made all the excellent promifes, with which fcripture abounds, to his elect only, and that his elect are fuch as he has chofen according to his good plea entirely, in every punctilio of the epifcopal church-that they were called indeed nonconformists: but however man conformed in every thing that the first noncons had no defign totally to abandon the established church-that they had held communion with both epifcopal and nonconformift churches lawful that the accidental confideration of a place, or office, fince fuperadded bad not made that unlawful, which they had accounted lawful before-that indeed it could not be thought that the judgment and practice of fuch occafional conformifts could be throughout approved by their reverend fathers and brethren of the cftablished church: but that neither did they pretend univerfally to approve of it themselves-that they had not the leaft fufpicion, that perfons of fo excellent worth and chriftian temper as then prefided over the established church would cenfure them for bypocrites: but would rather think them fincere perfons of mifinformed confciences-Indeed they bumbly diffented from their reverend fathers: but however they arrogated nothing to themselves on that account-they could not avoid thinking themselves right in dissenting: but they knew themselves to be far excelled by their reverend fathers in much greater and more important things-" - - - I fay, while thefe worthy men were curling their periods, and offering incenfe to epifcopacy, they mistook their men, and were actually gulled out of their rights and privileges by old fharpers, whofe bargains were better or worse. according to the penetration or fimplicity of thofe, who dealt with them. Had the ruling clergy of those times been, (heaven forefend the thought!) had they been jockeys inftead of priests, and fold horfes inftead of acts, and canons, neither Howe nor Calamy should have gone to a fair to have purchased a nag for me. Lord Lanfdowne faid all in a word in a fpeech in the house of Lords in 1719. "The receiving of the Lord's fupper was never intended to be as a qualification for an office: but as an open declaration of being and remaining a fincere member of the church. Whoever prefumes to receive it with any other view profanes it, and may be faid to feek his promotion in this world, by eating and drinking his own damnation in the pleasure, without any regard to particular places, conditions, or qualifications among men. (3) the next." " See Lansdowne. Bayle. Rem. F. Calamy's Life of Baxter. chap. xviii. Howe's Letter, &c. "Lex valde iniqua, fays our Pierce, qua facerrimum euchariftiae inftitutum peffime profanatur. Nefarii homines diffentientes iis irretirent la queis." Piercii vindicia. par. i. prop. fin. (3) Comparijon. Archbifhop Flechier has left a beautiful example in a fermon on Mat. xxv. 43. I was in priSon, and ye vifited me not. It is a charity-fermon for prifoners. "Who are they? and what are we? they are debtors, criminals, and captives who far from being pitied groan in their dungeons, and lie there victims to the intereft, and perhaps to the paffion and animofity of thofe, who retain them -but are not you debtors to God for all the liberalities of his providence? &c. They are criminals, and are not you? Perhaps the tranfports of a blind, involuntary paffion have hurried them into fome diforder, which the law punishes: but do not you cherish in your hearts paffions yet more dangerous, which the laws leave unpunished? You have not fhed your brother's blood, but XVII. how often have you wounded his reputation? how often have you troubled his reft by your inquietudes? how often have you abandoned him to poverty by your avarice? What difference is there between thefe miferable of fenders and you, except that they bear the punishment of their fins, while you live in pleasure? they groan while you triumph, &c. - - - in fine they are captives and prifoners, and has not the holy ghoft told you, that whosoever committeth fin is the fervant of fin? Is there any heavier chain than an inveterate habit? What is the life of the greatest part of mankind but a continual flavery? We fee various paffions reign over them by fucceffion; delivered from pride they are enslaved by avarice thus men change their tyrants not their ftate, and the laft avenges the exceffes of the first. What calamity is comparable to that of a prifon? What words are lamentable enough fufficient. ly to paint a prifoner's mifery? Shall I reprefent prifons to you as curfed regions, where there falls neither rain, nor dew? fhall I defcribe dungeons as fepulchres in which men are buried alive? fhall I fhew you chil XVII. REMARK THE DIFFERENCES OF WORDS AND ACTIONS ON DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. When a weak scrupulofity, or a tenderness of confcience was in question, which put fome of the faithful upon eating only herbs, S. Paul exhorted the ftrong to bear the infirmities of the weak; let not him, that eateth, defpife him that eateth not, and let not him, which eateth not, judge him that eateth; for God hath received him. Rom. xiv. 3. But when the fame S. Paul fpeaks of falfe teachers, who wanted to impofe a yoke on conscience, and who under pretext of meats and days were attempting to join Mofes with Jesus Christ, as if christians were yet obliged to observe the ceremonial law: then the apoftle has no patience with them, but condemns and anathematises them, as people who preached another gospel, and exhorts the faithful to stand fast in the liberty, wherewith Chrift bad made them free, and not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Gal. v. 1. (4) dren mourning for the captivity of their fathers? fathers lamenting the poverty of their children? mothers difabled from watching over the conduct of their daughters, daughters incapable of contributing to the fubfiftence of their mothers? Many ene mies to infult them, few, or no friends to comfort them, no charitable hands to relieve them! &c." The whole is a most affect ing picture of Jail-miferies, So So again, when you find in the gospel, that Jefus Chrift fometimes forbad his difciples to the true conciliator of apparent inconfiftencies. Saurin has a fine fermon on the uniformity of God in his conduct; in which he proves to a demonftration,-that God is of one mind-that his defign in revelation is uniform and that this uniformity of defign neceffarily produced a variety of difpenfation. S. Paul had taken up this fine notion of the deity, 1 Cor. xii. and from him Saurin took it. 1. This principle affords proof of the divinity of Chrif tianity in general, and of feveral of its doctrines in particular. It is the only fyftem of theology, that provides for the felicity of man by harmonizing all the perfections of God with all vifible appearances in the world of nature, in the ways of providence, and in the nature and conditions of mankind. 2. This doctrine reconciles feeming differences in feripture, by fhewing that on different occafions it was proper to fay and unfay, to allow and difallow, to establish an œconomy, and to diffolve it. Revelation contains a record of the laws, by which God's kingdom in various circumftances has been governed. In the patriarchal ftate one fet of laws was ne publish ceffary-in the mosaical another-and in the chriftian a third, different from both. Samuel reafoned with the Jews on this principle concerning the righteous acts of the Lord to them and to their fathers, 1 Sam. xii. 6, 15. According to him, kings, priests, prophets, ordinances, establishments, captivities, all were appointed for the producing of moral rectitude, or obedience, and, for the production of this, different treatment was neceffary on different occafions. 3. The doctrines of miracles, gifts, prophecies, vifions, extraordinary revelations, and fuch like, are all concerned in this article; for all these were occafional benefits, granted in fpecial cafes, and not to be perpetuated in the christian church. 4. Occafion is an article of consequence in churchdifcipline. We do not imagine, that the chriftian religion is alterable by us; we only fay, there are in churchgovernment certain obvious, large outlines, and there is a difcretionary power lodged in chriftian focieties to fill them up. For example, 2 Chren. xxx. 18. A multitude of the people had not cleanjed themselves, yet did they eat the paffover otherwife than was written publish the miracles, that he wrought, and to declare his divinity: and, at other times, that he ordered them to publifh upon the house-tops what they vention of arguments in preaching. To obferve the occafion of a text is often the eafieft way to arrive at the fense of it. The occafion of the fermon is often the best guide in the choice of a fubject to fapply it. Fasts→→ written-Ezra x. 10, 11, 9. Exra the priest stood up, and all the congregation made confeffion in the street trembling for the great rain-Mat. xii. 4. David ate the fhew-bread, which it was not lawful to eat--Mat. x. 27. Gal. ii. 2. Speak in the light, preach thanksgivings-commemoraupon the boufe tops. I com municated the gospel privately -Acts xvi. 33. The jailer, and all bis were baptized in the night. It has been a queftion with divines, whether if an ordinance were loft, baptifm fuppofe, it could be revived, and who fhould be the adminiftrator? Henry Lawrence, efq; the reverend Meffrs. Spilbury, Tombes, and others of our primitive English baptifts affirm, that in fuch a cafe an unbaptized perfon might warrantably baptize, and fo begin a reformation. Bp. Burnet fays, the fame question was debated in the established church at the reformation; we are forry to add, it was too often debated on an old popish principle, right to adminifter facraments by an uninterrupted fucceffion. See Crosby's Hift. of Baptifts, vol. i. chap. 2. 5. Occafion is, as our author fhews, a fource of in tions-ordinations-affociations-farewells-funerals -Lord's fuppers-churchmeetings all require difcourfes fitted to occafions, incidents, occurrences, &c. There feem to me to be four ideas in the complex notion of a good controverfialift, in regard to a dexterous, opportune use of the fword of the fpirit. He will give no occafion to the adverfary. 1 Tim. v. 14.— he will cut off occafion given by others, 2 Cor. xi. 12.he will feek occafion to annoy his opponent, Jud. ix. 33. xiv. 4-He will not use this liberty for an occafion to the flesh, Gal. v. 13. Such a polemical divine was the great S. Paul, and he thereby obtained a right to fay, I give you occafion to glory on my behalf. 2 Cor. v. 12. Him, that is weak in the faith, receive. That is, fay our best divines, receive him into communion. S. Paul treats in the xiv. of Romans of the doc |