rished: Whence was it, that in thofe good old times Chri- SERM. stians did fo abound in good works, that they burned with LVII. holy zeal, that they gladly would do, would fuffer any thing for their religion? whence but from a mighty refpect to their fuperiors, from a strict regard to their direction and difcipline? Did the bishops then prescribe long fafts, or impose rigid penances? willingly did the people undergo them: Did the pastor conduct into danger, did he lead them into the very jaws of death and martyrdom? the flock with a refolute alacrity did follow: Did a prelate interdict any practice fcandalous or prejudicial to the Church, under pain of incurring cenfure? every man trembled at the confequences of tranfgreffing b: no terror of worldly power, no feverity of juftice, no dread of corporal punishment had fuch efficacy to deter men from ill-doing, as the reproof and cenfure of a bishop; his frown could avail more than the menaces of an emperor, than the rage of a perfecutor, than the rods and axes of an executioner: no rod indeed did fmart like the fpiritual rod, no fword did cut fo deep as that of the Spirit; no lofs was then fo valuable as being deprived of fpiritual advantages; no banishment was fo grievous as being separated from holy communion; no fentence of death was fo terrible as that which cut men off from the Church; no thunder could astonish or affright men like the crack of a spiritual anathema: this was that which kept virtue in request, and vice in deteftation; hence it was that men were so good, that religion did fo thrive, that fo frequent and fo illuftrious examples of piety did appear; hence indeed we may well reckon that Chriftianity did (under so many disadvantages and oppofitions) fubfift, and grow up; obedience to governors was its guard; that kept the Church firmly united in a body fufficiently strong to maintain itself against all affaults of faction within, of oppofition from abroad; that preferved Neque hoc ita dixerim, ut negligatur ecclefiaftica disciplina, et permit tatur quifquam facere quod velit fine ulla correptione, et quadam medicinali vindicta, et terribili lenitate, et charitatis feveritate. Aug, adv. Petil, iii, 4. SERM. that concord, which difpofed and enabled Christians to LVII. defend their religion against all fraud and violence; that cherished the true virtue, and the beautiful order, which begot veneration to religion: to it therefore we owe the life and growth of Christianity; so that through many sharp perfecutions it hath held up its head, through fo many perilous diseases it hath kept its life until this day. There were not then of old any fuch cavils and clamours against every thing prescribed by governors; there were no fuch unconscionable fcruples, no fuch hardhearted pretences to tender confcience devised to baffle the authority of fuperiors: had there been fuch, had men then commonly been fo froward and factious as now, the Church had been foon fhivered into pieces, our religion had been swallowed up in confufion and licentiousness. If again we on the other hand fix our confideration upon disobedience, (the nature, the sources, the confequences thereof,) it will, I fuppofe, much conduce to the fame effect, of perfuading us to the practice of this duty. It is in itself a heinous fin, being the tranfgreffion of a command in nature and confequence very important, upon which God layeth great stress, which is frequently inculcated in Scripture, which is fenced by divers other precepts, which is preffed by strong arguments, and backed by fevere threatenings of punishment upon the tranfgreffors. It is in its nature a kind of apostasy from Chriftianity, and rebellion against our Lord; for as he that refuseth to obey the king's magiftrates in administration of their office is interpreted to disclaim his authority, and to defign rebellion against him; fo they who obftinately disobey the minifters of our Lord's fpiritual kingdom do thereby appear to difavow him, to fhake off his yoke, to impeach his reign over them; fo doth he himself interpret and Luke x. 16. take it: He, faith our Lord, that heareth you heareth me, Matt. x. 40. and he that (6&derv, that baffleth) defpifeth you defpifeth Matt. xii. 17. me; and, If any man neglect to hear the Church, (or fhall disobey it, sav πapaxoúon,) let him be to thee as a heathen, and a publican; that is, fuch a refractory person doth by his contumacy put himself into the state of one removed from the commonwealth of Ifrael, he forfeiteth the fpecial SERM. protection of God, he becometh as an alien or an outlaw LVII. from the kingdom of our Lord d. 12. Under the Mofaical difpenfation those who would do Deut. xvii. prefumptuously, and would not hearken unto the priest, that food to minifter before the Lord, did incur capital punishment; those who factiously murmured against Aaron are said to make an infurrection against God, and answerably were punished in a miraculous way, (the Lord made a new Num. xvi. thing, the earth opened, and fwallowed them up; they went 11, 30. down alive into the pit.) It was in the prophetical times an expreffion fignifying height of impiety, My people is Hof. iv. 4. as thofe who ftrive with the priest. Seeing then God hath no less regard to his peculiar fervants now than he had then; seeing they no less represent him, and act by his authority now, than any did then; feeing their fervice is as precious to him, and as much tendeth to his honour now, as the Levitical service then did; feeing he no lefs loveth order and peace in the Church, than he did in the Synagogue; we may well fuppofe it a no less heinous fin, and odious to God, to despise the minifters of Chrift's Gospel, than it was before to despise the minifters of Mofes's Lawe. 14. It is a fin indeed pregnant with divers fins, and involv ing the breach of many great commands, which are frequently proposed and preffed in the New Testament, with defign in great part to guard and fecure it: that of doing 1 Cor. xvi. all things in charity; of doing all things without murmur- Phil. ii. 14. ings and diffenfions; of pursuing peace fo far as lieth in us ; of maintaining unity, concord, unanimity in devotion; of 2 Tim. ii. avoiding fchifms, and diffenfions, and the like: which are 22. all notoriously violated by this disobedience; it includeth 14. the most high breach of charity, the most formal infring-10 d Nec putent fibi vitæ aut falutis conftare rationem, fi epifcopis et facerdotibus obtemperare noluerint; cum in Deutron. Deus dicat, &c. Cypr. Ep. 61. Quo exemplo oftenditur, et probatur obnoxios omnes et culpæ et pœnæ futuros, qui se schifmaticis contra præpofitos et facerdotes irreligiosa temeritate mifcuerint. Cypr. Ep. 76. Rom. xii. 18. Heb. xii. Mark ix. SERM. ing peace, the moft fcandalous kind of difcord that can be, LVII. to crofs our fuperiors f. Vid. Cypr. It is also a practice iffuing from the worst difpofitions of foul, fuch as are most oppofite to the fpirit of our religion, and indeed very repugnant to common reason and humanity; from a proud haughtinefs or vain wantonnefs of mind; from the irregularity of unmortified and unbridled paffion; from exorbitant selfishness, (felfishness of every bad kind, felf-conceit, felf-will, felf-intereft;) from turbulent animofity, froward croffnefs of humour, rancorous fpite, perverse obftinacy; from envy, ambition, avarice, and the like ill fources, the worst fruits of the flesh and corrupt nature: to fuch difpofitions the rejecting God's prophets of old, and the noncompliance with the Apoftles are afcribed in Scripture; and from the fame the like neglect of God's meffengers now do proceed; as whoever will obferve, may easily discern; do but mind the difcourfes of factious people, you shall perceive them all to breathe generally nothing but ill-nature. The fruits alfo which it produceth are extremely bad; manifold great inconveniences and mifchiefs, hugely prejudicing the interest of religion and the welfare of the Church. It is immediately and formally a violation of order que enim and peace; whence all the woful confequences of diforder aliunde,&c. and faction do adhere thereto. It breedeth great difgrace to the Church and fcandal to religion; for what can appear more ugly than to see among the profeffors of religion children oppofing their fathers, fcholars contefting with their mafters, inferiors flighting and croffing their fuperiors? what can more expose the Church and religion to the contempt, to the derifion of atheifts and infidels, of profane and lewd perfons, of wild heretics and fchifmatics, of all enemies unto truth and piety, than fuch foul irregularity &? f An effe fibi cum Chrifto videtur, qui adverfus facerdotes Chrifti facit? &c. Cypr. de Unit. Eccl. p. 258. Inde fchifmata, et hærefes obortæ funt, et oriuntur, dum epifcopus, qui - It corrupteth the minds and manners of men: for SER M. when that difcipline is relaxed which was ordained to LVII. guard truth and promote holinefs; when men are grown fo licentious and ftubborn as to contemn their fuperiors, to disregard their wholesome laws and fober advice, there can be no curb to restrain them, but down precipitantly Ecclefiæ gloria præthey run into all kind of vicious irregularities and ex- pofiti gloria ceffes; when those mounds are taken away, whither will eft. Cypr. Ep. 7.55. men ramble? when those banks are broken down, what can we expect but deluges of impious doctrine and wicked practice, to overflow the ignorant and inconfiderate people? 31. Doth not indeed this practice evidently tend to the diffolution of the Church and deftruction of Christianity? for when the Shepherds are (as to conduct and efficacy) taken away, will not the sheep be fcattered, or wander Matt. xxvi. aftray, like sheep without a shepherd, being bewildered in various errors, and exposed as a prey to any wild beasts; to the grievous wolves, to the ravenous lions, to the wily foxes? here a fanatical enthusiast will snap them, there a profane libertine will worry them, there again a desperate atheift will tear and devour them h. Confult we but obvious experience, and we shall see what fpoils and mines of faith, of good confcience, of common honefty and fobriety, this practice hath in a few years caufed; how have atheism and infidelity, how have profaneness and diffoluteness of manners, how have all kinds of dishonesty and baseness grown up fince men began to disregard the authority of their spiritual guides! what difmal tragedies have we in our age beheld acted upon this stage of our own country! what bloody wars and murders, (murders unus eft, et ecclefiæ præeft fuperba quorundam præfumptione contemnitur. Cypr. Ep. 69. Hæc funt initia hæreticorum, et ortus atque conatus fchifmaticorum male cogitantium ut fibi placeant, ut præpofitum fuperbo tumore contemnant. Sic de ecclefia receditur, fic altare profanum foris collocatur, fic contra pacem Chrifti, atque unitatem Dei rebellatur. Cypr. Ep. 65. * Τότο πάντων τῶν κακῶν αἴτιον, ὅτι τὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἠφανίσθη, ἐδεμία αἰδὼς, vòsis pocos, &c. Chryf. in 2 Tim. Or. 2. |