Srom f ^c £i6rare of (pxoftBBOt n37ifPiain ^tnr^ (green Q^equcaf^eb 61? ^im to f^e £i6r(irg of (J)ttnceton C^eofogtcaf ^emindrg BX 9327 .M66 The Morning exercises at Cripplegate, St. Giles in THE MORNING EXERCISES CRIPPLEGATE, ST. GILES IN THE FIELDS, IN SOUTHWARK: DIVEES SERMONS, PREACHED A.D. MDCLIX— MDCLXXXIX. BY SEVERAL MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL IN OR NEAR LONDON. ' FIFTH EDITION. CAREFULLY COLLATED AND CORRECTED. WITH NOTES AND TRANSLATIONS, BY JAMES NICHOLS, EDITOR OP FULLER'S "CHURCH HISTORY OF BRITAIN," &c. IN SIX VOLUMES. VOL. VI. CONTAINING THE CONCLUSION OF "THE MORNING EXERCISE AGAINST POPERY. " LONDON : PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE. 1845. London: printed by jasies nichols, HOXTON-RQUARE. CONTENTS. THE MORNING EXERCISE AGAINST POPERY. (concluded.) SERMON VII. (IV.) BY THE REV. HENRY WILKINSON, SEN., D.D. SOMETIME CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND MARGARET-PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. Page. Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- shipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things ? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work : only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming : even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. — 2 Thessalonians ii. 3— 10 I VIII. (XIV.) BY THE REV. PETER VINKE, B.D. SOMETIME FELLOW OF PEMBROKE HALL, CAMBRIDGE. PROTESTANTS SEPARATED FOR CHRIST's NAME's SAKE. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. — Luke vi. 22 26 A 2 IV CONTENTS. SERMON IX. (XXV.) BV THE REV. SAMUEL LEE, A. 3L SOMETIME FELLOW OF WADIIAM COLLEGE, OXFOUD. THE VISIBILITY UF THE TRUE CHURCH. I'age. And I say also unto tlicc, That thou art Peter, and uiwn this rock I will build my churcli; and the fjates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew xvi. 18... 52 X. (XV.) BY THE REV. RICHARD MAYO, A.M. INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS UNLAWFUL. lliiw then shall they cidl on him in whom they have not believed ? — Romans x. 14. 07 XI. (XXIV.) BY THE REV. EDWARD WEST, A.M. OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. rUUOATOUY A GUOUNDLESS AND DANGEROUS DOCTRINE, But lie himself shall be saved ; yet so as by fire 1 Corinthians iii. 15 1'2<) XII. (VIII.) BY THE REV. WILLIAM JENKIN, A.M. NO SIN VENIAL. The wages of sin is death. — Romans vi. 2:{ 150 XIII. (XI.) BY THE REV. EDWARD VEAL, B. D. Ol CUUrST CHURCH, OXFORD; AFTERWARDS SENIOR FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. WHETHER TJIE GOOD WORKS OF BELIEVERS BE MERITORIOUS OF ETERNAL SALVATION. NEOATUM EST. Also unto ihee, O Lord, beloiigcth mercy ; for thou rcadetcst to every man according to his work. — .rsalm Ixii. 12 Ui3 CONTENTS. V SERMON XIV. (XVI.) BY THE REV. THOMAS LYE, A.M. NO WORKS OF SUPEU-EKOGATION. Page. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, Wc are unprofitable servants : we have done that which was our duty to do Luke xvii. 10 222 XV. (XII.) liY THE REV. DAVID CLARKSON, B.D. FELLOW AND TUTOR Or CLARE HALL, CAMBRIDGE. THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION IS DANGEROUSLY CORRUPTED IN THE ROMAN CHURCH. Beini? justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. — Romans iii. 24 251 XVI. (XIII.) BY THE REV. BENJAMIN NEEDLER, B.C.L. SOMETIME FELLOW OF ST. JOIIN's COLLEGE, OXFORD. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written, Tliou slialt worsliip the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. — Mattliew iv. 10... 2(j7 XVII. (IX.) BY THE REV. NATHANAEL VINCENT, A.M. OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. PUBLIC PRAYER SHOULD BE IN A KNOWN TONGUE. I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also — 1 Corin- thians xiv. 15 i31)8 CONTENTS. SERMON XVIII. (XIX.) BY THE REV. SAMUEL ANNESLEY, LL.D. OF INDULGENCES, Page. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. — Hebrews X. 14 313 XIX. (XVII.) BY THE REV. THOMAS VINCENT, A.M. OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH TO MARRY, IS A DEVILISH AND WICKED DOCTRINE. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in liypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot iron ; forbid- ding TO marry, &c 1 Timothy iv. 1 — 3 337 XX. (XVIII.) BY THE REV. RICHARD FAIRCLOUGH, A.M. FELLOW OF EMMANUEL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. THE NATURE, POSSIBILITY, AND DUTY, OF A TRUE BELTEVEr's ATTAINING TO A CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF HIS EFFECTUAL VOCATION, ETERNAL ELECTION, AND FINAL PERSEVERANCE TO GLORY. Wherefore tlic rather, brethren, give all diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. — 2 Peter i. 10 372 XXI. (XX.) BY THE REV. MATTHEW SYLVESTER, OF ST. John's college, Cambridge. Til EKE ARE BUT TWO SACRAMENTS UNDER THE NEW TESTAMENT. Add tliou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar Proverbs xxx. 6 427 CONTENTS. SERMON XXII. (XXI.) BY THE REV. EDWARD LAWRENCE, A.M. OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. THERE IS NO TRANSUBSTANTIATION IN THE LOED's SUPPER. Page. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread : and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat : this is my body, which is broken for you : this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying. This cup is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. — 1 Corinthians xi. 23—25 453 XXIII. (XXIL) BY THE REV. RICHARD STEELE, A.M. OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. THE RIGHT OF EVERY BELIEVER TO THE BLESSED CUP IN THE LORD's SUPPER. And he look the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins fliatthew xxvi. 27, 28 481 XXIV. (XXIII.) BY THE REV. THOMAS WADSWORTH, A.M. FELLOW OF CHRIST COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. CHRIST CRUCIFIED THE ONLY PROPER GOSPEL-SACRIFICE. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down at the right hand of God Hebrews x. 12 504 ft XXV. (VII.) BY THE REV. THOMAS DOOLITTLE, A.M. OF PEMBROKE HALL, CAMBRIDGE. POPERY IS A NOVELTY ; AND THE PROTESTANTS' RELIGION WAS NOT ONLY BEFORE LUTHER, BUT THE SAME THAT WAS TAUGHT BY CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein, — Jeremiah vi. 16 530 Viii CONTENTS. INDEXES. BY THE REV. THOMAS HARTWELL HORNE, B.D. Page. I. Of the Names of the Authors of the Sermons, together WITH THE Subjects of the Sermons severally contributed BY THEM ^25 BY THE REV. THOMAS HARTWELL HORNE, B.D. n. Of Texts of Scripture which are the Subjects of the Sermons, and the Scope of which is for the most part explained '>-51 BY THE REV. THOMAS HARTWELL HORNE, B.D. in. Of the principal Matters discussed in the Morning Exercises C33 BY MR. J. GRABHAM. IV. Of Texts of Scripture which are incidentally cited and explained m\ BY MB. P. HIGDON. V. Op the Names of Authors cited 7!)2 THE HOMING EXERCISE AGAINST POPERY. (CONTINUED.) SERMON VII. (IV.) BY THE REV. HENRY WILKINSON, SEN., D.D. SOMETIME CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND MARGARET-PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. THE POPE OF ROME IS THAT " ANTICHRIST," AND " MAN OF SIN," SPOKEN OF IN THE APOCALYPSE, AND BY THE APOSTLE PAUL. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is loorshipped j so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things ? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For, the mystery of iniquity doth already work : only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming : even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. — 2 Thessalonians ii. 3 — 10. We will first give you an account of the apostle's writing here so fully concerning Antichrist, and so proceed to handhng the words. The reason of his falling on this subject here was upon the preaching of some among them, who told them that the coming of the Lord to judgment would be very suddenly in that age and time in which they lived : upon which report they were in a very great fear and dread ; they were "shaken in mind;" (verse 2;) and this terror and consternation of spirit there is expressed under a double metaphor : — VOL, VI. B 2 SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. 1. From a sea-storm that tears the vessel from the anchor and harbour : so much the word craAs'jfivjvaj, here used, doth import ; which comes from (raXog, which signifies " a tempest at sea." 2. By ^poog, taken from soldiers, who, by a panic fear arising among them, puts them [are put] into a disorder and confusion, so that they have neither head nor heart nor hand to act in a due manner. So it was with the Thessalonians by reason of false teachers, who, by their blasts and storms of false doctrines, (Eph. iv. 14,) shake men from their steadfastness. They were at present under great distraction and fear from the false teachers, who did delude them, 1 . By a pretence to an extraordinary "spirit," or visions and revelations; 2. By "word" and preaching ; 3. By " letter " as from Paul : by which works they did exceedingly deceive them, and persuaded them to believe that the end of the world was at hand. Whence we observe, 1 . That false teachers do use all possible means and diligence to pre- vail with persons to believe their false doctrines. 2^ False teachers do so far prevail with many, that they rend and tear them as with a tempestuous wind, and put them into a consternation of spirit as by a panic fear, so as that they can neither keep to the truth nor act according to it. In the words you have, I. The revelation of the greatest enemy that ever was against Christ and his church, in the third verse and the eighth. II. You have a full and large description of that enemy by several circumstances of time, place, ^c, as also by several characters and names, by ivhich this enemy may be knovm from all other enemies of Christ that ever were or shoidd be in the ivorld. I. I shall wholly wave their opinion who, contrary to the whole stream of interpreters, do take the meaning of this place to be concerning Christ's coming to destroy Jerusalem and them that crucified Christ ; and the apostasy to be the Christians' breaking off comphance with the impenitent Jews, and departing from them to the Gentiles : and the "man of sin" here described they take to be Simon Magus, together with the Gnostics. But that this cannot be so meant, is plain from the season of entering of the man of sin, &c. ; who was to be revealed, and upon his revelation there would follow an apostasy from the faith, before Christ's coming to judgment. That which did so terrify the Thessalonians was this, — that Christ's second coming was at hand : then the apostle tells them, that there was to be a great apostasy upon the revelation of the " man of sin," which was to be many years, some hundreds of years, after this. As for Simon Magus and, the Gnostics, they were revealed before the writing of this epistle. (Hugo Grotius, Dr. Hammond, &c.) This enemy is set forth as if he were a single person : but it is not so- to.be taken in this place; for it is frequent in scripture to set forth a body politic; or a kingdom or state, by a particular person or indi- vidnum. In Dan. vii. 1 — 13, there be four kingdoms or monarchies, which were in a succession one after another in the world, deciphered by " four great beasts ; " which are interpreted to be four kingdoms, or " four kings ; " (verse 17;) and the fourth beast is called " the fourth SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. 3 kingdom ; " (verse 23 ;) and the Vulgar translation renders verse 1 7, "four kingdoms : " so that each beast signifieth a multitude of men in a succession under one government for several ages ; and so consequently the head and horns signify the power and sovereignty of such a kingdom for a long time in a succession. So we find the state of the primitive apostolical church set forth by a woman in travail, (Rev. xii. 1, 2,) and by a woman in the wilderness. (Verses 6, 14.) So the two-horned beast, (Rev. xiii. 11,) which is the same with "the false prophet," (Rev. xvi. 13; xix. 20; xx. 10,) doth not signify a single person or a succession of single persons, (suppose the popes,) but a body of deceivers under one head or government. It is generally agreed on by Protestant writers, that the pope, as head of that Autichristian state which is here described, is pointed at in this place : or that the Papacy, head and members, in a succession making up one body politic, is that monster which they call " Antichrist." It is on all hands agreed on, that wherever we find aU these characters, together with the circumstances set down in the text, to concentre, that must be the Antichrist, who was to be brought forth into the world before the second coming of Christ. He tells us of one to come, a strange one, a monstrous one, such an one as never was before ; and, that you may not be mistaken in this prodigious one, he gives us the Uvely portraiture of him. II. Let us now descend to the particulars as they lie in the text. THE FIRST CHARACTER BY WHICH ANTICHRIST IS SET FORTH IS THE GRAND APOSTASY Vi^HICH SHOULD ATTEND HIS RISE AND REIGN. 1. Antichrist is described by the apostasy which should arise in the church upon the coming of this monster. — He is an apostate, and the cause of an apostasy : there was to be r; aTroo-Tuaia, [" the apostasy,"] a very great apostasy, before his full revelation. (Verse 3.) " Apostasy " is taken, (1.) Politically: so some take it for a faUing from the Roman empire. (2.) Ecclesiastically : to fall from the church or true religion. (3.) Figuratively : the subject for the adjunct ; meaning the chief in place and power, that causeth others to fall away; as 1 Tim. iv. 1. There shall be " an apostasy ; " there shall be such as shall fall away, and cause others so to do. In the two latter senses it is taken here; for the ecclesiastical hier- archy, set out by the lamb with two horns, (Rev. xiii. 1 1,) is the grand apostate, and a cause of the great apostasy of many, by causing by force and fraud to worship the beast and his image. (Verses 12 — 16.) The time of this apostasy is a special mark of Antichrist's rising. (1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3.) This apostasy was to be "in the latter times" of the fourth monarchy ; set out by " forty-two months," and " one thousand two hundred and sixty days." (Rev. xi. 2, 3 ; xiii. 5.) The apostasy of the church from the rule of faith and worship by spiritual fornication, is a signal note of Antichrist, or the Autichristian state, of which the pope is the head ; and his proper see is Babylon, the metropolis ; and the body B 2 4 SERMON VII. THE FOPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. which was to be ordered by this false prophet as its supreme head, was and is the beast of Rome, with seven heads and ten horns, and ten crowns on his horns. (Rev. xiii. 1.) Tiiis apostasy, as to the time, is upon the rising of the Antichristian Papal state, when those " doctrines of demons," and forbidding marriage and meats, which are peculiar to the church of Rome, came into the church. The old Pagan Roman empire was broken to pieces, and had its deadly wound : which after- wards was healed by the two-horned beast, (Rev. xiii. 12,) framed into a hkely image of the former Pagan beast ; by reason of which, the visible worship of Christ in the church gradually was cast out, and the spiritual fornication of saints and angels, relics, images, and such-like, which is renewed Gentilism and refined Paganism, came up gradually into the church of Rome. The revelation of the Man of Sin doth appear by his rising gra- dually ; and the time of his rising will appear by the apostasy from the rule of faith, worship, and manners : so that, if we can tind the defection of the church, we know one chief character of Antichrist. Some begin the apostasy from the primitive purity about a. d. 396. Many Popish eri'ors come into the church. (Wolphius in Centenariis.) Jerome, A. D. 390, complains of the avarice and coiTuption of the clergy, and of the prohibition of marriage and meats. And Augustine," a. d. 399, complains how the church was fallen from her purity. Wolphius, in his " Epistle " and in his book, ad ann. 390 and 400, brings-in a large cata- logue of errors crept into the church, by which the times of the grand apostasy may be known. And it pleased God to speak in a wonderful way from heaven in those times, by prodigious comets, a. d. 383 and 389. (Alstedii Chronologia Covietarum.) Thus was the man of sin gradually revealed, and the apostasy did gradually proceed. Indeed, the pope could not yet show himself in the full exercise of his power in the Roman empire ; for the civil power of the Roman empire would not bear such a competition as the hierarchy of Rome ; and therefore the Roman empire, which is a civil state, was to be taken out of the way. (2 Thess. ii. 6 — 8.) It was to be removed from the seventh head, — the old Roman beast, as it was a civil government ; and placed somewhere else ; that is, on the pope or ecclesiastical hierarchy, which usurps the power of both swords. This could not be done before the deadly wound was given to the Cscsarian family, which the idolatrous, blasphemous beast was to succeed. This is the beast which carrieth the whore ; (Rev. xvii. 3 ;) which could not be done, till the imperial sovereign power of Rome was broken, and trans- lated to the pope. Then the Man of Sin was more fidly revealed. Upon this ground, Jerome, when he heai'd of the taking of Rome by Alericus, [Alaric,] king of the Goths, expected the coming of Antichrist. (Episf. ad Ageruchiam.) Qui fenehit, saitli he, de medio fit ; et non inteUigemus Antichrist um appi-npii/fjuctre ? " He that Ictteth is removed ; and shall we not know that Antichrist is nigh ? " So in Pnefat. lib. viii. in Ezech. : Pascifur anima, et obliciscitur, c^t. Some state the beginning of the apostasy and the revelation of the Man of Sin higher ; some, lower : but they agree in the main, — that this apostasy was by the pope, and upon the faU of the Roman empire. Some will have his revelation to be about the time of king Pepin and SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. 5 Charlemain [Charlemaguel. It is true, the Papacy then came to a great height ; but the church was very corrupt in doctrine, worship, disciphne, and manners, and polluted with spiritual fornication after saints and angels and images, &c., long before that time. So that we may infer, that if the apostasy came in with the pope or Papacy, — as this did rise to a height, so did the apostasy from the truth, — then this character doth agree to the pope, by which he may be known to be the Antichrist. THE SECOND CHARACTER IS THE SPECIAL, AND MOST SIGNIFICANT EXPRESSIONS APPLIED TO ANTICHRIST. 2. The second character by which the pope is set forth, so as to be known to be Antichrist : (1.) He is 6 avflpcvTrog rrjj uf/^apTias, 6 vlog Trig UTrrnKsiug, (2 Thess. ii. 3,) 6 avTJxsj^asvoj, (verse 4,) 6 avoixog, (verse 8,) " the man of sin, the son of perdition ; " by a Hebrew phrase expressing one that is a superlative, supereminent sinner, impietatis coryphaeus, [" the leader of impiety,"] as Peter Mouhn phraseth him ; as we say, " a man of blood," for "a man thirsting after blood," or "a cruel, bloody man." "The son of perdition," jierditissimm, one (by a Hebraism) set upon destruc- tion of others, the most flagitious, profligate sinner, the most inhuman, cruel destroyer, to whom the titles of ApoUyon and Abaddon do most properly belong. He is actively and passively " the son of perdition." (Rev. xvii. 8 ; xix. 20.) He is the great destroyer of souls. (2 Thess. li. 12.) He is the 6 a.vTix,si[x:vog, "the great enemy," of all enemies of Christ : though he is not called by the name of " the Antichrist," yet here is a word, with the article prefixed to it, which carrieth the like importance with it. He is the worst and greatest enemy of Christ, who, under a pretence of friendship and love to Christ, doth usurp and under- mine his oflices. He appears like a " lamb " in his deportment, and " speaks hke a dragon." (Rev. xiii. 11.) (2.) The Papacy is, of all other bodies pohtic, the worst ; being set out with such expressions as have the greatest emphasis in them. It would be too great a business for a sermon to give you an account of their tyranny, cruelty, luxury, rapaciousness, avarice, blasphemy, whore- dom, spiritual and corporal. All the abominations of the three former monarchies do meet in this fourth, of which the Papacy is the last edition. (Rev. xiii. 1, 2.) That beast set out there is the Roman empire, as Papal, not Pagan : as appears by the crowns on the horns ; but the Pagan empire had the crowns on the heads. (Rev. xii. 3.) Now that wickedness in which those former empires did excel did meet in the Papal; and therefore it is set out by the hon's mouth, the feet of the bear and the leopard. (Rev. xiii. 2.) He is set out in his type in Dan. xi. 28 — 32 : or he himself is set forth, as some think, wholly " against the covenant," expressing an indignation against it with all his might, setting himself against the sanctuary and daily sacrifice. Graserus and others understand it of Antichrist, and not of Antiochus. The scripture, when it expresseth a person or thing in a signal way, doth it by an aflSxed article, (as here,) or by an abstract. Here the article showeth aa eminence of wickedness : so the abstract : " The upright love thee : " (Canticles i. 4 :) Hebrew, " uprightnesses,"- by which righteous persona 6 SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. are set forth. So a proud person is set out by " pride : " (Jer. 1. 31 :) we render it, " 0 thou most proud ! " So " sin " for " a great sinner." (Prov. xiii. 6.) So " the man of sin" signifies "the most sinful man." He is called the 6 Avoju-oj, (verse 8,) " that Wicked one," " the most lawless one ; " breaking all bounds and bands, and casting away the cords of Christ ; (as they, Psalm ii. 3 ;) that will not come under the yoke of Christ, nor stoop to his sceptre ; that will not that Christ should reign. (As, Luke xix. 14.) This boundless, lawless one is therefore set out by a most unriUy beast ; (Rev. xiii. 1 — 8 ;) and by the whore of Babylon, riding the beast, and making the kings to commit fornication with her, and making the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her fornication: (Rev. xvii. 1 — 4 :) this is "the mother of harlots and abominations, drunken with the blood of the saints and martyrs." (Verses 5, 6.) This "the lawless one" is the Antichristian state, the man of sin under another notion : "Lawless," 6 Avofxog, as to scripture ; so in point of doctrine, worship, government, and manners ; as to human laws and powers, being above them all ; as to oaths of allegiance, &c, ; as to exemption of his clergy, and such-like. If these epithets which the Holy Ghost gives to Antichrist, do all belong to the pope or Papacy, then he may be justly thought to be described in this place. THE THIRD CHARACTER IS THE PLACE "WHERE HE SITTETH AND RESIDETH. 3. The third particular by which Antichrist is set out is the place* — " He sitteth in the temple of God," — there he exerciseth his jurisdiction and tyranny, — and "shows himself that he is God;" (2 Thess. ii. 4 ;) that is, in the church, the place of the visible, external worship of God ; which is called " the outward court ; " (Rev. xi. 2 ;) which is trodden under foot by the draconizing beast, or Papacy, profaning the whole worship of God, and bringing-in a new Gentilism : therefore the outward court is " cast out," and forbidden to be measured, in regard [that] that laM'less monster hath broken aU bands, and wiU not come under any laws and rules of Christ ; therefore, they and their worship are cast out. The place where he sits is called 6 vctos, " the temple " or " house of God's worship." So it is said of the king of Babylon, that he " will sit upon the mount of the congregation;" (Isai. xiv. 13;) that is. Mount Zion, the place of God's residence and worship. So here the king of Babylon : he takes upon him to sit in " the temple," or " church of God;" which is called vaog, Eph. ii. 21 ; 1 Cor. iii. 16 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16. Some will have it for the temple of Jerusalem, that must be the seat of Antichrist, Avhich is in the power of the Turk : but this cannot be, in regard [that] the other characters will not suit with the Turks, but do fall in suitably with the Pope. And so Jerome takes the notion of vuoi, (in Qucest. ad Algasiam,) and Augustine, (l)e Civit. Dei, lib. xx. cap. 19.) He saith, Rectim did sessurum in templum Dei ; — eig Tov vaov Tov Qsov so the Greek; — tanquam ipse sit templum Dei, • Pmi.ippiis NiroLAi, 2>r v/«//cA)74Yo, proves the pope to be Antichrist from this cha- racter. See IJR. WlUTAKEH, DaN-I-U'S, ClIAMlElt, PliTKH Mul'f.IN, JirNiL'S, «fec., that write of Antichrist, ami prove tho pope to be llie Antichrist from this place. Sermon Vii. the pope of rome is antichrist. 7 Tqiiod est ecclesia : * as we say, In amicum, id est, velut atniciis.f This may very well agree with the Papacy, who pretend to be the holy catholic, and the only true, church. So, then, the pope sits in the midst of his holy catholic church of Rome, exercising his tyrannical power over the people of God : so that Mahometans cannot be the church ; they wholly renounce the name of " the church of Christ." Objection. "But how can the Antichristian synagogue, where Satan's throne is, be called ' the temple of God ? ' " Response. The scripture speaketh of things as they once were, though they do not continue so to be ; and speaks it of persons as they are in pretence and outward profession, though they be not such as they pretend to be. Abigail is called " the wife of Nabal," when he was dead ; (1 Sam. xxx. 5 ;) and Simon, " the leper," though he were healed. (Matt. xxvi. 6.) So the city that was "a harlot" is called "the faith- ful city." (Isai. i. 21.) It was called "the holy city," where they wor- shipped; (John iv. 21 ;) it was called " the holy place," till the " deso- lation" by Vespasian; (Matt. xxiv. 15;) and " the holy city ; " (Matt, xxvii. 53 ;) though they had turned the house of God into " a den of thieves," (Matt. xxi. 13,) and the city was a bloody city "that killed the prophets." (Matt, xxiii. 37.) Besides, sometimes the scripture speaks of it quoad opinionem hominum, " as they are reputed by men." They " sacrificed to the gods of Damascus," that they would " help them ; " (2 Chron. xxviii. 23 ;) they are called " gods " on that account : so. Judges X. 13, 14. This character doth very well agree to the pope, or Papacy, to prove it to be the Antichristian state here set forth. THE fourth character IS HIS SELF-EXALTATION. 4, He is set forth by self -exaltation. — 'TTrspaipofxsvog stti tn-avra \s- yofjisvov 0SOV "Exalting himself above all that is called God." And not only above all that have the title of " gods,"' — as the civil magis- trates, (Psalm Ixxxii. 1, 6,) who have the title of "gods" by virtue of the authority that God hath invested them withal, (John x. 34, 35,) — but also above the true God, by taking on him to do more than God him- self: r) pope's decrees : Ut Jidem non facere neque necessitatem credendi inducere qiteant, nisi papa per canonizationem quam vocant, iis authoritatem piius impertiat : (Decret., lib. ii. tit. 23, De Prcesumptioni- bus, cap. 1 :) "That the scriptures have no authority so as to procure belief of them, unless they can be first canonized by the pope." It is no SERMON VIl. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST, 9 wonder though the pope utteveth such blasphemies, smce he is the head of that idolatrous beast full of blasphemies. (Rev. xiii. 5, 6.) Since they will have the pope to be such a supreme head to the church militant : (as Christ quoad injluxmn interior em, so he ([uoad influxum exteriorem doctrince et fidei : * — Bellarminus J)e Concil. Authoritate, lib. ii. cap. 15 :) since they will have him not only to be equal with Christ, but above him ; he being able to redeem souls out of purgatory^ which Christ never did, and is affirmed by them : — Johannes de Turre- cremata and others that licensed " the Revelations of Bridget," — they let go that passage in that book : Bonus Gregorius, orutione sua, etiam infi- deleni Ccesarem elevavit ad altiorem gradum ; f by which it appears that the pope hath done that which Christ never did ; and that the pope's charity is larger than Christ's, who "prayed not for the world," (John xvii. 9,) but the pope prays for the damned : — since, I say, they will have their pope with all these prodigious blasphemies ; since they will have their Lord God the pope thus hfting up his head above Lucifer ; let them have him, and believe his lies and impostures : since they reject the truth, whereby "they might be saved ;" let them "believe his lies, that they may be damned : " (2 Thess. ii. 10 — 12 :) Qui Satanam non odit amet iua dogmata, pupaX THE FIFTH CHARACTER BY WHICH ANTICHRIST IS KNOWN IS THE TAKING OUT OF THE WAY THAT WHICH HINDERED. 5. .Antichidst is set forth by the removens prohibens, by the "taking that which hindered out of the way ; " the to -KaTzyov, (verse 6,) and 6 xoLXsyjav SK [/.sdou ysvrjTai. (Verse 7.) — There was something that hindered the revelation of the Man of Sin, which was to be removed. The Man of Sin could not be brought forth into the world, till the Roman empire was taken out of the way : then that Wicked one, the pope, did rise up to that height ; then Antichrist did appear in his colom-s. There is a great consent among the ancients as to this thing ; and Jerome was so clear and confident in this thing, that as soon as he heard of the taking of Rome by Alaric, he presently expected the coming of Antichrist. See Tertuli^ian, De Resur., lib. iv. cap. 24 ; Ambrose, in Comment, in Ezek. ; Chrysostom, Comment, in loc. ; Augustine, Be Civ. Dei, lib. XX. cap. 19. Among the ancients they were so confident of this thing, that the church did pray in her Liturgy, that the Roman empire might stand long, that so Antichrist's coming might be long: (Tertulliani Apolog., cap. 32, 39 :) so that the Roman empire, or emperor who was then in possession of that power imperial, kept out that Papal power which grew out of its ruins. Kars^siv is the same as possidere [" to possess"]: Oi ocyopa^ovTsg, (hi fxtj xarep^ovrsj- "They that buy, as though they possessed not." (1 Cor. vii. 30.) "The Roman empire, being broken into ten kingdoms, brought-in Antichrist : " so Tertullian. (De Resurrec, Ub. iv. cap. 24.) "Paul did not express the Roman empire by name, lest he should bring a persecution upon the church." • As Christ is head m reference to the inward influx, so the pope is head tinth regard to doctrine and faith. — Edit. t "Good Gregorj', by his prayers, raised eveu the unbelieving C'lesar to a higher degree."— Edit. X " Let him who abhors not the devil, iove tlij' doymas, O pope.'" — Edit. 10 SICRMON Vn. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. (HiERONYMtJS ad Algasiam, qusest. 11.) Peter Moulin (in Vale.) shows in several instances how the Roman emperors did keep the bishop of Rome from growing to that height as he did upon their being removed out of the way. Others take it to be meant of the Roman emperor himself, and not of the Roman empire at all : for the Roman is not taken out of the way, but stands on two legs ; namely, the empire of Turks, and the empire of Germany. It was the emperor himself, who was Constantine the Great, who removed to Constantinople ; then the to koits^ov [" that which hindered "] was taken away. The grandeur of the emperor and of Anti- christ could not stand together. As soon as the emperor departed from Rome, Antichrist began to be revealed. For when all the bishops in the Christian world did meet at the council of Nice, the bishop of Rome, though requested by a letter, came not : he pretended old age and the weakness of his body ; but Bellarmine teUeth us [that] the true reason was, — it was not meet the head should follow the members, but rather that the members should follow the head ; and if the emperor were pi-esent, it is likely he would sit above the pope ; which was not meet, he being the spiritual head ; therefore he did absent himself. (Cotton on 1 John ii. 18.) Though they differ as to the emperor and empire, to be that which hindered ; yet they agree as to the pope, that he rose to his height upon the removal of the one or the other out of the way. THE SIXTH CHARACTER IS THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY WHICH DOTH ATTEND HIS RISE AND REIGN. 6. By the notion of a mystenj, (2 Thess. ii. 7,) as it stands in oppo- sition to " the mystery of godliness." — The apostle following the Hebrew way of expression : to ju-ucTTyjpjov t»]j avofxictg, id est, doctrina improba vel mysteriinn improbiim, " a wicked doctrine or mystery." For the whole religion of Popery as to faith and worship is so contrived by them as may most conduce to the sustaining and advancement of the pope's power ; and the gain and profit of the clergy. There we find that to be written in the forehead of the whore, (Rev. xvii. 5,) M'Jo-TYjpiov, as a principal part of her name. Such is the hellish contrivance of the whole body of the religion of the Papacy, (in which Satan never showed him- self so notorious an impostor and angel of darkness, though under the appearance of an angel of hght,) that it gained upon the whole world exceedingly by the pope, Satan's vicai', set forth by the lamb with two horns ; (Rev. xiii. 1 1 ;) who hath prevailed with all sorts of men to receive the mark of the beast, and bow to his image. (A^erses 12 — 14.) The religion of Antichrist is carried on in a subtle, cunning way ; else it could not be called a " mystery," and a " mystery of iniquity " under the pretence of godliness. The great factors in this mysteiy are said to be seducers, that "speak lies in hypocrisy;" (1 Tim. iv. 1, 2;) "who have" j«-op^«Jcrjv, "a foi-m of piety," which is the mantle to cover the blackest abominations. (2 Tim. iii. 1, 5.) And Peter, speaking of such mystical villanies, tells us how " privily they should bring in damnable heresies " under the colour of truth. (2 Peter ii. 1 — 3.) The reUgion of Popery, which is merely to advance the honour and grandeur, profit and interest, of the pope and his hierarchy, under a pretence or seitnig up SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. 11 the name and honour of Christ, has, hy their mystical art and cunning, fair, plausible deportment, undermined and overthrown the religion of Chiist up and down the world. Chamier, (lib. xvi. cap. 8,) treating about Antichrist, and showing how, by their cunning, heresies are made subservient to him, saith thus : Hcbc verb si aliqua est Antichristi nota, dicam audacter, aut nullum esse Antichristiim, aut episcopum Romanum eum esse : " This is a special note of Antichrist : I will speak boldly, that either there is no Antichrist, or the bishop of Rome is he." THE SEVENTH CHARACTER IS THE STUPENDOUS MANNER OF HIS COMING. 7. By the manner of Ms coming. (2 Thess. ii. 9, 10.) — His " coming;" that is, after he is revealed, and that which hindered is taken out of the way ; his " coming," together with the influences that it had on the world and such as perish. He cometh, (1.) Kar svspysiciv tov ' ^/xtccvcx.- that is, Satan will put forth his " utmost skill," in working miracles by Antichrist. (2.) Ev CTac7r] 8uvajw.£«, xa< (TYi^sioig- tliat is, his "power" to work after a wonderful manner, which God is pleased sometimes to grant even to the worst of men. He shall work " signs " or " miracles ; " for " signs " are taken so here. (3.) Omnis potentia ["all power"] — it is to h&i^kQniovvaria potentia, or " a power to work variously." (4.) Ka» Tspacn vf/euSoyj- a Hebraism ; according to the letter, prodigiis mendacii, " lying wonders," or "wonderful lies." (5.) Kaj ev •CTatr*) aTraTj) rf^ aSjKJaf (sv pro i/,STix vel Sia' *) "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." " There is a double Hebraism," saith Piscator : mms in signijicatione synecdochicd vocabidi injustitice pro falsitate seu mendacio ; alter in usu nominis ejusdem, quod cum substan- tivum sit, hie vim hahet epithet i ; f " under the name of ' unrighteous- ness ' is covered all manner of falsehood and lies ; " by which they do deceive many, and would deceive the very elect, if they could. (Matt, xxiv. 24.) Then, (6.) Evspysiav 'siXavYjs (2 Thess. ii. 11) — for 'stXuvyjv evspysia;, id est, evepyoua-av, [by a] Hebraic hypaUage — we render, " strong delusion ; " or, " the delusion of Antichrist working strongly," specially coming under a judicial tradition from God. This advent or coming of Antichrist here mentioned is not to be referred to his first revelation only, but to his full revelation, when his kingdom and government shall be set up in its splendour and power. He shaU come " with aU the power of Satan." Satan is most famous for two things ; he is mendux et homicida [" a bar and a murderer"] ; (John viii. 44 ;) for he is an adversary to divine authority and man's salvation. And both these are eminently seen in the pope : for he hath brought-in false doctrines, false worship, and a false religion, into the church : and by this means he is the great murderer of souls ; for they are damned that follow his delusions, as appears in the text, (2 Thess. • " ' In ' for ' with' or ' by.' "—Edit. t " One, in the synecdochical signification of the word ' uurigLteousness,' for falsehood and lying : the other, in the tise of the same noun ; which, though a substantive, has here the force of an epithet.''— Edit. 12 SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. ii. 12.) Satan shows himself a liar when he puts men on a false, idola- trous worship, instead of a true. So all idolaters are liars : They "changed the truth of God into a lie," &c. : (Rom. i. 25 :) and there- fore idols are called " hcs." (Amos ii. 4.) So idolaters are said to "make hes their refuge, and under falsehood to hide themselves." (Isai. xxviii. 1.5.) But Satan never did impose such a he on the world as in the idolatrous worship of Rome. There "idolaters and Hars " ai"e put together, — Rev. xxi. 8;^and, inverse 27, he that " worketh abomination, and a lie," — they are put together; and, in Rev. xxii. 15, "idolaters and makers of lies " are put together again. Cum omni poferitid : some take it of the power of both swords,. — ecclesiastical and secular, — which the pope claims ; but it rather respect- eth that faculty and power which the pope, the two-horned beast, doth pretend to, and whereby he doth work wonders. (Rev. xiii. 12 — 15.) The " signs and wonders " hei-e spoken of, are the ways and means and weapons which Satan useth by Antichrist to deceive persons to their destruction. This was the way which Satan took by Jannes and Jambres, to deceive Pharaoh and the Egyptians : these were a kind of types of seducers which were to come in these last times. (2 Tim. iii. 8.) That this may appear to be a character of Antichrist, the Papists themselves do grant that Antichrist is to be confirmed with signs and wonders. (Suarez, Apol. lib. i. cap. 17, num. 12 ; Bellarm. Be Pont. Rotn. lib. iii. cap. 15; Sanders De Antichrisio, dem. 19 — 22.) If, then, the pope's coming be by signs and lying wonders, then he will come under that mark of Antichrist by their own confessions. That miracles have been at the first promulgation of the scripture, is most true, for the confirmation of the divine authority of it, and increasing a belief of the doctrine of Christ : but after that the gospel is promul- gated, there is no further use of miracles : and therefore, when the scripture doth speak of miracles and miracle -mongers, (as here, and Mark xiii. 22 ; Rev. xiii. 1 3 ; Matt. vii. 22,) it is to be understood of false Christs and false prophets, who shall come in the name of Christ, and shall pretend to marvellous things in his name, and shall deceive many : and this is here brought in as a special mark of Antichrist. That this mark is fulfilled in the Papacy, doth appear from themselves ; who boast very much of their miracles, and the advancement of their religion and the confirmation of it by miracles. The legends of their saints are fuU of miracles of St. Dominic, St. Francis, St. Benedict, and the images of the Virgin Mary, and other saints in their calendar. Such miracles are cjdled " lying miracles," (1.) Because they are for the confirmation of false doctrines, — of tran- substantiation, purgatory, invocation of saints, adoration of images and relics, &c., prayers for the dead, and the pope's supremacy, &c. (2.) Because many of them are things merely feigned to be done, which were never done : or if they were done, they have been brought about by the mere artifice of Satan ; who is able to do things beyond the reach of men, by which he deceives such as will be deceived. (3.) From the end of these miracles ; which is, to deceive men. In Mark xiii. 22, and here in the text, they are framed by seducers for seduction, and such as will not receive the truth with that love cf it : SERMON VII, THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. 13 they came " Avitli all deceivableness of unrighteousness in tliem that perish." (2 Thess. ii. 10.) Their own authors have set down multitudes of miracles : — Barouius in his " Annals ; " " the Conformities of St. Francis ; " " the Golden Legend " of Jacobus de Voragine j " the Sermons of Dormi secure ;" "the History of Our Lady " by Lipsius ; and Bellarmine De Officio Principis, lib. iii. ; with several others. So that by all this you see, this note will agree to the Anticluistian state of the Papacy. THE EIGHTH CHARACTER IS HIS FATAL RUIN. 8. He is set out by his fatal ruin and utter destruction. — "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming." (Verse 8.) Here be two parts of this verse: (1.) The first looks back on the verse before ; which speaks of the time of Antichrist's coming, upon the removal of what hindered : this we have done with. But, (2.) This latter part points at the ruin of Antichrist, and how he shall be destroyed. The former part had respect to our instruction ; the latter is for our consolation, in the downfall of so great and public an enemy. (1.) He sets down the principal efficient cause of his ruin. — And that is Christ at his coming. When Clmst comes to set up his kingdom, and to take to him his great power, and reign, then he will destroy Anti- christ ; (Dan. ii. 44 ; vii. 14 — 27 ;) specially under the fifth, sixth, and seventh vials. (Rev. xvi. 10 — 21.) You have the destruction of the whore, (Rev. xviii.,) the overthrow of the beast and false prophet ; (Rev. xix. 17 — 21 ;) then you have the binding of Satan, and the reign of the saints on the earth. (Rev. xx. 1 — 6.) (2.) You have the instrumental cause. — " The spirit of his mouth." Here be two words to be considered : (i.) A.vaKM(Tai, consumere ; which notes his gradual " consumption " by the preaching of the gospel. (Isai. xi. 4.) This is the sword out of his mouth : by this sword Cbrist doth " smite the nations." His [Anti- christ's] consumption is gradual, as was his rising ; which was under the trumpets, and his fall is under the vials. The preachers of the gospel have been wasting, wounding, and consuming him ; specially since the angels with open mouth did declare against him. (Rev. xiv. 6 — 9.) The ministers of the gospel, since the Reformation began, have discovered the whoredoms, impostui'es, and false doctrines of Rome, and the danger of having communion with Rome, and the desperate condition of such as will not separate from her. (Verses 9 — 11.) Many a deadly wound have they given to Antichrist ; so that he hath been wasting like a snail, (as Psalm Iviii. 8,) tiU he shall come to nothing. " Not by might, nor by power," (Zech. iv. 6, 7,) but by the word, which he hath pretended to rise by, he shall be destroyed. (ii.) Here is xarapyrjcrar which notes his "utter destruction by the brightness of Christ's coming," when he shall come to take to him his great power at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. (Rev. xi. 15.) The text must be considered under a double capacity : — First. As to his ecclesiastical state, and in his spiritual capacity, as he is set forth under the notion of a "whore" and "false prophet ;" and so 14 SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. [he] shall be consumed by the preaching of the word, and the sword of the Spirit. And this hath been doing these many years, and the work is still carrying on, by the ministers of the word. Secondly. He must be considered in his politic, secular capacity ; con- sisting of several kingdoms under one supreme head, which is the pope. So he is set out by the notion of "the beast :" (Rev. xi. 7 ; xiii. 1 — 3 :) which beast the whore, that is, the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Rome, rideth ; (Rev. xvii. 3 ;) yet they both together make up but one Antichrist, as the horse and man both together make up but one horseman. Now Anti- christ, as to his secular capacity^ — he shall be destroyed with another sword : " He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." (Rev. xiii. 10.) So that the utter consumption both of the beast and whore shall be upon the little stone's rising into a great mountain ; which shall smite the image on his feet, and shall break it to pieces. (Dan. ii. 34, 35.) This little stone is the kingdom of Christ, which hath been but regnum lapidis ["the kingdom of a stone"] hitherto, but then shall be regnum montis ["the kingdom of a mountain"]. Objection. Perhaps it will be said, that the destruction of Antichrist (as hath been showed) can be no mark of Antichrist, by which he may be known ; for all enemies shall be destroyed by Christ and by his word. Answer. It is true that Christ will destroy all his enemies by his word which cometh out of his mouth ; (Rev. xix. 15 ;) sin and the devil are continually destroying by the word : but since Antichrist is set forth as the greatest enemy that ever was ; and since the Antichristian state of it, as it is in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Rome, together with the beast, (Rev. xiii. I — 10,) is the last edition of the fourth monarchy, and it is on its last legs in this state, and it hath most opposed the kingdom of Christ beyond any other ; therefore the destruction of this state, as to the remarkableness of it, shall go beyond all other states and kingdoms in the world. And therefore it is that the vials are prepared for this enemy in n more special manner beyond all others : (Rev. xv. :) the seven angels with the seven vials pour them forth upon the beast, or something of the beast. (Rev. xvi.) Thus much hath been made good in the Papacy in a great measure already ; which may appear by the confession of Bellarraine, who telleth us, (De Pont. Rom., lib. iii. cap. 21,) that the Lutheran heresy possessed almost all Germany, Denmark, Norway, Suevia, Gothia, Hungai'ia, Pannonia, Fi'ance, England, Scotland, Polonia, Bohemia, and Helvetia, and is got over the Alps into Italy. From his confession you may perceive what a consumption there hath been made of Antichrist. THE NINTH CHARACTER IS HIS FOLLOWERS AND RETINUE, AND THEIR LIVERY, 9. Antichrist may be known by his followers, and the livery which they wear. — The black marks and brands upon their backs : " AVith all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a He : that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess, ii. 10 — 12.) Here is a damned SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST, 15 crew, tlie retinue and followers of Antichrist ; having this special mark on them, — that they be such as shall perish. Their properties are, (1.) Negative: "They received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2.) Affir.mntive : they "have pleasure in unrighteousness." (3.) They are set forth by some j^assive properties ; which are penalties, (i.) Internal: "strong delusions, that they should beheve a he." (ii.) Eternal : damnation. Here be the black marks of reprobation, by which Antichrist's retinue and followers are set forth. We do not find -that any party of men are under more dreadful marks of God's hatred than Anti- christ's followers. See Rev. xiii. 8 : there they be set out by the stigma of reprobation, as persons left out of the book of Hfe. And Rev. xiv. 9 — 1 1 : "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and he shaU be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb : and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever : and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." And in Rev. xvii. 8, thei-e the admirers of the beast are such as are left out of the book of life. The same persons are described here by Paul. (4.) They are set forth by a special act of God in a way of just judg- ment toward them ; that is, his " sending strong delusion, that they should believe a lie," by a judicial tradition and giving of them up to a spirit of falsehood to their eternal perdition. All these who are followers of Antichrist ; that wonder after the beast, and receive his mark, and bow to his image ; who close with Popish false doctrines, instead of the true ; the Holy Spirit expresseth them by Oux eSe^avro, " They received not." (2 Thess. ii. 10.) Id est, Pertinaciter ohlatum rejmdiarurit : est [xsicuo'tg.'^ They are such as wilfully reject the true doctrine and worship of Christ, and pertinaciously adhere to the false doctrine and the idolatrous worship of the pope : and moreover they please themselves much in those false ways of unrighteousness, which are most destructive to soids and most displeasing to God. From aU this it appears that the pope is Antichrist. Indeed, if but some one or few particulars did meet on the pope or Papacy, we coidd not argue from them that he were the Antichrist ; but when they all meet in the Papacy, and generally by common consent of orthodox writers they fasten these marks upon the pope, he wiU never be able, by all the skiU he hath, to escape the vengeance of God which wiU foUow him on that account. Dr. Whitaker, writing against Antichi-ist, and proving the pope to be the Antichrist, — he names many eminent and learned men that have understood this place, and those others in Daniel and the Revelation, of the pope. He tells us of Wickliffe, — who declared the pope to be Anti- christ,— who was suo secido doctissimns [" the most learned man of his age"]. And Luther afiirms in his writings the pope to be Antichrist; he • Bkza. "That is, They ohstinately refused that which was proffered. The figure meiosis is here made use of, by which the words import much more than is expressed." — Edit. 16 SERMON VII. THE POPE OF ROME IS ANTICHRIST. saitli, be is potisshnus Antichristus, [" the chief Antichrist,"] and that abomination of desolation that stands in the holy place : Papa ille est Antichristus, cum sit specialis procurator diaboli, ^'C. Non solum simplex ilia persona, sed multitudo paparum a tempore defectionis ecelesice, cardi- nalium, episcoporum, et suonim complurium aliortwi, est Antichristi persona compositu, monstrosa, i^-c* (Catalog. Testium Verit.) He [Dr. Whitaker] adds, that be was a man sjJ/ritn prophefico et dono interpr,etandi scriptu- ras p)rceditus admiraLili.f Then followed Peter Martyr, Bucer, Bullinger, Melanchtbon, Brentius, Calvin, (Ecolampadius, Musculus, Beza, Giialter, Illyricus, Danecus, Junius, Gabriel Powseol [Powell], Philip Mornay, George Pacardus, (in Descrip)tione Antichristi,) Catalogvs Testium Verit at is. Rivet, Crakanthorpe, Tilenus, Chamier, Bishop Usher in a letter to Arch- bishop Laud, in 1G35. All agree in this thesis, — that the pope is Anti- christ. And Zancby, though he differed somewhat from his brethren in this point, yet he saith in his " Miscellanies," Regmim pupce non nego esse regnum Antichristi :% and he thinks that the pope is pointed [at] in 2 Thes's. ii. As for our Englishmen, we have many that have publicly testified the pope to be Antichrist, as Mr. Fox in his " Martyrology " hath noted. The leai-ned martyr, Walter Brute, maintained it in a large discourse ; Richard Wimbleton, in a sermon pi-eached at Paul's Cross, 1389 ; Sir Geoffrey Chaucer, in his "Plowman's Tale;" "Lucifer's Letters to the Prelates of England," supposed to be written by William Swinderly, martyr ; William Tyndale, a godly martyr, in his " Obedience of a Chris- tian Man;" the Author of "A very Christian Bishop and a counterfeit Bishop," 1538; John Bale, bishop of Osyris [Ossory], in his " Image of both Churches," et Templorum illustrium BritannicB ; Mr. Latimer, Mr. Bilney, Mr. Rogers, Sletterdon, and others, martyrs ; William Abbey, bishop of Exeter, in his "Poor Man's Library;" Bishop Jewel, in his "Defence of the Apology of the Church of England;" Mr. Thomas Beacon, in his "Acts of Christ and Antichrist;" and Mr. Fox, in his " Meditations on the Apocalypsis ; " Mr. Brightman, " On the Apocalypsis;" Bishop Bilson, in his book "Of Christian Subjection and I nciiristiun Rebellion;" Dr. Robert Abbot, bishop of Sarum ; Dr. George Downham, bishop of Deny ; Dr. Beard, Dr. WiUet, Dr. Fulke, Dr. Sutchffe, Dr. Sharp, Mr. Squire, in their several treatises concerning Antichrist. Archbishop Cranmcr did avow publicly the pope to be Antichrist ; arch- bishops Parker and Grindal avowed the same ; archbishop Whitgift, when he commenced doctor at the Divinity-Act, 1569, publicly maintained in the Schools, that papa est ille Antichristus [" the pope is that Antichrist"] ; and Archbishop Abbot asserted the same : with many others of our English divines, who have generally held and declared the pope to be Antichrist. § • " The pope is that Antichrist, since he is the special agent of the devil," jTa, or things in it that are " hard to be luider- stood," (2 Peter iii. Ifi,) being matters of less import to the welfare of our souls. As for those truths whereby life and immortality is brought to light, there need not so much glosses and commentaries to understand them by, as to biing a humble and teachable mind uuto them. • BisHOi' Hall's " Peace-maker." FOR Christ's name's sake. .37 2. CONCERNING THE MEDIATORSHIP OF CHRIST. "We believe that our Saviour Christ is the Mediator betwixt God and man ; they say that they beheve the same too. And because scripture is so express concerning it, they dare not deny but that he is the only Mediator: for the apostle says as well that there is but "one Mediator," as he says that there is but " one God " and Jesus, these two indissolvably together. (1 Tim. ii. 5.) And yet for aU this, the church of Rome can give away Christ's Mediator's place with a nice distinction at one blow, assigning new advocates unto us as often as they please to canonize any. And lest it should be too much for our blessed Saviour to be our Mediator by his redemption, (which for good manners in the known distinction they leave unto him,) they have set up another propitiatory sacrifice beside that at his passion, which their priests do offer eveiy day for the living and for the dead. Nay, they will not let his blood purify us from our sins ; (Rev. i. 5 ;) but have found out a purgatory, in which our souls must be purged by their own sufferings after death. 3. CONCERNING GRACE. We say, with the apostle, that we "are saved by grace ;" (Eph. ii. 8 ;) which the Papists will not deny in downright terms ; but they will add something to it, which shall make this grace to be no grace before that they have done ; either interposing the prevision of our good works without grace in the purpose of God before the world began, or some good disposition in us, exciting God to bestow his grace upon us ; which grace being well improved by us, meriteth no less than glory at his hands for us. Whosoever lists to search this to the quick, will find, that there was never a prouder opinion held by any of the children of men than this is. Hence flow not their satisfactory works only, by which they pay sufficiently unto God whatsoever is owing unto his justice by them ; but they hold also works of super-erogation, whereby they deserve more than they need for themselves, or know well what to do with ; and therefore they put it into the treasury of the church, for the avail of those who by money and Masses can take it out. The Pharisee was modest who said, in the height of his boasting, "Lord, I thank thee:" (Luke xviii. 11:) if any of them would speak this opinion out, he would say, " Lord, thou - mayest thank me." THESE TRUTHS ARE FUNDAMENTAL. I will pass by multitudes of instances of the like nature, and will content myself only with these, as being such as I judged most material, and such as respect the very foundation ; and therefore their errors con- cerning th^m must of necessity be of very bad consequence. For, 1 . Scripture is the foundation of the doctrine of salvation. — And the church is said in this respect to be " built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles;" (Eph. ii, 20 ;) that is, the church is built upon the doctrine which was delivered by the apostles and prophets ; a good parallel to understand that so-much-controverted saying of our Saviour by, " Upon this rock I will build my church," to be meant of Christ's building his church upon the doctrine, and not upon the person or suc- cessors, of St. Peter. (Matt. xvi. 18.) 38 SERMON VIII. PROTESTANTS SEPARATED 2. Our Saviour Christ is the foundation of our salvation itself. — In that he purchased it by his death, and prepares and preserves it by his life ; in which respect the apostle tells us, that none " can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. iii. 11.) 3. Grace is the foundation of the application of this salvation. — In that all the benefits which Christ hath purchased for us, and all the works which answerably thereunto he works by his Spirit within us, are aU founded upon grace, upon which only they depend, the hearts of behevera being hence said to be " established by grace." (Heb. xiii. 9.) Now if they undermine or take away these foundation-truths from us, let them take aU. It is howsoever observable, that the Protestants' opinions in these cases must needs be safe ; for surely neither the word of God, nor the Son of God, nor the grace of God, can be reasonably chal- lenged with any insufficiency, that they should need the additions and inventions of men to make them successful, in that especially which they are chosen and appointed unto by God. If God thought his word to be sufficient to enhghten us, his Son to redeem and intercede for us, his grace sufficient to sanctify and keep us \into salvation, we are content with his choice and allotment, and do not envy others who pretend to have more : but it is to be feared that they who grasp at more, do lose all. And we would rather have our names cast out by them for not adding to the word of God, than that for our additions unto it God should "add unto us the plagues that are written in it." (Rev. xxii. 18.) Neither may we be so much taken with the truths Avhich in these and other particulars the church of Rome do retain, as that for their sake we should swallow the errors which they mix with those verities ; and that, rather than to be separated from their communion, we might subscribe or assent to all the other articles that are proposed by them. That were to " do evil that good might come " of it. (Rom. iii. 8.) Besides, this retaining of some truths does stand them in good stead to put off many errors the better by. Few could vend defective wares, if they did not show some that were true-made together with them. We know that false or counterfeit money will hardly go off alone ; neither is poison ordinarily taken singly, or by itself, but mixed with wholesome food ; and by that means it deceives the sooner, and spreads the farther. Were there then nothing but this, — that we must believe all that is determined, or that shall be determined, by the church of Rome, (for they have lately made, and may still make, new articles of faith,) or else we must be accursed by them, — we are rather to undergo all their separations and excommunications, than to assent to untruths, or seem to beheve lies. Whosoever they be that propose anything to be believed by us, we may justly expect that they should prove one of these two things unto us ; either, TWO THINGS NECESSARY TO BE PROVED BEFORE WE CAN BELIEVE AUGHT THAT IS PROPOSED. 1. That the article proposed htj them to he believed is part of "the faith once delivered unto the saints ;^' (Judo 3 ;) or, 2. That there may be now a new faith. FOR CHRIST S NAMe's SAKE. 39 1. THAT IT WAS ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS. The former of these, as to the points in controversy, they will never be able to prove ; and that makes them speak so slightly of scripture, because they know it is not for their turn. Besides, if that we must contend for the faith that was then delivered, we must contend against the traditions, and all the superadded definitions, of their church, so far at least as thej^ are contrary unto it, and reduce all again to the old test of " the law and the testimony ;" (Isai. viii. 20 ;) which we would gladly do, but that they dare not abide by, but call out to the fathers and councils, though in vain, for help. 2. OR THAT WE MAY HAVE A NEW FAITH. As for the latter, namely, the mahing of a new faith. — Whosoever makes a new faith, must make a new hope for us too ; and from them that propound another way unto us, we may expect another heaven for us ; for God's heaven must be attained in God's way. Yet this new faith was attempted to be made and propounded by some of them ; witness the evangelium ceternmn [" eternal gospel "] which the friars made and the pope favoured. In which new gospel they affirmed that the gospel of Christ was not the gospel of the kingdom, and that the Old and New Testament had lost their force, or should soon lose it : the time they set is now expired above four hundred years since. But this device not succeeding, they have since been more reserved and cunning : not downright and all at once, but indirectly and by degrees, endeavouring to bring us to this their purpose ; on the one hand decrying scripture and revealed truths as much as they can, and on the other hand magnifying as much those things whose truth and goodness (if they have any) are only derived from their church's recommendation. One passage of Cardinal Hosius must not be forgotten, who affirmed, that were it not for the church's authority interposed in the case, scrip- ture were no better than ^sop's Fables. " 0 my soul, come not thou into their secret ; and unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united." (Gen. xlix. 6.) II. WE ARE SEPARATED FOR CHRISt's INSTITUTED WORSHIP'S SAKE. II. The difference between the Protestant and now Roman church is as considerable about religious worship. They separate us, and cast out our names, because xve desire to keep to the purity and simplicity of wor- ship, so often commanded by God, and so highly recommended by Christ ; (John iv. 24 ;) and they on the other side do add in matters of divine loorship according to the inventions of their oivn hearts, and the humours of every fanciful jiojje. Now this we are the more careful about, because that they who worship any thing beside the true God, or who worship him any other way than according to his own appointment, are, in the second commandment, declared by God to be haters of him ; that is, in a more eminent manner than any other sinners whosoever. We find also will-worship to be such a leaven, as that (where it is joined with otherwise right and well-directed devotion) it leavens the whole lump, and makes the whole but one con- ^^ SERMON VIII. PROTESTANTS SEPARATED tinned provocation, in God's account. Those that swear by the Lord and by Malcham, are esteemed as if they had not sworn by God at all, but by Malcham only. (Zeph. i. 5.) As wicked as Ahaz is recorded to be, he is not charged for not retaining the altar of the Lord ; but for bringing another altar from Damascus, and placing of it by God's altar at the temple of Jerusalem. (2 Kings xvi. 10 — 16.) One would think that washing of hands, and the wearing of broad phylacteries, were matters so indifferent, as that they could not be dis- pleasing unto God, especially when commanded by the church, and recom- mended too by tradition ; yet our Saviour assures us, (though they thought to please God the better by them,) [that] it made all the rest of the Pharisees' worship but vain and unacceptable. (Matt. xv. 9.) Worship is indeed the marriage-duty which the church of God is to pay unto none but unto Him who is married unto her; (Jer. iii. 14;) and God hath declared himself to be " a jealous God," and that he will not permit any creature to partake that marriage-rite together with him. (Exod. XX. 5.) Hence it is that idolatry is so often called "adulteiy," and a "going a-whoring from God." (Ezek. xxiii. 30.) And in this, amongst other things, to be sure they agree, — that as amongst men for every fault, though heinous ones too, there cannot be a separation between man and wife, but for adultery there may ; so God is pleased not to give a biU of divorce to any church or people for any sin so much as for idolatry. When once they become overspread with that sin, then it is that God says unto them, " Lo-ammi, Ye are not my people." (Hosea i. 9.) If we must then either be bidden by the church of Rome to depart from her for not worshipping what she pleases, and as she lists, or that God should depart from us, by the withdrawing of his word and Spirit from us, and bid us to depart from him, because we did not worship him according to his prescribed wiU, but preferred man's will before his will, it is easy to determine which we should most dread, and labour to avoid. Nay, let them again and again bid us to depart from them here, that God may not bid us to depart from him hereafter. Their censure of excommuni- cation is lighter than the small dust in the balance, if compared with his sentence of condemnation. I know that this harlot, with the adulterous woman in the Proverbs, (xxx. 20,) " wipeth her mouth, and saith, T have done no wickedness." Yet I shall take it for granted, that if she gives and requires religious or Divine worship to be given to any creature, she is guilty of idolatry, or else there is no such thing as idolatry in the world : this being con- fessedly the worst kind of false worship,* and that for which God gave the Heathens over unto such " strong delusions " and " vile affections." (Rom. i. 25, 26 ; 2 Tliess. ii. 11.) I shall not insist upon the particulars of Divine worship ; which is either internal, the worship of the heart ; or external, the worship of the body. Faith and hope are the homage which the heart pays unto God : it believes in him, as true and faithful, and ho pesiu him, as good and gracious, in the highest degree. Adoration and service arc the tribute which the body owes unto God. Now I could easily evince, that the church of Rome gives any or all of these to creatures ; for whilst they • AnriNAS, Svcunda Sccundcr, quoest. xciv. art. 3. FOR Christ's name's sake. 41 pray to saints, whether real or imaginary ones, they must hope and beheve in them ; for " how can they call upon them in whom they have not beUeved ? " (Rom. x. 14.) And whilst they prostrate themselves before their very images, whilst they build altars and churches and keep festi- vals or observe days unto them, they give them whatsoever the outward man is able to perform to God himself. Yet all this worship they think that, calling of it by another name, (^ovXsioi,) they can justify. Not to insist upon that which hath been so often proved by others, that the words dovhsia and Xarpsia. are promiscuously used ; and that if there be any difference, douXsia imports the more servile offices of the two. Alas ! the common people break the cobweb-thread of such nice distinctions, which they are not able to skill of, and, as some amongst themselves have feared, fall into downright idolatry. NOT DARING TO GIVE DIVINE WORSHIP. But XtxTpsia itself, or that worship which they acknowledge to be divine, and of the highest kind which can be given to God himself, yet, 1. TO THE CROSS. 1. The]/ give it to the cross, as Aquinas and Bonaventure, who are sainted amongst them, and a many others, do affirm.* — And Aquinas proves that the cross may be adored with divine adoration, because they put the hope of their salvation in it ; and to that purpose he cites a hymn of that church, wherein it calls the cross its only hope. Not to speak of crosses as they are painted or carved, unto which also they give the same honour ; though it is more than probable that, as they are usually made, they do not so much as resemble the cross upon which Christ suffered. But granting that the true cross upon which Christ suffered may be worshipped, (which yet we abhor to grant,) may they not be mistaken in the wood of that cross ? It is certain [that] there is more wood wor- shipped for the wood of the cross than Simon of Cyrene (or their giant- like saint, Christopher) could ever bear. And in such a case, when they worship a piece of ordinary wood, and perhaps without its due figure to enhance it, themselves must grant that they are idolaters. But sup- posing that they be not mistaken, it is a wonder that they should have such a veneration for the cross, and spears, and nails by which Christ suffered, whilst that all Christians have the other instruments of his suffering (as Judas and Pilate are) deservedly in so great an execration. 2. TO THE HOST. 2. They adore the host, that is, the consecrated bread in the sacra- ment of the Lord's supper ; and that with a divine worship, the very same which they woidd give to God or Christ himself. — And the council of Trent do accurse all that think this ought not to be done, and that the sacrament ought not thus to be worshipped. f It is strange, what they say, that a priest should make his Maker ; but it is stranger yet, that as soon as he is made by him, he should fall down immediately and * Aquinas, Pars Tcrtia, qiiaest. xxv. art. 4; Bonaventura in Tcrtiam Sentcnl. dist. is. fLuajst. i7. t Concil. Trident. ses3. xiii. cap. 5. 42 SERMON Vni. PROTESTANTS SEPARATED worship the workmanship of his own hands : which made Averroes say, that he never saw so Ibohsh a sect of rehgion as the Christians were, who with their teeth devoured the God [which] they had adored. So that, to excuse themselves from being idolaters, the best plea [which] they do use proves them worse than cannibals : for these devour but men like themselves ; but Papists, if we beheve this their excuse, do devour the flesh of the Son of God. It is not my intention to speak unto that monsti'ous and truly sense- less opinion of transubstantiation ; but supposing of it to be true, yet, the church of Rome holding the intention of the minister to be necessary toward the efficacy of every sacrament,* (and by consequence that unless the priest, whilst he speaks those five transubstantiating words. Hoc enim est corjms meum, [" For this is my body,"] do intend by them to change the bread into the body of Christ, &c., that then there is no change wrought by them,) what a miserable danger of idolatry must all the people be in, in the mean wliile ! They certainly cannot tell the mind of the priest ; and if he be not intent, as too often they are not, upon that business, all that worship that host must be most gross idolaters, were all the opinions of their leaders granted them to be true. 3. TO THE VIRGIN MARY. 3. The last instance that I will give of their idolatry shall be in their worshippinf/ of the Virgin Mary. — They call this worship which they give unto her vTrspdovXsiw and they make it a middle sort betw'ixt the other two formerly mentioned. But they might call it, if that they pleased, virspKixTpsnx' for they say unto her and attribute unto her more than unto Christ himself. Nay, they petition her to command her Son by her motherly authority ; little considering that she herself called him " God her Saviour," though according to the flesh he was her Son. (Luke i. 47.) Now though this, and much more which might be said, do very plainly prove that their worship hath got the plague-spot of idolatry upon it, and therefore that it is by no means to be meddled withal : yet they are so devoted unto it, as that they have commanded all such passages to be left out in the editions of the fathers which speak for adoration as due or to be given only unto God.f Nay, the very second commandment hath not escaped them ; but they have put it out of the number of the commandments, that they of their communion might not be self-con- demned when they reflect upon it. I know that some amongst them do sew other fig-leaves together to hide this their nakedness, but in vain ; for how can there be a subaltern or subordinate religious worship, unless thei'ebe a subordinate deity too? There are, and ought to be, degrees of civil respects, which are given diversely unto men, according to the various degrees of worth or authority in the objects unto whom they are paid ; but the honour or worship of God, and whatsoever is due unto him as God, can no more be shared by the ci'eature, than his infinite essence and majesty from which it flows. Neither will it serve their turn, that they say they do not worship his image with the same mind and affection wherewith they • Concil. Trident, sess. vii. t Indc.v E.rpurijatoyius, Madriti, anno 1612. FOR Christ's name's sake. 43 worsliip himself ; no more than if an adulteress should plead, that though she prostitutes her body unto others, yet she does it not with the same degree of affection wherewith she embraces her husband only. Greo'ory de Valentia makes the hardest shift of them aU to excuse this sin, by saying, that there is a lawful as well as an unlawful idolatry.* And acknowledging that they do use the former, we shall take his confession that they are idolaters ; but neither he nor any other can ever prove such a contradiction in adjecto [" in the adjunct "] as a lawful idolatry. Well . may they hold concupiscence to be no sin, who hold any idolatry to be lawful. We can meet with no such distinctions, nor ground for them, neither, in all the word of God ; but this we find there, that there is no " agree- ment betwixt the temple of God and idols ; " (2 Cor. \i. 16, 17 ;) and that where idolatry is, we arc bidden to depart, and to be separate, whether we might be retained or no. Whatsoever then we do or suffer in this cause, it is " for the Son of man's sake ; " who himself taught us to answer all objections, and to repel all temptations unto this sin, by alleging," "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve ; " (Matt. iv. IQ ;) and by his beloved disciple hath bidden us to "keep ourselves from idols." (1 John v, 21.) III. IT IS FOR Christ's sovereignty's sake that we are SEPARATED. III. It is for ChrisVs authority and sovereiyntxj s sake that we are separated, and have our names cast out, hy the church of Rome. — Would we but magnify their usurped power, we might swear, curse, and blaspheme, commit whoredom and incest, and what not 1 and yet be accounted true sons of their church. Had St. Paul but cried up their great Diana, the Ephesians had not been offended with him, had he been otherwise as vicious as he was virtuous, or as profane as he was holy. We are wilUng for to " obey them that have the rule over us in the Lord ; " (Heb. xiii. 7, 17 ;) but stiU so as that we may keep and maintain our fealty entire unto him who is over all. We are ready to submit to governors under him in church and state ; but we must remember that we and they too are under him. The legislative and sovereign power is incommunicably in Christ, and cannot be parted withal by him. Who should give laws to bind our inward man, but he that can search and try it, (Rev. ii. 23,) and can take cognizance of the performance or breach of his law by it, and can punish or reward as he finds cause ? Neither does the infallibility which the church of Rome assumes less derogate from the honour which is due unto Christ, it being a jewel of his crown. I shall not inquire where the now Roman church do make the subject of this infallibility ; (for they are not agreed upon it amongst themselves ;) whether it resides in the pope, or in a general council ; or, if the pope be infallible, whether he be so in matters of faith, or in mat- ters of right only. We deny either to one or to all of them. Fallibility cannot be removed out of the mind, no more than mortality from the body, of any. They go cequis passibus [" with equal steps "], and are both fixed to that state which all men are born in ; and they • Libro ii. De Idololatridy cap. 7. 44 SERMON VIII. PROTESTANTS SEPARATED cannot put either of them off, no more than humanity itself. Nay, could there be an universal, or truly oecumenical, council, (which there never was since the apostles' times,) yet every member of that council being but fallible, the council itself could not be infallible. Not to mention any particulars which might be instanced in, which, though determined by councils and popes, yet are antiquated, and rejected by the Papists themselves. It is obvious that one pope hath frequently contradicted another, and one council hath thwarted the other ; and surely they were not on both sides in the right. How much safer is it to obey God's beloved Sou, who " being the express image " of the Father, (Heb. i. 3,) is truth itself, and whom we are bidden for to hear ! it being the character of a true sheep of Christ's fold, that he will " hear his voice," and not " the voice of strangers." (John x. 3, 5.) In obedience then unto Christ it is that we dare not thus become servants unto men. Though we may go and come, we may not believe and disbelieve, as they please. Nay, we cannot do it if that we would ; for the will hath no such power over the understanding, as to make it think or believe what it lists to be true or false. The will can set the understanding upon acting on what object it pleases ; but it cannot make the understanding concerning any object think what it pleaseth ; its power over it being only quoad exercitium ["as to its exercise"], and not quoad specijicationem ["as to the specification of the result"]. Now this makes the government of the Romish church to be the most insupportable tyranny that the world hath ever known. Other tyrants have been content with their domination over their vassals' bodies and estates ; nothing will satisfy these but to domineer over the souls of men too ; and we meet with the souls of men reckoned amongst their mer- chandise. (Rev. xviii. 13.) And well may they so be; for the greatest traffic amongst them is for men's souls. And whereas God declares that he gives us his commandments "for our good always," (Deut. vi. 24,) though he hath an indisputable and uncontrollable right over us, yet he commands us nothing barely that he might exercise his domination and absolute power that belongs unto him ; but all his institutions and appointments are such as in their own nature would be advantageous to us, were they not enjoined by him ; there being nothing that accomplishes and perfects man more than hohness and the image of God, which his injunctions, in every instance, do tend only to promote. But, alas ! what are men the better for multitudes of observations enjoined amongst the Romanists ? They themselves cannot say that there is any goodness in them, but only what they derive from the autho- rity that enjoins them. And if that authority should forbid them, or command other things contrary unto, or at least diverse from them, they would then be reputed of another nature by such who contend so eagerly for them. Though we have reason to believe that they '■'call good evil, and evil good;" (Isai. v. 20;) yet that they can make evil to be good, or good to be evil, is incredible unto us. Yet these pitiful little things, which they can make for good or bad at their pleasure, they are moi'c earnest in, than for all the great things in FOR Christ's name's sake. 45 the law. Transgressions against tlie law of God written in our very- hearts and natures, and transcribed thence into our Bibles, meet with little or no censure amongst them ; but to doubt of any of their church's definitions, or to disobey any of her commands, in those things which never came into God's heart to enjoin, is, amongst them, a most unpar- donable sin. So that, as men have been observed to love their books, being the issue of their brain and studies, more than their children, the fruit of their bodies, these men dote upon their own inventions and imaginations more than upon any thing, though by God himself recommended unto them. And, as it ordinarily happens, the misery of the people is attended by the iniquity of their leaders : for is this to become " aU things unto all men," to make their flock become whatsoever they please unto them? (1 Cor. ix. 22.) Is this to exercise their power, according to their com- mission, "for edification?" (2 Cor. x. 8.) Does it not impeach the wisdom of God, and the faithfulness of Christ, to make more things necessary to be believed and practised than were commanded us in t\\e word, or told unto us by the Son of God ? Is it not against the rule of charity, that bond of perfection, to lay such heavy yokes upon others, as they would not have, were they dissenters, imposed upon themselves ? Does it not occasion dissimulation and hypocrisy in men, (and there is sin enough every where,) to require of those in communion with them to affirm or deny, to practise or forbear, in the things of God, every thing according to the humour of their present rulers, and especially upon such severe penalties ? Formerly whosoever " confessed with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and beheved in their hearts that God had raised him from the dead, might be saved." (Rom. x. 9.) And though this was some- what enlarged in the Creed, commonly called " the Apostles' Creed," what is that to so many volumes of decrees and councils, the late ones espe- cially of their own contriving, which the church of Rome enforces a submission unto ? St. Paul, who had "the care of all the churches" upon him, (2 Cor. xi. 28,) (especially he had " the gospel of the uncircumcision committed unto him," so that it is a wonder the popes have not claimed to be his successors ; it is more for their purpose than to be St. Peter's, whose line was amongst them of "the circumcision," Gal. ii. 7, 8)— this blessed Paid, having undoubted apostohc authority, wovdd not prescribe to the church of Rome whether all should observe a day or no, or whether they should all eat flesh or no, though no pretensions of uniformity would be wanting on the one side or on the other. (Rom. xiv. 3 — 6.) Nay, he was so far from imposing any unnecessary burden, that he commands his Galatians to " stand fast in their liberty." (Gal. v. 1 .) Were there more of his spirit in the world, we might have less show but more substance in religion. It is a sorry comfort that is left us, that, notwithstanding the church's commands, we may think the things commanded us as indifierent in themselves as we wUl, provided we do but observe them on the account of their church's injunction. For whilst we are pinched and perplexed with fears of the unlawfidness of their additions, we are apt the more to suspect that church to be but a step-mother unto us, who will cast us 46 SERMON VlIT, PROTESTANTS SEPARATED out of her care and faiT\ily for such things wliich she, thinking to be indifferent, might without prejudice relax her commands concerning them ; but we, thinking that our Father hath determined or commanded otherwise, cannot yield her our obedience in them. Is not this (as much as hes in that church) to " destroy them for whom Christ died ? " (Rom. xiv. 15.) And to be sure it is far from endeavouring (which yet is her duty) "by all means to save some." (1 Cor. ix. 22.) It is our unspeakable comfort in the mean while, that he whom we serve, and who is our Prince and Saviour, hath a goodness toward us answerable to his power over us : the one without the other would but speak us as miserable as now we may be happy. Christ in all his com- mands did not consider only the to &i07rps7rsg, but the to avSp^Trtvov he did not enjoin us all which, " as God," he might have done ; but he commanded us such things only wliich we, "as men," could bear, and might be benefited by. As for the power which the pope assumes unto himself, to dispense with the laws of God, it is far above whatsoever our blessed Redeemer assumed, who professed that he came not " to destroy the law, but to fulfil it." (Matt. V. 17.) But thus the pope fulfils what was prophesied concerning him, that he should " oppose and exalt himself above all -that is caUed God." (2 Thess. ii. 4.) Yet this opinion of the pope's or church's authority, though somewhat diversified, is such a darling opinion amongst them, that could we beheve and practise all that their church propounds or commands at present, unless we will become auSai^eroj dovXot, such "voluntary slaves" as to let our ears be bored, and henceforth never to question their dictates, nor disobey then- future commands, it would not avail us toward any commu- nion with them: for, saith Bellarmine,* "whosoever will not be fed by Peter, that is, learn of him and his successors, the popes, as judges and determinei-s, what he is to take for matter of faith, and what is the sense of the scripture, is none of Christ's sheep." And the very form of their church (which makes it Antichristian as much as any thing) consists in this manner of government. This is the centre of unity ; from the pope, as ordinary pastor of the universal church, as from the head, all Hfe and motion is conveyed unto every individual member. But suppose this authority or power to be more diffused, and to be subjected not in the pope alone, but with his consistory or council ; yet we cannot think that they will ever yield aught unto us, had we truth or right never so much on our side : for whilst they hold their church to be infallible, and that she cannot decree amiss in any matters of faith or practice, we can never rationally hope for any redress. For so long as they maintain their church's infallibility, they will not alter nor rescind any one thing, were it to save the whole Avorld ; for if they do, their church's infallibility is gone for ever ; and it is by that craft that they have their wealth. This, then, being the case between us and the church of Rome, that she hath separated us, and cast out our names, not for any opinion or practice that she can charge us with contrary to the word of God, or the duty of Christians, but rather for keeping the commandments of God, • De Vcrho Dei, lib. iii. cap. v. sect. 4. FOR CHRIST S NAMe's SAKE. 47 and tlie faith of Jesus, we may "rejoice and be exceeding glad," as we are bidden, tliat we are thus reviled and persecuted for the Son of man's sake ; for not only our " reward shall be great in heaven," but here on earth too. (Matt. v. 11, 12.) For, as our Saviour found the blind man after he had been cast out for confessing of him, and imparted unto him a more full knowledge concerning himself ; (John ix. 35 ;) so Christ hath found the Protestant churches, and afforded them his presence and care, communicating his light and love unto them. And nothing is more to be bewailed than that they have not been answerable unto such mercy toward them. We may truly say, that God hath turned their curse into a blessing unto us : that hruhim fiihnen, their " thunderbolt " of excommunication, hath not hurt one hair of our heads, much less hath it entered into our souls. For, as Thomas de Curselis in the Council of Basil did well observe, " though Christ says, ' Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; ' he doth not say, ' Whatsoever thou shalt affirm to be bound shall be so.' " * And as the excommunication of the Jewish sanhedrim, denounced against Christ's disciples, brought them so much nearer unto their Lord and Master, and aliened the Jews themselves, removing them so much farther from the kingdom of heaven ; so do aU unjust censures \inite us to the apostles, &c., by this conformity with and participation of their suflferings. HOW OUT OF THE CHURCH THERE IS NO SALVATION. As for what the church of Rome doth so frequently triumph in, and thinks to scare us with, namely, that " out of the church there is no salvation," it is to be considered, 1. This to be true indeed of the catholic church. — Taking it not as they do, for aU them, and only them, that are under the pastorship of the pope, but for all the real and living members of Christ ; for they only are truly his body, that are enlivened by his Spirit. Thus the apostle joins them together: "There is one body and one Spirit;" (Eph. iv. 4;) and elsewhere he says, that unless the Spirit of Christ be in you, you are none of his. (Rom. viii. 9.) As every member of the body [is], and only the members of that body are, acted by the same soul ; so is it in the mystical body of Christ too. And it is the concern of all to obtain the Spirit of Christ, and to live the life of Christ, without which they cannot obtain salvation by Christ, who is " the Saviour only of his body." 2. We acknowledge that it is every one's duty to join himself unto, and not causelessly to depart from, a visible church that professeth the faith and keepeth the institutions of Christ.' — Every one ought to inquire where it is that this great Shepherd "feedeth, and maketh his flock to rest ;" (Canticles i. 7 ;) and every needless departing from such a church does endanger salvation, in that it makes a man truly guilty of schism, which is a great sin against charity, so highly recommended unto us ; as also in that such an one withdraws himself from those societies and meetings unto which Christ hath promised his presence, and God bestows his blessing. (Matt, xviii. 20.) 3. But where this cannot be obtained, or is not sinfully neglected or refused, one may be saved without being joined to any visible church • Dr. Hammond, "Of Schism." 48 SERMON VIII. PROTESTANTS SEPARATED ivhntsoever. — If a Pagan, or a Jew, that is imprisoned in a coiintiy where the Christian reUgion is not professed, (being, by reading or conference, through the goodness of God, brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to profess it, Uving answerably unto it,) though he should die before that he could come to enjoy church-communion, we have no reason to doubt of his salvation ; our Saviour having told us, that who- soever believeth in him hath eternal life, (John vi. 40.) WHAT WE THINK CONCERNING THE CHURCH OF ROME. But more particulai'ly as to " the church of Rome : " (for so we call them that, professing to hold the Christian faith, are united in sub- jection and obedience unto that see, and do acknowledge the pope theii* univei'sal pastor :) when we call them " a church," we mean no more than that they are a society or company of men who make profession that they are Christians. Thus the Laodiceans are called " a church," (Rev. iii. 14,) though they were "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked," and we do not read of a sound part amongst them. (Verse 17.) Thus God himself calls the ten tribes his people, after their defection, by reason of circumcision, which they yet retained, and their being the offspring of Jacob. (Hosea iv. G.) In this sense, soundness of faith is no more essential to a church, than health is to a man. And as a man that hath the plague or leprosy is still a man, though to be shunned ; so they may be thus a church, though by all means to be foi-saken. But as they themselves take a church for " a company of true believers joined together in communion," so they are no church, their faith being far from the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. THEIR SUCCESSION BROKEN. As for the succession [which] they so much stand upon, and a lawful ministry, only to be found amongst them : no church in the Christian world hath ever had so many interruptions, sufficient to destroy, accord- ing to their own principles, the lawfulness of their ministry. How many schisms have there been in that church ! one of which alone lasted about fifty years ; in which space there was not one person in all their communion but was excommunicated by one pope or other, the right pope being ever he that had most force or fraud ; not to mention the simony and heresy which some of them were so notoriously gudty of. And any of these are sufficient to break the chain of succession amongst them : for I hope that they will not allow an excommunicated person to have a power of ordination. But beside this, they who are ordained by any amongst them, not being ordained to the work of a minister, to preach, or feed the flock of Christ, or to serve him in the holy things of his own institution, but to " sacrifice the body of Christ for the hving and for the dead," — how can they be gospel-ministers 1 This certainly is not a gospel-minis- tration, nor hath so much as a show of it ; but it is a repetition rather of the Jews' cruelty. But, to prevent further objections and mistakes, we grant. FOR CHRIST S NAMK S SAKE. 49 TWO THINGS GRANTED TO THEM. 1 . That the church of Rome was a very famoxis church, whose "faith was spoken of throughout the whole world.'" (Rom. i. 8.) — (Thus the seven churches of Asia, at least some of them, were eminent and praise- worthy.) But they can challenge no privilege from what they have been ; lest the Jews themselves come in with their pretensions too, who were once the only church and people of God. There is no greater stench than that which comes from a human body when the soul is once withdrawn ; nor is there any thing more abominable, in God's account, than that church or society (call it what you wiU) from whom the Spirit of truth, who formerly did inform and enliven it, is departed. 2. We grant that the church of Rome had precedence before all other churches. — But I would not be mistaken ; it hath had precedence before them, but for very many centuries no superiority over them ; and this precedence which they had, was only because Rome was the imperial city, and seat of the empire. And it is most hkely that for this cause the epistle to the Romans was put before aU the other epistles ; the place in which that church was gathered, and the persons probably of which it did consist, being more eminent and conspicuous than others. But when Constantinople came to be the seat of the emperor, and made and called New Rome, it contested for that very precedency. And to this purpose it is remarkable that the patriarchates and diocesses into which the church-government was then divided did answer to the parti- tions and di\'isions under the civil governors in that empire : which did make indeed the ladder for the bishop of Rome to climb unto this height by. WHAT THEY FARTHER PRETEND UNTO. As for their pretensions to the pope's universal pastorship, and supe- riority over all churches : they had need to produce an authentic patent for it, what they have already shown making nothing for their purpose. But I shall wave any farther discourse upon that subject, because it is out of my sphere at present ; as also although we should grant the church of Rome all her pretensions, &c,, yet upon supposition, WHICH HOWSOEVER WILL, NOT SERVE HER TURN. First. That she is corrupted in her doctrine and worship ; and. Secondly. That she excludes and anathematizes all that do not join in those corruptions with her ; (both which particulars have been proved ;) we may satisfy ourselves in being parted from them, and answer aU that they can say, with these two conclusions : — FOR TWO REASONS. Conclusion i. God never did require of v^ to join with any person or church in their sins; much less that we should sin in order to the ohtnining of salvation at his hands. — God's rule is, that we should not " do evil that good may come of it." (Rom. iii. 8.) And were the communion with their church never so useful, yet if it cannot be had without sinning, it must not be had at all. If the terms or conditions vol. VI. E 50 SERMON VIII. PROTESTANTS SEPARATED of communion with them have any thing of sin in them, they had as good tell us that we should fly in the air, or count tlie sands on the sea-shore ; and in case we did not, that then they would not receive us into their communion, or that, being in, they would cast us out. For such things as are morally impossible, (as an assent to any error, or a consent to any false woi'ship, must needs be,) are as unreasonably required of us, as any thing that is naturcilhj impossible could ever be. And if on this account there be a rent from them, the fault is in them that require such things at our hands ; as, being contrary to the mind and will of God, cannot be done by us. We, being innocent, nay, commendable in the forbearing of them, (as the innocent person is in the case of a divorce,) must needs be free. CoNCLUs. II. It is sometimes necessary to forsake a visible church. Nay, more : it may be necessary to believe and act directly contrary to the authority of the pi'esent church. — Thus the Jews were bound to believe our Saviour for to be the jMessias, and to hear and obey him in all things ; though they were forbidden so to do by the high priests and rulers, who, we know, determined concerning Cbrist that he was a seducer and a blasphemer. Yet what would not the church of Rome give to have so clear and full a testimony for her definitive power in all controversies, as that Jewish church had derived unto it from God himself? (Deut. xvii. 8, 9.) But God never parted with his sovereignty which he hath over all men ; and where his mind and will is evident, that must be a law paramount unto us, though it should be never so much gainsayed by any other. All other superiors are subordinate unto him, who is the only Lord in chief ; nay, " King of kings, and Lord of lords." (Rev. xix. 16.) And as those soldiers do but their duty, who, out of a sense of their sworn allegiance to their prince, will not join with then* com- mander in the betraying of a fort or town ; so if we dare not betray the truths of God nor the souls of men unto the will of any whomsoever, we doubt not but that God does approve of our fidelity unto him, and will say unto us at the last, " Well done, good and faitliful servants." (Matt. XXV. 21.) And thus I have gone through some of those many things which we have to plead for our sepai-ated condition from the church of Rome, whom we have so long, so undeservedly, suffered under. But though they have nothing for us but execrations and curses, fii'c and faggot, yet let us return our bitterest lamentations over them, and heartiest prayers for them. It is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation, that so many millions of precious souls are walking in paths which lead to " the chambers of death." (Prov. vii. 27.) O that we could pluck them as "brands " out of "everlasting burnings ! " (Zech. iii. 2 ; Tsai. xxxiii. 14.) One means only I would caution against ; namely, our becoming theirs in hope to make them ours. I might observe how God hath blasted all such endeavours ; and that they have more strengthened their hands and weakened ours„ than all the weapons or arguments that ever were used by them : and, above all, God hath expressly commanded us to " come out of her," and not to " partake of her sins." (Rev. xviii. 4.) But if, by our careful and faithful instructing, our meek, charitable, and holy FOR CHRIST S NAME S SAKE. 51 living, we can gain any of them, we " shall hide a multitude of sins," and our " labour shall not be in vain in the Lord." (James v. 20 • 1 Cor. XV. 58.) APPLICATION. In the mean time, if we should suffer still by them for well-doing, the text affords us considerations enough to sweeten such a suffering con- dition unto us. THRfiE CONSOLATORY INFERENCES. 1. In that it is but from men. — "When men shall hate you." Now we know [that] there is a nil ultra, an " utmost " that men can do : it is but to the body, and it is but in this world. (Matt. x. 28.) 2. It is "for the Son of man's sake" that we thus suffer. — And if he had required greater matters of us, would we not have done them ? I am sure that he hath deserved them at our hands. Besides, these do turn for a testimony unto us of the truth of his doctrine, whose words we find so exactly fulfilled amongst us unto this day ; not to speak of the consolation which shall abound " by Christ " in all them in whom "the sufferings of Christ do abound." (2 Cor. i. 5.) 3. Christ hath 'pronounced such sufferers blessed. — " Blessed are ye." (1.) It is Christ'' s judgment on our case and condition. — And he, we may truly say then, sees not as man sees. What blessedness in the opinion of men can there be to be hated, separated, reproached? &c. But, (2.) It is not a bare opinion (though his could not be erroneous) that we are blessed, but it is Christ's effective sentence. — His dicere isfacere : Christ doth "make" them blessed whom he "pronounces" to be so; and he can make a blessed persecution. If he bless, who can curse? (Num. xxiii. 8.) Or if they do, he can turn their cursings into bless- ings. Well may we then conclude with the prayer of the Psalmist : " Lord, let them curse, but bless thou." (Psalm cix. 28.) E 2 52 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH, SERMON IX. (XXV.) BY THE IlEV. SAMUEL LEE, A.M. SOMETIME FELLOW OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD. THE LORD JESUS, WHO IS THE ONLY FOUNDATION OF HIS CHURCH, IS THE PRE- SERVER OF ITS DURATION, IN SOME MEASUKE, VISIBLY THROUGHOUT ALL AGES. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. And I say also unto thee. That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. — Matthew xvi. 18. Our blessed Lord, being within the territories of Csesarea Philippi, (near Lebanon and the fountains of Jordan, where Phihp, the tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, had his royal seat or throne,) was pleased to put two questions to his disciples : 1. Whom did men commonly suppose him to be ? 2. Whom more especially did they judge and acknowledge him ? To this demand Peter, " in the name of the rest," * (for our Lord propounded the question to them aU,) replies, and confesses him to be the true Messiah, the Son of the living God. Upon this glorious confession, our Lord and Saviour, 1. Pronounces a hefvvenly blessing to Peter ; (verse 17 ;) 2. Acquaints him and the rest present, that upon Himself, whom he had confessed to be the Son of the living God, not only Peter, but his whole church, should be firmly buUt. (Verse 18.) 3. He makes a promise, to him and the rest, of ministerial power ; (verse 19 ;) which he performed unto all, when he breathed on them the Holy Ghost. (John xx. 22, 23.) In the eighteenth verse, beside the preface, " And I say also unto thee," we have three principal parts : — 1 . Encotniitm Petri, or " a laudatory testimony, bestowed upon Peter," and, in him, upon all of w^hom he had demanded answer : " Thou art Peter," &c. Hi which our Lord does not now first give him that name : for that was done before, in John i. 42 ; where our Lord told him, that thenceforth he should " be called Cephas or Peter, which is by interpre- tation, A stone ; " as God of old had declared concerning the name of Abraham and Israel ; (Gen. xvii. 5 : xxxii. 28 ;) and as EUzabeth, about the name of her son John. (Luke i. 60.) In this denomination of Peter, there is a manifest allusion to the following words, by an elegant 2)aro- nomasia or 'sjupaa-ri^siwa-ts- f "Thou art Peter ; whom I have formerly • Petrus ev pcr.wnd omnium apostolorum, &sc. — Hieronymus in he. torn. ix. p. 30. t Glassii Rhet. tract, ii. cap. 2. " Au elegant play upon words, or significant allusion." --Edit. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 53 called by tlie name of a stone, to note thy being built upon that Founda- tion-stone, that Rock of ages, whom the Father hath laid in Zion." 2. A declaration of our Lord concerning his church : which he com- pares to a house, palace, or city. Wherein observe, (1.) The foundation of this building: "' On this rock,' representing Him whom thou hast confessed." (2.) The architect : " I will build." (3.) The edifice: "My church." Not any particular church, exclu- sive to others ; but the whole church catholic. This text assigns no diploma or privilege to the church of Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople, Carthage, or ancient Rome, or any other particular church, otherwise than as parts and parcels of the whole church ; or as there may have been found in them such as by lively faith and sound doctrine were built upon Christ, the only true and living Rock, the sure and precious Foun- dation of his church. As to the timing of the verb, " I will build ; " that no way excludes the ancient fathers before our Lord's incarnation, who " all died in faith," and without whom we are not made perfect ; (Heb, xi. 13, 40 ;) but notes the continuation of this divine work in building up the church, till the top-stone be laid, in the end of the world, with acclamations of grace. It presignifies the enlargement of the church among the Gentiles by the ministerial edification of the apostles ; according to that famous prophecy in Zachary of the latter times, when " they that are far oif shall come and build in the temple of the Lord;" (Zech. vi. 12, 15 ;) consonant to the tenor of the whole New Testament. 3. The perennitrj or "perpetuity of the church : our Lord adds a pro- mise as strong as the foundation itself; for "the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it ; " — that his church shall be monumentum cere perennius, more durable than heaven and earth ; for they "shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter iii. 10.) The foundations of the earthly mountains may be set on fire : (Deut. xxxii. 22 ;) JEtna, Vesuvius, and Hecla may vomit out their burning bowels ; the channels of the sea may appear, and the inmost caverns of the world be discovered ; (2 Sam. xxii. 1 6 ;) nay, " the foundations of heaven may be moved and shake," and its pillars tremble, when God is wroth : (verse 8 :) but the church of God shall persist and endure against all assaults, against all oppositions imaginable. For it is His church, against whom all created power is but weakness, their machinations and contrivements a thousand times more frail than the most delicate and tender web of a spider. (Isai. lix. 5.) The waves that foam against this rock, dash themselves in pieces ; and (as the prophet elegantly) they are " cut off as the foam upon the water ; " (Hosea x. 7 ;) as bubbles (puffed up with swelhng pride and animosity against the church) suddenly subside, and shrink into the bosom of their primitive water. " The gates of hell shall never prevail against it." The glorious building of the church, — assaulted it may be and shall be ; but prevailed upon, or demolished, never. Like Mount Zion, she shall never be moved : nay, she " cannot " be moved ; (Psalm cxxv. 1 ;) for " the Highest himself hath established her : " (Psalm Ixxxvii. 5 :) there is her imvard stabiUty : L 54 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. and as to the repelling of all external force and fury, " as the moun- tains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever." (Psalm exxv. 2.) The church shall never be extirpated out of the world. The rain may descend, the floods rush, and the winds roar, and beat upon this house ; but it stands inviolable against all weathers and storms : for it is founded upon the Rock. (Matt. vii. 25.) Enemies may fret awhile, fume and boil in the brine of their own anger, and, hke bodies molested with sharp and corrosive humours, become self-tormenters ; at last are emacerated, wasted, and dissolved. It is wisdom itself [that], having "hewn out her seven pillars, hath built this house," (Prov. ix. 1,) truly deserving the honourable name of St. Sophia, (more than that magnificent structure at Constanti- rople,) the temple of " sacred wisdom." The farther explication of the words may be referred to the handUng of this position, or main point, deducible out of the bowels of this text : — OBSERVATION. That the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the living God, is the only Foundation of his church, ayid the Preserver of its duration in some measure visibly throughoait all ages. Wherein three things are to be discussed, in such a method as a textual sermon may admit : — I. We are to treat of the church of Christ ; what it is, and xohereof it consists. II. Of the foundation of the church; that it is Christ,, and Chi'ist only. III. Of the duration and continuance of the church upon this glorious and strong foundation, in some state of visibility through all ages ; though sometimes it may appear more conspicuous, and sometimes less. As the sun may be sometimes eclipsed, and that totally, to some places in the terrestrial globe ; though in itself never extinguished, nor its radiant beams wholly withdrawn from all parts of the hemisphere at the precise time of the complete interposure of the moon's body : sometimes he may be mantled in a sable cloud, and that for many days together : sometimes he may have driven his chariot to visit our antipodes : sometimes his visible diameter is larger, and sometimes lesser : sometimes he warms our zenith, and sometimes comforts the antarctic pole. Neither is the queen of the night a less fit resemblance, being much more variable in her phases and appearances. Such hath been the fate of the church of God : now direfuUy eclipsed by bloody persecutions, then shining out the more illustriously ; now clouded with thick veils of error and heresy, then vigorously conquering by the bright rays of truth ; now dim and dusky by the thick fogs and mists of superstitious ceremonies, then more beautiful and orient in her naked simplicity and apostolical lustre, being " clothed with the sun and a crown of twelve stars upon her head." (Rev. xii. 1.) I. As to the first : JFhat the church of Christ is. — We find it here compared to a house, to a stately palace or prince's mansion, or castle of defence, built upon an impregnable rock. Nay, it is " the house of the living God," (I Tim. iii. 15,) typed by that ancient sumptuous temple SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRTJE CHURCH. 55 of Solomon. (1 Kings vi, 1 ; Isai. ii. 2; Micah iv. 1.) Sometimes it is resembled to a city, to the city of David, founded and built upon the renowned mountain of Zion ; (Psalm xlvi. 4 ; xlviii. 1 ; Ixxxvii. 3 ; Rev. xxi. 2 ;) which shadows forth both its duration and visibility. But the metaphor, as a veil or a glass, beiug laid aside ; as, under the notion of a quick rock, we contemplate the only-begotten Son of the living God ; so, by the regular and well-polished materials of the super-imposed building, we are to understand the " lively stones " mentioned in Peter, which, coming to him by faith, are "built up into a spiritual house." (1 Peter ii. 5.) Such as compose the structure of the church, are the adopted children of God : the learned of the Reformed churches have a little varied in expressions, but agree in the substance : — that the church of God is a company of holy persons, chosen of God from eternity in Christ unto eternal life. The church consists of men, not of angels ; and therefore must be visible. They are holy ones, not hypocrites or profane persons, who may sometimes thrust into the communion of the external visible church. They are such who in God's due time are called out of the world, by the ministry of the word, and the inward efficacious grace of his Spirit. Let us sum up these particulars in that declaration which the church of England hath exhibited to us : — " The true church is an universal congregation or fellowship of God's faithful and elect people, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone. And it hath always three notes or marks, whereby it is known : pure and sound doc- trine ; the sacraments ministered according to Christ's holy institution; and the right use of ecclesiastical discipline." * Upon the particular branches of this description I must not enlarge ; only acquaint you at present, that 1 shall here treat of some peculiar points referring to that true real church of Christ whereof our Lord speaks in this text : such as, being founded upon him by faith, cemented to him by love, " worships him in spirit and in truth : " (2 Thess. ii. 13 ; Acts xxvi. 18 ; John iv. 24 :) against which all the powers of dark- ness shall never prevail ; but [which] shall continue successively through- out all ages here upon earth ; sometimes shining more clearly, otherwhiles more obscurely ; yet always in some measure visible and discernible by the marks of true doctrine, worship, and discipline : and at length shall be wholly translated to eternal communion with Christ their most glorious Head in the highest heavens. n. As to the foundation of this church. — We assert that Jesus Christ is the Rock, the sohd and only foundation, whereupon it is built : which may be demonstrated, (I.) Negatively, or Exclusively, as to all others. (II.) Positively, as to Christ himself. (I.) Exclusively : No other is or can be admitted for the roch or foundation of the church, — Ett* TawTrj tjj 'SJSTpa, " On this single indivi- dual rock will I build my church." No other can communicate in this high and supereminent honour. Objection. But some may say, " Does not the pronoun in the text relate most properly to the next antecedent, Peter ; and not to Christ ? Is it not more genuine ? " * " Homilies of the Church of England," in the second part of the Sermon for Whit-Sunday. 56 SKRMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. Answer i. This grammaticism will not couclude- For, 1. It is commonly otherwise in many other places of scripture ; as Gen. X. 12; John viii. 44; Ileb. xii. 17 ; Acts xix. 5; (?) and particu- larly, Matt. xxvi. 26. If, in that enunciation, "This is my body," "this" should be referred to "bread," the immediate antecedent; then (as the learned observe) * there is an end of their doctrine of transub- stantiation, — if they will press such a grammatical nicety upon that, as upon this, text. But, 2. Though the name of Peter be found nearest in words, yet it is also observed that the person of Christ in most proper sense and relation stands nighest to the rock upon whom Peter was built ; and who had received that denomination from his confession of the true and living Rock, the Son of God, " the Christ." (Matt. xvi. 20.) Answer ii. But, laying aside that grammatical contest, let us show that Peter was not, could not be, the rock whereon the church is built. For, 1. Peter was but a man. — Now no mere man can sustain the wrath of an infinite God, or redeem the church by his blood. The apostle determines Him to be God, who " hath purchased the church by his own blood : " (Acts xx. 28 :) and the author [of the epistle] to the Hebrews declares, that the same person who "had by himself purged our sins, is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high ; " (Heb. i. 3 ;) the same to whom the Father speaks, " Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever ; " (verse 8 ;) that High Priest who is " entei'cd within the veil ; " (Heb. vi. 19 ;) that " Son of God who is passed into the heavens:" (Heb. iv. 14:) "Such an" one "became us, who is made higher than the heavens ; " (Heb. vii. 26 ;) " Christ, the Head of the church, who is also the Saviour of his body, and gave himself for it ; " (Eph. V. 23, 25 ;) " who loved us, and washed us from our sins iu his own blood." (Rev. i. 5.) 2. Peter was a frail mortal man. — But God had his church, and that built upon this Rock, before ever Peter was born, and continued [it] after his death and funeral. God the Father had " laid this foundation," "TD'ITO -\'q'\'!:^ fimdamentum fundatum, "this strong foundation," long before Isaiah's time; (Isai. xxviii. 16;) which the Chaldee paraphrase glosses thus: "jnTpN"] "in: t)ipn "J^jp "Tflp "The King, the power- ful King, the strong and terrible." And Rabbi Solomon expressly : " The King Messiah ; that he may be in Zion a stone of munition and strength;" as Petrus Galatinus f recites out of him and others of the rabbins. The prophets of old, as well as the apostles, built upon this foun- dation. (Eph. ii. 20.) Besides, when Peter came upon the stage, he goes off again : and when Peter dies, must the church perish ? The foundation being gone, the building must needs tumble. Neither does our Lord any where speak of or promise to any successors so great a privilege, — to step into his room, to lie in the foundation, and to be the supposed Atlas of hia church : and were it so, then Peter personal must be dismissed. , 3. Peter loas a slnfid man. — And that by his own confession : " Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord : " (Luke v. 8 :) and this was acknowledged after that our Lord had called him by the name of • Olassh Gram. Sucr. lib. iii. tract, ii. can. 10. t Galatinls, lib. iii. cap. 21. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. .57 Pc-ter. Nay, more than so : Peter erred in faitli about the death and resurrection of Christ ; and our Lord rebuked him sharply, as being under a temptation of Satan. (Matt. xvi. 22, 23.) Nay, he thrice denied our Lord. (Matt. xxvi. 75.) But because some would apply the promise in the text to a performance after the resurrection, the holy scripture (as if on purpose to obviate these futilous objections) sets it down, that even then he did not opSoTrohiv, not " walk uprightly " in the gospel; (Gal. ii. 14;) and Paul "withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed." (Verse 11.) Shall we then think that the church was founded upon a sinful man ? since " such a high priest becomes " the church, " who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners ; " (Heb. vii. 26 ;) "a Lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter i. 19.) 4. Peter determines the point himself, and expounds the prophecy in Isaiah of Christ. — And he himself doctrinally lays down Christ for the true and only Foundation in the Zion of the church ; disallowed indeed by Pharisees and the proud builders of Babel, but approved of God, (1 Peter ii. 4 — 7,) and solemnly preached by Peter at Jerusalem, (Acts ii. 22, 14,) and unanimously attested by all the apostles, and recognised for the only true Foundation of the church. (Acts iv. 11, 12.) Will any, then, that so admire and adore Peter for their own ends, yet dare to gainsay him to the face, and force him into the foundation so flatly against himself? 5. Peter, as mere Peter, could never victoriously grapple with the assaults of Satan. — He had been finally and fatally foiled, had not Christ prayed, had not this Rock sustained him. The church must have a foundation against which all the gates of heU can never prevail, and which infuses virtue and invincible consistency into the building itself; as if a quick and living rock should inspire and breathe, into the stones of a palace fixed upon it, some of those mineral eradiations wherewith itself is endued, to preserve it from mouldering and turning into dust. The church must have a vital and quickening foundation ; that it may not only stand against impetuous winds, but be a growing temple, (Eph. ii. 21,) and "increase with the increase of God." (Col. ii. 19.) The church hath such potent, subtle, and furious enemies, that she needs strength from the " mighty God of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel ; " (Gen. xlix. 24 ;) one that is stronger than that infernal strong man armed ; (Luke xi. 21, 22 ;) a "Lion of the tribe of Judah," (Rev. v. 5,) that can tear that lion of hell in pieces. Since, then, Peter was but a mere man, a frail mortal man, a sinful man, weak and impotent to resist the powers of darkness, and one that absolutely rejects any such honour from himself or any other, as abhor- ring such derogation from the glory of his and our most blessed Saviour ; let us infer that " this rock " in the text can in no wise be meant of Peter, or any other of the apostles. And that this was the sense of the ancient church, I might abundantly prove : let it suffice to recite but two or three testimonies. Chrysostom, on this text, "Upon this rock," expounds it, Tovteo-ti, Tyj 3JJ0-T5J TY}; of^oKoyias' * "On the faith of confession;" that is, • Chkysostomus, torn. iv. p. 344. edit. Eton. 58 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. " Upon Christ, in whom thou believest, and whom thou hast confessed." And let Chrysostom explain himself: Ova e»7rsv, Ettj tcu rizTpco' ovts yap STTi TOO tx.vQpca7ra>, aAX' etti tyjv 'stkj'tiv T)]V lauTOU, gxxXrjcriay cuxoSojU-ijo-:* * "lie said not. Upon Peter; for he did not build his church upon a man, but upon the faith of himself." In hke manner Ambrose, or his contemporary, upon the second of the Epliesians, citing this text : Supei' istam 'petram ; hoc est, in hac catho- llcce Jidei confessione stutuo fideles ad vitam .• "f "Upon this rock," that is, " Upon this confession of the cathohc faith, do I fix, settle, or build, belieyers unto salvation." But, of all, none more clear than Austin, in his sermons upon Matthew : Super hanc petram quam con/essus es, id est, Super meipsum, Filiiun Dei vivi, ^c. Super me cBdificabo te, non me super te, ^c.X " Upon this rock whom thou hast confessed ; that is. Upon myself, the Son of the living God, &c. I will build thee upon me, not me upon thee." Again, in his one hundred and twenty-fourth treatise on John : Super heme petram cpiam con/essus es, ^'c. : petra erat Christus, super qnod fundamenttim etiam ipse cedificatus est Petrus : § " Upon this rock which thou hast confessed, &c : the rock was Christ, upon which foun- dation even Peter himself was built." Again, in his tenth treatise upon the Epistle of John : Super hanc petram, ^c. : super hanc Jidem ; sxiper id quod dictum est, Tu es Christus, Filius Dei tiivi, ^-c. : || " ' Upon this rock,' &c. : upon this faith : upon that which had been spoken of : " (that is, by Peter :) " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." So that when Austin or other of the fathers explain "this rock" by "this faith " or "this confession," we see, they understood it objectively of our blessed Lord, the Son of God.^ Many more might be cited, but I hasten. OujECTiON. Some have replied that "though Peter be not the main, principal, and essential foundation of the church, yet he may be admitted as a secondary, a vicarian, a ministerial foundation, without detriment to the honour of Christ." Answer 1 . I answer. This secondary foundation is an absurd distinc- tion, and contrary to the very nature of a foundation. Whatever is laid upon the foundation is a superstructure or part of the building. Vitruvius, the grand master of Koman architecture, taught his Romanists no such fond language, when he mmlions foundations in three several places ;** nor Barbarus upon him, nor Palladius. Let us pass, then, from artificial, to the metaphorical or spiritual, buildings, for whose support scripture supplies us with no such additions or coagmentations with the main foundation. If any urge out of St. Paul, that the Epliesians were " built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets ; " (Eph. ii. 20 ;) it must be understood of a doctrinal foundation, not an essential : for Christ himself is expressly there termed " the corner-stone," the XiQog anpoyaivionog, " the grand, massy stone, that fills up the whole ai*ea, and • Chrysostomus in Ilomil. i. in Pentecost, torn. viii. p. 979. t AiinndSii'S in Ephes. ii. p. 1998. edit. Pari.s. 6U9. % Alkjustinus inMatth. senn. xiii. torn. s. p. 58, edit. Bas. 15G9. § Idem iw Joh. Evanff. Uact. cxxiv. torn. ix. p. 572. || Idem in Epist. Johan. tract, x. torn. x. p. G49. H So Sixtus II. in Decret Gratiani, cfius. xxiv. qiia;st. i. cap. x. col. 1835. •• ViTRLVius, lib. i. cap. 3, 5; c< lib. iii. cap. 3. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 59 reaches to all four corners ; " " on whom " solely " all the buildino-," ■cjao-a, "the whole builcUng," "is fitly framed together." (Verse 21.) The apostles, indeed, did lay this foundation, and no other; (1 Cor. iii. 11;) and the Ephesian saints were " built upon this foundation of the apostles," that is, which the apostles did lay ; and so it is called their foundation architectonice [" architecturally "], or by a metonymy. They, preaching the doctrine of faith in Christ, did lay down for the sole rock this great and fundamental point, (though rejected of the Jewish builders,) — that " there is none other name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts iv. 11, 12.) 2. Again : this their secondary foundation (which, we say, is doc- trinal only) must be co-extended to aU the apostles and prophets, by the plumb-line of the same text : and therefore their laying of Peter for the only foundation, though but secondary, will sink as in the moorish ground by Tiber, and will prove no single foundation at all ; for all the other apostles are joint-heirs of the same pre-eminence. Holy Paul, speaking of such a doctrinal foundation, says, that he preached the gospel where Christ was not named, "lest he should build upon another man's foundation." (Rom. xv. 20.) 3. Hence it appears, that the preaching of the gospel of Christ is all the foundation that the apostle pretends to ; namely, to a doctrinal laying of Christ, as the true foundation of His church. Paul was but a work- man, a labourer, dexterously handling his evangehcal instruments ; and Peter was no other. Nay, Paul testifies, that " he laboured abun- dantly, more than they all," in laying this foundation, and building upon it ; (1 Cor. XV. 10 ;) for, " So," says he, " we preached, and so ye believed." (Verses 11, 12.) " No other foundation can any man lay" — he speaks it prjTo}; KUi avrippijrajf, " both expressly and exclusively," — ■STxpa. TO >csj/x=vov, prcEter quod jactum vel positum est, " No other beside it." MrjSrV s(jtm [xsctov yj/j^wv Ttat XpKTTOv, " None between us and Christ," as Chrysostom glosses it ; and proceeds : Av yap ytvBvai Ti [jis]v.* " We are not justified by ourselves, nor by our wisdom, understanding, piety, or works which we have wrought in hohness of heart ; but hy faith, by which God Omnipotent hath justi- fied all from the beginning (of the world) : unto whom be glory for ever ■ and ever. Amen." Let Ambrose succeed, who flourished at Millane [Milan] : or who- ever was author of those Commentaries, he was co-eval to Damasus, and was much of the same age with Ambrose ; Bellarmine judges him to be Hilarius Diaconus, (Be Script. Ecd. p. 98.) And he declares this expressly on that text : " Being justified freely by his grace : " (Rom. iii. 24 :) Quia, nihil operantes, nee vicem reddentes, sola fide justijicati sunt, dono Dei .-f " Tbey are said to be 'freely' justified, because, working nothing, nor rendering any duty or service, [they] are justified hij faith alone : it is the gift of God." And this, " by faith alone," he four times repeats in his exposition upon the fourth chapter. Nay, Gratian in the third part of the Decretum cites him thus : Gratia Dei in baptismate non requirit yemitum, non planctwn, vel opus aliquod, sed solam fidem ; et omnia gratis condonat : J " The grace of God in baptism requires not mourning, or lamentation, or any work, but faith alone; and He freely forgives all." Where the new Gloss, indeed, set forth by Gregory XIIL, says, that Gratian took this citation out of the ordinary Gloss, not out of Ambrose himself ; whose words on the eleventh to the Romans are, Nisi solam ex corde professionem,^ "Except a profession only from the heart." Which is true ; but it seems hereby, that both Strabus, the author of the Gloss, |1 and Gratian took the mind of Ambrose more clearly than these new Glossators. For, before, Ambrose speaks of the Jews, their returning to faith ; and after uses these words : Hoc decrevit, ut solam fidem poneret per quam omnia peccata abole- rentur : " God decreed this, that he might appoint faith alone through which all sins might be abolished." So that now we have Ambrose and Strabus and their own Gratian, all agreeing in this doctrine of faith alone. Here, though these Commentaries by some are not judged to be genuine to Ambrose, yet, since they are cited by Strabus, and the synod of Paris, a.d. 825, (p. 655,) and Gratian, and urged by Romanists in their own cause, they ought not to reject them. For it is a rule in the canon-law. Quod pro se quis inducit, ^c. : " What testimony any bring for themselves, they ought not to reject when brought against them." (Dist. 19, cap." Si Romanorum.) However, we may put Hilary in his room ; in Can. viii. in Matth. expressly : Fides sola justificat, that "faith «^o«e justifies." (Edit. Basil. 1523, p. 355.) The next shall be the testimony of Bernard of France, who died in the year 1153 ; who expresses himself thus : Tain validus ad justifican- dum, quam nmltus ad ignoscendum. Quamohrem quisquis pro peccatis compunctus esurit et sitit justitiam, credat in te qui justificas impium ; et • Clementis Prima ad Corinth, edit. Jun. p. 41, Oson. 1633. t Ambrosius, edit. Paris, 1569, col. 1819. X Gratiani Decret. pars iii. di^t. iv. de Consecr. cap. 99, edit. Romoe, col. 2635 ; whereby we see, Ambrose was anciently taken to be the author of the Commentary. § Ambrosius in Rom. xi. col. 1862. II Trithemius De Script. Eccles. fol. 56, B. VOL. VI. F 66 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. SOLAM justijicatvs per fidem, 'pacem habebit ad Deum* " He is as powerful to justify, as to 'multiply pardon.' (Isai. Iv. 7.) Wherefore whoever, being under compunction for his sins, hungers and thirsts after righteousness, let him believe in thee who justifiest the ungodly ; and being justified hy faith alone, he shall have peace with God." And then he proceeds to exhort to holiness by eyeing and following of Christ. And otherwhere : Credens sola fide hominem j^osse sahari, cum desi- derio pei'cipiendi sacramentum, ^c. Si mors anticipet, ^c.-\ " Behev- ing that a man can be saved by faith alone, with a desire of receiving the sacrament," &c. " If death should prevent," &c. I shall not expend more time with further allegations of the ancients, or any particular discussion of these, or of that famous canon of the council of Carthage,^: or that other of Orange, (cap. 5 et 6,) under Leo I. : neitlier shall I recite the testimony of learned Bradwardine,§ or the ancient Confessions of faith set forth by the Waldenses. I might show that this doctrine hath been held, by the faithful in all ages, consonant to the holy scriptures : unto which the church of England hath given a full and ample attestation, both in her Articles and Homilies : H " Who- ever preaches contrary to these Articles is to be excommunicated ; " (Canones, 1571, tit. Concionatores, p. 20 ;) which are the test and touchstone of the soundness of the members of this church. "Of the Justification of Man," the eleventh Article : " We are accompted [accounted] righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort ; as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification."^ If we look then into the Homihes, we find, that, after this doctrine is asserted, and proved by scriptures and several of the fathers, it is added, " This saying, — that we be justified by faith only, freely and withovit works, as being unable to deserve our justifica- tion at God's hands, &c. ; and therefore wholly to ascribe the merit and deserving of our justification unto Christ only, and his most precious blood- shedding, — this faith the holy scripture teacheth. This is the strong rock and foundation of Christian religion. This doctrine all old and ancient auctors [authors] of Christ's church do approve. This doctrine advanceth and setteth forth the true glory of Christ, and beateth down the vain-glory of man. This whosoever denieth, is not to be compted [counted] for a Christian man, not for a setter-forth of Christ's glory ; but for an adversary to Christ and his gospel, and for a setter-forth of man's vain-glory." ** Blessed be God for this excellent sermon of the church of England, which all good Christians do ex animo [" heartily "] reverence and embrace ! To which a person of great note f f may well be admitted to bring-in a gloss or comment : " As for sixch as hold, with the church of Rome, that we cannot be saved by Christ alone, without works ; they do, not only by a circle of conse- • Bernardus in Cantic sect. xxii. fol. 130, B. t Epist, Lvxvii. fol. 194, A. X Anno 418. JuSTELLI Cod. Can. Eccl. Afriv. p. 293. § Be Causd Dei, lib. i. cap. 43, p. 392. || Canones 36, 46, 51, anno 1604. IT Article xi., composed 1562, and printed 1571*, p. 8. •• " Book of Homilies," in the second part of the sermon "Of Salvation," second edit. p. 854. 4to, 1568; and in fol. 165.'>, p. 16. tt Hooker in [his] " Discourse of Justification, " p. 500, at the end of hia " Polity," 1622. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 67 quence, but directly, deny tlie foundation of faith ; they hold it not, no, not so much as by a thread." And again : * " That faith alone justi- fieth, — by this speech we never meant to exclude either hope or charity from being always joined as inseparable mates with faith in the man that is justified ; or works fi'om being added as necessary duties required at the hands of every justified man : but to show that faith is the only hand which putteth on Christ to justification." "Which agrees with that known saying : Fides sola justijicat, sed non solitaria : " Faith stands alone in the work of justification, but is always attended with the sanc- tifying fruits and effects of the Spirit of God." And thus Austin recon- ciles Paul and James. (August. Lih. de Diversis Qucestionibus, col. 599, tom. iv. Basil. 1569.) Now, to conclude : WTiat says " the convention at Trent " (as Henry II. of France termed it) f to this scriptural and apostolical doctrine of the Reformed churches ? Truly they proceed no higher than to curse such as say [that] men are formally justified by the righteousness of Christ ; that is, essentially, purely, and exclusively : which they explain in the very next canon, and curse them again who shall say that men are justified by the sole imputation of Christ's righteousness, &c.J; And they curse them again that shall say, that justifying faith is nothing else than a trusting of the divine mercy, forgiving sins for Christ's sake, &c.§ Nay, they tell us, " It becomes the cUvine clemency not to forgive us our sins without any satisfaction ; " |1 that is, of ours. To which they annex a cursing canon against such as affirm "that the whole penalty is always remitted of God together with the sin, and that there is no other satisfaction of penitents (required) than faith, by which they apprehend Christ to have satisfied for them." ^ By these and the fore- said testimonies, all may see what is the doctrine of holy scripture, of the primitive times and the succeeding ages of the church ; (which might be abundantly amplified in testimonies ;) and what is the doctrine of the Reformed churches, and of ours in particular ; and what is the doctrine of the Romanists, how opposite, how contradictory. But let us descend to a second inquiry ; and that is about a great point of worship. (2.) Concerning the ivorship of God by images. Let us now show that the church of God, consonant to the holy scriptures, hath in all ages given notable testimonies against idolatry, and the worship of images, or of God by images, as being flatly against the second commandment. As faith is that bond and ligament which unites the true church and every living member thereof to Christ their Head, so pure worship is the honour and reverence and obedience which the spouse of Christ renders to her Lord and Husband, who wiU not communicate his glory to graven images. (Isai. xlii. 8.) Idolatry is compared to whoredom in scripture, that dissolves the knot of marriage. God sent a biU of divorce for this cause to the ancient external church of the Jews, (Isai. 1. 1 ; Jer. iii. 8,) and expressly upon this account denounces against her that she was not his wife : (Hosea ii. 2 :) and will God, think you, spare any particular Gentile church, guilty of so fearful a crime ; having annexed that high argument of his jealousy against * " Polity," p. ai3. t l^ist. Cone. Trid. lib. iv. p. 369. X Sess. vi. can. • 10, II. § Ibid. can. 12. |1 Sess. xiv. can. 8. ^ Ibid. can. 12. F 2 68 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. such as violate the second commandment, and repiitnig them as haters of him, and whom he will judicially visit with great detestation ? For the exhibition of this point, — how the true church of God hath in all ages held close to the institutions of chaste and holy worship in spirit and truth, — I might transcribe testimonies out of all the ancients, that were the luminaries and columns of the primitive church, down along till Gregory the Great ; and after his time, also, many notable and pregnant instances, through the very depth of Popery, both of emperors and churchmen, that did stoutly resist that growing abomination in the world. I shall, to avoid prolixity, mention some of the councils that have determined against this point, and draw to an issue. That of Elvira near Granada in Spain, celebrated a. d. 305, (as Baro- nius thinks,) is peremptory in the case ; * and I shall desire to cite it out of Agobardus, because of that his ancient testimony, about the year 830, to the truth of this canon, which runs thus : Ab orthodoxis patrihvs definitum est picturns in ecdesiu fieri non dehere : Nee quod colitur et adoratur in parietihus depinyatnr -.^ "It is enjoined by the orthodox fathers, that pictui-es ought not to be in a church : ' Nor let that be painted on the walls which is to be worshipped and adored.'" It were vain to spend time to show how Albaspinseus and others shift and shuffle about this canon. Let that good old bishop of Lyons, Agobardus, living so many hundred years nearer the time, give his sense upon it : " Let us keep the King's highway ; the apostles, the masters (or teachers) of the church, — they have taught it," &c. " Let God be adored, worshipped, reverenced : let us sacrifice to him alone, either in the sacrament of the body and blood, or of a contrite heart," &c.:;|: " Let us look upon a picture as a picture, without Hfe, sense, and reason. So, likewise, if we see winged angels painted, or the apostles preaching, or the martyrs suffering torments, we can hope for no help," &c. " Wherefore, to avoid this superstition, the orthodox fathers did rightly determine," &c., in the canon aforesaid. § The very same is extant in Ivo, only ne put for nee ;^ and so it is read in Sixtus Senensis and Burchardus.^ And [to show] that Agobardus understood this canon aright, against any religious worship to be given to pictures and images, he further adds, " Neither let their deceitful craftiness run to their old starting-holes, to say that they do not worship the images of the saints, but the saints themselves ; " (that is, by the images ;) " for God cries out, ' I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven images,' " &c.** Nay, further ; so strict were the good fathers of that synod aforesaid, that they would not suffer any idols in their houses. To conclude : the authenticalness of this synod must not be questioned, since several of its decrees are recited by Gratian, whose whole work is confirmed by Eugenius III., and, by others succeeding, canonized for church-law and the government of ecclesiastical courts. ff But let their confirmation be how it will, it is a notable testimony • Concil. Elibertinum, can. 36 et 41 ; Baronu'S, ad annum 305, n. 39, &c. t Agobarpi Opera, Paris. 1G05, p. 254. t Pp. 251, 252. § Page 253. || Ivo- Nis Carnotensis Decret. lib. iii. cap. 40, Lovan. 1561. H Sixxi Senensis Bibliotk. lili. V. annot. 247; Burchardus, lib. iii. cap. 35* p. 85, B. •• Agobardus, p. 254. tt As Trithemuis affirms De Script. Eccles. p. 73, A. ; and finally by Gregory XIII. in bia Roman edition. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 60 against them, even in that age : and however Sixtus Seneusis and Alba- spiuseus would evade, as if it were decreed against the Heathens' images and pictures, as in the eleventh canon of the twelfth council of Toledo, that is but a weak shift ; for, was it ever known that the Christians brought the pictures or statues of the heathen gods into their churches ? No, no ; the fear was of a new kind of imagery, and of worshipping of God and our Lord and saints and angels by representations and pictures ; which at length obtained dreadfully, to the high dishonour of God, con- tempt of his commandments, the ruin of the eastern empire, and fearful judgments on the western. It were too long to trace what direful stirs and commotions were in the east about the time of the second council of Nice ; and what excel- lent testimony was given against it by the council of Frankfort, and the four books of the emperor Charles the Great, the synod Gentil. ac Parisiens., &c., and by the church of England, in an epistle written to Charles by Alcuinus in the name of the princes and bishops of our land, execrating that idolatry, as Hoveden and Simeon of Durham testify ; * but, notwithstanding all opposition, how it prevailed in every age, till at last it was finally ratified at Trent ; and what eminent witness hath been all along raised up by God against it. These things, being matter of fact and story, would rise to a just treatise : and many things relating to it being amply handled by Rainolds, Usher, Mede, and Daille,t &c., famous in their generations, who have skilfully handled the sword taken from behind the ephod ; I shall come to a close of this paragraph ; only recommend to your diligent reading those excellent Homilies of the church of England " against the Peril of Idolatry ; " which, if well read and digested, I hope, by divine blessing, may prove a sovereign antidote against the creeping cancer of Romish idolatry. But, I suppose, this will be the subject of a complete position among these Exercises, and therefore at present shall enlarge no further. COROLLARIES. And now let us hasten to some inferences or conclusions flowing from this text and point, — of Christ being the only Foundation of his church, enduring throughout all ages, united to him by their most holy faith, and adhering to him by holy and pure worship. COROLLARY I. From what has been hitherto treated of, toe may learn which is the true church of Christ ; and xohere it hath subsisted and been preserved in all ages ; and hoio to discern and know it, and the true members thereto belonging ; namely, by its being built upon Christ alone, the firm rock and basis of its constitution. Such are to be owned for living members, who acknowledge Christ, the Son of the living God, to be the true and only Head of the church : such as are built upon Christ, and the doctrine of the holy apostles and prophets : (Eph. ii. 20 :) such as adliere to the scriptures, and receive and refuse things as they are proved or rejected by scripture : • HovEDENii Annaks, p. 232, B., edit. Lond. 1596; and Simeon Dunelmensis, col. 111. Lond. 1652 f Rainoldus Be Idol. Eccles. Rom.; Usher's "Answer to the Challenge in Ireland ; " Mede's " Apostasy of the latter Times ; " Dall^eus De Imaginibus. 70 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. to whom botli Peter and Paul aud James and all the apostles' writings are equally precious : that dare not advance human traditions into a parity of honour with the divine writings of scripture, dictated by the Spirit of God ; which teaches by what notes and characters to discern the true chuixh of God : (not like those abominable wretches who, finding Paul so directly levelled against them, thought of censuring his epistle as savouring of heresy, and the author for a hot-headed person :)* that tremble at such devices, and dare not try the church by glorious and pompous visibility, universality, and continual succession of bishops in one place, looking upon them as false and counterfeit notes ; but by pure scripture-doctrine, by sacraments rightly administered, by adherence to Christ alone for righteousness and justification in the sight of God, by spiritual and scriptural worship, and such-hke. We deny not, but firmly hold, that the true church of Christ hath been always in some measure visible; visibilis, licet non omnibus visa ;\ capable of being seen and known by such whose eyes are anointed by scripture eye-salve. Indeed, if that were true which we find in the Roman Catechism, set forth by the authority of Trent, concerning that article in the Creed about the church : Prcecipue in hoc articulo ecclesia bonorum sitmd et malormn multihidinem, ^c, significat ; % that " ' the church ' in this article doth principally signify the multitude both of good and evil : " then, indeed, there might be some tolerable plea for the splendour and perspi- cuity of the church in most ages. But when we consider the sharp persecutions raised against the apostles and the primitive church by the Jews, and against their successors by the Gentile, Pagan empire ; — so fierce and terrible that Diocletian doubted not to erect columns of triumph over Christianity among the Arevacce in Spain, (which some take to be remembered in Arevacco near Madrid,) with these inscriptions : Nomine Christianorum deleto ; and, in another, Superstifione Christi ubique deletd : § namely, " The name of Christ being extinct ; " and, " The superstition of Christ being every where abolished ; " or when we reflect upon the Aptofj^avtoc, " the violence of the Arians " against the sincere embracers of the holy doctrine of Peter, — that Clnist was the eternal Son of the living God, and so notably determined by tlie first council of Nice ; or when we caU to mind the astonishing tragedies acted by the Papal power for about twelve hundred years against such as have kept close to the same apostolical faith and purity of worship ; we may well take up the threnodia or " lamentations " of the apostle concei'niug the church under the Syrian princes : " They wandered about in sheep- skins and goat-skins," &c. " (of whom the world was not worthy :) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." (Heb. xi. 37, 38.) True is that of Hdary, — that the church did meet with the apostles intra ccenaada et secreta, \\ "in chambers aud secret places ; " who afterwards, sighing out his complaints against the Arians, [exclaims,] Male ecclesiam Dei in tectis oidijiciisque reveramini : " You do iU to reverence the church of God in stately buildings," &c. • Sir Edwin Sandys's "Survey of Religion in the West," p. 116, edit. Lond. 1637. t " Visible, though not seen by all." — Edit. t Catechism. Rom. p. 79, Antverp. 1591. § OccoNis iVMWt(>;ft. «(/ //cmW. 4to. Antverp. 1579. II Hilarius Contra Au.ventmm, p. 282. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 71 Monies mihi et sylvcB et lacus sunt tutiores .• * "I count the mountains, woods, and marshes to be more safe." And as the Gloss cites him : Potilis in cavernu ecclesiam delitescere, quum in iwimariis sedibus emi- nere : " That the church is rather to be found lying hid in secret caverns, than to be eminently conspicuous in principal sees." But, not to heap up witnesses, the testimony of the church of Eng- land, in that notable Homily '• against the Peril of Idolatry," may suffice once for all, out of Eusebius and Austin : " That when Christian religion was most pure and indeed golden, Christians had but low and poor conventicles, and simple oratories, and caves under ground, called cryptcB ; where they (for fear of persecution) assembled secretly toge- ther." f And so it hath continued more or less during the Papal dominion ; according to the prophecy, that the woman, that is, the church, should recede ' into a wilderness-state for twelve liundred and sLxty years from the taking up of Constantine into heaven. (Rev. xii. 6, 14.) The true chm-ch of Christ, consisting of all its members, (the greater part whereof is triumphant in heaven, and the rest militant vxpon earth ; on which account only is it to be genuinely called "cathohc,")J cannot properly be styled " visible to the eye of sense," but, according to our ancient Creed, " to the eye of faith." We believe there is such a church, all whose true members are certainly and only known to God. (2 Tim. ii. 19.) For, what eagle-sighted angel can search the heart, and positively determine the truth of faith in that sealed fountain, whereby the heart flows out in streams of love unto Christ 1 Against such a soul, against a society composed of such heavenly members, against such a church, the gates of hell shall never prevail. But against a Catholic, external, visibly glorious church, the gates of hell have so far prevailed in many ages, that she hath been reduced into a very low and gloomy estate ; as she was in the vision of Zechary, when the " man riding upon a red horse stood still among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom by night." (Zech. i. 8.) Our Lord promises the church's existency and its perennial duration throughout all ages, and his own presence among his myrtle- trees in a dark bottom, and his walking among his golden candlesticks in the deep night of adversity ; but not its glory and perspicuity, not triple crowns and eminencies. Peter never came forth shining with pre- cious stones, and ghstering in silks, and overlaid with gold, and prancing on a white palfrey, guarded with Switzers, and hemmed in with a crowd and noise of servants ; as Bernard accosts Eugenius IV., telhng him [that] in these he succeeded the imperial Constantine, and not Peter. § Our Lord never promised such glory and splendour; those 'fine things become another kind of creature in the Revelation. (Rev. xviii. 16.) The true church hath usually been as indigent of silver and gold as the true Peter ; (Acts iii. 6 ;) yet hath been preserved in all ages from extremity and ruin. Some particular churches, some members of the true and invisible catholic church, whereof Christ is the Head, have been always marching along the howhng wilderness of this world toward • HiLARius Contra Auxentium, p. 286. t " Homily," part iii. p. 72, B. 4to. t Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield's [Morton] " Grand Impostm-e," p. 9. § Ber- NARDUS De Cons, ad Eugen, lib. iv. fol. 142, B. 72 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHUK.CH. Canaan. The cliurch hath been mostwhile in a troublous and desert estate ; few Ehms of palm-trees to sit under, or fountains in which to wash her sacred eyes : yet, as to purity of worship and the food of heavenly manna, she hath always enjoyed some Moseses, some pastors to feed her in the wilderness, such as have prophesied to her all along. (Rev. xii. 6 ; xi. 3.) Her faith in Christ, and chaste love to him, have been clearly discerned by none but his holy eye ; especially in times of general defection from the truths of God, when, as to her secret commu- nion in ordinances, none but such whose eyes are clarified in the crystal streams of holy scripture, have been able to discern her. But there have been some few times, when very Balaams, having climbed up into the mountain of contemplation and stood upon a prophetical rock, and look- ing toward this wilderness, have cried out in an ecstasy, upon a sight of the glorious beauty of the church, " How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob, and thy tabernacles, 0 Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of Hgn-aloes which the Lord hath planted, as cedar-trees beside the waters." (Num. xxiv. 1, 5, 6.) The church hath been always visible in se [" in itself"] : God hath left no age without a witness of the pure word dispensed, of the two sacraments duly administered, and of spiritual worship and order managed in a comely, apostohcal manner, without the garish dresses of human fancies and institutions ; which ai-e the only proper notes, marks, and characters, Vi^here the true church hath been and is, and where the faithful pastors are to be found, who " stand in the counsel of God." (Jer. xxiii. 22.) But who can help, if blind men cry out [that] they see her not 1 or [if] such as want the optic-glass of scriptures, and call for a gay, splendid, sensual appearance of glittering and costly ceremonies, — whose ears [are] filled with temple-music, their eyes ravished with stately pictures and Babylonian images portrayed with vermilion, (Ezek. xxiii. 14,) and their nostrils perfumed with the rich odours of Arabia, — cry out, Tenqilum Domini, " The temple of the Lord is here ? " Was not Nebuchadnezzar's image dedicated with great glory, set off" with concerts of music, and attended with numerous worshippers 1 Alas ! this universal consent, grand acclamations, copious assemblies, uninter- rupted successions in mitred habits, splendour and pomp and gi-andeur, are not the tokens of His kingdom ; which " cometh not with observa- tion," (Luke xvii. 20,) or, as Agrippa and Bernice, [j^sto. -sroAArjf (fiavra- (nug, " with stately and splendid presence." (Acts xxv. 23.) Heathenism and Turcism may plead for a sutfrage in such cases. Christ's flock is a "little flock." (Luke xii. 32.) " In this world ye shall have tribulation," says our Lord ; (John xvi. 33 ;) and " in many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts xiv. 22.) Now here I might, out of several ancient records and monuments, show the succession of some parts of the true church of Chi'ist in France, in the Alpine valleys, and in Britain, and elsewhere in the East ; where true doctrine (and, for the main, true discipHne and worship) hath been preserved all along, though secretly, for the most part, and not with external glory and splendour : but that would infringe upon the dispatch of the remaining; corollaries. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 73 COROLLARY II. This text, and doctrine thence deduced, discover all false-pretending churches from the true. Such as lay any other foundation than Christ the Son of God, such as "hold not the Head," (Col. ii. 19,) such as build not upon the doc- trinal foundation of the holy apostles and prophets, cannot be true churches of Christ. Let good Hilary be judge : Quisquis Christum, qualis ab apostolis est prcedicatus, negavit, Antichristiis est : * " He is the Antichrist, "whoever denies Christ," qualis, " ' sucli as ' he is preached by the apostles." Then such as are departed from the doctrine of the apos- tles in fundamental points, are counted by Hilary Antichristian societies. To him we may adjoin holy Austin : Mendax est Antichristus, qui ore profitetur Jesum esse Christum, et factis negat. Opera loquuntur, et verba requirimus ? Idea mendax quia aliud loquitur, aliud agit. Quis enim malus non bene vult loqui ? f " Antichrist is a liar, who professes Jesus to be the Christ with his mouth, and denies him in deeds ; therefore a liar, because he speaks one thing, and does another. The works speak, and do we require words 1 For what evil man will not speak well ? " And again : Qi/cere ab Arianis, Eunomianis, Macedonianis ; confitentur Jesum Christum in came venisse, ^'c. Quid ergh facimus ? wide discerni- mus, ^'C. ? Nee nos negamus, nee illi negant, Sfc. Invenimus factis negare. " Ask of Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians ; they confess Jesus Christ to be come in the flesh, &c. What shall we do then ? how shall we discern him? Neither we nor they deny it. We find that they deny him in deeds." As the apostle saith of such, " They profess to know God ; but in works they deny him." (Titus i. 16.) Quceramus in factis, non in Unguis : J " Let us seek it in their works, and not in their tongues." If we examine their Creeds, they profess to believe all the articles, and more too ; but yet in all His three offices they evacuate the truth of their pretended credence, as the learned have abundantly evinced. § Which being true, then their own rule in the canon-law con- demns them : Certum est quod is committit in legem qui, legis verba complectens, contra legis nititur voluntatem : || " It is certain that he trespasses against the law who, embracing the words of the law, practises against the mind of the law." For " by their traditions they have made the commandments of God of none effect." (Matt. xv. 6.) So true is that which Ambrose, or some ancient under his name, thunders against such : Quicquid non ab apostolis traditum est, seeleribvs plenuyn est : ^ " Whatever is not delivered by the apostles, is full of wickednesses." But before we enter the particulars of this inquiry, we must conclude that the question in hand ought not to be determined by particular doctors of this or that communion. It is not what an Erasmus, or a Cassander, or an Espencoeus, or Ferus, do teach ; nor what a BeUarmine, a Staple- ton, a Scioppius, a Pighius ; nor what the Spanish divines in some cases at Trent, or tlie French divines in point of supremacy and defence of the Pragmatical Sanction ; nor wherein the Thomists and Scotists, the Domi- * HiLARiiTS Contra Auxentium, p. 282. t Augl'Stinus in Ep. Johan. tract, iii. torn. ix. p. 598. t Idem, tract, vi. p. 623, § Rainolds, Whitaker, Sharp, Crakanthorpe, Wotton, &c. II Regiila Juris 88, in vi. Decretal, tit. v. *i AMKR081US 1 Cor. iv. col. 1892. 74 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. nicans and Jesuits, do conflict. That were an incongruous metliod, either to discern their minds by, or to accommodate any syncretisms or fallacious unims [unions]. These are but personal opinions : they -will stand to none of their doctors. But what councils and authorized assem- blies, what confessions and catechisms, composed by their direction and warrantry, have determined — there lies the rule of inquiry : and there- fore I shall here touch upon no authorities or citations but such as are found in the canon-law, the council and Catechism of Trent, their mis- sals. Bulls, and determinations from the chair. As for others, [I shall touch upon them] but obiter et per transennam [" by the way and in a cursory manner "] ; as collateral proofs, or confirmed by Papal edicts ; or such authors as have passed the trial of their Purging Indexes, set out by then- own authority. Let us then proceed to some inquiries in this affair. inquiry i. Is that a true church of Christ that determines fundamental doctrines contrary to Christ and his apostles, that builds upon another foundation than Christ ? — That they have assumed Peter for the only head of the militant church, might be abundantly proved : insomuch that if piinces and emperors do but perform their duty as keepers of both tables, how greatly are they offended ! As when Charles V. took to himself some spiritual jurisdiction, how does Baronius exclaim, as if he set up another head of the church, ^j?"o monstro et ostento,^ " as a portentous mon- ster ! " which might with much more truth be retorted upon themselves in respect to our Lord, whom they rob of his glory, when they ascribe it to Peter. Let but Peter be imprisoned by Agrippa, how does the same Baronius cry out ! — Magno sane tcrrcemotu ecclesia Christi tunc concuti visa est, cum ij)sa i^etra in ecclesia: fundament o locata, tantd agitatione quassari conspiceretur .• f " The church of Christ truly then seemed to be shaken with a great earthquake, when the very rock placed in the foun- dation of the church, was seen to be so sorely shaken." It seems, Peter was the rock placed by Christ for the foundation of the church. But let us look a little further. • Clemens, in his first epistle to James the brother of our Lord, written to him after the apostle was dead, (as the learned Crakanthorpe hath proved,:};) which is set forth at Basil, and by Turrian and others, § and is extant in the first tome of the councils, and ratified by the canon-law ; which speaks thus : Simon Petrus, ^'c., vercB fidei merito et integrce prcedicationis obtentu, findamenfum esse ecclesice defnitus est : || " Simon Peter, by the merit of his true faith, and having obtained it by his sincere preaching, is defined to be the foundation of the church." The divinity transcends the Latin in barba- rism. But it seems by the forger, that it was our Lord's doing, conso- nant to after-popes' asserting the same : " That He committed to Peter, the blessed key-keeper of eternal life, the laws both of the earthly and heavenly empii'e."^ And again, treating of Peter: Hunc in consortium individuoi unitatis assumpfutn, id quod ipse erat voluit nominari ; dicendo, • Baronius ad annum 109", n. 28. t Ad annum 44, n. 3. X Crakanthorpe's "CouucUs," p. 422. § BasU. 1526 ; Turrian. Paris. 1668, fol. 326. 1| Dist. Ixxx. cap. 2, fol. 607 ; et caus. vi. quaest. i. cap. 6 ; et caus. xi. quaest. iii. cap. 12 et'l5 ; edit. Rom. ^ Dist. xx. cap. 1, p. 130. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 75 Tu es Pefrus, ^r. : ut cefertii cedijicatio templi inirahili munere gratioi Dei in Petri soliditate consisteret : * " This person being taken into fellow sliip of individual unity," (0 fearful !) " He would have him called that which He was ; saying, ' Thou art Peter,' &c. : that the budding of the eternal temple might consist in the solidity of Peter, by the wonder- ful gift of the grace of God." This needs no gloss. But the learned Glossators upon the Common Extravagants, — after they have expounded Cephas to signify " a head," they proceed : Slcut hi corpore materiali est ponere caput unum, in quo sunt omnes sensus, sen plenitudo sentiendi ; sic in ecclesid militante (ne sit tanquam corpus monstruosum, si duo haberet capita) est tanthn ponere unum caput ; videlicet, Romaniim pontificem, in quo est 2i^^nitudo potestatis et auctoritatis,- ^-e. "f " As in a material body there is but one head placed, in which are all the senses, or a fid- ness of sensation ; so in the church militant (lest it should be like a monstrous body ; if it have two heads) there is but one head placed, namely, the Roman bishop ; in whom is the fulness of power and autho- rity." And Boniface VIII. (in Extrav. Comm. lib. i. cap. 1 . de Majorit.) : Igitiir ecclesice iinius et unices, unum coipus, unum caput ; non duo capita, quasi monstrum ; Christus, videlicet, et Christi vicarius ; Petrus, Petrique successor, ^'c. : " Therefore, of the one only church, one body, one head ; not two heads, like a monster ; namely, Christ and Peter, Christ's vicar and Peter's successors." By these doctrines we are now clearly illuminated, that, as to the influence and government of the mihtant church, Christ hath excluded himself from headship, lest the body should be monstrous, with two heads. Such fearful and tremendous points are taught south of the mountains ! But the truth is, they sp'eak of themselves, and seek their own glory; (John vii. 18 ;) and not Christ's, whose commandments they have annulled and evacuated by their many additions to and subtrac- tions from his. They would seem indeed to retain all, only add some ; but whosoever adds, as well as detracts, is hable to the cui'se of God. (Deut. xii. 32 ; Prov. xxx. 6 ; Rev. xxii. 18 ; Gal. i. 8.) For hereby they stain the glory of the divine law, as insufficient and imperfect ; and more especially when they add fundamental points upon peril of damna- tion, when they frame new articles of faith, as pope Pius IV. hath done. Articles are principles ; and therefore indemonstrable, except by scripture. 1. Now when new ones are added de fide ["as part of the faith"], extraneous to the holy scriptures, nay, repugnant in such mighty and weighty matters, can any man alive, that is not deep in the golden cup, sedately beheve the true church of Chi'ist to be there? when, (1.) They require firm faith in the traditions, observations, and constitutions of the church of Rome -.X and, (2.) Tie all churches to their sense of the scrip- tures ; and, [require] (3.) To hold seven sacraments to be instituted by Christ ; and, (4.) The Trent doctrine about justification ; (5.) The propitia- tory sacrifice in the Mass; (G.) Transubstantiation ; (7.) Purgatory; (8.) Invocation of saints ; (9.) Adoration of images ; (10.) Indulgences; (11.) The Roman church to be mistress of all churches, and the bishop thereof Christ's vicar; (12.) And all things in the canons and councils, but • Dist. xix. cap. 7, p. 110, edit. Rom. 1582. t Extravagant, lib. v. cap. 1, p. 345, Rom. edit. t Bulla Pii IV. super Forma Juramenti Professionis Fidei, art. i. 76 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH, especially of Trent : and in the conclusion, Jlanc veram cotholicum fidem, extra (fiam nemo salmis esse pofesf, ^-c, proffeor et veraciter teneo, ^-c. ; you must " jirofess and truly hold this to be the true Catholic faith, with- out which none can be saved." But, for the easing of men's minds in these and the like particulars, they cry up the immensity of their power and privilege to dispense with scripture and apostolical doctrine. Indeed there is great need that should be well proved ; and the canon-law has done the deed. For, in the first place, it is pronounced ex cathedra, "from the very chair" of Peter: Subesse Romano pontifici omnem hxununam creaturam, declarumus, dic/mus, diffinimus, et pronuntiamus, omninu esse de necessitate salutis* Pope Boniface YIII. hath very well expressed it in his definitive sentence : "We declare, affirm, determine, and pronounce, that it is altogether necessary to salvation, that every human creature be subject to the pope of Rome." Is not this doctrine wonderfidly clear in holy scriptures, and obvious in every page ? But lest we should mistake the places, we shall be helped out with some dispensations as to scripture. The Gloss, upon pope Nicholas's rescript to the bishops of France, expressly says. Contra apostohim dispensat ; f that he may " dispense against the apostle and against natural right : " And again, upon an edict of pope Martin's : Sic ergo papa dispensat contra apostohim : % " So, then, the pope dispenses against the apostle." And Gregory XIII. adds a note out of Aquinas : Non est absurdiim quoad jus jiositivum : " It is not absurd as to a positive law." And again : Secundhn jjlenitudinem jiotestatis de jure possumus supra jus dispensare : § where the Gloss adds. Nam contra apostohim dispensat, et contra canones upostolorum, item contra Vetus Testamentum in decimis. " According to fulness of power, we can of right dispense above," or " beyond," " right." " For he dispenses against the apostle, and against the canons of the apostles, and against the Old Testament, in tithes." Our Lord determines marriage not to be dissolved but in case of whoredom : (Matt. v. 32 ; xix. 9 :) but Gregory III. orders, " If a wife be infirm " ad debitum, then jugalis nubat magis, "let her husband marry rather," (pii non potest continere. || Our Lord teaches "not to resist evil:" (Matt. v. 39; Rom. xii. 1/:) but Innocent IV. teaches, vim vi repellere, et utcxincpie gladium, ^'c, alterum altero adjiware ;^ "to resist force with force, and help out one sword with ano- ther." I might show it in the case of oaths and vows, and several others ; as. If a priest commit fornication ; thougli by the canons of the apostles he ought to be deposed, yet by the authority of Sylvester let him do penance for ten years, &c.** But enough of this. 2. Let us proceed to show their power in the point of subtractions, in some particulars. (1 .) As to the holy scriptures. — Let us observe several points. (i.) They substitute the Vulgar Latin translation to he the authentic word of God, instead of the original Hebrew and Greek. — Of which an author of their own attests, that "the Roman church permits not the • Extrav. Com. lib. i. cap. 1, De Major, ct Ohed. p. 212, Romae ; et Qiiiojuid sa/vatitr est sub summu Pontijice, ibid. ; G/oxs. col. 205. f Caws. xv. is. miiest. vi. can. 2 Romae, col. 1442. t Dist. xsxiv. cap. 18, p. 230. § Decrtlal. lib. iii. tit. viii! cap. 4, col. 10r2. II Cans, xxxii. quiest. vii. cap. 18, col. 2156. U In vi. Dccrelal. tit. xi. cap. 6, p. 717- " Dist. Ixxxii. cap. 5, col. 529. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 11 scriptures but in Latin." * But we need no further witness than the sanction of Trent ; which appoints and declares, " that the old Vulgar edition, &c., should be used for the authentical, in public lectures, disputes, preachings, and expositions ; and that none dare or presume to reject it upon any pretence." f (ii.) The common people are not to read them. — Indeed Pius IV., in the fourth rule for the managing of the Purging Indexes of Books pro- hibited according to the appointment of Trent, grants to read them, if translated by Catholic authors, and leave had from the priest or confessor ; else not : since, as they say, si passim sine discrimine permittantur, flus inde, oh hominum temeritatem, detrimenti quam iitilitatis oriri ; \ "if they be commonly permitted without distinction, more detriment rises than profit, through the rashness of men." But in Clement VIII. 's obser- va'tion on that fourth rule, this faculty or licence of I'eading or retaining Vulgar Bibles is wholly taken away ; and [it] concludes. Quod quidem inviolate servandum esf,§ "Which is to be kept inviolably." (iii.) T/iei/ must he received and understood according to the sense of the Roman church. — Cvjus est judicare de vera sensu et interpretatione scrij)turarunh sanctarum : \\ " In whose authority it is to judge of the sense and interpretation of the holy scriptures." It is said of Averroes, that he anointed Avicenna's books with poison, in design upon him ; and what cause we have to fear the like from their commentaries, let the learned judge. But besides, since the Lateran decree of the pope's superiority to a council, we are in the dark what their church is. But Paul II. expounded it to poor Platina, as himself relates : Torvis oculis me aspi- ciens, ^^c, Ac si nescires omnia jura in scrinio pectoris nostri collocata esse, sic stat sententia : loco cedant omnes, eant quo volunt ; nihil eos ynoror : pontifex sum ; mihique licet, pro arhitrio animi, aliorum acta et rescindere et apyprohare. ^ Let it be Englished by the abbot's version : " Know ye not that I am infallible, and carry aU their judgments and I'casons in the cabinet of my breast ? I consider no man's person : I am pope ; and it is in my power to null or confirm their acts, as I think good myself." ** This case is manifest. (iv.) They equal the canons and traditions to the scriptures. — Pari pietatis affectu ac reverentid suscipit et veneratur .-ff they "receive and reverence the one with equal pious affection as the other." And for this in the canon-law we have ample testimony : " All the sanctions of the apostolical seat are to be received as if confirmed by the voice of holy Peter himself : XX ^"^^ although the yoke imposed by that holy seat be scarce tolerable, yet let us bear and endure it with a pious devotion. And if any man sin against them," noverit sihi veniam deneyari, " let him know that pardon shall be denied him."§§ Again : Null i fas est vel velle vel posse transyredi apostoliccB sedis prcBcepta : |||| " It is lawful for none so much as to will, much less to be able, to transgress the precepts of * "History of the Cardinals," p. 4. t Sessio iv. X Index Lihr. prohib. teg. iv. § Obs. in reg. iv. Rhotun. 1640, ad calcem Concil. Trident. \\ Concil. Trid. sess. iv. ; et Pu IV. Bulla super Form. Jurain. Profess. Fidei, art. ii. H Platina in Fitd Pauli II. fol. 336, A. edit. Paris. 1505. *• "History of the Cardinals," p. 122. tt Cone. Trident, sess. iv. U Dist. six. cap. 2 et 3, col. 106. §§ Dist. six. cap. 1, col. 105. nil Dist. xis. cap. 5, col. 109 ; et IvoNis Epist. viii. Paris. 1610; et Synod. Rhemensis, p. 47, Francof. 1600. /8 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. the apostolical cliair." Again : tlie pope's Decretal Epistles are expressly reckoned among canonical scriptures : Inter quas sane illce sint, quas apostolica sedes habere, et ah ed alii meruerunt accipere Epistolas : * " Among which surely those Epistles are to be, which the apostolical seat receives, and which others have deserved to receive from thence." Fur- ther : the violation of canons, — they state it to be blasphemy and a sin against the Holy Ghost. f Nay, as to some disciphne and the ancient institution of Christian religion, tantu reverentid apicem apostolicce sedis omnes suspiciunt, ut magis, ^c, ah ore prcBcessoris ejus qiihm a sacris paginis, ^c, expetant, S,'c. : % " with such reverence do all look up to the pinnacle of the apostolical seat, that they rather receive from the mouth of his predecessor than from the holy scriptures." So that the matter may well be reduced to the edict of the Jesuits at Dole, mentioned by Sir Edwin Sandys : " Having thus effectually deprived the people of the holy scriptures ; to avoid all further contests and troubles in religion, forbid any talk of God, either in good sort or bad."§ Thus we must bid adieu to holy scriptures, and, as one says, " embrace their holy trumpe- ries." " For if any man desire to know which is the true church, how should he know it but only by the scripture 1 " (Author Operis imper- fecti in Matth. horn. 49.) (2.) Theij take aioay the cup in the Lord's supper from the Christian people. — And that vrith a non-ohstante [" notwithstanding "] : Licet Christus post coenain instituei'it, ^-c. : " Although Christ did after supper ordain, and administer to his disciples, in both the elements of bread and wine, this venerable sacrament;" tamen hoc non obstante, "yet, neverthe- less, the authority of sacred canons, the laudable and approved custom of the church, hath kept and doth keep," &c. : et hahenda est pro lege ; \\ they " pass it into a law," to communicate in one kind ; and pronounce such to be dealt with as heretics, that oppose this new law, made in defiance of Christ and the primitive church. What a church is this, that puts a bar to Christ ! Pray i-esolve how blessed and obedient a spouse this is. (3.) Though our blessed Lord and his apostles commend marriage, as the institution of God and honourable among all ; (Matt. xix. 5, 6 ; I Cor. vii. 2 ; 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; Heb. xiii. 4 ;) and the forbidding of it [is] repulsed, as the "doctrine of devils :" (1 Tim. iv. 1,3 :) yet there is sounder advice, it seems, to be found in the canon-law : " Priests' marriage is not forbidden by the authority of law or gospel or of the apostles ;" ecclesias- ticd tamen lege penitas interdicitur,*^ "yet by ecclesiastical law it is utterly forbidden." Aud they may commit fornication, and not be deposed;** and their Gloss gives this satisfying reason : Quid hodie fragiliora sunt corpora nostra quitin olim erant : ff " Because our bodies are now-a- days more frail than they were of old." And though to take a second wife secundum p'^f^f^cptum apostoli est, " that is but according to the precept of the» apostle ;" secundum veritatis autem rationem verb fornicatio est, "yet, according to the account of truth, verily it is fornication." • Dist. xix. cap. 6, col. 107- t Caus. xxv. qiuest, 1. cap. 5, col. 189/. X Dist. xl. cap. G, col. 259. § Sir Knwm S.vNnvs's " Survey of Religion in the West," p. 231. II Cuncil. Constant, sess. xiii. fol. 515; Cabilon. it. ^ Cans. xxvi. qusest. ii. cap. 1 , col. 1921. •• Dist. Ixxxii. cap. 5, col. 630. jt Caus. xxxi. quaest. i. cap. 9, col. 2084. _ 6ERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 79 Sed dum, permittente Deo, imblice et licenter committihir, jit honesta fornicatio : " But when it is publicly committed, and with licence,* by the permission of God, it becomes honest fornication." And for adultery, it is counted among " the lesser crimes : " De adulteriis verb, et aliis crimi- nibus quce sunt minora, f a bishop may dispense with his clerks.;]; More of the hke stuff may be read in Pelagius's rescript to the bishop of Flo- rence ; and reason rendered : Quia corpora ipsa hominum defecerunt : § " Because the very bodies of men are grown weak." And if a clerk embrace a woman, it is to be expounded to bless her. || But for these and the like cases the " Tax of the apostoUcal Chancery " gives the richest reasons ; where any thing is dispensed with for money : " A book wherein," saith Espencseus, ^ " thou mayest learn more wickedness than in all the summists and summaries of all vices ;" set forth in the days of pope Leo X., who made that infamous reply to cardinal Bembus : Quan- tum nobis ac nostro coetui profuit ea de Christo fabula, satis est secidis omnibus notion : ** " It is known well enough to aU ages, how much that fable of Christ hath benefited us and our society." Well might the abbot of Ursperg cry out, Gaiide, mater nostra, Roma, ^'c. ; ■\-'\- " Rejoice, 0 Rome, our mother ; for the cataracts of treasures are opened in the earth, that rivers of money may flow in to thee ! Rejoice over the iniquity of the sons of men ; for thou receivest the price for a recompence of such great wickedness ! " (4.) For prohibition of meats. — Whereas the apostle tells us, "What- ever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience' sake;" (1 Cor. X. 25;) and, " Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink." (Col. ii. IG.) For " God hath created them to be received with thanksgiving of them which beUeve and know the truth ; and nothing to be refused." (1 Tim. iv. '6, 4.) Such as beheve in God, and are acquainted with the truth of his holy word, make no scruple, as those [do] who " speak lies in hypocrisy, and are seducing spirits." (Verses 1, 2.) But the canon-law commands fastings, as a tenth part of time consecrated to God out of the whole year ; XX ^^^ against our eating of flesh assigns a pregnant citation out of the apostle : Bonum est vinum non bibere, et carnes non comedere ;§§ " It is good not to drink wine, nor to eat flesh." But the connexed words are left out, which refer to offence in the primi- tive times. But I shall not further touch this point, — their precepts and practices stand opposite to the holy scriptures. But how wholesome to the body to appoint their grand fasts and abstinence from flesh in the spring, let Fuchsius, a learned physician, be judge, out of Soranus and Hippocrates : Quod verno tempore minime sit jejunandum : " We ought least of all to fast in the spring-time." And after he hath urged his argument, he closes : Romanum pontijicem non solum esse Antichristnm, ^"c : nil "That the Roman bishop is not only Antichrist, in stating a doc- • Licenter — quia pmnani temporalem non patiebantur : " Because they suffered not tem- poral punisliment." — Ghss. ibid. t " With respect to adultery and other minor crimes." — Edit. X Decretal, lib. ii. Be Judic. cap. 4, col. 623. § Dist. sxxiv. cap. 7, col. 225. II Cans. xi. quoest. iii. cap. 14, col. 1223. 1[ Espenc. in Tit.c&^. i. digr. 2, p. 67, edit. Paris. 1668; and tlie Centum Gravamina in Fasciculo Rermn expetend. 178. •• Ranchinus's "Review of Trent," p. 79; Valeria <'0f the Lives of the Popes," p. 150, out of Paulus Jovuis. tt Ursperg. Chron. p. 235, Argentor. 1609. IX Decret. pars iii. De Consecr. dist. v. cap. 16, col. 2671. §§ Bist. ssxv. cap. 2, col. 231. nil FucHsii Instit. Medicin. lib. ii. sect. ii. cap. 9. 80 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. trine contrary to Christ ; but antiatmim, ' contrary to pliysiciaus ; ' to appoint a fast then and forbid flesh, token, they have unanimously taught, we ought to eat more largely and abstain from fish." But it became the Man of Perdition not only to destroy our souls, but our bodies also, by his decrees ; and our pui'ses also : (imitating Peter in fishing for money at the Sea of Galilee : Matt. xvii. 27 :) we must buy of him leave at that time to cat milk and the like viands. But, to finish this paragraph : of such a society as add to, subtract from, dispense with, and over-rule the laws of God, what should all the sober and pious judge, but what the scripture hath prophetically deci- phered them to he, and what the church of England hath determined concerning them 1 * — that since they have forsaken and daily do forsake the commandments of God, to erect and set up their own constitutions ; we may well conclude, according to the rule of Augustine, 'that the bishops of Rome and their adherents are not the true church of Christ ; much less, then, to be taken as chief heads and rulers of the same. " Whosoever," saith he, " do dissent from the scriptures concerning the head, although they be found in all places where the church is appointed, yet are they not in the church." A plain place, concluding directly against the church of Rome. INaUIRY II. Is that the true church of Christ, that pollutes the worship of God by idolatry ? (2 Cor. vi. 16.) — Wliy is this sin so often called "whoredom" in scripture ? Does not whoredom dissolve the bonds of marriage, by our Lord's own determination? Did not the Lord give up the ancient Israel and Judah, and disavow them from being his spouse, under the name of two notable whores, — Aholah and Aholibah ? (Ezek. xxiii. 4.) And if we rightly consider the Revelation, we find also this to be the very cause why the name of " whore" is branded upon the forehead of a certain congre- gation that was to appear in the world after the dissolution of Rome imperial. And therefore God sent the Saracens and Turks against them, with stings both in head ^nd tail, both in the east and west : but yet they repented not of their idols, &c. (Rev. ix. 20, 21.) This is that generation which lays stumbling-blocks both before Turks, Jews, and Heathens. For haste, I will instance but in a few. Among the four great off"ences and scandals which the Grand Seignior told the German ambassador, he took at the Roman religion, one was, that they made their God in the church ; another, that they ate him in the eucharist.-f What would he have said, had he heard of the emperor Henry VIL's being poisoned out of the sacrament-cup, by a Guelph of the pope's faction ; % or, as Dr. Donne expresses it more earnestly, " To poison their God, that they might poison their emperor? " § But how greatly the Turks are incensed against idols, the Alcoran almost every where discovers ; and Hottinger, Sandys, and others. || As for the Jews, how greatly they are scandalized, we may observe even in elder times ; when the second council of Nice was fain to give a • " Homilies of the Church of Kngland," in the second part of the Sermon for Whit- Simday, 4 to. fol. 229, B. t " Count Serini's Character," p. 10". \ Paralip. Urspc7-g. p. 2G7 ; Nauclerus, p. 991. § Donne's " Pseudomartyr," p. 91. |1 Alco- ran, cap. 10, 11, 13, 16, «fec. ; Hottjnger, the same, p. 60 ; Sandys, p. 64. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 81 solemn, though a sorry, answer to them : Ovtms (po§spo§ 6 \oyo; 6 svrsiXot- [jisvQs TO) la-pariK, ^c. : " Verily, it was a terrible word, giving command to Israel not to make any carved image," &c. ; "and yet afterward to command Moses to make cherubims, yet not as gods, but for re-memo- ration only," &c.* Not to observe at present how they shift ofi" the second commandment, as if belonging to Israel only ; nor what they fur- ther reply about the framing of images, not to be ultimate objects of worship, but only commemorative helps of devotion : that which I would principally take notice of is, that even then, at the first solemn and judi- cial publication of image-doctrine, how greatly the Jews were provoked and offended ; who were so exact in the abhorrency of images, that they counted it unlawful to look up to an image in civil use, and forbade the very art of painters and statuaries ; f nay, so nice and curious, that they scruple to pluck out a thorn out of their feet, or gather up money casually fallen, lest they should seem to stoop down in respect to any image in such a place. J And as to the present indelible continuance of the same hatred. Sir Edwin Sandys hath given a large account : § and how they call Popish churches, because of the worship of images in them, rTDirin rr^D, "the houses of idolatry," or " filthinesses," with some remarkable observ.ations out of their authors, may be seen in the learned Hoornbeeck's treatise " against the Jews." |1 As to the Pagans or Heathens, I might enlarge ; but I shaU only refer to a story of the Americans : who, being vexed at the burning [of] their wooden god by Mr. Gage, replied, that they knew it was a piece of wood, and of itself could not speak ; but seeing it had spoken, (as they were all witnesses,) this was a miracle whereby they ought to be guided : and they did verily believe that God was in that piece of wood, which, since the speech made by it, was more than ordinary wood, having God himself in it ; and therefore deserved more offerings and adorations than those saints (that is, of the Spaniards) in the church, who did never speak unto people.^ And to this may be annexed (since it touches upon saint-worship) what Sancta Clara insinuates as a reason why there is no precept under the gospel for invocation of saints ; namely, " Lest the converted Gentiles should believe that they were again reduced to ' the worship of men ; " (terrigenarutn ;) " and, according to their old custom, should adore saints, not as patrons, but as gods." ** To conclude this point : since God hath so severely forbidden the wor- shipping of his Divine Majesty by statues, pictures, sculptures, or images, and in all ages given ample evidences of his wrath against such worship- pers ; since the true Christian religion, by means of such titular and nominal pretenders to it, is greatly vilified and obstructed in its progress, as to the sincere conversion both of Turks, Jews, and Heathens ; we may easily discern where that dangerous society resides, that commits fornica- tion with stocks and stones ; termed by the church of England, in her excellent and zealous homilies against idolatry, " a foul, filthy, old, • Synodus Septima, act. iv. p. 556, torn. iii. BiNii ; et DALL/Et'S De Imag. p. 68. t HoTTiNGERi jwr. ^eir. p. 336. t Idem, p. 41. § "View of Religion In the West." || Hoornbeeck Cont. Jvdieos, prolegom. p- 17 ; and the learned L. Sarson, in his Roman. Cultus Nnllitas, p. 15. If Gage's " Survey of the West- Indies," p. 175. •• Sancta Clara, Deus, Natura, Gratia, p. 323, Be Invoe. Sand. TOL. VI. G 82 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHCRCH. withered harlot," &c. ; "that, understanding her lack of natural and true beauty, and great loathsomeness -which of herself she hath, doth, after the custom of such harlots, paint herself, and deck and tire [attire] herself with gold, pearl, stone, and all kind of precious jewels." * INQUIRY III. /* that the true church of Christ, that, out of her oicn inrentiot, infer- mLred tcith Jeicish and heathenish customs, (as might be specified out of Bilondus, Polydore T'irpil, and others,) hath patched up a pompous icor- ship, and bottomed note upon that grand fundamental of the Pope's autho- rity ; which (as it is said of Jeroboam's) is " derised of their oum hearts;" (1 Kings xii, 33;) and in com2)arison to the insfitutioiis of Christ, and scriptural, apostolical, primitire practice, is as it were but a norelty and of yesterday ? — As to which, the history of the church in most things gives us a precise account of their particular rise and genea- logy. In the rest, we may evidently prove by the prmiitive administra- tions that then they were not, and afterward find when they were, in use and practice : though the exact moment of their intrusion be not deter- minable, since they did, sensim sine sensu, " secretly " creep in, by the subtle artifice of some, and the sequacious temper of others ; and hke- wise, that the barbarous times of the Goths and Vandals, making fearful havoc of learning and the rare monuments of antiquity, have destroyed many records. But, however, there are great heaps of rubbish and soil, that might easily be scented up to their original stable. Let us but instance in a few. The use of line linen, prayers in odd numbers, sanc- tuaries, was-candles, worship toward the east, ember-days, consecrations, and the Bacchanalia and other feasts turned into the present festivities, — their origin, and [that of] multitudes of others, may be observed out of Polydore,t Innocent \\l.,X Dumndus's Rationale, and Durantius De Ritibus, Rupert us Tuitiensis, Gravantus, Gratian, Ivo, Blondus, and many others. Give me leave a Httle to enlarge upon one constitution of the greatest moment, because it is a fundamental amongst them ; namely, the decree of the Lateran council under Leo X. : whereby the pope's authority was fully settled, and whence he became exalted above a coimcil, and infallible, and to be adored ; as it is in the Cccremoniale Romanum, hb. i. p. 51 ; et Hb. iii. p. 286. And it is this : Solum Romanum pontifcem pro tempore existentem, tanquam auctoritatem super omnia concilia habentem, ^-c, manifesto constat : § " It clearly appears," &c., *' that the Roman bishop solely, for the time being, as having authority over all councils." And then, p. 121 : Cian de necessitate salutis existaf, omnes Christi fideles Romano pontifici subesse : " It is necessary to salvation, that all Christ's faithful ones should be subject to the Roman bishop." This was determined [on] the 14 Kal. Jan. 1.516, [December iJ-ith,] within the compass of the same year wherein Luther began to assault them, as may be observed out of Scultetus's " Annals." , AVhence we may note what • " Homilies of the Church of England," in the third part of the Sermon '• against the Peril of Idolatry," fol. 75, B. t Polydoris Virgilus, Bas. 1332. t Innocent. III. De ^Uari, Lips. 1534, he. % BiNli ConciL tom. iv. part ii. Condi. Lateran. seas. jd. Dat. Romx, 1516, 14 Kal. Jan. |! Scclteti Annalet, ad annum 1516. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRtTE CHURCH. 8.3 a profound question that is, when they demand of us, "where our rehgion was before Luther ; whenas themselves do date the conunencement of the greatest point and pillar of their rehgion — namely, the doctrine of infalhbLhty — within the same year wherein Luther arose ; putting the hay and stubble of their infallible judge into the foundation of the church. "VMiereas, one of their own could boldly and freely assert, " that though the CathoUcs accuse them of pinning their faith upon Luther and Calvin, which is false : for neither Luther nor Calvin instituted any new rehgion." * "SMien they ask, Where was ours ? we answer. Where theire is not ; namely, instituted by our blessed Lord, preached by the holy apostles, set forth in the sacred scriptures, and practised by the primitive churches, and preserved all along by some notable confessors of the truth in every age to our present times. But theirs, indeed, as it now stands, built upon the Lateran and Trent councils, in their main fundamental, is but a mere novelty, started up in the very days of Luther ; and, in other things wherein they dissent from us, is but of later invention, in compa- rison with the primitive apostohcal times. And in how many grand and weighty particulars (beside their accessory and gaudy ceremonies) they dissent from scriptures, forsake the apostles, run contrary to the sanc- tions of ancient councils, might be at large educed out of authentic records, and demonstrated to be but a novelty. OBJECTION. " But are there not several things found in the Reformed churches that are of the same standing, and savour of equal novelty ; of which it may be said, Xon sic ah initio, ' It was not so from the beginning ?' " ANSWER. To which it may be rephed, that it is the duty of all reformations to come up exactly to scripture ; f and what is not done at one time, in levioribus aliquot, "in some smaller matters," may be performed at another. The ingenious Bernard, glossing upon that of the Canticles, " 0 thou fairest among women I " speaks thus : Palchram, non omnimode quidem, sed pulchram inter mulieres, earn docet ; videlicet, cum distinc- tione ; quatenus ex hoc amjtlius reprimatur, et sciat quid desit sibi : J " He calls her 'fair;' yet not altogether, but 'fairest among women;' namely, with a distinction : that hence she may be somewhat the more checked, and know wherein she is defective." There is no church under heaven perfectly beautiful : that remains for glory, when Christ will " present her to himseK without spot or wrinkle." (Eph. v. 27.) If but pretended watchmen take away her spotted veil, (Canticles v. 7,) she will be glad of a purer. Fas est et ah hoste doceri : " It is wisdom to learn by the reproof of an adversary." But, as to the grand fundamental points, we unanimously agree : we lay no other foundation than the Rock Christ Jesus, and seriously profess the scriptures to be our perfect rule; and if any will teach us wherein we swerve, we are ready to yield obedience to the laws of Christ. So that, as the learned Crakanthorpe determines, those persons, as Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, aud Cyprian, ^c, — though in some • " History of the Cardiaals,'' p. 9. t " Preface to the Common-prayer." I Bek- XAEDcs in Cantic, senn. xxxviii. fol. 144, A. G 2 84 SERMON IX. THK VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. things they might err, yet because they thought those things to be taught in scripture, which they made their guide, and were ready to reform upon eviction out of the holy scriptures, they no doubt died in the faith. But he teaches the contrary of those that hold the pope's infallible judgment in causes of faith ; for that is none of God's foundation, -whereupon to ground our belief or practice.* INQUIRY IV. Can that be deemed a true church of Christ successively in all ages, that varies from itself, contradicts itself, m.ahes decrees quite con- trary to precedent times, and that in matters of faith ? — And if the philosopher said right, — that there is no medium in a perfect contra- diction ; if the one be true, the other is equally as false : f what shall be deemed of such a society, that in the great matters of faith have determined quite contrary, beside many other things of grand import- ance ? Truth is always homogeneal, consistent, and invariable. But here is pope against pope, council against council, one society, order, and fraternity, against another. Where shall a poor Christian sisfere pedem, " fix his resolution 1 " If the former be true, the latter are undeniably false ; if the latter be true, in what a case were the fore- fathers of old ? In what state did they leave the world ? How might this amaze the drowsy and enchanted world, did it but awaken them to muse seriously on this point only ! Have not popes from the chair determined against each other ; and that in matters of faith, and other weighty cases ? How Sylverius and Vigilius clashed and conflicted in that grand point of the three chapters, agitated in the fifth general council, is at large set forth by the learned Crakanthorpe.;]; Did not pope Agatho determine quite contrary to pope Vigilius in the same case ? as may be observed in comparing the actions of the fifth and sixth council. § Stephen VI. abrogates the decrees of Formosus, digs up his body, and cuts off the two fingers of his right hand which are used in consecrations. And he [Platina] adds, Postea fere semper servata hcec consuetudo sit, ut Acta jj^'iorum. pontificum sequentes aut infrinyerent aut omninh toUerent ; || that " afterward this custom was almost always kept up, — that following bishops did either invalidate or utterly take away the Acts of their predecessors : " of which he gives instances in Romanus, Theodotus, John X., and Sergius. Gregory I.^ determines him to be Antichristian and to blaspheme, that should arrogate that profane name of " supreme over all other ; " and calls him " the king over all the children of pride." But his name- sake, Gregory IV., deposes every one, (Sit ruince sucb dolore prostratus, ^c.,^ whosoever docs not obey the apostolical seat;** and Nicolas II. pronounces him without doubt for a heretic ; ff and that worthy person, Gregory VII. ,^ or Ilildebrand, (as set out by Bcnno the cardinal, and otherSjJJ) stigmatizes such with the brands of idolatry, witchcraft, and • Crakanthorpe " Of Councils," p. 191. t Aristotelis Poetic, cap. 13. t Crakanthorpe's " Councils," p. 471, e/ a/zii. § Idem, p. 28. || Platina in nt. fol. 139, B. 1[ Gregorii Resist, lib. iv. ep. 32, 36 ; lib. vi. ep. 31, &c. Rom. edit. •• Dist. six. cap. 5, col. 107- ft Dist. xxii. cap. 1, col. 130. Jt Fascicul. Rerum expetend. dist. Ixxxi. cap. 15, col. 516, &c. ; et Iaonis Deoret, pars V. De Primat. fol. 153. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OP THE TRUE CHURCH. 85 Paganism, quisquis, dum Christianum se asserit, sedi apostoliccB obedire contemnit ; " whosoever, assertiug himself for a Christian, contemns to obey the apostolical chair." Again : Celestine III. determines against a divorce between Christians and infidels ; but Innocent III. determines the contrary.* Again : Pelagius II. had commanded, that the sub- deacons of Sicily should abstain from their wives : f but Gregory I. says [that] it is durum et incompetens, " hai'd and inconvenient," and allows the quite contrary ; and the Gloss adds, that " the statute of Pelagius was against the gospel." J There are multitudes of cases [which] might be added, wherein they made no scruple to rescind, abrogate, and decree contrary to their predecessors. But I shall (for haste' sake) speak a little of the variance of councils also. The council of Constance determines thus : ^st de necessitate sahdis, credere generale concilium habere supremam autoritatem in ecclesid : " It is of necessity to salvation, to believe that a general council hath supreme authority in the church ; " yea, over the pope himself. And this is ratified by pope Martin V., as the fathers of Basil set it forth to all the world. § And yet you have seen before, how that the Lateran council hath determined the quite coutrai-y ; stating it in those very words, — that " it is necessary to salvation, that all Christ's faithful ones should be subject to the Roman bishop ; " and in that very point, " as having authority over all councils." || The council of Orange in many canons, and that of Milevis or Melei in Numidia near Algiers, and the African council, (commonly so called,) determine against free-will.^ The council of Gangra, (now Congria, [Kiangari,]) by the river Halys, determines anathema to such as refuse to communicate with a married priest.** But these things are contra- dicted by Trent. The like might be shown about Rome's jurisdiction, and communicating the cup to the people, the conception of the blessed Virgin, and several other points, which would swell too large. Neither will time admit the several varieties and confessions to be recited out of Augustine of Tarracona, found in Gratian ; nor the private oppositions of their doctors in numerous cases, collected by a reverend person. ff I shall conclude this section with an observation about the Holy Bible itself; whose former editions not satisfying Sixtus V., [he] set forth a new one, ratified by his edict, a.d. 1589. Then comes Clement VIII., A.D. 1592, with another breve, commanding another new edition to be received with equal veneration, and the contemners of it exposed to new imprecations and curses. And yet these two editions of the Holy Bible differ in two thousand places ; and some so material, that they arise to flat contradictions ; which is made evident by Dr. James, in his Bellum Papale, and the edicts themselves (because the Sixtine Bibles are hard to come by) ai-e at large set forth by the learned Amama.:j:| So that if their popes' decretory sentences in matters of faith, their councils in points necessary to salvation, their doctors in great and important con- * Decretal, lib. iii. tit. xxxiii. cap. 1, col. 1276. f Ibid. lib. iv. cap. 6, col. 1556. t Cans, xxvii. qusest. ii. cap. 20, col. 1991 ; et dist. sxxi. cap. I, col. 195. § Concil. Basil, in Epistold synodali ad universos Christi Jideles. \\ See p. 82. — Edit. IT Concil. torn. ii. p. 340, A. ; p. 285, B. ; p. 305, A. ** Gangr. Concil. can. iv. &c. Paris. 1618, p. 313, cum Schol. Zonar;e. tt Bishof Hall's " Peace of Rome." It AM.1M.E Antibarb. Bell. 4to. pp. Q7, 98, &c. 86 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. cerns of the church, their very Bibles (such as they will permit) in multitudes of places, egregiously differ one from another ; where shall a Christian fix his mind, in such a society, under such grand uncertainties, contradictions, and oppositions one to another, in the high and momentous concernments of eternity and the other world ? INQUIRY V. Can suck claim the honour of beivg a true church of Christ, who impiously derogate from the essential honour of God and of Jesus Christ ? that exalt a sinful man unto the dignities and incommunicable excellences of the Divine Majesty ? — I trow not. But such there are, who highly pretend to Christ and his holy church, and yet dare to open their mouths in strange and fearful expressions in their canon-law, when they magnify their Roman president. He is said to have a heavenly arbitrement : he changes the nature of things, &c. ; he can make any thing of nothing.* In what he wiUs, his will stands for reason ; neither may any say, " Why doest thou so ? " which is by Job applied to God.-j* (Job ix. 12.) He can make justice out of injustice, by correcting and changing of laws ; and hath the fidness of power. J They allege, that " the pope was called ' God' by Constantine." And again : " Not man, but God, separates them whom the Roman bishop does, who bears the viceroyship of the true God in the earth : " but that never was nor can be proved. § Again: "To beheve that the Lord our God the pope, the enactor of this decree, could not so determine, is heretical." |1 Again: " It is idolatry, Paganism, and heresy, not to obey the Roman seat : not one iota of his statutes must be disputed."^ Again : " Christ professes himself to preside under the faith and name of Peter," &c. : " and although he lead innumerable people by troops to hell," (or, primo mancipio gehennce ; id est, diaholo, says the Gloss,) " there to be eter- nally beaten with many stripes ; yet none must reprove him," &c.** And, to name no more : the Common Extravagants treating of Christ's power and his vicar's, the Gloss upon pope Boniface, set out by Gregory XIII., adds this : Non videretur Doininus discretus fuisse, (vt cum ejus reverentiu lo(piar,) nisi unicnm post se talem vicarium reli(piisset, qui hcec omnia possit ; f f " The Lord would not seem to have been discreet, (that I may speak with reverence of him,) unless he had left such an only vicar behind him, who might do all these things." Whoso desires to know more of the like ti-emendous matter, may peruse Ranchinus's " Review of the Council of Trent,"JI an author of their own, and many others. INQUIRY VI. The sixth and last inquiry is. Whether that can he a true churchy that persecutes them to the utmost, yea, and upon that very account, because they teach, profess, and maintain the holy doctrine and pure • Decretal. Greg. IX. lib. i. tit. vii. cap. 3, Gloss. f Dist. xcvi. cap. 7. X Decretal, lib. i. tit. \ii. cap. 3, Gloss. § Ea'trav. Joannis XX 11. tit. xiv. cap. 4, col. 153. II Dist. Ixxxi. cap. 15, col. 51/ ; et dist. xix. cap. 6, Gloss, col. 107. "(I Extrav. Joan. XXII. tit. xiv. cap. 4, Gloss, col. 145. •• Cans. xxiv. quaest. i. cap. 10, Gloss, col. 1835. tt Extrav. Com. lib. i. cup. 1, Dc Maj. fol. 211. JJ " Review of the Coimcil of Trout," p. 1 14. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 87 worship which were left by our blessed Lord and his apostles in the holy scriptures. — And this is not an accidental thing, faUing out now and then, when cruel ones sit in power ; for it is by principle. To go no higher than Trent, what great points of primitive Christianity are smitten with terrible anathemas ! Nay, what smaller differences are made obnoxious to the same indignation ! as, to say [that] marriage is no sacrament, and that it does not confer grace ; or to say [that] the church cannot dispense with the degrees of consanguinity or affinity in Leviticus ; or to say that matrimonial causes belong not to ecclesiastical judges, &c.* Or if we inquire all the causes that state men guilty of heresy, what guilt would millions be involved in at that tribunal ! To deny the supremacy of Rome, is absolute heresy ; f and Pius II. has determined it to be treason and heresy, to appeal to a future council. ;f In what a case stands the GaUican church ! Now in these and all other points they wiU be judges in their own cause. Though sometimes they have asserted, that what touches aU ought to be approved by all ; § and Nicholas I. and Celestine III. professed, that even reason itself teaches that our enemies must not be our judges ; and the canon-law expressly, that the pope himself must not judge in his own cause : || yet they proceeded at Trent, though the clergy of several provinces were absent, and some Christian princes disavowed it. Now what becomes of persons thus determined against and excom- municated ? Why, the canon-law dispatches the matter speedily : Nan arbitramiir, ^c. : ^[ " We do not esteem them for murderers, who, burn- ing with zeal of the Cathohc mother church, should happen to kill any that are excommunicated." And besides, heretics are reckoned in so black a catalogue, that faith is not to be kept with them : and although Molanus and others seem to differ, that is but a private opinion ; they but plough upon the ocean, and write upon the sea-sands, so long as it stands in force in the canon-law : Absolutos se noverint, ^c. : ** " Let them know that they are absolved from the obligation of fealty, homage, and aU duty, whoever were held bound by any covenant, strengthened by whatsoever band, to such as are manifestly lapsed into heresy." And the council of Constance hath defined, that " the safe-conduct of princes, granted to such, ought to be no bar to ecclesiastical proce- dures ; " quociinque vinculo se astrinxerint ; ff " by whatever band they have obliged themselves." And then let us observe a ruled case laid down in the same canon-law : Frustra sibi fidem quis postulut, ^C. : XX " In vain does any man require faith to be kept to himself by him to whom he refuseth to keep the faith plighted by himself." Now what brave work would these things make in the world, since aU the Reformed chui'ches He prostrate under the thunderbolts of the Roman Capitol ! §§ First censured for heretics, and then no punishment is severe enough ! What wiU become of Christian or of human society, if any church differ from their sentiments ? And what sad havoc has been made in the earth, the red hues in the annals and martyrologies of • Concil. Trident, sess. xsiv. can. 1, 2, 12. f Dist. xxii. cap. 1, Oinnes. X Pii II. CoArt7/ie»/ar. p. 92, Franc. 1614. § Regula Jurirf 29. ' || Caus. xvi. qusest. vi. cap. 1, Gloss. ^ Cans, sxiii. qusest. v. col. 1791. " Decretal, torn. v. tit. vii. cap. 16, col. 1686. tt Concil. Constant, sess. sis. fol. 523, B. U Regula Juris 75, col. 850. 5§ Bulla Cmue per Sixtlm V. 88 SKRMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. most churches do abundantly testify ; even for such things as are conso- nant to the holy scriptures. How unmanly and brutish, to use blows instead of reasons ! yea, how devilish, to persecute men for keeping the commandments of God ! They are of the seed of the red dragon. (Rev. xii. 17.) How vain, to think to conquer men's spirits by crosiers turned into swords, and keys into guns ! Persecution, indeed, may turn some ; but it is into hypocrites : that man is never gained, but exas- perated. That is a declining cause that cannot support itself by the same means by which it was at first propagated. Did the apostles so, whose hues ran to the ends of the earth, and conquered so great a part of the Roman world to Christ by " the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God?" (Eph. vi. 17.) Good Bernard said once to Eugenius, "What do you use a sword for ? You are commanded to sheath it : " (as Peter :) " Do the work of an evangehst, and feed the sheep." * Our Lord did not bid Peter feed his sheep with iron and steel, or his lambs with twisted wire ; though Baronius said, " Peter's ministry hath two parts, — to feed and to kill."t That pastor shows weakness in policy, that takes ways to increase dissenters : as Polydore could observe, that the church's troubles under pagan emperors so increased the number of behevers, that they were at length more suspected for their multitudes than their religion, f The more Israel was afflicted in Egypt, " the more they multiplied and grew." (Exod. i. 12.) Rome never lost ground so fast, as since they used the silly engine of persecution to gain it. Mankind is not devoid of humanity : and Christianity has nobler maxims than Phalaris ; such as flow from that Prince of Might, elect, (Psalm xlv. 3,) who bids the world " learn " of him, for he is " meek and lowly ; " (Matt. xi. 29, 30 ;) who rebuked the apostles for desiring that fire might descend upon the Samaritans. (Luke ix. .54 — 56.) And so is his blessed church a flight of doves and a flock of sheep ; who, by the generous power of the Spirit of God in conversion, do pnnere id bruti, " lay down the brutish " tiger at the foot of the Prince of Peace ; and, of ferocious and savage by nature, become mild, meek, and peaceable, " forgiving and forbearing one another," because " God for Christ's sake hath forgiven them." (Eph. iv. 32; Col. iii. 12, 13.) But how unhappy are they that leave the posts of wisdom, and take sanctuary at the gates of hell ! And add this note, (beside purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline,) whereby the church may be known, — namely, its perilous and troublesome state, — and [they] shown to be of the world : as our Lord foretold : " In the world ye shall have tribula- tion : but in me ye shall have peace." (John xvi. 33.) Where hawks and wolves do haunt, there arc dovecots or flocks of sheep near. So that if any ask, where our church was of old ; reply. Where persecutions tried their faith. They know well enough where it was ; they need not ask us. It is but reading their own records, their ruhriccc, their " scarlet -registers ; " and they will easily discern, by the scriptural points for which holy men suffered, a sufiicient mark and evidence of the true church. * Bernakpis De Consid. ad Engev. fol. 1420. t " History of the Quarrels of Venii;c," p. 66. J roLYUC'.TJS Vircilius, lib. iv. cap. U. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 89 Let us then briefly recapitulate, and conclude, that since there are to be found such as in fundamental doctrines determine contrary to Christ and the blessed apostles ; such as by idolatry have broken covenant -with God, and give even the worship of latria to creatures, due to Him alone ; can such without repentance and reformation enter into the kingdom of heaven? (1 Cor. vi. 9 ; Rev. xiv. 9 — 11 ; xxi. 8 ; xxii. 1.5 ;) such as form a worship to God out of their own inventions and novelties ; such as contradict themselves in very material and important matters of salvation ; such as blasphemously derogate from the glory and honour of Jesus Christ ; such as persecute them who profess and endeavour to follow only the apostolical rules, and the consonant practice of the pri- mitive churches ? Though they may pretend to a unity and uniformity, yet does it not result into a league and conspiracy against the truth ? The ship of the church is in danger to spUt against such a rock as this. Can we judge such societies and communions to be true churches of Christ, and not rather consent with the determination of the church of England to the contrary ? * If Charles the Great, Alcuinus, Agobardus, Bertram, Bernard, abbot Joachim, Peter de Vineis, Marsilius, Dante, Bradwardine, Petrai'ch, Man- tuan, Gerson, Clemongis, Theodoricus de Niem, and the compiler of Fasciculus Renan expetendarum, and many others down along the darker times, might bring-in their suffrages in various points ; it might be justly feared, that the late abbot Gualdo woidd be acquitted from rashness, in concluding that, " amongst all the churches since the beginning of the world, there has not been found that unconstancy and confusion as in the church of Rome ; so many anti-popes, schisms, heresies, controversies, confusions, suspensions, persecutions, so many false opinions, scandals, tyrannies, and intestine quaiTcls, as there." f But we wiU rather turn these complaints into unfeigned prayer for their salvation, and wish them no more hurt than to our own souls, — that the great " God would give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." (2 Tim. ii. 25.) COROLLARY III. Since those are true marks of the church of God which the church of England hath exhibited, and have been in some measure insisted upon ; we may conclude, that the people of God in Britain (blessed be his holy name !) are in the happy possession of the true apostolical doctrine and ivorship, according to the holy scriptures, and consonant to what the true church of God hath held in all ages, since the Lord Jesus, " the Apostle and High Priest of our profession," (Heb. iii. 1,) hath left this heavenly commission of the Father with his church. It were no difficult task (only of labour) to show out of our own monuments and antiquities, and from the writings and records of several ancients and moderns, that Britain was not converted by such as came from Rome, but by others that came hither in the reign of Tiberius, .ind such as attended Joseph of Arimathea, sent out of Gaul by Philip. 1. That Philip preached the gospel in Gaul, Isidorus,| and our ancient Nennius, and Freculfus, do attest. § That Joseph of Arimathea • Second part of the Homily for Whit- Sunday. t " History cf the Cardinals," p- 39. t IsiDORi'S De Saticfix, lib. i. Orthodox. Patrutn. vol. i. p. 598. 5 Ba- LEus De Script, fol. p. 15 ; Freculfus, torn. ii. lib. ii. cap. 4. p. 448. 90 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. came into Britain to preach the gospel, is exceedingly probable ; unless to such whom no ancient testimonies, records, or traditions do savour or relish but such as gratify their own private fancies and designs. Yea, several agree that he came at the instance and by the direction of Philip. If the charters and muniments set forth in Monasticon Angll- canutn;* if the charter of Henry II., granted to the abbey of Glaston- bury, which our annalist, John Stow, says he both saw and read,f and Sir John Price, in his " Defence of the History of Britain," recites (verbatim) in part ; X wherein our king declares the several grants of his British and Saxon ancestors; "which," says he, diUgenter feci inquiri et coram me jtrcesentari et legi, § " I caused to be dihgently searched out, to be presented and read before me;" where the very deeds of king Arthur and Kenwalch, a pagan prince, are mentioned ; |1 and in some of 'them that place is called " the mother of saints, the grave of the saints," and that it was first built by the very disciples of Christ themselves :^ if these be not enough, let Capgrave speak,** mentioning the acts of Arthur and Melkin of Avalon or Glastonbury, who hved before Merhn ; an author not utterly to be contemned, especially by some, as having rescued several memorials from the grave of oblivion : let Baleus testify, ff delivering many things from Leland, one employed by king Henry VIII. in searching the antiquities of Britain, and out of Fleming, Scroop, and others; yea, Leland himself, in his "Assertion of King Arthur" (ms.) : not to mention such as have been of later date ; as Polydore Virgil, and Harding, Pitseus, &,c.XX According to these, it appears, tliat what work Joseph performed in Britain, was by the recommendation of Philip out of Gaul, and not from Italy. 2. But yet we may ascend higher, and show, that the seeds of Chris- tian rehgion were first sown in this island twenty-six years earlier ; namely, in the latter end of the reign of Tiberius. For thus writes our ancient Gildas : (both of Polydore's edition, and Josselin's :) Tem- pore, ut scimus, summo Tiberii Ceesaris, ^"c, radios sues primhm indulget, id est, mta prcecepta, Christus :^^ "Christ first indulgeth his rays, that is, his precepts, in the latter end of Tiberius Caesar, as we know." This testimony of Gildas Badonicus is also confirmed by Gildas Albanius, in his Tract of the victory of Aurelius Ambrose, as some relate.]] || But, how- ever, let us take the former Gildas's time ; whereof though some of ours have in some measure debated,^^ yet let us a little further examine it. The last year of Tiberius fell m anno Christi 37, as Petavius,*** one of their exactest chronologers^ states it; who brings Peter first to Eome, a. d. 42 ; and sets him in the chair, a. d. 43. But the Britons received the gospel five years before his coming to Rome ; and that while Peter was yet (in the year 37) at Joppa. (Acts Lx. 43.) But if Baronius's account be true, (who has but a small faculty at chronology or astronomical • Monast. Anglic, vol. i. p. 13, &c. t Stow's '< Aunals," p. 37. t Price in " Defence of the History of Britaiu," p. 11]. § Usseri Primord., p. 5, 27, 740. II Si'ELman's Concilia, torn. i. apparat. p. 12. 1[ Stow, p. 37 ; and Selden's « Notes on the Polyolbion," p. 64. •• Capgrave De Joseph u:lrimath. tbl. 197, A. B. tt Baleus, p. 15, Bas, 1559, fol. tt Harding, fol. 40, 41, auuo G3 ; Polydore, p. 52 ; I'lTSEL's, p. 12. §§ Gildas, ex edit. Polydori, p. 10, 1525 ; et edit. Joan. •fosselin, p. 9, B. 15G8. |||| Fox's " Martyvology," vol. i. p. 137. HIT I>R- Mason, p. 51 ; Bishop of Coventry's [Morton J " Grand Imiwstnre," p. 33. ••• Peta- vius Dc Duct. Temp. lib. xi. cap. 8, p. 304. SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. 91 calculations, especially of eclipses, so necessary to an annalist, beside the truth of his allegation,) — he brings Peter to Rome A. d. 44,* but settles his episcopal chair there A. d. A5,-f- — if this be true, the Britons' receiving the gospel, a. d. 37, must then anticipate Peter's coming to Rome [by] seven years, and erecting his seat and ordering a church there [by] eight years. Again: Marianus Scotus brings him to Rome A.n. 47 •,% and then Britain's conversion antedates theirs by ten years. But all this, and much more that might be urged, lies upon the supposition of Peter's being there at all ; which many of the learned greatly question. For Marsilius of Padua argues that Peter was not there, and that Paul was the first bishop of Rome.§ But these things impeach not our cause at all ; forasmuch as all the apostles had the same commission, with parity of honour and power. || If, then, the British church were planted before ever Peter came to Rome, let us call to mind that ancient rule : Omnes ecclesice huic sub- jectce mmient a quo institutes sunt : " AH churches remain subject to him " (that is, in his successors) " by whom they were instituted." And this is not so much a private, as a pubhc, sanction of the general council of Ephesus, in the case of the Cypriots ; who, having received the faith from Barnabas, yet were much niolested by the bishops of Antioch. Concerning whom the Ephesine fathers made a decree, and extended it to all churches : Niilhis episcopoi'um, ^c, aliam provinciam, quce non antea et ab initio fiiit sua, sub suatn, ^'c, manum ti'ahat :*^ " Let no bishop bring under his power another province, which was not his before and from the beginning." This is yet more insisted upon by Zonaras in his comment upon the eighth canon of that council,** and by Balsamon in his Scholia ; -ff and what is there spoken of Cyprus,'some have appUed also to Crete upon the same ground ; but it is not time to discuss that, or of other provinces. Suffice this canon to our case : XX that since Britain received the first glorious hght of true faith from other disciples of our Lord, and not from Peter ; and was converted some years before ever the common tradition of Peter's coming to Rome can be cleared ; tliis rule totally exempts us from all jurisdiction pretended by them ; since we are upon these grounds evidently reducible to some of the Asian or Greek churches, in respect to the ancient rites of worship concord- ing with theirs and oppugnant to Rome. This was the quarrel between the British bishops and Austin the monk, as Venerable Bede relates, §§ in multis, " in many things," but especially in the celebration of Easter and ministration of baptism. This troubled the North British churches : about which very thing the synod at Whitby was called a. d. fi64 ; and there HUda and her associates averred their customs from John, Philip, Polycarp, &c., of the eastern communion. |||1 Neither were these matters wholly silenced as to the Welsh Britons, till the year 762.^^ More might be said also about Lucius's and Ethelbert's times ; that the last especially • Baron 1 1 Annales, ad annum 44, n. 11, 25. t Idem, ad annnm 44, n. 28 ; et an. 45, n. 1. t Marianus Scotus, p. 367. § Marsilii De/eMwrjPam, p. 207. II Idem, ibid. 1[ jlcta Concil. Ephesin. torn. ii. app. cap. 4, p. 201, edit. Peltan. •* Concil. Ephesin. Zonark, p. 85, edit. Paris. 1618. ft Balsamon in Synod. Ephes. can. viii. p. 319, Paris. 1620. XX Carol, a Sancto Paulo, p. 18. §§ BeDa, lib. ii. cap. 2, p. 112. |{|| Baleus, fol. 81 ; Si-elman's Concilia. HIT Lluyd's " Brev. of Britain," fol. 57, B. 92 SERMON IX. THE VISIBILITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH. was but an attempt to yoke the British churches under the dominion of Rome, which they stoutly resisted. And it might be evidenced, that Christian rehgion was initiated among the Saxons before Austin the monk arrived. For queen Bertha enjoyed the benefit of Christian wor- ship by the ministiy of Luidhardus, a bishop, sent with her out of France ; * and it was celebrated in a British church, dedicated to St. Martin, in the east side of the city of Canterbury, and built in the time of the Romans, as some others were which Austin had leave to repair. f But say, 1. We received our light first from Rome; (which is false ;) and grant, 2. The dominion of Peter to be universal ; and yield, 3. The bishop of Rome to be his undoubted successor ; and that, 4. There are no flaws in the old chair; and that, 5. This bishop is invested by Christ with all the privileges of an apostle ; which are all precarious and begged : yet, if they apostatize from the doctrine and faith of Peter, must all other churches be censured for separating from them who separate from Christ, from Peter, and from Paul ? We profess to hold unfeignedly with old Rome whatever it held according to Paul's epistle to the Romans ; nay, and with the church " in Babylon," ev Ba§v\cuvi, (1 Peter V. 13,) (possibly near Memphis,) in whatever they retained of Peter's doctrine. When they are returned to Peter and Paul's doctrine, &c., then let them treat with us ; but else, if any depart, that old maxim should be refreshed : Causa, non separatio, schistnaticum facit : " It is not separation, but the cause, that determines schism. They are schismatics that depart from Peter." X And another not to be forgotten : Bum eccJesia habet pastorem, hcereticum vel schism at icum, vucare inteUiyitur : § " While a church hath a heretic or schismatic for its pastor, it is to be counted vacant." In which case, what shall be said to their own Gene- brard ? who affirms, that fifty popes in succession, for almost one hun- dred and fifty years together, were either apotactici vel apostatici, potim quam ajjosto/ici ; \\ " irregular or apostates, rather than apostolical." Pope Marcellinus said, he could not see how they could be saved, ivho were advanced to the papacy. (Onuphrius in Fitd MarceUini.) I shall not here enlarge upon any of their irregular intrusions into the throne, the fighting and bloodshed (mentioned by Ammianus \) at the election of Damasus ; nor their personal vices and heresies ; nor the insession of the chair by that learned dame, unkindly mentioned by Laonicus,** and uncomfortaljly revived in our Church-Homilies. ff When these points are duly and seriously weighed, what cause the Reformed have had for a seces- sion and departure from them, to the glory of God, to the reverence of Peter's doctrine, to the comfort and peace of our consciences, let the Greek churches, or any other that maintain scripture-doctrine and wor- ship, nay, let all in other parts of the world that own the true God, be judges. But, to draw to an end : how greatly ought we to resound His praises, who hath in all ages, through the depth of the darkest times, conserved the true faith and doctrine all along ; and of his great mercy conveyed to • BEn.A, lib. i, cap. 26. t Idem, ibid. cap. 2(3. 1 Comiit. ^/postal, lib. vi. cap. 4. § Decretal. Ghkg. IX. lib. v. tit. 7, fol. 285, Paris. |l Genebraru. Chron. lib. iv. ad amium 904, p. 80". ^ Ammianus, lib. xxvii. •• Laonicls ChalcoconpyI/AS Djv 8e eJcxAv]crlated into Greek sometimes by the word SouAsusii', and sometimes by Karpfv^iv. The same Hebrew verb tlie Septuagiut renders iuditferently by these two Greek expressions [as in the passages of scripture here adduced]. Laiirkntius Vai.la, in his 'Annotations' upon Matt, iv., adduces copious proof that there is no diflerence between the two ; and this, relying upon the authority of the most eminent Greek writers," — Edit. Sermon x. invocation of saints and angels unlawful. 109 Here let it be farther considered, that the adoration and invocation of saints and angels in the church of Rome is not only idolatrous, but it is in imitation of the old Pagan idolatry, and a manifest reviving of their " doctrines of demons ; " which is foretold in scripture as that which should fall out in the last days amongst the degenerate and apostatizing Christians. So the apostle tells us, in 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, "that in the latter times some shall revolt from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and " (SiSacrxaXjajj Saijaoviojv) " doctrines of devils," or " demons : "^Uhat is, doctrines which they are objects, rather than authors, of ; * " doctrines concerning demons ; " as " doctrines of bap- tism, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment," are doctrines ahout and concerning all these. Now what these dcmons'were, and what the Heathens' doctrine about them was, may be read at large in Mede's " Apostasy of the latter Times," a book which the Papists never cared to meddle with. There the author hath made it manifest, that the Gentiles' idolatry, and theology of demons, is revived and re-enforced in the church of Rome. They fancied that their demons were an inferior sort of deified powers, that stood in the midst between the sovereign gods and them. The sovereign gods they supposed so sublime and pure, that mortals could not, might not, approach to them : therefore they introduced this middle sort of divine powers to be as mediators and agents betwixt them.-f These demons, or mediators, were supposed to be of two sorts. Some were the souls of men who were deified after their death : the canonizing of heroes and deceased worthies is ancient indeed ; it is older than the Papacy. Rome, when it was heathen, had a custom to canonize their deceased emperors, and call them divi, or " saints," too. J We read of divus Augustus as well as of diviis Augustinus. Another sort of demons they had, who were more sublime ; who never dwelt in mortal bodies, but were from the beginning always the 8ame.§ This second sort of demons doth fitly answer to those spiritual powers [whom] we call " angels ; " as the former sort doth to those who with us are called " saints." To these demons they built temples ; their images, shrines, and relics they religiously adored. |1 So that, in many respects, the Pagan idolatry was •" The genitive ^aifJLOviwv is to be taken passively for the object of these doctrines. See the like, Heb. vi. 2; Acts xiii. 12; Titus ii. 10; Gal. ii. 20."— Joseph Meoe. t Platunici opinanlur quod damoncs mcdiatorcs stint inter dcos et homines, per qiius ad deo- ruin (irnicitias homines uiiibiitnt. Vide Augustinum De Civitate Dii,\\h. ix. cap. 9, II. "The Platonists suppose that the demons are mediators between the gods and men, by whose intervention men ingratiate themselves into friendship -with the gods." — Edit. J Divi qui cwlestes semper hubiii, et qui in coiLuiii vacati. — CicERO De Lcr/ibiis, lib. ii. " The divine are those who were always esteemed celestial, and who were called to heaven." — Edit. § ]?hV'iAKCViv» DeDefectu Oraculorti'tn. Sunt et superius aliud augustiusque damonum genus, qui semper a corporis compedibus et noxis liberi. Ex hdc sublimiori diEinonwin copid au'uinat Plato singulis hoininibus in vitd agenda testes et custodes singu- los additos.- — Apulejus. " There is also another class of demons, higher and nobler, who have been always free from the shackles and annoyances of the body. Of this sublimer number of demons flato conjectures that each is joined to a particular man while passing through life, as a witness and guardian." — Edit. \\ JEncas patrem defunctum invo- cat : [" Eneas invokes his deceased father :"] Nunc pateras libate Jovi, precibusque vocate ylnchisen genitorem. — Virgilii jEneid. vii. 133. " Be great Anchises honour'd and adored. And pour the wine to heaven's almighty Lord." — Pitt's Translation. 110 SERMON X, INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS UNLAWFUL. a pattern of the Popish idolatry ; the one is exactly parallel with the other ; it hath a great affinity to it, and its very foundation from it. OBJECTION. I know that it will be objected, that " those demons or inferior deities of the Heathens were the souls of wicked men and devils ; whereas those who are invocated and adored by the Romanists are the spirits of just men and angels." ANSWER. To which I answer, that though in that respect there be a disparity, yet the objection hath no force ; because the idolatry of the Heathen did not lie in making an ill choice of the demons [whom] they worshipped, but in giving that religious worship to a creature, which was due only to the Creator. Let him be a good or a bad angel, a just or a wicked person ; so long as he is a creature, it is idolatry to defer rehgious worship or invocation to him. Before I conclude this point, let me give you the opinion of one of their own way upon this matter. His words are these : " Many Chris- tians do for the most part transgress in a good thing, — that they wor- ship the he-saints and she-saints no otherwise than they worship God ; nor do T see, in many things, wherein their opinion of the saints doth differ from that which the Heathen had of their gods." * What Protest- ant heretic could have spoken more plainly ? To carry on the allusion, consider how the Heathen had their tutelar gods for countries and cities : in like manner the Papists have their saint-patrons for particular places and nations ; as, St. George for Eng- land,t St. Patrick for Ireland, St. David for Wales, St. James for Spain, St. Denis for France, &c. The Heathen did appropriate particular employments and offices to their demons or deities : so do the Papists to their he and she-saints. Only (as one observes) the superstition and folly of new Rome in this exceeds that of the old, — that they could con- tent themselves with iEsculapius only in all matters that related to physic and diseases, but these have almost as many saints to invoke as there are maladies to be cured. One saint is good for sore breasts ; (St. Agatha ;) another, for the tooth-ache ; (St. Apollonia ;) a third, for fevers ; (St. Sigismund ;) a fourth, for inflammations; (St. Anthony;) and so on. Nay, in some cases they will not trust themselves in the hands of one saint alone ; as for instance, in case of the pestilence, they join St. Roche Avith St. Sebastian, for surer aid. The Heathen were wont to invoke Lucina in the pains of child-birth : but the Papists think St. Margaret to be the better midwife ; and St. Nicholas now, in their esteem, hath as much or more power in the seas than ever Neptune had. IT IS INJURIOUS TO CHRIST. 4. This practice is injurious unto Christ. — It intrencheth upon his mediatory office, and doth manifestly rob him of his royal prerogative ; • Multi Christiani in re bond plerumqiie peccant, — quod divos divasguc non uliter venn-an- tur quam Detnn ; ncc video in lanltis quid sit discrime7i inter eorutn opinionem de Sanctis, et id quud Gentiles putabant de diis suis. — LuDOVirus VivES in Notts in Auc.ustinum De Civit. Dei, lib. viii. cap. 27, edit. 15!)6. f Ut Mortem Latii, sir nos te, dive Georgi. — Mantuanus. "As the Latins had Mar.s (for their tutelar deity,) so have we thee, O diviae George, for ours." — Edit. SERMON X. INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS UNLAWFUL. Ill whicli is, to be the one and only Mediator betwixt God and man.* Hear what the apostle says : " Thei-e is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus:" (1 Tim. ii. 5:) "one" exclu- sively ; " one," and but " one." In this office Christ hath no sharers or partners. As God is but one, and there is no other ; so the Mediator is but one, and there is no other. The Papists may as well fancy many subordinate gods, as subordinate mediators betwixt Him and us. I am not ignorant of their distinction, — how that there is but one Mediator of redemption, but there are and may be many mediators of intercession. To which I answer, that the scripture knows no such difference or dis- tinction of mediators ; and in Christ they are one and the same thing : in this he intercedes, — that he hath satisfied for us ; and it is in consi- deration of his death that God receives us into his favour. And if the distinction be admitted, the word " between," in the text fore-cited, doth evidently show that he rather speaks of a Mediator of intercession ; for it is improper to say that " Christ is a Redeemer between God and man : " and yet, that we may know that he doth not intercede for us only by his prayers, but by his passion and merits also, it is added, that he " gave himself a ransom for us." (Verse 6.) And in 1 John ii. 1, when "Jesus Christ the righteous" is spoken of as our "Advocate," it is presently added, that " he is the propitiation for our sins ; " (verse 2 ;) which shows that his intercession consists in his being a propitiation for sin. The High Priest under the law was a figure or type of Christ in this respect ; for he was typically a mediator both of intercession and redemp- tion. There was no other ordinary mediator of intercession but he : and hence it is that he went alone into the Holy of Holies to offer up incense unto God : he had no partners with him in his office. So Jesus Christ is entered alone into the holy place not made with hands, to wit, " hea- ven itself, to appear in the presence of God for us." (Heb. ix. 24.) In the tabernacle of this world, (as it was in the first tabernacle,) there you may haply find many priests whom you may employ as agents for you with God : but in the second tabernacle, which is heaven, there is but one High- Priest that hath to do in that holy place, but one Agent to deal with God for you ; there is but one Advocate admitted into that court to appear for you, and plead your cause. It is necessary for the constituting of an advocate or intercessor for us in heaven, that he be commissionated and deputed by God vmto that office. He must not arrogate or take it upon himself, unless he be called thereunto. Now this qualification doth suit with Christ and no other : no saint or angel had ever any commission or deputation from God for this service. To which of the angels or saints did he ever say, " ' Sit thou at my right hand,' receive the devotions * Quid tarn proprium Christi quum Advocatum apud Dcum Patrem adstare populorum ? — AmbrosH'S in Psal. xxxix, " What is so peculiarly the proper office of Christ, as to stand in the presence of God the Father, as the Advocate of liis people ? " — Edit. Pro quo nullus interpellat, sed ipse pro omnibus, hie unus verusque Mediator est. — Al'GUSTINUS Contra Epist. Parineniatii, lib. ii. cap. 8. " That person for whom no one intercedes, but who himself intercedes for all,- — he is the only and true Mediator." — Edit. And in the same place, " The mutual prayers," saith he, " of all the members who yet labour upon the earth, ought to ascend up to the Head, who is gone before into heaven, in whom we have the remission of our sins. For if St. Paul were a mediator, the other apostles would be so also ; and so there would-be many mediators : which would not agree with that which else- where he saith, — that ' there is one Mediator between God and man.' " 112 SERMON X. INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS UNLAWFUL- and petitions of sinners on earth, and present them to me in heaven ? " (Heb. i, 13.) I have read, indeed, that angels are deputed to be their guardians and ministers, but not to be their advocates and mediators. (Verse 14.) One thing I would add, which deserves our consideration, — that these Popish distinguish ers do make the saints in heaven to be their mediators of redemption, as well as intercession : for no petition is more frequent in their offices to the saints than that by their merits, as well as prayers, they might obtain such and such blessings here, and eternal life hereafter. If it would not tire you, I could treat you with many scores of instances.* For a taste, let me give you a piece of a prayer to one Etheldred, an English saint ; and it is in these words : " Look, O most gracious virgin, upon our troubles which we deservedly sustain ; and, by the merits and intercession of thy hohness, both appease the anger of the Judge whom we have offended, and obtain that pardon which we have not deserved." f But, above all, commend me to one of our country-folk ; and that is the honest man [whom] I named before, even St. Thomas Becket, whose blood they supposed of old to be as sovereign as Christ's himself. It is not enough to " pray " (as they do) " that by his merits and prayers they may be translated from vices to virtues, and from the prison to the kingdom ;" J this they hope for from more ordinary saints : but as for St. Thomas, they pray that " by his blood they may climb to heaven, as he has done before them." § Now judge, by what hath been said,^if the saints be not made mediators of redemption, as well as interces- sion. I shall have done with this head, when I have obsei'ved one thing more, for the sake of which I shall never be reconciled to Rome ; that is, they do not only degrade our Lord Jesus Christ, and bring-in partners upon him in his office df intercession ; but they disparage him too, and report that he, being a Judge as well as an Advocate, is more inclined to severity ; that we may expect more pity and compassion from his mother and the other saints, who are more disposed to mercy than he is.|| Yea, • O omnes snncti et sancta: Dei, subvenite mihi, 8(c., ut per merita vestra pervenire valeam ad aterncB beatitudinis patriam. — Horce sec. Usum Rom. " O all ye male and female saints of God, assist me, that by your merits I may be able to arrive at the country of eternal bliss." — Edit. t Per tuce sanctitatis merita et intercessiones iram Judicis placa quam. offendimus. — Breviariuin sec. Usum Sar urn, io\. 100. 1 Te snpplices ea'oramns ut ejus meritis et precibus a vitiis ad virtutes ct a carccre transferamur ad regnuni. — Brev. Sar. in Translntione Thomcr, 7 Julii. § Tu per Thoma; sangui)iem, quern pro te impendit,/ac nos, Christe, scandere quo Thomas ascendit : "By that same blood Thomas for thee expended, Christ, raine iis thither whither he has ascended." Jesu Christe, per Thoma vulnera, Qua: nos lit/ant relaxa scelera, Nc captivos ferant ad in/era Hostis mu/idus vcl carnis opera. " O Jesus Christ, by the wounds of Thomas, unloose the crimes which bind us ; lest our enemy the world or the works of the flesh carry ws captive to hell." — Edit. Deus patitur se misericorditcr reconciliari propter merita et intercessiones sanctorum. — Coloniensis in siio jintididagm. " God suffers himself mercifully to be reconciled on account of the merits and intercessions of the saints."— Edit. || C/iristtts non .^oluin ^Mvocatus est, sed et Judex, cuncta discussurus, ita quod nihil inultum remanebit. Ctun itague vi.v Justus ante euiii sit securus, quomodo pcccator ante rum tanquam ^Idvocalum accederet f Idco Deus providit nobis de advocatd, qua: mitis et suajiis est, in qud nihil invenitur asperum. — Antomni Suinma Thcologia, i^ura i\\ titul. 15. " Chiibt is not solely au Advocate, but SERMON X. INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS UNLAWFUL. 113 I have understood, that in some of their churches, they have pictured Christ frowning and casting darts at sinners, whom they make to flee from him, as if they were afraid of him ; and then tlie Virgin Mary is hrought-in as shrouding of them, and interposing betwLxt him and them. O unparalleled wickedness ! 0 ye vile and wretched Papists ! Have you never read what is reported of Christ in the scriptures of truth ? — • that he is " a merciful and faithful High Priest ; " (Heb. ii. 17;) one that hath compassion on poor sinners, (v. 2,) as having himself been " touched with the feeling of their infirmities." (iv. 15.) Is this your dealing Avith him, — to disgrace, as well as to displace, him ? What mean your great doctors by telling the world, that the intercession of the saints is more available than his ? that as he wrought greater miracles by the saints than by himself, so oftentimes he showeth the force of their intercession more than his own ? * What was his meaning who upon this question, " Whether it be better to pray to God by Christ alone, or by the saints," determined it thus 1 — Oratio fusa per sanctos melior est : " It is better to do it by the saints." But it is time to conclude this part of my discourse, which was to prove the practice of the church of Rome in praying to saints and angels to be blameworthy and abominable in the sight of God, POPISH PLEAS FOR INVOCATION OF SAINTS. It remains now that I examine the pleas [which] the Papists have for this practice. You will suppose they have something to say for them- selves in this behalf : and so they have. I shall not wittingly conceal any thing of force which is urged or pleaded by them. You have under- stood already that they do not pretend the warrant of God's word for their so doing. Those of them that have endeavoured to find this prac- tice in the scripture, have fumbled so lamentably, that others of their own party are ashamed of them. Who can forbear smihng to hear it inferred that, because the rich man prayed father Abraham to send Laza- rus to his aid, therefore it is lawful to invocate the saints, and to desire their assistance ? There is one text of scripture which seems to patronize the invocation of angels, and it is strongly urged by some upon that account ; and that is in Gen. xlviii. 16 : there Jacob says, "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads." "These words of Jacob," says a learned writer, " are not spoken to an angel, but of or concerning an angel ; and the speech is euxxjxov, not •Brpoo-soxTixov ' ' by way of wish or option,' not 'by way of prayer or supplication.' " f But the true answer is this, — that by " the Angel " in that place we are not to understand angelus Domini, but Angelus Bominus ; [not] " an angel of the Lord, but "the Angel that is the Lord." The Lord himself goes under that name in scripture : He is called " the Angel of the covenant," and " the counsel of God." (Mai. iii. 1 ; Isai. ix. 6 ; Ixiii. 9.) The Lord was the Angel with whom Jacob before had wrestled ; and He was the also a Judge, -who will examine all tilings, so that nothing shall remain unpunished. Since, therefore, scarcely the just man is secure before him, how should the sinner come to him as his Advocate ? On this account God has provided us with an advocatrix, who is mild and benign, in whom no asperity is foxmd." — Edit. * Henry Fitz-Simons " Of the Mass," book ii. part ii. chap. 3 ; Salmeron in 1 Tim. ii. f Montague in [his] " Treatise of the Invocation of Saints," p. 87. VOL. VI. I 114 SERMON X. INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS UNLAWFUL. Angel wliom Jacob here invocated. He prayed Him to bless bis nephews, to ivhom he had said a little before, " I will not let thee go, except thou bless me : " (Gen. xxxii. 2G :) and that was not a created angel ; but Jesus Christ, the Creator of angels.* The same Jesus is the Angel spoken of in Rev. viii. 3 ; who is said there to " stand at the altar, having a golden censer ; and to have much incense given unto him, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne." This must be understood of our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ : it is he only that ofJ'ereth or presenteth our prayers, with the incense of his merits, upon the golden altar, that is, upon himself, "unto God for a sweet-smelling savour." f (Eph. v. 2; Heb. iv. 14; ix, 14 ; xiii. 10, 15.) But what they want in the scripture, they say they have in the wri- tings of the ancient fathers, for the justifying of this practice. Bellar- mine says, that " all the fathers, Greek and Latin, teach that the saints are to be invocated." J Salmeron, Stapleton, and others, § speak the same language. " These kind of men," says bishop Usher, " have so inured their tongues to talk of ' the fathers ' and ' all the fathers,' that they can hardly use any other form of speech ; and having told such tales as these so often over, at last they persuade themselves they are true indeed." The same learned person, in his " Answer to a Challenge made by a Jesuit in Ireland," hath this passage : " However our Challenger," says he, " gives it out that prayer to saints was of great account amongst the fathers of the primitive church for the first four hundred years after Christ, yet for nine parts of that time I dare be bold to say that he is not able to produce as much as one testimony out of any father whereby it may appear that any account at all was made of it." Nay, he makes it evident they were all against it. They that are desirous to be farther informed in this matter, may do well to consult his quotations out of the ancient fathers, which he hath faithfully given his reader ; and there he will find them in words at length. The like good service is done to my hand by others. || I could, if there were room for it, fill many pages with apposite testimonies and citations ; but that would swell this discourse too much. Take two or three for a taste : — Ignatius, who flourished about the year of our Lord 140, in his " Epistle to the Philadelphians," thus writes : " You virgins have none but Jesus Christ alone before your eyes in your prajers, and the Father of Jesus Christ."^ It seems that Christians in his time did not so much as look to or call upon the Virgin Mary herself. To the same purpose is • Jlde Atiianasii Orat.iv. cont. Arianos, p. 2C0 : " The patnarcli Jacob joined none with God but Him only who is the Word ; whom for this cause he called ' Angel,' because it is) He alone who manifesteth the Father to us." Iren-ETS, Ajikrose, Kl'pertus, VlEGAS, Haymo, &c., [arc] of this mind. f No created augel is sufficient for this, — -to receive and offer up the pra3ers of all saints. \ Oinnes patres Gnrci el Latini docent sanctos etse invocandos. — Bellarminus De Ecclcs. Triumph, lib. i. cap. 6. § Sal- MKRON in 1 Tim. ii. disp. 7; Stapletoni Forlr. pars i. cap. 9; Johannis Azorii Iiistittitiones Morales, tom. i. lib. ix. cap. 10. |1 T'ide Uall.ei Disput. advcrs. Latin, de Cultus rcligiosi Oljecto Traditionpin, lib. iii. et pp. 340 — 682; Fetrum dii Moc- LiN De Novitnle Fajiis/iii ; Ur. Fkrne's '"Answer to Spencer," .sect. ii. pp. 257 — 285; John Poi yandeh's "Refutation of a Popish Epistle conceniiug the Invocation of Saints ; " Eximpti Co'icilii Tridenlini per Martinum Chemnitium ; Juelliim Contra Hardingum ^ Wfutakerum Cantra Duraum, &r. ^ Ai tjjap&fvoi fxovov tov XpiffTov -arpo oid. K 2 132 SERMON XI. PURGATORY A GROUNDLESS 1 . As to the matter of fact that is recorded of Judas, — that he did raise a certain sum of money, (though not twelve thousand, but two thousand, drachms, as the Greek copy reads it,) and sent it to Jerusalem to buy sacrifices, — I will not dispute against it ; he might do it, probably did it, and in his circumstances had good reason for it. But that he did it ^j/-o mortuis, or " for the relief of the dead," that is Bellarmine's forgeiy. The text says only, pro peccato, "for the sin;" namely, lest, being a notorious sin, the living should be plagued for it ; and that this was his case appears by verse 42 : " They prayed that the sin might be blotted out, and Judas exhorted the multitude to keep themselves " avajaapTJjTOWf, " free from the sin, seeing the punishment of them that had committed it." And this is an interpretation of his fact that agrees to the letter of the text, and the analogy of faith. 2. As for the author's gloss, — what a piece of piety it is to pray for the dead, — we are not much concerned in it ; for whoever was the author of it, whether Jason or his abbreviator, (as may seem, 2 Mace. ii. 23, &c.,) and however good a historian he was, we own him for no prophet. Nor did the church of the Jews ever look npon his writings as canonical, as Papists themselves confess : though Bellarmine says the Christian church did, he gives slender proof of it.* Austin indeed says, " It was received of the church not unprolitably, provided it was soberly read ; " where he seems to caution against some dangerous passages in it, by which unwary readers might be prejudiced, as much as the more wise profited. But the author himself acquits us from any veneration of him, by his courting his readers' favour, ever and anon, and desiring their pardon, at least, if any thing had been said amiss ; (2 Mace. ii. 26 ;) which are condescen- sions below the Spirit of God, or any author inspired by it. 3. If this author had been good, and the Jews there had prayed for the dead, the Papists' inference of purgatory, according to their own principles, is weak ; for it seems also by their faith, that people may be prayed out of hell. Though this they will not grant for ordinary, lest it should spoil their purgatory ; yet two instances they very confidently give of it, which speaks a possibihty : one of Trajan, a bloody persecutor, upon the prayers of Gregory, of which. Damascene says, the whole east and west were witnesses ; and the other of Falconilla, a Pagan woman, by the prayers of St. Thecla. And if there was need of any more such stuff, the scull of a certain gentile priest told Macarius, that its owner was dehvered out of hell by his prayers. And here is as good authority as our adversaries wiU bring, by-and-by, for their purgatoiy. Though, I must confess, these instances, as going against the hair, do not over- cleverly go down ; for though they hugely advance prayer, they quite raze purgatory. To make up therefore differences between the com- batants on each party, Aquinas tells us,f (and he seems to moderate well, like an Angelical Doctor,) that "they were not finally sent to heU, but according to their present merit ; and that probably they were -first raised to life, and so repented, ei'e they were translated to heaven ; and also that this was not by common law, but special privilege," an act as it were of Chancery. But, however it was, if one late penitent, though but one, is thought suflScient to prevent every one's despair, two such instances • Bellarminus De Pnrgaturio, lib. i. cap. 3. t Sujipl. quoest. Ixxi. art. 6. AND DANGKROUS DOCTRINE. 133 of damned persons recovered to grace are ground enough to encourage prayer for all the rest. And if fatliers would make these fantastic arguments authentic, it were easy to give many that speak probably, as if they half believed such a thing as the possibility of a deUverauce from hell. Origan goes a great way beyond us. Let us hear what Austin says, that they would make their great man for purgatory. Aquinas denies not but that it was his saying, that suffrages did "profit the dead either for a full absolution, or more tolerable damnation ; " * both which must refer to their state in hell. There is no proper damnation in purgatory, and remission is said to be granted before they go to purgatory ; only an imaginary guilt remains there, that may be properly enough purged in an imaginary place, by an imaginary fire, such as (for aught we yet hear of purgatory) that seems to be. And thus I conceive the force of this text is fully enervated, the fact being shown to have been misconstrued, the gloss not duly authorized, and the inference not fii-mly gi'ounded. We must now pass into the New Testament ; and there the most hkely text seems to be Matt. xii. 31, 32, where it is said of the " blasphemy against the Holy Ghost," that " it shall never be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come : " hence conclude they, that some sins are forgiven in the other world ; and therefore [there is] a purgatory. Answer 1. I deny the consequence; for, according to their opinion, as you have fore-heard, purgatory is for persons whose sins are already forgiven. 2. The original is, Oure sv touto^ t«j olimvi, outs sv too ij,sXXovti' " Neither in this age, nor in the age to come ; " where the present age may signify the Judaic state, wherein grace was straiter ; and the future, that of Christ's kingdom, wherein it was expected larger. Thus "age to come" is often taken, as probably, Heb. vi. 5 ; and, according to some readings, in Isai. ix. 6, Christ is called, instead of " everlasting Father," 5 YlarYjp Tov fxeXXovTos ocimvo;, "the Father of the age to come." But if this will not be admitted, 3. Let Matthew interpret himself by what he says in the former verse, where he tells them, without this exaggeration, that it " shall not be for- given ; " and, to omit fathers, let me only refer them to his brother Mark, in Mark iii. 29, where it is simply rendered, that " he hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of," or obnoxious to, " eternal damnation," ovK s^ei a<^scriv sij tov cucuvoi. Both the former ages are here wrapped up in the one of eternity, as it were to correct the Popish nicety. Another text [which] they make use of is Matt. v. 25, 26, where we are advised to " agree with our adversary quickly while in the way ; lest the adversary dehver us to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and we be cast into prison ; for we shall by no means come out thence, tiU we have paid the utmost farthing." Here also Papists do see venial sins in the "farthings," human satisfactions in the "pay," purgatoiy in the " prison." But that no such things can with any congruity be hence inferred, you may observe, 1. Tliat it is questionable whether this is any parable, or looks any • Suppl, qusest. Issi. art. 5. 134 SERMON XI. PURGATORY A GROUNDLESS further than the civil differences between us and our brother ; which we should speedily take up among ourselves by the common rule of equity, and not suffer needlessly to come before the forensic judges where we may expect utmost severity. The context inclines to this, and so this text is expounded by Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Jerome. 2. If a parable, on that account, by the common rule of the Schools, it is not argumentative, especially in an article of faith. 3. Its scope must be intended, and not every particular word racked ; and that seems to be only this, — that we should make our peace with God in this life, and as soon as we can, in that here we may expect mercy ; whereas, if we put off matters tiU we come before God's tribunal, we shall be dealt with in all severity : God will not abate us an ace then, he will exact the utmost farthing ; he will not then hear of remission, or composition ; — that we are likely to go to eternal perdition : " the prison" is hell ; and there is no rehef from the "until;" for the impossibility of the condition makes that but a bare supposition, and it is all one with " never." As to which resolution of the matter, we have abettors, some of the most considerable of the Popish doctors : Malbonatus in locum ; ToLETUs in Lucam xii. ; Jansenius, Concord. Evang. A further text [which] Bellarmine lays great stress upon is 1 Cor. xv. 29 : " What shall they do that are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are they then baptized for the dead ? " This, we must confess, is a difficult place indeed, and has wrested many great wits. But Papists think, that, by way of requital, as it v^^ere, they may wrest it ; and by "baptism" understand all their voluntary services for the dead, supposing hence that they may thereby profit the dead ; and consequently, that there is a purgatory, wherein they are detained till by these means they are relieved. Answer 1 . Their notion of baptism is perfectly new-coined ; for though afflictions, which in the Old Testament are frequently set out by "waters," are sometimes in the gospel couched under this name of "bap- tism," (Matt. XX. 22, 23,) yet prayers, alms, sacrifices, and such-like voluntary services, were never so expressed, nor with any pretence of reason can be thereby understood. 2. If this was granted, purgatory could not be hence inferred ; for this baptism, whatever it was, referred to the resurrection of the body, as a typical representation of that, whereon it is made use of for confir- mation of the faith of that ; whereas purgatory, according to them, is only for the relief of the soul : [so] that were we wholly at a loss for the positive meaning of the text, or should we be out in our guess at it, they could reasonably take no advantage of it ; for, to whatever it serves, it serves not to their purpose ; the body and its resurrection, and not the soul and its purgation, being concerned in it, as by the context clearly appears. But, however, to take occasion to explain that very puzzling text, 1 . Some refer it to a corrupt custom, taken up by the Corinthians and Marcionites, of baptizing a hving person instead of his friend who was dead ; which Paul makes use of to their conviction, without his own approbation. Let this have what weight it will with others, I must pro- fess, it little sways with me. AND DANGEROUS DOCTRINE. 136 2. Others think [that] this baptism refers to the washings that were used about the dead, which showed hope of their resurrection ; otherwise why should they make such ado about the bodies of them? (Of this custom we hear something in Acts is.. 37.) But then we must take baptism here in the middle voice, and read the text, " Why do they baptize, or use washings about, the dead ? " Let this notion go as far as it will, I know no hurt in it. 3. According to others, "baptism" may be here taken for sufferings ; and so this clause may be much the same with what follows in the next verse : " WTiy stand we in jeopardy ? " " Why do we thus expose our bodies, if they shall never be restored to life ? " 4. Let me add a fourth notion, that takes " baptism " in a Uteral ^ense, and supposes an ordinaiy figure of one number for another, where there is speech of the dead ; and that the meaning is, " If the dead rise not, what shall become of us and our baptism, that are baptized into Jesus who is dead? for 'if the dead rise not,' " as he there says, (verse 16,) " ' Christ is not risen,' and consequently our gospel and hope are vain." And thus, by a small dispensation with grammar, which the apostle does not exactly tie himself to, we have a plain and safe meaning of this diffi- cult text. However, in regard of its difficulty, I should judge it very improper to make it the basis of any new uncouth article ; I would rather use it for confii-mation of one that was otherwise sufficiently bottomed, and would keep to the apostle's scope in the apphcation of it, till I had its fuller and surer interpretation ; and that certainly is, to confirm us, from something in use among us, of the future resurrection. The last text I shall mention, that is of any probability, is 1 Peter iii. 19, where Christ is said by the Spirit to have gone "and preached to the spirits in prison, that were sometime disobedient in the days of Noah." This " prison," they dream, is purgatory ; and it seems that there is preaching in it too : but to what purpose, if there be no repenting or changing of estate, as every where Papists confess there is not in purga- tory ? And, I suppose, whUe the scripture speaks of the so great wicked- ness of the world before the flood, they will not think that the men of that age went generally to purgatory ; and therefore Christ might have had but few auditors, if he had gone thither to have preached to them. The plain meaning of that text is, that Christ by his Spirit in Noah did once preach unto that generation, whose spirits are now in hold as criminals for their then disobedience : of which preaching of Noah, and the strivings of this Spirit, we hear in 2 Peter ii. 5 ; Gen. vi. 3. But to suppose Christ's personal going into those dark regions to preach the gospel to spirits so long departed, is a ridiculous fable, and destructive even of their own notion of purgatory ; that reckons the present life the way, the race, and that hereafter is no opportunity to obtain grace, but satisfy justice. Such shifts, then, thei/ are put to, that, right or wrong, wUl take upon them to defend a bad cause ; and yet as little as these scriptures [which] I have quoted make for them, and as much as in truth they make against them, they are their chief weapons. If I should mention several others, I could propose no other design than to shame them ; but, it may be, they will say. Do that, if I can. I shall, however, forbear, in that it 136 SERMON XI, PURGATORY A GROUNDLESS may be a harder task than I am aware ; for some folks have whores' foreheads, and will not be ashamed, IV. Let us now briefly consider their supplementary arguments ; which ordinarily are from these heads : 1 . Reasons. 2, Fathers. 3. Councils. 4. Consent of nations. 5. Revelations. REASONS. 1 . Let us hear their strong reasons for a purgatory. And the first I find to be this : — Reason i. In that some sins are venial, and only worthy of a tempo- ral punishment, and it is possible [that] a man may depart out of this life only with these ; therefore it is necessary that they should be purged and expiated in another. Reason ii. When sinners are reconciled to God, the whole temporal punishment is not always remitted with the sin : and a man may die before he has discharged it ; and therefore in the other world he must make it up. And hereon a purgatory seems necessary. And these are all the reasons [which] Bellarmine gives us,* But add what I shall consider under the following distinct heads, and by this you will see upon what lame legs this great doctrine stands. For, (] .) We utterly deny any sin to be in this sense venial, having learned out of the scriptures, that " the wages of sin," one as well as another, " is death." (Rom. vi. 23.) (2,) Though we allow of fatherly chastisements that God lays on his people here for others' example and their own amendment, as a fruit of love rather than justice, (Rev, iii, 19,) we understand nothing of a proper punishment by way of personal satisfaction that is required of us when God has pardoned us ; having learned, that God does " abundantly par- don" where he pardons ; (Isai. Iv, 7 ;) and having confidence that Christ has fully satisfied where he has undertaken to satisfy, " by one sacrifice perfecting for ever them that are sanctified;" (Hob, x, 14;) and that "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ," (Rom, viii, 1,) And we reckon it absurd that we should be loosed in respect of our greater sins by the sufferings of another, and held for our slighter pecca- dillos to make satisfaction in our own pei'sons. We cannot conceive why Christ, that paid the pounds, should grudge the pence ; [that] after he has paid our debt, he should suffer us to lie for fees. If there was a mcetness [that] we should smart for any of our sins, one would expect it rather for our great ones ; but the goodness that passes over them will not disparage itself to take notice of little things ; but we assure our- selves [that] where it sets on forgiveness, it will make clear work, " for- giving iniquity, transgression, and sin," that all glory may be to God. (Exod. xxxiv. 7;) (3.) We suppose [that] the wise providence of God does so far subserve his covenant, that no surprisal shall happen to them interested in it, to cut them short of the fuU benefit of it ; and that God will continue them in this life, till he has fitted them for a better : otherwise David was out in his notion of God's covenant, that reckoned it " ordered in all things, and sure ; " (2 Sam. xxiii. 5 ;) and we are abused in what Me hear of his • BCLLAUJIIM'S Dc Purff. lib. i. cap. 11. AND DANGEROUS DOCTRINE. 137 exact and accurate providence. (Matt. x. 29, 30.) If this be all Bellar- mine's reason for a purgatory, — to catch those of God's people that shall drop out of his providential hand, that they may not quite fall into hell, — he may content himself [that] God is not so careless of his own matters or people as he would make him. His fruit drops not off the tree of its own accord, that there should be danger of its falling before it was ripe ; but he gathers it in convenient season, so that there is no need of a purgatory, wherein it should lie mellowing. You see, by what we have replied in these three particulars, how strait- ened they are for reasons, that they must extenuate the desert of sin, lessen the merit of Christ, and reflect on the wise providence of God, to have any show of one. And I must profess, had I hesitated at the doc- trine of purgatory before, such reasons as these for it would have con- firmed me in the disbelief of it. It is time to desert that faith where I cannot be a believer without being also a blasphemer. FATHERS. 2. Their second argument is from fathers ; as to which I briefly reply, that, upon examination, I find some false fathers imposed, others falsely quoted, others falsely applied to what they never intended ; as was easy to give instances, were they not from other hands so abun- dantly ministered. And further I find, (as is said of a certain people,) that they sell powder to friend and foe ; whereby a great noise is made, and a great smoke is raised, in which a man may soon lose his reli- gion : but I pity the poor man that is to seek it among them. And herein I acknowledge God veiy good to his church, discouraging her by this human uncertainty from pinning her faith on man, and directing her to his infallible word, on wjiich alone she can safely and reasonably settle. And such an observation, I conceive, put the spouse on that particular inquisition after Christ himself: "Tell me, 0 thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon : for why should I be as one that turncth aside " (or " sitteth veiled," after the manner of harlots) " by the flocks of thy companions?" (Canticles i. /.) That church that would keep itself chaste must be aware of wanton shepherds, how it sits down by them, or dallies with them, and keep close to Christ, that it may be delivered from them : and that church or society of men is a strumpet, that draws a veil over its own eyes, not caring to distinguish between Christ and his companions ; that hstens to every one's voice, and receives every one's embrace. Christ's " sheep know his voice, and follow him. And a sti-anger they will not follow, but will flee from him : for they know not the voice of strangei's." (John x. 4, 5.) And a stranger he is, and a strange voice he has, that speaks not according to what is written;' and so he should be looked on by you. (Gal. i. 6 — 9.) I speak not this to disparage the true fathers ; but I fear, as by the body of Moses (if he could have found it, or Michael would have deli- vered it, Deut. xxxiv. 6 ; Jude 9) the devil had a desigu of imposing upon Israel, so, under the name of divers upright and eminent fathers, the Deceiver of the Nations and his prophets have obtruded upon the world many gross superstitions and corrupt doctrines. Whereof it is 138 SERMON XI. PURGATORY A GROUNDLESS but needful [that] we should take caution ; especially if there appears to us the ghost of an ancient father, long dead, and hid from former ages, and raised by we know not what enchantments of later impostors, speak- ing tilings dissonant to the analogy of faith ; as is the case in respect of divers of those fathers [whom] the Papists urge us with, as Dionysius, Clemens, Ephrem, &c. But universally it is a good rule, to " beware of men," (Matt. x. 17,) and have your eye to the word of God, which is able to instruct you to " every good work." (2 Tim. iii. 1 7.) COUNCILS. 3. They pretend also councils in the case. To which pretence I reply, that we find none of antiquity or uni- versality to move us in the matter ; nor, for aught [that] appears, was it ever industriously handled till the council of Florence, not much upward of two hundred years [since], as Bellarmine himself seems to grant :* on occasion of pope John XXII. being impeached of heresy, as believing the sleep of all souls till the general resurrection, he plainly tells us, that he believed so, while it was lawful for him so to do without danger of heresy ; for the church had not then defined what in that case was to be believed. And consequently the division of our dead saints into those in heaven, and [those] in purgatory, even according to him, was not determined in any antecedent council ; and we are not moved by an article of faith that is so novel. Our Creed was completed one thousand six hundred years since, whereas it seems this great article of purgatory is not of three hundred years' standing ; for before then we might safely have believed all souls quiet enough. And the truth of it is, this opinion did prevail, as an opinion, among several of the ancients, and was probably the true foundation of those footsteps of superstition that we find among them in reference to the dead ; yet though this foun- dation by the Popish church itself is razed, the Popish purgatory, \ipon the superstructure of straw that the ancients laid thereon, is principally founded, as in aU their treatises of that subject may be observed. CONSENT OF NATIONS. 4. The fourth argument is from general consent of nations ; and here Bellarmine reckons up the Hebrews, the Mahometans, and the Hea- thens.f I had expected [that] he would have brought in the Greeks also ; and it may be supposed he took that for granted, in regard he had quoted so many of the Greek fathers in the former chapter, that, for aught I perceive, spake good Greek, if that would end a controversy : or, " However," say our neoterics, " the Greeks differed in this point here- tofore, they agreed to it in the council of Florence ; where the Greek emperor Palaeojogus, and Joseph, the patriarch of Constantinople, with divers Greek bishops, were present, and gave their consent in the disputed point of purgatory." In answer to this, I reply only two things ; for I am loath to lose the Greeks, I must confess, being so considerable a body of Christians : — (1.) That Bellarmine does yield the Greeks to be suspected, at least, of heresy in this business, and the Armenians also, and brings in • Bellahminus De Rom. Pont. lib. iv. cap. 14. t I>c Purg. lib. iv. cap. 11. AND DANGEROUS DOCTRINE. 139 Aquinas as of his mind ; and yet further feeds his suspicion, from the proceeding of the very council of Florence ; * whence later writers would persuade us of their being right for the business. (2.) Whatever was done by the Greek bishops in that synod, the rest of the Greek churches disowned when they came home, and interdicted them all Christian burial for their pains. And a fatal council this is noted every way to have been to the Greeks ; f for in it the patriarch dies ; presently after, the emperor ; and, within fourteen years after, Constantinople is taken by the Turks, the emperor's brother slain, the Greek empire dissolved, th£ Christians of those parts enslaved, and given thereby to find their purgatory in this world. As to their pretension to the Hebrews as being for purgatory, they have showed their proof, in 2 Mace. xii. 43 — 45 ; and it is needless further to disprove them. For the Heathen, especially the poets, I think we may grant several of them as abettors, and I suppose fathers, of this profound notion. As to the Mahometans also I will not much dispute ; nor wonder if I find purgatory in their Alcoran, since Sergius the monk was one of the authors of it. And, on re-collection of the whole, this specious argument of consent of nations results in the sweet harmony of Turks, Papists, and heathen poets ; and hkely enough, if we would trace them, they agree in more points than this. And herein let them glory on, while we comfort ourselves in our redemption " from our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers." (1 Peter i. 18.) APPARITIONS. 5. The fifth and last argument is from apparitions ; and here I might teU you abundance of pretty stories, were it worth the while. But as to these, I must frankly say, that if they had been true, (whereas the generality of them smell of fiction,) and if there had been ten where we hear only of one, it would have made this doctrine more suspicious. It seems hereby the interest of hell to promote such fancies. These phantasms, ghosts, or what else you will call them, were never, as I find, allowed preachers, nor do any of the monks record that they showed them their orders ; and it is observable [that] they came with different stories, some desciibing a Popish purgatory, and others, as it were a Turkish paradise : but God has directed us to " Moses and the prophets," (Luke xvi. 29,) and upbraided inquiring " for the living of the dead." (Isai. viii. 19.) So that I look on all of this nature as diabolical delusion, and the heeding of such things as a great declension from God, and the very precipice unto all superstition. And now let Papists further brag, that they have not only Turks and Heathens, but even hell itself, of their mind. SCRIPTURE-GROUNDS TO BELIEVE NO PURGATORY. But we have followed them too far in their fopperies, let us briefly inquire, V. What ground there is from scripture to disbelieve any such thing as purgatory. * Ibid. lib. i. cap. 2. t Simpson. 140 SERMON XI. PURGATORY A GROUNDLESS 1 . The scriptures mention only a two-fold state of persons departed this life, — placing some in heaven, and others in hell ; and accordingly allure the good by the hopes of one, and fright the bad with the threats of the other ; never setting before us for encouragement or discourage- ment any third state after this life : " He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark xvi. 16.) And lest sophisters should except, that he says not he shall presently be saved, but by the intermediation of purgatory, we find it elsewhere, even in words of the present, expressed : " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ; " and, on the contrary, "the wrath of God" is said "to abide on him" that doth not. (John iii. 36.) 2. The scripture makes only a two-fold division of saints, in respect of place, dividing the whole family into them on earth, and them in heaven. (Eph. iii. 15.) Therefore none that are under his fatherly love and care can well be supposed elsewhere. 3. The saints, that undoubtedly knew the mind of God, have not only been assured themselves, but have assured one another, that on their bodily death they should go forthwith to bliss ; whence is that, " To me to die is gain ; " "I desire to depart, and to be with Christ." (Phil, i. 21, 23.) And again: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord." (2 Cor. v. 8.) So the converted thief expected, and was assured, when he had no time to make personal satisfaction, as the Papists require : " This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise," (Luke xxiii. 43,) not purgatory : there, to be sure, Christ is not ; and where he is, there, you may all along observe, they expect to be, and that immediately. Lazarus is no sooner dead, but he is seen in Abraham's bosom, which surely was a place of rest. And in general, they ai-e pronounced " blessed that die in the Lord," as "resting from their labours." (Rev. xiv. 13.) And Jest this should be restrained to martyrs, and the former to eminent saints, (such as the thief, for instance,) we hear it, that good men, without exception, are taken hence in pity, that they may be freed from present evil, and go to rest after their hard labours ; (Isai. Ivii, 1,2;) which certainly implies not their being cast into purgatory-fire, if it be so fierce espe- cially as it is painted. 4. The scripture speaks of Christ as having fully satisfied, and of believers as being entirely justified, and thereon at peace with God, and as rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, looking on all the aftlictions that remain as flca-bitings, Uttle momentary things ; which they would not certainly have spoke so contemptibly of, if they had thought [that] they might have lain some thousand years in purgatory-flames. No ; they reckoned only of " the suff"erings of the present tirae," (Rom. viii. 18,) not dreaming of any afterwards; but on their "justification by faith," concluded of their " peace with God." And again : they are spoken of "joying in God through their Lord Jesus Christ, by whom they had now received the atonement." (Rom. v. 1, 11.) Tliey did certainly expect that God had no aftcr-recle .Sermonr Domini in Monte, lib. i. SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL. 167 very roundly reproves for granting tliat venial sins are properly against the law,* telling them, that, upon that principle, they can never main- tain the possibility of a perfect impletion of the law, because, as he saith, they can never get off cleverly from that scripture, " He that offends in one point is guilty of all," f (James ii. 1 0,) — but, which is worse, he audaciously wounds the purity and perfection of the divine law, to shelter his venial sins. Further, as that learned Baronius observes : ;j: were these venial, small sins of Bellarmine only beside, and not against, the law, we ought not to call them "sins," but "indifferent actions," and so account them lawfid ; for that which is forbidden by no law is lawful. And further : if this doc- trine were true, he that abstains from venial sins should do a work not of precept, but of counsel only, and so of super-erogation ; the Papists teaching that every good work not commanded by God, is a work of super-erogation. But how absurd would this be, — to say, that by abstain- ing from a sin, a man doth a work of super-erogation. I shall only add that censure passed upon Bellarmine by Dr. Featley, who saith, that here Bellarmine, for saying some sins are not against but only beside the law, may well be accounted to be beside himself. And as for Coton, that proud Papist, who tells us " there is no proportion between eternal death and an idle word," and therefore " an idle word is not to be so severely punished : " I answer, that as the great and righte- ous Judge of sin and sinners is fitter to judge of the proportion between the least sin and eternal punishment than any weak and guilty nialefac- tor ; so the will of God, forbidding any sin under an eternal penalty, is a sufficient reason of that penalty, and makes the punishment proportion- able to the demerit of the sin. I shall only chastise the intolerable insolence of this Popeling by asking him one question ; and it is but this : What proportion is there between eternal death, and the eating a morsel of flesh in Lent, or a woman's spinning a yard of thread on a holy day ? If you Papists forbid these under pain of damnation, (as you do,) and that merely because the church appoints it so, ye blind hypocrites, may not divine prohibition be allowed to make a proportion between a sin and eternal punishment, as well as that which is human, yea, diabolical ? In the latter of which expressions, I am not too severe, as long as we hold 1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3 to be canonical. The sum of all is but this : The smallness of sin alters not the nature thereof. Its nature stands in this, — that it is against the law. If it be not prohibited, it is no sin ; if it be, it is damnable, be it greater or smaller. I conclude this whole first part of my discourse, its explicatory part, with that holy and excellent advice of St. Austin, lib. ii. Contra Donatum : Non afferumus stateras dolosas, 8fc. : § " Let us not bi'ing deceitful balances, to weigh in them what we will, and how we will, according to our own pleasure, saying, * This is heavy ; this is light : ' but let us fetch a divine balance out of the holy scriptures, and in them • De Justif. lib. iv. cap. 14. f J'idendum est illis quid rcspondeant aposiolo Jacobo, dicenti, Quicnnqiie totam legem servaverit, olfendat autem in uno, factiis est omnium reus. — Bellarminus De Justif. lib. iv. cap. 14. % Baronjus De Peccat, venial, p. 98. § Non affvramus stateras dolosas ubi appendamus quod voltiwus et quomodo volumus pro arbitrio nontro y dicentes, Hoc grave, hoc leve est : sed afferamus divinam stateram de scrip- tiiris Sanctis, ct in ilia appendamus pecvata ; vel poiius a Domino appensa recognoscamus. — Contra Donat. lib. ii. cap. 6. 168 SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL, let us weigh our sins ; or rather let us judge of them as they are there weighed." PART II. CONFIRMATION. II. I have said what I intended as to the explication of this great truth,- — the denial of venial sin, both as to concession and negation : I proceed now to the second branch of my discourse about this point ; and that is, the conjirmation of it. And my first, and more immediately scriptural, argument shall be this : — Argument i. No fault is venial in itself that deserves eternal death : But every sin deserves eternal death : Therefore no sin in itself is venial. The first proposition, or major, is granted by the Papists, who tell us that the nature of sin's veniality stands in its not deserving eternal death ; and therefore no sin is venial that deserves eternal death. The minor, or second proposition, namely, that " every sin deserves eternal death," I shall clearly prove by scriptwes and 7-eason. 1. By scriptures. — And I shall name three. The first is that which I named for my text : " The wages of sin is death." (Rom. vi. 23.) The second is, "The soul that sinneth shall die." (Ezek. xviii. 4.) The third is that of Deut. xxvii. 26 : "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." To these scriptures Bellarmine answers, but very miserably. To that of Rom. vi. 23, " The wages of sin is death," Bellarmine answers, that " when Paul saith, * The wages of sin is death,' it is only meant of mortal sin, and thus is he to be understood : ' The wages of mortal sin is death.' " But I answer, [that] with as good reason, in all the places of scripture wherein we are dehorted from sin, he may cast this shameful gloss upon them, and say, that we are in them dehorted not from all sin, but only from mortal sin. As when the scripture saith, " Eschew evil," (1 Peter iii. 11,) Bellarmine may add this gloss, and say, " We are not forbidden to shun all evil, but only mortal evil." And so when Paul saith, "Abstain from all appearance of evil ; " (1 Thess. v. 22 ;) that is, as Bellarmine expounds it, " Abstain from all appearance of mortal evil." And, "Abhor that which is evil ;" (Rom. xii. ;) ;) that is, mortal evil. Yea, when v/e pray to be delivered from evil, (Matt. vi. 13,) that, with Bellarmine's comment, is only mortal evil, not all sin. But, further : I would ask any Papist only these two easy questions : Question i. Wliat is the meaning of these words, " The wages of sin is death?" (Rom. vi. 23.) The Papist will answer, "By those words, the apostle means that sin deserves death." Let Benedict Jus- tinian, the Jesuit, upon Rom. vi. 23, speak for all; who gives it thus: " By the desert of sin eternal punishments are inflicted." * Quest, ii. I demand. What is the meaning of this word "mortal," when Bellarmine thus expounds this text : " The wages of mortal sin is death ? " All the Papists, with Bellarmine, readily answer, that the meaning of " a mortal sin," is a sin that deserves death. Now, reader, be pleased to add to the apostle's proposition, " The wages of sin is death," that is, " Sin deserves death," Bellarmine's exposition : " ' The • Scmpiterni cruciatus peccati inerUo rcdduntur. — Beneuictus Justinianus i» /Zwjj. w. p. 191. SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL,, 1(J9 Vfages of mortal 'sin is deatli,' " that is, of a sin tliat deserves death ; and Paul's proposition \vill be turned into a gross tautology, and be made to speak thus : " Sin deserveth death that deserveth death ; " a wretched depravation of the sacred text, whereby they show that, rather than they Avill renounce a gross error, they will make the divinely-inspired apostle to speak gross nonsense. Besides, it is evident that in this sixth chapter to the Romans the apostle dehorts the converted Romans from all sin ; particularly in verse 2 : " Shall we continue in sin ? God forbid. IIow shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein ? " Now will any dare so wretchedly to interpret Paul, as to say that the Christians are here dehorted only from some sins, and not from all 1 If any would offer so to expound the apostle, I would instantly stop his mouth by two arguments taken from the context, wherein the apostle dissuades from sin, (1.) Bt/ a reason taken from being "baptized into the death of Christ."" (Verse 3.) — Now when we .are so baptized, is not all sin washed away and destroyed? And, (2.) The apostle useth another reason to dissuade from continu- ing in sin ; and that is, the consideration of their former yieldiny them- selves to sin. — Whence he ai'gues, they ought now as much to serve righteousness, as formerly they had served sin. (Verse 19.) Whence it will follow, that as they had formerly served not only greater but smaller sins, so now they ought to cast off the latter as well as the former, even all sin whatsoever. Now if Paul by these two arguments dehorts from all sin, why should he not then do so by this next argument, namely, the issue of sin : " The wages of sin is death 1 " As to that place of Ezek. xviii. 4, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," Bellarmine answers [that] the prophet only intends that thi'eat against mortal sins, grievous and heinous abominations, not against smaller sins which he calls " venial." But he abuseth the scripture ; for the prophet, there setting down the standing rule of divine justice, that none should die but for his own sins, makes no exception of lesser sins from being within the compass of that commination ; not saying, "The soul that grievously sins," but, "The soul that sins, shall die." Universe dictum est, " It is universally expressed," as Parens notes. But, to put all out of doubt, that lesser as well as greater sins are threatened to be punished with death by the prophet, it is plain from verse 31 of that chapter, where the prophet plainly declares his meaning to be of sin in general, without any restriction : " Cast away from you," saith he, "all your transgressions ; and make you a new heart : for why will ye die ? " All sins, therefoi'e, which opposed " a new heart," are they commanded to cast away, and are here clearly discovered to be deadly. To that place of Deut. xxvii. 26, " Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them," Bellarmine still gives the old answer. " By ' the v/ords of this law,' " saith he, " are not meant the words of the whole law, as if God had threatened a curse against all sins in genera] ; but only of mortal sins, some grosser sins of murder, incest, idolatry," &c. But this is a cursed gloss put upon a divine curse ; for the words here used, " the words of this law," are the same with those of verse 8, where the very same expression, " the words of 170 SERMON XTI. KO SIN VENIAL. tins law," intends " tlie Avords of tlie whole law ;" and evident it is that here all those sins are intended which are opposed to legal righteousness : " Do this, and live : " hut such are all sins in general. But the apostle, whom I ever took for a better expositor of scripture than either Bellar- niine or the pope, leaves no place for dispute in this matter ; who, in Gal. iii. 10, citing this very place of Deuteronomy, denounceth the curse, not against those that commit some gross sins against some part of the law, but against those " that continue not in all things that are written in the book of the law ; " that is, those that commit any sin whatever. Thus I have made good by sciipture this proposition, namely, "Every sin deserves eternal death." 2. I shall now proceed to prove it hy two reasons, the first where of is this : — Reason i. Every transgression of the law deserves eternal death : Every sin is a transgression of the law : Therefore every sin deserves eternal death. The second proposition, or minor, that " every sin is the transgression of the law," is contained in the express words of scripture, where sin is called " the transgression of the law ; " (1 John iii. 4 ;) from which every sin is a swerving, and thence hath its both nature and name also : and it is granted by the learnedest among the Papists, that all sins, even venial, are against the law ; so Durand, Gerson, Vega, Azorius, Cajetan, with others. And Augustine's old definition of sin, that it is dictum, faction, concnpitirm contra legem, that " sin is that which is either said, done, or desired against the law," falls in with them, or rather they with it. And therefore Bellarmine's distinction of some sins that are only prater, " beside," and not contra, "against," the law, is grossly false ; for if all sins are forbidden by, all sins are contrary to, the law. The major, or first proposition, that " every transgression of the law deserves eternal death," is most certain. But I prove it thus : — Whatever deserves the curse of the law, deserves eternal death : But every transgression of the law deserves the curse of the law : Therefoi'e every transgression of the law deserves eternal death. The major, or first proposition, cannot be denied, unless we will hold that the curse of the law only contains temporal evils ; which is hori'idly fidse : for if that were true, then Christ hath not delivered ns from eternal death by delivering us "from the curse of the law." (Gal. iii. 13.) The minor, or second proposition, that " every transgression of the law deserves the curse of the law," I prove from that clear and fuU scripture : " Cursed is every one that coutinueth not in aU things that ai'e written in the book of the law to do them." (Gal. iii. 10.) According to the rigour of the law, the least breach thereof makes us cursed ; and this was the law's unsupportable burden, — that when we were bound to do "all things in the law," and were unable to do them, we were yet cursed for not doing them. Reason ii. My second reason to prove that " every sin deserves eternal death " is this : — That which deserves an infnite p)unishment deserves eternal death : But every sin deserves an infinite punishment : IVierefore every sin deserves eternal death. SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL. 171 The major, or first proposition, is denied by none, there being no infinity of punishment mentioned or imagined but in that called in scrip- ture " eternal death." The minor, or second proposition, that " every sin deserves an infinite punishment," I thus prove : — If Christ laid dovrn an infinite price to redeem us from every sin, then every sin deserves an infinite punishment : But Christ laid down an infinite price to redeem us from every sin : Therefore every sin deserves an infinite punishment. The consequence is evident, that " if Christ laid down an infinite price for every sin, then every sin deserves an infinite punishment ; " because it had been an unjust exacting of punishment upon Christ, had there been required of him the laying down of an infinite price for a finite evil, that required only a finite punishment to be inflicted for it. The minor, or second proposition, namely, that " Christ laid down an infinite price to redeem us from every sin," is undeniable by those that will neither deny scriptures nor catechisms. For that Christ redeemed us by an infinite price, hath not only the consent, but it is the ground of the comfort, of all Christians : Infinitas 'personxB facit infinitotem pretii : " An infinite person made the price of infinite value." And that Christ laid down this infinite price for aU sins, is with the like consent and comfort embraced by all that believe the scriptures aright, which abound in texts that express it. " He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." (Psalm cxxx. 8.) "The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." (1 John i. 7.) " He gave himself, that he might redeem us from all iniquity." (Titiis ii. 14.) Hence it was a prayer of faith, "Take away all iniquity." (Hosea xiv. 2.) And, " The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all ; " (Isai. liii. 6 ;) and, " The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world ; " (John i. 29 ;) and, " He shall save his people from their sins;" (Matt. i. 21 ;) from every sin, and every sin perfectly. Argument ii. My second argument to prove that no sin is venial, is this : — Whatsoevei' is contrary to the loving of God with the whole heart, is not venial, but mortiferous : But every sin is contrary to the loving of God vnth our whole heart : Therefore every sin is mortal, and so not venial. The first proposition, or major, is undeniable ; because he that loves not God with his whole heart, sins against the express words of the com- mand in Matt. xxii. 37. And the loving God "with all the heart" is called " the great command," and is preferred before the love of our neighbour by Christ, in verses 38, 39. Since therefore there are many commands of love to our neighbour which cannot be violated but we must needs sin mortally, as the Papists grant, it wUl evidently follow, that a transgression of the command of loving God " with all the heart" must needs be a mortal sin. The second proposition, or minor, that " every sin opposeth the lo\ang of God with all the heart," and that whoever sins, loves not God with all the heart, is as true as the former. Bellarmine therefore dares not here answer by denying this truth absolutely, but by a lame and lamentable distinction : he answers here, that to love God " with all the heart " may be taken two ways : — 172 SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL. I. Non proilatione. — To lave God so entirely and perfectly as that "nothing is preferred before " God's love. And this love of God, saith Bellarmine, is both the meaning of the command, and such alone also which venial sins do not oppose. 2. Non admissioup. — To love God so perfectly as that a man is so wholly taken iip with the love of God, that " no " sinfid and vicious thought at any time can " creep or steal into " a person's heart. But, saith Bellarmine, such a love of God as this is not commanded in this life ; and this love of God, he confesseth, is opposed by venial sins. For answer to this impious distinction of Bellarmine : It is both most false and frivolous. 1. As he tells us that it is not necessary to the love of God " with all the soul," that all vicious thoughts be hindered from admission into a man. For this is clearly opposed not only by St. Austin of old, but by others, even Papists, of late. St. Austin tells us, that "to love God with all the soul, is to confer all the life, thoughts, and understanding upon him from whom we have them all ; and to suifer no part of the life to give way to be willing to enjoy any thing else ; but whatsoever else comes into the mind to be loved, is to be carried thither." * Victor expresseth it thus : "A man should burn with so hot a love to God, that nothing should creep into any faculty of the soul that either diminisheth love to God, or carries it anywhither else." f Anselm excellently thus, on Matt, xxii : " In the understanding, no place is to be left for error ; in the will, nothing is to be willed contrary to God ; in the whole memory, nothing is to be remembered whereby we may the less think of him." X Aquinas thus also : " A man must so love God, if * with all the heart,' as to subject himself to him and follow the rule of his command- ments in all things ; for whatsoever is contrary to his law, is contrary to his love." § Alvarez expressly opposeth Bellarmine in these words : " To love God, is to admit nothing into the heart contrary to God." || Theophylact most fully: "To love God 'Avith all the heart,' is to cleave to him with all the parts and faculties of the soul ; to give ourselves wholly to God ; and to subject the nutritive, sensitive, and rational faculty to his love."^ Now according to these explications of the love of God, the least sins (which Papists call "venial") are contrary to it; for in them there is not a pleasing of God in all things, not a forsaking of aU things contrary • Dilifjes Deiiin ex ioto conic, et e,v lotd animd, ct ex iotd -menfe ; id Cft, Omnes cogitati- ones, omncmvitam, et omnevi. intcllectum in Ilium conferes, a qtiohabesea ipsa quae confers. Quum uutem ait toto corde, totd animd, totd meiite, iiuiltim vitte 7iostrcc partem reliquit,qute vacare debet, et quasi locum dare, ut alid re velit frui ; scd quicquid tiliud diUgendum venerit in animum, illuc rapiatur qito toti'is dilrctinnis impetus ciirrii. — Aligustinus Ue Doctr. Christ, lib. i. cap. 22. f llomiuvin ta>ito Dei aviore flagrare debere commonstrat, id nihil prorsus irt ullum anima: facullutem. irrepcre sinat, quod suam erga Dcum diiectionem diminuat, aut alio transferat. — Victor in Marc, xii, % In intillectu nullum relinquas errori locum ; in voluntate nihil veils illi coiitrarium^in memorid tud nihil rcminiscens quo minus de illo senlias. — Ansui^mus in Matt, xxii, § Est de rationc charilaiis, quod homo sic diligat Deum, ut velit se in omyiiLus ei subjicere, ct regulam praicepiorum ejus in omnibus sequi ; quicquid etiitn contraiiatur praceptis ejus, coi^fi ariatur chari/tdi. — 'Incni.T: Sccuiida Sccunda, qiiifst. xxiv. avt. 12. || Diligcre Deum est nihil in corde divina- dilcctioni cun- trarinm admittere. — AlAAKV.y. De yhi.v. Div. Grot. lib. vi. disji. li. sect. 4. ^ h-yairav tov ®iov b\o\pvx^s, rovTO e(ni to 5ia ■uravrui' toiv rr]s \pvxv^ pepwv nat, Swajxeoiv avro) 'arpoatx^'-^'y iiffTe d\ou? eavTous o^^i^LXopev 5i5(>;'ni tm 0€y, Kai imoraTreiv Kai rrjv ^pewTLuriv nai tvj. ai.(Tdr}T iKr)v Kai^iavoipinrsv i^ixoiv Bwa/xiv ri) ayam] tov Qeov. — TiihXH'ii vl.actl's i« J/«W. .w/' SEr.Mox x!i. ^a sin vioNiAi.. 173 to his v.ill ; yea, in these venial sins, there is an admission of a contrary and unlawful love of the creature into the heart, and not a total subject- ing thereof to God. 2. But, secondly, in every venial sin, there is the preferring of some- thing before God, and therefore a manifest transgressing of the law of loving God. As to a formal and explicit preferring the creature before God, so as to account the creature a more excellent good than God is, this all those do not that live in the grossest and most mortal wicked- nesses, as the Papists acknowledge ; for men may live even in the hei- nous sin of persecution, and yet think thereby they serve and set up God, But as to a virtual and interpretative preferring the creature before God, this men do in the least sin ; they carrying themselves so, as if the creature were to be prcfeircd before God ; they fearing not, for the love of the creature, to offend God, and, injuriously to his justice, to break his com.mandments. And how may a man be said to show by his car- riage more respect to the creature than to God, if not by breaking the comxnands of God, and contemning his will, for the creature ? To shun the dint of this answer, the Papists are forced to this wretched shift ; which is to answer, that he who sins venially, prefers not the creature before God, because he knows that venial sins will not dissolve that knot of love and friendship between God and him.' But what a pitiful excuse is this for venial sin ! since, as Baronius well observes, (De Pec. ven. p. lOG,) they who commit venial sins, thinking these sins will not dis- solve the favour of God, either think such sins are so light and slight that they deserve not the dissolution of God's favour ; or they think, though they do deserve that dissolution, yet that God will deal so graci- ously w ith them, as that for such sins he will not exclude them from his favour. If they think that they do not deserve the dissolution of God's favour, they grossly err, yea, grievously sin against God, by judging their sins to be light and little, and by a bold fixing of limits to God's justice ; as if God coid.d not justly punisTi their sins' with that penalty which he tells us they deserve. But if they think that their sins do deserve the dissolving of God's favour, and that it is merely from the grace of God that they who commit them are not excluded from it, then it follows that they, for the love of the creature offending God by these sins, prefer the creature before God and his favour : for whosoever for any creature dares do that which may justly exclude him from God's favour, doth pre- fer the creature before the favour of God. Nor doth their knowledge that these sins do not exclude them from the favour of God, when yet they will commit them, extenuate or excuse their contempt of God's favour, of which they are guilty ; but, contrarily, it aggravates that corj- tempt ; since though they know it is by God's grace and favour that their smaller sins do not exclude them from his love and mercy, yet they abuse the clemency and goodness of God to a hcentiousness in sin, which is almost the highest contempt of divine favour imaginable. Argument hi. My third argument, to prove that no sin is venial, or deserving to be pardoned, shall be drawn from the nature of 'pardon. Whence I thus argue ; — An opinion that overthrmvs the nature of God's pardoning of sin is im^noiis and en'oneons : But this opinion, that some sins are venial, and 174 SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL. deserve to be pardoned, doth thus overthrow the nature of God''s pardon- inff of sin : Therefore this opinion is impious and erroneous. The major, or first proposition, is evident. The minor, or second proposition, I prove thus : — If pardoning of sin designs an act of free grace and favour in pardoning, which God, accord- ing to strict justice, might not have done ; and if the doctrine of sin's veniality and deserving to be pardoned makes pardoning an act of jus- tice, so that God cannot but in justice do it ; then the opinion of sin's veniahty overthrows the doctrine of divine pardon : But the pardoning of sin designs an act of free grace and favour, which God might not have done unless he had pleased ; and the doctrine of sin's veniality makes the pardoning of sin an act of justice which God cannot but do : There- fore the Popish doctrine of venial sin overthrows the doctrine of divine pardon. The major, or first proposition, is evident, and will be granted by all. The minor, or second, I prove thus, in both its parts : — As to its first part : it is most manifest that pardon designs an act of free grace and favour. It is needless to multiply scriptures (which to do were most easy) in so clear a point : " Forgiveness of sin according to his grace." (Eph. i. /.) "According to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions," (Psalm h, 1.) "I obtained mercy,"* saith pardoned Paul, (1 Tim, i. 13.) For the second part of the minor, that " the doctrine of the Papists about the veniahty of sin makes the pardoning of sin an act of justice, which God cannot but do if he will do justly," is no slander cast upon the Papists in this point : I pray, let them be judged in this case by their own confessions. The council of Mentz professeth, as we heard, that they cannot understand how God should be just, if he punish any for venial sins with eternal punishment. f Sonnius (the Papist, I mean) tells us, that venial sin is venid diynum, — "Venial sin is worthy of par- don." And Bellarmine, that "they hold with a general consent, that venial sins make not a man guilty of eternal death ; " and he asserts, with intolerable blasphemy, that " God should be unjust, if he punished venial sins eternally ; justice requiring a forbearance to punish that offence which deserves not punishment. ":j: From all which it follows, that divine pardon is so far from being an act of free grace, in the account of a Papist, that when he recites his Pater-noster, if his devo- tions agree with his doctrines, he may rather say, " Lord, pay us," than, " Forgive us our debts." Argument iv. My fourth argument shall be taken from Christ's rejecting of this ^pharisaical depravation of the law of God, — that some commands of the law, and some sins agahitt those commands, are so small and slight, that God toill not require a perfect fxl filing of the law as to lesser and smaller commands, nor the necessary avoiding of such sins as are against those smaller coimnands. — The words of Christ are these : " Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled," (Matt, v. 18.) The Lord Christ by * Misericordid donatns sum. — Beza. "I Lave been endowed with mercy." — EniT. t BiNiiJS, torn. ix. cap. 46. X Injustum est piinire peccata venialia pcend alcrnci. — De j'liniss. Grat, lib, i. cap. 14. SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL. 1/5 these words, wherein he shows it is impossihle that any thing in the law, though accounted never so small, should pass from it, but all must be fulfilled with a perfect satisfaction, opposeth the Pharisees; who — takirg it for granted, that there was necessarily required to righteousness and life a perfect fulfilling of the law ; and yet finding that it was impossible to keep the minutissima legis [" the least commands of the law "] ; as, to abstain from all sinful inward motions in the mind and heart, from " every idle word," &c. ; to have such a perfect conformity to the law, that there should be no lusting contrary to it — coined this distinction, that some of the commands of the law were small, and some great ; and though none could in those httle commands against sinful motions of the heart perfectly satisfy the law, yet if he kept the great commandments of the law concerning outward acts and works of the law, he should be just before God ; since those commands of little things were but little commands, and therefore would not condemn a man for transgressing of them, provided that he perforn\ed the external works commanded in those great commands. Now " Christ vehemently denies that there are any commands of the law so small and minute as that God would not much regard them ; or of which, in the stablishing [of] the righteous- ness of the law before God, a man should give no account for the break- ing of them, but God would account him righteous, whether he observed them cr no. And therefore, to show the necessity of fulfilling the law in the most perfect and exact manner, Christ assures, [that] there should not pass from the law ' one jot or tittle ' thereof that should not be ful- filled."* Not a "jot," the least letter, not a "tittle," the least point, bat was so highly accounted of by God, that befo;e they should pass away without being fulfilled, "heaven and earth should pass away." So that there was required to the fulfilling of the law, that all things in it, even to the least apex or " tittle," should be fulfilled. To which doctrine of Christ agrees that of Moses and Paul, (Deut. xxvii. 26; Gal. iii. 10,) who denounced a curse not only against those who continued not in the great things, but in "all things, written in the law ; " and of James, who saith, "Whosoever shall keep the V\hole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James ii. 10.) And this "one" is here to be taken for any one : as, Luke xv. 4 : "If he have a hundred sheep, and lose one," that is, any one : so. Matt. x. 42 : "Whosoever shall give a cup of cold water to one," that is, to any one, " of the least " believers, &c. So that unum, "one," is equivalent to quodlibet ; as here, "One jot or tittle of the law," that is, "Any one jot or tittle of the law, shall not pass away," but must "be fulfilled." Argument v. My fifth argument is taken from that macula, or "stain,'"' or " fdth,^' that every sm, even the least and tightest, leaves behind it. — This stain, left behind the commission of every sin, is by several considered several ways : either as an habitual aversion from God ; * Christus fortissiini negat esse quctdam mandata in lege ita minuta, qnte Deus non mid- tum curat j quorum, ctiam, quamvis wow impleantur, non sit kabenda ratio in statuendd justitid Icgis coram Deo. Ut itaque perfcctissimam legis impletioncm necessariam esse Chris- tus ostendat, ne unum quidem literae ajjiccin, cadere pronunliat, quod non sit necesse impleri. — Chemnitii Harm. cap. li. p. 337 (milii). Cujvs prastanHssima cummentaria in hiinc Incum opto ut inspiciant lectores ct perlegant. " Whose most excellent couiments upon this passage I wish my readers to peruse aud read through." — Edit. l/fi SERMON XII. NO SIN VKNIAL. or as an liabitual disconformity to the law of God ; or as the impairing of inherent grace, (the beauty of the soul,) and the weakening of its acts ; or as a greater habitude and inclination to sin. In regard of some or all of these left upon the soul after the commission of any sin^ it is said, that sin defiles and pollutes ; (Matt. xv. 11, 18 ; Rev. xxii. 11 ;) and tiiat every sin is a " spot," (Eph. v. 27,) and " filthiness." (2 Cor. vii. 1 ; James i. 21 ; Ezek, xxiv. 13 ; xxxvi. 25.) And when a man repents of sin, and hath sin pardoned to him, he is said to be "washed" and "cleansed." (1 Cor. vi. 11 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 33.) And because we are said to be " cleansed from all sin," (1 John i. 7,) there- fore all sins, even such as Papists call " venial," leave a spot and stain upon the sinner, even as Vasquez, the Jesuit, confesseth.* Now since there is this stain and [which] defilement befalls us after every sin, there follows an exclusion for all sin from the kingdom of heaven, into which no unclean thing shall enter ; (Rev. xxi. 27 ;) and that exclusion, Bellarmine tells us, is proper to mortal sins :f and indeed that which excludes from heaven, must needs deserve eternal death, and so be mortal. And that tliis exclusion is not to all, perpetual, it is not from the nature of sin, nor from the cleansing virtue of any purgatory-fire ; but merely of God in Christ pardoning and purifying. Argument vi. My sixth ai-gument is taken from the power of God jusfjjj to forbid the least sinmider the pain of an eternal penalty. — Now if God can justly prohi!)it the least sins under an eternal penalty, then may he justly punish those sins prohibited with that eternal penalty. And that God may prohibit the least sin under an eternal penalty, is evi- dent, not only because the will of God forbidding any sin under an eter- nal penalty is a sutiicient reason of that penalty, and makes the punish- ment pi'oportiona1)le to the demerit of the sin ; but because God hath actually prohibited, under pain of eternal punishment, things in them- selves lawful and indifferent ; (as abstinence from several kinds of meats, blood, &c. ;) and, therefore, surely he may forbid all sin under that penalty. Yea, God, in the covenant of works made with Adam, actually prohibited all sin under the penalty of eternal death ; which is evident, because if God promised eternal life to Adam upon condition of perfect obedience, certainly the commission of the least sin would have made Adam liable to eternal death : for. He that performs not the condition prescribed in the covenant cannot obtain the reward ; but, contrarily, deserves the punishment appoiuted against those who violate the cove- nant : But if Adam had committed the least sin, he had not performed the condition prescril)ed in the covenant, which was perfect obedience : Therefore he had deserved the penalty appointed against the violaters of the covenant. And if the covenant of works bound not Adam to avoid every sin for the escaping of eternal death, then it bound him (as the covenant of grace binds us) to repent of sin for the escaping of eteinial death ; there being no remission of any sin, or avoiding of eternal punish- • Ner/ari non potest humincm vcre ni'inere pollutuin ex pcicnto veniali quod semcl cnni- vi.i-iit, ((once ab eo justijicctur : nttm (jiii a pcrciifo veniali Justificntur, vfr^ dicitiir ab co emnndari. — Vasquez in Primam Secundcc, di.-.p. cxxxix. cap. 4. '' It caunot be denied tliiit a niaa remains truly pol'uted wiili a venial sin vvhidi he has once committed, until he is justified fi-om it : for ho who is justiucd from a venial sin, is truly said to be cleansed from it." — Kdit. t De ^miss. Oral. lib. i. cap. 5. SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL, 177 ment for it, without repentance. But under tlie covenant of works tliere was no obligation to repentance for sin. For if there had been any obli- gation to repentance for sin, there must have been a promise of pardon upon repentance ; but that is false, because the promise of pardon belongs only to the covenant of grace, pardon being only bestowed through Christ. Argument vii. Seventhly. I argue from the ti/pical remission of sins in the Old Testament. — For they were then commanded to offer sacri- fices, not only for greater and more enormous offences, but for their lesser sins ; (as those of infirmity and ignorance, which the Papists call and account "venial ;") as is evident from Lev. iv. 2, 13, 22, &c. ; and V. 17. Now those sacrifices respected that only sacrifice of Christ by which all our sins are expiated, as Christ was made a curse for us that he might deliver us from the curse. (Gal. iii. 13.) And from this, saith the learned Walseus, invicfi demonstratur,* "it is invincibly demon- sti'ated," that every sin of itself is mortal. Argument viii. Eighthly. I argue from the infinity of evil that is in every sin, to its desert of an injinite punishment. — That every sin is an infinite evil, is most certain, I mean not, that it is infinite intensive, " as to itself or bulk," as I may say ; for as the sinner is but finite, so sin is a privation but of a finite rectitude ; and if every sin were infinite in its inteusiveness, all sins would be equal. But yet two ways sin is infinite: — 1. Objective, because committed against an Infinite Majesty. 2. Extensive, and in respect of its duration, because its stain and defile- ment last for ever, in regard of the sinner, who cannot of himself repent. In hke manner there is an infinite punishment due to sin. I mean not, a punishment infinite intensive ; for a finite creature cannot be capable of an infinite tortm-e ; but yet an infinite punishment is due to sin two ways, as sin was said to be two ways infinite : — 1 . A punishment is due to sin, infinite objective, by the sinner's being deprived of that Infinite Good against whom he hath here offended, and whom he hath here neglected and despised. 2. A punishment infinite extensive, in respect of its duration for ever ; because the stain contracted from sin committed in this life endures for ever : and therefore the wicked, who continue for eyev foedi, " filthy " and " unclean," continue for ever Dei consortia indigni, " unworthy of ever having communion with God." Qui mmquam desinit esse mains, nunquam desinit esse miser : " He that never ceaseth to be evil, never ceaseth to be miserable." The most venial fault, therefore, being an infinite fault, deserves an infinite punishment. That it is an infinite fault, it is plain, because it is against the infinite majesty of the Law- giver, and because its stain of itself, and without the mercy of God, endures for ever. Argument ix. Ninthly. That all sins, even such as Papists call " venial sins," deserve an eternal punishment, is evident, because the least sins of reprobates, " idle words," shall be punished with eternal punish- ment.— That those least sins shall be punished eternally, is plain fi'om Matt. xii. 36, 37 : " Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Th's * Synopsis purioris Theolof/ite, de Pec. act. p. (unilii) ITS. VOL. VI. N 178 SERMON XII, NO SIN VENIAL. condemnation here mentioned by Christ plainly imports an eternal punishment; for in the day of judgment there will be no condemnation to a temporal punishment. And that therefore the least sins deserve eternal punishment is evident ; because, otherwise, the punishment which shall be inflicted for these sins would not be just and proportionable to their demerit. Nor can the Papists shun the force of this ai-gument, by saying, that it is merely by accident that venial sins ai'e punished with eternal death ; not in regard of themselves, but because of the condition of the subject of these venial sins ; which sins by accident in reprobates cannot be repented of, because they are joined with mortal sins that exclude grace necessai-y to repentance. This pitiful shift, I say, will not at all help the Papists ; for these smaller sins, Avhich they call " venial," are, of and by themselves, the cause of condemnation to an eternal punishment, as is evident from this place. Matt. xii. 36, 37 ; where Christ proves that an account shall be given of " every idle word," because by our " words we shall be condemned ; " by which expression he manifestly shows, that those " idle words " of which he spake, though Papists count them venial, are yet of themselves a sufficient cause of condemnation to eter- nal punishment. And besides, if it be unjust, as Beilarmine blasphem- ously speaks, to punish venial sins with eternal death, because they deserve it not ; and if a venial sin by its conjunction with a mortal sin in a reprobate is not made greater or deserving of a greater punishment, but retains the same nature that it had before ; it will then unavoidably follow, if of itself and in its own nature it deserves not eternal punish- ment, that as it is in a reprobate joined with a mortal sin, it cannot deserve eternal punishment, and, by consequence, it is not punished with an eternal punishment ; for if it were, God should punish sins beyond their desert. Nor can the Papists come off, as Baronius well observes, by saying, " Though a venial sin by a conjunction with mortal sin is not made more grievous and heinous, yet it is more durable by that conjunction, as hav- ing thereby an eternal duration of that stain which follows it ; because without repentance, which by a mortal sin is hindered, there is no taking away of that stain." This subterfuge, I say, is very insufticient ; for the faults in reprobates, which Papists call " venial," either in themselves do or do not deserve eternal death : if they do not deserve eternal death, then they are punished beyond their desert, which is blasphemy to say ; if they do deserve eternal death, then that desert of eternal death is founded in the, heinousncss of the faults themselves ; and eternal death is inflicted, not alone for the duration of the stain of those sins, but for the demerit of the off"ences themselves ; to which the sci'ipture expressly agrees, which testifies, that eternal punishment in the day of judgment shall be inflicted for those "things done in the body." (2 Cor. v. 10 ; so. Matt. XXV. 42, 43.) And hence it M'as that Scotus, Biel, A^ega, and Medina, — because they saw that if venial sins were punished eternally, they shoidd be so punished because of wbat they were in themselves, and in their own nature, and by the demerit of the oflence,' — labour to put off" ail, by assert- ing that the punishment wherewith the damned in hell are pimishcd for SERMON Xn» NO SIN VENIAL. 1/9 venial sins is not eternal, but temporal, and that it shall at length have an end, though their punishment inflicted on them for mortal sins shall last for ever.* But others of their own fraternity condemn this justly for an absurd opinion, particularly their great Vasquez, the Jesuit, thus confuting it : " If," saith he, " the opinion of Scotus be true," namely, that the venial sins of reprobates shall not be punished in hell eternally, " it wiU follow, that we may pray for those in hell, that they may be freed from the punishment due to their venial sins ; if that punishment, after they have suiFered long enough, be by God to be taken ofF."t Argument x. Lastly. I argue from the 7'idicuJoiis absurdity of the doctrine of veniaUty of sin, to the erroneousness of it. — The way, say the Papists, how sins venial come to be expiated and removed is either in this life, or in the next : in this life, by " sprinkling with holy water, confession to a priest, beating the breast, whipping, saying the Lord's Prayer, crossing, eating no flesh, giving to the church," &c. ; X in the next life, venial sins are only expiated by the most torturing flames of purgatory, greater than any tortures here in this life, — yea, as tormenting as hell-fire, setting aside its duration, as the Papists say, — and oft to be endured many hun- dreds of years. I demand then. If in this life a venial sin may be expiated with a toy, as sprinkling with holy water, and crossing, or the doing that which oft is, and always should be, done with cheerfulness, as giving alms, and yet in the next world it requires so many years of tor- turing flames to expiate it, what is the reason of this difference of the ways of expiating venial sin, that here it may be done with a sport, and there it requires such long and inexpressible tortures in fire a thousand times hotter than any here in this world, and as grievous as the torments of hell 1 To this question the Papists answer : " The sinner is in the fault, who did not by so light and easy a way expiate his sin while here he lived. Here he neglected his duty ; and therefore there he smarts for it." " But then I demand again. Was that neglect of doing his duty in this world a mortal sin, or was it a venial sin ? If a mortal or damn- able sin, it should have carried the offender to hell ; if a venial sin, the difficulty again returns. Why may it not be expiated as easily as other venial sins are? "§ Having now produced what I judged sufficient for confirmation of this truth against the veuiality of sin, I could add many allegations out of the fathers, which abundantly testify their consent with Protestants, in this point. As out of Jerome, who hath these words in Gal. v. : " It mat- ters not whether a man be excluded from blessedness by one sin, or by more ; since all alike exclude." || Out of Nazianzen : " Every sin is the death of the soul." ^ Out of Augustine especially, beside what I have • ScOTrs «■» Quart. Sentent. distinct, xsi. qusest. 1. t Si vera sit sententia Scott, sequiiur posse ?ios orare pro its qui sunt in inferno, ut citius solvaniur a posnd debitd pro his pewatis ; siquidem ilia tandem, postquam satis passum sit, a Deo dimitte?ida est. — Vas- quez in Prirna/n Secundce, disp. cxli. cap. 2. I Confiteor, tundo, conspergor, conteror, oro. Signer, edo, dono : jier hccc venialia pono. % At ego rursus quccro, Istud pcccatum sitne mortale, an vcniale ? Si mortalc, in piirgato- rium non venit ; si vcniale, cur tion eodem jure censetur quo reliqua venialia ? — Sapeel De vera Peccat. Remissione, p. (mihi) 609. ll Nonrefert an uno quis excludatur peccato a heatitudine, an a pluribus cum omnia similiter excludant. — Hieronymus in Gal. v, IT Uaffa hfiafnia ^auaros effTi ^vxr\s. — Nazianzenus in Orat.funeb. in Mortem Patris, N 2 180 SERMON XIT. NO SIN VENIAIi, formerly mentioned in this discourse ; who (Epist. cviii.J srdth, " Our little sins, if gathered together against us, -will press us down as much as one great sin. Wliat difference is there between a shipwreck caused by one great wave, and by the water that sinks the ship which comes into it by little and httle?"* The same father (In Johan. tract, xii.) speaks thus : "Little sins, neglected, destroy as well as great ones."f PART III. GENERAL APPLICATION. But, to avoid needless prolixity, I shall but very briefly dispatch this whole discourse, with but naming the heads of those many inferences fi-om it, which have taken me up much time elsewhere : and these inferences might be, 1 . Specidative and controversial. 2. Practical. 1. For controversial inferences : First. If every sin, even venial, be damnable, (as breaking the law, as hath been proved,) and none can live without them, (as Papists confess,) it is clear then, that now none can in this life j^erfectly keep the laiv. Secondly. If no sins be venial, but all mortiferous and damnable, and make 2is guilty of eternal death, then down falls meritum ex condigno, "merit by the worthiness of any ivor/is." — For to be guilty of death, and to deserve eternal life, cannot stand together. Thirdly. Purgatot-y is but a fable, if no sins be venial. — Why should that fire burn, if it be not purgative ? Or rather, how can it burn, if it have no fuel ? 2. 2Vie practical inferences, which are many, I shall but name. First. If every sin be damnable and mortiferous, then sin is of a very heinous nature. — There is more malignity in an idle word, and injustice against God in a vain thought, than that all the world can expiate ; more weight in it than all the strength of angels are able to bear. Secondly. If the least sins are mortiferous, what then are the greatest? —If a grain presseth to hell, if an atom can weigh down like a moun- tain, what then can a mountain do ? If whispering sins speak so loud, what then do crying ones, — bloody oaths, adultery, murdei", oppression ? Thirdly. If every single sin be damnable, what then are all our sins, millions of sins, sins of all our ages, conditions, p>laces that ever ive lived in, relations ? — If all were, as St. Austin speaks, contra nos collecta, " gathered into one heap against us," what a heaven-reaching mountain would they make ? Fourthly. If every sin be damnable and mortiferous, God is to be justi- fied in the greatest temporal severities which he inficts vjion us. — As God never punisheth so severely here but he can punish more, so he never here punisheth so severely but we deserve more and greater severities. Pains, flames, sword, pestilences, those tonsurce insolescentis generis humani, " those mowings down of so many milUous," are all short of damnation, deserved by sin. God is to be justified in sending such judgments as the Fire of Loudon, and the Tempest lately iu Utrecht. • Peccata parva, si contra 7ios collecta fvcriiil, ita tins oppriment sicnt ttnuin aliijiiod nraiide pecccttuiit. I^uid interest ad nanjnigium, utrihii vtio i/randi flnitu nuvis oliruatur, an pauUitirii subrcpens aqua navt'tn iuhner(;nt !"— AvovSTlKl Epist. cviii. t Alinuta peccata, si negliyantur, oiccidunt. — /« Julian, tract, xii. SERMON XTI. NO SIN VENIAL. 181 Fifthly. They who instigate others to sin, are damnable and mortiferous enemies to soids. — They draw to an eternal punishment. Soul-murder is the greatest ; and soul-murderers most resemble the devil in carriage, and shall in condemnation. How deeply dyed are those sins and sinners that are dipped in the blood of souls ! SLxthly. It is no cowardice to fear sin. — Of all fear, that of sin is most justifiable. It is not magnanimity, but madness, not valour, but fool- hardiness, to be bold to sin. Surely, the boldness of sinners, since sin deserves eternal death, is not from want of danger, but discerning. Seventhly. How excusable are ministers and all Christian monitors, that warn against sin ! — They bid you take heed of damnation ; to warn against which with the greatest, is the mercifuUest, severity. Eighthly. What a madness is it to be merry in sin ! to make a mock of it ! — What is this but to sport with poison, and to recreate ourselves with damnation? If here men are counted to play before us when they are sinning, it will be bitterness in the end. There is no folly so great as to be pleased with the sport that fools make us, nor are any fools like those that dance to damnation. Ninthly. Unconceivably great is the patience of God toward sinners, especially great ones. — God's patience discovers itself eminently, in that he spares damnable sins, though he sees them, hates them infinitely more than we can do, is able to punish them every moment, is infinitely the sinners' superior ; yea, seeks to prevent their punishment by warn- ing, entreaties, threats, counsels ; yea, puts forth daily acts of mercy and bounty toward those who sin damnably ; yea, he waits, and is long- suffering, oft scores and hundreds of years, though this waiting shows (not that he will always spare, but) that we should now repent. Tenthly. It is our interest to be holy betimes. — It is good that as much as may be of that which is so damnable should be prevented. Shouldest thou be converted in old age, it will be thy extreme sorrow that it was so late, though thy happiness [that] it was at all. Early repentance makes an easy death-bed, and makes joyful the last stage of our journey unto eternal joys. Eleventhly. No smallness of sin should occasion boldness to commit it. (1.) Parvitas materice aggravat. — In some cases the smallness of the inducement to sin, " the slightness of the matter of thy sin, aggravates the offence." To deny a friend a cup of water, is a greater unkindness than to deny him a thousand pounds : what, wilt thou stand with God for a trifle, and damn thy soul for a toy? Wilt thou prefer a penny before God and glory ? (2.) Parva dijficilim caventur. — " Small sins are more difficultly shunned." A small bone of a fish easily gets into the throat, and it is hard to avoid it. And, (3.) Parva viam mimiimt ad majora. — " Small sins dispose to greater :" the wimble makes way for the auger. (4.) Minuta et midta sunt ut unum grande. — "Sins many, though small, are as one great one :" a heap of sands presseth to death, as well as a sow of lead. A ship may sink by water coming in at a leak, drop by drop, as well as when overwhelmed with a great wave, as Austin 182 SERMON XII. NO SIN VENIAL. Twelfthly. I note the great reason why Christ should he dear to us. — Thou canst not be witliout him, no, not for thy httle, thy least sins, and those of daily incursion. 0 that this doctrine might make you and me prize Christ more, as long as we Uve ! Because the best cannot live without small sins, neither can they live without a great Saviour. None of us can Hve without these smaller sins, as the very Papists grant ; but O that we may take a wiser course to get pardon of them than they do, by our looking upon God's pity through Christ's blood as our only purgatory ! The Pharisees of old saw that we could not live without breaking the law in smaller things, as we have shown before ; but let us more study than they did God's design in giving a law which fallen man is not able to keep. The aj)ostle tells us God's design herein : He aimed at Christ, (Rom. x. 4,) who was intended by God as his end in giving such a law which fallen man could not keep ; namely, that sinners might seek after his righteousness, by seeing their own inabihty to keep it. How much do we want Christ at eveiy turn, for our smallest inadvertencies, impertinent, wandering thoughts, in the adjacent defects and defilements of our holy things ! Lord, I want thy blood as often as I fetch my breath ! Lastly. / infer the hajjjnness of helievers wider the covenant of grace. — Ex rigore legis [" According to the rigour of the law "] the least sins damn, and none of us but every day and in every duty commit them. But here is the comfort, — we are delivered through Christ from that damnation which we deserve for all those unavoidable defects and evils that attend the best in their best observing [of] the law of God ; we being loosed under the covenant of grace from that rigid exaction of the law which suffers no sin to go without eternal punishment, and delivered by Christ from the necessity of a perfect and exact fulfiUing [of] the law of God under pain of damnation. It is true, the law still commands even believers' perfect obedience ; and it is a sin in believers under the covenant of grace, that they do not obey the law of God to the utmost perfection thereof. But here is our happiness, that Christ hath obtained that the imperfection of our obedience shall not damn us ; but that our imperfect obedience to llie law shall through him be accepted. If in- deed there were only the law and no Christ, no obedience but that which is absolutely perfect could be entertained by God ; but now, though by the law perfect obedience be required, yet by grace imperfect (if sincere) obedience is accepted. For under the covenant of grace, strictly and precisely, under pain of damnation, we are only obhged to that measure of obedience which is possible by the help of grace ; and hence it is that Christ's yoke is called "easy;" (Matt. xi. 30;) which cannot be under- stood of the law in its rigour, but as mitigated by the covenant of grace : that yoke would not be easy, but intolerable, if it propounded no hope of salvation but under that impossible condition of perfect obedience to the law. And "His commands are not grievous ;" (1 John v. 3 ;) but so they would be, if their exactions were rigorous in requiring perfect obedience, under pain of damnation, of us that cannot perform it. But for ever blessed be God, that tliough our best obedience be imperfect, yet the perfect obedience of Christ imputed to us suppHes the defect of ours ; yea, that our imperfect obedieuce doth not only not damn SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 183 US, (though the imperfection thereof deserves damnation according to the rigour of the law,) but that it is ordained to be the way to our salvation : I mean, not its imperfection, but it, notwithstanding its imperfection. Reader, if thou art a believer, till thy love to Jesvis Christ prompts thee to a more suitable ejaculation^ accept of this for a conclusion of this whole discourse : — " A saving eternity. Father of mercy, will be short enough to praise thee for Him who hath delivered us from those many miUions of sins, the least whereof deserve a damning eternity. Dear Lord Jesus, who hast saved us from the least sin that ever we had or did, help us to serve thee with the greatest love that our souls can either admit or express. And as, through grace, the guilt of the least sin shall not lie upon us, so neither let the love of the least sin lodge within us. Thou who hast made our justification perfect, daily perfect what our sanctification wants. And never. Lord, let us put hmits to our thankful returns for those satis- fying sufferings of thine, that knew no bounds, no measure." SERMON XIII, (XL) BY THE REV. EDWARD VEAL, B.D. OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD ; AFTERWARDS SENIOR FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, THE GOOD WORKS OF BELIEVERS ARE NOT MERITORIOUS OF ETERNAL SALVATION. WHETHER THE GOOD WORKS OF BELIEVERS BE MERITORIOUS OF ETERNAL SALVATION. NEGATUM EST.* Also unto thee, O Lord, helongeth mercy : for thou renderest to every man according to his work. — Psalm Ixii. 12. There is scarcely any sin more natural to us than pride, and no pride worse than spiritual pride. It was the condemnation of the devil. And spiritual pride shows itself most of all in those high and overween- ing thoughts [that] we are apt to have of our own worth and excellency. Though when we have done evil we are fiUed with guilt, yet, if we but think [that] we have done well, we are tickled with conceit : one while we are conscious [that] we have offended God, another while we are ready to believe [that] we have obliged him. We can scarcely be enlarged in a duty, pray with any Ufe or warmth, hear with attention and affection, but we are ready to take our Lord's words out of his mouth, and greet ourselves with a "Well done, good and faithful servant." (Matt. xxv. 23.) And that too not only as if the work were wholly our own, but as if we had deserved sometliing by it. • " The proposition is denied."' — Edit. 184 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. We commonly contend -with the Papists about the antiquity of our reli- gion ; they bear us in hand that theirs is the more ancient. For my part, I readily grant it in this sense, — that Popery, as to several of the chief points of it, is plainly the religion of corrupt nature ; and nature hath the start of grace in the best of us. Men are generally born with a pope in their belhes ; and they can never be eased of him, till some pow- erful conviction of the insufficiency of their own righteousness, and the impossibility of meriting salvation by it, like strong physic, make them disgorge themselves, and bring him up. And if the doctrine of merits be in the Papists only their faith, yet it is in carnal Protestants their nature, and in saints themselves may sometimes be their temptation.* And therefore, Christians, though my present business lie mainly with them of the Romish religion, yet do not you look upon yourselves as altogether unconcerned ; but remember, that the same arguments which conclude directly against the pope without you, may at the same time be levelled against the pope within you. And the truth of it is, that acquaintance with yourselves and the constitution of your own souls is the best way to establish you against the most dangerous errors of Popery ; and the better you can deal with that httle young Antichrist in your hearts, the better you will be able to defend yourselves against that great old one at Rome. And that I may help you so to do, as God shall enable me, I have chosen this text ; which I the rather fix upon, because I find it in the head of a whole squadron of scriptures, pressed by Bellarmine into the pope's service. His Holiness's commission, you know, can compel any scripture to maintain the Cathohc cause, though against its own consent. I shall endeavour, in the progress of my dis- course, to rescue both this and others from the injury of an involuntary warfare, in which they are forced to fight against that truth which God commissioned them to defend. If we look into the body of this psalm, we shall find the royal penman of it once and again declaring and professing his faith and confidence in God, and him only, (Psalm Ixii. 1, 2, 5 — 7,) in despite of all his enemies* opposition against him ; over whose power he doth triumphantly insult, (verse 3,) as well as tax their malice ; (verse 4 ;) and persuades others to the hke fixing [of] their faith on God ; (verse 8 ;) labouring to take them off" from their false and iU-grounded confidences, whether in per- sons or things, either as wicked or vain ; (verses 9, 10 ;) and then lays down the reasons and grounds of the boldness of his faith, — God's power, (verse 11,) and his mercy: (verse 12:) one showing his suffi- ciency and ability to overtop all those enemies, and effectually to^save ; the othei', his readiness so to do for all that do thus trust in him, and wait for him. The latter of these, God's mercy, he sets forth by a most eminent instance of it, — that most glorious retribution he makes to those that do believe and obey him : " Also unto thee, O Lord, belougeth mercy : for thou renderest to every man according to his work." And so the words do both assert that great attribute of mercy in God, and prove it : the one in the former part of the verse : "To thee, 0 • The most violent assaiilt [that] Mr. Knox ever had from Satan was at his dying hour, when he was tempted to think, that, by his faithfulness in his luiuistry, he hud moriti. i| }>e»ven itself. — ride Melchiorem Ad.uil'm in f'itd Knout. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 185 Lord, belongeth mercy ; " the other in the latter : 't For thou reuderest to every man according to his work." The great day of recompensing men according to what they have done in the flesh, will be the most ample proof, and illustrious manifestation, not only of the righteous but merciful nature of God. Inquire we here what is meant by " work," and what by rewardhig men according to it. 1 . By " work" we are not to understand barely one individual work ; but (the singular number being put for the plural) a plurality or com- plection of works of the same kind, which, all together, make up one integral work. All the particular actions [that] men do of the same kind are but parts of the great work [which] they are doing, either for God or the devil ; and so are all included in it. And the miscarriages of God's children are so many baitings in their course, so many bunglings in their work ; which are blemishes in it, though not absolute interrup- tions of it. But if it be farther inquired, " What kind of work or works is here intended ? " I answer : Good ones, especially : for in the rewarding of them it is that God's goodness and mercy so greatly appear ; when it is plainly enough his justice that is manifested in the recompensing of evil ones. Or we may thus paraphrase the words : " To thee, 0 Lord, belongeth mercy, in that thou renderest to eveiy man according to his work : not only evil to them that do evil, and have deserved it ; but good to them that do good, though they cannot challenge it." 2. By reivarding men according to their works, (briefly, because I shall meet with it again,) I understand God's recompensing men according to the nature, or kind, or quality of their works : such as their works have been, such shall be their reward : " Who wiU render to every man according to his deeds : to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life : but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrigh- teousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil." (Rom. ii. 6 — 9.) And so the proportion is between the kind of work, and the kind of reward : where the work was good, the reward shall be suitable ; and where the work was evil, the reward wiU be answerable : * natural good the reward of moral [good], as natural evil the reward of moral evd. If it be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked, who can say but the reward is according to their works, thoixgh the righteous man's reward be a thousand times greater than his work? (Isai. iii. 10, 11.) "Here is therefore a likeness of quality between the work and the reward, but not a proportion of equality." f Doctrine. The truth then [which] we infer from the words thus explained is this : that the reward of good works is not deserved by them that receive it : or, that the best of men, by their best works, do not mei'it the reward that God gives them. • Quia tu reddis unicuique juxta opera sua ; bona bonis, mala malts : damnas peccatores, remuneras justos. — Hieronymus in Psal. Lvii. qui apud illnm. est Ixi. " Because thou renderest unto every man according to his works ; good to the good, evil to the evil : thou damuest sinners ; thou rewardest the just." — Edit. t Est igitur inter opera et prttmia similitudo qtialUaiis, non proportio aqualitalis. — Davenantii'S De Juslitid actuali, cap. 60. 186 SERMON XIll. GOOD "WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. If the consequence of this doctrine from the text be questioned, it may thus be proved : That which is merely out of the mercy of the rewarder cannot be for the merit of the worker : " And if it be by grace, then is it no more of works : otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more of grace : otherwise work is no more work : " (Rom. xi. 6 :) But the Psalmist here affirms, that the reward of good works is out of the mercy of the Rewarder : And therefore it follows, that it is not for the merit of the worker. And so I come to the busi- ness in hand, to show you that good works do not merit eternal hfe, that being the reward spoken of by the penman of this psalm. Here we must, I. Explain the terms of the (piestion. IT. Give you the state of it. III. Confinn the truth. IV. Take off objections. V. Make application. EXPLICATION OF THE TERMS. I. For explication of the terms, it would be inquired into, 1 . What is meant by good works ? Answer. Not to wrong our adversaries, they themselves do generally iinderstand, such good works as are wrought by them that are furnished with truth of grace, or a supernatural principle suited to and productive of supernatural actions ; such good works as are the vital actions of the new man, the motions of that " divine nature" whereof believers are made "partakers." (2 Peter i. 4.) And, indeed, those works which proceed not from such a principle, can be but equivocally called "good," as not partaking of the nature of that which is truly, that is, superna- turally, good.* And of those only we are here to speak, and not of any such as are antecedent to the first grace, or conversion of the heart to God. But when we speak of these good works, we mean not only those of the second table, works of justice, charity, bounty, though the Papists like them best, at least when done to themselves ; (they must needs be eminently good, which bring-in good money to the popes' coffers, and good cheer to the priests' belhes ;) but we take them more largely and comprehensively for the duties of both tables ; and those too not only external, or such as are performed by the outward man ; but likewise for the inward actings of this supernatural principle which yet proceed no farther than the heart : f such as the inward workings of love, thankful- ness, hope, joy, humihty, patience, &c. ; and, in a word, all that good fi'uit of all kinds which grows upon this good root. 2. What we are to understand by meriting. — What is the original signification of the words mereri and meritum, I shall not stand to inquire ; but that which is most in use in our present age, and which the Papists, for the advantage of their cause, make most use of, is expressed in English by " deserving" and " desert." But if we look back to • Bellarmine requires to a meritorious work, tliat it proceed from one who is amicus ct gratus Deo, [" a friend of God and pleasing to Him,"] and then ex charitatis virtute ["from tlie virtue of charity"]. — De Justijicaiione, lib. v. cap. 10. t This principle always accompanies faith, " without which no works are to be called ' good.' " Et si bona vidcatur facere, iamen quia sine Jidc fucit , ncc bona sunt vocanUa. — Augustini-'S in Psalmum xxxi. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 187 former times, we shall find these words taken in a far different sense by the ancient fathers, (to say nothing of heathen writers,) than by modern Papists. The fathers commonly take mereri, " to merit," for the same as consequi, obtinere, "to obtain," or "gain ;" and meritum, "merit," for any good work which, according to God's appointment, is rewardable with eternal hfe ; though in the other and more strict acceptation of the word it be no merit, as not being truly worthy of the reward : and so to merit eternal life is, in their sense, no more than to do those things which are the way wherein eternal hfe is to be obtained. And this is evident in that they apply the word " merit" to those actions in which any real desert or proper worthiness of the reward can never be rationally imagined. Thus Augustine frequently : one while he tells us that " the worshippers of devils are said to merit certain temporal comforts." Else- where, that " the Virgin Mary merited to conceive and bring forth Christ." And again, that " Paul, by so many persecutions and blas- phemies, merited to be called ' a chosen vessel.' " And yet again, that " the people of Israel had a stiiF neck ; for that they merited to be deh- vered from their bondage by so many miracles." * And I find a passage cited of Austin which, if merit be taken in the present Popish notion, all the world cannot reconcile to sense : NuUis prcBcedentibiis mentis per gratlam Dei meruimus tenqjla Dei fieri : " By no antecedent merits, we by the grace of God merited to become the temples of God." And can a man merit without merits? deserve- without deserts? If he have no merits, properly so called, he cannot properly merit to become the tem- ple of God : but without merits he may obtain this favour of God. And yet more strange is that expression, whoever is the author of it, which some tell us is still sung in the Roman rituals, where, speaking of Adam's sin, it is said to he/elix culjja qtice tantum meruit habere Redemp- torem, " a happy transgression which merited so great a Redeemer." -f And will any believe that Adam's sin deserved so well at God's hands ? Was Christ's coming into the world to redeem sinners the reward of sin, or the remedy against it ? And yet the reward of it it must be, if the word " meriting" be taken in its proper sense. The same way the word is taken by others of the fathers. "If « they," (that is, the Israehtes,) saith Ambrose, "did not merit to come into the land, because they murmured against God ; how shall we merit to come into heaven, when we live so like the Heathen?" J And Cyprian, speaking of Dorcas being raised from the dead : " She," saith he, "who ministered help to the afilicted widows, that they might live, merited to be called back to hfe at the prayers of widows." § In the same catachrestical way we sometimes find the word used in the Vulgar translation. In Joshua xi. 20, we read it, " That they might find no • Ciiltores dtemonuTn dicuntur mereri temporalia qucBdam solatia. — De Civitate Dei, lib. V. cap. 24. Maria concipcre et parere vieruit mm, quern constat nullum habuisse peccatum, — He Naturd et Gratia, cap. 36. Qid (de Paulo loquitur) pro tot persecutionibus et blas- phemiis, vas electionis meruit nominari De Pradest. et Gra^ cap. 16; et pauld ante: Dura cervix in illo populo qui ex onini mundo electus est, qui de servitute decern miraculisjtt^ meruit liberari. f Chamierus et Riveti Orthod. Cuthol. X Si illi terrati^^F intrare non meruerunt, quia murmurati sunt contra Deum. ; quomodo nos culum mercbimur intrare, indiffercnter viventes, sicut Gentes? — Ambrosius in Ilebr. iv. § Qu<£ labo- rantibus viduis largita fuerat subsidia vivendi, meruit ad vitani petitionc viduarum revocari. — Cyphianus De Opere et Eleeiiwsynis. m 188 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION* favour ; " the Vulgar hath it, Et non mererentur ullam dementiam, "That they might not merit any mercy." And, Gen. iv. 13, "My punishment is greater than I can bear," our margin reads it, " IMine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven ; " but the Vulgar, Major eat iniquitas mea quam ut veniam merenr, " Mine iniquity is greater than that I should merit forgiveness." What can " meriting " in these places signify, but " obtaining ? " a signification very far differing from that in which the Papists now take it. Usus is norma loquendi ; " words are to be taken as they are used : " and who knows not that words have their modes and fashions, as well as men's habits and manners ? And so those which are in fashion in one age are quite out in another, or taken quite in a different sense : and sometimes the metaphorical signification of a word may be more in use than the proper ; and we shall make strange confusion in the nature of things, if those words which properly signify those things be always taken in their proper sense. I insist the more on this, because it is all the answer I intend to the testimonies of the fathers, which the Papists think to run us down with. But, to pass from the word to the thing : if we inquire into the pedi- gree of this darling doctrine of the Papists, we may easily derive it (to look no higher) from their great-grandfathers, the pharisaical Jews, from whom they have received a great part of their religion. The Pharisees were for infallibihty, and a magisterial, imposing spirit in matters of conscience, before the pope was born ; and the rabbins were for tradition before there were any Papists in the world. And as for merits, Camero cites a passage out of Maimonides, where he says, that " every man hath his sins, and every man his merits : and he that hath more merits than sins is a just man ; but he that hath more sins than merits is a wicked man."* And that learned author, as weU as others,f is of opinion, that the apostle James hath an eye to this error of the Pharisees, when he says, that " whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James ii. 10.) Others tell us of seven sorts or degrees of Pharisees among the Jews ; one of which had its name from their professing to do aU still that was required of them, or asking, Was any more yet to be done ? J like the young man in Matt. xix. 20 : " All these things have I kept from my youth up : what lack I yet ? " And, indeed, we need go no farther than our Saviour's frequent reflections upon them, and the apostle's smart disputations against tb.em in the point of justification. (Luke xviii. 9 ; xvi. 15 ; Rom. x. 3.) But from whence soever the Papists have received this doctrine of merits, thus they manage it. Merit, they say, is two- fold : one out of congruity, the other out of condignity. The former is a work to which the reward is not due out of justice, but out of some kind of decency, or congruity ; or, as some of them speak, out of the hberality • m>n-\in nj h^.—Vide Bi'Xtorfii Synagoff. Jud. ; et Petium G.\lf.sinu-m, lib. i. lap. 1 ; Cami;R()nem in Matth. .i/.r. 3, oper. I'O. j I^kli-ensis apud Diusii'm. U>"nQ 'nain no Pkurisutis qui dicit, Quid dcbeo faccre ? ct fa fin in illud. Quasi dijrrr/t. Quid _fieri oportct ijuod non /m .^— DRLit^itis Dc tribus Sect. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 2-2 ; et HoTTiNGERi ThcsHurus, lib. i. cap. 1. "A Pharisee is one that says, ' M' hat ought I to do ? and I will do it.' As if he shoidd say, ' ^\'hat ought I to do, that 1 have uot done ?'" — Edit. ERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITCRIOTJS OF SALVATION. 189 of the person who accepts the work : so that though the work do not really merit the reward, and is not proportioned to it, yet there is some kind of mectness or congruity that it should be rewarded. This kind of merit some of them contend to be found in men while in their natural state, in relation to that grace which is afterward bestowed on them, or wrought in them.* But others of themselves do as stiffly oppose it ; and maintain that sinners cannot even in this way merit the first grace, nor the pardon of their sins ; and that believers, when fallen from grace, (as they suppose they may,) cannot merit their own recoveiy. But this is not the merit we are to speak of. The other is that which is out of condignity, which Durand distiuguisheth into two kinds rf one taken more largely for a work of that dignity or goodness which is, according to God's appointment, required in it, that it may be rewardable with eternal life ; and that is no more really than the graciousness or super- natui-al goodness of the action, as proceeding from a supernatural princi- ple, and ordered to a supernatural end ; which, we acknowledge, must be in every good work which is capable of a supernatural reward, and is to be found in every truly gracious action. But there is a merit out of condignity in a more strict sense, which is defined to be " a voluntary action, for which a reward is due to a man out of justice, so that it cannot be denied him without injustice.":]; Others define it much after the same manner ; namely, such an action as hath an equality of dignity or worth in relation to the reward, which is therefore due to it out of justice. And this is the merit we are to speak of, to say nothing of that third kind [which] some add, — meritiim ex pacto, " merit upon supposition of a promise ; " as when a reward is promised to a man if he do some work which yet bears no proportion to that reward, and for which antecedently to the promise he could not challenge any ; but, such a promise being made, he may, and consequently, say they, may be said to, merit. THE STATE OF THE QUESTION. II. The question then is, between us and the Papists, whether the good worJis of believers, such as God doth reward in the future life, do tndy and properly deserve that reward, so that it is due out of justice, and God should he unrighteous if he should deny or refuse it. The modern Papists generally afiirm it. The council of Trent so lays down the judgment of the present church of R<3me, as to assert that good works do truly merit eternal hfe ; and anathematize any that shall say the contrary. § • Diego XhVAVLEzJDe Auxil. disp. 59 ; Franciscus Cumelius in 1, 2, et 1 Thorn. disp. V. lect. 3. * t In Sentcnt. lib. ii. dist. xxvii. qnsest. 2. t Est actio volun- taria, propter qitam debetur alicui inerces ex justilid : nic ut, si non reddatur, ilte ad quevi pcrtinet reddere, injust^ facit, et est simpliciter ac propria inj7tstus. — Durandcs ibid. § Cilm enirii ille ipse Jesus Christus, tanquam caput in mcvibra, et tanqiiam vites in palmites, in ipsos jicst{ficatos jugiter virtutem inflet ; quce virtus bona ipsorum opera semjier antecedit, comitatur, et subseqiiitur, et sine qua nuilo pacto Deo grata et meritoria esse possent ; nihil uinplius ipsis justijicatis deesse credendum est, quo minus plen6, illis quidevi operibus quiB in Deo facta sunt, divinm legi, pro hujus vitte statu, satisfecisse, et vitam aternnm, suo etiam tempore, si tamcn in gratia de-csserint, consequendam, veie promeruisse, censcantur. — Sess. vi. cap. IC. " Since Jesus Clirist himself continually inspires a certain virtue or power into tLo.se who are justified, as the head into the members, and vines into their branches; which vii-tue always precedes, accompanies, and follows their good works, and without which 190 SERMON Xm. GOOD WORKS NOT MKRITORIOUS OF SALVATION. And though those cunning fathers speak somewhat darkly, and so involve things, blending truth with error, as if they designed to make younger brothers of all the world beside ; yet the great interpreter of council speaks more honestly, that is, more broadly ; and plainly tells us, that " eternal blessedness is no less due to the good works of good men, than eternal torments are to the evil works of wicked men ;" and that " eternal life is so the recompence of good works, that it is not so much given of God freely, and out of liberahty, as it is out of debt ; " and that " the nature of merit and grace not being coiisistent, the reward is to be reckoned, not as of grace, but of debt." * Now, well fare Andradius, for a plain-deahng enemy. It is a commendable quality in any ; but a rare one in a Papist. The man saves us the labour of guessing at the council's meaning. Had all spoken out like him, we should more easily have understood them, and fewer would have been deluded by them. And yet, not to wrong any, other modern Jesuits are no less rigid in the point than this author : nay, who among the Papists do not assert the worthiness of good works, in relation to the reward ? though they are not yet agreed from whence that worthiness should arise. Some say, as Bellarmine tells us, from the promise of God, engaging to reward them : -f but these are few, and too modest ; and, indeed, half heretics for their pains. Others say, from the intrinsic worth and excellency of the works themselves, setting aside the consideration of the promise. These are the impudent children of holy church, fit sons for such a mother. And yet the cardinal himself comes little behind them, if at all : he is of opinion, that " the good works of righteous nifen are worthy of eternal glory, partly by reason of their own proper goodness, and partly by virtue of God's promise ; yet not so, neither," (for he is afraid of speaking too diminutively of good works,) " as if, without God's covenanting with the worker and acceptance of the work, it did not itself bear an answerable proportion to eternal hfe ; but (only) because, setting aside the promise, God is not obliged to accept a good work to eternal life, though it be equal to it,"^ To these we may add others, who say they could by no means be pleasing to God and meritorious : it is to be believed that nothing fiirther is required by justified persons iu order to their being accounted fiilly to have satisfied the divine law, with regard to the state of this life, by those works indeed which have been done in God ; and to have iruli/ merited eternal life, to be obtained also in due time, if indeed they depart in the faith." — Edit. Si qnis dixcrit, hominis justijicati bona oj>cra ila esse dona Dei ut ,iun sini etiam bona ipsius justijicati merita, aut ipsiim justifica- tum, bonis opcribus, 8ic., non ver^ mereri atigmentum gratia:, vitam celernam, 8fC. ; anathema sit. — Can. 32. " If any one shall assert, that the good works of a justified man are so the gifts of God, as that they are not also the good deserts of him that is justified ; or that the justi- fied person does not by his good works truly merit an increase of grace, life eternal, &c. ; let him be accursed." — Edit. " Andradu'S apnd Chemn'Itium. t Ratio meriti complete est ex ordinatione volun- tatis divince illius actus ad prouiniwin. — ScoTUS in Scntcjit. cap. i. dist. \7 ■ " The reckoning of merit is wholly from the appointment, by the divine will, of that action to reward." — Edit. Et pauU) post : ^rtn voluntatis sucb, (Dcus,) ordijiando ipsum (actum huinanum) ad pricmium, voluit ipsum esse meritHm, qui, secundum se consideratus absque tali acceptatione divinci, secundum, strictam justitiam noti fuisset diu eAagere, aA\a x^pnt ravrc, ^avra ,y,,,ro .u Xpiora, It, Jo.- In Rom. vL VOL. VI. 194 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. (I Cor. vi. 19, 20.) What that price is, Peter tells us: "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ; but with the pre- cious blood of Christ," &c. (1 Peter i. 18, 19.) All the creatures are his servants, because made and employed and maintained by him ; but believers are more especially his servants, because they are redeemed by him, too, from being servants to sin and Satan, (by whom, though they were never rightfully servants, yet they were held in bondage,) and " pur- chased" by him to be his own "possession," •53-s^»7roi>]crjj, (Eph. i. 14,) his "peculiar people," and to do his work, to be "zealous of good works." (Titus ii. 14.) I suppose, none can deny behevers to be as much God's servants as any man's servants are his ; and that he hath as absolute a dominion over them as men ever can have over those who are theirs, being bought with a price as well as any. Now who knows not that servants are so their mastex's', that they are not their own, not sui juris ["their own masters"] ; cannot command themselves, not dis- pose of themselves, or their time, or their work ? All they have and all they do is their masters'. Believers, then, being thus God's servants, have nothing, do nothing, but what belongs to their Lord ; and so can deserve nothing at his hands by all the service they can do him, seeing they owe it all to him. Wlio indeed deserves any thing for doing what he is bound to do, and deserves punishment if he do not do 'I And, there- fore, if God rewards his servants, he doth it out of his liberality, and because it pleaseth him to reward them ; not that any tiling is due to them : and if he never should reward them, never had promised them a reward, yet still they, being servants, were bound to do his work. Hence our Saviour, in that, Luke wA\. 1 0, bids his disciples, when they " have done all that is commanded them," or supposing they could and should do all, yet even then to acknowledge themselves to be but " unprofitable servants ; " not only unprofitable to God, (so much the Papists will grant,) but unprofitable to themselves ; in that, being bound by the con- dition of servants to obey their Lord, they could not deserv'^e so much as thanks, (verse 9,) much less a reward. And so, in a word, if God give believers any thing, it is grace ; if nothing, it is not injustice. He that would deserve any thing of his master must first be made free : manu- mission must go before merit. 2. Believers owe all to God because theij are his beneficiaries, and have received all from God. — "What hast thou that thou didst not receive ?" (1 Cor. iv. 7.) " It is God that worketh in you both to wiU and to do of his good pleasure." (Phil. ii. 13 ) "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves ; but our sufiiciency is of God." (2 Cor. iii. 5.) And indeed Papists themselves dare not in plain terms deny it ; but in words confess it. And the more ancient and sounder Schoolmen roundly assert aU the good we do, as well as enjoy, to come from God. "No man," says one, "is beforehand with God in doing any thuig for God ; but God himself in every good work and motion is the first mover and doer." * And, " Whatever we are," saith another, " whatever we have, M-licther good actions, or good habits, or the use of them, it is all in us out of the liberality of God, freely giving all • Nnlhis aulcm homo prius fecit pro Deo ; ipse eniiii Deus in qndlibet motionc Ct fuctione est primus viutor et factor. — Bkadwakdincs De Cuiind Dei, p. 343. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 195 and preserving all." * And yet another : " All our good works and merits are God's free gifts." f He calls theai " merits ;" and yet in that very place disputes against the condignity of merits, with this very argu- ment [which] we have in hand. And though it be true, that the good actions we do are ours as they are wrought by us, and come from us ; yet " all that is good in them is of God ; " ^ and they have no more goodness in them than what they have of him. Now then hence it will folloM^ that men can deserve nothing of God : **Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again?" (Rom. xi. 35.) They that have not first given to God some- thing which is their own, something which they never received from him, cannot oblige him to recompense them. And indeed it is contrary to common sense, that a man should deserve anything of another, by giving him back what he received from him : and so that God should be a debtor to us for those very good works which himself hath wrovight in us. Thus some of the Papists themselves argue. " If God," says one, " gives a soul grace, he gives it freely ; and no man will say, that because he hath given him one gift, he owes him another : therefore when God freely gives a soul charity, he is not consequently bound to give it glory." § Nay, the others go farther, and argue, that the more good a man doeth, the more he receives from God ; (seeing it is of God that he doeth that very good ;) and therefore is so far from obliging God by what he doeth, that he is himself more bound to God. And indeed it is a clear case, that the more a man owes to God, the less capable he is of deserving any thing of God ; but the more good a man doeth, the more he owes, because the more he doeth the more he receives ; and conse- quently the best saints, that do most, seeing they hkewise receive most, mast needs owe most, and therefore merit least. Indeed, did they do their good works merely in their own strength, and without receiving grace from God, so that they could call their works purely their own, more might be said in defence of merits ; but when no believer in the world ever doeth one jot of good more than what he is enabled by God to do, and M^hich God works by him, it follows that still as his works iuci*ease, so his receipts increase ; and as they grow, his merits (to speak so for once) abate, he being in every good work a new debtor to God for the grace whereby he did it. Argument v. The good works of believers are imjjerfect ; and there- fore they cannot merit hy them. — How can a man merit any reward of the lawgiver by doing that which doth not answer the law, which requires not only good works, but perfectly good ones ? He doth not deserve his wages that doth not do his whole work, and do it as he should. Or how can a man deserve a reward by those works which deserve punishment ? Can he deserve the blessing and the curse at the same time, and by the • Et illud quod sumus, et quod habemus, siue sint actus boni, sive habitus, seu usus, totum est in nobis ex libcralitate divind, gratis dante et conservaiite. — Durandus in !^ent. lib. i. dist. xxvii. quaest. 2. t Omncs opcrationcs nostra; et merita sunt dona Dei. — Gregorics Ariminensis in Se7it. lib. i. distinct, svii. quaest. i. art. 2. 1 Totum quod est honmiis bonum est a Deo. — Aquinatis Summa Theol. Prima Secimdae, quaest. cxiv. art. ]. § Si Deus dat anima charitatcm, gratis donat ,• el nullus diceret quod iw to quod Dens donet aliquod munus alicui,fiat ei alterius muneris debitor : ergo ex eo quod gratis dat animce cha- ritatem, non dcbctur consequcnter etiam gloria. — Aruunensis uli supra, fide Brad- WARDINUM et DORANDUM ubi siipru. o 2 196 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. same works ? But imperfect good works, though the imperfection of them he not actually imputed, and what is good in them be accepted, yet, as imperfect, and falling short of the demands of the law, do deserve the curse ; for, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." (Gal. iii. 10.) And the perfection of good works, as well as the works themselves, is one of those things which are written in the law : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." (Luke x. 27.) Now, that the good works of behevers are imperfect, not only all together, but each of them in particular, how clear is it to any that ever really exercise themselves in them ! Where is there the saint in the world but hath some sins mingled with his good works ? Who ever holds on in so constant a course of obedience and holiness but that the good he doeth is interrupted with the mixture of some evil ? " There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not," says Solomon. (Eccles. vii. 20.) And, " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," saith St. John. (1 John i. 8.) And David, who was as holy as any Papist upon earth, speaks for himself, and all the world besides, that if God " should mark iniquity," none " could stand." (Psalm cxxx. 3.) Exception. And though our adversaries tell us here, that the inter- mixture of some venial sins with the good works of the saints doth not hinder their perfection nor meritoriousness, and that their sins are no other : that believers may, as they walk toward heaven, have a little dust fall upon them, but do not wallow in the mire : that they do but turn aside in God's ways, not turn their backs upon them ; but halt in them, not forsake them ; but squint a Uttle on the world, not turn their faces wholly toward it : Answer. Yet this will not suffice till they can solidly establish the distinction of mortal sins and venial upon scriptui'e-foundations ; which they never can till they have made an Index expurgatorius upon the Bible itself, and sentenced the holy penmen of it as authores damnatos, " con- demned " them for making those sins mortal which they themselves would so fain have only venial. No, nor after they have done that, till they can produce some one saint who hath lived all his days without ever falling into any one of their mortal sins. Let them ransack their whole college of cardinals, search all tlieir religious houses, examine Peter's chair itself, and they shall not find one that dares (and Protestants will not) pretend to be wholly without, or free from, some or other of those sins which they themselves count mortal. And if we look to the good works of the saints in particular, we shall find some defectiveness in every one of them. The best pi-oceed but from an imperfect principle, — the new natm'e ; which, in believers, during their present state, is but in its growth, not come to its full maturity : it shall be made perfect ; and therefore is not yet perfect. God promises that believers shall grow in grace : " The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree : he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age ; they shall be fat and tlourishing." (Psalm xcii. 12 — \A.) They are commanded to groM^ : " Grow in grace." SSRMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 19? (2 Peter iii. 18.) It is their eudeavour to grow ; tliey reacli out to things before them, and press forward, &c. (Phil. iii. 12 — 14.) And it is their privilege that thoy do grow : " Their inner man is renewed day by day." (2 Cor. iv. 16.) And there is no time of a saint's Hfe in which it is not his duty to grow in grace ; the command obligeth them all, as long as they are on this side heaven. But if grace were come to its full perfec- tion, there would be no more need of growing in it, no more obligation so to do. Besides, there is no saint but, as he hath some grace in him, so he hath some remainders of corruption too, sin dwelling in him, as well as Paul had; (Rom. vii. 17;) the law of the members, as well a9 the law of the mind ; (verse 23 ;) flesh, as well as Spirit ; (Gal. v. 1 7 ;) as one principle which draws him off from sin, so another which inclines him to it ; as one which puts him upon good, so another which makes him in some degree averse to it ; as something which makes him do the work, and in some measure as he should, so something which checks and cools him, and makes him not do it altogether as he should. Now from hence ariseth a double imperfection in the best works of the saints : one is a want or failing of that intensencss, or those degrees, of goodness, that height and excellency of it, which the law of God requires ; for where the principle itself is not fully perfect, the actings of that principle cannot but be imperfect ; the effect can be no better than the cause. The other is the adherence of some evil to the work, some spot or stain cleaving to it. As sin dwells in the same soul, the same mind, the same will and affections with grace, so it mingles itself with the actings of grace : there being something of mud in the fountain, it dirties the stream ; the vessel, having a tang, derives it to the liquor that runs out of it ; there being something of venom in the flower, it insinuates itself into, and mingles with, that sweet vapour that comes from it. So that, upon the whole, every act of a saint is some way or other defective and blemished, and comes short of a legal accurateness ; and therefore is not able to abide a legal trial. That any are at all accepted with God, it is upon the sole account of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter ii. 5.) Him we find offering incense with the prayers of the saints, (Rev. viii. 3,) and his type, the high priest, " bearing the iniquities of the holy things which the children of Israel hallowed in all their holy gifts." (Exod. xxviii. 38.) And surely, then, if the good works of behevers are accepted for Christ's sake, they are not rewarded for their own : their goodness cannot deserve a recompence, when their infirmities need a covering. Their weakness argues their not answering the law ; and if they do not answer it, they cannot deserve to be rewarded accord- ing to it. Argument vi. Believers need forgiveness of sin ; mid therefore cannot hy all their good deeds merit life. — That they need forgiveness, is plain not only by the former argument, (in that there is no man so full of good works, but he hath some sins mingled with them ; and there are no good works in this life so full of goodness, but they have some mixture of evil too,) and by our Saviour's command to pray for pardon, and that daily: "Forgive us our debts;" (Matt. vi. 12;) but likewise by the practice of the saints in scripture, (Psalm xxv. 11 ; Dan. ix. 19 ; 1 Kings viii. 34, 36,) and the practice of the Papists themselves. How many 198 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. Pater-nosters and Kyrie-eleesons [" Lord, have mercy upon us "] do they daily say ! The veriest saints among them confess their sins, and pray for pardon. The pope himself, for all his holiness, and his pardoning other men's sins, yet confesseth his own. Now if saints themselves need forgiveness, how do they deserve heaven ? How can " the conscience of sin," and the merit of hfe, consist together? (Heb. x. 2.) He that prays for pardon, confesseth himself a sinner ; and he that owns himself a sinner, acknowledgeth himself to be worthy of death ; and if he be worthy of death, how is he worthy of Hfe ? If he deserve a punishment, surely he doth not at the same time deserve a reward. If they shall say, that they pray only for the pardon of venial sins, it signifies little ; they had as good keep their breath for something else, seeing [that] after all their seeking the forgiveness of them, yet they must be fain to expiate them hereafter in purgatory. And if they do by then- venial sins deserve purgatory, how do they at the same time merit heaven ? And therefore either let the Papists cease to pray for pardon, or to pretend to merit. To beg forgiveness, if they do not indeed sin, is to mock God ; and to pretend to merit, if they do, is to mock themselves. Argument vii. The good ivorks of believers are not commensurate and equal in goodness and value to eternal life ; and therefore cannot deserve it. — Common sense wiU evince the truth of the consequence. WTio can say that such a work deserves such a reward, if it be not equal in worth and value to it, any more than that such a commodity deserves such a price, if it be not of equal worth with it ? And Papists themselves grant as much. Aquinas makes the just reward of a man's labour, and the price of a thing bought, to be both alike of justice, and requires an equahty wherever strict justice is.* And that the good works of the saints are not equal to eternal life, unless they be grown better than they were in Paul's time, is clear by Rom. viii. 18 : " For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." And if the sufferings of the saints are not worthy of their glory, surely none of their other works are ; their sufferings (wherein they are not merely passive, but active too ; for they " choose to suffer afflictions," Heb. xi. 25) being some of the most excel- lent of their works, and in which most grace is exercised. Exception. The Papists' common answer is, that the good works of believers, as they come merely from them and their free-wdll, are not worthy of or equal to their glory ; but yet that they are so, as they pro- ceed from grace, a supernatural principle in their hearts. Answer. But we have seen before, that that very principle, though excellent, noble, divine, as to the nature of it, yet, in respect of its degrees, is but imperfect ; and therefore the actings which proceed from it must needs be so too, there being such a mixture of sin in the heart where grace is seated, [that] it mingles itself with the actings of grace in our woi'ks. And how then can we say that an imperfect work deserves a full reward ? that the poor, lame performances of behevcrs are equal to that abundant glory which God in his goodness hath prepared for them ? Argument viii. Believers cannot recompense to God what they have • I'idc Primam Sccunda-, quxst. cxiv. art. 1. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 19!) already received of him ; and therefore cannot hy all they do merit any thing of him. — They that are debtors to God can by no means make him a debtor to them : when they owe him so much, he can owe them nothing. Debt to God must be discharged before any obhgation can be laid upon him. And that saints cannot recompense God for what they have received of him, is clear by what was said before ; for they have received of him aU they are, all they have, all they do, their being, their powers and faculties, their good inclinations, principles, actings. And what can a man return to God which may recompense him for all these ? It is a known saying of the philosopher, that no man can requite God or his parents.* And, indeed, if a son cannot return equal to his father for the being he hath received from him, though but subordinately to God, much less can he recompense God himself for that and all else . which he hath received from him. But deserving a reward at God's hands, especially such an one as we speak of, is much more than merely to requite him for what he hath done for us ; and therefore such a reward by aU our good works we can never possibly merit. I conclude this with that of Bradwardine : " God hath given to and for man, miserable, captive man, man obnoxious to eternal flames, himself made man, suffering, dying, buried, that he might redeem him ; and he promiseth and giveth himself wholly to be enjoyed by man as his great reward, which infi- nitely exceeds any mere man,"t and consequently all his power, all his holiness, all his good works. What saint on earth can requite God for giving himself for him ? and how then can- he merit the enjoyment of God ? If the first be above his requital, I am sure the other is above his desert. Argument ix. He that deserves any thing of another must do some- thing whereby that other hath some benefit or advantage ; for no man can be said to merit at another's hand by doing that which is advantageous only to himself. — But believers, by all they do, profit themselves, if any, not God ; they bring no gain, make no addition, to him ; it is their own good, their own happiness, [which] they farther and advance by all their holiness and good works, but not God's, who is still, after all the good works of all the saints on earth for these five thousand years and up- wards, the same [that] he was before : all their mites have added nothing to his treasures, aU their drops nothing to his ocean. " Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself ? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous ? or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect ? " (Job xxii. 2, 3.) And therefore it must needs follow, that believers by their good works deserve nothing of God. • Aristotelis Ethica, lib. viii. + Deus dedit homini, et pro misero homine et cap- tivo, fimniiiia perpetuis obligato, seipsum incarnatum, passum, et sepnltum, in pretium tem- poraliter rediinendo ,• promittit insuper et dat seipsum toium in prcemium feliciter consu- 'iriendo, quod excedit qiiemlibct purtim hominem inJinitS. — Bradwardinus, p. 345. Cert^, Domine, qui me fecisti, debeo amori tuo meipsum totuni ; qui me redernisti, debeo meipsum totum : imo, tantum debeo amori tuo plus quam meijiswm, quantum tu es major me, pro quo dedisti teipsum, et cui promittis teipsum. — Anselmus apud Bradwardinum, ibid. " Assuredly, O Lord, who liast made me, to thy love I owe my whole self ; to thee, who hast redeemed me, I owe my entire self: nay, 1 owe to thy love so much more than myself. Tit how much thou art greater than I, for whom thou gavest thyself, and to whom thou dost promise thyself." — Edit. 200 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION, Argument x. The Popish doctrine of merits highly derogates from the honour of God and Christ ; and therefore is not to be admitted. 1. It derogates from the glory of God, (1,) In his liherality. — For God is the most liberal giver. (James i. 5.) Every good, we say, by how much the greater it is, so much the more communicative it is ; and God, being the greatest good, must needs be most communicative, most liberal, and that too to such a height as nothing can be conceived more so. Now he that gives freely, is more liberal, more generous, more communicative, than he that gives out of debt, or on the account of desert ; and therefore that most free and liberal way of giving must be ascribed unto God, as most suitable to him ; and we cannot say that God gives any thing to his creatures out of debt, but we diminish the glory of his liberality. (2.) In his liberty. — It is a subjecting him to his creature. He that owes any thing to another is so far forth subject to him : " The borrower is servant to the lender." (Prov. xxii. 7.) He that gives all freely is more free himself than he that gives only because he owes it. And therefore if God be a debtor to man, and bound in justice to reward him, he doth not act so freely as if no such obligation lay upon him. 2. It derogates likewise from the glory of Christ, because from his merits.* — Whoever merits any thing, acquires thereby a right to that thing which before he had not, either in whole, or in part. A day- labourer hath no right to his wages but by his work ; and tiU his work be done cannot challenge it : and so if believers merit eternal life, they do by their works get a title to it, which before their working they had not. And if they do by their works acquire a right wholly to eternal life, then Christ hath not at all merited it for them : if in part they merit it, then Christ hath but in part merited it for them, and something there is in eternal life which Christ hath not merited. Exception. And it is in vain to say, that Christ hath merited for the saints a power of meriting ; and that it is more for his glory to enable them to do it, than to do it wholly himself. Answer. For, besides that the Papists can never prove that Christ hath merited any such power for believers, it is really more for the honour of his bounty to purchase all for them himself, than to enable them to it ; as he is more bountiful who gives a man a great estate out of his own proper gonds, than he that enables him to get an estate by his labour and industry. Indeed Bellarmine speaks plainly, that God would have his children merit heaven, because it is more for their honour than to have it given them ; (De Justif. hb. v. cap. 3 ;) so little is his Eminency concerned for God's glory, as zealous as he is for the credit of the saints. Me- thinks he might have remembered, that what is given to the one is taken away from the other ; and if it be more for the saints' honour to have their inheritance by way of aaerit, yet it is more for God's glory that they have it as a gift. Other arguments might be added, but I had rather mention enough than all. I have been larger in these, because, though some of the more learned among the Papists place the meritoriousucss of good • I'ide CiiAMiEKi'M, torn, iii. lib. xiv. caji. 20. Sermon xiir. good works not meritorious of salvation. 201 ■works upon something else than the intrinsic excellency of them, yet this is the most popular and dangerous error among them ; the vulgar sort, not understanding the distinctions and niceties of some few scholars, are more apt to beheve their good works to be of their own nature and for their own excellency meritorious. More briefly, therefore, of the rest : Bellarmine bears us in hand, that the complete meritoriousness of good works ariseth from the addition of God's promise to them ; so that they which would not have merited eternal life otherwise, (though pro- portioned to it, if he may be believed,) yet, the promise being made, are truly worthy of it. Against this we argue, that if the accession of the promise make good ■works to be truly meritorious, then it must be either because the promise makes good works better, more excellent and noble, than they would have been had no such promise been made ; or else because (which is this cardinal's notion) the promise obligeth God in justice to reward them, which without it he were not bound to do. 1. But the addition of God's promise doth not raise the rate of good loorks, not ennoble them, nor add any intrinsical dignity or worth to them, nor make them in themselves better than they would have been if such a promise had not been made ; the promise being something ex- trinsical to the works themselves, ^c, from whence therefore they can receive no new degrees of inward goodness or worth. — The proper formal excellency of a good action ariseth from its conformity to its rule, the Tightness of the principle from whence it proceeds, and the end to which it is directed. If therefore it proceed from a supernatural principle, and be referred to a supernatui-al end, and be in other things agreeable to its proper rule, which is the command of God, and not the promise, (for that, though it be an encouragement to work, yet is not the rule of our working,) it hath all in it that is necessary to the essence of a good work, -whether any promise be made to it or not. Indeed, the more high and intense the principle of grace is from wdience it proceeds, and the more directly and expressly it is ordered to its end, and the more exactly it is conformable to its rule, the more good, the more gracious it is ; but the adding of the promise makes it not one jot more gracious, more intrinsically w^orthy : had God never made any promise of reward- ing the good works of believers, yet they would have been as good as now they are. Nay, I meet with a Schoolman that says, if the promise make any alteration in the nature of a good work, it is rather by diminishing from its goodness than adding to it, so far as it may be an occasion of a man's acting less out of love to God, and more out of love to himself.* However, did any new goodness accrue to a good work by the accession of God's promise, it would follow that the least good work • l^ec ilia proinissio facit opus melius, ut pafet per substantiam operis et per omnps ejus circumstantias inductiv6 : im6,forsitun minus bunum ; facit enim iiitentionem riiinus sin- ceram. Qui enini priiis operabatttr puri propter Deurn solum, nunc forsiian operetur propter retrihutionem promissam. — Bradwardinits De Causa Dei, lib. i. p. 339. "Nor does that promise make the work better, as is plain by the substance of the work, and by all its circumstances, inductively considered : nay, perhaps the promise makes the work less good; for it causes the intention to be less sincere. For he who before acted purely for the sake of God alone, now perchance may act on account of the promised reward." — Edit. 202 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. of a saint should thereby be so elevated and raised in its worth and value, as to be made equal to the greatest : the giving a cup of cold water to one of Christ's disciples, should be equal to a man's laying down his life for Christ. For " they which agree in some third, agree between themselves," as the learned bishop Davenant argues ; * and so if the giving [of] a cup of cold water to a disciple of Christ be by God's promise made equal to eternal life, dying for Christ being no more, even after the accession of the promise, they must be both equally good and (in the Papists' style) equally meritorious actions, because both com- mensurate to and meritorious of the same reward. Nay, supposing God should promise eternal hfe to a merely moral work, which had no supernatural goodness in it, or to an action in itself indifferent ; yet that action, though not gracious in itself, should be of as great dignity and value as any the best and most spiritual action whatever. For the best action cannot be imagined by Papists themselves to deserve any more than eternal life, and even a mere moral or indifferent one would by the help of the promise deserve as much ; and yet the Papists acknowledge that none but gi-acious ones can deserve it. And how absurd would it seem in the things of this life, for a promise or contract thus to raise the value of a man's labour or money above the due estimation and intrinsic worth of it ! Would it not seem strange, nay, ridiculous, to affirm, when two men buy two parcels of a commodity, of equal worth in themselves, but at unequal rates, (suppose the one at a hundred pounds as the full value, the other at five pounds,) that the contract made between the buyer and seller, or the promise of the seller to let his chapman have his goods at such a price, did raise the value of his five pounds, and make it equal to the other's hundred ? Who would grant this ? Who would not say that such a commodity were in a manner given away, or the just price of it abated, rather than the value of the money raised ? It is a case here ; and what our adversaries speak of good works being made meritorious by the addition of God's promise, is no less ridiculous and void of reason. 2. The addition of God's promise of reivarding good loorks, doth not bind him hi strict justice to reward them. — We acknowledge that he is engaged, by his immutability and faithfulness, to reward the hohness of his saints, having once promised so to do ; but that is no more than to say, that God is engaged to act like himself, suitably to his own nature. It is agreeable to God, as God, to be faithful and true to his word. If he were not faithfid, he could not be God : not to be faithful were to " deny himself." (2 Tim. ii. 13.) But it is quite another thing to be bound in strict justice to render to men such a reward as he hath promised. For the object of justice being the equality of the thing given and the thing received, and it being the business of justice to see to that cquaUty, and that so much be returned for so much, God being bound by his promise to make such an equaUty of the reward to the work, argues imperfection in him ; for it implies that God is man's debtor, and hath received more of hira than hitherto he hath given him ; or tliat a man's works exceed all his receipts, and all God's former bounty : in a word, that man hath done more for God than God hath yet done for him, on the account • Qua: convcniunl in a/irjr/o Icrtio coiiveniunt inter ic. — Do Justitid acluali. cup. 63. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 203 wliereof lie is bound to give him more, (namely, the reward,) that so there may be an equahty. And if this do not imply imperfection in God, what doth? Besides, if after God hath promised glory to a righteous man walking in his righteousness, yet he should not give it him, such an one could only say that God did break his word, or act contrary to his faithfulness ; but he could not say he acted unjustly, or did not give him as much as he received from him. " If," saith a Papist himself, " God should not give glory to a man that died in a state of grace, or should take it away from one already possessed of it, yet in so doing he should not be unrighteous." * To conclude : justice, properly taken, implies an equahty ; and where equality is not, there cannot be justice. But there is no equality not only between God and man, but between man's working and God's rewarding ; and it is not the addition of a promise that either levels the reward to the work, or raiseth the work to the reward. But, say some of our adversaries, good works become meritorious of eternal life, by being sprinkled with Christ's blood, commended to God by his merits. We would willingly see the proof of it. Let them teU us, if they can, what it is which Christ's merits do superadd to the goodness of the work whereby it becomes meritorious, when before, though truly good, it was not so. We grant indeed, that as there is no goodness in ourselves, so likewise none in our works, which is not the effect of Christ's merits ; but, supposing the goodness of them, we would know what it is that Christ's merits do further add to them to make them meritorious. True, indeed, the merits of Christ do procure both acceptance and reward for the good works of the saints ; but they do not make these works intrinsically perfect : they are the cause why the failings of the saints in them are not imputed ; but they do not remove those failings and weaknesses from them. Nay, more : Christ's merits do no more make the good works of behevei's meritorious, than Christ communicates to beUevers themselves a power of meriting. f But that can never be ; a mere creature is uncapable of such a power. To merit is proper to Christ only, and cannot agree to any of his members. The power of meriting eternal life consists in the infinite virtue of the person meriting answering to the glory merited ; and therefore to say that Christ, by his merits, makes the good works of the saints meritorious, is to say that he communicates to themselves an infinite power, and to their works an infinite excellency. To all these I add but this one general argument : It is not lawful for men to trust in their own works ; and therefore they do not merit any thing of God by them. — For what reason can be given why a man might not put confidence in them, if they reaUy deserved a reward of God, and so were really the cause of man's salvation ? It is true indeed, [that] the confidence of a believer, and his rejoicing in the goodness and safety of his spiritual estate, and hope of life, may be helped on by, and in a sense proceed from, his obedience and good works ; because they are an evi- dence of his faith, and so of his interest in Christ, acceptance with God, • Si Deus decedenti in gratid non daret gloriani, aut si habenti gloriam auferret, tamcn nihil injustum /accrei — Di.'RANncs, ubi xupra ; Aquinas, Prima Secunda, qusest. cxiv. art. ]. t ^«s glorur, tuthsimnm est totam fiduciam in sold Dei misericordid et benignitatc reponerc. — De Justif. lib. v. cap. vii. prop. 3. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 205 am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." And will the Papists say that God himself falls under men's merit? And yet so it must be, if there be such a necessary relation between reward and merit. Yet more fully : " To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." (Rom. iv. 4.) Here are plainly two sorts of rewards, — ■ one proper, and of debt ; the other improper, and of grace. And there- fore I conclude, that eternal life is called "a reward" in scripture improperly and metaphorically ; and no otherwise than as any thing given to another, on consideration of service done, may be called " a reward," though it be a thousand times greater than the service is, or though it be not at all due to him to whom it is given : as when a mas- ter gives something to his slave who hath done his work well ; though he were not bound to it, his sei-vant being his money, and being bound to do his work, and do it well, though no reward should be given him. 2. As eternal life is sometimes called " a reward," so it is other times called " a gift." (Rom. vi. 23.) Exception. If it be here excepted, that it is properly called " a reward," and metaphorically " a gift ; " Answ^er. Camero answers,* that that which is properly a gift may metaphorically be called " a reward," as if it be given on the account of some service ; as when a master gives a gift to his servant for doing his work, which yet (as before) he was not obliged to give. But that which is properly a reward can by no means be called " a gift ; " because a real proper reward implies something worthy of it, whereby it is deserved, and the reward is a debt due in justice to such a work. And so if eter- nal hfe be a reward, it cannot at all be called " a gift," at least without an unpardonable catachresis ; whereas, though it be properly a gift, it may figuratively be called " a reward," because of some resemblance to it, in that God rewards men with eternal glory after they have done him ser- vice, though they were bound to have served him, however no such reward were to be given them. And yet again : eternal Hfe is called "an inheritance," as well as "a reward." "And," says a learned man,f " either both these names are given it properly ; or both figura- tively ; or one properly and the other figuratively. The first cannot be ; for to be properly an inheritance and reward too will imply a contradic- tion. Who knows not that a reward, properly taken, is always deserved, but an inheritance is not ? And so eternal life, if it be properly both, must be given to some antecedent desert, because a reward ; and without it, because an inheritance ; and so freely, and not freely ; out of justice, and not out of justice. If it be metaphorically only called both 'a reward' and ' an inheritance,' we gain as much as we need ; for then it is not properly a reward, and so not truly deserved, the Papists themselves being judges. If one be taken properly, the other figuratively, it may easily be proved that the figurative sense must rather be applied to its being a reward than an inheritance ; unless we will say not only that eter- nal life is properly a reward, but beUevers are properly mercenaries. And if the Papists are so fond of their merits, that rather than fail they v.ill own themselves mercenaries, much good may it do them ; we envy them not the honour." • Opera, cap. i. p. 44. t Chamierus, De bunix 0^)eribus, cap. 6. 206 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. Objection ii. Several places they allege where the scripture speaks of behevers as worthy of the reward : Eij ro kotu^icu^yivui y/x.«f t>]5 /3a?-o avis et focis, as " not only for their altars, but for their chimneys too,'"' when it is the zeal of meriting that keeps their kitchens warm. In a word : well may they " sacrifice to these nets, and burn incense to these drags," when " by them their portion is made fat, and their meat plenteous." (Hab. i. 16.) But here two queries may be made : — Query i. " Upon what account are believers bound to the practice of good works, if they merit not by them ? " Answer. Upon several, and good ones too : reason enough we have to persuade us to the practice of good works, though we place no merit in them. 1 . God's command is of itself s^ifficient, though no other reason could he given. — He hath commanded us to "be holy;" (1 Peter i. 15;) to "exercise ourselves to godliness ;" (1 Tim. iv. 7 ;) to "follow peace and holiness ; " (Heb. xii. 14 ;) to "put on bowels of mercies, kindness, hum- bleness of mind," &c. ; (Col. iii. 12, 13;) to "be ready to distribute, willing to communicate:" (1 Tim, vi. 18 :) and, in a word, that "they who have believed in God, should be careful to maintain good works." (Titus iii. 8.) God is our sovereign ; his will is our rule and our reason. What he will have us do, we must do : and his command is suflicient to make our actions not only lawful, but necessary ; not only to warrant us in the doing of them, but oblige us to do them. And we need not doubt but our actions will be as acceptable to God which are done out of com- pliance with his will, as any that are done with a design of meriting at his hands. Obedience will go as far as mercenariness. 2. 6^006? works are the way in which God hath appointed us to walk in order to our obtaining eternal ^//"e.— They are via ad regnum, the path of life, " the way to God's kingdom," the work we are to do ere we receive our reward, the race we are to run ere we be crowned. Though God save us not for them as meritoi-ious causes of his saving us, yet those that 214 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. are capable of doing them he doth not ordinarily save without them : * " We arc his workmanship, created in Clirist Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them." (Eph. ii. 10.) "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. xii. 14.) Though eternal glory be not, as hath been proved, properly a reward, nor God's giving it an act of strict justice ; yet God hath, we acknowledge, determined to give it, per modmn prce)mi,'f " after the manner of a reward ; " in that he will not give men the glory he intends them till they have done him some service ; not treat them as conquerers who never fought his battle ; not respect them as faithful servants ivho have been sluggards or loiterers. The •' sanctification of the Spirit," as well as " belief of the truth," must go before salvation, " because God hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation" by the one as well as the other." (2 Thess. ii. 13.) 3. The practice of good ivorks is a special means to strengthen and increase good habits in us. — The actual exercise of grace heightens the principle of grace. Doing good is the ordinary way whereby we grow better. While we employ our talents, we add to our stock ; we get grace, wliile we act it ; and lay up for ourselves, by laying out for God. Active Christians are genei'ally the most thriving Christians ; they gather by scattering, and are enriched by their very expenses. The more humility men act, the more humble they grow ; and the more love- they exercise, the more love they have : as the more we use our limbs, the more agile and nimble they are ; and the farther a river runs, the broader it spreads, 4. Good ivorks Jit 2is for the reward. — It is by them we are " made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in hght." (Col. i. 12.) Though by faith we are entitled to that inheritance, because we are " the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ," (Gal. iii. 26,) " and if children, then heirs ; " (Rom. viii. 17;) yet, over and above our title to it, there is required in us a suitableness to and fitness for it. The father of the Prodigal first embraces and kisses his poor returning son, and then puts the robe upon him, the ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet ; he first pardons him, and then adorns him, and at last brings him into his house and feasts him : he fits him for his entertainment ere he brings him to it. (Luke xv. 20 — 24.) God's pardoning a sinner is one thing, and his fully saving him is another ; his receiving him into favour, and receiving him into heaven ; his giving him a right to the inheritance, and giving him the actual possession of it. The first is done in a sinner's justification, the other in liia final salvation ; but between these two comes- in a third, which is, God's working in him a fitness and meetness for that salvation, which meetness consists in a temper of spirit agreeable to and capable of such enjoyments as are expected by and settled upon them that are the heirs of glory. And indeed, if we look into it, we shall find, that there is not only a congruity that they who are to be made happy should first be made holy, (in that it would be unbeseeming the wisdom and holiness of God to let them enjoy- him who never loved him, or crown them with everlasting Eisi ad metarn 7iunqiiam. pervoiiltir nisi viam recttim ingrcdimnr, via tamen non est sa me/cB. — Whitakerus. the riglit course, yet that cours causa rnetcE. — Whitakerus. '' Altliough the goal is uever attained unless we enter upon U-3C is not the cause of the goal." — Edit. t Twisse. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 215 blessedness who never prized or sought it,) but a necessity too, in that unholy souls have no capacity for true happiness ; merely natural hearts are not suited to a supernatural good : heavenly enjoyments are above the reach of sensual creatures ; and the faculty, tUl elevated and raised by grace, would be so much below its object, that it could take no delight in it.* Now grace or holiness in the heart, is that very temper I speak of, which makes a man capable of and fit for glory, — a supernatural princi- ple for a supernatural happiness ; and though God begins this frame, and infuseth something of this principle, in the work of regeneration, yet it is further strengthened by the exercise of grace, and a course of good works ; which, we therefore say, do fit men for heaven by increasing grace in them, wherein their fitness consists. Men's abounding in good works is the way to heighten those graces from whence they proceed ; and the heightening their graces is the ripening [of] them for their glory. And though God himself, as the author of all grace, is the principal agent in carrying on this work of sanctification in them, and he who doth gradu- ally "work'*f them for the glory [which] he intends them; (Jer. xxxi. 18, 19;) yet they themselves having in their new birth received a new life and new power from God, so far as they are active in the exercise of grace, (which under him they are,)]; so far likewise they are active in preparing themselves for glory, and therefore deeply concerned to live in the daily exercise of good works, as the means of preparing them for it. 5. Good ivor/cs bear ivitness to the goodness of our faith. — They evi- dence it to be true, and of the right kind ; not counterfeit, not sophisti- cate. And therefore we are greatly concerned to maintain good works, that thereby we may be able to assert our faith against a quarrelhng con- science, or an accusing devil, which otherwise we shall never be able to do. We acknowledge that only to be a true justifying faith, and so of the right stamp, which "purifies the heart," (Acts xv. 9,) "works by love," (Gal. v. G,) encourageth, and promotes, and produceth holiness, and shows itself by works. (James ii. 18.) So that if faith be the root of good works, good works are the fruit of faith : and how then shall we know the root but by the fruit ? So that as, if the devil or conscience charge us with disobedience to God and breach of his law, and that therefore we are liable to the curse of the law, we plead in our defence, tliat though we are not without sin, yet we are not without faith neither ; though we have offended God, yet we have believed in Christ : so if we be accused of hypocrisy or unbeUef, and told that we have not received Christ by faith, and therefore are Uable to the woe of the gospel, we then • Operatio divina necessaria est, quia inutari nos oportet et novas creaturas effici, prius- qiiam partUipes esse possmmis cwlestium henejicioriim. Nam in nobis nihil est aliud quum summa ineptitudo ad bonum spirituale, sive intelligendum, sive faciendum, sive deniqne capi- endum. — Davenantius in Coloss, i. "A divine operation is necessary, because we must be changed and made new creatures, before we can become partakers of celestial blessings. For in us there is nothing but the highest inaptitude for either understanding, or doing, or, lastly, for receiving that whicli is spiritually good." — Edit. t 2 Cor. v. 5. KaT^pya^eadai, rem expolire rudem, et informem. — Camero Exod. xxxv. 33, apud LXXII., Karepya^eadai Ttt |uAa. " Camero defines the Greek verb, used by the apostle in 2 Cor. v. 5, to mean, ' to poUsh into form a rough and shapeless thing.' The same word is used by the Septuagint in Exod. XXXV. 33 ; where our translators render the Hebrew, ' In carving of wood.' " — Edit. X ulcti agimus. " Bein^ actuated, we act." — Edit. 216 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION, produce our good works, a course of holiness, as the undoubted signs and evidences of the reaUty and power of our faith. And in this sense we may say, that as we ourselves must be justified by our faith, so our faith must be justified by our works. (). Hereby they further our assurance, and help-on our comforts. — The great comfort of a believer comes in by his faith; (Rom. xv. 13 ;) and therefore usually so much comfort a Christian hatb, as he hath evidence of the truth and sincerity of his faith. While it is uncertain to him whether his faith be right, he can have little comfort in it : little "joy and peace in believing," while he knows not whether he really believes or not. The same we may say of other graces, so far as they conduce to the consolation of a Christian ; a believer can enjoy little comfort in them, if he perpetually doubt of them : while he suspects himself to be a hypocrite, it is no marvel if he taste not the sweetness of sincerity. Now our good works, as before, give evidence to the truth of our faith, and so likewise to the sincerity of other graces, as habits are known by their actings, and we judge what a fountain is by the streains that come from it. And therefore they that desire the comfort of grace, must be diligent in the exercise of grace ; they that are concerned for their own peace and joy, are consequently so concerned ta live and act, as that they may attain that end. Beside, we might add, that the applause and commendation of a sanctified conscience, upon the performance of good works, and that inward secret delight which is usually the concomitant of gracious actings, (which, so far as we are renewed, are grateful to that new nature which is within us,) is no small part of a Christian's pleasure, and therefore no weak inducement to diligence and constancy in such a course. 7. We are bound to the practice of good works, that so we may be conformed to God and Christ. — Christ, when on earth, " went about doing good : " (Acts x. 58 :) he did not only abound in holiness, but activity ; had not only a fulness of habitual grace in him, whereby he was always in a fitness and readiness to do good, but did continually exercise himself in it : and that he did, not only that he might fulfil the law, but give us an example ; and so for the imitation of believers, as well as satisfaction of divine justice. We therefore are commanded " so to walk, even as he also walked." (1 John ii. 6.) And the apostle Paul bids us "be followers of God." (Eph. v. 1.) And Peter [bids us] " be holy in all manner of conversation," (and so practically,) " as he who hath called us is holy." (1 Peter i. 15.) And our Saviour Christ bids us " be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. v. 48.) It is our perfection to be like God, not in infiniteness, immensity, inde- pendency,— attributes wholly incommunicable to us, unimitable by us, — but in righteousness and holiness : this was our pi'imitive perfection in innocency, and will be our final perfection in glory. And still the more we increase in righteousness and holiness, the more perfect we gi'ow, because the more like God ; and the more good works we do, still the more we go on in grace toward perfection and conformity to God. Men generally look on it as a desirable thing to be like God in one way or other : let but those desires be regulated, and carried toward that like- jicss to him which they may attain, and ought to seek ; and that will be SERMON XIIT. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 217 inducement enough to the practice of good w'orks, as the most proper means to bring them to that conformity. 8. Good worJis are the end of good princqjles. — God gives us grace, that we should exercise it ; puts a price into our hands, that we should use it. Exercise is the immediate end of habits. We are not to look upon grace as an idle quality, a dormant principle, something to lie by us, and be sluggish within us. It is not to be as a " candle under a bushel, but on a candlestick;" (Matt. v. 15;) not as money hoarded up, but laid out. And the more we exercise it, the better ; because so much the more we answer God's end in bestowing it upon us. 9. Lastly. God is most glorified by our good tcorks ; (John xv. 8;) and therefore we are the more to abound iii them. — The more the excellency and beauty of grace appears, so much the more God is glorified : and the exercise of grace doth most of all discover the beauty of it. Holiness is but God's image : and if the image be so ravishing, what then (will men infer) is he that is resembled by it ? If there be so much lustre in a beam, what is there in the sun 1 Grace in the creature is but the expression or imitation of some attiibute in God to which it answers ; and so the more grace we act, and the more good we do, so much the more we declare what excellences are in God, or, in Peter's phrase, "show forth his virtues," ocpsToig. (1 Peter ii. 9.) So that good works are the most effectual way of glorifying God, because the most con- vincing demonstration of those perfections which are in God. And is not here reason enough for the practice of good works ? Is it nothing that God hath commanded them, that they are the way to glory, and fit us for glory, increase grace, and discover grace, help on our comforts, and promote God's honour, unless withal we merit heaven by them, and oblige God to reward us for them ? Query ii. "If good works are not truly meritorious, why then, and upon what account, doth God reward them ? " Answer I. Because he hath promised so to do. — And he is constant and unchangeable, and will not be worse than his word. 2. Because of the love he bears to and the delight he takes in holiness, and those good icorks lohich are the fruits of it. — " The righteous Lord loveth righteousness." (Psalm xi. 7.) God delights first in himself; and next in that wliich comes nearest to him, and most i*esembles him, as liohness doth, the actings of which in good works are but the beaming- out of his image in the soul ; and it is not strange that God should delight in his own image. Beside that, good works ax'e God's works ; they not only resemble him, but come from him ; and then well may he delight in them ; and that he may show how much he doth so, he bountifully rewards them. 3. To encourage men to the 'practice of them, by the hopes of the reward. — Though obedience be our duty, even without consideration of the reward, yet, to enhven our desi^s, and put more vigour into our endeavours after it, he sets the crown in our vieWj and assures us that if we " abound always in the work of the Lord, our labour shall not be iu vain in the Lord." (1 Cor. xv. 58.) 218 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. USE. V. Something from this doctrine tve may learn for our information in the truth, and something for our instruction as to duty. 1 . For the former, we see here, (I.) Hov) much the best of saints are beholden to the Lord Jesus Christ for 'purchasing life and glory for them, which by all their good works they coidd never have done, though they ivere a thousand times more than they are. — Had not Christ made the purchase, they could never have received the inheritance : had not he laid down the price, they could never have had a title or possession. They might work their hearts out of their bodies, ere they could work their souls into heaven. All the grace they ever have or act in this life, could never deserve the least degree of glory they receive. So fair an estate, so rich an inherit- ance, so weighty a crown, so transcendent a blessedness, is fit only for so great a Purchaser as the Lord Jesus Christ to buy out. They might as well purchase a kingdom in the world with a single penny, as everlasting glory with all their good works. Whatever title they have to a future happiness, whatever hopes of it, whatever rest and peace and joy they expect in it, they owe all to Christ, and are his debtors for all : they owe him more than a whole eternity of praises will ever recompense. How miserable would the best of saints have been, if Christ had not merited for them ! How should they ever have obtained eternal life, got a place in heaven, or indeed have escaped everlasting burnings, had it not been for Christ's undertakings ? When they had been working and labouring all their days, they would have lost their labour at last. They might have prayed, and heard, and given their goods to feed the poor, and their bodies to feed the flames, they might have done all they could,- and suffered all their enemies would, and yet have fallen short of a reward. One sin committed by them would have done more to shut heaven against them, than all their good works could to open it to them. (2.) IIoiv unreasonable is their jnide, how unpardonable is their folly, that boast of, and put confidence in, their own good ivorks ! — That ever men should think God to be their debtor, and that they have him in bonds to them ! That ever they should have such high thoughts of such pitiful things as their own works ! Surely they have little know- ledge of themselves that have such great conceits of themselves ; know little of their ill deserts, that think they have any good ones ; they have cheap thoughts of God's grace and Christ's merits, that do so magnify their own performances. David and Paul and all the ancient saints were of another mind ; they durst not abide God's trial, nor confront his judgment with the choicest of their works. (Job ix. 15 ; xl. 4; Psalm cxliii. 2.) They, belike, were saints of a lesser size, and their graces and good works of a lower allay : our Popish saints have over-topped them in holiness, are giants to them : Suarez and Vasquez have got the start of Job and David, and have found out a way to heaven unknown to all that went formerly thither. Jacob, poor man! counted himself "less than the least of God's mercies;" (Gen. xxxii. 10;) but these count them- selves worthy of the greatest of them. " The four-and-twenty elders cast down their crowns before him that sits on the throne," (Rev. iv. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 219 10,) in token that they had received them from him ; but Papists scorn to do so ; they think they have won them, and therefore may wear them ; and instead of giving glory, and honour, and thanks to him that hveth for ever, they take them to themselves, — at least, share them with him. The Lord tells the Israelites, that he gave them not that good land to possess it for their righteousness, (Deut. ix. 6,) speaking of the earthly Canaan ; but these audacious merit-mongers think that even the heavenly one is given them for theirs. Great saints no doubt they are, and weU deserve to be canonized, when (if you will beheve them) they deserve to be saved ! (3.) And yet more egregious is their folly, in expecting advantage by the merits of others, and thiuMng to eke out their oicn righteousness by borroxoing of their neighbours. — If no good works of the saints merit any thing at God's hands, then the Popish treasury is quite empty, and his Hohness is a mere bankrupt, super-erogations fail, indulgences fail, and there is no borro^\^[ng from Peter to supply Paul. If the best have no merits at all, surely they have none superfluous, none to spare. The wise virgins have no more oil than will serve for themselves : (Matt. XXV. :) and are not they foolish ones that think to accommodate their friends ? and they yet more foohsh that hope to borrow of them ? The scripture speaks indeed of a " superfluity of naughtiness " in men's hearts; (James i. 21 ;) but it nowhere speaks of a superfluity of good- ness in their hearts or Hves. A redundance of merit we acknowledge in Christ, "unsearchable riches," (Eph. iii. 8,) "all fulness;" (Col. i. 19 ;) but woe to them that seek for the like redundance of merit among men ! Ask the old patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, to lend you some of their merits, and they will all tell you [that] they never had any of their own ; [that] they were all beholden to Christ ; and to him you must go as well as they : the church store-house cannot furnish you. 2. For INSTRUCTION iti point of duty. Learn hence, (1.) To be humble, and acknowledge the insufficiency of all you do, to deserve any thing at God's hands. — Own yourselves as " unclean things," and your "righteousness as filthy rags." (Isai. Ixiv. 6.) Do but study your hearts, the workings and lustings, the inclination and temper, of them ; study your actions and ways, the best as well as worst, your duties and choicest services ; and study God's law, the purity, hohness, spirituaUty, and extensiveness of it, what it forbids, what it requires, how far it reaches ; and compare both together ; and then be proud if you can ; boast if you can ; trust in your own works if you can ; and, in one word to say all, be Papists if you can. (2.) Learn to admire the grace of God in rewarding your works. — It is much that he accepts them ; and what is it then that he rewards them ! It is much that he doth not damn you for them, seeing they are all defiled, and have something of sin cleaving to them ; and what is it then that he crowns them ? You would admire the bounty and munifi- cence of a man, that should give you a kingdom for taking up a straw at his foot, or give you a hundred thousand pounds for paying him a penny-rent you owed him : how then should you adore the rich grace and transcendent bounty of God in so largely recompensing such mean services, in setting a crown of glory upon your heads, as the reward of 220 SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. those works [whicli] you can scarcely find in your hearts to call good ones ! You will even blusli one day to see yourselves so much honoured for what you are ashamed of, and are conscious to yourselves [that] you have deserved nothing by. You will wonder then to see God recompens- ing you for doing what was your duty to do, and what was his work in vou ; giving you grace, and crowning that grace ; enabling you to do things acceptable to him, and then rewarding you as having done them.* Take heed therefore now of rivalling God's grace, or Christ's merits ; of inverting his praises, and ascribing any thing to yourselves which belongs only to him. Set the crown upon the right head ; let him have the honour of the work that hath done it, the glory of your reward that hath purchased it. Say with yourselves, " What am I, and what are my services, that ever God should thus plentifully reward them 1 I never prayed but I sinned ; never confessed sin, never begged pardon of it, strength against it, but I did at the same time commit it. I never heard a sermon, received a sacrament, did any good duty, but with some mixture of coldness, dead- ness, distractedness. I never had any grace but what God gave me, nor acted any but what he stirred up in me. All the good I ever had or did I received from him ; and therefore I owe all to him. 1 am a thousand ways his debtor : — for my life and being, for the good things of this life, for the means and offer of eternal life, for the knowledge of his will, con- viction of sin, restraint from sin, the change of my heart, the reformation of my ways, the graces of his Spirit, the privileges of his children con- ferred upon me. I am his debtor for all the evils he hath delivered me from, all the good he hath offered me, wrought in me, done by me. And doth God take so much notice of such poor things? Will he indeed reward such weak endeavours, such lame performances ? Must I live in heaven, that never deserved to live on earth ? Must I wear the crown of righteousness, who never deserved any thing but the punishment of mine iniquities? Must eternal glory and honour be my portion, who have deserved nothing better than ' shame ' and ' everlasting contempt ? ' (Dan. xii. 2.) I have nothing to boast of, nothing to glory in. I must cry, ' Grace, grace.' (Zech. iv. 7.) All I have, and to eternity am to have, is grace. The foundation of my salvation was laid in gi'ace ; and so wUl the top-stone too. It was grace [that] sent Christ to redeem me j and grace wiU send him at last fully to save me. I have received all from God ; and therefore desire to return the praise of all to him : it is but just that all should be ascribed to him from whom all came." (3.) Ijuhovrso to exercise yourselves in and to good works, as xjet to put all your confidence in God's yrace. — I do not go about to cry down good works, or discourage the practice of them ; but [to] take you off from confidence in them : nor to dissuade you from that exercise of holiness whereby God may be glorified, and your souls advantaged ; but that sin- ful reliance on your own righteousness which is God's thshonour and your loss. Bq as holy as you will, do as much good as you will, abound as much in the work of the Lord, and walk as circumspectly and closely with God, as you please ; (and the Lord make you abound more and * Cum Drtis coronet mcritri iwslra, 7iihil ulkui corona/ ijiiam inuncra sita. — AugustiM'.S C'oiilru I'clug. epist.cv. " WLeu uoil crovvua our merit rf, he crowns uothiug else but his own gifu."' — EuiT. SERMON XIII. GOOD WORKS NOT IMERITORIOUS OF SALVATION. 221 more !) oah', if you value your conifortf?, if you love your souls, if you are concerned for God's glory, take heed of putting any the least con- fidence in what you do, or expecting to merit a reward by your most laborious working. It is the great art and wisdom of a Christian to join the exercise of faith and holiness together, and yet distinguish their different relations to his salvation : not to give so much k> the one as to exclude the other; but so to believe as still to own the usefulness of works ; and so to work as to see the necessity of faith : to believe like one that had no works, and to work like one that were to be saved by his works : in a word, to be diligent in good works, but not put con- fidence .in them ; and so to acknowledge their necessity in their place, but not their meritoriousness. lie is a believer of the right stamp, who neither contemns Christ's law, nor dishonours Christ's grace ; but is alike an enemy to antinomian faith and antichristian works. If you do trust in your good works, your best duties and services, consider that, (i.) You do but lean upon a broken reed, build upon a sandy founda- tion ; ivhich will at last fail you, disapiwint you, undo you. — What a defeat will it be to expect to be saved by your merits, when, at last, it appeal's you have no merits ! to fancy yourselves worthy of a reward, when it appears you have been worthy of nothing ! And as sure as the scripture is true, you can merit no more at God's hands by all your ser- vices, than a debtor can of his creditor, by paying him some small part of what he owes him ; and your very confidence in your works will bereave you of any benefit by Christ's merits : Christ alone must be trusted in, relied on, and glorified by you. You must not think to be parcel-saviours with him : either he will be your only Saviour, or not at all your Saviour ; your only righteousness, or not at all your righteous- ness. If you divide Chi'ist's honoui-, you lose his help : your works can- not be your righteousness, and Christ will not ; and so you will " lose those things which you have wrought," (2 John 8,) by thinking to gain too much by them ; [you will] miss of the substance, while you catch at the shadow. (ii.) However you trust in your works ivhile you live, you will not dare to do it loken yon die. — When men come to die, and close the eyes of their bodies, usually those of their minds are most open ; and as their reflections are then most strong, so their prospect is most clear. The nearer they are to death and judgment and eternity, the truer apprehen- sions they have of them. They then best see how holy the Judge is, how impartial his search, how righteous his sentence. And how do they fear him then, with whom they made so bold before ! how doth the con- fidence of their lives shrink at their death ! Alas ! they did not think either God so strict as now they believe him, or their goodness so imper- fect as now they come to find it. They see the necessity of grace, which before they slighted ; and the insufficiency of works, which before they idohzed. Mercy is mercy indeed to a dying man ; and works are but works, and not merits. Let me see the face of the Papist that, when he is coming to the highest tribunal, dares trust to his good works, and put in his claim to the crown of glory upon the account of his merits, and tell God. to his face, — "Lord, I have done all thy will, and done it as I 222 SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. should ; or if I have fallen short in some things, I have out-done it in others. I have heard so many Masses said, so many Pater-nosters and Ave-Marias, observed so many canonical hours, made so many confes- sions, done so many penances, given so many alms, gone so many pil- grimages, fasted so many Lents, mortified my flesh with hard lodging and harder blows. And this is as much as heaven is worth : thou art now a debtor to me. I have done my work ; I . challenge my reward. Let justice be done me, and the crown be given me. I ask no more than I have laboured for, and deserved at thy hands. It is but just that I should be joint-heir with Christ, seeing I have been joint-purchaser with him." I am persuaded there is not the Papist upon earth, unless he be most brutishly ignorant of the nature and law of God, and of his own heart, that will dare in a dying hour thus to bespeak him. And how foolish is it for men to boast of that now, which they will not dare to boast of then ; and build upon a foundation in their life, which they must be forced to relinquish at their death ! Remember, Christians, there is a time to die, as well as to live ; a time to be judged in, as well as to act in ; a day of recompense, as well as a day of service : and therefore bethink yourselves beforehand ; see [that] your confidence be rightly placed. Expect your salvation from Him only now, from whom you will expect it at last ; and put your souls into His hands now, into whose you would then most willingly commit them. Set aside your works, though not as to the practice of them, yet as to your confidence in them. Eye Christ alone as to the business of your justification, acceptance, reward. Labour for such a faith in Christ and free grace as will support you under the weakness and imperfections of your present righteousness, and encourage you against the terrors of approaching death. In a word : so believe and hope now that you are going on toward eternity, as you would do when you are stepping into it. SERMON XIV. (XVI.) BY THE REV. THOMAS LYE, A.M. THERE ARE NOT ANY WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are com.' manded you, say. We are unprofitable servants : toe have done that which was our duty to do. — Luke xvii. 10. The truth that at this time hes before me, both to prove and improve, is this, — that there are not any works of super-eroyation. On that account, I have pitched on the words read ; which are an apodosis or epiphonema, the " inference " or "conclusion" which our Lord Jesus draws from his preceding parable. SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. 223 COHERENCE. The parable begins in verse 7 : " Which of you, having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat 1 and wHl not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken. Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall," &c. (Verses 8 — 10.) PARAPHRASE. Doth he thank that servant z'—Tu) dov\cp sxsivcu ; or, if you will, " that captive slave," * who is wholly at his foot and dispose ; as if, forsooth, by his obedience he had done his master a free kindness and favour, to which he was not obliged ? Hath that vassal in strictness of justice obliged his master ? and is his master bound to look upon himself as obliged to return his vassal thanks, and to reward him, for doing the things that were commanded him ? I trow not — Ov Sojcoj, " I think, suppose, judge not." Neither the person nor the service do in truth deserve or merit any thing, no, not so much as thanks, nor can in justice claim it. The ransomed vassal's all, — his life, spirits, strength, service, all that he is, hath, can do, suffer, — ■ are his master's, not his own ; and therefore wholly and solely at his absolute dispose and command. " Doth he then thank that servant ? I trow not." True, indeed, though tlie great God owes us no thanks, yet in infinite grace he is pleased so far to stoop beneath himself, as to give us thanks for our obedience, and to bespeak us in such a condescending language, as if indeed he were beholden to us : Tovto X'^P^^' " '^^^^ ^^ thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully;" (1 Peter ii. 19;) that is, God accounts himself hereby gratified, as it were, and even beholden to such sufferers ; this being the lowest subjection, and that being the highest honour, men can yield unto their Maker. God wiU thank such. Nay, more : look into that amazing scripture, Luke xii. 36, 37, and read it, if you can, without an ecstasy. If a man serves, and his Lord comes and finds him watching too, and intent upon his work, what will his Lord do ? " He will gird himself, and serve him." O stupenda condescensio ! O stupenda dig- natio ! f says one on the place. But know, though these two parables seem parallel, their scope vastly differs. What a diligent servant may humbly expect from his bountiful Lord, is one thing ; (namely, that his "labour shall not be' in vain," or unprofitable, but plentifully rewarded ; 1 Cor. XV. 58 ;) that is the scope of Luke xii. ; and what the most dili- • A AovKos, quasi 5fi\os, a Sea;, ligo ; mancipium, "a bond-slave." [" Tlie Greek ■word for ' servant ' seems to be formed from an adjective denoting ' wretchedness, ' which may be derived from the verb ' to bind."'] Servus a servanda : servi jjriiiuim e captivis facti sunt ah Us, a quibus jure belli eos occidi liceret. — Voasius. " The Latin name for 'servant 'is taken from the verb 'to save or preserve:' persons were made servants or slaves at first in consequence of their having become captives to those who, according to the rights of war, might have killed them. ''--Edit. AovAof • ejus correlatum, SeairoTijs' oppositum, fXevdepos- Ouk evi SovAos, ov5e e\ev6ipos. (Gal. iii. 28.) "The correlate of ' servant ' is ' master ; ' its opposite, ' free-man : ' ' 'There is neither bond nor free.' " — Edit. t " O amazing condescension ! O wonderful coitrtesy ! " — Edit. 224 SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. gent slave can justly challenge from his absolute Lord and Patron, is another ; which is the grand^scope of the text. Doth he deserve, or may he justly challenge, any the least reward, yea, but so much as bare thanks? "I trow not. So likewise ye," &c, TF/ien ye shall have done all those thhujs which are commanded you — 'Orav ■sroivia-rjTS. The learned Glassius observes, that in these words our Saviour doth not insinuate that any man arrives at that sinless perfection in this life as to do all those things which God commands ; for how much soever we have done, it wdl appear, upon a just balance of account, that we have done less than we ought, and are much short of our duty. But Christ speaks here conditionally, and supposes only what he doth not assert or grant : * as if he had said, " If it were possible " for them to do all things that were commanded by God in his holy word, f to do all that good that God requires, (Micah vi. 8,) to walk exactly according to " that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God : " (Rom. xii. 2 ; Heb. xiii. 21 :) all those good things, I say, which God prescribes in his word, and not such as fond men devise^ either out of blind zeal, or upon pre- tence of good intention, without the warrant of the word. (Matt. xv. 9 ; Isai. xxix. 13; 1 Peter i. 18; Rom. x. 2; John xvi. 2; 1 Sam. xv. 21—24.) Supposing, then, that you " have done " all these things, -sroiyj ■ jp^p=»co5>j(rav. So the Septuagint render Psalm xiv. 3 ; * 'Orav, parliculn temporis indeterminati, pro si. — Glassii' Grawi. iS'acr. lib. iii. tract. vii. can. 5. "'Wben' is here a particle of indeterminate time, for 'if.'" — Kdit. t XlavTa ra BiaraxSivra vfjuv ' omnia ijuce prcecepta, cdicta, injuncta, sancita sunt vobis : a TOTTO), ordhio, (icifin, inntruo. " ' All tlio.-e things which are coiiimauded )0U : ' all thint s which are prescribed, chirgod, eijoiucd, decreed to you : from tlie verb 'to arrange, to draw up in battle-an-a)-.' " — Edit. X noifco, cdo, prasto, propria sif/nijicat, Rem ali- qtiam. certis qtialitatibus orno ; a "us-oios, ijual/x. " ' I do,' ' I etfect or perform : ' the Greek verb properly signifies, ' I furnish any thing with certain qualities ; ' and is derived from a word which denotes, 'of what kind.'" — Edit. Facto, a tidus fuit. (Job xv. 16.) "From a root signifying, 'He waa filth)', or loathsome.'" — Edit. 1 'O :ble servant of ser- vants, the pope, whether he, or any of the scarlet robe under him, dare compare with those truly golden ones for holiness, notwithstanding all their dross : and if not, what becomes of their proud dream of gradual perfection ? (ii.) Hoiv many express scripjiitres are there, uuit prove, that no man is perfectly holy in this life ! — Solomon gives us three : " There is no man that sinneth not." (1 Kings viii. 40.) "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." (Ecclcs. vii. 20.) As if he had said, " If you would look for a just one, that doeth good, and sinneth not, you must look for such an one in heaven, and not upon earth." The learned and judicious Dr. Manton hath an excellent note on this text ; namely, " The wise man doth not say simply, ' That sinneth not,' but, ' That doeth good, and sinneth not ; ' that is, that sinneth not even whilst he is doing good." f Our very wine is mixed with water, our best silver with dross ; our softest lawn hath its list, our sweetest honey, its wax and sting. Farther yet : he throws down his gauntlet, and proclaims a challenge to all the world to enter the lists with him : " Who can say, I have made my heart clean?" (Prov. xx. 9.) "Who can?" • Peccatum est, cum, non est chnritas qna; esse debet, vel minor est qudm esse debet. — AuG[iSTiNus Z)t" Pirfectionc Jusdtiw. " It constitutt's a sin, when there is not that charity which ought to exist, or wlien it is less than it shonld be." — Edit. t ^K. Manto.n, "On James," p. 351. 230 SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SVPER-EROGATION. Why, many can and do, — Pharisees, Papists, Quakers. True, many may say so boldly, proudly, falsely: but ■who can say so truly? (Rom. iii. 9 — 21, 23;) "I am pure from my sin?" (Prov. xx. 9.) "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John i. 8, 10.) The doctrine of the Catharists is a lying doctrine. Even from this scripture, -it plainly appears, that that man is not perfect that saith he is perfect ; forasmuch as it saith, that he that saith so is a liar, and one that is so far from growth and perfection, that "the truth" itself, the root of the matter, "is not in him." None in this life are absolutely freed and exempted from sinning : " In many things we offend all." (James iii. 2.) All of us offend in many things ; in some things, at best. The blessed Virgin herself had her slips ; for which she is taxed by Christ himself. (Luke ii. 49 ; John ii. 3, 4.) TFe ojfend — " "We " includes himself, though an apostle of such eminent holiness that he was called "the Just."* "How should man be just with God ? " or, as Broughton reads the words, " How can man be just before the Omnipotent ? " "Just;" that is, by an inherent righteous- ness before God. " If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand." (Job Lx. 2, 3, 20.) Man is not able to maintain his cause, and to hold his plea with a holy .God. (Job xv. 14, 15.) Hence it is that that man after God's own heart whoUy waves God's tribunal of justice : " 0 enter not into judgment with thy servant. Lord." He doth not say, "with an enemy, a rebel, a traitor, an impenitent sinner ; " but " with thy servant," one that is devoted to thy fear, one that is consecrated to thy service, one that is really and indeed quantus, quantus est, totus tuus.-^ (Psalm cxhii. 2.) As if he had said, "Lord, if the hohest, purest, best of men should come and stand before thee in judgment, or plead with thee, they must needs be cast in their cause. ' If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,' alas ! ' 0 Lord, who shall stand ? ' " (Psalm cxxx. 3.) (iii.) 'It is utterly impossible in this life perfectly to keep the com- mandments of God, because the best of saints in this life are but im- •perfectly sanctified. — The principle of grace within them, which is the fountain, is but imperfect ; and therefore the streams of obecUence can never rise higher than the fountain. The root is tainted, and the sap and branch ; therefore the fruit cannot be perfectly sound. Wilde the tree is partly evil, the fruit cannot be wholly good. As to the great grace of faith, what great reason hath Christ to say to the best of saints, as more than once to his disciples, " 0 ye of little faith ! " (Matt. vi. 30 ; viii. 2G ; xvi. 8.) Where is the man of so much brass and impudence, that dares avouch he loves God with that degree of inteuseness that he ought to do 1 that he loves God here with as raised, transcendent, super- lative flame of heart as ever he shall do, or can hope to do, in heaven ? Love always attends on knowledge. I " cannot possibly love that which I do not know :" it is the eye that must affect the heart : hjnoti nulla cupido. Nor can the degree of my love exceed the degree of my know- ledge. It may indeed sink beneath it, but never swells above it. Now • Ei'SKiiii Kcclcs. Nix/, lih. ii. cap. 1. t " One that is vvliolly thine, as much and as liilly us he tan be." — Edit. SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION, 231 our knowledge of God in this life is imperfect : " We know but in part ;" " we see through a glass," and that " darkly ;" (I Cor. xiii. 9, 12 ;) and therefore cannot love with all the lieart, soul, mind, strength. More than this : there are remnants of sin abiding in every part of saints, and perpetual lustings of the flesh against the spirit, " so that they cannot do the things that they would ; " (Gal. v. 17 ;) "a law in their members warring against the law of their minds," and leads them " cap- tive to the law of sin." (Rom. vii. 18, 23.) They have a clog at their heels, "sin that easily besets" them; (Heb. xii. 1 ;) lusts within them, "that war against their souls." (1 Peter ii. 11.) There is indeed in every man, even in the hohest living, a cursed "root of bitterness," (Heb. xii. 15,) which God doth indeed more and more mortify, but not nullify, in this life.* This [is] hke the ivy in the wall : cut off the stump, body, boughs, branches of it ; yet some strings or other wiU sprout out again, till the wall be plucked down. This, this is that coloquintida, that death in the pot, that flyblows all their graces, leavens all their comforts, taints and blends all their duties. Hence proceed the iniqui- ties of our holy things. (Exod. xxviii. 38.) This is that that is able to turn the high priest's robes into rags, his incense into a stench. Hence came the humble but true complaint of the church : " All our righteous- nesses," in themselves, as ours, " are as filthy rags." (Isai. Ixiv. 6.) Mark, we do not say, as the Papists falsely charge us, that all that a believer doeth is sin ; but this we say : A believer sins, for the greatest part, in all he doeth. The work of God's Spirit upon us, and the motions of his grace within us, are pure and holy : but yet, as clean water passing through an unclean pipe receives a tincture of that uncleanness ; so sin- fulness cleaves to our holiest actions, we, the instruments, being sinful. f Needs must the music be inharmonious, when all the strings of the lute are out of tune. INFERENCE. Is this a truth ? Is the moral law of God so perfect, spiritual, just, and good ? Doth it indeed require and exact such personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience ? Must good, only good, all good, and that in the most intense and highest degree, be done, and that from a divine prin- ciple,— the Spirit, faith, love ; in a right manner, — according to the divine word and will ; and to a divine end, — the glory of God ? And was there never a saint yet in the Avorld, that was mere man, that ever did or could exactly do what this law requires, but fell far short of their duty ? See here, then, the certain downfall of Dagon before the ark. Behold here that arrogant Popish doctrine of super-erogation, bowing, stooping, fall- ing at the foot of the truth and word of God. Let him that hath an ear, hear and judge. TeU me : if the best of God's saints, doing their best, fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do, is it possible * Hahilat, sed non regnal; vianet, sed non domiiiatnr ; evulsum quodammodo, sed noii expulsum ; dejectum, sed non prorsus ejectuia tamen. — ^Bernardus in Psal. xc. serm. 10. " It dwells, but it does not reign ; it remains, but it does not rule ; in some degree torn up, but not expelled ;. cast down, but yet not entirely cast out." — Edit. t Mala mca }mr6 mala suiil, et mca sunt ; bona uulcin mca 7iec pur6 bona sunt, nee mca *««/.— Hugo. " My evil deeds are purely evil, and are my own : but my good actions are neither purely good, nor are they my own." — EmT. 232 SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. for a Popish shaveling to super-erogate, that is, to do, yea, piously, acceptably, and preter-pluperfectly to do, far more than God reqiiires? They are not ashamed to tell the world, that it is not only possible, but facile and easy, for a true believer exactly to keep the whole law of God, and not to fail a tittle, Alas ! Paul Avas a man of low attainments, when he whines out his £2 TaXatTrwpog syoo ctvQpwTog- " 0 wretched man that I am ! " (Rom. vii. 24 ;) and David a dwarf to these Goliaths. He indeed stands wondering and trembling on the shore of the ocean, and cries out, " ' I have seen an end of all j)erfection : but thy commandment IS exceeding broad ; ' a great deep, an unsearchable gulf, an ocean without bank or bottom." (Psalm cxix. 96.) But as for them, with their very spoon they wiU lave it.* Alas ! it is an easy leap into the chair of perfection ; that is a mark and white for souls of a lower alloy. But greater souls are born for greater exploits. Such eagles as they scorn to catch at flies ; but fly at stars. Nay, it is not heaven itself [that] — at least nothing less than the eleventh orb of the empyrean heavens — can give a proportionable treat to their aspiring souls. It is for poor, penitent pubhcans and sinners, to please themselves in doing, through Christ's strength, what the Lord requires ; nothing becomes these worthies less than doing more than ever entered into God's heart to command them. 0 the stupendous pride of Lucifer, and of hearts possessed by him ! Well, my brethren, 1 would not be thought to envy and pine at their triumphant honour ; only give me leave to conclude this use with this epiphonema; namely. Those that will perform an obedience that God never commanded, what can they expect less than a heaven that God Jiever created ? But here the Papist acts the Parthian, and fights flying, namely, makes his objections. Objection i. " Doth God enjoin the creature that which is impossi- ble ? That were unjust, and would highly intrench on God's goodness." Solution. This arrow was long since taken out of Pelagius's quiver ; to which we reply, as Austin did : What is simply and absolutely impos- sible in itself God doth not impose upon the creature ; but what apostate man himself hath made impossible to himself, voluntarily, and merely by his own default, that the great Lawgiver may and doth justly impose. And this impossibility no way impcacheth God's goodness ; because the sinner hath wilfully contracted and brought it on himself. If a prodigal spendtbrift hath, by his luxury and debauchery, utterly disabled himself to pay his debts, may not the wronged creditors demand their due, although the prodigal cannot pay ? What, though the sinner hath lost his power ? since this is done wilfully and wickedly, certainly God may justly demand his right ! Objection ii. " But did not Christ come in the flesh for this end, that we might be able fully to keep the law in our own persons, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us ? " Solution. Mark : the scripture saith, " in us," not " by us." Christ came, " that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled " for us, and "in us," that is, imputatively, but not by us personally. (Rom. \iii. 4.) The blessed Jesus, our Head and Representative and Siu-ety, in his own person, whilst here on cartli, did fully obey the law, perfectly conforming • rifle CiiAMiERUJi, torn. vi. lib. xx. cap. 20. SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. 233 to it in all its holy commands. Now this his most perfect obedience is made over, reckoned, and imputed, to his members, (Rom. v. 19,) as if they themselves, in their own persons, had performed it. The law's righteousness is not fulfilled in them formally, subjectively, inherently, or personally, but legally and imputatively, they being in Christ as their Head and Surety ; and so Christ's obedience becomes ours by imputation. (Rom. X, 4.) Objection hi. " But we find divers saints in scripture recorded for perfect men : Noah, Job, Caleb," &c. Solution. But were they perfect with a sinless perfection ? If you prove not that, you do but beat the air. We easily grant a perfection of parts ; we utterly deny perfection of degrees, such as admits not the least taint of defect or sin. We say, that men may be very eminent in grace ; but yet even then not exactly conformable to the law. An evangelical perfection we admit ; it is no more than sincerity : a legal perfection we deny ; that, in this life, is an impossibility. Objection. But the Romanists fly a higher pitch ; and, not content with perfect performance of what is commanded, they tell us they can, and do, do more ; crying up their " evangelical counsels," as they call them, for rare things indeed, and such as far transcend moral or evangeli- cal precepts. He that gives ear to these counsels, and follows these, is a saint indeed, and doth indeed do more than God requires. Solution. But what are these evangelical counsels that are distinct from evangelical precepts ? * Bellarmine, Alphousus, and Platus, concur in their description of an evangelical counsel ; and they thus decipher it : " It is Christ's commending only, but not commanding, a good work : which if not done, doth not at all expose to condemnation ; but if done, merits a greater degree of glory, a coronet at least in heaven." A coun- sel differs from a precept in matter, subject, form, and end. The matter of a precept is more facile and easy, but that of a counsel more hard and difficult. Obedience to a precept springs from a principle of nature ; but obedience, or listening, to a counsel owes itself to none but a supernatu- ral principle. To obey a precept is good ; but to conform to a counsel much better. But then for the subject. All are bound to obey evangeU- cal precepts ; but only some few choice, select privadocs of heaven are concerned with evangelical counsels. The form also differs. A precept obliges by its own proper power and authority to obedience ; but a coun- sel leaves it in the breast and liberty of the person to whom it is given, whether he will follow it, yea, or no. Lastly : they differ no less in their end. The end or effect of a precept is a reward to him that obeys, punishment to him that doth not ; but the end of a counsel is a greater reward to him that observes it, but not the least punishment or frown on him that neglects, and not observes it. But are there indeed any such evangelical counsels contradistinct from evangelical precepts 1 " Yes," say the Papists ; and to that end charge us with these three texts, which, they say, do all prove that there are some evangelical counsels which fall not under a command. Objection i. " But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold." (Matt. xiii. • Chamiep.is, toni. iii. lib. x. cap. 20, Dc Cunciliis. 234 SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. 8.) Here, saith Bellarmine, the Lord compares the church to good ground, whereof one part brought forth a hundred, another sixty, another thirtyfold : and he allegeth the authority of Ilicronymus, Cyprian, and Austin for this interpretation of this parable ; namely, that Christ doth here distinguish between the different merit of chaste marriage, v^idow- hood, and virginity ; and that virginity is a greater good, and more merit- orious in the sight of God, than either chaste widowhood, or conjugal chastity. But this, saith Bellarmine, is an evangelical counsel only, not a command ; for what God commands not, and yet commends, and pre- fers it before other things, he doth, without all doubt, counsel only and advise. Solution 1 . But what reasons do those fathers of the church give for this interpretation ? Here Bellarmine is silent. 2. Let their own Maldonate answer for us and truth. A Christo tan- tam jjf'ojjositum fuit, lit doceret omne semen, ^"c. : " Christ's intent here was only this, — to teach us that all seed which fell on good grouiid did so multiply, that that which brought forth the least increase produced thirtyfold, even so much as none but the best and most cultivated ground was wont to bring forth ; that which brought forth most, a hundred ; the middle good ground, sLxty." And if this be the genuine sense of the text, what doth it make for Bellarmine in the least, seeing fruitfulncss in hearing the word, and enjoying of ordinances, doth no less belong to precepts than counsels ? Objection ii. "Jesus said unto him. If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come and follow me." (Matt. xix. 21.) Here, saith Bellar- mine, an evangehcal counsel is plainly distinguished from a precept. The precept we have in His answer to the young man's question : " Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life ? " namely, " Keep the commandments." There is the precept ; (verses 16, 17 ;) and to obey, that is sufficient for salvation. But then he subjoins : "If thou wilt be perfect;" that is, saith Bellarmine, "If thou art not contented with bare eternal life, but dost aspire unto and breathe after a more excellent degree in that eternal life, then 'go, sell all,' " &c. Here is the counsel. Solution. In these words Christ doth not give any evangelical coun- sel in the Papists' sense. For, 1 . No greater reward than bare " eternal life " is proposed by Christ to him. Christ only sailh to him, " Thou shalt have treasure in heaven ;" which phrase is common to all those to whom the hope of eternal life is proposed : " Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." (^latt. vi. 20.) Now a bare heaven, according to them, is not a sufficient reward for the obedience of an evangelical counsel. 2. We utterly deny Bellarmine's gloss on these words, " If thou wilt be perfect ; " that is, " If thou aspire to an excellent degree in eternal life : " but rather thus : " If by the observation of the commandments here thou wouldest obtain life eternal hereafter, it is necessary that thou shouldest be perfect in thy observation of them. But thou art not per- fect ; and therefore, in that way, thou canst not hope to obtain eternal life. Wa«t (hou perfect, thou wouldest 'go and sell all thou hast, and SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. 235 give to the poor ; ' but tliis thou wilt not do." The perfection, then, that our Saviour intends, is a perfection of grace in this life, not a higher degree of reward in the next. And that appears, (1.) In our Saviour's answer to him: "One thing thou lackest." (Mark x. 21 ; Luke xviii. 22.) Here our Saviour gives check to his vain boasting. (2.) WTien he was gone away sorrowful, mark what our Saviour adds : " A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Verse 23.) He doth not say, " Shall not obtain a golden coronet, or a greater degree of glory ; " but plainly, " He shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Whence it follows, that this young man, because he did not foUow our Saviour's counsel, was in danger of losing eternal Ufe. Now the Papists assert, that he that refuseth to hearken to an evangehcal counsel shall incur no punishment ; and let themselves be judges, whether exclusion from heaven be no punishment. Objection hi. " Paul counsels, but doth not command, virginity and continency to the Corinthians." (1 Cor. vii, 25, 26, &c.) Solution 1 . It doth not follow that because Paul saith, " I give my judgpient," therefore he doth not command. Compare this with 2 Cor. viii. 10 : " Herein I give my advice," rva}[/,y]V sv tovtco 8j5wj«.j. This was concerning almsdeeds : and do any Papists number exhortations to them among evangelical counsels ? Or wiU they admit marriage to be an evan- gelical counsel ? And yet Paul adviseth to it : " To avoid fornication, let every man have liis own wife." (1 Cor. vii. 2.) 2. Evangelical counsels have always a greater reward in heaven pro- posed to the observers of them. Read the whole chapter, and see whether P.aul holds forth a more glorious crown to virginity ; yea, whether he doth so much as barely promise eternal life to it. 3. Evangelical counsels are not backed with the intimations of tem- poral commodities, as these are here. (Verses 26, 28, 34.) Let this suffice for the first conclusion. I proceed to the second. CONCLUSION II. II. TFere it possible for the best of saints perfectly to keep the law of God, yet even these supjiosed pjerfect ones cannot in the least oblige God, or merit any thing from the hand of his justice. — " When we have done all those things which are commanded us, we are still unprofitable servants " to our Sovereign Lord : " we have done but that which was our duty to do." As to merit, properly and strictly so called, it is the just desert of a voluntary action, vrhereunto a proportionable reward is due out of justice ; so that if it be not given, an injury is really committed, and he to whom retribution properly appertaineth, shoidd be really unjust if he did not exactly compensate.* Some of the Papists soar very high in this point, and tell us roundly, that good works do not only merit in respect of God's gracious covenant, but in regard of the worthi- ness of the works themselves ; and that God, for the greater honour of hia children, would have them to get heaven by their merit, which is more honourable to them than to receive it by God's free gift. It is not for such high-born souls as theirs humbly to expect and obtain everlasting • TArrERus in EA'plic, Artie. Lovan. torn. ii. art. 9. 236 SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER- EROGATION. happiness, as a beggar doth his alms ; but to attack heaven by storm, to enter upon and possess it as the just reward of their works, and to ride triumphantly through it as conquerors. Others of the Papists seem more modest ; * and they tell us, that " the saints do merit indeed, but then their merits are subordinate to Christ's merits : nay," say they, " they are derived from them ; for Clirist hath merited for us the power and grace of meriting. And therefore this doctrine of merit is far enough from obscuring the glory of Christ's merits ; it rather argues the wonderful efficacy of them. It is no blemish to the sun, that the moon and stars shine with a borrowed light from it. Fruitfulness of the branches is no disparagement to the vine. The dependent and subordi- nate efficacy of second causes is no detraction from the all-sufficiency and omnipotency of the First." But for all these sugared words and fair pretences, we shall endeavour to make it evident, that such a fancied merit of pardon of sin, and eternal life, even by our best works, is an " ungrounded, novel, unnecessary, impossible fiction." 1. Wholly imgrounded on the scriptures — That Christ's merit hath purchased for us grace for the performance of good works, we readily grant ; but that he hath merited that we might merit, we utterly, deny, as being a thing unheard of in the writings of the prophets and apostles. 2. Novel — " It is a new, upstai't opinion : " so says that malleus Jesuitarvm, [" mall of the Jesuits,"] the incomparable Usher. In former times of Popery, the ordinary instruction appointed to be given to men on their death-beds was, that they should look to come to glory, not by their own merits, but by the virtue and merits of Christ's passion ; and place their whole confidence in his death only, and in no other thing ; and interpose his death between God and their sins. This made William of Wickham, founder of New College, profess, he trusted in Christ alone for salvation ; and Charles VIII. did the like when he came to die ; and Bellarmine himself, when he was at the brink of eternity, to profess, Tutissimum est, t^r. .- " Give me a Christ, rather than all other pretended merits whatever." 3. An unnecessary fiction — Hath Christ a fulness of merit, and that of infinite value, to purchase reconciliation and acceptation both of our per- sons and services, together with an everlasting inheritance in the king- dom of heaven ? Yea, or no ? If it be denied, it is easily proved out of Dan. ix. 21, 2G ; Col. i. 19, 20 ; John xvii. 2 ; Heb. ix. 12, 1.0. If it be granted that the merit of Christ is of infinite value, and that by it he hath purchased in the behalf of his members a full right unto eternal life and happiness ; if Cbrist hath merited for us perfection, and fulness of grace and glory ; what necessity is there that we ourselves should do this again 'I f 4. It is impossible — We cannot possibly by our best works merit eter- nal life. We are saved by -mercy, not merit ; (Horn. iii. 20 ; iv. 2, 4, 6 ;) by grace, not of works ; (Eph. ii. 8, 9 ; Titus iii. 5 — 7 ;) and if by grace, by grace alone, not by works, no blending of grace and works together. (Rom. xi. 6.) To evidence this, let us but duly consider the necessary ingredients of merit, and apply them to the best works of the • Bkli.arimin'I's T>r Justif. lib. v. cap. 1(5, 17- t Eiiliii non simt multiplicandu sine /iccrsiitatc. " Entities are not to ha multiplied wiiliout neces:.\\enantii:s in Col. i. 24. SERMON XIV. THERE ARE NO WORKS OF SUPER-EROGATION. 241 are wholly left to themselves, either to sink or swim ; and, notwithstand- ing all that Christ hath done, suffered, purchased, promised, believers are still liable to it ; and that not only in the present world, but, for some time at least, in the next ; that is, in purgatory. To follow them xolto. zro^as, " step by step : " — 1. As to that pretty, new-coined distinction between the full remission of the guilt of sin, and yet inflicting of the punishment after the pardon of the guilt. Tell me, what is guilt ? Is it not a liableuess and being bound over to punishment? Is it any thing more or less? Therefore " if the guilt be taken away, of necessity the punishment must be taken away also."* All punishment results from guilt, and from guilt alone; and therefore, if there be a full expiation of that, the punishment must needs cease, let the kind of it be what it will. If a sin be remitted, par- doned, forgiven, it cannot in equity be punished. All punishment in order to satisfaction of justice, is utterly inconsistent with the nature and tenor of remissit)n of sin. It is a gi'eat and known maxim. In snblafd culpa toUitur et poena ;-f and backed by the concurrent testimony of the ancients. J: The truth is, to affirm the contrary, is to make remission of sin a mere bauble, or rather a taunting jeer, or stinging sarcasm. As if a creditor should say to his debtor, " Poor soul ! I freely forgive thee all thou owest me : only I must throw thee into a dungeon full of scorpions and serpents, and these must sting and torment thee years without num- ber. But, for thy comfort, know, that it is not for the millions, but mites, thou owest me." (Purgatory-fire is not for mortal but venial sins, little peccaddlos.) Or as if a judge or king should cause an *'0 yes " to be made, and then proclaim a free and gracious pardon to a desperate malefactor, or rather to his own prodigal, rebellious son, thus : " Son, I tlo, before men and angels, and in the face of the whole world, freely for- give you all your debaucheries, rebellions, treasons ; I frankly quit you from the guilt of all your bloody crimes : only I remember some little inc'ogitancies, some slight slips of your youth ; and these I must not, cannot pardon. For these therefore, such is my tender compassion, you shall only be stretched and held on a rack, thrown on a burning gridiron, feed on flames of sulphur, and have plentiful draughts of scalding lead." 0 brethren, what human ears could bear such stabbing language ? Mii- tato nomine, de Papicolis narratur f alula. ^ 2. Hath not Christ by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself fully satisfied the justice of his Father, and purchased perfect reconcilia- tion ? || "By the obedience of" that "one" man, the second Adam, " are " not " many," even all elected, converted, believing, penitent sin- ners, "made righteous" before God? (Rom. v. 19.) Hath not Christ, "by one offering, perfected for ever them that are sanctified?" (Heb. x, 11.) Doth not the "blood of Christ" thoroughly "purge our consci- • Culpaiin remiiti, nihil aliud est quum non imputari ad pirnam. — Di'Uandcs, lib. iv. + " lu the tiikiug away of guilt, the puuishnient due is also lenioiod." — Rdit. t Exempto rcctiu c.vimitur et pB remissionem est ilia ipsa pwna sctistis (jitaiii in gchentui pali tlcbiiisset pcccatur, remold solum a:trrnitate.—h\em De Firnit. " For, as c-anliiial Cujetun riglitl}- expounds it, that puuiHhmi'nt vvliich ri'iimins to be euiUircd after tliu reuiissiim of guilt, is the xevy snnie puiiishuiout of sense wliieb tlie siimer ouylit to have sullored iu hell, eteruifj- aloue being excluded from the aocouut." — Edit. f 'I be pope (surely bis Holiness has left Him no mercy) e'an do it when be li.-t : Si quaralur utrum pussit sptdiare pitrgalorium pro libito sua, (lico (jitod lion vvluntutc sua precis^, scd mcdiante illu iiijinilo thcsauro. — SvLvlifTRI Suiiiiiia, iu verlj. Papii, qimst. C. " If it be asked whether the pope can despoil purgatory at bis pleasure, I answer that he cannot do so by his own will precisely, but by means of that inliuite treasury." -Kdit. JJut be i.-. wise, however; and considers [tliat], if be should spoil purgatory, he would spoil something else, which is more regarded at Home than another world. I Nrgaiiius posse Bcuin jiisl^ piinire pcccalum qiiodlibet, etiam vi-niuk, pvcnd omnium f/ravissimd, qua- est mors aterna. -- Bkllakm inus Dc ^Imiss. Oral. lib. i. cap. 14, p. 92. Eliaiiuii omnia pprcata venialia sininl nilliyercntur in ttnnm, nuuqitam ifficercnt id quodfacit unum Icthalr. — Idem, ilAd. cap. 13, p. !)1 . Ktiumsi nullum esset pactum Dei nobis- cu.ii de remissione po'iue adlii:r, t. Eleemosyna. I Lopez, Instruct. Consc. cap. xlii. p. 227 ; et Sylvestri Stim.ma, in verb. Juramcntum, ii. 48. § Jacob de Graff, Decis. Aur. lib. ii. cap. lii. n. 10. || Sylvester, ibid, in verb. Maiitia. p. 170. 51 Idem, ibid, iu verb. Blasphemia, qnaest. iii. 4. ** Dominicus a Soto De Just, et Jur. lib. viii. qussst. ii. art. 3, pp. 269, 270. ft Idem, ibid. lib. v. qnsest. i. art. 8. XX Nee esset gratia, si non daretur gratuita, scd debita reddere.tur. — Augustini Epist. cv. "Nor would it be grace, if it were not bestowed gratuitously, but were rendered as due."' — Edit. Aquinas bimself : Manifestum est qtiod omiie vieritum repugnat gratias, quia, ut apostolus, VOL. VI. S 258 SERMON XV. THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION will not be justified freely, if they will stay till they deserve it, they are likely to be condemned. Yet they will venture and stick not to ascribe all that they include in their several justifications to some sort of merit : — inherent grace, and pardon of sin, to congruous merit ; title to glory, and increase of grace, (which they make a second justification,) to merit of condignity. Inherent, which they call "justifying," gi'ace, and count it (after the council of Trent *) unanimously the formal cause of justification, by their doctrine, falls under merit. They mince it, indeed, calling it " merit of congruity ; " but it is big enough, how small soever they would have it seem, to bid defiance to the grace of God in the text. There are some preparatory works which, they say, must go before justification,f (as, dogmatical faith, some sorrow for sin, fear, hope, &c.,) to which justifying grace is due in congruity, though not in justice ; and this dueness they express in the definition of " congruous merit." " It is," says Navarrus, (after Aquinas, and their common Gloss,) " a good human act of one without the gi'ace of God, to which spiritual or tempo- ral reward is in some respect and congruity due." X Now if justifying grace be due on our account, before the Lord vouchsafe it, he gives it not freely, but only pays what he owes, and is before obliged by us to let us have ; and BeUarraine says, this merit is not founded on the promise of God, but in the worth and dignity of the work.§ This sort of merit is generally owned by the Romanists, Soto teUs us, II it is asserted by Scotus, Duraudus, Adrian, and, in a manner, all the School-doctors whom they call " Nominals ;" and this is one division of their Schools. He says also,^ that Aquinas, the leader of the other divi- sion, following the common opinion, affirms it likewise ; though he would have us think that he afterwards retracted it. But Bellarmine, not acknowledging any such retractation, together with Aquinas, reckons up to us by name the chief of the Schoolmen as of this persuasion.** It is true, there is some difference among them about the name : some would not have it called " congruous merit ; " but all, as Bel- larmine,ft Vega,JJ and after him Sancta Clara,§§ tells us, agree in the thing. And it is the thing, not the word, that is so injurious to the Rom. .vi., 8s. hue igitur falsa, &c. 1 Without les;;ening the difference betwixt debts and punishments, a surety as to either will serve oiu' purpose. IS DANGEROUSLY CORRUPTED IN THE ROMAN CHURCH. 265 surety's payment acquit the debtor, then the surety, because the debt is charged on him, though he contracted it not, is as bad a husband and as much a bankrupt as the debtor." I need bring no particular arguments for this. All the scriptures, where there is mention of Christ's dying for us, his sufferings, cleansing us with his blood, his obedience to death, &c., (since it cannot be denied but all this was well-pleasing to God, and accepted by him, as it was per- formed on the behalf of behevers,) are undeniable proofs, that his righte- ousness is imputed. And it is a wonder to me, that any who acknowledge the satisfaction of Christ should have the confidence to say, there is no evidence for this imputation in the sense expressed ; but their causeless prejudice against the word makes them, it seems, so sullen, that they will not take notice of the things we mean, though they meet with it everywhere in scripture. In short (I fear I have transgressed already, and must omit much of what I intended) : If Christ's righteousness be not imputed, it is not accepted ; if it be not accepted, it is not performed ; and so there will be no satisfaction, no redemption in Jesus Christ. This is Bellarmine's own inference when he is disputing against Osiander, — to deny God's accept- ing Christ's righteousness for us, which is, by the premisses, his imputing it to us, is to " overthrow the whole mystery of man's redemption and reconciliation." * USE. FOR APPLICATION. Let me admonish you, as you tender the honour of Christ and the comfort and happiness of your souls, to receive and preserve the doc- trine of justification pure and untainted as the apostle delivered it. Be- ware especially of the Popish corruptions, whereby they have adulterated and wherewith they have overwhelmed it. Whereas it is, as delivered in scripture, the foundation of our hopes, and the spring of our comforts ; they have made it a sink into which a great part of their other corrup- tions do run and settle, or the source from which they rise and are fed. I might make this good by an account of particulars ; but those I have touched already are too many. They tell you, to be justified is to be sanctified, and so sanctified as to need no further sanctification after the first infusion ; no growth in grace, no increase of holiness, no progress therein, nor mortification neither ; no need of, no reason for, it. Their principles are so indulgent, as to free you from such trouble. But then you must not take notice of the many commands of God which enjoin these, and make them necessary, nor of the hazard that attends such neglects : they will assure you, there is none under the notion [under] which they represent them. They tell you, you must be justified by your own righteousness, and that a perfect righteousness within you ; that is it you must trust to. And if you think much to be justified as never any sinner in the world was, and know not how to compass a righteousness absolutely perfect " From his opinion, says lie, cert^ sequitur, ui Chrisli justitiam Deus non acceptet ; wbich cannot be admitted, nisi quis velil totnvi viysterium humance redemptionis ct reconcHiationis evertcre, — De Justijic. lib. ii. cap. 5, p. 778. 266 SERMON XV. JUSTIFICATION CORRUPTED BY THE ROMANISTS. within you ; they will inform you, that any degree of charity, the least, the weakest, is righteousness in perfection. Thus you may be justified in their way, if you will but have patience till your inherent righteous- ness in this world be perfect and spotless, or till the lowest degree of it be absolute perfection. If you think it impossible to be justified upon such terms, they will tell you there is nothing more easy : any of their sacraments will help you to it ; for they all confer justifying grace, and that by the mere external act. You may have it, though you never mind what you are a-doing, when you are at sacrament, to get it. An easy way to heaven indeed, if it were as easy to be saved as deluded ! They will have you believe that their doctrine of justification is that which we must approve, since it includes pardon ; and yet they have no pardon by their doctrine while there is one speck of sin in their souls, and so not in this world ; and the other is no world for it. And though they fancy, that fault, and stain, and desert, and the very being of sin, is abolished when they have so full pardon ; and will have none that is not lawful ; yet are they not pardoned for all that, but plainly condemned, and into infernal fires they must go, and be there tortured, after they are so fully pardoned, tiU themselves have fully satisfied, and paid the utmost farthing, or others for them. And if they cannot do that which Christ only can do, namely, satisfy the justice of God for all sorts of sins, as to part of the punishment due to some, and the whole punish- ment due to others, their purgatory will prove hell, everlastingness not abated ; and they will find themselves damned eternally, and cast iiito hell, who, by their doctrine, were betrayed into that state, under a pre- tence of being punished there a while, in order to salvation. And if the demerit of sins which they call " venial " prove greater than they believe, (without and against scripture,) they are in hell while they dream they are but in purgatory ; for the partition between hell and purgatory is but the distinction made in their fancies betwixt mortal and venial sins, as to their demerit. Thus are they in danger to be pardoned : and no wonder, since there is not one sin in five hundred which, by their doctrine, needs Christ or his blood for its pardon : there is no need of "the blood of sprinkling" (Heb, xii, 24) for the infinite numbers of their venials ; they have a sprinkling of their own [that] will serve, a holy water, conjured into such divine powers, as to wash away a world of sins, fault and punish- ment both.* This is the "fountain" (one of them) which themselves have "opened for sin and unclcanness ; " (Zech. xiii. 1 ;) and the other, opened by Christ, may be shut up, unless there may be some use of it for another sort of sins, but those very few in comparison. Indeed, it is the intolerable injury they off'er to Christ, his redemption, and the free grace of God, which makes their doctrine of justification most intolerable. To strip the redemption which is in Jesus Christ of its merit or satisfaction, without which it is no redemption ; to make the • Rcmissio vcniuliiim, qui est effectus aqyice. henrdicla, sine collntione qratia- et sanctitatis covfertur. Nun pniitis ru/parum moclo, scd. id (juud mi/ii prtilidliilius est, culpiis quoque t'ini(il''s, rejnitlet. — Mei.chior Canl's, Dc Sacris, pars i. p. 7.')1. "The reiuission of venial sins, which is the etfec-t of the blessotl water, is conferred without the comnninica- tion of p;race and hohuess. It will renut, not merelj- the puuiishmeut of gins, but, as seems to me more probable, even venial sins themselves also." — EriT. SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 267 mercy of God ueedless, or the free exercise of it impossible, and his grace to be no grace ; is the way not to be justified, but condemned. This is to seek pardon of former ofiences by new crimes, as if one would not receive a pardon without interlining it with something of treasonable import against him who offers it. Yea, it seems an attempt to blot out of the pardon all that is pardoning ; and to affront and deface that upon which all the hopes of a condemned sinner depend, and without which no flesh can be justified. Whenever the Lord justifies any, he doth it "freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ : " they that will not be thus justified, are in danger to be condemned. SERMON XVI. (XIII.) BY THE REV. BENJAMIN NEEDLER, B.C.L. SOMETIME FELLOW OF ST. JOHn's COLLEGE, OXFORD. IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO GIVE RELIGIOUS WORSHIP TO ANY CREATURE WHATSOEVER, IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO MAKE AN IMAGE OF GOD. IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO WORSHIP GOD AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE, OR TO DIRECT OUR WORSHIP OF HIM TO AN IMAGE. IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO WORSHIP IMAGES, BY DOING IT CORPORALLY, AS IDOLATERS DO, THOUGH WE PRETEND TO KEEP OUR HEARTS TO GOD. THE PAPISTS PRESUMPTUOUSLY LEAVE THE SECOND COM- MANDMENT OUT OF THE DGCALOGUE. GOD NOT TO BE "WORSHIPPED AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. Then saith Jesus unto him. Get thee hence, Satan : for it is toritten. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. — Matthew iv. 10. The first eleven verses of this chapter contain the history of the com- bat, or conflict, between Christ and Satan ; and in it you may take notice of these particulars : — (I.) You have the preparation to the combat : "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred." (Verses 1, 2.) "Then," that is, immediately after Christ had been baptized in an extraordinary manner, and solemnly declared by " a voice fi'om heaven," that he was " the beloved Son of God, in whom he was well pleased ; " and after " the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him," (Matt, iii. l(j, 17,) and was "full of the Holy Ghost," as St, Luke records it; (Luke iv. 1 ;) — "then," that is, immediately after this, "he was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." We should have thought that the next news rnight have been of his taking a solemn journey to Jerusalem, and in the temple there publicly to have declared. 268 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO DE WORSHIPPED that he was the great doctor and prophet of his church, and that they were accordingly to hear him. But God's thoughts are not as our thoughts : the text tells you, " Then," that is, immediately upon this, *' he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." (II.) You have the combat or conflict itself, from the third verse to the eleventh : the devil takes an occasion hereupon to set upon him, and to assault him with these dreadful temptations. The First temptation or assault you have in verse 3 : "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." As if he had said, "There was a voice pretendedly from heaven, that thou art God's * beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased ;' but if so, is it likely that God should take no further care of his own Son whom he loved, than to expose him to the want even of necessaries for tlie present life ? So that, either thou art not the Son of God, and that pretended voice from heaven is but a delusion ; or if thou beest so, let it appear by working of this miracle, — ' command that these stones be made bread.' " The reply or answer made by our Saviour to this temptation you have in verse 4 : " But he answered and said. It is written, Man shaU not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of God ;" where our Saviour shows, that this was a notorious imposture, and a fallacious way of reasoning, — that either he must perish in the wilderness with famine, or else he must prove himself to be the Son of God by working a miracle, and command- ing stones to be made bread : " for it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This temptation not taking effect, and the devil [being] foiled and non- plussed by the force and dint of the scripture, he makes a Second assault upon him : " Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him. If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down : for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee : and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." (Verses .5, 6.) I know that St. Luke observes not the same order in the recording of these tempta- tions as St. Matthew doth ; but it is likely that was the third and last temptation, when Satan had that rebuke given him by our Saviour : " Get thee hence, Satan ; " for immediately upon this " the devil leaveth him, and angels came and ministered unto him ;" (verse 11 ;) and there- fore I call this the second assault or temptation. The Third and the last temptation or assault, which seems to l)e most dangerous, you have in verses 8, 9 : " Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; and saith unto him. All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." In St. Luke, he pretends a reason for it : " And the devil said unto him. All this power will I give. thee, and the glory of them : for that is delivered unto me ; and to whomsoever I will I give it." And, " If thou therefore wilt M^orsliip me, all shall be thine." (Luke iv. 6, 7.) But the devil was a liar from the beginning ; and there were three notorious lies in this pretence of the devil's : — I. "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them ; " whereas he had no such power or glory to bestow. 2. The second was. AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 269 " For that is delivered uuto me ; " but God never made the devil the heir of all things, but his own Son : "He hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things." (Heb. i. 2.) 3. The third was, " To whomsoever I will I give it : " as if Satan could give the kingdoms of the world to whom he pleased ; a power which God hath reserved for himself, and hath not conferred on any creature whatsoever : " Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever : for wisdom and might are his : and he changcth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth' up kings." (Dan. ii. 20, 21.) We read that Satan is sometimes transformed into an angel of hght ; (2 Cor. xi. 14 ;) but here he would be transformed into God himself; as also in that which follows, namely, that he would be adored and wor- shipped : " If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine," or, as you have it in the text, " All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Now in these words you have the reply or answer that our Saviour makes to this temptation : " Then saith Jesus unto him. Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written. Thou sh.alt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve ; " where you have two things consider- able. 1. You have something premised, or something 'prefatory unto Christ's answer : " Get thee hence, Satan ; " which may be understood two ways : — (1.) Either as vox detestcmtis, "a note of abhorrence and detesta- tion," of the devil's horrible impudence and blasphemy, in that he would have Christ to fall down and worship him ; or, (2.) As vox imperantis, "a word of power and authority," command- ing him out of his presence : " Get thee hence, Satan ; " and thereby sufficiently declaring himself to be the Son of God ; which was the thing in question. The devil had twice put an " if" upon his sonship : "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread ;" (verse 3 ;) and, " If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down." (Verse 6.) Now our Saviour will have this to be out of question, and there- fore commands him to be gone : " Get thee hence, Satan ; " and the next news is, " Then the devd leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." (Verse 11.) 2. You have the answer itself : " For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve ; " where again you have two things to be taken into consideration : — (1.) You have our Saviours urging scrijjtut'e in the case: "It is written." — The word of God is armour of proof against Satan and his temptations ; and hence the apostle makes it one main part of the Christian armour : " Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" (Eph. vi. 17;) and our Saviour makes use of this sword in the text : " It is written." But where ? See Deut. vi. 13 : "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him ;" and Dent. X. 20 : " Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God ; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave." Where I would note, that our Saviour doth not quote the very words that are in Deuteronomy : it is said there, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him;" our Saviour 270 SERMON XVT. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED says, " Thou slialt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thoit serve :" and yet notwithstanding, " It is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." And I would the rather take notice of this, because there is a generation of men amongst us that tell us, upon occasion, that we do not speak scripture-language ; and their reason is, because we do not speak scripture-words. But, friends, take this for a principle : If we speak scripture-sense, though not the very Avords of scripture, yet we may be said to speak scripture-language. Thus our Saviour here, speaking scripture-sense, speaks scripture- language : "It is written." "Fear" is a word of great latitude and extent, and comprehends in itself that homage and honour and reverence that we owe to God ; and therefore our Saviour calls it " worship," and says, " It is written. Thou shalt ivorship the Lord thy God," &c. Thus it is also in the like case : if the word " person " be scripture-sense, it is scripture-language ; if the word " sacrament " be scripture-sense, it is scripture -language . (2.) You have the scripture that is urged, in these words, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." — Satan would have our Saviour to fall down and worship him ; our Saviour replies, " It is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." And the meaning and import of it is this : That which is proper and peculiar unto God, ought not to be given unto any creature whatsoever : But worship is so ; And therefore ought not to be given to any creature whatsoever; Satan is a creature ; and if there were no more in the case than that, even that is reason sufficient why he ought not to be worshipped : " Then saith Jesus unto him. Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Thus I have given you an account both of the preparation to the com- bat or conffict between Christ and Satan, as also of the combat or con- flict itself. (III.) Thirdly. You have the issue of the whole transaction between Christ and Satan : " Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." (Verse 11.) My text contains the answer, or the repulse, that was given by our Saviour unto Satan's third and last assault : " Then saith Jesus unto him. Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." PROPOSITION. The proposition that I would commend unto your consideration from the words, is this, that religious worship ought not to be given to any creature whatsoever ; or thus : God alone is and ought to be the object of religious woiKfhip. I say, " God alone is and ought to be the object of religious worship." Honour and worship is God's due and right, and irreligion is a piece of wrong and injustice : and, indeed, if divine honour was not given to God as his due and right, worship would be a piece of benevolence from the creature unto God. In the prosecution of this point, I shall, by God's assistance, observe this method : — AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 2/1 I. I shall give you a brief description of ioo}-ship, and shoiv i/ou what tvorshij) is. II. / shall lay down some distifictions for the due stating, and the right understanding, of this proposition. III. / shall endeavour to prove the proposition ; namely, that " religious ■worship ought not to be given to any creatures whatsoever ; " or, that " God alone is and ought to be the ol)ject of religious worship." IV. And the fourth particular shall be the use and application. I. For the first of these, I shall endeavour to dispatch in a few words ; namely, to give you a brief description of toorship, and show you what tvorship is. Worship is that honour or reverence that we give unto a person or being, regard being had to the dignity and excellency of that person or being that is to be worshipped ; and it consists of three acts : — 1 . An act of the mind, whereby we rightly conceive of the dignity and excellency of that person or being that we worship. 2. An act of the will, whereby, upon occasion, we are ready and will- ing to pay all offices of respect to that person or being. 3. An act of the body, whereby we express that respect or honour that is in our minds, unto that person or being, by some outward bodily act ; as prostration, iincovering of the head, bowing the knee, or the like. And this is all I shall say to the first particular, ivhat ivorshij) is. II. Our next work is, to lay down some distinctions for the due stating and right understanding of this p7'oposition ; namely, that " religious worship ought not to be given to any ci;^ature whatsoever ; " or, that " God alone is and ought to be the object of religious w orship : " as, 1. We niust distinguish between civil worship and religious ivorshij). — Now although religious worship ought to be given to God alone, yet civil worship may and ought to be given unto creatures. This is a duty from inferiors to their superiors, from children to their parents, fronr servants to their masters, from subjects to kings and magistrates : these " gods " (Psalm Ixxxii. 6) must have civil worship. Thus it is said of Judah, when Jacob, on his death-bed, blessed the twelve tribes : " Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise : thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies ; thy father's children shall bow down before thee." (Gen. xlix. 8.) Judah's honour was to wield the scepti'e ; and therefore the rest of the tribes, his " father's children," in a civil sense, were to wor- ship him, and bow down before him. Thus, when Joseph came into the presence of Jacob his father, it is said, that " he bowed himself with his face to the earth ; " (Gen. xlviii. 12 ;) this was civil worship. And, indeed, this worship, considered apart and in a separate way, seems to be proper unto the creature, and so not fit to be given unto God. If any should say, " But is not God to receive all honour, and glory, and worship 1 and if so, why should civil worship be excluded ? " I answer : Because this is not the way to honour God. If we should worship God no otherwise than as we worship a creature, this would be to blaspheme him, under a pretence of giving him that honour that we owe him. We may observe even amongst the creatures, that the homage or honour that we give unto the creature hath always respect unto the greatest excellency of that creature : as, suppose a king were present, a 272 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED duke, or a marquess, or au earl also ; if a man should give him only that respect that is due unto a duke, or a marquess, or an earl, this were, in effect, to degrade him of his kingly power. If we give only the honour unto God that a creature may challenge as his due, this strikes at the very Godhead itself, and we do what lies in us to degrade him of his supremacy and transcendent glory. 2. TFe must distmguish between inward worship and outward worship. — There is inward worship in faith, and love, and hope, and fear, and other elicit acts of the mind ; this is the inward homage that we owe unto God. And then there is outward worship, which consists in the outward expression of that inward homage and subjection that we owe to God ; which is done, as you heard before, by some outward bodily act ; as, prostration, uncovering of the head, bowing of the knee, and the like. Now, though the worship of God consists mainly and principally in the former, (for there may be a pretence of outward homage and reverence, and yet nothing of worship ; as, the soldiers bowed the knee to Christ, and yet mocked him. Matt, xxvii. 29,) yet outward worship is necessary : inward and outward worship do mutually depend upon each other : he that doth not pray, nor read, nor hear, nor receive sacra- ments, doth neither love God, nor fear him, nor trust in him. And, besides, outward worship is a most effectual help and assistance unto the principle of inward worship, strengthening the habit of it, and exciting of it unto all suitable actions : for though " bodily exercise," as it is single, and divided from the heart, doth, as the apostle saith, "profit little ; " (1 Tim. iv. 8 ;) yet when it joins with it, it profits much, and makes us far more lively in the service of God than otherwise we should be. And we may find by experience, that when we pray only inwardly in our spirits, we have not that life and enlargement in our minds and affections as when we also pray outwardly with the voice. And, upon these and such-like grounds, it is advised by some, that prayer, though secret, should be vocal, because it excites affection, and quickens devo- tion. Thus, though inward worship be the main of worship, and that which may most -properly be called " worship," yet outward worship is necessary. The second commandment hath a special respect unto out- ward worship ; namely, that we perform unto God that outward wor- ship which he hath appointed in his word. And that which the devil would have of our Saviour here is outward worship : " All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." If any shall pretend that it is external veneration that they give unto other things beside God, whereas that which is inward, and which may most properly be called " worship," they reserve for God ; the vanity of such a pretence will appear, if we consider, that it is not a necessary I'equisite unto false and idolatrous worship that the inward devotion of the mind should accompany the external adoration of the body : for if so, it wUl follow, that a man, being commanded under a severe penalty, might give out- ward adoration to any image, either of the true [God] or false gods, and yet be guiltless : and who durst ever say so ? III. We will take it for granted, that religious worship admits of degi-ees ; namely, that there is religious worship in a higher degree, and religious worship in a lower and inferior degree. (For, I suppose, that AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 2/3 the veneration and adoration that our adversaries of the church of Rome give unto images and reUcs, and things of that nature, is not civil, but rehgious, though in a lower and an inferior degree.) Now this being taken for granted, I affirm, that " God, and God alone, is and ought to be the object of religious worship," in the latitude of it ; and that " reli- gious worship," in the lowest and most inferior degree, " ought not to he given unto any creature whatsoever ; " and that will appear from these following considerations t — 1. It appears from tJw ivords of the text, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." — Now, if we are to wor- ship God alone, and serve God alone, then " God, and God alone, is and ought to be the object of rehgious worship, and religious worship ought not to be given unto any creature whatsoever." If it be objected, that " the text doth not say, ' Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God only,' but, ' Him only shalt thou serve ; ' " that " there is indeed an honour and a service that is due unto God alone, which to give unto any creature would be idolatry : ' Him only shalt thou serve ; ' but there is a worshij which is due unto the creatui-es according to their respective excellences : as, to saints, holy things, aad holy places ; and we may worship them, though we may not serve them : " But if this were the sense of tliij* scripture, the devil might have excepted against the answer made by oui Saviour as insufficient ; he might have said, " Thou mayest worship me, though thou mayest not serve me ; " and that this scripture did not for- bid all worship ; yea, that some rehgious worship might be given to a creature in a lower and inferior degree, though the supreme worship might not ; and all that he desired of our Saviour was, that he would *'faU down and worship him," That it was inferior worship, though religious, which the devU required of Christ, is plain ; for he acknow- ledges God at the same time to be his superior, and the giver of that power which he laid claim to : " And the devil said unto him, AU this . power will I give thee, and the glory of them : for that is dehvered unto me ; and unto whomsoever I will I give it," (Luke iv. 6.) And yet that is the worship which, Christ saith, God hath forbidden to be given unto any creature ; and our Saviour discovers his abhorrence and detestation of any thing of that nature : " Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Nor was it the scope of our Saviour to give countenance to any such dis- tinction as this, as appears from that place of scripture which is here quoted : " Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;" (Deut. vi, 13, 14;) where Moses doth not distinguish between the worship that is due to God, and that worship which may be given unto the creature ; but describes the wox-- ship which ought to be given unto God, and to God alone, and which ought not to be given unto the gods of the Gentiles. And, besides, this ought to be taken into consideration, — we do not find the word "only" in Deuteronomy annexed either to the fear of God, or to the service of God. Now, would it have been fairly and ingenuously done by any that lived under the Old-Testament dispensation, to make this gloss upon the text ? — " It is true, we must fear the Lord our God, but not him only ; VOL. VI, T 274 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED and serve him, but not serve him only." So that our Saviour adds the vrord " only" for explication's sake. And, indeed, if God be to be wor- shipped at all, and served at all, for the same reason he only is to be "worshipped, and he only is to be served. - So that our Saviour doth not only recite this text in Deuteronomy, but he doth it with advantage, when he tells Satan, " It is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Worship is called " religious," because it binds us to God, and to God alone : and wherever in scripture it is said we must worship God, we must always understand it thus, — we must worship him alone. Thus the angel, in the Revelation, chap. xix. 10, where he tells John, that he must " worship God ; " the meaning is, that he must worship God alone. " Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name ;" and then it follows, by way of explication, " Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." (Psalm xxix. 2.) It is said of Job, that he " arose, and rent- his mantle, and feU clown upon the ground, and worshipped." (Job i. 20.) Nothing is said of the object unto whom he did direct his worship ; the object of his worship is not expressed, but understood, and presupposed : if he fell down and worshipped in a religious manner, it is to be taken for granted that he worshipped God. 2. It appears yet further, that " God, and God alone, is and ought to be the object of rehgious worship," and that " rehgious worship ought not to be given unto any creature whatsoever," because God hath expressly forbidden us in scrijiture the worshipping of angels. — "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels." (Col. ii. 18.) The apostle's scope in this chapter is to dis- pute against those corruptions that were creeping into the Christian worship. These sometimes he calls " the traditions of men," " the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ," (verse 8,) and " the com- mandments and doctrines of men : " (verse 22 :) and, amongst other corruptions, he cautions them against "worshipping of angels." Now- if religious worship might be given to a creature, then to these glorious creatures ; but this, according to the apostle's sense, is superstition and will-worship. So, verse 23: "Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-wox'ship." Now the church of Rome owns and avouches the worshipping of angels, which the apostle forbids. It is true, indeed, the Papists, in their worshipping of saints and angels, give the saints the pre-eminence : " It is by their means," say they, " that indulgences are given out of the church's treasury," or rather put to sale ; "they having not only merited their own salvation, but, some of them at least, super- erogated for the good of others, in that they have done more and greater things than are enjoined in God's word." And this is an honour that, according to their principles, is not, nor ought to be, given to the blessed angels. But how extravagant soever the fancies of these men are, or may be, yet J shall aver, that if rehgious worship might be given to any creature, then unto these glorious creatures ; and that not only because they never sinned against God, as the saints have done, but also because unto their care and tutelage are committed God's holy ones, and they are " sent forth to minister for them that are heirs of salvation." (Heb. i. l^.) AS REPRESENTED 3Y AN IMAGE. 2/5 But we read not of any such employ assigned by God unto the saints departed. If any should say, " The worship of angels forbidden in the scripture is the supreme worship that is proper unto God alone : and to give this indeed unto the angels would be superstition and will-worship ; but not rehgious worship in an inferior degree :" what a horrible, bold perverting of scripture is this ! And who can reasonably imagine, that the apostle Paul, when he knew that the worshipping of angels was not only good and lawful, but highly commendable, should yet in the general condemn the worshipping of angels, without any distinction at all made in the case ? And whereas it may be said, that " St. Paul doth not in the general condemn the worshipping of angels, but the worshipping of angels as mediators, so as to exclude Christ ; for the apostle adds, ' And not hold- ing the Head :' " (verse 19 :) it is true, the apostle doth so ; but then we must know, that rehgious worship, though in an inferior degree, given to an angel, is inconsistent with holding the Head, Christ : as a wife that gives the honour of her husband's bed unto another, (and all reli- gious and divine respect is no less,) denies him to be what she calls him, though she call him " husband " never so much. The reason urged in the second commandment against false worship, is, that " God is a jealous God." Now we must understand it thus: He is jealous not only lest he should not be honoured as God, but he is also jealous lest he should not be honoured as one God ; for as by the worshipping of him we acknowledge him to be God, so by the incommunicableness of that worship to any creature we acknowledge him to be one God. And yet, that there may be no mistake in this matter, we deny not but that good men, when angels have appeared unto them in a visible shape, even when they have known that they have been angels, have given honour to them, and, it may be, bowed down before them. But then it is granted on all hands, that the same external gesture may be adapted and fitted to the worship that is cIatI and that which is rehgious ; and it lies upon our adversaries to prove, that the honour or worship given unto them was religious, and of the very same kind that we give unto God, but in an inferior and lower degree. We read of Abraham, that " he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him : asd when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself toward the gi'ound ; " (Gen. xviii. 2 ;) but that this was a civil, not a rehgious, respect, appears by the entertainment that he offers to make for them : " Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree : and I wUl fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts." (Verses 4, 5.) Indeed, afterwards he knew one of them to be the Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called "Jehovah" in that chapter, and might worship him with religious worship. But this doth not in the least contradict our principles nor the text ; for God must and ought to be worshipped, though we must " worship the Lord our God, and him only must we serve." Unto which I might add, that the servants of God under the law had a fair occasion offered them to invoke and worship angels, which we have not under the gospel ; because they frequently then T 2 2/6 SERMON XVr. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED appeared unto them in the likeness of men, which they do not to us ; and yet we never read that the people of God under the legal dispen- sation did invoke them, or pay any rehgious respect to them. David " saw the angel that smote the people ;" yet did he not in the least apply himself to the angel, or worsliip him, but made his address unto God : " David spake unto the Lord, when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned : but these sheep, what hare they done?" (2 Sam. xxiv. 17.) 3. It appears yet further, that " God alone is, and ought to be, the object of rehgious worship," and that " rehgious worship ought not to be given to any creature whatsoever," because religious loorship, though in the lowest and most inferior degree, is such that neither saints nor angels durst oicn or receive. — We read how that the devil would be worshipped, but saints and good angels would not. And I shall give you two instances for this : the first, of a saint ; and the second, of an angel. (1.) The first instance I shall give you \& of a saint ; namely, that of Peter : " As Peter was coming in, Cornehus met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying. Stand up ; I myself also am a man." (Acts x. 25, 26.) The argument is this : " No man is to be worshipped : But I am a man : Tlierefore I am not to be worshipped." Nor is it reasonable to believe, that Cornehus would give religious worship in the highest degree, which our adversaries say is proper unto God alone, unto St. Peter ; for it is said, that Cornelius was " a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, and one that prayed to God alway." (Verse 2.) Nor can it justly be imagined that a devout man, and one that feared God, and one that prayed unto God alway, should give rehgious worship in the highest degree, which they call latriam, unto St. Peter, when he knew he was God's minister, and not God. (2.) The second instance that I shall give you is of an angel : " I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me. See thou do it not : I am thy fellow-servant." (Rev. xix. 10.) " See thou do it not : " hereby is signified unto us the heinousness of this sin : as if he had said, " Beware what thou doest ; God forbid that a creature should join in co-partnership with God in his worship : ' worship God.' " " See thou do it not;" a speech something like that in Jer. xliv. 4 : "0, do not this abominable thing that I hate." " They went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not ; " (verse 3 ;) and God cried out, as it were, with a shriek, " 0, do not this abominable thing that I hate ! " Thus in the like case, when John fell down at the feet of the angel to worship him, the angel refuses it with abhorrence and detestation : " See thou do it not : " and he gives this reason for it : "I am thy fellow- servant." And the argument is this : No servant of Christ ought to be worshipped : But an angel is a sei*vant of Christ : Therefore an angel is not to be worshipped. " Worship God : " as if he had said, " God, and God alone, is the object of religious worship ; and ' I am thy fellow- servant : worship God.' " The angel in this seems to point at that worship which is called didia : " Why should dulia be given to him that is lovXog [' a servant '] ? It is a horrible wickedness to serve and worship thy fellow-servant in a religious manner : ' I am thy fellow- servant : worship God.' " AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 277 See again, to this purpose, Rev. xxii. 8, 9 : "I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to wor- ship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me. See thou do it not : for I am thy feUow-servant," &c. : " worship God." And whereas some pretend that St. John took the angel to be God, and would have worshipped him with latria, which is proper to God alone ; and therefore the angel says, " See thou do it not : " this is a mere groundless fancy of their own, and not to be made out by the least iota or tittle in the text. And, besides, it is very much that St. John should be mistaken twice in the case ; for he was twice repulsed by the angel : and St. John calls him expressly " an angel : " " I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel : " (verse 8 :) and the angel bids him "worship God." (Verse 9.) By which is intimated, that St. John's mistake was not in the person, but in the worshipping of the person ; for that religious worship, though in the lowest and most inferior degree, is such, that neither saint nor angel durst own or receive. 4. It appears yet further, that "God, and God alone, is and ought to be the object of religious woi'ship," and that " rehgious worship ought not to be given to any creature whatsoever," from the consideration of the nature of worship itself, together with that God that is to he wor- shipped.— Religious worship in solidiim, "as well in one degree as ano- ther," is due to God, and proper only unto him. As there is no propor- tion between God and a creature, because there is an infinite distance between the one and the other ; so it follows, that, if it were possible, there should be an infinite disproportion between the honour that we give to God, and the honour that we give unto a creature. And since the Divine Excellency doth difier in kind from that which is, or can possibly be, in any creature, it necessarily follows, that the worship and honour that is given unto God ought to differ in kind from that worship and honour that we give unto the creature ; so that to give the same worship unto God and to the creature, differing only in degree, is in eflFect to say, that the creature is but in a degree inferior unto God. Unto which I might add, 5. In the fifth place, that if idolatry consists only in giving religious worship) in the highest degree unto a creature, then the Arians are falsely charged with idolatry by ancient and modern divines, for giving religious xvorship unto Christ, who, they say, is but a creature, though the best of creatures. — I suppose that even our adversaries themselves make no scru- ple to charge Arians with idolatry. Now it is not easily to be imagined how the Arians should give latriam, or religious worship in the highest degree, unto Christ, whom they profess to be a creature, and not God ; and if religious worship in an inferior degree may be given unto a crea- ture, why then are they charged with idolatry ? 6. Unto which I might also add, that this will justify at least many of the best and wisest of the Heathens in their superstitious and idolatrous practices, many of the Heathens worshipping the true God by false mediums. — For instance, the men of Athens : " As I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription. To the unknown God. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you ; " 278 SERMON xvr. god not to be worshipped (Acts xvii. 23 ;) and yet the apostle charges them with superstition : " I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious : " (verse 22 ;) the altar was dedicated unto the same God that Paul preached, and yet even in this they were " too superstitious." Thus I have endeavoured to clear this great truth unto you, that " God, and God alone, is and ought to be the object of religious worship," and that "rehgious worship ought not to be given unto any creature what- soever." If it be said, that "rehgious worship upon occasion hath been given unto a creature ; as, for instance, upon God's appearing unto Moses in the burning bush : God said unto Moses, ' Draw not nigh hither : put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.' (Exod. iii. 5.) And thus the Israelites were to worship before the ark, even by the appointment of God himself: ' Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool ; for he is holy.' (Psalm xcix. 5.) Now if so, how is this a truth, that 'God, and God alone, is the object of religious worship ; ' and that ' religious Avorship ought not to be given unto any creature whatsoever ? ' " For the remov- ing of this difficulty, I shall say two things. 1 . That m lohatever place God is pleased to manifest his special and extraordinary presence, that place, during that time, may he said to be holy, or to be sanctified ; and thus it was in the case of the holy ground. — " The Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush." (Exod. iii. 2.) Now, that this Angel of the Lord was God himself, appears from verse 4 : *' WTien the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush : " upon this the Lord said, " Draw not nigh hither : put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." (Verse 5.) And so also as for the ark : God had promised his special presence there, and to "commune" with his people "fi'om above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims which were upon the ark of the testi- mony." (Exod. XXV. 22.) And hence God is said to dwell between the cherubims : " Give ear, 0 Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock ; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth." (Psalm Ixxx. I.) And hence the shewbread that was placed upon a table before the ark is said to be set before God : " Thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway ; " (Exod. xxv. 30 ;) and tliis bread was therefore called panis facierwn, " the bread of faces," and panis propositionis, because it was "placed before" the ai"k. But I shaU add, that there is no place under the gospel that can be said to be holy upon the account of God's special and extraordinary presence. If there be any such, let our adversaries show us where it is, and give us sufficient proof of it ; and we will frankly comply with them, and grant that place to be holy and sanctified. 2. The second, thing that I say is this : that although Moses was to pid off his shoes because the place whereon he stood was holy ground, yea, and that respect was given to the ground because of God'' s special and extra- ordinary ji^'^sence in that place, which was signified by putting off the shoes ; (take this for granted ;) yet hotv doth it appear that the respect given to the ground was religious, or that religious worship ivas given to the ground ? — " O," say our adversaries, " because it was holy." Grant it. AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 2/9 the ground was lioly ; but must it therefore be worshipped rehgiously ? If you form this iuto an argument, it runs thus : Whatever is holy, ought to be worshipped rehgiously : But the Lord tells you the ground was holy : Therefore it ought to be worshipped rehgiously. But who sees not the weakness of the first proposition, namely, that " whatever is holy ought to be worshipped religiously ? " Aaron was holy, and the priests under the law were holy ; but yet we read not that they were worshipped religiously, or with religious worship, either living or dead ; much less did they worship their garments, though they also were holy. We have, or at least we ought to have, a respect for the people of God, as such, as they are rehgious and holy persons ; and yet it doth not follow from hence, that therefore they are rehgiously to be worshipped. Yea, the people of God are holy, if compared with the holy ground itself, in an eminent and transcendent manner ; for " after God," that is, after the image of God, they are " created in righteousness and true holiness," The ground was only capable of relative holiness ; but the people of God are enriched and beautified with inherent hohness ; and are sancti- fied, not only in a way of external relation, as the ground was, but inwardly and inherently in their hearts ; they are sanctified throughout, both in body, soul, and spirit j and yet they are not to be worshipped with religious worship. As for that instance concerning the ark, that also is called " holy : " " Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool ; for he is holy," (Psalm xcix. 5,) so our translation renders it ; or, as it is in the margin of the Bible, " for it is holy : " which way soever you render the words, it is much at one to our purpose ; for although the Jews worship- ped God at his footstool, or before the ark, which was his footstool, yet it doth not appear that they worshipped his footstool, no, not with religious worship in a lesser or inferior degree. The Israehtes might worship God before the ark, and yet not worship the ark. Thus the wise men worshipped Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger ; but yet they did not worship either the clothes or the manger, (Matt, ii, 11.) Thus those that sang " Hosanna to the Son of David," " Hosanna in the highest," worshipped Christ riding upon an ass ; but they did not worship the ass itself. (Matt. xxi. 9.) Whatever respect therefore was given to the ground, or to the ark, it doth not appear that it was religious. If any be offended with the word " civil," and take it to be too low a word in a case of this nature, by my consent we will not be angry about words ; let them call it, if they please, super-civilis ; or if they will but acknowledge that it was not the same worship for kind that we give unto God, the strife, as far as this goes, shall be at an end, and we shall be beholden to them for a better word, when they shall be at leisure to furnish us therewith. IV. APPLICATION. Use I. We may take notice from hence of the superstition and idola- try of the church of Rome, in giving that ivorship that is jjroper unto God, and unto him alone, unto other things. — And here I shall not speak to the idolatry of the church of Rome in the latitude of it ; but take 280 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED occasion to make mention of their ivorshipping of saints, and theii' wor- shipping of images. (I.) Their tvorshipping of saints. — Our adversaries tell us, tliat we do tliem wrong when we say that they give that woi-ship unto the creature that is proper unto God ; and do frankly acknowledge that if they did so, they should make a creature a god, and, by consequence, be guilty of idolatry. But how they will or can acquit themselves in this particular, for my part, I cannot understand : for actions, or gestures, or words, directed to any creature, that do imply that creature to have any of God's incommunicable attributes and divine perfections, do questionless give that honour to the creature which is proper unto God ; and this is done by those of the church of Rome. For instance : when thousands of Papists in thousands of places at one and the same time pray unto saints, and in particular to the Virgin Mary, doth not this suppose the saints, and in particular the Virgin Mary, to be omniscient and omni- present ? And are not these some of God's incommunicable attributes and divine perfections ? And is not the omniscience and omnipresence of God one main ground of religious worship ? And is not God to be invoked every where, because he sees and hears whatsoever is done upon the earth, and is present in all places ? "I will," saith the apostle, " that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." (1 Tim. ii. 8.) We have no reason to lift up holy hands to a saint, unless that saint was every where. And whereas some pretend that the saints may see all things in God, in specnlo Beitatis, " in the glass of the Deity," this glass hath long since been broken by the hand of the learned ; nor is there any thing else hkely to be seen by it but the rashness of some bold persons, who dare to sport with divine things, and aspire unto a wisdom above that which is written, the scripture not in the least making mention of any such thing. Yea, the humanity of Christ himself, though personally united unto the divine nature, did not pretend to it ; for our Saviour, speaking of the day of judgment, doth freely and openly declare to all the world, " Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." (Mark xiii. 32.) Nor can the meaning be that the Son knew not of the day of judgment in this sense, namely, so as to make it known unto the world ; for in that sense the Father himself may be said to know nothing of that day and hour, when he is plainly excepted in the case : " Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." And seeing ope- rari seqniftir esse, and " every being doth exercise its operations in such a way as is suitable to its nature and essence," it is a hard matter to con- ceive that a finite creature can be capable of infinite knowledge, and exercise it accordingly. But I shall not insist upon this, because it is to be managed by another hand ; however, I shall take my liberty to add hereunto two considerations, and so pass on : — 1 . We Protestants acknowledge that we have an honour for the blessed apostles, and martyrs, and saints, and upon occasion give them their due praises, and celebrate their memorials ; but those of the church of Rome, >vl)ilst they would most superstitiously give them that honour that is due AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 281 to God, most unrighteously deny tliem that honour that is due unto them- selves. Is it an honour to the prophets, evangelists, and apostles, to suppress what they wrote, said, and did, from the greatest part of the Christian world, when our Saviour says, upon occasion of a woman's bringing a box of precious ointment, and pouring it upon his head as he sat at meat, that "wheresoever this gospel shoidd be preached, there should also this that this woman had done, be told for a memorial of her?" (Matt. xxvi. 7 — 13.) The apostle's counsel is, "Take, my bre- thren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience." (James v. 10.) Now is it an honour to the prophets for the generality of the people to be kept in such gross ignorance of the holy scriptures, that it is a wonder if millions of them know what kind of persons the prophets were, and whether there were such that ever lived in the world ? Is it an honour to the saints departed to aver, that, for some time at least, and it is hard to know how long, they suffer the same pains and torments for substance that the damned suffer in hell, and that all this time they are deprived of the beatifical vision of God's blessed presence in the other world ? Absalom had rather die, than to live in exile, and not see the king's face : " Let me see the king's face ; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me." (2 Sam. xiv. 32.) And is it a small matter for the saints for many generations to be shut out of the presence of their Heavenly Father, and banished from his sight, who is the " King of kings, and Lord of lords?" (Rev. xix. 16.) Thus the pretended honour that the Papists say they give unto the saints vanishes into air and smoke. 2. That although we have an honour for the blessed apostles, saints, and martyrs, yet we dare not give them religious honour, no, not in any degree whatsoever ; for this is due to God, and proper to him alone : when we attribute that to a creature which is proper and peculiar unto God, we make that a god. Thus Jacob to Rachel, importunately desir- ing children : "Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said. Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb ? " (Gen. xxx. 2.) Thus also when Naaman was sent into Samaria to be cured of his leprosy, and brought a letter to the king of Israel from the king of Syria to that purpose, " saying. Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. It came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said. Am I God, to kdl and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy ? " (2 Kings v. 6, 7.) Thus it is also in the case of worship ; if we give that worship to a creature that is proper unto God, we make it a god : " Thou shalt worship no other god ; " and the reason rendered is this : " For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." (Exod. xxxiv. 14.) God's name is Jealous : and why is his name so ? why is his name Jealoiis ? Because, as men are made known and distinguished by their names from other men, so God is made known by his name Jealous, and distinguished from other gods, from false gods. False gods were not jealous, though their lovers and worshippers went a-whoring after other gods : if they worshipped them, and served them, all was well enough, they were not jealous. But the 282 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED Lord our God is a jealous God, and will not admit of any co-partner or rival in his love, in his worship : " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Thus much for their worshipping of saints. (II.) The second thing I shall mention is their worshipping of images. — This is expressly forbidden by the second commandment : " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." (Exod. xx. 4, 5.) That God had a special regard to religion in this commandment, is plain, 1 . Because it is said, we are not to bow down ourselves to them, nor serve them. 2. Because this commandment belongs to the first table, which con- cerns God's worship and service : and the Papists are transgressors of this commandment ; for they make unto themselves images, and fall down and worship them. And whereas it is urged, that, " suppose the worship of the true God by an image were forbidden by the second commandment, it would fol- low indeed from hence, that it was unlawful to worship God by an image ; but not that it was idolatry : " this is but a pretence ; for to give reli- gious respect to any creature whatsoever is idolatry. Now, that the worship given by Papists unto images is religious, appears, because they tell us, that the worship of an image stays not there, but is referred or carried to the prototype, or thing represented by it ; and therefore must of necessity be the same in kind that is given to God himself. For he that tells you that he doeth it but improperly, indirectly, in this or that manner, acknowledges he doeth the thing, and only tells you the manner how ; and if the manner doth not destroy the thing, then it remains still the same kind of worship, and, for all these distinctions, it is idolatry. And, besides, to comply with any way of worship which is not of thvine appointment and institution is not only a traiisgression of the second commandment, but ought to be accoxinted one kind of idolatry ; and the reason is this, because hereby we give the honour unto a creature which • is proper only unto God ; for as God alone is to be worshipped, so again he alone can appoint the w^ay or means whereby he will be worshipped. And this is so signally a part of his sovereignty and authority over his creature, that implicilly, and by way of intei'pretation, we make them our god unto whom we submit in any way or kind of worship \vhich is not of divine institution. And hence the Israehtes are said to worship devils : " They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a-whoring." (Lev. xvii, 7.) Not that the devil was, at least directly, the object of their worship, but because he hath a great stroke in bringing into the world all kind of false worship ; and men in conformity hereunto pay him that observance and homage that is proper unto God, and in that respect may be said to worship the devil. Our adversaries plead for themselves, that they worship not a false god, nor the image of any false god, but the sacred images of siiints and angels, and the blessed Virgin Mary, and the Ukc ; and that adoration must and ought to be given to those, and that for their sakes whom they AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 283 represent. But if religious respect or honour be given to an image for the sake of him whom it represents, this is an unquestionable argument against the worshipping of images ; for, seeing it- is certain that no religious worship is due unto the saints themselves, much less may it be given to an image for their sakes. And here I shall take an occasion to give you an account of what the council of Trent says concerning images : " That the images of Christ, and of the blessed Virgin-mother of God, and other saints, are to be kept and reserved, especially in churches, and due honour and veneration to be given to them ; " (by " honour and veneration" I suppose they mean more thaii^ civil ;) " not for that any divinity or virtue is beheved to be in them, for which they are to be worshipped, or that any thing ns to be asked of them, or any confidence to be placed in them, as was anciently done by the Heathens, who put their trust in idols ; but because the honour which is exhibited to images is referred to the prototype, or thing represented by them ; so that by the image which we kiss, and before which we kneel or put off our hats, we adore Christ, and reverence his saints, whom the said images represent." (Sess. 25.) Thus that council. Now let us see whether the Jews might not have had the same or the like plea for the purging of themselves from idolatry in their worshipping [of] the brasen serpent in Hezekiah's time. When the brasen serpent had not that healing virtue unto which it was designed by God at first, might not they have said that they gave due honour and veneration to the brasen serpent, not for that any divinity or virtue was believed to be in it, or that any thing was to be asked of it, or any confidence to be placed in it ; but in memory of those great and wonderful cvires that had formerly been wrought by it, and that by the appointment and institution of God himself; and what they did was rather in honour to God, than unto it ; and whatever veneration was given to the brasen serpent, it was for God's sake, and was ultimately to be resolved upon him ? Let the Papists look to it whether they have a better plea for themselves, in their pretended due honour and veneration that they give unto images, than the Jews had for their idolatrous practices. If any should say, " But doth not nature teach us, that the honour or dishonour done to a picture or image, reflects upon the person repre- sented by it ? Is it not an honour to a prince to kiss his picture, and a dishonour to abuse it, or deface it ? And therefore is it not an honour to God to do the hke, and to give due veneration and adoration unto his image ? " For answer to this, take into your consideration these follow- ing particulars : — That it is supposed by this querist, that an image or picture may be made of God ; which ought to be denied, and not taken for granted : " All nations before him are as nothing ; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity." (Isai. xl. 17.) And it follows : "To whom then will ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare unto him ? " (Verse 18.) And why should we make an image of God that is not hke him ? But our adversaries tell us, that images or pictures made with reference unto God, may be considered two ways : in a proper sense : as if a man should conceive God to have eyes, and ears, and hands, and other bodily parts, as we have, and represent him accordingly 284 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED by an image. And this our adversaries themselves acknowledge to be an infinite disparagement unto the divine nature ; because God, being infinite and invisible, can by no means be represented as he is in himself by any corporeal likeness or figure. Or in a metaphorical and allusive sense : as representing such things as bear a certain analogy or propor- tion to some divine properties, and thereupon are apt to raise our minds to the knowledge and contemplation of the perfections themselves : as, when God appeared to Daniel as " the Ancient of days," this was to manifest his wisdom and eternity ; (Dan. vii. 9 ;) and the Holy Ghost as a dove, this was to signify his purity and simplicity. (Matt. iii. 16.) *' Now," say they, " to make an image of God in this sense, is no way dishonourable to him, because it is not made to represent the divine nature by an immediate or proper similitude ; but by analogy only, or metapho- rical signification ; and these images are usually called, by way of dis- tinction, ' symbolical images of God.' " Unto which we say, 1 . That the makinff of amj image of God is forbidden in scripture. — " Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves ; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of -the midst of the fire : lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female : " (Deut. iv. 15, 16:) where God did not forbid them the making of the images of false gods, or that any veneration or worship should be given unto them. This is plain from the text : " Ye saw no manner of simili- tude ; " the meaning is not that they saw no similitude of any false god, but of the God that spake to them in Horeb. Whereupon the Lord gives them this caution : " Take ye therefore good heed to yourselves, lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make yoii a graven image, the similitude of any figure," &c. If it be said, that " they were to take heed lest they corrupted them- selves by making an image of God in a proper sense, as is before explained, but they were not forbidden to make a symboHcal image of God," it is replied, (1.) I demand where there is any ground in that text for such a dis- tinction between a proper and a symbolical image of God. The words of the law are comprehensive and general : " Take heed, lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure : " and the reason rendered by God is, " For ye saw no manner of simili- tude in the day the Lord spake to you in Horeb." Mark ! "no manner of similitude," no, not so much as symbohcal. (2.) Such an image of God is forbidden, that we are to take great heed to ourselves lest we corrupt ourselves in the making of it. Now there is no such great danger for a man to represent God to himself by au image in a proper sense, as if God had eyes, and hands, and feet, as we have ; at least, «uch are not in danger that are any thing acquainted with the holy scriptures, which expressly tell us, that " God is a Spirit," and that he will be worshipped "in spirit and in truth." (John iv. 24.) It is to be feared, indeed, that the poor ignorant laity amongst the Papists may be in some danger by this means : but knowing persons amongst the Protestants, even those of the laity, are not. If it be said, " It is true, the people of Israel saw no similitude on the day that God spake to them AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 285 in Horeb ; but afterwards God made himself known to them by outward figures and simihtudes : to Daniel, as the Ancient of days ; (Dan. vii. 9 ;) to our Saviour, in the shape of a dove : (Matt. iii. 16 :) and, besides, the parts and members of man's body are sometimes in scripture ascribed unto God, as eyes, and hands, and feet, &c. : and why may not we represent God as he hath been pleased to represent himself?" to this it is replied, that God may, as he pleaseth, make known himself unto his people by some visible tokens of his extraordinary presence ; but then consider, (i.) That which God was pleased to do sometimes for holy reasons best known unto himself is not the rule of our actions : the word of God is a sufficient rule, and the only rule ; and if we would know what sin is, and what duty is, we must take our measures from thence. That in matters of worship we may sin, in imitating God himself otherwise than he hath commanded in his word ; we have a famous instance for this in Jero- boam : " Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah ; " (1 Kings xii. 32 ;) and yet you see he is branded for this by the Spirit of God in the scriptures. (ii.) We never read that Moses and the prophets took care that any figure or image should be made of God, no, not a symboUcal image ; and it is very strange that they should be so much wanting to themselves, and to the generation wherein they Hved, if they were such excellent helps to devotion as some pretend. (iii.) Though God sometimes by outward figures and similitudes gave notice of his extraordinary presence, yet it was to persons eminent for holiness, and of great and singular wisdom in divine things ; as Abra- ham, Moses, Daniel, and such-like worthies, and such as were able to give a right judgment of things of this nature : but when God spake unto the people in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, they saw no man- ner of simihtude, lest they might corrupt themselves in the making of a graven image, and might have gross and carnal notions concerning God. And, indeed, I cannot but wonder at our adversaries, when they call images " laymen's books," or " the books of the unlearned." Had the use of images been appropriated to the more knowing and learned per- sons, it woidd have been more tolerable ; there might be some pretence that such persons might from sensible and material representations be raised up to divine and heavenly meditation, even of things surpassing sense : but to conceive that the vulgar and ignorant sort of people, (and the generahty of people are so, and ought to be so according to the Popish principles,) — I say, to think that they who are in a manner made up altogether of sense should be taught to worship an infinite, spiritual, invisible Being, by fixing their eyes upon finite, corporeal objects of sense, seems to me to be the first-born of incredibilities. And whereas it is said that we cannot conceive of God but by forming ideas of him in our minds, which are so many pictures and representa- tions of God : this is true ; but then withal we must consider, that these forms and representations of God in our fancies arise from our natural con- stitution, from our finite and corporeal nature, and ought to be bewailed ; and therefore [this] is no argument for worshipping God in any cor- 286 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED poreal form ; for this may betray us so much the more to gross and undue notions and conceptions concerning God, Nor are our imagina- tions to guide our understanding ; but our understandings must rectify and regulate our imaginations. (iv.) These outward figures and signs of God's special and extraordi- nary presence continued only for a time, and for some extraordinary ser- \ice for which God had designed them, and then disappeared ; and it is absurd for any to think that which was by peculiar and extraordinary dis- pensation should become a constant and ordinary rule unto all genera- tions. (v.) It is true, that the parts and members of man's body are some- times ascribed unto God in scripture, as eyes, and hands, and feet, &c. ; but it is ridiculous from tropes and metaphors and figurative expressions to form an argument for pictures and images. For if so, we may repre- sent God as the sun, as a fountain, as fire, as a rock; and Christ as a hen, with chickens under his wings ; for these are ascribed to God and Christ in scripture ; and yet I conceive that Papists themselves would not give any countenance to pictures of this nature. Unto which might be added, that it is not Hkely that we should be misled into error by such passages as those, when the scripture elsewhere tells us expressly that " God is a Spirit :" but these pretended images of God speak not, nor give us any notice of our danger. Yea, in those very places of scripture, at least some of them, where eyes and hands and jfeet are ascribed unto God, we may find enough to prove that God is infinite and incomprehensible. For instance : when it is said that heaven is God's throne, and the earth his footstool ; (Isai. Ixvi. 1 ;) where at first view it seems to be insinuated, as if God had feet, and made use of the earth as his footstool ; yet if we seriously consider the whole as it is ascribed unto God, we shall find that it plainly enough speaks God to be an infinite Being. For when it is said, that the whole heaven is God's throne, and the whole earth his foot- stool, it would not only be absurd, but monstrously ridiculous, for any to conceive that a body like unto man's should be capable of such qualifica- tions, as at the same time to make heaven its throne, and the earth its footstool. So when God is said to deliver Israel by a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm, there is no man can understand it thus, as if God stretched forth his arm out of heaven upon the earth for the deliverance of his people ; but that by God's "arm" is meant God's "power," and that it is called his "hand" or "arm" improperly and after the man- ner of men. Thus the holy scriptures have well provided for the people of God against errors and mistakes concerning God. But how the pre- tended images of God may acquit themselves in this particidar, our adver- saries should do well to advise. Arid therefore let me caution you in God's name, lest you con'upt yourselves in making any graven image of God ; and I do it so much the rather, because men have a great fancy to have a god that they may see with their eyes, or at least some visible representations of God ; for they think, if he should be out of sight, he would be out of mind also. And hence Papists, and Popishly-affected persons, are more for being at Mass, than for hearing of a sermon ; they had rather see their God, than hear another speak eloquently of him : and therefore take heed, lest ye corrupt yourselves in this kind. AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 287 And this is the first thing that I would say to this inquiiy, — whether it be not an honour to God that due veneration and adoration be given to his image or picture ; namely, that this supposes that an image or picture may be made of God, which we deny. 2. The second thing that I would say by way of reply to this inquiry, is this : that civil honour may he paid to the images of kings and princes ; but it doth not follow from hence, that the images of Christ and of the saints may have a religious respect paid to them. — The images of kings and princes are civil things, and therefore may have civil honour. If the images of Christ and the saints were sacred, as the other are civil, there might be some coloiir for what they say ; but that they are sacred or holy is to be proved, and till then we leave it to our adversaries to take it into consideration. 3. That it is granted that the abuse or the defacing of the image of a prince redounds to the dishonour of that prince whom it represents ; but I hope no indignity is offered to a prince by breaking a-pieces those 2Jictures that he had expressly forbidden should be graven, or painted, or made, and that tinder a severe penalty. — Indeed the abuse of those things that are of divine institution, as of the elements in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, or the water in baptism, doth redound unto God himself; but what is this to an image of man's devising, and that not only with- out any warrant from God, but expressly against his will and command- ments ? If a man shoidd break a-pieces or throw into the fire the coin that comes into his hands that is false or counterfeit, though it had the prince's image or stamp upon it, yet it would be no dishonour to the prince to deal so by it, but rather a piece of homage and reverence to his authority. For the further clearing of this matter in controversy between us and our adversaries of Rome, concerning the veneration and adoration that they say may be given to images, we will consider that images may be worshipped two manner of ways. 1 . Terminative ; that is, when people " terminate " their worship on an image, as if it were God, without looking any further than it. And this is likely to be the sin of the more brutish sort of the blind Heathens, and of many ignorant Papists to this day. And this kind of idolatiy is forbidden by the first commandment. This is plain upon this ground : if the first commandment expressly enjoins us to have no other gods but Jehovah, then to worship an image as God is forbidden by this command- ment : so that by " making a graven image," in the second command- ment, and " falhng down before it," and worshipping of it, sometliing else must be understood than the worshipping of it terminative as God ; and therefore, 2. Images may be worshipped relative, and "with respect" to the true God ; and in this sense our adversaries of the church of Rome would maintain their worship of images. Now this also is unlawful, and for- bidden by the second commandment. In this sense the Papists in our days are guilty of idolatry, and the Jews of old were guilty of idolatry ; for the Jews, at least many of them, did not worship the images them- selves, but the true God by them ; and this will appear by instances out of the sacred scripture. 288 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED (1.) The first instance that I shall give you shall be that of the golden calf, of which we read in Exod. xxxii. That the worshipping of the calf was idolatry, is plain : " Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them ; as it is written. The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play;" (1 Cor. x. 7;) where the apostle refers to the people's wor- shipping of the calf : " They rose early on the morrow, and offered burnt- offerings, and brought peace-offerings ; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play ;" (Exod. xxxii. 6 ;) and yet the Israel- ites did not fall into the heathenish idolatry by so doing, that is, they did not worship the calf as God, but worshipped the true God by the calf. I know, the Papists with great bitterness inveigh against the Protestants for teaching of this doctrine ; nor do I wonder at it ; for what is likely to become of the Popish darling principle of worshipping the true God by an image, if the Israelites, for doing the same thing, according to the judgment of God himself, were idolaters ? Now therefore that which will be proved is this, that the Israehtes did not worship the calf as God, but the true God by the calf ; and that will appear by these following con- siderations : — (i.) Because the calf was dedicated and consecrated to the service of the true God, as appears by what Aaron said and did in that case : *' When Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it ; and Aaron made procla- mation, and said. To-morrow is a feast to the Lord," or " unto Jehovah ;" (Exod. xxxii. 5 ;) and Aaron useth the name Jehovah, that he might make the best of a bad matter, that the people might not terminate their wor- ship on the idol, but on the true God. And our adversaries seem to yield to the force of this scripture, when they do acknowledge, that Aaron perhaps, and some of the wiser amongst the Israehtes, might not be so sottish as to worship the calf as God. But they should consider also, that Aaron did not speak so much his own sense, but by this means would give notice to the people how to regulate and order their devotion ; and if they would be so mad as to worship the calf, in so doing they should have respect unto the true God, unto Jehovah, and worship him by it ; and accordingly he makes " proclamation," and says, " To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah." If it be said, " The idol was called by the name Jehovah, and therefore they worshipped that as God ; " we reply, that this is gratis dictum, " said, but not proved : " for Aaron doth not say, " To-morrow is a feast to the calf Jehovah," but, " To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah." And suppose it were so, that the calf was called Jehovah, this may be under- stood of that religious worship and honour which they gave unto the calf, which is so proper and pecuhar unto God, that either that is God which we thus worship, or else we make it so. In Psalm cvi. 19, 20, it is said of Israel, " They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus fhey changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass." The meaning is not, that the Israehtes thought that God in his nature and being was like unto an ox ; but by giving the calf religious honour, by worshipping the graven image, by giving that glory which is due to God unto an ox, they did, in a sense, " change their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass." Thus when Israel is charged with " saying to a stock. Thou art my father ; and to a stone, AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. • 289 Thou hast brought me forth," (Jer. ii. 27,) this is not to be understood strictly : surely, they had been grosser stocks than those that they wor- shipped, if it entered into their thoughts that a stock made them, or was their father, or a stone brought them forth ; but because they gave some religious respect to those stocks and stones, they did in a sense change the glory of God into a stock, and into a stone ; and, by interpretation, say " to a stock. Thou art my father ; and to a stone. Thou hast brought me forth." (ii.) It further appears, that the Israelites did not worship the calf itself as God, but the true God by the calf, as by what Aaron said, so by what the people said : " These be thy gods, 0 Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." (Exod. xxxii. 4.) Now though they say " gods," because the word in the Hebrew is in the plural number ; yet, according to the usage of the word in other places of scripture, we must understand by it " one God ; " and so the scripture expounds it else- where : " This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt." (Neh. ix. 18.) They called the calf " God" by an usual metonymy, by giving of the name of the thing signified unto the sign ; as the images of the chfirubims are called " cherubims," .(Exod. xxv. 18,) and the images of oxen are called "oxen." (1 Kings vii. 25.) So then the meaning of this scripture is this : " These be thy gods, 0 Israel ; " that is to say, " This is the sign and token of the presence of thy God, 0 Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And, indeed, had the calf been God, according to the notion of the idolatrous Heathens, the calf would rather have kept them in Egypt, than have brought them out of Egypt. For look : as those of the church of Rome have their tutelar saints, some to preside over some countries, and some over others ; some to be helpful and assistant in one case, and some in another ; so the Heathens had their tutelar and topical gods. The gods of Egypt themselves would not stir out of Egypt ; much less were they Hkely to bring Israel from thence. The Heathens thought that the whole world was of too large a compass for one god to take care of ; and therefore their notion was, that several countries had several gods ; yea, several places, it may be, in one and the same country, had several gods, " Their gods," say the Syrians of the IsraeUtes, " are gods of the hUls," (possibly collecting the same from the Jews' usual sacrificing in high places,) and not the god of the plain ; *' let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they." (1 Kings xx. 23.) "It is likely that one god cannot be the god of the hdls, and the god of the plain." And hence it is that the people that the king of Assyria sent to the cities of Samaria, and placed there, are said not to know the manner of the God of the land, that is, the God of Israel, as distinct from the God of Judah. (2 Kings xvii. 26.) These were the notions that the Heathens had of their gods ; and there- fore if the Israehtes were such gross idolaters as our adversaries pretend they were, how could they say ? — " These are thy gods, 0 Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." (iii.) It appears yet further, that the Israelites did not worship the calf itself as God, but the true God by the calf, from that text of scrip- ture : " They made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, VOL. VI, U 290 • SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED and gave tliem up to worship the host of heaven." (Acts vii. 41, 42.) It is said, that sacrifice notes the highest piece of worship and devotion ; this is said ; but it is more than evident that the Israehtes had a respect to the true God, even when they offered sacrifice unto the idol : for it is said, when the Israelites offered sacrifice unto the calf, that " God gave them up to worship the host of heaven." Now if their idolatry had consisted in worshipping the calf as God, it will be found to be more gross and absurd than to worship the host of heaven ; at least, it could not have been an aggravation of their sin that they worshipped the host of heaven above their worshipping of the calf, which is St. Stephen's scope in this place. The meaning therefore of this scripture is this, — that because they corrupted the worship of the true God in worshipping of the calf, contrary to his command, therefore God in judgment gave them up to the worshipping of those that were not gods, namely, the host of heaven. " But is it not said that ' they forgat God their Saviour ? ' (Psalm cvi. 21.) And doth not this imply that they had renounced the woi'ship of the true God, and worshipped the calf as God ? " I answei-. No ; this must not be understood as if they did not remember God at all ; no, ^aor yet the great things which he had done in Egypt : but they are said to forget him, because they were not mindful of his precepts, and had no regard unto his laws ; and particularly that law, " Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image." They who do not obey God, do not, as they ought, remember God ; and in this sense the Israelites are said to forget God, not because they worshipped the calf as a false god, but transgressed, in worshipping of the calf, the law of the true God. " But what need had the Israelites of the calf, as a sign of God's pre- sence going before them, when they had already the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, designed by God for this very end ? " But what trifling is this ! What need had they to long after the garlic and onions of Egypt, when God had provided for them manna, the food of angels, bread from heaven ? What need had David to contrive the death of his good subject Uriah, and after this to marry Bathsheba his wife ? Yea, what need have the Papists themselves of crucifixes, when they have the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper, memoirs, of divine appointment and institution, of Christ's death and passion ? Would it not be ridiculous to say ? — " They had no need to do it ; therefore they did it not." And supposing that the people should be so stupid, as some pretend they were, as to think that there was a divine virtue inherent in the calf; yet this doth not prove that they worshipped the calf as God : for if so, the Jews might conclude that the hem of Christ's garment, and the handkerchief and shadow of the apostles, were gods, because a divine virtue seemed to go forth from them ; yea, and the brasen serpent might be thought to' have been God, because the stung Israehte was healed by looking up to the brasen serpent. And whereas it is urged that "the Israehtes served the gods of the Egyptians whilst they were in Egypt : ' Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth : and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt ;' (Joshua xxiv. AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 291 14 ;) and tlie scripture, speaking of Israel, tells us, 'They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image;'" (Psalm ovi. 19;) iu answer to this, we say, that it is not unusual for God to charge a people going on in ways of wickedness and disobedience with that which is suit- able enough with what they do and the intention of the work, though far enough off from the design and intention of the worker. Thus the apostle tells us, that covetousness is idolatry, and that there are some, that make their belly their god ; and yet the persons concerned [are] far enough off either from professing or designing any thing of this nature. Thus the Israelites " made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image," because they gave religious worship to it ; though their design and intention was far different from the idolatry of the Heathens, that worshipped idols, or false gods. Thus I have endeavoured to clear the first instance that may be given of the Jews' committing idolatry by their worshipping of images, though they did not worship the images them- selves, but the true God by them ; and having been so large in this, there needs but a few words to be spoken to the rest. (2.) A second instance may be that of Jeroboam, in his infamous sin in setting up ' calves at Dan and Bethel, whereby he made Israel to sin. Now it was not Jeroboam's design to withdraw the people alto- gether from the worship of the true God, or the worshipping of those calves as gods ; but to worship the true God by them : and that for these reasons : — (i.) The great design of Jeroboam in this was, that he might secure the ten tribes unto himself, so that they might not think of returning to unite themselves any more to the house of David, which might pos- sibly come to pass by their going up to Jerusalem ; as appears from 1 Kings xii. 26, 27 : " And Jeroboam said in his heart. Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David : if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people return again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Uehoboam king of Judah : " and hence that saying of his : " It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem ; " (verse 28 ;) as if he should say, " Ye may worship God nearer home." (ii.) That it was not Jeroboam's design to withdraw the people alto- gether from the worship of the true God will further appear, because the idolatry of Jeroboam is distinguished from the idolatry of the Heathens Jlbroad that worshipped false gods ; yea, from the idolatry of their idola- trous kings at home, as that of Ahab : " And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above aE that were before him : " (1 Kings xvi. 30 :) so that Ahab's idolatry was more heinous than Jeroboam's. And what other reason can likely be rendered for it than this, namely, Ahab's setting up of false gods ? For whereas it is pretended that *' Ahab's sin was greater than Jeroboam's, because Ahab's sin was the worshipping of many gods, whereas Jeroboam's sin was worshipping the calf ; as he is a greater and more heinous sinner that commits adultery with many, than he that commits it but with one : " this is but a pre- tence ; for it remains to be proved, that the Israelites did at any time, yea, in the worst of times, altogether renounce the true and living God ; u 2 292 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED but, in their conceit, yea, in their profession, [did] acknowledge the true God still. And hence it is that you shall read, that Ahab's prophets, that were the prophets of Baal, did yet prophesy in the name of the Lord : " And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron : and he said. Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them. And all the prophets pi'ophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper ; for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand." (1 Kings xxii. 11, 12.) So that the difference between Jeroboam's and Ahab's idolatry lay here : Jeroboam's idolatry consisted in worshipping of the true God by an image ; but Ahab's idolatry was not only in worshipping the true God by an image, as Jeroboam's did, but in worshipping other gods beside him, namely, Baal-gods. (3.) A third instance might be that of Micah and his mother. (Judges xvii.) Though his mother made a graven image, yet that it was for the worshipping of the God of Israel appears by the whole story. She pro- fesses, in verse 3, that she had wholly dedicated the silver that was to make a graven image and a molten image unto the Lord ; and Micah himself consecrates a Levite for his priest, that is, seeming thereby to have respect to the true God in the worship he had designed ; and when he had done so, he professes, " Now know I that the Lord wUl do me good, seeing T have a Levite to my priest : " (verse 1 3 :) yet upon this account his mother and himself also were idolaters. Use II. As we may take notice of the superstition and idolati'y, so of the fraud and treachery, of the church of Rome, in leaimig the second commandment, or at least the far greatest part of it, out of some of their hooks. — For this I shall mention their " Roman Catechism," authorized by the council of Trent, and published by the edict of pope Pius V. ; where, speaking of the first commandment, (for Papists make first and second to be but one,) they recite it thus, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me : Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image," and supply the rest with an " &c." As also a book called Manipulua Curatorum, containing in brief the offices of priests, according to the order of seven sacraments, by Guido de Monte, written a. d. 1333, where the second commandment is wholly omitted. As also a book called Opuscidum tripartitum, de Prceceptis Decalogi, de Confessione, et Arte Moriendi, by John Gerson, chancellor of Paris. Now this is a horrible piece of fraud and treachery, and accordingly disowned and decried by the Reformed churches. Now, for the further clearing and more distinct understanding of this matter, it will become us to take into consideration, that this is granted on all hands, — that there are ten commandments of the moral law, called therefore " the Decalogue ; " and that these ten commandments are divided into two tables : but how many belong unto the first table, and how many unto the second, — that indeed is a question. The Protestants, or those that may be called Calvinists, in opposition to the Lutherans, ascribe four commandments to the first table, and six to the second. The Papists and Lutherans, making the first and second commandment to be but one, ascribe three commandments to the first table, and seven to the second ; and, to make up the number of ten, divide that which we call the tenth commandment into two, — the one, " Thou shalt not covet thy AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 293 neiglibour's house ;" and the other, " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife, nor his man-servant," &c. Now this distinction of the command- ments, together with their presumptuous leaving out of the second com- mandment out of the Decalogue, is not allowed by the churches called " Reformed," for these reasons : — 1 . Because by this means they sacrilegiously take away a commandment of God relating to his worship and service. — For as by the first command- ment we are forbidden to worship false gods, or the images of false gods ; so by the second commandment we are forbidden to worship the true God in a false way, or after a false manner ; and in particular the wor- shipping of images, or the worshipping of the true God by an image. Now they of the church of Rome, being aware of this, and that they might have a covert for their idolatrous worship, make the first and second commandment to be but one, and presumptuously leave the second commandment out of the Decalogue, 2. That supposing the second commandment (for so we say it is) was only an appendix to the first, and an explication of it, yet it is a horrible presumption to leave this exjjlication out of their books, and particularly out of their Catechism. — The law of God ought to be made known unto the people perfect and entire, as it was dehvered by God himself : surely God hath not given to any, no, not to the best and wisest amongst the sons of men, the power of a Beleatur [" Let it be blotted out "] with reference to his holy and blessed law. And if that which we say is the second commandment may be^ased out of our books because it is an explication of the first, by the same reason we may blot out the whole tenth commandment out of the Decalogue, because it is an explication of the whole moral law, and especially of the second table, according to the notice given us by Christ himself : "I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her bath committed adultery with her aheady in his heart." (Matt. v. 28.) And whereas it is urged, that " in the rehearsal of the commandments, our Saviour himself doth not keep exactly to the words and syllables as you have them upon record in Exod. xx., nor to the same order : as, when one came to Christ, and said to him, ' Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life 1 ' our Saviour answers him, ' If thou wilt enter into hfe, keep the commandments ; ' and when he saith unto him, ' Which ? ' Christ answers, ' Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness, and. Honour thy father and thy mother.' (Matt. xix. 16 — 19.) And thus Moses, reciting the commandments, interserts some- thing when he speaks of the fourth commandment : * Keep the sabbath- day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,' &c. ' And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm : therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath-day.'" (Deut. v. 12 — 15.) All this must be acknow- ledged ; but then there is a difference between doing this sometimes and upon occasion, and to do it frequently and designedly ; and where there are but ten commandments, most sacrilegiously and irreverently to deprive the people of one of them. 294 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE "WORSHIPPED 3. No sufficient reason can he rendered tohy that which we say is the tenth commandment should be divided into two ; but rather that it is one, and no more, and that the purport and scope of this commandment is, to forbid the coveting of any thing that is our neighbour's. — And if "we may take the boldness to make the coveting of our neighbour's house one commandment, and the coveting of our neighbour's wife another, we may, by the same reason, make another of coveting our neighbour's servant, and another of coveting his ox, or his ass, and so make twelve or thirteen commandments, or rather as many commandments as the things are that we covet. In a word : the Papists' wilful dechning the printing and publishing [of] the second commandment for the people's use doth give any impartial observer sufficient cause to suspect that they themselves take it to be against their cause. And supposing that it should be granted, that three commandments belong to the first table, and seven to the second, yet it looks like a piece of fraud and unfaithful- ness to suppress any thing of the law, concerning which our Saviour tells us, that not one iota or tittle of it shall fall to the ground. Use III. is this. Learn from hence that there is a sweet harmony and suitableness and correspondency between divine tniths delivered unto us in the Old Testament and iti the New. — Moses, in Deuteronomy, teacheth us, to fear the Lord ovir God, and serve him ; our Saviour, in St. Mat- thew, teaches us, that we must worship the Lord our God, and him only must we serve. Take the word of God ; whether you consider the Old Testament or the New, the incomparable fitness and proportion of the truths and doctrines contained in them one unto another is one great character of the divinity of the scriptures ; and therefore those doctrines that are urged as matters of faith, and yet have no suitableness and correspondency with those principles which are owned and acknowledged to be divine truths, but justle with them, and may be considered apart and in a separate way fi'om them, are to be suspected for delusions and mistakes. I shall take my liberty here (though not designed for the management of that subject) to instance in the doctrine of transubstauti- ation. We tell our adversaries, that if we deny our senses in those things wherein it is proper for them to give a judgment, (as we must, in case we believe that the sacramental elements, after consecration, are transubstantiated into the very body and blood of Christ,) then all religion will fall to the ground ; we cannot certainly know either what we read or what we hear ; nor could they that lived in our Saviour's time certainly know that there was such a person living upon the earth ; and all the miracles that he wrought, for aught they knew, might be delusions, and a mere deception of their senses : so that if sense was not to be believed, Christianity itself must have fallen to the ground. This cannot be denied. But then they say that this one instance of trausubstantiution ought to be excepted from the general rule, and ought to have its place apart, and in this particular case our senses ought to be over-ruled. Now this, amongst other things, makes the doc- trine of transubstantiation to be suspected, because it hath not a suit- ableness to other matters, whereby the verity of Christian religion was pros'cd and made good unto the world. Look as it is in other cases : consider the works of God ; there appears a marvellous correspondence AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 295 between them : the world hath its parts so united one to another, that neither the heaven, nor the earth, nor any of the elements, can be taken away without the ruin of the whole. And thus it is with the princi- ples of Christian religion, and especially the great truths of Christianity ; take away one, and you in a manner take away all the rest. For instance : the doctrine of the Trinity hath many principles of Christianity that faU-in with it : the incarnation of the Son of God falls-in with it ; the death and passion of the Son of God fall-in with it ; the satisfaction of the Son of God made unto divine justice falls-in with it. But you may take away the doctrine of transubstantiation, and all the principles of Christian religion will remain unshaken, yea, untouched, the doctrine of the sacraments not excepted : the sacrament of baptism will not suffer in the least by it ; no, nor the sacrament of the Lord's supper itself : for if baptism be a sacrament without transubstantiation, why may not the Lord's supper also ? But this I take notice of only in transitu and " by the way," and so pass on. Use IV. Itet this caution us against superstition and all false ivorsJiip. — It is the great interest and concern of the church of Christ, to keep the worship of God pure and uncorrupt. It is to be acknowledged that Satan is a great enemy to the truths of God, as well as to the worship of God ; yet his design is rather that the worship of God be corrupted, than the truths of God be perverted : for he knows tliat it is possible for religion to be depraved in some points, and yet many may keep them- selves from defilement, and niay not be tainted with the errors of the place where they live, or the church unto which they do belong, provided the worship of God be kept pure and uncorrupt ; but if once the worship of God be publicly corrupted by superstition and idolatry, it is next to an impossibility if the infection do not spread over the face of the whole church, and by consequence there can be no communion with that church without sin : and hence the great business of Popery is, coming to Mass. It may be, some Papists, at least such as are moderate, may allow you to adhere to some Protestant principles, if you will come to the Mass ; but that is indispensable. Use v. As this should caution us against false worship in the general, so against loorshipping of God hy an image in particular. — God is very jealous lest his woi'ship should be given unto images ; and hence none of the commandments are grounded upon his jealousy but the second, which is against images ; and we are very prone to superstition and will- worship in this kind. God expresseth himself most largely in the second and fourth commandments, because men are more than ordinarily inchn- able to be transgressors of these two. A man is easily counselled that he must not kill, that he must not steal ; but that God is to be worshipped only in that way which he hath prescribed in his word, and that the Lord's day, the Christian sabbath, is to be kept holy, — this must be enforced upon us, and we had need of " hne upon line " to further us in these duties ; as where the tide is wont to run and bear up with greater force and violence than is visual in other places, the banks that are made ■for the preventing of the breaking-in of the water, had need to be made so much the higher and the stronger. And whereas it is said that idols may not be worshipped, but images may ; it is high presumption to 296 SERMON XVI. GOD NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED distinguish where God hath not. The second commandment tells us, that we are not to make to ourselves " any graven image, or the likeness of any thing ; " and it expressly forbids us to " fall down before it, and worship it : " and surely it must needs be of dangerous consequence, in things that concern God's worship and service, to endeavour to elude the force and power of any law of God by a distinction of our own devising. Use vr. is to counsel you to keep yourselves from idols. — Thus St. John: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 John v. 21.) Idols ! what are they ? Some will tell you, that there is this difference between an image and an idol : " An image," say they, " is a representa- tion of something that hath a real being and existence ; an idol, of some- thing that is feigned, and hath no being but in the minds and fancies of men : and that is the meaning," say they, " of that place of scripture : 'We know that an idol is nothing in the world.'" (1 Cor, viii. 4.) But this is a strange mistake ! It is true, the apostle says, ** An idol is nothing : " but how ? Not in respect of the matter of it ; for so it is something, gold, or silver, or stone : no, nor in regard of the thing repre- sented by it ; for an idol doth not always represent things feigned, and such as have no existence but in the imaginations of men, as sphinxes, tritons, centaurs, and the hke ; but many times things that are real, things that are in heaven, and things that are on earth, as they are mentioned in the second commandment. Nor is it to be imagined, amongst those multitudes of images which were worshipped by the Hea- thens, but that some of them at least might represent such things as had a real being and existence. And yet all such as were worshipped by them, are expressly by the apostle called " idols : " "Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led." (1 Cor. xii. 2.) But the meaning of the apostle is this : An idol is nothing in point of virtue and efficacy ; nothing at all conducing unto salvation ; and, in particular, that it hath no power at all either to sanc- tify or to pollute those meats which were offered unto them, of which the apostle speaks in that chapter. An idol is said to be nothing in the same sense as circumcision is said to be nothing, and uncircumcisiou nothing ; (I Cor. vii. 19 ;) that is, in point of vii'tue and efficacy : and so the apostle explains himself elsewhere : " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision ; but faith that workcth by love." (Gal. v. 6.) The to formnle ["formality"] of an idol consists in this, that it is religiously worshipped ; insomuch [that] that which was no idol before, immediately upon its being worshipped becomes an idol : thus the brasen serpent, that was no idol before, upon its being worshipped became an idol ; thus it was with the sun, and moon, and stars, when the people worshipped them, and burnt incense to them, they became idols. Now the cojinscl that I give you, or rather St. John [gives you], is this: "Keep yourselves from idols:" they that woidd not be idolaters, must keep themselves from idols, from all things that may be enticements to that sin : in the commandments where a sin is forbidden, all entice- ments and provocations to that sin are also forbidden, ^^^len God says, " Tliou shalt not commit adultery," the meaning of this commandment, according to the exposition that our Saviour himself makes of it, is, that AS REPRESENTED BY AN IMAGE. 297 we must not "look upon a woman to lust after her." And Solomon, speaking of a harlot, gives this counsel : " Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house." (Prov. v. 8.) And holy Job " made a covenant with his eyes," not to " think upon a maid." (Job xxxi. 1.) When God would forbid the sin of injustice, see how he expresses it : " Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small." (Deut. xxv. 13.) It was a sin for a man to have a great and a small weight in his bag : and why so ? Suppose a great and a small weight were found in a man's bag, he might say, " How doth it appear that I have sold wares by one weight, and taken up wares by another ? " But God would not have them lay such a snare before themselves ; and therefore forbids them to have in their bags " divers weights, a great and a small." So it is in this case, when we have a caution given us against idols: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols;" the Holy Ghost seems to meet with a secret objection that might be made by some : "We hate idolatry : but yet to have images to put us in mind of God, and to quicken our devotion, provided we give them not religious worship, as others do, — we hope there is no harm in this." Yes, there is. You must not only keep yourselves from idolatry, but you must "keep yourselves from idols." Those of the church of Rome charge Protestants as if they had a mind to abohsh and root out of the minds of men the memory of the blessed apostles, confessors, and martyrs, by inveighing against sacred images and holy relics ; but this is just as if a man should take upon him the boldness to say, that because God buried the body of Moses " in a valley in the land of Moab, and no man knoweth of his sepulchi'e to this day," (Deut. xxxiv. 6,) God's design in all this was to blot out the memorials of Moses from the face of the whole earth. Use VII. Let us prat/ unto God, that he ivould famish all the gods of the earth. — Famishing of idols is a scripture-phrase : " The Lord will be terrible unto them : for he will famish all the gods of the earth ; and men shall worship him." (Zeph. ii. 11.) The Psalmist, speaking of God's providence over his creatures, tells us : " The eyes of all wait upon thee ; and thou givest them their meat in due season : " (Psalm cxlv. 15 :) but an idol is none of God's creatures : an idol hath eyes and sees not, ears and hears not, mouth and tastes not. But you will say, " How then can God famish them ?" Thus : if we would know what it is to famish the gods of the earth, then we must consider what their meat is : their meat is that worship, and service, and honour, which is given them by the sons of men. Now, when God is made the sole object of reUgious worship, when men turn from dumb idols to" serve the living God, and him only, then God famishes the gods of the earth, takes away their meat from them, and then men shall worship him : and let aU good people say, "Amen. So be it." 298 SERMON XVII. PUBLIC PRAYER SHOULD BE SERMON XVII. (IX.) BY THE REV. NATHANAEL VINCENT, A.M. OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. PUBLIC PRAYER OUGHT NOT TO BE MADE IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. PUBLIC PRAYER SHOULD BE IN A KNOWN TONGUE. / will pray with the spirit, and I toill pray lolth the understanding also^ — 1 Corinthians xiv. 15. The Spirit of God, foreseeing that in the latter days there would be an apostasy and departure from the" faith, and that impiou? and corrupt doctrines would be pubhshed by men of corrupt minds, hath so compiled the holy scriptures, that from thence even those errors which arose long after tlie time of the apostles may be detected and confuted. With very good reason did Tertullian say, Adoro scriptur(B plenitudinem,'^ " I adore the fulness of the scripture." The perfection and sufficiency of it must needs be granted by all that understand it, and that will believe the testimony which it gives concerning itself. It is " profitable " Ts^oq S;Sa] tov i)\iov XeyofjisvYj Yjixspa., tuavTcov kchtu -moXsig »j aypovg [xsvovTCtiv e-Tn to auTO o-uveXsv(Tig yiVcTtxi, kch to. a.7ro[j,VYi[xove'J~ fx,otTCi Toov aTTOCTToAwv >j TO, arvyypaix[/,otTa. toov tjrpo^i^TMV avayJvoJcrxsTa* {/,e^pig ey^cupet. Kira. •cj-aucraju-evou tov ccvayivoo(rxovTog, 6 'rzpos)- (Tscug 'STOienoci. Ettsitu avKTrafxeQct x.oivr) -nruvTsg, xai sv^ag OTe/x.7ro/x.=v xa« 'S7ai)(rcx.[x,evctiV riixaiv rrjj £"%»)?, apTog 'STpo(r)V eJTTSJV fjt.r} Zuvcltui' (Xoyoig \Byo[/.zVoii in 1 Epist. ad Corinth. :) "Take notice," says he, "how the apostle does always seek the church's edification, liy ' the unlearned man,' Paul means the lay- man ; and shows how this unlearned person does sustain a very great loss, when prayers are made in such a language as [that] he, through want of understanding, is not able to say Amen to them." I shall add unto these passages of the fathei's, a Constitution of the . emperor Justinian. Emperors of old wei'e reverenced by the church, though now the pope endeavours to lord it over them. The Constitution is thus : Jubemus oinnes episcopos, ^'c. : (Xovellce, Constit. 123 :) " We command that all bishops ami presbyters do celebrate the holy oblation, and prayers used in holy baptism, not speaking low, but with a eleia* • N'lKOiLii JEncid. ii. 274. IN A KNOWN TONGUE. 307 voice wliicli may be heard by the people, that thereby the minds of the people may be stirred up with greater devotion in uttering the praises of the Lord God." And for tliis is cited 1 Cor. xiv. 16 : "How shall the unlearned say Amen, if he does not understand what is spoken ? " And then it foUow^s, " If the priests neglect these things, the judgment of God and Christ will fall on them ; neither will we," says the emperor, " when we know it, rest and leave it unrevenged." But now let us hear the Romish doctors themselves, speaking to the question in hand. Cardinal Cajetan has these words : Ex hue Pauli dactrinu habetur, quod melius est ad (edijicationem ecclesice, orationes jjublicas, qucB audiente j)opulo dicuntur, did lingua communi clericis et jjopulo, quum did Latine : (Comment, in 1 Cor. xiv.) " From this doctrine of the apostle Paul it follows, that it is better for the edification of the church, that the public prayers which the people hear should be made in that language which both the priests and people understand, than that they should be made in Latin." Here I cannot choose but cry out, Magna est Veritas, " Great is truth, and it will prevail ! " Behold, a cardinal of the Romish church speaks as plainly against the council of Trent as any whom they nickname " heretics" can ! The next Romish author is Nicojlaus de Lyra ; who, glossing upon the same chapter, speaks to the same purpose : Si jjopulus intelliyut ora- tionem sive benedictionem sacerdotis, melius reducitur in Deum, et devotius respondet, Amen : " If the people understand the prayer or thanks- giving which is performed by the priest, their minds will be brought the better and nearer unto God, and with greater devoutness they will answer, ' Amen.' " The third Romish doctor shall be "the angelical" (as he is called) and highly- magnified Thomas Aquinas. His words are these : Plus lucratur qui orat et inteUigit ; nam rejicitur, et quantum ad intellectum, et quantum ad affectum : (Comment, in 1 Cor. xiv. :) " He gains most who prays and understands the words which he speaks ; for he is edified both as to his understanding, and also as to his affections." Again : he saith. Melius est ut lingua qute benedicit efiam interpretetur ; omnis enim sermo bonus est ad cedificationem fidei : " It is best that the tongue which blesses should interpret ; for good words should be spoken to the edifica- tion of faith." Here we may with reason say. Bene quidem scripsisti, Thonia : " Thomas, thou hast written what is agreeable to truth." Thus the fathers and the Popish doctors themselves have dehvered their opinions ; and all are for praying in a known language. Nay, I have read, and it is acknowledged by a Jesuit, (Azorius, Instit. lib. viii. cap. 26, ex ^Enea Sylvio,) that above six hundred years ago, when the pope did deliberate and consult whether he should grant unto the Bohemians the use of the vulgar tongue in their pubhc devo- tions, there was heard a voice from heaven, saying, Omnis lingua confite- atur ei : " Let every tongue confess unto God." But now at last let us be determined by the apostle Paul, the sup- posed president of the council : and his mind I shall give you in this paraphrase upon his own words : — " I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all; but I X 2 308 SERMON XVII. PUBLIC I'RAVKR SHOULD KK had rather spcalc five words to he understood by and to edify those that hear me, than ten thousand Mords in an unknown tongue. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who sliall prepare himself to the battle ? And if I pray, and those that are present understand not the meaning of the voice, how shall they wreStle with God ? How shall they defend themselves against the assaults of the evil one? How shall they join in begging for grace to overcome him ? I am an apostle, and not a barbarian ; and I woidd not speak words into the air, but so as to benefit them that hear me. I am unwilling [that] the pubhc worship of God should be exposed to the contempt and scorn of infidels, or that they should censure it to be only the raving of madmen, because they know not the meaning of the words that'are used. Our God is not the God of confusion, but I'equires a reasonable service ; and these commands con- cerning prayer and praising so as to be understood, are his commands. Every one who is indeed spiritual will be thus persuaded : they who are otherwise minded are willingly ignorant." You see, I have proved the Protestant doctrine out of the fathers ; nay, it is granted by Popish authors of very great name ; and how plainly the apostle is on our side, do but read and judge. Let the Papists now for sliame cease their bragging of antiquity. It was certainly the manner of the elder and purer times to pray in a known language. Tlius pi'ayed the apostles ; thus prayed our Lord Jesus ; thus praised the heavenly host at Christ's nativity, in such words as the very shepherds understood : " Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men." (Luke ii. 14.) Thus the pro- phets prayed, and David, the sweet singer of Israel ; all his Psalms vrere written in Hebrew, the Jews' mother-tongue. Thus sang Deborah and Barak ; thus Moses and the Israelites, after their miraculous deliverance out of Egypt, and Pharaoh's overthrow in the mighty waters. Nay, I must add, there was a time when there was but one language in the whole world, — before the building of Babel ; and then there was no unknown tongue to pray in. In the days of Enos, the son of Seth, the grandchild of Adam, it is said, " men began to call upon the name of the Lord : " (Gen. iv. 2G :) and this must of necessity have been done in a language which none were ignorant of. Surely, then, the Protestant religion in this regard must be acknowledged of sufiicient antiquity, since it is as old as the old woi'ld, since it was before the flood of Nouh. IV. In the fonrtli place I shall ansit'er the Popish arguments to defend their cause ; and shall not fear to produce the very strongest which 1 have met loithal. OBJECTION I. It is objected, that " the apostle does not speak in I Cor. xiv. concern- ing the ordinary divine service, but concerning spiritual songs which by an extraordinary gift were uttered." ANSWER. The apostle does mention prayer as well as giving of thanks : and there is as much reason that the ordinary service should be understood, as the extiaordinary ; because that which is ordinarily used, should by all means be to edification. IN A KNOWN TONGUE. 309 OBJECTION II. It is objected, that " prayer in an unknown tongue is not condemned, but prayer in a known tongue only preferred." * ANSWER. First. Suppose this : why does the church of Rome pray after the worse, and not after the better, manner of the two ? Secondly. I say, it is condemned by the apostle as not being for edification ; for he that could speak in a tongue, if he could not interpret, nor any interpreter present, was commanded to keep silence in the assembly. OBJECTION III, It is objected, that " of old the instruction and edification of the people were necessary ; and the use of prayer was, that they might be instructed and edified : but now the end of prayer is not so much the people's instruction and edification, as the yielding to God that worship which is due to him." f ANSWER. First. The apostles were as careful that God might have his worship, as the Papists ; nay, a great deal more careful. Secondly. Disjoin not God's worship and the people's edification i for he is best worshipped " in spirit and in truth ; " and the more the mind understands and the heart of the worshipper is afiected, God is the more honoured and the better pleased. OBJECTION IV. It is objected, that " prayer is not made to the people, but unto God ; and he understands aU tongues alike : and it is sufticient that the Lord understands what is prayed, though the people are ignorant." And this BeUarmine does illustrate by a simiUtude. " If a courtier," says he, "should petition for a countryman in Latin to a king, the countryman, might be benefited by the Latin petition of the courtier, though he should not understand a word of it." % ANSWER. 1 . It might have been said, that God understands aU tongues alike iu the apostles' days as well as now ; the Lord being then and now and always equally omniscient. 2. The use of prayer is not to inform the God [whom] we pray to ; for he knows what things we have need of before we ask : (Matt. \i. 8 :) but to . make ourselves more sensible of our needs, and consequently more meet to be supplied. But how can this be, if prayer be locked up in an unknown dialect ? 3. As for BeUarmine's similitude, it wUl not hold. For the God of heaven is not like the kings on earth, who wiU hear petitions made by favourites for persons that make no address themselves : but He requires that every particular person should ask if he wLU receive, and understand what he prays for ; and that he should have suitable afiectious to the matter of his petitions, if he will be heard and answered. Add also, • Bellarmini s De I'erbo Dei, lib. ii. capit. 16. t Iileni, ibid. % Loco citato. 310 SERMON XVII. PUBLIC PRAYER SHOULD BE tliat if a king should forbid petitions iu a strange language, and should command that petitioners should use a tongue [which] they understand, that with the greater earnestness they may beg what they need ; to such an one a Latin petition would not be so acceptable : But God has forbid the use of an unknown tongue : Therefore we may conclude that the Popish Latin prayers, in an auditory which understand them not, are to very little purpose. The people must seek and knock, as well as the priest ; else they shall not find, else it will not be opened unto them. (Matt. Tii. 7.) V. In the fftli place 1 am to discover the tendency of, and " mystery of iniquity" in, this Papal doctrine, which encourages to prayer in an unknoivn tongue, and teaches people to be contented with an ignorant devotion . 1. It gratifies exceedingly the lazy disposition of men. — Who naturally like a liberty to rest in opere operato, "in the work done ;" and cannot endure to be urged to the more difficult part of religion ; which lies in a conflict with wandering thoughts in duty ; in watching over and taking pains with the heart, that it may be intent, considerate, and afi'ectionate in its applications unto God. I know, the Papists boast of their auste- rities in their devotions : but these are external things ; and who has required them at their hands 1 And I may with good reason affirm that one quarter of an hour spent in prayer, where the very heart is engaged, and understands what it is doing, and seeks the Lord with its whole desire, will be to better purpose than all the prayers by rote that are or can be said by a blind Papist, though he should live to the age of Methuselah. 2. This doctrine is a notable device to keep the people ignorant, and to make them more dependent upon the jjriesthood ; and hereby they hope more easily to rule them. — These cruel guides, as they take away the Bible from the people, which is the great means of knowledge ; so they will not suffer them to cry for knowledge, so as to know what they cry. What a faithful servant is the pope unto the prince of darkness ! and what quiet possession does " the strong man armed " keep, while the gospel is hid, and men pray for they know not what, and consequently obtain nothing ! 3. Many prayers may well be made in Latin merely through shame. — When I read the scripture, I conclude the Papists are afraid of the light which shines from thence, lest it overthrow their black kingdom ; and when I read the foolish, nay, blasphemous, prayers which are made in the church of Rome, I conclude they are ashamed [that] the meaning of them should be known. Thus they pray to the Virgin. Mary : — Sancta Maria, " O St. Mary, Qua: totum orbem illuminas, ^Vho dost enlighten the whole world, Q7iiC tuos servientes exaltas, M'ho dost exalt th)' servants, lUuminatrix cordium, Who dost illuminate hearts, Fons misericordice, Who art the foimtaiu of mercy, j-lb omni inalo libera nos, domina. From all evil, good lady, deliver us." To St. Dorothy they pray thus : — Sancta Dorothea, " O holy Dorothy, Cvr mundum in me crea. A clean heart create in me." * IN A KNOWN TONGUE. 311 St. Agnes is prayed unto to keep tlicm in the faith ; and St. George, to save them from their sins, that they may rest in heaven with the blessed for ever. These Latin prayers in plain English are most wicked blasphe- mies ; and both God's work and hononr, which are peculiar to liiaiself and dear to him, are (to the provoking of him to jealoiisy) ascribed and imparted to the creature. VI. In the lust i^lace I come to the application. Bless the Lord that the day-spring from on high hath visited this land of your nativity, and that Popish darkness is so much dispelled. — How thankful were the Israelites, think you, for that hght which shined so clear in Goshen, when Egypt was plagued with darkness that was so hideous and palpable ? Neighbouring regions, most of them, are bhnded by Rome and heU ; and see not the things which you see, hear not the things which you hear. You are instructed to whom prayer is to be directed, — unto God ; and in whose name, — in the name of Christ, whose mediation and intercession is always prevalent. Supplications are made in a tongue which you understand ; that you may be the more affected with what you pray for, and consequently have gracious returns to your prayers from the God of all gi'ace. Wliat cause is here of thanksgiving, — that public administrations are so much more agreeable unto Christ's institution than the administrations of the chui'ch of Rome ! Prayers being poured forth with so much fervency, and in such words as all, even the meanest, understand ; the scriptures being read in a lan- guage which you know, so as that the book of God is not a sealed book to you ; sermons being preached with so much plainness and power ; finally, sacraments being administered so, as that you may know how to improve these seals of the new covenant to the strengthening of your faith, the inflaming of your love, and the increase of all manner of grace : — All this may well cause you,to cry out, with David, " How amia- ble are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of hosts ! " (Psalm Lsxxiv. 1 .) And, " One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my hfe, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." (Psalm xxvii. 4.) USE II. It highly concerns you to fear, and to pray against, the return of Popish blindness. — While Satan and his angels are busy and industrious to extinguish the hght of the world ; while Rome does join with hell to this end, — that this land may be again overspread with ignorance, idola- try, superstition, will-worship ; it is your wisdom and duty, while they are plotting, to be counter-working -by your prayers. 0 cry unto the Lord to secure his own honour and your privileges against these enemies, who are so great invaders of both ! Beg with the greatest earnestness (and truly earnest begging was never yet denied) that the gospel may continue, and a spiritual way of worship according to the direction of the gospel ; and that Rome's emissaries may never make merchandise of your souls or the souls of your posterity. 312 SERMON XVII. PRAYER SHOULD BE IN A KNOWN TONGUE. USE III. Let the blind seal of the Papists make you more frequent in your accesses to the throne of grace. — Though they worship ignorantly, yet how much do they worship ! as superstition is wont to urge men to abundant labour. But you that see more reason to pray than they, and have more encouragement from God than ever they understood, should be shamed and quickened unto this duty. The Papists, indeed, if they understood themselves, might well be disheartened, because their worship is will-worship ; not of God's appointment, but their own invention. But you should abound in devotion ; for God will not be sought in vain as long as you seek him in his own way. and " your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord." (1 Cor. xv, 58.) USE IV. Take heed of distraction in prayer, and not minding what yon ask, or what you are doing, when at the mercy-seat .^W. is great hypocrisy, to be present only in body at the sanctuary ; the heart, in the mean while, running away after pleasures, covetousness, vanity : and this exceedingly provokes the Lord to jealousy ; and " are you stronger than he ? " (1 Cor. X. 22.) Pray, what is the diiFerence between a Papist that tmderstands not, and a cax-nal Protestant that minds not, a word of what is spoken in prayer? Or, if there be any difference, the Protestant is in the worse case ; because, having the means of. edification, he is the more without apology that he is not edified. USE V. Content not yourselves with hare understanding the words of prayer ; but know the Lord \iiohon%\ you pray to. — Be acquainted with his power and truth ; and how he keeps mercy for thousands ; and particularly for you, if you are sensible of your sin and miseiy, and are willing that from both he should deliver you. Understand also the worth of what you ask ; that, spiritual and eternal blessings being highly valued, your desires after them may be vehement, and you may wrestle with the greater strength and resolution till you have obtained them. USE VI. Jjct understanding and faith in this duty of prayer be joined together. — The Popish implicit faith — to believe as the church believes ; that is, to believe they know not what — is a wretched piece of carelessness and presumption, and a mad venturing of the soul, which is so precious, upon an empty sound and title. But do yovi search the scriptures ; inquire what God has spoken ; and firmly believe his words, which are so faithful and worthy of all acceptation. Let your faith in prayer be strong : and be fully persuaded that — having such promises as God has made, and engaged himself to make good ; and such an Advocate in hea- ven as Christ the righteous — what you ask according to the will of God shall in no wise be denied, hi a word : know j'our duty, and do it ; and then conclude [that] as certainly as " God is," so certainly he will be " a lewardcr of them that diligently seek him." (Heb. xi. 6.) SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. 313 Thomas Mortonus, ejmcojnis Dunelmensis : Noti est igitur quod in hue causa, lector, hallucineris : neque enim te fugit nos primb antiquitatem 7iovitati, secundh devotionem sanctam et divinam ccbccb ^t fanaticcB super- stitioni, tertib animce consolationem spiritualem rigidee stupiditati, quarto infantice prudeiitiam, quintb torpori consensum, sextb Jictis et ementitis pericuUs commoda pene injinita, septimb sacrosanctam denique Spiritiis Sancti sapientiam humancs stidtitite ac temeritati, anteponere. (Apol. Cathol. pars ii. lib. i. cap. 31, de vernac. Precibus, p. 108.) " There is, therefore, reader, no room for a mistake iu this cause : for thou canst not but know that the Protestants prefer, 1 . Antiquity, before novelty ; 2. Holy and divine devotion, before blind and " (properly so called) "fanatic superstition; 3. The spiritual comfort of the soul, before rigid stupidity ; 4. Prudence, before childishness ; 5. Consent, before carelessness ; 6. Almost infinite advantages, before feigned and imaginary dangers ; 7. The holy wisdom of the Spirit of God, before the folly and rashness of men." SERMON XVIII. (XIX.) BY THE REV. SAMUEL ANNESLEY, LL.D. THE POPE AND HIS CLERGY, BY FALSE, PRESUMPTUOUS PARDONS AND INDUL' GENCES, HAVE HEINOUSLY INJURED CHRIST, THE CHURCH, AND SOULS OF MEN. . OF INDULGENCES, For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. — Hebrews x. 14. The apostle gives the reason why Christ hath now no more offering to make, no more suffering to endure : For — That is. Because. Bij one offering — That is, one in specie, [" in kind,"] in opposition to the four kinds of legal oblations before mentioned ; and one in numero, [" in number,"] in opposition to the repeating of them every year. As if he had said, " By Christ's once offering of himself." He hath perfected — That is, all things are consummate, there remains nothing to be done, for the satisfying [of] Divine Justice and our reconciliation with God. Christ hath once satisfied ; and that for ever — That is, to the end of the world, and that which shall be of value to eternity. Plainly : " Christ by his death hath completely done the work once for all." For them that are sanctified — That is, either those that are separated from the world in God's purpose and decree ; plainly, the elect : or " them that are sanctified," that is, those that are renewed by grace, and consecrated to be vessels of honour unto God. In short : Christ hath not so purchased remission of sins, as to leave some satisfaction to be made by themselves or others. No; he hath perfectly satisfied for them, and perfectly 314 SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. expiated all llicir sins. Wliicli if so, then from this, as well as from other scriptures, faii'ly results this PROPOSITION. That Papal indulgences are the worst of cheats, and ahominahhj inju- rious to Christ and Christians. My work here is to rake in the very sink of Papal filthiness. There is no head of divinity that is not mischievously hurt by this putrid plaster. It was not without God's singular providence that the detecting [of] the pageantry of that flesh-pleasing religion began here ; for herein their seeming tender mercies are real cruelties. To evidence what I assert, I shall in my poor manner endeavour, I. To show you what the indulgences are which we justly condemn; II. The unsound hypotheses upon ivhich they stand ; III. Demolish the main thesis ; and, IV. Raise some profitable instructions above exception. I. Let us begin with the name and definition of '' indidgences.^^ — Which (to pass-by more than thirty different opinions among them- selves *) I shall give you in Bellarmine's own words. After he hath, like a wary champion, attempted to reconcile or excuse his own dissent- ing party, in the close of his eighth chapter, he gives us this entire defi- nition ; namely, " Indulgence is a judicial absolution from the guilt of punishment, owing to God, in the penitentiary court ; given over and above the sacrament, by the application of the satisfactions which are contained in the treasure of the church." f He had before told us,:^ that the church and the Schools call indulgences " the remissions of punishment," which often remain to be endured after the remission of faults, and reconciliation obtained in the sacrament of penance ; which pardons the popes use to grant, at certain times, and not without some just and reasonable cause, out of their fatherly gentleness and condescen- sion toward their children, pitying their infirmity. This is his, and I will at present wave any interfering, description. Let us then examine the hypotheses of this profitable structure. II. The unsound hypotheses, or "suppositions,^^ upon which they build this profitable structure, are such as these. — I will name four of them : — I . That when the fault is pardoned, the punishment is not pardoned ; but there remains an obligation to punishment, (which is changed from eternal to temporal,) for which God must be satisfied, either by patiently bearing his strokes ; or by undergoing the penance enjoined by the priest ; or by laborious works freely undertaken, such as prayers, fasting, and alms ; or by indiUgences. Now the quagmire-foundation of this distinction may thus appear, — both by testimony, by reason, and (which is more than both these) by scripture. I need but touch upon each, it being done more largely by a better hand : and therefore I will produce but one testimony ; and that is of the archbishop of Spalato : " In pardon, to distinguish between fault and punishment, so as to separate them, is a most vain thing, and not to be admitted, especially in respect of God." § • VoETii ^electa: DhpuUttkincs, pars ii. sect. 2, p. •2»7 . t Bf.llar.mini Dhput. toin. iii. (!v Indnl(jattiix, lib i. cap. viii. p. '24, Lug A.NTOML'S Di; Do.Mi.M5. Dc Ii(}). Ecclcs. lib. v. c.ip. viii. u. I. SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGKNCES. 315 For reasons : " It is against tlie nature of the tiling, that there should be punishment where there is no fault : take away the cause, and the effect must cease. What Bellarmine saith, — -that the house will ' stand when the carpenter that built it is dead,' — doth not infringe what we affirm ; for we speak here of a meritorious and moral, not of an efficient and physical, cause. Whereas it is further said, ' A king may pardon a malefactor, and yet enjoin him to make satisfaction ;' I answer, The king and the party offended are different persons ; the king may not give away ■ another's right : we must not confound the court of heaven and the court of earth. I might add. It is against the ordinary manner of speech, to say [that] a judge pardoneth a malefactor whom he punisheth. It is against the justice of God to punish one sin twice. It is against the mercy of God, to be reconciled to a sinner, and to torment him. But beyond all this, it is against the practice of Christ : what temporal punishment did Christ lay upon Mary Magdalene, (Luke vii. 48,) upon the paralytic, (Matt. ix. 2,) the great debtor ? (Matt, xviii. 24.) " * 2. A second false hypothesis is this : — One righteous man may satisfy for another ; and there are some that need no satisfaction for themselves, and therefore theirs may go for otherfe' : for example : if Peter fast for Paul, then Paul need not fast ; but God pardons him the punishment which he should have satisfied-for by fasting, &c.f The groundlessness of this hypothesis may be thus evidenced : — Jesus Christ hath perfectly satisfied for our sins ; and therefore men are not bound to satisfy in part for themselves. Christ is " the propi- tiation," (1 John ii. 2,) our "redemption." (1 Cor. i. 30.) "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their tres- passes unto them." (2 Cor. v. 19.) I need name no other text than that [which] I am discoursing of : " By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Heb. x, 14.) To say, " Christ satisfied, that our satisfaction might be accepted ; and ours depends upon his ; " this is to illude scripture ; as if it had been said, " Christ once satisfied, that we might always satisfy ; Christ perfectly satisfied for us, that he might imperfectly satisfy in us ; Christ hath satisfied for eternal punish- ments, but doth satisfy for temporal when believers themselves satisfy." J 0 excellent way of answering ! Again : if men must in part satisfy for their sins, then they are not freely pardoned. But how easy is it to multiply express scriptures ! Take notice but of one epistle : " Justified freely by his grace." (Rom. iii. 24.) "To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." (Rom. iv. 4.) " If by grace, then it is no more of works," &c. (Rom. xi, 6.) Now if none can satisfy for themselves, then they cannot satisfy for others : " If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself : but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." (Prov. ix. 12.) But, should we suppose what can no way be granted, how can they speak of the communication of men's good works, while they explode the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and scorn- fully call it "a putatitious justification?" But more of this in the next. 3. A third absurd hypothesis is this : — that the superfluous satisfac- • Fr.anciscus Turretinus De Satis/ac. Christi Pcrfec. n. 24, p. 330, et seqq. f Vo- ETH.'S, iltid. p. 289._ I Antonius i>ADEEL De ver. Peccat. Remiss, p. (mihi) 97, &c. 316 SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. tions of Christ and eminent saints are laid up in a treasury, to be laid out for those that want. The absurdity of this is manifest more ways than I have time to men- tion. Beside the absurdity of parcelling out the death of Christ, to apply one part of it to one use, and another part to another use ; * whereas all and every part of it is offered and applied to every believer : it is farther absurd to divide that which is sufficient from that which is superfluous, when what is infinite is indivisible ; and to say that one drop of the blood of Christ is sufficient for the saving of a thousand worlds, and to reckon all the rest superfluous, and not so much as one person saved by it that would not have been saved without it, what can be more absurd and blasphemous ? I would further inquire, whether under the Old Testament believers were bound to satisfy God for temporal punishments. If they were, let them prove it : if they were not, then God dealt more mercifully with them under the Old Testament than with believers under the New, and the satisfaction of Christ not exhibited is more efficacious than since his exhibition. Once more : if the satisfaction of Christ be more than enough, what need the addition of human satisfactions ? They say, " Lest they should be in vain." So, then, it is no matter though Christ's satisfaction be in vain : saints must not lose their glory ; it is no matter with them though Christ lose his. In their account, Christ and saints must share the work of redemption between them. Saints must be our priests, our sureties ; we must believe in them, and place our hope in their satisfactions. But befoi'e we do so, it is advisable to solve this doubt : — whether the treasury of saints' superfluous satisfactions be iiifiiiite or finite. If infinite, then they are sufficient to redeem the world ; which, I think, none hath impudence to affirm : if finite, what security may we have, ere we part with our money, that the treasun,^ is not exhausted, upon the large grants already made ? But they will tell them, " The bank is inexhaustible." In the next place, therefore, let us consult the treasurer. 4. The fourth tottering hypothesis is this : — that the pope hath the chief power of dispensing this treasury to those members that need it. Though I might turn off this with that trite maxim, " That which hath no being, hath no accidents ; " if there be no such treasury, there need be no controversy about the dispensing of it : and though I might bespeak them to agree among themselves, whether hath greater power, — the pope or a council, before they quarrel with us about what themselves are not agreed [upon] : and though I may well suppose, that the pope's supremacy is already confuted in this Exercise : but, to let pass all this, what a fair dividend do they make of the satisfaction of Christ, while they allow every priest to dispose of it for the pardon of faults and of eternal punishments, but reserve the disposal of that part of it to the pope whereby to pardon temporal punishments If How egregiously also do they trifle,' while they distinguish between satisfaction and the pay- ment of satisfaction! "Satisfaction," they say, "was made by Christ . and saints ; but the payment of it is by the pope : that was done long since ; this is still in doing : " as if the satisfaction of Christ were like a sum of money laid up in a chest, to be laid out upon occasion ; whereas • (Plac/EI) T/ieses i^aliinirienscs, purs ii. p. 72, et sojcj. t li1i;m, iOhf. p. 81, &c. SERMON XVIII. OF IKDfLGEXCF.S. 317 we know no other gospel- treasury bul what is dispensed by the Spirit of God, by the word and sacraments. It is " the gospel " that " is the power of God unto salvation to every one tha4; believeth ; " and " therein is the righteousness of God revealed." (Rom. i. 16, 17.) But I shall speak more to this in my next attempt, III. To overturn their mam thesis. — Which is this : — THE papists' thesis. That the pope, through the fulness of apostolical power, ma]) grant a most full pardon by indulgences. Tfiis is expressed most fully by Clement VI., who speaketh thus : " Of that infinite treasure that is obtained for the church mihtant, God would not have it to be laid up in a napkin or hid in a field ; but hath committed it to Peter, that bears the keys of heaven, and to his suc- cessor-vicars on earth, to be wholesomely dispensed upon fit and reason- able causes, sometimes for the total, sometimes for the partial, remission of temporal punishments, both generally and specially due for sins ; to be mercifully applied to the truly penitent and confessed."* In the anatomy of this thesis, I shall endeavour to discover these things; namely, 1. The falseness of it ; 2. The novelty of it ; 3. The contradictions in it ; 4. The cheats of it ; 5. Its injur iousness to Christ; 6. Its mischief to Christians. 1 . To convince you of the falseness of this position, I shall first give you plain scripture-proof that there is no pardon of sin but by the mercy of God, through the blood of Christ, received by faith. " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." (Eph. i. 7.) " Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. V. 1.) "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died," &c. (Rom. viii. 33, 34.) Many more texts might be alleged ; but I had rather say only what is enough, than [say] all. But our adversaries pretend also to scripture-warrant : though Durand coufesseth, that concerning indulgences there can but little be said upon certainty, because the scripture doth not speak expressly of them ; for that which is said to Peter, " I will give unto thee the keys of the king- dom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind," &c., (Matt. xvi. 1 9,) is to be understood of the power given unto him in the court of penance, and it is not clear that it ought to be understood of the granting indul- gences.f But Bellarmine saith, " Although indulgences be not war- ranted by particular scripture, yet they are in general by the power of the keys ; and they may be warranted by divine authority, known by tradition of the apostles." J (By the way, let me observe, I do not remember that ever I read any thing in their authors about the pope's power in any kind : but this text is pressed into the service of their design, though ordinarily to as little purpose as any text in the Bible.) But scriptures they bring ; let us examine them a httle. • Deo-fif. Gratiani, torn. ii. Exfrav. Com. lib. v, cap. 2, p. 3.52. t Durandis, lib. iv. dist. xx. quaest. 3, p. 791. X Be Indtdgentiis, lib. ii. cap. 10, p. 4(5. 318 SEIIMON XVi:i. OF INDTTLGENCES. They argue from those words of the apostle, " Ye ought rather to for- give him, and comfort him," &c. ; (2 Cor. ii. 7, &c. ;) in short : " The apostle gave indulgence ; so may the pope." There is enough in the text to answer their allegation. For example: (1.) Paul never, limited a time for his repentance, — that it must be so many days or year?. (2.) Paul took no price to pay his debt out of the Corinthians' works of super-erogation. (3.) The penitent gave no money for his indulgence. And, (4.) (Which is more than all the rest,) He saith, "To whom ye for- give any thing, I forgive also." (Verse 10.) This is no-way to be endured, — that the pope hath no more power to forgive any thing than other priests : * I doubt not but, rather than yield that, they will let go that text. Another text [which] they urge is, " Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church." (Col. i. 24.) Upon which they say, that Paid satisfied for the sins of other believers ; and by this means did contribute to the enriching [of] the church's treasuiy of satisfactions, which the pope disposeth of by indulgences. But th's is presupposing their opinion, not pro\'ing of it. They grant our expo- sition of the text to be right: — (1.) That Paul's afflictions are "the afflictions of Christ ;" that is, he suffered them for Christ, for the name of the Lord. (2.) They made up the last part of the apostle's task, being the remainder of the afflictions [which] he had to sustain. (3.) They contain an illustrious evidence of his gratitude toward the Lord ; that, as Christ had suffered for his salvation, he suffered in his order for the glory of his gracious Master.f So that here is not a word of satisfactions or treasury or indulgences. Another text [that] they urge is, " That your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want : " (2 Cor. viii. 14 :) as if he had said [that] the church of Jerusalem was poor, and abounded in merit ; the church of Codnth was i-ich, and wanted merit. Take but the plain meaning of the text, and that will rescue it from such an abuse : — The Corinthians received the gospel from some of the Jewish church ; and therefore they ought to relieve their necessities. Beside their wresting of scripture, they argue from that article of the Creed, "The communion of saints:" "Therefore those that neither do nor suffer what they ought for themselves, are to be suppUed out of what others have done and suffered more than they need." Is not this a con- sequence of the largest size ? May they not by such arguing prove every thing out of any thing ? Briefly : the church is called a " com- munion of saints" because, (1.) They are all members of one mystical body. (2.) All the benefits of Christ are communicated to every believer : they are all called, justified, sanctified, saved. (3.) They are to do all offices of charity one for another, while in this world. But what is all this to works of super-erogation ? Let this suffice for this first particular ; and the rather, because the proof of the rest will also prove this. Therefore, 2. Indulyences are a novdtj. — The ancient church neither knew nor • CiiEJiMTii Ejoam. Cunc. Trid. p. 714, &c. t Daille in loc. pp. 120, 121. SKRMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. 319 practised any such thing. That they may not say [that] we slander them, hear their own authors. Cajetan, who was employed both as legate and champion against Luther, begins thus : " If certainty could be had concerning the beginning of indulgences, it would help us to search out the truth : but because no written authority, either of the holy scrip- ture or of the ancient Greek or Latin doctors, hath brought this to our knowledge ; but this only, from three hundred years ; — it is written con- cerning the ancient fathers, that blessed Gregory instituted the stationary indulgences," &c.* Which should we grant, (though let them tell us where to find it in his writings,) it would not prove them very ancient. And Roflfeusis himself, as that ItaUan quotes him,f (for I have him not by me,) acknowledgeth that till people were frighted with (the bugbear of) purgatory, nobody minded indulgences; and that he likewise acknovdedgetli to be but of late years. To convince those of novelty who slander us with it, I will give you a brief historical account of them, how they crept in, and to what a monstrous height they rose, till they were so top-heavy that their fall broke off several brauches of that tree which overspread the western churches. (Dan. iv. 11, S:c.) The discipline of the ancient church was such, that they did neither lightly nor suddenly re-admit unto communion those that denied the faith or sacrificed to idols in time of persecution, or those that at any time fell into heresy or any other scandalous wickedness, tiU the church was satisfied in the truth of their repentance. To evidence which, they required such public, visible testimonies, such as, they judged, might most probably speak the grief of their heart for sin, the seriousness of their desire of reconciliation, and their full purpose of amendment. The manner of their repentance was thus, as Nicephorus relates it : " After it was looked upon as burdensome for the offender to confess his fault publicly as upon a theatre, they chose a minister that was holy, prudent, and secret, to whom those that had offended might open their case, and receive directions what to do, that their sin might be pardoned. The Novatians took no care of this matter : for they refused to communicate with those that denied the faith in the persecution of Decius ; and it is said [that] this rite was instituted for their sake, that they might be restored upon their repentance. There was a certain place appointed for the penitents, where they stood with a dejected countenance, greatly bewailing their sin, tiU what they might not partake of was ended ; and then they threw themselves at his feet that administered. Then he that was appointed to direct them, ran to them, and, mourning with them, lay down upon the ground ; and the whole multitude of the church stood about them, with many tears lamenting over them. Then the minister rose up, and bade the penitents to rise, and, praying for them as the matter required, dismissed them. Then every one betook himself to what was enjoined him, — to macerate themselves by fastings and watchings and frequent prayers and abstinence from delights ; which when they had performed, they were received into communion. This they did, to keep the ordinances pure, and the church from reproach. But I think," saith he, " that the church is fallen from that ancient, • Cajetani Opusc. torn. i. tract, xv. cap. i. p. 46. t Polydorus ViiiGiLiLS Te Reruin Invcidoribus, lib. viii. cap. 11, p. (mihi) 613. .320 SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. venerable gravity, and hatli by little and little departed from tliat accnrate discipline." * The church prescribed rules for repentance according to the variety of offences ; some for the space of several days, others for several years, and others during life ; allowing the bishop to abate or add to the time enjoined, as he saw occasion. f It was judged convenient iu all cases to try their repentance ; and if the penitents did, by their fear and patience and tears and good works, demonstrate the unfeignedness of their con- version, they were to be more gently dealt with.;}: But they, as wise physicians, still imposed fit remedies ; namely, humbling exercises to the vain-glorious, silence to the babblers, watching to the sluggards, hard labour to the slothful, fasting to the gluttonous, &c.§ And in those things that were imposed, we are not so much to consider the length of the time, as the depth of the grief ; such as may satisfy the church (pray, mark that : it is the church) in the truth of their repentance ; not God's justice, so that they might challenge a pardon. 1| We are firmly to believe that the purging away of sin is done by the blood of Christ, through the greatness of God's mercy and the multitude of his compassions.^ But they were only enormous sinners iipon whom the ancient church imposed severities, to evidence the truth of their repentance. Let Augustine speak for all, who mentions a threefold repentance : — ** " The first before baptism ; which is conversion ; when a man repents of his former course of life, and gives up himself to live in newness of life: and upon these they imposed no ecclesiastical censures." (Cap. 1.) " The second was a daily repentance ; and for sins of daily incursion we are taught to pray, ' Forgive us our trespasses,' &c. : of these the church took no notice." (Cap. 2.) " But there is a more grievous and mournful repentance ; in the managing of which, ofienders ai*e properly called ' penitents : ' this is a grievous thing, but that the Almighty Physician can cure such. But, 0 my beloved," saith he, " let no mail propose this kind of repentance unto himself : if he have fallen, let him not despair j but let no man venture upon sin in hopes of repentance." (Cap. 3.) So that you may see, thfit whoever will be at the pains to compare the satisfactions of the Papists with the satisfactions of the ancients, they will find them far diiferent. In short: "They never used them as necessary for the pardon of sin ; neither did they hold that these satis- factions must be made in this hfe or endured in purgatory : which two things if you take away, you overthrow the tables of indulgence-sellers. But they enjoined them, (1.) That the name of God might not be blas- phemed among the Heathen ; as if the church were a receptacle of Belialists, where they might sin with impunity. (2.) That they might not partake of other men's sins. (."1) That others might not be in- • NiCEPHORi Hixt. Ecdcs. lib. xii. cap. 28, p. 279, Pt seqq. t Dettct. Gratia xi, torn. ii. Canones Pirriit. p. 2053, et seqq. ; Concilium Ancyrnnum, can. 4 — 7, 20 — 22, &c. in Concil. BiMO ed t. torn. i. p. 275, et seqq. | Concilium Xicanum, c■^n. 12, 13, i///<' L'lit t, I'a'ititfnl. toni. ix. p. 1284, ot seqq. SERMON XVIIT. OF INDULGENCli:S, 321 fected; for sin" is a catching disease. (-1.) That offenders might be more feehagly convinced of the greatness of their sin. (a.) That they might do wliat was possible to pull-up sin by the I'oots," &c.* Whereas the Papists now [act] as the degenerate church of Israel formerly : " They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity." (Hosea iv. 8.) The patrons of indulgences look at their gain. The ancients, when they absolved their penitents, exhorted them to sin no more, but to bring forth fruits worthy of amendment of life ; they put them upon the exercise of the contrary virtues : but there is nothing of this in Papal indulgences. In a word : the ancients carried on a design of heavenly interest in their severities ; and the Papists, of earthly in their indulgences. But the severities of the ancients were by degrees mollified. Our learned countryman gives us the canons of a council, in the year 7SQ ; where, in the last canon, it is decreed " that if any one died without penance and confession, he should not be at all prayed for."f (Where then v.ere indulgences, as since granted ?) But he gives us the canon of another council, in the year 9G7. Where the council closeth the peniten- tial canons with four concerning the penance of noblemen, (they say expressly in the last canon, that poor men are not to have any such privilege,) there they give this direction for him that is enjoined seven years' fasting : " Let him," say they, " for three days have twelve com- panions to fast with him ; that is, to eat nothing but bread and water and herbs ; and let him somewhere else get seven times one hundred and twenty men, to fast every one for him for those three days : and so he will fast so many fasting-days as there are in the whole seven years. "J But if yet this be too much, they may have relief by the provision before made for those that are sick. Is it not enough to make a great man sick, to put him upon three days' fasting 1 Which if it do, " for one penny he may buy off a day's fasting ; and for thirty shillings, a year's fasting." § Is not this fair? But yet this comes not near the later markets. But I must not multiply particulars : when they had churches to build, hospitals to endow, bridges to repair, or the like ; then indul- gences were granted, to fetch-in money. And even then, Avhile these good works were proposed, Gregory IX. decrees " that the alms-gatherers appointed be modest and discreet persons ; that they lodge not in taverns or unfitting places ; that they be not profuse in their expenses," &c. " Because," saith he, (pray mark his words,) " by the indiscreet and supei-fluous indulgences which some are not afraid to grant, the keys of the church are contemned, and penitential satisfaction is enervated ; " || and therefore he set limits to the granting of them. But notwithstanding all the little checks [which] they met with, they were more freely granted in the year of jubilee. In the year 1300, Boniface VIII. instituted a jubilee every hundredth year ; wherein he granted not only a fuU, but " a most full, pardon of all sins, to all those that in such a time shall visit the churches of the prince of the apostles at Rome."^ To me the beginning of the Bull seems consider- • Chemnitii Exam. Cone. Trid. p. 725, et seqq. t Sir Henry Svelman's Cuncil. Brit, m Cone. Calchiith. can. 20, p. 300. % Idem, Canones dati sub Edgaro nge, p. 474, &c. § Ibid. can. 18, p. 473. || Deeret. Grati.am, torn. iii. Decret. Greg. lib. v. tit. xxxriii. cap. 14, p. 1874. % nnllarium Mag7ntm, torn. i. p. 204. VOL. VI. Y 322 SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. able, that grounds it upon a report that great indulgences were granted (though nobody knows when nor where) to the visitors of those churches. Well, but though there never was any such thing before, yet, now [that] this easy way of pardon is broached, it is pity the time should be so seldom. Clement VI., therefore, in the year 1350, upon the prayers of the people of Rome, reduced the jubilee to every fiftieth year ; and for so doing, he doth not go upon report, but founds it upon the law of Moses.* Urban VI. reduced it to thirty-three years :t and Paul II. gives the reason of it ; namely, he providently consi- dered [that] men do not live so long as formerly, and desired that very many more might receive benefit by them, &c. Which when he hath done, as also [shown] how that reduction was confirmed by Martin V. and Nicholas V., he then expresseth his greater kindness in reducing the jubilee to every twenty-fifth year. J And Alexander VI., in the year 1500, enlarged the jubilee to those that could not, or neglected to, come to Rome.§ And thus I have (though with omitting more than I have expressed) brought them down to Leo X., who exercised such an excessive power in this matter, that " there is not," saith Ranchin, " a good Catholic but is sorry for it."|l Take the matter of fact from that excellent historian Thuanus ; who wrote only the " History of his own Time," and there- fore might well be more exact. " In the year 1515, Leo X., a man giving himself to all licentiousness, by the instigation of cardinal Lorenzo Puccio, a turbident man, to whom he ascribed too much, — that he might from all parts scrape up money for his vast expenses, he sent his Bulls of indulgences through all the kingdoms of the (Papal) Christian world ; wherein he promised the expiation of all sins, and eternal life : and there was a jDrice set, what every oiie should pay, according to the grievous- ness of his sin. To which end he appointed collectors and treasuries throughout the provinces ; adding to them preachers, to recommend to the people the greatness of the benefit. These, by sermons artificially composed, and by pamphlets openly published, immoderately extolled the efiicacy of these indulgences. These Bulls were executed with too much licentiousness in many places, but especially in Germany ; where those that farmed them from the pope did lavish out their power of drawing souls out of purgatory, shamelessly spending it every day in whore- houses and taverns, at dice and most filthy uses."^ I shall forbear to insist upon the abominable expressions of those that preached up these indulgences ; such as this, namely, that " there is no sin so great, but that if a man should (which is impossible) deflower the mother of God, he might by indulgences be pardoned both fault and punishment." Chemnitius mentions several stories, to whom I refer you ;** and [I] shall somewhat more largely acquaint you with the very words of some of the " Hundred Grievances " of the princes of the Roman empire, assembled at Nuremberg, in the years 1522 and 1523. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Grievances are under the title of " The Burdens of Papal Indulgences." • CiACON-H Fita: Pontif. p. 903. t Idem, p. 998. | Bidlar. Mag. torn. i. pp. 401, 402. § CiACOMi J'ita' Pontif. p. 1343. || " Review of the Council of Trent," lib. v. cap. 1, p. 249. H Thuam Hist. HI), i. p. 13. •' Chemnitu E.vain, Cone. Trid, pp. 744, 745. SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. 323 Tlieir third Grievance is about " the increase of the intolerable burden of indulgences ; when, under the show of piety, for the building of churches, or an expedition against the Turks, the popes suck the marrow of their estates ; and, which heightens the imposture, by their hireling criers and preachers. Christian piety is banished ; while, to advance their market, they cry up their wares, for the granting of wonderful, nnheard- of, peremptory pardons, not only of sins already committed, but of sins that shall be committed, by those that are alive, and also the sins of the dead. So that, by the sale of these wares, together with being spoiled of our money, Christian piety is extinguished ; while any one may pro- mise himself impunity, upon paying the rate that is set upon the sin [which] he hath a mind to commit. Hence whoredoms, incests, adulte- ries, perjuries, murders, thefts, &c., and all manner of wickedness, have at once their offspring. What wickedness will mortal men be afraid to commit, when they may promise themselves licence and impunity of sinning while they live, and for a little more money indulgences may be purchased for them after they are dead 1 especially the Germans, who are of a credulous temper, and easy to be persuaded by pretences of piety and a show of religion." A fourth Grievance was this, — that " the indulgences were sold for defence against the barbarians ; but the money was laid out to maintain the luxui'y of kindred, and to advance their families." The fifth was this, — that " the pope, and the rest of the bishops and pillars of the Roman church, have always some cases reserved, for which you must make a new bargain and pay more money, or no dispen- sation." The sixth was this, — that " if any one have wherewithal to pay, he may not only be indulged the present transgression of these constitu- tions, (about reserved cases,) but they may be permitted to transgress them for the future ; Vvdience those that are dispensed with, take occasion to commit perjuries, murders, adulteries, and such -like wickedness ; which all springs from the cursed covetousness of some ecclesiastics." I might add more out of their seventh Grievance, about the stationary preachers of indulgences ; of whom the princes complain that " they devour the very blood and marrow of the poor, and themselves live in more than Sybaritical luxury and delights."* But I will transcribe no more of this : I would not, indeed, have transcribed so much, but that the book whence I have it is but in few hands. And that what I have said may not be tedious, I will refresh you with a story. A nobleman told Tecelius, [Tetzel,] the chief publican of indulgences, that he had a mind to commit a very heinous sin ; and he desired present pardon of that future sin. Tecelius, for a great sum of money, gives him the indulgence : the nobleman pays down the money, and receives his Bull. Afterwards the nobleman took occasion in a certain wood to rob Tecelius, and break open his chests of indulgences : and when Tecelius thi'eatened him with all manner of curses, the nobleman showed him his Bull of indulgences that he paid so dear for, and, laughing at him, told him [that] this was the sin that he had a mind to commit when he was so fully absolved. f • Fasciculus Return. e.rpcUndariim, fol, 177, 178. t CuKMh'iTu:?, ihid. p. 745. y 2 324 SERMON xvni. of indulgences. It would drive out this discourse into too great a length, to (but par- ticularly) mention the several conferences, disputations, wiitings, Diets, that passed for above twenty yeai's, ere the council was assembled at Trent ; and to mention what was done there at several times for above twenty years more, ere they so much as attempted to debate the business of indulgences ; and when it was attempted, how they durst not meddle with that fistula,* but shuffled up a decree about them, the last day of their session ; in which decree they acknowledge " such abuses in them, that give the heretics," as they call us, " occasion to blaspheme them ; " and they acknowledge " such wicked gains in the sale of them, that are very much a cause of abusing Christian people ; " and they acknowledge also " other abuses, through superstition, ignorance, irreve- rence, and otherwise, which they refer to be reformed by the pope, who," they say, " hath alone power to dispense them."-f And, to give us a demonstration what we may expect for the reforming of the abuses of them, themselves break the law the same day they made it : Cardinal Morone, as chief president, granted to every one that was pre- sent in the session, or had assisted in the council, a plenary indulgence iX when they had but then decreed, that the sole dispensing of them belongs to the pope. But I will say no more to the history of indulgences. 3. The next thing I am to show you is, the contrarlictions of them. — And herein I shall take Bellarmine for their oracle, and give you a gleaning of contradictions in five things [which] he saith about indul- gences ; namely, "To an authentical indulgence, there must be, (1.) Authority in the giving, (2.) Piety in the cause, (3.) A state of grace in the receiver. (4.) The thing pardoned is, not the fault, but the punish- ment. (5.) The punishment pardoned is neither natural, nor those that are inflicted in any outward court that is contentious, whether ecclesias- tical or secular." § Now do but observe some few (of many) gross con- tradictions about all these ; for instance : — (1.) As to the avthoritj/ of r/ranfing iiiduhjences. — He saith that Christ, in giving the keys to Peter and the rest of the apostles, gave to them the power of order, and to Peter the power of jurisdiction ; so that the pope holds from Peter a peculiar power of jurisdiction : every ordi- nai-y priest may pardon sin, deliver the soul from hell ; but he cannot discharge them from temporal satisfactions. How many contradictions there arc in this, I cannot say ; but pray take notice of these : — (i.) The keys were given equally to all the apostles ; therefore not so [particularly] to Peter. I question not but this hath been evidenced to you in a former Exercise. (ii.) What a contradiction is it to say [that] the pope cannot pardon the penance enjoined by a priest, and yet can pardon what is required by God .'"that is, he cannot take off the sentence of an inferior court, but he can take off thp sentence of a superior ! As if a man should say among us, " A justice of the peace cannot discharge a man from the stocks, that is set there by a constable ; but he can give a man a pardon for his life, that is condemned by the judge." Whereas this is obvious to all, — that no • " History of tLo Council of Trent," lib. viii. y. 801. f ConcH. Bi.MO rdit. tom. is. p. 433. \ " History of the Council," p. S13. § Bei.l.arminls Dc Indubj. Jib. i. cap. 11, et cap. r» SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. 325 inferior judge can take off the sentence of a superior. What will not these men dare do, that dare cry up the pope to be superior to God himself ? (2.) As to piety in the cause. — The pretended causes are such as these ; namely, the building of churches, the endowing of hospitals, the making of bridges, the warring against infidels or heretics, or some other acts of charity. (i.) Tliis contradicts the scripture-conditions for pardon of sins : but what care they for scripture 1 (ii.) Where is piety in the cause, when the pope upon the day of his coronation, sitting upon a throne set upon the top of the stall's of St. Peter's church, throws indulgences among the people, as one woidd throw a handful of farthings among a company of beggars, to scramble for them, "catch as catch can?" * But do they say that piety is in the cause? The real cause is, to get money. I know, Bellarmine is very angry with us for charging this upon them ; but let them answer their own authors in this matter. Matthseus Parisiensis tells us, that when several were drawn in, under Innocent IV., unto the holy war, the pope compelled them to redeem their vows. Leo X. gave out indulgences for the repairing of St. Peter's church ; whereas Julius, his predecessor, left an infinite trea- sure to that end ; and the money gathered by indulgences was laid out about the palace of the Medici in Florence, much of it distributed among the cardinals and his minions. f And the indulgences of Saxony he gave unto his sister Magdalene, wife unto Franceschetto Cibo, bastard son of Innocent VIII. ; by reason of which marriage this Leo was created car- dinal at the age of fourteen years. J But what need I mention particu- lars? See but the Taxa Cancellavice ApostoUcce, and there you have the several sums set upon the several sins, I wiU name some few ;§ namely, " For the carnal knowledge of his mother, sister, or other kins- woman by blood or marriage, or his godmother ; five grossus," (grossus is near about a groat of our money ; but I wUl reckon it high enough,) five sixpences. " For the defloAvering of a virgin ; (six gi-os. ;) six six- pences. For perjury ; (six gr. ;) sLx sLxpences. For a woman that drinks any potion, or doth any other act, to destroy her live child within her ; (five gr. ;) five sixpences. For him that kills his father, mother, brother, sister, wife ; (d. one. Carl, five ;) one crown and five groats." And in the table for dispensing about marriages, when the rates are stated for the first and second degree, there is added, " Note diligently, that favours and dispensations of this kind are not to be granted to the poor ; " and the reason is given : " Because they are not," (that is, not capable of paying for them,) " therefore they cannot be comforted." Voetius tells us that the Papists [whom] he conversed with, deny that ever there was any such thing or any such book, and say [that] we slander them : || whereas Espencseus teUs us that it was openly sold ; and he tells us so with this remark : " It is a wonder that at this time, in this schism, such an infamous index of such filthy and to-be-abhorred wickedness is not suppressed." (It was printed at Paris, in the year 1520.) "There i* • Du Modlin's "Noveltj- of Popery," p. 465. t ''Review of the Council of Trent," pp. 91, 92. t " History of the Council of Trent," p. fi. § Ta.va Canceh ^post. fol. 36—38, 41, II \'oETii Selectee Disput. pars ii. p. 296. 326 SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. neither in Germany, Switzerland, nor in any other place where there is a defection from the Roman sec, a book more to their reproach ; and yet," saith he, "it is not suppressed l)y the favourers of the church of Rome. It teacheth and encourageth to such wickedness as we may be afraid to hear named ; and a price is set to all buyers." * Is not this enough to show the piety of them ? (.3.) The third requisite is. The 7'eceiver of indulgence must he in the state of grace. — It is ordinarily said [that] they must be confessed and contrite ; though otliers deny the necessity of it. Every way here is a swarm of contradictions. I will name one or two. (i.) They deny that any one can know whether he be in a state of grace or not. Pray unriddle me this : the decree about indulgences saith that indulgences are very profitable to Christian people, and damns those that say otherwise ; and the same council damns those that shall so far own their Christianity, as to aiErm their faith to be certainly saving. f But I will quit this, and request you to consider the next. (ii.) Whether is there any infallible evidence of a person's not being in a state of grace 1 If there be, what is it ? Will the living and dying in all manner of mortal sins, — such as blasphemy, witchcraft, murder, incest, adultery, perjury ; reckon up all the wickedness that you can in the world, — will these speak a man to be graceless 1 Indulgences provide for a full pardon of all these sins. The stationary indulgences of the city of Rome, that is, the indulgences annexed to every church, granted to those that visit them, amount to a million of years. (To gratify Bel- larmine for telling me why they grant so many, I will not make any observations upon Gregory's dedication of the church of Lateran,^ when he gave as many days of indulgence as there fall drops of rain when it i*ains without ceasing for the space of three days and three nights ;. and when Gregory feared lest the treasury of grace would be emptied by that profuseness, Christ appeared vmto him, and told him [that] He was wil- ling he should grant more indulgences ; for the people had need of them : but I will take Bellarmine's word that he hath not read this in any author [whom] he likes ; and for the reason before-said 1 will let it go.) I might reckon up an innumerable company more in several places. But now why so many years ? A man can do penance in this world no longer than he lives ; and their purgatory, they say, lasts no longer than the day of judgment : what use is there, then, of so many millions of years of indulgence? Bellarmine (I thank him) tells me: "We cannot deny but that some are bound by the penitential canons to some thousands of years' penance : for if to every deadly sin there be due by the canons so many years' penance ; as, to some, three ; to some, seven, Sec. ; then he that hath accustomed himself to perjury and blasphemy almost every moment, and most frequently commits murders, thefts, sacrileges, adul- teries,— withoul doubt the popes had respect to such as these, when they gave indulgences for ten or twenty thousand years." § vSo, then, if they commit all the sins before-mentioned so often, that the penance due for them would amount to millions of years ; yet they need fear nothing ; • Est'ENC.TiUS in Titum i. digr. ii. p. 470. f Concilin ffcneratia el provinciulia BiNio edita, torn. ix. p. 3G2, Cone, Trid, spss. vi. can. 15, 16, 23, itc. t CuEMNn n E.vani. p, 739. § BELLAnjiiNi's De Indulgentiis, \\h. i. cap. ix. p. 25. SERMON XVITI. OF INDULGENCES. 32/ they are provided of indulgences ; they shall go to heaven, as sure as the pope has the key of it. Well, let us lay these things a little together. He tells us, " Those that receive benefit by indulgences, must be in the state of grace ; " and he also tells us that " without doubt the pope had respect" (great kindness, certainly!) "for those that accustom them- selves to perjury and blasphemy almost every moment, and most fre- quently commit murders, thefts, sacrileges, adulteries," &c. Novr, then, either indulgences profit those that are not in a state of grace, or these Belialists pass for saints with their infallible Judge ; either of which is an abominable contradiction. (4.) As to loliat is pardoned by indulgences. — He saith, "The fault is never pardoned, but the temporary punishment." Here I have two ques- tions to ask, and one story to tell ; and all from themselves. Question i. What mean those clauses usual in indulgences, of pardon of fault and punishment ? Question ii. What say they to venial sins 1 They are faults ; and there, they grant, both fault and punishment are pardoned. But, to let these pass : I will give a story that smells rank, out of "St. Francis's Conformities," a folio stufied with as prodigious lies as ever paper was stained with. Among other whiskers, take this about indul- gences : "While blessed Francis stood in his cell at St. Mary's de Portiim- cidd, and most fervently prayed to God for sinners, there appeared an angel of the Lord unto him, who bade him go to the church ; for there Christ and blessed Mary, with a great multitude of angels, expected him. He presently went ; who, when he saw Christ, with his mother standing at his right hand, and a great multitude of angels, he fell upon his face for fear and reverence. And then our Lord Jesus Clmst said to him, as he lay prostrate before him and his mother, ' Francis, thou and thy com- panions are much solicitous for the salvation of souls. Ask what thou wilt about the salvation of nations and the comfort of souls and the honour and reverence of God ; because thou art given for a light to the nations and a reparation of the church.' And he lay a while, as rapt up in the sight of God : but at length, when he came to himself, he begged indulgence, for all and every one that came to that place, that entered into that church, of all their sins, universally and generally of all their sins, of .which they had made confession to the priest, and received his command. And he besought His blessed mother, the advocate of mankind, to intercede for the grant of this. The most blessed and most humble queen of heaven, being moved with the prayers of blessed Francis, presently began to supphcate her Son ; telhng him, it became him to have regard unto the prayers of blessed Francis his servant. His Divine Majesty presently said, ' It is a very great thing [that] thou hast asked ; but, brother Francis, thou art worthy of greater things, and thou shalt have greater things. But I will that tlaou go to my vicar, to whom I have given power of binding and loosing in heaven and in earth ; and, from me, ask of him this indulgence.' Whereupon he took his compa- nion brother Masseus, and went to, pope Honorius ; and told him that he had repaired a church to the honour of the blessed Virgin, and he desired that he would grant indulgence there without offerings : who answered, ' That cannot conveniently be done ; for he that receives indulgence, must 328 SERMON xvni. of indulgences. put-to his helping hand. But tell mc,' saith he, ' how many years' indul- gence wouldest thou have ? ' He answered, ' I will that whosoever comes to this church, confessed and continte and absolved by the priest, as he ought, that he be absolved from fault and punishment from the day of his baptism, unto the day and hour of his entering into the church afoi'C- said ; and I ask it in the behalf of Christ, who sent rae to thee.' The pope said three times publicly, ' It pleaseth me that thou have it.' So blessed Francis bowed his head, and went out : which when the pope eaw, he called, ' O simpleton, whither goest thou ? What dost thou carry away of this indulgence ? ' Francis answered, * Your word is enough ; I will have no other instrument. Let blessed Mary be the paper; Christ, the notary; and angels, the witnesses,'" &c.* IMiracles are related by the dozen to confirm this indulgence ; I will mention but one : " Upon the day of indulgence, (the first of August,) brother Con-adus saw the blessed Virgin with her child in her arms ; and the sweet babef did with- out intermission, with his own hands, bless all the people that were, out of devotion, present, and imparted to them his grace." Well, you see here both fault and punishment pardoned by indulgences ; and yet indul- gences can only pardon the punishment : reconcile these. (5.) A fifth (and the last) thing [that] I shall name, of what is fruit- ful of contradictions, is, the kind of punishnents that are pardoned btj indulgences. — Bellarmine saith, " They are neither natural, nor those that are inflicted by any contentious court, whether civil or ecclesiastical." If this be so, then there is nothing forgiven ; for what sufi"erings more are there to be pardoned, but those that are natural or imposed ? % I^ any more were due for sins, without doubt God would inflict them upon the damned : But God inflicts no other upon them : Therefore, &c. But Bellarmine tells us, they are those punishments that are inflicted itt the penitentiary court, which we voluntarily fulfil, to which we are no way compelled but by the fear of God and the stingings of our conscience. Pray, who gives the priest power to inflict anj^ punishment upon those whose sins are pardoned ? But if we are bound in conscience and in the fear of God to perform them, how dare the pope release them ? But pray, let us again consider, what are the punishments usually inflicted. They ai-e prayers and alms and fasting. Must not that be a famous church, think you, where fasting and prayer are punishments, and, as it were, laid in the balance with the pains of purgatory ; which pains are as grievous as the torments of hell, bating the duration ? Let them never boast more of their devotion or charity : they are with them penalties, with us privileges. We are so far from giving any thing to be excused these duties, that we v.ould not be hired out of the performance of them. Should any of our ministers but preach such dispensations, we should account them the devil's apostles, "deceitful workers." (2 Cor. xi. 13.) What ? teach men how to sell themselves to work Avickedness, and then how to purchase heaven with their wages of unrighteousness ! " O my soul, enter not into their secret." But, in short, loe understand neither • Liber Confor. Vita: B. et seraph. Pat. Fruncisci ad Vitam I. C. D. N., pp. 198, 199, impress. Bonon. 1690. t Is he a child atill ? t Theses Saliiiuriemis, ^nvs \i. n. 11, &1-. p. 77. SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. 329 the grammar nor the divinity of pardoning, of repentance, xoho think there is nothing but sin or punishment that needs a pardon.* And thus I have showed you some of their contradictions. The next thing [which] I promised to speak-to was their cheats : and I may well be briefer here ; for what is all that hath been spoken of, but a grand cheat ? 4. The cheats of indulgences will be notorious. — Bring them but forth into the light, and every one may discern them. I need produce but a pattern ; for they are all of a piece. How shall a man be sure [that] he is not cheated of his money, when he cannot know what he buys ? And how can a man know what he buys, when they are not agreed among themselves what they sell ? For • instance : they are not yet agreed, whether an indulgence be a judiciary absolution, or a payment of the debt by way of compensation of punish- ment out of the treasury, or both.f (I may add, " or neither," ere I have done with this particular.) Could they get over this, here is ano- ther difficulty in the way ; namely. What bond is loosed by indulgence 1 that is, AVhat sins, what punishments, are we any way freed from 1 Though Bellarmine (as you have heard) say, " Without doubt the popes had respect to the worst of men ; " yet he himself elsewhere saith, " That we are neither absolved nor solved from the guilt of any fault, whether mortal or venial, by indulgences." X Among several reasons given, I will name but one : "As a dead member receives not influence from the other members of the body that are living, so he that is in mortal sin is as a dead member, and receives not indulgence from the merits of living members." § I know, Bellarmine saith, "The saints cannot merit for others ; but they may satisfy for others ; there being in the actions of the righteous a double value ; namely, of merit and satisfaction." (Though the distinction is every way a nuUity, there being neither merit nor satisfaction : but let that pass for the present.) " Without contro- versy," saith he, " one man's merit cannot be applied to another." || Yet, by his favour, Hadrian, though he speaks less than Bellarmine in other things, he speaks more in this ; for he saith, " He that is in mortal sin himself, may merit for another," &c.^ He calls paying for the indulgence, " meriting of it : " and, I think, well he may ; for his money is well worth it. I might add, they are not yet agreed what is meant by " a year's pardon ; " whether tliree hundred and sixty days of penance, or only all the fasting-days in the year.** If the former, what is meant by that usual clause in indulgences, " For so many years, and so many quarantines," or forty days of penance beside those that are contained in the general account of the year ? They are not yet agreed about the value and efficacy of indulgences ; whether they are worth what they pretend, or not. Some do not stick to say, [that] their holy father may do by his children as a mother by hers ; that promiseth her child an apple, if he will do such a thing ; but when he hath done it, she doth not give it. Neither are they yet agreed, whether they may not be • Chamieri Panstratia, torn. iii. lib. xxiv. cap. xv. sect. 15. t Bellarminl'S De Indtdg. lib. i. cap. v. p. 19. I Idem, cap. vii. p. 21. § Raynerii Payitheologia, torn. i.p. 1146. II Bellarminus De Indtdg. lib. i. cap. 2. IT Hadrianm VI. Qticcst. de Sacram. in quartum Librum Sentent. fol. 163. •• Idem, fol. 162. 330 SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. eflFectual, tlioiigli the condition of them he not performed. But why do I inquire into those things that will not bear a scrutiny ? I have said enough to evidence that neither seller nor buyer understand the ware of their market ; and these two things more may be enough to prove them a cheat : — (1.) When Bellarmine saith [that] they are all agx-eed that an indulg- ence is not valid, unless the cause be just ; and he names several things [which] must concur to make it just ; but concludes, " It belongs not to the pope's subjects to judge whether the cause be just or unjust ; they ought simply to account it just ; " and instanceth, how the pope may grant the greatest indulgences upon the lightest cause : for example : when a plenary indulgence is granted to all those that stand before the doors of St. Peter's church, while the pope upon Easter-day solemnly blesseth the people : * we count this condition ridiculous. " O no," saith he elsewhere; "they thereby show their obedience to the pope." Is that it ? Mark this, I pray you : by this doctrine, a man may live in disobedience and rebellion against God all his days, and at last so far obey the pope as to go [to] see a fine show, without parting with any one sin ; and he shall be saved. Who but those that are given up to " strong delusion, to believe a lie," can believe this ? (2 Thess. ii. 11, 12.) (2.) Neither those that grant, nor those that receive, nor those that plead for, indulgences, dare themselves trust to them. Witness the solemn services performed for them after their death ; yea, for the pope himself. Now those that plead for the validity of plenary indulgences, when they are asked, " What need then of funeral obsequies ? " they answer, " Some sins may be forgotten," &c. What ? and yet the deceased hath had their " full," their " plenary," and their " most full " indulgences ! What these mean, take from one of their infallible oracles, Hadrian VI., in his book that was printed at Rome in the very time of his papacy : and so this is as it wei'e out of the chair. He tells us, that a full indulgence respects penance enjoined for mortal sins ; a plenary indulgence respects penance enjoined for mortal and venial sins ; and a most full indulgence respects the penance that might have been enjoined for mortal and venial sins.f Tolct, almost a hundred years after, gives us a little more light into that gradation of indulgences ; and tells us that a fuU indulgence respects the remission of the punishment enjoined ; a fuller indulgence respects that punishment that might have been enjoined according to the canons ; the fullest respects that punishment which may be required by the divine judgment.;]: Now, then, if indulg- ences pardon all manner of sins, mortal and venial, all manner of repent- ance that God or man can require, and all manner of punishment that God or man can inflict ; and yet those that receive these indulgences, when they arc dead, need the same means for pardon that those do that never had any indulgences ; doth not this evidence that the chief pati'ons of indulgences do in their own consciences believe them to be a cheat ? I shall next show you how they are injurious to Clmst. 5, Indulgences are injurious to Christ. — And, which is to me consider- • Hellarminis De Inditlg. lib. i. cap. 1'2, pp. 28, 29. t Haduianis, ibid. fol. 163. J ToLETi Instruc. Saccrd. lib. vi. cap. 24, p. 67t». SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. 331 able, they are most injurious to Christ where they seem most to honour iiim : what they speak of Christ with the greatest reverence, is, at the bottom, full of falsehood, injustice, and blasphemy. For instance : they say, " One drop of the blood of Christ was enough to redeem the world." " Doth not this assertion put an inestimable value upon the blood of Christ ? " Examine it a little ; and you will find that, Judas-like, they betray him with a kiss. For, (1 .) This takes away the necessity of Christ's death, which the scrip- ture doth so often inculcate.* What need the Son of God undergo such a painful, ignominious, and cursed a death, if one drop of his blood was sufficient ? How can we believe that the Father, who delighteth not in the death of a sinner, would delight in the cruel and cursed death of his most innocent, only-begotten Son, if it were not necessary for our redemption ? Can we think that God, who will not punish his damned enemies beyond what they deserve, would exact a punishment of his Son so much more than there was need ? Is the death of Christ superfluous ? I dare not say of the Captain of our Salvation, as David said of the cap- tain of the host of Israel : " Died Abner as a fool dieth ? " (2 Sam. iii. 33.) No ; death was the debt ; and such a death must be the payment as may pay the debt ; and that by the sinner, or (through grace) by his Surety. (2.) If one drop of the blood of Christ be sufficient, and all the rest to be laid up in a treasury, and the satisfactions of saints likewise added ; then there needs more to redeem us from temporal punishments than from eternal wrath, and Christ is not a complete Saviour : than which nothing is more absurd in itself, or more reproachfid to Christ. To prove this, it is easy to multiply scriptures ; but, to produce their own authors, at present I will name but onCj-f who expressly tells us that " it is only Christ, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, that can with plenary authority grant all manner of indulgence from fault and punish- ment : and it is Christ alone that can grant so many thousand thousand years of pardon as we find in some popes' grants ; for no temporal punishment can endure the thousandth part of that time." 6. Indulgences are abominably hijurious to souls. — They came in upon the declining of piety, and they are the product of the later and worse times, j The plain truth is, indulgences do in the nature of the thing promote wickedness ; for it is only wicked men that need indulgences. Those that they account saints, do so much more than they need, that their superfluous good works constitute a ti'easury for others. Surely, then, we may reckon, that their middling sort, though they have no satisfactions to spare, yet they have so many [that] they need not be beholden to others : so that it is only the worst of men that need indul- gence. And what can " more oblige them to redouble their crimes and misdemeanours, to abandon themselves to all manner of vice and lewd- ness, than to be sure that all the sins [which] they can commit shall be forgiven them 1 yea, to have them pardoned beforehand, in having indLd- gences for sins already committed and to be committed, with this express * Theses Salinurienscs, pars ii. p. 71, &c. t Gersoni Opusc. torn. i. de Indulg. viii. consid. 5. ibl. 191. t FoRBESii Jnstructiones Historico-TheologicXf lib. xii. cap. viii. p. 655. 332 SKRMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. clause, " Be they never so heinous ? " * Marcus Antonius de Dorainis may well say that " indulgences are one of the great secrets of the Papacy ; they are famous gold-mines, out of which a gi-eat power of gold hath been digged for the apostolical see : but they have utterly banished true repentance from the Popish churches." f Navarrus goeth further ; (if I may credit Peter Du MouUn's quotation of him ; J I having not the book by me ;) for although he was the pope's penitentiary, yet, when he writ for indidgences, he could not abstain from saying, "The gi^nt of them is odious ; because the collectors seek not the good of souls, but the pi-ofit of money," &c. In short : what wicked man is there that gives any credit to their doctrine of indulgences, but will gratify his lusts ; that he may have the pleasures of both worlds ? For, according to that doctrine, " There are none but fools and friendless can miss of heaven." But enough, enough, and more than enough, of this mischievous doctrine. IV. Let us therefore, in the last place, try whether it is possible to make any good use of so bad a doctrine. USES. Use I. Let them henceforth be ashamed of their absurd reproaches of the Reformed churches, us if they were not pure enough or strict enough for them. — WTbat doctrines have we, that the devil himself can charge us with, like theirs of indulgences 1 Those days are' passed witb them, wherein it was harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of hea- ven, than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle ; (Matt. xix. 24 ;) for now those need never doubt of salvation. It is for such dull souls as we are, to harp upon such harsh strings as these : " They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches ; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him : for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever," &c. : (Psalm xhx. 6 — 8 :) and that other word of Christ : " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul 1 or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul 1 " (Matt. xvi. 26.) We dare not answer these scriptures with that inter- pretation of Prov. xiii. 8, [with] which he doth that glosscth upon Gerson in the fore-cited place : " The ransom of a man's life are his riches ; " as if a man need do no more but purchase an indulgence, and all is well. We like the apostle's counsel better : " Let every man prove his own work, and thou shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another ; " and that for the very reason which the apostle gives : "Foreveiyman shall bear his own burden." (Gal. vi. 4, .5.) We are neither to be proud of being better than others, nor trust to share benefits with those that are better than us. The wise virgins had no oil to spare, when the foohsh had their oil to seek. (Matt. xxv. 8, 9.) We bless God that we have a Christ to trust to ; and not any that may, like Hermauuus, be many years worshipped for a saint, and then his bones dug up and burnt for a heretic, by that very Boniface who • " Review of the Council of Trent," lib. v. cap. 1, p. '250. t De Rep- Ecclcs. lib. V. cap. viii. n. 13, p. 240. \ « Novelty of I'opery," lib. vii. cap. 2, p. 467. SERMON XVIII. OF INDULGENCES. 333 appointed the first jubilee, and that with a singular respect to the visit- ing [of] the sepulchres of the saints.* Commend which you will, — whether his worshipping, or his burning, of the bones of any [whom] they call " saints ; " we think, he might well have acknowledged, with Eugenius, that "what key he had of opening and shutting, through his folly he did not prudently make use of it." f Our common people can read in their Bibles that they are "fools" who "make a mock at sin," (Prov. xiv. 9,) playing with it both in the commission and expiation. But we dare not do so ; we dare not play the mountebanks in religion, — to make some whiffling about the conscience, and then stupify it with a cheat. \Ye ingenuously confess, we have not better esteem of indul- gences than had the citizens of Prague ; who put the indulgent mer- chant into the same cart with some common whores, about whose breasts they hung the Papal indulgences ; and so drew him and the whores, with the indulgences hanging about their necks, exposing them to scorn, through eveiy street of the city ; and then took the Bulls of indulgences, and publicly and solemnly burnt them. J: Such honour may they meet with wherever they come ! Use II. I will no longer forbear acquainting you with that, by way of use, which you might well expect in the opening of the doctrine ; namely, to state how fur God may be said to punish sin after he hath pardoned it. — We deny not but those whose sins are pardoned meet with many bitter calamities in this world ; but the question between the Papists and us is, whether they are punishments of sin properly so called. § We grant [that] they are materially punishments, but not formally : that is, the same things, when suffered by wicked men, are punishments ; but to the^n they ai'e only fatherly chastisements, not judicial punishments ; whole- some medicines, not penal executions. For example : a malefactor hath his hand cut off for striking in a court of judicature ; that is properly a punishment : an innocent person hath his hand cut off, because it is gangrened ; that is not a punishment, but a kindness. Plainly : a punishment is properly to satisfy revenging justice ; a judge (as such) hath no respect to the offender's repentance : but God always chastiseth " for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness." (Heb. xii. 10.) We deny not but God chastiseth for sin : but the question between the Papists and us is not about the impulsive cause, but the fnal ; that is, whether God, in punishing his children, do it to satisfy his justice with another satisfaction beside that [which] he hath received by the death of his Son.|| The shortest and the plainest answer to this ques- tion will be, to clear up those scriptures which they press into their service. They urge David's case : "Because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die." (2 Sam. xii. 14.) We grant that, because of David's sin, his child died ; but we deny [that] it was pi"o- perly a punishment. Nathan makes a plain difference between the • Platina De Vitd Bonifacii Fill. p. 247. t B. Bp. torn. xv. p. 614, Euje- nius Po7itife.v Hildegardi. t Chemnitii ^^o^oot. p. 741. § V>M.hX.vs Be Pcen.et Satisfac. lib. i. cap. 2, pp. 4, 5, et seqq. sparsim. II BiVETi Cothol. Orihod. torn. ii. tract, iii. qusest. 13, p. 63. 334 SERMON XVIII, OF INDULGENCES. punishment due to David for tlie sin which is pardoned, — " The Lord hath put away thy sin ; tliou shalt not die," (verse 13,) — and the disci- phne whereby he would take off the scandal of wicked men. God, as it were, put off the person of a Judge, and assumed the person of a Father. Whereas they say, " David prayed against it, and therefore it was a punishment ; " the answer is easy. The sick man begs of his physician, that he may have no more nauseous physic, no more corroding plasters, &c. : are his medicines therefore punishments ? God would cure David, and prevent others from taking encouragement to sin by liis example : to this end God makes use of dreadful physic ; yet it is but physic. The like may be said to Miriam's case, who was struck with leprosy : God would have her to be ashamed and repent of her molesting his servants in the discharge of their duty. (Num. xii. 13.) But there are other instances of pardoned persons struck with death for their ofl'ences ; of whom they jeeriugly ask us, " Did God strike them dead, that they might mend their lives?" For example: I. Moses and Aaron ; to whom God said, " Ye shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye have rebelled against my word," &c. (Num. xx. 24.) I answer, Tlieir death was not properly a punishment, but matter of instruction to other believers. There is a singular mystery in Moses's death, — to teach that the law brings not into the heavenly Canaan ; that must be done by Christ. 2. That of the old projjhef ; to whom the very person that deceived him said from God, " Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. And when he was gone, a lion met him by tlie way, and slew him." (1 Kings xiii. 21, 22, 24.) God by the threatening brought him to repentance ; and by his death warns us to take heed how we swerve, though never so little, from his command. There v/as his own amendment to salvation, and the profit of the church by so memorable a monument of God's severity. But what need 1 spend time in particular instances ? while the scrip- ture speaks of behevers in general, that death is to them a privilege, not a punishment ; and death itself is inventoried among their treasures ; (1 Cor. iii. 22 ;) that whenever or however it seizeth upon them, it will be their gain and matter of triumph. (Phil. i. 21 ; 1 Cor. xv. 5.5.) In a word, therefore, this, dear Christians, would I charge upon you : — Above all things secure your reconciliation with God, and then practically learn to answer God's ends in all your chastisements and trials ; set yourselves to hate sin, to be exemplary in holiness, to live in the con- tinual exercise and growth of grace, till God translate you to glory. Use III. Let us bless God for being delivered from the devilish delu- sions of that religion. — " Religion " did I call it ? How do they forfeit the very name, while they industriously strive to make men atheists, that they may make them Papists ! And what bait can be more alluring, than that they can afford them indulgence at- so cheap a rate ? Their Seraphi- cal Doctor tells us of some indulgences granted, to help to build some church, or the like : those that gave a penny toward it, should be par- doned the third part of their repentance ; and for another penny, another third, part ; and for another penny, the last third part : * so that for • BONAVENTl'RA in Scntri't. torn. iv. p. .S2.1, \''('npt. otinency. 4. Men may "care for the things that belong unto the world" moderately, and labour to please their wives in the Lord suhordinatelyy 358 SERMON XIX. THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH and not transgress the bounds of their duty ; (yea, to neglect this would be their sin ;) and yet at the same time they may " care for the things that belong to the Lord, how they may please the Lord" chief 1/ : for if the one had been inconsistent with the other, the apostle would have forbidden marriage absolutely, it being the absolute indispensable duty of all, and necessary unto salvation, that they labour chiefly to please the Lord. But the apostle professeth the contrary, that " concerning virgins lie had no command from the Lord," (verse 25,) that is, to forbid them from the Lord to marry ; but in case of necessity he lets them know that marriage was their duty. Yet, because both men and women are more prone to exceed the bounds as to worldly cares and distraction in God's service when married, especially when full of children, and httle in the world to provide for them, or in a time of persecution, than in the single estate, endowed with the gift ; therefore he doth express himself thus as we read in the scripture urged. But none can infer hence, that it is the wiU of the Lord that ministers should not marry, who — though they be devoted to the service of God more immediately, and ought always to care for the things that belong to the Lord, above all others to please him — may do this in a married estate, as hath been shown : and if there be any argument in it against mari'iage, it is an argument against the marriage of all Christians, rather than against the marriage particularly of ministers ; the persons the apostle writing linto, and unto whom he gives the advice in this chapter, being not ministers, but ordinary Christians amongst the Corinthians. The uttermost that can be argued from this place in reference unto ministers, is, that such of them as are unmarried, and have the gift of continency, in the time of the church's persecution, or in such circumstances of their condition in the world, that by marriage they are likely to be plunged and encumbered with more worldly cares and distraction, and to be less serviceable unto the Lord in a married estate than they are in the single ; — that in such a case they ought to continue single, so long as God doth continue the gift unto them. But this is no argument for the Popish forbidding the marriage of the whole clergy. Arg. IV. The fourth Popish argument is drawn from 1 Tim. v. II, 12: "But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry ; having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith." Now the interpretation of and the arguings of the Papists from this scripture, may run thus : 1 . That there was a society of widows maintained by the church, more immediately devoted unto God, who were to continue in supplications and prayers night and day ; (as verse 5 ;) and that these widows were under a vow to continue in their single estate unto tlieir hves' end, that they might be the more fit for' their employment ; and this vow was "their first faith," spoken of, verse 12, because they entered into this vow when they were first admitted into this society. 2. That such widows as after this vow did marry, — they " waxed wanton " hereby from Christ, and " had dam- nation" upon the account of their " casting-ofF this their first faith," or breaking their celibate vow. 3. That if widows, then virgins too, might< be gathered into societies to sequester themselves from all worldly all'airs, for the more immediate service of God, and enter into the same celibate TO MARRY, IS A DEVILISH AND WICKED DOCTRINE. 359 VOW. 4. That the clergy of all ranks being by their office devoted more immediately unto God, they ought to enter into the celibate vow, which they impose upon aU in their admission into sacred functions. 5. That all who have made this celibate vow, if afterward they attempt to marry, — they incur the penalty not only of deprivation from men, but also of eternal damnation from God. Answer 1 . We grant that there was in the primitive times a number of widows devoted more immediately unto the service of God, whom the church did maintain, and who were to be qualified according to what the apostle doth mention, verses 9, 10. 2. It is as easy for lis to deny, as for them to affirm, that these widows did enter into a cehbate vow upon their first admission into this number ; this scripture making no mention of any siich vow, and there- fore they can never prove it. 3. By the "first faith" here spoken of, it is more rational to under- stand it not of any celibate vow, but of their vow in baptism, (which is the first faith of Christians,) whereby they were devoted unto the fear and service of the Lord all their days ; and this, by their wantonness from Christ, or lascivious practices, and turning aside after Satan, spoken of, verse 1.5, they did cast off; and for this they had damnation. 4. We deny that the sin of these widows lay in their marrying, but in their wantonness and breach of faith with Christ ; otherwise the apostle would not have given direction that these " younger women " (although received into this number) should " marry, bear children, guide the house, and give no occasion " (through wantonness) " to the adversary to speak reproachfully," as he doth, verse 14. That the apostle speaketh of younger women of the number, it is evident, because he saith that some of them had " waxen wanton from Christ, had cast off their first faith, had turned aside after Satan ; " and therefore he doth direct con- cerning the rest of the younger women, to prevent these evils, that they should marry : and surely he would not have directed them to this, had it been a sin, and had their marriage itself been a casting-off of their first faith. 5. If we should suppose (although we do not grant) that by "the first faith " is meant a celibate vow ; yet it doth not follow from hence, that either virgins or younger widows have leave from God to enter into such a vow : for the apostle doth straitly charge, that no widow for the future should be admitted into this number under threescore years old, at which years there is no such danger of their falling into wanton practices ; (verse 9;) and "younger widows" he would have refused. (Verse 11.) And what plea then can there be from hence for the society of nuns, and their celibate vows, when most of them are young at "their first admission ? 6. And if there can be from this place no good plea for younger women to enter into celibate vows, much less can there be any hence for the celibate vows of the clergy. 7. Therefore it is sinful for any, especially younger men or women, to make cehbate vows, when such vows may not be in their own power to keep ; and such who have rashly made them, it is a greater sin for them to keep, when they have not the gift of continency, than to break them 360 SERMON XIX, THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH by holy wedlock, which they may do without the penalty of eternal damnation. Arg. v. Tlie fifth and last Popish argument is drawn from authority. Bellarmine, after sufficient weakness betrayed in his scripture-proofs, doth annex, 1. The testimony of divers councils. Eastern, African, Italian, French, Spanish, and German. 2. The testimony of divers popes or bishops of Rome. 3. The testimony of divers fathers, both Greek and Latin. Should I repeat all which he maketh these to speak, I should weary both myself and the reader ; and how infirm his argumentation is from hence, will appear in the answer. Answer 1. It is well known by those that are versed in councils, and have written on this subject, that the councils of Ancyra, Nice, Gangra, and Trull, (the most ancient which Bellarmine and other Papists do cite,) do not really favour this Popish doctrine. One canon of the council of Ancyra hath this passage in it: l^iay.ovoi baoi xuQicrTavTcti, ^'c. "All deacons that are established in their charges, if they have declared that they have need to marry, and cannot remain as they are, let them remain in their service after they are married." And let any judge whether this could be consistent with a general prohibition of the marriage of the clergy. The council of Nice indeed did decree, " That no bishop, pres- byter, or deacon, shoidd have any women in their houses except mother, sister, or aunt ; " " therefore they were prohibited," saith Bellarmine, " the having wives, and so ought not to marry : " whereas it is evident unto all that are unbiassed by prejudice, and make an impartial search into the records of that council, that this prohibition did not shut out the wives, but unmarried associates, from the houses of ecclesiastics that were single, for the prevention of scandal by fornication, which single persons Uving together, especially in their youth and privacy, might be tempted unto. Let us see what Socrates in his " Ecclesiastical History " doth relate concerning the transactions of this council about this point : which we shall find to this purpose : " Some would have brought-iu a new law, to forbid the clergy to cohabit with their wives ; but Paphnutius, a con- fessor, and although unmarried himself, stood up and vehemently cried out, that marriage was honourable, congress with the wife chaste, and therefore did counsel them not to lay such a heavy yoke upon persons in holy orders which they could not bear, and hereby give occasion both to them and their wives to live incontinently. Upon which speech of Paph- nutius, the council did both approve and praise his sentence, made no such law, but left it to evei-y man's liberty to do what he would in that point." — Socrates, hb. i. cap. 11. Sozom. lib. i. cap. 23. Here we see that this law (now established amongst the Papists) is called " a new law," it was never enacted before, and it was only a law which some would have brought in, and therefore was not enacted then : it was called " a heavy yoke," and, not being found by that council to be Clmst's yoke, it was laid aside. The council of Gangra (all whose canons the council of Trull doth approve of) hath this canon : Ei rii hctxpivono, ^-c. "If any make a difference of a married priest, as if none ought to partake of the oblation when he doeth the service, let him be anathema." I might give other instances of passages in other councils, which Bellarmine doth TO MARRY, IS A DEVILISH AND WICKED DOCTRINE. 361 make mention of, to show how he doth corrupt many of their sayings in favour of this doctrine ; but I refer the learned reader unto Chamier's answer, and to Junius's "Animadversions upon Bellarmiue's Controver- sies." It is most certain, (if history may be believed,) that the most ancient and most authentic councils, according to their most authentic copies, did never (Uke the Papists) forbid the marriage of the clergy, "whatever some of them may seem to do in the corrupt translations of them and false glosses upon them by the Papists. The canons of some particular councils, or rather Popish synods, of latter date, are of no great signification in the proof of this point. 2. The testimonies which Bellarmine bringeth of popes, or the bishops of Eome, carry no weight. It is acknowledged by the most, that pope Syricius first did forbid the marriage of the clergy ; but what he did was very unjust. Hear what Junius doth say of it : Syricius contra verbnm Dei et jus naturale ipsiim vohiit istud ccelibatiis jvgum ecclesiasticis impo- nere, et juris ignorantid, et supersiitiosd cacozeliu. " Syricius, against the word of God, and the law of nature itself, would needs lay the celi- bate law upon ecclesiastics through ignorance and superstitious zeal." I shall readily grant, that the bishops of Rome, especially of latter years since the apostasy of that church unto heresy, antichristiauism, and idol- atry, have been generally against the marriage of the clergy. But where- fore hath this been ? Not out of true zeal for chastity, and the purity of all in sacred orders, as is pretended ; but out of carnal policy, for the enriching of their church hereby, and the preserving of its revenues, which might be too profusely expended and alienated in the providing for wife and children. 3. The testimonies which are brought out of ancient fathers for the most part are either corrupted, or they do not mihtate against the mar- riage, but against the incontinency, of the clergy ; and the purity which the fathers speak of, as requisite in persons of that function, is as well consistent with a married as with a single estate, and more ordinarily to be found in the former than in the latter. But if some of the fathers were against the marriage of ecclesiastics, this doth not prove the unlaw- fulness of such marriages, unless it could be pi'oved to be so by the word of God ; and this the Papists can never prove unto such who do look into the scriptures with an unprejudiced mind, when they are so plain and clear for the universal lawfulness of marriage without any particular exceptions. IV. USES. Use I. Here you may see the devilish wickedness of the church of Rome : it would both spend too much time, and carry me beside my pur- pose too far, to set forth the wickedness of this apostate church in the full latitude thereof. I shall only speak of the wickedness which this doctrine, that forbiddeth to marry, is the occasion of. There are three woful effects which this wicked, devilish doctrine hath produced : 1. Wicked indulgences of their popes. 2. Wicked principles of their Jesuits. 3. Wicked practices both of their popes and others under the celibate vow. 1. The popes or bishops of Rome, however severe against the mar- riage of their clergy, yet theij have given indulgences for whoredom. 362 SERMON XIX. THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH sodomy, and such-like most foul abominations.— r-YieTLX tlie complaints as well as acknowledgments of Espencaeus, a writer of their OAvn. (De Continentia, lib. ii. cap. 7.) His words are these : Fro puro mundoque ccelibatu siiccessit impuriis et immundus concuhinatus ; ut quod eleganter " de persecutione" cap. 29, conquerebatur D. Bernardus, latere, nee prce multitudine queat, nee prcB impudentid qucerat. Hcbc, inquam, tolerantia altius radices eyit, permissis alicubi sub annuo censu elericis atque laicia cum suis concubinis cohabitare : Quod utinam /also et immerito extaret inter Gravamina Germanice ; adehque etiam continentlbus ad omnem censum persolvendum coactis, quo soluto its liceret, vel continentibus vel incontinen- tibus esse. O rem execrandam ! " Instead of the pure and clean celi- bate, there hath succeeded an impure and unclean concubinate ; which, as Bernard elegantly complaineth in his twenty-ninth chapter concerning persecution, neither can be concealed, it is so frequent, neither doth seek to be concealed, it is so impudent. This toleration or indulgence hath got firm footing, both the clergy as well as laity having permission given unto them to cohabit with their concubines, upon the payment of a yearly sum of money. And. I wish that these things were falsely and undeservedly extant amongst the Grievances of Germany, who complain that even such as are continent are forced to pay the annual rent ; which being paid, they are at their own choice whether they wiU contain or not, whether they will have a concubine, othervrise called ' a whore,' or not. 0 execrable wickedness ! " And the same author in his comment upon Titus, doth further acknowledge in these words : Episcopi, archi- diaconi, et officiales plerunqiie dum diceceses et paroecias obequitant, non tarn fucinorosos et criminum reos poenis et correctionibus a vitiis deterrent, quam pecunid emxingunt et exugunt turn clericos, turn laicos ; et hos cum concubinis, pellicibus, et meretriculis cohabitare, liberosque procreare sinunt, accepto ah iis certo quotannis censu, atque adeh alicubi aecijriunt a continentibus; habeat (aiunt) si velit, et quoties enhn quisque talis (chn tales tamen tam multi sunt) hodie aliter punitur ? " Bishops, archdeacons, and officials, do ride about their diocesses and parishes for the most part, not to deter the wicked by corrections and punishments from their vice, but to draw out and defraud both clergy and laity of theii- money ; whom, upon the payment of a yearly revenue, they permit to cohabit with concubines and whoi'es, and to procreate children. And this revenue they receive in some places of the continent : ' For he may have a concubine or whore,' (say they,) ' if he please.' And how often are such priests as keep whores (although so many) punished other- wise ? " There is a book lately published by Anthony Egans, B.D., late confessor-general of the kingdom of Ireland, and now minister of the gospel according to the Reformed rchgion. The title of it is this : " The Book of Rates now used in the Sin-Custom-House of the Church and Court of Rome, containing the Bulls, Dispensations, and Pardons for all manner of ViUanies and Wickedness, with the several Sums of Moneys given and to be paid for them." In page 13 there are these dispensa- 'tions for priests and others under the celibate vow : " A priest or friar having lain or carnally sinned with a woman of whatsoever sort or degree, whether a nun, or kinswoman, or a relation, or with any other whether manied or single, whether within the bounds or cloisters of his TO MARRY, IS A DEVILISH AND "WICKED DOCTRINE. 363 .monastery, or elsewhere, whether the absolution be made in the name of the clergy or no, it gives him power to exercise his function, and to hold his Hvings, and that together with the inhibitory clause, he paying 5636. 9s. 6d. And if beside this there be an absolution for buggery, or for unnatural sin committed with brute beasts, a dispensation, together with the inhibitory clause, will come to ^690. I2s. Id. A simple abso- lution for the sin of buggery or the sin contrary to nature, that is to say, with brute beasts, together with a dispensation, and the inhibitory clause, is £36. 9s. A nun having played the whore very often, aut intra aid extra septa monasterii, ' within or without the bounds of the monas- tery,' is to be absolved and rehabiUtated to hold the dignity of her order for j636. 9*. An absolution for one that keeps a whore at bed and board, with a dispensation to hold a benefice, is £A. bs. 6d." Prideaux telleth us of pope SLxtus IV. that " he made a grant unto the cardinal of Lucia to use unnatural lusts for three months in the year, namely, June, July, and August." But whether the cardinal had the dispensation gratis, or paid a sum of money for it, the author doth not relate. This is that pope who built a stews at Eome of his own cost ; and well might he do it, when the popes do receive such revenues from such base houses. See Cornelius Agrippa, De Vanitate Scientiarum, cap. 64. " Lycur- gus and Solon," saith he, "those Heathen lawgivers, erected public stews : but that is no marvel ; for of late years pope Sixtus IV. builded a goodly stews in Rome. The Corinthians, Cyprians, and Babylonians did increase their revenue by the gain of stews, which in Italy also at this day is no unusual matter ; for whores of Rome do pay weekly to the pope a julio, the whole revenue whereof in the year doth often exceed twenty thousand ducats." Hence it is that one of their poets doth complain, Roma ipsa, lupanar Reddita, nunc facta est toto execrabilis orbe ; that " Rome was become a brothel-house, and grown execrable through- out the whole world." The pope, indeed, will not allow of marriage in his clergy ; but by his indulgences he doth make provision for their flesh, that they may fulfil their lusts by fornications and aU manner of uncleannesses, which may bring-in filthy lucre into his coffers. Thus concerning the wicked indulgences of the pope. 2. The wicked jirinciples of the Jesuits is another effect of this Popish doctrine which forbiddeth to marry. — The Jesuitical doctors pretend to more sanctity, learning, and subtilty than others. Let us see what some of their principles be, and positions, in their stating of cases of con- science concerning uncleannesses. I shall refer the reader only unto a book called "the Mystery of Jesuitism;" see vol. i. p. 147. Father Bauny hath this assertion, as it is cited out of his Theolog. Mor. trac. 4, De pcenit., p. 94 : " It is lawful for all persons of all qualities and con- ditions to go into the places of common prostitution, there to convert sinful women, although it be very probable that they will commit the sin there themselves ; nay, haply though they have found by frequent expeiience that they are drawn into sin by the sight and insinuations of those women." Who seeth not that this assertion doth give encourage- 364 SERMON XIX. THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH ment unto tlie unmarried Popish clergy to run upon occasions and mani- fest temptations unto the sin of filthy fornication ? For who are more fit, may they think, to convert those sinful women, than ecclesiastical persons ? But for such to go into places of common prostitution to do it, is both scandalous for any, especially for ministers, and dangerous lest them- selves be entangled and defiled hereby. But the Jesliit telleth us, they may venture into such places, although it })e probable they will [be], and though they have been often, drawn into that foul sin hereby ; and what is it that they can plead for the lawfulness of such practice ? It is only this, — their directing their intention to convert sinful women. And may they run into their embraces that they may convert them ? May they venture upon a probability of being drawn by them unto this sin, that without any probability of success they may draw them from it ? And when they have been often enticed and overcome, may they put their foot again into the snare ? Are such likely to persuade others to repentance and chastity, who have been often unclean in such places themselves ? But let us see further what others of their doctors say. In the Additionale, page 9G, Escobar doth assert, that " a man who hath the reputation of being extremely given to women, doth not commit any mortal sin in soliciting a woman to condescend unto his desires, M'heu he doth not intend to put his design in execution." This doctor goeth a step further : the former giveth allowance to go into places of common prostitution, .so that the intention be the conversion of sinful women ; and this telleth us that it is no mortal sin to solicit women to be naught, if a man can but hold off his intention from the thing. But who is there that is extremely addicted to women, and doth solicit, though he doth not actually intend the thing till he knows the mind of the party, but, if there be a comphance, that will forbear and withdi'aw himself, as Joseph from his mistress ? May lecherous Mass-priests sohcit women to lewdness without mortal sin ? Who can deny this to be devilish, wicked doctrine ? But although the Jesuits' principles do lead their clergy to fornication and adultery, yet they would have them cautious that such impure facts of theirs may not be known. Si non caste, tamen caate : " If they do not live chastely, they would have them sin warily ; " and therefore they allow most horrid wickedness for the concealing [of] such shame. Page 19, Caramuel asserteth, in liis Fund. Theolog. fund. 55, sect, vii., that '* it is doubtful whether a religious man, having made use of a woman, may not kdl her if she offer to discover what passed between them." This doctor doth make a doubt whether it be not lawful for their priests to commit murder that they may conceal their adultery. But what, if the woman the priest is naught withal be a wife, and she reveal nothing, but her husband cometh unawares upon them, and dis- covereth the fact ? See what Escobar saith in such a case, cited, page 94, out of his Tract. TheoL tract. 4, exam. 6, cap. 5 : " An ecclesiastic surprised in adultery, if he kill the woman's husband whom he hath abused, in his own defence, is not for that irregular." Here the doctor doth favour, not only the murder of the wife if she reveal, but also the murder of the husband if he resist ; and although the marriage of eccle- siastics doth make them irregular, yet their adulteries and murders do not so, but they may, according to these principles, continue in their TO MARRY, IS A DEVILISH AND WICKED DOCTRINE. 365 function, notwithstanding such horrid abominations. You see "what pro- visions the Jesuits make for themselves and others of the Romish clergy, for their encouragement, reputation, and safety in their practice of the sin of adultery. But do they take no care for the poor forlorn nuns, who are mewed * up in cloisters, and are under the same cehbate vow with themselves ? The great danger is, when the priests and Jesuits come amongst them, of their proving with child, and so of their discovering their own shame. Is there no provision in this case ? Yes ; these kind fathers have a principle which may be of use to such, to encourage them with a non-obstante to this danger unto lewd embraces. See Addit. p. 19 : ^gidius Trullench. in Deeal. tom. 5, Hb. 5, cap. 1, asserteth, that " it is lawfid to procure abortion before the child be quick in the womb, to save a maid's life or reputation." I shall add but one position more concerning the Hberty which the Jesuits give unto the most impure persons to communicate immediately upon their confession. Page 88, Mascarennas, tract. 4, Be Sacr. Eucharist. disp. 5, cap. 7, doth assert, " that either a secular person, or a priest, being fallen into any kind of impurity whatsoever, nay, though such as are against nature, may, without so much as the least venial sin, (nay, are to be commended for it if they do,) communicate the very same day after they have made confession thereof; that the confessor ought to advise his penitent to receive the eucharist the very same day that he is fallen into such crimes ; and that the vow or resolution any one might have made not to come to the Lord's table in that condition, was null." Thus if the Jesuits acknowledge that a wound and defilement is con- tracted by some grosser impieties and impurities ; yet they can, according to their principles, quickly lick themselves whole by their confessions, and wash themselves clean by their communicating : and what is this but an abominable profaning and polluting of the holy sacrament, and an opening a wide door to aU manner of licentiousness ? The harlot could say unto the young man, "This day have I paid my vows;" (Prov. vii. 14;) and so she was fitted for her wickedness. And if unmarried ecclesias- tics, by confession and communicating, can so easily wipe off their guilt and filth, what encouragement must tliis needs give them to return presently again " with the dog to his vomit, and with the sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire ! " That the Jesuits are hot behed by the author of " the Mystery of Jesuitism," in these and other gross principles and assertions which they hold, may easily be known by such as will consult their books in print, out of which they are extracted. I confess, I have not consulted all of them, not having them by me ; but, having perused his citations of Escobar, whom I have, and finding him faithful there, I doubt not but he is faithful in the rest. 3. The wicked practices both of popes and others under the celibate voiv, is another woful effect of this Popish doctrine which forbiddeth to marry. — And here I may well premise, that many thousand lewdnesses and foul abominations are and have been committed by Popish votaries so secretly, that they never saw the light, neither have come abroad unto • From the Icelandic miove, "to coop or pent up," says Serenius. — Edit. 366 SERMON XIX. THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH the notice of the workl, these works being works of darkness which fly the hght, and shroud themselves, as closely as may be, in dark corners, those who ai'e guilty endeavouring all they can to conceal their filthiness ; which, however, at the last day of revelation both of men's sins and God's judgments, wiU be made known and exposed to the view both of men and angels, when the Lord " will bring to hght the hidden works of darkness, and make manifest all the counsels of the heart," (1 Cor. iv. 5.) Yet the wickedness of some popes and their clergy in this kind, hath been so notorious, that their own historians have not thought fit to be altogether silent herein ; and, as was said before, " their lewdness could not be concealed, it was so frequent ; neither in many did it seek to be concealed, it was so impudent." It would spend more time than we have to be together (yea, although we should stay here on this long summer's day till dark night) to enumerate the instances that might be given of the nncleannesses of ecclesiastics in the church of Rome. I shall mention only a few of the most remarkable amongst many others ; and begin with the viciousness and filthiness of the popes, whose title of Hohness, and severity against matrimony, and imposing the celibate vow upon others, one woidd think, should obhge themselves unto more than ordinary mortification of fleshly lusts, and exemplary chastity. But we shall find, by search into the history of the popes' lives, that they have generally been exceeding faulty as to women, and all sorts of filthy lusts. Platina doth complain, that riches had made the church wanton, and vice had no restraint. Pope Sergius III. had his sweetheart Marozia, that famous strumpet, who was the mistress of his affections, and had no small govex-nment in the church ; of whom, in wicked adultery, as Luitprandus doth record, he begat John XL, who afterward, by his mothei-'s means, got the Pope- dom. Baronius doth acknowledge that in those days the power of harlots did so far prevail, that they both removed popes rightly appointed, and also thrust-in violent and wicked men into their room, at their plea- sure. By this Marozia's means also it was that Octavianus (son to Albericus) obtained the Popedom, called John XII. ; who, as Bai'onius doth relate, amongst other wickednesses, was accused in a synod for abus- ing the widow of Rainerius, for his filthiness with Stephana, his father's concubine, with Anna a widow and her niece. Tliis is that pope who castrated divers of his cardinals, because they favoiu'ed Otho the Great : but if himself had been so served before he was made pope, possibly he might have been more chaste. And yet, whatever liberty this pope took himself to commit fornication and adultery, he would not give hberty for marriage to his clergy, which God doth allow ; for he sends over an inhi- bition against priests' marriage into England, which at that time caused no small stir. 'At length the hand of God was remarkable in the cutting- ofi" [of] this pope ; for, being taken one night in adultery with another man's wife, he received such a wound in his temples, that within the space of eight days after he died of it. Pope Gregory VIL, saith Prideaux, had his minion Matilda, who left her own husband, to hve with this holy father. This is that Gregory who caused the emperor Henry IV., M-ith his empress and son, to come TO MARRY, IS A DEVILISH AND WICKED DOCTRINE. 367 bare-footed in the cold winter to his castle at Cannucium, and there to wait three days fasting before he could have audience, which at length was obtained by the mediation of Madam Matilda. Platina doth relate that in pope Honoi'ius 11. 's time, one Armilphus was put to death at Rome for his bitter inveighing against the pomp, luxury, and lasciviousness of the clergy, before whom he propounded the poverty of Christ, and his integrity of life, for their imitation. It was from this pope that John Cremensis was sent over legate into England, to dissolve the priests' marriages ; but in the great heat of his ui'ging his commission, he was found in bed with a whore. Good man ! he would have all to live chastely without wives and matrimony, and he came over from Rome to show them an example. Pope Martin IV. kept the concubine of his predecessor Nicolas, and removed all bears from his palace, lest the beholding of them should cause his sweetheart to bring forth a bear ; so fearfid was he, that his brutish lust would produce a brutish offspring. Pope Benedict XII. is recorded to have bought a beautiful young woman of her brother with a great sum of money, that he might make use of her. Pope Sixtus IV. before-mentioned, who built the stews at Rome, and allowed unnatural lusts to the cardinal, would not wholly deny himself, especially in those lusts which are more natural ; for he had his concu- bine Tyresia, for whom he provided shoes covered with pearls. Pope Innocent VIII. had many base children, gave a great dowry with his daughter Theodorina. Mantuan hath these verses on him : Octo Nocens pueros c/enui/, ioiidemque jmellas j llunc nieritd poteris dicere, Roma, patrem. The signification of which is, that " this Nocent (not Innocent) person, had begotten eight boys, and as many girls, and therefore deserved the name of a father." But I suppose none, except the Papists, will say that he was a " holy father." Pope Alexander VI. did succeed him in the Papacy, and his history doth record that he exceeded him in lewdness and adultery ; on whose daughter there are these verses : Hie jacet in tiimulo Lucretia nomine, sed re Thais, Alexandri filia, sponsa, nurus. ^ " Lucrece by name here lies, but Thais in life, Pope Alexander's child, spouse, and son's wife." This pope had two bastards, — a son, and this daughter Lucretia, whom he married unto this son, and afterwards abused her himself; and it is storied of him, that, to complete his other wickednesses, he gave himself unto the devil. Pope Julius II. was not much better, who abused two ingenuous youths sent by the queen of France to be bred in Italy. Pope Clement VII. was so infamous, that, because of his own lewd- ness and that of his court, this distich was written : Roma, vale ! Vidi ; satis est vidisse : revertar Cuin leno, aut meretrix, scurra, cincedus ero. 368 SERMON XIX. THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH " Vile Rome, adieu ! • I did tliee view, But hence no more will see, Till pimp cr jade, Or puuk or spade, I do resolve to be." Paul III. prostituted liis sister Julia Farnesia to Alexander VI., that he might be made cardinal ; committed incest "with his own daughter Con- stantia ; poisoned her husband, that he might enjoy her the more freely ; was naught with his own sister, and taken in the act by her husband ; and, beside his incest, he is recorded to have been a necromancer : and from this pope's piety came the council of Trent. Pope Juhus III. was not inferior unto him, who gave his cardinal's hat unto a sodomitical boy whom he had abused. This is that pope who said he would have his pork, (forbidden by his physician,) in despite of God ; and maintained, he had more reason to be angry for the keeping back [of] his cold peacock-pie, than God had to cast Adam out of Para- dise for eating an apple. Such a blasphemous as well as luxurious wretch was he ! Thus Prideaux. I shall add but two instances more, of two famous women, one a pope, ^d the other a popess : — The woman-pope was pope Joan, who succeeded Leo IV., sate in the Papacy two years and six months ; supposed to be a man, until at length, being with child, she feU in labour in the midst of a solemn pro- cession, whereby her sex and lewdness were discovered together. Here- upon there was an image of a woman with child set up in the same place, where the pope was delivered both of her child and her life. Ever since the popes, when they go to the Laterau, shun that street, although the nearer way, in abhorrency of the fact, and memory thereof. There was moreover a chair of porphyry-stone kept in the Lateran, with a hole in the midst, to try the sex of the new-elected. No less than fifty Popish writers testify the truth of this history concerning pope Joan. The other woman was a popess, as the pope himself called her, namely, Donna Olympia, the sister-in-law and mistress of pope Innocent X., who was perfectly at her devotion, not only in his younger years, and whilst he was bishop and cardinal, but also in his elder years when he was pope, and so continued until the very last. The history we have at large, written in Itolian by Gualdi, and translated into Enghsh. The book is called, " The Life of Donna Olympia Maldachiui, who governed the Church during the time of Innocent the Tenth." In the preface of the book there is this passage : " By the great example laid before us, they must needs confess that the churchmen of the Roman faith will do any thing witl\ a woman but marry her." I shall refer the reader unto the history, which relatcth the great familiarities between this Donna Olympia and the pope, having been too long in relating the viciousness of his predecessors, although I have passed-by many persons and things which might witliout wrong be spoken concerning them. I must add something concerning the filthiness and uncleannesses of the Popish clergy, and others under the celibate vow. Platina doth record, that in pope Gregory the Great's time there were six thousand infants' skulls found in a fish-pond at Rome ; and what did this signify, but the TO MARRV, IS A UEVILISH AND WICKED DOCTRINE. 369 wlioredoms and murders which this celibate vow was the occasion of ? Nicholaus de Clemangis, a Popish archdeacon, who lived and flou- rished in the year one thousand four hundred and seventeen, — he wrote a book, De cornipto Statu Ecclesice, wherein he taketh notice of the viciousness of all sort of persons, beside the pope, that were under this celibate vow. Cap. 12 : concerning the cardinals, these are his words : Nee enumerare volo eorum adidteria, stupra, fornicationes, quibus Romanam curiam infestant, nee re/erre obsccenissiinaiu illorum families vitam, a dominonim tamen moribus nullatenus absonam. *' I will not relate the adulteries, rapes, fornications, whereby these cardinals do pollute the court of Rome, nor set out the most filthy hfe of their family, not at all dissonant from the manners of their masters." Cap. 19 : con- cerning THE PRELATES, lie thus writcs : Qui totos in aiicuptio et venatu dies agunt, qui nodes in conviviis accuratissimis et choreis cum puellis effceininati insomnes transeunt, qui stto turpi exemplo gregem per devia abducunt in prcecipitium. " The prelates spend whole days in fowUng and hunting ; and, being efieminate, they spend whole nights in dancing and sports with young women ; and by their filthy example lead their flock out of the right way upon a precipice." Cap. 20 : he calls the REGULARS, Ebrios, incontinentisshuos, utpote qui jj«.s*m et invereciinde prolem ex meretrice susceptam, et scortam vice conjugum, domi tenent. Et hos CANONicos aliquis vocabit, qui sic ab omni caaone seu reguld sunt ahaUeaati ? " Drunkards, and most incontinent persons, who ordinarily and shamelessly do keep whores instead of wives and childi'en by them at home in their houses. And who will call them regulars who walk by no I'ule ? " Cap. 21: of the monks he saith, Quuntu magis continentes, viagis obedieates esse debebant, minus vagabundi, et e claustrorum septis rarius egredieates in publicum ; tantb ab his omnibus rebus licet eos videre magis alienos : pro labore desidia, pro continentid et cequitate libido et superbia invasere. " By how much the more they ought to be continent and obedient, by how much the less they ought to wander about, and go forth into pubhc from the bounds of their cloisters ; by so much the more we may see in them a contrary carriage and course unto these things : instead of labour, sloth — instead of continence and justice, lust and pride — have invaded them." Cap. 22 : of the mendicants he writes : An non hi hrpi rapaces sunt sub ovili imagine latitantes, qui more sacerdotum Belis in suis penetralibus oblata devoraut, inero et lautis epulis cum non suis uxoribus, licet seepe cum suis parvulis, avide satiantes, cunctaque libidinibus, quarum torrentur ardore, polluentes ? " Are not these mendicants ravening wolves under the form of sheep, who, like the priests of Bel, do devour what is ofiiered, with others' wives and their own little ones, greedily satiating themsehes in retired places with wine and costly banquets, and defiling all things by their filthy and burning lusts?" Cap. 23: concerning nuns and their monasteries, he thus expresseth himself : lie his plura dicere verecundia prohibet, ne non de ccetu virgiaum Deo dicatarum, sed magis de lupanaribus, de dolis et pro- caciu meretricum, de stupris et incestuosis operibus, dandum sermonem pro- lixin tiaJiamus. Nam quid, obsecro, aliud sunt hoc tempore puellarum pwnasteria nisi qucedam, non dico Dei sanctuaria, sed Veneris prosti- buJa, sed lascivorum et impudicorum juvenum ad libidlnes explendas recep- VOL. VI. B B 370 SERMON XIX. THE POPISH DOCTRINE WHICH FORBIDDETH taenia ? ut idem hodie sit 'puellam velare, quod et pxiblice ad scortandum exponere. " Modesty dotli forbid to speak more concerning these, lest, instead of setting forth a society of virgins devoted unto God, we should describe a stews, and speak of the deceits and wantonness of harlots, of rapes and incestuous works. For what other are the monasteries of young women in these times, than execrable brothel- houses of Venus, than the receptacles wherein immodest and lascivious young men do fulfil their lusts ? and at this day it is the same thing to put a maid into a monastery, and publicly to prostitute her, or put her forth to be a whore." We see what kind of persons celibate persons were formerly ; how well they kept their vow of chastity, as one of themselves acknow- ledgeth : and have we reason to think they are grown better of later years ? We see what they have been in other countries ; let us also see what they were before the breaking off [of] the Romish yoke in our own land. In king Henry VIII. 's time a search was made into monasteries and religious houses concerning the life and manners of these Romish votaries ; and we shall find, in Speed's " History of Great Britain," a catalogue of vicious celibate persons there found out, their names and crimes. In Battle Abbey, fifteen sodomites. In Canterbury, eight sodomites, and one that kept three whores. In Chichester, two sodom- ites ; in the cathedral church, one that kept thirteen whores. In Windsor castle, twenty-five whores were kept amongst them. In Shul- bred monastery, nineteen whores were kept. In Bristol, the abbot kept four whores. In Maiden-Bradley, the prior kept five whores. In Bath monastery, one had seven whores, and was a sodomite. In Abingdon monastery, the abbot had three whores, and two children by his own sister. In Bermondsey monastery, John White, prior, called " the bull of Bermondsey," had twenty whores. Fuller in his " History of Abbeys " doth relate this story : — " One sir Henry Colt, of Nether-hall in Essex, much in favour with king Henry VIII. for his meriy conceits, suddenly took leave of the king late at night, promising to wait upon his Grace early the next morning. Hence he hastened to Waltham-Abbey, being infoi-med by his letters, that the monks thereof would return in the night from Cheshunt-nunnery, where they had secretly quartered them- selves : sir Henry pitched a buck-stall, (wherewith he used to take deer in the forest,) in the narrowest place of the marsh, where they were to pass over, leaving some of his confederates to manage the same. The monks, coming out of the nunnery, hearing a great noise made behind them, and suspecting to be discovered, put out the hght which they had with them, whose feet without eyes could find the way home in so used a path. Making more haste than good speed, they ran themselves all into the net. The next morning sir Henry Colt brought and presented them to king Henry, who often had seen sweeter, but never fatter, venison." * I might add many more instances, had I room and time ; but I list not any longer to rake in this dunghill. Being wearied myself in the search, I shall draw toward a conclusion, fearing lest I should trespass upon both the patience and modesty of my reader. If my subject did • Fuller's " Church-Histoiy of Britain," vol. ii. p. 220 ; edition of 1842 Edit. TO MARRY, IS A DEVILISH AND WICKED DOCTRINE. 371 not naturally lead uuto this discourse concerning the lewdness and wick- edness of these celibate persons, and if I did not apprehend that such discourse might be of use, I would have passed by these things in silence. Use II. What hath been said concerning the wickedness of the chiu'ch of Rome, occasioned by this forbidding to marry, I hope may be a suffi- cient caution unto all of you to take heed, and move you to abhor both the j)rinciples and practices of this corrupt church. Indeed, if any of your hearts be set upon filthy lusts and the most abominable unclean- nesses, and your consciences are ready under our Reformed religion, to molest and trouble you too much, so that you cannot, without secret lashes and stings within, prosecute your hearts' desires, and gratify your vile affections ; if you have a mind like swine to wallow in the mire of the most nasty filthiness, and to get indulgences for such practices ; I would advise you to turn Papists : I know no better way that you can take to sear and cauterize your consciences, that you may sin with the least control. And you of the female sex, if you desire more secretly to be naught, and to veil aU Avith a religious cloak, you may acquaint yourselves with the priests and fathers of this chui'ch, who though they will not marry, yet they will strain hard but they will gratify sucli an inclination in you ; and, to stop the mouth of your clamorous consciences, they will give you forthwith an absolution, yea, and admit you unto the communion. But if you would " deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts ;" if you would " live soberly, righteously, and godly in the world," as the word of God and grace of the gospel do teach ; if you desire to be sanctified here, and saved hereafter ; abhor Popery ; come not near the tents of this wicked church, lest you perish with them in the ruin which the Lord will certainly bring upon them. Drink not of " the cup of fornication " which the whore of Babylon would put into your hands. Receive not " the mark of this beast upon your foreheads." Read and consider one scripture, which speaketh of those who turn Papists, sufficient to alfrighten all from admitting and embracing this religion, by the fearful consequences thereof. The place is. Rev. xiv. 9 — 12: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb : and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever : and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Use III. Lastly : You that are married ministers, and live with your wives in holy wedlock according to God's ordinance, value not the Popish doctrine or decree which forbiddeth your marriage. So long as God is for it, no matter who they be that are against it. So long as God's word doth allow it, no matter though the pope doth forbid it. Only let it be your endeavour to " put to silence the ignorance and per- verseness of foolish men," by being "blameless," as well as each "the 2 B 2 3/2 SERMON XX. THE WORDS OPENED. husband of one wife." Above all others, you that are ministers, and have wives, should be as if you had none in regard of all inordiuacy of affection towards them ; and let it appear unto all, that, although married, you chiefly " care for the things that belong to the Lord, how you may please the Lord." You need not care, or be concerned at the barkings of the impure Papists, like dogs who bark at the moon, so long as your conversations do shine. SERMON XX. (XVIir.) BY THE REV. RICHARD FAIRCLOUGH, A.M. FELLOW OF EMMANUEL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.* THE PAPAL DOCTRINE IN DENYING THE POSSIBILITY OF ASSURANCE IS FALSE, AND HATH A DANGEROUS TENDENCY TO DESTROY THE TRUE PEACE AND COJMFORT OF SOULS IN THE CERTAIN HOPES OF EVERLASTING HAPPINESS. THE NATURE, POSSIBILITY, AND DUTY, OF A TRUE BELIEVER S ATTAINING TO A CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF HIS EFFECTUAL VOCATION, ETERNAL ELECTION, AND FINAL PERSEVERANCE TO GLORY. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give all diligence to mahe your calling and election sure : for if ye do these things, ye shall never full. — 2 Peter i. 10. * That I may the more effectually discharge the duty incumbent on me, and the more fully confute that pernicious error of the church of Rome, which hath declared, that " a believer's assurance of the pardon of his sin is a vain and ungodly confidence," f " it being," say they, " impos- sible for any person to know that he is now pardoned, much less that he shall continue and persevere in the state of grace ; " | I have made choice of this portion of scripture, as the foundation of my present discourse ; wherein it must be considered, that although controversial and polemical ti'eatises are usually large and full, yet the few moments allowed for our present delivery, and the few pages allotted for the printing, of this dis- course, necessitate me to manage things in a very contracted manner ; so as I must give you but only hints of some arguments on our side, and also must rather obviate and prevent, than formally answer, all our adversaries' objections. Avoiding all unnecessary nm})lifications and popular illustrations, whicli might make our style more smooth and plea- sant, I sball only deliver what may i-ationally convince your judgment ; • In Ins " Account of Ministpr>', &c , ejected or silenced," Dr. Calamy adds this note coiiceruiiig tliu aiithorsliip of the preseut sermon: "1 cannot he itositive whether this last he his or his father's ; " who was the Rev. Suniuel I'airelough, A. M.^ Kl).T. t Cvrti- tudo rcm.is.sioi is pcivatornm ex/ vatin vl (iiini pii'tute rciimlrt fiducia. — Cone. Trid. sess. vi. I Primus ha^reticorniii error est, posse jidvlcs cum liotitiaia habere de suit grutid nt certd JiJe statuant sibi rcmissa esse peceata. — Bellahminus De Justi/. lih. iii. cap. 3. SERMON XX. THE WORDS OPENED. 373 leaving the exciting of your affections to the more immediate influence of the Good Spirit of God. THE SCOPE AND DIVISION OF THE WORDS. Briefly, then : the words I have read are an earnest exhortation to an excellent duty. In which exhortation, it will be very much to our purpose to consider, 1 . The inrson that gives the exhortation. 2. The 2^ersons to ivhom it is given. 3. The matter exhorted to. 4. The motives enforcing. THE PERSON EXHORTING, PETER. 1. The person that gives the exhortation is the apostle Peter ; one eminent, (1.) For his frequent temptations. (2.) For his great falls hy these temptations. (3.) For recovery after those falls. One much tempted. (1.) Peter was a person subject to fre(pient and violent temptations unto sin. — At one time the devil had so transformed himself into an angel of light, that he had almost thereby transformed Peter into an augel of darkness. Peter thought he acted the part of a saint and friend to dissuade Christ from going to Jerusalem ; but Christ intimates that Peter acted therein the part of 'a devil, when he said to him, " Get thee behind me, Satan." (Matt. xvi. 23.) At another time, the devil desired to winnow Peter as wheat ; (Luke xxii. 31 ;) and you know how he was sifted in the high priest's hall. One foully falling hy temptation. (2.) Peter was one that, being tempted, had greatly miscarried, and fallen into gross sin. — For you do not only read of his dissembUng, and of his too great complying with the superstitious Jews in their ceremo- nies and worship ; (Gal. ii. 12, 13 ;) but appearing like a downright apostate ; * renouncing of Christ, and forswearing any knowledge of him. (Matt. xxvi. 34, 69 — 75.) He that shall consider the experience which Peter had of Satan's power and subtilty, and of his own impotency and weakness, (both which considerations might aflbrd arguments against the possibility of assurance,) may at first wonder that Peter should ever attain to any assurance himself ; much more that he should be ttie author of such an exhortation as this to others. One recovered frotn temptation by Christ's intercession, and the Spirit's efficacy. (3.) But Peter, as he had experience of Satan's mahce, of his own insufliciency, so he had experience, (i.) Of the prevalency of his Saviour's intercession. — Christ had prayed that Peter's faith might not fail in the habit, although it did fail in the act. (Luke xxii. 32.) • In tlds we deny not but that the pope may be Peter's successor. 374 SERMON XX. THE WORDS OPENED. (ii.) He li£ld experience of the Spirifs efficacy in working tnie soitow and repentance for his great sin. — And hence, in part, it is, that Peter is most fit of all men to encourage weak believers against their despairing and desponding fears, and to put them upon endeavours after assurance. Moreover, Peter had received a command from Christ, that when he should be " converted," that is, recovered from his partial apostasy, he shoidd endeavour to "strengthen his brethren;" (Luke xxii. 32 ;) and probably it is in obedience to this command of Christ that he is thus earnest in this exhortation. THE PERSONS EXHORTED, TRUE BELIEVERS. 2. The persons to tchom the exhortation is given are called in the text " hrethrenT — By which title is not only expressed every true believer's dignity, who is a brother to the very apostles themselves ; (which frater- nity is infinitely more desirable than that bastiivd nepotism which some Romish cardinals boast of;) but also by this compellation the truth of their graces is declared. For the apostle had before described them to be, O.) Such as had "obtained like precious faith"" with himself. (2.) Such as were endued with saving " knowledge." (3.) Such to whom God had communicated "all things pertaining to life and godliness." (4.) Such as God had called to glory and virtue. (5.) Such to whom God had given " exceeding great and precious promises." (6.) Such as were made "partakers of the divine nature." Lastly. Such as had "escaped the pollutions of the world through lust." (Verses 1 — 4.) These are the persons who, although they had "obtained precious faith," yet had not attained certain knowledge of their own spiritual state, but were in a possibility, yea, in a very great preparation, thereunto. It is an abominable falsehood which BcUarmine boldly repoi'ts, that we teach, that except men have assurance, they are not true believers, nor shall they ever be saved.* This is an impudent calumny : for if any par- ticular persons abroad have thought that a special and full persuasion of pardon of their sin was of the essence of faith, let them answer for it ; our divines at home generally are of another judgment : bishop Davenant and bishop Prideaux,f and others, have shown the great difference between fides and fiducia, between recumbence and assurance ; and they all do account and call assurance " a daughter, fruit, and consequent of faith." And the late learned Arrowsmith tells us, X that God seldom bestows assurance upon believers till they are grown in grace : " For," saith he, " there is the same difference between faith of recumbence and faith of assurance, as is between reason and learning. Reason is the foundation of learning ; so, as there can be no learning if reason be wanting, (as in beasts,) in like manner there can be no assurance where there is no faith of adherence. Again : as reason, well exercised in the study of arts and sciences, arises to learning ; so faith, being well exer- cised on its proper object, and by its proper fruits, arises to assurance. Further : as by negligence, non-attendance, or some violent disease, learning may be lost, while reason doth abide ; so by tempi ation, or by spiritual sloth, assurance may be lost, while saving faith may abide. • Bellarminus De Just. lib. iii. cnj>. 3. f I).\vf.n.\.\tus Be Snl. Cer. sect. 3 j Prideatx, Cfr. Sept. 1 Tartica Sacra, lib. ii. / SERMON XX. THE WORDS OPENED. 3/5 Lastly : as all men are rational, but all men are not learned ; so all regene- rate persons have faith to comply savingly with the gospel-method of sal- vation, hut aU true beUevers have not assurance." THE MATTER OF EXHORTATION. 3. The believers in the text were in a state of salvation, but wanted assurance. Hence the apostle puts them upon diligence to attain it ; which acquaints us with the matter exhorted to. — Where observe, (1.) The matter ultimatehj intended ; namely, the making of their calling and election sure. (2.) The means snbservientli/ directed to, namely, the giving diligence to attain it. (3.) The order of directing their diligence : first, to make their calling, and, secondly, their election, sure ; for no man knows any thing of his election further than he is assured of his being effectually called. THE MOTIVES. 4. The fourth and last part of the test affords us the motives hy which the exhortation is enforced. — Which are. Implied. (1.) Either implied, in these words : " Wlierefore the rather." And if you look back upon the two next preceding verses, you will find in them a double argument, (i.) Ah ntili, " from the fruitfnlness " that accom- panies assurance : " Tf these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." (Verse 8.) (ii.) Ah incommodo, "from" a double " danger :" — First. Of growing more and more ignorant of spiritual truths. — " He that lacketh these things is blind." (Verse 9.) The word |U.ua;vI/ signifies " purblind." Purblind persons do see ; but they see only things near at hand. Many true believers are weak believers ; not so strong-sighted as Abrahani was, that could see Christ's day afar off. (John viii. 56.) Unassured persons are not able to look steadily to those things that are to come. Secondly. There is danger of more frequent falling into actxial sin. — For although God will not suffer them to fall into any habitual custom of sin ; yet they are very apt to forget that they were " purged from their old sin," (2 Peter i. 9,) and so are so much the more ready to " return with the dog to the vomit, and the swine that was washed to the wallow- ing in the mire." (2 Peter ii. 22.) Not that any truly regenerate person doth so ; but there is a moral tendency in spiritual sloth and laziness to procure such apostasy. Motive expressed. (2.) Which is farther also intimated in this tenth verse, where you have the motive expressed in the text itself : " If ye do these things, ye shall never fall;" that is, "Live you in a dihgent exercise of saving faith tiU you come to assurance, and God wiU make good his own pro- mise, that you shall be ' kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ; ' (I Peter i. 5 ;) perseverance being designed, decreed, and 376 SERMON XX. THK NATURE OF AN EFFECTUAL CALL. promised by God iu the behalf of all those that he hath effectually called, and did eternally elect." * The words thus opened afford us these two general propositions : — THE FIRST GENERAL PROPOSITION. That it is the privilege of a true believer, that it is possible for him, to maJie his calling sure for present, and thereby to become assured of his election past, and consequently of his perseverance unto glory to come. THE SECOND GENERAL PROPOSITION, That it is a believer s duty to give all diligence to make his present call- ing, p)(fst election, and future perseverance, sure. I. The first general proposition doth branch itself into three special propositions. (I.) That it is possible for a true believer to maJci his calling S7ire. (II.) It is iwssible thereby to hnow he ivas elected. (III.) And by both to become assured that he shall persevere nnfo glory. THE FIRST SPECIAL PROPOSITION. (I.) I begin with the First special proposition, that it is possille for a believer to make his calling sure. — Hero it is necessary t'lat two things be undertalcen and performed : First. Explication : Secondly. Probation. EXPLICATION. First. Two things are to be opened : 1 . What is understood by our " calling ? " 2. What is meant by a '■^ sure calling?^'' " What is an effectual call ? " Question i. " What is to be understood by our ' calling T " Answer. Calling, strictly taken, is an act of a person declaring his desire of another person's approach and access to him. Thus the centu- rion tells Christ, that he could say to one servant, " Come, and he Cometh ; " (Luke vii. 8 ;) and thus Christ bids the Samaritan woman call her husband, and come to him. (John iv. IG.) But the word, more largely taken, is used for any declaration of the will of one person to another, where compliance with that will is required. Thus it is said, that Jacob called his son Joseph, when he declared his will to him, saying, "Bury me not in Egypt;" and he made him swear. (Gen. xlvii. 29.) And in this large sense God is said to call a sinner, when he reveals his own will, and a sinner's duty ; as when God calls him to repentance, to faith, to holiness. It is the work of God to make known his pleasure;, and it is the duty of men to comply therewith. The word here, "our calling," is nomen participiale ["a participial noun"] : and it is taken not actively, for our calling upon God, as when it is sometimes put for all that worship which we perform to God, as in that phrase, " Then began men to call iipon God ; " (Gen. iv. 2G ; • Slabilis est Dei gratia ijud fulciantnr : crcjo imin:n)rs xunt a perictdo ctdvndi. — Cai,- viNUS in Inc. ""Tlw grace of (io'I liy wliicli tlu^y ari> supp M-tod, i> liiui auil stable: there fori; they iiro safe from the diiuger of falling.'' — Eiur. J SERMON XX. THE NATURE OF AN EFFECTUAL CALL. 3/7 1 Cor. i. 2 ;) but it is taken passively^ for God's calling of us, the nature of whicli act is fully expressed in 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14: "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth : whcreunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." That which I would have you observe at present from hence is this, that the preaching of the gospel, and the revelation of God's will therein, is God's call. So the apostle saith. Ye were " called by our gospel," that is, our preaching of the gospel. God^s call of tivo kinds : 1. In word onhj ; 2. hi word and power both. But here we must distinguish that the call of God in the gospel is two- fold : 1. In icord only ; 2. In rvord and pmver conjoined. So Paul dis- tinguishes in 1 Thess. i. 5 : " Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Now according to the different means which God uses in calling, so there follows a different fruit, success, or consequent of God's calling. Hence ineffectual or effectual. Hence it comes to pass, that God's call sometimes is ineffectual, and sometimes effectual. So the same apostle plainly declares in 1 Thess. ii. 13 : " For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." Observe hence, that it is the work of God's Spirit in the heart, superadded to the word of the gospel, as spoken by men, that makes any call effectual. AYilhout this invs'ard work, God may call, and the soul will never answer ; (Prov. i. 21 ;) but wlien the Spirit co-operates with the word, the souls of the elect become obedient unto God's call ; they so hear his voice as to live ; (John v. 2.") ;) there is then an enlivening, yea, a creating, power appearing therein. I grant, there is a sort of men arising among us that scoff at this great work of regeneration, and deny the infusion of principles or habits of grace ; but we have not to do with these men at this time, who have totally fallen from the faith, aiid are greater enemies to the cross of Christ than the Papists themselves. The judgment of Thomas Aquinas about infused habits of grace. Sure I am, that Thomas Aquinas, that famous person whom the church of Rome have canonized for a saint, tells us, that since there are some men endued vrith such habits which cannot be attained by the power of nature, because by them some men are fitted for the end of salvation, therefore it is necessary that God be owned as the immediate infuser of these habits.* And he further adds, that as God produces some natural effects without the help of second causes, (as health is sometimes 'bestowed without the help of physic,) so God infuses habits of grace without and beyond the power of nature.f And whereas this learned person foresaw that some men might here object, that God's infusion of these habits • Prima Sccunda:, qusest. Ii. an. 4. t ^i^*^- luaest. xii. art. 4. 378 SERMON XX. THE NATURE OF AN EFFECTUAL CALL. into some persons and not into others, doth plainly prove discriminating grace ; (which doctrine of late hath been denied and derided by the Socinians and some others ;) therefore this Angelical Doctor makes his confession plainly, that he, for his part, doth own discriminating grace ; and that he doth firmly believe that God, agreeably to his own wisdom, and for reasons reserved to himself, bestows more grace on some than npon others ; * and that though it be most agreeable unto man's nature, that habits should arise from frequent acts and much exercise, yet God may and doth work such habits of grace in some men which nature cannot work ; and therefore he concludes, that they are supernaturally produced. I have given you the opinion of this author about an effectual call the more fully, because I am confident, that had some men who oppose the infusion of habits been old enough or diligent enough to have perused the writings of such a person as Thomas Aquinas, before they had divulged their own fond notions and opinions, they would (out of a kind of ambition to be accounted o^aoil/jj^oj, " like-rniuded," with such learned men) not have made such an open scoff and derision of discriminating and effectual grace ; wherein they do not only contradict the express words of holy writ, but also oppose the doctrine of the most learned of the Fathers and Schoolmen,* and that with a most bold as well as blind confidence. I must beg pardon for this short but necessary digression, because it is this effectual work of God's Spirit, in regenerating the soul by infusing of habits of grace, which distinguishes an internal effectual call of God from a mere external and ineffectual one : and this is the thing which is chiefly intended in the text to be made sure ; namely, that it might be known whether or no God hath so called thee by his word, as that also he hath wrought in thee by his Spirit ; whether God hath illuminated thy understanding, and inclined thy will, so as thou hast complied with God's will, and hast answered his call ; whether, when God did draw thee, thou didst run after him ; (Canticles i. 4 ;) whether, when God did knock at the door of thy heart, thou didst'open to him ; (Rev. iii. 20 ;) whether, when God did entreat and persuade thee to be reconciled to him, thou didst consent ; (2 Cor. v. 20 ;) whether, when he did woo thee, he did also win thee ; whether, when he invited thee to the wedding-supper of his Son, thou didst make no excuse or delay, but. didst accept, and welcome, the offer of the gospel with faith and love. (Luke xiv. 18.) All which if thou didst do, it did arise from the power of an inward call, being superadded to the outward call of the word ; the very essence of an effectual call consisting in the Spirit's regenerating the soul, and giving " a new heart," (2 Peter i. 4,) which is scripture-language ; or in the Spirit's infusing of new principles and habits of grace, according to the phrase of the Schools. So that now by " calling" here in the text, you must understand an inward effectual change wrought in the lieart by God himself in the work of conversion and regeneration, or the Spirit's infusing of habits of grace into thy heart. • Non iniquus est Deus si inaqiialia