Authority Because Christ and the Apostles did profess and declare that what they delivered to the world was of Divine Authority And because our Lord Christ did undertake not only for himself but for the Inspiration of his Apostles also 1. In the examination of the next Opinion I shall be obliged to lay before you some of the evidences of Divine Authority in Christ and his Apostles here it is sufficient to produce their assertions of it The time of our Lord Christs ministration betwixt three and four years was spent in preaching and working and his Authority was often questioned In Luke 20. 1. and in the parallel places While he was in the Temple teaching the People and preaching the the Gospel the Chief Priests and the Scribes and the Elders came upon him saying tell us by what Authority thou dost these things preachest to the people and who gave thee that Authority Knowing the perverseness of their minds he was not pleased to gratifie them at that time with a direct answer but confounded them with a question concerning the Baptism of John But at other times upon other occasions we find the Divine Authority of his teaching abundantly declared and asserted by him I am the way the truth and the life The words which I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life The words which I speak I speak not of my self but of the Father which dwelleth in me My Doctrine is not mine but his that sent me I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me so I speak I have not spoken of my self but the Father that sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak Whatsoever I speak therefore even as the Father said unto me so I speak Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away Thus did our Saviour afsert the Divine Authority of his Words 2. And so likewise the Apostles are very frequent in asserting the Divine Authority of the things which they delivered In the 15. of the Acts we find them assembled about the question of Circumcision and they accounted it no robbery to entitle their Decrees to the Holy Ghost It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us v. 18. Nor do they pretend to revelation when gathered in Council only but each one severally for himself St. Peter professes of himself that he was a partaker of the glory which was revealed And of his Gospel that it was revealed from Heaven St. John declares that he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Father and the Son as for his other writings that they contained the things which he had heard and seeen with bis eyes which he had looked on and his hands had handled of the Word of life As for the Apocalypse he professes that being in the Spirit in Isle of Patmos he received it and was commanded to write it in a Book The greatest writer among the Apostles was St. Paul and the greatest question hath always been amongst Unbelievers concerning his Calling and the Authority of his Gospel He knew this very well and therefore we find him asserting both his Calling and his Gospel with abundant care and diligence He affims himself to have been an Apostle not of man neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father That by God himself he was separated to preach constituted a Preacher an Apostle and a defender of the Gospel As concerning his Gospel he professes to have received it by Revelation of God As for the Spirit wherewith he wrote and preached he professed himself ready to give a proof of Christ speaking in him He appealed to the Prophetick Spirit then in the Church If any man think himself a Prophet or Spiritual let him acknowledge the things which I write to be the Commandments of God Out of this assurance it was that he enjoyned his Epistles to be read in the Churches of Coloss Laodicea Thessalonica and excommunicates such as should be disobedient in that particular And lest any one should here repeat the Objection made against our Saviour Thou bearest witness of thy self thy witness is not true St. Paul speaking of all the Apostles affirms that God had set them in the Church and that the Mystery of the Gospel was revealed to the holy Apostles by the Spirit Particularly notwithstanding that dispute betwixt St. Peter and St. Paul from the first Ages of the Church to our own Times objected by Unbelievers to the prejudice of Religion it is remarkable that in the same place where St. Paul gives an account how Peter was to be blamed and how and wherefore he withstood him to his face at Antioch he doth expresly affirm that the Gospel of the Circumcision was committed to Peter and that God wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the Circumcision On the other side St. Peter in that very place where he may seem to complain of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of St. Paul yet even there he owns him as his beloved Brother acknowledges his Wisdom to have been gi-given him of God and numbers all his Epistles inter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amongst the other Scriptures 3. Lastly For such as would put a difference of degrees betwixt the Authority of the words of Christ and the writings and Sermons of the Apostles they may take notice that the Authority of these resolves it self into the veracity of Christ himself He it was who being to leave the World promised his Disciples again and again that he would send down upon them the Holy Spirit that should instruct them and teach them all things that should Lead them into all truth Bring to their remembrance all things which he himself had spoken that should shew them things to come that with this Spirit they should not be lightly dash'd or sprinkled but that they should be Baptized and as it were plunged into it How all these promises were performed and how the Assertions of the Divine Authority of the Words of Christ and the Apostles were proved to be true I am next to shew In the interim I conclude that supposing the truth of the words of Christ and his Apostles they are to be esteemed of Divine Authority III. The third opinion is of such as pretend to believe matters of fact to have been truly related in the New Testament but they do not believe the truth of the Doctrinal parts relating to Faith or Manners Of these there have always been too great a number not only pretenders who under a form of Christianity deny the power thereof but generally all forts of Hereticks When Porphyrius had revolted from Christianity to Platonism and had bent all his forces against the Scripture-History he was refuted not only by Lactantius and Methodius men Orthodox in Doctrine but by Eusebius and
the Apostles the Promulgers of the Gospel Wherefore it is to be believed The Antecedent of this Enthymem is the sum of what I shall deliver When the Pharisees said unto Christ thy Record is not true because thou bearest record of thy self I am one saith Christ that bear record of my self and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me Moreover he tells the Disciples that the Comforter should testify of him And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning So that beside the Witness of the Apostles the Gospel had the Attestation of all the persons of the Trinity viz. of the 1. Father 2. Son 3. Holy Ghost 1. God the Father bore witness to his Son and that he did by 1. Visible Signs and 2. Audible Voices 3. by Mission of Angels 4. by Co-operating in his Miracles c. 1. At his Nativity a new Star appeared At his Baptism they saw the heaven opened and the Spirit sent from the Father in the visible shape of a Dove and lighting upon him Before his Passion he was transfigured in their sight And At it the Sun was eclipsed when the Moon was full the Veil the Rocks rent so that the Centurion said Surely this man was the Son of God Bodies of Saints were seen of many All these were visible signs 2. As for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Daughter of the Voice In his Baptism Lo a voyce from heaven Saying This is my beloved Son At his Transfiguration a Voyce came out of a cloud which said This is my beloved Son hear him A little before his death as he was Praying Father glorifie thy Name There came a voyce from heaven Saying I have both glorified it and will glorify it again 3. For mission of Angels by the Father We find them still ready upon all occasions from before his Coming down to the time of his Ascension into Heaven Before his Conception the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zachary and to Mary before his Nativity to Joseph saying fear not Joseph At the time of his Nativity a whole Chorus appeared to the Shepherds In his Infancy an Angel appeared twice to Joseph admonishing him of his going to Egypt and his return from thence In his Adult age they ministred to him in his hunger Before his death they strengthned him in his Agony After it they rolled away the stone from his Sepulcher They declared his Resurrection and in his Ascension they stood by and foretold his coming again to Judgment Ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing This same Jesus 4. The Father co-operated with him according to that of our Saviour The father worketh hitherto and I work c. These are some of the Attestations of the Father 2. Christ bore witness of himself And this he did by proving himself to be the Messiah viz. by fulfilling all the prophesies relating to the Person or Offices the Life and the Death of the Messiah His Generation was such as cannot be declared he was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah of the Family of David about 490 years after the return from Captivity When the Scepter was just now departed from Juda. He performed not only the Substance of the Prophesies but all the Circumstances foretold concerning the Life and Death of the Messiah 1. He was to be a Prophet and so he was The Spirit of the Lord anointed him to preach and he spake as never man spake He foretold many things to come they all bare him witness 2. He was to be a King and so he was His Name was Wonderful his Power was shewen throughout the universal System of the World the Angels good and evil the Heavens Elements Plants Fishes Brutes Health and Sickness Life and Death were all obedient unto his Word 3. He was to be a Priest and so he was He made an Atonement by his Obedience and by his sufferings to the least punctilio to the taking of a little Vinegar and when all things were fulfilled He cryed with a loud voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the Ghost Moreover for the Justification of his Gospel and that he might leave no place for Infidelity he rose again from the dead appeared to many convinced them by all their Senses They saw him They heard him They felt his hands and his side They Eat and Drank with him They Conversed with him 40 dayes He was seen by more then 500 at once and lastly in the sight of Many of them he Ascended Visibly into Heaven These were some of the Testimonies which our Lord Christ bare to himself 3 The time would fail me if I should speak of all the Testimonies given by the Holy Spirit In his Conception to Mary fulfilling the Promise of Gabriel Before his Nativity to Zachary and Elizabeth in his Infancy to Simeon and Hanna in his Baptism to John I knew him not saith John but he that sent me to baptize said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and resting on him that is he and I saw the Spirit descending Throughout his whole Ministry till his Death the Spirit gave witness to him Moreover in his Resurrection he was declared the Son of God with power by the Holy Ghost After his Ascension the Holy Ghost fulfilled all his undertakings in that Grand Manifestation at Pentecost at the time and place which Christ had undertaken for A manifestation made to all the Senses and to men of every nation under heaven Parthians besides a Multitude of other Instances Such were the Attestations given to Christ the Author and finisher of our faith 2. And for the Apostles the Promulgers of it besides the Change of their Spirits from darkness to light Whereby they were led out of Ignorance and Infidelity into all Truth And from torpid and pusillanimous persons during thelife of their Master they became when he was dead the most active and magnanimousin the world I say besides this Change They had bestowed upon them All things necessary either for their 1. Own Assurance or for the 2. Conviction of the World Concerning the truth of the Gospel which they delivered 1. As for themselves besides the Conversation with their Master before and after his Resurrection they had 1. Apparitions of Angels And to one of them Christ himself appeared after he was ascended to his father 2 They had the Bath Kol Voices from Heaven In the 9 of the Acts we find a Voice from Heaven maintaining a Dialogue with Paul and at another time a voice saying to Peter Arise Peter Kill and Eat 3. They had extatical Visions Peter was in a trance Act 10. 10 19. Paul rapt up to the third heaven 4. They had monitory Dreams Paul saw a man in a Dream saying unto him Come into Macedonia and help us 5. They had Impulses of the Spirit So Paul was forbid by
corner-stone wherefore by these the present Question is to be decided If any men at any time taking upon them the sacred name of Christians have swerved from the Rule of their Profession and acting contrary to the Spirit of Christ have made that holy Name to be blasphemed it is reason that they be esteemed the utter enemies of Christianity and that they themselves should bear their condemnation but to charge their exorbitancies upon that Profession which they have prophaned and injured is such an injustice as cannot consist with moral honesty or Philosophical ingenuity So then hîc Rhodus hîc saltus As Saint Paul 1 Cor. xv 14 17 20. concerning the Resurrection of Christ If Christ be not risen our preaching is vain and your faith is vain but now is Christ risen so I If within the compass of those Foundations which I have mentioned be found any colour or shadow of license for any person whatsoever upon any pretence whatsoever to entrench upon the power of lawful Magistrates if any warrant at all for open Rebellion or privy Conspiracies for murthering or deposing of Princes or absolving Subjects from their Allegiance then let Kings cease to be our Nursing Fathers and Queens to be our Nursing Mothers let David look to his own house let the Light of our Eyes the Breath of our Nostrils the Restorer of Religion the Defender of our Faith look rather first to defend himself It will then be reasonable to expect that the Kings of the earth should stand up and the Rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ that they should break their bonds in sunder and cast their cords from them then our Preaching is vain and your Faith is vain But now indeed the case is otherwise and that evidently What the Laws of men could never do with all their Temporal Rewards and Punishments in that they are weak that Christianity in the true Spirit of it performs to the utmost height that is conceiveable The Foundation of Government and Obedience is deeply and firmly rooted in the Foundation of our Religion And if the Scripture cannot be broken if it be true that Heaven and Earth shall pass away before one jot of it shall pass away it is as true that the Ordinances of the Sun and Moon shall fail before this Ordinance shall be dissolved For if by the Principles of our Religion we are obliged to believe concerning the Books of the Old Testament that they have been delivered by holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost 2 Pet. i. 21. then the holy Ghost hath said By me Kings reign c. Prov. viii 15. If Christ be the Son of God the Son of God hath said Render to Caesar the things which are Caesars Mat. xxii 21. If the Holy Spirit did overshadow Peter and the rest of the Apostles then Peter overshadowed and filled with the Spirit commands us in the Name of God to submit our selves to every Ordinance of man 1 Pet. ii 13. If Saint Paul were called to be an Apostle by the miraculous appearance of our Lord Christ after his Ascension and was by him immediately instructed in the pure and genuine spirit of Christianity then Saint Paul's Theory concerning Government is an authentick Christian Theory whereby the Doctrines and practises of Christians are to be judged and that Theory is delivered in the seven first Verses of this Chapter Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers c. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation I call it a Christian Theory of Government because it is a brief and comprehensive Scheme whereby all Questions concerning Obedience and Government may according to Christian Principles he resolved The whole discourse of the Apostle consisteth of two general parts First A strict Injuction Secondly Effectual Motives First The Injunction in the first words Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers c. Secondly The Motives in the words following which are taken from I. The Original and Institution of Government it is ordained of God hence follows II. The Sinfulness of Resistance They resist the Ordinance of God And III. The Danger of it They shall receive damnation Which is again enforced by IV. The End of Government in respect of evil and good men Out of all which follows V. The necessity of subjection Wherefore ye must needs be subject And VI. The nature of that necessity it is not of prudence but of Conscience After all which the Apostle like a legitimate Demonstratour resumes his Proposition and concludes it with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 7. Render therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honour to whom honour The words which I have chosen contain in them the danger of resistance to the Civil Powers They relate both to the Antecedent and Subsequent part of the Apostle's Discourse and are as efficacious towards the pressing of the Injunction of Obedience as it is possible for words to express or men to conceive The strongest and most operative Arguments upon men at least-wife 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are Arguments of terrour The most terrible thing within the compass of humane apprehension is Damnation which imports besides the judgments of this life the eternal privation of the enjoyment of God utter darkness and everlasting burnings Those that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Those that resist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resistance is a Relative Act and it implies some person or thing to be resisted What then is the Correlate of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is delivered in the first Verse Those that resist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Authorities set over them Civil Authorities having jus Gladii the Authorities supreme or subordinate justly obtaining over them It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here used which signifie corporal strength and power but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Scripture distinguisheth from both the other From 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke iv 36. and ix 1. 1 Cor. xv 24. Ephes. i. 21. from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jude 25. It answers the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Septuagint translates by all the names of Legal Authority 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is taken for the Persons of Governours as well as for their Power so Ephes. iii. 10. That to Principalities and Powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might be known c. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against Powers and the Rulers of this World Ephes. vii 2. So that we may not separate their Personal and their Politick capacity It remains that we enquire the meaning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what it is to resist in the Language of the Gospel Now 1. That to oppose by force is to resist it is so plain that I need not speak to it We meet both
Election the Spirit of God departed from Saul and rested upon him He had power in his hand he was set over the men of War accepted by all the people all Israel nd Judah loved him After all this you know his Provocations his Advantages and his Behaviour he durst not touch the Lords anointed and when another pretended to have done it at Saul's entreaty in extremis he revenged his death and lamented over him Ye mountains of Gilboa c. 2. But that other Pretence that after a lawful Sovereign is established according to the Supposition of my Text and my Discourse the power still remains in the people in the diffused body of them or their Representatives to alter the Government as they please it is in respect of Policy and Government what the Sin against the Holy Ghost is to Religion it destroys the foundations of the peace and safety of men and makes that to be the Artifice of man which is the Ordinance of God How much God abhorred this Pretence will appear in the Case of Corah and his company When God sent Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt he sanctifyed him and put his Name upon him Thou shalt be to him instead of God and when he had brought them forth he made him a Prince and a Law-giver over them The supreme Power was in Moses who called to his assistance a Senate or Parliament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consisting of the Heads of the Tribes of Israel In this Council Nature soon began to work some envied Moses whom God had chosen and Aaron the Saint of the Lord. Dathan and Abiram the Sons of Eliab Heads of Families in the Tribe of Reuben thought both the Civil Power and if that must be transferred from the first-born to one Tribe the Priesthood also was due to them being Eldest Brethren of the Eldest Tribe Korah an eminent man amongst the Levites was offended that the High-Priests Office went beside him and was settled upon Aaron and his Posterity These were their secret griefs for a redress whereof they make a party in the Parliament they gain to them two hundred and fifty men famous in the Parliament men of renown and in order to their ambitious Designs they remonstrate against Moses Vers. 13. and their Declaration was this Pretence which we are upon that all the Congregation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were Holy and that Moses and Aaron had lifted up themselves above them that is that their power was a contrivance of themselves not an Ordinance of God that notwithstanding what God had done to settle the Civil and Ecclesiastical power it remained still in the people or their Representatives assembled together Now the Scripture tells us that since the world began God was never more highly provoked then upon this occasion when he heard this he was wrath and greatly abhorred them he invented a new thing in the world for their sakes for the Earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the Congregation of Abiram I have now done with these Pretences and my endeavour hath been to vindicate Religion from the charges of unbelieving Politicians and indeed to shew that it is not a Spirit of carnal Compliance but the true and genuine Spirit of Christianity which runs through the Doctrine and Government of the Church of England After what hath been spoken I hope I may presume to say with the Apostle Do we now make void the Laws through Faith yea we establish the Laws We have seen the Christian Theory doth the Philosophical Theory provide better for the safety of Princes and the estabishment of Government It tells us in effect that Might is Right that every thing is just or unjust good or evil according to the pleasure of the prevailing Force whom we are to obey till a stronger then he cometh or we be able to go through with resistance That in reference to this life Obedience is a matter of Wit and Prudence and after life there remain for us no Concernments How stramineous is this Theory compared with the Christian Theory which speaks in this wise Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers c That this is the genuine Christian Theory hath in some measure been demonstrated so that indeed it may be wondered from whence these Prejudices have arisen But alas that my head were waters They have one grand Objection to which having spoken I shall conclude If this be the Doctrine of Christianity how comes it to pass that those who pretend the highest to Religion and profess themselves the onely Christians the Bigot and Jesuited Romanist the frighted and transported Reformist have been authors of the most horrible Treasons and Rebellions On the one hand what mean the Catholick Leagues On the other the Solemn League and Covenant forced upon Subjects renitente Principe On one hand what means shall I say the lowing of the Oxen or rather the roaring of the Bulls the thundring of Excommunications the absolving Subjects from their Allegiance the Actual Murthers of Princes the attempts for blowing up King Lords and Commons at one clap What is the meaning of the noise of the Bells of the claps of Squibs and Fire-works which we hear On the other hand what was the meaning of that black and terrible dispensation which will cause the ears of all Posterity to tingle It is but a little while since the anointed of the Lord the holiest the wisest the best of Kings was taken in the snares of men pretending to reformation and sacrificed to the fury of men possessed by an evil Spirit from the Lord. He was offered as a Lamb that is dumb or rather like the Lamb of God to the rage of wild fanatical Enthufiasts It is but a very little while since the Lamentation of Jeremy was in the mouth of all the faithful in the Land Our Kings and our Princes were amongst the Gentiles provoked to serve other Gods the Law was no more the Prophets also received no vision from the Lord. And all these things were brought to pass by men pretending wonders in Religion And they would know the reason of all these Dispensations But who art thou O man who pressest into the secret of Gods Pavilion How unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out such knowledge is too wonderful we cannot attain unto it It may be these things have been done that the Sayings of our Saviour might be fulfilled It cannot be but offences will come but wo be to them by whom they come and It were better that a milstone c. It may be the Gunpowder-Treason was permitted to be designed that the disappointment might be had in everlasting remembrance and celebrated as it is this day Son of man write the name of the day even of this same day the King of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day It may be God fuffered the late Rebellion to prevail
that he might not leave himself without witness but shew forth his wonders in our days in the miraculous restitution of our gracious Sovereign and the Church If he had not been driven out how could he have been restored not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of our God It may be this was done that we might say no more The Lord liveth which delivered us from the Treason of pretended Catholicks but The Lord liveth which hath delivered us from the Tyranny and blood rage of the wild Fanatical Enthusiasts Surely all these things have been permitted that the Stone which the Builders refused might be made tried and precious and that his Patience his Piety his Constancy in Religion his Christian Magnanimity being manifest to all the World by the impatient desire of all Nations he might become the head of the Corner Surely these things were suffered that the Faith and Patience and Loyalty of the Church of England might be made bright and glorious by the Flames of Persecution and that in the day when God shall have given our most Gracious Sovereign the hearts or necks of all his Enemies it may not repent him of the Kindness he hath shewn to Religion and Government in lifting out of the dust the despised Head of that only Church for ought I know which makes Obedience without base restrictions and limitations an Article of its Religion Lastly these things it may be have been permitted that by the Triumph of this day and by the vengeance lately executed in the sight of this Sun the Atheistical world might be convinced that the Powers that be are ordained of God and that though the wicked do evil an hundred times and God prolong their days yet Vengeance is his and he will repay it and They that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation FINIS Against the Antiscripturists A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL February 20. 1669 70. BY SETH Lord Bishop of Sarum Printed by His Majesties Special Command LONDON Printed by A. C. for James Collins at the Kings Arms within Ludgate near St. Pauls 1672. Against the Antiscripturists 2 Tim iii. 16. All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God IN the verse preceding it is said concerning the Scriptures of the old Testament that they are able to make a man wise unto salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the faith which is in Jesus Christ And it follows immediately All Scripture c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Faith is often by a Metonymy taken for the Gospel which is the Object of the Faith of Christians We read often of the Preaching and Hearing of Faith of the Analogy of Faith the common Faith which was once delivered to the Saints in the preaching of Christ and the Writings of his Evangelists and Apostles and so I conceive it is to be taken in this place So that the meaning of the whole is this The Old Testament understood and expounded according to the Analogy of the New is able to make a man wise And the Pen-men of the Canonical Books of the Old Testament wherein Timothy had been instructed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of the Books of the New Testament which except those of St. John were extant before the writing of this Epistle were inspired and directed by the Spirit of God The words of the Text are an entire Proposition asserting the Divine Authority of the Canon of Scripture and my endeavour shall be at this time to prove the truth of that Proposition Wherein that I may proceed with all plainness and clearness I shall premise two words by way of Petition Precaution 1. By way of Petition I suppose and take for granted 1. The great principle of the power of God and his providence in governing the world 2. That our Body of Canonical Books of the Old Testament is the same with that which was in Use in the time of Christ and his Apostles And our body of the New Testament the same which was anciently received in the Church So that what shall be proved of those is applicable to the Original Scripture used in our time 3. That those Books of New Testament whose Authors were not anciently questioned were written by those Authors whose name they bear And that those few others which were sometimes questioned by some particular Churches and afterward Universally received contain in them no one point of Faith or Manners diffentient from the Contents of those Books which were never questioned 2. By way of Precaution and Admonition I must intreat you to take notice that I shall not now meddle with the Controversies concerning Apocrypha Translations Keri and Chetib Hebrew points various Lections dubious Authors or parts of Scripture But my endeavour at this time shall be to Assert the Divine Authority of the body and substance of the Original Books of the Canon of the Old and New Testament And this not in the way of common place but in a particular Examination or Refutation of the most dangerous Opinions of the Antiscripturists which are these I. Of those who pretend to believe the truth of the New Testament and yet they deny the Divine Authority of the Old II. Of those who pretend to believe the truth but deny the Divine Authority of the New Testament III. Of such as pretend to believe matters of Fact to have been truly related in the New Testament but do not believe the truth of the Doctrinal parts relating to Faith and Manners IV. Such as deny the truth of the Relation of matters of Fact in the New Testament and in consequence reject the whole Body of Scripture Of these as briefly and plainly as I can I. The first Opinion is of those who pretending to believe the Truth of the New Testament deny the Divine Authority of the Old Testament The Severians and the Manichees Basilides and Carpocrates of old The Catabaptists of later times some Anabaptists Antinomians and other Fanatical Sectaries amongst our selves In opposition to these I shall shew that supposing the truth of the New Testament the Divine Authority of the Old Testament is to be acknowledged Because the Divine Authority of the Old Testament is asserted by Christ and his Evangelists and Apostles in the New 1. Next to the Redemption of the world the great business which Christ had to do upon Earth was to Convince men that he was the Messias and so to assert his Legislative Authority And the great Argument which he used for the conviction of the world was this All the Marks and the entire Character of the Messiah and of his Actions and Passions were prefigured and foretold by the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms i. e. in the Volume of the Old Testament And all things foretold or prefigured concerning the Messiah were accomplished by himself So that though the great Works of Christ and the purity and excellency of his Doctrine and of his Life were of themselves sufficient to justifie the Introduction of
Apollinaris and of late days Socinus and others have well asserted the truth of the Scripture-History who yet have been offended at the dogmatical parts of the Gospel and concerning the Faith have made shipwrack In Opposition to these I shall endeavour to demonstrate that Supposing Matters of Fact to be truly related in the New Testament it is unreasonable to suspect the truth of any of the Doctrines delivered by Christ or his Apostles Amongst the various fancies concerning Religion wherewith the whole world hath been always embroiled Two things there are wherein all the Sons of Adam have agreed namely 1. That that is to be believed which hath received the testimony of God And 2. That this Testimony is to be gathered from instances of supernatural Wisdom and Power In the study of natural and Philosophical Theology the Speculativi amongst the Greeks and Romans and other Nations sought after wisdom Reason and Demonstration But to reduce the People to the forms of religious Rites and Sacrifices prescribed them they were made to believe the Epiphanies of the Gods and the manifestations of their Wisdom and Power by Oracles and Works supernatural To these even Mahomet pretended though his great Argument was from the Sword and of the Jews I need not speak For a Foundation of Religion and in our inquisition after that short of this Testimony we ought not to stay further we cannot go And herein is the utmost of humane wisdom to consider well those Evidences upon which we adventure the interest of our eternity To this evidence therefore we appeal in asserting the Doctrine of our Lord Christ and his Apostles Namely to the instances of Supernatural Knowledge and Supernatural Power whereby their Doctrine was attested I shall not here wave the force but I shall decline the repetition of what I have formerly spoken concerning the attestations given to it by Visible Signs Audible Voices Apparitions of Angels Fulfilling the Prophecies Evidences of Christs Resurrestion Mission of the Holy Ghost In Joh. 7. 15. the Jews wondred at Christ that he knew any thing How knoweth this man Letters seeing he never learned tbem but if we mark the Scriptures we shall find that he knew all things and that nothing was withdrawn from the reach of his understanding He knew the sickness and death of Lazarus though absent and at a distance He saw Nathaniel under the Fig-tree and convinced him that he was the Son of God and the King of Israel Come see a man said the Woman of Samaria which told me all things that ever I did is not this the Christ He was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The secret murmurs at his hard sayings the inward desires to ask him Questions the Reasonings and dialogisms of the hearts of his Disciples the secret Councils of the Scribes and Pharisees their evil surmisings their treacherous intentions to intrap him their mental Blasphemy were all naked and manifest before him He knew what was in man and needed not that any one should tell him He knew the various Kinds of Devils and how they were to be ejected This Kind cometh not out but by Prayer and Fasting He knew the Fishes of the Sea and where they were and what was in them He knew not only things past and present but to come He foresaw all things that were to come upon him who it was that should betray him he foretold his Disciples all the circumstances of his Passion how he was to be Betrayed Condemned delivered to the Gentiles mocked scourged spit on kill'd and Crucified at Jerusalem Behold saith he I tell you before Let this saying sink into your hearts He forewarned Peter of his denyal and the Disciples of their flight He foretold things to come aster his death the time and manner of the destruction of Jerusalem The success of his Gospel the Effect unlikely of his Crucifixion that it should draw all men after him that it should be preached and believed in the whole world spreading it self like Leaven and like a grain of Mustard-seed that Satans Kingdom should be destroyed suddenly like lightning notwithstanding the false Christs and false Prophets which should arise These and many more were instances of the supernatural knowledge of Christ And for his power the time would fail me to insist upon the many and various instances mentioned in the Gospels I shall omit the exercise of his dominion over the Sun Moon and Stars Plants and Animals Earth and Water the Wind and the Sea and briefly mind you of those which concerned the bodies of men how he 1. Fed their hunger 2. Healed their distempers 3. Raised their dead and 4. Cast out Devils He fed 4000 at one time and 5000 at another with 5 or 7 Loaves and a few little Fishes He healed the blind lame deaf dumb maimed feaverish hydropical paralytick leprous and lunatick persons He cured not green wounds only but ancient inveterate Maladies of 12 of 38 years continuance one that was born blind He used no Plasters nor Potions no Telesmans or other Charms but performed all these things by a touch of his Hand or of his Garment He healed absent persons as well as present he spoke the word only and they were healed He raised to life the Daughter of Jairus the Widows Son at Naim his Friend Lazarus and many bodies of the Saints Many of which healed and raised persons lived till about Trajan's time as Quadratus a Disciple of the Apostles affirmed in his Apology to Hadrian the Emperour Like a strong man armed he cast out Devils whatever kind they were of he quickly disloged them that foaming and tearing Devil which withstood the power of his Disciples and threw down and tore the possessed person even as he was yet coming to Christ himself he presently rebuked and healed the child and delivered him to hts Father Neither their long possession nor their numbers could secure them he cast seven at once out of Mary Magdalen and an whole Legion out of a certain man of the Countrey of the Gadarens who had been possessed by them a long time Moreover for attestation to the truth of his Gospel he delegated all this power to others to the 12 Apostles to the 70 Disciples He bequeathed it to Believers at his death and they also received and exercised this supernatural power I have given a few instances of the Supernatural Wisdom and Power of Christ solitarily considered The History of the Gospel affords us many Examples wherein they were gloriously combined By his Knowledge he foretold his Resurrection he performed it by his Power By his Divine Understanding he foresaw his Ascension and by the Power of his Divinity he ascended He ascended and by his power he fulfilled the Predictions and Promises which he had made He sent down the Holy Spirit and shed forth the gifts of supernatural
to reject them for want of such evidence is repugnant to the Reason of mankind I proceed therefore to my second assertion that the Belief of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures is most agreable to reason That the Divine Authority of all the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are undeniably concluded from supposition of the truth of the Relation or History of matters of fact in the New Testament I have already shewn And that the rejection of all History is against the Reason of mankind is evident because all mankind receive some History or other wherefore I shall briefly shew 1. That the History of the New Testament hath all those advantages whereof any History is capable 2. That it hath greater advantages than any other History 1. The Arguments inducing men to the belief of any historical Relation are all of them Either Ab intra Internal from the 1. Credibility and Scibility of the Object 2. The Knowledge and Integrity of the Writers 3. The way and manner of writing Ab extra External from the 1. Reception of it in the world 2. Concurrent testimonies of strangers 3. Concessions of Adversaries and the like In all which particulars no History in the world can justly pretend any advantage above that of the New Testament 1. For the credibility of the Object and Cognoscibility of it 1. To say that instances of supernatural Power and wisdom are impossible is to deny the power of God and his providence in governing the world And to say that such things are incredible as are and have been actually believed in all times and by all sorts of persons Jews and Gentiles Christians and Mahometans a few Atheistical persons only accepted is an absurdity The History that we speak of pretends to no intrigues or Cabalistick Counsels or Myisteries of State but conteins it self within the limits of things Visible and Audible things that were done or spoken so that no History can have advantage over it respectu objecti 2. As for Knowledge in the deliverers I shall shew it by a brief Induction The whole New Testament consists of the Books of the Revelation Epistles Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels The Authors of the Epistles and the Revelation in the Narrative parts of them deliver the things done or spoken to or by themselves and could not be ignorant of their own experiences The Book of the Acts contains some things done by or to the rest of the Apostles but chiefly the concernments of Paul and it was written by Luke who was an individual Companion of Paul and intimately conversant with the rest of the Apostles For the things Related in the Gospel of St. Luke he saith they were delivered to him by those who from the beginning were Eye witnesses of the works and Ministers of the Word and his History agrees with the other Evangelists The Gospel of St. Mark hath nothing which is not in St. Matthew or St. John and was dictated by St. Peter the Head of the Apostles St. Matthew was an Apostle and St. John the Bosom Apostle of Christ. The Apostles were chosen by him for Witnesses of his Words and Actions they were with him from the beginning of his Ministry continued with him till his death couversed with him till his ascension That which they had heard which they had seen with their Eyes which they had looked on which their hands had handled of the word of life that they delivered in writing to the World And more than this no Writer or Relater of History can pretend to 2. For Arguments of their sincerity they have left Precepts of Veracity and prohibitions of lying under pain of Hell torments the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone They have protested that they did not follow cunningly devised Fables that they did things sincerely as in the sight of God They have appealed to the searcher of hearts The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knoweth that I lie not The things which I write unto you behold before God I lye not Gal. 1. 20. saith St. Paul They have left behind them various instances of their simplicity and Godly sincerity in representing their failings to the world and of candour and ingenuity in distinguishing the dictates of their own Reason from the inspirations of the Holy Spirit I speak by permission not by commandment of the Lord This say I not the Lord Thus it is according to my judgment c. 1 Cor. 7. But besides all this let the matter be estimated according to common reason If these men did devise a Fable and impose it upon the world what end could they propound to themselves in so doing was there any profit in being destitute of all things or pleasure in being persecuted afflicted and tormented or honour in being counted Fools and Mad-men Before they began to publish the Stories whereof we speak their Master was gone and all worldly hopes were gone away with him If they were not bound in Conscience and in Spirit what obligation had he laid upon them to labour and suffer for his honour as they did To omit the severity of his behaviour to them He called them off from their Vocations Peter and Andrew James and John from their Fishing Mattbew from his Customers place the rest accordingly They forsook their Nets their Ships their Relations and all their interests and followed him And this they did clearly and plainly believing that he was to be a Great Temporal Prince and in hopes of preferment under him In this Expectation they continued to the last minute of his conversation with them upon Earth and he permitted them so to do Their last words to him were delivered in this question Lord wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom unto Israel Of the thing it self they never doubted they only desire to be informed of the time Now after so long expectation Consider his Answer His Answer was this It is not for you to know the times c. but ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses of me unto the utmost parts of the earth and immediately he vanished away Was this an answer to their Question or a satisfaction to their expectation Was this an Obligation laid upon them If he had not sent down the Holy Ghost this would have moved them indeed but it would have been to rage and indignation this would have obliged them indeed but it would have been to detest and abhor the name and memory of him that had abused them But for the honour of his name not their own they did and suffered all things and gloried in it An irrefragable argument of their sincerity in the things which they delivered 3. Of the internal Arguments for the belief of History there remains only the Consideration of the way and manner of writing Histories then carry their own credentials in them when the principal parts
things continue as they were before And for the manner and Apparatus of his coming Our God shall come saith the Psalmist and shall not keep silence there shall go before him a devouring fire and a mighty Tempest shall be stirred up round about him Behold the Lord will come with fire saith the Prophet and with his Chariots like a Whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire The streams of Zion shall be turned into Pitch and the dust thereof into Brimstone the Earth thereof shall be burning Pitch the smoke thereof shall ascend day and night and shall not be quenched compare Revel 6. with Esai 34. The Kings of the Earth shall tremble the Captains and the mighty shall be horribly asraid the great men and the rich men shall hide themselves all the bond-men and all the freemen shall fly to the Rocks of the Mountains And soon after all this The Heavens shall be rivel'd as a scrowl the Earth and the Elements shall melt away for God shall arise to judge terribly the Earth Have not all these things come upon us the men of this Generation Is it weakness is it a vain and superstitious scrupulosity to call these things to our remembrance Have we no reason at all to apprehend the approach of a General Judgment either upon the World or upon our sinful Nation Do we not now envy those despised souls which have made their accounts ready We thought it madness to see them pine away with poenitential exercises and macerate themselves with mourning We thought it folly which they called Conscience for which they denyed themselves the pleasures and enjoyments of the World We fools counted their life madness and their latter end to be without honour But the time is coming when they shall be comforted and we shall be tormented Because he hath called and we have refused he hath stretched out his hand and we have not regarded He will laugh at our calamity and mock when our fear cometh When our destruction cometh as a Whirlwind when distress and anguish comes upon us May we not therefore give up our selves to the torments of our hearts and surrender up our souls unto Despair so Israel said there is no hope we will follow every one the devices of his heart after 20 30 or 40 years continuance in our courses 't is in vain to think of turning from them Our arrears are so far gone that there is no hope to discharge them and why should we trouble our selves with the thoughts of our Account Nay that which must come let it come and what is a few days respite to Eternity Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye Let us go forth as at other times and shake our selves and scatter these troublesom apprehensions of future Judgment What if we should drink a little to drive away Melancholy Yes and fall perhaps and spew and rise no more Nay but I beseech you stay a little and consider consider at least in this your day the things which belong to your peace It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Who among us can dwell with a devouring fire Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings Such careless and desperate resolutions are the advantages which the Devil aims at that he may sear our Consciences and seal us up in a final obduration But there is another kind of advantage which God and our Lord Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Gospel and the Ministers aim at That advantage which I told you of in the beginning of my Discourse That knowing the terror of the Lord they may perswade men And now what is it that they would perswade us that we will be contented to part with the tormenting fears of Judgment that we will condescend not to be miserable to all Eternity That we will accept of deliverance from the wrath to come that we will not neglect so great salvation nor trample on the bloud of the everlasting Covenant Behold God calls upon us Turn you turn you at my reproof why will you dye O House of Israel As I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of sinners Our Lord Christ calls upon us Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you In the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles he stood and cried Saying If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink The Spirit sayes come and whoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely The Gospel assures us That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life Behold I set before you this day life and death blessing and cursing and as an unworthy Ambassadour in Christ's stead I pray you be reconciled to God take his yoke upon you his yoke is easie and his burden light embrace now the tender of the Gospel only repent and believe in the Lord Jesus accept him for your Saviour and your Lord. Your Prophet to instruct you your King to govern you your Priest to save you and you shall be saved Saved from the fears and horrours of a Guilty Conscience condemned by it s own witness Saved from the wrath of God and of the Lamb. You shall meet the Lord with Confidence We shall be able to stand with boldness in the Judgment to lift up our heads with joy because our redemption draweth near This is the way of save our own souls from perishing which is the General design of all our Preaching And this is the way to appease the wrath which is gone out against us and to preserve our Nation from destruction which is the particular and more immediate end of our present Humiliation whereof I am yet to speak THe hand indeed of the Lord hath been heavy upon us his wrath hath been kindled it hath waxed hot against the Sheep of his pasture and he hath plagued our Nation very sore His Judgments have been multiplied his strokes have been redoubled and for all this his anger 〈◊〉 not turned away but his hand is stretched out still Wars and Pestilences and those other fore-runners of Christ's coming to Judgment have been seen and felt amongst us and now when these have not been able to prevail To awaken a drowsie people to rowse up a Lethargic Nation to ferment a people setled upon their Lees God has made a new thing in the midst of us he hath wrought a work in our dayes which makes the ears of all that hear it to tingle A work not to be parallel'd perhaps in all the circumstances since the Creation of the World How hath the Lord covered the Daughter of our Zion with a cloud in his anger and hath cast down from Heaven to Earth the beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstool in the Day of his Anger he hath swallowed
Death the Sun was eclipsed the Moon being at the Full. To indicate the place of his Nativity at the time of his Birth a new Star was made on purpose Health and Sickness Life and Death and Hades gave in their testimonies by their obedience to his word Yet once more he shook the Heavens and sent down the Holy Spirit upon his followers he shook the Earth also he tore the Rocks and opened the Graves and at his powerfull voice the bodies of the Saints arose And lest it should be said He raised others but himself he could not raise As he finished the Great Mystery of Christianity by his Death so also he proved the truth of it by his Resurrection As he died for our Sins so he rose again for our Justification for our Justification is in the Belief of that and all other the Mysteries of Christianity These and many more are heads of Arguments which whoever duly considers and understands will certainly believe the Gospel propter veritatis Evidentiam 2. It remains only to shew that whosoever doth truly believe the Gospel shall infallibly be saved Propter Bonitatis or Virtutis Excellentiam Because it is the Power of God to salvation to every one that believeth In speaking of which Argument I need not go about to prove that the Power of the Gospel is the Power of God in which respect it is called the Hand or Arm of the Lord the Sword of the Spirit the Grace of God bringing Salvation and the like Neither shall I stand upon a Comparison of the Gospel with the Grecanical or Judaical Institutions a man may believe all that ever was written by Philosophers and yet doubt whether there is or can be such a thing as Salvation yea or no. A man may believe whatever is explicitcly and expresly delivered in the Law of Moses and yet not be saved But my intention is barely and nakedly this By a short Reflexion upon the Way and Method of the Actions of Mankinde and the Discoveries and Contents of the Gospel well known to those that hear me to manifest the truth of this Proposition That every man that believeth the Gospel i. e. that truly and actually abideth in that belief shall infallibly be saved Because whosoever frames his Actions according to the Rules and Principles the Precepts and Prescriptions of the Gospel shall infallibly be saved And because it is of the nature of man to frame his Actions according to his Actual and persevering Judgement and Belief The Nature and Essence of man consists in his Understanding and for a man not to follow the stedfast and constant the actual and final dictate of his Understanding is impossible in Nature and indeed implies a Contradiction He that believes that there is neither God nor Devil Heaven nor Hell Salvation nor Damnation And that he hath not an Immortal Soul i. e. a Soul to save such a man If at least he hath attained to those great accomplishments of Rudeness and Incivility will make it his business to fill up his measure of Debaucheries and Impieties will think it Brave perhaps and Witty to Blaspheme God and scoff at Religion will make it a matter of Gallantry and noble Courage and Resolution to challenge God to damn him or bid the Devil take him Body and Soul will spend his time in Revelling and Drunkenness in Chambering and Wantonness Expecting and hoping to die like a beast he will be sure to live like one And in conclusion will finde himself disappointed of this glorious hope this goodly noble manly expectation and that his Miscreancy and the errour of his Judgement hath betrayed him into eternal misery Whilest on the other side he that believes the Declarations and Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel will have his fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life He that firmly and stedfastly believes that the Soul which Actuates his body is an Immortal Being a subsistence which shall and must endure to all eternity That after Death he must appear before the Tribunal of God and Christ to answer for the things done in the body That from thence he shall be transmitted to a state either of Eternal Happiness or Eternal Misery either to be entertained in the Vision of God in the fellowship of Saints and Angels with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Or secluded from the sight of God and treated with the Devil and his Angels with torment unconceivable unexpressible and that to all Eternity This man if he might gain all the Profits and Honours and Pleasures if he might decline all the afflictions of this world will not lose his own Soul Frustra blanditiae venitis ad hunc frustra nequitiae venitis ad hunc Considering that light and momentany things bear no proportion to the exceeding weight and moment of those which are Eternal he will forthwith endeavour to lay hold upon Eternal Life and make haste to escape the Wrath to come And to that end he will devour all difficulties and neglect no means or opportunities He that believes that the only way to Happiness is the way to Holiness That without holiness no man shall see God That no unclean thing shall enter there That the Impious the Unjust the Intemperate the Lascivious continuing so shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This man will endeavour to purifie himself to mortifie all his carnal lusts and affections to cleanse himself from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God Again he that believes and considers the Corruption and Impotence of his natural Condition and the design of Christs coming into the world what he hath already done and what he is still in doing for him How that himself and every man is by nature a childe of wrath that Sin reigns in his mortal body that he lies under a bondage from which he cannot redeem a Guilt from which he cannot acquit himself That no flesh is justified in the sight of God Whosoever I say doth believe this concerning himself and on the other side concerning Christ that to this end was he born and for this cause came he into the world that he might save sinners That the world through him might be saved That to this end and this end only he descended from Heaven This was the end of his Conversation upon Earth his Life and Doctrine his Preaching and Example This was the end of his Crucifixion Resurrection Ascension and Session at the Right hand of God That by the sufferings of his Life and the inestimable value of his Blood the world might be Justified and Redeemed from the Guilt of their sins rescued from the miseries of the world to come And that by the operation of his Doctrine and Example and the power of his Intercession the world might be sanctified Delivered from the Dominion of sin purified and prepared to be admitted to the
Vision of the most holy God Fruition of the Life to come I say that the man that firmly and stedfastly and actually believes these things will not nay indeed that he cannot neglect so great Salvation That he will not trample upon the blood of the everlasting Covenant or despise the Spirit of Grace or crucifie afresh the Lord of Glory and put him to an open shame But that for his continual cleansing from his past transgressions he will daily resort to the fountain which Christ hath opened for sin and for uncleanness offering and presenting his head and his heart his minde and his affections to the blood of sprinkling And that for the obtaining of preventing and following Grace to preserve him from lapsing for the time to come He will throw himself daily at the feet of that High-Priest which is sensible of his Infirmities and which sits at Gods Right hand making Intercession for him and with sighs and unutterable groans he will implore the Assistance of that Spirit which helpeth our infirmities And that continuing and persevering in this Course by the Grace of God which never faileth them that seek him he will certainly conform himself to the Commands of Christ and compose himself to his Example till at length he be transformed to his Image He will add to his Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge and so onwards He will goe on from strength to strength untill he appear before God in Glory I say that such a man by denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts and living Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this present world will work out his Salvation with fear and trembling and in the end of his dayes will certainly and infallibly attain to the end of his hopes namely the Salvation of his Soul So that the Gospel is indeed the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation to all men It is the power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth TO come therefore to a Conclusion Judge now in your selves Brethren and judge Righteous Judgement Is this a Gospel which is to be despised A Dispensation whereof a Minister or a Christian ought to be ashamed Are the Mysteries of this Gospel to be derided and drolled upon To be travestied or turned into Burlesque or Macaronique Is this to be a Brave and a Gallant person A Spark and a Wit Or is it indeed to have never a spark of Wit or Gallantry Men Brethren and Fathers If the time and your patience and my strength would bear it I would take unto me boldness and freely speak unto you concerning the Gospel of our Saviour I would Reprove Rebuke Exhort I would severally and distinctly address my self to every sort and every Degree of those that hear me Ecclesiastical and Civil Young and Old Wise and Unwise Noble and Ignoble I would speak unto you young men of the Clergy that you would not be offended at the Mysteries of the Gospel or think it a matter of Wit or of Learning either to despise or to go about to mend them That you will neither be Drolled nor Disputed Cajoled nor faced out of your Religion or suffer the Mauvais hont the evil shame to be put upon you That you will not believe that it hath been only dull formality a want of the smartness of your Wit or depth of your Learning which hath retained your Fathers and Predecessors in the belief and the Profession of the plain and simple Articles of the Catholick Faith Be not deceived Brethren Vixerunt fortes ante Agamemnona Be not seduced by those who pretending to remove the Scandal of the Cross of Christ which thing St. Paul counted an absurdity in Christianity would rob you of a most divine and excellent Religion and substitute in its place a rotten and depraved Philosophy Those I mean who never have been able with all their Wit Reason and Learning to explicate or comprehend the Mysteries or Mechanies of a Mite or of a Flea of a Plant or Stone or any one of the innumerable things which are before them and yet they take upon them to controul the plain literal designed and reiterated Declarations of Christ and his Apostles concerning the Mysteries of the Godhead Those who Grammaticizing pedantically and Criticizing spuriously upon a few Greek Particles or words would cozen the World of the benefit of the blood of Christ and Christ himself of his Divinity and put him off with a fantastical and Poetical Apotheosis I would speak unto you Fathers because ye have known the Father and the Son ye understand the effect and consequence of the Mysteries of the Gospel to the Salvation of men that ye will continue to strive earnestly to retain that faith which is thought by some to be upon the wing that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints I would speak unto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wise men or Philosophers Paul speaking to the men at Athens puts them in minde of a saying of a Poet of their own I would call to your Remembrance a Saying of a Philosopher of our own a Philosopher of great renown which is to this effect That a profound consideration of the reason and comprehension of the circumstances of things a deep dose of Philosophy will make a man Religious And that the contempt of Religion is an infallible argument of one that is a smatterer only and half-witted I would speak unto ye Nobles that ye would be Noble as the Beraeans were That ye will search examine and consider whether the case of the Gospel be such as hath been represented yea or no And then I am sure ye will continue zealously and vigorously to support the Gospel I would take heart and courage and improve in an humble confidence so far as to prefer a Petition to King Lords and Commons the Noble the Mighty and the Wise that at this time especially they will be carefull of Religion and tender of the Interests of the Gospel I would humbly endeavour to bring to remembrance who it is by whom Kings Reign and Princes decree Justice And what it is to be Defender of the truly Antient Catholick and Apostolick Faith I would endeavour to Demonstrate that neither Forts nor Castles Armies nor Navies Arms nor Ammunition Money nor Men to say nothing of Allies or Confederates or the Staff of Egypt are so powerfull a support of the Crowns of Princes as the Gospel Nay not as a few lines of this one Epistle of our High nosed Galilean as the Scoffers have been wont to call him duly imbibed into the Souls and Consciences of men namely that saying at the beginning of Chap. 13. Let every soul be subject to the Higher Powers for there is no power but of God the Powers that be are Ordained of God And they that Resist shall receive to themselves Damnation the belief of this would be sure to compose the mindes of all Dissenters so as to keep peace and obedience at home And the belief