consider the Excellency of the Gospel with the Purpose of God not to overbear the World into the Faith and Obedience of it by forcing the natural Liberty of Men it had rather been much more strange if it had escaped opposition and corruption than to have been both opposed and corrupted as it hath Thus our blessed Saviour himself and his Apostles foretold that it would be Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many many false Prophets stall arise and deceive many and if any one shall say unto you Lo here is Christ and there is Christ believe it not for there shall arise false Christ's and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold I have told you before Thus he foretold how Christianity should be corrupted by Impostures and Frauds Again says he They shall deliver you up to be afflicted and killed and ye shall be hated of all nations for my names sake and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another Thus he foretold the violence that should be used to extinguish the Profession of the Truth Again saith St. Paul 2 Thess 2. There shall be a falling away and the man of sin shall come with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they might all be damned who believe not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness Theâ—e he foretels a fearful Apostasie from the Purity and Simplicity of the Christian Profession Again says he 2 Tim. 3.1 2. This know that in the last days perilous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traitors heady high-minded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God There he foretels a terrible corruption of Manners And again 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. The Spirit speaketh expresly says he that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their Conscience seared with an hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the Truth Now lay all these things together and here is as plain warning as can possibly be given of most corrupt and degenerate Times even after Christ's first coming and so that is expresly foretold which the Text evidently supposes For here would be glorious Pretences to deceive Violence to compel and wicked Examples to offend the Disciples of Christ And what Provision hath our Lord left to secure them from being misled where there is so much danger They are to attend to the Doctrine which he delivered us at first by his Holy Apostles to secure themselves from being deceived they must lay to Heart the Promises of the Gospel to arm themselves against the Temptations of the World and the Power of evil Examples and they are to consider that all these things were foretold by our Lord himself and his Apostles that they might not be scandalized when they should happen nor be tempted to suspect that either Christianity was not of God from the first or at least that our Lord has neglected all care of it since because it doth so little good as yet in the World because it runs out into so many Errors and because the Truth of it is so vehemently opposed for says our Saviour Behold I have told you before But still it is in their power whether they will take warning by such Predictions and whether they will guard themselves against Errors and Evil Examples and therefore a very corrupt state of Things in the Christian World will in all likelihood shake the Faith of many Believers and cause some to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them not regarding the admonitions of Christ and his Apostles before-hand And so when Christ comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth And this is the Observation which in the first place is unavoidable from the Text That even after Christ there would be degenerate Ages for this is plainly supposed as the cause why there would be but little Faith found when he should come to visit the Earth for the Iniquities and Offences it abounds with The 2. Supposition is That the Providence of our Lord would then appear to set things right when there was the greatest need to interpose in behalf of his Church For whereas it is said When the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth It is intimated manifestly that his coming is then to be expected when little Faith is to be found amongst Men and consequently when Scandals and Temptations are so strong that it is an hard matter to bear up against them I have said already that the Evidence of Christianity doth not make all Men receive it and that the Power of Christianity doth not make all that receive it wise and good Men and it is not to be denied but that amongst Christians themselves there are as monstrous Errors and leud Examples as ever there were in the World before Christianity or as there are now where Christianity is not at all professed Now at this rate should the Lord of the Church our Lord Jesus Christ let things go as they would it would in time come to pass that nothing of Christianity would remain in the World but the name of it and that for no other purpose but to do more hurt with it than could be done without it But how is it that Divine Providence will interpose or according to the expression of the Text that the Son of man will come and will make good his Promise of being with his Church to the end of the World which is never more remarkably fulfilled than when he interposes in those Circumstances which make Men think that he will not interpose and that he is not at all concerned what becomes of the State of Religion or the Affairs of the Church Because our Lord hath not made the Gospel an irresistable means of convincing Vnbelieuers and reforming wicked Men therefore it would in time be needful that in order to the keeping up of true Religion and making Christians such as they ought to be that he I say should by his Providence correct his own Disciples and reduce wretched Mankind into an unavoidable necessity of consideration that Truth and Righteousness should not utterly fall from among the Children of Men. When there is the greatest danger of losing the true Profession of Christianity our Lord will not be
is disgraced with the company of Follies and Lies Thus the Pharisees recommended their absurd Traditions to the People because in the same breath they taught them the Law of Moses Thus some of the Gentiles were ready to reject Christianity when they were made to believe it necessary for them also to observe the Mosaical Law if they would be Christians And this is one of the common Scandals of the World that Truth is so often insincerely represented and false Doctrines propounded still by the same Authority that holds forth some necessary Truths And for this reason the Gospel does not allow but command us to use a Judgment of Discretion not to reject that which is good because it comes from the same Authority that requires evil nor to admit Error because it is accompanied with Truth but to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good 4. All Popular Artifices that are used to recommend either wicked Errors or Practices are also great Offences and lead many silly Souls astray of which kind the most obvious are these An external shew of Strictness and Piety without real Virtue and Godliness at the bottom of it And of this the Pharisees were the first notable Instance who placing Religion in abundance of nice Observations seemed to be the most strict and devout People in the World and therefore our Saviour knowing the wickedness of their Hearts and Lives compared them to whited sepulchres that within were full of dead mens bones and all uncleanness And this Offence would be so powerful whenever it should happen that it seemed good to the Spirit to foretell it expresly viz. That in the latter times some should depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. Another Offence of this kind which was also expresly foretold is pretending the Testimony of Miracles For says our Saviour himself There shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold says he I have told you before Matth. 24.24 25. And thus St. Paul foretold that when that wicked one should be revealed his coming should be after the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness I shall name but one other popular Device for the supporting of Error and that is to denounce Damnation peremptory against all Gainsayers with which Artifice the Judaizers secured themselves against the Gentile Christians saying Except ye be circumcised and keep the law of Moses ye cannot be saved Now although every man that has a Tongue may if he please lay this weight upon his Cause as to exclude all from Salvation that are not of his way and therefore the Threatning be not worthy of a wise man's thought till the Merits of the Cause be examined yet it has two notable advantages that it is framed to work upon the Passions of men more than upon their Judgment and in most men their Passion is stronger than their Reason and it may be so used as to bear the World in hand that 't is not Uncharitableness but mere Pity and Tenderness to the Souls of men that compels them to speak so harsh but so necessary a Truth And 't is a wonderful thing to observe how easy men are to be managed when on the one side there is a positive Sentence of Damnation to work upon their fears and on the other an appearance of serious Charity to win their Affections for by this Art men of contrary Parties have with strange success served contrary Opinions and Practices I cannot if I were willing reckon all the Offences of this kind that is popular and plausible ways of deceiving But that there would be such our Saviour did not only foretell in the general when he said It must needs be that offences come but in particular also when he said Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps cloathing Matth. 7.15 5. To this I may add what St. Paul observes 1 Tim. 6.5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness That any thing may be defended as a part of Religion which makes for worldly Interest It is no such hard matter to perplex things that are plain to find colours for denying things that are evident to hide the weakness or the strength of an Argument to divert from the Cause to the Person so artificially as if the Cause went on still to lose the matter in debate to make Truth look like Error and Error like Truth to those that are willing to be deceived if a man is resolved to bend all his Wit this way for something may be said for any thing 6. And lastly Bad Examples of men professing the true Religion are another most dangerous Offence since I doubt most men are so framed as to take up their Opinions more easily from Authority than from other Arguments and they understand more easily the difference between good and evil Manners than between strong and weak Reasons And then they will be apt to judge of the Truth or Falshood of a Way of Religion by the good or bad Fruits of Practice it brings forth in those that profess it Which doubtless our Saviour intimated in those words Let your light so shine before men that others seeing your good works may glorify your Father which is in heaven But to hold the Truth in Unrighteousness is not only a Scandal to those that are in Error confirming them that are in the wrong way but likewise to those that are in the way of Truth by encouraging them to Sin in like manner especially when Evil Examples are set by those that are particularly obliged to set none but good ones whose Place or Office Wealth or Quality makes them more conspicuous and gives others any kind of dependance upon them And because of the pernicious Influence of Bad Examples we find St. Paul often calling upon the Christians with whom he had to do to fix their observation upon those that were good Brethren says he be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample For many walk of whom I have often told you and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ Thus I have very briefly considering the largeness of the Subject shewn what Offences were to come by laying before you the principal and most obvious Offences which we know by the Predictions of the Scripture and alas for the World by too sad experience And now I proceed to the second Point which was to consider why it must needs be that Offences should come that is why it was not to be expected but that these or such Scandals as these would be given to the World And this Enquiry is necessary to be
some awakening Reproof from men or some merciful Providence of God may make the Truth which he is already provided with the belief of effectual to his Conversion But there is little reason to hope this of a man whose very Principles are corrupted and has no fears within himself for a charitable man to take hold upon And therefore that Saying of our Saviour may be well applied to such a Person If the light that is in him be darkness how great is that darkness Moreover as there is little hope to reform that man's evil Practices whose Persuasions make him secure and easy all the while so there is no little difficulty to be met with in trying to undeceive him for men will hold comfortable Errors as long as they can find the least pretence for it And which is not the least mischief of this Offence though such Errors are not laid down without a great trouble yet they are taken up with much readiness they are apt to spread far and wide And to this I believe the experience of the world agrees viz. That although there are mistakes that lead to Trouble of Mind and over-much Restraint yet for one that is led away by such Mistakes an hundred there are that believe comfortable Lies which either wholly take off the Restraints of Religion or in such part as to render them ineffectual 3. Perverse Disputes and an obstinate maintenance of Error by all the Arts of Sophistry has this lamentable evil commonly attending it That it renders many persons utterly careless to examine on which side the Truth lies Perhaps they are but few in comparison that are framed to an inquisitive Spirit and they who are not so framed by Nature or by Education must force their Tempers to Patience and take pains with themselves which is an Employment that men soon grow weary of and commonly they break off pretending it is to no purpose to search any farther but that when there is so much to be said on both sides when there is such an appearance of Reason for and against the same thing it is time for them to give over being Judges for themselves And indeed in things that are either really disputable or of less moment this were not much to be blamed But in matters of high consequence and questions that touch the very Vitals of Religion it often happens that men grow weary of searching Truth and give up themselves wholly to be led by the Authority and Judgment of others after the Controversy is stifly maintain'd for some time on both sides And it were well in this case if it were an even Lay whether they chuse the true Guide or not But when a Guide is to be chosen and followed with an implicit Faith the false Guide hath this Advantage always that he exceeds in Confidence in lofty Pretences in swelling Titles in positive denouncing Damnation to all that are not of his way And though a modest man that speaks justly of things and claims not to be infallible deserves the most credit yet 't is great odds that the other has most Followers amongst those that understand not the Merits of the Cause 4. The same Cause has too often a yet worse Effect and that is to run some persons into Infidelity and an utter neglect of Religion as if no Certainty could be had of the Principles of Religion seeing there is so much Controversy about it And some have said That it will be then time enough for them to believe in God and to worship him when they that pretend to oblige them to it are agreed about it The truth is were it not for that secret Impression of his own Being which God hath left upon our Nature it is not improbable but the monstrous Errors that have been obtruded upon a great part of mankind under the name of Faith and the Force and the Fraud wherewith they have been maintained had let in Atheism like a Deluge upon the world especially considering that there are those in the world who are so full of Zeal for their own way that they have no tenderness for the common Principles of Faith but are rather content that all should sink together than that their own Doctrines should not stand We have been born in hand that no assurance can be had of the Truth of Christianity but from the Authority of such and such men and they that believe upon other Grounds had as good have no Faith at all That if it were possible for them to propound any thing that is false we cannot be certain of any one Article that is true That the same exceptions may be made to the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles that are made against the Stories of latter Miracles And finally That by the same reason that any of their Traditions are rejected the Holy Scriptures may be rejected too and indeed we have lived to see the utmost that can be done by Wit and Learning to diminish the Authority of the Bible Now this I say is a most dreadful Offence and has done infinite mischief in the world that men who are violently engaged in a wrong way of Religion care not for the most part what they venture in the service of their own Cause for whilst they lay the same stress upon false or at least disputable Points that they do upon the most necessary and acknowledged Principles of Religion and bend all their Wit to shew that no difference ought to be made they give occasion to men that would fain be Atheists to deceive themselves into what they would be For a very little Consideration will serve to satisfy them that something is false which is propounded to them as an Object of their Faith and they know they have then leave given them to conclude that nothing is true 5. There is another great mischief of Offences that are given by Errors in Doctrine or Practice and a mischief that often happens in the world which is that of running into a contrary Extreme The Church found this by sad experience in the Fourth and Fifth Ages when men of no small Note disputing against one Heresy fell into another of an opposite nature to the no small trouble of Christendom Truth sometimes as well as Virtue lies in the Mean and they that transgress on any one side do not only this mischief to give what authority they can to the wrong side they are of but they do this mischief too of giving occasion to others to offend on the other Extreme Thus the abuse of Church Authority on the one side has bred in some men contempt of all such Authority on the other The Scandals that have been given by propagating Opinions by Force and Violence have produced in many a fond persuasion that there ought to be no restraints whatsoever in matters of Religion Superiors have required unlawful things in Divine Service and to be revenged upon that abuse it has been said that they are not to
be obeyed in matters of Prudence and Expedience Religion has been made to run out into Shews and Ceremonies and this has begotten prejudices against all appearance of Beauty and Reverence in the external Worship of God And on the other side the excesses of men in departing from one extreme are scandalous to those whom they left and do confirm them in their Errors Thus because there are some who abuse the Liberty this Church gives to all of using the Holy Scriptures and who reject the assistance of their Guides they that are concerned the People should know as little of the Bible as is possible argue from the Folly and Vanity of the former how dangerous an Instrument it is in the hands of the Laity And because 't is impossible but that a Judgment of Discretion in matters of Religion being allowed to all must be liable to be abused they that abuse it to the making of Sects and Parties and the bringing in of Innovations give a Candle to that Church to glory in her Dissention which provides that all should believe as she believes because of her Authority and that no man judges of the particulars of his Faith for himself The truth is the Instances of this mischief are so many and so undeniable that whenever any great Scandal is given by Communities or Churches that consists in one Extreme a man may without the Spirit of Prophecy foretel that if the great Mercy of God prevent it not it will in time beget the other Extreme It is the great unhappiness of Mankind that opposite Errors which look as if one would destroy the other do really strive to support one another And yet there is hardly any foolish Advice more frequent than to run from an Extreme as far as is possible as if that were the way to make an end of it But by this means woful Mischiefs have happen'd in the world Divisions have been multiplied Uncharitableness increased and men more and more hardned in their ways of Error and Sin 6. The Scandal of mixing absurd and impious Doctrines with the Truth and unjustifiable Practices with such as are to be commended has this notorious mischief still attending it that it hinders the Conversion of Infidels and is a terrible obstruction to the propagating of Christianity Averroes did not speak his own sense alone when he said Since the Christians eat their God let my Soul be with the Philosophers The Scandals that are given to Jews and Turks I need not name But to make an end of this unpleasing Argument 7. And lastly The mischief of these and all other Offences is so much the greater because when once Offence is given no man can tell where the mischief will end For instance Suppose by my Example I animate another to sin in like manner or that I do not only corrupt his Manners but his Principles too and so do him all the hurt I can Who can say that this is all the mischief I have done Is it not likely that he will infect others as I have infected him And that they may go on to propagate the mischief which had its beginning from me And that the next Age may be the worse for me And that my Guilt may be growing Ages after I am dead Apply this to all the Offences that are given in the world and consider not only the greatness of the mischief they do but the spreading nature of it and we shall find great reason in those sad words of our Lord Wo to the world because of offences But 2. Whence comes it that Offences are taken and so all this mischief done by them In general it might be sufficient to answer That for whatever Causes some men are apt to give Offence for the same others are apt to take it and therefore it would not be impertinent to call over in this place the unsuitableness of the Gospel to the Lusts and to the Vanity of mankind whether it be considered as a Rule of Faith or Manners or Worship But to this it may be added 1. That there are a great many in the world who for want of either good natural Abilities or good Education have little ability to judge for themselves and therefore the most part take their Impressions from the Authority of other mens Examples or Instructions And therefore when they fall into ill hands they fare accordingly to which our Saviour seemed to have a particular regard in the Verse before the Text Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea So that because there would be some Persons sincerely disposed who in many things could not judge for themselves but must be led by Authority our Saviour for their greater security provided this frightful Threatning to deter all men from taking the advantage of their weakness to mislead them 2. Some stumble at Offences laid before them and take up pernicious Doctrines merely from impatience of considering and taking time to lay things together He that judges rashly and hastily may by chance make a true Judgment but he shall as often judge falsly it being no difficult thing as I observed last time to lay such colours upon Error as will require some leisure to see through them And in such cases if a man be unwilling to take pains and desires to come presently and easily to the Conclusion he gives the Seducer all the advantage he could desire and is indeed just the Person he desired to meet with one easily deceived by a false appearance of Reason 3. The strange Influence which the carnal Affections of men and their worldly Interests have upon their Judgments is a fatal cause of laying them open to the mischief of Scandals We are too apt to desire Doctrines and Examples in favour of liberty to sin and therefore when they are offered we are not so apt as we should be to guard our selves against them Thus it was among the Jews as God said by Jeremy Jer. 5.31 The prophets prophesie falsly and my people love to have it so To these I might add other Causes viz. The prejudice of Education undue admiration of mens Persons prejudice against Truth arising from prejudice against Persons an Inclination to Opinions suitable to our own Temper and Complexion love of Novelty on the one side and on the other hatred to change though it be for the better all which Dispositions and Circumstances expose those that are under them to the mischief of Offences But I should be over-tedious to run into all the Particulars under this Head which may also be more profitably supplied by Directions in the Close of all And so I come to the third intention which was to reduce what has been said to matter of Exhortation And I shall leave with you these two necessary Cautions I. Be careful to give no Offence II. Be
do what God required or raised in him any dispute what to conclude upon But though it was grievous to do it yet because it was God's pleasure he forthwith set himself to obey This perfection of Obedience is what we should aim at for the greater Glory of God and for our own greater security and I will add for our ease too For he that submits to God with the least disputing when the trial is great doth it with the least pain but it will be accepted by God if we prevail at last and to do the thing that God expects in quitting all to secure an Interest in him although not with the same readiness that Abraham did though not without complaint and some disputing for God will pardon our Infirmities if there be a prevailing sincerity at the bottom that overcomes the reluctance of Flesh and Blood But we should labour to come up to the perfection of Abraham's example and consider well with our selves That it is our constant profession and pretence as well as it was Abraham's to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to hold nothing too dear for him and withal that there is nothing which God can require us to quit voluntarily but he has an absolute Right to dispose of it and has absolute Power to deprive us of it whether we will or not When therefore God requires that we should freely resign that to him which he can take away if he pleases it is evident that he requires this not for his own good but for ours If he had needed Isaac and it had been beneficial to himself that Isaac should be killed What need of Abraham to do it And sure it is a mighty reason without delay to put God's Will and Command in execution when we know beforehand that all is meant for our good not that God is the better for that which we quit but because we are the better for doing it freely and voluntarily 2. The other remarkable is That God required of Abraham to offer up that his only Son in whom his seed should be called through whom all those great Promises were to be fulfilled which he had made to him before and herein consisted the nobleness of Abraham's Faith that though God seemed to require that which would destroy all the hope he had by those Promises which hitherto he had firmly believed yet he believed still and submitted to do that which in all appearance was utterly inconsistent with the truth of those Promises that had been made to him so that he against hope believed in hope And this is that which the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews lays an Emphasis upon chap. 11. By Faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son his only Son through whom those Promises were to be fulfilled Now though he could in obedlence to God get over the difficulty that Natural Affection laid in his way yet here was the hard point how he should get over that temptation to unbelief which struck at the very Root of his Faith God had promised before that in Isaac his seed should be called If he believed him now How did it not appear that he was deceived before If he was not deceived before in trusting to that Promise How could he be obliged to do that which would take away all reason to believe that Promise any longer But yet without any of this disputing and contending he went speedily about the matter he rose up early in the morning and takes his Son along with him to that place where he was to offer him up Now if you ask how it was possible for him to believe in God notwithstanding this Command mark what the Apostle says By faith he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said That in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure That is to say he so fully believed all God's Promises made to him before that his Faith was not staggered with the seeming inconsistency of this Command of God with his former Promises but concluded if there was no other way God would raise up Isaac from the dead for he accounted that is he was fully persuaded that God was able to raise him from the dead as in a sort he did by stopping his hand when he was about to slay him And now if upon the former consideration Abraham's sincerity deserved so high a testimony much more upon this for it is the highest praise of Faith to trust that God will make good all his Promises even when the way he takes so to do seems to be utterly inconsistent with them Well therefore might God upon this high act of Obedience renew his Covenant with Abraham in saying By my self have I sworn That because thou hast done this thing and hast not with-held thy son thine only son from me that in blessing I will bless thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed And observe here I beseech you how highly God was pleased with this Noble Act of Faith and how fitly the Promise wherewith God immediately rewarded him agreed to what Abraham had done By my self have I sworn That because thou hast done this thing in blessing I will bless thee Words cannot express a greater delight than these do One would think that Abraham had done some singular kindness to his God and if God were to be judged of as we judge of Man that God had received an extraordinary favour and benefit from him But such is the infinite and pure Charity of God that when we do what is good for our selves it is no less pleasing to him than if it were beneficial to himself But because Abraham had conquered the greatest Temptation of all to Disobedience viz. That the thing commanded seemed to destroy all the Promises he had made of a Blessed Posterity that should descend from him by Isaac God now rewarded his Faith with repeated Assurances By my self have I sworn That in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed And so well might the Jews in their Peace-offerings when they thankfully acknowledged the goodness of God in giving them the possession of so good a Land call to mind the offering of Isaac as the great Foundation of all those Temporal Blessings which they as the seed of Abraham enjoyed And after such a demonstration as this well may we trust God in all Conditions if we resolve to do as Abraham did if we count none of his Commandments grievous if we do not repine at his Providences if we go on to serve him and to depend upon him though when we must hope against hope for then God will not fail to shew that we have wisely trusted in him and cast our selves upon him he will shew
in those Errors than it hath been and perhaps utterly impossible to maintain them amongst Christians without destroying the Bible out of the World But then by the same reason that such cautions had been necessary a thousand times as many more had been necessary too For so many Additions by way of caution must have been made as there are ways of eluding and perverting a Rule which are so many that to have provided expresly against them all would have made the Bible a more voluminous Book than any is in the World not to say the most odd and uncouth Book that ever was seen For whoever wrote or spoke in that manner as to provide against all possible ways of being mistaken or having his words perverted According to this rate a man must not expect to make an end of a sentence in an hour and when he has done all he can his explications may be perverted too And therefore we are not to wonder if God has not provided express Cautions against all possible Mistakes and Abuses of this nature but thought good to leave a Rule of Faith and Manners and Worship which would be sufficient to guide all honest Persons and lovers of Truth though not sufficient to exclude all Cavil and Abuse For this reason it was that our Saviour did not pretend that all who saw his Works and heard his Doctrines must necessarily believe in him but he required constantly a certain temper of mind consisting of Humility Sincerity love of the Truth and in a word A good and honest Heart in order to a Man's being his true Disciple Common Sense and Reason was not sufficient for this purpose but there must be also a peculiar Probity or teachable Spirit a Mind ready to believe all Truth and to do all Duty These were the Sheep that would hear his voice and the Ground that would receive his Seed and bring forth Fruit Such were the Men that would hear and understand and know of the Doctrine whether it were of God But as for others they would make a shift to reject it with some colour for so doing or to pervert it if they once admitted it This was the first things to be considered the temper and design of the Gospel which delivers Truth that does by no means gratify the Lusts of Men or please their Imaginations or serve the interest of particular persons to the disadvantage of all others and then that this Truth was delivered in that way which though it be apt to instruct and convince all honest Men yet will not infallibly bear down a spirit of Contradiction Now to this we must add 2. The consideration of the general temper of Mankind for whose sake the Gospel was made known viz. that it is very corrupt and exceedingly prone to Sin and therefore to Error impatient of true Virtue and Piety and therefore of true Doctrine Human Nature does affect a lawless Liberty and cannot well bear to be confined and it is so diseased that it doth not take it well to be healed it is therefore no wonder if the Remedy which God hath provided hath been so tampered withal by Men as to make it ineffectual for that purpose for which he hath sent it to us and Doctrines have been taught which give that liberty that Truth denies It was not to be expected but that if the Doctrine of Christianity should not effectually overcome those Lusts that reign in the World those Lusts would corrupt and pervert that Doctrine and bring in Heresies Ambition and Covetousness would bring in Heresies for the establishing of a worldly Power and Dominion in the Name of Christ Licentiousness would bring in Heresies for making void the Commandments of God Pride would bring in Heresies though for nothing else but a Man's satisfaction and glory in drawing many People into a Party and becoming the Head of it and when they were brought in the natural inconstancy and wavering of some would carry them away from the Truth the natural stiffness and inflexibility of others would detain them in Error the very desire and love of Novelty would at first help to bring in some and in process of time the pretence of Antiquity would be every day more and more able to gain others Finally the unwillingness of most Men to take pains in the search of Truth and the greater ease of depending upon the absolute Authority of others would give a farther advantage to Error which fears nothing more than an Examination and therefore discourages all Persons from giving themselves so needless a trouble since they have the word of those for their security who cannot possibly mislead them considering the diseases of Human Nature which the Doctrine of Christ doth not cure miraculously and irresistibly it could not be expected but there would be Factions and Heresies against the Truth If therefore it be thought strange that the Apostle should say there must be Heresies let us consider that this is no more than if he had said after all the care that God hath taken to restore Mankind there will be Pride and Ambition there will be Covetousness and Injustice and the Love of this World there will be Luxury and Licenciousness there will be both Inconstancy and Stiffneckedness there will be Laziness and Slothfulness and Unaptness for Instruction and therefore there must be Heresies for God hath provided no infallible Remedies against Sin and Wickedness and as certainly as the Vices of the World would break out in the Church so certainly would Errors get into it by degrees and usurp the Name and Authority of Truth 'T is true that God if he pleased could absolutely have hindred it by his over-ruling Power But in this saying it is implied that he would not do so and Experience has shewn that he has not done so and we have no reason to wonder at it since he is not pleased to make all Men good by an irresistible Grace and there was less reason to expect that he should make all Men Orthodox by an irresistible Illumination And so I come to the second point Which concerns the reason assigned why God is pleased to permit Heresies That they which are approved may be made manifest i. e. that it may most evidently appear who are sincere and honest and who are not so for opposition to the Truth and the ways that are taken to advance Error do prove what Men are at the bottom and distinguish between those that would appear all alike if the same Truth were equally professed by all The great difference that breaks out is that between the probity of some Men on the one side and the falseness and hypocrisy of others on the other side which appears in these instances 1. In a more diligent search after Truth which is the effect Heresies have upon honest and godly Men while they give occasion to Hypocrites to consider what is most for their ease their safety their advantage in this World whilst the several parties
little Faith in the Earth The World will be in a careless Posture as it was before that the Flood came and took them all away And for the same reason there is but little Faith in the Earth when God enters into Judgment with the World for the Violence and Iniquities of Men and asserts the Cause of Innocence and Rightousness against them for in all such Cases the Temptations to Unbelief and Apostacy are very great and likely to prevail upon many of those that believe so that this is the meaning That in such a wicked Age as calls for the coming of the Son of Man the open Enemies of God which are the greater number will be void of all regard whatsoever to his Word and to his Providence or if they take any notice of it it is that of the Scoffers mentioned by St. Peter Who will say Where is the promise of his coming Many of his professed Servants will be weary of depending upon him and give way to Temptations and depend more upon the arm of Flesh Than upon the Promise of God and the Faith of many good Men will be very much weakned and abated so that when he cometh he will find but little Faith upon the Earth And thus I perswade my self to have given you a true Illustration of these remarkable Words of our blessed Saviour and that upon the two significations of the Son of Man's Coming which seem to be both intended in this Text and indeed it is very hard to know which was principally intended the day of the general Judgment or the Destruction of Jerusalem The day of general Judgment is in it self the principal meaning of Christ's Coming and therefore ought not to be excluded but yet the Parable with the Application of it being manifestly intended to stir up that Generation to pray to God and not to faint and to give a firm Faith to the Promises of God notwithstanding the great troubles they were like to meet with from the unbelieving Jews therefore neither could the coming of the Son of Man to be avenged of these his Enemies and to deliver his Servants be excluded but was as directly intended as the other And now I proceed to observe the two main Points which the Text supposes besides those which it affirms and the considering of them will not a little contribute to a more perfect understanding of this place 1. It is supposed manifestly that after the first Coming of Christ to call the World to repentance and to be offered up for our sins there would yet be degenerate Ages sometimes and a most corrupt state of things before his second personal Coming to judge the World 2. It is also supposed that his Providence would then appear to set all things right when there was the greatest need to interpose in behalf of his Church 1. That his first coming would not infallibly prevent the degeneracy and corruption of future Ages For notwithstanding that evidence of Truth which he taught many false prophets would arise and deceive many and notwithstanding the Power of his Doctrine iniquity would abound and the love of many would wax cold And notwithstanding both these advantages yet his own servants would sometimes be reduced to that state that it should be needful to them to cry unto God day and night which is a matter that may cause some wonder if we do not consider the reason of it That the Principles and Manners of Men were so often and so generally corrupted before the Coming of the Son of God into the World is that which might not appear strange at all to those that consider the weakness and folly of Mankind That after the Creation the Earth should so abound with luxury and violence that God swept all Mankind away with the Flood but eight Persons That after Noah's Family had peopled the Earth again Men should fall into Idolatry so universally that God called Abraham out of his own Country and entred into a particular Covenant with him for the maintaining of the true Worship in his Family and Posterity That Pharaoh should oppress the Israelites after his Country had been saved by them That the Israelites should fall to worship other Gods after that the true God had wrought so many miraculous Deliverances for them That when not without much ado they were cured of Idolatry they should fall into scandalous ways of Hypocrisie and Immorality These and the like things perhaps are not so much to be wondred at because God had not as yet used the last means to instruct Mankind and to oblige them to Piety and Vertue but that there should be Times as bad as the worst of those after Christ himself had appeared in the World to die for Sinners and to bring the Doctrine of Salvation to Mankind with the most convincing Evidence that could be desired and with the most powerful Motives that could be thought of that notwithstanding all this Oppression Violence Fraud Hypocrisie Error Superstition Idolatry and scandalous Examples should for some Ages reign no less than before the times of Christ and to that degree as to shake even the Faith of good Men and if it were possible to deceive the very best of all this seems to be an amazing Consideration and tho' the noble Examples of Christian Piety and Vertue that have appeared in the World and the assured Expectation of a larger Progress that Christianity will make in the Earth and of better Effects that it will produce may answer the Objection yet that the World that the Church should be so bad under the last means is what may raise some admiration But you are to consider That when our Lord first came into the World he came not to establish a Religion which should either by its Truth convince or by its Power reform Mankind whether they will or no but what was sufficient for both purposes if they would be wise and honest and suffer the Concernments of eternal Life to prevail with them above their worldly Interests and therefore there was as much reason to expect an universal Reformation as to expect that Men would not resist the Evidence of Truth in Matters of the greatest concern to them in the whole World but to bring them to this the Gospel was furnished with no irresistible means but left them under the natural liberty they had before with a provision of Grace that might be resisted and therefore it was in it self likely that the Truth would be opposed by some and corrupted by others and by many held in unrighteousness that several to whom it was propounded would not believe it and several that believed it would not obey it and in time that it would be mixed with Errors and Superstitions and framed to the Designs of Ambition and Covetousness nay the better and more Divine a Religion that of the Gospel is the more violently it would be opposed by some and the more certainly corrupted by others So that if we
Verdict should be according to the Evidence if it were only for this that a Controversie might be righteously decided instead of establishing some instance of Iniquity by a Law This therefore is a farther Aggravation of the Sin of Perjury in all these Cases That the Oath which is violated did not only bind to that Sincerity which is the Duty of all Men every where but to that Truth which was particularly demanded by the Magistrate which was to be an Instrument of Justice and publick Security which was necessary for the preventing of Wars and the doing of Right But these are light Aggravations in comparison to those that arise from the nature and particular Obligation of an Oath it self At least they will receive great weight from these as you shall see presently 'T is an excess of impious boldness to worship God with a Lye at the Tongues end but Swearing is an Act of Worship Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and swear by his name Swearing is a direct acknowledgment of the Divine Attributes and to swear falsly must needs be as bad as making long Prayers to devour Widows Houses But he that Swears does not barely worship God he takes him to witness in his behalf too so the forsworn Man calls him to attest a Lye To imagine the wickedness of this what would you think of a Man who should appeal to some worthy Person for the truth of a Matter which he is sure the Gentleman knows to be a Lye Farther what if he should dare to appeal to the Judge himself or to the whole Court of Judicature tho' he knew that every one there would utterly deny it however that they would not confess it without being Lyars like unto himself But this is a shameless Insolence that no Man ever ventured upon What think you then of him that appeals to God's Testimony for the credit of a Lye To the Testimony of God I say who is infinitely greater and to be had in more Reverence than the most venerable Assemblies of Men. When we are guilty of other Sins we sneak away from the thoughts of God The Drunkard and the Adulterer and the Thief are ashamed and afraid to think there is so great a Witness of their Crimes and in Comparison to the false Swearer they retire with some sort of Modesty from his Presence hiding him from themselves at least tho' they cannot hide themselves from him 'T is only the forsworn Wretch that must of necessity Sin without any shamefacedness that tells a Lye to the very Face of God and desires him to observe it be the Witness of his his own dishonour And yet a more desperate degree of Wickedness is implied in Perjury than this and that because an Oath is an Appeal to God's Justice For the Swearer by consenting to fall under the Rigour of Justice unless he deals uprightly as far as in him lies he calls himself off by Perjury from any Appeal to Mercy afterward By other Sins we make an ill use of the Mercy of God but by this we set it at defiance The perjur'd Man deprives himself as much as he can of the last hope of Sinners who though they put many Affronts upon the rest of God's Attributes yet study to keep a reserve in his Goodness and Compassion but he throws himself according to his own Will and Consent to the hands of Divine Justice and its utmost Severity Yet farther through all these Obstacles does the false Swearer make his way that he may come to pervert Justice and Equity A Man should be horribly afraid at the thought of so much impiety if his end were to help the Fatherless and Widow and to save the Poor from wrong or to secure his Country out of danger but how much more when he hunts for the precious Life when he betrays the Simple and protects the Crafty or serves the designs of Faction or Oppression For I should guess that Forswearing is never practised but upon the wrong side at least that 't is call'd in very rarely in comparison to assist the Right 'T is the unjust Man that seeks to defend himself by artificial delays by indirect Proceedings and at a dead lift by downright Perjuries while the Righteous trusts to the Honesty of his Cause and the Wisdom of the Judge and the Providence of God But if I should be mistaken in this if Forswearing should be more ordinary than I imagine even on the Right side surely it must be because 't is so common on the Wrong that nothing is believed to be safe without it Behold then what horrible confusion it makes in the World while it confounds Right and Wrong Truth and Falshood Justice and Injustice blotting out the clearest Characters by which they can be distinguisht from one another in Courts of Judgment 'T is this which levels an honest Cause with the unjust one that is advanced against it nay which creates Confidence of Success in the Oppressor and fills the good Man who dares not be damn'd with Mistrust and Fear It is this which makes the Fortune of Verdicts as uncertain as that of Arms and gives Courage to the Villain to go to Law with the Innocent it robs Vertue of much of its Defence and Security in this World and puts Power into the hands of the Malicious and affords Protection to the Murderer and the Traytor The detestable Effects thereof in the present Life cannot be described but by the Cries of the Oppressed the Sighs of Orphans the Tears of Widows the Ruin of Families and the shedding of innocent Blood And tho' every Man that dares be forsworn has not arriv'd thus far in doing mischief yet he only wanteth a gainful Opportunity or an unlucky Provocation and then a Devil to put it into his head To conclude What should I say farther to enkindle your Zeal against a Sin already swell'd into so vast a bigness but this That so far as it prevails it is always likely to intercept between us and the most happy Influence of the Honourable Judges wâ—â— they come to us full of the invaluable Blessings of Government they in whom good Subjects and wronged Innocents expect to meet with powerful Patrons while none but the Criminal and Seditious shrinks away with Shame and Fear who to the State bring along with them Peace by deciding our Controversies and Plenty and Honour and Safety by enforcing Obedience to the Laws Who to the Church bring the Securities of her Patrimony and Rights making the Benefits of their Justice to bear good proportion with the Authority of their Commission which they have received not only from the King but by him from God who are the faithful Dispensers of the Justice of the King and the most welcome Messengers of his Love and Care for the People Who from the Sovereign convey Life and Spirit through the whole Body of the Nation returning the same in grateful Loyalty and Duty from his Subjects and in their Blessings
few to the prejudice of all others And therefore while it was pure they could not bear it whose Gain was their Godliness and who had been used to tell Lies in Hypocrisie 3. The proneness of Mankind to Superstition is another cause of disapproving what God approves The true Disciples of Christs are according to their Religion for a plain Faith a pure and simple Worship and for a few Mysteries no more than God has made And for making Charity and Purity the end of all these But generally speaking people are for being saved by a multitude of Ceremonies with a Priest to administer them They love to be amused and to have their Imaginations entertained with Mysteries that they do not understand and then to believe that their Souls have received a great deal of good by it On the other side Christianity does very little gratifie the Fancy and labours very much to inform the Understanding and therefore has been thought a Religion fit only for Philosophers being not accommodated enough to the Vulgar unless it were dressed out with more Mystery and Pageantry But then the ancient Fathers made no doubt to call it a Philosophy and such a one as was designed to make Plowmen and vulgar Persons Philosophers i. e. to cure them of Superstition and to inform their minds with the knowledge of the most profitable Truths This is the true business of Christian Priests not to make gain to themselves by deceiving people that were to be deceived nor to get power and dependencies by those Doctrines whereby the people get ease and liberty and ignorance but instead of nourishing and encouraging to repress and correct the proneness of Mankind to Superstition 4. These two opposite Infirmities a fondness of any thing that is new on the one hand and a passionate Zeal for that which has some Antiquity on the other do by turns promote this Mischief Some Errors have very successfully taken place at first when they were Entertainments to those that loved Novelty and the same Errors in process of time are hugged by others because they have the appearance of great Antiquity They are few in comparison that had not rather be told what is Late and what is Ancient than what is True To which we may add 5. The vast influence that prejudice and prepossession has upon Mens understandings which is very often so great that it will not allow any thing to be said on the other side and so condemns him that offers Truth before he is heard or if a hearing cannot be avoided it is able sometimes to divert the attention or if attention be given it can corrupt the Judgment Men in those circumstances are but ill Judges whatever their natural Abilities are They love one side of the Question they bate the other and they judge accordingly 6. In many Persons the impatience of considering and weighing things and the ease of letting others judge for them without examining Particulars is the cause of false Judgment For the ease that a Man gets this way inclines him to believe that there are Judges who cannot err and will be sure to tell him nothing but Truth and this disposition is a mighty friend to those that pretend to so high an Authority because it gives them an opportunity to say what they list and to determine what they please Whoever therefore comes with truth on the other hand against an Authority that must not be thought capable of mistaking 't is like to be welcome neither to those that teach nor to those that are taught for in effect he comes to the former to tell them that they must quit their power and to the latter that they must quit their ease These are some of the causes of Men's condemning those whom God justifies by which it appears that it is an Evil which comes of Evil. And the conclusion we are to make of them it is this That we do by no means square our Professions and our Actions by so false a Rule as that of pleasing Men and gaining the favour and good Words of Men for they may and they often have and I doubt not but they often will condemn those whom God justifies and by the same reason they will justifie those whom God condemns To get Favour and to avoid Disgrace is a happiness which he that scorns is not wise but 't is no rule for a Man to live by and he that makes it so cannot be honest Man may condemn those whom God justifies That is the first Point The second is this 2. That to be condemned by Man is tolerable if God justifies A Truth so clear that more Words cannot make it clearer but they may serve to fasten it more upon our Minds Let us consider such things as these 1. The infinite disproportion between GOD and Man St. Paul's meaning was that GOD justifies and Man condemns and to shew that in comparison no body condemned in this case he puts his meaning into the form of a Question It is God that justifies who is he that condemns A wise Man will not be much troubled to be rail'd at by a Slave if he be honoured by a King 2. We can cetainly tell how to please God because we know what profession and what practice he approves for he hath told us what they are and we may believe him We are secure also that what will please him to day will do so to morrow and that what he accounts good service now he will always reckon to be so For God changes not and can by no means contradict himself He conceals no part of our Duty from us and therefore to gain his Favour we need not go forward and backward nor contradict our selves neither If we study to approve our selves to God as we have but one Lord to please so he is ever constant to himself our way is one and plain and our rule the same yesterday to day and for ever 3. God knows the very secrets of our hearts and the springs of all our actions and therefore they whom God justifies are truly worthy He that can bear the All-seeing Eye of God is in reality all that he appears to be he is that Just Faithful and Unbiassed Man and he has that pure and clear Mind which if we could see with our bodily Eyes we should as Plato fancied be ready to fall down and worship it Man justifies only by the outward appearance and sometimes happens to be pleased with profession and service where nothing is meant of that which is so well taken A Knave and a Hypocrite may win thanks from Man but where God justifies there is Faithfulness and Integrity and whoever condemns such an one disgraces himself more than him 4. If God justifies us our own hearts do at the same time acquit and absolve us says St. John If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God And 't is true on the other side that if God condemns us not
Accidents of Bread it might be broken as to the substance of Christ's body which is mentioned in St. John it is not broken unless you mean as Christ's body was broken upon the Cross And if the bread which is broken be really that which is spoken of in St. John as aforesaid both as to the Accidents and nature of bread I grant that the Accidents of bread would be the Body of Christ and if it be not the same both as to the Nature and Accidents I deny it This I profess not to understand Fath. As to the Doctor 's Argument it includes a Sophism as will appear when brought into form because it involves four Terms because he supposes in one Proposition for the Accidents of Bread and in the other for the Nature Dr. In the Argument I used I went upon this Supposition That the Accidents of Bread were only to be understood as the Answerer supposes and therefore I have not confounded the Nature and the Accidents of Bread together Besides the Distinction between the Nature of Bread and the Accidents of Bread was not to be remembred any more by the Answerer because I proceed upon his Supposition that the Accidents only are broken Now if St. Paul speaks of nothing but what is broken and Accidents only are broken and yet if he speaks of the very Flesh of Christ too then the Accidents of the Bread are the very Flesh of Christ And whereas the Answerer by his last Answer means the nature of Christ's body as he says I understood him of the Nature of Bread And now once more I desire him to shew me where the four Terms are Fath. The Text of St. Paul the Dr. takes for his Medium and argues from a double Supposition as first taking it for the Accidents of Bread which were broken and afterwards for the substance of Christ's Body under the Accidents in which latter sense it signifies the same that is meant by our Saviour in St. John Dr. I observe the Answerer will allow nothing to be broken but Accidents I observe also that nothing is said to be the Body of Christ or the Communion of the Body of Christ but what is broken If therefore nothing is broken but Accidents then Accidents are either according to the Answerer's long proof the very Body of Christ or according to the Apostle the Communion of the Body of Christ But neither are the Accidents of Bread the Body of Christ nor the Communion of the Body of Christ And this I say is not answered and believe will not be answered by any Man that maintains that St. Paul does not here speak properly of Bread Fath. All along in my Discourse I have supposed that when St. Paul speaks of this Bread he spoke of the H. Eucharist in which were contained both the Accidents of Bread and the true body of Christ How the Doctor has disproved this Doctrine so clearly as to justifie the Reformation I understand not Because I conceive no private Persons or particular Church ought to pretend a Reformation without clear Evidence whether the Doctor has given such I leave to the consideration of the Readers And whether having broken off from the great Body of the Vniversal Church and its Testimony he can possibly have any certain Rule to arrive at Christian Faith If Scripture be pretended interpreted by a fallible Authority how Certainty can be obtained or why a Socinian following Scripture for his Rule of Faith is not to be believed as well as any other Reformer following the same Rule I see not Signed W. Clagett Peter Gooden Dr. CLAGETT's Answer TO A PAPER Delivered to Him By Father GOODEN The Paper ARticles of Christian Faith are Truths Truths are impossible to be False Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are impossible to be False Therefore those who obtain Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to acquire them by which cannot deceive them To a Parliamentary Protestant the ancient Fathers cannot be such a Rule because they are accounted Fallible Nor Councils because they also are accounted Fallible Nor Scriptures sensed by a Fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be False And therefore Faith cannot be obtained by any such means For that which is doubtful can only create Opinion which is also doubtful And he that doubts in Faith the Apostle says is Infidelis And a Company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a Society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Signed Peter Gooden The ANSWER Pap. Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Ans The Design of the Disputer is to prove that we are Doubters and therefore Infidels But never did any Man begin a Business more unluckily for at the very first dash he takes it for granted that we do undoubtedly believe Articles of Christian Faith to be Truths for otherwise he ought to have proved that they are so But there is another Misfortune he is faln into no less than that For his Argument to prove that we must needs be Doubters is that we want an Infallible Rule Now if he is sure that we want an Infallible Rule and that without such a Rule there can be no Faith I am sure he does notoriously contradict himself by supposing that we believe all Articles of Christian Faith to be Truths though we have no such Rule This is a very hopeful Paper and like to make wise Converts which ends in making us Infidels and begins to prove it by an Argument that manifestly supposes us to be Believers which also pretends that we have no infallible Rule and therefore can be sure of no Point of Faith but yet manifestly supposes us to be assured of some without it which shews the Paper to be a trifling Paper and worth no more Consideration But because the Disputer is said to boast so much of the Argument contained in it I will go on with every Clause of it to convince him if he does not already know it that there is not a Line in it but is either false or nothing to the purpose Pap. Truths are impossible to be False Ans By Truths the Disputer means the Truth of Things or of Propositions and therefore this is a vain and fulsome saying which does not advance his Reasoning one jot farther than it was before For this is no more than to say That which is true is true and it cannot possibly be but Truths must be Truths I think he applies himself to us as if we wanted not only Christian Faith but common Sense Pap. Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are impossible to be false Ans There is no doubt of this supposing that they are Truths So that the Argument he begins with being put into the right order and into other Words is this It is impossible but Truths must be Truths but Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Therefore it is impossible but they must be Truths The ancient Fathers had made wise work with Christianity if they
had gone this way to work to convert Infidels Pap. Therefore those who obtain the Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to acquire them by which cannot deceive them Ans This is an obscure Saying and I must make the best of it By obtaining Articles of the Christian Faith I suppose he means believing them and by a Rule by which to acquire them He must understand a Rule or means whereby to know what the Articles of the Christian Faith are and then his meaning is That those who believe the Articles of the Christian Faith must be provided of some such Rule or Means to know what they are as cannot deceive them Now whether this be in it self true or false it does not at all follow from what he had laid down before For though the Truth of Things or Propositions is so sure that as he wisely says 't is impossible they should be false yet it does by no means follow that the Reasons upon which I believe these things must necessarily be as sure as the Truth of the Things themselves And this I make no doubt the Disputer was well aware of But because I am sensible who they are whom he designs to pervert by this Paper and for whose sake I answer it I will explain this matter by an Instance that will bring it down to all Capacities If there was such a Man as Henry the 8th it is certainly impossible that there should be no such Man but my belief that there was such a Man is grounded upon such Reasons as do not imply an absolute impossibility of the contrary because it is grounded upon the Testimony of Fallible men And yet I should be very little better than a mad-man if I should entertain the least doubt that there was such a Man which plainly shews that I may have sufficient Reason to believe a thing without any Evidence of the impossibility of the contrary and this is enough to overthrow his Consequence I shall now inquire what truth there is in the Conclusion it self To which end I observe That there are two things which may be understood by those Words cannot deceive them either first that the Rule it self is so plain and certain that no Man who uses it can be deceived by the Rule or secondly That 't is impossible any Man should be mistaken in the Use of it If he means the former then I shall shew him presently that we have such a Rule as he speaks of and that he hath said nothing to make us ashamed of it If he means the latter then I say it is absolutely false That those who without doubting believe the Articles of the Christian Faith must have such a Rule to know what they are as that they cannot possibly mistake in the Use of it To make which plain to every bodies understanding I shall add another Instance easie to be applied If a Man skilful in Arithmetick hath a great many Numbers before him and desires to know what Sum they make when they are put together he has the Rule of Addition to do it by which Rule cannot deceive him Now there are these two things to be observed farther which I think the Disputer himself will not deny first that it is in the Nature of the thing possible that this Man may be mistaken every time that he put these several Numbers together to bring them all into one Sum but secondly that notwithstanding this Possibility of being mistaken yet after he has tryed it over and over again he may be sure without the least doubt that he has done his work right Even so we may have a Rule of Faith that cannot deceive us and though it is not Absolutely Impossible that we should be mistaken in the use of it yet we may for all that be assured and believe without the least doubting that we have learn'd what the true Faith is by that Rule For all the World knows that it is no sufficient Reason to doubt of any thing that the contrary is barely possible Pap. To a Parliamentary Protestant the ancient Fathers can't be such a Rule because they are accounted fallible Ans We never said they were such a Rule this therefore is impertinent Pap. Nor Councils because they also are accounted fallible Ans This is impertinent also for we never said they were our Rule of Faith But we have better Reasons to give why Fathers and Councils cannot be our Rule of Faith than this that the Disputer has made for us And one is this That we cannot make them the Rule of our Faith but by so doing we must depart from the Primitive Fathers and the ancient Councils in as much as all agree That the Holy Scriptures are the Rule of Faith and they made it theirs Pap. Nor Scriptures sensed by a fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be false Ans This is the Place where I shall tell the Disputer what we believe and why we believe it And when I have done I shall consider whether he hath said any thing in this Clause to shake our Assurance We firmly believe all the Articles of the Creed into the Profession whereof we have been baptized We moreover believe all other Doctrine that is revealed in Holy Scriptures The Grounds of this our Faith are these That in the Holy Scriptures are recorded those Testimonies of Divine Revelation by which the Doctrines therein contained are confirmed That these Testimonies were too notorious and publick to be gainsaid insomuch that the Doctrine built upon them could not be overthrown by the Powers of the World engaged against it That the holy Books were written by the inspired Preachers of that Doctrine which they contain And that for this we have the Testimony of universal and uncontroulable Tradition which is a thing credible of it self This is the Sum of that External Evidence upon which our Faith is grounded In assigning of which I do by no means exclude that internal Evidence that arises from the excellent Goodness of the Doctrines themselves which shews them to be worthy of God Now whereas this Disputer says That these Scriptures cannot be an infallible Rule to us because they are sensed by a fallible Authority that is because we who are fallible understand them as well as we can I answer That no Man needs to be Infallible in order to the understanding of plain Scripture I who do not pretend to Infallibility am yet certain which is enough for me That I do find the Articles of the Creed in the Scriptures and many other Doctrines besides which I do understand I am sure that I know what these Words of St. John signifie 1 John 2.25 And chap. 5.3 This is the Promise that he hath promised us even eternal life And this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and the like The ancient Fathers thought the Scriptures to be so plain that they argued out of them without pretending to an infallible
promise of Eternal Life and the warning of a day of Judgment to come It is in this that the great power of the Gospel to mend the Tempers of men consists But when all is done in this kind that can be done men may chuse their Portion in this World because they will not hearken and consider And it well became Divine Providence to permit those to resist the Holy Spirit and the means of Salvation who would not be reclaimed by any reasonable means and that for these three Reasons 1. That there might be a clear difference made between the good and honest heart on the one side and the insincere and incorrigible on the other Which had been impossible if God had by his Omnipotence equally overborn all men into the Faith and Obedience of Christ But as the Case stands the Gospel is a Touchstone that distinguisheth between the humble and sincere and the unteachable and dishonest part of mankind And the Offences which are given by those that do not receive the Truth in the love of it are a farther trial of the sincerity and ingenuity of men as St. Paul said of one kind of Offences There must be heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest And therefore notwithstanding Offences that remains true which our Saviour said All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out John 6.37 i. e. All sincere and humble Persons who are committed to the special care of Christ to train them up to eternal Life will be sufficiently armed against Temptations and the Offences that are laid in their way shall but clear their sincerity and wisdom more to the world and turn to the increase of their Reward 2. As the sincerity of the Righteous so neither had the proper advantages and power of Truth been seen had God interposed his irresistible Power to prevent all Offences and Endeavours against the Truth And therefore he was pleased to suffer Error and Folly to appear upon the Stage of the World even after the Heavenly Wisdom of the Gospel was made known to mankind that by its own strength it might struggle with all kind of opposition and prevail and be justified of her Children 3. By this way the Wisdom of Divine Providence and the Truth of God's Word and his Care over the Church is seen more illustriously than if Offences had never been suffered That Promise That the Gates of Hell should never prevail against the Church of Christ nor the Faith lost from the Earth had lain in the Gospel unobserved we should have had no occasion for recourse to it no means of trial whether we put our Trust in it Had the Truth been never opposed never corrupted we had wanted one notable reason to praise God That while the Offences are so rise in this world this Church gives no Offence in matter of Doctrine or in matter of Worship And that God may count us worthy to enjoy so inestimable a Blessing let us pray that we may give no Offence by our Examples let us adorn our Profession by our Conversations and shew the Purity of our Faith by the Purity of our Actions Thus much for the necessity of Offences that thus would arise It must needs be that offences come The Third Sermon MATTH XVIII 7. Wo unto the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come But wo to that Man by whom the Offence cometh I Come now to the Second Point viz. That Offences would do great mischief in the world Wo unto the world because of offences In speaking to which I shall consider I. What Mischief is done by Offences II. Whence it comes that they are of so pernicious a consequence I. What Mischief is done by them And in this Question I need not be large because the Answer to it has in some part been already given under those several Heads of Scandal which I mentioned before it being impossible to shew where the Scandal of any Practice or Opinion lies without touching upon the Mischief it is apt to do But to what has been said something may be added 1. The general Mischief of Offences or Scandals is this That they are a prevailing Temptation upon many in the world to forsake the way of Truth and Piety For as good Examples and Encouragements good Counsels and Instructions are proper means of making others better so ill Examples and the Arts of seducing must needs have a contrary influence God has put us into a kind of dependance upon one another and has thereby given us opportunities of the greatest Charity and the best kinds of doing good viz. of leading and confirming one another in the way of Truth and Virtue But there is no help for it but the Society we have with one another may be abused into a means of doing one another mischief And therefore as where Truth is sincerely represented where Virtue is encouraged where Authority protects them where Wit and Learning are engaged to recommend them there abundance of good will be done upon those who are framed to learn and not to teach to follow but not to lead the way So on the other hand it is not to be expected but the abuse of all those Advantages will create Prejudices against Truth and Goodness and mislead multitudes And this is too evident from the experience of the world in all Ages No Opinions how foolish and absurd soever how pernicious soever to the common Interest of mankind if they have been set off with plausible Colours or supported by Authority or have been accommodated to the Interests of wicked men but they have had Abettors and Followers and have very often taken such deep Root in the Affections of men that 't is one of the hardest things in the world to convert them into the way of Truth But more particularly in the Second place 2. The scandal of advancing Doctrines that give liberty to the Lusts of men and ease to their Minds without effectual Reformation This Scandal I say has this pernicious effect that for the most part it fears the Consciences of men and hardens their hearts against all Reproof Although it be a terrible aggravation of sin for a man to venture upon the doing of that which his Conscience pulls him back from and for which he knows he must give a sad Account at the Last Day if it be not prevented by Sorrow and Reformation yet such a man is in a better condition than one that is well satisfied with himself and believes his Condition to be good enough while he goes on in his Sins without Reformation because he has another way to escape the Damnation of Hell For so long as a man believes the Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel as they are and knows the terms upon which they are made it may be hoped that he will at length lay these things seriously to heart and that