and their Parts quicker than those of the sincere and godly and moreover that some wicked men have arrived to greater knowledge in Religion than thousands of Religious persons ever had To this Objection I answer 1. That supposing an equality of other means and abilities he that is sincere towards God hath many advantages above a wicked man in order to the gaining of that knowledge to which the wicked may possibly arrive 2. That there is some knowledge in Religion proper to the godly which the other continuing as he is can never gain Now if that which is possibly to both may be more easily and certainly attained by the good man supposed to be equal in other respects to the wicked if there be something also that cannot be attained by the wicked though in other respects never so superior to the good man then is not the Rule of our Saviour disparaged by the pretence now mentioned but we have still as great reason to take his method as there seemed to be at first Now there are these two things which I hope to make out by the following Discourse First of all That supposing the good and the bad to be equally endued with natural Abilities of understanding and equally to enjoy the external means of knowledge the former hath great Advantages above the latter for the gaining of that knowledge in Religion which is possible to both this will appear from these two general Arguments 1. That sincerity of heart with a religious life is in it self a fit means to attain knowledge and that the contrary disposition and course of life renders a man very unfit to discern divine Truth 2. That there are many great promises of knowledge and wisdom made to godly men and to none else but that of his Justice he hath threatned and by the same Justice doth often infatuate the understandings of the wicked 1. That a sincere intent towards God and doing his Will is a fit means of it self to attain knowledge For in the 1st place It takes in all that is good and profitable in any other way of coming to the knowledge of the Truth For is searching the Scripture a good means doing the will of God includes that for it is his will that we should search the Scriptures Is hearkning to our Sipritual Guides another way It is the will of God that we should know them that labour amongst us and are over us in the Lord and admonish us Is an impartial examination of those grounds upon which the several Parties in Christendom pretend to hold the truth It is the will of God that we should prove all things and hold fast that which is good that we should not believe every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God Is it the use of our own reason and arguing from Principles of natural Religion This is plainly supposed in the command of trying their Doctrines who pretend to instruct us in Revelation Is it of any use to enquire into the sense of Ancient Churches if we are able to do it this is not hindred but furthered by doing the will of God which always supposeth a sincere desire to know the truth for this sincerity gives a prosperous influence to the labours of the diligent and learned whereas if the interest of ambition or covetousness does mix it self with the studies of men and infect them with a secret disloyalty to the truth it doth most commonly blast their endeavours through the corruptness of their end making them bend their wit not so much to know the truth as to serve their Cause This is the first consideration That whatever is good and profitable in any other way is included in this 2. The obedient and honest mind is peculiarly fitted for the evidence of Divine Truth which is enough to satisfy the prudent and considerate and those that are willing to learn but not to bear down the prejudices and passions of the untractable To this purpose we may consider That our Saviour accommodated his Instructions to the tempers of the humble and willing But when he met with the captious Pharisees he returned them Answers like their Questions designing rather to silence their Arrogance than to inform them and convince them of the truth for he perceived all that labour was lost upon men of their perverse minds which was abundantly sufficient to satisfie those there that were wise and modest and disinterested Thus after they had been cavilling at his Doctrine he asks them whose son Christ was to be they said David's if David then says he call him Lord how is he his son where he left them speechless without explaining the difficulty for he knew Reason would not serve them So when they asked him By what Authority he did those things which he did and this after they they had known his wonderful Works he did not vouchsafe to give them a direct Answer but replies to their Question with another The baptism of John was it from heaven or of men He knew they would say They could not tell Neither tell I you says he by what authority I do these things How evident and reasonable soever the institution of the Gospel is it was not delivered in such a way as should certainly prevail against the obstinacy of the wicked and enlighten the minds of them that love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil but in such a way as would satisfy all that love the truth and are resolved to follow it Hereby God hath made great distinction between the humble and honest on the one side and the proud and insincere on the other while the best knowledge is easy and ready to the former but in comparison hard to the latter 3. Due reverence and love of God's Word is it self apt to promote the understanding of it which is a great advantage which the good man hath above all others what a man admires and delights in engages his whole Soul and makes it all attention and in that posture the mind apprehends more readily and clearly On the other side no man makes a good proficiency in that which he studies with an alienated mind and indeed it is impossible he should since he doth not put his strength to the work and his Soul is hardly present with the business he is about What other reason can we give why men that are accurate at one sort of business are heavy and inapprehensive at others for the Soul in it self hath a capacity equally open to the embracing of all Reason that therefore which makes the difference must be their value of and delight in one subject and their aversion from the other It is no wonder then if David as he speaks of himself was wiser than all his enemies and understood more than the ancients and had more understanding than his teachers themselves For saith he I have kept thy precepts I love thy law it is my meditation all the day long and the
ELEVEN SERMONS Preached upon Several Occasions AND A PARAPHRASE and NOTES Upon the First Second Third Fourth Fifth Seventh and Eighth Chapters of St. JOHN WITH A Discourse of Church-Vnity AND Directions how in this Divided State of Christendom to keep within the Vnity of the Church By WILLIAM CLAGETT D. D. Late Preacher to the Honourable Society of Grays-Inn IMPRIMATUR April 25. 1693. Geo. Royse R. R. in Christo Patriac Dom. Dom. Johanni Archiep. Cantuar. a Sacris Domest The Second Edition London Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's-Church in Fleetstreet 1699. THE CONTENTS SERMON I. Romans 1.17 FOR herein is the Righteousness of God Revealed from Faith to Faith as it is written The Just shall live by Faith SERMON II. III. Heb. 11.6 But without Faith it is impossible to please him For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him SERMON IV. Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest SERMON V. VI. Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for good to them that love God SERMON VII Preached at Court Eccles 3.15 For that which hath been is now and that which is to be already hath been and God requireth that which is past SERMON VIII An Assize Sermon Matth. 5.38 39 40 41. Ye have heard that it hath been said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth But I say unto you that ye resist not Evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain SERMON IX An Assize Sermon Matth. 5.34 35 36 37. But I say unto you swear not at all neither by Heaven for it is God's Throne Nor by the Earth for it is his Footstool neither by Jerusalem for it is the City of the great King Neither shalt thou swear by thy Head because thou canst not make one Hair white or black But let your Communication be Yea yea Nay nay for whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil SERMON X. Matth. 7.21 Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is Heaven SERMON XI John 7.17 If any man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God A Paraphrase and Notes upon the First Second Third Fourth Fifth Seventh and Eighth Chapters of St. John A Discourse of Church-Unity with Directions how in this Divided State of Christendom to keep within the Unity of the Church The PREFACE IF it may recommend a Book to declare the Author of the Discourses it contains the Reader may be assured that this is another Volume of Dr. Clagett's Works never extant before Some of the following Discourses he Preached at Court and at Assize-times and upon such like Publick Occasions which therefore cost him some pains more than ordinary in the Preparation as likewise did other Sermons in this Collection particularly that about the Nature of Faith His sudden Thoughts upon a Subject were so marvellous good that they seemed to flow from a Fountain of Reason and discovered a great Readiness of Judgment in him but they were very clear and full Discourses which he took any Time and a particular Care to compose The Occasion of his Writing the Paraphrase published in this Volume was this It was intended as I have been informed that a Commentary upon the whole Bible should be set forth by Divines of our Church For such a Work being too big for one or two was to be divided amongst a sufficient Select Number every one of them taking his Part to expound and Dr. Clagett made choice of the Gospel of St. John This was a brave and noble Design which I hope is not quite laid aside For seeing in our Age God hath raised up such Excellent Men in this Church as the Christian World hath scarce any where else so very Eminent and so Celebrated for their Admirable Composures their Writings and Sermons it is great pity methinks that a Church of England-Exposition of Scripture should be wanting all the while forasmuch as this would be altogether as beneficial to the World as any of the great Things our Worthies have done And were there ever abler Men and fitter for the Work of Interpreting Scripture since the time of that Inspiration by which the Scripture was given In the late Reign those Texts of Scripture were examined which the Romanists quote for their Cause and the shewing clearly that Popery hath no Foundation in Scripture did very good Service to the Truth But were a general Exposition of all the Sacred Books of Scripture put forth into the World by the same Men this would rescue perverted and abused Texts out of the hands of all Sectaries and Hereticks whatsoever I need not shew at large how vast would be the Advantage of such a Work to the Church of God both now and in Ages to come Dr. Clagett who exceedingly approved the Design was very forward to prepare his Part in the Work he published his Paraphrase upon the Sixth Chapter first by it self because he saw that was needful to be done at a time when the Papists to make Proselytes boasted much of some Passages in that Chapter as undeniably proving Transubstantiation but his intent was to go through all the rest of the Chapters of St. John and he had finished his Exposition if it had pleased God to continue his Life Here is also added a small Tract concerning Church-Vnity shewing how we are to maintain the Vnity of the Spirit in the midst of Divisions A Discourse that was very seasonable then when it was written and is so still These several Discourses of the Excellent Author I have sent into the World not doubting but they will be found to be of that Use and Benefit to all that read them which was my end in the Publication of them N. C. The First Sermon ROM I. 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written The just shall live by faith THESE words are a reason given of what the Apostle said in the former Verse I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for therein is the righteousness of God revealed c. i. e. Because God hath revealed in the Gospel what that Righteousness is which he will accept from us in order to our Salvation The righteousness of God signifies that Righteousness which God requires and which he will accept from man And what this Righteousness is is revealed in the Gospel that is the Gospel plainly represents to us what manner of persons we must be in order to our Justification Now there are two things which
he lays down in the remaining part of the Text. 1. That this Righteousness proceeds from Faith The righteousness of God from faith to faith 2. That this principle of Righteousness was mentioned in the Old Testament As it is written the just shall live by faith And therefore we are first to enquire 1. What is the meaning of that Passage from faith to faith In what sense is the Righteousness which God requires said to be from faith to faith I answer that the meaning is this The Righteousness which pleaseth God is that which must begin from Faith which must still proceed from Faith and which at last must end in Faith For this is a saying like to that in Rom. 6.19 As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity even so yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness For by serving iniquity unto iniquity is meant adding one sin to another and daily growing worse And by serving righteousness unto holiness is meant adding one degree of goodness to another and growing better And thus here the Righteousness which is from faith to faith is a Righteousness which first proceeds from Faith and is always built upon it afterwards and is at last perfected by it For that which the Apostle intimates by these words is That the Righteousness of a good Christian having Faith for the ground and reason of it does encrease as his Faith encreases and that the more he is rooted and strengthned in Faith the better he grows and he pleases God the more This seems to be the most natural interpretation of these words viz. That Faith is all along the Principle and Ground of that Righteousness which God expects and is pleased with But then 2. What relation hath that Passage out of the Old Testament to this matter As it is written the just shall live by faith I answer That the Apostle does hereby design to shew that though the Promises of the Gospel are incomparably more excellent than those that were made under the Law yet it was the belief of God's Promises then that held good men to the performance of their duty and intituled them to the favour of God The words are taken out of Habakk 2.4 God had promised the Jews that they should return from their Captivity in his appointed time v. 3. therefore says he though the vision tarry wait for it because it will surely come but the just shall live by his faith that is to say The sure belief of this Promise would support good men in the service of God under the Captivity in an Idolatrous Land and their Faith should be rewarded with a return into their own Country in God's appointed time In like manner Christians who have better promises viz. of an Heavenly Countrey do in this Faith work that Righteousness which the Gospel requires and for thus living by Faith in this World they shall live for ever in their Heavenly Countrey Faith was the foundation of the Jews observing their Law of outward Works and it was rewarded with such Blessings as that Law promised But the Gospel of Christ as we read in the foregoing Verse is the power of God unto salvation and therefore it is still true but in a much higher sense that the just shall live by faith because the Gospel requires an inward and spiritual Righteousness to which we are brought by the belief of promises of spiritual and eternal good things and because such Faith shall bring us to everlasting life Thus much for the Explication of the Text. And now my work shall be to enquire upon what ground it is that the Scriptures do attribute so much to Faith as they do and to shew that this is done without any disparagement at all to Godliness and Virtue And I have chosen this Argument to discourse upon that it may appear how unreasonably we of the Reformation are charged by our Adversaries as we often have been with Solifidianism as they call it that is with attributing all to Faith and leaving no necessity for Righteousness and good Works We do indeed with the Scriptures say That we are justified by faith and that the just do live by Faith but we do with the Scriptures also affirm Faith to be the principle of obedience and there is a righteousness from faith to faith without which we cannot please God nor be justified before him We do also renounce the merit of good Works and resolve the acceptance of them into the Grace and Mercy of God in not imputing our sins to us and when we have done all they are the gracious Promises of God and it is not the dignity of our own Righteousness that we rely upon but then we say it is the faith of these Promises that maketh us live to God by Repentance and good Works which are so necessary that we are dead without them Now from hence indeed it follows That where there is that faith which God requires holiness will follow For if we are justified by faith if he that believes shall be saved and yet without holiness no man shall see the Lord then they that believe are holy which if it be found true then we not to say the Scriptures are justified in attributing so much to Faith as we do that it is by Faith we please God that we live by Faith and that we are saved by Faith On the other hand it seems hard to understand how those great things should be spoken of Faith when there are many that do not hold faith and a good conscience but hold the truth in unrighteousness And since it follows more certainly That a man believes because he is holy than that he is holy because he believes it should rather have been said that a Believer shall live by his Righteousness than that the just shall live by faith and yet following the Scriptures we say that we live by faith and are justified by faith To clear this difficulty it will be requisite to consider well these two things 1. What the Nature of Faith is And 2. What power it has or what efficacy must necessarily be granted to it and when it hath that power and efficacy I shall not only aim at making the notions of these things clear but also profitable unto Godliness 1st then As to the Nature of Faith I do not see that the Scripture means any thing by Faith but a persuasion of the truth of something that is affirmed upon the Testimony of one that affirms it or upon some other reason besides sensible evidence or immediate knowledge And thus Divine Faith is a persuasion of the truth of those things which we have God's testimony for And that we are thus to understand these words Faith or believing in the Scriptures is very plain because otherwise the Scriptures must have altered the common sense and signification of words But can we think that when our Blessed Saviour required believing under the penalty of
damnation and that when the Apostles and Evangelists wrote the New Testament in which they laid the same stress upon Faith that Christ himself had done before them that they I say should mean something else by the word than what it signified according to common use and yet that they should not tell us so The Writers and first Preachers of the Gospel did indeed treat of new Subjects viz. of those new Revelations of God's Will that had been lately made but when they made use of words that had a known meaning they did not depart from the received signification of those words But by Faith or believing men always understood being persuaded of the truth of some Proposition And thus Faith is described in the Scripture where it is described most fully In St. John 11.25 says our Saviour He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live but this is explained v. 27. I believe that thou art Christ the Son of God that should come into the world And again John 8.24 If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins Moreover that Faith by which the Church should stand wanted nothing surely that belongs to the nature of Faith and that is thus expressed We believe and are sure that thou art Christ the Son of the living God and this because not flesh and blood but God had revealed it Thus Abraham's Faith which was imputed to him for righteousness was his accounting that God was able to raise up Isaac even from the dead And all the holy men mentioned in Heb. 11. are said to have died in faith being persuaded of the promises As to those that think there is more in the nature of Faith than this comes to they either return to this in other words or add something that doth not belong to the nature of it those that say there must be a particular application of the Promises where there is true Faith say well but then application is nothing else but a persuasion of or an assent unto a single Proposition For instance I am persuaded that God sent his Son into the world to save mankind is a general persuasion Christ came for my Salvation which is the Application is a particular one Without holiness no man shall see the Lord therefore without holiness I shall not This last is but persuasion and there is that in the former therefore Faith in both Again if resting and relying upon Christ is said to be Faith the meaning must be either that I am assured Christ will save me and this is being persuaded of the truth of that saying or else that I rely upon his Person but a Person cannot be believed otherwise than by believing something of him or something that he has said Some there are that think the nature of Faith doth consist in a certain degree of Persuasion and the Romanists tell us there must be Infallibility in it But now there is a weak as well as a strong Faith and though a greater degree of Assent is more working and powerful yet the nature of Faith is in the least Lastly some good men are apt to think that the goodness of the Will and Affections nay and Holiness of Life belongs to the nature of true Faith but this cannot be because although Faith where it is in that degree that it ought to be there as I shall shew it will produce holiness of Heart and Life and therefore Faith is sometimes spoken of in the Scriptures as comprehending those good Affections and those good Works which it causes yet sometimes they are distinguished from one another and therefore they are not the same so that when all is done the whole nature of Christian Faith doth consist in this That it is a persuasion of the Truth of those Doctrines which Christ hath made known to us Now for the second Point 2. Concerning the power and efficacy of Faith we are to consider that there are these two things attributed to it our Justification and our Holiness or Obedience to the Gospel And here we will first consider 1. What Efficacy Faith has as to the Justification of him that believes and this I shall shew very briefly and plainly in these following particulars 1. Faith may be said to be justifying or saving in that it puts a man into a good way of being justified and thus believing that Jesus is the Christ may be said to be justifying Faith because it is the first step towards Justification and believing his Precepts with his Promises and Threatnings is in this sense a more Justifying Faith because it brings a man nearer to that state in which he shall be justified But 2. If we speak of Actual Justification and continuance in God's favour then not any nor all the proper acts of Faith taken together but separate from Repentance and Obedience are sufficient for where God hath made more conditions than one necessary there the performance of all but one will not suffice and therefore where forgiveness and salvation is promised to one single condition there the presence of all the rest is supposed He that giveth a cup of cold water to a disciple in the name of a disciple shall not lose his reward but shall cold water wash away the treachery of Judas or the injustice of Pilate He that confesseth that Jesus is the Christ hath eternal life but still to be carnally minded is death He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Nevertheless it is true that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore where nothing less than Salvation is promised to Believing and Baptism all that which in reason should follow is meant though it be not expressed 3. If we speak of final and irreversible Justification this is neither to be obtained by Faith nor Obedience without perseverance in both God doth in this Life justify true Believers but not once for all till they have fought their good fight and finished their course As the Lord in the Parable forgave his Servant and yet called him to account for his Debt when he proved cruel to his Fellow for this shewed that his pardon was but conditional So likewise says our Saviour shall your heavenly Father do unto you Now I confess what hath been said in answer to the first and second Inquiries gives no sufficient account why we are said to be justified by Faith so frequently in the Scripture but rather seems to make it more unaccountable For if there be no more in the nature of Faith than assent to Truth this seems to be a very common attainment not deserving those great things that are spoken of Faith in the Scripture Can that be the Faith by which all good men have wrought righteousness which hath been held in unrighteousness by as many wicked And then as to the power of this Faith in order to Justification Can that be the faith of God's elect which the Reprobates have as
so called also and which the Scripture requires Either they want the Faith of assenting to some needful Truth which perhaps doth not often happen or they want the Faith of a distinct and particular persuasion and application to themselves which happens more often or they want the Faith of frequent assenting of a permanent persuasion fixt in their hearts by consideration which I doubt is the frequent defect But now the Scripture doth not barely require that we should once for all persuade our selves of the Truths of God's Word but moreover That the word of God should dwell richly in us and that we should be rooted and established in Faith that Christ should dwell in our hearts by Faith and the like which is plainly to require a fixed and lively sense of Divine Truths upon our souls caused by much conversation with them and thinking upon them Now this I say That every act of Meditation or Thought upon these things is a distinct Assent to them and is therefore truly and properly Faith Now because we are to interpret Scripture by Scripture therefore this Scripture That by Faith we are justified is to be interpreted by the aforesaid Exhortations and consequently by Justifying Faith we are to understand an habitual and permanent persuasion of the great Truths of Religion effected by a frequent and just consideration of them and such Faith will justify because it will sanctify it will procure the relative change of putting us into a state of Favour with God because it will procure the real or personal change of subduing our corrupt affections and making us obedient to God from the heart For suppose a man by constant consideration to have gained such a sense of Spiritual things as by assiduity men come to have in all matters they frequently think of and converse about how is it possible but he must be a good man in the rest of his life But men are but half persuaded that never think of these things but by chance or when they cannot help it So that this is the great point wherein we exercise liberty in matters of Religion viz. Whether we will consider or not i. e. Whether we will often persuade our selves of the great Truths of God and a World to come or but very rarely This is the main hinge upon which our state turns and here lies the principal power we have still under the Grace of God to help and reform our selves which seems to be suggested by the Scriptures insisting so much upon it That we are justified by Faith for this shews us where our strength lies Nay the just himself lives by his Faith and it is by Faith that he perseveres in Righteousness And where such Faith is as I have now described it will not fail to influence the mind and conversation For we are led by persuasion to evil as well as to good and when a man doth ill it cannot be that at the same time he should be persuaded to do well No wonder therefore that the Scripture concludes of all wicked men That they are not persuaded of the truth of those things which they profess to believe They profess says the Apostle to know God but in works they deny him Tit. 1.16 But works neither deny nor affirm any thing they only shew whether we our selves do one or the other If then all that are disobedient are in a true sense unbelievers then all who fully believe are holy By Faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac but if the command to offer up his Son was the Trial of his Faith then had he not obeyed his belief had not been true Therefore also where the belief is true where it is a fixed and lively sense of God and Religion where it doth not come in as a sojourner but dwelleth richly in the Soul it will sanctify and cleanse it In short This permanent persuasion of the Truths of the Gospel being that without which we cannot bring forth fruit unto God in all good works he hath required of us and with which we shall it must necessarily be the faith by which the just do live Finally therefore my Brethren Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil stand having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breast plate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace But above all take the shield of faith whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God By all which it appears That Christian Truth is our Armour against Sin and therefore let that humble man's Prayer be ours and our care answerable Lord we believe help thou our unbelief And may the God of Truth increase our faith in us that it may be fruitful in good works to the glory of his Name and our eternal Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Second Sermon HEB. XI 6. But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him THE words are the most comprehensive that I can find in all the Bible for bringing all that is necessary to be said concerning the true nature the full extent and proper use of Faith under one Text which possibly you will acknowledge if you consider with me the very deep and yet clear sense of these excellent Words The first clause of them contains a general Proposition But without faith it is impossible to please God The second contains a proof of that Proposition for he that cometh to God must c. By comparing the Proposition proved with the proof thereof we shall come to understand every phrase and word of the Text. For if we enquire 1. What is here meant by pleasing God in the general Proposition let us see what answers thereunto in the following words and we shall find by pleasing God is meant the doing of those things whereby God is pleased for saith the Apostle He that cometh to God must believe that he is Now to come to God is an obvious phrase signifying to worship God Wherefore it being supposed as the Apostle's form of arguing makes it necessary that to worship God or to come to him is to please him it must needs follow that to please God signifies the doing of those things whereby God is pleased But hence we must not conclude that the worship of God properly so called is the only thing that is pleasing to God because the Apostle's intent in the proof of his general proposition is to give some particular instance of each part thereof as I shall shew all along in the Explication of these words There are other things which please God besides