be disproved now he is dead And if the great Esteem I had for that Excellent Person and most useful Instrument of God's Service in our late dangerous and critical Times does not render me a very incompetent judg of whatever comes from his hand the Reader will find even in these short Notes enough to reward his Pains and to keep him from thinking the time lost that he shall please to spend in the perusal of them W. W. A Private Conference BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden ABOUT Transubstantiation c. FAther Gooden Proposed the Rule of Faith to be the Subject of the Conference but upon the Request of the Lady for whose sake they met the Question of Transubstantiation was taken And the Father desiring that the Doctor would be the Opponent the Question was Stated on both Sides Dr. That the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is salse Doctrine and That the Natural Body of Christ is not in the Sacrament but in Heaven Fa. That after the Words of Consecration the true Body and Blood of Christ are in the Holy Eucharist and that the manner is well exprest by Transubstantiation Dr. This is not all the Doctrine of Transubstantiation in the Church of Rome The Doctrine of the Church of Rome is this That the Substance of the Bread is chang'd into the Substance of Christ's Body and the Substance of the Wine is chang'd into the Substance of Christ's Blood which Change the Church of Rome does conveniently call Transubstantiation Now against this I thus argue If the Substance of Bread remains in the Eucharist then it is not chang'd into the Substance of Christ's Body But the Substance of Bread remains in the Eucharist Therefore the Substance of Bread is not changed into the Substance of Christ's Body Fath. I deny the Minor viz that the substance of Bread does remain Dr. If Bread remains the substance of bread remains But Bread remains Therefore the substance of bread remains Fath. If the Nature of Bread remains Bread remains but if only the Name of Bread and Species remain then Bread does not remain Dr. That Bread which is properly Natural Bread remains in the Eucharist is proved from 1 Cor. 11.26 As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew forth the Lord's death till he come 1 Cor. 10.16 The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ Now from hence we argue thus If that which is here said to be Broken and to be the Communion of the Body of Christ be properly natural Bread then that which is properly natural Bread remains in the Eucharist Fath. I grant the Major Dr. But that which is here said to be broken and to be the Communion of the Body of Christ is properly natural Bread Ergo Properly natural Bread remains in the Eucharist Fath. I deny the Minor. Dr. The Bread of which Saint Paul speaks is Bread that may be broken and therefore it is truly and properly natural Bread. Fath. I distinguish the Antecedent as to the Accidents and Appearance of Bread it may be broken as to the Nature of Bread it cannot because it is not there Dr. This is to beg the Question for the Question is whether Bread be there or not and the Argument to prove that it is there is Because Saint Paul speaks of Bread that might be and was broken but it is no sufficient Answer to this to say that the Accidents of Bread may be broken because the Bread is not there it self which is the thing that was disproved Fath. The Question to be proved was that the Nature of Bread was there therefore it is not a begging of the Question according to the Distinction given to say that the Nature of Bread is not there and consequently could not be broken For the Bread there spoken of is not meant of Natural Bread but of Bread which came down from Heaven and which is the flesh of Christ John. 6.41 I am the bread which came down from Heaven John 6.48 I am the bread of Life Ver. 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 58. From whence I infer my Answer to be good that though the H. Eucharist be called Bread and broken as to the Species of Bread yet it is not natural Bread but only in appearance of which St. Paul spoke for the same St. Paul 1 Cor. 11. speaking of the same bread saith He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself not discerning the body of our Lord. Christ also speaking of the same bread saith Take eat this is my Body Matt. 26.26 Also Luk. 22.19 speaking of the same Eucharist This is my Body which is given for you Dr. The Answerer forgetting the Part of a Disputant has pretended to prove largely by the sixth Chap. of St. John and other places of Scripture That St. Paul in the aforementioned places did not speak of Bread properly so called although he spoke of Bread that was to be broken All which places when it is my turn to Answer I will consider particularly But if that which is here said is to go for an Answer the force of it lies in this That by the Bread which St. Paul spoke of we are to understand the Bread which St. John spoke of namely the bread which came down from Heaven by which the Answerer understands the Natural and proper flesh of Christ But that the Bread which St. Paul speaks of cannot be the natural flesh of Christ I prove thus The Bread which St. Paul speaks of was broken But the Natural Body of Christ cannot be broken Ergo. The Bread which St. Paul speaks of cannot be the Natural body of Christ Fath. As to the Species and Appearance of Bread it was broken I grant it as to any Nature contained under those Species of Bread I deny it Dr. This Distinction does not avoid the Argument because if the Bread in St. Paul and the Bread in St. John are really and properly the same and the Bread in St. John be really and properly the flesh of Christ then what is affirmed of the one must be true of the other and therefore if the Bread be broken in St. Paul then the Natural body of Christ must be broken too which cannot be I add further That if by breaking of Bread St. Paul means breaking the Accidents of Bread onely and if the Bread that is broken be really that which is spoken of in St. John as aforesaid it follows also that the Accidents of Bread are properly the body of Christ Fath. That which St. Paul calls Bread had in it both the Accidents of Bread and the substance of Christs body As to the Accidents of Bread it might be broken as to the substance of Christ's body which is mentioned in St. John it is not broken unless you mean as Christ's Body was broken upon the Cross And if the bread which is broken be really that which is spoken of in St. John as aforesaid
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
seems to me that our Saviour said Drink ye All of this and therefore that you of the Roman Church may as well take the Bread as the Cup from the Laity It seems to me that St. Paul calls the Communion of Christ's Body Bread The BREAD which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ and your Church says 't is Bread no longer after Consecration It seems to me that the same St. Paul speaks for a whole Chapter against Praying in an Unknown Tongue and yet your Church doth it It seems also to me that the Author to the Hebrews doth absolutely say That Christ was offered once for all and that he sat down thenceforth at the right hand of God but you pretend to fetch him down from Heaven and offer him a thousand times in a day It seems to me that God has forbidden the making of Images to worship them as absolutely and universally as words could do it and yet you picture God and make Similitudes of the Blessed Trinity and Images of the Saints and worship them when you have done I demand now why I may not be certain of the true sence of these places upon as reasonable grounds as you suppose I may be of those which in your judgment conclude for the Infallibility of your Church If I may then I am sure the Scripture condemns what you say and do in these points but if I may not be reasonably assured that I understand these in my judgment plain places of Scripture because I want an Infallible Judge to interpret for me then I demand again why do you urge me with those Scriptures that as you pretend prove the Infallibility of your Church for as yet I am not perswaded of the Infallibility thereof though I would gladly be perswaded of it If you say this is the interpretation of the Church concerning them which is Infallible and therefore you are to believe it I think any body but a Child would reply that that is the very thing in question and therefore that you cannot convince any man of your Infallibility unless he will take your word for it because he cannot infallibly know the true sence of Scripture giving testimony to it before he believes it without any testimony from Scripture at all So that it is to no purpose to go about to perswade any reasonable man that your Church is Infallible till he doth already believe it that is till it is a needless thing to do it because he does believe it already And therefore when all is done we must be content to understand the plain places of Scripture without an Infallible Judge and to find out the rest as well as we can and if the Scripture plainly condemns what you say and do we have more reason from thence to conclude that you have erred than to conclude that you cannot err because you say so of your selves And indeed I look upon this Pretence to Infallibility to be an Errour of the most pernicious consequence because it seals them up under all the rest and adds incorrigibleness which is the highest degree of obstinacy to all their other Errours and it is so much the more shameless because the whole World that was in Communion with them groaned for a Reformation before the Council of Trent One of their own Popes said We confess many abominable Abuses and Grievances have been for these many years last past in the Holy See and we look upon our selves concerned to endeavour a Reformation the more because we see the whole World doth most earnestly desire it At the Council of Trent the Embassadours of several Princes desired earnestly the Cup for the People the Marriage of the Clergy Service in a known Tongue and the Reformation of divers other matters in which Christendom would have reformed it self if Italy would have suffered it Italy I say who to hinder a general Reformation filled the Council of Trent with more Bishops than came from all the parts of Christendom besides Secondly Upon this Supposition the Church of England might and ought to reform it self as it hath done for we find that the Church of Pergamos which was not over-run with so many false Doctrines and corrupt Practices as those of the Roman Church I have mentioned was required by our Lord Jesus himself to remove those Errours and Corruptions which had crept into her and if she did not presently return to her Primitive Purity she was threatned to be cut off Indeed it had been a much more desirable thing that the whole Western Church and more desirable still that the East and the West had both united in a Reformation it had been a blessed thing if by a Free and General Council of all the Bishops in the Christian World an Universal Reformation had been made but the latter perhaps was improbable by reason of the vast distances of some Christian Churches from one another and the former was made impossible by the over-ruling Power of Italy which therefore was to be done upon particular Churches by common consent and perhaps there must never be a farther Reformation till the Day of Judgment It was very reasonable and very necessary therefore that Christian Kingdoms should proceed in Provincial and National Councils to reform themselves as this Church hath done under her Kings and Bishops Parliaments and Convocations that is by all that Authority which could be desired to make a publick Reformation within the limits of this particular Church And this proceeding has been authorized by the Examples of the best Ages of the Church when it was thought fit not always to tarry for General Councils but very often for particular Churches to proceed out of hand to the rooting out of Errour and Heresie and to the reforming of whatsoever they thought amiss amongst themselves and for this we are to appeal to the Councils of Laodicea Gangra Carthage and many others which are no General Councils To conclude Such Errours as had overspread the Church before the Reformation were in their own nature and in their consequences so pernicious that every Christian Man ought to reform himself from them inasmuch as it is better to obey God than man Much more might a publick Reformation be made by due Authority But we had no regard to the Bishop of Rome in this matter who was to be considered either as Head of the whole Church or the Patriarch of the West or as the Converter of the English Nation and we were not only in Communion with him but in subjection to him when the Reformation was made so that what cause soever there might be for it the Reformation was however schismatical To all which I answer in short 1. As to the Universal Supremacy it is a point to which Antiquity is wholly a stranger Scripture and the Fathers say nothing of it Ignatius who so often requires that nothing should be done of moment in the Church without the Bishop would have found out
the Faith that will either dispense with the Commandments of God or teach for doctrines the commandments of men There must be Heresies among you that is this must happen in the Church it self Men should arise from among themselves speaking perverse things And thus also St. Peter foretold There shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies 2 Pet. 2.1 But it was impossible they should do it privily or slily if they were not of the Church and had not thereby an opportunity under a pretence of Piety and care of Christian Truth to slip their Innovations into the Church by degrees Whereas it is added That they which are approved may be made manifest the meaning is that honest men may more and more appear to be what they are So that in the words of the Text there are these two things observable I. The unavoidableness of Heresies in the Church There must be Heresies among you II. The reason why God is pleased to permit Heresies that they who are approved may be made manifest 1. The unavoidableness of Heresies in the Church There must be Heresies among you By which we are not to understand an absolute necessity that Heresies should arise For this is inconsistent with that liberty of humane Nature which Religion and God's dealing with Mankind in giving us Laws and making us to expect a Day of Judgment do necessarily suppose But the meaning is this that all things considered it was in it self highly probable that Heresies would be brought into the Church and that God certainly foresaw that they would come in men being left to that liberty which is capable of being abused and under that Grace that may be resisted All therefore that is needful to be considered under this head will be this what are the grounds of that probability of the coming in of Heresies which the Text supposes of Heresies I say which God saw would certainly come to pass if he interposed not his irresistible power to prevent it Now it was not to be expected but that Heresies would be if we consider on the one side the revelation of Christian Truth and on the other the Temper and Circumstances of Mankind 1. As to the Revelation of Christian Truth we are to consider the tendency and design of the Doctrine it self and the evidence we have that God hath revealed it 1. The spirit and design of the Doctrine of Christianity which is plainly to rectifie the ill Manners and the corrupt Affections of Mankind to restrain them from Liberties which most Men desire how unreasonable and hurtful soever they are and to tie them up to Rules that are not grateful to flesh and bloud Moreover the Doctrine of Christianity truly represented is equally for the Interest of all Mankind and is by no means framed to serve the designs of Ambition and to advance one part of the Church to the prejudice and slavery of all the rest Lastly It teaches a Worship of great simplicity that has but very few Mysteries and nothing of that Pomp and Ceremony which is so pleasing to the Senses and the Fancies of Men and will not suffer them to place the weight of Religion in any outward Shows and Performances but in loving the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbours as our selves And to such a course of life and temper of mind it obligeth us by all that it teaches concerning God and Christ and a life to come our Creed serving no other turn but to make it necessary for us to live a sober righteous and godly life But then 2. The evidence we have for the truth of this Doctrine and that God hath revealed it is not so irresistible as to over-rule all contradiction and perverseness though it be sufficient to satisfie a wise and honest Man nor is the manner wherein these things are testified and declared to us so inlightning as to make it absolutely impossible for a Man to mistake about them or for those that wilfully pervert them to delude others with putting false colours upon them although it is so plain that we must be extraordinarily to blame if we run into any Error against sound Faith or good Life One would think the Doctrine of the Resurrection had been plainly enough delivered first by our Saviour then by his Apostles and that the Institution of the Lord's Supper and the Order which the Apostles observed in the Administration of it was also plain enough and yet in this very Church of Corinth there were divers fouly mistaken as to the one and still wanted instruction as to the other One would think that those words This is my body were sufficiently plain and that there was not the least need for our Lord to have added presently after that saying But take notice that I mean This is my body by deputation or representation or in a figurative sense any more then to have so explained himself when he said I am the door I am the vine c. But yet because he did not think fit to leave an express caution against the literal sense of these words we know it has been insisted upon against plain evidence of Scripture Sence and Reason Again let a Man consider the Institution of the Holy Communion and have no prejudice upon his mind and he will never desire that it should have been more plainly expressed that the Cup be administred to all than it is especially since it is said of the Cup Drink ye All of this and they All drank of it But yet because these words were not added or the like And let no man ever presume to administer the Bread without administring the Cup to the same Person the Cup hath been taken away from the People for the greater reverence of Administration When St. Paul said that he that understands not the Language in which Prayer or giving of Thanks is made is not edified it could hardly have been thought necessary to have added this Let therefore all Forms of Publick Prayer and Administration of Sacraments in all Ages of the Church be made in the Tongue that the People understand And yet for want of some such conclusion Publick Prayers have been made in a Language that the People understand not and the Practice maintained as confidently as if the fourth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians were itself in a Language that we could not understand There is no question but God could have added such explications and cautions in the Scripture as would have made it a great deal more difficult and troublesome to bring in those Errors than it hath been and perhaps utterly impossible to maintain them amongst Christians without destroying the Bible out of the World But then by the same reason that such cautions had been necessary thousand times as many more had been necessary too For so many Additions by way of caution must have been made as there are ways of eluding and perverting a
are believers already and therefore we need not trouble our selves with constant reading of the Bible Were not they so to whom St. Peter wrote Nay the Apostles were then alive to instruct them by Word as well as by Writing and moreover daily Miracles were wrought for confirmation of the Faith yet they did well in taking diligent heed to the Scriptures And shall not we do so too who can find Apostles and Miracles no where but there We believe already but have we all of us that stedfast Faith which the Gospel requires which is not grounded merely upon education and the custome of our Country but upon the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power Have we that Faith which will bear examination and encounter opposition If we have a very little exhortation will serve the turn to make us persevere in reading God's Book whereby we shall be yet more strongly built up in our most Holy Faith. But if not our want of Faith will not be admitted at the last day for an excuse of the badness of our Lives when we had the Scriptures laid before us the Holy Scriptures I say which if they had been diligently and honestly read by us would have furnished us with such an immoveable ground of our Christian belief as would have supported us in the Day of Temptation Nay if our Faith was grown never so strong yet the Reading of the Scriptures would be necessary for us to make the precepts and rules of the Christian Life and the Motives and Reasons of practising them daily present in our minds For the Temptations to sin are always present the snares of Hell are still round about us we are ever in some danger and therefore we ought always to be strong in the Lord by having a constant sense of those Divine Truths upon our minds which are our great defence and security And I see not how this can be if we neglect to have recourse unto that ever necessary Treasure of Divine truth the Holy Word of God. St. Chrysostom therefore doubted not to say and I wish we may all well consider that earnest saying of so Wise and Holy a Man as he was It cannot be says he It cannot possibly be that a man should attain Salvation unless he be diligently conversant in Spiritual Reading Himself was so excellent and constant a Preacher that if any one man not extraordinarily inspired could have made it needless for his hearers to Read the Scriptures at home he I should reckon was the man and yet I observe he often complains to them that the reason why most of them gained little profit by what he said either as to improvement of knowledg or good practice was because they did not read the Scriptures he explained to them either before or after his Sermons and says he it is the neglect of this reading that causeth all Heresie and Corrupt Life Now I beseech you how much time do we spend in other things of little concern to us either as to our Health or Wealth or our Worldly Callings And what a shame and a sin is it for us to find so little time as generally we do to furnish our selves with the knowledg of God's Truth and with pious affections towards the doing of his will out of God's Holy Book What a great matter were it if we borrowed some time for this purpose from our Recreations or even from our ordinary business For what is this Life to Life Everlasting What is the Wealth and Pleasure of this World to our Salvation in the World to come And therefore the forementioned excellent Person argued with his hearers in this manner Perhaps some may say That they are otherwise imployed in their worldly callings and others that they have not money to spare to buy the Scriptures but says he what a ridiculous thing would it be for a man of a Secular imployment to neglect it upon pretence that he has not time for it or that he has not wherewhithal to purchase the necessary Tools of his Calling These things are seldom or never pleaded but by Idle Persons And do you not all know that you are professed Christians and called to the hope of Eternal Life and that diligent reading and hearing the Holy Scriptures is as necessary to your Christian Calling as any thing can be to the successful management of your Secular professions I shall add this one thing That besides that improvement in knowledge and virtue which is naturally consequent upon much conversing with God's Book they that do so have a peculiar title to God's supernatural Blessing who is wont to reward a pious and reverent use of Holy things with greater measures of his grace In one word by other studies we may grow wise for this world but if we add this to the rest we shall yet grow wiser for this world by taking heed to those incomparable instructions that the Holy Bible abounds with and which is something more we shall grow wise unto Salvation The Tenth Sermon 1 Cor. XII 13. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit AFTER the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles there was a continual Communication of Supernatural and Extraordinary Gifts to other believers for a long time To one was given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom To another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit To another Faith by the same Spirit To another the gifts of Healing by the same Spirie To another working of Miracles To another Discerning of Spirits To another Divers kinds of Tongues To another the Interpretation of Tongues But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will. And this manisestation of the Spirit was given to every man to profit withal i. e. to profit the whole Body whereof himself was a Member For though that one Spirit which distributed his wonderful gifts amongst the Faithful could have given them all to the same man so as that one and the same Person should have had the Word of Wisdom and the Gifts of Healing and the Working of Miracles and a Prophetick Power and Discerning of Spirits and Divers kinds of Tongues yet to maintain a mutual dependance and a Charitable serviceableness of the Members one amongst another he gave to one one gift to another another dividing severally to every man for by this means one would stand in need of another and each Member would be obliged to take care of the rest knowing that he also wanted the supply of that assistance which the rest were able to give him whereas if one man had all gifts he would not be under so sensible an obligation of consulting for the common good wanting no assistance from any others But God ordered the state of the Church like that of the Natural Body to which the Apostle elegantly
compares the Body of Christ The eye cannot say unto the hand I have no need of thee nor again the head to the feet I have no need of you v. 21. Now it being the Apostle's design in this Chapter to press the Christians to Charity and Unity and mutual serviceableness one to another as Members of the same Body he assures them in the Words of the Text which I have chosen That they were indeed Members of one Body and he tells them what it was that made them so For by one spirit says he we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles and have been made to drink into one spirit That is by being Baptized they were made Members of the Body of Christ and united one to another under him the Head and this whether they were Jews or Gentiles bond or free i. e. whatever worldly circumstances made any distinction between them yet all they were one in Christ who professed his Faith and were by Baptism admitted into his Church And this Union of one to another under Christ was testified and declared by their Communion in the Table of the Lord. And whereas he says that by one Spirit they were baptized into this one Body and were all made to drink into one Spirit the meaning is that the Grace of the Holy Spirit was given in Baptism and in the Lords Supper to all the Faithful who do not receive unprofitable signs but one as well as another receives the quickning Grace of God to make them living Members of that one Body So that although there was a diversity and an equality in the Spiritual Gifts that were distributed among the Faithful in those dayes yet they were all equally Members of the same Body of Christ in as much as they were all Baptized into his Body and were all equally Partakers of his Table And thus I have explained the meaning of the Text with the relation it hath to the design of the Apostle in this Chapter That which remains is to speak to the particular design of the Text which is to shew that Christians are one Body or Society of Men and wherein the Vnity of the Church consists and what our part is to maintain it and how we may in this divided state of Christianity be satisfied that we are within that Unity Before I enter upon which I may well make two observations upon the Text in behalf of the Doctrine and Practice of this our Church of England 1. That St. Paul thought the observation of the two institutions of our Saviour viz. Baptism and the Communion of the Holy Table was a sufficient proof that believers were one Body And we have reason to believe that if he had known there were other Sacraments or outward badges of Christian profession instituted by Christ for the Church which is his Body he would not have omitted the mention of them here where he proves the Unity of the Church by Baptism and Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ We know that the Evangelists mention no other outward signs and visible tokens of our profession and God's Grace but Baptism and the Lord's Supper And it is something to our purpose that St. Paul owns no more than these where he industriously proves that Christians are one Body by these 2. I observe that the Communion of the Lords Table is described by drinking into one Spirit i. e. by one part of the Sacrament as sometimes it is by the other of breaking of bread But then nothing can be more plain from such expressions than that one part or kind is as necessary as the other because sometimes one sometims the other is put for both which had been against all rules of speaking if it had been allowable to separate the one from the other But as to that of Drinking the Cup it is most evident that it belonged to all for says St. Paul We have all been made to drink into one Spirit All who All the Priests of the Christian Church only No all that belong to the Body of Christ whether Jews or Gentiles bond or free But now if St Paul had known that it was not necessary for the Christian People to drink of the Cup in the Communion but that it was sufficient for them to have received the Bread only Can we think that he would have described their receiving the Sacrament by receiving a part of it which did not necessarily belong to them and not rather by that which did I do not make this observation to prove only that the People did at first universally receive the Cup for that is not denied by any but by those who have disputed themselves out of all Modesty and even these may be convinced beyond all doubt by this very place that all the Faithful in St. Paul's days received the Cup for otherwise how could he with truth have said that they had been all made to drink into one Spirit But that which I chiefly observe is this That though the Faithful did in those days drink as well as eat at the Lord's Table yet if the Apostle had known and surely he knew it if it was true that however it was the practice then yet it might without injury be altered in after times he would not have used an argument to satisfie the Faithful of his time that they all belonged to the Body of Christ which might afterwards be quite out of doors viz. when the Church should please to alter the Institution of our Saviour in this matter but he would rather have insisted upon receiving in that kind which could not be justly taken away from them and have said that all had been Baptized into the Body of Christ or made Members of his Church by Baptism and all that are of his Body may claim to eat of that one Bread. This by the bye I now address my self to the main business I propounded which is to state the notion of the Vnity of the Church to shâ—w what is meant by it and to make some Inferences from it for our farther instruction And in the first place it is evident that St. Paul here speaks not of any one particular Church but of the Society of all Christians whatsoever that are Baptized and have a right to the Holy Communion whether they be Jews or Gentiles And it is concerning the Unity of this Church that we are to enquire or what that is which makes it one Body as the Apostle here calls it To which purpose we are to consider distinctly what are the several grounds or notions of Unity which are laid down in the New Testament or what those things are that belong in common to all Christians as their Duty or their Priviledg and in respect of their joint performance of the former of which and their enjoyment of the latter they may be said to be One. 1. Therefore all Christians do unite in their profession to submit to one Head who is our
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