A SEASONABLE NEW-YEARS-GIFT A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL Before His late MAJESTY By JOHN TILLOTSON D. D. and Dean of Canterbury LONDON Printed for B. Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1687. Price Two Pence A Seasonable New-Years-Gift A SERMON Preach'd at White-Hall c. 1 Cor. III. 15. But he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire THE Context is thus According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise Master-builder I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble every mans work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is If any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward If any mans work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire In these words the Apostle speaks of a sort of persons who held indeed the foundation of Christianity but built upon it such doctrines or practices as would not bear the trial which he expresses to us by wood hay and stubble which are not proof against the fire Such a person the Apostle tells us hath brought himself into a very dangerous state though he would not deny the possibility of his salvation He himself shall be saved yet so as by fire That by fire here is not meant the fire of Purgatory as some pretend who would be glad of any shadow of a text of Scripture to countenance their own dreams I shall neither trouble you nor my self to manifest since the particle of similitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plainly shews that the Apostle did not intend an escape out of the fire literally but like to that which men make out of a House or Town that is on fire Especially since very learned persons of the Church of Rome do acknowledge that Purgatory cannot be concluded from this Text nay all that Estius contends for from this place is that it cannot be concluded from hence that there is no Purgatory which we never pretended but only that this Text does not prove it It is very well known that this is a Proverbial phrase used not only in Scripture but in prophane Authors to signifie a narrow escape out of a great danger He shall be saved yet so as by fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the fire Just as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used 1 Pet. 3. 20. where the Apostle speaking of the eight persons of Noah's family who escap'd the flood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they escaped out of the water So here this phrase is to be rendred in the Text he himself shall escape yet so as out of the fire The like expression you have Am 4. 11. I have pluckt them as a firebrand out of the fire And Jude 23. Others save with fear plucking them out of the fire All which expressions signifie the greatness of the danger and the difficulty of escaping it as one who when his house at midnight is set on fire and being suddenly wak'd leaps out of his bed and runs naked out of the doors taking nothing that is within along with him but imploying his whole care to save his body from the flames as St. Chrysostom upon another occasion expresseth it And so the Roman Orator who it is likely did not think of Purgatory useth this Phrase Quo ex judicio velut ex incendio nudus effugit From which Judgment or Sentence he escaped naked as it were out of a burning And one of the Greek Orators tells us That to save a man out of the fire was a common proverbial speech From the words thus explained the Observation that naturally ariseth is this That men may hold all the Fundamentals of Christian Religion and yet may superadd other things whereby they may greatly endanger their salvation What those things were which some among the Corinthians built upon the foundation of Christianity whereby they endanger'd their Salvation we may probably conjecture by what the Apostle reproves in this Epistle as the tolerating of incestuous marriages communicating in Idol-feasts c. And especially by the doctrine of the false Apostles who at that time did so much disturb the peace of most Christian Churches and who are so often and so severely reflected upon in this Epistle And what their Doctrine was we have an account Act. 15. viz. that they imposed upon the Gentile Christians Circumcision and the observation of the Jewish Law teaching that unless they were circumcised and kept the Law of Moses they could not be saved So that they did not only build these doctrines upon Christianity but they made them equal with the Foundation saying that unless men believed and practised such things they could not be saved In speaking to this Observation I shall reduce my discourse to these two Heads 1. I shall present to you some Doctrines and Practices which have been built upon the Foundation of Christianity to the great hazard and danger of mens salvation And to be plain I mean particularly the Church of Rome 2. I shall enquire whether our granting a possibility of salvation though with great hazard to those in the Communion of the Roman Church and their denying it to us be a reasonable argument and encouragement to any man to betake himself to that Church And there is the more reason to consider these things when so many seducing Spirits are so active and busie to pervert men from the truth and when we see every day so many men and their Religion so easily parted For this reason these two Considerations shall be the subject of the following discourse 1. First We will consider some Doctrines and Practices which the Church of Rome hath built upon the foundation of Christianity to the great hazard and danger of mens salvation It is not denied by the most judicious Protestants but that the Church of Rome do hold all the Articles of the Christian Faith which are necessary to salvation But that which we charge upon them as a just ground of our separation from them is the imposing of new Doctrines and Practices upon Christians as necessary to salvation which were never taught by our Saviour or his Apostles and which are either directly contrary to the doctrine of Christianity or too apparently destructive of a good life And I begin 1. With their Doctrines And because I have no mind to aggravate lesser matters I will single out four or five points of Doctrine which they have added to the Christian Religion and which were neither taught by our Saviour and his Apostles nor own'd in the first Ages of Christianity And the First which I
the will of my Father the same is my mother and sister and brother And when the Woman brake forth into that rapture concerning the blessed Mother of our Lord Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps that gave thee suck Our Saviour diverts to another thing Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it Does either our Saviour or his Apostles in all their particular Precepts and Directions concerning Prayer and the manner of it and by whom we are to address our selves to God give the least intimation of praying to the Virgin Mary or making use of her Mediation And can any man believe that if this had been the practice of the Church from the beginning our Saviour and his Apostles would have been so silent about so considerable a part of Religion insomuch that in all the Epistles of the Apostles I do not remember that her Name is so much as once mentioned And yet the worship of her is at this day in the Church of Rome and hath been so for several Ages a main part of their publick worship yea and of their private devotions too in which it is usual with them to say ten Ave Maries for one Pater Noster that is for one Prayer they make to Almighty God they make ten addresses to the blessed Virgin for that is the proportion observed in their Rosaries He that considers this and had never seen the Bible would have been apt to think that there had been more said concerning Her in Scripture than either concerning God or our blessed Saviour and that the New Testament were full from one end to the other of precepts and exhortations to the worshipping of Her and yet when all is done I challenge any man to shew me so much as one sentence in the whole Bible that sounds that way And there is as little in the Christian Writers of the first three hundred years The truth is this practice began to creep in among some superstitious people about the middle of the fourth Century And I remember particularly that Epiphanius who lived about that time calls it the Heresie of the Women And thus I have given you some Instances of several Doctrines and Practices which the Church of Rome have built upon the Foundation of Christianity Much more might have been said of them but from what hath been said any man may easily discern how dangerous they are to the salvation of men I proceed now in the second place II. To consider whether our granting a possibility of salvation though with great hazard to those in the Communion of the Roman Church and their denying it to us be a sufficient argument and encouragement to any man to quit our Church and go to theirs And there is the more need to consider this because this is the great popular argument wherewith the emissaries and agents of that Church are wont to assault our people Your Church say they grants that a Papist may be saved Ours denies that a Protestant can be saved therefore it is safest to be of our Church in which salvation by the acknowledgement of both sides is posible For answer to this I shall endeavour to shew that this is so far from being a good argument that it is so intolerably weak and sophistical that any considerate man ought to be asham'd to be catch'd by it For either it is good of it self and sufficient to perswade a man to relinquish our Church and to pass over to theirs without entring into the merits of the cause on either side and without comparing the Doctrines and Practices of both the Churches together or it is not If it be not sufficient of it self to perswade a man to leave our Church without comparing the Doctrines on both sides then it is to no purpose and there is nothing got by it For if upon examination and comparing of Doctrines the one appear to be true and the other false this alone is a sufficient inducement to any man to cleave to that Church where the true Doctrine is found and then there is no need of this argument If it be said that this argument is good in it self without the examination of the Doctrines of both Churches this seems a very strange thing for any man to affirm That it is reason enough to a man to be of any Church whatever her Doctrines and Practices be if she do but damn those that differ from her and if the Church that differs from her do but allow a possibility of salvation in her Communion But they who use this argument pretend that it is sufficient of it self and therefore I shall apply my self to shew as briefly and plainly as I can the miserable weakness and insufficiency of it to satisfie any mans conscience or prudence to change his Religion And to this end I shall 1. Shew the weakness of the principle upon which this argument relies 2. Give some parallel instances by which it will appear that it concludes false 3. I shall take notice of some gross absurdities that follow from it 4. Shew how unfit it is to work upon those to whom it is propounded And 5. How improper it is to be urged by those that make use of it I. I shall shew the weakness of the principle upon which this argument relies And that is this That whatever different parties in Religion agree in is safest to be chosen The true consequence of which principle if it be driven to the head is to perswade men to forsake Christianity and to make them take up in the principles of natural Religion for in these all Religions do agree For if this principle be true and signifie any thing it is dangerous to embrace any thing wherein the several parties in Religion differ because that only is safe and prudent to be chosen wherein all agree So that this argument if the foundation of it be good will perswade further than those who make use of it desire it should do for it will not only make men forsake the Protestant Religion but Popery too which is much more considerable Christianity it self II. I will give some parallel instances by which it will clearly be seen that this argument concludes false The Donatists denied the Baptism of the Catholicks to be good but the Catholicks acknowledged the Baptism of the Donatists to be valid So that both sides were agreed that the Baptism of the Donatists was good therefore the safest way for St. Austin and other Catholicks according to this argument was to be Baptized again by the Donatists because by the acknowledgment of both sides Baptism among them was valid But to come nearer to the Church of Rome Several in that Church hold the personal Infallibility of the Pope and the lawfulness of deposing and killing Kings for Heresie to be de fide that is necessary Articles of Faith and consequently that whoever does not believe them cannot be saved But a great
equal on both sides that there is nothing else in the whole world to determine him which surely can never happen in matters of Religion necessary to be believed No man is so weak as not to consider in the change of his Religion the merits of the cause it self as not to examine the Doctrines and Practices of the Churches on both sides as not to take notice of the confidence and charity of both Parties together with all other things which ought to move a conscientious and a prudent man And if upon enquiry there appear to be a clear advantage on either side then this argument is needless and comes too late because the work is already done without it Besides that the great hazard of salvation in the Roman Church which we declare upon account of the Doctrines and Practices which I have mentioned ought to deter any man much more from that Religion than the acknowledged possibility of salvation in it ought to encourage any man to the embracing of it Never did any Christian Church build so much hay and stubble upon the foundation of Christianity and therefore those that are saved in it must be saved as it were out of the fire And though Purgatory be not meant in the Text yet it is a Doctrine very well suited to their manner of building for there is need of an ignis purgatorius of a fire to try their work what it is and to burn up their hay and stubble And I have so much Charity and I desire always to have it as to hope that a great many among them who live piously and have been almost inevitably detain'd in that Church by the prejudice of education and an invinsible ignorance will upon a general repentance find mercy with God and though their work suffer loss and be burnt yet they themselves may escape as out of the fire but as for those who had the opportunities of coming to the knowledge of the truth if they continue in the errors of that Church or apostatize from the truth I think their condition so far from being safe that there must be extraordinary favourable circumstances in their case to give a man hopes of their salvation I have now done with the two things I propounded to speak to And I am sorry that the necessary defence of our Religion against the restless importunities and attempts of our adversaries upon all sorts of persons hath engaged me to spend so much time in matters of dispute which I had much rather have employed in another way Many of you can be my witnesses that I have constantly made it my business in this great Presence and Assembly to plead against the impieties and wickedness of men and have endeavoured by the best arguments I could think of to gain men over to a firm belief and serious practice of the main things of Religion And I do assure you I had much rather perswade any one to be a good man than to be of any party or denomination of Christians whatsoever For I doubt not but the belief of the ancient Creed provided we entertain nothing that is destructive of it together with a good life will certainly save a man and without this no man can have reasonable hopes of salvation no not an infallible Church if there were any such to be found in the world I have been according to my opportunities not a negligent observer of the genius and humour of the several Sects and Professions in Religion And upon the whole matter I do in my conscience believe the Church of England to be the best constituted Church this day in the world and that as to the main the Doctrine and Government and Worship of it are excellently framed to make men soberly Religious Securing men on the one hand from the wild freaks of Enthusiasm and on the other from the gross follies of Superstition And our Church hath this peculiar advantage above several Professions that we know in the world that it acknowledgeth a due and just subordination to the civil Authority and hath always been untainted in its loyalty And now shall every trifling consideration be sufficient to move a man to relinquish such a Church There is no greater disparagement to a mans understanding no greater argument of a light and ungenerous mind than rashly to change ones Religion Religion is our greatest concernment of all other and it is not every little argument no nor a great noise about infallibility nothing but very plain and convincing evidence that should sway a man in this case But they are utterly inexcusable who make a change of such concernment upon the insinuations of one side only without ever hearing what can be said for the Church they were baptized and brought up in before they leave it They that can yield thus easily to the impressions of every one that hath a design and interest to make Proselytes may at this rate of discretion change their Religion twice a day and instead of morning and evening Prayer they may have a morning and evening Religion Therefore for God's sake and for our own Souls sake and for the sake of our Reputation let us consider and shew our selves men let us not suffer our selves to be shaken and carried away with every wind Let us not run our selves into danger when we may be safe Let us stick to the foundation of Religion the Articles of our common belief and build upon them gold and silver and precious stones I mean the vertues and actions of a good life and if we would do this we should not be apt to set such a value upon hay and stubble If we would sincerely endeavour to live holy and vertuous lives we should not need to cast about for a Religion which may furnish us with easie and indirect ways to get to Heaven I will conclude all with the Apostles Exhortation Wherefore my beloved brethren be ye stedfast and unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord. Now the God of peace which brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the Sheep by the bloud of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to doe his will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS ADVERTISEMENTS There is lately Published A Discourse of the Communion in One Kind In Answer to a Treatise of the Bishop of Meaux's of Communion under both Species In Quarto There is now in the Press A Discourse against Transubstantiation formerly Printed in Quarto but now in Octavo and sold for three pence for general benefit By B. Aylmer * Tully * Aristides