But you are the schismatics, you are the bane of the church of _England_, who are always crying out, “the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD;” and yet starve the people out of our communion, by feeding them only with the dry husks of dead morality, and not bringing out to them the fatted calf; I mean, the doctrines of the operations of the blessed Spirit of GOD. But here is the misfortune; many of us are not led by, and therefore no wonder that we cannot talk feelingly of, the Holy Ghost; we subscribe to our articles, and make them serve for a key to get into church-preferment, and then preach contrary to those very articles to which we have subscribed. Far be it from me, to charge all the clergy with this hateful hypocrisy; no, blessed be GOD, there are some left among us, who dare maintain the doctrines of the Reformation, and preach the truth as it is in JESUS: But I speak the truth in CHRIST, I lye not; the generality of the clergy are fallen from our articles, and do not speak agreeable to them, or to the form of sound words delivered in the Scriptures; wo be unto such blind leaders of the blind! how can you escape the damnation of hell? It is not all your learning (falsely so called) it is not all your preferments can keep you from the just judgment of GOD. Yet a little while, and we shall all appear before the tribunal of CHRIST; there, there will I meet you; there JESUS CHRIST, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, shall determine who are the false prophets, who are the wolves in sheep’s cloathing. Those who say, that we must now receive and feel the Holy Ghost, or those who exclaim against it, as the doctrine of devils.
But I can no more; it is an unpleasing task to censure any order of men, especially those who are in the ministry; nor would any thing excuse it but necessity: that necessity which extorted from our LORD himself so many woes against the Scribes and Pharisees, the letter-learned rulers and teachers of the _Jewish_ church; and surely, if I could bear to see people perish for lack of knowledge, and yet be silent towards those who keep from them the key of true knowledge, the very stones would cry out.
Would we restore the church to its primitive dignity, the only way is to live and preach the doctrine of CHRIST, and the articles to which we have subscribed; then we shall find the number of dissenters will daily decrease, and the church of _England_ become the joy of the whole earth.
I am, in the _Third_ place, to shew the reasonableness of this doctrine.
I say, the reasonableness of this doctrine; for however it may seem foolishness to the natural man, yet to those, who have tasted of the good word of life, and have felt the power of the world to come, it will appear to be founded on the highest reason; and is capable, to those who have eyes to see, even of a demonstration; I say of demonstration: for it stands on this self-evident truth, that we are fallen creatures, or, to use the scripture-expression, “have all died in _Adam_.”
I know indeed, it is now no uncommon thing amongst us, to deny the doctrine of original sin, as well as the divinity of JESUS CHRIST; but it is incumbent on those who deny it, first to disprove the authority of the holy Scriptures; if thou canst prove, thou unbeliever, that the book, which we call _The Bible_, does not contain the lively oracles of GOD; if thou canst shew, that holy men of old, did not write this book, as they were inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost, then will we give up the doctrine of original sin; but unless thou canst do this, we must insist upon it, that we are all conceived and born in sin; if for no other, yet for this one reason, because that GOD, who cannot lye, has told us so.