the Meaning of God's being faid to Be in SER M. particular places, is, that in those places III. he chofe to manifeft himself to his Servants, and to receive Homage from them. The Patriarch Jacob, concerning the place where he firft faw the Vision of Angels afcending and defcending out of Heaven; furely, faith he, the Lord is in this place, Gen. xxviii. 16; and it shall be the house of God, ver. 22. In like manner in the Temple at Jerufalem, the Glory of God appeared vifibly, 2 Chr. vii. 1. and There it alfo was, when it did not appear: And how He, whom the Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain, did thus at that time dwell on Earth, in a Temple made with Hands, is in a lively manner expreffed by Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 30. Hearken thou to the Supplication of thy Servant, and of thy people Ifrael, when they shall pray in, or towards, this place; and hear thou in Heaven thy dwelling-place: The meaning is; God, who is present in every place, had appointed in That place to receive his Tribute of Worship. Again; when the Lord appeared to Mofes in the Bush, the place, fays he, whereon thou ftandeft, is Holy Ground, Ex

od.

SER M. Exod. iii 5.

III.

Not that God himself was prefent even Then, in the Bufi, any more than in all other places; but the place was made Holy, by God's manifefting his Glory there; For fo St Stephen expreffly tells us, Acts vii. 30. There appeared to Mofes an Angel of the Lord, in a flame of Fire in the Bufh.

IN like manner, God is faid in Scripture to dwell in the Hearts of good men: And that the Bodies of them which are fanctified, are Temples of the Holy Ghoft; God dwelling in them by his Holy Spirit : Not by any Confinement of the Prefence of God; but by his being pleased to fhow forth the Power and Influences of his Holy Spirit, in particular places, and to particular perfons.

III. HAVING thus fhown at large, what the Scripture means by ftiling God our Father, and by affirming him to be in Heaven; I am in the 3d place to confider, what we are to understand by calling any man our Father upon the Earth. And This plainly appears in the Context, from the whole Scope and Defign of our Saviour's difcourfe, in the directions he gives to his Difciples. The Scribes and

Pharifees,

Pharifees, fays he, fit in Mofes's feat ; SER M. ·But do not ye after their works: For III.

they love greetings in the Markets, and

Rabbi: But

your

to be called of Men, Rabbi, be not ye called Rabbi; for One is Mafter, even Chrift: And call no man your Father upon the Earth: for One is your Father, which is in Heaven: Neither be ye called Mafters; for One is your Mafter, even Chrift. From hence it clearly appears, that calling any man our Father upon Earth, fignifies, paying to any Earthly Teachers (not a due regard and attention, but) That deference, which the Scribes and the Pharifees were by our Saviour reproved for unjustly claiming. And the Deference or Regard they claimed, was, that men fhould follow them ignorantly and implicitly in the Traditions they taught. In the Hiftories of the Antient Jews 'tis obferved, that they frequently preferred the Traditions of their Rabbi's, even before the Writings of the Prophets themselves. And This account of them we find confirmed in Scripture. God complained of old by the Prophet Isaiah, ch. xxix. 13. towards me is taught by the

Their Fear

Precept of

men;

SERM. men; i. e. Humane Authority had too III. much weight among them in matters of Religion. In our Saviour's time, things were grown to a ftill higher degree of Corruption in this refpect: In vain, fays our Lord to the Pharifees, do they worship God, teaching for Doctrines the Commandments (or Inventions) of Men, Mar. vii. 7. For, laying afide the Commandment of God, ye bold the Tradition of Men, ver. 8. And he repeats it again in the next verse; Full well ye reject the Commandment of God, that ye may keep your own Tradition, ver. 9. Making the Word of God of none effect, through your Tradition which ye have delivered, ver. 13. The Profef fors of Chriflianity itself quickly began, even in the earliest times, to fall into fome degrees of the fame Fault; as appears by the inftructions St Paul gives to Titus, ch. i. 14. Rebuke them sharply, that they may not give beed to Fables and Commandments of Men. Some of these Commandments of Men, he particularizes, Col. ii. 18. Let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary humility, and worshipping of Angels, intruding into thofe things which he hath not feen,

vainly

vainly puft up by his fleshly mind. In af-SER M. ter-times, these Commandments of Men III. (as is the nature of all Superstition) continually multiplied and increased; according to the Apostle's Prophecy, 2 Tim. iv. 3. The Time, fays he, will come, when they will not endure found doctrine, (that is, they will not be content with the Form of Sound words, delivered by Christ and his Apostles;) but after their own lufts Shall heap up to themselves Teachers,----and fhall turn away their ears from the Truth, and fhall be turned unto Fables. And the only poffible way to prevent this Evil, is to confider, that this affumed Authority of Men in matters of Faith, prevailed from time to time more and more, till at length it ended in the establishment of that Kingdom of This World, which we call Popish religion. And here I cannot omit to observe, that the word Pope, the original of which is the old Greek word Tάa, fignifies Father; and it fignifies Father in that very fenfe, wherein the Text forbids us to call any man Father upon Earth. For by calling a man FaSaviour plainly means ha

ther here, our

ving regard to humane Authority in mat

VOL. II.

F

ters