but keeping the Law of God Great Peace have they that love thy Law said David that had known the Trouble of Breaking it Therefore it is that Grace and Truth is come by Jesus Christ to help us to fulfill the Law not to Excuse our Disobedience of the Law And what before we were Unable this gives us Force to do So that Christianity is not an Indulgence of people under Weakness and Disobedience but the Compleating and Perfection of that Righteousness which without him was but Short and Imperfect through that Grace and Power that came by Jesus Christ Give me leave I beseech you for I have a Godly Jealousy upon me I fear lest the very End of Christs Coming is Mistaken And of how Dreadful a Consequence such a Mistake would be you cannot possibly be Ignorant that believe there is No Salvation in another Name Let us hear the Testimony of Scripture They are the Words of Christ himself I must peach the Kingdom of God for therefore am I sent Now what is this Kingdom of God but God's Government and where is this Kingdom and Government to be set up Christ also tells us Behold the Kingdom of God is within you So that the Reason of this being sent is to destroy the Kingdom and Government of the Devil the Strong Man that kept the House the Heart and to erect and establish the Kingdom and Government of God in the Soul Thy Kingdom come thy Will be done Would to God people would but consider what they Pray for For they are scandal'd at the thing they ask and both neglect and revile the Substance of their own Prayers Thy Kingdom come and thy Will be done but believe neither It was the Office God designed his Son to The Thief says Christ does not come but to kill to steal and to destroy That is To steal away the Heart from God and to kill and to destroy all Good Desires and Inclinations in the Soul for the Devil is this Thief and Destroyer But I am come says Christ that they might have Life and that they might have it more abundantly O Death 〈◊〉 will be thy Death as if he had said I will kill that which kill'd the Soul I will breath the Breath of Life into it again and by my Spirit and Grace I will beget Holy Motions and kindle Heavenly Desires in it after God after the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof This is the Newness of Life And I will not only restore that Life the Soul has lost but I will encrease it I will add to it that it may have Life more abundantly Indeed he was Anointed of God for this Purpose and is therefore called the Restorer of Paths the Repairer of Breaches and the Builder up of Waste Places that is he is ordained of God for the Recovery of Man from his Fallen and Disobedient State This is the Reason of his Name Thou shalt call his Name Jesus said the Angel for he shall save his People from their Sins Not from Wrath only but from Sin which is the Cause of Wrath. That is Of Bad Men he will make them really good Men and of Sinful and Unholy he will make them Holy and Righteous Men who truly believe in him This is the Burden of John's Testimony There is one says he that cometh after me is mightier than I he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire whose Fan is in his hand he will THROUGHLY PURGE his Floor And seeing Jesus coming to him said Behold the Lamb of God which TAKETH AWAY the SIN of the World I know the Use that too many make of these Scriptures as if they were an Hebraism borrow'd from the Old Sacrifices which may be said To take away Sin by taking away the Guilt and not that the Natures of Men are restored and perfected And indeed this is that Sense which I dread above all others because it perverts the End of Christs Coming and lodges Men in a Security pernitious to their own Souls For though it is most true that Remission of Sins was and is preached in his Name and Blood and that Sin in a Sense may be said to be Taken away when the Guilt of the Sins is removed by Remission yet this is only of Siâ—s past that upon Repentance are forgiven But this is not the Whole Full and Evangelical Sense as Christ's own words do plainly import For says he the Son of Man is come to save that which was Lost And upon another Occasion he expresseth himself to the same purpose and almost in the same words For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was Lost Now who is this that is Lost but Man and in what Sense can Man be said to be Lost but by Sin and Disobedience that which cast him out of the Presence and Garden of God and put him in a Condition of Eternal Misery If Christ then came to Save Lost Man he must be understood to Save him from that which puts him into a Lost Condition that is Sin for The Wages of Sin is Death and the Servant of Sin is a Son of Perdition Christ has determin'd this Point beyond all Exception in his Discourse with the Jews John 8. 31 32 33 34. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed vn him if ye continue in my Word then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you Free What Freedom was this Certainly from Sin sutable to that passage in his Prayer Sanctify them through thy Truth thy Word is Truth But some Jews present proud of their Priviledges apprehended not the Liberty Christ spoke of and therefore answer'd him thus We are Abraham's Seed and were never in Bondage to any Man how sayest thou Ye shall be made Free Jesus answered them Verily verily I say unto you whosoever committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin In which place it is very remarkable that Men are only to be distinguish'd by their Works that no Claims Priviledges Successions or Dissents are available but He that commits Sin is the Servant of Sin So that Christ's Free Man is he that is Freed from Sin this is his Follower and Disciple And as Christ oppos'd the Works of the Jews who unjustly sought to kill him to their Pretensions they made to Abraham's Seed so must we oppose the Actions of Ill Men to their better Professions we must faithfully tell them He that commits Sin is the Servant of Sin From which Servitude Christ came to Save his people and is therefore called The SAVIOUR and the REDEEMER This Doctrine is closely followed by the Apostle Paul in his sixth Chapter to the Romans Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised up from the Dead by the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in Newness of Life
requires at our Hands What I have said against Excess in Apparel is also applicable to Excess in Furniture For as Finery is more valued than Clothes so is the Furniture than the House It is a most Inexcusable Superfluity to bestow an Estate to line Walls dress Cabinets embroider Beds with an Hundred other unprofitable Pieces of State such as Massy Plate Rich Chiny Costly Pictures and Painted Windows of no use in the Earth only for Show and Sight the Interest of which Money so ill employed might probably Maintain the Poor of a Numerous Parish O Lord God! hast thou given us Plenty and should we see others Want should we clothe our Dead Walls and let thy Poor go Naked Can we feed our Eyes with these Objects and not feed the Hungry with Bread and spend our Money upon Lifeless Pictures but shut up our Bowels to thy Living Image the Poor and N edy of the Earth Rebuke this Evil Mind and bring down the Pride of all Flesh O Lord for thy Name 's sake The Last Excess is that of Feasting and Voluptuousness Immoderate Eating and Drinking with that strain of Mirth and Jollity which is the Mode and Practice of the Times Dives is almost got into every Family especially those of Note and Estate it is Want of Wealth and not Will that the Greatest Part of the Nation is not guilty they mostly sin to their Ability that is sad But the Sin of Voluptuousness is swell'd to that Bulk that there are more Receipts for Eating and Drinking than there are Precepts of Life in the Old and New Law the Book of Cookery is grown as big as the Bible and I fear read to be sure practised oftner In this Art the Lust of the Flesh is deeply concern'd there is not so much Care of the Stomach as of the Palate of Health as Pleasure 't is the Taste the Gust the Relish that makes the Victuals go down therefore the Sawce is preferred before the Meat Twelve-penny worth of Flesh with Five Shillings of Cookery may happen to make a Fashionable Dish plain Beef Mutton or any other thing is become Dull Food But by that time its Natural Relish is lost in the Crowd of the Cook 's Ingredients and the Meat sufficiently disguised to the Eaters it passes under a French Name for a very Good Dish But there is one thing in this Impiety more than ordinarily Condemnable it destroyes Hospitality and wrongs the Poor For that Expence which is now flung away upon a Vicious Palate upon a French Soup or Sawce in former Times afforded several Dishes of substantial Victuals which did not only feed Strangers or Neighbours but the Poor who have now little more than what the Dogs had then Empty Dishes to lick This is Abusing the Providence of God Tyrannizing over the Creatures made for man's Use and sacrificing their Poor Lives not to our Lives but to our Lusts 'T is against such as these that the Creation groans and from whose Intemperance it cries to be delivered God in all Ages hath had a Controversie with Voluptuous Men and the Testimonies of sacred Records are Strong and Numerous against them I will mention a few of them Voluptuousness was the Sin of the Old World they were Eating and Drinking Marrying and giving in Marriage pleasing the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh and the Pride of Life until the Day of the Flood This also was the Condition of Sodom Christ himself has exprest it in these words In the Dayes of Lot they did eat they drank they bought they sold they planted they builded the same Day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained Fire and Brimstone from Heaven and destroyed them all The Prophet Ezekiel has it in these words speaking to Jerusalem Behold thâ—… was the Iniquity of thy Sister Sodom Pride Fulness of Bread and A undance of Idleness was in her and her Daughters neither did she strengthen the Hand of the Poor and Needy and they were Haughty and committed Abomination before me therefore I took them away as I saw good And it is very Remarkable that the Voluptuouâ—ness of the Israelites was joyned with their Idolatry It is said that when Moses was in the Mount the People Impatient of his Stay sat down to Eat and to Drink and rose up to Play they had got a Calf of Gold and were Dancing about it But it was a Dismal Ball and they paid dear for their Junket for several Thousands were Slain and it is said That God Plagued the People Job's Children had as Ill Success in their Festivals they went from House to House Eating and Drinking and a Tempest rose and smote the Four Corners of the House and Kill'd them But most express is that Complaint of God by the Mouth of the Prophet Amos against the Voluptuous Jews Ye that put so far away the Evi Day and cause the Seat of Violence to come near that lie upon Beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches and eat the Lambs out of the Flock and Calves out of the midst of the Stall That Chant at the Sound of the Viol and invent to themselves Instruments of Musick like David that drink Bowls of Wine and anoint themselves with the chief Ointments but they are not grieved for the Affliction of Joseph Therefore now shall they go Captive with the First that go Captive and the Banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed And I will turn your Feasts into Mourning and all your Songs into Lamentation and I will make the End thereof as a bitter Day I shall Sum up these Excesses and Conclude the Instances with the Story of Dives more commonly known then reverently believed It is delivered to us by the Great Lord of Truth in these Words There was as Certain Rich Man which was cloathed in Purple and Fine Linnen and fared Sumptuously every Day And there was a Certain Beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his Gate full of Sores and deâ—iring to be fed with the Crums which fell from the Rich Man's Table moreover the Dogs came and licked his Sores And it came to pass that the Beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom The Rich Man also died and was buried And in Hell he lift up his Eyes being in Torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his Bosom And he cried and said Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his Finger in water and cool my Tongue for I am Tormented in this Flame But Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good things likewise Lazarus Evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented And besides all this between us you there is a Great Gulf fix'd so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence This Great Passage
between Arminius and Episcopius c. for the Remonstrants and Gomarus Sibrandus c. for the Predestinarians distracted Holland not a little and had an ill Influence upon the Affairs of England at least so far as concern'd the Church But the Mournfullest part of that History is the Ill Usage Martinius Crâ—cius the Bishop of Landaff and others had who though they were acknowledg'd to be Sound in the Faith of those Times which generally followed the Judgment of Calvin as to the mean points controverted yet if at any time they appear'd moderate in their Behaviour gentle in their Words and for Accommodation in some particulars with the Remonstrators or Free willers Gomarus and his Followers not observing that Gravity of the Assembly the Rules of Debate and least of all the Meekness of Christian Communion fell foul of their Brethren reproach'd their Tenderness and began to fix Treachery upon their Sober Endeavours of Accommodation as if they intended to execute as well as maintain their Reprobation and blow up their Friends rather than not destroy their Adversaries But if we will yet rise higher in our Enquiry and view the Mischiefs of Earlier Times the Fourth and Fifth Centuries after Christ will furnish us with Instances enough We cannot possibly forget the Heavy Life some men made about the Observation of Easter Day as if their Eternal Happiness had been in Jeopardy for so far were they degenerated from the Love and Meekness of Christianity that about keeping of a Day which perhaps was no part but to be sure no Essential part of the Christian Religion they fell to pieces reproach'd revil'd and hated one another A Day was more than Christ who was the Lord and End of Days and Victory over Brethren better than the Peace and Concord of the Church the Great Command of Jesus But the Remarkable and Tragical Story of Alexander Bishop of Alexandria and Arius his Priest in their known Debate about the Nature and Existence of the Son of God with the lamentable Consequences thereof as all Writers upon that Subject have related witnesseth to the truth of what I say The Bishop's Curiosity the Niceness of Arius the Presumption of the one to expound beyond the Evidence and Simplicity of the Text and the Captious Humor of the other that would not bate the Bishop any thing for his Age or the Rank he held in the Church but Logically exacted the Utmost Farthing of the Reckoning began the â—ray Which as it became the Perplexity of Church and State some Ages so it raged to Blood and those that had been persecuted like Sheep by the Heathen not long before turn'd Wolves now to each other and made sport for the Infidel doing their work Nay so much more Christian was Themistius the Philosopher that in his Oration called CONSUL he commended and advised the Emperour Jovianus to Exercise Moderation and to give that Liberty of Conscience which profest Christians refused to do to each other who seem'd to think they never did God better Service than in Sacrificing one another for Religion Did we duly reflect upon the Unnatural Heats Divisions and Excommunications among them the many Councils that were called the strong and tedious Debates held the Translations of Sees the Anathemas the Banishments Wars Sackings Fires and Blood-shed that followed this Unnatural Division that sprang from so nice a Controversie one would verily believe no less than that Religion it self had been in Utmost Hazard that Judaism or Paganism were over-running Christianity and not that all this Stir had been made about an Iota For the whole Question was whether HOMOUSIA or HOMOIUSIA should be received for Faith in which the difference is but the single Letter 1 Certainly we must do Violence to our Understanding if we can think that these men were Followers of that Jesus that Lov'd his Enemies gave his Blood for the World who hated their Brethren and shed one anothers Blood for OPINIONS The Heathen-Philosophers never were so Barbarous in their Differences But how easily might all these Confusions have been prevented if their Faith about Christ had been deliver'd in the words of Scripture since all sides pretend to believe the Text and why should any man presume to be Wiser than the Holy Ghost 'T is strange that God and Christ should be wanting to express or discover their own mind or that the words used by the Holy Ghost should have that Shortness Ambiguity or Obliquity in them that our frail Capacities should be needed to make them more Easie Proper and Intelligible But that we should scarcely deliver any one Article of Faith in Scripture-Terms and yet make such Acts the Rule and Bond of Christian Communion is in my Judgment an Offence hainous against God and Holy Scripture and very Injurious to Christian Charity and Fellowship Who can express any Man's mind so fully as himself and shall we allow that Liberty to our selves and refuse it to God The Scriptures came not in Old time said the Apostle Peter by the will of Man but holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Who can speak better or express the Mind of the holy Ghost plainer than the holy Ghost the Scripture is the Great Record of Truth that which all these Parties in Controversie agree to be the Declared Mind and Will of God they Unanimously say It ought to be believ'd and profest as such If this be true in what Language can we so safely and properly declare our Belief of the Truths therein contain'd orexpress those Truths as in the very Language of the Scripture And I cannot see how those Persons can be excused in the Day of God's Judgment who make men Heterâ—dox or Heretical for refusing to subscribe their Articles of Faith that are not in Scripture-Terms who at the same time offer to declare their Belief of God Christ Spirit Man's Laps or Fall Repentance Sanctification Justification Salvation Resurrection and Eternal Recompence in the Language of Holy Scripture 'T is preposterous and a Contradiction that those who desire to deliver their Faith of Truth in the Language of Truth should not be reputed True Believers nor their Faith admitted for this were to say that therefore their Faith is not to be received because it is declared in the Language of that very Truth which is the Object of that Faith for which it ought to be received and which is on all hands concluded to be our Duty to believe It seems then we must not express our Belief of God in his Words but our own nor is the Scripture a Creed plain or proper enough to declare a True Believer or an Orthodox Christian Are not things come to a sad pass that to refuse any other Terms than those the Holy Ghost has given us and which are confest to be the Rule or Form of sound Words is to expose a Man to the Censure of being Unsound in the Faith unfit for Christian-Communion Will
nothing do but Man's Comment instead of God's Text his Consequences Conclusions in the room of Sacred Revelation I cannot see how any Man can be obliged to receive or believe revealed Truths in any other Language than that of the Revelation itself especially if those that vary the Expression have not the same Spirit to lead them in doing so or that it appears not to me that they have the Guidance of that holy Spirit If the holy Ghost hath left Doubts in Scripture which is yet irreverent to believe I see not how Men can resolve them 't is the Work of that Spirit And since Men are so apt to Err Doubts are better left in Scripture than by us But it is to cross that Order of Prudence and Wisdom among Men who chuse to Conform their Expressions to the things they believe If any honest Man hath related a Story to me of something he hath seen and I am to declare my Faith about it if I believe the Fact I will chuse to deliver it in the Terms of the Relator as being nearest to the Truth Suppose a Father dying makes his Last Will and Testament and as he thinks so plain that there can be no Mistake made by the Executors but what is wilful if they instead of proving this Will and acting according to the plainness of it turn Commentators make more Difficulties than they find and perplex the whole Matter to the Children and Legatees and send them to the Law for their Right will we not esteem such Executors Ill Men and justifie those Persons concern'd in their Refusal of the Paraphrase God hath at sundry times and in divers manners by his Prophets his Beloved Son and his Apostles deliver'd to the World a Declaration of his Will and Testament but some have claim'd and taken to themselves the Keeping Explanation and Use of it so as those that chuse to be concluded by the Letter and Text of this Testament in its most important Points expose themselves to great prejudice for they are excommunicated from all other share in it than the punishment of the Breakers of it which is part of their Anathema who of all others are most guilty of Adding or Diminishing by undertaking to determin for others as well as themselves the Mind and Intention of the holy Ghost in it But if it be true as true it is that few have writ of the Authority of Scripture that do not affirm the very Penmen of it to be not only inspired by the Holy Ghost but so extraordinarily acted by him as that they were wholely asleep to their own Will Desires or Affections like people taken out of themselves and purely Passive as Clay in the hand of the Potter to the Revelation Will and Motion of the Spirit and for this End that nothing deliver'd by them might have the least Possibility of Mistake Error or Imperfection but be a Compleat Testament of the Will of God to men I cannot see which way such Men can excuse themselves from Great Presumption that will notwithstanding have the Wording of Creeds of Communion and reject that Declaration of Faith as insufficient which is deliver'd in the very Terms of the Holy Ghost and deny those Persons to be Members of Christ's Church that in Conscience refuse to subscribe any other Draught than their Lord has given them Two things oppose themselves to this Practice First The Glory of God the Honor of the Scriptures for it naturally draws people from the Regard Due to God the Scriptures begits too much Respect for Men their Traditions This was the Difficulty Christ met with and complained of in his time they had set up so many Rabbies to learn them Religion that the Lord of the True Religion could hardly find a place amongst them And what did they do They taught for Doctrines the Traditions of Men They gave their own and their Predecessors Apprehensions Constructions and Paraphrases upon Scripture for the Mind and Will of God the Rule of the Peoples Faith They were got near at this pass in the Church of Corinth when they cryed out I am for Paul I am for Apollo and I am for Cephas though they had not the same Temptation And that which followed then ever will follow in the like Case and that is DISTRACTION which is the Contrary to that Second thing that opposeth it self to this Practice and that is the Concord of Christians For Peace's sake consider it Lo here and Lo there always follow'd one of this mind and another of that As many Sects as Great Men to make and Head them This was the Case of the Jews and yet I do not hear that they devour'd one another about their Opinions and Commentaries upon Scripture but the Christians have done both Divided and Persecuted too First they have Divided and that mostly upon the score of Opinions about Religion they have not been Contented with the Expressions of the holy Ghost they liked their own better And when they were set up in the Room of Scripture and in the Name of Scripture SUBMISSION was required upon pain of Worldly Punishments This dissatisfied Curiosity this Unwarrantable what shall I say this Wanton Search has cost Christendom dear and poor England of any part of it I design not to grate upon any to revive old Stories or search old Wounds or give the least Just Occasion of Displeasure to those that are in Present Power yet I must needs say that Opinion on one side or t'other has been the cause of much of that Discord Animosity and Confusion that have troubled this Kingdom And it seems to have been the great Stratagem of Satan to prevent the spreading of the Glorious Gospel of Salvation in the World by taking men off from the serious pursuit of Piety and Charity Humility and holy Living Peace and Concord and under pretence of more raised Apprehensions and sublime Knowledge of Religion to put them upon introducing Curious and Doubtful Questions that have given occasion for Contention and Persecution This was no more uncondemned than unfore-seen of the Apostle Paul who exhorted his beloved Son Timothy To avoid those that doted about Questions those Men that would be thought Skilful Inquisitive Searchers after Truth such as love to exercise their Faculties and improve their Talents but let us hear his Judgment of which says he cometh Strife Railing Surmises perverse Disputings of men of Corrupt Minds And the truth is none else love such Disputings they who seek a daily Victory over the World the Flesh and the Devil and press fervently after Fellowship with God and that Consolation that ensues such an Employment of their time have very little to lose upon Contention about Words I could wish I were able to say that Vain Controversie were not our Case But this is not all the Apostle does expressly tell Timothy that if any man consent not to wholsom Words even the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ and
of that Sacrifice This Holy Offering up of himself by the Eternal Spirit is a Great Part of his Messiahship for therein he hath both confirmed his Blessed Message of Remission of Sins and Life Everlasting to as many as truly believe in his Name and given himself a Propitiation for all that have sinned and so came short of the Glory of God in so much that God is said by the Apostle Paul to be Just and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remissions of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God Unto which I shall Join his Mediatorship or Advocacy link'd together both by the Apostle Paul and the beloved Disciple John the first in these words For there is One God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due Time The Apostle John expresseth it thus My little Children these things write I unto you that you Sin not and if any Man sinneth we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World So that to be Brief the Christian Creed so far as it is Declaratory lies eminently in a Confession of these Particulars Of the Divine Authority of the New as well as of the Old Testament Writings and therein of these Great General and Necessary Truths expresly to wit Of Christ his Miracles Doctrine Death Resurrection Advocacy or Mediation the Gift of his Grace Faith and Repentance unto Remission of Sins the Necessity of Keeping his Commandments and lastly of Eternal Recompence Less once than all this would have done and it does not shew the Age more Christian but more Curious indeed more Infidel that there is this Stir made about External Creeds of Communion for Distrust of Brethren and Incredulity among Christians is no small Sign of their Decay of Faith towards God From the Beginning 't was not so But it may be here Objected How shall we know that such a Declaration of Faith is sincere I Answer By recurring to that Evidence which God shall give us They that can try Spirits under the most-Sheeplike Clothing have the most-Immediate and Certain Proof but let it suffise that Christ hath told us By their Fruits ye shall know them If any Man says Christ will come after me let him take up his Cross and follow me and in another place he tells us thus My Sheep hear my Voice and I knew them and they follow me that is They are led by my Spirit they live my Life they obey my Doctrine And the Apostle Peter assures us that True Faith purifies the Heart and no Impurity can flow from a pure Heart You may know this Faith by that Way by which Abraham's Faith was known to be True to wit Obedience He believed God that is He Obeyed God he submitted to the Will of God and relied upon his Goodness He that gave me my Son by a Miracle can work another to save him To God all things are Possible It is call'd by the Apostle Paul The Spirit of Faith something more near and inward than any External Articles and Declaration of Faith that from whence all True Confessions and good Works come which made the Apostle Paul thus to say We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our Prayers remembring without Ceasing your Work of Faith 'T was this true Faith that brings forth Works of Righteousness by which Abel Offered to God Enoch was Translated Noah was saved it is said of him that he became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith By this Faith Abraham left his own Country and obey'd the Voice of God By Faith Moses was preserved from his Childhood and when he came to years refus'd to be called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter by Faith he forsook Egypt and passed the Red Sea By Faith the Walls of Jericho fell down and Rahah was saved By Faith Gideon Barak Sampson Jephtha David Samuel and the Prophets subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopped the Mouthes of Lyons quenched the Violence of Fire escaped the Edge of the Sword with much more too large to be utter'd This is that Faith which the Apostle James magnifies against all false Faiths Faith says he if it has not Works is dead A Man may say Thou hast Faith and I have Works shew me thy Faith without thy Works I will shew thee my Faith by my Works And as if he had fore-seen the Men of Creeds and Articles he speaks on this wise Thou believest that there is One God thou dost well the Devils also believe and Tremble But wilt thou know O Vain Man that Faith without Works is dead Was not Abraham our Father justified by Works when he had offered Isaac his Son upon the Altar seest thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works was Faith made perfect And he was called the Friend of God And the Exhortation of the Apostle Peter is a plain Discrimination of true Faith And besides this giving all Diligence add to your Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity For if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither he barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see far off and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old Sins I will seal up these Scripture Testimonies of Faith with that Account which is given us by the Apostle John For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the World and this is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believed that Jesus is the Son of God So that the Belief in the Son of God must have this Evidence to prove it true that by it Men are born of God and overcome the World so that their Faith is false whom the World Overcomes I am not of this World saith Christ Jesus neither can that Faith be that is called the Faith of the Son of God There are Three Passages left us upon Record by this Beloved Disciple of Jesus of Great Weight and Importance to us when he had discoursed of the Propitiation and Advocacy of Christ he does immediately add And hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a Lyar and the Truth is not in him But whoso keepeth his Word in him verily is the Love of God perfected hereby know we that we
which conquers the World and purifies the Heart by no means But 't is to believe that the Church of Rome is the True Church and the Pope Christ's Vicar and the Visible Head of that Church So as that Self denyal which relates to our Wills and Affections in a corrupt State they apply to the Use of our Understanding about Religion as if it were the same thing to deny that which we understand and know to be Evil which is the Christian Self denyal and to deny that very Knowledge and Understanding which is God's Gift and our Honour Whereas Religion and Reason are so Consistent as that Religion can neither be understood nor maintain'd without Reason For if this must be laid aside I am so far from being Infallibly assured of my Salvation that I am not capable of any Measure of Good from Evil Truth from Falshood Why I have no understanding or use of any which is the same All the Disadvantage the Protestant is under in this is that of his greater Modesty and that be submits his Belief to be tryed which the other refuses under the Pretence of unaccountable Infallibility to that Authority Reason decides So that whereas some people excuse their embracing of that Religion by urging the Certainty that is in it I do say 'T is nothing but Presumption For a man can never be Certain of that about which he has not the Liberty of Examining Understanding or Judging Confident I confess he may be but that 's quite another thing than being Certain Yet I must never deny but that every Christian ought to believe as the Church believes provided the Church be true but the Question is Which is that true Church And when that is answered as a Man may Unlawfully Execute a Lawful Sentence so he may falsly believe as the True Church believes for if I believe what she believes only because she believes it and not because I am convinced in my Understanding and Conscience of the Truth of what she believeth my Faith is false though hers be true I say it is not true to me I have no Evidence of it What is this Church or Congregation rather as worthy Tindal every where translates it but a Company of People agreed together in the sincere Profession and Obedience of the Gospel of Christ Now look what Inducement they severally had to believe and embrace the Gospel that we must have to joyn with them for as they made not one another an infallible Authority to one another upon which they first embrac'd the Gospel neither are we to ground our Belief thereof upon their Authority joyntly but as they had a Rule to believe and commune so must we have the same Rule to embrace their Communion So that that Church cannot be the Rule of my Faith that have the same Faith and Object for my Faith that she has I argue thus I must believe as the Church believes that is I must have the same Faith the Church has then I must have the same Rule because the Church can be no more the Rule of that Faith then she can be that Faith of which some would make her the Rule If then the Church has Faith and that Faith a Rule and that she can no more be the Rule of her own Faith then she can be that Faith it self it follows she cannot be the Rule of the Faith of her Members because those Members have the same Faith and that they in Society are this Church For that which is the Rule of the Congregation's Faith in general must reasonably be the Rule of every Member's Faith that makes up that Congregation and consequently of every Member that may hereafter adhere to it So that to talk of believing as the Church believes to flowrish upon that Self-denyal and Humility which takes all upon Trust and revile those with the bitterest Invectives that are modestly scrupulous and act the BEREANS for their Souls who think that Easiness of Nature and Condescention might be better bestowed and in this occasion ill-tim'd and dangerous is to put the Knife to the Throat of Protestancy and what in them lies to socrifice it to implicit Faith and blind Obedience For it cannot be denyed but that the great Foundation of our Protestant Religion is the Divine Authority of the Scriptures from without us and the Testimony and Illumination of the Holy Spirit within us Upon this foot the first Reformers stood and made and maintain'd their Separation from Rome and freely offered up their innocent Lives in Confirmation With good Cause therefore it is the general Consent of all found Protestant Writers That neither Traditions Councils nor Canons of any visible Church much less the Edicts of any Civil Session or Jurisdiction but the Scriptures only interpeted by the Holy Spirit in us give the final Determination in Matters of Religion and that only in the Conscience of every Christian TO HIMSELF Which Protestation made by the first publick Reformers against the Imperial Edicts of Charles the fifth imposing Church Traditions without Scripture Authority gave first beginning to the Name of Protestant and with that Name hath ever been received this Doctrine which prefers the divine Authority of the Scripture and Spirit to that of the Church and her Traditions And if the Church is not sufficient implicitly to be believed as we hold it is not what can there else be named of more force with us but the Divine Illumination in the Conscience or Conscience in the best Sense of the Word then which God only is greater But if any man shall pretend that the Scripture judges according to his Conceptions or Conscience for other men and that they must take their Religious Measures by the Line of his Direction such a person makes himself greater then either Church Scripture or Conscience And pray let us consider if in any thing the Pope is by our Protestant Divinity so justly resembled to Antichrist as in assuming Infallibility over Conscience and Scripture to determine as he thinks fit and so in effect to give God Scripture Magistrates and Conscience the Law To this they have without scruple applyed that to the Thessalonians Sitting in the Temple of God exalting himself above all that is caled God To check this exorbitancy the Apostle Paul demands Who art thou that judgest anothers Servant to his own Lord he stands or falls which sheweth with great Evidence that Christians of all sizes great and small are but Brethren and consequently all superiority Lordship and Imposition are excluded But if there be a Difference 't is in this that as Christ taught He that is greatest is to be Servant to the rest but what is more opposite to a Servant then a Lord and to Service then Injunction and Imposition and that on Penalties too Here it is that Christ is only Lord and Lawgiver who is only King of this inward Kingdom of the Soul And 't is to be noted that the Apostle
hath been even now alleadged we shall in another place make discovery of some other Reasons We shall for the present add only this one That the people themselves are in a perpetual kind of Mutation some daily dying and departing others succeeding and growing up in their stead Whence it comes to pass That since the Change which is made in every Age is small either the people cannot perceive it or if they do observe it yet they esteem it not of such moment as to think fit to move any Difference thereabout This thing also is of very great force to keep the people from taking notice of a Change in Doctrine when men shall perswade themselves that they are not able to judge of matters of Religion as though it is it is not and other words used in Scripture do not signifie the same which they do in common discourse or as if nothing could be understood without some great Knowledge in the Tongues and Arts or Sciences and as if the Power of the Spirit were of no efficacy without these Helps Whereby it cometh to pass that whilst they think they understand not even those things which in some sort they do understand being expressed in most clear and evident words they do at length arrive to that Blockishness that they cannot understand them indeed so that though they have before their Eyes a Sentence of Scripture so clear that nothing can be more evident yet if they to whose Authority they in all things subject themselves shall say any thing point-blank opposite thereunto they will give credit unto them and imagine themselves not to see that which they see as clear as the Light And by these means verily it comes to pass That when the Doctrine of Religion is corrupted the Mutation is not discovered Furthermore when the Doctrine is once begun to be changed it must needs be that out of one Error another should spring and propagate infinitely and God for Just Reasons of his own blinding them men bring upon themselves so great Darkness and slip into such soul Errors That if God out of Mercy open a mans Eyes and let him see those Errors he lives in he can scarcely believe himself or be perswaded that he was ever enveloped with such blind Errors Which thing is as true and as well to be seen in Men of greatest Learning Experience If thou shalt thorowly peruse the writings of some of the School-men as they call them thou shalt in some places meet with so much Accuteness as will make thee admire Thou shalt see them oftentimes cleave a fine Thred into many parts and accurately Anotomise a Flea and a little after fall so foully and avouch such Absurdities That thou caâ—st not sufficiently stand amaz'd wherefore we must obey that Advice of the Poet Principijs obsta sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas invaluere moras Resist betimes that Med'cine stayes too long Which comes when Age has made the Grief too strong Now there is need of a double Caution viz. That there be no Change made in the Doctrine when it is pure And if any Change be made that there be notice taken of it Now look what Change is made in this kind all the Blame is laid upon those whose Office it is to instruct the People for though themselves are the Authors of the Change yet will the people impute it to the Ministers Sleepiness and want of Care at least It concerns therefore the Pastors and Teachers to be Eagle eyed and to be very well acquainted with those Causes whereby the Change of Doctrine becomes undiscovered and to have them at their Fingers ends and to be wary that on no hand they may miscarry Now it will be an excellent Caution for the keeping of Doctrine pure if they shall avoid all curious and vain Controversies If they shall set before their Eyes the scope and end of all Religious Doctrine and likewise a Series or Catalogue of all such things as make to the attainment of that End of which we formerly spake if they shall affect not only the matter it self but also the words and phrases which the Holy Ghost in Scripture makes use of and exceedingly suspect all different Forms of speaking Not that I would have them speak nothing but Hebraisms for so their Language would not be plain nor intelligible but I wish that they will shun all such Expressions as have been invented by over-nice Disputants beyond what was necessary to express the sence of the Hebrew and Greek and all those Tenets which men by their own Wits do collect and infer from the Scriptures Now of what Concernment this will be we may gather by this Instance The Papists think it one and the same thing to say The Church cannot err and to say in the words of our Lord Wheresoever two or three shall be gathered together in my Name there will I be in the midst of them Yet is the Difference very great which may thus appear forasmuch as in case any one shall conceive the Church to be the Pope Cardinals and Bishops anointed by the Pope he hearing the aforesaid Sentence will judge that whatsoever they shall decree ought to be of Force But if he shall rather mind the words of our Lord and shall consider that those kind of men do regard nothing but their own Commodity Wealth and Dominion he will be so far from so understanding them that peradventure not being able to allow the Deeds and Practices of these Men he will come to hope from those words That if himself with some other good Men loving God with their whole Heart shall come together and unanimously implore the Assistance of God shall be better able to determiâ—… What it is that ought to be believed and practised for the attainment of Salvation then if they should persist to put their Confidence in such Pastors Now this Rule that the words of the Scripture ought to be used rather than any other is then especially to be observed when any thing is delivered as a certain and tryed Truth or as a Rule of Faith or Life or out of which any other thing is to be inferred For in Expositions and Explanations as there is need happily of greater Liberty so is there less Danger if it be taken For whenas the Word of God and the exposition thereof are at one and the same time both together in view as it were there no man can be ignorant that the Exposition is the word of Man so that he may reject it in case it seem impertinent And look by what means a man may hinder the Doctrine of Religion from being changed by the self-same he may find whether it be chang'd or no. Now every man ought to compare the Doctrine of that Age wherein he lives with no other Doctrine then that which was out of question spotless which is the Doctrine of the Apostles Wherefore notwithstanding that in our Age the Gospel is as
for it is not of the Nature of my Religion and Kingdom And as I neither assume nor practise any such thing my self that am the great Author Promoter and Example of this Holy Way so have I not only never taught my Disciples to live or act otherwise or given them a Power I refuse to use my Self but expresly forbad them and warn'd them in my Instructions of exercising any the least Revenge Imposition or Coertion towards any This is evident in my Sermon preached upon the Mount where I freely publickly and with much Plainness not only prohibited Revenge but injoyned Love to Enemies making it to be a great Token of true Discipleship to suffer Wrongs and conquer Cruelty by Patience and Forgiveness which is certainly a great Way off Imposition or Compulsion upon other Men. Furthermore when I was strongly bent for Jerusalem sent Messengers before to prepare some entertainment for me and my Company in a Village belonging to the Samaritans and the People refused because they apprehended I was going to Jerusalem though some of my Disciples particularly James and John were provok'd to that Degree that they asked me if I were willing that they should command Fire from Heaven to destroy those Samaritans as Elias in another Case had done I turned about and rebuked them saying Ye know not what Manner of Spirit ye are of for am not come into the World to destroy Mens Lives but by my peaceable Doctrine Example and Life to save them At another time one of my Disciples relating to me some Passages of their Travails told me of a certain Man they saw that cast out Devils in my Name and because he was not of their Company nor followed them said he we forbad him as if they had thereby served and pleased me but I presently testified my Dislike of the Ignorance and Narrowness of their Zeal and to inform them better told them they should not have forbid him for he that is not against us is for us My Drift is not Opinion but Piety they that cast out Devils convert Sinners and turn Men to Righteousness are not against me nor the Nature and Religion of my Kingdom therefore ought to be cherisht rather then forbid That I might sufficiently declare and inculcate my Mind in this Matter I did at another Time and upon a different Occasion preach against all Coertion and Persecution for Matters of Faith and Practice towards God in my Parable of the Sower as my Words manifest which were these The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a Man which sowed good Seed in his Field but while Men slept his Enemy came and sowed Tares among the Wheat and went his Way but when the Blade sprung up and brought forth Fruit there appeared the Tares also so the Servants of the Houshoulder came and said didst thou not sow good Seed in thy Field from whence then hath it Tares he answered an Enemy hath done this the Servants said unto him wilt thou then that we go and gather them up but he said NAY lest while ye gather up the Tares ye root up also the Wheat with them let boâ—h grow together till the Harvest and in the Time of Harvest I will say to the Reapers gather ye together first the Tares and bind them in Bundles to burn them but gather the Wheat into my Barn And that I might not leave so necessary a Truth misapprehended of my dear Followers or liable to any Mis-constructions my Disciples when together desiring an Explanation I interpreted my words thus He that soweth the good Seed is the Son of Man the Field is the World the good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the Wicked One the Enemy that sowed them is the Devil the Harvest is the End of the World and the Reapers are the Angels This Patience this Long Suffering and great Forbearance belong to my Kingdom and the Subjects of it my Doctrine speaks it and my Example confirms it and this can have no possible Agreement with Imposition and Persecution for Conâ—cience 'T is true I once whipt out the Prophaners of my Father's Temple but I never whipt any 〈◊〉 I call'd I cry'd to every one that thirsted to come and freely offer'd my Assistance to the Weary and Heavy Laden but I never impos'd my Help or forced any to receive me for I take not my Kingdom by Violence but by Suffering And that I might sufficiently deter my Followers from any such Thing as I profess my self to be their Lord and Master so have I commanded them to love one another in a more especial Manner But if instead thereof any shall grow proud high-minded and beat or abuse their Fellow-Servants in my Religious Family when I come to take an account of my Houshold he shall be cut asunder and appointed his Portion among the Unbelievers Behold the Recompence I appoint to Imposing Lordly Persons such as count others Infidels and to make them such Believers as themselves will exercise Violence towards them and if they prevail not will call for fire from Heaven to devour them and if Heaven refuse them will fall a Beating and Killing and think it may be they do God good Service but their Lot shall be with Unbelievers forever Nay I have so effectually provided against all Mastery that I expresly charged them not to be many Masters for one was their Master I told them that the greatest amongst them was to be Servant to the rest not to impose upon the rest nay that to be great in my Kingdom they must become as gentle and harmless as little Children and such cannot force and punish in Matters of Religion In fine I strictly commanded them to love one another as I have loved them who am ready to lay down my Life for the Ungodly instead of taking away Godly Men's Lives for Opinions and this is the great Maxim of my holy Religion He that would be my Disciple must not crucifie other Men but take up his Cross and follow me who am meek and lowly and such so enduring shall find Eternal Rest to their Souls this is the Power I use and this is the Power I give How much this agrees with the Language Doctrine and Example of Jesus Christ I shall leave them to consider that read and believe Scripture but some affected to present Church Power and desiring their Ruin that conform not to her Worship and Discipline will object That Christ did give his Church Power to bind and loose and bid any Person agrieved tell the Church I grant it but what binding was that with outward Chains and Fetters in nasty Holes and Dungeons nothing less Or was it that his Church had that true Discerning in her and Power with him that what she bound that is condemned or loosed that is remitted should stand so in God's Sight and Christ's Account But tell the Church and what then observe Christ's
new Religion neither suffer so ill an use to be made of such Dissents as to carry them beyond their true bounds for the meaning of those Arts of ill men is to set the People further off from one another then they really are and to aggrevate Differences in Judgment to Contrariety in affection and when they have once inflam'd them to Variance and Strife nothing can hinder Persecution but want of Power which being never wanted by the strongest side the weakest though truest is opprest not by Argument but Worldly Weapons The seventh and last Cause I shall now assign for Persecution is this That Holy living is become no test among us unless against the liver The Tree was once known by its Fruits 't is not so now the better Liver the more dangerous if not a Conformist this has made way for Persecution There was a time when Virtue was Venerable and good Men admired that 's derided and Opinion carries it He that can perswade his Conscience to comply with the times be he Vitious Knavish Cowardly any thing he is protected perhaps preferr'd A Man of Wisdom Sobriety and Ability to serve his King and Country if a Dissenter must be blown upon for a Phanatick a man of Faction of disloyal Principles and what not Rewards and Punishments are the Magistrates duty and the Governments interest and support Rewards are due to Virtue Punishments to Vice Let us not mistake nor miscall things let Virtue be what it al. wayes was in Government good Manners sober Living and Vice ill Manners and ill Living Reduce all to this let such good Men have the â—miles and Rewards and such ill Men the Frowns and Punishments of the Government this ends Persecution and lays Opinion to sleep Ill men will make no more advantages by such Conformity nor good men no more suffer for want of it In short As that Religious Society deserves not the Protection of the Civil which is inconsistent with the Safety of it so those Societies of Christians that are not only not Destructive of the Civil Government but Lovers of it ought by the Civil Government to be secured from Ruin God Almighty open our Understandings pour out the Spirit of thorow Reformation upon us that we may be all Conscientiously Dispos'd to seek and pursue those things which make for Love Peace and Godliness that it may be well with us both here and forever For yet a little while and the Wicked shall not be yea thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be but the Meek shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in abundance of Peace The Wicked PLOTTETH against the Just and â—nasheth upon him with his Teeth the Lord shall laugh at him for he seeth that his Day is coming Psal 37. 10 11 12 13. The Judgment of King James King Charles the first about Persecution for Religion VVE find it asserted by King James in his Speech to the Parliament in the year 1609. who said That it is a pure Rule in Divinity That God never loves to plant his Church with Violence and Blood and furthermore said It was usually the Condition of Christians to be Persecuted but not to Persecute And we find the same things in substance asserted again by his Son King Charles the first in his Book known by the Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 printed for R. Royston as followeth Pag. 67. In his Prayer to God he said Thou seest how much Cruelty amongst Christians is acted under the colour of Religion as if we could not be Christians unless we Crucifie one another Pag. 28. Make them at length seriously to consider that nothing Violent and Injurious can be Religion Pag. 70. Nor is it so proper to hâ—w out Religious Reformations by the Sword as to pollish them by fair and equal Disputations among those that are most concerned in the Differences whom not Force but Reason ought to convince Sure in Matters of Religion those Truths gain most upon â—eâ—s Judgments and Consciences which are least urged with secular Violence which weakens Truth with Prejudices Pag. 115. It being an Office not only of Humanity rather to use Reason than Force but also of Christianity to seek Peace and ensue it Some Words of Advice from King Charles the first to the then Prince of Wales now King of England c. Pag. 165. My Counsel and Charge to you is That you seriously consider the former Real or Objected Miscarriages which might occasion my Troubles that you may avoid them c. Beware of Exasperating any Faction by the Crosness and Asperity of some mens Passions Humours and private Opinions imployed by you grounded only upon Differences in lesser matters which are but the Skirts and Suburbs of Religion wherein a charitable Connivance and Christian Toleration often dissipates their Strength when rougher Opposition fortifies and puts the Despised and Oppressed Party into such Combinations as may most enable them to get a full Revenge on those they count their Persecutors Pag. 166. Take heed that Outward Circumstances and Formalities of Religion devour not all Difficulties in printing have occasion'd some Faults which pray Excuse and Amend Page 8. line 18. after Quality add in saying p. 14 l. 10. was r. is p. 16. l. 5. these r those l. 27. Law r. Laws p 27. l 5 with r of p 29 l 31 of dele p. 33 l 1 hath r have p 39 l 10 r Salamin p 32 l 9 r who p 56 l 11 this r thy p 63 l 22 the dele l 31 and r if not p 78 l 20 r of your p 79 l 1 as dele l 26 r discord all c. p 82 l 3 whom r which p 83 l 1 r mutable state p 105 l 24 in r on p 11 1 l 1 r believeth p 118 l 2 preaching r packing p 120 l. 32 their r your p 132 l 8 r that impossible p 133 l 24 r Ages stood p 134 l 32 r have been p 137 l 6 they r she p 138 l 27 â—r the. p 139 l 9 r therefore l 16 read imbecil l 23 r Perfection p 140 l 28 r reject p 143 l 14 r for peace p 153 l 32 ciâ—il 1 personal p 156 l 13 ever r over l 30 r hurt p 178 l 7 Poper Judge p 183. l 11 the dale l 28 r and is it p 184 l 26 r let us p 185 l 14 those r three p 〈◊〉 l 22 intruded r intended p 202 l 4. r concerned p 208 l 17 r Proâ—… 16 r is it reasonable p 219 l 25 r undoing p 225 l 18 recerâ—… 〈◊〉 p 227 l 26 we r true p 229 l 29 r laid p 231 l 25â— and dele p 235 l 10 r Governments l 13 this r the. p 241 l 11 his r their l 22 refuse 〈◊〉 refuse p 244 l 3 r imprudent p 245 l 4 enslave r encrease THE END Isa 28. 1 3 7. Prov. 23. ver 29 30 31 32 33. Exod. 20. v. 4. Lev. 20 10.