1 John 2. 24. former part. Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning.

AMongst all those various broods of
Sects that ignorance and wilfulness
have spawned in the World, there
is none but is covetous that Antiquity
should Patronize it; never decrying its
venerable Testimony, nor fearing its oraculous
Answers, but when they distrust its
votes opposite to their present espousals;
Gray hairs being as well the Glory of an
Opinion, as the Crown of the Old man.
Hence is it that both Nations and Families
have had such severe Contests with each
other, concerning the time of their first
rise, that from thence their Pedegree may
appear Ancient, and they might gain renown
from the date of their Original.

B

And as in Persons and Opinions, so in
things too, quo antiquius eo melius, by
how much the more Ancient a thing is,
by so much the more is it prized and valued
by those that covet a strict inspection
into the Periods that did preceed their
own, who measure the proportions of an
infant World, and thus antedate their own
Beings: How precious is a Script of Trismegistus?
Or the least Workmanship of
an inspired Bezaleel? The smallest Leaf of
Solomon's Herbal would be deemed a Present
Noble enough for the greatest Monarch;
How do we prize an old piece of
Roman Coin? Or an antiquated Grecian
Monument? Nor is this a Truth receiving
a general impress and confirmation,
in respect of Artificial and Philosophical
Objects; but even Divinity too, having
for its Author the Ancient of Days, values
that which carries Age furrowed in its
Face, and has Gravity and Years visible on
its Brow: And nothing seems more to asperse
and disparage whatever wears the
Title of Religion than to accuse it of Novity,
and to bear the date of a late Invention:
Hence Haman endeavoured from
this Topick to brand the Jews, in that they
used other Customs different from the ancient
Laws of the Persians, that their Novelty
might render them odious to the
King, being a crime it seems sufficient to
ruin them, when Mordecai could not bow
to so insulting a Favorite: St. Paul when
he Preached the Gospel at Athens, had prejudice
raised against the Truth of his Doctrine,
by affirming him only to be a setter
forth of strange Gods, and introducing
new propositions into the World;
Celsus when he professedly wrote against
the Truth and Divinity of the Christian
Institutions, thought he had cast sufficient
blemish and contempt upon its Authority,
when he had satisfied the World that it
was new and unheard of: And Eusebius
assures us that it was a common stratagem,
and usual contrivance for the Christian Religion
from its first entrance, to be reproached
with its strangeness and novelty; all
mankind as it seems measuring the truth
of things by their Antiquity, and general
reception; and if we approach nearer to

B 2

our own Confines we shall find the two
great struglers for the Western Empire of
Conscience and Religion, still endeavour
to Crown their Opinions with old Age, and
to gain both Strength and Honour to
their Establishment from time and duration.
The Romans would have the World
to understand that the Pillars of their
Church were founded with Christianity, and
that our Saviour himself once held those
Keys which he afterwards delivered to the
Papal Succession. But though they had
a firm Foundation, they have built upon
it a tottering Superstructure. The Protestant
would willingly obliterate the odium
of a late Reformation, and will antedate
Luther and the German heats, searching
in the midst of a bloody Inquisition;
some being willing to Travel to
Bohemia to derive their Principles from
John Hus, and Jerom of Prague, not only
sending us to our own Wiccliffe, but
eating through the Mountains to find out
the more Ancient though obscure Waldenses:
others and that more justly too
as if all this will not yet evince their Principles
Aged, will Travel farther to the
Churches Cradle, and find out the Manger
in which our Saviour himself was laid,
and from his Mouth receive their Doctrine,
reviving what might seem dead,
having for some time been buryed in the
dust and rubbish of mens Inventions; and
freeing it from those Burdens and Corruptions
which a gainful Interest, and
bold Presumption had loaded it withal,
thus cause that to abide in them which
Christians heard from the beginning.
Antiquity then being so powerful a motive
to persuade to Religion, that all
strive to catch and grasp it; I shall easily
prevail for a diligent attention since what
I deliver shall be that which has been
heard from the beginning.
In which Text we have an Exhortation
both Grave and Seasonable; Grave it is,
avoiding those levities and varnish which
Novices use to wrap their late and uncouth
Opinions in, that they may be snatched
at with the more greedy Appetite: As Physicians
put their bitter Pills in sweet Conserves
that the Patient may swallow them
with the greater delight: and seasonable
was this advice too; since Simon, and the
Gnosticks, did now attempt the murdering
Christianity when it was just born; as Herods
cruelty, drinking in, with an insatiable
thirst, the blood of Infants, would
have Crucified our Saviour in his Cradle,
before Age had given him Strength and
Stature, not only to publish his Fathers
Message, but even to bear his own Cross.
Nay least this accursed, and Antichristian
Sect, provoking their desires to unlawful
Lusts, detracting from Christianity by an
impious and incoherent intermixture of
Jewish and Heathen Rites and Practices,
with what was now Solemn in its proposal,
and Sacred by its establishment,
should not be able to impede, or retard,
the most glorious flourish of Gospel
Truth, and forbid the spreading of the
Christian Church, that Noble Vine but
newly Planted; Cerinthus also now advanced,
with all the wild Boars of the Forrest,
if possibly, to undermine and
root her up, denying the Divinity of its
first Author: An Heretick so foul and polluted,
that the blessed Pen-man of my
present Text would not come into the
same Bath in which the wicked Cerinthus
washed, least he should be defiled with that
water which had touched so filthy and
loathsome a Carcass; and the Bath it self,
sensible of its own pollution, should immediately
fall to make a Grave for its self
and possessours.
In the Exhortation then there are three
Parts presented to our view 1. A Duty,
Let that therefore abide in you, 2. Its Object,
Which ye have heard;Lastly The
Motive and Inducement to the Duty, Because
it was from the beginning.
I must crave leave to invert the Parts,
though it shall make no alteration in the
Sence; that first the Object being explained,
and the Motive proposed, the Duty
may be with the greater facility pressed
and embraced. 1. Then, Let the Object
in the Text exhibite it self; and this is nothing
but what ye have already heard.
As Faith it self is generated by the Ear, so
what you have heard is nothing else but the
Object of your Faith; for thus does the
Apostle conclude the inference; Faith
cometh by Hearing, and Hearing by the Word
of God, Rom. 10. 17. But as Hearing is
the Conduit to convey Faith, so sometimes
is it the decoy to infidelity; because
there are many false Prophets gone forth
into the World; and a seeming truth
may make the same impression with truth
it self. Nay, our blessed Saviour, that he
might not leave us without due Caution,
has informed all Ages and Generations,
that there shall arise false Christs, and false
Prophets; yea! and shall superadd Wonders
to their Oratory, not only to amuse
the World, but to gain credit and reputation
to their Doctrine; insomuch that
if it were possible they shall prevail to
the dismal shaking of the strongest Oakes,
and the rooting up the tallest Cedars of
Libanus; even to the putting a falacy upon
the very Elect, Matth. 24.24. The Ear
of Man, being the recepticle of all Sounds,
no wonder that it admits the founding
Brass and tinckling Cymbal, as well as
the Trumpets of the Sanctuary. Simon
Magus may be as welcome to the Samaritans,
as Paul and Barnabas to the Disciples
at Antioch. If a vain-glorious Herod
has but Confidence enough to make an Oration,
though repugnant to the first Principles
of Religion, nor wonder that it
makes such an impress upon the Multitude,
that they give shouts, with the loudest
Acclamations, and attribute to him
the Wisdom of a Deity, who is scarce endowed
with the Prudence of a Man;
Acts 12.22. If a mechanick Silversmith,
prompted with no other motive than what
Avarice and Interest can dictate, shall confidently
plead for the Shrines of Diana;
the clamorous Multitude shall soon cry
out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians, Act.
19.28. So easily captivated are vulgar
Affections, and of so slender a value is popular
Applause. The mutable Croud will
change their Religion with their Garments,
and is of that still which is of the newest
fashion. As if novitas essendi were the Being
of Devotion, and Age were not the
Measure of Divinity. As if the newest
Stamp were to be deemed alwaies the truest
Metal; and the last dictate of a fallacious

C

Understanding were the best object
for the Wills embracement: Then indeed
our Saviours Argument would be nothing
but a Sophism against Pharisaical Devorces;
From the beginning 'twas not so, Matth.
19.8. nor would the Advice in the Text
be solid; Let that therefore abide in you
which ye have heard from the beginning.
But it is not every thing that pleases the
Ear that must be closeted and lodged in
the Heart, lest Tares being sowed amongst
the Corn, they spread, and flourish, and
o'er-shadow the Grain: Our Saviour therefore
knowing our promptitude to imbibe
what might seem pleasant, and to swallow
Poyson if wrap'd up in gilded Pills; leaves
a grave and severe Caveat, Take heed what
ye hear, Mark. 4.24. and lest our strict
observation of the matter should make us
regardless of the manner of performance;
St. Luke delivers it, Take heed how you hear;
Luke 8.18. As well knowing that too
few look to their Feet when they approach
the Sanctuary of the Lord, but are
more ready to offer the Sacrifice of Fools,
then to hear their Vices redargued as they
ought; not allowing themselves so much
either of time, or seriousness, as to consider
that they do evil. These are such Auditors
as St. Austin reprehends, Audientes
corporis sensu qui non audiunt cordis assensu;
who use the Word and Doctrine of the
Gospel only as an Ornament to deck the
Head, not as a foundation to establish the
Heart; that hang it only as a Jewel in the
Ear, but reserve it not as a choice treasure
to enrich the Soul; whose practice is just
opposite to St. James's advice, they will
not lay apart all filthiness and superfluity
of naughtiness, that they may receive with
meekness the engrafted Word which is able
to save their Souls; James 1.21. Too
many sooner bow their Ears to what
may irritate and provoke their lust; to
the frothy discourses of deceitful Tongues;
to bold Rants, and jovial Catches; to
those lewd Sonnets that are the loose composures
of looser brains, which being heated
with vice, boil over in scum and filth:
men are more attentive to new Oaths, and
unheard of Blasphemies; to such as jest,
and droll down Religion, that it may no

C 2

longer interrupt the pleasant wickedness
of a degenerated Age; to such as are so
hardy as to Lampoon Heaven, and make
Satyrs against the Quire above; that
would, if either method might prevail,
Flout, or Hector, God Almighty from his
Throne; whose Language is more exalted
than rayling Rabshekeh's. These, that are
spots in our Feasts of Charity, become
the only Persons worthy of Entertainment;
their black Language is viewed, and
gazed on, as the brightest Oracles; every
shrug raises admiration, and a little smile
is enough to authorize a great jest: as if
these wandering Comets were of more solidity
than the fixed Stars; and the Language
of Hell to be more diligently attended
than the Voice of Heaven. God
at once pardon and remedy it. The Ambassadours
of the Most High may take up
the Lamentation of him that first gave
them their Commission. To whom shall
we speak and give warning that they
may hear? Behold their Ear is Uncircumcised,
and they cannot hearken; Behold
the word of the Lord is to them a

12

reproach; they have no delight in it.
Jer. 6.10.
Some indeed are much for the Ear; attending
to those scandals and reproaches
that the envious man will cast upon him
whom his malice ruins, or his ambition
undermines: others, even in Sacred things,
reduce devotion all to the Ear; and when
God, principally requires the Heart in
Prayer, these will give little else but the
Ear in Hearing; being as partial in their
Sacrifices towards God, as they are in their
Censures towards their Neighbours, as if
the Decalogue were now abolished, and
the only Command were, Hear O Israel.
'Twas the error of the Euchites to be always
Praying, and 'tis as great an error
to be always Hearing: as if the School of
our Saviour should not only be enjoyned
Biennial silence, but be for ever mute.
Porphyry indeed, that great Blasphemer,
big with malice against the Heavens when
checks of Conscience forced him to speak
out something of the results of his own
Reason, teacheth us to Sacrifice our Souls
to God in silence with Chast thoughts;
How Chast men are at those seasons that
ought to be attended with Solemnity, and
Devotion, it would be presumption in
any to judg: but sure I am that they put
in practice this sage advice of their Father
Porphyry, who thus pretend to Worship
God in silence: As if he that made the
Tongue as well as the Ear, did not require
the one to make Oblations of Prayer
and Praise, as well as the other to Hear
his Word; or he that Created the whole
man would be contented with a partial
Sacrifice. And now if any one has Ears
to hear let him hear; and not only so,
but retain also what he has heard; so will
the Exhortation in my Text be embraced:
Let that therefore abide in you which ye have
heard from the beginning.
Having thus endeavoured to free mankind
from such diseases and distempers in
Religion; I must now crave leave to attempt
the recommendation of our duty;
and persuade men to the diligent attention
to that Sacred Word, which is able
to make us wise unto Salvation, and be
greedy to receive it, when not extended
in an adulterated hand: For as we cannot
hear without a Preacher, so he cannot Preach
that is not sent, Rom. 10.15. Some men
are like those large tongued women in
Tertullians time, who though a person of
excellent Language, was yet forced to inveigh
against them that being so liberal
of their Speech in Private, conjectured they
had, if not Rhetorick, and Reason, yet
words enough, to declame in Publick;
whom the Father reprehends in this Prohibition:
Non permittitur mulieri in Ecclesia
loqui, sed nec docere, nec tinguere; nec
offerre; nec ullius virilis muneris, nedum
sacerdotalis officii, fortem tibi vindicare: or
like those that St. Austin complains of, in
the second Chapter of his first Book of the
Trinity, that are garruli ratiocinatores, elatiores
quam capaciores; that are pratling
Disputants, more shrill than rational:
How many dismal mourning souls, whose
Education never advanced them to any
degree above Mechanism, steal away the
Priests Office, as Neanthus did Orpheus's
Harps, who thinking to effect the same
wonders Orpheus did, and make Woods
and Trees dance after his melody, played
so ill, that the very Dogs, being affrighted
at his strange noise, tore him all in pieces.
When we hear therefore, we must not
throw away our attention upon usurping
Schismaticks; whose very Preaching is
their Crime, because without a Sacred
and Divine Commission; and since giving
them Audience is their encouragment, it
can no less involve such easie Auditors in
a snare and guilt.
And yet, since the Text exhibits something
that always has been heard, it does
not only imply our duty of attention, but
presents us with what we ought to hear;
and thats the Gospel; what both the Apostles
and Disciples were acquainted with
from the beginning: And since, in that
Sacred Testimony to our Saviour, there
are various Truths which make up its Contexture;
those things are first to be heard
and received that are in themselves most
Fundamental; Primarium dogma de Christi
divinitate, says Justinian the chief Doctrine
of the Divinity of our Saviour, without
which the Foundation being sunk, the
whole fabrick must of necessity be demolished:
For since his Divinity gives merit
to his Passion, by which his temporal punishment
bears proportion to an infinite
offence; detract from his Deity and you
spot his sufferings; and then if he be a
Lamb with blemish, though he be slain, he
cannot satisfie; and so the series of our Salvation
becomes disordered, and our eternal
safety undermined.
And now perhaps some wise person
might take advantage to exhibite, or adventure
at a Catalogue of Fundamentals;
and a clamorous Adversary might with as
much confidence and triumph demand
them; but when we receive a particular
of Explicits, we may then attempt a Catalogue
of Fundamentals. In the mean
time, since Faith is the general condition
of the Gospel; and, He that believeth,
and is baptised, shall be saved Mark. 16.
16. Methinks we need disturb our selves
no further for Fundamentals, than to define
what compleats that one thing, Faith.
And though Interest and Opinion have
rendered it as different from it self as one

D

mans fancy from another, and we have
created almost as many varieties of Faith,
not only as there are Nations in the world,
but men too; multitudes dealing by it as
Caligula did by the Image of Jupiter Olympiacus
when he took from it its head of
Gold, and put upon it an head of Brass;
yet if we will admit the Father of the
Faithful: to explain the difficulty, we
shall find that the practice of the Patriarch
Abraham, who is exhibited as a pattern
for Gospel believers; will give us a
prospect of that Faith which had its being
from the beginning. And though there
are many acts of this ancient Faith presented
to our perusal in New Testament
Pages, yet there are two comprehensive
of all the rest, to wit Belief and Obedience.
For when he to whom all things
are possible, had promised a branch should
sprout forth from this dry Root; and
that he would be his shield, and great reward
Gen. 15.1. Abraham did not question
the word of a Deity, who, he knew,
was able to controul the world, and alter
the power of second Causes according to
the pleasure of his own will: but stedfastly
assented to the truth of what God had promised;
relying on it with Faith and Expectation.
And as this Action includes belief
of the Promises, so the second prescribes
obedience to the Commands; and
it was that work which St. James says justified
him, even the offering up his Son
Isaac upon the Altar Jam. 2.21. So that
to sum up the whole Gospel in one word,
that you may here have presented in an
Epitome, what I humbly beg may abide
in you: He that believes the Promises, so
as to obey the Precepts; that accepts his
Saviour as a King to rule, and a Prophet
to teach, as well as a Priest to make attonement;
and, consequently, submits to
the authority of his Laws, and to the conduct
of his Ministry and Discipline; that
relies upon the merits of his Cross, and
persues the steps of his vertuous Life, in
order to the securing his eternal Safety:
He is the Person who retains what he has
already heard; and he need not fear any
deceiptfull Imposition, since he embraces
that which was from the beginning. Which

D 2

minds me of the Motive here proposed, to
fortifie our resolutions, that what we have
heard may abide in us, since it is no more
than what was delivered from the beginning.
In Philosophical Propositions we usually
deem those most certain that later experiments
prove, and evince: but, in Divine
Truths, those are best that were from the
beginning. Time, which is in a continued
flux, being in this like the swiftest Torrents,
that carry down to us what is light
and frothy; but sink that which is grave
and ponderous: and indeed Reason, which
is the result of our nobler part, if not
disturbed by passion or interest, is the
surest guide in the midst of perplexities;
and this does, upon the first prospect of
Religion, lead us to that which was from
the beginning. And Christianity being that
which pretends to be first begotten in Heaven,
though brought forth here on Earth,
owning not less than a God for its Author,
whose great propositions are made up of
Eternal Truths; and since the Apostles
were inspired to a compleat delivery of
what was at first Preached by our Saviour,
the same Doctrine, by a continued
succession, having been derived and conveyed
to Posterity; it follows, by an inevitable
conclusion, that the surest way, for
us, to whom these Principles are exhibited,
when any Objection, or different Opinion,
presents it self, to startle our apprehensions;
is to persue the first Rule, and
follow that which was delivered from the
beginning.
But since the various subdivisions of
those that intitle themselves to the names
of Christians, pretend to those infallible
Maxims treasured up in the Sacred Book;
there must be left a Judg of Controversies;
or else there will remain no way of
freedom from present disturbances, or
certain method of reducing those who,
being too fond of their own fancies, resolutely
adhere to their private Opinions,
to the detriment of Christianity, and ruin
of themselves, and the obstruction of
Peace and Unity in the world. The Doctrine
of the Gospel, although certain in
it self, being conveyed to us in Words
and Language which may admit of different
Constructions, suitable either to the
use of words, or the apprehensions of men,
cannot, without such a judgment upon it
as may oblige the various extravagancies
of mankind to silence, and a passive submission,
whatever may be their internal
belief; be sufficient Clue to lead us out of
these Labyrinths: Though had the multitude
of its Followers justly measured and
proportioned Understandings, rightly to
discern the Fruits wrapped in those Leaves,
it must appear to every man, the best, and
only Conductor in the world. But, because
every person usurps Authority to
interpret, and every Illiterate and Enthusiastical
head, if he has not reason to confirm
his Gloss, has confidence however to pretend
an Inspiration; necessity inforces us
to seek some method to quiet our minds,
and to allay the briskness of our own fancies,
and those heats and fury, that our
warmer contrivances introduce into the
world: that so we may arrive at such certainty
as is possible to be obtained, of what
was heard from the beginning.
And though I shall not attempt the leading
any to St. Peters Chair, nor beg that
Rome may be the place of Umpire; because
there is no need of fetching water
from Tiber when we have clear Fountains
at our own doors: yet reason must force
this confession, that since it is not the letter,
but the sence, of Scripture that is the
proper Guide of life; there must be allowed
some Interpretation, since our demands
to one another may be the same
with the Eunuch to St. Philip, how shall
we Read without some Interpreter? And
then the last question will be who are those
that are most likely to exhibit to us the
exact design of Scripture Phrase, and the
infallible Rule that leads to Life?
To produce therefore some conclusions
touching this controverted, and difficult,
Question; Those must certainly best inform
one of the meaning of a Sermon, that
have had the most familiar acquaintance
with the Preacher; Capacities also to apprehend,
and Fidelity to deliver what they
have received from the mouth of the Orator:
upon which proposition those persons,
that seem most rational, attempt the
proof of the Apostles Writings that are but
the first Commentaries upon that Gospel
which our Saviour Preached and Ushered
into the World. From hence secondly
it follows that the persons who were the
immediate Disciples to those Holy Penmen
of Sacred Writ, having the advantages of
Converse, and the benefit of Audience,
must of necessity be the fittest Judges of
what is Controverted in matter of our Religion,
which we pretend to derive from
their Books and Writings: and there seems
to remain nothing to be doubted, but either
their Capacities to receive, or their
Faithfulness to deliver, what they heard
from the beginning. Their Capacities and
Parts their Writings publish; their Integrity
and Honesty their Lives declared; neither
had they either reason, or advantage
thus to cheat, or impose upon, the world.
And therefore those Writers, who lived in
the first Ages of Christianity, are first to
be believed; that in difficulties and straits
we are to have recourse unto; and consequently
the later to be less confided in,
as having met with greater and more subtile
opposition, and therefore subject to
more intermixtures of heat and passion; and
like Rivers, the further off the Fountain,
the less do they retain of their first purity,
and the greater mingling of different waters.
As the nearer we are to the Fountain
therefore, the clearer will the Stream be;
so the nearer we Travel to that which was
heard from the beginning, the more certain
and infallible will our Guide and Rule
be. But because the reports and sayings
of Fathers are like melted Wax that receives
the Image suitable to the Seal which
makes the impression; and persons of divers
Churches, and Persuasions, deal with
their Sentences, as young Sophisters with
a Text of Aristotle, by a distinction, or a
figure, force them to countenance the various
Sentiments of their disturbed minds:
If we rest here, we shall still be as far from
the end of Controversie, as the Controversie
from the beginning of Truth. To
proceed further then, by the assistance of
those means our Reason dictates, together
with prayers and humility of mind, to

E

the investigation of what we are to rest in,
as that which was from the beginning.
A General Council would quickly determine
it, did not an Empire now Cantonized;
the opposite Interest of Princes
among themselves; diversity of Factions
sprung up among their Subjects;
the great Prejudices that are in the world;
and above all, over grown Popery, clearly
obstruct its Justice and Freedom; and
I might say, its Possibility too. As every
Episcopal Church, therefore, was Planted,
at the first, Independent of another; yet,
to preserve a Church Catholic upon Earth,
admitting an Universal Union, Correspondence,
Advice; and, by consent, an Obligation
upon particulars, by Authority
from the whole. Every particular Episcopal
Church had a power of Discipline as
well as Doctrine, committed to her trust
and managery; the first Planters conveying
downward, through a Sacred and uninterupted
Succession, their Authority
and Jurisdiction to this Age, and this
Church, to which we now pretend a Relation.
In Controversie and difference as
the Case now stands with us there can be
no Example, or Rule, or more Rational Pattern,
or Guide of Action, than that of the
Primitive Planters of the Gospel; which
is, that the Inferior be regulated by the
Advice and Authority of the Superior, and
all submit to the reasonable resolution of
a National Council. Thus when the great
dispute about Circumcision was raised at
Antioch, the Metropolis of Syria, they Appealed
to Jerusalem, to which Antioch was
subjected, being a place of Superior Jurisdiction;
and the determination of the Bishops
of Judea, with Paul and Barnabas,
Representatives of Antioch, fully silenced
any farther Dispute, and was the infallible
sentence in which they acquiesced.
Acts 15.
But now, let not any men wonder that
I call the Sentences of such Councils Infallible;
since 'tis only using a Popish word,
to express Protestant sence, to our selves,
which overthrows the Roman claims over
us. For this being applied to our Councils
here; our Church neither erring in
Fundamentals, nor pretending to usurp

E 2

upon the Natural Priviledg of mankind
to judge for themselves as far as they are
capable; but only assists and helps their
Understanding in what they are deficient
for want of Education; creating no New
Articles of Faith: nay imposing nothing
on the belief of any, but what the Scriptures
have Authorized before; and Ordaining
nothing by its own power, but a
limitation of the outward actions of
men: its decrees in things that are thus the
subject of human Laws, are either to be
actually obeyed, or not publickly or tumultuosly
contradicted. And this is what
I intend to be the sence of the Infallible
Sentence of a National Council, without
which, Controversie can never be ended,
no Legislative Authority maintained, nor
Peace and Order remain among us. For
want of this moderate and sober apprehension
of things, men make themselves lyable
to those Penalties of Laws which
good natured Magistrates so unwillingly
inflict, and well meaning Christians pity,
and at the same time admire the Confidence
of those who are so hardy, and
willing to deserve them; especially when
they consider, also, that the same persons
can be tamely silent, in Forain Countries
where Principles of Religion more
severely contradict the Sentiments of their
minds.
'Tis true, indeed, a Council may err,
unless they could put off their manhood,
or to every decree have a fresh Inspiration,
or receive a Divine Testimony from Heaven;
and yet it is to us Infallible; i.e.
to silence our open Disputes against it, and
to be the Rule for our External Obedience.
For frail men cannot possibly proceed farther
in the searching out Divine Truths,
than in the means, and way to find out the
Revelation; and to understand it when it
is found; leaving other indifferent things to
the determination of those who have Authority
over us: and those means that I have
mentioned seeming to be all that Reason
and Discourse, when not disturb'd by Lunacy
or Enthusiasm, are able to propose;
and since the only Evidence we have to
prove the objects of sense against the bold
denial of a confident Sceptick, is to call
in many, against the obstinacy of one, to
give Testimony to what we see, or hear;
and so to decide the difference betwixt us:
If I err with submission to that Authority
which I find the ultimate mean to determine,
my Crime, certainly, will not be so
great, but a pardon will as necessarily attend
it; since the most gracious God does
not require my action to be beyond the
Sphere of my capacity; nor my apprehensions
to exceed the Powers of my being.
But the Authority of Councils, as
hitherto stated, may seem too naked to be
submitted to; and yet we observed in the
first times, a ready obedience to their decrees,
when backed by no Secular Power:
If therefore they were obliging then, they
engage us by another addition, and are
strengthened by a Civil Sanction. For as,
when the Emperors became Christians;
what was before Established by our Saviour
and his Apostles, and asserted by Pious
Bishops, and Divines Congregated for
that purpose, and drawn into Sacred Canons,
or Rules, received a Sanction from
the Legislative Power resident on Earth;
and were so embodyed with Imperial Laws,
that the Magistrate was Custos utriusque
Tabulæ: so the Protestant Church, among
our selves, has its Foundations, in the
Word of God, derived downward from
prime Antiquity so inlaid with the Temporal
Laws of our own Kingdom, that the
one cannot be invaded with Triumph, but
the other nods; nay totters, till it falls into
inevitable ruine; and we need not a new
Experiment to shew it. This every one,
at length, believes, that is not, by being
engaged in past mischiefs, an enemy to
both, and like Cataline, resolved on future
evils to justifie, or secure, those that
are past. But they, more distinctly, are
acquainted with this, who are Learned in
the Laws, than we, who being Divines,
are willingly supposed ignorant of them.
Yet this seems to be the great Reason why
such as design to invade the Crown, make
a pass at the Miter first, because the
Church is a Guard to the Palace, as
well as the Palace a defence to the
Church. Till this therefore be wounded,
or removed, the disturbers of the Peace
of both, cannot, in probability, ascend
the Throne, nor place a Duke of Venice
there.
But, to return from this digression; a
National Council ought more especially to
determine the Controversies among us, so
as to oblige us to Peace, because their Decrees
are our own Acts, having chosen the
persons who represent us in it. Yet to silence
doubts, and scruples, about this
matter: whatever regard we may all have
to tender Consciences, that are not raw;
the different thoughts of Worship among
us, being such as produce squabble and
contentions, these, for our necessary ease
and pleasure, dividing us into separated
Clans; and these making us fit for Conspiracy,
which, without any more Devils
than our selves, may advance it self
into an actual Rebellion: And when various,
and severe Contests about Religion
have openly distinguished men from each
other, till they are hardly able to know
themselves; when private Dispensations,
shall, in some cases, vacat Publick Oaths
by single Interpretations, and in Equivocations,
and Mental Reservations men are
able to out-strip the Jesuit himself; this is
a way to remove the Pope, only by bringing
him into our own Bellies, and instead
of a Union of Protestants among
our selves, is the direct way to introduce
Popery in Masquerade that I may use
some Rhetorical words and to imbrace
what we declame against, and every Protestant
is bound in his own capacity, to
withstand. But when Trade and Occupations
determine our Option, and past Acts
though evil in themselves must regulate
our present, and future, deportment:
when persons chuse their Articles of Creed,
as well as various ways of Worship, suitable
to what they gain from those with
whom they seem Religiously to associate:
Conscience and Christianity do no
longer guide them, but they give away
their choice to Clients, Trade, and amongst
Divines to the preferments of
this World; and, all this while, 'tis Earth
becomes their Supreme God, and Secular
Interest governs their Religion. When
Affairs therefore, through our own indiscretion,

F

or the wickedness of others, are
brought to this pass, that men will violate
their Oaths to preserve Religion, or
neglect Prayers to serve God; or attend
Prayers to serve the Devil, and when, by
such methods as these, the Prologue is
made to the dismal Tragedy of a general
Confusion, 'tis time to call for a solemn
Consultation and for a Christian Magistrate
to interpose by Law, least the Disorders
in what we call by the Ancient and Venerable
name of Religion, may have too severe
an influence on the State, and both
be ruined by the same hands; since these
are like Hypocrates Twins, that weep and
laugh both together. 'Tis time therefore
at such a Season to call upon our sleeping
Laws to awake, whose Penalties have
an equal Sanction with themselves: and
more especially, because punishment of
Extravagant Offendors can be no Persecution,
when the Christian Religion is
not concerned, but the various Interests
of this World; and Penalties in this
Case will only restrain the inordinate
Affection of some men to their private
Concerns in relation to their abode here;
and teach them how to be Crucified
to this World, that they may more
easily ascend into Glory in the next.
'Twill keep them steady whilst they walk
upon the Earth, when the Wings of their
Ambition are clyp'd and pois'd; and cause
them to grow better, by Religion,
and Loyalty; that by a peaceable departure
out of this Life they may enter
into the Joy of our Lord. This though,
to some, it may seem severe can be no
violence offered to Conscience, where we
plainly see there is none at all. 'Twill be
at most, no more than a limitation of
Trade and Covetousness, by restraining
the Contentions and Ambition of mankind.
And now, if upon all this Discourse,
a carping Protestant, or angry Romanist,
should blunder upon this Objection;
that if the Church be infallible, quoad nos;
so it was at the time of our withdrawing
from the Roman Communion, and therefore
we then breaking the Principal Bond
of Truth and Union, must remain guilty of
the greatest Shism, unless we return to that

F 2

Church from whence we have departed. It
is, without any difficulty, replied, that he
supposes that granted which we will not
yield; for we were never lawfully subject
to the Roman Church, in respect of Spirituals,
any more than we were to the late
Monster of Traytors, in respect of Temporals:
a prosperous Usurpation giving
them no better Title over our Church,
which was distinct at its first reception of
Christianity, than the others possession
gave him right to his Sovereigns Throne;
both being effected, by Subtilty, Force, and
Usurpation.
Thus having, through this Discourse, exhibited
a great Character of Truth, which
is prime Antiquity; and given some slender
account of what has been heard from
the beginning: All that remains is to inforce
the Apostles Exhortation to the duty,
and beg that ancient Truths may abide
in you. We have now had the Tryal
of all things, let us therefore hold fast that
which is good: we have been too long
tossed in a storm, but having at last, arrived
at a safe Harbour, let us no more sail
out among the Rocks, nor put to Sea whilst
the Winds rage, and the Waves roar. The
True, Ancient, and Apostolick Faith was,
for some time, like the lost sheep; it wandred
about in a Wilderness of Error, and the
by Paths of Heresie and Schism, being torn
and scratched with Briars and Thorns, not
only till it was smeered with blood, but at
last it became Naked Truth: Naked, indeed;
for being void of Hypocrisie, it became
Naked of Friends too: But now, since we
have found the lost sheep no wonder that I
Exhort you, as he did his Friends in the
Gospel; Rejoyce with me for I have found the
sheep that was lost. And since the search
has been no less tedious, than in these times,
full of hazard; let us no longer shift the
Principles of our Religion, nor permit the
wry Face of a man to draw our Souls and
Bodies asside; but let those Truths abide in
us which we have heard from the begining.
Why should I use any Rhetorick to persuade,
when there is the Authority of God
to command? Tacitus informs us of Cæsar's
Soldiers; Imperium potius quam concilium
sequebantur; A word of Command was
more to them than persuasion or advice in
a formal Speech. And shall we that march
under our Saviours Banner be more disobedient
than a Heathen Militia? Why
should we not for Edification submit to
true Decency and Order, that we may no
longer be like Samaritans and Jews, refuse
kinder Correspondences with each
other? As the Apostle therefore Exhorts
those Jews, who, though dispersed, were united
in Christian Faith and Discipline: so
let me, with all Charity and Affection beg,
that you would hold fast your Profession
Heb. 4.14. Can we reasonably part with
the Glorious Gospel which promises
Crowns and everlasting Rewards; that
takes care of us after we are Dead, and
leaves us neither in Purgatory or the
Grave; nay, that free us from the Torments
of Hell, and advances us to the Joys
of Heaven: We cannot once depart from
our Religion, but at the same time we abandon
our selves, exchange our Reason
for Folly and Madness, and barter our
precious Souls for trifles; and what proportion
in this exchange? What is a man

38

profited says our Saviour nay, how is a man
utterly undon if, to gain the whole world, he
loses his own soul? Matth. 16.26. Understand
what you are capable of apprehending,
and when you have found a Doctrine
to be sound, take St. Pauls advice to
Timothy; Hold fast the form of sound words,
2 Tim. 1.13. Many of our fierce and
staring Seperatists, like their Ancestors of
another denomination the Papists I mean
embrace Principles and Ways of Worship,
though they understand them not.
As Quintilian speaking of the Toscan Rights
and the Soothsayings of the Salian Priests,
Vix Sacerdotibus suis intellecta, sed quæ mutari
vetat Religio. Scarce apprehended by
their Priests themselves, but yet their Principles
and Religion forbid a change. But
that Gospel which has been heard from the
beginning, is no Airy Doctrine to be condensed
into a Cloud; nor so hot, as to be
raised into a Pillar of Fire: we are not to
be conducted as the Israelites were of old;
nor, thanks be to God, and a Christian
Government, is the Church yet in a Wilderness
condition; our Principles are as
Plain as Honest; and our Religion as Intelligible,
as it is Rational; and the Doctrine
and Discipline, if our Practice Corresponds,
which the Church of England
pretends a reverence for; by Gods blessing,
being submitted to with meekness,
will be sufficient to save our Souls, through
him who first published it to the World,
and died to make satisfaction for our sins.
Let this therefore abide in you; that you
may not be, like Waves of the Sea, always
rolling, and driven which way a
Storm pleases; but setled, and immovable,
always abounding in the Work of the
Lord; which let God Cooperate and
strengthen you in, for Christ Jesus's sake;
To whom with the Father and his Eternal Spirit,
be all Glory, and Honour, now, and
for ever. Amen.

FINIS.