Six Sermons, Sermon 1
Concerning Reſolution and Stedfaſtneſs in Religion. A SERMON Preached at St. LAWRENCE JURY, JUNE the 3d. 1684.
JOSH. XXIV. 15.
—But as for me and my houſe, we will ſerve the Lord.
AFTER Joſhua had brought the People of Iſrael into the promiſed Land and ſetled them in the quiet poſſeſſion of it, his great deſire was to eſtabliſh them in the true Religion, namely, in the Worſhip of the One true God, who had brought them out of the Land of Egypt, and given them the poſſeſſion of that good Land, the Land of Canaan.
And now finding himſelf weak and declining, being an hundred and ten years old, and fearing le…t after his death the People ſhould fall off from the true Religion to the worſhip of Idols, he like a wiſe and good Governour conſiders with himſelf what courſe he had beſt to take to keep them firm and ſtedfaſt in their Religion, and to prevent their defection to the Idolatry of the Nations round about them.
And to this end he calls a general Aſſembly of all Iſrael, Chap. 23. V. 1. that is, of the Elders, and Heads, and Judges, and Officers of the ſeveral Tribes; and in a very wiſe and eloquent Speech repreſents to them in what a miraculous manner God had driven out the Na…ions before them, much greater and ſtrong…r Nations than they, and had given them their Land to poſſeſs it. And, in a word, had performed punctually all that he had promiſed to them.
And therefore they ought to take great heed to themſelves, to love God, and to ſerve Him; and if they did not, he tells them that it ſhould come to paſs, that as all good things are come upon you which the Lord your God promiſed you, ſo ſhall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have deſtroyed you from off this good Land which the Lord your God hath given you, Chap. 23. 15.
After this, he calls them together a ſecond time, and gives them a brief hiſtorical account and deduction of the great Mercies of God to them and their Fathers, from the days of Abraham, whom he had called out from among his Idolatrous Kindred and Countreymen, unto that Day.
From the conſideration of all which, he earneſtly exhorts them to renew their Covenant with God; and for his particular ſatisfaction, before he left the World, ſolemnly to promiſe that they would for ever ſerve God and forſake the ſervice of Idols: 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; and ſerve ye the Lord.
And then in the Text, by a very elegant Scheme of Speech he does, as it were, once more ſet them at liberty; and, as if they had never engaged themſelves to God by Covenant before, he leaves them to their free choice: And if it ſeem evil unto you to ſerve the Lord, chuſe you this day whom ye will ſerve; whether the Gods whom your Fathers ſerved on the other ſide of the Flood, or the Gods of the Amorites in whoſe Land ye dwell.
Not that they were at liberty whether they would ſerve the true God, or not; but to inſinuate to them that Religion ought to be their free choice: And likewiſe, that the true Religion hath thoſe real advantages on its Side, that it may ſafely be referr'd to any conſiderate Man's choice: If it ſeem evil unto you; as if he had ſaid, If after all the demonſtrations which God hath given of his Miraculous Preſence among you, and the mighty obligations which he hath laid upon you by bringing you out of the Land of Egypt, and the Houſe of Bondage by ſo out…tretched an Arm; and by driving out the Nations before you, and giving you their Land to poſſeſs: If after all this, you can think it …it to quit the ſervice of this God, and to worſhip the Idols of the Nations whom you have ſubdued, thoſe vanquiſhed and baffled Deities: If you can think it reaſonable ſo to do, but ſurely you cannot; then take your choice: If it ſeem evil unto you to ſerve the Lord, chuſe you this day whom ye will ſerve.
And to direct and encourage them to make a right choice, he declares to them his own Reſolution, which he hopes will alſo be theirs; and as he had heretofore been their Captain, ſo now he offers himſelf to be their Example: But whether they will follow him or not, he for his part is fix'd and immovable in this Reſolution; But as for ME and my houſe, we will ſerve the Lord.
In effect he tells them; I have propoſed the beſt Religion to your choice, and I cannot but think, nay I cannot but hope, that you will all ſtedfaſtly adhere to it. It is ſo reaſonable and wiſe, ſo much your Intereſt and your Happineſs to do it. But if you ſhould do otherwiſe, if you ſhould be ſo weak as not to diſcern the Truth, ſo wilful and ſo wicked as not to embrace it: Though you ſhould all make another choice, and run away from the true God to the worſhip of Idols; I for my part am ſtedfaſtly reſolved what to do: In a caſe ſo manifeſt, in a matter ſo reaſonable, no Number, no Example ſhall prevail with me to the contrary; I will, if need be, ſtand alone in that which is ſo evidently and unqueſtionably Right: And though this whole Nation ſhould revolt all at once from the Worſhip of the true God, and join with the reſt of the World in a falſe Religion and in the Worſhip of Idols; and mine were the only Family left in all Iſrael, nay in the whole World, that continued to worſhip the God of Iſrael, I would ſtill be of the ſame mind; I would ſtill perſiſt in this Reſolution, and act according to it; As for me and my houſe, we will ſerve the Lord.
A Reſolution truly worthy of ſo great a Prince and ſo good a Man: In which he is a double Pattern to us.
Firſt, Of the brave Reſolution of a good Man, namely, That if there were occaſion, and things were brought to that extremity, he would ſtand alone in the Profeſſion and Practice of the true Religion: As for ME, I will ſerve the Lord.
Secondly, Of the pious Care of a good Father and Maſter of a Family, to train up thoſe under his Charge in the true Religion and Worſhip of God; As for me and MY HOUSE, we will ſerve the Lord.
I ſhall at this time, by God's aſſiſtance, treat of the Firſt of theſe, namely,
I. Of the brave Reſolution of a good Man, that if there were occaſion, and things were brought to that extremity, he would ſtand alone in the Profeſſion and Practice of God's true Religion: Chuſe you this day, ſays Joſhua, whom ye will ſerve; but as for ME, I will ſerve the Lord. Joſhua here puts the Caſe at the utmoſt extremity, That not only the great Nations of the World, the Egyptians and Chaldeans, and all the leſſer Nations round about them, and in whoſe Land they dwelt, were all long ſince revolted to Idolatry, and pretended great Antiquity and long Preſcription for the Worſhip of their falſe Gods: But he ſuppoſeth yet further, That the only true and viſible Church of God then known in the World, the People of Iſrael, ſhould likewiſe generally revolt and forſake the Worſhip of the true God, and cleave to the Service of Idols: Yet in this Caſe, if we could ſuppoſe it to happen, he declares his firm and ſtedfaſt Reſolution to adhere to the Worſhip of the true God: And though all others ſhould fall off from it, that he would ſtand alone in the Profeſſion and Practice of the true Religion: But as for ME, I will ſerve the Lord.
In the handling of this Argument I ſhall do theſe two things.
Firſt, I ſhall conſider the matter of this Reſolution, and the due bounds and limits of it.
Secondly, I ſhall endeavour to vindicate the reaſonableneſs of this Reſolution from the Objections to which this ſingular and peremptory kind of Reſolution may ſeem liable.
Firſt, I ſhall conſider the matter of this Reſolution, and the due bounds and limits of it.
1ſt. The matter of this Reſolution. Joſhua here reſolves that if need were, and things were brought to that paſs, he would ſtand alone, or with very few adhering to him, in the Profeſſion and Practice of the true Religion. And this is not a mere Suppoſition of an impoſſible Caſe, which can never happen: For it may, and hath really and in fact happen'd in ſeveral Ages and Places of the World.
There hath been a general Apoſtacy of ſome great part of God's Church from the Belief and Profeſſion of the true Religion to Idolatry, and to damnable Errors and Hereſies: And ſome good Men have, upon the matter, ſtood alone in the open Profeſſion of the true Religion, in the midſt of this general Defection from it.
Elijah in that general Revolt of the People of Iſrael, when they had forſaken the Covenant of the Lord, and broken down his Altars, and ſlain his Prophets, and he only, as he thought, was left to ſtand alone: I ſay, in this Caſe when, as he verily believed, he had no body to ſtand by him, he was very zealous for the Lord God of Hoſts, 1 Kings 18. 18. and with an undaunted courage ſtood up for the Worſhip of the true God, and reproved Ahab to his face for his defection to the Worſhip of Idols.
And thoſe three brave Youths, in the Prophecy of Daniel, chap. 3. did in the like reſolute and undaunted manner refuſe to obey the Command of the great King Nebuchadnezzar, to worſhip the Image which he had ſet up; when all others Submitted, and paid Honour to it: Telling him plainly, If it be ſo, our God whom we ſerve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery Furnance, and He will deliver us out of thy hand: If not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not ſerve thy Gods, nor worſhip the golden Image which thou haſt ſet up. v. 17, 18.
In like manner, and with the ſame Spirit and courage, Daniel withſtood the Decree of Darius, which forbad men to ask a Petition of any God or man for thirty days, ſave of the King only; Dan. 6. 7. and this under the pain of being caſt into the Den of Lions: and when all others gave obedience to it, he ſet open the windows of his chamber towards Jeruſalem, and kneeled down upon his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks, as he did afore time. v. 10.
In the prevalency of the Arian Hereſy Athanaſius almoſt ſtood alone in the profeſſion and maintenance of the Truth. And in the Reign of Antichriſt the true Church of God is repreſented by a Woman flying into the Wilderneſs, and living there in obſcurity for a long time; inſomuch that the Profeſſors of the Truth ſhould hardly be found. And yet during that Degeneracy of ſo great a Part of the Chriſtian Church, and the prevalency of Antichriſt for ſo many Ages, ſome few in every Age did appear who did reſolutely own the Truth and bear Witneſs to it with their Blood: But theſe did almoſt ſtand alone and by themſelves, like a few ſcattered Sheep wandring up and down in a wide Wilderneſs.
Thus, in the heighth of Popery, Wickliffe appear'd here in England; and Hierome of Prague and John Huſs in Germany and Bohemia. And in the beginning of the Reformation, when Popery had quite over-run theſe Weſtern Parts of the World and ſubdued her Enemies on every ſide, and Antichriſt ſate ſecurely in the quiet poſſeſſion of his Kingdom; Luther aroſe, a bold and rough Man, but a fit Wedge to cleave in ſunder ſo hard and knotty a Block; and appeared ſtoutly againſt the groſs Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome; and for a long time ſtood alone, and with a moſt invincible ſpirit and courage maintained his ground and reſiſted the united malice and force of Antichriſt and his Adherents; and gave him ſo terrible a Wound, that he is not yet perfectly healed and recovered of it.
So that for a Man to ſtand alone, or with a very few adhering to him and ſtanding by him, is not a mere imaginary Suppoſition, but a Caſe that hath really and in fact happen'd in ſeveral Ages and Places of the World. Let us then proceed to conſider in the
2d. place, The due limits and bounds of this peremptory Reſolution. In all matters of Faith and Practice which are plain and evident either from Natural Reaſon, or from Divine Revelation, this Reſolution ſeems to be very reaſonable: But in things doubtful a modeſt man, and every man hath reaſon to be ſo, would be very apt to be ſtagger'd by the judgment of a very Wiſe man; and much more of many ſuch, and eſpecially by the unanimous Judgment of the generality of Men; the general Voice and Opinion of Mankind being next to the Voice of God himſelf.
For in matters of an indifferent nature, which God hath neither commanded nor forbidden, ſuch as are many of the Circumſtances and Ceremonies of God's Worſhip, a man would not be ſingular, much leſs ſtiff and immovable in his ſingularity; but would be apt to yield and ſurrender himſelf to the general Vote and Opinion, and to comply with the common Cuſtom and Practice; and much more with the Rules and Conſtitutions of Authority, whether Civil or Eccleſiaſtical. Becauſe in things lawful and indifferent, we are bound by the Rules of Decency and Civility not to thwart the general Practice; and by the Commands of God, we are certainly obliged to obey the lawful Commands of lawful Authority.
But in things plainly contrary to the evidence of Senſe or Reaſon, or to the Word of God, a man would complement no Man, or Number of Men; nor would he pin his Faith upon any Church in the World; much leſs upon any ſingle Man, no not the Pope; no, though there were never ſo many probable Arguments brought for the proof of his Infallibility.
In this Caſe, a Man would be ſingular, and ſtand alone againſt the whole World; againſt the wrath and rage of a King and all the terrors of his fiery Furnace; as in other matters, a Man would not believe all the Learned Men in the World againſt the clear evidence of Senſe and Reaſon. If all the great Mathematicians of all Ages, Archimedes, and Euclide, and Apollonius, and Diophantus, &c. could be ſuppoſed to meet together in a General Council, and ſhould there declare in the moſt ſolemn manner, and give it under their Hands and Seals, that twice two did not make four, but five; this would not move me in the leaſt to be of their mind; nay, I who am no Mathematician would maintain the contrary, and would perſiſt in it without being in the leaſt ſtartled by the poſitive Opinion of theſe great and learned men; and ſhould moſt certainly conclude, that they were either all of them out of their Wits, or that they were byaſſed by ſome Intereſt or other, and ſwayed againſt the clear evidence of Truth and the full conviction of their own Reaſon to make ſuch a determination as this. They might indeed over-rule the Point by their Authority, but in my inward judgment I ſhould ſtill be where I was before.
Juſt ſo in matters of Religion, if any Church, though with never ſo glorious and confident a pretence to Infallibility, ſhould declare for Tranſubſtantiation, that is, that the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament, by vertue of the Conſecration of the Prieſt, are ſubſtantially changed into the natural Body and Blood of Chriſt; this is ſo notoriouſly contrary both to the Senſe and Reaſon of Mankind, that a Man ſhould chuſe to ſtand ſingle in the oppoſition of it, and laugh at or rather pity the reſt of the World that could be ſo ſervilely blind as ſeemingly to conſpire in the belief of ſo monſtrous an Abſurdity.
And in like manner, if any Church ſhould declare, that Images are to be worſhipped, or that the Worſhip of God is to be performed in an unknown Tongue; and that the H. Scriptures, which contain the Word and Will of God, and teach men what they are to believe and do in order to their eternal Salvation, are to be lock'd up and kept concealed from the People in a Language which they do not underſtand, leſt if they were permitted the free uſe of them in their Mother Tongue they ſhould know more of the Mind and Will of God than is convenient for the common People to know, whoſe Devotion and Obedience to the Church does mainly depend upon their Ignorance: Or ſhould declare, that the Sacrifice of Chriſt was not offer'd once for all, but is and ought to be repeated ten Millions of times every Day: And that the People ought to receive the Communion in one kind only, and the Cup by no means to be truſted with them for fear the Profane Beards of the Laity ſhould drink of it: And that the ſaving efficacy of the Sacraments doth depend upon the intention of the Prieſt, without which the Receiver can have no benefit by them: Theſe are all of them ſo plainly contrary to Scripture, and moſt of them in Reaſon ſo abſurd, that the Authority of no Church whatſoever can oblige a man to the belief of them.
Nay, I go yet further, that being evidently contrary to the Doctrine of the Goſpel, though an Apoſtle, or an Angel from Heaven ſhould declare them, we ought to reject them. And for this I have St. Paul's authority and warrant, who ſpeaking of ſome that perverted the Goſpel of Chriſt by teaching things contrary to it, Though we, ſays he, or an Angel from Heaven, preach any other Goſpel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accurſed: As we ſaid before, ſo ſay I now again, though an Apoſtle, though an Angel from Heaven preach any other Goſpel unto you than that which ye have received, let him be accurſed, Gal. 1. 7, 8, 9. You ſee he repeats it over again, to expreſs not only his own confident aſſurance, but the certainty of the thing. And here is an Anathema with a witneſs, which we may confidently oppoſe to all the Anathema's which the Council of Trent hath ſo liberally denounced againſt all thoſe who ſhall preſume to gainſay theſe New Doctrines of their Church; which are in truth another Goſpel, than that which our B. Saviour and his Apoſtles taught: And yet on their Side there is neither an Apoſtle, nor an Angel from Heaven in the Caſe.
To give but one Inſtance more: If Bellarmin ſhall tell me, as he expreſly does, That if the Pope ſhould declare Virtue to be Vice, and Vice to be Virtue, I were bound to believe him unleſs I would ſin againſt Conſcience: And if all the World ſhould ſay the ſame that Bellarmin does, namely, that this Infallible Declarer of Virtue and Vice were to be believed and followed; yet I could not poſſibly be of their mind, for this plain and undeniable Reaſon; becauſe if Virtue and Vice be all one, then Religion is nothing; ſince the main Deſign of Religion is to teach men the difference between Virtue and Vice, and to oblige them to practiſe the one and to refrain from the other: And if Religion be nothing, then Heaven and Hell are nothing: And if Heaven be nothing, then an infallible Guide thither is of no uſe and to no manner of purpoſe; becauſe he is a Guide no whither, and ſo his great Office ceaſes and falls of it ſelf.
And now leſt any ſhould think me ſingular in this Aſſertion, and that thereby I give a great deal too much to the ſingle Judgment of private Perſons, and too little to the Authority of a Church, I will produce the deliberate Judgment of a very Learned Man and a great Aſſertor of the Church's Authority, concerning the matter I am now ſpeaking of: I mean Mr. Hooker, in his deſervedly admired Book of Eccleſiaſtical Policy. His words are theſe, I grant, ſays he, that Proof derived from the Authority of Man's Judgment is not able to work that Aſſurance which doth grow by a ſtronger proof: and therefore although ten thouſand General Councils ſhould ſet down one and the ſame Definitive Sentence concerning any Point of Religion whatſoever, yet one Demonſtrative Reaſon alledged, or one Teſtimony cited from the Word of God himſelf to the contrary, could not chuſe but overſway them all: In as much as for them to be deceived it is not ſo impoſſible, as it is that Demonſtrative Reaſon or Divine Teſtimony ſhould deceive.
And again, For men, ſays he, to be tyed and led by Authority, as it were with a kind of Captivity of Judgment, and though there be Reaſon to the contrary not to liſten to it, but follow like Beaſts the firſt in the Herd, this were Brutiſh.
Again, That the Authority of Men ſhould prevail with Men, either againſt or above Reaſon is no part of OUR Belief. Companies of Learned Men, though they be never ſo great and Reverend, are to yield unto Reaſon, the weight whereof is no whit prejudiced by the ſimplicity of the Perſon which doth alledge it; but being found to be ſound and good, the bare Opinion of men to the contrary muſt of neceſſity ſtoop and give place. And this he delivers not only as his own particular Judgment, but that which he apprehended to be the Judgment of the Church of England.
I have produced theſe clear and poſitive Teſtimonies of ſo learned and judicious a Perſon, and of ſo great eſteem in our Church, on purpoſe to prevent any miſapprehenſion, as if by this Diſcourſe I intended to derogate from the Authority of the Church and her juſt and reaſonable Determinations, in things no wiſe contrary to plain Reaſon or the Word of God. And beyond this pitch no judicious Proteſtant, that I know of, ever ſtrain'd the Authority of the Church. I proceed now in the
Second place, to vindicate the Reaſonableneſs of this Reſolution from the Objections to which this ſingular and peremptory kind of Reſolution may ſeem liable; as
Obj. 1. Firſt, it may very ſpeciouſly be ſaid, that this does not ſeem modeſt for a man to ſet up his own private Judgment againſt the general Suffrage and Vote. And it is very true, as I ſaid before, that about things indifferent a man ſhould not be ſtiff and ſingular; and in things doubtful and obſcure a man ſhould not be over-confident of his own Judgment, and inſiſt peremptorily upon it againſt the general Opinion: But in things that are plain and evident, either from Scripture or Reaſon, it is neither immodeſty, nor a culpable ſingularity, for a man to ſtand alone in the defence of the Truth. Becauſe in ſuch a Caſe a man does not oppoſe his own ſingle and private Judgment to the Judgment of Many, but the common Reaſon of Mankind and the Judgment of God plainly declared in his Word.
If the generality of men ſhould turn Atheiſts and Infidels, and ſhould deny the Being of God, or his Providence; the Immortality of mens Souls, and the Rewards and Puniſhments of another World: Or ſhould deny the Truth of the Goſpel and of the Chriſtian Religion, it would not certainly be any breach of modeſty for a man to appear ſingle, if no body elſe would ſtand by him, in the reſolute defence of theſe great Truths.
In like manner, when a whole Church, though never ſo large and numerous, ſhall conſpire together to corrupt the Chriſtian Religion ſo far as to impoſe upon Mankind, under the name of Chriſtian Doctrines and Articles of Faith, things plainly contrary to the Senſe and Reaſon of Mankind, and to the clear and expreſs Word of God, why muſt a Man needs be thought immodeſt, if he oppoſe ſuch groſs Errors and Corruptions of the Chriſtian Doctrine? And what reaſon have the Church of Rome to talk of modeſty in this Caſe, when they themſelves have the face to impoſe upon Mankind the belief of things contrary to what they and every man elſe ſees? As they do in their Doctrine of Tranſubſtantiation: And to require of them to do what God hath expreſly forbidden, as in the Worſhip of Images; beſides a great many other Idolatrous Practices of that Church: To deny the People the free uſe of the H. Scriptures, and the publick Service of God in a known Tongue… contrary to the very end and deſign of all Religion, and in affront to the common Reaſon and Liberty of Mankind.
Obj. 2. Secondly, It is pretended that it is more prudent for private Perſons to err with the Church, than to be ſo pertinacious in their own Opinions. To which I anſwer, that it may indeed be pardonable in ſome Caſes to be led into miſtake by the Authority of thoſe to whoſe Judgment and Inſtruction we ought to pay a great deference and ſubmiſſion: Provided always it be in things which are not plain and neceſſary; but ſurely it can never be prudent to err with any number, how great ſoever, in matters of Religion which are of moment, merely for Numbers ſake: But to comply with the known Errors and Corruptions of any Church whatſoever is certainly damnable.
Obj. 3. Thirdly, It is pretended yet further, that men ſhall ſooner be excuſed in following the Church, than any particular Man or Sect. To this I anſwer, that it is very true if the matter be doubtful, and eſpecially if the Probabilities be equal, or near equal on both Sides: But if the Error be groſs and palpable, it will be no excuſe to have followed any number of Men, or any Church whatſoever. For here the competition is not between Men and Men, but between God and Men: And in this Caſe we muſt forſake all Men to follow God and his Truth. Thou ſhalt in no wiſe follow a Multitude in a known Error, is a Rule which in Reaſon is of equal obligation with that Divine Law, Thou ſhalt in no wiſe follow a Multitude to do evil; or rather is comprehended in it, becauſe to comply with a known Error is certainly to do Evil.
And this very Objection the Jews made againſt our B. Saviour and the Doctrine which He taught, that the Guides and Governours of the Jewiſh Church did utterly differ from Him, and were of a contrary mind, Have any of the Rulers, ſay they, believed on him? What? will you be wiſer than your Rulers and Governors? What? follow the Doctrine of one ſingle Man againſt the unanimous Judgment and Sentence of the Great Sanhedrim, to whom the Trial of Doctrines and pretended Prophets doth of right belong?
But, as plauſible as this Objection may ſeem to be, it is to be conſidered that in a corrupt and degenerate Church the Guides and Rulers of it are commonly the worſt, and the moſt deeply engaged in the Errors and Corruptions of it. They brought them in at firſt, and their Succeſſors, who have been bred up in the belief and practice of them, are concern'd to uphold and maintain them: And ſo long a Preſcription gives a kind of Sacred Stamp even to Error, and an Authority not to be oppoſed and reſiſted.
And thus it was in the corrupt State of the Jewiſh Church, in our Saviour's Time: And ſo likewiſe in that great Degeneracy of the Chriſtian Church, in th… Times of Popery, their Rulers made them to err: Inſomuch that when Martin Luther appeared in oppoſition to the Errors and Superſtitions of that Church, and was hard preſt with this very Objection which the Phariſees urg'd againſt our Saviour, he was forc'd to bolt out a kind of unmannerly Truth, Religio nunquam magis periclitatur quàm inter Reverendiſſimos, Religion, ſays he, is never in greater hazard and worſe treated, than amongſt the moſt Reverend; meaning the Pope and his Cardinals, and all the Romiſh Hierarchy who had their dependance upon them.
Obj. 4. Fourthly, it is Objected, That as on the one hand there may be danger of Error in following blindly the Belief of the Church, ſo on the other hand there is as great a danger of Schiſm in forſaking the communion of the Church upon pretence of Errors and Corruptions. Very true; but where great Errors and Corruptions are not only pretended, but are real and evident: and where our Compliance with thoſe Errors and Corruptions is made a neceſſary Condition of our Communion with that Church: In that Caſe, the guilt of Schiſm, how great a Crime ſoever it be, doth not… fall upon thoſe who forſake the Communion of that Church, but upon thoſe who drive them out of it by the ſinful Conditions which they impoſe upon them.
And this is truly the Caſe between Us and the Church of Rome, as we are ready to make good, and have fully done it upon all Occaſions; and they have never yet been able to vindicate and clear themſelves of thoſe groſs Errors and Corruptions which have been charged upon them, and which they require of all their Members as neceſſary Conditions of Communion with them here, and of eternal Salvation hereafter.
For we do not object to them doubtful matters, but things as plain as any are contained in the Bible, as every body would ſee if they durſt but let every body read it. The Worſhip of Images is there as plainly forbidden in the Decalogue, as Murther and Adultery are. The Communion in both Kinds is as expreſs an Inſtitution of our Saviour, as any in all the New Teſtament; and even as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper it ſelf; only that Church pretends to a Diſpenſing Power, as a Priviledge inherent in the… Church and inſeparable from it.
And, to add but one Inſtance more; Publick Prayers, and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue, are as plainly and fully declared againſt by St. Paul, in a long Chapter upon this ſingle Argument, as any one thing in all his Epiſtles.
Theſe things are plain and undeniable, and being ſo, are a full juſtification not only of the Church of England, in the Reformation which She thought fit to make within her ſelf from the groſs Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome; but likewiſe of particular Perſons who have at any time for the ſame Reaſons withdrawn themſelves from Her Communion, in any of the Popiſh Countries: Yea though that ſingle Perſon ſhould happen to be in thoſe Circumſtances that he could not have the Opportunity of holding Communion with any other Church, that was free from thoſe Errors and Corruptions, and which did not impoſe them as neceſſary Conditions of Communion.
For if any Church fall off to Idolatry, every good Chriſtian not only may, but ought to forſake Her Communion; and ought rather to ſtand ſingle and alone in the Profeſſ…on of the pure and true Religion, than to continue in the Communion of a corrupt and Idolatrous Church.
I know that ſome Men are ſo fond of the Name of a Church that they can very hardly believe that any thing which …ears that glorious Title can miſcarry or do any thing ſo much amiſs as to give juſt occaſion to any of her Members to break off from H…r Communion: What? the Church err? That is ſuch an Abſurdity, as is by many thought ſufficient to put any Objection out of countenance. That the whole Church, that is, that all the Chriſtians in the World ſhould at any time fall off to Idolatry and into Errors and Practices directly contrary to the Chriſtian Doctrine revealed in the H. Scriptures, is on all hands, I think, denied: But that any Particular Church may fall into ſuch Errors and Practices is, I think, as univerſally granted: Only in this Caſe they demand to have the Roman Catholick Church excepted: And why I pray? Becauſe though the Roman Church is a Particular Church, it is alſo the Univerſal Church: If this can be, and good ſenſe can be made of a Particular-Univerſal Church, then the Roman Church may demand this high Privilege of being exempted from the Fate of all other Churches; but if the Roman-Catholick, that is a Particular-Univerſal Church be a groſs and palpable Contradiction, then it is plain that the Church of Rome hath no more pretence to this Privilege, than any other Particular Church whatſoever.
And which is yet more, ſome men talk of theſe matters at that rate, as if a man who thought himſelf obliged to quit the Communion of the Church of Rome, ſhould happen to be in thoſe Circumſtances that he had no Opportunity of joining himſelf to any other Communion, he ought in that Caſe to give over all thoughts of Religion, and not be ſo conceited and preſumptuous as to think of going to Heaven alone by himſelf.
It is without doubt a very great Sin to deſpiſe the Communion of the Church, or to break off from it ſo long as we can continue in it without Sin: But if things ſhould once come to that Paſs that we muſt either diſobey God for company, or ſtand alone in our obedience to Him, we ought moſt certainly to obey God whatever comes of it; and to profeſs his Truth, whether any body elſe will join with us in that Profeſſion or not.
And they who ſpeak otherwiſe condemn the whole Reformation, and do in effect ſay that Martin Luther had done a very ill thing in breaking off from the Church of Rome, if no body elſe would have joined with him in that honeſt Deſign. And yet if it had been ſo, I hope God would have given him the Grace and Courage to have ſtood alone in ſo good and glorious a Cauſe, and to have laid down his Life for it.
And for any man to be of another Opinion, is juſt as if a man upon great deliberation ſhould chuſe rather to be drowned, than to be ſaved either by a Plank or a ſmall Boat; or to be carried into the Harbour any other way, than in a Great Ship of ſo many hundred Tuns.
In ſhort, a good man muſt reſolve to obey God and to profeſs his Truth, though all the World ſhould happen to do otherwiſe. Chriſt hath promiſed to preſerve his Church to the end of the World, that is, he hath engaged his Word that he will take care that there ſhall always be, in ſome part of the World or other, ſome perſons that ſhall make a ſincere Profeſſion of his true Religion.
But He hath no where promiſed to preſerve any one Part of his Church from ſuch Errors and Corruptions, as may oblige all good men to quit the Communion of that Part; yea though when they have done ſo, they may not know whither to reſort for actual Communion with any other ſound Part of the Chriſtian Church. As it happened to ſome particular Perſons, during the Reign and Rage of Popery in theſe Weſtern Parts of the Chriſtian Church.
The Reſult from all this Diſcourſe is, to confirm and eſtabliſh us all, in this Hour of Temptation and of the Powers of Darkneſs, in the well-grounded Belief of the neceſſity and juſtice of our Reformation from the Errors and Corruptions of the Roman Church. And to engage us to hold faſt the Profeſſion of our Faith without wavering: And not only to profeſs and promiſe as Peter did to our Lord, though all men forſake thee, yet will not I: But if there ſhould be Occaſion, to perform and make good this Promiſe with the hazard of all that is dear to us, and even of Life it ſelf. And whatever Trials God may permit any of us to fall into, to take up the pious Reſolution of Joſhua here in the Text, that whatever others do, WE will ſerve the Lord.
I will conclude my Diſcourſe, upon this Firſt Particular in the Text, with the Exhortation of St. Paul to the Philippians, chap. 1. v. 27. Only let your converſation be as it becometh the Goſpel of Chriſt. Stand faſt in one Spirit, be of one Mind, ſtriving together for the Faith of the Goſpel: In nothing terrified by your Adverſaries, which to them is an evident token of Perdition, but to you of Salvation, and that of God.
And thus much may ſuffice to have ſpoken to the Firſt thing in the Text, namely, the pious Reſolution of Joſhua, that if there were Occaſion and things were brought to that extremity, he would ſtand alone in the Profeſſion and Practice of God's true Religion: Chuſe you this Day whom ye will ſerve, but as for ME, I will ſerve the Lord.
I ſhould now have proceeded to the Second thing, and which indeed I chiefly intended to ſpeak to from this Text, namely, the pious C…re of a good Father and M…ſter of a F…mily, to train up thoſe under his Charge in the R…ligion and Worſhip of the true God: As for Me and MY HOUSE, we will ſerve the Lord. But this I ſhall not now enter upon, but defer it to ſome other Opportunity. Conſider what ye have heard, and the Lord give you underſtanding in all things.