eFPwSft SEP 25 1918 LECTURES T O LORDS SPIRITUAL: O R A N ADVICE TO THE BISHOPS. UR v^' ^OGlZ^lV^'^^t'y ^^-i OF fmce)^ TO LORDS SPIRITUAL: O R, A N ADVICE TO THE BISHOPS, CONCERNING * RELIGIOUS ARTICLES, tiTHES, AND CHURCH POWER. WITH A DISCOURSE ON RIDICULE. By the Reverend Mr. J A. MURRAY, Author of S E R M O N S to A S S E S, 6"^- / willfght againji them with the /word of my mouth. Rev. ii. i6. LONDON: Printed for the AUTHOR; And Sold by WILL. HAY, Printet and Bookfeller, at his Shop next Door to the Extiibitiou-hall of the Society of Attijts of Great Britain, near Ex^'^r ^Cm^jge, Strand* MLCCjLXXiV, AD DOMINOS SPIRITUALES, DOCTISSIMI PRESTANTISSIMI VIRT, CUM veftram dignitatem in Ecclefia An- gllcana, Veri Spiritui oppofitam magis ma- gifque cogitemus, noftri animi mirando, ftupe- fa6ti funt ; quo pa6lo, Illuftriffimi Viri, a Sacris Literis erraviflent. Vox Sacra videntibus a pre- judices liberatis eft tarn manifefta, ut nuUi nil! capti oculis, fed earn intelligere pofTent. Si- quidem vis lucri veftros animos inquinati obruit pofcendum veniam Deum, de hoc horriiico malo. Cicero Domini declarayit,' qus veftrls praecordiis funt digna : " Nemo enim jullus *' effe poteft, qui mortem, qui dolorem, qui *' exilium, qui egeftatem, timet ; aut qus iiis *' funt contraria equitati anteponit, Maxime- *' que admirantur eum, qui pecunia non mo- *' vetur : quod in quo viro perfpedtum fit hunc *' dignum fpedatu arbitrantur." Decet omnes Epifcopos Ciceronis fenten- tias animis confiderare. Melius eflet, fi mente alta Dei leges in dies revolviffent. PREFACE. IT is a commandment of our Saviour, to preach the Gofpel to every Creaiwe : I am afraid that I have tranfgrelTcd this rule. Our Saviour undoubtedly meant God's Creatures-, but whether my Audience, in tlieir exalted Nation, are fuch^ is fomewhat problematical. But though God did not make them Biihops, or Lords Spiritual, he has made them me?i •, in this fenfe they are his Creatures, Perhaps a few Sermons may do them good -, they are welcome to the following, whatever may hap- pen. There is a period to come, when we Ihall all be upon a level, which men of ra?ik, as well as others, would do well to remember. Their Graces and Lordjhips cannot be the worfe of being put in mind of their latter end. It is but feldom their Chaplains make fo free with them. I heartily wilh they may all arrive fafely in the kingdom of Heaven, though their Mitres in this world fliould be laid in the dufl, I ex- pe6l no reward for the fmall fervice I have done them I Viii PREFACE. them ; they may read thefe Difcourfes or not, as they pleafe. They have read better, and perhaps worfe ; but fuch as they are, they are welcome to perufe them. If they will be fo kind as to fet us free from the Articles of the Church, and the Penal Laws conne(Sled tlierewith, I jQiall promife never to preach to them any more. CO N- CONTENTS SERMON 1. Matthew, Ch. xxiii. ver. 4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievoiu to be borne ^ and lay them on 7ner^sJhouU ders ; but they themfehes "will not move them with one of their fingers. Page i S E R M O N il. Matthew, Ch. xxiii. ver. 4. for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be bome^ and lay them on rnen^sjhoul- ders ; but they them/elves will not move them with one of their fingers, p. 39 b S E R^ viii CONTENTS, SERMON m. Matthew, Ch. xxiii. ver. 4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne y and lay them on men^s Jhoul- ders ; but they them/elves will not moy^ the?n with one of their Jingersy p. 81 SERMON IV. I Timothy, Ch. Hi, ver. 2. A BiJJjQp mujl be blamelefs ; apt to teach; — not given to filthy lucre \ — not covetous y &C. 10 1 . SERMON V. 1 Timothy, Ch. iii. vef."2,-,5. ' "■ A Bijhop muft be blamelefs \ — given to hofpitality ; — apt to teach i-^not greedy of filthy lucre ; — not covetous, ?• i ^9 S - S E R- C O NTE NTS? Ix S E R M ON V^/ I Timothy, Ch. iii. ier. 2» A Bijhop muji he hlamelej'^*^^^giveh to hop^ pitaUty \^^apt to teach ^-^-noi' greedy ^of filthy lucre ; not covetous^ ' . ' p. i iq Numbers, Ch, xviii. ver. 24. But the Tythes of the children of Ifrael, ' which they offer as an heave-offering^ Tinto the Lordy I have given to the Le-- vites to inherit : therefore I have /aid unto the?7iy Amo7ig the children of Ifrael theyfhall have no inheritance^ p. 161 '' SERMON VIII. EccLESiASTEs, Ch. xii. ver. 14. For God will bring every work into judge ^ ment^ with every fecret things whether It he good ^ or whether it be evil^ P« 179 S ER- X C/ON T E N T S. S E R J\l ON IX. - -I KrNGs, xyiii. 27. ufoi // came to pafs afnoon^ that Elijah mocked theniy and f aid ^ Cry aloud : for he is a god; either he is talking^ or he is purfuingy or he is in a journey ^ or per- adventure he Jleepethy and mujl be awaked. 205 SERMON SERMON I. Matthew, Ch. xxiii. ver. 4^, For they hind heavy burdens and grievous to he horne^ and lay them on merHs JldouU ders -y hut they theinfelves will not move them with one of their fingers,. TO help your Reverences to un« deriland this paflage I muft re- fer you to Ifaiah 10, i. — They are unrighteous decrees, made by men in power, to enflave thofe who are un- .der their Jurifdidion : — Of this fort I conceive the prefent Articles of your Church to be. All the Decrees con- A cerning a S E R M O N I. cernlng the impofing your Articles arc unrighteous. — Your Lordfhips had no power to make them at firfl, and the continuance of them is a conftant ufur-^ pation of the prerogative of Chrift.— - As i intend to preach a lliort word to you, who feldom preach any yourfelves, though you are fufficiently paid for that purpofe, I fhall endeavour to fhew that all Laws concerning your Articles are unrighteous, and burdens grievous to ht home ; and, for the fake of form, fliall make fome pradical improvement. As to the firft, all Laws concerning ATOur Articles are contrary to the Great charter of liberty in the gofpel, wherewith Chrifl hath made his Difciples free. 1 have feen it alTcrted, by fome of the befl Englilh Lawyers, That even a Britifh Parliament, with the King at their head, have no lawful power to make any Laws contrary to the Great Charter of the Kingdom 5 for, in fuch a cafe, the confli- tution S E R M O N I. 5^ tVition would be difolved, and a revolu- tion would infue. Whatever may be in this, it is manifeft, from the New Tefta- ment, that all decrees which are contra- ry to the Gofpel Charter of Ghriftian Li- berty, deflroy the Conftitution of the Church. Allow me to aik your Lord- fiiips. In what part of the Gofpel, or the writings of our Saviour's Apoftles, you ^nd authority for any order of men mak- ing rules of Faith for others, and im- pofmg them upon them on pain of lofs and difpleafure. You ought certainly to give us fome fatisfadion in a matter of fo much confequence. It is altogether unrighteous to claim a privilege in Re- ligion which you can produce no war- rant for from the Book where all reli- gious privileges are contained* You cannot even iliew the fmallefl hint in all that Jcfus and his Apoftles have faid, that has any reference to fuch an order of Clergymen as you profefs to be. Pray, do good Sirs ! fhew a Lord Spiritual in A 2 the 4 S E R M O N 1. the New Teftament ; Shew a Mod, or a Right Reverend Father in God, in all that Book, and you fhall have all due honours paid you. You flare at the de- mand. — But it is not reafonable before you receive honours, or alTume power, that you produce your warrant for fo do- ing ? But fuppofe we fhould indulge you with your titles, and fufFer you to re- ceive praife one of another. Yet we can fee no reafon why you fhould retail out our Faith to us, and fettle the bounds of our Creed. Is it not unrighteous for Clergymen to affume powers which our Saviour hath forbidden, and his Apof- tles exprefsly refufed ? Pray, my dear Dodors, hear what your Redeemer fays, Neither be ye called Mnjiers^ for one is your Majier^ even Chriji, His apoflles fays the fame thing in efFcd, We are 7iot Lords of your Faith^ but helpers of your joy. What Jefus has forbidden, and his apof- tles refufed, how dare you pretend to affume ? To Chriflians there is but one Lord, SERMON I. s Lord, and one Faith, but in your Church there are twenty-fix Lords, and two Faiths, ' T he doctrine contained in divine revelation, and another very diffe- rent, contained in your Articles. I hope you will not be fo daring as to prefume to affirm that the Doctrine in the Bible, and that contained in the thirty-nine Ar- ticles, are the fame. Remember there is no Refurrection of the Dead in all your Articles. The want of this doctrine makes an cifential difference, you will perhaps fay in your defence, you only impofe the Articles upon Teachers, who are to have the care of Souls. — Be fo kind as ihew your warrant for this. If it is not in the Gofpels, or in fome of the Epiflles, you muft own you have none. But this prac- tice is founded upon the right all Socie- ties have over their members. Stop a little. — The Church is a Society, which has all things eflabhfhed by the autho- rity of her Lord and Mafter ; her Faith is given compleatly in the Scriptures, A 3 and e S E R M O N L and every office and duty is fully and perfectly revealed there. A Church is a Society formed according to the mind of Chrift, and not according to the will of men : All contingencies are provided For by him, who knew all his works from the beginning, and perfectly fore- faw what would happen. There can ne- ver be any need of Bylaws to anfwer purpofes which could not be forfeen. — Your Saviour, My Lords, knew all things that ever could happen, and has provided for them in his word. He even forefaw that men, like you, would feek to be Lords over his heritage ; and has made a Law againll it. You may try your Experiments in the Kingdoms of this World, if you pleafc, but beware of rnaking alterations in our Saviour's Kingdom, on pretence that it is the right of Societies to make rules for their members. — Chrift has given you the Scriptures j be fatisfied with them. They will SERMON!. 7 9vill anfwer all purpofes to make the man of God perfect ; they ferved Timothy, and may well fcrve the Clergy of Eng- land, Timothy, you fay, was a Bifhop too ; — well then imitate him, and give up all Articles, except the word of God. All your decrees and canons concerning Religion are unrighteous, mere will- worlhip and doctrines of men. — Can you not trufl: men with the care of Souls, who promife to teach according to the Old and New Tellament, as well as he who promifes to teach according to the Articles. — You fwear upon the Gofpels, which implies, that you think they have fome efficacy to inforce truth, why may they not ferve Minifters to fubfcribe, and be a fufficient teft of Orthodoxy ? But you will fay, perhaps, that all parties pretend to hold by the Scriptures, even when they teach the groflefl Errors. And truely, an't pleafe your Lordfhips, the Articles are but a poor fafe-guard a- A 4 gainft * S E R M O N r. gainfl Herefy. Some of yourfelves have hinted, that they may be taken in diffe- rent fenfes ; who, then, is fure which is the true fenfe? It is true, men need not fubfcribe unlefs they pleafe, they have no more to do but let them alone, and want a living, — and they had better do this than fubfcribe the Dcdrine they do not believe : But is it righteous in you the leaders in the Church, to impofe fuch hardfhips on worthy honeft men ; who are willing to teach Chriflianity ac- cording to the beft of their Judgement, as . it is niade known in Divine Revela- tion. But do you yourfelves believe the Articles ? Pray do not flare again. I have really jti/i ground of fufpicion concern- ing you. Your Sermons, my Lords— Your printed Sermons, bear witnefs a- gainfl you; few, if any of them, are confiftent with thofe aphorifms, which you are fo tenacious in fupporting. If thefe articles are fo proper to fupport the orthodox faith, why do you not preach agreeable SERMON L 9 agreeable to the Do£lrine contained in them ? This does not look well on your part. Is it not altogether unrighteous to impofe doctrines upon your Brethren, which you never mean to teach your- ielves ? Perhaps, you do not mean that they fhould teach them, you only re- quire fubfcription. Is not this prevari- cation, and lying to God ? Was this the way the Holy Ghofl moved you, when you entered into orders ? Alas ! my Lords, I pity you! You ought to give up thefe badges of unrighteoufnefs, and ceafe to faddle the Clergy, like fo many Afles, with fuch ungodly trapping. You ride in ftate now, and receive honours of men, but mind the Great Bifhop and Shepherd of Souls is to come again, and you mud give an account of your con- duct. Your Mitres will be laid in the dull, and the long Robes you love to walk in will be infufficicnt to cover your nakednefs at the day of Judgement. The 10 S E R M O N I. The impofition of Articles is unrightc* ous» if your Reverences will pleafe to con- fider, that they have an immediate ten- dency to hinder all religious enquiries, and argue the imperfection of the word of God as a ftandard, to direct Chrjfti- ?.n teachers in matters of religion. Is it not plain when fuch a fyflem is made a {landard of Chriftian Doctrine, that the word of God was infufficient With- out fuch a manufacture, to lead men into truth ? And fuppofmg your Ar- ticles are the very true fum and fcope of Scripture knowledge; is not the didac- tic part of your office ufelefs ? — For what occafion is there for any more teaching from Scripture, when you have reached the fcope and meaning of divine Reve- lation ? All that you have now to do is to illuilratc your own articles. This, my Lords, is a poor compliment paid to the Bible. But is it not a fign that the mean- ing of your Articles is not quite clear, when it needs fuch long and tedious il- luftrations ? S E R M O N L IX luftrations ? Bifiiop Burnet certainly be- lieved that your Articles were not alto- gether plain, when he was at fo much pains as to write large Commentaries upon them. Though your articles were altogether agreeable to the word of God, yet you have no right to impofe them as articles of other men's Faith : for you arc not their Judges, none have a right to impofe matters of belief upon us, but he who has a right to Judge us for our unbelief, and can reward us for our faith. The Stewards in the Church ftould bring forth, out of their treafure, things new and old : but your impofi- tion prevents all new difcoveries in re- ligion. If the Articles are the true mean- ing of Scripture, as they ought to be be- fore they can be reafonably impofed as tefts of Faith, they are the rules by which teachers muft inftru£t their hearers, and every new difcovery is excluded un- lefs it tallies exadlly with the old ; in this refpect it cannot be new. But can any thing 12 SERMON I. thing be more unrighteous and abfurd, than to impofe a formulary of faith upon others which mufl itfelf be tried by the Scriptures, before it can fully be receiv- ed ? If the firit rule is fufficient, there is no occafipn for the latter, and if the lat- ter is the fupreme judge of all contro- verfies, there is no need of the firft. This, Gentleman, is very unneceflary trouble; for thofe who are qualified to difcover the fenfe of fcripture from itfelf, have no occafion for any other Articles. If teachers are honefl: men, they have no need of any tell of faith except the Scriptures, and if they are not, all the Articles in the world will not make them fo. When a fyftem of religion is im- pofed upon men as a ftandard, by which they are to teach others, it ought to be fo plain as to be felf-evident, and fo com- pleat as to need no amendment. If it is doubtful, it will be difficult to purfue its intention ; if it is im.perfect, it will need a fupplement, and this fuppofes that S E R M O N I. 13 that it might be wanted ; for wherever we ean find this fupplement, we may find the whole without being obliged to any other men's Labours. I am aware that your Lordfnips will be ready to fay, that the Scriptures are not all felf-evident, and that what I have now faid is an argument agalnfl their perfec- tion, as v/ell as againfl the Articles. But, (lop a little Gentlemen; the greateftpart of the word of God is felf-evident, and where it does not appear fo very plain, there is a promife made by the Author thereof, that the Holy Ghoft fhall make it known. For your edification, I fnall fet before you a few paifages of divine truth, which may help your Reverences to underfland this fubject a litde better. jind I will pray the father^ and he Jhall give you another Comforter^ that he may abide ivith you for ever^ even the Spirit ef truths whom the world cannot receive^ he- caufe it feet h him not. But when the Co?)!-* forter. U SERMON L forter is come^ even ihe Spirit of Truth ^ hs Jhall te/tify of me: and ye alfo fhall hear witnefs ^» Howbeit^ when the Spirit of Truth is come^ he will guide you into all truth: for he fid all not fpeak of himfelf; but whatfoever he fhall hear that Jhall he fpeak j and he will fhew you things to come* lie fhall glorify me; for he fhall receive ef ?nine, and Jloall fhew it unto you \» Bui when ihe Comforter fhall come^ which is the Holy Ghofl, who?n the Father will fend in my Tjame^ he fhall teach you all things^ arid bri?ig all thirigs to your remembrance^ what- fcever I have f aid unto you. For the Spirit fearcheth all tJmigs^ even the deep things of God, Behold^ I zvill make known my words unto you, — Behold^ I will pour out my Spi* rit unto you, — If ye abide in me^ and my words abide in you^ ye fhall afh what ye will^ and it Jhall be done unto you \, You cannot produce fuch promifes in behalf of any human Articles. What the dif- * John XV, 2^ «7. f John xvi. 13, 14. X John XV. 7, ciples S E R M O N I. i^ ctples of Chrifl know not in the mean- time, he has promifed to fhew them afterwards ; but human devices have no fuch promife made to them. Is there not a wide difference between propoii-* tions which are both dark and doubtful, and fuch as are only obfcurc, but certain in themfelves^ and have the promife of an infinite Author annexed to them, that wc fhall underfland them as we have oc- cafion for more knowledge? Though the Almighty has fpokcn fomc things in fuch a manner as to confound the wife, yet wc are fure the author cannot de- ceive us. But can as much be faid for legions of fallible Clergymen, who have both their own pafTions, their prejudices and private interefts to gratify ! Truly, my Lords, ten or twelve thoufand pounds a year will always have a powerful effect on the tempers of Divines. The Doc- trines of the Old Teftament which were not underllood by high Priefls, like you, were yet revealed to Babes, in the chan- nel 9 i6 S E R M O N L nel in which truth will always be made manifeffc. It is a fad truth, and bears a dreadful afpect to men of your charac- ter, — that not many mighty, not many wife men, according to the flefh, are cal- led. The rich man in the Parable had all his good things in this life, but in the next he lift up his eyes in hell. — ^Pardon the expreflion -, thofe are the words of our Lord, and you ought to know them. By impofmg articles, you aflume the pre- rogative of the King of Zion, the crime is high treafon againft him, were you to do fo in England, without the confent of your Sovereign, you would come under a premunire. The King of Zion will likewife vindicate his own authority ; he will maintain his prerogative to your Ihame, if you continue to purfue the paths you have hitherto walked in» Some of your brethren have ilicwed their inclinations to be delivered from their yokes of bondage, but you want to wreath the yoke fafter about their necks. S E R M O N L \j necks. It is unrighteous— it is unrea- fonable — Your Saviour forbids it — and will you contradict him? — He comes — He comes the fecond time, without Sin unto Salvation. — Every eye (hall fee him, and they alfo who pierced him. — My Lords, you mufl be there ; — you look agafl ! but it is true ; the fmall and the great mufl attend his coming. Will a Prefentation, or a Conge d' Elire be of any fervice to vindicate your ufurpation of his prerogative ? Will a difpenfation from the Grown to hold livings without doing duty avail you before the Judge of all the earth ? Your works will be tried by fire. Gold and Silver and precious Stones, Mitres, and Growns, will all be calcined to afhes. Every man's works fhall be tried by fire of what fort it is. Confcience, Gentlemen, rallow Confcience to fpeak, and I fliall have the whole bench of Bilhops oh my fide.— — You fmile ! and to be fure, Mitres and Growns, Honours and Power, B with iS SERMON I. with fo many thoufands of yearly in- come, will make any wordly man fmile ; • but the joys of the wicked are but fhort. There is a period to come, when thefc fliall afford but fmall pleafure. It is unrighteous to impofe human dogmas upon others, becaufe it is lay- ing a flumbling-block before them.— — You, my Lords, know how flrong the temptation which arifes from the prof- pect of a good living is . Many unguard- ed Mortals have fwallowed down Ar- ticles they have never digefled, for a few hundreds a-year. — But why fhould fnares be laid for men's virtue, when there is no occafion for it ? What advan- tage arifes either to the Church or State from impofing human Articles ? Have the aphorifms of the Clergy more effica- cy to make men good Churchmen, and true Subjects, than divine Revelation ? Perhaps you are afraid that if the Ar- ticles were laid afide, the Piflenters woul4 S^ERMON L 19 would come into your Churches, and devour your Hvings. You have more to do than to remove the Articles before that happen.— Your Liturgy, my Lords, your ill-faid Mafs in Englifh, muft be re- moved alfo, before you receive any dan- ger from that quarter.— It would do you honour to lay afide both ; but eafe your own members firft, and let the DifTent- ers enjoy their Toleration ; you have even a pleafure in holding the fcourge of your Articles over their heads. It is an unrighteous decree by which you hold that authority ; it was owing'to men of your order that ever there was fuch a law hanging over their heads. It is poor fpite to envy men their Liberty, when they are afking none of your Emolu- ments. Though they pay your Tithes, you are not fatisfied unlefs you have do- minion over their Confciences. This is an old evil among Lords Spiritual. Your predecefTors led the way, and you are difpofcd to follow them. Suppofe B 1 it 26 S E R M O N I. it were your own cafe, my Lords, would you think it reafonablc for others to lay reflridions upon your Confciences, who have no tight to do fo ? Suppofe there fhould another long parliament flart up, and difolve the Hierarchy, and require you to ufe the Scotch Directory, and avouch all the Articles of Prelbytery, on pain of certain fines and imprifon- ments, would you account it jufl ? Or fuppofe they fhould excufe you three and an half, would you not fay, and ve- ry juflly, they ought not to be Lords of 3^our Faith? The application is eafy, and your Reverences mufl undoubtedly per- ceive it. You account yourfelves a part of the BritiHi Conflitution, and imagine that all will go to ruin if your Ecclefiafti- cai power is called in queftion. — But it is by right of your Baronies that you fit in Parliament, and not as Church Of- ficers. I appeal to Ju Jge Blackftone if this is not true. There have Laws been made without the prefence of Bifliops, which S E R M O N I. 21 which are flill in force, that (hew that Lords Spiritual are no eflential part of the Enghfh eonftitution. In the reigns of Edward I. Richard II. and Henry IE. parliaments were held without Bifliops, and it was refolved by all the Judges in England, that the King may hold his Parliament with his Lords and Com- mons without them. The Conftitution would be quite fafe, although there were not a Bifliop in J^ngiand, or any where elfe. The unreafonablenefs of requiring fubfcription to Articles will further ap-? pear, if we confider that they do not an- fwer the end they are faid to be intend- ed for. They are intended to preferve Orthodoxy in the Faith ; but either the Articles are not found, or many of the dignified Clergy are not. It will puzzle ail the Divines in the univ^rfe to recon- cile the writings of Tillotfon, Sherlock, and CUrke, with the Thirty-nine Arti- B 3 cles ^2 3 E R M O N I. cles of the Church of England. Even the late Archbifhop Seeker is not able to abide this (landard. I could give ma- ny inftances ; but thofe who read both will eafily perceive the difference. I might even appeal to his Grace of Glou- cefler, whether his treatife on the Spirit is exactly confident with the Articles he fome time ago fubfcribed. What is the meaning of fo much zeal for fub" fcription, when it anfwers no good pur^ pofe ? Your Lordfhips would take it ill if I fhould compare you to proflitutes, who, when they have lofl their own re- putations, are always fond to feduce others into the paths of vice. It is alto- gether unrighteous to hold by Laws which exprefsly contradift the Laws of Jefus Chrift. Chrifl commands us to call no man Mafter but himfelf, in what per- tains to the Confcience ; — but the Laws of the Clergy fay the very contrary, and oblige m.en under grievous pains and ioffes to fubfcribe Articles they them- fclves sehmon I. 23 fclves do not believe. Is it not a burden grievous to be borne, for men either to fubfcribe what they have no evidence to believe, or be deprived of emoluments which they have as good a right to as others of his Majefty's fubjeas ? Subfcrip- tion does not give a right to a living, it is the prefentation which gives that. Now to urge unnecefTary qualifications, is the fame thing as depriving a man of his right. You, my Lords, know that the qualification is of no real ufe, and yet you infift upon it ; is not this binding heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and laying them on men's fhoulders? You will not touch them with one of your fingers. You will neither under- take to anfwer for fubfcribers, provided they ihall incur guilt by fubfcribing, nor provide a living for them in cafe they jfhould be deftitute. It is in your power to relieve them, if you are willing. You can join in an application to parliament for their reUef, or you cannot oppofe it when U S E R M O N I. when it is made. I do not mean it can be of any real ufe to a Chriftian Church if you did ; but it would be leffening the burdens of your brethren. — But this, per- haps, is too much to be expeded from High Priefls : it is more than your bre- thren the Pharifees would grant to our Saviour, or his Apoftles, and I am afraid we mufl not expeft it from you. The Civil Powers would have relieved Jefus Chrifl:, but the Priefls remonflrated againft it. -So Jefus is crucified at the requefl of the Clergy. Jefus did not afk any favours at their hands ; but if he had, they did not feem difpofed to grant him any. He was a non-conformift, and did not approve of their Articles, and fo could not be forgiven by Priefls. Though you have not the fame obje6l, your principle is the fame ; they were afraid of the conftitution of their Church, and the emoluments they enjoyed, and are not your reafons the fame ? My Lords S E R M O N I. 25 liOrds, you cannot deny it ; it is toq evi* dent to be decently denied. The Jewifh Clergy impofed heavy Burdens on the people ; they had the Tithes of almoft all things, the very mint and cummin could not efcape them. — You have the fame, the Fruits of our Fields, the increafe of our Cattle, the plants and roots of our Gardens, are tythed by you. Ah ! you are like your brethren the Pharifees ! only you do not faft nor pray fo often, other wife you are much belied.-— And you ufe your bre- thren as the Pharifees did Chrift, you fcandalize them, becaufe they do not love your yoke of bondage, Chrifl was ac- counted an Heretic, becaufe he fet up a more fimple religion than that of the Jews, and fome of you ferve your bre- thren in the fame way. You impute de- figns to them which you cannot prove, jmd which very probably were never in their hearts. — —This is unfair, unge- nerous,, a6 SERMON L ncrous and unchrlflian. But why fliould I expedl Chriflianity in a Jewifh difpcn- fetion ? The poor animals are truly to be pitied who inufl couch down under jour Burdens ; they may long wait be* fore you flretch forth the hand to help fhcm. The petitioners are hke the man who fell among the thieves, they will find no merey at the hands of Priefts and Levites. Some of the friends of clerical ufur- pation have of late received the old Popifh argument concerning the power cf the Church to appoint Articles for the men to believe,' and allege that the Church, by which they mean the Cler- gy, is the only judge of all matters of Faith. — But the queftion to be firfl re- vived is. Who is the Church ? Have the common people no concern in this que- ftion ? If fo, they are no w^ay anfwerable for any errors they may be led into un- der the direftion of the Clergy. The framers S E R M O N I. 27 framers of Creeds and Articles mnft an- fwer for all. It is amazing to obferve the aflurance of thofe devotees of Po- pery ; they claim a privilege which none but the Head of the Church can claim, or fuch as can fhew infallible and indifput- able fignatures that he has intrufted them with that power. Sarpedon tells us, that to fuffer men to interpret the Scriptures according to their own private judge- ment is to fuffer them to follow their own fancies ; and where is the harm of this, provided their fancy is right and eonfiftent with the didates of reafon ? One man's fancy may pafs as well as that of another; and there have been more fooliih fancies generated in the brains of the Clergy afiembled in Sy- nods, and Councils, than ever have ap- peared among any equal number of mei\ of any denomination. But the Clergy fettled the number of Canonical Books, and they have a right we are told alfa to fettle their fignification. Softly, Gen- tlemen^ 18 SERMON L tlemen, this will not be granted you; you reckon too fafl. Are you fure that revelation would not have been received unlefs the Clergy had taken the trouble to fettle that point ? But though they took this upon them, the queflion is, who gave them authority? Might not any number of honefl men have done the fame thing. All that they had any right to do was to give their advice con- cerning that point ; if their advice was received, it was the power of Providence, and not their authority which fettled the number of Canonical Books. They en- deavoured to obtain the fandion of the civil authority to enforce their decifions, and by that means obliged the fubjeds of the Empire to receive the Scriptures j but they did the fame thing with their Canons and Creeds, which will prove that they alfo are Canonical, » The Clergy afTembled in Councils on- ly told what they thought, but it only belonged S E R M ON I. 29 belonged to the power of the Almighty to make men beheve that they were right. And this convidion could only proceed from the evidence of Scripture dodrine, when they had examined it. If they received it upon the authority of the Clergy it was implicit faith, and not a rational conviction of Truth ; to thofe who received it in this fafliion, it was not the word of God, but the word of man. The Clergy are always ready to put us in mind how much we are obliged to them; but if accounts were fairly fettled, I am afraid that the Balance will appear to be much on the other fide. They are ready on all occafions to take more trouble to themfelves than there is any reafon to thank them for ; and be- iides they are always well paid for their trouble. When thefe Gentlemen Ihew as much concern for men's eternal happi- nefs, as . they appear anxious for the Mammon of unrighteoufnef^, it will re- move fome fufpicions concerning their 7 fprings 50 SERMON L fprings of adion : But as long as they appear more anxious for the tithes of anife, mint, and cummin, than mercy judgement and faith; very few honefl men will pay them any regard. When the Gentlemen of your order took the trouble to collect the Canonical Books of Scripture, did not the Civil Powers pay them for their pains? Councils fel- dom affembled but at a great expence to the Public, and Bifhops were never fuch fools as to travel at their own ex- pence, unlefs v/hen they could not help it. I would defire your friend Sarpe- don to tell us no more of the fuccelTion of a Church, with power to eflablilh Ar- ticles, unlefs he takes in the whole Com- munity of believers into the Idea ; and even all they have a right to do, is to make the befl they can of the Articles %yhich Chrifl and his Apoflles have al- ready formed to their hands. If it were neceflary to purfue Sarpedon very clofe, he might be required to prove from the nature S E R M O N I. at nature of Chrift's Kingdom, and the ac- count which Revelation gives of a Church, that any number of Gergymen can be a Church, he will not find fuch an idea in the whole New Teftament* The Apoftles themfelves did not affiime that title when they were affembled, but confidered themfelves as only members of the Church where they were. Sup- pofe that all the Cardinals and Bifliops of the Church e^ ome w-ere affembled with the Pope at their head, they could not with any propriety be called the Church of Rome ; they could only be aii Ecckfia of Clergy ; a Chriftian Church has a far more extenfive idea. The two Houfes of Convocation of England are not the Church of the England, nor even the reprefentatives of that Church, they only reprefent fome of the Clergy; I am not fure if the poor Curates have any reprefentatioa; but I am fure that the people have none in either of thefe houfes. It argues great officioulhefsji '6 my 32 S E R M O N !• my Lords, in you, and your brethren, to pretend to do men's bufmefs without their confent; and great ambition to pretend to be their Maflers, without any juft right or authority. It is a burden grievous to be borne, for men to be obliged to commit their Spiritual con- cerns to perfons they cannot trufl nor confide in ; — who inflead of feeking to fave their fouls, prey upon their fub- llance^ and riot in their poifeflions^ One grievous burden you lay uport our fhoulders is yourfelves ; the majority of the nation reckon you a heavy bur* den, and long to be freed from you.— ^ Your extravagant incom.es might da much good ; your Lordfhips devour more in a year than all the Clergy of Scotland. — And yet the people there are as nice and intelligent, and know more of religion, than the greatefl part of the people in any of your Diocefes ; even the poor Diffcnters within your own bounds S E R M O N L jj bounds will compare with any of your people, who are immediately under your very nofes. Is it not, mofl: Reverend and right Reverend Fathers in " -, i burden grievous to be borne, to fee a man, who never preaches above once a year, devour twelve or fifteen thoufand pounds per annum^ and one who drudges from day to day, not have as much as keep his family from rags, nor himfelf from beggary ? ^You fay tjiat it is the Conftitution; — may Heaven foon diflblve it ; for God never made it.~-You know this. Gentlemen, as well as I ; your Con- fciences have told it you a thoufand times, but Honour, Power, and Luxury, have rendered you callous to all cgn- '^idion. k is a burden grievous to be borne, and which you never touch with one of your fingers, though you lay it on, I mean your Spiritual Courts. In thefe you reign like lions in their dens, and tear C to 34 S E R M O N L to pieces all who have the misfortune to fall under your power. Your Courts re- femblethe fabled Caftles of the Giants, where nothing is to be feen but the fpoils of victims devoured by your mer- cilefs hands. Woe to the man who en- ters within your Spiritual dominions ; for though his foul can never be the better by any thing you can do, his body, his intereft and fubftance, (hall be confider- ably worfe. Ye Culprits, who have ever been within the walls of thefe inquifitions, fay. What help, what aid, did you receive from the fingers of the Bifhops ? was not his little finger heavier than the loins of your Saviour, who is all mercy and goodnefs? What do you think of his Chancellor, Prodors, and Apparitors? Saw you any mercy in their vifage, or clemency in their looks ? Nay, nay ; every one would look for his gain from his quarter, as long as you had a far- thing. His Lordfhip's finger would not eafc SERMON f. 25 eafe your burden, nor mitigate your fine, however grievous to be borne. The Articles, Liturgy, and Athana- fian Creed, are heavy burdens, and grie- vous to be endured, which you zealoufly bind on other men's fhoulders, though you give them nothing for bearing them. You do not add twenty pounds a year to the living of a poor Curate for fubfcribing and reading thefe badges of fuperflition. If a man is fo obliging as to fell you his Confcience, you ought undoubtedly to keep his teeth going. Many of your underlings would never read nor fubfcribe a fmgle Article of thofe fopperies, were it not for a little temporary enjoyment; and far too fmall, my Lords, for fo much obedience. If they would cleave to the Lord Jefus Chrift, he would reward them better for their fervice. You ought to confider them ; many of them are dutiful crea- tures, and obey your mandates with grea^ C ^ punduality; 3(S S £ R M O N h pundluality : But it is hard to perform iuch difagreeable bufinefs for fuch puny rewards.—- — A little help would be of fpme fcrvicej — a hundred inftead of forty pounds a year would make the Athanafian Creed go better down. You can eafily afford it out of fo many thou- fends. I wonder much, confidering the temper of the times ^ that there are any Creeds read at all ; for it is feldom that feme Churches have any Sermons. The Damnation of your Greed is griev* oustobe borne — whocanrehearfe it with- out faying, Mtferere^ Do?nine. I wonder you are not alhamed to deal fo often in unreafonable Damnation. — Shall all mea be damned who do not believe the Atba-^ nafian Creed ? then all the Apoflles arc in a miferable fituation. Your Lordfhips, I am afraid, will iland a poor chance. Aik your Confciences if you believe it. iiorrefco referens^ ejl horrihik di^Ui If 6. all SERMON I. 37 all who do not believe this unfcriptural Creed fhall perifh eternally, who then can be faved ? for never a fon of Adam was able to believe it. Jefus Ghrift himfelf could not believe it; for it is not true, and be could not be- lieve a falfehood. It is a burden, my Lords — it is a grievous burden, and it is unreafonable for you to bind it upon any perfons. I would not wifh the Devil to have fuch a burden, I wifh it had only been nonfenfe ; for then we might have laughed at it ; but it is fit to fpoil any man's mirth to hear the Clergy curfe fo heartily, and all the people fay A)nen^ Blefs and curfe not, is the true maxim ;— it is a glorious maxim, — a God-like maxim. The other is deviliih-like, wick- — for it is fome way 44 SERMON U way natural for creatures to worfhip their Creator. This very morning all the birds in this wild aviary are expreff- ing the feelings of gratitude to him that made them. — I do not mean, my Lords, that they do it fo politely as Lords Spi- ritual, nor ufe fo much ceremony as a Bifhop does, when he is admitted into the Royal Prefence, to fhew his grati- tude for his preferment; — but they do it in a way which is far better ;— they do it from the heart. The rooks on the old trees before my window,— the black-bird in the garden-hedge,— the thrufh and linnet on the fpray, with all the rural concert of feathered fong- fters, would do one's heart good to hear how gladfome they are to praife their Creator for the pleafmg enlivening beams of the morning fun. The ewes and lambkins on the banks of the rivulet, — the cattle on yonder meadow, —all feem plcafed, and, according to their different manners, praife the Lord that flxade 9ERMON IL 45 tiiade them. No figns of ambition (except to pleafe) appear among them. The fox, who jufl now iflued forth fromt among the brakes and whins, and de- voured the tender lamb, and put the flocks ia fear, fuggefted to my mind the idea of a Bifhop, — a Prieft,— a Pha- rifee !^How ftyly did he make his ap- proach ! as if upon fome friendly vifit, till he was within reach of his unhappy vidim ? which he devoured, without mercy, as the Pharifers did widows* houfes, — or. as CommifTaries or Pro6lors devour the fubftance of poor culprits in the fpiritual courts. — This was paying devotion to the belly, hke thofe who make it their god, and who mind earth- ly things. It is a dlfgraceful thing to live on the vitals of others, like foxes, wolves, and kites. — It is their nature, to be fure, to live on the ruins of other creatures ; but it is not the nature of man, God made man upright. All fimilitude between man and ravenous animals 46 S E R M O N n. animals is a perverfion of their na- ture. When I obfervc that there is an ex- a6l agreement between Bilhops and the ancient Jewifh Priefls, I would not be underflood as if I meant thofe under the Theocracy, while the Lord was among that people ; there does not ap- pear to be the leafl refemblance be- tween thofe offices of God's appoint- ment and our Clergy. Thofe fons of Levi were called and appointed by God himfelf, and were Priefls by a divine Ordinance : Both they and the Kings of Ifrael were appointed by the autho- rity of Heaven, and made each a part of the Theocracy. When they continued in this channel, and fulfilled the laws of the Theocracy, the Lord acknowledged them, and fhewed them favour j but af- ter they obftinately tranfgrefled the laws which God, as their King, had given them, and walked according to their I own S E R M O N n. 47 own vain imaginations, he forfook them, and no more acknowledged them for his people ; yet they did not give up their claims, when God gave them up, but endeavoured to fupport their claim to God as their God, and to the diflin- guifliing privileges which, as a nation, they had formerly enjoyed. But, alas ! they had lofl their right, which ren- dered their claim abfurd and ridiculous. When the Mefliah, who was the end of their law, was come, it was wicked and impious to fupport their Hierarchy. All dominion in matters of confcience now centered in Jefus ; the dominion of the Priefthood, as well as the Royal autho- rity, relied on him. He alone claimed the privilege to forgive fins, and the folc right of legiilation, as the King whom God had fet upon his holy hill of Zion. The pretenfions of the Jewifh Priefts to authority and dominion was therefore very profane. Your prefent Hierarchy, my Lords, is eflablifhed upon the very fame 48 S E R M O N n. fame principle which influenced the Jews to crucify the MefTiah. The claim of Jefus to a fole and exclufivc autho- rity in things fpiritual, fet afide all the pretenfions of the High Priefls to domi- nion over the confciences of the people. This was highly ofFeniive to their pride, and the notion they had of their own fpiritual jurifdidion. They cbnfidered Jefus as an invader of their rights and privileges, which they had poiTeffed for fome thoufand years ; and they deter- mined that his claim was blafphemy, and crucified him as a blafphemer of an eftablifhment which God had fet up, and which he had appointed them to maintain. The. Hierarchy of the Church of Eng- land agrees with no flate of true religion which God hath appointed, either un- der the Old or New Teftament difpeU'' fation ; but it agrees exaflly with that Church authority by which our Lord Jefus S E R M O N IL 49 Jefus Chrill was tried, condemned, and Cfucified. This is a hard faying, my Lords ; but I fliall make it as plain as the Mitres on your heads. Attend to what follows, and you will certainly perceive the truth of the above obferva- tion. The Hierarchy which God appointed among the Jews was hereditary, handed down from father to fon, and could not be changed by the Civil Authority, as long as the priefls obferved the Laws, and kept clear from intermeddling with mat- ters of State. As the Kings of Ifrael were immediately appointed by God, as well as the Priefls, they had a right, provided the Priefls interfered in State Matters, to depofe them, as Solomon did Abiathar j but if they held by their own province, and performed their du- ty, they had no right to meddle with them. The Englifli Prieflhood is not of this fort ; you, my Lords, cannot erv- D tail so S E It M O N 11. tail your office upon your eldefl fons, unlefs His Majefly appoint them to Bi- Ihopricks. Here you fee there is a ma- terial difference. Another confiderable difference between the ancient Jewifli Priefthood and your Hierarchy is, — The Jewifh Priefls were confined to matters of Religion, and were not admitted to fecular employments : There were civil officers appointed to manage what per- tained to the State ; the Priefls were only concerned with the matters of the Lord '*, This is a prodigious difference, and worthy your attention. The Jewifli High Prieft offered facrifices as well as received gifts j but our High Priefls re- ceive gifts, but offer no facrifices. The chief defign of the Priefls was to offer facrifices, and to make atonement for the fms of the people j in this they were typical of the great High Priefl who was to come ; but our High Priefls can do none of thefe things 5 they do, not pre- * 2 Chron. xix. 11, pretend S E R M O N n. 51 tend to offer facrifices, and they cannot pretend to be types of the Mefiiah. All the Jewifh Priefts were circumcifed in the flefh of their forefldn, which was a ritual they were obliged to undergo by divine appointment : I never hear, my Lords, that you copy after them in this particular. As long as the inflitution of the Jewifh Hierarchy continued in its original purity, there was only one High Prieft in the whole nation. — Our Hie- rarchy is very different ; for we have fix and twenty, at lead always two Or, if you pleafe, we have twenty-four Chief Priefts, and two High Priefts ; This was not tlie appointment under the Jewifti Theocracy. It appears to be wholly a human invention, for which there is no warrant in the facred Writ- ings. The Jewifh Clergy had no legiflative authority in Religion ; they were ob- liged to dired their condudl according D 2 to 5'2 SERMON IL to the Statutes which were given by the hand of Mofes ; they had no powet either with or without their King, to add to, or diminifh from, their fyfteni which the Almighty gave them. They could make no alterations without an exprefs revelation from God, unlefs they were difpofed to provoke him, as they frequently did. In this, my Lords^ your conftitution and theirs differ evi- dently. You aflume extenfive powers; — At various times, and in divers man- ners, thofe of your order have framed Canons, Articles Creeds, Liturgies, and Homilies, and changed them upon cer- tain occanons, as your Wifdoms thought fit. I wifh it would pleafe your Re- verences to change them again, fee- ing you pretend to have the fame power your predecelTors had. — Changes are lightfome, my Lords, and a proper al- teration at this time would eafe many of your Clergy. Pray, be fo good as try another experiment : you cannot well S E R M O N 11. 53 well remove farther from the Scriptures than you are at prefent. I think I have proved to a demonftration, that you differ widely from the appointment of God con- cerning the Clergy in the ancient Jewifli Church ', fo you have no Old Teftament precept or example for your exiftence; you agree however with the Pharifees under the corrupt flate of the Jewifh Church, by whofe confent and authority Jefus Chrift was crucified. This is the lad branch of the propofition I promifed to make good. — —I (hall now proceed to do it J I . When the Jews departed from the divine appointment concerning their Clergy, they increafed the power and number of their High Priefts. The ori- ginal law authorifed but one ; but in our Saviour's time there were two, Annas and Caiaphas. Thofe were fomething like our two Archbifhops ; the one Pr/- 7nate of Judea^ and the other Frimate of all Judeci. D 3 a. They 54 S E R M O N n. -2. They had alfo very extenfive au- thority, at leaft they pretended to it ; they fat in the great Council of the na- tion, and had a mixed power joined with the Chiefs of the land : they were ex- ceedingly like your Lords Spiritual af- fembled with the Lords Temporal in ParHament. Under the Theocracy this was not the practice ; for the matters of the Lord and the matters of the King were then kept diflinfl ; for they have never been mingled without great danger to the liberties of man- kind. There are fev/ men fo perfed as to difcharge two offices faithfully, when the perverfion of both tends to their own private interefl. There is danger, my Lords, that a Clergyman in the cha- rafter of a Civil Magiftrate will fome- times ftretch a point, with refped to thofe who are not found Churchmen, and lay the hand of his authority heavily on, when the obje£t is fufpedled to be no friend to Clerical Jurifdiction. — ^And thofc S E R M O N II. ss thofe who appeal from his jurifdictlon as a magiflrate, will be in jeopardy of hav- ing their fentence denounced with all the authority of a Prieft, from the chair of verity. — Such amphibious creatures will frequently be tempted to fqueeze a text on purpofe to fupport their ma- giflerial authority, and to fhew how do- minion is founded upon Grace, or ra- ther Grace on dominion. 3. The Jewifh Priefts took away th€ Key of knowledge from the people : in- flead of reading and expounding the law and the Prophets, as they ought to have done, they rendered them vain through the fubftitution of their own tradi- tions in their place, by which means the people were ignorant of the Scriptures, and means of Knowledge, except what the Priefts were pleafed to allow them in their ftead. In place of the pure and incorruptible word of God, they were burdened with traditions and doctrines of D 4 S6 S E R M O N II. of men ; they knew nothing as they ought to have known. In proportion as the Priefls kept the people igno- rant, they rendered them fuperflitious and bigoted, and ready to anfwer all the ends of their felfifli poHcy. It was Ignorance of the Scriptures which ren- dered the common people dupes to the Priefls ; for had they underftood the doctrines of the Law and the Prophets, they would have foon perceived that they were impofed upon. The know- ledge of divine revelation enlarges the mind, and makes men underfland their own privileges. There never will be any danger from the power of the Cler- gy, if once the Laity underftood the Scriptures. If the Commons and Lords of Great Britain ever happen to pay pro- per attention to the Scriptures, your high authority, my Lords, will foon come to an end. The Jewilh Priefls knew this, and did all they could to guard againfl it. You, Gentlemen, imi- tate S E R M O N n. 57 tate your brethren of Judea. Inftead of reading and expounding the Scrip-^ tures to teach your people in divine knowledge, you put them off only with a few felect paflages, and a fhort dif- courfe on fome particular text. You load them with Creeds, Articles, and Canons, as the Jewifh • Priefts did the people in their time ; but you arc fparing of the Scriptures, as if they would poifon them. Thofe who are firft in the fafhion for tafte and learning, fay, your Sermons are good, well digefled, and finely compofed. I have no objection to } our compofitions, my Lords, but a few of the plain purpofes of a paragraph of Scripture would be far more edifying to your people. To read a large paf- fage, and (hew the fcope and ufe thereof, would be of infinitely more fervice than all the laboured harangues of human eloquence. While you neglect to ex- pound 58 S E R M O N n, pound the Scriptures, you take away the key of knowledge, which opens a door to a right underftanding of the principles of the kingdom of heaven. I do not mean that human explanations of the word of God fhould pafs for firfl prin- ciples, but they may help people to en- quire, if the things are fo, and may an- fwer a very good purpofe. Your Reve- rences preach but feldom, but Would you expound Scripture, you might be excufed all your other labours. A Ser- mon on fome particular occafion we hear of now and then ; but thefe difcourfes are fo interlarded with particular attach- ments, and the dignity of your order, that they can do very httle good to poor miferable fmners. This is an idea you ought to confider, feeing you have your own guilt as other men, and ftand in need ©f mercy like the reft of the guilty race of Adam . I fhall fay nothing of Original Sin, which has been fo often difputed ; you, Gentlemen, have as much adual tranfgreffion S E R M O N 11- 59 tranfgreflion as will require an abun- dance of mercy. The idea of mercy is not fo very vifible in your public per- formances ; there is far too much of the High Priefl in them to make them agree-* able to the wretched, miferable, blind, and naked. You will eafily perceive he is a fmner that preaches to you, and perhaps your Lordfhips will think none of the leafl of them. It is a bad charac- ter, to be fure ; but a fmner, worth ten thoufand a year, is greater than one who is worth very little. Your brethrea the Pharifees had a great averfion at fmners, but they loved fm, and praftifed it to a great extent themfelves. They reproached Jefus Chrifl for receiving fm- ners, and eating with them. This was cruel and unmerciful ; for though they were not difpofed to do good to the mi- ferable themfelves, it was the highcfl barbarity to envy them happinefs from the hands of others. 4. The 6o S E R M O N n. 4. The chief and capital method which the Jewifh Priefls ufed to take away the key of knowledge from the people was the impofmg of articles of their own compofmg upon them, and making them pafs for the true meaning of the law; by this means they placed a padlock upon the Scriptures, left the common people fhould find out the fe- crets of the Priefts. There is fome- thing in the nature of man which in- clines him to purfue after knowledge. When our Saviour came and taught the plain meaning of the law and the Pro- phets, the multitudes appeared ena- moured with his dodlrine, they flocked 5ifter him, and gladly heard him. They perceived a vifible difference between the plain Scripture dodrine which he taught them, and the abftrufe and equi- vocal jargon of the Doctors. The Chief Priefls were alarmed to fee a non- fubfcriber make fo free with the articles of the Church : they raifed the cry againft Jefus S E R M O I^ IL €i Jefus, and proclaimed the Church was in danger j If we let this ?nan alone^ all men will believe on him^ and the Romans will co7ne and take away both our place end 7iation, They perceived the danger of a free inquiry into Scripture truths, and fuffering a teacher to pafs unpu- niftied, who difcovered all the fecret de- ceits of their craft. If once fuch a ge- nerous fyftem as that which our Saviour propofed was received, it would open a door to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, and then the exclufive privileges of the Priefts and Lawyers would be at an end. There would then be no occafion for the Temple, the place and nurfery of Priefls and Pharifees. This fhews that the Priefts difcovered the intention of our Saviour's dodrine and miracles, and ex- cogitated as good a fcheme as human wifdom could devife to guard againft their influence. Caiphas was no fool when he faid, that it was expedient that one man Ihould die for the people, and - not 6z S E R M O N n. not the whole nation perifh. To him and the Priejfls, the downfal of Prieft- hood and the deflruction of the nation were the fame things. What is a nation to a dignified Clergyman without an ex- tenfive living ? There are few of this character that would rifk a living for a nation, though they have often almoft ruined a whole nation for the fake of rich livings and preferments. Arch- bifliop Laud is an example of this, who, to fupport his own honour, riches, and fplendor, ruined both his Sovereign and himfeif, and brought a Civil War on the nation. The Jewifh Priefls would not give up the fmallcfl degree of their authority, or part with a fingle tradition, and the reafon was, — ^no body could tell how far a reformation might go. It might proceed fo far as to endanger the places of the high Clergy, and the con- ftitution would be in danger ; for the Priefls were a branch of the conflitution* Once give way to a few peevifh petition- ers S E R M O N n. 63 ers in one thing, and then you may pro- ceed till the whole fabric of the Hie- rarchy is taken down piece-meal. Thefe arguments are very like thofe which your Chaplains and friends have offered, in defence of your Chriftian traditions. You have certainly learned your fcheme from your friend Caiaphas, and the reft of youT brethren in Judea, The plan of your Hierarchy is not likely to laft fo long as that of the Jews ^ and there is a good reafon for it. The Jewifl-i Hierarchy was once an ordinance of God 'y but yours never was, nor ever can be. Our Saviour, by his death and refurredion, overturned the fyflem of the Pharifees, and, in procefs of time, he will lay all your Mitres, my Lords, in the dufl. I have proved, that there is neither precept nor example in the Old Tefta- ment for men of your order ) and have likewife 64 S E R M O N n. like wife demonftrated, that your Hie- rarchy is founded upon the fame prin- ciples of thofe Clergymen who con- demned our Saviour. It remains that I fliew from the New Teflament, that fuch an order of men, with fuch autho- rity as you claim, is not to be found in the words of Chrift, and the writings of his apoflles. This may very eafily be fettled, by confidering thofe paflages of the New Teflament which have been ufed to fup- port your authority. There is no occa- fion for the afliftance of the Fathers in this controverfy ; thofe old Gentlemen were not guided by infpiration, and were as ready to err as other men. Your Lordfhips mufl fland the trial of plain Scripture evidence, and fland or fall in the opinion of all fober men, as your ofHce and authority agrees with, or dif- fers from, this divine Law-boqk. In S E R M O N n, 6s In the firfl place, let us inquire into the opinion of our SaA'iour concerning the power of his Church, or the power which he eftabhihed therein in matters of faith and rehgion. The chapter where our text hes exprefles his mind pretty plainly with refped to the domi- nion of the Clergy j Be not ye called Rahhi^for one is your Majier^ even Chrifl, and all ye are brethren \^-and call no man your father upon earthy for one is your Fa- ther which is in heaven ; neither be ye called mafters^ for one is your Majier^ even Chrift. You certainly know, my Lords, that Rabbi was a degree of honour among the Jews, to which they annexed no fmall fhare of Jurifdidion. Rabboni was the higheft title they had, and was of the fame fignification with my Lord ; it was a title which Mary Magdalen gave to our Saviour, John xx. i6. and implied, that fhe honoured him in the 66 S E R M O r4 11. highefk degree. There were three de- grees of dignity to which the Jews alfo connected authority -, Rabbi, Ka9^;/v?T>;V, and Rabbon or Rabban ; all which our Saviour condemns. He condemns the two firfl in this chapter, and for good reafons ; becaufe they aflumed power pecuUar to him, and made free with his titles. The meaning of the word Rabbi^ among the Jews, at this time, is very plainly pointed out by the ceremony of conferring this degree. When a perfon was thought worthy of this dignity, he was placed upon a chair raifed above the reil of the company, and had a Key and a Table-book de- livered to him ; the firfl was a fymbol of his power and authority, the latter of his qualification for that honour. The Key he wore ever afterwards, as a fign to fhew who he was, that he might not lofe any of the honours due to his title. This title, in its whole import, our Sa» viour forbids in his Church.^— — -The fecond SERMON 11. 6 J fecondj Ka^nW?, which fignifies a guide or leader, on whofe word we may de- pend, he alfo forbids ; becaufe there are none whofe words aie fufficient to direct Chriilians but the words of him who is their Lord, or fuch as he infpired by his Spirit, and infalhbly guided into all truth. The lall he fufficiently dif- approves, Mark x. 42. But Jefus called them unto him^ and /aid unto thern^ Te know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles^ exercife lordjhip over ihem^ and their great ones exercife autho^ rity upon them. But it Jhall not be fa amo7ig you ; hut whofoever will he greatejl ajnongyoUy let himhe your fervant. The conclufion which naturally arifes from our Saviour's fentiments on this fubject is, — That your titles of Lord^ Father^ and Bo6lor^ are as exprefsly forbidden by our Saviour in any Church that is his, as unbelief or fornication ; and while you hold by thefe forbidden ho- nours, you have no fcriptural claim to E 2 ' any 68 S E R M O ^ n. any mcmberfhip in his Church. My Lords, the reafoning is plain and fair ; and without you deny the words of Jefus Chrifl you cannot refufe the argument. Thefe are fpurious titles that your Re- verences affume. If you are Lords in Chrift's Church, pray, be fo good as jhew his authority for your dominion ; if you are Fathers, fhew us thofe chil- dren you have begotten to a lively hope by your dodrine; if you arc Mailers, be fo kind as inform us, in what part of the New Teflament you find a right to this honour. The demand is reafonable, my Lords, and you ought to comply with it for your own fakes. All men have a right to queftion your authority, till you fhew that it is eflabliflied on di*» vine Revelation. But perhaps our Saviour revealed the inftitution of Hierarchy to his apoftles afterwards, when he fent the Holy Gholl upon the day of Pentecofl. ^ Let S E R M O N n. 69 Let us then turn over the facred pages, and fee if we can hght upon this Reve- lation. The firfl time we meet with any word which founds any thing hke Epif- copacy is in Ads i. 20. His Bijhoprick let another take. The Greek word 'ExDri(r>co7D-»iv fignified the office which Ju- das fuftained among the Apoftles, and from which he fell by his tranfgrefiion, but has no relation to the power ajid authority of Lords Spiritual. Judas has far too many fucceffors, — more than all the Apoftles put together, and I hope your Lordlliips are not difpofed to put in your claim among the reft. The word Blfhoprick, in our language, fig- nifies the Diocefe of a Bifhop, and not the office ; but the Greek word here fig- nifies the office which Judas fuftained, which, during our Saviour^s life, was to preach the Gofpel, and work mi- racles. Our Saviour informs us, that there was to be no Lordfliips among his difciples J this 'ErnVxcxr-n could not then X 3 confift 70 SERMON 11. confifl of any power that Judas had above the reft of the Apoftles ; for our Lord did not allow that as long as he Hved, and after his death, we never find that ever his Apoftles claimed any fuch power. But let us proceed to A£ts xx. 28. Take heed therefore to yourfelves^ and t& the flock over which the Holy Ghoji have made you ovcrfeers^ 'ETo-tVxois-ii?, to feed the Church of God which he hath purchafed with his own blood. For I know that after my departing fhall grievous wolves enter in among you ^ not fparing the flock. There, my Lords, you have the office of a •Bifliop defcribed from a very beautiful comparifon : it is to feed the flock as a fhepherd does his fheep. How is that? He feeds them in his Mafter's paftures, according to his commandment. They are his Mafter's flock, which he watches over and feeds, in thofe paftures which the Mafter of the fheep hath appointed. This S E R M O N IL 71 This is a laborious office, and hath no authority annexed to it, except that of feeding the flock where the owner hath appointed. Is there any thing like your office in this ? Is there any Church power here ? any authority to make and impofe Articles upon the Flock of Chrifl ? Give the Flock of Chrift their own food, which the great Mailer hath appointed them; fuffer them to enjov the incorruptible Word, which liveth and abideth for ever. Thofe Bifhops men-* tioned in this Church of Ephefus were only Shepherds ; fo many Pallors to feed and watch over their refpective flocks. There is a v.ide difTereiice be- tween a Shepherd and a Lord. The ideas are quite oppohte. How would Lord Shepherd found at Court ? It h however jufl as good and true a title as my Lord Bifliop, and jufl as plainl) pointed out in this text. The New Teftament is very plain in this point ; it needs no criticifm to find out its mean^ 8 • ing. 72 SERMON 11. ing. A Chriflian Bifhop is a Paflor, whofe office is to feed his flock with the word of Truth. You, my Lords, arc a flrange fet of Paftors, to feed the flock committed to your care by fubftitutes. How are you^ fure they will take care of them, and feed them in your Mafter^s paflures. There is not a farmer in Eng- land would allow his fhepherds to ufe fuch freedom with his flocks as to com- mit the care of them toothers, that they themfelves may trifle and live at eafe.— The Apoflle faw your day afar ofl^, and was fad. He fpeaks of grievous wolves entering in, who would not fparc the flo.ck. He certainly had an eye to thofe Clergy who devour rich livings, but fcldom or never preach to their people. All that we have found is far from being any proof of an Hierarchy, In the beginning of Paul's Epiflle to the Philippians he makes mention of Bifhops and Deacons. Pray, my Lords^ how' S E R M O N n. 73 how many Diocefian Bifhops might there be in this City and its environs ? For, ai:cording to all accounts, it was not very large, nor yet the Chriftians there very numerous. They mud certainly have had very fmall livings in thofe times. But there is one thing which the friends qf the Hierarchy often forget, that the word Ecclefta in the New Teflament fig- nifies an aflembly of Chriftians meeting in one place, having full authority to dif- charge all religious duties, and perform all a^ts of difcipline. There is fome reafon to conclude that the Saints, Bi* fnops, and Deacons, were but one fmglfc congregation ; this will put the friends of the Hierarchy to prove, that there were more congregations at Philippi than one, otherwife it will render their Bifhopricks very fmall. It will be aa hard talk to prove an aflembly in this city except one ; and, till this is done, there is ftill wanting a New Teilament proof for^n Hierarchy, It 74 S E R M O N 11. It is tinie now to proceed to Timothy and Titus, who are faid to have been Diocefian Bifhops. They appear only to have been Evangehits fent by the Apoflles to fet things that were wanting in order, and feem to have been altoge- ther under the dire6lion of Paul. All that they were to deliver was what they had received of him as an infpired ApoHle, and when they had done that, their commilTion was executed. They ordained Bilhops and Deacons, and put thefe Churches in order ; but there is not one word in all the Epiftles to thefe two Brethren that implies any Jurisdic- tion they had over thofe Churches after they had fettled Church Officers amongft them. They went away and left them after they had fulfilled their commilFion which the Apoflle gave them. We find them elfew^here travelling with Paul, and never hear a fmgle word of their re- turning to their Diocefes any more. Timothy was called to Rome, and Titus to S E R M O N n. ^5 to Dalmatia f ; but there is no account that ever they vifited Ephefus or Crete any more. It is indeed alleged that the continued to be Bifhops, and car- ried their (Epifcopal Fundion along with them ; but it would appear that they were never fettled ftatedly in any place more than the Apoftles. By look- ing into Titus, i. 5, 6, 7. I find in the Apoftle's opinion, that an Elder and a Bifliop are all one. My Lords, let us read the paflage ; it is a very plain one. For this caufe have I left thee at Crete^ that thou mayejl fet in order the things that are wanting^ and ordain Elders in every city^ as I had appointed thee. If any he blamelefsy the hufhand of o?ie ivife^ hav^ ing faithful children^ not accufed of riot^ or unruly, For a Bijloop muft he blaine-* lefs^ as thejieward of Gtd, nor f elf willed^ not foon angry ^ not given to wine, no Jiriker^ not givm to filthy lucre. It ap- t % Tim. iv. J, IP, tu pear#, 76 SERMON H. pears exceedingly plain to an unlearned reader, that this Elder and Bijhop are the very fame office, and the officers have the very fame qualifications affigned them. Nov7 thefe Elders or Biihops, or v^hatfoever name they may receive, had no power either to ordain or do any thing elfe without the confent or ap- probation of the whole Church. Even when the Apoilles were at their head, they never pretended to a6l without the whole Church ; this fentiment is fuffi- ciently plain from Acts xv. 22, "Then it f leafed the Apojlles and Elders^ ivHh the whole Churchy to fend chofen men of their own company to Antioch with Barnabas and Saul y kc. It is not very likely, my Lords, that Paul would give a Power to Timothy and Titus to perform Epifcopal Functions, which the whole College of Apoftles and Elders would not take upon them when aflembled to- gether. As for the power of ordina- tion, which your Reverences claim a fob S E R M O N I. 7^ folc right to, it is far from being plain that you have any more right than the poorefl Curate in the kingdom ; for it is manifefl that the Apoflles never claimed it, as you do. They ordained Elders in every Church ; but then the Church was prefent to give their fandion to the deed : it might as well have been faid, that they ordained Elders to every Church, if they had conceived they had a right to do it. Your Lordfhips can- not be offended when I refufe you your pretended exclufive privilege of ordina- tion, when I deny that ever the Apoflles had any fuch authority. You are not certainly greater than the Apoflles of Jefus Chrifl. The Apoflles and th^ Churches jointly might ordain Elders, or the Apoflles and Elders with the Churches where they refided, might likewife do it ; but it does not appear from the v/hole Nev; Teflament, that cither a fmgle Apoflle, or all of them together, ordained any Elders without the 78 S E R M O N n. the afTiftance and confent of the Churches where they were ordained. The Doc- tors, perhaps, were not thinking of this negative upon the idol of their Epifcopal power. The Apoflle Paul, though he was called of God to preach the Gofpel to the Gentiles, yet received his ordina- tion in the Church of Antioch, without having the affiftance of any of the Apoftles. Even common teachers were allowed to join in this ceremony ; which ihews that it was no exclufive privilege lodged in the hands of Bifhops or Apoftles. Some of your Lordfhlps' Chaplains, I know, can fay a great deal about it, and about it, on this pafiage ^ but plain honeft men will eafily perceive that the Holy Ghoft has always paid fuch a regard to the Churches, that after they were once organized, he has. never permitted any officers to proceed with- out their approbation, when tranfadions- were performed within their bounds. As SERMON II. 79 As I have before proved from the Old Teftament, that your Hierarchy has no foundation there, fo I apprehend that I have (hewed there is as Httle foundation for it in the New Teftament. I fliali therefore conclude this difcourfc. SERMON SERMON III. Matthew, Ch. xxiii. ver. 4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne J and lay them on men^s jhouU ders ; but they them/elves will not move them with one of their Jingers^ THE burdens which the Church lays upon us arc hke the taxes laid on by the Government, — they are feldom removed ; and what is worfe, there is no mercy to be expeded if we will not bear them patiently. Thofe who deal in religious matters, and do not partake of the influence of the Gofpel, are ge- nerally more deftitute of compallion than F rakes 82 S E R M O N III. rakes and profligates. I have feen a poor wretch make an impreflion on a diflblute fellow, who could not pick a farthing from a very wealthy Gentleman in Black. The reafon why perfons of this lafl character are fo backward in feeUng for their fellow-creatures ap- pears to me to be this ; they accuflom themfelves fo frequently to fpeak what they do not beheve, and are employed in what they have no affection for, that diey render their minds infenfible to all things where their interefl is not con- cerned. I have, in the preceding difcourfe, demonflrated, that our High Priefls are true copies of the Jewifh Pharifees, and that there is no foundation for the Hie- rarchy, either under the ancient Theo- cracy, or under the Gofpel. I fhall next endeavour to fhew, that every kind of earthly fupremacy in the Church is a burden grievous to be borne. I. This S E R M O N in. 83 I. This will appear, a prior e^ by rea- foning from the caufe to the effect. If we confider the caufe of this evil, it is the wicked one, who never meant well to the human race. Our Saviour af- firmed this of the Pharifees : — Te are of your father the devil^ and the works of your father ye will do. By bringing over our firfl Parents to notions of Hie- rarchy, he fixed a burden upon them and their poflerity, which is yet to be felt.- It was wicked fpite in the Devil to envy our firft Parents the happinefs they enjoyed under the dominion of their Maker ; his yoke is never grie- vous ; obedience to his laws is the higheft liberty. Satan feems to have perceived this, and made his attack in fuch a man- ner, that if he fucceeded in his ftrata- gem, he was fure to inllave the human race. He put a earthly Hierarchy into their head, and perfuaded them, that if they would obey his injunctions, they fhould be a$ Gods, knowing Good and F a Evil. 84 S E il M O N m. Evil. Our foolifh firfl Parents believed this Father of Lies, and Iwallowed the bait which he offered them. It is a pleafmg idea to be at the head of affairs. Fev,- are able to refifl a temptation, which, in all refpects, flatters their pride,— and to be as Gods too^ was exceedingly pleaf- ing. By this defire of fupremacy, poor foolifli man became a dupe to the arti- fice of an enemy, from whom no good could be expeded. This new Hie- rarchy has entailed a burden of guilt upon the w^orld, and rendered mankind abfolute Haves. It is amazing how the fame fnare catches all the children of Adam ; for almoll all men love to be firfl in diredling matters, which concern both themfelves and others. The fame principle which made our old Father feek to be as God, determines his offspring to feek to be Monarchs and BiJJoops, It was efpecially a fpiritual dominion which the deceiver perfuaded man to affed ;— * to know Good and Evil belongs to the Mind. SERMON III. 85 Mind. God is the Supreme Judge in this matter ; and to feek to attain it in any other way than the channel of his pleafure, is no lefs a crime than high treafon againft the Ahnighty. The De- vil is the author of this treafon ; for he abode not in the l^riith^ but firft rebelled againft Heaven himfelf, and then fe- duced man into the fame error. If any credit can be given to Milton, who feems to have been particularly ac- quainted with the hiflory of Satan, it was the defire of dominion which in- clined him to rebel. He dedred to be Archbifliop in Heaven, and all the re* ligious Hierarchies have proceeded upon his principles, Milton fays, that he en- vied the pre-eminence of the MelTiah, whom he found that Jehovah was to exalt above all principalities and powers ; he therefore wanted to fupplant him, or at lead to fhare with him in dominion. My Lords, you cannot aflign a better rea- fon for Diocefan Epifcopacy than this, F 3 which 86 SERMON III. which Milton has fuggefled. I am al- mofl forry to purfue this fubjed, for fear I fhall argue downwards, till I come to the Bifliops. The top of the fabric of Hierarchy over men's fouls was Lucifer ; from him it defcended to oux Jirji Pa- rents^ from them to their fon Cai7i -, Nim^ rod is faid to have aflumed it, and fet up the worfhip of fire, and to have impofed the articles of his Creed on all who w^ere under his jurifdidion on pain qf burn- ing. It came down to Nebuchadnez- zar, who fet up an idol in the plains of Diira^ and obliged all to worfhip it, on pain of death. The Jews feem to have learned this principle at Baby- lon, and brought it home with them to their own land ; then it fell into the hands of the High Priefls, Scribes, and Pharifees. Diotrephes catched it in the days of the Apoftles ; from him it was carried to Afia and Africa 5 it pro- ceeded well: ward, and fettled for a long time at Rome. But it came to England, whers S E R M O N m. 87 where it yet remains in the office and temper of your Lordfhips, who bind heavy burdens upon men's flioulders. Grievous is the caufe of all Hierarchies in matters of Religion, and hard to be borne. Who would not think it hard to be under the jurifdidion of the Frince of the power of the air, the fpirit that rules in the hearts of the children of dif obedience f This is a grievous burden, my Lords, that m^en mud be obliged to fubmit to a power which has done fo much injury to mankind. Compare the caufe and the effect, and you will find them as like one another as children can pofTibly be like their father. All Hierarchies in the Church inflave the Confciences of men, who are fuch fools to fubmit to them. Satan could not eflabhfh his Hie- rarchy among the human race till he made them flaves, and corrupted their feelings for Liberty. He became firfl Lord of their Faith, and then became Mafler of their PafTions. The Devil was F 4 the 88 SERMON HI. the firft created Being that impofed Ar- ticles of Behef upon men ; he perfuaded them that the Ahnighty's Articles of Faith which he impofed were not true, and foiiled in his own falfehood in place of them ; he did it by a fort of comment, as your Lordfhips compofe Articles. God knoivs^ fays the Devil, ye JJoall not ficrely die ; hut ye fiall be as Gods, knozc;" ing Good and Evil, This is fo me thing like your Thirty-nine Articles ; it may be underftood more ways than one ; it has a double meaning. There is no doubt but God knew all things concern- ing hfe or death \ but the Devil did not explain his terms, but played the fophifl. In a v^^ord, he wanted his Articles to pafs, and did not hefitate to play a trick to have them received. If once he could obtain credit to his doctrine, he knew his main point was gained \ it would be eafy to inllave men if once he had pof-? fefiion of the heart. // is ijuith the heart men believe. The meaning of all human Articles S E R M O N m. 89 Articles are the fame ; tbe intention of them is to bring men over to the domi* nion of the impofers, that they may be their Mafters in things religious. Thofe who gain their point in this particular perform but a devilifh trick when they have done. It is only doing what Satan has done before them, forming a fchenie to fupport an Hierarchy. The Devil's fyftem of Articles was not all lies either; there was far too much truth in his Doc- trine. He faid that our hrft Parents fhould know Good and Evil if they tailed the forbidden fruit ; — and fo they did with a vengeance : they knew them^ felves ruined by lofing the favour of their Maker. It was not becaufe Sa- tan's Articles were all falfe that they de- ferved to have been rejected, but be- caufe they were fubftituted in the room of the word of God, in the fame manner that Bifhops impofe human Articles, Such a man as Bifhop Burnet, who had a gift of explaining Articles, might find 8 ^ fenfe 90 S E R M O N m. a fenfe in which the words of Satan might be taken, that any good Church- man might fubfcribe them. I can aflure you, My Lords, that there are a number of as lying-hke things in the Thirty-nine Articles, which his Grace has made a ftift to make look tolerably decent. But all this is fenfual and devililh, acting the part of Satan, who perfuaded man that God's word was not fufficient, but needed fome additaments. There is not the fmallefl difference between the practice of that old Ufurper and that of your Lordlliips, if you confider matters im- partially. It was for the fake of having dominion over men's Confciences that Lucifer impofed his Creed ; and for the fame reafon you impofe your Articles. Be not offended at the comparifon. The author of Hierarchy Is of a high extract ; he was once a principality and power in Heaven, though, for ufurping the place of God, he is now a fallen Spirit, and refevved in chains ofdarknefs till the judg- ment SERMON III. 91 tnent of the great day. There is the end of ufurping unjuft dominion, my Lords ; fuch as the caufe is, fo will the eflfect be. But if we fhall argue a pojlerlori^ from the effeds to the caufe, the Hierarchy will appear a burden grievous to be borne. As from the fmalleft pile of grafs we may reafon up to the Deity ; fo from the lowefl branch of an earthly Hierar- chy in Religion, we are led to the Devil* This is perhaps not delicate enough for the ears of your Lordfliips ; but it is plain, and what is more, it is too true. Let us try if we can make this out. Have therefore a little patience, and you ihall fee how foon a perfon who comes into the hands of the Church comes to his ne plus ultra. For example, he begins with a Parifh Clerk, Priefts, or Churchwardens, and refufes to pay for bread he never tailed, and wine he never drank ; what is the confequence ? He is next put into the hands of the Apparitor, g2 S E R M O N III, Apparitor, from thence into the Procters in the Spiritual Court 5 he is judged by the Chancellor, without a Jury of his Peers, at laft excommunicated and de- livered to the Devil ; fo that it is mani- fell that there is but one ftep between your Lordfhips and Satan. This is a Ihort way of landing in the hands of the tormentor. Whatever part of the Hie- rarchy we begin at, our lafc (tage is at the Devil ; unlefs we fubmit in all things to our ghoilly guides. — ^— This is a bur- den grievous to be borne ; whether we move upwards or downwards, we are oppreflfed, and troubles await us every where, while \vc are under the dominion of High Priefts. It is a fearful thing to fall into their hands. Chamberlayne tells us, " That if a man refufes to ^^ anfwer, or other wife to fatisfy the *' Court, he is excommunicated or ex- ♦' eluded from the Church ; or if not *' from the Church, yet from the com^ ♦* munion of the Lord's Supper j is dif- abled S E R MO N m. 93 *^' abled to be Plaintiff in a fuit at law, " c^r." If a man docs not fatisfy the Court, which your Lordlhips know is not ealily done, he is prefently deprivedl of a right to hve ; and if he happens to die under the fentence of the Clerical Court, he is denied a Chriflian Burial, and left in the hands of the Devil. Lord have mercy on us ! What a burden is this, and grievous to be borne ? The honeftefi: man in the world may land in Hell after this fafhion, provided your fentences ftand ratified. I have fhewed, by reafoning from the caufe to the effed, and from the effe(3: to the caufe, that a temporal Hierarchy in Spiritual Things is a burden grievous to be borne, I fhall now conclude with fome im- provement of the fubjed:. . It will appear manifeft, from what has been faidjthat your Lordfliip^ ought to be fervants 94 S E R M O N m. fervants in the Church, and not Lord^ over God's heritage : that you ought to lay afide the Articles, thofe badges of Popery, and all the fopperies of that Antichriftian Hierarchy, which you ftill retain. When you know that many of your Clergy want to be eafed of thofe burdens, you ought to grant them re- lief. You are holding a power which is not founded in right, and which, at beft, is tyranny, and difgraceful to hu- man nature. There can be no real glory in fhackling the Confciences of your fellow men and brethren. It is the glory of the faints of the other world to cafl down their Crowns before the Throne of the Lamb. Throw away your Mitres, my Lords, and become plain Miniflers ; your Tndngs will be then better beflowed upon you, and you yourfelves will be more ufeful. It is not long before they fliall drop from your brows, and your Honour ihall be laid in the duft. You now claim Honours like Gods, but ye Jhall SERMON m. gs Jhall die like men^ and fall like one of the people. Suffer the word of exhortation, and liften to it. There is more truth in what has been faid than you are aware of. Allow your Confciences to fpeak, and hften to their admonitions. The King of Kings comes to reward every- one according to their works. It will be a folemn day, my Lords ; — you never faw the like of it at Court. Before his face the Heavens and Earth fhall flee away ; he fhall fit on the Throne of his Glory, and before him fliall be gathered all nations ; Kings and Bifhops (liall be there : your jiijlwn & tenacem propoftti viruiUy which- hath endured the civium ardorem prava juhentium- Your obfti- nacy in rcfufmg the jufl demands of your brethren will not fupport you when the heavens are on fire. I think Iliear you fay, Si fra^us illahaiiir orhis^ Impavidos ferient ruiria. 96 S E R M O N m. It will not dOj my Lords. You never faw any thing like this folemnity. The Apoftle John fays^ 7he Books Jhall be opened. The Books of your Spiritual Courts, the Books of Confcience, and the Books of Divine Revelation. — Not a fecret fhall be hidden. ^ You ftare ! but you fhall find it true. What has long been hid fhall be made manifeft, clear as a fun beam. You have had your good things in this life.— It would hardly be reafonable to give any more. — Remember the rich man, my Lords. Ah ! he had his good things, as you have now in this life, and little thought of another world ; — but he died^ and fo mujl you : after death there is a judgement. This, your Lordfnips will perhaps think too grave difcourfe for men in high life, — wha are accuflomed to courtly phrafeology. There is nothing mean in this, my Lords, — it is even worthy of a Bifhop's confideration j S E R M O N in. 97 confideration ; and whether you think fo or not, you will find it true. We may fee, from what has been faid, that there is not a Clergyman in Great Britain can vindicate your Hierarchy without perverting the Scriptures. All your Advocates Ihew evident marks of diflrefs, when they attempt to plead your caufe. Their arguments are forced and unnatural, and carry no evi- dence along with them ; they may con- fufe weak minds, but will have fmall in- fluence upon men of underflanding. All their criticifm on Greek words, and their quotations from the Fathers, ihew how they are pinched to make out their ar- guments. They would do better to fol- low nature, and fpeak plainly. Your Caufe is tolerably well underftood at this day ; few believe in their Confciences that the Hierarchy is a divine inflitu- tion : — but it has, my Lords, what is more engaging to fleih and blood to fu- G port 98 S E R M O N in. port it^-^iarge yearly incomes^ and afts of Parliament. Thefe will ferve for a feafon to fupport you againft all rational convic- tion, and you will take all the reft to a longer day. My Lords, I do not envy you your good things ; but it is hard you ihould glory in holding men under your lafh. Let us have a toleration to fervc God according to the didates of our own Confciences, without moleftation, and we fhall afk no more. — ^You might, my Lords, fuffer the Bill for the Relief of Diffenters to pafs without oppofition, for it can do you no good to oppofe it ; —but whether you do or not, it will give them fmall concern, provided you let them alone. Before we part, my Lords, let us pray : May all Church Hierarchy foon be laid in the duft, and all human Articles demoliflied ; may we have the word of God for the folc Articles of our Faith, and honeft Teach- ers to put us in mind of our duty ; — may our Faith be free, and our Love un- 2 feigned SERMON m. 99 feigned ;«— may we ferve the one Lord, and obey him from the heart ; — may your Lordfhips obtain repentance and remifTion of fms, and may we all rejoice in one another*s happinefs. A?nen, SERMON G 1 SERMON IV. I Timothy, Ch, ii'u ver. 2; Ji Bijhop mufl be blamelefs ;--^apt to teach ; — not given to filthy lucre ; — not covetous^ &c, Tik yr Y Lords, thefe are qualifications XT A rarely to be found among Bi- fhops. — ' — It is an high charadler to be blamelefs, and is feldom to be found upon the Sacerdotal Bench. Your Lord- ihips will, before we proceed, pleafe to confider the Scripture idea of a Biihop ; and I mufl dired your attention to the opinion of one who knew well the mean- G 3 ing io2 SERMON IV. ing of the word BiJJoop, Titus, by your Church, is faid to have been or- dained thejir/i Bifiop of the Cretians ; and Paul fays to him. For this caufe have I left thee at Crete, that thou Jloouldejl fet in order the things that are wanting, and ordain Elders in every Church, as I had appointed thee* If any man he hlamelefs,--^ for a-Bipop muft he hlamelefs as the Stew^ ard of God, The Apoille Paul affirms, that a Bifhop and an Elder are the fame office. There is not one word of a Bi- fhoprick or a Diocefe here. At this time Clerical Jurifdiclion, and large Tempo- ralities were unknown in the Chriflian Church. But to proceed to confider the fentlments which are raanifeflly con- tained in the text, and its connexion, it mull be obferved, in the firft place, that a BiIl:iop, who is blamelefs, muft have the chara6lers recomnlended by the Apoille. He mnjl he the hiifhand bf one wife ; vi^hich intimates that young, vain, light men are not fit to be Elders or SERMON IV. 103 or Blfliops in a New Teflament Church, and that they ought to be perfons who neither live in Polygamy, nor devote themfelves to Cehbacy, contrary to na- ture. It is not to be fuppofed, my Lords, that men virho live as you, in luxury and voluptuoufnefs, can remain chafte, without the ufe of that appoint- ment which the Lord of the Church has inftituted to keep her members holy» Before a man is preferred to fo many thoufands of yearly income, ,it is but reafonable he fhould do fome fervice to the State, and maintain a family like other Chriflians. The Apoflle recom- mends a wife to every Bilhop ^ and it appears to be a tafk that will greatly pinch the Critics to prove that any man has a right to the office of a Bifliop while he remains unmarried. The words of the Apoille are both explicit and ex- prefs. A Bifliop 7nujl be the hulband of one wife. It is a fair inference from the text, tbat fuch Blfhops as are unmarried G 4 arc 104 S E R M O N IV. are not blamelefs. It is jnanifellly con- trary to the exprefs words of the Apoftle, to prefer men to offices in the Church who behave exprefsly contrary to thq exprefs letter of the Scripture. There is one pofitive idea exprefled in the context, and that is, that a Bifhop mufl: work. He mufh not remain idle in the Church, nor devour livings without difcharging the duties which belong to the enjoyment thereof. The Apollle knew of no fmecures in his day 5 all thofe Bifhops whom he authorifed v/erq working Bilhops, men who applied them- felves to the work of the Mlniflry, and' were obliged to be diligent in ferving the Church. . ^ , My Lords, 3^ou cannot prove that any New Teilament Bifhops hired Curates or Chaplains to perform the drudgery work of the Church, an4 remained idle themfclves. The writing? ■ ' 'of SERMON IV. 105 of the Apoflles fuggefl not the leaft hint concerning a fubflitute ^ thofe Elders performed their work in propria perfonUy and did not hke you ferve the Lord by proxy. The idea of fubftitutes in reli- gious exercifes is merely a creature of Civil Government, and belongs to the kingdoms of this world. You cannot find it in all the New Tcflament. You therefore ought in confcience to re- nounce it, feeing you have no authority for it in all the Scriptures. The Apoille Paul was a Bifliop, but he wrought hard and lived meanly ; his houfe was hired, and the Churches fup- ported him. by their private bounties. — > And, my Lords, he fometimes wrought with his hands, that he might not be bur- denfome. Wherever the Apoflles went, they always preached the Gofpel, and inftrufted the Churches as Miniflers of Jefus Chrift. 1 wifh I could fay as much for your Lordfhips. You would ^hink yourfelves difgraced to preach to a poor io5 SERMON IV. ti poor country audience. But to fay the truth, you feldom preach at all, ex- cept before the Court, or His Majefty, and as feldom in that way as poiTible. You pradice as if the Apoflle had faid. He that defires the office of a Bifhop defires a good benefice ; for it appears to be the fole object of your attention. Your zeal for tythes demonflrates this fact ; were your zeal for the fuccefs of Religion as confpicuous, perhaps the publick would think the expence better beftowed; but feeing you do not work, the generality of the nation think you ought to eat lefs. — And now, that we have come to this point, it may not be befide the purpofe to fettle the fubject of Tythes before we proceed to confider the other characters of a Chriflian Bi- fhop, and fee how far you are to blame in this particular. This fubject is a ten- jder one, and fome will think that it Ihould be touched gently ; but, my Lords, we mull jufl take it as it is, and difcufs. S J: R M O N IV. 107 difcufs it the beft way we can. You hold your right to Tythes either Jure di-- vino or Jure hwnano. If you hold them by the firfl: tenor, this right ipuft be fome where to be found in the New Tef- tament ; for what is faid concerning them under the law, refers to a fyfteni which is long ago aboliflied. You pre- tend to be the fucceffors of the Apoftles, and not of the Jewifh Priellhood, and ought therefore to behave like your Pre- decefibrs. Let us fee what were their chims concerning Tythes. They happen to put in no claim at all, and for a good reafon ; becaufe the law concerning Tythes was changed by the coming of the true Pigh Priefl. Hear what the Apoflle fays upon this fubject, Heb. vii. 12. For the Friejihood being changed^ there is made of necejjity a cJxinge alfo of the law : for he of whom thefe things arefpoken pert aineth to an-- ether tribe ^ of which no man gave atteiidancc at the altar, Alas, my Lords 1 here are Tythes^ Altars^ and Priefts^ demoliflied at once. \oB S E R M O N IV. once. The Apoftle even defies you to prove your own exiftence as Priefts under the Gofpel. This is a moft mercilefs argu- ment in favour of Tythes. The law con- cerning them is changed, and has no longer any force upon Chriftians. But perhaps it may be faid, the Apoflle^ lived under a government which was not Chriftian, where there was no connection between the Church and the State, and could not put in their claim for Tythes for want of an alliance with the Civil Powers. But how could they have put in fuch a claim when the law was chan- ged? This would have been to claim what they had no right to ; for the right depended upon a Divine Law, which is novv^ changed by an act of the Legif- lator who gave it at firfl. But had Tythes been of Divine right, it is not reafonable to fuppofe but Divine Provir dence would have allowed the firfl believ- ers a fhare thereof, as well as thofp who now SERMON IV. xoj ridw pretend to be their fuccelTors, and have exliibited a pattern for future ages to practifeby. For although the Apoftk* might not have it in their power to claim Tythes from the Roman powers, yet had Tythes been of Divine right, they would certainly have claimed them from Chrl- itians, OT at leafl left fome hints that they ^vere to be paid in fome future period. But they fay nothing concerning them, except that tlie law which related to them, was laid afide and changed. But fee- ing they are not of Divine right, let us fee kow far they may be lawful Jure hw^ iimno^ I am forry, my Lords, that m the very beginning of this argument, you are obliged to fe£ the laws of yourChurck and the laws of the New Teftament ia direO: oppolidon to one another 5 for if Tytkes are contrary to divine laws, no li^man authority can make them lawfi^ The Apoftle fays, the law is changed by the coming of Chrifl ; and you have in- dented a Smcedaneum to fupply its place, is no SERMON IV. Is not this fubflituting a buman Invention in the Church, in the place of an abo- iifhed ftatute, contrary to the meaning of the Legiilator. But fuppofe you hold your right to Tythes by the laws of the land, laws that were formed feveral cen- turies ago, then it is evident that thofe laws could fecure nothing to you excepc what was then taken into the idea of Tythes. The various improvements in agriculture were not underflood by the ancient laws concerning Tythes. There are many things which you claim the Tythe of, which were not then known, and could be no objed of thofe laws ; therefore your claim is unjufl, becaufe it is founded upon no law. There arc many exotics which would never have grown in Britifh foil, if the induftry of ingenious men had not brought them from foreign partSj and cultivated them at a great expence. Thofe wilds which Gentlemen and Farmers have cultivated, would never have brought any Tythes to SERMON IV. ttl to the Church, had not the fubflance of thofe induftrious perfons been ex- pended to cuhivate and manure them ; and is it reafonable that men who have not expended one farthing in the im-^ provement, fhould reap the fruits of other men's fubflance and induflry ? It certainly could never be the meaning of a rational law to hinder the progrefs of improvement of lands by agriculture, which the laws concerning Tythes muft do, as they are at prefent applied ; for what man will ever fpend his fubflance in improving wafle grounds, when he knows that others, of whom he is by no means advantaged, will come in for a lliare of the profits, and demand a divi- dend of all he hath gained by much toil, induflry, and expence ? It is more than the Clergy have any right to, from, any advantage they are to the publick, or fervice to the government; for it is manifefl that the fubjeds are as wife sind as loyal where they are taught by Tei- ing by the works of the law, the Gofpel has altogether fet afide ; and God of his mercy has given us a better hope, efta- bliihed upon the death of his own Son. — This, my Lords, is the true bafis of morals to Chriftian men, who are con- I z drained 132 SERMON V. (trained by the love of Jefus Chrift ; and they ihew that their fouls are nourifhed by the truths of the Gofpel, by their fincere attachment to every moral duty. It will perhaps furprife your Lordfhips to hear it affirmed, that all fuch as have the good hope of forgivenefs through the atonement of Jefus Chrifl, are the. moft remarkable for ll:ri£lnefs of conver- fation and purity of life ; for fuppofe they do not obey God on purpofe to be faved, they obey him from a more noble and more powerful principle. They do his will becaufe he is gracious^ 7mrdful^ 2.iidL full of .compajjmi^ becaufe he has fent Jefus Chrifl to redeem them by his obedience unto the death. • And if your Reverences pleafe, they obey him hecaife they love hinu That idea which rules in the tenor of your printed Sermons concerning good works^ overturns at once the whole fyftem of CLriilianity. You fuppofe an effect with- out a caufcj v/hich is a thing impoflible ; and SERMON V. 133 and require finners to work for falva- tion, without confidering that averfion they have againft truth. I fhall fuppofe a cafe, which is no way impoflible, that His prefent Majefly Ihould ptomiffe to make Memus a Bijhop^ upon condition that he fhould tranflate Sanchoniathon^ or Write a verfion of Homer a degree better than that of Mr. Pope,— when Momus could only read prayers^ and did not underfland a word either of the Fhani- cian or Greek languages,^ When, an't pleafe your Lordfhips, would Momus come to the enjoyment of his Bifhop- rick ? This^ you will perhaps fay, would be an unreafonable tafk, and at the firfl fo frightful, that no perfon in fuch a cafe would engage in it. True, my Lords ; but the gentleman might have minded his books when he was at fchool, and the thing would have been both pof- fible and probable. You mufl perceive, my Lords, that if Momus mufl have a Biilioprick, he mull receive it fpeciali \ 3 gratia j 134 S E R M O N V. gratia; and not by works. There arc ^ feveral things in the law of God, which, if a finner mufl do on purpofe to obtain forgivenefs, or enjoy the Divine F?i- vour, are as difficult for perfons under that character to perform, as for an unlearned man to tranflate Homer or Sanchoniathon, The very notion of re- quiring a thing that is impoffible, tends to create in the minds of the perfon of whom it is required an averjion againft the tafk, and a difgujl at the perfon who requires it. When you tlierefore tell your hearers or readers that they mufl do fomething to be juflified, and their own hearts inform them, that it is a talk beyond their power, mufl not this very thought create an antipathy- againfl that law which requires impofTibilities, and form in the minds of fmners a flronger averfion againfl the truth. It will be but poor nourifhment for the fouls of men to inform them, that they SERMON V. 135 they muft perforin what their own ex- perienccj and the Scriptures, have told them it is not in their power to fulfil. The Apoftles fed the flock of God in another manner ; they taught fmners and the Churches, that God was juft when he juflified the ungodly ; and that it was not for works of righteoufnefs which fm- ners performed, but according to his mercy he faved them : — And yet, after they had inftructed men in thofe doc- trines, we do not find that they became more deficient in morals than others, but rather became examples of good works, and true imitators of Jefus Chrill, My Lords, there were, in thofe days, a fet of men who went about to eflablifli their own righteoufnefs ; and what was the confequence ? they did not attain to that righteoufnefs which pleafed God, Inflead of fubmitting to the Gofpel ac- count of Righteoufnefs, they contrived a traditional fcheme of their own, which excluded the true notion of Divine Righte- I 4 oufnefsj 136 SERMON V. oufnefs jthe confequence of all which was, they perverted the law of God, and fubili- tuted their own dogmas in the room of Divine appointments. Inflead of feed- ing the flock with the truths of his own word, they impofed their vain traditions upon thofe who were under their jurif- didions, and curfed them, found/y when they would not receive them. The idea' of feeding the flock of God fuggefl:s an- other fentiment to your Lordfliips ; and it is that of feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked. Your large bene- fices afford you an opportunity of feed- ing a great number of hungry Chrifl:ians. Twelve or fifteen thoufand pounds will go a great way. By the afljflance of the Dea?2s and Prebendaries, your Lord- fhips might afford near 100,000 pounds per annum for the relief of the poor, and yet leave yourfelves fufficient to fupport a Chriflian life. It would have a great effed upon the poor, and make them receive your advices with more readi- nefs. SERMON V, ^37 nefs. But to givp your Lordfhips a little reft before we proceed to confi- der the other qualifications of Chriltian Bifhops, I fhall conclude this Difcourfe, and fav/ Arnen. SERMON ( 139 ) SERMON VI. I Timothy, Ch. lii. ver. 2; A Bijhop miift be blamelefs^ given to hofpHality^-^apt to teach ; — mt greedy of filthy lucre ; — not covetoics, HOSPITALITY, my Lords, is a Scriptural qualification of a Bi- Ihop ; and without being given or in- clined to the practice thereof, no per- fon has a right to that office. ^^>J^ivo; fignifies a lover of ftrangers, or perfons who can be of no advantage by either their interefl or favour to a Billiop. Its primitive fignification was cxprefled I40 S E R M O N VI. exprefled by the pradlice of the firfl Chriflians, and their Bifliops. When ftrangers came recommended by other Chriftian Churches to the Elders, and members of any diflant Church, they were received by the Overfeers, and Members thereof, with as much love and affedion as if they were refidenters among them : they were kept free of ail expences while they flayed, and fet forward in their travels by the Paflors and Members of the Churches where- ever they came. This duty is more efpecially recommended to Bifhops, becaufe they ought to be examples to others to flir them up to humanity and brotherly kindnefs. In fuch a wealthy Church as that in which your Lordfhips have the honour to be Bifnops, there is much in your power, and much to be expeded at your hands. If you are Chri-* ftians, hofpitality will be your ftudy : you will be given to it, and pradife it conPtantly. It is a noble feeUng v/hich arifes SERMON VI. 141 arlfes from the reflexion of doing good to others, efpecially the diflrelTed. The chief objects of Chriftian HofpitaUty are the poor ; to thofe your Lordlhips ought to be kind for the fake of him who came to fave them, and who, during his re- fidence here on earth, was poor himfelf, and Ihev/ed a pecuhar regard to the poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Your Lordfhips muft un- doubtedly know that it is not HofpitaUty to entertain the rich, and thofe elegant entertainments which are to be met with at the tables of modern Bifhops deferve rather the name. of Luxury than Hofpi* tality. It is not Hofpitality to entertain Dukes, Lords, and Gentlemen ; for thofe are abundantly able to entertain themfelves. The precept extends to the poor, who in equity have a claim upon all perfons of fubflance for fupply, efpe- cially upon you who have large benefices^ and ought, according to your profeflion, to live moderately. The expence of 7 your I4« SERMON VI. your tables and retinue is altogether fuperfluous; it may wafle your fub- ftance, and Ihorten your lives, but can do you no real fervice. How much more pleafure would you have in feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked ? — And mind, my Lords, that he who giveth to the poor^ lendeth to the Lord ; and that ijuhich he givethy he will repay him again. If the words of our Saviour can have any weight with the fucceffors of the Apoftles, I Ihall fet before you the true method of Hofpitahty, as recommended by himfelf. When thou makejl a dinner or cfipper^ call not thy friends ^ nor thy bre-^ ihren^ nor thy kin/men^ nor thy rich neighs hours ; left they alfo hid thee again^ and a recompence he made thee. But when thou makeft a feaft^ call the poor^ the maimed^ the hlind: and thou jhalt he hlejfed'y for they cannot recompence thee : for thou floalt he recompenced at the refurrqclion of the juft *. There, my Lords, is a very • Xuie xiv, 12, 13, i^ fimple SERMON VI. 143 finiple and plain method of Hofpitality, which is worthy of your ferious confi- deration ; it is reafonable and judicious^ and the authority injoining it is of the higheft nature. You dare not prefumc to fay, that our Lord's authority is not fufficient to authenticate this practice of Hofpitality. Why then is it not obferved by fuch as call themfelves his difciples ? The alternative is plain ; you muft either give up all claim to the character of Chriftian Bifhops, or practife this divine fcheme of Hofpitality. But the refur- rection of the juft, you will fay, is long credit ; but it is fure : the word of the faithful and true Witnefs will never de- ceive. It is all you have for the foun- dation of your hope of falvation ; and if you reft the expectation of your fu- ture happinefs upon the word of our Lord, why may you not truft him with the recompence of your Hofpitality ? If he fhall pay you in Spiritual happinefs, for f44 S E R M O N VI. for the good you do to his poor child- ren, you will be well recompenfed. It is amazing my Lords, that our Sa* viour has not required the fmalleft de- gree of your temporahties, without pro- mifmg you better things at the refur- rection of the juft. The very changing of thofe 'uile bodies of yours, which you are fo anxious to pamper in this life, will be of far more value than all your benefices, though you fliould part with them all ; — and to have them fafhioned like to Chrift's glorious body, is an amaz- ing privilege. Ah, my Lords, we fel- dom hear of any of your rank engaged in this noble Chriflian practice. There are many accounts of grand entertain- ments at your feveral palaces, whea many Noblemen and dignified Clergy- men are prefent, who devour as much in one day as would fupply the wants of many poor hungry Chriflians for a month. This, by fome of your friends, is SERMON VL 145 is accounted Hofpitality ; but it deferves another name. You fhould call it rioting and drunkennefs^ chambering and wantonnefs, But left I fhould of- fend you or your friends with Scrip- ture phrafeology, I fhall call it great Luxury, Luxury, the Bane of the age, and of which you, my Lords, are the moft notable examples* The poor, the halt, and the maimed, are cloiftered up in poor houfes and hofpitals, as if they belonged to another clafs of beings, and treated with all the aufterity and difrefped that ignorant Overfeers and haughty Churchwardens pleafe to exer- cife over them : — And, 5/W, they fel- dom or never have the pleafure of your vifitation. There is a maxim concern- ing true and undefiled religion, given by an Apoftle, which all Bilhops ought to remember, l^ure and undejiled reli- gion is to vijit the widow and the father- lefs in their affliSlion ; and it is added, — and to keep yourf elves unj^otted from the K world* 146 SERMON Vl world. Your Lordfhlps feldom obferve this maxim. It is a pity, my Lordsj for it is a noble one, and worthy of every Chrillian's attention. It is a glo- rious Hofpitality to relieve diflrefs, and tnake glad the hearts of the poor ; it is God-like, and worthy of Chriflian Bi- shops. Be ye merciful^ as your Father in Heaven is mercifiiL Could you delire a more excellent pattern ? You certainly fay, No ; but why do ye not imitate it ? Your religious character obliges you to the practice thereof, and your large be- nefices put it in your power to do it j you are therefore inexcufable if you ne- glect it. But what can be expected from fuch poor fmners as you are, who wilfully pervert the laws of Jefus Chrift, and feek after the honours of this world, and the pleafures of fenfe ? "When your Lord cometh, my Lords, all thefe honours will avail you nothing-^ You muft give an account of your Hof- pitality, You muft appear not as Lords Spirit\ial S E R M O N VI. 14? Spiritual before his throne, but as thofe who muft give an account. Allow me to fuppofe for once, that the hiftory of your Hofpitality fliould be en- quired into, what would you anfwer ? Will it be fufficient to fay, that his Grace of Canterbury always kept a good houfe at Lambeth and Croydon ; — that his Grace of York entertained elegantly tit Bilhop Thorp ;-— that Carnham Caftle was always open for Dukes and Lords ;— • that Bilhop Aukland was a ready recep- tacle for Deans and Prebendaries ; — and Durham Palace open to receive the Judges of affize ? — You ftare at the fup- pofition ! — but you will look moreaghafl:, when you hear from the mouth of the Lord, I was an hungry^ and ye gave 7ne no meat ; I was thirjly^ and ye gave me no drink; I was naked ^ a?id ye clothed ?ne not; Iwasjick^ andinprifon^ and ye did not vifit me, Chriftian Hofpitahty, or doing good to the poor, is, in truth, my K 2 Lordsj i4S S E R M O N VI. Lords, the only true teftimony that youj or any who profefs Chriflianity can give, that you love Jefus Chriil. Your learned men may difpute concerning your differ- ent theories of religious fentiments ; but if you are deficient in this particular, you are no more than 2i founding hrafs^ or a tinkling jymhal \ the reft of your religion is no more than a blank in the fight of the Almighty. When you negled Hofpitality, you are neither New Tefta- ment Bifhops, nor true Chriftians. If you think this conclufion fevere or un- juft, I appeal to the New Teftament, for the plain meaning of your Saviour's Words, and thofe of his Apoftles. And if you fay. Who is to be judge of the meaning of thofe facred didates ? My Lords, I could even appeal to your own judgement ; but to deal fairly, I will appeal to any Bifhop in England, provided he has death and the other world in his eye. Let me fee a Lord Spiritual upon his death-bed, and I will . - ftand SERMON VL 149 (tand by his view of the meaning of Scripture ; but it is fo plain, that he who runs may read it : A Bijhop mufi he given to Hofpitality, 2. A Bijhop muft he apt to teach. Ac- cording to the Apoitohck fentiments, the office of a Bifliop and a Teacher is all one. The Greek word fignifies one qualified to inftruct, or to recei^^e in- flruction j — to inflruct the ignorant, or to receive advice or inftruction from the members of the Church. No man is qualified to be a Bifhop, who is not ready to receive advice ; for if he is not apt to receive inftruction, he is not fit to teach others. My Lords, it is ordinarily a maxim with Diocefans, fuch as you, 'to conclude, as foon as you are inflalled in your office, that the members of the Church are implicitly to fubmit to your determinations ; but this is to fuppofe that all the refl of the members of the Church are incapable to judge for them- K 3 fdveSj 150 SERMON VL felves, and that you are Lords over their Confciences. Such an idea declares plainly, that you are not fit to teach; for New Teilament Teachers are not like Schoolmaflers, who teach children in things which they dp not know at all, but are remembrancers, who put them in mind of what they have already an ppportunity to know. No man is truly qualified for the office of a Bifhop, who wants to impofe his own dictates upon Others, without firfl offering evidence and proof for his Doctrine ; — and even when he has done this, he has no right to fay that others are obliged to receive it. He is apt to teach, who is endued with the gift of comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual, in fuch a manner a^ to reprefent to the minds of others, the plain and true Spirit of Divine Re- velation, The Apoftles, who mufl be allowed to be poffelfed of this qualification, did not SERMON VI. 151 not pretend to teach dogmatically by impofing their own opinions upon the Churches ; on all occafions they ap- pealed to the writings of Mofes and the Prophets, and the private judgement of every individual. The Chriflians at Berea are accounted more noble than others, becaufe they did not receive, the Apoflolick Doctrines implicitly, but exa- mined the Scriptures, to fee if thofe Doc- trines which the Apoftles taught were confident with what had been before written in the Scriptures. Aptnefs to teach, which the Apoftles were chiefly endued with, confifted 'in a readinefs to fhew, in a plain manner, the confiftency of the Gofpel difpenfation with the pro-< mifes and prophefies which went before concerning the kingdom of Jefus Chrill. The Apoftles of Chrift taught no new dodrine ; all thofe truths and practices which they declared to the Churches, were long before fpoken of by fome of thofe extraordinary men whom God K 4 hcicl 152 SERMON VI. had raifed up to inform mankind, what in feme future period fhould be made more plain. The Gofpel is only a new difpenfation of ancient truths, which were but more darkly revealed to the Church. And all the Bifhops in Eng- land may be challenged to fhew any truth or doctrine taught by Jefus Chrift, or his Apoflles, of which there are not fome hints given in the ancient Scriptures.—- Our Lord and his difciples did indeed make the fpirit of the Old Teflament writers more plain, and fhewed what none before was ever able to do, namely, that what happened to him, and what was now accomplifhed, was the fpirit and intention of the Old Teflament.— The qualification of a Bifhop, mentioned in the text, confifled of an ability in the Teacher, to ihew the agreement of the writings of the Apoflles with the words of Jefus and the Prophetick Declara- tions. And no man is fit to be an Overfeer in a New Teflament Church, who SERMON VI. ^ 153 who is not qualified to fiiew the fpirit and defign of the Prophets and Apoftks of Jefus Chrift. My Lords, it is too often the cafe for men who alTume the ciEce and character of Bifhops, to con- fider the benefice more than the quali- fications that belong to the office ; and this is the reafon why the Churches are filled with ignorant and unlearned men ; for, with all deference to your Ordina- tions, there are many who mean to be Bifhops, abundantly ignorant. Does not every Clergyman who receives Prieft's orders expect, fome time or other, to wear the Mitre ? — There is nothing to hinder any Pried from being advanced to Lawn Sleeves, except the want of friends at Court. To be apt to teach requires great fkill in the Scriptures ; and every Bilhop muft underftand the word of God, otherwife he mufl be confidered as a perfon who loves the benefice, but not the duty which belongs to the office. 6 3-^ 3r54 SERMON VI. 3. A Bijhop miiji not be greedy of filthy lucre: This is a negative qualification qf a New Teflament Overfeer in the Church. The Greek word atV;j(^^oxf^i, fignifies fijameful gain, or emoluments obtained difhonourably ; fuch as a Bi- jhop e?7Joyi?2g a benefice by the interefi of friends^ without teaching thofe who are under his charge, A Billiop may truly be faid to be greedy of filthy Lucre, when his main defign is to obtain a Hv- ing, without the leafl intention of doing his duty. But fuch men, my Lords, ought not to be Bifhops, according to the Apoiloiick maxim. I know that fuch refledions as thefe will fit but light upon the minds of thofe who are in the polTeifion of fo many thoufands a year: — But you cannot always keep a hold of thofe wages of unrighteoufnefs. — Your fyftems of fenfations muft foon be dif- folved, and truth and duty will appear to you in a different point of light. — It is undoubtedly mean to ftrive to feek after thofe things with anxiety, wjiich in a few- years SERMON VI. 155 |rears you muft be ailiamed of. It ar-» gues a real forgetfulnefs of the life to come, for men to be flriving about tem^ poral emoluments under the cover of rehgious offices, which they never intend to fulfil ; for a Bifl-iop who enjoys fome thoufands a year, to covet a Prebend in a Collegiate Church, where he feldom does duty, argues a prodigious greed of filthy Lucre. Such gain is really fhame- ful, and unworthy of any religious cha- racter. My Lords, it cannot be proved that the Church is one degree the better of fuch greedy Teachers as ye are. The money v/hich ye devour might do a great deal of fervice, provided it were applied to reheve the poor and the dif- trefled : for men who have large patri-i monies of their own, to third after gain fo greedily, under a pretence of ferving the Church, favours rank of unbelief and covetoufnefs. It is impofTible for any Perfons who believe the Bible to go on as you do ; it can be nothing but a fpirit of infidehty which makes you $ thus 155 S E R M O IT VL thus pervert the Scriptures, and flee in the face of Revelation.' -A BiJJjop ?nuji not be greedy of filthy Lucre^ is a pofitive maxim ; and while it ftands recorded in the New Teftament, ought carefully to lie attended to. 4. A Bijhop imi.Jl not he covetous. The Scripture calls Covetoufnefs idola- try ; and it would be very unbecoming m a New Teftament Bifhop to bow down to an idol. It is of fmall confequencc whether a Bifliop be a worfnipper of mental or molten images ; an idol in the affedions, of whatever quaHt}', is an abomination in the fight of God. Covet- oufnefs in the fight of God is the fame as idol-worlhip. Covetoufnefs, accord- ing to the text, fignifies a love of mo- ney. A Bifhop fhould not love money, nor fet his affedions upon the fordid things of this world. If he has a heart difpofed towards riches ; if money, or the pleafures of eafe, employ his affec- tions, he is unworthy of the cfiice of a Bifhop ; 5 E R M O N IV. tsj Bifhop : for how can he teach others to deny the world, if he hinifelf is a lover of the things thereof. The H^athenis confidercd the love of money, and aa anxious purfuit after worldly things, as both wicked and mean. You know, my Lords, that Ovid calls it -Amor fcekratus bahendl ; vrhich is a fentiment big with mean* ing. It is a palpable fign of covetournefs, for any perfon who enjoys a fortune of his own, fufficient to make any Chrifliaa man live comfortably, to thirfl after a Church living, and undertake an ofEcc which he is not either qualified to fulfil, or never intends to difcharge. ^It is a proverb among the common people, that the clergy are always greedy ; and, 'my Lords, I remember a Prophet of the Lord added the epithet of Dogs to a fet oi Clergy not "unlike yourfelves. To make tsS S E R M O N \7t. make you underfland covetoufnefs alittfe better, I fhall give the Prophet's opinion at large. His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant^ they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; Jleeping^ lying down, laving tojlumber. Tea^ they are greedy dogs which can never have enough^ and they are Shepherds that cannot iinderjtand : they all look to their own way^ every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, fay they^ 1 will fetch wine, and we will fill oiir-^ felves with ftrong drink ; and to-morrow fhall be as this day^ and much more abun-- dant *• Thofe Clergymen thus charaderifed by the Prophet were not mean men, nor infignificant country Curates, as you may imagine. They were High Priefts, like you, and the very heads of the na- tional ellabHfhment ; and the Lord, by the Prophet, calls them dumb Dogs, be- caufe they did not fpeak his word to * Ifaiah Ivi. lo, ths S £ R M O N VI. 159 tlie people, but lived at eafe, and ne- glected their duty, which they were bound to perform for receiving fuch large perquifites. When they were liv- ing in the abfolute negleft of every duty belonging to their ofEce, they could never have enough ; and every one of them was zealous in looking after his gain from his quarter. I will be forry to fay, my Lords, that thefe Jewiih Priefts were types of you ; but there is certainly fome refemblance, in the mat- ter of Covetoufnefs, between you and them. They were fonder of encreafmg the revenues of the Church than fulfil- ling the offices that they were engaged to perform ; they tythed every thing, but did nothing, except what they ought tiot to have done. Inflead of watching, they flept ; and when they fhould have failed and prayed, they rioted in luxu- ry, and drank wine and ftrong drink* Covetoufnefs is a naughty quality in any perfon, but it is altogether unfeemly for a Bilhop. i6o SERMON VL a Bifhop. But left, by dcfcribing tbrtr vice of Covetoufnefs, I fhould make fome fevere ftrictures upon your Lord- fhips, I Ihall conclude this Difcourfe. SERMON }i t6t ) SERMON VII. Numbers, Ch. xviil. 24- £ut the Tythes of the children of Ifrael^ which they offer as an heave-coffering unto the Lord^ I have given to the Le- vites to inherit : therefore I have [aid unto them^ Among the children of Ifrael ihey Jhall have no inheritance, AS the Levites were not allowed to buy lands and hereditary pof- feflions, they were thereby prevented from being covetous ; and as the Tythes were competent for their maintenance, they fought no more, nor aimed any L higher. i62 SERMON Vn. higher. Were all the Priefts in Eng- land forbidden, by an exprefs law, to purchafe lands or eftates upon pain of lofmg their livings, it would prevent, in a great mcafure, that ruling fpirit of Co- vetoufnefs which prevails amongfl them. The Priefts and Levites depended en- tirely upon Providence, and their liv- ings increafed or decreafed according as the Divine Bounty favoured the nation. It was contrary to the law of God, and the conftitution of that nation, for any of the Jewifh Clergy to interfere in fecu- lar affairs. It would make a ftrange cataftrophe if fuch a law were made in England. My Lords, you would be obhged either to part with your Patri- monies as Landholders, or give up your claim to the Patrimony of the Church, which would be a fevere trial to many dignified Clergymen. But what I intended to confider on this fubject is the Doctrine of Tythes, 2LS SERMON VII. 163 as practifed in the Church of England. In a former Difcourfe it was obferved, that Tythes are not held by a Divine right, and it was hinted, that they are not confident with the fpirit and genius of our free conftitution. That they are now confirmed by Acts of Parliament of Henry VIII. and Edward VL ; by Wil- liam and Mary, and George I. is not de- nied ; but it will be allowed that all the laws which have been made during the reigns of thofe Princes are not exactly confiftent with the original and fundamental laws of the kingdom. Some complaifant Parliaments havepaffed Bills, which have been formed into Laws, that have done little honour to the Legiila- ture. Henry VIII. could demand of his Parliament what he had a mind ; and it was well known that what he ordered with refped to Tythes, was what the Pope had done before him ; and his new laws of Decimation differed nothing from thofe of Rome, except that he claimed La to i54 SERMON Vn. to himfelf what formerly was given to the Pope. The favourable A6ts, which after Princes have pafled in behalf of the Clergy, concerning the Tythes, were pafled into laws, to oblige them to make them hold their peace, ^nd to prevent them from interfering with matters of State, which they were always ready to do when they were not taken notice of: but fuch laws, inflead of being conftitu- tional deeds, were only prudential tem- porary A6ls, which the wildom of Go- vernment may alter without affecting the Conflitution. They have no more relation to the Conftitutional Laws of England, than fome people may think the late Dog Act has. It is not fup- pofed by any, that all the different Acts of Parliament which the Two Houfes contrive when they meet, and perfuade the Sovereign to fign, are always confiflent with the Fundamental Laws of thefe realms. Many of them are temporary expedients defigned to anfwer SERMON vn. 165 anfwer the prefent purpofes of Govern- ment, and are often repealed, when they are not found to do good by their con- tinuance. And why may not the laws concerning Tythes be altered, when they are found to injure the various improve- ments in Agriculture which are carrying on in the nation. As an evidence that the Legiflature did not confider Tythes as the fole property of the Church, there are near 3000 parifhes whofe Tythes are impropriate, and in the poffeinon of Laymen, who perform no Church duties, nor pay any falary except what they pleafe. Henry VIII. was allowed by his tractable Parliament to give the Tythes to whom he pleafed ; fo he gave them to his favourites, whether Clergy or Laymen, according to his own will and pleafure ; and they are (landing nearly in the fame fituation he left them^ The . fundamental laws of the Englifh confli- tution would not be affected, fuppofmg that all the Tythes in the nation were L 3. given r 166 SERMON Vn. given up for fome other confideration j and that, inflead of receivhig them in kind, a certain 7nodus might be received in heu of them, which would anfwer all the purpofes for which Tythes in Eng- land were intended. It is an indifputable point, that Tythes were once upon an- other footing than they are now 5 for they once belonged to the Church, and were applied to Religious purpofes : but when Henry VIII. differed with the Pope, His Majefty thought proper to take more than the third part of all the Tythes of the nation into his own pof- feiTion, and retailed them out in gifts to his friends and favourites. Thus the foundation of Tythes, though fecured by Act of Parliament, appears a little unconftitutional. Your Lordfhips know, that Royal grants are not legal tenures. The Royal mind may change, and then nullum tempus occurrit Regi, is a known maxim, and may be applied to Tythes as well as Soccages. If the King cannot alienate SERMON VII. 167 alienate, as fome late Court Maxims feerti to intimate, what was once the property of the Crown may be recalled ; and why may not thefe Tythes, which were given away by former Princes, be again refumed by their fucceflbrs ? This is, perhaps, what the Clergy would de- fire ; for in fuch a cafe they would be more likely to return all back again to the Church, when they come into the hands of him who is head thereof. But as there has been fuch a tergiverfation in the difpofmg of Tythes, it would ar- gue, that there were no Fundamental Laws with regard to their being received in kind. The rights of the Church are fecured by Magna Charta ; but the quef- tion is, whether Tythes in kind, or Tythes at all, be her right ? For it ap- pears unreafonable that the Church (hould have fo much land of her own, and at the fame time have a claim for the tenth part of the produce of what belongs to every other perfon. L 4 This i68 SERMON VH. This provifion, which is made for the Church by Tythes in kind, cannot cer- tainly be the intention of the conftitu- tion ; for it cannot be fuppofed, that, for the fake of fupporting one body of men, a bar fhould be put in the way of national improvements, which tend to the advantage of all ranks. No A<5t of Parliament was ever intended, however fome of them may be exprelTed, to put a flop to improvements in Agri- culture, in which the real flrength of the nation con lifts ; — nor can we fuppofe that our Laws can refer to objeds, which the Legiflature wiio formed them did not fo much as conceive would ever exift. The induftry of farmers has pro* duced what none of the Parliaments which enaded Laws concerning Tythes ever imagined would exift in Great Bri- tain :■ — and it is certainly unreafonable, that induftrious men ftiould fmk their money, and beftow their labour, on ethers, v/ho are at no expence, to carry 7 away SERMON Vn. 169 away the tenth part of their profits. But even the Tythes are far from fatisfying the avaricious defires of the Clergy 5 for befide Tythes in kind of every thing the Earth produces, which is pro- fitable, they exa6: a tax from both the living and the dead. Church Fees mufl be paid both by thofe who go to Church, and thofe who do not. For Marriages, Funerals, and Eafler Reckonings, the Clergy receive near another Tenth of all our fubllance. You are, my Lords, much obliged to Popery for your large Endowments. The whole form of your Church Emoluments, as well as a great part of your worfhip, are the manufac- ture of the Man of Sin. The Jewifh Clergy, from whom the Roman Church and yours would make us believe you take your pattern, had no fuch privileges as you enjoy : they had no other inheri- tance except Tythes, nor were they aK lowed to buy lands, or interfere in fecu- Jar affairs j and every third year they were 17Q S E R M O N Vn. were obliged to divide with the flran- ger, and the fatherlefs, and the widow ; but after you have divided all the Tythes among yourfelves, you faddle the pub- lick with a Poor Rate into the bargain. You Qught certainly to fupply the poor with the tenth part of the nation's fub- Ilance. Inftead of this, the very poorefl ranks of people are obliged to contri- bute to the Luxury of the Clergy. Every poor day-labourer, with a fmall family, muft pay for his own head, and every one in his houfe, provided they be fixteen years of age, though they fhould borrow the money, or their family ftarve. This is hard, my Lords, very hard 5 and you ought to confider it. But fuppofe you have fome patched-u^ human laws for your Tythes, and fome other cuftomary offerings, it is unfair to •receive wages when you do not work. You ought certainly to do fome good for your Money. It i§ true, you fit in Parlia- ment ; SERMON Vn. 171 ment ; but the Priefts who firfl received Tythes did not afpire fo high ; they did not meddle with Civil affairs. The mat- ters of the Lord and thofe of the King were in thofe days kept diftind. But as the Jewifh difpenfation is finilhed, it is amazing that you, who pretend to be Chriftians, fhould ftill retain the Jew- ilh fyftem. Why do you not purfue it throughout, and offer facrifices, as the Priefts of the Law did ? You would have a right to the fat, as they had, if you performed their fervice -, but you can eat the fat, and do no fervice at all, which is highly unreafonable. It appears fomething ftrange, that a Proteftant Church ffiould claim the pri- vilege of laws which were intended to eftablifh the Church of Rome. Henry L Edward III. and Henry VIIL ratified no laws in behalf of the Church, but with a view to fupport perfe6l Popery. It is not a little fufpicious in your charafters, my 172 SERMON VII. my Lords, that you fhould infifl on the execution of laws for the Payment of Tythes, which no Protefliant can execute, without firfl turning Papifl. — There is not, at this day, a Proteftant Church under the protection of any Go- vernment which holds Tythes upon the tenure of Popifh laws, as your Church does, nor do the Clergy intermeddle in State affairs, or have any fhare in the Civil Government of the nations where they refide. In Denmark and Sweden the Clergy alTemble in Parliament, but do not meet as Lords Spiritual along with the Temporal Lords ; their bufi- nefs is only to attend the affairs of the Church, or to advife in things pertaining to Rehgion ; but they do not, in the character of Barons and Spiritual Lords, fit v^^ith the Nobles to determine in Civil Decifions of the Legiflature. But to conclude this Difcourfe con- cerning Tythes, It is undoubtedly con- trary SERMON VII. 173 trary to the welfare of thofe lands for the Clergy to be rich, or to be paid with Tythes in Kind. They never can enjoy the love of the Landed Intereft, while they infift upon this mode of Decima- tion. And it muft have the appear- ance of Greedinefs of filthy Lucre for them to prefer Tythes to the love of the people. It will be impoffible for them to edify thofe who confider them as felfifli interefled men, who would not fave a fingle foul from perdition, unlefs they were fure of being extravagantly paid for it. Prudence ought to dire£l: you, my Lords, to be moderate in this particu- lar, otherwife I may venture to pro- nounce that your exiflence will not be long. The Laity are become wifer than in pafl ages, and mankind are not fa much Priefl-ridden as in former times. If the Commons and Lords in Eng-land ihould confider their own. intereft, it is eafy 174 SERMON VH, eafy to for them to vote you into non- exiflence. You have only one thing at prefent to fave you ; a number of the Nobles are your friends ; and fecond brothers think a Bifhoprick a very good auxiliary to a fmall eftate. But as Reli- gion is not fafliionable, as in former times, this may alfo be overcome* It will be your wifdom to be difcreet in the article of Tythes, and not to in- fift upon the rigour of the law, left by flretching your power too far, the Le- giflature fliould find reafon to take it from you. There is a period approach- ing, when you muft rank with farmers, and other poor fmners, whom you now defpife. What a mortification will it be to the Gentlemen in Lawn Sleeves to be reduced to the level of poor country farmers, and to be obliged to anfwer for the abufe of the tenth part of the national emoluments. Souls, an't pleafe your Reverences, may be edified for SERMON Vn. t75 for lefs money than the tenth part of the produce of the lands of England. It would certainly be better to appoint cer- tain competent fums for the maintenance of the Clergy, and difpofe of all the Chap- ter Lands, and Tythes, to help to pay the national debt. According to the words of the text, if you infift upon having Tythes, you ought in confcience to give up all other inheritance in the nation, and make Tythes ferve you. The Levites had no inheritance among their brethren, but received Tythes for all ; they were the inheritance of the Lord, and held their livings by a Charter from him, which undoubtedly was a better foundation than the Charter of Ethelwolphus, No Priefts in thofe days poffeffed cftates of thoufands and hundreds a year j they were all obliged to depend upon the Almighty, who only could make 175 S E R M O N vn. make Tythes turn to their advantage. But as EthelwolpJms has faid nothing concerning Clergymen having eftates, nor has Ingulphus recorded any thing con- cerning this fubjed, it is fuppofed that his Charter does not exclude Bifhops from having as large temporal eflates as they can procure. But this Charter, as it proceeded from a fource no way re- fpedable, had never the fandion of the Parliament of England till the reign of Henry VDI. and from a very different intention from what the firfl: Charter fuppofes. But what makes Tythes more intol- lerable is, that they do not ferve the Church ; for inftead of Tythes, in many places, the Clergy have the whole Eflates, Tythes and all, to fupport a number of tnen who are of no real fervice to the Church, having no Cure of fouls, nor any other ofHce, except once a month, to preach a Sermon to a few people, wha SERMON Vn. 177 who are very indifferent about hearing them. To conclude, my Lords^ I can aflure you, that I do not envy you your Tem- poral Emoluments ; for I think that you buy them dear enough, at the ex- pence of Truth and Confcience. I am fure I am not fmgular in my opinion ; thoufands of your own difciples declare as much.—: — When you confider that there is no warrant in the Scripture for fuch a pra6lice of Decimation, you can- not help concluding in your own mind, that yoi^ eat the bread of violence, un- righteoufnefs, and oppreffion. But I fhall now part with you for this time, 3ind conclude my Difcourfe, U SERMON { 179 ) SERMON VIII; ECCLESIASTES, Ch. xH. I4, For God will bring every work into judge- ment^ with every fecret things whether it be good^ or whether it be evil. THIS is a very ferious affair. There will, on this folemn occafion, be none to laugh at another. Every per- fon will have enough to do with his own affairs. When the Searcher of hearts fiiall lay open all the fprings of adions that have ever been fince the be- ginning of the world, there will be many works which have been determined good, M 2 that i8o SERMON virr. that will appear iii very difterent colours* This is an aflize where all men will be tried by an impartial Judge, who will determine of adlions according to their principles, and not according to the var- nifh of appearances, by which they have been coloured by the art and craft of defigning and interefled men. The truth of charaders will, at this folemn period, be fully and fairly ex- pofed, and none will be able to conceal the motives of actions from this Al- mighty Judge. Every work ihall be brought into judgement, — the moft hid- den and moft fecret works of darknefs. Good and bad deeds (hall be made ma- nifeft ; this fliall be the conclufion of the whole matter. Whilft the great Drama of this Univerfe is ading, many things are concealed behind the fcenes, which, when all the feveral Ads are finiftied, ihall be laid open to the view of all, and fuch as have aded their part well, fbaJl A be SERMON Vm. i8i be approved, vvhUe others, who have behaved unworthily, fhall meet with a Judgement according to their deferving. It will be a fad furprlze to thofe who have dexteroufly covered over fccnes of wickednefs, and under colour of the faireft pretenfions, concealed the worft of deeds ; to fee all their works expofed to thofe from whom they were at the greatefl pains to hide them. Were thoughts as eafily underftood as the raean» ing of words, there are few perfons who would not bluih to look one another in the face ; and, could our hearts be ren- dered as vifible to each other as ouf faces, it would fpoil a great degree of that confidence with which we appear in company. If the covetous man were perfuaded that his love of the mammon of unrighteoufnefs was as vifible to all others, as it 4s manifeft to himfelf, in- ftead of appearing in publick, he would fhut himfelf up in his clofet, and feaft M 3 his i82 S E R M O N Vm. his meditations upon his gilded idols, and never fhow his face where any of his fellow-creatures could perceive him. Did the lewd and debauched fons of uncleannefs believe that their friends and neighbours, by looking at their faces, could difcern the fecret fprings of impurity which lurk in their hearts, they would Ihun the light like Owls, and ^ulk till the evening like Bats. Were thofe who diflfemble with God and men fully convinced, that all the fecret traces of diflimulation, with all the means which they ufe to conceal it, were as manifefl as their vifible parts, they would dread to be feen by their fellows, and tremble at the thoughts cf company. But though for a feafon men may conceal their crimes, and cover their malicious pur- pofes with the varnifh of a profelTion, the period will at lafl approach, when all things fnall be made manifefl, and God fhall pafs a righteous judgement upon every man's works. The wife man SERMON Vni. 183 man recommends the fear and fervice of God to the fludy of all men, with a view to the conclufion of the whole mat- ter. According to Solomon's fenti- ments, every man fhould perform his worfhip and his duty with an eye upon a day of account and reckoning. It may be neceflary, in further inquir- ing into this fubjed:, to confider the na- ture of this Judgement, which all men's works raufl undergo, and then to make fbme Improvement of the Subject. I. It will be Judgement according to perfect knowledge. The Judge being infinitely wife, is able to judge of ac- tions according to their real chara£ter» As he knows men, and what is in them, fo no fprings of adion can lie concealed from his Omnifcience. The Supreme knows men's hearts as intimately as he does their faces ; and motives are as vi- fible to him as ocular demonftration, M 4 AU i54 SERMON VjII. All things are naked and open to the eye of him with whom we have to do. Many things in human a6lions lie be- yond the reach of the moll intelligent Judge, and no human Judicature can with certainty determine upon the thoughts of men's hearts, except fo far as their adions declare them : but God, whofe underftanding is infinite, can, with infallible certainty, determine the truth or falfehood of the motives of all his reafonable creatures. As he is the conftant witnefs of all men's deeds, and by his infinite Intelligence perceives the fecrets of their hearts on all occafions, fo he is perfe£bly qualified to determine whether their works are good or evil. Many a£ls of human Judicature are de- termined by the rules of probability, when it is uncertain whether the deter- mination is altogether according to truth. Men are frequently obliged to compare circumftances, and balance evidence; and from hence pafs fentence, when yet there SERMON Vni. 185 there is no infallible certainty that they are in the right. But Jehovah has a diredl evidence for all his determina» tions; he judges from what he inti- mately knows, and determines from his own certain underflanding. The work$ of men do not come before the Deity varnifhed with colouring of Art, or the difguifes of Hypocrify ; Sophiftry cannot deceive him ; nor can all the reafoning of human wifdom miflead him in Judge- ment. Perfons and anions appear be- fore him exadly as they are, ftripped of every adventitious colouring. It is impoffible to over-reach the Almighty, whofe intelligence is univerfal and infi- nite ; whofe wifdom underftands all things without reafoning upon them, and whofe underflanding can invefligate the properties of every individual fubje6t at X)nce, without any middle term to com* pare it by. So perfed is the Divine Knowledge, that from the beginning all the works of Jehovah are known to him. i86 SERMON VHI. him» When he judges, his judgement is according to the moil perfed know- ledge of the nature and character of Adions, with all the fecret fprings thereof. The Scripture, in illuftrating the om- nifcience and knowledge of the Al- mighty, declares it in the moil beautiful, and in the ftrongefl: manner. Can any hide himfelf in fecret places that I Jhall not fee him f faith the Lord. Do not I Jill heaven and earth f faith the Lord*, Tea^ the darknefs hideth not from thee ; hut the night Jhineth as the day : the dark- ttefs and the light are both alike to thee f. From all which it may be juflly infer- red, that this judgement will be ac- cording to knowledge and perfed; un- dcrftanding. 2. It will be univerfal. Every work will be brought into Judgement ; thofe * Jer. xxiii. 24, f Pfel, cxxxix. 12. deeds S E R M O N Vm, 187 deeds which men have entirely forgot- ten, and never imagined would be any more confidered, fhall be brought into Judgement. Publick works and fecret works (hall be all flridly fcrutinized* The works of your miniftry, my Lords, will be tried at this general examina- tion. They will be judged according to their truth or falfehood, deficiency -or redundancy. Your Sermons and Re- ligious Difcourfes fhall undergo an ex- act and perfedt Inquiry. Whether they have been didated according to the word of God, or have only been the ef* fufions of Epifcopal imagination, will be fully confidered ; whether they have been the dreams of your own fancies, oir the Dodrines which the Lord hath com- manded you to teach. This Righteous Judge will flridly enquire, whether you have fmoothed your tongues, and pro- phefied falfe dreams ; impofed the De- cifions of the Clergy upon the people, inilead i8S SERMON Vm. inflead of the written Word of the God of Truth. Your work of Confirmation will be 'brought into Judgement ; it will then he known whether this was a work of God, or a work of your own. It ap- pears to many now a fufpicious-like work, as having no foundation in the "Divine Word, though you declare that you received it from the Apollles : but then it fhall be clearly determined of what quality it is. You indeed fay, that you lay your hands upon the heads of children, after the example of the Apoflles ; but wherein do ye fulfil their example ? They actually conferred the Holy Ghofl upon thofe who had believed, and made them partakers of an heavenly gift, which you cannot confer ; at leafl, it never appears after you have impofed your hands m^ore than it did before, which creates a fufpicion in the minds of intelligent people, that this work of yours SERMON Vlll. 189 youfs is only a fuperftltious invention of your own. For what is it that you confer, which any other Clergymen can- not as well bellow? I am afraid, my Lords, that upon trial, you will not be able to anfwer this plain queflion. This work of yours has all the appearance of folemn fuperllition. Were you as zeal- ous in imitating the Apoftles in all things, as in this one thing, there is much work which you negle£i: that you would find yourfelves obliged to perform. The Apoftles went every where preaching the word, and did not, like you, confine their exercifes to fome particular occa- fions : they preached to the poor, andin- ftruded the ignorant, and condefcended to men of low degree ; which is more than you even pretend to imitate them in. But your work muft be tried, and then it will appear whether you have done right or wrong. Your 190 S E R M O N Vni. Your work in Confecrating Churches ivill be tried. You do not pretend to imitate the Apoftles in this exercife : this is purely a work of your own, and a moft trifling work it appears to be. What efFed can all the mummery which you pronounce have upon the walls of a houfe, or upon the Dormitories of the dead ? This looks fo like Popery, that none, except the friends of the Church of Rome, can pretend to vindicate it. It is an Adion without any moral reafon, and can never in Judgement abide the Trial of an impartial Judge. Did it an- Iwer any good purpofe for fociety, or had it any foundation in the Divine Word, there might be fome hope that, in the General Aflize, it would at ieafl pafs without reprehenfion ; but as it is a pure ad of will-worfhip, it is impof- fible but it muft be difapproved. The folemnity with which you perform this folemn farce, would make ignorant people believe that Confecration of Churche? SERMON Vm. i9t Churches was a very important thing. To fee a Lord Spiritual, with his Clergy, proceeding in a grave proceflion, to con- fecrate a Tabernacle of clay, would tempt one to believe that fome very im- portant thing was about to be per- formed, and that fome Divine or Moral Reafons mull require fuch an awful So- lemnity ;— but when there are no {land- ing fignatures of this Confecration re- maining after the a6lion; no peculiar glory or impreflions of holinefs to be obferved when his Lordlhip retires ; it mud abate much the pcrfuafion of the neceflity thereof, in the minds of all judicious perfons. Were fuch a Cere- mony required by any adl of Civil Go- vernment, it might be pretended that it was done in obedience to the Civil powers ; but there is no ad of the Legif- lature for confecrating Churches. — And fuppofe there was fome law concerning this a6l of will-worfhip, it would be a fin to obey it; becaufe no human law can oblige ig^z SERMON Vm. oblige us to perform a religious aflion where there is no Divine warrant. In matters of Religion which refpect the Confciences of men, no human law can interpofe. In all Civil matters, good fub- jects will obey the laws, and yield obe- dience to the powers that be ; but in mat- ters of Religion, as they are refponfible to none but God Almighty, fo no human law can oblige them to perform what Revelation has not declared to be their duty. Such ftrange works of wilI-> worlhip, before the Judgement-feat of him who is the Author of all true Re- ligious Inflitutions, muft certainly meet with the highefl difapprobation. But, my Lords, your Spiritual Courts, and the works that are done there, will be brought into Judgement. The moft fecret works of your Proctors and Chan* cellors will be laid open. Many ftrange works are carried on in thefe arbitrary Tribunals, SERMON \ani 193 Tribunals, which have ruined multi^ tudes. If the one half be true that is tdld of thofe Clergy Courts, againfl the day of Judgement there will be a fad account to give in. The unjuft Fines, the un- godly Sentences, and unwarrantable In-^ dulgencies, which are palfed in your In* quifitorial Judicatories, will all be ex- pofed to open view, and righteous Judge- ment given upon them* Things which few common people know any reafon for, will be all fairly fettled by the great Judge, when every work jQiall be revealed. Your Parliamentary works will alfo be brought into Judgement. There is none now dare to call you to an account for what you do as Lords Spiritual in Parliament ; you may vote as you pleafe^ and determine as you will, and none can hinder you j but for all thefe things yoa N (hall 194 SERMON VIII. fhall be brought into judgement, and be made to give an account. Your works of Charity will alfo be brought to light. Religious men, who poflefs fuch large Benefices, have it in their power to do much good to the needy and diflrefled ; and your office and profefTion obliges you to do good and communicate. Out of ten or twelve thoufand Pounds, one thoufand every year may be eafily fpared for the affifl- ance of the poor and afflided. We hear but little of your works of Charity at prefent, and cannot tell how you difpofe of fo much money, which is faid to be applied to pious purpofes ; but every far- thing thereof muft, at laft, be accounted for. I mention thofe things, to put your Lordfhips in mind of what is to happen ; for you have fo much worldly employ- ment now, that you are in danger of forgetting the day of reckoning. Ac- cording to our Saviour's account, works 7 of SERMON VIII. 195 of Charity will be taken particular notice ef, when all things fhall be brought to Judgement. / was an hungred^ and you gave ?ne meat ; I was thirjiy^ and you gave 7ne drink; will, at that day, be words worth the hearing, 3. It will be impartial Judgement* The Judge of all the earth will do right. At prefent we often fee Judgement per- verted, and the poor man's caufe ne- glected. The intereft of friends goes a great way in the Judgements of this world ; and if a man has many friends, and much intereft, he may fometimes have a verdid in his favour^ though his caufe be none of the bcft. But when God fhall bring every work into Judge- ment, he will judge according to truth, and with infinite impartiality. Riches nor rank will then be regarded ; Bi- fhops and Curates will be judged ac- cording to their w^orks, and not accord- ing to the rank they have held in the N 2 Church* f 196 SERMON Vm. Church.^ And here, my Lords, I am afraid that your Reverences will make a poor figure. The Curates, as they have done the principal partof the Work, will be moft likely to have the chief Re- v/ards ; and it will be certainly but Ju- flice that they fhould. The impartial Judge of all men mufl certainly pay fome regard to equity ; and it would not be equitable to give fuch rewards to thofe who have had their good things in this life, as to thofe who have laboured hard, and have pofTefTed almoft nothing. You, perhaps, may think it hard Judge- ment to perceive your Curates and Un- derlings preferred to their Dignitaries ; but you dare not fay that there is any injuftice or partiality in it. It is a grave thought, provided you had time to think ; but matters of this fort you too often put far away from your confidera- tions. Bifhopricks, and large Tempo- ralities, may, in this life, through the intereft of friends, and the partiality of the SERMON Vni. 197 the difpofers thereof, be obtained for perfons who are no ways deferving of them; but when all matters are con- cluded, it will be other wife. The Divine Judgement will be impartial ; — no tricks of policy, nor force of bribes, will have any influence upon the Almighty. Mo- ney, in your Spiritual Courts, will often- times carry a bad Caufe ; and the influ- ence of friends prevent deferved punifh- ments ; when thofe who are poor, and want intereft, fuffer for their iniquities to the full extent. Things will be ma- naged otherwife at the General Afllze, ivhen the merits of every caufe will be ftridly regarded, and thofe, who have been deferted in this world, find a friend that will Hick fafl:er than a brother. 4. It will be according to law. The Almighty will not judge men's adions capricioufly. My Lords, you will have a fair trial. Men's works fhall be tried of what fort they ^re ; which fuppofes N 3 tliat 198 SERMON VIII. that there is fome law and rule by which they are judged. The law will be fairly laid open to every one. The books fhall be opened, and thofe that are tried fhall be judged out of the things which are written in the Books. No perfons will have occafion to fay, that they are judged by Laws which they had no opportu- nity to know ; for the Word of God will be the rule of all Judgement. If men's works are agreeable to Divine Revela- tion, there is no fear that they will be condemned on account of them ; but all works of human invention, that have been fubftituted in the place of thofe commanded in the Divine Word, will certainly be difapproved. If the Almigh- ty had intended that his rational creatures fliould walk according to their pleafure in any thing pertaining to the Kingdom of Chrill, he would never have made it a crime to depart from thofe pofitive rules which he hath given in Scripture ; but as he hath declared the written Word fuffi- cient SERMON Vni. 199 cient for all things relating to his Church, it is evident that all human contrivances are excluded. If all thefe political man- ceuvres of yours are according to the Law of God revealed in his Word, there is no doubt but they will be approv- ed ; but in cafe they are found contrary to that Divine Rule, they will be con- demned as unlawful, and you yourfelves be in jeopardy. Whatfoever any per- fons receive into their religious fyftem, which is not to be found in the book of Divine Laws, mufl be confidered as evil works, becaufe it is received in defpite of that compleat rule of righteoufnefs^ The Word of God will be a fufficient rule for judging all things ; and, with regard to what pertains to your Lord- fnips, you will find it competent. By this Law your titles, offices, and beha- viour, will be tried. If there is luch a title as Lords Spiritual in the Scripture, then your claim to this dignity will pro-* N 4 bably 200 S E H M O N Vin. bably be accepted, at leafl you may be acquitted for afluming it. But, pro^ vided that is not to be found in the Scripture, how will you look, my Lords ? Before the approach of this folemn day, let us try if we can find fuch a title ap- plied to men in religious offices. It may be of fome fervice to you to know the truth of this point, for the benefit of your own Confciences ; for if fuch titled are not to be found in Scripture, you have now an opportunity to repent of affuming them, and may prefently give them up, with all their appendages ; and, provided they are authorifed by Di- vine Authority, your Confciences may rell at eafe, and you may wait the day of trial with confidence and alfurance. The word of God gives the title of Lord to the Deity ^ to Kings ^ Hufbands^ Majiers, and Frophets ; but all thefe characters are very different from that of Lord Spi- ritual. You are Lords in your own houfes, Lords to your wives and fer- vants ; S E H M O N Vra. a^i vants; but you cannot be Lords over the Confciences of either of them, nor can you lawfully receive titles of Lord- fliip for any religious charader which you alTume. In all the Scripture there is no Spiritual Lord mentioned, except Jcfus Chrilt, who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. This title, as it is not to be found authorifed in the book of Divine Laws, you ought quickly to lay afide, left the judgement of God come upon you unawares, and you be found guilty of affuming titles altogether con^ trary to the Law of God, As this dignity is not warranted in Scripture, it is reafonable to fuppofe that Chriftians Ihould not affume it ; but if it is pofitively forbidden, it argues great guilt to claim honours prohibited by the Word of the living God. In the king- doms of this world the Laws fet bounds and regulations to honorary titles, and no perfon is allowed to affume the titles which 402 S E R M O N VnL which are due to others; and it mufl undoubtedly be criminal, according to the Divine Law, for men to claim titles and honours which are only due to the Son of God. If a temporal Lord were to humble himfelf to be a Minifter of the Gofpel, his office would not take from him the honours that are due to him as a temporal Lord ; but his reli- gious office would add nothing to his Lordfhip, but oblige him to refign offices which his temporal charader entitled him to exercife. There is no Law un- der the Gofpel for a Minifter of the Word being a Juftice of the Peace, or for any Clergyman being a Civil Magi- ftrate. After carefully fearching every page which has the fmalleil: relation to thofe matters, I have not been able to difcover the mofl diftant hint concern- ing the title of Lord' Spiritual. If there is any fuch thing, it is incumbent upon your Lordlliips to point it out, for your own credit. The SERMON Vni. 203 The Law of God will be the rule of judging your office, and your power, as well as your titles. There will be no oc- cafion to depart from the Scriptures for a Law to judge of your office and power, as Diocefan Bifhops. You pretend to authority from Jefus Chrifl to rule over whole provinces ; to convey the office of priefthood in perpetual fucceffion ; to pafs cenfures upon fuch as tranfgrefs the Canon Law, or fail in point of obe- dience to the rules of the Church ; for all which aflumed authority, you ought to produce fome warrant from the Word of God. But though you may now defpife this Divine Rule, you may be af- fured that, by this Law, your whole be* haviour fhall at lafl be tried. I promifed to make fome practical Improvement of thisfubject ; but as the whole of the Dif- courfe has been practical, I Ihall con- clude, and fay, A?nen, §« R M ON ( 205 ) SERMON IX. I Kings xviii. 27. jAnd it came to pafi at nooriy that Elijab mocked them^ and faid^ Cry aloud : for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is purfuing, or he is in a journey, or per » adventure he Jleepeth, and muji he awaked. TH E Prophet Elijah feems to have been very merry on this occafion, and makes very free with Baal and hij Prophets. It appears manifeft from this paffage, that it is no crime for grave men to laugh upon proper occafions, and 2o6 SERMON IX. and apply ridicule to things that are ri- diculous. Though Religion is one of the graveft things in the world, yet when it is founded upon abfurdity, and com- pofed of fuperftitious fopperies, it is no- thing more than an objed of ridicule. I wonder much when Dr. Brown was correding Lord Shaftefbury, that he did not fall foul upon the Prophet Elijah ; for this farcaftical Prophet has made as free with the religion of Baal, and his prophets, as ever his Lordihip did with the Parfons, and the Rehgion of the Church of England. Elijah not only laughed at the Priefts, but even made free with their Deity, which fome Per- fons may think looked very like profa- nity ; and to the Priefts of Baal it would, no doubt, appear very profane. It was well for the prophet that he did not live in the days of the Star-chamber, nor re- fided within the reach of the inquifi- tlon, or they would foon have fpoiled his mirth. It is a fad diing to laugh at the S E R M O N IX. 207 the Clergy, whatever Religion they arc of 5 for it is always a fign of great infi- delity, and fhews that the Church is in danger. This Prophet of the Lord, in fome countries, would have pad for an infidel, and been fligmatized for a Deift. He ought to have taken his own way, but not to have ridiculed other people's God and Religion. It is a weak Reli- gion that cannot endure the teit of Ri- dicule. Thefe fycophant Prophets of Baal had got into favour with Ahab and his Queen, and thought every thing became them. The Prophets of the Lord were llain, and banilhed, becaufe they would not flatter the Courtiers, and the Minifters of Ahab. None durft appear in behalf of the true Religion, except Elijah, who was a perfon of an intrepid difpofition, and feems aifo to have been a man of humour. Let none of the Patrons of Dulnefs and Superflition exclaim againfl treating ao8 S E R M O N IX. treating Religious Subjects in a pleafant and humorous manner, when we have fuch a good pattern for the pradice. The Prophet here has fet us a fine example for the practice of ridicule with re- gard to Religious Subjects, and Religious Perfons. Here it may be neceflary to confider the nature of this Ridicule, which the Prophet Elijah practifed againft the Pro- phets of Baal ^ and, fecondly, to enquire. Whether or not it is the teft of truth^ or how far it tends to difcover falfe- hood. I, The nature of this Ridicule will more eafily be invefligated by confider- ing the objects thereof. -And there are three things in the text which the Prophet brings to the ftandard of Ri- dicule. The object of that new national worlbip, Baal , — the worfliip itfelf j — the worlhippers^ s E R M a N .rs. ^209 worfhipperSj.the prophets of Baal j— and the manner of their worlhip. ' The objeQ: of that new national wor- fhip, Baal. He is a god ; or, as the He- iDrew reads. Seeing he is a god, cry aloud. There is more meant than meets the ear in thefe words. The Prophet was not fo rude and unmannerly as to tell thefe Clergymen that Baal was a Daemon, though he plainly means arS much ; nor does he affirm that he was a true Deity ; for then he would have told a falfehood :— but argues upon their own jprinciples, and addrelTes them upon that fuppofition which their pradice fuggefl- ed. Seeing he is a god, and you confider him z,% fuch, try your influence with him, and make him prove his Divinity. This is moft terribly fevere, and yet incom- parably delicate. The actions which Elijah attributes to this falfe object of worfhip carries the degree of ridicule to the higheft point. Perhaps he is talk* ftio SERMON n, ^^^9 — ^^^ cannot hear you through the hurry of converfation. To fuppofe a Peity fo embarralTed with converf