LXXXVI. " you, let him be accursed. As we said before, fo fay S ER M. "I now again, if any man preach any other gospel "unto you, than that ye have received, let him be "accurfed." St. Paul you fee is very earnest in this matter, and very peremptory, and therefore I cannot but think this declaration of his to be more confiderable, and every way more worthy of our regard and dread, than all the anathema's of the council of Trent, which in direct affront and contempt of this anathema of St. Paul, hath prefumed to add many articles to the chriftian religion, upon the counterfeit warrant of tradition, for which there is no ground or warrant from the fcripture, or from any ancient creed of the christian church. fo And for the truth of this, I appeal to the creed of pope Pius the IVth, compiled out of the definitions of the council of Trent; by which council the pope only is authorised to interpret the true fenfe and meaning of the canons and decrees of that council; and confequently his interpretations must be of equal force and authority with that of the council itself. So that whatsoever he hath put into his new creed for an article of faith, ought to be received with the fame pious affection and veneration, as if the creed had been compiled by the council itself; because the pope, it feems, and no body elfe, underftands the true meaning of that council, at least is thought fit to declare it. And therefore one may justly wonder at the prefumption of thofe, who after this declaration of the council, have taken upon them to expound the catholick faith, and to reprefent that religion to us, as it is defined in that council; because if there be any controverfy about the meaning C 2 LXXXVI SER M. meaning of its definitions (as there have been a great many even betwixt thofe who were, prefent at the council when thofe definitions were made) none but the pope himfelf can certainly tell the meaning of them. Now in this creed of pope Pius, there are added to the ancient creed, of the chriftian church, twelve or thirteen new articles, as concerning purgatory, transubstantiation, the worship of images, the invocation of faints, the communion in one kind, and that the church of Rome is the mother and mistress of all churches, and that there is no falvation to be had out of it; and feveral other points, all which have either no foundation in fcripture, or are plainly contrary to it, and none of them ever esteemed as articles of faith in the ancient chriftian church for the first five hundred years; and yet they are now obtruded upon chriftians, as of equal neceffity to falvation, with the twelve articles of the apostles creed, and this under a pretence of infallibility, which St. Paul tells us would not have juftified an apostle, or an angel from heaven, in making fuch additions to the chriftian religion, and the impofing any thing as neceffary to falvation, which is not fo declared by the gofpel of CHRIST. And all that they have to fay for this, is, that we do not pretend to be infallible: but there is a neceffity of an infallible judge to decide these controverfies, and to him they are to be referred. Which is just as if in a plain matter of right, a contentious and confident man fhould defire a reference, and contrive the matter fo as to have it referred to himself, upon a sleeveless pretence, without any proof or evi dence, LXXXVI dence, that he is the only person in the world that S ER M. hath authority and infallible skill to decide all fuch differences. Thus the church of Rome would deal with us in things which are as plain as the noonday; as whether God hath forbidden the worship of images in the fecond commandment? whether our SAVIOUR did inftitute the facrament in both kinds? whether the people ought not to read the fcriptures, and to have the publick fervice of God in a known tongue? these, and the like, they would have us refer to an infallible judge; and when we ask who he is, they tell us that their church, which hath impofed these things upon chriftians, and made thefe additions to the gospel of CHRIST, is that infallible judge. But if he were as infallible as fhe pretends to be, even as an apoftle, or an angel from heaven, St. Paul hath denounced an anathema against her, for preaching another gospel, and making those things neceffary to the falvation of men, which are hot contained in the gofpel of CHRIST. The inference from all this difcourfe in fhort, is this; "that we should contend earnestly for the "faith once delivered to the faints," and not fuffer ourselves by the confident pretences of feducers, "to be removed from him that hath called us "through the grace of CHRIST unto another gof pel." The neceffary doctrines of the chriftian religion, and the common terms of falvation are so plain, that if any man be ignorant of them, it is his own fault; and if any go about to impofe upon us any thing as of neceffity to be believed and prac tifed in order to falvation, which is not declared to be fo in the holy fcriptures, which contain the true doctrine C 3 doctrine of the gospel, what authority, foever they pretend for it, yea, tho' they affume to themselves to be infallible; the apostle hath plainly told us what we are to think of them; for he hath put the case as high as is poffible here in the text, when he says, "tho' we, or an angel from heaven preach any "other gospel unto you, than that which we have "preached unto you, let him be accurfed." I will conclude all with that counsel which the SPIRIT of GOD gives to the churches of Asia, Rev. iii. 3. "Remember therefore how thou haft received "and heard, and hold faft;" and chap. ii. 10. "Fear none of those things which thou fhalt suffer, "be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of Life." SERMON LXXXVII. Honesty the best preservative against dangerous mistakes in religion. SERM. JOHN vii. 17. If any man do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of GOD, or whether I speak of myself. INCE there are fo many different opinions and apprehenfions in the world about matters of religion, and every fect and party does with fo much confidence pretend, that they, and they only, are LXXXVII are in the truth; the great difficulty and question is, SERM. by what means men may be fecured from dangerous errors and mistakes in religion. For this end fome have thought it neceffary that there fhould be an infallible church, in the communion whereof every man may be fecured from the dangers of a wrong belief. But it seems God hath not thought this neceffary: if he had, he would have revealed this very thing more plainly than any particular point of faith whatsoever. He would have told us exprefly, and in the plainest terms, that he had appointed an infallible guide and judge in matters of faith, and would likewife have told us as plainly who he was, and where we might find him, and have recourse to him upon all occafions; because the fincerity of our faith depending upon him, we could not be fafe from mistake in particular points, without fo plain and clear a revelation of this infallible judge, that there could be no mistake about him; nor could there be an end of any other controverfies in religion, unless this infallible judge (both that there is one, and who he is) were out of controverfy. But neither of these are fo: it is not plain from scripture that there is an infallible judge and guide in matters of faith; much less is it plain who he is; and therefore we may certainly conclude, that God hath not thought it neceffary that there fhould be an infallible guide and judge in matters of faith, because he hath revealed no fuch thing to us: and that bishop and that church who only have arrogated infallibility to themselves, have given the greatest evidence in the world to the contrary; and have been detected and stand convinced of the greatest errors: and it is in vain for any man or company of men, to pretend |