that their works shall be rewarded but that they shall go along with them and that they are blessed upon this Account and this implies that they shall receive a sure Reward For as the Apostle Reasons God is not unrighteous to forget our Work and Labour of Love Verily there is a Reward for the righteous as sure as there is a God that judgeth in the Earth But how Great and Glorious that shall be I am not in any measure able to declare to you It may suffice that the Scripture hath assured us in general that God is the Rewarder of Good Men and that he will make them Happy not according to what can now enter into our narrow Thoughts but according to the exceeding greatness of his Power and Goodness If we are to receive our Reward from God we need not doubt but it will be very large and such as is every way worthy of him to bestow For he is a great King and of great Goodness and we may safely refer our selves to him in confidence that he will consider us not according to the Meanness of our Service but according to the Vastness of his Treasures and the Infinite Bounty of his Mind If he hath promised to make us Happy tho' he have not particularly declared to us wherein this Happiness shall consist yet we may trust him that made us to find out ways to make us happy and may believe that he who made us without our Knowledge or desire is able to make us Happy beyond them both Only for the greater Encouragement of our Holiness and Obedience tho' he hath promised to Reward every Good Man far beyond the Proportion of any Good he hath or can do yet he hath declared that these Rewards shall be proportionably greater or less according to the degree of every Man's Piety and Virtue So our Saviour tell us that they who are persecuted for righteousness sake great shall be their reward in heaven Matt. 5.12 That there will be a difference between the Reward of a righteous Man and a Prophet that is of one who is more publickly and eminently useful for the Salvation of others And among those who are Teachers of others they that are more industrious and consequently more likely to be successful in this Work shall have a more Glorious Reward as we are told by the Angel Dan. 12.3 And they that be Wise or as it is in the Margin rendred they that be Teachers shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever So likewise we find in the Parable of the Talents that he that improv'd his Talent to Ten was made Ruler over Ten Cities And St. Paul 2 Cor. 9.6 speaking of the Degrees of Mens Charity and Liberality towards the Poor says expresly He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly but he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully which by Proportion of Reason may be extended to the Exercise of all other Graces and Virtues 1 Cor. 15.41 42. The Apostle there represents the different Degrees of Glory which Good Men shall be invested with at the Resurrection by the different Glory and Splendor of the Heavenly Luminaries There is one glory of the Sun another of the Moon and another glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in glory So also is the Resurrection of the dead So that the more any Man suffers for God and the more Patiently he Suffers the more Holily and Virtuously the more Charitably and Usefully he lives in this World the more good Works will accompany him into the next and the Greater and more Glorious Reward he may hope to receive there which as the Apostle Reasons in the Conclusion of that Chapter concerning the Doctrine of the Resurrection ought to be a mighty Encouragement to every one of us not only to be stedfast and unmoveable that is fix'd and resolute in the Profession and Practice of our Religion but abounding likewise in the work of the Lord forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. Every Degree of Diligence and Industry in the Work and Service of God will most certainly one day turn to a happy Account Having therefore such Promises dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God The more perfectly holy we are here on Earth the more perfectly happy we shall be in Heaven and continue so to all Eternity I have now done with the Two Reasons which are here given in the Text of the Happiness that Good Men such as die in the Lord shall be made Partatakers of in another Life because they rest from their labours and their works accompany them they are freed from all the Evils which they suffer'd and shall receive the Reward of all the Good they have done in this Life I should now have proceeded to make some Inferences from this Discourse But those I will reserve for another Discourse on this Subject All that I shall add at present as the Application of what I have already said is That this should stir us up to a careful and zealous Imitation of those Blessed Persons described in the Text who are dead in the Lord and are at rest from their Labours and whose works do accompany them Let us Imitate them in their Faith and Patience in their Piety and Good Works and in their Constancy to God and his Truth which was dearer to them than their Lives Thus their Virtues and Sufferings are described in the Visions of this Book Chap. 13.10 Here is the Patience and the Faith of the Saints and Chap. 14.12 Here is the Patience of the Saints Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus and Chap. 12.11 And they overcame by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony and they loved not their Lives unto the Death In this Way and by these Steps all the Saints and Martyrs of all Ages have ascended up to Heaven and attained to that Blessed State which they are now Possessed of after all the Evils which they Suffered in this World They are now at rest from their labours and all the good Works which they have done are gon along with them and they are now and shall for ever be receiving the Comfort and Reward of them And if we tread in their Steps by a zealous Imitation of the Piety and Holiness of their Lives and of the Constancy and Patience of their Sufferings we shall one Day be Translated into their Blessed Society and made Partakers with them of the same Glorious Reward If we have our Fruit unto Holiness our end shall be everlasting life If we be faithful unto death we shall receive a Crown of Life Let us then as the Apostle to the Hebrews exhorts Chap. 6.11 12. Every one of us shew the same Diligence to the full assurance
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
us Satisfaction of the Truth and Divinity of the Doctrine of the Christian Religion which hath had so eminent a Confirmation given to it from Heaven and did at its first setting out so strangely prevail in the World against all Humane Probability not by might nor by power but by the spirit of the Lord. No man can well suppose a Religion in Circumstances of greater Disadvantage and upon all Humane Accounts more unlikely to sustain and bear up it self than the Christian Religion was The first Appearance of it was so mean and its Beginnings so small that no Man but would have thought it would presently have come to nothing and no other account can be given of the strange Success and Prevalency of it but that it was of God and therefore it could not be overthrown II. This Discourse may likewise satisfie us of the Reason why this Miraculous Power which accompanied the Gospel at first is now ceased because there is not the like Reason and Necessity for it which there was at first It was highly Necessary then to introduce the Christian Religion into the World and to be a sensible Evidence to Men of the Divinity of that new Doctrine which was Preached to them but now that the Gospel is generally entertained there is not the same Reason why this Miraculous Power should still be continued Acquisito fine cessant media ad finem when the End is once obtained the Means cease and the Wise God who is never wanting in what is Necessary does not use to be lavish in that which is Superfluous Now that the Christian Religion hath got firm footing in the World God leaves it to be propagated and advanced by its own Rational Force upon the Minds of Men now that the Prejudices of Education in a Contrary Religion are removed and the Powers of the World are reconciled to Christianity there is no need of such violent and extraordinary Means for the continuance of it now that it stands upon equal Advantages with other Religions God hath left it to be carried on in more humane and ordinary ways and such as are more level and accommodate to the Nature of Man That Miracles are long since ceased is acknowledged by the Fathers who lived an Age or two after the ceasing of them particularly by St. Chrysostome who gives the same Reason for it which I have just now assigned But the Church of Rome would still bear us in hand that this Miraculous Power does still continue in their Church and according to Bellarmine must always continue because he makes it an inseparable Property and Mark of the True Church But we pretend to no such Power nor have we any Reason so to do because all the Doctrines of our Religion are the Ancient Doctrines of Christianity delivered by our Saviour and by his Apostles publisht to the World and these are sufficiently confirmed already by the Miracles which our Saviour and his Apostles wrought in the Primitive Times of Christianity But the Church of Rome hath great Occasion and Need of New Miracles to confirm their New Doctrines and therefore as they have Reason they usually apply them to the Confirmation of their New Doctrines some to confirm Purgatory and to give countenance to Indulgences others to encourage the Worship of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints others to confirm that which all the Miracles in the World are not sufficient to confirm I mean the Doctrine of Transubstantiation which because it overthrows the certainty of Sense is in the Nature of it peculiarly incapable of being confirmed by a Miracle III. and Lastly The Consideration of what hath been said does justly upbraid us that this Religion which was so powerful at first and hath such Characters of Divinity upon it coming down to us confirmed by so many Miracles should yet have so little Effect upon most of us who call our selves Christians We have all the Advantages of the Christian Religion having been educated and brought up in it and yet it hath less Effect upon us than it had upon those whose Minds were prejudiced and whose Manners were depraved by the Principles of a false Religion for those who were reduced from Paganism to Christianity did on the sudden become better Men and were more Holy and Virtuous in their Lives than the greatest part of us who have been instructed and trained up all our lives in the Doctrine of Christianity The true Reason of which is that many of us are Christians upon the same account that they were at first Heathens because it was the Religion of their Country and they were born and bred up in it but Christianity was the Religion of their Choice and there were no Motives to perswade them to the Profession of that Religion but what were as powerful to oblige them to the Practice of it Let us also be Christians not only by Custom but by Choice and then we shall live according to our Religion He that takes up a Religion for any other Reason than to obey and practice it does not choose a Religion but only counterfeits the Choice of it We have beyond Comparison the best and most reasonable Religion in the World a Religion that hath the greatest Evidence of its Truth that contains the best Precepts and gives men the greatest Assurance of a future Happiness and directs them to the surest Way of attaining it Now the better our Religion is the worse are we if we be not made good by it The Philosophy of the Heathen made some virtuous and there were many eminent Saints under the Imperfection of the Jewish Institution What Degrees then of Holiness and Virtue may be expected from us upon whom the Glorious Light of the Gospel shineth so brightly I will conclude all with the Words of the Apostle Heb. 2.1 2 3 4. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the holy Ghost according to his own will SERMON VI. The Nature Office and Employment of Good Angels Preached on the Feast of St. Michael HEB. 1.14 Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation THis is spoken of Good Angels whose Existence as well as that of Evil Spirits the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament do every where take for granted no less than they do the Being of God and the Immortality of the Soul And well they may since they are all founded upon the general Consent of all Ages VOL. II. derived down to
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
for his Religion when he cannot be persuaded to live according to it So that by this we may try the Sincerity of our Resolution concerning Martyrdom For what Profession soever Men make he that will not deny himself the Pleasures of Sin and the Advantages of this World for Christ when it comes to the push will never have the Heart to take up his Cross and follow him He that cannot take up a Resolution to live a Saint hath a Demonstration within himself that he is never like to dye a Martyr SERMON X. The Blessedness of Good Men after Death 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 I Will not trouble you with any nice Dispute about the Author of this Book of the Revelation or the Authority of it VOL. II. tho' both these were sometimes controverted because it is now many Ages since this Book was received into the Canon of the Scriptures as of Divine Authority and as written by St. John Nor shall I at this time enquire into the particular meaning of the several Visions and Predictions contained in it It is confessedly in several parts of it a very obscure Book and there needs no other Argument to satisfie us that it is so than that so many Learned and Inquisitive Persons have given such different Interpretations of several remarkable Passages in it as particularly concerning the slaying of the Two Witnesses and the number of the Beast The words which I have read to you tho' there be some difficulty about the Interpretation of some particular Expressions in them yet in the general Sense and Intendment of them they are very plain being a Solemn Declaration of the Blessed State of Good Men after this Life And that we may take the more notice of them they are brought in with a great deal of Solemn Preparation and Address Serm. X. as it were on purpose to bespeak our attention to them I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth And for the greater Confirmation of them the special Testimony of the Spirit is added to the voice from Heaven declaring the Reason why they that die in the Lord are Pronounced to be in so happy a Condition Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them In the handling of these Words I shall First inquire into the particular Sense and Meaning of them Secondly Prosecute the general Intendment of them which I told you is to declare to us the Blessed Estate of those that die in the Lord that is of Saints and Good Men after they are departed this Life First I shall enquire into the particular Sense and Meaning of the Words To the clearing of which nothing will conduce more than to consider the Occasion of them which was briefly this In the Visions of this and the foregoing Chapter is represented to St. John the great Straits that the Christians the true Worshipers of the True God should be reduced to On the one hand they are Threatned with Death or if they be suffered to live they are interdicted all Commerce with Humane Society Chap. 13.15 And he had power to cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed And Verse 17. That no man may buy or sell save he that had the Mark of the Beast And on the other hand they that do Worship the Beast are Threatned with Damnation Chap. 14.9 10. If any man do worship the Beast the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone So that whenever this should happen it would be a time of great Trial to the sincere Christians being threatned with Extream Persecution on the one hand and Eternal Damnation on the other and therefore it is added in the 12 Verse Here is the Patience of the Saints Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus This is represented in St. John's Visions as the last and extremest Persecution of the true Worshipers of God and which should preceed the final Downfall of Babylon And when this should happen then he tells us the Patience of the Saints would be tried to purpose and then it would be seen who are faithful to God and constant to his Truth and upon this immediately follows the Voice from Heaven in the Text 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 The main Difficulty of the words depends upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from henceforth which Interpreters do variously refer to several parts of the Text. Some by changing the Accent and reading it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would change the signification of the word into omninò omninò beati sunt they are altogether blessed very happy who die in the Lord. But this is altogether destitute of the Countenance and Warrant of any ancient Copy We will then suppose that the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to be rendered as we Translate it from henceforth from this time All the Difficulty is to what part of the Text we are to refer it Some refer it to the word Blessed Blessed from henceforth are the dead which die in the Lord As if from this time and not before the Souls of Good Men were immediately after Death admitted into Heaven which many of the Ancient Fathers thought the Souls of Good Men who died before the coming of Christ were not But then this Blessedness ought to have been dated not from the time of St. John's Vision but of Christ's Ascension according to that of St. Ambrose in the Hymn called Te Deum When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers Others refer it to dying in the Lord Blessed are the dead that from henceforth die in the Lord. But this hath no peculiar Emphasis in it because they were blessed that died in the Lord before that time Others refer it to the words following concerning the Testimony of the Spirit yea from henceforth saith the Spirit All these Varieties agree in this Sense in general That some special Blessedness is Promised and Declared to those who should die after that time But what that is in Particular is not easie to make out But the most plain and simple Interpretation and that which seems to be most suitable to the Occasion of these words is this that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from henceforth is to be referred to the whole Sentence thus from henceforth blessed are the
of hope unto the end and let us not be slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises Now the God of Peace who brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you Perfect in every good word and work working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight SERMON XI The Blessedness of Good Men after Death The Second Sermon on 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 IN my Explication of these Words I told you that they are in the general Sense and Meaning of them a solemn Declaration of the Blessed Estate of Good Men after this Life but deliver'd upon a Special Occasion as is signified by that expression VOL. II. from henceforth that is from the time of that Vision in which was represented to St. John the last and extremest Persecution of the faithful Servants of Christ and which should precede the fatal downfal of Babylon from that time blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that is considering the Extremity and the cruel Circumstances of this last and severest Persecution we may from that time forward reckon those who are already dead supposing that they died in the Lord to be very Happy in that they do not live to see and suffer those grievous things which then will befall the Faithful Servants of God In my former Discourse I consider'd the Words according to the general intention of them abstracting from the particular occasion upon which they were spoken endeavouring to set forth the Happy Estate of Good Men after this life from the Two Reasons and Grounds mention'd in the Text namely because they rest from their labours and because their works do follow or accompany and go along with them which two particulars constitute the Happiness of the future State Serm. XI That which farther remains and to which I now proceed is to make some Inferences from what I have said upon this Subject And in doing this I shall have an Eye on the special occasion of the Words as well as on their general intention And the Inferences shall be these following First If those that die in the Lord are at rest from their Labours and Pains then this Text concludes directly against the feigned Purgatory of the Church of Rome which supposeth a great number of those that die in the Lord and have obtain'd Eternal Redemption by him from Hell not to pass immediately into Happiness but to be detain'd in the Suburbs of Hell in great Pain and Torment till their Souls be Purged and the Debt of Temporary Punishment to which they are liable be some way or other paid off and dischargeed Secondly Here is a mighty encouragement to Piety and Virtue to consider that all the good we do in this World will accompany us into the other Thirdly It is a great encouragement to Patience under the Sufferings and Persecutions which attend Good Men in this World that how heavy and grievous soever they are at present they will end with this Life and we shall then rest from all our labours Fourthly The consideration of the extreme Sufferings of Christians in the last Times and which perhaps are not far from us should render us very indifferent to Life and all the enjoyments of it so as even to esteem it a particular Grace and Favour of God to be taken away from the Evil to come and by Death to prevent if he sees it good those extremities of Sufferings which seem to be hastning upon the World I. If those that die in the Lord are at rest from all their labours and pains then this Text concludes directly against the feigned Purgatory of the Church of Rome which supposeth a great number yea the far greatest part of those that die in the Lord and have obtain'd Eternal Redemption by him from Hell not to pass immediately into Happiness but to be detain'd somewhere they are not certain where but most probably in the Suburbs of Hell in great Pain and Torment equal in degree to that of Hell and differing only in Duration I say to be detained there till their Souls be purged from the Defilements they have contracted in this World and the Debt of Temporary Punishments to which they are liable be some way or other paid off and discharged They suppose indeed some very few Holy Men to be so Perfect at their departure out of this Life that they do immediately and without any stop pass into Heaven because they need no Purgation and those likewise who Suffer Martyrdom because they Discharge their Debt of Temporary Punishments here But the generality of Christians who die in the Lord they suppose so imperfect as to stand in need of being Purged by Fire and accordingly that they are detained a longer or shorter time as their Debt of Temporary Punishments is greater or less And indeed they have a very Considerable and Substantial Reason to exempt as few as possibly they can from going to Purgatory because the more they put in fear of going thither the Market of Indulgences riseth the higher and the Profit thence accruing to the Popes Coffers and the more and greater Legacies will be left to the Priests to hire their saying of Masses for the delivery of Souls out of the Place of Torments For tho' the Prayers of Friends and Relations will contribute something to this yet nothing does the Business so Effectually as the Masses and Prayers of Priests to that end But how is it then that St. John says that those that die in the Lord are happy because they rest from their labours If so be the far greatest part of those who die in the Lord are so far from resting from their labours that they enter into far greater Pains and Torments than ever they endured in this World And therefore Bellarmine that their Doctrine of Purgatory may receve no prejudice from this Text would have from henceforth in the Text to be dated from the day of Judgment when he supposeth the Pains of Purgatory will be at an end But why from henceforth should take date from the day of Judgment he can give no Reason but only to save Purgatory from being Condemned by this Text. For St. John plainly speaks of the Happiness of those that should die after that time whatever it be which he there describes but that time cannot be the day of Judgment because none shall die after that time Just thus Estius one of their most Learned Commentators deals with another Text which by the generality of their Writers is urged as a plain proof of Purgatory he shall be saved yet so as by fire Upon which he says it is sufficient that there is nothing in this
Text against Purgatory Sufficient for what Not to prove Purgatory as they generally pretend from this Text but to save it harmless from it as if we had pretended that this Text makes against it But there are others that make against it with a Witness Not only the perpetual Silence of Scripture about it when there are so many far occasions of speaking of it as in the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus where the future State is so particularly described and yet no mention made nor the least intimation given of this Third State But besides the Silence of Scripture about it there are several Passages utterly inconsistent with it as namely St. Paul's Discourse in the beginning of the Fifth Chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians where he plainly declares the Assurance he had that all sincere Christians so soon as they quit the Body do pass into Happiness For we know says he that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens The plain meaning of which is that so soon as we quit the One we shall pass into the Other And this Consideration he tells us made Christians weary of this World and willing to die Ver. 2. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven and Ver. 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened But had Christians believed that the greatest part of them when they left the Body were to go into Purgatory to be terribly Tormented there they would not have been in such haste to die but would have protracted the time as long as they could and have contentedly born the burden of this earthly Tabernacle rather than to quit it for a Condition a Thousand times more intolerable But St. Paul expresly says that Christians knew the contrary and that as soon as ever they went out of the Body they should be happy and with the Lord and that this gave them courage against the Fears of Death Ver. 6. Therefore we are always confident 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bono igitur animo sumus Therefore we are always of good courage knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord and Ver. 8. we are of good courage I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. The plain Sense of which is that Christians were willing rather to die than to live because they knew that so soon as they left the Body and departed this Life they should be present with the Lord. But now if the Doctrine of Purgatory be true this whole Reasoning of St. Paul proceeds upon a gross Mistake and therefore I am certain it is not true And so does the voice from Heaven here in the Text Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that they may rest from their labours For there is no Reason to restrain this general expression that die in the Lord only to the Martyrs for tho' they are certainly included and prehaps Primarily intended in it yet this Phrase comprehends all those who die in the faith of Christ and is most frequently so used in the New Testament But let this suffice to have been spoken of this matter especially since Bishop Fisher and several of their own Learned Writers do so frankly acknowledge that their Doctrine of Purgatory hath no sufficient Ground in Scripture Other Reasons I grant they have for it which make them very loth to quit it it is a very Profitable Doctrine and therefore they have taken care to have it more abundantly confirm'd by Apparitions of Souls from the dead than any other Doctrine whatsoever In short how little soever they can say for it it is in vain to go about to persuade them to part with it Demetrius the Silver Smith argued as well as he could for his Goddess Diana from the universal consent of the World in the Worship of her the great Goddess Diana whom all Asia and the World Worshipeth But his trusty Argument to his Workmen was Sirs ye know that by this Craft we have our Wealth and this our Craft is in danger to be set at nought II. Here is a mighty encouragement to Piety and Virtue to consider that all the good we do in this World will accompany us into the other Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for their works accompany them When we come to die we can call nothing our own but the Good Works which by the Grace of God we have been enabled to do in this Life These will stick by us and bear us company into the other World when we shall be stript of all other things and forc'd to part from them whether we will or no. Our Riches and our Honours our Sensual Pleasures and Delights will all take their leave of us when we leave this World nay many times they do not accompany us so far as the Grave but leave us very unkindly and unseasonably when we have the greatest need and use of them There is one way indeed whereby we may secure our Riches and make sure Friends to our selves of them by laying them out in Charity By this means we may send them before us and consign them over to another World to make way for our reception there So our Lord assures us Luke 12.33 that by giving Alms we provide our selves bags which wax not old a treasure in the Heavens which faileth not and Luke 16.9 that by this way we may make to our selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when we fail they may recieve us into everlasting habitations The Mammon of unrighteousness What is that It is what the Scripture elsewhere calls deceitful riches because in other ways in which Men commonly lay them out they turn to no certain account but one way or other do deceive and frustrate our Expectation but by disposing of them in Charity to the relief of the Poor and Persecuted we make sure Friends of them and consign the Effects of them to our certain Benefit and Advantage in another World And as Charity so likewise all other Graces and Virtues are that good part which cannot be taken away from us All the good Actions that we do in this Life will go with us to the Grave and bear us company into the other World and will stand by us when we come to appear before our Judge and through the Merits of our Blessed Saviour will procure for us at the Hands of a Gracious and Merciful God a most Ample and Eternal Reward And what an encouragement is this to Holiness and Virtue to consider that it will be all our own another day and turn to our unspeakable advantage at our great Account To be assured that whoever serves God faithfully lays up so much Treasure for himself which he may take along with him into the other
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
Patience of the Saints here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus And then he immediately adds as it is in the Text 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 accompany them Thus much may suffice to have been spoken on this Text. SERMON XII The Vanity 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 front 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 THE latter part of this Chapter is a very sharp but just Invective made by our Saviour against the Hypocrisie of the Scribes and Pharisees VOL. II. of which he gives many instances and this among the rest for one that they pretended a great Honour and Respect for the Righteous Men and Prophets of former Ages whom their Fathers had Persecuted and Slain but yet were of the very same Spirit and Temper and as ready to Persecute Good Men as their Fathers were They raised indeed stately Monuments to the Memory of those Saints and Martyrs and adorned them with great Art and Cost and it is likely made a great Shew of Esteem and Veneration for them But all this while they were of the same disposition with their Fathers and bare the same implacable Hatred and Malice against the Prophets and Righteous Men who then lived among them yea against that great Prophet whom God had sent into the World Jesus the Son of God which their Fathers did against the Good Men of their Times And tho' they disclaimed the Wickedness and Cruelty of their Fathers with never so much Zeal and Vehemency yet for all that they were ready to do the same things Now this was so gross and odious a piece of Hypocrisie in them Serm. XII that our Saviour doth with great Reason denounce so severe a Wo against them Wo unto you for ye build the Sepulchres of the Prophets and your Fathers killed them Truly ye bear Witness that ye allow the deeds of youe Fathers For they indeed killed them and ye build their Sepulchres And then it follows 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 to the blood of Zacharias which perished between the Altar and the Temple There are considerable Difficulties in both these Passages As to the former Wo unto you for ye build the Sepulchres of the Prophets and your Fathers killed them Truly ye bear Witness that ye allow the deeds of your Fathers For they indeed killed them and ye build their Sepulchres The force of this Reasoning is at first sight not easie to be discern'd and therefore Expositors have gone several ways to explain it Some comparing this with the parallel Place in St. Matthew's Gospel Ch. 23.29 will not have our Saviour to mean that by building the Sepulchres of the Prophets they express'd their approbation of their Fathers killing them They did indeed testifie by their usage of the Righteous Men that liv'd amongst themselves that they were of the very same Temper and Spirit which their Fathers had been of and that they would have done just as their Fathers did if they had been in the same Circumstances with their Fathers So that they were Witnesses to themselves as it is in St. Matthew that they were the Children of them which killed the Prophets They own'd themselves their Children by Descent and their Actions Witnessed that they were their Children also in Resemblance nay as it is there farther intimated they seem'd resolv'd to fill up the Measure of their Fathers tho' all this while they pretended not to approve their Fathers Behaviour and therefore whilst they were building the Tombs of the Prophets and garnishing the Sepulchres of the Righteous they said if we had been in the days of our Fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets And the Interpreters that go this way do accordingly render these words of St. Luke not as they are in our Translation ye bear Witness that ye allow the deeds of your Fathers But ye bear Witness and ye allow or are well pleas'd with the deeds of your Fathers that is ye own that they were your Fathers who did these things and tho' ye do not in words allow what they did yet your inward Tempers and Dispositions whether you know it or no are the very same with theirs which you too plainly testifie by your Actions so that when you build the Sepulchres of the Prophets you only expose the Deceitfulness and Hypocrsie of your Hearts your Pretences and your Actions directly contradicting each other Thus some Expositors give the Sense of this Passage But Others think that our Saviour intended somewhat more in St. Luke namely to retort upon them the Honour which they seem'd to do to the Prophets in building their Sepulchres as an Argument that they rejoyced in their Death seeing they were so well content to be at the Charge of a Monument for them like Herod who when he had Murdered Aristobulus made a Magnificent Funeral for him or as the Roman Historians say of Caracalla tho' he hated all Good Men whilst they were alive yet he would pretend to Honour them when they were dead This Some think our Saviour intended in these Words Truly ye bear Witness that ye allow the deeds of your Fathers For they indeed killed them and ye build their Sepulchers As if he had said Hereby ye testifie that ye allow and like very well what your Fathers did to the Prophets According to which latter Exposition there seems to be more Force and greater Sharpness in our Saviour's Reproof as not only charging them with their ill usage of the Righteous Men of their own Times but moreover making them by their building the Tombs and garnishing the Sepulchres of the Antient Prophets to become as it were Accessories to the Murder of them But leaving this Digression I now proceed to that which I primarily intended namely First to explain the following Words which I have chosen as my present Subject and then to make some Observations upon them 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
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
is nor any fear of becoming less And all Temptation is founded either in hope or fear and where neither of these can have any place there can be no occasion no possible Motive or Temptation to Evil for to be Evil and to do Evil is always an Effect of weakness and want of Power The summ of what I have said upon this Argument and the design indeed of it is to shew that the greater Power and Authority any one hath the less Liberty he hath to do any thing that is bad And I have been the larger upon this because I would fain imprint upon the Minds of Persons whom the Providence of God hath invested with great Power and Authority that as they have great opportunities of doing more good than others so they have greater Reason and more Advantages of doing it and are more inexcusable if they do any thing that is bad not only because their Actions are of a more publick influence and observation but because their Temptations to Evil how great soever they may seem to be are in truth and reality much less than other Mens Happy are those Princes that wisely consider this and make their Power and Authority over others an Argument to be so much better themselves and to do so much more good to others and because they are less subject to the coercive Power of Law do for that Reason think themselves so much the more obliged to be a Law to themselves Blessed be God for the Happiness which we enjoy in this respect and let us earnestly beseech him that he would be pleased to bestow such a plentiful measure of his Grace and Holy Spirit on our most Gracious King and Queen as may Effectually both engage and enable them to use their Power to the best purposes for the Publick good And thus I have briefly gon over and explained to you the several Particulars in the Text the duty of Prayer here enjoyned for whom we are to pray in general for all Men and for whom more especially and in the first place for Kings and all that are in authority and upon what Considerations we are to pray for them and to Praise God in their behalf because of the great Benefits we receive by them and because both in respect of the Dangers and Difficulties of their Condition they stand in need of our Prayers above other Men besides that in praying for their Welfare and Prosperity we pray for our own Peace and Happiness And now to apply this to our selves and to the Occasion of this Day By all that hath been said we cannot but be convinced what Cause we have to bless God for that happy Government which we live under that excellent Constitution under the gentle Influences whereof we enjoy more Liberty more Plenty and more Security from all manner of Injury and Oppression than any Nation this Day on the Face of the Earth Therefore with what Thankfulness should we this Day commemorate the happy Restauration of this Government to us after the miserable Distractions and Confusions of twenty Years by the Restauration and Return of our banisht Soveraign in so peaceable and yet so wonderful a Manner that a Remembrance of it even at this Distance is almost still Matter of Amazement to us Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who alone doth wondrous Things And with our joyful Praises let us joyn our most devout and fervent Prayers to Almighty God for the King 's and Queen's Majesties and for all that are in Authority And I may truly say that there was hardly ever greater Reason and Occasion for it both from our Distractions at Home and our Dangers from abroad never was there greater Need of our earnest Supplications and Prayers than at this Time when our Armies and Fleets are in Motion and when God seems already to have given us some Earnest of good Success blessed be his great and glorious Name We have indeed a great Army and a more powerful Fleet than ever this Nation sent forth but unless God be on our Side and favour our Cause in vain are all our Preparations for whenever his Providence is pleased to interpose by strength shall no Man prevail Have we not Reason then to cry mightily unto God when the only Strength of the Nation is at Stake when our Sins and Provocations are so many and great and there lies so heavy a poal of Guilt upon us When the person of his Sacred Majesty is exposed to so much Hazard not only in the high Places of the Field but from the restless Attempts of the malicious and implacable Enemies of our Peace and Religion that he would be graciously pleased to go forth with our Armies and Fleets and not remember our Iniquities against us but save us for his Mercies sake We are too apt to murmur and complain of Miscariages and the ill management of Affairs but surely the best thing we can do and that which best becomes us is to look forward and to turn our Censures of our Governours and their Actions into humble Supplications to God in their behalf and in behalf of the whole Nation that he would be pleased to turn us every one from the Evil of our Ways that he may return to us and have mercy on us that so Iniquity may not be our Ruin that he may rejoyce over us to do us good and may at last think Thoughts of Peace towards us Thoughts of Good and not of Evil to give us an expected End of our Troubles Let us then betake our selves to the proper Work of this Day hearty Prayers and Thanksgivings to Almighty God for the King and Queen and for all that are in Authority that as he hath been pleased by a wonderful Providence to rescue us from the imminent danger we were in and from all our fears by the happy Advancement of their Majesties to the Throne of these Kingdoms so he would of his infinite goodness still preserve and continue to us this Light of our Eyes and Breath of our Nostrils Princes of that great Clemency and Goodness which render them the true Representatives of God upon Earth and the most Gracious Governours of Men. And let us earnestly beseech him that he would confirm and strengthen them in all goodness and make them wise as Angels of God to discern betwixt Good and Evil that they may know how to go in and out before this great People that be would give them the united affections of their People and a heart to study and seek their good all the days of their lives And Finally That he would be pleased to continue so great a Blessing to us and to grant them a long and Prosperous Reign over us and that their Posterity in this Royal Family may endure for ever and their Throne as the Days of Heaven that under them the People of these Nations we and the Generations to come may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty for
his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Dominion and Power now and for ever Amen SERMON XVI The Love of God to Men in the Incarnation of Christ Preached in the Chapel of Lambeth-House ON Christmas-Day 1691. 1 JOHN IV. 9. In this was manifested the love of Go towards us because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him THESE Words contain a clear and evident Demonstration of the Love of God to us In this was manifested the Love of God towards us VOL. II. that is by this it plainly appears that God had a mighty Love for us That he sent his only-begotten Son into the World that we might live through him In which we may consider this Three-fold Evidence of God's Love to Mankind I. That he should be pleased to take our Case into Consideration and to concern himself for our Happiness II. That he should design so great a Benefit to us which is here exprest by Life that we might live through him III. That he was pleased to use such a Means for the obtaining and procuring of this Benefit for us he sent his only-begotten Son into the World that we might live through him Each of these singly is a great Evidence of God's Love to us much more all of them together I. It is a great Evidence of the Love of God to Mankind that he was pleased to take our Case into Consideration Serm. XVI and to concern himself for our Happiness Nothing does more commend an Act of Kindness than if there be great Condescension in it We use to value a small Favour if it be done to us by one that is far above us more than a far greater done to us by a mean and inconsiderable Person This made David to break out into such Admiration when he considered the ordinary Providence of God towards Mankind Lord what is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou shouldst consider him This is a wonderful Condescension indeed for God to be mindful of Man At the best we are but his Creatures and upon that very Account at an infinite Distance from him so that were not he infinitely Good he would not be concerned for us who are so infinitely beneath the Consideration of his Love and Pity Neither are we of the highest Rank of Creatures we are much below the Angels as to the Excellency and Perfection of our Beings so that if God had not had a peculiar Pity and Regard to the Sons of Men he might have placed his Affection and Care upon a much nobler Order of Creatures than we are and so much the more miserable because they fell from a higher Step of Happiness I mean the lost Angels but yet for Reasons best known to his Infinite Wisdom God past by them and was pleased to consider us This the Apostle to the Hebrews takes notice of as an Argument of God's peculiar and extraordinary Love to Mankind that he sent his Son not to take upon him the Nature of Angels but of the Seed of Abraham Now that he who is so far above us and after that we by wilful Transgression had lost our selves had no Obligation to take Care of us but what his own Godness laid upon him that he should concern himself so much for us and be so solicitous for our Recovery this is a great Evidence of his Kindness and Good-will to us and cannot be imagined to proceed from any other Cause II. Another Evidence of God's great Love to us is that he was pleased to design so great a Benefit for us This the Scripture expresseth to us by Life and it is usual in Scripture to express the best and most desirable things by Life because as it is one of the greatest Blessings so it is the Foundation of all other Enjoyments And therefore the Apostle useth but this one word to express to us all the Blessings and Benefits of Christ's coming into the World God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him And this Expression is very proper to our Case because Life signifies the reparation of all that which was lost by the Fall of Man For Man by his willful Degeneracy and Apostacy from God is sunk into a State of Sin and Misery both which the Scripture is wont to express by Death In respect of our Sinful State we are Spiritually Dead and in respect of the Punishment and Misery due to us for our Sins we are Judicially Dead Dead in Law for the wages of Sin is Death Now God hath sent his Son into the World that in both these respects we might live through him 1. We were Spiritually Dead Dead in Trespasses and Sins as the Apostle speaks Eph. 2.1 2. You hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world Every Wicked Man tho' in a Natural Sense he be Alive yet in a Moral Sense he is Dead So the Apostle speaking of those who live in sinful Lusts and Pleasures says of them that they are dead while they live 1 Tim. 5.6 What Corrupt Humours are to the Body that Sin is to the Soul their Disease and their Death Now God sent his Son to deliver us from this Death by renewing our Nature and mortifying our Lusts by restoring us to the Life of Grace and Holiness and destroying the Body of Sin in us that henceforth we should not serve Sin And that this is a great Argument of the mighty Love of God to us the Apostle tells us Eph. 2.4 5. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ It is an Argument of the Riches of God's Mercy and of his great Love to us to recover us out of this sad and deplorable Case It is a kindness infinitely greater than to redeem us from the most wretched Slavery or to rescue us from the most dreadful and cruel Temporal Death and yet we should value this as a Favour and Benefit that could never be sufficiently acknowledg'd But God hath sent his Son to deliver us from a worse Bondage and a more dreadful kind of Death so that well might the Apostle ascribe this great Deliverance of Mankind from the slavery of our Lusts and the Death of Sin to the boundless Mercy and Love of God to us God who is rich in mercy for the great love wherewith he loved us hath quickned us together with Christ even when we were dead in Sins when our Case was as desperate as could well be imagined then was God pleased to undertake this great Cure and to provide such a Remedy as cannot fail to be effectual for our Recovery if we will but make use of it 2. We