in the way of it and is nevertheless as hungry and ill-favoured at last as at first That Kingdom or Common-Wealth that is infected with store of this sort of Cattle shall never be at rest long unless they have the liberty to Gore those themselves have voted Heterodox and to furnish them with Tools to do it Cum Privilegio Nothing like Interweaving themselves with the State So that the Civil Magistrate shall be made believe 't is his Duty and Interest always either to confer more Honours and Profits on them or else to suppress their more vertuous Neighbours under the Notion of their being Hereticks which is not the least Prejudice to Religion in general as well as it is not seldom the like to the State since the common People are more inclinable to favour and unite with the Sufferer than joyn with the Persecutor Suffering generally speaking rather making Proselytes than answering the end of the Persecutor especially where the Sufferer has the answer of a better Conscience than the Persecutor which not seldom is the privilege of Dissent But if Vertuous Living under a Dissent from a National Church Liturgy be interpreted Irreligious and renders the Professors Obnoxions to the Laws whilst Immorality goes unpunished How is it possible that the Interest of Religion can be advanced since the Sufferings that attend a vertuous Man is greater than what falls upon the Irreligious and Profane Which shews that whatever Pretences are made for Religion the Practice is unreasonable and therefore is no longer held for Truth than whilst the Rod obligeth the Fearful and Cowardly to say Amen contrary to the Perswasion of their own Minds But three things are the design of the Ambitious Clergy-Men viz. Wealth Honour and Power all which renders Religion the more doubtful and unreasonable Since neither was the mark that the best Example that ever was in the World aim'd at but his Doctrine and Practice the reverse to it all And that they can be his Followers and Disciples and thus apparently contradict both his Doctrine and Practice is unreasonable to believe And therefore that Church that will indulge Ambition in her Clergy is as remote from the Basis of true Religion as she that Connives at Immorality and both the reasonable part of Mankind must conclude to be a great way off from Truth and consequently Irreligious and Unreasonable Nor can it be thought reasonable that ever the Civil Magistrate should be able to allay those evil Spirits that such Ambitious Men are able to raise from the contrary Winds of Doctrine that will inevitably blow in a National Church which will make more work for the Magistrate to reconcile than he is capable of performing as many Instances might be brought for Proof Besides till they all speak one and the same thing at home 't is unreasonable to think that Dissenters should return to that Church which is not in Unity with it self But again an Ambitious Clergy cannot bear contradiction And therefore when what they have stamp'd with the Seal of Orthodox meets with a Non-reception the Sword of the Magistrate must be imployed to force its entrance which is so much the more Irreligious for that it is so unreasonable Since 't is reasonable Arguments and not Blows that must Convince the Understanding and till the Clergy can furnish themselves therewith they are never like to be free from Dissenters But if their Ambition will admit of no Competitor as most certain it will not nothing but Persecution can follow their Venemous Doctrine where the Magistrate is become more a Party than the common Father of the People Which that he may not is the humble Request of all his Dissenting Children that though he hath an Eldest Son he may not to Gratifie his Ambition destroy the rest from enjoying their Natural Birth-right In short to make an Image and then by the help of the Civil Magistrate oblige every body to fall down and Worship upon pain of Corporal and Pecuniary Punishment is what hath produced so much Irreligion c. in the World and frustrated the design of Religion in general as well as been a Stumbling Block in the way of those Seekers that would extreamly rejoyce to find the way that leads to Everlasting Blessedness obscured by the Dust the Immoral and Ambitious Clergy have raised which tho' they viz. the common People know but little yet know so much that Immorality and Ambition is never the way to it These things being premised the following Considerations are Candidly Offered to the Serious Thoughts of the Impartial for Cure of our present Maladies that the just and reasonable design of Religion may be answered that God may be glorified our Consciences eased and Souls saved That the Government may be freed from unnecessary Trouble and the People enjoy perfect Tranquility First That it 's not Opinion but Holiness is the design of Religion Secondly That the Principles that lead to it are few reasonable and plain Thirdly That making of Creeds not to be found in Holy Scripture is at best but Imaginary and therefore not to be bowed unto Fourthly That Liberty of Conscience is every Man's Birth-right and that it cannot be invaded without violating the Laws of the Land Fifthly That Morality may be encouraged since it is so great a part of Religion that without it none can be Religious 1st That it is not Opinion but Holiness is the design of Religion It was the Condition of the great Charter granted to him that was the Patriarch of the Church before the Law on Tables of Stone was given to his numerous Posterity see Gen. 15.1 compare with Gen. 17.1 Walk thou before me and be thou Perfect c. No written Law now consequently no Creeds yet the Law written in the Heart was Abraham's Rule by which he was to walk before God to Perfection Again If without Holiness no Man can see God Heb. 12.14 without Holiness no Man can walk with him But the first is true therefore the last For want of it the old World was destroyed because of it and not untelligible Creeds Noah was saved Gen. 6.9 The Tenor of the Covenant in Horeb centered in it viz. to Implant Love and Fear in the People to God-ward that thereby they might be kept from Sin Exod. 20.20 compare with Deut. 30. but what that Dispensation began the Gospel finisheth what that pointed out in Types and Shadows the Gospel Substantially and Radically compleateth Which is to give Power to do as well as Light to know what the good and acceptable Will of God is Since on the knowing and doing thereof our present and future Happiness depends and this is as it must be the only design of true Religion Again Let us consider what the Institutor of the Christian Religion saith hereupon Mat. 7.21 It is not every one that saith Lord Lord but he that doth the Will of my Father that shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven From which we are to
take notice 1. That acknowledgments to unquestionable Truths such as calling him Lord that is the unquestionable Lord and God and praying to him as the only Lord and Saviour doth not entitle Men to the Kingdom 2. But doing the Will of God is not only prefer'd to the acknowledgment of him as Lord but made the only Condition upon which admittance into the Kingdom is granted And in the next verse he adds For many saith he will say to me have we not Prophesied in thy Name and cast out Devils and done mighty Works Perhaps Built Churches Hospitals c. in thy Name c. All which was not done by Infidels but by them whose Judgments and understandings as well as Opinions were strong concerning the verity of his Authority yet for all this Knowledge and Profession and at some times Enjoyment Depart from me c. was the Sentence grounded upon their evil works for tho' they knew much and professed much and enjoyed much too yet they were unholy hearers and not doers knowers of his Will but doers of their own and therefore shut out of the Kingdom Thus much from Christ himself in Vindication of the First Proposition Next let us hear what His Apostle as well as the Gentiles saith to the matter in hand see 1 Cor. 13. where he tells of Gifts as Prophesies Tongues Knowledge of all Mysteries Hospitality towards the Poor and Faith to Remove Mountains yea to lay down Life for Opinions sake yet all this he saith without Charity or Divine Love is but an empty Sound c. I hope my Authority is so far Unquestionable that I need seek for no farther Proof for my Assertion viz. That 't is not Opinion but Holiness was and is the design of Religion for without it Religion is no more than a Body without Breath or Spirit which will soon Putrifie to the anoyance of all that are near it Now if Holiness of Life was the universal Creed of all the Christian World and the Hearts and Heads of Men were as much taken up with thinking how they might Practise it as their Hearts and Heads are full of Matters of far less Moment I will not say what though all the Presses in Europe has been filled with it as well as many Goals crowded Goods spoiled and Lives lost about it it would be a happy day for us But that I may be plainly understood I add that by Holiness I mean such a Strict Aweful and Circumspect Life as with Detestation and Abhorrence shuns those Paths that leads to the Breach of Negative Precepts as well as with fervency of Spirit suitable to the Nobility of the cause is Studious to approve it self in the Performance of what is enjoyed to be done by the same Authority the other as above is forbidden and in short is no other than a Life conformed to the Will of God And that this is the great Design of Religion is reasonable to believe both from Reason it self Scripture and Divine Inspiration and he that so lives deserves the Protection of all Civil Governments being the best of Subjects for he never gives the Magistrate trouble Since he that bears the Sword is for a Praise to them that do well and is only a Terror to Evil Doers which such a Man is not From what hath hitherto been said these Considerations will naturally follow First That he that made us Holy and Good at first and put us in a Capacity so to continue and sent his Son to break our Bonds by his Death desires that out of our Laps'd State we may be Restored to Live in a perfect Union and Fellowship with him again to all Eternity Ezek. 18.32 and 33.11 Rom. 5.18 19. 1 Tim. 1.15 and 2.3 4 5 6. Titus 2.14 1 John 3.7 Secondly Nevertheless without doing his Will 't is impossible to injoy that Union and Peace c. Mat. 7.21 22. Thirdly That his Will is our Sanctification or Holiness Luke 1.74 75. 1 Thess 3.13 and 4.3 Rom. 6.19 22. 2 Cor. 7.1 Fourthly That he which hath ordained the End hath also provided the means Deut. 18.15 Ezek. 18.32 1 Tim. 1.15 Fifthly That that means is Primarily the Second Adam or Lord from Heaven by whom the universal Gift of Grace is bestowed on all Men prejudiced by the Fall of the First Adam Secondarily by the Holy Scripture and a Spiritual Ministry c. Rom. 5.18 19. Tit. 2.11 Ephes 4.11 12. Sixthly and Lastly This Gift so universally given is Grace for Grace Light for Light Spirit for Spirit to Spirit or Quicken us to Holiness and is as much the Common Privilege of all Men as all Men were damaged by Adam's Fall Luke 2.27 28 29 30 31 32. John 1.9 16. 1 Cor. 12.7 And if so there is no Reason for the Church of Rome or any other Church to impose Articles of Faith on others or Monopolize Religion or Truth to themselves since he that Lives conformable to this Gift is a Member of that Church that Jesus Christ is Head of And he that hath Faith herein hath the True Faith mentioned in the 10th of the Hebrews and is that Faith delivered to the Saints for which they are to contend but not Fight nor Persecute since the way of their contending for it was by Argument and Suffering and not Persecution according as the Apostle saith Gal. 5.14 The fulfilling of the whole Law is in Loving our Neighbour as our selves And vers 6. saith Circumcision nor Vncircumcision availeth nothing but Faith that worketh by Love But Creed making Works not by Love but Strife and Envy and is almost always followed by Persecution therefore not of the true Faith tho' made up of never so true words but is a Fruit of the Flesh vers 19 20 21. and such Persecute those Born of the Spirit Gal. 4.29 In short that Faith which works by Love is the Immediate Gift of God that enables Man wholly to trust or depend without any manner of doubt with respect to his Body as well as Soul on the Invisible God but such an intire Trust and Depending cannot be where Purity of Heart is not And a Thousand Articles of Faith will not make one Heart clean it being made so only by that Spirit or Gift abovesaid So that he which hath the true Faith is not without the true Love for they are inseparable which worketh like Leaven every Man into Humility Patience and all other Vertues and against such there is no legal Law But to bring forth contrary Fruit such as Immorality Ambition Envy Wrath Persecution c. as it is no part of the Christian Religion so it is very unreasonable to number any such among the Religious Thus I hope I have made it plainly appear That 't is not Opinion but Holiness that answers the design of Religion 2dly That the Principles which leads to Holiness are few plain and reasonable and consequently all that are not so or from unquestionable Authority such as is the Holy Scripture
may be rejected without censure Since what is not of Faith in Point of Principles and Doctrine is Sin and since we are warned not to suffer Sin to lie on a Brother much more are we forbid to force him into it But to proceed that there is a Supreme Being from which we derive ours and by which we are upheld and protected is undeniable that we are under strong Obligations both of Gratitude Duty and Interest to pay Worship Obedience c. To this Supreme Authority is likewise unquestionable that a defect in Performance hereof renders us Culpable and that a Violation of his Laws is of that Provoking Nature that Justice cannot remit this we plainly saw verified in the Persons of our first Parents who were not only defective in their positive Duty but precipitated themselves into a Violation of that Negative Command their God gave them which Transgression cost them Dear viz. Loss of Paradice as the just Recompence of their Disobedience Nevertheless when Justice had thus punished for Sin Mercy was ready to commiserate when Justice had wounded Mercy was for healing Thus he that was Infinite in Justice was as Infinite in Mercy by promising and giving that Seed which should bruise the Head of him that had broken off poor Man from the true Root and Foundation of his Happiness and by the Operation thereof was he restored made whole and united to his Sovereign Lord again And this Seed Solomon calls Wisdom through which saith he Men were saved and Adam restored out of his Fall Wisd 10.1 This Wisdom or Seed was no sooner promised but gave Inwardly and Spiritually though not outwardly 'till the fullness of time that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin and hereof all good Men through every Generation partook and were made so by the Power and Vertue thereof But when the unrighteous went away from her and would not be govern'd thereby in his anger he perished wherewith he murthered his Brother vers 3. Here was and is the Original of all Persecution about Religion ever since For by going from her Men lose that Allegiance and Duty that is incumbent on them by which they first make themselves Enemies to God secondly to Jesus Christ to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is committed that he by his Authority might subject them to himself in Righteousness Holiness and Truth And Lastly by their Pride and Ambition Enemies to one another And this is likewise the true Reason there are so many Lo-heres and Lo-theres in the World and so much Irreligion Vnreasonableness Immorality and Hypocrisie as there is Nor can we reasonably expect it otherwise till Men come to that Principle in themselves that will subject them to their Maker and Redeemer And then as a Natural Consequence will there be true Love and Peace one towards another Now as was said in the beginning of this Discourse we are not left without a Witness viz. We are not left to our selves nor without some sense of a God nor of the Obligations we are under to him according to Holy Writ compare Mal. 3.5 with Acts 14.17 And this Witness will be faithful to us as well to Testifie against as for us according to our Deeds c. therefore call'd the Faithful and True Witness Accusing or Excusing us Rom. 2.15 Rev. 1.5 This is the Law written by the Finger of God in the Heart of Man This is the Divine Logos that speaks to and in the Soul in which is hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge It is the true Light that enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World It is the Inspeaking Voice that saith This is the Way walk in it Isaiah It is to the World of Souls as the Sun in the Firmament is to Bodies gives Light and causeth Production It is the Inward and Spiritual Appearance of the promised Seed that Bruiseth the Head of the Serpent within us as it did outwardly in that Blessed Person viz. Jesus Christ when he Triumphed over him in our Natures for in him the Fulness was but in us by Measure every one according to the good Pleasure of God Finally this is that One Vniversaâ— Principle tho' express'd after many and by different Names of Light and Life which Impowers that Soul thaâ— receives it in perfect Love for its Guide and Monitor To Fulfil God's Holy Will which is our Holiness And as he that resists it incurs Damnation so he that Conforms to her Divine Instruction will not fail of obtaining an Assurance of that Incorruptible Crown of Blessedness which God the Righteous Judge freely bestows on every such Believing and Subject Soul 2 Tim. 4.8 By this time I hope I have made good my Second Assertion viz. That the Principles that leads to Holiness are not many nor perplexing the Brains or Vnderstanding but plain and familiar and answers the reasonable part of Mankind Since in it is nothing above the Reach of Right Reason to comprehend as in it is nothing below what is Essential to our Peace and Happiness here and Blessedness hereafter 3dly Since then it plainly appears the Religion of God's Making is not such a Mysterium Magnum as by some Persons it hath been Represented for what Reason I will not say though 't is not hard to guess I say since Religion has so much Reason in it and carries such clear Demonstration with it the making so many Tedious Unintelligible as well as Unreasonable Articles of Faith with this Anathema at the Tail of them viz. Without which 't is impossible for a Man to be saved has been a vast Prejudice to the credit of Religion in general tho' it hath gratified a Party whose Consciences are stretch'd so wide that nothing that has the appearance of Profit or Honour will make them Keck Yet at the same time the Man of Religion Indeed who makes Conscience both of his Words and Works chooseth rather to Suffer both Reproach and Persecution than Subscribe to what he cannot understand I cannot forbear thinking that most Religious People know there are many Points of Divinity which are most certainly Believed yet perhaps are rarely exprest And he that Believes them has the advantage and benefit of his Own Faith by his so having it to himself which ought not therefore to be imposed on another since all Truths profitable for us to know are not seen at once Nor are all Men a-like capable of understanding them Besides the common Prejudice of Education should be considered And therefore to dismember Persons from the Church purely for Errors they cannot help is very hard But to Unchristian them because they cannot Subscribe what they do not know nor are able to comprehend and which their Adversaries have only Conjectures about is so Barbarous Irreligious and Unreasonable that words are too short to set it forth But in my Opinion nothing can be more reasonable or tend more to the Promotion of Religion in general than for all Parties in Conjunction with the
World And so shall the Civil Magistrate have great Peace and the People have that Tranquillity that attends sitting Vnder their own Vine where none can make them affraid To Conclude he that is Born Heir to an Estate is not Heir because he is of such a Church but because he is his Father's Son And if his Inclination Education or Judgment lead him out of the national Road to work out his own Salvation 't is very unreasonable as well as contrary to the Fundamental Laws of the Land that he should therefore loose his Birth-right And indeed great pitty it is that all parties are not hearty herein for none knows but that those that are otherwise minded are making Rods for Themselves or Posterity to be whipt withal But leave Conscience Uncramp'd and by this means the Civil Magistrate will always be Umpire between the several Parties that are under his Government for as he protects all so all will fly to him as to their Common Sanctuary where the Laws will decide all Controversies or Disputes that may arise And if the Civil Authority is pleased to make one Party as the Eldest Son that Elder may not have Power to spoil the Younger For this Reason I Conceive with Submission that Holland has given us an Excellent Example in which tho' they have no National Church yet the Magistrate gives a preference as he pleaseth and therefore takes care to maintain what he so prefers out of the Common Stock which is a Just and Reasonable way and by that means all Parties contribute to the upholding what the Magistrate is willing to prefer and here is no Imposition upon those that do not think as the Magistrate thinks nor is A. B. compell'd to pay B. C. for what A. B. thinks were better let alone But A. B. is obliged to render to Caesar what is Caesar's viz. Taxes Tribute c. and if Caesar will out of that Common Stock maintain that Man or Ministry that he prefers he ought not to be disobeyed for there are perhaps many Thousands of People under his Care who have not the Discretion no more than Children to choose for themselves And therefore 't is but reasonable the Magistrate should provide for them that labour to Instruct the People in Religion and good Manners over whom in chief the Magistrate himself is over-seer 5thly That Morality may be encouraged since it is so great a part of Religion that without it none can be Religious Were the foregoing Propositions well considered there would be the less need to say much upon this Head since it would be for the most part actum agere for let but the Immoralist the Ambitious the Tenacious the Persecutor be discouraged in short let Vice be under the Displeasure and Correction of the Civil Magistrate and Virtue or Morality will naturally be encouraged The encouragement that is here intreated is that no Man that is a Just a Temperate and Honest Man that keeps himself clear of those Sins that shut Men out of the Kingdom of Heaven may be either exposed to Contempt Scorn or Persecution nor look'd upon as a common Nusance nor as the 5th Wheel of a Waggon but that he may have that Respect and Preference by the Government that his virtuous Life hath justly merited for where a Man of a vicious Life shall have the Smiles of Authority whilst a Man of better Talents and a good Life shall be for God's sake slighted and despised This is an apparent discouragement to Morality and how prejudicial that may be to the State in time as well as to Youth at present is not hard to determine For Young Men will not apply themselves to the Study of Virtue to recommend themselves for the Service of their Countrey when they see Examples of Vice before their Eyes under Promotion But if Virtue were the only Qualification to advance to Honour Power and Profit and that none but those that were Educated in her School should be intrusted with the Charge of the Nation the Nobility and Gentry as well as common People would find themselves obliged to take care of their Posterity to keep them from every Vicious Path since that leads to nothing but Destruction both of Body and Soul here and hereafter True it is many good Laws we have in England both against Swearing Drunkenness Whoreing and Gaming c. now 't is to no purpose to catch a Porter and make him pay 12 d. for an Oath or send a Kitchen Wench to Bridewell for Twelve Months for having a small Child whilst Persons of higher Rank shall by practice repeat that every day without Censure which these poor Persons must suffer for though but once committed But to stop the growth of Impiety and to retrieve the Nation from that Debauchery it is now fallen into let every Man that is guilty of any manner of Debauchery or Immorality be mark'd out as an Enemy to the Peace and Tranquillity of his Country by being rendered uncapable of doing any thing for his King and Country till he hath repented and reformed his Life And if this method were begun at Court Vertue would grow in Fashion in the City and so should Morality be encouraged in all parts of the Country With these things God Almighty would be well pleased and pour out his Blessings upon us With these things the King and his Great Counsel would find abundance of Ease and Great Wealth as well as Immortal Honour With these things the City and Country would be safe and eased of that continued Vexation and Charge that the contrary always brings upon them True it is that altho' every One that is a Just and Temperate Man in short that is a Moral Man may not be a good Man for tho' his outside may be without blemish his inside may be too faulty and very unclean yet no good Man can be so without the Moral Man's outside nor will those lusty Believers that pretend to Church Priviledges and by Presumption not Faith lay claim to Promises find their account but themselves irreparably mistaken if there be any Truth in him that said First make clean the inside and the outside will be clean also By outsides we are known one of another and to one another and by outsides we make our Judgments of each other and if the outside is not fair we are sure we must lay by our Reason to think the inside can be otherwise than foul and how Consonant that is with Religion is above declared nor can it make any better mixture than Iron and Clay Let Men that have clean outsides then be commended and encouraged for Example's sake and if they are not so but Hypocrites God will find them out as he did Annanias and Sapphira But sure I am the Government will have the Advantage of that Conformity if it be no more than Hypocrisie in the Conformist THE Conclusion ALL Mankind that has any Sense of Religion makes something the Foundation of that Sense Now that something must be either Tradition Reason the Holy Scriptures or Divine Inspiration But he that has only the first cannot be said to be a Religious but Superstitious Man who cramps his own Reason as he would others Consciences Yet even such a one ought not to be done by as he would do by others for then we should be as bad and worse than he because of our larger Knowledge True it is he ought to be pitied but not persecuted and if his Eyes cannot be opened but he must die as blind as he was Born and Lived we must e'en think of him as of Idiots viz. Leave them to the unseen ways of that God who is slow to Anger and of great Kindness Though I highly prefer Reason to Tradition in Religion yet I cannot think Reason as commonly understood a good Foundation for Religion Nevertheless he that is moved by no Power Superiour to that of Reason from Reasonable Considerations must of necessity be Silenced and Routed out of his Traditional Religion And if Reason conquers Tradition as nothing is more certain it will also discover its own Insufficiency from whence an earnest Desire and Search will be after something to make good that Defect And here the Holy Scripture without and the Holy Spirit within will come in to the relief of every such Person to the Impregnating his Understanding and Judgment to Comprehend as well as Desire and Will to Comply with what is his Duty to God his Neighbour and Himself So that Faith which comes by hearing the Word of God and is God's Gift to render us Christian and Reason which is his Gift likewise to make us Humane are like the Husband and Wife no more to be Twain but One. Nevertheless the Man has the Preheminence for the Head of the Woman is the Man and the Head of the Man Christ c. as the Apostle teacheth Therefore those that would endeavour to part what God hath so joyned together bring themselves under the Curse But Faith which is the Foundation of Religion for without it we cannot please God and Reason which is Essential to our Humanity God hath United in One that so all our Beliefs and Works relating to God our Neighbours and our Selves may appear to be no more than really it is viz. our Reasonable Service FINIS