Religion as Machiavel well observed was not calculated for the inspiring of Men with great Designs such I suppose as his Caesar Borgia aimed at It was too plain too Philosophical too Innocent and Charitable to raise an ambitious heat or to serve it And therefore it was very likely in process of time that it should be helped out by other Principles and Doctrines that would bring in the swelling of worldly Pride into the Church as the African Fathers in their Epistle to Celestine called it and advance one part of it to the depressing of all the rest But because true Christianity serves no such Design therefore was our Saviour opposed by the Rulers of the Jews his Doctrine did not tend at all that way viz. to make Hierusalem the Mistress of the World and that all should depend upon her it did not minister to their ambitious and worldly Hopes and therefore was not for their turn 3. If we look upon Christianity as a Rule of Worship it will still hold true that Offences must needs come because the Worship it prescribes is a Worship of great simplicity that has but two or three positive Institutions of Divine Authority viz. the two Sacraments and the Invocation of God through the Name and Mediation of his Holy Son Jesus Now this was not likely to be acceptable to the generality of Mankind who love rather a pompous number of Ceremonies and nice Observations than a grave and decent administration of Worship For the former does amuze the Senses and entertain the Imagination the latter does that but very little in Comparison and rather satisfies our Reason But most People are more apt to be affected with things that touch their Fancy than their Judgment And therefore it was hardly to be expected but in time their would grow very great excesses in this kind as there did even in St. Austin's days who complain'd of it not a little in his Epistle to Januarius Neither could it be doubted but such excesses would be accompanied with false Notions of Religion and of the way to please God For whereas the excellent design of our Saviour in appointing so small a number of external Observations leaving the necessary Rules of Decency to be determined by the Church was this to take Men off from all pretence of placing the weight of Religion in outward Ceremonies and by their very Worship to instruct them in Piety and Vertue and to shew them that God will not be pleased without those things whereas he did hereby effectually declare that God who is a Spirit would be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth that is with the Affections of a pious Heart and the Obedience that is expressed in a good Life The corrupt Nature of Man is as averse from this as 't is fond of the other and desires to please God by so easie a Religion as that which runs out into a world of Mysteries and Shews and Observations and seems to save them the labour of subduing their Lusts and Passions and of serving God by a righteous and holy Life And this was one thing that made the Primitive Christians contemptible and odious to the Heathens that they had so few Rites and Ceremonies so plain and simple a Form of Divine Service but one Altar but one Mediator no Tutelar Deities and Patrons no throngs of petty Gods but one or two Mysteries and those too plain and instructing without Pomp and Amuzement for such causes as these they reckoned the Christians little better than Atheists believing that a Religion which made no stately shew to be as good as none at all 'T is true that God himself appointed a Form of Divine Service to the Israelites that consisted of a vast number of Ceremonies but besides this that they were to be the Types to discover the Messias when he should appear There was another end of Divine Providence observable in that Constitution which was this that they having a stately and Mystical Form of Worship of their own might be less under a Temptation of learning of the Idolatrous Nations round about them whose numerous and gaudy Ceremonies in their Worship would have bewitched the Jews ten times more than they did if they had not been able to vye with them But God by his Prophet said That he gave them Statutes that were not good to be sure not the best in themselves but considering the time the best for them For when God sent his Son into the World who was to teach all mankind to Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth and to convert the Nations from Idolatry the Scheme of the Mosaic Worship was taken down and the Church was furnished with nothing but Prayers and Praises two Sacraments and one Mediator But by all this it appears that the design of the Gospel in this matter runs counter to the fond and foolish inclinations of mankind and therefore that Offences were ready to come upon this account also So that considering the temper and design of the Gospel it was a Religion too good for a wicked World too wise for a vain and foolish World I mean it was too good and too wise to escape Opposition and all change the World would either try to keep it out or when that was in vain to attempt any longer to square and form it better to its own purposes and inclinations It was upon this account viz. of the design of the Gospel which was exalted above a worldly Spirit that a peculiar temper was required by our Saviour in order to the embracing of his Doctrine A Spirit of Honesty and Sincerity of Humility and Teachableness love of the Truth willingness to learn patience of Reproof and the like without which Dispositions the common prejudices against Christianity would certainly hinder the efficacy of those Arguments and Motives by which it was recommended And therefore since God did not intend by an irresistible act upon the minds of Men to over-rule them into a compliance with the Gospel it was not to be expected but that it should be first of all greatly opposed as it was and afterwards insincerely handled as it hath been And this although the Doctrine of the Gospel is peculiarly furnished with means to infuse a wise and honest disposition into them that want it For those means are consistent with the liberty of Humane Nature and after all men may be the worse and not the better for them Nothing could in its own Nature be more fit to awaken Men to Consideration and to lead them to Honesty and Wisdom and to conquer all worldly and carnal prejudices than the promise of Eternal Life and the warning of a day of Judgment to come It is in this that the great power of the Gospel to mend the tempers of Men consists But when all is done in this kind that can be done Men may choose their Portion in this World because they will not hearken and consider And it well became Divine Providence
now having given you this Account of the State of the Church of Pergamos as it was represented by our Lord himself I am much mistaken if from this Authority we may not be able to justifie the Reformation of the Church of England against the most specious and popular Exceptions which they of Rome make against our Reformation And this I shall endeavour to do under these three heads First That in this Church whilst it was in Communion with and Subjection to the Church of Rome there were notorious Abuses and Errours both in Doctrine and Worship added to the Profession of the Common Faith. Secondly That upon this Supposition we might and ought to reform our selves as we have done Thirdly That the main Objections which they of the Roman Church do bring and whereby they seek to stagger those of our Communion and to fright them into their own may by this instance of the Message of Christ to the Church of Pergamos be demonstrated to be vain and fallacious and therefore by no means fit to remove us from our stedfastness First That in this Church as in all others that were in Communion with the Church of Rome there were notorious Abuses and Errours introduced into the Faith and Worship of Christians And first as in the Church of Pergamos so in these Churches there were Doctrines and Practices leading to Idolatry I wish that were all but it is not all for Idolatry it self if it be possible for us to know what it is was practised and that practice not only connived at but encouraged and commanded and of this sort were the practices of Adoring the Host Praying to Saints to dead Men and Women and Worshipping of Images contrary to the whole tenor of the Scripture providing that we should worship the Lord our God and that him only we should serve And it is very observable that when we urge them with these things they defend themselves from Idolatry by the use of such distinctions as 't is impossible for the common People to save themselves by if indeed these distinctions would do the business As for Doctrines tending to licenciousness of Life and Manners what can be more evidently such than the easie terms upon which they promised forgiveness of sins and security from Hell Confession to a Priest with attrition being reckoned sufficient to receive a Pretorial Absolution which shall be valid in Heaven as also the invention of Purgatory and the Power of the Church to shorten the pains of it by Indulgences by applying the treasure of the Churches Merits by Masses and Prayers with a great many abuses of this nature And besides all these what shall we say to their Doctrine of Transubstantiation their Half Communion their Latin Service their Sacrifice of the Mass for which there is no President or Rule in the Scriptures or in Antiquity but plain and full consent there is both of the one and of the other against them But now to all this they make one general Reply and tell us that the Church meaning the Roman Church hath not erred in these points because she cannot err at all for she is the Mother and Mistriss of all Churches and the Standard of Catholick Unity and Faith she is that One Catholick Church which cannot fail to which Christ has promised his perpetual Presence and Assistance that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against her and of which St. Paul said that she is the pillar and ground of the Truth In a word that whatsoever is by her defined is infallibly true and therefore that these Doctrines and Practices are neither damnable errors and sins nor errors and sins at all Now if indeed such promises were made to that Church we should be brought into a very great strait and not very well know whether we should believe the Scripture speaking against the Doctrines and Practices imposed by that Church or the Scripture speaking to us to believe and do as that Church requires But first of all we say that whatsoever Promises were made to the Catholick Church they do not belong only to the Church of Rome which is but a part of it and that these Promises that the gates of Hell should not prevail against the Church and that Christ would be with his Church to the end of the world amounted to no more than this that she should be preserved from so much error as would utterly destroy the Being of a Church not from all Error whatsoever but that no Promise in particular was made to the Church of Rome so much as to secure her from fundamental Errors utterly destructive of the Being of a Church especially since St. Paul writing to the Church of Rome plainly supposes that it was possible for them to be quite cut off from the Body of Christ Rom. 11.21 22. where speaking of the rejection of the Jews he hath these words For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off Which had been vain words if it had been impossible by virtue of any Priviledge conferred upon the See of Peter for the Church of Rome not to continue in God's goodness or it be an infallible truth that she shall not be cut off We do what we can to find the Infallibility of the Roman Church in the Scriptures but if we cannot find it there is much more reason to conclude that she hath erred because some of her Doctrines and Practices do seem to us apparently to contradict the Scripture than to believe she is infallible because she says so of her self But to this they say that we mis-interpret those Scriptures which seem to condemn what they profess and practise and in short that we cannot arrive to certainty of the true sence of Scripture without the Testimony of an Infallible Interpreter which the Church is Well for the present I will suppose this but then this will be the consequence of the Supposition that 't is impossible for that Church ever to convince me or any reasonable man of her own Infallibility by the Scriptures For when she tells me that Christ hath said Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it and that the Church is the pillar and ground of truth and Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world she supposes that the Promise of Infallibility to her self is so plainly made that every man who has a mind to understand the truth may be certain of the true sence of the words But if I may arrive at a certain sence of these Scriptures without the Testimony of an Infallible Interpreter then why may I not be as certain of the sence of other Texts as plain as these without such an Interpreter It
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 devour 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 went bones and all uncleanness And this Offence would be so powerful whenever it should happen that it seemed good to the Spirit to foretel it expresly 〈◊〉 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 when 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 Errour and that is to denounce Damnation peremptorily 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 meer 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 easie 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 foretel 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 Mat. 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 Errour and Errour 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 Argument 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 Errour confirming them in their 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 dependence 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 Inquiry is necessary to be pursued upon this account if upon no other that it may appear that the certainty of Offences coming did not arise from any defect or fault of the Blessed Gospel of our Saviour If we consider the Harmless and Dovelike Temper of Christianity the excellency of its Design the richness of its Promises the Divinity of its Rules and Precepts the Comforts it
to permit those to resist the Holy Spirit and the means of Salvation who would not be reclaimed by any reasonable means and that for these three Reasons 1. That there might be a clear difference made between the good and honest heart on the one side and the insincere and incourigible on the other Which had been impossible if God had by his Omnipotence equally overborn all men into the Faith and Obedience of Christ But as the case stands the Gospel is a Touch-stone that distinguisheth between the Humble and Sincere and the Unteachable and Dishonest part of Mankind And the Offences which are given by those that do not receive the Truth in the love of it are a farther trial of the sincerity and ingenuity of men as St. Paul said of one kind of Offences There must be Heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest And therefore notwithstanding Offences that remains true which our Saviour said All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Joh. 6.37 i. e. All sincere and humble persons who are committed to the special care of Christ to train them up to eternal Life will be sufficiently armed against Temptations and the Offences that are laid in their way shall but clear their sincerity and wisdom more to the World and turn to the encrease of their reward 2. As the sincerity of the Righteous so neither had the proper advantages and power of Truth been seen had God interposed his irresistible power to prevent all Offences and Endeavours against the Truth And therefore he was pleased to suffer Errour and Folly to appear upon the stage of the World even after the heavenly Wisdom of the Gospel was made known to Mankind that by its own strength it might struggle with all kind of opposition and prevail and be justified of her Children 3. By this way the Wisdom of Divine Providence and the truth of God's word and his care over the Church is seen more illustriously than if Offences had never been suffered That Promise that the Gates of Hell should never prevail against the Church of Christ nor the Faith lost from the Earth had lain in the Gospel unobserved we should have had no occasion for recourse to it no means of tryal whether we put our trust in it had the Truth been never opposed never corrupted we had wanted one notable reason to praise God that while the Offences are so rife in this World this Church gives no Offence in matter of Doctrine or in matter of Worship and that God may count us worthy to enjoy so inestimable a Blessing let us pray that we may give no Offence by our Examples let us adorn our Profession by our Conversations and shew the Purity of our Faith by the Purity of our Actions Thus much for the necessity of Offences that thus would arise It must needs be that Offences come The Third Sermon MATTH XVIII 7. Wo unto the World because of Offences for it must needs be that Offences come But wo to that man by whom the Offence cometh I Come now to the second point viz. That Offences would do great mischief in the World. Wo unto the World because of Offences In speaking to which I shall consider I. What mischief is done by Offences II. Whence it comes that they are of so pernicious a Consequence 1. What mischief is done by them And in this Question I need not be large because the Answer to it has in some part been already given under those several heads of Scandal which I mentioned before it being impossible to shew where the Scandal of any Practice or Opinion lies without touching upon the mischief it is apt to do But to what has been said something may be added 1. The general mischief of Offences or Scandals is this That they are a prevailing Temptation upon many in the World to forsake the way of Truth and Piety For as good Examples and Encouragements good Counsels and Instructions are proper means of making others better so ill Examples and the Arts of Seducing must needs have a contrary influence God has put us into a kind of dependance upon one another and has thereby given us Opportunities of the greatest Charity and the best kinds of doing good viz. of leading and confirming one another in the way of Truth and Vertue But there is no help for it but the Society we have with one another may be abused into a means of doing one another mischief And therefore as where Truth is sincerely represented where Vertue is encouraged where Authority protects them where Wit and Learning are engaged to recommend them there abundance of good will be done upon those who are framed to learn and not to teach to follow but not to lead the way So on the other hand it is not to be expected but the abuse of all those Advantages will create Prejudices against Truth and Goodness and mislead multitudes And this is too evident from the Experience of the World in all Ages No Opinions how foolish and absurd soever how pernicious soever to the common Interest of Mankind if they have been set off with plausible Colours or supported by Authority or have been accommodated to the Interests of wicked Men but they have had Abettors and Followers and have very often taken such deep Root in the Affections of Men that 't is one of the hardest things in the World to convert them into the way of Truth But more particularly in the second place 2. The scandal of advancing Doctrines that give liberty to the Lusts of Men and ease to their Minds without effectual Reformation This Scandal I say has this pernicious effect that for the most part it fears the Consciences of Men and hardens their Hearts against all Reproof Although it be a terrible aggravation of Sin for a Man to venture upon the doing of that which his Conscience pulls him back from and for which he knows he must give a sad account at the last day if it be not prevented by Sorrow and Reformation yet such a Man is in a better condition than one that is well satisfied with himself and believes his condition to be good enough while he goes on in his sins without Reformation because he has another way to escape the damnation of Hell. For so long as a Man believes the Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel as they are and knows the Terms upon which they are made it may be hoped that he will at length lay these things seriously to Heart and that some awakening Reproof from Men or some merciful Providence of God may make the Truth which he is already provided with the belief of effectual to his Conversion But there is little Reason to hope this of a Man whose very Principles are corrupted and has no fears within himself for a charitable Man to take hold upon And therefore that saying
of our Saviour may be well applied to such a Person If the light that is in him be darkness how great is that darkness Moreover there is little hope to reform that Man's evil Practises whose persuations make him secure and easie all the while So there is no little difficulty to be met with in trying to undeceive him for Men will hold comfortable Errors as long as they can find the least pretence for it And which is not the least mischief of this Offence though such Errors are not laid down without a great trouble yet they are taken up with much readiness they are apt to spread far and wide And to this I believe the experience of the World agrees viz. That although there are mistakes that lead to trouble of Mind and over-much restraint yet for one that is led away by such mistakes an hundred there are that believe comfortable Lies which either wholly take off the restraints of Religion or in such part as to render them ineffectual 3. Perverse Disputes and an obstinate Maintenance of Error by all the Arts of Sophistry has this lamentable evil commonly attending it that it renders many Persons utterly careless to examine on which side the Truth lies Perhaps they are but few in comparison that are framed to an inquisitive Spirit and they who are not so framed by Nature or by Education must force their Tempers to Patience and take pains with themselves which is an Employment that Men soon grow weary of and commonly they break off pretending it is to no purpose to search any farther but that when there is so much to be said on both sides when there is such an appearance of Reason for and against the same thing it is time for them to give over being Judges for themselves And indeed in things that are either really disputable or of less moment this were not much to be blamed But in matters of high Consequence and Questions that touch the very Vitals of Religion it often happens that Men grow weary of searching Truth and give up themselves wholly to be led by the Authority and Judgment of others after the Controversie is stifly maintain'd for some time on both sides And it were well in this case if it were an even lay whether they choose the true Guide or not But when a Guide is to be chosen and followed with an implicite Faith the false Guide hath this Advantage always that he exceeds in Confidence in lofty Pretences in swelling Titles in positive denouncing Damnation to all that are not of his way and though a Modest Man that speaks justly of things and claims not to be Infallible deserves the most Credit yet 't is great odds that the other has most followers amongst those that understand not the merits of the Cause 4. The same Cause has too often a yet worse Effect and that is to run some Persons into Infidelity and an utter neglect of Religion as if no certainty could be had of the Principles of Religion seeing there is so much Controversie about it And some have said that it will be then time enough for them to believe in God and to worship him when they that pretend to oblige them to it are agreed about it The truth is were it not for that secret impression of his own Being which God hath left upon our Nature it is not improbable but the monstrous Errors that have been obtruded upon a great part of Mankind under the name of Faith and the force and the fraud wherewith they have been maintain'd had let in Atheism like a Deluge upon the World especially considering that there are those in the World who are so full of Zeal for their own way that they have no tenderness for the common Principles of Faith but are rather content that all should sink together than that their own Doctrines should not stand We have been born in hand that no assurance can be had of the truth of Christianity but from the Authority of such and such Men and they that believe upon other Grounds had as good have no Faith at all That if it were possible for them to propound any thing that is false we cannot be certain of any one Article that is true That the same exceptions may be made to the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles that are made against the stories of latter Miracles and finally that by the same Reason that any of their Traditions are rejected the Holy Scriptures may be rejected too and indeed we have lived to see the utmost that can be done by Wit and Learning to diminish the Authority of the Bible Now this I say is a most dreadful Offence and has done infinite mischief in the World that Men who are violently engaged in a wrong way of Religion care not for the most part what they venture in the service of their own Cause for whilest they lay the same stress upon false or at least disputable Points that they do upon the most necessary and acknowledged Principles of Religion and bend all their Wit to shew that no difference ought to be made they give occasion to Men that would fain be Atheists to deceive themselves into what they would be For a very little consideration will serve to satisfie them that something is false which is propounded to them as an Object of their Faith. And they know that they have then leave given them to conclude that nothing is true 5. There is another great mischief of Offences that are given by Errors in Doctrine or Practice and a mischief that often happens in the World which is that of running into a contrary extream The Church found this by sad Experience in the fourth and fifth Ages when men of no small note disputing against one Heresie fell into another of an opposite Nature to the no small trouble of Christendom Truth sometimes as well as Vertue lies in the mean and they that transgress on any one side do not only this mischief to give what Authority they can to the wrong side they are of but they do this mischief too of giving occasion to others to offend on the other extream Thus the abuse of Church-Authority on the one side has bred in some men contempt of all such Authority on the other The scandals that have been given by propagating Opinions by Force and Violence have produced in many a fond persuasion that there ought to be no restraints whatsoever in matters of Religion Superiours have required unlawful things in Divine Service and to be revenged upon that abuse it has been said that they are not to 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 extream 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 when-ever any great Scandal is given by Communities or Churches that consists in one extream 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 extream 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 extream as far as is possible as if that were the way to make an end of it But by this means woful mischiefs have happened 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 Practises with such as are to be commended has this notorious mischief still attending it that it hinders the Conversion of Insidels 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 meerly 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 falsely 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 careful to take none 1. Be careful to give no Offence i. e. to lay no stumbling-block in any Man's way to lead him into Sin or Error or to confirm him in it Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Wo be to that man by whom the Offence cometh Now the way to keep our selves free from this guilt is to love the Truth
our selves sincerely to desire it diligently to pursue it and likewise in all our Actions to live by Rule and then we shall be sure to avoid giving ill Examples And we are the more obliged to this because we are not only to give an account of our selves to God but of our selves also with reference to the good or ill that others have received by us Let us consider my Brethren how careful we should be of our own Actions and those especially that lye open to others when if we do ill our selves we shall not only be to answer for our own transgression of God's Law but very likely for the sins of others who are either led into some unlawful Practice or confirmed in it by our Examples Which makes such an increase of Guilt and is so great a sin in it self that it is sometimes needful for a Man to abate of the use of his own Liberty in things not unlawful of themselves lest another that is likely enough to make a wrong construction of it and to encourage himself in manifest sin should indeed do so And for this reason St. Paul handling the Question of eating things offered to Idols acknowledgeth That meat commendeth us not unto God for neither if we eat are we the better neither if we eat not are we the worse But says he take heed lest by any means this Liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak who are not throughly confirmed in the worship of one God according to the Gospel For as he goes on if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the Idols Temple shall not the Conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to Idols i. e. be emboldened to commit Idolatry 1 Cor. 8. So that although it was not in it self unlawful to be present at those Sacrifices yet the Example being scandalous St. Paul concludes it to be a sin against the Brethren and against Christ ver 12. And this in as much as it would grieve their weak Conscience i. e. not as we use I doubt to understand that word grieve that it would trouble and difplease them but really hurt them by making them bold to partake of the Idolatrous Sacrifice And now Brethren if in things that are perhaps in their own Nature lawful we ought to use caution lest by an uncharitable use of our Liberty we encourage others to do things that are in themselves absolutely unlawful How much more cautious should we be not to give any Authority to sin by an Example that is evil in it self So likewise we ought with the more care to chuse our persuasions in Religion because in all likelihood we do not chuse them for our selves only but for our Children for our Servants for some of our Neighbours for many that some way or other depend upon us and for whom we must answer at the day of Judgment And since we cannot profess we cannot live but the World observes us so how instructing ought to be our Profession how instructing our Conversation How apt to promote Innocence Truth Vertue and Piety And this the more the more we are in the Eye of others In short no words I can use can make such an impression upon you as these words of our Saviour ought to make Wo be to him by whom the Offence cometh But this is not all 2. We must also be careful not to take Offences not to be led into Sin and Error by Example or Allurements by any kind of Temptations whatsoever To justifie which Exhortation I desire you to observe these three things 1. That our blessed Lord hath foretold that Offences would come nay that it must needs be that they come Nay I have shewn that the most dangerous Offences are particularly foretold in the New Testament Now Brethren this very warning in general much more those particular warnings were designed to take away in some good measure the danger of those scandals by Arming us with caution against them before-hand Since that is to be applied to all other particular Scandals that is expresly added to the Prediction of lying Wonders Behold I have told you before Now if the Offences though very dangerous of themselves were lesned by being fore-told our guilt in falling by such Offences must be so much the greater because being fore-warn'd we would yet take no warning The offensiveness of these Offences is in some part abated by the cautions of the Scripture in as much as we have no cause to be startled and amazed and to question the care of God's Providence over his Church because Offences come since the Author of our Faith has told us before-hand that they must needs come And 2. We are also fore-warned of the guilt and misery of falling by Offences in as much as our Saviour hath said Wo to the World because of Offences i. e. as I told you at first because of that evil which will happen by taking Offence But if Men were free from guilt in the committing of those sins which they fall into by reason of Scandals that are laid in their way In short if taking Offence were not it self a sin and in many cases a very great sin and such a sin as we shall be sadly accountable for at the day of Judgment there could be no Reason given why our Saviour should denounce a Wo upon this account Wo unto the world because of Offences 3. Let us not forget what was observed last time that God permits Offences to come which according to the common course of things were in themselves most likely to come he permits them I say for the Tryal of our Ingenuity our Honesty and Sincerity There must be Heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest It is by no means unavoidable to stumble at Scandals because we are fore-warned of them but if we take warning it is for the Praise and Reward of our diligence and faithfulness in keeping to God's Word Our Saviour speaking of the Signs and Wonders done by false Christs and false Prophets says That if it were possible they should deceive the very Elect that is they would deceive the very best Men but that they are guarded by Sincerity and by the Grace of God and these words plainly intimate that this would be the Touch-stone to distinguish Persons truly and solidly good from all others that notwithstanding the fair colours that would be put upon wicked Practices and Errors they would persevere in the ways of Truth and Godliness And now that we may not be misled by Offences but keep our selves unspotted from this present World and escape the Corruptions that are in the World through Lust let us take these few following Rules along with us 1. Let that which is on all sides acknowledged to be the Word of God be of more power and force with us than all Humane Authorities whatsoever which Rule as it is most
human frailty we shall never fall For it was not only for the instruction of St. Peter that our Lord gave the exhortation of the Text to watch and pray but for the instruction of all the rest of the Apostles and not for their instruction only but it was for ours also in all Ages that he left this direction with them They were not always to expect that the special Grace of God would attend them and either keep them from great faults or set them right again after their miscarryings while they neglected to acquaint themselves with their own hearts and to take care of their actions and to seek the assistance of God's Spirit And we much less who have been longer under the guidance of God's Grace than they had been even from our infancy ever since we were baptized and taken into the Covenant of Grace who have also had the instructions of their examples and the use and benefit of our Lord's admonitions to them and have been guilty of more neglects and miscarryings than they were who moreover have been educated to a more perfect understanding of the Doctrine and Nature of Christianity than as yet they had attained to under these circumstances we are not to expect the watchful care of God's Spirit over us to lead us out of temptation and to deliver us from evil if we do not watch our selves and to watchfulness add prayer that we enter not into temptation We are not to trust to our general good purposes and honest ways but to remember the weakness of our flesh i. e. the unsteadiness of our purposes the mutability of our affections the deceitfulness of our hearts and therefore to supply all our defects with what diligence and circumspection we can and in doing all this to be very earnest in our Prayers that God would crown all with his Grace This is the way to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might And we are undoubtedly safe if we continually keep our selves under the wings of his Grace and put our selves under his protection by watchfulness and prayer For the effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous man availeth much It availeth much for another much more for himself it availeth much for the procuring of temporal blessings much more for spiritual and eternal God does not always crown the industry of a man in his labouring for the good things of this World with desired success and sometimes he sends them to the lazy and bestows them upon those that never pray But the most necessary things a good mind the best wisdom the improvements of the Soul he ever gives to the diligent and to those that depend upon him by Prayer and never otherwise And this is a plain conviction that if we are barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of God if we make no progress in Virtue nor move at all towards Perfection it is our own fault who have so ready a way to gain that help from God which will not fail to better our Natures and to strengthen us in every good work and to deliver us from temptation I have already told you how vain a thing it is to plead frailty and infirmity for not watching and praying since for that very reason our Saviour directs us to watchfulness and prayer because altho' the spirit is willing yet the flesh is weak And it is to as little purpose to make the same plea for those miscarriages that are the effects of our infirmity since there is this to make them the effects of wilfulness too that we have neglected to consider our own weakness and to go to God for help And what should be more easie and natural than for a frail Creature to have recourse to the Fountain of his being and the Author of all good the God of Power and Mercy for a supply of his own defects We are not therefore excusable if we do it not constantly and earnestly when so much depends upon it I have but one Motive more to lay before you but that methinks a very prevailing one and that is that our blessed Master himself in whom there was no sin nor sinful infirmity he I say himself who so little needed any other strength but his own practised that Advice which he gave to his Disciples he watched and prayed when the hour of temptation was coming on whilst his Disciples threw away their time and we see the different effects of their different behaviour Our Lord witnessed a good Confession but his slothful Disciples fled away shamefully and Peter the most forward of all a little before miscarryed the most shamefully of all and denyed his Master A very instructing example to shew us how much depends upon Prayer and how unreasonable a thing it is to complain of the Infirmities of our Natures and the difficulty of standing against temptations when we have so ready but withal so necessary a means of relief that Jesus himself made use of it And surely one main reason why he he did so was that we might be instructed by his examples how we ought to fortifie our selves against the temptations of the World He was tempted for us because we also were to be tempted and he prayed under his temptation for our sakes too that we might learn of him the way to overcome temptations and to be always prepared against them Let us therefore my Brethren remember the words of our Lord Jesus Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation let us also remember the example of our Lord who himself watched and prayed though he of all men that ever lived least needed any assistance against temptation Let us enter into the Church and frequent the Publick Prayers and let us enter into our Closets and never omit our Prayers to God in secret For by every such omission we loose an opportunity for our Souls we weaken our dependance upon God we lie more open to danger from within and from without and have made one step more backward and are farther from the Grace of God. In a word let us purge our selves from all insincerity and hypocrisie and be sure that we do not suffer the guilt of any wilful sin to lie upon us and ever keep our selves from presumptuous sin and to this general habit of honesty let us add a jealousie over our selves doing like those that depend upon the Grace and Providence of God for if we continue thus doing we shall not fall and that because God is our help who is not wanting to prevent us by his Grace and will therefore never fail to follow us with it whilst we walk in his ways and study to please him in all things and humbly depend upon him for our Safety in this World and our Salvation in the World to come The Fifth Sermon MATTH IV. 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve HERE are two Rules to be observed I. To worship and serve God. II. To
worship and to serve him only And these are Rules of both Testaments and in truth Laws of Nature and therefore they that violate them are without excuse My design is to lay before you some of the principal Duties prescribed in these Rules with the sins that are opposed to them Now in the first place to worship God is to honour him as God which consists chiefly in two things viz. In a right esteem of him and in the expression of it 1. In the esteem i. e. in believing God to be the Soveraign Being infinite in all perfections in duration in wisdom and in power and above all in goodness from hence it is that affections suitable to such an esteem of God are also Worship because they are the most real acknowledgments of the Divine Attributes He that trusts in the wisdom and power of God more than in all the world besides ascribes to him the honour of infinite wisdom and power he that fears his displeasure and trembles at his word gives him the honour of his infinite holiness he that loves him above all things doth thereby effectually confess his infinite goodness By such apprehensions of God and disposition towards him we worship him in our Hearts and Souls 2. As to the outward worship of god it consists in such actions as either by God himself or by the common consent of Mankind or by the nature of the thing are made expressions of Divine Honour and of the worship of the Heart Sacrifices have been ever esteemed marks of Divine Honour given to that Being to whom they were offered and God appropriated them to himself in the Covenant he made with his own People He that sacrificeth unto any God save unto the Lord only he shall be utterly destroyed Exod. 22.20 Whether Sin-offerings or Thank-offerings they were testimonies and declarations of God's Soveraignty that he was Lord of all and the Giver of all to whom all praise and obedience was due For this reason the Christian Worship which knows no Sacrifice for Sin but that which was never to be offered but once and which has taken away the slaying of Beasts and the killing of Birds the Christian Worship it self I say is called a Sacrifice By him says the Apostle i. e. by Christ let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually Heb. 13.15 For though the gross Sacrifices were left off yet there was an incommunicable Worship of God that remained viz. the more spiritual Sacrifices of Prayer and Thanksgiving which were the true meaning of the Sacrifices before Christianity and therefore a more excellent Worship than they For Sacrifices were but the Rites and Ceremonies of Prayer and Thanksgiving a Sacrifice for Sin was but the outward Rite of calling upon God for Mercy a Sacrifice of Praise was but the outwaid Rite of offering Praise and therefore Prayer and Thanksgiving are proper expressions of Divine Honour inasmuch as they are in effect the same with Sacrifices and indeed a more excellent Worship than what was anciently called by that name And there are these two things which make them to be proper expressions of honouring God as God. 1. The matter of Religious Invocation which is either to pray to God of to give him thanks for those things which he only can give and for every thing which we either need or have received and this makes Prayer and Thanksgiving to be an acknowledgment of God's Omnipotence Soveraignty and Infinite Goodness 2. Our calling upon him at all times and in all places which is a clear acknowledgment of his Omnipresence and Infinite Knowledge And hence it is that hearing of Prayer is one of those Titles wherewith the Psalmist addressed himself to God Psalm 65.2 And thou that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all flesh come For when we speak to an invisible Being we can have no assurance that we are heard but only this assurance that the Being is every-where present and therefore though we see him not yet we know that he is with us and our Prayer is not lost And they are these two things each of which distinguishes that which in Religion we call Prayer and Thanksgiving from asking benefits of one another and giving thanks for benefits received that the latter supposes a limited power the former an absolute power over all things and is expressed very often by desiring such things of God as he only can bestow And again when we ask fit things of one another it is within the lines of civil communication by speaking if present by messages if absent but when we speak to God we speak to an invisible Being whom we therefore acknowledge to be every-where present And in these two things that is in Prayer and Thanksgiving or to include both in one expression in Religious Invocation the Substance of Divine Worship consists and all other instances of it may be reduced to this Thus it is an Act of Divine Worship to dedicate or set apart Places for Prayer and Thanksgiving for the erecting of Houses for the Service of an invisible Being is an acknowledgment of his Omnipresence no less then calling upon him there Thus bodily Adoration Bowing Kneeling or Prostrating are Acts of Divine Worship also when they are paid to an invisible Being because they too suppose the presence of it every-where to receive those outward Honours and to take notice of them And all this together is that which we call the immediate Worship of God because it is all an address or application to him This is what we commonly mean by Religious Worship though in a larger sence all Piety may be so called and he that obeys God in all things worships him because he makes an effectual acknowledgment of all the Divine Attributes 2. Since we know what it is to worship God nothing should be more easie than to understand that other Rule mainly intended in the words of the Text That God only is to be worshipped Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him ONLY shalt thou serve i. e. Infinite Perfection is to be attributed to him only Infinite Knowledge or Power or Goodness or Presence or Dominion is to be ascribed to him only he only is to be loved and reverenced and trusted in above all things and to be absolutely obeyed to him alone we are to perform those Acts of Worship which imply any part of that acknowledgment and therefore to none but him are Religious Supplications and Intercessions with Thanksgivings to be offered besides him no other invisible Being ought to be addressed unto by us To him only we are to pay those bodily Adorations of Kneeling Bowing and Falling-down which are properly Religious that is which accompany and go along with Prayer or Thanksgiving or any acknowledgment of a Divine Perfection we are to give to no other Being in the World that outward Worship which by all the circumstances of it is Religious or a signification of the least Divine Honour Upon these grounds I intend
they all agreed together to cheat us as their Forefathers agreed to cheat them if they had not received it from theirs and so this Tradition must have come originally from Moses or else there was one Age that agreed to cheat the next in things concerning the Service of God and the Salvation of Mens Souls But after all the prettiness of this demonstration I think we have more reason to believe that this Superstition never came from Moses because our Saviour exposed it as a vain and foolish Doctrine than to believe that it did because the Jews ever since the Pharises time who were a Sect of full three hundred years standing were taught to pretend Tradition for the Innovations of the Pharises and for this amongst the rest And therefore it is a vain thing to pretend that because such and such Traditionary Doctrines were in such an Age taught without controul as necessary to Salvation they must needs have been taught so from the very first 4. That we have great reason to stick to the word of God delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures and to examine all Doctrines and Pretences by this Rule For the Holy Scriptures are indeed the Rule whereby we are to try that pretence that there is another Rule viz. of unwritten Tradition and if that other pretended Rule doth in any thing contradict the Scriptures most certainly it is but a pretended Rule and to be rejected To deal plainly this same Oral Tradition was never pretended for any good either by Jews or Christians nor made use of but to advance and protect some Doctrines or Practices that stand condemn'd by the Scriptures And therefore after so long experience had of the mischief as well as vanity of this pretence it were perhaps not unreasonable for any Christian to reject the Argument of unwritten Tradition without any more ado and to entertain no Doctrine or Practice necessary to Salvation which cannot be proved out of the Scriptures nor to entertain any thing at all that is contrary thereunto let Men talk of Tradition or any other Authority as long as they please And now I question not but this Discourse will be acknowledged to be very plain and convincing but for all that it is not certain that the Argument of it self will secure us from being deceived by the Sophistry of others if we do not take heed to the main thing of all and that is to lead such Lives as the Scriptures direct us to lead for there is no such temptation in the world to be fond of Traditionary Doctrines as to live in that manner that if the Traditionary Doctrines be not true we can have no hope of Salvation If we will live according to the Scriptures we shall have no temptation and I am sure we have no reason to believe otherwise than according to the Scriptures Let us often think that here we have no continuing place we must not always live here but that in a very little time we are to go into another World and to appear before our Judge Let us remember that this is the great argument by which the Scriptures engage us to live a sober righteous and godly life and let us consider that it is the strongest Argument in the World and be perswaded by it to do accordingly and this will above all things establish us in the Truth It is something hard to keep that man from being deceived who needs the comfort of false Principles For Men are very apt to be running for comfort where it is to be had though they cheat themselves for it Brethren the Holy Scriptures are God's Book and they are acknowledged to be so by all Christians in the World therefore I say it again and again stick to the Scriptures live according to the Scriptures and believe according to the Scriptures Make the Scriptures the Rule of your Practice and then you will need no more arguments to make them the Rule of your Faith And as many as walk according to this Rule Peace will be upon them The Eighth Sermon 1 COR. XI 19. For there must be Heresies also amongst you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you THE word Heresie did at first indifferently signifie any party distinguished from others by Opinions and Practices peculiar to it self whether those Opinions were true or false those Practices good or bad insomuch that Christianity it self was called a Sect or Heresie for some time But in time it came to be used in the worser sense and was restrained to those that distinguished themselves by the profession of false Doctrines or by unjustifiable Practices Which use of the word began soon after Christianity as far as I can find and there was this reason for it that Christianity having established one Form of Doctrine which was to be universally received there were now to be no Heresies or Sects that is no departure from the Unity of that Doctrine and every new Sect from that time forward must necessarily be in the wrong Thus also the word Schism or Division came in a little time to be restrained to that side or party by whose fault the breach of Christian Communion and Concord was made and although when a dissention and breach of Unity happens they that are not in the fault are at the same distance from those that are that the faulty are from the innocent yet the faulty were only said to be in Schism or Division Moreover it seems that Heresie and Schism were words at first used indifferently to signifie the same fault of discord and contention because breach of Charity and Communion was for the most part made by departing from Unity of Doctrine though in process of time Heresie was restrained to signifie an Error about the Faith and Schism a breach of Order and Christian Communion St. Paul doth in this place seem to mean the same thing by both words for in the foregoing verse says he I hear that there be Divisions or Schisms among you and I partly believe it that is I believe it of some of you And there he adds For there must be also Heresies among you that is Sects and Parties distinguished from one another by their peculiar Doctrines and Practices The matter about which there was a disagreement in the Church of Corinth was no less than that of the Administration of the Holy Communion that having happened so early which in the latter Ages of the Church has obtained in a much higher degree that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper which was in great part instituted to unite the Faithful in one Body was perverted into an occasion of dividing them from one another Upon which observation St. Paul inserted this memorable saying There must be also Heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest There must be Heresies i. e. Parties that will contend for false Doctrines and unlawful Practices that will either take away from the Faith or add to
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 thing to be considered the temper and design of the Gospel which delivers Truth that does by no means gratifie 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 Vertue and Piety and therefore of true Doctrine Humane 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 Licenciousness 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 feares 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 Humane 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 for 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 hypocrisie 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 they 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 Vertue 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 dfastness 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 disingenious 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 imployed 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 countermine 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 Vertue 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 justifie 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 extremely 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 Vertue 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 over-ballance the Evil for the greatest mischief that is discernable in them is but this that they do effectually draw forth that wickedness which otherwise would have lain more undiscovered in the Hearts of Men but then also they manifest more clearly that Integrity that Piety that Diligence and Constancy and Vertue and Charity of good Men which otherwise had not so much appeared Bad Men do by means of Heresies grow worse and the Good
grow better by them according to that saying in Daniel Chap. 12.10 The wicked shall do wickedly and shall not understand but the wise shall understand They are hardned and these are purified and the difference between Vertue and Sincerity on the one side and Hypocrisie and Vice on the other is so clearly seen that the good Examples will at last prevail against the scandal of those that are Evil and the indirect ways of supporting Error will shew the Simplicity and Vertue of the Children of Truth to more advantage than it could possibly have had without the Comparison so that it will be much more easie for People of honest tempers and dispositions to discern which is the true Flock of Christ and to what Communion they are to betake themselves When our blessed Saviour and his Apostles planted the Church things were not so ordered as to make Proselites of all sorts of Men however they were qualified but rather to gather together the Children of God that were scattered abroad that is all that were of pious and honest Dispositions and though the mighty Evidence wherewith the Gospel was preached drew in some that were none of the best yet either Persecutions or Schisms soon purged the Church of them again and Heresies seem to have been permitted ever since to carry on the same design of distinguishing between the Good and Bad and making it appear more evidently who are the faithful followers of Christ And it can by no means be unworthy of the Providence of God to suffer those Evils to happen which he makes to work for the same good end which was designed by that manner wherein the Gospel was at first revealed 2. Neither are Schisms and Heresies any objections against the Truth and Goodness of a Church unless it were always a disparagement to be opposed and forsaken which certainly it is not for otherwise Christianity it self as it was taught by Christ and his Apostles must needs have been a false Religion and the Church which they founded a false Church for thence came the Gnosticks and Valentinians and I know not how many Heresies more and the Apostle told the Elders at Miletum Acts 20.30 That from themselves would arise men teaching perverse things that would draw disciples after them It is certainly for want of better Arguments that the Reformation is to be objected against upon the account of those Parties into which it is divided and this Church of England for the sake of those Parties that have broken off from the Communion of it For as to the latter it is either no mark of a true Church to hold fast all that were once of it or else the Church of Christ was not that true Church since many went off from it and which perhaps they that make this Objection will be more concerned to consider they from whom so many Nations have broken off cannot escape their own Censure As for the Unity of those that keep together in one Profession and Communion this is no certain mark of Truth for as Men may be united in Truth so they may be united in Error And all parties have this mark common to them that so far as they do not differ they agree together and if this be an Argument of Truth those Parties equally have it that are most contrary to one another But 't is one of the most silly Objections in the World against a common Cause that is maintained by People that cannot agree in many things that therefore that Cause is naughty and erroneous this I say is intolerably vain and impertinent since this is to make the reason of Truth and Error to depend upon the uncertain Passions and the Interests of Men. For by this means 't is in the power of ill disposed Persons that for whatever reason may bring in a new Heresie to make all that Truth which they professed before to be Truth no longer And if it be a good Argument against us it is as good an Argument against Christianity in the general in the Mouth of a Turk or a Jew Christians are so far from being agreed what is true Christianity that they are fallen into Parties that have no Religious Communion with one another and therefore Christianity is a false Religion nay it is still a stronger Argument in the Mouth of an Atheist again all Religion whatsoever since Christianity Mahometanism Judaism and Paganism are at so great a distance from one another But there needs no other answer to this Objection than that which the Text affords by which we see that Heresies and Parties were unavoidable and so far from being an Argument against the Truth of Christianity that God was pleased to permit them even for the advantage of the Truth And therefore those that are so offended at the Divisions of the Church as to take occasion from thence either to throw off the Profession of Religion till all Parties are agreed about it or to take up with that which pretends to most Unity without any farther Examination are hereby demonstrated to be insincere and vicious Persons for as Heresies are permitted by Providence That they which are approved so they are permitted that they which are reprobate and cannot bear a Tryal may be also made manifest and it is no loss to the Truth if she be not found by those that love her not In the mean time they that are of God will hear his Word and Wisdom will be justified of her Children And that we may be found in that number we are to make it our first and principal Care to avoid the greatest Heresie of all and the cause of the rest and that is the Heresie of a wicked Life and vicious Affections Then we shall be more and more built up in our most Holy Faith and confirmed and established in the Truth as it is in Jesus For as evil Deeds make Men hate the Light so if our Deeds be good and our Consciences pure we shall love the Light and rejoyce in it we shall buy the Truth and not sell it we shall buy it with being at the pains of impartial Enquiry and Consideration and we shall not sell it for either comfortable or gainful Errors To conclude God hath in that manner revealed the Truth which concerns our Salvation that they may easily be deceived who are willing to be deceived but that they who seek it sincerely shall be sure to find it The Ninth Sermon 2 PET. I. 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the star arise in your hearts IN these words St. Peter commendeth Believers for taking heed or carefully attending to the Scriptures and moreover expresseth a weighty reason why in doing so they did well because they were the word of prophecy and a light shining in a dark place till the day dawned and the day-star arose in their
their Sins and a plain case it is that in this Life where the Tares and the Wheat grow together that by the same Afflictions God punishes the Sins of some while he manifests the Sincerity of others and in this case it remains true that those who are punished are not to be accounted greater sinners than all those that escape of which we need not desire any other proof than our Saviour's word for it But in some cases we have very evident and sensible demonstration of it For sometimes God punishes the sins of some men by the hands of others that are worse than they whom he reserves for far greater Punishments in Life as the Histories of the Church do abundantly testifie Now by the same reason that it must not be concluded of those that suffer under the oppressions of others that they are worse than those that oppress them it ought not neither to be concluded of those that do not suffer by them that they are better than those that do for the former observation is an evident proof that they do not suffer first who deserve it most Which is a Doctrine that our Saviour thought fit to deliver in his days and will be of constant use while the World lasts to keep Christians at the greatest distance from that Jewish Error That men may discern God's Love and Hatred by what befalls them in this World. I will therefore never suffer my self to be run into an ill opinion of any man or any people by any adversity how great soever it be which happens to them before my eyes much less will I enter into comparisons I will not conclude from the Affliction I see that there must needs be some great sin at the bottom which Vengeance has found out And when I see the sin and cannot forbear acknowledging the justice of God I will not go on to suppose there is something more than I do see and make him to be a worse man than he seems to be nor will I conclude that he is worse than those that do not suffer such things And what construction I will forbear to make of a single Person I will much more forbear to make of Multitudes Because I know the reasons of God's Proceedings with Peoples and Nations and great bodies of men are by me unsearcheable and that time discovers that Wisdom of his Counsels which my reason cannot fathom In a word I will conclude ill of none because they suffer but rather well of them if I know no cause to the contrary because it is often God's method to afflict his own best Servants and when he Punishes for Sin to begin with those that do not most of all deserve it Shall I conclude for instance that the French Protestants have been the greatest Sinners of all the Protestants in Europe or greater than our selves because they have suffered such things God forbid I speak not of those who to their Glory in this World but alas that is little worth it becomes me to say and you to hear it who to their Praise with God and to the encrease of their reward hereafter in a better Life have suffered the loss of all things to keep a good Conscience but of those whom the Terrors of this World have prevailed with more than the Terrors of the Lord in whom the desire of ease here hath been too hard for the desire of Salvation hereafter I will not say and we must not say that even these were greater Sinners than our selves who have not fallen into their Temptations Such instances as these Brethren do best explain the intention of our Saviour in these words and will affect us with the true sense of them and the more that we look abroad into the World and consider the unsearchableness of God's Judgments and that his ways are past finding out as we cannot but do if we ask our selves the reason why this and that happens the more sensibly we shall acknowledg the Truth of our Saviour's Doctrine in this place and shall forbear passing Judgment upon the unhappy merely because they are so But yet to take notice of what God doth of this kind in the World is not an unprofitable observation and that because the second point of the three which I have mentioned is as true as the first and that is this 2. That one reason why the Evils of this Life do not befall all Persons at the same time who are equally Sinners is That while some are visited with the Rod of God others may take warning by it This Proposition I lay down with great confidence not only of the Truth of it in general but also of the pertinence of it to the Text For you may observe that our Saviour upon mention made of the former of the Two Tragical Stories observes the latter himself and takes occasion from thence to divert his hearers from censuring those miserable Persons as they were ready to do and to imploy them in reflecting upon themselves I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish he imployed them in reflecting upon their own sins for says he except ye repent and upon their own danger except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish And now I am sure it will be granted that our Saviour did not wander from the true intent of God's Providence in the things that happened to those persons nor make an application of them which was not to the purpose and therefore since he gave warning by their examples it remains true as I said that one reason why the Evils of this Life do not befall all Persons at the same time who equally deserve them and I will add who equally need them is this That while some are corrected others may be instructed I rather keep to the case of Punishing Sin than trying Virtue because that is the case of the Text though I might say too That the reason why all that can bear a tryal are not tryed at the same time is because the tryals of some righteous men are not only profitable to themselves but the examples of them also are profitable to other good men to encourage and fortifie them But when God punishes he doth not at one and the same Time punish all that deserve it equally but he punishes some that the rest may take warning For if the sufferings of a Few in comparison would instruct all the rest God's end is gained which is that we should learn righteousness when his judgments are abroad in the Earth And this is one of those arguments which may convince us that God doth not willingly afflict and grieve the Children of Men for if he took pleasure in that then without question where there was the same cause there would be the same effect of his displeasure and where the same need appeared the same remedy would be used but if where all might justly be punished he uses his Prerogative to punish some only and for the
sense the Coming of Christ because he did not come in Person as he will do at the last day but in some sense it might be so called because he Appeared by his Power and Providence to do the same work in part which will with incomparably greater perfection be done at the last i. e. to take Vengeance of the ungodly and to save his own People For the Incorrigibleness of the Jewish Nation and their incurable hatred of the Truth and obstinate Persecution of it was dreadfully punished in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Christians had not only all escaped out of it before the Roman Army came against it but by the destruction of it they gained also a very considerable rest from Persecution for some time after And now the reason why this wonderful Providence was called the coming of Christ seems plainly to be this That after his Ascension into Heaven he set down at the right hand of God and had all Power put into his hands and therefore because it is he that Governs the World as well as the Church such remarkable revolutions as that was for the destruction of his enemies and the saving of his Servants are called the coming of Christ God hath given him to be head over all things to the Church and therefore such passages as that was are called his coming to signify that they are the effects of his Providence and government for the good of his Church no less than if he had come in Person to order them as he will do at the end of the World to order all things then And for this reason though in the proper sense of his coming he will come but once at the end of the World yet in this improper sense of it his appeaance to destroy his enemies and to save his People that trust in him nothing hinders but that he may be said to come often before the end of World i. e. as often as his Providence doth signally and remarkably appear for this purpose And thus we are to understand the coming of the Lord in 2 Thes 2.8 where it is said of the Man of Sin that Wicked one That the Lord shall consume him with the Spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming which being to be done before the Personal coming of Christ to Judgment the meaning must be that his destruction shall be so remarkably the work of a Divine Providence that all shall confess it was not the effect of Worldly Policy but no less the doing of the Lord than if himself had come in Person to destroy him And whenever the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of the Lord when the knowledg of God covers the earth as the waters cover the Sea when those magnificent predictions are fulfilled concerning the universal prevalence of Truth and Goodness amongst men with which the Old and New Testament are plentifully furnished and which are to be fulfilled before the coming of Christ to the last Judgment then also is it true that the Lord comes i. e. by the Power of his Spirit and Providence to renew and reform a degenerate World that was running headlong into perdition And thus much concerning the sense of these words when the Son of man cometh which I have shown do principally signifie that great and amazing revolution when he shall come by coming in his own Person at the last day to judge the World but in a secondary sense do also signifie the remarkable works of his Providence in Punishing some and saving others even in this Life Now 2. How are we to understand that other clause will he find Faith upon the earth The meaning of the question is plainly this That he will not find Faith on the earth or very little in comparison But what is here meant by Faith I answer that is easily discerned by the Parable and the Application of it that went before The design of both which was to infer the conclusion in the foregoing verse And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them I tell you he will avenge them speedily That is to say God would hear the Prayers of Righteous men and in a little time take their cause into his own hand and then says our Saviour Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth i. e. notwithstanding the Promises of God to hear the Pravers of good men and to interpose for them that depend upon him there will be but little Faith in these Promises found upon the Earth even when the Son of Man comes to fulfil them The greatest part will not be found to believe any thing at all of them and so will be surprized with that day without any preparation for it or expectation of it Many will yield to the Temptations of this present World and throwing off their dependance upon God will think to secure themselves by Flattery and Hypocrisy from the Violence of Wicked men others will despair of any better state of things And very few will lay to heart the promises which God hath made to hear the Prayers of his Servants and to save them Few will strengthen themselves in God by crying to him day and night and by putting their whole trust and confidence in him and this notwithstanding the clear and strong reasons they have from his word so to do Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth And thus we may from other places of Scripture observe that immediately before the Day of judgment there will be a great falling away from Christian Piety and Charity nay and the World should begin once more to depart from the Purity of Faith many false Prophets shall arise and shall deceive many and because Iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold But says our Saviour he that endures to the end shall be saved thereby intimating that it would be some matter of difficulty to endure to the end Thus also St. Peter tells us that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying Where is the promise of his coming which is plainly meant of the Day of Judgment before which according to the Revelation of St. John Satan was to be loosed for a little time and to go out and to deceive the nations and to gather them together against the City of God. And therefore it will be remarkably true at the day of Judgment that when the Son of Man cometh he will find but 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 righteousness 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 persuade 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 Judg 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 Countrey 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 Virtue 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 notwithanding 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 the Faith even 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 Virtue that have appeared in the World and the affured 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 would 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 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 lest no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many many false Prophets shall 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 Christs 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 Thes 2. There shall be a falling away and the man of sin shall come with all deceivableness 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 believed not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness There he foretels a fearful Apostacy from the Purity and Simplicity of the Christian Profession Again says he 2 Tim. 3.1 2. This know that in the last days perillous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection trucebreakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traitors heady highminded 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 thanskgiving 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 likelyhood 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 irresistible means of convincing unbelievers 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 fail from among the Children of men When there is the greatest danger of losing the true profession of Christianity our Lord will not be wanting to maintain it When all Flesh had corrupted their ways God came and swept away mankind with a Floud and saved Noah to be the Father of a new and better Generation When their prosperity had corrupted their ways he called Abraham forth to preserve True Religion in him and in his Family and these and the like Providences are pledges of the same care to
interpose in behalf of Truth and righteousness when the Faithful seem to fail from among the Children of men While God seems to let the World alone and to suffer all men to go on in their own ways as if he took no notice of them nor were at all concerned what they did he is all the while trying and proving what they are not indeed for his own Information for he knows all things but for the instruction of those that are to come after If he at every turn should interpose when we think it needful we should very seldom know who are sincere and who are Hypocrites It is very fit that it should be sometimes seen whether men are what they pretend to be whether indeed they are concerned for that Truth for which they have once pretended a mighty zeal whether they are Governed by Conscience as they say or by mere Worldly and Politick considerations for such discoveries as these are very instructing and serve for the bringing about of much good in the World and in the Church which we may reasonably presume to be one cause why when the Son of Man comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth because while he suffers the World to go on as if he minded it not he is trying those that pretend to Faith and upon the Tryal many are discovered not to have it In short Divine Providence is so far from being regardless of the affairs of men that it then most of all shows it self when men are Tempted to think that it regards nothing i. e. when there is but little Faith to be found in the Earth and this will be abundantly demonstrated at the close of all things that is at the Day of Judgment which will be the most convincing act of Providence that ever was in the World and one forerunner of it will be that Question Where is the promise of his coming And now the use of all ought to be that which is the declared intention of our Saviour in the beginning of the Parable And he spake a parable to them to the end that men ought always to pray and not to faint For the true Ground of Prayer is Faith in the Providence and Promises of God and if there be no time when these fail then ought men always to pray and not to faint i. e. they ought always to depend upon God's Providence they ought always to believe his Promises they ought always to be certain that their Prayers are heard and will turn to good account for them that God is gracious to all and much more to them that love and serve him and if they do all this then they will always pray and not faint i. e. and not be discouraged And if they ought always to pray then also when they are most apt to be discouraged and when there is but little Faith to be found upon the Earth nay then most of all because when Temptations to unbelief are greatest we should the most of all strengthen our selves by recourse to God and dependance upon him To this Instance in Prayer there are two things must go 1. A Stedfast resolution to walk in all the ways of God and not to be diverted out of them by any Worldly Interest whatsoever For he can have no Faith to go to God who thinks of taking care for himself without regard to his Duty to God A man is not in a condition to seek the Favour of God or to commend his case to him that contrives how to shift for himself without him 2. A perfect resignation of himself to the Will of God for by this also it is that a man entitles himself to his Favour and Blessing The most effectual way to obtain the particular Blessings we pray for at any time if they are such things as may prove evil as well as good for us is to leave the matter after all to the disposal of Divine Providence for then if we obtain them we get his Blessing with them too if we do not we are sure to get his Blessing without them which is the general thing we pray for always With these dispositions we are in a fit case to present our Prayers to God for Spiritual Blessings for our selves and for the Church of Christ which will assuredly come accompanied with Temporal ones too if it be best for us and if God sees that it is better for his Church to be prosperous than to be afflicted in this world and then it is better so to be when men are sufficiently prepared for it by God's Correction and their own Repentance Men ought therefore always to pray and not to faint for their Prayers thus qualified will not fail of obtaining what they ask which our Saviour thought good to illustrate by an example in the Parable delivered before the Text viz of an unjust Judge that neither feared God nor regarded man who nevertheless upon the importunity of a Widow did what was right in her case much more shall God hear the Prayers of his faithful Servants For 1. He is the Just God and is of himself ready to right those that do at any time suffer wrong 2. He is also the Merciful God that regardeth men and when we desire things of him that are needful he is of himself ready to grant what we ask or at least that which is more needful than what we ask 3. Whereas the Judge in the Parable seem'd to contemn the Poverty and Meanness of that Person that sued to him for Justice for which reason she is represented here to be a Widow one of a destitute Condition that wanted a Patron to assert her Right God who is Just and Good to all is particularly Gracious to his servants and esteems them highly and no circumstances of meanness and distress which he suffers them to fall into can alter his favour towards them for all which Reasons if the Judge in the Parable granted the Widows suit merely because she lay upon him and was troublesome to him much more will God to whom we are never troublesome when we make our requests known to him grant what we ask because he is Righteous and Gracious and loveth and pitieth us as a father doth his children The Fourteenth Sermon AN ASSIZE-SERMON PREACHED at St. Maries in Bury 1678. LEVIT XIX 12. Ye shall not swear by my name falsly THE Religious Use of an Oath depends chiefly upon the Matter and the Discharge The Matter must be worthy of that Obligation which an Oath implies in promising it must not be unlawful that we may Swear in Righteousness it must not be impossible it must not be trivial and in affirming it must be some Fact proveable by our own Testimony that we may Swear in Judgment All which implies That we are not to swear indeliberately passionately or commonly The Discharge of an oath must be answerable to the Obligation which is to Sincerity of Intention Fidelity of Performance and the giving
would be taken away with it But no man doubts that appealing to God as a Judg is implied in appealing to him as a Witness Hence it is that the Septuagint sometimes useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Curse for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Oath Said Abraham to his Servant Gen. 24.41 Thou shalt be free from this my Oath But the Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt be free from this my Curse And this is that meaning of an Oath which is well exprest both by the Forms and Rites of Swearing used amongst us the common Form being this So help ye God to which the Party Sworn gives his Assent by laying his Hand upon the Holy Gospel and kissing it all which is as much as if he had said If I falsify let me have no part in the Grace and Mercy of God and in the Blood of Christ may I be accursed in this World and let my name be blotted out of the Book of Life And is there not good reason then why an Oath should be as the Apostle speaks of it the end of Controversie since of all other Obligations to Truth this plainly is the strongest and if a man's Conscience will not be held by this it will be held by nothing Thus much concerning the Sacred Obligation of an Oath I proceed to shew how many ways it may be violated and the Guilt of Perjury incurr'd It is usually said That an Oath is either Promissory or Assertory but I think that in strictness every Oath includes a Promise even the Assertory Oath by which a man binds himself to declare what he knows concerning some matter of Fact past or present for this Oath includes a Promise of declaring the truth concerning it only the Promise and Performance are so close to each other that they can hardly be distinguish'd whereas the Obligation of those Oaths we call Promissery continues for some considerable time to come These Oaths are mostly taken out of Courts of Judicature such as the Oaths of subordinate Magistrates to execute the Laws honestly and to administer Justice impartially of the Members of a Society or Corporation to observe the Rules and vindicate the Rights of the same of inferior Officers such as Church-wardens and Constables to present Offenders and execute their Offices according to Law finally of Subjects to vield true Allegiance and Faithful Subjection to the King. Such Oaths as these are directly violated two ways First If there be not an honest Intention at the time of Swearing 2. If there be not a faithful Performance afterwards For a Promise has a double aspect both upon the present Intention and the future Performance he that makes a Promise which at the same time he intends not to perform is guilty of lying and though he intends at first yet if he willingly neglects the Performance afterwards he hath broken his Word therefore if the Promise was made under Oath he is forsworn in either case and if he was false in both he is guilty of a double act of Perjury nay though the Oath were but one yet his Perjuries may be many for so long as those Circumstances remain in which the Oath binds him every wilful omission of performing the tenor of his Promise is contrary to his Oath and consequently a new violation of it so often as he fails so often he is forsworn as truly so often as if he had every time before each guilty Failure taken the same Oath which he bound himself withal at first Thou mayest be sworn once for all the year or for all thy life but there is no such matter as being forsworn once for all as vain people talk for by disobeying thy Superior suppose thou hast done contrary to thy Oath yesterday that was one perjury and shouldst thou do the like to morrow that would be another If thou art under a Promise confirmed by Oath but not under the restraint of the Fear of God thou mayest bind one Curse fast upon thy Head with another and seal them with a third and go on to treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. In Courts of Judicature Perjury is incurr'd when false Witness is given in upon Oath i. e. either when a man swears that to be true which he knows to be false or that he is certain of a matter whereof he is uncertain or that he declares the utmost of his knowledg concerning a Fact when yet he conceals any part thereof In this last case the Witness is forsworn as plainly as in the two former for his Oath is to give in Evidence not only the Truth and nothing but the Truth but likewise the whole Truth in answer to such Questions as the Court shall put to him therefore the Witness is not clear from Perjury merely by saying nothing but what is true touching the matter in question if in favour to either side he conceals so much as any one Circumstance in his Answers and Depositions which he knows would alter the Case What can be plainer He that swears to declare the whole Truth is forsworn if he does it not and he surely does it not who declares it in part only Moreover a Witness may incur the guilt of Perjury by endeavouring to blind the Evidence with deceitful shuffling answers instead of declaring what he knows in plainness and simplicity of speaking for tho the Court by multiplying questions may screw out the Truth at last yet he has not discharg'd his Oath which obliged him not only to an actual and final discovery of the Truth but to an honest intention of so doing and 't is very plain that he intends not the Truth should be discovered who darkens and hides it as much as he can Much less can his Oath be discharged by the help of Equivocation and Mental Reservations which being of no force to save a Lye are much less able to excuse from Perjury The Oath of the Jury being a Promissory Oath to bring in a Verdict according to Evidence their Oath may be doubly violated as was now observed by not intending so to do and by not doing of it If any one of the Jury be prepossess'd in favour of one side intending be the evidence what it will to use all his interest with the rest in favour of that that man I say is Perjur'd as soon as ever he is sworn he has sworn falsly though perhaps he be over-ruled and an honest Verdict be brought in at last Again if any of them intend honestly at first but are afterward wrought to conspire in a Verdict contrary to the Evidence they have 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
every where but to that Truth which was particularly demanded by the Magistrate which was to be an instrument of Justice and publick Security which was necessary for the preventing of Wars and the doing of right But these are light Aggravations in Comparison to those that arise from the nature and particular Obligation of an Oath it self At least they will receive great weight from these as you shall see presently 'T is an excess of impious boldness to worship God with a lye at the Tongues end but Swearing is an act of Worship Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and swear by his Name Swearing is a direct acknowledgment of the Divine Attributes and to Swear falsely must needs be as bad as making long Prayers to devour Widows houses But he that Swears does not barely worship God he takes him to witness in his behalf too so the forsworn Man calls him to attest a Lye. To imagine the wickedness of this what would you think of a Man who should appeal to some worthy Person for the truth of a matter which he is sure the Gentleman knows to be a lye Farther what if he should dare to appeal to the Judge himself or to the whole Court of Judicature tho he knew that every one there would utterly deny it however that they would not confess it without being Liars like unto himself But this is a shameless insolence that no Man ever ventured upon What think you then of him that Appeals to God's Testimony for the credit of a Lye To the Testimony of God I say who is infinitely greater and to be had in more Reverence than the most venerable Assemblies of Men. When we are guilty of other Sins we sneak away from the thoughts of God. The Drunkard and the Adulterer and the Thief are asham'd and afraid to think there is so great a Witness of their Crimes and in Comparison to the false Swearer they retire with some sort of Modesty from his Presence hiding him from themselves at least tho they cannot hide themselves from him 'T is only the forsworn Wretch that must of necessity Sin without any shamefac'dness that tells a Lye to the very Face of God and desires him to observe it and be the witness of his own dishonour And yet a more desperate degree of Wickedness is implied in Perjury than this and that because an Oath is an Appeal to God's Justice For the Swearer by consenting to fall under the Rigour of Justice unless he deals uprightly as far as in him lies he calls himself off by Perjury from any Appeal to Mercy afterward By other Sins we make an ill use of the Mercy of God but by this we set it at defiance The perjur'd Man deprives himself as much as he can of the last hope of Sinners who though they put many affronts upon the rest of God's Attributes yet study to keep a reserve in his Goodness and Compassion but he throws himself according to his own Will and Consent into the hands of Divine Justice and its utmost Severity Yet farther through all these Obstacles does the false Swearer make his way that he may come to pervert Justice and Equity A Man should be horribly afraid at the thought of so much Impiety if his end were to help the Fatherless and Widow and to save the Poor from wrong or to secure his Country out of danger but how much more when he hunts for the precious Life when he betrays the Simple and protects the Crafty or serves the designs of Faction or Oppression For I should guess that Forswearing is never practic'd but upon the Wrong side at least that 't is called in very rarely in comparison to assist the Right 'T is the unjust Man that seeks to defend himself by artificial delays by indirect Proceedings and at a dead lift by downright Perjuries while the Righteous trusts to the Honesty of his Cause and the Wisdom of the Judg and the Providence of God. But if I should be mistaken in this if Forswearing should be more ordinary then I imagine even on the Right side surely it must be because 't is so common on the Wrong that nothing is believ'd to be safe without it Behold then what horrible Confusion it makes in the World while it confounds Right and Wrong Truth and Falshood Justice and Injustice blotting out the clearest Characters by which they can be distinguisht from one another in Courts of Judgment 'T is this which levels an Honest Cause with the Unjust one that is advanced against it nay which creates Confidence of Success in the Oppressor and fills the good Man who dares not be damn'd with Mistrust and Fear It is this which makes the fortune of Verdicts as uncertain as that of Arms and gives Courage to the Villain to wage Law with the Innocent it robs Virtue of much of its Defence and Security in this World and puts Power into the hands of the Malicious and affords Protection to the Murderer and the Traytor The detestable Effects thereof in the present Life cannot be described but by the Cries of the Oppressed the Sighs of Orphans the Tears of Widows the Ruin of Families and the Shedding of innocent Blood. And tho every man that dares be Forsworn has not arriv'd thus far in doing mischief yet he only wanteth a gainful Opportunity or an unlucky Provocation and then a Devil to put it into his head To conclude What should I say farther to enkindle your Zeal against a Sin already swell'd into so vast a bigness but this That so far as it prevails it is always likely to intercept between us and the most happy Influence of the Honourable Judges when they come to us full of the invaluable Blessings of Government they in whom good Subjects and wronged Innocents expect to meet with powerful Patrons while none but the Criminal and Seditious shrinks away with Shame and Fear who to the State bring along with them Peace by deciding our Controversies and Plenty and Honour and Safety by enforcing Obedience to the Laws Who to the Church bring the Securities of her Patrimony and Rights making the Benefits of their Justice to bear good proportion with the Authority of their Commission which they have received not only from the King but by him from God who are the faithful Dispensers of the Justice of the King and the most welcome Messengers of his Love and Care for the People Who from the Soveraign convey Life and Spirit through the whole Body of the Nation returning the same in grateful Loyalty and Duty from his Subjects and in their Blessings and Prayers for the Establishment of the Throne Should we not all conspire to remove every hindrance of such Advantages as these which being rightly considered seem to be no less desirable necessary and universal than the refreshing showers and the return of fruitful Seaons But than Perjury nothing does more fatally intercept the Communication of those excellent Benefits than Perjury
a malicious and hard-hearted man will be hated and he that does not Worship God shall be reproached The Vices and impieties of humane Life are enemies to our well-doing in this World affecting either our Bodies or our Estates or our Quiet or our Reputation so that the very Love of this World will teach a wise man to Live well and Religiously in appearance that he may fare the better for it here But when God sends those evils that our Piety is so far from hindring that is does expose us to them and yet we go on to Bless and Serve him this puts it out of all question that we are really and in earnest what we seem to be the Faithful Servants of God as God speaking after the manner of men said to Abraham when he offer'd up his Son Isaac Now I know that thou fearest God because thou hast not with-held thy Son thy only Son from me Thus I have laid down some Considerations very useful I am persuaded to prepare us for all the Portion of Evil which God may think fit to send upon any of us in this World that whenever any of it happens we may follow the example of Job and receive evil from God's hand as well as good But then Brethren we must remember that such things as these are to be thought of very much before or we shall be little better for them when once adversity happens For 't is not barely knowing nor hearing them but 't is much considering them that must make them Principles within us and fortifie us against all surprizes It is a great mistake that these thoughts must make us melancholly and spoil that reasonable comfort we should take in the good things which God lends us for our use For while we enjoy them without overvaluing them we have all that they are good for and they are not the less pleasant because we know of greater Blessings than they are our part is to use them thankfully while they are ours for our use and by all Prudent means as far as lawfully we can to keep off Adversity because then we may be sure that those evils which befall us without our own faults are most properly of Gods sending And so we shall feel our selves under the Power of all those reasons why we should with submission and thankfulness receive not only good but evil also at the hand of God. The Seventeenth Sermon ROM VIII Part of 34 and 35. v. It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth THESE words signify one of these things Either that when God justifies no man will condemn but that when we are sure of pleasing him we are sure of pleasing all too or else that if he approves and justifies it is no great matter nor should we be much concerned by whom we are accused or condemned But the first cannot be the meaning that no man condemns whom God justifies For the Disciples of Christ were used in that manner that St. Paul applied this saying to their case v 36. For thy sake are we killed all the day long we are appointed as sheep for the slaughter He means therefore That if God justifies it is not considerable who condemns They were brought before the Tribunals of men where grievous things were laid to their charge yet because God saw their Innocence says the Apostle who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect They were dealt with as Malefactors yet says he Who is he that condemneth so that he supposes them to be condemned by no body in comparison because while they were condemned by men God Justified them Which offers two Points to be considered 1. That men do sometimes condemn those whom God justifies 2. That they whom God justifies have no cause to be dejected when they are condemned by men 1. That men do sometimes condemn those whom God justifies and they condemn them too for the sake of those things which he approves and lay that to their charge which he is now pleased with and will hereafter reward It was such a case which our Saviour prepared his Disciples for when he said Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and lay all manner of evil falsly against you for my sake Which began to be fulfilled as soon as ever the World took notice of them And here let us briefly consider what kind of Persons they then were and how they were used The Apostles and those that were in fellowship with them professed the sincere and uncorrupted Truth of the Gospel teaching all Purity and Virtue and whatever they received in Command from our Lord Jesus Nor will any Christian of what other Name soever pretend that there was too much or too little in their Doctrine All are agreed not only that Christianity is worthy of all acceptation but also that it was by them professed intirely and without mixture As to their manners they were Persons of the greatest simplicity easie to be known what they were given to no deceit desiring to Live in quiet because there was nothing in their Doctrine or in their way of Life to create jealousies in others It was a very great part of their Religion to deny themselves and to do good to their Neighbours They did not aim at Worldly power and greatness but instead of using that interest they had in the People to save themselves by Violence from Persecution they urged subjection to Laws and Government upon Principles of Conscience They were such kind of men and we doubt not but God justified them Let us therefore see how they were used by men by Jews and Gentiles As for the Jews it was not indeed very likely that they should be treated much better than their Master had been before And so the event shewed 't is true they made many Converts and a great part of the People cleaved to their Doctrine and fellowship but this enraged their enemies so much the more and the more numerous that Christians grew there were so many more to be hated and reviled and persecuted For 1. They were charged with Heresie and represented as a Sect that subsisted upon the Profession of new and false Doctrines For thus we find St. Paul obliged to apologize for himself before Foelix against the accusations of the Jews They cannot says he prove the things whereof they now accuse me But this I confess unto thee That after the way which they call heresie so worship I the God of my fathers believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets Acts 24.14 And have hope towards God which they themselves allow That there shall be a resurrection of the dead And herein do I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and men St. Paul and such as he believed all things that were written in the Law and the Prophets those very writings which the Jews themselves acknowledged to be Divine and tho to this