I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin Eccl. 7. 29. For lo this only have I found That God made man upright at first but since they have fallen away from that Upright State they have sought out many Inventions Jer. 17. 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it For Matth. 15. 19. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts murthers adulteries fornications thefts false-witness blasphemies and all things that defile a man. And the Reason of all this is Because Joh. 3. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh Man as he is Flesh and Blood is naturally fleshly minded Rom. 7. 14. For we know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal sold under sin for that which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that I do And so Eph. 2. 3. All are by nature the children of wrath Jam. 1. 15. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and when 't is finished bringeth forth death Our first Parents lusted after the forbidden Fruit and that brought forth the sin of breaking the Commandment and that sin brought forth Death And Rom. 5. 12. As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all in him have sinned Wherefore if all are guilty of Original Sin and that guilt makes us Children of Wrath and consequently Heirs of Damnation I don't see any reason we have to boast of our righteousness but rather we have too much cause to bewail our wretchedness and to pray continually against the inevitable misery we are liable to undergo for all the good works we have done or can do unless God be more merciful to the best of us than we deserve And though by Baptism the guilt of Original Sin is washed away yet 't is more than probable that the first Actual Sin brings it again For as he that by amendment of life turns to God his former sins shall not be remembred so he that returns from the Service of God his righteousness shall be blotted out and forgotten and all his former iniquities shall testifie against him To conclude from what has been produc'd this at present occurs to our Observation That though there is no such thing in truth as a Solifidian Justice but every Man that will be saved must be enduced with a Faith that works by Love yet after all we can do we must expect Salvation by Faith in Christ's Blood and not from our own worthiness III. The Third Enquiry propos'd was To whom it belongs to Forgive Sins Psal 3. 8. Salvation belongeth to the Lord. 49. 7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him For the redemption of their soul is precious And 37. 39. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Therefore 130. 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord. It was the Psalmists opinion That it belonged to God to Forgive Sins and therefore Psal 51. 14. he thus addresses himself to him Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God thou God of my salvation And thus God affirms of Himself Isai 43. 11. I even I am the Lord and beside me there is no Saviour I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins where we may take notice That it belongs to God to Forgive Sins and also That he Forgives them for his own sake which takes off all Merit by Works Dan. 9. 9. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses It was the constant Opinion of the Jews For when our Saviour said to the Sick of the Palsie Man thy sins are forgiven thee the Jews not believing him to be God as well as Man accus'd him of Blasphemy saying Who can forgive sins but God only Luk. 5. 21. So our Lord himself though John Baptist call'd him the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world Joh. 1. 29. directs us to ask God to forgive our sins Mat. 6. 12. For at Vers 14. 'T is our heavenly Father that must forgive us And thus the Apostle tells the Colossians That they being dead in their sins and the uncircumcision of their flesh God had quickened them and forgiven them all trespasses Col. 2. 13. From all which it appears plainly enough That Forgiveness of Sin belongs only to God. The consequence of this is That if it belongs to God only to Forgive Sins then Confession of Sins is due to him alone A Member of the Church of Rome is in danger of passing immediately into Hell if he dies without having confess'd his Sins to a Priest So absolutely necessary do they teach Auricular Confession to be in order to Salvation But if we may examin it a little I am apt to think it will appear much like the rest Psal 32. 5. I acknowledged my sins unto thee and my iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin The Psalmist was absolv'd without Auricular Confession only by acknowledging his Sins to God. 1 King. 8. 47. Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the Land whether they were carried Captives and repent and make supplication to thee in the Land of them that carried them Captives saying We have sinned and have done perversely we have committed wickedness c. Here is no Confession to a Priest mentioned Ezra 9. 5. And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness and having rent my garment and my mantle I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God and said O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God c. Psal 41. 4. I said Lord be merciful unto me and heal my soul for I have sinned against thee Hence Confession of Sin is due to him against whom we have sinned And then 't is due Relatively to our Neighbour if we have done him any injury But Properly to God according to the Psalmist Psal 51. 4. Against thee only have I sinned c. when he had committed Adultery with Bathsheba and caused her Husband to be slain Dan. 9. 15. And now O Lord our God that hast brought thy people forth out of the Land of Egypt with a mighty hand and hast gotten the renown as at this day we have sinned we have done wickedly Therefore Jer. 14. 20. We acknowledge O Lord our wickedness and the iniquity of our Fathers for we have sinned against thee In a word I should never have done if I should quote all the Texts to prove Confession of Sins only due to God. And therefore because you will meet with them in reading I shall at present only refer you to the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel to what our Saviour says there of Prayer and Fasting For Repentance and Confession being
exercis'd in Filthy Lusts as useless as a Sword is while it remains in the Sheath And this is the sence that the best Expositors put upon the place Beza especially is very copious and fully discusses the point proving that this Prison can in no wise be taken for Purgatory But the Reverend Dr. Hammond has most ingenuously and accurately express'd the Apostles meaning and therefore with his words I shall conclude Christ says he is an Example of suffering for well-doing in his Dying for Sins not his own but ours he being righteous died for us who were unrighteous that when we were Aliens and Enemies to God he might reconcile us to him and give us Authority to approach him wherein yet for our example and comfort it must be observ'd that tho' as a Man cloath'd in our Flesh he was put to Death and that innocently to purchase Redemption for us yet by the power of God in him he was most gloriously rais'd from the Dead and shall consequently by raising and rescuing us out of the present Sufferings and destroying all obdurate Sinners shew forth wonderful Evidences of Power and Life The very same in effect that of old he did at the time in which beyond all others he shew'd himself in Power and Majesty against his Enemies but withal in great Mercy and Deliverance to his Obedient Servants that adher'd to him I mean in the Days of the Old World when by Noah that Preacher of Righteousness he gave those treatable warnings to those that made no use of the Light of Nature in their Hearts to the Spirits or Souls of those that were then alive before the Flood which God had given them with impressions of Good and Evil but through their customs of Sin were as a Sword put up in a Sheath laid up in their Bodies unprofitably So then upon the whole matter whether the sence of the Apostle be referr'd to our Saviours Preaching by Noah to them of the Old World or by his Apostles to the Gentiles of the New is not much to the purpose this is the plain resolution of the present Quere That the word Prison here made use of is only a Metaphorical Epithet given to the Body in reference to the Soul a Comparison made of the Soul confin'd in the Body of a sinful Man with a Man lock'd up in a Prison And thus when our Saviour by his Ministers Preaches the Gospel especially to Unbelievers or Wicked Men he may be said to Preach to Spirits in Prison From what has been said then I think Purgatory can't be asserted from the words of St. Peter Whence we come to consider those of St. Paul If any Man's Work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by Fire The Apostle Verse 10 says According to the Grace of God which was given to me as a wise Master-Builder I have laid the Foundation and another buildeth thereon And Verse 12. he speaks of Two sorts of Men that build on this Foundation First those that build thereon Gold Silver and Precious-Stones and Secondly those that build thereon Wood Hay and Stubble Now says he Verse 13 Every Man's Work shall be made manifest For the Day shall declare it because it shall be reveal'd by Fire and the Fire shall try every Man's Work of what sort it is And as he goes on If any Man's Work shall abide which he hath built thereon he shall receive a Reward But if any Man's Work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss c. Which may be thus explain'd There were among the Corinthians when the Apostle writ this Epistle to 'em two sorts of Preachers some who endeavour'd nothing more than to Preach the pure simplicity of the Gospel and to feed the Flock of Christ with sound and wholsome Doctrine And others who pretended to greater parts and knowledge than other Men and these with superfluous flourishes and empty glosses endeavour'd to win the Hearts of their Hearers by their worldly wisdom as the Apostle calls it As the other studied for the preservation of a Good Conscience in the faithful discharge of their Duty so these made it their chief care to become the Peoples Favourites by being as complaisant and obliging as they cou'd and by Indulging 'em in some petty matters as they call'd 'em that the Gospel might not seem too heavy a burden to ' em They wou'd tell the People of Works of Supererogation some things they might do more than they were commanded to do and so brought in worshipping of Angels under a pretence of voluntary Humility intruding into those things which they had not seen being vainly puffed up with their fleshly minds as the Apostle testifies Col. 2. 18. And by such little tricks as these they gain'd more and more upon the giddy Affections of the multitude 'till at last they broke out into that Division which call'd for this Epistle Things being at this pass the Apostle thought it high time to think of a way if possible to put a stop to those Enormities which were so fast breaking into the Church And to this end he first mildly reproves the Corinthians for their overmuch curiosity and affection of Speculation rather than wholsome Doctrine And then heproceeds to shew 'em the vanity of such Speculative Preachers by telling 'em that he had laid the Foundation and that no Man cou'd lay another than what was laid already which was Jesus Christ Now says he If any Man builds upon this Foundation Gold Silver Precious-Stones Wood Hay or Stubble Every Man's Work shall be made manifest For the Day shall declare it because it shall be reveal'd by Fire and the Fire shall try every Man's Work of what sort it is And if any Man's Work shall abide which he hath built upon that Foundation which he had laid he shall receive a Reward That is He that shall approve himself a sincere Preacher of the Gospel that he has fed the Flock of Christ with sound and profitable Doctrine he shall in the Day of Trial have this to comfort him against all Temporal Calamities That he has Acted as a faithful Pastor ought to do and therefore though Tribulations beset him on all sides yet he is certain he whom he has serv'd is faithful and will undoubtedly perform his promise to his faithful Servants so that in the midst of the greatest Afflictions he 's sure to become more than a Conqueror and as such shall not miss of a most glorious Reward But If any Man's Work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss That is He shall in the Day of Trial be convinc'd of the invalidity and unprofitableness of his Preaching which will cause in him the pains of a guilty Conscience which commonly attend on those that have been unprofitable in their Stations and the loss of his former credit will cause him shame and a detestation of those vain and empty Opinions which before he so earnestly defended and all these
so far about for Mercy and Forgiveness when they may have it nearer home Here 's a Merchant has Indulgences to sell at reasonable Rates by virtue of which a Man may gratifie the Lusts of his Flesh here and when he Dies a small Matter towards Building or Repairing some religious Conventicle will purchase Masses enough to deliver him out of Purgatory and then let any judge if such a Man is not far wiser than a sneaking Heretick who lives in ignorance of these Catholick Helps and Salvo's But for all that if we may be allow'd to believe the Scriptures we have no such by-ways to Heaven the way that leads thither is strait as well as narrow So then let others trust to Indulgences and so be cheated of their Souls and Money too while we tread in the Path which is made plain before us and tho' we may want a little Elbow-room yet t is better travelling so in a clean and safe way than by rambling out of it for more liberty to trust to the Promise of a false Guide that we shall come into it again and so follow him through Boggs and Rivers in danger of Drowning every step of the way 'T is evident enough that the Son of God is our only Sacrifice for the Apostle says 1 Cor. â—â— 7 Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us And the Scriptures sufficiently testifie that by one Oblation of himself once offer'd he made sufficient Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World. And then what need have we of farther Sacrifices nay what warrant can be brought from the Word of God to justifie the Sacrifice of the Mass which is the only new one contended for The Apostle Rom. 12. 1 Exhorts us to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God as our reasonable Service Which Text Bellarmin thinks sufficient to the purpose and thus he argues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Sacrifice properly so call'd that is an External Oblation made only to God wherein by a lawful Minister some sensible Substance is by Mystical rites consecrated and so chang'd or in reference to what it was before destroy'd But Christians have no such Sacrifice to offer to God but the Mass Neither are the Romans here commanded to Kill themselves for that wou'd be an heinous Sin. Therefore the Mass must be the Sacrifice here spoken of And farther 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the word here used by the Apostle is that Sacrifice which is offer'd by a lawful Minister But no Sacrifice is among Christians offer'd by the Minister but the Mass Therefore the Mass is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a proper Sacrifice Now not to say the Mass is no sensible Substance which he makes the main condition of a Sacrifice I shall at present thus examine the Argument 1. The Apostle does not speak here of the office of a Minister but the Duty of the Ministers and People both All are to present their Bodies a living Sacrifice I beseech you therefore Brethren c. 2. Therefore supposing the Mass was a sensible Substance yet the Apostle can't intend that because that is to be offer'd by the Minister only 3. Granting all he wou'd have in reference to the Mass's being a Sacrifice yet the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as properly us'd by the Apostle in reference to the Sacrifice of a Man's Body as of the Mass For 't is confess'd that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Oblation made to God only wherein some sensible Substance is by mystical Rites consecrated and so chang'd or in reference to what it was before destroy'd Accordingly the Apostle advises us to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice unto God and in the next Verse Be not conformed to this World where by our renouncing the World we consecrate our Bodies to God's Service and so as the Apostle farther exhorts us we are transform'd or chang'd by the renewing of our Mind and our Bodies in reference to what they were before corrupted and polluted by Sin are destroy'd 4. So then the Apostle here makes use of a Metaphor to express a reasonable Duty as a Sacrifice is laid on the Altar kill'd and cut in pieces so we must die to sin and mortifie our Members which are upon the Earth cut off all Affections to this World keep our Bodies under and bring 'em into subjection to the Will of God and so being transformed from what we were before Servants and Sacrifices to Sin we become holy Sacrifices and acceptable to God. Whence 5. Let us enquire what are the proper Sacrifices of Christians because he says that they have no other but the Mass St. Peter 1 Ep. c. 2. v. 5 says we as lively Stones are built upon a spiritual house an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ And what those spiritual Sacrifices are we may be inform'd by other places of Scripture The Psalmist Psal 4. 5. advises us to offer to God the Sacrifices of Righteousness And Psal 50. 23 Whoso offereth Praise glorifieth God. And 51. 17 19 The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit and the Lord will be pleas'd with Sacrifices of Righteousness And Psal 141. 2 Let my Prayer be set before thee as Incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening Sacrifice These are great Expressions from one under the Law when the Morning and Evening Sacrifices were so absolutely necessary But what have we from those that were under the Gospel Our Blessed Saviour of right challenges the first place who in his own Person blames the Pharisees for not knowing the meaning of this I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice Matth. 12. 7. The Apostle is very plain to the purpose Phil. 4. 15 c. Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the Gospel when I departed from Macedonia no Church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye only For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity Not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that may abound to your account But I have all and abound I am full having receiv'd of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you an Odour of a sweet smell a Sacrifice acceptable well-pleasing to God. From all which the Sacrifices of Christians are Mercy Alms-Deeds Prayer Praise Contrition and all Christian Duties And these are the Sacrifices which are to be offer'd up to God by every living Christian for himself But I can find no such Sacrifice as the Mass nor indeed any other than those above-mention'd For Christ Jesus is the Sacrifice for all Christians in general and these are Sacrifices which every Christian must offer to God for himself in particular And thus I have briefly given my Opinion of the Mass which amounts to this in the general that Christ being our Sacrifice and Propitiation we have no reason to think of any other and he having offer'd himself once to God for all
was to read the Books of the Kings for their Information how to Rule well so that all Men would read the Holy Scriptures in general would be good Counsel because they afford the best Instructions for living well 2. Ignorance in the Scriptures is dangerous because it is the greatest Reason of Mens running into all sorts of Errors When the Sadducees proposed to our Saviour the Business of the Woman that had had seven Husbands asking him whose wife she should be at the resurrection falsly supposing If there ever would be a Resurrection there would also be Marrying and giving in Marriage at the Resurrection Jesus answered and said unto them Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures And here Madam I might take notice of the Subtlety of the Church of Rome in denying the Scriptures to the Laity because maintaining so many Errors so directly contrary to Scriptures that any discerning Eye must needs discover them Such are Purgatory Pope's Pardons Adoration of Images praying to Saints and Angels and the like But our Lord said of the Pharisees Matth. 15. 14. Let them alone they are blind leaders of the blind And if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch I shall say nothing therefore to these at present but proceed 3. To shew That Ignorance in the Scriptures is very Dangerous because as it is the cause of Sin and Error so by Sin and Error it must consequently be the cause of Destruction Isay 5. 13. Therefore my people are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge and their honourable Men are famished and their multitude dryed up with thirst Therefore hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it Psalm 95. 10. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation and said It is a people that do err in their hearts and they have not known my ways Vnto whom therefore I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest Prov. 1. 24. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirl-wind when distress and anguish come upon you Then shall ye call upon me but I will not answer ye shall seek me but ye shall not find me for that ye hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord. But to come a little nearer home Christ Jesus has brought Life and Immortality to Light by the Gospel But this says he is the condemnation by way of Eminence That light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil For every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved but he that does truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God Joh. 3. 19. And surely Madam If they that deny us the Scriptures had not something to be ashamed of they would not shew themselves so much concerned to keep People in Darkness It must needs be a Device of the Devil to keep Men in Ignorance that they might be damned according to the Apostle 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine upon them But we know that Christ will one day be revealed in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thessal 1. 8. If it is objected That this Text speaks of Heathen Persecutors we may answer That those Christians who are not acquainted with and consequently not obedient to the Gospel of Christ are worse than Heathens I beseech you Madam to consider If it was through Ignorance of the Scriptures the Jews crucified the Lord of Glory as the Apostle says it was 1 Cor. 2. 8. We that are Christians had best take heed That we do not through Ignorance crucifie him again And if it was a Shame for the Corinthians not to know the Scriptures in the very dawning and twilight of Christianity 1 Cor. 15. 34 what an abominable shame must it needs be for us after almost seventeen hundred Years to know no more or it may be not so much To conclude this Point The Apostle dedicates his First Epistle to the Corinthians To All that in Every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And what he should do so for unless he intended it should be read by All I can't imagin If he intended it only for the Fathers of that Church he might in fewer words and consequently with less trouble have said To the Elders of the Church at Corinth or else directed it to the Bishop of that Church only But he knew the Scriptures were able to make Men wise unto salvation and therefore would have all Men read them And our blessed Saviour knew that the Jews thought they had Eternal Life in the Scriptures therefore he bids 'em Search them Joh. 5. 39. The Injunction is the same upon Christians also And then certainly if the Captain and Author of our Salvation bids us Search we may notwithstanding the Insinuations of some bold Men to the contrary By what Rule else should we try the Spirits whether they be of God as St. John adviseth us 1 Ep. 4. 1. if not by the Rule of God's Word Upon this account therefore among others we are bound to read search and be well acquainted with the Scriptures I presume then after all that has been produc'd to prove this first Position what the Evangelist says of the Revelations Chap. 1. 3. may on good grounds be attributed to the rest of the Sacred Writings Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things that are written therein And now Madam having made good from Scripture Testimonies the Necessity of being acquainted with the Scriptures though I have already gone beyond the ordinary bounds of an Epistle yet I crave leave to trespass a little farther on your Patience in giving you a cursory view of some of the Principal Doctrins of the Church of Rome and demonstrating how contrary they are to the Word of Truth In order to which I shall with all possible brevity enquire I. Whether any Man can do more than he ought to do II. Whether any Man by his own Works can merit Heaven III. To whom it belongeth to Forgive Sins IV. Whether the Scriptures warrant Worshiping of Images or Praying to Saints and Angels V.
know the true God blasphemously imagin or assert against their Consciences which I think the worse of the two That help to come from the Creature which can only come from the Creator May not we on better Grounds deisy our Physicians But these things they 'll venture to deny tho' they are easily prov'd that which they chiefly acknowledge in this Point is their praying to Saints and Angels to pray for them or as some say to pray to Christ to interceed for them it being arrogant Presumption for Mortals to go to Christ immediately But this is downright Gnosticism and we of the Church of England have our Saviour's own words for our Encouragement if they of the Church of Rome have not Joh. 14. 6 I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me And we know of no other Intercessor in Heaven but Christ Therefore I think it a privation of our Christian Liberty to debar us from Praying to him immediately on Pretence of too much Presumption in so doing for he himself invites all that labour and are heavy laden to come to him and he will give 'em rest Matth. 11. 28. He does not say Come to me by my Mother or by St. Michael or St. Bennet c. But Come to me directly 5. The Fifth Enquiry must be Whether there is any such Place as Purgatory The Doctrines of the Church of Rome as they have been manag'd are most of 'em so order'd as to be as suitable and conformable to the temper of Humane Nature as they well may be as might be made appear if we had time in these already spoken to But above all the Doctrine of Purgatory is as obliging and complaisant to Flesh and Blood as any thing can be For this takes off all necessity of a strict and restrain'd life here needs no mortifying our Members which are upon the Earth as the Apostle's advice was Men need not be so fearful of pleasing their Appetites as they should be if they were to follow the rigid Precepts of our Saviour or St. Paul. But the Epicuroean Principle will make a Man happy here in gratifying the Lusts of the Flesh and hereafter he shall be happy in Heaven too if he has but been so frugal as to save a little Money to pay for a Catholick Burial only undergoing a little Frixation or Roasting by the way That this is the genuine Explication of the Doctrine of Purgatory as it is receiv'd and propagated in the Roman Church might be made appear by many good Consequences if I had time and it was worth the Pains to consider every Particular But 't is done at large already by an Excellent Hand and the Business of the present Undertaking Dr. Stil Idol of the Church of Rome is not so much to that as to Enquire whether there is any such Place as Purgatory or no There are but two Texts in the New Testament that can with any colour be urg'd to this purpose One is 1 Pet. 3. 19. where 't is said that Christ went and Preach'd to the Spirits in Prison And the other 1 Cor. 3. 15 If any mans works shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire On these two Texts this Doctrine is built If therefore I can make it plain that neither of these Texts are to the purpose I think I shall have little more to do than to deny the Doctrine to be true forasmuch as in any Matter of Dispute the Affirmative ought to be prov'd before the Negative I begin then with the first 1 Pet. 3. 19. In the foregoing Verse the Apostle tells us that Christ hath once suffer'd for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quicken'd by the spirit And then adds By which also he went and preach'd to the spirits in Prison From whence most Expositors gather that what our Saviour is said to do here he did after his Resurrection As if the Apostle had said He was put to Death in the Flesh but was quicken'd or rais'd again by the Spirit and after that he went by the same Spirit or Power that quicken'd him and Preach'd to the Spirits in Prison And that the word Prison here can't mean Purgatory will more plainly appear if we follow the Apostle as he goes on By which also he went and Preach'd to the Spirits in Prison which sometime were Disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the Days of Noah while the Ark was preparing wherein few that is Eight Persons were saved by Water The like Figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ c. We read Gen. 6. 3. that God said My Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh yet his Days shall be an Hundred and Twenty Years The Deluge was determin'd for the Sins of the Old World yet God of his Mercy wou'd give 'em so long time as One Hundred and Twenty Years to Repent in and sent Noah to Preach Repentance and Threaten Destruction to all that wou'd not amend their Lives Whence this of the Apostle has been interpreted of Christ's Preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles by his Apostles after his Resurrection when he had sent his Spirit among ' em And so those that wou'd not repent at the Preaching of the Gospel shou'd one Day perish by Fire as they of the Old World did by Water for not Repenting at the Preaching of Noah For as Christ was then reveal'd in a flood of Water so he will again be revealed in flaming Fire to take Vengeance on them that obey not his Gospel But they that wou'd repent and be obedient to his Gospel shou'd be saved by Baptism as Noah was in the Ark yet not merely from a Temporal Punishment but from Everlasting Destruction Now to make the Prison here spoken of Purgatory is to say in effect that those that were destroy'd by the Deluge of the Old World have remain'd ever since in this Purgatory 'till our Saviour's Crucifixion and that in one of the Three Days in which he lay in the Grave he went and Preach'd the Gospel of Repentance to them But this can't be made deducble from the words of the Apostle but rather the contrary For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Prison signifies any kind of Receptacle whatever a Sheath for a Sword as well as a Gaol for Prisoners and as properly the Body of a Man wherein the Soul is kept as any thing else any thing containing is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Prison in reference to the thing contain'd So that Christ's Preaching to the Spirits in Prison here is nothing else but either the Preaching of Noah to those of the Old World or of his Apostles to the Gentiles of the New whose Souls were penn'd up in their Bodies which were
together will put him in danger of losing his reward hereafter Yet notwithstanding all this tho' his fleshy opinions are consum'd and brought to nothing if he has been so fortunate as to hold to the Foundation in the main Doctrines of Christianity he himself may be saved but 't will be so hardly as by Fire That is tho' he had been infected with Gnosticism if he did not proceed so far as actually to deny Christ the Foundation as his Doctrine before was that he might in case of Persecution yet his not denying him at last is an Abnegation of that Doctrine as Erroneous and on that account he might be saved notwithstanding the unprofitableness of his Preaching otherwise simply consider'd but it wou'd be so hardly as when one with the greatest difficulty frees himself from the fury of a devouring Fire I suppose the Apostles meaning may be to this purpose that That Preacher who takes more delight in discussing Points of Controversy and the nice Speculations of School-Disputes than in Preaching the Gospel so as it may best edify the generality of People that come to hear him If to this he adds some superfluous Doctrines of his own provided they be not Heretical but he still holds the Foundation yet all this may not damn him if he does not at last deny Christ but tho' his Works in the day of Trial shall prove but empty Chimera's the vain Fancies of his own Brain Wood and Stubble built upon the Foundation of the Gospel and as such shall instantly be consumed yet he himself may escape the deserved Punishment of an Unprofitable Preacher but 't will be as a man whose House is on fire round about him and all his Substance being burnt he himself with great hazard of his Life escapes the Flames For 't is not to be thought that every petty Error incurs Damnation if it is not of Faith for thus the Holy Fathers of the Church in all Ages have fail'd yet their failings not thought damnable so long as in all things necessary to Salvation they held to the Foundation But the question is Whether according to the sence of the Apostle such Men must be saved by the fire of Purgatory St. Austin tells us that Both good and bad those on the right hand as well as those on the left must be tried by this Fire the Apostle speaks of And a little after This Fire says he is to be understood as such through which both must pass They that build Gold as well as those that build Wood. And will any say that St. Peter St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles pass'd through Purgatory Or will any of the Church of Rome assert this thing of their Seraphic St. Francis St. Dominic or their ever famous Loyola 'T is plain the Apostle here speaks Metaphorically he makes a Fire wherein a man is in danger of Burning a Similitude of the danger those Gnosticks were in by building their vain and unprofitable Doctrines upon the Foundation which he had laid So that upon the whole I think the best way to explain a figurative Expression is by a figurative Supposition Let us therefore suppose a Foundation of Stone laid by some famous Builder Two men take this Foundation whereon to Build 'em Houses to live in one of the two Builds his House we 'll suppose of Gold and Silver as the Apostle expresses it but very plain and homely after the rude Gothic way of Building no way charming or delightful outwardly The other makes use of no other Materials but Wood and Straw but alarms the World with his curious Carving and fine Devices after the beautiful Corinthian Order Stately and Magnificent to Charm all that shall look on it and so finishes a delicate Piece of Work. Now the common Vanity of the World is such that Men are generally apt to part with all to please their Fancies and so it is here the Multitude admire his Building and cry up the Workman almost to Adoration and tho' his next Neighbour's House is built of Gold and Silver yet 't is a plain homely thing rough and old fashion'd not worth taking notice of or looking on But here the Ingenuity and Art of the Workman the singular contrivance of every part the joint and apt connection and suitableness of the whole the just Decorum and Harmony every where visible the regularity of the Columns so adorn'd with all sorts of delightful Carv'd works Fruits and Flowers and in a word the whole Fabrick is so noble and in all respects outwardly perfect that 't is preferrable to all the Gold and Silver of the Universe But now comes the day of Trial when the Fire must try both these mens works of what sort they are The Foundation being Stone the Fire passes on to the Building And by reason of the first man's House being built with Gold and Silver which the Fire cannot reduce into it self That escapes untouch'd only as there might possibly be a drossy substance on the outside the Fire licks off that and so all the alteration it makes there is when that dross is consum'd the House appears much more splendid and glorious as the Metal is more refin'd and purify'd by the Fire But the condition of the other fine Building is quite contrary for consisting chiefly of Wood and Straw and such combustible Matter it presently takes fire and burns furiously that the Poor man who is suddenly surpriz'd with the Calamity being perhaps two or three Stories high and the Flames ascending and threatning Destruction round about him knows of no way whereby to escape one danger but by running into another And delays in such cases being dangerous he looks out at his Window and not considering the greatness of the fall his fear of Burning being much greater he at the hazard of his Life endeavours to save it by leaping down into the Street whence if he so escapes he becomes a miserable Spectator of the Ruin of that which but Yesterday was the Worlds wonder and they that were before so taken with it now see it reduc'd to Ashes while the other House which before they thought so despicable shines in their Imaginations as the Sun in the Firmament This I take to be as lively a representation of the sence of the Text as the words will bear and then I leave to any reasonable Person to judge if the Apostle here speaks of any such place as Purgatory I dare say St. Chrysostom had no such thoughts for repeating the same words But he shall be saved yet so as by Fire That is says he as a man that when at Midnight his House is set on Fire wakes and leaps out of Bed and runs Naked out of Doors taking nothing along with him his only care being to free his own Body from the Flames But the Gentlemen we are to deal with in these days are mere Grammatists where they can find any thing in the Letter that seems to favour their purpose