obstinate but he cannot be wisely stedfast in the Faith A good Christian must be able to give some more reasonable account of his Faith than this if ever he means to be securely firm in the Profession of it His Creed must be founded on some better Authority than a bare Credulity And 't will be a very useless Plea at the last day that a man believed as his Church believed when he might have had the opportunity of a better information should he chance by so doing to live and dye in a damnable Heresie unless he can render some tolerable account either wherefore his Church believed so or at least wherefore it was that he submitted himself so servilely to her Authority But he that believes with knowledg because he is clearly and evidently perswaded that it is the Truth need never fear either the danger or imputation of such an Obstinacy for his firmness in adhering to his Faith If for instance a Member of the Church of England reads in his Bible those express words of the Second Commandment Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above c. Thou shalt not Bow down to it nor Worship it If he looks forward to the History of the New Testament and there in the Institution of the Blessed Eucharist sees those words Drink ye ALL of this in as plain and legible Characters as those others Take and Eat and thereupon resolves never to be prevailed upon either to Bow down himself before an Image or to give up his Right to the Cup as well as to the Bread in that Holy Sacrament whatever glosses may be made or pretences be used to induce him to either 'T is evident that such a Firmness as this cannot be called Obstinacy unless these Scriptures be no longer the Word of God or that no longer a Principle of Scripture that in matters of plain and undoubted Command we are to obey God rather than man And in these and the like instances where the matter is clear even to demonstration there is no doubt to be made but that such Knowledg will certainly secure us against the charge and danger of Obstinacy But because all points in debate are not thus Evident but on the contrary many are not a little obscure therefore for the securing our selves from danger in our adherence to these too we must to our Knowledg add 2 dly A sincere zeal to discover the truth with an affectionate Charity to those that differ from us In such Cases as this thô we must believe and profess according to what appears to us at present to be the Truth yet since the Evidence is not such as to exclude all possibility of our being mistaken our adherence to it must be qualified with this reserve neither rashly to censure those who are otherwise minded nor obstinately to resolve never to change our Opinion if we should perhaps be hereafter convinced that we ought to do so Now in order hereunto it is not necessary that a Man should either fluctuate in his present Faith or not be firmly persuaded that he shall never see any reason to forsake it It is sufficient to take off the imputation of obstinacy that our stedfastness be such as not to exclude either a readiness of being better informed if that be possible or of making upon all occasions a strict and impartial enquiry into the Grounds and Reason of our Faith or even of hearing freely whatever objections can fairly be brought against it And all this with a sincere desire and stedfast resolution to discover and embrace the Truth wheresoever it lies Whether it be that which we now suppose to be so or whether it shall be found to be on the contrary side He who is thus disposed in his mind at all times to receive instruction and never presumes rashly to condemn any one that is thus in like manner disposed however otherwise disagreeing in Opinion from Him need never fear that his firmness is any other than that Wise and Christian stedfastness which our Text requires not such an obstinacy as both that and we most justly detest and condemn But here then we must look to the other extreme and take heed lest for fear of being perversly constant to our Faith we fall into a weak and criminal Instability To prevent this these three things may be consider'd 1 st That we carefully avoid all Vnworthy Motives of changing our Religion 2 dly That we be not too apt to entertain an ill Opinion of it 3 dly That if any Arguments shall at any time be brought against it that may deserve our considering we then be sure to give Them that due and diligent Examination that we ought to do I st He that will be stedfast in the Faith must above all things take heed to arm himself against all unworthy Motives of changing his Religion It is very sad to consider what unchristian means are made use of by some persons to propagate their Religion And a Man need almost no other assurance that it cannot be from God than to see the Professors of it pursue such methods for the promoting of its Interest as most certainly never came down from above Thus if a Man's fortunes be mean or his ambition great If Religion has not taken so deep root in his Soul as to enable him to overcome the flatteries and temptations of a present Interest and Advantage then there shall not be wanting a seducer presently to shew him that he must needs be out of the right way because it is not that which leads to preferment And 't is great odds but a good Place or an Honourable Title will quickly appear a more infallible mark of the true Church than any that Scripture or Antiquity can furnish to the contrary If this will not do and Interest cannot prevail then the other governing passion of our Minds mens fears are tried Instead of these allurements the False Teacher now thunders out Hell and Damnation against us Nothing but Curses and Anathema's to be expected by us if we continue firm in our Faith And it shall be none of the Prophets nor his Churches fault if all the Horrors and Miseries of this present life be not employ'd against us in charity to prevent our falling into the Everlasting Punishments of the next The Truth is I am ashamed to recount what unworthy means some have not been ashamed to make use of to promote their Religion and draw us away from our stedfastness France and Savoy Hungary and Germany The Old World and the New have all and that but very lately been witnesses what ways it is that Popery has and does and if ever it means effectually to prevail must take to propagate its interest Animus meminisse horret luctúque refugit Now he that shall be so unhappy as to suffer himself by any of these motives which a constant Man might and ought to have overcome
we ought not to rely either upon the one or upon the other It remains therefore that unless we will overthrow all the measures of Christian Charity towards our Neighbour and the common Truth I do not say both of their Faith and of our own but even of Christianity it self nay and of all Religion and Reason in general We must conclude That good Christians may differ from one another in matters of lesser moment without any just Reflection either upon themselves or their Religion But here therefore I must desire not to be misunderstood For when I say that Christians may without any danger to themselves or disparagement to the Truth of their Religion differ with one another I mean only as the Terms of my Proposition expresly shew in lesser matters such as do not concern the Fundamentals of Faith nor destroy the Worship of God nor are otherwise so clearly revealed but that Wise and Good Men after all their Enquiries may still continue to differ in their Opinions concerning them For otherwise if Interest and Prejudice blind men's Eyes and they err because they resolve they will not be convinced and so by their own Fault continue in Mistakes contrary to the Foundation of Faith and destructive of Piety If for instance Men will profess to believe but in One God and yet worship Thousands If they will read over the second Commandment and nevertheless both make and bow down before Graven Images in despite of it If whilst they acknowledge Christ to have instituted the Blessed Eucharist in both kinds they command it to be administred but in One and pray in an unknown Tongue tho' S. Paul has spent almost a whole Chapter to shew the Folly and Unreasonableness of it These are Errors in which I am not concerned and tho I should be unwilling even here at all adventures to pronounce any Sentence against the Men yet I must needs say That Religion cannot be very sound which stands corrupted with so many and such fundamental Abuses And this makes the difference between those Errors for which we separate from the Church of Rome and those Controversies which sometimes arise among Protestants themselves The former are in matters of the greatest consequence such as tend directly to overthrow the Integrity of Faith and the Purity of our Worship and therefore such as are in their own nature destructive of the very Essentials of Christianity Whereas our Differences do not at all concern the Foundations either of Faith or Worship and are therefore such in which Good Men if they be otherwise diligent and sincere in their Enquiry may differ without any Prejudice to themselves or any just Reflection upon the Truth of their common Profession Which being thus cleared in answer to the little Endeavours of one of the latest of our Adversaries against us upon this Account I go on Secondly to shew Secondly That such differences as these ought not to hinder such persons from agreeing together not only in a common Charity but if it be possible in a common Worship of God too This is what S. Paul here expresly exhorts these dissenting Christians to and earnestly praies to God that he might see accomplished in them That when they came together to the publick Offices of the Church to offer up their common Prayers and Thanksgivings to Him they might do it not only in the same Form of Words but with the same Affection of Mind too both towards God and towards one another Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that ye may with one Mind and one Mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such was their Duty to one another then and we ought certainly no less to esteem the same to be our Duty towards one another now And 1. As to the business of Charity God forbid that any Differences in Religion whatsoever much less such little ones as those we are now speaking of should ever make us deny that to our fellow Christians 'T is true indeed our Saviour Christ once foretold to his Disciples That there should rise up Men from among their Brethren who should upon this account not only put them out of their Synagogues but even think that it was a matter of Religion to kill them But they were Jews not Christians who were to do this and He expresly adds That 't was their ignorance of Him and his Religion that should carry them on to so furious and intemperate a Zeal For these things saies he shall they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor Me. And we must confess it to the scandal of our Holy Religion that there are a sort of Men who call themselves Christians now that still continue to fulfil this Prophecy in the very Letter of it who not only cast us out of their Synagogues that we should not much complain of and as far as in them lies cut us off from all the Hopes of Salvation too but to compleat the parallel openly arm the whole World against us and teach Men to believe that 't is a Work of Piety to root us out of it and therefore that whosoever killeth us does do God service But in this as well as in the rest of their Errors they give us but the more effectually to understand how little they have in them of the true Spirit of Christianity for sure such things as these they could never do but only that as our Saviour in that other case before said they have not known the Father nor Him And I hope I shall need no Argument to perswade you not to be mis-led by that which we all of us so justly lament as one of the most deplorable Corruptions even of Popery it self Christianity commands us to love our Enemies and sure then we cannot but think it very highly reasonable not to hate our Brethren but especially on such an account as if it be once admitted will in this divided state of the Church utterly drive the very name of brotherly Love and Charity out of it seeing by whatsoever Arguments we shall go about to justifie our uncharitableness to any Others they will all equally warrant them to with-hold in like manner their Charity from us There is no honest sincere Christian how erroneous soever he may be but what at least is perswaded that he is in the right and looks upon Us to be as far from the Truth by differing from him as We esteem Him for not agreeing with us Now if upon the sole account of such Differences it be lawful for us to hate Another we must for the very same Reason allow it to be as lawful for Him also to hate Us. Thus shall we at once invert the Characteristick of our Religion By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another and turn it into the quite contrary Note
well what is it else but to maintain a Paradox and shew a great deal of Skill only to demonstrate how much may be said for the most incredible things Heaven is a place which cannot raise his desires who has not thoughts purified enough to be in love with innocent and spiritual delights The pleasures of those happy Regions are not suited to the sensual apprehensions of such men as know no attractives but those of a Mahumetan Paradise And Hell it self tho the most formidable consideration of any yet such as for that very reason he will be sure to put as far from him as he can and either fancy that perhaps there is no such place or if there be yet hoâ—e it will be time enough hereafter to pâ—ovide for the escaping of it 3. And then lastly for that which is the great end of all religious instructions the Practice of Piety and without which all our knowledg in the Mystery of Godliness will be in vain this is what such a one is yet more indisposed to than all the rest There are many in the world who can be content to applaud the reasonableness of Piety and Virtue and will allow of all that we can say in praise of it that yet when it comes to the trial cannot endure to put it in practice Like the Ground over-run with Thorns in the Parable they receive the Word with gladness but the Cares of the world and the Pleasures of life choak the seed so that they seldom bring forth any Fruit unto perfection It is therefore absolutely necessary that he who will be a fit Disciple for the school of Christ should first dispose himself by a Probity and Integrity of mind to be willing to follow his Instructions That he labour sincerely to have a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards man That he come to our Religious Exercises with a Pious Mind not to please his Fancy or gratifie his Curiosity but to learn true Wisdom and that in order to Practice Instead of considering how the Discourse is managed whether the Preacher performs his part as he expected he should he must employ his Thoughts on more substantial Meditations In what particular especially the Discâ—urse came up to his own condition and how he may best apply it thereunto If any Vice were reproved whether his own Sin be not concerned in it If any Duty explain'd or encouraged whether that were not directed by God to inform his Knowledg or to reprove his remissness If it set forth any of the great Mysteries of our Redemption or the Glories of Heaven and what we must do to attain to them to remember that in all these things God calls upon us to acknowledg his Power and to celebrate his Goodness who has sent so wonderful and gracious a salvation to us This is the true way whereby the Pious Christian may profit himself even by the meanest of our Discourses but without such a disposition to receive Instruction the best seed will in vain be cast away upon us 2 dly The next qualification required in a Christian Auditor as well as in all others is That he be Docile By which I do not mean Endued with quick Parts and Abilities to learn that is the Gift of God and which sometimes may do more harm than good but I mean that he be desirous of Instruction and to that end prepared with such a temper and disposition of mind as to be willing and ready to pursue the means of it And to this end more particularly 1 st That he be Humble i. e. neither vainly conceited of himself as if he had no need of instruction nor esteeming himself to be too great to receive it even from the meanest Preacher There is nothing in the world so great an Enemy to our Proficiency in any thing as Pride When men look upon themselves as too great to learn and as such neglect and despise the means of Instruction Indeed I am not so vain as to think that we are not many times called to speak to those who are much fitter to become our Teachers But yet neither can I so far undervalue the Gospel of Christ which we deliver unto you as to believe there is ordinarily any Sermon so mean and despicable but that an humble mind might have profited by it and have found somewhat at least to exercise his Charity and his Patience if not to excite his Zeal and improve his Knowledg 2. A second thing required to this Docility is That a man be free from Passion This disturbs the mind and blinds the reason and hinders many times the best Doctrine from producing any suitable effects upon us Those who are subject to the command of their own affections judg more according to the inclinations of them than to the dictates of right reason He that espouses a Party or Interest that loves an Opinion and desires it should be true easily approves of whatsoever does but seem to make for it and rejects almost at all adventures whatsoever appears against it How does the Hope and Desire of Honour or Favour or Fortune in the World carry men away to the vilest things for the prosecution of it And so all the other Passions of the mind whether it be fear or pleasure or whatever else be the affection that rules us they hinder the reason from judging aright and weighing impartially what is delivered to us and 't is great odds but such an Auditor receives or condemns the Doctrine of Christ not according as the Authority of Holy Sripture and the Evidence of right reason require he should but as his own Passions and Inclinations prompt him to do 3. A Third thing required to Docility is That a man be free from Prejudice He that will advance any thing in the finding out of Truth must bring to it that Travellers indifference which the Heathen so long since recommended to the World He must not desire it should lie on the one side rather than the other lest his desire that it should prompt him without just reason to believe that it does And so in Religion too He that will make a right judgment what to believe or what to Practice must first throw off all prejudice in favour of his own Opinion or against any others And resolve never to be so tied up to any Point or Party as not to be at all times ready impartially to examine whatsoever can reasonably be objected against either How far the want of this does at this day divide the Church of Christ I would to God we had not too great reason on all sides to complain There are many among us so strangely engaged by false principles to an ill cause that 't is in vain to offer them the clearest Arguments to convince them If you bring them Scripture 't is true that must be heard but then be it never so plain they are not competent Judges of the Meaning of it and they durst
Justice and Continence had by the help of one Simon a Magician gain'd the Affections of Drusilla the Wife of Azis King of the Emisseni and lived in a state of Adultery with her Now this being the Case of Felix 't is plain that the Subject of St. Paul's Discourse was to remonstrate to him his Injustice and Intemperance and let him freely know That however he might carry it out by his Power and Authority now yet there was a time coming a future Day of Judgment when he should be called to a severe Account for all his Wickedness This was indeed an Address becoming the zeal of an Apostle and the Spirit of St. Paul And too plainly shews how little we have left in us of that Primitive warmth which inflamed this Holy Man by our different management on the like Occasions There can hardly be imagined any greater discouragement to such a freedom than what our Apostle here labour'd under To touch an Vnjust Governor in the point of his Violence and Injustice a lustful Adulterer in the business of his Incontinence this one would think should have been a pretty bold undertaking for any One But for Saint Paul a Prisoner one that was to appear as a Criminal before him for him instead of flattering this great Man as his Adversary Tertullus had done Verse 2. Instead of Applauding the great quietness which the people enjoy'd under his government and the very worthy deeds that had been done by his providence to call him to repent of his Rapine and Cruelty of his Intemperance and Adultery and this too in the presence of that very Woman whom he much loved and for whose sake he had done so many vile things this was an Honest freedom and plainness becoming an Apostolical Age but which I fear in these days of ours would be censur'd as rudeness and indiscretion any thing rather than a commendable Zeal for the Glory of God and the Salvation of Souls But alas St. Paul had not learnt that tender Application that is now a-days made to Great Persons He had no Interest of his own to pursue and therefore did not address himself after the manner of those who are more afraid of offending Men than of displeasing God and of disparaging their Character He knew the Doctrine to be seasonable to Felix and that if he pleased to make a good use of it it might be profitable too And he never stood to consider whether Felix would like it or no or whether it might not perhaps provoke him to run to any Extremities against him for his freedom In short He had an Vnjust Adulterous Man to preach to and he knew nothing so fit to reason of before him as of Righteousness Temperance and the Judgment to come And had we but the same honest Courage and Indifference that he had we should speak not only with the same freedom that he did but by the Grace of God with the same efficacy too And poor and despicable as we are thought by many yet in the power of that Divine Truth which we are sent to preach to the World make the greatest Sinners tremble to think That for all these things God will bring them to judgment And that this is the Case is the first thing I am to shew I st That the Doctrine of a Judgment to come is so highly reasonable that the greatest Infidel cannot but acknowledge the probability of it In pursuance of which Point it is not my Design to shew what Grounds the Holy Scriptures give us for the belief of a future Judgment which we all of us every day profess as an Article of our Faith and therefore cannot be supposed any of us to doubt of it What else do we meet with almost throughout the New Testament but Exhortations to live well upon this Ground That God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness Acts xvii 31 That we must all stand before the Judgment-seat of Christ Rom. xiv 10 That we must All appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ Every one to receive the things done in his Body according to what he hath done whether it be Good or Evil 2 Cor. v. 10 What Revelation has there ever been more clearly made I do not say than this That there shall be a final Judgment but of the manner and Circumstances of it How the Trumpets shall sound and the dead arise and those that are alive be changed How the just shall be caught up into the air and the sinners lie groveling below in vain crying out to the Mountains to fall upon them and to the Hills to cover them How the Judgment shall be set and the Books open'd and every man judged out of the things contained in those Books according to his works Then shall the Son of Man come in his Glory and sit down upon the Throne of his Glory And before him shall be gathered all Nations and he shall separate them the one from the other as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats and he shall set his Sheep on his right hand and the Goats on his left And he shall say to them on his right hand Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World But to those on the left Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And these shall go away into Everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal In a word So particular is the Account which we here find of all the Circumstances of this great Audit that I scarce know any thing left unrevealed to us but only the Day and Hour when this Judgment shall be And which indeed God has in Mercy kept up from us that so we might always live in Apprehension of that which we can never tell how soon it may arrive But this is not that which my Text leads me to consider And indeed however it may be useful enough to call upon the most faithful Christians to think sometimes on this future Judgment yet it would certainly be a very needless undertaking to reason with such Persons concerning it and use any long Arguments to convince them of the futurity of it That which I have now to do is of a quite different nature 'T is to offer such Reasons for the belief of a Judgment to come as may convince the Greatest Infidel of the probability of it And shew them that whether they will believe us in other things or no yet here at least they cannot with any reason doubt of the Truth of our Doctrine but must resolve to become Good Men if they will not be persuaded to become Faithful Christians And indeed in this Sceptical Age in which we now live it may not for ought I know be altogether unseasonable to argue sometimes with Men upon their own Principles To shew them that Religion is not a
so wise or it may be is wiser than I am and sees farther than I do and therefore is not exactly of my Opinion in every thing Now if this be so as both the Principles of Reason conclude it very well may be and the common Experience of Mankind not only in the particular concern of Religion but in most other things assures us that it is That Men's Understandings are different and they will argue different waies and entertain different Opinions from one another about the same things and yet may nevertheless deserve on all sides to be esteemed very good and wise Men for all that How vain then must that Argument be which a Late Author of the Church of Rome has with so much Pomp revived against us from our Differences in a few lesser Points of our Religion to conclude us to be Erroneous in the greater and that because we are not exactly of the same Opinion in every thing that therefore we ought to be credited in nothing that is to say That because Protestants when they differ are mistaken on One Side therefore when they agree they are mistaken on Both 1 st It is certain that amidst all our other Divisions we are yet on all sides agreed in whatsoever is Fundamental in the Faith or necessary to be believed and professed by us in order to our Salvation There is no good Protestant but what does firmly believe all the Articles of the Apostles Creed and embraces the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God and Rule of his Faith and readily acknowledges whatsoever is plainly revealed therein and is at all times disposed to submit to any thing that can by any necessary and certain Consequence be proved to him thereby In short Our Differences whatsoever they are I will be bold to say They do no more nor even so much concern the foundations of Christianity as those of the Judaizing Christians here did If their differing therefore with one another was no Prejudice to the Truth of their common Christianity then I would fain know for what Reason our Differences which are lesser shall become so much a greater Argument against our common Christianity now But Secondly If our differing from one another in some Points be an Argument that we are not certain in any How shall we be sure that those of the Church of Rome are not altogether as uncertain as we are seeing we are sure that they do no less differ among themselves and that in Points too much more considerable than we do For to take only one Instance instead of many and that so considerable that Card. Bellarmin once thought the Sum of Christianity he meant the Sum of Popery to consist in it viz. The Prerogatives of the Bishop of Rome both in and over the Church of Christ. * Some there are who hold the Pope to be Head of the Church by Divine Right Others the contrary * Some That he is Infallible Others That he is not * Some That the Pope alone without a Council may determine all Controversies Others That he cannot Now if in these and many other points of no less importance they themselves are as far from agreeing with one another as they can possibly pretend us to be what shall hinder us but that we return their own Inference upon them That seeing they differ among themselves in such things as these they are so far from that absolute Infallibility they set up for that in truth they have not so much as any certainty among them even in those Points wherein they do agree Is it that in their Church tho there be indeed as many differences as in ours yet this makes not against them seeing they have a certain Rule whenever they please for the composing of them viz. The Definition of the Pope and of the Church This indeed I find is commonly said by them But then certainly if they have such a ready means as they say of Agreement among them 't is the more shame for them that they do not agree he being much more inexcusably guilty in the omission of any duty who having a ready means to fulfil it neglects so to do than he who has none or which is the same thing does not know that he has any But indeed they have no means of Ending their differences any more than we have The Holy Scriptures we both of us acknowledg to be the Word of God and an Infallible Rule of Faith but for any other direction they are not yet agreed where to seek it And sure that can be no very good means of Ending all their other Differences which is it self one of their chiefest Controversies Or is it That they agree in matters of Faith and differ only in those things that do not belong to it Because if they differ about any Point they for that very Reason conclude it to be no matter of Faith But besides the Impenitence of this Answer which amounts to no more than this that they do agree in what they do agree and differ only in those things in which they differ This is what we say for our selves concerning our Differences We agree in all those things that are necessary to a Sound and Saving Faith and if we differ in matters of lesser moment 't is no more than what all other Christians have ever done and what those of the Church of Rome it self at this day do So that still it must remain either that those Differences which were among the Christians of old and which are among us now are no Prejudice at all to the common Truth which we profess or if they be the Consequence will fall upon those of the Church of Rome no less that I do not say and more severely than upon us and be of the same Force against Their Religion that it can be against Ours But I must carry this Reflection a great deal farther for Thirdly If once this Principle be allowed That because Men differ in some things they ought not to be credited in any what then will become not only of the Protestant Religion as it now stands in Opposition to Popery but even of Christianity it self For might not a Turk or a Jew if he were minded to give himself so much trouble to so little purpose as this late Author has done draw out a large HISTORY of the VARIATIONS of Christians among themselves from the Controversie of the Text unto this day and then by the very same Principle conclude against us all That we have none of us any certain Grounds for Our Religion because the differences that are among us plainly shew that some of us must be deceived And to go yet one step farther Might not a Sceptick by the same Rule argue against all Religion and even against all Reason too That the disagreement of mankind in these and many other Points of the greatest Importance clearly proves that there is no certainty in any thing and therefore that
it would have been impossible for us ever to have come to the knowledge of it to be most dear to us and not upon any account to be forsaken by us But when to this we shall add That these Truths are not matters of meer Speculation only to employ the Mind and exercise the Soul in the Contemplation of them That the concern here is not a useless Theoreme which whether we believe or not we are neither at all the worse now nor shall be ever the less happy hereafter but such by our keeping or betraying whereof we shall finally be Happy or Miserable for ever That therefore to give up these Truths is to become the vilest Traditors the Betrayers not only of our Religion but of our Souls too and that to all Eternity we cannot certainly but think it to be very much our concern to take the advice of the Apostle and earnestly contend for the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints Such is the necessity of this Contention And two things there were wherein St. Jude here exhorted them to the Practice of it proportionable to the two great dangers to which I have before said these Christians were then exposed For First The Christians to whom he wrote were at this time actually under a Persecution for their Faith and by consequence under great Temptations to Apostatize from it And this danger was by so much the more to be apprehended for that a sort of Hereticks were crept in among them who the better to preserve themselves from those Evils which Christianity then brought upon all the faithful Professors of it had among their other Errors set up this for one That it was lawful in such Tryals to dissemble their Faith and to escape Persecution for it Now in Opposition to this base Cowardise of these Men we must first interpret the Contention here spoken of to imply a firmness and resolution of Mind to undergo any Evils rather than to deny their Religion That they should not like those vile Hereticks seek by unworthy Compliances to preserve themselves from danger and ruine their Souls in the other World to save their Lives and to preserve the little Interests of this And the same should be the resolution of every good Christian now Persecution ought to be so far from affrighting him from his Faith that he ought then most firmly to adhere to it when he sees others the most violent in opposing it What tho' he should be called to suffer for it Death ought never to amaze that Man who is able to look forward into Heaven beyond it and there see that Crown of Glory which these light afflictions that are but for a moment shall place upon his Head for all Eternity A true Christian is never greater than when he is under the Cross Nor can any thing be more glorious to the Faithful Disciple than to follow his dear Master not only in Well-doing but if the Will of God be so in patient Suffering too What shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword As it is written For thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter Nay in all these things we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us But Secondly This was not the only danger they were then likely to run nor it may be the greatest And the hazard of corrupting their Religion by the Artifices of those Hereticks who were unawares crept in among them was yet more to be apprehended than their total Apostatizing from it And therefore St. Jude here exhorts them to contend earnestly for the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints i. e. to be very wary and circumspect to maintain it in that purity in which they had received it and not suffer any little Sophistry or Insinuations of their Enemies to lead them into any Errors contrary to the truth of it And indeed whosoever shall look into the Annals of the Church will find this to have ever been the more fatal danger of the two And that the Devil has in all Ages gain'd more by the secret cunning of his false Teachers than by the open violence of his Persecutors There 's many a Christian who has carriage enough to Die for his Faith that yet has not Skill enough to defend it And those whose business it is to deceive never fail to set most upon such as they think are the least able to do so And therefore it cannot certainly but be very advisable in us all and especially for those who are the most ignorant to be very careful of themselves as to this matter Not to hearken to every little Pretender that will but undertake to lead them but if any such offers himself to them to draw them away from the right Faith either absolutely to reject him or rather to bring him forth unto the light to refer him to their Teachers who instruct them in the Truth and who are therefore the fittest to defend the Interests of it And so maintain that wise indifference which ought to be the resolution of every good Man in the search of all but especially of divine Truth neither obstinately to refuse a better Instruction whenever it shall indeed be offered to him much less to be cheated out of his Religion by Noise and Confidence by high Pretences and no Arguments and so by his easiness betray that Faith which our Apostle here calls us so earnestly to contend for And this is a Caution that cannot be unseasonable at any time But yet some times there are wherein 't is more especially to be recommended to Christians And such was that wherein St. Jude wrote this Epistle Which therefore brings me to my next Point III. Of the reason which the Christians at that time had more especially thus to contend for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints I shall not now say any thing of that general Obligation which lyes upon all Christians thus to contend for the Faith viz. the Eternal Salvation of their Souls according as they are careful or not in so doing though this ought certainly to have always its weight too with us both because I have already said somewhat to this before and because I am now only to consider the particular Reasons which those to whom St. Jude here wrote had at that time so to do And those whethersoever of the two things we consider which I have before shewn they were herein exhorted to are such as ought very much to have engaged their care in this Contention For First As to the renouncing of their Faith They were actually under a Persecution for it Their Interests their Ease their Inclinations all sollicited them so to do And as if all this were not enough some who called themselves Christians among them not only encouraged them by their Example but even maintainâ—d it
on that one most just and reasonable Method never to leave our own Faith till we can be clearly and evidently convinced that we have a better offer'd to us in the stead of it and then we shall either free our selves altogether from the Attacks of our Adversaries who seldom care to meddle with honest and understanding Men or I am sure we shall not run any great Hazzard by their Attempts But above all Thirdly Whilst we thus contend for the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints let us be Followers of their Lives as well as of their Doctrine This is that which must save us when all our Disputes will otherwise stand us in no stead To believe aright will do us but small service if we do not live so too And I am persuaded would we but be prevailed with to do this as we ought it would not only most effectually secure us in the Truth but be the most likely means in the World to draw over others to it And indeed what pity is it that a Chureh which has in all other respects so many admirable Advantages above its Adversaries that it is defective in no other mark of being truly Primitive and even in this is less defective than others should not be blessed with this too Consider I beseech you that we rely upon none of those broken Reeds which others lay so much stress upon to make you happy in another Life though you are not upright and holy in this If there be then any concern for your own or your Church's honour if any value for your Immortal Souls if you desire the Blessing of God now and the benefit of his Promises in the World to come if these Motives which one would think should be of all others the most considerable may be allowed to have any influence at all upon you think then upon these things and fulfil ye our Joy in the practice of that Piety whereunto ye are called Be as Good as ye are Orthodox as free from all Corruption in your Manners as God be thanked you are from Error in your Belief Accomplish that great Work which Heaven seems at last to have begun among us And as we are now apparently more concern'd for our Religion than we have perhaps any of us heretofore been so let us go on in well-doing more and more Let us grow in Grace and then we shall also grow in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ till finally we all come in the Vnity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect Man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. OF THE Nature and End OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE Lord's Supper A SERMON Preach'd at St. PAVL's COVENT-GARDEN Decemb. 30. 1688. 1 COR. xi 24 This do in Remembrance of Me. THese Words are part of that Solemn Form in which our Blessed Saviour first celebrated the Holy Sacrament of his Body and Blood anâ— establish'd it as a sacred Institution to be continued for ever in his Church in remembrance of that Death and Passion which he was just then about to undergo for it Whether our Apostle recounted the History of this great Institution according to what some of those who were present at the first Celebration of it had delivered it unto him or whether as seems most probable he had received the manner of it by some extraordinary Revelation from our Saviour Christ himself This is plain that what he here reports to them of this matter was no idle Story no vain Account of his own Invention but a true and exact Relation of what the Blessed Jesus then did when in the same night in which he was betray'd he took Bread and when he had given thanks brake it and gave it to his Disciples saying Take Eat this is my Body which is broken for you This do in Remembrance of Me. So that our Text then you see contains a positive Command of our Saviour Christ himself of something which he ordered his Apostles to do with reference to this Holy Sacrament And my business at this time shall be to consider what that was and how far we at this day are to look upon our selves to be concerned in it I shall reduce what I have to offer upon this occasion to these two general Considerations I. Of the false Construction and Application which those of the Church of Rome make of these words Which having done so far as may be necessary to the following Discourse I will then II. Shew what indeed it was that our Blessed Saviour here commanded his Apostles and in them All of us to Do in Remembrance of Him And by that time I have clearly examin'd these Two Points I presume I shall in some measure have laid open the whole Nature and Design of this Holy Sacrament and in that have answer'd the End of these Solemn and Extraordinary Assemblies And first I am to consider I. That false Construction and Application which those of the Church of Rome make of these words It is the Opinion of those of the other Communion That our Saviour Christ here spoke to his Apostles not as the Representatives of the whole Body of the Church but as those whom he was now about to consecrate to the peculiar Office of the Ministry in it And therefore that commanding these To Do This He did at once both command them to continue this Holy Sacrament for ever in his Church and also at the same time invest them with a Power to Consecrate and Take and Distribute it to others as he had done to them To which if we did add their other Notion of this Sacrament viz. that in the Celebration of it there is a true and proper Offering made for the Sins and Satisfactions both of the Dead and the Living we shall then find the full import of our Text according to their sense to be this DO THIS that is Receive the power which I hereby give you of consecrating i. e. of converting these Elements of Bread and Wine into the true and proper Substance of my Body and Blood and having so done Offer them up to my Father as a true and real propitiatory Sacrifice for the Sins and Satisfactions for the Punishments and all other the Necessities of all my faithful Disciples whether they be alive or dead whether they be yet on Earth or gone to Purgatory Such is the Account which those of the Church of Rome give us of these words And in this they are so very confident that they not only Anathematize all those who shall say either that Christ in this Command did not institute his Apostles Priests or that he did not Command that they and other Priests should in like manner offer up his Body and Blood but have also made it the very Form of Ordaining Priests at this day in their Church having delivered the Patin and Chalice into
not well see how they will be able to clear themselves altogether of those Follies which they so readily encourage and not only neglect to correct themselves but will not suffer those who would to do it Nay but we must not stop here They have given a yet greater encouragement to the dishonour of our Saviour than this If we look into their Churches and there view their Pictures and their Images those Books of the Ignorant as they are pleased to call them what can be either more wretched in it self or more apt to seduce unthinking Votaries than every where to see Holy MARY with our Saviour still an Infant in her Arms as if he were never to get out of the state of his Pupillage And this were yet tolerable if they thereby took care to call back their Minds to the condition of his Infancy once when on Earth But alas I must add what exceeds all Extravagances besides that they set him out still as a Child in Heaven Nor is there any thing more common in the Lives of their Saints in the Records of the Miracles of the VIRGIN and even in their Offices and Books of Devotion than to hear of the Son of God brought down in the Arms of his Mother and still behaving himself as a little Child towards her Votaries And what mean and low Opinions such things as these must needs create in Superstitious and Ignorant Minds of the Saviour of the World is very natural to conceive and the Devotion of the People towards the Blessed VIRGIN compared with their Notions and Zeal towards the Holy JESVS does but too fatally demonstrate But Secondly This Consideration is not only thus important in it self but of a more especial concern with regard to us Were the Votaries of the Blessed VIRGIN content with a Speculative Opinion of her Excellencies or would they be satisfied to pay her what Homage they thought fit themselves without forcing others to joyn in it this Matter though very Scandalous to our Religion yet would not so much concern our Practice But now that the very Publick Devotion of the Church is wholly over-run with this Abuse so that 't is impossible to pray to God with them unless you will be content to pray to Holy MARY too it was certainly very necessary for us to understand the danger of such an Error which is thus combined with the most publick and solemn Piety of a whole Body of Christians And then Thirdly This is a Point not only of very great moment in it self and of a particular concern to us but very plain too and easie to be understood In other things though our Arguments are strong to those that comprehend the force of them yet many times the Subject is obscure and the Disputation past the Capacity of the ordinary Christian. Thus in their Doctrines about the Church the Authority Vnity Infallibility and other either real or pretended Privileges of it The Argument is nice and easily perplexes an uninstructed Capacity But here the Advice is evident and the whole Subject easie The only hardship is to bring them to own their Doctrine but afterwards the most Vulgar Christian is able to discern the falseness of it Those first Rudiments of Christianity Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed There is one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus and the like being abundantly sufficient to shew how impossible it is that those should not have departed from their first Faith who give Religious Honour to the Virgin MARY and set her up as a Mediatrix in Heaven Now this being once proved it will from hence presently follow Fourthly That all the Pretences of the Church of Rome against us are vain and that we not only had sufficient Reason but that it was our Duty to reform as we did from them For to consider this Argument in one word If the Church of Rome be actually and undoubtedly Erroneous in this Point then let her fancy what she please 't is plain she can Err and is not what she says Infallible If she be not Infallible then there can be no Obligation to believe and follow her at all Adventures without examining what she teaches whether it be true or false If we may examine her Doctrine then the End of all Examination being to find out the Truth and to cleave unto it it must follow that when upon the Enquiry we had discovered her to be involved in grievous Errors it was our Duty to abandon her Corruptions and to declare against them And thus this one Point alone being well cleared does in the Consequence of it plainly prove a Vindication of the whole Work of the Reformation and is alone sufficient to satisfie any unprejudiced Mind what just Cause we had for it And let us then Bless God who has opened our Eyes to discover such Abuses as these and which had almost subverted the very chief Principles of Christianity And let us as we ought value nothing so much as that Purity of Religion in which we have the happiness to exceed most Christians in the World Let our Adversaries if they please revile us let them call us Hereticks and Schismaticks Despisers of the Church and Haters of the Blessed Virgin let them fill Heaven and Earth with their Anathema's against us because we will not joyn with them in these and the like Abominations But let us stand fast in the Lord and in the Religion which we have received knowing from whom we have received it and what is the rule and measure of it And that though I do not say They or We or any other Church or Society of Men whatsoever but though an Angel from Heaven though St. Peter himself should come to us and preach any other Gospel he is to be accursed I shall conclude all with those excellent words of an Ancient Father of the Church against some who began in his time to Honour the Blessed VIRGIN though not with any part of that excess that these Men now do yet more than he supposed was fitting for them 'T is true says he MARY was Holy but she was not therefore God She was a Virgin and highly honoured but she was not set forth to us to be worshipp'd And therefore the Holy Gospel has herein arm'd us before hand our Lord himself saying Woman what have I to do with thee Wherefore does he say this But only left some should think of the Blessed VIRGIN more highly than they ought He called her Woman as it were foretelling those Schisms and Heresies that should arise upon her account But God permits us not to worship Angels how much less the Daughter of Anna Let MARY be held in Honour but let the Father Son and Holy Ghost be Worshipped Let no one Worship MARY for though she were most fair and holy and honourable yet she is not therefore to