not been possible to have baited them if they had not first dress'd them up in the skins of wild Beasts And as then so ever since more or less in all Ages of the Church Reproach hath been entail'd upon the most serious and zealous Professors of Religion and Godliness 5. The Ministers of Christ the Preachers of this Religion are with a distinguishing Enmity every where spoken against Under the Old Testament God's Messengers and his Prophets were generally mocked and misused and it was Jerusalem's measure-filling Sin 2 Chron. 36.16 'T was one of the Devices they devis'd against Jeremiah to smite him with the tongue because they would not and they desired tha◠others might not give heed to any of his words Jer. 18.18 Those to whom the Prophet Ezekiel was a very lovely Song and with their mouths showed much love to him yet were still talking against him by the Walls and in the Doors of their Houses and God lets him know it Ezek. 33.30 31 32. And then it is not strange if the Ministers of the New Testament in which Truth shines with a stronger Light be with no less Enmity spoken against by those that love Darkness rather than Light The Apostles those prime Ministers of State in Christ's Kingdom were so loaded with Reproach that they were made a spectacle to the World a spectacle of Pity to those that have either Grace or good Nature but a spectacle of scorn to those that had neither They were trampled upon as the Filth of the World and whereas the Off-scouring of any thing is bad enough they were look'd upon as the off-scouring of all things even unto this day after they had in so many instances approv'd themselves well and could not but be made manifest in the Consciences of their worst Enemies 1 Cor. 4.9 13. And it hath all along been the Policy of the Churches Enemies by all marks possible to bring the Ministry into contempt and to represent the Churches Nazarites even those that were purer than Snow whiter than Milk and more ruddy than Rubies with a visage blacker than a Coal so that they have not been known in the streets I allude to that complaint Lam. 4.7 8. Marvel not if the Standard-bearers be most struck at 6. The Christian Religion it self hath been and still is every where spoken against The Truths of it contradicted as false and groundless the great Doctrines of the Mediation of Christ and the Resurrection of the Dead were ridicul'd by the Athenian Philosophers Acts 19.18 32. The Laws of it faulted as grievous and unreasonable as hard sayings which could not be born by those who bid open defiance to the Obligation of them and say Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their Cords from us Ps 2.3 The Ordinances of it despis'd as mean and having no form nor comeliness Sabbaths mock'd at as of old Lam. 1.7 and the sanctification of them represented as only a Cloak for Idleness Sacraments reproach'd and the Sacred Memorial of Christ's Death and Sufferings by the Persecutors of the Primitive Christians represented to the World as the bloody and inhumane Killing and Eating of a Child and their Love Feasts and Holy Kiss which were then in use as only introductions to the most abominable uncleanness Primitive Christianity was industriously put into an ill-name it was call'd emphatically The Atheism because it overthrew Idolatry and undermin'd the false Gods and worships that had so long obtain'd This was the Out-cry at Ephesus that if Paul's Doctrine took place the Temple of the great Goddess would be despis'd Acts 19.26 27. It was also branded as a Novelty and an up-start Doctrine because it took people off from that vain Conversation which they had received by Tradition from their Fathers It was call'd at Athens a New Doctrine and industriously represented in all places as a Mushrome Sect that was but of yesterday It was look'd upon as nearly allied to Judaism because it was so much supported by the Scriptures of the Old Testament and nothing was more despicable among the Romans than the Jews and their Religion The Professors of Christianity were look'd upon as unlearned and ignorant Men Acts 4.12 the very Dregs and Refuse of the People Julian forbad the calling of them Christians and would have them called nothing but Galileans thereby to expose them to the contempt of those who are as indeed most people are govern'd more by a sound of Words than by the reason of Things Thus when the Devil was silenced in his Oracles as it is well known he was upon the setting up of Christianity in the World his mouth was opened in Lies and Slanders and being forced to quit his pretentions to a Deity he appears bare-faced as a Devil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a False Accuser The Reformed Religion in these latter ages hath been in like manner spoken against Though it maintains all that and only that Doctrine which Christ and his Apostles preach'd and was before Luther there where Popery as such never was before or since that is in the Holy Scriptures yet the Professors and Preachers of it have been call'd and counted Hereticks and Schismaticks and by all possible Artifices expos'd to the odium of the People that none might Buy or Sell i. e. have the benefit and comfort of civil Society and Commerce that had not the Mark or the Name of the Beast or the Number of his Name Nay even among some that profess the Christian and Reformed Religion yet the Practice of serious Godliness is very much spoken against The Power of Religion is not only disliked and deny'd but contradicted and condemned by those that rest in the Form They that call the Evil Good will call the Good Evil and it is not strange if they who abandon themselves to work all uncleanness with greediness speak ill of such as run not with them to the same excess of Riot where the Wicked walk on every side he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey The old Enmity between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent is still working and the old Game every day plaid over again The Truth as it is in Jesus and the Truth which is according to Godliness will be contradicted by those that lye in wait to deceive Bigots on all sides will have something to say against Catholick Charity and Moderation They that are fervent in spirit serving the Lord and forward to every good Work must expect to be evil spoken of by such as affect a Lukewarmness and Indifferency in Religion Nor can those who walk circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise escape the lash of their Tongues who live at large and walk loosly and at all adventures as the Fools in Israel I come now in the Second Place to enquire what 's the Reason that so Holy and Excellent a Religion as Christianity is meets with such hard usage
under the Curse of God for neglecting it It is a very small thing to be judged of Man's Day but he that judgeth us is the Lord Let us therefore be more afraid of being Sectaries than of being call'd so Secondly The Christian Religion is here said to be every where spoken against That it was spoken against was evident enough but that it was every where spoken against was more than they could be sure of They did not know all Places nor had they correspondence with or intelligence from every Country but we must not wonder if those that oppose the Truth as it is in Jesus make no conscience of transgressing the Laws of Truth in common Conversation But we will suppose that the Acquaintance and Converse of those Jews at Rome lay mostly with those that were Enemies to Christianity and spoke against it and they therefore concluded it every where spoken against because they found it spoken against in all places that they came to or had advice from Thus apt are we to embrace that as a general Sentiment and Observation which we find received by those that we usually associate with and so we run our selves into mistakes which larger and more impartial Enquiries would soon rectify But we will take it for granted however that what they said was true not because they said it but because the experience of all Ages doth confirm it and concur with it So that a little Acquaintance with Books and the World will prove the Observation which we ground upon this Text That it is and always hath been the Lot of Christ's Holy Religion to be every where spoken against Or thus That true Christianity hath all along met with a great deal of Opposition and Contradiction in this World I purpose not to enter into a particular Disquisition of that which has been and is spoken against Religion nor do I undertake at present to shew how false and unreasonable it is That hath been done many a time by the best Hands and so effectually that every impartial eye must needs look upon the cause of the Adversaries of Religion to be a baffled Cause But I shall only make some improvement of this general Observation which cannot be unseasonable in an Age wherein the Gates of Hell seem to be making their utmost efforts against the Church and the Devil as the Calumniator and False Accuser to be more wroth than ever with the Woman the Church and to push on the War with an unusual vigor against the remnant of her Seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ I shall therefore 1. enquire what it is in Christianity that is spoken against And 2. shew you why so Holy and Excellent a Religion is spoken against and then draw some Inferences from this Observation For the first Who and What it is that is spoken against 1. Jesus Christ the Author of our Religion is every where spoken against When the First-begotten was brought into the World old Simeon among other great things pronounced this concerning him that he was a sign which should be spoken against and by that means was set for the fall of many Luke 2.34 when he was here upon Earth he was spoken against The Stone which was design'd to be the Head of the Corner was rejected and set at naught by the Builders It was not the least of his Sufferings in the days of his flesh that he endured the contradiction of Sinners against himself Heb. 12.3 They spoke against his Person as mean and contemptible and one that had no form nor comliness They spoke against his Preaching as false and deceiving John 7.12 as factious and seditious Luke 23.2 as senseless and ridiculous for the Pharisees derided him for it Luke 16.14 They spake against his Miracles as done in Confederacy with Belzebub the Prince of the Devils Mat. 12.24 They spoke against his Morals charging him with Blasphemy against God Profanation of the Sabbath-day and all the instances of Debauchery which were usually met with in a Gluttonous Man a Wine-bibber and a Friend of Publicans and Sinners Mat. 11.19 They spoke against his Followers as a company of ignorant despicable People John 7.48.49 When he was in his Sufferings pass through all the steps and stages of them and you will find him every where spoken against They reproched him in all his Offices In his Office of Teaching when they challenged him to tell who smote him In his Office of Saving when they challenged him to save himself as he had saved others In his Office of Ruling when they challenged him to prove himself the King of the Jews by coming down from the Cross The common People spoke against him even they that passed by reviled him The Pharisees chief Priests the Grandees of the Church were as severe as any in their Reflections upon him Princes also did sit and spake against him Herod and his Men of War set him at nought made nothing of him that made all things Nay even now he is set down at the right-hand of the Majesty on high far above all Principalities and Powers i. e. both good and evil Angels so as to be no more hurt by the contradictions of the one than he is benefitted by the Adorations of the other yet still he is spoken against Besides the Contempt cast upon him by the Jews and Mahometans are there not with us even with us those that daringly speak against him Arians and Socinians are daily speaking against him as a meer Man thinking that a Robbery in him which He thought none to be equal with God Quakers and Enthusiasts speak against Him as a meer Name setting up I know not what Christ within them while they explode that Jesus that was Crucified at Jerusalem Atheists and Deists speak against Him as a meer Cheat accounting the Religion he established a great Imposture and His Gospel a Jest Profane and Ignorant People speak slightly of Him as if our Beloved were no more than another Beloved and some speak scornfully of Him as Julian the Apostate did that call'd Him in disdain the Galilean and the Carpenter's Son Such as these are the hard speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against Him the Lord rebuke them even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke them 2. God himself the great Object of our Religious Regards is every where spoken against It is not only the Christian Revelation that is thus attack'd by virulent and blasphemous Tongues but even Natural Religion also The Glorious and Blessed God the great Creator and Benefactor of the Universe that doth Good to all and whose tender Mercies are over all His Works even He is every where spoken against Some deny His Being Tho' His Existence be so necessary so evident that if He be not t is impossible any thing else should be yet there are Fools who say in their hearts what they
not fail to furnish his faithful Advocates with needful Instructions and many a time ordains such strength out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings as strangely stills the Enemy and the Avenger Lastly Let none of us ever think the worse of the way of Religion and Godliness for its being every where spoken against nor be frighten'd hereby from walking in that way The Contempt cast upon the Practise of Piety is with many an invincible Objection against it their good Impressions good purposes and good overtures are hereby crush'd and brought to nothing They have that within 'em which tells 'em that the way of Sobriety and serious Godliness is a very good way and they sometimes hear that Word behind them saying This is the walk ye in it But they have those about 'em that tell them otherwise and thus the convictions of Conscience are over-rul'd and baffled by the Censures and Reproaches of Men whose Praise they covet more than the Praise of God But to take off the force of this Objection let us consider these four Things 1. Consider who they are that speak against Religion and Godliness not only that they are Mortal Men whom the Moth shall eat up like a Garment Men that shall die and the Sons of Men which shall be made as Grass all whose thoughts will shortly perish with them and therefore why should we fear their Reproach or be afraid of their revilings Nor only they that are fallible Men who may be mistaken and whose Judgment is by no means decisive nor such as will bear us out Shall we put what Men say in the Scale against what God saith Let God be true and every Man a Liar We must not be judg'd hereafter and therefore should not be rul'd now by the Sentiments and Opinions of Men But those that speak against Religion are also for the most part ill Men Men of unsettled Heads debauch'd Consciences and profligate Lives 'T is the Fool and none but he that saith in his heart there is no God The Scoffers of the last daies are Men that walk after their own Lusts whose carnal fleshly Interest retains them on that side David was abus'd by the abjects Psal 35.15 and the Christians at Thessalonica by certain lewd Fellows of the baser sort Acts 17.5 Such as those are the Men that make a mock at Religion and shall we be sway'd and influenced in the greatest Concerns of our immortal Souls by such Men as these Shall those have the Government of us that have so little Government of themselves Shall the Cavils and vain Scoffs of those who know not what it is to be serious carry the day against the deliberate Sentiments of all Wise and Good Men who have with one consent subscrib'd to the Equity and Goodness of Religion's Ways If we chuse such as these for our Leaders surely the Blind lead the Blind and we know the consequence 2. Consider how trifling and frivolous that is which is commonly said against Religion and Godliness The Devil made his first fatal assault upon Mankind by Lies and Slanders suggesting hard thoughts of God and promising Impunity in Sin and by the same wretched methods he still supports and carries on his Interest in the World They that speak against Religion make Lies their Refuge and under falshood they hide themselves All those bold and daring things which are spoken against Religion are either groundless and unproved Calumnies or very unjust and unfair Representations Hence the Enemies of Religion are said to be absurd and unreasonable Men. Men that while they cry up the Oracles of Reason rebel against all the Light and Laws of it Put all that together which is spoken against Godliness and weigh it in the Balances of right Reason and you will write Tekel upon it weigh'd in the Ballances and found wanting And as if an over-ruling Providence had forced the Scoffers of these last days to confess their own Infatuation Some of those that have been most sharp in their Invectives against Religion have been no less free in their Satyrs against Reason it self as if they were resolv'd to answer the Character of Solomon's Fool whose Wisdom fails him so far that he saith to every one that he is a Fool. 3. Consider how much is to be said for Religion notwithstanding it is every where spoken against Religion hath Reason on its side its Cause is a Good Cause and it is the right way whoever speaks against it It is no disparagement as that excellent Pen expresseth it to be laughed at but to deserve to be so you have heard Religion reproach'd but did you ever find that it deserv'd to be so Nay on the contrary have you not found that it very well deserves your best Affections and Services Enquire of those that have made trial of it consult the Experiences of others Call now if there be any that will answer thee and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn Ask thy Father and he will shew thee thine Elders and they will tell thee that the Fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil that is Vnderstanding They will tell thee That Religion's Ways are Ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace and that all the Wealth and Pleasure in this World is not worth one Hours Communion with God in Jesus Christ They will tell thee That there is no Truths so certain and weighty as Divine Truths and that no Statutes and Judgments are so righteous as the Divine Law which is Holy Just and Good They will tell thee That real Holiness and Sanctification is the Perfection of the Human Nature as well as the Participation of a Divine Nature That a firm Belief of the Principles of Religion is the greatest improvement of our intellectual Powers a strict Adherence to its Rules our surest Guide in all our Ways and a chearful Dependance upon its Promises the Fountain of better Joys and the Foundation of better Hopes than any we can be furnish'd with in the things of Sense and Time They will tell thee that a Life of serious Godliness is incomparably the most Sublime and Honourable the most Sweet and Comfortable Life a Man can live in this World and that nothing doth more answer the end of our Creation better befriend Societies nor conduce more to our true interest in both Worlds than that Holy Religion which is every where spoken against 4. Consider that the cause of Religion and Godliness however it be spoken against and oppos'd will infallibly be the prevailing Cause at last We are sensible of a mighty struggle in the World betwixt the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent Michael and his Angels on the one side and the Dragon and his Angels on the other Many there are that speak against Religion and are very vigorous in opposing it and some tho' but a few that are speaking for it contending