that these things belong not to us for that Authority which was in Kings under the Old Testament is now translated if you will believe those Doctors unto the Priests under the New But what man of sense can entertain this wild fancy that Kings under the Government of Christ are in a worse Condition than they were in under the Discipline of Moses Or that Christ should single out Kings of all other men to be injurious to them and deprive them of their former rights when he left every body else in the very same estate wherein he found them Was this our Saviours business when he came to reign over the Gentiles to strip their Princes of their Prerogatives and lessen their Power and Authority over their Subjects How detestable would the Apostles have been if they had broached this Doctrine when they went out to convert the World Or shall we be so impious as to think that St. Paul equivocated or had some mental Reservation when he Commanded every Soul in the Roman Church to be subject to the higher Powers Mark I beseech you it is upon the Church of Rome that he presses this Doctrine Chapter xiii of this Epistle more than upon any other Church whatsoever as if he foresaw there would be an Apostasie among them from this Faith Let every Soul be subject though thou beest an Apostle and the Bishop of Rome I hope was never greater than so though an Evangelist though a Prophet or whatsoever thou beest thou must be subject as S. Chrysostome whose words these are faithfully expounds the Apostles honest meaning And so Christian Princes long after his time understood him and did not fear both to assume this Authority and to justifie it when they had done so after the same manner that we do by the Example of the Kings that ruled over the People of God before the Coming of Christ Witness to name one for all Charles the Great a Prince as great in Ecclesiastical Policy as in Feats of Arms who in his Preface to his Capitulary tells the Clergy of the Empire That he had sent his Deputies to them that they by his Authority might together with them correct what stood in need of amendment according to the Example of the godly King Josias who endeavoured saith he to restore the Kingdom which God had given him to the Service of the true God by going about it by correcting and admonishing it as we read in the xxiii Chapter of the Second Book of the Kings And they had been very much to blame if they had not taken this pains For as the forenamed S. Chrysostome admirably speaks in a Sermon of his recorded by one of the writers of his Life * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Georgius Alexandrius Tom. Ult. p. 265. The Care appertaining to Kings is not so much about War as about the Church not so much about Political Affairs as about the Church with whose Preservation and Safety God having been pleased to intrust them he expects they should be as angry with those who would Adulterate his Worship therein setled as Moses was with Aaron when he had made the Golden Calf That very example is sufficient to shew the Authority which the Civil Magistrates have in matters of Religion With which they ought not to part no more than they would with their Crowns nor to suffer their people to be deprived of these Holy Books wherein they may read these things and thereby be so throughly possest with a sense of their high Authority that they may never be Debauched from their Duty But of that more presently IV. Let us first hear what the next exception of the Manichees was aginst the Scriptures written aforetime which they said were unprofitable to teach men good manners nay were destructive and contrary to them There are two parts you see of this wicked suggestion the first of which is so directly confuted by St. Paul in another place that one would think these men never read the New Testament at all nor the Old for any other end than to carp at it and frame Objections against it For in 2 Tim. iii. 16. he expressly saies that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All Scripture speaking of the Old for not much of the New was then extant given by inspiration of God is profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in Righteousness Upon which words you may be pleased to take this short gloss All Holy Learning consists in being wise and in being good in acquiring of both which the Scriptures being Divinely inspired give us singular assistance As for the first Christian Wisdom it consists in knowing the Truth and in rejecting Falshood Now behold how profitable the Scriptures are in both regards For they are profitable for Doctrine which is teaching the Truth and for reproof which is confuting the falsehood of Error And then for the Second learning to be good that consists of two parts more as the Prophets instruct us to cease to do Evil and to learn to do Well To both which ends also the Apostle affirms the Holy Scripture is profitable for correction that is when we do amiss and for instruction in Righteousness to make us do better And that I may add not only by its Precepts but by its Examples examples which strongly excite and quicken us to our duty and which mightily deter and withold us from doing wickedly I shall only mention some of the latter sort which are drawn up to my hand by St. Paul in the next Epistle 1 Cor. x. where he sets before that Church the example of the ancient Israelites with many of whom God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the Wilderness after he had brought them out of the bondage of Egypt v. 5. And lest they should think themselves unconcern'd in such stories he adds v. 6. Now these things were our examples to the intent that we should not Lust after evil things as they also Lusted Neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them as it is written The people sat down to Eat and Drink and rose up to Play Neither let us commit Fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them tempted and were destroyed of Serpents Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer Now all these things hapned unto them for Examples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come So he concludes after the same manner as he began this pathetical discourse Which we ought to lay to heart and apply to our selves as much as if he had told us in other words which are but an explication of these I would not willingly have you abuse your selves with false Opinions and therefore do not imagine I beseech you that these things which were done so long ago do not belong to you or that the
and settled in the Faith of the Gospel when they saw it was brought to them not by the Will of Man but by the good pleasure and Counsel of God long before predicted in the Holy Scriptures of Truth This is a plain demonstration how much we are concerned in the Scriptures written aforetime whose true Learning the same Apostle shews in another place is not understood by the Jews but only by Christians to whom the Grace of God is translated which is taken away from the other till they also Believe on Christ Jesus Read 2 Corinth iii. 14 15. where he saith their Minds are blinded and that they have a Veil upon them in the reading of the Old Testament Which veil is done away in Christ i. e. when men become Christians But even unto this day when Moses is read the veil is upon their heart nevertheless when it their heart shall turn to the Lord our Saviour Christ the veil shall be taken away and not till then Which is an evidence that we have more benefit by the Scriptures written aforetime than the Jews themselves till they also turn Christians and abundantly confirms that pithy saying of Tertullian which comprehends all that need be said in this Argument Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet Vetus Testamentum in Novo patet the New Testament lyes hid in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed and discovered in the New And so I have done with the Second Cavil of these men against the Old Testament III. The third part of their impious Doctrine about this matter was That the Scriptures written aforetime were unprofitable for the confirmation of our Faith Which is directly against the whole Scope of the Apostle in this place and is confuted in express terms by our Blessed Lord himself in several places of the last Chapter of the Gospel according to S. Luke Where speaking of his Passion to two of his Disciples v. 25. 27. He upbraided them that they were such Fools and slow of heart to believe what the Prophets had spoken and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself And not long after appearing to all the Apostles and eating with them he said v. 44. These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me And then opening their understanding that they might understand the Scripture he said Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again the third day c. So abominably false it is which those Hereticks were wont to assert that in the Old Testament there was no Testimony concerning Christ They are the words of Faustus as they are reported by St. Austin * Lib. xii contra Faust c. 1 2. and may well make us wonder how any men that were called by his Name should arrive at such a boldness as to contradict Christ himself who proved all things concerning himself out of those ancient Books But this it is to be proud and self-conceited to be forward to teach †Vid. S. Austin Confess l. v. c. 5. before men have learnt to be addicted to a Sect and to love to contradict to be engaged early in a party and then to stop ones ears against the means of Information to be carryed away with a strong antipathy to that which men do not understand nor have duly weighed and considered Against all which Vices the Scriptures caution us sufficiently if we mean to understand them telling us plainly that if we will not purge our selves from such ill humours we shall become vain in our Imaginations and our foolish hearts will be darkned Witness the foolish exception that these men took to the Books of Moses because they represented God according to their Imagination as desirous of the Blood and Fat of Beasts which he required to be offered in Sacrifice to him Whereas nothing is more manifest than that God himself by the Prophets who spake as they acknowledge by the same Spirit that Moses did utterly disclaimed any delight or satisfaction that he took in mere Sacrifices though never so numerous and costly Nay protests that he abominated them if they were not brought to his Altar with a pious mind and accompanyed with actions of Justice and Charity Which makes it apparent that it was the heart of the Offerer to which he had regard and that he lookt upon these but as outward testimonies and significations of a grateful Mind or of a penitent heart or of a Soul resolved to devote it self to his service I need not adde that they were manifest Figures and Presignifications of the great Sacrifice of Christ Jesus who hath purged away our sins by his own blood nor take any further pains to confute these audacious Hereticks from other places of Holy Writ I will rather take to task a little another sort of men no less bold and shameless who would fain be thought the greatest Enemies to Hereticks of all men in the world I mean them of the Romish Religion who notwithstanding their glorious pretences would be heartily glad if this Proposition could be made good That the Scriptures written aforetime are unprofitable for the Confirmation of Points of Faith For our Writers have so overpower'd them with Testimonies fetcht from thence that they are not able to stand before us to defend the Prime Article of their present Faith that Article which is the principal Cause of the Divisions of Christendome for whose sake all other Controversies have been craftily kept on foot I mean that of the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome * Rome enim subjici inde pendere haec Vestrae Religionis summa est Resp ad Tort. p. 81. Which we utterly confound by beginning at Moses to allude to the words before mentioned and so shewing through all the Scriptures written aforetime that He and Joshua and David and Solomon and Asa and Jehoshaphat and Hezekias and Josias governed the Priests and the whole Tribe of Levi Ordering the time of their waiting and officiating in their Courses appointing Judges in Ecclesiastical Causes and setting Presidents over those Judges taking away abuses and corruptions in Religion commanding the Ark to be removed from one place to another and calling the people by their Proclamations to come and meet there before the Lord requiring the Priests to read the Book of the Law and to reduce things to a Conformity with it renewing the Covenant of Moses for Reformation of Religion making Missions of Priests into such parts of the Countrey as they saw needed their assistance and to say no more ejecting the High-Priest himself and deposing him from his Office Now what say our Adversaries to all this Truly after many other poor shifts they are at last driven thus far to side with the Manichees as to say
A SERMON PREACHED Before the KING ON THE Second SUNDAY in ADVENT Decemb. viii 1678. BY SYMON PATRICK D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY Published by His Majesties Special Command LONDON Printed by J. Macock for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty 1678. A SERMON PREACHED Before the KING ROMANS xv 4. beginning For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning THE Holy Scriptures are so full a Store-house of all Divine Learning and we are so frequently exhorted to repair thither for our constant Instruction that as there is no Excuse for those who would lock them up from the people of God and not suffer them to look into them so they are no less worthy to be condemned who will not look into them when they may nor take any care to enrich their minds with those heavenly Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge which the Royal Psalmist thought more pretious than thousands of Gold and Silver To correct this Negligence Our Church now calls upon us to pray in the Collect for this Second week in Advent that we may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by Patience and Comfort of his holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of Everlasting life which is infinitely more worth than all our present possessions in this World Now that we may do according to our Prayers mark I beseech you the first words of the Epistle for this day which I have now read unto you in which the Apostle commends to us the study of the holy Scriptures from the Benefit we may receive by them even by those parts of them which may seem to you perhaps very barren or little conducing to the Profit of Christian People For First of all we may learn something he tells us for our Christian Instruction out of those Scriptures which were written aforetime in ancient dayes before the Advent or Coming of our Saviour Christ And Secondly this Instruction is to be met withall in every part of these ancient Writings for he sayes Whatsoever things were written heretofore in the Sacred Volumes were written for our learning There is nothing unprofitable nothing needless and superfluous in them but all tends to Edification Nor were they written you may further consider in the Third place for their Benefit alone who lived when they were written but for our learning also who live in the dayes of Christ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning For the clearer understanding of all which Particulars you may be pleased to observe that these words seem to come in as an Answer to a tacit Objection of such as might fancy the Scriptures of the Old Testament did not appertain to Christians or contained nothing of Christ in them For the Apostle had just before quoted a place out of the Psalms of David and applyed it to our Saviour Who did not please himself but as it is written Psal lxix 9. The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me And then to prevent such an Exception as I now mentioned immediately addes For whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning As if he had said Do not tell me that David speaks there concerning himself for though that be true He represented also a greater King than himself and in such words as those Prophesied of the Reproaches and Persecutions of Christ by the Scribes and Pharisees after the same manner that he suffered by Saul and his Servants This plain declaration of the Apostle about the Scriptures written aforetime should have sufficiently secured them one would have thought from all contempt and preserved a due Reverence towards them in the minds of all those who are called by the Name of Christ But so desirous the Malignant Spirit is to have those Holy Books thrown out of peoples hands that he hath stirred up several Sects who have not only aspersed them but utterly rejected them as useless and unprofitable nay dangerous and hurtful In the Answer to whose Allegations I shall fully explain my Text and show how every part of those Holy Books which were written before Christs coming contain something for our learning and instruction And for our clearer proceeding I think it will be necessary to observe that the first Blasphemers of the Scriptures of the Old Testament were they who introduced the Doctrine of two Gods one an Evil being the God of the Hebrews the other a good and gracious being the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ The Ringleader of these in all probability was Simon Magus the Samaritan who was followed by a rabble of vile people such as Basilides Carpocras Valentinus and a number more whose names are not worth the remembring Who though they did not profess his Name yet followed his opinion as Irenaeus * Lib. I. cap. 30. speaks For whosoever they were saith he that Adulterated the Truth and spoiled the Doctrine of the Church they were all the Disciples and successors of this Man No body doubts but the Gnosticks were who are said among the rest of their Doctrines to have had this of a Good God and an Evil God They are the Words of St. Austin †Cap. VI. de Haeres in the conclusion of the account he gives us of their Heresie Which was followed no doubt by Marcion Apelles and their Disciples who openly maintained this to the great scandal of our Religion For from hence I suppose it was that Celsus the Philosopher took occasion to charge Christians with this detestable opinion that they held an Execrable God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 opposite to the great God of all But they cleared themselves so well of this Crimination in their admirable writings that they neither left any colour for it nor any considerable person that durst maintain it Till not long before the dayes of St. Austin there started up a Persian whose surname was Manes who following other ancient Hereticks as St. Austins words are * Cap XLVI de Heres revived this Opinion when it was in a manner dead and buried and from him it was ever after called the Heresie of the Manichees Who held two first Co-eternal principles of all things diverse from and adverse to each other as he also speaks as opposite as Light and Darkness the one a Good the other an Evil Being Now the Doctrine of these men concerning the Holy Scriptures was conformable to their first foul opinion concerning God and may be comprehenped in these Five propositions First they said that the Writings of the Old Testament were from the Evil Principle Secondly that they belong'd only to the Jews not to Christians Thirdly That they were not profitable for the Confirmation of Faith nor Fourthly For the teaching good Manners but rather destructive to them And Lastly That they contradicted the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus The folly of which if I