Forty-nine Sermons upon Colossians, Part 2 · Sermon 30
THE XXX. SERMON.
COL. II. Verſ. XX. XXI. XXII.
Verſe. XX. If then ye be dead with CHRIST, as to the rudiments, of the world, why doth any one burthen you with ordinances, as if ye lived in the world?
XXI. To wit, eat not, taſte not, touch not.
XXII. Which all are things, that periſh in the uſing, being inſtituted after the commandments and doctrines of men.
DEar Brethren; Seeing the Apoſtle plainly ſheweth, in diverſe places, that the uſe of meats is a thing indifferent, and that if we eat, 1 Cor. 8.8.we have not thereby the more; nor the leſs, if we eat not; and even injoyneth us ſomewhere to accommodate our ſelves to the infirmity of our brethren, Rom. 14.21.declaring, that it is good, neither to eat fleſh, nor to drink wine, nor to do any thing, whereby our brother ſtumbleth, or is offended, or made weak; it may ſeem ſtrange to ſome, that in this Epiſtle, and in the firſt to Timothy, and elſewhere, he doth ſo earneſtly inſiſt upon this point, and employ ſo many words, and reaſons againſt thoſe, who did prohibit certain ſorts of meats to Chriſtians. But if you throughly conſider this holy man his whole procedure, and the motives of his taking ſuch order, you will find it full, in all the parts thereof, of reaſon, and profound diſcretion. For firſt, there is a great difference, between ſuch, as he bears with, and thoſe whom he rejects. The one were infirm, and the other inſolent. The former through want of knowledge, could hardly count thoſe things permitted, which the School of Moſes, whence they were but newly come forth, had prohibited. The latter, did in their headineſs, enterpriſe the bringing of Chriſtians under the yoke again. The errour of thoſe, reached no further, than their own perſons. Theſe would dogmatize, and give the Church new Laws. Wherefore the Apoſtle is ſweet towards the one, and ſevere againſt the others, according to the difference of their faults. And as to the thing it ſelf, though it be no more a crime, to abſtain from, than it is to eat, any of the meats, which GOD hath created for our uſe; yet to make this abſtinence paſs, for a matter of neceſſity, is a penicious attempt. Firſt, it's an overthrowing, or a diminiſhing of our liberty, which having been purchaſed, by the blood of CHRIST, ought to be very precious to us; for ſince He would buy it us, at ſo high a price, it is not juſt, that the fancy, or the tyrannicall humour of men, ſhould bereave us of a thing, that coſt him ſo dear. Moreover ſuch injunctions do make, that to be thought neceſſary, which is indifferent; and that, to paſs for a part of the ſervice of GOD; which is not ſo; An opinion, which hath dangerous conſequences. For men, once poſſeſſed, with this imagination, do, in ſuch exerciſes, looſe, a good part of their time, which ſhould be wholy ſpent in the ſtudy, and practice of the true commandments of our LORD JESUS. But, which is yet worſe, they eaſily imagine, that they get, a licence to commit things prohited without danger, by ſuch abſtaining from things permitted, and the priviledge of being diſpenſed with for obedience to GOD, by that they render unto men; a conceit, which as you ſee, does undermine the foundations of that true, and real ſanctification, without which no man ſhall ſee GOD.
The Apoſtle well-knowing therefore, the venom of theſe doctrines, and ſeeing, on the other hand, the ſtrong inclination, that men have to them; being likewiſe not ignorant, (as experience hath but too much verified,) that there would be alwaies people ſound, to ſet them on foot among Chriſtians; did account it neceſſary, for the ſecuring of our faith, to give us, in diverſe places of His divine Epiſtles, ſtrong Preſervatives againſt the Contagion of this pernicious error. You have heard already heretofore, how he ſaid concerning it, Let no man condemn you in cating, or in drinking, irrecoverably overbearing, by thoſe few words, the temerity of all thoſe, who for ſuch things, bring the faithful to the Bar; and condemn them to the fire of Hell, for having but taſted of meats, which they prohibit. He now reſumes the ſame diſcourſe, and having, in the two precedent verſes, refuted the ſerving of Angels, which the Seducers did ſet up in religion, he comes to their other Ordinances, which concerned certain abſtinences, and devotions, that they impoſed on Chriſtians, as ſalutiferous, and of neceſſary uſe for humbling the ſpirit, and mortifying the fleſh; and firſt he refutes them by three excellent reaſons, which he urgeth againſt them, next, he rejects the vain, and ſpecious pretexts, under colour of of which they were recommended. The firſt of thoſe three reaſons, which he advanceth, againſt theſe pretended devotions, is taken from the liberty, which JESUS CHRIST hath purchaſed for us, by His death, freeing us from all carnal, and ceremonial ſervices. If therefore ye be dead with CHRIST, (ſaith he) why doth any one burthen you with ordinances, as if you lived in the world, to wit, Eat not, Taſt not, Touch not. The ſecond is drawn from the nature of thoſe things themſelves from which an abſtaining was ordered; they all are things (ſaith the Apoſtle) that periſh in the uſing. And the third, from the riſe of ſuch ordinances, inſtituted, not by the authority of GOD, but after the commandments, and doctrines of men. Theſe are the three points, we purpoſe to treat of in this action, by the aſſiſtance of GOD; beſeeching Him to grant, that we may meditate them, to our common Edification, and Conſolation.
The Apoſtles laſt words were, concerning the communion of the Church, with JESUS CHRIST its head, who furniſheth His whole body, and fitly knitteth it together by joynts, and bands, cauſing it to increaſe, with an increaſe of GOD. Hereupon, he takes occaſion, to ſet before us again, that enfranchiſement from the yoke of Ceremonies which we have by this holy, and myſtical communion with our LORD. That is his meaning in theſe words, we are dead with CHRIST, as to the rudiments of the world. For (as we have ſhewed afore) the Apoſtle does uſually call the Ceremonial ordinances of Moſes's Law, the elements, or rudiments of the world: becauſe they were the firſt, and loweſt leſſons of GOD's people, ſtanding all of them in material, and worldly things, and in the uſage of, or in an abſtinence from, either elements, or plants, and animals, and other fruits, and productions of the world. But he ſeems in this place, to ſignifie, by theſe words, generally all ſervices of this nature, whether thoſe that Moſes ſometime inſtituted, for the exerciſe of the childhood, and minority of Iſrael; or thoſe that other men erected afterward: of which ſort, were the devotions, and ceremonies, which the Elders of the Jews, and the Phariſees added to the Law, and made to paſs for traditions of antiquity, as we underſtand by the Goſpel, where our Saviour notes them, and very ſharply reproves them, in diverſe places. Such again were the diſciplines, and devotions of thoſe Seducers, whom the Apoſtle here oppoſeth; and all other like them, which though ſet up by diverſe authors, and at different times, yet joyntly conſiſt in one and the ſame kind of terrene, and material things, and tend to one, and the ſame end, to wit, the purifying, and ſanctifying of men, and the rendring the Deity propitious, and favourable to them, by ſuch exerciſes. This whole ſort of ſervice, is carnal, tyed up to certain corporeal things, and actions, in which it conſiſteth, as is meat, and drink, in watchings, and cloathing; in mens waſhing, and diſcipling themſelves, going in proceſſion, or on pilgrimage, repeating certain words, and forms of prayer, it alſo dependeth upon times, having its years, its months, its days, its feſtivals, and its very hours all regulated. This was the very form of the carnal, or ceremonial ſervice of the Jews, which was directly oppoſite to that other kind of ſervice; that JESUS CHRIST gave us in His Goſpel; which without being bound up to theſe childiſh ſcruples of times, of places, and of things, doth wholly conſiſt in a pure, and genuine worſhiping of GOD, in loving and fearing Him, and tenderly affecting our neighbour, in honeſty, and juſtice, and in a true, and lively ſanctity. Accordingly you know, that whereas the former ſervice is termed carnal, the latter is ſtiled ſpiritual. The one is a ſerving in ſhadow, the other in truth; the one in fleſh, the other in ſpirit. 'Tis then, in my opinion, all that firſt ſort of carnal ſervices, from what Source ſoever they flow, either the inſtitution of Moſes, or the invention of any other man, that the Apoſtle doth here call the rudiments of the world; declaring that we have been freed from it, by our LORD JESUS CHRIST; remaining no longer ſubject to all this childiſh, and infantile pedagogy; nor bound up to houres, or times, or elements, or other parts of the world; but being raiſed above all theſe things, ſo as we may make uſe of them with full liberty, according to the intereſts of Piety, and charity; and not be any more imbondaged to them, or depend upon them.
But becauſe JESUS CHRIST hath procured us this great benefit by His death, and does put us in poſſeſſion of it, by the communion we have with Him in reſpect thereof; thence it comes, that S. Paul ſets forth this grace, of His freeing us from ſubjection to the rudiments of the world, in terms that referr thereto, ſaying, not ſingly, that we are delivered from ſuch kind of ſervices, by JESUS CHRIST but that we are dead with Him, as to the rudiments of the world. An expreſſion, exceeding graceful, and elegant. It ſignifies, firſt, that we are no longer ſubject to theſe rudiments of the world. For the dead are out of all ſervitude. The Laws demand nothing of them any more. Neither their Lords, nor their maſters, have any power, to require ought of them, any longer. Death breaks all the bonds, that tyed them to any ſubjection whatever. The Apoſtle ſaith therefore, we are dead to the rudiments of the world, to ſignifie that we are freed from them; that we are no more ſubject to them; as he tells us elſewhere, to the ſame ſenſe, that we are dead to the Law; and again in another place, Rom. 7.…. Gal. 2.…9. Rom. 6.….I am (ſaith he) dead to the Law, that I might live to GOD. And thus too it is, that we muſt take his affirming elſewhere, that we are dead to ſin, that is to ſay, delivered from its tyranny. And becauſe death puts an end to, and aboliſheth the power, and authority of the maſter, as well as the ſervitude, and ſubjection of the vaſſal, thence it comes, S. Paul ſaith indifferently, that ſin, and the commandment of the old Law, are dead to us, and that we are dead to them, ſignifying by the one, and the other, that we are Subjects of theirs no more.
But S. Paul ſaying here, that we are dead with CHRIST, as to the rudiments of the world, doth ſhew us, in the ſecond place, both the cauſe of our liberty (JESUS CHRIST) and the means, by which He acquired it for us, to wit, His death. We are dead to all ceremonial ſervices; for that our LORD hath diſolved, and aboliſhed them, in dying for us. For His death hath ſatisfied all the reaſons, upon which theſe rudiments of the world were, for a time, appointed. It hath procured that righteouſneſs, which they repreſented, and exhibited that ſalvation, which they promiſed, and brought in the ſubſtance, whereof they were but ſhadows. It hath opened the houſe of GOD unto the Gentiles, whom they barred from it; and put an end to the Old Teſtament, to which they pertained; and founded the new, an eternal, and immutable one, which they prefigured. Wherefore the Veil of the Temple was rent, from the top to the bottom, at the time that JESUS ſuffered death; for a token, that the antient worſhip, whereof this Veil was a ſymbole, became thenceforth abrogated, and annulled.
In fine, theſe words of the Apoſtle do diſcover to us further, an apt reſemblance, that is found to be, between the LORD's death on the Croſs, and our freedom from the yoke of Ceremonies. For as JESUS in dying did diveſt Himſelf of the former life, He led here below, during the days of His fleſh, in infirmity, and in ſubjection to the elements of Moſes, to take up a new one by His reſurrection; which was to be free, divine, and coeleſtial; ſo we conformly, by vertue of the communion, we have with Him, and particularly in His death, do lay down that former manner of life, that conſiſteth in the childiſh exerciſes of ſome carnal abſtinences, and devotions, to live henceforth in the liberty of children of GOD, ſerving Him, no more in ſhadow, and in figure, but in ſpirit, and in truth, with a conſcience pure, and an heart, not bound up to the places, things, and times of the old world, but continually elevated to that new, incorruptible, and eternal one, above the heavens, where JESUS CHRIST, the author, and prince of our religion, and ſalvation, is. Such is this Evangelical verity, here laid down by S. Paul, at the beginning of the Text; that we are dead with CHRIST, as to the rudiments of the world.
Whereby, to mention it by the way, you may ſee, how much out in their reckoning they are, who place the perfection of the faithful, in the practiſing of theſe carnal diſciplines, and devotions, accounting thoſe for perfect, who do uſe them, S. Paul, on the contrary, terms them here, the rudiments of the world: ſo as the ſubjecting of Chriſtians to ſuch diſciplines, is ſo farr from being a perfect… … completing them; (as theſe men pretend;) that it is clean contrary, a put…ing them back to their ABC. and a reducing them, from the higheſt Claſſis of the School of GOD, down to the loweſt, there to become children again, and lead a childiſh life, with the diſciples of Moſes, in an apprentiſhip to his rudiments, and under the Ferule of his pedagogie.
The Apoſtle, from this principle thus aſſerted, concludes againſt the falſe teachers, that all their ordinances, touching abſtinence from certain meats, were vain, unjuſt, and tyrannical. If therefore (ſaith he) ye be dead with CHRIST, as to the rudiments of the world, why are ye burthened with ordinances, as if ye lived in the world? Afterwards, he reports, and expreſly ſpecifies ſome of thoſe ordinances, which men would impoſe upon the faithful, namely, Eat not, Touch not, Taſte not. The force, and the coherence of his argumentation is evident. 'Tis an injuſtice, (ſaith he) and a tyranny, ſtill to burthen thoſe with worldly ordinances, who are dead to the world. You are dead to its rudiments, by the benefit of CHRIST, who hath, by His death, aboliſhed all this kind of carnal diſciplines, and ſervices; and nailed up, and torn, upon His Croſs, the obligation to them. By His grace, you live no longer in the world, in the School of Figures, and terrene Ceremonies. You live henceforth in Heaven, in the light, and liberty of the Spirit. For S. Paul doth ſometimes apply the word, world, to the ſtate of GOD's people, within their land of Canaan heretofore, in the ſchool of their Moſes, and the performance of a terrene, and carnal ſervice. And therefore it is, that he elſewhere terms the Levitical Sanctuary, Heb. 9.1.a worldly Sanctuary. The faithful then being without this Moſaique world, it is clear, that no man juſtly can impoſe upon them, in matter of religion, any laws or ordinances of this nature; and that ſuch, as attempt it, do outrage Him that freed them, and oppreſs the liberty of His people; and that every one may juſtly, reject their yoke, and oppoſe their tyranny.
Neither may it be alledged, that the ordinances promoted are none of Moſes's; but others quite different. For what ones ſoever they be, a yoke they are, and every yoke, of what matter, and form ſoever, deprives us of our liberty. Beſides, very probable it is, that the Apoſtle, does, as we have expounded it, by the rudiments of the world, intend, not particularly the Moſaical ſervice alone, but generally all ſuch ſervice, as is bodily, and of the ſame nature, that that of Moſes was. And in fine, though you ſhould take it ſimply for the Moſaique laws, yet would S. Pauls argument be good, and concluſive from the greater to the leſs; as who ſhould ſay; If you be ſet free from the yoke of Moſes, which was framed, and put upon the necks of the antient people, by the expreſs appointment of GOD; how much more from one of men? If CHRIST hath delivered you from ſuch ordinances, as it cannot be denyed, but GOD was author of; how intolerable is the headineſs of thoſe men, who burthen you with their laws? Indeed, who can believe, that GOD ſhould have freed us, from commands of His own, to put us under thoſe of others? and that His Son ſhould have delivered us from a yoke of GOD's, to load us with one of mortal mens? and that He ſhould have exempted us from the rod of Moſes, to yeeld us up unto the ſcourges of theſe new Rehoboams?
As to theſe ordinances, which the Apoſtle here produceth, doubtleſs they were the Seducers; and not his own, as the Author of the Comment on S. Paul that goes under the name of S. Ambroſe, ſome one of the Ancients againſt all ſemblance of truth, and reaſon, did imagine. S. Paul's ſaying afore, Let no man condemn you in meat, or in drink, doth ſufficiently ſhew, that they were the magiſterial ordinances of theſe pretended Legiſlators; who did very ſeverely command their people, not only to forbear the eating, but even the taſting, and touching of ſuch meats, as they prohibited. The firſt of thoſe three words, that the Apoſtle uſeth, does in the Greek language properly ſignifie, to touch; and the Latin Interpreter, as alſo many others, have taken it in that ſenſe here, tranſlating, Touch not, taſt not, handle not. And our adverſaries of Rome do underſtand it, of the prohibitions in the Moſaique Law, of touching, or handling, a dead body for inſtance, or ſuch other things, as the Jews might not touch without being counted unclean. In like manner, they referr, what is ſaid of taſting, to the prohibition of eating Swines-fleſh, and the Hare, and other meats, the uſe whereof was not permitted in the Law; as if the falſe Teachers, at whom the Apoſtle aimes, would have introduced among Chriſtians, no other ordinances then thoſe of the Moſaique Law.
But this whole expoſition is incommodious, and croſſeth the Apoſtle's meaning. If he had had that thought, it would have ſufficed to ſay once Touch not, without ſuperadding a third word, of the ſame ſignification, to wit, touching, or handling. Not to urge, that this cannot accord with that which follows, where he ſaith, that theſe things were ſet up after the commandments, and doctrines of men; it being evident, that the prohibitions in the Moſaique Law, were made by the authority, not of men, but of GOD; ſo as if the Seducers had preſs'd no other thing, it had been harſh, that I may not ſay falſe, to accuſe them, of making ordinances after the doctrines of men; and they would without doubt have anſwer'd, that they were founded upon the commandment of GOD. In fine, the Apoſtle's ſaying, that the things, an abſtinence from which the Seducers ordered, were all ſuch, as did periſh in the uſing, doth ſubvert this expoſition, and evidently ſhew, that the things forbidden by thoſe falſe Teachers, were only meat and drink; and not dead bodies, or other ſubſtances, the touching whereof was prohibited by the Law. For ſince, the things he ſpeaks of, are conſumed, are deſtroyed, and do all periſh by the uſing and on the other hand, it is moſt evident, that the things, which the Jews were forbid to touch, are not at all of that nature, (that is, ſuch as periſh in the uſing) it muſt of neceſſity be concluded, that it is not of them S. Paul ſpeaks: but of thoſe only, that ſerve for the food of man, which are all conſum'd by the uſe that is made of them, in eating, or drinking the ſame. And in the end we muſt come back to the interpretation that our Bibles do exhibit, which have very rightly rendred this paſſage in theſe words, Eat not, taſte not, touch not. For though the firſt of theſe three words does frequently, and commonly ſignifie to touch, yet ſuch, as underſtand the Greek, doe know, that it is ſometimes taken for, to eat. As our Expoſitors have produced inſtances of, from good, and irrefragable Authors.
Now in theſe three words thus ranked, as they are, the Apoſtle repreſents unto us by the way, both the order of the ſcrupulous devotions of ſuperſtition, and the progreſs of the tyrannie of theſe Legiſlators. At firſt, they forbid the eating of certain meats, that is, the uſing them at your ordinary meals. If they win this ground, they proceed further, and will debarr you even from taſting them. At laſt they poſſeſs you with ſcruple to touch them, as if the mere contact of ſuch things were apt to pollute you. There is no end in the ſcruples of ſuperſtition, nor any meaſure in it's devotions, and obſervances. It heaps them up daily one upon another, and is never ſatiated with this vain food. It never ſayes, 'tis enough; it's alway ſaying, give, give, like the wiſeman's horſe-leach in the Proverbs. Prov. 30.15.If it regulate your eating to day, to morrow it will give you laws for your clothing, and afterwards for each of the parts of your life; not leaving ſo much as your looks, or your breathing, free. It's a Labyrinth, wherein poor conſciences go on intricating them ſelves, without any iſſue; and a ſnare, which does firſt take them, than bind them faſt, and in the end ſtrangle them.
But let us now conſider, the two other reaſons which the Apoſtle makes uſe of, to ſhew the vanity of the pretended ordinances of ſuperſtition about the matter of meats, and eating, and drinking. The ſecond than is taken, as we have already intimated, from the nature of thoſe things, which abſtinence from, was commanded. They are all (ſaith he) things, that periſh in the uſing. That is, ſuch as are conſumed, in doing us ſervice; the very eating, and drinking, whereby they are taken, doth deſtroy them; and they are of ſo feeble, and infirm a ſubſtance, that they cannot be of uſe unto us, without being corrupted; and to nouriſh us, they muſt firſt periſh; an evident ſigne, that all the benefit, we receive from them, doth reſpect, but this wretched mortal life; it being neither poſſible, nor imaginable, that what periſheth, and is conſumed in us, ſhould have any force, or vertue for the life of our ſoul, which is immortal, and incorruptible. So you ſee, the Apoſtle does here preſuppoſe this maxime; that neither Religion, nor the ſervice of GOD, doth properly, and immediatly conſiſt, either in the uſage of, or an abſtinence from, any of thoſe things, which ſerve to the maintaining of our common life and are conſumed in ſerving thereto: Rom. 14.17.as he ſaith elſewhere expreſly, that the Kingdom of GOD is neither meat, nor drink, but righteouſneſs, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghoſt. He makes uſe of the ſame reaſon again in another place. 1 Cor. 6.13.Meats (ſaith he) are for the belly, and the belly for meats. But GOD ſhall deſtroy both it, and them. His Maſter, and ours had uſed it before upon the ſame argument to the ſame purpoſe, againſt the vain ſcruples of the Phariſees, the Patriarches of all this kind of diſciplines. Tis not that, Mat 15.11.17.(ſaith he) which enters in at the mouth, that defiles a man. Becauſe (as He adds immediatly after) all that which enters in at the mouth, goeth down into the belly, and is caſt out into the draught; that is to ſay, it periſheth, and is conſumed in the uſing. 1 Cor. 8.8.Whence it comes, that the Apoſtle pronounceth again elſewhere, in conſequence of the ſame doctrine, that meat (that is, any certain ſort of meat) does not render us the more acceptable unto GOD, 2 Tim. 3.4.and that there is neither gain in eating it nor loſs in eating it not; becauſe (as he ſaith elſewhere yet) they are all created of GOD, to be uſed by the faithful with thanksgiving ſo as nothing is to be rejected, being taken with giving of thanks.
Sure, were it not for the extreme blindneſs of men, there would be no need for us to repeat, and confirme ſo eaſie a leſſon, with ſuch diligence, and in ſo many places; the ſole light of reaſon, and the nature of things it ſelf, teaching it us ſo clearly. For who is there, but ſees this truth, if he heed it ever ſo little? and diſcovers of himſelf, that one is not the better, or the more holy for eating Herbs, or Fiſh? nor the worſe, or more vitious, for living on other things? All this ſe…ves, but to ſuſtein the ſeeble nature of this poor body, and terminates there, without penetrating to the ſoul, whoſe eſſence is wholly ſpiritual. It's the conceptions of the underſtanding, and the diſpoſition of the heart, and the habitudes that referr to them, and the actions that proceed from them, which make men good, or bad, and their morals laudable, or blamable; ſo as it's a groſs, and a deplorable error, though I grant, it hath ever been, and ſtill is, very common, to make a part of pi…ty, and ſanctity conſiſt in eating of or abſteining from ſome ſorts of meats.
But the Apoſtle contents not himſelf with citing the concluſions of reaſon, and the nature of the things themſelves, againſt the vain, and pernicious ordinances of theſe Seducers. For the overthrowing them without recovery, and the taking away all pretext of defending them, he further makes uſe, in the laſt place, of a ſtrong, and invincible argument, drawn from their being eſtabliſhed after the commandments, and doctrines of men. Thus it was, that GOD did ſometime ſtrike the vain ſervices of Iſrael; …Their fear of me (ſaid He) is an humane commandment, taught by men. And the LORD JESUS overturns all the authority of the Jewiſh traditions, Mat. 15.9.with the ſame ſhot, reproching them, that it was in vain they honoured GOD, teaching doctrines, which were but commandments of men. And it ſhould ſeem, 'tis hence, that S. Paul took both the conception, and the expreſſion he uſeth in this place. This reaſoning, my Brethren, is extremely conſiderable. The Apoſtle rejects the ordinances of the Seducers, becauſe they are commandments and doctrines of men. There's no man but ſees, that this diſcourſe hath no conſequence, unleſs upon preſuppoſal, that nothing ought to be receiv'd in Religion, under the quality of neceſſary belief, or ſervice, except it be, either taught, or commanded of GOD, and not of men only. It's the doctrine of the Apoſtle S. Paul in this place; the doctrine of the Prophet Iſaiah, in that other, which we alledged even now; it's the doctrine of JESUS, the Maſter of Apoſtles, and Prophets, in His diſpute againſt the Phariſees. O holy, and pretious verity, from how many errors wouldſt thou deliver the world, if according to the authority of our LORD, and thoſe two grand Miniſters of His, men would examine all things by thee as their rule! and conſider when ſome article in Religion is preached to us, not whether it be ſpecious, and have ſome appearance of reaſon; or whether it hath been yerwhile held by the Sages of the time paſt; or be for the preſent believed by the greater part of Princes, and people; but whether it be indeed taught of GOD, in His word; or meerly ſet forth by men.
Dear Brethren; by this ſhort, and ſimple method, you may eaſily ſettle your thoughts, about all the differences, that rend Chriſtendom at this day. Take the Book of GOD; and admit nothing into your belief, but what you ſhall find, either aſſerted, or commanded therein; refuſing whatſoever the word of the LORD hath not authorized. Sure I am, that the Sacrifice of the Maſſe, and Purgatory, and Tranſubſtantiation, and the Monarchie of the Pope, and the Invocation of Saints, and in a word, all that divideth us from Rome, will remain, among thoſe commandments, and doctrines of men, which S. Paul here caſts away from our faith; and that nothing will be found, among the commandments, and doctrines of GOD, but thoſe Services, and beliefs, which are received, and confeſſed, by our Churches. In the Name of GOD, make trial of it, if ſo be, you have not yet done it; and you will ſee, that if our Adverſaries have the doctrines of men for them, we have the doctrines of GOD, of His Prophets, and Apoſtles for us. I paſs by other doctrines of Rome, for the preſent. Only, how can they defend their ordinances, for the eating of no fleſh, during more then a third part of the year? commanding the faithful, to live all that time, upon nothing but Herbs, and Fiſh, under pain of damnation? preſſing this ridiculous Law, with ſo much rigour that they do not hold ſuch for Chriſtians, as do tranſgreſs it? and puniſh them, not with Spiritual pains only, but even with temporal, unto death it ſelf, in the Countries, where the Inquiſition reigneth? Is not this, the doing with high hand, what the Apoſtle here forbiddeth? Let no man condemn you, in eating, or drinking? and why are ye burthened with ordinances, to wit, Eat not, taſte not?
Whereas they ſay, that the Apoſtle ſpeaks, only of the Moſaical Prohibitions of touching the dead, and taſting the fleſh of the Hog, and Hare; this we have already refuted. He ſpeaks in general of all ordinances, that forbid the taſting of any ſort of meat, upon a Religious account. And it is no way credible that he ſhould grant the Pope, or any other man whoever, what he denies Moſes; or reſpect their Laws, more then his. Beſides, all the circumſtances, and reaſons, which he noteth, or urgeth againſt the Laws of the falſe teachers, are evidently of force againſt thoſe of our adverſaries. Thoſe teachers ordeined, that theſe ſhould be no eating, nor taſting of certain meats. Theſe men do the ſame. They recommended their abſtinences, upon pretence that they did humble the body, and not ſpare it. This is exactly the thing, that our Adverſaries affirm of theirs The Apoſtle alledgeth againſt them, that they ſtitch'd up again the Veil of Moſes, which had been rent in twain by JESUS CHRIST; and reduced that carnal, and worldly worſhip into the Church, which had been abrogated, and aboliſh'd by the Croſs of our LORD. Is it not a Service of the ſame kind, that thoſe of Rome do ſet up? a Service, which conſiſts in things purely external, and corporeal, to wit, eating, and meats? S. Paul addeth, that the things, from which the Seducers required Chriſtians to abſtein, were all ſuch, as periſh'd in the uſing. Thoſe, about which our Adverſaries make Laws, are they not conſumed in the very ſame manner? the fleſh, which they forbid? the Fiſh, and Herbs, which they command? In fine, S. Paul rejects the Ordinances of the Seducers, becauſe they were Doctrines, and Commandments of men. Thoſe of Rome, to which the ſame quality doth adhere, ought not then to be any more tolerated, than they. For how hardly ſoever the men be, they durſt not ſay, that GOD appointed them. They only ſay, that they are conform to Scripture. But how ſo, while they ſo rudely claſh with the Apoſtle's Doctrine in this place.
As to their allegation, Dan. 1.8.that the Hebrew Children would not eat of the meats of the King of Babylon's Table; the Scripture tells us, they did it for fear of being defiled: to wit, becauſe the moſt part of the meats of Pagans, was offered to Idols. Beſide they doubted, there might be ſome one of thoſe things, which were forbidden by the Law of Moſes, under which they lived; cauſes, as every one knows, that take place no longer, and are in effect very far off from the reaſons of the abſtinences of Rome. Dan. 10.2.They produce alſo Daniel's three weeks, during which neither Fleſh, nor Wine, entred into his mouth. They ſhould add, what the Scripture expreſly reports, that he did eat no pleaſant bread, nor anoint himſelf, all that while; becauſe (as he ſaith himſelf) he was mourning. Whence it follows indeed, that ſuch as are in mourning, and affliction of ſpirit, may if they ſee good, baniſh all the pleaſures of their manner of living even to thoſe that are innocent, permitted, and ordinary, as Daniel did at that time, out of his own judgement, and not upon any publick commandment. But it cannot be thence concluded, that either there was then, or that there ought to be a Law for perpetuity in the Chriſtian Church, which forbids the uſe of meats for certain times of the year, which is preciſely the thing that our Adverſaries pretend. 1 Tim. 5.23.I paſs by Timothy's abſtinence, who drank no Wine. For there is little probability, that it was through a Religious ſcruple, he abſtained. Beſide, He was a particular perſon, and did the thing at his own arbitriment, not by the order of any publick Law. And yet too S. Paul recommends to him, the doing otherwiſe; and in fine, the queſtion is now of Meats, not of Wine, which thoſe of Rome do prohibit to none, at all. I alſo pretermit the Faſts of the Iſraelites on divers occaſions; as were thoſe of Anna, of David, of Eſther, of John Baptiſt, and his Diſciples; theſe have no Communion with the abſtinences in hand. We do not refuſe Faſts, (far be it from us) We do not ſimply, and abſolutely forbid even abſtinence. (For it is equally in a Chriſtians liberty, to eat, or not to eat, any ſort of meat whatever; neither the one, nor the other is a ſin, provided it be done in Faith, and Charity.) All, that the Apoſtle condemns, and we with him, and after him, is the Tyrannie, that prohibits, what GOD permits; and will needs make that neceſſary, which He hath left free; as alſo, the Superſtition, that placeth the true ſervice of GOD, in things purely indifferent. It remains then, we conclude, that this Law of our Adverſaries is a Doctrine, and a Commandment of men, ſince it hath no foundation in the Word of GOD.
But which is more, it's evidently adverſe thereto. For the Apoſtle, writing to the faithful at Corinth, that lived in the midſt of an Heathen people, in whoſe Markets, and at whoſe Tables, all ſorts of meats were indifferently ſold, and ſerved up, he gives them this rule; 1 Cor. 10.25, 27.Eat of all that is ſold in the Shambles, making no queſtion for Conſcience ſake. And if one of them that believe not does invite you, and ye be diſpoſed to go, eat of all that's ſet before you, making no queſtion for Conſcience ſake. How doth this accord with the Roman Laws, that make ſcruple of ſo many ſorts of meat for Conſcience ſake? … Tim. 4.1, 2.But this holy man hath proceeded much further yet. He hath not only refuted this errour; He hath predicted it, and given us timely Advertiſement of it, ranking Abſtinence from meats, expreſly among the Articles of the falſe Doctrine of thoſe Seducers, whoſe coming he propheſied of; deſcribing them by dreadful marks, that he might poſſeſs us with a juſt horrour at them. Neither may it be anſwered, that he ſpeaks of ſuch, as hold the nature of meats to be impure, and polluted in it ſelf. He attributes no ſuch thing to thoſe, whom he condemneth; and ſaith ſimply, that they would command to abſtain from meats: If our Adverſaries do not ſo command; we do wrong to apply this Text unto them. But ſince they eminently command the thing, and ſo mightily eſteem the command, that they deny him the name of a Chriſtian, who doth violate it; it is clear, that of them alſo the Apoſtle ſpeaks. He alledgeth, it is true, that every creature of GOD is good, and was created to be uſed by the faithful, with thankſgiving. He alledgeth this, I ſay, to refute this error; as we alſo make uſe of it to refute that of Rome. But he doth not at all impute to them, whom he oppoſeth, that they did formerly deny this verity; and hereafter we ſhall hear, that thoſe whom he does in this place refute, did ordain their abſtinences, for the humbling of the ſpirit, and the mortifying of the fleſh (altogether after the ſame manner, as our adverſaries at this day do,) and not out of any opinion they had, that the meats they prohibited, were unclean, or polluted in their nature. Accordingly we read, that the ancient Chriſtians who lived about the end of the ſecond Century, and the beginning of the third, did not forbear condemning the Montaniſts laws of abſtinence, and to apply to them that paſſage of the firſt Epiſtle to Timothy, which we quoted even now; though thoſe Hereticks proteſted, as they of Rome do at this day, that it was not intended againſt them, who believed, with Catholicks, both the Divinity of the Creator and the goodneſs, and purity of the creatures, but againſt the Marcionites, and the Encratites, who denied the one, or the other, or both of them together; as we learn, by a certain book of Tertullians, in which he expreſly pleadeth the cauſe of Montanus againſt the Orthodox, whom, in deriſion, Tertul. lib. de Jujuniis. c. 15.he calleth Pſychiques.
Thus having refuted the error of thoſe of the Roman Communion, I ſhould now come to anſwer their revilings. For upon the pretext, of our diſapproving the tyrannicall law of their abſtinences, they accuſe us of being Epicureans, and our Religion, altogether a Religion of fleſh, and blood, and favouring gourmandiſe, and drunkenneſs; as if it were neither poſſible, to commit exceſs with fiſh, nor to exerciſe ſobriety with any other food. It is not now adays only, that this error, being unable to defend it ſelf with reaſon, hath had recourſe to railing. The Jews, at the beginning, ſeeing our Saviour live ſimply, without the pomp of their faſts, and abſtinences, called Him a glutton, and a wine-bibber; Mat. 11.19.the Montaniſts afterwards cryed out, upon the Catholicks of thoſe dayes, as they of Rome do upon us at preſent; that the belly was their god; Tertullian▪ ibid.and the Buttery their Altar, and a Kitchin their Temple, and a Cook their Prieſt, and the ſteam of meats, their Holy-Spirit, and ſauces their gifts of Grace. Let it not ſhame us, to be treated, as the Son of GOD was, with His firſt and beſt diſciples. I might here ſay many things, of our morals, and the morals of our adverſaries, and perhaps it would be found, that our Carnavel is no leſs ſober, than their Lent; and their abſtinence many times as intemperate, as our pretended diſſoluteneſs. But it is better, to refute their ſlanders, by the honeſty of our lives, than with the acrimony of our words.
Shew then, dearly beloved Brethren, by your ſobriety, purity, and temperance, that it is not the love of the fleſh, as calumny gives out, but reſpect to truth, which makes you embrace the party you do. Defend your liberty in ſuch manner, as that you take it not for an occaſion to live after the fleſh. Gal. 5.13.'Tis this fleſh, that JESUS CHRIST hath forbidden us. That of animals doth not defile ſuch, as eat of it ſoberly, and with thankſgiving: But this fleſh renders all thoſe truly unclean, that ſuffer themſelves to be tempted with its pleaſures. Abſtain you from all its luſts. Have in abhorrence, all its ſweets. 1 Pet. 2.11.Eat not at any time of its fruits; and count it a grievous crime, to taſte of its dainties. It is of this fleſh, that we may, without rigor, lay the injunction upon you; Touch it not, and taſte not of it. Let the acts of injuſtice, and the pollutions, and the vanities, to which it carrieth men of the world, be an abomination to you: and your meat, as the LORD JESUS's was, Joh. 4.34.to do the will of GOD, and finiſh His work. In particular, keep your ſelves from the exceſſes of the ſeaſon, that is at hand. Abhor the diſorders of the world even more, than you pitty its ſuperſtition: and partake farr leſs, in its debauches, than in its abſtinences. Prepare your ſelves alſo, for that divine repaſt, unto which we are about to invite you, by all kind of good works of piety, and charity: and above all remember, that the doctrine of the LORD JESUS is, we renounce ungodlineſs, and the luſts of the fleſh, to live ſoberly, duplicate page duplicate page juſtly, and religiouſly; and that His true diſcipline conſiſts but in two points; the one, that we abſtain, not from what is in its nature indifferent; but from what He hath forbidden us, as contrary to piety towards Him, or charity towards our neighbour, or honeſty in reſpect of our ſelves; the other, that we patiently, and cheerfully ſuffer, the pains, and mortifications, not which a voluntary ſuperſtition aſſigneth us, but which His holy, and paternal hand diſpenſeth unto us. This, dear Brethren, is our Advent, this our Lent, and the true law of our abſtinences. The LORD JESUS, who hath given it us, vouchſafe us His grace, that we may duly fullfil it, to His glory, the edification of our neighbours, and our own ſalvation. Amen.