his Maker He believes in God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost according to those Revelations they have made of themselves in Scripture and would rather believe the Prophets and Apostles honest Men than quibbling Sophisters His pure unspotted Love with respect to God must always believe in him depend on admire and adore him and when he remembers his own distance from God by Sin and God's Condescention to purchase Pardon and Grace for him by his own most precious Blood though in that state of Enmity That Faith which he has in him that Love which he has to him must make him always tender compassionate and merciful with respect to Men. We need to run to no false Opinions to excite us to Beneficence Wise Men wont pretend to gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles This is a faithful saying and these things we of the Church of England affirm constantly That those who have believ'd in God might be careful to maintain good Works these things are good and profitable to Men. We would then have the Poor provided for we would encourage a just care for them we pretend in vain to be Christians if we forget our poor Brethren for we were poorer by far when our merciful Saviour made himself poor on our Accounts and extended his Compassion toward us If any one will give all his Goods to feed the Poor provided he wrongs none else by that Liberality and the Love of God constrains him may his Heavenly Father who sees in secret reward him openly He who gives to the Poor should give without Constraint without Grudging and with Pleasure for God loves a cheerful Giver He ought to give proportionably to what God has blest him with He who voluntarily devotes the Tenths of all he has to the support of the Poor does no more and none ever suffer'd yet by a Bounty so proportion'd What he gives ought to be his own i. e. not gotten by Address and Craft or by Violence for he who wrongs one to feed or cloath another gives Nothing and by such Sacrifices never pleases but offends his Maker But if the Rich in this world be sound in the Faith if they do good if they be Rich in Good Works ready to distribute willing to Communicate they lay up in store for themselves a good foundation that they may lay hold on eternal Life Here 's Love here 's Charity indeed enough to sanctifie their Alms and to make the Prayers of the Poor a Treasure of Eternal Blessings to them But since the Rich and Willing cannot perhaps tell readily where to bestow their Bounty without the Hands and Eyes of others V. Vitringam de Nominibus Ministrorum Ecclesiae Synagogae c. 5 surely we cannot in our own Church among Christians want some Man or Men of Honest report full of the Holy Ghost and Wisdom who therefore will neither deny his Being nor reduce him to the meanness of a Creature nor divert the treasures of the Poor to encourage such as by their Writings and Discourses do both who may be appointed over this Business Ill Men are commonly of the most active and stirring Tempers they know the least neglect ruins their Affairs Good Men suppose their Cause will manage and secure it self but though it will do so their Industry is not a whit the less requir'd and while the activity of Ill Men destroys them we have an infallible Assurance That it 's good to be zealously affected always in a good Cause Men sound in the Faith would not only be Faithful Stewards with regard to the Bodies of those in Want but they 'd be Pious Guardians of their Souls too They'd instil the Principles of sound Religion into them as well as relieve their outward Necessities and a Love to Mens Bodies must certainly yield to a tenderness for their Souls A Lazarus full of sores and starving may be carry'd by Angels into Abraham 's Bosom but without Faith its impossible to please God and by Grace both Poor and Rich must be sav'd and that not of themselves it is the gift of God Eph. 2.8 1 Thes 1.3 The Work of Faith the Labour of Love and the Patience of Hope will always be favourably remembred both by God and Men. I 'll never confide in that Man who will not believe his God and must suspect Him to be full of Trick and Design who represents his Maker as guily of Artifice and Chicanery in his Revelations of himself to the Children of Men. But he who is right and sincere in his Faith toward God I 'm sure will be trusty to his Neighbour He 'll be kind to both the Bodies and Souls of the Poorest He 'll visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Afflictions and keep himself unspotted from the World By such a Hand I 'll give what I can to feed the Poor I 'll live by Faith I 'll wait in Hope and act with Charity and never fear losing my Everlasting Reward Collect on Quinquages O God who hast taught us that all our Doings without Charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our Hearts that most excellent Gift of Charity the very bond of Peace and of all Virtues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before Thee Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake Amen Now to God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost Three Persons but One Infinite and Eternal God be given as is most due all Honour Glory Praise Power Might Majesty and Dominion now henceforth and for evermore Amen and Amen FINIS MYsteries in Religion Vindicated Or the Filiation Deity and Satisfaction of our Saviour Asserted against Socinians and others With Occasional Reflections on several late Pamphlets By Luke Milbourne a Presbyter of the Church of England The Doctrine of the Glorious Trinity not Explained but Asserted by several Texts as they are Expounded by the Ancient Fathers and Later Divines for the Satisfaction of such as doubt the Conviction of such as deny the Confirmation of such as believe this Mysterious Article of the Christian Faith By Francis Gregory D. D. and Rector of Hambleden in the County of Bucks An Answer to an Heretical Book called The Naked Gospel which was Condemned and ordered to be Publickly Burnt by the Convocation of the University of Oxford Aug. 19. 1690. With some Reflections on Dr. Bury's New Edition of that Book To which is added A Short History of Socinianism By William Nichols M. A. Fellow of Merton College in Oxford and Chaplain to the Right Honourable Ralph Earl of Montague All Three Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop ' s. 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hands give It 's a Reward which God only bestows which they seek and there 's no need of proclaiming it in the Ears of Men But he then who is God's chosen Instrument to be a common Benefactor will be the Humblest Man in the World Some who have been Careful for the Poor have been very defective in this Grace and have loved as well to be taken notice of for it as to do it This Charity doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provok'd thinketh no Evil. i. e. The Man of true Goodness or Charity shews no Impudence either in his Language or his Carriage He 'll vindicate himself but he 'll asperse none raise no Scandals spread no false News or Lyes be modest among his Superiors and affront none much less his Maker He studies the Publick Good chiefly and that as it is Publick and not meerly as suiting to his own Genius or Inclination He 'll be so far from Spite or Inveteracy that to the utmost of his power he 'll conquer the sudden Eruptions of his Passions and neither the Mismanagement or suppos'd Ingratitude of others shall force Him beyond the Bounds of Reason He has no jealous thoughts of others as if they intended ill when they did not He means no such thing himself and measures the Innocence of others by his own A Man may be very kind to the Poor and yet be rude and ill-manner'd study his own Humour only be mad for Trifles and jealous of every Body without a Contradiction Charity rejoyces not in iniquity but rejoyces in the Truth The sincere Christian takes no pleasure to see Innocence condemn'd or Merit unrewarded He 's not pleas'd when Falshood finds Favour though his own Interests may be advanced by it nor can he love Confusion though troubled Waters might be best for himself to Fish in He laughs not to see good Men disappointed of their just Hopes but when Truth and Honesty and real Worth is advanced he 's glad for the Publick though his own Honour should be clouded by it But it 's possible a large Almsgiver may be very defective in these respects True Charity beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things The Man of Charity is the great Pillar on whom all Publick Assairs may safely rest He adds Strength to a Cause and Efficacy to a good Design He 'll never divulge his Neighbour's Crimes much less Calumniate him but if he can with the veil of Love and Pity he 'll cover the Multitude of his Errors He 's ready to believe every thing that 's good of him and to suppose his Truth and Integrity where it 's not plainly obnoxious in his general Conversation He 'll live in hopes to see the Man who is Vicious and Extravagant at present mend and he 'll add his Counsel and his Prayers to his favourable Expectations He knows great Sinners have found Mercy by Repentance and why should he conclude that Man desperate to whom God still assords the means of Grace For Himself he fears no Calumny he starts at no Danger but is ready to be a Confessor or Martyr rather than to renounce that Sweetness of Temper which Christianity introduces or that Doctrine of Faith which his Master hath bequeath'd to him He 's not a Bigot for Errors nor a Patron of Blasphemies Heaven's his aim and Truth 's his way his Redeemer is the great Master of it and the Treasure of it is open'd to him in his Divine Revelations A Man very forward to relieve the Poor may be an open Calumniator credulous of every spiteful Reflection doubt of his Brother's Reformation when he 's in a safer Course than himself and prove a meer Ecebolius in his Religion when he 's in Danger of being call'd to Martyrdom We have seen then the Essentiating Characters of a truly good Christian if he have not this Grace of Charity he 's nothing He 's no more capable of Heaven or Happiness than an Adulterer or a Murderer This Love or Charity cannot subsist where sound Faith and well-grounded Hope are wanting A Man may give all his Goods to Feed the Poor and yet be without these therefore a Man may give all his Goods to feed the Poor he may have every place fill'd with the Memorials of his Beneficence and yet for want of them be damn'd eternally damn'd at last But Bounty to the Poor being an inseparable Attendant on true Evangelical Charity and there being a certain Blessing promis'd to him who provides for the Sick and Needy if we Translate that passage rightly for the Lord will deliver him in the time of Trouble Psal 41.1 By what Marks shall we know when the liberal Giver wants this sanctifying consummating Charity Then A Man gives all his Goods to support the Poor without this Charity when He does so without any sound Principles plainly and necessarily moving him to such Liberality A Man of a naturally buisy and active temper employing it in a good and plausible rather than in a destructive way to that Society in which he lives acts prudently for by that means he keeps himself out of harm's way he gets Reputation among the Neighbourhood and makes his Life easy and delightful for every Man even a profess'd Atheist on such Considerations will be apt to do good to others because their Blessings are at least safer than their Curses But the Reasons of this Bounty may cease the natural Constitution may flag Wealth and Greatness may make a Man scorn his former Fears slight the Vulgar and divert his Liberality Again A Man may have little particular Designs to carry on Kindness to the Poor may advance them but when they 'r accomplish'd nothing but Gratitude a Virtue soon laid by can oblige him to continue it These then and such like are insufficient Principles and won't make Almsgiving so much as the first Step to future Happiness Only true Faith where it has possession of the Soul is the unfailing Principle of universal Goodness Faith without Works is dead Jam 2.17 Rom. c. 3. c. 4. for it 's but a pretended Faith Works without Faith are useless for all Mens Works are imperfect and therefore in themselves unacceptable If a Heathen Man cloathe he Naked feed the Hunry and do such other like Works yet because he doth them not in Faith for the Honour and Love of God they are but dead vain and fruitless Works to him Homil. 1. Of Good Works Faith lays hold on a Saviour who having purchas'd Pardon for us by his own Immense Merits gives it freely to our impersect Works St. Paul and St. James are not at such odds as some imagine in this Doctrine St. Paul's Controversy was with those who were great Boasters of their own good Works who it may be Pharisee like gave Tyths of all which they possest by which the Poor as well as God's Ministers were plentifully provided for and he lets them know That it
and the last If then according to their sense a Priscillianist sit still or only slily and silently endeavours to seduce Souls and a zealous good Christian stands up vigorously in Defence of Truth the Christian's a Heretick and Christianity Heresy and the Priscillianist for all his hellish Opinions a very Innocent Person and by no means to be rejected But if their Assertion be true according to common Sense those who advance it are the greatest Hereticks of our Age for they joyn both false Doctrines and an extraordinary Bustle and dangerous Warmth together Errare possum Haereticus esse nolo Haereses sunt Placitâ— vehâ—mentius defensa It may be they 'l take shelter under St. Austin's I may be in an Error but I will be no Heretick who means he would not be Obstinate for Obstinacy not an involuntary Mistake makes the Heretick But this will not help them Their own Critick calls Opinions too eagerly defended Heresies here again since none ever more scurrilously impudently or furiously defended their distinguishing Opinions than these Men by their own acknowledgment they are notorious Hereticks Nor will their absurd pretended Syncretism with the Church of England as a sound part of the Catholick Church a sham offer'd only to impose on Children clear them of the Title Heresy indeed is a Word of an indifferent Signification in many Ancient Authors but though both Grotius and Ravanellus think otherwise it 's no where so in the New Testament The Heresy or Sect of the Sadducees Acts 5.17 Acts 15.5 Acts 4. in St. Luke is a Brand on them and so it was on the Pharisees when St. Paul and Barnabas us'd it Tertullus calls Christians the Sect or Heresy of the Nazarenes by way of Reproach and St. Paul understood the Jews meaning well enough when they call'd that way Heresy in which he worshipp'd the God of his Fathers v. 14. Nor was their sense questionable who tell him Acts 28.16 Acts 26.5 that as for that Heresy which he preach'd they knew that it was every where spoken against and even where the same Apostle calls Pharisaism the strictest Heresy of the Jewish Nation he declares against it All other Texts where Heresy or Hereticks are mention'd have such Characters or Epithets annext as render their meaning indisputable In Scripture then it 's us'd always in an ill sense and in it the Heresy and Heretick are both condemn'd But when St. Peter forewarns us 2 Pet. 2.1 That there should be false Teachers among Christians who should privily bring in damnable Heresies i. e. should spread Hellish Opinions but as far as possible conceal the Names of their Authors he instances in One contrary to that Faith which himself and the rest of the Apostles taught They taught that God had redeemed his Flock with his own Blood These would deny the Lord who bought them and make him not God but a Creature and consequently uncapable of Redeeming them Such as these were Hereticks in the Apostles days and afterwards and such are Hereticks and their Opinions damnable Heresies in ours and God knows there are too many who follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of Truth is evil spoken of From all this we learn that Heresie in a Scripture and Ecclesiastical sense is not Factiousness Civil but an opposition made to the Church and her Doctrines drawn from the Word of God and generally received from the Beginning See a Sermon of the Necessity of Heresies Printed 1688. Haeresis est quiddam Spirituale L. Socinus de Haeret. puniendis p. 106. Vide Lucii Lexicon Novi Testam in verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haereticos statuimus omnes quicunque communis nostrae Fidei decretum aliquod secus accipiunt quam sacrâ Scripturâ determinatum est in errore sic habitant ut omnino se non sinant ab illo removeri Nec illud in hoc genere spectandum est utrum aliquis ipse sibi Erroris fuerit Author an illum aliunde acceptum ipse sequatur defendat Reformatio legum Ecclesiast Sect. 2. c. 1. under pretence of their falshood and deficiency and out of Ostentation of a purer and more perfect knowledge and an Heretick is one who chuses embraces cherishes and obstinately defends Opinions contrary to true and sound Doctrine If this Account be right we cannot be far to seek to whom both the Title and the Opinions belong and such even they themselves confess are to be rejected Haereticus est qui Ambitione ductus vel alicujus temporalis commodi gratiâ sub Religionis praetextu falsas ac novas Opiniones vel gignit vel sequitur sectantium turmas parat Ex Augustino citata haec a L. Socino Hic vero asserente eodem Socino est Factiosus Haereticus Haeretici simpliciter seditiones volentes non excitant sed pacatè ac placide dissentientes nemini vim inferunt sententiam suam defendunt ac docent rectúmque esse autumantes etiam mordicus retinent adeo ut à Diabolo decepti igne quoque cremari constantissimè perferant L. Socinus de Haeret puniend p. 87.6 Ergo simplex Haeresis consentiente ipso Socino Haereticissimo in falsitate opinionum earumque â—criori defensione consistit Well but him who is weak in the Faith we are to receive therefore certainly not to reject But if those whom we have to do with are weak and will own it whom shall we call strong The Fathers of our Church who are most admir'd for Piety or Learning The inferior Presbyters who have labour'd hardest in the Word and Doctrine are all but Children meer Pigmies in the hands of these Defyers of the Armies of the living God They are treated with all that scorn and contempt which Opinionative Critics for they 'r all such can throw upon them They 'r confuted with nauseous Repetitions of bafled Arguments and abundance of scurrilous Humour and Papanish Buffoonery Yet God will accept of them they say But we think that if they keep now no better than themselves and their own Writers we need not wish that an angry Judge after Death would condemn them to worse Company Beneficence design'd to promote such Heresies and to make such Men better thought of cannot be accompani'd with that Charity which our Text recommends For that Charity always tries to heal not to tear open the Churches Wounds It neither invents nor favours New Opinions in Religion but labours to preserve the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace and in Righteousness of Life That Heavenly Charity looks above the Flatteries of vain and foolish Men owns the insufficiency of the best humane Works and knows it can never discharge that vast Debt it owes to Divine Goodness by the most profuse Bounty to the Necessities of Men. The Son of this Love values one spark of such Charity more than a thousand senseless Criticisms which serve only to derogate from the Truth and Wisdom of