but of the Devils themselves For it is the known saying of our Saviour that Satan's kingdom if it were divided against it self it could not stand Unity indeed is such a blessing as the Church of God will earnestly desire and pray for but yet the Church of Corinth did not cease to be a true Church when it wanted this blessing and was torn in peices by divisions In vain also do some Men make Universality or largeness of extent a mark of the Church for we are told plainly in the Holy Scriptures that Christ's flock is but a little flock and it is at this day so far exceeded in Amplitude both by Mahometans and Pagans that if the whole World were divided into thirty Parts as Breerwood calculates in his Inquiries five only would be found Christians six Mahometans and nineteen Pagans As for Antiquity which some pretend is the mark of the Church tho' we may well allow it to be a great Ornament when attended with truth yet when this is wanting it is but vetustas erronis as St. Cyprian calls it not Age but dotage nothing but error of a longer standing and so harder to be rooted out Some also are fond of a long Series or uninterrupted Succession of Bishops in the Church but as St. Ambrose speaks those who have not St. Peters faith cannot succeed to St. Peters Inheritance and since the Pontificate of Aaron may sometime descend upon a wretched Caiaphas such an antient Pedigree as this may be more honourable in Heraldry than it can be in Religion But of all the marks which some make of the true Church that of Holiness best deserves the name for the Church of Christ should be holy like its Head but when we say the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the true mark of the Church we do not exclude but include Sanctity for since the Doctrine of the Apostles is as St. Paul defines it a Doctrine according unto Godliness where this Doctrine is preach'd in its greatest purity there substantial holiness free from from all Superstition and Hypocrisie is most likely to be found and if such holiness does not at all times flourish alike the fault is not in the Church but in the Professors of it These are reckoned by some the principle marks and Characters of the true Church but since they are so far from being true marks that without Apostolical Doctrine they signifie little I hope you will allow me to conclude according to the Sense of the holy Scriptures and the Ancient Fathers That the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only foundation on which the true Church is built I come now in the next place to shew you That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets upon which the true Church is built is sufficiently delivered to us in the holy Scriptures Whatever Doctrines are contained in these sacred Oracles are own'd by the Church of Rome as well as by us to be the Doctrines of the Apostles and Prophets but they are pleased to charge the holy Scriptures with imperfection pretending that they contain not all things necessary to Salvation but must be aided by their unwritten and uncertain Tradition but sure if there were any such Traditions handed down from the Apostles through the several Ages of the Church to this present Age these Traditions must needs pass thro' the hands of the Ancient Fathers before they could come to ours but the Ancient Fathers knew no such Traditions but every where assert the Perfection and Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures Ireneus calls the holy Scriptures such a Rule of Faith as none must vary from St. Chrysostome says that all things that are necessary are plain and manifest in the holy Scriptures Non credimus quia non legimus we believe no more than we read saith St Ierome I shall only add the Authority of St. Basil who saith it is contrary to Faith and a certain argument of Pride to reject any thing contained in the Scriptures or to impose any thing that is not written there Thus the Fathers knew nothing of any unwritten Traditions that were to cut out the holy Scriptures but they refer us to them as to a perfect Rule And well indeed they might since St. Paul tells us they are able to make us wise unto Salvation and he adds more fully yet if it be possible to do so when he tells us they are able to make the man of God perfect throughly furnished unto every good work Thus great is the perfection of these holy Oracles and thus plain it is that the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets on which the true Church is built is fully and sufficiently delivered to us in the holy Scripture I come in the Third place to shew you that the Church of England is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets King Charles the First as he was not unwilling to dye a Martyr for the Church of England so at his death he left her the richest legacy he could even the most honourable Character that could possibly be bestowed on the best of Churches for this advice he gave to his Royal Sons The best profession of Religion I have ever esteemed that of the Church of England I tell you I have tried it and after much search and many disputes I have concluded it to be the best in the World as coming nearest to the word of God for Doctrine and the Primitive example for Government Whosoever does but look into the Articles of our Church will find how well she deserves this most honourable Character For she professes to believe the Holy Scriptures which as I shewed above contains the whole Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets She believes the same Faith and no other than that which is comprized in the Apostles Creed and explained more largely in those Creeds which are called the Nicene and the Athanasian And as for those Doctrines which are controverted between us and the Church of Rome a little examination will discover which Church is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets And 1. Let us examine that Supremacy which the Church of Rome does challenge for St. Peter If we look into the Holy Scriptures we shall find nothing there that makes St. Peter the chief of the Apostles For if Christ had ever intended St. Peter any such Power over the rest he would doubtless have declared so much when the Apostles were at strife who should be the greatest But so far is our Saviour from declaring St. Peters Supremacy that he chides them for their vain strife and contention yea tells them in plain terms that it should not be among them as in secular Kingdoms and Monarchies where one is chief And if St. Peter had at any time afterwards been made a Prince we cannot imagin St. Paul could have been ignorant of it and yet he tells us 2. Cor. 11. 5. That he was not behind the very chiefest Apostles
general is also true of this Scripture in particular Namely that tho' there be many Floods yet there are many Fords tho' there be many Depths where the greatest Elephants may swim yet there are also some Shallows where the least Lambs will be able to wade In some places the Holy Spirit soars aloft above the reach of the Highest and in other places he stoops so low as to condescend even to the Capacity of the Meanest And so he doth here in the Text where there are no difficulties to puzzle us but plain things to instruct and direct us The Text is a part of that Epistle which was sent by Christ to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus Ephesus was a large City upon which depended several lesser places as the Learned Hammond and others observe And according to that Government Christ had set up in his Church there was an Angel or Bishop constituted to oversee the Flock of Christ in these places Hence St. Austin speaking of the seven Angels which are mentioned in this Book of Revelations stiles them the Bishops or Governours of these seven Churches Such a Bishop or Angel was set over the Church of Ephesus and Antiquity tells us Onesimus was their Bishop to this Bishop or Angel doth Christ send an Epistle as may be learn'd from ver 1 of this Chapter Vnto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write The whole Epistle besides the Prologue and the Epilogue consists of four Principal Parts First A commendation of them for their Labour and Patience and unwillingness to suffer them that are Evil ver 2 3. Secondly A Reprehension wherein they are blamed for leaving their First Love and abating something of the Zeal and Fervour for the Gospel of Christ vers 4. And Thirdly An Exhortation to things of great Importance here in the beginning of the Text Remember from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works And Fourthly A Commination in the last words of the Verse Else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place For the fuller understanding of which words First We will first inquire why the Church of Christ is compared unto a Candlestick Secondly Shew you that this Candlestick may be removed out of his place Thirdly That it is an heavy Judgment to have this Candlestick removed out of his place Fourthly The Causes of this heavy Judgment And Fifthly The Means to prevent it I begin First With the first of these Namely to enquire why the Church of Christ is compared unto a Candlestick That the Church of Christ is compared to a Candlestick is plain from Chap. 1. 20. where we are told that The seven Stars are the Angels of the seven Churches and the seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches And well may the Church of Christ be compared unto a Candlestick since it holds forth the Word of God which is so often compared unto a Light We have a more sure word of prophesie saith St. Peter whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. To the same purpose is that of David Psal. 119. 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path The World indeed of it self is a very dark place and stands in need of Light It is a dark and dismal place in respect of those manifold troubles and miseries which infest this Life Now the Word of God is a Light which helps to scatter and disperse these Mists of Trouble So King David found it Psal. 119. 50. This is my comfort in my affliction thy word has quickned me The whole world saith St. Iohn lieth in wickedness and it were impossible for us to find our way to Heaven without the light of God's Word But God is so gracious as to give us his Word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths How ought we then to prize and value the Church of God which is no less than the Light of the World without the direction whereof we must have wandred up and down the Wilderness and never have found out the way to Canaan There is no Salvation out of the Church Nec erit illi Deus Pater cui non est Ecclesia Mater God saith St. Cyprian will not be his Father who doth not own the Church for his Mother Had we been born without the Pale of the Church we had been Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel Strangers to the Covenant of Promise without God without Christ and without Hope in this World Sure then we who are born within the Pale of God's Church and enjoy the glorious Light of the Gospel should rejoyce in this Light and learn to Prize and Value it otherwise we may be deprived of it and lose all the advantages thereof as will appear by considering the Second General Secondly Which is to shew that this Candlestick may be removed out of his place This is plain from the words of the Text where we have our Saviour speaking thus to the Church of Ephesus Except thou repent I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy Candlestick out of his place Christ's Church therefore may fail and be extinguish'd But for the more distinct decision of this point we must carefully distinguish of Christ's Catholick and Universal Church and of some particular Church of Christ seated in some particular Kingdom or Nation as the Church of England the Church of Scotland the Church of Denmark and the like Now 1st It is certain in the first place that the Catholick or Universal Church can never fail and be totally extinguished this larger Candlestick shall never be removed We have several promises in Scripture which assure us of the perpetuity of Christ's Church and that it shall continue even unto the end of the World So our Saviour promises his Apostles Mat. 28. ult Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world And again Mat. 16. 18. it is said that Christ has built his Church upon a Rock and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Thus firm and stable is the Catholick Church as St. Chrysostom speakes elegantly it may be assaulted but not defeated it may be distressed but not destroyed it may be wounded but it shall not fall it may be tossed but not wreck'd it may and shall be militant but yet never be overcome But 2ly Tho' the Catholick and Universal Church be thus stable and perpetual yet no particular Church can claim this priviledge The Church of any particular Place or Nation may utterly fail and have its Candlestick removed from it This is threatned in the Text to the Church of Ephesus and has been the sad fate of several other particular Churches For where are those many Famous Churches in Africa which were so glorious and flourishing in the days of St. Austin Where are those seven Golden Candlesticks those seven Famous Churches of Asia
come now Fourthly In the fourth place to shew you what Reasons and Encouragements we have to endeavour after the highest degrees of Grace And 1st Our serious endeavours after the highest degrees of Grace will be an excellent means to preserve that saving growth in Grace the pious Christian has already attain'd to There is a dangerous Opinion in the World that a man cannot totally and finally fall away from Grace According to these mens sentiments he that is once sincerely Righteous will infallibly hold on and persevere unto the end Now if this Opinion were true this exhortation would be vain But certainly nothing can be more contrary to the plain Doctrine of the Scripture Hear what St. Peter saith Chap. 1. of this Epistle vers 10. Give all dilligence saith he to make your Calling and Election sure for if you do these things you shall never fall You see he puts an if in the case such as fairly implies that we may neglect our Duty and fall from our own stedfastness For the same reason St. Paul gives this necessary Caution Rom. 11. 20. c. Be not high-minded but fear for if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them which fall severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off But a fuller confutation of this dangerous Opinion we cannot desire than what may be gathered from the words of the Prophet Ezek. 18. 24. VVhen the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth shall he live saith the Lord No All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Thus plain it is that a Christian may fall away from that saving state of Grace he has attained to And what I pray is more likely to secure his steadfastness than serious endeavours after the highest degrees of Holiness Our Apostle it seems thought so for having in the foregoing Verse given this necessary Caution Beware Brethren lest you fall from your own steadfastness he presently subjoins in the Text as the properest means to secure them from falling but grow in Grace It is the same in spiritual growths that it is in naturals For as a man by eating and drinking and other natural Actions preserves his natural Life so the Christian by serious endeavours after higher degrees of Holiness preserves his spiritual Life The Musician screws up his Peg to an higher pitch that he may be sure it will not fall lower than the true Note Even so the higher degrees of Perfection we aspire to the less danger shall we be in of falling lower than what is absolutely necessary And this certainly is sufficient encouragement to continue these our serious endeavours 2ly These serious endeavours after a further growth in Grace than what is absolutely necessary to Salvation will give the pious Christian a more comfortable assurance of Eternal Happiness It is no doubt a kind of Heaven upon Earth to be assured of Heaven whilst we are here upon Earth This is that hidden Manna mentioned in the Revelations which fills the Soul with all variety of Delights Now nothing besides a particular Revelation from Heaven can be more likely to create this full assurance in the Soul than these Heroick attainments of Grace and Vertue Grace is that Seal of the Spirit by which we are marked and sealed unto the day of Redemption And certainly the brighter and more evident that Grace is the more evident will it be to our own selves and the fuller our assurance of Heaven and Eternal Happiness Many good Christians are in a safe condition and yet their condition is not so comfortable by reason of those fears and doubtings which do often accompany these lower degrees of Grace But the more we abound in good Works and the more eminently our Graces shine the more comfortable will our Assurance be and the clearer our Title to Heaven and Eternal Happiness Read St. Paul's 11 Chap. to the Hebrews where he sets down a large Calendar of God's eminent Saints such as advanc't into the highest form of Piety and Vertue and you 'l find their Faith as great as was their growth in Grace and their assurance of Heaven bearing a just proportion to their improvements in Holiness For St. Paul describing their Faith ver 1. calls it the substance or subsistence of things hoped for the evidence or clear demonstration of things not seen 3ly These serious endeavours after the highest degrees of Grace as they will secure our Title to Heaven and give us a more comfortable assurance of it for the present so they will hereafter advance us to higher degrees of Glory in Heaven We know there are different degrees of Glory in Heaven even as one Star differeth from another Star in Glory so also saith St. Paul shall be the Resurrection of the Iust As St. Austin speaks Splendor dispar Caelum commune the Saints shall dwell together in the same Heaven but yet like Stars they shall shine with different Rays of Glory Now these higher degrees of Glory will be conferred on such who arrived at higher degrees of Grace Hence when our Saviour tells his Disciples John 14. 2. In my Fathers House are many Mansions Tertullian remarks thus upon the place Quomodo multae Mansiones si non pro varietate Meritorum Wherefore saith he should our Saviour mention many Mansions in his Fathers House if there were not several Rooms of different Size and Glory provided for his Saints according to the variety of their deserts Indeed Heaven has room enough to lodge all the Godly but as in other Magnificent Palaces so in this of Heaven there are higher and lower larger and lesser Mansions in which God's Saints shall be disposed of according to those Services they have performed upon Earth Their Rewards hereafter shall be answerable to their Obedience here See then what incouragement there is to endeavour after the highest degrees of Glory These it seems will create an Heaven in our Souls whilst we live here on Earth These will at our Deaths carry our Souls as high as Heaven nay which is more they will lodge them in the best Mansions there Hence is that of our Apostle Chap. 1. 11. If these things be in you and abound then shall an entrance be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Having therefore these Promises Dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of the Lord. Let us go from Strength to Strength and grow from one degree of Grace unto another until we appear before our God in Sion I shall conclude all with St. Pauls Exhortation
We read also Gal. 2. 9 11. that he did not only rebuke St. Peter openly at Antioch but also took of him the right hand of fellowship Now we cannot suppose St. Peters Supremacy but we must convict St. Paul either of gross Ignorance when he said he was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles or of greater rudeness when he took place of his Prince and yet so true it is that he did so that in memory of it the Popes own Seal hath St. Paul and St. Peter engraven upon it and St. Paul is allowed to hold the dexter point 2. If we examin by Scripture that Controversie between the Church of England and the Church of Rome about the Deposing Doctrine we shall find which is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets For how does the Scripture every where abhor and detest that most disloyal and Antichristian Doctrine Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers saith St. Paul and that not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake Observe Let every Soul of what rank quality or degree soever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostome upon these words Tho thou art an Apostle tho an Evangelist tho a Prophet yea what ever thou art thou must be subject to the higher Powers Thus saith St. Paul yea St. Peter also from whom the Pope pretends to derive his Power is so far from challenging any power over Kings and Princes either for himself or Successors that he requires Christians to submit themselves not unto him but unto the King as Supreme Nay he would have them be subject not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward And is not this the Apostolical Doctrine of the Church of England which teaches all her Members to pay active obedience unto all the lawful Commands of Princes and when their commands interfere with the Laws of God not to resist but to obey Passively 3. The Prayers of our Church are made in a Language well known unto the People and such as will tend if they are not wanting to themselves to their Edification And sure I need not tell you that this is agreeable to the Doctrine of the Apostles when St. Paul hath spent a whole Chapter to assure us of it For in 1. Cor. 14. 14. If I pray saith he in an unknown Tongue my Spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful but I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the understanding also Again ver 16. How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayst Again v. 19. In the Church I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I might teach others also than ten thousand words in an unknown Tongue These are plain Texts of Scripture and shew the practice of our Church to be Apostolical 4. The Church of England allows the Laity the Cup as well as the Bread and this is no other Doctrine than what Christ and his Apostles teach For our Saviour delivering the Cup to his Disciples says Drink ye all of it Mat. 26. 27. And S. Paul assures us that in his time the People partook of the Cup as well as of the Bread 1 Cor. 12. 13. We have all been made to drink into one Spirit But I need not produce any more Texts of Scripture for the proof of this since it is acknowledged by the Church of Rome For in the Council of Constance we find these expressions Notwithstanding the Institution of Christ and the Practice of the Apostles we decree and determine that the Laity shall not partake of the Cup. It seems they find some inconvenience in the Institution of Christ and the Practice of his Apostles but our Church thinks it convenient to stick close to both 5. The Church of England condemns Transubstantiation as being contradictory to Sense Reason and Scripture Our Senses tell us it is Bread and not Flesh after Consecration Our Reason will not allow one and the same body to be in millions of places at the same time And as for Scripture S. Paul 1. Cor. 11. 26. c. calls it Bread at least three times after Consecration But tho we have all this to say for our selves yet we are anathamatized by the Church of Rome because we refuse as they say to believe as plain words as any are in the Bible For what can be plainer say they than these words of our Saviour This is my body But in truth if these words were as plain as they tell us we would be content to sacrifice both our Sense and our Reason to our Faith But if these words of our Saviour be taken in a literal Sense as they take them they are so far from being plain that their Learned men are very much divided about the meaning of them For ask them only what is the subject of the Proposition or what is denoted by this demonstrative Pronoun Hoc or This and you will find them mightily at a loss about it for Scotus says it is Hoc ens this entity is my body Aquinas this substance Bellarmine these species of bread the Sarbone this Individuum vagum and the famous Glossary Hoc nihil or this nothing Now if these words of our Saviour were so very plain and easie as they say 'T is very strange their Learned men should differ so much and at last make nothing of them But indeed if we take them in a figurative sense as Protestants use to do they will be plain and easie enough For the demonstrative particle Hoc or This must needs relate to bread for it is said in the Text that as they were eating Iesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take Eat This is my body It seems what our Saviour took blessed brake and gave to his Disciples was bread and of this and nothing else can he speak when he saith This is my body Now this bread is my body is false if we take it in a literal sense for bread is not flesh but it is true in a Figurative sense This bread is i. e. does signifie Christs body And this kind of Dialect or manner of speech is very usual in Scripture Gen. 41. 26. we read these words concerning Pharaohs Dream The seven kine are seven years i. e. they signifie seven years So again Exod. 12. 11. Moses speaking of the Paschal Lamb says it is the Lords Passover i. e. it signifies the Lords passing the Children of the Israelites when he destroyed all the First-born of Egypt Now if according to this known Dialect of Scripture we interpret our Saviours words This is my body the meaning will be plain and natural this bread does signifie or represent my body And this will appear to be the sense of these words if we consider what our Saviour says of the Cup namely This is my blood which must
be taken in this Figurative sense this Cup represents my blood For it follows presently after I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine saith Christ until that day when I drink it new with you in my fathers kingdom The fruit is called sometimes the blood of the Grape but sure without a figure it cannot be called the blood of Christ. Thus you see that our Church is Apostolical also in denying Transubstantiation 6. The Adoration of the Host is accounted by the Church of England a most dangerous crime for since as you have heard there is no Transubstantiation but it remains bread we dare not pay our Adoration to it which we believe a Creature for it is the plain Doctrine of our Saviour Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve 7. The Church of England in condemning the Worship of Images condemns only what the Apostles and Prophets had condemned before for this charge is given in the Second Commandment Thou shalt not make unto thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them Here we are forbid and that in most comprehensive terms the making of any Image whatsoever to Worship it It is not said Thou shalt not make Images of Idols or false Gods but it is said Thou shalt not make any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing To make an Image of the true God is a violation of this Commandment for the Golden Calves are condemned in Scripture notwithstanding the Children of Israel worshiped the true God under those representations Our Church therefore doth not allow her Members to picture God the Father in the likeness of an Old Man or the Holy Ghost in the similitude of a Bird or Dove For God is a Spirit yea an infinitely glorious Spirit and consequently cannot be pictured without an injury but to worship such Pictures or Images is as S. Paul speaks Rom. 1. to change the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like unto corruptible Man and to Birds 8. The Church of England does also justly condemn the Invocation of Saints by mental and vocal Prayers as the Trent Council enjoyns This Doctrine of the Church of Rome by the confession of Learned Papists hath neither Precept nor Example in Scripture to warrant it and consequently it cannot be built upon the foundation of the Text i. e. the foundation of Apostles and Prophets The Temple of old was called the house of Prayer to denote that Religious Prayer is a principal part of the Worship of God and does not our Saviour say expresly Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve To hear mental Prayers belongs only to God who alone trieth the reins and searcheth the heart and therefore to make such Prayers unto Creatures is to make them more than Creatures The Saints must be Omnipresent if they can hear all their Votaries who pray to them in all quarters of the Earth Now Omnipresence is an Attribute which belongs to the Divine Essence Thou art a God that heareth Prayers saith the Psalmist and therefore unto thee shall all flesh come We are told in Scripture that there is but one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Iesus and since he is most willing and able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him we do not use the Intercessions of the Saints for fear we should injure the merits of that All-sufficient Mediatour who ever liveth to make intercession for us By these few Instances which I have given and I might have given you many more it cannot but be evident to all serious unprejudiced persons that the Church of England keeps close to the Rule of the Scripture and like the Church of Ephesus in the Text is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets And because the Testimony of an Adversary has always been thought considerable I shall conclude this head with the Testimony of Pope Paul IV. who as Bishop Andrews Reports made this offer to Q. Elizabeth that if she would but own his Supremacy he would confirm our way of serving God in all things appertaining to his Worship in the very same manner as we now do Sure this Holy Father would never have confirmed the Religion of the Church of England had he not thought it consonant to the Doctrine of the Apostles But since he was pleased to offer his Confirmation we will requite his kindness by valuing our Church the more upon his Approbation Thus I have dispatcht the Three Generals I proposed I have shewn you That the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only Foundation upon which the True Church is built That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is sufficiently delivered to us in the Holy Scripture and that the Church of England like that of Ephesus in the Text is built upon this and no other foundation I shall now in the close leave a word or two of Exhortation with you and beseech you to continue stedfast in the Communion of the Church of England It is the chief design of St. Paul in this Epistle to keep the Ephesians stedfast in the Faith of Christ He desires them Chap. 3. not to faint and bows his knees to the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that he would strengthen them by his Spirit in the inner Man He bids them Chap. 4. have a care they were no more Children tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive As he would not have them scared out of their Religion by fear of Persecution so neither would he have them gull'd of it by the sleights and subtleties of false Teachers It is therefore our duty when we have found the True Church to continue stedfast in the Communion of it We must resemble those best of Christians of whom it is said Acts 2. 42. That they continued stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship But alas how apt are men to barter away Religion for some worldly emolument How many are there who carry their Religion in their Pockets and stick not with Iudas to betray their Master for Thirty pieces of Silver unless perhaps their Covetousness be greater and a larger sum be requisite to patch up their broken Fortunes If Naamans Preferment be inconsistent with his Religion you must allow him a dispensation and permit him to bow in the House of Rimmon and to name no more rather than Pilate will hazard the loss of Caesars favour he will pronounce our Saviour innocent one hour and condemn him the next Thus Christ is made to truckle under the World and Gain will be Godliness in spight of the Bible But those that are sober and serious in the World they will