And have we any Reason to doubt either of his Inclination and good will or of his Power and Interest to do us good What need then is there to sue for the Favour or to take in the Assistance of any other even of those who are thought to be most powerful and the chief Ministers and Favourites in that Heavenly Court After such an Assurance that my Business will be effectually done there by that great Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous why should I apply my self to St. Peter though he be said to keep the Keys of Heaven or to Michael the Arch-Angel though he be the chief of the Ministring Spirits or to the Blessed Virgin her self notwithstanding those glorious Titles of the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy which they of the Church of Rome are pleased to bestow upon her and without her consent and as may reasonably be presumed against her will I will put a Case which may help to render this matter a little more plain and sensible to us so as every Man may be able to judge of it Suppose a King should constitute his Son the great Master of Requests with this express Declaration and Assurance that all Petitions that were addrest to him by his Son should be graciously received and answered in this case though every Man might use his own Discretion at his own Peril and take what course he pleased yet I should most certainly prefer all any Petitions to the King in the way which he had so plainly directed and should trouble never a Courtier of them all with my Business for fear the King should think that I did either distrust his Royal Word or despise his Son by my soliciting the Aid and Help of every little Courtier after I had put my Petition into the Hands of this great Master of Requests And now I will not distrust any of your Understandings so far as to make the Application I will only add that it is an Eternal Rule of Truth and which never fails in any Case Frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora it is in vain to attempt that by more Ways and Means which may as well and as effectually be done by one because this would be perfect loss of time and pains And therefore they who would send us so far about as to trouble all the Saints and Angels in Heaven with our Petitions when they cannot deny but that our great Mediator is alone sufficient do seem to me to send us upon a very sleeveless Errand So that if with all their Skill in Fencing they could defend this Practice from being Vnlawful yet this one thing is a sufficient Objection in Reason against it that it is perfectly Needless Or if we could imagine any need of this all Addresses to them must be vain and unprofitable if they do not know our Wants and hear out Prayers that are put up to them which St. Augustin thought they do not know and hear Fatendum est saith he L. De Curâ pro mortuis nescire quidem mortuos quid hic agatur it must be acknowledged that the Dead are ignorant of what is done here This was his Opinion but we are certain that they cannot know our Wants nor hear our Prayers at all Times and in all Places unless they can either be present every where which no Finite Being can be or else God be pleased in some Supernatural way to communicate to them the Knowledge of our Wants and of the Prayers which we put up to them which we can never know that he does unless he have communicated to us that he is pleased to do so of which the Scripture no where gives us the least intimation But because they pretend that the Scripture gives us some hints of this I shall briefly examine what they say about this Matter I. That the Angels know our Condition here below because they are said to rejoyce at the Conversion of a Sinner and therefore the Saints do likewise know our Condition because they shall be like the Angels But this is not said of them till after the Resurrection when we shall have no Occasion to pray to them Besides that it may well enough be supposed that God may reveal both to the Angels and Saints in Heaven the Conversion of a Sinner because it may contribute to the Increase of their Joy and Happiness But will it hence follow that God reveals to them all other Circumstances of our Condition our Dangers and Temptations and Troubles our Sins and our Sufferings the Knowledge whereof would no ways contribute to the Increase of their Happiness And yet in order to their Intercession with God for us their Knowledge of these things would be most beneficial to us II. Because the rich Man was concerned in Hell for the Salvation of his Relations on Earth they argue that it is much more probable that the Saints in Heaven are concerned for us and are ready to pray for us and therefore it is very credible that some way or other they have the Knowledge of our Condition and Wants though we cannot certainly tell what that particular way is To which I answer 1. That it is a known Rule amongst all Divines that no certain Argument can be drawn from the Circumstances of a Parable but only from the main Scope and Intention of it nor is it so likely that the wicked in Hell should have any share in that which St. Paul tells us is the great Vertue of the Saints in Heaven I mean Charity and if they have it not then no Argument can be drawn from it Some of their Commentators think that this Motion of the rich Man to Abraham concerning his Brethren did not proceed from Charity to them but to himself lest his Torment and Punishment should be increased by their coming to Hell by the means of the ill Example which he had given them when he was upon Earth And Cardinal Cajetan thinks that he was concerned for his Brethren out of Pride and Ambition and because it would be for the Honour of his Family to have some of them in that Glory so far above any thing in this World which he saw Abraham and Lazarus possest of This is a Reason which I confess I should not have thought on and yet perhaps it might be likely enough to enter into the Mind of a Cardinal And I cannot but observe by the way that this Petition or Request which the rich Man in Hell made to Abraham is the only Instance we meet with in Scripture of any thing like a Prayer that was put up to any of the Saints in Heaven Well! But suppose that the rich Man in Hell had this Charity for his Brethren and we will easily agree that the Saints in Heaven have much more Charity not only for their Kindred but for all Men here upon Earth let us now consider the particular way and manner which the great Divines
Solomon's Temple which some that were then alive had seen in its glory yet in other respects it should far excel it for the time would come that this second Temple should be graced with the Presence of the Messias which would be a greater Glory to it than all the Riches of Solomon's Temple And this is fully exprest in the words which I have read unto you Thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts Now that it is some very great thing which is here foretold and promised for the Honour of this second Temple no Man can doubt that considers in what a solemn manner it is here exprest this great and glorious Title the Lord of hosts being no less than five several times used within the compass of these four Verses the like Instance whereto is not perhaps in the whole Bible Thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth verse 6. And I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts verse 7. The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts ver 8. And twice ver 9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts So that by the solemn manner of expressing of it we may imagine that it is some very great thing which is spoken of and such as the like had never been before and such was the incarnation and coming of the Messias I know that the Modern Jews will by no means have this Text to be understood of the Messias and not without cause for he that is spoken of in the Text was to come into the second Temple which hath now been destroyed above 1600 Years ago and they do not believe the Messias to be yet come and therefore whatever shift they make they must interpret this Text of some other Person than the Messias But then it is plain for what Reason they do so it being evident from their own Talmud that the Ancient Jews did understand of the Messias but being harden'd in their Unbelief they pervert all those Texts whereby they might be convinc'd that Jesus our Blessed Saviour was the True Messias And indeed whoever carefully considers the several Expressions and Circumstances of this Prediction cannot understand it of any other To make this Evident I shall explain the several Expressions in the Text Thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while Yet a little while so it is in the Hebrew Yet once more so the LXX render it and so it is quoted from the LXX in the New Testament Heb. 12.26 and this Sense the Hebrew word may likewise bear and our Translation of the Text takes them both in Yet once it is a little while If we take the Words in the first Sense Yet a little while they signifie that God was then beginning those Changes in the World which were to precede and make way for the coming of the Messias This indeed was not till about Four Hundred Years after but a great while before that time God began those Changes in the World which were to prepare the way for his coming and considering the long time which was past from the first promise made to Abraham Four Hundred Years in comparison of that may seem but a little while But I rather choose the latter Sense of this Phrase Yet once more because the Hebrew will bear it and because it is so quoted in the New Testament as if the Prophet had said That God had before done a great thing in the World and accompanied with great Miracles viz. The giving of the Law by Moses which was attended with great Commotions both in Egypt by bringing the People of Israel out from thence with a mighty hand and by destroying the Nations before them whose Land God gave them for a Possession but now he would do one greater thing more the sending of the Messias and the planting of his Religion in the World in order whereunto there should be much greater and more universal Commotions and Changes in the World and more and greater Miracles wrought Yet once more and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations From which Words the Apostle to the Hebrews argues the abolishing of the Jewish Dispensation and the bringing in of another that should be unalterable Heb. 12.27 And this Word Yet once more says the Apostle signifies the removing of those things that are shaken that those things which cannot be shaken way remain And this I shall have occasion to explain more fully in the following parts of this discourse Yet once more I will shake the heavens and the earth c. For the understanding whereof we are to consider That the Hebrews have no one Word whereby to express the World and therefore they do it by an enumeration of the principal Parts of it So Gen. 1. when Moses would express the Creation of the World he says In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth And so St. Peter when he would express the Revolution of all things after the universal Conflagration of the World calls it a new heaven and a new earth 2 Pet. 3.13 Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth that is a new World a quite other Frame and State of things than that which we now see And so the Prophet here in the Text to express the great Commotions and Changes that should be in the World before the coming of the Messias says that God will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land that is he would cause great Revolutions in the World there should be great Wars and Confusions and the Empires of the World should pass from one Hand to another And thus we find this very expression interpreted ver 21 22. of this Chapter I will shake the heavens and the earth and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations And to shew that by shaking the heavens and the earth is meant great Changes in the World and as it were an universal Commotion of it he adds in the Text by way of farther Explication and I will shake all nations And then it follows and the desire of all nations
shall come This we as the ancient Jews also did take to be a plain Character and Description of the Messias he is the desire of all nations he whom all Nations had reason to desire because of those great Blessings and Benefits which he was to bring to the World Thus Interpreters generally understand these Words and it is very true the Messias was so But this does not seem to be the true importance of this phrase for the Hebrew Word signifies Expectation as well as Desire and so I should rather choose to render it the Expectation of all Nations shall come which signifies that about the time of the coming of the Messias not only the Jews but other Nations should be in a general Expectation of some great Prince then to appear which was most eminently accomplished in our Blessed Saviour as I shall shew by and by And I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts speaking of the Second Temple which was then in building which though it fell very much short of Solomon's in point of State and Magnificence yet by being honoured with the Presence of the Messias it should be much more Glorious than Solomon's Temple The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts not that God wanted the command of Gold and Silver to have made the Second Temple equal to Solomon's in outward Glory and Splendour he could easily have made it so in that respect and Josephus tells us that not long before the time of our Saviour's coming Herod had built and beautified it to that degree that in some respects it excelled Solomon's and of this some understand the next words The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former namely that this was accomplished in that Beauty and Magnificence which was added to it when it was re-edified by Herod the Great But however that be this is certain that it was much more Glorious in another respect namely that it entertained the Messias the great Expectation and Blessing of all Nations And in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts Some understand this of that Universal Peace which was throughout the World when our Saviour was born in the Reign of Augustus Caesar Others with great probability interpret this of the Messias himself who is called here by the name of Peace and so some of the ancient Jews understood it in this place will I give peace that is the Messias For the Hebrew Word signifies all kind of Happiness and so it includes all those Blessings and Benefits that Happiness and Salvation which the Messias brought to the World And this will appear very probable if we consider how frequently in Scripture this Title is given to the Messias Isai 9.6 he is called the Prince of peace and Zach. 9.10 it is said of him that he should speak peace to the nations and the Apostle to the Hebrews parallels him with Melchisedech in this Particular that he was King of Salem that is King of Peace and which is very little different from this he is frequently in Scripture called Salvation which signifies the Happiness of being rescued and delivered from all kind of Evil as Peace signifies all kind of Good Isai 49.6 I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my Salvation to the end of the earth And Luke 2.30 when Simeon had our Blessed Saviour in his Arms when he was first brought into the Temple he calls him the Salvation of God Mine Eyes saith he to God have seen thy salvation and John 4.22 Salvation is of the Jews that is the Messias was to be of that Nation But which is more express Christ is called our peace Eph. 2.14 nay he is expresly called peace or the peace Micah 5.5 and this man speaking of the Messias shall be the peace that is one of his Names or Titles shall be peace So that I make little doubt but that in this Expression in the Text of giving peace is meant giving the Messias and that this is render'd as the Reason why the Glory of the Second Temple should be greater than of the First because in that place the Messias should appear and remarkably shew himself God could have given this Second Temple if he had thought fit as much outward Glory and Beauty as that of Solomon's Building for silver and gold are his and all the Riches of the World are at his Command but he chose to put a far greater Honour upon it than that of Silver and Gold and to make it much more Glorious in another respect the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former because in this place I will give the Messias the peace and Happiness and Salvation of Mankind and incomparably the greatest Blessing that ever was given to the World The Words being thus explained it will now be more easie to shew how the several parts of this Prediction do agree to our Blessed Saviour and to no other I. That there should be great Changes and Commotions in the World before his coming I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations and then he should come II. That about the time of his coming the World should be in a general Expectation of him and the expectation of all nations shall come III. That he should come during the continuance of the Second Temple for it was his coming that should fill that House with Glory and in that place the Messias who is called Peace is promised to be given and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts IV. That this coming of the Messias should be the last dispensation of God for the Salvation of Men and consequently should be perpetual and unalterable yet once more and I will shake the heavens and the earth yet once more from whence the Apostle to the Hebrews argues that the Gospel should be a perpetual and unalterable dispensation Of these I shall speak severally and as briefly as I can I. Here is a Prediction of great Changes and Commotions in the World before the coming of the Messias thus saith the Lord of hosts I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come plainly signifying hereby that before the coming of the Messias who is here called the desire and expectation of all nations there should be very great Commotions and Changes in the World that the Empire of the World should be overturned for so I have told you that this Expression of shaking the heavens and the earth is explained verse 21. of this Chapter I will shake the heavens and the earth and will overthrow the throne of kingdoms And this was fulfilled in a most remarkable manner between the time of this Prophecy and the coming of our Blessed
Temple because it was his Presence that should fill that house with glory and it was in that place that the Messias who is called the Peace is promised to be given and in this place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts And this is likewise most expresly foretold by the Prophet Malachi chap. 3.1 Behold I will send my Messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye look for shall suddenly come into his temple even the Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts And accordingly Jesus our Blessed Saviour came during the second Temple he was presented there by his Parents and owned by Simeon for the Messias he Disputed there and Taught frequently there and by his Presence filled that house with glory For that the Son of God Taught publickly there was a greater Honour to it than all the Silver and Gold of Solomon's Temple And not long after his death according to his express Prediction this second Temple was destroyed to the Ground so that not one stone of it was left upon another And when some Hundred of Years after it was attempted to be Rebuilt Three several times the last whereof was by Julian the Apostate in opposition to Christianity and to our Saviour's Prediction Fire came out of the Foundation and destroyed the Workmen so that they desisted in great Terror and durst never attempt it afterwards And this not only the Christian Writers of that Age in great numbers do testifie but Ammianus Marcellinus a Heathen Historian who lived in that time does also give us a very particular Account of this memorable matter So that if by the Expectation of the Nations be here meant the Messias as I have plainly shewn then he is long since come and was no other than Jesus our Blessed Saviour who according to this Prophecy was to fill the second Temple with glory which hath now been demolish'd above One thousand six hundred Years ago and the Rebuilding whereof hath been so often and so remarkably hinder'd from Heaven The Consideration of all which were sufficient to convince the Jews of their vain Expectation of a Messias yet to come were they not so obstinately rooted and fixed in their Infidelity There remains now the IV. And Last Circumstance of this Prophecy viz. That the coming of the Messias was to be the last Dispensation of God for the Salvation of Men and consequently was to be perpetual and unchangeable Yet once more and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land And I will shake all nations and the Expectation of all nations shall come Yet once more from which Words the Apostle to the Hebrews argues the Perpetuity of the Gospel and that it was the Dispensation which should never be changed Heb. 12.27 And this word Yet once more signifies the removing of those things which are shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain And then it follows Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved c. It was usual with the Jews to describe the times of the Gospel by the Kingdom of the Messias and accordingly the Apostle here calls the Dispensation of the Gospel a kingdom which cannot he moved In opposition to the Law which was an imperfect and alterable Dispensation For this is plainly the scope of the Apostle's reasoning namely to convince the Jews that they were now under a more gracious and perfect Dispensation than that of the Law ver 18. Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire meaning Mount Sinai which was a sensible literal Mountain a mountain that might be touched in opposition to the mystical and spiritual Mount Sion by which the Dispensation of the Gospel is described Which by the way prevents the Objection of its being called the Mountain that might be touch'd when it was forbidden to be touch'd upon pain of Death Ye are not come to the Mount that might be touched that is I am not now speaking of a literal and sensible Mountain such as was Mount Sinai from whence the Law was given but of that Spiritual and Heavenly Dispensation of the Gospel which was typified by Mount Sion and by Jerusalem but ye are come to mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant And then he cautions them to take heed how they reject him that came from Heaven to make this last Revelation of God to the World which because of the clearness and perfection of it should never need to receive any change ver 25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth viz. Moses who delivered the Law from Mount Sinai much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven whose voice then shook the earth alluding to the Earthquake at the giving of the Law but now he hath promised saying Yet once more I shake not the earth only but also heaven that is the whole World in order to the coming of the Messias and the planting of the Gospel in the World and then he argues from the Words once more that the former Dispensation should be removed to make way for that which should perpetually remain And indeed there is no need of any farther Revelation after this nor of any change of that Religion which was brought from Heaven by the Son of God because of the Perfection of it and its fitness to Reform the World and to recover Mankind out of their lapsed and degenerate Condition and to bring them to Happiness both by the Purity of its Doctrine and the Power of its Arguments to work upon the Minds of Men by the clear discovery of the mighty Rewards and Punishments of another World And now the proper Inference from all this Discourse is the very same with that which the Apostle makes from the Consideration of the Perfection and Excellency of this Revelation which God had made to the World by his Son See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for how shall we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven And at the 28th Verse of that Chapter Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear that is Let us Live as becomes those to whom God hath made so clear and perfect a Revelation of his Will We have all the Advantages of the Divine Revelation which the World ever had and the last and most perfect that the World ever shall have We have not only Moses and the Prophets but that Doctrine which the Son of God came down from Heaven on purpose to declare to the World God hath vouchsafed to us that clear and compleat Revelation of
provide for the supply of those two great Wants which they seem'd always to have laboured under and concerning which they were at so great a loss viz. an effectual expiatory Sacrifice for Sins upon Earth and a powerful Mediator and Intercessor with God in Heaven And both these by the same Person Jesus Christ who appeared in the end of the World to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself and in the Merit and Vertue of that Sacrifice appearing in Heaven in the Presence of God for us is become a perpetual Advocate and a most powerful Intercessor with God in Heaven for us So that instead of the endless Sacrifices of the Jewish Religion which were ineffectual to the real Expiation of Sin and only Types and Shadows of the true expiatory Sacrifice and instead of the bloody and inhumane Sacrifices of the Heathen Idolatry the Son of God hath by one Sacrifice for Sin once offered perfected for ever them that are sanctified and obtained eternal Redemption for us And instead of the Mediation of Angels and the Souls of their departed Heroes which the Heathen made use of to offer up their Prayers to the Gods We have one Mediator between God and Men appointed by God himself Jesus the Son of God who in our Nature is ascended into Heaven to appear in the presence of God for us And who so fit to be our Patron and Advocate as he who was our Sacrifice and Propitiation Thus the Method of our Redemption as it was by the Wisdom of God admirably suited to the common Apprehensions of Mankind concerning the necessity of a Sacrifice to make Expiation of Sin and of a Mediator to intercede with God for Sinners so was it likewise excellently fitted not only to put an end to the Jewish Sacrifices but likewise to abolish the barbarous Sacrifices and Rites of the Heathen Idolatry and to cashier that infinite number of Mediators and Intercessors by whom they address'd their Prayers to the Deity and instead of all this to introduce a more reasonable and spiritual Worship more agreeable to the Nature and Perfections of God and the Reason of Mankind which was one of the main and principal Designs of the Christian Religion And therefore to bring in any other Mediators to intercede in Heaven for us whether Angels or Saints and by them to offer up our Prayers to God is directly contrary to the Design of the Christian Religion Thirdly It is likewise evident from the Nature and Reason of the thing it self that there is but one Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven who offers up our Prayers to God and that there can be no more Because under the Gospel there being but one High Priest and but one Sacrifice once offered for Sin and Intercession for Sinners being founded in the Merit and Virtue of the Sacrifice by which Expiation for Sin is made there can be no other Mediator of Intercession but he who hath made Expiation of Sin by a Sacrifice offered to God for that purpose and this Jesus Christ only hath done He is both our High Priest and our Sacrifice and therefore he only in the Merit and Virtue of that Sacrifice which he offered upon Earth can intercede in Heaven for us and offer up our Prayers to God Others may pray to God for us as our Brethren upon Earth do and perhaps the Angels and Saints in Heaven but none of these can offer up our Prayers to God and procure the acceptance of them for that can only be done in Virtue of a Sacrifice first offered and by him that offered it this being the peculiar Office and Qualification of a Mediator or Intercessor properly so called It is the plain Design of the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews to prove that Christ is our only Mediator in Heaven in Vertue of that Sacrifice for Sin which he offered upon Earth and that he alone appears in the Presence of God for us to present our Requests to him and obtain a gracious Answer of them and he shews at large how this was particularly typified by the Jewish High Priest who upon the great day of Expiation after the Sacrifice was slain without enter'd alone into the Holy of Holies with the Blood of the Sacrifices in Vertue whereof he made Intercession for the People Answerable to this Jesus the High Priest of our Profession offered himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of Men and in vertue of that Sacrifice is enter'd into the High Place not made with Hands that is into Heaven it self there to appear in the Presence of God for us where he lives for ever to make intercession for us in Vertue of that Eternal Redemption which he hath obtained for us by the Price of his Blood as the Apostle declares in several Chapters of that Epistle So that this Intercession being founded in the Merit of a Sacrifice which he alone offered he is of necessity the only Mediator between God and Men. And for this Reason it is that the Mediation and Intercession of Christ is so frequently in Scripture mentioned together with the Expiation which he made for the Sins of Men or which is the same with the price which he paid for the Redemption of Mankind because the one is founded in the other and depends upon it So we find 1 John 2.1 2. If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World And here likewise in the Text There is one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all therefore the only Mediator between God and men because he only gave himself a Ransom for all men The Efficacy and Prevalency of his Mediation being founded in the Merit and Vertue of the Ransom of his Blood And the force of these Texts and the reasoning from them is not to be avoided and turned off by distinguishing between a Mediator of Redemption and of Intercession and by saying that it is true that Christ is the only Mediator of Redemption but there may be many Mediators of Intercession For if the Force of his being Advocate or Intercessor be founded in the Virtue of his Ransom and Propitiation as I have plainly shewn to the Conviction of any that are not strongly prejudiced and that will read and consider what the Scripture says in this matter without Prepossession then it is plain that none can be a proper Mediator of Intercession but he that paid the Price of our Redemption So that the Mediator of our Redemption and our Mediator of intercession must of necessity be one and the same Person and none can appear in the Quality of our Advocate with the Father but he only who is the Propitiation for the sins of the whole World I should now have proceeded to The Fourth thing I proposed in the handling of this Argument namely To
Church of Rome in this matter is contrary to that of the Christian Church for several of the first Ages of it As for the Ages of the Apostles it hath been already proved out of their Writings That it was not practised in the three first Ages we have the Acknowledgment of Cardinal Perron and others of their learned Writers and they give a very remarkable Reason for it namely Because the Worship and Invocation of Saints and Angels and addressing our Prayers to God by them might have seem'd to have given Countenance to the Heathen Idolatry From whence I cannot forbear by the way to make these two Observations 1. That the Invocation of Saints and Angels and the Blessed Virgin and addressing our selves to God by their Mediation was not in those Primitive Ages esteemed a Duty of the Christian Religion because if it had it could not have been omitted for fear of the Scandal consequent upon it And if it was not a Duty then By what Authority or Law can it be made so since 2. That this Practice is very lyable to the Suspicion of Idolatry and surely every Christian cannot but think it fit that the Church of Christ should like a chast Spouse not only be free from the Crime but from all Suspicion of Idolatry And for the next Ages after the Apostles nothing is plainer than that both their Doctrine and Practice were contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of the present Church of Rome in this Matter The most ancient Fathers of the Christian Church do constanly define Prayer to be an address to God and therefore it cannot be made to any but God only And after the rise of Arianism they argued for the Divinity of Christ against the Arians from our Praying to him which Argument were of no force if Prayers might be made to any but God and this was in the beginning of the Fourth Age. And we no where find any mention of those Distinctions of Gods by Nature and Gods by Participation as Bellarmin calls the Angels and Saints or of a supream and inferior Religious Worship or of a Mediator of Redemption and a Mediator of Intercession which are so commonly made use of by the Church of Rome in this Controversie And which is as considerable as any of the rest the ancient Fathers were generally of Opinion that the Saints were not admitted to the Beatifick Vision till after the Day of Judgment and this is acknowledged by the most Learned of the Church of Rome But this very Opinion takes away the Foundation of Praying to Saints because the Church of Rome grounds it upon their Reigning with Christ in Heaven and upon the Light and Knowledge which is communicated to them in the Beatifick Vision and if so then they who believed the Saints not yet to be admitted to this Vision could have no Reason or Ground to pray to them And Lastly The ancient Church prayed for Saints departed and for the Blessed Virgin her self and therefore could not pray to them as Intercessors for them in Heaven for whom they themselves interceeded upon Earth And therefore the Church of Rome in complyance with the change which they have made in their Doctrine have changed the Missal in that Point and instead of praying for St. Leo one of their Popes as they were wont to do in their ancient Missal in this form Grant O Lord that this Oblation may be profitable to the Soul of thy Servant Leo the Collect is now changed in the present Roman Missal into this Form Grant O Lord that by the Intercession of Blessed Leo this Offering may be profitable to us And as the Gloss upon the Canon Law observes this change was made in their Missal upon very good Reason because anciently they prayed for Leo but now they pray to him which is an ingenuous Acknowledgement that both the Doctrine and Practice of their Church are plainly changed from what they anciently were in this matter What the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome are in this matter all the World sees and they themselves are so ashamed of them that of late all their endeavours have been to represent them otherwise than in truth they are and to obtrude upon us a new Popery which they think themselves better able to defend than the old which yet they have not shewn that they are so well able to do and therefore now instead of defending the true Doctrines and Practices of their own Church they would fain mince and disguise them and change them into something that comes nearer to the Protestant Doctrine in those Points As if they had no way to defend their own Doctrines but by seeming to desert them and by bringing them as near to ours as possibly they can But take them as they have mollified them and par'd them to render them more plausible and tenable that which still remains of them I mean the solemn Invocation of Saints and Angels as Mediators and Intercessors with God in Heaven for us is plainly contrary both to the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Ages of Christianity As for the Age of the Apostles I have already shewn it and the matter is as clear for several of the next following Ages as I shall briefly shew from a few very plain Testimonies In the Age next to the Apostles we have an Epistle of one of the Seven Churches I mean the Church of Smyrna in which in Vindication of themselves from that Calumny which was raised against them by the Jews among the Heathen That if they permitted the Christians to have the body of the martyred Polycarp they would leave Christ to worship Polycarp I say in vindication of themselves from this Calumny they declare themselves thus Not knowing say they that we can neither leave Christ who suffered for the Salvation of the World of those that are saved nor Worship any other or as it is in the old Latin Translation nor offer up the Supplication of Prayer to any other Person for as for Jesus Christ we adore him as being the Son of God but as for the Martyrs we love them as the Disciples and Imitators of the Lord. So that they plainly exclude the Saints from any sort of Religious Worship of which Prayer or Invocation was always esteemed a very considerable part Ireneus likewise tells us l. 2. That the Church doth nothing speaking of the Miracles which were wrought by the Invocatin of Angels nor by Inchantment nor by any other wicked Arts but by Prayers to the Lord who made all things and by calling on the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ Here all invocation of Angels and by the same or greater Reason of the Saints is excluded And Clemens Alexandrinus delivers it as the Doctrine of the Church That since there is but one good God therefore both we and the Angels pray to him both for the giving and the continuance of good things In the next Age Origen is so full and express
also by joining with the Priest in a Service which they do not understand But how they can be edified by what they do not understand I must confess my self as little able to understand as they do their Prayers But whether they understand them or not 't is certain that if the People have any part in the Publick Prayers of the Church they are bound to pray to Angels and Saints And if the Creed of Pope Pius IV. framed by Virtue of an Order of the Council of Trent be of any Authority with them one of the Articles of it is that I do firmly hold that the Saints which Reign together with Christ are to be worshipped and invocated and that they do offer up Prayers to God for us And this Creed all the Governors of Cathedrals and Superior Churches and all who hold any Dignity or Benefice with Cure of Souls from them are bound solemnly to make Profession of and Swear to and carefully to cause it to be Held and Taught and Preached by all that are under their Charge so that they are to Teach the People that the Saints which reign together with Christ are to be worshipped and prayed to And therefore unless People are not bound to do that which they are to be Taught it is their Duty to do they are by Virtue of this Article required to worship and pray to Saints And if the Publicly Office of their Church be the Publick Worship and Pope Pius his Creed the Publick Faith of the Romish Church no Man can be either of the Faith or in the Communion of that Church who does not only hold it Lawful but his Duty to worship the Saints in Heaven and to pray to them and accordingly does join in the Worship of them and Prayers to them as much as in any other part of Divine Service 2. Another Pretence for this Doctrine and Practice is that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us and what is this but to be Mediators and Intercessors with God for us And if so why may not we pray to them to intercede with God for us To this I answer four things 1. We do not deny that the Saints in Heaven pray for us that are here upon Earth because they may do so for any thing we know but that they do so is more than can be proved either by clear Testimony of Scripture or by any convincing Argument from Reason and therefore no Doctrine or Practice can be safely grounded upon it 2. Tho' it were certain that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us yet they are not Mediators and Intercessors properly so called For all Intercession strictly and properly so call'd is in Virtue of a Sacrifice offered by him that intercedes and therefore he only by whom Expiation of Sin is made upon Earth can be properly an Intercessor with God in Heaven but this no Angel or Saint hath done or can do And as I have shew'd in some of the former Discourses it is the plain scope of a great part of the Epistle to the Hebrews to prove this very thing that under the Gospel we have an High Priest that lives for ever and appears in the Presence of God for us in the Virtue of that Blood which he shed and that Sacrifice which he offered upon the Cross for the Expiation of Sin And that by this High Priest only we have Access with Freedom and Confidence to the Throne of Grace and by him do offer up all our Prayers and Thanksgivings and all other Acts of Religious Worship to God And this the Apostle shews was typified in an imperfect Manner by the Jewish High Priest under the Law who was but one and none but he only could enter into the Holy of Holies with the Blood of the Sacrifices that were slain and burnt without by which Blood he made an Atonement and Interceded for the People and though every Priest might pray for the People and the People for one another which is a kind of Intercession yet that peculiar kind of Intercession which was performed by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies in virtue of the Sacrifice that was slain without could not be made but by the High Priest only By all which was typified our High Priest under the Gospel who only hath made Expiation of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself and is enter'd into Heaven to appear in the Presence of God for us where he lives for ever to make Intercession for us in virtue of that Blood which was shed for the Expiation of Sin and which can only be presented to God by him that shed it And this is properly Intercession like that of the High Priest under the Law for the People of Israel and this kind of Intercession can be made by none in Heaven for us but only by the High Priest of our Profession Jesus the Son of God and by none else can we offer up our Prayers and Services to God and consequently we cannot address our selves to any other Angels or Saints as Mediators with God for us 3. Supposing it certain that the Saints do pray for us yet we may not address solemn Prayer to them to pray for us because Prayer and solemn Invocation is a part of that Religious Worship which is peculiar to God 4. Supposing it not only certain that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us but likewise that they might be proper Mediators and Intercessors with God for us yet we ought not to pray to them because they cannot hear us as I shall have occassion to shew fully by and by 3. Another of their Pretences or Excuses for this Practice is that praying to Saints to pray for us is no more than what we do to good Men upon Earth when we desire them to pray for us So the late Expounder of the Catholique Faith namely the Bishop of Meaux tells us that they pray to the Saints in Heaven in the same order of Brotherly society with which we entreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us But that this is not a true Representation either of their Doctrine or Practice in this matter will appear by these following Considerations 1. That they pray to the Angels and Saints in Heaven with the same solemn Circumstances of Religious Worship that they pray to God himself in the same place and in the same humble Posture and in the same Religious Offices and Services in which they pray to God which surely is never done by any to their Brethren upon Earth 2. That in their Prayers and Thanksgivings they joyn the Angels and the Blessed Virgin arid the Saints together with God and Christ as if to use their own Phrase it were in the same order of Brotherly Society and as if they were all equally the Objects of our Invocation and Praise of which in my last Discourse I gave several plain Instances but this also is never done to our Brethren upon Earth 3. That in the Creed of
Pope Pius IV. it is expresly said that the Saints which reign together with Christ are to be Worshipped and invocated but this surely they will not allow to be done to our Brethren upon Earth And the Council of Trent does expresly ground the Worship and Invocation of Saints upon their reigning with Christ in Heaven and therefore this Worship and Invocation of Saints must necessarily be something more than according to the same order of brotherly Society with which we entreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us Otherwise the Reason given by the Council of their reigning with Christ in Heaven would be frivolous if the same thing may be done to our Brethren upon Earth 4. In the Publick Offices of their Church they do not only pray to the Saints to pray for them but they direct their Prayers and Thanksgivings immediately to them for all those Blessings and Benefits which they ask of God and thank him for Of which innumerable Examples might be given out of their Publick Offices particularly in the Office of the Blessed Virgin they pray to the Angels thus Deliver us we beseech you by your command from all our Sins And the words of the Decree of the Council of Trent ad eorum orationes opem auxiliumque confugere to flee to their Prayers aid and help unless we will make them a meer tautology must of necessity signifie something more than begging of them to pray for us And indeed those words of their aid and help seem to be added one purpose to give countenance to those direct Prayers which are made to the Saints for all Spiritual and Temporal Blessings and which still remain without any Change in their Publick Offices and unless we will understand them contrary to the plain and obvious Sense of those Prayers they must signifie something more than Praying to the Saints to pray for us 'T is true indeed that the Catechism which was framed by order of the Council of Trent for the Explaining of their Doctrines makes the difference between their Prayers to God and to the Saints to lie in this that we say to God Have mercy one us or hear our Prayers but to the Saints Pray for us But I have shewn before that this is not the constant Form of Praying to Saints but that frequently they make direct Addresses to them for their help and aid And this the Compilers of the Catechism were sensible of and therefore they add although it be Lawful in another manner to ask of the Saints themselves that they would have mercy on us because they are very merciful And is not God so too And then where is the difference between their Prayers to God and to the Saints If it neither lie in the Matter of them nor in the Form nor in the Reason of them if we pray to them for the same thing and in the same Form have mercy on us and our Prayers to them be grounded upon the same Reason that our Prayers to God are namely because they are merciful where then is the difference between them 4. I will mention but one Pretence more which is that by Praying to the Saints in Heaven they do not make them Gods and therefore there can be no Suspicion or danger of Idolatry inthe case To this I shall answer Two things 1. That praying to them in all places and at all times and for all sorts of Blessings does suppose them to have the incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature imparted to them or inherent in them namely his Omnipotence and Omniscience and Immense Presence and to whatever Being we ascribe these Perefections Serm. V. in so doing we make it God for Prayer to God is no otherwise an acknowledgment of his Omnipotence Omniscience and Immense Presence than as we do in all places and at all times pray to him for all things and so they do to the Saints and that not only with vocal but with mental Prayer which the Council of Trent allows and in so doing necessarily supposeth them to know our hearts directly contrary to the Reason which Solomon gives why we should put up all our Prayers and Supplications to God 1 Kings 3.39 for thou even thou only knowest the hearts of all the Children of Men. 2. Bellarmine is so sensible of the dint of this Argument that he is forced to acknowledge the Saints which reign with Christ in Heaven to be Gods by participation that is a sort of inferiour Gods as the Heathen supposed their Mediators to be and that therefore we may flie to their Aid and Help as well as to their Intercession and Prayers And is this also to pray to the Saints in Heaven in the same Order of Brotherly Society with which we entreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us This methinks is great Familiarity to treat Gods by Participation just in the same manner as we do our Brethren upon Earth Certainly either Bellarmine hath raised the Saints in Heaven too high when he makes them Gods by participation or the Bishop of Meaux hath sunk them too low when he thinks they are to be treated and addrest to in the same Rank of Brotherly Society with mortal Men here upon Earth One cannot but think the Decree of the Council of Trent to be very obscure and ambiguous when it can admit of Two so very different Explications If the infallible Judge of Controversies can speak no plainer I think we had even best stick to the Bible and hear what God says in his Word and endeavour to understand it as well as we can I proceed now to the Fourth thing which I proposed namely to shew that this Practice of theirs of Addressing our selves to Angels and Saints and making use of their Mediation to offer up our Prayers and Thanksgivings to God is not only Needless being no where commanded by God but Vseless also and unprofitable They are so far from pretending that it is commanded by God that several of their later Writers would fain make us believe that it is not enjoined by their Councils but only declared to be lawful or at most but recommended as profitable Nor is there any Example of praying to Saints either in the Old or New Testament Not in the Old as they of the Church of Rome confess because the Saints were not then admitted into Heaven nor in the New for fear of scandalizing the Jews and of making the Gentiles think they proposed new Gods and new Mediators to them instead of the old which are the Reasons given by their own Writers And it is Needless likewise because the Mediation of Jesus Christ alone is sufficient for us and more than the Intercession of Millions of Saints and Angels He alone is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him as the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks Hath not he made a clear and full Promise to us that whatever we ask in his Name shall be granted us
of the Church of Rome I mean the School-men who cannot be content to be ignorant of any thing do assign of the Knowledge which the Saints in Heaven have of the Condition and Wants of men here below They tell us that they know all our Prayers and Wants in the Glass of the Deity or Trinity which Metaphor of the Glass of the Deity or Trinity if it have any meaning it must be this that the Saints in Heaven beholding the Face of God or the Divine Essence in which the Knowledge of all things is contained they may in that Glass see all things that God knows But then they spoil all this fine Speculation again by telling us that this Glass does not necessarily represent to them all that Knowledge which is in the Divine Mind but that it is a kind of voluntary Glass in which the Saints are only permitted to see so much as God pleaseth but how much that is they cannot tell us Which amounts to no more than this that the Saints in Heaven know as much of our Condition here upon Earth as God is pleased to reveal to them And if this be all it is as good a Reason why we should pray to good men in the East or West-Indies to pray for us and help us because they also know as much of our Necessities and Prayers as God thinks fit to reveal to them But if the Saints must have a Revelation from God of our Prayers before that they know that we pray to them then the shortest and surest way both is to pray to God and not to them or however as Bellarmine confesseth it were very fit to pray to God before every Prayer we make to the Saints that he would be pleased to reveal that Prayer to them that upon this Signal and Notice given them by God they may betake themselves to pray to God for us But unless it were very clear from Scripture that God had appointed this Method it is in Reason such a way about as no Man would take that could help it And it seems to me to as little purpose for why should not a Man think God as ready to grant him all his other Requests without the Mediation and Intercession of Saints as this one Request of revealing our Prayers and Wants to them And if this way be not thought so convenient I know but one more and that is to pray to the Saints to go to God and beg of him that he would be pleased to reveal to them our Spplications and Wants that they may know what to pray to him for in our behalf which is just such a wise course as if a Man should write a Letter to his Friend that cannot read and in a Postscript desire him that as soon as he hath received it he would carry it to one that can read and entreat him to read it to him Serm. VI. So that which way soever we put the Case what course soever we take in this Matter it will be so far from seeming Reasonable that we shall have much ado and must handle the business very tenderly to hinder it from appearing very Ridiculous Thus I have examined their chief Pretences from Scripture for the Countenancing this Doctrine and Practice and have shewn how little or rather nothing at all is there to be found for it and That alone is Reason enough against it though there were nothing in Scripture against it that there is nothing in Scripture for it But I have already produced clear Proof out of the New Testament against it And because they think the least shew and probability from Scripture a good Argument on their side I will offer them a probable Argument out of the Old Testament upon which though I will lay no absolute stress yet I believe it would puzzle them upon their Principles to give a clear Answer to it and it is from 2 Kings 2.9 where Elijah just before he was taken up into Heaven says to Elisha Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee thereby intimating as one would think that then was the last Opportunity of asking any thing of him But if Elijah had understood the Matter right as the Church of Rome does now he should rather have directed him to have pray'd to him when he was in Heaven where he would have a more powerful Interest and be in a better Capacity to do him a Kindness For the Reason the Church of Rome gives why they did not pray to the Saints under the Old Testament namely because they were not then admitted into Heaven will not hold in the Case of Elijah who was taken up into Heaven Body and Soul and consequently in as good Circumstances to be prayed to as any of the Saints and Martyrs that have gone to Heaven since I should now have proceeded in the Fifth and last place to have shewen That this Practice is not only Needless and Vseless but very Dangerous and Impious because contrary to the Christian Religion and greatly derogating from the Merit and Virtue of Christ's Sacrifice and from the Honour of the only Mediator between God and Men Christ Jesus And indeed how can we apply our selves to any other Mediators and Intercessors with God in Heaven for us without a gross and apparent Contempt of the High Priest of our Profession Jesus the Son of God As if we either distrusted his Kindness and Affection or his Power and Interest in Heaven to obtain at God's hand all those Blessings which we stand in need of The Apostle to the Hebrews tells us expresly that he is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him that is who address their Prayers and Supplications to God in his Name and Mediation But if we will chuse other Mediators for our selves of whom we are not sure that they can either hear or help us we may fall short of that Salvation which the Apostle tells us we are secure of by the Mediation of Jesus Christ for he is able c. But this hath been shewn so abundantly in the former part of this Discourse and is so clearly consequent from the whole that I shall here conclude my Discourse upon the Second Proposition I laid down from the words of my Text viz. That there is but one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus As to the Third Proposition contained in the Text viz. That this one Mediator Jesus Christ gave himself a Ransom for all I have treated on that Subject particularly on another * A Sermon concerning the Sacrifice and Satisfaction of Christ Printed in the year 1693. Occasion And as to the Fourth and last Proposition viz. That the Mediation or Intercession of Jesus Christ is founded in his Redemption of Mankind and because he gave himself a Ransom for all therefore He and He only is qualified to Intercede for all men in vertue of that Sacrifice which he offered for the
us from the first Spring and Original of Mankind of which general Consent and Tradition it is one of the hardest things in the World to assign any good Reason if the Things themselves were not true Therefore I shall not go about to force my way into this Argument concerning the Existence of Spirits and Beings distinct from Matter by dint of dispute which perhaps would neither be so proper nor so profitable for this Assembly but shall take the thing as I find it received by a general Consent of Mankind And so the Books of Divine Revelation do Nor was there Reason to proceed in any other method than to suppose these things and take them for granted as generally assented to by Mankind without either asserting them for new Discoveries or attempting to prove what was so universally believed The Scriptures indeed have more particularly declared the Nature of these Spirits as also their Order and Employment as in the words which I have read to you where the Office and Employment of Good Angels is more particularly discovered Serm. VI. Are they not all says the Text ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation The Author of this Epistle to the Hebrews having had occasion in comparing the two Dispensations of the Law and the Gospel to speak of the Angels by whose Ministry the Law was given did not think fit to entertain those to whom he wrote with any nice and curious Speculations for School Divinity was not then in fashion about the Nature and Order of Angels but tells us what it concerns us more to know namely what their Office and Employment is in regard to us Concerning their Nature he only tell us that they are Spirits as to their Office and Employment he says in general that they are Ministring Spirits that is that they stand before God to attend upon him ready to receive his Commands and to execute his Pleasure more particularly that they are upon occasion appointed and sent forth by God to minister on the behalf and to do good Offices for them that shall be heirs of salvation Which last words are a description of pious and good Men such as had sincerely embraced the Christian Religion and were thereby become the Children of God and Heirs of Eternal Salvation So that these words are a brief Summary of the Doctrine of Good Angels and of what the Scripture has thought fit to reveal to us concerning them Which may be referred to these Three Heads First Their Nature Are they not Spirits Secondly Their general Office and Employment Are they not Ministring Spirits Thirdly Their special Office and Employment in regard to good Men they are sent forth to minister for them that is in their behalf and for their benefit who shall be heirs of salvation And this is as much as is necessary for us to know concerning them and all this is very agreeable to the general Apprehension of Mankind but the Scripture hath very much cleared and confirmed to us that which was more obscure and less certain before I shall briefly explain and illustrate these Three Heads and then draw some useful Inferences from the whole First For their Nature they are Spirits This is universally agreed by all that acknowledge such an Order of Beings that they are Spirits But whether they are pure Spirits devested of Matter and all kind of corporeal Vehicle as the Philosophers term it hath been a great Controversie but I think of no great Moment and Consequence Not only the ancient Philosophers but some of the ancient Christian Fathers did believe Angels to be cloathed with some kind of Bodies consisting of the purest and finest Matter which they call Aetherial And this Opinion seems to be grounded upon a pious Belief that it is the peculiar Excellency and Prerogative of the Divine Nature to be a pure and simple Spirit wholly separate from Matter But the more current Opinion of the Christian Church especially of later times hath been that Angels are mere and pure Spirits without any thing that is Material and Corporeal belonging to them but yet so that they have a Power to assume thin and airy Bodies and can when they please appear in Humane Shape as they are frequently in Scripture said to have done And this seems most agreeable to the Scripture Account of them tho' I think it is no necessary Article of Faith either to believe that they are cloathed with some kind of Bodies or that they are wholly devested of Matter But however this be they are described in Scripture to be endowed with great Excellencies and Perfections they are said to excell in strength Psal 103.20 and in Knowledge and Wisdom Hence are those Expressions of being as an Angel of God to discern good and bad 2 Sam. 14.17 Wise according to the wisdom of an Angel v. 20. To be of great Activity and Swiftness in their Motions hence it is that they are represented in Scripture as full of wings and to excel in purity and holiness hence is that Title given them in Scripture of the Holy Angels This is the Summ of what the Scripture hath in several places delivered to us concerning the Nature and Properties of good Angels and beyond this all our Kowledge of them is mere Conjecture and Uncertainty and the nice Speculations concerning them idle and wanton Curiosities Indeed the Scripture gives sufficient intimation of several Ranks and Orders among them by calling Michael an Archangel and Chief Prince and by distingushing them by the names of Principalities and Powers and Thrones and Dominions But what the difference of these Names import though some have attempted to explain yet I do not find that they have discovered any thing to us besides their own Ignorance and Arogance in pretending to be wise above what is written intruding into those things which they have not seen being vainly puft up in their fleshly minds as the Apostle censures some in his time Secondly We have here their general Office and Employment they are ministring Spirits they are as I may say domestick Servants and constant Attendants upon that great and glorious King whose Throne is in the Heavens and whose Kingdom ruleth over all they stand continually before him to behold his face expecting his Commands and in a constant readiness to do his Will For tho' the Omnipotence of God and his perfect Power of acting be such that he can do all things immediately by himself whatever he pleaseth in Heaven and in Earth can govern the World and steer the Affairs of it and turn them which way he thinks best by the least nod and beck of his Will without any Instruments or Ministers of his Pleasure yet his Wisdom and Goodness has thought fit to honour his Creatures especially this higher and more perfect Rank of Beings with his Commands and to make them according to their several Degrees and Capacities the ordinary Ministers of his Affairs in the
Sixteen Sermons Preached on Several Subjects and Occasions VIZ. The Presence of the Messias the Glory of the Second Temple Christ Jesus the Only Mediator betwixt God and Men. The Nature Office and Employment of Good Angels The Reputation of Good Men after Death The Duty of Imitating Primitive Teachers and Patterns of Christianity The Encouragement to suffer for Christ and the Danger of Denying him The Blessedness of Good Men after Death The Vanities and Wickedness of honouring dead Saints and Persecuting the Living The Danger of Zeal without Knowledge The Best Men liable to the Worst Temptations from mistaken Zealots The Duty and Reason of Praying for Governors The Love of God to Men in the Incarnation of Christ By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The SECOND VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D.D. Chaplain to his Grace The Second Edition Corrected LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCC The CONTENTS SERMON I. The Presence of the Messias the Glory of the Second Temple Preached on Christmas-Day Haggai II. 6 7 8 9. FOR thus saith the Lord of hosts yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts pag. 1. SERMON II. Christ Jesus the only Mediator between God and Men. Preached on the Feast of the Annuntiation 1691. 1 Tim. II. 5 6. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all p. 37. SERMON III IV. Christ Jesus the only Mediator between God and Men. 1 Tim. II. 5 6. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all p. 63 87. SERMON V. The General and Effectual Publication of the Gospel by the Apostles Preached on Ascension-Day 1688. Mark XVI 19 20. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into Heaven and sat on the right Hand of God And they went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with Signs following p. 117. SERMON VI. The Nature Office and Employment of Good Angels Preached on the Feast of St. Michael Heb. I. 14. Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation p. 153. SERMON VII The Reputation of Good Men after Death Preached on St. Luke's-Day Psal CXII 6. The latter part of the Verse The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance p. 193 SERMON VIII The Duty of imitating the Primitive Teachers and Patterns of Christianity Preached on All-Saints Day 1684. Heb. XIII 7. The latter Part of the Verse Whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation The whole Verse runs thus Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation p. 221 SERMON IX The Encouragement to suffer for Christ and the Danger of denying him Preached on All-Saints Day 2 Tim. II. 11 12. It is a faithful saying For if we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him If we deny him he also will deny us p. 249 Two SERMONS X XI The Blessedness of Good Men after Death Both Preached on All-Saints Day Rev. XIV 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them p. 305 SERMON XII The Vanities and Wickedness of honouring dead Saints and Persecuting the Living Preached on All-Saints Day Luke XI 49 50 51. Therefore also said the Wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles and some of them they shall slay and persecute That the blood of all the Prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the Altar and the Temple Verily I say unto you it shall be required of this generation p. 331. SERMON XIII The Danger of Zeal without Knowledge Preached on November 5. 1682. Rom. X. 2. I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge p. 353 SERMON XIV The best Men liable to the worst Treatment from mistaken Zealots Preached November 5. 1686. John XVI 2. They shall put you out of the Synagogues Yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service p. 383 SERMON XV. The Duty and Reason of Praying for Governors Preached on the 29th of May 1693. 1 Tim. II 1 2. I exhort therefore that first of all supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for Kings and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty p. 413 SERMON XVI The Love of God to Men in the Incarnation of Christ Preached in the Chapel at Lambeth-House on Christmas-Day 1691. 1 John XIV 9. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him p. 445 Serm. I SERMON I. The Presence of the Messias the Glory of the Second Temple Preached on Christmas Day Haggai II. 6 7 8 9. For thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts THE Author of this Prophecy was the first of the three Prophets which God sent to the People of Israel after the Captivity VOL. II. and this Prophecy contains several Messages from God to the Princes and Elders and People of Israel in which he reproves their slackness and negligence in the building of the Temple and encourageth them thereto by the promise of his assistance and tells them that however in respect of the magnificence of the Building and the rich Ornaments of it it should be incomparably short of
attend upon himself This is our Saviour's own Argument Matth. 18. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you their Angels do continually behold the face of your Father which is in Heaven With how much Contempt soever we may look upon a poor good Man he hath Friends and Patrons of a higher sort than any of the Princes of this World Fourthly If God appointed Angels to be Ministring Spirits on our behalf we may thence very reasonably conclude that God did not intend that we should worship them This seems to be a clear Consequence if the Reasoning of the Angel in the Revelation be good where he forbids St. John to worship him because he was his fellow servant Yea the Consequence seems to be yet stronger from the Text that if they be not only Fellow Servants but do in some sort minister unto us then we are not to worship them And yet this Practice is openly avowed in the Church of Rome though it be reproved so very severely by the Apostle as an Apostacy from Christianity Colos 2.18 19. Let no man says he deceive you in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels not holding the head as if it were a Renouncing of Christ out of a pretended Humility to make use of other Mediators besides him to the Father And notwithstanding also that the Angel in the Revelation does so vehemently forbid it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by no means upon no terms do it and he forbids it for such a Reason as makes it for ever unlawful namely that we ought not to worship those who serve and worship God together with us Do it not says the Angel I am thy fellow Servant worship thou God In which words he plainly directs us to the sole and proper Object of our Worship Bellarmine the great Champion of the Popish Cause never used more gross and apparent shuffling than in Answer to this Text. He says first why are we reproved for doing what St. John did To which the Answer is very easie because St. John himself was reproved by an Angel for doing what he did And now that his Question is answered one might methinks ask him a cross Question or two Why do the Church of Rome presume to do that which an Angel does so expresly forbid to be done Or was it fit for St. John to worship one who according to Bellarmine was so ignorant in the Doctrine of the Catholick Church as to reprove him for doing his Duty As is evident from his Second crafty Answer to this Text That St. John did well to give due Worship to the Angel And yet it is plain from this Text that the Angel did not think the Worship which St. John gave to him to be his due It is very hard to imagine but that a Man of Bellarmine's Understanding did intend to give up the Cause in his Answers to this Text But if he was in earnest then the Matter is brought to this plain and short issue Whether it be fitter for us to believe a Cardinal of Rome or an Angel of God Lastly We should imitate the holy Angel by endeavouring to serve God as they do in ministring to the Good of others Whilst we are in the Body in this state of infirmity and imperfection tho' we cannot serve God with the same Activity and Vigour that the blessed Angels do yet we may in the same Sincerity and with the same true Pleasure and Delight And we should learn also of them to condescend to the meanest Services for the good of others If the Angels who are no ways allied to us and do so much excel us in the Dignity and Perfection of their Nature for tho' David says that God made man little lower than the Angels his meaning is that he made him next below the Angels in the Rank of Beings but yet very distant from them in Perfection I say if those glorious Creatures who are the Chief of the Ways and Works of God do not think much to humble themselves to be Ministers on our behalf shall we be so proud as to think much to stoop to the lowest Offices to serve one another You see my Brethren what is the constant Work and Employment of the Blessed Spirits above to do good to Men especially in order to their Eternal Happiness and this is the highest degree of Charity and Charity is the highest Perfection of Men and Angels So that to employ our selves with all our Minds and with all our Might to help forward the Salvation of others is to be Good Angels I had almost said to be a kind of Gods to Men. I hope that we all of us do hope one day to be like the Angels in the Purity and Perfection of their Nature So our Saviour has told us that at the Resurrection we shall be like the Angels Now as they are the Patterns of our Hope and Happiness so let us make them the Examples of our Duty and Obedience according as our Saviour hath taught us to pray that God's will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven that is that we may serve God and do his Will here on Earth so far as the Infirmity of our Nature and of our present state will admit with the same Readiness and Diligence with the same Chearfulness and Zeal that the holy and Blessed Angels do in Heaven And let us aspire continually in our minds after that Blessed Time when we shall be free from Sin and Sorrow from Affliction and Pain from Diseases and Deaths when we shall serve God without Distraction and do his Will without weariness and shall be for ever with the Lord amidst an innumerable company of Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect Finally Let us bless God as for all the visible Effects of his merciful Providence towards us so likewise for the invisible Aids and Protection of his holy Angels many times probably vouchsafed to us when we are but little aware of it But above all let us bless him for his Son our Lord Jesus Christ who was made a little lower than the Angels that is a Mortal Man that by the Suffering of death for our sakes he might be cloathed with glory and honour according to the working of that mighty power which God wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all Principalities and Powers and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not only in this World but also in that which is to come To him O Father with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Dominion and Power both now and for ever Amen SERMON VII The Reputation of Good Men after Death Preached on St. Luke's Day Psal CXII 6. The latter Part of the Verse The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance AS the Desire and Hope of Immortality which is implanted in Humane Nature
very grievous to them if they be sensible of what is done here below I mean to Worship them and to Pray to them and to the great Disparagement of the powerful Intercession of our great High Priest Jesus the Son of God to make them the Mediators and Intercessors in Heaven with God for us Of this the Scripture hath no where given us the least intimation but hath expresly commanded the contrary to worship the Lord our God and him only to serve and to pray to him alone in the name of Jesus Christ who is the only Mediator betwixt God and Man Nor are there any Footsteps of any such Practice in the primitive Church for the first Three Hundred Years as is acknowledged by our most Learned Adversaries of the Church of Romer The Scripture no where propounds the Saints to us for Objects of our Worship but for the Patterns of our lives This is the greatest Respect and Veneration that we can or ought to pay to them and whatever is beyond this is a Voluntary Humility injurious to God and our Blessed Saviour and most certainly displeasing to those whom we pretend to Honour if they know how Men play the fool about them here below Let us then endeavour to be like them in the Holy and Virtuous Actions of their Lives in their constant Patience and Suffering for the Truth if God shall call us thereto And we may be like them if we do but sincerely endeavour it and pray to God for his Grace and Assistance to that end For these Examples were not left for our Admiration only but for our Imitation We frequently read the Lives of the Apostles and first Founders of our Religion But I know not how it comes to pass we choose rather lazily to admire them than vigorously to follow them as if the Piety of the first Christians were Miraculous and not at all intended for the Imitation of succeeding Ages as if Heaven and Earth God and Men and all things were alter'd since that time as if Christianity were then in its Youthful Age and Vigour but is since decayed and grown old and hath quite lost its Power and Virtue And indeed the generality of Christians live at such a faint and careless rate as to make the World believe that either all the Stories of the Primitive Christians are Fables or else that the Force of Christianity is strangely abated and that the Holy Spirit of God hath forsaken the Earth and is retired to the Father But Truth never grows old and those Laws of Goodness and Righteousness which are contained in the Gospel are still as reasonable and apt to gain upon the Minds of Men as ever God is the same he was and our Blessed Saviour is still at the Right Hand of God Interceding powerfully for Sinners for mercy and grace to help in time of need The Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel are still as true and powerful as ever and the holy Spirit of God is still in the World and effectually works in them that believe Let us not then deceive our selves in this matter The Primitive Christians were Men like our selves subject to the same Passions that we are and compassed about with the same Infirmities so that altho' that extraordinary Spirit and Power of Miracles which God endowed them withal for the first planting and propagating of the Gospel in the World be now ceased yet the sanctifying Power and Virtue of God's Holy Spirit does still accompany the Gospel and is ready to assist us in every good work In a word We have all that is necessary to work the same Graces and Virtues in us which were in them and if we be not slothful and wanting to our selves we may follow their faith and at last attain the end of it even the Salvation of our Souls Let us then from an idle admiring of those excellent Patterns proceed to a vigorous imitation of them and be so far from being discouraged by the Excellency of them as to make even that Matter and Ground of encouragement to our selves according to that of Tertullian Admonetur omnis aet as fieri posse quod aliquando factum est all Ages to the end of the World may he convinced that what hath been done is possible to be done There have been such Holy and Excellent Persons in the World and therefore it is possible for Men to be such Let us not then be slothful but followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Since we are compast about with such a Cloud of Witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us and let us run with Patience the Race which is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame and is now set down at the right hand of God SERMON IX The Encouragement to Suffer for Christ and the Danger of denying him Preached on All-Saints Day 2 Tim. II. 11 12. It is a faithful saying For if we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him If we deny him he also will deny us IN the beginning of this Chapter St. Paul encourageth Timothy to continue steadfast in the Profession of the Gospel notwithstanding the Sufferings which attended it VOL. II. Verse 1. Thou therefore my Son be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus and Verse 3. Thou therefore endure hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ And to animate him in his Resolution he quotes a Saying which it seems was well known and firmly believed among Christians a Saying on the one hand full of Encouragement to those who with Patience and Constancy Suffered for their Religion and on the other hand full of Terrour to those who for fear of Suffering denyed it It is a faithful saying This is a Preface used by this Apostle to introduce some remarkable Sentence of more than ordinary weight and concernment 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners and chap. 4.8 9. Godliness is profitable unto all things having a promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation Titus 3.8 This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly Serm. IX that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works And here in the Text the same Preface is used to signify the Importance of the saying he was about to mention It is a faithful saying If we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him If we deny him he will deny us The First Two Sentences are Matter of Encouragement to those who Suffer with Christ and for him and
capable of Nay I will go lower If God had made no express Promise and Declaration of a Future Happiness and Reward to those that serve him and suffer for him Yet if any Man out of a sincere Love to God and awful Regard to his Laws endure Trouble and Affliction if there be a God and Providence this is Assurance enough to us that our Services and Sufferings shall one time or other be Considered and Rewarded For as sure as any Man is that there is a God and that his Providence regards the Actions of Men so sure are we that no Man shall finally be a loser by any thing that he doth or suffers for him So that the Matter is now brought to this plain Issue That if it be Reasonable to Believe there is a God and that his Providence Regards and Considers the Actions of Men it is also Reasonable to endure Present Sufferings in Hope of a Future Reward and there is certainly enough in this Case to govern and determine a Prudent Man that is in any good measure Persuaded of another Life after this and hath any tolerable Consideration of and regard to his Eternal Interest Indeed if we were sure that there were no Life after this if we had no expectation of a Happiness or Misery beyond this World the wisest thing that any Man could do would be to enjoy as much of the present Contentments and Satisfactions of this World as he could fairly come at For if there be no resurrection to another life the Apostle allows the Reasoning of the Epicure to be very good Let us eat and drink for to morrow we dye But on the other hand if it be true that we are designed for Immortality and that another State remains for us after this Life wherein we shall be Unspeakably Happy or intolerably and Eternally Miserable according as we have behaved our selves in this World it is then evidently Reasonable that Men should take the greatest Care of the longest Duration and be content to bear and dispense with some Present Trouble and Inconvenience for a Felicity that will have no end and be willing to Labour and take Pains and deny our present Ease and Comfort for a little while that we may be Happy for ever This is reckoned Prudence in the Account of this World for a Man to part with a Present Possession and Enjoyment for a much greater Advantage in Reversion But surely the disproportion between Time and Eternity is so vast that did Men but firmly believe that they shall live for ever nothing in this World could reasonably be thought too good to part withal or too grievous to suffer for the obtaining of a Blessed Immortality In the Virtue of this Belief and Persuasion the Primitive Christians were Fortified against all that the Malice and Cruelty of the World could do against them and they thought they made a very wise Bargain if thorugh many tribulations they might at last enter into the Kingdom of God because they believed that the Joys of Heaven would abundantly Recompence all their Sorrows and Sufferings upon Earth And so confident were they of this that they looked upon it as a special Favour and Regard of God to them to call them to Suffer for his Name So St. Paul speaks of it Phil. 1.29 Vnto you it is given on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake Yea they accounted them happy who upon this account were miserable in this World So St. James expresly pronounceth of them Jam. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation meaning the Temptation of Persecution and Suffering for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him And this consideration was that which kept up their Spirits from sinking under the weight of their greatest Sufferings So St. Paul tells us 2 Cor. 4.14 16. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus For which cause we faint not but tho' our outward man perish yet our inward man is renewed day by day The Sufferings of their Bodies did but help to raise and fortifie their Spirits Nay so far were they from fainting under those Afflictions that they rejoyced and gloried in them So the same Apostle tells us Rom. 5.2 3. that in the midst of their Sufferings they rejoyced in hope of the Glory of God and that they gloried in tribulations as being the way to be made Partakers of that Glory And Heb. 10.34 That they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance And for this Reason St. James Chap. 1.2 exhorts Christians to account it all joy when they fell into divers temptations that is various kinds of Sufferings because of the manifold Advantages which from thence would redound to them Now what was it that Inspired them to all this Courage and Chearfulness but the Belief of a mighty Reward far beyond the Proportion of all their Sufferings and a firm Persuasion that they should be vast Gainers by them at the last This Consideration St. Paul urgeth with great force 2 Cor. 4.17 18. Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory whilst we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal If we would compare things justly and attentively regard and consider the invisible Glories of another World as well as the things which are seen we should easily perceive that he who suffers for God and Religion does not renounce Happiness but puts it out to Interest upon terms of the greatest advantage I shall now speak briefly to the Second Part of this remarkable Saying in the Text If we deny him he also will deny us To which is subjoined in the words following if we believe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we deal unfaithfully with him yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself that is he will be constant to his Word and make good that solemn Threatning which he hath denounced against those who for fear of Suffering shall deny him and his Truth before Men Matt. 10.33 Whosoever faith our Lord there shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven Mark 8.38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the Holy Angels This is a Terrible Threatning to be disowned by Christ at the Day of Judgment in the presence of God and his Holy Angels And this Threatning will certainly be made good and tho' we may renounce him and break our faith with him yet
be seated on seven mountains and to have dominion over the Kings of the earth There being no other City than Rome which in the time of St. John had dominion over the Kings of the earth and that Rome was built upon seven hills is famous Thus much Bellarmine acknowledged constrained by the Force of Truth and for another small Reason namely because St. Peter writes his first Epistle from Babylon by which if Rome be not meant they have no Proof from Scripture that St. Peter was ever there Indeed they of the Church of Rome would have it to be only Rome Pagan But that cannot be because this Beast after his last head was wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed had power given him to continue two and forty Months or as it is elsewhere exprest 1260 days that is in the Prophetick Style so many Years and likewise because it was not to begin till the Ten Kingdoms into which the Roman Empire upon its dissolution was divided were set up which was not till after the Western Empire was Overthrown and Destroyed by the Goths and Vandals And Lastly because this is that Rome or Babylon which should finally be destroyed and cast as a Milstone into the bottom of the Sea never to rise again which is yet to come And of this Beast it is said that he should make War with the Saints and overcome them Chap. 13. Ver. 7. that is that he should raise a long and great Persecution against them which should try their Faith and Patience Ver. 10. Here is the Patience and the Faith of the Saints The Beast then with Ten Horns must be Rome governing the Ten Kingdoms into which the Romam Empire was broken and this can be nothing else but Rome Papal to which the Ten Kings are said to give their Power and to which they were in a most Servile manner subject for several Ages as is plain from History And to confirm this it is very observable that the Ancient Fathers generally agree that that which hindered the revealing of the Wicked One spoken of by St. Paul 2 Thess 2.7 8. was the Roman Empire and that being removed the Man of Sin or Antichrist was to succeed in its room I shall produce a few Testimonies to this purpose but very remarkable ones Tertulllian expounding what St. Paul means by him that with-holdeth or leteth hath these words Quis nisi Romanus Status c Who is that but the Roman State which being broken into Ten Kings shall bring on Antichrist And then the Wicked one shall be revealed And in his Apology he gives this Reason why the Christians should pray for the Roman Emperours and the whole State of the Empire because the greatest mischief hanging over the World is hinder'd by the continuance of it St. Chrysostom speaking of that which hinders the revelation of the Man of Sin this says he can be no other than the Roman Empire for as long as that stands he dares not shew himself but upon the vacancy or ceasing of that he shall assume to himself both the Power of God and Man St. Austin in his Book de Civit. Dei no Man says he doubts but that the Successour to the Roman Emperour in Rome shall be the Man of Sin and we know who hath Succeeded him But now after this another Beast is represented coming out of the Earth not succeeding in the place of the first Beast but appearing during his continuance Ver. 12. and he hath these remarkable Characters by which he may be known 1. He is said to have but two horns by which according to the Interpretation of the ten horns signifying the ten Kingdoms into which the Roman Empire after its dissolution should be divided we are in all Reason to understand two of those Kingdoms of which this Beast whoever he be shall be Possest 2. He is said to be like a Lamb but 〈◊〉 speak like a Dragon that is to pretend and make a shew of great Lenity and Mildness in his Proceedings but that really he shall be very cruel It shall be pretended that he does all without Violence and without Arms but he shall speak as a Dragon that is in Truth shall exercise great Force and Cruelty either alluding to the Cruelty of the Dragon literally so called or perhaps prophetically pointing at a particular sort of Armed Souldiers called by that name of Dragons or as we according to the French Pronunciation call them Dragoons 3. He shall arise during the continuance of the first Beast and engage in his Cause but the first Beast shall only stand by and look on Ver. 12. and he exerciseth all the Power of the first Beast before him and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to Worship the Beast whose deadly wound was healed plainly declaring that this Persecution should not immediately arise from the first Beast which is said to come out of the Sea which in this Prophecy denotes the State Ecclesiastical but from the second Beast which comes out of the Earth and denotes the Temporal Power But yet all this ought to be acted in the sight of the first Beast and in his behalf to compel Men to worship him 4. That he shall be remarkable for causing Fire to come down from Heaven to Earth in a wonderful manner to the great Terrour and Amazement of Men Ver. 13. And he doth great wonders so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men 5. That he should interdict all those who would not Worship the Beast all Commerce with Humane Society the Exercise of Civil Trades and Professions Ver. 17. And he causeth that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark of the Beast 6. and Lastly which seems to be the most Peculiar and Characteristical Note of all the rest that his Number should be 666 that is as most of the Ancients understand it that the Numeral Letters of a certain Word or Name should being computed amount to that Number And it is expresly said to be the Number of a Man Ver. 18. Let him that hath understanding count the Number of the Beast for it is the Number of a Man And in the Verse before it is said to be the Number of his Name Now to whom all these Characters do agree and especially the last concerning the Number of his Name I shall not presume to conjecture much less positively to determine whether he be now in being because it is said to require a particular Wisdom and Understanding to find it out Here is Wisdom let him that hath Vnderstanding count the number of the Beact However the Event when the thing is fully accomplisht will clearly discover it Thus much is certain that this extream Persecution whenever it shall be will forerun the Final Destruction of Babylon which will not then be far off And concerning this it is that St. John speaks Ch. 14.12 when he says Here is the
himself and our Blessed Saviour But then they hate and persecute the living with as great violence and cruelty as ever was used by any part of Mankind towards one another 'T is true they do it under the Notion of Heresie and so did the Scribes and Pharisees too as St. Paul witnesseth After the way which ye call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets So they call us Hereticks tho' we receive and believe all that is written in the Holy Scriptures only rejecting their Additions whereby they would make the Commandment of God of none effect And as Rome is parallel with Jerusalem in many other respects so especially in the bloody Persecution of righteous Men And as Jerusalem is charged by our Saviour with the blood of all the Prophets and righteous men of all Ages so St. John in the Revelation says of Rome that in her was found the blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slain upon the earth ch 18.24 Which is no less true of Rome Christian than of Rome Pagan In all the Churches and Religions in the World and perhaps in Rome Pagan her self hath not so much innocent Blood been shed as in Rome Christian and Catholick and that under a pretence of Religion And no doubt there is a Day a coming when she shall be called to a heavy Account for these things when the Heavens shall rejoyce over her and the Holy Angels and Prophets because God hath avenged them on her SERMON XIII The Danger of Zeal without Knowledge Preached on November 5. 1682. ROM X. 2. I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge THere is nothing more commonly cryed up than Zeal in Religion and yet there is nothing in which Men do more frequently and fatally mistake and miscarry and in the Expressions and Effects whereof Men ought to govern themselves with more Care and Caution VOL. II. To speak the truth Zeal is as all other Passions are in its own Nature indifferent and of it self neither Good nor Bad but according to the Object and Degree of it for Zeal is nothing else but an earnest Concernment for or against something and a violent Pursuit and Prosecution of it For if it be applied to a right Object so as we be earnestly concerned for things that are unquestionably Good and against things that are unquestionably Evil and in a due Degree that is if the Expression of it be Proportionable to the less or greater Good or Evil of things then it is a commendable Quality or Virtue But if it be wrong placed and we be earnestly concerned for that which is Evil and against that which is Good or about things which are of an indifferent or doubtful Nature as to the Good and Evil of them or if we notoriously exceed in the Degree of it being more zealously concerned about things than they deserve and zealously concerned about lesser things to the prejudice of greater in any of these Cases it is so for from being a Virtue that it is a Vice Serm. XIII of a most pernicious and mischievous consequence and many times hath as bad Effects as can proceed from the worst Principle or Disposition of Mind It is sometimes used in a good Sense but it is when it is applyed to the best things in which the Honour of God and the Salvation of Men is concern'd to the great and unquestionable Duties of Religion As Zeal for the Honour of God and the Place of his Publick Worship in opposition to Profaneness John 2.17 The Zeal of thine house hath eaten me up For an earnest desire of those Gifts whereby we are to Edifie the Church 1 Cor. 12.31 But covet earnestly the best gifts so we render the words be zealous of the best gifts so it is in the Greek For a Forwardness and Readiness to relieve the Necessities of the Saints 2 Cor. 9.2 I know the forwardness of your minds and your zeal hath provok'd very many And to the same purpose is that Expression Tit. 2.14 Zealous of good works And then for a Zeal for the Salvation of Mens Souls 2 Cor. 11.2 I am zealous of you with a godly zeal But the word is much more frequently in Scripture used in a bad Sense for a malicious and furious Rage against the Professors of Christianity Acts 5.17 18. Then the high Priest and they that were with him were filled with indignation the word is Zeal and laid their hands on the Apostles and put them in prison And Chap. 13.45 it is said the Jews were fill'd with Zeal and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming And Chap. 17.5 The Jews which believed not moved with Zeal gathered a company and set all the City in an uproar 'T is frequently reckoned amongst the works of the flesh and mentioned in the company of the greatest Vices and Crimes Wrath Contention Division Sedition Murthers Tumults Confusions Rom. 13.13 Let us walk honestly as in the day not in Chambering and wantonness not in strife and zeal 1 Cor. 3.3 Whereas there is among you zeal and strife and divisions are ye not carnal 2 Cor. 12.20 Lest there be debates zeal wrath strife Gal. 5.19 20 21. The works of the flesh are manifest among which the Apostle reckons hatred variance zeal wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murthers St. James calls it a bitter zeal Jam. 3.14 15 16. But if ye have bitter zeal and strife in your hearts glory not and lye not against the truth This wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devilish For where zeal and strife is there is confusion and every evil work By which it appears that zeal most frequently goes under a bad Name and Character in Scripture zeal I mean in matters of Religion for of that most of the Texts I have mentioned speak and this is that which St. Paul means here in the Text by a zeal of God that is a zeal about Religion and divine things I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowlede In which words the Apostle being desirous to say the best he could of his Countrymen the Jews he commends the good meaning of their zeal and blames the ill conduct of it I bear them record 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I give this testimony on their behalf that they have a zeal of God that is that by all this fierceness against the Christian Religion they intend the honour of God and think they do him service but yet this Zeal is greatly to be condemned because it is a mistaken and misguided zeal not at all directed as it should be they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge From which words I shall take into consideration these Three things I. What are the Qualifications and Properties of a Zeal according to knowledge II.
I know that thou fearest God says the Angel since thou hast not with-held thy Son thine only Son from me This is a demonstration that God loved us at a stupendous rate when he would send his only-begotten Son into the World for us Before this God had tryed several Ways with Mankind and employed several Messengers to us sometimes he sent his Angels and many times his Servants the Prophets But in these last Days he hath sent his Son He had many more Servants to have employed upon this Message but he had but one Son and rather than Mankind should be ruined and lost he would send him Such was the Love of God towards us that rather than our Recovery should not be effected he would employ in this Work the greatest and dearest Person to him both in Heaven and Earth his only begotten Son in this was the Love of God manifested that he sent his only-begotten Son that we might live through him 2. Let us consider how much this Clorious and Excellent Person was abased in order to the effecting and accomplishing of this Design which is here exprest by sending him into the World and this comprehends his Incarnation with all the mean and abasing Circumstances of it This the Apostle declares fully to us Phil. 2.6 7. tho' he was in the Form of God that is truly and really God yet he made himself of no Reputation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he empty'd himself was contented to be strangely lessen'd and diminish'd and took upon him the Form of a Servant or Slave and was made in the likeness of Men that is did really assume Humane Nature Here was an Abasement indeed for God to become Man for the only-begotten Son of God to take upon him the Form of a Servant and to become obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross which was the Death of Slaves and famous Malefactors Here was Love indeed that God was willing that his own dear Son should be thus obscured and diminished and become so mean and so miserable for our sakes that he should not only stoop to be made Man and to dwell among us but that he should likewise submit to the Infirmities of our Nature and to be made in all things like unto us Sin only excepted that he should be contented to bear so many Affronts and Indignities from perverse and unthankful Men and to endure such Contradiction of Sinners against himself that he who was the Brightness of his Father's Glory should be despised and rejected of Men a Man of sorrows und acquainted with griefs and rather than we should perish should put himself into our Place and be contented to suffer and die for us and that God should be willing that all this should be done to his only Son to save Sinners What greater Testimony could he give of his Love to us 3. Let us consider farther to whom he was sent which is also implyed in these Words he sent his Son into the World into a wicked World that was altogether unworthy of him and to an Ungrateful World that did most unworthily use him First Into a Wicked World that was altogether unworthy of him that had deserved no such Kindness at his Hands For what were we that God should send such a Person amongst us that he should make his Son stoop so low as to dwell in our Nature and to become one of us We were Rebels and Enemies Enemies to God by evil Works up in Arms against Heaven and at open Defiance with God our Maker When the World was in this Posture of Enmity and Hostility against God then he sent his Son to Treat with us and to offer us Peace What can more commend the Love of God than this that he should shew such Kindness to us when we were Sinners and Enemies Herein God hath commended his Love towards us says the Apostle Rom. 5.8 in that whilst we were yet Sinners Christ died for us Secondly Into an Ungrateful World that did most unworthily use him that gave no becoming Entertainment to him the Foxes had Holes and the Birds of the Air had Nests but the Son of Man had not where to lay his Head that heaped all manner of Contumelies and Indignities upon him that Persecuted him all his Life and at last put him to a most painful and shameful Death in a word that was so far from receiving him as the Son of God that they did not treat him with common Humanity and like one of the Sons of men 4. He did all this voluntarily and freely God sent his Son into the World mero motu of his own meer Grace and Goodness moved by nothing but his own Bowels and the Consideration of our Misery not overpowered by any Force for what could offer Violence to him to whom all Power belongs not constrain'd by any Necessity for he had been Happy tho' we had remained for ever Miserable he might have chosen other Objects of his Love and Pity and have left us involved in that Misery which we had wilfully brought upon our selves Nor was he prevail'd upon by any Application from us or importunity of ours to do this for us Had we been left to have contrived the way of our Recovery this which God hath done for us could never have entred into the Heart of Man to have imagin'd much less to have defir'd it at his Hands If the way of our Salvation had been put into the Hands of our own Counsel and Choice how could we have been so impudent as to have begg'd of God that his only Son might descend from Heaven and become Man be poor despised and miserable for our sakes God may stoop as low as he pleaseth being secure of his own Majesty and Greatness but it had been a Boldness in us not far from Blasphemy to have desired of him to condescend to such a a submission Nor Lastly was he pre-oblig'd by any Kindness or Benefit from us so far from that that we had given him all possible Provocation to the contrary and had Reason to expect the Effect of his heaviest Displeasure And yet though he was the pars laesa the party that had been disoblig'd and injured tho' we were first in the Offence and Provocation he was pleased to make the first Overtures of Peace and Reconciliation and tho' it was wholly our Concernment and not his yet he was pleased to condescend so far to our Perverseness and Obstinacy as to send his Son to us and to beseech us to be reconciled Now herein says the Apostle immediately after the Text herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our Sins Herein is the Love of God manifested that the kindness began on his part and not on ours that being neither obliged nor desired by us he did freely and of his own accord send his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him What