FOR the better understanding of these words, we must open the 49. Verse. For every one shall be salt­ed with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

The particle For, intimates their con­nexion with the precedent words; and that they have the same sence, will ap­pear by the sequel of this Discourse; viz. That some part of the Body perish, that the whole may be preserved: which our Lord illustrates by an allusion to the two-fold Oblation, or the [...] in the [...]. first and second of Leviticus, the [...] and [...], the burnt-Offering and the meat-Offering; the first was all burnt upon the Altar, in the second the [...] only, or the memorial, which was Lev. 2. 2 [...] Lev. 2. 13. [...], a sweet savour unto the Lord: of this chiefly did the Law pro­vide; [Page 2] Every Oblation of thy meat-of­fering shalt thou season with Salt, nei­ther shalt thou suffer the Salt of the Co­venant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering; and then adds; With all thy Offerings thou shalt offer Salt: which former words the LXXII. translate thus. [...], and from them St. Mark, with respect to the sence, [...], i. e. E­very gift of Sacrifice, or every Sacrifice, shall be salted with Salt. So that two things our Lord says; 1. Every one shall be salted with fire, that is of them of whom he was speaking, who should indulg their vitious and depraved affections. They [...]. should be salted with fire, i. e. with both their eyes, and hands, and feet should be confined to the Worm that doth not dye, and the Fire that is not quenched. A plain allusion to the perpetuity of the [...] v. 45. [...]. Philo of them that offer sa­crifice. p. 851. Paris 1640. fire upon the Altar of the burnt-offer­ings; for Philo observes, it was a Law of the exterior Altar, Fire shall burn inces­santly upon the Altar: and though he makes that sacred Flame a Symbol of our incessant Gratitude; yet our Lord refers to the consuming quality of it: and in respect to the great Act of his Justice, God himself is called a Consu­ming Fire. And indeed [...] signifies as [Page 3] well to be consumed, as to be salted. So the Prophet; the Heavens shall vanish as Heb. 12. 29. Deut. 4. 24. [...]. Esai. 51. 6. Sym. Aqui. Comminuetur, in salis modum conterentur. Nobil. Jer. 38. 11. Vim consu­mendi. Smoak. [...]. Hence [...] are [...], old rotten rags which Abedmelech supplied the Prophet with, to save his body from the Cords, by which he designed to take him out of the Dungeon. And in that respect Salt is like to Fire; that it hath a faculty of consuming as well as fire, with this difference; it consumes but part, where­as Fire, to use Philo's words, [...] consumes the whole.

Every Sacrifice shall be salted with Salt; here our Lord takes the word in its proper signification, and intimates that every one who would be an ac­ceptable Sacrifice unto God, must re­fine and preserve himself pure from all evil and corrupt Affections, as the Sa­crifice is by Salt from all putrefaction. The Summ is this. Every man must by all means suffer some or other consum­ption; either by way of Salting, or by way of burning. This is the Vitious person, who will not mortifie, nor cru­cifie his sinful Lusts and Affections; he shall be salted with Fire, like the [...] shall be wholly burnt up, and consumed, i. e. go whole into a state of perdition.

The other is the Vertuous Man, the true and real Christian, who is content­ed to part with Hand, or Foot, or Eye, or whatsoever else shall stand in competition with his obedience to his dear Lord and Master Jesus Christ. He like the [...] is salted with Salt, a part of him only is consumed; and he en­ters maimed into a state of life.

The Holy Scriptures frequently al­lude Es 34. [...], 6. Jer. 46. 10. to both these Sacrifices: To the first; My Sword shall be bathed in Hea­ven; behold it shall come down upon Idu­mea, and upon the people of my curse to judgment; the Sword of the Lord is fill­ed with blood, &c. For the Lord hath a Sacrifice in Bozra, and a great slaughter in the Land of Idumea.

To the second; I beseech you by the mercies of God, that you present your Rom. 12. 1. [...]. Bodies a living Sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable Ser­vice.

So St. Peter: We are an holy Priest­hood, 1 Pet. 2. 5. [...]. to offer up spiritual Sacrifices ac­ceptable unto God. Such as are [...]; Prayers and Eucharists offered up by worthy per­sons; these are [...] J. Martyr. [...], as the holy man speaks; the only perfect and acceptable Sacrifices unto [Page 5] God. In allusion hereunto St. Paul Col. 4. 6. would have our speech always seasoned with Salt, i. e. defecate and refined from every thing that is putrid, cor­rupt, and rotten. The former words of this Verse are thought to be loco non suo, however may be shut up in a Paren­thesis, and so we are at the Text. —Have salt in your selves, and have peace one with another.

But here I cannot but observe an­other quality of Salt, viz. its Ʋnitive, or Henotic. 'Twas of old a Symbol of [...]. Eu­stath. Union and friendship, which is never more seasonable, than in our approaches to that God who is One. Of its use in holy things, our Books abound with instances.

An innocent life, with a little Mola salsa, shall propitiate your Houshold Gods, sooner than whole Hecatombs without it. So Tibullus.

A little flower and salt expiats all the errours of the night. So likewise of its use in civil conversation; hereto Aes­chines refers when he tells us we ought highly to esteem the salts of the City, and the publick table.

Hither also must we refer the Symbol of Pythagoras, salem apponito, set on the [...]. Laertius in vi­ta Pythag. p. 222. edit. Lond. 1664. [...]. Reverentia mensae. salt, by which he would that we should not dissolve friendship; because salt preserves every thing from putrefaction, and is made of the most pure, and liquid things, viz. Water, and the Sea, as Gy­raldus observes: So salem, & mensam ne praeterito, despise not the salt and table; whence the Reverence of the table was put for the law of friendship, as Juvenal, Claudian, Euripides in Hecuba & Thec­critus in Hyla use it, and for that reason the Antients were wont to set it before their Guests before all other meat. But I shall end this observation with one an­tient and one modern testimony of this custom.

The first is of Origen speaking of Ju­das In his Com­ments of St. Matthew. the Traytor. Neque salis ejusdem, neque mensae, neque panis communicati memor: That he was mindful neither of the same salt nor table, nor the bread which our Lord communicated to him.

The second is of Baron Sigismond who reports the Czar has no greater expressi­ons of his kindness than to send from his table bread and salt, idque maximi ho­noris loco habetur, which is esteemed a very great honour, which he himself re­ceived when Ambassadour both from Maximilian and Ferdinand to Basilius. He was also invited to dine with the Prince, with these words, Sigismunde comedes sal & panem nostrum nobiscum; Sigismund you shall eat our bread, and salt with us: And to this custom 'tis not unlike but our Lord alludes in these words, Have salt in your selves, and have peace one with another.

He had observed that envy and ambi­tion had moved that question, vers. 34. [...], which of them should be the greatest? and therefore in order to the latter 'tis no wonder he referred to the former of these symbolical qualities; I mean that in order unto peace that he referred unto purgation. For only by Prov. 13. 10. pride comes contention. So that you may please to take this Paraphrase of the words. Let the doctrine of the Gospel corrode and eat out all the corruptions of your souls, and minds, and oblige you to all amity and peaceableness one with an­other; of the latter of which I shall [Page 8] chuse to intreat chiefly, and of the for­mer only in order thereunto.

Where you must not expect a tedious harangue in praise of peace: For, Quis unquam Herculem vituperavit? whoever dispraised it? but rather a severe stricture and reflection upon the want of charity in the Christian World, with a proposal of some causes of that defect. Such as is,

• 1. The non-purgation of all vitious and depraved affections.
• 2. The mistaking the true notion of the Christian Religion.
• 3. The overvaluing of opinions.
• 4. The advancing doctrines which have no good influence upon our lives.
• 5. The taking up the sence of late men, without inquiring after the good old paths, wherein the Fathers of the first and best Ages walked; and such like.

And if peace was the last Legacy our Lord left us before he dyed, and the first blessing with which he did salute us after he rose again; how is it that that innocent dove has so many Ages since taken her flight, & Terram [...] reli­quit? Of old in the multitude of be­lievers Acts 4. 32. there was [...], one heart, and one soul; and their mutu­al [Page 9] charities, did notam nobis inurere, did signalise us, saith Tertullian: See, say they, how Christians love one another, and are ready to die for one another. 'Twas Lucian's observation in his pere­grinus, Vide inquiunt ut invicem se diligunt; ut pro alterutro mori sint parati; Tertul. who speaking of his imprison­ment, tells us 'tis incredible what zeal, and celerity the Christians expressed in visiting and relieving of him; in such cases Christians were wont to spare for [...]. nothing; nay they inriched him, and assigning the reason hereof, he saith, [...] Lucian pag. 996. Edit. Par. 1615. [...], i. e. Their chief Law­giver perswaded them they would be­come mutual Brethren.

So the City Prefect in the passion of Deridiculi causâ. Vincentius calls Christians by way of scorn Fratres, Brethren. But whoso­ever shall take a view of the Christian Churches from the beginning of the Fourth Century down to this very day; must needs suffer some kind of commo­tion even for Religions sake; where he shall find no footsteps of that Primitive charity, though it may be, now and then a good man in vain calling for it.

Of old the Church was all one body compacted by the Literae formatae even from the Rhene to Nilus; from the Brit­tish Ocean to and beyond Euphrates: [Page 10] but now every little spot of earth has (God help us) a several Church Catho­lick: Nay ever since the opening of the Springs of Controversies, and the de­termining of unnecessary Questions, the Church has suffered a deluge of Opini­ons, and Schisms, with which at this day 'tis over-run, and which is the saddest effect of all, since we are become anathe­ma Dum alter al­teri anathema esse coepit, pro­pe saue nemo est Christi St. Hyl. to one another, almost no man is found closely to adhere to Christ. The dissenti­ons of Christians are the disgrace of Christianity. Witness the woful effects of the Alexandrian controversie, where­in we have seen Council condemning Council, and one Prelate another.

Whom would it not grieve to see the Mitre and the Crosier strangely convert­ed into the Helmet, and the Partizan; and such ingenious cruelties practised upon one another, as quite out-did the bloody Pagans? So that a Heathen com­plained, Nullae infestae hominibus be­stiae ut sunt si­bi ferales pleri­que Christiano­rum, Ammi­an. Marcel. No Wolves nor Tygers, nor beast of prey are so hurtful to man as very ma­ny Christians are to one another. What Ingenuous Christian is not troubled to hear Julian bespeaking dissenting Chri­stians. Audite me quem Alemanni audi­erunt, & Franci, i. e. hear me whom the barbarous Nations have heard: To hear Marcus Antoninus; O Marcoman­ni, [Page 11] O Quadi, O Sarmatae tandem alios vo­bis inquietiores inveni; at length I have found some others more seditious and more unquiet than your selves: So that a Parisian massacre, a Guisian league, or a Powder-Treason, and that too for Religion's sake (the more's the pity) is no great wonder in the World. But O tell it not in Gath, nor publish it in the 2 Sam. 1. 20. streets of Ascalon, lest the Daughters of the Philistins rejoyce, lest the Daughters of the uncircumcised tri­umph.

The Great Eusebius complained that [...]. the forementioned Alexandrian division caused the venerable divine doctrine to undergo the impure scorns and ludibries even of the Pagans in the midst of their Theaters. And how much Religion suf­fers in these late days by these means a­mongst weak men, who cannot, or will not distinguish betwixt humane passions, and divine revelations, I need not now remember. What devastation the holy house, the Sambanite, and the fatal pile have they made in the World! We have seen Princes unthroned, Prelates unchair­ed, and people over run with fire and sword, and all for Religion.

Tantum Relligio potuit suadere malorum?

For Religion did I say? no St. James has better resolved that question, [...], whence are wars and fightings? are they not from your pleasures? by a Metonymy, i. e. for the desires of things rather pleasurable than necessary for hu­mane, or divine life.

When men drank in a treen dish, there were no wars.

Our hatred, dissensions, discords, se­ditions, our holy and unholy wars are from our lusts, our envy, our pride, our avarice, and our ambition: So that a great part of our sufficiency for these things is a cordial endeavour after an universal purity of heart, and life.

And therefore the best Philosophers do frequently discourse of their [...], purgative vertues as necessary to preserve the soul for the knowledge of the most excellent, and useful truths. For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter, nor dwell in the body that is subject Wis. 1. [...]. unto sin. Wickedness is destructive of principles; and this notion is agreeable to the sence of all mankind.

Amongst the Gentiles before a man [Page 13] could be imbued with the discipline of the Eleusinia Sacra, or the holy things of the Magna Mater, he must by cer­tain degrees, and definite intervals of time be purged from the pollutions of this life, and the sordes of his sins.

They had their [...], and then their [...], and their [...], and at length their [...], their publick purgations, their more recon­did, their aggregations, initiations, and then their visions: So we read no man could be consummate in the mysteries of Mythra, unless having passed through many degrees of punishments, [...], [...]. [...], i. e. he present himself holy, and unhurt. He must go through fire and water, hunger and thirst, great travels and such like, 80 in number: First, [...], and then the [...], The lighter, then the more laboursome, [...], so the Candidate is consummate.

So the Primitive Christians always caused the Via purgativa to precede the via illuminativa, from whom the mysti­cal Divines had it. So the pretended Dionysius distinguishes the operation of the sacred Mysteries into three actions [...]. divided by their proper rites and sea­sons, purgation, initiation, and perfection.

The like we may observe in the whole procedure of the antient Church, either concerning such as were to be made Christians, or were to be restored to the communion of the faithful; and the first must go through the state of Catechumens, then of competents, before they could be fideles. But touching [...]. their lapsed, their discipline was very severe; They were to go through [...], four places of punish­ments, which they rarely underwent in less than twelve years. So true it is that the wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable. James 3. 17.

The restauration of which Discipline Res Deo grati­or absque du­bio quam de fides dogmatis subtiliter dis­putare extra scripturas; & omnes dissenti­ [...]ntes ferro & flamma prose­qui; in quo hodie summus pietatis apex ponitur, Isa. Casaub. in the Church would be doubtless more acceptable to God Almighty than our ex­trascriptural, and subtle determinations of Articles of our Faith, and the pro­secution of all Dissenters with fire and sword; which at this day is the height of some mens Religion; faith the Great Casaubon. Which yet St. Paul places nei­ther in circumcision nor uncircumcision, but in the new creature, i. e. in faith that works by love; or in the keeping of the 1 Cor. 7. 19. Gal. 5. 6. 6. 15. 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10. commandments of God. And which will most evidently appear, if we consider that the great end, and design of Reli­gion, is to entitle us unto, and in­vest [Page 15] us with a Life after Death, and a blessed Immortality.

Now let us consider first what it is that secludes us from that State; Saint Paul will tell you it is unrighteousness, Galat. 5. 19. Fornication, Idolatry, Adultery, Effemi­nacy, Sodomy, Theft, Covetousness, drun­kenness, Reviling, Extortion, Ʋnclean­ness, Lasciviousness, Witchraft, Hatred, Variance, emulation, Wrath, strife, Se­dition, Heresies, Envyings, Murthers, Revellings, and such like; I have told you before, and I tell you again, saith the Apostle, That they that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

What is it then that admits into that Kingdom? our Lord will answer that question. How readest thou, saith he to Luk [...] 10. 26. the Lawyer, who had asked him what he must do to inherit Eternal life. Thus I read, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart &c. (which is no o­therwise exemplified, than by keeping his Commands) and thy Neighbour as thy self; this do and thou shalt live, saith Christ.

Herein also did the antient Church place the Essence of Christian Reli­gion, whereof I will give you as­surance from Witnesses Domestick and Forreign.

J. Martyr; If you shall observe any [...]. J. M. 2. Apolog. to live not as our Lord hath taught, [...], Let all the World know they are no Christians, al­though they make never such Orthodox Confessions of their Faith. So Athena­goras; No Christian is a wicked man, un­less [...]. Athen. leg. he be such an one as doth dissemble his profession. So Tertullian; You would have us renounce the name of Christian; we are excluded if our lives be as the lives Excludimur, si fa [...]i mus quae faciunt non Christiani. of such as are not Christians. And up­braiding to the Gentiles, that their Prisons, Mines, and Beasts were daily cloyed with Malefactors, he tells them; There is not a Christian amongst them, Nemo illic Chri­stianus, nisi planè tantùm Christianus, aut si & aliud, jam non Christia­nus. unless he be there for his Christianity on­ly; for if he be upon any other account, he is no Christian. And again; You will say even some of ours do swerve from the Rule of our Discipline, then they cease to be accounted Christians amongst Desinunt tum Christiani habe­ri apud nos. Apol. Haec non ad­mittet omnino qui natus à Deo fuerit, non futurus Dei fi­lius si admise [...]it. Devestro nume­ro carcer exae­stuat; Christia­nus ibi nullus nisi aut reus sua, &c. us. And in another Treatise, having enumerated very many of the works of the Flesh; he says, He that is born of God will by no means commit these things; for if he should commit them, he would be no longer the son of God.

So Minucius Felix; Your Prisons are crowded with your own number, but not a Christian amongst them, nisi aut reus [Page 17] suae Religionis aut profugus, unless guil­ty only of his Religion, or a Runagado from it.

So Lucian in his Peregrinus tells us, They worshipped their crucified Sophist, [...]. Ep. 97. and lived according to his Laws. So Pliny to Trajan tells us, speaking of Christians, They were wont to convene on a set day before it was light, and there Carmen Christo quasi Deo di­cere secum in­vicem. Ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne adulteria com­mitterent, ne fi­dem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abne­garent. Ad capiendum [...]ibum premi­scuum, tamen & innoxium. Mic. 6. 8. James 1. 27. to sing alternatly an Hymn to Christ, as if he were God, and to bind themselves by oath to no wickedness; but that they would commit no Thefts, nor Robberies, nor Adulteries, nor break their faith, nor betray their trust: which done, they were wont to depart, and to meet again to eat bread in common, but very innocently. Agreeably hereunto doth the Prophet Micah reduce Religion to Righteousness, Mercy, and an humble Piety; and Saint James places true and genuine Religion in Beneficence and Purity of life. So that if Christians will contend as such, there remains to them only a laudable Am­bition to excel in Meekness and Humili­ty, in Mercy and Charity, in Purity and Peaceableness; and not in multiplying Articles of Faith, and then like foolish Builders, making all of them of the foundation, whereof St. Hilary doth gravely complain to Constantius, That [Page 18] after the Councel of Nice, Christians did Conscii nobis invicem sumus post Niceni Con­ventus Syno­dum, nihil ali­ud quam fidem scribi. little else but write Creeds.

Nor in determining fruitless and in­determinable Questions; which all Christendom may truly say, is Fundus nostrae Calamitatis, the Ground of all our Schisms and Divisions. Had the Tridentine Fathers had a right notion of Christi­anity, they would have spared their Anathemata, and Geneva their, Fires, and Dort their Wagons; had they consider­ed that such and only such Articles are necessary, without the explicit know­ledge of which, we could not perform the conditions of the new Covenant. That is, Believe in God and Christ, and observe their Precepts, (this entitles us to the Promises.) They would ra­ther have spent their Zeal in preaching The worthy Author of Causes of the decays of Christian pie­ty hath one chapter of the mischiefs ari­sing from dis­putes. St. Paul's Doctrine of Repentance from dead works, and the exercise of Cha­rity. For I would the Proud Disputer, and the whole Polemick Rabble should know, that necessary Articles are nei­ther many, nor obscure.

Not many. How succinct was that 1 Creed upon which our Lord built his Church. We believe and are sure that Matth. 16. 19. thou art the Son of the living God; and this was Marthas Creed, and Sal­vation John 11. 27. was particularly promised to it. [Page 19] This was the end of writing St. John's Gospel, that we might believe that Je­sus is the Christ the Son of God, and that John 20. 31. believing we might have life through his name. That Jesus Christ was the Son of Acts 8. 37. God, was the Eunuchs Creed. So St. Paul; Rom. 10. 8, 9. This is the word of Faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And this simplicity did the antient Church re­tain. Irenaeus, who when he had recit­ed that Creed, which then was not so long as now it is, adds, [...], Not the most eloquent of all the [...], deminorabit traditionem. Iren. l. 1. 23. Prelats in the Church [...], be­lieves any more, and the most simple Ideot believes no less: the Faith being one and the same. They who have the greatest plenty of words do not exceed it, and they who have the fewest do not dimi­nish it.

So Tertullian tells us, the Rule of Faith is only one, stable and unalterable. Regula fidei una omnino est sola, immobilis, irreformabilis. Arbitratur Rex rerum ab­solute necessa­riarum ad sa­lutem non ma­gnum esse nu­merum. So that it is no wonder that excellent Prince, in his Answer to Perrone, thinks the number of things necessary to Salva­tion is not very great. And further, his Majesty thought there was no more expedite way to Peace, than diligently to [Page 20] seperate Necessaries from Non-necessaries, and that we might all agree in Necessa­ries; in non necessariis Libertati Chri­stianae locus detur, in unnecessary Ar­ticles let Christian liberty take place. The King further says, That if we made use of this distinction for deciding of Con­troversies Videsis respon­sionem ad E­pist. Card. Per. Londini 1612 at this day, there would be nei­ther long nor fierce Contention amongst Pious and Modest men, about Articles absolutely necessary; Nam & pauca illa sunt, & ferè ex aequo ab omnibus pro­bantur, i. e. That they are both few, and upon the matter receiv'd by all who would be accounted Christians. Nay that learn­ed and pacifick King doth so much va­lue this distinction, for the lessening of Controversies, which excercise Gods Church, that he judges it the Duty of all that are studious of Peace, diligen­tissimè hanc explicare, urgere, docere, most diligently to explicate, urge, and teach it.

And this is but the breathing of that Spirit which influenced the first and best Ages of the Church. How else shall we understand Justin Martyr, who answering that objection of Try­pho, That Christ should be God before the [...]. World was, and be made man and be born, and yet not be born according to [Page 21] the manner of men; [...]: i. e. (saith Trypho) it seems to me not only incredible, but also foolish. The holy man answers, If I cannot de­monstrate that he did pre-exist, the Son of him that made the Ʋniverse, and was a Man born of a Virgin; herein only 'twas sit to say I was mistaken; but not to de­ny that he was the Christ, if it should [...]. Videsis Just. Mart. p. 63. E­dit. R. Steph. [...]. Cyril p. 101. [...]. appear that he was a Man born according to the manner of men, and be demonstra­ted that he was made the Christ by E­lection: For there are some friends, quoth he, of our Profession, who do confess him to be the Christ, yet do affirm him to be a man born according to the manner of men.

So Cyril of Hierusalem. That God hath a Son, that you are to believe; but be not so curious as to enquire into the Modus of that Filiation; for if you seek it you shall not find it. Do not flie too high, lest you fall, but attend to those things alone which he hath commanded you. And a little after he tells [...] &c. It is sufficient to assist thy Piety to know that God has but one Son.

So Gregory Nazianzen, speaking of the holy Spirit, tells you. There are that do depress him into the degree of a Crea­ture [Page 22] & they he says, are injurious, and bad, [...]. Nazi­anz. Orat. 44. pag. 709. and the worst of servants; There are that think him God, and they are Divine Spi­rits, and of clear, and bright understand­ings. There are that name him so, if it be in presence of men of good judgement. They are noble souls; but if in presence of weak Christians, they are not wise dispen­cers of the word: 'Tis all one as to cast a pearl into the dirt to object the voice of So the Greeks if they belie­ved the pro­cession of the holy Ghost from the Son, yet did not condemn those of Heresie, who did not. See the Judicious and Learned Doctor Stilling. in his Rational Account, pag. 10, 11, 12, 13. Thunder or the brightness of the Sun to a weak ear, or eye, to give solid meat to him that needs and uses milk.

And to these excellent men I shall subjoyn a worthy Prelate of our own See relation of a confe­rence, p. 25. Church, who considering the proceed­ings of Rome, in the Article Filioque concludes, 'tis hard to add and to ana­thematise too. All which passages can­not For the mo­dus of that Procession. See Cyril late Patriarch of Alexandria to the Pious and Learned Ʋtenbogard. [...]. Epipham. Ego me refero ad illas scripturae voces, quae jubent invocare Christum, quod est ei honorem divinitatis tribuere, & plenum con­solationis est, [...]. Melancthon, Ep. 140. p. 708. be understood without that Royal distinction of necessary Articles and non-necessary. And so we see what stress holy and good men laid upon the niceties of the Christian Faith.

Yet all this notwithstanding the boute­feues and incendiaries of Christendome, suppose, nor Creed, nor Scripture suffici­ent to make up an Orthodox Christians Confession of Faith. To all such super­fine wits, I shall oppose Tertullian; What is Athens to Jerusalem, or the Aca­demy Quid ergo A­thenis & Hie­rosolumis, quid Academiae & Ecclesiae, quid haereticis & Christianis. Viderint qui Stoicum & Platonicum & dialecticum Christianis­mum protule­runt. De Prae­script. C. 7, 8. Nobis curosita­te non [...]st opus post Christum Jesum, nec inquisitione post evangelium. Cum credimus nihil desideramus ultra credere. Hoc enim prius credimus, non esse ultra quod cre­dere debeamus. to the Church, or Hereticks to Chri­stians. Let them see to it who have in­troduced a Stoical, Platonick, or a subtle Christianity. What needs any curiosity after and beyond Christ Jesus, or farther disquisition after we have receiv'd the Go­spel. So soon as we believe we desire no­thing farther than to believe: for this we first of all believe, that there is nothing fur­ther that we ought to believe.

In vain I say did he adore the fulness of the Scripture, and provoke the shop Adoro Scri­pturae plenitu­dinem. Advers. Herm. c. 22. of Hermogenes to shew where the matter in controversie was written, if not to bid him fear, that woe which is denounced a­gainst all such as add to, or detract from the Sacred Scriptures. In vain did [...]. Euseb [...]us l. 5. c. 16. Apollinaris fear to write against the He­resie of Miltiades, lest he should seem to some men to make additions to the Do­ctrine [Page 24] of the New Testament. To or from which he may neither add nor substract who would institute his life according to the precepts of the Gospel. They who think they can speak more properly than the Wisdom of God has spoken, let them re­concile themselves to Athanasius, who avers the Sacred and Divinely inspir'd [...]. Orat. cont. gentes. Scriptures are abundantly sufficient for the declaration of the truth: and to Saint Basil who makes it without all doubt a [...] a manifest falling from the Faith and a most certain proof of pride [...], either to reject any thing De vera fide, p. 251. J, 10. that is written, nor to introduce any thing that is not written; Our Lord having said my sheep will hear my voice, and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know the voyce of strangers. And again, enquiring of what mind the [...] ought to be, he saith he would have them always to fear lest he should affirm or determine any thing be­sides the Will of God [...], Regul [...] bre­vior. 98. without controversie laid down in the Sacred Scriptures, lest he be found a false witness of God. And again he tells us 'tis the property of a faithful minister to preserve intire and without the adul­terate mixtures of any other Doctrines, [Page 25] that which was concredited to him by his [...]. de Ver. fid. p. 249. merciful Lord to be communicated to his fellow servants, and he assigns irrefra­gable reason; because neither our Lord, nor the Spirit of God spake from them­selves: Nay a little after he tells us, he would spare to use such terms and [...]. de ver. fid. p. 25. words, which in so many syllables are not found in the divine Scriptures, though they did retain the same sence; and as­signs this reason for it; such kind of terms and words, besides their novelty, [...], are apt to innovate the sence of things, and were never found used by holy men heretofore; These I have by all means declined, [...], as strange and forreign to the holy Faith. Nothing can be more concluding, unless I should end this observation with that voice out of the Cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well Mat. 17. 5. pleased, Hear ye him.

Nor Obscure. Though some men think 2 nothing makes a Solemnity but Shades, Cette parole contient nette­ment & claire­ment, tout ce qui est neces­saire pour for­mer la Foy & pour regler le Culte, les Moeurs, saith the learned Claude in his Answer to Arnaud. lib. 1. c. 4. speaking of God's Word. Nay he further adds these excellent words; Il est aise mesme aux plus simples, de juger si le Ministere sous le quel nous vivons peut conduire au salut, & per conséquent si nostre Societe est la veritable Eglise. and therefore introduce their divine no­tions like Homer's Deities, always cloath­ed with Cloud. They represent our [Page 26] Lord as another Sphynx, that they might be reputed the only Oedipus's in the World; but can we think that he, who was disclosed from the bosom of that God, who dwells in inaccessible light; he whose name is [...] the East or the Morning; he who is the Sun of Righteousness, [...] the true and genuine Light, who was cloath'd with Light upon Mount Tabor, and in that Garment appeared unto the per­secuting Saul; he who brought Life and Immortality to light, and whose Disciples are the light of the World; that he discourses Aenigmata, Mysteries and Darkness. We find him in his fa­mous Sermon upon a Mountain indeed, but below the Clouds. Can we think it that that God who appeared in a pil­lar of Fire under the Oeconomy of Mo­ses, appears only in a pillar of Cloud under the dispensation of Christ? Is there no light in the Sun that fountain of Light, because the blind man doth not see it? No, no, to the Law and to the Testimony, if they speak not according Esay 8. 20. to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Tell me not there are [...], 2. Pet. 3. 16. Homil. 3. in 2. Thess. some things hard to be understood. St. Chrysostom solves that, [...], all necessaries are clear and mani­fest. [Page 27] So Hilary; Almighty God doth not Non per diffici­les nos Deus ad beatam vitam quaestiones vo­cat, nec multi­plici eloquentis facundiae gene­re solicitat. In absoluto no­bis ac facili est aeternitas. Jesum suscita­tum à mortuis per Deum cre­dere; & ipsum esse dominum confit [...]ri. De Trinitat. lib. 10. p. 231. Am. Marcel. 21 Religionem Christianam ab­solutam & sim­plicem anili superstitione confund [...]ns. 1 Tim. 6. 3. Tit. 1. 1. [...] significat id quo tenditur Grotius in loc. In id enim da­tur & fides & cognitio ut piè vivatur. invite us to a blessed Immortality by hard questions, nor doth he sollicit us with any great variety of a copious Eloquence; but propounds Eternity to us upon plain and intelligible terms, when this is all, even to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead by God, and to confess him to be the Lord. And a heathen Historian doth com­plain of Constantius, That he did perplex the Christian Religion, a Religion plain and intelligible enough, with superstition and dotage.

For in the first and best Ages of the Church, Religion did not consist of Systems of abstruse and difficult Specula­tions, nor dry and barren Opinions; but there was a special care had that their Theological notions were [...] such as tended to a vertuous and pious life, and did not directly contra­dict the conditions of that Covenant by which we claim eternal happiness; such as are the fatal pre-determinations of mens eternal states, and the servitude of humane minds; which pair of Dogmata, like Hippocrates his Twins, laugh and cry, live and die together. If there be any that are vertuous and consequent­ly happy [...], naturally and fatally such. Such an one I would [Page 28] esteem an Hero sprung ex stirpe Deo­rum;

You'd think him not born of Mortal parents, but to be of divine extraction. But that a Good and Righteous God hath decreed from all Eternity, to bring into being innumerable myriads of Souls, who let them do what they will and can, are irreversibly determined to un­speakable torments; so great and so ex­ceeding, that all the racks and tortures the witty cruelties of enraged Tyrants could ever invent or execute, would be ease and pleasure in comparison of them, and that these pangs should re­main fresh upon them for ever and for ever; this saith a learned and pious per­son Videsis Myst. of Godl. [...]. c. 2. is the representation of that sowr Dogma, which he justly accuses of being contradictious to Reason, and blasphe­mous of God; and after tells you a great truth, That the serious and im­perious obtrusion of such a dismal con­ceit as this, for one of the greatest Ar­canums of Religion, is enough to make the free spirit, and over inclinable to prophaneness, to question the whole [Page 29] frame of it. And that this should be done by men who pretend they would advance vertue, piety and prob [...]y in the World, is a great argument that they So Suetonius tells us of Ne­ro he was Re­ligionum ne­gligentior, quia persuasionis plenus cuncta fato agi. Ac vide seculi furores, Certa­mina Allabro­gica de stoica necessitate tan­ta sunt, ut car­ceri inclusus sit quidam qui à Zenone dis­sentit, saith Melancthon to Joach. Came­rarius. Ep. 796 p. 923. The same Me­lancthon to Gaspar Peucer relating the same passage, cries out, O rem miseram! doctrina salu­taris obscura­tur peregrinis disputationib us understand not the consequence of their own Dogmata so well as the Tragedian did.

Cast away your cares, and forbear your fruitless complaining, for Fate governs the World, and nothing can fall out other­wise than it does.

And to introduce the Servitude of humane minds, doth necessarily sub­vert all Law, Discipline, and Religion, the sum whereof is contained in the Pre­cepts of Obedience, the Promises of Re­wards, and the Threatnings of Punish­ments; but he that acts from an inevi­table necessity, is uncapable of a com­mandement; that which could not be otherwise neither merits the praise of obedience, nor the reproach of disobe­dience. We praise not the Sun that he rises upon us, and spreads his comfort­able beams in our hemisphere; nor the Clouds that they drop fatness. We know [Page 30] they can do no otherwise; 'Tis so with Man under these Adamantine bonds of Fate: [...]ud est nocens quicunque non sponte est nocens.

And now could I account for the De­generacy of Christendom from any other cause, I would have considered no other Opinions. When I look into the Roman Communion; the multitude of their Indulgences, and Pardons, their slight and superficial Penances, their easie Pro­mises of security to careless sinners, must needs be acceptable to such a kind of people as have a mind to enjoy this World as well as that to come, and so that part of the wonder ceases: But,

The Reformation is faulty too; which makes me think some bad doctrines do too much influence their lives. Such as De Justitia Christi imputa­ta nobis, quasi eam omnem praestitissemus, & dc fide, quae illam justitiam sic imputatam amplecti debe­at, nullum est verbum in sa­cris literis. Grotii Votum ad Articulum IV. an imaginary Righteousness, an empty Faith, no necessity, no possibility of keeping the Commandments of Christ. What should they do with a righteousness of their own, who do expect to be made as per­fectly righteous as the holy Jesus the Son of God, by the imputation of a righte­ousness not their own? Why should they not set up their rest in a Faith [Page 31] prescinded from Charity, who vapour to the World, Quam dives sit homo Chri­stianus sive baptizatus, qui etiam volens non potest perdere suam salutem, quantis­cunque peccatis, nisi nolit credere. And what necessity, what possibility of keep­ing the Commands of Christ, when St. Paul is carnal, sold under sin, does not the good he would, and does the evil he would not.

And so according to these mens Di­vinity, the measure of St. Paul's Vertue and Obedience, and of every Regenerate man shall be the same with the Pagan's in Lactantius, Medeas in Euripides, and Lesbonicus's in Plautus. Volo equidem non peccare, sed vincor; indu­tus sum enim carne fragili & imbecilla: haec est quae concupiscit, quae irascitur, quae dolet, quae mori timet; itaque ducor invitus, & pecco, non quia volo, sed quia Cogor; sentio me & ipse peccare, sed necessitas fra­gilitatis impel­lit, cut repugna­re non possum l. 4. c. 24.

The Pagan, Volo equidem non peccare, sed vincor, &c. In good truth, I would not sin but I am overcome, I am cloath'd with frail and weak flesh, 'tis that which lusts, grievs, and fears to die; therefore I am led unwillingly, and I do sin, not that I would, but I am compelled. I do per­ceive I do sin; but that frailty whereto I cannot resist doth necessarily enforce me to it.

So Medea;

So Lesbonicus;

I know what becomes me, but wretch that I am, I cannot do it; I am so taken with lust and idleness, it is that deceives me.

But to this place I say no more, but only observe that memorable accident which befel the famous Nicolas Zitini­us, who was put up by a Synod of the Reformed to explicate that Paragraph of St. Paul, agreably to the modern sence of our Genevensian Masters; and he did, saith a noble Author, eo Concilio rem strenuè aggredi, briskly undertake the design: but at length coming to those words, I thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ, haesit attonito similis, was astonished. But after he had recollected himself, he broke out into these words: Ecqua vero est ista liberatio? What deli­verance Ecquod benefi­cium illud quod tantas Apostolo grates expressit? an quod in tanta eum peccati ser­vitute detineri necesse fuit? hoc vero mihi equidem probari nullo pacto potest. Ego igitur, inquit, pariter ingentes patri luminum ago gratias, quod mihi nunc ab errore liberato veritatis suae lucem adoriri voluit. [Page 33] is that? What benefit is that which drew so great thankfulness from him? was it that he was necessarily detain­ed under so great bondage unto sin? I can by no means think so; therefore, quoth he, I give all possible thanks to the Father of Lights, who hath now caused the light of truth to arise upon and deliver me from my error.

But whilst Zealots and high pretenders to Religion, do against the sence of first and best Ages of the Church, depre­tiate and vilifie moral honesty, and obtrude such falshoods as are pure con­tradictions and impossibilities, and that Qui innocenti­am colit, Domi­no supplicat; qui justitiam, Deo libat; qui fraudibus ab­stinet, propitiat Deum; qui ho­minem periculo surripit, opti­mam victimam caedit. Haec no­stra sacrificia, haec Dei sacra sunt. Sic apud nos religiosior est ille qui justior. Min. Fel. with the same gravity, authority, and importunity as they do the holy Oracles of God, it will startle prudent and conscientious men; but gratifie the pro­phane and atheistical Spirit, who will­ingly takes this advantage against the whole frame of Religion, as if there were no truth in it.

But in vain do I object unreasonable­ness to these men, who disclaim the use of their most noble Faculty in their affairs of greatest importance; and that they may be always like themselves, they think they have reason so to do. As Myst Godl. p. 495. if they had never read, Try all things; [Page 34] hold fast that which is good; believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God or no; be ready to render a reason of the hope that is in you. Thus St. Paul. If the blind lead the blind they both fall into the ditch: Why of your selves do you not judg that which is right, saith our Lord? All which speeches, if they do not advise men to make use of their Reason in the choice of their Religion, saith an Excellent person (dul­ce Mr. Chilling­worth. p. 97. Decus & Praesidium nostrum, the strength and ornament of our Church) I must confess my self to understand no­thing. It was indeed the saying of A­pelles in Eusebius [...], Euseb. l. 5. 19. we must by no means examin the Faith. But Ludovicus Vives tells Alfaquinus a L. Viv. de Ver. fid lib. 6. 1. p. 546. Lugd. Bat. 1639. great truth. Tutissimum mentiendi ge­nus est nolle rationem eorum quae dicas reddere: It is the safest way of lying, to refuse a reason of what you do affirm, and to intitle God to your dreams. And the great Hugo Grotius saith, Meritò suspecta Lib. 6. de verit. merx est, quae hac lege obtruditur ne inspici possit; you may justly suspect such wares as are sold unto you upon condition you may not look upon them. And a famous Prelat of our own Church, would have Bp. Laud Rel. p. 76. no man think the Mysteries of Faith contradict reason, or the principles [Page 35] thereof. And a worthy person now liv­ing, hath plainly told the World that That Religion is certainly false at the bottom, that will not suffer it self to be enquired into by Reason.

And this was also the sence of other men, who are in reputation for wis­dom. Melchior Canus; Faith is not re­pugnant Fides sane eum natura non pugnat, sed consentit; nec dissident huma­na & divina ratio, sed cohae­rent. Ʋtraque verum est, nec verum vero ad­versatur. Ʋ ­traque est à Deo, nec sibi contrarius est Deus. Melc. Can. C. C. fol. 358, 359. Col. Agrip. 15 [...]4. unto Nature but agreeable unto it, nor doth humane and divine reason dissent but accord. Each is true, and one truth is not opposite to another; each of them is from God, and God is not contrary to himself. And further he tells us; It is the custom of unlearned men, such as are Saracens, Pagans, Hereticks, ut coeca & temeraria Sectae suae Dogmata sine ju­dicio amplectantur, & quae disquisitio­ne egent maximè, sine ulla disquisitio­ne recipiant; that they swallow down without any judgment every foolish and temerarious Dogma of their own Sect, and receive without any disquisition those doctrines that most of all need it: And after he hath most excellently per­stringed this folly, he opposes the di­vine method to it, and tells us, the Wisdom of God homines humano more instituit & erudit, i. e. rationales ratio­nibus, institutes and instructs men after the manner of men; that is, reasonable [Page 36] creatures with reasons. But I shall end this with the testimony of Athanasius, whose reason is as great as his authority, he hath a little Tract on purpose a­gainst such as would have men believe [...]. i. e. absolutely, and never consider what is or is not fit to be believed; and in the bo­dy of that discourse, there is one pas­sage which I cannot but exscribe. [...] Athan. Tom. 2. p. 325. Ed. Par. 162. [...], i. e. Must I believe with­out all reason? must I not enquire whe­ther the notion be possible, useful or deco­rous? whether it be grateful to God, con­gruous to Nature, and consonant to Truth? whether it be consequent from the Text, a­greeable to the Mystery, and worthy of Pi­ety? [...]; What profit is there in a Scheme of unintelligible things? or like a Parrat or an Eccho to reverberate a sound empty of mind and sence?

But this Novelty, amongst the rest, minds me of the Precept of the Pro­phet; Stand in the ways, and see, and Jer. 6. 16. ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your Souls.

And here let me mind you my Bre­thren [Page 37] of the Clergy, of a Canon of our own Church, yet in force, speaking of Preachers.

Imprimis vero videbunt ne quid un­quam doceant pro concione quod à populo religiose teneri & credi velint, nisi quod consentaneum sit doctrinae veteris aut Novi Testamenti, quodque ex illa ipsa doctrina catholici patres, & veteres Epi­scopi collegerint. A Canon which I read many years since; but never resented its worth, until by an inspection into ancient divinity I found how different it was from that which now reigns in our Pulpits and Presses. And here let me observe for the service of my young­er Brethren, whose reading reaches not beyond Geneva; that those Apples of strife couched under the Quinquar­ticular question, as they are apt to de­termine them, are as perfect a piece of Novellism as any other notion we con­temn under that name at this day.

He that thinks the liberty of humane minds is injurious to God's Grace, or prejudicial to the faith and comfort of Christians, accuses those famous Mar­tyrs Ignatius, Irenaeus, Justin and Cyprian, together with Athanasius, Basil, Nyssen, Nazianzen, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Jerome of the same crime.

And farther, let me mind you of the Anathemata of the Synod of Arles. Let Anathema illi, qui per Dei praescientiam in mortem ho­minem deprimi dixerit. Anathema illi, qui dixerit illum qui peri­it, non accepisse unde salvus esse posset. Anathema illi, qui dixerit Vas contumeliae non posset assurgere ut sit vas in honorem. Anathema illi, qui dixerit quod Christus non pro omnibus mortuus sit, nec omnes homines salvos esse velit. him be Anathema who shall say that the divine Prescience doth cause any man's death. That he who perished had not grace enough to be saved. That a vessel of dishonour could not rise to be a vessel of honour. That Christ did not die for all men, and would have all men to be saved.

I might farther instance in the novel sence of that famous Paragraph to the Romans, which as a great man observes, no man takes up but he that hath a Lust to serve; and could easily shew you that the antient Church were all for a Metascematismus in the words; and that St. Austin himself, when he under­stood it worst, understood it better than his pretended followers now do. And thus have I imperfectly pointed out the causes of the decay of Christi­an Charity in the World, and the fomes of those scandalous discords which vex Christendom at this day, ridente Turcâ, nec dolente Judaeo.

And now I shall end with a succinct Paraenesis to you that have vouchsafed [Page 39] your presence and patience. And first to you my Brethren of the Clergy. Me­thinks I hear our Lord and Master Christ like another Joseph bespeaking his Bre­thren, going to their Father to Canaan, See that you fall not out by the way. Have salt in your selves, and have peace one with another. St. Paul propounds a great Question [...]; Who is sufficient for these things? The Psal­mist thought to wash the hands in inno­cency was an excellent preparation to compass the Altars of God; and no doubt but it would prepare for that wisdom also, which would make us meet to wait in the Sanctuary. My Brethren, much of the peace and prosperity of God's Church depends upon our vertuous and prudent conduct of those affairs con­credited to our trust. We are consti­tuted the Guides of Souls; and in a sence to bear the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; but whilst it suffers violence and the violent take it by force, let us see to it, that we our selves be not shut out.

Let us remember the Age we live in, 'tis nice: Many will not drink the waters of life, if offered to them in an unclean Chalice; they will not take the most medicinal dose, if it be prepared [Page 40] with foul hands. It is Philosophical and Rational; Absurdities will not go for Mysteries; weak and indemonstrable Propositions will not pass for super­natural Verities; nor humane Presum­ptions, for divine Revelations. Let our Discourses be strong and useful, that no prophane wit may say of our Exercises, as Gallen reproached the do­ctrine Nihil tradatur populo nisi quod & indubitatum est, & ad fidei negotium ne­cessarium, & ad piè viven­dum conduci­bile, saith the great Erasmus Epist. lib. 24. Epist. 1. [...]. of Moses and Christ; it was [...], They are indemonstra­ble. I could not read without great affection an Observation of the learn­ed D ^r. Andrews (in his Concio ad Cle­rum in a Provincial Convocation) of some men who did involare in hunc lo­cum, hoc divinae sapientiae Solium, and what does he here? hic ad Clepsydram [...] cohaerentia, non cohaeren­tia, scabra, putida, insulsa, nec cocta, nec condita, praecipitare ad nauseam usque, & hoc scilicet concionari dicitur; This is to preach forsooth; too too lively a Character of many a Preacher in these days. Let's for Christ sake see our Do­ctrine and our lives be pure and paci­fick. If our Doctrines be doubtful and litigious, and our Lives be careless and scandalous, (but I'le rather use the words of the pious Author) Si Doctri­na ludibrium, si Vita scandalum, fortasse [Page 41] non momento uno, non ictu oculi; sed sen­sim tamen senescet, evanescet, tendet ad interitum Ordo vester [...]. Nay I'le add a few words more of that good Man from the same Paragraph. Enimvero nisi vos vobis hac parte cavea­tis, optimi Principis gratia, Procerum fa­vor, Legum terror diu vobis cavere non poterunt. But [...]. Well, you see Purity and Peace is in the precept of our Lord; the best method I know to de­rive it into our hearts and lives, is laid down in this sudden discourse; espe­cially in that observation of the Learn­ed King, who would have us distin­guish between Necessaries and Non-ne­cessaries, and tells us the duty of every peaceable Divine is to explicate, to urge, to teach that distinction.

And for your divertisement, now and then if you spent some time in Nazian­zen's Apology, Chrysostom de Sacerdotio, and the 81. Paragraph of Mr. Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity; as you would have no cause to repent your pains, no more should I that have put you in remem­brance so to do.

And now my Brethren of the Laity, let me speak to you in a few words, You are concerned in the Text as well as We. Purity and Peaceableness becomes [Page 42] you, if you will comport with the pre­cept of our Lord: have you any pride that extimulates and provokes you some­times, (to use the Prophet's expression) to strive with the Priest; and, which is worse, to run from the Communion of that Church which bore you on her knees, and nourished you with her breasts? have you any Avarice, which when you fled from Idols praecipitated you into Sacrilege? these would be salted out. Well, Peaceableness you see is your duty, and Purgation in order thereunto. Schism is the direct contra­diction to my Text; and you perceive how little reason any one hath, so to requite the Prudence and the Charity of that Church, wherein we have had the happiness to be educated.

Are the conditions of her Communi­on sinful? Or are you obliged to pro­fess that which you believe is false, or practise that which you know is sinful? Let me request in her behalf, that you would not make the Sentiments of eve­ry angry Son of hers the measures of her Charity: or if you spy the tokens of Avarice, or Ambition on other of her Sons, you would not make them the measures of her Piety.

What is it that frights you from her [Page 43] Communion? It must certainly be re­duced to her Doctrine, or her Manners. Doth she teach any suspected Doctrines? what then? she disclaims infallibility: though it may be she is nearer it than those that talk loudest of it. She gives you leave to suspect; nay designs by her subscriptions (which yet are not required from you) but an Instrument of peace; if the best, and most learn­ed Bps. Laud, Bramhall, Sanderson. of her Sons do know her mind. Does any of her Doctrines destroy salvation? Indeed they of Rome say Protestancy un­repented destroys salvation; but I think neither you nor we have cause to believe them. Well then, if Salvati­on may be had with us, Take heed you don't run the hazard of it by an unnecessary Separation from them here, whom (if ever you come to heaven) you must accompany hereafter. But are her manners defective? what do you mean? She teaches you to believe by the Apostles Creed, to pray by the Example of her Lord, and to live by the Precepts of her Saviour.

But you see some indications of car­nality upon her Children; like enough; and so you might in the Children of A­postolick Churches, and may in the most confident pretenders to the most [Page 44] primitive Reformation. I have done. Methinks you should grant me, that e­ven in our Communion you may be as holy and as humble, as meek and as mer­ciful, as pure and as peaceable, as perfect imitatours of the Divine Nature, as ar­dent lovers of God and your Neighbour as will comport with the Commandement, and entitle you to the Promise, which is ETERNAL LIFE.

Now to the King Eternal, Im­mortal, Invisible, the only wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and for ever. Amen.