consider the Excellency of the Gospel with the Purpose of God not to overbear the World into the Faith and Obedience of it by forcing the natural Liberty of Men it had rather been much more strange if it had escaped opposition and corruption than to have been both opposed and corrupted as it hath Thus our blessed Saviour himself and his Apostles foretold that it would be Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many many false Prophets stall arise and deceive many and if any one shall say unto you Lo here is Christ and there is Christ believe it not for there shall arise false Christ's and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold I have told you before Thus he foretold how Christianity should be corrupted by Impostures and Frauds Again says he They shall deliver you up to be afflicted and killed and ye shall be hated of all nations for my names sake and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another Thus he foretold the violence that should be used to extinguish the Profession of the Truth Again saith St. Paul 2 Thess 2. There shall be a falling away and the man of sin shall come with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they might all be damned who believe not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness Theâ—e he foretels a fearful Apostasie from the Purity and Simplicity of the Christian Profession Again says he 2 Tim. 3.1 2. This know that in the last days perilous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traitors heady high-minded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God There he foretels a terrible corruption of Manners And again 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. The Spirit speaketh expresly says he that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their Conscience seared with an hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the Truth Now lay all these things together and here is as plain warning as can possibly be given of most corrupt and degenerate Times even after Christ's first coming and so that is expresly foretold which the Text evidently supposes For here would be glorious Pretences to deceive Violence to compel and wicked Examples to offend the Disciples of Christ And what Provision hath our Lord left to secure them from being misled where there is so much danger They are to attend to the Doctrine which he delivered us at first by his Holy Apostles to secure themselves from being deceived they must lay to Heart the Promises of the Gospel to arm themselves against the Temptations of the World and the Power of evil Examples and they are to consider that all these things were foretold by our Lord himself and his Apostles that they might not be scandalized when they should happen nor be tempted to suspect that either Christianity was not of God from the first or at least that our Lord has neglected all care of it since because it doth so little good as yet in the World because it runs out into so many Errors and because the Truth of it is so vehemently opposed for says our Saviour Behold I have told you before But still it is in their power whether they will take warning by such Predictions and whether they will guard themselves against Errors and Evil Examples and therefore a very corrupt state of Things in the Christian World will in all likelihood shake the Faith of many Believers and cause some to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them not regarding the admonitions of Christ and his Apostles before-hand And so when Christ comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth And this is the Observation which in the first place is unavoidable from the Text That even after Christ there would be degenerate Ages for this is plainly supposed as the cause why there would be but little Faith found when he should come to visit the Earth for the Iniquities and Offences it abounds with The 2. Supposition is That the Providence of our Lord would then appear to set things right when there was the greatest need to interpose in behalf of his Church For whereas it is said When the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth It is intimated manifestly that his coming is then to be expected when little Faith is to be found amongst Men and consequently when Scandals and Temptations are so strong that it is an hard matter to bear up against them I have said already that the Evidence of Christianity doth not make all Men receive it and that the Power of Christianity doth not make all that receive it wise and good Men and it is not to be denied but that amongst Christians themselves there are as monstrous Errors and leud Examples as ever there were in the World before Christianity or as there are now where Christianity is not at all professed Now at this rate should the Lord of the Church our Lord Jesus Christ let things go as they would it would in time come to pass that nothing of Christianity would remain in the World but the name of it and that for no other purpose but to do more hurt with it than could be done without it But how is it that Divine Providence will interpose or according to the expression of the Text that the Son of man will come and will make good his Promise of being with his Church to the end of the World which is never more remarkably fulfilled than when he interposes in those Circumstances which make Men think that he will not interpose and that he is not at all concerned what becomes of the State of Religion or the Affairs of the Church Because our Lord hath not made the Gospel an irresistable means of convincing Vnbelieuers and reforming wicked Men therefore it would in time be needful that in order to the keeping up of true Religion and making Christians such as they ought to be that he I say should by his Providence correct his own Disciples and reduce wretched Mankind into an unavoidable necessity of consideration that Truth and Righteousness should not utterly fall from among the Children of Men. When there is the greatest danger of losing the true Profession of Christianity our Lord will not be
is disgraced with the company of Follies and Lies Thus the Pharisees recommended their absurd Traditions to the People because in the same breath they taught them the Law of Moses Thus some of the Gentiles were ready to reject Christianity when they were made to believe it necessary for them also to observe the Mosaical Law if they would be Christians And this is one of the common Scandals of the World that Truth is so often insincerely represented and false Doctrines propounded still by the same Authority that holds forth some necessary Truths And for this reason the Gospel does not allow but command us to use a Judgment of Discretion not to reject that which is good because it comes from the same Authority that requires evil nor to admit Error because it is accompanied with Truth but to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good 4. All Popular Artifices that are used to recommend either wicked Errors or Practices are also great Offences and lead many silly Souls astray of which kind the most obvious are these An external shew of Strictness and Piety without real Virtue and Godliness at the bottom of it And of this the Pharisees were the first notable Instance who placing Religion in abundance of nice Observations seemed to be the most strict and devout People in the World and therefore our Saviour knowing the wickedness of their Hearts and Lives compared them to whited sepulchres that within were full of dead mens bones and all uncleanness And this Offence would be so powerful whenever it should happen that it seemed good to the Spirit to foretell it expresly viz. That in the latter times some should depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. Another Offence of this kind which was also expresly foretold is pretending the Testimony of Miracles For says our Saviour himself There shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold says he I have told you before Matth. 24.24 25. And thus St. Paul foretold that when that wicked one should be revealed his coming should be after the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness I shall name but one other popular Device for the supporting of Error and that is to denounce Damnation peremptory against all Gainsayers with which Artifice the Judaizers secured themselves against the Gentile Christians saying Except ye be circumcised and keep the law of Moses ye cannot be saved Now although every man that has a Tongue may if he please lay this weight upon his Cause as to exclude all from Salvation that are not of his way and therefore the Threatning be not worthy of a wise man's thought till the Merits of the Cause be examined yet it has two notable advantages that it is framed to work upon the Passions of men more than upon their Judgment and in most men their Passion is stronger than their Reason and it may be so used as to bear the World in hand that 't is not Uncharitableness but mere Pity and Tenderness to the Souls of men that compels them to speak so harsh but so necessary a Truth And 't is a wonderful thing to observe how easy men are to be managed when on the one side there is a positive Sentence of Damnation to work upon their fears and on the other an appearance of serious Charity to win their Affections for by this Art men of contrary Parties have with strange success served contrary Opinions and Practices I cannot if I were willing reckon all the Offences of this kind that is popular and plausible ways of deceiving But that there would be such our Saviour did not only foretell in the general when he said It must needs be that offences come but in particular also when he said Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps cloathing Matth. 7.15 5. To this I may add what St. Paul observes 1 Tim. 6.5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness That any thing may be defended as a part of Religion which makes for worldly Interest It is no such hard matter to perplex things that are plain to find colours for denying things that are evident to hide the weakness or the strength of an Argument to divert from the Cause to the Person so artificially as if the Cause went on still to lose the matter in debate to make Truth look like Error and Error like Truth to those that are willing to be deceived if a man is resolved to bend all his Wit this way for something may be said for any thing 6. And lastly Bad Examples of men professing the true Religion are another most dangerous Offence since I doubt most men are so framed as to take up their Opinions more easily from Authority than from other Arguments and they understand more easily the difference between good and evil Manners than between strong and weak Reasons And then they will be apt to judge of the Truth or Falshood of a Way of Religion by the good or bad Fruits of Practice it brings forth in those that profess it Which doubtless our Saviour intimated in those words Let your light so shine before men that others seeing your good works may glorify your Father which is in heaven But to hold the Truth in Unrighteousness is not only a Scandal to those that are in Error confirming them that are in the wrong way but likewise to those that are in the way of Truth by encouraging them to Sin in like manner especially when Evil Examples are set by those that are particularly obliged to set none but good ones whose Place or Office Wealth or Quality makes them more conspicuous and gives others any kind of dependance upon them And because of the pernicious Influence of Bad Examples we find St. Paul often calling upon the Christians with whom he had to do to fix their observation upon those that were good Brethren says he be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample For many walk of whom I have often told you and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ Thus I have very briefly considering the largeness of the Subject shewn what Offences were to come by laying before you the principal and most obvious Offences which we know by the Predictions of the Scripture and alas for the World by too sad experience And now I proceed to the second Point which was to consider why it must needs be that Offences should come that is why it was not to be expected but that these or such Scandals as these would be given to the World And this Enquiry is necessary to be
be obeyed in matters of Prudence and Expedience Religion has been made to run out into Shews and Ceremonies and this has begotten prejudices against all appearance of Beauty and Reverence in the external Worship of God And on the other side the excesses of men in departing from one extreme are scandalous to those whom they left and do confirm them in their Errors Thus because there are some who abuse the Liberty this Church gives to all of using the Holy Scriptures and who reject the assistance of their Guides they that are concerned the People should know as little of the Bible as is possible argue from the Folly and Vanity of the former how dangerous an Instrument it is in the hands of the Laity And because 't is impossible but that a Judgment of Discretion in matters of Religion being allowed to all must be liable to be abused they that abuse it to the making of Sects and Parties and the bringing in of Innovations give a Candle to that Church to glory in her Dissention which provides that all should believe as she believes because of her Authority and that no man judges of the particulars of his Faith for himself The truth is the Instances of this mischief are so many and so undeniable that whenever any great Scandal is given by Communities or Churches that consists in one Extreme a man may without the Spirit of Prophecy foretel that if the great Mercy of God prevent it not it will in time beget the other Extreme It is the great unhappiness of Mankind that opposite Errors which look as if one would destroy the other do really strive to support one another And yet there is hardly any foolish Advice more frequent than to run from an Extreme as far as is possible as if that were the way to make an end of it But by this means woful Mischiefs have happen'd in the world Divisions have been multiplied Uncharitableness increased and men more and more hardned in their ways of Error and Sin 6. The Scandal of mixing absurd and impious Doctrines with the Truth and unjustifiable Practices with such as are to be commended has this notorious mischief still attending it that it hinders the Conversion of Infidels and is a terrible obstruction to the propagating of Christianity Averroes did not speak his own sense alone when he said Since the Christians eat their God let my Soul be with the Philosophers The Scandals that are given to Jews and Turks I need not name But to make an end of this unpleasing Argument 7. And lastly The mischief of these and all other Offences is so much the greater because when once Offence is given no man can tell where the mischief will end For instance Suppose by my Example I animate another to sin in like manner or that I do not only corrupt his Manners but his Principles too and so do him all the hurt I can Who can say that this is all the mischief I have done Is it not likely that he will infect others as I have infected him And that they may go on to propagate the mischief which had its beginning from me And that the next Age may be the worse for me And that my Guilt may be growing Ages after I am dead Apply this to all the Offences that are given in the world and consider not only the greatness of the mischief they do but the spreading nature of it and we shall find great reason in those sad words of our Lord Wo to the world because of offences But 2. Whence comes it that Offences are taken and so all this mischief done by them In general it might be sufficient to answer That for whatever Causes some men are apt to give Offence for the same others are apt to take it and therefore it would not be impertinent to call over in this place the unsuitableness of the Gospel to the Lusts and to the Vanity of mankind whether it be considered as a Rule of Faith or Manners or Worship But to this it may be added 1. That there are a great many in the world who for want of either good natural Abilities or good Education have little ability to judge for themselves and therefore the most part take their Impressions from the Authority of other mens Examples or Instructions And therefore when they fall into ill hands they fare accordingly to which our Saviour seemed to have a particular regard in the Verse before the Text Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea So that because there would be some Persons sincerely disposed who in many things could not judge for themselves but must be led by Authority our Saviour for their greater security provided this frightful Threatning to deter all men from taking the advantage of their weakness to mislead them 2. Some stumble at Offences laid before them and take up pernicious Doctrines merely from impatience of considering and taking time to lay things together He that judges rashly and hastily may by chance make a true Judgment but he shall as often judge falsly it being no difficult thing as I observed last time to lay such colours upon Error as will require some leisure to see through them And in such cases if a man be unwilling to take pains and desires to come presently and easily to the Conclusion he gives the Seducer all the advantage he could desire and is indeed just the Person he desired to meet with one easily deceived by a false appearance of Reason 3. The strange Influence which the carnal Affections of men and their worldly Interests have upon their Judgments is a fatal cause of laying them open to the mischief of Scandals We are too apt to desire Doctrines and Examples in favour of liberty to sin and therefore when they are offered we are not so apt as we should be to guard our selves against them Thus it was among the Jews as God said by Jeremy Jer. 5.31 The prophets prophesie falsly and my people love to have it so To these I might add other Causes viz. The prejudice of Education undue admiration of mens Persons prejudice against Truth arising from prejudice against Persons an Inclination to Opinions suitable to our own Temper and Complexion love of Novelty on the one side and on the other hatred to change though it be for the better all which Dispositions and Circumstances expose those that are under them to the mischief of Offences But I should be over-tedious to run into all the Particulars under this Head which may also be more profitably supplied by Directions in the Close of all And so I come to the third intention which was to reduce what has been said to matter of Exhortation And I shall leave with you these two necessary Cautions I. Be careful to give no Offence II. Be
in those Errors than it hath been and perhaps utterly impossible to maintain them amongst Christians without destroying the Bible out of the World But then by the same reason that such cautions had been necessary a thousand times as many more had been necessary too For so many Additions by way of caution must have been made as there are ways of eluding and perverting a Rule which are so many that to have provided expresly against them all would have made the Bible a more voluminous Book than any is in the World not to say the most odd and uncouth Book that ever was seen For whoever wrote or spoke in that manner as to provide against all possible ways of being mistaken or having his words perverted According to this rate a man must not expect to make an end of a sentence in an hour and when he has done all he can his explications may be perverted too And therefore we are not to wonder if God has not provided express Cautions against all possible Mistakes and Abuses of this nature but thought good to leave a Rule of Faith and Manners and Worship which would be sufficient to guide all honest Persons and lovers of Truth though not sufficient to exclude all Cavil and Abuse For this reason it was that our Saviour did not pretend that all who saw his Works and heard his Doctrines must necessarily believe in him but he required constantly a certain temper of mind consisting of Humility Sincerity love of the Truth and in a word A good and honest Heart in order to a Man's being his true Disciple Common Sense and Reason was not sufficient for this purpose but there must be also a peculiar Probity or teachable Spirit a Mind ready to believe all Truth and to do all Duty These were the Sheep that would hear his voice and the Ground that would receive his Seed and bring forth Fruit Such were the Men that would hear and understand and know of the Doctrine whether it were of God But as for others they would make a shift to reject it with some colour for so doing or to pervert it if they once admitted it This was the first things to be considered the temper and design of the Gospel which delivers Truth that does by no means gratify the Lusts of Men or please their Imaginations or serve the interest of particular persons to the disadvantage of all others and then that this Truth was delivered in that way which though it be apt to instruct and convince all honest Men yet will not infallibly bear down a spirit of Contradiction Now to this we must add 2. The consideration of the general temper of Mankind for whose sake the Gospel was made known viz. that it is very corrupt and exceedingly prone to Sin and therefore to Error impatient of true Virtue and Piety and therefore of true Doctrine Human Nature does affect a lawless Liberty and cannot well bear to be confined and it is so diseased that it doth not take it well to be healed it is therefore no wonder if the Remedy which God hath provided hath been so tampered withal by Men as to make it ineffectual for that purpose for which he hath sent it to us and Doctrines have been taught which give that liberty that Truth denies It was not to be expected but that if the Doctrine of Christianity should not effectually overcome those Lusts that reign in the World those Lusts would corrupt and pervert that Doctrine and bring in Heresies Ambition and Covetousness would bring in Heresies for the establishing of a worldly Power and Dominion in the Name of Christ Licentiousness would bring in Heresies for making void the Commandments of God Pride would bring in Heresies though for nothing else but a Man's satisfaction and glory in drawing many People into a Party and becoming the Head of it and when they were brought in the natural inconstancy and wavering of some would carry them away from the Truth the natural stiffness and inflexibility of others would detain them in Error the very desire and love of Novelty would at first help to bring in some and in process of time the pretence of Antiquity would be every day more and more able to gain others Finally the unwillingness of most Men to take pains in the search of Truth and the greater ease of depending upon the absolute Authority of others would give a farther advantage to Error which fears nothing more than an Examination and therefore discourages all Persons from giving themselves so needless a trouble since they have the word of those for their security who cannot possibly mislead them considering the diseases of Human Nature which the Doctrine of Christ doth not cure miraculously and irresistibly it could not be expected but there would be Factions and Heresies against the Truth If therefore it be thought strange that the Apostle should say there must be Heresies let us consider that this is no more than if he had said after all the care that God hath taken to restore Mankind there will be Pride and Ambition there will be Covetousness and Injustice and the Love of this World there will be Luxury and Licenciousness there will be both Inconstancy and Stiffneckedness there will be Laziness and Slothfulness and Unaptness for Instruction and therefore there must be Heresies for God hath provided no infallible Remedies against Sin and Wickedness and as certainly as the Vices of the World would break out in the Church so certainly would Errors get into it by degrees and usurp the Name and Authority of Truth 'T is true that God if he pleased could absolutely have hindred it by his over-ruling Power But in this saying it is implied that he would not do so and Experience has shewn that he has not done so and we have no reason to wonder at it since he is not pleased to make all Men good by an irresistible Grace and there was less reason to expect that he should make all Men Orthodox by an irresistible Illumination And so I come to the second point Which concerns the reason assigned why God is pleased to permit Heresies That they which are approved may be made manifest i. e. that it may most evidently appear who are sincere and honest and who are not so for opposition to the Truth and the ways that are taken to advance Error do prove what Men are at the bottom and distinguish between those that would appear all alike if the same Truth were equally professed by all The great difference that breaks out is that between the probity of some Men on the one side and the falseness and hypocrisy of others on the other side which appears in these instances 1. In a more diligent search after Truth which is the effect Heresies have upon honest and godly Men while they give occasion to Hypocrites to consider what is most for their ease their safety their advantage in this World whilst the several parties
of Christians are each of them eagerly contending for their own ways Men of honesty and sincerity find themselves obliged to examine their own persuasions more narrowly and to compare one thing with another more carefully so that if they apprehend a mistake in themselves they quit it without any more to do and come to establish themselves in the Truth upon better grounds than they had before and are better able to lead others into it 2. By this means also the constancy of sincere persons in the profession of the Truth is manifested For where there is no opposition there can be no trial of that Love to the Truth which will not suffer a Man to forsake it and this not only because a Man's stedfastness cannot be proved but by opposition and temptation but likewise because there are but few Good Men in comparison who would be at the pains of a diligent Examination of their own persuasions if contrary Doctrines were not advanced they would rely mostly upon the Consent and Authority of others instead of believing Truth upon its proper Grounds and Arguments But if as I said in the first instance the spreading of Heresies puts them upon a diligent search after the reasons of Truth their stedfastness in it afterwards is manifested to be the true Virtue of Constancy which does not consist in an obstinate resolution not to change our Opinion let what will be produced against it but in adhering to that which appears to be true after the most diligent examination of all that can be said against it And thus Heresies make Good Men more constant in the Truth by giving them an opportunity of confirming themselves in it by better Arguments and clearer Evidence and they manifest their constancy to the World inasmuch as the Adversaries of Truth are never wanting to shake the stedfastness of true Believers by all ways of temptation imaginable 3. Their Charity to others is manifested also by means of Heresies and Opposition to the Truth for here is occasion given to shew their care of one another in satisfying the doubtful in instructing the ignorant in giving caution to the confident and encouragement to the weak all which are noble instances of Christian Charity But this is not all since their care to recover others from the way of Error to reduce those that are gone aside together with their enduring contradiction their instructing in much patience their meekness towards those that oppose themselves are likewise manifested upon all such occasions 4. Their sincerity does likewise appear in another respect viz. of defending Truth with Truth only and a good Cause by Innocence and honest means without making use of Frauds of Lies of False Accusations of false Principles of unconcluding Arguments of any disingenuous Arts without making advantage of the weakness and mistakes of others which one thing makes a vast difference between those that are honest and those that are not All which instances do express the truth of that reason for which God has still suffered Heresies to be in the Church That they which are approved may be made manifest i. e. that their love of the Truth and their diligence in enquiring after it that their constancy in professing it that their charity to those that are and to those that are not misled and their sincerity and ingenuity in asserting Truth and appearing for it by none but lawful methods and just arguments may appear to the World which as it is for the praise of Good Men so there are other benefits arising from it for instance 1. That the belief of true Doctrine comes hereby to be established upon better and firmer grounds than in all likelihood had been discovered if Opposition had not obliged honest Men to dig the deeper for them and this we have noted already 2. That by the way many profitable Truths come to be discovered which had otherwise lain hid The Scriptures come to be better understood and the more obscure passages of it to be reasonably well interpreted all which is for the advantage of the Church of God Opposition whets the Industry and sets an edge upon the Wit of all Men good and bad and whilst bad Men are concerned to find out all the ways of supporting Error the good and honest are no less employed to arm themselves with all the advantages of Truth and therefore cannot fail of arriving at greater Skill in the things of God and a greater compass of understanding in Divine matters than if they had not been constrained to undermine the approaches of Error Lastly The Duty that is incumbent upon all Men of Honesty and Sincerity to maintain the Profession of the pure Doctrine of the Gospel against all Heresies whatsoever shews them also the necessity of recommending true Opinions to the World by more Orthodox lives by walking more warily and circumspectly by setting better Examples of all kinds of Virtue and Piety by shewing the force and efficacy of true Doctrine to make Men live soberly righteously and godly in this present World And when God suffers Heresies to prevail most in the Church 't is a loud call to all that are Friends of Truth and Goodness to justify his Cause by the strongest Arguments and the best Lives And now he is something to blame that will not acknowledge these two things to follow from what has been said 1. That Heresies and Schisms are no objection against the Providence of God 2. That they are no objection against the Truth and Goodness of a Church 1. That they are no objection against the Providence of God since they have their good use and consequence for which he is pleased to permit them and this especially to try the Honesty of Men and to shew what they are to the World which will in the end make extreamly for the advantage of Truth and commonly the more Heresies there are the more certainly is this Trial made In the mean while it is not to be dissembled that yet diversity of Sects and Parties hath its manifold mischiefs and miseries attending upon it it breeds scandal to the World it is the diversion of Atheists and Unbelievers it nourishes Discords and Animosities it removes the Contentious farther from the knowledge of the Truth it makes the Study of good Manners and the Practice of Holiness and Virtue to be in a great measure forgotten it lessens the Reverence of Authority it produces Fraud and Force Unfaithfulness and Cruelty and has made Men and which is worse Christians Foxes and Wolves to one another so that 't is not to be denied but Heresies are in themselves and in their consequences very great Evils but then they are such Evils as the Providence of God permits for wise and good Ends such as I have already mentioned They have their good consequences as well as their bad ones and the good that is wrought out of them is weighty enough to overbalance the Evil for the greatest mischief that is discernable in
Bible and yet they modestly attended upon their Spiritual Guides for farther Instruction out of the Bible And therefore if some Men in later Ages have grosly Misinterpreted the Scriptures and would not be set right by those that had more skill to interpret them this doth not prove that the reading of the Scriptures makes the People ungovernable for then it must always have been so which is notoriously false and whereas it is said that almost all Heresies have come of Mis-interpreting Scripture this doth not prove that Christian People must not Read the Scriptures for it cannot be denied that those Heresies which have given any considerable disturbance to the Church of God were begun not by Laicks or illeterate Persons but by such Men as the objectors do allow to have a right of reading and studying the Scriptures i. e. by Bishops or Priests Wherefore In the last place The Arguing of these Men against the common use of the Bible concludes against the Priest as strongly as against the People For if to prevent Heresie the Scriptures are to be kept from Lay-men who may bring Heresie into the Church by misinterpreting the Scriptures then for the same reason Men in Orders should not be suffered to read them since they have actually been the Founders of Heresie nay the reason is something stronger since the wresting of the holy Text by Men of Office or Learning will be of greater Authority and do more mischief than the mistakes of private and unlearned Persons But if the danger of perverting difficult places be a good reason to deprive Men of all use of the Bible this reason hath a particular force upon some Men that they should never look upon a Bible more For the best way to judge how the Scriptures are likely to be used by any sort of Men is to consider how they have constantly used them heretofore and let any indifferent Man judge of them by these following instances because God said Let us make man after our own Image therefore it is lawful to fall down before an Image of Wood or Stone Because Christ said to Peter Feed my Sheep Therefore his pretended Successors have power to depose Heretical Princes Because Peter said to Christ Lord here are two Swords therefore they have a Temporal as well as a Spiritual Jurisdiction Because Jacob in Blessing Ephraim and Manasses prayed that his Name might be named on them therefore it is lawful to pray to Saints Because it is said the Disciples met together to break Bread therefore the Laity may be depriv'd of the Cup. Because St. Paul saith of him that prayeth in a Tongue not understood by others Thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified therefore it is in it self good to appoint publick Prayers in a Language unknown to the people that is because he that understands what himself says doth well for himself because he understands therefore he doth well for others that understands not a word and are therefore not edified Because the Apostle saith we must glorifie God with one mouth therefore in all publick Offices of Liturgy there is to be but one and that the Latin Tongue in all places of Christendom Because that many Languages at Babel caused confusion therefore for God to be served in the many vulgar Tongues of Christian Nations would breed Schisms in the Church Because the Beast that touched the mountain was to die and because Christ said Give not that which is Holy to Dogs therefore ordinary People are not to have the Bible These Expositions are not invented but there are good Authorities for them and for a great many more of the like sort I know not what can farther be objected but this That if Priests and Learned Men have been so foully mistaken in the Interpretation of Scripture how much more are the Unlearned in danger of falling into Mistakes which tho' perhaps will never come to be Heresies in the Church may yet prove damnable to themselves as St. Peter plainly saith To which I answer That St. Peter's unlearned Men were such as had not yet attained to the knowledge of the necessary Doctrine of Faith and good Life as appears by his calling them unstable not yet fixt in the Perswasion of the plain Truths and great Ends of the Gospel and such as those whether they were Men of good Parts or not were likely enough to interpret the hard places of St. Paul's Epistles to a sense contrary to the plain and open Truths of the Gospel But if a Man be instructed in the necessary and plain Doctrine of Christianity and moreover furnished with Modesty and a sincere Love of the Truth and willingness to learn Qualities that ought to be common to all he shall be as far from wresting the difficult Scriptures to his own destruction as one that hath vastly greater Abilities Nay I will add one thing which if it be true there is no force at all in the Objection and that is this That the service of a Cause and espousing the Interest of a By-party doth more fatally lead to Misinterpretation of the Scripture than bear weakness of Understanding and there is this plain reason for it because Modesty and love of the Truth will secure a Man of no great Abilities from rash concluding upon the difficult Places of Scripture but Partiality and the Service of a By-cause shall engage a Man of Parts and Learning to trouble the clearest and to pervert the plainest Texts as the forementioned Instances evidently shew so that either the danger of Misinterpreting Scripture is no sufficient reason to prohibit the Laity from reading it or else it were better that no Order of Men were trusted with it at all and if that be true I think it will follow that it had better never have been written at all which no Man will say whatever he thinks But to speak to the thing the Scriptures were written for an universal good and in order thereunto for common use Here are all Divine Truths and Reasons of Christian Faith and Practice that are necessary to be known of every Man plainly exprest for the use of the meanest Capacities Here are also Difficulties and Mysteries of several sizes fit to employ the Industry of the Learned according to the several degrees of their Abilities and to exercise the Modesty the Humility and the Reverence of all But still we confess that they may be perverted and abused and if this be a sufficient Reason to interdict the general use of them then farewel at once to all the Comforts of this Life and to all the Means of Grace in order to a better with every one of which Men in their folly and wickedness may and very often have hurt themselves and others St. Peter was aware of this that some Men wrested those hard things in S. Paul's Epistles and in other Scriptures to their own destruction but did he therefore disswade the Faithful from reading them No but in the
worse but still crushed all Impostures and discountenanced all Villany and Hypocrisie at its first setting out in the World where would be the Patience and Faith of the Saints of those that believe in God and take his Word for their Rule and their Comfort and live in the Expectation of his Promises But when Iniquity grows and thrives and can plead Prescription and Authority when it hath stood long enough to have some colour for Antiquity and hath obtained interest enough to pretend to a kind of Vniversality then it will be seen who they are that love God and Truth and Goodness that are not willing to be deceived that will take pains not to be deceived that will take pains to be rightly informed that prefer Truth before glorious Names and a good Conscience before Applause and Flattery and eternal Life before the Ease and Pleasures of this World God bears long with all the Provocations of Mankind for the same reason that he permits Heresies which is that they who are approved may be made manifest For these and such like reasons as these God in his Wisdom and Goodness bears with infinite Patience those Provocations for a long time together which he could be avenged of in a moment and which he utterly abominates which was the first Observation upon the Text. 2. The second was That God is so much the more just in the final destruction of incurable and obstinate Sinners when their Iniquity is full and ripe for Vengeance For as there was the Patience of God seen for four hundred Years together while the Iniquity of the Amorites was growing from bad to worse so at the end of that Period the Justice of God was seen when their iniquity was full To grow worse for the forbearance of God is the most criminal Presumption in the World and when Men are come to that pass as quite to forget that there is a God or believing him to be to perswade themselves That he either approves or at least connives at their Impieties then the same Wisdom and Goodness which hitherto had kept off their Punishments will bring them on swiftly and suddenly for as on the one side if the degeneracy and the impudence of Sinners should not be suffered to flourish long there will be no Tryal of the Faith of honest Men so if it should be suffer'd to last always the Temptation would at length grow too hard for them God exercises his own Patience that good Men might exercise theirs at length he shews his Justice to reward their Patience The Patience of God is a forbearance guided by Wisdom and Goodness and the Justice of God is a Severity that is also guided by Wisdom and Goodness And neither the one nor the other hath any mixture of that Selfishness and Passion which is for the most part the reason why we sometimes are and sometimes are not severe with those that have offended us This is the true Justice of Punishment to respect the evil that is committed and to punish for that reason and this appears in no instances more than when God punishes after long sparing for if he had been a selfish or a passionate Being he had never suffered Men to go on so long together in the most provoking ways of wickedness because he had it in his Power to Punish them long before as he punishes them at last and therefore that he punishes them at last is an effect of his Wisdom and Goodness and a Demonstration that the common good required it And as there are several good ends to which God's Patience tends in bearing with general Impieties so long as he often doth so there are as many to which his Justice tends in taking Vengeance of them at last For 1. This is a Demonstration that his Providence was not asleep before 2. It is a clear Instruction that Men ought not to presume upon God's Favour merely because they prosper in their ways but that they should measure his Love or his Anger by what they do and not by what happens to them since they who do the same wicked things may go unpunished from one Generation to another and in this World but one Generation may suffer for them 3. That we should not forget to call our past Sins to remembrance and to humble our selves before God for them since if God punishes the sins of the Fathers upon the Children in this Life the like cause have we to fear that he will punish the Sins of our Youth and our riper Years at the latter end of our Life 4. That we should make use of the Patience and long suffering of God to our selves to prevent his Anger from flaming out against us because otherwise we treasure up Wrath against the day of Wrath and revelation of the righteous Judgment of God The truth is these are the uses we ought to make of both those Considerations that I laid before you from the Text which I shall therefore inculcate again And 1. We have no reason to question either the watchfulness of God's Providence or to be cast into perplexities and doubts whether the way of Truth and the way of Error the way of Vertue and Piety and the way of Hypocrisie and Wickedness are so different from one another as is pretended in Religion we have I say no reason to perplex our selves about these things because for many Generations God hath suffer'd deceit and violence to prevail to spread and to flourish in the world for God is not as a Man his ways are above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts when we look abroad into the World and look back upon so many past Ages wherein Religion hath been made a formal pretence for the establishing of a worldly greatness and Dominion upon gross and palpable Errors supported by Fraud and Force it is foolishly done of us to disquiet our selves with doubts whether we are in the way of the Truth or not since it pleased God for so long a time to suffer the contrary to prevail mightily in the World and for some Ages to baffle all opposition For this is to suppose God to be such a one as our selves impatient of high Indignities and great Provocations ready to kindle upon any notable affront or however unable to bear repeated and long-continued injuries No doubt if our opinion had been asked the Luxury of the old World should have been mortified by some amazing Judgments and the Flood should have been spared the Idolatry of the new Race of Mankind had been prevented or at least by some irresistable Evidence of God's Displeasure banished long before the coming of Christ and Mahomet should either have never appeared or he should have glared only like a Comet and so gone out instead of founding so vast and so long an Empire as it seems he has done But let us leave God to rule the World and be content that he should rule us we are too angry and too passionate to say
little Faith in the Earth The World will be in a careless Posture as it was before that the Flood came and took them all away And for the same reason there is but little Faith in the Earth when God enters into Judgment with the World for the Violence and Iniquities of Men and asserts the Cause of Innocence and Rightousness against them for in all such Cases the Temptations to Unbelief and Apostacy are very great and likely to prevail upon many of those that believe so that this is the meaning That in such a wicked Age as calls for the coming of the Son of Man the open Enemies of God which are the greater number will be void of all regard whatsoever to his Word and to his Providence or if they take any notice of it it is that of the Scoffers mentioned by St. Peter Who will say Where is the promise of his coming Many of his professed Servants will be weary of depending upon him and give way to Temptations and depend more upon the arm of Flesh Than upon the Promise of God and the Faith of many good Men will be very much weakned and abated so that when he cometh he will find but little Faith upon the Earth And thus I perswade my self to have given you a true Illustration of these remarkable Words of our blessed Saviour and that upon the two significations of the Son of Man's Coming which seem to be both intended in this Text and indeed it is very hard to know which was principally intended the day of the general Judgment or the Destruction of Jerusalem The day of general Judgment is in it self the principal meaning of Christ's Coming and therefore ought not to be excluded but yet the Parable with the Application of it being manifestly intended to stir up that Generation to pray to God and not to faint and to give a firm Faith to the Promises of God notwithstanding the great troubles they were like to meet with from the unbelieving Jews therefore neither could the coming of the Son of Man to be avenged of these his Enemies and to deliver his Servants be excluded but was as directly intended as the other And now I proceed to observe the two main Points which the Text supposes besides those which it affirms and the considering of them will not a little contribute to a more perfect understanding of this place 1. It is supposed manifestly that after the first Coming of Christ to call the World to repentance and to be offered up for our sins there would yet be degenerate Ages sometimes and a most corrupt state of things before his second personal Coming to judge the World 2. It is also supposed that his Providence would then appear to set all things right when there was the greatest need to interpose in behalf of his Church 1. That his first coming would not infallibly prevent the degeneracy and corruption of future Ages For notwithstanding that evidence of Truth which he taught many false prophets would arise and deceive many and notwithstanding the Power of his Doctrine iniquity would abound and the love of many would wax cold And notwithstanding both these advantages yet his own servants would sometimes be reduced to that state that it should be needful to them to cry unto God day and night which is a matter that may cause some wonder if we do not consider the reason of it That the Principles and Manners of Men were so often and so generally corrupted before the Coming of the Son of God into the World is that which might not appear strange at all to those that consider the weakness and folly of Mankind That after the Creation the Earth should so abound with luxury and violence that God swept all Mankind away with the Flood but eight Persons That after Noah's Family had peopled the Earth again Men should fall into Idolatry so universally that God called Abraham out of his own Country and entred into a particular Covenant with him for the maintaining of the true Worship in his Family and Posterity That Pharaoh should oppress the Israelites after his Country had been saved by them That the Israelites should fall to worship other Gods after that the true God had wrought so many miraculous Deliverances for them That when not without much ado they were cured of Idolatry they should fall into scandalous ways of Hypocrisie and Immorality These and the like things perhaps are not so much to be wondred at because God had not as yet used the last means to instruct Mankind and to oblige them to Piety and Vertue but that there should be Times as bad as the worst of those after Christ himself had appeared in the World to die for Sinners and to bring the Doctrine of Salvation to Mankind with the most convincing Evidence that could be desired and with the most powerful Motives that could be thought of that notwithstanding all this Oppression Violence Fraud Hypocrisie Error Superstition Idolatry and scandalous Examples should for some Ages reign no less than before the times of Christ and to that degree as to shake even the Faith of good Men and if it were possible to deceive the very best of all this seems to be an amazing Consideration and tho' the noble Examples of Christian Piety and Vertue that have appeared in the World and the assured Expectation of a larger Progress that Christianity will make in the Earth and of better Effects that it will produce may answer the Objection yet that the World that the Church should be so bad under the last means is what may raise some admiration But you are to consider That when our Lord first came into the World he came not to establish a Religion which should either by its Truth convince or by its Power reform Mankind whether they will or no but what was sufficient for both purposes if they would be wise and honest and suffer the Concernments of eternal Life to prevail with them above their worldly Interests and therefore there was as much reason to expect an universal Reformation as to expect that Men would not resist the Evidence of Truth in Matters of the greatest concern to them in the whole World but to bring them to this the Gospel was furnished with no irresistible means but left them under the natural liberty they had before with a provision of Grace that might be resisted and therefore it was in it self likely that the Truth would be opposed by some and corrupted by others and by many held in unrighteousness that several to whom it was propounded would not believe it and several that believed it would not obey it and in time that it would be mixed with Errors and Superstitions and framed to the Designs of Ambition and Covetousness nay the better and more Divine a Religion that of the Gospel is the more violently it would be opposed by some and the more certainly corrupted by others So that if we
violated their Oath at last Nay a corrupt Jury is guilty of Perjury in another respect since they swear against that very Temptation which misleads them they are to bring in a Verdict according to the proof of the Fact whereas they make it according as they are inclined to the Parties and yet they are sworn not to swerve from the Truth for Fear Hatred Favour or Affection But farther one Man may be guilty of the violation of another Man's Oath he that suborns a false Witness is before God guilty of his Perjury yea if he does so much as tempt a Witness to be false for tho' he himself is not actually sworn yet he designs that an Oath should be broken God hath said Thou shalt swear in truth he in effect says Thou shalt not do so and therefore if he prevails he is at once guilty of the false Witness his breaking that Law of God and likewise of his own contradicting it which is every whit as bad and there is this Circumstance rendring the Perjury more displeasing to God That two Men are guilty of violating one Oath The Case is the same in tampering with Juries to possess them beforehand with favour or disaffection to either of the Parties For what is this but to perswade them to Perjury that is to give their Verdict with respect to Persons and not with regard to the Evidence And I do not see but they who are to impannel Juries are likewise guilty of the Violation of other Mens Oaths if in any Case depending they return Jurors whose Interest and Affection they believe will carry them to favour the side befriended by their own Wishes for tho' they may chuse whether they will be forsworn yet he that returns 'em had a Mind that they should rather than the Cause should miscarry on that side to which he is partial himself Lastly Whoever in behalf of a Client puts words into the mouth of a slow Country Witness while he is giving his Testimony by which the Witness means one thing and he another by this means perverting the Evidence while the poor Man perceives it not he does not only directly offend against the end of Swearing which is the discovery of the Truth but before God he is as guilty of the Violation of an Oath as the honest Witness would have been had he knowingly used the same subtilty in giving Testimony which was indeed but practised upon him And thus much concerning the usual ways direct or indirect by which an Oath may be violated it being requisite to touch upon them at least that what remains to be said may find us prepared for particular Application As to the Inducements to Perjury which was the third Subject propounded there is no doubt but every sin which preys upon the Conscience does form the mind more or less into some disposition to this the blackest of them all every thing inclines to it which lessens the Sense of Religion and the Fear of offending God The prevalency of any Lust especially of Ambition and Revengefulness animates Men to break loose from all the most sacred Bonds that should restrain them from gratifying their inordinate Appetites Again Partiality grounded upon Prejudice and Interest upon Envy and Covetousness has been the cause of many Perjuries in most questions concerning Rents and Tythes every body is ready to say how the Case is like to go But when all is said there is nothing in this our Age has made such foul work in swearing as Faction hath done that combination of Covetousness Pride and Ambition of Envy Hatred and Malice united and made fast together under Hypocrisie Any one of these singly by it self leads to Perjury but when they all conspire they drive on to it without opposition Another inlet to the violation of Oaths is the Practice of Common Swearing he that will call God to witness Trifles by degrees loseth the Reverence of an Oath and is within a little of calling him to witness Falshood I mean upon Solemn Oath for 't is not to be doubted that the customary Oaths of Conversation make the Swearer guilty of frequent Perjuries when he thinks not of it but if he swears in truth before a Court of Judicature against his Interest or Affection we are to thank his Generosity for it and not the respect he has for an Oath Otherwise he that swears commonly and rashly will upon any considerable Temptation swear falsly with deliberation In a word such are the Inducements and Occasions of Perjury that perhaps it were to be wished that the manner of administring Oaths were in all places a little more awful and solemn than it is to strike into those Men some reverence of an Oath and fear of Perjury who bring nothing of it along with them Indeed the most effectual way to prevent false Swearing would be to consider the heinous Aggravations of the Sin some of which in the last place I shall now represent We know that sincerity in speaking of the Truth and keeping ones Promise is every Man's Duty whether he be Sworn or not The natural Obligation we lie under to be true and faithful to our Word is so strong and so sensible that every Man is ashamed to be found in a Lye But whoever is known to be a common falsifier of his Word and so given to Deceit that he is not to be trusted let him be endued with never so many considerable and useful Parts besides that shall be sure to ruin his Reputation Insincerity is so foul a Stain that no good quality can wipe it out and this shews that there is a strong Obligation to trust common to all Mankind wherefore this must needs be one heinous Circumstance of Perjury That when the sacred Bond of an Oath is once violated the perjur'd Person is guilty of breaking that Faith and Truth which was a natural Duty before But Sincerity is still more a Duty when my Testimony is required in order to publick Peace and Justice All Men have right to be truly dealt with much more the Magistrate by whom I am protected most of all when he requires it in order to the doing of Justice or the securing of Government It is then my Duty to the Magistrate 't is my Duty to my Neighbour 't is my Duty to my Country to speak the Truth clearly and honestly and if I promise any thing to discharge it faithfully The discharge of thy Office which thou art sworn to execute is both requisite for the publick Good and requir'd by just Authority if thou hadst not so much as promised it thou hadst been still obliged to the same in obedience to thy Superior in Love to thy Country If thou hadst been barely required to give thy Testimony in Court yet even without Oath or Promise thou wert greatly bound to Truth because the telling of a Lye in this Case were impudent undutifulness to the Judge and manifestly injurious to thy Neighbour In like manner a