Ser. 61. God and religion, can ever be perfuaded to build the hopes of his falvation upon fuch a quick-fand. The abfolution of all the priests in the world will not procure the forgiveness of God for any man that is not difpofed for his mercy by fuch a repentance as the gospel requires; which, I am fure, is very different from that which is re quired by the council of Trent.

They that offer heaven to men upon fo very large and loofe terms, give great caufe to fufpect, that they will never make good their offer; the terms are fo unreafonably cheap and eafy, that there must be some fraud and falfe dealing. And, on the other hand, nothing ought to recommend our religion more to a wife and confiderate man, than that the terms of falvation which we propofe to men, viz. faith, and repentance, and a fincere obedience to the precepts of the gofpel, manifefted in the tenor of a holy and virtuous life, are not only perfectly agreeable to the plain and constant declaration of holy fcripture, but do likewife naturally tend to engage men moft effectually to a good life, and thereby to make them meet to be made partakers of the inheritance of the faints in light. And therefore every body ought to be afraid of a religion which makes fuch lavish offers of falvation, and to take heed how he ventures his foul upon them. For if, after all the hopes that are given of falvation upon fuch and fuch terms, the finner doth really miscarry and mifs of heaven; it is but very ill comfort to him to be put into a fool's paradife for a minute or two before he leaves the world, and the next moment after to find himself in the place of torment. I proceed to the

5. Fifth and last particular I mentioned, as implied in the exhortation here in the text, viz. That we should hold fast the profeffion of our faith without wavering, against all the cunning arts and infinuations of bufy and difputing men, whofe defign it is to unhinge men from their religion, and to gain profelytes to their party and facti011. To this purpose there are feveral cautions given by our bleffed Saviour and his Apostles, Matth. xxiv. 4. 5. Take heed, that no man deceive you; for many fhall come in my name, and shall deceive many. Eph. iv. 14. That ye henceforth be no more children, toffed to and fro, and carried

about

about with every wind of doctrine, by the fleight of men, er TH XUGsia, (the word fignifies the cunning of gamefters at dice), by the fleight of men, and cunning craftinefs whereby they lie in wait to deceive; and chap. v. 6. Let no man deceive you with vain words. Col. ii. 8. Be

ware left any man spoil you through philofophy and vain deceit; that is, by fophiftry and vain reafoning, under a pretence of philofophy. Heb. xiii. 9. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. 2 Pet. iii. 17. Beware left ye alfo being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. And this caution is inforced by an exprefs prediction of a great apoftafy, which should happen in the Chriftian church, by which many fhould be feduced, by pretence of miracles, and by feveral arts of deceit and falfhood. This apoftafy St. Paul exprefsly foretels, 2 Theff. ii. 1. 2. 3. We befeech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift, that ve be not foon fhaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by Spirit, (that is, by pretence to infpiration), nor by word, (or meffage), nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Chrift is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day fhall not come, except there come a falling away firft, and that man of fin be revealed, the fon of perdition. And, after a particular defcription of him, he adds, y 9. 10. Whofe coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and figns, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteoufness, in them that perish. From all which he concludes, y 15. Therefore, brethren, ftand faft.

The particular nature and kind of this apoftafy the fame Apostle defcribes more fully, 1 Tim. iv. 1. 2. 3. Now the Spirit fpeaketh exprefsly, that in the latter times fome hall apoftatize from the faith, giving heed to feducing Spirits, and doctrines of devils; fpeaking lies in hypocrify, (i.e. under a great pretence of fanctity, fpreading their pernicious errors); forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats. This is a very lively and pat defcription of that great apoftafy in the Chriftian church, which began in the Western part of it, and hoth fpread itself far and wide. For there the fpirit of error and falfhood has prevailed, under an hypocritical pre

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Ser. 61. tence of their being the only true church and true Chriftians in the world. There marriage, and feveral forts of meats, are forbidden to several ranks and orders of men. All the difficulty is, what is here meant by doEtrines of devils: and thefe certainly can be no other than doctrines tending to idolatry; which the fcripture every where doth in a particular manner afcribe to the devil, as the inventer and great promoter of it. And this is very much confirmed by what we find added in fome ancient Greek copies in this text, which runs thus: In the latter times fome shall apoftatize from the faith; for they fhall worship the dead, as fome alfo in Ifrael worshipped: and then it follows, giving heed to feducing fpirits, and doctrines of devils. So that the particular kind of idolatry into which fome part of the Chriftian church fhould apoftatize, is here pointed at; that they should worfhip fouls departed, or the fpirits of dead men; which was part of the Heathen idolatry, into which the people of Ifrael did frequently relapfe. So that the Spirit of God doth here foretel fuch an apoftafy in fome part of the Chriftian church, as the people of Ifrael were guilty of, in falling into the Heathen idolatry: They fhall be worshippers of the dead, as the Ifraelites alfo were.

And this is the great and dangerous feduction which the Christians are fo much cautioned against in the New Teftament, and charged to hold fast the profeffion of the faith against the cunning arts and infinuations of feducing fpirits: not but (as I faid before) that we are always to have an ear open to reafon, and to be ready to hearken and to yield to that, whenever it is fairly propofed; but to be over-reached and rooked out of one's religion, by little fophiftical arts and tricks, is childish and filly. After we are, upon due trial and examination of the grounds of our religion, fettled and established in it, we ought not to fuffer ourselves to be removed from it, by the groundless pretences of confident people to infallibi lity, and to be practifed upon by cunning men, who lie at catch to make profelytes to their party. This is to be like children, tofled to and fro, and carried about with evewind of doctrine.

And we ought to be the more careful of ourselves, because there never was any time wherein feducing fpi

rits were more bold and bufy to pervert men from the truth. Against thefe we fhould hold faft our religion, as a man would do his money in a crowd. It paffeth in the world for a great mark of folly, when a man and his money are foon parted: but it is a fign of much greater folly, for a man cafily to quit his religion; cfpecially to be caught by fome fuch grofs methods, as the feducers I am fpeaking of commonly use, and which lie fo very open to fufpicion; fuch as ill-defigning men are wont to practise upon a young heir, when they have infinuated themselves into his company, to make a prey. of him. They charge him to tell no body in what company he hath been; nor to ask the counsel and advice of his friends concerning what they have been perfuading him to; because they, for their own intereft, will be fure to diffuade him from it. Just thus do these feducers practise upon weak people. They charge them not to acquaint their minifter, with whom they have been, nor what difcourfe they have had about religion, nor what books have been put into their hands; because then all their kind design and intention towards them will be defeated. But, above all, they must be fure to read no books on the other fide; becaufe they are no competent judges of points of faith, and this reading on both fides will rather confound than clear their understandings. They tell them, that they have stated the matter truly, and would not for all the world deceive them; and they may easily perceive, by their earnest application to them, that nothing but charity, and a paffionate defire of the falvation of their fouls, makes them take all these pains with them. But this is fo grofs a way of proceeding, that any man of common understanding must needs difcern by this kind treatment, that thefe men can have no honeft defign upon them.

To come then to a more particular confideration of the arts and methods which they ufe (I mean particularly thofe of the church of Rome) in making profelytes to their religion. As,

1. In allowing them to be very competent and fufficient judges for themselves in the choice of their church and religion, (that is, which is the true church and religion, in which alone falvation is to be had); and yet tel

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ling them, at the fame time, that they are utterly incapable of judging of particular doctrines, and points of faith and practice; but for thefe they must rely upon the judgment of an infallible church, when they are in it; otherwife they will certainly run into damnable errors and mistakes about these things.

And they muft of neceffity allow them to be fufficient judges for themfelves in the choice of their religion; as will be evident, by confidering in what method they proceed with their intended profelyte.

They propofe to him to change his church and his religion, because he is in the wrong; and they will fhew him a better, and fuch a one as is the only true one, and in which alone falvation is to be had. To perfuade him hereto, they offer him fome reafons and arguments, or give him books to read, containing arguments to move him to make this change; to fatisfy him of the reafonableness, and to convince him of the neceffity of it.

Now, by this way of proceeding, and they can take no other, they do, whether they will or no, make the perfon whom they are endeavouring to convert, a judge for himself which church and religion is beft; that which they would have him embrace and come over to, or that which they would perfuade him to forfake. For to what end elfe do they offer him reasons and arguments to perfuade him to leave our church, and to come over to theirs, but that he may confider the force and weight of them; and having confidered them, may judge whether they be of force fufficient to over-rule him to make this change? So that, as unwilling as they are to make particular perfons judge for themselves about points of faith, and about the fenfe of fcripture confirming thofe points, (because this is to leave every man to his own private fpirit, and fancy, and giddy brain); yet they are com pelled by neccffity, and against their own principles, to allow a man, in this cafe of chufing his religion, to be a judge of the reafons and arguments which they offer to induce him thereto. So that, whether they will or no, they must permit him to be a judge for himself for this once but not to make a practice of it, or to pretend this privilege ever after; for in acknowledgment of this great favour, of being permitted to judge for himself