SerinLXXVII. of the Divine Perfe[ïion.r, 583 gofree, to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that theú bring the poor that arecall out to thine bottle; when thoufeeft the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hid not thy felf loom thine own fie/h? Nor is it hearing of the Word that will avail us, unless we be doers ofit. B1eJ/ed are they (lays. our Saviour) thathear the wordof Godandkeep it. He that heareth theft fayings of mine, and doth them, (hall be likened to a wife man, who hath built his houfeupon a rock. Nor will bare receiving of the Sacrament recommend us to God ; but performing the Obligation, which thereby we take upon ourfelves to abftain from all fin and wickednefs ; otherwife we treadunder foot the Son ofGod, andprophane theblood of the Covenant, whereby we /hould befaníiifted, as ifit were an unholy thing. Can any man think that to be Religion, which has no effed up- on the lives of men, which does not teach them to govern their words andaéti- ons, who reads thofe plain words of St. 5dmes , Ifany man amongyou feem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, that man's Religi- on is vain. Pure Religionandundefiled before Godandthe Father is this, to visit the fatherlefs andwidows in their afflitlion, and to keep himfelf unfpottedfrom theworld. When Religion produceth thefe real Effeí`ts, then the Means of Religion do truly ferve the Endof it, and we are not only hearers of the Word, Jut doers of it, and (hall be Wed in our deed. So that as there is an obligation upon us to ufe the Means of Religion, which God bath inftitueed, with great care and confcience ; fo we should chiefly mind that which is the End of all Religion, which is to make us partakers ofa Divine Nature, and makes us like toGod, efpecially in thofe amiable and excellent Qua- lities, which are the glory and beauty of the Divine Nature, his Benignity and Goodnefs, his Mercy and Patience. Thefe, becaufe they are the primary Per- fellions of God, are the principal Duties both ofNatural and Revealed Religion, and of an eternal and indifpenfible Obligation ; becaufe they have their foundati- on in the Nature of God, which is fixt and unalterable. And all pofifive Inftitu- tions, when they come in competition with thefe, are to floop and vail to them, Naturaland Moral Duties, efpecially thofe of Goodnefs, and Mercy, and Chari- ty, are fo ftrongly bound upon us, that nothing in any reveal'd Religion can cancel the Obligationofthem, or justifie the violation of thefe great and indif- penfible Laws. Our Saviour in his Religion has declar'd nothing to the preju- dice of them : but on the contrary has ftraitned our Obligation to them, as much as is poffible, The Son ofman camenot to defiroy menslives, but to fave them ; fo that they know not what manner of fpirit they are of, who think to pleafe God by hating men, who are made after the image of God, and by killing oneanother to do him goodfervice; who to advance his Caufe and Religion in the World, will break through all the obligations ofNature and Civil Society, undermine Govern- ment, and disturb the Peace of Mankind. Whereas our Saviour did not by any thing in his Religion defign to alter the Civil Government of the World, or to leffen and diminish the Rights of Princes, or to fet men lode fromAllegiance to them, or to make Treafon and Rebellion, bloody Wars and barbarous Massacres lawful, for the propagating of his Faith. He had (as any one would imagine) as much Poweras the Pope ; but yet he depofed no Princes, nor excommunicatedand difcharged their Subjef3s from their Fidelity and Obedience to them, for their oppofition to his Religion ; he bath affumed no fuch Power to himfelf. By what Authority then does his Vicar do thefe things ; andwho gave him this Authority? Our Lord tells us plainly, his Kingdom was not of this world ; and that without any diftindion of in ordine adfpiritualia, and there- fore he wrefted no Princes Kingdom out of his hands, nor feized it as forfeited to himfelf. But this Power the Pope claims to himfelf, and bath exercifed it many a time difturbing the Peace of Nations, and exercising the molt barbarous Cruelties in the World, under a pretence of Zeal for God and Religion : as if becaufeReligi- on is fò very good a thing in it felf, it would warrant men to do the very worst things for its fake ; which is the readyway to render Religion contemptible and odious, and to make two of the béft things in the World, God and Religion, good for nothing.
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