For he that submits to God with the least disputing when the tryal is great doth it with the least pain but it will be accepted by God if we prevail at last and do the thing that God expects in quitting all to secure an Interest in him although not with the same readiness that Abraham did though not without complaint and some disputing for God will pardon our Infirmities if there be a prevailing sincerity at the bottom that overcomes the reluctance of Flesh and Blood. But we should labour to come up to the perfection of Abraham's example and consider well with our selves that it is our constant profession and pretence as well as it was Abraham's to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to hold nothing too dear for him and withal that there is nothing which God can require us to quit voluntarily but he has an absolute Right to dispose of it and has absolute Power to deprive us of it whether we will or not When therefore God requires that we should freely resign that to him which he can take away if he pleases it is evident that he requires this not for his own good but for ours If he had needed Isaac and it had been beneficial to himself that Isaac should be killed what need of Abraham to do it And surely it is a mighty reason without delay to put God's Will and Command in execution when we know beforehand that all is meant for our good not that God is the better for that which we quit but because we are the better for doing it freely and voluntarily 2. The other remarkable is That God required of Abraham to offer up that his only Son in whom his seed should be called through whom all those great Promises were to be fulfilled which he had made to him before and herein consisted the nobleness of Abraham's Faith that though God seemed to require that which would destroy all the hope he had by those Promises which hitherto he had firmly believed yet he believed still and submitted to do that which in all appearance was utterly inconsistent with the truth of those Promises that had been made to him so that he against hope believed in hope And this is that which the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews lays an Emphasis upon chap. 11. By faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son his only Son through whom those Promises were to be fulfilled Now though he could in obedience to God get over the difficulty that Natural Affection laid in his way yet here was the hard point how he should get over that temptation to unbelief which struck at the very Root of his Faith God had promised before that in Isaac his seed should be called If he believed him now how did it not appear that he was deceived before If he was not deceived before in trusting to that Promise how could he be obliged to do that which would take away all reason to believe that Promise any longer But yet without any of this disputing and contending he went speedily about the matter he rose up early in the morning and takes his Son along with him to that place where he was to offer him up Now if you ask how it was possible for him to believe in God notwithstanding this Command mark what the Apostle says By faith he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said That in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure That is to say he so fully believed all God's Promises made to him before that his Faith was not staggered with the seeming inconsistancy of this Command of God with his former Promises but concluded if there was no other way God would raise up Isaac from the dead for he accounted that is he was fully perswaded that God was able to raise him from the dead as in a sort he did by stopping his hand when he was about to slay him And now if upon the former consideration Abraham's sincerity deserved so high a testimony much more upon this for it is the highest praise of Faith to trust that God will make good all his Promises even when the way he takes so to do seems to be utterly inconsistent with them Well therefore might God upon this high act of Obedience renew his Covenant with Abraham in saying By my self have I sworn that because thou hast done this thing and hast not with-held thy son thine only son from me that in blessing I will bless thee and in thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed And observe here I beseech you how highly God was pleased with this Noble Act of Faith and how fitly the Promise wherewith God immediately rewarded him agreed to what Abraham had done By my self have I sworn that because thou hast done this thing in blessing I will bless thee Words cannot express a greater delight than these do One would think that Abraham had done some singular kindness to his God and if God were to be judged of as we judge of Man that God had received an extraordinary favour and benefit from him But such is the infinite and pure Charity of God that when we do what is good for our selves it is no less pleasing to him than if it were beneficial to himself But because Abraham had conquered the greatest Temptation of all to Disobedience viz. That the thing commanded seemed to destroy all the Promises he had made of a Blessed Posterity that should descend from him by Isaac God now rewarded his Faith with repeated Assurances By my self have I sworn that in thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed And so well might the Jews in their Peace-offerings when they thankfully acknowledged the goodness of God in giving them the possession of so good a Land call to mind the offering of Isaac as the Great Foundation of all those Temporal Blessings which they as the Seed of Abraham enjoyed And after such a demonstration as this well may we trust God in all Conditions if we resolve to do as Abraham did if we count none of his Commandments grievous if we do not repine at his Providences if we go on to serve him and to depend upon him though when we must hope against hope for then God will not fail to shew that we have wisely trusted in him and cast our selves upon him he will shew himself as much pleased with our Faith as he was with Abraham's and will reward it as effectually To sum up all The Testimony of God to Abraham's Faith was not given merely for his own sake but for the instruction and encouragement of all true Believers to the World's end who when they deny themselves and do the hardest Duties and are
of our Saviour may be well applied to such a Person If the light that is in him be darkness how great is that darkness Moreover there is little hope to reform that Man's evil Practises whose persuations make him secure and easie all the while So there is no little difficulty to be met with in trying to undeceive him for Men will hold comfortable Errors as long as they can find the least pretence for it And which is not the least mischief of this Offence though such Errors are not laid down without a great trouble yet they are taken up with much readiness they are apt to spread far and wide And to this I believe the experience of the World agrees viz. That although there are mistakes that lead to trouble of Mind and over-much restraint yet for one that is led away by such mistakes an hundred there are that believe comfortable Lies which either wholly take off the restraints of Religion or in such part as to render them ineffectual 3. Perverse Disputes and an obstinate Maintenance of Error by all the Arts of Sophistry has this lamentable evil commonly attending it that it renders many Persons utterly careless to examine on which side the Truth lies Perhaps they are but few in comparison that are framed to an inquisitive Spirit and they who are not so framed by Nature or by Education must force their Tempers to Patience and take pains with themselves which is an Employment that Men soon grow weary of and commonly they break off pretending it is to no purpose to search any farther but that when there is so much to be said on both sides when there is such an appearance of Reason for and against the same thing it is time for them to give over being Judges for themselves And indeed in things that are either really disputable or of less moment this were not much to be blamed But in matters of high Consequence and Questions that touch the very Vitals of Religion it often happens that Men grow weary of searching Truth and give up themselves wholly to be led by the Authority and Judgment of others after the Controversie is stifly maintain'd for some time on both sides And it were well in this case if it were an even lay whether they choose the true Guide or not But when a Guide is to be chosen and followed with an implicite Faith the false Guide hath this Advantage always that he exceeds in Confidence in lofty Pretences in swelling Titles in positive denouncing Damnation to all that are not of his way and though a Modest Man that speaks justly of things and claims not to be Infallible deserves the most Credit yet 't is great odds that the other has most followers amongst those that understand not the merits of the Cause 4. The same Cause has too often a yet worse Effect and that is to run some Persons into Infidelity and an utter neglect of Religion as if no certainty could be had of the Principles of Religion seeing there is so much Controversie about it And some have said that it will be then time enough for them to believe in God and to worship him when they that pretend to oblige them to it are agreed about it The truth is were it not for that secret impression of his own Being which God hath left upon our Nature it is not improbable but the monstrous Errors that have been obtruded upon a great part of Mankind under the name of Faith and the force and the fraud wherewith they have been maintain'd had let in Atheism like a Deluge upon the World especially considering that there are those in the World who are so full of Zeal for their own way that they have no tenderness for the common Principles of Faith but are rather content that all should sink together than that their own Doctrines should not stand We have been born in hand that no assurance can be had of the truth of Christianity but from the Authority of such and such Men and they that believe upon other Grounds had as good have no Faith at all That if it were possible for them to propound any thing that is false we cannot be certain of any one Article that is true That the same exceptions may be made to the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles that are made against the stories of latter Miracles and finally that by the same Reason that any of their Traditions are rejected the Holy Scriptures may be rejected too and indeed we have lived to see the utmost that can be done by Wit and Learning to diminish the Authority of the Bible Now this I say is a most dreadful Offence and has done infinite mischief in the World that Men who are violently engaged in a wrong way of Religion care not for the most part what they venture in the service of their own Cause for whilest they lay the same stress upon false or at least disputable Points that they do upon the most necessary and acknowledged Principles of Religion and bend all their Wit to shew that no difference ought to be made they give occasion to Men that would fain be Atheists to deceive themselves into what they would be For a very little consideration will serve to satisfie them that something is false which is propounded to them as an Object of their Faith. And they know that they have then leave given them to conclude that nothing is true 5. There is another great mischief of Offences that are given by Errors in Doctrine or Practice and a mischief that often happens in the World which is that of running into a contrary extream The Church found this by sad Experience in the fourth and fifth Ages when men of no small note disputing against one Heresie fell into another of an opposite Nature to the no small trouble of Christendom Truth sometimes as well as Vertue lies in the mean and they that transgress on any one side do not only this mischief to give what Authority they can to the wrong side they are of but they do this mischief too of giving occasion to others to offend on the other extream Thus the abuse of Church-Authority on the one side has bred in some men contempt of all such Authority on the other The scandals that have been given by propagating Opinions by Force and Violence have produced in many a fond persuasion that there ought to be no restraints whatsoever in matters of Religion Superiours have required unlawful things in Divine Service and to be revenged upon that abuse it has been said that they are not to be obeyed in matters of Prudence and Expedience Religion has been made to run out into Shews and Ceremonies and this has begotten prejudices against all appearance of Beauty and Reverence in the external Worship of God. And on the other side the excesses of men in departing from one extream are scandalous to those whom they left and do confirm them
shall be encountred with some or other prophetick passages concerning Christ All which was designed of God for the confirmation of our Faith that when he should come in whom not only the plainest and most unquestionable Prophecies but all other Types and the more obscure prefigurations of the Messias would be fulfilled we might without the least doubt believe and follow him 2. This word of Prophecy is said to be a light shining in a dark place the reason of which Expression is plain enough if we consider that the Prophecies were nothing so easie to be understood by themselves as they were afterwards made by the Events which they foretold and therefore till the Events made all plain the World was very much in the dark about the meaning of them as to most particulars but yet some of them were so express and full that they had raised an Expectation not only in the Jews but amongst the Gentiles also of that extraordinary Person whom God would send into the World for their relief And therefore they might very well be compared to a light shining in a dark place For such a Light though it doth not make a particular discovery of those things that lie round about it is yet apt to draw the Eyes of all towards it that are within distance and the Predictions concerning Christ were so remarkable that they awakened the Gentiles themselves to take notice of them and were therefore a light shining in a dark place to Jews and Gentiles not indeed clearly revealing the Truth to them at present but preparing them to receive it when it should be clearly revealed in the accomplishment of all that had been foretold And whereas this light was said to shine till the day dawned and the day-star arose in their hearts The plain meaning seems to be that from the beginning of the World to the appearance of Christ the Prophecies concerning him grew still more express clear and particular as the time drew on that they were to be accomplished The whole word of Prophecy was a light shining in a dark place but the latter Prophecies such as in Isaiah Daniel and Malachi were like the dawning of the day before the Sun of Righteousness himself appeared By such degrees did God prepare mankind for the belief of the Gospel every Age contributing something before-hand to undermine the Prejudices of the Natural Man against it That God should send his Son into the World to be a Sacrifice for Sin was a Mystery so far above the reach of worldly Wisdom and natural Reason that considering our weakness it would hardly have born being revealed all at once and therefore God chose to let mankind into the knowledge of it by degrees and by the growing Light of Types and Prophecies to prepare them for that stronger Light of the plain and clear Truth which in due time was to be revealed And by this way God also provided a sure foundation for their Faith who should afterwards believe only we must do what St. Peter commends the Christians of his time for doing we must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must give heed unto and bend our Minds to consider the word of Prophecy and we must attend to it as to a light shineing in a dark place till the day dawns that is we must not content our selves to try any one single Prediction only to compare it with the History of Jesus and then if that doth not give full satisfaction to try no more But as God by every new Prediction added more Light to the word of Prophecy so we should consider what Evidence is given to the Gospel by the Prophecies of the Old Testament taken altogether from the first to the last And this was the Method which our Saviour took to instruct the two Disciples going to Emmaus They were not unacquainted with the Prophecies of the Old Testament and yet they were mightily staggered at the shameful Death of their Master We trusted say they that this had been he which should have redeem'd Israel but now they know not what to think of it Then said Jesus unto them O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his Glory But what course did he take to convince them did he take some one notable Prediction by itself and lay all the stress upon that No but beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself It was this that made the day-star arise in their hearts it was this that cleared all their doubts and enlightned their understandings so perfectly that they afterwards said one to another Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the Scriptures Luke 24. 3. The word of Prophecy is said to be sure that is 't is a plain Testimony of God to make us sure that Jesus is the Christ For 1. It is absurd to ascribe the Prediction of these events to any cause less than Divine Omniscience or as St. Peter saith Prophecy came not by the will of man but holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and no Prophecy of the Scripture is of private interpretation i. e. Not as some would make us believe no Prophecy of Scripture is to be meditated upon and read by private men but the Prophets did not utter their Predictions by the private Spirit but by the Spirit of God therefore if at vast distances of time from the event it was foretold in several Ages that one in whom all the Nations of the Earth should be Blessed would come into the world of such a Nation of such a Family at such a Time and Place with several publick and notorious Characters by which he should be known Then certainly he in whom all these Predictions have been fulfilled is by the Testimony of God's Omniscience declared to be that great Prophet who was to come into the World. Or shall we say that these things were the effects of Policy or Combination or Chance Could the most politick Statesmen foresee the rise of Empires not yet begun how much less could they fix their periods as the Prophets did in their Predictions concerning Christ and his Kingdom And can we think that they could at the distance of many Ages with their utmost skill foresee so many particular events as were foretold by the Prophets and accomplished in Christ Jesus Or shall we say that there was a confederacy between Moses and Jesus between the Prophets and Jesus so many hundreds of years after they were dead and before he was born Or are these Predictions and their events to be imputed to Chance It is possible indeed that some one thing may be foretold and happen accordingly but that so vast a number of particulars should be foretold concerning one Person at all adventures and by strange luck
both as to the Accidents and nature of Bread I grant that the Accidents of Bread would be the Body of Christ and if it be not the same both as to the Nature and Accidents I deny it This I profess not to understand Fath. As to the Doctors Argument it includes a Sophism as will appear when brought into form because it involves 4 Terms because he supposes in one Proposition for the Accidents of Bread and in the other for the Nature Dr. In the Argument I used I went upon this Supposition That the Accidents of Bread were onely to be understood as the Answerer supposes and therefore I have not confounded the Nature and the Accidents of Bread together Besides the Distinction between the Nature of Bread and the Accidents of Bread was not to be remembred any more by the Answerer because I proceed upon his Supposition That the Accidents onely are broken Now if St. Paul speaks of nothing but what is broken and Accidents onely are broken and yet if he speaks of the very flesh of Christ too then the Accidents of the Bread are the very flesh of Christ And whereas the Answerer by his last Answer means the Nature of Christ's Body as he says I understood him of the Nature of Bread. And now once more I desire him to shew me where the four Terms are Fath. The Text of St. Paul the Dr. takes for his Medium and argues from a double Supposition as first taking it for the Accidents of Bread which were broken and afterwards for the substance of Christ's Body under the Accidents in which latter sense it signifies the same that is meant by our Saviour in St. John. Dr. I observe the Answerer will allow nothing to be broken but Accidents I observe also that nothing is said to be the Body of Christ or the Communion of the Body of Christ but what is broken If therefore nothing is broken but Accidents then Accidents are either according to the Answerer's long proof the very Body of Christ or according to the Apostle the Communion of the Body of Christ But neither are the Accidents of Bread the Body of Christ nor the Communion of the Body of Christ And this I say is not answered and believe will not be answered by any man that maintains that St. Paul does not here speak properly of Bread. Fath. All along in my Discourse I have supposed that when St. Paul speaks of this bread he spoke of the H. Eucharist in which were contained both the Accidents of Bread and the true body of Christ How the Dr. has disproved this Doctrine so clearly as to justifie the Reformation I understand not Because I conceive no private Persons or particular Church ought to pretend a Reformation without clear evidence whether the Dr. has given such I leave to the consideration of the Readers And whether having broken off from the great body of the Vniversal Church and its testimony he can possibly have any certain Rule to arrive at Christian Faith If Scripture be pretended interpreted by a fallible Authority how Certainty can be obtained or why a Socinian following Scripture for his Rule of Faith is not to be believed as well as any other Reformer following the same Rule I see not Signed W. Clagett Peter Gooden Dr. CLAGETT's Answer TO A PAPER Delivered to Him by Father GOODEN The Paper ARticles of Christian Faith are Truths Truths are Impossible to be False Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are Impossible to be False Therefore those who obtain Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to Acquire them by which cannot deceive them To a Parliamentary Protestant the Antient Fathers cannot be such a Rule because they are accounted Fallible Nor Councels because they also are accounted Fallible Nor Scriptures sensed by a Fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be False And therefore Faith cannot be Obtained by any such means For that which is Doubtfull can only Create Opinion which is also Doubtful And He that doubts in Faith the Apostle says is Infidelis And a Company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a Society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Signed Peter Gooden The Answer Pap. Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Ans The Design of the Disputer is to prove that we are Doubters and therefore Infidels But never did any man begin a business more unluckily for at the very first dash he takes it for granted that we do undoubtedly believe Articles of Christan Faith to be Truths for otherwise he ought to have proved that they are so But there is another Misfortune he is faln into no less than that for his Argument to prove that we must needs be Doubters is that we want an Infallible Rule Now if he is sure that we want an Infallible Rule and that without such a Rule there can be no Faith I am sure he does notoriously contradict himself by supposing that we believe all Articles of Christian Faith to be Truths though we have no such Rule This is a very hopeful Paper and like to make wise Converts which ends in making us Infidels and begins to prove it by an Argument that manifestly supposes Us to be Believers which also pretends that we have no Infallible Rule and therefore can be sure of no Point of Faith but yet manifestly supposes Us to be Assured of Some without it which shews the Paper to be a trifling Paper and worth no more Consideration But because the Disputer is said to boast so much of the Argument Contained in it I will go on with every Clause of it to Convince him if he does not already know it that there is not a Line in it but is either false or nothing to the purpose Pap. Truths are Impossible to be False Ans By Truths the Disputer means the Truth of Things or of Propositions and therefore this is a vain and fulsome saying which does not Advance his Reasoning one jot farther than it was before For this is no more than to say That which is true is true and it cannot possibly be but truths must be truths I think he applies himself to us as if we wanted not only Christian Faith but Common sence Pap. Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are Impossible to be False Ans There is no doubt of this supposing that they are Truths So that the Argument he begins with being put into the right order and into other words is this It is Impossible but truths must be truths but Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Therefore it is Impossible but they must be Truths The Antient Fathers had made wise work with Christianity if they had gone this way to work to Convert Infidels Pap. Therefore those who obtain the Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to acquire them by which cannot deceive them Ans This is an obscure saying and I must make the best of it By obtaining Articles of the Christian Faith I
Catholick Church both before and after her Reformation And thus I have gone through the task I set my self and I hope need to make no Apology for entertaining you with a Controversie of this nature which indeed ought to be no Controversie amongst us But if it were needful I have this to say Whereas the Church of England does not pretend to be an Infallible Guide or Judge and yet requires the People to believe as she believes to profess what she professeth and to do what she injoyneth it is very fit that her Ministers should sometimes make it plain that she requires this because she has reason so to do and is not in these points deceived though she does not pretend that she cannot err in any I know not whether I have made the things I have discoursed plain enough to every understanding but whether that be so or not yet every one may perceive that we appeal to his Reason for the truth and honesty of our Cause and for my own part if I understood nothing else of the Merits of it I had rather be of a Church which pretends to guide me with Reason than of another that would govern me without it and that because the former is likely to take more care not to mislead me than the latter needs to do which when it has gained me to an implicit Faith and a blind Obedience may lead me whether she pleases As for what I have now said I declare in the presence of God that I have offered nothing to you but what I believe my self and farther that I am not conscious to my self of any reason why I am fixed in the Communion of this Church in opposition to the other but a full conviction of the Errours of that Church which if I should profess or practice I could not entertain the least hopes of Salvation And we who are thus convinced are as I take it bound in conscience to take seasonable opportunities of confirming our Brethren in our Communion and enabling them as well as we can to make it appear that the Arguments and the Answers of the other side are unsatisfactory and vain as I have in some part endeavoured to shew at this time We should indeed not be unwilling to take pains to recover those to the knowledge of the Truth that are educated in damnable Errours but there is much more reason to do all we can to retain those in the profession of the Truth that have been educated in it seeing if they revolt we cannot have that hope of their Salvation which we would fain have of theirs who want sufficient means to discover them It were a blessed state of the Church indeed if all being united in true Faith and Worship we had nothing to do but to perswade and exhort men and to take care of them that they live answerably thereto but since we have two Works upon our hands to guard you against Errour as well as to warn you against a wicked Life I do not see how we can discharge our Duty but by doing one as well as the other And that I may not say nothing to the latter I am to tell you in the Conclusion that we do not make the Communion of the best Church in the World to be all in all a man may go to Hell in the Communion of a pure Church and without true Repentance and Reformation the best and purest Church that ever was since the Gospel began could have done him no service And I take it to be as great a Corruption as can be readily thought of for any Church to pretend to save men by a Trick and send them to Heaven any other way than the plain way of keeping the Commandments of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Keep therefore the pure Profession of the Christian Faith but withal keep a good Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man Hold fast the form of sound words But still remember that if your Works be not answerable your Faith is vain For not the hearers of the law but the doers thereof shall be justified Not he that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of our Father which is in Heaven The Second Sermon MATTH XVIII 7. Wo unto the World because of Offences for it must needs be that Offences come But wo to that man by whom the Offence cometh THE great end of the Gospel is to bring Mankind to Salvation and in order thereunto to convert them from Sin and from all dangerous Error and to lead them to a right Faith and a Holy Life But it is too evident that this end is not attained Universally And if any one should be tempted to suspect that the Christian Religion is not therefore a Divine Revelation because it has in so great part failed of the end which it pretended to pursue he may be easily brought to assurance again by considering the vast good which Christianity hath done in the World but especially by observing that the Gospel hath foretold that all men would not believe and obey Our Blessed Lord himself testified that many were called but few were chosen and that strait was the Gate and narrow the Way that leadeth to Life and few there be that find it Nay inasmuch as he hath forewarned us of a Day of Judgment and hath told us beforehand That the word which he hath spoken the same should judge us at the last day This was a manifest Declaration that he did not pretend to lead men to Faith and Repentance by such means as could not but be effectual but only by such as were sufficient if we would in any measure comply with his gracious Methods and it was also a plain intimation that a great many would be never the better but the worse for these means that God had provided for their Salvation and that some for not receiving them others for not improving them would fall into greater Condemnation But our Saviour did not foretel these things only but the Causes of them too and what it was that would obstruct the Progress and Design of his Religion For this is the importance of those words of his which I have now chosen for my Subject Wo be to the World because of Offences for it must needs be that Offences come By Offences or Scandals we are here and almost every-where in the New Testament to understand those Temptations to Sin and Inducements to Errour which some men lay in the way of others They are sometimes otherwise exprest Snares Stumbling-blocks and Occasions of Fallings for the thing meant by all these expressions is the same Now concerning Offences our Saviour affirms two things in the words I have read First That they would come nay that it must needs be that they would come i. e. that men would arise who should hinder the prevailing of Christianity as much as in them lay or pervert the Design of it
to permit those to resist the Holy Spirit and the means of Salvation who would not be reclaimed by any reasonable means and that for these three Reasons 1. That there might be a clear difference made between the good and honest heart on the one side and the insincere and incourigible on the other Which had been impossible if God had by his Omnipotence equally overborn all men into the Faith and Obedience of Christ But as the case stands the Gospel is a Touch-stone that distinguisheth between the Humble and Sincere and the Unteachable and Dishonest part of Mankind And the Offences which are given by those that do not receive the Truth in the love of it are a farther trial of the sincerity and ingenuity of men as St. Paul said of one kind of Offences There must be Heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest And therefore notwithstanding Offences that remains true which our Saviour said All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Joh. 6.37 i. e. All sincere and humble persons who are committed to the special care of Christ to train them up to eternal Life will be sufficiently armed against Temptations and the Offences that are laid in their way shall but clear their sincerity and wisdom more to the World and turn to the encrease of their reward 2. As the sincerity of the Righteous so neither had the proper advantages and power of Truth been seen had God interposed his irresistible power to prevent all Offences and Endeavours against the Truth And therefore he was pleased to suffer Errour and Folly to appear upon the stage of the World even after the heavenly Wisdom of the Gospel was made known to Mankind that by its own strength it might struggle with all kind of opposition and prevail and be justified of her Children 3. By this way the Wisdom of Divine Providence and the truth of God's word and his care over the Church is seen more illustriously than if Offences had never been suffered That Promise that the Gates of Hell should never prevail against the Church of Christ nor the Faith lost from the Earth had lain in the Gospel unobserved we should have had no occasion for recourse to it no means of tryal whether we put our trust in it had the Truth been never opposed never corrupted we had wanted one notable reason to praise God that while the Offences are so rife in this World this Church gives no Offence in matter of Doctrine or in matter of Worship and that God may count us worthy to enjoy so inestimable a Blessing let us pray that we may give no Offence by our Examples let us adorn our Profession by our Conversations and shew the Purity of our Faith by the Purity of our Actions Thus much for the necessity of Offences that thus would arise It must needs be that Offences come The Third Sermon MATTH XVIII 7. Wo unto the World because of Offences for it must needs be that Offences come But wo to that man by whom the Offence cometh I Come now to the second point viz. That Offences would do great mischief in the World. Wo unto the World because of Offences In speaking to which I shall consider I. What mischief is done by Offences II. Whence it comes that they are of so pernicious a Consequence 1. What mischief is done by them And in this Question I need not be large because the Answer to it has in some part been already given under those several heads of Scandal which I mentioned before it being impossible to shew where the Scandal of any Practice or Opinion lies without touching upon the mischief it is apt to do But to what has been said something may be added 1. The general mischief of Offences or Scandals is this That they are a prevailing Temptation upon many in the World to forsake the way of Truth and Piety For as good Examples and Encouragements good Counsels and Instructions are proper means of making others better so ill Examples and the Arts of Seducing must needs have a contrary influence God has put us into a kind of dependance upon one another and has thereby given us Opportunities of the greatest Charity and the best kinds of doing good viz. of leading and confirming one another in the way of Truth and Vertue But there is no help for it but the Society we have with one another may be abused into a means of doing one another mischief And therefore as where Truth is sincerely represented where Vertue is encouraged where Authority protects them where Wit and Learning are engaged to recommend them there abundance of good will be done upon those who are framed to learn and not to teach to follow but not to lead the way So on the other hand it is not to be expected but the abuse of all those Advantages will create Prejudices against Truth and Goodness and mislead multitudes And this is too evident from the Experience of the World in all Ages No Opinions how foolish and absurd soever how pernicious soever to the common Interest of Mankind if they have been set off with plausible Colours or supported by Authority or have been accommodated to the Interests of wicked Men but they have had Abettors and Followers and have very often taken such deep Root in the Affections of Men that 't is one of the hardest things in the World to convert them into the way of Truth But more particularly in the second place 2. The scandal of advancing Doctrines that give liberty to the Lusts of Men and ease to their Minds without effectual Reformation This Scandal I say has this pernicious effect that for the most part it fears the Consciences of Men and hardens their Hearts against all Reproof Although it be a terrible aggravation of Sin for a Man to venture upon the doing of that which his Conscience pulls him back from and for which he knows he must give a sad account at the last day if it be not prevented by Sorrow and Reformation yet such a Man is in a better condition than one that is well satisfied with himself and believes his condition to be good enough while he goes on in his sins without Reformation because he has another way to escape the damnation of Hell. For so long as a Man believes the Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel as they are and knows the Terms upon which they are made it may be hoped that he will at length lay these things seriously to Heart and that some awakening Reproof from Men or some merciful Providence of God may make the Truth which he is already provided with the belief of effectual to his Conversion But there is little Reason to hope this of a Man whose very Principles are corrupted and has no fears within himself for a charitable Man to take hold upon And therefore that saying
was but meant all that he promised and at that time verily believed that he should be as good as his word whilest Judas was at that Minute bent to betray him But this honest Man wanted experience of himself and presumed too fast upon his own Ability and therefore our Lord took this Occasion to lay a Foundation in him of a better understanding of himself for he said unto him Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake Verily I say unto thee the Cock shall not crow till thou hast denyed me thrice A seasonable intimation it was that his Master in the very heighth of his confidence should tell him That he would thrice deny him before the next day was well begun And this forewarning together with the experience of his own infirmity afterward no doubt served to make him ever after a more considerate and watchful man and tended to add modesty and humility to his other good qualities 2. If we go a little farther we find him sleeping with the rest of the Disciples though our Lord had left them to pray that they might not enter into temptation And that when Jesus came and found them asleep he said unto Peter who had undertaken so much before What could ye not watch with me one hour watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak By which words he gave him fully to understand that he was not acquainted with his own Infirmities and had not that sense of the necessity of watchfulness and prayer which he ought to have had at that time 3. It was but a little while after that Judas conducted the Officers and Soldiers that were sent by the High-Priest to take Jesus and when they had laid hands on him Peter's forward spirit led him into another mistake He drew his sword and struck a Servant of the High-Priest and smote off his ear Which though well meant in zeal for his Master was yet an undutiful resistance of Authority and betrayed a rash anger But neither did our Saviour leave him here without that admonition which was necessary to make him wiser and better Then said Jesus unto him Put up thy sword again into its place for all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more than twelve Legions of Angels But how then will the Scripture be fulfilled that thus it must be 4. That tryal of him that followed immediately almost at the High-Priest's Hall shewed him to be as yet a very imperfect man and one that wanted that resolution which he thought himself a Master of Indeed he shewed a little more courage than the rest of his Brethren inasmuch as they fled upon their Master's being apprehended but he followed at a distance to observe the event but this served only to entangle him in a more shameful fault than theirs that ran clear away even to the denying of his Lord thrice and the last time with imprecations he that had so forwardly confessed in the Name of the rest that Jesus was the Son of God he that but a few hours before had so vehemently declared that he would rather die with his Master than deny him when now he saw him brought like a Criminal into the High-Priest's Hall altered from what he was before and his Faith began to fail It is not improbable that he had some hope his Master would deliver himself out of their hands by some Miracle because he sat among the servants to see the end But yet the danger was so apparent that he wanted courage to own him till the end was come and so denyed him And while he spake his last words of denyal the Cock crew And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter Luke 22.61 Not throwing off all farther care of him notwithstanding so foul a miscarriage And Peter remembred the words of the Lord how he had said to him Before the Cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice And he went out and wept bitterly That which I have been driving at all this time is to shew a notable example of the weakness of the flesh in a man very apt to be confident of himself and withal of the watchful care of our Saviour to correct him and set him right and that because he had a willing spirit an honest and sincere disposition void of malice and falshood and was ever desirous to know the truth and to do his duty Therefore said our Saviour to him just before his last conflict Luk. 22.31 32. Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may fift you as wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not For the Tempter understood Peter's composition how much chaff was mingled with the wheat and what were the inconveniences of his temper and desired nothing more than full liberty to make use of them for the overturning of all his good qualities But said Jesus I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted streng then thy brethren i. e. When thou art satisfied what a great many things are to be mended in thy self and that those infirmities of thine which at present thou art not aware of had like to have been thy utter ruin but withal that thou hast escaped through the Grace of God when thou art grown wiser and more established in all kind of goodness then do thou strengthen thy Brethren be careful of all sincere persons that labour under Infirmities as I have been of thee take care to improve that which is good in them and to secure them all thou canst against all their Infirmities Thus much concerning the great advantage of sincerity that it doth entitle a man to the special favour and protection of God and so what we are to learn by all is to lay this Foundation of well-doing which our Saviour acknowledged and commended in his Apostles that is a willing mind and an honest disposition for then we are in a condition to be watched over by the Divine Grace But having shewn how valuable in the sight of God is a willing spirit and an honest mind I proceed in the Second place to urge our Saviour's exhortation and that is notwithstanding this to watch and to pray that we enter not into temptation for though the spirit be willing yet the flesh is weak For if sincerity could of it self support a man without any farther care and help we had never heard of the drunkenness of Noah and Lot the murder and adultery of David and the fall of Peter we had never met with any instances of the weakness of human Nature in men very honestly disposed whose examples shew us the necessity of watchfulness and prayer the means we are directed by our Saviour to use and if we do use these means if we do set the advantage of care and prayer against the inconvenience of
come to pass afterwards is fit for them only to believe that can believe that the World was made by a casual hit of Atoms To name these things is enough to confute them 2. All that can be farther desired is to be well assured that these Prophecies were not forged by the followers of Jesus but that they were indeed contained in the Ancient Writings that had been delivered down to the Jews of our Saviour's time by their Ancestors and the constant testimony of the Jews themselves who were most bitter enemies to Jesus and to his Doctrine were enough to satisfie us in this point 4ly And Lastly Whereas these Predictions are said to be a more sure word of Prophecy the meaning is this that they are a more convincing Testimony to Jesus than any other taken by its self they are indeed a more permanent Testimony and withal less liable to Cavil and Objection I cannot stand to shew this by making particular comparisons but shall only observe That Prophecy includes all other Testimonies and adds strength to every one of them It comprehends the Miracles of Jesus and of his Apostles his resurrection and ascension the descent of the Holy Ghost and the excellency of his Doctrine because these were all foretold It includes all other proofs as well as the thing proved and those proofs are the more convincing because they also had been foretold by the Prophets From all this it follows That allowing the Scripture that Tradition which other good Histories have and which they have more of than any other Ancient Writings in the world then the Prophecies of the Old Testament and the accomplishment of them in the New do prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and this without the help of the Churches Authority and well is it for the Christian Religion that the Scriptures may be proved without the Authority of the Church for otherwise Christianity must never look an Infidel in the face since the Church hath no Authority at all till we are assured of the truth of the Scriptures themselves And I will make bold to add That when all those objections against the Authority of the Old Testament from the time wherein it was put into this form of Books from the light oversights of Transcribers from various readings and all the cavils upon any part of it are put together the word of Prophecy which runs through it all will bear all this reckoning and still remain an invincible argument that the first Authors were inspired that the Prophecy came not in Old time by the will of man but that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Well therefore might St. Peter commend the Jewish Converts for taking heed to the Word of Prophecy since this was the way to come to a well-grounded Faith indeed and to grow every day to greater assurance and stedfastness therein and for the same reason let us I beseech you be exhorted to like diligence in conversing with the Holy Scriptures that our minds may be more enlightned with the knowledge of Divine truth and that every doubt if any there be that shakes our Faith may be removed And this Exhortation is so needful that I shall shew that there is no good reason in their objection against it who have taken a great deal of pains to exclude all but the Clergy and those that have special license from reading the Scriptures the sum of what they say is this That the promiscuous Liberty of reading the Scriptures leads the People into pride and self-conceit makes them insolent and ungovernable and ready to throw off all Respect to their lawful Guides That almost all Heresies have proceeded from Misinterpretation of Scripture and that there are so many obscure and difficult places in the Old and New Testament that to translate the Bible into Vulgar Tongues and to encourage the People to read it is to betray them into the danger of infinite errors which they are likely enough to fall into by mistaking the sence of the holy Text which therefore is to be kept out of the hands of the Laity as we would keep Children from medling with edged Tools and lay Swords out of mad-men's way Now if this charge be true the Bible is a very dangerous Book if it be not true there is some other reason doubtless why they that pretend this have no kindness for the Bible I shall omit several advantages that may be taken against this flourish because I think it may be shown very briefly that it pretends things that do by no means hang well together that it takes things for granted that are not true and that it concludes as strongly against the Scriptures being read by the Clergy as by the Laity It pretends some things that do not hang well together On the one side they tell us that the liberty of reading the Bible is apt to make the People throw off all dependance upon the Priest as to instruction on the other side that there are obscure and difficult passages in it by mistaking the true sense of which they will be led into Heresie and consequently into the way of Damnation Now indeed the Scriptures say this of themselves that there are diverse things hard to be understood in them which ignorant and unstable men have wrested to their own destruction But if this be true the best way to keep the People in modest dependance upon the instruction of their Spiritual Guides is to lay the Bible before them and not to keep it from them since there cannot be a more convincing Argument of the necessity of attending to their Pastors in order to farther Instruction than the several difficulties that occur in the Scriptures and the warnings that the Scriptures themselves have given of the danger that unlearned and unstable men are in of wresting them to their own destruction If it be said that experience shews the contrary and that neither this nor any other argument can make People modest if they are geneally permitted to have the Scriptures I add 2. That this arguing takes things for granted which are not true in point of fact all the Faithful anciently had the Scriptures but we find little complaint by the Bishops and Clergy then of the Wantonness and Insolence of the People so little in comparison of the frequent and earnest exhortations that all would diligently Read the Scriptures that it may be said to be none at all Christian People that had been trained up in the first Rudiments of the Faith were not only allowed then but required to Read the Bible and yet they modestly attended upon their Spiritual Guides for farther Instruction out of the Bible And therefore if some men in later Ages have grosly Misinterpreted the Scriptures and would not be set right by those that had more skill to Interpret them this doth not prove that the reading of the Scriptures makes the People ungovernable for then it must always have
been so which is notoriously false And whereas it is said that almost all Heresies have come of Mis-interpreting Scripture this doth not prove that Christian People must not read the Scriptures for it cannot be denied that those Heresies which have given any considerable disturbance to the Church of God were begun not by Laicks or illiterate Persons but by such men as the objectors do allow to have a right of reading and studying the Scriptures i. e. by Bishops or Priests Wherefore In the last place The Arguing of these men against the common use of the Bible concludes against the Priest as strongly as against the People For if to prevent Heresie the Scriptures are to be kept from Lay men who may bring Heresie into the Church by Misinterpreting the Scriptures then for the same reason men in Orders should not be suffered to read them since they have actually been the founders of Heresie Nay the reason is something stronger since the wresting of the Holy Text by men of Office or Learning will be of greater Authority and do more mischief than the mistakes of private and unlearned Persons But if the danger of perverting difficult places be a good reason to deprive men of all use of the Bible this reason hath a particular force upon some men that they should never look upon a Bible more For the best way to Judge how the Scriptures are likely to be used by any sort of men is to consider how they have constantly used them heretofore and let any indifferent man judge of them by these following instances Because God said Let us make man after our own Image therefore it is lawful to fall down before an Image of Wood or Stone Because Christ said to Peter Feed my sheep Therefore his pretended Successors have power to depose Heretical Princes Because Peter said to Christ Lord here are two Swords therefore they have a Temporal as well as a Spiritual jurisdiction Because Jacob in Blessing Ephraim and Manasses prayed that his Name might be Named on them Therefore it is lawful to pray to Saints Because it is said the Disciples met together to break Bread therefore the Laity may be deprived of the Cup. Because St. Paul saith of him that prayeth in a Tongue not understood by others Thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified therefore it is in it self good to appoint publick Prayers in a Language unknown to the People that is Because he that understands what himself says doth well for himself because he understands therefore he doth well for others that understand not a word and are therefore not edified Because the Apostle saith we must Glorifie God with one mouth therefore in all publick Offices of Liturgy there is to be but one and that the Latin Tongue in all places of Christendome Because that many Languages at Babel caused confusion therefore for God to be served in the many Vulgar Tongues of Christian Nations would breed Schisms in the Church Because the Beast that touched the Mountain was to die and because Christ said Give not that which is Holy to Dogs therefore ordinary People are not to have the Bible These expositions are not invented but there are good Authorities for them and for a great many more of the like sort I know not what can farther be objected but this That if Priests and Learned men have been so foully mistaken in the Interpretation of Scripture how much more are the Unlearned in danger of falling into mistakes which though perhaps will never come to be Heresies in the Church may yet prove damnable to themselves as St. Peter plainly saith To which I answer That St. Peter's Vnlearned Men were such as had not yet attained to the knowledg of the necessary Doctrine of Faith and good Life as appears by his calling them unstable not yet fixt in a persuasion of the plain truths and great ends of the Gospel and such as those whether they were men of good parts or not were likely enough to Interpret the hard places of St. Paul's Epistles to a sense conttary to the plain and open truths of the Gospel But if a man be instructed in the necessary and plain Doctrine of Christianity and moreover furnished with Modesty and a sincere Love of the Truth and willingness to learn qualities that ought to be common to all he shall be as far from wresting the difficult Scriptures to his own destruction as one that hath vastly greater abilities Nay I will add one thing which if it be true there is no force at all in the objection and that is this That the service of a Cause and espousing the Interest of a by-Party doth more fatally lead to Misinterpretation of the Scripture than bare weakness of understanding and there is this plain reason for it because Modesty and Love of the truth will secure a man of no great abilities from rash concluding upon the difficult Places of Scripture but Partiality and the service of a by cause shall engage a man of parts and learning to trouble the clearest and to pervert the plainest Texts as the forementioned instances evidently shew So that either the danger of Misinterpreting Scripture is no sufficient reason to prohibit the Laity from reading it or else it were better that no Order of Men were trusted with it at all and if that be true I think it will follow that it had better never have been written at all which no man will say whatever he thinks But to speak to the thing the Scriptures were written for an universal good and in order thereunto for common use Here are all Divine truths and reasons of Christian Faith and Practice that are necessary to be known of every man plainly exprest for the use of the meanest Capacities Here are also difficulties and mysteries of several sizes fit to imploy the Industry of the Learned according to the several degrees of their abilities and to exercise the Modesty the Humility and the Reverence of all But still we confess that they may be perverted and abused and if this be a sufficient reason to Interdict the general use of them then farewel at once to all the Comforts of this Life and to all the means of grace in order to a better with every one of which men in their folly and wickedness may and very often have hurt themselves and others St. Peter was aware of this that some men wrested those hard things in St. Paul's Epistles and in other Scriptures to their own destruction but did he therefore dissuade the Faithful from reading them No but in the very same Epistle he commends them all for taking heed to the words of Prophecy of the Old Testament in which there were some things as hard to be sure as any are in St. Paul's Writings and I hope St. Peter was as Wise a Man in this point as any that have come after him And now I beseech you let us not say That we
Lord Jesus Christ which is so necessary a duty incumbent on all that he who makes not this profession is in no respect within the Unity of the Church this being the ground of all other reasons of Unity whatsoever and therefore the Apostle makes this to be one principal foundation of the Unity of the Church that it professes subjection to one Lord Ephes 4.5 And in the third verse of this Chapter he layes down this mark of distinction between the impulse of the Spirit of God and the impulse of an evil Spirit That whosoever is led by the former doth say that Jesus is the Lord. They are also One in professing the Common Faith that was at first delivered to the Saints which began to be Preached when the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and hath ever since been contained in the Holy Scriptures and summarily expressed in the Ancient Creeds And therefore to one Lord the Apostle doth in the forementioned place add one Faith Thus we find in Rom. 6.17 That one Form of Doctrine was delivered to Christians and that they are to stand fast in one Spirit and with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel Phil. 1.27 Thus St Paul charged Timothy That if any man taught otherwise and consented not to wholsome Words the words of our Lord Jesns Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness he should from such withdraw himself 1 Tim. 6.3 not looking upon them any longer as Christians or as such conversiing with them which together with many other like passages manifestly shews that he who in any point departed from the common faith of Christians that was received from the Apostles was broken off from the Unity of the Church which is One by a Common profession of certain points of Grand importance taught at first by the Holy Spirit For which reason St. Cyprian doubted not to say He cannot seem a Christian who doth not persist in the Vnity of Christ's Gospel and Faith. 3. There is an Unity of Sacraments in the Christian Church One Baptism by which we are all admitted into the same state of Duties and Priviledges undertaking the conditions of the New Covenant and gaining a right to the promises thereof and therefore the Apostle adds also One Baptism And here in the Text he expresly affirms that by one Spirit we are Baptized into one Body into one Body of People professing one Common Faith and claiming the Priviledges belonging to such a profession The like Unity is inferred from the other Sacrament since we are all made to drink into one Spirit And in the 10th Chapter of this Epistle v. 16 17. he saith The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread. 4. There is also an Unity of Obedience to the same Laws and Institutions For to all Christians it equally belongeth to govern themselves effectually by the will of their Lord Jesus Christ to observe his Ordinances and Commands by the doing of which they declare themselves to be of his Flock in that they hear his voice and of his Kingdom in that they live by his Laws and that as there is one and the same obligation so there is one and the same correspondent practice one and the same Spirit of Obedience that runs through all 5. There is also an Unity of Affection or mutual Charity prescribed to the Church Thus saith our Saviour By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another Thus saith the Apostle in this Chapter The Members should have the same care one for another and whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured all the members rejoyce with it which kind of Unity appeared most visibly after the Church was begun on the day of Pentecost for it is observed presently that the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one Soul. Acts 4.32 6. There is also an Unity of Communion in the Service and Worship of God in joining together in the same Acts of Piety and Devotion according to the Rules of the Gospel in Prayers and in Sacraments and in glorifying God with one mouth moreover in the common defence of the same Truth and in the joint opposition of every dangerous error in propagating and promoting the same Faith of the Gospel and striving together for the interest of it 7. There is also an Unity of Discipline or Government which is to be maintained by every Member's keeping in his Place and Order in the Church the People of Christ receiving the Mysteries of Christianity from their Pastors and these confederating one with another for the maintenance of common Christianity without invading each others Liberty and Jurisdiction and accommodating as near as may be all Rites of Discipline and Worship to one another and assisting each other by Advice and Correspondence and giving no occasion to breach of Charity and Christian Communion by abusing a lawful or by claiming an undue Authority Other more particular Instances might be mentioned but I shall content my self with these believing that upon these Grounds of Unity which I have noted it will not be difficult to satisfie those scruples which have been thrown into some mens minds concerning the necessity of being of that one Church which is the Body of Christ and they are chiefly two 1. That there must be one Church which is the only Church of Christ exclusively to all the rest that are not in Communion with her 2. That where there is most Unity there of necessity must be the true Church 1. That there is but one Society or Communion which is the Body of Christ exclusively to all other Communions whatsoever For thus they argue The Apostle here and the New Testament elsewhere affirms That the disciples of Christ are one Body If therefore there be as there are several Bodies of Christians in this divided state of Christendom that are not United in Communion in Worship in Government no nor in Doctrine neither these cannot all be the Body of Christ which is but one and therefore there must be but one of them which is that Body of Christ or the true Church And from hence they proceed farther since we grant that they are a Church we do in effect grant that we are not so much as a part of the true Church our selves because we are not in Communion with them and we and they are not Members of one another as all the Members of the Church are Which kind of reasoning how likely soever it may be to confound and amuse a Man is by no means fit to unsettle a prudent nor so much as an honest Person if he will give himself leave to consider The plain Answer to
these harangues is this That Christians are not United into one Body or Church in all respects but in some they are There is the Unity of one Lord and one Faith and one Baptism which makes them one Body But then alas they are not always one Body in respect of Unity and Affection and good will towards one another nor in respect of Unity of Communion in the Service of God or of Discipline and Government as they ought to be But now the profession of the same Faith which was once delivered to the Saints and Admission into the state of Christian Duties and Priviledges by Baptism is that which makes a Christian and which Unites all Christian Societies into one Body They indeed who are defective in this are no Christians and they who come thus far are so because we are all Baptized into one Body But then we grant there ought to be a farther Unity and in particular an Unity of Communion for the uniting of the Members of this Body more strictly to one another But though there be not Unity of Communion they do not therefore cease to be Members of one Body but all that can be truly said is that some of the Members are contentious and either give just cause of offence or take offence when none is given which is indeed contrary to the duty of the Members of the Church but not utterly inconsistent with their being Members of it And for this we have the Authority of St. Paul in the two verses next but one to the Text. If the foot shall say Because I am not the hand I am not of the Body is it therefore not of the Body That is if the Members of the Body of Christ do contrary to their duty in some respect it doth not follow presently that they are no longer parts of the Church and if one Church will have no Communion with another but upon most unjust and unreasonable Terms it is very certain that Unity of Communion is not likely to last between them But so long as there is an Unity of Faith i. e. a consent in professing the necessary Articles of Chistianity they are yet one Body though one part of it doth not perform the duty incumbent on it as it is a part of the Church but will perhaps be the whole or nothing and is not content to profess the first Faith but moreover adds new Doctrines thereto contrary to the Scriptures and would impose them upon the rest of the Christian World. We may therefore in respect of Faith and Baptism grant That Church which would be all in all to be within the Unity of the Catholick Church though we are not in Communion with it but then in respect of Unity of Affection and Charity and Unity of Communion in the Service of God and in opposing all dangerous errors and Unity of Government in these respects I say she is not within the Unity of the Body in as much as she doth contrary to her Duty in all these respects So that though the Church be one in respect of Baptism and the principal Articles of Christianity yet because it is not one in other respects I am by no means startled at that charge You and we are two Churches because we are of opposite Communions and therefore if you grant us to be a True Church you must conclude your self not to be so For I have this to answer That Faith which you profess with us That Baptism which you administer and receive with us is that which makes you to be of the Church and thus far you are one with us 'T is true indeed there ought to be Unity in maintaining Communion in all Christian Offices and to that end no false Doctrines are to be added to the profession of the Faith nor any unlawful practices to be brought into Gods worship but this is that which we cannot help though you can and by such things as these you have departed from the Unity that ought to be in the Church but we have not To make which answer more plain let it be remembred That one instance of that Unity which ought to be in the Church is keeping all the Commandments of God. Now all unholy Persons professing Christianity do depart from this Unity yet inasmuch as they are Baptized and profess the Creed we own that they are visible parts of the Church But now because they are so if they should charge all those that take not the same liberties they do with being out of the Church because the Church is one Body and they are granted to be of it I think nothing could be more ridiculous and it is little better that they say who under the Protection of this Principle That the Church is but One would exclude all from being Parts of the Church who do not run into the same enormities about Doctrine Worship and Government with themselves In a Word the Church is one in respect of the Common Faith which is professed every where amongst Christians and it ought to be one but is not in respect of Purity of Profession and of Worship and Government But it doth not from hence follow that they who are in the right must go over to those that are in the wrong in order to being a part of the Church for that they are already but they that are in the wrong should learn to do their duty better that they may become a purer part of the Church which yet they are not 2. We are born in hand also That where there is most Unity there must of necessity be the True Church and this because there is but One Body Concerning which I say That if by Unity be meant Agreement in all points of any great consequence they that advance this Principle have advanced it against themselves for it must be a very uncomfortable one to those that in many matters differ notoriously amongst themselves But 1. The Principle it self is false for there may be Unity in Error as well as in Truth and there hath been so The False Prophets in Elias his Time were at Unity so were the Scribes and Pharisees that consented to our Saviour's Death no nor is Satan divided against himself It is not merely Unity that is a mark of a True Church unless it be Unity in the True Faith nor is Unity the mark of a Pure Church unless it be upon Terms of Obedience to God of Charity to one another of keeping the Faith unmixed with Errors and Innovations and the Worship of God free from material defects and forbidden Practices Unity in Error and Sin is to be broken Unity only in Faith and Goodness is to be preserved 2. It is possible that where there are discords there may be yet more truth professed than where there are none and that for the former reason Because there may be Unity in the worst Errors Besides the Common Faith that is professed by all Christians one part of the Church may
following Truth and Goodness and this we know will put us upon strugling with our own Judgment and straining points against our clear knowledge of what we ought to do All the while we are gaining his Favour we are sure we do well and when we have done it we shall thank our selves instead of being plagued with a fad and black remembrance of the way we took to get it Acquaint now thy self with God and be at peace with him and so shall good come unto thy Soul. 5. There lies no Flattery nor false Accusation nor outward accident against us to put us out of God's Favour or to make us lose what we have wrought to turn his mind or to blot our services out of his remembrance No change of Fortune shall bring us into disgrace which consideration St. Paul laid great strength upon in pursuance of the Text. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword v. 35. I am persuaded says he that neither death norlife nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heigth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord v. 38. Nay says the Apostle in all these things we are more than Conquerors that is we get by being Condemned by others because by that we are made more dear to God who will consider not only that we served him but under what discouragements from the World we did so Lastly 6. Whom God justifies them he also glorifies For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren v. 29 30. i.e. Those whom he foreknew to be his most faithful servants he did before time decree that by suffering for righteousness they should follow so glorious a Pattern as their Elder Brother the Lord Jesus Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called i. e. he brought them to the profession of the truth in a hazardous time that they should shew their Integrity and whâ—m he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified Which is so sure that the Apostle mentions it as if it were done already Then he proceeds in the following verses What shall we say to these things If God be for us who can be against us He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect It is God that justifies who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us The conclusion is this That whoever Condemns we are not to be discouraged if God justiâ—ies But it may be said That all this is very true indeed but it serves the turn of all Parties even of those who are most severely Condemned by each other while each of them pretends to have God and Truth on their side And therefore that this Subject might have been more usefully pursued by shewing particularly what that Faith and that Practice is with which they must be qualified whom God justifies and how we are assured of it Now I considered all this at first but then I knew that I was to speak to persons who are neither ignorant of the Doctrine of this Church nor of the evidence whereby it appears to be the very Truth of Christianity by which whoever Governs himself in Worshipping God in behaving himself to others and in all his ways shall be assuredly Justified of God though all the World should Condemn him for it But I considered also that of all things which are apt to shake the constancy of modest Persons nothing is more likely to do it than the mighty confidence wherewith they of the Roman Church Condemn us and Exclaim against us For to those who are acquainted with the History of the World and of the Church it must needs be a surprize that men who are said to be Learned and known to be Zealous do pronounce against us with no less severity than if we were mere Infidels One would think there must be some deep reason for it when they make us nothing at all and themselves all in all For thus they will not allow that we are a Church or that we have any certainty so much as of that True Doctine we profess for they know us better than we do our selves and as for our Salvation they are as sure it belongs not to us till we are converted to them as if they kept the Keys of Heaven Nor do they sink us more than they raise themselves who are not only a Church but the whole Church and not only not deceived but even Infallible They talk as if there were no safety with us and no danger with them which may raise such doubts in weaker minds that I thought it not unseasonable to bring to your remembrance how violently the Apostles and their Christian Brethren were Condemned by men of whom yet these men will grant that they were justified of God. If it shall be said This is a common-place Argument of which all men serve themselves I Answer That the Argument is so much the stronger For if these men themselves will tell you that confidence is not to be trusted you will I hope make this application That neither is their confidence to be trusted and therefore that you ought to consider what they are before you believe them to be what they call themselves and examin what they teach before you think the worse of your selves for what they call you And this is all that we desire of you That you would weigh the reasons of things and not mind swelling words Brethren it is by no means a new Artifice to talk in a very high strain when Argument runs very low Thus Jews and Gentiles exclaimed against our Fathers the Apostles and the Primitive Believers condemning them for going against Antiquity Universality Authority Tradition Philosophers Law-makers Kings and Nations And yet when all was done all this was but empty noise and vain pretence and the Cause of Christianity was the Cause of God. Foul Errors have been drest with glorious appearances of Truth and Truth has been opposed with Confidence and God suffers it to be so to try the Sincerity of men that while they who are willing to be deluded fall by the Temptation men of Probity and lovers of Truth should upon diligent examination hold it faster than otherwise they would have done This is one of the great Advantages to which that opposition tends which Truth has met with in the World. And therefore the more lofty those pretences are by which the other Church would bring us to an intire
would be Take heed lest no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many many false Prophets shall arise and deceive many and if any one shall say unto you Lo here is Christ and there is Christ believe it not for there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold I have told you before Thus he foretold how Christianity should be corrupted by Impostures and Frauds Again says he they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and killed and ye shall be hated of all nations for my names sake and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another Thus he foretold the violence that should be used to extinguish the profession of the Truth Again saith St. Paul 2 Thes 2. There shall be a falling away and the man of sin shall come with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they might all be damned who believed not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness There he foretels a fearful Apostacy from the Purity and Simplicity of the Christian Profession Again says he 2 Tim. 3.1 2. This know that in the last days perillous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection trucebreakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traitors heady highminded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God There he foretels a terrible corruption of manners And again 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. The Spirit speaketh expresly says he that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their conscience seared with an hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanskgiving of them which believe and know the Truth Now lay all these things together and here is as plain warning as can possibly be given of most corrupt and degenerate Times even after Christ's first coming and so that is expresly foretold which the Text evidently supposes For here would be glorious pretences to deceive violence to compel and wicked examples to offend the Disciples of Christ And what provision hath our Lord left to secure them from being misled where there is so much danger They are to attend to the Doctrine which he delivered us at first by his Holy Apostles to secure themselves from being deceived they must lay to heart the Promises of the Gospel to arm themselves against the Temptations of the World and the power of Evil Examples and they are to consider that all these things were foretold by our Lord himself and his Apostles that they might not be scandalized when they should happen nor be tempted to suspect that either Christianity was not of God from the first or at least that our Lord has neglected all care of it since because it doth so little good as yet in the world because it runs out into so many Errors and because the Truth of it is so vehemently opposed for says our Saviour Behold I have told you before But still it is in their power whether they will take warning by such Predictions and whether they will guard themselves against Errors and Evil Examples and therefore a very corrupt state of things in the Christian World will in all likelyhood shake the Faith of many believers and cause some to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them not regarding the admonitions of Christ and his Apostles before-hand and so when Christ comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth And this is the observation which in the first place is unavoidable from the Text That even after Christ there would be degenerate Ages for this is plainly supposed as the cause why there would be but little Faith found when he should come to visit the earth for the iniquities and offences it abounds with The 2. Supposition is That the Providence of our Lord would then appear to set things right when there was the greatest need to interpose in behalf of his Church For whereas it is said When the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth it is intimated manifestly that his coming is then to be expected when little Faith is to be found amongst men and consequently when scandals and temptations are so strong that it is an hard matter to bear up against them I have said already that the evidence of Christianity doth not make all men receive it and that the Power of Christianity doth not make all that receive it wise and good men and it is not to be denied but that amongst Christians themselves there are as monstrous Errors and leud examples as ever there were in the World before Christianity or as there are now where Christianity is not at all professed Now at this rate should the Lord of the Church our Lord Jesus Christ let things go as they would it would in time come to pass that nothing of Christianity would remain in the World but the name of it and that for no other purpose but to do more hurt with it than could be done without it But how is it that Divine Providence will interpose or according to the expression of the Text that the Son of man will come and will make good his Promise of being with his Church to the end of the World which is never more remarkably fulfilled than when he interposes in those circumstances which make men think that he will not interpose and that he is not at all concerned what becomes of the State of Religion or the affairs of the Church Because our Lord hath not made the Gospel an irresistible means of convincing unbelievers and reforming wicked men therefore it would in time be needful that in order to the keeping up of true Religion and making Christians such as they ought to be that he I say should by his Providence correct his own Disciples and reduce wretched mankind into an unavoidable necessity of consideration that Truth and Righteousness should not utterly fail from among the Children of men When there is the greatest danger of losing the true profession of Christianity our Lord will not be wanting to maintain it When all Flesh had corrupted their ways God came and swept away mankind with a Floud and saved Noah to be the Father of a new and better Generation When their prosperity had corrupted their ways he called Abraham forth to preserve True Religion in him and in his Family and these and the like Providences are pledges of the same care to
interpose in behalf of Truth and righteousness when the Faithful seem to fail from among the Children of men While God seems to let the World alone and to suffer all men to go on in their own ways as if he took no notice of them nor were at all concerned what they did he is all the while trying and proving what they are not indeed for his own Information for he knows all things but for the instruction of those that are to come after If he at every turn should interpose when we think it needful we should very seldom know who are sincere and who are Hypocrites It is very fit that it should be sometimes seen whether men are what they pretend to be whether indeed they are concerned for that Truth for which they have once pretended a mighty zeal whether they are Governed by Conscience as they say or by mere Worldly and Politick considerations for such discoveries as these are very instructing and serve for the bringing about of much good in the World and in the Church which we may reasonably presume to be one cause why when the Son of Man comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth because while he suffers the World to go on as if he minded it not he is trying those that pretend to Faith and upon the Tryal many are discovered not to have it In short Divine Providence is so far from being regardless of the affairs of men that it then most of all shows it self when men are Tempted to think that it regards nothing i. e. when there is but little Faith to be found in the Earth and this will be abundantly demonstrated at the close of all things that is at the Day of Judgment which will be the most convincing act of Providence that ever was in the World and one forerunner of it will be that Question Where is the promise of his coming And now the use of all ought to be that which is the declared intention of our Saviour in the beginning of the Parable And he spake a parable to them to the end that men ought always to pray and not to faint For the true Ground of Prayer is Faith in the Providence and Promises of God and if there be no time when these fail then ought men always to pray and not to faint i. e. they ought always to depend upon God's Providence they ought always to believe his Promises they ought always to be certain that their Prayers are heard and will turn to good account for them that God is gracious to all and much more to them that love and serve him and if they do all this then they will always pray and not faint i. e. and not be discouraged And if they ought always to pray then also when they are most apt to be discouraged and when there is but little Faith to be found upon the Earth nay then most of all because when Temptations to unbelief are greatest we should the most of all strengthen our selves by recourse to God and dependance upon him To this Instance in Prayer there are two things must go 1. A Stedfast resolution to walk in all the ways of God and not to be diverted out of them by any Worldly Interest whatsoever For he can have no Faith to go to God who thinks of taking care for himself without regard to his Duty to God A man is not in a condition to seek the Favour of God or to commend his case to him that contrives how to shift for himself without him 2. A perfect resignation of himself to the Will of God for by this also it is that a man entitles himself to his Favour and Blessing The most effectual way to obtain the particular Blessings we pray for at any time if they are such things as may prove evil as well as good for us is to leave the matter after all to the disposal of Divine Providence for then if we obtain them we get his Blessing with them too if we do not we are sure to get his Blessing without them which is the general thing we pray for always With these dispositions we are in a fit case to present our Prayers to God for Spiritual Blessings for our selves and for the Church of Christ which will assuredly come accompanied with Temporal ones too if it be best for us and if God sees that it is better for his Church to be prosperous than to be afflicted in this world and then it is better so to be when men are sufficiently prepared for it by God's Correction and their own Repentance Men ought therefore always to pray and not to faint for their Prayers thus qualified will not fail of obtaining what they ask which our Saviour thought good to illustrate by an example in the Parable delivered before the Text viz of an unjust Judge that neither feared God nor regarded man who nevertheless upon the importunity of a Widow did what was right in her case much more shall God hear the Prayers of his faithful Servants For 1. He is the Just God and is of himself ready to right those that do at any time suffer wrong 2. He is also the Merciful God that regardeth men and when we desire things of him that are needful he is of himself ready to grant what we ask or at least that which is more needful than what we ask 3. Whereas the Judge in the Parable seem'd to contemn the Poverty and Meanness of that Person that sued to him for Justice for which reason she is represented here to be a Widow one of a destitute Condition that wanted a Patron to assert her Right God who is Just and Good to all is particularly Gracious to his servants and esteems them highly and no circumstances of meanness and distress which he suffers them to fall into can alter his favour towards them for all which Reasons if the Judge in the Parable granted the Widows suit merely because she lay upon him and was troublesome to him much more will God to whom we are never troublesome when we make our requests known to him grant what we ask because he is Righteous and Gracious and loveth and pitieth us as a father doth his children The Fourteenth Sermon AN ASSIZE-SERMON PREACHED at St. Maries in Bury 1678. LEVIT XIX 12. Ye shall not swear by my name falsly THE Religious Use of an Oath depends chiefly upon the Matter and the Discharge The Matter must be worthy of that Obligation which an Oath implies in promising it must not be unlawful that we may Swear in Righteousness it must not be impossible it must not be trivial and in affirming it must be some Fact proveable by our own Testimony that we may Swear in Judgment All which implies That we are not to swear indeliberately passionately or commonly The Discharge of an oath must be answerable to the Obligation which is to Sincerity of Intention Fidelity of Performance and the giving