degree of the working of Satan in them And that they may not think we use them hardly in spending such a censure upon them let them but consider how many of them under the pretence of these Instincts have encouraged themselves in Murthers Adulteries and other the greatest sorts of Impieties which are no way imputable to the motions of the Holy Ghost who as he is a most pure and holy Spirit so is he far from inclining any man to that which is impure or unjust but doth abhor such practises himself and stirs up all those that are acted by him to the utmost loathing and abhorring of them Now for distinguishing the temptations of the evil spirit from those motions that come from the good Spirit of God I shall to what was spoken upon the former head add onely one Rule viz. That it will greatly concern us to observe the tendency of these Motions The Spirit of God as it doth not move us to any thing that is evil in it self so neither to any thing that tends directly to the producing of evil And therefore If any motions that seem never so specious that look like Angels of Light at their first appearance do yet tend to draw us to evil in the issue if they tend either to draw us to any gross impiety or dishonesty if they designe to draw us to the venting and maintaining any dangerous or strange Doctrine or to the making of rents and divisions in the Church we have reason to reject these as suggestions of Satan however they may make a shew of advancing us to higher attainments then ordinary And thus we have seen how the Conscience may be imposed upon so far that men may think verily that they ought or are bound in Duty and Conscience to do that which is really amiss I proceed to the other Position 2 Position That this mistake or misguiding of Conscience doth not excuse or warrant those irregularities which men erroniously run into It is not sufficient for men to plead Conscience for what they do that their Conscience binds them to do this and to abhor the other except they can shew sufficient grounds for these motions and inclinations that are imputed to Conscience this will not warrant them in what they do This I think is so clear that it cannot but be received by every serious and sober person so that I shall not need to spend many words for the confirmation of it onely let me entreat you to consider 1. What the Apostle Paul speaks of himself who is a notable instance to this purpose While a person is distempered in minde he is not capable of judging how sad a condition he is in but when he is recovered out of it then is he very sensible of the sad condition he was formerly in and of the great cure that hath been wrought in his recovery So men that are under these delusions of Conscience are not competent judges of their own actions but St. Paul who recovered out of this condition may more properly be heard to speak in this case He tells us in the Text that he did not persecute Christ out of malice towards his person but because through the misguiding of his Conscience he did not believe him to be the true Messiah But doth he think this sufficient to warrant or yet excuse his persecution No for notwithstanding this he calls his sins by their proper names and acknowledgeth himself to have been a blasphemer 1 Tim. 1.13 15 16 and a persecutor and injurious yea the chief of sinners and such an one that it was a great wonder that ever the Lord had shewed him mercy Phil. 3.6 He tells us that he had persecuted the Church with Zeal as hot as fire But doth he think that the heat of his Zeal would awarrant the irregularity of his actions No but tells us that he was the least of the Apostles 1 Cor. 15.9 and not worthy the name of an Apostle because he had persecuted the Church of God And what we have said of the Apostle Paul in his unregenerate estate we may say of the generality of the Jews of that age that they had a Zeal of God but not according to knowledge Rom. 10.2 And what they did unto our Saviour the common people denied the Holy One and the Just Act. 3.14 15 16. and their Rulers killed the Prince of Life St. Peter bears them witness that they did it through ignorance both the People and Rulers But shall we think that this did excuse so horrid a fault No the Apostle tells them that for that very sin 1 Thes 1.15 1.6 The wrath of God was come upon them to the utmost and so hath continued for so many hundreds of years Yea the Turks and all other Heathens and Idolaters are doubtless given up to such blindness of minde that they verily conceit themselves to do well in worshipping their false gods and defying the onely true God and his Son Jesus Christ but I hope no man is so senseless as to think that these mistakes of their Conscienâ—â—â— do excuse much less awarrant theâ—â— practises 2. Reason bears witness to this Truth for we have shewed before that the proper Office of Conscience is to judge according to the Law of God And as the opinion of a Judge who is bound to adhere to the Laws of the Land doth not make that to be Law which is contrary to the written Laws it being very unreasonable to think that his transgressing the bounds of his Office should excuse another that adventures to do that which is forbidden So Conscience which is bound to proceed in judging according to the Law of God if it neglect this Rule cannot awarrant a man in doing that which is contrary to this Rule And it would be very unreasonable for any man to imagine that these mistaken dictates of Conscience should excuse him that follows them except Conscience were the Supream Law the contrary whereof I have shewed before I have done with the opening of the Positions and shall next proceed to the improving of them by drawing several practical Inferences from what hath been spoken 1. 1 Inserence This may shew us what great need we have to be very circumspect and cautious in trying those motions that present themselves under the Notion of Impulses of Conscience 〈◊〉 will concern us not rashly to believe 〈◊〉 obey those motions in our selves that pretend to come from Conscience till we have first tryed them whether they be not the Impulses of our Imaginations or the clamours of our lusts or the voice of Satans suggestions Nor yet too credulously to believe all the pretences that other men make to Conscience And there be several dangerous Symptoms whereby it will appear very evidently that men are either not at all acted by Conscience in what they do or at least by a mistaken and deluded Conscience First When men are very strict and scrupulous
Christ he is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son Secondly as we should all take heed that we keep close to this one Foundation so also we should have a care what we build upon this foundation The Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 3.12 13. that there are some who build upon it Gold Silver and precious Stones sound and Orthodox principles of Faith and these shall receive a reward when their works come to be tried and approved But others build Wood Hay Stubble gross and unsound conclusions and these though they shall be saved in the day of Christ so long as they hold fast the Foundation yet when their works come to be tried in the fire they shall suffer loss but themselves shall be saved yet so as by fire It is good when men hold fast the Foundation though they err in less matters the Lord will take occasion in his good time to convince them and bring them to Heaven at last but it is better not onely to lay a good Foundation but also to build a good superstructure upon it There are two sorts of had superstructures which many build even upon the Foundation of Christ crucified 1. There are some who encourage themselves in loosness and licentiousness in their practice from the consideration of the Grace of God in Christ It is very certain that the Mercy of God and the Merits of Christ are not onely very great but infinitely beyond all that we can speak or think of them But yet the mercy and the truth of God are joyned together Psal 25.10 And as he hath said that Whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall finde mercy Prov. 28.13 and he will be sure to make this good Mat. 11.28 there was never any that came to him weary and heavy laden but he did give him rest So on the other hand he hath threatned to wound the head of his enemies Psal 68.21 and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses and therefore those that make this bad use of the free and gracious promises of the Gospel and those instances that the Scriptures shew us of the wonderful mercy of God to sinners do both wrong and deceive their own souls and also they injure the great Mercy of God in Christ while they seem to advance it His name was called Jesus because he should save his people from their sins Mar. 1.21 not in them And himself bore our sins in his own Body upon the Cross to the end that we being dead unto sin might live unto righteousness 1 Pet. 2. â—â— and then we may comfortably hope that by his stripes we are healed This then is one sort of them that build Hay and stubble upon this pretious Foundation and though God may in Mercy save such persons yet it will be as by fire such must expect to be brought unto great humiliation and brokenness of heart before they finde assurance of Gods Mercy 2. There are others who though they hold fast the Foundation of the Christian Faith yet build upon it many erronious conclusions in matters further off from the Foundation Indeed it is the Duty of every Christian to bear with many infirmities and mistakes in his brother whom he findes to be sound in the main as considering himself also to be a man But no man ought to indulge himself in an errour both because errour persisted in with eagerness and obstinacy is to be accounted rather a sin of presumption than infirmity and withall because of the dangerous tendency of errours of which I spake before Chap. 3. Such a person who is sound in fundamentals doubtless God will not charge upon him to his condemnation mistakes in smaller matters but yet his works shall suffer loss and himself shall be saved as by fire he must expect to pass through convictions and contrition of heart before he come to Heaven And therefore as every good Christian should make it his first care to hold fast the Foundation of our Faith so he should not neglect due care of his superstructures that he build nothing upon this pretious Foundation that may be unsuitable or dishonourable to the foundation upon which it is built CHAP. XI A Seasonable and necessary Admonition to those that stand fast in the Faith delivered in five Branches BEfore I withdraw my hand from this Undertaking I think it very necessary to leave a word of Admonition with them that yet stand fast in the Faith amidst all those blustring winds of strange doctrines which have tried mans stability Indeed as David said in his haste Psal 116.11 That all men were lyars so if a man did with haste and passion take a view of the times wherein we live he would be apt to take up the complaint of the Prophet Mic. 7.2 The good man is perished out of the earth and there is none upright among men that there are scarce any left who are not less or more shaken at the root But yet as God answered Elijah in his complaint 1 King 19.18 I have left me seven thousand in Israel all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth which hath not kissed him So we have some grounds to hope that the Lord hath left many thousands in England who are both upright in heart and in a good measure found in Judgment notwithstanding all the Temptations which they have met with To such therefore I will direct my speech And 1. Let me beseech and exhort all such as profess the true Ancient and Orthodox Faith by that love they bear to the Truth and to the God of Truth by that reverence they owe to the Church in which they were born and to that Faith into which they have been Baptized that they endeavour to adorn the Docirine of God our Saviour in all things Tit. 2.10 and to cut off all just occasion from the mouths of slanderous persons who are ready to object against those that profess the wayes of Truth the evil and unanswerable lives of many that are retainers to this Profession I know that this is an insufficient ground for Separation and will be far from justifying them before Gods Tribunal for those rents which they have made in the seamless Coat of Christ. He that will separate from every Society where there is any thing of sin amongst any of them that retain to it had need to make haste out of this world for he will find no society here to answer his expectation And would not he have well deserved to be drowned that would have leaped out of Noahs Ark which was a Type of the Visible Church because of the evil society of a wicked Cham Would not he have run upon a dangerous Rock that would have forsaken the society of Christ and his Apostles because there was a Judas among them He that can either shew me a Command to separate from every Church where there is
diligence in the rectifying those mistakes which impose upon mens Consciences and cut off all just occasion from them that are ready to seek occasion for delivering up their minds to be seduced to an embracing of that which is evil Let us put no advantage into the hands of false Teachers that make it their business to deceive ignorant and well-meaning people Nor let us justly provoke such people to deliver up themselves as a prey to those Foxes and Wolves And to this end give me leave to commend to you this two-fold word of Exhortation 1. To be diligent and constant in preaching such sound Doctrine as may both exhort the people to that which is good and also convince Gain-sayers Let not the people have any just occasion given them to follow these grievous Wolves because those that should teach them are dumb Dogs Isa 56.11 that either cannot or will not bark and look after nothing but every man his gain from his quarter Let them find that the Priests lips do preserve Knowledge and that it is the best course for the people to seek the Law at their mouths Mal. 2.7 who by their Office are the Messengers of the Lord of Hosts 2 Tim. â— 2 Let 's take the Apostle Exhortation Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all Long-suffering and Doctrine 2 Tim. 2.15 Let us shew our selves Workmen that need not be ashamed of our work and such as are not a shame to our Work and Profession but rightly dividing the word of Truth so as to carve to every man his portion Tit. 1.11 And withal There are some whose mouths must be stopped who creep into Houses 2 Tim. 3.6 and lead captive silly people And these we must confute if they will not be convinced with sound Doctrine that the people may see the reasonableness of the truths which we preach the unreasonableness of the errors that are taught in corners And for those that are impetuously obstinate in their errors I doubt not but our Church which hath waited for their return with much long-suffering 2 Cor. 10.8 will seasonably exercise towards them that power which God hath given Acts 20.28 for their edification and not for their destruction 2. We must also take heed to our selves as well as to our Doctrine that we give no advantage to false Teachers to insinuate into men of good Affections a fancy to leave the Church because of the scandalous lives of them that are publick Preachers 1 Tim. 4.12 Let us be to the Believers a pattern not onely in word but also in Conversation in Charity in Spirit 1 Sam. 3.13 in Faith in Purity Remember how God did punish Eli's house when his sons by their wicked lives made men to abhor the offerings of the Lord. Remember what God threatens to the Priests Mal. 2.2 3. Mat. 5.17 and 8 9. Remember also our Saviours words Ye are the salt of the Earth if the salt have lost its savour wherewith shall it be seasoned It is thenceforth meet for nothing but to be troden under feet of men 1 Tim. 4 16. Let us therefore take heed to our Selves and to our Doctrine and then we may hope that we shall be Instruments to promote the salvation of our selses and of those that hear us However Isa 49.4 5. Though Israel be not gathered yet shall we be glorious in the eyes of the Lord And our judgment shall be with the Lord and our work with our God 2 Tim. 3.13 Though evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived Ezek. 3.19 yet we having discharged the parts of faithful watchmen shall have delivered our own souls Now the Lord of his mercy inform the Consciences of those that are erroneous Acts 24.16 and soften the Consciences of prophane sinners and give us all grace to keep Consciences void of offence toward God and man in this world that so when we have fought our good fight 2 Tim. 4.7 8. and finished our course and kept the Faith unto death we may at death receive the Crown of Righteousness through the alsufficient merits of Jesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost let us give as is most due all Honour and Glory world without end Amen FINIS THE SUBTILE and PESTILENT NATURE OF Seducers A SERMON Preached in the CATHEDRAL AT SARUM Upon St. Marks Day 1665. By Paul Lathom M. A. 1 John 1.4 Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world Printed by T. M. 1666. THE Subtile and Pestilent Nature OF SEDUCERS Ephes 4.14 That we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive THE Gospel written by St. Mark whose memory we celebrate this day hath in all Ages been received as Canonical Scripture But there hath been some difference amongst the Learned concerning the Person that wrote itâ— some affirming it to be written by that Mark whom St. Peter calls his Son 1 Pet. 5.13 Others supposing the Author of it to be that Mark who was also called John the Son of Mary of whom we read Acts 12.12 That he whom St. Peter calls his Son was the Evangelist I suppose to be beyond controversie the onely doubt that remains is whether he was the same with John-Mark 〈◊〉 Son of Mary or another person of the â—â—â—e name This I cannot finde absolutely determined by the Learned and Judicious and therefore shall leave it in the middle It is agreed that this St. Mark the Evangelist was the first Bishop of Alexandria as Dorotheus tells us and that he preached the Gospel to all those parts from Egypt even to Pentepolis The time of whose Preaching the Gospel in Egypt Buchol Chronol Bucholtzer determines to be about the 44th year of Christ Concerning the time when he wrote this Gospel no certainty can be gathered out of Historians Euseb Eccl. Hist l. 2. c. 15. saith Bullinger But Eusebius reports it to be presently after the confusion of Simon Magus which was in the Reign of Nero and about the 68th year of Christ And yet Bucholtzer in his Chronology reports from Eusebius I suppose his Chronicle that St. Mark did suffer death four or five years before this time So that the most Learned and diligent searchers of Antiquity are not free from over-sights especially in Chronology But this by the way For the occasion of the writing of this Gospel Eusebius relates it thus Eccl. Hist l. 2. c. 15. out of Clemens Alexandrinus That after that wonderful confusion of Simon Magus the Christian Religion began so much to flourish and encrease amongst them that had heard St. Peter preach that they were not content to hear