Sixteen sermons preached on several subjects and occasions by the most reverend John Tillotson ... ; being the second volume, published from the originals, by Ralph Barker ...

SERMON XIV. The best Men liable to the worst Treat∣ment, from Mistaken Zealots. (Book 14)

Preached on November 5. 1686. (Book 14)

JOHN XVI. 2.

They shall put you out of the Sy∣nagogues: Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think, that he doth God ser∣vice.

THESE words were spoken by our Blessed Saviour, when he was about to leave the World; at the thoughts whereof, finding his Dis∣ciples

to be exceedingly troubled,* 1.1 he comforts them by the Consideration of the great Benefit and Advantage which from thence would accrue to them; he tells them that he was going to Hea∣ven to interceed for them, and to make way for their admission there; and withall promiseth, that his Father would send the Holy Ghost, who should abundantly supply the want of his Pre∣sence with them: but he tells them at the same time, that they should meet with very ill Entertainment and Usage from the World: but so had He, Ch. 15.18. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me, before it hated you; and why should they expect to be better treated than He was? v. 20. Remem∣ber the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than the Lord; if they have persecuted me, they will also per∣secute you.

And at the beginning of this Chap∣ter he tells them, that he did on pur∣pose forewarn them of these things, to prepare their Minds beforehand, and to arm them against the worst that might happen; v. 1. These things have I

I have spoken to you,* 1.2that ye should not be offended. And then he declares more particularly, how far the Rage and Malice of Men should proceed against them, and in what kind they should suffer: They shall put you out of the Syna∣gogues: Yea the time cometh, that whoso∣ever killeth you will think that he doth God service.

So that our Saviour here fortells Two sorts of Persecution, which his Disciples should be Exercised withal, Excommu∣nication; they shall put you out of their Synagogues: And Excision; Yea the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will thinks that he doth God service. And these perhaps were but several Kinds and Degrees of Excomunication; for the clearer understanding whereof, it will be requisite, briefly to explain the Three Degrees of Excommunication among the Jews.

The First call'd Niddui, is that which our Saviour here means, by putting out of the Synagogue; and which he elsewhere expresseth by 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or separation. Luke 6.22.

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate yon from their company. And the Effect of this Excommunication was to exclude Men from the Communion of the Church and People of God, and from his Ser∣vice; which was a great disgrace; be∣cause, after this Sentence, none of the Jews were to converse with them, but to look upon them as Heathens and Pub∣licans.

The Second Degree of this Cen∣sure was called Cherem; which includ∣ed the first, but extended farther, to the Confiscation of Goods into the Sacred Treasury, and devoting them to God; after which there was no Re∣demption of them. And of this we find express mention, Ezra, 10.7, 8. where it is said, That they made Proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem, unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Je∣rusalem; and that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the Counsel of the Princes and Elders, all his substance should be devoted, and himself

separated from the congregation of those that had been carriied away.

The Third Degree ws Shammatha, when the Rebellious and Contumacious Person was Anathematiz'd and Devo∣ted, and, as some conceive, according to the Law (Levit. 27.29.) was to be put to death; tho' other very konwing Men in the Jewish Learning think it amounted, to no more, than a final Sentence, whereby they were left to the Judgment of God, by some remark∣able Judgment of his to be cut off from the Congregation of Israel.

Of the First and Last of these De∣grees of Excomunication, our Savi∣our seems here to speak; but whether in both Instances in the Text, he alludes in the one to the lowest, and in the o∣ther to the highst Degree of Excom∣munication among the Jews, is not so certain. To the First he plainly does, when he says, they shall put you out of the Synagogues: And then he adds, that they should proceed much higher a∣gainst them, even to put them to death; the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you

will think that he doth God service; that is, they should not only think it Lawful to kill them, but look upon it as a Duty, as a high Act of Religion, as an ac∣ceptable Piece of Worship, and a Sa∣crifice well-pleasing to God. For so in∣deed the word does not only import, but most properly signifie, whosoever killeth you shall think, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that he offers a Sacrifice to God; for so the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is sometimes used for a Sacrifice; but being joyned with 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 seems necessarily to be determined to that Sense.

From the words thus explained, I shall make these following Observati∣ons, very proper for our Consideration upon the Occasion of this day.

• 1. That the best of Men may be separated and excluded from the Com∣munion of those who may assume to themselves to be the true and the on∣ly true Church; yea and suffer under the Notion of very Bad and Criminal Persons. This our Saviour here fore∣told of his Apostles, some of the best

• Men that ever lived: They shall put you out of their Synagogues.
• 2. That they who are thus Ex∣communicated, by the pretended true Church, may nevertheless be real Mem∣bers of the true Church of Christ. Tho' the Apostles were thus dealt withall by the Jewish Church; they did not cease for all that to be Members of the true Church of God.
• 3. That from uncharitable Censures Men do easily and almost naturally proceed to Cruel Actions. After they had put the Disciples of our Lord out of their Synagoguse, and thereby con∣cluded them to be Hereticks and Re∣probates, they presently proceed to kill them, as not worthy to live. They shall put you out of their Synagogues; and when they have done that, they will soon after think it a thing not only fit, but Pious and Meritorious, to put you to death; the time will come, that they will think it a good service to God, to kill you.

• 4. That Men may do the Vilest things, and the most Wicked, not on∣ly under a grave pretence of Religion, but out of a real opinion and perswasion that they do Religiously. Murder is certainly one of the greatest and most crying Sins; and yet our Saviour fore∣tells, that the Jews should put his Dis∣ciples to death, being verily per∣swaded that in so doing they offered a most acceptable Sacrifice to God: Yea the time shall come, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offers a Sacri∣sice to God.
• 5. That such Actions are never the less horribly Impious and Wicked, notwithstanding the good Mind with which, and the Good End for which they are done. The Jews were not excused from the guilt of Persecution and Murder, for all they thought they did well in killing the Disciples of our Lord.
• 6. I observe that the Corruption of the best tilings is the worst. Reli∣gion is the highest Accomplishment

• and Perfection of Humane Nature; and Zeal for God and his Truth an excellent Quality, and highly accep∣table to God: And yet nothing is more Barbarous, and spurs Men on to more horrible Impieties, than a blind Zeal for God, and false and mistaken Principles in the matter of Religion; as is plain from the Instances here be∣fore us in the Text. I shall speak as briefly as I can to these Observati∣ons.

1. That the best of Men may be se∣parated and excluded from the Commu∣nion of those, who may assume to be the true and only true Church, and that, under the Notion of very Bad and Criminal Persons. This our Sa∣viour foretells in the Text should be the Fate of his Apostles, some of the best and holiest Persons that ever lived; they shall put you out of the Syna∣gogues.

And what the Jews did in the be∣ginning of Christianity, to the A∣postles of our Lord and Saviour, hath been too frequently practised since,

by some of the Professors of Christi∣anity toward one another; and ve∣ry Good Men have in several Ages fallen under the Censure of Excommu∣nication, and been separated from the External Communion of the Church, and branded with the odious Names of Hereticks and Apostates, by those who have arrogated to themselves to be the only Orthodox and true Church, and have gotten the external Power and Management of Religion into their hands; witness the Case of Atha∣nasius and others, in the Reign and Prevalency of Arianism; and the ill Treatment, that not only particular Persons, Eminent for their Learning and Piety, but whole Churches have met with in this kind, from that haughty and uncharitable Church, which makes nothing of thundering out this most fearful Sentence of Ex∣communication, against Persons, and Churches much better and more Chri∣stian than her self, and against all that will not submit to her pretended Infalli∣bility, and usurped Authority over the Souls and Consciences of Men.

But it is our great Comfort, that the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord and Master were thus used, by a Church that made the same Pretences that they do, and upon Grounds every whit as plausible, as I could clearly shew, if I were minded to persue and make out this Comparison.

2. They who are thus Excommu∣nicated, by the pretended only true Church, may nevertheless be true Mem∣bers of the Church of Christ. Tho' the Apostles were thus dealt withall by the Jewish Church; they did not cease for all this to be real Members of the true Church of God. For it is not calling Hereticks first, that proves them that do so to be no Hereticks, or ac∣quits them from the same or greater Crimes, than those which they are so forward to charge upon other Men; nor will God condemn all those who are Excommunicated by Men, and de∣ny Salvation to every one, whom they shall please to separate from their So∣ciety, and to call by some odious name. Men may be put out of the Syna∣gogue, and yet receiv'd into Heaven;

for the Judgment of God is not accord∣ing to the uncharitable Censures of Men; but according to Truth and Right.

The Sentence of Excommunication is certainly very dreadful, where it is du∣ly inflicted; and next to the Judgment of God, Men ought to be afraid of justly incurring the danger of this Cen∣sure; and it ought to be upon very plain and evident grounds, that Men either separate themselves, or endan∣ger their being cut off from the Com∣munion of the Church they live in: But when it once comes to this, that a Church is infected with gross Errors and Corruptions, plainly contrary to the Word of God, especially if that Church will impose her Errors upon all that are of her Communion; then those who refuse to comply, do not se∣pavate themselves, but are cut off; do not depart, but are driven out of the Com∣munion of that Church; and Separati∣on in that case is as innocent and free from the guilt of Schism, as the Cause of it is; for the terms of Communion are become such, that those who are

convinced of those Errors and Corrup∣tions can have no Salvation, if they continue in that Communion, and then I am sure their Salvation will not be endangered by leaving it, or being Ex∣communicated out of it; for that would be the hardest case in the World, that Men should be Damned for continu∣ing in the Communion of such a Church, and damned likewise for being cast out of it.

Therefore no Man ought to be terrifi∣ed, because of the boldness and pre∣sumption of those, who with so much Confidence, and so little Charity, damn all that are not of their Communion; for we see plainly from the Text, that Men may be in the right and surest way to Salvation, and yet be Excommu∣nicated by those who call themselves the true Church, and will not allow Sal∣vation to any, but those of their own Communion. The Disciples of our Lord and Saviour were certainly ve∣ry good Men, and in a safe way of Salvation, tho' they were Excommu∣nicated, and put out of the Synagogue,

by the chief Priests and the Rulers of the Jewish Church. I proceed to the

3. Observation, which was this, that from uncharitable Censures, Men do by an easie step, and almost naturally proceed to Cruel Actions. After the Jews had put the Disciples of our Lord out of their Synagogues, and thereby concluded them to be Hereticks and Reprobates; no wonder they should proceed to kill those, whom they thought not worthy to live; they shall put you out of their Synagogues, (says our Saviour) and when they have done that, they will soon think it a thing not on∣ly fit and reasonable, but Pious and Meritorious, and a good Piece of Ser∣vice done to God, to put you to death. Uncharitableness naturally draws on Cruelty, and hardens Humane Na∣ture towards those, of whom we have once conceived so hard an opinion, that they are Enemies to God and his Truth.

And this hath been the source of the most barbarous Cruelties that have been in the world; witness the severity of the Heathen Perfection of the Chri∣stians,

which justified it self by the Un∣charitable Opinion which they had con∣ceived of them, that they were despi∣sers of Religion and the Gods, and con∣sequently Atheists; that they were per∣tinacious and obstinate in their Opinions, that is, in the Modern Stile, they were Hereticks. And the like uncharitable conceit among Christians hath been thought a sufficient ground (even in the judgment of the Infallible Chair) for the justification of several bloody Massacres, and the cruel Proceedings of the Inqui∣sition against Persons suspected of Here∣sie; for after Men are once Sentenced to Eternal Damnation, it seems a small thing, to torment and destroy their Bodies.

4. Men may do the vilest and most wicked things, not only under a grave Pretence of Religion, but out of a real Opinion and Perswasion of Mind, that they do Religiously. Murder is cer∣tainly one of the greatest and most crying Sins; and yet our Saviour fore∣tels, that the Jews should put his Disci∣ples to Death, being verily perswaded that in so doing they should offer a most

acceptable Sacrifice to God; yea the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offers a Sacrifice to God.

Not but that the great Duties and Virtues of Religion are very plain and easy to be understood; and so are the contrray Sins and Vices: But then they are only plain to a teachable, and honest, and well-disposed mind; to those who receive the word with meekness, and are not blinded with wrath and fu∣rious Zeal; to those that receive the truth into an honest heart, and entertain it in the love of it; they are plain to the humble and meek; for the humble God will guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his ways; such as these God sel∣dom suffers to fall into fatal mistakes about their Sin, or Duty, so as to call good evil, and evil good; to call light dark∣ness, and darkness light; to think Un∣charitableness a Virtue, and downright Murder a great Duty.

But if Men will give up themselves to be swayed by self-Love and self-Conceit, to be governed by any base or corrupt Interest, to be blinded by

Prejudice, and intoxicated by Pride, to be transported and hurried away by violent and furious Passions; no wonder if they mistake, the Nature; and con∣found the Differences of things, in the plainest and most palpable cases; no wonder if God give up Persons of such corrupt minds to strong delusions, to be∣lieve lies. It ought not to be strange to us, if such Men bring their Understand∣ings to their Wills and Interests, and bend their Judgments to their Preju∣dices, make them to stoop to their Pride, and blindly to follow their Passi∣ons, which way soever they lead them; for God usually leaves such persons to themselves, as run away from him, and is not concerned to secure those from splitting upon the most dangerous Rocks, who will stear their Course by no Compass, but commit themselves to the wind and tide of their own Lusts and Passions.

In these Cases Men may take the wrong Way; and yet believe them∣selves to be in the right: they may oppose the Truth, and persecute the Professors of it, and be guilty of the

blackest Crimes, and the most horrid Impieties, Malice and Hatred, Blasphe∣my and Murder; and yet all the while be verily perswaded, that they are serv∣ing God, and Sacrificing to him.

Of this we have a plain, and full instance, in the Scribes and Pharisees, the chief Priests and Rulers among the Jews, who because they sought the Ho∣nour of Men, and not that which was from God, and loved the Praise of Men, more than the Praise of God; because they were prejudiced against the Mean∣ness of our Saviour's Birth and Condi∣tion, and had upon false Grounds (tho' as they thought upon the Infallibili∣ty of Tradition, and of Scripture in∣terpreted by Tradition) entertain'd quite other Notion of the Messias, from what he really was to be; because they were proud, and thought them selves too wise to learn of him; and because his Doctrine of Humility, and self-Denyal, did thwart their Interest, and bring down their Authority and Credit among the People; therefore they set themselves against him with all their Might, opposing his Doctrine,

and blasting his Reputation, and per∣secuting him to the Death; and all this while did bear up themselves with a conceit of the Antiquity and Privi∣ledges of their Church, and their pro∣found Knowledge in the Law of God, and a great External shew of Piety and Devotion, and an arrogant Pre∣tence and Usurpation of being the only Church and People of God in the World: And by virtue of these Ad∣vantages, they thought they might do any thing; and that whosoever oppo∣sed the Authority of so ancient and good a Church, must needs be very bad Men, and deserve to be proceeded against in the severest manner. As if any pre∣tence of Piety could give a Priviledge to do wickedly, and by how much the Wiser and Holier any Man took himself to be, he might do so much the worse things.

There is another remarkable Instance of this in St. Paul, who out of a blind and furious Zeal, for the Tradi∣tions of his Fathers, Persecuted the true Church of God, by Imprisonment and 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 Jesus of Nazareth. And if God had not in a miraculous manner checkt him in his course, and changed his Mind, he would have spent his whole life in that course of Persecution and Cru∣elty, and would (with Pope Paul the IV. upon his Death-Bed) have recom∣mended the Inquisition (or if he could have thought of any thing more se∣vere) to the chief Priests and Rulers of the Jewish Church.

I will not trouble you with nearer Instances; tho' the Jewish Church is not the only Church in the World, that hath countenanced the Destructi∣on and Extirpation of those who dif∣fered from them, as a piece of very ac∣ceptable Service to God, and meritori∣ous of the Pardon of their Sins.

5. I observe that such Actions as these are never the less horribly Wicked and Impious, notwithstanding the good Mind with which, and the good End for which they are done. The Jews

were not excused from the guilt of Persecution and Murder, for all they thought they did well, in killing the Disciples of our Lord.

For to make an Action good and ac∣ceptable to God, the goodness of all Causes, and of all Circumstances, must concur; and any one defect in any of these, does vitiate the whole Action, and spoil the goodness of it. We must do it with a good Mind, being verily perswaded that what we do is good and acceptable to God; in which sense St. Paul saith, that whatever is not of Faith is Sin; 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 considerable, viz. what we do with a Good Mind, and to a Good End, must be Good and Lawful in it self, commanded or al∣lowed, or at least not forbidden by God: If it be; what good Cir∣cumstances soever may belong to the Action, the whole Action is stark naught; because the very Matter and

Substance of it is Evil, and Unlawful, and Damnable, tho' done for never so good an End. So St. Paul tells us, that they who said they might do evil, that good might come, their damnation was just. He tells us indeed, that some would have charged this Doctrine upon the Christians, and particularly upon him∣self; but he rejects it, with the greatest detestation; and (which is not unwor∣thy of our observation) in his Epistle to the Roman Church; as if the Spirit of God, to whom all Times are pre∣sent, 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 conse∣quent upon it.

And we find that St. Paul, after his Conversion, did think it no sufficient Plea and Excuse for himself, and his Persecution of the Christian Profession, that what he did was out of Zeal for God and his true Religion, as he was verily perswaded; but, notwithstanding that, acknowledged himself a Murder∣er, and one of the greatest Sinners; for

which, without the great Mercy of God, he had perisht everlastingly.

6. And lastly, I observe that the Cor∣ruption of the best things is the worst. Religion is certainly the highest Ac∣complishment and Perfection of Hu∣mane Nature; and Zeal for God and his Truth an excellent Quality, and highly acceptable to God: and yet no∣thing is more barbarous, and spurs Men on to more horrid Impieties, than a blind zeal for God, and false and mis∣taken Principles in the matter of Re∣ligion.

Our Saviour compares the Christi∣an Religion, and the Ministers and Pro∣fessors of it, to Salt and Light, The most useful and delightful things in the World. Religion enlightens the minds of Men, and directs them in the way, wherein we should go; it seasons the Spirits and Manners of Men, and pre∣serves them from being Putrified and Corrupted: but if the Salt lose its savour, if that which should season other things, be tainted it self; it is thenceforth the most insipid and offensive thing in the

World, good for nothing, but to be cast upon the Dunghil: if the light that is in us be darkness; how great is that dark∣ness?

Mistakes and false Principles are no where so pernicious, and of such mis∣chievous Consequence, as in Religion. A blind and misguided Zeal in Religi∣on is enough to spoil the best Nature and Disposition in the World. St. Paul (for ought appears) was of himself of a very kind and compassionate Nature; and yet what a Fury did his mistaken Zeal make him! It is hardly credible how madly he laid about him, but that he himself gives us the account of it, Acts 26.9, 10, 11. I verily thought with my self (says he) that I ought to do ma∣ny things, contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth; which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the Saints I shut up in Prison, 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 Synagogue, and compel'd them to blaspheme, and be∣ing exceedingly mad against them, I per∣secuted them, even to strange Cities.

I might descend lower, and give In∣stances both of former and later times, of Emperours and Princes, both Hea∣then and Christian, that of themselves were mild and gentle; and yet through a mistaken Zeal, and the instigation of their Chief Priests, have been car∣ried to Cruel and Bloody things. And indeed nothing gives so keen an edg, even to the mildest Tempers, as an er∣roneous and wild zeal for God and Re∣ligion; it is like Quick-Silver in the back of a Sword, that is not very sharp of it self, which gives a mighty force and weight to its blow, and makes it to cut terribly.

And it is very sad to consider, that the zealous Prosecution of Mistakes in Religion, hath produced sadder and more barbarous Effects in the World, and more frequently, than the ordinary Corruptions and Degeneracy of Na∣tural light is apt to do; as the decay of the richest and most generous Wines makes the sowerest Vineger; so that the Pasquil or Libel against Pope Ʋr∣ban the VIII. upon occasion of his

taking off the Brazen Roof of the Old Capitol (which had held out so many Ages, and that notwithstanding Rome had been so often sackt by Barbarous Nations) and his selling it to inrich his Family [quod non fecerant Barbari, fece∣runt Barberini] may, with changing the Name and Occasion, be applyed to a great many others; that they have been guilty of those Cruelties against Christi∣ans, upon account of difference in Re∣ligion, which the most Barbarous Na∣tions never exorcised upon one ano∣ther.

I have done with the Observations and the Text; and shall I now need to make any Application of what hath been said, to the Occasion of this day? The thing applys it self; since the horrid Design of this Day was undertaken and carried on upon the same Pretences and Princi∣ples, upon which the Jews persecuted the Disciples of our Lord, and much in the same Method; for they first thunder'd out an Excommunication a∣gainst them, and then took it for grant∣ed, that it would be an acceptable Sacri∣fice to God, to destroy them.

I will not go about to aggravate the Comspiracy of this Day, it is past my skill; nor will I extend the blame and guilt of it any farther than the plain Evi∣dence and Reason of the thing does enforce. It is a thing so scandalous to Humane Nature, and so great a Refle∣ction upon any Church and Religion, to be accessory to the contriving or coun∣tenancing of any such Design, that I am very well contented, that it should be confined to as narrow a compass as may be, and none esteemed guilty of it, but those that were openly in it, or have since endeavour'd to excuse it. All that we desire of others, is, that they would declare their hearty detestation of such abominable Practices, and be as good as their word; and that they would not account it a service and sa∣crifice to God, to destroy all that cannot be of their Mind.

So that the Inference from all this Discourse, in short, shall be this, that Men should take great care to inform their Consciences 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 such Practices as I have been speaking of, as clearly as the Sun shines at Noonday; and that we would always be afraid to do a bad thing, tho' gilded over with never so glorious Colours, and specious Pretences of zeal for God and his Truth. For a Man may do a thing with an honest Mind, and for a religious End, and be Com∣missioned and Countenanced (as St. Paul was) by them who take themselves to be the only true Church in the World; and yet at last prove to have been all the while a Blasphemer, and a Murderer, and the greatest of Sinners; for none of these Pretences are sufficient to warrant and sanctifie 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 Blessed Saviour to his Disciples, when their Zeal for him had transported them to make that cruel Request to him, that he would (as Elias had done upon a like occasion) call for fire from heaven to destroy the

Samaritans: Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives, but to save them; hereby declaring to us the true Spirit and ••••••per of Christianity, and that they 〈◊〉〈◊〉 contrary to it, are ig∣norant 〈…〉〈…〉 ••ature of the Christian Religion: Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives, but to save them.

Notes

• * 1.1

  VOL. II.
• * 1.2

  Serm. XIV.