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
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
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
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
John 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might dissolve or demolish the works of the Devil by which St. John does more especially mean the idolatrous worship of the Heathen which consisted in the multitude of their Gods and the bloody and barbarous Rites and Sacrifices whereby they Worshipped them and likewise in the multitude of their Mediators between the Gods and Men who were also esteemed by them an inferiour sort of Deities Both these kinds of Idolatry had strangely prevailed and over-run the World before the appearance of our Lord and Saviour who came on purpose to deliver Mankind from the horrible Superstition and Slavery of the Worship of false Gods to pull down this Kingdom of the Devil and to demolish that Fabrick which he had been so long a rearing and to beat him out of those strong holds which he thought had been impregnable God indeed gave some check to these many Ages before and not long after their first appearance by the Jewish Religion which was on purpose introduced and confirmed and established by so many and such mighty Miracles to preserve and keep alive in the World the primitive Tradition and Belief of the One true God and likewise to be as it were some Shadow and rude Draught of that more perfect Dispensation of the Christian Religion which by one Sacrifice once offered and by one Mediator between God and men was to put an end to the infinite Superstitions of the Heathen Worship and all the bloody and barbarous Rites of it and likewise to the Idolatry they were guilty of in the Worship of their inferior Deities whom they look'd upon as a middle sort of Powers between the Gods and Men and therefore addrest themselves to them as Mediators between the Superior and Heavenly Gods and Men here on Earth This was plainly one of the great designs of the Christian Religion and therefore it concerns Christians to understand it and to be very careful that they do not suffer themselves to be deluded by any specious Pretences whatsoever to bring these things back again into the Christian Religion for the ruin and extirpation whereof it was purposely designed and intended And this seems plainly to be the meaning of that Caution wherewith St. John concludes his Catholick or General Epistle namely That Christians should be very careful that they were not carryed back again into the Heathen Idolatry by the confident Pretences of the Gnostick Hereticks to higher Degrees of Knowledge and. Illumination than other Christians had that is by their pretending to be the Infallible Church and the only true and genuine Christians For it is against this Sect that this Epistle is plainer designed which St. John thus concludes Chap. 5. from Ver. 18. to the end We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not meaning that he doth not commit the Sin unto death which he had spoken of just before viz. Apostacy from Christianity to the Heathen Idolatry or that which was very like it whosoever is born of God doth not commit this sin but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not that is he preserveth himself from the Contagion of Idolatry into which the Devil was so busie to seduce Mankind And we know that we are of God that is do belong to the true God and are Worshippers of him And the whole world lieth in Wickedness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the power or under the dominion of that wicked One that is the greatest part of Mankind was sunk into Idolatry and the Worship of the Devil And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true We know that is we Christians are better Taught by the Christian Religion to acknowledge and worship the only true God And we are in him that is true in or by his Son Jesus Christ that is we Worship the only true God by his Son Jesus Christ And then he concludes Little Children keep your selves from Idols Intimating hereby that the Worshipping of any other besides this only true God and by any other Mediator than Jesus Christ is Idolatry There were indeed two very ancient and common Notions both amongst Jews and Gentiles of the Original whereof it is hard to give any certain account only this is certain that they did prevail very early and did very generally possess Mankind And they were these First That God was not to be appeased towards Sinners meerly upon their Repentance without the Death and Suffering of some other in their stead and that God would accept of this vicarious Punishment and Suffering instead of the Death of the Sinner himself And this seems to have given the Original to the Sacrifices of Living Creatures to appease the Wrath of God towards Sinners which in process of time as the Worship of false Gods prevailed in the World did proceed to that Degree of Superstition and barbarous Inhumanity that by the instigation of the Devil Men offered up the Blood of their Children and Sacrificed their Sons and Daughters to their Idols and false Gods Secondly Another common Notion which had likewise possest Mankind was That God was not to be immediately approached by sinful Men but that their Prayers were to be offered up to the Deity by certain Mediators and Intercessors that were to procure for them the Favour of the Gods and the gracious Answer and Acceptance of their Prayers And this was the Original of that other sort of Heathen Idolatry which consisted in the Worship of their Demons and Heroes that is of Angels and Souls departed viz. of such eminent Persons as had been great Benefactors to Mankind and for their worthy Deeds upon Earth were Canonized and translated into the number of their Inferior Gods By these as the chief Courtiers and Favourites of Heaven they address'd their Prayers and Supplications to the Superiour Gods Now with these Notions which had generally possess'd Mankind how imperfect soever God was pleased to comply so far as in the Frame of the Jewish Religion which was designed for a Type of the more perfect Institution of the Christian Religion and a Preparation for it I say God was pleased to comply so far with these Notions as to appoint Sacrifices to be slain and offered up for the Sinner and likewise an High Priest that once a year should enter into the Holy of Holies with the Blood of Sacrifices that were offered up for the People to make Expiation for them and in vertue of that Blood should interceed for the People as the Apostle to the Hebrews does declare at large And when God sent his Son in the fullness of time he was pleased likewise in the dispensation of the Gospel that perfect institution which was never to be altered to have so much regard to these common Notions and Apprehensions of Mankind as to
that I am ascended into Heaven ye shall put up all your Prayers and Requests to God in my Name and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you that is I need not tell you though I shall certainly do it that I will interceed with the Father for you for he of himself is kindly disposed and affected towards you for my sake The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved we St. Paul likewise commands Christians to perform all Acts of Religious Worship in the Name of Christ Col. 3.16 17. Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord and whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him And this Precept of addressing all our Prayers and Thanksgivings to God by Jesus Christ as the only Mediator between God and us is the more remarkable because it is given in opposition to the Worshipping of God by any other Mediators and Intercessors in Heaven for us and to that Superstition which had begun so early to prevail among some Christians at Calosse and Laodicea of Worshipping God by the Mediation and Intercession of Angels against which he had cautioned in the former Chapter Ver. 18 19. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels not holding the head Intimating that for Christians to address themselves to God by any other Mediator but Jesus Christ only was a defection from Christ the Head and High Priest of our Profession And that this is the Apostle's meaning Theodoret assures us in his Comment upon this Place where he tells us That some who maintained an observance of the Law together with the Gospel asserted also That Angels were to be worshipped saying That the Law was given by them And this Custom he tells us remained a long time in Phrygia and Pisidia and that upon this account it was that the Synod of Laodicea in Phrygia about the middle of the 4th Century forbad Christians by a Law to pray to Angels And yet more expresly in his Comment upon those Words Chap. 3. Ver. 17. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him For because says he they meaning those of whom St. Paul warns the Colossians to beware because they did command men to worship Angels he enjoins the contrary that they should adorn both their words and actions with the memory or mention of the name of Christ their Lord And send ye up saith he thanksgiving to God and the Father by him and not by the Angels And then he makes mention of the Canon of the Synod of Laodicea which says he in pursuance of this Rule and being desirous to cure that old Disease made it a Law that none should pray unto Angels nor forsake the Lord Jesus Christ It seems then that some Reliques of that Impious Custom of praying to Angels which Theodoret here calls That old Disease had continued from St. Paul's time to the Council of Laodicea which was the occasion of that severe Canon then made about that matter the very Words whereof I will set down because they are remarkable viz. That Christians ought not to forsake the Church of God and go away from it and to invocate Angels and to make Conventicles all which are forbidden If any therefore be found giving himself to this secret Idolatry let him be Anathema because he hath forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and is gone over to Idolatry What shall be said to them who do not only secretly and in their Private Devotions but in the Publick Assemblies of Christians and in the most Publick Offices of their Church invocate Angels and pray to them So that it was praying to Angels or making use of them as Mediators and Intercessors with God for us which St Paul here reproves so severely in the Colossians as a Defection from Christ and the Christian Religion And indeed considering how frequently the Scripture speaks of Christ as our only way to God and by whom alone we have access to the throne of grace we cannot doubt but that God hath constituted him our only Mediator and Intercessor by whom we are to address all our Requests to God John 14.6 Jesus there saith unto Thomas I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me I am the way the truth and the life that is the true and living way to the Father which the Apostle calls a new and living way Heb. 10.19 20. Having therefore boldnenss to enter into the holieft by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us No man cometh to the Father but by me that is we can have no access to God by Prayer or by any other Acts of Religious Worship but by him So St. Paul tells us Eph. 2.18 For through him speaking of Christ we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father We both that is both Jews and Gentiles Under the Law the Jews had access to God by their High Priest who interceeded with God and offered up Prayers in behalf of the People The Gentiles they addressed themselves to God by innumerable Mediators by Angels and the Souls of their departed Heroes which were the Pagan Saints Instead of all these God hath appointed one Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us Jesus the Son of God and by him all mankind both Jews and Gentiles have access by one Spirit unto the Father And we have no need of any other as the Apostle to the Hebrews reasons Chap. 7.24 25. But this person speaking of Christ because he continueth for ever hath an unchangeable Priesthood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Priesthood which doth not pass from one to another as the Priesthood under the Law did when upon the Death of one High Priest another succeeded in his Place but our High Priest under the Gospel since he abides for ever is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us So that Jesus Christ is an All-sufficient Mediator and able to carry on and accomplish the Work of our Salvation from first to last And as we do not find that God hath appointed any other so we are sure that there needs no other since he is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him and that he lives for ever to make intercession for us Secondly I proceed now in the Second place to shew That this Doctrine or Principle of one Mediator between God and men is most agreeable to one main end and design of the Christian Religion and of our Saviour's coming into the World which was to destroy Idolatry out of the World which St. John calls the works of the Devil 1
shew how contrary to this Doctrine of the Christian Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome is in this matter namely in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and flying to their Help and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners As likewise how contrary all this is to the Doctrine and Pratice of the Christian Church for several of the first Ages of it And then I should have answered their chief Pretences and Excuses for these things and shew'd that this Practice of theirs is not only needless being no where commanded by God but useless also and unprofitable and not only so but very dangerous and impious being contrary to the Christian Religion and highly derogating from the Virtue and Merit of Christ's Sacrifice and from the Honour of the only Mediator between God and Men. But of this another time SERMON III. Christ Jesus the only Mediator between God and Men. The Second Sermon on 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 IN these Words are four Propositions three exprest and the fourth implied I. That there is one God II. That there is one Mediator between God and men Christ Jesus III. That he gave himself a ransom for all VOL. II. IV. That the Mediation or Intercession of Jesus Christ is founded in his Redemption of Mankind That because he gave himself a Ransome for all men therefore he and he only is qualified to intercede for all Men in Vertue of that Sacrifice which he offer'd for the Salvation of all Mankind The Second of these I spake to the last time and endeavour'd to shew 1. That God hath appointed but one Mediator or Advocate or Intercessor in Heaven for us by whose Mediation we are to offer up all our Prayers and Services to God 2. That this Doctrine of one Mediator is most agreeable to one main End and Design of the Christian Religion and of our Saviour's coming into the World which was to destroy Idolatry 3. That from the Nature and Reason of the thing viz. because Intercession for Sinners is founded in the Merit of that Sacrifice by which Expiation of Sin is made there can be no other Mediator of Intercession Serm. III. but he who hath made Expiation for Sin by a Sacrifice offered to God for that purpose and this Jesus Christ only hath done Thus far I have gone I proceed now to The Fourth thing which I proposed in the handling of this Argument namely to shew how contrary to this Doctrine of the Christian Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us the Doctrine and the Practice of the Church of Rome is in this matter namely in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and flying to their help and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners And that I may proceed more distinctly in this Argument I shall handle it under these particular Heads First I shall endeavour to shew That the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter is contrary to the Doctrine of the Christian an Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us Secondly That it is contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of the Christian Church for several of the first Ages of it Thirdly I shall endeavour to answer their chief Pretences and Excuses for this Doctrine and Practice Fourthly to shew that this Doctrine and Practice of theirs is not only needless being no where commanded by God but useless also and unprofitable Fifthly And not only so but very dangerous and impious because contrary to the Christian Religion and greatly derogating from the Vertue and Merit of Christ's Sacrafice and from the Honour of the only Mediator between God and Men. First I shall endeavour to shew that the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome in this Matter is contrary to the Doctrine of the Christian Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us namely in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and flying to their Help and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners That Jesus Christ is our only Mediator and Intercessor with God in Heaven by whom we have access to God in any Action of Religious Worship and that all our Prayers and Services are to be offered up to God only by him and in his Name and Mediation and no other I have plainly shewed from Scripture and proved it by an invincible Argument taken likewise from Scripture namely because the Efficacy and Prevalency of his Mediation and Intercession is founded in the Vertue and Merit of his Sacrifice and that he is therefore the only Mediator between God and Men because he only gave himself a Ransom for all he is therefore our only Advocate with the Father because he only is the propitiation for our Sins and for the Sins of the whole World I have shewed likewise that the Scripture excludes Angels from being our Mediators with God from the main Scope and Design of the Epistle to the Colossians and much more are the Saints departed excluded from this Office being inferior to the Angels not only in the Dignity and Excellency of their Beings but very probably in the Degree of their Knowledge In short Prayer is a proper act of Religious Worship and therefore peculiar to God alone and we are commanded to Worship the Lord our God and to serve him only And no where in Scripture are we directed to address our Prayers and Supplications and Thanksgivings to any but God alone and only in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ Our Blessed Saviour himself hath taught us to put up all our Prayers to God our heavenly Father Luke 11.2 when you pray say Our Father which art in Heaven Which plainly shews to whom all our Prayers are to be address'd and unless we can call an Angel or the Blessed Virgin or a Saint Our Father we can pray to none of them And elsewhere he as plainly directs us by whom we are to apply our selves to God and in whose Name and Mediation we are to put up all our Requests to him John 14.6 I am the Way and the Truth and the Life no man cometh unto the Father but by me And then it follows Ver. 13 14. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it Nothing is clearer in the whole Bible than one Mediator between God and Men Christ Jesus and that he is our only Advocate and Intercessor with God in Heaven for us Secondly I shall endeavour to shew That the Doctrine and Practice of the
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
Heresie of the Collyridians which he calls the Heresie of the Women because they first began the Worship of the Virgin Mary declares most expresly against the Worship of any Creature whatsoever For neither says he is Elias to be worshipped though he is reckoned among the living meaning that he was taken up into Heaven Body and Soul nor John nor any other of the Saints And as for the Virgin Mary he particularly adds that if God will not have us to worship the Angels how much more would he not have us to worship her that was born of Anna And concludes let Mary be had in Honour but let the Lord be worshipped St. Chrysostom in a long Discourse persuades Men to address their Prayers immediately to God and not as we address our selves to great Men by their Officers and Favourites and tells us that there is no need of such Intercessors with God who is not so ready to grant our Petitions when we entreat him by others as when we pray to him our selves Lastly St. Augustine because the Scripture pronounces him accursed that puteth his trust in Man from thence he argues that therefore we ought not to ask of any other but of our Lord God either the Grace to do well or the Reward of it The contrary to which I am sure is done in several of the Publick Prayers used in the Church of Rome And l. 12. de Civ Dei he expresly tells us that the Names of the Martyrs were recited in their Prayers at the Altar but they were not invocated by the Priest who did celebrate Divine Service And in the Third Council of Carthage which was in St. Augustin's time it is enjoined Can. 33. that all Prayers that were made at the Altar should be directed to the Father Which how it is observed in the Church of Rome we all know To conclude this matter it cannot be made appear that there were any Prayers to Saints in the Publick Offices of the Church till towards the end of the Eighth Century For in the Year 754. the Invocation of Saints was condemned by a Council of 338 Bishops at Constantinople as is acknowledged by the Second Council of Nice which first establish'd this Superstition in the Year 787 and this very Council was condemned Seven Years after in a Council at Frankfort and declared void and to be no otherwise esteemed of than the Council of Ariminum Thus you see when this Doctrine and Practice so contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of a great many of the first Ages of the Christian Church was first established namely at the same time with the Worship of Images and when the first Foundation of Transubstantiation was laid which as they began at the same time so they are very fit to go together I should now have proceeded to the next thing which I propos'd namely to answer the chief Pretences which are made for this Doctrine and Practice But of That in the following Discourse SERMON IV. Christ Jesus the only Mediator between God and Men. The Third Sermon on 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 IN the Two former Discourses upon this Text I have treated on the Second Proposition I laid down from the Words viz. That there is but one Mediator between God and men the Man Christ Jesus In treating on this Proposition I shewed First That it is agreeable to Scripture Secondly VOL. II. That it is agreeable to one great End and Design of the Christian Religion and of our Saviour's coming into the World which was to destroy Idolatry out of it Thirdly That from the Nature and Reason of the thing there can be but one Mediator or Intercessor in Heaven with God for Sinners and that he can be no other than Jesus Christ Fourthly I shew'd how contrary to this Doctrine the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome is in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners This I endeavoured to do by shewing 1st How contrary this is to the Doctrine of the Scriptures 2ly How contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of the Church for several of the first Ages of it And thus far I have gone I proceed now in the 3d. Place to answer the chief Pretences and Excuses which are made by those of the Church of Rome Serm. IV. for this Doctrine and Practice As 1. That they only say that it is lawful to Pray to Angels and Saints but do not enjoyn and require it To this I answer Two things 1. In saying that it is lawful to Pray to Saints and Angels if they went no farther they say that which they can never make good because Prayer is an Act of Religious Worship and peculiar and proper to God only and therefore cannot be given to any Creature Angel or Saint This I have proved from Scripture where our Saviour commands us when we pray to say Our Father which art in Heaven that is to direct and address our Prayers to God only And St. Paul likewise forbids the worshipping Angels by invocating of them and making use of them as Mediators between God and us in his Epistle to the Colossians which Theodoret expresly interprets concerning the Invocation of Angels and applying our selves to them as Mediators and Intercessors with God in Heaven for us And the Council of Laodicea declares this Practice to be Idolatry Besides that the ancient Fathers of the Christian Church for above Three Hundred Years never spake of praying to any but God only and do expresly condemn the Invocation of Angels much more of the Saints who are Inferior to them and therefore they always define Prayer to be an Address to God a Conversing and Discoursing with God which would be a false Definition of Prayer if it were lawful to pray to any but to God only All which considered one may justly wonder at the Confidence of some Men who would have it taken for granted without any Proof that the Invocation of Saints and Angels is Lawful 2. If it were true that it is lawful to pray to Angels and Saints it is not true that the Church of Rome does only declare it to be lawful but does not require and enjoyn it as some of their late Writers pretend With what Face can this be said when there are so many Prayers to Angels and Saints and especially to the Blessed Virgin in the Publick Offices of their Church in which all are supposed to join as much as in the Prayers which are put up to God by the Priest 'T is true indeed the People understand neither but they are present at both and join in both alike that is as much as Men can be said to join in that which they do not understand as that Church supposeth People may do and receive great Edification
Salvation of Mankind I judge nothing more needful to be added to what has fallen in concerning that Subject in my handling the Second Proposition in this and the two former Sermons 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 IN these Words you have these Two great Points of Christian Doctrine I. Our Saviour's Ascension into Heaven and Exaltation at the right hand of God VOL. II. he was received up into Heaven and sat on the right hand of God II. The Effect or Consequence of his Ascension and Exaltation which was the general and effectual Publication of the Gospel they went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with signs following And both these are very proper for this Day but I shall at this time handle the latter Point namely the Effect op Consequence of our Saviour's Ascension into Heaven and Exaltation at the right hand of God they went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with signs following And these Words contain two things in them I. The general Publication of the Gospel by the Apostles they went forth and preached every where II. The Reason of the great Efficacy and Success of it namely the Divine and Miraculous Power which accompanied the Preaching of it Serm. V. the Lord wrought with them and confirmed the Word with signs following I. The general Publication of the Gospel by the Apostles they went forth and Preached every where And indeed the Industry of the Apostles and the other Disciples in publishing the Gospel was almost incredible What Pains did they take what Hazards did they run what Difficulties and Discouragements did they contend withal in this work and yet their Success was greater than their Industry and beyond all Humane Expectation As will appear if we consider these Five things 1. The vast Spreading of the Gospel in so short a space 2. The wonderful Power and Efficacy of it upon the Lives and Manners of Men. 3. The Weakness and Meanness of the Instruments that were imployed in this great Work 4. The powerful Opposition that was raised against it 5. The great Discouragements to the Embracing the Profession of it I shall speak briefly to each of these 1. The vast Spreading of the Gospel in so short a space This is represented Rev. 14.6 by an Angel flying through the midst of Heaven and preaching the Everlasting Gospel to every nation and kindred and tongue and people No sooner was the Doctrine of the Christian Religion publish'd and made known to the World but it was readily embraced by great numbers almost in all places where it came And indeed so it was foretold in the Prophecies of the Old Testament Gen. 49.10 That when Shiloh that is the Messias should come to him should the gathering of the people be And Isa 2.2 That in the last days the mountains of the house of the Lord should be establisht in the top of the mountain and be exalted above the hills and that all nations should flow unto it Isa 60.8 the Prophet speaking of Mens ready submission to the Gospel and the great number of those that should come in upon the Preaching of it they are said to flie as a Cloud and as the Doves to the windows So quick and strange a Progress did this new Doctrine and Religion make in the World that in the space of about 30 Years after our Saviour's Death it was not only diffused through the greatest part of the Roman Empire but had reached as far as Parthia and India In which we see our Saviour's Prediction fully verified that before the Destruction of Jerusalem the Gospel should be Preached in all the World Math. 24.14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all Nations and then shall the end come But this is not all Men were not only brought in to the Profession of the Gospel but 2. This Doctrine had likewise a wonderful Power and Efficacy upon the Lives and Manners of Men. The generality of those that entertained the Gospel were obedient to it in word and deed as the Apostle tells us concerning the Gentiles that were converted to Christianity Rom. 15.18 Upon the change of their Religion followed also the change of their Manners and of their former course of Life They that took upon them the Profession of Christianity did thenceforth not walk as other Gentiles did in the lusts of the flesh and according to the vicious course of the world but did put off concerning their former conversation the old man which was corrupt according to deceitful lusts and were renewed in the spirit of their mind and did put on the new man which after God was created in righteousness and true holiness So strange an Effect had the Gospel upon the Lives of the generality of the Professors of it that I remember Tertullian in his Apology to the Roman Emperor and Senate challengeth them to instance in any one that bore the Title of Christian that was condemned as a Thief or a Murderer or a Sacrilegious Person or that was guilty of any of those gross Enormities for which so many Pagans were every day made Examples of Publick Justice and Punisht and Executed among them And this certainly was a very admirable and hapy Effect which the Gospel had upon Men to work so great and sudden a Change in the Lives of those who entertained this Doctrine to take them quite off from those vicious Practices which they had been brought up in and accustomed to to change their Spirits and the temper of their Minds and of lewd and dishonest to make them sober and just and holy in all manner of Conversation of proud and fierce contentious and passionate malicious and revengeful to make them humble and meek kind and tender-hearted peaceable and charitable And that the Primitive Christians were generally good Men and of virtuous Lives is credible because their Religion did teach and oblige them to be such which tho' it be not effectual now to make all the Professors of it such as it requires they should be yet it was a very forcible Argument then in the Circumstances in which the Primitive Christians were For Christianity was a hated and persecuted Profession No Man could then have any inducement to embrace it unless he were resolved to practise it and live according to the Rules of it for it offered Men no Rewards and Advantages in this World but on the contrary threatned Men with the greatest Temporal Inconveniences and Sufferings and it promised no Happiness to Men in the other World upon any
hare a particular charge of him to preserve him from all the Mischiefs and Dangers to which he is exposed he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways they shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone So that according to the Perswasion of those two excellent Persons and of greatest Renown for Piety in all the Old Testament very much of the Safety and the Success of good Men even in their Temporal Concernments is to be ascrib'd to the vigilant Care and Protection of good Angels And tho' this be seldom visible and sensible to us yet we have great Reason upon so great Testimonies to assent to the truth of it And there is no Reason I think to doubt but that God's Care extends now to Christians as well as it did to the Jews and that the Angels have as much Kindness for us as they had for the Jews and there is no Reason to think that the Angels are now either dead or idle Our Saviour tells us that they cannot dye and our Reason tells us that a pure Spirit is an active Principle and the Scripture represents Angels as all flame and wings Evil Spirits are believed by Christians to be as active now to all purposes of harm and mischief as ever And why should any Man imagine that Good Spirits are not as intent and busie to do good The Apostle I am sure tells us in the Text that the Angels in common all of them do employ their Service about us and wait to do good Offices to us are they not all says he ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of Salvation And our Saviour Matth. 18.10 seems to approve and confirm the Tradition of the Jews concerning particular Guardian Angels belonging to every one that believed in him that is to every Christian Take heed says he that ye despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven And this seems likewise to have been a received Opinion among the first Christians for we find Acts 12.15 that when Peter was miraculously released out of Prison by an Angel and came to the House where the Christians were assembled to pray for him and one told them that Peter was at the door they said it was his Angel thinking that he himself was fast in Prison For which saying there could be no Reason had there not been a current Opinion among them of Guardian Angels And because the Providence of God is more peculiarly concerned in conducting Men to Eternal Happiness it is very credible that God should more especially Ordain the Ministry of Angels about good Men for the furtherance of their Salvation And so the Apostle tells us in the Text are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation Nay our Saviour in that remarkable place I mentioned before Matt. 18.10 seems to intimate that Angels of a higher Rank and Quality are assigned Guardians and Guides to those that believed on him but I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven An Allusion to the manner of earthly Kings upon whom not all the Servants but the Chief of their Nobility do more immediately attend and stand continually in their Presence for to behold the face of the King and to stand in his Presence are Phrases used in Scripture to signifie immediate Attendance upon his Person So that by this manner of Expression our Saviour doth most significantly intimate in what Esteem good Men are with God whose Care and Protection he commits to the Chief of the Angels to those who are nearest to him and in highest Favour and Honour with him as if he had said their Angels are not of the ordinary Rank but such as are admitted to a more immediate Attendance upon the great King and Governour of the World And no doubt it is for no mean End that such high and glorious Spirits are employ'd about us it is chiefly for the furtherance of our Salvation for the purchasing whereof the Son of God himself whom all the Angels of Heaven worship came down from Heaven and appeared and suffered in our Nature that we may one day be made like to the Angels and dwell where they are and may continually behold the face of our Father which is in Heaven as they do And in order to this End it is very probable that Good Angels are ready to do good Offices just contrary to those of Evil Spirits that is to employ their best Diligence and endeavour for the Salvation of Men and that they are very sedulous and officious to restrain and pull them back from Sin and to excite and solicite them to that which is Good and in a Word to do all they can to help forward the Repentance and Conversion of Sinners And this may reasonably be collected from that Passage of our Saviour Luke 15.10 where he tells us That there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth And if they be so glad of the Repentance of a Sinner we may easily imagine how forward they are to further and promote so good a Work And when Sinners are brought to Repentance we have no Reason to doubt but that the Angels are as ready to assist their Progress in Goodness It hath been a general and I think not ill-grounded Opinion both of the Jews and Heathens that good Angels are more especially present with us and observant of us and assistant to us in the performance of all Acts of Religion that they are particularly present at our Prayers and therefore the Jews speak of a particular Angel for this purpose whom they call the Angel of Prayer that they observe our Vows and our breach or performance of them So Solomon seems to intimate Eccles 5.4 6. When thou vowest a Vow unto God defer not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in fools pay that which thou hast vowed Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin that is do not intangle thy Life with a rash Vow which the frailty of Humane Nature may make thee afterwards to break neither say thou before the Angel that it was an errour that is do not in the Presence of the Angel who attends upon thee and observes thee betray thine own error and rashness This I take to be the meaning of this difficult passage Let not thy mouth cause thy flesh to sin neither say thou before the Angel that it was an errour But the Angels are yet more particularly present in the Places and at the Times of God's Publick Worship The placing of the Cherubims in the Holy of Holies seems to signifie the Presence of the Angels in our most Religious Addresses to God And Plutarch says That
the Angels are the Overseers of Divine Service And therefore we ought to behave our selves with all Modesty Reverence and Decency in the Worship of God out of regard to the Angels who are there present and observe our Carriage and Behaviour And to this the Apostle plainly hath respect in that place which by Interpreters hath been thought so difficult 1 Corinth 11.10 where he says That for this Cause in the Assemblies of Christians for the Worship of God the Woman ought to have a Vail upon her head in token of subjection to her Husband because of the Angels that is to be decently and modestly Attired in the Church because of the presence of the holy Angels before whom we should compose our selves to the greatest external Gravity and Reverence which the Angels behold and observe but cannot penetrate into the inward Devotion of our Minds which God only can do and therefore with regard to him who sees our Hearts we should more particularly compose our Minds to the greatest Sincerity and Seriousness our Devotion Which I would to God we would all duly consider all the while we are exercised in the Worship of God who chiefly regards our Hearts But we ought likewise to be very careful of our external Behaviour with a particular regard to the Angels who are present there to see and observe the outward Decency and Reverence of our Carriage and Deportment Of which we are very careful in the Presence even of an Earthly Prince when he either speaks to us or we make any Address to him And surely much more ought we to be so when we are in the immediate Presence of God and of his holy Angels every one of whom is a much greater Prince and of greater Power than any of the Princes of this World But how little is this considered I speak to our shame and by how few among us And as Angels are helpful to good Men in working out their Salvation throughout the course of their Lives so at the Hour of Death they stand by them to comfort them and assist them in that needful and dismal time in that last and great Conflict of frail Mortality with Death and the Powers of Darkness to receive their expiring Spirits into their Charge and to conduct them safely into the Mansions of the Blessed And to this purpose also the Jews had a Tradition that the Angels wait upon good Men at their Death to convey their Souls into Paradise Which is very much countenanc'd by our Saviour in the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus Luke 16.22 where it is said that when Lazarus died he was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom Nay that the Angels have some Charge and Care of the Bodies of good Men after death may not improbably be gathered from that Passage m St. Jude v. 9. where Michael the Archangel is said to have contended with the Devil about the Body of Moses What the ground of this Controversie betwixt them was may be most probably explain'd by a passage Deut. 34.6 where it is said that God took particular care probably by an Angel concerning the burying so Moses in a certain Valley and it is added but no man knoweth of his Sepulchre unto this day The Devil it seems had a fair Prospect of laying a Foundation for Idolatry in the Worship of Moses after his death if he could have gotten the disposal of his Body to have buried it in some known and publick place And no doubt it would hare gratified him not a little to have made him who was so declared an Enemy to Idolatry all his life an occasion of it after his death But this God thought fit to prevent in pity to the People of Israel whom he saw upon all occasion so prone to Idolatry and for that Reason committed it to the Charge of Michael the Archangel to bury his Body secretly and this was the thing which Michael the Archangel contended with the Devil about But before I pass from this I cannot but take notice of one memorable Circumstance in this Contest mentioned likewise by St. Jude in these words yet Michael the Archangel when contending with the Devil he disputed about the Body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing accusation His Duty restrain'd him from it and probably his Descretion too As he durst not offend God in doing a thing so much beneath the Dignity and Perfection of his Nature so he could not but think that the Devil would have been too hard for him at railing a thing to which as the Angels have no disposition so I believe that they have no talent no faculty at it The cool Consideration whereof should make all Men especially those who call themselves Divines and especially in Controversies about Religion ashamed and afraid of this manner of disputing since Michael the Archangel even when he disputed with the Devil durst not bring against him a railing accusation But to proceed This we are sure of that the Angels shall be the great Ministers and Instruments of the Resurrection of our Bodies and the reunion of them to our Souls For so our Blessed Saviour has told us Matt. 24.30 31. That when the Son of man shall come in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory he shall send his Angels to gather the Elect from the four winds from one end of Heaven to the other Thus I have as briefly as I could and so far as the Scripture hath gone before us to give us light in this matter endeavoured to shew the several Ways wherein good Angels do Minister in behalf of t hem who shall be Heirs of Salvation All that now remains is to draw some Inferences from this discourse and so I shall conclude First what hath been said upon this Argument and so abundantly proved from Scripture may serve to establish us in the Belief of this Truth and to awaken us to a due Consideration of it That the Angels are invisible to us and that we are seldom sensible of their Presence and the good Offices they do us is no sufficient Reason against the Truth and Reality of the Thing if by other Arguments we are convinced of it For by the same Reason we may almost as well call in Question the Existance of God and of our own Souls neither of which do fall under the notice of our Senses and yet by other Arguments we are sufficiently convinc'd of them both So in this case the general Consent and Tradition of Mankind concerning the Existence of Angels and their Ministry about us especially being confirmed to us by clear and express Testimony of holy Scripture ought to be abundant Evidence to us when we consider that so general a Consent must have a proportionable Cause which can be no other but a general Tradition grounded at first upon Revelation and derived down to all succeeding Ages from the first Spring and Original of Mankind and since confirmed by manifold Revelations of