Thirty first Year of his Age on the 5th of March that sad day whereon that never sufficiently to be lamented Princess our most incomparable QUEEN was interr'd about Three of the Clock in the Morning he with an humble Patience submitted to the stroke of Death cheerfully resigning his departing Soul into the most Holy hands of his gracious Redeemer The loss of so extraordinary a Person in the Flower of his Age and one from whom the learned World had justly conceiv'd such great Expectations of most admirable Performances from his indefatigable Labours for the advantage of it was very much lamented by Learned Men both at home and abroad The Clergy in particular as a Testimony of that value which they had for him did in great Numbers attend at his Funeral Here ought by no means to be past by in silence that singular Honour which was paid to him by the Right Reverend the Bishops Many of which and among the rest the most Reverend Archbishop himself and the Right Reverend Bishop of Litchfield who had both of them visited him in his last Sickness being present at it while another of that venerable Order the Right Reverend the Bishop of Rochester performed the Funeral Office All sorts of Persons were willing to shew their Respect for him in the best manner they were able The Reverend the Dean and Prebendaries of Westminster not only caused the Kings Schollars to attend him to his Grave an uncommon respect and the highest they can shew on such an occasion but did also each for himself remit their Customary Dues for Interment in their Church as the last and most proper Testimony they could then give of the high Esteem in which they held Mr. Wharton and his learned Labours The Quire likewise committing his Body to Rest with Solemn and Devout Anthems compos'd by that most ingenious Artist Mr. Henry Purcel He lyes Buried in the South side of the Cathedral Church of Westminster towards the West end Near whereunto in the Wall is erected a small but decent Monument of White Marble whereon is the following Inscription H. S. E. HENRICUS WHARTON A. M. ECCLESIAE ANGLICANAE PRESBYTER RECTOR ECCLESIAE DE CHARTHAM NECNON VICARIUS ECCLESIAE De MINSTER IN INSULA THANATO IN DIAECESI CANTUARIENSI REVERENDISSIMO AC SANCTISSIMO PRAESULI WILHELMO ARCHIEPISCOPO CANTUARIENSI A SACRIS DOMESTICIS QUI MULTA AD AUGENDAM ET ILLUSTRANDAM REM LITERARIAM MULTA PRO ECCLESIA GHRISTI CONSCRIPSIT PLURA MOLIEBATUR Obiit 30. Non. Mart. A. D. MDCXCIV Aetatis suae XXXI THE CONTENTS SERMON I. On Whit-Sunday JOhn XIV 25 26. These things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your Remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you Pag. 1 SERMON II. Philip. II. 5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus p. 51 SERMON III. and IV. 1 Pet. III. 15. Be ready always to give an answer â—…to every Man that asketh you a reason of the hope that 's in you with Meekness and Fear p. 108 144 SERMOM V. Rom. II. 4. Not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance p. 172 SERMON VI. 1 Corinth I. 23. We preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a Stumbling-block and unto the Greeks Foolishness p. 227 SERMON VII Hebr. IX 27. It is appointed unto Men once to die but after this the Judgment p. 261 SERMON VIII 1 Tim. I. 17. Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen p. 287 SERMON IX Psal. XCV 7 8. To day if ye will hear his Voyce harden not your hearts p. 313 SERMON X. and XI Luk. XIII 5. Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish p. 337 365 SERMON XII Acts X. 34 35. Then Peter opened his mouth and said of a Truth I perceive that God is no respecter of Persons But in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him p. 394 SERMON XIII Coloss. III. 1. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God p. 417 SERMON XIV John XIV 1. Let not your bearts be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me p. 439 The First SERMON ON WHITSUNDAY Prâ—…ach'd at Lambeth Chapel John XIV 25 26. These things havé I spoken unto you being yet present with you But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you THese words being part of the Gospel for this Day â—…o not only contain the Promise of that infinite and wonderful benefit the completion of which we this Day commeâ—…orate But also declare the nature and intention of it and thereby most fitly not only excite us to a grateful remembrance of the Divine beneficence but also teach us to form true apprehensions and a just veneration of so great a Mystery A Mystery which was promis'd by Christ to his Apostles as the greatest of all Benefits Which might alone supply the otherwise irreparable loss of his Presence and intirely dispel their grief arising from the melancholy apprehensions of his approaching departure A Mystery which was reserved for the ultimate consummation of the Christian Religion and Divine dispensation of the Gospel Which being designed by the Father and Founded by the Son was at last brought to perfection by the Mission and Descent of the Holy Ghost No wonder therefore if the promise of so great a benefit was so mightily insisted on by Christ as a sufficient remedy to his Disciples for all afflictions and the last and greatest Legacy which he could bequeath unto them If the performance of it was so earnestly expected by the Apostles and the remembrance of it with an uninterrupted solemnity Celebrated by the Church in all Ages more especially by the Antient Church in which all Christians used to stand continually in time of Divine Service from Easter to Whitsunday thereby testifying the impatient expectation wherewith they attended the Descent of the Holy Ghost as upon this Day The declaration of this promise made in the words of my Text was occasioned by the great anxiety which the Apostles expressed at the news of our Saviours departure and their wonderful ignorance of the true nature and design of the Christian Religion after so long and so excellent instruction from their Divine Master The former is related in the end of the preceding Chapter which therefore Christ endeavours to remove by a vehement exhortation to a steady Faith in the beginning of this Let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me Assuring them that his departure was for no other end than to prepare a place for their reception
tendeth no less effectually to the Honour and Glory of God than a due Command of our Will For God is no less dishonoured by mean and unworthy Apprehensions of him by Idolatry and Superstition by denying his Existence or debasing his Attributes which are the effects of misguided Reason than by an open Violation of his known Precepts which proceeds from the Corruption of the Will And thus it appears that a full Enquiry into the Reasons and Arguments of the Christian Religion and a perfect knowledge of the truth of them not only contributes exceedingly but in Persons having means to attain it is absolutely necessary to beget a true and perfect Faith and secure to us the reward of it III. A distinct and clear knowledge of the Mysteries of our Faith and Rules of our Religion will afford to us many and great Motives to the practice of our Duty and direct us in the performance of it It is the peculiar Prerogative of the Christian Religion that the more we search into the Reasons and Constitution of it the more fully the Divinity of it will appear Every new Discovery will give us fresh occasions to admire the Wisdom Goodness and Justice of God eminently conspiring in the Revelation of it This will excite in us if we be not insensible a profound Veneration of the Divine Majesty an ardent Love of his Excellencies and the most intense degree of Gratitude It will manifest to us the Misery of Man and his lost Condition without the Sacrifice of the Cross which might expiate for his Sins and mediate his Pardon and hereby will increase our Sense of the Divine Mercy will enhance the value of that inestimable Sacrifice teach us to adore love and devote our selves to our Saviour to resign up our belief to his Revelations as to our Prophet to depend wholly upon the Expiation of our sins once made and Intercession for us always continued by him as of our High Priest to yield an intire Obedience to his Commands and Precepts as to our King Can we view the Love and Mercy of God manifested in our Redemption the wonderful Contrivances of Providence both to secure the Divine Justice and Honour and yet give Pardon to sinful Man and not be wound up into an Extasie of Love and Admiration Can we consider the most wise Methods whereby God brought this wonderful design to perfection and trace the footsteps of it through all Ages can we think upon the Majesty of him who condescended to suffer for us and the unworthiness of Man to receive so great a Favour without filling our Understandings with awful and reverent Conceptions of him our Wills with a passionate desire of Union with him and enlarging all the Faculties of our Souls to approach his Presence and receive his influence Or can we hope to raise our Souls to a worthy Sense of the Divine Favours and Benefits and carry up our Affections to a gratitude not inferiour to the Greatness of them without a perfect knowledge of their Design and Excellency Surely the Admonitions of the Prophets Apostles and even our Blessed Saviour were not in vain which so earnestly press us to the study of Divine Truths command us to search the Scriptures assure us That they were written for our instruction and which is to be observed commend those who were conversant in them above all other Persons Yet how small a part of the Holy Scripture are those things which are absolutely necessary to be believed The infinitely greater part of it serveth only to declare the extraordinary Acts of his Providence to the Church and Testimonies of his Love to Mankind to celebrate his Mercy and Goodness and induce us by manifold Arguments to our Duty Yet these also hath the Divine Wisdom thought necessary to the knowledge and instruction of Men and surely not without Reason For what can be more worthy of Man more perfective of his Nature or conducing to enstate him in the greatest Happiness than to comprehend the Riches of the Divine Goodness to entertain noble Conceptions of his Creator and by a constant Meditation and exalted Knowledge raise his Affections to a vehement Love of him By this we anticipate the Joys of Heaven and begin to possess them even before we are received into them For both Reason and Revelation assureth us that the Fruition of Celestial Happiness consists in a constant and unwearied Contemplation and Love of the Divine Perfections The study of these sacred Matters was esteemed the best indication of a pious Mind and the most certain method of attaining the utmost degree of Happiness upon Earth even under the Old Law when God had not yet made a full Manifestation of himself and the Reasons of the Divine Oeconomy were obscure and hid under a veil of Ceremonies and Ritual Observations For proof of this to go no farther than the CXIX Psalm wherein such inimitable strains of Piety Devotion and an ardent Love of God appear The Holy Psalmist every where ascribes his Proficiency in Vertue and the inward satisfaction and Happiness of his mind to the assiduous study of the Divine Laws I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart when I shall have learned the judgments of thy righteousness Open thou mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy law For I remembred thine everlasting judgments O Lord and received comfort Lord what love have I unto thy law all the day long is my study in it O how sweet are thy words unto my throâ—… yea sweeter than honey unto my mouth Thy word is a lantern unto my feet and a light unto my paths For thy testimonies are my delight and my Counsellours See all the Marks of a Soul big with Devotion and filled with transports of Joy from the Consideration of the Divine Goodness and Excellency manifested under the Mosaick Law But alas how inconsiderable is this if compared to that greater Light which Christianity hath brought into the world What satisfaction and advantage may not we now hope for from the study and Contemplation of the more perfect Law of Christ that hath revealed to us the Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and represents to us the Divine Goodness not under a veil and shadow but in its full Dimensions The antient Christians were truly sensible of this who placed their Happiness on this side Heaven in this Holy study chose rather to part with their Lives than Bibles and branded those who delivered them up to their Persecutors although in exchange for their dearest Blood with the name of Traditores or Traitors And in the last Age our Forefathers gave eminent Instances of the same perswasion and resolution when great numbers of them ventured their Lives to enjoy the advantage of reading the Scriptures in their Mother tongue and rather than forego that Benefit chose to forfeit their Lives to the Persecution of a Church whose interest it was that those Divine Truths should not be known It is our
is in his own Power to render himself truly happy notwithstanding all the opposition of Men or Devils and amidst all the Disasters of Fortune the Injuries of Men and Calamities of this Life to press forward toward the Mark of his high calling and attain the Reward of his Labours But the chief design of our Lord in these words was to warn his Disciples to avoid that common Errour to which Mankind is so prone of concluding from private Mis-fortunes or publick â—…alamities that God hath forsaken them and withdrawn his Protection and delivered them up to the Will of their Enemies to Despair and Misery Men are so much inured to pass Judgments from the report of their Senses that they are apt falsly to perswade themselves that God hath disowned them and withdrawn the influences of his Favour as often as he interposeth not his Power in a visible manner to rescue them from Injuries and Oppressions from Miseries and Mis-fortunes Thus the Apostles receiving the News of their Lord's intentions to leave the Earth and return to Heaven could hardly be induced to believe that when he had removed his Bodily Preâ—…ence from them he would continuâ—… his Care of them or Favour to them They abandoned themselves to Grief and Despair gave up themselves for lost and began to question the sincerity of his Love and reality of his Promises It was indeed so great an Affliction to the Apostles to be deprived of the Blessed Presence of their beloved Master that no Christian since those days can pretend to have endured such a Loss but in a Christian assured of the Promises of another Life knowing the Nature of true Happiness and the method directed by Christ to attain it it is inexcusable to form an Opinion of the dis-favour of God from temporal Afflictions According to the ordinary Course of the World it cannot but happen that Misfortunes will attend the best of Men and whole Societies be involved in general Calamities But then none will presume to say that it is convenient that the fixed and constant Course of the World should be violated to satisfie these particular Cases The Preservation of the publick Order of the World and general Laws of Providence is a matter of greater Concern than the relief of particular Irregularities It is sufficient to manifest both the Justice and the Wisdom of God that he hath settled such Laws of Government in the World that all Men may if they please make themselves truly Happy none become truely miserable but through their own default We believe indeed that God doth often even in this World interpose in an extraordinary manner in behalf of his Church or faithful Servants but the Motives and Causes of the Divine Conduct herein may be so various and different that no certain Argument of favour or dis-favour can be drawn from them He may bring Mis-fortunes upon pious Men to Correct them to restrain their Passions or afford them opportunity of improving particular Vertues and Duties He may conferr temporal Felilicity on wicked Men to oblige them by Benefits to Repentance or to serve and promote some wonderful Ends in the Government of the World or the Church which they little think of and contribute to it without their knowledge He may punish the good in this Life for their sins of Omission Passion or Inadvertency that so he may Reward them in the next for their more constant and regular Course of Piety He may reward bad Men in this Life for those few good Actions which they do that so he may leave them without excuse when he shall punish them in another World for their habitual Wickedness and Disobedience He may continue their present Condition whether of Riches or Poverty to either because he who knoweth the Constitutions and Hearts of all Men foresees that the one would not be able to continue his Innocenâ—…e and the other grow much worse in a different state of Life He may punish with general Calamities the Sins and Corruptions of publick Societies which cannot be punished as such in another Life and then it is not reasonable that any good Men who share in the Society should require to be exempted by so many private Miracles from the universal Calamity The Church of Christ hath received indeed many and greatPromises of particular Favour and Assistance But then it is not necessary that this Divine Favour should exert it self in bestowing of temporal Prosperity Affliction and Persecution may be sometimes farr more convenient to the Church to restore her decayed Diâ—…cipline to revive her languishing Zeal to awaken the negligent to separate the false to reform all the Members of it The Church hath indeed experienced in all Ages manifest interpositions of Divine Providence in favour of her She hath been often freed in an extraordinary manner from the Rage of her Persecutors the designs of Apostates and infection of Hereticks Kings have been her nursing Fathers and Queens her nursing Mothers She hath surmounted the opposition of all her Enemies and through an uninterrupted Course of many Ages enjoyed both the Blessings of the Earth and the Hopes of Heaven The Apostles reduced at the Crucifixion and Departure of our Lord to that miserable Condition which we before represented were comforted and re-animated by the Mission of the Holy Ghost at the approaching Feast of Pentecost Heaven then declared for them by conferring extraordinary Gifts of knowledge on them and afterward by confirming their Preaching with no less wonderful Miracles which removed their Anxiety convinced them that the Love of their Master now in Heaven was both continued and increased to them and enabled them to subdue the victorious Roman Empire to the Laws and the Name of Christ. And least we should imagine the Arm of God to be shortned to us we of this Church and Nation have been more than once even in this Age delivered in an extraordinary manner from Danger of Popery on the one hand and Fanaticism on the other But from hence we are not to raise confident assurances that God will always continue the same Prosperity to his Church He hath promised indeed that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it that the Faith shall never be wholly destroyed nor a Succession of Pastors wanting to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments but has no where engaged that she shall always enjoy the Protection of the Civil Power and the Blessings of outward Peace External Grandeur and Happiness is not necessary to the being of a Church which may be found in the Wilderness as well as in the Land of Rest in an upper Chamber as well as in a stately Temple After all we must acknowledge our selves not to be merely Passive in receiving the influences of the Divine Care and Providence Our Lord bids us not be troubled nor torment our selves with over-much Anxiety in Confidence of his Protection and assurance of his designed Rewards but then at the same time he requires as a
St. Martins and now most Reverend Archbishop of Canterbury Who having in his hand a Manuscript concerning the incurable Scepticism of the Roman Church written in Latin and after a Scholastical manner by Mr. John Placet of Hamburgh desired Mr. Wharton to Epitomize it in a plain way of Argumentation and to translate it into English which was in a very short time perform'd by him Not long after this he was by the same Eminent Person recommended to the Lord Arundel of Trerice as a fit Tutor for the Education of his only Son In which Trust he acquitted himself to the great satisfaction of that Noble Lord who gave him a very honourable Allowance while with him and ever after retain'd a particular Esteem for him as long as he lived though he was pleas'd at the request of the most Reverend Archbishop Sancroft to part with him to be his Chaplain Next came forth a Treatise called Speculum Ecclesiasticum writ by a Papist Soldier which Mr. Wharton considered and refuted the false Reasonings and Quotations of it with that quickness that in the space of one day only he both begun and finished that Discourse Adding thereto by way of Preface two further Answers the First to the Defender of the Speculum for having got a view of the Defence while it was in the Press his Answer to it came out as soon or sooner than the Book it self and the Second to the half sheet against the Six Conferences Times now grew warm and the Papists began to be very confident of their Cause insomuch that there was a fear and accordingly Care taken about some Choice Manuscripts lest they should unhappily fall into the Enemies hand Hereupon in November 1687. Mr. Wharton was requested by several eminent Divines in London to go down to Cambridge and transcribe such Manuscripts as were of better Note Which so far as the time permitted he perform'd by the assistance of the Worthy Mr. Cory and Mr. Sagg two of the then Fellows of Corpus Christi College and of the Learned Mr. John Laughton the University Library-Keeper At his return from thence he Printed one of them Intituled The Rule of Faith writ before the Reformation about the Year 1450. by Reginald Peacock Bishop of Chichester to which he joyned a large and learned Preface proving the Holy-Scriptures to be the adequate Rule of Faith After these came out his own Treatise Of the Celibacy of the Clergy wherein he shewed such sharpness of Wit clearness of Reasoning and vastness of Reading as mightily rais'd his Esteem among all The Learned especially had extraordinary thoughts of him that a Person so young having hardly yet exceeded Twenty three years of Age should be able to compose such exquisite Works and to write such excellent Discourses as he had done This and his other ingenious and learned Performances extorted Commendations of him even from the Romanists themselves who took no small Pains to bring him over to their side To this end Mr. Matthews the Priest who privately said Mass in Windsor Castle had a Conference with him and was or at least might have been convincâ—…d by his Discourse that he was not likely to make him a Proselyte Others in like manner tried their Skill and the most excellent of the Popish Pieces were sent him out of France in hopes to prevail upon him but he remain'd immoveable For to use his own Expression Quo magis says he Pontificiorum Scripta pervolvi eo leviora ac futiliora illorum argumenta mihi semper visa sunt the more I have read their Writings the more weak and vain the lighter and more trifling did their Arguments always appear to me What their weaker Arguments fail'd in his own more solid perform'd reducing one of excellent Parts to our Communion which he had in his younger Years been unhappily prevail'd upon to desert who in Testimony of the reality of his Conversion receiv'd from his hands the Blessed Sacrament at St. Martin's Church leaving a Schedule of his Abjuration of Popery in the hands of the Reverend Doctor Tenison then Vicar there with whom it may possibly still remain But to return to his Works In the foremention'd year he translated out of French into English Monsieur Dellon's History of the Inquisition of Goa giving an account of the horrid Cruelties exercised therein About the same time also it was that he turn'd some Homilies of St. Macarius the Prologue and the Epilogue of Eunomius his Apologetick Treatise formerly transcrib'd by him out of a Manuscript of the Reverend Doctor Tenison with a Treatise of Pseudo-Dorotheus found by the Learned Mr. Dodwell in the Bodleian Library out of Greek into Latin and the famous Bull in Caena Domini out of Latin into English annexing a short Preface containing some Reflections upon the Bull and Annimadversions on the late account of the Proceedings of the Parliament of Paris He offered his assistance likewise to a new Edition of Dr. James's Corruption of the Scriptures Councils and Fathers by the Prelates of the Church of Rome for the maintenance of Popery which being a bad Cause was not to be supported by fair and honest Methods And at the request of Mr. Watts He reviewed the Version of Philalethe and Philirerre fitting it for the Press Immediately after these he publish'd his Enthusiasme of the Church of Rome wherein from the Examples of some of her most Illustrious Saints and more especially of those Three from whom Three of the chiefest Orders among them have their Denomination of Jesuits Dominicans and Franciscans he does most evidently make it appear that their great Founders whom they so much admir'd while living and now highly reverence when dead were in truth no other than wild and extravagant Fanaticks Upon the 12th of April 1688. the then most Reverend Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Sancroft sent for him to Lambeth and put into his hand Archbishop Ushers Dogmatical History of the Holy Scriptures in Manuscript with a Command to transcribe it and publish it which he in a few Months perform'd bestowing great Pains thereon in supplying what was imperfect digesting into Order what was confused and amending what was less accurate the iniquity of those timès not having permitted the Learned Author to put his last hand to it And then added thereto a large Supplement wherein he produces innumerable Testimonies for the same Argument from the first Ages of the Church successively and in Order to the Year 1520. In May following by the Advice of Dr. Tenison he put out Bishop Ridley's Treatise concerning the Eucharist togethèr with some choice Excerpta out of Bishop Poinets Diallacticum In June the same Year though as yet no more than Deacon he was honoured by the Archbishop with a Licence of Preaching through the whole Province of Canterbury a Favour vouchsafed to none but himself during the Continuance of that most Reverend Prelate in that See who was pleas'd to have him begin his Preaching on Whitsunday June the 3d which
thereby clear his Memory from the unjust Aspersions of some who have been pleas'd to represent him as one who had not a sincere Affection for it In one place he has these words If to defend the Fatherless Orphans and Widows be so acceptable to God how noblc an Act must it be accounted to vindicate a whole Nation from Injuâ—…tice and Oppression to defend and maintain the Cause of the Church of God In aâ—…ther place these It is undeniable that the Profession of the true Religion is maintain'd in this Nation under the happy Government of Their Majesties as well as it was of old among the Jews in the Reign of Hezekiah In another place he speaks thus which are most remarkable But that other part of the Promise for my Servant David 's sake never had any People greater reason to apply to themselves than we of this Nation at this time have God hath Blessed us with Princes of eminent Vertue and Piety who not content to employ their Authority in the support and defence of Religion endeavour to retrieve the Power of it in the Lives of their Subjects by the Lustre of their own Example who have delivered this National Church from the Oppression of her professed Enemies and the apparent Dauger of sudden Ruin and have thereby become to us what Constantine was to the whole Catholick Church in the early Ages of Christianity and what Queen Elizabeth of Blessed Memory was to this particular Church in the last Age. God hath Blessed us with a King who to complete the Deliverance which he wrought for us and to settle us in Peace and Tranquility hath spared no Pains and continually hazarded his own Royal Person and is at this day acting with unwearied Vigour and Courage against the Common Enemy of our Nation and the Oppressor of the Christian World for the Vindication of Justice the relief of afflicted Innocence the Security of this Church and Nation But among his Manuscripts there is one especially which ought by no means to be past by in silence as giving such an instance of his wonderful diligence as cannot easily be parallell'd which is his Account of the Manuscripts in Lambeth Library Wherein besides giving a most exact Catalogue of them he has under every Book transcrib'd all those Treatises contain'd in them which are not yet published And what are he has compar'd with that exactness as to take notice of the words that are otherwise spell'd in the Original than in the Print That Catalogue purchased by the present Archbishop together with many other of his Manuscripts may when occasion shall serve see the Light Among the Printed Books towards a new and more Correct Edition of which whenever it shall be thought convenient he hath considerably contributed are these following Histoâ—…ia Matth. Parker Archiepiscopi Cantuar. De Antiquitate Britannicae Ecclesiae c. enlarg'd with Notes Collections and Additions partly made by the most Reverend Author himself and partly by others and several by Mr. Wharton himself together with the Life of the said Archbishop as also that of St. Austin of Cant. written by George Acworth Franciscus Godwinus de Praesulibus Angliae with some Notes Florentius Wigorniensis and Matthaeus Westmonasteriensis both enlarged with many Notes Corrections and Additions He had likewise made Notes on several of his own Books already published by him which 't is like were design'd for Additions to those Books when ever they should receive a New Impression For these his Performances for the Cause of Religion and Learning as he was admirably fitted by the Excellency of his Natural Endowments a quick Apprehension solid Judgment and most Faithful Memory so were these rais'd to a great Perfection by his Industry An Industry never sufficiently to be commended though in this alas to be lamented that it too much hastened his Death and our Loss Nor were his Moral Accomplishments inferior to his Natural and acquired Perfections He was Modest Sober and Pious in all things sbewing himself to be acted by a truly Christian and Religious Spirit Of which those two Instances to name no more may not unfitly be given The one That he never undertook any Matter of moment without first imploring the Divine Assistance and Blessing thereupon The other That in all those Journeys which his Learned Designs engag'd him in he was ever wont so to order his Affairs as not once to omit being present at the Monthly Sacrament where ever he came And then of his Zeal for Religion and the Honour of God those excellent Discourses which he has published in defence of the best and purest part of the Christian Church now extant upon the face of the Earth in Opposition to the Corruptions of Popery those Scandals to Christian Religion so highly dishonourable to God and so injurious to the Blessed Author of it and an offence to all that truly love and fear him will always be a constant and standing Evidence It has not been thought convenient to add any instances of his Charity though many might be given because agreeable to his own Desire which always was to be as private therein as possibly he could This one only may its presum'd not improperly be mention'd viz. That by his Will whereof he appointed his Father the Reverend Mr. Edmund Wharton the Reverend and Learned Dr. Thorp one of the worthy Prebendaries of Canterbury and his dear Friend Mr. Charles Battely the Executors he has order'd the greatest part of that Small Estate which he left to be dispos'd of to a religious use in the Parish of Worstead in Norfolk where he was born As to his Person He was of a middle Stature of a brown Complexion and of a grave and comely Countenance His Constitution was vigorous and healthful In Confidence of the Strengh of which he was too little regardful of himself and too intent upon his Studies Insomuch that he did often deny himself the Refreshments of Nature because of them And sometimes in the coldest weather would sit so long at them and without a Fire as to have his hands and feet so Chill'd as not to be able to feel the use of them in a considerable time His too eager Prosecution of thâ—…se together with a weakness contracted in his Stomach by the too violent Operation of an unhappy Medicine which he had taken so farr broke the Excellency of his Constitution that no Art nor Skill of the most experienced Physicians could repair it The Summer before he died he went to the Bath in hopes to have retriev'd his decaying Nature by the help of those excellent Medicinal Waters Some benefit he found by them but at his return from thence to Canterbury falling again to his Studies immoderately and beyond what his Strength could bear he quite undid all that they had done So that after a long and lingring decay of Nature he was brought at length to the utmost extremity of weakness under which languishing for some time at last in the
of Mankind adapted it to our Imitation and performed no Actions if we except those which plainly referred either to his Prophetick Sacerdotal or Kingly Office which might not equally be performed by all orders and conditions of Men. So admirable was his Conduct so wisely accommodated to effectuate its design that is to serve for an universal Example to all his Followers A design in which the Goodness and Wisdom of God are equally visible as might be shewed by many Considerations I shall instance but in two First To propose the Example of our Saviour as an Object of imitation to all Christians was an excellent means to allure them to the practice of their Duty and a sure method to direct them in it It hath been an old Observation confirmed by the Experience of all Ages that Men are led more powerfully by Example than precept Men are ordinarily induced to imitate the Actions of those Persons for whom they retain a mighty awe and reverence they imagine somewhat extraordinary to be in them all and believe the only method to attain the same Greatness is to practise the same Actions If this natural inclination of Mankind be directed in the right Channel nothing tends more effectually to promote the great Ends of Piety and Holiness among men On the contrary the bad Example of great and powerful Persons hath debauched whole Nations and withdrawn them from their Duty Thus we find in the History of the Old Testament that Religion constantly flourished or decayed among the Jews according to the disposition and example of their Princes Bad Princes drew the whole Nation into Apostacy with them and Good ones restored the Worship of the true God in the hearts of all their Subjects Ahab's Example introduced among the ten Tribes so universal an Idolatry that he left but Seven thousand men in Israel who bowed not their knees to Baal And the Piety of King Josiah wrought such a general Reformation in his People That from the time of the Judges which judged Israel there was not such a Passover holden to the Lord. To improve this Inclination therefore of Mankind to their own advantage and his Glory God hath given to us the Example of his only Son which carrieth greater Inducements along with it than that of any earthly Princes For if Majesty and the Greatness of Power be the chief motive of Imitation our Exemplar is no less than God incarnate and what Honour as well as Perfection must it needs be for Mankind to imitate the Vertues and Excellencies of their Creator If kindness and the Sense of extraordinary Benefits can incite us to Imitation our Saviour hath engaged us by wonders of Mercy and the most amazing Acts of endearing Love And in what better manner can we express our gratitude to our Redeemer than by a perfect Conformity to his Life and Actions If the hopes of obtaining the same Happiness can move us our Saviour hath proposed a reward of the same Nature a Mansion in the same place of Glory with himself to all who labour to attain it by the exercise of the same Vertues All these Considerations cannot fail to make the Example of Christ infinitely more efficacious than that of any mortal Creature But this is not all it is found by the same Experience and upon the same Reasons that Mankind is taught more effectually by Example than by Precept The greatest part of Men have but dark Notions of the Nature of good and evil They cannot easily discern what Actions are in themselves perfective of humane Nature and pleasing to God nor distinctly perceive the deformity of Sin Revelation indeed might justly be supposed to supply this Defect and enlighten their Understanding but neither will this give them distinct Notions of their Duty unless they see the Precepts of it applied by some illustrious Example Precepts may be obscure difficult and ambiguous but the constant Practice of them in some eminent and reverend Person gives a full and perfect Intepretation of them And which is most considerable Precepts only affect the Understanding Examples strike the Sense and thereby in most Men make far deeper Impression than the former although enforced with a thousand Reasons Hence the most numerous part of Mankind have ever drawn the measure of their Duty from the Example of some illustrious Persons who are commonly reputed and allowed to have lived up to the Dignity and the Duty of their Nature and Religion and esteemed all their Actions good or bad not as they agreed to the natural Law of reason or revealed Law of God but as they were conformable to those Patterns whose Imitation they had proposed to themselves In vain therefore did the Heathen Philosophers make glorious Descriptions of the Excellency of moral Vertues in vain did they recommend the practice of them to the World by their Writings and Discourses while they continued to represent their Gods as guilty of the most enormous Vices and Slaves to their Lusts and Passions Men chose rather to follow the vitious Examples of their supposed Gods whom they imagined to be the Fountains of all Perfection patronized their Crimes by their Examples and hoped for impunity from their Presidents How wisely therefore hath God given to us Christians the most perfect and infallible Example of our Saviour Christ which might secure our obedience to him and by proposing to us the utmost Pattern of Perfection allure us to the Practice of it By this the meanest Christians are sensibly taught their Duty and directed in it by this thâ—… wisest are enabled to understand and interpret the Divine Precepts in their right sense and meaning And not only doth this tend to direct private Christians in the Conduct of their Lives but also to preserve Purity of Religion in the Church and diffuse the true Spirit of Christianity into all the Members of it A studious Care of imitating the Actions and Graces of the Blessed Jesus would above all other Remedies have obstructed the entrance of Superstitions and corrupt Opinions which than began to creep into the Church when men receded from this best and primitive Pattern and out of a fond Veneration for reputed Saints took more Care to imitate their Example than that of their Lord and Master This debased the Doctrines and corrupted the Devotions of Christians betraying them into gross Superstitions especially in the latter Ages of the Church when many persons obtained the repute of Saints who were remarkable for nothing else than exorbitant Austerities antick Devotions and irrational Practices when the Gospels which contained the Relation of our Saviours Actions were locked up in an unknown Tongue and nothing communicated to the People in the vulgar Language but Legendary Stories of reputed Saints To these abuses our Divine Lawgiver had assigned an easie and natural Remedy in proposing the example of himself In the Authors and followers of these Corruptions it was the Crime of some to quit this Example and the unhappiness of others
we consider with how great Zeal and Vehemency both the Magistrates and Philosophers of those times opposed it and undertook the Extirpation of it They applied themselves to this design with the utmost Diligence and Fervour and left no stone unturned whereby they might either discover any Imposture in it or stop the Progress of it But the Evidence of its truth assisted with the Divine Providence bore down all opposition The blood of the Martyrs became the seed of the Church and its learned Adversaries were forced to Confess its Doctrines to be Divine and the Founder of it an extraordinary Person Lastly that the Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists were the same which we now possess under their Names and were conveyed uncorrupted through all Ages appears not only from the constant Tradition of Christians and their great care to preserve those sacred Monuments intire and uncorrupted in which their eternal welfare was so nearly concerned But also from the several Translations made of them immediately after the times of the Apostles some of which are now extant from written Copies preserved even to this day written not long after the Apostolick times and from the Citations of antient Writers in all Ages Thus I have briefly proposed to you the Proofs upon which the Christian Religion depends to which I might have added many more as the exact Completion of all our Saviours Prophesies more particularly in that remarkable Destruction of Jerusalem within the time prefixed by him the Constancy Resolution and Number of Christian Martyrs in those ancient times when they had certain means of infallibly knowing the truth of these Matters the Conquest which under so many disadvantages it made over the feircest opposition of the Roman Empire and Heathen Philosophy and those many extraordinary Interpositions of Divine Providence in favour of it which have signally appeared in all Ages of the Church but these shall at present suffice The Fourth SERMON PREACH'D November 1688. At LAMBETH CHAPEL 1 Pet. III. 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear IN Discoursing on these Words I did propose to insist on these two Heads I. That the Christian Religion is agreeable to the Principles of Reason and carrieth sufficient Evidence along with it II. That it is the Duty of every Christian not wanting the means of sufficient Instruction to enable himself to give a Reason of his Faith The former of these I dispatched in the foregoing Sermon I now proceed to the Second Head of Discourse Namely II. That it is the Duty of every Christian not wanting the means of sufficient Instruction to enable himself to give a Reason of his Faith That this not the constant resolution of professing the Faith at all times without Fear or Cowardice was the Primary intent of the Apostolick Precept in my Text appeareth in that the Apostle willeth us to do this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our Translators have not so exactly rendred by way of Apology or in Confutation of the Calumnies and Objections brought against our Religion by the Adversaries of it I will not say that such a perfect and compleat knowledge is absolutely the Duty of every private Christian so that he cannot be saved without it God requireth of no Man any thing beyond his natural strength or capacity or which he had no Opportunities nor means to attain unto We know how great a part of the Christian Church over-run with Tyranny and Oppression hath insensibly fallen into a deplorable Ignorance These we cannot in Reason condemn as wanting all means of better Instruction but rather applaud their Constancy and pray for their Delivery We know also how great a Society of Christians labours under miserable Ignorance and the consequence of its gross Erroâ—…s by the artifice and contrivance of their Guides who deny to them the use of the Seriptures and teach them to content themselves with an implieit Faith These also we will not in Charity condemn To their own Master they either stand or fall Lastly we are not insensible how many Members of our own Communion either through want of leisute or natural imbecillity of understanding through default of Education or other accidental defects un-foreseen and unprovided for are but meanly instructed in the Mysteries of the Christian Faith But to us who want neither means of Instruction nor Capacity of receiving them no excuse is left if we do not improve them to a full Comprehension of the Mysteries of our Faith whereby we may both obtain a rational Conviction of the truth of it in our selves and be enabled to vindicate the honour of our Lord and Saviour from the Contradiction of foolish and unreasonable Men. Christianity indeed iâ—… not in our Age opposed with that open and barefac't Confidence wherewith it was in the Apostles time when it was forced to wrestle with Principalities and Powers and spiritual wickedness in high places the united force of a Victorious and learned Empire Yet we want not secret impugners of our most Holy Faith who if by the natural Light of Reason and remorse of Conscience they he restrained from professing their secret Atheism and denying the Existence of a God yet stick not to oppose all revealed Religions and especially Christianity because most contrary to their beloved Lusts in defence of which only they maintain their impious Opinions It is the interest of these Men that Christianity should be false that so the licencious practice of their Lusts and Passions may not be abbridged to them and the Expectation of eternal Punishments imbitter all their Pleasures For to the Honour of Christianity be it said that in these latter Ages it hath had no Enemies but Men of profligate and debauched Lives who either denyed the Being of a God or lived as without God in the world However the Conviction of these Men is far more difficult than antiently of the Heathen Philosophers Of whom many sincerely searched after the Truth which commonly ended in the discovery of it and embracing the Christian Religion whereas these dispute only for the Love of their Lusts and sensual Pleasures are thence transported with violent Prejudices willfully shut their Eyes against the Truth cast the words of Convicton behind them and hate to be reformed To vindicate the Honour of God of Christ and our Religion against the Blasphemies of such men is the Duty of every Christian in his place and station and as opportunities are ministred to him Nor are there wanting those among us who openly and with great excess of apparent Zeal seek to withdraw us from our most Holy Religion endeavouring to impose upon us the belief of pernicious Errours and Superstitions They oppose not directly indeed the Faith of Christ but corrupt it with Errours and false Opinions rend in sunder the Unity of the Church by promoting and perswading a Schifmatical departure from it and openly impugn the
that inestimable Sacrifice which was offered on the Cross may confess and firmly believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of Mankind was buried and rose again But then I fear this remembrance will without the use of those Commemorative Rites which God ordained for our Instruction and the compleat Manifestation of those infinite Benefits become purely Historical and have little influence upon our Practice and contribute much less to excite that Sense of Gratitude which might induce us to resign up our selves to his Will and Direction who had done and suffered so great things for us This is best procured by the use of those most Holy Mysteries where the Death and Passion of our Saviour is in the most lively and significant manner represented to us where the benefit of it is in particular applied to every one of us where every single Communicant may behold the Body of Christ broken and his Bloodshed for him and by descending into a serious Consideration of it form a right Judgment of the greatness of that Benefit which will then only appear infinite and transcendent to him when he is convinced that it reacheth to himself in particular and may be productive of his eternal Happiness This cannot but raise the utmost affections of his Soul and create such a Sense of Gratitude as shall not easily expire but endeavour to exert it self in all those Actions which shall be judged acceptable to so great a Benefactor while the lively Memory of those Benefits continue which shall ever continue if often repaired renewed and increased by a frequent Participation in that solemn Act of their Commemoration How great therefore was the prudence of the Apostolick and Primitive Times which repeated that Commemoration every day and when the increase of their number permitted not that at least every Sunday and esteemed every baptized Person who being come to years of Discretion omitted constantly to bear a part in it to have by that Intermission fallen from the Faith and cut himself off from the Church of Christ This produced and secured that lasting Gratitude which served for the grand Motive and Spring of all Christian Vertues permitted not their Zeal to grow cold and continued the same heat of Devotion among them as if their Saviour had been yet present with them And shall we deplore the decay of Religion in our Age and the degeneracy from the Spirit of those antient Times and yet neglect to make use of those means whereby they raised and fomented a just Sense of their Obligation to God and therein laid the Foundation of their so much celebrated Piety We are equally convinced of the truth of those Benefits we no less firmly believe that Christ died for us than they did we no less passionately desire eternal Happiness and have all other means of Instruction equally afforded to us We enjoy the same Faculties of Soul and Body and believe our selves to have the same innate generous Inclinations of mind the Grace of God doth no lefs abound to us and the same Rewards do yet attend us How then comes it to pass that we cannot equal their Piety and Holiness that we fall short of their Zeal and Devotion and come so far beneath the Example of those Holy Persons that we seem to be the Followers of a different Religion and the Disciples of another Master This can rationally be ascribed to no other cause than to the willful neglect of those Assistances in the performance of our Duty which our Saviour bequeathed to us of which the chief and infinitely greatest is the frequent Celebration of the Holy Eucharist whereby that great Principle of Obedience in revealed Religion I mean Gratitude might be produced kept alive and receive continual Accession in the Minds of Christians This to the no less scandal than prejudice of Christianity hath in latter Ages been fatally neglected and discontinued reduced to some few Seasons and Festivals of the year and then performed by a very inconsiderable part of the Church in her several Congregations An abuse which perhaps cannot be equalled in any System of Religion which ever obtained in the World that the Primary and Essential Rite of it should be generally omitted by those who pretend to be Disciples of it Justly therefore doth it turn to the Honour of the Reformation in general that it hath in some measure removed this abuse and given occasion to more frequent and numerous Celebrations of the Holy Eucharist over all Christendom which before that time in the Church of Rome were by long disuse almost become unknown For as for their constant private Masses whatsoever may be pretended for their being a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the quick and dead most certainly they do not in the least conduce to Commemorate and set forth the Death of Christ. Justly also to the Honour of the Church of England in particular which after a lamentable and universal disuse of these Holy Mysteries introduced in the late times of Confusion both of Church and State hath happily restored the use of them renewed frequent Communions and enjoys numerous Communicants May Pastors and People conspire to make this excellent Custom become universal that so at last we may have the Happiness to see this Church equal the Apostolick times in Zeal and Piety as it doth in Purity of Doctrine But I return to the prosecution of my Text although even this conduceth mightily to the Illustration of the Argument now in hand and having sufficiently manifested that Gratitude or a right Sense of our Obligation arising from the Considerations of the infinite Benefits of God was intended by him to be to us the grand Motive of Obedience to his Laws I proceed in the Second place to shew that II. This is the best and most effectual Motive which could be employed for that Purpose Which however it cannot be called in question since as we have already shewed this Motive was before all others chosen by the infallible Wisdom of God to lead us to Repentance and thereby to Salvation yet I will proceed to demonstrate the truth of it by these following Considerations First then if we respect the force of Goodness in general and how prevalent the Obligation of Benefits is in its own Nature we cannot but conclude it to be the most effectual of all Arguments Nothing is so amiable and perswasive as this Vertue of Beneficence which carrieth invincible Charms along with it and maketh greater Conquests in the hearts of Men than all the force and terrour of the World Other Vertues may create a Veneration some a fear and others an admiration of the Persections of the Person endued with them but this alone produceth Love the most active Principle of our mind In God there are many Attributes which may confound the apprehension of Mankind as the infinity of his Nature his Eternity and Omnipresence others which may create awful Apprehensions of him as his Omnipotence and Omniscience and some which may produce
be scandalized at the Dissent and Opposition of the Jews and Greeks Much less ought we to suffer our selves to be led away by the same Prejudices with them Men perhaps professing Christianity may imagine this to be impossible while they continue in the open Profession of it and so take no Care to prevent it But if we examine our selves I fear we shall find our selves obnoxious to the same Prejudices and to have been often seduced by them if not to a Desertion of our Religion yet to a Violation of it Was the Christian Faith a Stumling-block to the Jews because defeating their hopes of a temporal Messias and worldly Happiness And are not we often tempted by the Pleasures of this World to withdraw our Obedience from the Laws of God and thereby in effect to deny him As often as Men preferr their worldly Interest to the least Duty of Religion as often as by too anxious a Diligence about the Affairs of this Life they neglect the care of another they give just Reason to others to suspect them Guilty of the same Errour of placing all their Happiness on this side Heaven and dis-believing the Joys of Paradise Did the Jews often unseasonably and importunately require a Sign And are not we often induced to distrust Providence and murmur against the Divine Goodness as often as God deferrs to rescue us from imminent Dangers and Calamities and immediately ingageth not his miraculous Power in our Assistance Do not Men call in question the Justice of the Divine Dispensation because God refuseth to violate the established Laws of his Government and sometimes permitteth the good to pass unrewarded and the wicked to escape unpunished in this life Was the Christian Religion Foolishness to the Greeks because proposed by mean and unlearned Persons And have not the Effects of spiritual Pride been deplored in all Ages of the Church and continue to this day while Men puffed up with a vain Opinion of their own extraordinary Knowledge in Divine Matters refuse to hear the Voice of their ordinary Pastor Scorn to be instructed by him and rudely turn their backs upon him Did the Greek Philosophers despise Christianity because plain and simple easie to be understood and not difficult to be performed And are not we often betrayed by a like Pre judice to neglect our Duty and lay aside the Study of Divine Things How many Christians are at this day displeased with a sober and rational Form of Worship either because it is not fraught with pompous and unuseful Ceremonies or because it is devoid of Enthusiastick Raptures and unintelligible Impertinencies So that we must acknowledge our selves to be no less concerned in the words and meaning of my Text than were formerly either Jews or Greeks To conclude if the most certain Truths and most Holy Religion be notwithstanding liable to the contradiction of foolish and unreasonable Men if the Prejudices against Christianity be found to be unjust and false let us neither be offended at the Opposition of her Enemies nor drawn into like Mistakes with them either by Passion or Inadvertency Let us give most humble and hearty Thanks to God for sending his Son as at this time into the World to redeem us and reveal to us his Will and Pleasure Let us adore his Wisdom and Goodness who hath contrived such excellent Methods whereby the knowledge of this Mystery and Revelation may with sufficient certainty be transmitted to all Ages improving the Happiness of our Knowledge by securing to our selves the Rewards of it in a careful Practice of our Duty that so we may here with Comfort hold fast and hereafter with Glory obtain the Promises of everlasting Life To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us all for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Seventh SERMON PREACH'D January 20th 1689. At LAMBETH CHAPEL Hebr. IX 27. It is appointed unto Men once to die but after this the Judgment I Intend not from these words to prove the Mortality of Mankind or shew that all the Members of it are subject to that fatal Doom The experience of almost Six Thousand Years may abundantly convince us of this And least we should imagin our selves to be particularly exempted from the common calamity of Mankind that decay which we find in our Bodies and those frequent Infirmities to which we are all subject permits us not to entertain any hopes of such an extraordinary priviledge The necessity of ending this Life is so apparent that it would be trifling to endeavour to demonstrate it however the consideration of that necessity is a matter of the greatest Moment and which may justly require the most serious reflections of our Mind But that is not my present purpose nor the design of the Apostle in these words wherein is expressed the divine Determination in relation to the Mortality and future Judgment of Men and the Order of them namely that God hath decreed that all Men shall once Die and that after Death they shall receive either the reward or punishment of their Actions Now however the secret Decrees of God be unsearchable and his ways past finding out however a curious desire of knowing the Nature and Reasons of them may be rash and fruitless yet in these which so immediately and universally concern Mankind and are in effect the great object of our Religion no enquiry can be unnecessary or unuseful the reasons of them are obvious and satisfactory such as may not only be discovered by us but even ought not to be unknown to us and surely not without reason For nothing tends more effectually to secure the Honour of God and induce us to acquiesce in his Decrees than an intire satisfaction of the Justice and Wisdom of them And if this be necessary in relation to all the divine Decrees which respect us how much more will it concern us to have a perfect knowledge of the reasons of those grand Decrees of Death and Judgment which the Apostle hath comprehended in the words of my Text And from whence I shall take occasion to Discourse upon these two Heads I. The Justice of the Divine Decreâ—… of Death to all Men. It is appointed unto Men once to die II. The Justice and Wisdom of the Divine Decree of Judgment to be executed after Death and not in this Life But after this the Judgment First then if we consider only the light of Reason nothing can appear more just than the Divine Decree which imposeth a necessity of Dying upon all Men. God being the Author of our existence and the Lord of Life and Death might justly dispose of or dispense either according to his Good Pleasure It was a sufficient obligation to Man to have received the benefit of Existence without expecting a perpetual and invariable conservation of that Existence The very Nature and Constitution of Man declares him to be Mortal and then surely it could neither be unjust or unreasonable in God to permit
for it by such a precedent exercise of Repentance did not presume to take upon himself the Name of a Christian While this excellent Discipline prevailed an Universal Piety could not but be produced among the Professors of Christianity when all those Arguments which now chiefly hinder the practice of Repentance did then promote it I mean a general example and the fear of Shame It was then no more than fashionable to put on at least the pretence of Repentance in this Holy Season and then to indulge to the Body its wonted Pleasures and Gayeties was no less absurd than to rejoyce at a Funeral when all compose themselves with a seeming Gravity Again to confess the guilt of Sin when all joyned in the same Confession was no matter of shame Whereas now the example of Impenitence prevails and to put on a more severe Deportment to restrain the usual method of Life would be accounted and derided as a Singularity Now the Order of things is inverted and through disuse of Confession whether publick or private shame is affixed not to the Commission but to the Confession of any Sin So that if the former excellent Discipline could be retreived the same shame which now diverts us from Confession would then deterr us from Commission It can scarce be hoped indeed that a Discipline so far surpassing the degenerate spirit of latter times will ever be restored yet this we think our selves obliged to remind you of that ye might understand for what end this Holy Season was at first Instituted and might be moved by this Noble Example to make at least some use of so excellent an Institution if not to confess your sins in publick yet at least to confess them to God in secret if not to put your selves to an open Shame yet at least to conceive inwardly both a shame and hatred of your Sin to examine your Consciences strictly to purg them from all corruptions to remove all vicious habits to reconcile your selves to God by an earnest Repentance of past Sins and a well grounded beginning of future Obedience To this end the Church since she can do no more is wont during this solemnity to inculcate by frequent exhortations the Duty of Repentance and to this purpose I have chosen this Text. Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish These words of our Lord were occasioned by a pernicious error of the Jews that the not execution of exemplary vengeance upon them in this Life was an Argument that they were no great sinners and that signal Calamities were an Indication of an extraordinary Impiety whereas those who escaped any such Calamities might presume themselves to be Innocent and thereupon deferr or wholly omit repentance Thus Pilate having lately slain several Galiteans at Jerusalem in the Act of Sacrificing and the Tower in Siloam having slain Eighteen Men by a sudden Fall as we read in the Second and Fourth Verses the Jews presently concluded that this Calamity which they supposed to have been inflicted by the extraordinary direction of God was preceded with an extraordinary guilt of the Sufferers and not finding such Calamities to fall upon themselves thence raised a false perswasion that they were more Righteous than those unhappy Men and more beloved by God To correct this false perswasion our Lord assureth them that it was no other than a vain delusion to think that those Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans or that those upon whom the Tower fell were sinners above all the Inhabitants of Jerusalem or that themselves were more Righteous than either and tells them that unless they repent they shall all likewise perish In which words he I. Insinuates the error of their perswasion that the not execution of Divine Vengeance in this Life is an Argument of the Innocence of Men and little necessity of Repentance And II. Pronounceth the certainty of their Destruction without repentance At this time I will confine my self to the former only and shew the unreasonableness of deferring repentance for this cause that God doth not revenge the Sins of Men in this Life a reason which hath more hindred the practice of Repentance than any other It was long since a complaint of the Wise Man that the Sinner goes on securely because he seeth not Vengeance to be speedily executed and because he feels it not in this Life believeth there is none prepared for him in the other He hath wholly busied himself in matters of sense and takes his measures formeth his Judgments from the perceptions of it believeth not any thing which that doth not ascertain to him or if he doth believe the being and the Providence of God the dispensation of Rewards to Good and infliction of Punishment upon bad Men consequent to it yet through a corrupted Judgment cannot conceive himself capable of any greater Happiness than worldly Prosperity nor of any more grievous Punishment than Poverty and secular Distress So that if the Rewards and Punishments of God be not consonant to these Conceptions he cannot conceive wherein they should consist and while he may be secured of the continuance of Happiness in this Life he hath gained his end and resteth secure as to what may befall him hereafter he cannot believethat God can be angry with him to whom he permitteth the uninterrupted enjoyment of worldly Happiness which while he possesseth he seeth no reason to believe himself to be in a State of Enmity with God If such visible Punishments did attend his sin as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira even fear would force him to be Pious but the want of such terrible examples continually to awaken him betrays him to a false belief either of the remissness and negligence of God or of his own Innocence not deserving any such Punishment and in both cases draweth him into a false opinion that Repentance is not necessary But what a miserable corruption must the judgment of Man have suffered which can be cheated into a false perswasion that himself is capable of none but sensible Rewards or Punishments That Man should carry about him an immaterial Soul and yet not conceive any spiritual Benefits or Miseries Either not know or not value any perfections or improvements but what the Body may receive Yet this delusion is too frequent in Mankind even that part of it which believe there is within them a Spiritual and an Immortal Being which actuates their Bodies which giveth them their thoughts by which alone they conceive themselves Happy or Miserable They acknowledge all this and yet will not believe any Happiness or Misery peculiar to the Soul alone they confess the Soul must endure for ever and yet continue wilfully Ignorant that it cannot continue in a Neutral State but must be the Subject either of Happiness or Misery So true is that observation of the Psalmist XLIX ult Man being in Honour hath no understanding but is compared to the Beasts that perish While he abounds in sensual pleasures he acts
â—…elicity God may bestow or deny to any one for the fake of another without any â—…minution of his Justice and Impartiality which requireth no more than that â—…f â—…e punisheth Man for neglecting to oâ—…tain his Supream Happiness he should â—…ut it into his power to obtain it This 〈◊〉 be done either with or without â—…nporal Benefits or Calamities which â—…ly contribute nothing to that suâ—… end and are purely accidental to 〈◊〉 God may dispose them in this World either for the vindication of his Providence the encouragement or trial of the Faithful the punishment or correction of the Wicked But while they impose not on any a necessity of doing Well or Ill nor render any Man truly Happy or Miserable they may not be always Rewards or Punishments and so do not necessarily attend the Obedience or Disobedience of Men. Upon these unalterable principles the Divine Justice doth proceed and although we cannot deny any of these without denying God at the same time to be Just and Impartial yet Men have still continued to frame different Notions to themselves and to Act upon them It is so pleasing a delusion to fancy themselves dear to God in an extraordinary manner and for unaccountable Reasons that no wonder many have been always tempted to entertain such a charming Errour which flatters their Ambition gratifies their Self-love sets them above the ordinary Rank of Men and even exempts them from the obligation of pursuing the Ordinary means of Salvation Righteousness and Holiness Purity and Obedience This seduced the Jews to grow secure and confident and to found their Title to the Favour of God not in the diligent performance of his Commands but in their Relation to their Father Abraham for whose sake they imagined themselves so dear to God that he would certainly conferr Happiness upon them without any further consideration This prejudice hath also corrupted great numbers of Christians especially in this last Age of the Church who place their hopes of Salvation not upon the general grounds of Piety and Obedience but upon secret Decrees of Election and Predestination which may set them above the Rank of their Fellow-Servants and exempt them from the Obligation which is common to all Sober Christians of a diligent pursuit of Salvation by its proper means observation of the Divine Precepts and performance of the Conditions prescribed by God Hence also the fond pretensions of Men have proceeded so far as to perswade themselves that all of such an Order shall be saved or that whosoever are of this or that Confraternity or Congregation shall not be Damned and then the natural Consequence will be to change the ordinary Methods of Salvation and either to reject all care of it or place that care upon trifling and fond Observations Thus Men have forsaken the Well of Life and hewed Cisterns to themselves Cisterns which will hold no water not considering that if things were so all Religion would be vain and foolish but above all that God would be in a most gross manner unjust and a partial respecter of Persons against the express Declaration of the Apostle in my Text. I need not now confute the Erroneous pretensions of these deluded Christians but it may not be unseasonable to clear the Divine Impartiality in relation to the Jews For it may be imagined that can not consist with his Conduct to them Could God interpose by Miracles so often in their behalf feed them with Bread from Heaven and destroy whole Nations to make room for them and not be partial Could he choose them out of all the Families of the Earth declare himself to be in a particular manner their God and them to be his People who far from excelling other Men in Holiness and Obedience continued always to be a stifnecked and stubborn Generation a Generation that set not their hearts aright Could he profess all this Favour to be shewed to them as he often doth not for their own Righteousness but for personal respects for the sake of their Father Abraham and their Descent from him Could God perform all these apparent signs of partiality and yet not be partial Yes surely Justice and Impartiality are eternal Attributes in God which began not with the Revelation of the Christian Religion but are Essential Properties in him and inseparable from his Nature which however St. Peter discovered not till now as being blinded with preconceived Prejudices taken up in his Education among the Jews a little reflection will clearly shew it unto us First then This Favour of God to the Jews for the sake of their Father Abraham consisted not in bestowing on them Eternal Happiness but only Temporal Blessings which we before shewed to be consistent with the strictest Rules of Justice and even those he dispensed to them not merely for the sake of their Fore-father but in conjunction with their own Obedience whom he required to distinguish themselves from the rest of Mankind by a careful observation of their Duty and extraordinary Precepts not incumbent upon other Men nor enjoyned by the Law of Nature When these Conditions were neglected or violated he inflicted punishments upon them no less extraordinary than his Benefits and severely revenged in them what he oversaw in others He admitteth them indeed to the hopes of Eternal Felicity but that was no part of their particular Covenant nor in consequence of any private Promise The hopes of this were common to them with all Mankind and not to be obtained but upon Conditions common to all In that no respect is had to their descent from Abraham they are therein Judged by such Universal Rules as admit no exceptions And then even those Temporal Blessings were not appropriated to them but equally laid open to all the Members of Mankind who if they obliged themselves to the observation of the Mosaick Law and confirmed their engagement by the Seal of Circumcision were no less Heirs of the Promises made unto Abraham than were his immediate Descendents Lastly These Temporal Benefits were at first conferred as a Reward to extraordinary and wonderful Acts of Obedience and Piety in Abraham and entailed with Conditions of the same Obedience to his Posterity as well to encourage him to continue his Obedience by the prospect of the Happiness of his whole Posterity depending on it as to excite them to the same practice by the visible example of his Reward Thus the Divine Justice in relation to the Jews alone is unexceptionable but then what shall we say if we consider boâ—…h Jews and Christians as partakers of the Promises of Eternal Salvation and compare them with the Gentiles who are Strangers to the Covenant of Grace and never knew either the promises or conditions of Salvation Is God the God of the Jews and the Christians only Is he not God of the Gentiles also Are not his Attributes always unalterable and the influences of them equally derived down to all his Creatures We believe that the Jews under the
to shew you that no objection to the Justice and Impartiality of God can be deduced from his conduct in relation to them Which not only tendeth to vindicate his Honour and to create in us a just esteem of his infinite Perfections not only restrains us from passing uncharitable censures upon our fellow Servants or conceiving amiss of those immutable Rules which God hath fixed to the exercise of his Mercy and Judgment but also teaches us that Salvation depends not so much upon any external Relation or Denomination as upon the eternal Obligations of Righteousness and Holiness This was the Second Head proposed to be Treated of namely the Conditions of the Divine Favour expressed in the latter part of the Text. But in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him The favour of God is not now as it seemed to be under the Jewish dispensation annexed to a Family or a Nation to external Badges and ritual Observations but to the more noble and universal obligations of Fear and Righteousness offered and dispensed unto all Men upon the same Conditions Conditions from which none can plead exemption even although no Revelation had enforced them They had then been Duties even without a Reward but are now conditions of a Reward which manifesteth the infinite Mercy and Goodness of God which is also enhanced by the universality of it for that in eve y Nation he that worketh Righteousness is accepted by him For after all the Title to a Reward must be grounded upon the Divine acceptance not on any merit of the Work But the time will not permit me to Discourse farther of these things I will only exhort you to make a just use of what you have already Learned That God is no respecter of Persons This cannot but be a mighty encouragement to you to use your utmost diligence to attain that Reward which God hath rendered equally possible to you with those who are now the greatest Saints in Heaven that whatever your condition or circumstances may be here below God respecteth not that in distribution of his Favour but only what is in your own power On the other side if you neglect these possible these easie conditions offearing God and working Righteousness flatter not your selves with the thoughts of being exempted by any peculiar Favour from undergoing that universal Sentence of Condemnation which is indifferently pronounced against all Sinners Which is also the conclusion drawn by St. Peter from this very consideration 1 Pet. I. 17. And if ye call on the Father who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every Mans work pass the time of your Sojourning here in fear The Thirteenth SERMON PREACH'D Easter-Day 1689. At LAMBETH CHAPEL Coloss. III. 1. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God THE Resurrection of our Blessed Saviour from the Dead hath by the Church in all Ages been deservedly celebrated with a greater Solemnity than any other Festival whatsoever as being instituted in remembrance of the most signal Act of our Lord here on Earth and the final Completion of our Redemption by it Other Actions indeed prepared the Minds of his Followers to expect Salvation from him but this alone gave them infallible assurance of the performance of it Till then they retained Doubts and Scruples were meanly instructed in the Nature of his Office and Design of his Coming were confounded at his Ignominious Crucifixion and began to suspect that they had been mistaken in the Person of the Messias All their glorious hopes of a temporal Kingdom to be founded by their Lord and Master were laid aside and in a little time they began to doubt whether it were he that should have redeemed Israel The Church then was not only dispersed but destroyed and none left who would own their Belief in a Crucified Saviour The Apostles were fled The Women prepared Spices for his Body now lying in the Grave as not expecting it should rise again and the Jews triumphed over his afflicted Disciples as having defeated their hopes and overthrown their Pretences At this time in this State of things our Lord rose from the Dead and by his Resurrection demonstrated the Divinity of his Person dispelled the Anxiety of his Disciples and confounded his Enemies By this he retrieved the lost Faith of his Followers and put it beyond all possibility of being subject to any more Fluctuations Hereby he not only gave the last and most infallible Confirmation to the truth of his Doctrine by a Miracle unheard of in former Ages but also established in Mankind the glad assurance of a future Resurrection He had before indeed promised it but now gave an earnest of it in his own Person and manifested it to be possible by the actual effecting of it No wonder then that as the Church did at first receive our Lord from the Dead with unspeakable Joy and Triumph so it always continued to renew the remembrance of that Triumph by extraordinary Solemnities that the Apostles urged the Miracle of his Resurrection as the highest Argument of Conviction to Jews and Gentiles and admonished their Disciples to comfort one another with the Remembrance of it And not only so but also drew continual Arguments of Instruction and Motives of Holiness from it and made all the Mysteries and Sacraments of the Christian Religion to be in some measure subservient to it An Action of so great importance was not barely to strike the Senses and to satisfie the doubtful or convince the incredulous but to affect the Soul and become a Foundation of Practice as well as Belief to all Christians Our Lord raised not his natural Body from the Grave to leave us his Mystical Body groveling on the Ground he resumed not his bodily Life to leave us in a spiritual Death but taught us thereby to raise our Thoughts and Affections from the Earth to free our selves from the Power of Darkness and enter into the Regions of Light For we are risen with Christ if we be true Christians as the Apostle assureth us in my Text and if so the natural consequence will be That we seek those things which are above and act agreeably to the new state of Life into which we are entred If then ye be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God The words therefore will oblige me to treatFirst of our Resurrection with Christ and Secondly of the Conclusion drawn from thence by the Apostle that we ought therefore to seek those things which are above That we shall hereafter rise and bewith Christ is the most firm Belief of all Christians but that we are already risen may not perhaps be so easily conceived especially by those who experience not in themselves any Effects of this Blessed Resurrection We are therefore said to rise with Christ even in this Life either by similitude or by
all along experienced my Affection to you and if you do still doubt I do now give you fresh Assurances For if it were not so I would have told you Verse 2. And if ye shall ask any thing in my nâ—…e I will do it Verse 14. Even my Crucifixion is for your sake for to purchase Redemption for you and after that my return into Heaven is for your sake also to secure your Reward and prepare you Mansions there For in my Fathers house are many Mansions As it followeth in the second Verse I go not to take possession of the Joys of Heaven for my self alone but in your Name also and in your behalf Let not your hearts therefore be troubled neither he distracted with the Afflictions that may fall upon you For whatsoever Shocks you may meet with in this World although you be persecuted injured and oppressed let not this afflict you or cause you to despair this is not your abiding place your Mansion is in Heaven let this be your Consolation This was abundantly sufficient to dispel the Anxiety and raise the drooping Spirits of the Apostles and not only so but also in some manner to support all faithful Christians in difficult Emergencies to all Ages This was spoken indeed to the Apostles but written for our Instruction whom it doth no less concern For the Church succeeding the Apostles was not by any peculiar Priviledge exempted from Difficulties and Disasters The Promises made unto her were not to take place in this Life and therefore if she were assaulted with Tempests and oppressed by the Malice of Men or Devils she suffers no more than her Lord and Master did before her than her Founders and his beloved Disciples also did A greater Calamity cannot befall the Church than what befell the Apostles at this time Nay all that ever the Church suffered all that it can suffer come farr beneath it and yet our Saviour thought this Consideration a sufficient Remedy to their Affliction Much more therefore will it suffice to remove our lesser Troubles and continue a constant quiet and tranquility in our Minds who are Followers of the same Faith and Heirs of the same Hopes And that it may do so I will take occasion from the Text to Discourse of these two Heads I. What reason and ground Natural Religion or the Mosaick Dispensation giveth us to trust in God and receive Comfort from thence in all Difficulties and the apprehension of Calamities insinuated in those words Ye believe in God II. What force the Christian Religion hath superadded to these Reasons of Trust and Consolation Believe also in me First then What Reason c. I joyn Natural Religion and that of the Jews herein together because no certain hopes or promise of Happiness in another Life were given to either and upon that account the Reasons of depending upon God in this Life were common to both The Jews indeed had stronger reason to relye upon the Divine Providence as having had more frequent and apparent Experience of it but it was a Reason of the same kind with that common to Natural Religion which proceedeth no farther with any certainty than the consideration of the Divine Government of the world in this present Life Let us then enter into the same Consideration where the first thought which presents it self will be that since God created Man by his own good Pleasure and continueth to govern him and all other parts of the Creation according to his own Primary Decrees it is but reasonable that Man should acquiesce in the Laws of his Government For if God bestowed on him the benefit of Existence and continueth it by a constant Preservation he may justly expect that Man should thankfully receive that Benefit without repining that it was no greater All other parts of the Creation perform their Duties without variance in their several Stations and Capacities and if Man alone desires that his Station may be changed his Post removed he shews himself unworthy even of the first Benefit I mean that of Existence much more of any extraordinary Acts of Favour to be wrought by God in his behalf The meanest and most miserable Member of Mankind excluding his Sins which are the product of his own Choice is farr more Happy than any other part of the visible World as enjoying a noble and capacious Soul which is capable of receiving true Happiness if directed aright or at least pleasing it self with a mistaken Happiness a Priviledge which is denied to the irrational part of the Creation which however many of them have more exquisite and accurate Organs of sense than Men yet thence receive neither real nor imaginary Happiness because not reflecting on any Perceptions of sense After all let the Afflictions of any private Man be never so heavy yet it cannot be denied that the more noble part of him the Soul is still at Liberty to improve its more real Happiness and not subject to any of those Calamities any farther than it shall immerge or interest it self in the Concerns of the Body And even this is no small Consolation that in all the mis-fortunes of this Life we perform the Will of God in executing that Station which his Providence hath appointed us in the World And that this Station is fittest for us we must believe if we reflect on the perfection of the Divine Wisdom if not fittest for us simply and in its own Nature yet in Conjunction with all other Circumstances it being not reasonable that we should at all times expect the interruption of the publick Government of the World for our private Concerns Indeed it must be acknowledged that as God is the absolute Governour of the world so he is also infinitely Just and Holy which may encourage Men who have no knowledge of Rewards or Punishments in another Life to expect that he should in an extraordinary manner in this Life interpose in behalf of good Men and against bad Men. So that however the former Consideration may remove the Anxiety of Men yet nothing less than an assured Belief of this latter will ever perswade them to trust in God which supposeth the hopes of some extraordinary Assistance or proceeding in the World And therefore such extraordinary influences were actually conferred upon the Jews whose Obedience or Dis-obedience was commonly attended with temporal Rewards or Punishments But this was in Vertue of a particular Covenant which admitting no better hopes confined it felt to the Concerns of this Life and after all received frequent Exceptions and Variations many wicked Men among them living in Plenty and dying in Peace and othâ—…rs of eminent Sanctity persecuted oppressed and at last unjustly Slain So that only probable Motives of trust in God remained in that Dispensation under the Law as because Peace or Misery did for the most part accompany Virtue or Vice and this even those who followed the Dictates only of natural Religion in some measure had who have often taken notice
Happiness to enjoy that advantage in a most eminent manner to have the Scriptures translated most exactly into our own Language to read them securely and hear them weekly explained to us Let us manifest that we are not insensible of so great a Benefit by a right use of it least we fall into the Condemnation of those who abuse the Divine Mercy and that Candlestick of which we are not worthy be removed from us It remains that we briefly apply what hath been said And first If our Religion be so excellent and rational attended with such Evidence and Conviction it is our Duty to maintain a firm and constant Profession of it at all times or in the words of my Text To be ready always to give an account of it not to dissemble it for fear or interest much less betray it by a denial of it The great ends of Religion are to secure the Honour of God and advance the Happiness of Mankind By such shameful Cowardize both these ends are defeated the Honour of God is wounded and the hopes of Happiness intirely destroyed Hereby Men renounce all dependence upon God disown him to be their Lord and Master and bid defiance to him Nor may we flatter our selves that this execrable Crime of Apostacy consists only in denying all Christianity and wholly renouncing our Saviour to yield up the least truth which we are convinced to be Divine to assent to the least Errour which we believe to be false to forsake a Communion which we know to be pure and lawful to embrace one which we are perswaded is corrupt and erroneous is no less truly the sin of Apostacy and will undoubtedly meet with the same Punishment The Nature of the sin is the same in both Cases that we willfully recede from the Truth and affront the Divine Majesty by preferring a Lye to his revealed Will. The maintenance of Truth and directing our Conduct by the Dictates of it is the Dignity of Man and perfection of his Soul To betray the most inconsiderable Truth to any temporal Considerations is a plain Confession that we have inverted the order of Nature and subjected our more noble part the Soul to the Lusts and Passions of the Body an Indignity unworthy a rational Being which prostitutes the Honour of his Nature Ranks him among brute Beasts and from being the head of all visible Creatures degrades him into the condition of a Slave to dust and ashes But when Eternity and an Interest infinitely greater than any which can be promoted on Earth by such Apostacy lays at stake when immortality and everlasting Happiness are destroyed by it nay when the utmost Displeasure of an Almighty God and the direful effects of it eternal Torments are the consequences of it to preferr a few trifling Pleasures of this World disclaim all hopes of Happiness in another Life and incurr the Divine Vengeance is a height of Folly which all the Affairs and Examples of this Life cannot equal an Impiety which neither the Art of Men or Devils can exceed When the Interest of Truth is concerned the Honour of God engaged to lay down our Lives in Testimony of the one and Vindication of the other to forego all the Conveniences of this Life to despise all worldly Considerations and with a generous Contempt overlook all the Sollicitations and Threats of men this the Dignity of our Nature requires of us this our Duty to God obliges us to this the Expectation of a future state leads us to For surely we are no longer deserve the Name or Character of men than while we continue rational We deny all Relation to God when we sacrifice his Commands to our Interests and disclaim all Title to a future state when we yield up the Conditions of it for the sake of a present advantage Yet how many Examples of such Apostacy hath the Church deplored in all Ages And I wish our Age afforded none of those who have betrayed the Profession of their Faith I will not say to the fear of Death for so great a Terrour all Spirits cannot overcome And we of this Nation thanks be to God do not suffer but to the fear of Poverty or perhaps to the hopes of continuing or advancing their Preferment in the world A most amazing wickedness that Men should Sell their God at so low a price and exchange their Religion for such mean Considerations Resign to me the hopes of Heaven and I will give you a possession in the Earth give me up your Soul and I will enrich your Body deny your Creator and I will give you Honour among your Fellow-Creatures A Proposal which even a Heathen Philosopher would entertain with Scorn and every sober Christian with a pious Horrour These are the Flatteries of the world and with these the Prince of the world attempted our Saviour All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me But our Saviour immediately rejected such base Proposals with a generous Disdain and with a get thee behind me Satan manifested with how great Indignation he had received them thereby giving us an Example how we ought to behave our selves upon such occasions and not to admit even the thoughts of such a Crime For surely in the cause of God even to deliberate with our selves whether we shall betray it or no is a degree of Apostacy in that Case deliberasse est descivisse and the thought of foolishness is sin To put the question to our own Souls is to trifle with the Divine Majesty to dishonour our Religion and degrade our Nature But to decide it in Favour of our Lufts and the petty Temptations of the world is to fill up the measure of our iniquity and in the most reproachful Sense turn the grace of God into wantonness I speak of those who are convinced of the truth of any Religion or Communion at the same time that they forsake it As sor those who may pretend Reasons of Conscience and Conviction of Judgment for their departure from our Church let them seriously consider whether this be not indeed a Pretence and whether they can really answer it to God and their own Consciences Let them examine themselves whether they were not byassed in their Judgments and powerfully prejudiced in Favour of that Communion to which they have revolted by the Temptation of secular interest and advantage in this Case let them know that God will not be mocked and that to force our Understandings is no less Criminal than to force our Consciences God hath proposed sufficient direction to us in the Holy Scripture and will by no means pardon us if we willfully shut our eyes against the Truth We need not go any farther than the words of my Text for this direction The Apostle commands all Christians to be ready to give an answer of the reason of the faith that is in them If then any Society of men discourageth and overthrows the use of reason in private Christians