2 TlIES. II. 3,] THE THIRD SERMON. 27
foretold that r/ye? uTroarrjcrovrai, * Some shall fall away or depart from the faith,' 1 Tim. iv. 1. Lastly, because those who are most concerned to maintain the notion of the civil apostasy from the Roman empire are most notorious in this defection. It is true the Roman empire lost Asia and the places adjacent by the invasion of Eastern nations, but it was thrust out of Rome by the rebellion of its sub- jects, and chiefly by the influence of tlie Pope there, as histories manifest. So that this interpretation will not help them a jot, but hurt them not a little. So that here is a defection from our proper Lord, and a spiritual defection, not a civil.
3. The proper Lord of the Christian church is Jesus Christ, who hath purchased it with his blood, and 'died, and rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord of dead and living,' Rom. xiv. 9 ; and again, Eph. v. 23, ' Clu-ist is the head of the church, and the Saviour of the- body.' He that saveth and recovereth the church out of the general apostasy of mankind, and restoreth them to their due obedience and proper happiness, he only is fit to be head of the church ; and this only is Christ : we expect no opposition here.
4. The apostasy from the Lord will be determined chiefly by these two things : — (1.) By undermining his authority; {'!.) Or destroying the interests of his kingdom. By these two we may understand the falling away, which is to come first.
[L] By undermining his authority. Certainly his authority is under- mined when others presume to usurp his place without his leave. Therefore, to superinduce a universal head of the visible church, which Christ never appointed, is manifestly to usurp his authority ; though the party so intruding should pretend to hold his sovereignty from Christ, and under him, yet this is treason against Christ, for here is an authority set up without, and therefore against, his consent. Put the case in a temporal kingdom, and the thing will be clear. And thus the Pope is the usurping head of a rebellion against Christ. Where did Christ institute him to take this ofllce ? Tli es Petrus is such a stale pretence, so often bafiled and defeated, and pretended upon so small grounds ; — as that Christ hereby conve3-ed singular authority to Peter above the rest of the disciples, that from Peter it descendeth to his successors, and to those of Rome (if ever he were at Rome), and not those of Antioch ; — that it is endless to pursue the absurdities of this impertinent allegation. The argument holdeth the more strongly when the Pope condemneth all the churches that will not be his subjects, how holy, good, and obedient to the laws of Christ soever they be. Surely, if anything, this is an apostasy or a revolt from our rightful Lord ; and to consent to this rebellion and usurpation is to be drawn into a conspiracy against Christ, to submit to the head of the most pernicious schism that did ever rend the church of Christ, and to betray the liberty of the people of our Lord to a tyrannical usurpation.
[2.] Or corrupting and destroying the interests of his kingdom. Certainly, wherever there is a degen^^ration from the purity and sim- plicity of the gospel, the interests of Christ's kingdom are destroyed. ' I fear,' saith the apostle, 2 Cor. xi. 3, ' lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtil ty, so your minds should be
28 TUE THIRD SERMON. [2 TuES. IL 3.
corrupted from the simplicity tliat is in Christ.' The ancient, pure, apostolic Christianity doth only jirescrve the interests of Christ's kingdom in the world ; there is no way of safety but by keeping there ; for since godliness is a mystery, and we shall see afterwards the iniquity that is contrary is a mystery also— 2 Thes. ii. 7, ' The mystery of iniquity doth already work ' — we need to be exactly careful to keep close to the doctrine, worship, and (liscijjline of the first gospel church ; for if these had remained pure, Antichrist had never risen. Christ's institu- tions would have preserved his interests in the world ; but as these were corrupted, the a})Ostasy prevailed. When the faith of the gos])el was turned into dead opinions and curious questions, if not direct errors, and the worsliip of the gospel was corrupted by giving divine honour to saints and angels, and turned into a theatrical pomp and the pageantry of empty ceremonies, which eclipse the majesty and splendour of it ; and the disci[)line of the church into a temporal domination, and all is carried in the world by sides and interests, that Christianity looketh like another thing, a design calculated for tiie present world rather than a serious preparation for the world to come ; then certainly there is an apostasy and a defection from Christ ; how- ever the corrupt manners of the church be varnished over with the name of Christianity, there is a degeneration questionless ; and that is apostasy, in a mystery, such as this is, though not in open revolt from Christ.