themselves with a conceit of the antiquity and privileges of their church, and their profound knowledge in the law of God, and a great external fhew of piety and devotion, and an arrogant pretence and ufurpation of being the only church and people of God in the world: and, by virtue of these advantages, they thought they might do any thing; and that whofoever oppofed the authority of fo ancient and good a church, muft needs be very bad men, and deserve to be proceeded against in the feverest manner; as if any pretence of piety could give a privilege to do wickedly, and by how much the wifer and holier any man took himself to be, he might do fo much the worse things.

There is another remarkable inftance of this in St. Paul, who, out of a blind and furious zeal for the traditions of his fathers, perfecuted the true church of God, by imprisonment or death, and all manner of cruelties; and all this while he verily thought that he was in the right, and that he ought to do all these things against the name of Jefus of Nazareth. And if God had not in a miraculous manner checked him in his course, and changed his mind, he would have spent his whole life in that courfe of perfecution and cruelty; and would, with Pope Paul IV. upon his deathbed, have recommended the inquifition, or if he could have thought of any thing more fevere, to the chief priests and rulers of the Jewish church.

I will not trouble you with nearer inftances; though the Jewish church is not the only church in the world, that hath countenanced the deftruction and extirpation of those who differ from them, as a piece of very acceptable fervice to God, and meritorious of the pardon of their fins.

V. I obferve, that such actions as these are never the lefs horribly wicked and impious, notwithstanding the good mind with which, and the good end for which they are done. The Jews were not excufed from the guilt of perfecution and murder, for all they thought they did well in killing the difciples of our Lord.

For to make an action good, and acceptable to God, the goodness of all caufes and of all circumftances must concur; and any one defect in any of thefe, does vitiate the whole action, and fpoil the goodness of it. We must

do

do it with a good mind, being verily perfuaded, that what we do is good, and acceptable to God; in which fenfe St. Paul faith, that whatever is not of faith, is fin: and we must do it for a good end, for the honour of God, and the service of religion, and the benefit and edification of men. But there is one thing wanting yet, which is often forgotten, but is mainly confiderable, viz. what we do with a good mind, and to a good end, must be good and lawful in itself, commanded or allowed, or at least not forbidden by God: if it be, what good circumstances foever may belong to the action, the whole action is ftark naught; because the very matter and fubftance of it is evil, and unlawful, and damnable, though done for never fo good an end. So St. Paul tells us, that they who faid they might do evil, that good might come, their damnation was juft. He tells us indeed, that fome would have charged this doctrine upon the Chriftians, and particularly upon himfelf; but he rejects it with the greatest deteftation; and (which is not unworthy of our obfervation) in his epiftle to the Roman church; as if the fpirit of God, to whom all times are prefent, had particularly directed him to give this caution to that church, that in future ages they might be warned against so pernicious a principle, and all wicked practices that are confequent upon it.

And we find, that St. Paul, after his converfion, did think it no fufficient plea and excufe for himself, and his perfecution of the Chriftian profeffion, that what he did was out of zeal for God, and his true religion, as he was verily perfuaded; but, notwithstanding that, acknowledgeth himself a murderer, and one of the greatest of finners; for which, without the great mercy of God, he had perished everlastingly.

VI. and lastly, I obferve, that the corruption of the beft things is the worft. Religion is certainly the higheit accomplishment and perfection of human nature; and zeal for God and his truth an excellent quality, and highly acceptable to God: and yet nothing is more barbarous, and fpurs men on to more horrid impieties, than a blind zeal for God, and falfe and mistaken principles in the matter of religion.

Our Saviour compares the Christian religion, and the VOL. IV. minifters

LI

minifters and profeffors of it, to falt and light, the most useful and delightful things in the world. Religion enlightens the minds of men, and directs them in the way wherein they should go; it seasons the fpirits and manners of men, and preferves them from being putrified and corrupted: but if the falt have loft its favour; if that which fhould feafon other things, be tainted itfelf; it is thenceforth the most infipid and offenfive thing in the world, good for nothing, but to be caft upon the dunghill. If the light that is in us be darkness, how great is that darkness?

on.

Mistakes and falfe principles are no where fo pernicious, and of fuch mifchievous confequence, as in religiA blind and mifguided zeal in religion is enough to spoil the best nature and difpofition in the world. St. Paul, for ought appears, was of himself of a very kind and compaffionate nature; and yet what a fury did his miftaken zeal make him!. It is hardly credible how madly he laid about him, but that he himself gives us the account of it, Acts xxvi. 9. 10. 11. I verily thought with myfelf (fays he) that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jefus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerufalem: and many of the faints did I fhut up in prifon, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every fynagogue, and compelled them to blafpheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I perfecuted them even unto ftrange cities.

I might defcend lower, and give inftances both of former and latter times, of Emperors and Princes, both Heathen and Christian, that of themfelves were mild and gentle; and yet, through a mistaken zeal, and the inftigation of their chief priests, have been carried to cruel and bloody things. And indeed nothing gives fo keen an edge even to the mildest tempers, as an erroneous and wild zeal for God and religion: it is like quickfilver in the back of a fword that is not very fharp of itself, which gives a mighty force and weight to its blow, and makes it to cut terribly.

And it is very fad to confider, that the zealous profecution of mistakes in religion hath produced fadder and more barbarous effects in the world, and more fre

quently,

quently, than the ordinary corruptions and degeneracy of natural light is apt to do; as the decay of the richeít and most generous wines makes the foureft vinegar. So that the pafquil or libel against Pope Urban VIII. upon occafion of his taking off the brazen roof of the old capitol, which had held out fo many ages, and that notwithstanding Rome had been fo often facked by barbarous nations, and his felling it to enrich his family, Quod non fecerant Barbari, fecerunt Barberini, may, with changing the name and occafion, be applied to a great many others; that they have been guilty of thofe cruelties against Christians, upon account of difference in religion, which the most barbarous nations never exercifed upon one another.

I have done with the obfervations and the text. And fhall I now need to make any application of what hath been faid, to the occafion of this day? The thing applies itfelf; fince the horrid design of this day was undertaken and carried on upon the fame pretences and principles upon which the Jews perfecuted the difciples of our Lord, and much in the fame method; for they firft thundered out an excommunication against them, and then took it for granted, that it would be an acceptable facrifice to God, to deftroy them.

I will not go about to aggravate the confpiracy of this day, it is paft my fkill; nor will I extend the blame and guilt of it any farther than the plain evidence and reafon of the thing does inforce. It is a thing fo fcandalous to human nature, and fo great a reflexion upon any church and religion, to be acceffory to the contriving or countenancing of any fuch defign, that I am very well contented, that it fhould be confined to as narrow a compafs as may be, and none esteemed guilty of it, but thofe that were openly in it, or have fince endeavoured to excufe it. All that we defire of others, is, that they would declare their hearty detestation of fuch abominable practices, and be as good as their word; and that they would not account it a fervice and facrifice to God, to destroy all that cannot be of their mind.

So that the inference from all this difcourfe, in short, fhall be this, that men should take great care to inform LI 2

their

their confciences aright, and to govern them by the plain rules of good and evil, the law of God written upon our hearts, and revealed in his word; which forbids fuch practices as I have been speaking of, as clearly as the fun fhines at noon-day; and that we would always be afraid to do a bad thing, though gilded over with never fo glorious colours and fpecious pretences of zeal for God and his truth. For a man may do a thing with an honeft mind, and for a religious end, and be commiffioned and countenanced, as St. Paul was, by them who take themselves to be the only true church in the world; and yet at laft prove to have been all the while a blafphemer, and a murderer, and the greatest of finners; for none of these pretences are fufficient to warrant and fanctify a wicked action. Before this can be done, the immutable nature of good and evil must be changed.

I will conclude all with that gentle reproof of our bleffed Saviour to his difciples, when their zeal for him had tranfported them to make that cruel request to him, that he would, as Elias had done upon a like occafion, call for fire from heaven to deftroy the Samaritans: Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of; for the Son of man came not to deftroy mens lives, but to fave them; hereby declaring to us the true temper and spirit of Chriflianity, and that they that act contrary to it, are ignorant of the nature of the Chriftian religion: Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives, but to fave them.

SERMON