general is also true of this Scripture in particular Namely that tho' there be many Floods yet there are many Fords tho' there be many Depths where the greatest Elephants may swim yet there are also some Shallows where the least Lambs will be able to wade In some places the Holy Spirit soars aloft above the reach of the Highest and in other places he stoops so low as to condescend even to the Capacity of the Meanest And so he doth here in the Text where there are no difficulties to puzzle us but plain things to instruct and direct us The Text is a part of that Epistle which was sent by Christ to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus Ephesus was a large City upon which depended several lesser places as the Learned Hammond and others observe And according to that Government Christ had set up in his Church there was an Angel or Bishop constituted to oversee the Flock of Christ in these places Hence St. Austin speaking of the seven Angels which are mentioned in this Book of Revelations stiles them the Bishops or Governours of these seven Churches Such a Bishop or Angel was set over the Church of Ephesus and Antiquity tells us Onesimus was their Bishop to this Bishop or Angel doth Christ send an Epistle as may be learn'd from ver 1 of this Chapter Vnto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write The whole Epistle besides the Prologue and the Epilogue consists of four Principal Parts First A commendation of them for their Labour and Patience and unwillingness to suffer them that are Evil ver 2 3. Secondly A Reprehension wherein they are blamed for leaving their First Love and abating something of the Zeal and Fervour for the Gospel of Christ vers 4. And Thirdly An Exhortation to things of great Importance here in the beginning of the Text Remember from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works And Fourthly A Commination in the last words of the Verse Else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place For the fuller understanding of which words First We will first inquire why the Church of Christ is compared unto a Candlestick Secondly Shew you that this Candlestick may be removed out of his place Thirdly That it is an heavy Judgment to have this Candlestick removed out of his place Fourthly The Causes of this heavy Judgment And Fifthly The Means to prevent it I begin First With the first of these Namely to enquire why the Church of Christ is compared unto a Candlestick That the Church of Christ is compared to a Candlestick is plain from Chap. 1. 20. where we are told that The seven Stars are the Angels of the seven Churches and the seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches And well may the Church of Christ be compared unto a Candlestick since it holds forth the Word of God which is so often compared unto a Light We have a more sure word of prophesie saith St. Peter whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. To the same purpose is that of David Psal. 119. 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path The World indeed of it self is a very dark place and stands in need of Light It is a dark and dismal place in respect of those manifold troubles and miseries which infest this Life Now the Word of God is a Light which helps to scatter and disperse these Mists of Trouble So King David found it Psal. 119. 50. This is my comfort in my affliction thy word has quickned me The whole world saith St. Iohn lieth in wickedness and it were impossible for us to find our way to Heaven without the light of God's Word But God is so gracious as to give us his Word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths How ought we then to prize and value the Church of God which is no less than the Light of the World without the direction whereof we must have wandred up and down the Wilderness and never have found out the way to Canaan There is no Salvation out of the Church Nec erit illi Deus Pater cui non est Ecclesia Mater God saith St. Cyprian will not be his Father who doth not own the Church for his Mother Had we been born without the Pale of the Church we had been Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel Strangers to the Covenant of Promise without God without Christ and without Hope in this World Sure then we who are born within the Pale of God's Church and enjoy the glorious Light of the Gospel should rejoyce in this Light and learn to Prize and Value it otherwise we may be deprived of it and lose all the advantages thereof as will appear by considering the Second General Secondly Which is to shew that this Candlestick may be removed out of his place This is plain from the words of the Text where we have our Saviour speaking thus to the Church of Ephesus Except thou repent I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy Candlestick out of his place Christ's Church therefore may fail and be extinguish'd But for the more distinct decision of this point we must carefully distinguish of Christ's Catholick and Universal Church and of some particular Church of Christ seated in some particular Kingdom or Nation as the Church of England the Church of Scotland the Church of Denmark and the like Now 1st It is certain in the first place that the Catholick or Universal Church can never fail and be totally extinguished this larger Candlestick shall never be removed We have several promises in Scripture which assure us of the perpetuity of Christ's Church and that it shall continue even unto the end of the World So our Saviour promises his Apostles Mat. 28. ult Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world And again Mat. 16. 18. it is said that Christ has built his Church upon a Rock and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Thus firm and stable is the Catholick Church as St. Chrysostom speakes elegantly it may be assaulted but not defeated it may be distressed but not destroyed it may be wounded but it shall not fall it may be tossed but not wreck'd it may and shall be militant but yet never be overcome But 2ly Tho' the Catholick and Universal Church be thus stable and perpetual yet no particular Church can claim this priviledge The Church of any particular Place or Nation may utterly fail and have its Candlestick removed from it This is threatned in the Text to the Church of Ephesus and has been the sad fate of several other particular Churches For where are those many Famous Churches in Africa which were so glorious and flourishing in the days of St. Austin Where are those seven Golden Candlesticks those seven Famous Churches of Asia
enjoys the bright beams of Heavenly light whilst all the World besides groans under worse than Aegyptian darkness This is the true Gideons fleece which is watred with the dew of Celestial Grace whilst the other parts of the Earth lyes dry and parch'd not unlike some barren and cursed wilderness This in St. Austine's comparison is the true Ark in which alone we can be secure from the deluge of God's wrath Thus great is their happiness who are in the Church of Christ But some difficulty there is to find out the true Church as Tertullian observed of Old faciunt favos vespae faciunt Ecclesias Marcionitae the most dangerous Wasps have their Cells saith he even so the worst of Hereticks are ready to cry out the Temple of the Lord are we That therefore we may not mistake Leah for Rachel or embrace a Cloud instead of a Iuno we must carefully observe that description St. Paul gives us of the true Church he tells us it is founded on the Doctrine of Heaven or if you had rather take it in the words of the Text it is saith he that houshold of God which is built upon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets From the words thus far explained I shall crave leave to prove these four things First That the Doctrine of the Apostle and Prophets is the foundation on which the true Church is built Secondly That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is sufficiently delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures Thirdly That the Church of England is built upon this foundation of the Apostles and Prophets And Fourthly That such as continue in the communion of this Church are as happy as were those Ephesians of whom St. Paul says they were no more strangers and forreigners but fellow-Citizens with the Saints of this houshold of God I begin with the first of these to shew you that the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only foundation upon which the true Church is built The Church of Ephesus if we 'l believe St. Paul was the houshold of God or a true Church of Christ and it seems it was so because built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets we are sure these inspired Ministers of the Holy Iesus preached and planted none but the true Religion and we may be sure it can be no bad Church which owns and professes the same Religion I know there are several marks given of the true Church such as Unity Universality Antiquity Succession Sanctity and the like but tho' these where they are found are Great Ornaments to a Church yet the best and most infallible mark to know it by is its conformity to the Doctrines delivered by the Apostles For the true Church as the Apostle speaks elsewhere is the ground and Pillar of Truth but it will not deserve this honourable Character if its Doctrines be repugnant to the Doctrines delivered by the Apostles It 's said of the best and most Catholick Christians Acts 2. 42. That they continued stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine And therefore such as follow the Primitive example will be far from deserving the brand of Hereticks Does not our Saviour himself tell us that his Sheep will hear his Voice and not the Voice of Strangers And where is this voice of Christ to be heard but sounding in the writings of these Apostles and Prophets This therefore is the sure word of Prophecy whereunto saith St. Peter ye do well if you take heed nor is this any other mark of the Church of God then what is generally own'd by the antient Fathers Tertullian brings in the Church speaking such words as these Sum Apostolorum sic teneo sicut illi testamento caverunt I am Heir saith she to the holy Apostles whatever Truth they left me in their Writings whatever Doctrines they bequeath'd me in their Testament these I firmly believe these I will constantly hold Ireneus calls the Gospel columnam firmamentum Ecclesiae the Ground and Pillar of the Church St. Chrysostome treating at large upon this Question How the true Church may be known returns this answer more than once The true Church is best known by the holy Scriptures saith he that is the Christian Church which agrees with these sacred Oracles and that is the Heretical which is repugnant to them None speaks more largely or more excellently to this point than the great St. Austine who in his admirable Book against the Donatists writes thus The question between us and the Donatists is where we shall find the Church What therefore shall we do shall we seek it in our own words or in the words of our Lord Iesus Christ I think we had rather seek it in his words who is the truth and best knoweth his own Church Let not therefore these Speeches be heard amongst us This I say and this thou sayest but let us hear Thus saith the Lord There are certain Books of God to whose Authority we both stand we both consent we both believe there let us seek the Church there let us try our cause I will not have the Church demonstrated by Man's teaching but by the holy Oracles of God Setting therefore aside all such matters let them shew forth the Church if they can not by the speech and rumours of the Africans not in the Councils of the Bishops not in the Writing of any Disputer not in Visions and Revelations not in Signs and false Miracles because God's word has abundantly prepared us and made us ready against these things But let them declare it out of the Prescript of the Law the predictions of the Prophets the Songs of the Psalms the testimonies of the Apostles the words of the Pastor himself whether they have a Church or no let them declare only by the Canonical Books of the holy Scripture these be the instructions these be the foundations these be the supporters of our cause Thus far St. Austine and because he is so clear and so full to this case I shall not need to trouble you with any further Authorities especially since the Church of Rome doth acknowledge in her Trent Catechism that no Church is Catholick that does not profess that faith which is built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles She must not hold any new faith say they but that which was delivered of old by the holy Apostles And it follows in the same Catechism the Nicene Fathers did well to add the word Apostolick to their Creed saying I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church namely that all might know that is the only true Catholick Church which is Apostolick That therefore must needs be the truest mark of the Church which both Romanists and Protestants own to be so and indeed without this all those other marks which are pretended will signifie nothing Unity without Apostolical Doctrine is so far from being a mark of the Church that it may not only be found in the Societies of the worst of Men
but of the Devils themselves For it is the known saying of our Saviour that Satan's kingdom if it were divided against it self it could not stand Unity indeed is such a blessing as the Church of God will earnestly desire and pray for but yet the Church of Corinth did not cease to be a true Church when it wanted this blessing and was torn in peices by divisions In vain also do some Men make Universality or largeness of extent a mark of the Church for we are told plainly in the Holy Scriptures that Christ's flock is but a little flock and it is at this day so far exceeded in Amplitude both by Mahometans and Pagans that if the whole World were divided into thirty Parts as Breerwood calculates in his Inquiries five only would be found Christians six Mahometans and nineteen Pagans As for Antiquity which some pretend is the mark of the Church tho' we may well allow it to be a great Ornament when attended with truth yet when this is wanting it is but vetustas erronis as St. Cyprian calls it not Age but dotage nothing but error of a longer standing and so harder to be rooted out Some also are fond of a long Series or uninterrupted Succession of Bishops in the Church but as St. Ambrose speaks those who have not St. Peters faith cannot succeed to St. Peters Inheritance and since the Pontificate of Aaron may sometime descend upon a wretched Caiaphas such an antient Pedigree as this may be more honourable in Heraldry than it can be in Religion But of all the marks which some make of the true Church that of Holiness best deserves the name for the Church of Christ should be holy like its Head but when we say the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the true mark of the Church we do not exclude but include Sanctity for since the Doctrine of the Apostles is as St. Paul defines it a Doctrine according unto Godliness where this Doctrine is preach'd in its greatest purity there substantial holiness free from from all Superstition and Hypocrisie is most likely to be found and if such holiness does not at all times flourish alike the fault is not in the Church but in the Professors of it These are reckoned by some the principle marks and Characters of the true Church but since they are so far from being true marks that without Apostolical Doctrine they signifie little I hope you will allow me to conclude according to the Sense of the holy Scriptures and the Ancient Fathers That the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only foundation on which the true Church is built I come now in the next place to shew you That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets upon which the true Church is built is sufficiently delivered to us in the holy Scriptures Whatever Doctrines are contained in these sacred Oracles are own'd by the Church of Rome as well as by us to be the Doctrines of the Apostles and Prophets but they are pleased to charge the holy Scriptures with imperfection pretending that they contain not all things necessary to Salvation but must be aided by their unwritten and uncertain Tradition but sure if there were any such Traditions handed down from the Apostles through the several Ages of the Church to this present Age these Traditions must needs pass thro' the hands of the Ancient Fathers before they could come to ours but the Ancient Fathers knew no such Traditions but every where assert the Perfection and Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures Ireneus calls the holy Scriptures such a Rule of Faith as none must vary from St. Chrysostome says that all things that are necessary are plain and manifest in the holy Scriptures Non credimus quia non legimus we believe no more than we read saith St Ierome I shall only add the Authority of St. Basil who saith it is contrary to Faith and a certain argument of Pride to reject any thing contained in the Scriptures or to impose any thing that is not written there Thus the Fathers knew nothing of any unwritten Traditions that were to cut out the holy Scriptures but they refer us to them as to a perfect Rule And well indeed they might since St. Paul tells us they are able to make us wise unto Salvation and he adds more fully yet if it be possible to do so when he tells us they are able to make the man of God perfect throughly furnished unto every good work Thus great is the perfection of these holy Oracles and thus plain it is that the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets on which the true Church is built is fully and sufficiently delivered to us in the holy Scripture I come in the Third place to shew you that the Church of England is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets King Charles the First as he was not unwilling to dye a Martyr for the Church of England so at his death he left her the richest legacy he could even the most honourable Character that could possibly be bestowed on the best of Churches for this advice he gave to his Royal Sons The best profession of Religion I have ever esteemed that of the Church of England I tell you I have tried it and after much search and many disputes I have concluded it to be the best in the World as coming nearest to the word of God for Doctrine and the Primitive example for Government Whosoever does but look into the Articles of our Church will find how well she deserves this most honourable Character For she professes to believe the Holy Scriptures which as I shewed above contains the whole Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets She believes the same Faith and no other than that which is comprized in the Apostles Creed and explained more largely in those Creeds which are called the Nicene and the Athanasian And as for those Doctrines which are controverted between us and the Church of Rome a little examination will discover which Church is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets And 1. Let us examine that Supremacy which the Church of Rome does challenge for St. Peter If we look into the Holy Scriptures we shall find nothing there that makes St. Peter the chief of the Apostles For if Christ had ever intended St. Peter any such Power over the rest he would doubtless have declared so much when the Apostles were at strife who should be the greatest But so far is our Saviour from declaring St. Peters Supremacy that he chides them for their vain strife and contention yea tells them in plain terms that it should not be among them as in secular Kingdoms and Monarchies where one is chief And if St. Peter had at any time afterwards been made a Prince we cannot imagin St. Paul could have been ignorant of it and yet he tells us 2. Cor. 11. 5. That he was not behind the very chiefest Apostles
Mountains to cover him and the Rocks to hide him FINIS An Advertisement of some Books Printed for Robert Clavel in St. Paul's Church-Yard A Discourse upon the Form and Manner of Making Ordaining and Consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons according to the Order of the Church of England By Tho. Comber D. D. Dean of Durham in 8. The Christians daily sacrifice duly offer'd or a practical Discourse teaching the right performance of Prayer by Lancelot Addison D. D. Dean of Litchfield A Letter in Answer to a Book entituled Christianity not Misterious as also to all those who set up for Reason and Evidence in opposition to Revelation and Misteries by Peter Browne B. D. Sen. Fellow of Trin. Coll. Dublin Dr. Izhams daily Office for the Sick Second Edition reviewed to which is added an Office of Thanksgiving for Recovery The Acts and Negotiations togegether with the particular Articles at large of the General Peace concluded at Reswick by the most Illustrious Confederates with the French King to which is premised the Negotiations and Articles of the Peace concluded at Turin between the same Prince and Duke of Savoy in 8 o Iohannis Clerici ars Critica c. in 8. The genuine use and necessity of the two Sacraments namely Baptism and the Lords Supper with our obligation frequently to receive the latter in small 12 o by Lancelot Addison D. D. Dean of Litchfield Sir William Pettyes Political Arithmatick Reprinting with other Tracts The Church History cleared from the Roman Forgeries and Corruptions found in the Councils and Baronius in 4 parts by Tho. Comber D. D. Dean of Durham 4 o. An Historical Vindication of the right of Tithes from Scripture Reason and the Opinion and Practice of Jews Gentiles and Christians in all Ages with a Discourse of Excommunication by Tho. Comber D. D. Dean of Durham in 4 o. A Sermon preached in the Cathedral Church of Durham on the 2d of December 1697 being the day of Thanksgiving for the Peace By Tho. Comber D. D. Dean of Durham A Sermon preach'd at the opening of the Lecture at Maldon in Essex lately established by the Lord Bishop of London by William Brampston late Fllow of Queen's College in Cambridge Mr. Stalker's Book of the Art of Japanning A Volume of Sermons on the following Texts Io. 13. 13. Matthew 11. 30. Hebrew 12. 28 29. Acts 16. 30. Acts 16. 31. Mark 10. 17. Three Sermons on Luke 18. 8. Matthew 14. 9. Ieremiah 45. 5. By Tho. Peirce D D. late Dean of Sarum Mr. Scrivener's Body of Divinity in fol. The History of the Turks in 2 vol. fol. The History of the Execrable Irish Rebellion in 1641. By Dr. Burlase in fol. A Treatise of Spousals and Matrimonial Contracts by the late Famous and Learned Mr. Henry Swinburne Bishop Pearson's Opera Posthuma Chronologica in 4 o. Bede's Tracts in Latin 4 o. The Dean of Durham's short Discourses on the Common Prayer in 8 o and oâ— the Offices for the 5th of November 30th of Ianuary and 29th of May. Ogleby's Aesop in 2 Vol. with 160 Cuts sold cheap The Frauds of the Romish Priests the Journey to Naples and the History of the Monastical Order by Mr. Demilion The Art of Gauging By Thomas Everard Esq The 3d Edition A Defence of Pluralities c. Martindal's Survey-Book or Land-meeters Vade mecum A Treatise of Preternatural Tumors in 8 o. with Cuts An Enquiry into the Right use and abuses of the Hot Cold and Temperate Baths in England By Sir Iohn Floyer Kt. M. D. The Touchstone of Medicines Discovering the Vertues of Minerals Animals c. by their Tasts and Smells By Sir Iohn Floyer Kt. in 8 o. Sermons preach'd on several occasions by Io. March B. D. late Vicar of Newcastle upon Tine the last of which was preach'd the 27th of November 1692. being the Sunday before he Died with the late Revâ—â—end Dr. Iohn Scot's Preface To which is added a Sermon preach'd by the Author at the Assizes at Newcastle in the Reign of the late K. Iames. Lucius Florus in usum Delphini Leusden 's Compendium Horace in usum Delphini Reprinting Drelincourt of Death Aristophanis Gl Comediae duae Plautus Nubes cum Scholiis Graecis Antiquis quibus adjiciuntur notae quaedam simul cum gemino indice in usum Studiosae Iuventutis A Future World in which Mankind shall survive their Mortal Durations demonstrated by Rational evidence from Natural and Moral Arguments against the Atheists Pretensions by William Smith D. D. Printed for Robert Clavell at the Peacock in St. Paul's Church-Yard FINIS
advantages and priviledges of his Holy Ordinances Indeed our sins call aloud for such heavy Judgments Our Superiours both in Church and State have acknowledged for us that prophane Swearing Perjury Drunkenness and a violation of God's Sabbaths have sadly made this Land to mourn And may we not add a great contempt of God's Word a misusing of his Messengers a slighting of his Ordinances besides those Factions and Schisms which abound among us And may not God justly visit for these things Oh then it is time that we should all smite upon our Breasts and return unto the Lord with humiliation and repentance that our iniquities may not be our ruin but every kind of Repentance will not serve the turn the Greek word in the Text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Lactantius translates mutationes mentis in melius that is a change of the Mind from worse to better not a change of the Looks or hanging down the Head like a Bullrush for all this may be done by a Pharisee or an Hypocrite It is not a change of our Apparel or a putting on of Sackcloath for such humiliation and repentance may be performed by a wicked Ahab but the Repentance of the Text denotes a real change of the Mind or as the Prophet Ioel describes it a turning unto the Lord with all our Hearts Chap. 2. 12. Such a Repentance as this will make us fruitful in every good word and work and pay an universal Obedience to all God's Commandments it will make us reform our Lives honour God's Gospel value his Ordinances and have no hand in the encouraging those Schisms and Divisions which are amongst us This is the Repentance Christ recommends and if it be carefully Practised by us we may prevent the heavy Judgment of the Text and procure the continuance of the Gospel amongst us which God Almighty grant for the sake of Jesus Christ c. The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the Love of God c. SERMON III. 2 Pet. iii. 28. But Grow in Grace IT is a Famous Dispute among Papists and Protestants where St. Peter was when he wrote this and his former Epistle The Papists would have him to be at Rome that they may the better establish their Papal Monarchy and derive the Succession of their Bishops from that great Apostle But St. Peter himself tells us that he was at Babylon 1 Pet. 5. 13. The Church that is at Babylon elected together with you saluteth you Indeed St. Iohn in his Book of the Revelations takes Babylon in a mystical sense for Rome which well became his prophetick and mystical style but there is no reason to believe that St. Peter who in these Epistles writes no Prophesie but only plain Instruction for the dispersed Iews should take Babylon in any other than a Literal Sense namely for that Antient and famous City which was the Metropolis of Chaldea and indeed there are sundry Arguments to induce this belief As First St. Paul who about this time wrote this Epistle to the Romans makes no mention at all of St. Peters being then at Rome notwithstanding he sends Commendation to all that were of Eminency in the Church Secondly It is agreed on by both Papists and Protestants that the Apostleship of the Iews was in a peculiar manner committed to St. Peter as that of the Gentiles was to St. Paul This St. Ierom calls Principale Mandatum the main of their Commission from whence it necessarily follows that St. Peters chief imployment must be where the greatest numbers of Iews were Now it is certain that Babylon in Chaldea was the place where the Iews resided in greatest numbers after their Captivity Thirdly St. Peter directs his Epistles to the Iews scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia which all belonged to the Jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Babylon Fourthly St. Peter writing to these dispersed Iews rehearseth several Nations where they resided as Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia but leaves out Chaldea where they resided in greatest numbers which he would never have done had not Chaldea been the place from whence he wrote these Epistles I shall add but one Argument more from Acts 18. 2. where we are told that Claudius Caesar commanded all the Iews to depart from Rome so that we may conclude St. Peter would not keep his residence there where he wanted his Flock committed to his Charge and therefore it is more rational to believe he resided at Babylon where vast numbers of the Iews resided also I have premised thus much to prove that St. Peter wrote these two Epistles from Babylon in Chaldea because it will follow from hence that the Papists have not one Text of Scripture to found their belief of St. Peters being at Rome tho' on it depends their whole Papal Monarchy For this is the only Text they pretend to and you see how little it makes for their purpose so that they have nothing but human Testimony to build this great Article of their Faith upon and that such as is derived from Papias a weak credulous person as Eusebius stiles him By this time you will in some measure understand the Place from which and the Persons to whom St. Peter writes and being shortly as he tells them to put off his Earthly Tabernacle we need not doubt the excellency of those Instructions he bequeaths to the Iews All which he concludes with the most important words of the Text Grow in Grace For the better understanding of which First We will first consider the Duty it self Grow in Grace Secondly We will enquire what is that degree or stature of Grace a Christian must grow to before he can assure himself of Eternal Salvation Thirdly Whether any farther growth in Grace be attainable in this Life Fourthly What Reasons and Encouragements we have to endeavour after the highest degrees of Grace I begin with the first of these First Namely to consider the Duty it self which is to Grow in Grace A Christians life must be a continual progress in Holiness he must not with Hercules erect his Pillars and write a non ultra upon them saying hitherto will I go and no farther for true Grace is of a growing and multiplying Nature so that the good Christian must not be content with his present attainments but with St. Paul he must always be pressing forward forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before To this purpose is that Character Solomon gives of the just Man Prov. 4 18. The Paths of the Iust is as the Shining Light that shineth more and more unto the perfect Day He is not like Iosuahs Sun that stood still in the Firmament much less like Hezekiahs which went ten degrees backward but he is like Davids Sun which cometh forth as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber and rejoyceth as a Giant to run his Race Now this growth in Grace denotes at least these two blessings First The getting
1 Cor. 15. ult Wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye steadfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. This God of his Infinite Mercy grant unto us all for the sake of Jesus Christ c. SERMON IV. Psal. lxxvi 10. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain THIS Psalm is confessed by all to be a Psalm of Thanksgiving a Song composed to perpetuate the Memory of some wonderful and extraordinary Deliverance But what this Deliverance was is not so well agreed on by Interpreters Some would have it to be a Psalm of David penn'd to commemorate those Victories he obtain'd over the Philistines the Moabites and the Syrians others would have the occasion of it to have been the discomfiture of that formidable Army which was brought up by the Ethiopians in the days of Asa but most understand it of that remarkable defeat which was given by the Angel to Sennacheribs Army in the Reign of Hezekiah Upon this account the LXX inscribe it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latin Canticum ad Assyrâ—â—â— that is an Ode or Song made upon the Assyrians And this Interpretation will receive further Light from those words of vers 5. The stout-hearted are spoiled they have slept their sleep and none of the men of might have found their hands The Assyrian was now an Universal Monarch his Soldiers were reputed the stoutest hearted in the World having made their Valour renowned by their innumerable Conquests but yet notwithstanding all this when they brought a formidable Army against Ierusalem their Numbers and their Strength did signifie nothing for the Angel of the Lord went forth and in one Night slew 185000 men in the Camp of the Assyrians 2 Kings 19. 35. They indeed slept their sleep and the opinion of their own strength and Hezekiahs weakness made them secure but in the midst of their security God smote them in the night-time by his Angel so that the Mighty Men of valour slept indeed but it was the sleep of Death for they never awakned again never found their Hands Hence we read 2 Chron. 32. 21. That the Captains the Leaders and all the Mighty Men of Valour were cut off in the Camp of the King of Assyria Thus the God of Israel who had been blasphemed by the Assyrians vindicated his own Honour by this wonderful overthrow and his Servant Hezekiah who was delivered became Famous and Renowned amongst the Nations Hence we read 2 Chron. 32. 23. That many brought Gifts unto the Lord unto Jerusalem and Presents to Hezekiah King of Judah so that he was magnified in the fight of all Nations from thenceforth Thus the wrath of Man did praise the Lord the remainder of wrath he did restrain Before I can draw from the words such Observations as the Solemnity of the Day will require I must bestow some little explication on them First The wrath of Man the Hebrew word is Chamath and properly signifies Rage Tho' Anger Wrath and Rage be often in Scripture used promiscuously yet sometimes they are distinguished and indeed a real difference may be found between them For Anger is the boyling of the Blood about the Heart a Fever darted into the Veins which causes a violent Commotion in the Spirits Wrath is the manifestation of this inward distemper by Looks or Gesture or Actions tending to Revenge But Rage is the height or extremity of both the former it causes the Heart to study Destruction to mediate and contrive the utmost of Mischief and Villany and the outward Man to watch all opportunities of putting it in Execution and that with the greatest depth of Malice and height of Fury One would think this one word had been sufficient to express that Helish Malice which the Wicked bear against the Church of God But what is Chamath in the beginning of the Verse is Chemoth in the close What was put in the singular number is afterwards put in the plural for so the words should be rendred the wrath of Man shall praise the Lord the remainder of wraths or rages shalt thou restrain The Rage of the Wicked is not small their Fury does not terminate in one Plot but it is exceeding great ever working and multiplying by continuance so that there is not any Design so Barbarous any Conspiracy so Bloody or Devlish which their Rage will not put them upon if one Plot fail they are ready for another and like the troubled Sea they never rest but are still casting up Mire and Dirt Well then might the Psalmist call them Rages in the plural number they are as Gad a Troop or if you please you may call their Name Legion they are so many But Secondly It is called the wrath of Man in the Hebrew the wrath of Adam This Livery can fit the Shoulders of none but a very wicked Man one that is descended from the First Adam and is not yet ingrafted into the Second But yet it is some comfort that he is but a Man whose Heart is filled with all this Rage we may be safe it seems so long as the God of Heaven is on our side He can restrain all this wrath he can make it turn to the benefit of his People and his own Glory The LXX are very ingenious upon the last words of my Text for what we translate the remainder of Wrath shalt thou restrain they render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Rage of Man shall keep Holy-Day unto the Lord and give his People opportunity to Laud and Magnifie his Glorious Name By this you cannot but understand how well the Text and the Day will agree We shall in the Day as well as in the Text find Anger and Wrath and Rage yea Rages in the plural number And tho' our Adversaries call themselves Christians and pretend to be the only Catholicks in the World yet their Anger will be found to be fierce and Cursed their Wrath and Rage Cruel such as the Psalmist here calls the VVrath the Rage of Adam of one that is not yet regenerate or grafted into the New Stock Their Plots have been many their Conspiracies Black and Bloody but thanks be to Heaven we have found our Enemies to be but Men tho' Cruel and Wicked to the height we have had the experience of God's Power and Goodness over-ruling and restraining their Wrath and Fury so that if our Gratitude had kept pace with our Mercies and Deliverances we should have had more days of Thanksgiving in our Calendar than now we have But to help us a little in the performance of these Duties which this Solemn Day calls aloud for I shall observe from the words three Things First That the Rage of the Wicked against God and his People is very great Secondly God by his Providence wonderfully does over-rule the Rage and Malice of Wicked Men. And Thirdly The end that God hath in these
Providences his is Praise and Glory surely the wrath of Man shall praise thee First The Rage of the Wicked against the People of God is very great This is the very Nature and Disposition of Wicked Men as the Psalmist tells us Psal. 37. 12. The Wicked plotteth against the Iust and gnasheth upon him with his Teeth Nay so great is their Malice that the Holy Ghost in Scripture compares them to Fire and VVater to Briars and Thorns to Lions Bulls Dogs Vnicorns VVolves and the like You 'l find this Truth also confirmed by a thousand Examples How did Cain hate his Brother Abel What wrath did boil in Esau against Iacob How cruelly were the Israelites treated by the Egyptians I should be too prodigal of the time should I reckon up all those Examples of Holy Writ which are recorded for this purpose I shall therefore content my self at present with the Example of Sennacherib to which the Text as you hear alludes Now how did this Bloody Emperor swell with Rage how full was his Heart of Wrath The Prophet Esay speaking of this proud Assyrian Chap. 10. 7. tells us that it was in his Heart to destroy and cut off Nations not a few And what the Prophet avers of him in the general is confirmed more particularly of him by Berosus an Antient Historian which has left this Character of him Sennacherib qui apud Assyrios regnabat omnem Asiam Egyptum Bello infestabat Sennacherib saith he King of the Assyrians infested all Asia and Egypt with War But tho' other Nations felt the weight of his Wrath yet none more than the People of God For the Scripture tells us that he waged War three years together with the King of Israel whom he took at last and carried him with the ten Tribes into the Land of Captivity Eight years after this his Rage brake forth against good Hezekiah for we read 2 Kings 18. That he came up and seized into his Hands all the frontier Cities of Iudah Whilst he was at Lacish one of the frontier Cities Hezekiah sent Ambassadors and purchased an Ignominious Peace at a very dear rate for Hezekiah was forc't to give him all the Silver that was found in the House of God and in the Treasures of the Kings House nay all the Gold that was upon the Doors and upon the Pillars of the Temple And yet all this would not satisfie his Wrath but he presently sends Tartan Rabsaris and Rabshakah with a great Host against Ierusalem and with words of Blasphemy against God himself Nay Rabshakah threatens the People that they should be forced to eat their own Dung and drink their own Piss If all this be not sufficient to shew the Anger the Wrath and the Rage of this proud Assyrian I shall add one instance of it more out of the Book of Tobit where we find that after the slaughter which the Angel made in Sennacheribs Army he was forced to return home and dwell at his great City Niniveh his Fury which was stopt at Ierusalem brake forth against the poor Iews the Ten Tribes which were now Captive at Niniveh and therefore Tobit tells us Chap. 1. 18. That when King Sennacherib slew any of the Iews after he was fled from Judea I buried them privily for saith he in his wrath he killed many Here was the remainder of his Wrath here was that which made it Rages in the plural number But even this remainder of Wrath did God restrain for this wicked King was soon after killed by his own Sons in the House of Nisroth his God as I shall shew you afterwards And as we have seen Anger and Wrath in the Text so may we see much more in the Day and find the Rages of the Papists far exceeding all the Rage of these Barbarous Assyrians It is the saying of St. Gregory Dilatat Behemoth Caudam suam in fine Mundi nequius which Latin I cannot English better than in those known words of the Revelations Wo unto the Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea for the Devil is come down with greater wrath because he knoweth that his time is short The Malice of Hell never appeared unto the World with more Rage and Fury than since it has been managed by the Church of Rome Who can recount without horror and detestation the Barbarous Murders of the Albigenses the Massacres of France the Wars of Germany and the most inhuman Cruelties of the Spanish Inquisition Here is presented a large Field to range in and a Field of Blood too but the time would fail me to give a tolerable account of that Wrath and Rage which they have exercised from time to time against this poor Church of England since the Reformation We may justly take up the words of the Psalmist and say Many a time have they fought against us from our Youth up yea many a time have they afflicted us from our Youth from the beginning of the Reformation may our Israel say How many were those Funeral Piles which were kindled by them in the reign of Queen Mary How well did Ignatius deserve his name which signifies Fire when several hundreds of Innocent Protestants were sacrificed to the Moloch of their Rage in the space of less than four years Nay our late Historian of the Reformation tells us that like Wild Beasts they preyed upon the very Carkasses and dead Bodies of God's Saints for they digged up the Bones of Wickliff and exercised the utmost of Malice upon the Ashes of Bucer and Fagius If we pass on to the reign of Queen Elizabeth our English Deborah we shall find Anger and Wrath and Rage enough Indeed for well nigh eleven years they were pretty quiet hoping to gain Queen Elizabeth by their politick flatteries But as soon as these failed they erected three Colledges for English Seminary Priests one at Doway another at Rhemes and another at Rome and indeed these proved the Seminaries of all those Treasons and Rebellions which were acted afterwards And now the Popes Bulls begin to roar the Queen is Excommunicated her Subjects absolved from their Oaths and now see their Wrath and Rage in the Rebellion of the unhappy Earls of Northumberland and VVestmorland in the Treasons of the Stanlies in Darbyshire and of 120 Priests and Jesuits such as Sanders Brislow Parsons Campian and the like You may see more of this Rage in the Plots of Somervile Mayne Ntlson Tompson and the rest of that Crew and of Payne and his fifty Resolutes hired by the Pope to murder the Queen What need I speak of Throgmorton Paget Moody Parry with several others when the Invasion of 88 proclaimed their Wrath and Malice to the full For in their Ships they had great Knives with this Inscription as Bishop Andrews reports Cut English Throats they had also Whips of Cord and Wire which Don Pedro de Valdez one of the Commanders confessed were intended to whip us Hereticks to death and being asked by the Council what they
which inclined the Heart of that Noble Lord to communicate the Letter which otherwise might easily have been slighted as the off-spring of some melancholy Brain Nay was it not our merciful God who at this time put a Divine Sentence into the Lips of the King and suffer'd not his Mouth to transgress in Judgment His Royal Breast at other times used to be free from Jealousie accounting it no less than a Badge of Tyranny But now Providence so ordered it that by an unnatural construction of an Aenigmatical Phrase he discovered that unnatural destruction which was hatching by his Enemies 5ly God does sometimes make the Wrath of Man to praise him by inflicting some extraordinary Judgments upon the Enemies of his People The Lord is known saith the Psalmist by the Iudgment he executeth the Wicked is snared by the work of his own Hands Psal. 9. 16. Thus God also chastised the Wrath of Sennacherib at the siege of Ierusalem by sending his Angel to destroy 185000 of his Army And tho' Sennacherib himself was spared that he might the better know the Power of that God whom he had despised and blasphemed yet because he was not throughly reformed by this first Judgment but his Wrath still remained when he came to his chief City Niniveh where he fell to persecute the Ten Tribes which were captive there God restrained this remainder of his Wrath by another signal Judgment and made him die an ignominious Death by the Hands of his two Sons and that in the House of his own God whom he had blasphemously opposed to the great Iehovah but was not able to protect him from the Hand of his Almighty Vengeance And did not God also Glorifie himself thus by those strange Judgments which he executed on the Powder-Traytors Was it not remarkable what hapned at Holbeach in Worcestershire where some of this days Conspirators being drying Powder to make Resistance one spark of Fire lighting accidentally amongst the Powder wounded them so sadly that they were forced to acknowledge the Justice and Vengeance of God upon them by that Powder wherewith they had intended the Destruction of so many After this Catesby and Piercy two Principal Conspirators were accidentally shot to Death by one Shot of a Musquet and so fell by the Hand of God taking revenge on them by Powder before the Justice of Man was able to seize them Add to this what we read in King Iames's Works how that God did secretly exasperate the Spirits of all Men against these Popish Traytors that in the Countries where they wandred some of them were killed others taken before any Proclamation could overtake them and before the People who seized them knew any thing of this particular Treason Thus God this day did make the Wrath of Man to praise him to praise his Justice his Power in executing such strange Judgments upon these bloody unnatural Traytors But it is time I should shew you in the second place Secondly Who they are God makes to praise him I shall name two sorts of Men. 1st God by such means as these makes his very Enemies to praise him by acknowledging either his Power or his Justice in their Punishments Thus Pharoah and the Egyptians acknowledged God's Power in the Red Sea when they cried out Let us flee from the Face of Israel for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians It is very remarkable what Herodotus reports of Sennacherib the burthen of the Text namely that he had a Statute erected after his Death with this good Advice engraven on it Whosoever looketh upon me let him learn to be Pious and to fear God So Iulian the Apostate acknowledged the Power of Christ crying out at his death Vicisti Galilaee Thou art too strong for me O thou Galilean What Confessions and Acknowledgments has God also extorted from our Romish Adversaries Don Pedro seeing the terrible dissipation of that invincible Armado which was sent in 88. professed that now he perceived that God was turned Lutheran And on this very day Faux who was appointed to be the Black Executioner and Garnet the Priest that was to Consecrate the Plot did confess to the praise of God as well as the rest at their Execution the outragious wickedness and odiousness of their Hellish design But 2ly God does more especially receive Honour and Praise from his own People whom he wonderfully delivers from the Rage of Wicked Bloody Men Thus Israel when they saw the Egyptians dead upon the shore they sang praise unto God proclaiming him fearful in praises and doing wonders Thus Hezekiah sent this Psalm to the chief Musician on Neginoth that solemn Praises and Thanksgivings might be returned unto God for their wonderful deliverance from the Rage of Sennacherib Even so Religious King Iames did erect this day for a Pillar of Gratitude to our good God who did so miraculously preserve our King the Royal Family the Parliament with our Laws Liberties and Religion Let us therefore rejoyce in the Lord and again I say rejoyce let us rouze up our Spirits call up our Hearts and let all that is within us bless his Holy Name Sure if God extort praises from his very Enemies he may more justly inhabit the praises of his own People those that he has so wonderfully preserved Nay consider how he has restrained also the remainder of Wrath How many Plots of these Blood thirsty Papists he has since defeated If it had not been the Lord who was on our side when Men rose up against us they had swallowed us up quick when their Wrath was kindled so hot against us Let us therefore bless the Lord our God who has not given us over as a prey unto their Teeth And to help us a little in the performance of this Duty I shall conclude all with these two following Directions First If you praise God aright for the Mercies of this Day you must be zealous for that Church which God has hitherto so wonderfully preserved You have heard how that because God had so wonderfully preserved Hezekiah from the Fury of Sennacherib they brought Presents unto him and he was magnified in the sight of all Nations from thenceforth How ought we then to magnifie that Church which God has magnified How precious how honourable ought it to be in all our Eyes which God has honoured with so many Miracles We know this Church is the greatest Eye-fore of Rome and to use the words of the Author of the Review of the Council of Trent There has not been more woful Tragedies of the Papal Fury acted upon any Stage than this of England Yet how has God all along restrained their Wrath Well then may we own that Church and be zealous for her whom God has so signally owned and been at the expence of so many Miracles to preserve But Secondly The Life of Thankfulness does chiefly consist in the Lives of those that are Thankful He that ordereth his Conversation aright is said to glorifie God in
Curiosity is another unhappy Cause of Schisms and Divisions Christ has given us a Rule to walk by and the Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to be believed in order to Salvation And so long as men hold fast that form of sound words which was at first delivered to the Church there can be no danger of Schisms and Divisions But curiosity makes men desire to be wise above what is written and consequently disturb the Peace and Tranquility of the Church This St. Paul foresaw when he commanded Timothy to charge some That they give no heed to Fables and endless Genealogies which minister Questions rather than Godly Edifying 1 Tim. 1. 4. and Chap. 6. 3 4. he condemns such as dote about Questions and Dispute about Words whereof cometh Envy Strife Railings and Surmises 4. Self-love is another unhappy Cause of Schisms and Divisions This is the strongest and most violent Passion of the Soul and therefore St. Paul gives it the precedence of all the rest 2 Tim. 3. 2. It is a true saying of Luthers Societies would continue longer than they do if it were not for this little Pronoun Ego I my self For whilst Men prefer their own Interest before the Publick whilst they seek their own things rather than the things of Jesus Christ and his Church they tear his seamless Coat in pieces and make unhappy Divisions among Christians To prevent therefore these Divisions St. Paul gives this Advice amongst others Let nothing be done through strife Look not every man on his own things but also on the things of others Phil. 2. 3 4. Thus I have shewn you what are the Causes of Schisms and Divisions in the Church and so long as these Causes remain we must expect the fatal consequences of them so long as the Devil is allowed to go about as a Roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour so long as he has mens Lusts and Passions to join with him in the Work so long as he can imploy such Instruments as the Ambitious Covetous Curious and Lovers of themselves he will be able to disturb the Peace of God's Church Indeed God has power sufficient to prevent these Divisions he can create a firm and lasting peace among Christians But as St. Cyprian speaks Fieri haec Dominus permittit patitur manente propriae libertatis arbitrio The Lord saith he suffers these Divisions to be in his Church because he leaves men to act according to the liberty of their Wills God does not imploy his irresistible power in keeping men from Schism more than from other sins But having forbidden it with all the solemnity imaginable having discyphered the damnable nature of it and prest Christians by innumerable and those most powerful Motives to keep this Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace he leaves them to act for themselves in this as in other matters appointing a day in which he will judge and punish everlastingly such as dare to disturb the Peace of his Church We need not wonder then if men be Traytors to the Church as well as to the State if they rebel against Christ as well as against their Prince seeing God leaves men at liberty to commit this as well as any other sin Now if any should put the Question why God leaves men thus to their liberty Tho' I might chastise such curiosity with Solomons Answer Eccles. 7. 10. who tells such Curious Persons That they do not enquire wisely concerning this matter yet since St. Paul has furnisht me with a more satisfactory reply in the Text I shall return them this Answer in my third General Namely Thirdly That God's design in suffering these Schisms and Divisions is to discover the rottenness of some and the integrity of others This may easily be gathered from the Text where St. Paul tells us That there must be Heresies that they who are approved may be made manifest It is a Golden Sentence of St. Austin That God who is Infinitely Good would never suffer Evil but that being also Omnipotent he is able to extract Good out of Evil. When God suffers Schisms and Divisions to befall his Church his design is to discover to the World the Rottenness of some and the Integrity of others It may be said of Religion what good old Simeon said of Christ the Author of it It is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel So long as Religion prospers and flourishes in the World Hypocrites and the worst of Atheists will be content to own it But if at any time it falls into Distress or labours under Persecution then they fall off like Leaves in Autumn Indeed as St. Cyprian observes Nemo existimet bonos Ecclesia posse discedere None can imagin saith he that Good Men will abjure the Communion of God's Church as he goes on the Wind drives not away the solid Wheat but the Chaff the Storm may overturn the weaker Shrubs but the sturdy Oak gains strength and firmness by the Tempest To the same purpose is that of St. Iohn 1 Iohn 2. 19. They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us Times of Division are times of Trial and do as the Father speaks in some sort anticipate the day of Iudgment for at such times the Tares will gather themselves into Bundles and leave the purer Corn without any mixture in the Field of the Lord Sound Believers will now be known from Hypocrites and though the Church may not be crouded with such numbers as it was before yet its greatest loss will be only of rotten Members It will now be able to discern its Friends from its Foes And tho' an Acacius an Ecebolius and such like Changlings may serve the Times and themselves more yet all sincere Christians will think it both their Duty and Honour to adhere couragiously to the Church of God which brings me to the fourth General proposed Namely Fourthly To shew you that those are truly Noble and Honourable Persons who continue steadfast in the Communion of God's Church amidst these Schisms and Divisions which arise in it These are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the approved ones in the Text. The Greek word which is here rendred Approved is a Metaphor taken from Gold tried in the Fire We know such a trial makes its solidity and lustre shine the brighter yea it is now valued at an higher rate than it was before Even so Christians when they continue steadfast amidst Schisms and Divisions it renders them much more honourable than they were before There is an advantage saith Plutarch which men receive from their very Enemies had there been no Trojan Wars Hector's Valour had never been so renowned and the greater the violence of a Tempest is the more highly does it commend the skill of the Pilot Even so the integrity of Orthodox Christians
shines the brighter when others are unsettled by the turn of the Times or by the crafty subtilties of Schismaticks and Hereticks And the honourableness of such stedfastness will appear more at large by these few Particulars 1. This Steadfastness is an Argument that men have formerly taken just pains to inform themselves about matters of Religion As Ignorance is a Stain to Human Nature so Knowledge on the contrary must be the Honour and Glory of it This is one of the greatest perfections of the Soul without which as Solomon tells us the Mind cannot be good and as Knowledge in the General is thus honourable so no Knowledge is so Honourable as the Knowledge of Religion Religion is the chiefest concern of Mankind and consequently ignorance of this is the most shameful brand and yet such ignorance as this for the most part are they guilty of who prove unfaithful to the Church of God Hence St. Paul 2 Tim. 3. 6 7. speaking of some who suffered themselves to be perverted by Seducers he calls the silly Women such as are ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth Nay elsewhere he styles them Children in understanding who are tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrin For a man therefore to be steadfast in the Truth must needs be Honourable because it argues him to be a Knowing Man and that in matters of the highest importance 2. Stedfastness in Religion must needs be honourable because it is an Argument of the greatest Wisdom To be accounted wise is a piece of Honour men have always been covetous and ambitious of and there are none think they have a better title to it than such as change their Religion to serve their Temporal Interests Indeed our Saviour tells us That the Children of this World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light It must be acknowledged they are wiser as as to worldly Affairs and by renouncing their Religion they may make better provisions for the remainder of their Life here But alas What is a man profited if he gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul Esau in the judgment of St. Paul was a very prophane Person when he sold his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage and Iudas made but a sorry Bargain when for thirty pieces of Silver he betrayed his Saviour and his Soul together such worldly Policy is not the best sort of Wisdom He is truly the wisest man who prefers his Soul before his Body Heaven before Earth and Eternity before a Moment Now none is such a Wise Man as this but he who adheres stedfastly to the Church of God and values his Religion above Estate Life and all the fading Enjoyments of this transitory World 3. Stedfastness in Religion must needs be Honourable because such shall be honoured by Christ in an especial manner at the day of Judgment God has promised that those that honour him he will honour Now we have no better way to honour God than by owning his Truth and adhering to his Church Religion is the great concern God has in the World for the Honour and Advancement of which all those Miracles were wrought which are recorded in the Bible It is not therefore possible to please God more than by being true and faithful to Religion Hear what Honour our Saviour promises to put upon such at the day of Judgment Whosoever shall confess me before men saith Christ him shall the Son of Man confess before the Angels of God Luke 12. 8. However sincere Christians may be reviled and evil intreated by a wicked World it seems they will be own'd and honour'd by their Dearest Saviour and if there be one Crown of Glory larger than another he will bestow it on such as are faithful to the death I might if the time and your patience would permit add several other Arguments to shew the Honourableness of those Persons who continue stedfast in the Communion of God's Church but these I am confident will suffice at present I shall therefore conclude with a word of Exhortation beseeching you to continue stedfast in the Communion of the Church of England It will not be prudence in me to make any Reflections on other Churches but this I hope may be said without offence that I know not any Church this day upon Earth with which we may more safely Communicate than with the Church of England The Church of Rome is deservedly reckoned one of the Ancientest Churches in Christendom and yet if we may believe Baronius one of the best of their Historians the Church of England is Senior to it more than five years The Government of this Church is known to be Episcopal That Government which was instituted by Christ and was the only Government in the Church for fifteen hundred years after the Times of the Apostles And as this Church is governed by Bishops so we have had a continued Succession of them from the very beginning to this present day as may be learned from Godwins Catalogue of Bishops and Parkers Antiquitates Britannicae The Faith which our Church professes may be found in her Creeds which are the Apostles the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds the only Creeds which were owned by the Primitive Church so that if we may be saved by that Faith which was thought sufficient by the Apostles and the best of Christians we need not seek a new one from any Church in Christendom No Church can pretend to more Loyal Principles or recommend it Self more to the Favour of Princes by the constant Fidelity of its Members than the Church of England This also is that Church which enjoyed Lucius the First Christian King and had the honour to have born in it the First Christian Emperor and Empress namely Constantine the Great and the most Religious Helena These are great and signal Honours such as no other Church is able to boast of and I shall add one greater than them all namely that the Religion of our Church was sealed by the Blood of King Charles I. the first Royal Martyr that ever was in the World This certainly is a Church none of us have the least reason to be ashamed of and as little reason to be afraid to own since we are so well assured of their present Majesties Gracious Protection I shall therefore conclude this Discourse as St. Paul does the 15th Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians VVherefore my Beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the VVork of the Lord for asmuch as you know that your Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. To God the Father c. SERMON VI. Luke xxiii 39 43. And one of the Malefactors which were hanged railed on him saying If thou be Christ save thy self and us But the other answering rebuked him saying Dost thou not fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation And we indeed
We read also Gal. 2. 9 11. that he did not only rebuke St. Peter openly at Antioch but also took of him the right hand of fellowship Now we cannot suppose St. Peters Supremacy but we must convict St. Paul either of gross Ignorance when he said he was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles or of greater rudeness when he took place of his Prince and yet so true it is that he did so that in memory of it the Popes own Seal hath St. Paul and St. Peter engraven upon it and St. Paul is allowed to hold the dexter point 2. If we examin by Scripture that Controversie between the Church of England and the Church of Rome about the Deposing Doctrine we shall find which is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets For how does the Scripture every where abhor and detest that most disloyal and Antichristian Doctrine Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers saith St. Paul and that not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake Observe Let every Soul of what rank quality or degree soever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostome upon these words Tho thou art an Apostle tho an Evangelist tho a Prophet yea what ever thou art thou must be subject to the higher Powers Thus saith St. Paul yea St. Peter also from whom the Pope pretends to derive his Power is so far from challenging any power over Kings and Princes either for himself or Successors that he requires Christians to submit themselves not unto him but unto the King as Supreme Nay he would have them be subject not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward And is not this the Apostolical Doctrine of the Church of England which teaches all her Members to pay active obedience unto all the lawful Commands of Princes and when their commands interfere with the Laws of God not to resist but to obey Passively 3. The Prayers of our Church are made in a Language well known unto the People and such as will tend if they are not wanting to themselves to their Edification And sure I need not tell you that this is agreeable to the Doctrine of the Apostles when St. Paul hath spent a whole Chapter to assure us of it For in 1. Cor. 14. 14. If I pray saith he in an unknown Tongue my Spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful but I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the understanding also Again ver 16. How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayst Again v. 19. In the Church I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I might teach others also than ten thousand words in an unknown Tongue These are plain Texts of Scripture and shew the practice of our Church to be Apostolical 4. The Church of England allows the Laity the Cup as well as the Bread and this is no other Doctrine than what Christ and his Apostles teach For our Saviour delivering the Cup to his Disciples says Drink ye all of it Mat. 26. 27. And S. Paul assures us that in his time the People partook of the Cup as well as of the Bread 1 Cor. 12. 13. We have all been made to drink into one Spirit But I need not produce any more Texts of Scripture for the proof of this since it is acknowledged by the Church of Rome For in the Council of Constance we find these expressions Notwithstanding the Institution of Christ and the Practice of the Apostles we decree and determine that the Laity shall not partake of the Cup. It seems they find some inconvenience in the Institution of Christ and the Practice of his Apostles but our Church thinks it convenient to stick close to both 5. The Church of England condemns Transubstantiation as being contradictory to Sense Reason and Scripture Our Senses tell us it is Bread and not Flesh after Consecration Our Reason will not allow one and the same body to be in millions of places at the same time And as for Scripture S. Paul 1. Cor. 11. 26. c. calls it Bread at least three times after Consecration But tho we have all this to say for our selves yet we are anathamatized by the Church of Rome because we refuse as they say to believe as plain words as any are in the Bible For what can be plainer say they than these words of our Saviour This is my body But in truth if these words were as plain as they tell us we would be content to sacrifice both our Sense and our Reason to our Faith But if these words of our Saviour be taken in a literal Sense as they take them they are so far from being plain that their Learned men are very much divided about the meaning of them For ask them only what is the subject of the Proposition or what is denoted by this demonstrative Pronoun Hoc or This and you will find them mightily at a loss about it for Scotus says it is Hoc ens this entity is my body Aquinas this substance Bellarmine these species of bread the Sarbone this Individuum vagum and the famous Glossary Hoc nihil or this nothing Now if these words of our Saviour were so very plain and easie as they say 'T is very strange their Learned men should differ so much and at last make nothing of them But indeed if we take them in a figurative sense as Protestants use to do they will be plain and easie enough For the demonstrative particle Hoc or This must needs relate to bread for it is said in the Text that as they were eating Iesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take Eat This is my body It seems what our Saviour took blessed brake and gave to his Disciples was bread and of this and nothing else can he speak when he saith This is my body Now this bread is my body is false if we take it in a literal sense for bread is not flesh but it is true in a Figurative sense This bread is i. e. does signifie Christs body And this kind of Dialect or manner of speech is very usual in Scripture Gen. 41. 26. we read these words concerning Pharaohs Dream The seven kine are seven years i. e. they signifie seven years So again Exod. 12. 11. Moses speaking of the Paschal Lamb says it is the Lords Passover i. e. it signifies the Lords passing the Children of the Israelites when he destroyed all the First-born of Egypt Now if according to this known Dialect of Scripture we interpret our Saviours words This is my body the meaning will be plain and natural this bread does signifie or represent my body And this will appear to be the sense of these words if we consider what our Saviour says of the Cup namely This is my blood which must
be taken in this Figurative sense this Cup represents my blood For it follows presently after I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine saith Christ until that day when I drink it new with you in my fathers kingdom The fruit is called sometimes the blood of the Grape but sure without a figure it cannot be called the blood of Christ. Thus you see that our Church is Apostolical also in denying Transubstantiation 6. The Adoration of the Host is accounted by the Church of England a most dangerous crime for since as you have heard there is no Transubstantiation but it remains bread we dare not pay our Adoration to it which we believe a Creature for it is the plain Doctrine of our Saviour Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve 7. The Church of England in condemning the Worship of Images condemns only what the Apostles and Prophets had condemned before for this charge is given in the Second Commandment Thou shalt not make unto thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them Here we are forbid and that in most comprehensive terms the making of any Image whatsoever to Worship it It is not said Thou shalt not make Images of Idols or false Gods but it is said Thou shalt not make any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing To make an Image of the true God is a violation of this Commandment for the Golden Calves are condemned in Scripture notwithstanding the Children of Israel worshiped the true God under those representations Our Church therefore doth not allow her Members to picture God the Father in the likeness of an Old Man or the Holy Ghost in the similitude of a Bird or Dove For God is a Spirit yea an infinitely glorious Spirit and consequently cannot be pictured without an injury but to worship such Pictures or Images is as S. Paul speaks Rom. 1. to change the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like unto corruptible Man and to Birds 8. The Church of England does also justly condemn the Invocation of Saints by mental and vocal Prayers as the Trent Council enjoyns This Doctrine of the Church of Rome by the confession of Learned Papists hath neither Precept nor Example in Scripture to warrant it and consequently it cannot be built upon the foundation of the Text i. e. the foundation of Apostles and Prophets The Temple of old was called the house of Prayer to denote that Religious Prayer is a principal part of the Worship of God and does not our Saviour say expresly Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve To hear mental Prayers belongs only to God who alone trieth the reins and searcheth the heart and therefore to make such Prayers unto Creatures is to make them more than Creatures The Saints must be Omnipresent if they can hear all their Votaries who pray to them in all quarters of the Earth Now Omnipresence is an Attribute which belongs to the Divine Essence Thou art a God that heareth Prayers saith the Psalmist and therefore unto thee shall all flesh come We are told in Scripture that there is but one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Iesus and since he is most willing and able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him we do not use the Intercessions of the Saints for fear we should injure the merits of that All-sufficient Mediatour who ever liveth to make intercession for us By these few Instances which I have given and I might have given you many more it cannot but be evident to all serious unprejudiced persons that the Church of England keeps close to the Rule of the Scripture and like the Church of Ephesus in the Text is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets And because the Testimony of an Adversary has always been thought considerable I shall conclude this head with the Testimony of Pope Paul IV. who as Bishop Andrews Reports made this offer to Q. Elizabeth that if she would but own his Supremacy he would confirm our way of serving God in all things appertaining to his Worship in the very same manner as we now do Sure this Holy Father would never have confirmed the Religion of the Church of England had he not thought it consonant to the Doctrine of the Apostles But since he was pleased to offer his Confirmation we will requite his kindness by valuing our Church the more upon his Approbation Thus I have dispatcht the Three Generals I proposed I have shewn you That the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only Foundation upon which the True Church is built That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is sufficiently delivered to us in the Holy Scripture and that the Church of England like that of Ephesus in the Text is built upon this and no other foundation I shall now in the close leave a word or two of Exhortation with you and beseech you to continue stedfast in the Communion of the Church of England It is the chief design of St. Paul in this Epistle to keep the Ephesians stedfast in the Faith of Christ He desires them Chap. 3. not to faint and bows his knees to the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that he would strengthen them by his Spirit in the inner Man He bids them Chap. 4. have a care they were no more Children tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive As he would not have them scared out of their Religion by fear of Persecution so neither would he have them gull'd of it by the sleights and subtleties of false Teachers It is therefore our duty when we have found the True Church to continue stedfast in the Communion of it We must resemble those best of Christians of whom it is said Acts 2. 42. That they continued stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship But alas how apt are men to barter away Religion for some worldly emolument How many are there who carry their Religion in their Pockets and stick not with Iudas to betray their Master for Thirty pieces of Silver unless perhaps their Covetousness be greater and a larger sum be requisite to patch up their broken Fortunes If Naamans Preferment be inconsistent with his Religion you must allow him a dispensation and permit him to bow in the House of Rimmon and to name no more rather than Pilate will hazard the loss of Caesars favour he will pronounce our Saviour innocent one hour and condemn him the next Thus Christ is made to truckle under the World and Gain will be Godliness in spight of the Bible But those that are sober and serious in the World they will