leaking or decay in the Vessel but all calmness and security And for the attaining to this happy unchangeable estate where is it that we place our Hope Truly our Hope is even in thee O God who if thou shalt think it convenient or necessary for us wilt enlarge this our Hope into confidence and add unto that assurance and swallow up all in possession And that not for any merits of ours but only for thy free undeserved Mercies in our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ in whom alone thou art well pleased To whom with thee O Father and the blessed Spirit be ascribed by us and thy whole Church the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen The Ninth Sermon 1 COR. X. 13. God is Faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able WHatever punishments befel the disobedient Israelites who murmured and tempted God in the Wilderness Vers 6. Vers 11. They all happened unto them saith St. Paul for ensamples to us and are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come This Priviledge we may have beyond our fore-fathers that we may present before our eyes a larger Series and History of God's Providence even since the foundation of the World We may take a view and prospect of his constant unaltered course of revenging himself upon sin in whatsoever persons he finds it And we ought from thence to collect that whatsoever immunities and priviledges we may conceive to ourselves whatsoever comfortable Errors we may take up upon trust yet that God will not for our sakes begin a new frame of Policy in the Administration of the World but that we also unless we break off our sins by repentance and conversion unto God We I say after the example of these murmuring Israelites as those upon whom the Tower of Siloe fell as those fourteen whose bloud Pilate mingled with the Sacrifices that we also unless we repent shall all likewise perish Nay certainly we upon whom the ends of the world are come shall be much more culpable our punishment and stripes shall be more in number and weightier if we notwithstanding that larger experience which we may have of Gods unpartial dealing with sinners shall yet promise to our selves impunity If we shall say we shall have peace though we walk in the imaginations of our hearts 2. The same collection we may proportionably make to our own benefit and advantage from Gods gracious dealing and behaviour to any of his beloved faithful servants we may appropriate to our selves all those blessings and promises which have been afforded unto them If our Consciences can assure us that we do obey Gods Commandements in the truth and sincerity of our hearts Now for warrant to this kind of collection instead of several examples in Holy Scripture I will only make use of one taken out of I think this our Apostle Heb. 13.5 where he saith Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have For God hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Which words by him quoted as the margins of our Bibles will direct us are to be found Josh 1.5 Which Josh 1.5 though they be a particular Promise which God immediately made to Joshua thereby to encourage him after the death of Moses to take upon him the conducting of the Jews into the Land of Promise assuring unto him a continuation of his extraordinary assistance in the enterprise Yet notwithstanding St. Paul we see as if God had proclaim'd this Promise to the whole world applyes these words to all the Faithful among the Hebrews and by the same proportion to all Christians likewise 3. Upon which grounds I may as reasonably direct the words of this verse out of which my Text is taken to you that now hear me as the Apostle does