them under an Inconvenience when they shall come at Age. And can we think them of discretion sufficient at that time to do a thing of the greatest Moment and Consequence of all other and which will concern them to all Eternity namely to chuse their Religion There is indeed one Part of one Religion which we all know which Children at Seven Years of Age are fit I do not say to judge of but to be as fond of and to practise to as good purpose as those of riper Years and that is to worship Images to tell their Beads to say their Prayers and to be present at the Service of God in an unknown Tongue and this they are more likely to chuse at that Age than those who are of riper and more improv'd Understandings and if they do not chuse it at that time it is ten to one they will not chuse it afterwards I shall say no more of this but that it is a very extraordinary Law and such as perhaps was never thought of before from the beginning of the World Thus much for Children As for grown Persons who are of a very low and mean capacity of Understanding and either by reason of the weakness of their Faculties or other Disadvantages which they lye under are in little or no probability of improving themselves These are always to be considered as in the condition of Children and Learners and therefore must of necessity in things which are not plain and obvious to the meanest Capacities trust and rely upon the Judgment of others And it is really much wiser and safer for them so to do than to depend upon their own Judgments and to lean to their own Understandings and such Persons if they be modest and humble and pray earnestly to God for his Assistance and Direction and are careful to practise what they know and to live up to the best Light and Knowledge which they have shall not miscarry meerly for want of those farther degrees of Knowledge which they had no Capacity nor Opportunity to attain because their Ignorance is unavoidable and God will require no more of them than he hath given them and will not call them to account for the improvement of those Talents which he never committed to them And if they be led into any dangerous Error by the negligence or ill conduct of those under whose Care and Instruction the Providence of God permitted them to be placed God will not impute it to them as a Fault Because in the Circumstances in which they were they took the best and wisest course that they could to come to the knowledge of the Truth by being willing to learn what they could of those whom they took to be wiser than themselves But for such Persons who by the maturity of their Age and by the natural strength and clearness of their Understandings or by the due exercise and improvement of them are capable of enquiring into and understanding the Grounds of their Religion and discerning the difference betwixt Truth and Error I do not mean in unnecessary Points and matters of deepest Learning and Speculation but in matters necessary to Salvation it is certainly very reasonable that such Persons should examine their Religion and understand the Reasons and Grounds of it And this must either be granted to be reasonable or else every man must continue in that Religion in which he happens to be fixt by Education or for any other Reason to pitch upon when he comes to Years and makes his free Choice For if this be a good Principle that no Man is to examine his Religion but take it as it is and to believe it and rest satisfied with it Then every Man is to remain in the Religion which he first lights upon whether by Choice or the Chance of his Education For he ought not to change but upon Reason and Reason he can have none unless he be allowed to examine his Religion and to compare it with others that by the Comparison he may discern which is best and ought in reason to be preferred in his Choice For to him that will not or is not permitted to search into the Grounds of any Religion all Religions are alike as all things are of the same Colour to him that is always kept in the dark or if he happens to come into the Light dares not open his Eyes and make use of them to discern the different Colours of things But this is evidently and at first sight unreasonable because at this rate every Man that hath once entertained an Errour and a false Religion must forever continue in it For if he be not allowed to examine it he can never have Reason to change and to make a change without Reason is certainly unreasonable and mere Vanity and Inconstancy And yet for ought I can see this is the Principle which the Church of Rome doth with great Zeal and Earnestness inculcate upon their People discouraging all Doubts and Inquiries about their Religion as Temptations of the Devil and all Examinations of the Grounds and Reasons of their Religion as an inclination and dangerous step towards Heresie For what else can they mean by taking the Scriptures out of the hands of the People and locking them up from them in an unknown Tongue by requiring them absolutely to submit their Judgments and to resign them up to that which they are pleased to call the Catholick Church and Implicitly to believe as She believes tho they know not what that is This is in Truth to believe as their Priest tells them for that is all the teaching Part of the Church and all the Rule of Faith that the common People are acquainted with And it is not sufficient to say in this matter that when Men are in the Truth and of the right Religion and in the Bosom of the true Church they ought to rest satisfied and to examine and enquire no farther For this is manifestly unreasonable and that upon these Three accounts 1. Because this is a plain and shameful begging of the thing in Question and that which every Church and every Religion doth almost with equal Confidence pretend to That Theirs is the only right Religion and the only true Church And these Pretences are all alike reasonable to him that never examined the Grounds of any of them nor hath compar'd them together And therefore it is the vainest thing in the World for the Church of Rome to pretend that all Religions in the World ought to be examined but Theirs Because Theirs and none else is the true Religion For this which they say so confidently of it That it is the true Religion no Man can know till he have examined it and searched into the Grounds of it and hath considered the Objections which are against it So that it is fond Partiality to say that Their Religion is not to be examined by the people that profess it but that all other Religions ought to be examined or
be carried about with every Wind of Doctrine by the slight of Men and the cunning Craftiness of those that lie in wait to deceive For when he is attempted he will either defend his Religion or not If he undertake the Defence of it before he hath examined the Grounds of it he makes himself an easie Prey to every crafty man that will set upon him he exposeth at once himself to Danger and his Religion to Disgrace If he decline the defence of it he must be forced to take Sanctuary in that Ignorant and Obstinate Principle that because he is of an Infallible Church and sure that he is in the right therefore he never did nor will examine whether he be so or not But how is he or can he be sure that he is in the right if he have no other Reason for it but his Confidence and his being wiser in his own conceit than Seven men that can render a Reason It is a shameful thing in a wise man who is able to give a good Reason of all other Actions and parts of his Life to be able to say nothing for his Religion which concerns him more than all the rest 2. To examine and understand the Grounds of our Religion will be a good means by the assistance of Gods Grace to keep us constant to it even under the fiery Tryal When it comes to this that a man must suffer for his Religion he had need to be well established in the Belief of it which no man can so well be as he that in some good measure understands the Grounds and Reasons of his Belief A man would be well assured of the Truth and Goodness of that for which he would lay down hīs Life otherwise he dies as a Fool dies he knows not for what A man would be loth to set such a Seal to a Blank I mean to that which he hath no sufficient Ground and Reason to believe to be true which whether he hath or not no man that hath not examined the Grounds of his Religion can be well assured of This St. Peter prescribes as the best Preparative for suffering for Righteousness sake the 1st Ep. of Peter 3. 14 15. But if ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye And be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts that is make him the great Object of your Dread and Trust and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you 2. The holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering doth not imply that Men should obstinately refuse to hear any Reason against that Religion which they have embraced and think to be the true Religion As Men should examine before they chuse so after they have chosen they should be ready to be better informed if better Reason can be offered No Man ought to think himself so infallible as to be priviledged from hearing Reason and from having his Doctrines and Dictates tryed by that Test. Our Blessed Saviour himself the most Infallible Person that ever was in the World and who declared the Truth which he had heard of God yet He offered himself and his Doctrine to this Tryal John 8. 46. Which of you convinceth me of sin that is of Falsehood and Error And if I speak the truth why do ye not believe me He was sure he spake the Truth and yet for all that if they could convince him of Error and Mistake he was ready to hear any Reason they could bring to that purpose Though a Man be never so sure that he is in the true Religion and never so resolved to continue constant and stedfast in it yet Reason is always to be heard when it is fairly offered And as we ought always to be ready to give an Answer to those who ask a Reason of the Hope and Faith that is in us so ought we likewise to be ready to hear the Reasons which others do fairly offer against our Opinion and Persuasion in Religion and to debate the matter with them that if we be in the right and they in the wrong we may rectifie their Mistakes and instruct them in meekness if God peradventure may give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth We are not only to examine our Religion before we peremptorily fix upon it but after we are as we think upon the best Reason establisht and settled in it Tho we ought not to doubt and waver in our Religion upon every slight and trifling Objection that can be brought against it yet we ought always to have an Ear open to hear Reason and consider any thing of Weight and Moment that can be offered to us about it For it is a great Disparagement to Truth and argues a distrust of the Goodness of our Cause and Religion to be afraid to hear what can be said against it As if Truth were so weak that in every Conflict it were in danger to be baffled and run down and go by the worst and as if the Reasons that could be brought against it were too hard for it and not to be encounter'd by those Forces which Truth has on its side We have that honest Confidence of the Goodness of our Cause and Religion that we do not fear what can be said against it And therefore we do not forbid our people to examine the Objections of our Adversaries and to read the best Books they can write against it But the Church of Rome are so wise in their Generation that they will not permit those of their Communion to hear or read what can be said against them Nay they will not permit the people the use of the Holy Scriptures which they with us acknowledge to be at least an Essential Part of the Rule of Faith They tell their people that after they are once of their Church and Religion they ought not to hear any Reasons against it and though they be never so strong they ought not to entertain any doubt concerning it because all doubting is a Temptation of the Devil and a Mortal Sin But surely that Church is not to be heard which will not hear Reason nor that Religion to be much admired which will not allow those that have once embrac'd it to hear it ever after debated and examined This is a very suspicious Business and argues that either they have not Truth on their side or that Truth is a weak and pitiful and sneaking Thing and not able to make its party good against Error I should now have proceeded in the Second place to shew Positively what is implied in holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and then to have considered the Argument and Encouragement hereto because he is faithful that promised But I shall proceed no farther at this time A SERMON ON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he
Profession of our Faith without wavering is not meant that those who are capable of examining the Grounds and Reasons of their Religion should blindly hold it fast against the best Reasons that can be offered because upon these terms every Man must continue in the Religion in which he happens to be fixt by Education or an ill choice be his Religion true or false without Examining and looking into it whether it be right or wrong for till a Man examines every Man thinks his Religion right That which the Apostle here exhorts Christians to hold fast is the Ancient Faith of which all Christians make a solemn profession in their Baptism as plainly appears from the context And this Profession of our Faith we are to hold in the following instances which I shall but briefly mention without enlarging upon them 1. We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to plain Scripture and Reason and to the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrors of the World against the Temptations of Fashion and Example and of Worldly Interest and Advantage and against all Terrors and Sufferings of Persecution 4. Against all vain promises of being put into a safer condition and groundless hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier terms than the Gospel hath proposed in some other Church and Religion Lastly We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to make Proselytes to their Party and Faction But without entring into these particulars I shall in order to Establishment in the Reformed Religion which we profess in opposition to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome apply my self at this time to make a short comparison betwixt the Religion which we profess and that of the Church of Rome That we may discern on which side the advantage of Truth lies and in making this comparison I shall insist upon Three things which will bring the matter to an issue and are I think sufficient to determine every sober and considerate Man which of these he ought in Reason and with regard to the safety of his Soul to embrace And they are these I. That we govern our Belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintenance of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Fathers and Councils of it II. That the Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to this Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and are plain Additions to the ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it III. That our Religion hath many clear Advantages of that of the Church of Rome not only very considerable in themselves but very obvious and discernable to an ordinary capacity upon the first proposal of them I shall be as brief in these as I can I. That we govern our belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contain'd in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintaining of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Councils and Fathers of it That is they have joined with the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures the unwritten Traditions of their Church concerning several points of their Faith and Practice which they acknowledge cannot be proved from Scripture and these they call the unwritten Word of God and the Council of Trent hath decreed them to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures and that they do receive and venerate them with the same pious Affection and Reverence and all this contrary to the express declaration and unanimous consent of all the Ancient Councils and Fathers of the Christian Church as I have already shewn and this never declar'd to be a point of Faith till it was decreed not much above a Hundred Years ago in the Council of Trent and this surely if any thing is a Matter of great consequence to presume to alter the Ancient Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice and to enlarge it and add to it at their pleasure But the Church of Rome having made so great a change in the Doctrine and Practice of Christianity it became consequently necessary to make a change of the Rule And therefore with great Reason did the Council of Trent take this into consideration in the first place and put it in the front of their Decrees because it was to be the foundation and main proof of the following Definitions of Faith and Decrees of Practice for which without this new Rule there had been no colour II. The Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to the true Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and plain Additions to the Ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it the Truth of this will best appear by instancing in some of the principal Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us As for their two great Fundamental Doctrines of the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all the Christians in the world and the Infallibility of their Church there is not one word in Scripture concerning these Priviledges nay it is little less than a demonstration that they have no such Priviledges that St. Paul in a long Epistle to the Church of Rome takes no notice of them That the Church of Rome either then was or was to be soon after the Mother and Mistress of all Churches which is now grown to be an Article of Faith in the Church of Rome and yet it is hardly to be imagined that he could have omitted to take notice of such remarkable Priviledges of their Bishops and Church above any in the world had he known they had belonged to them So that in all probability he was ignorant of those mighty Prerogatives of the Church of Rome otherwise it cannot be but that he would have written with more deference and submission to this Seat of Infallibility and Center of Unity he would certainly have paid a greater Respect to this Mother and Mistress of all Churches where the Head of the Church and Vicar of Christ either was already seated or by the appointment of Christ was designed for ever to fix his Throne and establish his Residence but there is not one word or the least intimation of any such thing throughout this whole Epistle nor in any other part of the New Testament Besides that both these pretended
the Reason which the Learned Men give why the Worship of Images and the Invocation of Angels and Saints departed were not practised in the Primitive Church for the first Three Hundred Years is a plain acknowledgment that these Practices are very liable to the Suspicion of Idolatry for they say that the Christians did then forbear those Practices because they seem'd to come too near to the Pagan Idolatry and lest the Heathen should have taken occasion to have justified themselves if these things had been practised among Christians and they cannot now be Ignorant what Scandal they give by these Practices both to the Jews and Turks and how much they alienate them from Christianity by this Scandal nor can they chuse but be sensible upon how great disadvantage they are in defending these Practices from the Charge of Idolatry and that by all their blind Distinctions with which they raise such a Cloud and Dust they can hardly make any plausible and tollerable Defence of themselves from this Charge Insomuch that to secure their own People from discerning their Guilt in this Matter they have been put upon that shameful shift of leaving out the Second Commandment in their common Catechisms and Manuals lest the People seeing so plain a Law of God against so common a Practice of their Church should upon that Discovery have broken off from them 5. Nor is our Religion incumbered with such an endless number of superstitious and troublesom Observances as theirs infiintely is even beyond the Number of the Jewish Ceremonies to the great Burden and Scandal of the Christian Religion and the diverting of Mens Minds from the spiritual part of Religion and the more weighty and necessary Duties of the Christian Life so that in truth a devout Pastor is so taken up with the external Rites and little Observances of his Religion that he hath little or no time to make himself a good Man and to cultivate and improve his Mind in true Piety and Virtue 6. Our Religion is evidently more Charitable to all Christians that differ from us and particularly to them who by their Uncharitableness to us have done as much as is possible to discharge and damp our Charity towards them And Charity as it is one of the most essential Marks of a true Christian so it is likewise the best Mark and Ornament of a true Church and of all things that can be thought of methinks the want of Charity in any Church should be a Motive to no Man to fall in love with it and to be fond of its Communion 7. Our Religion doth not clash and interfere with any of the great Moral Duties to which all Mankind stand obliged by the Law and Light of Nature as Fidelity Mercy and Truth We do not teach Men to break Faith with Hereticks or Infidels nor to destroy and extirpate those who differ from us with Fire and Sword No such thing as Equivocation or Mental Reservation or any other Artificial way of Falshood is either taught or maintain'd either by the Doctrine or by the Casuists of our Church 8. Our Religion and all the Doctrines of it are perfectly consistent with the Peace of Civil Government and the Welfare of Humane Society We neither exempt the Clergy from Subjection to the Civil Powers nor absolve Subjects upon any pretence whatsoever from allegiance to their Princes both which Points the necessity of the one and the lawfulness of the other have been taught and stifly maintain'd in the Church of Rome not only by private Doctors but by Popes and General Councils 9. The Doctrines of our Religion are perfectly free from all Suspicion of a Worldly Interest and Design whereas the greatest part of the erroneous Doctrines with which we charge the Church of Rome are plainly calculated to promote the end of Worldly Greatness and Dominion The Pope's Kingdom is plainly of this World and the Doctrines and Maximes of it like so many Servants are ready upon all occasion to fight for him For most of them do plainly tend either to the Establishment and Enlargment of his Authority or to the Magnifying of the Priests and the giving them a perfect power over the Conscienees of the People and the keeping them in a slavish subjection and blind obedience to them And to this purpose do plainly tend the Doctrines of exempting the Clergy from the Secular Power and Jurisdiction the Doctrine of Transubstantiation for it must needs make the Priest a great Man in the Opinion of the People to believe that he can make God as they love to express it without all Reason and Reverence Of the like tendency is the Communicating of the Laity only in one kind thereby making it the sole Priviledge of the Priest to receive the Sacrament in both The with-holding the Scripture from the People and celebrating the Service of God in an unknown Tongue The Doctrine of an implicite Faith and absolute Resignation of their Judgments to their Teachers These do all directly tend to keep the People in ignorance and to bring them to a blind Obedience to the dictates of their Teachers So likewise the Necessity of the intention of the Priests to the saving Virtue and Efficacy of the Sacraments by which Doctrine the People do upon the matter depend as much upon the good will of the Priest as upon the Mercy of God for their Salvation but above all their Doctrine of the Necessity of Auricular and private Confession of all Mortal Sins commited after Baptism with all the Circumstances of them to the Priest and this not only for the ease and direction of their Consciences but as a necessary condition of having their Sins pardoned and forgiven by God By which means they make themselves Masters of all the Secrets of the People and keep them in awe by the knowledge of their faults Scire volunt secreta Domus atque inde timeri Or else their Doctrines tend to filthy lucre and the enriching of their Church As their Doctrines of Purgatory and Indulgences and their Prayers and Masses for the dead and many more Doctrines and Practices of the like kind plainly do 10. Our Religion is free from all disingenuous and dishonest Arts of maintaining and supporting it self such are clipping of ancient Authors nay and even the Authors and Writers of their own Church when they speak too freely of any Point as may be seen in their Indices Expurgatorii which much against their wills have been brought to light To which I shall only add these Three gross Forgeries which lie all at their doors and they cannot deny them to be so 1. The pretended Canon of the Council of Nice in the case of Appeals between the Church of Rome and the African Church Upon which they insisted a great while very confidently till at last they were convinced by Authentick Copies of the Canons of that Council 2. Constantine's Donation to the Pope which they kept a great stir with till the Forgery of it
considerable and allow it self in the breach or neglect of the rest no nor with observing the Duties of one Table of the Law if it overlook the other no nor with obedience to all the Commandments of God one only excepted St. James puts this case and determines That he that keeps the whole Law saving that he offends in one point is guilty of all that is is not sincere in his obedience to the rest and therefore we must take great heed that we do not set the Commandments of God at odds and dash the two Tables of the Law against one another lest as St. James says we break the whole Law And yet I fear this is too common a fault even amongst those who make a great profession of Piety that they are not sufficiently sensible of the obligation and necessity of the Duties of the second Table and of the excellency of those Graces and Vertues which respect our Carriage and Conversation with one another Men do not seem to consider that God did not give Laws to us for his own sake but ours and therefore that he did not only design that we should Honour him but that we should be happy in one another for which reason he joyns with our humble and dutiful Deportment towards himself the Offices of Justice and Charity towards others Mich. 6. 8. He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God And 1 John 4. 21. This Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his Brother also And yet it is too visible that many who make a great profession of Piety towards God are very defective in Moral Duties very unpeaceable and turbulent in their Spirits very peevish and passionate very conceited and censorious as if their profession of Godliness did exempt them from the care and practice of Christian Vertues But we must not so fix our eye upon Heaven as to forget that we walk upon the Earth and to neglect the ordering of our steps and Conversation among Men lest while we are gazing upon the Stars we fall into the Ditch of gross and foul Immorality It is very possible that Men may be devout and zealous in Religion very nice and scrupulous about the Worship and Service of God and yet because of their palpable defect in points of Justice and Honesty of Meekness and Humility of Peace and Charity may be gross and odious Hypocrites for Men must not think for some acts either of outward or inward Piety to compound with God for the neglect of Mercy and Judgment or to demand it as a right from Men to be excused from the great Duties and Vertues of Humane Conversation or pretend to be above them because they relate chiefly to this World and to the temporal happiness of Men as if it were the priviledge of great Devotion to give a license to Men to be peevish and froward sower and morose supercilious and censorious in their behaviour towards others Men must have a great care that they be not intent upon the outward parts of Religion to the prejudice of inward and real goodness and that they do not so use the means of Religion as to neglect and lose the main end of it that they do not place all Religion in Fasting and outward Mortification for though these things be very useful and necessary in their place if they be discreetly managed and made subservient to the great ends of Religion yet it is often seen that Men have so unequal a respect to the several parts of their Duty that Fasting and Corporal severity those meager and lean Duties of Piety in comparison do like Pharaoh's lean kine devour and eat up almost all the goodly and well-favoured the great and substantial Duties of the Christian Life and therefore Men must take great heed lest whilst they are so intent upon mortifying themselves they do not mortifie Vertue and good Nature Humility and Meekness and Charity things highly valuable in themselves and amiable in the eyes of Men and in the sight of God of great price For the neglect of the Moral Duties of the second Table is not only a mighty scandal to Religion but of pernicious consequence many other ways A fierce and ill governed an ignorant and injudicious Zeal for the Honour of God and something or other belonging necessarily as they think to his true Worship and Service hath made many Men do many unreasonable immoral and impious things of which History will furnish us with innumerable instances in the practice of the Jesuits and other Zealots of the Church of Rome and there are not wanting too many examples of this kind amongst our selves for Men that are not sober and considerate in their Religion but give themselves up to the conduct of blind prejudice and furious zeal do easily perswade themselves that any thing is lawful which they strongly fancy to tend to the Honour of God and to the advancement of the cause of Religion hence some have proceeded to that height of absurdity in their Zeal for their Religion and Church as to think it not only lawful but highly commendable and meritorious to equivocate upon Oath and break Faith with Hereticks and to destroy all those that differ from them as if it were Piety in some cases to lie for the Truth and to kill Men for God's sake So that if we would approve the integrity of our hearts to God and evidence to our selves the sincerity of our Obedience we ought impartially to regard all the Laws of God and every part of our Duty and if we do not our heart is not upright with God 'T is observable that sincerity in Scripture is often call'd by the name of Integrity and Perfection because it is integrated and made up of all the parts of our Duty 6. The last evidence I shall mention of the sincerity of our Religion is if it hold out against persecution and endure the fiery tryal this is the utmost proof of our integrity when we are called to bear the Cross to be willing then to expose all our worldly interest and even life it self for the Cause of God and Religion this is a tryal which God doth not always call his faithful Servants to but they are always to be prepared for it in the purpose and resolution of their minds this our Saviour makes the great mark of a true Disciple if any man saith he will be my disciple let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me this is a certain sign that Men have received the word into good ground and are well rooted in their Religion when they are not shaken by these fierce assaults for many as our Saviour tells us hear the word and with joy receive it but having not root in themselves they endure but for a while and when persecution or tribulation ariseth because of
the word presently they are offended nay some when they see persecution coming at a distance wheel off and bethink themselves of making their retreat in time and of agreeing with their adversary whilst he is yet in the way So that constancy to our Religion in case of danger and suffering for it is the best proof of our sincerity This is the fiery tryal as the Scripture calls it which will try what materials we are made of and whether we love God and his truth in sincerity And thus I have considered sincerity as it respects God and imports true Piety and Religion towards him and I proceed to the second consideration II. Of sincerity as it regards Men and so it signifies a simplicity of mind and manners in our conversation and carriage one towards another singleness of Heart discovering it self in a constant plainness and honest openness of behaviour free from all insidious devises and little tricks and fetches of Craft and Cunning from all false appearances and deceitful disguises of our selves in word or action or yet more plainly it is to speak as we think and do what we pretend and profess to perform and make good what we promise and in a word really to be what we would seem and appear to be Not that we are obliged to tell every Man all our mind but we are never to declare any thing contrary to it we may be silent and conceal as much of our selves as prudence or any other good reason requires but we must not put on a disguise and make a false appearance and empty show of what we are not either by word or action Contrary to this Vertue is I fear most of that compliment which is current in conversation and which for the most part is nothing but words to fill up the Gaps and supply the emptiness of Discourse and a pretence to that kindness and esteem for persons which either in truth we have not or not to that degree which our expressions seem to import which if done with design is that which we call Flattery a very odious sort of Insincerity and so much the worse because it abuseth Men into a vain and foolish opinion of themselves and an ill grounded confidence of the kindness and good-will of others towards them and so much the more dangerous because it hath a party within us which is ready to let it in it plays upon our self-love which greedily catcheth at any thing that tends to magnifie and advance us for God knows we are all too apt to think and make the best of our bad selves so that very few Tempers have Wisdom and firmness enough to be proof against Flattery it requires great Consideration and a resolute Modesty and Humility to resist the Insinuations of this Serpent yea a little rudeness and moroseness of Nature a prudent distrust and infidelity in Mankind to make a Man in good earnest to reject and despise it Now besides that all Hypocrisie and Insincerity is mean in it self having falsehood at the bottom it is also often made use of to the prejudice of others in their Rights and Interests for not only Dissimulation is contrary to Sincerity because it consists in a vain shew of what we are not in a false muster of our Vertues and good Qualities in a deceitful representation and undue Character of our Lives but there are likewise other Qualities and Actions more inconsistent with Integrity which are of a more injurious and mischievous consequence to our nature as falshood and fraud and perfidiousness and infinite little Crafts and arts of deceit which Men practise upon one another in their ordinary conversation and intercourse the former is great vanity but this is gross iniquity And yet these Qualities dexterously managed so as not to lie too plain and open to discovery are look'd upon by many as signs of great depth and shrewdness admirable instruments of business and necessary means for the compassing our own ends and designs and though in those that have suffered by them and felt the mischief of them they are always accounted dishonest yet among the generality of lookers on they pass for great policy as if the very skill of governing and managing humane affairs did consist in these little tricks and devices But he that looks more narrowly into them and will but have the patience to observe the end of them will find them to be great follies and that it is only for want of true wisdom and understanding that Men turn aside to tricks and make dissimulation and lies their refuge It is Solomon's Observation That he that walketh uprightly walketh surely but the folly of Fools is deceit The folly of Fools that is the most egregious piece of folly that any Man can be guilty of is to play the Knave the vulgar Translation renders this clause a little otherwise but yet towards the same sense Sed stultus divertit ad dolos but the Fool turns aside to tricks to make use of these is a sign the Man wants understanding to see the plain and direct way to his end I will not deny but these little Arts may serve a present turn and perhaps successfully enough but true Wisdom goes deep and reacheth a great way further looking to the end of things and regarding the future as well as the present and by judging upon the whole matter and sum of affairs doth clearly discern that Craft and Cunning are only useful for the present occasion whereas Integrity is of a lasting use and will be serviceable to us upon all occasions and in the whole course of our Lives and that Dissimulation and Deceit though they may do some present execution in business yet they recoil upon a Man terribly afterwards so as to make him stagger and by degrees to weaken and at last to destroy his Reputation which is a much more useful and substantial and lasting instrument of prosperity and success in humane affairs than any tricks and devices whatsoever Thus have I considered this great vertue of Sincerity both as it regards God and the mutual conversation and intercourse of Men one with another And now having explained the nature of Sincerity to God and Man by declaring the properties of it and in what instances we ought chiefly to practise it and what things are contrary to it that which now remains is to perswade Men to endeavour after this excellent quality 〈◊〉 to practise it in all the words and 〈◊〉 of their Lives Let us then in the first place be sincere in our Religion and serve God in truth and uprightness of heart out of Conscience of our Duty and Obligations to him and not with sinister respects to our private interest or passion to the publick approbation or censure of Men let us never make use of Religion to serve any base and unworthy ends cloaking our designs of Covetousness or Ambition or Revenge with pretences of Conscience and Zeal for God and let us endeavour
small Dust upon the Balance What Temptation of this World can stand against that Argument of our Saviour if it be seriously weighed and considered What is a Man profited if he gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul If we would consider Things impartially and weigh them in a just and equal Balance the Things which concern our Bodies and this present Life are of no Consideration in comparison of the great and vast Concernments of our immortal Souls and the happy or miserable Condition of our Bodies and Souls to all Eternity And Religion is a Matter of this vast Concernment and therefore not to be bargained away and parted with by us for the greatest Things this World can offer There is no greater Sign of a sordid Spirit than to put a high Value upon Things of little Worth and no greater Mark of Folly than to make an unequal Bargain to part with Things of greatest Price for a slender and trifling Consideration As if a Man of great Fortune and Estate should sell the Inheritance of it for a Picture which when he hath it will not perhaps yield so much as will maintain him for one Year The Folly is so much the greater in Things of infinitely greater Value as for a Man to quit God and Religion to sell the Truth and his Soul and to part with his Everlasting Inheritance for a convenient Service for a good Customer and some present Advantage in his Trade and Profession or indeed for any Condition which the foolish Language of this World cal's a high Place or a great Preferment The Things which these Men part with upon these cheap Terms God and his Truth and Religion are to those who understand themselves and the just Value of their Immortal Souls Things of inestimable Worth and not to be parted with by a considerate Man for any Price that this World can bid And those who are to be bought out of their Religion upon such low Terms and so easily parted from it 't is much to be feared that they have little or no Religion to hold fast 2. As we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against the Temptations and Allurements of this World so likewise against the Terrors of it Fear is a Passion of great force and if Men be not very resolute and constant will be apt to stagger them and to move them from their stedfastness And therefore when the Case of Suffering and Persecution for the Truth happens we had need to hold fast the Profession of our Faith Our Saviour in the Parable of the Sower tells us that there were many that heard the Word and with joy received it but when Persecution and Tribulation arose because of the Word presently they were offended And though blessed be God this be not now our Case yet there was a Time when it was the general Case of Christians in the first beginning of Christianity and for several Ages after though with some Intermission and Intervals of Ease It was then a general Rule and the common Expectation of Christians That through many Tribulations they must enter into the Kingdom of God and that if any Man will live Godly in Christ Jesus he must suffer Persecution And in several Ages since those Primitive Times the sincere Professors of Religion have in divers places been exposed to most grievous Sufferings and Persecutions for the Truth And even at this day in several Places the faithful Servants of God are exercised with the sharpest and sorest Tryals that perhaps were ever heard of in any Age and for the sake of God and the constant Profession of his true Religion are tormented and killed all the day long and are accounted as Sheep for the slaughter It is Their hard Lot to be called to these cruel and bitter Sufferings and Our happy Opportunity to be call'd upon for their Relief Those of them I mean that have escaped that terrible Storm and Tempest and have taken Refuge and Sanctuary here among us and out of His Majesty's great Humanity and Goodness are by his Publick Letters recommended to the Charity of the whole Nation by the Name of Distressed Protestants Let us consider how much easier Our Lot and Our Duty is than Theirs as much as it is easier to compassionate the Sufferings and to relieve the Distresses of Others than to be such Sufferers and in such Distress Our Selves Let us make Their Case our Own and then we our selves will be the best Judges how it is fit for us to demean our selves towards them and to what degree we ought to extend our Charity and Compassion to them Let us put on their Case and Circumstances and suppose that We were the Sufferers and had fled to Them for Refuge the same Pity and Commiseration the same tender Regard and Consideration of our sad Case the same liberal and effectual Relief that we should desire and expect and be glad to have shewn and afforded to our selves let us give to them and then I am sure they will want no fitting Comfort and Support from us We enjoy blessed be the Goodness of God to us great Peace and Plenty and Freedom from Evil and Suffering And surely one of the best Means to have these Blessings continued to us and our Tranquility prolonged is to consider and relieve those who want the Blessings which we enjoy and the readiest way to provoke God to deprive us of these Blessings is to shut up the Bowels of our Compassion from our Distressed Brethren God can easily change the Scene and make our Sufferings if not in the same kind yet in one kind or other equal to theirs and then we shall remember the Afflictions of Joseph and say as his Brethren did when they fell into Trouble We are verily guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his Soul when he besought us and we would not hear therefore is this Distress come upon us God alone knows what Storms the Devil may yet raise in the World before the End of it And therefore it concerns all Christians in all Times and Places who have taken upon them the Profession of Christ's Religion to consider well before-hand and to calculate the Dangers and Sufferings it may expose them to and to arm our selves with Resolution and Patience against the fiercest Assaults of Temptation considering the Shortness of all Temporal Afflictions and Sufferings in comparison of the Eternal and Glorious Reward of them and the Lightness of them too in comparison of the endless and intolerable Torments of another World to which every Man exposeth himself who forsakes God and renounceth his Truth and wounds his Conscience to avoid Temporal Sufferings And though Fear in many Cases especially if it be of Death and extream Suffering be a great Excuse for several Actions because it may Cadere in constantem virum happen to a resolute Man Yet in
of the Infallibility of their Church of their Seven Sacraments Instituted by Christ and of the Intention of the Priest being necessary to the Validity and Virtue of the Sacraments and then several of their Practices as of the Worship of Images of the Invocation of Angels and Saints of the Service of God and the Scriptures in an Vnknown Tongue and the Communion in one Kind and several other things so plainly contrary to the Scriptures and the Practice and Usage of the Primitive Church that almost the meanest Capacity may easily be made sensible and convinced of it These are sore places which they desire not to have touched and therefore they use all possible Artifice to keep Men at a distance from them partly because the particular discussion of them is tedious and it requires more than ordinary Skill to say any thing that is tenable for them and so to paint and varnish them over as to hide the Corruptions and Deformities of them but chiefly because they are conscious to themselves that as in all these Points they are upon the Defensive so they are also upon very great Disadvantages and therefore to avoid if it be possible being troubled with them they have devised this shorter and easier and more convenient way of making Proselytes Not that they are always able to keep themselves thus within their Trenches but are sometimes whether they will or no drawn out to Encounter some of these Objections but they rid themselves of them as soon and as dexterously as they can by telling those that make them that they will hereafter give them full Satisfaction to all these Matters when they are gotten over the first and main Enquiry Which is the true Church For if they can keep them to this Point and gain them to it they can deal with them more easily in the rest for when they can once swallow this Principle That the Church of Rome is the One True Catholick Church and consequently as they have told them all along Infallible this Infallibility of the Church once entertained will cover a multitude of particular Errors and Mistakes and it will very much help to cure the weakness and defects of some particular Doctrines and Practices and at least to silence and over-rule all Objections against them So that the benefit and advantage of this Method is visibly and at first sight very great and therefore no wonder they are so steady and constant to it and do so obstinately insist upon it But how convenient soever it be to them it is I am sure very unreasonable in it self and that upon these Accounts 1. Because the True Church doth not constitute and make the True Christian Faith and Doctrine but it is the True Christian Faith and Doctrine the Profession whereof makes the True Church and therefore in Reason and Order of Nature the first Enquiry must be What is the True Faith and Doctrine of Christ which by him was delivered to the Apostles and by them publish'd and made known to the World and by their Writings Transmitted and Conveyed down to us And this being found every Society of Christians which holds this Doctrine is a True Part of the Catholick Church and all the Christians throughout the World that agree in this Doctrine are the One True Catholick Church 2. The Enquiry about the True Church can have no Issue even according to their own way of proceeding without a due Examination of the particular Doctrines and Practices of that Church the Communion whereof they would perswade a Man to embrace We will admit at present this to be the first Enquiry Which is the True Church Let us now see in what way they manage this to gain Men over to their Church They tell them that the Church of Rome is the One True Catholick Church of Christ. The truth of this Assertion we will particularly examine afterwards when we come to consider the next step of their Method in dealing with their Converts At present I shall only take notice in the General what way they take to prove this Assertion namely That the Church of Rome is the One True Catholick Church and that is by the Notes and Marks of the True Church which they call their Motives of Credibility because by these they design to perswade them that the Church of Rome is the One True Catholick Church I shall not now reckon up all the Notes and Marks which they give of the True Church but only observe that one of their Principal Marks of the True Church is this That the Faith and Doctrine of it be agreeable to the Doctrine of the Primitive and Apostolick Church i. e. to the Doctrine delivered by our Saviour and his Apostles And this Bellarmine makes one of the Marks of the True Church And they must unavoidably make it so because the True Faith and Doctrine of Christ is that which indeed Constitutes the True Church But if this be an Essential Mark of the True Church then no Man can possibly know the Church of Rome to be the True Church till he have examin'd the particular Doctrines and Practices of it and the Agreement of them with the Primitive Doctrine and Practice of Christianity and this necessarily draws on and engages them in a dispute of the particular Points and Differences betwixt us which is the very thing they would avoid by this Method and which I have now plainly shewed they cannot do because they cannot possibly prove their Church to be the True Church without shewing the Conformity of their Doctrines and Practices to the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive and Apostolick Church and this will give them work enough and will whether they will or no draw them out of their Hold and Fastness which is to amuse People with a general Enquiry Which is the true Church without descending to the Examination of their particular Doctrines and Practices But this they must of necessity come to before they can prove by the Notes and Marks of the True Church that theirs is the True Church And this is a Demonstration that their Method of Satisfaction as it is Unnatural and Unreasonable so it cannot serve the purpose they aim at by it which is to divert Men from the Examination of the particular Points in Difference between the Church of Rome and Us and to gain them over to them by a wile and trick because the very Method they take to prove themselves to be the True Catholick Church will enforce them to justifie all their particular Doctrines and Practices before they can finish this Proof And here we fix our foot That the single Question and Point upon which they would put the whole Issue of the Matter cannot possibly be brought to any reasonable Issue without a particular Discussion and Examination of the Points in Difference betwixt Their Church and Ours and when they can make out these to be agreeable to the Primitive Doctrine and Practice of the Christian Church
was discovered 3. The Decretal Epistles of the Ancient Popes a large Volume of Forgeries compiled by Isidore Mercator to countenance the Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome and of which the Church of Rome made great use for several Ages and pertinaciously defended the Authority of them till the Learned Men of their own Church have at last been forced for very shame to disclaim them and to confess the Imposture of them A like instance whereto is not I hope to be shewn in any Christian Church This is that which St. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the slight of Men such as Gamesters use at Dice for to alledge false and forged Authors in this case is to play with false Dice when the Salvation of Mens Souls lie at stake 11. Our Religion hath this mighty advantage that it doth not decline Tryal and Examination which to any Man of ingenuity must needs appear a very good Sign of an honest Cause but if any Church be shy of having her Religion Examined and her Doctrines and Practices brought into the open light this gives just ground of Suspicion that she hath some distrust of them for Truth doth not seek corners nor shun the light Our Saviour hath told us who they are that love darkness rather than light viz. they whose deeds are Evil for every one saith he that doth Evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved and made manifest There needs no more to render a Religion suspected to a wise Man than to see those who profess it and make such proud boasts of the Truth and Goodness of it so fearful that it should be examin'd and lookt into and that their People should take the liberty to hear and read what can be said against it 12. We perswade Men to our Reliligion by Human and Christian ways such as our Saviour and his Apostles used by urging Men with the Authority of God and with Arguments fetcht from another World The promise of Eternal Life and Happiness and the threatning of Eternal death and Misery which are the proper Arguments of Religion and which alone are fitted to work upon the Minds and Consciences of Men the terror and torture of death may make Men Hypocrites and awe them to profess with their Mouths what they do not believe in their Hearts but this is no proper means of converting the Soul and convincing the Minds and Consciences of Men and these violent and cruel ways cannot be denyed to have been Practised in the Church of Rome and set on foot by the Authority of Councils and greatly countenanced and encouraged by Popes themselves Witness the many Croisades for the extirpation of Hereticks the standing Cruelties of their Inquisition their occasional Massacres and Persecutions of which we have fresh Instances in every Age. But these Methods of Conversion are a certain Sign that they either disturst the Truth and Goodness of their Cause or else that they think Truth and the Arguments for it are of no force when Dragoons are their Ratio ultima the last Reason which their Cause relies upon and the best and most effectual it can afford Again we hold no Doctrines in defiance of the Senses of all Mankind such as is that of Transubstantiation which is now declared in the Church of Rome to be a Necessary Article of Faith so that a Man cannot be of that Religion unless he will renounce his Senses and believe against the clear Verdict of them in a plain sensible matter but after this I do not understand how a Man can believe any thing because by this very thing he destroys and takes away the Foundation of all Certainty if any Man forbid me to believe what I see I forbid him to believe any thing upon better and surer Evidence St. Paul saith that Faith cometh by hearing but if I cannot rely upon the certainty of Sense then the means whereby Faith is conveyed is uncertain and we may say as St. Paul doth in another case Then is our Preaching vain and your Faith also is vain Lastly To mention no more particulars as to several things used and Practised in the Church of Rome we are on the much safer side if we should happen to be mistaken about them than they are if they should be mistaken for it is certainly Lawful to read the Scriptures and Lawful to permit to the People the use of the Scriptures in a known Tongue Otherwise we must condemn the Apostles and the Primitive Church for allowing this Liberty It is certainly Lawful to have the publick Prayers and Service of God celebrated in a Language which all that joyn in it can understand It is certainly Lawful to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to the People in both kinds otherwise the Christian Church would not have done it for a Thousand Years It is certainly Lawful not to Worship Images not to pray to Angels or Saints or the Blessed Virgin otherwise the Primitive Church would not have forborn these Practices for Three Hundred Years as is acknowledged by those of the Church of Rome Suppose a Man should pray to God only and offer up all his Prayers to him only by Jesus Christ without making mention of any other Mediator or Intercessor with God for us relying herein upon what the Apostle says concerning our High Priest Jesus the Son of God Heb. 7 25. That he is able to save them to the utmost who come unto God by him i. e. by his Mediation and Intercession since he ever liveth to make Intercession for them might not a Man reasonably hope to obtain of God all the Blessings he stands in need of by Addressing himself only to him in the Name and by the Intercession of that one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus Nay why may not a Man reasonably think that this is both a shorter and more effectual way to obtain our requests than by turning our selves to the Angels and Saints and importuning them to solicite God for us especially if we should order the matter so as to make ten times more frequent Addresses to these than we do to God and our Blessed Saviour and in comparison of the other to neglect these we cannot certainly think any more able to help us and do us good than the great God of Heaven and Earth the God as St. Paul styles him that heareth Prayers and therefore unto him should all flesh come We cannot certainly think any Intercessor so powerful and prevalent with God as his only and dearly beloved Son offering up our Prayers to God in Heaven by vertue of that most acceptable and invaluable Sacrifice which he offered to him on Earth we cannot surely think that there is so much Goodness any where as in God that in any of the Angels or Saints or even in the Blessed Mother of our Lord there is more Mercy and Compassion for Sinners and a tenderer sense of our Infirmities
after the reality of Religion always remembring that a sincere Piety doth not consist in shew but substance not in appearance but in effect that the Spirit of true Religion is still and calm charitable and peaceable making as little shew and stir as is possible that a truly and sincerely good Man does not affect vain Ostentation and an unseasonable discovery of his good Qualities but endeavours rather really to be than to seem Religious and of the two rather seeks to conceal his Piety than to set it out with pomp gives his Alms privately prays to God in secret and makes no appearance of Religion but in such fruits and effects as cannot be hid in the quiet and silent vertues of Humility and Meekness and Patience of Peace and Charity in governing his Passions and taking heed not to offend with his Tongue by slander and calumny by envious detraction or rash censure or by any word or action that may be to the hurt and prejudice of his Neighbour But on the contrary it is a very ill sign if a Man affect to make a great noise and bustle about Religion if he blow a Trumpet before his good Works and by extraordinary shews of Devotion summon the Eyes of Men to behold him and do as it were call aloud to them to take notice of his Piety and to come to see his zeal for the Lord of Hosts It is not impossible but such a Man with all his vanity and ostentation may have some real goodness in him but he is as the Hypocrites are and does as like one as is possible and by the mighty shew that he makes to wise and considerate Men greatly brings in question the sincerity of his Religion And with the sincerity of our Piety towards God let us joyn the simplicity and integrity of Manners in our Conversation with Men let us strictly charge our selves to use truth and plainness in all our words and doings let our Tongue be ever the true Interpreter of our Mind and our Expressions the lively Image of our Thoughts and Affections and our outward actions exactly agreeable to our inward purposes and intentions Amongst too many other Instances of the great corruption and degeneracy of the Age wherein we live the great and general want of sincerity in Conversation is none of the least the World is grown so full of Dissimulation and Complement that Mens words are hardly any signification of their thoughts and if any Man measure his words by his heart and speak as he thinks and do not express more kindness to every man than men usually have for any man he can hardly escape the censure of rudeness and want of breeding The old English plainness and sincerity that generous integrity of Nature and honesty of Disposition which always argues true greatness of mind and is usually accompanied with undaunted courage and resolution is in a great measure lost amongst us there hath been a long endeavour to transform us into foreign Manners and Fashions and to bring us to a servile imitation of none of the best of our Neighbours in some of the worst of their Qualities The Dialect of Conversation is now adays so swell'd with Vanity and Complement and so surfeited as I may say of expressions of kindness and respect that if a man that lived an Age or two ago should return into the World again he would really want a Dictionary to help him to understand his own Language and to know the true intrinsick value of the phrase in fashion and would hardly at first believe at what a low rate the highest strains and expressions of kindness imaginable do commonly pass in currant payment and when he should come to understand it it would be a great while before he could bring himself with a good Countenance and a good Conscience to converse with Men upon equal terms and in their own way And in truth it is hard to say whether it should more provoke our contempt or our pity to hear what solemn expressions of respect and kindness will pass between men almost upon no occasion how great honour and esteem they will declare for one whom perhaps they never heard of or saw before and how entirely they are all on the sudden devoted to his service and interest for no reason how infinitely and eternally obliged to him for no benefit and how extremely they will be concerned for him yea and afflicted too for no cause I know it is said in justification of this hollow kind of Conversation that there is no harm no real deceit in Complement but the matter is well enough so long as we understand one another Et verba valent ut Nummi Words are like Money and when the currant value of them is generally understood no Man is cheated by them this is something if such words were any thing but being brought into the Account they are meer Cyphers However it is still a just matter of complaint that sincerity and plainness are out of fashion and that our Language is running into a Lye that Men have almost quite perverted the use of Speech and made words to signifie nothing that the greatest part of the Conversation of Mankind and of their intercourse with one another is little else but driving a Trade of Dissimulation insomuch that it would make a Man heartily sick and weary of the World to see the little sincerity that is in use and practice among Men and tempt him to break out into that melancholy Complaint and Wish of the Prophet Jer. 9. O that I had in the Wilderness a lodging-place of way-faring men that I might leave my people and go from them for they are all Adulterers and an assembly of treacherous Men and they bend their tongue like their bow for lies but have no courage for the truth upon earth Take ye heed every one of his Neighbour and trust ye not in any Brother for every Brother will utterly supplant and every Neighbour will walk with slanders Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit one speaketh peaceably to his Neighbour but in his heart he lieth in wait Shall not I visit for these things saith the Lord and shall not my Soul be avenged of such a Nation as this Such were the Manners of the people of Israel at that time which were both the forerunner and the cause of those terrible Calamities which befell them afterwards and this Character agrees but too well to the present Age which is so wretchedly void of Truth and Sincerity for which reason there is the greater need to recommend this Virtue to us which seems to be fled from us that truth and righteousness may return and glory may dwell in our land and God may shew his mercy upon us and grant us his Salvation and Righteousness and Peace may kiss each other To this end give me leave to offer these following Considerations First That Sincerity is the highest commendation and the very best Character that
can be given of any man it is the solid foundation of all Virtue the Heart and Soul of all Piety and Goodness it is in Scripture called perfection and frequently joyned with it and throughout the Bible there is the greatest stress and weight laid upon it it is spoken of as the sum and comprehension of all Religion Only fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth says Joshua to the people of Israel Jos. 24. 14. God takes great pleasure in it so David assures us 1 Chron. 29. 17. I know my God that thou tryest the Heart and hast pleasure in uprightness And again Thou lovest truth in the inward parts To this disposition of mind the promises of divine favour and blessing are particularly made Psal. 15. 1 2. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy Hill He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth from his Heart Psal. 32. 2. Blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth no sin and in whose Spirit there is no guil And 't is observable that this Character of our Saviour here given of Nathaniel is the only full and perfect commendation that we read was ever given by him of any particular person He commends some particular acts of Piety and Virtue in others as St. Peter's confession of him the Faith of the Centurion and of the Woman that was healed by touching the Hem of his Garment the Charity of the Woman that cast her two Mites into the Treasury and the Bounty of that other devout Woman who poured upon him a Box of precious Oyntment But here he gives the particular Character of a good Man when he says of Nathaniel that he was an Israelite indeed in whom was no Guil And the Apostle mentions this quality as the chief ingredient into the Character of the best Man that ever was our blessed Saviour who did no Sin neither was Guil found in his mouth Secondly The rarity of this Virtue is a farther commendation of it A sincerely pious and good Man without any guil or disguise is not a sight to be seen every day Our Saviour in the Text speaks of it as a thing very extraordinary and of special remark and observation and breaks out into some kind of wonder upon the occasion as if to see a Man of perfect integrity and simplicity were an occurrence very rare and unusual and such as calls for our more especial attention and regard Behold saith he an Israelite indeed in whom there is no Guil. Thirdly The want of Sincerity will quite spoil the virtue and acceptance of all our Piety and Obedience and certainly deprive us of the reward of it All that we doe in the service of God all our external obedience to his Laws if not animated by Sincerity is like a Sacrifice without a Heart which is an abomination to the Lord. Fourthly Hypocrisy and Insincerity is a very vain and foolish thing it is designed to cheat others but is in truth a deceiving of our selves No Man would flatter or dissemble did he believe he were seen and discover'd an open Knave is a great Fool who destroys at once both his design and his Reputation and this is the case of every Hypocrite all the disagreement which is between his Tongue and his Thoughts his Actions and his Heart is open to that Eye from which nothing can be hid for the ways of Man are before the Eyes of the Lord and he seeth all his goings there is no darkness nor shadow of Death where the workers of Iniquity may hide themselves Fifthly Truth and Reality have all the advantages of appearance and many more if the shew of any thing be good for any thing I am sure Sincerity is better for why does any man dissemble or seem to be that which he is not but because he thinks it good to have such a quality as he pretends to for to counterfeit and dissemble is to put on the appearance of some real excellency Now the best way in the world for a man to seem to be any thing is really to be what he would seem to be Besides that it is many times as troublesome to make good the pretence of a good quality as to have it and if a man have it not it is ten to one but he is discovered to want it and then all his pains and labour to seem to have it is lost There is something unnatural in Painting which a skilful Eye will easily discern from native Beauty and Complexion It is hard to personate and act a part long for where truth is not at the bottom nature will always be endeavourring to return and will peep out and betray herself one time or other therefore if any man think it convenient to seem Good let him be so indeed and then his Goodness will appear to every body's satisfaction for Truth is convincing and carries it 's own light and evidence along with it and will not only commend us to every Man's Conscience but which is much more to God who searcheth and seeth our Hearts so that upon all accounts Sincerity is true Wisdom Particularly as to the affairs of this World Integrity hath many advantages over all the fine and artificial ways of Dissimulation and Deceit it is much the plainer and easier much the safer and more secure way of dealing in the world it hath less of trouble and difficulty of entanglement and perplexity of danger and hazard in it it is the shortest and nearest way to our end carrying us thither in a straight line and will hold out and last longest The Arts of Deceit and Cunning do continually grow weaker and less effectual and serviceable to them that use them whereas Integrity gains strength by use and the more and longer any Man practiseth it the greater service it does him by confirming his Reputation and encouraging those with whom he hath to do to repose the greater Trust and Confidence in him which is an unspeakable advantage in the business and affairs of life But a Dissembler must always be upon his guard and watch himself carefully that he doth not contradict his own pretence for he acts an unnatural part and therefore must put a continual force and restraint upon himself Truth alwayes lies uppermost and if a Man do not carefully attend he will be apt to bolt it out Whereas he that acts sincerely hath the easiest task in the world because he follows Nature and so is put to no trouble and care about his words and actions he needs not invent any pretences before-hand nor make excuses afterwards for any thing he hath said or done But Insincerity is very troublesome to manage a Man hath so many things to attend to so many ends to bring together as make his life a very perplext and intricate thing Oportet mendacem esse memorem A lyar had need have a good memory lest he contradict at one time what he said at
another but Truth is always consistent with it self and needs nothing to help it out it is always near at hand and sits upon our Lips and is ready to drop out before we are aware whereas a Lye is troublesome and sets a Mans invention upon the Rack and one trick needs a great many more to make it good It is like building upon a false Foundation which continually stands in need of props to shoar it up and proves at last more chargable than to have raised a substantial Building at first upon a true and solid Foundation for Sincerity is firm and substantial and there is nothing hollow and unsound in it and because it is plain and open fears no discovery of which the Crafty Man is always in danger and when he thinks he walks in the dark all his pretences are so transparent that he that runs may read them he is the last Man that finds himself to be found out and whilst he takes it for granted that he makes Fools of others he renders himself ridiculous Add to all this that Sincerity is the most compendious Wisdom and an excellent instrument for the speedy dispatch of Business it creates confidence in those we have to deal with saves the labour of many enquiries and brings things to an issue in few words It is like travelling in a plain beaten Road which commonly brings a Man sooner to his Journeys end than By-ways in which Men often lose themselves In a word whatsoever convenience may be thought to be in falshood and dissimulation it is soon over but the inconvenience of it is perpetual because it brings a Man under an everlasting jealousie and suspicion so that he is not believed when he speaks truth nor trusted when perhaps he means honestly When a Man hath once forfeited the reputation of his Integrity he is set fast and nothing will then serve his turn neither Truth nor Falshood And I have often thought that God hath in great Wisdom hid from Men of false and dishonest minds the wonderful advantages of Truth and Integrity to the prosperity even of our worldly Affairs these Men are so blinded by their Covetousness and Ambition that they cannot look beyond a present advantage nor forbear to seize upon it tho by ways never so indirect They cannot see so far as to the remote Consequences of a steady Integrity and the vast benefit and advantages which it will bring a Man at last Were but this sort of Men wise and clear-sighted enough to discern this they would be honest out of very Knavery not out of any love to Honesty and Vertue but with a crafty design to promote and advance more effectually their own Interests and therefore the Justice of the Divine Providence hath hid this truest point of Wisdom from their Eyes that bad men might not be upon equal Terms with the Just and Upright and serve their own wicked Designs by honest and lawful means Indeed if a man were only to deal in the world for a day and should never have occasion to converse more with Mankind never more need their good opinion or good Word it were then no great matter speaking as to the concernments of this world if a man spent his Reputation all at once and ventured it at one throw but if he be to continue in the world and would have the advantage of Conversation whilst he is in it let him make use of Truth and Sincerity in all his Words and Actions for nothing but this will last and hold out to the end all other Arts will fail but Truth and Integrity will carry a man through and bear him out to the last 'T is the Observation of Solomon Prov. 12. 19. The lip of Truth is established for ever but a lying Tongue is but for a moment And the wiser any man is the more clearly will he discern how serviceable Sincerity is to all the great ends and purposes of humane life and that man hath made a good progress and profited much in the School of Wisdom who valueth Truth and Sincerity according to their worth Every man will readily grant them to be great Vertues and Arguments of a generous mind but that there is so much of true Wisdom in them and that they really serve to profit our interest in this World seems a great Paradox to the generality of Men and yet I doubt not but it is undoubtedly true and generally found to be so in the experience of Mankind Lastly Consider that it is not worth our while to dissemble considering the shortness and especially the uncertainty of our Lives To what purpose should we be so cunning when our abode in this world is so short and uncertain Why should any man by dissembling his Judgment or acting contrary to it incur at once the displeasure of God and the discontent of his own mind Especially if we consider that all our Dissimulation shall one day be made manifest and published on the open Theatre of the World before God Angels and Men to our everlasting Shame and Confusion all Disguise and Vizards shall then be pluckt off and every man shall appear in his true Colours For then the Secrets of Men shall be judged and God will bring every Work into Judgment and every secret thing whether it be Good or whether it be Evil. Nothing is now covered which shall not then be revealed nor hid which shall not then be known Let us then be now what we would 〈◊〉 glad to be found in that day when all pretences shall be examined and the closest Hypocrisie of Men shall be laid open and dasht out of Countenance when the Secrets of all Hearts shall be disclosed and all the hidden Works of Darkness shall be revealed and all our Thoughts Words and Actions shall be brought to a strict and severe Tryal and be censured by that impartial and infallible Judgment of God which is according to Truth In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Glory now and for ever Amen A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL MDCLXXXVI Before the Princess ANN. HEB. XI 17 18 19. By Faith Abraham when he was Tryed offered up Isaac And he that had received the Promises offered up his only begotton 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 THE design of this Epistle to the Hebrews is to recommend to them the Christian Religion to which they were but newly Converted and to encourage them to Constancy in the profession of it notwithstanding the Sufferings which attended it He sets before them in this Chapter several examples in the Old Testament of those who tho they were under a much more imperfect dispensation yet by a stedfast belief in God and his promises had performed such wonderful acts of
could to the Rich Man who was in Hell concerning his Brethren that were upon Earth how they might prevent their coming into that place of Torment And he directs them to the Scriptures as the best and most effectual Means to that purpose They have says he Moses and the Prophets Let them hear them Now if in the Church of God among the Jews the same Course had been taken that is now in the Church of Rome the Rich Man might and in all Reason ought to have replyed Nay Father Abraham But they have not Moses and the Prophets nor are they permitted to Read them in a Language that they can understand And therefore this Advice is of no Vse to them And then he might with Reason have press'd him as he did that one might be sent to them from the Dead to Testifie unto them But it appears that Abraham was very positive and peremptory in this Advice and that he prefers the Knowledge of the Scriptures to any other Way and Means that could be thought of and that if this had not its Effect to perswade Men to Repentance and to preserve them from Hell he did not know any thing else that was so likely to do it For he concludes If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded the One rose from the Dead And this is the Conclusion of the Parable Which plainly shews what was the main Scope and Design of our Saviour in it namely to recommend to us the Use of the Holy Scriptures as the best and most effectual Means which the Wisdom of God hath provided for the Salvation of Mankind And now any Man would be apt to think that the declared Judgment of our Saviour in the case should go a great way even with the most Infallible Church in the World However this we must say that it is in truth a very hard case to which the Church of Rome hath reduced Men that it will neither allow them Salvation out of their Church nor the best and most effectual Means of Salvation when they are in it I might say much more upon this Head but this I hope may be sufficient The next Instance shall be in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation which is contrary to the Scriptures which after Consecration so frequently call the Elements Bread and Wine and which without Reason or Necessity puts an absurd and impossible Sense upon those words of our Saviour This is my Body which do no more prove Transubstantiation than those words This Cup is the New Testament do prove that the material Cup which was used in the Sacrament was substantially changed into the New Testament And no more than those Texts which affirm God to have Eyes and Ears and Hands do prove that he really hath so But besides the Contrariety of this Doctrine to Scripture nothing can be more repugnant to Reason It is so big with Contradictions and so surfeited of Impossibilities that it would be Endless to reckon them up And besides all this it plainly contradicts the clear and constant Evidence of Four of our Five Senses which whoever contradicts undermines the Foundation of all Certainty And then the Communion in one kind is plainly contrary to our Saviour's Institution of the Sacrament in both kinds as they themselves acknowledge And therefore the Council of Constance being sensible of this was forced to Decree it with an express Non obstante to the Institution of Christ and the Practice of the Apostles and the Primitive Church And their Doctrine of Concomitancy as if the Blood were in the Flesh and together with it will not help the matter Because in the Sacrament Christ's Body is represented as broken and pierced and exhausted and drain'd of its Blood and his Blood is represented as shed and poured out so that one Kind can by no means contain and exhibit both The next Instance is the Repetition of Christ's Propitiatory Sacrifice in the Mass so often as That is celebrated Against all Reason because the Sacrifice of Christ once offered upon the Cross was a full and perfect Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World and therefore ought not because it needs not to be again repeated for that End in any manner whatsoever And it is directly contrary to the main Scope of a great part of this Epistle to the Hebrews which shews the Excellency of the Gospel above the Law in this respect That the Expiatory Sacrifice of the Gospel was offered once for all whereas the Sacrifices of the Law were perpetually repeated Chap. 7. 27. Speaking of Christ who needs not daily as those High-priests to offer up Sacrifices first for his own Sins and then for the Peoples for this he did once when he offered up himself Chap. 9. 26. But once in the End of the World hath he appeared to take away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself And as it is appointed for all Men once to dye so Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many And Chap. 10. 10. By the which Will we are sanctified through the Offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all And Verse the 12. But this Man after he had offered one Sacrifice for Sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God And Verse the 14. For by one Offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified There cannot be plainer Texts for any thing in the Bible than that this Propitiatory Sacrifice was never to be repeated And whereas they say that the Sacrifice of the Mass is an unbloody Sacrifice This instead of bringing them off doth but intangle the Matter more For if Blood be offered in the Sacrifice of the Mass how is it an unbloody Sacrifice What can be more bloody than Blood And if Blood be not offered how is it Propitiatory Since the Apostle lays it down for a Certain Rule That without shedding of Blood there is no Remission of Sins i. e. There can be no Propitiation for the Sins of the Living or the Dead which the Church of Rome affirms there is I might have added one or two Instances more and then should have proceeded to shew in the Third place That we are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all the Temtations and Terrors of the World which is more especially and principally here intended by the Apostle in this Exhortation But I shall proceed no farther at present A SERMON ON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised IN these words I have told you are contained I. An Exhortation to hold fast the profession of our faith or hope without wavering II. An Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that promised I am yet upon the first of these the Exhortation to Christians to be Constant and Steady in the Profession of their Religion Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering And that we
will not be proved without so much Trouble and Difficulty that it is better to let them alone and by the confident Assertion of them by Importunity and by any other fair means to get them believed without Proof of this stubborn sort of Propositions which will admit of no Proof This is one That a Part is the Whole or which is all one Thâ—â— the Roman Church is the Catholick Church For that it is but a Part of the Christian Church and not the best Part neither but perhaps the very worst and most corrupt of all the rest is no difficult matter to prove and hath been often done But now to prove the Church of Rome to be the Catholick Church that is the whole Society of all True Christians in the World these following Particulars ought to be clearly shewn and made out 1. A plain Constitution of our Saviour whereby St. Peter and his Successors at Rome are made the Supream Head and Pastors of the whole Christian Church For St. Peter first Can they shew any such Constitution in the Gospel or can they produce the least Proof and Evidence out of the History of the Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles that St. Peter was acknowledg'd for such by the rest of the Apostles Nay is there not clear evidence there to the contrary that in the first Council of the Christian Church at Jerusalem St. James the Bishop of Jerusalem was if not Superior at least equal to him Does St. Paul acknowledg any Superiority of St. Peter over him Nay does he not upon several occasions declare himself equal to the chiefest Apostles even to St. Peter himself And is this Consistent with a plain Constitution of our Lord's makeing St. Peter Supream Head and Pastor of the Christian Church But suppose this to have been so where doth it appear by any Constitution of our Saviour that this Authority was derived to his Successors And if it were why to his Successors at Rome rather than at Antioch where he was first and unquestionably Bishop They must acknowledg that when he was Bishop of Antioch he was the Supream Head and Pastor of the whole Christian Church and then the Style must have been the Antiochian Catholick Church as it is now the Roman Catholick But do they find any footsteps of such a Style in Ecclesiastical History 2. To make good this Proposition That the Roman Church is the Catholick Church they are in consequence obliged to affirm and believe That the Churches of Asia which were Excommunicated by the Bishops of Rome for not keeping Easter as They did and the Churches of Asia and Africa who were Excommunicated by the same Bishop upon the Point of Rebaptizing Hereticks that all these by being turn'd out of the Communion of the Roman Church were also Cut off from the Catholick Church and from a possibility of Salvation This the Church of Rome themselves will not affirm and yet if to be cast out of the Communion of the Roman and the Catholick Church be all one they must affirm it 3. In consequence of this Proposition That the Church of Rome is the Catholick Church they ought to hold that all Baptism out of the Communion of Their Church is void and of none effect For if it be good then it makes the Persons baptized Members of the Catholick Church and then those that are out of the Communion of the Roman Church may be true Members of the Catholic Church and then the Roman and the Catholick Church are not all one But the Church of Rome holds the Baptism of Hereticks and of those that are out of the Communion of Their Church to be good which is a Demonstration that the Roman Church neither is the Catholick Church nor if she believe consistently can she think her self to be so 4. In consequence of this Proposition all the Christians in the World which do not yield Subjection to the Bishop of Rome and acknowledg his Supremacy are no true parts of the Catholick Church nor in a possibility of Salvation And this does not only exclude those of the Reform'd Religion from being Members of the Catholick Church but the Greeks and the Eastern Churches i. e. Four of the Five Patriarchal Churches of the Christian World which taken together are really greater than those in Communion with the Church of Rome And this the Church of Rome does affirm concerning all those Churches and Christians which refuse Subjection to the Bishop of Rome that they are out of the Communion of the Catholick Church and a capacity of Salvation But surely it is not possible that the True Catholick Church of Christ can have so little Charity as this comes to and to a wise Man there needs no other Demonstration than this That the Church of Rome is so far from being the Whole Christian Church that it 's a very Arrogant and Uncharitable Part of it Fifthly and Lastly In consequence of the Truth of this Proposition and of the Importance of it to the Salvation of Souls and to the Peace and Unity of the Christian Church they ought to produce express Mention of the Roman Catholick Church in the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church For if this Proposition That the Roman Church is the Catholick be true it was always so and always of the greatest Importance to the Salvation of Men and the Peace and Unity of the Christian Church and if it were so and always believed to be so by the Christian Church as they pretend What reason can be imagin'd why the Ancient Christian Church should never say so nor put an Article of such Consequence and Importance in express Words in their Creeds nor why they should not have used the Style of Roman Catholick as familiarly then as they do now in the Roman Church A plain Evidence that this is a new Style which they use when they give themselves the Title of the Roman Catholick Church and that the Ancient Christian Church knew better than to call one Part of the Catholick Church the Whole I am sure that AEneas Sylvius who was afterwards Pope Pius the Second says that before the Council of Nice little respect was had to the Roman Church But how does this consist with their present Pretence that the Roman Church is and always hath been the Catholick Church and that the Bishop of Rome is by Christ's appointment the Supream Pastor and Visible Head of the whole Christian Church Is it possible that this should be believed in the Christian Church before the Council of Nice and yet little respect to be had at that time to the Roman Church This indeed was said by AEneas Sylvius before he sate in the Infallible Chair but is never the less true for that 5ly The next step of their Method is That the Roman Church is Infallible and by this means They have a certain remedy against Heresie and a Judge of Controversies from which there is no Appeal which We want in Our
Scripture or in the Doctrine and Practice of the Ancient Christian Church any Command or Example for the Worship of Images for the Invocation of Saints and Angels and the Blessed Virgin which do now make a great part of their Religion Nay is not the Doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Ancient Fathers plainly against all these Practices With what face then can it be said That the Church of Rome hath made a constant Visible Profession of the same Faith and Practice in all Ages from the time of Christ and his Apostles Or would the primitive Church of Rome if it should now visit the Earth again own the present Church of Rome to be the same in all Matters of Faith and practice that it was when they left it And whereas they demand of Us to shew a Visible Church from the time of Christ and his Apostles that hath always opposed the Church of Rome in those points of Doctrine and Practice which we Object to them what can be more impertinent than this Demand When they know that in all these Points we charge them with Innovations in Matters of Faith and Practice and say that those things came in by degrees several Ages after the Apostles time some sooner some later as we are able to make good and have done it And would they have us shew them a Visible Church that opposed these Errors and Corruptions in their Church before ever they appeared This we do not pretend to shew And supposing they had not been at all opposed when they appeared nor a long time after not till the Reformation yet if they be Errors and Corruptions of the Christian Doctrine and contrary to the Holy Scriptures and to the Faith and Practice of the Primitive Church there is no Prescription against Truth 'T is never too late for any Church to reject those Errors and Corruptions and to reform it self from them The bottom of all this Matter is they would have us to shew them a Society of Christians that in all Ages hath preserved it self free from all such Errors and Corruptions as we charge them withall or else we deny the Perpetual Visibility of the Catholick Church No such matter We say the Church of Christ hath always been Visible in every Age since Christ's time and that the several Societies of Christians professing the Christian Doctrine and Laws of Christ have made up the Catholick Church some parts whereof have in several Ages fallen into great Errors and Corruptions and no part of the Catholick into more and greater than the Church of Rome So that it requires the utmost of our Charity to think that they are a true tho a very unsound and corrupt Part of the Catholick Church of Christ. We acknowledge likewise that We were once involved in the like Degeneracy but by the mercy of God and pious care and prudence of those that were in Authority are happily rescued out of it and tho' we were not out of the Catholick Church before yet since our Reformation from the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome we are in it upon better Terms and are a much sounder Part of it and I hope by the Mercy and Goodness of God we shall for ever continue so So that to the Perpetual Visibility of Christ's Church it is not necessary that the whole Christian Church or indeed that any Part of it should be free from all Errors and Corruptions Even the Churches planted by the Apostles in the Primitive Times were not so St. Paul reproves several Doctrines and Practices in the Church of Corinth and of Colosse and of Galatia and the Spirit of God several Things in the Seven Churches of Asia and yet all these were true Parts and Members of the Catholick Church of Christ notwithstanding these Faults and Errors because they all agreed in the Main and Essential Doctrines of Christianity And when more and greater Corruptions grew upon the Church or any part of it the greater reason and need there was of a Reformation And as every particular Person hath a right to reform any thing that he finds amiss in himself so far as concerns himself so much more every National Church hath a Power within it self to reform it self from all Errors and Corruptions and by the Sanction of the Catholick Authority to confirm that Reformation which is our Case here in England And whatever part of the Church how great and eminent soever excludes from her Communion such a National Church for reforming her self from plain Errors and Corruptions clearly condemned by the Word of God and by the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Christian Church is undoubtedly Guilty of Schism And this is the Truth of the Case between us and the Church of Rome And no blind talk about a Perpetual Visible Church can render Us guilty of Schism for making a Real Reformation or acquit Them of it for casting us out of their Communion for that Cause 7. And Lastly to mention no more they pretend that we delude the People by laying too much stress upon Scripture and making it the only Rule of Faith and Manners whereas Scripture and Tradition together make up the entire Rule of Faith and not Scripture Interpreted by every Mans private Fancy but by Tradition carefully preserved in the Church So that it ought to be no wonder if several of their Doctrines and Practices cannot be so clearly made out by Scripture or perhaps seem contrary to it as it may be expounded by a private Spirit but not as Interpreted by the Tradition of the Church which can only give the true Sense of Scripture And therefore they are to understand that several of those Doctrines and Practices which we Object against are most clearly proved by the Tradition of their Church which is of equal Authority with Scripture In this Objection of theirs which they design for the Cover of all their Errors and Corruptions there are several things distinctly to be considered which I shall do as briefly as I can First Whereas it is suggested That We delude the People by laying too much stress upon the Scriptures which certainly we cannot well do if it be the Word of God it ought to be considered whether They do not delude and abuse them infinitely more in keeping the Scriptures from them and not suffering them to see That which they cannot deny to be at least a considerable Part of the Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice Doth it not by this dealing of theirs appear very suspicious that they are extreamly afraid that the People should examine their Doctrine and Practice by this Rule For what other Reason can they have to conceal it from them Secondly Whereas they affirm that Scripture alone is not the Rule of Christian Faith and Practice but that Scripture and Oral Tradition preserved in the Church and delivered down from hand to hand makes up the entire Rule I would fain know whence they learn'd this new Doctrine
of the Rule of Faith I know that the Council of Trent declares it for the Rule they intend to proceed upon and make use of for the Confirmation and Proof of their following Determinations and Decrees But did any of the ancient Councils of the Christian Church lay down this Rule and proceed upon it Did not Constantine the Emperour at the opening of the First General Council lay the Bible before them as the only Rule according to which they were to proceed and this with the Approbation of all those Holy Fathers that were assembled in that Council And did not following Councils proceed upon the same Rule Do any of the ancient Fathers ever mention any Rule of Christian Faith and Practice besides the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Creed which because it is an Abridgment of the necessary Articles of Christian Faith contained in the Holy Scriptures is by them frequently called the Rule of Faith Do not the same Fathers frequently and expresly say That the Scriptures are a perfect Rule and that all things are plainly contained in them which concern Faith and Life and that whatever cannot be proved by Testimony of Scripture is to be rejected All this I am sure I can make good by innumerable express Testimonies of the ancient Fathers which are well known to those that are versed in them By what Authority then hath the Council of Trent set up this new Rule unknown to the Christian Church for 1500 Years and who gave them this Authority The plain truth is the necessity of it for the Defence of the Errors and Corruptions which they had embraced and were resolved not to part with forced them to lengthen out the Rule the old Rule of the Holy Scriptures being too short for their purpose Thirdly Whereas they pretend that Holy Scripture as expounded by a private Spirit may not seem so favourable to some of their Doctrines and Practices yet as interpreted by Tradition which can only give the true Sense of Scripture it agrees very well with them I suppose they mean that whereas a private Spirit would be apt to understand some Texts of Scripture as if People were to search and read the Scripture Tradition interprets those Texts in a quite other Sense that People are not to be permitted to read the Holy Scriptures A private Spirit would be apt to understand St. Paul's Discourse in the 14th of the 1st to the Corinthians to be against Celebrating Prayer and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue as being contrary to Edification and indeed to common Sense For he says If one should come and find them speaking and praying in an unknown Tongue will they not say Ye are mad But now Tradition which only knows how to give the true Sense can reconcile this Discourse of St. Paul very easily with the Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter And so likewise the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians with the Worship of Angels and the Epistle to the Hebrews with offering the Propitiatory Sacrifice of Christ in the Mass a Thousand times every Day And to give but one Instance more Whereas a Man by his private Spirit would be very apt to understand the Second Commandment to forbid all Worship of Images Tradition discovers the meaning of this Commandment to be that due Veneration is to be given to them So that at this rate of interpreting Scripture by Tradition it is impossible to fix any Objection from Scripture upon any Doctrine or Practice which they have a mind to maintain Fourthly Whereas they pretend the Tradition of their Church delivered from the Mouth of Christ or dictated by the Holy Spirit and brought down to them and preserved by continnal Succession in the Church to be of equal Authority with the Word of God for so the Council of Trent says That the Holy Synod doth receive and venerate these Traditions with equal pious Affection and Reverence as they do the written Word of God This we must declare against as unreasonable in it self to make Tradition conveyed by Word of Mouth from one to another through so many Ages and liable to so many Mistakes and Miscarriages to be at the distance of 1500 Years of equal Certainty and Authority with the Holy Scriptures carefully preserved and transmitted down to us because this as I said before is to make common Rumor and Report of equal Authority and Certainty with a written Record And not only so but hereby they make the Scriptures an imperfect Rule contrary to the declared Judgment of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Christian Church and so in truth they set up a new Rule of Faith whereby they change the Christian Religion For a new Rule of Faith and Religion makes a new Faith and Religion This we charge the Church of Rome with and do challenge them to shew this new Rule of Faith before the Council of Trent and consequently where their Religion was before that Council to shew a Religion consisting of all those Articles which are defined by the Council of Trent as necessary to Salvation and established upon this new Rule professed by any Christian Church in the World before that time And as they have pitch'd upon a new Rule of Faith so it is easie to see to what End For take Pope Pius IV. his Creed and we may see where the Old and New Religion parts even at the end of the Twelve Articles of the Aplostles Creed which was the ancient Christian Faith to which are added in Pope Pius his Creed Twelve Articles more defined in the Council of Trent and supported only by Tradition So that as the Scripture answers for the Twelve old Articles which are plainly contained there so Tradition is to answer for the Twelve new ones And therefore the matter was calculated very exactly when they make Tradition just of equal Authority with the Scriptures because as many Articles of Their Faith were to be made good by it and rely upon it as those which are proved by the Authority of Scripture But that Tradition is of equal Authority with the Scriptures we have nothing in the whole World for it but the bare Assertion of the Council of Trent I should now have added some other Considerations tending to confirm and establish us in our Religion against the Pretences and Insinuations of Seducing Spirits But I shall proceed no farther at present The Tenth Sermon as number'd follows THere is a mistake in Numbering of these Sermons The Tenth should be called the Ninth and so on to the end For there are but Fifteen Sermons in this Volume and should be no more A SERMON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised THESE words contain an Exhortation to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and an Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that hath promised By the Exhortation to hold fast the
and Terrors of Sense Our Faith and Hope have not their due and proper Influence upon us if they do not govern our Lives and Actions and make us stedfast in the Profession of our Holy Religion and in the Conscientious Practice of it St. Paul reason'd himself into this Holy Resolution from the Hopes of a blessed Resurrection Acts 24. 15 16. I have Hope says he toward God that there shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the Just and Vnjust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For this cause therefore I exercise my self always to have a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Men. VI. And Lastly If we be Sojourners and Travellers in this World we should often think of our End and carefully mind the Way to it Our End is Everlasting Happiness and the direct Way to it is by a constant and sincere and universal Obedience to the Laws and Commandments of God And this in it self is so plain a way that a sincere and honest Man can hardly err in it And therefore we must not suffer our selves to be led and trained out of it upon any Pretence whatsoever not by the Wild-fire of pretended Illuminations and Enthusiasms nor by the confident Pretence of an Infallible Guide that will needs shew us another way and perswade us to follow him blindfold in it Let us not quit the Infallible Rule of God's Word to follow any Guide whatsoever If an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Doctrine and Way to Heaven let him be accursed He who is the Way and the Truth and the Life when he was consulted with about the Way to Eternal Happiness knew no other but this For when the Young Man ask'd him Good Master what good thing shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life His Answer was If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments 'T is true indeed that by reason of our corrupt Inclinations within and powerful Temptations without this Way especially at our first setting out is rugged and difficult So our Lord hath forewarned us telling us That strait is the Gate and narrow is the Way that leadeth to Life and that there be few that find it Therefore we should strive to enter in take great Care and Pains to discern the Right Way and to overcome the Difficulties of our first Entrance into it and should often pray to God as David did Psalm 119. 19. I am a Stranger in the Earth hide not thy Commandments from me And Psalm 139. 23 24. Search me O God and know my Heart try me and know my Thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the Way Everlasting Thus if we would always have our End in our Eye it would both be a Direction to us in our Way and an Encouragement to quicken our Pace in it there being no more powerful Motive to a good Life than to be assured that if we have our Fruit unto Holiness our End shall be Everlasting Life FINIS ERRATA PAge 16. l. 26. r. Complement p. 28. l. 6. r. Nathanael p. 63. l. 20. after so dele p. 78. l. 19. r. Providence p. 80. l. 4. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 88. l. 11. after Comparison put p. 97. l. 26. r. farther p. 98. l. 16. r. fared p. 104. l. 15. r. established p. 110. l. ult dele p. 130. l. 15. r. sleight p. 142. l. 13. r. against p. 292. l. 1. r. infinitely p. 295. l. 18. after Confession dele p. 298. l. 24. after World put l. ult after Men put a Full Point p. 299. l. 21. r. distrust p. 303. l. 9. after God put l. 11. after us put a Full Point p. 313. l. 8. r. sufficiently p. 426. l. 7. r. goes off BOOKS Printed for Richard Chiswell DR THOMAS TENISON now Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Sermon concerning Discretion in giving Alms. 1668. His Sermon against Self-love before the House of Commons 1689. His Sermon of doing Good to Posterity before Their Majesties 1690. His Sermon concerning the Wandring of the Mind in God's Service before the Queen Feb. 15. 1690. His Sermon of the Folly of Atheism before the Queen Feb. 22. 1690. His Sermon preached at the Anniversary Meeting of the Clergy-mens Sons Decemb. 3. 1691. His Sermon concerning the Celestial Body of a Christian before the Queen on Easter-Day 1694. His Sermon concerning Holy Resolution before the King at Kensington Decemb. 30. 1694 on Psal. 119. 106. His Sermon at the Funeral of the Queen in the abby-Abby-Church in Westminster March 5. 1694 5. Dr. BVRNET Lord Bishop of Sarum his Discourse of the Pastoral Care 8vo His Four Discourses delivered to the Clergy of the Diocess of Sarum Concerning I. The Truth of the Christian Religion II. The Divinity and Death of Christ. III. The Infallibility and Authority of the Church IV. The Obligations to continue in the Communion of the Church 8vo 1694. His Sermon at the Funeral of Archbishop Tillotson 1694. His Sermon Preach'd before the King at St. James's Chappel on the 10th of February 1694 5 being the first Sunday in Lent on 2 Cor. 6. 1. Dr. PATRICK now Lord Bishop of Ely his Hearts-Ease or a Remedy against all Troubles With a Consolatory Discourse particularly directed to those who have lost their Friends and Relations To which is added two Papers printed in the time of the late Plague The sixth Edition corrected 12mo 1695. His Answer to a Book spread abroad by the Romish Priests Intituled The Touch-Stone of the Reformed Gospel wherein the true Doctrine of the Church of England and many Texts of the Holy Scripture are faithfully explained 8vo 1692. His Eight several occasional Sermons since the Revolution 4to His Exposition of the Ten Commandments 8vo A Vindication of their Majesty's Authority to fill the Sees of deprived Bishops In a Letter occasioned by Dr. B 's refusal of the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells 4to Rushworth's Historical Collections The Third Part in Two Volumes Containing the Principal Matters which happened from the meeting of the Parliament Nov. 3. 1640. to the end of the Year 1644. Wherein is a particular Account of the Rise and Progress of the Civil War to that Period Fol. 1692. The Letters of the Reverend Father Paul Counsellor of State to the most Serene Republick of Venice and Author of the Excellent History of the Council of Trent 1693. An Impartial History of the late Wars of Ireland In Two Parts From the time that Duke Schomberg landed with an Army in that Kingdom to the 23d of March 1692. when their Majesty's Proclamation was published declaring the War to be ended Illustrated with Copper Sculptures describing the most important Places of Action Written by George Story an Eye-witness of the most remarkable Passages 4to 1693. Dr. John Conant's Sermons Publish'd by Dr. Williams 1693. 8vo Of the Government of the Thoughts The Second Edition By Geo. Tully Sub-Dean of York 8vo 1694. Origo Legum Or A Treatise of the Origine of Laws and their Obliging Power as also of their great Variety and why some Laws are immutable and some not but may suffer change or cease to be or be suspended or abrogated In Seven Books By George Dawson Fol. 1694. A brief Discourse concerning the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer in Answer to a Book intituled A Brief Discourse of the Vnlawfulness of Common-Prayer-Worship By John Williams D. D. 4to 1694. A true Representation of the absurd and mischievous Principles of the Sect commonly known by the Name of Muggletonians 4to 1694. Memoirs of the most Reverend THOMAS CRANMER Archbishop of Canterbury Wherein the History of the Church and the Reformation of it during the Primacy of the said Archbishop are greatly illustrated and many singular Matters relating thereunto now first published In Three Books Collected chiefly from Records Registers Authentick Letters and other Original Manuscripts By John Strype M. A. Fol. 1694. A Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis By the Right Reverend Father in God Simon Lord Bishop of Ely 4to 1695. The History of the Troubles and Tryal of the Most Reverend Father in God WILLIAM LAVD Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Wrote by himself during his Imprisonment in the Tower To which is prefixed the Diary of his own Life faithfully and entirely published from the Original Copy And subjoyned a Supplement to the preceding History the Arch-Bishop's Last Will His Large Answer to the Lord Say's Speech concerning Liturgies His Annual Accounts of his Province deliver'd to the King and some other Things relating to the History Publish'd by Henry Wharton Chaplain to Archbishop Sancroft Fol. The Possibility and Expediency and Necessity of Divine Revelation A Sermon preach'd at St. Martin's in the Fields January 7. 1694 5. at the beginning of the Lecture for the ensuing Year Founded by the Honourable Rob. Boyle Esq by John Williams D. D. The Certainty of Divine Revelation being his Second Sermon preach'd at the said Lecture Feb. 4. 1695. His Vindication of the Sermons of his Grace John Archbishop of Canterbury concerning the Divinity and Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour and of the Lord Bishop of Worcester's Sermon on the Mysteries of the Christian Faith from the Exceptions of a late Socinian Book Intituled Considerations on the Explications of the Doctrine of the Trinity To which is annexed a Letter from the Lord Bishop of Sarum to the Author of the said Vindication on the same Subject 1695. 4to Historia de Episcopis Decanis Londinensibus necnon de Episcopis Decanis Assavensibus à prima utriusque fundatione ad Annum MDXL. Accessit Appendix instrumentorum quorundam insignium duplex Autore Henrico Whartono A. M. 8vo 1695. An Essay on the Memory of the late QUEEN By Gilbert Bishop of Sarum 8vo Advertisement THere will be published several Sermons and Discourses of the most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury by order of his Administratrix faithfully transcribed from his own Papers by Dr. Ralph Barker Chaplain to his Grace Which are disposed of to Richard Chiswell and his Assigns If any Person Print any others except those published in the Author's Life-time they are to be look'd upon as Spurious and False And the Publishers will be proceeded against according to Law
is faithful that promised I Have already made entrance into these Words which I told you do contain in them I. An Exhortation to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering II. An Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is Faithful that promised If we continue stedfast and faithful to God we shall find him faithful to us in making good all the Promises which he hath made to us whether of Aid and Support or of Recompence and Reward of our Fidelity to him I have begun to handle the First part of the Text viz. The Apoostles Exhortation to Christians to be constant and steady in their Religion Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering The Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render without wavering signifies inflexible and unmovable not apt to waver and to be shaken with every Wind of contrary Doctrine nor by the Blasts and Storms of Persecution And that we might the better comprehend the full and true meaning of this Exhortation I propounded to do these Two things 1. To shew Negatively wherein this Constancy and Steadiness in the Profession of the true Religion doth not consist And 2. To shew Positively what is implied and intended here by the Apostle in holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering 1. To shew Negatively wherein this Constancy and the Steadiness in the Profession of the true Religion doth not consist This I spake to the last Day and shewed at large that there are Two things which are not contained and intended in this Exhortation 1. That Men should not have the Liberty to examine their Religion and to enquire into the Grounds and Reasons of it Such I mean as are capable of this examination and enquiry which some I shewed are not as Children who while they are in that state are only fit to learn and believe what is taught them by their Parents and Teachers And likewise such grown Persons as either by the natural Weakness of their Faculties or by some great Disadvantage of Education are of a very low and mean Capacity and Improvement of Understanding These are to be considered as in the condition of Children and Learners and therefore must of necessity trust and rely upon the Judgment of others 2. This holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering does not imply that when Men upon examination and enquiry are settled as they think and verily believe in the true Religion they should obstinately refuse to hear any Reason that can be offer'd againg them Both these Principles I shew'd to be unreasonable and Arguments of a bad Cause and Religion I shall now proceed to explain the meaning of this Exhortation To hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering by shewing in the Second place what it is that is implied in the constant and steady Profession of the true Faith and Religion namely That when upon due search and examination we are fully satisfied that it is the true Religion which we have embraced or as St. Peter expresses it 1st Epistle 5. 12. That this is the true Grace of God wherein we stand that then we should adhere stedfastly to it and hold it fast and not suffer it to be wrested from us nor our selves to be moved from it by any Pretences or Insinuations or Temptations whatsoever For there is a great deal of difference between the Confidence and Stedfastness of an Ignorant Man who hath never considered Things and enquired into the Grounds of them and the Assurance and Settlement of one who hath been well instructed in his Religion and hath taken pains to search and examine to the bottom the Grounds and Reasons of what he holds and professeth to believe The first is meer Wilfulness and Obstinacy A Man hath entertained and drank in such Principles of Religion by Education or hath taken them up by Chance but he hath no Reason for them and yet however he came by them he is resolved to hold them fast and not to part with them The other is the Resolution and Constancy of a Wise Man He hath embraced his Religion upon good Grounds and he sees no Reason to alter it and therefore is resolved to stick to it and to hold fast the Profession of it stedfastly to the end And to this purpose there are many Exhortations and Cautions scattered up and down the Writings of the holy Apostles as that we should be stedfast and unmoveable established in the Truth rooted and grounded in the Faith and that we should hold fast that which is good and not suffer our selves to be carried to and fro with every wind of Doctrine through the slight of Men and the cunning craftiness of those that lie in wait to deceive that we should not be removed from him that hath called us unto the grace of Christ unto another Gospel that we should stand fast in one Spirit and one Mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel and be â—n nothing terrifled by our Adversaries and that if occasion be we should contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints and here in the Text That we should hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering For the explaining of this I shall do two Things 1. Consider what it is that we are to hold fast namely the profession of our Faith And 2. How we are to hold it fast or what is implied in holding fast the profession of our Faith without wavering 1. What it is that we are to hold fast namely the profession of our Faith i. e. of the Christian Faith or Religion For I told you before that this Profession or Confession of our Faith or Hope as the word properly signifies is an Allusion to that Profession of Faith which was made by all those who were admitted Members of the Christian Church by Baptism of which the Apostle makes mention immediately before the Text when he says Let us draw near in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure Water And then it follows Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering The Profession of Faith which we made in our Baptisms and which by the Ancient Fathers is call'd the Rule of Faith and which is now contain'd in that which we call the Apostles Creed and which is called by St. Paul Rom. 6. 17. the Form of Doctrine which was delivered to them i. e. to all Christians and 2 Tim. 1. 13. the Form of sound Words Hold fast saith he the Form of sound Words which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus and by St. Jude The Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints So that it is the first and ancient Faith of the Christian Church delivered to them by Christ and his Apostles which we are here exhorted to hold fast the necessary and fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith
and by consequence all those Truths which have a necessary Connexion with those Articles and are implied in them and by plain Consequence are to be deduced from them It is not the doubtful and uncertain Traditions of Men nor the partial Dictates and Doctrines of any Church since the Primitive Times which are not contained in the Holy Scriptures and the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church but have been since declared and imposed upon the Christian World though with never so confident a pretence of Antiquity in the Doctrines and of Infallibility in the Proposers of them These are no part of that Faith which we are either to profess or to hold fast because we have no reason to admit the Pretences by virtue whereof those Doctrines or Practices are imposed being able to make it good and having effectually done it that those Doctrines are not of Primitive Antiquity and that the Church which proposeth them hath no more claim to Infallibility than all other Parts of the Christian Church which since the Apostles time is none at all In a word No other Doctrines which are not sufficiently revealed in Scripture either in express Terms or by plain and necessary Consequence nor any Rites of Worship nor Matters of Practice which are not commanded in Scripture are to be esteemed any part of that Faith in Re-Religion the Profession whereof the Apostle here Commands all Christians to hold fast without wavering much less any Doctrines or Practices which are repugnant to the Word of God and to the Faith and Practice of the first Ages of Christianity of which kind I shall have occasion in my following Discourse to instance in several Particulars In the mean time I shall only observe That that Faith and Religion which we profess and which by God's Grace we have ever held fast is that which hath been acknowledg'd by all Christian Churches in all Ages to have been the ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith and cannot as to any part or tittle of it be denied to be so even by the Church of Rome her self I proceed to the II d Thing which I proposed to consider namely how we are to hold fast the profession of our Faith or what is implied by the Apostle in this Exhortation To hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering And I think these following Particulars may very well be supposed to be implied in it 1. That we should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support their Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrours of the World 4. Against all vain Promises of being put into a safer Condition and groundless Hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier terms in another Religion 5. Against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose Design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to gain Proselytes to their own Party and Faction I shall go over these with as much Clearness and Brevity as I can 1. We should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence All Religion is either Natural or Instituted The Rule of Natural Religion is the common Reason of Mankind The Rule of Instituted Religion is divine Revelation or the Word of God which all Christians before the Council of Trent did agree to be contained in the Holy Scriptures So that nothing can pretend to be Religion but what can be proved to be so One or both of those ways either by Scripture or by Reason or by both And how confident soever Men may be of Opinions destitute of this Proof any Man that understands the Grounds of Religion will without any more ado reject them for want of this proof and notwithstanding any pretended Authority or Infallibility of the Church that imposeth them will have no more Consideration and Regard of them than of the confident Dictates and Assertions of any Enthusiast whatsoever because there is no reason to have regard to any Man's Confidence if the Arguments and Reasons which he brings bear no proportion to it We see in Experience that Confidence is generally ill grounded and is a kind of Passion in the Understanding and is commonly made use of like Fury and Force to supply for the weakness and want of Argument If a Man can prove what he says by good Argument there is no need of Confidence to back and support it We may at any time trust a plain and substantial Reason and leave it to make its own way and to bear out its self But if the man's Reasons and Arguments be not good his Confidence adds nothing of real Force to them in the Opinion of Wise men and tends only to its own Confusion Arguments are like Powder which will carry and do execution according to its true strength and all the rest is but noise And generally none are so much to be suspected of Errour or a Design to deceive as those that pretend most confidently to Inspiration and Infallibility As we see in all sorts of Enthusiasts who pretend to Inspiration although we have nothing but their own word for it for they work no Miracles And all pretence to Inspiration and Infallibility without Miracle whether it be in particular Persons or in whole Churches is Enthusiastical i. e. a Pretence to Inspiration without any Proof of it And therefore St. Paul was not moved by the Boasting and Confidence of the false Apostles because they gave no Proof and Evidence of their Divine Inspiration and Commission as he had done for which he appeals to the Sense of Men Whether he had not wrought great Miracles which the false Apostles had not done though they had the confidence to give out themselves to be Apostles as well as he 2 Cor. 12. 11 12. I am says he become a fool in glorying ye have compelled me And truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience in signs and wonders and mighty deeds And Rev. 2. 2. Christ there commends the Church of Ephesus because she had tried them which said they were Apostles but were not and had found them liars And as we are not to believe every one that says he is an Apostle so neither every one that pretends to be a Successor of the Apostles and to be endued with the same Spirit of Infallibility that they were For these also when they are tried whether they be the Successors of the Apostles or not may be found Liars And therefore St. John cautions Christians not to believe every spirit that is every one that pretends to divine Inspiration and the Spirit of God but to try the Spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the World 1 Joh. 4. 1. And therefore the Confidence of Men