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
shew how contrary to this Doctrine of the Christian Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome is in this matter namely in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and flying to their Help and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners As likewise how contrary all this is to the Doctrine and Pratice of the Christian Church for several of the first Ages of it And then I should have answered their chief Pretences and Excuses for these things and shew'd that this Practice of theirs is not only needless being no where commanded by God but useless also and unprofitable and not only so but very dangerous and impious being contrary to the Christian Religion and highly derogating from the Virtue and Merit of Christ's Sacrifice and from the Honour of the only Mediator between God and Men. But of this another time SERMON III. Christ Jesus the only Mediator between God and Men. The Second Sermon on 1 Tim. II. 5 6. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all IN these Words are four Propositions three exprest and the fourth implied I. That there is one God II. That there is one Mediator between God and men Christ Jesus III. That he gave himself a ransom for all VOL. II. IV. That the Mediation or Intercession of Jesus Christ is founded in his Redemption of Mankind That because he gave himself a Ransome for all men therefore he and he only is qualified to intercede for all Men in Vertue of that Sacrifice which he offer'd for the Salvation of all Mankind The Second of these I spake to the last time and endeavour'd to shew 1. That God hath appointed but one Mediator or Advocate or Intercessor in Heaven for us by whose Mediation we are to offer up all our Prayers and Services to God 2. That this Doctrine of one Mediator is most agreeable to one main End and Design of the Christian Religion and of our Saviour's coming into the World which was to destroy Idolatry 3. That from the Nature and Reason of the thing viz. because Intercession for Sinners is founded in the Merit of that Sacrifice by which Expiation of Sin is made there can be no other Mediator of Intercession Serm. III. but he who hath made Expiation for Sin by a Sacrifice offered to God for that purpose and this Jesus Christ only hath done Thus far I have gone I proceed now to The Fourth thing which I proposed in the handling of this Argument namely to shew how contrary to this Doctrine of the Christian Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us the Doctrine and the Practice of the Church of Rome is in this matter namely in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and flying to their help and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners And that I may proceed more distinctly in this Argument I shall handle it under these particular Heads First I shall endeavour to shew That the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter is contrary to the Doctrine of the Christian an Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us Secondly That it is contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of the Christian Church for several of the first Ages of it Thirdly I shall endeavour to answer their chief Pretences and Excuses for this Doctrine and Practice Fourthly to shew that this Doctrine and Practice of theirs is not only needless being no where commanded by God but useless also and unprofitable Fifthly And not only so but very dangerous and impious because contrary to the Christian Religion and greatly derogating from the Vertue and Merit of Christ's Sacrafice and from the Honour of the only Mediator between God and Men. First I shall endeavour to shew that the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome in this Matter is contrary to the Doctrine of the Christian Religion concerning one only Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us namely in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and flying to their Help and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners That Jesus Christ is our only Mediator and Intercessor with God in Heaven by whom we have access to God in any Action of Religious Worship and that all our Prayers and Services are to be offered up to God only by him and in his Name and Mediation and no other I have plainly shewed from Scripture and proved it by an invincible Argument taken likewise from Scripture namely because the Efficacy and Prevalency of his Mediation and Intercession is founded in the Vertue and Merit of his Sacrifice and that he is therefore the only Mediator between God and Men because he only gave himself a Ransom for all he is therefore our only Advocate with the Father because he only is the propitiation for our Sins and for the Sins of the whole World I have shewed likewise that the Scripture excludes Angels from being our Mediators with God from the main Scope and Design of the Epistle to the Colossians and much more are the Saints departed excluded from this Office being inferior to the Angels not only in the Dignity and Excellency of their Beings but very probably in the Degree of their Knowledge In short Prayer is a proper act of Religious Worship and therefore peculiar to God alone and we are commanded to Worship the Lord our God and to serve him only And no where in Scripture are we directed to address our Prayers and Supplications and Thanksgivings to any but God alone and only in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ Our Blessed Saviour himself hath taught us to put up all our Prayers to God our heavenly Father Luke 11.2 when you pray say Our Father which art in Heaven Which plainly shews to whom all our Prayers are to be address'd and unless we can call an Angel or the Blessed Virgin or a Saint Our Father we can pray to none of them And elsewhere he as plainly directs us by whom we are to apply our selves to God and in whose Name and Mediation we are to put up all our Requests to him John 14.6 I am the Way and the Truth and the Life no man cometh unto the Father but by me And then it follows Ver. 13 14. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it Nothing is clearer in the whole Bible than one Mediator between God and Men Christ Jesus and that he is our only Advocate and Intercessor with God in Heaven for us Secondly I shall endeavour to shew That the Doctrine and Practice of the
himself and our Blessed Saviour But then they hate and persecute the living with as great violence and cruelty as ever was used by any part of Mankind towards one another 'T is true they do it under the Notion of Heresie and so did the Scribes and Pharisees too as St. Paul witnesseth After the way which ye call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets So they call us Hereticks tho' we receive and believe all that is written in the Holy Scriptures only rejecting their Additions whereby they would make the Commandment of God of none effect And as Rome is parallel with Jerusalem in many other respects so especially in the bloody Persecution of righteous Men And as Jerusalem is charged by our Saviour with the blood of all the Prophets and righteous men of all Ages so St. John in the Revelation says of Rome that in her was found the blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slain upon the earth ch 18.24 Which is no less true of Rome Christian than of Rome Pagan In all the Churches and Religions in the World and perhaps in Rome Pagan her self hath not so much innocent Blood been shed as in Rome Christian and Catholick and that under a pretence of Religion And no doubt there is a Day a coming when she shall be called to a heavy Account for these things when the Heavens shall rejoyce over her and the Holy Angels and Prophets because God hath avenged them on her SERMON XIII The Danger of Zeal without Knowledge Preached on November 5. 1682. ROM X. 2. I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge THere is nothing more commonly cryed up than Zeal in Religion and yet there is nothing in which Men do more frequently and fatally mistake and miscarry and in the Expressions and Effects whereof Men ought to govern themselves with more Care and Caution VOL. II. To speak the truth Zeal is as all other Passions are in its own Nature indifferent and of it self neither Good nor Bad but according to the Object and Degree of it for Zeal is nothing else but an earnest Concernment for or against something and a violent Pursuit and Prosecution of it For if it be applied to a right Object so as we be earnestly concerned for things that are unquestionably Good and against things that are unquestionably Evil and in a due Degree that is if the Expression of it be Proportionable to the less or greater Good or Evil of things then it is a commendable Quality or Virtue But if it be wrong placed and we be earnestly concerned for that which is Evil and against that which is Good or about things which are of an indifferent or doubtful Nature as to the Good and Evil of them or if we notoriously exceed in the Degree of it being more zealously concerned about things than they deserve and zealously concerned about lesser things to the prejudice of greater in any of these Cases it is so for from being a Virtue that it is a Vice Serm. XIII of a most pernicious and mischievous consequence and many times hath as bad Effects as can proceed from the worst Principle or Disposition of Mind It is sometimes used in a good Sense but it is when it is applyed to the best things in which the Honour of God and the Salvation of Men is concern'd to the great and unquestionable Duties of Religion As Zeal for the Honour of God and the Place of his Publick Worship in opposition to Profaneness John 2.17 The Zeal of thine house hath eaten me up For an earnest desire of those Gifts whereby we are to Edifie the Church 1 Cor. 12.31 But covet earnestly the best gifts so we render the words be zealous of the best gifts so it is in the Greek For a Forwardness and Readiness to relieve the Necessities of the Saints 2 Cor. 9.2 I know the forwardness of your minds and your zeal hath provok'd very many And to the same purpose is that Expression Tit. 2.14 Zealous of good works And then for a Zeal for the Salvation of Mens Souls 2 Cor. 11.2 I am zealous of you with a godly zeal But the word is much more frequently in Scripture used in a bad Sense for a malicious and furious Rage against the Professors of Christianity Acts 5.17 18. Then the high Priest and they that were with him were filled with indignation the word is Zeal and laid their hands on the Apostles and put them in prison And Chap. 13.45 it is said the Jews were fill'd with Zeal and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming And Chap. 17.5 The Jews which believed not moved with Zeal gathered a company and set all the City in an uproar 'T is frequently reckoned amongst the works of the flesh and mentioned in the company of the greatest Vices and Crimes Wrath Contention Division Sedition Murthers Tumults Confusions Rom. 13.13 Let us walk honestly as in the day not in Chambering and wantonness not in strife and zeal 1 Cor. 3.3 Whereas there is among you zeal and strife and divisions are ye not carnal 2 Cor. 12.20 Lest there be debates zeal wrath strife Gal. 5.19 20 21. The works of the flesh are manifest among which the Apostle reckons hatred variance zeal wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murthers St. James calls it a bitter zeal Jam. 3.14 15 16. But if ye have bitter zeal and strife in your hearts glory not and lye not against the truth This wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devilish For where zeal and strife is there is confusion and every evil work By which it appears that zeal most frequently goes under a bad Name and Character in Scripture zeal I mean in matters of Religion for of that most of the Texts I have mentioned speak and this is that which St. Paul means here in the Text by a zeal of God that is a zeal about Religion and divine things I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowlede In which words the Apostle being desirous to say the best he could of his Countrymen the Jews he commends the good meaning of their zeal and blames the ill conduct of it I bear them record 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I give this testimony on their behalf that they have a zeal of God that is that by all this fierceness against the Christian Religion they intend the honour of God and think they do him service but yet this Zeal is greatly to be condemned because it is a mistaken and misguided zeal not at all directed as it should be they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge From which words I shall take into consideration these Three things I. What are the Qualifications and Properties of a Zeal according to knowledge II.
against them and I punished them often in every Synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even to strange Cities Gal. 1.13 14. Ye have heard says he of my conversation in times past in the Jews Religion how that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it being exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers 1 Tim. 1.13 Who was before a blasphemer and a persecuter and injurious So that he chargeth himself with the guilt of Blasphemy and Murder and a most furious and outrageous Persecution of Good Men for which elsewhere he pronounceth himself the chief of Sinners From whence it evidently appears that Men may do the most Wicked and Damnable Sins out of a zeal for God And this was the case of many of the Jews as our Saviour foretold that the time should come when they should kill men thinking they did God good Service But yet for all this the Apostles of our Lord make no scruple to charge them with downright Murder Acts 2.23 speaking of their putting our Saviour to death whom ye by wicked hands have crucified and slain And Acts 7.52 The just One of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers Yet notwithstanding their Sin was of this high Nature in it self yet it was some mitigation of the fault of the Persons that they did these things out of an ignorant zeal and rendred them more capable of the Mercy of God upon their repentance And upon this account our Saviour interceded with God for Mercy for them Father forgive them for they know not what they do St. Peter also pleads the same in mitigation of their fault Acts 3.17 And now brethren I wot that through ignorance ye did it as did also your rulers And St. Paul tells us that he found mercy upon his repentance on this account 1 Tim. 1.13 But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief But still for all this wicked things done out of Conscience and Zeal for God are Damnable and will prove so without repentance I shall now draw some Inferences from this Discourse by way of Application 1. If it be so necessary that our Zeal be directed by knowledge this shews us how dangerous a thing Zeal is in the weak and ignorant sort of People Zeal is an Edg-Tool which Children in understanding should not meddle withal and yet it most frequently possesseth the weakest Minds and commonly by how much the less knowing People are by so much the more zealous they are And in the Church of Rome where Knowledge is professedly discouraged and supprest in the common People Zeal is mightily countenanced and cherish'd And they make great use of it for this blind and furious Zeal is that which inspires diem to do such Cruel and Barbarous things as were hardly ever acted among the Heathen Zeal is only fit for wise Men but it is chiefly in Fashion among Fools Nay it is dangerous in the hands of wise Men and to be govern'd and kept in with a strict Rein otherwise it will transport them to the doing of Undue and Irregular things Moses one of the wisest and best of Men and most likely to govern and manage his Zeal as he ought and to keep aloof from all Excess and Extravagance being the meekest Man upon Earth yet he was so surprised upon a sudden occasion that in a fit of zeal he let fall the Two Tables of the Law which he had but just received from God and dasht them in pieces A true Emblem of an ungoverned zeal in the transport whereof even Good Men are apt to forget the Laws of God and let them fall out of their Hands and to break all the Obligations of Natural and Moral Duties 2. From hence we plainly see that Men may do the worst and wickedest things out of a Zeal for God and Religion Thus it was among the Jews who engrost Salvation to themselves and denyed the possibility of it to all the world besides and the Church of Rome have taken Copy by them as in an arrogant conceit of themselves so in the blindness and fury and uncharitableness of their Zeal towards all who refuse to submit to their Authority and Directions And as the Teachers and Rulers of the Jewish Church did of old so do the Church of Rome now They take away the Key of Knowledge from the People and will neither enter into the kingdom of Heaven themselves nor suffer those that would to enter in They Brand for Hereticks those who make the Holy Scriptures the Rule of their Faith and Worship as St. Paul tells us the Jews did in his Time Acts 24.14 After the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets They Establish the Merit of their own Righteousness not submitting to the Righteousness of God by the Faith of Jesus Christ So St. Paul tells us the Jews did in the Verse immediately after the Text For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God And as the Jews Anathematiz'd and Excommunicated the first Christians and Persecuted them to the Death as our Saviour foretold That the time would come when they should put them out of their Synagogues yea and kill them thinking they did God good service so the Church of Rome hath for many Ages used the sincere Professors of the same Religion Persecuting them first with Excommunication and then with Fire and Faggot and with all the violence and fury in the world endeavouring the utter extirpation and ruine of them by bloody Croisado's and a barbarous Inquisition by treacherous Massacres and all sorts of hellish Plots and Machinations witness the monstrous Design of this day never to be remembred or mentioned without horror To have destroyed at one blow and have swallowed up in one common ruine our King and Prince and Nobles and the Represent ative Body of the whole Nation witness the bloody Massacre of Ireland and all their wicked Designs and Practices continued to this very day 3. And lastly That zeal for God and Religion does not alter the Nature of Actions done upon that account Persecution and Murder of the sincere Professors of Religion are Damnable Sins and no zeal for God and Religion can excuse them or take away the guilt of them zeal for God will justifie no Action that we do unless there be discretion to justifie our zeal There is nothing oftner misleads Men than a misguided Zeal it is an ignis fatuus a false fire which often leads Men into Boggs and Precipices it appears in the Night in dark and ignorant and weak minds and offers it self a guide to those who have lost their way it is one of the most ungovernable Passions of Human Nature and therefore requires great knowledge and judgment to manage
Nations and his selling it to inrich his Family quod non fecerant Barbari fecerunt Barberini may with changing the Name and Occasion be applyed to a great many others that they have been guilty of those Cruelties against Christians upon account of difference in Religion which the most Barbarous Nations never exorcised upon one another I have done with the Observations and the Text and shall I now need to make any Application of what hath been said to the Occasion of this day The thing applys it self since the horrid Design of this Day was undertaken and carried on upon the same Pretences and Principles upon which the Jews persecuted the Disciples of our Lord and much in the same Method for they first thunder'd out an Excommunication against them and then took it for granted that it would be an acceptable Sacrifice to God to destroy them I will not go about to aggravate the Comspiracy of this Day it is past my skill nor will I extend the blame and guilt of it any farther than the plain Evidence and Reason of the thing does enforce It is a thing so scandalous to Humane Nature and so great a Reflection upon any Church and Religion to be accessory to the contriving or countenancing of any such Design that I am very well contented that it should be confined to as narrow a compass as may be and none esteemed guilty of it but those that were openly in it or have since endeavour'd to excuse it All that we desire of others is that they would declare their hearty detestation of such abominable Practices and be as good as their word and that they would not account it a service and sacrifice to God to destroy all that cannot be of their Mind So that the Inference from all this Discourse in short shall be this that Men should take great care to inform their Consciences aright and to govern them by the plain Rules of Good and Evil the Law of God written upon our hearts and revealed in his Word which forbids such Practices as I have been speaking of as clearly as the Sun shines at Noonday and that we would always be afraid to do a bad thing tho' gilded over with never so glorious Colours and specious Pretences of zeal for God and his Truth For a Man may do a thing with an honest Mind and for a religious End and be Commissioned and Countenanced as St. Paul was by them who take themselves to be the only true Church in the World and yet at last prove to have been all the while a Blasphemer and a Murderer and the greatest of Sinners for none of these Pretences are sufficient to warrant and sanctifie a wicked action Before this can be done the immutable nature of Good and Evil must be changed I will conclude all with that gentle Reproof of our Blessed Saviour to his Disciples when their Zeal for him had transported them to make that cruel Request to him that he would as Elias had done upon a like occasion call for fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them hereby declaring to us the true Spirit and â—â—â—per of Christianity and that they 〈◊〉 contrary to it are ignorant 〈…〉 â—ature of the Christian Religion Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them SERMON XV. The Duty and Reason of Praying for Governours Preached on the 29 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 way lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty I Need not tell any here that this Day is appointed by Authority for an Anniversary Solemnity in a grateful Commemoration of the great Mercy of God to these Nations VOL. II. in putting an end to the intestine Wars and Confusions of many Years in restoring to us our own ancient Government and Laws and in bringing home as upon this Day the rightful Heir of these Kingdoms to the Crown and Throne of his Fathers And tho' the Glory of this Day hath been not a little sullied and obscured by many things which have happened since that Time fitter now to be buried in Silence and Oblivion than to be mention'd and raked up yet it hath pleased God in scattering those black Clouds which not long since hung over us to restore this Day to its first Lustre and brightness so that we may now with great joy look back upon it as designed by the wise Providence of God to make way for the Happiness which we now enjoy under their present Majesties by whom under God we have been delivered from that terrible and imminent Danger which threatned our Religion and Laws and the very Constitution it self of our ancient Government And to this Occasion no kind of Argument can be more proper and suitable Serm. XV. than that which the Text affords to our Consideration in this Injunction of St. Paul to Timothy to take care that in the Publick Worship of God Supplications and Thanksgivings be put up to God for Kings and all that are in authority I exhort therefore c. In which Words there are Four things considerable First The Duty here enjoyn'd which is Prayer expressed to us in several Words which seem to denote the several kinds or parts of Prayer I exhort therefore that supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men For Kings and for all that are in authority c. Some of these words are of a very near signification and yet there seems some difference betwixt them most probably this 1. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Supplications is probably meant that part or kind of Prayer wherein we supplicate God for the Pardon of our Sins and for the averting and removing of Evils whether Temporal or Spiritual from our selves or others 2. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Prayers seems to be meant Petitions for Blessings and good things from God and these are most properly call'd Prayers 3. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to be particularly meant Pleadings and Intercessions on the behalf of others 4. By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is certainly intended Praises and Thanksgivings to God for his Blessings and Goodness to our selves and others This seems to be the difference between them which whether it be exactly so or not is not very material since these are unquestionably the several kinds or parts of Prayer And these several sorts of Prayer St. Chrysostom in his Comment upon this Text tells us were Publickly used in his Time in the daily Service of the Church this says he all Communicants do know is done every day Morning and
him King and spat upon him and under a pretence of rejoycing for his Birth to crucifie to our selves afresh the Lord of life and glory and to put him to an open shame I will conclude all with the Apostle's Exhortation Rom. 13.12 13 14. Let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the Armour of Light Let us walk decently as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envying But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christy and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof Now to our most gracious and merciful God the great Friend and Lover of Souls who regarded us in our low and lost Condition and cast an Eye of pity upon us when we were in our Blood and no other Eye pityed us and when we had lost and ruined our selves was pleased in tender compassion to Mankind to send his only begotten Son into the World to seek and save us and by the Purity of his Doctrine and the Pattern of his Life and the Sacrifice of his Death to purchase Eternal Life for us and to direct and lead us in the way to it And to him also the Blessed Saviour and Redeemer of Mankind who came down from Heaven that he might carry us thither and took Human Nature upon him that we thereby might be made Partakers of a Divine Nature and humbled himself to Death even the Death of the Cross that he might exalt us to Glory and Honour and whilst we were bitter Enemies to him gave such a Demonstration of his Love to us as never any Man did to his best Friend Vnto him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb that was slain to God even our Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ the first begotten from the dead and the Prince of the kings of the Earth to him who hath loved us Serm. II. and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and honour dominion and power now and for ever Amen SERMON II. Christ Jesus the only Mediator between God and Men. Preached at St. Peter's Cornhill ON THE Feast of the Annunciation 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 THESE Words contain in them these four Propositions three of them express and the fourth of them sufficiently implyed in the Text. I. That there is one God VOL. II. II. That there is one Mediator between God and men Christ Jesus III. That he gave himself a ransom for all IV. That the Mediation or Intercession of Jesus Christ is founded in the Redemption of Mankind For this seems to be the Reason why it is added that he gave himself a ransom for all to signifie to us that because he gave himself a ransom for all therefore he interceeds for all In virtue of that Sacrifice which he offered to God for the Salvation of Men he offers up our Prayers to God and therefore it is acceptable to him that we should pray for all men This seems to be the true connexion of the Apostle's Discourse and the force of his Reasoning about our putting up publick Prayers for all men I have in a former Discourse handled the first of these See a Sermon concerning the Unity of the Divine Nature Printed in the year 1693. I proceed now to the II. That there is one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus One Mediator that is But one for the expression is the very same concerning one God and one Mediator and therefore if the Apostle when he says there is one God certainly means that there is but one God it is equally certain that when he says there is one Mediator between God and men he means there is but one Mediator viz. Christ Jesus He is the only Mediator between God and Men. In the handling of this Argument I shall proceed in this Method 1. I shall endeavour to shew That God hath appointed but one Mediator or Advocate or Intercessor in Heaven for us in whose Name and by whose Mediation and Intercession we are to offer up our Prayers and Services to God 2. That this is most agreeable to one main End and Design of the Christian Religion and of our Saviour's coming into the World 3. That it is likewise evident from the Nature and Reason of the thing it self That there is but one Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us to offer up our Prayers to God and that there can be no more And then 4. and Lastly I shall endeavour to shew how contrary to the Doctrine of the Christian Religion concerning one Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter is in their Invocation of Angels and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and making use of their Mediation and Intercession with God for Sinners as likewise how contrary it is to the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Christian Church And then I shall answer their several Pretences for this Doctrine and Practice and shew that this Practice is not only needless but useless and unprofitable and not only so but very dangerous and impious First I shall endeavour to shew That God hath appointed but one Mediator or Advocate or Intercessor in Heaven for us in whose Name and by whose Intercession we are to offer up all our Prayers and Services to God Besides that it is expresly said here in the Text there is but one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus and that the Scripture no where mentions any other I say besides this we are constantly directed to offer up our Prayers and Thanksgivings and to perform all Acts of Worship in his Name and no other and with a Promise that the Prayers and Services which we offer in his Name will be graciously answered and accepted John 14.13 14. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it And Ch. 16.23 24. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing verily verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be be full In that day that is when I have left the World and am gone to my Father as he explains it at the 28th verse In that day ye shall ask me nothing but whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you That is You shall not need to address your Prayers to me but to my Father in my Name And ver 26 27. At that day ye shall ask in my name that is from the time
that I am ascended into Heaven ye shall put up all your Prayers and Requests to God in my Name and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you that is I need not tell you though I shall certainly do it that I will interceed with the Father for you for he of himself is kindly disposed and affected towards you for my sake The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved we St. Paul likewise commands Christians to perform all Acts of Religious Worship in the Name of Christ Col. 3.16 17. Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord and whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him And this Precept of addressing all our Prayers and Thanksgivings to God by Jesus Christ as the only Mediator between God and us is the more remarkable because it is given in opposition to the Worshipping of God by any other Mediators and Intercessors in Heaven for us and to that Superstition which had begun so early to prevail among some Christians at Calosse and Laodicea of Worshipping God by the Mediation and Intercession of Angels against which he had cautioned in the former Chapter Ver. 18 19. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels not holding the head Intimating that for Christians to address themselves to God by any other Mediator but Jesus Christ only was a defection from Christ the Head and High Priest of our Profession And that this is the Apostle's meaning Theodoret assures us in his Comment upon this Place where he tells us That some who maintained an observance of the Law together with the Gospel asserted also That Angels were to be worshipped saying That the Law was given by them And this Custom he tells us remained a long time in Phrygia and Pisidia and that upon this account it was that the Synod of Laodicea in Phrygia about the middle of the 4th Century forbad Christians by a Law to pray to Angels And yet more expresly in his Comment upon those Words Chap. 3. Ver. 17. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him For because says he they meaning those of whom St. Paul warns the Colossians to beware because they did command men to worship Angels he enjoins the contrary that they should adorn both their words and actions with the memory or mention of the name of Christ their Lord And send ye up saith he thanksgiving to God and the Father by him and not by the Angels And then he makes mention of the Canon of the Synod of Laodicea which says he in pursuance of this Rule and being desirous to cure that old Disease made it a Law that none should pray unto Angels nor forsake the Lord Jesus Christ It seems then that some Reliques of that Impious Custom of praying to Angels which Theodoret here calls That old Disease had continued from St. Paul's time to the Council of Laodicea which was the occasion of that severe Canon then made about that matter the very Words whereof I will set down because they are remarkable viz. That Christians ought not to forsake the Church of God and go away from it and to invocate Angels and to make Conventicles all which are forbidden If any therefore be found giving himself to this secret Idolatry let him be Anathema because he hath forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and is gone over to Idolatry What shall be said to them who do not only secretly and in their Private Devotions but in the Publick Assemblies of Christians and in the most Publick Offices of their Church invocate Angels and pray to them So that it was praying to Angels or making use of them as Mediators and Intercessors with God for us which St Paul here reproves so severely in the Colossians as a Defection from Christ and the Christian Religion And indeed considering how frequently the Scripture speaks of Christ as our only way to God and by whom alone we have access to the throne of grace we cannot doubt but that God hath constituted him our only Mediator and Intercessor by whom we are to address all our Requests to God John 14.6 Jesus there saith unto Thomas I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me I am the way the truth and the life that is the true and living way to the Father which the Apostle calls a new and living way Heb. 10.19 20. Having therefore boldnenss to enter into the holieft by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us No man cometh to the Father but by me that is we can have no access to God by Prayer or by any other Acts of Religious Worship but by him So St. Paul tells us Eph. 2.18 For through him speaking of Christ we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father We both that is both Jews and Gentiles Under the Law the Jews had access to God by their High Priest who interceeded with God and offered up Prayers in behalf of the People The Gentiles they addressed themselves to God by innumerable Mediators by Angels and the Souls of their departed Heroes which were the Pagan Saints Instead of all these God hath appointed one Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us Jesus the Son of God and by him all mankind both Jews and Gentiles have access by one Spirit unto the Father And we have no need of any other as the Apostle to the Hebrews reasons Chap. 7.24 25. But this person speaking of Christ because he continueth for ever hath an unchangeable Priesthood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Priesthood which doth not pass from one to another as the Priesthood under the Law did when upon the Death of one High Priest another succeeded in his Place but our High Priest under the Gospel since he abides for ever is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us So that Jesus Christ is an All-sufficient Mediator and able to carry on and accomplish the Work of our Salvation from first to last And as we do not find that God hath appointed any other so we are sure that there needs no other since he is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him and that he lives for ever to make intercession for us Secondly I proceed now in the Second place to shew That this Doctrine or Principle of one Mediator between God and men is most agreeable to one main end and design of the Christian Religion and of our Saviour's coming into the World which was to destroy Idolatry out of the World which St. John calls the works of the Devil 1
God both in the Old and New Testament But yet I am sensible that all this is no Conviction to the perverse and contentious Men will not believe even the Evidence of Sense it self when they are strongly prepossess'd and prejudiced to the contrary For do we not see great numbers of Men even so many as have the face to call themselves the Catholick Church that can make a shift when they have a mind either to believe or disbelieve things contrary to the plainest Evidence of their Senses All that I shall say further about this matter is that this Doctrine of Angels is not a peculiar Doctrine either of the Jewish or Christian Religion but the general Doctrine of all Religions that ever were and therefore cannot be objected against by any but the Atheists And yet after all I know not whence it comes to pass that this great Truth which is so comfortable to Mankind is so very little considered by us Perhaps the Corruption of so great a part of the Christian Church in the point of the Worship of Angels may have run us so far into the other extream as scarcely to acknowledge any Benefit we receive by them But surely we may believe they do us good without any Obligation to pray to them and may own them as the Ministers of God's Providence without making them the Objects of our Worship I confess it seems to me a very odd thing that the Power of the Devil and his Influence upon Men and the particular Vigilancy and Activity of Evil Spirits to tempt us to Sin should be so readily owned and so sensibly talkt of among Christians and yet the Assistance of good Angels should be so little taken notice of and considered by us The Scripture speaks plainly of both and the Reasons for believing both are equal For God forbid but that good Angels should be as officious and forward to do us good as the Devil and his Angels are malicious and busie to do us Mischief And indeed it would be very hard with Mankind if we had not as much Reason to Hope for the Assistance and Protection of good Spirits as we have cause to Fear the Malice and Fury of the bad Good Angels are certainly as Powerful and have as strong a Propension and Inclination to do good as the Devil has to do harm and the Number of good Angels is probably much greater than of Evil Spirits The biggest Number that are used in Scripture are applied to good Angels Dan. 7.10 it is said of the Angels about God's Throne that thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him And Revelations 5.11 the number of them is said to be ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands And the Apostle to the Hebrews ch 12.22 calls them an innumerable company of Angels What then should be the Reason that Men should be so apt to own the Snares and Temptations which the Devil lays before us in all our ways but take so little notice of the Attendance and good Offices done to us by good Spirits I can imagine but these Two Reasons and I am sorry I can find no better That we are more mindful of Injuries than of Benefits and are glad to take in others for the excuse of our Faults but are loth any should come in for a share in the Good that is done by us And yet methinks it should be a very comfortable Consideration to us against the Enmity and Cunning of the Devil and his Angels that the Holy Angels of God are as Intent and Industrious to do us good and to help forward our Salvation as Evil Spirits can be to work our ruin and destroy us Secondly We should with great thankfulness acknowledge the great Goodness of God to us who takes such Care of us as to appoint his Angels and to give them particular Commission and Charge concerning us to protect and assist us in all our ways and especially to promote the great Concernment of our Eternal Happiness And that not only some particular and inferiour Spirits but the Chief Ministers of this great King of the World those that stand in his Presence and behold his face and not a few of these but the whole Order of them are imployed about us So the Apostle seems to say by the Question which he puts in the Text Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister That is all at one time or other And though they be principally appointed to minister to us in order to our Salvation yet we have no Reason to doubt but God imploys them many times for our Temporal Safety and makes use of them more especially in those great Revolutions in which his Cause and Religion are more immediatly concern'd In such a Case it is not at all incredible that God should give his Angels a particular Charge concerning those that fight his Battels to pitch about their Camps and secretly to assist them against their Enemies and to ward off and put by many dangerous blows and thrusts which are made at them and wonderfully to preserve them when the Instruments of death fly about them and do execution on every side of them To what can we ascribe such and so many remarkable Deliverances of a Person upon whom so much depends but either to the immediate hand of God or to the Ministry of Angels And where God is provided so abundantly with such powerful Beings and Ministers of his Will though they may be invisible to us yet there is great Reason to believe that he very seldom works without them And now what an astonishing Regard is this which the great God is pleased to have for the Sons of Men that he should make the whole Creation serviceable to us not only the visible Creation for the support of our Bodies and the diversion of our Minds but even the noblest of all his Creatures the great and glorious Inhabitants of the invisible World mightily surpassing us mortal Men in the simplicity and purity of their Nature in the quickness and largeness of their Understandings and in their Power and Vigour of Acting I say that God should give these excellent and glorious Beings the Charge over us and send them forth to Minister to us for the Safeguard of our Persons for the success of our Affairs and for the Security and Furtherance of our eternal Salvation Lord what is man that thou art thus mindful of him that when thou madest him lower than the Angels thou shouldest yet make the Angels to minister unto him Thirdly If the Angels have particular Charge of good Men we should take heed how we despise or be any way injurious to them For how despicable so ever they may appear to us they are certainly very dear to God since he deems them so considerable is to employ his Chief Ministers about them and to commit the Charge of them to those who by their Office do more immediately
into Whence it comes to pass that Good Men are frequently defrauded of their due Praise and Reputation while alive I proceed to the Second Enquiry namely What Security Good Men have of a Good Name after Death And the true Account of this is to be given partly from the Providence of God and partly from the Nature of the Thing 1. From the Providence of God which is concerned herein upon a twofold account 1. In respect of the Equity of it 2. In regard of the Example of it 1. In respect of the Equity of it God who will not be behind-hand with any Man concerns himself to secure to Good Men the proper Reward of their Piety and Virtue Now Praise is one of the most proper Recompences of good and virtuous Actions this Good Men seldom meet with in this life without a great deal of allay and abatement and therefore the Providence of God hath so ordered thing that it should come in the properest Season when our Work is done and when we are out of the Danger of the Temptation of it 2. In regard of the Example of it It is a great Argument to Virtue and an encouragement to Men to act their Part well to see Good Men applauded when they go off the Stage Every Man that hath any spark of Generosity in him is desirous of Fame and tho' Men care not how soon it comes yet they will be glad to have it after Death rather than not at all Piety and Virtue would be but very melancholy and uncomfortable things if they should always be so unfortunate as never to meet with due Esteem and Approbation but when Men are assured that they shall have this Reward one time or other and observe it to be so in experience this is a great Spur and Encouragement to do virtuously And a great Mind that hath a just sense of Reputation and a good Name will be content to lay in for it beforehand and patiently to wait the time which God knows fittest for the bestowing of it 2. The other part of the Account of this Truth is to be given from the Nature of the Thing Because Death removes and takes away the chief Obstacle of a Good Man's Reputation For then his Defects are out of sight and Men are contented that his Imperfections should be buried in his Grave with him Death hath put him out of the reach of Malice and Envy his Worth and Excellency does now no longer stand in other mens light his great Virtues are at a distance and not so apt to be brought into Comparison to the prejudice and disadvantage of the living mortui non mordent The Example of the dead is not so cutting a reproof to the Vice of the living the Good Man is removed out of the way and his Example how bright soever is not so scorching and troublesom at a distance and therefore Men are generally contented to give him his due Character Besides that there is a certain Civility in Humane Nature which will not suffer Men to wrong the dead and to deny them the just commendation of their worth Even the Scribes and Pharisees as bad a sort of Men as we can well imagine though they were just like their Fathers in persecuting and slaying the Prophets while they were alive yet had they a mighty Veneration for their Piety and Virtue after they were dead and thought no Honour too great to be done to them They would be at the Charge of raising Monuments to the Memory of those Good Men whom their Fathers had slain and whom they would certainly have used in the very same manner had they either lived in the days of those Prophets or those Prophets had lived in their days as our Saviour plainly told them All that now remains is to draw some Inferences from what hath been said by way of Application and they shall be these Three 1. To vindicate the Honour and Respect which the Christian Church for many Ages hath paid to the Memory of the first Teachers and Martyrs of our Religion 2. To encourage us to Piety and Goodness from this Consideration that the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance 3. That when we pretend to honour the Memory of Good Men we would be careful to imitate their Holiness and Virtue 1. To vindicate the Honour which the Christian Church hath for many Ages done to the first Teachers and Martyrs of our Religion I mean more especially to the Holy Apostles of our Lord and Saviour to whose Honour the Christian Church hath thought fit to set apart Solemn Times for the Commemoration of their Piety and Suffering and to stir up others to the imitation of them This certainly can with no good colour either from Scripture or Reason be pretended to be unlawful and when David here says the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance he cannot certainly be thought to exclude the most solemn Way of commemorating their Piety and Virtue I do not pretend this Custom can be derived from the very first Ages of Christianity but surely it is sufficient for the lawfulness of it that it is no where forbidden nay it is rather required here in the Text the best way to preserve the Memory of Good Men being thus to commemorate them And it may be of great Use to us if it be not our own fault the setting before our eyes the holy lives of Excellent Men being in its own nature apt to excite us to the Imitation of them Besides that I could tell you that though this cannot be proved so ancient as some vainly pretend yet it is of great Antiquity in the Church and did begin in some of the best Ages of Christianity Memoriae Martyrum the Meetings of Christians at the Tombs of the Martyrs was practised long before the degeneracy of the Western Church and the Christians were wont at those Meetings solemnly to commemorate the Faith and Constancy of those Good Men and to encourage themselves from their Examples I know very well that this did in time degenerate into gross Superstition which afterward gave colour and occasion to that gross and Idolatrous Practice in the Church of Rome of Worshipping Saints But this Abuse is no sufficient Reason for us to give over the Celebrating of the Memory of such holy Men as the Apostles and Martyrs of Christ were and propounding them to our selves for our Patterns We may still lawfully give them their due Honour tho' the Church of Rome hath so over-done it as to rob God of his 2. Let this Consideration that the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance be an encouragement to us to Piety and Goodness This to a generous Nature that is sensible of Honour and Reputation is no small Reward and Encouragement Before the Happiness of Heaven was clearly revealed and life and immortality brought to light by the Gospel one of the greatest Motives to worthy and virtuous Deeds was the earnest desire which Men had of
By what Marks and Characters we may know that zeal which here and elsewhere in Scripture is condemned as not being according to knowledge III. How far the doing of any thing out of a zeal for God doth mitigate and extenuate the Evil of it For when the Apostle here testifies concerning the Jews that they had a zeal of God he speaks this in favour of them and by way of mitigation of their Faults When I have handled these Three Particulars I shall apply my Discourse to the present Occasion of this day I. What are the Qualifications and Properties of a zeal according to knowledge I shall mention these Three 1. That our Zeal be right in respect of its Object 2. That the Measure and Degree of it be proportioned to the Good or Evil of things about which it is conversant 3. That we pursue it by lawful ways and means 1. That our Zeal be right in respect of its Object I mean that those things which we are zealous for be certainly and considerably Good and that those things which we are zealous against be certainly and considerably Evil. A mistake in any of these quite marrs our Zeal and spoils the Virtue of it And tho' it be never so much intended for God it is not at all pleasing and acceptable to him because it is a blind and ignorant and mistaken Zeal And the hotter the worse it is not an heavenly fire that comes down from above but it is like the fire of Hell Heat without Light If we mistake Good and Evil and be zealously concerned against that which is Good or for that which is Evil the greater our Zeal is the greater is our Fault and instead of doing God and Religion Service and Credit we do the greatest Mischief and Dishonour we can to them both Or if the thing about which our Zeal is conversant be of a doubtful and uncertain nature this is not properly an Object of Zeal Men should never be earnest for or against any thing but upon clear and certain Grounds that what we contend so earnestly for is undoubtedly Good and that which we are so violent against is undoubtedly Evil If it be not we are zealous for we know not what and that I am sure is a zeal not according to knowledge And if the thing be certainly Good or Evil which we are so concerned about it must also be considerably so otherwise it will not warrant our being zealous about it All Truth is Good and all Error Bad but there are many Truths so inconsiderable and which have so small an influence upon Practice that they do not deserve our Zeal and earnest Contention about them and so likewise are there many Errors and Mistakes of so slight and inconsiderarable a Nature that it were better Men should be let alone in them than provok'd to Quarrel and Contend about them Thus that great Heat that was in the Christian Church about the Time of observing Easter was in my Opinion a Zeal not according to knowledge They were on both sides agreed in the main which was to celebrate the Memory of our Saviour's Resurrection But there were different Customs about the Time which was a matter of no such consideration as to deserve so much Heat and Zeal about it especially considering the uncharitable and mischievous Consequences of that difference 2. That our Zeal may be according to knowledge the Measure and Degree of it must be proportioned to the Good or Evil of things about which it is conversant That is an ignorant Zeal which is conversant about lesser things and unconcerned for greater Such was the Zeal of the Scribes and Pharises who were mightily concerned about external and lesser Matters but took little or no care of inward Purity and real and substantial Goodness they were very careful not to eat with unwasht hands and to make clean the outside of the cup and platter but then they were full of extortion and all unrighteousness they pay'd tythe of mint and anise and cumin but omitted the weightier things judgment mercy and fidelity or as St. Luke expresseth it they past over Judgment and the love of God A zealous strictness about external Rites and Matters of difference where there is a visible neglect of the substantial Duties of Religion and the great Virtues of a good life is either a gross Ignorance of the true Nature of Religion or a fulsome Hypocrisie And so likewise is a loud and zealous out-cry against Rites and Ceremonies and the Imposition of indifferent things in Religion when Men can release themselves from the Obligation of Natural and Moral Duties and pass over mercy and justice and charity 3. A Zeal that is is according to knowledge must be pursued and prosecuted by Lawful and Warantable Means No Zeal for God and his Glory for his true Church and Religion will justifie the doing of that which is morally and in it self evil Will ye speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for him We do not know what belongs to the Honour of God and Religion if we think to promote his Glory by means so dishonourable and offensive to him The Apostle pronounceth it a Damnable Sin for any to charge this Doctrine upon Christianity that evil may be done for a good end and to promote the glory of God Rom. 3.8 As we he slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say let us do evil that good may come whose damnation is just And yet nothing is more frequent than for a Man out of a Zeal for God and Religion to over-look the Evil and Unlawfulness of the Means they use for the advancing so good an End This is that which hath sanctified those refined Arts of Lying and Perjury by Equivocation and Mental Reservation those seditious ways of disturbing the Peace of Kingdoms by Treason and Rebellion by the Excommunicating and Disposing of Princes upon pre tence of Heresie of Extirpating those whom they please to call Hereticks by Inquisitions and Croisado's and Massacres and this not only in the opinion of private Persons but in the judgment of Popes and of General Councils I proceed in the II. Place to shew by what Marks and Characters we may know the contrary Zeal that which is not according to knowledge which is condemned here in the Text and very frequently in other Places of Scripture And tho' this may be sufficiently known by the contrary Marks and Properties which I shall but briefly mention yet to discover it more fully I shall add One or Two more very gross and sensible signs and instances of it 1. It is a zeal without knowledge that is mistaken in the proper Object of it that calls good evil and evil good a Zeal for gross Errors and Superstitions plainly contrary either to the revelation of God's Word or the light of Reason or to common Sense any or all of these cannot be a zeal according to knowledge A Zeal for the Worship of Images for praying
to Saints and Angels contrary to the plain Law and Word of God a Zeal for the sacrilegious depriving of the People of half the Sacrament contrary to our Saviour's plain Institution and the acknowledged Practice of the Catholick Church for a thousand years a Zeal for that most absurd of all Doctrines that ever was taught in any Religion I mean the Dostrine of Transubstantiation not only without any sufficient Authority from Scripture as is acknowledged by several of the most learned of the Roman Church but contrary to Reason and in defiance of the Sense of all Mankind a Zeal for these and many more like gross Errors and Practices cannot possibly be a zeal according to knowledge 2. That is a zeal without knowledge the degree whereof is manifestly disproportion'd to the Good or Evil of things about which it is conversant when there is in Men a greater and fiercer Zeal for the Externals of Religion than for the Vital and Essential Parts of it for the Traditions of men than for the Commandments of God for Bodily Severities than for the Mortification of our Lusts for the Means of Religion than for the End of it a greater zeal against the Omission and Neglect of some senseless and superstitious Practices than against the Practice of the grossest Immoralities and against the Denyers of the Doctrines of Transubstantiation and of the Pope's Infallibility an equal if not a greater zeal I am sure a more severe Prosecution than against those who deny our Saviour to be the true Messias and the Son of God This certainly is not a zeal according te knowledge Nor 3. That which is prosecuted by unlawful and unwarrantable Means That cannot be a zeal of God according to knowledge which warrants the doing of Evil that Good may come the violating of Truth and Faith and of the Peace of Humane Society for the Cause of the Catholick Church and breaking the eternal and immutable Laws of God for the advancing of his Glory Nor 4. An uncharitable Zeal which is an Enemy to Peace and Order and thinks it self sufficiently warranted to separate from the Communion of Christians and to break the Peace of the Church upon every scruple and upon every fancy and conceit of unlawful Impositions tho' in the most indifferent things nay upon this single Point because a thing which they acknowledge lawful and indifferent in it self is in the worship of God enjoyned by Authority The most unreasonable Principle that I think ever was avowed among Christians not to do a thing which otherwise they might do only because it is enjoyned and to fancy that an indifferent thing becomes comes presently unlawful because it is commanded by lawful Authority and that it is a Sin to do any thing in the Worship of God which is not left to their Liberty whether they will do it or not This is not only a Zeal without knowledge but contrary to common Sense Nor 5. A Furious and Cruel Zeal which St. James calls a bitter or a wrathful Zeal and which tends to confusion and every evil work which is blind with its own rage and makes Men as St. Paul says of himself when he persecuted the Christians exceedingly mad against all that differ from them and stand in the way of their fierce and outragious Zeal 6. And lastly A Zeal for ignorance is most certainly not a zeal according to knowledge and this is a Zeal peculiar to the Church of Rome by such strict Laws to forbid People the use of the Holy Scriptures in a known Tongue nay not so much as to allow them to understand what they do in the Service of God to require them to be present at their Publick Prayers and to joyn with them in them without letting them know the meaning of them to pretend to teach them by reading Lessons to them in an unknown Tongue and all this under pretence of increasing their Devotion as if the less Men understand of the Service of God the more they would be affected with it and edified by it And yet there is nothing in which the Church of Rome hath been more zealously concerned than to keep the People in ignorance Nothing they hive opposed with more obstinacy against the repeated application of Princes and People at the beginning of the Reformation than to allow the People the use of the Scriptures in their publick Prayers in an unknown Tongue And their obstinacy in this Point was not without Reason nothing being more certain than that if the People were once brought to understand the Scriptures they would soon quit their Religion which in so many things is so directly contrary to the word of God The III. And last thing remains to be spoken to viz. How far the doing of things out of a Zeal for God doth Mitigate and Extenuate the Evil of them For when the Apostle here testifies concerning the Jews that they had a zeal of God he speaks this in favour of them and by way of mitigation of their fault I bear them record I who was once acted by this ignorant and furious zeal which now possesseth them and persecuted the Christians in the same outragious manner as they still continue to do and all this with a very good Conscience as I thought and out of a zeal for God and the true Religion So he tells us Acts 26.9 I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth So that his zeal was sincere and with a real intention to do Service to God and Religion and yet for all that was very faulty and sinful and if he had persisted in it Damnable so that his confidence that he was in the right and the Sincerity of his zeal in acting according to the perswasion of his Conscience did not alter the Nature of the actions he did out of this zeal and make them less wicked in themselves tho' it was some mitigation of the fault of the Person and render'd him more capable of the Mercy of God by Repentance than if he had done contrary to his Conscience and the clear convictions of his own Mind And therefore the best way to understand the great Evil and Wickedness of this furious and blind Zeal will be to consider the account which St. Paul after his Conversion gives of his own doings and what load he lays upon himself notwithstanding the Sincerity of his Zeal and that he acted according to his Conscience Acts viii and ix you have the History at large of his outrageous doings how he made havock of the Church entering into every house and haling men and women to Prison how he breathed out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Acts 22.4 I persecuted says he this way unto the death binding and delivering into Prisons both men and women And Ch. 26.10 11. Many of the Saints did I shut up in Prison and when they were put to death I gave my voice
the Congregation of Israel Of the First and Last of these Degrees of Excomunication our Saviour seems here to speak but whether in both Instances in the Text he alludes in the one to the lowest and in the other to the highst Degree of Excommunication among the Jews is not so certain To the First he plainly does when he says they shall put you out of the Synagogues And then he adds that they should proceed much higher against them even to put them to death the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service that is they should not only think it Lawful to kill them but look upon it as a Duty as a high Act of Religion as an acceptable Piece of Worship and a Sacrifice well-pleasing to God For so indeed the word does not only import but most properly signifie whosoever killeth you shall think 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he offers a Sacrifice to God for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes used for a Sacrifice but being joyned with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems necessarily to be determined to that Sense From the words thus explained I shall make these following Observations very proper for our Consideration upon the Occasion of this day 1. That the best of Men may be separated and excluded from the Communion of those who may assume to themselves to be the true and the only true Church yea and suffer under the Notion of very Bad and Criminal Persons This our Saviour here foretold of his Apostles some of the best Men that ever lived They shall put you out of their Synagogues 2. That they who are thus Excommunicated by the pretended true Church may nevertheless be real Members of the true Church of Christ Tho' the Apostles were thus dealt withall by the Jewish Church they did not cease for all that to be Members of the true Church of God 3. That from uncharitable Censures Men do easily and almost naturally proceed to Cruel Actions After they had put the Disciples of our Lord out of their Synagoguse and thereby concluded them to be Hereticks and Reprobates they presently proceed to kill them as not worthy to live They shall put you out of their Synagogues and when they have done that they will soon after think it a thing not only fit but Pious and Meritorious to put you to death the time will come that they will think it a good service to God to kill you 4. That Men may do the Vilest things and the most Wicked not only under a grave pretence of Religion but out of a real opinion and perswasion that they do Religiously Murder is certainly one of the greatest and most crying Sins and yet our Saviour foretells that the Jews should put his Disciples to death being verily perswaded that in so doing they offered a most acceptable Sacrifice to God Yea the time shall come that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offers a Sacrisice to God 5. That such Actions are never the less horribly Impious and Wicked notwithstanding the good Mind with which and the Good End for which they are done The Jews were not excused from the guilt of Persecution and Murder for all they thought they did well in killing the Disciples of our Lord. 6. I observe that the Corruption of the best tilings is the worst Religion is the highest Accomplishment and Perfection of Humane Nature and Zeal for God and his Truth an excellent Quality and highly acceptable to God And yet nothing is more Barbarous and spurs Men on to more horrible Impieties than a blind Zeal for God and false and mistaken Principles in the matter of Religion as is plain from the Instances here before us in the Text. I shall speak as briefly as I can to these Observations 1. That the best of Men may be separated and excluded from the Communion of those who may assume to be the true and only true Church and that under the Notion of very Bad and Criminal Persons This our Saviour foretells in the Text should be the Fate of his Apostles some of the best and holiest Persons that ever lived they shall put you out of the Synagogues And what the Jews did in the beginning of Christianity to the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour hath been too frequently practised since by some of the Professors of Christianity toward one another and very Good Men have in several Ages fallen under the Censure of Excommunication and been separated from the External Communion of the Church and branded with the odious Names of Hereticks and Apostates by those who have arrogated to themselves to be the only Orthodox and true Church and have gotten the external Power and Management of Religion into their hands witness the Case of Athanasius and others in the Reign and Prevalency of Arianism and the ill Treatment that not only particular Persons Eminent for their Learning and Piety but whole Churches have met with in this kind from that haughty and uncharitable Church which makes nothing of thundering out this most fearful Sentence of Excommunication against Persons and Churches much better and more Christian than her self and against all that will not submit to her pretended Infallibility and usurped Authority over the Souls and Consciences of Men. But it is our great Comfort that the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord and Master were thus used by a Church that made the same Pretences that they do and upon Grounds every whit as plausible as I could clearly shew if I were minded to persue and make out this Comparison 2. They who are thus Excommunicated by the pretended only true Church may nevertheless be true Members of the Church of Christ Tho' the Apostles were thus dealt withall by the Jewish Church they did not cease for all this to be real Members of the true Church of God For it is not calling Hereticks first that proves them that do so to be no Hereticks or acquits them from the same or greater Crimes than those which they are so forward to charge upon other Men nor will God condemn all those who are Excommunicated by Men and deny Salvation to every one whom they shall please to separate from their Society and to call by some odious name Men may be put out of the Synagogue and yet receiv'd into Heaven for the Judgment of God is not according to the uncharitable Censures of Men but according to Truth and Right The Sentence of Excommunication is certainly very dreadful where it is duly inflicted and next to the Judgment of God Men ought to be afraid of justly incurring the danger of this Censure and it ought to be upon very plain and evident grounds that Men either separate themselves or endanger their being cut off from the Communion of the Church they live in But when it once comes to this that a Church is infected with gross Errors and Corruptions plainly contrary to the Word of God especially if